TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 feb 6

1 Northern Portrait : I Give You Two Seconds To Entertain Me
2 Pale Fountains : (Don't Let Your Love) Start A War
3 Queue Dance : Not The One For Me
4 Pocketbooks : Falling Leaves
5 Evening Outs : Channel
6 Clamber : Choose The Way
7 Fallover 24 : Pessimistic Man
8 Suntime Glorious : Sexual Health
9 Elephant Noise : Remember The Big Time
10 Field Mice : I Can See Myself Alone Forever
11 Miracle Mile : Breaking Down The Barriers
12 Bad Actors : Are They Hostile?
13 Sarah Goes Shopping : Once I've Seen Him
14 World Of Pooh : Stones Of Judgement
15 Some Average Prophecy : Goodnight England
16 Da Biz : On The Beach
17 Modernaires : Fait Vos Jeux
18 Sema 4 : Capital City
19 Northern Portrait : Crazy
20 Aerial FX : So Hard

Green numbers indicate new entries.

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 nov 21

1 Northern Portrait : Crazy
2 Milky Wimpshake : Dialling Tone
3 That Uncertain Feeling : Sunriser
4 Starlets : Viva Cabaret
5 Elephant Noise : Halloween Day
6 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Doing All The Things That Wouldn't Make Your Parents Proud
7 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : This Love Is Fucking Right
8 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : Orchard Of My Eye
9 Milky Wimpshake : One Good Use For My Heart
10 Liechtenstein : Stalking Skills
11 Milky Wimpshake : (Show Me The Way To) Anarchy
12 Tartans : Cats Of Camerford
13 Elephant Noise : This Song Is Our Friend
14 Some Loves : It's My Time
15 Glo-Worm : Travelogue
16 Henry Essence : 14 Year Old Lover
17 Maria : Friends Forever
18 Twig : Ciao Ciao Bomb
19 Family Way : Sugar Baby Love
20 Northern Portrait : The Fallen Aristocracy

Green numbers indicate new entries.

Less Jungle, More Jangle, Elephant Noise Trunk It Up

Go north of the border and you'll find the tradition of indie pop jangle still thriving. Maybe it's the deep fried Mars bars or the cold winds that glide mercilessly through the crofts that inspires the Scots to don their guitars and celebrate Byrdsian pop in a fruitless search for a hint of US West Coast sunshine. Is there a finest British powerpop band than Teenage Fanclub? Wasn't indiepop started by those imperious scamps Orange Juice?

Elephant Noise's horrendously rare 12" contains four songs. Of these my favourite is Halloween Day. A darkness pervades this plea to a friend to leave his old love behind, find a new one, exorcise old ghosts, gather up memories and stove them away and dance with new demons; deny the rumbling echoes of the past and ruthlessly grasp the future. Not far behind in my affections is Remember The Big Time which bristles with energy, a sort of ferocious REM-like sound. The contemplative Cactus Talk is as ruminative as the Triffids at their maudlin best. And This Song Is Our Friend whispers warm thoughts and threads a web of hope around mundane hearts.

Four men were responsible for this overlooked masterpiece, Tom Heaney (drums and keyboards), Neil Barber (rhythm guitar, violin and vocals), Stuart Allardyce (lead guitars) and Neil Tayler (bass). Pour praise on to them, they warrant it. The ep came out in 1991 on Rub Records, which I suspect was their own label, and I urge you to seek it out.

TURNTABLE REVOLUTION TOP 20 oct 31

1 Northern Portrait : Crazy
2 Northern Portrait : The Fallen Aristocracy
3 Pains Of Being Pure At Heart : This Love Is Fucking Right
4 Marble Orchard : Our Love Is Up To You
5 School : Let It Slip
6 Gobblinz : London
7 Cindy And The Barbi Dolls : In Silence
8 Ruby Blue : Bloomsbury Blue
9 Jam Today : Stereotyping
10 Henry Essence : Margarita
11 Friends Of The Bride : So....You Think You Can Dance?
12 Elephant Noise : This Song Is Our Friend
13 Bridal Shop : Violation
14 Friends Of The Bride : You Can't Take Him Anywhere
15 Milky Wimpshake : Itchy Feet On A Tuesday Night
16 Ladyhawke : Paris Is Burning
17 Desperate Bicycles : Skill
18 Some Loves : It's My Time
19 Stricken City : Tak O Tak
20 One On The Clapometer : Long Term Investment

Green numbers indicate new entries.