The Orchids (almost) complete discography

The collection I present to you today is a zealous, dandy group of albums and singles, guaranteed to elicit a smile. From the start in ‘86, The Orchids have always been a staple band in the Sarah Records canon. I’ve Got a Habit was the second ever Sarah released single and Lyceum was the first full length album the label put out, so the two have always been pretty familial. The singles and Lyceum are before they started experimenting with electronics and are stellar, but feel a little underdeveloped after listening to their post-Unholy Soul work. When I heard a week ago that The Orchids had a third album in a similar approach to Unholy Soul (Striving For Lazy Perfection), I became in a tizzy (or dither, if you prefer), and hunted it down immediately. After imbibing it fully and finding it to be just as amazing as Unholy Soul, I was bowled over by its wondrous immediate appeal. I don’t know why it took me so long to discover this, but I’m glad I finally did and I have listened to it all the way through probably 7 or 8 times in the past week. I’m here to tell you it’s that good. Their fourth album, Good to be a Stranger, released over a decade later (after the band broke up and reformed with a slight line-up change) isn’t quite as good and lacks some of the youthful energy of their previous efforts, but it’s still not shabby and is home to a hit or two. The Orchids are, much like their namesake implies, pop music at its most graceful and luring - and much like fellow Sarah veterans Blueboy - excellent music for the upcoming brisk weather.

Note: This discography is almost complete and is missing only one single, An Ill Wind that Blows, which I can't seem to track down. This upload includes the following:

Sarah 02 - I've Got a Habit (1988)
Sarah 11 - Underneath the Window, Underneath the Sink (1988)
Sarah 23 - What will we do Next? (1989)
Sarah 29 - Something for the Longing (1990)
Sarah 42 - Penetration EP (1991)
Sarah 66 - Thaumaturgy (1992)
Lyceum LP (1989)
Unholy Soul LP (1991)
Striving for Lazy Perfection LP (1994)
Good to be a Stranger LP(2007)

Kind of a large file, but totally worth it.

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Blueboy - Selected Discography

I walked outside today to take out the trash and was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by not only non-scorching temperatures, but a relatively cool and mild gust of morning breeze. Although it's probably just Texas' bipolar climate, it felt like the first meditative day of fall (which for many years was my favorite season), and I've always thought of Blueboy and Sarah Records material as autumn music. The juxtaposition of cool, mild weather and music like this (easy, emotive instrumentation with soft, floating vocals) has always really resonated with me so definitely expect some Sarah Records posts this week. Comateens also had a really nice song about the seasonal transition of this time of year and the reflective emotions it tends to evoke.

About Blueboy. Blueboy was the musical vehicle of Keith Girdler and Paul Stewart. Musically they were an indie-pop/twee band, and lyrically you often got the impression you were listening to a sung version of a reading of Keith Girdler's diary, however it's very poetical. Needless to say, Blueboy were a very sensitive band, perhaps even, the most sensitive sounding band I can call to mind (excluding crappy modern angsty emo bands, of course). However, as sappy and potentially off-putting as that may seem, there's an intelligence and emotional range that, when combined with Stewart's concise and autumnal musicianship and Gemma Townlet's backing vocals and gorgeous cello playing, allows for an intimate relationship with the listener. Tragically, Girdler died of cancer in 2004, which makes his music all the more delicate. This collection includes a few early singles on Sarah Records and 2 of their best LPs, If Wishes Were Horses and Unisex, the latter being the highlight here - a truly fantastic album.

Rating: 9/10

DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/?avo77z5jf048q45