I want to go on record that ‘Healing Centre’ is the best MODEL VILLAGE album there is. You see, I thought the last one was the best, but turns out this one is. If I say this about their next album, please remind of this paragraph so I can reign in my adoration for a band with the specific skill of wrangling every inch of pop from a chorus, until there is nothing left but heartfelt verses of heartbreak and the administration of a family owned business.
God I love this album, but I want to point you first toward Track 5, also known in certain circles as ‘Time To Share’ (I’ve helpfully put the whole album to stream below). Have a listen now…
One of the main reasons of owning a record label is to release the music you absolutely love. The music that makes you feel like you can take on the world and win. The music that when you listen, the universe stops and waits patiently until you say its okay to move again. For many of us, that is ASH in a nutshell. The quintessential UK band that does that rare thing of simultaneously lifting you out of the dolldrums, and at the same time being the soundtrack to your heart breaking into a million tiny pieces. It’s all good though. ASH are the one constant in my musical collection over the years, and I hope for many to come.
You don’t need me to tell you about The Subways, they are one of the most consistent British bands in a decade, producing album after album of sincere rock, while remembering the all important mantra that Choruses Are Important. I love them and incredibly happy to be releasing the cassette version of their self-titled album. You can buy this digitally and on CD & vinyl through the bloody great record label Cooking Vinyl.
“I like a boy in uniform, school uniform…” Thankfully, not my words, but the words of Gwenno Saunders in her guise as part of one of my favourite pop bands ever, THE PIPETTES. Yes, they went through numerous line-up changes, but that did little to hide the fact that there was something supremely fantastic going on. Song after song of incredible pop, each album like a ‘Best Of’, threatening to overshadow every other chorus you’ve ever heard. Yes, its safe to say, that I HEART THE PIPETTES ( and always will). So what next for Gwenno? Well if you had answered ” An album called ‘Y Dydd Olaf’ which is sci-fi inspired Krautrock, sung completely in Welsh… obviously” I would have called you a damn liar.
Its purely a coincidence that POST/POP seems to be going Norwich crazy right now. First it was the fantastic Treasureseason, and now, quite by chance, its the equally fantastic, MEGA EMOTION! Then I thought to myself, “Jed, is this really a coincidence? Or do we all just have to face the fact the Norwich is the new Seattle?” I sat myself down and assured myself that these two bands are merely a fluke, and I don’t need to up sticks and move up the map and potentially come face to face with ancestors of Swein Forkbeard, the Viking King of Denmark who probably would not care much for the upturn in power-pop the city he tried to destroy has recently produced.
So what we have here is the brand new single from MEGA EMOTION named “Uncomfortable”, and yes it does get quite awkward when I am singing along to this on the way into the office every day on packed trains. If I had to describe it in a sentence - which I kinda do - I would say that its like John Carpenter writing songs based on the works of Stephen King for OMD at their peak. It’s dark, its lyrically menacing, its catchy as hell and it’s very difficult to expunge from your brain once heard. Hear for yourself!
It’s been a great summer for incredible pop songs. BEGINNERS have managed to fight their way to my “amazing pop songs that came out of nowhere list 2014″. This self-titled EP is a trojan horse of superbly-crafted earworm-cultivating pop gems that just get better the more you listen. It’s the unforgettable “Who Knows” that you might have heard of before as you’ve browsed gossip hound Perez Hilton‘s site or maybe you know the song from seeing THIS VIDEO on Huffington Post of a man dancing backwards.
BEGINNERS are Samantha Barbera - Vocals/Bass, Neeraj Kane - Guitar (Keys) and Jason Walker on Drums and they are based in LA. The best thing I can do is point you toward the video to their song “Who Knows” so you get the idea of why I’m releasing this little tape for them!
This self-titled EP is limited to 100 tapes. POST/POP has 50 that’s available in the shop and Samantha has 50 which you should be able to get from the band when they tour (I think they are going to be in europe later this year too!)
Have a look at how lovely the tape looks. Samantha wanted them to be transparent black and I’ve not made tapes with those shells before, but they came out SO good.
Buy the tape while there’s still some left by clicking on THIS LINK, or on the picture of HETTIE on the right that says “SHOP” on it! You can also buy it by walking into Rough Trade. You can find out more about BEGINNERS by clicking on the below links:
p.s. this is the last POST/POP tape of the summer. Yes, there will be no tapes in August but there WILL be POST/POP tshirts! Why is there a break? because I am saving them all up for Cassette Store Day on September 27th where there will be 5 or 6 releases on one day! Very special releases from some of the biggest bands around today. There will be no preorder for these tapes, and they will be available in all good record stores and this site!
a london record label // a genre // a jed shepherd project
