8 April 2014

We should have been bumped for football this week, but - long story short - technical issues. So we're in as normal.

Therapy? - Nowhere
From the now 20-year old Troublegum album. Difficult to reconcile with my self that it's that old. Still sounds good too.

The Amazing Snakeheads - Here It Comes Again
New from the Glaswegian retronauts, off the album Amphetamine Ballads which is out next Monday. Fits in with a bunch of retro type stuff around at the moment - Fat White Family, Jim Jones Revue and others.

Klaxons - Children Of The Sun
Never been a huge fan, but this is promising. This single came out a week ago and is off Love frequency which is released in June.

Cover Version Corner
The Beatles/Cornershop - Norwegian Wood
Sung in Punjabi and off their 1997 album When I Was Born For The Seventh Time, that's Cornershop, seizing back some culture appropriated by the Beatles during the Maharishi years.

Sabina - Sailor's Daughter
Sabina is Sabina Sciubba, ex of the Brazilian Girls. The album is Toujours and came out on the 24th of last month. Delightful. And from the sublime, now the ridiculous...

Bogshed - Champion Love Shoes
Leading the Hebden Bridge post-punk scene, that's Bogshed from 1987's EP Tried And Tested Public Speaker.

Liliput - Die Matrosen
And speaking of post-punk... From Geneva and from 1980. They didn't last long, which is a shame as that's a cracker. One of those that keeps popping up on my mp3 player every now and then. So I'm playing it for you now.

One Degree of Separation
The Fall - Two Librans
God Is An Astronaut - Sunrise On Aries
Pretty basic link - constellations. First, The Fall from 2000's The Unutterable LP. Second, from 2007 and County Wicklow in Ireland. Very much in the Mogwai envelope, that's lovely stuff. Far From Refuge is the album.

Mariam The Believer - Invisible Giving
I've been after playing this for some time, but it is long and difficult to schedule. Still, we're here now. Marian Wallentin is from Sweden and this is off last summer's long-player Blood Donation. There's a lot going on in there and it's wonderful.

Dead Skeletons - Dead Mantra
Keeping things Norse, these are from Reykjavik and 2011's album Dead Magick. Dark, brooding.

Swans - A Little God In My Hands
To New York now. This is a couple of years old now, off To Be Kind.

Big Black Delta - Huggin' And Kissin'
From the self-titled album released last summer, Big Black Delta is the solo project of Jonathan Bates from Mellowdrone. I like that so very much - both retro and contemporary at the same time, which is a clever trick.

Frankie Knuckles - Tears
The news of Frankie Knuckles' death came too late to alter the show last week, so how could I close with anything else. This 1989 classic is among his better known records. He'll be missed.

Here's that on YouTube:


More next week

28 January 2014

A week off last week as I struggled with recalcitrant computers. Anyway, back in the saddle this week with some more solid gold.

Quilt - Tie Up The Tides
Off the forthcoming album 'Held In Splendor' (their spelling - they're from Boston, Massachusetts) which comes out on February 24. That's just lovely.

The Last Skeptik - Hero Mask
The album 'Thanks For Trying' is an audio/visual thing in that each trak comes with it's own short film. Innovative and out now.

The Amazing Snakeheads - Flatlining
Bringing back some good old-fashioned rock n roll to Glasgow. This came out last week and I liek what they do.

Cover Version Corner
Ivor Cutler/Yacht - Women Of The World
I couldn't agree more with the sentiment of the lyrics. We like to play two very different interpretations of a song in this section and the contrat there is quite marked. acht is Jona Bechtolt from Portland and that's from 2007's 'I Believe In You. Your Magic Is Real'. Before that, with the trademark harmonium, Ivor Cutler from 1983 and the album 'Privilege'.

Outfit - Thank God I Was Dreaming
Touted as Liverpool's most exciting band , that's off their acclaimed album 'Performance' which came out last summer.

St Vincent - Digital Witness
Ex-Polyphonic Spree-er Annie Clark is now St Vincent. This is off her eponymous album which comes out on February 24.

Chanteuse and The Crippled Claw - Are You One
I've had this on my list for ages. It came out in 2010, so I'm really behind on it. It's still great though. Adrian Flagan is The Crippled Claw as well as the brains behind the Eccentronic Research Council and his electronic twiddlings are perfectly accompanied by Candie Payne's vocals. A delight.

Practice - Artery
Not got much information about this. Good though, ain't it?

One Degree of Separation
Julian Cope - Bill Drummond Said
Bill Drummond - Julian Cope Is Dead
Bickering between two grown adults... Drummond was once the manager of the Teardrop Explodes before a big fall-out for which Cope lays fault at his feet, hence that track from 1984's 'Fried'. Drummond's respose took a couple of years later on the album 'The Man' where he opines that if he'd just shot Cope, the legend of the Teardrops' legend would have been ensured and their records much bigger sellers.

Civil Protection - From The Parish To The Pavement
Post-rock is not a term I like much, but the accepted definition encompasses what this Yorkshie band do. Very much in the Mogwai envelope, that's off 'Stolen Fire' which came out last autumn.

ESG - Dance
Back to 1983 now and off the debut album by the Scroggins sisters, ' Come Away With ESG'. It still sounds fresh. Emerald, sapphire, gold, if you were wondering.

Hugh Masakela and Letta Mbulu - Mahlalela
Further back now, to 1970 and South africa. Off the album 'Letta', this, again, still sounds contemporary.

Life Without Buildings - New Town
From 2000, but with overtones of early-80s post-punkery, these are from Glasgow and the album 'Any Other City'.

The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner
End with a classic. I've not heard this for an age and there are many worse reasons for playing a track than that. Recorded in 1972, released in 1976, that's off 'The Modern Lovers'. Marvellous.

Here's that in YouTube form:



And slightly less of it on Soundcloud:



More next week