Monday Long Song

It's both a blessing and a curse to love as many prolific artists as I do. The blessing is the immense joy I get from the huge amount of  incredible music these bands put out. The curse is financial. Actually, not that much of a curse really - I mean who needs food, water and heat when there's a great LP that needs buying anyway? Take Big Blood. On December 31st 2019 they announced the immediate digital release of a new album 'Deep Maine', with the promise of a physical version (probably in the form of a self-produced CDr) to follow. I couldn't wait and splashed the cash for the download - and it's a terrific piece of work. Sixteen days later (16 days!), the band announced another, entirely separate new vinyl release, 'Do You Wanna Have a Skeleton Dream?', which the blurb informed me was an LP in a limited edition of 300, expected on or around February 28th. It arrived last Monday - over a month ahead of schedule! It's also terrific. Much of Big Blood's earliest music was issued in screen-printed sleeved, limited runs of CDr's and there is talk of some of these rarities getting the full reissue treatment later this year. The sound you hear is that of my credit card melting and dripping out of my pocket.

While I go in search of my boss to plead for more overtime, enjoy 'Slumber Me' from Big Blood's 2006 CDr 'Strange Maine 11.04.06'. If you like what you hear, a selection of the band's back catalogue is available to sample/pay what you like, over on their Bandcamp page (here).

Big Blood - Slumber Me

55 From 55 - 2014

55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of my life...so far. 

This whole shebang started on a whim. A few tunes, each with an attached few lines of waffle - 55 posts, bob's yer uncle. Once I got into the groove though, the thing took on a life of its own. For some of the years I struggled to come up with anything and it probably showed, while for others I had more memories, tunes or photos than you could shake a stick at. So I've got a little backlog of stuff to dip into, going forward (one for all you Buzzword Bingo fans out there).

One of the unfortunate by-products of my devoting so much spare time to 55 From 55 (as well as being laid low by an absolute stinker of a cold last week) is that I've fallen way behind with all the excellent blogs I follow myself. Normal service, on all counts, returns henceforth. Next time I post, it'll no doubt be regarding some of the newer stuff that's been tickling my fancy over the past couple of months. 

Thank you to everyone who has dropped by to support this little endeavor, it really is very much appreciated. Right, I'm off out for a spot of Birthday lunch with Mrs S. Catch you later. And remember - age is just a number.

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As is the way of such things these days, many of my favourite albums of 2014 don't actually enjoy a physical presence here at Swede Towers. A case in point was, until recently, 'Unlikely Mothers' by Big Blood, where the only physical release was of the 'Limited Edition Coloured Vinyl Double LP' variety, which of course I was too slow off the mark to snap up. Fortunately for me, a second limited run of 150 appeared early in 2015. This time I was off like a shot and managed to bag a copy.

I can't recommend Big Blood highly enough and I shall return to them more fully at some point in the future. If you have any space in your head and heart for a gothic acid psych folk hybrid, then I urge you to check out 'Unlikely Mothers' here and if you like what you hear, you're in luck. The band have a wealth of music going back 10 years, all available to consume at the Free Music Archive (here).