Retromania

I found a new favorite band last week and I posted a track of theirs elsewhere but I'll feature them here as well because they're great and, after all, not everyone is my 'friend' or 'follower' out there in the world of social-networking. They're French and they sound like a cross between The Velvet Underground, Serge Gainsbourg and a whole load of other 60s groove fetishists. And they look very cool, and exist only in black and white it seems, plus, I might have happened to mention, they're French. As French as owt. Have a sample.

And, 'Retromania' is also the title of the book that I've very nearly finished reading after having had it out the library since before Christmas. I'm really bad at getting through a whole book these days unless I'm a) on a train or b) on holiday. The part that has made me smile the most is the part about trends in 'unfame', ie the records that tend to appear in charity shops wherever you go :-

"Some artists - like Paul Young, Terence Trent D'Arby and Five Star - never seem to go out of Unfashion"

There's also a lot in the book about collecting, curating and the need for "persistence and mental stamina" and recognition of generally obsessive behaviour that's a little too close to home....I'll leave that for another time ;-)