A Head Full of Wishes is a site for Galaxie 500, Luna, Damon & Naomi, Dean & Britta and Dean Wareham. With news, articles and lists of releases and past and future shows.
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A Head Full of Wishes newsletter #47
My record collection [337] My Robot Friend - Soft Core / 23 Minutes in Brussels
In 2008 Dean & Britta re-issued their debut album L’avventura on their own Double Feature Records, the second release the following year was the excellent Sand Pebbles compilation A Thousand Wild Flowers and Soft Core by My Robot Friend was the third.
The album was released on CD on the 13th October 2009 and Dean added guitar to two tracks By Your Side, and Astronaut. It also includes My Robot Friend’s cover of Luna’s 23 Minutes in Brussels that had been released a couple of years before and that I have two copies of - one a 12”, and one 7” on pink vinyl - both were bought on Discogs the 12” for £1.80 in 2016 and the 7” for 99p a couple of years ago.
As well as two copies of the 23 Minutes single I also have two copies of Soft Core, or at least I should have. I bought it when it was released (I think direct from Dean probably at the same time as A Thousand Wild Flowers) but that copy has gone AWOL - either misfiled, or perhaps found its way into a charity shop box when we moved, so I bought a replacement a couple of years back.
I don’t listen to the album much but every time I do I like it much more than I expect to.
My Robot Friend has turned up elsewhere having done remixes of…
- Dean & Britta - Say Goodnight released on Variations.
- Dean Wareham - Emancipated Hearts on the CD release of Emancipated Hearts.
- Dean & Britta - Not a Young Man Any More on 13 Most Beautiful.
There is also a My Robot Friend release from 2016 called Open the Book that has Emancipated Hearts, Not a Young Man…, and also has Dean guesting on “Gone” - this was released on CD but I only have the download so won’t be in this series.
- Catalogue Number:
- AHFOW 10/171
- AHFOW 12/070
- Artist: My Robot Friend
- Title:
- Soft Core
- 23 Minutes in Brussels (x2)
- Packaging: Digipack
- Format:
- CD
- 12”
- 7”
- Soft Core was bought on Discogs for £6.99
- Buy ‘Soft Core’ on Bandcamp
My record collection [338] POT 31 - Get Yer Pots Out (CD)
By the Winter 2001/2 issue of Ptolemaic Terrascope the magazine had reached the point where it had a CD covermount rather than the 7” EPs of previous years and this CD came with issue 31 of Ptolemaic Terrascope and includes a Eye of the Storm with Michio Kurihara.
Eye of the Storm is on the CD to represent Michio Kurihara who has a lengthy interview in the magazine that exposes just how many musical pies he has his finger in. The interview was conducted shortly after the Damon & Naomi tour of Europe that was documented in the Song to the Siren DVD:
For me personally, that was the most satisfying tour I've been on in years. We toured the States together last our autumn, but this time communication through sound was so much deeper. Their live sound is extremely delicate and it already feels very complete in itself. I was worried about adding anything to it that would damage their original sound, so the first few times we played together were very much trial and error. It took a bit of time before I could accommodate my sound to theirs. But during the tour I was gradually able to grasp their unique sense of timing and breathing. Particularly from around the middle of the tour on there were a number of amazing moments when we got this real synergy between the vibrations of the audience and the vibrations that we on stage were putting out. I guess that's what people mean when they talk about "magic". These kinds of experiences are irreplaceable. On the best things about long tours like that one is that you can feel the quality of the band's sound getting better and better with each performance. I liked Damon & Naomi's music before, but on this tour I was reminded of just what is great about them. I don't think that they're technical players, but they've transcended that and they have a deep sense of song. That's what this tour showed me again.
We were fortunate in the choice of support acts on the tour they were local groups, but all were individual and amazing. In London we had Clientele; Richard Youngs in Glasgow, Paloma in Paris, all were striking. This was the first tour I'd been on where we had to haul our amps and other equipment around, jumping on and off trains all over Europe. It was a bit tiring at times, but still a good experience. I was especially struck by the scenery we saw from the train window: pastoral in the UK, and the desolate mountains in Spain.
Michio Kurihara - Ptolemaic Terrascop 31 (winter 2001/2)
The version of Eye of the Storm is the one that was later released on the Live in a Living Room in Cambridge, MA album, and interestingly it is a clean version without the applause added to it which I guess makes it a bit of a lost track.
The insert with the CD completely forgets to mention anything about Eye of the Storm, I wonder if that’s because of it’s imminent use in the fake live album. If you’re unaware of the deception you can read about it in the post on 1001 Nights from a couple of months back.
- Catalogue Number: AHFOW 05/032
- Artist: Various Artists
- Title: POT31 - Get Your Pots Out
- Notes: Released with issue 31 of Ptolemaic Terrascope
- Packaging: CD in a plastic sleeve with a printed insert.
- Format: Magazine and CD
Previously in my record collection:
- [026] Succour: The Terrascope Benefit Album
- [179] The Complete Sepia Carrot EP
- [186] Damon & Naomi - Terrastock 1997
- [241] Various - Terrastock All Access (CD)
- [246] Ptolemaic Terrascope benefit ep. ‘Terrastock’
Happy 19th birthday to Dean & Britta’s Back Numbers
Dean & Britta’s second album Back Numbers was released on the 27th March 2007:
- My record collection [249] Dean & Britta - Back Numbers (CD)
- My record collection [184] Dean & Britta - Back Numbers (LP)
- My record collection [008] Dean & Britta - Back Numbers (advance CD)
Happy 1st anniversary to Dean’s That’s The Price of Loving You
Hmmm maybe one year is a bit soon for anniversary celebrations but… Dean’s most recent album was released on the 28th March 2025
Although it does also mean it’s the first anniversary of me sitting awkwardly in a Glasgow pub with indie-royalty!
Galaxie 500 at Club Lingerie - 30th March 1990
This is the show where Dean’s struggling through the show with what seems like a very sore throat… it’s a beautiful, but eye-watering, performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ye_FG26Q10
Video of this show was released on the Don’t Let Our Youth Go to Waste 2xDVD and also Snowstorm and Pictures from the show was released as a single.