It was twenty years ago this month

Here's an Edwyn Collins' promotional postcard I just found which I had mailed to my father in the States while I was in London working for Setanta Records. Twenty years ago this month! Hard to believe.

Documentary of Note: Big Gold Dream - Scottish Post Punk, and Infiltrating The Mainstream

Here's a good one thats been in the works for a while, so keep an eye out for it! Big Gold Dream is a feature length doc from director Grant McPhee, and tells the tale of Scotland’s post-punk & indie music scene circa 1977-1985. It will apparently premiere, naturally, at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on the 19th June.

New Books Alert: Simply Thrilled - The Preposterous Story of Postcard Records, and Barbed Wire Kisses - The Jesus And Mary Chain

Available here

Simon Goddard on Tumblr

Available here

Zoe Howe's website

New film alert: The Possibilities Are Endless (Edwyn Collins)

The Possibilities Are Endless is the title of a new documentary about Edwyn Collins, and the illness (to put it mildly) which befell him about nine years ago. Although well documented in the press, as well as in Grace Maxwell's excellent & highly recommended book, Falling & Laughing: The Restoration of Edwyn Collins, the story is very powerful and obviously makes for a great film subject. Directed by Ed Lovelace and James Hall, with music by Edwyn, The Possibilities Are Endless debuted this week at South By Southwest in Austin, TX, and so far the reports have been great. Needless to say, I cannot wait to see this movie!

Be sure to visit their website to sign up for the mailing list. Hopefully this will get some US screenings further afield than Texas. 

Official film website 

Official film Facebook page

Billboard Magazine interview with Edwyn, and the film's directors

New recordings of note: Roddy Frame and James Chance

No...not together! Roddy - who has a new album entitled Seven Dials out in May via Edwyn Collins' label, AED - just made "Forty Days of Rain" available to listen to:



And then we have a new recording from the one & only James Chance. "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I'll Get It Myself)", by James Brown, was recorded with the True Groove All-Stars, and its James' first output for True Groove Records. Its an excellent indication of what you'll get if you're going to the Cutting Room tonight:

Edwyn Collins: New single & video from Understated

Edwyn Collins' latest single, "Too Bad (That's Sad)," from his recent album, Understated, gets the video treatment...northern soul groove ahoy! It features his son, Will, on bass, and Paul Cook on drums. Visit his label website here.

Movie of the Week - Out There: Postcard Records

Thanks to Kyle, we have a full slate of Scottish music-related docs on the schedule for this weekend. We get things off on the good foot with this television doc about Postcard Records.

Postcard was a Glasgow-based independent record label founded by Alan Horne & Edwyn Collins in 1979, as a vehicle for Orange Juice and Josef K releases. The label's motto was "The Sound of Young Scotland", a parody/tribute to the Motown motto, "The sound of young America." Although short-lived, Postcard was to prove a key influence on the C86 indie-pop movement.

The label's first release was Orange Juice's, "Falling and Laughing", which was jointly financed by Horne and band members Edwyn Collins and bassist David McClymont, and was released in the spring of 1980.The label went on to sign such bands as Aztec Camera and The Go-Betweens, before becoming bankrupt in 1981. Horne resuscitated Postcard in 1992, but they didn't last much longer the second time than they did the first. Edwyn Collins recently started using the cat-with-drum logo as his own in tribute to his own history.

Domino to reissue Orange Juice LP's on vinyl

Orange Juice, original line up, by David Corio

 As reported this morning by Slicing Up Eyeballs, Domino Records will be reissuing all four studio albums by Orange Juice on vinyl for Record Store Day on April 20! This is some of my all time favorite music and has made me happy for years...ask anyone who knows me. Now is your chance to pick up brand new, (hopefully) reasonably priced, copies of these classics...especially their debut, You Can't Hide Your Love Forever. All four will include digital download codes.

You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever (1982)

Rip It Up (1982)

Texas Fever (1984)

The Orange Juice (1984)

New Edwyn Collins music - track stream & video preview

Its always news around here when Edwyn Collins announces anything (like a new album & spring 2013 UK tour dates). Today we get a preview of the new courtesy of his Soundcloud & Vimeo pages...Christmas is early!

Edwyn Collins Spring 2013 UK tour dates

Visit www.edwyncollins.com for further details. Image courtesy of Jocknroll Ain't Noise Pollution.

Edwyn Collins: New album & film news

As the BBC's 6 Music recently reported, Edwyn Collins has started discussing his next album which will be called Understated, and will feature guest Richard Hawley. The current release date is sometime in January 2013 which is probably just for the UK. I'll be surprised if it sees a US release before the end of the calendar winter season.

Collins is also involved in the making of a promising looking film called In Your Voice, In Your Heart, and it's the story of Edwyn’s journey back from his life threatening illness seven years ago. As the filmmakers say on their site, "Blurring the line between fiction and documentary we explore the world of Edwyn’s subconscious – a place inhabited by fragmented ideas and forgotten memories. Each story Edwyn tells is another piece of a shattered identity we gradually see re-emerging in front of us." Watch the trailer, and listen for the acapella verse from Orange Juice's "Dying Day" sung by Edwyn near the beginning - it's simply spine tingling!

Edwyn Collins - official site
Edwyn Collins - on twitter

New track from Edwyn Collins, new album on the way

The word from Edwyn Collins' label, AED, is that Edwyn is currently burning through tape working on a new album. And to prove it, here's a track-in-progress:

EDWYN COLLINS - Down The Line by Analogue Enhanced Digital

Some British birds - Edwyn Collins home goods design!

If Edwyn Collins ever decides to shut down his recording studio he may have a future in home goods design...

In collaboration with the UK-based Elli Popp (Designs by Katja Behre), they've come up with a wonderful collection of wall paper, ceramic teacups, and plates, all festooned with the bird illustrations that appeared in the artwork for Edwyn's most recent album, Losing Sleep (above). For the plates & teacups click here. For the wallpaper click here.

Edwyn Collins on Daytrotter

Our man Edwyn Collins has a recent session with the folks at Daytrotter available for listening & downloading. The five tracks include Falling & Laughing, A Girl  Like You, Losing Sleep, What Is My Role?, and What Presence!? Check it out here.

Edwyn Collins to play US in March

I had heard about this just a few days ago, but today Brooklyn Vegan announced that Edwyn Collins will be making some rare US appearances in March. His latest album, Losing Sleep, will also finally see a Stateside release on March 22 - about fucking time!

Shows announced so far - tickets available Friday (1/28) at noon:
3/13 The Rock Shop
3/14 Bowery Ballroom
He'll then head to Austin TX for SxSW

Before and After: Pale Blue Eyes

Before - the Velvet Underground:

Velvet Undergound on Amazon

After - Edwyn Collins & Paul Quinn:

Edwyn Collins on Amazon
Paul Quinn on Amazon

Losing Sleep and doing it again

As you may know, Edwyn Collins' Losing Sleep album is one of my favorites of the year. So I'm happy to see they've done a new video for the second single off the album, “Do It Again.” And no, it's not the one by Steely Dan. The song, and the video itself (directed by Kieran Evans), features guest appearances from Alex Kapranos & Nick McCarthy of Franz Ferdinand, as well as Sex Pistol Paul Cook.

Buy Edwyn Collins music.

Stupefaction Top 12 for 2010

This is never easy for me, but at least I got this together ahead of time year. And in case you're thinking "who gives a crap?", don't worry...I'm under no delusions about anyone wondering what I loved this year (and if you visit regularly you'll know), but I like running it here as a matter of record. In no particular order, and with no further ado:


01. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - I Learned The Hard Way (Daptone) (CD, MP3, vinyl)


02. Vic Godard & Subway Sect - We Come As Aliens (Overground) (CD & MP3. Limited edition vinyl available directly from the band)


03. Vic Godard & Irvine Welsh - Blackpool EP (Gnu) (CD-only available directly from the band)


04. Orange Juice - Coals To Newcastle (Domino) (CD & MP3)


05. Edwyn Collins - Losing Sleep (Heavenly) (CD, MP3, vinyl)


06. Paolo Conte - Nelson (Universal) (CD, MP3)


07. Patti Smith - Just Kids (Ecco Publishing) (Book)


08. Sexual Objects - Cucumber (Creeping Bent) (MP3. Limited edition vinyl available here.)


09. Harvest Ministers - Strange Love Letter (Crayon Records) (MP3, CD. CD available to order here)


10. Spoon - Transference (Merge) (CD, MP3, vinyl)


11. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band feat. Tom Waits - Tootie Ma Was A Big Fine Thing b/w Corrine Died On The Battlefield - very limited edition 78 RPM record (Preservation Hall) (also available on Preservation: An Album To Benefit Preservation Hall (CD, MP3)


12. Christian Scott - Yesterday You Said Tomorrow (Concord) (CD, MP3)

From my Last.FM stats - Top 15 listened-to artists, 2010:
01. Tom Waits
02. Willie Mitchell
03. Paolo Conte
04. The Harvest Ministers
05. Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
06. Sufjan Stevens
07. Borscht
08. Sidney Bechet
09. Echo & The Bunnymen
10. Big Star
11. Spoon
12. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
13. John Lurie
14. Vic Godard & The Subway Sect
15. Roddy Frame