The Black Balloons

OK, here we go. I'm new to this so bear with me if stuff doesn't work. I wouldn't say I've been an early adopter with internet things, but about 3 years ago I discovered some of the music blogs. The first ones I remember reading and going back to on a daily basis, and eventually leaving comments at, were Audio.Out and The Vinyl Villain, then Acid Ted, 17 Seconds, The Ghost of Electricity, Song By Toad, Across the Kitchen Table, and in the last year Ripped In Glasgow- all inspirations for finally getting this off the ground. Following a guest post for The Vinyl Villain in May 2009 I began to think about doing a blog more seriously, but it was only in the last few weeks that it began to ferment properly in my mind. I 'm not sure I've got a clear idea yet of what I'm going to post and write about. It won't all be one type of music, I don't know yet if it'll be old or new music, I don't see much point in posting songs which are widely available but I don't want to be wilfully obscure. Often though the most interesting music/art is made away from the centre, towards the fringes. What I think is going to happen is I'm going to write about some songs, and hopefully attach some kind of story or justification to each one. I dunno if that's going to be of interest to anyone but I'm going to have a stab. So, here we go.

I originally stumbled across Audio.Out when I was looking for mp3s of early Andrew Weatherall remixes. STX had posted several on his blog but the links were dead. I left a comment and he kindly obliged. I think I should start this blog by completing a circle from where I started, and featuring someone who I've followed for nearly 20 years. Andrew Weatherall records take up a large part of my record collection, his outlook is spot-on, and these days he's sporting a lovely Victorian-style moustache. I've not got set up yet for ripping vinyl, so I've scoured my cd's for a Weatherall track that hasn't been covered at either Acid Ted or Ripped In Glasgow. From a Rotter's Golf Club compilation Machine Funk Specialists (2001) Fowler's End by The Black Balloons, sounds like the kind of thing Weatherall and Tenniswood could knock out in their lunch-hour, but a diverting enough piece of electronic music for 3 minutes and 16 seconds. Fowler's End- a place, or the last bit of a scouse Premiership footballer? Who knows.

mp3: Fowler's End