Hello Old Thing, Hello New Thing: 24

Henri René: Dinner For One Please James (RCA Victor, 1956)
That's him on the left there, yes. Famous for having a great shot of Jayne Mansfield on the cover, Henri Rene's Batchelor world is one that is scented by leather-backed driving gloves, the warm hum of a Robert's radiogram, the soft spread of bitters through a large pink gin before a gentle pipeful as you trawl all 18 holes. It's now available again through those nice people at Rev-Ola...


American Music Club: The Dance (Cooking Vinyl, 2007)
Lots of people got into Red House Painters through American Music Club. I, on the other hand, got into AMC through RHP. It was through - repeatedly - reading about how AMC's Mark Eitzel had encouraged ver Painters' Mark Kozelek that broke me down. I wasn't entirely taken at first. I think I just wanted to them to be the same. And they weren't. AMC were (are), more romantic, more worldly, more poetic, more open to the world, while Kozelek barely seems able, or willing, to engage with the world much at all. This, from their new album, is a wee bit lovely. As are many of the other tracks on there (I liked The Decibels And The Little Pills a lot too)...

And this one...