Pages

Monday 29 July 2013

29 July 2013 - The Yorkshire edition

Liverpool's had a few scenes, including one semi-popular four-piece beat combo they do like to mention a bit, as has Manchester, Bristol and of course London. Well it's high time Yorkshire's music scene was celebrated and with this being the week in which Yorkshire Day falls - it's on Thursday, August 1 - what better time?

Pulp - Do You Remember The First Time?
John: I remember the first time I heard this. From way back in 1994 and their breakthrough album 'His n Hers'. I'm conscious that Sheffield will feature a lot in this selection tonight...

Wedding Present - The Girl From The DDR
John: Up the M1 to Leeds now. From last year's 'Valentina' which I haven't listened to enough, a take of holiday romance behind the iron curtain.

Fila Brazillia - Neanderthal
John: Take the M62, A63 and Clive Sullivan Way and it's to Hull. Doesn't that dreamy, summery track evoke memories of a stroll along the gentle, lapping waters of the Humber? That came out in 2007.

Cover Version Corner
The Human League/Heaven 17 - Being Boiled
John: Back down the M18 to Sheffield, and this works as a cover version and our other format section, One Degree of Separation what with Heaven 17 being formed by ex-Human Leaguers Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh. I think you can hear the musical difference that caused that split. The Human League version, from 1978 originally and the album 'Reproduction', is really stripped back, bare, experimental. Heaven 17 tart it up, make it more grandiose, maybe a little bit pompous. That's off the 2008 album 'Naked As Advertised'.

Gang Of Four - I Love A Man In Uniform
John: Back to Leeds and everyone's favourite agit-punk rockers with an avowedly anti-war song from 1982 off the album 'Songs Of The Free'.

The Crookes - Afterglow
John: Love that. Punchy, lively and a woah-oh-oh-oh bit.
Carolyn: I like that. I love a good chorus.
John: Thought it's be up your street. That's off last year's album 'Hold Fast'.


High Hazels - Hearts Are Breaking
John: We've had these before too, still relatively fresh. That's jolly pleasant.

Hey, Rube! - Bali Hai
John: Another laid back, dreamy comfort blanket of a track from Hull. Must be something in the water... That's off last year's album 'Can You Hear Me Mutha?'

Chanteuse and The Crippled Claw - You're A Freak
John: Back to Sheffield for this and they've still got electro-pop covered down there. The Crippled Claw is Adrian Flanagan of show favourites the Eccentronic Research Council and Chanteuse is singer Candie Payne. I'm not sure how a leopard dances on the floor, but that's just lovely and verges on the 1980s Doctor Who score at times which is never a bad thing. More please.

LFO - LFO
John: And that's how Leeds used to do it. You've no idea how much pleasure it gives me to play that on the radio and really test the bass in the headphones.
Carolyn: Were you getting a bit of a dance on there?
John: A little bit. Man, that takes me back. 1990, that came out in, off the album 'Frequencies'. Low-frequency oscillator, before you ask.

Comsat Angels - Independence Day
John: Another band I've been trying to squeeze in for ages, but no excuse today. That's just a great record. From 1980 and the album 'Waiting For A Miracle'.

One Degree of Separation
Arctic Monkeys - Don't Sit Down Cause I've Moved Your Chair
The Last Shadow Puppets - My Mistakes Were Made For You
John: There's this band called The Arctic Monkeys, right. You might not have heard of them, but I reckon they're going to be big. Obviously your link here is Alex Turner. I love the guitar on that Last Shadow Puppets track which is off the 2008 album 'The Age Of The Understatement. The Arctic Monkeys record comes off 2011's 'Suck It And See'.

Terrorvision - Tequila
John: Breaking the Sheffield/Leeds/Hull hegemony we've built up here, it's a big hello to Bradford for our last track. From 1999, this, off the album 'Shaving Peaches'. Do drink sensibly, folks...


Here's all that in a YouTube playlist apart from the High Hazels, Hey, Rube! and Chanteuse and The Crippled Claw tracks, links to which are in the relevant sections.
So much more that I wanted to play. Babybird (not THAT one), Longpigs, Utah Saints, Richard Hawley, The Ukrainians, Cabaret Voltaire, Spectrals, Menace Beach, The Mekons.... I'm going to expand the playlist out to include a load more stuff and you feel free to use that in your Yorkshire Day celebration parties.

Happy Yorkshire Day everyone!

Monday 22 July 2013

22 July 2013

Bit cooler today and everything is working fine.

Drenge - Face Like A Skull
John: Show favourites, this is their new single. They suddenly gained national notoriety when namechecked in Tom Watson MP's letter of resignation from his post as Labour's election strategist. Not unwelcome publicity, but they seemed quite bemused by it all.
Carolyn: Yes, it was more about how he was urging Ed Miliband to make sure he had time for the wider pursuits in life. Either way, good band, good feel to it all and more power to them.

Warren Peace - FRANKLYSTVN
John: That's a couple of records in one from Warren Borg and Buddy Peace with some philosophising on love and life from one of our favourite artists Scroobius Pip.
Carolyn: And why not?
John: I guess we pronounce it 'frankly Steven'.

Silver Arm - Dead Tongues
John: Another band that came to my attention via Twitter. 'Listen to this if you like', they said, 'or if not, just imagine a horse with a machine gun ripping your face off'. Which is fair enough I suppose. I don't know a lot about them - they're from down south somewhere - but I like their energy and attitude.



Cover Version Corner
Small Faces/Ride - That Man
John: Same song, one stripped back and bare, the other massively produced and engineered within an inch of it's life. The original is off 1967's 'From The Beginning' while Ride's is off a compilation called 'Long Agos And Worlds Apart: A Tribute To The Small Faces' which came out in 1995. While trying to find out more about that record, I searched online for 'ride that man'. My advice - don't.
Carolyn: Ah. Yeah. Good point. Don't try that at home everyone.
John: Or do while you still can. Don't do it at work though. Four pages...

Hot Vestry - Commiserations
John: Also in the Drenge envelope a bit, these are from Macclesfield and it's off an EP called 'Tell Me How It's Done'. I like that a lot.
Carolyn: The ending drags out a bit. Otherwise, yeah.

The Vaccines - Melody Calling
John: New from these and a bit different to normal. Nice and summery though. Now you like these - how does that stack up?
Carolyn: I want a big chorus to sing along to. I can't sing that in the car.
John: Oh. No.

NYPC - Hard Knocks
John: NYPC is the new name for New Young Pony Club. The first half of the show was guitar-dominated, so it's time to electronicify it up a bit. That's new and is released on August 12.
Carolyn: It went a bit weird towards the end, but yeah, not bad.

Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft - Vershwenden Deine Jugend
John: More electronica, this time from 1981 and Dusseldorf. It means 'wasting our youth' and is off the album 'Gold Und Liebe'. I play that because we played a record by Gesaffelstein recently and these are an influence. You can see the lineage and that these things go in cycles. This sort of thing is back.

The Clean - Diamond Shine
John: From Dunedin in New Zealand, this is off their 1990 debut album 'Vehicle'. Always worth a revisit.

One Degree of Separation
The Altered Hours - Sweet Jelly Roll
Lemon Jelly - Nice Weather For Ducks
John: I play that Lemon Jelly track in an ironic sense of our recent weather. That's off the 2002 album 'Lost Horizons' which we've probably done to death on the show now. Last time they featured in this section, it was a lemon link. This time, it's the jelly. 'Sweet Jelly Roll' is the EP from Cork psych-rockers The Altered Hours and that came out in April.

Daughn Gibson - You Don't Fade
John: An interesting character. A former trucker from Pennsyvania, the album is 'Me, Moan' and it came out last month.
Carolyn: So not Dawn? I figured it was a bloke. That's a rich and interesting voice.

Pixies - Debaser
John: From way back in 1989 - where does the time go? - and the album 'Doolittle'. We play that as it contains oblique references to the Bunuel film Un Chien Andalou and we have Andalucian visitors in town on Wednesday when Town play Real Betis. Tenuous? Anyway, we'll be covering that game later in the week.

Here's all that in a YouTube playlist for you apart from the Warren Peace track. Links in the heading for that section. There's also a better, studio, version of the Drenge record up there too.

Monday 15 July 2013

15 July 2013

It might be the heat in our airless bunker, but shit ain't working tonight. CD players not reading discs, for instance. Either way, we're pretty stuffed, but what that does mean is I can stick it up here instead and pretend I did a show. As long as I don't admit it to anyone, you'll not be any the wiser. Oh...
Also, it allows me to open with the track I wanted to.

B Dolan - Which Side Are You On?
Poet, activist, rapper, Rhode Island's B Dolan is pretty much a renaissance man. Sampling the old 1930s protest song of the same name, that's off last year's 'House Of Bees vol 2' EP.
I had to pull this initially. I do vet tracks before play to establish suitability for a fairly MOR station, but found a couple of swears I overlooked. Still, that doesn't matter to you, right. Moreover, any excuse to link to a game of Hip Hop Guess Who...

The Black Tambourines - Bodies
These are new to me. As I've said before, I like Twitter. What often lets it down though are the suggestions of who to follow. This week, however, it redeemed itself by suggesting I follow Art Is Hard records to whom these are signed. They're based in the south-west and Black Tambourines are from Falmouth and this is their new single. Very summery it is too.

The Cairo Gang - Take Your Time
Emmett Kelly and band are back with a new album, 'Tiny Rebels', which is out a week today and this is the first track to come off that. They're from California and it has that sort of San Francisco '60s feel about it.

Cover Version Corner
The Monks/The Fall - Higgle-dy Piggle-dy
The Monks were American GIs based in Cologne and had some short-term success with some good old garage rock. That's from the 1966 album 'Black Monk Time'. The Fall are an institution and that's off a 2006 b-side to 'Monk Time' which was used in support of the documentary film 'The Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback'.

MJ Cole - Sincere
Perfect for a long, hot summer night. Off the 1998 album 'Sincere', this was a hit in 2000 at the peak of the UK garage scene. It still sounds great.

Jackamo Brown - When She Comes
The mysterious Jackamo Brown doesn't do interviews, doesn't do gigs, had to be persuaded it was worth putting a record together. This was released last year, but I'm only just coming to it now. The album is 'Oh No, The Drift Of The World' and is lovely. It's on Scrobius Pip's, who we saw playing Guess Who earlier, Speech Development label and it's a joy.

Breathe Out - Dead Friends
Another one from the Art Is Hard stable. These are from Plymouth and this perky little number was out in March on the 'Absolute True Love' EP. Nice false ending.

The Loft - Up The Hill And Down The Slope
An early signature to Creation Records. This is from 1985.

/please/ - Chevrons
Back to the Art Is Hard treasure trove. /please/ is Ellen Davies. 18 years old. Blimey. That's out next week.

One Degree of Separation
Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This, Then Your Children Will Be Next
The Smiths - The Headmaster Ritual
From 1998's 'This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours', it doesn't take a genius to work out that that Manics track is avowedly an anti-fascist record. Which is probably how those dickheads the EDL used it on a propaganda video and are now being sued by the band. Johnny Marr told David Cameron he wasn't allowed to like The Smiths after the spam-faced git picked one of their tracks as one of his Desert Island Discs. So there's your link - inappropriate use by people who really don't get it. That track is from 'Meat Is Murder' released in 1985 and has one of the all-time great intros.

Hugh Cornwell - God Is A Woman
The ex-Strangler is 63 now, but still going strong. His latest album, from which this comes, came out last month and is called 'Totem and Taboo'.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Mladic
It's difficult to get tracks by these on as they are invariably massive, like this 20-minute epic. The album is 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!' and is the Montreal avant-gardistes fourth studio effort, a first in ten years, which came out last year.


And that'll do you. Hopefully we'll actually get back on air next week. Meantime, most of that's in this here YouTube playlist. A couple of tracks aren't, but there are links above if you have a poke around.

Monday 8 July 2013

8 July 2013

Another Monday, another week to get kicked off.

Nothankyou - Know Yourself
John: I've barely been able to tear myself away from this since I first heard it. This is a collaboration between Tom Vek and Dirty Projectors vocalist Olga Bell and it's flipping brilliant. This is out on a double-A side single released on August 5.

Hookworms - Radio Tokyo
John: We like these. From Leeds, this is off their album 'Pearl Mystic' and is probably the most accessible record on there.
Carolyn: What - in terms of length?
John: Yes and less... experimental.

Owiny Sigoma Band - Harpoon Land
John: Another band we've had before, taking London beats and Kenyan traditions. Short and sweet, that's off 'Power Punch' which came out in April.
Carolyn: It sounds like it should be older than a couple of months ago. Stuff I like normally turns out to be 20 years old and more.


Cover Version Corner
Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band/The Black Keys - Her Eyes Are A Blue Million Miles
John: I've been threatening to play Beefheart for ages, and finally I have. That's a relatively easy way in to his oeuvre, before it all went a bit skew-whiff with Trout Mask Replica. That's off the 1972 album 'Clear Spot'. Then the Black Keys version which is remarkable for sounding more Beefheart than Beefheart did and is off a split single with the Flaming Lips from 2009.

Pinkunoizu - Moped
John: New stuff from Denmark. That's off an album called 'Drop' which is out next month.

Toy - She's Out Of My Head
John: We like these and we've not played them for a while. This isn't off their critically acclaimed album 'Toy', rather a B-side to the single version of My Heart Skips A Beat which we've also played. Really like that.

Disclosure - Stimulation
John: A proper foot-stomping, old-school floor-filler. These are big and, for me, won Glastonbury. That's the third track we've played off their hit album 'Settle'.

Boards Of Canada - New Seeds
John: I'm a big fan of these and a new album is something to savour. Dark, moody, brooding, cinematic... The album is 'Tomorrow's Harvest' and came out last month.

Hot Chip - Dark And Stormy
John: New stuff from these, which is always fun. Hopefully a new album to follow shortly.

One Degree Of Separation
The Lemonheads - It's A Shame About Ray
Lemon Jelly - Space Walk
John: Not a tricky link this week. If life gives you lemons, play Lemon Jelly - that's what I reckon. That's off 2002's 'Lost Horizons' album and features astronaut Ed White on 1965's Gemini 4 mission which is one of the more unique samples you'll find. Before that, Evan Dando and the Lemonheads off the 1992 album of the same name.
Carolyn: Given it was an easy link today, is next week's going to be one of your obscure ones?
John: I don't know yet.

Young Rising Sons - I Want It All
John: I like Twitter. It allows me to share the stuff I play each week and also allows people to recommend stuff to me. Which these did. They're from New Jersey, have an album called 'Highway Town' out now and available for free download. Very commercial, that, in a Black Keys style.
Carolyn: By commercial do you just mean that I like it?
John: It has mass appeal is all. I just hope they appreciate we don't have a wide listenership and I'm not a massively influential player in the music industry.

Inspiral Carpets - Directing Traffik
John: Unmistakeable. That's off their 1990 debut album 'Life' and is probably my favourite of all their stuff.
Carolyn: 1990... I feel old.
John: Still going strong and making new stuff. More power to their collective elbow.

The Horrors - I Can See Through You
John: From Southend, this is a couple of years old now, off 2011's 'Skying'.


And that's your lot for this week. That's all packaged up for you in a neat YouTube playlist except the Hookworms track which is over here.

Monday 1 July 2013

1 July 2013

Back once again with a bunch of stuff to get you going for another week.

Gesaffelstein - Pursuit
John: Now consider your week kicked off. That's fabulous.
Carolyn: It's very bassy.
John: I know. Great innit. Gesaffelstein is a chap called Mike Levy and he's from Lyon.

Can - I Want More
John: From the 1976 album 'Flow Motion', we play that so you can see the lineage of a number of contemporary bands - Hookworms, Toy and others - from the Teutonic origin. These hail from Cologne and were part of that whole German experimental scene in the late '60s and early '70s.

Temple Songs - Passed Caring
John: I really like that. Short, punchy, lots of reverb. They're from Manchester and this is their debut single.

Cover Version Corner
Woody Guthrie/Ry Cooder - Vigilante Man
John: Woody Guthrie, a bit of a hero. That's from 'The Asch Recordings vol 3' from 1944 and it's become a bit of a blues staple. Ry Cooder's version was on 1972's 'Into The Purple Valley' album, but that recording was from an edition of The Old Grey Whistle Test.
Carolyn: We normally play two totally different versions of a song here. I'm not getting that.
John: Different techniques with the slide guitar and that. Also, I was short of a bit of inspiration this week. Fundamentally, though, two great records.

RoBoT//aLiEn - Jeremy Kyle vs Mad Dog Dion
John: Brand spanking new. RoBoT//aLiEn is a singer/songwriter from Chorlton near Manchester and the album is 'You're The Problem That Will Not Go Away'. 17 tracks, 40 minutes.
Carolyn: I really like that. Bit of a jump from the previous two records though.

Eccentronic Research Council - Another Witch Is Dead
John: These are from Sheffield and sound like nothing else. This is taken from last year's album '1612 Underture' which is all about the Pendle witch trials and features Maxine Peake on vocals.
Carolyn: Twinkle from dinnerladies. Among other things.
John: I was going to play this anyway, but late last week they put out an EP called 'Bun Fight In The Open University Staff Room' which is flipping brilliant. They're also a great follow on Twitter, @The_E_R_C

Parquet Courts - Stoned And Starving
John: Love this. Sounds like Julian Cope in his late '80s pomp, which is never a bad thing as he's always been one of my favourites. Parquet Courts are from Brooklyn and this is off 'Light Up Gold' from last year.

Disclosure - Confess To Me
John: These are the next big thing, we've played them before and consider that another Monday night banger from the smash hit album 'Settle'. They stormed it at Glastonbury over the weekend, so I'm told. I don't really know, I wasn't there. All that dirt, all those people... It's not really for me.
Carolyn: No, I can't see you there. Well I can, but not happy. Just scowling at people.

Pixies - Bagboy
John: New stuff! From the Pixies! No Kim Deal, which is sad, but new stuff from the Pixies! For the first time since 2004. That's just great and I've basically had it on a loop since I first heard it. Get it as a free download now.



One Degree of Separation
TV On The Radio - Dancing Choose
The Adverts - No Time To Be 21
John: It was no time to be 21 in 1978 and I suspect it very much remains the case today. That's The Adverts from the album 'Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts'. Before that, TV On The Radio from 2008 and Dancing Choose from the album 'Dear Science'. Your link is TV - On The Radio and Smith, lead singer of the Adverts.
Carolyn: That's really tenuous.
John: TV. It's TV. What's wrong with that?
Carolyn: Hmmm....

Catfish and The Bottlemen - Homesick
John: From Llandudno, this is their debut single. It's very commercial and I think it'll be a big hit.
Carolyn: Yeah, I mean I like it, but can see it would have wide general appeal.
John: I think it'll go well in America as well. Fair play to them. They've honed a sound in the pubs and clubs and they're going places. Just remember where you heard it first.

Deerhunter - Dream Captain
John: Again, loads of reverb and a really good feel to it. They're from Atlanta and have been around long enough. This is off their sixth studio album, 'Monomania', which came out in early May and I'm only just getting round to.
Carolyn: Still working through that backlog?
John: We're getting there.

Femme - Double Trouble
John: Femme is Laura Bettinson, vocalist with Ultraista, but this is her solo project. She's from Coventry and this comes out on July 22. I'm saying that's got hit written all over it.

And here's all that wrapped up in a YouTube playlist, except for the RoBoT//aLiEn track which is over here.