FInally got around to reading this, seems pretty fantastic so far. Read through the 80s chapters then went back to start from the beginning. Been buried in it for the past 48 hours, avoiding the Christmas relatives. Wonderful to read through alongside the Spotify playlists -- don't think I've been so engrossed in a music book since Revolution in the Head. There's lots of information here, but it never reads info-dumpy. And even when he gets it wrong (only a third of a page on Madness, dissing Langer & Winstanley), he writes without arrogance or Maconie-esque mateyness.
― Chuck_Tatum, Sunday, 28 December 2014 00:45 (nine years ago) link
I got this book for Christmas. Stoked.
― Tay-Tay Brooklynpants (Murgatroid), Sunday, 28 December 2014 08:36 (nine years ago) link
Finishing "Yeah Yeah Yeah". It reminded me of Nick Cohn more than anything else - this sort of conversational style, with a pinch of "hey others like it tho so I might be wrong!", more like talking to a friend than an attempt at canon building. This is the kind of music criticism I find easiest to take, these days, though it has its limitations.
So is Bob Stanley still doing his compiler work? I would've thought CD compilations (always one of my fav mediums) would've been totally slaughtered by streaming now, but Ace records for example still seems to be chugging along...
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 21 November 2016 10:36 (seven years ago) link
So is Bob Stanley still doing his compiler work?Yep, his label Croydon Municipal is churning compilations out on a regular basis; the quality is consistently high.
http://croydonmunicipal.com
― Jeff W, Monday, 21 November 2016 10:46 (seven years ago) link
hmm, that website hasn't been updated for over a year (RIP websites) but there have been 2016 releases
― Jeff W, Monday, 21 November 2016 10:52 (seven years ago) link
i'm about 100 pages in. the bit about The Everly Brothers is incredibly exciting, shaping up to be the best music book i've read since Rip It Up And Start Again.
― piscesx, Monday, 21 November 2016 12:14 (seven years ago) link
This one's up to date I think: http://www.cherryred.co.uk/label/croydon-municipal/
― Tim, Monday, 21 November 2016 12:18 (seven years ago) link
i liked yeah yeah yeah a lot - it's insanely ambitious but it's a really easy read and it pointed me in the direction of lots of stuff i'd never heard before
― not all those who chunder are sloshed (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 21 November 2016 13:19 (seven years ago) link
Thanks, definitley getting that "Songs For A London Winter" thing!
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 21 November 2016 13:52 (seven years ago) link
http://acerecords.co.uk/bob-stanley-and-pete-wiggs-present-english-weather
The autumnal sound of Britain at the turn of the 70s, looking out through wet window panes to a new decade with a mixture of melancholy and optimism for what might come next. With the Beatles gone and the pound sinking, a new and distinctive sound emerges, led by flutes and mellotrons. Available in 18-track CD and 19-track double LP formats. The LP version is pressed on 180g clear vinyl in heavy-duty gatefold sleeve.
http://acerecords.co.uk/cache/images/EnglishWeatherCD_72d_1_383_383.jpg
― nomar, Tuesday, 17 January 2017 16:57 (seven years ago) link
Nice. I spent a lot of last year getting a slew of his/their old comps so great to see a new one surface.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 17 January 2017 16:59 (seven years ago) link
English Weather comp is so great, that moment right at the beginning of the 70s, the tipping point just before psychedelia turned into prog, is probably my favourite era of music I know very little about.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 19 February 2017 13:30 (seven years ago) link
got the vinyl of that coming this week
― nomar, Sunday, 19 February 2017 16:21 (seven years ago) link
For me, the timing of this comp is extraordinary. I'm currently selling a large collection of 45s, mostly from 1970 to 1974, and featuring a lot of this kind of stuff. In fact, a friend, when looking through the list a couple of months ago, commented that parts of it read like a shortlist for a Bob Stanley compilation. And now, here it is! Four of my collection are on there - Belle Gonzalez, Offspring, Camel, Prelude - and I'm already familiar with the Daevid Allen and Matching Mole tracks, too. (Shame he faded out the Allen just as it got to the three-minute Gilli Smyth "space whisper" outro, though!)
― mike t-diva, Sunday, 19 February 2017 22:32 (seven years ago) link
The T2 vocalist sounds a lot like Ray Davies.
Van Der Graaf Generator's "Refugees" is gorgeous. Also "Caroline" by Matching Mole, been a long time since a love song touched me that deeply.
The Daevid Allen track could work in a Balearic set I reckogn.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 27 March 2017 12:42 (seven years ago) link
https://about.sainsburys.co.uk/news/latest-news/2017/01-11-2017-vinyl
I was totally ready to roll my eyes at this, but these compilations are great - as they would be, being Stanley compilations. Got the only copies I found in Camden Sainsburys - I gather they're selling pretty fast. I find it appealingly mad that Sainsburys' debut record release includes Sequent C by Tangerine Dream.
Tracklistings:https://www.discogs.com/Various-Coming-Into-Los-Angeles-A-Taste-Of-West-Coast/release/11098234 https://www.discogs.com/Various-Hi-Fidelity-A-Taste-Of-Stereo-Sound/release/11098310
― bamboohouses, Sunday, 19 November 2017 18:49 (six years ago) link
I asked Sainsbury's themselves where to find the stores that have these in stocks, they didn't know.
― Mark G, Sunday, 19 November 2017 18:53 (six years ago) link
I asked a grain of sand where to find the beach; she didn't know.
― shackling the masses with plastic-wrapped snack picks (sic), Sunday, 19 November 2017 19:30 (six years ago) link
Well, I've seen them in Heyford Hill (Oxford). I realise that might not help much.
― djh, Sunday, 19 November 2017 20:44 (six years ago) link
Xpost that's beautiful man.
Nonxpost more useful than the message before yours..
― Mark G, Sunday, 19 November 2017 21:00 (six years ago) link
Corporations are people, my friend.
― shackling the masses with plastic-wrapped snack picks (sic), Monday, 20 November 2017 00:55 (six years ago) link
Yes. I asked if there were 'vinyl stockists' (shud) in my locality, the person who replied said no. But if I was to try further afield, I should ring the particular store.
― Mark G, Monday, 20 November 2017 07:52 (six years ago) link
If you're really desperate message me.
― djh, Monday, 20 November 2017 21:56 (six years ago) link
Thanks, but I'm not too worried.
― Mark G, Monday, 20 November 2017 21:59 (six years ago) link
I'm a bit confused about these. I figure Stanley's usual target audience will already own, say, Forever Changes, let alone "Dedicated To The One I Love" or "What A Fool Believes", but a more casual type would be lost at sea with some of these other selections?
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 20 November 2017 22:01 (six years ago) link
isn't the point that they'll be listening to similar sounding artists in the context of ones they know and like
― Number None, Monday, 20 November 2017 22:51 (six years ago) link
Yeah, I guess that makes sense, and is good.
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 11:58 (six years ago) link
i'm guessing a 15 year old gifted with these by an uncle wouldn't know any of it? or not much at least.
i wish he'd do 80s and 90s comps as i find the 60s and pre punk 70s dull as owt. a Bob Stanley 80s synth-pop/indie-pop comp would rock.
― piscesx, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 13:29 (six years ago) link
How many 15-year olds do you know with a turntable to play them on?
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 13:52 (six years ago) link
those crosley portable turntables were all tha rage a couple of years ago
― koogs, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 14:04 (six years ago) link
I don't know many 15 year olds but I'd guess half the teenagers I do know (NB: not many) have access to a turntable. Sample size: my friends' children. Other consideration: such children also have access to my friends' record collections, poor blighters.
― Tim, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 14:49 (six years ago) link
yeah these are nice comps but i'm also wondering how 'useful' they are and who would want them, especially in the age of Spotify recommended playlists etc
― Fox Mulder, FYI (dog latin), Tuesday, 21 November 2017 14:58 (six years ago) link
These look like v. good compilations full of stuff that will sound great on vinyl and a good balance of familiar and unfamiliar stuff. Obviously the really familar stuff will be in lots of people's collections (probably on CD) and virtually all of it will be available on streaming services but that's not really the point is it?
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 15:02 (six years ago) link
i guess it's a bigger question of what purpose compilations serve in the age of streaming. I like having things on vinyl for all the usual reasons, so that's one thing. The familiar stuff has obvs been included to hook shoppers in with the hope of introducing them to the other stuff, but still it's an interesting thing to market through a grocery supermarket. I hope it works.
― Fox Mulder, FYI (dog latin), Tuesday, 21 November 2017 15:09 (six years ago) link
As a once-prolific buyer of physical-format music, I find that compilations are mainly what I look for these days, in the record store. (And lavishly-packaged box sets/reissues too, of course.) If I want to hear the latest album by, whoever, I can probably find it on Spotify, but the tracks on the more obscure comps (esp. the Stanley/Wiggs ones like English Weather, Tea & Symphony, Songs for Mario's Cafe, etc.), I'd be hard-pressed to find them all on any streaming service.
― henry s, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 15:20 (six years ago) link
Yeah, I think it's possible to over-think this. They're nice compilations - had the LA one on at the weekend, it's a good end-to-end listen with some unfamiliar stuff (to me) in there alongside the familiar classics - clearly not meant to be a Soul Jazz / Light In The Attic-style archival deep dive. The design's nice, and Stanley's essay inside ties it all together very pleasantly.
Sainsburys clearly shifts enough vinyl for this to be worthwhile for them - but given that I suspect they're mainly selling either Mumsnet fare like Rag & Bone Man and Adele or expensive reissues of very very overexposed classics, this is a surprising toe in slightly more adventurous waters.
― bamboohouses, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 15:21 (six years ago) link
i like the cover designs.very library styled.
― mark e, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 15:21 (six years ago) link
I guess the target market is people who have just got their first turntable and are in an enthusiastic early buying phase + older people who have just bought a turntable again after keeping all their vinyl in the loft for a decade. They'll sell enough to people who are doing the weekly shop and just buy them on the spur of the moment, I guess.
― Matt DC, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 15:25 (six years ago) link
> yeah these are nice comps but i'm also wondering how 'useful' they are and who would want them, especially in the age of Spotify recommended playlists etc
Merry Christmas, i got you a spotify playlist...
― koogs, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 15:47 (six years ago) link
Yeah, I don’t really buy the argument that the comp is redundant in the age of the Spotify playlist, given that Spotify also has *whole albums* too and no one (on this thread at least) is saying these are obsolete too. Don’t want to overstate the case for these Sainsbury’s albums, but a physical compilation can be a lovely thing.
― bamboohouses, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 21:39 (six years ago) link
you guys have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME about 15 year olds not having access to turntables?
http://theday.co.uk/arts/teenagers-are-leading-the-vinyl-revivalhttps://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/01/why-does-my-teenage-daughter-want-a-22-vinyl-record/https://www.seeker.com/are-teenagers-keeping-vinyl-records-alive-1862002918.htmlhttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/21/crosley-generation-record-player-has-the-kids-spinninghttp://www.nme.com/news/music/various-artists-598-1200543http://www.nme.com/news/music/various-artists-496-1198503
― piscesx, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 12:13 (six years ago) link
That somehow ties into my slightly snarky theory that a lot of teenagers will go crazy for vinyl until they actually have to move it all into/away from college.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 12:21 (six years ago) link
So many Spotify playlists, even useful ones, are 250-tracks long with entire albums shunted in there and no thought to flow or confluence or anything else. Curation matters.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 13:35 (six years ago) link
Spotify also has *whole albums* too and no one (on this thread at least) is saying these are obsolete too
*bursts in sweating*
― nashwan, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 14:06 (six years ago) link
For those looking for more Stanley curation goodness, I'm listening to his Soho Radio show on mixcloud, and it's pretty fucking solid (though the discrepancies in volume between the songs and his voice can annoy).
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 20:05 (six years ago) link
http://acerecords.co.uk/when-the-day-is-done-the-orchestrations-of-robert-kirby
New Robert Kirby comp compiled by Stanley.
― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 16 February 2018 13:35 (six years ago) link
Must have!
― henry s, Friday, 16 February 2018 13:50 (six years ago) link
Love that Keith Christmas track. Had no idea Kirby was involved. Comp looks great.
― groovypanda, Saturday, 17 February 2018 20:26 (six years ago) link
New Bob and Pete comp soon
A new project from @rocking_bob & @petewiggs due in May. More details shortly 👇 pic.twitter.com/7l7bAeIwXx— Ace Records (@AceRecordsLtd) March 20, 2018
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 20 March 2018 16:50 (six years ago) link
Ooooh!
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 20 March 2018 17:09 (six years ago) link