The Trip

The Trip isn't a cover of my favourite Kim Fowley track which has been featured here in the past but the flip side of the only single, "I Know", the only release by Park Avenue Playground, a bunch of kids at the time hailing from Lansing, Illinois  The track was recorded in an old theatre and is a furiously paced fuzz guitar, mad sound effects and lyrics suggesting that this bunch had taken a trip or two. The band had 500 copies of the single pressed in 1969 for distribution and the single came to the attention of the Chicago label USA Records who unsuccessfully tried to sign the band who disappeared without trace after that. 

Park Avenue Playground - The Trip

Time Out

Over the past few months I have found that during the day I just need to take some time out and just sit there, select something comforting, stare off into the middle distance and try to soothe my increasingly troubled soul.  Kathryn Williams cover of Thirteen, one of the most heartachingly beautiful songs about first love ever usually does the trick either that or it makes me even more maudlin and then the day is shot to pieces and I go down the rabbit hole of That Summer Feeling, IMy Favourite Girl, Go Now, The Day Before You Came etc. 

You pays your money and  you takes your chances

Kathryn Williams - Thirteen

Monday's Long Song

I'm not sure if something can be both ambient and techno but if it can then this is a prime example of that sub genre. Time Square came out in 1994 and is something of a lost classic in my opinion. It's not a record that I have heard many people talk about in the intervening twenty six years, maybe because nobody could categorise it, it didn't find an audience or maybe it was a huge record just not in the circles I frequented. At times I think it is quite similar to the kind of stuff that Basic Channel were producing but it doesn't have that hard edge that you will find on that imprint. The original release comprised of three parts and over 50 minutes of music on one 12" piece of vinyl, the repress from 2018 which I own only has parts 1 & 2 and lasts for 38 minutes. The record came out of Cologne and was apparently made using second hand drum machines and broken keyboards by Igmar Koch and Can Oral. No matter how it was made it is a masterpiece. 

G.E.N. - Time Square (part 1)

Monday's Long Song

 

This was supposed to be posted on the 25th October on Keeping It Peel Day but to my shame I forgot all about it. Feel So Sad was first released as a track on Jason Pierce's side of the final Spaceman 3 album Recurring but came into it's own when it was rerecorded and release as the second Spiritualized single and especially on the extremely extended extremely chilled Rhapsodies version on the a-side of the 12" single which I have posted on here more than once. This version as you may have suspected due to when I was going to post it was one of the tracks in the first of the two sessions that Spiritualized recorded for the John Peel Show which was recorded 21/01/95 and was broadcast on 14/03/92 This version is a bit more upbeat that the 12" single version and is just the thing for a Monday morning.

As I am in a good mood I have also included the outtake version from the Peel Session which was available on the Friendly Fire cd which could be purchased from Will Carruthers in 2006  This was not included as it was exactly the same as the Peel session version when I listened to them both together

Spiritualized - Feel So Sad (Peel Session) 

The Strength (Within)

 

A few weeks ago I featured the new collaboration from Charles Webster and Burial, The Spell. This sent me back to revisit some of Webster's past work and since then the All System's Gone album under his Presence guise has taken up squatters rights. The album includes contributions from Matthew Herbert and vocalists Shara Nelson, Sara Jay and Steve Edwards. When it came out the album received good reviews, an 11/10 from Dj Magazine and was dubbed "probably the first classic record of the 21st Century" by Allmusic, a lost classic I think as I have never heard that many people rave about it sadly. I did read somewhere that this album was one of the influences when Burial was making his debut album. The Strength Within, is one of my favourite tracks on the album, but not really typical of it =, my only issue is that it is too short.

Presence - The Strength (Within) 

Black Rabbit

 I do like a good cover version and this is a belter, a dub version of a psychedelic masterpiece. Prince Fatty's interpretation of Jefferson Airplane's arguably most famous song came out a month or so ago and if you 're quick you may be able to bag a copy of the 7" single here. For me a great cover version is one which doesn't sound forced or contrived and Black Rabbit with a sublime vocal from Shniece McMenamin, if you didn't know better would think has always been a Dub Reggae track. Has Prince Fatty invented a new sub genre Psychedelic Dub? This has got me wondering what other late 60s counte culture sounds would sound great dubbed up. I think that some of the tracks I have featured in the Monday slot from this era would be ripe for this kind of treatment.

Prince Tubby & Shniece - Black Rabbit 

Monday's Long Song

 An apt song for the start of the week from the Danish proggers Papir, released on the ever excellent El Paraiso records. Not really much more to add this morning.

Papir - Monday 

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance (In A Socially Distant Manner)

 Here's a belter of a Garage track from twenty six years ago, although it does not sound that old to me. I Miss You is the first track on Joey Musaphia first volume of his Cover Up series. The vocal sample is nicked from I Miss You by Juliet Roberts.

In football news, Leo and I watched one of the finest Airdrie performances for quite some time on Saturday when the Diamonds gubbed Clyde five nothing, from the comfort of the living room. It was quite infuriating really as I missed the first three, distracted by other things and of course as like being at the game Diamonds TV does not do action replays and so I had to wait until the highlights were available to see them. The team were on fire on Saturday, however it was back to default in the cup against Edinburgh City on Wednesday night going down one nil to the visitors. Tomorrow they take on Livingston away in the same cup and I'm hoping that they can get something out of it.

Have a good weekend and stay safe people.

Joey Musaphia - I Miss You 

Mountain Energie

Sometimes a bit of the Fall is all that you need. 

The Fall - Mountain Energie  

Lest We Forget

 

In Memory Of

Cpl Andrew Wingate

Pvt James Little 

Pink Floyd - The Gunner's Dream

What Difference Does It Make

 No, not that one.

 This song is from a different era entirely. I don't know anything about Kenny Shepard apart from the fact that he recorded this lovely Van McCoy penned song  which was released on the New York label,  Maxx  Records in 1964. This is the kind of slow tempo end of the night track in the same vein as Ray Pollard's Drifter or Bobby Paris' I Walked Away. Pure class 

Kenny Shepard - What Difference Does It Make

Monday's Long Song

I wonder what this week has install for us all. It will take a lot to be more momentous than last week which turned out all right in the end except for the fact that I got a phone call late on Friday from my voice and it looks like I am going to have quite a hectic run up to Christmas and beyond! 

Here is an absolutely lovely, lengthy piece of Tech House from the Cologne duo the Pachanga Boys. If you are lucky enough to own the 12" Girlcatcher ep from 2011, take good care of it as the cheapest copy on Discogs is £655.95. Not quite sure it is worth that kind of money but this is a pretty good way to ease your way into a Monday morning.

Pachanga Boys - Time (Extended Mix)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance (In A Socially Distant Manner)

 

I was unaware of the existence of Dua Lipa prior to the middle of this year, my finger is certainly not on the pulse these days. What changed my ignorance was being sent a copy of his remix of Don't Start Now by Fear-E, Scot Mackay to his maw, he is a House dj and producer from Glasgow responsible for one of my favourite releases of the year. I did a wee bit of research on Dua Lipa and found out that prior to venturing into music she was a model (of course she was) and it turns out she has been quite successful at the singing thing, her 2018 song One Kiss becoming the longest running number one single for a female artist, which is quite impressive until you here it, it's horrible. Be The One which I actually quite like but will leave it there. It's not really music for me after all. I do however really like Fear E's remix of Don't Start Now.

Football is back folks but not as we know it. Instead of sitting in my seat I an now on my third streamed game watched on Leo's big telly in his cowp of a bedroom. It's not easy seeing your seat empty, it is quite frustrating as is watching Airdrie at the moment. Last week's  2-0 defeat to Dumbarton was a game in point, there wasn't really two goals of a difference in the teams but the visitors took their chances and were fortunate with the deflection that resulted in the second goal, the Diamonds were not able to do anything in the final third of the park sadly. Let us hope that tomorrow's game, also at home against Clyde will be better, we shall see but it doesn't look like that optimistic bet at the start of the season to win the league was at all realistic.

Have a good weekend and stay safe people.

Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now (Fear E's Dancing With Someone Remix)

Sarmacja

 Got up this morning and it has become apparent that there are a hell of a lot of really fucking thick people in the world. I have no further words

Here is a recent Orb remix of Polish experimental musicians Sarmacja. You can buy the record for a very reasonable £10 here

Sarmacja - Olimpijczyk (The Orb's Oak Island Remix)

Little Nicky Soul

 

A lot of the tracks that become well known on the Northern Soul scene come from artists who little if anything is know of. It is a testament to the obsession of the collectors on the scene that they can't just leave it like that. A case in point is todays track, I Wanted To Tell You by Little Nicky Soul which I first heard as part of the For Millionaires Only Vol 4 and then on a repro 7". On the sleevenotes of the cd it states that the record comes out of the Bronx in NYC, possibly never received a full release and is described as "obscure and then some".

I decided to dig a little deeper and see if any further details could be found. there is a great thread on the Soul Source website, which can be found here, where more details about the record come to light, including the owners of the label, the arranger and even a post from a step-daughter of Nicholas Faircloth, for that turns out to be singer's name, where she tell of her father's stories of when he was in the music business which his kids all believed to be just that, stories. However, the now departed "Little Nicky Soul" brief sojourn into the music business has left us with one cracker of a single. It is just sad that he never knew how much his record is appreciated on the rare soul scene with a copy commanding at least a grand and a half.

Little Nicky Soul - I Wanted To Tell You 

Monday's Long Song

 I really don't have much to say at the moment, my head is all over the place and am finding it incredible difficult to focus on anything. I think that a lot of it has to do with the shit show that is going on but I'm not going to get into that on a Monday morning. The start of the week is hard enough as it is. 

I don't know anything about Fjordfunk, I bought this limited edition as it was on the same label as The Long Champs and I am so glad that I did. All I need to say is, you could imagine this being dropped by Weatherall in an ALFOS set and the cd includes a remix by Weatherall's partner in that particular venture Sean Johnston. It is still available for download from the usual outlets, Juno, Boomkat etc and therefore the download function is not available but the two tracks are worth a couple of quid of anybody's money.

FjordFunk - It's All Black 

Side 1 Track 1

 

Taking a bit of a different turn today with this as it isn't the first track by a particular artist/band from their first album but I could not allow the passing of Jose Padilla to go unnoticed on this blog.

To say that the Cafe del Mar album was a seminal point in modern club culture would be a bit of an understatement as this album not only launched a series of excellent compilations with that title but it also spawned at least a thousand pale imitations all of which seemed to contain either At The River by Groove Armada or Sneaker Pimps 6 Underground. It is easy to smirk and be disdainful about it now but back in 1994 there was nothing like the Cafe del Mar compilation and for me then and still to this day an album that is reached for in the early hours although in recent years not post clubbing but more likely during occasional bouts of insomnia. As you can see from the battered state of my cover above it has been pulled from the shelves pretty often. Everybody these days has released an after hours all back to mine post club chill out selection it seems and most of them owe their track listings back to Jose, they may not contain actual tracks that he had played but they will all contain tracks that prior to the Cafe Del Mar series people would have baulked at seeing on the same sleeve, some current dance act next to some jazz funk guitarist or 60s blue eyed soul singer.  

We all know the legend of Jose Padilla and the Cafe del Mar, the only place to be in Ibiza when the sun was setting into the ocean to an impeccable soundtrack purposefully picked by the DJ originally from Barcelona who turned up on the white isle and never left. 

That first compilation is a belter from the off with a Padilla composed track which sets the tone for the 11 tunes that follows, slow bpms, a laid back groove and that late night/early morning vibe of decompressing from the events just past. The album ebbs and flows like the waves of a good stone. From the  incredible beatless mix of Smokebelch II, through the very strange (on first listen) Music For A Found Harmonium, the gorgeousness of Estelle to the final Sunset At The Cafe del Mar you will not find a better curated "chill out" album , as my friend from Oban who loves this series would say. 

I only purchased the first two volumes of the Cafe del Mar series, as now that Jose had supplied the blue print, I would compile my own "early hours" sessions with my decks and mixer and my own impeccable taste, the "Maestro", never included Small Hours, Memories of Green or Finale from Once Upon A Time In America on his albums after all. 

Rest Easy Jose and thank you for all the great tunes and introducing the greatness of John Martyn to the raving generation. 

Jose Padilla - Agua

Jose Padilla 

04/12/1955 - 18/10/2020

Emily Capell

 I had never even heard of Emily Cappell until a few weeks ago when on Twitter somebody posted possibly the worst cover version this side of Michael Bolton's travesty of a cover of the Otis Redding posthumous classic (Sittin' On) The Dock of The Bay. It was Miley Cyrus attempting Heart of Glass and somebody posted the Youtube clip below to show how a Blondie cover should be done. Which had me searching the internet for more music by this obviously extremely talented young woman. It turns out that she has been making music for 10 years, I really am getting later to the party as I get older and has released one album, Combat Frock, with a title like that it must be good, right? Yes it is very good with witty, sharp lyrics, the music a mixture of poppy punk, ska and some good old fashioned Rock n Roll. Lots to like. With influences from Dolly Parton to Joe Strummer that can be found on this cd that is also a lot of fun. The final track Ode To Uncle Moz is so on the nose. 

Worth checking out.

Monday's Long Song

 

One thing that I have discovered about a lot of these "new" well new to me anyway,  European psych bands is how prolific they are. They make a mockery of Mark E Smith's legendary work rate. Which makes it quite difficult for the newcomer when trying to get into the bands. Take Zone Six for example, I found this German band a few months ago after hearing a track from their 2015 Love Monster album which really gripped me and so I thought I would check them out on the oracle that is Discogs and to my despair it appears that they have released 27 albums in 21 years! Granted most of these are live but still it is quite an output.

Today's track comes from the previously mentioned Love Monster album consists of 4 lengthy instrumental, fuzzed up improvisations (I think) which really hit the spot. I could have picked any of the tracks as they are all excellent examples of this genre that I just can't get enough of at the moment. The Insight is one of the two shorter tracks on the album clocking in at just over 8 minutes and is a guitar and synth lead wall of sound that just builds and builds and meanders through one's head without ever getting boring.

I recently added last year's Kozmik Koon studio album to to complement Love Monster and it is of equal quality with three long tunes and two that clock in at under 4 minutes.

Zone Six - The Insight

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance (In A Socially Distant Way)

 I was a bit late to the party (eight bloody years) with regards to Paranoid London and wouldn't have gotten there at all if it hadn't been for my nephew Lewis dropping off some cds for me to have a listen to at the start of lockdown which included the recent 2nd album by the unknown to me anyway London production duo. So I put the cd in the tray pressed play and sat back expecting to be underwhelmed. But from the off I had to sit up and pay attention, the squidgy sounds coming out of the speakers reacting to something deep within my brain and giving me shivers.  The sound was very much a nod back to the heady, intoxicating days of early house and especially the 303 driven, sparse sounds of Chicago but with a fresh take, there is nothing stale about the sounds here. So it was straight onto Discogs to find out what other delights were to be found from the Paranoid London stable. 12" singles going back to 2012 in collaboration with Paris Brightledge, no less and another self titled album released in 2014 which was duly ordered and when it arrived sounded even better than the album released last year , magic stuff.  Lovin You (Ah Shit) is one of the many treasures with the album. 

The Scottish First Division campaign kicks off tomorrow, with Airdrie playing host to Peterhead to an even more empty stadium than usual. As a season ticket holder I will be sitting in the comfort of either the living room or my cupboard/office hoping that the Diamonds can get three points from the first game and for the duration wishing that we were able to be there in person to talk rubbish with Stiff, Wullie, John and the guys that sit round about us but I can't see that returning anytime soon and I suppose that we have to be grateful to be able to watch the game in some form. 

Have a good weekend and stay safe people.

Paranoid London featuring DJ Genesis - Lovin You (Ahh Shit)

* forgot to mention above that Quinn Whalley, one half of Paranoid London was also one half of Slacker who's debut single, Painkiller was released on Sabres of Paradise way back when.