25 November 2014

New PSB this week! And two Faerground Accidents tracks, sort of. You'll see.

King Tuff - Danger In The Dark
Apparently used in a rum advert - I don't know, I'm one of those people that mute adverts the moment they come on. It's also on an album called Black Moon Spell which came out in September. Far more interesting. Kyle Thomas is King Tuff. He's from Vermont.

Girl One and The Grease Guns - Bashed, Beaten and Broken (Trip The Switch)
One band clinging to the old practice of having stupid names, a lot harder to do in the information age than last time it was popular. Sissy Space Echo, Warren Betamax, Bruce Leefax and Charles Bronson Burner. Good effort. This is out on Squirrel Records.

Cheatahs - Controller
Lovely stuff as Cheatahs follow up their well-received debut album with an EP called Sunne.

Cover Version Corner
Pulp/Bonar Faerground - Babies
It's probably a right of passage for Sheffield bands to do a Pulp cover. The lead singer of Faerground Accidents - of which more later - is a flamboyant chap and the stripped-back nature of this track really shows his voice off. Before that, from 1994's His n Hers. Wonderful.

Colleen Green - Pay Attention
Throwing forward to February now and Ms Green's new album I Want To Grow Up. There is nothing about this I do not like.

Ty Segall - It's Over
I've been meaning to play something off Segall's latest album for a while. It came out in August, but I just keep filling the show up with other stuff. Anyway, here you go. Manipulator is the album you're looking for.

Goodnight Lenin - You Were Always Waiting
West coast vibes from the West Midlands. Cracking track off In The Fullness Of Time which was released yesterday.

Thurston Moore - The Best Day
As for Ty Segall, so it goes here. This is the title track from his October release. It's splendid.

Public Service Broadcasting - Gagarin
New stuff from PSB! The forthcoming album is all space related, starting with this ode to the first great hero of the space race.

Faerground Accidents - Back In Town
The lyrics and general vibe could easily be Pulp. Psychotic pop, they call it. Fair enough. On a double-A side with We Hate The Same Things which was released yesterday.

One Degree of Separation
Modest Mouse - I've Got It All (Most)
The The - The Beat(en) Generation
A double link with the parentheses obvious and the involvement of Johnny Marr less so. That The The record easily as relevant today as it was in 1989.

Fumaça Preta - Vou Me Libertar
This has got the lot, including some Mark E Smith-esque keyboard noodling. A collective of UK, US and Venezuelan musicians, this is out now as a 7". I'm Gonna Be Free, before you ask.

Wand - Clearer
Retro, but entirely in vogue a la Toy, Temple Songs and suchlike. On an album called Ganglion Reef which is out now.

HVOB - Window
To Vienna to finish and this wonderful slice of trance. Her Voice Over Boys. The title track of their new EP which is out on the 28th.

Here's some of that on YouTube:



and some of it on Soundcloud:


More next week, including new Giorgio Moroder. Ooooohh.

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!

14 January/21 January 2013 (postponed)

This is the show we were going to do on the 14th, but was postponed as the studio was closed as a result of the inclement weather. So we put it back a week and what do you know? Yep. It was far worse and the studio was closed again. So we're doing it here as an online-only thing, mainly because we need to clear the playlist down to keep up with all the new releases we want to play. So, you lucky readers, lend us your ears...


Pulp - After You
New stuff! From Pulp! And it flicks all the usual Pulp buttons. "From disco to disco, Safeway to Tesco...". Classic Cocker. This was given away at their christmas gigs, but worked up into something more polished as word got round.

Eels - Peach Blossom
New stuff! From Eels! It's not a complex record, but it's catchy as hell and comes off the album 'Wonderful, Glorious' which is out next month.

Villagers - Nothing Arrived
Subtitled 'A day in the life of Terence Bliss', it's a really nice tune, but quite bleak lyrically. Villagers are from Dun Laoghaire and this is off 'Awayland' which came out on January 11.



Cover Version Corner
France Gall/Oberkampf - Poupee De Cire, Poupee De Son
Composed by Serge Gainsbourg, France Gall was Luxembourg's Eurovision representative in 1965. The song, and further Gall/Gainsbourg collaborations, proved controversial - the title translates as 'doll of wax, doll of sawdust' and was seen as Gainsbourg being the puppetmaster of a young and fragile girl. Oberkampf are a Parisian punk outfit and that was recorded in the early '80s.

Everything Everything - Kemosabe
We like these. They dare to be different. This is the new single, out January 14, the same date as the long-awaited album 'Arc'.

Billy Bragg - Thatcherites
Still relevant as more of the family silver gets sold off for nothing more than ideology. This is off 'Bloke On Bloke' from 1997.

Daniel Pearson - Factory Floor
The heir-apparent to the Bard of Barking that we've just heard. What more could they want from us? The album 'Mercury State' is due... soon.

Drowners - Long Hair
Sub-two minutes. Brevity is good. This is out on February 4 and they're from Skellefteham in Sweden.

Mew - Am I Wry? No
Staying in Scandinavia, but across the sound to Denmark. This is from 2000, off the album ' Half The World Is Watching Me'.

Kris Menace feat. Miss Kittin - Hide
Heading further south, into Germany. Kris Menace is Christoph Hoeffel from Landau In-der-Platz and this came out last April.

Leisuregroove - Little Love
From 2007, off a Hed Kandi compilation. Kind of mellow, not too heavy... just nice for a low-tempo Saturday night.

One Degree of Separation
Tomorrow's World - So Long My Love
Air - Cherry Blossom Girl
Air's Jean-Benoit Dunckel's new project is Tomorrow's World and the EP, also called 'So Long My Love' was out last October. As Air, alongside Nicolas Godin, Cherry Blossom Girl came out in 2004 and is off the album 'Talkie Walkie' which is still brilliant.

Beach House - Zebra
This from the Baltimore duo is a couple of years old now, off an EP also called 'Zebra'.

Transformer - Dragonfly
From Brighton, this came out the middle of last month. Not sure how you'd describe it - nouveau disco-funk, possibly?

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - We No Who U R
First track off the Aussie veteran's new album 'Push The Sky Away' which is out on February 18.

Kabbala - Ashewo Ara
Early '80s Ghanaian funk off an album called 'The Shrine'.

Rachel Zeffira - The Deserters
From her debut album of the same name which came out last month, we reckon we'll be hearing a lot about this Canadian singer-songwriter in 2013.

Team Ghost - Dead Film Star
Another ex-member of a French electronica act, this is by Nicolas Fromageau, ex of M83 and came off an EP, also called 'Dead Film Star' out last year.

Tom Odell - Can't Pretend
Another one of these BBC Sound of 2013 doo-dahs. Now we've heard a lot of this type of thing and it's here today, gone tomorrow. We like this and think the boy has got something a little bit extra. We shall see. This is off an EP called 'Songs From Another Love' and came out last October.

Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
Fully 19 years old now, from the album 'So Tonight That I Might See'. And it fades out the show for this week and fades out what we've had clogging the box up for a fortnight.

With a bit of luck - well, not luck so much as less snow - we'll actually be in the studio next week. We've certainly plenty of new stuff to tickle your lugholes with.

Meanwhile, here's all the above compiled into a YouTube playlist.