Happy Reverence and Tuneful Harmony
“Oh hey, Christmas music!” said the woman to her partner as they walked down the stairs. The music they were hearing was a reggae offering by Carl St. Clair from his record “Greetings to You”. As it was February, the legend on the front sleeve was appropriate:
All I’ve been able to learn about Carl since is from his Twitter & Discogs pages: Born in Kingston Jamaica and now living in London. He has released a series of 7” singles, and a second volume of “Greetings to You”.
“Man, I might need to pick this up!” said the man.
”You may have some competition!” I replied.
“He’s got Christmas music in his head 24/7” said his wife.
”When our kid was born “Silver Bells” was the song they really responded to as a lullaby, so it’s kind of always there!” he explained. We exchanged instagram handles and I said I’d send him a link to my mixes. The shop clerk put on another record.
Lord Tokyo, born Hayden Desiree, was previously a taxi driver who became a calypso singer - at one time being named the Dominican Calypso King, and was a key proponent in the development of soca. He shared a friendship - and backing band - with Mighty Sparrow, who features prominently in the back half of the Jingle Bell Rocks film. Best I can tell this 12” release with an 8 minute track on each side was released as a marketing promo, given all the companies and ads on the reverse sleeve.
I was already mentally pencilling a mix these could go on. I purchased them both and headed a little further west.
“Coffee?”
I stared back blankly at the man behind the counter.
“I’m making him one” he nods to the man by the front window, “do you want one?”
”Oh…uh….sure?….thanks!”
I’d wandered over to Hackney proper and into Atlantis Records. The last time I was in this building it was a cafe. The counter was still in place, but now strewn with boxes and crates of record rather than pastries. This continued through to the back room with more containers set upon flight cases, stools, and every kind of flat elevated surface that could be found. Behind a bead curtain a barely obscured kitchen area could be seen. The man from behind the counter reemerged.
”Been here before?”
I hadn’t.
”If you want to listen to anything, you can use this..” he switches on the record deck
“…or the one at the front. Prices are written on the inside of the sleeve in pencil.”
He demonstrates, then hands me a mug.
I pulled a couple of potentials from the bin with the word “Classical” dynotape labelled to its edge. The wintery landscape of the cover proved to be misleading in regards to the music waiting in the grooves.
”Folk” was next. Much better.
The cover immediately caught my eye, a minimalist psychedelic design of what appeared to be a baby in utero. That wa before I even saw the word “Nativity”. I was sold. I may have to stick this on a sweater for Christmas 2024. Further sleeves from the label (Pilgrim) do not disappoint.
The record is part of a trilogy of “Faith, Folk, _____” records released with band leader Peter Smith, a methodist minister based in Sheffield in the late 60s. A different team joined him for each release: “Festivity” with “The Common Round” and “Clarity” with “The Kinfolk”. This collection features a blend of traditionals and originals with a contemporary updating of the birth of Jesus.
Realising my budget was probably at its limit for the day, I decided against delving further, and this was a pretty good haul for little effort. But as I was heading to the counter to pay, I chanced a glance over at the 7” singles, finding this one on the very top.
Wayne Coyne & The Flaming Lips. Another star of Mitchell’s film. A little Christmas Miracle? I believe so.
Merry Christmas Mitchell.
Post Script
- A key element of mixtape curation & record bin diving is the small hope you’ll help someone find a new favourite artist or song, but imagine you could make this happen for someone.
- I stumbled across what could be considered the blueprint for my Christmas Mixes; I made this back in 2015, a mix evoking Winter. Maybe if you all listen to it it will exorcise the remaining cold weather and we’ll finally emerge into spring.
Since We Last Spoke…
Well, that took a little longer than planned. Sorry.
- We have a place! A relatively painless process, but our move date was pushed back a week, and all being well we’ll get the keys this Thursday. If you see me dragging a cart of boxes alongside the M4, please stop and give me a hand. I’ll bake you some brownies.
- I didn’t get the Bowie dream job. I didn’t even get to the interview stage. I’m bummed, but it wasn’t meant to be. Huge thanks to Adam & Cat for their invaluable contributions to the writing & editing of my cover letter.
- I had a colonoscopy! I’m okay! I did however accidentally trip on the sedative and it was WEIRD………………Do you want to hear about that?
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is a Christmas show.
- 2024 and America has gone to hell, according to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Though according to Star Trek: The Next Generation, Ireland seems to be doing better…
Mailbag
Unexpectedly, I received my first bit of mail from the (rather handsome) Sam Williams after my last post:
As I was reading a song popped in to my head and I wondered if it was one you'd heard. Its called Cold White Christmas by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.
I'm fairly certain that Casiotone... now know as Advance Base has other christmas adjacent songs and I think he has done short tours only playing christmas songs (his own and covers)
Anyway, you may well be very aware of them but they are one of my all time favourite artists and i thought, if you haven't, this might be a nice nugget for you.
Hey Sam! We are long overdue an in-person catch up. The last time we saw each other was in the B.C. (Before Covid) times and had a lovely afternoon of beers, bonding and beach BBQ! Hope you, Rozi & the kids are doing well.
This is indeed new to me (though it was on a Paul DeGeorge’s Christmas Mix I have yet to listen to.) What a downbeat lo-fi delight! I see Advance Base/CFTPA collected their Christmas tunes into a pay-what-you-want Bandcamp release in 2020 as a single 30 minute long file. Can confirm it is well worth your pennies. (If they want to put it out on vinyl, I’d certainly pick it up.)
Speaking of Paul DeGeorge, in 2011 he set about listening to over 500 versions of Wham’s Last Christmas, compiling the best into a mix of it’s own. Dedication or madness? You decide. If nothing else, it shows that you can definitely enjoy the perennial without falling foul of Whamageddon. In fact, a Spotify playlist made up entirely of these might make for a be a fun Russian Roulette style game.
(Any more letters? They are welcome!)
That’s it for now. I’ll not make the same promise as last time, but things should find a sense of rhythm once we’ve completed our move. I’ll see you soon, promise.
Take care x