Shriekback SpokesManx
Last night, the Mother Unit knocked on my door and said "mail call!" She came in and handed me a mail order catalog and a small white lined mailer with a customs label on it. I knew right away what I was in for, but I took a deep breath and told myself to be patient and wait for tomorrow.
Well, tomorrow is now today, and I opened that bad boy up to find the shiny new Care CD by Shriekback! I must say, I'm delighted with the album, now that it has finally established its rightful place in world of Compact Disc. And I'm even more thrilled with the fact that it boasts among the bonus tracks, my favourite song by the Shrieks, 'Despite Dense Weed', along with the story behind how this malignant serenade came into being. I've posted the story here before, as well as posting on You Tube when I uploaded the song from another collection. But, I'm sharing again, because no one has the power to stop me.
This - if I may make so bold - little gem was only previously released on the Y Records Xmas album, which may not have found the Total Market Penetration it doubtless deserved, so here it comes again. Inspired partly by the novel Riddley Walker (Shriekback required reading) and also by an Acid experience in a forest in which Vivienne Kent and myself experienced being predators of a blood-thirsty, lupine/vampirish kind, and, from the top of a tree contemplated a cosy little family out for a stroll with a view to slaughter and dismemberment (their only possible use). Ah, great days - and they still haven't found the bones (joke). Viv plays murderous viola on the end bit and the Tiny Green Garden Sticks rear their vicious little heads again.
I left the CD on the bed while I went to get some water. When I returned to my room, this is what I beheld.
Ah, Smidgen... She truly is my totem and spirit guide. She knows good stuff when she sees it. The digipak is obviously delicious. Thankfully she did no harm to it, and even posed for a second picture. She looks like a spokesmodel, so I have dubbed her the Shriekback SpokesManx. There's no denying like draws like. Shriekback are brilliant and take pretty pictures, and Smidgen is the same way. This pic should be a billboard, I swear to Christ.
I may have to cajole her into modeling with other Shriek albums. It could become a Thing. With the Shrieks dabbling in forbidden aural alchemy, combined with Smidgen's laissez faire attitude regarding the paparazzi, and the sentient presense of the Internet, anything is possible. While I'm working at evoking a feline pout out of the Shriekback SpokesManx, you should meander over to the Shrieks' website and buy a copy of Care while you still can. All these reissues are limited editions so, if you don't act now, you may end up lurking in the dark corners of eBay, hoping for the chance to purchase a used copy at some godawful price that helps the band in no perceivable way. If you're unsure you want the album, allow me to direct your attention to a version of one of the songs on the CD, entitled 'Feelers.'
It's sure to wrap around you like celestial swaddling.
Click to view