Super Vinyl Adventure Club

Yeah, I started a club and gave it a childish name. So what if I'm the only member, despite what my wife says, it is big and it is clever! There almost was no super adventure this week. Severe lack of money has scuppered all gig going, and it meant I certainly had no cash to splurge on vinyl. What to do, what to do? Luckily I remembered I still had some HMV vouchers, so the adventure was back on! Here's how I got on:

Venue

So the afformented lack of money forced my hand this week. His Master Voice it was, the Argyle Street branch. Now you don't need me to tell you, that HMV is no longer the force it once was. Music, especially vinyl often takes a backseat amongst the more lucrative markets of video games, blu-ray and DVD's. To it's credit Argyle Street HMV does have a vinyl section, which is already more than most stores. Consisting of three racks, the selection isn't great. And the stock isn't readily replaced, meaning most of the LP's have been there since my last visit. The other drawback is HMV, despite what they may claim, do not want to deal in new music. They want safe, tried and tested music, which will sell. This means most of the vinyl is re-issues or mainstream artists. To my surprise however, I found (I use the word loosely, it was sitting right there) a solitary copy of FOUND's 3rd LP factorycraft. More on that in a minute. Despite the poor selection, and my general disdain for HMV, the staff member who served me was pleasant, and engaged in conversation. He certainly would have been at home in an independent record shop. Soundtracking my whole adventure was Bobby Womack - Across 110th Street, possibly from the Jackie Brown soundtrack, I don't know I didn't ask.

Purchases

As mentioned above, I bought FOUND - factorycraft LP for £20. Certainly more pricey than a CD, however this is standard. I do reserve a special spot for artists that price their vinyl release the same as the CD, but that is few and far between. Like The Seventeenth Century last week, FOUND get brucey bonus points for included free mp3 download codes. The artwork is also pretty nifty. Black and white prints of machine bits against a bold background of simply colour.

The music is very good. I wasn't overly familiar with FOUND, so their experimental style was near enough new to me. Anti Climb Paint - Lead single is a catchy number, and other stand out tracks for me include I'll Wake With A Seismic Head No More, Johnny I Can't Walk The Line and Machine Age Dancing. The album as a whole has a kind of interchangable feel. It's inventive and foot tappingly good at times. It ticks all the right boxes without being pretentious or trying too hard something many other indie rock bands can be accused of. The influences of post-modern rock are there to be seen, but there is also slices of pure pop (a la` The Cure) which break through at times. All in all, a rousingly good album. Have a listen to Anti Climb Paint here.