By the Sea on The Great Pop Supplement

Still getting caught up with reviews, and getting back to Brooklyn.... it's been a long while since I mentioned the Great Pop Supplement and their limited UK releases. They've been steadily pressing away, selling out of everything in their back catalog and were an early inspiration for trying to put some stuff out myself after hearing their early Washington Phillips single...completely eye opening. They have a long history of fostering singles all kinds of psyche artists, from MV&EE to Wooden Wand, and By The Sea have a similar hazy, reverb delivery, with a wet twang from a surf guitar and heavily echo'd tambourine shakes. There's almost a Real Estate laid back, heavy melody feel to "Waltz Away"...this sort of mellow falsetto harmony sort of reminds me of my first concert ever (well... that I would admit), The Ocean Blue at a local college many a fading memory ago...like this slow motion carving video of pipes and pools.

Dom is also planning a new offshoot label and you can:

email deepdistance(at)hotmail.co.uk to receive info on some killer releases planned… (I should apologize to those who’ve done that already and are now reading this twice, mind you!) ….The first release will be ready in around 3 weeks, expect info on that email pretty soon…

Get this one from The Great Pop Supplement.

Next 45 up on the great pop supplement features the debut proper from wirral based by the sea, following the rapid fire selling out of their split 7 with london's the see see this summer.

both sides here 'waltz away' and 'stay where the sun is' point at a mighty songwriting pedigree, belying fully the bands' age and relative 'newcomer' status. put simply, this is classic pop. the a side to these ears owes as much to the west coast pop art experimental band as it does geographical counterparts the pale fountains or the stone roses. as the first chorus hits on 'waltz away', you almost hear the sun burst through the clouds bathing all in it's pristine glow- just a perfect pop moment.

produced by ex-coral guitarist bill ryder-jones and released in a numbered vinyl only edition of 300 in hammer press sleeves with an expected rapid fire sellout. the band are currently recording their debut lp amidst packed out, acclaimed live shows. get on it!

2 x new Great Pop Supplement 7"'s - Their 50th!!!

Hope these aren't gone already but I finally had a minute to mention these two new singles from The Great Pop Suplement genre, you get the second coming of psyche, Wooden ...I don't know how Dom keeps up with this pace of putting out quality releases. He's just one man for god sakes! One man who just released his 50th; a split single with Spaceman 3 and Wooden Shjips? Amazing. If I know GPS, then the digital jpg graphic above is pointless to even put up there...the packaging will be extensive and handcrafted, let alone the vinyl is split colored as well...nuts. GPS specialized in making every release special in some way...as if the recording wasn't enough, and in Spacemen 3's case, true pioneers of the shoegazeShjips to cover one of their songs on the B-Side!. I'm going to admit here, I didn't catch on to S3 when they were around, I keep hearing about their obvious influence and only briefly heard a few tracks here and there. This could be the push I've been looking for, go all out and listen to the history. Here GPS put the demo to their last single on vinyl...I'm sure this was hard to find to begin with and impossible on vinyl.
Honestly, how Dom puts this quality together is a mystery...and with just enough to press on to the next?
The Jack Rose single I'm looking forward to as well, I get into acoustic instrumental Fahey stuff all the time and between him and Blackshaw, I'm into this resurgence of technical acoustic as well. The last single by him on GPS was great, and I'm surprised to see another one actually, but what works, works. He's playing NYC the 20th at Abrons Art Center on Grand Street, can't wait to see him live.
Bottom line, the label is completely impressive, I love the quality of these singles, the detail, the inserts, packaging...he's curated a collection of really interesting, cutting edge artists from all genre's on top of it, and I blindly order whenever I'm feeling particularly flush...wish these could be had some other way stateside, but that's the catch to getting some of most interesting singles ever pressed....
Dom says:


2 x new GPS 7"'s are ready, i'm having to do pre-orders and encourage payments now if only cos' so many people are asking and i just don't know what i have left and the things aren't even delivered yet!

both releases i have had my hands tied on, as regards quantity. gps49 is a pressing of 500 only and gps50 had to be no more than 1000.

gps49 jack rose and the black twigs "shooting creek" 7"

very limited uk tour single from jack rose backed with the twigs, for sale exclusively on november's uk jaunt, but available mailorder from the label in advance. 2 exclusive tunes recorded in nice lo-fi style in jack's kitchen. Jack's last GPS 45 sold out in 48 hours and because there are just 400 commercial copies of this one- as things stand this looks set to go the same way. cost is £4.99.

gps50 spacemen 3 "big city" (demo) / wooden shjips "i believe it" 7"

For it's 50th release the great pop supplement offers up this incredible pairing of like minded spirits, for a total one off split 45. 2 unreleased nuggets from legendary psych rockers from both sides of the pond. The Spacemen tune is a beautiful demo to their last ever single, the mighty "big city". stripped of it's lyrical nod to the electric prunes, but still very much displaying the kraftwerk influence of the original, the softer spoken lyrical passages offer up an almost confessional electro blues variant, unique to this early take.

After 2 studio LPs, Wooden Shjips are often bracketed with the Spacemen, with their blissed out Velvets / Doors / Kraut sound- so it's perhaps of no surprise that they should take on a Spacemen gem for their own reworking. "I Believe It" from the classic "Playing with Fire" album gets the nod for a radical overhaul- where the original's predominantly keyboard lead is given the Shjips' guitar fuzz and 2 note organ treatment. a killer take on an old favourite, debuted recently on the road and offered up here as their first outright UK release. Packaging as ever with the GPS is from the top drawer, cover art is provided by natty brooker (the original spacemen percussionist) and is from original work put together during his time within the band's first line-up. A pretty much essential and incredible 45, destined not to hang around long....

on this one i tried to bust a gut to make it no more expensive than a regular gps release, but when i tell you it's on duo tone colour vinyl with inserts / sticker etc, i'm genuinely sorry to have to ask as much as £5.49 on this one. (one look in the rough trade racks reveals several 45s priced higher than this even without sleeves i hasten to add!)

so for uk orders on BOTH singles it's: £11.50 incl post
for europe it's £12 for both with post and everywhere else it's £13 incl post. paypal as ever is best, on this email address. i must just point out that the uk postal service is knackered- so do bear with me on these! - GPS

More details from Norman Recs, who also have it available to order...

Or go direct and get a hold of Dom at thegreatpopsupplement (at) hotmail.com.

Cam Deas on The Great Pop Supplement

Cam Deas - Untitled Blues Part 1 & 2 (7" on Great Pop Supplement, limited to 300 copies)

I just saw James Blackshaw at Mercury Lounge recently and have been on a bit of a instrumental acoustic kick lately, so this single from the Great Pop Supplement by Cam Deas fit right in. Another English acoustic instrumental guitar virtuoso? I guess we can't get enough.
I'm not saying I'm familiar enough with either of their styles to the degree I could tell them apart, and so far this is very similar.
It's interesting GPS says this should be approached as one long piece.
In 'Untitled #1', on his myspace It's huge sounding, deliberate slow strumming, he's picking a steel string...real tinny, twangy...but giant, booming like Blackshaw's recordings...or like Fahey. Not sure if it's all 12 string, or not. It sounds full, I think I'm hearing all those high harmonics, with a touch of reverb or echo maybe...or it's recorded in a church...there's some sustaining waves after the strumming stopped.

I'm listening to another one of his: 'five bells' and it's very electronic, with synth atmospheric stuff, so this 7" might not be completely representative of his stuff, but I'm going to track down a vinyl full length too....Insound has one.

Seems like there's some south american influence possibly...like Django Reinheart? He's another one.
I'm getting into this scene a little more...I'm such an amateur.

Get it from Cam Deas's myspace page, or contact Dom at thegreatpopsupplement (at) hotmail.com if you want to get a couple of things, like that Spaceman 3 12"....if there are any left.

GPS says:
Stunning 45 from Sheffield based Cam Deas- a debut 45 on wax. 2 heavy strummed blues across 2 sides of vinyl- best approached as 1 long piece. Sure, the names of Fahey, Basho, Blackshaw, Rose etc spring to mind, but this has a raw, slow building presence and an expressive approach all of it’s own. A potent brew- perhaps a departure from recent work on labels like Blackest Rainbow and Dead Pilot, released as a pressing of 300 numbered, date stamped copies in linen card, fine art sleeves with sticker.

Why are you so limited GPS singles? And why does the post office especially fuck with the singles from England? The Jack Rose one...I've tried everything...except I came across something in an old sonic youth zine (issue2) where you can unwarp a record by putting it between two pieces of glass in the sun...I'll have to try that when it stops raining...it's the last resort for that one.

Great pop Supplement - NEW

2 new ones from The Great Pop Supplement...I haven't been able to bring myself to order from them lately..I keep waiting to have one massive order and combine all the shipping into one big shipment I feel ok about...not that everything isn't worth hearing, but with the amount of 7" vinyl being pressed lately from stuff I have to hear...I'm cutting back on those chance things.
These two are a perfect example of the curve balls being thrown by GPS.
Beach Fuzz is really massive feedbacking sine waves ...echo, what sounds like free jazz, psyche..some of these noises might be made with vocals, it's really being manipulated...played if you will. At times sounding like a heavily manipulated voice, or a bent/slide guitar, through a theremin? If you don't get it, it's just going to be insane noise on both sides, noise that you won't be able to identify...it will sound like nothing y0u have ever heard for better or worse.
They are playing all over upstate NY this month and not stepping foot in NYC...what! Are you kidding? Get a show down here already. Oh Wait.... Silentbarn on the 27th...well when you call it ridgewood, I tend to overlook it I don't know where the hell that it. Queens, on the otherhand I can figure out.
I thought I was going a little crazy.

Next single is from the see see, with Pete Greenwood...ok he had a single out a while back on GPS, so I think I know what this is going to be about...sounds about right. Kind of sing songy, like very english pop...classically influenced. Classically like 40 years ago...filtered through some kind of nineties thing...a little indie/country. Like the posies or something. I saw that 'Dig' documentary....it sounds a little like that...kind of non descript historic pop. The other single a few months back i guess sold out in a week or so...this one might be gone as I write this....The exact opposite of Beach Fuzz...but that's why this label is so great...it's not one note, one punchline. I don't know where it's going and I like it.


2 x new GPS 7s to start the year with, both poles apart in must be said- a real case of light and dark / chalk and cheese call it what you will....

first up GPS39 beach fuzz with 2 untitled drone / improv noise pieces. to borrow from elsewhere on the net, this kinda sums up the band better than i could given my lack of preparation in mailout here (dull day spent sleeving so i'll be a magpie on this one:) - "bowed, scraped and intuitively picked lap steel, wailing, echo drenched fuzz synth, percussion and spontaneously composed vocals" numbered pressing of 300 in fliptop style, yearling lined card.

next up is GPS41 the see see "keep your head". following last year's debut on the gps (300 that came and went in 4 days), the band follow that with a 2 trk passing nod to big star, the byrds and the buffalo springifeld. big things expected from this band featuring ex-members of the eighteenth day of may, the soledad brothers and pete greenwood of recent "sirens" heavenly lp and debut on gps fame. the band supported the raconteurs and jack white's rumoured to be a fan, although that and reported nme interest....mmm (that a good thing or not nowadays!?!)

anyway, both singles are £4.49 each (plus post) or:-

£10 for both with post included in the uk.
£11.50 for both elsewhere in the world.

GPS 3 new ones!

Ahhh the day before thanksgiving...You are probably cooking all kinds of crap or getting ready to...just got this latest email about 3 more offerings to be thankful for from the Great Pop Supplement. things are definitely looking up exchange rate wise so this won't be too hard on the wallet this holiday season.
First up is Remos third ear. I'm having trouble deciding if this is a reissue of 70's period psyche-folk stuff or this is a current band? If I didn't know better the myspace even seems period, old washed out photos of band members, the recording sounds grainy and all tripped out, atmospheric nature samples, heavy wah guitar. Lots of Zepplin Echo....or like an acoustic, bongo Wooden Shjips...that homage to the sound but utterly authentic.
Tom Baxindale is working all over the map at times I get a slightly warped carnival sound, like a breathy Tom Waits or something, not grating, layered vocals...accordion and banjo. Singular singer songwriter sound, with a hint of gypsy in there, quick high nylon guitar like old traditional story songs from docks or bars.
Crayon I just couldn't find anywhere...I don't think it's this band happy crayon which is pretty insane yelling distorted synth...hopefully they post more info about this release soon.
Well, the chestnuts are roasting and the turkey is brining...editing the stilts show for Friday's podcast...no post tomorrow, just eating.


From GPS:
anyway, this is to advertise 3 x new 7"'s, and a 200 copy cd. usually i only tend to go out on something that is ready to mail straight away- however i'm having to mail now because of a mix up with the cd and release date. so PLEASE bear this in mind: while it is ok to order now, it won't be til a week or so that i mail them out ok?! the 3 new singles are by remos third ear (very eerie, 'middle of the woods' kinda swedish psych folk gear- 3 trk killer ep), tom baxendale (uk singer songwriter in an acoustic / psych vein not unlike gene clark in places perhaps, old gig partner of previous gpster pete greenwood), and then perhaps as a slight departure, crayon (sombre synth tones give way to slightly warped pop gear!) ...hoping those hastily invented on the spot descriptions haven't scared you off!?

elephant micah on Great Pop Supplement

This makes perfect sense on the Great Pop Supplement, it's quiet home recorded almost sebadoh-esque to me. The sound of a not so perfect acoustic guitar in a room with live drums gives that song a sincerity that all the tracks in the world can't capture. Kind of sounding like M Ward, a 4 track Neil Young, Iron and Wine...with range. I'm listening to this 'Loud Guitars' release and it's exactly what you think it'd be, completely the opposite of quiet, alt-country which is the majority of his other work it seems.
Now there's no myspace...which I completely understand, but plenty of stuff on his website for browsing...and downloading entire albums, where you can donate what you want.
It looks like most of his output has been CD-R, this is maybe Joe O'connell's like 3rd release on vinyl, and damn I want to hear this, and go back and listen to the 'Home of Astronauts' 7" which is still available for $3! from 3rd Uncle.

GPS32 Elephant Micah “Equine Emblem” 7”
Following a number of wonderful CDR releases and the incredible “Hindu Windmills” full length on Time-Lag in the U.S, comes this vinyl only EP, “Equine Emblem” on The Great Pop Supplement.
Four hauntingly beautiful pieces penned by Kentucky based Joe O’Connell.

“Return of the Gentle Rider” opens the EP, a predominantly acoustic / drone / feedback laden, slow builder which gives way to the gorgeously fragile, vocal only “Game Reserve”. An incredible piece with a seemingly ‘recorded in one take’ feel.
Side Two opens with the late night blues of “A Harmony (with horse)”, before closing the EP with the violin and banjo hoe-down of “Rocky Ripple Meltdown”. A beautiful record -housed in sweet screened sleeves and one of the best on the GPS so far… LTD TO 370.
£4.99 FOR A COPY OF THIS ONE, CONTAINS NEW CATALOGUE AND NEWLY DESIGNED GPS STICKER!

email thegreatpopsupplement (at) hotmail.com for a quote for shipping....which is something like 7 pounds....I think.

www.myspace.com/thegreatpopsupplement

www.thegreatpopsupplement.com

The Great pop supplement - 2 more new ones!

MV+EE I have to say, I just can't give them another chance after seeing how terrible they were live, but I did listen to Jerusalem.... today and they have a nice huge sound, complete with tape starting and stopping hiss and clicks, all the while keeping a psyche sound like the shjips or JAMC going. Dense sounding and huge percussion...the drums are underwater in a huge cavern far far away , I didn't think myspace could duplicate that sound. Swirling organs and feedback, I can't really tell if there are vocals or not at times they have so many effects they ust blend in. It seems to vary with tracks with more upfront vocals that sound alright...I like the more opaque stuff, but both of these will be keepers from the Supplement, and maybe you can ebay the MV+EE one to some sucker, or it will be so awesomely packaged you just won't even care....or MV+EE actually sounds good when they have time to rehearse and record....let's hope so.
(That pic of the split color 45 is from a few releases back....it's just an example of their high quality work.)

gps33 mv+ee "the best it ever was" 45 another winner from matt and erika with 'the golden road', chunky double bass led, summer psych slow burner in cool linen card sleeves, limited to 500 and the second of this year's 2 x mv+ee GPS 45s, the first came and went in 72 hours!

gps34 jerusalem and the starbaskets / bengal traitors split 45 urgent split 45 on clear vinyl in gorgeous op-art acetate sheet sleeves. JATS offer up the mighty "everybody's dig accounted for" (check out the video on youtube!) while the bengal traitors is a part time project for james and jessica toth (wooden wand etc). a psych monster, with label art and op-art sleeve to match...!

cost on these is as follows:- £4.29 each (vinyl pressing plant price increase :-( ) OR the pair for £10 including post in the UK. £11.50 post included for the pair into europe £12.00 post included for the pair elsewhere. AS USUAL PAYPAL IS BEST PLEASE on this email address is fine thanks...

thegreatpopsupplement [at] hotmail.com

Great Pop Supplement - Jack Rose

Damn you oil, the war, and other global economics I don't understand because now you are effecting my 7" purchasing.
It's really just getting worse and worse....I mean maybe I'll appreciate them more, but this is getting out of control, just the exchange rate, not the quality.
In fact GPS releases are so amazing, I will have to just try to forget how much it's really costing because after listening to Jack Rose this morning I have to hear it on 45. I'm sure this will be exclusive tracks to GPS and probably will never be on vinyl again, but to have the needle automatically slide over and fall down on this record will be so worth whatever it ends up costing. Oh.. records....you kill me.
Jack Rose sounds like James Blackshaw and John Fahey, amazing acoustic fingerpicking, but coming from a punk/ experiemental background, it's playing with those ideas, and 'AMP' on the myspace even incorporates that vinyl hiss into the music itself, so if that was then pressed on vinyl it would really be weird. I'm happy to have come across him and can't wait to hear this instrumental stuff on 7" from the Supplement.
The owl is from the site, as the sleeve art obviously wasn't anywhere yet.
Thanks Dom, my 7 pounds is on it's way...can I preorder the next 5 years releases so it doesn't get any more expensive?
You're the best.

having to do this a little differently this time round, there's a new GPS 7" to push but i'm having to mailout and advertise it pre-being ready!
the jack rose 7" is nearing completion. jack has kind of set the terms on this one, ie. a pressing of 500 only, his % is a wee bit higher than usual and he's also buying the first batch. still a small price to pay for getting the great man onboard. BUT it means 2 things- first that i need to know exactly how many i need for you lot, who'll always come first here, prior to going out with the distro/mailorder set ups- and second that it's a wee bit costlier than usual 7" price. however, it's not only a great record but comes in a tasty little book like sleeve w/sticker! so i apologise for going out on this without even having them to hand, but paypal/payments are encouraged asap to secure your copies.
£7 elsewhere incl. postage. paypal on this address is best as always please.
thegreatpopsupplement (at) hotmail.com

The Great Pop Supplement - 2 More new ones!

A couple more from the excellent Great pop supplement, as long as Dom keeps making these, I will keep trying to come up with the money to buy them. Since I haven't ordered the last two I might be able to put these all together and over the ocean. He is also putting older releases together from the last year or so, the ones without sleeves and putting them in minibox sets for super cheap. I think 20 or 25 pounds for the past 4 or 5 releases.
Definitely email him if you are interested:
thegreatpopsupplementathotmail.com
Here they are....
Dom also says the first full length is in the works as well...

GPS26 WHSYP “Sun Without End” (Family EP) 7”
6 minutes of beautiful, sprawling acoustic psych from eternally evolving, sunny, californian folk collective whsyp.

Hazy high end vocal harmonies backed with subtle sitars (courtesy of skygreen leopards, part time wooden wand backing guy glenn donaldson) which aim for the stars yet quickly turn into a darker beast as the piece closes out. A beautiful 45 in fliptop match wallet style sleeves made from linen card and in a run of 300 only….

GPS27 THE SEE SEE “Up The Hill”/”Citadel Shuffle” 7”
Debut 45 from what has become something of a multi-national supergroup of sorts. Ex- eighteenth day of may mainguy, richard olson, soledad brothers drummer ben swank, former gps 45 guy pete greenwood on guitars and lap steel and kevin peyok.
2 fabulous slices of southern u.s folk rock, recalling gene clark, the byrds and burritos with a passing nod to big star perhaps. Beautiful, soaring vocals and a gem of a 45 to open up with. Early gigs included bill doss from the olivia tremor control- unsurprising given the uplifting nature of the sunny psych tunes within… 300 only 45 given the usual GPS packaging treatment.

cost breakdown as follows:-

for both: £7.98 rounded up to £9.50 incl post in the uk, or up to £10.50 into europe or £11 to the states/japan/aus/nz/elsewhere.
let me know if it's just a copy of one and i'll sort a price for you from there.

Pet Politics - The Great Pop Supplement

Just got news about the latest Great pop supplement 7", and this one sounds great. Of course the packaging will be amazing, I have to find $ for this one. Magnus Larsson is Pet Politics. On his myspace he counts sonic youth and panda bear as some of his top 8 friends, just based on that I'm ready to fork over the pounds...
I really can't say enough about The Great Pop Supplement, they are a education and art. One of the most amazing series I've ever seen. Every single one is worth getting.

I have to wonder if this was taken from that Silver Jews song, that's all I can think of with these two words together, over and over in my head.
Well it seems he probably has, as well as being an aficionado of the lo-fi.
Checking out the myspace (all tracks are downloadable by the way), this sounds a little Lou Reed, really deep, ahead in the mix, I really like the guitar sound, it lives in the alt-country world a little bit.

It really reminds me of someone else too, like Marshall Crenshaw a little?

Go paypal GPS.

gps22 pet politics "spring" ep 7"
debut 45 of killer, lo-fi sunshine psych/pop from swedish one man outfit, pet politics. limited to 300 numbered copies, this one is a wee bit more costly than usual 45s but you'll understand when you see the packaging- tasty, diecut round/shell like sleeves! £4.29 each....

Rosewood green - Great pop supplement

The Great Pop Supplement keeps putting out amazing seven inches. Really...even if you aren't a fan or don't know the artist, I highly recommend every one of these. The packaging is so amazing...every one has inserts with mini playing cards, or hand sewn sleeves. So far I've loved every one of these.
I don't know Rosewood Green but the previous Pete Greenwood 7" was great, so I'm all for this new collaboration. Dom has also hinted at a James Blackshaw 7"...the two things I have heard are excellent additions to my fahey/Gastr del sol playlists.

From Dom:
also ready to order is a 4 track 7" ep by the wonderful rosewood green, a debut ep featuring the fabulous slide guitar work of pete greenwood (from an earlier gps45), gorgeous strings / cellos across 4 very english folk tunes. 250 only all in art nouveau tile print sleeves, tracing paper inserts and finished off with a gps ribbon clipped to the sleeves (how can you resist?!) cost on these is £3.99.

Contact him directly at thegreatpopsupplement(at)hotmail.com.

Eidas Mai • The great pop supplement

'Where to begin' / 'Fly away'

Here's the last of the seven inches I got from The Great Pop Supplement. This last one is from Eidas Mai.
I honestly thought well how can this be as good as the other two, they have to owe some one a favor or something, whose friend wanted a 7" pressed. This was not that seven inch.

I love the way all of these are mastered, the vinyl is really thick, and at 45 rpm this thing is loud. I barely had to turn it up. I think I just got finished with an old love as laughter 7" and all of a sudden the murkiness lifted with the angelic layered vocals from Ms. Mai. Her brother plays all the buitar and bass (?) tracks along with backup vocals. I will have to check out his project 'Epok'.

Both of these tracks are streaming on their myspace.

'Where to begin' adds xylophone to the layers and layers of harmonized vocals in this track. There is something just off here, it may be on purpose, it's unsettling, the harmony is a little off, and it's everywhere. There isn't a second on this seven inch that isn't full of sweeping ghostly vocal harmony. Then it just escalates and turns up the volume (folkily).

'Fly away' was my favorite. This remids me of taking out old folk albums out from the library and then coming across that one that hits you. Usually I ended up disapointed just randomly picking them based on the cover art, but then again I'd find one I would have to renew week after week. It shouldn't but it seems far removed from my everyday musical experience. This starts again with a happy enough sounding acoustic strumming, but it's the vocals that get me, all of a sudden it turns dark, the clouds just came out but it seemed perfectly clear. It's contradictory, the sweet with halloween. It's sad but sounds so good.

This cover art matches this unrest perfectly...and like the snack size almond joy, I can't get enough.

Pete Greenwood • The great pop supplement

This next release on The great pop supplement is from Pete Greenwood. This is equally as impressively put together as the washington phillips, super heavy vinyl cover protecting this 7 inch, with adapter and brown paper sleeve inserts.
The two tracks here are 'Heavy eva' and 'Bats over Barstow'
This is Pete and an acoustic guitar, some serious picking, and slide. On his myspace page he lists influences like john fahey, bonnie prince billy, nick drake and smog. I can hear all of this in these two intimate tracks, perfect on vinyl.
'Heavy Eva' is fingerpicking heavy and vocally I want to place him in the spectrum of acoustic one man closer to a nick drake, there's a soft quality to the lyrics, you might have to relisten and lean in to catch the end of a line. Nothing's going to beat you over the head. you better be paying attention. The picking reminds me of some of his stuff as well, but also dylan completely, something about these chords and changes.
'Bats over Barstow', the title the ralph steadman illustration from 'fear and loathing', showcases some amazing slide/picking work. I recognized the line 'when the going get's weird the weird turn pro' from hunter s. and then started putting it all together, the stream of consciousness retelling of the adventures in vegas. This is all done in a dissaffected, barely separated sentence quiet voice and it's all over too quickly, and I want to play it again, it was just getting started. It has that kind of telling a story folk quality, but in an abstract way.
I will be looking out for a full length release by Mr. greenwood, as I'm sure he's just getting started.

Washington phillips on The Great Pop Supplement

This is released by an amazing label: The great pop supplement. I don't know why I just found out about this place...all seven inches, super limited, amazing stuff...of course way too late to get any of them except the most recent three still in print, which I will be talking about this week.

This label is a seven inch goldmine beginning with this Washington Phillips 45. It's like I don't want to tell anyone about that record store I never see anyone in with more 7 inches than I can possibly buy all at once for dirt cheap. They don't know what they have, and I don't want to tell them.

I forget what mailing list I saw this on, but for some reason I decided to investigate further. I think in the description it talked about him making his own instrument and I thought about Harry Partch and why that isn't done more these days. Why does that seem like such a gimmick? Would be hard to really take seriously an act that all of a sudden had a sound you never heard before? Would it be pretentious to start messing around with a guitar? I know there are tons of experimental act playing with manipulated instruments or parts of them. I guess it just doesn't turn up in hugely commercially successful music.

I think at one time or another everyone takes a few months to try to absorb the blues, to take it all in . I know it gave birth to just about everything, I know about the mystery of Robert Johnson, I went off in a few directions to lightning hopkins, or blind lemon. This was a scarey mysterious musical world, that sounded like the time period, weather it was the recording method or equipment, something about it can sound so eerie, so otherworldly. I bought a leadbelly record on the street for a dollar, and that was the sound, every crackle and dirt lined groove. I am far from even having the slightest knowledge, but I knew it was the most important thing I could ony barely understand
but I digress....
I tracked down the label and contacted Dom, who sent the few releases still on the shelves. All of their 7 inches, and that's all they release, are in editions 100 or 200, so check back often if you want to catch something, I'm sure they are all are worth ordering.

I started poking around online and stumbled into this mysterious figure from the very beginnings of music as we know it. There is a huge legend behind Washington phillips as a quick google search will attest to. Musicologists debating how much his instrument, a Dolceola, was reworked, or even if it was this instrument. Was it changed out of neccessity or ingenuity. Even his life after these recordings remains a mystery, everyone interviewed can hardly remember details. At this point the only thing left are 18 songs, played on this harp sounding instrument. Everytime I put the needle back to the beginning I'm suprised all over again. The two tracks here: 'Denomonation blues' and ' Take your burden to the lord and leave it there' are excellent transfers, there isn't a pop or crackle, or the usual noise I have associated with anything from this time period. In fact it's a little strange to have this material on a brand new crystal clear record, if it could sound any more removed.

'Denomonation blues' asks all faiths to remember the point, describing baptists, methodists, and the fighting...'but you better have jesus...I tell ya that's all.' I feel like I have no place singing along but I can't help it. It doesn't help I know it after 50 listens.
the AA side, (true there can't be any b-sides) 'Take your burden...' is a gospel, reminding us through all kinds of adversity just take all that trouble piling up and give it to the lord. Let him deal with it. Good advice.

I have to get into the packaging too... pop supplement has outdone itself with the handmade treasures inside. An acetate photo of washington himself, multiple xeroxed liner notes on the recordings, the 7 inch inside a brown paper sleeve stamped with the great pop supplement. They even include one of those yellow adapters for the oversized hole. They really elevate this release to a precious artifact. No wonder there's such a limited run, what are they trying to pull another blue monday? This has to be the only vinyl release of this material I'll ever be lucky enough to hear.

This isn't the usual blues stuff, nevermind the high strumming zither, these are optomistic songs about perseverance... and yes, the lord. I could imagine this stuff would make you put that bottle back down and stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Washington Phillips
Denomination Blues Part One/Take Your Burden To The Lord And Leave It There
The Great Pop Supplement GPS-12

Two sides from the late Washington Philips, preacher, vocalist and player of a hand-built ‘Dolceola’, a particularly celestial-sounding strummed harp/dulcimer that was played with keys like a piano and was marketed as a “miniature grand piano”. Phillips cut a series of gospel sides in the late 1920s that still sound completely otherworldly and have little parallel in the folk/blues continuum. Supremely benign atmosphere combines with beautiful bell-tones that reflect on aspects as diverse as the improvisations of William Parker, the Highball settings of Harry Partch, the lunar blues of MV & EE and the Venusian magic of primer-era Scorces. This beautifully packaged set bundles two great 1927 cuts with liners by Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3, a mylar-printed picture, insert, jukebox spindle and hand-numbered sleeve, edition of 220 copies.