‰ÛÏA bruised eremitic, Withnalian Rattlesnake on downers. Makes Lou Reed sound like a bricklayer.‰۝ Andrew Male, Mojo. While compiling Lo-Fi Lullabies, John Moore realized he had a second album stashed away in his song drawer. Begun in New York, and completed twenty years later in London, Floral Tributes hangs together remarkably well. It begins in the mid-nineties, prior to Black Box Recorder, with his songs, fleshed out by, of all things, a jazz quartet. Frey Smith - double bass, Laurence Jones - piano, and Ben Clark ‰ÛÒ drums, all wonderful players, but the band was not to be. A disastrous gig, upstairs at The Garage, in front of legendary A and R man and rock legend Muff Winwood, with Jones struggling with a mutinying electric piano, and Moore with a broken finger and ribs, from an incident earlier in the day, put paid to any hopes of a deal. However, the band‰۪s few recordings ‰ÛÒ which were on DAT tape, were good, and once again, went into the drawer marked ‰ÛÒ Rainy Day. Black Box Recorder happened not long after this ignominious on-stage implosion, and lasted several years. In 2005, Moore released another solo album, Half Awake, which was well received, but he lacked the resources to promote it properly. When its distributor went bankrupt, and all its stock was seized, it was almost a relief. Moore did other things. He wrote a novel, finally to be published, he wrote for The Guardian newspaper, but generally, he did very little. Tracks : Side 1 1. Almost Optimistic 2. Then Comes Summertime 3. My Old Dancing Shoes 4. Life Carves Its Lines on Your Soul 5. Sweet Nothing Side 2 1. Through The Eyes Of A Drunk 2. Memories And Morphine 3. Smoking On The Cancer Ward 4. Sweet Oblivion 5. Kisses And Scars 300 only red vinyl LPåÊ
