Brand new secondhand

Posted on September 29, 2017 by onedeckpete

The other day while sorting through a box of old magazines and yellowing punk fanzines we came across a piece we wrote for the good folks at Mojo Collections* (Big shout to Mark Paytress!) many moons ago. Reliving the memories of some of the best second hand record vendors from the past really made us smile. We are presently writing a piece about all the crazy things we’ve experienced while downloading MP3’s, so do look out for that as it’s looking quite lively at the moment! Below are the fine tunes that are featured in the Article.
*Please note: all prices were correct at the time of going to press. All terms and conditions apply. Remember your home is at risk if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or another loan secured on it.

https://soundcloud.com/weedsuptomeknees/prince-buster-and-the-all

Have you memories of a second-hand record emporium that smelt of rising damp, a sheepskin-coat wearing market stall vendor whose records had no prices on them or a favourite mail order outlet that sent you anything other than the record you wanted? A story of a great tune found between piles of such classics as Singalongamax and I missed again at your local charity shop? You once paid an arm and a leg for the Contempo – Black Jade dub LP from the Record and Tape exchange only to find Status Quo’s You’re In The Army Now 12″ when you got it out of its cardboard sleeve on the bus home. Well we would love to hear from you!

What difference a week makes

Posted on September 15, 2017 by onedeckpete

It’s been a week since we returned from our holidays in Turkey (the above taken at a local olive grove last week) and the weather in London has taken a turn for the worst, our tomato plants are on their last legs and two squirrels in as many days have had their lives cut short in our back garden thanks to our cats. Very sad indeed.

A few years ago we covered the subject of squirrels in the garden on our Sounds from the South podcast after one of our cats cornered one down the drive. At the time we wished we knew a bit more about looking after the young orphan but since then we found a good website called http://www.squirrels.info where there’s load of info about caring for injured ones. More info here.

On a nicer note here’s a lovely tune by Haruomi Hosono (from the Yellow Magic Orchestra) that was heard on last week’s Tom Ravenscroft show as part of his companion tracks series as chosen by Mac Demarco. In 1983 Haruomi Hosono was commissioned by the Japanese retailer Muji to compose some in-store music and the track above “Talking” is off the released cassette called “Watering a flower”. Hypnotic is not the word!

Cool in the pool

Posted on September 10, 2017 by onedeckpete

We’ve been away for a week in southern Turkey for a well needed break and here’s some nice examples of what was about in the gardens of the village we stayed at. If only we had a little more heat over here in Forest Hill and we could grow a bit of what was on offer there including (above) a lovely selection of flowers and (below) one of the many prickly pear cactus and pomegranate trees in the village. The fruit was used by the local cocktail bar for their classic Pomegranate Martini, now that was a fine tipple!

While we were away it was very sad to hear that Holger Czukay the madcap bassist of Can, Jah Wobble collaborator and musical pioneer passed away aged 79. He was the creator of some classic shortwave radio sampling tunes that influenced the weeds related music project Madtone. When we first heard those tunes many moons ago they blew us away! Here’s some of our favourites. RIP Holger Czukay!