I heard Mark Morris from Bo'Weavil Recordings being interviewed on the Freakzone earlier this year and describing how they like to produce vinyl albums that have a certain physical presence. Something about this sounded enticing, so I browsed their site and alit on this one which seemed like something of a collective statement of intent.
It arrived in early May, just after the house move, and it was another two months before I got the turntable back in action. This was probably the first record I played then, and I didn't like it much then (it probably didn't help that the cartridge and headshell were acting up) and I put it to one side, possibly before I'd listened to all four sides. Today's second, more relaxed, listening was much more enjoyable.
Each side of the record features a different artist or band. The Rob Mullender side is the prettiest and easiest to listen to: just acoustic guitar unaccompanied by anything other than the convincing crackle of the surface of the heavyweight vinyl. Ladywoodsman sound like Tom Waits' backing band on a mellow day. The Eidetic Band (another good name) are perhaps the freakiest and most prone to a bit of a wail. Wooden Spoon's banjo pieces are a little difficult to listen to, but his April Morning is rather lovely, and reminiscent of July Skies (though in terms of nomenclature, there's a good three months between them).
My copy is hand-numbered 89/550. I'm a sucker for stuff like that.
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