Various Artists: Imminent 4

Imminent4

Food 1986.  BITE4

Discogs

I am, in theory, sunning myself in the south of France, but it’s actually cold and wet.  There is no justice.

Anyway, I uploaded a few bits and pieces before I left, and here’s one of them.  I know nothing at all about this series of compilations, and this is the only one I have.  It doesn’t hang together very well, but there are some gems among the more forgettable stuff.  As I recall I bought this for the Bogshed track, which as far as I can tell is exclusive to this release and is, predictably, fabulous.  It’s odd to see Pulp on such a lowly compilation, but if you’re not familiar with their history, they languished in obscurity for years before they got their breakthrough Manon is a rather obscure B side.  McCarthy have appeared before here, and the Brilliant Corners are always worth a listen.

Special mention goes to Easterhouse.  If you were in a Karaoke bar, you’d be awestruck by this performance, but given the existence of The Doors version, you really have to wonder what on earth they were thinking when they recorded this.  Maybe it was aimed at da kids who’d never heard the song before.  And yes, I know Howlin’ Wolf recorded it first.

Other than that, this is just random Indie stuff from the time, which may or may not float your boat.

Bogshed: Let Them Eat Bogshed

Folder

Vinyl Drip 1985.  DRIP 2

Discogs

I bought this in the same way as I bought so much else.  Listened to John Peel and then went record shopping in my lunch hour.  Bogshed were huge Peel favourites, and according to Wikipedia he coined the term shambling to describe them.  Their angular, jagged sound, always seeming to be on the verge of collapse was similar to the sort of stuff usually to be found on the Ron Johnson label, but Bogshed stood apart from those bands with a sound of their own.

This EP was their debut, and I think their best, although like Mighty Mighty they reached a wider audience on the legendary C86 compilation.