It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

A bit later than usual and with a track that has been posted before, sorry. But in my defence it was nearly six years ago and it is a belter and worth another airing.

Greg Wilson is renowned for his edits and for me this along with his extended Voodoo Ray is his best. On this Wilson takes two already re-edited tracks, one a mash up of Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy and Amerie's 1Thing and the other a mash up of 1Thing and Sympathy For The Devil splices them together and creates a monster of a track which is virtually impossible not to dance to.

Last week's pitiful performance by Airdrie was enough but having to listen to JC relate how well Raith Rovers were to his mate Aldo over the phone as I was driving us all, including Walter back to Lanark was nearly too much. Let's hope that the Diamonds can do better tomorrow when they take on Dumbarton away, for the third time this season. They won the last encounter two weeks ago comfortably but the team that came out at Starks Park last week was the exact same team the performance was back to something akin to dire showings of earlier in the season, so god knows what will be on show tomorrow.

Have a good weekend people

Greg Wilson - Two Sides of Sympathy

Pete Shelley RIP

Very sad news last night. Going Steady is possible the greatest, singles collection ever.

It's That Time Of The Year Again

I wasn't sure about posting this as feelings are still quite raw regarding Scott's death but it is such a good song. I did burst out greetin' when I pulled the 7" out of the cupboard and put it on the other night.

Frightened Rabbit - It's Christmas So We'll Stop (Choir version)

Frightened Rabbit - It's Christmas So We'll Stop

I Opened A Bar

This is a bit strange but it has inveigled it's way into my brain and refuses to leave. Sophie Hunger is a Swiss artist who now lives in Germany and whom I was blissfully unaware of until last week but since then I have heard this track quite a few times and I even bought the download, not something I regularly do.

More Of The Genuis of Michael Head

I still haven't been able to finish that Shack ICA, every time I think that's it,  I fuck about with it some more and then it doesn't seem right. At present I am toying with the idea of doing two volumes as I don't think I'm allowed to make it a double album.

Here's Tom With The Weather was Shack's fourth album and is a rather mellow affair and the influence of Arthur Lee looms large on the album, nowhere more so than on the lovely Meant To Be with the track almost stops and the mariachi horns send it off in a totally different direction only for the track to break and return onto is original course. Not the sort of thing anybody else was doing back in 2003. The rest of the album is just as good and brother John takes the lead on three of the twelve tracks, his more gentle vocal adding a different dimension, check out Carousel for an absolutely lush love song.

Shack - Meant To Be

Monday's Long Song

Today's tune is not the easiest of listens and not just due to the fact that part of it was used in the horror film 28 Days Later but it is still a gripping one and a track I return to often. I have learned that East Hastings is a rather down at heel part of Vancouver where all the trappings of poverty can be seen on the streets. I have heard comments that this track by Godspeed You Black Emperor would perfectly soundtrack a trip round the neighbourhood. Bleak is as good a description of the tune as you will get but as I said in the first sentence it is captivating. The rest of the album is great too and the further two releases I have by the Canadian band follow a similar vein but are no less worth checking out.

Godspeed You Black Emperor - East Hastings 

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

As it's St Andrew's Day I thought that a bit of Scottish Progressive House from my golden days of clubbing should be the order of the day. I have talked before about 23rd Precinct in Bath Street in Glasgow before and the folk that worked behind the counter in the shop who made Barry from Championship look like the most customer centric record shop worker, so won't go back there suffice to say, gits one and all. The two labels that the label produced that probably released records by the aforementioned gits were for a time two of the labels that I would buy as soon as I say saw the label, no need to hear the track first as they would inevitably, to steal a phrase from another Glasgow label be quality recordings.

Between 1992 and 1994, Graeme Drinnan and Mark Brown, collectively know as Sublime released four belters for the labels, the first on 23rd Precinct Recordings Ltd and the other three on Limbo. The fourth release, TGV an homage to France's excellent  high-speed intercity rail service speeds along like you would expect and would probably soundtrack a journey through the Gallic countyside perfectly, certainly worked in the dingy clubs of Scotland's best city in 1994.

Airdrie are going through a bit of an renaissance at the moment with three wins on the bounce. The change in the team over the past wee while is nothing short of remarkable and last Saturday there were shouts of ole during a particularly skilful period of play that saw the midfield string together more passes than they have achieved during the rest of the home games this season combined bringing back memories of the short-lived heady days of the Archibald era when we were being linked to Barcelona and an expectation that Airdire would be the place that Barca's up and coming players would be bloodied and their stars on the wain would finish their careers took hold of the stand, I kid you not. We were a guillable bunch once upon a time. Anyway, let's hope that the guys can sustain their winning ways away to Raith Rovers on Saturday. A game that Leo and I will be attending, as he approves of the half-time catering especially the Steak and Gravy pies (a totally different thing from the pie that you attempted to eat at the Excelsior Brian). We will meet up with JC and Walter there and I hope that on the journey back to Lanark it will be me this time telling JC that his team played well but unfortunately couldn't hold on to the 99th minute to secure a victory.

Have a good weekend people.

Sublime - TGV

Coldplay Thursday

As most of you will be aware The Sound Of Being Okay will be losing its most talented member, KT,  this week as she heads off on mat leave from the blog. KT or KC as she was know previously has regaled us with some hilarious, often quite personal and on more than one occasion extremely moving posts.

So in KC's honour  it seems appropriate that Coldplay be posted again. I realise the last time I did this I got some pelters but we really were ripping the pish out of ourselves for being the musical snobs that we are and in keeping with that I am going to post the same tune as I posted the last time as secretly if it were sung by say Ryan Adams or Jesse Malin I would be telling you it was brilliant as to be honest it's not a bad song. I still think that the first four lines are complete gash though.

All the best KT and I hope that your child sleeps as long as our second one did right from the off, the least said about the first the better.

Coldplay - Green Eyes

Candie Payne

Candie Payne's only album to date, I Wish I Could Have Loved You More, released 11 years ago has really got under my skin recently. When I first bought it I was quite disappointed as I thought that apart from a couple of really good songs it was a bit "meh" as the cool kids and Comrade Colin back then would have said. But over repeated plays over the past month or go the subtleties of the album have really appealed. The influence of Dusty and Nancy are all over the album but it's not just a 60's pastiche, well mostly it is but it is a very good one and for me stands up to the other purveyors of that sound at that time very well.

Around the time of the release of the album I saw Payne perform at King Tuts and I have never seen anybody more nervous on stage, she was visibly shaking when she first came on but by a couple of songs in she seemed to have calmed down although she didn't set the heather on fire she was very good.

I wonder why she hasn't released anything else.

Candie Payne - In The Morning

Monday's Long Song

To try to stave off the Sunday night blues last night I reached for the Pledge Music funded live release by Dexys from 2014 and headed straight for side H and This Is What She's Like. Now any of you acquainted with the vinyl version of this release will know that the sound on the  first 3 minutes or so of this side are not the best quality wise, I had three different copies of this sent to me and they all sounded the same, like an album that I had had for forty years and which had seen more than a couple of airings at parties but now I have been able to filter the noise out and just listen to what for me is the best rendition of my favourite Dexys song which always makes me regret hesitating just that little bit to long for tickets for the One Day I'm Going To Soar tour.

After listening I thought to myself that would be a great track for Monday's Long Song, such a pity that I've posted it before but I decided to check the blog to find out how long ago it had featured and to my amazement it hasn't so that sorted out today's post.

Kev?

Pete?

What Was She Like?

Dexys - This Is What She's Like 

Somebody's Always Trying

There has not been a great deal of Soul posted here since I resurrected the blog, not sure why as I am listening to as much as usual and over the next few weeks will probably immerse myself in it as I've got to Richard Searling's book, Setting The Record Straight and the final book in Stuart Gosgrove's soul Trilogy, Harlem 69 at the top of the reading list and sitting on the bedside cabinet,

Talking of one half of the Off the Ball Team, Stiff and I attended a talk by him in Motherwell library on Tuesday night where he discussed the three books with the emphasis on Harlem 69 and very entertaining it was too.

So really I should be featuring a song from 67 - 69 today but I'm not. I've got what Brian would I think term a "doozy" for you from a few years earlier. 1964 but it is at least on the Okeh label out of N.Y.C. Somebody's Always Trying lies more towards the R&B send of the soul spectrum but is nonetheless a belter, It is also pretty rare, a vg copy would set you back around £430.

Ted Taylor - Somebody's Always Trying

Mattiel

Back in May I posted Count Your Blessings the first single on Burger Records from Mattiel. A week or so later the single was released over here after being picked up by Heavenly and in July her debut originally released last year in the States also got a release this side of the pond and I have to tell you it's a belter. It ticks loads of boxes for me, a bit Garagey here, soulful there and with more than a smidgen of Girl Group sounds. What's not to like, not much, I do have one slight gripe Mattiel Brown's voice can come over a bit shouty when I'm not in the right mood or am on my third listen on the bounce, although I haven't once taken the album off before the end. It could be in my top ten albums of the year, although there have been so many great and extremely good albums this year it may not.

Mattiel - Just A Name

Monday's Long Song

As the nights draw in and Autumn turns to Winter I always find myself rifling through the M section in the vinyl and cd shelves. I'm not sure what it is about this time of the year that lends itself to the sounds of John Martyn for me but I always find that the songs soundtrack this time of the year beautifully especially the output from 1971 to 1977.  I have posted Small Hours from the classic One World album on a few occasions but never this instrumental version before. To be honest it's not a version I play that often as I like the vocal in the track but now and again it hits the spot and is a pretty good way to ease you into the working week.

John Martyn - Small Hours (Instrumental)

Monday's Long Song

These long songs on a Monday are unearthing some gems across the sites, the Swede in particular has been putting me on to things that are totally new to me. When looking out things for here I have dusted down some tracks that haven't been played for ages or I had totally forgotten about and in some cases has sent me off on some weird and wonderful listening tangents.

Today's track fall into the "hasn't been played for ages" category. When I took a punt on "These Were The Earlies" back in 2004 I was kind of perplexed at first, didn't know what to make of it, it didn't sound like anything else around at the time, It was very trippy in an late 60s British folk/psychedelic way but with modern synths but with a bit of a US West Coast vibe about it too. One of the stand out tracks was Morning Wonder. A while ago I managed to pick up a single sided 12" promo of this track which extended the album cut to double it's length, all repetition and krauty sounding synths.

The Earlies - Morning Wonder (Final Mix)

Lest We Forget

In Memory Of

Cpl Andrew Wingate

Pvt James Little

Eric Bogle - No Man's Land Intro

Eric Bogle - No Man's Land

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Australian psychedelic dance rockers Jagwar Ma have a knack of getting it spot on when they pick the producers to remix their tracks, the man that is Andrew Weatherall has produced a couple of belters, the Time and Space Machine dub sessions are excellent and the Pachanga Boys epic trippy mix of Come Save Me is essential but my favourite comes from the Every Now and Zen remixes 12" and is definitely aimed more at the dance floor than sitting stoned out of your gourd nodding along to. The original is a pretty good dance floor friendly track if you can get passed Gabriel Winterfield's vocals which for me are a weakness of the band and probably why I prefer the remixes of their stuff where the vocals are at a minimum. However, German producer and DJ Michael Mayer strips out the vocal, adds a wobbly bassline and turns the track into a minimal techno monster that build over the course of seven minutes, it reminds me somewhat of Reveal by Richard Norris' side project Circle Sky.

If I must talk about the football, I can sum up last week's performance by Airdrie with one word pish. If you need further details, the fact that the goalkeeper was the man of the match should tell you all you need to know. Tomorrow they make the long trip down to Stranraer who are two places above the Diamonds who crashed from 4th to 7th after last week's rubbish. Let's hope they can do something tomorrow but again, I wouldn't put any money on it.

Have a good weekend people.

Jagwar Ma - Give Me A Reason (Michael Mayer Does The Amoeba Remix)

Some Kind Of Wonderful

I've had an urge to watch Some Kind of Wonderful this week not sure why. I think it may have something to do with the state of the world and going back to a less scary time. It's quite a feat to be in a time that makes you hanker back to the good old days of the Cold War and Thatcher at the height of her powers. Or maybe it's just that I'm just a sad middle aged man reminiscing about my youth. Whatever the reason I watched what I think is John Hughes' best film and thoroughly enjoyed it, sure some of the acting isn't terrific, the plot is typical John Hughes and the characters are all stereotypes but it made me smile and also get as infuriated with Eric Stoltz character as much as I did way back when. It's Watts you clown, she's the one not the Wannabe but this being a John Hughes movie he get's it in the end.

As I've said previously,  simpler times.

One thing did that did stand out was that the soundtrack is not as good as I thought it was, there is a terrible remix version of The Hardest Walk, Brilliant Mind by Furniture, a rather sweet cover of Can't Help Falling In Love and the Stephen Duffy song posted below which soundtracks one of my favourite scenes in the film. I think that this song may have been written for this film as I couldn't find it anywhere other than on the soundtrack album. Apart from those the rest is pretty par for the course mid 80s sludge.




Stephen Duffy - She Loves Me

Martin Stephenson

On Saturday night I had the great pleasure of seeing Martin Stephenson perform Gladsome, Humour and Blue in its entirety at Oran Mor. This album is probably my favourite by this much underrated artist and sound tracked my year in Aberdeen just as much as the Betty Blue soundtrack, 1000 Years of Trouble and various House 12" singles. In fact Nancy was played at least once a day for about a month.

I have never seen anybody so happy to be on stage as Stephenson and his between song banter was funny and at times informative about presenting the Dainties with one more dirge to record, when all they wanted was for Martin to come up with something a bit upbeat and poppy "like Roddy Frame". He also gave some insights into what it was like to be on the road with other bands, apparently the Bluebells were a great laugh but that Prefab Sprout were a miserable shower.

Gladsome, Humour and Blue has been re-recorded for it's thirtieth anniversary and can be purchased here. If you liked the original you will also love this re-interpretation and if you don't know the original you should buy this anyway as it is a lovely album, not the most upbeat of records but the music and lyrics are top class. The album was re-recorded at Beetroot Studios in Airdrie, a stone's throw from the football stadium and produced by Stuart MacLeod who joined the band on stage for an encore and who Stephenson tried to sell him a guitar. This recording session was not the first time that Stephenson had been to the town of my childhood, he has recorded at MacLeod's studio a few times and in 2004 released an album called Airdrie - Songs From The Industrial North which is pretty rare to get a hold of these days but is available for download at the Bandcamp page. Although today's track is on that album it did not get an airing on Saturday night but I can't grumble because the extras that we did get over and above the Daintees album were perfect for the time and place.

If you ever get the opportunity to see Martin Stephenson, don't hesitate as it is worth it just for the big stupid grin and the stories alone, the songs are a great bonus all the same.

Martin Stephenson - Mountainous Spring

Monday's Long Song

This track is a few minutes shorter than my usual song in this series but it come on over the weekend and I listened to it three times on the bounce and thought that it was quite apt this week.

Now,  I'm not one for trying to tell people from other countries how to vote, I lost a lot of credibility for David Bowie prior to the Scottish Independent Referendum when he deemed to put his neb in and a few others for that matter but folks in the USA could do worse than listen to Bruce Springsteen this week, that's all I'm saying.

Land of Hope and Dreams was written by Springsteen in 1998 was performed live on the following year's E Street Band reunion and then recorded during the sessions for 2002's The Rising but not included it was subsequently rerecorded and released on Wrecking Ball in 2012, The studio version is ok, actually really good but does not pack the punch of the live one posted here, from the Live In New York City album. Most Springsteen songs when you think of it come into there own in the live environment. I really should have paid the money a couple of years ago and gone and seen him at Hampden!

Bruce Springsteen - Land of Hope and Dreams 

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Propellerheads are probably best remembered for their collaboration with Dame Shirley Bassey, History Repeating or the cover they did of the theme to On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The duo were signed to Wall of Sound one of the leading labels lights in the "Big Beat" genre in the mid to late 90s. Take California was the second single from the boys from Bath and is my favourite. It has your typical hip-hop beats, synonymous with this scene which are actually sampled from on old soul tune, Hit or Miss by Odetta which I first heard when it was used on DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist's seminal mix cd Brainfreeze.

Well, no new manager bounce for Airdrie last week. just another incredibly poor performance in which the Diamonds eventually succumbed to the inevitable defeat on the 86th minute when Stenhousemuir scored. It was bitterly cold last Saturday with limited benefit coming from digging out the long-johns and I think my feet eventually warmed up at about 22:00 hrs. Tomorrow they play host to Forfar who are one place and two points above them in the table. I will be going more in hope than expectation and will be wearing two pairs of socks!

Have a good weekend people

Propellerheads - Take California

I've Been In Front, I've Never Given In.

I love this track so much it is an aural sedative. After listening to the pompous twat that is Michael Portillo on the Moral Maze last night, I put on They Gave Me A Lamp and almost instantly  calmed down which is strange that a song about the Miner's Strike of 1984 - 85 should do so and not make me rage even more so, especially as Portillo lest we forget due to his reinvention as a railway enthusiast and extremely bad dad dancer, was an acolyte of Thatcher and a very loyal member of the government intent in crushing not only the miners but any worker who didn't stay in line and put up with their lot.

Enough of the politics already, I hear you say.

 I think that it may be the participation of the Derbyshire trio Haiku Salut, as their latest album, There Is No Elsewhere (which is very good by the way) has a similar effect on me. Or it could be the brass or the impassioned sampled dialogue or just that it is a great song which is sadly over far to soon. There is a very good remix of They Gave Me A Lamp by Plaid which came out on RSD 18 release, People Will Always Need Coal which is also very good. O

The album that the track comes from, Every Valley, the third by Public Service Broadcasting is worth checking out, although an album thoroughly wrapped up in the coal industry in the Welsh Valleys may not sound like a great listen, it really is, it's atmospheric, moody but also has some great moments of light and optimism not least on Progress , on which Tracyanne Campbell provides the unmistakable vocal, what there is of it.  I had the good fortune to see both of those tracks being performed live at Electric Fields during one of the standout sets of the festival for me.

Public Service Broadcasting - They Gave Me A Lamp 

Happy Birthday Boy

Max turned fifteen today! I said to him this morning, "this time next year you will be able to vote in Scottish elections" to which he responded "this time next year I can leave school" and argument I decided that was best left for another day, one that I think will include a lot of raised voices and no mutually agreed outcome. The joys!

I was going to post something that Max is listening to at the moment but it's all absolute pish. Sadly the early promise has disappeared maybe Stiff's right and he burnt himself out on good music before he was twelve. So in honour of Halloween here is a track from the first and my favourite Dream Syndicate album, The Days Of Wine And Roses.

The Dream Syndicate - Halloween

Monday's Long Song

This track knocked me for six the first time I heard it as it is not what you expect from Kenny Anderson.  A song that lasts for more than ten minutes, surely not but then again King Creosote always confounds expectations.  On one level the song is typical of Anderson, those soft Perthshire vocals, repeating a few phrases over and over accompanied by piano and guitar but then there are the drums, front and centre, that kick in just over a third of the way through and then drive the song all the way until the finale.  Drums are not usually what you would associate with KC but they are effective, so much so that  eleven and a bit minutes have passed in what feels like the blink of an eye and there is nothing else for it but to go back to the start and play it again.

King Creosote - Ankle Shackles 

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

I think we shall have a bit more Guerilla this week from The Drum Club and remixed by Orbital. It is a bit Progressive House by numbers when you listen to it now but at the time this sounded just the thing, a little bit of breathy female vocal, pulsing bass line, a nagging sampled refrain and a squelchy bit. To be honest at the time we didn't need anything else to keep us entertained. Simpler times.

The Diamonds did rather well away to Montrose last week, returning home with a three nil victory. According to the match report it was a pretty solid performance and convincing victory. Let's hope they can give the same sort of performance tomorrow when Stenhousemuir come to visit, which will be the first match with new manager Ian Murray at the helm. Tonight I will be looking out the long-johns as it looks like it is going to be the first of many Baltic visits to Shybury before the end of the season.

Have a good weekend people.

Drum Club - Alchemy (Phasers On Stun mix)

Keeping It Peel

Fourteen Years!

Webbie came up with this idea eight years ago and I always find it quite an enjoyable task dipping into Ken Garner's book the Peel Sessions every year and reminding myself of all of the diverse sessions that were done for the great man's radio show, albeit a task that is tinged by sadness that Peel is no longer with us, to educate, inform and do all the hard work of finding the new bands and artists for us. There are other very good dj's out there keeping up the good work but good as they are, they ain't  Peel and I don't think there will ever be another dj that comes close, that may be nostalgia and if you can prove me wrong I will be happy but I just don't think so.

This year's session is a bit different, as it's not two or three tracks recorded at Maida Vale but a live dj set by the Scratch Perverts which I do remember hearing at the time and absolutely loving.

The Scratch Perverts - Peel Session DJ Set 26/01/1999

John Peel - The Fall

Monday's Long Song

I've just finished reading Stuart Cosgrove's second part of his Soul Trilogy Memphis 68, and very good it was too even better than part one. It only reinforced the annoyance at myself that I have been feeling since L came back from Memphis regarding my fear of inter continental flying, as I have been told several times over the past week or so "you would love Memphis, Drew, you really would". I can console myself that even if I were to get over this, some have said "irrational" fear, the distinct lack of funds and my total inability to save as much as £100 means that unless I win the lottery, I will not be going. If I were to win the lottery I would be going by boat anyway.

Back to the music, finishing the book made me change the track that I had lined up for today and replace it with something that not only helped bring someone who up until the album that today's track was released was a minor figure in the Memphis Soul scene,  also shaped the direction that soul would travel in the 1970,  laid the foundations for the likes of Barry White and took soul music from the constraints of the sub 3 minute pop song, if not into the realms of the concept album, then at least the song as a long form story. A Jimmy Webb penned, Glen Campbell, Nashville staple is not the sort of thing you would associate with changing the face of soul music but that's just what happened when Isaac Hayes reinterpreted By The Time I Get To Phoenix, adding a spoken word back story to the sounds of the Bar-Kays, Hayes takes nearly nine minutes setting the scene before the track kicks in fully and then the next nine minutes are taken up with absolutely sublime soul and then it's over, wow! The album this track comes from, Hot Buttered Soul only contains 4 tracks, three of which are covers and one original composition by Hayes and Al Bell. It was a toss up whether to post By The Time I Get To Phoenix or the sublime rendition of Walk On By which also qualifies for this series clocking in at 12 minutes.

There will not be a lot to see here this week as I am at a three day meeting, in the exotic location of Heathrow bloody airport. I have put together something for Thursday though.

Isaac Hayes - By The Time I Get To Phoenix

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Back to the heady days of 1993, when it was really difficult to keep up with all the excellent 12" singles that were coming out. This was when Progressive House ruled supreme, well with me anyway and you always got your money's worth when purchasing records on labels like Guerilla, Cowboy, Soma and the likes as most tracks stretched out well over 6 minutes and there would usually be at least one further interesting mix by another leading light of the genre on the b-side.

Today's two for the price of one comes from Spooky who consistently came up with the goods on their own recordings and also the remixes they did for others. Schmoo was the duo's third  release on William Orbit and Disc O'Dell's Guerilla label. There were four mixes on the 12" two by Spooky and two by Underworld, who were yet to become the stars of the dance scene that they would be in the coming years, But in 1993 along with remixing the likes of  Spooky and One Dove they would produce two very good singles and one outstanding one in Rez.  On their mix of Schmoo, they take an already very good piece of dub house disco and turn it into a dance floor classic, indicative of the sounds that I and thousands like me were listening to back then when a good dj took you journey on the dancefloor.

Tomorrow Airdrie are away to Montrose, I was up for the journey north but Leo was less keen  and really didn't fancy the 5 hour round trip, so tomorrow I will be tuned into Open All Mikes and checking Twitter for a match that the Diamonds really need to come away with something from.

Have a good weekend people.

Spooky - Schmoo (Underworld mix)

Not A Sound

I have always been a fan of James Lavelle, UNKLE  and especially the Unklesounds dj sets there is always loads going on within the music and collaborations that at first you think, really? for example those with Ian Astbury and Josh Homme, not two singers high on my list but their participation worked really well. For me however the best UNKLE sounds are those epic, panoramic instrumentals which sadly tend to find themselves being used as music to soundtrack twats driving big cars faster than you should and generally being real men. Or so I believe , as I'm not really a Top Gear type person but when playing today's track on YouTube the other week when I couldn't find it on my iPod, the comments stated shit like "Top Gear brought me here", "perfect for the F-Type" and pish like that and when I checked I found that quite a few tracks by James Lavelle and his ever changing collaborators have been used on the BBC driving programme.

Not A Sound was a track from the 2001 album Another Night Out, a record that has collaborations with the likes of Gavin Clark, Liela Moss, Nick Cave and the Black Angels. It was released as a stands alone cd but also in a boxset with the previous album Where Did The Night Fall which can be bought on Discogs at a very reasonable price, quite a bit cheaper than when it came out.

UNKLE - Not A Sound 

Simmer Down, Simmer Down, Simmer Down Now

I haven't been able to get this song out of my head for the past couple of weeks. Quiet Dog Bite Hard comes from Mos Def's fourth album , the Ecstatic released in 2009. And that's about it really.

mos def - Quiet Dog Bites Hard

Monday's Long Song

Since it's release last month, And Nothing Hurt, the 8th studio album from Jason Pierce's Spiritualized has not been far from the turntable, price of the box set aside the album is nothing short of brilliant, if this is to be the final Spiritualized album then it is a high point to bow out on. So for today's long song I thought that we would go back to an earlier  masterpiece from Spiritualized, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space and the ear splitting, nerve shredding finale, Cop Shoot Cop, the ultimate junkie's lament which recycles and repeats lines from John Prine's bleakest moment, Sam Stone. I have said "nerve shredding" because for ages that's what happened to me when the free jazz section kicks in, you have been taken in by the languid pace of the song and then bang you are confronted by a wall of white noise, it is especially effective live, when the lighting rig explodes and you have to concentrate on staring at the floor as if you look up your head would explode due to the strobes going mental.

Posted is a live version from New York in 2010.

Spiritualized - Cop Shoot Cop (Live New York 30-07-2010)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

What with the weather being so pish this week, although I was in Luton yesterday where it was positively balmy but up here it has been thoroughly dreich all week, I thought that some Balearic sounds from back in the golden age would go down quite well today.

The other weekend, I had commented on Twitter about Weatherall's remix of Fallen being the only thing that I could think of that he had worked his magic on that hadn't improved on the original but I did like the Supertramp sample, which got me thinking about Come Alive by Orchestra JB which also has a harmonica sample on it but this time from a Housemartins song. So I went searching for the the 12" and also found the previous record by Jimmy Brown from the previous year, 1990 and thought I haven't played that in a long time so duly put it on, the similarities between this and the record that would follow are quite strong from the prominent piano loop, the beats and also the ubiquitous by now moothie sample. This track might be slightly dated with the use of  Let No Man Put Assunder samples but I still love it. And to complete the circle this track also uses the Supertramp sample, maybe a certain producer had this record in his collection.

In football news, I use the term loosely in relation to the antics on the park of the current Airdrie team, the club and the manager have parted company this week. Last Saturday's performance against Brechin. 1 -3 score aside has to be one of the worst performances I have seen, come to think of it each performance so far this season has been progressively worse. Let's hope that the board can get someone in who can get this squad of players playing like a team, as I think that there is the makings of a good team there. No game to endure this week due to the international break, although I'm not sure why that would affect the third tier of Scottish football anyway, so a nice relaxing Saturday in store and the bonus of my blood pressure at 16:45 being normal, well normal for me anyway.

Have a good weekend people.

Orchestra JB - Free Spirit (Slow Burn)

Bigger Brighter Better

I was going to go on a rant about Global Warming, Trump , Brexit and everything but really what's the fucking point. So here's a bit of Otis to ease all the angst. 

This time last week my better half was visiting Soulsville U.S.A, of course I'm happy for her but just ever so slightly jealous!

Otis Redding - Look At That Girl

Nothing's As It Seems

I was driving down the M74 on Sunday to Hamilton to do the shopping (life on the edge, eh?) when one of the few post Vanishing Point Primal Scream songs that I can say that I really love came on the Touch, Sometimes I Feel So Lonely the final track on 2006's Riot City Blues. I was only half listening as I was thinking about other things, primarily Sunday evenings chores including the ironing of school uniforms which I was not looking forward to one bit but I was dragged back to reality as something didn't sound quite right, the song sounded flatter, less full than I remembered and so when it finished, I clicked the back button and listened, really listened this time, where were the strings, that breakdown about half way through that always takes my breath away? Then I remembered I only ever play the 7" single version, haven't played the album since, well 2006 if I'm honest and of course only the album version is in iTunes as I wouldn't have ripped the single thinking that the album mix is the same as there is nothing on either format to suggest different version but they are and the 7" version is the better version by a country mile.

So the previous time when I posted this song I obviously posted the wrong version.

Am I the only person who is really excited at the prospect of the original mixes of Give Out But Don't Give Up dropping this Friday?

The reason I was worrying about school uniforms and doing the shopping myself is due to the fact that for the past 10 days L has been living it up in New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville with her best friend for in celebration of their 50th birthdays last year,  So the song was also pretty relevant too on Sunday.

Primal Scream - Sometimes I Feel So Lonely (single version)

Monday's Long Song

Today's long song is more of a tune than a song really. When looking through the long songs on my iTunes database they tend to fall into three categories, mad Space Rock jams, extended four to the floor dance tracks which are more suited to a Friday in my mind rather than the stark reality of the start of the working week and the more ambient/shoegaze, navel contemplating stuff. Today's track falls into the last grouping, all shimmery, jangly guitar, near lack of beats for the first six minutes and then a subtle build up before ebbing away again and then once again building to a climax. Lovely stuff for a Monday morning. It won't always be such an easy listen.

Lunaire - Soro No Woto

The photo was taken from my bedroom window yesterday morning. I'm not usually up early enough on a Sunday to catch the sunrise but no alcohol and being a single parent for the past week or so meant I was up, as you can see at the crack of dawn.

Upon This Rock

I've been a big fan of the Originals label ever since the first single, a Pilooski edit of a Dee Edwards song which was made all the more tasty due to having the original version on the other side which in its original 1971 pressing was well out of my price range,

Since then I have missed out on very few of the subsequent releases and those I have missed I have bitterly regretted. Sometimes I have never heard the track or edit before but there isn't one that once I have put on the turntable I have regretted buying.

I had never heard of Joe Farrell before I bought this single but I suspect that I had heard his sax and flute many a time as he was part of Chick Corea's group whom I have heard on many occasions as a friend of mine is a huge fan and probably owns all of the 130 albums listed on Discogs.  Upon This Rock was one of the four tracks on Farrell's 1974 album of the same name and clocked in at just under 10 minutes which would make it a contender for Monday's Long Song if that was the version I had, however the track has been wonderfully edited down by Mr Fantastic to a much more enjoyable 4 minutes, although I wouldn't have objected if it had gone on longer.  All the self indulgence and fat has been trimmed and what you are left with is a fine lean slab of funk, full of wah wah guitar, a beat that's not possible to ignore and a wicked sax which JC will absolutely hate.

Enjoy

Joe Farrell - Upon This Rock (Mr Fantastic Edit)

Monday's Long Song 2

Strangely enough I had penciled in this track by Stereolab  prior to my Twitter correspondence regarding the Anglo/French "avant-pop" groovers with Prof Clark on Friday. Metronomic Underground was originally on the band's critically acclaimed album Emperor Tomato Ketchup, the version posted is the Peel session one recorded on 24-02-96 and takes an already long song for the band and extends it to a ten minute groove that you just don't want to end.

Stereolab - Metronomic Underground

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Back to the old school this week, some simple but incredibly effective breakbeat from back in 1992. I saw on the Piccadilly Records website that this is getting a reworking for the RAVE revival that is apparently happening at the moment, no me neither which got me digging out the original which I believe still works perfectly well. Not my go to music back in the day but a very good alternative now and again.

In football news, Airdrie were fucking woeful last Saturday and still remarkably managed to get a one each draw. They will need to up their game considerably to get anything away from home against league leaders Arbroath. We shall see.

Have a good weekend people.

Awesome 3 - Don't Go

Dale Barclay

Really sad news today regarding Dale Barclay from the Amazing Snakeheads, it has been announced that he has died from the brain cancer that he was being treated for. Thirty two is no age at all.

The first time I saw the Amazing Snakeheads was downstairs in Nice N Sleazy in Glasgow and I couldn't work out whether they were actually a band or just a few pished guys who had taken over  the stage and nicked the instruments from the band gfor a laugh but there was something in the performance that intriqued me and got a hold of Stiff who never missed a performace when they played Glasgow. The next time I saw them was at the launch of there first single where by the looks of it they gave half of the single out to mates and punters for free. The performace that night was absolutely brilliant but also wild. Sadly I only got to see them once more before the band were no more. In Dale Barclay they had a unique and very charismatic front man. Dale once said in an interiew that touring could be tough "but it's never as tough as going to work on a fucking building site in the winter". when not fronting up The Snakeheads and then later And Yet It Moves Dale was a stone mason.

RIP Dale

The Amazing Snakeheads - Testifying Time 

Am I Here? Of Course I Am, Yes

I was driving down to Leeds on Monday afternoon for work and there was nothing on Radio 4 so I fired up the Touch on shuffle. About five or six songs in, "Fast Blood" from the Midnight Organ Fight came on and after about thirty secods I found my eyes welling up and started to cry, tears streaming down my face and I thought that I was going to have to pull over.

I was surprised by my reaction, as firstly,  I thought that I had come to terms with the death of Scott Hutchison, About six weeks ago I was able to play the Midnight Organ Fight in it's entirety, prior to this every time I had tried to listen since May I had found it too difficult and had taken it off knowing that the further it wenbt on the more painful it would be.

The other reason I was surprised was that it was Fast Blood that had brought this reaction, I'm not saying that it isn't a great song but it's a track which had never made me overly emotional previously unlike, Head Rolls Off, My Backwards Walk or Poke all of which would lead to me at least having a lump in my throat even prior to the tragic events that unfolded earlier this year. But on Monday that intro, the bit when the drums break in and Scott's yearning vocal just hit me like a steamroller and by the the time the oh, ohs came in I was wrecked!

I began to wonder,  that if this is how it feels like for someone who just knew Scott through his music, how must it feel, for his friends, band members and especially his parents and brother Grant who I'm sure will never get over this tragedy.

Frightened Rabbit - Fast Blood (Live At Urban Outfitters: SxSW 2007

The picture above is from Electric Fields at the end of August where on the Friday night the song below was played over the PA on the Main Stage at 19:45 which was a rather emotional affair but not quite as much as the tribute at Belladrum, a festival that the Frabbits had played regularly,  where The Midnight Organ Fight was played in full.

Frightened Rabbit - The Loneliness And The Scream

Remember talking helps.

Monday's Long Song

A few months ago I posted "Do Your Thing by Isaac Hayes ans the Swede happened to comment that he thought that it might be a good idea if we all posted a long song on a Monday. I quite liked this idea and during my time in the wilderness, the Swede's comment popped into my head a couple of times and so at the weekend I thought why the hell not. I love a piece of music that goes on for a while, years of training with all the hippy stuff and then Weatherall, the Orb etc. So prepare yourself on a Monday for tunes that outstay their welcome and leave you think at the end, well that's at least ten minutes of my life that I will not see again. Or you could just not bother.

In 2016 through Pledge Music, the Raveonettes came up with a novel idea, you could pledge your money for their new album either on cd or vinyl and each month you would receive one track per month in your in-box as an MP3 and at the end of the year the full album in the format that you pledged for,. It didn't quite turn out like that as the album eventually appeared at the end of April 2017, by far not the most delayed PledgeMusic album that I have waited for, that accolade would go jointly to  SLF and The Orb.

What the hell has this got to do with long songs you may ask as all Raveonettes tracks are usually short, sharp noisy affairs. This is true but the final track which appeared in my inbox in December took me by surprise, a 12 minute tune by the Raveonettes, shurely shome mishtake? On when you listen to it, it's definitely Sune and Sharin but somewhat extended and with keyboards. Personally I love it, the album is patchy and due to the manner in which it was produced rather disjointed but on the whole it was a worthwhile experiment, although a pretty dark one.

The Raveonettes - Pendejo

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

In tribute and on the back of SA's post on Rachid Taha I had intended on posting  a 12" single I have from the man from back in 1993 but I haven't gotten round to ripping it yet so here's something that has been posted a couple of times but still sounds absolutely astounding to me and am not ashamed to say  it reduced me to tears the first time I heard it and still makes me pretty emotional.

(Who?) Keeps Changing Your Mind was first released on Strictly Rhythm records in 1993. It has been subsequently re released a few times with new mixes, none of which are a patch on the two mixes on the original twelve, the mix posted is the Night mix.

I once played this with the Fire Island's mix of Regret and Pete Heller's Big Love  and by the end the dance floor was full of people with huge grins on their faces having a ball, due to the quality of the music not my mixing skills I hasten to add.

To paraphrase Mike Skinner, with a big bag of pills and music like this blaring out of a PA, we could probably end all wars.

Back in the third tier of Scottish football, Airdrie have not made a great start to the season although they are sitting third in the table. The worst game so far would have had to have been against Raith Rovers at home when the Diamonds were cruising, three / one up with three minutes to go when the Rovers pulled another back. You know this isn't going to end well, Raith scored twice in stoppage time to give them the win. What made it worse was I had to drive JC to Motherwell to get his train, as he had came through to Lanark in the morning for a catch up and a lift to the game.

Tomorrow they are at home to Dumbarton and I will be hoping for better. Leo has given up and will be attending junior football, watching Lanark United, he has been invited to the match as part of a friend's birthday celebrations. I just hope he does not find it more entertaining than what he is used to at the Excelsior.

Have a good weekend people.

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

Magic Potion

This was going to be a post on a mod/Freakbeat single that I eventually got my mitts on, on lovely 7" inch vinyl a few weeks ago after being on my wants list for years, sadly not the original which would have set me back a good few hundred quid, if I could have found one. The one I got is a repressing of dubious legality I assume but the sound is very good and I'm not averse to owning a bootleg or two. As I said I was going to post it but it appears that I already did last February, it can be found here if you're interested. Old age doesn't come itself as they say.

Instead here is an altogether different beast originally from 1969, a piece of psychedelia from Putney South London. The Open Mind had been going a couple of years pripr to releasing Magic Potion, the band's second single. The time spent hanging around with Jimi Hendrix and Soft Machine obviously rubbed off on them, what with the fuzzed out guitar, drug related lyrics the tune is very psychedelic. The version posted is the Soundhog re-edit from 2013 which takes the track further out there and giving the track a Hawkwindy feel for me

The Open Mind - Magic Potion (Soundhog edit)

You Don't Care

Pervis Lee was a popular singer in the 1960s and 70s in his native Chrlotte, North Carolina where we could be found plying his trade at Country Clubs and private parties. From what I can gather from checking out the two albums he released on local label, Snyder Album Co,  he didn't pin himself down to one style, singing Gospel, Soul, Jazz and R&B. The track I am most familiar with is a rather brillianr piece of bass and sax driven soul called You Don't Care which found it's way onto Soul playlists and as a result was released as a limited 7" by the Austrian label Record Shack in 2014. The single has two versions of the song, the full version and a shortened edit where the sax solo and run out has been shortened. A bit overpriced at the moment, the cheapest on Discogs priced at £67.15 which seems excessive for a record released 4 years ago but that's the vinyl market at the moment, utterly baffling as I have found when cataloguing my records in Discogs database.

Pervis Lee - You Don't Care

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

I really couldn't not mark the passing of the  Queen of Soul. Ever since my first forays into soul music, Aretha Franklin's voice has been ever present. Even before that as my first sight of Aretha was when she was giving it tight to Matt "Guitar" Murphy" when Jake and Elwood rock up at her Soul Food Cafe trying to lure her husband back to the band. I will not lie and say that her music was on all the time but when I did put something on it always meant stopping what I was doing and just listening to that amazing voice and phrasing.

Unlike many people I wasn't that impressed with the collaborations with the likes of Annie Lennox and George Michael. But in 1993 when she collaborated on A Deeper Love with Cliviles and Cole I was astonished, Aretha does house! Sure the production was as you would expect from those two but it was the vocal that immediately grabbed your attention and held it as long she was singing. The track had been released by Cliviles and Cole the previous year featuring Deborah Cooper on vocals and if you want an illustration of how incredible Franklin's just compare and contrast the versions and Cooper's vocal is very very good but pales into insignificance next to the Queen of Soul's.

Last night I dug out the triple gatefold 12" of A Deeper Love and listened to all nine of the mixes but didn't think to rip them as I was not intending to do a post today so below is the youtube of my favourite mix, the Deeper Mix.

Once again I thank whoever it was that first thought of recording the human voice, as for as long as there is someway to play back recorded music people will be able to be bowled over by Aretha Franklin's voice. So let's dance in celebration of a life that touched many millions of people whether through music, civil rights or by just being a decent though complex (ain't we all) human being.

Rest Easy Aretha

Future Tense

I know,  but I was on Twitter the other day telling Swiss Adam how bloody brilliant Future Tense by the "Glaswegian  underground DIY collective", Tomorrow Syndicate and he said that he might need reminding when he gets back from his vacances, so I decided to put it up here. The digital album can be purchased here, the vinyl is long gone unless there is a repress. I am sure there would be a demand for it, it is absolutely stunning, space disco. One of those albums that I think need to be played on a record player.

Get on this you will not regret it I'm telling you.