It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Shall we have a little bit of Ska infected Big Beat today from the man with more aliases than a con man  with loads of snidey names?

Here we have Norman Cook in the guise of Fatboy Slim, remix a release by Norman Cook in the guise of the mighty dub katz with writing credits to Norman Cook in the guise of Pizzaman. This track was originally released on the Southern Fried label in 1995 and entitled Son of Wilmot. I wonder if you can guess why?

Speaking of Wilmot, it appears that I have misinformed you, as I have been corrected by Curtis, the track that I posted on Wednesday as Wilmot's Last Skank is really Wilmot Meets Lord Scruffage, for 15 years I have gotten the tracks mixed up as my 10" has the labels back to front and nobody, until now has informed me of this. I have too confess that Last Skank is not one off my favourite Sabres tracks

mighty dub katz - magic carpet ride (fatboy slim latin ska acid breakbeat mix)

and now the correct version of

Sabres of Paradise - Wimot's Last Skank

Is anybody else bored with dance on a Friday?

Wilmot Revisited.

There was a comment over at Ctel's excellent Acid Test blog on one of his postings on the genius known as Andy Weatherall's Sabres of Paradise requesting Wilmot's Last Skank, a track I hadn't played for quite some time. It is the b-side of the Wilmot remix 10" single.

To be honest with you it is not that different from the version I posted here a couple of months ago, a bit  sparcer than the original and nearly a couple of minutes shorter, still very very good.

Sabres Of Paradise - Wilmot's Last Skank

World Destruction

Following on from yesterday's post with the first collaboration, at least that I can think of, between rap and punk. Here we have Lydon collaborating with African Bambaataa on the single World Destruction,  produced by Bill Laswell who would go on to produce PiL's Album two years later.

For a fifteen year old preoccupied with the imminent threat (I thought and I don't think that I was alone in that view at the time) of nuclear war and the lasting effects of a nuclear winter if you were unlucky enough to survive, this track did not instill in me a sunny demeanor or fill me with hope for the future; what with lines like "this is a world destruction, your life ain't nothing", references to Nostradamus and chemical warfare it isn't your typical party tune. But it is brilliant, at the time there was nothing like this and Lydon's near manic vocals used to send a chill down my spine. The video is pretty effective as well, in fact I think that the first time I heard the track was when I saw the video on the Tube.

I've posted both sides of the 12" that I picked up on one of my recent visits to Oxfam music, where the near mint copy was floundering in the racks for a mere 99p and which means I no longer have to play my scratched to death 7" copy.

Timezone - World Destruction

Timezone - World Destruction (dub)

And the rather brilliant video

Anger Is An Energy

When I first heard this single in 1986, it totally blew me away. At the time of the release of Rise, I, for one had kind of forgotten about PIL and the last thing that Lydon had done was his amazing collaboration with African Bambaataa but that had seemed to have been a one off as it was 2 years previously and very little had been heard from or about him until this single, which came as a bolt out of the blue to me but had probably been all over the inkies. It was a breath of fresh air and Lydon as scary sounding and looking in the video as he had ever been.

Twenty three years on and the song still packs a punch.

The design for the single and album cover was borrowed from the film Repo Man by Alex Cox, who the same year as Rise was released  Sid and Nancy.

PiL - Rise

Tagged

chocolategirl64 tagged me so I had better comply.

The rules are
1 You have to post a song that makes you happy
2 You can tag as many people as you want
3 Say one thing about the blog that you tag that will make them smile.

I'm gonna tag The Ghost of Electricity, as Mr H is always a gent, has an impeccable taste in both music and alcohol and bears a passing resemblance to a famous actor.

Roddy Frame - The Boy Wonders

What A Way To Spend A Sunday

I've spent the entire day trying to avoid doing something that should have been done weeks ago but I can always find excuses to not do.

I hate this time of the year at work, November/December always get incredibly busy and also there is the looming end of year review. I dread this more than anything else to do with work and therefore procrastinate over it until it really is too late and I end up writing the biggest load of crap and emailing it off the night before my review, which doesn't endear me to the line manager as they have had no time to review it and I start the torture on the back foot from the off, before I even start my excuses (reasons) for why my productivity isn't what it should be. So I have spent the last 6 hours on and off trying to big up my contribution to the corporate entity, a task which I can't really get enthusiastic about and which unfortunately shows.

Roll on tomorrow afternoon when its all over and I can forget about it, well until next June when it's mid-year review time.

Ted Hawkins - Ladder Of Success

Couldn't be arsed looking for a witty picture.

The Outlaws

I think that I've only posted one other mash-up on here before, the Arctic Monkeys/Destiny's Child one. I'm quite partial to these if they are done well and it's a couple of artists which you would never think of together which is certainly the case here.

I have a couple of good albums, The Best Bootlegs in The World Ever, which compiles the best of the early mash-ups including A Stroke Of Genius, One Minute Lovecat etc. The other album, Too Many Fools Following Too Many Rules is mixed by the Outlaws, not as slick as Soulwax in their Too Many DJs guise but entertaining none the less. It pitches the likes of Michael Jackson against the Baron of Techno, Dave Clarke and Donna Summer and Josh Wink.

So if you ever wondered how Abba would sound if they had become junglists give this a listen.

The Outlaws - Chiq

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Before deciding to use this song for the proverbial dance track on a Friday, I knew absolutely nothing about this record apart from the fact that I thought that it was a funky as fuck when I bought it and have played it on and off ever since.

I thought that I better try and find something out about the track before posting it, so headed, as you do to Discogs. I had a suspicion that it was too good a track to be tucked away as the first track on side 2 of a load of remixes and apparently the track was released  in it's own right. The version I have is on a 12" of remixes of Minus 8 on the Compost label from Munich, was recorded by Robert Jan Mayer and came out in 2001.

I have no recollection of where I bought it but did buy it after listening to it and on the strength of this track, the others are okay but this is the standout.

See what you think.

Minus 8  - Badman & Throbin'

Did I mention that I'm going to see The Fall tonight?

Lost In Music

In celebration of the forthcoming Fall Fest which will take place this Friday and Saturday at the Renfrew Ferry. I present for your delectation a couple of re interpretations by the Gruppe.


First up we have probably my favourite Fall cover, Sister Sledge's Lost In Music

The Fall - Lost In Music

and White Lightning, originally by The Big Bopper which must be a fave of MES as it has been a constant in the set list over the past few years.

The Fall - White Lightning

The Airborne Toxic Event gig was pretty wonderful the other night, they have come on leaps and bounds in the course of the past year. Their gig in January at King Tut's, I thought would be hard to beat  this year, however I found  the February one a bit lack lustre in comparison but Tuesday night was something a bit special, what with acoustic Springsteen covers and spontanous verses from Smiths songs it just shaves the January one for gig of the year for me but I'm sure that this weekend the mighty Fall will step up to the challenge.

Blue Eyed Soul

Here is a bit of blue eyed soul courtesy of Tony Galla to brighten up a Tuesday.

This track was the first single that Galla recorded and came out on the Swan label in 1964. Unfortunately, I have heard nothing by the man since which comes close to this track. He later became the singer of the blues band,  Raven and had a famous friend in Jimi Hendrix who helped to get the band a deal with Columbia.It was not unknown in the late 60's to find Galla on stage jamming with the likes of Hendrix and Joplin in clubs in New York. He is still performing and has released 3 albums of Italian music in the last few years.

If you have a spare 300 quid you may be able to get your hands on the original 7" or you could spend £9 on the dodgy re pressing.

Tony Galla - In Love

I'm off to see The Airborne Toxic Event tonight, so no post tomorrow.

Airport Girl

This is just the thing for a Monday morning all jangly guitars and occassional horn stabs. In fact everything you would expect from an indie pop classic apart from the fact that in clocking in at over 6 minutes it hasn't got the brevity normally associated with the genre. The track, however,  never over stays it's welcome and I guarantee that when it finishes you will want to play it again.

To me it is full of optimism and joy and makes me smile and want to dance, what further recommendation do you need on a Monday?

Airport Girl - The Foolishness That We Create Through Love Is The Closest We Come To Greatness.

I forgot to mention it has a great title as well.

Lest We Forget

In memory of

Cpl Andrew Wingate

Private James Little


The Gunner's Dream

Just Because

Play it Loud.

Nina Simone  - I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free

New Music

Here is a couple of tracks from a split ep on the Pushing Pussy record label.

This record is another of those criminally limited edition singles with only 300 copies being pressed so I don't feel bad about posting the tracks as your chances of getting a copy if you like what you hear are slim, even so I will not leave the links up for long.

The first track by The Palpitations reminds me of Mazzy Starr and just comes in the right side of goth for my liking.

The track by The Lovebirds is a bit like The Kills but with a bit more menace.

See what you think

The Palpitations - Tears In The Rain

The Lovebirds - The Devil Song

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

This week's track is probably the most commercial by far of the tracks posted in this series and probably the most recent;  by which I mean it was released at the start of this decade.

The track You See The Trouble With Me by Barry White and Ray Parker Jr was first released in the 70's by White. The Black Legend cover originally sampled White's dulcet tones. When White voiced his displeasure with the track it was re recorded with Elroy "Spoonface" Powell providing the vocals.

The track reached number 1 in the UK in June 2000 and was the 40th best selling single here that year.

Black Legend - The Trouble With Me

Spacemen 3

Never really took much notice of Spacemen 3 when they were still a band. I think that may have been down to the fact that the first thing that I bought was Recurring an album which was really 2 solo mini albums as Pierce and Kember contributed a side each working in isolation. I much preferred the side by Pierce and therefore bought the Spiritualized albums but never really bothered to go back and explore the earlier work the reason for which now escapes me but probably has a lot to do with the 90's for me, revolving round BPMs and DJs as opposed to rock bands.

My interest in them was reawakened after Pierce's 3rd album as Spiritualized, Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space* which blew me away when it was first released in 1997 and still sounds as good today as it did then. I decided it was time to delve into the Spaceman's back catalogue and what riches I found there.

The Velvet Underground are probably the most obvious influences but also there are a lot of pointers in the direction of the Nuggets era American garage rock sound and also a bit of Can in the mix as well. The drug and Jesus references are present  as they are with Spiritualized. The sound is wonderful, the pounding drums the feedback and the heavy use of effect pedals one minute and the next the most delicate guitar and fragile voice. It really is music to take drugs to if you are that way inclined but sounds just as good when you are straight.

The original version of the track posted here can be found on the second Spacemen 3 album, The Perfect Prescription. I have posted a version from the live lp Live In Europe and the blistering 12 minute version from the gig at the ABC last October which was absolutely amazing, the quality isn't brilliant but it's good enough.

Spacemen 3 - Take Me To The Other Side

Spiritualized - Take Me To The Other Side

* LAGWAFIS will be re released later this month the way it was intended  back in 1997 (before the Presley estate took exception to the King's music being linked with drugs), to celebrate it's 12th anniversay  (?) with another couple of discs containing outtakes and alternate versions.