Tonight I'm drinking pear cider (yum!) and revisiting some old posts on my blog. Do other bloggers out there read their own stuff? I find it really interesting and it makes me wish I'd done and written more in the past.

I'm going through old posts at the moment and fixing videos that YouTube have deleted and resizing the ones that still work. I'm also checking out old links.

I've let my rapidshare files die a slow death as I get the feeling no one really likes using RS any more. I'll continue to use MediaFire for my singles posts but I'm looking for a new home for my longer album shares.

When I started my blog 4 years ago I kept changing the design often. Now, I've kept the same look for a while and I think it's good to be recognizable.

Thanks for stopping by. 

I was ripping an old Latin Quarter 12" single and rummaging around the internet. This is the first taster from their new album due in 2012. They also plan to tour. A wonderful band.

Great to see Side Room Singles back up again, I discovered so many great records through this blog. Just a great concept too which appeals to my liking for randomness in music.

Well worth checking out.

Here's an album I've been looking for over a number of years. Finally, this is my own rip so others can enjoy it too.

Still Life was Karel Fialka's debut album, released on the Blueprint label (a Pye subsidiary) in 1980. It included the hit single "The Eyes Have It" as well as another single "Armband" and a cover of The Doors' "People Are Strange".

Karel has hardly been prolific in his career, just releasing two other projects Human Animal in 1987 and Film Noir in 2009. His style is fairly unique, combining a pop sensibility, a willingness to experiment, and a sense of drama. Over the course of an album his vocal style grates a little - he tends to sing-shout and has a slight accent - but every track is different and succinct. It's easy to forget that this was pretty cutting edge new wave at the time he recorded it.

You have to admire the cover artwork (presumably an allusion to the track "File In Forget") and the cutaway diagram is of a Sten Machine gun if you cared to know.

"The Eyes Have It" would also be later re-recorded. This album has never been released on CD however.

1. The Eyes Have It
2. People Are Strange
3. File In Forget
4. The Cost
5. Rough and Ready
6. Armband
7. Still Life
8. The Good The Bad and The Ugly
9. Exude When I'm Bruised
10. Appointment In Samarra

Download [Link removed]


Update: I got a DMCA complaint on this one, which is interesting. I'd be more than happy to point people towards a place where you can legally obtain these tracks, either on a CD or as a download. As far as I know, there is nothing out there. If I'm wrong, I'd love to know!!