I have been commuting regularly of late into London following my move to Bedfordshire. I have finally succumbed to buying an i-pod nano to listen to during my 3 hours a day of travelling.

Being somewhat lazy I have filled the i-pod up with mainly compilations. One compilation is Air Balloon Road which must be the best of the many compilations that Sarah Records released despite including a couple of tracks by The Orchids who I really don't like despite my best efforts.

Air Balloon Road contains two of the most beautiful songs (well for me anyway) that Sarah Records ever released. The first is Please Rain Fall by The Sea Urchins which was originally the flip side on 1988's Solace single. The other is End Of The Affair by The Field Mice which was originally on Costal.

I could play these two back to back on constant rotation all day if I wanted too. They are that good and both stopped me dead in my tracks when I first heard them many moons ago. The fact that I am still playing these twenty years later speaks volumes. The compilation also features You Should All Be Murdered, Sensitive and Pristine Christine means that it is an essential compilation for the indie pop fan.

You will be lucky to find a copy of Air Balloon Road on vinyl unless you shell out a few bob on e-bay. However Sarah have re-released most of the compilations on i-tunes as DRM free (hurrah!) digital downloads although some remain incomplete because of licensing issues.

So what are your favourite tracks on Sarah Records? Let me have choices in the comments and if it's worthwhile I will try and compile a compilation. Needless to say the following two will be included.

The Sea Urchins - Please Rain Fall
The Field Mice - End Of The Affair

I posted the 1986 Festive 50 on indie mp3 two years ago now as part of posts about the 20th anniversary of the release of C86 tape. I have had a few requests for a repost so here it is in all it's glory complete with chatter from John Peel. These are not my rips - not sure where I got them from but thanks to the unknown person who originally put it all together.

1. Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
2. Age of Chance - Kiss
3. The Fall - Mr Pharmacist
4. Primal Scream - Velocity Girl
5. Smiths - Panic
6. Smiths - I Know It's Over
7. Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
8. Shop Assistants - Safety Net
9. Jesus and Mary Chain - Some Candy Talking
10. The Fall - US Eighties - Nineties
11. Smiths - Ask
12. Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again
13. Weather Prophets - Almost Prayed
14. Half Man, Half Biscuit - Trumpton Riots
15. The Fall - Living Too Late
16. Wedding Present - Once More
17. Soup Dragons - Hang Ten!
18. Wedding Present - This Boy Can Wait
19. Bodines - Therese
20. The Fall - Bournemouth Runner
21. Cocteau Twins - Love's Easy tears
22. Primitives - Really Stupid
23. Pastels - Truck Train Tractor
24. Billy Bragg - Levi Stubbs' Tears
25. Soup Dragons - Whole Wide World
26. The Fall - Realm of Dusk
27. Age of Chance - Bible Of The Beats
28. Wedding Present - You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends
29. That Petrol Emotion - It's a Good Thing
30. Very things - This is Motortown
31. We've Got a Fuzzbox - Rules and Regulations
32. The The - Heartland
33. Freiwillige Selbstokontrolle - I Wish I Could Sprechen Sie Deutsch
34. Mighty Lemon Drops - Like An Angel
35. Smiths - Cemetry Gates
36. Wedding Present - Felicity
37. The Fall - Lucifer Over Lancashire
38. Cocteau Twins - Those Eyes, That Mouth
39. Half Man, Half Biscuit - Dickie Davies Eyes
40. Elvis Costello - I Want You
41. Billy Bragg - Greetings To The New Brunette
42. Flatmates - I Could Be In Heaven
43. Shop Assistants - I Don't Want To Be Friends With You
44. Mighty Mighty - Is There Anyone Out There?
45. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - By The Time I Get To Phoenix
46. Colourbox - The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme
47. Camper van Beethoven - Take The Skinheads Bowling
48. The Fall - Dktr Faustus
49. Mission - Serpent's Kiss
50. Pogues - The Body of an American

Download from here (216mb)

The C86 tape is available here.

I was (and still am) a massive Mighty Lemon Drops fan so much so I have an unofficial website up and running. Head over there to find out about the band. It needs updating as I have found out that all the bands albums have been re-released on Wounded Bird Records complete with bonus tracks earlier this year.

Fall Down (Like The Rain) was a single taken from the band's second album World Without End. Whether or not it was a desperate ploy by the bands label Blue Guitar to get the band into the charts there existed alongside the studio version of the single a Live EP. The band sounded so much better live than on their studio work and this EP certainly demonstrates that.

The Mighty Lemon Drops - Fall Down (Like The Rain)
The Mighty Lemon Drops - Happy Head
The Mighty Lemon Drops - Hollow Inside
The Mighty Lemon Drops - Paint It Black

I never knew that videos for the live EP existed but a trawl on You Tube always throws up the unexpected.







[My Space link]

Well it's 50th post time. I picked up The Crabapples release on e-music (not as romantic as vinyl I know but a bit more accessible when you have moved to a small Bedfordshire town) recently whilst catching up on some missing Slumberland releases. And wow what a release which sees me tempted to pick it up on vinyl as well as getting hold of their floppy disc only single You'll See Me.

This is raw punk pop music from the band that featured members of The Frenchmen and Black Tambourine. Luckily Slumberland has a mp3 from the release available for free download.

Crabapples - London Belongs To Me, Pt2

You can buy it from here or download from e-music if you are a subscriber.