Wednesday 31 July 2013

Le Thug



On the road home from Aberdeen yesterday I was thinking about the lack of new music that I was listening to and buying as it seemed that everything that I have been listening to lately was either old soul or new releases by established acts such as the Fuck Buttons, still not sure what I think about the latest offering and a smattering of house and techno twelves.

So last night I was chuffed to fuck when I clicked on Song By Toad and found that Le Thug had released an ep, digital granted but beggars can't be choosers. If you remember I enthused about their track on Song By Toad's RSD split 12" and cd, especially Swam which I still think need a proper release. Not sure what it is about this group that I like more than all the other shoegazey type bands but there is something,  although I do think that they could up the bpm count a little. One of my mates was less than impressed by them when we discussed the post I had done but then again there is no accounting for taste.

Anyway I think that you all should go here and buy the digital ep. It really is very good.

Monday 29 July 2013

Emperor Of My Baby's Heart



I know very little about Kurt Harris, well nothing in fact, apart from this single was released on the Diamond label in 1964.

Enjoy.

Kurt Harris - Emperor of My Baby's Heart

Sunday 28 July 2013

What's In Yir Box? W



We come to the penultimate letter in the box and I must admit that this has been less of a chore than I thought that it might about three weeks in.

First up is the part time rock star full time legend that is Pete Wylie in the guise of Wah with Story Of The Blues. There is not much I can add to what I, SA and plenty of others have said before about this record other than to reiterate just how wonderful it is in both the 7" and full 12" versions. This is another of those records I have multiple copies of as every time I see it in a charity shop I buy it.

Next we have a single the a-side of which I have to confess can't have been played more than a handful of times. It is a split 7" with Wake The President on the a-side but it's the other side by The Kingfishers I Love, the Vic Goddard penned song Make Me Sad. It is a bit jingle jangle and harks back to the mid 80s which is probably why JC likes it as well but it is a cracking tune.

I fell in love with the song He Called Me Baby late one night on my way home from work in  Edinburgh when I was listening to Radio Two, a rare occurrance. Bob Harris played the Candi Staton version of the song and I very nearly stopped the car to listen more closely but then it was gone. It was a few years later that I heard the Ella Washington version which graces the box. It is a slower piece that retains the country feel of the original song but is still an excellent piece of Southern soul. I think that I still prefer the Staton version slightly.

There are quite a few records in this box that are in there on the strength of the flip side and the next piece of vinyl is another in that bracket. Is That Clear by Nick Waterhouse is a good piece of old style r&b but the b-side a cover of I Can Only Give You Everything is head and shoulders better. It is one of those tracks that when you listen to it you imagine smoke filled dark clubs populated by guys in sharp suits and girls in mini dresses and bobs or beehives. The album that the tracks come from is worth investing in.

I have a few singles and a couple of albums by The Wave Pictures. I first became aware of the band when Comrade Colin posted a track by them long ago on the excellent and much lamented  And Before The First Kiss . From the three singles I own the best has got to be If You Leave It Alone, a miserable song but in a good way, the plodding beat, the despondent singing by David Tattersall and the half arsed sax all make this although miserable , a thoroughly pleasurable listening experience.

Next up is a song that never fails to turn this residence into a madhouse. Kennedy is Leo's favourite song and I suspect the same is true of a lot of people who go to see Gedge and Co live as,  as soon as the first chords are struck the venue always erupts even when it's minus ten outside and the QM is barely half full. Lost your love of life? Then just put on The Wedding Present.

Delroy Wilson, the first of three Wilson's in the box has two singles present both of which are laid back mellow tunes which cannot help but reduce your stress levels, god they are better than beta blockers at lowering BP and should be available on prescription. To be honest To Be A Lover and Have Some Mercy are basically the same song with different words but I just can't choose between them, however if I had to eject one from the box it would be Have Some Mercy only because the vinyl is not as good and there is a little more background noise on it.

Next we have the most expensive single ever, last copy sold went for £25 742 in 2009. A more joyous piece of vinyl would be hard to find anywhere. Every time I have played it, the floor has been packed and it is also infectious as even people who have never heard the song, if any exist anymore, find themselves on the floor and jumping about with abandon like the rest of us. A few years ago I was rather concerned that the tune's use in an ad for fast food would diminish the record somewhat but I need not have worried as I still have the urge to get up and shimy as I type this and listen to the track and I also have a great big smile on my coupon. I have two copies of the single a repro of the original andbut in the box is a version released in 2004 to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Motown label which has Chris Clarke's rendition on the flip.

From one northern soul legend to another, Because of You by the great Jackie Wilson is one of my top three northern tunes ever. There is something about the record that just epitomises the scene for me and I have some wonderful memories of going to all-nighters and being part of a full dance floor making moves to this song.

Someone who had the potential to be a modern soul legend but will be remembered by more people for the car crash that was here final couple of years rather than her brilliant voice and songwriting, sadly is Amy Winehouse. I have to admit that  Frank kind of passed me by at the time and it wasn't until I heard Eddie Pillar playing Rehab that I sat up and took notice, it was just fucking wonderful and such a brilliant piece of modern soul. It is a travesty that it didn't come out on 7", if there was ever a song from the last ten years that should have been put out on that format it was Rehab. Valerie, her cover of the Zutons song, never officially came out on 7" either but some enterprising bootlegger had the nous to produce a snidey version which I managed to pick up along the was and which is very firmly a resident of the box.

The final single in the box has a guest singer who has also lived the last few years of his life as a continuing story in the red tops and if, a couple of years ago somebody had asked me the question "who do you think is the next rock star to die" I would have put twenty quid on buying it before Amy and that is Pete Doherty. For Lovers is a bit of a haunting song for me and when I play it I always think that Albion by Babyshambles is a companion piece to it. Of Wolfman I know absolutely nothing other than he was a pal of Doherty's, he produced another couple of single neither of which I paid any interest to.

I was once asked in the pub years ago who I thought would die first Bobby Gillespie or Shane MacGowan and my twenty quid was firmly placed on the former but he seems to have got his act together recently, although it hasn't made his lyrics any better, not much chance of an Ivor Novello for Bobby G and Shane seems to be preserved by alcohol.

So that is the Ws

Wah! - Story of The Blues
Wake The President/the kingfishers - You Can't Change That Boy/Make Me Sad
Ella Washington - He Called Me Baby
Nick Waterhouse - Is That Clear
The Wave Pictures - If You Leave It Alone
The Wedding Present - Kennedy
Delroy Wilson - To Be A Lover
Delroy Wilson - Have Some Mercy
Frank Wilson - Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)
Jackie Wilson - Because Of You
Amy Winehouse - Valerie
Wolfman featuring Peter Doherty - For Lovers

Jackie Wilson - Because Of You 




Saturday 27 July 2013

Jody and The Kid



I thought that I really wanted to go and see Kris Kristofferson live until this morning when I decided to buy a ticket. One ticket was all I would need as for some reason nobody all fancied seeing the 77 year old troubadour. I duly put the search into Ticketmaster and yes there were still tickets available, however it turns out that I didn't really want to see him that much as when the price came up my interest waned.

So instead I will listen to his records in the comfort of my own home. Here is an extremely sentimental, some would say mawkish track that up until a few years ago I wouldn't have entertained but it appears that I have mellowed recently.

It would bring a tear to a glass eye, as they say.

Kris Kristofferson - Jody and The Kid

Friday 26 July 2013

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance




I always feel that in this weather a bit of Farley and Heller goes down rather well, there is something about their style of  house music I think is suited to soaring temperatures and a sweaty disposition. So here is a track from the duo in their Roach Motel guise originally from 1994, although this re-edit comes from a decade later, remixed by Tom Stephan.

It is the first game of the season for Airdrieonians tomorrow, a local derby against Hamilton in the first round of the Ramsdens Cup, so hopefully I will be watching Airdrie getting off to an excellent startwhile being bathed in sunshine at New Broomfield.

Have a good weekend people.

Roach Motel - Wild Luv (Superchumbo's Roach Clip Re-edit)

Thursday 25 July 2013

Fallout



In light of recent events where a considerable number of very good established blogs have been pulled over the last couple of days I will carry on here as long as possible before this plug is deleted. A couple of years ago I set up Across The Kitchen Table at Wordpress but only sporadically updated it. Last week for some reason I decided it was time to update Wordpress and for the week since have been trying without success to import all of my posts from Blogger, The titles and the comments have been pulled over but none of the text has, not sure why but I will keep trying. If the worst happens I will be found at acrossthekitchentable.wordpress.com.

So let's crack on with the music. I loved the first Moon Duo album and was even more impressed by the remix album which followed. I think that this album took up residency on the turntable for a good while back in 2011. Here is one of my favourite mixes from the project where Sonic Boom aka Peter Kember does what he does so well taking drugs to make music to take drugs to.

Moon Duo - Fallout (Sonic Boom mix)

Wednesday 24 July 2013

I Am Very Angry

The Vinyl Villain has been pulled this morning. I got in touch with JC to see if there was a problem as he hadn't posted for a few days and on Blogger it said that the blog has been removed. JC was unaware of anything but checked and it appears that the Man has decided to pull the blog for copyright violations. If I hear anymore I will let you know.

Yet Another Ridiculously Limited xx Remix



I'm not sure why The xx insist on releasing 12" remixes in extremely limited runs as they can't make that much money from them. The only people I see profiting from this are the scumbags who buy the releases and immediately put them up on Discogs and Ebay at inflated prices.

Anyway, last month saw the release of three new remixes by who I take to be hip new producers from Germany as the twelve came out on Berlin label Innervisions. All are quite different from the Four Tet and John Talabot mixes that we have come to expect. They are sparse,  rather minimal and absolutely brilliant.

I may actually be talking pish in the first paragraph, it looks lik this has had a repress as there seem to be loads of copies out there at a quite reasonable price.

The xx - Reunion (Ame remix)

Monday 22 July 2013

Just Your Fool



Today's wonderful piece of soul comes from Leon Haywood and was released in 1975. To be honest with you I have kind of neglected this track as the b-side Consider The Source is very good and hads gotten the majority of the plays. But the a-side, which is quite different in style is a great track as well.

The weather seems to have broken slightly and is considerably colder up here, it is probably warmer than it would be in a normal year at this time but due to the mental heat we have been having it feels quite cool.

Leon Haywood - Just Your Fool

Sunday 21 July 2013

What's In Yir Box? V



Firstly, apologies if this post is a little incoherent and rambling, nothing new there you say. We were out yesterday at a BBQ for a friend from Australia who is going back to Oz this week, it started at 4 and went on until the wee small hours. I am actually feeling better than I deserve to be but I fully expect to crash hard sometime this afternoon.

Back to the music and it's on to the V's as there are no Us in the box, not surprising really. Anyway fortunately for me as it means that I don't have to try and think for too long there aren't that many Ws either.

First up we have the Vaccines and Post Break-Up Sex. The Vaccines have their critics and I was very cynical about them when they first came out but they had won me over with this their second single an every day tale of adolescence and your girlfriend/boyfriend finishing with you and then shagging somebody else very shortly afterwards. It was quite disturbing when Max at seven started singing the chorus. The other reason that there has to be a Vaccines record in the box is the memory of Max's face when they took to the stage at Latitude, it was a long time since I saw somebody so happy and enthralled at a concert, magic.

After the Fall and The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Velvet Underground would be number three on my list of  bands, so when a couple of Record Store Days ago a single containing two of my favourite tracks by the group it was a forgone conclusion that it would be high on my priorities that day.  Foggy Notion is the epitome of cool, there is just something about Lou Reed's delivery and the guitar sound that although insistent sounds really laid back and similarly I Can't Stand It that makes you want to dress in black with a pair of wrap around shades on.

Lastly we have a bunch of chancers from Dundee with their first single. The first time I saw the band was purely by chance when one lunch time I decided to go up to Fopp( as you do), when my office was in the centre of Edinburgh. When I got there, there was this bunch of scruffy weans setting up equipment in the shop, so I decided to hang around,. What I heard of the set impressed me that much that I bought the single and went back to work. The last time I saw the band was equally as fortuitous, as earlier this year we were wandering through Kelvingrove Park  in Glasgow when we heard the dulcet tones of Kyle Falconer echoing round the area, as The View were performing just up the hill a bit. Although the band have a good back catalogue if you forget the second album I don't think that they have ever bettered Wasted Little DJ's, their first single.

So that's yir whack for the Vs, next week quite a considerable number more Ws and a few from artists with the surname of Wilson

The Vaccines - Post Break-Up Sex
The Velvet Underground - Foggy Notion/I Can't Stand It
The View - wasted little dj's

The Vaccines - Post Break-Up Sex

Saturday 20 July 2013

Just Because



It's Saturday, it's still sunny and this is so, so good.

New Order - Regret.

Friday 19 July 2013

it's Friday . . . Let's Dance!




I am not going to moan about the heat even although I am melting, it is fucking magic, it is good to see people with smiles on there coupons for a change and peely wally Scots with some colour that doesn't come from a bottle or one of those melanoma machines. However I could do without all the saggy flesh that is on show, especially the burnt red raw stuff. I went to Airdrie last night to get Max and my season tickets ( I know child abuse, but it's character building) on the scooter and it just felt great. Hopefully I will get a chance over the weekend to get back out for a ride.

Anyway, I was thinking of posting something balearic, maybe off of the 101  Cafe del Mar compilations that have been released over the past nineteen years  which could be listened to with an Estella Damm but who needs the white isle when either Saltcoats,  Ayr or Scarborough will be more than adequate.  Today's track is a bit of blissed out down tempo early trance courtesy of the Drum Club. So crack open a bottle/can of whatever you fancy, I will have a Guinness and thank fuck it is the beginning of the weekend.

Have a good weekend people.

The Drum Club - Follow The Sun

Thursday 18 July 2013

Past Lovers



This is one of the most  beautiful,  melancholic pieces of music I have. It's up there with Rembrandt Hat by Andy White, Jonathan Richman's That Summer Feeling and Thirteen by anyone but especially the Kathryn Williams version with it's ability to make me nostalgic, slightly sad but also smile at the same time.

I think that Gordon McIntyre is a much underrated song writer and the works of Ballboy should be better known that they are. Past Lovers came out in 2003 and is another excellent song that the Great British music buying public totally ignored. Tragic really.

Ballboy - Past Lovers

Tuesday 16 July 2013

Proper Techno



Here is a track from SCB that came out earlier this year on the Think And Change album sampler volume 2 which just builds and builds. I would love to hear this in a club environment. Proper techno.

I'm down in Manchester for a couple of days, so probably nothing to see here until Wednesday night/Thursday.

SCB - Dissipate

Monday 15 July 2013

8-3-1



A couple of weeks ago I mentioned Lisa Stansfield when in a modern soul post. Stansfield herself is responsible for a track that was huge on the scene, so much so that the track was bootlegged and released out on 7" vinyl. 8-3-1 was released as a cd single in 2001 and was one of the standout tracks from that year's Face Up album.

I once nearly met Lisa Stansfield, when she was at the height of her fame. I was returning from an exhausting week in Holland with sixty odd Primary school children. We had stopped at a service station when one of the girls spotted Stansfield returning to her coach which led to maybe a dozen girls rushing over. Stansfield was having none of it and quickly got into the coach. The kids were told to go away in very unambiguous terms by the Rochdale singer's "security" and they returned to hassling the staff at the service station instead. One girl turned to me and said " does she no know who we ir?and she isnae Madonna onyways".

Lisa Stansfield - 8-3-1


Sunday 14 July 2013

Whit's In Yir Box? T



We resume this series after a two week break with the letter T. To be honest I thought that there were more singles for this letter than there actually are.

The first single is a Spanish ep from Vince Taylor, primarily bought for Brand New Cadillac. Like most people of my age and musical preferences I first heard the track as a cover by the Clash and it was quite a few years before I even heard the original and a considerable period before I got my hands on it on vinyl. Apparently Vince was a bit of a nutter who left the music business to become an aircraft mechanic and died at the very early age of 52 from cancer. The other tracks on the ep are good especially I Like Love but not a patch on Brand New Cadillac.

I really liked Duffy's fourth single Mercy,  thought that it had a really good retro soul vibe to it but didn't expect the cover by the Third Degree to be so much better, more infectious and more of a dancer. I defy anybody to listen to this song and be able to stay still if they can they are probably dead or fans of One Direction.

It looks as though the Ts are full of cover versions or originals that are better known by other people and the next single would become better known when covered by a young Elvis Presley three years after the original was released. There is something primal but beguiling about Big Mama Thornton's vocal on Hound Dog. My copy is the "dodgy" unofficial pressing released in 2010 but I have seen copies of the original on eBay that weren't that expensive and thought about it a couple of times but there are other pressings that I would replace before this one, as the quality is pretty good.

54 - 46 takes me right back to when I was 18, wearing an MA1 and Docs and frequenting Scooter Club dances. I first owned the track on the Trojan Explosion album which was great value as it contained nearly every ska tune played at these dos on one piece of vinyl and also a couple of gems that weren't such as Bob Marley's Small Axe. Seven or eight years ago I found a re-issue of the single on Beverley's with Pressure Drop on the other side but unlike the pressing of Hound Dog this isn't that great with quite a few clicks and pops on apparent mint vinyl but still worth having nonetheless.

Next up is a single that I originally had on 12" vinyl which was borrowed by a girlfriend who gave it, the album it came from and a whole load more of my records to Oxfam in retribution when we finished, a story for another day, possibly. The Trash Can Sinatras came out at the tail end of the purple patch that Scottish music went through in the mid to late eighties, Obscurity Knocks being their first and best single. Listening to this song usually puts me in a good mood, even when I remember the fate of my original copy, it's one of those tracks like Honey At The Core by Friends Again that conjure up visions of sunny days when everything was so much simpler. Happy Days! Years later i got to see them opening for Roddy Frame on the first night of the ABC in Glasgow and was really disappointed, not that they were rubbish or anything just really boring.

Surfing Bird is another song that was played at Scooter Club dos but The Cramps version usually accompanied by some pretty hard core slamming on the dance floor which sometimes would end up in real violence. The original version by the Trashmen is probably associated in a lot of people's minds with Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. The first few bars of this track usually leads to absolute bedlam in this house as both boys love this mad tune.

Next up we have probably Phil Spector's second finest moment. I am still amazed that River Deep Mountain High bombed in America. From all accounts the recording of the song was fraught and that dozens of musicians and backing singers were used on it. It is said that it cost $22 000 to record a sum unheard of at the time. But the results are astounding, the phrase "wall of sound" never being more apt than it is on this track and what a vocal performance by Tina Turner, even if it did take her hundreds of takes before Spector got what he wanted.

The final single in the T section is by the Twilight Singers but not the one that should be in the box, that should be Teenage Wristband but for some reason it was only released on cd single. Feathers, the follow-up is an alright track but. the b-side Number Nine is a slow burning epic of a song and the first time that Dulli and Mark Lanegan collaborated I think. The opening organ kind of makes me think of You Can't Always Get What You Want but when that deep, deep voice of Lanegan starts you know that you are in for something a bit moody and dark. What we end up with is some kind of sleazy epic, wonderful.

Vince Taylor - Brand New Cadillac
The Third Degree - Mercy
"Big Mama" Thornton - Hound Dog
Toots & The Maytals - 54 - 46
The Trash Can Sinatras - Obscurity Knocks e.p.
The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird
Ike & Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High
The Twilight Singers - Feathers/Number Nine

"Big Mama" Thornton - Hound Dog

Saturday 13 July 2013

Poolside



We were at a 40th birthday party in the function room of a pub last night and it felt like being in the mosh pit in the Barrowlands when seeing the Pogues circa 1987, jesus it was hot!

Anyway here is a rather blissed out cover of Harvest Moon to accompany your beer in the sunshine this afternoon.

Not sure what I think of this version to be honest.

Poolside - Harvest Moon

Friday 12 July 2013

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance




Not as bad  first four days back at work as I expected even with a trip to my favourite town to learn about WIIFMs and WICMs for the umpteenth time and this heat!

Today's track comes from an album released in 1993 and which for me, after listening to again a couple of times this week stands the test of time in a form of music that is constantly shifting and changing. Well it was produced by Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner and  Gary Burns so what else did I expect, really.

Have a good weekend, me I will be melting somewhere!

Play loud or through headphones for best effect

Sabres of Paradise - Still Fighting

Thursday 11 July 2013

Luton Again




When you are reading this I will be in Luton for some of that stuff that Mr H does so well. I can hardly contain my excitement as I type this at the thought.

Here is a bit of Rockabilly from a woman you wouldn't mess with, or "go home to with a burst pay packet" as we say up here, let alone cheat on.

Joyce Green - Black Cadillac


Wednesday 10 July 2013

Locked Together



No ranting today, just a beautiful song by the amazing Kenny Anderson. I don't think that there is anybody more prolific but at the same time relatively unknown. This track comes from the 2005 album KC Rules Ok but you've all got a copy right? If not get your act together.

Max has been to a lot more places on holiday in his nine years than I had by the age of 16 but he still rates Anstruther on the East Neuk of Fife as his favourite place in the world.

King Creosote - :Locked Together 

Tuesday 9 July 2013

Back To Work!



Well, if that's my holidays then I've had them. Not really. Got a week in Machrihanish at the beginning of August to look forward to, when no doubt it will pleut tous les jours.

A brilliant and really warm ten days in the south west of France was had by all, especially the mosquitoes who have been using me as a feeding ground, must be all the bad cholesterol that appeals to them.  Beaucoup du vin et le canard was consumed and I am even more portly than I was previously.

Anything been happening in my near two weeks of splendid isolation?

A Brit has won Wimbledon, you say!

No, never.

On my ferry home anyway,  you could have been excused if you had thought that Andy Murray was from some country even more despised than France to the population of the largest nation in our United (?) Kingdom. I know that I cannot base my judgement on the two or three hundred English people on a particular boat at a particular time but I was rather disappointed and a tad incensed at the contempt that there was for the Scot, there I've said it, although he left the country when he was fifteen for Barcelona, and let's face it who wouldn't if they got the chance, he still sounds Scottish, then again so does Sir Sean and he hasn't lived here since the fifties but don't get me started on him. I and probably the majority of people north of Carlisle are under no illusions that he would have been Scottish in the English press on Monday morning had he not beaten the world's number one. No the Serb had not been paid to throw the match like the couple from the West Midlands sitting next to me remarked at the end, in all fucking seriousness!

I am not one for tennis. When I was a kid the only thing that the second week of Wimbledon meant to me was the start of my school holidays. I have always thought of it as a sport for the rather privileged, you don't find many tennis courts in housing schemes or see many normal punters on the seats at Center Court, and nearly as anachronistic in it's outlook as golf.  However,  when stuck on a boat for nine hours with nothing else to,  do as we did not have a cabin I decided to watch the final, christ,  I would even have watched the Grand Prix or something equally mind numbing to pass the time. It wasn't long until I was really getting involved and vocally cheering on Murray as others from my homeland, as I do consider myself as British, rooted for Djokovic. At the end I was more relieved that the Scot had won rather than pleased as it wiped the smug satisfying looks off of the coupons of some sitting around me.

I don't believe that the whole of the English nation is so small minded and bigoted as the ones I encountered on Sunday, just like not all Scots are drunks with a penchant for anything deep fried in batter, only some of us. But there is a section of the society that needs to take a hard look at itself, the same section who in the middle of France should also review the strategy of shouting at a waitress and breaking an English word down into syllables as it isn't going to get you anywhere and probably just reinforces the preconceived contempt that she probably already had.

How dare you people make me think that our "sonsie faced" First Minister might have a point and also have me banging on about a sport that I really couldn't give a flying fuck for!

Oh, and just before I finish, Murray's victory cannot be compared to the English team winning the World Cup in 1966, as suggested on the Today programme yesterday morning, you can have that one, as you haven't stopped banging on about it for fifty three fucking years!

Sorry for the rant, but I needed to get that off my chest.

Here is a bit of soul.

Doris Duke -I Don't Care Anymore