Missing Scientists

I had this record once a long time ago, but I traded it and maybe a Talulah Gosh record for Heavenly Vs. Satan (this was before it was reissued) and maybe something else with my friend Matt Roberts.

I found another copy of this single at some point, I am going to take a guess and say in London.

It is a fun one off single and if you know me you know I love that sort of thing. It is also on Rough Trade, a label I have always had a soft spot in my heart for (probably because they have put out a good record or two over the years).

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a single by Missing Scientists.

Big City, Bright Lights b/w Discotheque X (Rough Trade)
1. Big City, Bright Lights
2. Discotheque X

Epic Soundtracks

Epic Soundtracks is a pretty killer punk rock name, if you ask me.

This record sounds nothing like Swell Maps, but don't let that deter you. It is awesome.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a single by Epic Soundtracks.

Popular Classical (Rough Trade)
1. Jelly, Babies
2. A 3-Acre Floor
3. Pop In Packets

Mike Wexler

I saw Mike Wexler play exactly once -- at the unamplified barbecue I set up in Prospect Park 3 years ago. He was fantastic!

I purchased this EP from Eat Records a little bit later, and I have always enjoyed it.

I don't really know Mike but he was nice on the phone when I spoke to him about that show so many years ago!

This is the original self released version, and I don't know if it differs at all from the I & Ear reissue, as I didn't feel the need to purchase it twice.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a compact disc by Mike Wexler.

Mike Wexler EP (Self)
1. I'd Like To Solve The Puzzle
2. Meridian, Meridian
3. Tropic Of Gemini
4. March Violets
5. Sound The Mirror

The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up

I believe I purchased this from Aquarius Records sometime in the year 2000. If I had to hazard a guess I would say March, but I could be wrong.

I was friends with Frankie once but I have not spoken to him in many years. Have you? Is he well?

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, one CD EP from The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up.

The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up (Old Prospector)
1. Monotonologue
2. A Man Without Qualities
3. Harmless Hobby Or Bicycle Crash
4. Jay Jay Johnson
5. The Sickly Boy

Alice Cohen

I met Alice on New Year's Eve 2002 (it was after midnight). I was quite drunk that night but we have been friends ever since.

She has played in a few different bands in the time that I have known her, but I suppose she decided it wasn't worth it anymore and decided to go solo.

She was in a band called The Vels in the mid 1980's that had a video on MTV. When I was an employee there I dubbed it along with an interview that she gave for some underground music show I can't recall the name of from about the same time. She has no recollection of giving the interview.

I used to live down the street from Alice and we would have drinks at Enid's on a somewhat regular basis. At the end of the night we would go to the deli around the corner where I would purchase a sandwich and Alice would purchase a Fudge-O.

She recently released the excellent Sky Flowers which you should do yourself a favor and purchase.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a CD by Alice Cohen.

Knives, Snails, And Other Songs (Self)
1. Knives
2. You And The Night
3. Snails
4. Rings Of Saturn
5. What's Holding You Back
6. Morocco
7. I Fell Through The Sky
8. Cycles

Old Time Relijun

I believe I purchased this compact disc when I saw them play with Burning Airlines in London (Burning Airlines were really, really boring). Phil from The Microphones was playing drums and they were really cooking, so to speak. Probably the best time I ever saw them.

I met a dude that night who invited me to see The Buff Medways with him a few nights later at The Boston Arms. I was pretty excited as I had never seen any of Billy Childish's bands before. That night I was introduced to John from Huggy Bear as a "big fan" which sort of embarrassed me despite being true. Graham Coxson was also there but I was not introduced to him (and I was never that much of a Blur fan anyway). For some reason I don't have any Buff Medways records (actually, I think the reason is that there are too many and I am a completist so I figured I was better off not starting the whole Billy Childish thing) despite the fact that they were fantastic that night.

You know what I mean.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, a compact disc by Old Time Relijun.

Songbook Vol. 1 (Pine Cone Alley)
1. Sabertooth Tyger
2. Mirror
3. Ubu's Theme
4. Baby Dragon
5. Manticore/Lion Tamer
6. The Red Sea Anenomae
7. Everything Is Broken
8. Belly Belly
9. Maggie Charcoal
10. Gaw Gaw
11. Bromios The Boisterous
12. Fig
13. Scorpion Accordian
14. Qiyamat
15. Live Intro
16. Belly Belly (4 Track)
17. Untitled
18. Untitled
19. Sabertooth Tyger (4 Track)
20. Untitled
21. Untitled
22. Untitled
23. Untitled
24. Untitled
25. Untitled

Birdland

This is not that old Birdland band that has millions of used records available at pretty much any seller of such goods across the world (which I am sure means they were amazing). This is the Birdland that were forced to change their name to Celebration because of that other Birdland.

You see, I always rooted for Lovelife. I felt like they were a band that deserved to do much better than they ever did. My friend Andrew can be counted on to either wear his Lovelife shirt or his Celebration shirt pretty much every time I see him, as he is in the same camp as me.

When Birdland first starting playing out they were amazing. Unbeatable. I have to say that I think they were superior to Celebration, somehow they were better with a drum machine than with a drummer. I don't expect you to agree with me, but you can at least listen to the evidence and decide for yourself (although you probably will not be able to go back in time and see it with your own eyes, unless there have been recent advances in physics that I am unaware of).

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, the Birdland demo.

Demo (Self)
1. Waste Time
2. Lost Souls
3. Tonight
4. Stars Don't
5. Only One
6. Go West
7. Run Away

Ant

I used to love Hefner. So much so that whilst in London I discovered 2 solo CDs by the drummer and purchased them. I remember listening to them a bunch when I worked as a video editor at Merrill Lynch.

Merrill Lynch was the worst place I ever worked -- I had to be in at 7:00am which means that I had to be up at 5:30am. No matter what time of year it was, the sun was not up yet when I left for work in the morning. I would sit down on my barcalounger and have a cigarette while checking up on the weather, heart racing and hungover. The most sleep I ever got in an evening was 6 hours, and that assumed I went to bed early (which I hardly ever did). I would routinely get 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night and then spend the entire day wishing I was dead. Then I would go home, take a nap, and do it all over again. I was eventually fired because I had a "bad attitude".

You would have a bad attitude too if you went from transcriber to lead editor and were also forced to take on new responsibilities that had nothing to do with your job because several different departments were trying to claim "ownership" of your project. Meanwhile I did not see a single raise. Corporate politics!

I want to mention the fact that Ant has lots of inserts in it and somehow over the years some of the ink from said inserts made its way onto the actual disc (luckily this hasn't noticeably effected the audio). This is one reason why homemade packaging might look nice, but isn't an ideal solution for long term storage. Luckily that is one service this project is providing -- access to archival material that might be lost otherwise. My copy is #18/100, so there aren't very many of these floating around. You have to assume some copies were lost or destroyed, so how many actually remain?

Ladies and gentlemen, for your listening pleasure, 2 CDs by Ant.

Ant (Fabulous Friends)
1. Where Happiness Begins
2. The Queue To Your Heart
3. Your Heart Got Bored



















Cures For Broken Hearts (Fortune & Glory)
1. You've Lost Your Appeal
2. Tongues
3. The Cure For Broken Hearts
4. Fly On Your Wall
5. Spoil