Saturday 31 December 2011

Hogmanay



Usually at the moment I am fretting over the menu for tonight's meal for ten but due to changes in circumstances of a few of our friends it was not really on the cards this year. Instead we will be going three doors and bringing in the new year there. It also mean that I can slip away after the Bells and get to my bed and not have to wait until the last guests get their taxi, usually around 4 am.

I've never really been a fan of Hogmanay. Not since I was eighteen and spent the night in the cells charged with assault on a person unknown and drunk and disorderly. Both charges dropped in the morning I hasten to add when the police were questioned by my parents on how I got to be drunk within ten minutes of leaving the house where I hadn't had a drink all night and the person whom I allegedly assaulted had made a statement at the time stating that I had done nothing . I was eventually charged and found guilty of breach of the peace for informing a policeman that I knew my rights and that he could not say "shut the fuck up sonny, or I'll put your head through that fucking window".Scottish justice, something to be proud of.

Anyway,  I'm not sure what tonight's soundtrack will be but I will most certainly play these three songs before I climb in to my scratcher.

All the best when it comes and let's hope 2012 is better than 2011.

Jimmy Radcliffe - Long After Tonight Is All Over

Tobi Legend - Time Will Pass You By

Dean Parrish - I'm On My Way

Friday 30 December 2011

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



By Christ, that was a quick week. I most certainly have over indulged in food, alcohol not so much, although I did manage to arse a bottle of Foxdenton 48% London Gin and very nice it was too.

This Friday sees us back to 1993 and a bit of Gospel tinged House courtesy of the 50 strong Sounds of Blackness with a little smattering of the genius that was Sasha before he disappeared up his own arse. I apologise for the crackles but this was played quite a bit and I think that 1993 was not a very good year for quality vinyl as a lot of the 12" singles I have from then sound worse than they should do.

Have a good weekend people.

The Sounds of Blackness - I'm Going All The Way (Sasha's Chuff Chuff mix)

Wednesday 28 December 2011

Stop



Here's a bit of blue eyed soul from 1967.

Bobby Diamond is better know as actor Robert Miano who started his film career in the original Death Wish film, the unfathomable popularity of which resulted in Michael Winner being the prick that he is these days, however I digress. But before that he recorded this stomper for Columbia which became a bit hit with the Casino crowd during the 70s.

Bobby Diamond - Stop

Tuesday 27 December 2011

Too Much Apple Pie?



Well, I hope you have over indulged as much as I have and I'm not the only one feeling like a right fat pig.

The turkey turned out perfectly moist, everything worked out well. You can keep your Heston's, Jamie's et al for fool proof instructions has to be the domestic goddess, no not that pretender,  the daughter of that fuck wit of an ex Chancellor of the Exchequer. I mean Delia, I have never had any disasters when following her instructions and Sunday was no exception.

It is about the 27th that I start to yearn for some peace and quiet, however due to the fact that Lynn has a rather large family and my folks decided to spend Christmas in Colchester,  I can not go back into anti-social git mode until the 29th when Stiff and I will be attendance when Mr Gedge and Co take to the stage in Glasgow which I'm sure will be on a par with every other Wedding Present gig we've gone to 90 minutes of blistering guitars and songs of love and break up and then goodnight. We will leave satisfied and looking forward to the next time.

The Wedding Present - Kennedy (Live Sheperd's Bush Empire)

Saturday 24 December 2011

Merry Christmas



Well, the Chocolate Torte is made the veg is all prepared, the turkey has been picked up from the butcher's after a "how fucking much" under my breath. I think it is time for a Bloody Mary and ten minutes to myself. Then if S has all his prep completed out for a couple of pints and I do mean a couple then back to wrap L's presents and then bed.

Thanks and all the best to all of you who have hovered around the kitchen table this past twelve months, whether it be to just grab a couple of tunes or leave comments. I really enjoy doing this nonsense for the most part and if even a couple of people hear something they would not have other wise heard and gone on to buy something by that artist or group then my job has been done

Have a merry Christmas people and service will probably resume on the 27th of December.

The Housemartins - Caravan Of Love

Friday 23 December 2011

It's The Friday Before Christmas . . . Let's Dance



We'll that's that then. The closure of the Edinburgh office, a bit ironic that on Radio 4 last night there was a programme detailing how Scotland was leading the way with clinical trials in the UK and today the last presence by a Pharma Company in Scotland closes their Research office and not with a bang but with a miserable, barely discernible fart. I am, to say the least at a bit of a low ebb.

But enough of my woes it's the Friday before Christmas and by this time BC I would already be showered, dressed and down the local having the first of many and embarking upon a night which would inevitably end with a few jigs and then a kebab on the way home. Whereas tonight I will be fretting over Christmas lunch and trying to make Delia's "Famous Chocolate Torte". How times have changed.

No serious dub step or progressive house tonight just the sampletastic delights of the KLF and their guest, the daughter of Sissie Houston.

Have a great weekend people

The JAMS - Whitney Houston Joins The Jams

Thursday 22 December 2011

Osaka Monaurail



Anybody up for a bit of Japanese soul?

It's a belter.

Osaka Monaurail have been going for quite a while, since the turn of the millennium. They have released eight albums and some very good 7" singles. This track is there first single since 2009 and features the vocal talents of Shirley Davis an Australian singer who we deserve to hear a whole lot more of.

Osaka Monaurail - No Trouble On The Mountain

Wednesday 21 December 2011

He Got Game



Nothing to say really.

This has been going through my head all day today.

Public Enemy - He Got Game

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Definitely The Last



I love Alex Harvey but strangely this is the first time he has appeard here.

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - There's No Lights On The Christmas Tree Mama, They're Burning Big 
Louie

Corrrect link now in place 

Monday 19 December 2011

Picture Me Gone



Here is one of my all time favourite northern tracks and one of the first that I ever bought on 7".

Madeline Bell's version of the track was released in 1967 on the Philips label but it took until the mid 80s and it's popularity amongst Scooterists for this song to get the recognition it rightfully deserved.

Madeline Bell - Picture Me Gone

Sunday 18 December 2011

Gigs Of The Year



This year saw me attending more gigs than I did last year but there were still loads that I was unable to attend due to financial constraints or travelling with work.

Like last year the accolade of worst gig of the year goes to that spineless bastard Smith, not his band mind you,  who sounded great but the git himself who yet again decided that the crowd in Edinburgh did not deserve any effort on his part. Once more, thanks and I hope your feet continue to cause you problems you git.

There is no contest for gig of the year the accolade must go to the Boy Wonder who along with a very tight band put in a performance that even now thinking back on it has put a grin on my face but please, please, please Roddy don't leave it three years until you tour again!.

A mention must go to the Vaccines, not for the music, they weren't bad,  but just for the delight on Max's face throughout and my shoulders which have just about recovered from him bouncing up and down on for most of the 45 minutes they were on stage.

Roddy Frame - The Boy Wonders (Live at Ronnie Scott's)

The Vaccines - If You Wanna (Live from London)

The picture is of a not too patient son waiting for the Vaccines to take the stage at Latitude.

Saturday 17 December 2011

DJ L Suggests . . .



. . . You might like to listen to Lunaire. He reckons it's a particularly nice piece of Shoegaze with just the right amount of twee and goes particularly well with the Arctic landscape outside.

Personally,  I think that this lot have been listening to more My Bloody Valentine and Trembling Blue Stars in their Melbourne apartments than is healthy but what do I know.

Lunaire - Pale Beneath A Brilliant Sky

Friday 16 December 2011

A Reference To Beer On A Friday Can Mean Only One Thing



This is to keep Anon happy he has been rather quiet of late and well it is Christmas after all. It is also an excuse for me to post one of the best titled songs I have come across.

The Joy Formidable - My Beerdrunk Soul Is Sadder Than A Hundred Dead Christmas Trees

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



I don't know about where you are but it's "bloody baltic" up hear in the frozen north. I'm not sure why we say this as the Baltic isn't a  particularly cold place b ut we do and it most certainly is.

So here is a track from 1992 which from the name of the band/producers alone makes me feel much warmer. It was released on UCR records and reminds me very much of  Liberation/Liberation 2 which were around about the same time as this.

I'm off to see Jetpacks tonight, on mine and Stiff's Christmas night out.

Have a good weekend people.

Mombassa - Cry Freedom - (Malawi mix)

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Last One I Promise . . . Well Mebbie



This will be the last christmas track, well unlesss I have an urge to post something else.

I eventually got a copy of this on 7" single earlier this year while digging through the boxes on the floor in Head on one of my trips to Belfast. I already had the single sided seven with the vocal version but the choral version had alluded me up until then.

At the weekend I was thinking while making up a cd of Christmas tunes. Why didn't Blondie ever do a Christmas tune, if the Ramones could produce the brilliance that is  Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) what could Blondie have done?

Frightened Rabbit - It's Christmas So We'll Stop

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Winston Smith



Following on from yesterday's post, here is a track in honour of the anti hero of 1984.

Winston Smith is one of the highlights from Dogs seciond album Tall Tales From Under The Table. I still think that they would have been more successful if they didn't have such a pish name.

Dogs - Winston Smith

Monday 12 December 2011

Albion



Don't know what it is about this song but when I listen to it I automatically think of these lines:-

It was bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.

I know that this is not the kind of vision of England that Doherty was trying to portray but it is that sort of sepia tinged world that comes to my mind. I'm not slagging off the song I love it and especially this demo version from one of the many bootlegs that were kicking about during the heyday of the Libertines.

It is very easy to forget what a talented lyricist and musician Doherty is.

Pete Doherty - Albion

Sunday 11 December 2011

Anothor Bloody Christmas Song Drew?



I had a successful day yesterday on the Byres Road and Gt Western Road. Suffice to say all presents are now bought and I also managed to get a few things in my favourite second hand record shop for good measure and one thing which turned out not to be what I originally thought it was but good none the less . So I am feeling a bit Christmassy.

You would have to be a real hard hearted bastard not to get emotional at this track and I will admit that it has produced a tear in my eye on more than one occasion.

Tim Minchin - White Wine In The Sun

Saturday 10 December 2011

I Suppose It's Time




I have just put the tree up and at this moment L is still enjoying decorating it. Give her time and she will be at the end of her tether as the boys take off what she has put on, finds her favourite bauble, the one she has had since she was a kid broken and the lights not working. Season of joy indeed.

I'm off to the town, to Nancy Smillie's to try and get something for L's Christmas. So I suppose it's time to start posting a few and I do mean a few Christmas related songs.

The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song

Friday 9 December 2011

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



A lot later than normal.

Not had a chance to think about this but this was what I was listening to when I thought that my time had come yesterday while flying on the orange airline from Glasgow to Belfast.

Have a good weekend people.

Primal Scream - Come Together (Farley mix)

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Spector, No Not That One


I'm off to Belfast 'til Friday.

Here is a track from th Tracks Of My Year. There has been a lot of coverage of Spector in the music press, some good, a lot bad. As far as I'm concerned, I've liked everything I've heard so far, they're far from being the most original band in the world but then again who is these days?

I particularly like the break at about 2 mins twenty.

Spector - Never Fade Away

Dobie Gray RIP



Go easy Dobie and thanks for Out On The Floor which always packed the floor at Scooterist do's.

However, this seems more appropriate.

Dobie Gray - Drift Away

Tuesday 6 December 2011

The Girl Can't Help It



I'm not sure whether I've seen the film that this is the theme tune to or not. I have vague recollections of watching it some Saturday or Sunday afternoon a long time ago, however that may be rubbish. But I haven't been able to get the theme song out of my head since a programme a few weeks ago on Radio 4 recounting when  Jayne Mansfield came to England and toured the Working Men's Clubs in the north of England. The programme was quite bizarre.

Little Richard - The Girl Can't Help It

Monday 5 December 2011

Bloody Snow!




The above picture was taken from my front door at about 8 am. The bloody white stuff is back, let's hope it is not a repeat of last year.

Comet Gain - Moments In The Snow

Sunday 4 December 2011

"What do you expect us to do, go and make a jungle record?"



"Nothing justifies the track—it was a pile of shit but it did serve as a reminder why we should never go back in the studio again—'cos we knew we were past it . . . " Is how Bill Drummond described his and Jimmy Cauty's contribution to the Help album, a cd compiled in aid of the charity War Child.

However, I don't share Drummond's view, I love the track and it's one of the two tunes that made the purchase of the album worthwhile, well and the fact that the money raised was going to help children caught up in the conflict in the Balkans.

The One World Orchestra - The Magnificent.

Saturday 3 December 2011

The Tracks Of My Year



This last twelve months has seen my fixation with dubstep and new dance tunes grow, without ever having set foot in a club, alas I think that my days for clubbing are well and truely in the past. I prefer to sit and listen to these tunes in the comfort of my red chair with a G&T in hand and the stereo at a loud but still acceptable, volume.

I have also bought quite a few old  R&B sevens and some much sought agfter northern singles by the likes of Bobby Kline and Martha Reeves. I have discounted these from the list of tracks, deciding that only singles  released this year would make the list. Also eliminated was the John Talabot remix of Shelter which I finally managed to get a hold of, released in a ludicriously limited pressing only available in Japan. I decided that due to the fact that I had flogged it to death for the last three months of 2010 on download, it really belonged to last year but Jamie xx does make more than one appearance in the list.

Only one track in the list was not released on vinyl and that is the Weatherall mix of Watch Me Dance by Toddla T. This track was all set to be released and I had indeed ordered it but due to some stupid pricks deciding to turn all of independent releases for September  into a steaming pile of black wax the track was never released.

Lastly, track two didn't come out as a single, however I am still hoping that it will do and have contacted those responsible begging for this to happen. Actually, when I look at the list not all the tracks were singles, I think I just wished they had been.

So without further ado, here are the tracks of my year, you may disagree with my choices but of course as ever you will be wrong.

1. Free School - Lemon (original)
2. White Label/Stolen Voices - Jean 1
3. Cults - Do You Know What I Mean
4. Koreless - 4D
5. Massive Attack/Burial - Four Walls
6. Gil Scott Heron/Jamie xx - I'll Take Care Of You
7. Walls - Sun Porch
8. Jamie xx - Far Nearer
9. Airborne Toxic Event - All At Once (Live King's College London)
10.Zomby - Natalia's Song
11.Darren Haymen/Elizabeth Morris - I Know I Fucked Up
12.Big Deal - Talk
13.Massive Attack/Burial - Paradise Circus
14.Creep - Days (Deadboy mix)
15.Dauwd- What's There
16.Fab Samperi - In The River (Ursula 1000 mix)
17.Shackleton - Fireworks
18.Cat's Eyes - Over You
19.Mogwai - George Square Thatcher Death Party
20.Joy Formidable - I Don't Want To See You Like This
21. The Fall - Nate Will Not Return
22.Slow Club - Beginners
23.Frightened Rabbit - Fuck This Place
24.Four Tet - Locked
25.Jeff Miles - Something In The Sky (pt 7)
26.Arctic Monkeys - The Hell Cat Spangled Shala La La
27.Guards - Resolution Of One
28.Radiohead - Good Evening Mrs Magpie (Modeselektor  rmx)
29.Maurice Donovan - Satisfied
30.Dead Beat - 1st Quarter (SCB mix)
31. Vaccines - Post Break Up Sex
32.Gui Borrato - This Is Not The End
33.The Kills - Satellite (Out Of Orbit Dub)
34.Deadboy - Here
35.Chapel Club - Surfacing
36.Adele - Rolling In The Deep (Jamie xx mix)
37.Spector - Never Fade Away
38.Cancel The Astronauts - Seven Vices
39. Toddla T - Watch Me Dance
40.King Post Kitch - Don't You Touch My Fucking Honeytone

Friday 2 December 2011

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



Today's piece of vinyl was one of those records you picked up having not heard but everybody else had been raving about or in this case raving to. When I eventually got around to listening to it I was more than a little disappointed.

Forty Miles is built around a looped piano sample from Jimi Polo's Better Days and was originally released on Inner Rhythm in 1991. I have posted the instrumental version as the vocals on the other side add nothing to the track and are in truth awful.

Have a good weekend people.

Congress - 40 Miles

Thursday 1 December 2011

Hound Dog



I don't know why it is but I seem to be swinging from the latest Techno and Dubstep back to the earliest R&B and Soul at the moment and sort of disregarding everything in between.

Here's another 7 inch re-press I managed to get my hands on recently.

Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog