Happy holidays, you animals. I've been helping the newest member of our family recuperate from a spaying over the past week, which should explain why Friday's post was missed.
Don't worry; I'm not dead in a ditch.
"International Hip Swing" compiles tracks from 20 different participants in K Records' International Pop Underground series, now entering its 36th year. That seems almost insane, unreal to me, especially when I realized that the Real Distractions record I bought earlier this year is the latest entry in the series.
What's even more wild to me is the possibility that I could learn something new about this record, which has lived in my collection for at least a decade, and, more likely, probably closer to a quarter century. Tonight, I learned track 7, performed by Brief Weeds, a cut I've probably skipped over more times than I care to think about, is the product of Mssrs. Picciotto & Canty, along with their collaborators Hampton & Janney, all of whom previous made up Rites of Spring, One Last Wish, and Happy Go Licky. The track doesn't sound anything like those other bands, but not even knowing that they'd collaborated on two 7"s for K back in the mid 90s seems like a big gap in my knowledge. Can I even consider myself an unhealthy record nerd having not known this?
Tiger Trap, Fifth Column, Seaweed, Beat Happening, Teenage Fanclub, Unrest, and Heavenly also appear; all wonderful bands providing superior cuts. Don't want to overlook the songs I've listened to and loved for years for the one I just rediscovered.
Click here to download.
