26 July 2016

Tuesday, 7pm, so it must be time for.... this

The Boston Shakers - Long Hard Night
With members from France and the USA, but now based in Liverpool, this is an interesting melange of styles and genres.

The Crookes - World Is Waiting
Long-time favourites on this show from Sheffield. Off their album Lucky Ones which came out in January.

All Is Worth - Early Birdy
Alt-folk, I suppose, from Oxford. Different.

Featured album: Echo And The Bunnymen - Porcupine
The Cutter
Heads Will Roll
Their third album, it got some bad reviews initially. But it still went to number 2 in the album charts and is quintessential Echo. It was originally rejected by their label, but having done some work on strings with L Shankar and rerecorded, it passed muster. Ian McCulloch wasn't a fan of it either, but what would he know?

Repo Man - Let's See The Sun Sink With Fatigue
Noise and words from Bristol. Unusual stuff from the LP Minesweeper which is out now.

The Black Sheep Frederick Dickens - Shrines
Here's interesting. Darlingtonians David Saunders and Rob Irish make up the act which is described as "a musical concept project narrating the life of Frederick Dickens, Charles’ younger brother" who, unlike Charles, was a boozy, womanising gambler who was shunned by his family and descended into poverty and addiction. So there.

Paul Draper - Feeling My Heart Run Slow
Remember Mansun? They had some decent records. Lead singer Paul Draper goes solo 13 years after Mansun folded and his debut release is the EP 'EP1'.

Kingsley Chapman and The Murder - Fevers
Another one from the Middlesbrough troubadours. Bloody love 'em.

Alone - It Will Take Twenty Years
More Welsh 8-bit DIY dance music from Alone. Always interesting.

Featured album: Echo And The Bunnymen - Porcupine
The Back Of Love
Track 2 and the first single from the LP. It's one of those I loved from the minute I heard it.

Mr Sterile Assembly - 100% Hillary
This is off their fifth LP, It's All Over, and how they've passed me by until now I don't know. Outsider noise-punk experimental rock band from Wellington, New Zealand. Sounds right up my street and what do you know - it's incredible.

Gabriel Bruce - Freedom
A delayed follow-up to his debut album as a solo artist, this is off Come All Sufferers. Delayed after an industrial accident crushed his fingers, but they were saved. It came out at Easter and it's "about the apocalypse" says the artist.

Psychic Ills - I Don't Mind feat. Hope Sandoval
Brooklyn experimental duo with assistance from Mazzy Star singer Sandoval. Off the new album Inner Journey Out.

Applescal - Harmony Two
Pascal Terstappen's latest complete and utter banger. Out now on Atomnation.

Here's your Youtube:



and Soundcloud:



and bandcamp:




More in a week

13 May 2014

Stuff from the '40s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and the usual new and recent releases. Not that I've anything against the '50s or 2000s, you understand.

The Vacant Lots - Mad Mary Jones
From Burlington in Vermont, their debut album is due out in July. Departure. Keep your eyes peeled.

Echo and the Bunnymen - Lovers On The Run
Sounds very much like an Echo and the Bunnymen record which, incidentally, is high praise. This is the first release from their first album in 5 years, Meteorites, which has yet to have a release date announced.

Wild Smiles - Fool For You
This is a month old now, the debut single from these which is jolly good. Already looking forward to more.

Cover Version Corner
New York Dolls/Sonic Youth - Personality Crisis
One at the front of the punk wave that was beginning to swell, then 20 years later, some others at the lead of what became known as grunge. 1973 it was when the New York Dolls released that. In 1993, it was on the B-side of Sugar Kane.

The Shocking Blue - Send Me A Postcard
From 1968, that, but something that I think a lot of contemporary bands would like to sound like. Very Jefferson Airplane too.

Chain and The Gang - Crime Don't Pay
Off an album called Minimum Rock And Roll which sounds very interesting indeed. Experimental, like.

The Moody Blues - Question
Because why not. That's from the 1970 album A Question Of Balance.

Drive - Curfew
Their only hit, from 1993. It's notable for featuring Melanie Blatt on vocals and that the hook was then used in a bigger hit - Pump Up The Volume.

One Degree of Separation
Francis Bebey - The Coffee Cola Song
Ella Fitzgerald - Black Coffee
Any excuse for an Ella Fitzgerald record. Obviously your theme is coffee. Black Coffee was recorded in 1948 and still sounds fabulous. Before that, Francis Bebey from Cameroon and a track from the 1982 album Pygmy Love Song.

Eight Rounds Rapid - Dostoyevsky
Finally got my hands on their debut album last week. It's great. Harking back to the pub rock tradition, albeit with a bit more polish, it's half an hour of pure, unadulterated joy. Lossleader is the title. Available now.

Mourning Birds - Breathe
Played these a few times now and this is their new single. Energetic stuff as always.

Julianna Barwick - Meet You At Midnight
This came out in March and it's no wonder it passed me by as it slides effortlessly by. Very cinematic too.

Glimpse - L.E.D.
Chris Spero is the producer behind this. It's off an EP called Baretta and while it's box-fresh dance music, it also harks back to earlier days of the movement. Perhaps a bit less has become more.

Here's that on YouTube:



And Soundcloud:



Back next week.

19 November 2012

Maximo Park - The National Health
John: From the album of the same name that came out earlier this year

Gang Of Four - To Hell With Poverty
John: From Leeds, that was them railing against a previous age of austerity and worth another listen now.
Carolyn: Am I detecting a theme?
John: A little bit. A lot of things got me angry in the week.

Camper Van Beethoven - Take The Skinheads Bowling
John: But here's a solution to all the problems - just go bowling
Carolyn: With your knees?
John: Yes, last time I went, I was laid up for a week.

Cover Version Corner
Edith Piaf - Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien
Half Man Half Biscuit featuring Margi Clarke - No Regrets
John: Unmistakably Edith Piaf first, then the greatest band in the world singing it in English. Can't believe it's taken me so long to play them.
Carolyn: Yes, I know you like them.
John: They are the greatest band in the world. That's a non-album track from 1991.


Paws - Sore Tummy
John: This has been doing the rounds for a bit and I've finally got my hands on it. It's their first single from the album Cokefloat which is out about now.

Belly - Feed The Tree
John: From back in 1993, off their debut album Star. They kind of got lost in that glut of 1990s, female-fronted indie bands like Elastica, Sleeper and Echobelly, but worth digging out.
Carolyn: Is she singing 'take your hat off' or 'take your head off'?

DJ Shadow - Midnight In A Perfect World
John: From his debut album Endtroducing, which I discovered isn't easy to say out loud.

Toy - Make It Mine
John: We've played these a few times before, including the ten-minute epic Kopter. This is a little more laid back, but also off their debut album which is also called Toy.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Swim And Sleep (Like A Shark)
John: A US/NZ project based in Portland, Oregon. This is off their forthcoming second album, II, which is out in February.
Carolyn: So we're bang up to date then?
John: And our next track is from 1987...
Carolyn: Ah.

One Degree Of Separation
Echo And The Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar
The KLF - 3am Eternal
John: The KLF with a rave classic from the early '90s, one of Bill Drummond's many and varied projects. Your link here is that Echo and the Bunnymen released their early stuff on Drummond's label, Zoo, which he ran with Dave Balfe. That was Lips Like Sugar from their fifth album, called Echo And The Bunnymen. They did four thinking up original names and then got to five and phoned it in. Pfft.

Friends - Va Fan Gör Du
John: Bright, poppy, short. They're from Brooklyn and I like that 1970s hand-clap vibe.
Carolyn: Yeah, it has a sort of playground feel.
John: The title, I believe, is Swedish for 'what the hell do you want?'

Tegan and Sara - I'm Not Your Hero
John: Identical twin sisters from Calgary, that's off the album Heart Throb which is out in January. I like that a lot - it reminds me of something, but I can't think what.
Carolyn: It does sound familiar.
John: I'll just have to listen to it more, which wouldn't be a chore as I really like it.

Cheatahs - The Swan
John: From their debut EP, Sans, which was out last month.

Here's your YouTube playlist.