The Saints!

 Nice article on the reformed Saints in The Guardian today:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/nov/11/punk-pioneers-the-saints-im-stranded

Galactic Vinyl Memories #13

 I needed to cheer myself up on Wednesday morning, so - thanks to a pre-arranged visit to Cardiff - I did a bit of retail therapy in HMV.

I really like Michael Kiwanuka's music, although this is the first record of his I've bought. I was surprised by how much of it I've recognised on first play. He did a great set at Glastonbury in the summer, and has a new album out now as well.

This is a Khruangbin album. I love Khruangbin! I came to them via a live set that was shown on BBC Wales a couple of years ago after a performance in Cardiff. They're a Texan three-piece. I've no idea how to describe their music other than "groovy". Their wiki page says they blend soul, dub, rock and psychedelia, which sounds about as good a description as any. All three of them are amazing musicians. Two of them wear wigs. I've got a couple of CDs and one other vinyl record by them, but I think this might be a live album. Khruangbin! It means "aeroplane" in Thai.

Suzanne Vega has put out a quartet of records with re-recordings of her songs arranged thematically. I've got the first and third of the set on vinyl, and this is the second. I've been a fan since hearing "Small Blue Thing" on the radio in 1985, and that song still sends shivers down my spine. She's created a fantastic body of work over forty years.

Galactic Vinyl Memories #12

 A two-for-one this time! No connection to the previous record that I can think of, although they certainly stem from a similar period in my listening.

These two records, both of which I'd suggest are now considered "seminal", were bought from a small independent record shop called Rock City in St Andrews, Scotland in October 1989. "Sensual World" was Kate Bush's first significant new release since "Hounds of Love" four years earlier (quite a long time in them there days), while The Blue Nile's second album, "Hats", came five and half years after their debut. That wasn't just quite a long time, that was an eternity. No one took five years between albums back then, not even Tears for Fears.

The second track off "Hats", entitled The Downtown Lights, was, rather fantastically, namechecked by none other than Taylor Swift on her recent album. Apparently this caused such a rush of interest in the long-defunct Scottish band that they quickly sold out of vinyl copies of "Hats". The album itself is a magnificent record and fully the equal of its predecessor, "A Walk Across the Rooftops". I saw them live around the time of the release of their third album.

Kate Bush's album is one of her best, without question, and contains some wonderful songs. It's a smoother, more sumptuous recording than "Hounds..." and none of its moments match the sheer strangeness and newness of parts of that record ... but it's still an absolute banger.

Why are these two albums shown together, beyond the fact that I bought them at the same time? Because they were both released on the same day, October 16th 1989. Talk about an embarrassment of riches!