UK Records

AMEBIX

LYKKE LI

HEARTSREVOLUTION

DAEDELUS

As it’s the Mexico Issue we popped over to our buddy Ivan Mendiola’s flat in London and played him a stack of this month’s records so that we could get a real-life Mexican’s view on recorded sound in June 2008.
Ivan is a 24-year-old from Monterrey in northeastern Mexico who’s lived in England for just over a year. He studies music but told us that he only really liked “playing the drums and tripping out”. In order to prepare for this record playback he ingested some mushrooms and smoked “a whole load of joints to create the mood” before I turned up. V/A
Rinse: 04 Mixed by Skepta
Rinse

Vice: What does this sound like to you?

Ivan Mendiola:

When would you listen to this?
If I was drowning to death.

You know people dance to this stuff?

No way. I don’t believe you.

CSS Donkey Sub Pop

These guys are from South America just like you!

Yes She is marrying the guitarist from Klaxons.
DAEDELUS Love to Make Music to Ninja Tune
Is hip-hop a big deal in Mexico?

You mean the guys with hats and the funny suits that look like The Three Amigos?
Did you ever play your drums in a mariachi band?
AMEBIX
No Sanctuary—The Spiderleg Recordings Alternative Tentacles

Do you get many crusty punks in Monterrey? Were you ever a goth in your youth?
Did you have big hair and leather trousers?
LADYTRON
Velocifero
Nettwerk

Would you ever buy this one?

What kind of person do you think would be into this one?

Have you ever worked in a shoe shop?
HEARTSREVOLUTION
The Switchblade EP
Isomorph Records

This one only comes on vinyl.

What do you think of the actual music?
Would you dance to this?
MARC ALMOND WITH MICHAEL CASHMORE Gabriel and the Lunatic Lover Durtro Jnana

He has a nice voice, doesn’t he?

Yes, I like it very much. It sounds like Casper the Friendly Ghost if he was sad.

It is Marc Almond who was in Soft Cell.

Really? I like them. Do you know that song “Bedsitter”? I thought that was what England would be like but it is much nicer than that song.

AU
Verbs
Aagoo Records
This is a pretty summery record. Would it be nice in sunny Monterrey?
Is acid popular in Monterrey?

What happens when it is “too much”?

BLACK GHOSTS
S/T
Southern Fried

Have you ever encountered any ghosts?

Not me personally, but there is a road that the drug smugglers use out of town that they say is haunted.

You make the drug smugglers sound very amiable, like pirates or something.

Oh no, they’re pretty heavy guys. You wouldn’t want to mess around with them.

Have you ever had any run-ins with them?

Not really, but you know who they are and you don’t get involved with them.

KITTY, DAISY & LEWIS
S/T
Sunday Best

These are little kids who make all their music at home in their parents’ house.

I don’t like it.

Why not?

I just don’t. It sounds like rubbish.

You are currently doing a degree in music. You can’t just say “it sounds like rubbish”.

Well, it does.

CAPILLARY ACTION
So Embarrassing
Pangea Recordings
When was the last time you were embarrassed?

That sounds more awkward than embarrassing.

SHIT AND SHINE
Cherry
Riot Season

This one is kind of metal. Would you have been feeling it in your Poison days?
I still can’t believe your dad wouldn’t let you grow your hair. Is that why you moved to England?

You could grow it now, though. What would you go for, a feathered mullet?

SOEZA
7 Obstacles
Gringo

Where would you guess these guys are from?

Nope, they’re from Swindon.

Some of them actually live in Bristol now.

WINDSOR FOR THE DERBY
How We Lost
Secretly Canadian

Do they have horse racing in Mexico?

In England a lot of people think cockfighting is disgustingly, barbarically cruel.

Chickens can feel pain too.

Right. THE STUPIDS
Violent Nun/Peruvian Vacation/Retarded Picnic/Complete Peel Sessions
Boss Tuneage

Tommy Stupid sounds pretty pissed off here. What do you think he’s angry about?

What job do you think he had?

He actually went on to be the highly respected drum’n’bass producer Klute.

ALBERT HAMMOND JR.
Como te Llama
Rough Trade

What does “Como te Llama” mean?

You think it is grammatically incorrect?

He was in the Strokes and they all went to posh schools. So he surely knows Spanish.

RUSSIAN CIRCLES
Station
Suicide Squeeze

What do you think of the cover of this one?

Would you ever like to join the army?

What about if you got caught with a load of LSD and you had to choose between jail and the army.

V/A
Hear, O Israel! A Prayer Ceremony in Jazz
Trunk Records

Do you like jazz?

Sometimes to me it just sounds like they are playing whatever they want.

But that means that I could be a jazz drummer.

FREE KITTEN
Inherit
Ecstatic Peace

This is a bit like that story you were telling me before about playing in a band with your girlfriend.

Well this is the band that Kim Gordon plays in so that she doesn’t go mad playing in Sonic Youth with Thurston the whole time.

How come?

V/A
Essential Italo Disco Classics 1977–1985
Strut

What do you think of this stuff?

What do you like about it?

That is pretty much a perfect description of Italo disco. Are you sure you have never heard it before?

VENOM
Hell
Universal

Were you ever scared of metal records when you were younger? I was terrified of Ride The Lightning by Metallica.

You like it?

Really? It’s hardly Welcome to Hell, is it?

LYKKE LI
Youth Novels
LL Recordings

Can you understand the lyrics?

What do you reckon she is whining about?

You don’t seem to like girls much.

FLEET FOXES
S/T
Bella Union

If this were an ice cream, what would it be?
How come?
You are pretty good at this; can you do some reviews for us in the future?