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Freecycling – The Second-Hand Swap-Shop That’s Kind To The Environment

(Little Green Women, March 17, 2010)

 
Anyone who grew up in the 70s will 
doubtless remember the car boot 
sale of old – loading up on all that 
gaudy household junk so you can 
stand by your car in a field until 
you’ve made some cash off it – only 
to realise you’d bought almost as 
much to bring home with you again.
With the advent of Ebay, there are 
those who believe selling their used goods online is the way to cash 
in car boot-style in the 21st century, but the market has long since 
been flooded.
Enter the tenet behind the 2003 American set-up of Freecycle – ‘one 
person’s trash can truly be another’s treasure’. The UK network works 
under the assurance that it’s ‘changing the world one gift at a time’ 
and it’s certainly making waves amongst the online community.
So it goes that Freecycle is a grassroots, non-profit movement who 
give and get stuff for free – in their own towns. It’s all about reuse 
and keeping good stuff out of landfill. Local Freecycle groups are 
moderated by a local volunteer, and the array of loot available may 
astonish even the most cynical of users.
Local Freecyclers are proud of the service, and feel lucky to have 
such a great system in place.
Freecycler Frances Roche can’t speak highly enough of it.
“Over the last three years I have received no end of things, and I 
know they would have cost me a lot of money if I had gone out and 
bought them,” she says. “Being a single mother, I know I wouldn’t 
have been able to buy a lot of the things I have been kindly given.”
Freecycle works in much the same spirit as Ebay, in that trust is 
implied in your compliance with the group, and anything from bags 
of clothes and old Beanos to teapots and tumbledryers is fair game.

Another Freecycle member Stella told Little Green Women, “I have 
recently had the sad job of clearing a relative’s house. It’s a 
heartbreaking job because everything in the house has a history 
which we may or may not know. However, it’s heartening to know 
that what we didn’t need is going to be useful to others. I would 
love to know whether the person who collected the wooden 
wardrobe doors managed to turn them into a sideboard…!”
A story behind every handover has made for the best of times – 
and even some lasting friendships. 
Negatives are thin on the ground, although there is a general feeling 
that there are those who may be labelled ‘timewasters’ in any transaction.
June says, “My experiences have been varied. I have found homes for 
some unwanted items and received some very useful ones. I have had 
polite transactions, and some people who never showed up when 
collection was arranged.”
Joining Freecycle has doubtless given lots to the many and seems like 
a one-stop shop for value, but for Little Green Women, the biggest boon 
has to be finding new uses for waste. Sign up today!
How to beat the pack
There are numerous Freecycle updates every day – you can sign up for 
those to be emailed directly to you or just log in and peruse what’s available 
in your group at your leisure. Keen Freecyclers will probably subscribe 
to updates, but the quicker the draw, the less disappointed you will be, 
so keep an eye on your inbox!
Edinburgh Freecycle has 5383 members. 
Go to www.freecycle.org to find out more

Girlyman - Everything's Easy

(Morning Star, March 7, 2010)

Album review

This title's a bit of a misnomer here.

There's no end of heartache, heartbreak and loss in US four-piece Girlyman's fifth release.

Opener Tell Me There's A Reason has more than a little folk country accent to its harmonies.

From there on in the whole record makes a virtue of its innate quaintness.

This is not to knock the music. The silken harmonies are exemplary, with a depth and imagination in the lyrical imagery which cause heart palpitations.

Other stand-out tracks include House Song, a tragically sad diary entry by female vocalist Ty Greenstein while True Enough boasts a soft and sweet vocal intro and a languid line courtesy of male vocalist Nate Borofsky.

Lovely.

Cirkus - Medicine

(Morning Star, February 28, 2010)

Album review

There was a distinct slice of the 1990s pop scene that Neneh Cherry owned - her recognisable sultry vocals smouldered their way through her early solo career and memorable collaborations.

So CirKus is lucky indeed to boast her among its ranks, but then it was a concept dreamed up by her husband Burt Ford.

A world of trip-hoppy weirdness, where regular sounds are distorted in their hall-of-mirrors production, CirKus are nothing if not experimental.

On Hardly Breathing, the relentless rhythm punches through the vocal, while on '80s-style Johnny iCon there's La Roux-style pop with a truly luxurious voice.

The high point has to be the title track, a mature and inspired European trip-hop track with warmth and heart, in which the "the sun comes shining through/the sun for me and you."

Definitely the star of the show.

Emily Breeze - The Penny Arcade

(Morning Star, February 7, 2010)
Album review

Bristol-based Emily Breeze's PJ Harvey-flavoured vocal ushers in a new age of wonder from the off.

Like a skiffle band stacked to the rafters with double bass and slick percussion, Monday's Right Hook opens the record.

It is barnstorming stuff.

And it has all the pugilistic force of the dreaded start of the working week.

But in this case, Emily being Emily, it only gets better.

And how.

The fighting talk of the opener mellows on Badlands, which is all acoustic guitar and smokey singing which brings to mind Tanita Tikaram.

But through torch song Lost Highway and the title track, Emily brings a depth to the slower tune that bruises and burns the heart.

With courage in her near-growl and an all-round great set of tunes, The Penny Arcade is set for definite success.

A big thumbs up to this one

Bryan Minus - Forage

(AU magazine, February 2010)

Album review

Slinking out of the speakers like an Anglophile US teen, 'Never Says A Thing' opens Bryan Minus' debut EP with all of the androgyny of Bowie and the staccato guitar spikes of Talking Heads. The Portland, Oregon lad heading up a four-piece obviously has a well-thumbed 1970s record collection, and wears his best colours on his sleeve here.

The opener has some verve, but on 'Looking', the chutzpah is replaced with sixth form shoegazing. 'I Am A Ghost' speaks of the 'Stray Cat Strut', while 'Confess' seems to lack a musical centre. Forage gets an A minus - excellent Bowie aping, but a tendency to sound a little too much like The Cure.

Ocean Colour Scene - Saturday

(Morning Star, January 31, 2010)

Album review

Ocean Colour Scene try their best to disprove Darwinian theory. They have spent decades refusing to evolve from their Dadrock inception, steadfastly swimming against the modernity of the chart tide, and yet here they still stand.

Saturday kicks off like a slice of The Who circa 1968 - stacked with catchy hooks and Simon Fowler's unmistakable bluesy roar - but there's no resonant sound of a fantastic leap ahead from What Once Was.

Opener 100 Floors Of Perception starts: "100 Mile High City falling to the floor," perhaps intended to signify a farewell to the old by demolishing one of OCS's big hits, but there's no ruination of the old guard here.

From the Seahorse-esque Mrs Maylie to the lyrically Kinks-inspired Village Life, OCS are forever flogging the rotten corpse of Dadrock in the hope that they'll live on. Nothing lasts forever, guys.

Icons of Elegance - Dancing is Easy

(Morning Star, January 31 2010)

Album review

The third album from this tuneful Finnish familial duo is not entirely original, so neophiles should steer clear. But for the rest of us - those who can appreciate that a good tune doesn't have to reinvent the riff - there's some lovely music on show here that will enrich the winter for your tired old stereo.

The opening title track is melodious guitar-powered pop with a distinct lack of guile. The delightful Sigh, My Heart says more about these two brothers - that they're not afraid of sharing their feelings to a quite unusual degree.

The retro Norwegian Girl and the touching, erm, Touching make this a well-rounded, delicate record. It's not unusual, but it's wonderful all the same.

Chris Bradley - At The Outpost

(Morning Star, January 17 2010)

Heavy on the acousto-pop, Chris Bradley's second solo record takes him a further step from work with his bandmates in Aberfeldy.

The maturity in his singing is bewitching from opener The Man I Love, underpinned by folk instrumentals and lyrics which speak of a wider world.

Bradley has clearly built on the elements which succeeded in his 2008 debut Voices, and has carved here the self-aware work of a folky Nick Lowe.

Golden Girl has all the accomplishment and intellect of Carrack-era Squeeze, while the biting Your Close Friend offers an emotional window on betrayal.

Paul Vickers and The Leg - Itchy Grumble

(Morning Star, January 17 2010)

If you have time to spare for the inventive and incongruous, welcome Paul Vickers And The Leg.

Throwing out the musical rule book, this is a - whisper it - concept record.

Like 2008's Tropical Favourites, it does make itself unwelcome at times, telling the story of the immortal Itchy Grumble and his travels and travails.

Opener Overture is a series of atonal beeps, giving way to the frankly haywire Vial, which brings to mind Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica.

The descent of Itchy offers a rich lyrical seam of the uneasy, but frankly, it's all a little bit much in parts for a pop record. Proceed with caution.