Charlie Hilton, lead singer of Portland indie band Blouse, has just released her first solo album Palana which is terrific and a much simpler, light-footed affair than their murky dream-pop.

Blouse are a decent band but I’ve never liked them the way I do this record. The way Charlie’s disaffected vocals float over spacey synth landscapes makes it sound at times like a lost Broadcast album. Elsewhere there are pastoral-hippy acoustic touches and even Jazz on one track to give it the feel of someone exploring different sides of her personality away from her day job. 

You could say she’s changed her blouse — hahahaha.

Dennis Edwards: Magnificent bastard.

The pop charts in the post-punk era was not only a golden age for the 45 but also for record company marketing gimmicks. Singles came in coloured vinyl, picture discs, wrapped in newspapers, with double grooves, and multiple sleeves and stamps.

They didn’t always work though, even for established bands like The Skids. In 1980 their third album The Absolute Game made the Top Ten of the album charts but all the singles from it tanked despite being given a gimmicky promo push by Virgin Records. The first single “Circus Games” was wrapped in a poster of the band but only got to #32, while “A Woman In Winter” which stalled 10 places lower came with an 11-page comic called Pirate Gold which starred the band in a ripping yarn about lost treasure.

It’s not exactly Stan Lee and Jack Kirby but still a clever idea and a sign of just how creatively healthy and competitive the pop scene was at the time. Those were the days when a noisy post-punk band like The Skids could appear on the cover of Smash Hits and I guess the comics and glossy posters were an attempt to sell the band to that crowd instead serious young men in overcoats.

It’s not as if these were bad records either, “Circus Games” was stonkingly catchy and “A Woman In Winter” was glorious, uplifting stuff with guitar work by Stuart Adamson that sounds like a rehearsal for Big Country. Should have been an Xmas hit. I bought it with the comic but would still have done if it came in a gravy-stained brown paper bag. Maybe Virgin should have asked Richard Jobson to make his lyrics more coherent instead.

Download: A Woman In Winter – The Skids (mp3)

Adrian Younge is a musician/writer/producer heavily influenced by the sounds of 70s soul, particularly the cinematic grooves of Blaxploitation soundtracks. He first came to my attention a couple of years ago with an album he produced for The Delfonics which recalled their Philly-Soul glory days so beautifully that you really should hear if you haven’t.

His latest album Something About April II has guest vocal turns by a diverse crowd including Raphael Saadiq and Laetitia Sadier, with music that also has elements of Hip Hop, Psychedelia, and Ennio Morricone. It sounds like the soundtrack to the coolest, trippiest movie ever. Love it.

Without wanting this blog to turn into LondonLee’s Book of The Dead I should mark the passing of Mott The Hoople drummer Dale Griffin. I posted this marvelous clip many years ago but it’s one of my all-time favourite Top of The Pops performances and well worth a replay.



As we all know Glenn Frey popped his clogs too. I know we’re supposed to hate The Eagles but they did have some good moments like this one. It sounds even better when you don’t have to look at them.

If you’re like me you could do with a laugh. I had this sketch on a Monty Python album so I know every word (I was one of those annoying kids who would recite Python sketches) but it’s still bloody hilarious.

I tried to finish off some new posts for this week but realized I’m not quite ready to let go of David Bowie just yet. He’s pretty much all I’ve been listening to and thinking about this past week and the earth still feels a little off it’s axis to me.

I don’t have much of anything in the way of Bowie rarities but this one isn’t too common on compilations and whatnot. The original version of “Cat People” produced by Giorgio Moroder in its longer, 6:40-minute form on the movie soundtrack.

Download: Cat People (Putting Out Fire) – David Bowie (mp3)

The 1980 Floor Show was a television special Bowie recorded at the Marquee in London in 1973 for the American music show The Midnight Special. It was never shown in England and still hasn’t had an official release. Mind boggling when you see how good this is, and singing a duet of “I Got You Babe” with Marianne Faithful dressed as a nun is audacious even for him.

Now I’m all sad again.