I have fond memories of corresponding with head Rocket Girl Vinita back in the 1990s, those heady days of hand-folded seven-inch singles and US imports being posted out from their East London lair for the equivalent cost of a second class stamp in today’s over-inflated mail costs. That the little notes nearly always came from her and would also include suggestions of bands to whom she was listening and other details said plenty about her enthusiasm for grass-roots music, and doing her best to ensure everybody could hear and discover new bands in the pre-internet age.
The fact that Vinita is now such an integral part of the independent music scene after thirty years in the trenches is both heart-warming for us and a vindication for her that the nurturing of talent, regardless of how esoteric it might be, and treating her roster as if it were an extended family is the perfect way for an independent label to behave. When you consider that she has developed long-term working relationships with artists as diverse as Piano Magic, Pieter Nooten, Füxa and Robin Guthrie, there must be something a little magical about her human touch, as well as exemplary musical taste.
The compilation that has been released for twentieth anniversary contains nineteen snapshots from right across the twenty-year spectrum. They range from a newly reworked version of “Susie” by Silver Apples (the very first record the label released) to the surprisingly heavy clashing guitars and post-industrial rhythms of White Ring. It is a treat to hear Silver Apples’ spacey paranoia and list of all the tasty things that Susie might prepare for you, should you go to her house for dinner, after all these years. It starts a bit of a trip down memory lane; the post-funk soundtrack and street poetry of Kirk Lake‘s “Go As Adorno”, with its slap bass and tinkling piano, sits next to Coldharbourstores‘ strung-out, Lush-reminiscent bliss of “Seven Minutes”, that somehow defines the label aesthetic. There is a rather poignant moment with Dan Treacy‘s “All Coming Back”, one of a handful of tracks recorded before his hospital treatment, outrageous snippets of the past merging well with the ramshackle playing. The kind of drifty shoegaze style music is probably what Rocket Girl are most renowned for and there are some lovely tracks here covering that genre. A track from Robin Guthrie contains all the gossamer that you could possibly hope for, perfectly evoking the era that drew Vinita into music, while Pieter Nooten’s delicious ambient drift and crystalline piano appears on “I Want You”. Long-term fans Füxa offer a rather discordant take on their ‘Sun Is Shining” and the beautiful, blissed-out sax infusion of Transient Waves‘ “D Jam” rounds the album out, but it is the pleasant surprises that make the album essential. Andrew Weatherall‘s dubby and mantra-like “Cosmonautrix” really pleases, as does the gorgeous pastoral guitar sketch “Swallows And Swifts II” by July Skies, augmented by a subtle string part. A Place To Bury Strangers bring the indie rock noise and Jon de Rosa offers a lovely take on the acoustic singer-songwriter, his splendid velvety voice accompanied by the temptation of strings.There is a lot here to recommend it, as well as a flexi-disc with an unreleased Mogwai track, and in the nature of the early days, a coloured vinyl seven-inch plus a book of the history of the label and before. It is a fantastic package, deserving of attracting a new audience to Vinita’s unique tastes, and hopefully it will spur her on to another twenty years. I wish her and the label all the best.
-Mr Olivetti-
