Watched 'Performance' on DVD last night, for only the second time after watching it with Ady and a four pack of John Smiths sometime around 1985.
What a demented film...the first half is a fairly straightforward London gangster schtick, followed by Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg floating around in their pants eating mushrooms and messing with James Fox's head. The soundtrack is brilliant, I have always loved 'Memo From Turner', a great lost Stones single with some brilliant Ry Cooder guitar, but I couldn't remember the sequence when it turns up in the film.
So...I got to thinking about my top 10 favourite film soundtracks, which I guess rather predictably are almost identical to my top 10 films, but maybe that tells us something about what I look for in a good movie..
1. Paris Texas - Ry Cooder. I didn't realise this until yesterday, but the soundtrack to Performance features a rudimentary version of 'Dark Was the Night', which Cooder later used as the musical thread for the Paris Texas OST, much copied ever since.
2. Mo Better Blues - Brandford Marsalis. Not a great film, but some splendid music...most Spike Lee movies have terrific music, Do The Right Thing coming a very close second to this.
3. Repo Man - Black Flag, Iggy Pop, The Plugz, Circle Jerks. A perfect marriage of sound and vision!
4. The Big Lebowski - various. Features a tremendous latin version of Hotel California, and should be renowned for giving unfashionable mid period Bob Dylan some much needed exposure via The Man In Me.
5. The Last Picture Show - old time country. Helped me to see the light, where Hank Williams was concerned.
6. The Blues Brothers - all sorts, but especially John Lee Hooker. Worth it for the Hooker track alone, but some great stuff from Sam and Dave and Aretha too.
7. Withnail and I. If only for the Hendrix-accompanied driving home sequence...'I'm making time...!'
8. Manhatten / A Clockwork Orange / 2001 a Space Oddysey - the music for these films had obviously been written way before they were directed, but it's hard to imagine Woody / Alex / Hal 9000 with different accompaniment.
9. Eraserhead - only joking. the soundtrack is one of the scariest things about it...
10. The Wicker Man - 'on that tree there was a branch, and on that branch there was a twig...' etc...
11. This Is Spinal Tap. My favourite track? Hard to say...but 'Sex Farm' has a sensitive lyric...'hosing down your barn door....don't you see my silo risin' high?'
11.7.07
Sweet Pretty Country Acid House Music
And so to St Albans, last Friday, for an evening in the company of Alabama 3.
I hoofed it down on the train straight from work, and met up with Jim and Graham at the Lower Red Lion for a few pre-gig beers.
The venue was not in any sense sold out - lots of room to move, and a fairly reserved crowd, at first. For the first time in perhaps a decade I found myself 'down the front', and I had a splendid time, the new material sounded terific, the band looked great in their new white safari suits, and it was good to see the Revered D Wayne Love playing a more active role than on recent tours when he seemed content to puff on a Tony Soprano cigar and weave about the stage mugging for the audience. His wife now features as an occasional singer, complementing the excellent Devlin Love.
Looking forward to testifying again in Sept / Oct...
thanks to Jim for the pic (one of 750 taken on the night...)
Next stop Mogwai and Malcolm Middelton tomorrow night outdoors in that London. It's a non stop whirl of gig going, let me tell you...
I hoofed it down on the train straight from work, and met up with Jim and Graham at the Lower Red Lion for a few pre-gig beers.
The venue was not in any sense sold out - lots of room to move, and a fairly reserved crowd, at first. For the first time in perhaps a decade I found myself 'down the front', and I had a splendid time, the new material sounded terific, the band looked great in their new white safari suits, and it was good to see the Revered D Wayne Love playing a more active role than on recent tours when he seemed content to puff on a Tony Soprano cigar and weave about the stage mugging for the audience. His wife now features as an occasional singer, complementing the excellent Devlin Love.
Looking forward to testifying again in Sept / Oct...
thanks to Jim for the pic (one of 750 taken on the night...)
Next stop Mogwai and Malcolm Middelton tomorrow night outdoors in that London. It's a non stop whirl of gig going, let me tell you...
8.7.07
You Know I've Been Thinking About Not Coming Down
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=F2Rds8m7GMA
terrific slow buring Spiritualized clip...
5.7.07
I'm a Self Destructive Fool
I am a big fan of Loudon Wainwright III.
Tonight, the iPod machine hit upon 'Swimming Song', which is one of my favourites of his, but one I hadn't heard for ages...
I think the first time I heard Loudon - or 'Loud' to his mum - was when Jim and I were hiking in Derbyshire. We were holed up in a pub in a village somewhere on the outskirts of Matlock, too weary to walk the last few miles into town, in the ceaseless rain. It seemed that we had missed the last bus out of the village, and we were facing a dreary trudge into Matlock. We were half heartedly hitchhiking on the road out of the village, when a guy in an estate car pulled up and offered us a lift into town. He was playing some whiny voiced bloke on the tape machine, and on enquiry we were advised that we were listening to the great LW3. We struck up a rapport with our driver, who insisted on dropping us at the Matlock youth hostel, and waiting outside until it was clear that they had spare beds. A true gentleman.
Saw Loudon in concert not too long after that, with Jim and Dan at the Concert Hall in Nottingham. He's great live - songs which can seem earnest and maudlin on record are transformed into hilarious monologues on the stage - When I'm At Your House being a memorable example.
At certain points during the concert Wainwright would produce a yello slip of paper from his shirt breast pocket, consult it momentarily, then fold it and replace it. I assumed that it was his set list, or the lyrics to a new song, but I later read an interview where he claimed that it was a note from his analyst (LW3 is notoriously neurotic). Apparently the message was 'You are a good person! You're doing a great job!' I'm thinking of taking something similar to work with me...
Tonight, the iPod machine hit upon 'Swimming Song', which is one of my favourites of his, but one I hadn't heard for ages...
I think the first time I heard Loudon - or 'Loud' to his mum - was when Jim and I were hiking in Derbyshire. We were holed up in a pub in a village somewhere on the outskirts of Matlock, too weary to walk the last few miles into town, in the ceaseless rain. It seemed that we had missed the last bus out of the village, and we were facing a dreary trudge into Matlock. We were half heartedly hitchhiking on the road out of the village, when a guy in an estate car pulled up and offered us a lift into town. He was playing some whiny voiced bloke on the tape machine, and on enquiry we were advised that we were listening to the great LW3. We struck up a rapport with our driver, who insisted on dropping us at the Matlock youth hostel, and waiting outside until it was clear that they had spare beds. A true gentleman.
Saw Loudon in concert not too long after that, with Jim and Dan at the Concert Hall in Nottingham. He's great live - songs which can seem earnest and maudlin on record are transformed into hilarious monologues on the stage - When I'm At Your House being a memorable example.
At certain points during the concert Wainwright would produce a yello slip of paper from his shirt breast pocket, consult it momentarily, then fold it and replace it. I assumed that it was his set list, or the lyrics to a new song, but I later read an interview where he claimed that it was a note from his analyst (LW3 is notoriously neurotic). Apparently the message was 'You are a good person! You're doing a great job!' I'm thinking of taking something similar to work with me...
1. This summer I went swimming,
This summer I might have drowned
But I held my breath and I kicked my feet
And I moved my arms around, I moved my arms around.
2. This summer I swam in the ocean,
And I swam in a swimming pool,
Salt my wounds, chlorine my eyes,
I'm a self-destructive fool, a self-destructive fool.
3. This summer I swam in a public place
And a resevoir, to boot,
At the latter I was informal,
At the former I wore my suit, I wore my swimming suit.
4. This summer I did the backstroke
And you know that's not all
I did the breast stroke and the butterfly
And the old Australian crawl, the old Australian crawl.
5. This summer I did swan dives
And jackknifes for you all
And once when you weren't looking
I did a cannonball, I did a cannonball.
3.7.07
Pass Me My Pipe and Slippers
The latest issue of Mojo was on the doorstep for me tonight, and what a cavalcade of fun it is.
In a fit of pique, which has turned out to be quite justified, I cancelled my subscription last month. I was fed up with endless retread articles on classic rock acts, and crappy 'tribute' cds.
Turns out I had paid up for the next three issues, so I continue to be offered articles on tired old eighties cash cows like The Police, who are featured heavily in the latest issue. What a tired and humourless bunch of old hacks they were.
Then we get page after page devoted to Genesis (the boring Phil Collins fronted version, who have also recently reformed to their bank managers' glee). Then more wistful bobbins about Jeff Buckley, a piece on Frank Sinatra, an interview with Yoko Ono, and I was searching for anything remotely connected to the 21st century. Then I found it - the album of the month...is Interpol.
It's enough to make an old man reach for the NME...
In a fit of pique, which has turned out to be quite justified, I cancelled my subscription last month. I was fed up with endless retread articles on classic rock acts, and crappy 'tribute' cds.
Turns out I had paid up for the next three issues, so I continue to be offered articles on tired old eighties cash cows like The Police, who are featured heavily in the latest issue. What a tired and humourless bunch of old hacks they were.
Then we get page after page devoted to Genesis (the boring Phil Collins fronted version, who have also recently reformed to their bank managers' glee). Then more wistful bobbins about Jeff Buckley, a piece on Frank Sinatra, an interview with Yoko Ono, and I was searching for anything remotely connected to the 21st century. Then I found it - the album of the month...is Interpol.
It's enough to make an old man reach for the NME...
1.7.07
Film legend Dennis Hopper, 71, introduced Lily Allen
BBC1 devoted itself to mind freezing tedium all day yesterday - nothing new in that, except it was unbroken coverage of the lachrymose Diana 'tribute' concert which slouched on and on and bloody on for what seemed like a month.
Bryan Ferry was introduced by...Boris Becker and John McEnroe. Gibbering over one another about him making records for 35 years, wearing nice clothes, liking 'the laydeeez', etc etc. Even worse - Lily Allen was introduced by Dennis Hopper..who must be feeling very, very ashamed...after a long controversial and often squalid career, this was surely the nadir..
Bryan Ferry was introduced by...Boris Becker and John McEnroe. Gibbering over one another about him making records for 35 years, wearing nice clothes, liking 'the laydeeez', etc etc. Even worse - Lily Allen was introduced by Dennis Hopper..who must be feeling very, very ashamed...after a long controversial and often squalid career, this was surely the nadir..
29.6.07
We have a remedy
'A Quick One While He's Away', live in 1968, the year of my birth, it still takes some beating.
DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG!
Try to imagine any flaky group like the bloody Kooks or bastard Pete Feckin Doherty having the imagination and energy and wit and to knock off something as breathlessly exciting as this...
DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG!
Try to imagine any flaky group like the bloody Kooks or bastard Pete Feckin Doherty having the imagination and energy and wit and to knock off something as breathlessly exciting as this...
20.6.07
Orchestra Of Wolves
Apparently Kerrang! and the NME have been hyping this lot for a while now, and they have been picked up by Warners, with their debut LP being reissued with extra tracks this week.
Sounds great to me, and I imagine they are fantastic live...terrific crunching bass and guitars, and unexpectedly catchy tunes, buried under all that bluster.
Makes a good contrast to all that sensitive acid folk I have been listening to this week...
19.6.07
This is a sad fuckin song...
...we'll be lucky if I don't BUST OUT CRYIN!
So begins 'Squirrel Song' by Shellac, from an album a few years back.
There's a new Shellac LP out this week apparently, and as Ady rightly surmises, it quite likely sounds like most of the Shellac LPs which came before it...
'This isn't some kind of metaphor...Goddam...this is REAL!'
Poor old Steve Albini, it must be so exhausting being so aggrieved and so angry.
So begins 'Squirrel Song' by Shellac, from an album a few years back.
There's a new Shellac LP out this week apparently, and as Ady rightly surmises, it quite likely sounds like most of the Shellac LPs which came before it...
'This isn't some kind of metaphor...Goddam...this is REAL!'
Poor old Steve Albini, it must be so exhausting being so aggrieved and so angry.
15.6.07
The World Is Expanding As the Universe Shrinks
A few quick links to some items of interest. At least, they are interesting to me - you, dear reader, must decide for yourself.
First up, from the Mogwai website, via Graham's blog, is Iggy Pop with that 'Punk Rock' speech...I just love this.
Next - there's a new LP imminent from the Broken Family Band - looking forward to seeing them at the Summer Sundae this year, and they have been decent enough to post a full track from the album on their website.
Two new Lps which I picked up today - the new Nick Lowe album, and the one by Meg Baird, singer from Espers.
6.6.07
Move over Rover, and let Jimi take over
Been watching the Seven Ages of Rock on BBC2 on Saturaday nights, or more often than not, downloaded from the tinternet.
The first episode was terrific - using Hendrix as a narrative thread to trace the birth and development of what we now know as 'rock' music. Some great clips, some insightful commentary, it was a very good programme.
The most recent two editions have been less satisfying, in fact the whole idea of 'Seven Ages of Rock' seems a bit flimsy. The episode dedicated to 'art rock' flitted between the Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music and Bowie, without supplying a coherent theory about where they came from, who they influenced, and what exactly they had in common. I would have thought that Pink Floyd might have sat more comfortably int the Stadium Rock episode.
'Seven Ages of Rock' seems to imply a chronological theory of the development of rock music, but the episodes have a distinct overlap which would appear to undermine this theory. There were events happening in the punk episode which were concurrent with those happening in the art rock episode, and for me the idea behind the series seems a lot less convincing than 'Dancing In The Street', which was procduced by the same folks 14 years ago - in fact some of the interview footage used in this series is lifted from DITS.
The latter series made many interesting insights into the - dare I say it - socio-political history of popular music, especially observations around attitudes towards race and class. For instance, the impact on black American artists of the British Invasion of the mid 60's, and the successful cover versions by white artists of songs written by black groups who were subsequently sidelined by acts more palatable to a conservative white American market.
Seven Ages of Rock doesn't appear to make such insights, and is more preoccupied with a linear account of how Hendrix paved the way for Bowie, then the Pistols, with a random episode about Heavy Metal thrown in, followed by an apparently redundant feature on Stadium Rock, then hey presto a tidy finish with Britpop - job done. All seems a bit convenient really, although there has been some undoubtedly great footage used so far.
The first episode was terrific - using Hendrix as a narrative thread to trace the birth and development of what we now know as 'rock' music. Some great clips, some insightful commentary, it was a very good programme.
The most recent two editions have been less satisfying, in fact the whole idea of 'Seven Ages of Rock' seems a bit flimsy. The episode dedicated to 'art rock' flitted between the Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music and Bowie, without supplying a coherent theory about where they came from, who they influenced, and what exactly they had in common. I would have thought that Pink Floyd might have sat more comfortably int the Stadium Rock episode.
'Seven Ages of Rock' seems to imply a chronological theory of the development of rock music, but the episodes have a distinct overlap which would appear to undermine this theory. There were events happening in the punk episode which were concurrent with those happening in the art rock episode, and for me the idea behind the series seems a lot less convincing than 'Dancing In The Street', which was procduced by the same folks 14 years ago - in fact some of the interview footage used in this series is lifted from DITS.
The latter series made many interesting insights into the - dare I say it - socio-political history of popular music, especially observations around attitudes towards race and class. For instance, the impact on black American artists of the British Invasion of the mid 60's, and the successful cover versions by white artists of songs written by black groups who were subsequently sidelined by acts more palatable to a conservative white American market.
Seven Ages of Rock doesn't appear to make such insights, and is more preoccupied with a linear account of how Hendrix paved the way for Bowie, then the Pistols, with a random episode about Heavy Metal thrown in, followed by an apparently redundant feature on Stadium Rock, then hey presto a tidy finish with Britpop - job done. All seems a bit convenient really, although there has been some undoubtedly great footage used so far.
1.6.07
Yeah, this is the Killer speakin'
here's one I made earlier, just look at the madness in his eyes...
Not sure about that beard, makes him look a bit like like Eric Clapton.
SHAKE BABY, SHAKE!
Not sure about that beard, makes him look a bit like like Eric Clapton.
SHAKE BABY, SHAKE!
31.5.07
A voice that stinks of whiskey
It must have been fantastic to see Alex Harvey in his pomp!
I know very little about Jacques Brel, but I love the cover versions of his songs by Scott Walker, Bowie, and the aforementioned Mr Harvey amngst many others.
'Next' is wonderfully filthy, a hilarious cautionary tale to take to one's grubby bosom...
I know very little about Jacques Brel, but I love the cover versions of his songs by Scott Walker, Bowie, and the aforementioned Mr Harvey amngst many others.
'Next' is wonderfully filthy, a hilarious cautionary tale to take to one's grubby bosom...
29.5.07
A Sailor's Life
There's a new Richard Thompson LP out, and Graham has already aired his views about it on his blog.
I think, after one listen, I go along with Mr Ward - some good tracks, but the album is rather too long. Dad's Gonna Kill Me still stands out (and I only just learned that 'Dad' = Bagdhad, duh...) but there are some tunes which pad the LP out unnecessarily. Great guitar playing though, so it's rather hard to complain.
I'm now convinced that RT deliberately clads his records in the worst sleeves he can imagine. It's no accident of design, it's a wilful act of self sabotage. This has persisted for as long as I have been buying his records, since Amnesia in 1988. The first Thompson LP I heard was Shoot Out The Lights, which I borrowed on vinyl from Southwell library a very long time ago. That one is relatively inoffensive, although RT does look rather too jovial on the cover, considering the gloom and doom contained within.
A quick run down then, of Richard Thompson's worst album sleeves, starting with
1.Amnesia.
This one is reminiscent of the sort of conceptual nincompoopery which adorned Marillion album covers in the 80's. A random male is having a shave, whilst who should appear in the mirror but our man in a jester's outfit, juggling. Very hard to understand the relevance of this image...a good record though, Turning of The Tide was covered by Thompson fan Bob Mould.
2. You? Me? Us?
I don't know what's going on here. Just a random cut-up mess. Who does he delegate these things to? Makes no difference which record label he's on, the sleeves are still enough to bring on a migraine.
3. Mock Tudor
Not the most iconic image ever used for an LP sleeve - an old fashioned push and pull lawn mower, with (headless) father and son looking on in awe as it self-propels itself across an immaculate English Country Garden. Lord help us, what a useless image.
4. Bringing us up to date - Sweet Warrior
Oh my throbbing peepers. This one is from the inner sleeve, I suppose we should be grateful that it wasn't used for the front cover. A genius guitar player he may be, an oil painting he is not. Especially not when daubed in camouflage paint and with a tin hat stuck on his head - although I have to say this might in fact be an improvement on the otherwise ever present beret.
I think, after one listen, I go along with Mr Ward - some good tracks, but the album is rather too long. Dad's Gonna Kill Me still stands out (and I only just learned that 'Dad' = Bagdhad, duh...) but there are some tunes which pad the LP out unnecessarily. Great guitar playing though, so it's rather hard to complain.
I'm now convinced that RT deliberately clads his records in the worst sleeves he can imagine. It's no accident of design, it's a wilful act of self sabotage. This has persisted for as long as I have been buying his records, since Amnesia in 1988. The first Thompson LP I heard was Shoot Out The Lights, which I borrowed on vinyl from Southwell library a very long time ago. That one is relatively inoffensive, although RT does look rather too jovial on the cover, considering the gloom and doom contained within.
A quick run down then, of Richard Thompson's worst album sleeves, starting with
1.Amnesia.
This one is reminiscent of the sort of conceptual nincompoopery which adorned Marillion album covers in the 80's. A random male is having a shave, whilst who should appear in the mirror but our man in a jester's outfit, juggling. Very hard to understand the relevance of this image...a good record though, Turning of The Tide was covered by Thompson fan Bob Mould.2. You? Me? Us?
I don't know what's going on here. Just a random cut-up mess. Who does he delegate these things to? Makes no difference which record label he's on, the sleeves are still enough to bring on a migraine.3. Mock Tudor
Not the most iconic image ever used for an LP sleeve - an old fashioned push and pull lawn mower, with (headless) father and son looking on in awe as it self-propels itself across an immaculate English Country Garden. Lord help us, what a useless image.4. Bringing us up to date - Sweet Warrior
Oh my throbbing peepers. This one is from the inner sleeve, I suppose we should be grateful that it wasn't used for the front cover. A genius guitar player he may be, an oil painting he is not. Especially not when daubed in camouflage paint and with a tin hat stuck on his head - although I have to say this might in fact be an improvement on the otherwise ever present beret.
27.5.07
You been drinking brew for breakfast
Lots of stuff about Joe Strummer at the moment, to go with the documentary 'The Future Is Unwritten' and the recent biography.
I saw him twice, once years ago on a dodgy 'Rock Against the Rich' tour, and then at Cambridge the year he died. The RATR thing was at Rock City in something like 1987 or 1988. I went with Jim and his mate from the egg factory, a guy called Robert who had a bedsit in Carrington, near where I ended up living with Clive for a couple of years. I remember making our way into town from Robert's one roomed abode, stopping at the Nag's Head and various other Mansfield Road pubs on the way to the gig.
The event was 'organised' by Class War; I think there were three groups including Strummer, one of whom was a very decent reggae band, I can't remember their name. Strummer was terrific, he played loads of old Clash songs, and 'If I Should Fall From Grace' by the Pogues - which I guess dates the gig as around the time that LP came out, and before he joined the band as a stand-in front man, covering for one of MacGowan's bouts of 'nervous exhaustion'.
I've blethered on about the Cambridge experience already on this blog, but let's just say that at the time, soaking wet, frustrated by camping stools, rugs, assorted other obstacles to navigating the site, Jim and I were of the firm belief that the event required the Cleansing Fire of Punk Rock, and Strummer was the man to provide it. A lot of old Cambridge punks materialised on the Saturday evening for a taste of sweaty nostalgia, and for a while it seemed as though leather jackets might outnumber beards and sandals. Fair play to the festival organisers though, booking Joe Strummer was I guess quite a brave move, but I think Cambridge has often experimented with acts outside the sphere of what most of us define as 'folk music' - Nick Cave, for instance.
Anyway. Strummer was by most accounts a genial man who was generous with his time - we saw him strolling around the Cambridge site, taking it all in and chatting to people. He was making some good solo records too, after a few years hopping between acting jobs and soundtrack work. Global A Go Go is well worth a pop if you haven't heard it. I've got London Calling on at the moment - a glorious, glorious record, thrilling tunes like Clampdown, Hateful, Death Or Glory...becomes just another story.
24.5.07
Strangely, I became more bookish
I first saw Iggy Pop on Ady's 21st birthday, at Rock City in 1988. No one was too interested in hearing anything from his most recent LP, which at that time I guess was 'Blah Blah Blah'. Iggy's always good value - he leaps around the stage like a man a third of his age, and there's always the possibility that he will treat the audience by dropping his pants and desporting his by now rather droopy buttocks.
Strange that a man whose body which is elsewhere incredibly well toned and fit, should have a gluteous maximus which has dropped several feet since the glory days of the Stooges. Well, that's age and gravity at work I guess.
Anyway, my point in question is the quality of one of Iggy's later LPs, Avenue B.
Much of this album is spoken word; from 'No Shit' through to 'She Called Me Daddy'. Iggy has a great American voice; resonant and authentic, rarely recorded better than on this overlooked album.
21.5.07
Trouble Every Day
Rock hard r'n'b & social commentary from FZ, stripped of the knowingly ironic lyrics for which he is better known.
Blow your harmonica, son!
Those first few LPs with the Mothers are peerless: witty and scabrous lyrics, tremendous geetars, and a wide palette of musical influences from avant skronk jazz to the sweetest doo-wop.
Seems odd to me that Zappa's music was often so sophisticated that it was beyond the ken of a large section of his audience, who nevertheless found much to enjoy in the schoolyard scatology of his lyrical subject matter.
I know what I'm talking about here, because the Zappa stuff which first appealed to me Jim and Ady was Joe's Garage (sex with machines, pliant Catholic girls) and 'Bobby Brown', 'Dinah Moe Hum', 'Dirty Love', and other trouser-orientated material...
It's sometimes hard to avoid the conclusion that Zappa's entire career was an extended pisstake of his audience as well as the wider American public. As an example, one of his most popular concert tunes was 'Titties and Beer', superficially a celebration of, well, breasts and and beer, but actually an adaptation of Stravinsky's 'L'histoire du Soldat'.
The least you can say of Zappa is that he was his own man, he did whatever the fuck he wanted, whether that was a four minute throwaway song about 'the Jazz Discharge Party Hats' or a triple album of guitar solos ('Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar' - Jim bought it on vinyl!)
He created a genre of his own, no one makes records which sound like Zappa except hisself...
Blow your harmonica, son!
Those first few LPs with the Mothers are peerless: witty and scabrous lyrics, tremendous geetars, and a wide palette of musical influences from avant skronk jazz to the sweetest doo-wop.
Seems odd to me that Zappa's music was often so sophisticated that it was beyond the ken of a large section of his audience, who nevertheless found much to enjoy in the schoolyard scatology of his lyrical subject matter.
I know what I'm talking about here, because the Zappa stuff which first appealed to me Jim and Ady was Joe's Garage (sex with machines, pliant Catholic girls) and 'Bobby Brown', 'Dinah Moe Hum', 'Dirty Love', and other trouser-orientated material...
It's sometimes hard to avoid the conclusion that Zappa's entire career was an extended pisstake of his audience as well as the wider American public. As an example, one of his most popular concert tunes was 'Titties and Beer', superficially a celebration of, well, breasts and and beer, but actually an adaptation of Stravinsky's 'L'histoire du Soldat'.
The least you can say of Zappa is that he was his own man, he did whatever the fuck he wanted, whether that was a four minute throwaway song about 'the Jazz Discharge Party Hats' or a triple album of guitar solos ('Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar' - Jim bought it on vinyl!)
He created a genre of his own, no one makes records which sound like Zappa except hisself...
13.5.07
Take a case of white-out; you might need it one day
Being neither a parent nor much given to expending energy on housework or diy, I spend an inordinate amout of time pissing about on iTunes when I should be doing something more constructive.
Yesterday I set up a playlist of favourite tunes by under-appreciated artists - typical rock snob elitism. I did this after hearing a documentary on radio 4 which featured a few clips of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. I borrowed an Alex Harvey LP from the library years ago, and loved it, but saw hardly any mention of the man until Tommy Vance announced his death on the Friday Rock Show. I was galled to learn yesterday that this was in 1982 - 25 years ago. Anyway, before I drift into 'where did it all go and where will it all end', here's a few of my 'they should be massive!' choices:
Spring Rain - The Go-Betweens. I first heard this on the soundtrack to Something Wild, then years later when I was living with Clive and he had the LP. Lovely guitars.
'Cause I Said So - The Godfathers. Saw them at Rock City a long time ago, they have long since split. They came on like a cross between boom chicka Johnny Cash and Dr Feelgood hard edged r'n'b. They were incredible live, but their LPs often sounded thin in comparison. Dunno what happened to them...
Take Stuff From Work - King Missile. OK, there's no kind of universe where King Missile could ever have been noticed beyond a few plays on Peel, which is where Jim and I heard them 20 years ago. This tune is basically a list of items which can be easily removed from the workplace, thus saving the listener the expense of buying eg desks, pens, pencils, even 'a case of white out'. Silly but fun, and ending with the rousing finale:
Rude Bwoy - LLoyd Hemmings. No idea who this guy was, but I taped the track from Kershaw in the 80's and have loved it ever since. A King Tubby production. Having googled Hemmings it appears that the tune is avaible on 7" Jamican import for £2.99 - bargain!
Where Were You? - The Mekons. From Leeds, and still going strong in some form or another. Main Mekon Jon Langford, is one of the less celebrated customers of Cynthia Plastercaster. I think these days they are more of a country / Americana outfit, rather than the DIY punk of this track.
Sorry You're Sick - Ted Hawkins. For Andy Kershaw listeners in the 1980s, Ted Hawkins was the bees knees, such a terrific voice. A shame that it all ended so depressingly.
Our Town - Iris Dement. A voice which may well be an acquired taste, and sounds straight out of The Old Weird America. Mentioned in a few entries earlier, Graham and Jim and I saw her at Cambridge, memorably duetting with John Prine. Even Clive enjoyed Our Town, and he is not given to esoteric sounding female country singers.
I Live For Buzz - The Swingin' Neckbreakers. This is from an LP which Clive brought back from a trip to the US, a tremendous rock and roll album...the band turned up on The Sopranos in Season 3 or 4, playing at Adriana's nightclub.
loads more too, including The Colorblind James Experience, The Screaming Blue Messiahs, Jake Thackray, Andy Capp, Reigning Sound, The Replacements, Dory Previn, Warren Zevon - overlooked and under-appreciated all...
Yesterday I set up a playlist of favourite tunes by under-appreciated artists - typical rock snob elitism. I did this after hearing a documentary on radio 4 which featured a few clips of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. I borrowed an Alex Harvey LP from the library years ago, and loved it, but saw hardly any mention of the man until Tommy Vance announced his death on the Friday Rock Show. I was galled to learn yesterday that this was in 1982 - 25 years ago. Anyway, before I drift into 'where did it all go and where will it all end', here's a few of my 'they should be massive!' choices:
Spring Rain - The Go-Betweens. I first heard this on the soundtrack to Something Wild, then years later when I was living with Clive and he had the LP. Lovely guitars.
'Cause I Said So - The Godfathers. Saw them at Rock City a long time ago, they have long since split. They came on like a cross between boom chicka Johnny Cash and Dr Feelgood hard edged r'n'b. They were incredible live, but their LPs often sounded thin in comparison. Dunno what happened to them...
Take Stuff From Work - King Missile. OK, there's no kind of universe where King Missile could ever have been noticed beyond a few plays on Peel, which is where Jim and I heard them 20 years ago. This tune is basically a list of items which can be easily removed from the workplace, thus saving the listener the expense of buying eg desks, pens, pencils, even 'a case of white out'. Silly but fun, and ending with the rousing finale:
It's your duty as an oppressed worker to steal from your exploiters.
It's gonna be an outstanding day.
Take stuff from work.
And goof off on the company time.
I wrote this at work.
They're paying me to write about stuff I steal from them.
Life is good.
how can you resist?
Rude Bwoy - LLoyd Hemmings. No idea who this guy was, but I taped the track from Kershaw in the 80's and have loved it ever since. A King Tubby production. Having googled Hemmings it appears that the tune is avaible on 7" Jamican import for £2.99 - bargain!
Where Were You? - The Mekons. From Leeds, and still going strong in some form or another. Main Mekon Jon Langford, is one of the less celebrated customers of Cynthia Plastercaster. I think these days they are more of a country / Americana outfit, rather than the DIY punk of this track.
Sorry You're Sick - Ted Hawkins. For Andy Kershaw listeners in the 1980s, Ted Hawkins was the bees knees, such a terrific voice. A shame that it all ended so depressingly.
Our Town - Iris Dement. A voice which may well be an acquired taste, and sounds straight out of The Old Weird America. Mentioned in a few entries earlier, Graham and Jim and I saw her at Cambridge, memorably duetting with John Prine. Even Clive enjoyed Our Town, and he is not given to esoteric sounding female country singers.
I Live For Buzz - The Swingin' Neckbreakers. This is from an LP which Clive brought back from a trip to the US, a tremendous rock and roll album...the band turned up on The Sopranos in Season 3 or 4, playing at Adriana's nightclub.
loads more too, including The Colorblind James Experience, The Screaming Blue Messiahs, Jake Thackray, Andy Capp, Reigning Sound, The Replacements, Dory Previn, Warren Zevon - overlooked and under-appreciated all...
9.5.07
Fall Motel!
Cast a weary eye over the new video from the Fall
MES dancing - something else I thought I would never see...
MES dancing - something else I thought I would never see...
We're all fucked up on the booze and the drugs
A couple of quick joyful things this evening.
Firstly, the Broken Family Band, sounding like they from someplace in Texas, actually they from the wild west of Cambridge. Wherever they hail from, they make a mighty fine racket, and The Booze and The Drugs from the LP 'Balls' is just the ticket.
Second up - more MES madness, this time featuring as Our Lord Jesus Christ in blasphemous BBC3 drama Ideal. It's the first time I've seen JC represented by a 50 year old Mancunian speed freak wearing a black leather jacket, puffing a B&H.
even more thrills - the new single by the White Stripes, mixing up prog rock lunacy with crazy ass Detroit garage geetars. Best thing they've done for a good few seasons...
Firstly, the Broken Family Band, sounding like they from someplace in Texas, actually they from the wild west of Cambridge. Wherever they hail from, they make a mighty fine racket, and The Booze and The Drugs from the LP 'Balls' is just the ticket.
Second up - more MES madness, this time featuring as Our Lord Jesus Christ in blasphemous BBC3 drama Ideal. It's the first time I've seen JC represented by a 50 year old Mancunian speed freak wearing a black leather jacket, puffing a B&H.
even more thrills - the new single by the White Stripes, mixing up prog rock lunacy with crazy ass Detroit garage geetars. Best thing they've done for a good few seasons...
7.5.07
All Tomorrow's Parties
It was a great weekend. Jamesie, Grant and I started with a couple of pints in the beer garden of the Swinging Shillelagh - Butlins' overpoweringly green and leprechaun bedecked Irish theme bar. After inhaling the complimentary shortbread biscuits generously offered in our chalet, we set off to explore the site.
The main stage at ATP is within a permament marquee, ringed with the likes of Burger King, Pizza Hut, and assorted amusement arcade type devices - it takes a bit of getting used to but the sound was very good, the bogs weren't far away and there was real ale in the 'Sun and Moon' traditional pub. There are two other venues on site, more used to hosting the likes of Bucks Fizz and Banarama - we delighted in the huge SHOWTIME! sign on the wall on the way in the the Centre Stage. The carpet was stickier even than Rock City, and the smell of spilled beer was ever present, so we felt quite at home.
40 minutes after the time they were due on stage, there was no sign of The Only Ones, and I was convinced that they were blowing out ther first gig in 26 years. Not to worry though, they did eventually lurch onstage, including legendary drug hoover Peter Perrett; a man so emaciated and smack-ravaged that he appeared to be little more than a skeleton in a T Shirt. They were terrific though, and I'll be off to see them at Rock City next month. One of the least expected rock reunions for sure...
A Saturday highlight was Spiritualized Acoustic Mainline, who were wonderful - stripped down songs with strings and gospel singers and electric piano. J Spaceman seems in excellent health and his voice was stronger than on any of the previous occasions I've seen them. It will be a crime if this line up of the band don't release a cd, in the meantime I'm enjoying a live bootleg of the show they did at St Mary's church in Nottm last year.
Mr Cave was superb, crashing into West Country Girl at the start of a Bad Seeds best of set, then a short intermission and the whole of the Grinderman LP. Bobby Gillespie had turned up to bash the drums and sing, and he was introduced by his new employer as 'Bobby Gillespie from the Jesus and Mary Chain', which prompted a guy behind me to say 'well that's wrong, he's in Primal Scream'. Young people, tsk tsk they know nothing - back to rock n roll high school with you.
My favourite of the weekend had to be Joanna Newsom, she was stunning. She did my favourites from Ys, the version of Sawdust and Diamnds was breathtaking. Bill Callahan in contrast was dull - I nipped out for more Cave action on the main stage, as he was headlining on Sunday too. It occured to me at the time that many of the headline acts are reformed heroin addicts who are making the best music of their career despite cleaning up - so often it seems to be the other way round.
Anyway, ATP was a great weekend, I'll definitely go again, although I will blend in better if I grow a beard for the occasion. When taking requests from the crown, Cave said 'you Sir, with the beard', which raised a laugh as every other bloke there was sporting facial hair of one flavour or another.
And thanks to Jim for the pics..
The main stage at ATP is within a permament marquee, ringed with the likes of Burger King, Pizza Hut, and assorted amusement arcade type devices - it takes a bit of getting used to but the sound was very good, the bogs weren't far away and there was real ale in the 'Sun and Moon' traditional pub. There are two other venues on site, more used to hosting the likes of Bucks Fizz and Banarama - we delighted in the huge SHOWTIME! sign on the wall on the way in the the Centre Stage. The carpet was stickier even than Rock City, and the smell of spilled beer was ever present, so we felt quite at home.
40 minutes after the time they were due on stage, there was no sign of The Only Ones, and I was convinced that they were blowing out ther first gig in 26 years. Not to worry though, they did eventually lurch onstage, including legendary drug hoover Peter Perrett; a man so emaciated and smack-ravaged that he appeared to be little more than a skeleton in a T Shirt. They were terrific though, and I'll be off to see them at Rock City next month. One of the least expected rock reunions for sure...
A Saturday highlight was Spiritualized Acoustic Mainline, who were wonderful - stripped down songs with strings and gospel singers and electric piano. J Spaceman seems in excellent health and his voice was stronger than on any of the previous occasions I've seen them. It will be a crime if this line up of the band don't release a cd, in the meantime I'm enjoying a live bootleg of the show they did at St Mary's church in Nottm last year.
Mr Cave was superb, crashing into West Country Girl at the start of a Bad Seeds best of set, then a short intermission and the whole of the Grinderman LP. Bobby Gillespie had turned up to bash the drums and sing, and he was introduced by his new employer as 'Bobby Gillespie from the Jesus and Mary Chain', which prompted a guy behind me to say 'well that's wrong, he's in Primal Scream'. Young people, tsk tsk they know nothing - back to rock n roll high school with you.
My favourite of the weekend had to be Joanna Newsom, she was stunning. She did my favourites from Ys, the version of Sawdust and Diamnds was breathtaking. Bill Callahan in contrast was dull - I nipped out for more Cave action on the main stage, as he was headlining on Sunday too. It occured to me at the time that many of the headline acts are reformed heroin addicts who are making the best music of their career despite cleaning up - so often it seems to be the other way round.
Anyway, ATP was a great weekend, I'll definitely go again, although I will blend in better if I grow a beard for the occasion. When taking requests from the crown, Cave said 'you Sir, with the beard', which raised a laugh as every other bloke there was sporting facial hair of one flavour or another.
And thanks to Jim for the pics..
27.4.07
Running Order Squabble Fest
I'm heading off to Butlins this weekend, in about half an hour in fact.
Not for the crazy golf or the knobbly knees competition, but for All Tomorrow's Parties.
Three days of black clad miserable Australians, led by Nick Cave, The Dirty Three, Einsturzende Neubaten (who cancelled Rock City last night - doesn't bode well..) and the more sprightly Joanna Newsom, who is the act I'm especially looking forward to. Adding the legendary 'I can't believe they are still alive, let alone appearing on stage' The Only Ones, and the acoustic Spiritualized, it should be a cracking weekend.
And if the entertainment palls, there's always the chance for a quick dip in the sub tropical paradise or a brisk stroll up Minehead beach.
'No dry ice? No dry ice? Hey Jason, they've got no dry ice'
Not for the crazy golf or the knobbly knees competition, but for All Tomorrow's Parties.
Three days of black clad miserable Australians, led by Nick Cave, The Dirty Three, Einsturzende Neubaten (who cancelled Rock City last night - doesn't bode well..) and the more sprightly Joanna Newsom, who is the act I'm especially looking forward to. Adding the legendary 'I can't believe they are still alive, let alone appearing on stage' The Only Ones, and the acoustic Spiritualized, it should be a cracking weekend.
And if the entertainment palls, there's always the chance for a quick dip in the sub tropical paradise or a brisk stroll up Minehead beach.
'No dry ice? No dry ice? Hey Jason, they've got no dry ice'
16.4.07
Into The Purple Valley
Two LPs have dominated tonight's listening; 'Into The Purple Valley', by Ry Cooder, and 'Handful Of Earth', by Dick Gaughan.
Ry Cooder seems to me to be an unsung giant of guitar music. I bought this LP when I was 17 or 18, from Way Ahead records on Hurts Yard in Nottingham. Most of the tracks are cover versions of songs by folks like Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie, etc. Cooder is maybe more famous these days for being the instigator of the Buena Vista Social Club, as well as his soundtrack for Paris Texas, but he paid his dues playing guitar alongside Captain Beefheart, Taj Mahal, and in the 'Sticky Fingers' era Rolling Stones. Not to mention one of the great lost Stones singles, 'Memo From Turner' from the soundtrack to Performance.
Cooder has claimed that Keith Richards pinched his signature guitar tuning, and based subsequent Stones albums around his sound, although the Keef countered that Cooder himself learned various tunings and techniques from the likes of Rev Gary Davis and was therefore hardly in a position to claim originality.
Either way, Into The Purple Valley is a terrific LP, some great slide guitar - Vigilante Man being the highlight for me.
Gaughan, on the other hand, is the man who prompted Andy Kershaw to exclaim 'I thought The Redskins were radical until I discovered Dick Gaughan'.
Famously, Handful Of Earth was voted the best folk album of the 1980's by readers of Folk Roots, on the strength of tracks like 'World Turned Upside Down' (covered by Billy Bragg) and 'Worker's Song'.
Jim and I once went to see him at the Old Vic, not a vintage evening, but great to see the man in close quarters. There were two ladies at the bar loudly discussing topics unrelated to socialist folk music. After the next convenient tune, Jim leaned over to them and said 'Could you talk a bit more loudly? I can still hear Dick Gaughan'.
Did the trick...
Ry Cooder seems to me to be an unsung giant of guitar music. I bought this LP when I was 17 or 18, from Way Ahead records on Hurts Yard in Nottingham. Most of the tracks are cover versions of songs by folks like Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie, etc. Cooder is maybe more famous these days for being the instigator of the Buena Vista Social Club, as well as his soundtrack for Paris Texas, but he paid his dues playing guitar alongside Captain Beefheart, Taj Mahal, and in the 'Sticky Fingers' era Rolling Stones. Not to mention one of the great lost Stones singles, 'Memo From Turner' from the soundtrack to Performance.
Cooder has claimed that Keith Richards pinched his signature guitar tuning, and based subsequent Stones albums around his sound, although the Keef countered that Cooder himself learned various tunings and techniques from the likes of Rev Gary Davis and was therefore hardly in a position to claim originality.
Either way, Into The Purple Valley is a terrific LP, some great slide guitar - Vigilante Man being the highlight for me.
Gaughan, on the other hand, is the man who prompted Andy Kershaw to exclaim 'I thought The Redskins were radical until I discovered Dick Gaughan'.
Famously, Handful Of Earth was voted the best folk album of the 1980's by readers of Folk Roots, on the strength of tracks like 'World Turned Upside Down' (covered by Billy Bragg) and 'Worker's Song'.
Jim and I once went to see him at the Old Vic, not a vintage evening, but great to see the man in close quarters. There were two ladies at the bar loudly discussing topics unrelated to socialist folk music. After the next convenient tune, Jim leaned over to them and said 'Could you talk a bit more loudly? I can still hear Dick Gaughan'.
Did the trick...
11.4.07
I Got a Razor
Willie Dixon is best known as a writer of hit blues songs for the likes of Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf, as well as being the double bass player in Muddy's electric band in Chicago - he also played on some of Chuck Berry's early records. Led Zeppelin ripped off his 'You Need Love' for a track on their second album, later adapted as the theme tune for Top Of The Pops...Willie won a royalty credit in an out of court settlement almost 20 years later.
I'm a lot less familiar with his own recordings, but this track from the soundtrack to Deadwood is fantastic, walking bass and braggadocio spoken word vocal accompanied by Memphis Slim on the Old Joanna...
Also on the wheels of steel tonight - late period Captain Beefheart, specifically the albums featuring Gary Lucas on the guitar. Ice Cream For Crow - Floppy Boot Stomp! - and Doc At The Radar Station, which includes Hot Head.
I'm a lot less familiar with his own recordings, but this track from the soundtrack to Deadwood is fantastic, walking bass and braggadocio spoken word vocal accompanied by Memphis Slim on the Old Joanna...
Also on the wheels of steel tonight - late period Captain Beefheart, specifically the albums featuring Gary Lucas on the guitar. Ice Cream For Crow - Floppy Boot Stomp! - and Doc At The Radar Station, which includes Hot Head.
10.4.07
Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks
Much of this Brian Eno LP sounds very familiar, it must have been used on loads of films, documentaries, adverts, etc although the only one I would have been able to name is Deep Blue Day from the Trainspotting soundtrack.
Previously the only Eno stuff I have heard was Music For Airports, so ambient as to be barely musical, and Here Come The Warm Jets, which is pretty much a straightforward rock LP (with vocals!) recorded shortly after he left Roxy Music. Apollo makes for unsettling listening, and I guess in the right, or wrong, circumstance sit could be downright terrifying. I'd love to see the NASA documentary which it was devised to accompany, I would imagine it would be a perfect marriage of sound and vision.
2.4.07
There there my dear
It's 1980; I'm listening to Axe Attack with Ady, enjoying the delights of Motorhead, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, and, er, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush...
Meanwhile, Dexy's Midnight Runners have released 'Searching For the Young Soul Rebels', and a nation of indie kids is dressing in donkey jackets and beanie hats, hooting along with Kevin Rowland to 'Geno' and 'Seven Days'...
What a terrific LP that is! It does slightly shame me to think I was immune to anything other than NWOBHM rock at the time, but I have belatedly been enjoying this record almost every day since I picked it up last week, after reading the great review in Fear of Music. Hearing music as passionate as this is a refreshing alternative to the jaded, careerist pap which passes fro chart music in 2007.
14.3.07
UnAmerican Activities
forgot to mention, there's a great Randy Newman download to be had through iTunes:
'A Few Words in Defense of Our Country', see him playing it on youtube here.
'the end of an empire is messy at best, and this empire's ending, just like all the rest...'
'A Few Words in Defense of Our Country', see him playing it on youtube here.
'the end of an empire is messy at best, and this empire's ending, just like all the rest...'
Give a philosophy student a glass of limeade
A quick round-up of the sounds of the hour here at Welch Acres. I've been poking around Selectadisc and Fopp this month, harvesting a mixed crop of records both old and new, ...let me tell you about them, friends:
It could be the fact that I have started a new job, or alternatively just general encroaching decrepitude, but I seem to be retiring to bed earlier and earlier these days - the plus side of which is taking a few cds with me to accompany a little late night reading. At the moment I am retiring with mid-period David Bowie - Station to Station and Low; and Kraftwerk - especially Trans Europe Express.
I'm not totally mired in the pre punk mid 1970's though, I have actually been buying a few new records too. Malcolm Middelton, who'll be at the Social this time next week, and the Gossip. Although I downloaded it ages ago, I did the decent thing and bought the Grinderman album, which despite a terrible sleeve is terrific stuff.
Malcolm M is not quite as good as the last LP, but still reliably miserable and self-pitying (sample song title - 'death love depression love death'). I haven't made me mind up yet about the Gossip, though any band fronted by a huge lesbian in a metallic blue catsuit has to be worth some kind of scrutiny, and the single 'Standing In The Way Of Control' was fantastic.
Since I started reading 'Fear Of Music' by Gary Mulholland I've also been digging out old stuff like Rattlesnakes by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Metal Box by PiL, and The Correct Use of Soap by Magazine. The book is very good, easily as good as the preceding 'This Is Uncool', and it's been a real inspiration to rediscover records which I thought would be gathering dust for a good few seasons to come.
BTW, good sounding new Richard Thompson tune on his website, from forthcoming LP out in May
I'm in with the In Crowd
Another last minute gig last night, in the company of Mr Hewitt as his plus one for Bryan Ferry at the Concert Hall. It was really very odd, the audience was largely made up of fifty-something groovers, with ladies being in the majority. Ferry has a new album out, of insipid Bob Dylan covers. Some sounded ok - Gates of Eden, Positively 4th Street, but most were unremarkable. He did do some great versions of his solo stuff though - Stick Together, etc, and his band were great. I had to look twice to recognise Chris Spedding on guitar, he is greyer and paunchier than in his Motorbikin' days..
So it was pretty bizarre to see the place erupt as they broke into Hard Rain's Gonna Fall, the cheesey 1972 piss-taking version. Almost everyone was on their feet - even me and Sean - all the way up to the second tier. I did feel something of an imposter, and I have always disliked that version of the song, but it was hard not to get carried along with it.
Tell you what though, I would have been a little cheesed off if I had paid the £45 ticket price...
So it was pretty bizarre to see the place erupt as they broke into Hard Rain's Gonna Fall, the cheesey 1972 piss-taking version. Almost everyone was on their feet - even me and Sean - all the way up to the second tier. I did feel something of an imposter, and I have always disliked that version of the song, but it was hard not to get carried along with it.
Tell you what though, I would have been a little cheesed off if I had paid the £45 ticket price...
8.3.07
'Only water passes my lips, only beer passes my throat'
so says Mr Mark E Smith, who rolled up to be interviewed on 6 Music this week, listen again if the fancy takes you here. I think he's probably mad. Mad, and pissed.
Out to a gig last night, the first since Bonnie Prince Billy I think, it was James Yorkston at the Social. Felt a bit sorry for him actually, as there were only 35 people there at the most, but it's not that long since he was last here, and Spiers and Boden were up the road so I guess that was a bit of competition.
What was especially exciting was that the famous Bob was there; Bob from 20 yrs back in the Jangle Club at the old Vic, and from most years at WOMAD, and many folk / roots gigs in Nottm. Not even sure if Bob is his real name, but it's always strangely reassuring to see that he's still going strong. Never spoken to the bloke, I think it would spoil the magic somehow...
Out to a gig last night, the first since Bonnie Prince Billy I think, it was James Yorkston at the Social. Felt a bit sorry for him actually, as there were only 35 people there at the most, but it's not that long since he was last here, and Spiers and Boden were up the road so I guess that was a bit of competition.
What was especially exciting was that the famous Bob was there; Bob from 20 yrs back in the Jangle Club at the old Vic, and from most years at WOMAD, and many folk / roots gigs in Nottm. Not even sure if Bob is his real name, but it's always strangely reassuring to see that he's still going strong. Never spoken to the bloke, I think it would spoil the magic somehow...
1.3.07
A modicum of challenge and danger
I know shoving up random You Tube clips is rather a lazy way of running a blog, but this here clip of good ol' Uncle Bill Burroughs is just terrific...his voice is so splendid, that long drawling 'til the bare lies shiiiiine through..' is wonderful!
Notebooks out, plagiarists
apologies for the delay between posts, and the brevity of this rather paltry effort.
just to say that Mark E Smith of the mighty Fall gruppe, has a few words for you here
just to say that Mark E Smith of the mighty Fall gruppe, has a few words for you here
14.2.07
If 6 was 9
Listening to a lot of Hendrix at the moment, not sure why. I've had odds and sods of his for years, on dodgy old tapes mostly, but I've never heard the original albums all the way through.
I think he's another of those artists who it's easy to think that because you've heard all the hits so many times, there's no need to stick on a Hendrix CD at home, because it's all been absorbed by osmosis - but when something like 'If 6 Was 9' crops up on the soundtrack to a film (is it Easy Rider?) then once again you are knocked out by the guitar. Heard 'Little Wing' tonight for the first time in ages, I think I last heard it on a double live album which I lent Mike Slats in 1990 and have not seen since.
I used to have a book called Encyclopoedia Metallica, which I bought at the Virgin Megastore on Commercial Road in Portsmouth. (I bought 'Sonic Attack' by Hawkwind on the same visit). This work of metal scholarship contended that the whole genre of heavy rock commenced with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Cream. They played massively amplified blues rock, but I guess there were other founding fathers like the MC5 and the Stooges, but I'm not going to start that debate.
Anyway, according the the Encyclopoedia Metallica, these two giants at the top of the metal family tree spawned Deep Purple, Led Zep and Black Sabbath, who in turn begat Judas Priest and UFO, who then sired the NWOBHM bands like Iron Maiden and Saxon. Simple! the whole story of Metal in three or four generations!
I wish I still had that book, there was a great photo of one of the dudes from Lynyrd Skynyrd looking particularly stupid, which made me and Ady laugh. There was a forward 'written' by Biff Byford from Saxon (once a guest lecturer at Newark tech, fact fans), where he urged the reader to 'Keep The Faith!', ie to listen only to true Metal. Ady and I kept this up for a little while until the Velvet Underground and the Doors appeared, courtesy of Southwell record library, and suddenly metal seemed a bit limiting...
I think he's another of those artists who it's easy to think that because you've heard all the hits so many times, there's no need to stick on a Hendrix CD at home, because it's all been absorbed by osmosis - but when something like 'If 6 Was 9' crops up on the soundtrack to a film (is it Easy Rider?) then once again you are knocked out by the guitar. Heard 'Little Wing' tonight for the first time in ages, I think I last heard it on a double live album which I lent Mike Slats in 1990 and have not seen since.
I used to have a book called Encyclopoedia Metallica, which I bought at the Virgin Megastore on Commercial Road in Portsmouth. (I bought 'Sonic Attack' by Hawkwind on the same visit). This work of metal scholarship contended that the whole genre of heavy rock commenced with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Cream. They played massively amplified blues rock, but I guess there were other founding fathers like the MC5 and the Stooges, but I'm not going to start that debate.
Anyway, according the the Encyclopoedia Metallica, these two giants at the top of the metal family tree spawned Deep Purple, Led Zep and Black Sabbath, who in turn begat Judas Priest and UFO, who then sired the NWOBHM bands like Iron Maiden and Saxon. Simple! the whole story of Metal in three or four generations!
I wish I still had that book, there was a great photo of one of the dudes from Lynyrd Skynyrd looking particularly stupid, which made me and Ady laugh. There was a forward 'written' by Biff Byford from Saxon (once a guest lecturer at Newark tech, fact fans), where he urged the reader to 'Keep The Faith!', ie to listen only to true Metal. Ady and I kept this up for a little while until the Velvet Underground and the Doors appeared, courtesy of Southwell record library, and suddenly metal seemed a bit limiting...
12.2.07
Post Reformation TLC
A brighter than usual start to the working week - there's a new Fall LP out today. Picked it up in Selectadisc and am on my second trot through it on headphones, safely out of the way of the Helster, who is not a fan...
On the strength of the first couple of listens, it's not as good as 'Fall Heads Roll' or 'The Real New Fall LP' (MES is getting very self-referential in his old age - one of the tracks on this album is called 'Fall Sound'), but it still rocks in the right places.
It's too bloody long though - there's 10 minutes of drivel called Das Boat which must have taken as long to write as it did to record, and one or two other inconsequential tunes which add little to the overall effect, but I guess that's what Fall LPs are supposed to be like...
It's tempting to believe the rumour on the excellent Fall fansite that the 'TLC' in the album title stands for 'treacherous lying cunts', in reference to MES's erstwhile guitarist/bassist/drummer, who quit on him mid-tour in the US last year, apparently tiring of his lager and sulphate shenanigans and habitual bad behaviour, including assaulting a member of the support act with a banana -the 'systematic abuse' described on the closing track, perhaps...
7.2.07
1.2.07
Kerosene around
First day of Feb, and with it, my first alcohol since new year's day.
Despite being sober for January, I managed to get out to a few gigs - Robyn Hitchcock, Ginger, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, and the Supersuckers.
Gig-going without beer is weird - and cheap - but these four were all great nights out. I would have fancied a few beers with the Supersuckers though; pretty much everyone else in the place (Fibbers in York) was trashed.
Bonnie Prince B was excellent, far better than I expected, much more rocking and less maudlin strumming than I feared. I like the new LP, but I'm not too familiar with his other stuff, and apart from a couple of covers I knew none of the tunes from the first hour of the set. Sign of a good gig, you have not heard the material before, but you are grinning to yourself thinking 'this is bloody good'...
So I'm sipping on a warm ale, got Big Black on the headphones, it's good to be back..
24.1.07
Pissing In A River
I am a big fan of the Rough Trade Shops 'Counter Culture' annual compilations. Or at least, I became a fan after Graham alerted to me to them...They are 2 CD compilations of the RT shop staff's favourite tracks of the year, and whilst there are a few mainstream-ish tunes on them, it's mostly pretty leftfield stuff across a lot of different genres.
For this year, they have issued Counter culture 1976 to accompany 2006, and my cds arrived yesterday. Most of the tracks from 2006 are new to me, and I do like a lot of them, but in comparison with the 1976 disc, which includes The Ramones, Candi Staton, The Saints, Dennis Brown, Patti Smith, Nick Lowe -they seem rather forgettable. Not that I remember any of that stuff - in 1976 I was 8 years old and under attack from the ladybird swarm that descended that summer, and it was well before I even thought of buying any records - 'Everybody Wants To Be A Cat' was where it was at for me in those days...
For this year, they have issued Counter culture 1976 to accompany 2006, and my cds arrived yesterday. Most of the tracks from 2006 are new to me, and I do like a lot of them, but in comparison with the 1976 disc, which includes The Ramones, Candi Staton, The Saints, Dennis Brown, Patti Smith, Nick Lowe -they seem rather forgettable. Not that I remember any of that stuff - in 1976 I was 8 years old and under attack from the ladybird swarm that descended that summer, and it was well before I even thought of buying any records - 'Everybody Wants To Be A Cat' was where it was at for me in those days...
23.1.07
Just Like Money
The Jesus and Mary Chain are 'reforming' to play some enormo-festival in California in the Spring. Seems a shame, but I guess they have bills to pay same as all of us. Cult recognition and lasting influence on music across a generation is all fine and dandy, but cash money is still the bottom line, so it's hard to blame them. Still prefer to remember them from their Psychocandy incarnation though...
21.1.07
Best of the 2006 best ofs
With only one to come in (yes I know I have lots to send out, I'm working on it!), as of today these are the most popular LPs of 2006, culled from those which had a minimumof 3 tracks chosen from them on this year's best of CDRs. Does that make sense,?? either way, these are they:
the 4 Mogwai tracks are all different - the four Muse tracks are all the same (Knights of Cydonia)...
and no, it's not a fix fix that Dylan came top...
| bob dylan | 5 | |
| Primal Scream | 5 | |
| Belle and Sebastian | 4 | |
| Fratellis | 4 | |
| jarvis cocker | 4 | |
| mogwai | 4 | |
| muse | 4 | |
| arctic monkeys | 3 | |
| comets on fire | 3 | |
| CSS | 3 | |
| Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan | 3 | |
| joanna newsom | 3 | |
| raconteurs | 3 | |
| seth lakeman | 3 | |
| sufjan stevens | 3 | |
the 4 Mogwai tracks are all different - the four Muse tracks are all the same (Knights of Cydonia)...
and no, it's not a fix fix that Dylan came top...
Going to a go-go
Today's Observer Music Monthly has a feature about 25 of 'the best gigs ever'. Of the gigs listed, I would love to have seen the Velvet Underground in NYC in 1966, or Elvis in 1975, or the Pistols and the Clash in their heyday. I would be less enthused by Oasis or Jay Z, but I bet Roxy Music in '73 were good fun. Stephen Merchant reckons that Springsteen was so good, he didn't once get up foir a piss during the gig. If this is the measure of a top night out, then I am lost for words...
Anyway, with a heavy sigh and a depressing sense of inevitablility, here's my random 'off -the -top of- my -head' list of my top 10 gigs:
1. The Pogues, Brixton, 1988
2. Kraftwerk, Leicester, 1992
3. Colorblind James Experience, Hull, 1989
4. Steve Earle, Harlesden, 200?
5. Iggy Pop, Nottingham, 1988
6. Alabama 3, Birmingham, 2001
7. The Fall, Nottingham, 2005
8. The White Stripes, Nottingham 2001
9. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Manchester, 2005
10. Beck, Nottingham, 1997
well that's just a random spurt of the first classics which come to mind././ the Ramones were great, although well past their best, Richard Thompson has never disappointed, plus Teenage Fanclub, Primal Scream, Micah P Hinson, oh and about a thousand more...
Anyway, with a heavy sigh and a depressing sense of inevitablility, here's my random 'off -the -top of- my -head' list of my top 10 gigs:
1. The Pogues, Brixton, 1988
2. Kraftwerk, Leicester, 1992
3. Colorblind James Experience, Hull, 1989
4. Steve Earle, Harlesden, 200?
5. Iggy Pop, Nottingham, 1988
6. Alabama 3, Birmingham, 2001
7. The Fall, Nottingham, 2005
8. The White Stripes, Nottingham 2001
9. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Manchester, 2005
10. Beck, Nottingham, 1997
well that's just a random spurt of the first classics which come to mind././ the Ramones were great, although well past their best, Richard Thompson has never disappointed, plus Teenage Fanclub, Primal Scream, Micah P Hinson, oh and about a thousand more...
Crappo The Clown
A great title, the first track on Malcolm Middleton's first LP. He really is a miserable bastard, but I do like his records and the way he combines the bleakest of lyrics with uplifting tunes. Not that they are all uplifting - some are bloody depressing, but that's OK too.
Anyway, there's a new LP out in Feb, and the two tracks on his MySpace sound excellent.
Anyway, there's a new LP out in Feb, and the two tracks on his MySpace sound excellent.
12.1.07
In Spite Of Ourselves
I haven't seen this since I was in the audience. It was the Cambridge Folk Festival in 2003, it rained and rained, Jim contracted a bizarre chest infection only allieviated by whisky, and it was magic to see John Prine. Joe Strummer was there too, it was the year he died. He used what they call 'very strong language', as I recall.
It seemed then that we had an almost unremittingly bad time - the mud got tedious, and a very complacent and stubbornly seated audience was infuriating. We would charge over to a particular tent to see someone (it was a great line up that year, Eliza C, Bragg, Be Good Tanyas, etc) only to be foiled by a bunch of bastards on picnic blankets and camping chairs stuck in the way. But, the music and the beer were brilliant, and I would like to go back soon...with a blanket and a camping chair of course. On Sunday morning they broadcast the Archers omnibus across the campsite and festival arena...it's that kind of event..
It seemed then that we had an almost unremittingly bad time - the mud got tedious, and a very complacent and stubbornly seated audience was infuriating. We would charge over to a particular tent to see someone (it was a great line up that year, Eliza C, Bragg, Be Good Tanyas, etc) only to be foiled by a bunch of bastards on picnic blankets and camping chairs stuck in the way. But, the music and the beer were brilliant, and I would like to go back soon...with a blanket and a camping chair of course. On Sunday morning they broadcast the Archers omnibus across the campsite and festival arena...it's that kind of event..
11.1.07
Cortez The Killer
More Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Zuma this time. I have this on vinyl, but I saw it in Fopp today for a fiver, and thought why not. Apparently he has no memory of recording 'Barstool Blues', which makes it similar to Status Quo's 'Mystery Song' - they were so coked up, allegedly, that they couldn't remember recording that one either, hence the title...
And I would say that there's where the resemblance ends...Zuma has plenty of grungey strung out guitars, especially on 'Cortez The Killer', and a great side one track one in 'Don't Cry No Tears'.
10.1.07
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Listening to a lot of Neil Young and Robyn Hitchcock at the moment.
Saw Hitchcock at the Rescue Rooms last Saturday night, a terrific gig, he has Peter Buck out of REM in the band at the moment, so there was a lot of Rickenbacker 12 string Byrds-ish chiming guitars, it was brilliant. It helps that Hitchcock's new LP is so good, easily his best for a long time. We didn't see them, but Michael Stipe and Mike Mills out of REM were in the audience. They must have been hiding, because the place wasn't full, and the Rescue Rooms is hardly the Albert hall.
As for Neil Young, I've picked up the Live At The Fillmore 1970 cd, which has all those fantastic rambling guitar solos which last for 12 minutes and then start all over again. This got me into Tonight's The Night, long held to be a bleak and strung out heartbreaker of an album. I don't know about that; but the songs are great, and the guitars sound incredible.
Saw Hitchcock at the Rescue Rooms last Saturday night, a terrific gig, he has Peter Buck out of REM in the band at the moment, so there was a lot of Rickenbacker 12 string Byrds-ish chiming guitars, it was brilliant. It helps that Hitchcock's new LP is so good, easily his best for a long time. We didn't see them, but Michael Stipe and Mike Mills out of REM were in the audience. They must have been hiding, because the place wasn't full, and the Rescue Rooms is hardly the Albert hall.
As for Neil Young, I've picked up the Live At The Fillmore 1970 cd, which has all those fantastic rambling guitar solos which last for 12 minutes and then start all over again. This got me into Tonight's The Night, long held to be a bleak and strung out heartbreaker of an album. I don't know about that; but the songs are great, and the guitars sound incredible.
25.12.06
Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn?
In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation an' they gave me a lethal dose.
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
shelter from the storm
I bargained for salvation an' they gave me a lethal dose.
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."
shelter from the storm
18.12.06
Let There Be Rock
24 year old harp playing singer songwriter geniuses are one thing, but when there's some rocking that needs to be done, AC/DC take some beating.
17.12.06
sawdust and diamonds
there's been a lot of slavering from the broadsheet music journos over this LP by Joanna Newsom.
It's all deserved, it's a fantastic record. Very long, wordy songs, trilled by a startlingly peculiar voice which is just the right side of horrendous tweeness. I'm not describing it very well - again, but it's one of the best lps I've picked up this year.
Which I probably wouldn't have done had Alex and Anna not picked tracks from it on their own 'best of' cds...
It's all deserved, it's a fantastic record. Very long, wordy songs, trilled by a startlingly peculiar voice which is just the right side of horrendous tweeness. I'm not describing it very well - again, but it's one of the best lps I've picked up this year.
Which I probably wouldn't have done had Alex and Anna not picked tracks from it on their own 'best of' cds...
16.12.06
things have changed
I've been walking forty miles of bad road
If the bible is right, the world will explode
I've been trying to get as far away from myself as I can
Some things are too hot to touch
The human mind can only stand so much
You can't win with a losing hand
People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed
If the bible is right, the world will explode
I've been trying to get as far away from myself as I can
Some things are too hot to touch
The human mind can only stand so much
You can't win with a losing hand
People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed
15.12.06
Lend me ten pounds, I'll buy you a drink
The Pogues were in Nottingham last night, and I went with Graham. They were terrific, even in a crappy old shed like the Nottm Arena, which is hardly a patch on the Brixton Academy (St Patricks Day 1988) for atmosphere. Most of the band are now bald and trim and teetotal, apparently, and perhaps as a consequence they play fantastically. MacGowan is still a wreck, but (largely) comprehensible for most of the time. At one stage he had to be reminded which tune was next, but with a few trips off stage for a refreshing light ale, he was relatively sprightly.
The setlist on this 'reunion' tour is full of old stuff from the first three albums, including tracks from Red Roses For Me which I have never heard live before, alongside favourites like Body of an American, Bottle of Smoke, and the Sickbed of Cúchulainn. There was a lachrymose version of Fairytale of New York to end with, resulting in Mr Ward getting a thorough dousing of fake snow, and some concerned enquiries in the pub after the gig...
13.12.06
You add it up, it brings you down
very much enjoying the 2006 discs which have come in so far. loads of stuff I would never have heard, or even heard of .
for instance: Peter Bjorn and John, 15 minutes of strangely compelling drone rock from some guys called Om, the new LP by Six Organs of Admittance, CSS, Tuung, Grizzly Bear, and the best track title so far this year - 'our operators are masturbating' by Dr Octagon.
the Grauniad has compiled a chart of charts from the mags and websites, finding Hot Chip to be the LP of the year. Not had a single track from it yet on the compilations...but I liked the sound of the Burial album, might take a punt on it in Selectadisc tomorrow.
best of all though - 'One Track Lover', by Dr Lucien Sanchez
for instance: Peter Bjorn and John, 15 minutes of strangely compelling drone rock from some guys called Om, the new LP by Six Organs of Admittance, CSS, Tuung, Grizzly Bear, and the best track title so far this year - 'our operators are masturbating' by Dr Octagon.
the Grauniad has compiled a chart of charts from the mags and websites, finding Hot Chip to be the LP of the year. Not had a single track from it yet on the compilations...but I liked the sound of the Burial album, might take a punt on it in Selectadisc tomorrow.
best of all though - 'One Track Lover', by Dr Lucien Sanchez
5.12.06
I've only got three bullets and there's four of Motley Crue
...thus spake Nigel Blackwell
Rough Trade shop albums of the year, of which I have only a few.
I score better with the Mojo top 50, which I guess tells us rather a lot about which particular record buying demographic I fall into...ie a tired old middle class white man.
This album sounds great, it's cropping up in a lot of the end of the year lists, and it's the first one that I have thought 'bugger, I wish I'd put that on my cd'. I have downloaded it, but I'll swing by Selectadisc tomorrow.
meanwhile, Q has got the Killer's LP listed as the 5th best album released this year...it's one of the most hatefully shallow and soulless records I've ever heard.
That Midlake LP is growing on me, slightly.
Rough Trade shop albums of the year, of which I have only a few.
I score better with the Mojo top 50, which I guess tells us rather a lot about which particular record buying demographic I fall into...ie a tired old middle class white man.
This album sounds great, it's cropping up in a lot of the end of the year lists, and it's the first one that I have thought 'bugger, I wish I'd put that on my cd'. I have downloaded it, but I'll swing by Selectadisc tomorrow.
meanwhile, Q has got the Killer's LP listed as the 5th best album released this year...it's one of the most hatefully shallow and soulless records I've ever heard.
That Midlake LP is growing on me, slightly.
4.12.06
No Depression In Heaven
This is a great compilation. I don't need Bobby Gillespie to tell me how great the Carter Family are (or rather, were), but there are some fantastic records on these two cds - from dodgy homemade punk to sparse trad folk, to NY coffee shop blues, avant garde noise wankery, C86 jangling, and many other sub genres too elitist and high falutin' to go into here. Three tracks in, and the Rezillos 'I Can't Stand My Baby', bumps up to 'Xerox' by Adam and the Ants...when he was cool, before the girls got hold of him...and then one of the tracks that kicked off hip hop.
3.12.06
it was a pretty good year
a few 2006 cds are in , and already I'm thinking 'Bugger. Mine is going to look very tame compared to this lot'.
Running the whole gamut of white boys with electric guitars to white boys with acoustic guitars, and back again, my selection suddenly feels rather shit. oh well it's too late now, and discovering great new tunes is the whole point I guess.
Running the whole gamut of white boys with electric guitars to white boys with acoustic guitars, and back again, my selection suddenly feels rather shit. oh well it's too late now, and discovering great new tunes is the whole point I guess.
29.11.06
Life's all pain. Pain, gloom and misery
well, if you are uncomfortable with themes such as abandonment, addiction, deceit, sexual obsession, betrayal, disease, infanticide and death; you may find little amusement in my 2006 hit parade. Typical example - The Cruel Mother, by Alasdair Roberts. Came out last year, but I'm trying to get away with it as it's been one of my LPs of 2006.
But don't despair - shoe-horned into the fag end of the cd is a jolly Shuttleworth track to make sure we finish with a smile.
26.11.06
Well it's 1969 OK
compiling a cd of more than a dozen bona fide great records has not been easy this year.
Consider the same task in 1969 - the headache then would be which tracks to leave out. I spent a few minutes this morning setting upa 1969 playlist on iTunes, and here's what my end of year best of might have looked like - when I was one year old...
(I picked 1969 pretty much at random, because that was the year the King crimson album in the below post was released).
1. The Stooges - 1969
2. MC5 - Kick Out The Jams
3. Led Zeppelin - Communication Breakdown
4. Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young and Crazy Horse
5. Pinball Wizard - The Who
6. I Want To Take You Higher - Sly and the Family Stone
7. Nick Drake - Day Is Done
8. Flying Burrito Brothers - Hot Burrito #1
9. Buzzin' Fly - Tim Buckley
10. Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Cleawater Revival
11. Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones
12. Come Together - Beatles
13. Son of a Preacher man - Dusty Springfield
14. Lay Lady Lay - Bob Dylan
15. Matty Groves - Fairport Convention
16. Live Injection - The Upsetters
17. San Quentin - Johnny Cash
18. Moonlight on Vermont - Capt Beefheart
and we could go on...it's a long list of classic records across loads of genres, even with below par LPs by Dylan and the Beatles, both of which seem like stone classics compared to 2006 releases.
it also gives a lie to the notion that the '60's were done and dusted by '69 - everyone was either dead or on smack, 'they're selling hippy wigs in Woolworths' etc. but by the above evidence it was a bleedin vintage year, the like of which will never be seen again.
Consider the same task in 1969 - the headache then would be which tracks to leave out. I spent a few minutes this morning setting upa 1969 playlist on iTunes, and here's what my end of year best of might have looked like - when I was one year old...
(I picked 1969 pretty much at random, because that was the year the King crimson album in the below post was released).
1. The Stooges - 1969
2. MC5 - Kick Out The Jams
3. Led Zeppelin - Communication Breakdown
4. Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young and Crazy Horse
5. Pinball Wizard - The Who
6. I Want To Take You Higher - Sly and the Family Stone
7. Nick Drake - Day Is Done
8. Flying Burrito Brothers - Hot Burrito #1
9. Buzzin' Fly - Tim Buckley
10. Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Cleawater Revival
11. Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones
12. Come Together - Beatles
13. Son of a Preacher man - Dusty Springfield
14. Lay Lady Lay - Bob Dylan
15. Matty Groves - Fairport Convention
16. Live Injection - The Upsetters
17. San Quentin - Johnny Cash
18. Moonlight on Vermont - Capt Beefheart
and we could go on...it's a long list of classic records across loads of genres, even with below par LPs by Dylan and the Beatles, both of which seem like stone classics compared to 2006 releases.
it also gives a lie to the notion that the '60's were done and dusted by '69 - everyone was either dead or on smack, 'they're selling hippy wigs in Woolworths' etc. but by the above evidence it was a bleedin vintage year, the like of which will never be seen again.
24.11.06
The Prog doctor will see you now
A strange evening, I've been listening to a lot of dodgy old prog rock. On a whim, I downloaded In The Court Of The Crimson King - I don't think I have ever heard it all the way through, although Ady used to have it on vinyl, and I remember '21st Century Schizoid Man', which is a tremendous track, and probably worthy of inclusion in that track one side one list from the other week.
Now I think about it, Ady's vinyl version was a double LP, with Larks' Tongues In Aspic, and one of the LPs seemed to be a random Status Quo album, which found its way there by mistake. I don't think I'm making this up...
Anyway, ITCOTCK is a really good record. The lyrics are bobbins, but the guitar playing is terrific.
14.11.06
Come Out To Show Them
ok, this is a quick one...the last track randomly selected for me before retiring tonight turns out to be Come Out, by Steve Reich. This is a tape loop, a recording which Reich made in 1966, the details of which are here.
It's one of the oddest things I have ever heard, (on headphones it is almost hypnotic - a voice saying 'come out to show them' repeatedly, at different speeds, going in and out of phase, echoing over itself, coherent then incoherent, yes it sounds wanky if you describe it in words, but try listening to it) according to iTunes, it is categorized as 'pop'. This record is as far removed from pop as it is possible to get...
It's one of the oddest things I have ever heard, (on headphones it is almost hypnotic - a voice saying 'come out to show them' repeatedly, at different speeds, going in and out of phase, echoing over itself, coherent then incoherent, yes it sounds wanky if you describe it in words, but try listening to it) according to iTunes, it is categorized as 'pop'. This record is as far removed from pop as it is possible to get...
Why Dont'cha Do Me Right?
Growing tired of mucking about with the 'best of 2006' shenanigans, tonight I let iTunes sort itself out with what it ominously calls 'party shuffle'. It's a randomizer situation, although what kind of party would rock to the sounds which it has thrown me in the last half hour, I struggle to imagine.
First off, breaking the ice, we had Neonlicht by Kraftwerk...followed by Stray Cat Blues, maybe my favourite ever Stones track. A startlingly filthy record, hard to imagine Razorlight coming close to this kind of decadence. And when did bleeding Razorlight get to be a number one selling group anyway??
Next up, two Zappa tunes, guranteed to get any party swinging, Why Dont'cha Do Me Right? from Absolutely Free, and Watermelon In Easter Hay, from Joe's Garage. Then, two records I have no memory of bunging into iTunes at all - some strange trumpet thing called Greek Triangle which I would be in no hurry to encounter again, and a great tune called Story Of My Life, by Unrelated Segments.
I could go on, but I think my original point was that sometimes it's easy to get stuck in a rut of listening to the same stuff, neglecting the darker recesses of the record collection...
When was the last time you played The first Velvet Underground LP? I bet it was ages ago, because like me you thought you had heard it so much that it had been absorbed into your DNA and there was no need to ever bother actually playing it ever again...I blew the dust off it the other day, and it was just as great as ever.
other good stuff unearthed tonight included tracks by Schoolly D, William Burroughs, Jelly Roll Morton, the Pogues, Boards Of Canada, Aphex Tin, Richard Hawley, and the Colorblind James Experience. Randomizing is the way forward...in fact I might randomize my 2006 comilation, which might be interesting. Or more likely, shit.
First off, breaking the ice, we had Neonlicht by Kraftwerk...followed by Stray Cat Blues, maybe my favourite ever Stones track. A startlingly filthy record, hard to imagine Razorlight coming close to this kind of decadence. And when did bleeding Razorlight get to be a number one selling group anyway??
Next up, two Zappa tunes, guranteed to get any party swinging, Why Dont'cha Do Me Right? from Absolutely Free, and Watermelon In Easter Hay, from Joe's Garage. Then, two records I have no memory of bunging into iTunes at all - some strange trumpet thing called Greek Triangle which I would be in no hurry to encounter again, and a great tune called Story Of My Life, by Unrelated Segments.
I could go on, but I think my original point was that sometimes it's easy to get stuck in a rut of listening to the same stuff, neglecting the darker recesses of the record collection...
When was the last time you played The first Velvet Underground LP? I bet it was ages ago, because like me you thought you had heard it so much that it had been absorbed into your DNA and there was no need to ever bother actually playing it ever again...I blew the dust off it the other day, and it was just as great as ever.
other good stuff unearthed tonight included tracks by Schoolly D, William Burroughs, Jelly Roll Morton, the Pogues, Boards Of Canada, Aphex Tin, Richard Hawley, and the Colorblind James Experience. Randomizing is the way forward...in fact I might randomize my 2006 comilation, which might be interesting. Or more likely, shit.
11.11.06
My Face Is Finished, My Body's Gone
This here is the new stuff from Nick Cave, and what seems to be most of his band from the 'solo' shows of earlier this year. Looks like they will have an LP in the New Year, and some gigs hopefully.
Far be it from me to draw anyone's attention to a car advert, but here's one soundtracked by the Mighty Fall Gruppe, with Blindness 'their finest song to date' in the words of John Shuttleworth. Speaking of whom, I have been trying to get hold of an mp3 version of 'I Can't Go back To Savoury Now' for my end of the year CD, sadly without success...
Far be it from me to draw anyone's attention to a car advert, but here's one soundtracked by the Mighty Fall Gruppe, with Blindness 'their finest song to date' in the words of John Shuttleworth. Speaking of whom, I have been trying to get hold of an mp3 version of 'I Can't Go back To Savoury Now' for my end of the year CD, sadly without success...
10.11.06
1.11.06
The Unfortunate Death of The Lords
I've put the call out for this year's 'best of' CDRs, since we seem to be coming up to the end of 2006 with very little left to be released of interest, save the Tom Waits triple which is due later this month, and the Jarvis Cocker LP, which sounds interesting.
13 folks have signed up so far, which will make some work for me with the posting and copying etc, but it's always interesting to see what tracks people have chosen. I keep tinkering with my final list, adding and extracting tunes which I can't quite decide on. One constant from the day I heard it is by Lords - 'The Unfortunate Death of The Lords' from the LP of earlier this year, 'This Ain't A Hate Thing, It's a Love Thing'. And they are from Nottingham! See! It's not all Paper Lace and KWS round here y'know...
Am sorely tempted to include a track from the Ginger LP of earlier this year, partly because he still writes great pop metal anthems, and partly because it will annoy people who will hear it sat in the middle of the predominantly acoustic and sensitive singer songwriterly choices which are likely to abound in the the final selection.
The only other really rowdy LP which I think may make my final cut is the Archie Bronson Outfit, but there's Primal Scream and Secret Machines in there too. Aside from that, things look very stark and acoustic compared to previous years, and I guess that may be an effect of the Green Man festival...
24.10.06
Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground
Currently enjoying a lot of pre-war country blues; guys like Blind Willie McTell, Blind Blake, the Reverend Gary Davis, Bukka White, and most of all, Blind Willie Johnson, on a terrific LP called Praise God I'm Satisfied.
It's been suggested that the terrors which Robert Johnson sang about - hellhounds, devils, stones in his passway, judgement day; are all forewarned in the apocalyptic gospelizing of Blind Willie Johnson, who recorded between 1927 - 1930.
Here is a man palpably aware of divine redemption; song titles like 'I Know His Blood Can Make Me Whole', and 'Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dyin' Bed' hint at a man well of aware of his own fragile mortality.
Blind Willie's most famous recording is 'Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground' (adapted by Ry Cooder as the theme for Paris Texas). A wordless description of Christ's plight on the cross, this piece was included on the batch of recordings sent out on the Voyager 1 mission into space in 1977, presumably designed to allow possible alien life forms to get a feel for humanity via the medium of music.
Other music included a couple of pieces by Bach and Beethoven , some Native American chants, Louis Armstrong's Hot Seven, Chuck Berry, and various other supposedly representative examples of earthly music. It's hard to imagine what impression an alien life form might make of the human race on hearing 'Dark Was the Night'...but there are few more starkly affecting representations of the human condition in any art form, by anyone.
9.10.06
Side One, Track One
Bored on a Monday night, I have listed a fairly random slection of classic opening album tracks, (none of which, I think, feature in the same list in High Fidelity). Fatuous commentary occasionally included.
1. Irk The Purists - Half Man Half Biscuit
from the tremendous Trouble over Bridgwater LP, and a rallying cry to anyone whose record collection includes 'Husker Du, Captain Beefheart, ELO, Chris de Burgh, Sun Ra, Del Amitri ,John Coltrane'
2. Get Ready For Love - Nick Cave - Abattoir Blues...a statement of intent for an album if ever there was one. Almost had to choose 'Papa Won't Leave You Henry' from Henry's Dream.
3. Back In Black - AC/DC
Had to be a good start to the first LP recorded without Bon Scott...
4. The Concept - Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque including a special mention for Status Quo...
5. Misunderstood - Wilco - Being There.
Racked and ragged start to a beautiful track which starts an album when Jeff Tweedy 'still loved rock n roll'.
6. Rocks Off - Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street
Now, this is the best track one side one tune ever put on plastic, filthy guitars, rowdy horns, rude lyrics, and lots of ridiculous Jagger growling and hooting... 'the sunshine bores the daylights out of me..'
7. New Day Rising - Husker Du
From the LP of the same name, teeth grinding guitar shredding, as Husker Du started to mutate from hardcore into more melodic song writing.
8. Prayer To God - Shellac - 1000 Hurts
'Him, just fuckin' kill him'. Steve Albini has had some good album opening tracks, the problem being that the LPs often deteriorate as they go on...Jordan Minnsota from Atomizer is scary, and The Model from Songs About Fucking is even more bleak and cold than the Kraftwerk original.
9. Return of The Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel
sorry, just realised that this one is in the book...
10. Gloria - Patti Smith - Horses
My second favourite opening track after the Stones. Dunno what Van the Man makes of it though...
11. I Feel Alright - Steve Earle
From the first LP he recorded more or less clean, with songs written when he was more or less clean. Most junkies go on to make dull records after they clean up, but Steve Earle made many terrific LPs, quickly too, after quitting heroin and crack.
12. Close Your Eyes - Micah P Hinson - Gospel of Progress
the best debut LP from anyone anywhere for ages.
13. If I Should Fall From Grace With God - The Pogues
A bloody exciting album, and I am a lucky bastard to have seen them live around this time, though even by the following LP MacGowan had pissed on his own parade.
14. Station Approach - Elbow - Leaders of The Free World
if only the rest of the LP was as good.
15. Holidays in The Sun - Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks
The sound of a hundred multi-layered guitars...I wonder if Steve Jones had anything to do with this whatsover.
16. Big Exit - PJ Harvey - Stories from The City, Stories From The Sea
Took me a while to get into this LP, but it's probably her best. She's so patchy, I wish she would just rock out more often.
17. Astronomy Domine - Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates of Dawn
As Peel would say, this one fades in. Sgt Pepper can bollocks, this was the real English psychedelia.
18. I Wanna Be Adored - Stone Roses
over rated LP, but the best tracks are still thrilling.
19. Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
The only song on this list which I have played on stage (anyone with a bass guitar and 5 mins to spare can learn this song). hey ho! let's go!
20. The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths
increasingly rare combination of brilliant guitar playing with brilliant lyric writing. And only yesterday, the Observer was comparing the Libertines to the Smiths - it makes me weep...
1. Irk The Purists - Half Man Half Biscuit
from the tremendous Trouble over Bridgwater LP, and a rallying cry to anyone whose record collection includes 'Husker Du, Captain Beefheart, ELO, Chris de Burgh, Sun Ra, Del Amitri ,John Coltrane'
2. Get Ready For Love - Nick Cave - Abattoir Blues...a statement of intent for an album if ever there was one. Almost had to choose 'Papa Won't Leave You Henry' from Henry's Dream.
3. Back In Black - AC/DC
Had to be a good start to the first LP recorded without Bon Scott...
4. The Concept - Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque including a special mention for Status Quo...
5. Misunderstood - Wilco - Being There.
Racked and ragged start to a beautiful track which starts an album when Jeff Tweedy 'still loved rock n roll'.
6. Rocks Off - Rolling Stones - Exile On Main Street
Now, this is the best track one side one tune ever put on plastic, filthy guitars, rowdy horns, rude lyrics, and lots of ridiculous Jagger growling and hooting... 'the sunshine bores the daylights out of me..'
7. New Day Rising - Husker Du
From the LP of the same name, teeth grinding guitar shredding, as Husker Du started to mutate from hardcore into more melodic song writing.
8. Prayer To God - Shellac - 1000 Hurts
'Him, just fuckin' kill him'. Steve Albini has had some good album opening tracks, the problem being that the LPs often deteriorate as they go on...Jordan Minnsota from Atomizer is scary, and The Model from Songs About Fucking is even more bleak and cold than the Kraftwerk original.
9. Return of The Grievous Angel - Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel
sorry, just realised that this one is in the book...
10. Gloria - Patti Smith - Horses
My second favourite opening track after the Stones. Dunno what Van the Man makes of it though...
11. I Feel Alright - Steve Earle
From the first LP he recorded more or less clean, with songs written when he was more or less clean. Most junkies go on to make dull records after they clean up, but Steve Earle made many terrific LPs, quickly too, after quitting heroin and crack.
12. Close Your Eyes - Micah P Hinson - Gospel of Progress
the best debut LP from anyone anywhere for ages.
13. If I Should Fall From Grace With God - The Pogues
A bloody exciting album, and I am a lucky bastard to have seen them live around this time, though even by the following LP MacGowan had pissed on his own parade.
14. Station Approach - Elbow - Leaders of The Free World
if only the rest of the LP was as good.
15. Holidays in The Sun - Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks
The sound of a hundred multi-layered guitars...I wonder if Steve Jones had anything to do with this whatsover.
16. Big Exit - PJ Harvey - Stories from The City, Stories From The Sea
Took me a while to get into this LP, but it's probably her best. She's so patchy, I wish she would just rock out more often.
17. Astronomy Domine - Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates of Dawn
As Peel would say, this one fades in. Sgt Pepper can bollocks, this was the real English psychedelia.
18. I Wanna Be Adored - Stone Roses
over rated LP, but the best tracks are still thrilling.
19. Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
The only song on this list which I have played on stage (anyone with a bass guitar and 5 mins to spare can learn this song). hey ho! let's go!
20. The Queen Is Dead - The Smiths
increasingly rare combination of brilliant guitar playing with brilliant lyric writing. And only yesterday, the Observer was comparing the Libertines to the Smiths - it makes me weep...
2.10.06
Tramp the Dirt Down
There's a dubious list on the bbc website of the most popular songs chosen for funerals. Apparently, this is the top 10:
1. Goodbye My Lover - James Blunt
2. Angels - Robbie Williams
3. I've Had the Time of My Life - Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley
4. Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler
5. Pie Jesu - Requiem
6. Candle in the Wind - Elton John
7. With or Without You - U2
8. Tears in Heaven - Eric Clapton
9. Every Breath You Take - The Police
10. Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers
According to a spokesman from whichever agency compiles this crap,
"The top 20 really shows how far we have come in terms of saying goodbye. Gone are the dirges of yore, instead we are seeing contemporary music that is easier to relate to."
What bollocks. The dirges of yore may be behind us, but what a relief that we have plenty of contemporary dirges from deadbeats like James Blunt, to provide cheap second hand sentiment as the curtains close on the casket.
Personally, I would prefer Ace of Spades, to give procedings a more lively tempo.
According to a spokesman from whichever agency compiles this crap,
"The top 20 really shows how far we have come in terms of saying goodbye. Gone are the dirges of yore, instead we are seeing contemporary music that is easier to relate to."
What bollocks. The dirges of yore may be behind us, but what a relief that we have plenty of contemporary dirges from deadbeats like James Blunt, to provide cheap second hand sentiment as the curtains close on the casket.
Personally, I would prefer Ace of Spades, to give procedings a more lively tempo.
21.9.06
One Vile Fucking Task After Another
Since the year is winding up very quickly, I guess it's time to wonder what might be featuring on this year's Best Of the year CDR...
these are some of the folks fighting for a place on my coveted final 15:
Primal Scream, Belle and Sebastian, Bert Jansch (great new LP out last week), Mogwai, Lords, Secret Machines, Richard Hawley, The Archie Bronson Outfit, Micah P Hinson, Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, Mozzer, Arctic Monkeys, and Bob Dylan...and Jake Thackray. (via a cheeky reissue, the only one on the list)
well that's how things stand tonight, things may change by the year end, as they usually do.
these are some of the folks fighting for a place on my coveted final 15:
Primal Scream, Belle and Sebastian, Bert Jansch (great new LP out last week), Mogwai, Lords, Secret Machines, Richard Hawley, The Archie Bronson Outfit, Micah P Hinson, Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, Mozzer, Arctic Monkeys, and Bob Dylan...and Jake Thackray. (via a cheeky reissue, the only one on the list)
well that's how things stand tonight, things may change by the year end, as they usually do.
7.9.06
I got the porkchops, she got the pie
There's a new Bob Dylan album at large, and would you believe it, it's the number one LP in the US. It's the first time that the old croaker has managed this since the heady days of Desire, 30 years ago... Even more surpising...maybe..is that the LP is terrific; full of fire and brimstone bar-room R&B, and crooning country swing tunes which could have been recorded forty or fifty years ago. The lyrics are tremendous, and show an often overlooked sense of humour:
"I've been to St Herman's church, said my religious vows I've sucked the milk out of a thousand cows"
Never mind the cows - who the hell was St Herman??
No one can touch Dylan - he has an ever-changing set list on a never-ending tour, when plenty of his contemporaries would have been happy to slope off to Vegas and play the nostalgia card til they dropped dead.
He's keeping his art real, alive, and valid; making great records, and writing a fascinating and beautifully written autobiography.
Rock music is 50 years old, it's practitioners are at a pensionable age. Dylan shows how it's possible to keep doing this stuff with vigour and integrity, and dignity. If only he would have a word with Mick Jagger...
26.8.06
Down By Black Waterside
Listening to a lot of Bert Jansch at the moment, bought two LPs in Selectadisc this morning and am wondering what took me so long to get hold of any of his stuff...
nice clip here of him playing 'Black Waterside', which was ripped off completely by Jimmy Page on the first Zeppelin album, as 'Black Mountainside'.
I think Bert attempted, briefly, to get Zep to cough up some royalties for the liberty of stealing his arrangement, but since the song is traditional, he came out with nothing (that didn't stop Jimmy Page crediting it to himself on Led Zep 1).
In fact Jansch was taught the song by Anne Briggs, who had in turn learned it from someone else, so it all gets a bit confused. It's definitely Bert Jansch's arrangement which features on the Zep album though...and it's not the only example of them pinching tunes and claiming to have written them - they settled out of court with Willie Dixon over 'Whole Lotta Love'.
nice clip here of him playing 'Black Waterside', which was ripped off completely by Jimmy Page on the first Zeppelin album, as 'Black Mountainside'.
I think Bert attempted, briefly, to get Zep to cough up some royalties for the liberty of stealing his arrangement, but since the song is traditional, he came out with nothing (that didn't stop Jimmy Page crediting it to himself on Led Zep 1).
In fact Jansch was taught the song by Anne Briggs, who had in turn learned it from someone else, so it all gets a bit confused. It's definitely Bert Jansch's arrangement which features on the Zep album though...and it's not the only example of them pinching tunes and claiming to have written them - they settled out of court with Willie Dixon over 'Whole Lotta Love'.
22.8.06
Your iPod shuffle hates you
Graham's idea, compare the random music thrown at you by iTunes...what are the first ten tracks it wants you to hear? In my experience, they are rarely what I am actually in the mood for, but here goes - Graham's first:
iPod or iTunes on shuffle - what are the first 10 tracks you get? No cheating.
Handel : Sanctus, Mass in C
Richard Thompson: The Wrong Heartbeat
Pink Floyd: The Fletcher Memorial Home
Bob & Marcia : Young Gifted and Black
Amadou & Mariam : M'Bife
Spanish Harlem: Ben E King
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros : X Ray Style
The White Stripes : The Denial Twist
Pixies : Debaser:
Transglobal Underground : Ali Mullah
And here's mine:
iPod or iTunes on shuffle - what are the first 10 tracks you get? No cheating.
Handel : Sanctus, Mass in C
Richard Thompson: The Wrong Heartbeat
Pink Floyd: The Fletcher Memorial Home
Bob & Marcia : Young Gifted and Black
Amadou & Mariam : M'Bife
Spanish Harlem: Ben E King
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros : X Ray Style
The White Stripes : The Denial Twist
Pixies : Debaser:
Transglobal Underground : Ali Mullah
And here's mine:
CCKMP - Steve Earle - one of my favourite Earle tunes...
Little Fluffy Clouds - The Orb - still sounds fresh to me, not dated
Let it Out - The Hombres - never heard this track before, it's on the Nuggets box set
Pavement Saw - Big Black - easy listening as ever
Gary and Melissa - King Missile - Jim used to have the LP, and no doubt still has
Tulip - John Fahey - skipped, rather dull
Silly Woman - Bert Jansch - more of that psyche folk gubbins
Another Brick In The Wall (part one) - Pink Floyd - the only band on mine and Graham's list!
The King of Bring - Malcolm Middleton - he was very miserable indeed at Green Man
The Busy Girl Buys Beauty - Billy Bragg - good old Mr Bragg
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