#skep wax

[polaroidblog]

Riot Twee!

Skep Wax Records!

[bandcampsnoop]

5/23/24.

When I saw the band name Crumbs, I immediately thought I was going to be listening to Crumb, whose "AMAMA" was just reviewed by Pitchfork.

Instead, I got this gem of power punk/pop from Leeds, England. I can't help but think of early Blondie right away. The urgency and rhythm of the music also recalls Joe Jackson. There is obviously a late 70s/early 80s feel to this. But there is also a soulfulness reminiscent of current bands like Sheer Mag.

Skep Wax just released this late last week. This label is responsible for newer releases from The Orchids and Special Friend.

[schroettner]

song of the day: “dear deirdre” by crumbs. file under: lo-fi, punk, twee.

[twinkandwink]

From Paris, Special Friend came over to support Swansea Sound the other night.  They were quite special and treated us to some sweet tunes

Tracks - Inertie

Special Friend- Rough Trade, Bristol 17th Sept 2023

[maniculum]

Meadmaking

Hey all, Zoe here - the other half of this blog, and I decided to try my hand at posting - particularly my little mead-making project. Even though Mac is the medieval drinks expert, I just like mead as a drink and I feel like a potion-brewing witch when I make it. Beer was the more popular drink during the middle ages, as it was cheaper and more widely available, but I think it's nasty and who doesn't want to feel like Early English royalty?

As I dug into mead-making, I fell into a SUPER deep medieval-mead-making rabbit hole. I'm not a mead expert, and I'd highly recommend Susan Varberg's blog, Medieval Mead & Beer, for a very, very in-depth look at how to make medieval mead. HOWEVER, all that said, I did collect some research and played with it myself. Plus, I made some of my own recipes.

So. Mead. What is it? Fermented honey water, in its most basic form. Honey-wine, it can be called to those who aren't familiar. There's a lot of other names mead has when it's mixed with other things:

Mead – water, honey and yeast

Sack Mead – mead made with extra honey

Short Mead – low honey and low alcohol yeast to be drunk quickly

Hydromel – watered down mead (in period, another word for mead)

Braggot – (period) ale refermented with honey; (modern) malted mead

Melomel – mead made with fruit

Mulsum – mead made with fruit

Cyser – mead made with apples

Metheglin – mead with spices

Pyment, Clar – mead made with grape juice

Hippocras – spiced wine, sweetened (but not fermented) with honey

Botchet — caramelized honey mead

Really, though, when you see it on the shelf, a pumpkin melomel will be marketed as "Pumpkin Mead," so really only the brewmasters get into the weeds on the names. I was really curious as to how the ingredients were sourced in the middle ages - nowadays, brewers get really into where they source their ingredients (there's a bazillion different yeasts you can use!), but after doing some research, turns out the medievals were too!

Honey.

The medievals categorized honey in different ways. The best quality honey was called "life honey" and was the honey that dripped freely from the wax when pierced. Grades of honey diminished as the honey became harder to get out of the hive. The dregs of honey (collected by heating the frame in water to blend the honey but not melt the wax) was given to servants and was not preferred. Honey was also categorized by location - Egyptian honeys were very popular and expensive. Honey from different regions in Spain were considered of different quality - one merchant got particularly fussy when one of his batches was "spoiled" by mixing honey from a better region with that from a worse region. Finally, honey was categorized by flower type. One monetary requested honey made only from lavender. Since hives were highly mobile frames or skeps, it would have been possible for apiarists to move their hives to lavender fields.

Water.

Water is, well, water. Right? Not quite. Medieval recipes do specify using fine, spring water. The water and honey were often boiled together - likely to kill bacteria. However, the wording on "boille" is not super clear. Mead-masters knew that honey shouldn't be boiled (it kills natural yeast), so whether or not the must (the water/honey mix) was boiled in the modern sense or just warmed is unclear. Perhaps the need for "fine, spring, fresh water."

Yeast.

While modern brewers and vintners have a wide variety of yeasts to choose from, medieval brewmasters didn't have as many options. There were a few different options, however. Baking yeast (like a sourdough starter) was one option, while other recipes call for the leftover lees of wine/mead batches. Hops were also used. Of course, yeast is also naturally occurring, so brewers could fairly reliably rely on the natural yeast to kick-start itself.

I'll dump my own mead pics here and then get into the details of a Middle English mead recipe in part two, I guess. I'll talk a bit about the mead-making process, too. Mead is made by mixing honey and water into a must. Then, yeast is added. Modern mead-makers also add yeast nutrients and other additions to ensure their batch doesn't get infected.

A newly made bottle of mead. Notice the cloudy colour characteristic of new mead. As the yeast eats the sugars, they'll create a bottom layer of debris and the mead will clear, as seen below.

After the primary fermentation has occurred (you can tell when the bubbles of gas, telling you the yeast is eating, have stopped), mead-makers will re-reack their mead. This involves moving it from one jug to the next.

At this point, the mead can be put into a closet and age for a while. The best meads have high clarity - that is, they're clear! The example below is only about 2 months old. It has a way to go, but has good clarity already. Notably, the sagas state that the best, oldest, clearest meads were served to Odin and the gods.

Anyway - that's the basics of mead-making. I'll make a part two about older recipes! Sources:

Beekeeping in late medieval Europe: A survey of its ecological settings and social impacts. Llu.s SALES I FAVÀ, Alexandra SAPOZNIK y Mark WHELAN

Trade, taste and ecology: honey in late medieval Europe. Alexandra Sapoznik, Lluís Sales i Favà & Mark Whelan

Of Boyling and Seething: A re-evaluation of these common cooking terms in connection with brewing. Susan Verberg.

[daggerzine]

MY FAVORITE RECORDS OF 2023! (lists in no particular order....well, sort of)

MY 20 FAVORITE RECORDS OF 2023  

Anna Hillburg- Tired Girls (Speakeasy Studios)

RVG- Brain Worms (fire) 

The Tubs- Dead Meat (Trouble in Mind) 

Seablite- Lemon Lights (Mt St Mtn)

The Reds, Pinks & Purples- The Town That Cursed Your Name (Slumberland)

Lewsberg- Out and About (12XU)

Melenas- Ahora (Trouble in Mind)

Blues Lawyer- All in Good Time (Dark Entries) 

Colored Lights- S/T (Bobo Integral)

Doe St- Stepping Stones (Legless) 

Guardian Singles- Feed Me To The Doves (Trouble in Mind) 

Corvair - Bound To Be (WIAIWYA)

The Garment District- Flowers Telegraphed To All Parts of the World (HHBTM)

Royal Ottawa- Carcosa (self released)

Tough Age- Waiting here (Bobo Integral)

Soft Science- Lines (Shelflife)

The Midnight Sailors- S/T (self released)

Robert Forster- The Candle and the Flame (Tapete) 

Civic – Taken By Force (ATO) 

Sumos- Surfacing (Meritorio) 

WAIT….HERE’S 20 MORE!

Connie Lovatt- Coconut Mirror (Enchante’)

En Attendant Ana- Principia (Trouble in Mind) 

Withered Hand- How to Love (Reveal) 

The High Water Marks- Your Next Wolf (Minty Fresh)

The Feelies- Some Kinda Love: Performing the Music of the Velvet Underground (Bar-None)

Connections- Cool Change (Trouble in Mind) 

The Ex Bats- Song Machine  (Goner)

The Photocopies- Top of the Pops (Ultra Modern)

Amanda Brown- Eight Guitars (Lillipilli) 

Arthur Alexander- …Steppin’ Out!  (Big Stir Records)

Eyelids- A Colossal Waste of Lights ((Jealous Butcher) 

Panic Pocket- Mad Half Hour (Skep Wax)

Yo La Tengo- This Stupid World (Matador)

Swansea Sound- Twentieth Century (Skep Wax)

Kevin Robertson- Magic Spells Abound (Futureman)  

Super 8- Hoopla (The Beautiful Music) 

The Radio Fields- Dos and Dont’s (Subjangle)

Joe McAlinden- Where The Clouds Go Swimming (self -released)

The Black Watch- Future Strangers (ATOM) 

Rob I Miller- Companion Piece (Vacant Stare)

….AND HERE’S 10 MORE

The Lost Days- In the Store (Speakeasy Studios) 

Life Strike- Peak Dystopia (Bobo Integral)

Belle & Sebastian- Late Developers (Matador)

Lauds- Imitation Life (Fort Lowell) 

The Hepburns- Only the Hours (Lavender Sweep) 

Lomma- Torrey Pines (self released)

C.O.F.F.I.N.- Australia Stops (Goner)

Special Friend- Wait Until the Flames Come Rushing In (Skep Wax)

Burning Ferns- World of the Wars (Country Mile)

Wojtek the Bear- Second Place on Purpose (Last Night From Glasgow)

I ALSO REALLY LIKED ALBUMS BY:  Diners, Moving Targets, Bill Orcutt, Skull Practitioners, the Suncharms, Divine Horsemen, The Flashcubes, Hurry, Teenage Fanclub, Lydia Loveless, The Make Three, Shana Cleveland, The Ekphrastics, Ryan Allen, Fruit Bats, Nicole Yun, Dippers, Lost Film, Tony Jay, Cindy, Class, The Clientele, Lemon Twigs, Sweeping Promises, The National Honor Society, The Whiffs, Infinite River, Silver Biplanes, Jason Isbell, The Cuticles, Mudhoney, Alex Lahey, Crocodiles, Peter Hall, Cherry Fez, The Angles, Scott Gagner, Mainland Break, Christian Kjellvander, Sick Thoughts, Grand Drifter, The Motifs, The Sunshine Convention, The 1981, Roy Moller, Youth Valley, Soft Covers, Deadlights, The Smashing Times, The Spires, Helen Love, Motorbike, Silverstiles, Water Damage, Uni Boys, The Royal Arctic Institute, Gina Birch, Gee Tee, etc.

MY  10 FAVORITE REISSUES OF 2023 

The Chills- Brave Words (Fire)

The Replacements- Tim (Sire)

The Ocean Blue- Davy Jones Locker (Korda)

Wild Carnation- Tricycle (Delmore) 

Neutral Milk Hotel- The Collected Works of Neutral Milk Hotel (Merge)

Das Damen- 1986- Keeps Me Wild (Dromedary)

Heavenly -Le Jardin de Heavenly (Skep Wax) 

The Verlaines- Bird Dog (Schoolkids Records) 

The Toms- S/T (Feel It) 

Celibate Rifles  Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Bang!)

MY 15 FAVORITE EPS OF 2023 

Lightheaded- Good Good Grief (Slumberland)

Minor Threat-  Out of Step outtakes (Dischord)

The Cucumbers- Old Shoes (self released)

The Reds, Pinks & Purples- Unloveable Losers (digital) 

The Vapour Trails- On a Beautiful Day (Futureman)

Blues Lawyer- Sight Gags on the Radio (Dark Entries)

Deary- S/T (Sonic Cathedral)

The Wends- Better Will (WWNBB) 

Te Vista- S/T  (Cripes) 

Red Sleeping Beauty- From Sarah With Love (Matinee)

Letting Up Despite Great Faults- Crumble (S/T) 

The Prize- Wrong Side Of Town   (Anti Fade) 

Touch Girl Apple Blossom- S/T (self released)

Galore- Blush (Paisley Shirt) 

Lost Tapes- Crossing Towns (Shelflife)

MY 5 FAVORITE COLLECTIONS OF 2023 

The Particles- 1980’s Bubblegum (Chapter Music)

Primal Scream- Reverberations (Travelling in Time) (Acid Jazz/XTRM/Young Tiki)

The Shapiros- Gone by Fall: the Collected Works of (World of Echo) 

Dot Dash- 16 Again (Country Mile)

Comet Gain- The Misfit Jukebox (Tapete) 

Eric "Eggman" Eggleson's favorite records of 2023!

A Colossal Waste Of Light - Eyelids

Aeterna - Vinyl Williams

Away From The Castle – Video Age

Babydoll – Rat Columns

Bananasugarfire – Golden Apples

Careless By The Coast - Marvin Powell

Cartwheel - Hotline TNT

Colored Lights

Compact Trauma – Ulrika Spacek

Continue As A Guest – The New Pornographers

Disenchanter - Alaska Reid

EP IV – Yumi Zouma

Flowers Telegraphed To All Parts Of The World – The Garment District

Henry St. - The Tallest Man On Earth

Hindsight is 50/50 – Ghost Woman

I Held The Shape While I Could – Bodywash

Javelin – Sufjan Stevens

Left Hand - Becca Mancari

Life and Life Only - The Heavy Heavy

Love as Projection – Frankie  Rose

May Cause Dizzy Ness - The Musical Chairs

My Entire Life – SUSTO

Pearlies – Emma Anderson

Perennial - Woods

Pictures – Dean Owens

Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) - Yves Tumor

Prize - Rozi Plain

Radio Red – Laura Groves

So Soon Now – Trillion

Strange Loops and Outer Psyche – Andy Bell

Suntub – ML Buch

The Greater Wings - Julie Byrne

The Natural Lines

The Queen Is Not Dead – Spiritual Front

the record – boygenius

The Sunshine Convention

The Twits - bar Italia

This Candle Is For You - Spearmint

Waiting Here – Tough Age

We Live In Strange Times – Ian M Bailey

When Horses Would Run - Being Dead

[noloveforned]

no love for ned is back on wlur with a new show tonight after an unplanned week off. tune in anytime from 8pm until midnight for some great new music or catch up with last week's show below!

no love for ned on wlur – may 26th, 2023 from 8-10pm

artist // track // album // label thrush hermit // marya // marya 7" // genius boyracer // we have such gifts // punker than you since '92 // 555 it thing // god's car // syrup // marthouse adele and the chandeliers // souvenirs of my mind // still thinking // orange carpet idle ray // corridors of summer (single mix) // corridors of summer 7" // tall texan velocity girl // my forgotten favorite // my forgotten favorite 7" // slumberland lisasinson // los que se pelean no se desean // un año de cambios // elefant memorials // it's in our hands // music for film: women against the bomb // the state51 conspiracy immaterial possession // to the fete // mercy of the crane folk // fire nap eyes // child’s romance // snake oil digital single // jagjaguwar wednesday // quarry // rat saw god // dead oceans annie blackman // need me // bug ep // father/daughter self esteem // prioritise pleasure (acoustic) // prioritise pleasure (deluxe) // fiction herman düne // the right path lays open before me // the portable herman düne, volume three // bb*island lisa/liza // kiss the flowers // breaking and mending // orindal george xylouris and jim white // tails of time // the forest in me // drag city califone // mcmansions // villagers // jealous butcher kammerflimmer kollektief // viertes kapitel // schemen // karlrecords eli keszler // manhattan part iii // live cassette // lucky me brent cordero and peter kerlin featuring james brandon lewis and charles burst // decolonize this place // a sublime madness // astral spirits salami rose joe louis // always on my mind // akousmatikous // brainfeeder ravyn lenae featuring smino // 3d // hypnos // atlantic alex unger // movie // all:lo vol. 6 compilation // all:lo cloth // never know // secret measure // rock action suep // onions // shop ep // memorials of distinction the blue herons // disorder // disorder digital single // (self-released) peaness // same place // same place 7" // odd box heavenly featuring calvin johnson // c is the heavenly option // le jardin de heavenly // skep wax

[musicblogwales]

Swansea Sound share new 'Toxic Energy' single

Toxic Energy is a punk song, a pop song.  It’s also a duet between Terry Hall* and Elon Musk.  Terry (Hue Williams) still fears for his safety on the streets of the concrete jungle. Elon (Amelia Fletcher) does his best to make Terry’s anxieties worse.

The strange sound at the end of the songis a recording of a Tesla Cybertruck accelerating, losing control, and exploding.  

The B-side, Dinosaur Bones, is a short song about species extinction.

The cassette comes in two versions, both with very special artwork. Mark James has designed the UK/German version for Skep Wax and Formosa Punk. Jimmy Ulvenes has designed the US version for Sm Craft Advisory.

*Terry Hall RIP.  The Specials’ 1979 track ‘Concrete Jungle’ was a perfect, honest expression of fear of neo-Nazis on the streets of the UK.  Terry later became famous in the US as the co-writer of ‘Our Lips Are Sealed’ with Jane Wiedlin.  We salute him. 

Swansea Sound reunite Hue Williams and Amelia Fletcher, the original singers of cult 1990s UK indie band The Pooh Sticks. Quickly becoming a popular fixture on the UK indie scene, Swansea Sound have released two acclaimed albums (Live At the Rum Puncheon and  Twentieth Century), and have recently recorded live sessions for 6Music (UK) and WFMU (US), as well as completing a tour of the US East Coast.   

Described as ‘an indiepop miracle’ by All Music, Swansea Sound combine a witty, sardonic, very contemporary lyrical attack with timeless guitar-pop songwriting. Louder Than War declared them "An essential broadcast from the forefront of the indiepop resistance." The band hail from Swansea (Wales) and Kent (England). 

The single precedes a tour of West Coast USA in October and the UK in November/ December.  The live experience is unmissable, with Hue and Amelia playing off each other, sometimes duetting, sometimes harmonising, always entertaining. Meanwhile the band (Rob Pursey – also Heavenly, Bob Collins – The Dentists, Ian Button - Death In Vegas) kick up an infectious melodic racket.

Track 1: TOXIC ENERGY

Track 2: DINOSAUR BONES

US DATES

14 Oct: Olympia WA, Capitol Theatre (TICKETS​)​

15 Oct: Seattle WA, Tractor Tavern(Sold out​)

16 Oct: Portland OR, Mississippi Studios (Sold out​)

18 Oct: San Francisco CA, Rickshaw Stop (Sold out​)

19 Oct: San Francisco CA, Rickshaw Stop (TICKETS​)

UK DATES

16 Nov: Cambridge,  Blue Moon (Sold out​) 

23 Nov: Bristol, Thunderbolt (TICKETS)

24 Nov: Oxford, Jericho Tavern (TICKETS

25 Nov: Brighton, The Albert (TICKETS)

29 Nov: Leicester, Firebug (TICKETS)

30 Nov: Sheffield, The Shakespeare (TICKETS)

01 Dec: Coventry, Just Dropped In (TICKETS)

14 Dec: Rainham, The Oast (TICKETS)

15 Dec: Folkestone, Twentieth Century Speedway (TICKETS)

21 Dec: Cardiff, Moon Club  (TICKETS)

22 Dec: London, Lexington (TICKETS)

Swansea Sound are:

Hue Williams (vocals), Amelia Fletcher (guitar), Ian Button (drums), Bob Collins (guitar), Rob Pursey (bass).

[parkerbombshell]

Ice Cream Man Power Pop And More #573

Mondays 10am EST bombshellradio.com bombshellradio.com Archival Shows: bombshellradiopodcasts.com #IceCreamManPowerPopAndMore #PowerPop #Mod #NorthernSoul #Punk#60sClassics #Ska #60sGarage #Surf#Itunes#BombshellRadio #recordcollector #musiclover#powerpopgrunge #powerpopgirls #newmusic #rocknroll Jook - Aggravation Place (Single) Ed Ryan - Fine Art To Letting It Go (Lead track New Album, no name yet also ICM Comp) The Fods - Good Night’s Sleep (Don’t Argue LP) Droids Osaka - Moving Too Fast (Single) Nick Piunti and The Complicated Men - Mind Reader (Up & Out Of It LP)  The Moss Poles - One Summer (Single) The Boo Radleys -  How Was I To Know (Eight LP)  The Supernaturals - Roy Wouldn’t (Single) Grapes Of Grain - Martin Luther (Painted Windows LP) The Poppermost - I Don’t Want To Know (Single) Scoopski - Double Cart (Single) Sassyhiya - Boat Called Predator (Take You Somewhere LP) Skep Wax Records The Needs - I Wasn’t Built To Build Muscle (Special Needs LP) The Pranks - I Don’t Wanna Lose That Feeling (Single) The Che Men - Echoes Of The Thirties (Single) Grapes Of Grain - Hey There, Jonathan (Painted Windows LP) Doctor Velvet - Put The Hurt On Me (New Breed LP) The Madd - I Know (Are Pretty Quick LP) Read the full article

[polaroidblog]

Indiepop Jukebox: alcuni dischi che non vedo l'ora di ascoltare nel 2025

[bandcampsnoop]

1/22/24.

I rarely post about a single song. But this morning, I listened to this unbelievably beautiful song from Glasgow band The Orchids. The band, around since the mid 1980s.

This song has an undeniable Flaming Lips sound. The Orchids however, typically are mentioned as a Sarah Records band. They released a new LP in 2022 on Skep Wax.

Coming out of the Scottish scene, they couldn't have helped but be influenced by Orange Juice and Josef K. But I also hear The Chills, Momus and The Wake.

"Placa San Sebastian" was on a 7" from 2011. They also have two Peel sessions on Precious Recordings.

[joanofarc]

limitless#1 (joy), the orchids (2022).

you know you’re gonna’ send me straight to the stars

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Audio: The Luxembourg Signal Contributes Melancholy yet Gorgeous "Travel Through Midnight" for Skep Wax's Sarah Records Tribute Compilation

New Audio: The Luxembourg Signal Contributes Melancholy yet Gorgeous "Travel Through Midnight" for Skep Wax's Sarah Records Tribute Compilation @SkepWax @LuxSignal

https://soundcloud.com/skepwax/01-the-luxembourg-signal-travel-through-midnight-master/s-OVGTwVG6yR6?si=9b00e8aac5ea4c2e80778efb44890c56&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing Founded back in 1987, the Bristol, UK-based label Sarah Records had developed a reputation for being a defiantly indie label. And during its short lifetime, the label managed to create a whole…

[daggerzine]

V/A- Under the Bridge- Volume 2 (Skep Wax)

I’ve been meaning to get to this one for a while. Rob and Amelia from Heavenly, Catenary Wires, Swansea Sound, etc., etc. released the first volume of this collection a couple of years ago on their Skep Wax imprint. Well, they are back and this time, bigger, bolder, brighter (that band is not on here); and it’s a double album to boot!

I believe the collection was to show what some of the old Sarah Records bands are up to, be it in the same bands (The Orchids, St Christopher, Boyracer, etc.) or new bands that some of these folks are now involved with (and in some cases have been involved with for several years). The whole comp works really well.

The records opens with the lovely, piano tune “Dodge the Rain” by the Gentle Spring, a perfect opener. Action Painting (one of the old Sarah bands) kicks the door down with the terrific “Just Who Are the Cockleshell Heroes” and The Catenary Wires offer the pretty, ethereal (and a bit eerie) “Alone Tonight.”

That’s the first three cuts and you’ve got plenty more, like “Look Alive!” by the fabulous Jetstream Pony (which features Aberdeen’s Beth Arzy), Secret Shine (another old Sarah act) with the soaring, hazy “Captivate This Broken Love,” and Mystic Village with the hushed “Open Your Eyes.” Also do not miss special cuts by Boyracer, St. Christopher  (Haxley! Say that to Glenn next time you see him), Tufthunter, Robert Sekula, Useless Users, and more!

The bands really put their best foot forward on here. A few cuts didn’t grab me, but most of Under the Bridge Volume 2 is chock full of Grade A winners. Devour this one, you’ll really enjoy it; and if there’s a volume three, well, I’ll be all over it.

www.skepwax.bandcamp.com