Re-upped

Talk show hosts, journalists and sociology profs hunting for a thesis love to prattle on about the addictive qualities of the Internet. “It’s the crack cocaine of sex addiction”, “It’s human communication stripped of nuance” and of course ‘blah-blah-Foucault-blah-blah-Derrida-blah-blah”. Now sex and disaster keep the media in business, so it’s understandable that they ignore the real problem: musicoholism (I sense a thesis on the make – musicism might work better but it doesn’t sound as…well…sexy!)

I’ve got six hundred CD’s, three hundred records and as many tapes. Plus my computer (and it’s little bitch, the iPod) is crammed with thousands and thousands of mp3's. I own more music than I can possibly appreciate. Why? Because the idea that there is one great song that I haven’t heard (and cannot access in a heartbeat) is unbearable to me – like ignoring a ringing phone.

I started out on Audiogalaxy. For an inveterate taper, a cherry-picker of the good songs, this was a direct bulls-eye in the pleasure centre. (The beautifully-maintained Mod-Punk Archives added to the damage done exponentially by showing me that there were 100,000 brilliant unrecognized bands from the late 70’s and early 80’s to be scored). Withdrawal would be a euphemism for my pain when Audiogalxy got busted by the RIAA, even though P2P only made me buy more albums. I sampled Bearsahre, Kazaa and Winmx (only warming to bit torrents recently) till I found the Harder Stuff, Soulseek. Between Soulseek, and now Google Reader for mp3 blogs, I've become the Johnny Thunders of this particular affliction.

So, as Archie Andrews had to pass on his compulsion to say, “Molly on a trolley/Found a seat by golly" to someone far away, so I’ll spread the addiction to you. From Japan to New Zealand to Norway to South Africa MRML has already become a few people’s local supply. Damn you, pusherman. To make a bad thing worse, I offer you the purest of product: Shake Some Action. These ex-pen-sive boots are, indubitably, amongst the greatest compilations ever (sorry Nuggets, Killed By Death, D.I.Y., Songs We Taught Duran Duran etc. ).

Maybe Rhino will call me up to release my own punk-mod-power-pop comps called...Shrapnel (Or is that merely the delirium tremens of a musicoholic…)

Volume One covers the UK from 1979-1986 and is bursting with rushing guitars and big hooks. Highlights include the anthemic "Don't Let Go" by Seventeen (who later became the Alarm), The Keys jangle-punk monster "I Don't Wanna Cry" (album here), the pop-perfect "Don't Go" by the Donkeys ( album available here) and the belligerent but infectious "Ignore Me" by The Gas (more to come). A few imperfect songs, like the rote mod-isms of "There Must be Thousands" by The Quads, only make you let your guard down for 2:42 seconds or so till the next hit hits.

Download V. 1