A bit of Tech House from what I thought was a couple of years ago until I pulled out the shelves yesterday and looked at the date, 2013, so just the 7 years ago then. Desire is the lead track from the Mr Jones double pack 12" from Nina Kraviz. Quite minimal but very effective stuff. I have it on good authority from two of my nephews that Miss Kraviz is an excellent dj and knows how to work a Techno crowd.
Well that's the cup run over for another year. Airdrie were well and truly pumped last Saturday at Tynecastle. Hearts may be pish but they are pish two levels above the Diamonds and it showed. Back to the league this week and a home clash against Stranraer in the promotion bid. Although sitting at the bottom of the league, Stranraer were only beaten 2 nil by The Rangers not scudded five nothing, so another nail biting 90 minutes seem to be in prospect.
God I love this cover version. It was originally written and recorded by Sonny Bono and released as a single in 1965. In 1969 Mott The Hoople recorded the song for their debut album and to say it is a tad Dylanesque would be a bit of an understatement and of course it's Ian Hunter's voice that first grabs your attention but it's the music that holds the attention when it reaches it's peak it reminds me of You Can't Always Get What You Want, it may just be the organ. I once read somewhere that Hunter's vision for Mott The Hoople was Dylan backed by the Rolling Stones and it feels to me that he attained it on their first album.
Cleveland Robinson born in Macon, Georgia, raised in Pittsburgh then in the early 60s he moved with wife to Cleveland, Ohio where he recorded 15 singles and one album. His first single These Are The Hands after being picked up by the Ascot label caused interest from a few major labels, undeterred when none of the deals came to fruition, Robinson decided to start his own label, Nosnibor Records to release his music, he was now singer/writer/producer and label owner. Boy featured here was the 12th release on the label, another great soul side that failed to set the heather on fire but would set you back at least £250 if you were lucky enough to find a copy.
Last week, the Swede posted a brilliant track by Mythic Sunship. I discoverd the Danish group last year and as you do, I noted the label that they were on El Paraiso and checked it out on Discogs and to my joy but also distress as what this may do to my finances noted that the label had been going for since 2011. I decided to check first check out a band called Kanaan, for no other reason than that was just below a Mythic Sunship release on the page.
Kannan's album is described thus on El Paraiso's website "Winborne is debut album from the Young Norwegian power trio Kanaan. With components from jazz, fusion and post rock they have created six extended pieces of blazin freeform psychedelia"
Worth a listen then? Of course it is and also worth picking up. They also have a second release Odense sessions scheduled for release in February and available for pre order here or from Amazon. I duly did on the strength of Winborne. A Hausenbecken below is the first track off of that debut.
January isn't getting any easier is it. I've got to that bit of the month that I realise exactly just how skint I am and it is getting me down, more so when it dawns on me that there are a couple more significant dunts to my bank balance to come before the wages drop for records that I just couldn't live without and bought through Paypal and ticked the pay in 14 days box. What I and I suspect quite a few of you could also do with is a tune that gives you a warm glow with memories of long drawn out warm sunny days.
The Sun Rising anyone?
Well tomorrow sees Airdrieonians take on Hearts in the Scottish Cup for the first time since the semi-final replay on April 14th 1992 when the game ended one each and Airdrie came out on top after penalties and went on to lose 2-1 to Rangers in the final. Hopes are high as Hearts are right pish at the moment but knowing our luck tomorrow will be when their new manager Daniel Stendl's team click and we get pumped. Unconfirmed rumours on Twitter have said that the Diamonds have sold 3500 tickets, they have certainly sold out the allocation that was given but whether it's as many as that we shall see. One thing for sure is Leo is really excited about this game as it will be the largest he has attended and he is looking forward to going to Tyncastle for the first time. For me it will be the first time in over 25 years!
One of my favourite TV programs when growing up was M*A*S*H. So I was quite happy couple of months before Christmas after re-tuning the digi box in the bedroom and stumbling upon an episode on the newly acquired Sony TV channel (48) late one night which turned into being quite ecstatic when I realised that they were repeating the whole show all eleven series on weekday nights, well early mornings to be precise and therein lay the problem, four episodes a night from midnight. I was lucky to get to the end of the second each night before either falling asleep or being told to "turn that bloody telly off". Also after discussing the series with someone on Twitter I started to becoming increasingly annoyed with the canned laughter track. This had not been present when it was originally shown on BBC on I think a Wednesday night at 21:00 and I had successfully blocked it out until it had been brought to my attention.
As it was not going to be practical for me to watch all of the episodes I began to wonder if I should just record them all on the BT box downstairs but as it had already reached series 4 I decided that I would look and see if it would be possible to purchase the dvds of series 1-3, so I consulted Google, not only could I purchase all 11 series (260 episodes) and various specials on a 36 disc box set for the bargain price of £26, so I was sold before even reading that I could select to cut the laughter track from the sound, magic.
I am not sure how old I was when I started watching M*A*S*H first time, I couldn't have been that old but I must have at that time watching repeats as I can remember Col Blake and Trapper. I'm sure that I only partly understood it back then, I certainly didn't appreciate the subtlety, cleverness or excellent dialogue and it is certainly a lot darker then I remember.One thing I do remember from when I was a kid is that I was really upset at the last couple of episodes and now am not ashamed to admit I cried, although there is no way I would have admitted that as a fourteen or 15 yr old.
In 1992 the NME put out a a compilation album, Ruby Tracks, The Roaring 40 where they got 40 contemporary artist to cover classic UK #1 singles to commemorate 40 years of the publication. The album is worth owning for the Fall's version of The Legend of Xanadu alone. Other notable performances are Roddy Frame's (If Paradise Is) Half As Nice, Little Red Rooster by The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Manic Street Preachers rendition of The Theme From M.A.S.H which was also released as a single and reached #7 in the UK Charts.
Matthew Sweet had been in bands from the early 80s in his home town of Athens, Georgia, where he collaborated with a certain Michael Stipe and his sister in a band called the Oh-Ok. In 1985 Sweet went solo and signed with Columbia Records for whom he released a couple of albums. His debut Inside garnered critical acclaim but little in the way of sales. In 1989 he released a second album which fared just as badly as the first resulting in his being dropped by Columbia and to compound his woes his wife left him around the same time.
In 1990 he started work on the album which would eventually see the light of day under the title Girlfriend but which was initially titled Nothing Last. The title was changed due to the fact that Sweet wanted to use a picture of a 14 year old Tuesday Weld on the cover. Weld, those permission was sought for the use of the image, was in middle age at this time and although had no objection to the picture being used she did have reservation of the connotations around the use of the picture and the title and so Sweet changed it.
On it's release the album sold extremely well in the US and gave the artist the break he had been seeking. The theme of relationships in all their guises and Sweet's honest confessional lyrics struck a chord with the record buying public and critics alike.
From the first chord of the album's opening track, Divine Intervention I was hooked, the guitar sound has a very late 60s psychedelic feel to it and when it comes back in all to briefly after the false ending it never fails to give me shivers. Absolutely wonderful stuff that should have been a single.
The Contours were one of the early male singing groups to join Berry Gordy's Motown soon to be empire. However Gordy turned the group down the first time they auditioned for him. The bass singer Hubert Johnson, the bass singer was not going to take no for an answer and so visited his cousin, one Jackie Wilson who knew Gordy to ask if he could persuade the label owner to give them another chance which he did and after hearing the exact same songs as the first audition he signed the group to a 7 year contract. The group are probably best know for their million seller from 1962 Do You Love Me. My favourite track by them is Just A Little Misunderstanding, however this version of the Smokey Robinson penned, Temptations hit runs it a very close second. Prior to Richard Searling including the song on the first version of Tamla Motown Connoisseurs this was only ever available on a UK budget album from the early 70s.
I had a shock last week when I pulled out the album that today's track is from and realised that I had owned it for thirty six years! One of the best live albums from one of the most underrated guitarists ever. Also from an album recorded in parts somewhere that not too many people would go to back in the early 70s. Rory Gallagher did not ignore his many fans on both sides of the divide during "the troubles" and played Northern Ireland all through the 70s.
An extremely talented guitarist who sadly died way too soon.
There are two reasons that we need to end the working week with a complete banger this week.
Firstly, it has probably been one of the sairest, longest, most fucking awful weeks of the year and let's just celebrate that we have put it behind us.
The second reason is Andy Ryan has returned to Airdrie on loan from Dunfermline until the end of the season. ANDY FUCKING RYAN! I know that this will mean sweet F A to most of you but to me, a few hundred others and especially Leo this IS the second coming, Andy Ryan only made 32 appearances for the Diamonds between May 2016 and August 2017, however during that time he scored 24 goals.
You may not be aware of this but the might Airdrionians are doing no bad at the moment , sitting second, two points behind those pesky Raith Rovers. Lets hope the signing of Ryan, Leon McCann and others who have committed their futures to the club mean that we go into the second half of the league with stability and some well deserved confidence.
Have a good weekend people.
ANDY FUCKING RYAN!
Mighty Dub Katz - Magic Carpet Ride (Fatboy Slim Latin Ska Acid Breakbeat mix)
Very little is know about this track or the artist that recorded it. Deceived was the flip side of the 1966 single Feminine Ingenuity released on Gold Token Records out of Los Angeles in 1966. It was first aired on the Northern scene in the mid to late 1980s and if you were looking to buy a copy of this lovely bit of soul it would set you back upwards of £600.
In one of my moodier moments I could possibly describe today's long piece of music as |"meandering pish", it is however the sort of gentle, none too taxing kind of thing needed to ease in the next working decade.
Chocolate Hills is a side product of Alex Paterson's in collaboration with Paul Conboy . They released a rather lovely ambient album, A Pail of Air, last year. And At The Same Time was one of the two bonus tracks with the digital release. A word of warning if you are considering buying the vinyl album, so far both of my copies have had to be returned due to excess noise and in the case of the second one loads of shit in the grooves of the vinyl.
A bit late today, didn't get round to producing this post last night as I was trying to watch all of the Star Wars films prior to seeing the final one today.
Swiss Adam has posted tracks by Lindstrom the Norwegian producer in the past but I don't think that he has featured his epic reinterpretation of Little Drummer Boy before. This is not the kind of thing that you will play on a regular basis but if you have had your fill of the all the standard Christmas musical fayre this just might fit the bill. Sit back with a glass of egg nog or a pot of tea and let this 42 minute marathon inveigle itself into your consciousness. Stick with it, it is worth it.
It has been a very good, if somewhat expensive year on the music front. This year has seen me move even further towards psych and kraut influenced sounds of which there have been plenty. As ever a certain A.Weatherall makes an appearance and is the only person to have featured in every round up in the 10 years that this blog has been trying to force what in my arrogant opinion are the best tracks of the year, however this is the first year that he has been responsible for the top tune. I must have played his remix of Edge of Wonder at least 50 times and it still never fails to make me smile. However, if the Sault track had been released as a 7" it would probably have taken the top spot as it would have been flogged to death, if there was a tune of 2019 that warranted a release in that form at it was Let Me Go. I was lucky enough to get the last copy of the Jarv Is 12" one Saturday in July on one of my regular visits to Monorail.
There have been loads of those songs that have grabbed me this year but at the time of writing these are the ones from the notebook where I jot down songs that really make an impression on me. There will be a couple of glaring omissions as usual but that's just life.
1. Silver Apples - Edge of Wonder (Andrew Weatherall mix)
2. Sault - Let Me Go
3. Unloved - Boy & Girl
4. Glok - Dissident
5. L'Epee - Une Lune Etrange
6. Kate Tempest - People's Faces
7. Mattiel - Keep The Change
8. Jarv is - Must I Evolve
9. Chemical Brothers - Out Of Control (21 minutes of madness)
10. Karen O & Dangermouse - Lux Prima (full version)
11. Utopia Strong - Brain Surgeons 3
12. Cowgirl In Sweden - Blood Runs Cold
13. Les Big Byrd - Sno Golum
14.[Retreat] - Come With Us
15. Lo-Five - Life Without Fear
16. W.H. Lung - Simpatico People
17. Dallas Acid - The Spiral Arm
18. Self Esteem - The Best
19. Dream Division - Quantum Rip
20. Moon Duo - Lost Heads
21. Kungens Man - Man Med Medel
22. Four Tet - Anna Painting
23. Jenny Lewis - Hollywood Lawn
24. The Regrettes - California Friends
25. Post Human - Over The Great Red Eye
26. K.H. - Only Human
27. [Retreat] - One One One
28. Sendelica - Windmill (Chocolate Orb dubbed mix)
29. Black Doldrums - T-W-R-T-N-D-H (Broken Light mix)
30. Nick Waterhouse - Song For Winners
31. Sunray - Music For The Dream Machine - phase II (original mix)
32.Scott Fraser - Together More
33. The Action - Follow Me
34. The Cult of Free Love - Substance 2
35. Richard Fearless - Acid Angels
36. Moon Goose - The Mysterious Coffins of Arthur's Seat
37.Hannah Peel - The Moon In All It's Splendour
38. Psychic Lemon - Dark Matter
39. Meursault - Beaten
40.The Liminanas - Non, Non, Rien Na Change
All this talk of trying to get that Jarvis Cocker track to number one for Christmas, a sentiment and action that I heartily recommend even though I usually don't approve of this kind of thing, it's Christmas for fuck sake, lets try not be cynical for a wee while at least but what's the point of covering up or trying to hide the shit we are in at present. . . ,
Well it got me thinking of Nancy Sinatra and one of the songs that Jarvis wrote for her, Don't Let Him Waste Your Time and was included in the self titled album from 2004, which is a great album even the song written by Bonzo is tolerable. Jarvis later included a version of the song on his own first solo album.
This fine piece of 70's funk has been posted before but it was over five years ago and I feel it could do with another airing.
I know absolutely nothing about Brenda George other than what I have gleaned from Discogs and a couple of soul site and that doesn't amount to very much. Brenda released three singles between 1971 and the following year. I Can't Stand It was the flip side of the first of these 45s, What You See Is What You Get released on the Kent label in 1971 and for me is the strongest of the tracks. My copy is the re-release that came out on BGP in 2010.
I have bought far too many albums this year, quite a few if truth be told I will rarely play but at the time I believed were essential purchases. There were quite a few more that I was severely tempted by but resisted including all but two of the Stereolab reissues. While talking about reissues, one that I hummed and hawed about including in my top ten was I Trawl The Megahertz, an absolute treasure of an album that would have been high up the list. But it is a re-release even though this time it is under the Prefab Sprout moniker and not as when originally released a Paddy McAloon record. Another couple of records that would have been included I have no doubt if they had been released and purchased earlier in the year would have been Chef by Kungens Man and the Spiral Arm by Dallas Acid which have not been played enough yet to push out any of the ones on the list.
So here we go
10. Unloved - Heartbreak
The second album from David Holmes' collaboration with Keefus Ciancia and Jade Vincent bring us more soulful cinemascope tunes that conjour up visions of 60s psychedelia, twisted girl group sounds and coolness. Both and Girl is a song that I have been unable to get out of my head ever since I first heard it, it is such a beautifully sad song that does feel really familiar.
9. Cowgirl In Sweden
Another album that harks back to the late 60s, taking it's name from Lee Hazlewood's 1970 album Cowboys In Sweden and including a cover of a song by psychedelic folk band The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band. This album led me to Manchester's Whyte Horses, a revelation to these ears who those in the know say made this record and from there to the Justin Velor album released back in 2012 and well worth checking out. The Cowgirl In Sweden album is one for lazy summer days or sitting on a dank December night dreaming of warm, lazy summer days.
A gorgeous album which is apparently an exploration of advanced states of consciousness and shifts in perception. It is something that is best listened to as a whole but also works as individual tracks. It reminds me of the work of Jon Hopkins. It is also beautifully packaged and can be purchased from one time blogger, Colin Morrison's excellent Castles In Space label.
7. L'eppe - Diabolique
Does Anton Newcombe ever sleep? What with touring, producing for other people and releasing albums every year as part of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, he still finds time to start up a side project with Emmanuelle Seigner and the Liminanas. More 60s psych influences here with added drone.
6. The Utopia Strong - The Utopia Strong
I never thought I would ever be listening to an album recorded by Steve Davis, yes that Steve Davis. I knew that after snooker he had turned to the decks and had become a techno dj which had been a surprise as I thought that he was a bit of a Northern Soul man. But part of a trio making modern kosmiche, nah, no way. But yes and incredibly good experimental 70s German influenced music it is too and once again wonderfully packaged.
5. Nick Waterhouse - Nick Waterhouse
On album number four Nick Waterhouse gives us more music for men in sharp suits and women in minidresses grooving in smokey dim light after hours clubs. If it ain't broke. . . don't fuck about with it.
4. Glok - Dissident
Balearic, techno krautrock from the guitarist in Ride? Fuck off!
No, listen, it is absolutely magic
About as likely as a 6 times snooker world champion playing modular synths.
3. [Retreat] - Retreat
Collaboration by Lyndon Scarfe from The Black Lamps and Sam Horton another resident off Barnsley who have teamed up to make an album that on listening to the first track you think is just going to be another of those ambient things that take bits of dialogue from space missions and drench them with synth sounds to create a "soundscape" but fuck me no, it twists and turns from "Yorkshire's answer to MES" ranting over a pounding beat through distorted brass, foreboding synths and culminating in a track to accompany some cataclysmic event. This is what Twitter is for, finding musicians that are making amazing music that would otherwise have passed me by. Well that and Momentum and fascist baiting.
2. Dream Division - Transcend
More music to soundtrack a nightmare. This time a John Carpenteresque Sci-Fi Horror. More analogue synths and psychedelic sounds from the Polyphonic Youth label.
1. Karen O & Danger Mouse - Lux Prima
I can't put my finger on just why I like this album more than anything else I have bought this year I just know that I do. The production is immaculate as you would expect, the album as a whole has a dreamy feel to it and flits from the almost symphonic title track through the disco like Turn The Light to the cinematic end title sounds of Nox Lumina, taking in hip hop beats here and four to the floor northern stomping there and garage guitars for good measure.
Tune in on Saturday for the Tracks of My Year, if you are remotely interested.
Back in 2007 Will Carruthers made two cds available by mail order that consisted of outtakes and rehearsals of early Spiritualized recordings. On the communication regarding the Blue and Blue compilation he stated
"This will be the last of these
I feel that it hurts nobody
It is very limited, and I guess, is of specific interest to a small, but loyal following, only a percentage of who will actually buy it.
You, presumably want to hear it, and I, finally make a little return on the
work that I put into these songs all those years ago,
I really enjoyed listening to this cd and it brought back some of the good times that I had whilst being involved with thee making of this music
I hope you find something you like.
If you could bear not to make these freely available to share for a month or so, you might give me the opportunity to flee the country before i am crushed like a bug by some monolithic organisation
Thank You
Will Carruthers"
Here from the first Spiritualized rehersal is a version of Sometimes which appeared on the final Spacemen 3 album recurring
I absolutely adore this tune and always have since I first heard it, over a decade ago now. And it gives me a glow and a big grin comes across my coupon after I've dug the single out off the boxes in the cupboard on the half landing put it on the turntable and Leo wanders around the house singing this but it also causes an ache in my heart for obvious reasons.
Make tiny changes and hopefully a rather large one on Thursday. Here's hoping.
Most probably the only song recorded to namecheck a Scottish referee, well until somebody records "Who's The Mason In The Black?" anyway but that doesn't actually put a name to one, although I know a few people who could list many that they suspect but I digress. Mogwai did not only record a song about a referee but a an official who it appeared to me had a great dislike for my team, a failing that he passed down to his first born, although I think the son is just pish and incompetent rather than having an agenda although I could be wrong.
For the first two days of my honeymoon I was left to my own devices, Lynn having caught a pretty bad case of food poisoning from calamari on the evening of our arrival in Barcelona. The first day between running back to the hotel every couple of hours to check on her I spent most of my time and a wee bit of our money wandering about the record shops of the city of which at the time there were plenty. On the second day I decided to seek out and maker a pilgrimage to Camp Nou as I knew that Lynn would not be in the slightest bit interested in going there once she had recovered. When I eventually found it I discovered that on the Wednesday night there was a Champions League game against Dynamo Kiev. I thought that this would be a great introduction to football for Lynn, who at the time had never been to a football match and duly handed over about a third of our remaining holiday funds on two tickets for the game.
I wouldn't say Lynn was ecstatic at the prospect when I returned to the hotel and told her where we would be going on a couple of nights time but she didn't explode either which I took as a good sign although was probably due to the after effects of the recent food poisoning.
So on the Wednesday night we arrived at the stadium and climbed and climbed and climbed up to near the very top of the stadium behind one goal and sat down. When the announcer after listing the teams that night got to the officials I nearly chocked on my beer as we were informed that the referee for the evening was one Hugh Dallas from Scotland! Was there no hiding place from the man from Bonkle.
The score I hear you ask, what was the score? Sadly this was not a classic Barcelona line-up under the management of Louis van Gaal and they were gubbed 0 - 4, with up and coming Andre Shevchenko netting a hattrick.
Lynn has yet to attend another football match. Every time I suggest accompanying me and Leo to The Penny Cabs Stadium she just laughs for some reason.
Here's a repost of a repost. I really want to get the Friday posts back up and running but just haven't found the inspiration yet, so I thought I would post a selection of previous ones and see if that gets me going.
Today's posting is a re-post from the very early days of the blog April 2009 as I haven't had a chance to think of anything for today, Back then it wasn't a It's Friday . . Let's Dance post .
Have a good weekend people.
By 1990 the acid house party was well and truly over what with the adverse publicity, the hounding of promoters and the fact that every single seemed to come with an acid house remix, stick a couple of wobbly 303 sounds on your record and you were sorted. Dance music, however was going from strength to strength. It seemed to be fragmenting into dozens of sub genres,a new one created every week or so, this record responsible for one of those. Then there was indie dance, dance music that the NME and thousands of students could identify with as it still had guitars. Every white rock band seemed to name drop influential dance producers and state in interviews that there had always been a dance element to their music or some such shit. I first heard Testone in the early hours one Sunday morning. When it was dropped, I remember that it stopped me in my tracks, one of those "what the fuck is that!" moments, as I hadn't heard anything quite like before. If my memory serves me right (which is debatable, as a lot of the details around this period are hazy) I wasn't the only one, I think that half of the club were motionless with a mixture of bafflement and awe on their faces, Bleep Techno had been born. All of Sunday and for much of the next week I couldn't get the track out of my head and would go on and on about this amazing tune that I had heard to anyone that would listen, I really am quite a boring git. When I eventually got hold of the track and played it to a couple of friends all they could say is "is that it?". As I've said before some people just didn't get it. Testone was released on the Sheffield based label Warp, in my view the most influential and innovative of all the UK techno labels. It was a collaboration between Richard H Kirk of Cabaret Voltaire and DJ Parrot and took their name from the title of a 70s Curtis Mayfield album.
This track from the American soul singer and actress from Havre De Grace, Maryland was included on the double Big City Soul compilation released on the excellent Goldmine Soul Supply label. A lovely mid tempo piece of sophisticated 60s soul. First date was pencilled in for inclusion in a subsequently unissued lp on Wand.
There has been a lot of new music floating about recently that has grabbed not least from an old blogger's label, Castles In Space, more of which later in the week. But today we will have a look at a collaboration between Lydon Scarfe from The Black Lamps and his friend Sam Horton, It has been described as an ambient album but it is oh so much more. I think that Memorial Device's quote on Twitter from Big Patty "from now on music has to sound like a building coming down or forget it" is pretty apt. You can buy the download of the album for three quid and the cd for £8 from here. A purchase you will not regret. I guarantee.
Today's track is a bit different from those that have graced this slot over the past few months. Will I Ever Be Inside You is the title track of the second album by Paul Quinn and The Independent Group and something of a lost classic. The band consisted of some of the great and the good of Scottish music, with members of Aztec Camera, The Commotions, The Bluebells, Del Amitri, Postcard label boss Alan Horne and of course in Quinn himself the voice of Bourgie Bourgie. And what a voice it is, lush deep and hugely melancholic. Although Will I Ever does not quite reach the heights of Stupid Thing it is a song that should be known and recognised a lot more widely than it is. The whole album is ripe for re-release, in my opinion anyway.
I have posted this track a couple of times over the nearly 11 years that this blog has spluttered on. But I think that it's about time it was featured again. It will take a bit of commitment from anybody who is minded to listen to it as it lasts for 28 minutes. The track just builds and builds, layering sounds upon sounds over an underlying drone. it's all fuzzy, blurry, sweet white noise which sucks you in and before you know it nearly half an hour has passed and there is nothing else to do but to press repeat.
I just wish that this had been released on a physical format although that would probably not fit in with the ethereal nature of the track.
You just know he means it when Ronnie sings " cause my love is so strong" , he certainly puts his heart and soul into his rendition of this Ashford and Simpson penned song released on Scepter in 1965. I love everything about this record, the backing vocals, the dramatic backing, the lot. Magic stuff.
Btw, Ronnie is actually a very well known Country and Western artist. Bet you would never have guessed that?
And I don't care what Gary Mullholland says in "Fear of Music", for me it still sounds as good as it did when I was an angsty 16 year old looking for a band to call my own.
I'm not sure what it is about Austin, Texas, it could be something in the water or the proximity to Mexico but more than a few bands that are "out-there" or experimental bands seem to hail from there, going back to the 13th Floor Elevators through to The Black Angels and Thousand Foot Whale Claw. Recently I have found a new one to add to the list, Dallas Acid, a trio who have just released there latest album, The Spiral Arm. The album started off as a live performance at the Planetarium in San Antonio as the soundtrack to a visual journey to the Cosmos, you don't get much more outthere than that.
Unfortunately the version of the title track is somewhat edited in the YouTube clip below as the album version is nine and a half minutes low and can be listened to in it's entirety and purchased here.
Digging out the John Prine track for yesterday's post inevitably led me to today's as it is a cover of a track from the Illinois singer's first album. This particular rendition comes from a gig that I have mentioned a couple of time before on the blog, the Big Day, June 3rd 1990 when between 250 000 and 400 000 revellers wandered about various venues in Glasgow and caught some of the largest pop and rock acts of the time at George Square, Glasgow Green, The People's Palace and Custom House Quay on the Broomielaw where some of us were lucky to if not wholly witness at least hear the coming together of a major rock, star an indie heroine and the Big Nosed Bard from Barking covering Hello In There as well as earlier catching Aly Bain giving it big licks on his fiddle,
What a day that was!
Natalie Merchant had recorded Hello In There as a b-side to the 12" version of Eat For Two the previous year but I have always thought that the backing was way to jaunty for the song. See what you think.
I'm not sure how good for the psyche on a Monday morning a song about a crumbling marriage and a double murder is but this has got to be one of the most upbeat tunes to go along with some of the darkest lyrics that I know. The original of Lake Marie can be found on Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings released in 1995. I don't own as much by John Prine as I think I should do. I do have his eponymous first album, a copy of which every house should own I think.
I really wish that this tune would have fitted in with the Monday theme but it is two damned short, it should be at least three times as long as it is. All About Satellites and Spaceships is the opening title track from the debut album by 7% Solution from Austin Texas. The rest of the album is typical of the shoegaze sound and not too bad but didn't grab me the way this does, although there is very little to it, I find that when I play it I tend to just stop what I'm doing and really listen for some reason
Like SA over at the Bagging Area, I also saw Moon Duo last week. Not in Manchester but at a new venue for me BAAD (Barras Art and Design) behind the famous Ballroom and across the road from ST Lukes. I had attended a couple of record fairs there but not a gig and it turned out to be a great we venue. I will not be giving you an in depth review of the night as I could not compete with Adam's excellent piece from last Wednesday, suffice to say it was fucking magic. Although I think it would have worked in a seated venue what with the lightshow and me getting on a bit but that's a personal preference and has hew haw to do with the performance.
High Over Blue was an unused track from the sessions for the Circles album which was released on a limited single sided 12" single for the Belgian label Sleeperhold Records and on a second disc on the Australian edition of Circles. It is for all intents and purposes a sprawling jam drenched in reverb, noodley guitar solos and undecipherable muffled vocals but we are not averse to long improvised jams hereabouts.
Not a bad way to spend twenty one and three quarter minutes on a Monday.
At 15:00 twenty two years ago today I made possibly the best decision I have ever made. On that crisp November day I said yes and married Lynn. There have been loads of ups and downs since, some huff, shouting matches and more than one disagreement over the merits of the Fall and MES in particular but I haven't once regretted that decision,
