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.

I know it is a big blogger no no to apologise for lack of updates but with fatherhood, a busy job, moving to a new county etc this site has fallen by the wayside somewhat.

It will be up and running again as soon as I start transferring vinyl to digital format again but in the meantime check out Pyrolyse Bred which has some cracking tracks available to download. If you have any other recommended blog sites that are in the same vein please post their addresses in the comments. That is if anyone still reads this site of course.....

Well this post shows that you can't know it all. Whilst whiling away some time during my first visit to Whistable last weekend and after drinking an Oyster Stout or two I found a second hand record/video/dvd store.

Whilst browsing the punk section (which was the only section worth browsing it has to be said) I came across this single by Pauline Murray and The Invisible Girls.

This got me to part with a miserly £2 on two counts. One was that I haven't heard any of her other work after she left Penetration and two it was produced by Martin Hannett someone whose works I seem to end up collecting. Murray was joined by Robert Blamire who was also in Penetration whilst The Invisible Girls were a group in their own right and at times included Vinney Riley (Durutti Column), Pete Shelly and John Maher (Buzzcocks).

Riley was missing from this release which saw Wayne Hussey (Sisters of Mercy/The Mission) on guitar. However the nucleus of the band after reading up on the net seems to be Hannett and keyboard player Steve Hopkins. It's getting complicated - maybe I should have laid off the stout!

This single is far removed from what Penetration had produced and can only be described as delicate pop music whilst the flip side is very new wave synth pop.

Not sure I would go out and look for some other of her work though although if I past Whistable again and browse through the same shop and it's there who knows!

Searching For Heaven was released in 1981 on Illusive Records.

Pauline Murray and The Invisible Girls - Searching For Heaven
Pauline Murray and The Invisible Girls - Animal Crazy

My Bloody Valentine start their comeback tour at London's Camden Roundhouse later this month. I am we sure will hear tracks from Isn't Anything and Loveless, which are both being reissued as deluxe sets, but nowt from before which will disappoint the twee kids who may attend hoping to hear Paint A Rainbow!

I am looking forward to the gigs - I have seen the band in most of their incarnations but the last time I saw them was at Reading 91 (or was it '92?).

Here are some tracks from their earlier days with Dave Conway on vocals which were collated on 2001's Things Left Behind bootleg CD.

No Place To Go (originally on the Geek EP)
Lovelee Sweet Darlene (originally on the Brand New Record)
Silvies Head (originally on Sunny Sundae Smile)

Despite Conway (and Tina) leaving by the time of the Strawberry Wine single the band were still making that indie pop sound on the title track. However on the flip side there were hints at what was to come.

Can I Touch You?

There are a number of concert and Peel session tracks to download from Inkoma including a 1987 concert in Manchester with the earlier line up.

[My Space link]

Today see's the posting of a flexi which was originally distributed with the So Naive fanzine in 1987 (88?) which features an early working of the Darling Buds favourite Spin alongside a long forgotten Bubblegum Splash track.

It had the delightful serial number BONKON001!

The Darling Buds - Spin

Bubblegum Splash - If Only

You can read all about Bubblegum Splash here where you can also download the Splashdown EP.

Originally posted on indie mp3

I am not even going to attempt to write about the Housemartins when there are far better qualified sources than me. See here and here for instance.

The two tracks here are taken from the 12" versions of Caravan Of Love and Me And The Farmer respectively. They also appear on the Raise The Flag bootleg album which comprises all the bands b-sides which should get an official release in some guise now the BBC sessions have been released!



The Housemartins - Heaven Help Us All
The Housemartins - He Will Find You Out

The Housemartins - Live At Glastonbury 1986 (34mb Zip File)

[My Space link]

I posted about The Frenchmen on indie mp3 a couple of years back and if you head over to that post you will see a comment from Amy explaining the band's indefinite hiatus which has seen their presence on the net now pulled.

They were a great little jangle pop band out of the US of A who sounded very English despite their location which would also see them cover songs by The Flatmates and Tallulah Gosh.

Their 2004 album Sorry We Ruined Your Party is a minor classic and should be owned by any self respecting indie pop fan! Mind you the 7" single Powdered Blue isn't bad either and luckily both are still available.



The Frenchmen - Tell Me Why (Flatmates cover)
The Frenchmen - Flake For You

Leon from the band is now in Baby Grand.

Buy Sorry We Ruined Your Party
Buy Powdered Blue

Photo courtesy of Underexposed.