A Head Full of Wishes is a site for Galaxie 500, Luna, Damon & Naomi, Dean & Britta and Dean Wareham. With news, articles and lists of releases and past and future shows.
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A Head Full of Wishes newsletter #30
Damon & Naomi - False Beats and True Hearts (LP)
Damon & Naomi’s False Beats and True Hearts was released on their own 20|20|20 label in May 2011, I bought it on CD back then. I bought this LP in 2013 when the Wondrous World bootleg edition was released and I filled my basket to try and make the postage seem less ridiculous.
The picture on the front cover of the sleeve is by French photographer Bernard Faucon who took a series of photos called “Summer Camp” using dummies between 1976 and 1981:
The summer of ’76 got off to a flying start. I could feel my strength and my youth burst open. I filled the Mehari (my cheap Citroen open-top car) with dummies and I was all over the drives, the dormitory in my parents’ children home, the churchyard in Lioux, the swimming-pool in Saint-Saturnin, the beaches of Saintes-Maries de la Mer in the Camargue. I would hurriedly set up the dummies , and after the shot, pack up and set off again. As they invested those places that bore the mark of my childhood I imagined that those little men freed from their shop-windows, released unknown forces, brought to light sublime, masterful evidence.
I must admit that I found the picture on the sleeve a bit bewildering, perhaps even a bit creepy, and was never entirely sure what to make of it - but having now seen it as part of the larger project it’s a bit easier to grasp. There are others in the series I like more but maybe it is the perplexing nature of the photo that was what was required for the album?
The LP has a hype sticker with a couple of quotes… maybe the CD did too but I no longer have it.
DAMON & NAOMI have slowly, steadily, stealthily made themselves into one of the most consistently interesting cultural juggernauts on the contemporary scene.
Byron Coley & Thurston Moore, Arthur Magazine #27 (Dec 2007)
Over two decades — first as the rhythm section of Galaxie 500 and then on a series of low-key studio albums — DAMON & NAOMI have mastered the art of intimacy.
Both quotes were in reviews written about their previous album Within These Walls but most certainly still apply to False Beats and True Hearts!
- Catalogue Number: AHFOW 12/009
- Artist: Damon & Naomi
- Title: False Beats and True Hearts
- Format: LP
- Bought from Damon & Naomi’s store for $15 (plus postage) in March 2007
- Buy ‘False Beats and True Hearts’ on Bandcamp
Previously in my record collection:
Various artists - Cathedral Classics Volume One (CD)
Back in April I wrote about Cathedral Classics Volume Two the second CD collection celebrating the fabulous Sonic Cathedral Records splendid output. In that post I wrote “The first volume of Cathedral Classics had Dean & Britta’s White Horses on it, I thought I had a copy of that as well but it seems not” - but…
… shortly after the post on Volume Two was published Nat from Sonic Cathedral replied on the Instagram post - “I’ll send you a Volume One!” - by the end of the month an envelope dropped through the letter box with this very lovely comp inside.
Dean & Britta’s contribution to the disc is the Sonic Boom mix of White Horses - the song written by Michael Carr and Ben Nisbett for the UK import of Yugoslavian/German TV show Ferien in Lipizza, it was credited to “Jacky”, who is actually Jackie Lee. The theme song was so successful that it was apparently dubbed back onto non-English versions of the show.
This disc, from 2009, is a selection of tracks from the labels first eleven singles and not a duff track amongst them… and Sonic Cathedral haven’t stopped releasing great music in all that time.
Last year the label celebrated its 20th birthday and as part of that celebration released a beautiful 4xCD compilation Celebrate Yourself! The Sonic Cathedral Story 2004—2024 - at the time of writing the Sonic Cathedral Bandcamp had three copies left and 62 tracks for 30 quid is not to be sniffed at!
… and the releases keep coming - last week a fantastic new album by Lorelle Meets The Obsolete landed on my doormat, and Holy Island by Sister Ray Davies should arrive in the next couple of weeks; the second Whitelands album arrives next year; The Early Years - who were on Cathedral Classics Volume One - released a single a few weeks back, their first new music for nine years, with hints at an album for next year.
Honestly I can’t believe there’s any label anywhere that has been so consistently brilliant in the 21st century.
- Catalogue Number: AHFOW 10/176
- Artist: Various artists
- Title: Cathedral Classics Volume One
- Packaging: Jewel case
- Format: CD
Previously in my record collection:
The coming week in history
15th November 1990
On Saturday it will be the 35th anniversary of Galaxie 500’s last show in London, and the last time I saw them play. I wrote about their final UK tour a couple of weeks back
https://aheadfullofwishes.substack.com/p/galaxie-500s-last-uk-tour
18th November 2009
Dean & Britta played at St Giles in The Fields in London.
This week’s discoveries and rediscoveries
- Rather late in the day I came across three reviews of Dean & Britta’s fantastic show in North Shields back in August in the two fab freebie North East arts mags and a Scottish indie music blog
- Dean & Britta @ The Engine Room, North Shields (NARC Magazine)
- Dean & Britta at the Engine Room (Crack Magazine)
- Dean & Britta - North Shields The Engine Room (Is this music?)
Both are, of course raves! You can read my rave review here or about my week of Dean & Britta shows in my Substack post
https://aheadfullofwishes.substack.com/p/dean-and-dean-and-britta-in-the-north