Friday 31 December 2010

Ne'erday

I will not be posting anything tomorrow, if the truth be know will probably be in no fit state to do so anyway. I will be trudging the streets of Lanark first footing, first stop being the in-laws for stovies and a few beers then onto my mother's for the traditional home made steak pie and a few more beers.

Most people who stop by here will probably also visit Acid Ted but if you don't you really should get yourself over there tomorrow and download the exclusive mix kindly donated by Error Operator and while you're about it please donate as much as you possibly can to The Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust, a cause dear to Ctel's heart as he lost his son 3 years ago to a brain tumour which has also become a cause that a few of us bloggers have latched onto due to Ctel's very moving account of Lawrence's struggle with this particularly nasty and virulent form of malignancy.

As someone who works in clinical research and oncology in particular at the moment I know the amount of money that is being spent in this field and the whole lot more funding that is needed to continue this necessary research . So instead of that extra couple of pints you were going to have this weekend or that few quid you were going to fritter away on something which you don't really need in the sales, donate a few quid to something worthwhile and get a cracking mix into the bargain.

And Happy New Year again.

ACID TED can be found here

A Peaceful New Year



Here's hoping.

Also,  let's hope that we can get rid of the Bullingdon Boys and their libdem lackeys.

All the best.

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

Good Rockin' Tonight



Tonight is Rockabilly night around these parts. The brothel creepers have been polished, the bowling shirt ironed and the quiff that I have tried to cultivate for the past few months will hopefully stay in place for the duration.

Now just the food to prepare. I think that it may be quite a good night.

Elvis - Good Rockin' Tonight

Thursday 30 December 2010

Sure Shot



Continuing on from yesterday's post another record that namechecks "The Taking of Pelham 123".

I'm never quite sure how tongue in cheek the Beastie Boys are being but "Never Rock The Mike With The Panyhose" has got to be one of the worst couplets ever, doesn't make Sure Shot a bad tune though. From probably the Beasties best album in my opinion Ill Communication

The Beastie Boys - Sure Shot

Wednesday 29 December 2010

What Do You Think Louie?

Time To Liven Things Up Again



The post Christmas lull is over and it is time to start winding up for the celebration that really counts in heathen Scotland, Hogmanay.

So for the first warm up session here is nice wee megamix from the Deadly Avenger released on the King Tito's Gloves EP way back in 1999.

Deadly Avenger - Live At The Capri (Supermix)

Tuesday 28 December 2010

Peace Frog



Around about the time of the Stone Roses/Happy Mondays hysteria and love of all things Mancunian there was a revival of the psychedelic sounds of the late 60s,  up here in Scotland at least.

Everybody was raiding their parents and hippy uncle's record collections for things by The Byrds, Hendrix, Love and especially The Doors. There was quite a cult like worship of Jim Morrison going on which would be further stoked up by the biopic released in 1990.  I blame this film for the spread of the wearing of ridiculous leather trousers by fashion victims and progressive house fans alike in the early 90s.

To be honest I was never that impressed with The Doors, one of the hippies had lent me a couple of albums a few years before which included an American Prayer, the posthumous album where recordings of Morrison reading his rather crap poetry was put to music by the surviving members of the band (and to think Malcolm MacLaren was criticised for flogging a dead horse). I had been reliably informed that this album was really brilliant but to me it was a load of self indulgent toss. One of the other albums was the double Best Of  job, I quite liked Touch Me and Back Door Man but stuff like The End and When The Music's Over, nope not for me same feelings I had when I listened to The American Prayer.

So one night I was at an indie dance night sometime in either 89 or 90 and I heard this track which was as funky as fuck and sounded really familiar but couldn't place it and then about half way through the music all but stops and the singer talks about Indians dying on the highway and I realised that it was The Doors but this band had never had this kind of effect on me, I think it was the combination of stimulants and atmosphere but this was the perfect tune for that moment.

This is when I'm suppose to say that everything fell into place and I realised how essential the Doors are in the history of rock music; sorry still think that most of it is self indulgent pish but I do, however play Peace Frog quite frequently, enough for me to go out and buy Morrison Hotel on vinyl about a decade or so ago.

The Doors - Peace Frog

Monday 27 December 2010

Lazy Monday



After 2 days of over indulging in food and beverages of all types, it is time to sit about and vegetate for a few hours,  if I'm lucky.  More than that is out of the question as there are Harry Potter Lego towers to be built and memorable battles to be re enacted with the aid of Airfix soldiers, Action Men and Armed Forces personnel.

So I am going to sit with either a cup of tea or a mug of hot Ribena and listen to some laid back sounds such as this.

Orchestra JB - Come Alive

Saturday 25 December 2010

Well, That Was That Then



We had a minor crisis this morning when number one son decided to hurl projectile vomit all over the living room when opening his presents,  before he had even ripped open the first selection box. He spent the rest of the day lying about moaning, a good eight years before this should be seen as normal practice for a son.

Anyway,  the rest of the family had a great day, especially number two son, who got everything that he has ever wanted, mop, dust pan & brush and a hoover, don't ask!

So when I should be catching up on the sleep I missed last night, M was up at 01:30 am, 3:00 am and 05:50 am with the same question, has Santa been yet?, I am at my laptop writing this drivel and worrying about tomorrow's dinner ( I am cooking for twelve).

Here is a track that I heard today for the first time whilst watching that incredibly irritating Fearne Cotton on Christmas Top Of The Pops before Christmas lunch, and found myself enjoying much to L's amusement.

Eliza Doolittle - Pack Up

Friday 24 December 2010

Merry Christmas



Merry Christmas one and all and thanks to everyone who has dropped by either to read and comment on the nonsense on here or just download the tracks, this past year.

Hope you all have as good a day as I intend to tomorrow.

 The Housmartins - Caravan Of Love

I know that this is the same post as last year but this is my Christmas song and it's a different version from last year's.

Nearly Turkey Time



Well,  except for the veggies obviously .

The Mixtures - Turkey Time

Thursday 23 December 2010

Tears



Tears comes from th Brain Freeze Breaks album, a collection of the tracks used on DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist's Brainfreeze mix cd. Those of you familiar with the work of Josh Davis will instantly recognise the riff as Shadow sampled it on the track Organ Donor.

It wasn't until recently that I found out that the artist Giorgio whom this track is by is none other than Giorgio Moroder. Slow on the up take or what. The track can be found on Moroder's 1972 album Son Of My Father

This track has always slightly unsettled me as I find it kind of creepy.

Giorgio - Tears

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Lola Dutronic - Whisper



I suggested yesterday that either CoCo Rosie, Clubroot or Lola Dutronic or all had complained to Blogger about my posting their tracks in My Tracks Of My Year blog, as these three tracks were taken off box.net and then the whole piece pulled by Blogger.

I now know that it wasn't Lola Dutronic, as I got an email from Richard from the band informing me that he hadn't complained and found it strange that their track had been pulled, although he did say that he would rather that the track wasn't made avaiable for free download which is fair enough.

I am now of the opinion that Blogger are at it again and using the scatter gun approach to illegally posted music.

Anyway Richard also included in his email a link to the video for Whisper which was banned from YouTube, you will find it here,  If you like it the full ep can be downloaded from iTunes

The Pusher



Before becoming synonymous with that tosser Jeremy Clarkson getting all macho in cars that very few people can buy the petrol to go round the track in never mind the car and crappy dad rock compilations , Steppenwolf were remembered as a blues rock outfit who had more than Born To Be Wild to their name.

Initially from Toronto and called the Sparrows. The band found themselves in San Fransisco during the summer of love and playing venues such as the Matrix. Like a lot of the bands around at the time, they would get on stage and "experiment" or as we up here in the west of Scotland would call it,  fannying about.

On the 14th of May 1967 one of these gigs was recorded and released a couple of years later as the Early Steppenwolf album. This was one of the albums I was given by one of the hippies that I hung about with when I was fourteen. Side one of the album is made up of  pretty straight up blues rock originals and covers only identifiable as Steppenwolf by John Kay's distinctive vocal style. Side two is a different beast entirely, the whole side is made up of one of those "experiments" which lasts for 20 minutes and at around the 10 minute mark morphs into a rather brilliant version Hoyt Axton's The Pusher,  later used to great effect in Easy Rider.

I think that this track has to be listened to in it's entirety at least once but these days I usually put the needle down half way across the vinyl and listen from there.

Steppenwolf - The Pusher (Live)

Tuesday 21 December 2010

Dub Side Of The Moon



Following on from yesterday's post.

When I first heard that a group of Reggae artists were planning to record a dub version of Dark Side Of The Moon, I was rather surprised and then intrigued about how it would sound. Unlike a lot of Floyd fans I did not think that it was the end of civilisation as we know it or the up most sacrilege.

So when The Easy Star All-Stars released Dub Side Of The Moon in 2003, even the fourteen quid price tag didn't dampen my curiosity and I bought it.

On the whole it works, it takes a couple of listens to adjust but once you have listened to it a few times it makes perfect sense. As for trying to sync it with The Wizard of Oz, as is suggested on the sleeve notes, well you will have to try that yourself as I have neither the inclination nor the essential copy of the film to try it out.

The Easy Star All-Stars - The Great Gig In The Sky

I Can Feel A Purge Comming On



Another copyright infringement notice, this time for The Tracks Of My Year.

I guess either CoCo Rosie, Clubroot or Lola Dutronic don't wish for you people to hear their tunes.

Monday 20 December 2010

Unlike John Lydon I Love Pink Floyd



I've always loved Pink Floyd and I don't mean the hip Pink Floyd of the Syd Barrett days which is acceptable to name drop without being laughed out the pub. That stuff  is okay, well most of it but if you ask me the world could have done without Bike or Gnome; the stuff I love is the over blown pomposity of Dark Side of The Moon, The Wall and The Final Cut. I make no apologies for this and neither do I find it in the slightest bit embarrassing. it was not unknown for me in my teenage years to be sporting a Pink Floyd t-shirt much to the umbrage of some of my either trendier or cooler friends

Ever since Christmas 1979 when I got The Wall on double vinyl as a present from Aunt Betty I was sold on all of the nonsense that Roger Waters wrote and from that moment I started delving into the back catalogue which was easier then you would think.  Everybody over the age of twenty seemed to have a copy of Dark Side Of The Moon , Wish You Were Here or Animals. It only got difficult the further back I looked. It took me until about 16 to get hold of Obscured By Clouds and I was in my twenties before I got given a pristine copy of Meddle from a friend.

I'm not sure what it is that I see in Pink Floyd, as this kind of rock music usually has me retching into a bucket after about 5 minutes or so but like them I do. I don't think that a month goes by without me playing something by them.

As for post Waters Floyd? Absolute pish, does nothing for me at all,  bought a couple of the albums A Momentary Lapse Of Reason and The Division Bell but neither floats my boat.

Roger Waters solo output I find myself getting lost in and if i put an album on, then it's played in it's entirety. I know that these "concept" albums provoke ridicule from hipsters but I really do enjoy them.  One of the best gigs that I have every seen was when a mate's dad took me and him to see The Pro's And Con's Of Hitchhiking live at the NEC in 1984.

Here are a couple of my favourite Floyd tracks.

Pink Floyd - Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun

Pink Floyd - Nobody Home

A Woman In Winter



I know that I featured the Skids the other week and that this track has been featured here before but the Skids have been on my mind a bit of late, especially Stuart Adamson and this track is about as apt as apt gets for this time of year without mentioning the C word.

Stiff and I were talking about Big Country on the way back from the We Were Promised Jetpacks gig at the QMU on Saturday night, jeez, did we feel old, I think that the average age was about twenty. But I digress. It seemed to me us that along with the Talking Heads Little Creatures album and Raintown by Deacon Blue, The Crossing was an obligatory album in any household in the 80s.

More cryptic lyrics from Jobbers.

The Skids - Woman In Winter

Sunday 19 December 2010

Some Festive Tunes




I'm off to do my Christmas shopping today.

Steve Earle - Nothing But A Child

The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song

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

Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas (68 Comeback Special Version)

Saturday 18 December 2010

It's Christmas, Let's Be Ironic!



I fucking hate indie fucking versions of Christmas songs but what's even worse is the original tracks, with titles like Fuck Of Santa  or Christmas in The Student's Union or equally pish titled nonsense. I hate the let's be ironic about Christmas, so as we're still cool but secretly we really want to just have a good time like everybody else.

Either do Christmas right or don't fucking bother!

Here's the best example of Christmas done right, just don't even bother mentioning either the Slow Club or The Raveonettes and all the rest, those versions may be adequate renditions but this is the only one that matters.

Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Friday 17 December 2010

Tonight's Tipple If You're Hard Enough



Tonight' celebration of all things alcoholic is an ode to the merits of Olde English 800, a malt liquor brewed by The Miller Brewing Company. I have never tasted this particular poison but if it is anything like Breaker, the only malt liquor I have sampled then I think it best be avoided. Daryl McDaniels (DMC) attributes his hospitalisation with pancreatitis to the effects of this particular brew.

Have a good weekend people.

N.W.A. - 8-Ball

It's Friday . . Let's Dance



Here we have a very fresh slab of minimal tech house from Redshape on the Delsin label.  Future Shock is the title track from this 3 tune ep which comes on rather lovely marbled transparent blue vinyl. This is a belter of a track which reminds me of Late Night Jam by Levon Vincent, featured in this very spot some time ago.

Redshape is the alias of Sebastian Kramer another producer working out of Berlin.  What is it about that city that produces so many consistently good purveyors of Detroit influenced Techno? He has been responsible for numerous great pieces of tecno on the Delsin and Present labels and this year also did an absolutely brilliant remix of CCTV by The Black Dog.

Redshape - Future Shock

Wednesday 15 December 2010

Gig of The Year




It was quite a funny year gig wise. Didn't go to nearly as many as I have done in the previous few years. This was partially due to the fact that all the gigs I did want to go to were on in the same week or fortnight or when I was away with work.

There is a more worrying reason that has crept into my lack of attendance this year and that is,  I cannot be arsed. I look at the listings,  see somebody I wouldn't mind hearing live and then I check out the date and it is usually mid week and at the Wah Wah Hut and all of my enthusiasm drains away. I say to myself,  do I really want to drag myself back out, drive into the Town stand through a couple of mediocre at best support acts then wait for the main act to come on stage at 10:30 pm and eventually get home sometime after midnight to get up again at 06:30?  The resounding answer 99% of the time is no. And before anybody comments that it is because I am becoming an old git, I am well aware of the fact and this is why I am troubled.

Without a shadow of a doubt my best live experience this year was The Airborne Toxic Event at the Pleasance Theatre in Edinburgh. As with the Wedding Present I have never seen this band give a lackluster performance.  Granted I have only seem them 5 times and that has been over the space two years but it is still quite an impressive track record. But the performance in Edinburgh was particularly special I think that this could have to do with the quite intimate,  rather lovely venue complimented the band wonderfully. Also there set was chosen extremely well and the segueway from Missy into I'm On Fire truly inspired, the 2 and a bit years of near constant touring have certainly paid off. It has been a while since I left a venue with quite as big a smile on my face. The only downside is that that will probably be the last time that I will see them in such an environment as I think that with the new material that they aired that they are on their way to bigger venues and good luck to them.

It is also very easy to pick the biggest disappointment of the year and that rather dubious honour goes to that contrary bastard Mark E Smith, who will most certainly not give a damn about it. So much for your work ethic Smith, you robbing bastard, it wasn't big and it certainly ain't clever. And to the guy whom we overheard saying " That's Mark E Smith and that's why we love him" you must be even stupider than you look, fanboy.

The Airborne Toxic Event - A Letter To Georgia

Tuesday 14 December 2010

What You On About Jobbers?



This came on the iPod while driving up from Birmingham earlier this evening and I realised that I have never known what the lyrics to this song are and what's more I haven't been in the slightest bit curious over the past THIRTY years about what Jobson is going on about in this song.

Has not having a scooby in any way diminished my appreciation of this absolutely wonderful piece of pop?

Not one iota!

I also suspect that Jobbers doesn't really know what the hell he is on about on this record either.


The Skids - Circus Games

Darlin', You're No Oil Painting



As you are reading this, I will be attending my December Team Meeting and will now be the lucky owner of a packet of Pot Pourri, a pack of three size 22 pants or some such shit. I will have tried my best to look as if my sides are splitting with laughter but suspect my coupon will have given the game away.

Anyway, here is the first single from an album that does genuinely make me smile when I hear it.  Schmotime, released in 2006 is full of great tunes with lyrics full of wry humour and in Dan Michaelson's deep voice a really distinctive vocal.

Absentee - We Should Never Have Children

Sunday 12 December 2010

Something Different For A Sunday



I forgot to include this in my Tracks Of My Year. It's from a rather strange, clear vinyl 10" single and throbs along nicely for nearly ten minutes.

Possibly not the best thing to listen to if you have a hangover.

Factory Floor  - 16-16-9-20-1-14-9-7

Saturday 11 December 2010

The Tracks Of My Year



This year has seen me retreating further from indie rock and going back to listening to a lot more northern soul and buying a lot of new dance music thanks to Boomkat.

I don't know what it is about me and indie music at the moment but I find it hard to be enthused let alone moved by the majority of what I have heard this year. It could be that my ears are getting old but most of it sounds the same to me. There have been exceptions such as the albums by Allo Darlin' and Lucky Soul and the brace of singles from The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart but apart from these I can't think of much that has been memorable.

I also seem to have developed an aversion to albums, not buying them,  but listening to them in their entirety. Apart from the latest  by the Fall and Meursault I don't think that any of the other that I have bought in 2010 have been listened to in one sitting more than twice. I don't know if it's my concentration span that has gone due to either age or the effects of having the ipod on shuffle but I seem to get bored half way through most things these days.

I think that part of the problem and this has undoubtedly been discussed to death in other places,  is that albums these days tend to be far too long,  too much filler. I don't think that it is coincidence that the two albums that from 2010 I can listen to over and over only contain 10 and 11 tracks.

A notably mention has to go to Metallic Spheres by The Orb and David Gilmour a project which had the potential of ending up it's own arse. I've read people say that this is a return to form from The Orb. I don't agree, as last year's Baghdad Batteries saw Alex Paterson and Co back doing what they do best and this album is just a continuation from there.

Anyway here is my favourite tracks of the past 12 months, three of which can only be found as a download, no physical product being made as yet.  In the past that would have ruled them out of my lists but times have changed. The Jessie J track will come out in a physical format at some point I have no doubt, the Kills track may find it's way onto a future b-side or something and I can but hope that John Talbot's remix of Shelter makes it onto twelve inch as if not it would be such a waste, it could be the track of next summer.

  1. Pilooski - AAA
  2. The xx - VCR (Four Tet remix)
  3. Xenia Beliayeva - Ever Since (Andre Winter remix)
  4. To Rococ Rot - Forwardness
  5. The Fall - Mexico Wax Solvent
  6. Meursault - Song For Martin Kippenberger
  7. Clubroot - Solar Flares 
  8. Manic Street Preachers - Peeled Apples (Andrew Weatherall mix)
  9. The xx - Shelter (John Talbot's Feel It Too mix)
  10. M.I.A. - Born Free
  11. Mount Kimbie - Vertical (SCB edit)
  12. Gorillaz - Glitter Freeze
  13. The Jezabels  - Sahara Mahala
  14. Trentemoller - silver surfer, ghost rider go (Andrew Weatherall Prinz mix)
  15. Lola Dutronic - Whisper
  16. Slam - Room 2 (Pan Pot Rave Tool)
  17. Caribou - Sun
  18. Jessie J - Price Tag
  19. The Kills - Pale Blue Eyes
  20. Massive Attack - Paradise Circus (Gui Borrato mix)
  21. Redshape - Future Shock
  22. Plan B - Prayin
  23. Four Tet - Sing (Extended mix)
  24. CocoRosie - Lemonade
  25. Tanya Donelly - Moon River
  26. Para - It's Just Our Way
  27. Allo Darlin' - Dreaming
  28. Commix - Be True 
  29. Chew Lips - Karen
  30. The Orb featuring Dave Gilmour - Metallic Spheres (Ambient mix)
  31. Zola Jesus - Poor Animal
  32. Lucky Soul - Woah Billy
  33. Imelda May - My Baby Left Me
  34. Fuck Buttons - Rough Steez (Alan Vega mix)
  35. Ramadanman & Appleblim - Void 23
  36. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Say No To Love
  37. The Fall - Hungry Freaks Daddy
  38. Kate Nash - Do-Wah-Do
  39. The Joy Formidable - I Don't Want To See You
  40. Warpaint - Ashes To Ashes
Sorry no tracks available to listen to anymore as some short sighted git has complained and have had a DMCA takedown notice. Guess you won't be able to listen to find out if any of these tracks are worth buying.

    Friday 10 December 2010

    Tonight I Will Mostly Be Drinking . . . Beer



    If you live in the UK and can get your hands on some Brew Dog beer, you really should give it a go. I can recomend the Punk I.P.A., Trashy Blonde and the 5a.m. Saint which really is the dogs bollocks.

    Frank Zappa - Titties and Beer

     "Not too subtle or enlightened title for a song Drew!" you say. I know but the post about the faux hippies earlier in the week brought memories of this song back to me and I had to dig the Zappa in New York album out of the cupboard. It really is a piece of nonsense but don't blame me this was Davy H's idea!

    It's Friday . . Let's Dance



    Back to 1993 for a bit of Progressive House from The  Delorme.  Released in 1993 on Zoom records here in the UK and ZYX in Germany. Which begs the question as to why mine's is a German import. You're on your own if you want any more information as I know nothing else, apart from I used to play this a lot.

    The Delorme - Beatniks (dharma bums mix)

    Thursday 9 December 2010

    About As Much Use As A Fart In A Spacesuit.




    Does anybody else have a problem with the concept of the office Secret Santa?

    No

    Just me then, as I suspected.

    If I am going to shell out my hard earned,  even if it is "only up to a tenner" I like to know who the fuck my money is being spent on so I can buy them something that they may vaguely like or find useful. Not waste my it on complete tat that only gets made because people keep giving the like of it to others in office Secret Santas.

    I particularly hate the fucking "humorous" version where people try to out do each other in the uselessness or filth stakes with the so-called gift. How funny is it to get either a clockwork penis or a pack of 3 size 22 pants. Laugh I nearly shit myself.

    So if any of my workmates are reading this and on Tuesday find themselves in possession of a Fall cd, or How Not To Run A Club, Santa is not trying to be funny but trying to fill that void in your life where the work of Mark E Smith should be or getting you to read something other than Dan Brown or Harry fucking Potter.

    The Fall - Open The Boxoctosis #2

    Wednesday 8 December 2010

    New Music . . . Cobson



    I know very little about Cobson apart from the fact they are from France and formed when Anna who used to be a solo artist met Laurent. The band is now a three piece, I think but without a bass player.  They released their debut album in November and make a rather nice noise. You can check them out here

    A bit more info may have been helpful Laurent.

    Cobson - C8H11N

    Tuesday 7 December 2010

    Makes You Proud To Be From Lanarkshire



    The motorways may be shut, the post left undelivered in the sorting offices and the garages out of fuel but still the Icey gets through, delivering Irn-Bru and B&H to the needy.

    Now that's the kind of people we breed in Lanarkshire.

    Fair makes you proud by the way!

    Sambassadeur - Ice And Snow

    Not Quite Budapest



    Well I'm not in Budapest. I got a text from BA last night informing me that my flight from Glasgow to Heathrow this morning was cancelled, so that was that.

    I have to admit that I was in two minds about this trip anyway. I wasn't really enthused about the flying as I've said before and try not to do anymore than two hours at a time but it didn't matter which route I took to Budapest it meant spending at least 2 hrs 45 mins in the air at one time which may have sent me over the edge unless I had had enough alcohol.

    On the other hand Budapest is a city that I have always wanted to visit and my hotel was going to be right on the Danube on the Buda side very near the castle. Another time maybe.

    I have been listening to Glow by The Innocence Mission today and it did exactly that filled me with a warm glow which was just as well as it is bloody baltic up here in the north of Britian at the moment. If you haven't heard this album or of the band don't let the fact that they are sort of Christian folkies put you off , the album is beautiful and not a bit preachy.

    The Innocence Mission - That Was Another Country

    Monday 6 December 2010

    Cold And Bitter Tears



    I didn't expect to be in the position of doing a post this evening. I should be on my way to the Arches in Glasgow to see the big nosed bastard from Barking. However Billy, like my concert going buddy Stiff is stuck on one of the many closed roads on the west of Scotland tonight.

    Anyway here is a track from Billy Bragg and Ted Hawkins recorded on the tour when I first saw possibly the finest protest singer of his generation at the Barrowlands way back in 1986.

    Unfortunately it looks like I am also going to have to cancel my visit to Budapest tomorrow.

    Billy Bragg and Ted Hawkins - Cold and Bitter Tears

    Sunday 5 December 2010

    Here Comes The Flood



    When I was an angry young teenage rebel (or so I thought) and the chair of the local youth CND, I hung out with a group of faux hippies a few years older than myself. This bunch were into pre "And Then There Were Three" Genesis, Marillion, Peter Gabriel and all things proggy,  ie it was either a quadruple vinyl concept album or the vinyl consisted of 2 tracks both taking up the side of an album and dealing with dwarves, faeries,  evil kings and the like. Most of this I thought was absolute pish. Have you ever heard of Golden Avatar? No. I wouldn't even bother spending 5 minutes seeking them out,  they were gash.

    Every so often I would be subjected to something which was not too awful and on rarer occasions I would hear something that I actually liked, like the 20 minute version of The Pusher found on the Early Steppenwolf album or Zero The Hero and The Magic Spell from the Gong Live etc lp, the latter standing me in good stead  when I got into The Orb and System 7.

    Another album that I first heard when sitting on a bean bag or on a mattress on the floor while gagging from inhaling the awful combination of patchouli oil and burning incense was Robert Fripp's Exposure. Fripp had been a member of King Crimson and contributed to Bowie's Heroes which spurred him into recording Exposure with a load of others such as Peters,  Gabriel and Hammill, Brian Eno and others who would have been termed as "dinosaurs" in 1979.

    One track in particular caught my attention and it was a rather stark and beautiful version of Peter Gabriel's Here Comes The Flood which can be found on Gabriel's first eponymous album alternately known as "Car".

    I hadn't thought about this album in years until a few months ago when someone posted a Gabriel track and from then on I couldn't get the track or more correctly the slight remembrance of the track out of my head. So as usual the first stop was Amazon but I wasn't sure that I wanted to spend 17 quid on the Special Edition or twelve for the normal one. So then,  as it really was bugging me I searched the net to try to get a snidey download of the album but every time I found it the subsequent link turned out to be dead.

    So,  a fortnight ago while picking up a mint, picture sleeve 12" of Geek Love for a quid in my favourite Oxfam Music on Byres Rd, I also spied a vinyl copy of Exposure at the very reasonable price of £3 which I duly purchased. I think that I went temporarily mad as I also paid a fiver for a copy of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway by Genesis which I was never fond of in the first place.

    After getting the album home and playing it, I have to admit that it hasn't aged well, maybe it just wasn't that good to begin with. However there is something foreboding and eerily beautiful about the sparse arrangement on Here Comes The Flood.

    Robert Fripp - Here Comes The Flood

    There will be no activity from the kitchen table until Friday as I have to go to bloody Budapest with work for three days and I haven't been arsed to do any posts

    Soothing Sounds For An Arctic Sunday



    I'm straying into Colin's territory with this tune.

    This tune just seems to fit with sitting watching all of the people wrapped up like Michelin men wandering past the window while we try yet again to get the house in some semblance of order.

    Trembling Blue Stars - One Wish Granted

    Saturday 4 December 2010

    Take Me



    On Thursday night me and a mate braved the Arctic conditions to venture into Glasgow (the temperature gauge in the car read -13) to see David Gedge's latest incarnation of The Wedding Present.

    The performance consisted of the Bizarro lp played in it's entirety as it is 21 years since it was released, it really is and a smattering of other classics. As Gedge said himself rather modestly "couldn't possibly play all the classics, ther's too many " or words to that effect. This meant that at least one fan went home slightly disappointed as his constant requests for Flying Saucer were in vain.

    I don't think that I have ever seen a bad performance by "the boy Gedge" and co and Thursday night did not disappoint. They played what can only be described as a blistering,  full throttle 90 mins and then they were gone absolutely fucking brilliant. The three quarters full, if that, crowd, left the QMU happy.

    While walking back to the car Stiff and I were ruminating over the fact that a band as consistently good as the Wedding Present were playing venues the size of the QMU and not at the very least the Barrowlands. However after thinking further on this, that is what makes Wedding Present gigs special the size of the venue and seeing Gedge mill about talking to fans before and after the gig.

    Here is the studio version of the highlight track of the night for me.

    The Wedding Present - Take Me!

    Friday 3 December 2010

    Disturbing Times.



    Number one son has taken a shine to Shaun Ryder. I'm not sure what causes me more concern that or the fact that I seem to have spawned a reality TV junkie, what with that and the Cack Factor!

    Happy Mondays - Lazyitis

    Tonight's Recomended Poison



    I have never had the pleasure of tasting moonshine but I was once given a bottle of Poitin by an Irish brickie once who was working on the same building site as me. If Moonshine tastes anything like that stuff then it is best avoided, drinking the stuff was akin to shoving a red hot poker down your throat and being temporarily blinded and that was just after a quick sip. Suffice to say the rest of bottle went down the sink and probably corroded the drain pipe.

    Have a good weekend.

    The Big Bopper - White Lightning

    The Fall - White Lightning

    It's Friday . . Let's Dance



    Back to the streets of Lagos for today's dance track. Another track from the Tony Allen remix project, Lagos Shake on Honest Jon's.

    Mark's Disco Dub is remixed as suggested by the title by somebody called Mark.  The Mark in question is Mark Ernestus one half of German dub Techno pioneers, Basic Channel. Along with Moritz Von Oswald they released a number of influential 12" singles under a number of aliases on their Basic Channel label.

    In the late 90's the duo moved away from the dub techno sound which they had helped to create to a more vocal driven reggae sound and released music under the moniker Rhythm & Sound, the compilation See Me Yah and the remix album are well worth a listen.

    Tony Allen - Tony's Disco Dub (Mark Ernestus remix)

    Wednesday 1 December 2010

    Tuesday 30 November 2010

    Lulu Rouge



    In the current climate if feels only fitting to feature some Scandinavian electronic music.

    Lulu Rouge have featured here before in their guise as remixers and very good remixers they are too. Check out Fat Berri's electronic blog here for an extensive source of Lulu Rouge edits. I especially love their edit of Aaliyah's Try again and A Day In The Life.

    But here I'm focusing on their output as artists in their own right. In 2008 Dj T.O.M. and Buda, two well respected producers and djs got together recorded and released a criminally overlooked album, Bless You with the aid of their friend and collaborator Trentemoller.

    The album is full of whispered vocals, down tempo beats and a laid back sometimes haunting atmosphere,  the sort of thing to listen to late at night with a bottle of red wine.

    Do yourself a favour and get your hands on a copy of this album while you still can.

    Lulu Rouge - Bless You

    Lulu Rouge -Melankoli (The Crooked Spoke Remix)

    Why Did It All Go So Bland, Jenny?



    New kid on the blog, Scott over at Spools Paradise has a piece about Jenny and Johnny's performance at Oran Mor at the weekend.

    I have to confess that I have given the Jenny and Johnny album a half arsed listen and dismissed it as more of the same lightweight MOR that the final Rilo Kiley and second Jenny Lewis offering were. I think that I will have to give it another listen but I feel that my initial view will stand as that last time I saw her live she had her Bo on tour with her and I think they did a couple of numbers which would have been early versions of stuff from this album. I was bored stiff that night by the bland performance.

    Which really pissed me off, as on the previous 3 occasions that I had seen her she was brilliant and captivating. Granted one was with the Watson Twins in Mono which was astounding and the other two were with Rilo Kiley which were equally as special. Once as support to Bright Eyes in the debating hall of The Glasgow University Union and the other in their own right at the Wah Wah Hut. But on all occasions there was something special in her performance that made for truly memorable gigs which was all the more evident by it's complete absence at the QMU.

    One other thought, why are there so many anally retentive music bores blogging in the West of Scotland?

    Here are a couple of tracks featuring Jenny before she went bland.

    Rilo Kiley - Spectacular Views 

    Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Born Secular

    Monday 29 November 2010

    It's Just Our Way



    I came across this record on the Fat City website the other week and after listening to the first 30 seconds decided it had to be purchased.

    Para has been described as the South West's answer to Cut Chemist. He started off djing and producing Hip Hop mixtapes. He joined the Breakin Bread stable in 2007 where he has released a series of 7" singles and a brilliantly named mix cd called "Smack My Pitch Up".

    It's Just Our Way features the vocals of long time collaborator Caitlin and is a refreshing piece of modern funk with an infectious breakbeat in the back ground. I think that this may be right up Simon and Mondo's street.

    I will be exploring the other offerings from Breakin Bread and you can too here.

    Para - It's Just Our Way

    Darker My Love



    The first time I heard of Darker My Love was in spring 2006, when Mark Smith either sacked his band mid way through their American Tour or the band members decided they had had enough of his tyrannical ways and left of their own accord depending on who you believe. Anyway Smith was left without a band to finish the tour and enlisted the talents of some American musicians who,  ever since have been referred to as the "Dudes" by Smith and fans alike. Amongst the Dudes were Tim Presley and Rob Barbato who had their own band, Darker My Love. The Dudes would go on to tour with Smith during the rest of 2006 and 2007 and write and record the album Reformation TLC.

    Darker My Love are described as a psychedelic indie band and indeed there is much in there sound that harks back to garage bands of the Bay Area of the late 60s. They  formed in 2004 and to date they have released 3 studio albums and a live album recorded at the Silverlake club in Los Angeles which finishes with a blistering version of Can's Mother Sky.

    The track posted comes from the second album "2" which is the better of the first two albums, I don't know what the third sounds like as I haven't got round to getting a copy yet.

    Darker My Love - Two Ways Out

    Sunday 28 November 2010

    Every One Loves A Cover . . . Right?



    And this one is a belter.

    Time Is On My Side was originally recorded by Kai Winding and his orchestra in 1964.

    This recording by Irma Thomas was released on Imperial in 1964, the same year as the Rolling Stones covered the song. Irma's voice is just the right side of manic and the production is magnificent.

    Irma Thomas - Time Is On My Side.

    Something To Warm Us Up




    With all the snow around and sub zero temperatures , I prescribe sitting down with the Candi Staton Honest Jons compilation and a mug of hot Ribena.

    Candi Staton - In The Ghetto

    Saturday 27 November 2010

    Infinity



    It appears that The xx are not only the band to remix to death but to cover. I have noticed a few covers of their tracks from the ridiculous, OMDs version of VCR, so bland that if it was a colour it would be beige. To the sublime cover of Infinity by Jonquil.

    This comes from a split 7" with Various Production, who also tackle Infinity. A single well worth tracking down

    Jonquil - Infinity

    Friday 26 November 2010

    This Week's Tipple



    Every day I spend my time drinking wine.

    Up here in darkest Lanarkshire Wine means only one thing. Just like ginger or juice actually means Irn Bru, when men of a certain age say "I'm off for a bottle of wine " they mean, tonic of course, not a St Emilion Grand Cru.

    Cheers

    Python Lee Jackson - In A Broken Dream

    It's Friday . . Let's Dance



    Here is another new release for your delight.

    Regis and James Ruskin team up as O/V/R to release this pulsating slab of techno on clear vinyl on the Blueprint label.

    Not much more to say than that, except the other two tracks on the twelve are a bit different but just as good a this.

    O/V/R - Post-Traumatic Son

    Thursday 25 November 2010

    Touched By The Hand Of God IX



    I was going to keep this for tomorrow but it doesn't really feel like a Friday tune to me.

    Weatherall seems to be going through a rather productive period at the moment.

    Here is a very recent remix of a Trentemoller track which can be found on side 2 of the 12". The other 3 mixes are just as good as the Weatherall and well worth the price of the vinyl.

    As this is a current release, this track will be here for a very short period. so as Janis would say "get it while you can".

    Trentemoller - silver surfer, ghost rider go!!! (andrew weatherall prinz mix)

    Wednesday 24 November 2010

    Rain



    Today's track comes from a much overlooked album, Dust by Muggs which was released 1n 2003.

    Muggs is Lawrence Muggerud, aka DJ Muggs as he will be better known to most, the DJ and beat maker with Cypress Hill. For his first solo attempt Muggs decided to move away from hip-hop in a sort of indie rock direction. Herin lies the problem, in my opinion, it is not as guitar based as it needs to be to appeal to the indie rock fraternity but it doesn't have enough skewed beats to appeal to the headz.

    I love the way the album goes from a song like Rain, a sort of country rock track tsomething like Tears, all breathy female vocals and beats.

    Muggs also enlisted the help of Everlast, the main man from The House Of Pain, Gregg Duli, Josh Todd and Amy Trujillo to provide the vocals on the album.

    I think that Muggs was trying to follow in the footsteps of Mezzanine era Massive Attack and Tricky with the claustrophobic dark feel of this album.

    Worth a listen.


    Muggs - Rain