30 June 2015

Hello again. I think this is one of the best shows I've had the pleasure of putting together. Dive in and enjoy.

Mourning Birds - The Last Thing (I Need)
Kent's leading rockers with their new single - a bit of an epic by their standards - from their debut, eponymous album which came out yesterday.

Nightingales - Gales Doc
New stuff from old bands is a bit of a thing at the moment. From the album Mind Over Matter comes this knowing, self-referential mockumentary which also takes a poke at modern documentary structure, which frankly deserves it. The album is great. Go listen when you're done here.

Girls Names - Reticence
This is ace. From Belfast, the album Arms Around A Vision is due in October.

Cover Version Corner
The Vogues/Julian Cope - Five O'Clock World
My Nation Underground is atypical Cope. It's over-produced and Copey himself was so clearly unhappy with it that he went off and put out two lo-fi, stripped back albums - Droolian and Skellington - while it was still in production. But he still managed to make an updated version of The Vogues' classic.

Musa Okwonga - Ring The Bells
A new single from the London poet now based in Berlin. The beats mate nicely with his voice - complementary and neither overpowering nor underwhelming. A top effort.

Seazoo - Martyn And Jayne
Good things are coming out of Wales right now. These are from Wrexham and the EP Car Deborah - no, me neither - is out now.

Heartless Bastards - Gates Of Dawn
A total misnomer of a band name given how pleasant that is. They're from Austin in Texas and the album Restless Ones is out next month.

Frontwards - Speechless
To Leeds now and Sad Sack Records have put out a compilation, as they do from time to time, showcasing their bands. I Was A Teenage Sad Sack is the title and this is on it.

Numbers Are Futile - Monster
Based in Edinburgh, but originating from all over the place, there's a very Middle Eastern influence to that. Really rather delightful. Sunlight On Black Horizon is the album and it came out last month.

Repo Man - Static Excess Strobe Effect
Obviously influenced by the same Alex Cox films that I was as a kid. These are from Bristol and the album Minesweeping is out now.

One Degree of Separation
BEAK> - The Meader
<KAEB - When We Fall
Also from Bristol, BEAK> have made a split EP with their own alter egos <KAEB. See what they did there? It's something we've seen elsewhere - Sauna Youth swap instruments and become Monotony, for example - and allegedly allows them to explore sounds outwith their usual oeuvre. Fair enough. Works for me.

Drewford Alabama - Time Is On Your Side (ft Bnann)
Jamie Morrison is Drewford Alabama and this is out in three weeks time.

Doomsquad - Apocalypso
That's a great name for a single. Doomsquad are sibling trio Trevor, Jaclyn and Allie Bulmas from Toronto. This appears on Pageantry Suite which is out now.

Joi - Asian Vibes
A new retrospective of Joi's work is out now, the early stuff with both Haroon and Farook Shamsher and, after Haroon's sad death in 1999, Farook's solo work. Joi Sound System is what you're looking for here.

Here's that on YouTube:



and Souncloud:



and we'll do it again next week.

23 June 2015

Back refreshed and ready to go again.

Slug - Running To Get Past Your Heart
Another track from the album Ripe which I cannot recommend strongly enough.

Blossoms - Cut Me And I'll Bleed
A Manchester band we've played before. This is their second single which came out in March, but I've only just got round to after it appeared on a compilation album from the Hope Not Hate organisation which is well worth it.

Kagoule - Glue
From Nottingham and with an album called Urth due out in August. Very much looking forward to it too.

Cover Version Corner
Moody Blues - Nights In White Satin
Girogio Moroder - Knights In White Satin
Bloody love that Moody Blues track. Always have. From the 1967 album Days Of Future Passed. Then nine years later and with an added K and off the album of the same name. I play that as Giorgio Moroder has a new album out soon.

Dave McCabe and The Ramifications - Too Damn Good
Ex-Zutons front man Dave McCabe's new project which is pretty damn good. Church Of Miami is the album and it's out in September.

La Casa Al Mare - Sunflowers
To Rome now for some shoegaze. This came out last November and I know pretty much nothing apart from that. And that I like it.

Real Lies - Dab Housing
I wasn't sure about this one, but it's alright really. Their new single.

The Smoking Trees - Trips
From LA and off the album TST that comes out next month. That's a bit laid back as well. Almost like I planned this.

Wetdog - Chocky
An all-female three-piece from London whose album Divine Times came out last month. Perky, spiky. Like it.

Cheerleader - The Sunshine Of Your Youth
Dream-pop from Philadelphia now. Off an album of the same name, also out last month.

One Degree of Separation
Lonely Boy - Everything
Lonelady - Into The Cave
Maybe we should get these two together if they're that lonely. Lonelady is Julie Campbell from Manchester and that's off her critically acclaimed LP Hinterland which is out now. Before that, a track from an LA producer that I know next to nothing about.

The Octopus Project - Pyramid Kosmos
Three tracks left today and we're going all electronic, starting with this. They're from Austin, Texas and this is off their 2013 album Fever Forms.

bblos - Empty Promises
Ecuador now, which is a first. All hail the technology which allows people from all over to share stuff and be influenced by stuff.

Lockah - Some Velvet Evening
And finally, Tom Banks is Lockah and that's off his album Donky Pitch which came out last May, as in 2014 that is.

Here's that on YouTube:



and Soundcloud:



and I'll be back next week.

9 June 2015

Come on then.

The Lovely Eggs - Ordinary People Unite
An uplifting call to arms start from their latest album, This Is Our Nowhere.

Slaves - Live Like An Animal
Getting plenty of good reviews, the new LP is Are You Satisfied?

Waylayers - Pharoah
One of them that I'm not sure I like. I think it's growing on me. The EP is called Re:Verse. Worth checking out.

Cover Version Corner
The Who/Lord Sitar - I Can See For Miles
Noted session musician Big Jim Sullivan recorded the Lord Sitar album in 1968. Easy listening versions of popular hits of the day. Makes for something a bit different anyway. Of course The Who before that, from 1967's The Who Sell Out.

Dirty Fences - Deep In Your Heart
The album came out in the middle of last month, but I'm just getting round to it. Full Tramp is the title.

The Spills - Crash-Landed Clouds
From Leeds, this is their new single. Comes out on June 29 and we look forward to more.

Sauna Youth - Transmitters
This should be big. In a different formation, these are also Monotony and they've managed to do a split single with themselves in their two guises. The Sauna Youth LP, Distractions, came out yesterday and is a belter. Seriously, get on it.

Totem Terrors - Big E
To Cardiff now and something from the LP Hard Science which is out on June 29. Again, a bit different. In a good way.

East India Youth - Beaming White
This is getting plenty of airtime but that's no reason not to play it here. Mainly because I reckon he's ace. William Doyle is East India Youth, the album is Culture Of Volume and this is the latest single taken from it.

Empress Of - Water Water
And in a similar-ish vein, Empress Of is New Yorker Lorely Rodriguez. Her debut album is due later in the year, but this is a taste of what's to come, her first release for three years.

One Degree of Separation
The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds
Court cases is your link here. The Verve did get permission from Jagger and Richard for the stringy bit, but then went a bit further than that agreement and borrowed from the melody as well and got sued. The Orb famously never cleared their samples until someone complained. The issue here though was the interview that plays throughout featuring the voice of Rickie Lee Jones. She was against suing as she thought it was brilliant. There was an out-of-court settlement.

Prinzhorn Dance School - Reign
Tobin Prinz and Suzi Horn are from Portsmouth and Home Economics is either out now or very shortly will be. Like a mature version of the xx.

Hanz - Throwing
Brandon Juhans from North Carolina records as Hanz. His debut album is called Reducer which this comes from. It's an intriguing piece.

Squarepusher - Baltang Ort
Speaking of intriguing... Another track from the Damogen Furies album which came out in April. Because why not.

Here's that on Youtube:



and Soundcloud:



and I'm having next week off. See you in a fortnight.

2 June 2015

I've had a week off, so this is one of those times when I dig back through stuff I haven't got round to playing over the last few months.

Man Made - TV Broke My Brain
And they're not alone judging by the number of complaints about a tightrope-walking dog. Anyway, they're from Manchester and include Nile Marr. Son of.

Thomas Wilby Gang - Lordy O
Swampy, gospel-infused blues rock from Wakey. And why not?

Martyr Privates - Sores
This is one I've been after for ages. They're from Brisbane and their self-titled LP came out last September and I've finally got my hands on it. Worth the wait.

Cover Version Corner
Consuelo Velazquez - Besame Mucho
Morrissey - Kiss Me A Lot
Not strictly speaking a cover, but it's my rules and I don't care. Besame Mucho means Kiss Me A Lot and you can pick out bossa-nova cues in Morrissey's track which is on last year's World Peace In None Of Your Business. The original is from 1940. Still sounds great.

The Fall - Venice With The Girls
Another track from the new LP Sub-Lingual Tablet. An ever-changing line-up, but always the same.

Firestations - French Caves
I've had this on my list for ages. Never Closer came out the back end of last year and it's very good.

Frog - King Kong
From New York and off their second album, Kind Of Blah, which came out last week. Quirky, original.

Naturkunde Museum Ostkreuz - Zaragoza Variations
Here's something different. Off an EP that came out in March called Tropycalyptic Excursions.

Gerstaffelen - Invisible Ghosts
And in a similar vein, this from an EP called Night Flowing North And South.

One Degree of Separation
Half Man Half Biscuit - A Shropshire Lad
Wild Billy Chyldish and The Spartan Dreggs - A Shropshire Lad
Two totally unrelated tracks that share a title. From the Spartan Dreggs' 2012 album Coastel Command and from 1997's Voyage To The Bottom Of The Road.

Erosynilegt - Astar Bref
Couple of new ones to finish with. First, this from a Keflavik band that I'm certain I haven't pronounced properly. The name translates as Love Letters anyway. Off an EP of the same name.

Dementio13 - Barley Dance
And to finish, something from the relatively new album Vkhutemas vol 2 which is well worth your time seeking out.

Here's that on YouTube:



and a bit of it on Soundcloud:



Normality next week.