Recently-Acquired Vinyl LP of the Day #5: The Go-Betweens 1978-1990

Mention yesterday, in closing, of ‘another project’ has today suggested that one such might be, finally, to document the vinyl LPs that have been acquired over the course of the relatively recent timespan of the last 10-11 months, since when such a nascent feature of the blog had drifted quietly into hibernation…

Thus, to reactivate proceedings, we present a collection never previously owned on vinyl, or indeed in any other form, the gatefold-sleeved double LP set ‘The Go-Betweens 1978-1990’, a well-chosen & delightful compendium of that very wonderful & much-treasured band’s tunes selected from each of their albums from ‘Send Me a Lullaby’ to ’16 Lover’s Lane’, also including single A- & B-sides & more besides, not least some previously unreleased & not heard, of course another essential addition to the record collection, as it should be to everyone’s with ears, a heart & a soul.

Soon, of course, it will be, already, the 9^th anniversary of Grant McLennan’s untimely early death, as remarked upon here.

[untitled]

graphite & watercolour/355 x254mm

Another pair(ing) of the Chinese pears, one leaning slightly ‘this’ way, the other ‘that’, arranged according to that familiar attempt to create some form of ‘charge’ between the objects, as ascribed to a feature of a particular composition of Euan Uglow’s by Andrew Forge, although no drawn or painted marks link this pair in quite such a manner: on this occasion, as numerous before, just picking up Uglow's 'Complete Paintings' provided the necessary, irresistible inspiration to draw.
Again, the pale creamy-golden skins of the pears present the challenge of representing form via subtle variations of colour & tone.

Soundtrack:

Jesca Hoop ‘Hunting My Dress’
The Go-Betweens ‘The Friends of Rachel Worth’ & ‘Bright Yellow, Bright Orange’

Today's the Day...

...to remember the mighty Grant McLennan, the man & his music, the magic of which endures, not least in the form of such fitting tribute as forms this bittersweet occasion's Soundtrack: (not forgetting Robert Forster's contribution, of course)


The Go-Betweens 'Spring Hill Fair' & 'Liberty Belle & the Black Diamond Express'

Thanks for such poignant & lasting memories are due, as always.

Looking Up...

Today the opposite of tomato is the enduring melancholy beauty of the music of The Go-Betweens


graphite & putty eraser/30x60cm (3 parts, each 30x20cm)
original source: ‘The Guardian’ 28/04/08

This image was chosen for transcription primarily for the juxtaposition of the contemporary figure with those fauns in the painting, of a European academic, ‘Salon’, clichéd, bourgeois style popular particularly during the first half of the 19th century & of a type that pioneer realists & Modernists such as Courbet & Manet sought to challenge & render redundant through their art. The art-historical combination of clothed male & naked female figures was a familiar one, & perpetuated by Courbet & Manet in, for example, ‘The Painter’s Studio’ & ‘Dejeuner sur l’Herbe’ respectively & again here in the source photograph, of Russia’s wealthiest oligarch at the Irkutsk Oblast Museum of Art (accessing the institution’s website has alas not yielded the artist & title of the painting in question). The photo’s composition might also be said to follow a clichéd convention in picturing all concerned united in their heavenward gazes.

Soundtrack:


Sigur Ros ‘Takk’
Lambchop ‘Aw C’mon’ & ‘No, You C’mon’

06/05/08


In fond remembrance of the work of the late Grant McLennan, on the 2nd anniversary of his untimely death (upon which I posted at the time), The Go-Betweens in all their glory:

‘Before Hollywood’, ‘Spring Hill Fair’, ‘Liberty Belle & the Black Diamond Express’, ‘Tallulah’, ‘16 Lover’s Lane’, ‘The Friends of Rachel Worth’ & ‘Bright Yellow, Bright Orange’