Beatnik Filmstars - 541 The John Peel Sessions

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 23 / 12 / 2005

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Review

I am unsure as to if this review will lead to Beatnik Filmstars working like mad and getting out extra CDs, but it would be great. Bristol's finest announce their album for 2006 and in advance wind up with the sessions they recorded during their first heyday. At the time when these were broadcast - 1995-1998, 5 in total - I was envious of the sound quality which was better via my satellite tuner than from their vinyl releases. Uncredited as he or she is on this CD, the engineer deserves a mention. And I am also unsure if John Peel picked Beatnik Filmstars from a pile of demos. If memory serves right, Beatnik Filmstars had already had singles and LPs out. Beatnik Filmstars are thàt type of a band. Not wasting time on sending out demos. Vibing their discontent with "things" in a grand melodic way on a shop item, straight from the start. Listening back to these gems reminds me of how good Beatnik Filmstars were during that stint. Their first session, recorded during the hot London summer of 1995, shows a still tad bit shy band but the next summer they gave it their best effort to kill the fuses. With a wall of excellent drum and snare noise, Beatnik Filmstars perfected their trademark clash of sweet melody and thudding noises. Being asked in for two more sessions built their confidence, and with a few personnel changes, Beatnik Filmstars got to grips with the session format as a means to announce forthcoming releases. This CDR documents their relative neglect, self-released and self-manufactured with the studio rent paid from your TV And radio licence. It must be all good.

Track Listing:-

1 New Jam Shoes
2 Chips
3 New Boyfriend & Black Suit
4 A Craze Exploding
5 Dogstar
6 Pilot Jack De La Zouche
7 Wing Off A Plane
8 Rumpus Throw
9 Milk
10 Hep Boys (Into Krautrock)
11 Ransack The Misfits
12 Now I'm A Millionaire
13 Mess
14 His Part In The Death Of A Lottery Winner
15 I Can Tame Lions
16 Squeamish
17 Less Than One In Ten
18 Goodbye Miss Barcelona
19 13th Annual Showdown
20 Pop Dramas (Camp It Up)
21 Good Things, Proud Man
22 Life Amongst The Cowboys
23 Our Celestial Pilot
24 Better In Space