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Format

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  CID9977CD  £6.00

Label

Island

Julian Cope

Peggy Suicide

British European one of rough trade's island 50th anniversary selection 50 crucial titles specially selected by us to highlight the unique contribution this seminal label has made to british music since 1959 'peggy suicide' is either julian cope's fifth or seventh album depending on how you count after his fourth 'my nation underground' he recorded two records 'skellington' and 'droolian' that were intended mostly for release to his fan club both are strange drugsoaked sonic experiments that veer fromfolksy campfire songs to feedback freakouts 'peggy suicide' sees cope reigning himself back in after those 'excesses' and though he delivers one of the most anticommercial commercial records in the island records catalogue it was also his most cohesive solo album up until that pointstructured into four 'phases' the album is a loosely connected concept album about the humanengineered and accelerated decay of the mythic mother earth figure the tracks address this concept from for the most part a strictly personal rather than global perspective standouts include 'safesurfer' a freaky aids narrative with a not insignificant krautrock influence 'drive she said' a singalong about automobile pollution 'youa' a short charged rant against insincerity witha wicked fuzzedout bass line and snaky sax solo and the staggering 'beautiful love' a pristine reflection on just how 'in love' one can be if you hear only one julian cope song it ought to be this one