Mellow Sunday

The baton for the Commonwealth Games passes by our front door this morning. I shall watch it with a cup of tea in hand feeling a bit guilty (for a few minutes anyway) for being such an unfit,  lazy bastard then I will get back to the papers and possibly go out on the scooter later on.

The Velvet Underground - I Found A Reason

New Music Saturday

There were quite a few things that dropped into my inbox this week, however none of them came close to being as well written, produced or performed as this 50 year old record.

Co-written and co produced by Gerry Goffin and arranged by Carol King, it is astonishing that this record was never a hit and is not better know.

Enjoy!

The Cookies - I Never Dreamed

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

I am not a big fan of the football song most of them are just shit, there have been some exceptions such as World In Motion which is head and shoulders above everything else and The Scotland 1982 squad with John Gordon Sinclair's We Have A Dream  but mostly they are just dire. So for someone to produce two very good football songs is an amazing feat but that is exactly what J Saul Kane did  during the 1990s under his Depth Charge moniker. Firstly in 1990 with "Goal" and then ahead of the 1998 finals with "Romario".

Romario is a tribute to the diminutive Brazilian striker Romario de Souza Faria one of the best footballers ever, winner of the Golden Ball as the best player in the 1994 World Cup finals and who is now a politician who has been very vocal about the corruption within FIFA. A player that all Scots feared in the run up to the opening match of the 1998 finals when Scotland would play Brazil in the opening match, the last time Scotland qualified for the finals of a major tournament.  We all breathed a sigh of relief when Romario was left out of the squad through injury which probably put the kibosh on sales of this single. Scotland lost the match 2-1 by way of a Tom Boyd own goal and we failed to progress through the group stages as normal after an ignominious three nil gubbing by Morocco.

Have a good weekend people.

Depth Charge - Romario

Gerry Goffin RIP

Responsible with his then wife Carole King for some of the most heart achingly beautiful records in mine and millions of others record collections.

I Can't Make It On My Own was originally on Dusty's Memphis album. Here is Maria McKee's take on the song.

Rest easy Gerry

Maria McKee - I Can't Make It On My Own

Makin' Up Time

It has been sunny and warm up here for the past three days. It's amazing the transformation people are even smiling, even the Duke has dressed accordingly (picture was actually taken in Feb but have been waiting for the right moment). If only everybody was as modest!

This is a jaunty little piece of instrumental soul courtesy of the Holidays to brighten up your day.

The Holidays - Makin' Up Time

Honey Child

I know absolutely nothing about this record apart from it's really, really good, it was released in 1965 and Johnny Williams is from Texas. Not sure how much more I need to know really. Oh,  and Bobby Bland recorded the song first a year earlier.

Johnny Williams - Honey Child

See You There

Here is a rather uplifting piece of retro soul from a DJ and producer  who is well versed in the sounds of 60s soul , as the DJ at Blowout and was also the bass player in Spearmint who have featured here a couple of times.

See You There was released as a sampler 7" from Lewis' 2005 released first album "Billion Pound Project and features the vocal talents of Philly soul singer Lynda Laurence. The song was co-written by northern soul dj and producer Ian Levine.

Andy Lewis - See You There 

Why Can't We Get Together

How about a sassy piece of mid 60s New York soul arranged, conducted and produced Bert  de Coteaux. Gloria Parker only released three singles all of which are very very good but for me this is the best. The lyrics may not be the most sophisticated in the world but what a voice! I'm In Your Corner is the a-side and is more of a ballad and very good but it's the flip once again that get's the most time on the turntable here, well I suppose both sides get equal time on the turntable but you know what I mean.

Gloria Parker - Why Can't We Get Together.

Mellow Sunday

This has been posted before but for those who missed it or just want to hear it again, here you go.

A nice relaxing Sunday would be nice after all the festivities that have taken place since Thursday but alas the flags need to come down and the shopping done and . .  . and. .  . and.

King Creosote - And The Racket They Made

New Music Saturday

Every so often something comes into my inbox which catches my full attention when I click play. This album by Beverly did that. A sound made for those hazy days of summer which hopefully we will get a few more of.

Here's the PR :-

Beverly is a recording project between Drew Clinton and Frankie Rose. Conceived on the road, the songwriting and production reflects both Citron's pop insights and Rose's sharp ear for arrangement. 'Careers' (out the 1/7 on Kanine records) combines raw pop, post punk and dreamy melodies, drawing inspiration from The Amps and The Clean.

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the start of another Coupe du Monde for which my country failed to qualify for yet again. Maybe next time but I will not hold my breath. I don't really have that much Brazilian dance music so I have opted for a tune the cover of which features a photograph of the statue of Christ The Redeemer over looking Rio and which has a samba sample courtesy of Celebration Suite written and recorded by the Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira.

Belo Horizonti was first released in 1997 was the work of  the Italian duo Claudio Coccoluto & Savino Martinez.

Have a good weekend people no matter who your supporting I have yet to decide where my allegencies will fall between The Netherlands or Argentina.

The Heartists - Belo Horizonti

Happy Lanimers!!

Today is our town's annual festival to perpetuate feudalism and the rule of the nobility over us peasants! In other places in Scotland you have Gala Days but here it is way much more important than that, don't you know. There will be a procession, crowning of the Queen etc, much merriment, under age drinking and tonight drunken violence, the pubs have been open from six am and people are allowed to drink their carry-oots in the street.

Both boys are in a float or tableaux as it's called, I wonder if you can guess what the theme is?

John Martyn - Over The Rainbow

The Ohio Players - Over The Rainbow

Give It Time

I have said it before and will probably say it again but I think that The Woodentops are a seriously underrated band. You don't see them being heralded as pioneers of the indie dance scene but long before Bobby G realised his love of the dancefloor Rolo McGinty and the rest of the band were recording tunes that were firmly focused at the feet and like New Order before them they enlisted the production skills of top dance music producer and remixer Arthur Baker. Give It Up was given the Baker treatment in the mid eighties and is available on the brilliant 3 cd retrospective set "Before, During and After" which if you don't own anything by the band is a bargain at £10.60 asking price from one retailer on Amazon Market Place and if you like what you hear you could buy the latest album Granular Tales which some of us have been on the look out for the last twenty five years.

The Woodentops - Give It Time (Arthur Baker dub)

Jackie Collins Existential Question Time.

A few years ago The Manic Street Preachers commissioned other artists and producers to remix tracks from there then current album Journal For Plague Lovers, resulting in an album entitled Cooking -  Cleaning - Flower Arranging. I bought the album for the Weatherall and Optimo mixes as you do. By this time I had pretty much lost interest in the Manics. The album as a whole is quite patchy but I couldn't tell you how much the remixes differ from the Manics versions as I have never heard the originals. I suspect, however that the St Etienne interpretation of Jackie Collins Existential Question Time if quite similar to that on Plague Lovers as my guess it is more of a cover version than a remix as it contains Sarah Cracknell's dulcet tones.

Manic Street Preachers/Saint Etienne - Jackie Collins Existential Question Time

Here Am I

Today's slab of prime soul is another one where the flip side is the song for me that's not to say that the a-side, Dear John isn't a very good song it's just Here Am I is even better. This was Jackie Moore's first single and a finer piece of Jacksonville by way of NYC soul you will be hard pressed to find it was first released on the Bang Records subsidiary Shout in 1968 and was given a release this side off the pond three years later.

Jackie Moore - Here Am I

Mellow Sunday

I will be honest with you, until a few years ago I never even knew this song existed, it is criminal but there you go  and I'm not sure where it was that I first heard it but I will be for ever grateful to wherever it was because I just love this song.

The Motels - Total Control

New Music Saturday

Not sure if I have created a rod for my own back with this series but I have had loads of things in my inbox over the last few weeks, I think that it is just coincidence that instead of the usual spam for penis enhancement pills and free porn mines all seem to be from new bands or artists who the PR tell me are the next big thing, I think I would be happier with the normal spam as I would just delete it and not feel the need to listen. Let's face it I am no taste maker and this blog isn't here to break new bands, the prime reason for it's existence is to play some tunes I like, spout pish and have the occasional cathartic rant, it's a lot cheaper than "going to see someone" which me being a man from west central Scotland wouldn't be happening anyway.

This came into my inbox during the week and I have no idea if  this duo are well known or not, I suspect that they have had some hype as it looks as though this release has been sponsored by a well known gantin energy drink, anyway I liked the track and thought it worthy of posting.

Enjoy.

There may be more next week, you never know.

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance To A Reposting

Sorry about this but here is another re-post, far too much shit going on at work to think about this. Hopefully normal service will resume at the weekend.

Have a good weekend people

Here we have a very fresh slab of minimal tech house from Redshape on the Delsin label.  Future Shock is the title track from this 3 tune ep which comes on rather lovely marbled transparent blue vinyl. This is a belter of a track which reminds me of Late Night Jam by Levon Vincent, featured in this very spot some time ago.

Redshape is the alias of Sebastian Kramer another producer working out of Berlin.  What is it about that city that produces so many consistently good purveyors of Detroit influenced Techno? He has been responsible for numerous great pieces of tecno on the Delsin and Present labels and this year also did an absolutely brilliant remix of CCTV by The Black Dog. 

Redshape - Future Shock

A Fall Repost

Mad busy at the moment so here is a re-posting of one of the episodes of the Fall covers series  "If You're Gonna Play It Out Of Tune, Play It Out Of Tune Properly" from March 2011.  The series sort of fell by the wayside, not sure why as there were loads of other songs that the gruppe have covered in their own unique style. I may have to revive this.

Today's track the Fall covered takes us back to 1958. Rollin' Danny was originally recorded by one Vincent Eugene Craddock, Gene Vincent to you and me. One of the pioneers of rockabilly and probably best known for Be-Bop-A- Lula and Lotta Lovin'.

In 1960 while on tour in the UK Vincent had a near fatal car crash in which Eddie Cochran, who was also in the taxi died. Vincent's career never really reached the heights again that he had reached in the late 50s and he died in 1971 from a ruptured stomach ulcer aged thirty six.

Another tenuous link with the Fall is that Vincent released an album,  I'm Back And I'm Proud on John Peel's Dandelion label in 1969.

Gene Vincent - Rollin' Danny

The Mancabilly version was released as a double AA side single with Couldn't Get Ahead on Beggars Banquet in 1985

The Fall - Rollin' Dany

Lizzo

I featured a Youtube video of Batches and Cookies by Lizzo late last year shortly after whch I bought her debut album. Not sure if Lizzobangers is available in the UK yet but I did read somewhere that she has now signed to Virgin so maybe the album will be getting a full release here in the near future. You can get it through Totally Gross National Product or from Amazon.

Lizzo's  sound is very old school style hip-hop invoking memories of Sweet Tee and Quen Latifah. Originally from Houston Lizzo now resides in Minneapolis and started out in a female R&B band Chalice who released an album locally before going solo and releasing Lizzobangers at the end of last year, Faded is one of the many highlights therein.

Link removed due to DMCA copyright infringement

The Good Old Days

I don't listen to the Libertines that much these days but when I do I am always kind of blown away by how good they actually were. It is quite sad that the music is somewhat overshadowed with the soap opera around the band and the shambles that is Pete Doherty  This is one of the many great tracks from the debut album "Up The Bracket"

The Libertines - The Good Old Days

Shoes

If there was ever a misnomer in music it must be the surname of the artist of today's single, as if there is one thing the Memphis singer who was christened Robert Calvin Brooks wasn't, was Bland. The name came from this step-father. He was known as Bobby "Blue" Bland, has been described as "the Sinatra of the Blues" and the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame described him as "second in stature only to BB King as a product of Memphis's Beale Street blues scene".  His career spanned from 1952 when he released his first single Crying All Night Long on the Chess label until shortly prior to his death aged 83 in 2013. Today's track was the flip of A Touch Of The Blues released in 1967. My copy is a rather brilliant four track ep released on Kent in 1985.

Bobby Bland - Shoes

Mellow Sunday

I could have picked any of the six tracks from Now Here's My Plan where Bonnie "Prince" Billy reinterprets songs from his back catalogue, however when Angel Olsen's voice comes in on the second verse of Three Questions it is quite breathtaking and always sends shivers up and down my spine which just gives it the edge over the others but you really should check them out as they are just about as good as this one.

Enjoy

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Three Questions

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

After SA's post on N Trance last week. I have been listening to my very limited collection of Piano House and Happy Hardcore. I'm not sure that listening to this music made me smile as much back in the day as it has over the past week but I have enjoyed listening to the likes of Acen, Skin Up and some of the early XL records. The young guy Simon who lived across the street from me back then kept bringing over tunes to let me hear and one of the few that I liked enough to buy had disco and Woodstock samples and was the work of Danny Breaks.

Far Out sounds a little dated these days but it did make me smile .

Have a good weekend people.

Son'z Of Loop Da Loop Era - Far Out

The Man's Machine

I was listening to Giles Peterson while preparing the food on Saturday and heard Kate Tempest for the first time, she was in session and I have to admit I was well impressed enough to head over to the Ninja Tunes website and order the album. You really should check her out and if your in the UK check out the session with Giles on the 6 Music site.

Listening to her got me thinking of Jamie T and the fact that he hasn't released anything for a long time, nothing since the second album in 2009.  Here is one of the highlights of that album Kings and Queens which was also released as a 12" single. The track threw me the first time I heard it,  as not many people have sampled Mensi from the Angelic Upstarts but The Man Machine samples the introduction to a couple of songs from their live album the second of which has Mensi paraphrasing the late great Alex Harvey.

Jamie T - The Man's Machine

Jack 23

I'm off to Belfast for a couple of days. So here is a rather upbeat piece of surf rock recorded back in 1964 and released on Cleopatra records and that is all I know about it.

The Centuries - Jack 23

Little Things Mean A Lot

Some days all you need is a bit of Bettye Swan. This comes from the Honest Jons compilation from a few years ago which should be an essential cd in everyone's collection.

Bettye Swan - Little Things Mean A Lot

Get It From The Bottom

Another excellent track from the Date label. I don't know that much about the Steelers apart from the fact that the vocal group consisted of the three Wells brothers, Wez, Alonzo and George along with Leonard Truss and F. Allen and hailed from Chicago. They had released singles on a couple of labels prior to the release of Get It From The Bottom which became a minor hit nationwide in the US and from there they went on to release a further couple of singles on Epic which bombed and as far as I know that was that. I really like this upbeat  tune.

Apologies for the crackles, I really should replace my copy of this.

A bit of politics

I wasn't going to mention this but fuck it.   All you Londoners who are feeling smug and superior about not voting for Farage's fascists in the local elections just remember you voted for that "nasty piece of work" and clown Johnson. At the time of typing the European election results have not been declared, however I am sure that Ukip will do absolutely nothing is Scotland but I don't feel in the least superior,  I do feel quite troubled that all over Europe various unsavoury parties are gaining seats. My main worry now is vote no in the Scottish referendum and by default end up out of Europe in 2017 if these election results are anything to go by or vote yes for an independent nation and hope that we will be welcomed into the EU.


The Steelers - Get It From The Bottom

New Music Saturday

You will be surprised to read that for the second week in a row there is some! But I will have to be brief. Got friends coming for dinner it is now past midday, still haven't worked out what to cook and the house is a tip!

Here's the  PR

Young Braves return with their second single “Black Country”. As with their previous single “Youth”,
“Black Country” showcases the maturity and talent that is beyond the years of these teenagers.

In between studying for their “A” Levels, the band opened the OMG! Festival at the O2 arena in
Birmingham, to an audience of 10,000 teenagers. The band will be playing local gig dates across the
summer.

Young Braves are formidable and determined. Formed in the summer of 2013 in Shropshire, this Indie
band (previously Arcade Parade), consists of Ollie Scott (lead vocals/guitar), Jakob Ferguson (lead
guitar/synth), Elliot Scott (bass guitar/backing vocals) and Dan Byrne (drums/backing vocals).

The band are building a sterling CV with plays on “BBC Introducing” and local BBC Radio, winning
“Shropshires Next Big Thing” in 2012 (as previous incarnation Arcade Parade) as well as a plethora of
local gigs and shows. An EP is due to be released in June/July 2014.

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Bruno Sanchioni and Guiseppe Chierchia are responsible, indirectly maybe, but responsible none the less for a lot of crimes against music; as if it hadn't been for them then that heinous form of music known as trance would not exist, well it probably would still have evolved to become the monster it did but these two helped no end when they recorded and released Age Of Love in 1990. Don't get me wrong I love this track  and it doesn't seem to have dated as badly as much of the dross that came out later which was tagged as trance. It was originally released in Belgium , France and Germany and available in the UK on import. It would be a further two years before it would get a proper full UK release on REACT complete with Jam and Spoon remixes. The version posted is the Boeing mix from the original release.

Here's an interesting fact, or maybe not, the female spoken vocal element comes courtesy of former Dutch supermodel Karen Mulder.

Have a good weekend people.

Age of Love - Age of Love

Not Another Re-edit, You Say

I am a bit of a sucker for a good re-edit and they don't come much better than those produced by the Antipodean DJ,  Late Night Tough Guy. Today's track comes from his RSD 2014 three track ep where he reconstructs the sounds of Sylvester, Donna Summer and Brandi & Monica,  giving them a new lease of life for today's dancefloors.

I love the way he's slowed down Summer's huge 1975 hit  Love To Love you and turned it into a sleazy chugger of a track,  great stuff. The Brandi and Monica track has been given an acid line and a similar tempo. However, if I had to pick a standout track it would be Make Me Feel, where he does the impossible and makes Sylvester' You Make Me Feel even more dance floor friendly than it was originally by looping and extending the track to epic proportions.

LNTG - Make Me Feel

Do We Still Call This Blue Eyed Soul?

Tara Priya is an artist I stumbled upon a while ago when I heard the track Rollin' somewhere. Next step was to the internet and try and source the song.  It turned out to be the lead track from the singer's eponymously titled second release, a six track ep of Motown inspired soul which was available on import as it was only available in the States. After further digging I found out that in 2010 she had released an album only available in Japan where she has subsequently become very popular. Earlier this year I got my hands on her latest release "Who You Do" on 7" another import this time from Germany and on the flip side is Rollin'. There have been the inevitable comparisons with Amy Winehouse and Duffy to me she is more akin to Jasmine Kara who has featured here before. Whoever she sounds like,  in my book there is more than enough room for somebody with a voice like hers singing songs like the two featured here. I am sure I read recently that she was releasing a new album although at the moment I cannot find the details anywhere.

Tara Priya - Rollin' 


And here is the video for the recent single.

Bloody Repeats!

I was listening to this track at the weekend and thought that I should post it and then I realised that I already had, nearly four years ago so I think that a further airing is justified.

Here's what I wrote back then

The only positive thing that I can find in the weekly air travel that I am currently doing is that I get to listen to lots of music. It gives me time to listen without interruption and fully to the latest releases that I've purchased or sometimes to just what is thrown up when the iPod is on shuffle.

This week the shuffle picked a song by Ike and Tina Turner that I don't think that I have ever heard before or if I have I never took much notice of it, although I must have had the track for at least ten years.

Tina Turner always conjures up negative connotations for me. When the name is mentioned I think of big hair, the terrible end to the Mad Max series of films but above all one side of the auld firm due to their appropriation of that terrible symbol of all that went wrong with soul music in the 80's, Simply The Best.

However, when you look back to the stuff that she produced in the 60s and 70's on the Sue label with her then husband and all round bad bastard Ike it is rather good soul music and she did have a great voice.

The track which came up on shuffle was one of the tracks that the Turners recorded during the sessions with Phil Spector which produced River Deep - Mountain High.

A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knockin' Everyday) was recorded in 1966 and was released on Phillies Records, the 135th release on the label. It is full of the bombast and wall of sound that you would expect from a Spector production. My copy is on the 4 cd boxset Back To Mono which is the definitive compilation of the convicted murder's work.

Ike and Tina Turner - A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knockin' Everyday)

I've Got What You Need

Today's tune is a scorcher of a funk record from the pen of Eddie Bo and Al Scramuzza and if I were to try to dance to this I think that I would do myself an injury.

Mary Jane Hooper hails from New Orleans and is best known for her collaborations with Eddie Bo starting around 1966 after her conversion from Gospel to the secular genre of R&B initially as a backing singer for Lee Dorsey.  I've Got What You Need was recorded in 1968 or 69 and released on Bo's Power label, my 45 is a boot from a couple of years ago. Hooper or Sena Fletcher as she's known to her family and friends bowed out of the music business in 1971. She did perform with a local band a few years later and sang on some material for Willie Tee which never saw the light of day. Amongst her other recordings is a very good version of That's How Strong Love Is which was also released on 7" . As far as I'm aware there is only one album called Psychedelphia which gathers together all of the singer's sessions for Bo which the going rate  for according to Amazon is one hundred and twenty four quid. I for one are not that curious as six of the twelve tracks are instrumentals!

Mary Jane Hooper - I've Got What You Need

Weekend Late Breakfast

Probably a bit late now but I have had another compilation posted on the excellent Cooking Up A Quiet Storm site here. It has a rather fine extended, extended version of To Ba A Lover on it.

Mellow Sunday

I played the album this comes from in it's entirety last night.  It is an album that I never seem to tire of, I love the moody downbeat almost forlorn nature of it.

I found Afterglow filed under A, as you would expect,  when I was looking for Classics by the Aphex Twin but it was strange as I was sure that it was in the 12"/album box, the one to grab in emergencies. So I checked out the box and lo and behold there is another copy in there. I must have bought a copy in a charity shop or online while drunk one night. This means that I now have four copies of the album, two on cd, one being the withdrawn one with the different artwork and running order and a further couple on vinyl.

I will admit that I had a bit of a thing for Dot Allison back then.

Dot Allison - Did I Imagine You.

New Music Saturday

You will be glad to read that we do actually have something to feature this Saturday and it is actually rather good.

Dragons by Violet Skies reminds me of the XX and London Grammar which is no bad thing. It isn't ground breaking but better than anything else that has popped into my inbox recently.

Here's the PR, don't let the mention of Sting put you off!

"'Dragons' is the hypnotic and captivating new track from singer-songwriter Violet Skies.

Taken from her upcoming debut ep 'Dragons' produced by Great Skies, is a captivating slice of two-step heaven, blending Violet's haunting vocals with minimal electronic beats and enchanting orchestral sounds. 'Dragons' serves as a follow-up to the incredible 'How The Mighty', which debuted last year and received airplay on BBC Radio 1's 'Introducing' series and was tipped by the likes of NME, The 405, Hilly Dilly and Earmilk.
Hailing from a small village in South Wales, Violet's sound draws on her love of a range of artists from those she grew up listening to such as Joni Mitchell, Sting and Paul Simon, to the unique soundscapes of Massive Attack and James Blake.
Violet's debut ep 'Dragons' is available for pre-order on iTunes and will be released on 22nd June, just days after she takes to the stage at this year's Camden Crawl (June 20th)."

You can pre-order the ep here

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Today's track comes from a couple of hedonists Dan and John Kahuna who were as responsible as the Chemical Brothers in creating the whole Big Beat scene with their Big Kahuna Burger nights in London during the early 90s. As was often the case within the dance scene of the early 90 the DJs tried their hands at making their own music to great success.

Bright Morning White was the duo's second release on their own label Kahuna Cuts. When I first heard the track, the string led spoken word intro hooked me in from the start, slowly building almost coming to a stop just about a minute in and then building again and again. Although not quite as frenetic as I seem to remember it being it is a track that sounded as good last night when I put it on the turntable as back in 1998.

Not got much on this weekend so I guess that I can't avoid building a new shed door and standard any longer!

Have a good weekend people.

F.C. Kahuna - Bright Morning White

Breathless

I took a punt on this the other week when I saw today's record for sale. I couldn't find it on Youtube so decided just to go for it figuring that if I didn't and later on found out it was a cracking version of a great song I would kick myself. So when I got it home there was a fair amount of trepidation as I put it on the turntable. But relief when I found that it wasn't a million miles away from the original, however there is a fair amount of surface noise but what else can you expect from a record dating back to 1958.

The record is a curious release Breathless is the b-side on the other is  a version of Who's Sorry Now by Margie Shaw, a hit for Connie Francis in the same year as this version was released. I can find out nothing about either Shaw or Gootch Jackson but to be honest I haven't tried that hard.

Gootch Jackson - Breathless

The Island Of If

Here is as good a bit of minimal techno as you will wind anywhere which was released on the German Cocoon label earlier this year. It came out in a limited run of 500 so I don't feel guilty about posting it and was to be the final release by the Swedish duo Minilogue. Both sides of this rather eye catching transparent brown 12" are lengthy meandering pieces of music, the kind of thing that you can get completely lost in and according to the label were recorded live but how you could tell is beyond me.

If you like what you hear and would like to investigate further, the first album Animals would be as good a record to start with as any.

Minilogue - The Island Of If (Live Jam Rostanga 2013)

Bloody Goths!

I've never been a huge fan of The Cure, it probably had as much to do with the fans maybe more than the actual band or the songs. Could never abide Goths, hated all that "woes me!" stuff, that fucking hunched walk, like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders and the sitting round the edge of the dancefloor in the union did my head in. It was the same with Morrissey fanboys back in the day clutching The Complete Works Of Oscar Wilde when they really should be reading Absolute Beginners, wearing fucking stretched washed out cardigans, they were teenagers for fuck's sake and all that "I'm really sensitive and would rather have a cup of tea with than sleep with you" shit.

But I had to admit, grudgingly that both the Cure and the Smiths produced some absolutely brilliant records. This single by Mr Smith and his unmerry band is one of my favourites.

I still believe that the hole in the ozone layer would not have happened if there hadn't been any Goths.

The Cure - a letter to elise (blue mix)

Southern Man

Here is an absolutely blistering re-edit of Merry Clayton's 1971 cover of Neil Young's Southern man by Wah Wah45 label boss, DJ, musician and producer Scrimshire.

Merry Clayton was originally one of the Rayettes, Ray Charles backing singers. She sang backing vocals on Gimme Shelter and Neil Young's Old Laughing Lady amongst others before embarking upon a solo career in 1970.  She also sang backing vocals on Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama a riposte by the band to Young's songs critical of the American South such as Southern Man.

Merry Clayton - Southern Man (Scrimshire edit)

Mellow Sunday

I was going to have a rant about  why would people waste over three hours of their lives watching and listening to pish music just to fill my Twitter timeline with "witty" comments with an underlying feeling of superiority but it's Sunday and I really can't be arsed putting in the effort. So here's something nice by The Arrogants instead.

The Arrogants - I Guess It's My Sweet Time

New Music Saturday

None again this week.

Instead here quite an old Little Richard number from the Okeh sessions and originally released in 1967.

Little Richard - Get Down With It

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

We conclude this short series on some of what in my opinion were some of the best releases from the Guerilla output of the early 90s with what for me is the label's head honcho, William Orbit's best single and utilises the vocal talents of Orbit collaborator Beth Orton. Water From A Vine Leaf came out in 1993  and the  twelve inch single included  three reconstructions of the original track from Strange Cargo 3. Two of the mixes are by Spooky both of which are quite trancey with a hint of squidgy acid thrown into the mix for good measure. The Xylem Flow mix is probably the best known as it was included in Sasha and Digweed's  Northern Exposure mix cd.

My favourite however, has to be Underworld's epic Underwater Mix Part One which is designed to do the business on the dancefloor.

Now that the football season is over, (Airdrie finished 6th in the league which is quite unbelievable) I fear that my weekends will comprise of more painting and other assorted DIY tasks that L no doubt already has planned for me. I would be lying through my back teeth if I said a was overjoyed at the prospect but it has to be done.

Have a good weekend people.

William Orbit - Water From A Vine Leaf (Underworld Underwater Mix Part1)

I've Got Levitation

A week or so ago SA over at the Bagging Area posted a rather splendid track by The Third Bardo which got me reminiscing over a tape that I got from a mate's older brother when I was in 5th year at school. It had the likes of  The Velvet Underground and Stooges amongst a load of other stuff that I had never heard of before things like H.P Lovecraft , the afore mentioned Third Bardo and other bands that I would later find on the Nuggetts series of albums. It also had a rather strange bit of dialogue from Nico lifted from a bootleg at the start of it. This tape opened up a whole new world of late 60s music to me.  The older hippy types I was friendly with had introduced me to Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Love and the like a couple of years earlier but this stuff just sounded even more "out there" and therefore much cooler. What gave this tape further kudos was that it was compiled by alternative face about town and genuine nice guy Willie McArdle who had played and recorded with the BMX Bandits. Cool or what?

At the moment I am trying,  with limited success to remember all of the tracks on the compilation for a playlist for the iPod. I may even try to make up a tape just for old time's sake. Anyway, this track from the 13th Floor Elevators was on the cassette. It was the band's third single released in 1967 a fact that I would not be aware of until much,  much later.

13th Floor Elevators - (I've Got) Levitation 

Filthy Funk

How about a bit of sleazy deep funk for a bank holiday?

Not only is Monica's deep funk single more than a little suggestive it is probably the rarest single in this genre if not popular music as a whole, there is only one known original copy of the single in existence,  one less than Frank Wilson's Do I Love You (Indeed I Do).

As for Monica herself, there is absolutely nothing known about her at all and it appears that this is the only single that she ever recorded but what a single as the flip has an extremely funky version of Hold On, I'm Comin'.  Whoever she is and and wherever she resides she should be happy that she recorded this sizzling single.

Monica - Chauffeur

Mellow Sunday

I'm not sure that their will be anything this mellow on the new Horrors album out tomorrow. However much of Faris Badwan's side project with Rachel Zeffira, Cat's Eyes is pretty mellow. A demo version of The Lull kicked off the whole project which Zaffira sent to Badwan the result of her becoming interested in the sounds of 60s Girls groups.

Cat's Eyes - The Lull 

New Music Saturday

There's none.

Told you it wouldn't last long.

Instead here is a track not from the Snakeheads brilliant debut album that is well worth buying but which was the b-side of their first single.

This track is most definitely NSFW, an abbreviation I only learned the meaning of yesterday. I think it is also safe to say that this is unlikely to get played on 6Music.

"Geordie tell them!"

The Amazing Snakeheads - The Truth Serum

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Today's dub house disco classic comes from the very proggy year of 1992. A year that a lot of us believed would usher in a new dawn with the end of Thatcherism after thirteen very cruel years.  At the time a lot of people were taking considerably more than their allotted amount of mind bending chemicals to be fair, (Neil Kinnock, Sheffield 1st of April 1992) so that misplaced optimism can be forgiven. What we ended up with was the very bland John Major and four years of nothing in particular, him being too preoccupied with secret trysts with Edwina Currie, boke!. But I digress.

I know nothing about S1000 and never felt the urge to find out anything about them as apart from the record posted today they only produced a further two singles which are okay but nothing to get overly excited about. I do love all 4 mixes of Flatliners but I think my favourite is stablemates D.O.P.'s mix. As the title suggests this track is a nod to the Keifer Sutherland and Julia Roberts film of the same name and contains vocal samples from it. The movie was released a couple of years prior to the record. Not a film I can comment on as I have never seen it.

This weekend heralds the last week of the Scottish Division One football season and I am hoping that Airdrie can end on a high with a home win against Arbroath extending the unbeaten run to sixteen games. What a difference six months and a determined manager makes.

Have a good weekend people.

S1000 - Flatliners (D.O.P. mix)

The Crown

I didn't buy much of Motown's output from the 80s, to be honest apart from today's track I don't think that I have anything else from this period still in my collection even if I did buy it.

I pulled The Crown from the cupboard where it was hiding last week, the first time it has had an airing in a few years I'm embarrassed to have to admit and after a good clean played it and can not fathom why I haven't played this in so long as it is so funky. I t had Max popping is head through the door and asking what it was.

Originally released in 1993 on Stevie Wonder's Wondirection in the States, fittingly as he wrote it played most of the instruments on it and also sang in it.  The US was not impressed and  the track was not a hit there unlike on  this side of the pond where it was released on Motown, and  reached number 6 in the charts. Clocking in at over ten minutes it was probably one of the longest hit singles if not the longest until the Blue Room by the Orb.

Gary Byrd and The G.B.  Experience - The Crown