Monday 30 September 2013

There Was A Time



Last week on the Culture Show on BBC2, Paul Mason presented a great show on Northern Soul, you can watch the whole thing over at The Bagging Area.

One of the tracks featured on the show was Gene Chandler's version of James Brown's There Was A Time and I decided that I would post this impossible to dance to tune. However on Friday Mr H posted The Boss by the Godfather of Soul and I remembered that I had a belter of a remix of the song I was going to post today on the Verve Remixed 4 album and decided that I would feature this instead.

Enjoy.

James Brown - There Was A Time (Kenny Dope remix)

Friday 27 September 2013

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance?



I will keep this brief  as after two days in Luton my brain is fried. Do you ever get the feeling you are doing a completely different job from your contemporaries?

Today's track is a remix by that minor deity of left field dance music Andrew Weatherall.  From his first purple patch, Everything Grooves part 1 is 9 minute laid back groove another of those tracks that you can lose yourself in. One of the many things I love about Lord Sabre's remixes is that they are usually lengthy affairs ensuring that you get your money's worth.

Have a good weekend people.

btw - are you a learner/player or a victim/knower and do you really care?

Stereo MC's - Everything  (Everything Grooves Part 1)

Thursday 26 September 2013

Please You



We haven't had any Raveonettes here for a while. This track comes from the self released Rarities and B sides album which came out a couple of years ago. I think that this track must have been an early demo that didn't make the cut for the first couple of albums. I can't recall ever hearing it live either.

The Raveonettes - Please You 

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Shit, Luton!



Deep, deep joy, back down in Luton for a couple of days. I just love the half four rise and still being expected to function in the afternoon. On the bright side I may come back up the road with a fully functioning lap-top, although I will not bank on it.

Ulrich Schnauss - In All The Wrong Places

Tuesday 24 September 2013

And Then There Is No Mystery Left



This came on the mp3 player the other day. I had nearly forgotten how good this was. Time to listen to the album again but if I do I know that I will play it over and over until I sicken myself with it once more.

Rilo Kiley - Portions For Foxes

Monday 23 September 2013

. . . And No More Songs To Sing.



The more I delve into the output of the three labels run by Stan Lewis out of Shreveport Louisiana the more gems I discover and not all of them on the Jewel label by any manner of means.

Today's track is the 62nd release on RONN Records by a guy called Willie Rogers who I think had been listening to more than a couple of Sam Cooke sides as his singing style is very similar. That's When I'll Stop Loving You is a gorgeous bit of deep soul which I wish I had found along time ago, as putting this on a compilation tape I think would have made many a girl's heart melt. As it is I am having a great time on my own discovering more and more from the depths of Shreveport.

Enjoy

Willie Rogers - That's When I'll Stop Loving You 

Sunday 22 September 2013

Mellow Sunday



There is quite a battle going on for the right to take up residence on my turntable at the moment from two completely different albums.

Firstly there is the remix album of a certain Mr Weatherall's latest project the Asphodells which is quite brilliant with all the remixers adding something to the original tracks.

Thee other I must warn "contains jazz" and the gorgeous warm vocals of Gregory Porter. The album, Liquid Spirit is the singer's third and first for Blue Note is just the thing for a Sunday, or any day really.

Here is just one of the many highlights from the album.

Friday 20 September 2013

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



Mr Weatherall has been up to loads recently, most of which have been documented at the Bagging Area. This week's posted remix of the collaboration between Wayne Coyne and Moby being particularly memorable and I am also looking forward to the remix of Come With Me by Jagwar Ma being available on Vinyl. These recent productions are as good as anything he produced during the early nineties when everything he touched sounded wonderful.

The other night I was listening to the recently delivered Asphodells remix album which is another great piece of work by Weatherall in partnership with Tim Fairplay. Listening to this got me thinking of the great Weatherall single from 2009 that never was, Brother Johnston's Travelling Disco Consultancy. The bearded one had aired the track on a 6mix if I remember correctly and there was great excitement, in this house anyway at the thought of  a vinyl release. Alas this never came to pass, however the track was included on the Andrew Weatherall vs The Boardroom Volume 2 cd.

A big,  brash, disco for the noughties 9 minute plus extravaganza which will not disappoint.

Have a good weekend people

Andrew Weatherall - Brother Johnston's Travelling Disco Consultancy 

Thursday 19 September 2013

The Dorian Gray Of Post Punk Returns



I am really excited about the fact that Roddy Frame is going to tour High Land Hard Rain in it's entirety in December, thirty years after it's first release. I know that a few people including JC have been grumbling at the price of the tickets, from twenty five to fifty pounds a seat, which is a bit much, I opted for the cheap seats. There are very few people that I would pay this kind of money to see, well come to think of it, nobody other than the boy wonder could make me part with over twenty quid.  Frame is different,  I have yet to have left either a solo gig or an Aztec Camera one anything other than elated with a renewed belief in the goodness of humanity ,which soon wears off. In fact if someone had asked me for another twenty quid on leaving last year's Paisley Abbey gig I would happily have handed over the money.

It has also been confirmed that a remastered version of the album is being produced and if the remastering is anywhere near as good as that on the Clash box set then it will be an essential purchase.

I really cannae wait.

Here's the last song from High Land Hard Rain recorded at Paisley Abbey.




Wednesday 18 September 2013

Yip, I Kinda Remember That Feeling



I'm going to keep the mellow, some would say miserable, vibe going with today's choice.

I just love this song, it just conveys that Sunday/Monday morning come down perfectly. Not that I've had a hedonistic weekend for quite some time but I can just about remember what the aftermath felt like.

Bright Eyes - Lua

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Expanding Your Horizon



Listening to Meursault will not make you a shiny happy person but sometimes it's quite good to get a bit introspective and moody. Whenever I put something on by them I'm unable to do anything else, I find myself immersed in the music and lyrics. Last year's Something For The Weakend demands that you drop anything that you are doing and for the duration of the album you sit and listen. It is not an easy listen, Mamie for instance is a heartbreaking song, but heartbreaking in a good way and I find a real sense of loss and sadness about the entire album but it is something that I keep going back to again and again.

When the album first came out Song By Toad Records produced a deluxe package which included the vinyl and cd copies of the album along with a T-shirt, badges lyric book and a further cd of demos of songs from the album all housed in a lovely tote bag. As you know I am a sucker for this kind of thing and duly ordered it.  Last night I was listening to these demos and decided that the version included on the cd of my favourite song from the album needed to be posted  I'm not wonderfully bleak will help sales of the album but that's how I find Settling and much of the album.

Meursault - Settling (demo)

Monday 16 September 2013

It Keeps Raining



Need I say more.

Oh, one thing, instead of putting on the heating, try putting on a jumper, it's not that bloody cold yet and it's not like British Gas or whichever robbing bastard of a utilities company you are at the mercy of needs the money.

Fats Domino - It Keeps Raining

Sunday 15 September 2013

Mellow Sunday



Here is a sublime collaboration between King Creosote and Jon Hopkins this was the third single from their  Diamond Mine which should be in every right minded person's collection. Not the sort of thing that that twat Jeremy Clarkson would buy. There is not much that Kenny Anderson puts his name to that I don't love and this is no exception.

Enjoy

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins - John Taylor's Month Away

Saturday 14 September 2013

Most Wanted



The last time that I posted something by this duo I received a DMCA complaint so we will just refer to them as the duo. The track comes from probably my  favourite album from 2011 which still takes up regular space on the turntable these days, if you haven't already you really need to check it out.  The music harks back to the golden age of girl groups and everything including the kitchen sink productions.

Duo - Most Wanted

Totally unrelated picture of Sharon Tate which I happened to have.


Friday 13 September 2013

It's Friday . . . Let's Skank




Outside of dance music aficionados Rude Boy Rock is probably the only Lionrock track that most people know of. Well it did hit the heady heights of #20 in the UK Top Forty in 1998. The track is built around a fair bit of the track Nimrod by the Skatalites and is just the kind of thing to temporarily blow away the September blues.

When not watching Airdrieonians getting gubbed I will spend the weekend  mostly listening to the remastered Clash studio albums,  which arrived earlier in the week. I was somewhat amazed at the sound of London Calling last night.

Have a good weekend people.

Lionrock - Rude Boy Rock 

Thursday 12 September 2013

Unmarked Helicopters



It's about time that this lot toured the UK again. I know it's a bit of a trek from down under but if thousands of bar staff can do it so can a band.

This comes from the group's second ep from 2009, The Man Is Dead,  for me their best release as it includes Disco Biscuit Love. But all three eps and the debut album are worth a listen.

The Jezabels - Unmarked Helicopters

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Spaced Out Star Child




I think that this is a lost classic of sorts. Not included on the album that bears it's name, Screamadelica took up side two of the excellent Dixie Narco ep and I think that it is kind of forgotten about as the lead track from the ep was Movin' On Up. It is another immaculate production by Andrew Weatherall and Hugo Nicolson.

Primal Scream - Screamadelica


Tuesday 10 September 2013

Fine Lines




I always get a bit melancholic on the long drive down the road from Aberdeen. It may have something to do with the good times that I had up there all those years ago and the fact that when I shave in the mornings the coupon looking back at me doesn't bear much of a resemblance to that boy of eighteen, who although a bit of a miserable git was still quite an optimistic fellow.

This came on the ipod today between Dundee and Perth  and by the time I had played it for the third time my face was streaked with tears, not sure why, although a beautiful song it doesn't hold any special resonance to me. It could be something to do with that stretch of road. Years ago while travelling on the same bit of the A90 I had a similar experience, although that time it was my own fault. I was playing a tape that I had compiled a couple of days previously. If the truth be told it was quite a depressing compilation, not quite on a par with " You Couldn't Drink This Tape Happy" but on its way.  By the time that I got to the same stretch of road that I was on today when John Martyn started, then it was the Pogues version of A Band Played Waltzing Matilda  which was followed by a live version of The Green Fields of France by Eric Bogle, some of you may know the one, where Bogle introduces the song with the story of when he visited Flanders after which he wrote the song. I very nearly went into total meltdown, well you would be wouldn't you! I pulled into the next  lay-by smoked a couple of JPS and composed myself.

Today I was somewhat wrenched out of maudlin mood when the mp3 player selected Don't Touch That Stereo by Trouble Funk, I put the foot down, gunned the car, well if you can gun a Toyota,  towards the M90 and Edinburgh while telling myself to get a grip.

John Martyn - Fine Lines

Monday 9 September 2013

Little Rena Scott



When Rena Scott was twelve she won a competition on a radio station in Detroit and was picked to sing on The Motown Revue Show at the Fox Theatre in the city where she performed with the original Tempations. By the age of fifteen she had cut her first single and at the ripe old age of seventeen signed to Epic. The following year she was singing backing vocals for Aretha Franklin. A back story to rival any of those on the x-factor, although it may lack the tragedy element, although later she would have her ups and downs in a career which continues to this day.

Here is that first single that she recorded when she was not yet old enough to leave school.

Little Rena Scott - I Just Can't Forget That Boy

Sunday 8 September 2013

Sunday Blues




I really can't be arsed.

Here is some rather good trumpet playing

Chet Baker - Almost Blue

Friday 6 September 2013

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



Just like most of everything that appears on the telly these days, today's post is a repeat, it's probably the only way I'm going to sustain flogging this dead horse of a series! This post first appeared on Friday 10th July 2009 when I was still quite fresh to this blogging lark.

Have a good weekend people.

Today's number comes courtesy of Amsterdam in the early 1990's.

Get Down Tonight is by Fierce Ruling Diva and is basically a techno track built round a KC and the Sunshine Band sample. The track is tucked away on side c of the double pack 12" Anarchic Adjustments by the duo.

For the life of me I cannot understand what possessed me to buy this 12" as after digging it out and listening to it last night, this track is the only redeeming feature on an otherwise piss poor, in my opinion, couple of records. The music is not the sort of thing that I was listening to back then. It is, however, the sort of thing that a lot of people I knew were getting absolutely out of their faces to, this,  a lot of stuff coming out of the Netherlands, music as well as E and the tunes that the Clubscene label up here in Scotland were releasing were very popular in the Central Belt of Scotland and the North East of England.

Fierce Ruling Diva are probably best remembered for the track You Gotta Believe, which I also have in my collection for some reason. I'm not sure that any drugs would ever have been good enough to make me want these singles.

A few years later, I do remember an add for crap American beer using another track built around the same sample.

Fierce Ruling Diva - Get Down Tonight

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Leaving Here



The first version of Leaving Here I ever heard was the live version by Motorhead which was part of the Golden Years ep. It was years before I released that it had originally been a soul song written by Holland-Dozier-Holland and released as a single in 1963. The Motorhead version is said to have been inspired by the 1965 recording of the song by British R&B band the Birds.

The version posted comes from the following year and is possibly my favourite version of the track, I love the laid back vocal which is kind of at odds with the tempo of the track.

The Who also covered this song but I also think that Magic Bus owes more than a little to this track.

Jimmy Hanna With The Dynamics - Leaving Here

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Summer Swansong



For those of you experiencing the swansong of summer and to remind the rest of us of when the sun was shining, here is a particularly good remix off one of Sade's best from a white label containing the edit posted and also one of Couldn't Love You More

I have always loved Sade's voice but a lot of the songs for me were ruined with that horrible mid 80s production and always felt that I was not well enough dressed to be listening to her music.

Sade - Give It Up ( Vin Sol and Matrixxman edit)


Monday 2 September 2013

On The Real Side



Shake of the post summer blues, the melancholic vibes are all over the place at the moment, with a bit of classic Blackpool Highland Room soul. Ian Levine sure could pick them.

Larry Saunders - On The Real Side


Sunday 1 September 2013

Watcha Gonna Do?




I'm straying into Swiss Adam Friday night territory here.

I've been sitting on this single for a while, not sure why. I intended to post it a while ago and then forgot all about it.

It's not often that you get an original Rockabilly artist who is still performing today but Hayden Thompson at the age of seventy five is still on the go, well, according to Wikipedea anyway.

Watcha Gonna Do was originally released in 1961. It is quite a laid back bit of rockabilly that would not be out of place on a Tarantino soundtrack. I absolutely love the sound of the guitar on this.

Hayden Thmpson - Watcha Gonna Do