singles by choice
(albums when it's necessary)
22 August 2005
listening through speakersLinn LP12
Linn Ittok LVII
Linn Arkiv
Arcam Delta 170 / Arcam Black Box DAC
TEAD Microgroove Plus
Linn Kairn
Linn LK140 (x3)
Linn Espek

A new Broadcast record! And, look, Trish is on the front! (Looking kind of like Ian Brown.)

Well, it’s certainly Broadcast, with all the distorted screeching synthesizer, and that perfect voice, but it doesn’t really sound particularly like anything else they’ve done. Something drastic is happened in the drumming department for a start, with the huge percussion that was so important to Ha Ha Sound replaced by a severely (surely deliberately) crappy drum machine.

On first listen, I think it’s good but not great. I thought the same about Pendulum, ended up loving it, then found nearly everything on the LP was even better. Hopefully the same again then.

PS: I prefer the b-side.

4

Fact 1: Sons and Daughters are great and I love them. Fact 2: I’ve had the LP since it came out and I’ve still not played it. What kind of an idiot am I? Something about this reminds me of Panto Pirate era Adam Ant, which is a good thing. Totally ace, even with a crap Stranglers cover on the b-side.

Update: I’ve played the LP. It’s okay.

5

First rule of comedy: oh forget it.

4

I bought this because my sister lives in St Ives. Turns out this is the St Ives in Cornwall, which is the wrong one. I’ve been there though, so near enough. However, Half Man Half Biscuit mention St Ives on their new LP, and they do mean the one in Cambridgeshire, which is the right one.

They have a very nice bridge in St Ives, there, and I bought a cool mirror which wouldn’t fit in my car, and I had to get my parents to fetch it for me. (They have an Astra Estate, with loads of room in the back.)

The b-side here is called Beauty Queen. Despite my best efforts I have never met a beauty queen, though I did once know a girl who won a modelling competition in the local paper.

2