Vile Charity Shop Harridans - Pt 5

Here's a quick update on the local digging i've been doing in my local charity spots which have been bountiful if not in quality but in quantity in recent weeks.

Ive been back to both shops where i had the opportunity to look through all their records with a view to getting rid of the crap they will never be able to sell. In Ramsgate i've spent about 4 hours over 2 separate days and approximately 95% of what i saw needed to be chucked. Unfortunately the area manager of the shop got involved and instead of skipping the records they are now going to be taken to other branches. Note to self - avoid these branches at all cost!! I pulled a couple of things out for myself but they were very run of the mill so nothing to get excited about. I'm still waiting to see what he has in storage so i have my fingers crossed.

In Cliftonville i went through the other shop and again 95% are due to be skipped. Unfortunately they don't have anymore records contrary to what i was told in December so that avenue is exhausted for the time being.

Other shops have been kinder and last weekend i bought approximately 40 records back from my days trip. Nothing amazing but 21 mint records of various styles from a shop in Margate for £7.00 and 14 unplayed dance promo double packs from a shop in Broadstairs for a pound each.

I even had a chance to venture to the mean streets of Herne Bay which has a serious amount of charity shops. Unfortunately this time the pickings were very slim but i have it marked for a future journey in a few months time.

Fancy Robots - Robo-Friend

Finnish electro i hear you demand! Well ok then since you asked so nicely here is a quite obscure Finnish release from Jori Hulkkonen and Tuomas Salmela on the excellent Keys Of Life label based in Helsinki.

Released in 2001 to date this is their only release under the Fancy Robot alias of the duo's normal Step Time Orchestra partnership. I first heard this when my friend brought back a white label promo from a trip to London and all we had to go by was the Step Time Orchestra name written on one side. Every time he played it i would always ask him what it was but it wasn't until discogs had really started expanding i could use the search function to track down the actual record. I remember (and this is a good trick for all you record diggers out there) finding no copies for sale but there was a website address for the Keys Of Life label so after a bit of searching managed to order an unplayed copy direct from them for a minimal price.

There are a couple of uptempo fast electro tracks on the B side but the track i want you to hear is Robo-Friend, a slow electro synth driven number telling the story of a human and his robot friend in the year 2020 via vocoded and tweeked speech. Its unlike any track i've ever heard to this day and is stunningly simple.

Fancy Robots - Robo-Friend