is there a thread for the band WOO who released the album "it's cosy inside" in 1989?

(tyring to make this thread searchable)

i like this band! of course, i didn't hear of them back in the late '80s/early '90s, but i discovered the reissues a few years back.

heard in isolation their songs can seem entirely underwhelming, but somehow the albums are more than the sum of their parts; the subtly modulated sounds accumulate a kind of pleasant buzzing power.

i think my favorite record might actually be into the heart of love

fwiw: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17263-its-cosy-inside/

that review drops a lot of names but the one that comes to my mind first and foremost was left out: young marble giants

i guess it's the minimalist use of standard rock instruments

http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com/2009/05/woo-into-heart-of-love-tape-1990-uk.html

i love how obvious it is that the drag city folks are paying close attention to a million obscuro music blogs, since they've reissued a whole bunch of stuff that first came to many folks' consciousness via those blogs. woo, these trails, social climbers, etc.

i'm just going to keep talking to myself on this thread, ok?

i think my favorite record might actually be into the heart of love

― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, November 12, 2014 2:34 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm, it's beautiful. i think i got it from mutant sounds.

Into The Heart Of Love has of course just recently been reissued by the ever excellent Emotional Rescue.

http://emotional-rescue.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-heart-of-love

Based on YMG comparison I will check them out. I didn't know Social Climbers was reissued! I bought the original in a used bin in the 80s because I thought the cover looked interestingly DIY. It's turned into one of my most-loved artifacts of that era.

i think the original should be worth quite a bit by now!

or not, actually: http://www.discogs.com/sell/release/1528273?ev=rb

i'd buy "into the heart of love" if they offered it on a physical format

Then it shall be yours.

http://www.juno.co.uk/products/woo-into-the-heart-of-love/535405-01/

bam! thank you.

that fatima and the mamluks EP is a lot of fun btw (= on emotional rescue)

i often wonder how those little niche reissue labels make any money. i can see how light in the attic, whose releases get NPR coverage etc., can break even or better, but a tiny little label like emotional rescue?

Well I've bought a few of them! I doubt it's a fortune but I've a feeling quite a bit of the reissue stuff he's put out (Bob Chance, Kevin Harrison & Neo, Ganges Orchestra, Suns Of Arqa...) has sold pretty well. The Woo records might be a bit more niche, not sure, but they're also ripe for rediscovery and fit in with various ongoing er, Revivals, I guess.

Yeah, good to be able to get a nicely remastered (and expanded) copy of the Fatima record for a reasonable price.

record store down the block now has all the woo reissues in stock. um... woo!

I like these guys. so wonderful to hear 'into the heart of love' without cassette hiss.

I still have copies of 'cozy' and 'whichever' from late 80's shopping. didn't think I'd spent that much time with 'cozy' but I played it again last week and damn if I didn't remember every single track on it, and fondly

has anyone heard the various albums (all on cassette?) they made between the early-1990s stuff and the new one? some of the press releases for the reissues seem to imply that they disappeared for a while (makes a better story, maybe)... but they were putting out music all along AFAIK.

discogs has one album from 1991 (a la luna, which i don't have yet) and the next one from 2013... but i would swear that some blog posted a bunch of cassettes from the mid-late 1990s.

http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-5489070-1394694730-9950.jpeg

hideous font!

oops

that was supposed to be the cover of "christmas presence" (hideous title pun, too)

favorite album cover this week

http://woo-music.bandcamp.com/album/live-from-venus

the first album is like flawless a+++ perfect, just like pure freshness, perfect minimalist expression

are there any other records (by anybody) that have a similar thing going on?

oof! at that live from venus cover. they really need to farm out their cover designs to the labels they work with.

xpost

all i can think of is one-off tracks on other people's albums, not a whole aesthetic

i tend to think that people who like the durutti column would like woo but the actual music is not really similar

i discovered them via that blog mutantsounds. its amazing music... my favorite: "magic in the dark"

they have a bunch of strange/funny things on youtube actually http://www.youtube.com/user/WooCollective

i;ve had this album for years but could never quite get into it, maybe i should try again

hey guys. this is stuart who runs emotional rescue. interesting read indeed! Clive from Woo actually keeps a track of any Press and must of found this post as he sent me a nice Word doc of all coverage and this thread was in there.

to answer one question. you're right, i make practically no money from doing the label or it's sister label emotional response and cousin [emotional] especial and even less from a label i co-run with a mate and honest jons called sacred summits (check it!).

i do it for the fun of it and to get the music i love out. there is some £££ reward which i split with the artists, but it's nothing to write home about. the woo, javier bergia and bob chance were the most successful releases also for info. 7" and 12" EPs you really don't make very much on, but LPs can bring in more, this is how LITA etc do well. plus they have proper press budgets while i have none.

but the fact to see something like Into The Heart out and people buying it is enough. i even spent Saturday afternoon sticking the vinyl and inner sheets in 300 copies of the repress (screen printed) sleeve for my troubles. hence i don't do many screen printed releases and let the factory get on with fulfilling!

anyway, enjoyed the reading a lot and tx for the interest!

enjoy.

best

stuart / chuggy x

hey chuggy! welcome and congratulations as i listen to emotional rescue a lot. ( :
in other news...

___

The Woo Collective shared a link.
7 hours ago
Woo Music are giving away a new album - Light of the World.

This is the first of three albums recorded by Woo with Ruby over a twelve year period. Over the coming months we will upload two further albums, one with her funny songs, the other with her love songs.

This album is a free download until the New Year.

Merry Christmas from The Woo Collective

Click on the link below.
https://woo-music.bandcamp.com/album/light-of-the-world