9 July 2018

Evenin'

The Cavemen - Lust For Evil
A new one from the New Zealanders off the LP Nuke Earth.

Yassassin - Citizen
The new single from the ever-evolving London-based collective.

Moderate Rebels - Beyond Hidden Words
The London anti-music collective with what they call an un-song.

Seasurfer - Sad Song
I don't know where I found this. The Internet tells me they're from Hamburg, but that's about it.

The Vega Bodegas - Monkey Ate The Monkey
Taken from the new album A Complete History of Witchcraft which is out on Friday.

Klammer - Spiral Girl
Another one taken from the third LP You Have Been Processed out next month.

Silverbacks - Dunkirk
New single from the Dublin art-punks describing the site of the famous retreat as a built-up holiday destination.

Sunstack Jones - Say Something
From the self-titled album by the Liverpudlians which came out at the back end of last month.

Four Candles - Strange Things Are Happening
Clearly it was the name that caught my eye. These are from Salford and comes from the EP Spiritual Rapture, out now.

Pellethead - Hear Me Now
I don't know why this has cropped up now. It came out in 2007 on the LP Sleepwank. Still fucking good though.

Wooden Shjips - Staring At The Sun
A fifth LP from the band with the rogue J and following in kind. Tremendous. V is out now.

Funky Bijou - Karate Break
Funky and French, off the EP Yasuke.

Roisin Murphy - Plaything
The former Moloko singer with the second of four 12" singles that make up a series. Bloody excellent.

Fonda 500 - Golden Digits Of Devilry
New stuff from the Hull veterans of the acid scene. I Heart Fonda 500 is out now.

Orbital - PHUK
'Please help UK', it stands for. Taken from the new LP Monsters Exist.

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Let's do it again next week eh?

19 November 2013

12tree - Sugamomma
John: The working name of  Robin Twelftree. New single, available now and it's a reet banger.


Tony Von - N'Hoca
John: A big hello to the nation of Angola! This is off a compilation, 'Soul of Angola, 1965-70'. I was reading something the other day about the development of music in the country in the face of the protracted civil war following independence and how it's come along in different ways to surrounding countries. Interesting stuff.
Carolyn: We've not really played much from Africa. Should do more often, but it's how you get to hear about these things.
John: I'll keep my eyes out.

Lucas Santtana - Lycra Limao (Dub version)
John: Continuing the Lusophone theme... The World Cup is in Brazil next year, as we all know, and I've been co-opted to do some stuff about Brazilian music in the run-up to that for another project, so you might get more of this. This is something I turned up in my initial investigations. Super stuff.


Cover Version Corner
Blue Oyster Cult/The Beautiful South - Don't Fear The Reaper
John: If you even know another Blue Oyster Cult record, I'll be surprised. I don't. That's the first Beautiful South record we've played in 50-odd attempts. I can't quite believe that.
Carolyn: That does seem an alarming oversight. A very different version, that.
John: Yeah, it's got that bossa nova feel to it, keeping the South American theme going. That's off an album of covers called 'Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs' from 2004 which we may well be coming back to. Blue Oyster Cult's is off 'Agents of Fortune' from 1976.

Daniel Avery - Free Floating
John: I've been meaning to play this for a while. Divine stuff, off the album 'Drone Logic' which came out earlier in the year.

Teen - Big Talk
John: Reckon you liked that.
Carolyn: Yes, I did. It doesn't all have to be about the bleeps and breaks you go for.
John: Of course not. Teen are an all-girl 4-piece from Brooklyn and that's out now.


Fuzz - Loose Sutures
John: That's how you end a record. About six or seven false endings, then thrash the living bits out of every piece of percussion before a power chord. Fuzz are a band Ty Segall is involved with and that's off a self-titled album.

Swim Deep - Honey
John: Another one I've been meaning to play for ages.
Carolyn: I like that too. Really nice melodies and one I can see me singing along to.
John: Another one I thought you'd like too. That's off 'Where The Heaven Are We' which came out in August.

One Degree of Separation
Moon Duo - Rolling Out
Wooden Shjips - Back To The Land
John: Wooden Shjips from the album 'Back To Land' which is out now and before that, Moon Duo from 2012's 'Circles'. Both with a similar vibe, largely because Ripley Johnson is a driving force behind both bands. I think you can get a sense of where Hookworms and others are coming from as well with the organ-driven nature of both.
Carolyn: Not quite as loud. Hookworms were loud.

Popstrangers - Rats In The Palm Trees
Carolyn: Another one you can put a tick next to for me.
John: They're from New Zealand and this is following on from their album 'Antipodes' which came out a while ago.


Trampolene - My Bourgeoisie Girl
John: New stuff from Swansea. This is out next Monday, November 25.

Julian Cope - Dust
John: And dare we cite Julian Cope as an influence on Trampolene? After all, he had a hit of the same name, same spelling. This is off 1996's 'Interpreter' which marked something of a return to normality after the.... err.... experimentalism of 'Autogeddon' which preceded it. I didn't like that one.

And that's where we end it for this week. Here's all that in a YouTube playlist apart from that which isn't. They're above.
Back same time next week.

15 October 2013

Our 50th show! And we didn't even realise. How time flies...

Wooden Shjips - These Shadows
Shjips with a J. New from these from the new album 'Back To Land' which is out on November 12. A nice, gentle entry into the show.

Factory Floor - Turn It Up
I've been after playing some stuff from the debut album by these - also called 'Factory Floor' - for a while. It's a cracking album and as I've been so lax, I'll make up for it by playing a couple of tracks from it tonight starting with this one.

Disclosure ft London Grammar - Help Me Lose My Mind
And from a very similar envelope, Disclosure. We've played a fair bit from the hit album 'Settle' which came out in May. I've been listening to this a lot this week. It's just dreamy.

Cover Version Corner
BB King ft Robert Cray/Masters In France - Playin' With My Friends
I'm told that the Masters In France version is on an IKEA advert. I don't know - I normally mute the adverts. Anyway, it's a cracking tune and completely different to BB King's blues classic. Unmistakeable guitar sounds on that, off 'Blues Summit' from 1993. He's 88, y'know.

Pinkunoizu - Tin Can Valley
To Denmark now and these purveyors of noisy... well I don't know what you'd call it. Good though, innit. That's off 'the Drop' which came out in August.

Vessels - Elliptic
New from these off an EP also called 'Elliptic' which is out on November 25. I like what these do.

Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - My Terrible Friend
A little bit New Order, a little bit Cure, but also completely unique. Can't believe it's taken 50 shows to get round to playing them as I like them a lot. This is off 'Belong' which came out a couple of years ago.

The KVB - Run Away
Klaus Von Barrel lends his initials to The KVB and collaborates with Kat Day to make the magic happen. This is a forerunner to a new album due soon.

Aphrodite's Child - Four Horsemen
From 1970's seminal '666' album, which is prog-tastic. I got listening to it in the week off the back of hearing Mary Epworth do a live version of it which was fantastic. And '70s Greek prog deserves a revisit anyway.

One Degree of Separation
Deadwall - Metropolis, Of Sorts
Hookworms - Form And Function
Not an obvious link today, bar them both being from Leeds. No, it's more a description of out Friday night out at Hebden Trades Club. We went to see Hookworms and they... were... loud. Brilliant, but loud. That track, taken from the album 'Pearl Mystic', played live was just a wall of sound. Deadwall provided support and were an utter delight and total surprise. That's off an EP that came out last year called 'Four Songs', but there's an album in the offing which I will very much look forward to.

Chemical Brothers ft Flaming Lips - The Golden Path
Why not, eh? It's easy to overlook the rich body of work by the Chemical Brothers. This is from 2003. Did you know they're not really brothers?

Factory Floor - Fall Back
We'll finish with the other Factory Floor track I promised. Eight and a half minutes of pulsing, electronic rhythm. I love it. The album is a triumph and more power to their elbow.

All that's wrapped up in a YouTube playlist here and that's 50. Raise the bat to the balcony, acknowledge the polite applause and dig in and build towards the next milestone.

18 March 2013

An extra half hour today, you lucky people. Instrumentals, prog and prog instrumentals all on today's agenda.

Future Of The Left - Failed Olympic Bid
John: Great track, great video. From the album 'The Plot Against Common Sense' which came out late in 2011. Obviously railing against the nonsense of some of the companies that sponsored the Olympics and the abandonment of large swathes of the country so that London can prosper.
Carolyn: Yeah, I got the McDonalds bit. Other burger chains are available.


John Grant - Sensitive New Age Guy
John: We played the title track to the album 'Pale Green Ghosts' a few weeks ago and it's still the best thing I've heard this year. This is another track off the album which came out last week. The ex-Czars man from Denver is now based in Reykjavik and the album is quite brilliant.

Neon Neon - Mid-Century Modern Nightmare
John: New one from these, this is off the album 'Praxis Makes Perfect' which is out on April 29. Gloriously 8-bit.
Carolyn: Like the computer games of our youth. Manic Miner... And under two minutes. Very retro.

Cover Version Corner
George Martin/Van Der Graaf Generator - Theme One
John: Originally made as a theme for Radio 1 back in 1967. Manchester prog rockers Van Der Graaf Generator recorded that in 1972 and it's off the album 'Pawn Hearts'. That's just one of a number of covers - I could have gone for Schizo Fun Addict, Cozy Powell...
Carolyn: The instrumental possibly gives you even more freedom to put your own stamp on things. Is there a kazoo version?
John: Something to do over Easter, perhaps.

Phoenix - Entertainment
John: That's jaunty. From Versailles, that's off the album 'Bankrupt!' - with an exclamation point - which is out on April 5.
Carolyn: Very jaunty indeed. I liked that.

Ultraista - Smalltalk
John: That's the new single from these which comes out on the 31st off the album 'Ultraista'. That's Nigel Godrich's - Radiohead's long-time producer - project.
Carolyn: Who is on vocals?
John: I don't know. Good though, ain't it. Works well with the melodies to create something quite beautiful.

Yacht - Second Summer
John: This came out last December. We've played these before; they're based in Portland, Oregon.
Carolyn: That's really good.

Younghusband - Dromes
John: That's how you end a record...
Carolyn: I liked it up to that point.
John: The new single is 'Comets Crossed' from the album of the same name which this also comes from. Worth keeping an eye on these in the future.
Carolyn: As long as they learn to end a track.

The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
John: One purely for Carolyn.
Carolyn: What happened to Dexter? I got caught up in the narrative. Really like it though.
John: Those samples are from the John Waters film 'Polyester'. The track was The Avalanches' biggest hit and came out in 2000 from the album 'Since I Left You'.

One Degree of Separation
The Stranglers - Waltzinblack
Jean-Jacques Burnel - Waltz In Blue
John: I promised you more instrumentals. And a double link for a bonus. First was The Stranglers from the 1981 album 'The Gospel According To The Men In Black', their fifth. Then you heard Jean-Jacques Burnel - bassist in The Stranglers with a track from the soundtrack to the 2005 film 'Gankutsuou'. And you've got the waltz link there as well. Burnel studied history at what was then Huddersfield Poly back in the day.
Carolyn: Our alma mater. Good to have a local element.
John: Ain't no glory like reflected glory.

Wooden Shjips - Black Smoke Rise
John: I've been after playing these for ages. Wooden Shjips, with a J...
Carolyn: I... Why?
John: That's a couple of years old now. They're from San Francisco and the album is 'West'. We've played a lot of things like Toy and Hookworms over the weeks and months and these came a bit before, maybe a gateway to those early Can and Neu! records for the newer generation.

Wire - Love Bends
John: The 13th studio album from the London post-punk veterans is 'Change Becomes Us' and it's out on March 25.

Royksopp - Happy Up Here
John: And happy down here in our bunker. I like that a lot - very uplifting.
Carolyn: Yes, jolly pleasant indeed.
John: They're from Tromso in Norway and that's off the 2009 album 'Junior'.

Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us
John: I promised you more prog as well, so have some Sparks. From the 1974 album 'Kimono My House'. I don't know.
Carolyn: I guess prog puns were different back then.
John: I realised a few weeks ago that I'm now of an age where I get Sparks. It's worrying.

Woody Guthrie - Worried Man Blues
John: I've been meaning to play some Woody for ages. It's a traditional old song which he recorded in 1940. He's a bit of a hero.
Carolyn: And it's good to play some different things.

Wolf People - All Returns
John: Psych-folk, I think they call it. The new album is 'Fain' and comes out on April 30. They're based in London. And Bedford, and North Yorkshire.

Willy Mason - I Got Gold
John: A modern twist on country, which is good. That's off the album 'Carry On' which came out late last year and I've just not got round to playing. I like that track - the rest of the album... Not so much.

Teenage Fanclub - Baby Lee
John: Purely selfish. I adore that track. From the 2010 album Shadows.
Carolyn: No, it can't be selfish when you share something that nice. That's a beautiful record.

And here's all that in a YouTube playlist.