indie pop ain't noise pollution

Roque Ruiz the man behind Cloudberry isn't one to mince his words or keep his thoughts to himself , any one who has read his blog or the inserts that accompany his 7"'s will testify to this, I may not agree with all of what he has to say but I do applaud him for actually standing up and saying exactly how he feels, no matter who he might hit in the crossfire or what shots get fired back at him. He lives for his label, pumping every available money into it, he is constantly discovering new bands and old bands from yesteryear. I do try and keep up with his output but it's not easy . I've just caught up with some of his recent-ish releases and I am really impressed with them, not to take anything away from past releases but these last few have  taken the label even higher .

Zipper - Holidays in Moscow starts off nice and gentle and then turns nice and noisy. Not sure what instrument is doing the lead parts but I love the sound, a melodica is listed on the sleeve but they must have ran it through a distortion pedal to get that pure sound of joy.

Oh! Custer - Forget It  The sleeve is beautiful , the back looks old and sun bleached a nice effect, while we are on about effects if F.M. Cornog from East River Pipe is reading this and wondering where is echo/delay unit disappeared to , maybe you should give Oh! Custer a ring. Both songs also remind me of a slightly lo-fi Cavalcade.

Gold-Bears - Something to think about is danceable and catchy in equal measures. Full of those early MBV drum rolls and trebly guitar noise, this has to be the best song released on Cloudberry so far, but this is an e.p. and So Natural is as well, Jeremy reckons he sucks on guitar if this true then judging by the guitar solo on this song then my guitar playing must be absolute garbage! Yeah Tonight on the b-side is one of those rare pop moments when the flip side is as good as the A. I've just read in Cloudberry fanzine number 6 that they have an LP out on Slumberland, how did I miss that?

Caucus - Wondering Ones Starting like a long lost Hurrah song and then turning into something that can really only be described as a dreamy-RIDE-like pop tune.The b-side is a cover of a Rocketship song that I've not heard before, a band I have to admit I missed out on, I was lost in the indie wilderness at the time I think, luckily I was rescued by Jimmy Matinee who did introduce me to them but not this song I love you like the way I used to do which manages to fuse all the MBV years together into one  dynamite of a song.

Persian Rugs - Always All , this is Canadians somehow managing to sound like Australia to me and bands like the Falling Joys and The Killjoys. You must then flip it over for I Have Been Assured my favourite of the two with it's girl/boy vocals and an almost beatle-esque bridge and some mighty fine slide guitar too.

Very Truly Yours - Sleep In The Clouds  I could listen to the voice of the girl from Very Truly Yours forever, really I could, it's as beautiful as a biggest blue sky on the sunniest summer afternoon. This song has me floating away especially the bit at the end when the strings come back in on there own, …..mmmmm.

Youngfuck -  Black Tulips / 204,7 Electric heartbeats push these songs along, one side makes me feel sad the other lifts my spirits. One side is like the Wake the other New Order, Cloudberry it seems have discovered a new band for Factory Records.

This should really be in a fanzine but I've no idea when/if I'll do another, I'll probably just stick to writing about what I like here. Please visit the Cloudberry Records web site and have a listen to some of the songs to see if I'm right or wrong about them.

something about your face i wish that you were mine

Play People - Never let me down e.p.  (this almighty pop! 010) coming soon!!!!! (oh la-la, oh la-la)

ride another wave, moving on your own

Sunrain - Born Alone e.p. (this almighty pop! 009) coming soon!!!!!

I'm not sleepy and there ain't no place I'm going to

Soon very soon . . . .

It was 20 years ago today, well 20 years and a few weeks actually but i'm sure no one is counting

 

There should be a Bulldozer Crash compilation coming out soon once all the tracks have been gathered up. It will be a co-release between Jigsaw and Pebble records. Also coming even sooner is number six of This Almighty Pop! fanzine and the last two releases on the cd-r label.  Sorry to everyone involved for taking so long.

 

your technique it leaves me weak, my heart knows it's the beat I seek

      
As much as I like indie music I do like other pop songs as well. I've recently been revisiting my 7" vinyl collection and here's a few that kind of go together, well in my mind they do. Rather than just put up the songs and nothing else here are some meaningless words about them. . . . Joboxers weren't they made up from ex-members of Subway Sect? The b-side of this one was co-written by Vic Goddard. Won't Turn Back was recommeded to me by Malcolm from the Gravy Train a long time ago,  The Vapours always reminded me of the Jam especially this song, Time UK featured Rick Buckler, The Redskins had a few classic 7"s, it was between this one and Lean On Me. The Faith Brothers were from around the same time, I hope some these songs seem quite apt at this moment in time. Does any one write protest songs with good tunes any more? Robert Lloyd with a song that should have been a hit, I know I say it all the time about songs that I think are great but most of these could have or should have been.  Microdisney's was, I'm nearly certain a video for it was on the chart show. Squire another band that were almost the Jam or maybe wanted to be the Who, like The Moment did, I had an LP by them but it's long since gone. Boys Wonder had all the style and a tune to excite and a Sid James sample, I'm sure some indie band did that before them. The Gents another Mod band who once played at Newton Aycliffe Youth Center, I missed it but I work with the person who organised it when he was only 14. The Big Sound Authority were one of Weller's discoveries and a good one at that. The Mari Wilson song is a b-side and it sounds that good. The Small Town Parade were another Paul Bevoir band. Quite a modish collection at times, so to finish it off , little bit of 'plastic punk' from the Leyton Buzzards who eventually turned into Modern Romance.

1. just got lucky / the joboxers
2. won’t turn back /vic goddard   
3. news at ten / the vapours   
4. playground of privelige / time uk
5. keep on keeping on / the redskins
6. the country of the blind / the faith brothers
7. something nice / robert lloyd and new four seasons
8. town to town / microdisney
9. does stephanie know? / squire   
10. 1, 2, they fly / the moment
11. goodbye jimmy dean / boys wonder   
12. new direction / the gents..   
13. this house / big sound authority
14. you look so good / mari wilson
15. sunday way of life / small town parade   
16. hanging around / the leyton buzzards

I guess I'll never be a popklubb d.j.