- I really have moved

Thank you to those of you who keep commenting on posts here, but I'm not reading them because I've moved the blog here. Please drop by and say hello.

- I've moved!

Hi everyone. Thanks for dropping by in your many numbers over the past couple of years. FiS has now moved to a real proper site: fadesinslowly.com and all future activity will take place over there. Come and join me.

- 22nd December, 1995

A 46-minute segment of the pre-Christmas show. I'm extremely pleased about this one as it features the epic song 'Flesh' which I myself played in one of my podcasts. At the time I was in the 'difficult' second year of university, you know the one where they kick you out of halls and you have to live in a house much worse than your parents'. Thanks to alanforduk for this gem:

New Bad Things - Like 
Henry & Louis - Instilled Dub 
The Fall - The Chiselers 
Gagarin Kongress - Astralleib 
Polvo - Bombs That Fall From Your Eyes 
The Geckoes - The Old John Peel 
Ken Nordine - Flesh 
New Decade - Broken Keys 
Girl Of The Year - Halo 
Jackie And The Cedrics - Banzai Diamond Head  
Prince Far I & Creation Rebel - No More War
Loren MazzaCane Connors - Stilled Wind
The Fall - This City Never Sleeps At Night 

Download here.

This is what TV adverts looked like in 1995. Glad to see that someone was still using Quo to sell car parts, while it's amazing to see what Bruce Forsyth would do if, er, the price was right. Did the internet really look like that back then?

- 2nd September, 1986

Here be the link. Only 30 minutes of the show and and seven and a bit tracks.

Were you watching this in September, 1986?

- The Vivian Girls

Imagine, if you will, that it is March, 2007 in Brooklyn, New York, and the trio of Cassie Ramone, Kickball Katy and Frankie Rose have become The Vivian Girls. Ramone and bassist Kickball Katy form after first coming together in high school, meeting at a Weezer concert. After only having been a band for a matter of weeks, they have recorded their first a demo which includes five original songs and a one cover (the band cites the Wipers as their one big influence, other than Burt Bacharach), and have begun to play the local Brooklyn scene as well as around the state of New Jersey.

Within weeks they have developed a strong following, supporting acts as renowned as Sonic Youth, as well as finding camaraderie among other local bands like Cause Co-Motion!, Crystal Stilts, and Woods, with whom they share many bills, thus helping to build up a local music scene to which the band is still very much connected.

Fast forward to March of 2008, they have released ‘Wild Eyes’ as a single on the ‘Plays With Dolls’ label. Despite low key promotion and little in the way of distribution, the single has become an indie hit, appearing on many college radio play lists and acquiring many a positive internet review.

Their eponymously-titled debut album is recorded during the same session and released on the ‘Mauled by Tigers’ label. The initial pressing of the album sells out in a mere ten days, during which time the group sign with ‘In The Red’ Records. The album is subsequently re-released in October of that year, although the band had undergone a minor lineup change, with new drummer Ali Koehler replacing Frankie Rose in July.

Move on to October, 2009 and their second album, ‘Everything Goes Wrong’ has just been released. Song titles include the likes of the majestically titled ‘I Have No Fun’ and ‘I'm Not Asleep’, and the ladies have doubled their studio recording time for this album; they have spent a long, grueling six days recording this time round, instead of the three that it took to deliver their debut.

So, would you call them cute? Do so at your own peril, although possibly their utmost claim to fame is that they were part of a recent Jeopardy question about really cute Brooklyn bands. The band's name actually comes from an epic work by outsider artist Henry Darger, called ‘The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion’ (a 15,000-page epic the band admit to not having read). Darger, whose work ranks among the most celebrated examples of outsider art, created in his Vivian girls some of the most slick and yet disquieting figures in contemporary culture, making the band's appropriation of the monicker all the more apposite.

Listen to the Vivian Girls here.

- New Wedlock album

 Artwork For The Album Continuity

October is now upon us, meaning that memories of summer are drifting away and the leaves, even here in Istanbul, are turning. One thing that's keeping me going is the knowledge that North Carolina’s Wedlock have a new, 10-track, full length release coming out this month, entitled, Continuity, as with their pervious release, on Kounterfeit Records.

Those of you with better memories than I may remember that I while back I blogged about the Chapel Hill based electronic pop band and their 2008 album Exogamy. Well, the band are back with a new release, and for those of you who wish to look and listen, here’s a You Tube video clip promoting the album's release.

 Wedlock Promo Clip For Continuity

This could prove to be the moment that the band makes it big and seems to be an opportune time for a new album release, as their previous album, the aforementioned Exogamy, is currently riding high at number 20 on the GBLT chart at outvoice.net. For me there is definite progression from their last album and in particular from their 2006 debut EP, The Matrimony Ep. I sense development in the cultured nature of their songs and the lyrical content which is now growing into a more comfortable partnership with their electronic sound. Having said that, Continuity is still a fitting title as you’ll be able to recognize the band’s style as a continuation of earlier releases.

As is custom in these modern times, the band have given you the chance to listen to the new material before you decide to buy it. Listen to Continuity here and please leave a comment below to tell me what you think about the band. Continuity will be widely available online at all the regular joints such as iTunes, Amazon, and many other other online retailers, also directly from the band's online shop.

Those among you of a voting disposition, and I know there are one or two, will be pleased to know that the band currently has the most votes in MusicEmissions.com's ‘Indie Band of The Year’ award for 2009 for the upcoming Continuity, currently rated a whopping 4 out of 5 by Music Emissions. If you’ve been convinced by me, you’ve got until October 31st to help determine the winner.

- 70 songs (Vol. 6)

Getting fed up of waiting? Well, I've been having a load of problems with my audio editing software of recent and it's taken me longer than normal to cobble this one together. I am getting dreadfully close to the magic 70 now, one more collection of songs should do it.

Here's a track list for all the faithful who've stuck with me while I've been putting these together, indeed for all those who've visited the blog over the past two and a half years.

Part One

01 Lonnie Donegan - Lost John
02 Toots and the Maytals - Louie Louie
03 The Cure - A forest
04 Camper van Beethoven - Take the skinheads bowling
05 Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect device
06 The Fall - Lay Of The Land
07 Public enemy - Rebel without a pause
08 My bloody valentine - Soon
09 Disposable heroes of hiphoprisy - Language of violence
10 Pocket Fishrmen - The leader is burning

Part Two

11 The smiths - There is a light that never goes out
12 The Fall - Mr. pharmacist
13 Symarrip - Skinhead Moonstomp
14 Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - Big eyed beans from venus
15 The Damned - New rose
16 Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five - The message
17 The Sugarcubes - Birthday
18 The Sundays - Can't Be Sure
19 Happy Mondays - Step on
20 Lo-Cut A Sleifar - Sefyll Fel Un

Part Three

21 Andy Capp - Popatop
22 Free - All right now
23 Inspiral Carpets - she comes in the fall
24 Inspiral Carpets - Directing traffic
25 Buzzcocks - What do i get?
26 David Bowie - Heroes
27 New Order - Temptation
28 PJ Harvey - 50ft queenie
29 Mazzy star - Fade into you
30 Daft Punk - Rollin' & Scratchin'

Part Four

31 Von Südenfed - Fledermaus can't get it
32 The Dead Kennedys - California Über Alles
33 Joy Division - Transmission
34 The stooges - I wanna be your dog
35 The Beatles - strawberry fields forever
36 The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?
37 Eric B. and Rakim - I know you got soul
38 M/a/r/r/s - Pump up the volume
39 Pixies - Debaser
40 The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds

Part Five

41 Scotty Moore Trio - Have guitar will travel
42 Future Sound of London - Papua New Guinea
43 The Sex Pistols - Holidays in the Sun
44 James - Hymn from a village
45 Hüsker Dü - Makes no sense at all
46 The Fall - Hit the north (part 1)
47 sugar - A good idea

(The all-new) Part Six

48 David Bowie - Queen bitch
49 The House of Love - Christine
50 PJ Harvey - Angelene
51 James Taylor & Joni Mitchell - That song about the midway
52 Nirvana - About a girl
53 Pavement - The classical
54 The Cure - One hundred years
55 The smiths - What difference does it make?

Part Seven to come any year soon.