This week for this column I’m highlighting some personal favourites that have come through the shop lately which I have added to my own collection. Starting with the compilation Yeah Man, It’s Bloody Heavy. Compiled by the iconic Rise Above Records label, this compilation features some lost and undiscovered tracks from the British underground from the late sixties and early seventies. Focusing on proto metal and heavy psych, these are the bands that only had a handful and, in some cases, only one release. For every Black Sabbath, there were hundreds of other bands making similar and, in some cases, just as great music, that never made it beyond their local scene. This is a collection of some of the best of these.
Bluebottle Kiss have always been one of Australia’s most underrated bands. Their catalogue is great start to finish but for me personally Revenge Is Slow is my favourite album of theirs. Great songwriting, a band at peak confidence and captured in true form in the studio by Dave Trumpmanis (who I was lucky enough to record with a few times back in my band playing days). It was never released on vinyl originally but thankfully the ever-reliable label for all things indie, Australian and nineties, Love As Fiction have given it a deluxe vinyl release.
A few years ago when North Gong Sundays were in full flight, and we were DJing there between and after bands each week, a guy called Don West was listed on the bill. Like most weeks there, I’d watch all the artists that would play, it was a great way to discover new music, sometimes I'd be blown away, sometimes I’d hate it and there was every other kind of reaction in between. When Don West played, I hated it, I really didn’t know what he was trying to do. I never really thought of him too much after that until I heard his track Small Change a year or two back and was totally blown away. That guy had found his sound, found what he was trying to do, and it was incredible, it became one of my favourite tracks of the year. That was off his debut EP and late last year he followed it up with a debut album Give Me All Your Love, that was even more of leap forward. Don West has certainly found his sound and is producing music way beyond what I could have imagined after my first time seeing him. If you’re a fan of Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers and the like, Don West is your modern-day version.
