Like wow, this is going to turn heads. Last year the much adored Rocket Girl reached its landmark 20th anniversary, an achievement that’ll be celebrated with the release of the eye catching and lavishly packaged Rocket Girl 20 compilation. The set, a 16 track CD gathering folk past and present (rare mixes etc….. ) from the labels eclectic back history also includes a flexi featuring Mogwai, an rare 7 inch with Bardo Pond on one side and the Azusa Plane on t’other all accompanied by an extensively detailed book plotting the labels history written by Brian Millward. Described in passing as ‘a technicolour scrapbook’, Millward was given rare access to Vinita Rocket Girl’s collection of rare photographs, press clippings and treasured archive. The celebration is rounded off by the inclusion of an exclusive print by Anthony Ausgang. Again as with the previously mentioned brief from the Telescopes, we’ll be returning to this collection in a matter of days for full review though not before a little nod to perhaps the celebrations most anticipated moment, a rare and previously unreleased track from the Television Personalities. Recorded prior to Dan Treacy’s brain trauma in 2011, ‘all coming back’ is here appearing with the blessing of Dan’s sister, a peculiarly jubilant shuffle applied with impish introspection into a radiant jamboree that’s teased with a dizzily disarming and affectionately genteel chorus hook all layered upon a musing Velveteen twinkle toning. Guess while we are here, also worthy of a quick mention is Silver Apples’ ‘Susie’ here retrimmed anew as the ‘rocket mix’, Silver Apples shared the sides of the first Rocket Girl release with the Windy and Carl back in the day, this track if I recall rightly appearing initially on a benefit CD put out by Enraptured of a gathering of folk at the Garage in 1997. A mind warping slab of remoteness and deranged and disorientating Dadaist head frying all equipped with wonky fairground motifs, totalling screwball and delightfully imagined of a would be secret ’78 era head to head between the Residents and Devo. As said, back with this lavish sortie in a few days, now if only they’d included a cassette and a fanzine…….. https://rocketgirl.co.uk/news
the sunday experience 