Festive Record of the Week

I Hate Christmas
Three Litre





OK. Yes... I DID choose this last year as well. Probably will again next year too. But its one of my festive faves, hasn't been heard enough and is very worthy of a place on the nations's endless Christmas playlist we get assaulted with from the end of October each year in the shops...

Anyway...

Don't be fooled by the title, it's not quite as throwaway as it at first appears to be...

But I won't spoil it too much for you; you have a listen and see what you think for yourselves.

This is one of my all time festive favourites. It combines melancholy, humbug, longing, hopes, dreams, a wry smile here and there along with all the trimmings of sleigh-bells, church-bells and a choir. Yet it starts so simply with that acoustic intro that gets stung by that chiming electric guitar after the first line.

Very merry stuff. And don't you get me started on New Year!

You can buy this on CD at amazon...
Or on eBay...

Find out more about Three Litre...
Drowned in Sound review of this single...
A review of their gig with The Darkness...
Velocity Recordings Three Litre page...

Record of the Week

Little Jody
by Blue


This was something that, once heard, I tried to track down and buy for what seemed like ages...

And it still remains one of my all time favourite tracks of all time. The guitar work is just sublime: the sound from it is deep, dirty and basic. Beautiful. Add to that a simple, succinct song structure of near-perfect proportions -- not too short and not too long -- and you have a potential classic on your hands.

John Peel thought so when he reviewed it in Sounds and made it his Record of the Week. And RSO Records probably thought so too. And why not? The band were formed and fronted by ex-Marmalade hit-writer Hughie Nicholson and, it has to be said 'Little Jody' should have been another top-ten certainty.

But we all know by now that it wasn't and remains one of life's great mystery's.

I did manage to get hold of this record: I found the debut album 'Blue' in a rack of a record shop the year following release. It remains one of my favourite and most played albums to this day (it's on the iPhone as we speak!)

Peel loved them more than just voting this record of the week as records show the band recorded a number of sessions for his Radio 1 programmes in the seventies.

Buy the album at amazon...

Record of the Week

It All Feels Right
by Washed Out


It certainly does all feel right when listening to this track from the brand and spanking new Washed Out LP 'Paracosm'.

We here at NotJust Towers are fans of Ernest Green, the man behind Washed Out, and he hasn't let us down with his new release. Its warmly familiar to Washed Out fans' ears, an aural delight with so many textures and layers of sound that are both uplifting and calming. Great music while you work.

There are reminders here and there of the Faming Lips... but that's no bad thing at all. This all builds solidly on the debut 'Within and Without'

And the rest of the new albums's pretty good too!

Download the album from iTunes...
Get the new album at amazon...