The Project Part 1

A few weeks ago on a Saturday night, I was sitting in the record/dining room on my new chair listening to music as is my want when Lynn came in to ask me something,  I can't remember what but at the end she said "you really need to do something about all those records all over the floor" I looked around and she was right, there were records all over the place, in neat piles but encroaching on the rest of the room too much. This was highlighted due to the fact that during the festive period a lot of the records were moved out as the room really needed to be a dining room and it was a hell of a lot easier to navigate your way around the room and if I'm being totally honest a lot more pleasing to the eye.

So I agreed but added "what?"

"Well, we could get rid of that for a start" she said pointing to the horrendous 1950s kitchen cabinet that the previous owners had fitted into the corner of the room and up until this point I had managed to ignore Lynn's hints at getting rid of. Not because I found it aesthetically pleasing or thought that it fitted in with the rest of the room as it clearly didn't but because the extra storage was helpful and more to the point I thought that getting rid of it wouldn't be as easy as my better half thought and I just couldn't be arsed with the hassle.

That was until she dropped the suggestion, "we could get rid of that and get a bigger one of those units (Kallax) that could hold all of the records".

Two minutes later I was back in the room with my hammer and a chisel that I had quickly located from my tool box in the cupboard half way up the stairs and was trying to spring the facings from the cabinet to have a look at how it was secured to the wall.

It turned out that the answer to that was not very well, however when I looked behind it I realised as I suspected that this was not going to be as easy as just emptying the cupboard and trying to get it out of the room. oh did I forget to mention that the unit was 18 inches taller than the door frame and just about as wide! It turned out that the guy who had put the unit in may have been a Clerk of Works but he wisnae  nae jyner. Instead of scribing round the skirtings and dado rail he had cut both off!

So here was my first problem, as the house is pre 20th Century and the skirtings looked pretty original it would probably be difficult to source the two bits that I would need, I know that skirting board certainly doesn't come 250 mm deep these days. I was less concerned by the dado rail as it looked as if it had been added later and the mould looked familiar not too ornate.

When we managed to pull the cupboard further out to inspect behind it more closely problem number two became apparent, we would also need to try and match up the dado panels below where the non existent dado rail should have been. After consulting the internet this problem appeared to be easily overcome as there were various web-sites offering up the same pattern but at a price.  Fuck it, I thought, it needs to be done and duly ordered the dado panel anagylpta.

I decided to call it a night at this point as there wasn't much else that could be done until the paper arrived and I had sourced the timber.

Not sure where I'm going with this music wise but here is a track from the great, new Whyte Horses covers album, Hard Times  which had taken up residence the week prior to all these fun and games started. It is quite strange that my favourite track from this album should be a Bee Gees cover as during the Christmas holidays I had bought a best off the Bee Gees (pre 70s) cd as I had an urge to hear To Love Somebody and I Started a Joke and had become quite obsessed with the album much to Lynn's amusement. Mister Natural, however is not from that period of the group but from the immaculately coiffured, shiny teethed on the cusp of disco dominance period.  The other thing about this cover is the singer, La Roux, who I only knew previously as the shrill sounding singer of In For The Kill but she sounds nothing like that on this track.

If you haven't already purchased this album you really need to do so, with covers of Lou Reed, Plastic Bertrand and Curtis Mayfield tracks in amongst the more obscure it is a great listen with some very good guest singers including John Grant, Tracyanne Campbell and Gruff Rhys amoungst them.

Rest Easy Andrew

06/04/1963 to 17/02/2020

God I wish that I wasn't writing this post but there is no way that I couldn't mark the passing of the genius that was Andrew Weatherall. I know that that word is bandied about with abandon these days and therefore the meaning is diminished somewhat but what else can you call someone who goes into the studio with absolutely no experience in remixing music and turns a bluesy ballad into something that helped to define a genre of music and also turned many an indie kid onto the joys of E and dancing in fields to repetitive beats. Then for the next three decades shifts, changes directions, runs clubs, sets up labels, writes, collaborates with some of the most talented musicians around,  becomes artist in residence for a publisher and never once has his name on anything that is stale, tired or just going through the motions.

I still remember vividly the day that I brought Loaded home played it, got straight on the scooter down to El-Arish barged in to where Stiff was sitting in the living room watching some pish on the telly and excitedly breathlessly, stated  "you've got to listen to this!" to which his question was

"who is it?"

"Primal Scream" I informed him

"Fuck off" and a snigger was the reply

"No really you need to hear this"

"Aw, alright" he replied humouring me.

So I cranked up Mrs G's ancient stereo, put the 12" single on and watched his face change from slight annoyance that his concentration on whatever he was watching was interrupted, to bemusement and then sheer joy as he began to comprehend the absolute brilliance of what he was hearing.

"No way is that Primal Scream"

"It fucking is", and after consulting the back cover,  "produced by Andrew Weatherall"

The record took up squatters rights on Mrs G's stereo for god knows how long after that. The following Friday I went back into Fopp and picked up another copy and that was it for the next thirty years if it had Andrew Weatherall's name as artist, producer, remixer or co-conspirator on it and I could get my hands on a physical format I bought it, even if it was Texas or the xx Teens. I am not going to lie to you I didn't fall in love with it all, some of it took a while to grow on me, a few thing I never got at all, the remix of Nowhere by Therapy?  but 99% of it is essential. As far as remixes go I still maintain that there is only one track he has never improved upon the original and that was Fallen by One Dove but then again it is impossible to surpass perfection. He did however do a wonderful job when he produced Morning Dove White, I think more of an exemplar of his talents than Screamadelica but I know I am in the minority on that one.

I was ever so slightly disappointed by the second Woodleigh Research Facility album, 127 To Facility 4 when I managed to get one of the limited copies just before Christmas, it had the feel of a work in progress to me, sketches of tunes when I first heard it and I still don't think it is him at his best but then again the Unknown Plunderer 12" which is supposed to be released this Friday sounds absolutely fantastic and the recent remixes of the thirty eight year old Venetians track, Son Sur Sun, is space disco at it's best.

When I think about it, the Guv'nor over the years has had as much of an influence over my music collection as Stiff's older brothers and my cousin Stuart. He set me off searching for things either through samples used, music discussed in interviews or tracks played in his dj sets or his radio shows, the later being responsible for me being financially embarrassed long before payday most months! As |I was typing this I could see the post-it notes containing records to buy from the last few Music's Not For Everyone shows stuck to the wall at my side.

I still really can't get my head round the fact that this overly hairy, uniquely attired, musical tastemaker will no longer be dictating a large part of my music listening and purchasing or that my dream of attending the Convenanza festival in Carcassonne will remain that,  just a dream.

My deepest condolences go out to his family and friends. As John Niven said on Twitter earlier "how much poorer this world is without Andy Weatherall in it".



Primal Scream - Loaded 

Two Lone Swordsmen - Get Out Of My Kingdom

Monday's Long Song

By 1993  Shoegaze was a much derided genre, in fact a part from a very few bands from the late 80s, I body-swerved anything tagged or reviewed as such as most of it was just pish reliant on effects pedals and distorted meaningless lyrics made by white pimply studenty types who were unable or unwilling to get grooving and dismissed music made by machines as in some way as not being real music. So Chapterhouse were a band that I took absolutely fuck all notice of , even though they seemed to be in every music mag all the time. That was until I heard that that they had been remixed by Global Communication, a.k.a The Jedi Knights or alternately known as Reload, this piqued my interest and I subsequently bought the 12" single that contained two of the phases of their reworking of the shoegazers album Blood Music. I can't tell you how radically different these tracks are from the source material as I have no interest in hearing the originals but I suspect that Chapterthouse fans or anybody else would have difficulty pairing these two ambient masterpieces with anything from the original album. I am at a loss as to why I didn't buy the cd, Pentamerous Metamorphoses,  containing  all 5 phases of the remix project, possibly because I considered the title pretentious wank or more probably because I was even less inclined to buy cds back in 1993 than I am now as back then the pricing was reversed with cds being ridiculously expensive and vinyl being better for your budget.

Pretentious wank, the title of the cd may be but the two "phases", even though they have been named after Greek letters of the alphabet, have stood up to the test of time pretty well. Here is the Alpha phase.

Chapterhouse - Alpha Phase 

Monday's Long Song

A collaboration with the Orb and one member of Pink Floyd or another was something that had been rumoured about more than once before it did happen, in fact there is a bootleg out there of remixes of Dark Side of The Moon that purported to be by The Orb but was in fact bollocks. So when David Gilmour collaborated with Alex Paterson and Youth on the Metallic Spheres album, 10 years ago now(!)  it was kind of a big deal and people had great expectations which were partially fulfilled, there is little doubt over who the is playing the guitar that wafts in and out of the two tracks that make up the album but I find that it doesn't hold my attention the way that the previous album Baghdad Batteries did. However, if you had pre-ordered the album you got a download code (hoi, record labels remember download codes?) for a bonus ambient mix which I must admit I have played a lot more over the subsequent years than the full album.

The Orb Featuring David Gilmour - Metallic Spheres (Ambient Mix)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

I was in the cupboard where the cds from R to Z are last weekend looking for something specific that I couldn't remember by the time I opened the cupboard. So while scanning the shelves hoping that what I was looking for would come back to me (it didn't by the way) I noticed a cd on one of the Various shelves called "The Art of Acid" which I vaguely remembered buying some time ago. The first cd of this 2 disc set is a Justin Robertson mix of of a lot of acid house classics which is a good mix but more interesting is the second disc where the likes of 808 State and Greg Wilson remix some Trax classics with varying degrees of success. One of the best is the remix of Frankie Knuckles/Jamie Principle classic, Your Love where Italian DJ/Producer Dusty Kid, strips it back, removes the vocals and stretches the track out and produces something although not a patch on the original is different enough to make it more than worthwhile.

Airdrieonians were pretty much woeful last Saturday against Raith Rovers, now I am no football tactical genius but if I can see that playing without a midfield and punts up from the back and hoping that it reaches one of the guys up front isn't really working then why can't the manager. One thing is for sure if they still want to challenge for promotion they need to start winning games pretty soon starting tomorrow away to Dumbarton, I will not be holding my breath.

Have a good weekend

Frankie Knuckles - Your Love (Dusty Kid Makes Love Tender edit)

Silence Of The Morning

Silence Of The Morning is one of the best bits of fuzz drenched heavy psych that came out in 1971 just as psych was morphing into heavy rock/metal.  The Glass Sun were formed in 1964 in the Detroit suburb of Westland but did not record any material until after they had returned from tours in Vietnam. They released two singles, Silence of The Morning in 1971 and Stick Over Me the following year. Both of which were largely ignored but have found an audience over the past ten years prompting the band to remaster all of tracks they recorded and release an album Cyclonic Review in 2014.

The Glass Sun - Silence of The Morning 

Streets of Kenny

I went to see Mick Head last Thursday at Summerhall in Edinburgh and he did not disappoint, although I did feel that he was rather nervous for the first couple of tracks. A great mixture of old and new tracks and when I heard Reach I was a bit gobsmacked as I was not expecting that and it sounded absolutely wonderful. The new material sounded really good too, so I now have even higher expectations for the next album.Streets of Kenny was another highlight of the night, in fact they were all highlights and of course Comedy to set us on our way as the final track of the night,  with JC and I racing out of the venue just as the song finished in order for me to get him to Haymarket to catch his train back to Glasgow.

Shack - Streets of Kenny

Monday's Long Song

I featured the Bjorn Torske remix  of Obedience from the same ep that today's remix of Carmen Villain comes from a few years ago. The Peaking Lights mix of Dreamo was the main track on the ep and the American psych husband and wife team produce a poppy, bouncy remix which is bound to put a spring in your step today.

Carmen Villain -  Dreamo (Peaking Lights remix)

It's Friday . . . I'm Not In The Mood To Dance

All I've got to say today is FUCK David Cameron!

Still,  blue passports, eh.

Taken today, got to love Glasgow.

William Orbit - Adagio for Strings

Stop

A bit of blue-eyed soul for a Tuesday.

This upbeat track was released on the Columbia label in 1966. As is usual with a lot of these tracks I can find very little about either Diamond or the record. I am sure that I once read that Bobby Diamond was better known as an actor and had a part in the original Death Wish film but I can't verify that. One thing for sure he did release a cracker of a record way back when.

Bobby Diamond - Stop

Monday's Long Song

A year ago today I was going to feature the live version of John Coltrane Stereo Blues from the RSD release "How We Found Ourselves . . . Everywhere!" by the Dream Syndicate.  This version was recorded in Philadelphia for WXPN, the University of Pennsylvania's radio station, excellent as this version is with the duelling guitars sounding so good, I do wish it had been the live recording that the band had done for KEXP that had been included in this release which is another three and a bit minutes longer.

link now sorted

The Dream Syndicate - John Coltrane Stereo Blues

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

A bit of Tech House from what I thought was a couple of years ago until I pulled out the shelves yesterday and looked at the date, 2013, so just the 7 years ago then. Desire is the lead track from the Mr Jones double pack 12" from Nina Kraviz. Quite minimal but very effective stuff. I have it on good authority from two of my nephews that Miss Kraviz is an excellent dj and knows how to work a Techno crowd.

Well that's the cup run over for another year. Airdrie were well and truly pumped last Saturday at Tynecastle. Hearts may be pish but they are pish two levels above the Diamonds and it showed. Back to the league this week and a home clash against Stranraer in the promotion bid. Although sitting at the bottom of the league, Stranraer were only beaten 2 nil by The Rangers not scudded five nothing, so another nail biting 90 minutes seem to be in prospect.

Have a good weekend people.

Nina Kraviz - Desire

Laugh At Me

God I love this cover version. It was originally written and recorded by Sonny Bono and released as a single in 1965. In 1969 Mott The Hoople recorded the song for their debut album and to say it is a tad Dylanesque would be a bit of an understatement and of course it's Ian Hunter's  voice that first grabs your attention but it's the music that holds the attention when it reaches it's peak it reminds me of You Can't Always Get What You Want, it may just be the organ. I once read somewhere that Hunter's vision for Mott The Hoople was Dylan backed by the Rolling Stones and it feels to me that he attained it on their first album.

Mott The Hoople - Laugh At Me

Boy

Cleveland Robinson born in  Macon, Georgia, raised in Pittsburgh then in the early 60s he moved with wife to Cleveland, Ohio where he recorded 15 singles and one album. His first single These Are The Hands after being picked up by the Ascot label caused interest from a few major labels, undeterred when none of the deals came to fruition, Robinson decided to start his own label, Nosnibor Records to release his music, he was now singer/writer/producer and label owner. Boy featured here was the 12th release on the label, another great soul side that failed to set the heather on fire but would set you back at least £250 if you were lucky enough to find a copy.

Cleveland Robinson - Boy

Monday's Long Song

Last week, the Swede posted a brilliant track by Mythic Sunship. I discoverd the Danish group last year and as you do, I noted the label that they were on El Paraiso and checked it out on Discogs and to my joy but also distress as what this may do to my finances noted that the label had been going for since 2011. I decided to check first check out a band called Kanaan, for no other reason than  that was just below a Mythic Sunship release on the page.

Kannan's  album is described thus on El Paraiso's website "Winborne is debut album from the Young Norwegian power trio Kanaan. With components from jazz, fusion and post rock they have created six extended pieces of blazin freeform psychedelia" 

Worth a listen then?  Of course it is and also worth picking up. They also have a second release Odense sessions scheduled for release in February and available for pre order here or from Amazon. I duly did on the strength of Winborne. A Hausenbecken below is the first track off of that debut.

Kanaan - A. Hausenbecken 

It's Friday . . . Mon The Diamonds!

January isn't getting any easier is it. I've got to that bit of the month that I realise exactly just how skint I am and it is getting me down, more so when it dawns on me that there are a couple more significant dunts to my bank balance to come before the wages drop for records that I just couldn't live without and bought through Paypal and ticked the pay in 14 days box. What I and I suspect quite a few of you could also do with is a tune that gives you a warm glow with memories of long drawn out warm sunny days.

The Sun Rising anyone?

Well tomorrow sees Airdrieonians take on Hearts in the Scottish Cup for the first time since the semi-final replay on  April 14th 1992 when the game ended one each and Airdrie came out on top after penalties and went on to lose 2-1 to Rangers in the final. Hopes are high as Hearts are right pish at the moment but knowing our luck tomorrow will be when their new manager Daniel Stendl's team click and we get pumped. Unconfirmed rumours on Twitter have said that the Diamonds have sold 3500 tickets, they have certainly sold out the allocation that was given but whether it's as many as that we shall see. One thing for sure is Leo is really excited about this game as it will be the largest he has attended and he is looking forward to going to Tyncastle for the first time. For me it will be the first time in over 25 years!

Have a good weekend people

The Beloved - The Sun Rising 

Suicide Is Painless

One of my favourite TV programs when growing up was M*A*S*H. So I was quite happy couple of months before Christmas after re-tuning the digi box in the bedroom and stumbling upon an episode on the newly acquired Sony TV channel (48) late one night which turned into being quite ecstatic when I realised that they were repeating the whole show all eleven series on weekday nights, well early mornings to be precise and therein lay the problem, four episodes a night from midnight. I was lucky to get to the end of the second each night before either falling asleep or being told to "turn that bloody telly off". Also after discussing the series with someone on Twitter I started to becoming increasingly annoyed with the canned laughter track. This had not been present when it was originally shown on BBC on I think a Wednesday night at 21:00 and I had successfully blocked it out until it had been brought to my attention.

As it was not going to be practical for me to watch all of the episodes I began to wonder if I should just record them all on the BT box downstairs but as it had already reached series 4 I decided that I would look and see if it would be possible to purchase the dvds of series 1-3, so I consulted Google, not only could I purchase all 11 series (260 episodes)  and  various specials on a 36 disc box set for the bargain price of £26, so I was sold before even reading that I could select to cut the laughter track from the sound, magic.

I am not sure how old I was when I started watching M*A*S*H first time, I couldn't have been that old but I must have at that time watching repeats as I can remember Col Blake and Trapper. I'm sure that I only partly understood it back then, I certainly didn't appreciate the subtlety, cleverness or excellent dialogue and it is certainly a lot darker then I remember.One thing I do remember from when I was a kid is that I was really upset at the last couple of episodes and now am not ashamed to admit I cried, although there is no way I would have admitted that as a fourteen or 15 yr old.

In 1992 the NME put out a a compilation album, Ruby Tracks, The Roaring 40 where they got 40 contemporary artist to cover classic UK #1 singles to commemorate 40 years of the publication. The album is worth owning for the Fall's version of The Legend of Xanadu alone. Other notable performances are Roddy Frame's (If Paradise Is) Half As Nice, Little Red Rooster by The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Manic Street Preachers rendition of The Theme From M.A.S.H which was also released as a single and reached #7 in the UK Charts.

Manic Street Preachers - Suicide Is Painless

Divine Intervention

Matthew Sweet had been in bands from the early 80s in his home town of Athens, Georgia, where he collaborated with a certain Michael Stipe and his sister in a band called the Oh-Ok. In 1985 Sweet went solo and signed with Columbia Records for whom he released a couple of albums. His debut Inside garnered critical acclaim but little in the way of sales. In 1989 he released a second album which fared just as badly as the first resulting in his being dropped by Columbia and to compound his woes his wife left him around the same time.

In 1990 he started work on the album which would eventually see the light of day under the title Girlfriend but which was initially titled Nothing Last. The title was changed due to the fact that Sweet wanted to use a picture of a 14 year old Tuesday Weld on the cover. Weld, those permission was sought for the use of the image, was in middle age at this time and although had no objection to the picture being used she did have reservation of the connotations around the use of the picture and the title and so Sweet changed it.

On it's release the album sold extremely well in the US and gave the artist the break he had been seeking. The theme of relationships in all their guises and Sweet's honest confessional lyrics struck a chord with the record buying public and critics alike.

From the first chord of the album's opening track, Divine Intervention I was hooked, the guitar sound has a very late 60s psychedelic feel to it and when it comes back in all to briefly after the false ending it never fails to give me shivers. Absolutely wonderful stuff that should have been a single.

Matthew Sweet - Divine Intervention

It's Growing

The Contours were one of the early male singing groups to join Berry Gordy's Motown soon to be empire. However Gordy turned the group down the first time they auditioned for him. The bass singer  Hubert Johnson, the bass singer was not going to take no for an answer and so visited his cousin, one Jackie Wilson who knew Gordy to ask if he could persuade the label owner to give them another chance which he did and after hearing the exact same songs as the first audition he signed the group to a 7 year contract. The group are probably best know for their million seller from 1962 Do You Love Me. My favourite track by them is Just A Little Misunderstanding, however this version of the Smokey Robinson penned, Temptations hit runs it a very close second. Prior to Richard Searling including the song on the first version of Tamla Motown Connoisseurs this was only ever available on a UK budget album from the early 70s.

Gorgeous stuff.

The Contours - It's Growing

Monday's Long Song

I had a shock last week when I pulled out the album that today's track is from and realised that I had owned it for thirty six years! One of the best live albums from one of the most underrated guitarists ever. Also from an album recorded in parts somewhere that not too many people would go to back in the early 70s. Rory Gallagher did not ignore his many fans on both sides of the divide during "the troubles" and played Northern Ireland all through the 70s.

An extremely talented guitarist who sadly died way too soon.

Rory Gallagher - Walk On Hot Coals 

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

There are two reasons that we need to end the working week with a complete banger this week.

Firstly, it has probably been one of the sairest, longest,  most fucking awful weeks of the year and let's just celebrate that we have put it behind us.

The second reason is Andy Ryan has returned to Airdrie on loan from Dunfermline until the end of the season. ANDY FUCKING RYAN! I know that this will mean sweet F A to most of you but to me, a few hundred others and especially Leo this IS the second coming, Andy Ryan only made 32 appearances for the Diamonds between May 2016 and August 2017, however during that time he scored 24 goals.

You may not be aware of this but the might Airdrionians are doing no bad at the moment , sitting second, two points behind those pesky Raith Rovers. Lets hope the signing of Ryan, Leon McCann and others who have committed their futures to the club mean that we go into the second half of the league with stability and some well deserved confidence.

Have a good weekend people.

ANDY FUCKING RYAN!

Mighty Dub Katz - Magic Carpet Ride (Fatboy Slim Latin Ska Acid Breakbeat mix)

Eleven

It's been touch and go over the past twelve months but I have managed to keep this thing semi-active for another year.

As always,  thanks.

The Pale Fountains - . . . From Across The Kitchen Table.

Deceived

Very little is know about this track or the artist that recorded it. Deceived was the flip side of the 1966 single Feminine Ingenuity released on Gold Token Records out of Los Angeles in 1966. It was first aired on the Northern scene in the mid to late 1980s and if you were looking to buy a copy of this lovely bit of soul it would set you back upwards of £600.

Ruby - Deceived 

Monday's Long Song

In one of my moodier moments I could possibly describe today's long piece of music as |"meandering pish", it is however the sort of gentle, none too taxing kind of thing needed to ease in the next working decade.

Chocolate Hills is a side product of Alex Paterson's in collaboration with Paul Conboy . They released a rather lovely ambient album, A Pail of Air, last year. And At The Same Time was one of the two bonus tracks with the digital release. A word of warning if you are considering buying the vinyl album, so far both of my copies have had to be returned due to excess noise and in the case of the second one loads of shit in the grooves of the vinyl.

Chocolate Hills - And At The Same Time

Out With The Old . . .

Health and happiness to everyone of you for the coming year and beyond.

I will try and post more regularly and be less half arsed about what I post too.

Jimi Hendrix - Little Drummer Boy/Silent Night/Auld Lang Syne

Merry Christmas

I hope you all received what you deserved from Santa this morning.

Have a great day.

The Housemartins - Caravan of Love

It Really Is The Best

I nearly forgot, sorry.

Darlene Love - Christmas

Monday's Long Christmassy Song

A bit late today, didn't get round to producing this post last night as I was trying to watch all of the Star Wars films prior to seeing the final one today.

Swiss Adam has posted tracks by Lindstrom the Norwegian producer in the past but I don't think that he has featured his epic reinterpretation of Little Drummer Boy before. This is not the kind of thing that you will play on a regular basis but if you have had your fill of the all the standard Christmas musical fayre this just might fit the bill. Sit back with a glass of egg nog or a pot of tea and let this 42 minute marathon inveigle itself into your consciousness. Stick with it, it is worth it.

Lindstrom - Little Drummer Boy

The Tracks Of My Year

It has been a very good, if somewhat expensive year on the music front. This year has seen me move even further towards psych and kraut influenced sounds of which there have been plenty. As ever a certain A.Weatherall makes an appearance and is the only person to have featured in every round up in the 10 years that this blog has been trying to force what in my arrogant opinion are the best tracks of the year,  however this is the first year that he has been responsible for the top tune. I must have played his remix of Edge of Wonder at least 50 times and it still never fails to make me smile. However, if the Sault track had been released as a 7" it would probably have taken the top spot as it would have been flogged to death, if there was a tune of 2019 that warranted a release in that form at it was Let Me Go. I was lucky enough to get the last copy of the Jarv Is 12" one Saturday in July on one of my regular visits to Monorail.

There have been loads of those songs that have grabbed me this year but at the time of writing these are the ones from the notebook where I jot down songs that really make an impression on me. There will be a couple of glaring omissions as usual but that's just life.

1. Silver Apples - Edge of Wonder (Andrew Weatherall mix)
2. Sault - Let Me Go
3. Unloved - Boy & Girl
4. Glok - Dissident
5. L'Epee - Une Lune Etrange
6. Kate Tempest - People's Faces
7. Mattiel - Keep The Change
8. Jarv is - Must I Evolve
9. Chemical Brothers - Out Of Control (21 minutes of madness)
10. Karen O & Dangermouse - Lux Prima (full version)
11. Utopia Strong - Brain Surgeons 3
12. Cowgirl In Sweden - Blood Runs Cold
13. Les Big Byrd - Sno Golum
14.[Retreat] - Come With Us
15. Lo-Five - Life Without Fear
16. W.H. Lung - Simpatico People
17. Dallas Acid - The Spiral Arm
18. Self Esteem - The Best
19. Dream Division - Quantum Rip
20. Moon Duo - Lost Heads
21. Kungens Man - Man Med Medel
22. Four Tet - Anna Painting
23. Jenny Lewis - Hollywood Lawn
24. The Regrettes - California Friends
25. Post Human - Over The Great Red Eye
26. K.H. - Only Human
27. [Retreat] - One One One
28. Sendelica - Windmill (Chocolate Orb dubbed mix)
29. Black Doldrums - T-W-R-T-N-D-H (Broken Light mix)
30. Nick Waterhouse - Song For Winners
31. Sunray - Music For The Dream Machine - phase II (original mix)
32.Scott Fraser - Together More
33. The Action - Follow Me
34. The Cult of Free Love -  Substance 2
35. Richard Fearless - Acid Angels
36. Moon Goose - The Mysterious Coffins of Arthur's Seat
37.Hannah Peel - The Moon In All It's Splendour
38. Psychic Lemon - Dark Matter
39. Meursault - Beaten
40.The Liminanas - Non, Non, Rien Na Change

Don't Let Him Waste Your Time

All this talk of trying to get that Jarvis Cocker track to number one for Christmas, a sentiment and action that I heartily recommend even though I usually don't approve of this kind of thing, it's Christmas for fuck sake, lets try not be cynical for a wee while at least but what's the point of covering up or trying to hide the shit we are in at present. . . ,

Well it got me thinking of Nancy Sinatra and one of the songs that Jarvis wrote for her, Don't Let Him Waste Your Time  and was included in the self titled album from 2004, which is a great album even the song written by Bonzo is tolerable. Jarvis later included a version of the song on his own first solo album.

Nancy Sinatra - Don't Let Him Waste Your Time

I Can't Stand It

This fine piece of 70's funk has been posted before but it was over five years ago and I feel it could do with another airing.

I know absolutely nothing about Brenda George other than what I have gleaned from Discogs and a couple of soul site and that doesn't amount to very much. Brenda released three singles between 1971 and the following year. I Can't Stand It was the flip side of the first of these 45s, What You See Is What You Get released on the Kent label in 1971 and for me is the strongest of the tracks. My copy is the re-release that came out on BGP in 2010.

Brenda George - I Can't Stand It (I Can't Take No More)

Albums of the Year

I have bought far too many albums this year, quite a few if truth be told I will rarely play but at the time I believed were essential purchases. There were quite a few more that I was severely tempted by but resisted including all but two of the Stereolab reissues. While talking about reissues, one that I hummed and hawed about including in my top ten was I Trawl The Megahertz, an absolute treasure of an album that would have been high up the list.  But it is a re-release even though this time it is under the Prefab Sprout moniker and not as when originally released a Paddy McAloon record. Another couple of  records that would have been included I have no doubt if they had been released  and purchased earlier in the year would have been Chef by Kungens Man and the Spiral Arm by Dallas Acid which have not been played enough yet to push out any of the ones on the list.

So here we go

10. Unloved - Heartbreak

The second album from David Holmes' collaboration with Keefus Ciancia and Jade Vincent bring us more soulful cinemascope tunes that conjour up visions of 60s psychedelia, twisted girl group sounds and coolness. Both and Girl is a song that I have been unable to get out of my head ever since I first heard it, it is such a beautifully sad song that does feel really familiar.

9. Cowgirl In Sweden

Another album that harks back to the late 60s, taking it's name from  Lee Hazlewood's 1970 album Cowboys In Sweden and including a cover of a song by psychedelic folk band The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. This album led me to Manchester's Whyte Horses, a revelation to these ears who those in the know say made this record and from there to the Justin Velor album released back in 2012 and well worth checking out. The Cowgirl In Sweden album is one for lazy summer days or sitting on a dank December night dreaming of warm, lazy summer days.

Cowgirl In Sweden - Welcome Home

8. Lo-Five - Geography of The Abyss

A gorgeous album which is apparently an exploration of advanced states of consciousness and shifts in perception. It is something that is best listened to as a whole but also works as individual tracks. It reminds me of the work of Jon Hopkins. It is also beautifully packaged and can be purchased from one time blogger, Colin Morrison's excellent Castles In Space label.

7. L'eppe - Diabolique

Does Anton Newcombe ever sleep? What with touring, producing for other people and releasing albums every year as part of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, he still finds time to start up a side project with Emmanuelle Seigner and the Liminanas. More 60s psych influences here with added drone.

6. The Utopia Strong - The Utopia Strong

I never thought I would ever be listening to an album recorded by Steve Davis, yes that Steve Davis. I knew that after snooker he had turned to the decks and had become a techno dj which had been a surprise as I thought that he was a bit of a Northern Soul man. But part of a trio making modern kosmiche, nah,  no way. But yes and incredibly good experimental 70s German influenced music it is too and once again wonderfully packaged.

5. Nick Waterhouse - Nick Waterhouse

On album number four Nick Waterhouse gives us more music for men in sharp suits and women in minidresses grooving in smokey dim light after hours clubs. If it ain't broke. . . don't fuck about with it.

4. Glok - Dissident

Balearic, techno krautrock from the guitarist in Ride?  Fuck off!

No, listen, it is absolutely magic

About as likely as a 6 times snooker world champion playing modular synths.

3. [Retreat] - Retreat

Collaboration by Lyndon Scarfe from The Black Lamps and Sam Horton another resident off Barnsley who have teamed up to make an album that on listening to the first track you think is just going to be another of those ambient things that take bits of dialogue from space missions and drench them with synth sounds to create a "soundscape" but fuck me no, it twists and turns from "Yorkshire's answer to MES" ranting over a pounding beat through distorted brass, foreboding synths and culminating in a track to accompany some cataclysmic event. This is what Twitter is for, finding musicians that are making amazing music that would otherwise have passed me by. Well that and Momentum and fascist baiting.

2. Dream Division - Transcend

More music to soundtrack a nightmare. This time a John Carpenteresque Sci-Fi Horror. More analogue synths and psychedelic sounds from the Polyphonic Youth label.

1. Karen O & Danger Mouse - Lux Prima

I can't put my finger on just why I like this album more than anything else I have bought this year I just know that I do. The production is immaculate as you would expect, the album as a whole has a dreamy feel to it and flits from the almost symphonic title track through the disco like Turn The Light to the cinematic end title sounds of Nox Lumina, taking in hip hop beats here and four to the floor northern stomping there and garage guitars for good measure.




Tune in on Saturday for the Tracks of My Year, if you are remotely interested.

Monday's Long Song

Back in 2007 Will Carruthers made two cds available by mail order that consisted of outtakes and rehearsals of early Spiritualized recordings. On the communication regarding the Blue and Blue compilation he stated

"This will be the last of these

I feel that it hurts nobody

It is very limited, and I guess, is of specific interest to a small, but loyal following, only a percentage of who will actually buy it.

You, presumably want to hear it, and I, finally make a little return on the 

work that I put into these songs all those years ago,

I really enjoyed listening to this cd and it brought back some of the good times that I had whilst being involved with thee making of this music

I hope you find something you like.

If you could bear not to make these freely available to share for a month or so, you might give me the opportunity to flee the country before i am crushed like a bug by some monolithic organisation

Thank You

Will Carruthers"

Here from the first Spiritualized rehersal is a version of Sometimes which appeared on the final Spacemen 3 album recurring

Spiritualized - Sometimes (rehearsal)

Jesus Wept!

Say Yes!

We all know what we've got to do.

Comet Gain - Say Yes!

Gold!Frankinsense!FR!

I absolutely adore this tune and always have since I first heard it, over a decade ago now. And it gives me a glow and a big grin comes across my coupon after I've dug the single out off the boxes in the cupboard on the half landing put it on the turntable and Leo wanders around the house singing this but it also causes an ache in my heart for obvious reasons.

Make tiny changes and hopefully a rather large one on Thursday. Here's hoping.

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

Monday's Long Song

Most probably the only song recorded to namecheck a Scottish referee, well until somebody records "Who's The Mason In The Black?" anyway but that doesn't actually put a name to one, although I know a few people who could list many that they suspect but I digress. Mogwai did not only record a song about a referee but a an official who it appeared to me had a great dislike for my team, a failing that he passed down to his first born, although I think the son is just pish and incompetent rather than having an agenda although I could be wrong. 

For the first two days of my honeymoon I was left to my own devices, Lynn having caught a pretty bad case of food poisoning from calamari on the evening of our arrival in Barcelona. The first day between running back to the hotel every couple of hours to check on her I spent most of my time and a wee bit of our money wandering about the record shops of the city of which at the time there were plenty. On the second day I decided to seek out and maker a pilgrimage to Camp Nou as I knew that Lynn would not be in the slightest bit interested in going there once she had recovered. When I eventually found it I discovered that on the Wednesday night there was a Champions League game against Dynamo Kiev. I thought that this would be a great introduction to football for Lynn, who at the time had never been to a football match and duly handed over about a third of our remaining holiday funds on two tickets for the game.

I wouldn't say Lynn was ecstatic at the prospect when I returned to the hotel and told her where we would be going on a couple of nights time but she didn't explode either which I took as a good sign although was probably due to the after effects of the recent food poisoning.

So on the Wednesday night we arrived at the stadium and climbed and climbed and climbed up to near the very top of the stadium behind one goal and sat down. When the announcer after listing the teams that night got to the officials I nearly chocked on my beer as we were informed that the referee for the evening was one Hugh Dallas from Scotland! Was there no hiding place from the man from Bonkle.

The score I hear you ask, what was the score? Sadly this was not a classic Barcelona line-up under the management of Louis van Gaal  and they were gubbed  0 - 4, with up and coming Andre Shevchenko netting a hattrick. 

Lynn has yet to attend another football match. Every time I suggest accompanying me and Leo to The Penny Cabs Stadium she just laughs for some reason.

Mogwai - Hugh Dallas 

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Here's a repost of a repost. I really want to get the Friday posts back up and running but just haven't found the inspiration yet, so I thought I would post a selection of previous ones and see if that gets me going.

Today's posting is a re-post from the very early days of the blog April 2009 as I haven't had a chance to think of anything for today, Back then it  wasn't a It's Friday  . .  Let's Dance post .

Have a good weekend people.

By 1990 the acid house party was well and truly over what with the adverse publicity, the hounding of promoters and the fact that every single seemed to come with an acid house remix, stick a couple of wobbly 303 sounds on your record and you were sorted.

Dance music, however was going from strength to strength. It seemed to be fragmenting into dozens of sub genres,a new one created every week or so, this record responsible for one of those. Then there was indie dance, dance music that the NME and thousands of students could identify with as it still had guitars. Every white rock band seemed to name drop influential dance producers and state in interviews that there had always been a dance element to their music or some such shit.

I first heard Testone in the early hours one Sunday morning. When it was dropped, I remember that it stopped me in my tracks, one of those "what the fuck is that!" moments, as I hadn't heard anything quite like before. If my memory serves me right (which is debatable, as a lot of the details around this period are hazy) I wasn't the only one, I think that half of the club were motionless with a mixture of bafflement and awe on their faces, Bleep Techno had been born.

All of Sunday and for much of the next week I couldn't get the track out of my head and would go on and on about this amazing tune that I had heard to anyone that would listen, I really am quite a boring git. When I eventually got hold of the track and played it to a couple of friends all they could say is "is that it?". As I've said before some people just didn't get it.

Testone was released on the Sheffield based label Warp, in my view the most influential and innovative of all the UK techno labels. It was a collaboration between Richard H Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire and DJ Parrot and took their name from the title of a 70s Curtis Mayfield album.

Sweet Exorcist - Testone

I have also included the video for the track below which was directed by Jarvis Cocker, no less.

First Date

This track from the American soul singer and actress from Havre De Grace, Maryland was included on the double Big City Soul compilation released on the excellent Goldmine Soul Supply label. A lovely mid tempo piece of sophisticated 60s soul. First date was pencilled in for inclusion in a subsequently unissued lp on Wand.

Nella Dodds - First Date 

[Retreat]

There has been a lot of new music floating about recently that has grabbed not least from an old blogger's label, Castles In Space, more of which later in the week. But today we will have a look at a collaboration between Lydon Scarfe from The Black Lamps and his friend Sam Horton,  It has been described as an ambient album but it is oh so much more. I think that Memorial Device's quote on Twitter from Big Patty "from now on music has to sound like a building coming down or forget it" is pretty apt. You can buy the download of the album for three quid and the cd for £8 from here. A purchase you will not regret. I guarantee.

Monday's Long Song

Today's track is a bit different from those that have graced this slot over the past few months. Will I Ever Be Inside You is the title track of the second album by Paul Quinn and The Independent Group and something of a lost classic. The band consisted of some of the great and the good of Scottish music, with members of Aztec Camera, The Commotions, The Bluebells, Del Amitri,  Postcard label boss Alan Horne and of course in Quinn himself the voice of Bourgie Bourgie. And what a voice it is, lush deep and hugely melancholic. Although Will I Ever does not quite reach the heights of Stupid Thing it is a song that should be known and recognised a lot more widely than it is. The whole album is ripe for re-release, in my opinion anyway.

Paul Quinn and The Independent Group - Will I Ever Be Inside You