Monday 31 December 2012

Hogmanay




As I may have mentioned once or twice in the past I really can't be arsed with Hogmanay and Ne'erday. All that traipsing about the streets in the freezing cold when sensible people are tucked up in their beds in the land of nod, wishing "Happy New Year" to people you wouldn't ordinarily talk to, all the pish with coal, black bun and the like. All these things just seem to reinforce the view that we are a parochial country always looking back and wrapping everything up in bagpipes and tartan.  You hear people say "nobody does New Year like us"  when what they mean is nobody does public drunkenness and mawkish sentimentality quite like the Scots.

 Here endeth the rant, it is Hogmanay after all.

I would just like to thank everybody who has lingered around the kitchen table over the past twelve months, whether to just download the tracks or occasionally read the nonsense that I type or leave a comment. It is all appreciated. I wish you all a better 2013 than 2012, which I mean most sincerely  and hope that whatever you do tonight and tomorrow you have a great time.

Here is one of my favourite Blondie songs, for no other reason than it was in my head earlier on.

Blondie - Dreaming

Friday 28 December 2012

It's The Friday Between Christmas and New Year . . . Let's Dance.



It's quite telling that I'm not as young as I was. Twenty years ago I would be relishing the prospect of a weekend and then the New Year but the idea of partying for that long fills me with dread nowadays. So I think that a quiet weekend may be in store.

But I shall keep on going with the rather tired Friday feature, so here is a rather good piece of funky House courtesy of Pete Heller and Terry Farley first released back in 1995 on AM:PM.

Have a good weekend people

Heller and Farley Project - Ultra Flava

Thursday 27 December 2012

Fontella Bass RIP



Another soul singer shuffles off this mortal coil.

I have to admit that I know very little of her repertoire but I still love this tune and I think I would have been in my early teens when I first heard it.

Fontella Bass - Rescue Me

A Tom Moulton Mix



Well I hope you got everything from Santa that you wanted  or that it was at least practical.

I have spent a good part of the last couple of days building up up either Lego, in the form of Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings and Monster Fighters or Mega Blok's Spider Man and Halo and feel enough of an expert to state that Mega Bloks are shit in comparison to Lego, the instructions are crap and the blocks don't stay together like Lego does. Moan over.

When I was in Glasgow last Friday getting L's presents I also had a chance to visit my favourite charity music shop and have to say had a pretty successful trawl through the racks.

While looking through the 12" singles I noticed three in the famous Casablanca sleeve that I thought were worth further inspection. Two of them were pretty rough when I looked at them but the third looked in good nick, it was by the Pips but what piqued my interest was that wriiten and produced by Bunny Sigler, responsible for a couple of good northern tunes. It had also been remixed by Tom Moulton, the "father of the disco mix" who was responsible for a rather fine mix of the Carstairs "It Really Hurts Me Girl" recently unearthed and released on 7" on the Inferno label. So I decided that the record was worth a punt at the asking price of 50p.

I suspect that this will be right up Darcy and Davy H's avenues.

I'm of to finish building the Spiderman Oscorps Tower Battle, joy!

The Pips - Baby I'm Your Fool (Tom Moulton mix)

Monday 24 December 2012

Merry Christmas To One And All When It Comes



Well the blog has got to another Christmas and I would just like to wish you all, all the best for the festering period and I hope none of you get one of these horrendous Christmas jumpers that seem to be all the rage, well unless you have asked Santa for one of course.

Tomorrow I will be following Delia's instructions to the letter as per last year and fingers crossed it will go as well as it did then, although I scaled back the bird from one which nearly didn't fit in the oven last year to one that we will not be eating well into January.

Anyway some sort of service will resume here on the 27th or 28th.

So eat, drink and be merry

The Housemartins - Caravan of Love

Sunday 23 December 2012

The Vocal Version Of The Original Instrumental



Way back at the beginning of November I had to rush out an emergency prescription for a severe dose of Christopher Crossitis which was then afflicting The Ghost Of Electricity. I thought that the best course of medication would be an hourly dose of a particularly classy RicTic instrumental by Al Kent.

Since then I have discovered, sought out and purchased a vocal version of said record. Recorded by Gloria Taylor in Nashville and released on the Silver Fox label, which incidentally was owned by Lelan Rogers, brother of country star Kenny. I'm not sure if the vocal adds that much to the track, Ms Taylor certainly has a good voice, maybe it's just the fact that I knew the instrumental version first.

Gloria Taylor - You Got To Pay The Price

* I have started copying Darcy by trying to photograph the actual single while playing rather than just showing the label.

Saturday 22 December 2012

The Christmas Song



Here is my all time favourite Christmas song. It doesn't matter how many timnes I hear this or the number of bad cover versions there are of it, the Raveonettes version was particularly disappointing, can diminish my love for this.

When on the topic of cover versions of this song, go here and download a particularly lovely acoustic cover of it. I can also vouch for the group's album which is very good indeed.


Darlene Love - (Christmas) Baby Please Come Home

Friday 21 December 2012

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



By the time you are reading this hopefully I will be slightly inebriated after having spent the morning getting L's Christmas presents up the West End and then meeting a good friend for drinks, sorry lunch  and basically having an afternoon sesh.

I always used to like going out dancing on the Friday before Christmas, so I thought that the occasion warranted a huge track but all of the ones that I was thinking of have all been posted before, so excuse me a bit of repetition, well it is Christmas after all.

Or so I thought, I was sure that I had posted today's track before, after all it is one of the seminal Techno/house tracks. But apparently I had somehow overlooked it.

Strings of Life is the work of Derrick May and was first released on Transmat in 1987 and has been re-released a few times since in various mixes.  The version posted is the Flam-Boy-Ant mix from the original release. It is strange that a tune with no bass line should become so important in the evolution of Techno.

Have a good weekend but remember it's going to be a long week so pace yourself.

Rhythim is Rhythim - Strings Of Life (Flam-Boy-Ant mix)

Thursday 20 December 2012

Take Care Of Business




Not got a lot to say today, too much to do.

Here is a right good Pilooski refit of a classic Nina Simone vocal from the 4th album in the Verve remix project. A palate cleanser after all of those sugary Christmas type tunes I am hearing everywhere. They are even piping them down our High Street which would be annoying if I didn't have my headphones on listening to stuff like this.

Nina Simone - Take Care Of Business (Pilooski refit)

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Gig of The Year

A few came close but in reality it wasn't going to be anybody else was it?


Christmas Tune Number 4



Here is another Christmas tune which I first posted a couple of years ago and which always leaves me a bit emotional, it just sort of creeps up on you and before the end you are trying not to look in the direction of anybody who happens to be around.

What's getting me emotional at the moment is the DMCA and Blogger take down activity, it really is pissing me off. You won't be able to download the Jessie Ware b-side or the Ten Five Sixty track as they have been withdrawn for copy right infringement, fair enough I suppose.

So if you fancy this track I would download it rather rapidly as it might not be up very long.

Tim Minchin - White Wine In The Sun

Tuesday 18 December 2012

That's How I Feel About You



I was looking for something a bit different to play yesterday and pulled out the Blue Harlem cd,. I have to admit that I played it through twice not the worst soundtrack to sifting through emails that should have been dealt with before now.

Blue Harlem - That's How I Feel About You

Monday 17 December 2012

No One Could Love You More



Here is one of my favourite Gladys Knight and The Pips tracks. Released on Tamla Motown in 1971 as the b-side of Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me in the UK but never released as a single Stateside, Another bizarre decision by Motown, well two really,  firstly making it a b-side in the UK and secondly not bothering at all on the other side of the pond.

Gladys Knight and The Pips - No One Could Love You More

Sunday 16 December 2012

Christmas Tunes Number 3




Don't know if this actually qualifies as a Christmas tune or not. It has the word Christmas in it, is about a family being miserable and ever since I heard Billy Bragg and Uncle Ted do it live at the Glasgow Barrowlands all those years ago I have thought of it as one so therefore it usually makes an appearance in my Christmas compilations.

Enjoy

Billy Bragg and Ted Hawkins - Cold And Bitter Tears

Saturday 15 December 2012

The Tracks Of My Year



Right,  the totally subjective forty best tracks of the year. This year I have changed the rules in that this list is my favourite 40 tracks from 2012, I have decided that they didn't have to have been released as a single but I also put a limit of two tracks each from the Dexys and Spiritualized albums other wise the top twenty would have looked very boring indeed being filled by these artists and a smattering of other tracks.

There is still a healthy mix of dance and indie. However as with the albums there is an increasing retro vibe, with the likes of the Alabama Shakes, Nick Waterhouse and Jasmine Kara.

  1. Spiritualized - So Long You Pretty Thing
  2. Dexys - Home
  3. Burial + Fourtet - Nova
  4. Gregory Porter - 1960 What? (Opolopo Kick & Bass Rerub)
  5. Allo Darlin' - Some People Say
  6. Meursault - Settling
  7. Koreless - Lost In Tokyo
  8. The xx - Our Song
  9. Arctic Monkeys - Black Treacle
  10. Scuba - NE1BUTU
  11. Dexys - Free
  12. Frightened Rabbit - State Hospital
  13. Jasmine Kara - Ain't No More Room
  14. Not allowed to mention as apparently it is a copyright infringement to even type the name of the band
  15. Burial - Ashtray Wasp
  16. Spiritualized - Hey Jane
  17. Jessie Ware - Running (Disclosure mix)
  18. Illum Sphere - Birthday
  19. The xx - Angels
  20. Alabama Shakes - Boys and Girls 
  21. The Orb - Golden Clouds (Youth Gigantic Dreadnaught mix)
  22. Moon Duo - Circles
  23. Lorca - Love Like This
  24. Tashaki Miyaki - Best Friend
  25. Not allowed to mention as apparently it is a copyright infringement to even type the name of the band
  26. King Creosote - Ankle Shackles
  27. Jess Roberts - Voodoo Woman
  28. Ten Five Sixty - Do This For Me
  29. Nick Waterhouse - Say I Wanna Know
  30. Delta Code - Track 1
  31. The Raveonettes - The Enemy
  32. The Allah- Las - Tell Me (What's On Your Mind)
  33. Manjah - My Dub Is Empty Without You
  34. Alabama Shakes - Heavy Chevy
  35. Withered Hand - Wonderful Lie
  36. Wooden Shjips - Crossing (Weatherall mix)
  37. The Underground Youth - Juliette
  38. Ricardo Villalobos - Any Ideas
  39. dusk + blackdown - High Road
  40. Black Acid - Black Acid
The DMCA Fuckwits are at it again but now you are not even allowed to mention the name of the band. I wonder what this move will do for sales. There is a band that are really quite good but you can't mention their name, as it is a secret. As I said, fuckwits.

Friday 14 December 2012

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



I was sure that I had posted this track at least once and possibly a couple of times but on checking last night it appears not.

As I have mentioned before in around 2002/2003 I sort of fell out of love with dance music, decided that I was too old for that sort of thing and it was time to get sensible.

Also around this time I read an article about this amazing new personal stereo made by Apple which could hold a couple of thousand tracks which I knew that I would have to have.

Early in 2003 I noticed that there was going to be a record fair in the SECC in Glasgow and I decided that I would part with some of dance music which would fund this new iPod thing. I started sifting thrrough the 12" singles and hit on the idea of selling off a couple of the label collections I had including the Soma, Junior Boys Own and Mo Wax. I had coollected these labels from the outset and had the first 24 Soma twelves about the same from Junior Boy's Own and most of the first seventy or so Mo Wax records. I took out the things that I just couldn't bear to part with such as thee first four Soma Releases, some of the JBO stuff including the Dust Brothers, Rez and the like and about quite a few Mo Wax releases including, In Flux, Breaking Boundaries and Messing Up Heads and today's posting but strangely after looking last night I must have included the remix twelve of that.

Clubbed To Death was the thirty seventh release  from James Lavelle's label and came out in 1995 and came in a myriad of mixes over two 12" single and cd. The mix posted is mix #1.

I still smart when I think of selling those bits of vinyl and wonder to this day why I didn't just put the iPod on the plastic.

Have a good weekend people and if out be careful out there, there are a lot of amateur drinkers out and about this time of year.

Rob D - Clubbed To Death (first mix)

Thursday 13 December 2012

Christmas Tune Number Two



Two for the price of one, as both versions are brilliant. Originally released in 2007 on a white label which I picked up in Head in Belfast a while ago. I miss my trips over the water,  nights in the Mal and searching for Red Guinness. It was re-released the following year as a single sided 500 copy limited edition with only the vocal version. I think that the choral version just edges it.

Frightened Rabbit - It's Christmas So We'll Stop (Choir)

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

Wednesday 12 December 2012



Could this be the biggest waste of time and effort ever.?

This morning I will be getting the stupid o'clock flight down to Luton for an interview for a job that I have had no time to prepare for and have less than zero chance of getting.

Still, be nice to be in Luton again!

Here is a song that came on the iPod yesterday on the road down from Aberdeen which just synched perfectly with the cold clear evening.

New Order - Your Silent Face

Tuesday 11 December 2012

It Will Be Freezing Up North



Another Tuesday another visit to the granite city. I will be spending quite a considerable part of January freezing my bollocks off in the greyest city in the UK, if not the world. It is quite a depressing place in the midst of winter. Still, musn't grumble it could be worse, I could be in Luton.

Here is the tune that if we had got married in a church my soon to be wife would have walked down the isle to. As it was we were in a Registry Office both standing nervously awaiting kick-off to a tape I had put together a couple of hours before.

Don't know why I posted this but I sometimes do like to listen to the album as a whole on long journeys and this along with reminding me of probably the most important day of my life always also brings back memories of leaving Aberdeen.


Edda dell'Orso - Friendship And Love


Monday 10 December 2012

Three Hundred And Sixty Five Days



Here's a bit of funky soul for you courtesy of Mr Donald Height who was not having a good time of it in 1967.

I am actually going to upload both sides of this Jay Boy single as the flip although completely different is nearly as good as the A- side which is not that rare in soul circles but you don't hear me banging on about it like Smiths fans do.

Donald Height - Three Hundred And Sixty Five Days

Donald Height - I'm Willing To Wait


Sunday 9 December 2012

And So The Lists Begin



Haven't seen anybody else get in with their best of lists yet so I will throw my easy one into the ring first, my Top Ten LPs.

It's been a rather good year for long players for me as over the past few years I have tended to moan about getting bored with albums and very rarely being able to sit through them. This was not a problem this year as a considerable number of the ones I have bought get played through in their entirety and the top ten have all spent a considerable time on the turntables indeed at different time points in the year the only time they were off was to put on the second disc of both offerings.

There were things that were eagerly anticipated that failed to deliver the goods, the Raveonettes. Again the album is okay but when heard the songs were transformed from being just okay to being really good, I still hold out hope that one of these days they will produce an album that will capture how good they are live.

I also found myself surprised at how much I liked Jack White's solo album having never been the biggest fan of the White Stripes or any of his other projects.

So here is my favourite ten long players from the past twelve months

10 - Clubroot - III

 

The third and final in the series from Dan Richmond is in the same vein as the previous two, widescreen music with an air of the apocalyptic. In a similar vein to Burial but not a straight imitation.

9 - Thousand Foot Whale Claw - Dope Moons Volume I
 


One of those records that you take a punt on, as with a name that weird they must be good and surprisingly they are. I'm not sure how to describe the output of these four stoners from Austin Texas. The words that have been used are Krautrock, minimalism, drone,  pulsing, you get the idea. It is certainly an album to be listened to in its entirety, preferably through headphones while enjoying some good alcohol.

Thousand Foot Whale Claw - Phobos

8 The Allah - Las

 

From the label that brought us Nick Waterhouse and indeed produced by the retro R&B performer, this album has been flogged to death over the past few weeks. Very late 60s, Bay Area, Nuggets type sounds that banished the shitty weather and brought visions of sun and driving along PCH or my perception of PCH from reading Fuel Injected Dreams.

7 Allo Darlin' - Europe

Product Details

The second album from Elizabeth Morris and co does exactly what you expect and with enough jangly guitars and uplifting songs to make the sun shine on the blackest of days. Not only does it have the wonderful Tallula, widely available for the first time but in Some People Say a song so emotional that you will probably have "something in your eye" by the end of it and a fitting tribute to the first man on the moon,  Neil Armstrong.

6. Nick Waterhouse - Time's All Gone

 

Sharp suits, small dingy clubs, amphetamine fuelled dancing.

5 Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls

 

There has been a retro feel to quite a few of my favourite albums of 2012, which I suppose could be seem as either good or bad depending on your outlook. But wen the finished product is this good well I know what side of the fence I fall on. Shades of Janis with Big Brother and The Holding Company but what an incredible voice!

4 Meursault - Something For The Weakend

 

Neil Pennycook's writing and vocal delivery just get better and better on this,  the third Meursault album.

3 The xx - Co-exist

 

This was eagerly awaited by me. I did come late to The xx, mid 2009 but since then I have more than made up for it and think that their debut is possibly the most played album in our house, well after this year's favourite.
I have heard quite a bit of criticism that this album is too similar to the last album, not sure what these people wanted from the band, a Greek Heavy Metal album? It's the xx ffs!

2 Spiritualized - Sweat Heart Sweet Light

 

This was another eagerly awaited release, ever since October 2011 when Jason decided to play the, then unknown album in it's entirety on the short UK tour. These were some of the best Spiritualized songs I had heard in a long time. And the album didn't disappoint, ok the white vinyl pressing was very badly cut and sounded dreadful but on download and when the black pressing appeared the songs sounded great, Jason's voice higher in the mix than usual but no bad thing. This was always going to be my favourite album of the year until about July when I was banjaxed by the one below.

1 Dexys - One Day I'm Going To Soar

 

If somebody had said to me before July that my favourite album of 2012 would have been by a band that hadn't made a record for twenty seven years, I would have first asked what prescription medication they were on and then have pronounced them mad and told then to not talk such shite. But it is the fact that One Day I'm Going To Soar by Dexys is my album of the year.

I saw them on Later and thought, Rowland's voice was holding out quite well and that the two new songs that they performed were actually quite good and that was it or so I thought. For the next couple of weeks I kept going back to You Tube and watched the later performances, something I very rarely do. I eventually decided to find a snidey download and find out what the album was like.

From the first play I was hooked and before the end of the day I was on the Piccadilly Records website and the vinyl was ordered and since that time the vinyl has rarely been off of the turntable. It got to the stage at about the end of September beginning of October that I had to force myself to listen to other things instead but I always end up coming back to ODIGTS.

It is very funny in parts, embarrassingly and cringingly honest in others but the performances are all excellent. Simon commented on Twitter that he thought that the drums sounded too thin, something I hadn't noticed before he mentioned it and he is right but that is about the only criticism that I can find in it. I'm not sure why it didn't receive a better critical reaction than it did but don't let that put you off, I suspect that this like it's predecessor it will turn out to be one of those timeless albums.

Dexys - Nowhere Is Home To Me


So there you go, in my opinion the best albums of the year.  There are probably a couple of glaring omissions that I will remember later but at the moment and over the past week or so when I have been thinking about it these are the albums that have sprung to mind.

I have one question regarding Goat's World Music, what does everybody hear that I don't? It is good and would be in my top twenty of 2012 but number 1, I just don't hear anything that special.

Saturday 8 December 2012

I Suppose That It's Time



Last night Lynn decked the tree, not in the traditional Lanarkshire meaning of the the word decked as in "Jimmy decked him", no decked as in made the tree look as unlike a tree as it is possible to do with bits of shiny stuff, lights and more shiny stuff and a fairy on top with a tree up it's arse. So I suppose it's time to start posting my very limited season related songs that I actually like.

Here is a gem from a duo who again last Friday did not fail to produce a beautiful noise with just the aid of a guest drummer, another band who consistently produce the good live unlike some others I could mention. Sadly I don't think that I have ever heard them play this live, most of the time when they play in Glasgow it is October/November and a bit too early for this. My copy of this single is on a rather horrible green vinyl, really should have been white.

The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song

Friday 7 December 2012

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



It's hard to believe that this track is over twenty years old, well in the Eren's Bootleg form anyway, the vocal comes from 5 years earlier. Not even that abysmal version by Florence and her machine can take the gloss of of this.

The pairing of  Staton's vocal over the track Your Love by Jamie Principle is sheer genius. It came out originally on the Love/Rock ep in 1989, the Eren's Bootlleg mix, the best known version is a slightly more polished version of that release. When dropped in clubs back in the day the rush of emotion was palpable even if you weren't off your skull on some mind bending chemicals. I wonder if it still gets a similar kind of reception these days?

Have a good weekend people and keep weel wrapped up.

Source feat Candi Staton - You've Got The Love (Erens Bootleg mix)

Wednesday 5 December 2012



I'm loaded with the cold and feeling sorry for myself. Still my performance review has been completed, don't need to try and get enthusiastic about that for another six months.

One thing that continually amazes me about northern soul music, is the sheer quality of the tracks that in general were largely ignored by the record buying public both here and in the States in the sixties and seventies. Was it due to the sheer volume of music produced that so many brilliant songs never got the airing and therefore were never heard of by the population. Or was it due to the ineptitude of the record pluggers and lack of promotional budgets for a lot of these small labels?

Neither of these situations can surely apply to You're Gonna Love My Baby as it was released on Motown in 1965 and must have had the backing of the label owner as he produced it. But bomb it did.

Barbara McNair - You're Gonna Love My Baby

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Flooers an' Fitba Taps



Last Friday night during the Raveonettes encores, they shouted for James to come up on stage and sing a song. I don't think many people had a clue wjho they were asking up onto the stage but up came James Allen from Glasvegas who sang Love Can Destroy not a particular favourite of mine but it sounded pretty good.

On the way home I wondered to myself why I haven't really played anything by Glasvegas for ages. It probably has something to do with the stushie after the first album when a lot of bloggers who had been very vociferous in their promotion of the band started to get cease and desist orders for posting demo versions of songs. But it also has a lot to do with the fact that I really couldn't get into the second album which disappointed me a lot as I absolutely loved the first album and the Sane Man singles.

So when I got home I poured myself a rum and got the first couple of singles out and played them a few times over all four tracks as the b sides are equal to the a's and for me I think that Flowers and Football Tops is better than Daddy's Gone, not by much granted but for me it just edges it. I think that the way Allen dealt with the subject matter, that of the murder of Kriss Donald in 2004, writing the lyrics from the point of view of the boy's mother waiting for him to come home was increadibly empathetic and tugs at your heart.

Here is the original version of the track from that first Sane Man single.

Btw - James Allen up close still looks uncannily like Joe Strummer.

Glasvegas - Flowers And Football Tops

Monday 3 December 2012




Another week of full on work looms and I also have the prospect of my end of year review to look forward to on Wednesday.

"Now tell me Drew, what have you done this year?"

"My work".

"Could you expand on that?"

I hate all this guff. I thought that the whole point of having management was to oversee what us plebs do, so why do I have to take 3 hours out to tell them?

Back to the music and another brilliant piece of soul from a guy called Dan Brantley. Apart from the fact that he released half a dozen singles between 1968 and 1970, I know nothing about him, which is a bit of a shame as anyone who produces a track as wonderful as Please Accept My Love deserves to be well known. This song has brightened up my mood more than once, so my thanks go out to Dan at least.

The track was released on the SIMS label in 1968 and is a vocal version of Soul Serenade.

Dan Brantley - Please Accept My Love

Sunday 2 December 2012

Candy



Just a quick one, I'm off into Glasgow to the Christmas market.

L has been flogging this for ages and it has obviously made it's may into my brain as I found myself singing it yesterday.

Paolo Nutini - Candy

Friday 30 November 2012

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



Today's track comes from one of the,  if not the longest running UK dance music label. The label that has released tunes by Aphex Twin, Brian Eno,  Grizzly Bear and loads of other innovative artists. The Sheffield label has certainly never played it safe. The label was founded by a couple of friends Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell who sadly died in 2001, who worked for Fon Records in the city.

Aftermath is the work of George Evelyn, who as Nightmares on Wax was responsible for the second single on Warp and also has the privilege of being the artist who has been on the label roster the longest. The track posted is the remix of the single and was re-worked by label mates LFO who were also responsible for one of the seminal records on the label the eponymous LFO.

I do love a bit of Bleep.

I'm off to see the Raveonettes at Oran Mor tonight which will be nice.

Have a good weekend people.

 Nightmares On Wax - Aftermath (LFO mix)

Wednesday 28 November 2012

These Blues



While you are reading this I will be in my favourite place in the world, Luton  on the second day of a two day meeting. I just love these meetings and the agenda is packed full of fun things like Reflecting On The Year That Was and Looking Ahead. I am particularly looking forward to the session on Insights into my personality where some over-paid consultant will tell me that I am a miserable misanthrope who's ideal role would be the dictator of a small country, all on the basis of fifty odd questions that I answered ages ago. Apparently my conscious wheel position is Reforming Director (Classic).

No?  Me neither.

Here is the original version of These Blues from Spacemen 3 which turned up on the DJ Tones 12" single which was released on lovely clear vinyl in 2008.

Spacemen 3 - These Blues

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Too Little Too Late



It's over. I have decided that I will no longer attend any concerts by the waste of space that is Mark E Smith,  last Wednesday's gig put paid to that.

I used to look forward to going to see The Fall, every now and again there would be a poor performance but more often than not it would be worth the wait. On the run up to last week's gig all I could think of was, it can't be as bad as the last two fiascoes. Stiff was the same.

And no it wasn't as bad as the last two but it wasn't good either. Smith was front of stage for maybe fifteen minutes of the forty five/fifty minutes the band were on stage, the rest of the time we got incoherent ramblings from a fud sitting behind an amp at the rear of the stage.

The final fifteen minutes were brilliant, a great version of Container Drivers and one of the best renditions of Blindness that I have ever heard but the rest of it although not awful it certainly was not great. During Blindness I thought to myself, well Smith you pulled it out of the bag there.  But on reflection, walking back to the car (not a great distance) both Stiff and myself agreed that it really wasn't good enough and certainly not worth the ticket price. This may be due to the fact that last month we saw The Wedding Present and although Sea Monsters isn't my favourite album and I really don't like this,  playing an album all the way through at a gig thing, the band were nothing short of brilliant,  100% effort  through the whole ninety minutes.

There are people that will say, if Smith wants to sit behind an amp all night, he can, he is MES. Yes he can and I'm sure he will continue to do so but I won't be paying his fucking wages to do so. I work hard for my money, I have the work ethic that Smith talks about but obviously doesn't know the meaning of. He will still produce the goods on this tour at other venues but frankly,  now I don't really care. I  believe that his best work is certainly behind him, you only have to listen to the few lyrics there are to the songs on the last couple of albums, which is quite sad as the band he has at the moment are very good with the possible exception of the keyboard player.

Anyway,  here is a great track played by JD Twitch who was djing on Wednesday night and played an absolutely blinding set of dub and rockabilly. I think that this was the reason that I wasn't more angry going home.

Just don't ask me about the support act, there is something really quite disturbing about a middle aged Mancunian acting the hard man and a young lady in a leotard singing dreadful lyrics over mediocre backing tapes.


 


Monday 26 November 2012

Another Belter



For those of you who don't know about Tammi Terrell's all too short and rather tragic life the details are easy enough to find on the net.

It is usual to see Tammi Terrell's name in conjunction with that of Marvin Gaye but she did release an album and three singles for Motown as a solo artist. Prior to joining Berry's hit factory she had been signed to Wand from the age of fifteen and released four or five singles under her real name of Tammy Montgomery.

The track posted is from her album Irresistable Tammi Terrell released on Motown in 1968.

She was also rather lovely looking.

Tammi Terrell - Tears At The End Of A Love Affair

Saturday 24 November 2012

The Joy Of The Chance Find



One of the wonders of the soul scene and northern/rare soul in particular is that it doesn't matter how long you've been listening, collecting and going to dos every so often something comes along that you have never heard before,  that is probably older than you are, hits you right between the eyes and knocks you over with its utter brilliance.

This has happened to me a couple of times recently. One was a posting on somebody's blog which I clicked on and immediately the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention and I got that lovely shiver down the back of my neck.

The second was far more serendipitous.

A few weeks ago while foraging through the 7" soul listings on Ebay, looking for that elusive copy of Sam Williams,  Love Slipped Through My Fingers or an Ella Washington promo that I don't have my attention was piqued by a listing by somebody I had never heard of before. It was the label that grabbed my attention; not because it was one of those labels that are highly coveted and you know mean quality four to the floor soul, no  it was a label I had never heard of,  Falew! There was something in the simplicity of the label that caught my eye just a  yellow label with brown lettering and a simple log.  The title of the track, Teardrop Avenue sort of rang some bells until I realised that I was thinking of Heartbreak Avenue by the Maisonettes. The artist Bette Boothe was not somebody I had heard of either but something about this particular piece of vinyl made me curious

So I decided to root about the internet, well go to YouTube  and see if  anybody had uploaded the track so I could hear what it sounded like. As sure as shit,  there it was not once but five separate uploads. So I clicked play not knowing what to expect.

I certainly didn't expect that intro of simple strummed guitar then the drums followed by that powerful vocal building, why am I even trying to describe this there is no way that my words can do this track justice,just listen to it.

I'm sure if somebody had taken a picture of me as I was listening to this you would see a photie of someone totally at peace with the world  and content, something that only the best music can do, well music and certain prescription medications. I played the track maybe ten times over before remembering that it was on eBay and I needed to bid on it. I  knew no matter the price, within reason,  that that record was going to be mine. Thankfully my resolve wasn't put to too much of a test.

I cannot explain what it is about this mid tempo song that has me so hooked that I haven't stopped playing it since it came into my possession. Some people when they listen to this and I urge you to click on the link at least once, what have you got to lose? will think, so what,  a pleasant enough but pedestrian piece of mid sixties girl group fodder. But that to me is the magic of music. One man's 2 mins 49 secs of bliss is another's "meh". Although,  I would argue to the death that that statement does not apply to anything on the x-factor in the end I realise that  I would be wrong and it's all down to personal taste. In a way I'm glad that not more people love this sort of thing over stuff from talent shows for if they did this single would have cost me a hell of a lot more.

Download and enjoy!

Bette Boothe - Teardrop Avenue


Friday 23 November 2012

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



Last week we had some acid house from the UK so I thought that this week we could have something from the US for the purposes of balance.

Here is a track that I'm nnot sure that I ever heard out but did play a lot in the house. It comes from one of the myriad of House compilations that came out in 1988/89, this was was titled Jackmaster Phuture Trax and had tracks by the likes of Joe Smooth and Tyree. The track posted by Hocus Pokus is the pick of the bunch for me, mental stuff.

Have a good weekend people

Hokus Pokus - Different World

Thursday 22 November 2012

Please Stay



Here is a song that I think is ripe for covering  by somebody who could give it some balls. I'm not sure who it should be that covers it but in my head there is a much better version than any that I have actually heard.

Please Stay was written by Burt Bacharach and was originally recorded by The Drifters and has been covered by the likes of Lulu,  Marc Almond and Dionne Warwick. But is probably best known this side of the Atlantic as a 1966 hit for The Crying Shames, their only hit incidently which features here. But I'm not sure that even that version does this song justice, well not in my head anyway. Peter Kember did a very wishy washy version in 1992 under his Spectrum guise.

Any suggestions as to who you think could give this song a belter of a remake would be welcomed.

The Cryin' Shames - Please Stay

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Inversion



I think a little bit of dub techno is the order of the day. Something that will hopefully dissipate the mid week gloom.

I love all nine of the Basic Channel releases but I think that the fifth, Inversion accredited to Cyrus has to be the best. You really need to sit and listen to this through headphones or really loud, you get totally sucked into the track.

Cyrus - Inversion

I'm off to see The Fall at the last chance saloon tonight, well for me anyway. Any of Smith's pish and that is it. There may be a few choice tweets later on. All does not auger well when you get an email informing you that doors will open an hour later than advertised!

Tuesday 20 November 2012

They Don't Make Them Like This Anymore



Well actually they do.

 I bought this single earlier this year. I decided to take a punt on it as it was on the same label as Nick Waterhouse and produced by him. It has a distinct mid/late 60s Bay Area, Nuggets type feel to it. Their debut album was released over here last week. Haven't had a chance to play it yet but am definitely looking forward to giving it an airing maybe on the road down to Nottingham on Thursday.

Allah - Las - Tell Me (What's On Your Mind)

Monday 19 November 2012

Monday Soul




I am in a bit of a quandary as I type this as I have two tracks which I want to post today one which is quite upbeat but I don't know if it is too upbeat for the week I have ahead which I think is going to be another fair to hellish one. On the other hand the other track I have in my head is a bit depressing and may just make my mood even darker.

Right, I've decided. My Life by Joe Jama is quite an in demand tune and if you're lucky enough to have an original copy and wish to sell it you will find yourself a couple of grand to the good. The singer from San Antonio, Texas cut this track when he was only twenty. It was the b-side to Sleep Late My Lady Friend which I've never heard as my single is a single sided pressing but if it's as good as My Life then it must be brilliant but I suspect is not that good hence the single sided pressing.

Joe Jama - My Life

Sunday 18 November 2012

Rather Delicate



Could you possible do things a bit quieter today. I seem to havedrunk a little too much last night and therefore am unable to function normally this morning.

Jesus, it really is a struggle to even think!

Here's something rather lovely.

Scout Niblett - Kiss

Friday 16 November 2012

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance




Here's one of my favourite tracks from the heady days of Acid House. I think that this period was one of my favourite times both in clubbing and in music. Everything was new and fresh , there wasn't any cynicism around the scene,  well not up here in Glasgow at any rate. The Es were good and the scene was constantly evolving so you never knew what to expect from one weekend to the next. What you could be guaranteed of was a top night and hearing sounds that you had never heard before.

Peter Ford was one of the founding figures of the Acid House scene and with Oochy Koochy released a track every bit as good as those coming out of Chicago and being produced by the likes of Marshall Jefferson and Ron Trent. The track was released in 1988 and actually entered the lower reaches of the UK charts. Due to the bassline being EQ'd wrongly on the first pressing resulting in the speakers being blown the first time the track was dropped at Heaven. the tune was remixed and subsequent pressings came with the warning and a watch your ears logo! on the sleeve.

Have a good weekend people.

Baby Ford - Oochy Koochy


Thursday 15 November 2012

Come Back




After last week's realisation that it was thirty years since The Story Of The Blues was released got me reaching for another Pete Wylie classic.

Listening to Come Back transported me back to the summer of 1985, more specifically the last week in July and the first week of August, when I was on holiday with my family at one of my favourite places, Polperro in Cornwall.

The record was actually released the year previous but it was part of a compilation tape which I flogged to death on my red Sony Walkman all through the summer of 85.  Other tracks on this tape that I remember vividly were Good Technology by the Red Guitars, Upside Down and Forest Fire. It was also the soundtrack to my ultimately fruitless two week campaign to woo a girl. In the end I didn't need a dictionary to tell me the meaning of unrequited, I got the message loud and clear.

Now when I try to picture the femme fatale in question, the only thing I can remember is her red hair, can't remember her name but do recall that she was from Colchester. She was there with her parents and two of her friends. My brother,  our friend G and I naturally got in tow with them but no matter what I did I couldn't get this girl to notice me and about half way through the week she ended up getting off with somebody else and I spent the rest of the holiday in a foul mood and the Friday before we went home got off with her friend at the disco just to spite her. She of course was not in the slightest bit bothered by this.

Anyway,  the following year I was more successful,  a story which was recounted here .

So here in all its overblown glory is probably my favourite Pete Wylie song.

The Mighty Wah! - Come Back (The Story Of The Reds/The Devil In Miss Jones)

Tuesday 13 November 2012

It's That Time Of The Year



 
When I start to spend a lot of time in the M section of my album and cd collections. more specifically the works of John Martyn, there is some thing about that drawl and guitar sound that makes we feel warm inside when the wind is howling and the rain is battering the windows.

Here is a re-recording from the album Classics where John decided to record new versions of classic tracks with varying degrees of success. I love the original of Ways To Cry, and this version is not to bad either. Not even the presence of Phil Collins on backing vocals, for it is that Charlie Brown lookalike you can hear, can ruin it for me. The album also has contributions from Andy Sheppard, David Gilmour and Levon Helm on it.

John Martyn - Ways To Cry