30 September 2014

More of the same, so soap up and slide on in...

The Vaselines - High Tide Low Tide
That's how you start a show. From the new album V For Vaselines which came out yesterday. Wonderful stuff.

Bear In Heaven - Autumn
Well it is autumn now. The album Time Is Over One Day Old came out in August. I'm just catching up with that.

Coves - Wake Up
Played these before, but some time ago. The album Soft Friday came out in March, but it's worth going back to dig this out. Wonderful track.

Cover Version Corner
The Fall/Sonic Youth - My New House
The Fall now become my most played band in the two-and-a-bit years we've been doing this show. That's off the 1985 album This Nation's Saving Grace. After that, Sonic Youth. Never put the word 'youth' in a band name. It looks silly further down the line. Anyway, that's off the EP 4 Tunna Brix which came out in 1990.

Thee Faction - Better Than Wages
From last year, but no better time to play it than during the Conservative party conference as they seek out new ways to enfeeble the feeble. Good Politics is the album and they're from Reigate in Surrey.

Broncho - Class Historian
Bronco or Bron-cho? Dunno. I think this could split a room between those that like it and those that find the da-da-das a bit annoying. Anyway, I'm in the former camp. They're from Oklahoma and the album Just Enough Hip To Be A Woman came out two weeks ago.

Keen On Girls - Sea Wave
This is a collaboration of two Californian bands - The Bilinda Butchers and Pastel Ghost. The result is delightful and available on an Eardrums Pop compilation called Between Two Waves - The Second Wave.

Sleep Thieves - You Want The Night
To Dublin now. Off an album of the same name which came out in June.

Joanna Gruesome - Coffee Implosion
The latest single from the show favourites from Cardiff. This is the new release from the acclaimed Weird Sister album.

Vomitface - Sloppy Joes
Terrible, terrible name for a band offset by the fact that this is one of the best things I've heard all year. Off a self-titled EP available from their bandcamp page.

One Degree of Separation
Lemonade - Durutti Shores
Durutti Column - Otis
Both owing something to Spanish anarchist Buenventura Durruti who fought against the Francoists as Spain headed to civil war. That Lemonade track is off the album Minus Tide which came out earlier this month and the Durutti Column one from 1989 release Vini Reilly.

Medicine - Move Along Down The Road
When I was putting the show together I thought I liked this. Now I don't think I do. Ah well, that's how it goes sometimes. It's on the album Home Everywhere which is out next month.

The Soundcarriers - Let It Ride
Another poor effort for a name. Would-be bands; do check out @fantasy_bands on Twitter for some suggestions. But their LP Entropicalia which came out in May is bloody brilliant. There will be more from that coming up in future weeks.

Paul Read And The Invisible Band - Circles
A local bunch now. There's an EP due out soon and with a bit of luck some gigs in the vicinity. Hope so anyway. Good stuff, that.

Here's most of that on YouTube:


And much of it is on Soundcloud too.

Back for more next week.

13 May 2014

Stuff from the '40s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and the usual new and recent releases. Not that I've anything against the '50s or 2000s, you understand.

The Vacant Lots - Mad Mary Jones
From Burlington in Vermont, their debut album is due out in July. Departure. Keep your eyes peeled.

Echo and the Bunnymen - Lovers On The Run
Sounds very much like an Echo and the Bunnymen record which, incidentally, is high praise. This is the first release from their first album in 5 years, Meteorites, which has yet to have a release date announced.

Wild Smiles - Fool For You
This is a month old now, the debut single from these which is jolly good. Already looking forward to more.

Cover Version Corner
New York Dolls/Sonic Youth - Personality Crisis
One at the front of the punk wave that was beginning to swell, then 20 years later, some others at the lead of what became known as grunge. 1973 it was when the New York Dolls released that. In 1993, it was on the B-side of Sugar Kane.

The Shocking Blue - Send Me A Postcard
From 1968, that, but something that I think a lot of contemporary bands would like to sound like. Very Jefferson Airplane too.

Chain and The Gang - Crime Don't Pay
Off an album called Minimum Rock And Roll which sounds very interesting indeed. Experimental, like.

The Moody Blues - Question
Because why not. That's from the 1970 album A Question Of Balance.

Drive - Curfew
Their only hit, from 1993. It's notable for featuring Melanie Blatt on vocals and that the hook was then used in a bigger hit - Pump Up The Volume.

One Degree of Separation
Francis Bebey - The Coffee Cola Song
Ella Fitzgerald - Black Coffee
Any excuse for an Ella Fitzgerald record. Obviously your theme is coffee. Black Coffee was recorded in 1948 and still sounds fabulous. Before that, Francis Bebey from Cameroon and a track from the 1982 album Pygmy Love Song.

Eight Rounds Rapid - Dostoyevsky
Finally got my hands on their debut album last week. It's great. Harking back to the pub rock tradition, albeit with a bit more polish, it's half an hour of pure, unadulterated joy. Lossleader is the title. Available now.

Mourning Birds - Breathe
Played these a few times now and this is their new single. Energetic stuff as always.

Julianna Barwick - Meet You At Midnight
This came out in March and it's no wonder it passed me by as it slides effortlessly by. Very cinematic too.

Glimpse - L.E.D.
Chris Spero is the producer behind this. It's off an EP called Baretta and while it's box-fresh dance music, it also harks back to earlier days of the movement. Perhaps a bit less has become more.

Here's that on YouTube:



And Soundcloud:



Back next week.

29 April 2014

I wasn't well last week, hence no show. So you can have it this week instead.

Joy Division - Transmisson
Their debut single from 1979 and still sounding great. I play that as I went to see Half Man Half Biscuit at the Picturedrome in Holmfirth, they played this and it brought the house down.

Malka Spigel - Tall Grey Buildings
From Tel Aviv, that's quite sublime. Don't know a great deal about it, but I'll keep my ears open for anything else, that's for sure.

Gusgus - Crossfade
To Reykjavik now for some electronic dancey type stuff. Really good, that. The album is Mexico and is coming soon.

Cover Version Corner
Dave Sudbury/The Unthanks with the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band - King Of Rome
A true story. There are a number of versions knocking about, and I've only recently got round to listening to Dave Sudbury's original. The Unthanks performed it with the Brighouse and Rastrick band at 2012's Radio 2 folk festivals. Quite brilliant. Now I think I've got something in my eye, so I'd better play a record and fish it out.

Cate Le Bon - Sisters
The third single from the album Mug Museum which came out last November. It's taken me a while to get into it, but this is my favourite so far.

De Lux - It All Works All The Time
From the album Voyage which came out three weeks ago. And jolly pleasant it is too.

Joanna Gruesome - Anti-Parent Cowboy Killers
One of my favourites around at the moment. This is the latest from Weird Sisters which came out late last year. Nice title.

Edwyn Collins - Gorgeous George
Taking it back to 1994 and from the album of the same name. Always worth a listen.

Young Knives - White Sands
I've little doubt these are the first band from Ashby-de-la-Zouche we've had on. The album is Sick Orange which came out this month. The first release, Klapp Klapp, got lots of publicity, but I wasn't keen. This suggests that early conclusions may have been hasty.

One Degree of Separation
British Sea Power - Monsters Of Sunderland
The Strokes - New York City Cops
British Sea Power from the album Machineries Of Joy which came out about this time last year and the Strokes from back in 2001 from their debut album Is This It. It could be many links. Denis Smith managed both, Marco Gabbiadini played for both, but let's just settle on it being songs with football clubs in the title.

Sonic Youth - Dirty Boots
I've always liked Sonic Youth and I'm just about getting back around to listening to their back catalogue once again. This tends to happen every couple of years or so. Well worth the effort anyway.

Eat Lights, Become Lights - Heavy Electrics
There's a lot going in there. It's a couple of years old, but fresh to my ears. I shall certainly be seeking out more.

Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up To Dry
Superb track, among my very favourites. Seven years old now, off the album Robbers And Cowards, but still sounding great.


Back next week with more of the same.

11 March 2014

Evening all.

Sonic Youth - Sugar Kane
One of my favourite records of all time. I've got a 10" on blue vinyl from my coloured vinyl phase - which we have all had, I feel convinced - and it would definitely be in my top 50 tracks of forever. From the 1993 album 'Dirty'. The first of a few tracks from 1993 today, I notice. Not planned. Pure coincidence.

Fat White Family - Touch The Leather
Accompanied by one of the more out-there videos I've ever seen, what a glorious slice of retro-sleaze.

Jim Jones Revue - Seven Times Around The Sun
Keeping the retro vibe going. This is from a couple of years back, off the album 'The Savage Heart'.

Cover Version Corner
Stereolab/Editors - French Disko
The Editors track was a bonus track from their 2006 album 'The Back Room'. Before that, off the 1993 EP 'Jenny Ondiline' was Stereolab. Insert comment about making it your own here.

King Of The Mountains - Zoetrope
That, I suggest to you, is quite fabulous. The album is also called 'Zoetrope' and it came out last month. Excellent stuff. More please.

Tom Williams and The Boat - Hurricane
Finally, the town of Tunbridge Wells is on the musical map of the nation. Well, I can't think of any other band from there. The album is 'Easy Fantastic'.

High Hazels - Summer Rain
New from this very Sheffield band off the EP 'In The Half-Light'. Lovely summery vibe to go with the two hours of sun we had yesterday.

Pixies - Greens And Blues
Latest single from EP2. EP3 is out in August.

One Degree of Separation
Crispy Ambulance - Not What I Expected
Half Man Half Biscuit - Running Order Squabble Fest
HMHB there, going on after Crispy Ambulance. That's off 'This Leaden Pall' from, you guessed it, 1993. Before that, Crispy Ambulance, a b-side off the Unsightly And Serene single.

Spectres - Sooky Eyeball
Reminding me a lot of Hookworms, who I like very much, these are from Bristol and this is another b-side, to The Sky Of All Places.

Mutineers - Love, It's A Killer
This is out on the album 'Friends, Lovers, Rivals' released next Monday. Get on it.

The Last Battle - Breathe Bones
Delightful. We're already trailing things out in May - 'Lay Your Burden Down' is out on the 5th.

Electronic - Get The Message
From 1991 and the album 'Electronic', this is another all-time favourite. It's just great.

The Smiths - Barbarism Begins At Home
One of rock's great intros, we'll close with this. Off 1985's 'Meat Is Murder', I actually flipped a coin between this and The Headmaster Ritual. Another time...

Here's all that in YouTube:



and Soundcloud: