Sunday 31 August 2014

Mellow Sunday



In celebration of the fact that there will be a new Aphex Twin album out soon, it may be absolutely awful, you never know, but it's the first album in thirteen years, I thought that I would pick something from Selected Ambient Works Vol II. It really could have been anything from this astounding album.

Aphex Twin - Hexagon

Friday 29 August 2014

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



There has been a lot of Weatherall action over at the Bagging Area this week so I hope that I'm not stepping on Adam's toes here by posting this tune but I had it down for today after digging it out and playing it and it's companion piece about three times on the bounce last Friday night, I was in that kind of mood.

I think that we are all agreed that from his first remix of the Happy Mondays in 1989 until the end of 1993 Weatherall could do no wrong. After this time although I still bought anything that had his name tagged on to it I wasn't really digging everything that he did, I really didn't like the mix of Nowhere by Therapy, actually thinking about it now that is the only one I can think of at the moment. I was going to add the Two Lone Swordsman mixes of Texas but after listening to them earlier they are not quite as bad as I remembered, well as the saying goes "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear".

Everything Grooves pt 2  does exactly what it says in the title, it grooves along nicely for over ten minutes and is up there with some of the bearded one's best reinventions, long, laid back and dubby not really one for dancing to, although it is not impossible. Part 2 is probably the lesser known of the two mixes as it was only available on a promo double pack 12" whereas part 1 which has been posted before was available on the Ground Level 12", it's the version with that cracking  wah wah guitar breakdown part way through.

This weekend I will be praying to the gods of football that we can get a home win, as at the moment we are back to where we were at this time last season,  bottom of the league with nil points!

Have a good weekend people.

Stereo MC's - Everything Grooves (Part 2)

Thursday 28 August 2014

La Resistance!



From one Marxist group to another, although Stereolab weren't quite as in your face as Chris Dean.  If you listen carefully to the lyrics or better still stick the song title and "lyrics" in a search engine you realise that they aren't on about copping off  at the local Gallic Ritzy. I probably should be shot but I never really studied the lyrics in their songs, I was too busy digging the groovy music.

Stereolab - French Disko

Wednesday 27 August 2014

Nostalgia


I took the scooter into Glasgow the other day and during the ride in I started to reminisce about similar journeys into the town from early 1986 until about 1991 when I would invariably stop first at the Barras, then onto Mickey Oats, the Dick Turpin of the scooter sales and parts world and then onto "Flip Of Hollywood, to find a beat up pair of 501s, a "Bundeswehr" top of some description or another bowling shirt. Flip was my favourite shop in the whole world,  packed full of 50s Americana, Zippo lighters, Ray Bans and other essential accessories for anybody trying for that James Dean, rebel without a clue look.

For about 5 years most of my wardrobe was bought out of this emporium,  from my first pair of black Chuck Taylor Allstars to my last original Alpha Industries MA-1. But there was one item of clothing that I always coveted and that was the vintage Schott leather American Police Jacket. Alas,  I never ever got my hands on one of these as on both occasions that I had the required folding money, they were about 175 quid then,  they didn't have a jacket small enough for me. I wasn't always the size I am now, back then I was quite a skinny guy who had no chance of joining the polis in the States if the size of their cast off jackets was anything to go by. Instead of saving the money and waiting until the shop received another batch,  both times I blew the cash on something else. One time on a  black NYC Fire Dept jacket which I thought was as cool as fuck. The other on a reversible red and black anorak, must have been 1986/87, obviously, other gear and probably a few records.

Anyway as I was scooting along the Broomielaw on Monday I had a sudden crushing feeling of nostalgia and yearning to be back in the late 80s when life was much simpler.

For some reason when I listen to the Redskins I think of Flip and get a whiff of that musty smell which was particularly pungent down stairs. Strange really as the only Harrington that I ever owned I purchased from Dee's in the Trongate.  Another essential shop for those involved in youth culture in the 80s but unlike Flip which finally closed in 2007 after having moved from Queen Street, Dee's is still going strong.

Redskins - Reds Strike The Blues

Monday 25 August 2014

Aagh! What The Fuck Is That Song



You know when you get a snippet of a song lodged in your brain and it just keeps on repeating as if on a loop and the more you try and pin down the track the more confused and frustrated you get? Well that happened to me on Friday night.  I had this minute bit of a track in my head and couldn't dislodge it. I had a feeling it was mid sixties soul, incredibly smooth with a lush arrangement but for the life of me I couldn't identify it. I knew that it wasn't obscure that it was by one of the big male stars or vocal groups. At first I thought that it might be a Marvin song but quite quickly ruled that out, it wasn't the Four Tops or the Temptations. Something made me think of Smokey Robinson, so I checked through all of the stuff I have by him but no title rang a bell but I was sure that it was something to do with him and wracked my brain, eventually I came up with the words "I'm a lucky boy, you're my pride and joy. Which I duly typed into Google and lo and behold the search came back with "My Love Is Your Love (Forever)" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. I clicked on the Youtube link and yuk, this was the song alright but way too fast, no subtlety and horrible drums. This wasn't the version in my head but with one more search and one clicking on the link there it was, The Isley Brothers, of course it was! So back to my iTunes and there it was track two on Richard Searling's first volume of "Tamla Motown Connoisseurs" released back in 2001.

"My Love Is Your Love (Forever)" was written by the young Stevie Wonder and Ivy Jo Hunter. It was recorded by The Isley Brothers in 1967 and was incredibly shelved by the powers that be at Motown it is quite amazing the amount of absolute crackers that were deemed not good enough by the label! It was finally released in 1972 on a Dutch compilation album! Nowadays it is quite easy to pick up a white label boot copy and it was pressed up and released last year as part of the Motown 7s Box Set volume 1 which I was going to buy until I heard all off the bad reviews about pressing quality and missing singles. I did buy Volume 2 which is excellent  and as a result I may buy a copy of the first set if I ever find myself with a spare fifty quid. But I digress, just listen to this, this Bank Holiday Monday (if living in the UK) and if it doesn't brighten up your day, well there really is no hope for you.

The Isley Brothers - My Love Is Your Love (Forever)


Sunday 24 August 2014

Mellow Sunday



Last night Lynn had the "girls" round for a Caribbean themed sort of  Come Dine With Me night which featured loads of scotch bonnet chilies, mangoes, coconut, black eyed peas and rum, lots of rum. Rum, mixed with mint, combined with Guinness & condensed milk and also straight with lime, sometimes in the same glass. I offered to make a dub playlist which was declined politely with the words "fuck off, we want some music that at least we will know., so I gave her a couple of reggae compilations to put on the cd player and went away in a huff, feeling superior, granted  but still in a huff. So in honour of last night's festivities here is a track that would have made it on to the playlist.

George Faith - Have Some Mercy (Full version)

Friday 22 August 2014

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



Today's track is a fairly recent release, well in this series anyway as it comes from 2010. Anybody who knows anything about the dance scene in Scotland, know who Slam are, so I'm not going to go into detail and besides I don't have the time to be honest. Suffice to say they have been producing the goods on vinyl, live and Djing since the late 80s and as July's Rotary shows they are still releasing quality techno productions to this day.

Room 2 was released of  Slam's Soma offshoot Paragraph and was remixed by Pan-Pot, Berlin based DJs and producers.

Have a good weekend people.

Slam - Room2 (Pan-Pot Rave Tool)

Thursday 21 August 2014

Perfect Blue



No, not the final song from Lloyd Cole and The Commotions second album, Easy Pieces but the final song from my favourite Wedding Present album, Take Fountain. There is not much more I can add to what I have already said about Mr Gedge and his band and I'm not sure what it is about this album that makes me come back to it more than any of the others, I just don't think that there is a duff note, never mind song on it and also the lyrics are probably the best he has ever written. If you don't already know this album then you really should sort yourself out.

The Wedding Present - Perfect Blue

Wednesday 20 August 2014

Loop



Another cover version today but a completely different beast from yesterday's. Loop's version of Mother Sky was the first version I heard and until Pilooski's re-edit of the original it was probably my favourite. Released in 1988 on the b-side of the Black Sun 12". I think that I played it continually for about a week and then tried to seek out some Can who I was vaguely aware of but not enough to investigate until I heard this.

Loop - Mother Sky

Tuesday 19 August 2014

Hard Luck Guy



Eddie Hinton was partly responsible for the sound of some of the best tunes of the late 60s and early 70s, although very few will recognise the name but as a session musician and member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section he worked with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield and Toots and The Maytals to name but three. He was also an artist in his own right, releasing four albums before his untimely death, as is often the way in the music business,  at the age of 51 in 1995. His best known song is probably Breakfast In Bed first recorded by Dusty on Dusty In Memphis but covered by quite a few other artists and Nicole Sherzinger!

In 1999 Shake It Records in Cincinnati released a series of 7" singles of cover versions of Hinton's songs by people who he had influenced entitled "Dangerous Highway"Today's track comes from Volume 1. Greg Dulli always good with a cover version, gives it his all on this track.

"A scene that always sticks in my mind is Dylan on the back porch of Muscle Shoals studio, trading licks on acoustic guitar with Eddie Hinton. They buddied up and for a while were inseparable. How strange and wonderful to remember Bob Dylan and Eddie Hinton as soul brothers - two poets, one renowned, the other known only to a few friends, neighbours and fans, both riveting artists, both brilliant." - Jerry Wexlar

Enjoy

Greg Dulli - Hard Luck Guy

Monday 18 August 2014

In Orbit



This song may sound familiar even if you have never heard it before due to Justin Robertson's sampling of the intro for Lionrock's 1996 sings "Scatter and Swing".  A great example of the sort of thing that was coming out of Chicago in 1967, however I have always been puzzled by how high Kev Roberts rated it in the original volume of Northern Soul Top 500 where it was positioned at number 72 but I was absolutely stunned on reading the updated version, as it had rocket up to number 6. It's good but not that good. 

Joy Lovejoy - In Orbit

Sunday 17 August 2014

Mellow Sunday



I keep coming back to the work of Kenny Anderson on Sundays for the simple reason that his music, lyrics and voice mellow me out without the aid of drink or other things more than probably any other artist I know. Take,  Your Young Voice for example with it's two lines of lyric repeated over and over, it could be extended to over twice it's length and I still would not get bored of it, there is something beguiling about it for me. It also has a tendency to make my eyes go a wee bit blurry and produce a lump in my throat. What more do you need on a Sunday.

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins - Your Young Voice

Saturday 16 August 2014

New Music Saturday



My inbox is full of stuff that has been sent through over the past few weeks none of which I have had the time to listen to. I'm sure there must be at least one good track in there. Until I find it here's a bit of  classic live Stiff Little Fingers for you, recorded where else but the Barrowlands on St Patrick's night.

SLF - Silver Lining 


Friday 15 August 2014

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



I think we will stay with the tunes that turned me on to house music in the first place for a few Friday's. Acid Over is one of the first acid house tracks I ever heard along with Acid Tracks by Phuture. Which is pretty ironic as Tyree Cooper coined the title as he had had enough of the "acid" music in Chicago and this tune was surpassed to be an end to it. But the scene, especially in the UK just kept growing and became a monster. Pretty soon  it seemed that ever single was released with a second or third rate acid house mix, smiley faces could be seen everywhere and the inevitable media backlash and moral panic ensued. A mind expanding time to be 18/19 years old.

I loved the weird squelchy noises from the 303 which gave this sub genre of house music it's distinctive sound and also the minimalism of the tracks and the way some just kept building and building.

It is the first home game of the season tomorrow and myself, the boys, Stiff, Willie and all present in the home support at the Excelsior stadium will be hoping for a better result then last week and the previous two cup defeats!

Have a good weekend people.

Tyree - Acid Over (Union Jack mix)

Tuesday 12 August 2014

Sickener



Second day back from holiday and I'm back in Luton. The title of this track from Moon Duo's Horror Tour ep just about sums up how I'm feeling right now!

Moon Dou - Sickener

Monday 11 August 2014

In The Same Old Way



Here is a classy piece of early 60's soul out of New Orleans. Tommy Ridgley last featured on the blog way back in 2010 with the in demand sound My Love Gets Stronger. In The Same Old Way may not be in the same class as that song but it is a good one none the less which deserves an airing. The song should not be mistaken for the Scotty Williams song of the same title  but with I Still Love You in brackets at the end of the title.

Tommy Ridgley - In The Same Old Way

Sunday 10 August 2014

Mellow Sunday



Back from a rather relaxing week in Machrihanish. We only had one real shitty day weather wise which was a lot better than expected. There was an absolutely beautifully weird sky after the day of unrelenting rain which I didn't exactly capture in the photo above as it was taken on my phone,  being a numpty I had left the camera sitting on the desk of my office last Saturday.

In other news, which you probably already know Neil Pennycook has sadly decided to kill off Meursault. Posted is Meursault's cover of Poor Old Christopher Robin originally by Paws.Taken from the gut wrenchingly bleak in parts but gorgeous album "The Organ Grinder's Monkey. The crowd funded album is still available here and if you don't already own a copy you really should give yourself a shake and rectify the situation immediately.

Meursault - Poor Old Christopher Robin


Friday 1 August 2014

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



Back to the source.

Today's track is probably the one that really got me into house music. I had heard and bought some earlier stuff such as Move Your Body on DJ International but it was after hearing Someday and totally falling in love with it that I seriously started to seek out all things house on Trax, DJ International and the like. It is impossible not to be moved by this record, it's got the lot, soulful vocals, an uplifting message in the lyrics and that insistent piano hook that has been sampled so effectively over the years. Not a lot to add, really.

We're off to Machrihanish tomorrow for a week of listening to the wind howl, the rain batter off the roof of the caravan and Max and Leo bickering at best. Magic!

Have a good weekend

Ce Ce Rogers - Someday