Monday 30 November 2015

Jean 1



In 2011 an album was released by three musicians which was quite novel. They took vocal tracks from obscure songs by Brian Wilson, John Lennon and John Martyn amongst others and re-imagined them. What the guys did was put the vocal tracks to music that they thought suited it best which sometimes meant that the tracks were completely in the style of the artist in the period when the vocal was laid down or on others to the sounds that they imagined suited the vocal style best and therefore the Billy McKenzie track comes out all Memphis '66. The album for me is a mixed bag with one track that is head and shoulders above the rest where the lead vocal by Jean Terrell of a 1972 Supremes song from Dan Penn , Jimmy Webb ( correction thanks to Artog) called 5:30 Plane is given the northern soul treatment and turned into what I think would have been huge on the scene. I was of the belief that this track needed to be pressed as a 7" and emailed the guys to tell them so. I was so convinced that I put a proposition to them that I would put up the money for 500 copies to be pressed up and once they were all sold, which I was sure would be a peace of pish all I wanted was my money back and 10 copies of the single. I had some money from the sale of some shares, the money eventually went on the hugely more exciting project of re-pointing the back end of the house. Sadly they declined citing the heat and attention they had received since releasing the album. So that was that then.

Not quite, a couple of years ago while scouring the northern singles on ebay. I saw an  auction for a 7" of your own choice, All you needed to do was pay the money send the two tracks you wanted on the 7" and in a couple of days you would receive your record. I decided to try it out and ordered the single with two extremely hard to find northern songs, Indian Giver by the Chantelles and In The Same Old Way by Scottie Williams. In under a week the single arrived and I nervously put it on the turntable expecting the quality to be rubbish but it wasn't, it was perfectly adequate for a boot. So I immediately put in another order and there was no question what one of the songs would be, it had to be Jean 1. The other side was a lot trickier, there were loads of northern tracks that could go on it but I eventually picked Harder Than You Think by Public Enemy which up until that point had only been released on vinyl as a 12" single I had only ever seen for sale once with a price tag of ninety quid, it was subsequently released on RSD 2013 as a secret single which is even rarer. I decided after this single not to order any more as it could have become a costly business at £20 a pop.

White Label - Jean 1

and here is the original. Compare and contrast

Sunday 29 November 2015

Mellow Sunday



The Orb was interesting last night. The music was great however both Stiff and I were wishing for armchairs and pots of tea. Ninety minutes is a bit long for two guys,  one looking into a laptop and the other twiddling with knobs to hold anyone's attention.

I love this song,  absolutely sod all to do with the Orb though.

Catherine Feeny - Radar

Saturday 28 November 2015

Boy's Own Recordings - The Twelves BOIX 11



The eleventh release on the Boy's Own label is a particular favourite of mine. It was the first record by Fire Island, Terry Farley and Pete Heller both part of the Boy's Own team. It was also one of the fe releases that didn't come with a remix 12" meaning it was a bit lighter on the pocket, although I appear to own 3 copies of it now! Unashamedly bouncey house music I love all four tracks on the single but In Your Bones just edges it.

Fire Island - In Your Bones

Fire Island - Back To Your Bones

Fire Island - Fire Island (feat Ricardo Da Force)

Fire Island - Fire Island (Heavy Dub)

Friday 27 November 2015

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance




We're at the penultimate track from A Short Film About Chilling and the track is a belter. Hoomba Hoomba by Voice of Africa is a slowed down and blissed out version of a track from the mid 80s by Jasper Van't Hoof, a Dutch Jazz pianist apparently. I have used "blissed out" on more than one ocassion in regards to tracks from this programme, lazy I know but I can't think of a better term. I had this on an absolutely stonking tape that my mate Colin's pal in Oban made him up which was filled with things like this,  Never Get Out of The Boat and other down tempo tunes just right for the early hours of the morning. It took the internet and Discogs for me to eventually get my hands on a vinyl copy.

Talking of blissed out tunes I'm off to see The Orb on Saturday night, it will be twenty years since the last time I saw Dr Alex Paterson live. Jesus!

Have a good weekend people.

Voice Of Africa - Hoomba Hoomba


Thursday 26 November 2015

Stray Dog And The Chocolate Shake



For about a month in the early summer of 2003, Sumday, the third album by Grandaddy rarely left the turntable and then it sort of got filed away and hasn't been revisited that much until a couple of weeks ago when I saw it and thought to myself "not heard that in ages" put it on and have played it half a dozen times since. The band's previous album The Sophtware Slump is held up as the high point, NME put it at number 34 in their Greatest Albums of The Decade but I have always preferred Sumday even after it being likened to ELO in some review or other. I have no idea what the lyrics to Stray Dog And The Chocolate Shake are all about but the song always makes me smile.

Grandaddy - Stray Dog And The Chocolate Shake


Wednesday 25 November 2015

Long, Long Road To Happiness



I've not got a lot of inspiration at the moment, far too much work and it's encroaching on real life which is really beginning to piss me off.

Anyway, here is your bit of Monday soul on a Wednesday. Still better late than never. Who the hell is Sonny Daye? Some of you may be thinking. You will know him better as Frank Wilson.

Sonny Daye - Long, Long Road To Happiness

Saturday 21 November 2015

Boy's Own Recordings - The Twelves BOIX 10



The tenth release on my favourite label of 1992 was the second in a row by One Dove and this did not disappoint. Unlike Fallen, Transient Truth was new to me and so my only thought before buying this one Thursday in 1992 from Dub II in Glasgow was, it can't possible live up to the promise of Fallen and of course it didn't but it came damn close. That great big dubby bassline, the squelchy bits and Dot's ever so sexy breathy vocals just the thing for the post club wind down or any other time really. The record once again was produced by Weatherall and his Sabres of Paradise muckers Jagz, and Gary Burns. The 12" also contained a further two mixes of the song the Old Toys mix and The Old Toys dub.

Sabres of Paradise - Transient Truth 
Sabres of Paradise - Transient Truth (Old Toys mix)
Sabres of Paradise - Transient Truth (Old Toys dub)

For years I had heard of a further 12" remix of this single with more mixes by the Sabres of Paradise but it took until 2007/2008 before this was confirmed and not just a fable. This came courtesy of STX and his excellent, sadly no longer with us blog Audio.Out where he posted all four of the mixes. These mixes were more squarely aimed at the dance floor than the versions on the original single and were quite lengthy ranging from six and a bit minutes to over ten. It took a further couple of years before I took the plunge and paid the forty quid asking price for a copy of the 12" on Discogs and then one drunken night I saw another copy for half that price that I decided to buy as well. I am unsure of the thinking behind this purchase but it was probably perfectly sound reasoning at the time. This copy has gone to a good home where it is loved and cherished I'm sure.



Sabres of Paradise - Transient Truth (Paradise mix)
Sabres of Paradise - Transient Truth (Death Of A Disco Dancer)
Sabres of Paradise - Transient Truth (Fuzz dub)
Sabres of Paradise - Transient Truth (Squelch mix)

Friday 20 November 2015

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



Today's track is probably second only to At The River by Groove Armada in it's inclusion on the Now !That's What I Call Ibiza Chillout  and The Greatest Balearic Navel Gazing Classics type compilations. This is not to say that the record is not good, it is an amazing track and in the context of 1990 was new and fresh. Just the sort of thing to listen to when you were contemplating a night out clubbing or even better with a great big spliff in that post club blissful comedown.

A Man Called Adam are now synonymous with that Balearic vibe due to tracks like Estelle and The Easter Song. Barefoot in The Head was the track that made people sit up and take notice of them, there had been a few releases prior to this including a couple on Acid Jazz which were in the same sort of vein as the rest of the Acid Jazz output but by the time of BITH, the sound had changed, the previous single was a bit more Housey and Barefoot keeps that vibe but manages to instill a laid back feel even though the bpms are still high enough to dance to. The spoken word sample comes from Rod McCuen and is lifted form the track The Gypsy Camp by the San Sebastian Strings. Paul Daley and Sally Rodgers from the band can be seen and heard on A Short Film About Chilling, both of whom look completely "chilled".

This weekend I will be mostly building an ark, if this rain keeps up.

Have a good weekend people.

A Man Called Adam - Barefoot In The Head

Thursday 19 November 2015

Like Honey



For a good few years I was a bit obsessed by Swedish Indie and the quality of the stuff coming out of the Scandinavian country was so consistently good that I would buy stuff just on it hailing from Stockholm, Lund or Gothenburg. Leaves the album by Like Honey was one of those purchases didn't know anything by the band beforehand and still know nothing about them. Don't think they recorded anything else after this. The album is jam packed with jangly guitars, honey sweet melodies and vocals and the odd thrashy song perfect for indie shuffling. All in all very good stuff indeed.

Like Honey - Winter

Like Honey - Old Boy

Wednesday 18 November 2015

Hands Down



I was never all that fussed by EMO, probably because I was on the wrong side of the Atlantic  and also about 10 years too old for the demographic it was aimed at when it was at it's height so I mainly ignored the genre altogether. Every so often a track did come to my attention and I thought that's alright but the only one that has sustained the test of time for me is Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional. This MTV Unplugged version certainly highlights the fervour of the fans for Chris Carrabba's band.

Dashboard Confessional - Hands Down (Live Unplugged version)

Tuesday 17 November 2015

I Am No Better And Neither Are You

I am finding it very difficult to articulate my feelings around the Paris atrocities at the weekend and all of the guff that has followed it. On Saturday night I found myself very angry with Max and more so with my parents as he came in and asked "did you see what went on in Paris? And we are letting these people into our country", he was referring to first batch of Syrian refugees that are being welcomed to Scotland this week. Obviously my parents had been discussing this and they have adopted a Daily Hate (Mail) opinion on the matter , a state of affairs that is becoming increasingly more common with them and concerning me more than a little! I tried to tell Max that just like from the 70s until the peace process not every Northern Irish  Christian was a catholic or protestant terrorist intent on blowing the shit out of the other side or the British State, not every Syrian was a member of Daesh. He replied to this that I was naive and would be sorry when Glasgow was bombed. I tried to explain to him that the western world was more than a little responsible for what was going on in the middle east and the feelings of hatred towards us. I also tried to get it through to him that 99.99% of the refugees were genuine and were afraid for their lives and fleeing terror and not intent on blowing up Britain. I think in the end I got through to him

I am concerned that the kind of views that Max expressed on Saturday night are being soaked up by a lot of people here not because these people are racist or Islamaphobic but who are frightened of different cultures that they don't understand because of the the kind of muck that they are reading on social media, the mainstream print media and are hearing on the TV. People who have an agenda and a bit of a profile are trying to scare and influence and I fear are beginning to be successful. We can't stand back and allow this to happen those of us who think that we should be an inclusive,  tolerant country need to stand up to this agenda and show it for what it's worth at every opportunity that presents itself. The flaws and out and out hatred of these peoples views need to be pointed out and ridiculed. If we don't then Daesh and the right wing xenophobes will win and I really don't want to live in a world where these kind of scumbags prevail.

Sly & The Family Stone - Everyday People

Monday 16 November 2015

I'm Waiting



Today's superb slice of soul is another single out of Shreveport Louisiana and the Jewel records subsidiary Ronn, I'm Waiting was the flip side to A Velvet Touch and was recorded in the back room of a TV repair shop in Shreveport, I once saw this track described as an "effortless groove" and that's it in a nutshell.

Bill Bush - I'm Waiting


Saturday 14 November 2015

Boy's Own Recordings - The Twelves BOIX 9



A bit of blog serendipity going on here. Yesterday SWC on one of his excellent guest posts mentioned this blog and this series in particular he also picked Fallen but the album version as one of his tracks, spooky or what as this post has been lined up for a while.

The ninth release from the Boy's Own stable was one that I awaited for as eagerly as I would have awaited Christmas as a wean. I couldn't quite believe it when I read somewhere, I don't remember where that Weatherall had gotten his hands on my favourite record by a mile from 1991 and was going to release a remix of it on Boy's Own. This was the stuff of dreams. Fallen and the similar sounding Come Alive by Orchestra JB sound tracking the winter of 91/92 for me.   However when I eventually procured a copy of  it I was immensely disappointed with what I heard. It's not that Weatherall's main mix  of Fallen (Nancy and Lee mix)  is bad it isn't and if I hadn't played the Soma released original so many times I would have loved it but I didn't feel that he added anything to it. I don't know what I was expecting as it is pretty hard to better perfection and Fallen in it's original incarnation is pretty near perfect for me. The Farley & Heller mix is just plain wrong, this tune was never meant to be an upbeat dancey number and it's Farley & Heller by numbers. The Monday Morning at Bobby N's is okay but nothing special. All in all this release was a bit of a a let down for me but it didn't stop me buying Boy's Own releases and the next one was awaited only with slightly less impatience than BOIX 9.

Have you ever wondered why the version on Morning Dove White is different to that on the single, no? Well I'll tell you anyway, the Boy's Own single was withdrawn a week or two after release as it contained an unlicensed sample from a Supertramp song, the actual one I can't remember and therefore the track had to be mixed again for the album.

One Dove - Fallen (Nancy and Lee mix)

One Dove - Fallen (Farley and Heller mix)

One Dove - Fallen (Monday Morning At Bobby N's mix)

Friday 13 November 2015

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance




You may be glad to discover that there aren't too many tracks left from the soundtrack of a Short Film About Chilling, just three more after today's. 

Having spent time in Aberdeen in the late 80s I was aware of who the Shamen were but hadn't really listened to much of their stuff, I had quite liked In Gorbachev We Trust but hadn't bought the album. On the recommendation of a friend I bought Pro>gen which I played quite a lot for a few weeks. I read somewhere that there are thirty odd mixes of this tune if you include the rerelease the following year entitled Move Any Mountain, you only need to have the Land of Oz mix which was mixed by Paul Oakenfold.

Third take on top of the table when the Diamonds host Dunfermline tomorrow. Oh how I would love to see us victorious not least as I know how annoyed a certain big streak of pish that was once married to a good friend of mine will be. Petty? You better believe it.

Have a good weekend people.

The Shamen - Pro>gen (Land of Oz mix)

Thursday 12 November 2015

RIP Phil Taylor



Saddened to hear of the death of the drummer of my favourite Motorhead line up, Fast Eddie on guitar, Philthy Phil on drums and Lemmy on bass and vocals.

Motorhead - Overkill

What The F**k Is Happening To Me!



I got this on 12" single the other week so it's not for download as it is still available for sale. It's a bit gothic I can hear a lot of the Banshees and other vampire styled bands which  would normally put me right off but I think that the Dan Carey production which is in a similar vein to the stuff he has done with Sexwitch and Toy makes it so appealing. It has had a fair amount of deck time recently.

What is slightly more troubling than my turning to the dark side is that on Monday on a whim,  while strolling back towards Waverley Station I popped into Fopp and bought 1989 by Taylor Swift. I may still have been drunk as L and I were in Edinburgh for an overnight on Sunday but I doubt it due to the price of beer in Stockbridge! Anyway, I have to admit that it is now stuck to the turntable, it's magic except for Bad Blood which is a bit meh. I really do like this album, not in some ironic hipster way I think it is very well crafted pop music.  Until a few weeks ago I knew who Ms Swift was  due to her removing her music from Spotify which I rather approved of  but had never knowingly listened to any of her music, then I heard Ryan Adams version of Shake It Off which sent me to the original which I think is absolutely fantastic. I asked L if she had heard of her and she told me that she had bought 1989 on cd and had played it a few times but I was obviously not listening.

By the way, Max is totally embarrassed and I also think disappointed as he thinks "Swift is crap".

I'm not sure I should have confessed to either of those things.

Pumarosa - Priestess

Wednesday 11 November 2015

Tuesday 10 November 2015

She Got Me Spinning, From The Beginning



No CC this is not the second posting in the shite lyrics series.

Stiff and I went to see the Wedding Present on Friday night at the Glasgow School of Art and they were abysmal! As if, there are not too many things that you can rely on in this life but one event that I would put my house on would be getting a blistering 90 minutes from Gedge and Co, no fannying about, plenty of affectionate banter and the odd song that you had half forgotten which is an absolute classic. Another thing that I would stick a tenner on at a Weddoes gig in Glasgow would be the punter requesting Flying Saucer, for as long as I can remember after the first set of three tunes the cry goes out "Flying Saucer!" and I'm sure it's the same guy and last Friday night he most certainly went home very happy as a blistering version of the song was played.  I have to admit on Saturday I ventured into the cupboard half way up the stairs and dug out the single and it has been played a fair few times since. They also performed Lynn's favourite Ringway to Seatac.

A few years back when I saw The Wedding Present at the Garage between Christmas and New Year  and was flush I bought the 10" box-set of Bizarro and Gedge who was floating about the merchandise stall asked if I wanted it signed and I for a joke said "nah you're alright" and walked away, I kicked myself later for not getting it signed. . Well on Friday night I bought the boys Bizarro T-shirts on account of their love of Kennedy (which was the third tune in the set on Friday) and the one which Leo wears a lot which used to be Max's bought quite a few years ago is getting well too tight. The only problem was that they didn't have any in kids sizes so I decided to get them ones that they will "grow into" but then thought would look good framed, if I got them signed, so this time I went up and asked David Gedge if he would autograph the shirts which he graciously personalised, giving me much kudos in their eyes on Saturday when I gave them to the boys, Leo being the much more impressed.

The Wedding Present - Flying Saucer

Monday 9 November 2015

Give Me A Chance





Words fail me. Suffice to say, if you don't find this song absolutely sublime then I really don't want to know you (can you tell that I did this post after rather too much red wine?). Doesn't mean I don't mean it though.

Etta James  - The Love Of My Man

Sunday 8 November 2015

Mellow Sunday





I spent a few  hours last night in the company of my nephew, the first kid I ever looked after on my own when he was just four weeks old and I had been up all night celebrating the Labour victory in 1997. He survived and has grown into a well rounded young adult with a love for good dance music. Compared to the other people I know of his age his taste in music is pretty good and we have agreed on a night out at Weatherall's ALFOS in Glasgow on 12th December.

Today's track is probably not everybody's idea of a mellow Sunday tune but once upon a time this is the kind of thing that I would have put on while making the breakfast on the sabbath prior to going to the pub and I suspect that if Lewis knew what it was he would blast this out also.

Glasgow Underground - Stella Sunday (Idjut Boys Sarbeni mix)


Saturday 7 November 2015

Boy's Own Recordings - The Twelves BOIX 8



I know absolutely nothing about Extortion, responsible for the eighth release on Boy's Own, other than the two  producers were Jason Load and Pavel De Jesus who brought in Dihan Brooks to add the vocals to How Do You See Me? their only record. Prior to the remix by Joey Negro that was released by Boy's Own the track had been released twice in the US first in 1990 and then again the following year It was also re-released in 1999 in the UK so someone must have rated it. Good House music for 1991 but rather dated now.

Extortion featuring Dinah Brooks - How Do You See Me Now? (Joey Negro's remix)

Extortion featuring Dinah Brooks - How Do You See Me Now? (Joey's Young Soul Rebel remix)


Friday 6 November 2015

Its Friday . . . Let's Dance




New Fast Automatic Daffodils as far as I can remember were also rans during all of the Manchester hype at the end of the 80s beginning of the nineties.I am not sure why I bought Baku but I'm pretty positive that It wasn't because I heard it on A Short Film About Chilling as I wasn't even aware that it it featured until I went back a few months ago and watched again and even then I didn't recognise it. I only realised it was there when I consulted the internet for the two tracks that I couldn't identify which sent me scurrying to the indie 12" singles cupboard as I knew that I had something by the band and low and behold it was Big. It was probably bought from a recommendation in one of the multitude of music magazines that I then bought. Weirdly the record has seen some turntable exposure as it looked pretty worn but I have no recollection of it at all and it obviously didn't spur me on to purchasing anything else by the band. The version used in the film was Big (Baku) and was remixed by Jon Dasilva.

No home game this week but I'm hoping it's dry on Saturday for the fireworks display but I'm resigned to the fact that we are going to get wet.

Have a good weekend people.

New Fast Automatic Daffodils - Big Baku

Thursday 5 November 2015

Children of Leir



Do you fancy some "Motornik drive, mystical horror influenced, psychedelic folk-pop"?

No I didn't think so but that's what your getting. The music sounds a lot better and less up it's arse than that description. Children of Leir are a duo from Leicester who have been making drone or psych rock together for the past three years and  have released a single. an  album and a four track limited 12" single.  the last of which has been mastered by Sonic Boom, so you can hazard a guess at what they sound like. I lap this kind of stuff up

Children of Leir - Drowning In Fear

Wednesday 4 November 2015

Whoa Oh Oh



I don't think that the Raveonettes are every going to win an Ivor Novello for songwriting. Their, lyrics have never been the best but i think that "so come along and pay the price, this ain't New York this tasty slice" has to be some of the worst I've ever heard, The song is somewhat redeemed in the following verse when the unmistakable sound of Ronnie Spector's voice breaks in, the lyrics don't matter a jot, you've got the lead singer of the Ronettes Whoa Oh Oh ing all over your record.

I know, I've got a cheek when I can't say any more than hej in Danish and I probably don't pronounce that correctly!

The Raveonettes - Ode To L.A.

Tuesday 3 November 2015

Let The Good Times Roll



I've been listening to a lot of Jimi Hendrix at the moment, in fact on Sunday I listened to the whole of the Woodstock album and Electric Ladyland which is an absolutely stunning album. I thought I had it in digital form until it came to preparing for this post when I found to my annoyance that it has not been ripped so you will have to do with the Youtube clip. Come On (part 1) is on Electric Ladyland, the Experience's third and final studio album before the group disintegrated. The track is a cover of a track by Earl King, itself based on a  jump up blues song from the late forties by Louis Jordan which in typical Hendrix fashion  he makes his own. I got really into the guitar solo during this at the weekend and lifted the needle to repeat three times. I think I might be regressing back to my fourteen year old self. I wonder if my Italian army jacket is still at my mother's? I can smell the patchouli oil.

Monday 2 November 2015

Sometimes All You Need . . .



. . . is a bit of Otis to start the week. This absolutely incredible, heart wrenching song was only a b-side, granted the flip side to Mr Pitiful but still a fucking b-side! Candi Staton has had a good stab at this as well but can't get close to Otis' rendition.

Otis Redding - That's How Strong My Love Is

Sunday 1 November 2015

It Seems Like Yesterday



Eighteen years ago today I went from being a bidey-in to  legitimate legally wedded millstone round L's neck.

Happy anniversary doll.

Richard Hawley - I'm On Nights

Couldn't find a picture that wasn't mawkish or vomit inducing.