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Friday 6th April 2012
All Day BBQ Festival

Sparrow and the Workshop
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Singing Adams
Y Niwl
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The Windmill
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On Our iPod

Golden Grrrls - New Pop 7”

Chris Devotion & The Expectations - Amalgamation & Capital (album)

Trailer Trash Tracys - Ester (album)

Throwing Up - Mother Knows Best 7”

Howling Wolf - Complete Chess Masters 1951-60

The Ketamines - A Rotten Bond/1 Yr (from Oddbox Singles Club Pt 2)

Cardinal - Hymns (album)

Proper Ornaments - Taking the Gamble Out of Buying 12”

Darren Hayman - January Songs (album)

Various: Marshall Teller EP 12”

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Rough Trade Shops: Counter Culture 09 Cooperative Music

Article written by Ged M - Feb 22, 2010

Rough Trade Shops: Counter Culture 09

“Counter Culture” can mean: standing against the prevailing cultural orthodoxy and pointing out a new way; or it can mean: what we’re shifting in the shops. Previous years have seen at least one of the two discs trying to capture the full breadth of the music scene, even the most challenging aspects, while this year goes for the safe, sales-based win: why else include the Horrors and the XX, for example, both of whom have had extensive exposure in the shops? In previous years I’ve taken pleasure in the fact that some of the selections would cause Jools Holland’s sphincter to involuntarily open in terror at the musical creativity on show; but this year I can see him nodding along smugly with that spud-faced noggin of his to many of these tracks.

Don't get me wrong; there are some very good tracks collected here: a pre-Matador Kurt Vile, low-fi garage-revivalist songs by Nodzzz, Fergus & Geronimo and the wonderful Magic Kids, plus Cate Le Bon and Fists to name a handful. But there are some pretty average crowd pleasers, the sort of thing that might tempt the Glastonbury yummy mummies and the Sunday supplement crowd. NME faves The Drums and The Very Best, featuring Ezra Koenig, seem to fall into that category: familiar, comforting, nice to play in the 4x4. It does become more cosmopolitan with some hyperdub and hiphop tucked away right at the end (with Terry Lynn’s ‘Kingstonlogic’ a digital dance standout) but overall this is a pretty safe take on the year. The biggest surprise the compilation gave me was Emmy the Great’s ‘We Almost Had A Baby’, which made me momentarily rethink my previously low opinion of her, but this record should do more than that. Maybe they should pay less attention to finding "High Fidelity moments", referenced twice in the sleevenotes, and their TopShop DJing, and focus on monitoring the pulse of music. It’s still worth picking up but it’s a more casual, less essential purchase this year.

Links:
http://www.roughtrade.com