Cherrystones Crawl Back To Mine Reviewed in Other Music

Gareth Goddard, better known as Cherrystones, is the acting “secret weapon” of the Poptones Recording Corporation, wrapping and warping his extensive vinyl collection and obscure film knowledge into the most insane aural film trailer you’ve ever seen; one filled with car chases, T&A, struck poses, intense Carnaby St. haute couture of the late-’60s and early-’70s (complete with liquid eyeliner), gasoline explosions, and fathoms-deep pronouncements met to red, raging, saucer-eyed acceptance. Seeing this guy spin a set had me doing windmills on the Rubulad dancefloor (effectively clearing things out; sorry if I hit you). He’s my favorite selector of the group; instead of mining the deepest cuts à la Andy Votel or sticking to one genre as many of his like-minded compatriots might, Cherrystones throttles through tracks with hard-charging melodies, super-saturated breaks, and bright, flashing arrangements across garage, ye-ye, soundtracks, rocksteady and dub, hard rock, glam, Krautrock, bubblegum, Middle Eastern psych, funk, post-punk and every other extreme corner of maniacal sound from the underground, from the ‘60s up to today. Already well-known for his excellent import compilations Rocks and Hidden Charms, which unearthed Niagara, Pugh Roegefeldt, Marsha Hunt and the Shocking Blue to a new generation of eager crate-diggers, this is the second in a series of his anonymous mix CDs, cramming dozens of records from disparate yet equally monged genres into a restless, mindbending mix. Selections include material from Dion, the (glam) Damned, Aphrodite’s Child, Q 65, the Wipers, Simply Saucer, and a bracing post-punk mashup of Big L’s “Put It On.” More DJs ought to aspire to the ridiculous peaks that seem to come second nature to guys like Cherrystones; Crawl Back to Mine is a partially completed map to such a euphoria. Practice makes psycheperfectdelia. [DM]

BACK TO PREVIOUS PAGE