Date: Wed, 25 Mar 1998 22:21:30 -0000 From: Andrew Norman Subject: Re: wurlitzer jukebox/pram On Wednesday, March 25, 1998 2:29 PM, Mark Tranmer [SMTP:mdt@ALCD.SOTON.AC.UK] wrote: > i've also heard a rumour that wurlitzer jukebox are suspending > operations for the forseeable future so that keith, who runs > the label, can take a rest and possibly also move house. That's not a good enough excuse! I want that Lithops 7" and I want it now! WJ has been releasing some really good stuff recently (the Buddha on the Moon and Soundsmith albums, the Flowchart and Ganger singles, etc) and it will be a shame if this suspension becomes permanent. I went out tonight with a tape of various WJ singles on the walkman, and it's remarkable how few duds there are in the back catalogue - maybe it's just familiarity, but I can't say there's a WJ single I really dislike (apart from AMP's "Frise" which didn't make it onto the tape) and well over half of them are first-rate. > As well as the new lp, has anyone mentioned the new pram single > on kooky records? The a side is called 'the last astronaut'. > the b side is an instrumental of 'cinnabar'. the format is 7" only. > Both tracks are very good: a collage of casios, guitars, brass and > other, often exotic, instrumentation. The songs therefore have a > similar sound to other recent pram releases such as the > duophonic ep and the wurlitzer 7". It's encouraging, in a way, that the album's on Domino - it will probably mean a bit more publicity and hopefully sales. I wasn't bowled over by TLA, perhaps because the WJ and Duophonic singles were so stunning - Pram are beating Stereolab hands down in the offbeat pop music race at the moment. Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 20:55:06 -0000 From: Andrew Norman Subject: Re: wurlitzer jukebox/Lithops On Friday, March 27, 1998 10:52 AM, Gordon McEwen [SMTP:gmce@hotmail.com] wrote: > Andrew Norman wrote on Fri, 27 Mar 1998: > > I like Electroscope but I'd be pushing it if I said they were even > > my tenth favourite band on WJ. > > Which begs the question... I don't have the first half-dozen releases (number 6 was Broadcast) but my favourites are the singles by Pram, the Eleventh Hour (No 1 Cup under another name, I haven't liked any of the No 1 Cup stuff I have heard), Light (first single and album, second one's not so good), Soundsmith (both singles and album), Buddha on the Moon (album out recently includes both sides of the earlier single), Flowchart, i s a n, Hydroplane, Ganger, Piano Magic... That's ten and Electroscope are hovering around the top of the "rest of.." heap. I haven't made a particular effort to collect WJ releases, but the albums have been top stuff (Light, Soundsmith, AMP's first, Buddha on the Moon and, um, Electroscope), and the forty-odd 7" singles have been a breath of fresh air every couple of months, a varied sample of someone else's taste. Least favourites: AMP (the two WJ singles are definitely the worst thing by them I have heard), Sunset Valley, Fukuyama, Sabine, Tullycraft (not that these are all bad, but I wouldn't sell my soul for them).