Anyway, that self-attack aside, this is a summary post of stage three of the London trip we had last weekend. Following the delights of meeting Joss Whedon and having put my hunger at bay we duly made our now regular pilgrimage to Rough Trade Records off Neal's Yard in the basement of Slam City Skates.
Rough Trade is always a joy to visit, since like Selectadisc in Nottingham, they have an acute eye for good annotations on their wares. They also have some very cool posters from people seeking a place in the music biz: this one caught our eyes this time!
Anyway, some of great musical delights were obtained here that are getting some serious airplay in our house. These were: Subtle's For Hero: For Fool (an off-spin from the world of CloudDead so suitably fine and quirky hip-hop-esque sounds there); The Novelist/Walking Without Effort by Richard Swift (a fine singer-songwriter); L Pierre's Dip (bizarrely he was once better known as Aiden Moffat of Arab Strap, which indicates his quality but scarcely captures his laid-back soundscapes on this mini-album); The Maps' Start Something (they come from lovely J.J.'s Northampton); and Rough Trade's own compilation Counter Culture 06 (featuring some very fine quirky finds not least some seriously weird fast-speed in-tongues style preaching: The Sounds of American Doomsday Cults... I kid you not...).
But best of all on the 'I take your obscure music and raise you this' stakes, came find of the day from OJ of Osaka, a visiting Japanese music maker, plying his music in broken English to the staff at Rough Trade.
We had seen the guy wandering the store, stumbling over us as we each rummaged the same shelves of interest. We had overheard his (VERY) broken English attempts to communicate with the store staff. And then this sweet, sweet music came up. Neil came over to me "this is great!" "I know" I replied " ask what it is so you can buy it".
Neil went over to ask at the desk "What are you playing at the moment? It's fantastic."
"Sorry mate, it's his" - cue gesture to Mr OJ, who promptly receives from Neil and me some very cheesy grins, thumbs up, nods of approval and cheers of "brilliant!"
And then he dives in his bag and pulls out a CD and proffers it to us! Definitely brilliant!
He works under the name of Cheekbone. Check him out!
1 comment:
Rough Trade Records shop in Covent Garden - lived in London for 18 years and cannot believe I've only been in there once. And that was to see a couple of blokes from Richmond Fontaine doing a little acoustic set. After they turned down three of my requests I said "you can't keep turning down them down" the guitarist said quite simply: "yes we can!" I thought it was quite a good response!
Anyway, wish I knew even one of the artists whose music you purchased - I must be getting old, man!
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