31 May 2016

Hello again.

Brawlers - Day Job
Leeds punks with a new EP coming on July 1 called the Black.

Bivouac - Sweet Heart Deal
'90s rockers from Derby back with a new record. A double-A 7" is out on the 16th of July.

Lunar - Gonna Get You Down
The second single by a new band from Manchester. It's a very Manchester sound. Out on June 3.

Featured album: The Stranglers - Rattus Norvegicus
Sometimes
Goodbye Toulouse
This week we feature the 1977 debut album from the pun outsiders. Punk happened at just the right time for The Stranglers whose sound didn't fit easily into a niche. A bit older, wiser (maybe), than their contemporaries, the songs were a lot more developed, especially Goodbye Toulouse which is about Nostradamus's predictions of that city's fall. The Sex Pistols just didn't have songs like that.

Meatraffle - The Bird Song
Saw these supporting the Fat White Family and was blown away, especially by this track which they've just put out.

Loose Meat  - Edge Of Love
The first single from their debut, self-titled LP out on June 3. Like the xx but not boring.

Exploded View - No More Parties In The Attic
Another self-titled debut LP, this time from Mexico, albeit with a German singer.

Fat White Family - Tinfoil Deathstar
The new single from their second album Songs For Our Mother. Out last Friday.

John Metcalfe - Wrapped feat. Rosie Doonan
Multi-instrumentalist Metcalfe teams up with former Crybabycry singer Doonan to make wonderful music. The EP is also called Wrapped and is out now.

Cass McCombs - Opposite House
From New York and with an LP out in August called Mangy Love.

Featured album: The Stranglers - Rattus Norvegicus
(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
One of their better known records, chronicling their lives in a squat.

M Craft - Chemical Trails
Dreampop from LA-based Martin Craft. The LP Blood Moon is out on June 17.

Alone - Lonely Tourist
Delightful electronica from Cardiff, as recommended by our closing artist this week.

Factory Floor - Dial Me In
New track from their forthcoming second album. 25 25 is out on August 19. Excited much?

Dementio13 - 4am Sun
And finally, a lovely track from one of our favourite artists. This is off April's Dead Of Night album.

Here's that on YouTube:



and Soundcloud:



and we'll have another go next week.

7 July 2015

July already? Let's do this.

Hotgothic - Smackuout
Energetic and punchy, as befits something off an EP called Punchline.

Brawlers - Annabel
And continuing the short and punchy theme, a new single from this Leeds band off the album Romantic Errors Of Our Youth.

Nai Harvest - Ocean Of Madness
And again. Sheffield this time and the LP is Hairball.

Cover Version Corner
Jacques Brel - Au Suivant
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Next
I remember seeing the Alex Harvey Band perform that on The Old Grey Whistle Test. It was bonkers. That's off the 1973 album Next and is an English translation of Au Suivant, Jacques Brel's anti-military record from 1966 and the album Les Bonbons.

Sleaford Mods - Tarantula Deadly Cargo
Finally, a track I can play in the 7pm slot. The hype is justified, they are the most important band in the country right now and the new LP Key Markets is out on Friday.

Christian Fitness - The Harder It Hits
Side-project of Future Of The Left front man Andy Falkous. Following on from the album I'm Scared Of Everything That I'm Not, a new single. Record of the week, I reckon. Love it.

Sauna Youth - The Bridge
And another track from the frankly brilliant Sauna Youth from their album Distractions.

Ought - The Weather Song
This dates back from last year. They're from Montreal and it sounds like Jonathan Richman in ways to me. And that's never a bad thing. More Than Any Other Day is the LP.

Fufanu - Circus Life
Iceland now and something from their EP Adjust To The Light. Something a bit different.

Asian Dub Foundation - The Signal And The Noise
I love this lot. A new album, More Signal, More Noise, is out on Friday. Still great.

One Degree of Separation
Happy Mondays - Kinky Afro
SWR - Close The Dam
The link should be obvious from the moment you realise that SWR stands for Shaun William Ryder. That's his first solo release for about a decade and it's bloody good. You don't need reminding that Kinky Afro was on Pills N Thrills And Bellyaches, still one of the most significant records of the last 25 years.

Shitwife - High Octane Party Banger
Splendid stuff and there's an album coming. Called Big Lad, it's out on August 28.

Lesbian Horse - 30 Seconds (Could Save The Universe)
These are a mystery. They're from London, but that's all I've got. They're also prolific and also also splendid in the turntablist style. Just fantastic.

AFX - Serge Fenix Rendered 2
After hiding away for so long, Richard D James - Aphex Twin to you - is suddenly prolific and has a new record out in the guise of AFX. Orphaned Deejay Selek 2006-2008 is the title. Of course it is.

Here's that on YouTube:



and Soundcloud:



Back next week.

5 May 2015

All refreshed after the Bank Holiday? Let's do this.

The Vinyl Records - Whims
And we'll start in New Delhi and the title track from their January EP. Perky, quirky, excellent.

Brawlers - Windowmisser
The first of a number of tracks from Leeds bands this week. This is off their debut LP Romantic Errors Of Our Youth which came out last month on Alcopop! Records.

Thee Faction - Choose Your Enemy
And an even longer album title... Songs That Remind The Class Of The Glorious Victory To Come And The Work That Must Be Done To Get There. There's an election soon, y'know.

Cover Version Corner
The Wedding Present/Heathers - Dalliance
Back to Leeds and possibly my favourite Weddoes track, definitely off my favourite of their albums, Seamonsters from 1991. LA's Heathers put their version out on an EP called I Know (Part-Time Punk Session) in May last year.

Flies On You - Action Stations!
And yet another Leeds band... I finally got hold of their latest album Etcetera this week and it is excellent. Did I mention that election?

Crybabycry - Love Got Me Wrong
To Wakey now and one of my favourite bands du jour with a new track.

Serpent Power - Last Ape In Space
Ian Skelly, formerly of The Coral, and Paul Molloy of The Zutons with some contemporary San Francisco psych.

The Vaccines - Dream Lover
A couple of tracks that lean more to the commercial side now, but I'll be independent in my own choice of music thank you. Everything I know suggests I shouldn't like The Vaccines, but I do, so there. This is the second single taken from the album English Graffiti which comes out on the 25th.

The Maccabees - Marks To Prove It
A new single from a forthcoming and as yet unnamed album. Ploughing a unique furrow.

Nueva Costa - Glacé
And now for something completely different... This is lovely. It came out last September on an EP called Ave Del Paraiso. That's all I've got.

One Degree of Separation
Pete & The Pirates - Blood Gets Thin
Teleman - Not In Control
I've played Teleman quite a bit and here's another track from their acclaimed debut album Breakfast, possibly my favourite track off it. But while I've played Teleman often, I've not played the band that spawned them before. Three-quarters of Teleman are three of the Pirates from Pete & The Pirates. And that track is pretty much perfect.

The Smiling Disease - The Klingon Race
A debut album from Olly Moss, bassist from Evans The Death. But as well as a debut, it's also a collection of recordings from the last six years, hence the title Beach Bodies: 2008-2014.

(m+a) - Ninja ft Spank Rock
The m is Michele Ducci, the a is Alessandro Degli Agnoli and that track is ace. Off the EP Anyway Milkyway which came out last month.

Julian Cope - Double Vegetation
And finally, great news for gig-goers in the area, such as myself, as the second-best recording artist ever is playing Holmfirth in July. I've got my ticket already and I'm excited beyond belief. So here's a track from the 1991 album Peggy Suicide.

Here that on YouTube:



and Soundcloud:



and we'll do it again next week. See you.