Excuses, excuses. This time it was chopping nearly half off the top of my middle finger in an unguarded moment chopping a carrot. Thankfully, there was not half as much damage as first appeared, and a couple of weeks on all I have to show is a rosy patch of shiny skin about a centimetre long. No photos, this time.

Which leaves me with a few articles piled up, resting in the fertile compost of my brain, awaiting my now-fixed and eager fingers to splurge them onto the screen. Oh, lucky you. And yes, the end of year is coming, and I’ve even started to write my end of year review. Lucky, lucky you.

Before those joys come perennial Loft and Lost favourites Lambchop. If I were ever to become passably famous and appear on Desert Island Disks, their “The Man Who Loved Beer” would be a shoo-in for one of the seven; probably, frankly, first on the list. Their skewed take on country soul¹ has developed over the years, but hasn’t strayed too far from their righteous path of wondrousness, to the point that “A Hold Of You” or “Sharing a Gibson with Martin Luther King, Jr.” from their last album OH (Ohio) would happily have sat on their first record, back in the ‘90’s.

And with that, my heart can’t help but leap on hearing there’s a new record coming, titled Mr M, out on February 21st. Dedicated to Vic Chesnutt, keener fans will recognise, is something of a hero of the band, and whose tracks they have covered over the years. Here’s lead track “If Not I’ll Just Die”, and what a lovely thing it is too. Plus, it starts with a great bit of swearing. They are on one of their big tours next year, so be sure to catch them out on their travels, as not only are they a great live band, they also tend to enjoy hanging round the bar both before and after the show and chatting with their fans. Or getting arseholed with them and then giving them a lift home, which they once did with me. Lovely folks, though frankly I’ll be bringing a “1000 Greatest Jokes” book for Tony Crow.

¹ Often erroneously called “Alt-country”; go and listen to some Eddie Hinton or one of the marvellous “Country Got Soul” compilations and you’ll know what I’m getting to here.

If Not I’ll Just Die by Lambchop

https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F28251515 Lambchop – If Not I’ll Just Die by MergeRecords

Buy their stuff from Amazon’s Lambchop Store.

A theme this blog returns to from time to time is how the blazes anyone’s going to make a living in the music industry these days. Artists can always go out on tour, but what about the labels that release their records? Records that no-one’s buying¹? And how can anyone do something different to separate them from the ravening herd?

One relentlessly pursued idea has been to release records that are more special than before – from the usual “Special Edition” 2 or 3 CD sets, to Brooce Springsteen’s “Here’s a fuck-off load of offcuts and a documentary too” effort, The Promise². Well, two gentlemen named Simon Joyner and Ben Goldberg have had the idea to set up a record label – Grapefruit Records – as a club, where you pay a subscription and get four vinyl albums a year, by known and unknown artists. That’s right, vinyl only. No CD, no download, nothing, just a 12” bit of polyvinyl chloride and some cardboard.

As an old bugger, I admire this no nonsense approach. Whilst I don’t do vinyl myself any more, what with it being a bit difficult to listen to a vinyl record on the Jubilee Line at 7:45 am, I do still love the sound, feel and the whole rigmarole of a beautifully produced record. And this certainly is an interesting idea; the first record features Kurt Wagner’s early recordings of Lambchop, the wonderfully quiet Nashville band who feature heavily in my entirely fictional top-1000 songs list. Hearing this early material would be a marvellous treat for any serious Lambchop fan.

Their mission statement reads:

Grapefruit’s mission is to expose fans to exclusive, challenging new music on vinyl while ensuring that the musicians actually get paid for creating their art.

If you’re curious, head over to their site now and have a look around at the roster of artists. I have absolutely no idea if this will work, but I wholeheartedly hope it does; it’s wonderful to see people with a good idea and a passion and desire for music try and do something a little different. Good luck, fellas.

MP3: Soaky In The Pooper by Lambchop

¹ Well, they are, but not in the same numbers as before, and certainly not in the manner required to keep an industry in fruit and flowers.

² Not bought this yet. Really ought to.