Swell Maps- International Rescue (1999)

It’s hard to imagine a band more diverse in their influences or output- Swell Maps turned out everything from storming punk songs, ballads, ambient found sound collages, often within the same side of one LP. It was as if they just didn’t know what to do next (in fact their 1981 compilation was titled Whatever Happens Next…) what did happen next was they split up. I read somewhere that the Swell Maps produced a great array of brilliant songs whilst also wasting a lot of tape, and after two bona fide albums and four singles they left behind enough material to fill a further six compilation LPs.
This one does the job- tracks from the 2 studio LPs, singles and a lot of alternate takes and live stuff.
Truly unique and deeply influential.
tracks 4, 6, 8 & 17- recorded Sept 1977.
rest recorded December 1978- July 1979.
Nikki Sudden- guitar, vocals
Richard Earl- guitar, bass, vocals
Epic Soundtracks- drums, piano, stylophone, backing vocal
Jowe Head- bass, violin, backing vocal
David Barrington- guitar, bass, vocals
John Cockrill- guitar, backing vocal

Swell Maps – Peel Session 16th October 1978

My mother always had the radio on. I’d hear her go downstairs in the morning and on it went, first thing she did. Consequently my earliest musical memories are of the popular tunes that wafted from that old Alba transistor- Dave Dee, Nancy Sinatra, The Beatles etc. Then, in my childhood, being exposed to a lot of older kids, I soon got to know about groups like the Who and Slade, along with the glam rock, Roxy Music and poppier seventies fare. Then, following an obligatory young teen eclecticism that embraced ELO, Queen and 10cc among others (thankfully including Bowie, early rock n roll and Johnny Cash!), my musical tastes drifted towards punk and ‘alternative’. Strange as it might seem after 40 odd years of almost continuous exposure to music I can name my favourite single without hesitation:
Read About Seymour by Swell Maps.
I’m not going to pretend for one minute that I got into it as a 12 year old. It was already a classic when I first heard it about 4 years later.
Read About Seymour is much anthologised- so here’s a different version of it from Swell Maps Peel session of October 16th 1978, performed by:

Epic Soundtracks - drums
Jowe Head -bass
Nikki Sudden – vocals, guitar
Biggles -guitar