20 December 2016 - Christmas special

Ho ho ho

Fightmilk - It's Only Christmas (Cheer Up You Moody Prick)
Yeah, OK, I fairly resemble that remark. It's not like that though, I'm not trying to impress anyone. I just don't get it. Anyway... Off the EP The Fight Before Christmas which is out now.

Emmy The Great - Christmas Moon
Going back a few years for this one, to 2011 and Emmy's collaboration with Ash's Tim Wheeler, This Is Christmas.

The Black Arts - Christmas Number One
A cross-pollination of Black Box Recorder and Art Brut for their 2007 festive smash.

Low - Some Hearts (At Christmas Time)
The Minnesota trio are probably the masters at this christmas lark. This is this year's effort.

The Golden Dregs - Blue Christmas
A new one from the ever-trusty Art Is Hard label.

Trampled By Turtles - Christmas In Prison
A cover of an old John Prine song by Minnesota's Trampled By Turtles released in time for this year's gorging season.

Norman Morris - Daddy Looked A Lot Like Santa
Going back a couple of years for this, another cover, this time of a 1965 Buck Owens record, which was on Cardiff singer Morris's 2014 festive compilation.

Eek-A-Mouse - Christmas A Come
Ripton Joseph Hylton is still going. This originally came out in 1981, but got a repress on 12" in 2008. And if you're familiar with the Trojan box set, nothing says christmas like some ska/reggae.

Grandaddy - Alan Parsons In A Winter Wonderland
Brilliant. Off the 2000 XFM christmas compilation.

Outside Your House - Hallway Whispers
The 2014 offering from the Durham avant-gardians which is pretty bloody special.

Eugene The Dream - The 12 Beats Of Christmas
Houston turntablist takes your favourite christmas songs and does that thing that he does with them.

Los Campesinos! - When Christmas Comes
Another band with festive form, this is off 2014's A Los Campesinos! Christmas EP.

Shrag - Stop The Revelry
Splendid take on the Jona Lewie record - which in itself is in no way a christmas tune, rather an anti-war homily - which came out in 2009 on volume 5 of Cherryade Records' A Very Cherry Christmas.

Kingsley Chapman And The Murder - Stars Fall Down
A new one for this year from the Middlesbrough crooner and band, with all proceeds going to Mind. Not in the playlists below. Go and buy it.

Half Man Half Biscuit - All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
And as is traditional, we close with the greatest christmas song ever, from the 1985 debut LP Back In The DHSS.

Youtube:



Soundcloud:



Bandcamp:

Spotify:



Happy festivus everybody. And seriously, go buy that Kingsley Chapman record. Do it now.

3 November 2015

Hello again.

Field Music - The Noisy Days Are Over
The Sunderland veterans - I think we can say that - off their new LP Commontime due out in February.

The Ethical Debating Society - Sum Of My Parts
Off their debut album New Sense which came out in June. One from the extensive backlog I've got built up.

Tools You Can Trust - Working And Shopping
An oldie, but relevant. Originally released in 1985, it's recently been remastered and is out now on Burkas For Everyone records.

Featured Album
Low - Gentle
Low - What Part Of Me
Their 11th studio album, Ones And Sixes, came out in September and it's typically beautiful. Some of it is quite gentle, some less so. But more of that later.

The Spook School - Speak When You're Spoken To
From Edinburgh - and you can pick out the accent - this is off the LP Try To Be Helpful which came out in October.

Primitive Parts - Rented Houses
Those busy chaps from Sauna Youth/Monotony now combine with parts of Male Bonding to create another band. This is off Miracle Skin which is out now.

Lovely Eggs - Goofin' Around (In Lancashire)
The new single from our favourite Lancaster-based husband/wife duo. Out on November 13 on fried egg vinyl which looks tremendous.

Gwenno - Fratolish Hiang Perpeshki
The stunning Gwenno Saunders' Welsh language album Y Dydd Olaf came out in October 2014, but got a do-over in July which propelled it to the level it deserved. I am not going anywhere near the pronunciations.

Rodents - Calm Down
This is ace. I know little of them, but the fact they're on Art Is Hard is a marker of quality.

Featured Album
Low - Landslide
Almost ten minutes. Stunning. Absolutely stunning. Words can barely describe.

Blanck Mass - Double Cross
Benjamin John Power - half of Fuck Buttons - released Dumb Flesh under the name Blanck Mass in spring. We have had tracks from it before, but no reason to not play another one.

Luca Ballerini - Hanami (Armonia Rosa)
To Italy now, for some techno. Superb. Came out in August, that.

Here's that on YouTube:



and Soundcloud:



More next week.

17 December 2013 - The christmas special

Christmas show;
Orbital and Low.
Gruff Rhys, Ethiopians, Breeders and Sho-
nen Knife, Frank Sidebottom, Sultans of Ping,
Röyksopp, Sufjan Stevens and Lips most Flaming...

Enough of this tomfoolery. Get on with it. Also, John brought props...

Frank Sidebottom - Christmas Is Really Fantastic
Originally released in 1986, there was a re-release in 2010 after the sad death of the man inside the enormous papier-maché head, Chris Sievey, and an associated campaign to get it into the charts. Frank's philosophy was that all songs should have proper endings, so they all ended like this one.

The Goons - I'm Walking Backwards For Christmas
From June 1956, with Spike Milligan on vocals and Peter Sellers at the piano and with the usual backing from the Ray Ellington Quartet. That's on the B-side of 'Bluebottle Blues', hence the reference to 'I thought that my side was better'. My dad had that on a 7" which now resides on my shelves.

Shonen Knife - All I Want For Christmas
Osaka's finest and their 1999 festive effort. That was written by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, but I guess it doesn't really fit their idiom.

Gruff Rhys - Post-Apocalypse Christmas
From the Super Furry Animals frontman's 2011 EP 'Atheist Christmas'. It's all well worth a listen.

Mighty Mighty Bosstones - This Time Of Year
Another band you wouldn't normally associate with the festive spirit, this is from 2007 and the album 'Medium Rare'.

Low - Just Like Christmas
One of my favourites from this time of year. This is off an EP called 'Christmas' which came out in 1999.

Sufjan Stevens - Get Behind Me, Santa!
Mr Stevens has done loads of festive collections. This is from 'Songs For Christmas volume 5' from 2006. He's up to volume 10 now.

Sultans Of Ping - Xmas Bubblegum Machine
It's not all about losing jumpers and giving people a yard of grass, y'know. This is the B-side to the 1993 single 'Michiko'.

Saint Etienne - Unwrap Me
One of my favourite bands, this is off a compilation of their many christmas-themed songs called 'A Glimpse of Stocking' which came out a couple of years ago.

The Ethiopians - Ding Dong (Christmas Bell)
One of the best things ever are Trojan Records' christmas compilations. Nothing says christmas to me like a bit of ska. This is from the one released in 2003, though the song first appeared in 1968.

Jacques Dutronc - Le Fille De Père Noël
Dutronc's first two albums were called 'Jacques Dutronc', rather unhelpfully. This is off the first of those, from 1966. The son of Father Christmas, in case you couldn't work it out.

Dr Dog - Christmas Party
Bit of a Beach Boys theme to it, which is never a bad thing. That's from the new EP 'Oh My Christmas Tree' which is out now.

The Breeders - Christmas Song
Recorded for a Pee Wee Herman TV show, that's basically Cannonball, their big hit, with bells on. And none the worse for it.

The Flaming Lips - Christmas At The Zoo
From back in 1995 off the 'Clouds Taste Metallic' album. Because we've all wondered what happens when the zoo is closed.

The Knife - Christmas Reindeer
Something a bit avant-garde, from these Stockholm avant-guardians. The song Reindeer came out in 2001 in the album 'The Knife', but like The Breeders previously, added some bells to christmas it up.

Röyksopp - Le Cantique Du Noël
Keeping it Scandinavian, this is their version of a French carol which dates back to 1847. Relaxing...

They Might Be Giants - Santa's Beard
Remember these? Well they're still around and putting new stuff out. This is from 2001 and the EP 'They Might Be Giants In Holidayland'.

The Gresham Flyers - Perfect Christmas Snow (Perfect Christmas Kiss)
I've been after this for ages. It came out in 2010 and I've not been able to put my hands on it until just now. It's on an EP called 'Merry Christmas From The Gresham Flyers' which is available as a pay-what-you-like download from their bandcamp page. I flippin' well love this record. Bloody ace.



Orbital - Christmas Chime
This year's must-have christmas single. Another one that's a reworking of an older track, in this case 1990's Chime, with additional bells. Go get it. Download it from iTunes now. Do it and do it often. Get it into the charts. Resistance is futile.

Half Man Half Biscuit - All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
It is not ever christmas until you've heard this, but now that you have, you are officially allowed to get festive. Best christmas record ever? Possibly.


Here's your YouTube extravaganza, apart from the Gresham Flyers track which is above:


And that's it for 2013. We're off for two weeks, but will be back in the New Year with more of what's good for your ears.
Before we depart though, here's last year's festive playlist for those that may have missed it.
Merry Christmas!

4 March 2013

Lots of short records, records by sibling duos, and a tribute to a Rentaghost actor.

Rodriguez - Sugar Man
John: It was the Oscars last week, but this featured on the 2012 best documentary winner, Searching For Sugar Man, in which two South Africans try to track down their favourite musician. Out originally in 1977, this also got a re-release in 2002.
Carolyn: It's all a bit swooshy.
John: Of it's time, methinks.

Bleached - Next Stop
John: They've got three chords and they're not afraid to use them. Like that a lot - very retro feel. That's Bleached who are Jessica and Jennifer Clavin from LA. That's off the album 'Ride Your Heart Out' which is out on April 2.
Carolyn: Fresh, yet immediately familiar. I like it when we play new stuff.

Django Django - Wor
John: For a record-breaking 10th time, they feature on the show. This is the new single off the acclaimed debut album, 'Django Django'.
Carolyn: I like these so much, they're pretty much on a loop in the car.
John: Bonus points for Klaxon usage.
Carolyn: Yeah, when that comes on, I'm checking around for blue lights in my mirrors.


Cover Version Corner
The Vaselines/Nirvana - Molly's Lips
John: 25 shows in before we play Nirvana. Ludicrous. As is Nirvana covering a Scottish band's tribute to Molly Weir who was Hazel McWitch in Rentaghost.
Carolyn: Was she in Supergran as well?
John: No. Or was she? I'm going to have to find out now... This section can normally take us 10 or 15 minutes, but this is less than five all in. Bosh, done, out. The Vaselines version is from 1988 off the EP 'Dying For It', Nirvana's was four years later and featured on the album 'Incesticide'.

Phenomenal Handclap Band - The Unknown Faces
John: Not much clapping of hands there, but pretty fine nonetheless. That's from the album 'Form and Control' which came out in February last year.

Masters In France - Flexin
John: Very much in the Hot Chip/Dutch Uncles envelope, I heard that the other day and have basically had it on a loop since. Layered. I like that. They're from Bangor in Wales.

Julia Kent - Transportation
John: From Vancouver, but based in New York, Julia Kent is a classical cellist who has put together a pop album.
Carolyn: Well, I wouldn't call it pop. It's a lovely piece of music, but I'm not calling it pop.
John: Well, no perhaps not. Haunting, I'd call it. The album is called 'Character' and is out later this month.

Heavyball - Small Town Hero
John: Hat tip to my chum Chris whose mate is in this band. That's off last year's EP 'Small Town Hero', but recently they've gone from playing back rooms of South London pubs to supporting the Kaiser Chiefs on tour.
Carolyn: That's a big leg up for a young band. Obvious ska influence, and pretty good.

Low - Just Make It Stop
John: From Duluth in Minnesota, that's off the album 'The Invisible Way' which comes out on March 19.

Drenge - Bloodsports
John: We had sisters earlier, and here's a pair of brothers. Eoin and Rory Loveless are from up-country Derbyshire, but very much part of the Sheffield music scene, and there have been a fair few successes from there down the years.
Carolyn: Again, it's all pretty stripped back and raw. Not that that's a bad thing.
John: Reminds me of The White Stripes a bit. That's their debut single which is out today. Drenge means 'boys' in Danish and is the name of an avant-garde 1977 Danish film of which they're big fans, apparently, and is ace to say.

One Degree of Separation
Tricky - Black Steel
Portishead - Glory Box
John: Almost 20 years old that Portishead track - unbelievable. Off their debut album 'Dummy' from 1994 which I've got on vinyl somewhere. Haven't listened to it in ages, but always worth reminding oneself of it. Tricky's anti-war Black Steel is off his 1995 breakthrough album 'Maxinquaye'.
Carolyn: And the link?
John: Both Bristolian, both part of that trip-hop scene down there in the mid-'90s and both excellent records.

Hidden Orchestra - Fourth Wall
John: From Edinburgh, that's off the album 'Archipelago' which came out last October.
Carolyn: Another more orchestral piece.
John: Oh yes. I don't just throw this together, y'know.

The King Blues - Five Bottles Of Shampoo
John: From 'Punk and Poetry' from a couple of years ago.

The Vanity Project - I Fear Nothing
John: End on a happy one, yeah?
Carolyn: Hmm, not exactly uplifting.
John: No, but very worthy. From the EP 'What Really Matters'.

Granville - Polaroid
John: From Caen, that was out last month on the album 'Les Voiles'.

And here's all that packaged up in a YouTube playlist.