Nothing Can Stop Me

I Was Definitely Made For These Times

Now I don't tend to be anything but incredibly grumpy of a Monday morning, as anyone unfortunate enough to have car shared with me in the past will atest to,  so the idea of posting a perky, happy piece of indie pop goes against the grain somewhat. On the other hand I have had quite a good weekend, even though I spent most of Sunday cleaning up the pit that M calls his room, with one eye on the telly as M was watching dvds of the Doctor and Rose battling with the Daleks.

I was first made aware of Hello Saferide about 4 years ago when the quiz was played on 6music, it was funny and quirky and the Swedish accent had me hooked and I went on the hunt for the ep Would You Let Me Play This Ep 10 Times A Day? When I eventually got my hands on it, it didn't disappoint and I therefore went out and bought the album which had been released the previous year which was to be honest more of the same but it really struck a chord.

The single I Was Definitely Made For These Times was released in 2007 and again I just loved it, with lyrics like " I can make the meanest daiquiri, I can quote all of high fidelity" to a faux northern soul beat what wasn't to like.

There has been a lot of great indiepop coming out of Sweden over the past decade what with the Labrador label, The Acid House Kings, Sambasadeur and The Radio Dept, to name but a few. The last time I was in Lund with work, I mentioned this fact  to a colleague and especially the fact the The Radio Dept were from the town. a fact which he and his co workers were totally oblivious of.

Hello Saferide - I Was Definitely Made For These Times

Record Shop Day 2010 Postscript

I have just been checking ebay and  I have to admit it has taken the shine off of my positive view of Record Shop Day 2010. There are a lot of fucking parasites out there. I'm not averse to somebody making a bob or two and it has been known for me to pay over the odds for some bit of vinyl that I believe that I can't live without but the widespread abuse that can be seen on ebay just sickens me.

There are probably thousands of real music lovers out there who were gutted yesterday when they couldn't get their hands on the one or two records which they queued up to get and then there are these cunts who have bought everything that they think may make them some money , went home and put a ludicrous buy now price of upwards of 100 quid on the records they have get their greasy, slimey hands on for no other reason than personal gain and absolutely no love of music. I would wish a fire on all of their houses although probably some innocent individual would probably get caught up in it. But I am a firm believer in what goes around comes around and one of these days in the righteous words of Chuck D, you're gonna get yours.

I was of a mind to actually put in mad bids on all the items I could find but thought better of it as it would only be me that would end up suffering but I did put best offers of the original prices in for all of the ones that I could find that gave this option, I know it's not much but it will be a pain in the arse for whoever is selling and I suggest that others do likewise here

Public Enemy - You're Gonna Get Yours

Record Shop Day 2010

I've just spent a rather pleasant day in the town with the family on the back of record shop day.

To think that I wasn't going to bother.

Up until last night I was still of the opinion that I would give it a miss, my reasoning being that I still frequent record shops as often as the wife and funds allow but the thought of missing out on an exclusive Fall single, which I would end up buying for at least twice the price on ebay, spurred me on and I had L and the boys up early.

We got to the King Street car park at quarter to eleven and there was already about sixty people waiting to get into Monorail. I jumped out the car leaving Lynn to park and get the boys organised and joined the queue. I struck up a conversation with a guy in front, who was suppossed to picking up his kilt for a wedding he was attending in a couple of hours, or so his wife thought. I have to admit that I began to get a sweat on when he said that he was also after the Fall single amongst other things and I started to wonder how many others in front of me were looking for the same thing.

When the doors eventually opened after what seemed like an age but was in fact at eleven on the dot. It still took forever to actually get to the racks. One of the sales assistants passed and I asked how many copies of the Fall single they had got and to my dismay he replied "only fifteen". I resigned myself to the fact that I had a snowball in hell's chance of getting one. The guy behind me said that he had been in Avalanche earlier and they had a couple of copies but that what he was looking for was sold before he got to the counter, the Factory Sampler 10" and the Beatles repress.

What to do? Leave the queue and bolt to Avalanche or stay put and hope that there were copies left? M said "stay here, I like it here" and the decision was made. When I eventually got to the counter, 11:45,  to my utter joy the guy in front passed me a copy of the single and I relaxed. It was now time to see what else I could get, so I also purchased a copy of the Mogwai/Fuck Buttons split 10" and another copy of You Trip Me Up by the Jesus And Mary Chain, why I don't know, I think that I just got caught up in the moment but alas no Harmonia 76 remixes, copies of that were long gone.

I am not sure how much good an event such as Record Shop Day does for independant record shops because to me the guys (and yes 98% were male) who were waiting patiently but with a lot of nervousness to
get into Monorail looked like the sort of people who frequent record shops on a weekly if not more frequent basis. I suppose any focus on these shops is good.

I don't know about any of the other shops taking part but Monorail certainly put a lot of effort into the day and should be applauded for it, what with having bands and dj sets throughout the day, cup cakes and muffins, quizes and activities for the kids. I just wish that I could have spent more time there, however I promised M while we were waiting that we would go to Forbidden Planet!

So tonight I'm home happy, objective achieved and possibly,  after talking to Steven in Monorail, something that I have been thinking of doing for ages and have discussed with a few others may now come off. As they say check here for details and all will be revealed in the fulness of time, hopefully.

Here is the b-side of the Fall single, just the thing for early Saturday evening.

The Fall - Cowboy Gregori

Kinky Groovy Afro

Today's track takes me back to 1997 and my honeymoon.

Up until about a week before we got married I wasn't aware that we were even going away. Everybody had decided to keep the fact from me on account of my very rational fear of flying. When I was eventually let in on the secret I was less than pleased,  as up until that point in my life I had managed to avoid flying extremely successfully.

After what turned out to be a rather eventful flight, sitting at the back with the cabin crew being plied with brandy and smoking like a lum, we touched down in Barcelona and got the bus into the city. We alighted at las ramblas and followed the instructions down the side streets to our hotel. As we were walking down the street we passed 3 record shops, to which L remarked "fucking wonderful".  About fifty yards after the last one was our hotel.

After getting settled we did what every tourist visiting Barcelona does,  we went for tapas on las ramblas which was great until a few hours later when L started complaining of a sore stomach which before morrning had turned into full blown food poisoning from most likely the calamari, as I didn't have any of that.

So what to do? Stuck in a hotel room in Barcelona with a new wife, spending most of her time talking on the big white telephone to god. Eventually L told me to go out.

I decided to check out the record shops when I had the chance. There was one which appealed to me in particular,  a dance music specialist shop which had a great selection of second hand dance and indie records. I could have spent an absolute fortune, but knew that when L recovered, if I had spent all of the holiday money there would be hell to pay. So I only bought half a dozen 12" singles, including Good Thing by The Woodentops and today's track Kinky Groovy Afro by Happy Mondays.

Before L did recover I managed to spend a small fortune on 2 tickets to see Barcelona vs Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League game at Camp Nou. This was to be L's first ever football match. Barcelona ended up getting gubbed 4 goals to nil, with Shevchenko scoring 3, one from the penalty spot. There was one strange coincidence, the referee that night was Scottish, Hugh Dallas, who had a particular dislike and bias against my team Airdrie.

Oh, and what did L think of her first football match? "It was alright but I don't think I want to go to another".

Happy Mondays - Kinky Groovy Afro

Its Friday . . . Let's Dance

Alright, I think that we have flogged this horse enough.

Here are the last of the tracks which made me turn my back on the majority of conventionally, guitar, bass and drums bands for a good few years. I didn't really start to listen to much which wasn't based around a fat bass and a dance beat until after all the Britpop stuff had died what in my view at least was a none too quick death.

Here is an absolute classic from  Larry Heard, in his Mr Fingers guise. Can You Feel It was released on a 3 track 12" single on the legendary Trax label in 1986, the other 2 tracks being  Washing Machine and Beyond The Clouds. But it is Can You Feel It that does it for me and was played everywhere for a good few years.


Mr Fingers - Can You Feel It

Mr Fingers - Can You Feel It (Alternate mix)

What A Difference A Few Hours Makes

It's amazing how your view of organisations can change rapidly.

From about 5 pm yesterday until I eventually got in the door at 11:45 pm, I was cursing everybody involved with the orange airline and wishing a plague on all of their houses, for the delay from Luton and the knowledge that I had to be up in four and three quarter hours , yes four effing thirty in the night, in order to catch the only morning flight to Aldergrove.

When I stumbled out of bed at that ungodly hour I noticed that there was a mesage on the phone. When I checked it I didn't believe what I was reading, it said that due to volcanic activity in Iceland my flight had been cancelled. I thought some-one was on the wind up, so fired up the laptop to check my mail and lo and behold there was an email from Stelios' mob confirming the text. So with a grin I jumped back into bed to get a well deserved couple of bonus hours kip.

When I got up I got a call from a colleague who was now stuck in London but the thing was that she neither got a text nor an email telling her of the situation from the "world's favourite airline".

Throughout the day I have received a few calls from friends and colleagues all in the same boat, some flying with EasyJet, some with Fly Maybe and a couple with BMI Baby and what has become clear is that not only is Easyjet the only one who contacted their passengers (saving me from a 2 to 3 hour wasted round trip to the airport) but as far as I'm aware the only one offering a full refund as well.

Now here is something that you will not hear me say very often, Well done EasyJet! Oh and  I will try to refrain from calling you sleazyjet until my next 3 hour delay in Luton.

Jewel  - I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane

Jets To Brazil

I've got a mental week ahead of me. Going down south for a couple of days and then it's over the water. So probably no more posts before either Thursday night, depending on what time I get in but more probably Friday when I think that we may have the last of the early house series as I'm sure that interest is waning by now.

Here is a track from a band I know absolutely nothing about apart from this song, which I first heard years ago on KEXP,  took the trouble to track down and download but never even attempted to seek out anything else by the band for some reason. The track has always reminded me vaguely of something else but I've never been able to put my finger on what it actually is.

Jets To Brazil - Conrad

Never Get Out Of The Boat

After the news yesterday from JC that AcidTed had been pulled I was absolutely raging, I know that Blogger have the right to delete whatever it likes but to do so without a word of warning seems to me to be above and beyond. To just lose 2 years work like that must be gutting and Ctel has my, sympathies isn't the right word but it will have to do for now.

To calm me down and chill me out I was looking for something quite mellow for a Sunday and something as a tribute to AcidTed, first I thought of posting a track or remix from  a certain remixer but that has been done to death recently. So you will have to settle for a track by a band containing members of the Sabres of Paradise and Red Snapper.

Never Get Out of The Boat was the first single by the Aloof and contains a vocal sample by Martin Sheen from Apocalypse Now. The usual mix  that is heard is the Gosh mix, which I think that I have posted in the past. The version posted according to the label is the Flying Mix and to tell you the truth, it's not a version that I've played that much over the years, however during the week I flipped it over and played it at volume and it is really good, I would say that it is as good as the original.

See what you think

And in other news, go on the Raith Rovers today, I hope that you gub Dundee United. It would be great to see a Scottish Cup final with Ross County and Raith Rovers. Being a supporter of a so called "provincial" team I know what it's like to get to the Scottish Cup final and the incredible feelings that that produces, Airdrie got to the final twice in the 90s. Not a whiff of the old firm in the final this year, magic.

The Aloof - Never Get Out Of The Boat (Flying mix)

Gits

AcidTed has been removed by Blogger, shit!

You Keep Calling Me By Her Name

There has been a distinct lack of soul on this blog over the last couple of weeks.

Here, to remedy this oversight, is a belter of a track for a Saturday. You Keep Calling Me By Her Name was originally released on an independent label called Starville and was piclked up by Chess and released as the b-side to I Don't Mind in 1967.

I know absolutely nothing else about Amanda Love.

Amanda Love - You Keep Calling Me By Her Name

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

How come when you're off the week flies by but when you are at work it crawls? Back in 1988, I couldn't wait for the weekend to come and get out and blow my pittance of a wage ( I had recently jacked in Uni and started an apprenticeship as a joiner) on a few new bits of vinyl, going clubbing and getting out of my head, good times.

Today's track is one of the best British made Acid House tracks of 1988, produced by T-Coy, whose members included Mike Pickering, Simon Topping (A Certain Ratio) and Ritchie Close, who were also responsible for another of the best early British house tracks, Carino . Both of these tracks were early releases on the soon to be huge deConstruction  label.

Annette - Dream 17

Malcolm McLaren 22/01/1946 - 08/04/2010

I was just getting tomorrow's post together when L shouted up the stairs that Malcolm McLaren had died.

A couple of weeks ago I did a post featuring the 12" mix of Something's Jumping In Your Shirt and I still can't believe that up until yesterday when I cut the link it had been downloaded more than twice as many times as the second most downloaded track which is something that I had not been expecting.

Here are 2 tracks which I think of when McLaren's name is mentioned.

Bow Wow Wow - C30, C60, C90 (which my mate's older brother had on cassette single)

and

Malcolm McLaren - Madame Butterfly (from an album that is actually better than I thought it would be)

Mclaren will probably be cutting a deal with auld Nick as I type.

Shirley's Temple

The Harrisons were the also rans from Sheffield in the mid noughties who shared the bill in the early days with the Arctic Monkeys. Go to their Myspace page for the full story of the rise and fall of the band.

They left behind them an output of 4 singles and an album, which was finally released after the band had split up.

The track posted is the b-side of the second single Blue Note and the intro bears a striking resemblance to Spanish Bombs.

The Harrisons - Shirley's Temple

Lazy post, I know !

Von Sudenfed

Yesterday we had a track by god today the track features the person whom my wife thinks could possibly be auld Nick, himself.

It's been too long since the dulcet tones of MES have been heard round these parts.

Today's post comes from Smiths's 2007 collaboration with Andi Toma and Jan St Werner from techno producers,  Mouse on Mars under the alias of  Von Sudenfed. The three had initially collaborated on a single in 2004 and decided to make a full album. Tromatic Reflexxions was released on Domino records and duly failed to set the world on fire.

In December 2007, Smith issued a statement on the Unofficial Fall Website saying that 2 Von Sudenfed gigs had been cancelled due to Smith being sacked by the German duo. This should be taken with a pinch of salt but if true must have been a novel experience for Smith more used to dishing out sackings to band members.

The new Fall album, Our Future Your Clutter is out on the 26th April. I managed to get a snidey copy the other week and it is the most consistent album for me since 2005's  Fall Heads Roll, although it doesn't have anything as brilliant as Blindness it is well worth getting your hands on, even with probably the worst cover art of any Fall lp and that is saying something.

The gruppe start a UK tour on the 24th of April at Studio 24 in Edinburgh, although I think that somebody is taking the piss, with the tickets being priced at nearly 30 quid for that toilet, last time I got both nights at the Renfrew Ferry for less than that.

Von Sudenfed - Fledermaus Can't Get It.

At Last

 Let battle commence, at long last.


The Housemartins - Think For A Minute

Paul Haig Day and His Lordship's Birthday

Today at a lot of the blogs listed down the right hand side, you will find tracks by Paul Haig/Josef K, this is because for the second year running these bloggers have decided to recognise Paul Haig, who gave support to JC of the excellent Vinyl Villain blogspot when he was getting all of the bother from Blogger and those DMCA gits.

Not being a huge fan of Mr Haig's output I decided not to get involved. However I do think that it is my duty to make people aware of what's going on and that not all artists are complete tossers a la Fergal Sharkey.

I am not sure that when it comes down to it any artist has clout with the c--ts who are arbitrarily taking down posts.  When I got a similar take down notice,  I got a very appreciated email from the manager of the band (Doves) who was none the wiser than me as to why it had been taken down as he was unaware of anybody from the record company or indeed the band who had complained about my insignificant little post.

I had not intended to comment on the problems with Blogger and the faceless bean counters, however last night I found that a further 2 sites which I visited, albeit infrequently, Moody Places and Madchester Rave On have been shut down.

I think that it is only a matter of time before all of the music blogs which post any copyrighted material for which they don't own, no matter how old or unobtainable the tracks are will be closed down on Blogger. I have already taken steps. Just after North Country Bhoy made the move to Wordpress, I registered Across The Kitchen Table there, so if one day this blog disappears just go to wordpress or add this link to your favourites and you can keep up with my pish there.

Anyway, today is also special for another reason. You all thought that the saviour's birthday was the 25th December, however you and the rest of the world have been mistaken. The saviour was actually born on the 6th April  1963 and to mark this momentous occasion, Ctel, Swiss Adam and myself are posting something by the great man.

But here in lies the problem. Over the past couple of years, Ctel, STX, Moggieboy and to a lesser extent Swiss Adam and myself have posted most of the remixes and a lot of Sabres of Paradise, Two Lone Swordsmen and solo stuff. So what to post?

I decided that I would go for an album track from one of the Sabresonic albums. So I sat down and listened to them both yesterday and at the end of it still couldn't decide. But what I did realise is that both of these albums are truely wonderful and should be listened to more frequently by me than they are.

I could have posted one of the versions of Smokebelch II, sometimes I think that the original version gets overlooked due to the brilliance of David Holmes reworking. Or the wonderfully scary Clock Factory. But in the end I decided on a belter of a track from Sabresonic II.

If you don't own either of these albums you need to get over to Discogs and get yourself sorted right away. For the recent output of both the 2 Lone Swordsmen and Weatherall's solo stuff visit The Rotter's Golf club here.

I still have dreams about  a Weatherall/Fall collaboration.

Sabres Of Paradise - Inter-Lergen-Ten-Ko II

The Crow

DJ Food started out as a project by Coldcut, where they would release food for DJs in the form of slabs of vinyl full of breaks and beats which DJs could use in their sets. They released a series of albums called Jazz Breaks, 5 volumes were released between 1990 and 1994. In volumes 4 & 5 Matt Black and Jonathan Moore were joined by DJ/Producer PC ( Patrick Carpenter), who with Strictly Kev and a few other guests took on the mantle of DJ Food.

Since the original series of breaks albums, there have been 3 further lps, and at least 5 DJ mix cds and a few singles.

Here is one of my favourite DJ Food tracks, the Crow, I have absolutely no idea if it was influenced by the comic and film with the same title, it is however a dark, brooding track which can be found on the Kaleidoscope album.

DJ Food - The Crow

Ssssshhhhh

I am feeling rather delicate today.

We were out at a old friend's 40th birthday do last night and are not the sharpest tacks in the box today.

All the best H, hope you are feeling as bad as I am.

Here is probably H's favourite song which, in an attempt to impress a girl, gave a loan of H's 7"copy about 23 years ago never to see it or the girl again. Sorry H

The Isley Brothers-This Old Heart Of Mine

Luscious Jackson

Luscious Jackson were an all female alternative rock band from Manhattan who were active from 1991 until 2000. The band are probably best known as the first signings to the Beastie Boys Grand Royal label, on which they released 3 albums, ten single and an ep during their existence. Or for being one of the bands on the GAP adverts in the late 90's.

Being on Grand Royal isn't the band's only connection with the Brooklyn rap trio. Their drummer, Kate Schellenbach was originally a member of the Beastie Boys in their first incarnation as a hardcore punk band but according to which story you read either left due to the change in direction of the band or was eased out by Rick Rubin as she didn't fit in with the image he wanted for the Beastie Boys, probably due to being the wrong sex for a start.

The track posted is from the second album, Fever In Fever Out, the only one I own, so can't enlighten you on how good the other 2 are. The album is good and Naked Eye, for me,  is the highlight of the whole thing.

The version here is the Propellerheads mix from the 12" single. The track was the band's biggest hit and also the only one to enter the Billboard charts in the States, so really, their only hit.

Luscious Jackson - Naked Eye (Propellerheads mix)

Just Because

B-b M----y & The W-----s - Small Axe

* Last time I posted this gentleman and his band I got a take down notice, hence the dashes.

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Today it's time for my favourite acid track of them all, Acid Over by Tyree.

I pulled out the 12" single the other week and by the state of the vinyl, i must have played it on a few occasions as there are more crackles in the first minute than in huge bowl of Rice Crispies and it is actually quite painful to listen to. So I have posted a version, which is good but not quite as good as the one I had originally planned.

Acid Over was first released on Underground records in the States in 1987. My copy is on FFRR and was released over here in 1988. The track had a huge effect on the evolving acid house scene in the UK and became an anthem over here. It is rumoured that Tyree (Cooper) called the track Acid Over as a statement of intent as he was sick of all the acid tunes coming out of Chicago and this was to be that sound's death knell. Didn't quite work out like that, well not in the UK anyway.


Tyree - Acid Over (Tyree's mix)

Am I Really Such A Sadsack? Part Two

Back to Shrevie's rant in Diner.

When he starts to tell Beth that the records need to be filed in alphabetical order and according to genre, I have to whole heartedly agree but there are conditions in my sad little world.

Firstly, all of the vinyl albums, cds, 7" and cd singles are only alphabetised and filed by year, they are not split according to genre, well not any more,  any way.

The 12 inch singles are split into 2 catagories, there is the dance music, all post 1986, house, techno and the myriad of sub genres that exist and then there are all the rest. The all the rest section are as the albums and the cds. The dance twelves are where it gets tricky, they are all sorted like the rest but also some are grouped together by label and others according to producer. The Weatherall section taking up a bit of room.

When I first moved in with L, the first priority was to organise the music.The vinyl was easy, as it had all moved with me. The cds were where it got difficult, as far as I could see there was no methodology to the filing,  in fact, there didn't even seem to be a designated area to house the cds.

This had to be rectified,  But I also hit another snag,  there were certain cds that needed to be, how to put it,  quarantined. There was no way that Michael Bolton was snuggling up next to Eric Bogle or Curtis Stigers getting a whiff of credability by being next to SLF. There were about half a dozen of these offending discs which were quietly placed in a drawer in the hope that they would not be missed.

I felt quite proud when I was finished at my achievement.

A couple of weeks later L said to me "where are the Elvis cds?"

"Under P of course,  where else would they be "I answered.

"E, after all there is only one Elvis" came the witty retort.

I just shook my head and pointed to the cds.

L picked out the one she wanted and while placing the cd in the tray muttered something like I can't find a bloody thing since you decided to organise the cds. Which is a comment that I have heard more than once over the intervening years.

I don't understand the problem, music needs to filed in some sort of order, if not the next stop would be anarchy.  I will not even get started on the leaving records/discs out of their covers or I would bore the ones who've stuck it out this far to death.

So there you go, the case for the prosecution and it is hard to disagree with the sadsack tag.

Elvis Presley - Crawfish

Elvis Presley - Only The Strong Survive

Am I Really Such A Sadsack? Part One

I stopped by Crying All The Way To The Chip Shop, where londonlee has posted a scene from one of my favourite films of my youth, Diner. In the scene, Shrevie is trying to explain, albeit rather scarily the merits of his record collection and the importance of filing said pieces of vinyl to a rather ambivalent Beth (Ellen Barkin), the scene encapsulates rather well how serious some people take music and in the end you feel rather sorry for Shrevie and the pathetic specimen of a man that he is.

The only other film which, comes close to conveying the, some would say,  sorry life of the record collector is High Fidelity. When I first read the book there was a passage which got me to thinking, god I wish that would happen to me and I started to feel rather envious of Rob until I got a grip and reminded myself that it was a mere work of fiction but then again what if that happened. The scene was not in the finished film, however it has been posted on YouTube.

If you want to watch it you will have to click on the link as the embedding has been disabled for some reason.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Esanwk37c

I have always had a couple of problems with this scenario from the first time I read the book.

Firstly, the guy couldn't have thought that much of his collection in the first place if he left it and ran away with a young thing. Surely he knew what the consequences would be?

My second problem with the passage/scene is Rob's, frankly pathetic response when the wife says that she only wants fifty quid for the whole priceless collection. All that, "I couldn't do that to another collector" is bollocks, I don't know anybody who in that situation would walk away, no matter how straight your moral backbone was , it's sheer nonsense, you would be down at the cash machine in a shot, insisting that the lady go with you, just in case some other guy was to turn up while you were getting the cash. Anyway,  if you combine it with my highly plausible  argument in point one, then there really is no moral quandary anyway, as the guy didn't deserve the vinyl in the first place.

I used to have nightmares about coming home and finding that L, in a fit of pique had taken all of my records out and made one huge ashtray out of them in the back garden. It was my only worry. I have had to move them all on a couple of occasions and know exactly how much time and effort goes into shifting them, so I reasoned that if some burglar with such good taste managed to get them out of the house and whisked away without anybody being alerted then he (as it would most certainly be a male) deserved the haul.

A couple of years ago I was asked by somebody what record I would save if I only had time to get one out of the house? This thought troubled me, I would be so indecisive that the house would probably come crashing down around me while I was trying to choose. This preyed on my mind for quite a time until I came up with the solution.

So I bought 2 very good quality Swan flight cases, one which could holds 100 12" records and one which could hold 200" 7" ones.

A lot of difficult choices had to be made as to which records warranted inclusion in the boxes and the decisions were not made on financial value as quite a few of the records which are worth money such as the first Fireman album, were never in the running. It took some time but the contents haven't changed that much since then, there have been  a few old ones that have had to make way for certain new ones but no major upheavels. At the moment I am debating as to whether the mighty Fall should have a box all of their own or would it be enough just to save the vinyl I have in the boxes and the Peel sessions box set.

Anyway, to the point of the post, does this information and the further disclosures to be made make me a sadsack or just someone with a healthy interest in music? I know which L believes.

Here are 2 records from the afore mentioned boxes

From the 7" box

Frightened Rabbit -  Head Rolls Off

and the twelves

Slam - Positive Education

Spring, My Arse!

We have about 4 bloody inches of snow lying outside the house, so much for turning the heating off. This is getting beyond a joke, it has been known,  for us to get the odd flurry of snow up here at the end of March beginning of April but not for it to resemble the bloody set of Dr Zhivago.

Still both boys are down, which is a bonus as M didn't fall asleep 'til half past ten last night, meaning that I was cleaning the kitchen at bloody midnight.

I think a bit of Isobel Campbell is in order.

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - The Circus Is Leaving Town

I Can't Multi Task!

Not a lot of time for posting this week as L has decided to leave me and the boys for 4 days while she swans of to Dublin with work.

I've said it before but I will repeat myself, I have the greatest admiration for single parent households, how does anything ever get done? L's only been away little more than a day and the house resembles a squat which has seen a mini tornado in it's midst.

It is so much easier when there are 2 of you, you at least get a breather now and then. I'm only able to type this post because M is in the bath and L(2) is down (result!). I know that I should be doing something more productive at the moment but thought that I should do the post just now as by the time I get the stuff ready for the morning, M into bed and the kitchen tidied up it will most likely be midnight and I won't have the energy for a post.

This is not a feel sorry for Drew post,  it's just I sometimes don't really appreciate what L has to put up with when i'm away every few weeks, granted it's usually only 1 or 2 nights but still

Anyway, here's something I haven't heard in ages and everybody probably already has but it's good to hear it again and it is the most effective use of a Clash sample I've ever heard

M.I.A - Paper Planes

It seems as though the picture facility isn't working on blogger, which is a pity because I found quite an amusing one.

Brief Encounter

Another lovely bit of dub techno for a Sunday, don't worry this is not going to turn into a regular feature, the track just fits the way I'm feeling at the moment.

I say dub techno,  but the track has a more blissed out, dare I say it, Balearic feel to it than Andy Stott's more usual Dubstep and Techno excursions and you can certainly hear and feel the Basic Channel influence.

Just the thing for a Sunday when you have had an hour's less sleep than usual and probably a few short of what's needed.

Andy Stott - Brief Encounter

Just Because

This came on the ipod the other day and it's a great, building, deep house track which samples Loleatta Holloway's brilliant Love Sensation

Simon Says - Simon's Track

Never Never

I was watching Synth Britannia on BBC 4 last night. I missed it the first time around. I have to admit that I wasn't a big fan of a lot of it. I really liked Gary Numan and John Foxx but could take or leave most of the rest.

I never understood what all the fuss was over the Human League and Depeche Mode. As for the fathers of it all, Kraftwerk I just never got it, I have always found their music boring.

Here is one synth pop track that I have always loved. Although I've had to reappraise my view of the vocalist on the track over the past couple of years coming to the conclusion ever the singer of John Peel's favourite song can be a cock.

The Assembly - Never Never

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Back again to 1988, there really were quite a number of very good house records produced in the early days, I still have quite a few that I want to post. So if you are beginning to get bored with this series the bad news is, it may last for a few more weeks yet.

After last weeks dip into the world of acid house today's track takes us right back to more conventional House sounds with a track that was produced by Clivilles and Cole and released on Fever Records.

Notice Me was the third solo single by Sandee (Sandra Casanas). She was one of the three original members of the girl group Expose, who would become hugely successful in the States in the 90s, after she had left the group. She pursued a solo career and had a hit with the track Love Desire. Sadly, Sandee died of a seizure on 15th December 2008.

Here is her finest moment.

Sandee - Notice Me

Sophisticated Boom Boom

Back over the water for a couple of days tomorrow, so no posts 'til Friday.

Here is a little bit of The Shangri-Las to keep you going

The Shangri-Las - Sophisticated Boom Boom

Why Would You Do It?

Last Wednesday I saw SLF for the second time in 3 years, they did not seem quite as tight as they had on the previous occasion, but that may just have been due to my expectations being raised by the performance they gave that night  and them not being  the caricature of their former selves that I had imagined they would be beforehand.

It was also my distinct misfortune to witness, also for the second time in 3 years, the worst tribute band that I have ever seen (can there ever be anything but a bad tribute band), although my experience of this type of band is severely limited to this one band.

S and I discussed, why if you were a fan of a band would you try to then go on stage and do third rate covers of your heroes music? They couldn't be that deluded to think that they did any of the tracks the justice that they deserved, could they? If they were fans then they would have played these records hundreds of times and would have realised that what they were peddling was absolute pish in comparison. Which brings us back to why? I just can't fathom it out.

I have to confess though, me and S were definitely in the minority as most of the rest of the crowd gave them hearty applause after every murder and atrocity they committed. I can understand the urge to sing along to lyrics that have been seared into your brain but to applaud and give encouragement to what can only be classed as crimes against music makes those who do, complicit in those crimes in my eyes.

Still it could have been worse as S informed me that he had to endure Chelsea the previous year.

Here is my favourite ever Clash song, which is also one of my top 21 tracks ever and which that band totally ruined by taking all the subtlety away from and playing the song at about twice the speed of the original missing the whole point of the track in my eyes.

To paraphrase Joe Strummer - " Please mister, leave them alone"

The Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais

The Killing

I know very little about Gorodisch, other than it is the alias of , one Stephen Cracknell who also records under the name The Memory band. Gorodisch has released tracks on mid to late 90's Bristol based beatz label Cup of Tea and Leaf recordings

The track The Killing comes from Lost For Words, a Leaf sampler I bought years ago on the strength of A Small Good Thing being on the label and i had recently bought the 12" of Cooling System by them.

Don't let the title put you off, it is a rather nice track to start the week with.

Gorodisch - The Killing

No Partial

How about a bit of dub techno from the Basic Channel crew for a Sunday.

No Partial is a remix of a Wailers track by Berlin's Rhythm & Sound (Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus). First released in 2001 as the b-side of the Higher Field Marshall 10". I have to fess up and say that my 10" is the repress from this year and not the original, which when I could find a copy was out of my price range.

I have a few Rhythm & Sound 7" singles which may make an appearance over the coming months, but for the moment sit back and listen to 6 minutes of dub bliss.

Rhythm & Sound - No Partial

Saturday Night And The Telly's Shite Again

It's one of the many pleasures of parenthood, (are you taking note C&K and congratulations) Saturday night telly. M likes Harry Hill, so we have to watch that. Tonight, Casino Royale is on for the umpteenth time and as L is a fan of Daniel Craig, we will be watching that. It's not that we don't have another telly in the house, it's just, well,  a good excuse for me either to get the old vinyl out and have a nostalgia fest, or be sat here in the cupboard I amusingly call an office and inflict upon anybody who's interested this guff.

Still, it isn't all bad,  Airdrie won today, an all too infrequent event this season.  Doesn't mean we won't get relegated but it will mean that half of Dundee won't be happy tonight, which is par for the course really,  but it's nice to know that the Diamonds will be responsible for their puses tripping them.

Here is a very housey remix of Green Velvet for your delectation. This remix by Studio 54 is built round a sample of Lou Rawls "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" which is kinda in keeping with the soulful vibe that seems to be about the blogosphere this weekend, what with Davy at The Ghost Of Electricity posting the 4 Tops yesterday and Swiss Adam and North Country Boy both posting Motown remixes today.

Enjoy

Green Velvet - Never Satisfied ( studio 54 re-re mix)

Just Because

I've been over to Swiss Adam's bit and after listening to Sunglasses after Dark, this popped into my head. Wanda has been in my thoughts recently, not least because the Fall cover Funnel Of Love on the new album, which will be out on the 24th of April.

Wanda Jackson -  Mean Mean Man

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Who's the daddy?


Phuture - Acid Trax

Ooh Baby

Here is the second release on the Sabres Of Paradise label from 1993.

Secret Knowledge were Kris Needs, music journalist turned musician/remixer and Wonder Schneider vocalist who also recorded as Delta Lady on Hard Hands.

The duo produced 2 singles for Sabres of Paradise, Sugar Daddy which is probably the better known release and Ooh Baby which is a bit of a laid back, dubby, progressive house classic. They went on to release an album on Deconstruction in 1995 which I didn't buy so can't tell you if it was any good or not.

Secret Knowledge - Ooh Baby

I'm off back to the late 70's tomorrow night or so it seems when you walk into the Barrowlands on St Patrick's night to see SLF and then I'm off to Belfast at stupid o'clock on Thursday morning, so probably won't post anything until Friday.

Spreadin' Honey

The first time I heard this track was way back in 1995 when I would religiously tape Pete Tong's Essential Mix on a Saturday night, although I think I may have set the timer for the first half of this as it went out on my birthday and more likely than not I would have been in the pub. The track  was segued between Ray Charles and The Winston's in probably the most eclectic and possibly the second  best essential mix, I've ever heard. At the time the mix was credited to Portishead but I think in reality it would have been Andy Smith, who was responsible. If  you haven't heard it or just want to hear the mix again, it can be found here.

It would be a couple of months until I found out the name of the track, courtesy of MixMag, who in those days used to supply the track listings to essential mixes in handy cut out and keep cassette inlay card sized form.

Spreadin' Honey by Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band started life as a theme song for a DJ called Magnificent Montague, you couldn't make this stuff up. The track became so popular that LA producer and Keyman Records producer Fred Smith decided to release it as a single in 1967 under the moniker of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm band, who would become established as a stable line-up the following year and would go on to release tracks such as Do Your Thang and Express Yourself.

Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - Spreadin' Honey

Song Beneath The Song

A nice piece of  mellow American indie rock to ease you into the working week.

Maria Taylor was a label mate of Conor Oberstat Saddle Creek when the later was in Bright Eyes, she also collaborated with him and sang backing vocals on a few Bright Eyes tracks. Oberst repayed the favour, singing backing vocals on the track posted here.

Song Beneath The Song can be found on Taylor's excellent first album 11:11 released in 2005. Her third album LadyLuck was released in March last year.

Maria Taylor - Song Beneath The Song

Where Do Kids Spend Their Pocket Money These Days?

I was just thinking yesterday, as I walked past the empty and rather dilapidated former Woolies, that I missed my Saturday visit with M and the tantrums that entailed when I refused to buy him the largest toy he could find in the store. I do not however miss the mad sugar rushes that used to ensue later on in the day when he loaded himself up on the crap that I capitulated on and bought much to the annoyance of his mother.

I also started wondering what all of the kids now did on a Saturday morning and how they spent their pocket money. Every weekend me and S would go up the street first thing and spend all of our pocket money on a single from either Woolies or Menzies

Woolies was always the best as it stocked the top 40 singles, whereas John Menzies only had the top 20. I remember one fraught Saturday, racing up to buy the UK Subs, Party In Paris on orange vinyl,  as on the Friday there had only been 2 copies in the store. When we got there  we found that one had been purchased.  Being the magnanimous sort, I let S buy it, if the truth be told I didn't really like the track. The UK Subs weren't my favourite band, I do however still like Warhead, which came on brown vinyl. I think that the rare UK Subs singles were the ones which were on black vinyl as I can't actually remember ever seeing any on black vinyl.

My earliest memory of Woolies was the one in Airdrie, where I remember getting plastic figures of Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman, this was before I started to focus on small pieces of black plastic.

Here is one of the first singles I remember buying from Woolies.

SLF - At The Edge

and also Nanci Griffiths ode to Woolies

Nanci Griffiths - Love At The Five And Dime

Something's Jumping In Your Shirt

I've never been a fan of Malcolm McLaren but I've got to give it to him that over the years he has been associated  with some great records.  Whether that be with the Sex Pistols, Bow Wow Wow or the stuff that was produced under his own name.

He certainly had a knack of being a bit of, if not a musical pioneer then someone who brought new styles of  music to the attention of a wider audience, whether that be punk, hip-hop, African sounds or Opera.

Here is the remix of one of my favourite tracks by McLaren. Amongst the production credits on the original are Bootsy Collins and Phil Ramone. The remix was done by Mark Moore and William Orbit.

Lisa Marie with Malcolm McLaren & The Bootzilla Orchestra - Something's Jumpin' In Your Shirt (Walk The Body mix)

The Boobytrap

How about a bit of minimal techno for a Saturday?

I know very little about this track, can't even recollect where or when I got it. I just know that it just builds and builds and makes good use of a sample from The Drum Club's You Make Me Feel So Good.

Kenny Hawkes & David Parr - The Boobytrap (Serge Santiago mix)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

I'm not sure how much longer this series of early House tracks will go on for but it has been fun digging out the 12 inch singles and I have been shocked by how dated some of the tracks sound now and pleasantly surprised by others which I thought would have dated badly but actually still sound great,  transporting me back to when I really didn't have a care in the world, apart from unemployment, Thatcher, the cold war and the prospect of Mutually Assured Destruction, so nothing really that important.

Rok Da House was one of those twelves that I picked out thinking that there was no way that it would even sound half decent after 23 years (jesus!). But I think that it holds up pretty well.

The Beatmasters were a British production trio who had quite a bit a few hits during the late 80's in collaboration with the likes of P.P. Arnold, Yazz, Betty Boo and on this, their first single,  with British female hip-hop duo the Cookie Crew; producing a track which I think invented one of the first sub genres of House, Hip-House.

The track was released in late 1987 and climbed the UK charts reaching number 5 in early 1988.

The Beatmasters feat The Cookie Crew - Rok Da House

Solidarity

I guarantee that this will be my last bit of yearning for a bygone age,  for a while at least.

The Angelic Upstarts were a punk band who espoused socialist values and were also one of the first bands with an anti-fascist agenda. Their first single " The Murder Of Liddle Towers" concerned itself with the death of a 39 year old man from Gateshead from injuries sustained in custody at the hands of the police.

The band were grouped in with the Oi faction of punk, which I never understood as to me the Oi bands and the creator of the genre Gary Bushell were a bunch of fascist bastards, although this is supposedly not the case and the movements roots were in working class socialism. I never found much of a socialist message in the dross of the 4Skins,  Anti-Pasti,  the Exploited and others.

Angelic Upstarts have released 19 singles and 11 studio albums and as far as I am aware are still going strong. The track posted was a single in 1983 and can be found on the album Reason Why.

The title of the track,  Solidarity is in reference to the Polish shipyard workers trades union led by Lech Walesa which at the time were being repressed by the Communist regime in that country but who by 1989 led a coalition government and did much to contribute to the downfall of communism.

Angelic Upstarts - Solidarity

As a bonus here are a couple of the b-sides of the 12" single. The first is a spoken word thing from Mensi and the second is a surprising track from the band which sounds like it could be an early out take from the Redskins but without Chris Dean's earnest, political lyrics and soulfull vocals.

Angelic Upstarts - Dollars and Pounds

Angelic Upstarts - Don't Stop

Doesn't Make It Alright

My mate has once again talked me into going to SLF's annual St Patrick's Night pilgrimage to the Glasgow Barrowlands. The excuse he used this time was that it may be the last one and how would I feel if I missed it? As eluded to yesterday I have been wallowing in quite a bit of nostalgia of late, so I thought what the hell.

If past experience is anything to go by they will do a blistering cover of Doesn't Make It Alright, the original of which can be found on The Specials first album. It is very difficult to pick a stand out track from that album as even listening now every track still sounds great but if I had to pick just one, then it would be the one posted, I just love everything about it.

The SLF version can be found on the b-side to Just Fade Away, another track which still sounds great, or you could splash out and get All The Best, every one a classic, well apart from 3 or 4 which I never really got into.

Specials - Doesn't Make It Alright

Just Because

Sometimes you just want to reminisce and smile.



The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet

The Ghosts Of Cable Street

The Ghosts Of Cable Street tells the story of a battle that took place in that street in London on Sunday 4th October 1936 when a coalition of anti-fascists including communists, trades unionists, members of the Jewish community and others reacted to Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists legally marched with the aid of the Police through the East-End of London, where a large number of Jewish people lived.

The anti-fascist demonstrators, who numbered an estimated 300,000 decided to barricade the route and thus prevent the blackshirts from marching. The Police had other ideas and cleared the barricades which enraged the demonstrators who started throwing anything at hand at the police and a riot ensued. The march by Mosley and his scum was stopped, however at the cost of quite a few injuries amongst the protestors and police alike.

The ringleaders of the protest were found guilty of affray and sentenced to 3 months hard labour, however as a result of the riot the 1936 Public Order Act was passed which stated that political marches needed to be sanctioned by the police and that marchers could not wear political uniforms such as the black shirts did. It is thought that the passing of this act had a direct result on The British Union of Fascists decline.

It just goes to show that some laws do turn out to have the desired effect.

I was reminded of this song when listening to a BBC programme today Hate Against Hope. But also at the weekend I overheard some rascist comments by people who I thought knew better. It seems as though we still need people like Joe Jacobs and the others these days.

The Men They Couldn't Hang - The Ghosts Of Cable Street.

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Today's track comes courtesy of one of the pioneers of early British House music Mark Moore.

S'Express came to the attention in the UK in April 1988, when Theme From S'Express was released and reached number 1 in the UK charts. I love Theme with it's Rose Royce and Gil Scott-Heron samples but thought that everyone would have the track.

So here is the follow-up single, Superfly Guy, in it's Fluffy Bagel remix form which is a 303tastic acid remix by Mark McGuire which I think still sounds great today.

More acid to follow in the coming weeks.

S' Express - Superfly Guy (Fluffy Bagel mix).

I'm off down south for a do this weekend, so there will be no communication from the kitchen table until either Sunday night if I'm feeling up to it but more likely Monday.

Enjoy This Trip

Not The Subtlest Lyric In The World, You Say

I've not been in the best of moods over recent days and was rooting around for something to cheer me up and played today's track. It is something that I have thought about posting now and then but  decided to keep in reserve for that special day.

Today I decided that it should be heard more often as it is such a joyous track and has perked me up measurably this afternoon.

As a result of hearing this tune in the past,  M had a picture in his mind that Fatcher, as he is want to call it had a pointy hat and a broomstick. When he was in the position to put a picture to his imaginings, it didn't really change his original picture. When I pointed it out to him, when an image of the beast came on the telly, I think it may have been on the news a couple of years ago he said that she looked more like a ghost than a witch, to which I could not disagree. Unfortunately, I can't seem to dispel the idea that he has that she has super human powers.

Last summer we had quite a thunderstorm here. I was in the dinning room/record room when the first crack of thunder happened. It was extremely loud and the house shook, about 3 seconds later M ran down the stairs,  burst through the door and shouted one word "Fatcher". I reasoned with him and told him that she had nothing to do with the weather and it was all to do with atmospherics (I'm no weatherman) and that she was no longer in a position to harm anyone which sort of calmed him down, although i think he remained wholly unconvinced.

Sadly I'm increasingly beginning to think that that statement is no longer the case. I fear that very soon her ideas will be hurting an awful lot of people, through her bastard spawn and his Bullingdon Club cronies.

Hefner - The Day That Thatcher Dies

Wall Of Pain

I've just finished reading the Dave Thompson biography of Phil Spector, Wall Of Pain. The book is a comprehensive look at Spector's life, studio sessions and plainly unhinged behaviour of which I feel that Thompson is far too ready to justify. An example of which is when recounting the story of when Spector pulled a gun on Walter Cronkite's daughter at a Christmas bash hosted by Joan Rivers, Thompson writes "Context, of course, is everything and Spector has never publicly spoken about why he pulled the gun" It doesn't matter why he pulled the gun,  Dave, there is no justification.

If you can put the bias to one side the book is rather informative about Spector's relationship with many of the musicians he worked with. It also shows, how at a very young age Spector knew what he wanted to do and was able to realise his ambitions by learning quickly how to play the game and beat the music establishment at their own game.

I have a feeling that a lot of the stories around Spector's erratic behaviour in the studio has been somewhat embellished over the years or why were the same musicians willing to go back in the studio session after session, year after year. It certainly can't be due to lack of work. As these musicians must have been sought after having been involved in so many hit singles in the early 60's.

There is one big what if in the book.  During 1979 Spector was looking around for a new project and turned his attention on Blondie. Spector had first noticed the band when they were the support for the Ramones at The Whisky A Go Go in 1977 and had followed their progress since. Blondie, however, aware of the antics during the recording of the Ramones, End Of The Century album with Spector, declined his offer to produce. One can only dream of what could have been the result of those sessions if both band and producer had got it together.

During what I think will have been Spector's last production session,  for Starsailor, James Walsh marvelled at what the producer could do in the studio without the use of modern technology such as Pro Tools. "It was an amazing experience, first and foremost. To see for example, the way he could make a string quartet sound like an orchestra|" he is quoted as saying.

The final chapter deals very briefly with the events of the early hours of 3rd February 2003 when the actress Lana Clarkson was found dead at Spector's house in Alhambra and the record producers eventual indictment for murder on the 19th of September. The book went to print long  before the case would eventually come to court and Spector sentenced to 19 years to life for second degree murder on 29th May 2009. Spector now resides in the Corcoran state prison which also houses Charles Manson.

My overwhelming impression of Spector after reading this book, hasn't changed from the one I formed of him after reading Ronnie Bennet's autobiography and He's A Rebel, a previous biography by Mark Ribowsky, that of a deeply troubled individual capable of greatness in the studio but a wholly inadequate human being who at times was incredibly dangerous to be around.

What doesn't sit well with me sometimes is the sheer pleasure that I get out of the work of a convicted murderer. Is it wrong to still get enjoyment out of the work of such a person, is it possible to detach Spector from his "little symphonies for the kids"? I just don't know and should I be bothered when these days it seems to be a badge of honour in some music genres to boast about your criminal past?

Still, a man who once  reffered to the Spice Girls as the antichrist can't be all bad.

Here is the results of that final Spector session.

Starsailor - Silence Is Easy