John Peel Archive: E at last

I'm late with this I know, but when I knew 100 releases beginning with the letter E were available, I initially struggled to think of what they might be. Thanks to a complete run of Echo and the Bunnymen albums (1980's 'Crocodiles' through to 1987's 'Echo & the Bunnymen') it turns out that E has thrown up the biggest overlap with my own collection yet. That's also despite not owning any records by the Eagles or Earth, Wind and Fire, both of whom are well represented here.
Anyway, all of those three bands mentioned are pretty much household names, so there is not much point writing about them here. Of the others, I have 'Earth 2' which was a very radical exercise in drone/ doom back in the day. I also have EPMD's 'Strictly Business', although only as mp3s as part of my homework for My Bloody Valentine's ATP back in 2009, where they were one of two hip-hop acts on the bill. The other was De La Soul if anyone is keeping score. Although I have some records by ESG and Sonic Boom's E.A.R. I don't have the same ones as this, and I'm sure I had the promo copies of Eat Static and Easy from the mid-90s though I'm unable to locate them at the moment.

However, the inclusion of East River Pipe really delighted me. Essentially a solo project of F.M. Cornog, a New York based singer songwriter who has never really got the acclaim he deserved, but has made some of the finest melancholic pop ever. I interviewed FM Cornog in 1995 for my fanzine Weedbus, you can read it here. I have the short albums found here, 'Goodbye California' and 'Even the Sun was Afraid', which were later reissued as part of the 'Shining Hours in a Can' CD, and 'Poor Fricky' which you can hear below.


The curators have chosen East of Eden as their featured act, which is great as they were unknown to me, and have proven to be well worth a listen. An edgy psych-folk band from the late '60s, a first listen on Spotify suggests they would appeal to fans of current acts like Trembling Bells and their kind.