Christmas break!

I'm taking a long Christmas break folks. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you back on January 5th :)

The Young Bryan Superstar - You're Magnetic

A nice little piece of indiepop from San Sebastian in the Basque country. They also went by the name El Joven Brian.

This was a self-titled four-song 7" from 1993.

The Harvest Ministers - You Do My World The World Of Good

Surprised I haven't posted these yet. An Irish band on Sarah? They ought to be all over this blog. *hangs head in shame*

The Harvest Ministers have been around forever (well, since 1987) but don't have a huge discography to show for it: their fifth album was released only last year. They tend to be thought of as sort of a Will Merriman project rather than a proper band, though that's a bit unfair to Padraig McCaul, multi-instrumentalist, who I think has been a Harvest Minister for the duration. And who's a brilliant landscape painter in his own right, btw.

This was their first single, from 1992.

Primal Scream - Imperial

A lot of indie snobs like me will tell you Sonic Flower Groove is the only Primal Scream album worth buying. I would beg to differ - not because I think any of the others are great, but because I don't think this one has that much going for it, either. It's all very earnest and innocuous neo-psychedelic pop but I just think it tries too hard and doesn't live up, in songwriting terms, to its influences.

And if I wasn't mad about it when it came out, most of it really hasn't aged well. But I always liked this one a lot, and still do.

The Radio Arts - 04:30 AM

Decent little electro-pop band from Sweden, who don't seem to be around anymore. Shame.

This was from a 2005 EP.

Sloppy Joe - Sometimes

Now here's a real treat, all the way from Tokyo. Sloppy Joe's debut album With Kisses Four came out this year, but you could be forgiven for thinking you'd discovered a lost treasure from the C86 era - they really do an amazing job of capturing that sound. To say that I absolutely love it! would be a significant understatement.

Check out Bandcamp for more.

The Calloways - Kalamazoo

There is a decided lack of information available about this band. They may have been from Edinburgh, but they don't seem to have released much of anything. This very new-wavey track, which dates to the early-mid '80s, appeared on the wonderful 1996 cassette compilation A Sandwich and a Sweater. Anyone know anything about them?

Michael Knight - Coronation Street

Michael Knight is supposed to be a band rather than a person, although really it's Irish singer-songwriter Richie Murphy + whoever happens to be playing back-up for him at any given time. "Their" music is quirky harmonic pop that often walks the fine line between clever and irritating, but when they get it right it's very very good indeed.

This is a track from their second album, I'm Not Entirely Clear How I Ended Up Like This, from 2008, sounding remarkably like a Franz Ferdinand soundtrack to a spaghetti western.

Michael Knight - Coronation Street YBI11 by yesboyicecream

Aztec Camera - The Birth of the True

It's probably an understatement to say that Aztec Camera's 1984 second album Knife was a bit of a disappointment. I didn't hate it the way that some people did, but I definitely agreed with its critics that it was much blander than the debut and that Mark Knopfler's production drained away a lot of the songs' charm. But having said that, there were still some really nice tracks on it and this was always my favourite.

References to burning down banks are, of course, particularly appropriate again these days.

Inspiral Carpets - Tainted Love

I don't post a lot of cover versions here but I heard this one again the other day and it struck me that it's a really, really good example of a band taking a song that everybody knows and truly making it their own. Which is what a cover should be.

This actually isn't even the best Inspirals version of it - the one on the NME Ruby Trax collection is even better - but it's the only one I can find a video for online and I won't have the time to make one today. Just take my word for it.

McCarthy - Boy Meets Girl So What

Typically cynical track from these rather dour Essex popsters. This was one of their later releases, a 1989 EP (they broke up the following year). It's not particularly one of their best but for some reason it invaded my head yesterday so I thought I might as well share it. I'm sort of in this kind of mood lately anyway.

BPeople - I Said Everybody

Late '70s/early '80s no-wave sort of band from LA. I picked up a 7" of theirs when I was around 15, I think I found it in a bargain bin or something and thought it looked interesting. I didn't really "get it" at the time though. Rediscovered them a few years ago and while I don't think I was missing a lot, they had their moments, all right. If you're into this sort of thing, you can download a compilation album here.

The Dufflecoats - Sunny Tuesday Afternoon

Cheshire band who may have also been called the Applicants, or may have just shared a member or two with the Applicants - there seems to be a bit of confusion on this point in webland. Anyway, they were twee and girly and fabulous and that is really all you need to know. Isn't it?

This is a track from the 1991 Waaaah! CD.

Apologies ...

Another complete techfail yesterday in Chez Cinnamon. I'll be back when I've got caught up on everything else it kept me from doing!

T.Rex - Mambo Sun

I've been posting a lot of really obscure stuff lately so here's something a bit better known. It's the first T.Rex song I can remember falling in love with. And I still love it - it's such a great example of how the most ludicrous, senseless lyrics can sometimes say so much.

The Big Gun - Heard About Love

Another fantastic yet mystifyingly obscure '80s track, this one from a Scottish (Ayrshire) band who released one 7" and then disappeared. Can't say I blame them, actually - who would want to spend the rest of their career trying to live up to a first single as good as this one? It would probably only depress you.

The Ammonites - It Hurts Inside

How about another track from that wonderful Everlasting Happiness collection? The Ammonites were a bunch of teenagers from Leicester and put out a number of tapes and 7"s in the late 1980s-early 1990s, as well as making a lot of compilation appearances. Indiepop with not a little punk-pop influence, great stuff altogether.