plastic slip covers on his vinyl couch

Some things beggar belief while others bugger it senseless. I saw an advert for this album on TV last night. I was thinking about it this morning and had to ask Mrs Domino if I'd imagined it. I HADN'T.

What sort of fever dream are we living in? I appreciate that this album is being done for a good cause, but couldn't the "artists" involved have... I dunno, given the hefty studio costs to charity instead of inflicting this mess on us? What sort of twisted individual would listen to (for example) "Modern Way" by Kaiser Chiefs (what sort of twisted individual listens to the Kaiser Chiefs, anyway...) and thinks: "I know what this needs! A snappy samba beat!! And while you're at it, let's give Bono a guiro!!!".

Seriously - if your stomach can take it, have a listen to some of the clips and boggle your mind but be warned, this album also features Dido and Maroon 5.

Meanwhile back on planet Earth, I *heart* the interweb. You know why?

Back in the days when home taping was killing music, me and my bro, like so many others, would hover over the pause button while listening to John Peel. One of the songs that we taped which always stayed in our heads was "Vinyl Grind" by More Fiends ( I particularly liked the stilted way that Peelie intoned the album title, "Yo Asphalt Head").

A few years later while I was at university in Sheffield, I used to have to walk past a second hand record shop every day and in their window was a copy of the album. For some reason, I never bought it. Over the last few years I've become occasionally obsessed with getting hold of it - every city I visit, I'll find a record shop and head straight for the "Indie-Alternative" section, hoping to find it. Before you ask, I don't like the idea of buying used vinyl off the internet, otherwise I could have had it years ago.

This week, I finally got it from download store Audio Lunchbox.

More Fiends - Vinyl Grind



And you know what? It still sounds pretty damn good to me. The album as a whole ain't bad either - scratchy, ugly, erratic, angular, punky, nasty, quick and dirty.

More Fiends - More Fiends Theme



I think we recorded "Vinyl Grind" in 1988 on a tape like the one above. Consider these songs a snapshot of a certain time - this was the music we listened to at school/college which marked us out from the trendies and sports-foundation students.

It's late-80's Alternative music trapped in amber. Enjoy! Consider it a palette cleanser after dipping into "Rhythms Del Mundo".

By the way I got that image from tapedeck.org, a great website to pass a few hours in misty-eyed reverie.

Buy - "Yo Asphalt Head" by More Fiends from Audio Lunchbox
Visit - tapedeck.org
Don't Buy - "Rhythms Del Mundo"