Friday 28 July 2017

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



Reach came on the Fiio the other day and my first thought was that it wasn't as fierce as I remembered it being the breakbeats not quite so frantic or the synth stabs as jarring must be something to do with the passage of time, I'm not trying to say it's dated or anything, I think I like it more now than I did then. Plavka's vocals although saying not very much at all but summing up the mood in the clubs at the time perfectly,  are still as soulful as ever.

RIP Casper Pound, a guy taken far too early.

Have a good weekend people.

Rising High Collective - Reach


Thursday 27 July 2017

The Regrettes



Stumbled across this the other week. Don't know anything bout the band but this makes me want to investigate further. Definitely if at work listen through headphones as there are a few sweary words in there. I think that this should be adopted as the theme song for the female "talent" at the BBC. You can find out more about them here. It looks as though they will be in Glasgow in October, I may have to attend.




Wednesday 26 July 2017

Happy Birthday Doll!



It's L's birthday today and it is quite a significant one. Unfortunately I'm in Belfast with work for a couple of  days but there is the party to look forward to at the weekend.

L loves a bit of Paolo

Tuesday 25 July 2017

Bob Seger? You're Kidding Right?



I most certainly am not but I think that the chances of the name being typed on this blog again are very slim. This is the man who was responsible for one of the smoochin songs at the YMCA discos in the early 80s in Lanark when you would take to the floor if you were lucky enough to have a winch for the night and shuffle totally out of time to the music while Bob would sing " we got tonight, who needs tomorrow", your faces locked together swapping spit. 2 +2 = ? is a totally different beast,  a screaming anti Vietnam protest song from 1968 that up until recently was very rare indeed.

Earlier this year Jack White managed to secure the rights to the track and re-released it on Third Man Records for RSD and I failed miserably to get a copy, So when I saw a tweet from Monorail on Thursday stating that they had copies of the limited black re-press in stock. I knew where my first port of call was going to be on Friday afternoon when I was in the town getting something for L's birthday from the boys.  I took the scooter into the town and straight to Kings Street and checked through the racks, no single. I checked through all the sections just to be sure. Nothing and so I asked one of the staff, I think they're all sold out but I'll check. . . No sorry" And so I went to leave when one of the other staff said "we have a copy kept back for such and such but I know that he is on holiday and we have ordered another two copies so he could get one of those when he gets back, so here you go". Now that is what I call customer service and one of the reasons why I love the place.

I think that Jack White might have been listening to this when he came up with the riff for Seven Nation Army. What do you reckon?

My luck wasn't all good on Friday as when I  left Monorail I snapped my scooter key in the glove box lock and half an hour was spent trying to retrieve half of the key from the lock and a further hour or so wandering round Glasgow to find a Timpsons with a key close enough to it to cut to fit. It all ended fine as I got to Nancy Smillie's in the West End and got L's present.

I'm not going to post the single as I believe that there are still copies out there.




Monday 24 July 2017

Scandi Soul, Anyone?




The 45, and I'm not talking about the Scottish Independence Referendum from a few years ago here, is the lead track from the 10" ep by D/Troit released back in 2015. It is a cracking bit of soul from Copenhagen and an ode to the 7" single. I know that soul music isn't confined to the States and can and should be made everywhere but I am still surprised that something of the quality of all 6 tracks on this ep should come from the label that originally brought us The Raveonettes an act that I naturally associate with Denmark. D/troit have a new single Soul Sound System which was released a few weeks and a whole album due for release very soon and one which will most definitely be spinning on my turntable before too long.

D/Troit - The 45 


Friday 21 July 2017

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



The nostalgia continues as we travel further back to 1991 for the first record from a trio who would change direction completely a few years later after their studio burnt down, But not before releasing at least two bona fide dance classics.

Space Face was produced with the soul intention of getting the three Hacienda regulars onto the guest list. The track pressed up with money from their parents became a regular play at the Manchester club. The "my god it's full of stars" comes from 2010 the follow up to Kubrick's 2001 both of which seemed very far off when out of your nut in a club or field at the beginning of the 90s.

Have a good weekend people.

Sub Sub - Space Face

Thursday 20 July 2017

Life Just Bounces



Only a week to go until New Facts Emerge, the latest long player from the mighty Fall. I know Ctel, only eight days more to wait! I am hoping that the vocals are a bit clearer and actually contain some real, actual words, although judging on the evidence of recent gigs I wouldn't go putting any money on it. I yearn for the days of non-rhyming couplets like

"on tv today somebody claimed their dog
had been molested by a textile chemist

But life just bounces so don't you get worried at all
sometimes life just bounces so don't you get worried at all"

Lines from Life Just Bounces which was originally released on Cerebral Caustic. This version is the live one from the In The City cd. Apparently the tune was inspired by Elton John and Kiki Dee's Don't Go Breaking My Heart, which must be true as MES said so in an interview in the Melody Maker,

The Fall - Life Just Bounces (In The City)

Wednesday 19 July 2017

Carmen Villain



The majority of stuff that I am enjoying at present could be said to be either psych or kraut influenced. Here is another brilliant pulsing motorik 4x4 driving beat that could easily go on twice as long without being boring ( I know that I have used that phrase on more than a couple of occasions but repetition is the key anyway. This track comes from a 12" of remixes of tracks from Norwegian Carmen Villain's only album to date, Sleeper. The 12" includes remixes of a couple of other tracks by Peaking Lights and JD Twitch and is well worth seeking out.


Tuesday 18 July 2017

Why Don't You Smile



Today's piece of mid 60s Garage greatness isn't as furious in tempo as most of the other tracks in this unintended series have been,  Why Don't You Smile was the flip side of the debut single of  The All Night Workers from Syracuse,  New York and was released on the Round Sound label in 1965. The a side is a blue eyed soul number that picked up some plays on the northern scene, however I find it rather formulaic and well,  meh. The flip is far more interesting not least as the track is also the first recorded output of a collaboration of two young guys who the following year would write and record one of the most influential albums ever,  not that it was apparent at the time. The two talented songwriters were Lou Reed and John Cale and according to the latter this song was written after a heavy drinking session.

The All Night Workers - Why Don't You Smile

If the song sounds familiar it may be because you have heard either the cover version from 1966 by The Downliners Sect or more probably the Spiritualized interpretation released as a single in 1991. The version posted below is an alternative version from the Blue on Blue bootleg which Will Carruthers sold by mail order in 2007 to raise some cash

Spiritualized - Why Don't You Smile (Alt mix)

Monday 17 July 2017

You've Been Away



Northern soul music has been used to sell all sorts of shit over the years. Credit Cards (Come On Train), Fried Chicken (loads of tracks) and bloody eggs (Do I Love You) to point out just three products that have used classic songs to entice you to get further into debt, make an omelette or end up with heartburn,  Butt the connection between product and song usually has me at a loss, But none is as incongruous as the use of Rubin's absolute belter to sell fucking cat food?

The single was released in 1968 on Kapp and as usual failed to chart and subsequently when re-discovered became huge on the northern scene for about a year and then fell out of favour until resurrected for the cat food commercial and has been very popular since then. The identity of "Rubin" is not entirely clear and has been open to speculation ever since the record was unearthed.

I seem to have misplaced the dodgy bootleg copy I have.

Rubin - You've Been Away

Saturday 15 July 2017

Happy Birthday



I saw this on Twitter and thought that it should be marked, Harry Dean Stanton, one of my favourite actors is 91 today. I loved him in, Pretty in Pink, Repo Man and especially his heart bursting performance in Paris Texas. Below is a post from the very early days of this blog,

All the best Harry and here's to many more!

Today's track is a bit of a curiosity. I say track but it is really a scene from one of my favorite films which was included in it's entirety on the soundtrack album.

Paris Texas was a film directed by Wim Wenders from a story written by Sam Shepherd and starring Harry Dean Stanton. At it's basics it is the story of an amnesiac who has reappeared after 4 years and of his attempt to make sense of what happened and try to reconcile his family on his return. The film is beautifully shot and has some wonderful performances notably Harry Dean Stanton and Dean Stockwell. Or as one of my less discerning friends once said, "self indulgent, chin stroking pish".

I've never been a great fan of Ry Cooder's music but I don't think that this film would have half the impact without the harsh, jarring sound of his steel guitar and especially the acoustic Spanish guitar which breaks in half way through the track posted and which turns an already emotional scene into a heartbreaking one.

Enjoy.

Ry Cooder - I Knew These People

Friday 14 July 2017

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



I bet that you have missed your weekly dose of less than "upfront" dance tunes on a Friday for the past few weeks, eh? Well today's almost fresh sound from only twenty four years ago should maybe fill that void. Smells Like Heaven was one of the many aliases of Fabio Paras, or Fabio Borzacco as he is known to his mother. This is the man who was responsible for That Piano track by Outrage which featured on The Junior Boy's Own Collection and some cracking remixes for the likes of The Aloof and De Ja Vu. Londres Strutt like most of the producer's output is heavily percussion driven and in the Rhythm De Londres mix throbs along with the best progressive house monsters of 1993. It was originally released on Dean Thatcher and Charlie Chester's Cowboy records and then later the same year picked up by DeConstruction and given a couple of remixes by Gypsy and Boomshanka, however the version posted is the one, the original mix annoys me with the repeated use of the "baseline, baseline, baseline kicking, I'm grooving" sample. Wellin my opinion anyway.

Have a good weekend people.

Smells Like Heaven - Londres Strutt (Rhythm De Londres mix)



Thursday 13 July 2017

Repetition



There is something about repetition like the drone that just sucks me in. So when I heard that Al Lover, an artist who I also found via Hoga Nord,  was releasing an homage to one of the pioneers of the sounds that would become known as Kraut along with the equally groundbreaking Suicide it didn't take much for me to hit the buy now button. The resulting white 10" single entitled Neuicide has one side dedicated to the duo from NYC and the other to the band from Dusseldorf and both are well worth purchasing. For me, at the moment the NEUicide side as oppossed to neuICIDE on the flip is winning out.

Al Lover - NEUicide


Wednesday 12 July 2017

USB




I first stumbled across Hoga Nord Rekords  at the tail end of 2015 when I heard the Pistol Disco 7" double header Goo/Pool and since then have been hooked and have bought all of the singles since and due to the quality took the plunge at the beginning of this year to join the singles club. The label is based in Gothenburg in Sweden and I assume that most of the acts on the label are from Scandinavia but I could be wrong as the likes of Timothy J Fairplay, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Al Lover have all had output on the label  All three releases this year have been by bands, collectives, whatever that I have never heard of before but all of which have been extremely good. The track featured today is the b-side of the latest release,  HNR020 by Ultra Satan, whose members have also recorded with various other acts from the label. This laid back groove and barely audible vocal is just right for the long lazy days of summer that people get elsewhere and if it went on twice long as it does it would not outstay it's welcome. This track is not for download due to it being current, the single can be purchased straight from the label or from Piccadilly Records and I'm sure are the tracks are available digitally from the usual outlets.

Ultra Satan - USB

Tuesday 11 July 2017

I'm A King Bee



The Bad Seeds were formed in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1964 and if the records that I have heard are anything to go by they owned more than a couple of Rolling Stones records. I'm A King Bee is the flip side of the group's first single, A Taste of the Same released on local label J-Beck records in 1965. They went on to release another couple of singles but disbanded not long after coming second in a Battle of the Bands competition to the Zakary Thaks who I have featured before. I think there's a good chance that an original of this could be found Lux and Ivy's in record collection.

The Bad Seeds - I'm A King Bee

Monday 10 July 2017

One More Chance



Well that was a quick two weeks. The pantry is now well stocked up on Foie Gras, Cassoulet and Confit du Canard. I think that I may have also done some serious damage to my suspension with the amount of wine that we brought back! But now it's back to the grind.

This Monday's bit of soul is from deep in the heart of Texas, Houston to be precise, at least that was wher etyhe Back Beat label was based but I know that some singles released on the label were recorded in Memphis, Chicago and also Detroit so this may have been produced elsewhere to. Shirley Lawson also known as Shirley Walker was the lead vocalist in the Curtis Mayfield produced group the Fascinations and therefore there is a good chance that One More Chance may have been recorded in the Windy City but I can't find anything to back that up. Irrespective of where the track was recorded this uptempo bit of soul released in 1966 makes the start of the new working week that little bit easier to bear. This track should not be confused with the song by Margie Joseph with the same title.

Shirley Lawson - One More Chance