After Dinner Dance Party // Andy Crofts' Rope Mix

Roll up, roll up... we have some wondrous musical marvels to share with you today, with a selection of numbers chosen by Andy Crofts of UK band The Moons. The Rope mixes are, a host of playlists inspired by a love of the Hitchcock film of the same name, loaded with an unhinged array of dark delights to excite the minds of a listener with a penchant for the weird & wonderful.


Notably, the concept of the playlist itself, eerily mirrors the prolonged, suspenseful shots used by Hitchcock to draw the audience into an abyss of double meanings and a vortex of timbre.


With each individual mix devoted to exploring a different musical point of view, from the R&B driven Worlds of Wonder, to the blissful echoes of Late Night Smoke Rings, begging the listener to turn off their mind, relax and float down stream. A lovely modern day homage to the wonders of mid-century pirate radio... without the adverts!


It's seldom that we get to hear music choices from a plethora of our favourite artists, all under one roof. However, in his Circus on Mars, Andy has rounded up tracks from musical friends to bring you the ultimate, guest playlist!

★ROPE SPECIAL★ "Circus On Mars" by Andy Crofts (Rope) on Mixcloud

As well as choices from Andy Crofts, this playlist features additional great guest choices from the likes of James Buckley, The Horrors, Paul Weller, The Coral, Richard Hawley, Miles Kane, The Charlatans, The Stone Roses, Ocean Colour Scene and The Sundowners! Click on the playlist for the full track listing.

To keep up to date with The Moons, click here.

Enjoy!
Much Love,
L&R xx

Guest Post // James' Vintage Tips - Part 1: Charity Shops

Vintage clothing and paraphernalia has been a love of many people over the years, though in recent years the adoration for it is not only cross generation but cross gender too!
This overwhelming demand for old goods has made now made it widely available within chain-stores, hence raising the price of what is merely second hand goods.

Generally there is more vintage clothing available to women, whereby hoards of attire usually inundates the modest male selection in shops. Let this not deter the males searching for exquisite clobber, there are a few good tips i'm going to share...

Charity Shops:
An obvious one, but if you don the metaphorical monocle while meandering around you may find something of high caliber. Patience is of importance, you cant expect to find something good every time but if you persist you often do. Also, try to ignore any clothing labeling ie: Men/Women, although you may feel a little odd looking through the female racks, you always have an excuse... 'Im looking for a top for my mum, honest!' or something along those lines.

I have realized recently that clothing in a many cases is unisex, high street fashion stores that retail vintage have a labeling system, though I've seen many jackets in males sections what were obviously women's.

So, ignore the system, just go with your instinct, watch out for stitching round the breast area, thats usually a good sign. Even if you buy fashion faux pas, at least it only cost you a couple of pound, or less!

Hints and tips to getting your vintage collection of odds and sods:
1. Strike up a friendship with a worker whom you see regularly (don't get pally with the guy/girl who is on work experience who isn't a permanent member of staff)
2. Once you are on first name terms try to drop a hint of what kind of clothing/item you are generally after.
3. Give them a form of contact, email, phone or telegram (depending on how old fashioned you are)
4. Voila, If something comes in, you will be notified! Hopefully even before they put it/them out on the shop floor!

I've got a good couple of friends who work in one of the charity shops on town, and they are always on the lookout for me, kindly enough. Here are some of my finds from local charity shops...



A burgundy blazer & candy striped short sleeved button down shirt in an unusual colour combination of yellow, orange and baby blue, destined for the beach! Both purchased for under £6.00!


Nautical, fish eye mirror with a brass frame - a wonderful, vintage find at only £4.00!


Vintage peacock coloured 60s coat, dashing with curved lapels and gold buttons (which I might get round to changing for dark blue, velvet buttons!) Bought for £7.00.


A beautiful, almost indian paisley with intricate detailing and unusual colour combinations - well worth taking the time to search out!
Thanks to the girls at She Dressed in Black for letting me share part 1 of my vintage tips, keep a look out for part deux where i'll be sharing another useful insight into expanding your vintage collection on a shoe string.
Cheers, James Fables of History

After Dinner Dance Party // Fables of History Guest Blog

Hi, I'm James Edward Bagshaw. I've been given the opportunity to guest blog this week as Rhi is away on holiday. I'm a Northamptonshire based musician, producer and song writer.
Lauren, my girl, requested that I'd provide the music for this week's After Dinner Dance Party, 'tis true Rhianna wont be dancing at Twee Towers this week but a ball we shall have nonetheless! Quite an honor to Dj Twee Towers I must say...

At the moment I am mixing an album at my home studio. It's my band 'The Moons' 2nd album and so far it's sounding swell. When mixing a song, I usually go through phases of what it should sound like, often I refer back to old records - generally they are the greats.
So here are a few of my favourite songs... truly inspirational from a production and songwriting point of view and a great way to make the daunting job of the washing up a tad more appealing... and if you want to dance, dont let the dishes stop you!

Les Paul & Mary Ford, 'How High The Moon'... it's an incredible song. Les Paul is widely known as the pioneer of multitrack recording, and this was in the 50s! His techniques are still used today, though it's a lot less time consuming than it was back then. I've recently been experimenting with the techniques used to make this record and I find it truly inspirational.



The Music Machine, 'Trouble!' I have most of their recordings, they sum up my favourite elements of the 60s sound...Freaky fuzz guitar, vulgar vox organ sounds and the grooviest rhythm section I've heard. Not forgetting the incredible voice of Sean Bonniwell, terribly underrated! This song is a great one to slip on dancing shoes to!




My third choice, The Four Tops, 'Reach Out (I'll Be there)'...This song has it all, catchy yet quirky, intricately crafted and arranged. It's a Holland–Dozier–Holland song, much like many of the great Motown tunes!
This song guarantees a swarm to the dancefloor, (or kitchen floor in our case).

Hope you enjoyed the songs today!

Much love,

JEB x

If you're interested in finding out more about vintage recording techniques or hearing snippets of The Moons forthcoming album 'Tales of the Unexpected', check out my blog, Fables of History where I'll be documenting the exciting process of recording & mixing!