Thirty Years Ago, Really

One of the best debut albums ever was released thirty years ago this year and tonight I am going to hear it live in it's entirety for the first time in my life and I cannae wait. I have been looking forward to this ever since it was first announced and my excitement was ramped up a little further after my first trip to the Glasgow Concert Hall last week as the acoustics are very good.

Those of you who don't follow Pete Paphides on Twitter might have missed this brilliant piece on the travails of a fourteen year old Aztec Camera fan. Like Pete I wanted a suede jacket with fringes but had to make do with an Italian army jacket. I still remember Oblivious on Top Of The Pops and  buying High Land Hard Rain from John Menzies as soon after as I had saved up enough money and ever since then the songs of The Boy Wonder have soundtracked a lot of the highs and a few of the lows of my life.

I am particularly looking forward to hearing Back On Board live. 

Aztec Camera - Back On Board 

Roddy Frame - Down The Dip (Paisley Abbey)

Super Soakers

I think that Baghdad Batteries is a bit of an underrated Orb album. It is not one that is often mentioned when people discuss Dr Alex's output. It also has a bit of a misleading subtitle, "Orbsessions Vol 3" as unlike the first two in the series this is all new material and intended as an album and not as a collection of sessions coupled together. It is still unmistakably the Orb but with little of the quirkiness and samples of previous excursions. It is probably the album that I play most by them these days.

The Orb - Super Soakers

Happy

This made me smile today

Give Me Just A Little More Time

Another piece of popular soul which reached number three in the UK charts in 1972. Some of you may know it from Kylie's version from 1991 which made it one place higher in the charts.

Chairmen of The Board - Give Me Just A Little More Time

Mellow Sunday

How about a bit of KC doing Sinead doing Prince?

Lovely!

King Creosote - Nothing Compares To You

On The Radio

I absolutely love this song but to my shame up until recently I didn't really listen to the rest of an album, what a twat! As it is a rather fine album that deserved a lot more attention.

Regina Spektor -  On The Radio

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

I am feeling very proud of myself today.  I have replaced the hard drive on my laptop all by myself and it is now running perfectly.

Anyway, what with having to traipse down to Luton after only three hours sleep yesterday I have not had much time to think about today's post. I did however, receive a comment during the week from kiano asking if I would re-up a One Dove track, not just a One Dove track but one touched up by a certain DJ kind of worshipped around these parts.

So how could I say no?

Here is one of the tracks from a 12" single that became a quest for me to find in the pre Discogs days as it was about nearly as rare as good Coldplay song.

Have a good weekend people.

One Dove - Transient Truth (Sabres Of Paradise Death Of A Disco Dancer mix)

Bloody Luton!

I am in Luton today.  Should really be grateful as everybody else was also here yesterday. I was given a reprise as I had a long standing appointment with the Bard of Barking last night at the Royal Concert Hall, which is a bit grand for the likes of Bragg. He was a) excellent or b) good*.  So I am tired and filled with revolutionary fervour!

Last month saw the 30th anniversary of Life's A Riot With Spy vs Spy and to celebrate Bragg released a remastered version of the mini album, side one being the remasters of the original and side two being a live run through of all the tunes as the second encore at a gig in London earlier this year.

Here is the live version from the Union Chapel gig of the song that first brought Billy to my attention all those years ago when he performed it on the Tube.

Billy Bragg - To Have And To Have Not (Live 05-06-13)

* this was written just before leaving for the concert, so the rating is dependent on how much of Tooth & Nail gets an airing.

Verdi Cries

I was listening to Master Tapes on Radio 4 where John Wilson was talking to Natalie Merchant about Tigerlily,  her first solo album after leaving 10 000 Maniacs. It is an album that I have to admit that I haven't played much over the past decade or so and it was the last of her output that I bought as I wasn't really that taken with it I much preferred the stuff she produced with 10 000 Maniacs.

So last night I was mostly listening to In My Tribe, my favourite of their albums and I was instantly transported back to Aberdeen and the first half of 1988 when this record was never far from the red Panasonic ghetto blaster with the turntable on top.  I thought that I would post the last track from the album, the absolutely beautiful Verdi Cries which also turned up on the b-side of the single What's The Matter Here?

10 000 Maniacs - Verdi Cries

Say Something New

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything by the Concretes before as I quite frequently play the second album and the singles from it, not so much the first album and the later ones.

The band formed in Stockholm in 1995 and released their first album Boy You Better Run Now in 2000. Three years later they released their eponymous album which brought them to greater attention and also saw them tour the UK. I saw them the following year at King Tuts and they were very very good, a little shambolic at times but that kind of added to the charm.

Say Something New was the fifth single from the band's second album.

The Concretes - Say Something New

Heaven Must Have Sent You

I haven't posted that much Motown on the blog but I do love a bit of Detroit's best export.

The Elgins went through at three name changes before they settled on the name that with the aid of new female vocalist, Saundra Mallet would lead to them having a couple of hits on Gordy's label. The first single Darling Baby got to number one in the Billboard R&B Chart but it was the follow up that the group would be remembered for. First released in 1966, Heaven Must Have Sent You also charted on the Billboard R&B and got to number 50 in the Pop chart. It was re-released in 1971 four years after the group broke up and reached number 4 in the UK charts. Which just goes to show that not all of the best soul tunes were the obscure ones that didn't chart.

The Elgins - Heaven Must Have Sent You

Mellow Sunday

Here is a song that when I was much younger was one of the tunes that I frequently used to try and woo girls,  with very limited success. I'm almost certain that those who turned their noses up at it back then would think differently today.

John Martyn - Hung Up

3 mins 55 secs Of Casual Sex Anyone?

If that title doesn't bring ANONYMOUS back nothing will.

I'm not sure why I haven't posted this track before now as it has been a frequent visitor to the turntable since it's release in April as part of  Moshi Moshi's singles club.

There is more than a slight nod in the direction of the "Sound of Young Scotland" in the Glasgow four piece's debut single which tells the tale of doing the dirty on your girlfriend with her best mate fuelled on very strong Austrian rum, 160 proof Stroh 80 of the title. The effects of which I can vouch for as my boss in the Wallace Cave when I worked there once gave me a bottle as a present.

As far as I'm aware the band haven't released anything further which is a wee bit disappointing as this single is very good indeed.

Casual Sex - Stroh 80

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

During the mid to late 90s John Digweed released a mix cd about once a fortnight and along with Sasha was one of the superstar DJs that the Chemical Brothers were banging on about. I'm not sure if his popularity has waned as I don't buy Mixmag or DJ magazine or frequent house parties after the pub has shut where the soundtrack is meandering trance pish anymore, thankfully.

I was never really a big fan of his DJ sets,  as waiting for the next big breakdown to raise my arms in the air was not really my thing. However I did like his first foray into recording under the name of Bedrock along with Nick Muir. Although it does contain a huge breakdown at the time they were not as ubiquitous as they would become and the odd one could be tolerated. The single was released on Stress records in 1993.

Have a good weekend people.

Bedrock feat Kyo - For What You Dream Of

Batches and Cookies

Absolutely loving this at the moment. Just wish I could have gone to King Tuts on Monday night where she was supporting Har Mar Superstar.

Walk On In

I realise that the majority of folk who visit here don't come for the dance music, the download counts testify to this but please take 7 minutes out of your life and click on the soundcloud below.

Walk On In released on the Numbers label by the Welshman now residing in Berlin is most definitely going to be in my top five tracks of the year it is the best slab of dance music I have heard for a while and that is saying something as there have been quite a few things this year that I have loved.

Go on give it a go.

You've Got To Be Willing

Another one I don't know very much about apart from that it is magic and commands a price of about nine hundred quid in vinyl form. Sadly I do not own a copy of it. Mines comes from a cd/dvd package that came out a few years ago called Soul Function. The dvd contains a short film which is alright and a documentary. The cd has quite a few tracks that I haven't got elsewhere which was a surprise as it wasn't full of the usual things that always get included on northern soul compilations.

Calvin Grayson - You've Got To Be Willing

Mellow Sunday

Here is a Johnny Thunders cover from Canadian Duo Lola Dutronic's New York Stories Ep for you to listen to while lounging about today.

Lola Dutronic - You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory

Suspense Kiss

Chicago outfit Panda Riot are one of those bands that I found via the Jon In The Morning show on KEXP when I was still office based in Edinburgh. Nothing new or groundbreaking about their sound.  Like quite a few bands at the time they must have been listening to a lot of My Bloody Valentine and fucking about with effects pedals and drum machines. I  liked what I heard enough to delve a bit deeper and sought out the debut cd,  She Dares All Things a collection of tracks recorded in their bedrooms which is actually pretty good.

I sort of left it at that as it appeared that they had disbanded as nothing new appeared from them until a single last year which was too costly due to the shipping from the States and earlier this year they released a second album which sounds quite good from the samples on Amazon, good enough for me to order the album.

Here is a track from that 2007 album.

Panda Riot - Suspense Kiss 

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

It's back to the days of one off night's in dilapidated old warehouses and industrial units, if you were lucky enough to find them and absolutely bizarre and wonderful slabs of machine made music on import on mediocre to really crap vinyl, you know who you are Trax records.

By the time DJ Pierre, Earl Smith and Herbert Jackson and crew released We Are Phuture in 1988 they had already produced the definitive piece of Acid House for me with Acid Trax. Where could they possible take the genre?  To the future of course with this pounding  almost industrial sounding track complete with weird dark vocal introduction from Spanky Smith and a wicked acid line. Fucking lovely stuff.

This track is included on an absolutely essential FIVE disc compilation of early acid and deep house sounds compiled by Terry Farley for anybody with any interest in the genre. I am a great lover of vinyl as you know but to hear some of these without the background noise on some of the 12" singles is a pleasure just wish that it was possible to turn the clock back twenty five years and relive those heady days.

Have a good weekend people. I will be mostly watching Airdrie and hoping that the new manager can do something to save us from languishing at the bottom of the Scottish Second Division.

Phuture - We Are Phuture

Money

There have been many versions of Barrett Strong's non hit, not least by the fab four, which I must grudgingly admit that I quite like but then with material this good it is quite difficult to make a pig's ear of it but I bet One Direction could. My favourite version of the tune apart from the original must be the one by The  Flying Lizards but the Kingsmen version comes close.

The Kingsmen - Money

Outta Tune

Here is a track from the quite brilliant Killer Rhythms & Red Hot Beats compilation.

Four guys. one mike, one take magic!

The Big Four - Outta Tune 

You Can't Take It Away

I can find very little information about Azie Mortimer  apart from she released fifteen singles and one album on a variety of labels from 1963 until 1969. I think that I have posted Haunted before, a couple of years ago on Halloween. Today's single was her penultimate one from 1969 and on the Okeh label.

Azie Mortimer - You Can't Take It Away

Lest We Forget

For

Cpl Andrew Wingate

Pvt James Little

Martin Simpson - Jackie & Murphy

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Not had any time to think of today's post. I think myself lucky to be alive today after the worst flight and no exaggeration,  I have ever had back from Belfast last night, it was easily the scariest twenty five minutes of my life. When the plane thumped down on the runway there was a huge collective sigh of relief from most of the passengers and the guy next to me exclaimed "thank god , I thought we were goners". I am not a religious man but I did find myself praying to the big man at the time, hypocrite I know.

So due to that and also the fact that Max has now found Fatboy Slim here is a rather stripped down remix of Praise You.

Have a good weekend people. I will mostly be relaxing and contemplating the pros and cons of air travel.

Fatboy Slim - Praise You (Riva Starr mix)

Come On In, Wipe Your Feet On My Dreams

Why was this not an A-side? People talk about the quality of The Smiths b-sides but I think that this is as good a song as anything Pulp ever put out as a single. I like A Little Soul but I think that Like A Friend is the one.

The picture has nothing to do with the song just a still from a film I came across and quite liked.

Pulp - Like A Friend

Tired Of Doing Day Jobs With No Thanks For What I Do

I've always loved this song. I think that the Rods had listened to Born To Run more than once, not a bad thing in my book, it has that same sort of feel about it.

Eddie & The Hot Rods - Do Anything You Wanna Do

Mary Microgram

How about a bit of classic and much sought after on 7" girl group garage rock.

Denise Kaufman, is the Denise in the group name. She recorded this brilliant track in 1965 about  her ex-boyfriend Jann Wenner who would go on to be the co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine.

Kaufman had quite a bit of a time of it in the 60s, after recording this single she went on to join the Frantics who would evolve into Moby Grape. She then went on to form Ace of Cups with four other females with the same outlook as herself. At this time she also had an alternative exisitence as Mary Microgram, one of Ken Kasey's  Merry Pranksters  with whom she would tour the US staging Acid Tests.

Denise and Company - Boy What'll You Do Then.

My Turn Now

Today's slice of soul comes from the Bay Area circa 1968. Gail Anderson fair belts this out.

Gail Anderson - My Turn Now

Mellow Sunday

Just one of my favourite songs ever, not quite in the top twenty one but not far away.

Back To Form

A few weeks ago on a Sunday night I went to see the Airborne Toxic Event. Expectations were not high as the last time they had played Glasgow they were very disappointing, the acoustics were crap (the Arches) and the band sort of went through the motions and didn't even complete their set. Another reason for my lack of enthusiasm was the recently released album Such Hot Blood which to me was a rather tepid affair containing sub standard versions of tracks from the first two albums just given new lyrics, there were one or two good songs but nothing brilliant.

Anyway off to the Garage we went after hitting the Brew Dog pub for a drink and bite to eat, L was with me or it would just have been straight to the gig. The Garage is a great wee venue in Glasgow, have seen a few bands in there before most notably the Wedding Present a couple of years back.

From the off ATE were up for it what a change from my previous encounter and were back with the enthusiasm which first drew me to them when they were supporting Frightened Rabbit in King Tuts five years ago. But it was striking as the gig progressed that the set was all stuff from the first two albums in fact it wasn't until eleven songs in that the band actually played a track from their third lp and by the end of the night I counted only four of the new tracks in the set list.

I am not complaining as the gig was excellent, the band back on top form and my faith in them fully restored. I have subsequently listened to the new album a few times and it's alright,  nothing more.

Here is the first and title track from the second album which I really like but who does it remind you of?

Airborne Toxic Event - All At Once

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

On this day sixteen years ago 27 close friends and family and one random paratrooper witnessed L and I vowing to stick together in good times and shitty times, there have been lots of the former and a few of the later in the intervening years.

After that we went down the valley to the Popinjay Hotel and had one of the best parties I've ever been to soundtracked by some of the naffest music ie typical wedding fodder and the odd Highland Scittoosh (not sure of the spelling) all expertly played by One Foot In The Grave, thee Wedding Band at that time in Lanarkshire.

L never really got into dance music but before we started going out she came up to me in the pub and asked if I had the Sunscreem single Love U More and would I tape it for her. So the next weekend in the pub I presented her with a tape containing all nine of the mixes. It wasn't until years later that she confessed that it was only the single version she wanted and not all those dancey mixes. It was an early lesson for L that with me you don't always get exactly what you asked for.

Have a good weekend

Here is one of those dancey mixes.

Sunscreem - Love U More (Slam)

Happy Birthday

It is the boy's birthday today. He is ten going on seventeen. Unfortunately this is his favourite song at the moment.

Sex Pistols - Something Else

Happy birthday Max.

And something for Halloween

Shane MacGowan & The Popes - Haunted

She Got Me Spinning From The Beginning

Last Friday Stiff and I attended another near perfect performance from the Wedding Present. With the exception of 2009 I have seen the band every year since 2006 and they have never disappointed. You get 90 minutes of full on guitar thrashing, bitter sweet love songs a bit of banter and you go home happy in the knowledge that you have seen a band who have enjoyed themselves as much as you and have given their all. I also love the fact that you don't get a greatest hits type gig either. I heard a couple of people moaning at the end that they didn't get "all the best ones" not sure how many WP gigs they have attended before as this

I have one small niggle and that is that I am getting tired of the playing an album in its entirety from start to finish. I quite like not knowing what is coming next. Last week's performance didn't feel so much like that as it was the Hit Parade album, which wasn't originally an album in any case but twelve singles, one released each month in 1992, but on hearing the first chords of Blue Eyes you know exactly the order of the next eleven tracks to be played.

Gedge put out a question on Twitter to find out which was the favourite of the twelve singles released in 1992 and I wasn't surprised when he informed us that it was July's offering Flying Saucer. Posted is the Peel Session of the track.

If you like the music of the Wedding Present but have never had the good fortune to experience them live, check out Scopitones and buy tickets when they are next touring near you. I guarantee you will not be disappointed

The Wedding Present - Flying Saucer

Thirteen

There have been many covers of the classic Big Star song. Only Kathryn Williams version, in my opinion comes close to the beauty of the original but even hers pales in comparison to the original. It is a song that I wish I had known of when I was fifteen/sixteen as I would have included it on every compilation tape I ever made in order to woo potential girlfriends and I think that at least one may have been susceptible to the charms of this most wistful of tracks.

Big Star - Thirteen

I Can't Deny This Feeling Inside

Here is a belter of an early Sister Sledge side from 1974. You can hear the disco influence here but I would say that this is more of a soul track than disco. No matter what it is I love it.

Sister Sledge - Love Don't You Go Through No Changes On Me

Lou Reed 1942 - 2013

Sad, sad news.

To contemplate rock music without Lou Reed's influence is way too scary to think about!

Go easy Lou

The Velvet Underground -  Rock & Roll (Live 1969)

Get A Grip

I see that the good folk of the South East are getting all worked up about a little bit of wind, if it were happening further north it wouldn't even make the news. For fuck's sake get a grip people.

The Fall - A Lot of Wind

Mellow Sunday

Vangelis - Memories of Green

It's Friday . . .Let's Keep It Peel.

Why should we continue to celebrate John Peel, some may ask?

In my experience this kind of person tends to be someone who uses music as background noise or listens to what they hear on Radio 1 or the many commercial stations where you hear more ads than songs. The kind of person who music just isn't that important to.

I'm not pouring scorn on such people, it's just they have different priorities to me.  If I wasn't ever so slightly obsessed with music I would probably be a lot better off, so who is the mug?

For me the reason to celebrate the life of John Peel is to say thanks for introducing me to some of the most glorious music I have ever heard as well as subjecting my ears to some of the worst pish it has been my misfortune to hear but so much more of the former. He is also partly responsible for me being skint about two weeks into each month as I buy records that I suppose I could live without but which make life that little bit better when put on the turntable as if it wasn't for him I would probably not keep seeking out new music.

It is said that it has taken a whole station to take the place of Peel which is partly true, however I think that 6Music isn't as diverse as it likes to think it is and I believe that I heard more varied music on his shows during the week than I do listening to three or four times the amount of time on 6Music.

Here is a session from one of the later genre's of music that Peel championed which probably alienated a lot of indie kids as punk and reggae had earlier listeners. Plastikman is the alter ego of Canadian Ritchie Hawtin who has produced some of the most minimalistic yet exciting techno since the early 90s. He performed three live DJ sets for Peel at the beginning of the noughties and recorded one session on the 14/7/94 which was aired on 16/09/94.

Have a good weekend people. Fittingly I'm off to see the "boy Gedge" tonight.

Plastikman - PP001
Plastikman - Dubfunk
Plastikman - Helikopter
Plastikman - Minak

Mid-Term

Right we are away up to Lochearnhead for a few nights in a log cabin, a huntin', a fishin' and a shootin'. it is half term after all. Hopefully I will be able to get a few books read, I've got Bob Stanley's massive Yeah, Yeah, Yeah and a couple of Brookmyre's amongst the "to read pile". Unfortunately, or fortunately I couldn't be arsed doing any posts in advance, so nothing to see here until Friday night, if we are back in time or more likely Saturday.

I will leave you with this absolute belter of a remix from SCB one of favourite producers/remixers of the past few years, from 2011.

Emptyset feat. Cornelius Harris - Altogether Lost (SCB edit)

People Believe Me, That Man Is Mine

On Saturday I went to the Barras for the first time in ages. I have to admit that it didn't have the buzz or the number of people milling about that I remember, Not sure if it was a quiet Saturday or if the place just isn't as buy as it used to be.

I was there to attend the first Scottish Independent Label Market which was rather good. There were about two dozen stalls representing the great and the good of the Scottish indie record labels and some from south of the border. I picked up a few interesting things from the Optimo label and a rather lovely piece of vinyl from the Vinyl Factory. I also had a conversation with William Collins at the AED stall on the new Roddy Frame album which I was informed was coming together nicely and all the while during the conversation and my time at the event Will's father, up on the balcony spun some excellent northern soul tunes with the odd Velvet Underground  and other hip 45s thrown into the mix for good measure. On my way out I chatted to Mathew, always a pleasant experience at the Song By Toad stall then got back on the scooter and rode home.

On the way back I began to reminisce about my visits ti the Barras when I was younger. We used to go in on the scooters about once a month if not more when we were younger, some just to pose with the scooter and have a drink in that most unhygienic of Cafes,  the One Up,  other to see what bargains there were to be found. Me, I always headed to the dodgy Revolver Records stall to see if there were any new bootlegs worth buying and then a trawl through the other second hand record stalls. There was one stall in one particular shed that had more soul 45s than the rest, ranging in quality from almost mint to totally fucked.

On one particular occasion I remember asking the stall owner if he had It Should Have Been Me by Yvonne Fair to which his retort was "Why do you want that, your bird dumped you?" Needless to say he didn't have it.

For ages I thought that the Yvonne Fair version was the original version, possibly the only one as I had never heard any other. However a few years back I learned that Gladys Knight and The Pips had recorded the song some eight years prior to Fair's top 5 hit in the UK and then not so long ago I found out,  that Kim Weston had originally recorded and released the song back in 1963. I am not as fond of her version as I am of the other two but ask me which of the two I prefer I don't think I could choose, I love both of them. I have posted the Gladys Knight version as this is probably the lesser known of the two.

Gladys Knight and The Pips - It Should Have Been Me

Mellow Sunday part 2

Fucking wonderful!

Mellow Sunday

Wendy Rene - After Laughter Comes The Tears (Nicolas Jaar edit)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Some proper Techno from Detroit this Friday.  Possibly from Mad Mike, Mike Banks, co-founder of the Underground Resistance label with Jeff Mills but the identity of the Martian has never been 100% certain. What we do know is that the Martian releases on the Red Planet label are very similar to those of Underground Resistance at the time.

Ghost Dancer was the 6th release on the Red Planet label and was only one track of seven on the double 12". It is probably the least abrasive and warmest of the tracks, if the Martian's music can ever be described as warm.

Have a good weekend people.

The Martian - Ghostdancer

Nitcomb

On Sunday 6Music in the UK had a pretty special edition of Cerys' show which was made up with interviews with the three surviving members of the Clash and their first tour manager Johnny Green, interspersed with music by the band, originals of songs that they had covered and the sounds that influenced them. This was radio at it's best. You will find it here if you missed it.

One of the tracks played was from the first Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros album, Rock Art And The X-Ray Style which to my shame I had totally forgotten about. Not sure why because at the time I think that I included it on every compilation tape I made for about 6 months. I think that what really appealed to me was the world weary feel of the track. Since Sunday I must have played it about a dozen times and it really fit my mood yesterday when sitting at the side of the M61 waiting for the AA to come and tell me that my car was fucked and would not be getting me back home to Lanark!

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Nitcomb

A Box Set Too Far

Yesterday I found out that The Jesus and Mary Chain were to release a vinyl box set of all their studio albums (here), BBC sessions, a live album and another filled with b-sides and rarities. I have too admit that this had me salivating more than a little as I am a sucker for this kind of thing,  until I saw the price.

So I began to have the debate with myself.

Will there be anything you don't have?

well no, apart from the live album which is of them once they were passed their best before date granted but it's still the Mary Chain live on heavyweight vinyl actually it will all be on remastered shiny new vinyl

you have most of it on vinyl and the remastering of Psychocandy wasn't that good

true, but it's a boxset, with a 32 page book!

you don't have a spare £130 quid.

End of debate.

Here's something that will be on the BBC sessions vinyl.

The Jesus and Mary Chain - In The Rain (Peel Session)

A Fortunate Mistake

See me, I fucking love serendipity so's I do.

A few months ago I heard this song with the refrain la la la la la, pretty basic lyrics you'll agree but the song stopped me in my tracks it was the kind of tune that would have been big with the three button suit and feather cut brigade. I managed to find out it was by a group called the Blendelles and left it at that. But as the weeks progressed I could not get this song out of my head and so I decided to pay MusicStack a visit and see if there was a reasonably priced copy of the single available in the UK as it wasn't good enough to warrant the exorbitant prices of postage from the USA these days.  I was in luck there was a Ex copy of the record in the price bracket that I could afford and so the disc was duly ordered.

About the middle of the following week the record arrived and I carefully put it on the turntable. As it started I thought to myself that's not how I remember this started and after about thirty seconds I realised that this wasn't the tune I had heard, it was totally different and on first listen a whole lot groovier.

I was still rather confused as I had the name of the band right, The Blendelles, surely they couldn't have written two songs with La, La in the title? So I was Google bound to solve the mystery.

Of course there were The Blendells and The Blendelles, how stupid of me! One sang a song titled La La La La La and the other a ditty called La, La The Magic Song, the one I now possessed.

So now I had a new,  very good upbeat soul single for my collection but I still had the other tune in my head so it was back to the internet to procure a copy of the original earworm, which arrived earlier this week. In the meantime I have taken the other track to my heart, it's pure optimistic message has gotten the better of me.

See, ain't serendipity magic?

The Blendelles - La, La The Magic Song

Mellow Sunday

Here is the final track from the absolutely wonderful forth album from Jon Hopkins, Immunity. The album is supposedly structured to be like a night out full of highs and lows the music moving from the ambient preamble to the joys of the club with Collider, one of the best techno tracks I've heard this year and then to the comedown in the form of this, final beautiful title track.

I'm off to see Airborne Toxic Event tonight, with very low expectations as the last time I saw them they were lacklustre at best and the new album is a bit "meh" as Colin would say.

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

I'm going to stay with Lord Sabre this week but. I know that probably everything that he has had his mits near or smoked a cigar over will have popped up either here, Swiss Adam's, Ctel's or the gone but not forgotten blogs of Moggie Boy and Stx.

Today's remix comes from around the time that Weatherall's name became synonymous with excellent remixes. It would be a slight understatement to say that 1990 was a pretty good year for remixes from the man from the likes of St Etienne, My Bloody Valentine and James to name but three absolute belters.

I know absolutely nothing about Sly and Love Child, don't even know what the original of this track sounds like, there is another mix on the other side but frankly in the twenty three years I have owned this record I don't think that I have ever been curious enough to flip it over and play it. If I have it could not have been very memorable. The Weatherall mix on the other hand is magic, a moody builder of a track, more vocals than usual. Just right for a Friday afternoon or evening or any other time for that matter.

It's Weatherall, it's from 1990, what else do you really need to know?

Have a good weekend people.

Sly & Lovechild - The World According To Sly & Lovechild (Soul Of Europe mix)

Rejoice! New Fall Release Imminent

We haven't had anything from The Fall for ages and more disconcerting for me is the fact that I haven't listened to anything by them for some time. Have I fallen out of love with the gruppe, no but the last album didn't really grab me and recently there have been some very good releases vying for my attention. However, I have high hopes for the 6 track 10" released next week and it looks like a new album early in 2014. My self imposed ban on seeing them live is still in force.

Here is a track from the last album which I truly loved, the 2005 released Fall Heads Roll.

The Fall - What About Us

Autumn Leaves

The weather up here has turned very autumnal all of a sudden. There has been a significant drop in temperature and the wind has gotten up. I was out on the scooter on Monday and notice that thee were more than a few leaves on the road.

A bit obvious but that does not detract from the sheer brilliance of the mix.

Coldcut - Autumn Leaves (Irresistible Force Full Chill Mix)

New Blog On The Block

Long time commenter and series suggester George has decided to throw his stookie into the ring while incapacitated and have a go at the blogging business.

Check it out here http://gaforsyth.wordpress.com/

Heaven Knows

I have been trying to sort out the singles boxes over the long weekend. I can only get away with so many flight cases cluttering up L's dining room before she cracks up. So it has been an exercise in trying to keep the singles that I will more than likely want to listen to and banish to the cupboard those which are less likely to take up space on the turntable where they will languish with all the others that I can't quite bring myself to part with.

This has been quite an eye opener as there are quite a few 7" that I had forgotten that I owned and some others that I am less than likely to admit to owning having either being bought on a whim or when in an altered state of consciousness.

Today's track was one that wasn't that much of a surprise as I can remember buying it but I am not sure why I haven't played it more as it's a brilliant track.

Heaven Knows is credited to "Donna Summer with Brooklyn Dreams"  as the second vocal by Joe "Bean" Esposito of the band and the backing vocals are the other members of the band. It is a great song and probably my second favourite Donna Summer track after On The Radio. The single was released in 1978 when Summer was at the top of her game and reached number 4 in the US but a very disappointing 34 in the UK.

Donna Summer - Heaven Knows