September 2022 – Page 2 – THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #323: STARLESS

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Today’s words are lifted from a bio offered up a couple of years back by a PR agency:-

“Paul McGeechan has been a prominent figure in the music industries since the early 1980s when he first formed Friends Again with his childhood friend and singer, Chris Thompson. Following in the footsteps of bands such as Aztec Camera, Friends Again grew a large following, particularly in Scotland, and released their album Trapped and Unwrapped in 1984.

After Friends Again disbanded, Paul and James Grant formed Love and Money. The band signed to Phonogram Records and instantly began to gain critical acclaim and success. They recorded their first album All You Need Is… in London in 1985 with legendary producer Tom Dowd and Andy Taylor of Duran Duran.

The band then moved to America to record their most popular album, Strange Kind of Love, where they worked with the renowned Steely Dan producer Gary Katz. Strange Kind Of Love has become one of the most highly regarded Scottish albums of the 1980s and after recording the band went on many successful concerts with U2, BB King and Simply Red.

Since then, Paul has become one of the most prominent producers / mix engineers in the Scottish music business, with a particularly strong body of work in Celtic and traditional folk music. Many recording artists continually return to Paul to work on their albums. He has mixed and mastered many records for Julie Fowlis, Roddy Hart, Capercaille, James Grant, Justin Currie, Ricky Ross – and the list goes on. Beyond Scotland, Paul has worked with a diverse range of artists such as Beyoncé Knowles, Pavarotti and the French Algerian artist IDIR.

Throughout the years, Paul has collaborated on hundreds of albums; he has always contributed to the songs and musical ideas of the projects he works on. His interest in electronic music and the collection work he has built up over the years has led him to record a new collaborative album under the pseudonym, ‘Starless’. This ambitious project is one which encapsulates his electronic influences and his skills as a composer / producer with each song on the album featuring a singer with whom Paul has developed a musical relationship.

The first album, eponymously titled, ‘Starless’, released in 2016, featured Paul Buchanan (The Blue Nile), Julie Fowlis, Karen Matheson (Capercaillie), BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Winner, Kris Drever, Kathleen MacInness, Chris Thomson (Friends Again), Mary Ann Kennedy, Kaela Rowan, Marie Clare Lee, Gwen Stewart, Ewen Vernal (Deacon Blue) and The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

Paul’s second album, Earthbound, released in 2020, features more collaboration from top names in Scottish traditional music, on Scottish independent label, Last Night From Glasgow (LNFG), including recurring featured vocals from Julie Fowlis, Karen Matheson, Chris Thomson and Marie Clare Lee, with new additions, Steven Lindsay (The Big Dish), Grahame Skinner (Hipsway), Emma Pollock (The Delgados) and Jerry Burns.”

I use blue text in postings to highlight the names of singers/bands/artists who get mentioned…..and the amount in the above paragraphs demonstrates just how well-connected Paul McGeechan as well as indicating just how often musicians have been willing to work with him in collaboration.

mp3: Starless – Paper (feat. Emma Pollock)

The extent of these collaborations does mean that his recordings will offer something to suit just about everyone’s tastes, although it would take someone with a ridiculous palate to say they enjoyed absolutely everything released by Starless. But I reckon many of you might like the above track, whioch can be found on Earthbound.

Paper was also released as a digital single, which came with a number of remixes.

mp3: Starless – Paper (AXOR remix)

Now….I’m making a stab in the dark here, but a previous Starless track from 2016 was given the remix treatment under a heading of “Sam Barker Axor Remix”, and I’m assuming it’s the same partnership. If so, Sam Barker is a UK-born and Berlin-based musician and DJ, and he’s provided a perfect song for those summer nights, no matter where you are in the world.

JC

Tindersticks

NOSTALGIA IN SEPTEMBER (4)

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From ICA 48, one of my own and selected today as Tindersticks are a band beloved by both myself and Rachel, and it’s kind of romantic that they feature on the blog on the morning we wake up in Paris…..albeit the tracks selected today are far from anyone’s idea of love songs!!

A Marriage Made In Heaven

In March 1993, Tindersticks had released a limited edition 7” single which featured Niki Sin from Huggy Bear on joint vocals. It told the tale of a doomed love affair between a singer and an actress.

He (the singer) believes the attraction was all down to the emotion and power of his voice and can’t understand what has gone while she (the actress) thinks it hilarious that he fell for her when all the while she was just again performing a role. It’s a more than decent song but this, the re-make in 199t complete with full orchestral input and a vocal contribution from Isabella Rosellini, is the definitive version as her fragile and edgy delivery really brings home the point that our singer is just a stupid romantic fool.

Jism

Jism is a song like no other in my entire collection in that I feel I always have to, and indeed want to, give it my 100% concentration while it is playing. On one occasion, it came up on random shuffle while I was waiting patiently on a train to take me to work, but I was so transfixed that I looked around at its end and noticed my fellow passengers had boarded and the train had subsequently departed without me realising. I get completely lost in it every single time….the downside being, however, that if it does pop up on shuffle and I have to concentrate on something else that’s happening around me, I have to hit the fast forward button to the next song.

Please don’t ask me to put into words why this is, as I don’t have the vocabulary to do my feelings justice. The fact that the lyric comes from the viewpoint of a psychopath who isn’t the least bit concerned about using domestic violence only adds to the power and emotion of what I consider to be one of the most outstanding few minutes of music ever written.

Travelling Light

The country and western genre tends to specialise in the sort of duet where the man sings a few verses about the state of his mind and behaviours and then his woman responds with a ‘well that ain’t quite how I see it buster’.

This fabulous little number, which was also released as a single, would fit that mould perfectly. Stuart Staples, while acknowledging he has some problems to overcome thinks he’s doing fine as he has an easy approach to life but his other half, in the shape of guest singer Carla Togerson from The Walkabouts patiently but wearily tells us that he is in fact a total fantasist and indeed by the end there is a realisation that she is about to walk out of his life forever. I often think that this is the revenge song from the woman who was on the end of the treatment dished out in Jism….

JC

Various

NOSTALGIA IN SEPTEMBER (3)

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This one doesn’t lean back on any old ICA.

I mentioned previously that I’ll be on four trips in September that’ll involve overnight stays away from Villain Towers. Today is the first of those trips, off to Paris for around 36 hours in the company of Rachel, as a crazy way to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. It had only taken us more than seven years of living together to finally get round to it. It was partly an unconventional day, despite the fact we are both dressed up to the nines.

It was a Monday morning, and the ceremony was followed by a lunch at which there were less than 30 folk present. From there, we flew off to Florida for a few days to see my brother and his then girlfriend (and now wife), as he couldn’t take the risk of leaving the States for the wedding as there was no guarantee he’d get back in as he was in the middle of sorting out his application for permanent residency. From there we went to St Thomas for ten days before coming back to Glasgow for a proper party on a Friday night, with band, disco and 250 guests all in attendance.

It’s only fair to say that there’s been a few ups and downs in the 25 years since, but we’ve made our way over the bumps without too much damage. We have more than enough in common to stay together, but at the same time we have quite varied interests that see us spend a fair bit of time doing our ‘own’ things with different groups of friends. It certainly works for us.

For instance, the reason we can only spend one overnight in Paris is that Rachel just yesterday returned from three days away on a delayed spa-break with her closest group of pals, while this weekend sees me head away on a golf trip with mates, an annual event going back to the late 80s. We spoke about both events and how they were going to squeeze into the time around the anniversary, but felt it was important to fit in with those plans made by friends who wouldn’t have been aware of the significance of 8 September 2022 to us.

It’s amazing how love has evolved over time. It certainly was full of grand, romantic and carefree gestures back in the day (particularly around the cost!!), but it is increasingly and essentially about offering each other support to cope with any stresses and strains of modern life, as well as just looking to enjoy those things we actually do together, much of which does involve sitting down in front of a television.

All of which makes today’s trip feel incredibly special. We have made no advance plans to do anything once we reach Paris….no restaurant is booked and no trips to galleries/museums are scheduled as we want to make a return to the days when it was all on a whim and spontaneous. I’m so looking forward to it.

Here’s some songs:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – Rachel
mp3: Echo and The Bunnymen – Silver (Tidal Wave)
mp3: Siobhan Wilson – Paris Est Blanche

Oh, and never let it be forgotten that Rachel was the real driving force in getting TVV off the ground back in 2006. I was at a particularly low ebb, having just suffered a real setback at work and unsure of my future. She was the one who went out and bought me a USB turntable to get the vinyl converted to digital format so that I could turn my hand to blogging. It will always be the greatest thing anyone has ever done for me.

JC

PJ Harvey

NOSTALGIA IN SEPTEMBER (2)

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From ICA 63, written by Craig McAllister of the blog Plain or Pan. Craig has subsequently gone on to be the author of a very well-received book, The Perfect Reminder, on the writing and recording of I’ve Seen Everything, the second album from Trashcan Sinatras.

Here’s Craig……

I’m no expert on Polly Jean Harvey. I’m a huge fan and I have most of her back catalogue (the odd collaborative effort aside) and while there are other artists that I obsess far more over and go to first when choosing something to play on the rare occasion I have the house to myself, PJ is always somewhere in the background, shuffling up unannounced but always welcome on my iPod during the commute to work, or peeking out at me in-between my George Harrison and Richard Hawley albums. The bulk of her music still thrills and amazes and stands up to repeated listens long after the time of release, which is surely the mark of a true artist.

It’s incredible to think that PJ Harvey has been making records for nigh on a quarter of a century. From the lo-fi scuzz of Dry via the Patti Smith-isms of Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea and the stark, piano-only White Chalk right up to her most recent collection of WW1-themed songs on Let England Shake (not forgettting the one-off single in support of Guantanamo Bay prisoner Shaker Aamer), she’s one of our most consistent musicians. Daring, unpredictable and true to herself, she’s right up there with the best of ’em.

Sheela Na Gig

Sheela Na Gig was PJ’s second single and also appeared on Dry, her debut LP. She sets her stall out early here, singing about ‘child bearing hips‘ and ‘ruby red lips’. Hearing this for the first time as a 21 year old, I had no idea what a Sheela Na Gig was (Google it), so I listened to this thinking “Oh! Aye!” I always had this faint idea from then on in that one day she’d go out with me, until she met that bastard Nick Cave. Oh well, her loss.

Kamikaze

Kamikaze is taken from Stories From the City, Stories From The Sea, PJ’s second Mercury-nominated LP. Her most straightforward pop/rock album, most of the tracks had the knack of sounding like Patti Smith on steroids.

Kamikaze is terrific, a down-the-hill-with-no-brakes-on, headlong rush of close-mic’d guitars, polyrhythmic drums and yet more skyscraping hysterics. It’s a close cousin of 50ft Queenie, only with far better production and mastering.

If you’re new to PJ and any of these tracks have so far piqued your curiosity, I’d start with this track’s parent album and take things from there.

The Glorious Land

Following the stark, piano-led White Chalk, Let England Shake was PJ’s triumphant return to the guitar. Much of the album is loosely concept, relating to the atrocities of WW1. If this seems a bit heavy, the music therein was often light and airy; gone for the most part were the blooze blunderbuss guitars, replaced with lightly chiming 6 strings, clean and pleasant on the ear. Radio 2 music, even.

The Glorious Land begins with such a guitar, playing atop a rallying military bugle. Without getting too ‘muso’ about it, the chord changes are sublime, and the vocals are always to the fore. There’s almost a male/female duet in the verses, between PJ and (I think) a moonlighting Mick Harvey who come across like a 21st century Lee ‘n Nancy on helium, while PJ duets gloriously with herself in the chorus and outro. You might want to discover the rest of this album for yourself. It’s one of her best.

CRAIG

LCD Soundsystem

NOSTALGIA IN SEPTEMBER (1)

James-Murphy

JC writes…..

September is shaping up to be a bit of a busy month for me, with four trips away from home involving overnight stays. I’m unsure if I’ll be able to devote a huge amount of time to the blog other than keeping the ICA World Cup moving along, and so have decided to fall back on nostalgia to ensure there are daily posts.

The gimmick is that the nostalgia will look at some of the oldest ICAs, not reproducing them in full, but delving into a maximum, for the most part, of three songs

It’s a sort of expansion on something I did this time last year when there was a four-day mini-series called ‘Some Words From An Earlier ICA’. I went onto look at LCD Soundsystem (#9), Teenage Fanclub (#86), The Velvet Underground (#123) and Super Furry Animals (#18).

I’m again kicking things off with LCD Soundsystem, from ICA 9, as written up by SWC. The rest of this post are all his words…..

What made them great was the fact that they were genreless, they were DJs, they did songs, techno, dark stuff, rock stuff, pop crossover. LCD Soundsystem transcended the divide by combing dance and punk.

Daft Punk is Playing At My House

(I’ve gone for Soulwax Mix simply because of the bit where it goes ‘DOWNTOWN’)

This was LCD Soundsystem’s most successful song, earning a Grammy nod and reaching No. 29 on the UK charts. It’s not hard to see why. James Murphy always knew how to start a party, from the opening “OW! OW!” to the smashing hi-hats to cowbells and even reminding us that he had moved the furniture to the garage. A belter of a record.

Dance Yrself Clean

The one thing about LCD Soundsystem that frustrated everyone was their reluctance to write ‘hit records’. They never got played on the radio, not the shows that sell records anywhere. This track was another raised middle finger to the industry, an eight-minute raised middle finger of a single. It kind of wobbles along at half volume and includes a flute – A FLUTE – instead of a crashing beat or bass that you kind of expect and then suddenly it bursts and goes on for eight minutes. Plus, and perhaps the main reason it is here – The Muppets are in the video for it, and it is the greatest music video ever made.

All My Friends

Murphy hates this song, and yet it is clearly their greatest moment. He thinks it is too poppy and embarrassing. It is certainly the most romantic song he ever wrote. I have always thought it is widely reminiscent of ‘Ceremony’ by New Order, but the call to arms of for his friends ‘If I could see all my friends tonight’ really emphasises the quality of this band and the friendship its members have.

SWC

Various

ICA WORLD CUP 2022 : GROUP H : THE RESULTS

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I mentioned in the preview that Group H could be quite intriguing in that there was no mega-headliner, and it contained a mix of singers and bands with quite a number of devotees.

An in-play progress report, carried out after 25 sets of votes had been cast, sort of confirmed this, albeit a few that had started really well had already probably done enough. Lloyd Cole (17), Bananarama (15), Elvis Costello (15) and The Breeders (13) were leading the way. Tucked in behind were a host of others (nine in all), who had collected between six and eleven votes, while it was looking as if The Affectionate Punch (2), The Tragically Hip (3) and The Sound (4) were in difficulties. But then again, there was still plenty of time left on the clock for things to change.

As it turned out, that check on 25 votes was almost perfect for the half-time report as come the final whistle on Saturday at midnight, there were 48 sets requiring to be counted up.

Lloyd Cole 33
Elvis Costello 31
Bananarama 27
The Triffids 26
The Twilight Sad 23*
The Breeders 23
The National 20
The Chameleons 16*

The appearance of the * indicates the coin toss was used to determine final positions when the number of votes was tied.

It was Frightened Rabbit who also picked up 16 votes. Here’s the thing…..at no point in time did The Chameleons ever have a lead over Frightened Rabbit. Indeed, the tie only cane about from the fact that the final four folk to drop into the polling station all voted for The Chameleons while offering nothing up for F’Rabbits.

There was little to choose among the next five places who all gained between 12 and 14 votes, while the bottom two narrowly failed to reach double figures.

As ever, a song from an ICA we’ve had to say farewell to.

mp3: The Affectionate Punch – Scars III

The fact is, the elimination of TAP has thwarted my dreams of actually making an appearance in the 2022 ICA World Cup, as it’s my spoken vocal on this particular track.

I suppose I can console myself that my small contribution to Scars III might have led to my face being on an imaginary sticker in the imaginary commemorative Panini collection……..

Panini-FEAT

JC

Various

ICA WORLD CUP 2022 : ROUND ONE OF THE KNOCKOUT STAGE (i)

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At long last, we reach the knockout stages of the 2022 ICA World Cup, with just the 64 sides left standing* after tallying up all votes that were cast during the group stage.

Round One will take eight weeks to complete, with each Sunday offering up four head-to-head match-ups in which you are being asked to provide a winner. For this round, the tune being offered up for consideration will be the second song on side two of the ICA; if the ICA wasn’t spilt in half at the time of writing, it will be song 7 in a ten-track ICA, or song 8 in a twelve-track ICA, etc.

The tension and excitement is palpable, so without any further messing around:-

Iggy Pop (winner of Group A) v Vic Chesnutt (8th in Group C)

mp3: Iggy Pop – Bang Bang v mp3 : Vic Chesnutt – Marathon

The Ramones (4th in Group D) v Stevie Wonder (5th in Group B)

mp3: The Ramones – Little Bit O’ Soul v mp3 : Stevie Wonder – You Are The Sunshine Of My Life

The Feelies (2nd in Group C) v Ballboy (7th in Group D)

mp3: The Feelies – Tomorrow, Today v mp3: Ballboy – Kiss Me, Hold Me and Eat Me

Blondie (3rd in Group B) v Nirvana (6th in Group A)

mp3: Blondie – Rapture v mp3: Nirvana – Pennyroyal Tea

The interesting thing about most ICAs is that the 7th track is often a personal favourite of the author and a lesser-known song rather than a hit, as can be seen from a number of the tunes up for consideration this week.

Enjoy listening and voting. As ever, it will be done via the comments section, and you have until midnight (UK time) next Friday,** which is the 9th of September.

*I know I’ve still to reveal who qualified from Group H, but none of those singers or groups were due to feature in this part of the 1st Round draw.

**The change to a Friday from Saturday is to enable me to reveal the results at the same time as the next set of matches.

JC

Stanley Odd

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #322: STANLEY ODD

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Stanley Odd. A Scottish hip-hop band.

Formed in 2009, the members consist of Solareye, Veronika Electronika, AdMack, Scruff Lee, T Lo and Samson. Their initial material was issued by Circular Records, a label based just outside of Edinburgh, known for the incredibly eclectic roster of artists across every genre imaginable.

In 2012, they went down the route of self-releasing their second album, Reject, which got some tremendously positive reviews in the local press, printed and digital. I actually won a copy of the album in a raffle at a fund-raising night, and based on what I had been reading, was quite excited when my lucky number was called.

Sadly, I have to say that I found it to be more of a mixed bag than an essential listen, as I couldn’t fully take to the sound of a rap in my own accent without my toes curling up as the cringe factor took a grip. I do accept, however, that Stanley Odd have quite a lot of fans in Scotland, attracted by the music, the vibes and the socio-political messages within the lyrics, many of which have come down very firmly in the pro-independence camp, not least the track Son I Voted Yes, released in the days immediately prior to the 2014 Independence Referendum vote. There was also this from 2016, in the wake of the EU Referendum vote:-

My affection for It’s All Gone To Fuck is that it feels more like a pop/rock song with added rap than anything that’s pure hip-hop.

Things actually went quiet for Stanley Odd after that, but there was a planned return in 2020 with the idea of singles/EPs every couple of months…..only for things to be scuppered by COVID. The comeback, however, has merely been delayed as Stanley Odd got themselves back on the road with some shows in April and a number of appearances at the smaller and independently run summer festivals across Scotland….and I expect more live shows to be announced for the autumn and winter months.

mp3: Stanley Odd – Killergram

One of the singles that was lifted from Reject.

JC

Various

TALKING ABOUT OVER HYPING THINGS

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A few years back, a colleague at my former place of employment handed me a bag containing numerous CDs, most of which had some free with a music paper or magazine. He was downsizing his own property and had decided that the various free CDs would most likely go to charity shops, but then thought I might like first refusal.

I took them….and immediately put them into a storage box where I completely forgot about them until stumbling across said bag when searching for something else. It now feels like a good time to have a look at some of them for the blog. And I’ll do it randomly by dipping into the bag and picking one out.

According to Discogs, NME ON:1 – 15 Top Tracks for the 21st Century was given away sometime in 1999. The website currently has 22 copies of the CD listed for sale, with prices ranging from 25p to £5, plus postage. There’s also a few copies on e-bay, and prices range from 50p to £9.24, although the latter does offer free P&P.

There are 15 tracks on the CD, and while I’m happy to admit that I wasn’t fully keeping on top of things in 1999, I’m still stunned a bit to realise that I know next to nothing about four of the featured acts…...Jim O’Rourke, The Donnas, The Webb Brothers and Roots Manuva……and hee-haw about the remaining eleven – Capitol K, Big Leaves, Younger Younger 28’s, Seafruit, Bellatrix, To Rococo Rot, Zan Lyons, Jumbo, The New Electrics, Jadell, and Beber.

The CD takes about sixty-seven minutes to listen to all the way through. I’ll be honest with the admission that I fast-forwarded on just about all of them. It’s extremely ~~unusual~~ unique for any free CD to come up with nothing that really piques my interest, but the so called 15 top tracks for the 21st Century pulled that unwanted feat off.

The internet has enabled me to dig for info for what now follows.

The best of the tracks on the CD was offered up by a band from Wales who were championed at times by Catatonia and Super Furry Animals, as well as having one of their singles often featured on Radio 1 by Marc Ratcliffe.

mp3: Big Leaves – Sly Alibi

Big Leaves released a number of singles and EPs, along with two albums, between 1998 and 2003. Sly Alibi was a single, released on Whipcord Records in 1999.

More typical of the CD is this:-

mp3: Younger Younger 28’s – We’re Going Out

This lot were signed to V2, the label founded in 1996 by Richard Branson after he sold Virgin to EMI. Like his original label, there were a few high profile successes along with many others that have you asking ‘Why?’

Younger Younger 28’s fall into the latter. They were from Sheffield, described by those who liked them as the shining light in synthpop in an era full of dour landfill indie, and a cross combining the catchy avant-garde pop of The Human League with the observational lyrical wit of Pulp. I reckon they were just a novelty act. This particular song was a single and was also included on their sole LP, Soap.

There is one track on the CD which might, at a push, squeeze onto an electronica compilation if you need some instrumental music to slow down your pulse and help you unwind. It’s not my cup of tea, but there are some of you out there who might approve:-

mp3: To Rococo Rot – Telema

This lot were a Berlin-based trio who released eight albums all told between 1996 and 2014, with their most prolific spell being a four-year stint on City Slang, either side of the turn of the century, with three LPs, including The Amateur View (1999) from which the above track is taken.

Another lucky dip will appear at some point in the next few weeks. You’ve been warned.

JC

Various

MUSIC THAT MATTERS

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New month. New mix. Theme is a tad obvious……

mp3: Various – Music That Matters

Pop Muzik (12″ version) – M
Sound Of The Suburbs – The Members
You Supply The Roses – Memphis
Do You Always Dress Like That In Front Of Other People’s Boyfriends – Mambo Taxi
Richie Sacramento – Mogwai
What Do You Want From Me? – Monaco
Sleep – Marion
Fade Into You – Mazzy Star
Lucky Like St. Sebastian – Momus
Permafrost – Magazine
Come Back – The Mighty Wah!
Dashboard – Modest Mouse
The Monochrome Set – The Monochrome Set
Fun For Me – Moloko
Mezzanine – Massive Attack

Bang on 60 minutes.