Thursday 31 December 2015

Happy Hogmanay/Ne'erday



Out with the old and in with the new as the platitude goes.

I'm not the biggest fan of the Hogmanay and Ne'erday celebrations and especially this year when we are faced with another four and a half years of Tory nastiness ahead, still it could be worse we could have a complete lack of opposition to these silver spooned, privately educated millionaires who have a knack of passing laws that make their friends wealthier and everybody else scared shitless.

It's enough to drive you to drink!

Anyway, I would like to thank all of you for stopping by here over the past twelve months, especially those who take the time to comment, thus giving this drivel some sort of legitimacy, if only in my mind. I wish you all peace and strength (as a much missed commentor would say) for the coming year.

At least we still have "sturdy girl" and a whole heap of good music to look forward to starting off with not one but two Weatherall albums in the first couple of months of 2016.

I have been listening to a lot of Hendrix recently.

Cheers an' aw the best when it comes.

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

Tuesday 29 December 2015

RIP Lemmy 1945 - 2015



I was saddened to hear of the death of Lemmy last night although not totally surprised after seeing the footage of a gig a few weeks ago when he had to leave the stage and also after the Glastonbury performance in the summer, I haven't bought anything by Motorhead since the Iron Fist album. I know that millions will disagree but for me the albums and singles released from 1977 to 1982 are all you need. I still listen to them pretty regularly and had replaced my old knackered copy of the Ace of Spades single only a few months ago.

I am not sure that Lemmy was the most pleasant individual but then again how many of us really are? He will be remembered by me as the man responsible for me missing a whole day of school while still being there. As the day after my first gig seeing Motorhead at the Glasgow Apollo I couldn't hear a thing that anybody was saying due to the ringing in my ears And also as the leader of the first band that I ever got really excited about.

Motorhead - Iron Horse/Born To Lose

Monday 28 December 2015

Oh My Soul. Again!



I make no apologies for posting this song again as it just fits in with my mood over the past couple of days. I have about 10 - 15 soul/northern tracks in my notebook to fill the Monday slot and last night I pulled out maybe half a dozen but I wasn't feeling any of them at the time but this song was just the thing I needed, the equivalent of the biggest, fluffiest pillow/cushion to sink into and get comfy and that's just what I needed then and suspect that I will also appreciate this morning.

Enjoy (that is an order, not a request)

The Swordsmen - Oh My Soul

Just like the telly at this time of the year, it may end up being a week of repeats as I am in a "I could not give a flying fuck" kind of mood at the moment.

Sunday 27 December 2015

It's Snowing In Lake Wobegon



I hope you all had a great Christmas.

If you have a spare 13 minutes from all the tidying up, hunting for that lost envelope with the money in it or taking a break from building the lego. I warn you now you may need a handkerchief.

This was first posted by Mr H over at the much missed Ghost of Electricity four or five years ago and I have listened to the story quite a few times since then and it never fails to move me.

Garrison Keillor - Hansel

Thursday 24 December 2015

Merry Christmas When It Comes One And All



I hope you all get what you deserve from Santa tomorrow. I'm hoping for a new internet radio after my last one died earlier in the year.

Although this isn't really a Christmas song, it's not Christmas day until this is on the turntable.

Aw the best

Housemartins - Caravan of Love

Wednesday 23 December 2015

. . . And Now For The Best




Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

I know, Craig at Plain or Pan has already posted this with a little bit more detail but for a change I was ahead of the game and on Sunday had decided on my tracks for this week, so I ain't going to change it now.

Tuesday 22 December 2015

Another Christmas Song



I am going to post Christmas songs for the rest of the week, sorry but that's the way it is. I used to be a bit ambivalent towards the festering season until the boys came along, although Max is more cynical now than I ever was but Leo is on cloud nine which can get very wearing however I still smile at the "yo ho ho merrrrrrrrrrrrry christmas" every time.

The Raveonettes - Christmas Song

Monday 21 December 2015

Joyous Sounds From Detroit



Love Is The Only Solution is more Motown than Motown. Released on the Thelma label out of Grand River,  Detroit the band behind Ms Starr's voice almost certainly Berry Gordy's in-house musicians  moonlighting and thank god they did or the northern scene would be a much diminished scene.

Martha Starr - Love Is The Only Solution

Sunday 20 December 2015

My Albums of The Year



The album that I have played most this year doesn't appear on the last as it was released in 2014, Some of you will have guessed that it is by one of the biggest pop people on the planet who up until about July I had not knowingly heard anything from and have decided that I am not going to revisit her back catalogue as I'm not sure that it can stand up to 1989. That's the offical line, really between you and me I'm scared that I am entering a second adolescence and will become a really sad middle aged T Swizzle acolyte. Which is strange as I didn't have much time for chart pap when I was youngster.

I have been slightly concerned by the number of albums that I have had to return due to piss poor pressings, at the last count seven albums, I'm not sure whether this is due to my advanced years and turning inot Victor Meldrew or if it is quality control or the old presses. There is good news on the last point as I read in the Fader, I think that new presses have been manufactured for the first time in years.

And so to the countdown. . .



10 - Sydney Eloise and The Palms - Faces

This album has been described as Jenny Lewis produced by Phil Spector and that kind of sums it up really but not only are there 60s girl group stylings in there but also a bit of 70s folk rock and I can hear a bit of Blondie in there as well. The first side of the album is the stronger for me. This was one of those poor pressings that I was banging on about and at the moment I am waiting for a replacement.



9 - FLK - Mummers

The "is it them or some other chancers?" isn't really relevant anymore as this album stands up on it's own as a modern take on Folk or Folktronica as it has been labelled. I think had this came out earlier in the year it would be higher up the list, as I'm still really getting into it. Mummers apparently is a term for amateur actors dressing up in disguises performing British folk drama in the street.



8 - The Fall - Sub Lingual Tablet

Another year another Fall album and initially I thought that this would be my album of the year but it hasn't stood up to continual plays, the law of diminishing returns sadly applies to this album with only three  or four tracks standing up tio continual plays but those tracks are brilliant. I was also less than impressed by Smith sticking different mixes on the vinyl and cd making buyin g the album an extremely costly affair.



7 - The Orb - Moonbuilding

The Orb seem to be getting better and better with age, Thias is one of those albums that you just have to sit and immerse yourself in. I bought the triple album version but the two jams in tribute to J Dilla aren't essential. They can also still cut the mustard live as Stiff and I can attest to seeing them a few weeks ago.




6 - Laura Marling  - Short Movie

I hadn't really listened to a lot of Laura Marling's stuff until I heard bits of this album and decided to take a punt on it and I'm glad I did. The album is not what I expected. It seems quite angry in bits and I love the guitar and all the space in the music. She also has a very good turn of phrase.



5 - Sexwitch - Sexwitch

Natasha Khan, Dan Carey and Toy tackle Middle Eastern psych rock. What's not to like?



4 - Ryan Adams - 1989

The poster boy of alt Country re-imagines Taylor Swift's wonderful 1989. It has been described as Adams doing Swift in the style of Bruce Springsteen but it is so much more than that. Well,  apart from the awful version of Style which on the original is great but here evokes memories of big haired pomp rock ala Europe sung by Bonzo, horrible!

Ryan Adams - How You Get The Girl



3- FourTet - Morning/Evening

Just beautiful, just really beautiful.



2 - Kid Wave - Wonderlust

The debut from this Anglo/Swedish band is everything you want from an indie album, good tunes, loads of attitude and the video for All I Want had me longing to be sixteen again!  I just wish I could have made the Glasgow gig, I fucking hate the M1,   in October but Stiff assures me they were very good but unfortunately playing to a handful of people.




1- Jamie xx - Colours

I have lapped up everything that Jamie Smith has produced since embarking upon his solo career but nothing up until now had matched the debut, Far Nearer but on this album there are at least three tracks on a par with it. The album just seems so glorious full of wide-eyed optimism. The Talabot remix of Loud Places, although not on the album, had it been released earlier would probably have been the track of my year. Unfortunately I bought the triple vinyl album which is blighted by a bad pressing also, which Young Turks did replace with another copy which although not quite as bad is still not right.

Jamie xx - The Rest Is Noise


and as a wee bonus. Over 1 billion hits. Fuck!




Friday 18 December 2015

It's The Friday Before Christmas . . . Let's Dance



Tonight is the bar person's least favourite night of the year, well it was mine and those I worked with's anyway but we might all have just been miserable gits, actually we were miserable gits. But when your pub is filled with amateur drinkers who know bugger all of pub etiquette. either can't remember a round or think that bar staff are too thick to keep more than one drink in their heads it is hard to keep up ones naturally sunny disposition. Throw into the mix guys who can't handle their drink and after two pints get paranoid and try everything they can to start a rammy and you have a recipe for disaster. If I had a pound for every time some arse said "cheer up it's Christmas" I would have been able to have gotten drunk from Christmas to New Year's Eve no bother. At which point my usual retort was to quote the words of a wise old drinker, Stuart,  who did the rounds of the pubs of Lanark every night of the week until it eventually killed him. "I don't need a (fucking) calendar to tell me when to be happy".

It was even worse djing on this particular Friday as good taste went right out of the window. Jeez, some of the pish that was requested!

This weekend I will be mostly pondering my vinyl storage problems as there are mutterings about the dining room no longer being that.

Have a good weekend people and if you are venturing out this evening, be careful out there.

Here's a tune that I think I would have played in the pub and which was probably mostly ignored.

South Street Player - (Who?) Keeps Changing Your Mind (The Night Mix)


Thursday 17 December 2015

The Force Is Not Stirring In Me



I think I may be getting a bit too old, I'm not feeling all this Force Awakens hype. All I can think about it is that I am going to have to queue up over the holidays and pay over the odds to watch it with a load of weans that won't stay quiet, deep fucking joy.

Here is a track each from a couple of mad singles I bought a few years ago. Rave Wars and The Hardcore Strikes Back which are apparently worth a few quid. I don't think that Mr Lucas would be too happy about the samples used on these or the other tracks as I seem to remember reading that he got a bit litigious with Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard when they used the moniker of The Jedi Knights

Mark Archer - Don't Make Me Destroy You

AGT Rave Crew - I've Got A Bad Feeling About This

Tuesday 15 December 2015

Trouble - Not You Are The Best Thing



Trouble by Ray Lamontagne was the first track that I had heard from the ex shoe factory worker from New Hampshire. I think that it was probably on KEXP Seattle around the tail end of 2004. Since then I have bought the first three albums that he has recorded but strangely not the last one released in 2014 which I will have to investigate as I don't think that I have even heard anything off of it. I remember reading somewhere that Lamontagne went mental at a couple who were talking all the way through a live performance and left the stage and would not return until the two people responsible left the hall. Good on him, however I fear if more bands and artists did this they would be playing to half full venues, if my recent experiences are anything to go by.

Ray Lamontagne - Trouble


Monday 14 December 2015

Soupy




Maggie Thrett recorded Soupy when she was only eighteen in 1965 although she sounds a lot older on this funk belter. The following year she moved to Hollywood from New York to embark upon an acting career that included a part in an episode of the original Star Trek series and a few other minor roles. In 1970 she was riding pillion on Gram Parson's motorbike when the singer/songwriter crashed and received significant injuries although Thrett was unscathed. The same year she decided to leave the movie/music industry behind. Soupy was sampled on De La Soul's groundbreaking Three Feet High and Rising album.

Maggie Thrett - Soupy

Sunday 13 December 2015

Ian Bell 1956 - 2015



This post will mean nothing to those of you outwith the central belt, the Borders and a bit of the northern part of Scotland but I thought that the passing of the finest comment journalist Scotland has ever produced needed to acknowledged on this blog.

I was deeply shocked and immensely saddened when I heard about Ian Bell's death yesterday, I'm not sure how I missed it on Friday probably because I was focused on getting my performance review completed, a task I think that would have been all too easy for the columnist who appears to have never been late for a deadline, ever.

I have avidly read Ian Bell's articles and comment since he joined the then Glasgow Herald and to be honest with you was one of the main reasons I have stuck with the paper for so long. I have not always agreed with his point of view but it always made me think my position on things and there was the knowledge that Bell believed wholeheartedly in what he had written. There was an integrity and honesty about his writing which came from a down to earth, one of us perspective. I think that Scottish journalism and society has been greatly diminished by this man's passing. We need people like him so not all the press ends up as Billy Bragg sings below.

Just last week he wrote a brilliant  "dismantling of Hilary Benn's empty war rhetoric" which should have been circulated the width and breadth of the UK and beyond.

Benn was applauded after saying not a word-not one-about what should be done if IS does not succumb even after every diplomatic domino falls as the coalition desires. For how long should the bombing continue? Benn didn't say. Will doing our bit in the name of solidarity and national security lead him to support the use of UK ground troops if there is an atrocity at home?
The great, acclaimed speech managed to say very little. Like all the bombers, it's author avoided the connection between war and domestic security. He did not explain why, having been wrong about three previous interventions, he had a remote chance of being right on this occasion. He did not spare much of his compassion on the risk to civilian casualties, despite all we know of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
In which circumstances would Hilary Benn say "Enough" and call for the UK to stand, as he would have it, aside? If the answer is he would never utter the word, the shadow minister had a duty to tell us what he has in mind, home and abroad, to answer for such a failure. After all, his flimsy, culpable rhetoric will have helped to make it happen.

You will be sorely missed.

Billy Bragg - It Says Here

Mellow Sunday




There will only be a few more, trust me. Leo loves Charlie Brown, well Snoopy at the moment.

Tim Minchin - White Wine In The Sun

Saturday 12 December 2015

Tracks of My Year



We will take a short break from the Boy's Own Twelves for my annual self indulgent (I do realise the whole blog is a rather self indulgent affair anyway) look at my favourite tracks of the year and what a year it has been. I have a new found love of pop and Taylor Swift in particular, if 1989 had been released this year then I reckon at least three tracks would have made the list but you will be glad to hear that she is disqualified due to the album being released in 2014 but we do have Ryan Adams covering T Swizzle. Even more disturbing than my new found love of Taylor Swift is the fact that Noel Gallagher has made the list, now there is something I never thought I would be typing, albeit in a bastardised remix  form.

This year has also seen another Fall album containing at least two absolute belters of tracks. I thought that Jamie xx had featured in every end of year list either as part of the xx or solo on this blog but after looking back apparently not, probably because I didn't really take any notice of The xx until VCR and that was in 2010. The only person to have the dubious honour of featuring every year is,  and you've probably guessed it  Lord Sabre himself although not as many times as in The Bagging Area I suspect.

There is nearly an even balance of electronic and more traditionally guitar, drum and bass based music. The song at number two really surprised me with the effect it has had on me and that initial feeling hasn't dulled with frequent plays, there hasn't been a week when the record hasn't been on the turntable at least a couple of times so much so that even Leo knows most of the lyrics, the Weatherall mix on the other side is great too. As for the top track, for me Dedication Not Medication is the best Fall track since the mighty  Blindness a decade ago, although the cd version is too short and the vinyl version is wasted by the inclusion of the chatter in the middle, what the fuck is that all about? The prospect of the monster that this track could be live has made me lift my embargo on Fall gigs although the contrary fuck decided not to come to Scotland on the recent tour!


  1. The Fall - Dedication Not Medication 
  2. Mike Garry & Joe Duddell - St Anthony: An Ode To Anthony H Wilson
  3. Jamie xx - Gosh
  4. FourTet - Morning Side
  5. LeThug - Pals
  6. Laura Marling - Short Movie
  7. Kid Wave - Sway
  8. Ryan Adams - Shake It Off
  9. Sexwitch - Kassidat El Hakka
  10. New Street Adventure - The Big A.C.
  11. Melanie De Basio - The Flow (Hex mix)
  12. Boca 45 - Mr Big Sun
  13. Fold - Detroit Red
  14. Lapsley - Station
  15. Mia Dora - Un Sub
  16. Teen Canteen - You're Still Mine
  17. Red Elastic Band - Velvets In The Dark
  18. The Orb - Moon Scapes 2703 BC
  19. Tee Mango - Throw
  20. The Fall - Auto Chip 2014-2016
  21. Gregory Porter - Liquid Spirit (Claptone remix)
  22. Jamie xx - Loud Places (John Talabot's Higher dub)
  23. Sarah Cracknell - Nothing Left To Talk About
  24. Slow Club - The Prophet
  25. Free School - Hudson's Whistle
  26. Unloved - Guilty of Love (Weatherall dub)
  27. Sydney Eloise & The Palms - I Like You
  28. Comet Gain - Breaking Open The Head pt 2
  29. Plastikman - Exhale (Dixon's Just A Different mix)
  30. Jon Hopkins - I Remember (Original cover)
  31. Nina Kraviz - Ghetto Kraviz (Regal 303 mix)
  32. Fews - Ill
  33. Alabama Shakes - Don't Wanna Fight
  34. Children of Lear - Drowned In Fear
  35. Svreca - Motion Splitter (Surgeon remix)
  36. The School - Do I Love You
  37. Floating Points - Silhouettes
  38. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - In The Heat of The Moment (Weathersll mix)
  39. Timothy J Fairplay - Night Witch
  40. Puma Rosa - Priestess

Friday 11 December 2015

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



After eighteen weeks of Balearica I think that we will fast forward a few years to one of my favourite tracks from another genre in the ever expanding dance music universe, Trip Hop, not a term that is thought very highly of but one that encapsulates the music extremely well. This time it's all about the breaks and samples. Trickshot was the only single by Ceasefire but a rather good one and I think the best thing released on the Wall of Sound, yes better than Take California by Propellorheads but not Zidane by Mogwai but I don't really count that as a Wall of Sound release anyway. I love the lazy tempo of the track, the breakbeat, which always makes me want to play the Ritchie Hawtin mix of Le Funk Mob's Motorbass Get's Punked Up afterwards which inevitable leads me on a Mo Wax tip which ten lasts for only days if the rest of the house is lucky, but I digress. Trickshot also contains some very cool samples of dialogue lifted from Carlito's Way.

It is the "girls" Christmas Day out tomorrow, so L will be pretty much useless until Monday. My return to clubland to see Mr Weatherall has been cancelled due to lack of funds and I will therefore be doing sod all but listening to music very loud in the comfort of my own listening chair this weekend, oh and being a responsible parent of course.

Have a good weekend people.

Ceasefire - Trickshot.

Thursday 10 December 2015

Melancholy in The Mercure



I have been down South, well not that far South,  Leeds actually for my annual justification of my existence as a worker drone. As some of you may remember from previous rants that this is second only to "soft skills pish" training in the activities that I despise but have to participate in, in order to make a crust. As my boss is from the south, the home of the Wedding Present seemed an adequate compromise, closer for her but also near enough for me to drive rather than depend on Fly(may)BE. I decided that I would do a site visit on Tuesday in the North East and then drive down the A1 stay in the hotel where we were to meet, however there was no rooms available. No problem I thought as there were a few decent hotels nearby. Unfortunately the Malmaison was no longer within Company policy nor was the Hotel du Vin in Harrogate or any of the other hotels that I fancied! It was the Wetherby Mercure for me.

By the time I rocked up to the hotel on Tuesday night I was already feeling rather low as the site visit didn't go as planned and the prospect of talking myself up the following day hardly filled me with joy. So I decided a couple of pints of Stella and a burger would perk me up a bit. I was half way through my second pint when my meal arrived and just as I took the first bite, I heard something familiar coming through the muffled sound system. I never ever thought that hearing the beatless mix of Smokebelch II by the Sabres of Paradise would ever do anything other than fill my heart with joy. But as I called the waiter over to take the burger back to the kitchen, on account of it being fucking raw,  I realised that on top of everything else hearing this absolute classic in such inappropriate surroundings  had made me thoroughly depressed and there was nothing else for it but to order another pint of strong Belgian lager to weep into!

Sabres Of Paradise - Smokebelch II (Beatless mix)

Tuesday 8 December 2015

Let Me Down Easy



Monday soul on a Tuesday.

When I played this single a while ago I was asked "who's that covering Paolo Nutini?" Internally I was weeping but just answered Betty Lavette

Betty Lavette - Let Me Down Easy

Monday 7 December 2015

Happy Birthday



It's my little brother's birthday today.

Here is the first track I remember my brother liking. Later on he got into really shit music like Chris de fucking Burgh and more recently mainstream rock. I tried to educate him but it was a lost cause. We can't all be as hip and cool as I am, I suppose. He is also going to have to re-acclimatise himself to life in the central belt of Scotland from next week as after completing 22 years in the forces him and his wife are moving here up here.

All the best N.

Boomtown Rats - Diamond Smiles

Sunday 6 December 2015

Mellow Sunday



My favourite Catalyunian remixer comes up with the goods once again with this absolutely mesmerising remix of one of the highlights of Jamie xx's first album In Colour.

Saturday 5 December 2015

Boy's Own Recordings - The Twelves BOIX 12



The twelfth single release on Boy's Own was one that made me go "whit?" and then "why?". I wasn't oppossed to a bit of Felt but I never liked glam rock when I was a wean and I certainly had no desire to listen to somebody trying to revive it in 1993 and definitely not on my favourite forward looking dance label. So I bodyswerved Middle of The Road by Denim and therefore I will post for completist purposes only the Youtube clip.

Friday 4 December 2015

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



Today we reach the end of the tracklisting to a Short Film About Chilling, after today if you have downloaded all the tracks in this series you will have 18 of the 19 tracks featured in the programme, the only one missing being Foreign Affair by J.T. and the Big Family which I don't own as it's the only one which really didn't appeal to me. The final track is one that most people who read this blog will own and those that don't will almost certainly have heard. Come Together was the second single released by Primal Scream after their E epiphany. I remember waiting for this to be released for what seemed to be months and months and when I eventually got my hands on it from 23rd Precinct it totally floored me, I think even more so than Loaded it was just so different from anything else around, totally unique and it seemed to get better and better the longer it went on. Another long Weatherall mix that you just wished went on for another 10 minutes. And then you flipped it over and an equally as got although very different mix greeted you . I still, twenty five years later cannot make up my mind which I prefer. I love the Elvis In Memphis guitar, the piano and even Bobby G's singing in the Farley version and the Andie MacDowell sample at the end sums it up perfectly "That's Beautiful, that's really beautiful". It's the Weatherall original that's used in the Chanel 4 documentary, however there was a further remix 12" released with mixes from Hypnotone and BBG and I'm going to post the BBG one, as most will have the Weatherall and Farley versions also the Hypnotone mix has featured over at the Bagging Area and it seems to be the BBG mix that gets the least attention but is also very, very good.

No football this weekend so I will be catching up with listening to my latest purchases and thinking about compiling end of year lists.

Have a good weekend people.

Primal Scream - Come Together (BBG mix)

Wednesday 2 December 2015

New Romantic



Nothing to do with those preening self absorbed twats from the early 80s but the lead track from Laura Marling's second release My Manic and I ep from 2007. This was the first track that made me take notice of the young singer/songwriter, When I first listened to the song I think I put it on about four times, the lyrics really appealed which are at odds to the jauntiness of the guitar.

There is not much chance of me being "jaunty" over the next couple of days as I am in Luton.

Laura Marling - New Romantic

Tuesday 1 December 2015

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour



This came up on the ipod the other day and I thought that it should get another airing.  This is a classic example of the one non hit wonder, in that the song was all over the place in 2008 as it was used by Apple to advertise the then new Touch but the single release failed to bother the charts at all. I'm not entirely sure how available The Sun Ain't Shining No More was as my cd single is a promo. It reminds me a lot of Walking on The Sun by Smashmouth. On the strength of the song I bought the Danish band's debut album but nothing on it was as catchy as this,

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - The Sun Ain't Shining No More