A Head Full of Wishes

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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Substack
A Head Full of Wishes newsletter #61

News

  • Dean & Britta (or perhaps I should call them ‘The Dean Wareham Trio’ - Dean, Britta, and Roger Brogan) will be playing a free show “heavy on Galaxie 500 songs” in Olympia WA on the 16th August - Scherler Sundays

My record collection [365] - Magic Hour - Secession96”

Back in February I posted what I claimed then would be Magic Hour’s last appearance in the series but, as you can see, that turned out not to be true since a couple of weeks back I came across a UK based seller on Discogs with a copy of Secession96… which is now mine.

Magic Hour - Secession96
Magic Hour - Secession96

Secession96 was the last of three Magic Hour albums and while the first two albums were released on Ché in the UK as well as Twisted Village in the US, this album never got a release outside the US which is why I never got around to getting a copy.

While the first two albums had songs, this album just contains four instrumental work-outs, which I guess may have discouraged Ché from releasing it? I suspect it’s also the reason I didn’t try too hard to get a copy. I had a download, not sure where from - I assume I bought it somewhere - maybe eMusic back in the day? I’ll have to admit that, while I’m partial to a work out I’m often more partial to a song, so haven’t listened to Secession96 that often.

I did just notice that they are described as “songs” on the sleeve which got me a little intrigued about just what is a song? To me a song needs, at the very least a melody, and preferably some words, but I guess my definition is a little constrained in the modern (last 60 years!!) age.

That’s not to say that I’m not partial to a lengthy instrumental work out (a “composition” maybe, or perhaps a “piece”) and Secession96 is not bad, although I sort of feel it would be better experienced live (and sadly I never got to see Magic Hour live).

My record collection [366] - Cheval Sombre - self titled (promo CD)

This is the third copy of Cheval Sombre’s lovely first album in this series, but the first one that came into my posessions. It was sent to me by Dean ahead of release and is the reason that my purchased CD is still in it’s shrinkwrap.

Cheval Sombre promo CD
Cheval Sombre promo CD

The CD isn’t really a promo since the disc is full colour printed, and has the proper catalogue number so I assume that it is exactly the same as the released one (I can’t check because of the aforementioned shrinkwrap). It didn’t have a sleeve though, just a plastic envelope and a piece of paper with the track-listing and the release date and credits of the performers.

Cheval Sombre: vocals, acoustic guitar, with
Sonic Boom: organ, effects
Britta Phillips: bass, keys
Dean Wareham: guitar on 6, 9, 10

Britta’s “keys” were elaborated to “Microkorg, Celesta” on the released version.

The album was the third release on Dean and Britta’s Double Feature Records after the 2008 L’avventura reissue and A Thousand Wild Flowers by Sand Pebbles in 2009. Dean has commented on more than one occasion about the headaches of being a label owner so it wasn’t really a surprise to find that the last couple of releases you’d expect to find on Double Feature weren’t. A Peace of Us and That’s The Price of Loving Me were both released by Carpark Records.

It is a lovely album and is probably the one I listen to more than the other Cheval Sombre albums… I wonder if I’m always inclined to lean towards my entry point?

While looking through my email as I researched this post I came across a Dean & Britta newsletter from 2008 where Britta mentions that they had a meal with “Chris Porpora aka Cheval Sombre, one of two new artists we’ll be releasing on our new label, Double Feature Records, next year”.

To be honest I only mention that so I can justify posting this adorable pic of Dean and Britta sharing a mic that was inlcuded in the newsletter.

Dean & Britta (Prefix, 2008)
Dean & Britta (Prefix, 2008)

I have vague memories of commenting on that to Britta (or Dean) and it being pointed out that it only happened because of a broken microphone.

  • Catalogue Number: AHFOW 10/142
  • Artist: Cheval Sombre
  • Title: Cheval Sombre
  • Notes: Promo
  • Format: CD
  • Sent to me by Dean ahead of the album’s release

Previously in my record collection:

Fourth of July

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July so here’s a collection of some of the posts in my annual attempt to get #Galaxie500Day trending

… there were more but I think that’ll do! There are plenty of clips (audio and video), pics, and other nonsense in those posts!

I also carelessly managed to post about the 12” of Fourth of July back in February…

If I'd have been smarter I'd have posted about Galaxie 500's Fourth of July single on the Fourth of July but no... here we are at the end of Feb celebrating #Galaxie500Day.

This is another record that I know when and (sort of) where I bought it, and indeed how much I paid for it. That's because I never removed the price sticker from the front of it. I sort of wish I'd done that with more of my records (particularly the ones where the sticker damaged the sleeve) - obviously the curse of shrink-wrap has pretty much done for stickers being stuck to the actual record sleeve.

My record collection [330] Galaxie 500 - Fourth of July

Some plays of Fourth of July over the years
Some plays of Fourth of July over the years

Happy Galaxie 500 Day if you celebrate or Happy Whatever if there’s anything else you choose to celebrate on 4th July

Upcoming anniversaries

Monday is Justin Harwood’s birthday

Luna on a chilly photo-shoot
Luna on a chilly photo-shoot

Here’s Justin playing Friendy Advice with Luna back in 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2IWRMB0c2M

8th July 2009 - UK premiere of 13 Most Beautiful in Dunfermline

Hazel and I arrived in Dunfermline for last night's 13 Most Beautiful in plenty of time. We headed up to The Carnegie Hall and milled around for a few minutes hoping to bump into Dean & Britta - because I can do "bumping into" I'm just no good at "hunting down". Having failed to bump we headed for a stroll around the town taking in the sights - the Abbey, Carnegie's birthplace - before heading back up to the hall. This time we did manage to bump into Dean (as well as a friend from Edinburgh who'd come to the show). We chatted with Dean & Britta for a while and then headed into the venue.

13 Most Beautiful at The Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline

7th July 2018 - Dean & Britta live

… and just to tie this all together here are Dean & Britta playing Fourth of July in LA in 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T_b4fD4UnE&t=9s

Another fairly quiet week for me - here’s what I’ve been listening to this week