Judy Nylon – Pal Judy

Judy Nylon – Pal Judy (On-U-Sound Records) 1982. My first introduction to the brilliant and mysterious Judy Nylon wasn’t via Snatch who I raved about back in January of 2008 but instead on this solo release from 1982. I picked it up in the early 1990s for a buck at Camelot Records on cassette. It was one of those great ROIR releases. Remember them? I still own it to this day but I do not own a cassette machine. Judy was a very interesting character who was the influence for Brian Eno’s Back in Judy’s Jungle, was half of aforementioned punk duo Snatch, and accidentally caused Brian Eno’s forays into ambient music among many other things. In 1982, she hooked up with Adrian Sherwood’s New Age Steppers, here calling themselves “Crucial” and proceeded to knock out one of the best albums ever to accompany getting high. I mean it. This album is a pot-smokers dream come true what with its’ dub affectations and laconic vocal delivery. Many folks rave about Judy’s cover of Heartbreak Hotel on here and it is amazing. If John Cale’s point in covering the song was to somehow recast the Elvis Presley standard as high minded European kitsch, Judy Nylon reclaims the song’s American roots but repositions it as some sort of weird, nihilistic shooting gallery epic. It’s an amazing moment and probably one of the most impressive audio artefacts of the “new wave”. However, it is not the only work of genius on this release. Many other songs, like the upbeat Others or the seductive Room With A View are equally as creative and rewarding if not as instantly recognizable. If you haven’t gotten high to this album on a rainy day at least once in your life, you are seriously missing out.