The Angels of Sleep - Portastatic - A Slow Note From A Sinking Ship - 1995

When I was a little kid I used to try and catch my guardian angel. As a pre-schooler I had been subject to really traumatic nightmares. So, my sweet, caring, hopelessly naive grandmother had convinced me that I had a guardian angel watching over me and keeping me safe at night. This is probably what led to my weird religious phase.

But anyway, I believed that every time I closed my eyes the angel would appear...so I'd spend hours laying in bed trying to suddenly open my eyes in the hopes of catching the angel off guard. Two things about this story, first of all it speaks to the human need to prove that there is something beyond our experience in the world...that we are constantly looking for some proof that there is still some magic left in this science based world of ours...even when all signs point to there being very little.

And secondly, what kinda second-rate slacker-ass angel did I think I had if I thought it could be punked by a 7 year old boy. Clearly I already had shitty self-esteem if even my imaginary guardian angel was a fuck-up.

Anyway, here's the mighty Mac McCaughan (if you haven't noticed, the man is one of my personal heroes) with one of his earlier, low-fi Portastatic tracks, letting the quality of the song overcome the production, the playing, his nasal voice, etc...and still being absolute gem.