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ventaA month or two ago, ChrisC and I were taking a stroll to Greenford tube station to view one of the last wooden escalators on the network before it is replaced. We have all the fun :) (Mind you, at dusk you get a much nicer panoramic view of West London than you might expect from Greenford's platforms.) Anyway, he mentioned the 1p Album Club.
The basic premise of this is that you get paired up with somebody, you buy an album priced at a penny on Amazon Marketplace, and you send it off with your recommendations to your somebody. A nice idea, don't you think?
Obviously, the idea is that you recommend an album you enjoy. Now, it doesn't make sense for ChrisC to recommend albums to me. If he likes an album, then he owns a copy, and thus I have access to it already. He expressed his intention of buying a 1p album on a whim and sending it to me.
Which, by the time an anonymous padded envelope turned up containing a CD, I'd forgotten. However! Here is my review...
First of all, a warning: if you don't like your music twee, look away now. Despite being named after a Morrissey B-side, The Boy Least Likely To is as twee as a twee thing heading to an international twee convention wearing a hat crocheted by Josie Long. The artist responsible for the cover of The Best Party Ever is credited in the sleevenotes with "drawing and colouring". The first track opens with a plinky-plonky glockenspiel. There is a song about Panda Cola. If any of those things makes your hackles rise, then you will hate this album.
I, however, quite like a bit of twee now and again. And this CD is immense fun, for pretty much all of the reasons mentioned above. I'm even willing to forgive it the banjo.
The songs are catchy, and interesting; they're sweet and sometimes sad. It's got simple lyrics that sometimes turn out disarmingly clever, or funny. Despite being almost self-consciously over-cute, it's sincere and never tips over into pastiche. If you like this kind of thing, you'll like it :
All round, I'd say excellent value for a penny.
If anyone fancies a 1p album-swap with me, drop a comment in the usual manner :-)
The basic premise of this is that you get paired up with somebody, you buy an album priced at a penny on Amazon Marketplace, and you send it off with your recommendations to your somebody. A nice idea, don't you think?
Obviously, the idea is that you recommend an album you enjoy. Now, it doesn't make sense for ChrisC to recommend albums to me. If he likes an album, then he owns a copy, and thus I have access to it already. He expressed his intention of buying a 1p album on a whim and sending it to me.
Which, by the time an anonymous padded envelope turned up containing a CD, I'd forgotten. However! Here is my review...
First of all, a warning: if you don't like your music twee, look away now. Despite being named after a Morrissey B-side, The Boy Least Likely To is as twee as a twee thing heading to an international twee convention wearing a hat crocheted by Josie Long. The artist responsible for the cover of The Best Party Ever is credited in the sleevenotes with "drawing and colouring". The first track opens with a plinky-plonky glockenspiel. There is a song about Panda Cola. If any of those things makes your hackles rise, then you will hate this album.
I, however, quite like a bit of twee now and again. And this CD is immense fun, for pretty much all of the reasons mentioned above. I'm even willing to forgive it the banjo.
The songs are catchy, and interesting; they're sweet and sometimes sad. It's got simple lyrics that sometimes turn out disarmingly clever, or funny. Despite being almost self-consciously over-cute, it's sincere and never tips over into pastiche. If you like this kind of thing, you'll like it :
All round, I'd say excellent value for a penny.
If anyone fancies a 1p album-swap with me, drop a comment in the usual manner :-)
