MV : "Always on my mind" by Reading Rainbow

Off their new album.


READING RAINBOW always on my mind from amanda finn on Vimeo.

The Dreamscape - blackflower

The Dreamscape are rather obscure, they only released a couple of singles of which this is one. Later on i found out they were a side project of a couple of members of Secret Shine but at the time i just thought they were yet another mysterious C86 dreampop band producing beautiful music and disappearing after one or two singles...

And this single is beautiful, the A side is the best song by a margin (not that the B side "Evergreen" is bad), "Blackflower" is a lovely song with ethereal keyboards and female vocals that, while a bit flat, perfectly suit the song. One of my favourite songs from that era, taking me back to a time i used to go to town once a week and find amazing 7" singles like this.

You really should check the song out, it will be pretty hard to find the 7" single anywhere in the shops (though having said that there appear to be a couple on Ebay) but fear not as both songs are on Youtube, here is the A side.

Cinebook Recounts 2 : The Falklands War

To someone like myself who remembers the Falklands War of 1982 very vividly (maybe the most abiding TV memory of my childhood) a graphic novel telling the story of that war at first appears very strange. But then again graphic novels of WW2 seem fine and for some people they were vivid memories too so why not?

And indeed this is a very beautiful piece of work with excellent artwork. To fit the whole conflict into the confines of one volume was difficult i bet and at times the story races along at breakneck speed and also puts somewhat odd speech into the "characters'" mouths in order to advance the narrative sufficiently. I did notice a couple of inaccuracies with the events portrayed here but something only a military or history geek would really pick up on.

This is a very good piece of work, it should be required reading for British children to see how a British colony was regained nearly 30 years ago despite great difficulties and great cost.

• The Falklands War: Cinebook Recounts Series (Amazon)

93MillionMilesFromTheSun - EP1

Doncaster shoegaze noiseniks 93MillionMilesFromTheSun released this EP last month and its available as a free download (see link below). I love this band with their multi-layered feedback noise, they could easily have been one of the original shoegaze bands yet also are totally modern too.

"When I Look Up, I see Nothing" is my favourite track with its shimmering reverb feedback. "Never Understand" is a JAMC track and so true to the original's sound yet also with an original touch. Its fantastic. So a great EP, it also includes 2 tracks by Falling Saints and a poem!

• Download EP

MV : "Skulls" by Manhattan Love Suicides