TRACTOR – Shubunkin Over Rochdale College Bank (Repress) – LP – 180g Sea Blue Vinyl [FEB 7]

LP – Limited Edition 180g Sea Blue Vinyl Repress housed in a Gatefold Sleeve.

Recorded as an instrumental by Tractor in Rochdale in 1971 and originally released on LP in 1972 Shubunkin has now been sampled by LA band Broken Bells (Danger Mouse/ Brian Burton and James Mercer, the lead vocalist and guitarist for the indie rock band The Shins) as the basis of their track To Anyone a Ghost.

Julian Cope writes about the Tractor track Shubunkin : …Then, one night in mid 1972, John Peel played a track that was more mysterious than almost anything I had ever heard. It was the music I thereafter wanted played at my funeral and was most certainly the sound of a soul approaching the canopy of heaven as it left the earth for the last time.

..without the proper printed Dandelion label there to guide me, I left a blob of marker pen on the side that began with Shubunkin and that became the ultimate beginning to any LP in my collection. Originally Issued in late 2019 as a vinyl LP as a protest against Rochdale Boroughwide Housings plans to knock down four of the Seven Sisters/College Bank Flats- these blocks of flats were home to Tractors drummer in the 1970s as well as their manager Chris Hewitt and Andy and Liz Kershaws dad and a whole host of poets,musicians, tv producers etc. Many Tractor numbers were worked out in these flats prior to recording at various studios around Rochdale and Heywood.

Jim Milne -vocals guitar (and bass most tracks),Steve Clayton -Drums and Percussion, Dave Addison– bass on Northern City. The album now starts the way Julian Cope always wanted to run.

Tracklist:

A1. Shubunkin
A2. Hope In Favour
A3. Everytime It Happens
A4. Make The Journey

B1. Watching White Stars
B2. Little Girl In Yellow
B3. Mr Revolution Man
B4. Northern City
B5. All Ends Up

All songs written by Jim Milne and Steve Clayton.