I never did mention another random find a few weeks back when I popped into Basement Discs - I'd just spotted the new Neko Case album I'd heard lots of good things about, but $40 ? ouch ! There was another Bloodshot CD in the new releases section, though - something called songs of false hopes and high values, by Sally Timms and Jon Langford of the Mekons, and it was only $24. A throwaway side project ? who knows ? The website mentions it as a limited edition 8-track EP from 2000, but my copy has 12 tracks - 4 covers, though, which might explain the difference.

It's fairly quiet and...well, the website mentions the word "campfire" which isn't really something I have a lot of experience with (school camp notwithstanding), but I'd say it hits the mark pretty well. It's easy, enjoyable, and I don't feel like I'm supposed to be paying attention to production values or some other kind of music nerdery. Maybe that's why I'm enjoying the odd bout of country music these days. or something.

The thing that caught my attention (after seeing the two names on the front) was that they cover Our Very Own Paul Kelly's Randwick Bells (the very same song that Jimmy Little covered on his curious Messenger album). Here, it's the most stripped-back song on the album, "recorded in Sally's bedroom by Sally (by herself)," and she really provides a sense of atmosphere though to be honest, it's been a long time since I listened to the Paul Kelly version (but I did buy his first album Talk yesterday, purely because I have good memories of Billy Baxter from all those years ago).

The tracklisting's wrong (tracks 10 and 11 are the wrong way around), but that's never stopped me from loving an album before, cf. Sandpit's on second thought, which included a bit of paper with the "correct tracklisting" in the booklet, and Registered Nurse's strippers, which didn't.