POSTCARD RECORDSFEATURE
n the last few weeks. without any
fanfare. two new albums on
Glasgow‘s Postcard label have
sneaked into the shops. This is a
significant event. as anyone who
thrilled to the early work of Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and Josef K will tell you. but label boss Alan Home is living up to his reputation as a maverick by keeping the relaunch as low-key as possible. Forthcoming releases are said to be albums by Edwyn Collins and Davy (Win) Henderson‘s Nectarine No 9. as well as the definitive Postcard compilation. but Home is resolutely tight-lipped on the subject.
The record label that put Scottish pop on the map at the dawn of the 805 is back. Alastair Mabbott. Innes Reekie and Fiona Shepherd look at the legacy and the rebirth of
Postcard Recordings OfScotland.
Not that his silence should cast doubt on the quality of the revived Postcard‘s first two releases. Ostrich Churchyard. the shelved debut Orange Juice album which is finally seeing the light ofday after eleven years. is rough around the edges but endlessly charming. It sounds like what the official first album. You Can '1 Hide Your Love Forever on Polydor. really should have been. stripped of gloss and high on youthful arrogance.
Few could have waited longer to see their debut album on the shelves than the Dundonian Paul Quinn. who has been part of the Postcard scene since the beginning.
Now that we can listen to the record. it seems even more infuriating that we‘ve had to wait so long for it. Paul Quinn And The Independent Group‘s The Phantoms And The Archetypes. produced by Edwyn Collins. is slow-burning torch-rock. with the star-studded Independent Group (which features everyone from Orange Juice‘s James Kirk to Bluebell Robert Ilodgens. as well Alan Horne himself) taking great pains to ensure that every note they play is there to serve Quinn‘s deep. plunging voice. Music for dark rooms and secret moments. Both releases are worthy successors to the all-too-few records put out in Postcard‘s previous lifetime: the gorgeous early singles by Orange Juice. Josef K. Aztec (Tamera and The Go-Betweens and Josef K‘s somewhat dated-sounding but still Compelling LP The Only Fun In Town. Those records were like a slap in the face in
The Listo— 19 November 199213