Bloody Snow!

The above picture was taken from my front door at about 8 am. The bloody white stuff is back, let's hope it is not a repeat of last year.

Comet Gain - Moments In The Snow

"What do you expect us to do, go and make a jungle record?"

"Nothing justifies the track—it was a pile of shit but it did serve as a reminder why we should never go back in the studio again—'cos we knew we were past it . . . " Is how Bill Drummond described his and Jimmy Cauty's contribution to the Help album, a cd compiled in aid of the charity War Child.

However, I don't share Drummond's view, I love the track and it's one of the two tunes that made the purchase of the album worthwhile, well and the fact that the money raised was going to help children caught up in the conflict in the Balkans.

The One World Orchestra - The Magnificent.

The Tracks Of My Year

This last twelve months has seen my fixation with dubstep and new dance tunes grow, without ever having set foot in a club, alas I think that my days for clubbing are well and truely in the past. I prefer to sit and listen to these tunes in the comfort of my red chair with a G&T in hand and the stereo at a loud but still acceptable, volume.

I have also bought quite a few old  R&B sevens and some much sought agfter northern singles by the likes of Bobby Kline and Martha Reeves. I have discounted these from the list of tracks, deciding that only singles  released this year would make the list. Also eliminated was the John Talabot remix of Shelter which I finally managed to get a hold of, released in a ludicriously limited pressing only available in Japan. I decided that due to the fact that I had flogged it to death for the last three months of 2010 on download, it really belonged to last year but Jamie xx does make more than one appearance in the list.

Only one track in the list was not released on vinyl and that is the Weatherall mix of Watch Me Dance by Toddla T. This track was all set to be released and I had indeed ordered it but due to some stupid pricks deciding to turn all of independent releases for September  into a steaming pile of black wax the track was never released.

Lastly, track two didn't come out as a single, however I am still hoping that it will do and have contacted those responsible begging for this to happen. Actually, when I look at the list not all the tracks were singles, I think I just wished they had been.

So without further ado, here are the tracks of my year, you may disagree with my choices but of course as ever you will be wrong.

1. Free School - Lemon (original)
2. White Label/Stolen Voices - Jean 1
3. Cults - Do You Know What I Mean
4. Koreless - 4D
5. Massive Attack/Burial - Four Walls
6. Gil Scott Heron/Jamie xx - I'll Take Care Of You
7. Walls - Sun Porch
8. Jamie xx - Far Nearer
9. Airborne Toxic Event - All At Once (Live King's College London)
10.Zomby - Natalia's Song
11.Darren Haymen/Elizabeth Morris - I Know I Fucked Up
12.Big Deal - Talk
13.Massive Attack/Burial - Paradise Circus
14.Creep - Days (Deadboy mix)
15.Dauwd- What's There
16.Fab Samperi - In The River (Ursula 1000 mix)
17.Shackleton - Fireworks
18.Cat's Eyes - Over You
19.Mogwai - George Square Thatcher Death Party
20.Joy Formidable - I Don't Want To See You Like This
21. The Fall - Nate Will Not Return
22.Slow Club - Beginners
23.Frightened Rabbit - Fuck This Place
24.Four Tet - Locked
25.Jeff Miles - Something In The Sky (pt 7)
26.Arctic Monkeys - The Hell Cat Spangled Shala La La
27.Guards - Resolution Of One
28.Radiohead - Good Evening Mrs Magpie (Modeselektor  rmx)
29.Maurice Donovan - Satisfied
30.Dead Beat - 1st Quarter (SCB mix)
31. Vaccines - Post Break Up Sex
32.Gui Borrato - This Is Not The End
33.The Kills - Satellite (Out Of Orbit Dub)
34.Deadboy - Here
35.Chapel Club - Surfacing
36.Adele - Rolling In The Deep (Jamie xx mix)
37.Spector - Never Fade Away
38.Cancel The Astronauts - Seven Vices
39. Toddla T - Watch Me Dance
40.King Post Kitch - Don't You Touch My Fucking Honeytone

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Today's piece of vinyl was one of those records you picked up having not heard but everybody else had been raving about or in this case raving to. When I eventually got around to listening to it I was more than a little disappointed.

Forty Miles is built around a looped piano sample from Jimi Polo's Better Days and was originally released on Inner Rhythm in 1991. I have posted the instrumental version as the vocals on the other side add nothing to the track and are in truth awful.

Have a good weekend people.

Congress - 40 Miles

Hound Dog

I don't know why it is but I seem to be swinging from the latest Techno and Dubstep back to the earliest R&B and Soul at the moment and sort of disregarding everything in between.

Here's another 7 inch re-press I managed to get my hands on recently.

Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog

Not Another Remix Of Limit To Your Love, You Say

Last week Acid Ted posted a couple of remixes of Limit To Your Love by James Blake and I commented that I had ben totally underwhelmed by what I had heard. That was until I heard today's track but I think that my liking for this track has more to do with the freshness of the remix rather than the source material

Dauwd is a young producer/chef from Wales who has recently signed to Pictures Music, alongside Koreless and his debut single released a couple of weeks and effortlessly made it's way into The Tracks Of My Year. I posted one of the tracks on side two on Sunday and will be avidly looking out for further releases.

James Blake - Limit To Your Love (Dauwd remix)

Celebrate, What's To Celebrate?

I'm off down to Luton for a few days to "celebrate success" and look to the future. The thing is I'm not really in the mood to celebrate success when I know that by the 23rd of December the office that I worked in for a good few years and many highly competent, professional and knowledgeable people will no longer be there and will no longer be on the end of the phone or just an email away with their expertise and support.

Management just don't get it.  They think that one day we can reflect upon all the successes and the very next say that's the end of that and just get on to the tasks at hand.

I for one am not like that, it will be quite a while before I will be ready to move on. I am not, as they say in management speak, change averse, I just don't like to see good people cast aside while within the leadership  some make themselves indispensable while others have spent the last god knows how long positioning themselves and schmoozing so that they are alright, thank you very much.

On the same day as I will be "celebrating" success, millions of others will be on strike to keep their pension rights.  Credit where credit's due, the government and the right wing press have done a brilliant job in polarising the workforce into public and private sector employees.  What we need to do is stick together against the Coalition and all of those companies using the excuse of the recession to cut their workforce to the bone or transfer the work overseas in order to keep the EPS high and to support each other in the fight for a fair return at the end of our working days, irrespective of whether that was for the public of private sector.

Iggy Pop - Success

Good Rockin'

While looking through some vinyl yesterday I came across Good Rockin' by Rocking Dopsie and the Cajun Twisters. I hadn't played this album in years so put it on and was delighted to find out that it sounded as good yesterday as it did when I first bought it, over twenty years ago on the recommendation of Big Boab.

Rocking Dopsie And The Cajun Twisters - Look Out Mr Heartache

DJ L Suggests . . .

. . .  you may like to listen to

Dauwd - Acireams

When Smokey Sings

Japan, my arse!

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles - I Second That Emotion

Friday Night Pass

It is nearly as rare as meeting a fellow blogger down in the smoke for a few pints and sorting out the whole of pop music but it has happened, me and my mate have finally been able to obtain Friday night passes at the same time.

In honour of the occasion it has been necessary to move Sturdy Girl from the sidelines to her rightful place on a Friday night.

Sorry that the tune has been used before, but I have surprisingly  few beer related songs on my hard drive. I do have a good one I am keeping under wraps for late next month.

N.W.A. - 8 Ball

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

I've had a week in Scotland for a change, no stupid o'clock flight's, long train journeys or value depreciating car journeys. Would like to say that I'm all the better for it but I feel as if I've been slacking somehow.

Today's track comes from 1993, contains a sample from a Primal Scream song and was released on the Bosting label and that is about all I know about it. You can go look it up on the internet if you're so inclined but my association with Mother begins and ends here.

Have a good weekend people.

Mother - All Funked Up (Mother's Pride mix)

Say Something Nice To Me

 This popped through my door today. At last I have it on 7".

As with Saturday's post, file under Pure Class.

Bobby Kline - Say Something Nice To Me

Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart

Here is a brilliant bit of what would you say, mainstream soul, I think I will stay clear of the P word.

This Holland-Dozzier-Holland composition was recorded in 1965 and released the following year when it reached number 9 in the Billboard charts joining the select club of Supremes songs penned by that illustious trio which didn't get to number one. For me it is right up there with the best and is probably the single I play most, either that or Come See About Me.

The Supremes - Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart

My Sugar Baby

Right, let's get back on track after yesterday's little excursion into the universe of Dr Alex P and back to the soul and a track that I can't believe that I haven't posted before as it is one of my all time favourite northern tracks, guaranteed to get shoes a shuffling and hips a moving.

If you find My Sugar Baby rather similar to the all time number one northern and most expensive single ever, Do I Love You (Indeed I Do), it may not surprise you that it was written and produced by the Legend that is Frank Wilson. There is a version recorded by Wilson himself, available on A Cellarful of Motown, however I prefer the version posted here by Connie Clark and released on the Joker Records label.

Connie went on to record for Motown under her real name Chris Clark and did a version of Do I Love which is also rather fine. She was one of the few white female vocalists signed to the Motown label and started off recording for the subsidiary label VIP for which she released three singles before recording for Motown proper where she recorded a single From Head To Toe and two albums which are good but none of which hit the peaks of My Sugar Baby or Do I Love You. Once her recording career finished Clark stayed with Motown and worked in a managerial capacity for the label.

The above is all bollocks, I was totally misinformed, Chris Clark and Connie Clark are two complete different individuals.

Connie Clark - My Sugar Baby

Majestic

On the long journey up the road on Friday while making the resolution of never drinking with Davy H on a school night ever again, I was looking for something mellow to play and decided upon the Orb. Recently whenever I have reached for the Orb it has been Adventures, or Baghdad Batteries. I felt that the former was rather too cliched for this situation and well,  Baghdad Batteries had too many beats for my head to contend with at that time.

I decided to opt for U.F.Orb which I realised I hadn't played for a long time, if you discount the full version of The Blue Room or the Mad Professor's mix of Towers Of Dub,  both of which get dusted down every month or so. I started to ponder why this was as I immersed myself in the soundscape that is O.O.B.E.and in no time at all I began to feel human again, the combination of the sounds of Dr Alex and Thrash and the second gin and tonic doing the trick nicely. By the time Majestic began to pound through my headphones I had resolved to play this criminally overlooked album much more often.

I remember seeing "The Orb is not just for Christmas" written somewhere, never a truer statement.

The Orb - Majestic

Baby Don't You Weep

I have been on a bit of a northern tip this weekend. Maybe I'm trying to cleanse my mind of all of those suggestions of Norman Greenbaum, T Rex, Haircut 100 and the rest over at Davy H's bit. Or maybe I am just in the mood for an all nighter or weekender as I have recently been reminiscing about the Togetherness Weekender's at the Cala Grand Holiday Park in Fleetwood. Those were the days.

Let's start off the week with an always in demand track, Baby Don't You Weep by Edward Hamilton and the Arabians which is an absolute belter, released in the states on the Mary Jane label out of Detroit and over here much later in 1980 on Grapevine. It was recently re released by Outa Sight on a label which is virtually identical to the original.

Listen and see if all remnants of Sugar Sugar are now expunged from your mind.

Edward Hamilton and The Arabians - Baby Don't You Weep

Baby Please Don't Go

Here is something a bit special, courtesy of those wonderful crate diggers at Jazzmann Records.

Rose Mitchell's version of Baby Please Don't Go was the first release on Jazzman's Juke Box Jam series and I can't think of a better track. This, in my opinion is the best version of this oft covered r n b standard. What an amazing vocal delivery and those handclaps really set the whole thing off.

Unfortunately, I missed out on the 7" release but got a second chance when the label rereleased it on a wonderful 10" single in the stylee of an old 78 and backed by two further renditions of the track by Jo Ann Henderson and Big Maybelle both of which are wonderful but not quite the same league as this one.


Rose Mitchell - Baby Please Don't Go

The Stunners

With the controversy still raging over at Mr H's, the only thing for certain is that Davy no longer qualifies for membership in the "This Blog Continues To Decline Foundation For Middle Aged Men" so it is with a heavy heart that I hereby revoke said membership.

Oh and while we are on the subject of classification, just file today's track under, class,  sheer class.

The Stunners - Nobody But Me

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

While you are reading this I will be letting the train take the strain getting the 16:57 from Euston back to civilisation.

I had totally forgotten about today's track until I was scrolling through the posts on Pure Club Classics when I came across a posting for the Brothers in Rhythm remix of Here Comes The Rain Again which I remembered being rather good.

I'm sure that the first time that I heard this was on the radio during a Brothers In Rhythm mix on Pete Tong's Essential mix. I remember trying to hunt the track down only to find out that it was only available as one of the Remix Culture releases from DMC which were exclusively available to DJs and therefore rarer than hobby horse shit.

Anyway, after down loading the track from Pure Club Classics and finding that it has aged quite well I decided to see if I could find a copy on Discogs. After clicking on to what has to be the best and for me probably the costliest website I have as a bookmark I found out that it was actually part of a double pack 12" with other remixes of the likes of Salt n Pepa and Degrees Of Motion. There was a quite reasonably priced copy for sale so I decided to take a punt on it. When it arrived, as I suspected none of the other tracks were as good as Eurythmics remix but I think I still got a pretty good deal as it was worth it for the Brothers in Rhythm mix alone.

Have a good weekend people.

The Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again (The Big Brothers Annual Outing)

Lazy Week pt 4

Up until a couple of years ago I was under the impression that today's track was a Cramps original. With a title like Goo Goo Muck, I thought that it had to come from the demented minds of Lux and Ivy.

How wrong I was, not only was it not an original but it was first recorded in 1962 by Ronnie Cook and the Gaylads.

Ronnie Cook and The Gaylads - Goo Goo Muck

Lazy Week pt3

The Fall have picked some songs to cover which at first glance induce a shudder of absolute incredulity, for example Black Night by Deep Purple, sometimes they work wonderfully as in the sublime cover of Lost In Music at other times the work less well and today's choice of tune should definitely be included in the later category, suffice to say it isn't one of the group's finest moments.

I have no idea what  possessed Smith to cover Houston by Dean Martin, maybe he felt an affinity with the Hollywood star as Martin was also a bit of a jakey but I can find no details anywhere of  Dino being a gutless, robbing bastard, so that's just conjecture on my part.

Houston was released as a single in 1965 as a single and was produced by the great Lee Hazelwood.

Dean Martin - Houston

Lazy Week pt 2

Well at least the performance review is over for another 6 months. I have no idea whether I am where I should be or not and anyway it's all arbitrary as there is a curve to follow and we can't have too many people doing well as that wouldn't fit in with whoever's bullshit theory the curve was, I'm sure I could find out if I really gave a toss. That's not to say I don't give a shit about my work, it's just all the bullshit that I can't be doing with.

Anyway,  back to the important stuff, Surfin' Bird is probably the maddest song ever and one that always puts a smile on my face. The song itself, borrows heavily from Papa Oom Mow Mow by The Rivingtons. It was released in 1963 in the US and got to number two. Apparently it was re released over here in 2009 and was also used in a campaign for stopping the last cack factor winner getting to number 1 last year. Both of which I was oblivious about.

The Cramps version was produced by Alex Chilton and was released in 1978. However the first version I ever remember hearing was the Ramones version which was on their third album Rocket To Russia.

The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird

Lazy Week pt 1

Right, I have a really shit week ahead.

End of year review today and three days in the smoke to look forward to. So I have decided to do a week of original songs that were either covered by the Cramps or The Fall, two of the most plagiaristic bands in my collection, indeed a couple of this weeks track will have been covered by both. Both bands however put their own inimitable slant on anything they cover.

First up we have Strychnine by the Sonics and released on their 1965 album Here Are The Sonics, the track was also included on the seminal Nuggets compilation of 60s US Garage bands.

This was also the last track that waste of space and fuck-wit Smith sung from the stage the other Thursday in Edinburgh. The Fall's version can be found on The Complete Peel Sessions and various live things. The Cramps version appears on Songs The Lord Taught Us.

The Sonics - Strychnine

Crimson & Clover

Prince's version of this came on the mp3 player on Thursday during my long journey up the road from Nottingham when I rashly opted to drive rather than wait the three hours for my flight home.

I think that Joan Jett's versdion is my favourite,  just a baw hair in front of the original by Tommy James and The Shondells.

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - Crimson & Clover

Eye Know

Some Daisy Age hip-hop for you. Back in the day when there was no East Coast/West Coast shit going on and guys rapped about more than money, ho's and guns. It seems so long ago.

It was a bloody long time ago, twenty one years ago to be precise.

De La Soul - Eye Know (Daisy Bass mix)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

I don't know about you but I'm in the mood for some uplifting house music, courtesy of Strictly Rhthym.

I am not ashamed to admit that I cried the first time I heard this, granted I was full of more than just emotion that night but still.

Have a good weekend people.

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

Lest We Forget

For 

Cpl Andrew Wingate

Private James Little

 Eric Bogle - No Man's Land

Pop Perfection

Is there a more perfect pop song?

The Ronettes - Be My Baby

Black Satin

I wish that this duo would tour over here sometime soon. As I've said on numerous occassions they make a beautiful racket live and to a lesser extent on vinyl.

This track comes from their third full album Lust Lust Lust released in 2007.

The Raveonettes - Black Satin

Look At Me Now

Terry Callier has had a sort of renaissance over the last few years what with supplying vocals for the likes of Massive Attack and working with Farley & Heller and Paul Weller amongst others.

His recording career stretches back to 1963 and covering the genres of Jazz, Soul and Folk. Not the kind of stuff that you would associate with northern soulbut tunes like Ordinary Joe and today's posting caught the attention of the more discerning on the scene.

Look At Me Know was originally released on the Cadet label in 1968 and pretty much sank without a trace until it was embraced by the northern fraternity. These days an original copy of the 7" will set you back at least a couple of hundred quid, well worth it if you have that kind of spare cash.

Terry Callier - Look At Me Now

Science of Silence

Do you think that the similarity to Neil Diamond is intentional?

I really like this song even although the lyrics are pretty crap. Does that mean that I am secretly a fan of Song Sung Blue?  Certainly not.

Richard Ashcroft - Science of Silence.

I'm off to see The Airborne Toxic Event tonight, yippee, @ the Arches, yuck!

A Plague For The Naive

This post was prompted by the track that Scott over at Spools Paradise uploaded yesterday.

Just Like Fred Astaire is probably my favourite song by James. When I hear it I cannot help but smile it is such a an upbeat optimistic song, the last verse especially.

Meteors may strike the earth
Nations live and die
I'm the boy who got the girl
Who showed me how to fly
We can cross the race divide
Bridge a gap that wasn't really there
I'm gonna hold her in my charm
Just like Fred Astaire

Not a bad way to start a Sunday.

James - Just Like Fred Astaire

Massive Attack Vs Burial

I have thought long and hard about posting this in it's entirety as it is brand new. I don't generally do this, if a new record comes out then if I think that others may like it I will post a track off of the record but not the whole thing. But a couple of factors have pushed me into posting both sides.

Firstly, this is a limited release, only 1000 copies were pressed, with no repress and no digital release. I think that both of these tracks need to be heard by more than the maybe six hundred or so people that have bought the record to listen to. Which brings me onto my second point.

Even before the release date their were copies of this for sale on ebay with a starting price of north of a hundred and fifty quid. The single was originally on sale for £25 but somehow without doing anything other than clicking a button someone decides that they should make six times that amount. This kind of shit really pisses me off. These gets have got copies over fans who would love to have the record just to listen to,  for the sole purpose of making money. That is not what music is all about.

I know there are loads of people who say that a record such as this should never have had this sort of exclusivity as there are so many people who would be interested in this collaboration and you know, they are right it should have been made more available in some format, maybe a bog standard 12" single or cd. But it was decided that the record would be released the way that it is and I was lucky enough to get a copy.

One thing I can assure you of is that the record will be played as have the two previous Massive Attack limited editions from the vinyl factory. Yes the covers are beautiful but records are meant to be played and records that are so lovingly produced using the very best press and true craftsmen deserve to be played and not sealed away as some sort of investment.

It is my hope that by posting this single, there is a little less interest in the vinyl copies on  ebay put there by vampires who have no interest in the music and are only out for money. I realise that they will still sell for the reasons above but if they make even 10% less than they factored for I will be happy.

So much for the bullshit Drew, I hear you say. What you want to know is how do the tracks sound. The answer to which is absolutely fucking wonderful. What else did you expect?

I would download as soon as possible as I feel a DMCA notice winging it's way to me as I type.

Massive Attack vs Burial - Four Walls

Massive Attack vs Burial - Paradise Circus

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

In anticipation of D's week of Techno Classics over at Acid Ted I decided that we would have some serious heavy duty dance shenanigans this Friday.

Who better then the Baron of Techno, Dave Clarke. Here is Robert Hood's mix of Clarke's seminal Red 2 release Wisdom To The Wise. So you really are getting two legends of techno for the price of one.

Oh, and SA, get your head out of the bass bin it's not good for you.

Have a good weekend people.

Dave Clarke - Wisdom To The Wise (Robert Hood remix)

Well,  that was what you were supposed to be getting, however I  am having technical difficulties with the ripping of vinyl for some reason today, so  instead .  . .

Dave Clarke - Red 1

Enough Is Enough

Well Smith has done it once more in Edinburgh, took the piss out of the people he makes a living from and sadly I was there to see it again.

The venue was busy, busier than I had expected and without doubt the biggest venue the Fall have played north of the border for some time. By 20:45, the time the band were supposed to come on stage the place was just about full.

Two minutes to nine the band take to the stage followed by Smith less than a minute later which was pretty surprising as it usually takes him three or four minutes to wander on and bask in the adulation (which he pretends to ignore). From the off the band sounded good although it was difficult to hear Tim Presley's guitar until half way through the fourth song when Smith turned the guitar amp up probably the only thing he added to the evening as he then sauntered off stage. I looked at Stiff who shook his head in disbelief, it was happening again.

The band then launched into Laptop and Smith proceeded to deliver the vocals from backstage which was mildly amusing for the first couple of minutes but when he continued to do so for the next song I have to admit my patience expired. And that was it the band struggled through a further 7 songs with no input from Smith whatsoever and then left the stage.

The wife came back on to explain that Smith had sore feet, sore fucking feet! Stiff, Myself and a good number of the crowd then left the building. Apparently the band did come back on for an encore of Mr Pharmacist with Smith briefly taking to the stage but I was on my road home by then, having once again wasted my hard earned money on that fucking waster.

I have decided that, other than when the gruppe are playing Glasgow that will be the last time that I will see them live. I know it may sound like a bit of a cliche but he wouldn't get away with that kind of behaviour in Glasgow, the audience is just not as easy going and Smith knows that. It has to be said that the man is an out and out git and also a  bit of a spineless bastard, leaving the group to take the abuse from the crowd that he knows will follow him leaving the stage because we all know as the fud himself said "if it's me and yir granny on bongos, then it's the Fall" and also hiding behind his wife, having her come out and explain to the crowd why your not there, yeah Mark, really grown up that, taking responsibility for your actions.

Two things that really gaulled me about last night, firstly the band sounded brilliant, very tight which is quite surprising when you realise that the guitarist stepped in at the last minute and had only a couple of weeks to rehearse the new material. Which shows that if Smith had been at all interested it could have been a brilliant gig

And secondly, I just can't fathom the mentality of the fanboys who are prepared to let Smith get away with this shit and they are not in the minority. They obviously have money to burn and are quite happy to be made mugs of by this absolute tosser who In their eyes can do no wrong. Here are a few of the responses posted on the Fall forum regarding last night's pish.

Was a great Fall gig, band were tight, memorable, (just) over an hour from first appearance to the end of Mr P

Anyone that seriously appreciates the band and comes without the review already written would have come away positive after tonight.

I hope everyone going to the rest of the dates gets it as good

Great gig. much better than the Studio 24 Debacle.


Hope he gets better soon..

I fear that that my obsession with the Fall might be just about over what with this and also what I think is a pretty mediocre new album. I will not stop buying new releases and searching for that elusive vinyl copy of The Marshall Suite I just don't think that I will be eagerly awaiting each new release or wishing that they were touring again.

Here is something by a band who never disappoint, well not yet that might all change on Monday night and a group, who could teach Smith a thing or two about his so called work ethic.


Airborne Toxic Event - Missy (live)

A Full Gig This Time Please

I'm off to see the Fall tonight. The first time since last April when Smith decided that we didn't deserve a full gig for our money. So I am more than a little anxious about tonight as it is also in Edinburgh but at the Picture House, a venue I have not been to before but have heard that it is larger than the usual venues the gruppe play up here, so hoping that it will be more than half full.

Another reason for my nervousness, is that I got hold of a snidey download of the new album a couple of days ago and am still not sure whether I like it or not. It may just be a grower but the track that everybody has been going on about "Greenway", I really don't like.

On the plus side Smith seems to be becoming more enlightened these days, as the guitarist has been granted paternity leave.  His place being filled by Tim Presley, one of the Dudes who filled in when Smith was left band less in the middle of an American Tour and who recorded and toured the Reformation Post TLC. Changed days from when Marc Riley asked if his girlfriend could get on the guest list and got the answer "fuck off, she can pay like everybody else"!

The Fall - Reformation

Sinead O'Connor

I've always had loads of admiration for Sinead O'Connor. I love the way she says exactly what she thinks and does not worry about the consequences. I also loved how she sort of pitched herself against the music industry and did things on her own terms.

Although neither of the above factors would have meant a lot if she didn't have the talent to back up these actions and by god does she have talent and a voice that could melt the heart of the most cynical of cynics. If anybody can make a Lloyd Webber/Rice song sound essential really does have something special.

This is the song I was going to post on Sunday but got waylaid due to events.

Sinead O'Connor - Thank You For Hearing Me

What Do You Think?

When the clocks go back and the nights start to draw in up here in the north, I always find myself reaching for some John Martyn and in particular Small Hours for some reason.

A couple of weeks ago I did a post concerning the White Label, Stolen Voices album and mentioned that they had cut up, for want of a better word, Small Hours. At the time I was quite disparaging about this, as fucking about with that song is akin to Michael Bolton covering Dock Of The Bay. Anyway, after repeated listens I have grown to quite like what has been done with it, granted it can not compare to the sheer beauty of the original but it has a charm all of it's own, I think anyway.

See what you think.

White Label/Stolen Voices - John 2

and here is a version that you may not have heard of Small Hours from the US mixes of One World. I cannot take the credit for bringing this to your attention, it was kindly sent to me by Dubrobots, a Martyn aficionado and frequent commenter.

John Martyn - Small Hours (US mix)

Gui Boratto

At the end of last year I was bemoaning the lack of what I considered to good full albums that had been released and was pondering why this was so. Was it due to artists padding out albums with filler which bored me. Or had I just fallen out of love with the format, the concentration span not being what it once was? Never ever came to any conclusions but erred towards the later position

Things have been very different this year. There have been over a couple of dozen albums which I have bought over the last 10 months that I have neither got bored with nor have felt the need to get up and lift the needle or press the skip button on the remote control.

One  such piece of work which I had been looking forward to on the strength of the previous offering was Gui Boratto's third, simply titled III. The Brazilian architect/minimal producer/DJ has come up trumps again with an album which although breaks little new ground does work as a whole album but most of the tracks would also fill the dance floor in any discerning club, tracks like Flying Practice and Stems From Hell.

III is well worth checking out, especially if you liked the previous one or his remix of Paradise Circus for Massive Attack. The track featured employs the vocal talents of Luciana Villanova, otherwise know as Boratto's better half.

Gui Boratto - This Is Not The End

Fourteen Years

Fourteen years ago this very day I was standing in a Registry Office in Lanark, rather nervously saying I do despite the couple of swift Laphroaig's I had in The Cave on my way there.

Then we went down the clyde valley and had a rather splendid do and purvey.

This one's for L for putting up with me for what seems like no time at all to me but probably a lot longer to her.

Ruby Andrews -Just Loving You

Happy Birthday Son

It's Max's birthday today. He came into this world eight years ago at 08:30 on Halloween and has been scaring the shit out of his mother and I ever since.

Here is a couple of his favourite records.

Tinie Tempah - Written In The Stars 

The Fall - Touch Sensitive

And seeing it's Halloween, here is a relevantly themed song by Shane MacGowan with the aid of the sweet, sweet tones of Sinead O'Connor

Shane MacGowan And The Popes - Haunted

Football And (or) Music

Unless you are a parochial, small minded bigot from west central Scotland , then this post will probably mean very little.

For years I have wondered about the correlation between having a shite taste in music and being a fan of either of the two sectarian clubs in Scotland. It has never ceased to amaze me at the lack of taste in music of most supporters of what we are led to believe are two of the greatest teams in the world and whose derby is so much more important than that of any other two teams that reside in the same city in any other nation on earth.

I have decided that it comes down to passion or lack thereof. There can be no other reason as to why one side of the divide will stand there week in week out singing a third rate Tina Turner song or at the other extreme,  be so passionate about a song from a forties Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, which has been stolen from a more successful team from another country!

 Recently I have come to the conclusion that the reason that  most people who support either side of the Glasgow sectarian divide have such a bad taste in music is that  their allocation of passion is wasted,  they would rather use all of their emotion in hate and bigotry for a past that can not be changed than just feeling the sheer joy of hearing something that does something to you on an emotional level,  for no more reason than it sounds wonderful and makes you feel happy

I am sick to the back teeth of people I know who behave in this manner. I have had enough of the insinuation and covert sectarianism on both sides.  Get a grip and realise what is important, not the perceived wrongs of a generation or so ago but who we are now and what we want for the future and for us fortunate enough to have them, our children.

Here endeth the rant

 Specials - Doesn't Make It Alright

Just Because . . .

. . . sometimes a bit of Marvin is all you need to get by.

Marvin Gaye - His Eyes Are On The Sparrow

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Since it's the Friday before the 31st of October, Max's Halloween party is today and at least a few of you I bet will be following his lead by dressing up and dooking for apples over the weekend I thought that we should maybe have a themed dance track.

Finding scary dance tracks wasn't as hard as I originally thought it was going to be, my first thought, obviously was Spooky with Billie Ray Martin and their version of Persuasion a track I've always found more than a little disturbing. Then there was Organ Donor by DJ Shadow which does send a shiver up my spine. I found quite a few more including more than a couple of unsettling Aphex Twin tracks.

I also found a 12" single called Nightmare by Brainbug which I have no recollection of buying. When I went to put it on it was surprisingly not as bad as I thought but it is still, unmistakeably trance,  a form of music that brings me out in cold sweats just at the thought of how mind numbingly tedious it is.

However, by far the scariest tracks are to be found in Drum and Bass, what with all those amen breaks, tracks like Shadow Boxing, Escobar Blues or Origin Unknown's QED near death experience documentary sampling Valley of the Shadows.

But the daddy for me has to be a remix of the track released in celebration of Moving Shadow reaching it's hundredth release. The original of The Shadow along with Distorted Dreams on the flipside are two of the darkest tracks I've ever heard. Rick Smith, however on his Process mix takes it onto a further level of eeriness which when played at night on the mp3 player while out walking makes you stroll that little bit brisker and you start to view your surroundings differently. It is a most wonderful piece of paranoia inducing music or maybe that's just me.

Have a good weekend people.

And remember, don't have nightmares.

Dom, Rob & Goldie - The Shadow (Process mix)

A suitably scary picture don't you think?

Just Because

I'm in London for a couple of days and I didn't have time to do 3 posts on Sunday night.

But it is a brilliant song.

Bruce Springsteen - American Skin (41 Shots)

Keeping It Peel Day 2011

Last year for Keeping It Peel Day you may recall that I did a run down of my Top Ten Peel session tracks ever. This year what with one thing and another I have not had the time to do anything as extensive.

But what to do? Pick my favourite number 1 from all of the Festive Fifties, or a track that I had first heard on the Peel Show or go for another session. The problem with Peel is that there is so much choice, the man shaped the music I listen to in more ways than one. Also it didn't matter the genre of music, if it came Peel approved then it was at least worth a listen, if only the once, for me in the case of  Bolt Thrower and Napalm Death and many others which just didn't do it for me.

As I've said before, no matter what your taste in music is, Peel will have championed somebody you love, unless the extent of your interest in music goes no further than that Irish Band. He will also have played stuff that you absolutely detested.

When looking through The Peel Sessions by Ken Garner for inspiration for this post I decided to steer clear of the stuff that he will always be remembered for by people of my age group the post punk and indie. This decision did not reduce the amount to choose from that much. So I decided to further limit my choice to sessions that I actually had either on record, those wonderful Strange Fruit 12" singles, cd, just about every re-release comes with Peel sessions, if available or download which I had already acquired. I gave myself one further restriction for which I know at least two people will be glad of and decided no Fall.

This was still proving to be difficult until I looked at p312 in Ken Garner's excellent reference book and it hit me, of course a session by the first band I ever saw live,  at the Glasgow Apollo aged thirteen.

So I have posted the one and only John Peel session by my favourite band from the age of ten to about fourteen, Motorhead. I cannot claim to have heard this session at the time as in 1978 I probably only had the vaguest of ideas of who Peel was. But the truth is that Motorhead were the first band I saw live and I remember going to school the next day and not being able to hear a thing the whole day due to the ringing in my years.

This session was recorded at Maida Vale on 18th September 1978 and broadcast seven days later on the 25th.

Motorhead - Louie-Louie
Motorhead - Tear Ya Down
Motorhead - I'll Be Your Sister
Motorhead - Keep Us On The Road

Mukatsuku Records

Here is a record label that you really should check out if you like anything with a dance beat or a bit left field.

The label was started by Dj Nik Weston and is a strictly 7" vinyl operation, no cds or downloads here. The label has been championed by the likes of Mr Scruff and Giles Peterson. Most of the artists on the label I had never heard of before with the exception of Tom Middleton and Amp Fiddler but all of the stuff that I have bought so far  has been as funky as one of the most funky things you can think of. The records can be ordered from Juno Records here .

Mukatsuku is Japanese for pain in the neck, btw.

The track posted is from 7" MUKAT 007.

Gaggle(DJ Mitsu the Beats) - Eastern Voyage

Church

I have been reliably informed that 2 Bears are Joe Goddard from Hot Chip and Raf Rundell. They have produced a few 12" singles for Southern Fried, however this absolute belter of a track is released on Bitches Brew and has been remixed by Darkstarr Diskotek (Ashley Beedle & Collen Murphy) into a gospel and afrobeat tinged balearic classic.

But why the hell wasn't this released during the summer, not now when the sun and heat are just a distant memory?


  2 Bears Church DarkStarr Remix by DarkStarr

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

What with all of the Stone Roses stuff that has been happening this week I have been casting my mind back to the late 80's and to what was really going on, with me anyway.


I remember buying The Stone Roses a couple of months after it's release and liking it. It didn't blow me away or anything, no Damascene moment. At this time it wasn't Manchester bands so much that interested me but more producers such as A Guy Called Gerald and the others who had been showcased on the "North, Sound of The Dance Underground album. In fact around about this time I was getting the feeling that guitar bands were a thing of the past , slightly outdated and that House and Acid were the future.

I know that the two scenes weren't mutually exclusive and there would be a coming together of the genres in the years to come in what would horribly be termed as 'indie dance' but could be more appropriately be termed as 'indie shuffle'. But I do think that there were 2 distinct camps, the House heads and the guitar loving indie kids still not at one with the concept of 4/4 beats.

So when I think back to 1989, sure I played Fools Gold,  I Am Resurrection and  W.F.L by Happy Mondays but the track that sums up that summer for me from a Manchester band is Pacific 202 by 808 State.

Have a good weekend people.

808 State - Pacific - 202

You Made Me Realise

I was going through my tracks on the mp3 player trying to make some space for new stuff last night. I hate doing this as I end up spending the night playing about a minute of  maybe a hundred tracks that either I can't remember or think 'haven't heard that for a while'. Last night spending about two hours and freeing up less than half a gig of space. I even thought of converting everything back to 128kbps but know that I would just spend more time reloading all the tracks that I will convince myself no longer sound right.

I was surprised to find that during an earlier cull I had deleted both My Bloody Valentine albums released on Creation Records but what surprised me even more is that I hadn't noticed and hadn't missed them. Both of these albums used to be played pretty regularly around these parts, although I can't even recall the last time now.

I decided that if I hadn't missed MBV, I could go ahead and delete the other things by the band with the exception of the Weatherall remix of Soon.

Before doing so I clicked on You Made Me Realise and it did just that, made me realise what I have been missing. So instead of freeing up space it was time to reload both albums mentioned above but I decided to stop before uploading the bootlegs from the last tour.

My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise