Tosh's Favorite Vinyl Albums in the Year 2019

Tosh’s Top Vinyl:

Sparks - “Gratuitous Sax & Seseless Violins”  (BMG) 2019 reissue

Mortimer - “Mortimer”  (Philips) 1968

Kenny Graham and his Satellites - “Moondog and Suncat (Trunk Records) 2010 reissue

Twice as Much - “Own Up” (Outline Records) 1982 reissue

Mark Hollis - “Mark Hollis” (Universal) 2011, Reissue

The Graham Bond Organization - “The Sound of 65” b/w “There’s A Bond Between Us” (Edsel Records) Reissue, 1988

Extended Organ - “Vibe” (Important Records) 2019

Henry Cowell - “The Piano Music of Henry Cowell” (Folkways Records) 1963

Talk Talk - “Spirit of Eden” (Parlophone) Reissue, 2012

Manfred Mann - “Soul of Mann (Instrumentals) - (Umbrella) 2018

David Bowie - “Mercury Demos” (Parlophone) 2019

The Soft Machine “Jet-Propelled Photographs” (Replay) Reissue, 2018

Daevid Allen - “Banana Moon” (Get Back) Reissue, 1999

Giles, Giles and Fripp - “The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp” (Cherry Red)

 Reissue, 2013

Lesley Gore - “Boys, Boys, Boys” (Mercury) 1964

Annette Peacock - “I’m The One” (Future Days Recordings) Reissue, 2016

Jean-Pierre Melville - “Bandes Originales 1956-1963” (Jeanne Dielman) 2018

Matthew Edwards and The Unfortunates - “The Birmingham Poets” (December Square) 2019

Matthew Edwards and The Unfortunates - "The Birmingham Poets" Vinyl, LP, Album, 2019 (December Square)

Matthew Edwards has the knack of writing very literate and smart pop songs.  If I'm drawing a map of similar taste artists, it would include Vic Godard, Lloyd Cole, David Bowie (his later album "Hours" comes to mind), and Mickie Most-era Donovan, with a touch of Jacques Brel. Shamefully tuneful, but with a bite that stings.  "The Birmingham Poets" is an album short in length, but also I tend to play the record over again once I heard it for the first time.  Matthew and his band The Unfortunates do beautiful arrangements that are chamber pop like in one moment, but it also has a strong cinematic or visual sense as well. 

"California, Can You Wait?" is a song that drills into your sub-consciousness due to its catchy melody and chorus.  Yearning for and wanting something so special that is so close, but one can't touch it. Birmingham England is very much the location or the emotional home and Edwards' words reflect an observation that is both slightly nostalgic, but also biting.   There is a Nöel Coward sensibility in that he can convey the everyday of life as something special in its small moments. 

"Birmingham Poets" is an album that sticks to you, as Lou Reed/Mo Tucker once sang, like glue.  No need to remove the record, because, by desire, you will play it again and again.