A long time ago, my friend Andrew Hammity, who was the first person I ever bought a record from (c. 1998, we’ve remained friends ever since), asked me to send him ten of my current fave 45s for his blog. Andrew’s blog doesn’t exist anymore so I’m posting it here for for posterity.
You might find one or two of these on Spotify. But all context is lost there. By representing them here, I hope you get a sense of the smell of them.
Still the definition of head-nodding and the genesis of my need to know more about raw, lost soul 45s. How can a tune so mellow be so heavy?
The Enormous Melancholy.
Group harmony balladeers showcase their huge ambition, imagination and perfect musicianship, stretching out across seven tempo changes.
Played with the over-it intent of someone who could well top themselves next time… This was also the genesis name for a certain Melbourne soul night of some repute, 2008–2010. If you were there, you knew the deal.
Supra-singular vibrations. A different breed of black psychedelia, direct from the suburban garage.
Nail gun precision drumming on this furnace engine of disco assertion (thank you Brett).
Warbling falsetto, out of tune, badly tape-edited; what more could you want from a heavily obscure black rock outfit?
Brother & sister combo bleed their hearts out, right in front of the whole school.
Truly ungoogleable suave soul on the Ohio AMG label (picture coming soon).
Social conscience rides the warmer disco-wave into the latter half of the 70s (thank you Jason P.).
The Enormous Melancholy, part 2 (thank you Belson).
If you’re interested in tunes like this, you can check out my old mixes here.
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