Category: Various

Round these parts, it’s normally an hour-long mix of all sorts to bring in a new month.  This time, however, it’s a mix consisting almost exclusively of songs released in 2025 taken almost exclusively from my favourite 25 albums that had been released by the end of October, which was when I began pulling the piece together.

The ‘almost exclusively’ explanations?  One of the songs was on an album originally given a digital release in 2024 before the vinyl appeared this year. Another is taken from an album which dates from in 1992 but that I only had on CD until it was given an update and a vinyl re-release more than thirty years later. I’ve also taken the  liberty of calling a five-track EP while one song is lifted from a 7″ single. Oh, and one of the songs is from an album that I’m still undecided about, but in years to come I’ll loook back and probably conclude it was one of the best of the year.

I should point out that the mix isn’t full of what are necessarily my favourite songs from the albums, but has been curated in a way to make what I think works best as a something to listen to from start to end.

mp3: Various – 25 tracks from 2025

1. Jim Bob – A Song By Me (from Stick – Cherry Red Records)  starts at 0:00 on the mix

Jim Bob released two new albums, Stick and Automatic, on the same day back in August.  These were the 11th and 12th studio solo albums from the man who first came to fame via Carter USM.  He’s still got it…….

2. Dancer – Baby Blue (from More Or Less – Meritorio Records) starts at 2:35

Glasgow-based band who I finally got to see when they supported The Bug Club back in February, and so enjoyed their performance that I went straight out to buy their 2024 debut 10 Songs I Hate About You and then eagerly picked up its follow-up when it was released in September.

3. The Bug Club – Twisting In The Middle (from Very Human Features – Sub Pop Records) starts at 05:23

The gig by The Bug Club mentioned above was part of a tour promoting the 2024 album On The Intricate Workings Of The System, which had been their fifth release since 2021 but their first for Sub Pop.  It was The Robster who brought this lot to my attention, thanks to this ICA, during which he pointed out that the duo were very prolific and always seemingly on the road or in the studio.  The latest album hit the shops in June and there was a further live gig in Glasgow in October.

4. Edwyn Collins – Knowledge (from Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation – AED Records) starts at 09:06

Edwyn‘s tenth studio album was preceded by this track as an advance single.  If you haven’t already seen the video, then head over to YouTube or the likes.  It’s an incredibly moving but uplifting piece of film.

5. Kendrick Lamar – Squabble Up (from GNX – Interscope Records) starts at 12:18

The sixth studio album from the LA rapper was very unexpectedly given a digital release on 22 November 2024 on the back of what had been a months-long feud with Canadian rapper Drake.  If you’re not aware of what that was all about and what songs were released while it was all kicking off, then it’s best you use a search engine of your choice rather than me trying to offer a ham-fisted explanation.  GNX eventually appeared on vinyl last February.

6. Wet Leg – Mangetout (from Moisturizer – Domino Records) starts at 14:55

In the TikTok world of instant gratification, three years is a dangerously long time to wait for the follow-up to a debut album which taken much of the world by storm.  I really felt that the critics would have it in for Wet Leg and that the fan base would have largely moved on, but the fact that Mositurizer proved to be something which in many places gave nods to many of the best female-fronted 90s alt/indie rock bands (hello to Belly, The Breeders, Elastica and Throwing Muses), then I was always going to be a sucker for its tunes.

7. Warren McIntyre & James Kirk – Miss Green Tea (7″ single) starts at 18:19

Glas-Goes-Pop has, in just four years, established itself as one of the very best weekend events in my home city.  An annual two-day festival of indie-pop magic that takes place indoors in early August at the Glasgow University Union.  This year saw the release of the first ever single on the Glas-Goes-Pop label, consisting of a collabortion between two veterans of the local scene, albeit from different generations.  This is one side of that single and features James’s dictinctive and charming vocals, as first enjoyed more than four decades ago when Orange Juice began making music.

8. The Secret Goldfish – Moscow (from Empty Holster – Creeping Bent Records/Last Night From Glasgow) starts at 23:15

Douglas MacIntyre‘s Creeping Bent Records is now winding down after 30 years.  A number of releases and events have been held or are in place to mark the occasion, including a final album by The Secret Goldfish, issued in June, and which consists of 11 cover songs and 1 brand-new composition.  And yes, this is a take on the b-side of the debut Orange Juice single, one on which the above mentioned James Kirk played back in 1980.

9. Sydney Minsky Sargeant – I Don’t Wanna (from Lunga – Domino Records) starts at 25:15

The music to be found on the debut solo album from the frontman of Working Men’s Club must be the most surprising and unexpected of 2025. Melodies and acoutsic guitars abound, about as far away as can be imagined from the frantic upbeat post-punk electronica with which he has been associated these past few years.

10. Robert Forster – Tell It Back To Me (from Strawberries – Tapete Records) starts at 28:30

The opening track of Robert‘s 9th studio album, as our friend Chaval pointed out in a comment after I’d reviewed a live show, is Dylanesque, complete with the judicious use of a harmonica.   Eight studio albums before now and no ICA?  Hmmm……………..

11. Brian – Understand (from Understood – Needle Mythology Records) starts at 32:00

For those of you who don’t know, this is the label run by the wonderfully talented writer Pete Paphides.  It specialises, but not exclusively, on reissuing albums which came out in that period in the 90s/00s when CD was king and which had either a very limited vinyl pressing or none at all.  Brian is the recording name used by Dublin-born singer/songwriter Ken Sweeney, and his charning debut album Understand was released on Setanta Records in 1992.  This reissue has slightly amended the title of the album and added on the four songs which formed the Planes EP in 1993 along with one previously unreleased track from the era.

12. Pearl Charles – Does This Song Sound Familiar?  (from Desert Queen – Last Night From Glasgow Records) starts at 37:54

Pearl Charles been releasing music for a decade now, but 2025 marked my introduction to this Californian singer-songwriter courtesy of her third album being released by a label with which I have a subscription.  There is something very appealling about her voice while the tunes kind of defy any easy definition, with all sorts of influences to the fore – rock, pop, country and soul among them.  The album also contains a co-vocal with Tim Burgess…..

13. Half Man Half Biscuit – Record Store Day (from All Asimov And No Fresh Air – RM Qualtrough Records) starts at 42:42

40 years after the debut and I think it’s fair to say that Half Man Half Biscuit can truly be anointed as national treasures.   The latest album, their 17th all told, has all the usual things we’ve come to expect – great tunes and lyrics that will very often out a smile on your face.  Nigel Blackwell has, with this particular song, nailed exactly what so many of us feel about an event that has moved a long way from its original intentions, having been increasingly hijacked by major labels, their executives and their marketing gurus. The perfect way to mark the halfway point of this mix.

14. Bar Italia – Cowbella (from Some Like It Hot – Matador Records) starts at 46:00

There have been a number of horrifically scathing reviews written about the third Bar Italia studio album.  They are all well wide of the mark.  The critics who worship at the altar of the hipster scene simply get upset when one of their favourites have the nerve to make a record which has some mainstream sounding tunes.

15. The Sexual Objects – Here Come The Rubber Cops (from Orangutan – Creeping Bent Records) starts at 50:20

As mentioned earlier, Creeping Bent Records will cease operations in a few weeks time. One of the parting gifts is this compilation album, which brings together some hard-to-find singles and album tracks from a band that has been described as a Scottish T-Rex for the 21st Century, fronted by Davy Henderson whose work with Fire Engines, Win and Nectarine No.9 has long been highlighted on this blog.

16. Quad 90 – Le Blank (from Quad 90 – Last Night From Glasgow/Creeping Bent Records) starts at 55:39

The duo of Amelia Lironi and Naomi Mackay met a few years ago while attending a Glasgow college which offers courses in music production and performance.  It was back in 2023 when they released Le Blank as a 12″ limited edition single, but I was too slow to pick up a copy. This was followed up by a number of digital releases at regular intervals before, at long last, the debut album was released in September, and I could finally play this wonderful piece of dance floor funk that makes me wish I was forty years younger.

17. Say Sue Me – Time Is Not Yours (from Time Is Not Yours – Damnably Records) starts at 60:31

This is the one from the five-track EP referred to in the introduction.  It came out in April as a picture disc, and I picked up a copy a short while later when the band played their latest show in Glasgow (it’s long been one of thir favourite stopping places).  It’s K-Pop, but not as the kids know it – and it’s a great example of how fine guitar-led songs with an indie bent will never truly go out of fashion.

18. The Cords – Fabulist (from The Cords – Skep Wax/Slumberland Records) starts at 64:20

This is from the album that, right now, I’m not too sure about. The duo of sisters Eva and Grace Tedeschi have been making a great deal of noise across the Glasgow scene these past couple of years.  I should, by nature, love everything about them thanks to them channelling so much that is wonderful about 80s and 90s indiepop into their 13 songs on a debut that races by in just 31 minutes. But, for now at least, on a couple of initial listens, it feels a tad one-dimensional….but then again I came to it with high and probably unrealistic expectations.

19. Richard Norris – Brave Raver (from Sounds From The Flightpath Estate Volume 2 – Golden Lion Sounds) starts at 67:11

As found on a compilation lovingly compiled by a group of people dedicated to the works of Andrew Weatherall…..and, of course, our dear friend Adam from Bagging Area is very much involved.  Thanks mate.

20. Sprints – Descartes (from All That Is Over – City Slang Records) starts at 73:36

The music of the Dublin post-punk band has moved a long way from the indie-style sounds of the early singles back in 2020/2021.  The increasing move to a heavier and more explosively angry style really manifests itself on this their second album, and while I remain a big fan of all they are doing, the fact All That Is Over peaked at #50 where debut Letter To Self reached #20 perhaps indicates they are losing folk along the way.  It’s a pity.

21. Emma Pollock – Future Tree (from Begging The Night To Take Hold – Chemikal Underground Records) starts at 76:48

An album that’s been a long time in the making and post-production process for all sorts of reasons.  It is Emma‘s first since 2016 but has proven to be well worth the wait. It is a remarkable record which reflects on what has been a period of personal disruption for Emma in so many ways.

22. Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires – Might Have. Might Not Have (from Sounds Made By Humans – Skep Wax Records) starts at 80:23

Released last May, this album is a wonderful collaboration between a rather wonderful poet and a rather wonderful indie-pop band in which the band came up with melodies and arrangements for thirteen poems to create, and I’m quoting the PR blurb as it’s not hyperbole, ‘a pop album where the poetry and the music are equal partners: sounds made by humans in perfect artistic alignment.’

23. The Loft – Feel Good Now (from Everything Changes Everything Stays The Same – Tapete Records) starts at 82:39

The Loft released just two singles and a compilation album on Creation Records back in the mid 80s before splintering into various pieces.  It has taken an agonisingly  long time for the debut album to be recorded and then released via the Hamburg-based Tapete Records. To quote an online review, it’s an old-fashioned sounding record made by grey-haired veterans.

24. F.O. Machete – Kids Of The Summer (from Mother Of A Thousand – Last Night From Glasgow) starts at 86:02

25. Davey Woodward – Don’t Phone Me (from Mumbo In The Jumbo – Last Night From Glasgow) starts at 90:16 ends at 92:33

Last Night From Glasgow has issued dozens of albums in 2025, and the subscription membership I have with the label means I get them all.  I’m not going to claim that everything I’ve picked up from LNFG’s headquarters, which is located in an increasingly hipster part of the city between the centre and the west end, makes for essential listening but they do quite often hit the mark spectacularly.

Track 24 is courtesy of a Glasgow duo whose debut recordings go back to the early 2000s, but who went on a long hiatus from 2011 until 2024.  I’ll hold my hands up and admit I knew nothing of them until being handed this album back in February. It’s since been on heavy rotation.

Track 25 is courtesy of a veteran of the indie-pop scene who first came to prominence with The Brilliant Corners.  He’s continued to make music, on-and-off, throughout the years as a member of various other acts such as The Experimental Pop Band and Karen, while 2018 saw Tapete Records issue an album credited to Davey Woodward and The Winter Orphans, before that act signed to LNFG and released an album in 2023.  Mumbo In The Jumbo is the first record credited solely as a solo performer and with Don’t Phone Me being its closing track, it made sense to end this mix with it.

I really hope there’s something today that has grabbed your attention and perhaps encouraged you to either buy the album now or add it to the wishlist you’ve prepared for Santa Claus.

 

JC

 

……can only mean one thing round these parts.

mp3: Various – Baby It’s (Probably) Cold Outside

Edwyn Collins – Knowledge
The Nectarine No.9 – Don’t Worry Babe You’re Not The Only One Awake
Tindersticks (feat. Isabella Rossellini) – A Marriage Made In Heaven
Siouxsie & The Banshees – Peek-A-Boo
Wire – A Question Of Degree
Pavement – Shady Lane
Frightened Rabbit – Fast Blood
Bar Italia – Punkt
The Shop Assistants – Somewhere In China
Trembling Blue Stars – ABBA on the Jukebox
Say Sue Me – My Problem
The Television Personalities – Part-Time Punks
The Cure – Lullaby (extended version)
Broken Chanter – Allow Yourself
The Delgados – Everybody Come Down
The Wedding Present – Deer Caught In Headlights

 

JC

 

mp3: Various – A second hour of S.I.N.

As promised earlier today!

Port Sulphur (feat Vic Godard) – Fast Girls and Factory Cars
Buzzcocks – Love You More
Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Green Shirt
Violent Femmes – Gone Daddy Gone
Heavenly – Modestic
Kim Deal – Are You Mine?
Working Men’s Club – Widow
Follytechnic Music Library – Fined
Happy Mondays  – W.F.L (Vince Clarke mix)
McAlmont & Butler – Falling
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Come Saturday (‘Searching For The Now’ version)
Sonic Youth – Kool Thing
The Futureheads – Decent Days and Nights (radio mix)
Urusei Yatsura – Super-Fi
The Motorcycle Boy – Big Rock Candy Mountain (velocity dance mix)
The Wedding Present – Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm

Truth be told, I forgot I’d already pulled together a monthly mix for October, and I couldn’t be arsed putting this on the shelf for another 31 days. You don’t need to listen, arms are never twisted round these parts.

JC

 

mp3: Various – One Hour of S.I.N.

The Wedding Present – Corduroy (single version)
Half Man Half Biscuit – Jack’s Been To The National
The Spook School – Gone Home
The Monochrome Set – He’s Frank (Slight Return)
Beck – Devil’s Haircut
Dream Wife – Hey! Heartbreaker
Luke Haines & The Auteurs – Showgirl (orchestral version)
Butcher Boy – Profit In Your Poetry
The Luxembourg Signal – Take It Back
The Sisters of Mercy – This Corrosion
New Order – True Faith
Neutral Milk Hotel – King Of Carrot Flowers (Part 1)
The Delmonas – Comin’ Home Baby
Magazine – I Love You You Big Dummy (Peel Session)
Brian Bilston & The Catenary Wires – Might Not, Might Not Have
Scritti Politti – Lions After Slumber
The Raveonettes – Let’s Rave On

19 years in the business.  Let’s Rave On indeed. There’s more a wee bit later on today….

JC

 

Those of you who spend time immersed in the Bagging Area will know that Swiss Adam is part of a collective known as The Flightpath Estate, a Facebook group dedicated to the music, art and work of Andrew Weatherall.  It was established in 2013 and has become a virtual home to his fans, friends and family. It is also the host of the Weatherdrive – thousands of hours of recordings of Andrew Weatherall’s DJ sets, mixes and radio shows.

In recent years, the collective has been part of regular shows put on at The Golden Lion in Todmorden, a pub, music venue and community hub within the small town in West Yorkshire, close to its border with Lancashire.  Back in February 2024, the collective compiled a double LP – Songs From The Flightpath Estate –  which sold out its pressing of 1,000 copies within a few weeks, and in doing so raised more than £6000 for charities.

Volume Two, of which 1500 copies were pressed, came out at the end of last month.  Ten more tracks inspired and influenced by the spirit of Andrew Weatherall, again exclusively on vinyl.  It’s the sort of music that, more often than not, takes me out of my comfort zone….and yet, I am quite happy to suggest that this must be one of the best releases of 2025.

Even before the vinyl was put on to the turntable, I got a sense of excitement from reading Adam’s sleevenotes which provide the background to the process that has gone into compiling the record along with a description of each performer and each track.

The ten tracks take 68 minutes to listen to.  It opens up with the longest of them all, twelve-and-a-half minutes of what is a previously unreleased Sabres of Paradise track that had been stored on DAT after being worked up a few years back – 1993 to be precise.  Lick Wid Nit Wit (From The Flightpath Estate Mix) is an extraordinary recording/mix, amid-uptempo number dominated by a jazzy bassline and perfect percussion while being underpinned by an organ and synthetic strings.  It is hypnotic and captivating.

I was so blown away by the track, that I thought it would be a hard task to maintain the standard, but somehow, they just about do it, although Dicky Continental has a near impossible task to really hold a listener’s attention with Large Bongos, the second track on Side A, but being the most soulful of the ten cuts, it does fit in perfectly after the mind-blowing opener.

Side B of the record was particularly enjoyable, consisting of two contributions with a running time of more than sixteen minutes. The first is by Unit 14, whose identity is shrouded in mystery as he/she/they don’t want to be known. The track is called Rough Spirit and I can’t do any better than use Adam’s description of it being ‘speaker-rattling techno of the highest calibre’.  It blends magnificently into Richard Fearless‘ offering, which is called Haywire in tribute to a club that he and Weatherall used to play in London.  These two tracks were blasted out especially loud one wet afternoon last week in what was an empty house, with the downstairs folk both out at work.  I am a considerate neighbour if nothing else.

Side C is taken up in turn by Los Angeles-based David Harrow whose Aanndee was fascinating; just as I thought I was getting comfortable early on and thinking of which Hacienda type acts to associate it with, it totally shifted in mood and tempo. Not the sort of music I’d ever have associated with LA, but again, really engrossing. It is followed by Red Snapper with Oraqeb, one which has a something of a TV/film soundtrack feel to it; finally there is another true highlight – Estate Kings (Number Rework) by Factory Records legends, A Certain Ratio. This offers more than a reminder of what Barry Adamson does so well – ‘Manc Noir’ to borrow another of Adam’s phrases in the sleevenotes.

Side D initially is turned over to the unknown/underground act of Bedford Fall Players, whose tune changes tempo on more than one occasion and whose title In The Trees (It’s Coming) can be attributed to the sample lifted from a 1957 horror film Night Of The Demon which became really well-known after Kate Bush used it on Hounds of Love.  It’s the sort of tune that would not sound out of place on BBC 6 Music.  It is followed by Richard Norris whose Brave Raver will surely take listeners back, initially at least, to 1989 when New Order released the majestic tour de force, Technique.  This is the one track more than any other I’ve gone back to.

The album closes out with Sleaford Mods, an act I can take or leave….and I’ll be kind by saying I’m glad that Sick When We X, a cover of a Two Lone Swordsmen track,  was stuck away at the end of things as I can gently lift the needle from the vinyl after the last note of the previous track is struck.

Neverthless, Sleaford Mods not withstanding, this is a superb offering.  Maybe not the sort of music you most associate with this little corner of t’internet, but I hope you’ve enjoyed me sharing my thoughts. Congratulations to Adam and the rest of the Flightpath Estate posse. You boys done good.

 

 

JC

 

A guest posting by Jonny the Friendly Lawyer (aka fiktiv)

There are hundreds of bands named after songs, but not necessarily bands named after good songs. Following is an ICA of great songs that bands took their names from. Have a listen and reply if you think there’s a song/band that should have made the top 10.

Radio Head – Talking Heads

True Stories might be the worst Talking Heads album, but the film of the same name is worth a look. It doesn’t hold together that well, but it features the unfortunate Spaulding Gray and you get to see an extremely awkward David Byrne in a cowboy hat. I’ve heard that Big Country took their name from ‘The Big Country‘, a song on Talking Heads’ second LP, but I couldn’t find any corroborating evidence.

Seether – Veruca Salt

I don’t know a whole lot about South Africa’s Seether, other than they took their name from Veruca Salt‘s killer debut single. (Actually, VS’s ‘Seether’ should be considered for the cracking debut series.) Wiki tells me the Pretorian group got together 20+ years ago and are still at it, having released multiple platinum albums in the US. I like that Veruca Salt got their own name from the bratty rich girl in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Baby Lemonade – Syd Barrett

I only learned from the readers of this venerable blog that there are two Baby Lemonades: a Scottish one and the boys from my adopted hometown of Santa Monica, California. Not too surprising as Syd Barrett was an iconic legend and loads of other bands have named themselves after his songs, notably Gigolo Aunts and Dolly Rockers.

Shakespeare’s Sister – The Smiths

Siobhan out of Bananarama named her band after the Mancunian foursome’s 1985 single. Another band named themselves after Pretty Girls Make Graves, from the Smiths‘ first album, but this is the better song.

Kooks – David Bowie

A charming tune from Hunky Dory about Dave and Angie’s baby son. I like the band Kooks okay, especially because they don’t sing in fake American accents. The UK folks will know that Simple Minds took their name from the lyrics of Bowie’s Jean Genie (and the Scottish folks will know that Cocteau Twins took their name from a song by Simple Minds predecessors Johnny & the Self-Abusers).*

Bad Brain – The Ramones

Bad Brains were the best hardcore band ever and they got their name from the best punk band ever. Second to last track on the classic Road to Ruin album.

Velocity Girl – Primal Scream

I love this 80-second gem from when Primal Scream were a jangly C86 band. For the life of me, I don’t know how they became so popular–Bobby Gillespie can’t sing and their songs are so derivative. They’re like the Glaswegian Tom Petty or something. The band Velocity Girl was a DC outfit that released three really listenable pop albums in the early 90’s. Try “Crazy Town” or “Sorry Again” if you’re not familiar.

Slowdive – Siouxsie & The Banshees

The unmistakable Miss Ballion, backed by the best line up of the Banshees. Damn, I wonder how much great music John McGeoch would have made in the last 20 years. Slowdive were perhaps unfairly labelled a shoegaze band, but they made a lot of pretty recordings over the years.

Spoon – Can

I like the band Spoon so much I wrote an ICA about them (#104), to mixed reviews. Can are also not for everyone, but when you’re in the mood there aren’t a lot of bands like them. And like Spoon, there’s a Can song for everyone. This is from 1972’s Ege Bamyasi, which, of course, the German band with a Japanese singer named after a Turkish vegetable.

Ladytron – Roxy Music

Also from way back in ’72, featuring maybe the best use of oboe in a rock song until Julian Cope got a hold of one. Early Roxy was exciting and different and experimental and showy. The Liverpool outfit named after this song from the eponymous debut are…showy.

 

Jonny

* JC ADDS………

I had long forgotten that Cocteau Twins took their name from a new wave song by the predecessors of Simple Minds.  I recall dismissing the tale as an urban myth when I was first told it, and I can’t recall actually mentioning it on the blog when I’ve written about either band before.  The song was never actually recorded, but t’internet being what it is, I’ve managed to get my grubby paws on a version.

mp3: Johnny and The Self-Abusers – Cocteau Twins

Later re-worked as No Cure and included on the 1979 album, Life In A Day

 

 

A guest posting by Leon MacDuff

As much as I love doing the monthly mixes (and there were actually a couple lined up for today that will be held over), I really enjoy when another member of the TVV community comes up with something.  A huge thanks, therefore, to our good friend Leon MacDuff who continues his stellar guest contributions with a mix featuring songs that were released on In Tape Records.

Here’s Leon to explain a bit more:-

“I can’t claim any great purpose with this one, I just fancied doing a mix and decided to focus on a particular label, so here it is. The label I alighted on was In Tape, the Manchester-based indie originally created by Marc Riley and his manager as an outlet for his work with The Creepers, which went on to clock up around 70 releases between 1983 and 1990.

It’s odd how little attention this label gets – we have all heard of it, but it doesn’t feel like it has the cult following you might expect. There’s no fan site, no Facebook group, not even a Wikipedia article. But since it had a roster of acts I already know and like, such as Yeah Yeah Noh, Rote Kapelle, Asphalt Ribbons and Frank Sidebottom (though I’m well aware that Frank is one of those acts you either “get” or you don’t), I made it my mission to listen to every scrap of In Tape material I could find, and while some of it truly is quite scrappy, overall it’s a decently solid catalogue – so here’s an hour of it, with dodgy transitions courtesy of yours truly (though from Life With Patrick into Eva is a pretty good one, even if I say so myself).”

mp3: Various – One Hour of ‘In Tape’

Robert Lloyd & The New Four Seasons – Something Nice
Whipcrackaway – The Horse’s Tale
The Membranes – Everything’s Brilliant
Terry & Gerry – Pizza Pie & Junk
The Weeds – China Doll
Heart Throbs – Toy
Zor Gabor – Vigilante
Yeah Yeah Noh – Starling Pillowcase, And Why
Stitched-Back Foot Airman – Invented By Robots
Marc Riley & The Creepers – Polystiffs (live in Amsterdam)
Asphalt Ribbons – Over Again
Rote Kapelle – San Francisco Again
Life With Patrick – Something From Nothing
Eva – Unquenchable (the untouchable mix)
June Brides – Just The Same
The Waterfoot Dandy – 14 Days
Frank Sidebottom – I Am The Champion

Leon

A guest posting by Martin Elliot (Our Swedish Correspondent)

Hi Jim,

I hope all is well at the Villain Towers!

When I today read your piece on the Francois K remix of This Charming Man an idea for an ICA flashed by since I’ve have this affection for him remixing European indie/alternative artists. Over the years, I have collected (quite) a few 12″ singles with such FK remixes. A quick look through my music library ended up with 20+ different songs remixed by Francois, not counting several versions (normally at least one dub version too) of the same track or the remixes of (mostly) black American disco/funk tracks.

Looking up the Wiki page over Francois reveals a French-born drummer who moved to New York in 1975, lack of success as a drummer moved him into DJing (I’m grateful for all the better drummers out there forcing this move to happen!) where he started fiddling with tape editing. Creating some buzz with his edits he was recruited to Prelude Records (a great dance music label by the way) where he did several successful remixes for US disco/funk artists.

For some reason unknown to me, he quickly became the go-to remixer for European artists wanting a club remix of their songs primarily for the US market, making remixes for just about everyone between The Cure and Kraftwerk. Some of the tracks included here were only released on the US version of the 12″, where the UK/European 12″ had a different remix. I omitted The Smiths as JC recently had it here on the blog, I also omitted Situation by Yazoo as I guess there are few living not aware of it.

Since it is a bit of a mixed bag of goodies it’s been a challenge to get a good album flow, but I hope you can enjoy this ICA as a showcase for a great remixer more than a consistent album.

Francois Kevorkian – The Indie 12 inch Dance Remix ICA

A1 Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – My Bag (US 12″ dancing remix)
A2 Echo & The Bunnymen – Lips Like Sugar (US 12″)
A3 Associates – Heart Of Glass (temperament mix)
A4 The Cure – Hot Hot Hot !!! (12″)
A5 Scritti Politti – Perfect Way (12″)

B1 Set The Tone – Dance Sucker (12″)
B2 The The – Gravitate To Me (dance mix)
B3 Yello – Call It Love (US 12″)
B4 Depeche Mode – Personal Jesus (holier than thou approach 12″)
B5 Kraftwerk – Radioactivity (1991 12″ remix)

Dance on!

Martin

 

One of my best mates turns 60 tomorrow.  He occasionally hangs around this little corner of t’internet where he goes by the name of Jacques the Kipper.  He isn’t one for having big celebrations… there was nowt for him turning 30, 40 or 50….he may have had an 18th or 21st, but as I didn’t get to know him until 1989, so I can’t say one way or the other, but I’ve a fair idea he had quiet ones.

I’ve decided, if you don’t mind, to have this month’s mix made up of songs that he is rather fond or perhaps are related to some of the shenanigans we’ve got up to over the years..  And as he likes to holiday in a certain European country and its various islands…….Feliz aniversário!

mp3: Various – Life Is Timeless, Days Are Long

Intro (8 seconds)
Buzzcocks – Sixteen Again
The Wedding Present – Shatner
Half Man Half Biscuit – Mr Cave’s A Window Cleaner Now
M.I.A. – Paper Planes
Prince – Raspberry Beret
Public Enemy – Fight The Power
Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
The Pixies – Debaser
Paul Quinn & The Independent Group – Stupid Thing
Edwyn Collins – Keep On Burning
Dum Dum Girls – There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Mcsleazy – Don’t Call Me Blur
Pet Shop Boys – Domino Dancing
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine – Bloodsport For All
Jay Z ft Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind
The Jam – When You’re Young

JC

It was last Friday night.

I couldn’t be bothered watching the BBC coverage of Glastonbury.  Down at the bottom of the road, in a nearby park, Simple Minds were trying their best to play the loudest ever outdoor gig in Glasgow.  I sat down at the laptop, fired up the appropriate programme and got on with the task of coming up with the latest hour-long mix for the blog.

Job done.  I gave it a listen.  Was happy with the outcome.

But, try as I might, I couldn’t come up with a killer title after what had been a long day  – it was now just after 11pm and the folk at the gig were now getting into their cars, slamming the doors shut and starting their engines.  Sleep would still be a while away.

I went to Chat GPT (I know….I know!!!).

I typed in ‘What name should I give to a music mix with the following songs?’ and listed all 18 tunes.

This is what came back:-

Awesome mix! It’s got a great range of styles—funky, indie, alternative, and some classic bangers. Here are a few name ideas that might capture the vibe:

1. “Eclectic Frenzy” – Reflects the mix of genres and the energetic feel of the playlist.
2. “Tales From The Underground” – For a collection that has both depth and some edge.
3. “Sonic Mischief” – A nod to the “fun lovin'” vibe with a bit of rebellious energy.
4. “Waves & Whispers” – Mixing the laid-back sounds of some tracks with the intensity of others.
5. “Criminally Good” – A playful take on the Fun Lovin’ Criminals, with a nod to the rock and indie influences.
6. “Twisted Melodies” – For the mix of unexpected twists in sound and style.
7. “Offbeat Anthems” – Reflecting both the alt and indie influence, with some quirky throwbacks.
8. “Shadows & Lights” – Inspired by the contrast of dark and light themes in the mix, from moody to uplifting.
9. “Fuzzy Frequencies” – Captures the overall raw, fuzzy vibe some tracks bring.
10. “Rolling Through the Spectrum” – A playful nod to the wide range of styles and moods in the tracklist.

Pretty pish, eh?

I slept on it.  And had a lightbulb moment, of sorts, in the morning. Thank you MES.

mp3: Various – Desperate For Entertainment

Beastie Boys – The Blue Nun
Fun Lovin’ Criminals – The Fun Lovin’ Criminal
Super Furry Animals – Golden Retriever
Robert Forster – I Don’t Do Drugs I Do Time
The Fall – A Lot Of Wind (Peel Session)
Radiohead – Paranoid Android
All Saints – Pure Shores
Hifi Sean ft. Crystal Waters – Testify
Working Men’s Club – Widow
Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love?
The Popguns – Waiting For The Winter
R.E.M. – Star 69
Maximo Park – Apply Some Pressure
Fontaines D.C. – Big
The Flatmates – I Could Be In Heaven
Close Lobsters – Skyscrapers of St Mirin
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll
The Duckworth Lewis Method – Rain Stops Play

Enjoy!!!!!!!

JC

A guest ICA by Fraser Pettigrew (aka our New Zealand correspondent)

If there was a dominating manifesto principle for British punk, then it is perhaps best summed up by the phrase ‘do it yourself’. Knocking up your own fashions from ripped t-shirts and bin-bags, decorated with marker pen and safety-pin jewellery, or writing and photocopying your own fanzines were two characteristics of the moment. Starting your own record label and ultimately your own band, regardless of whether you could actually play an instrument, also had a defining impact on the early history of the genre.

The creative emphasis was very much against appearing derivative in any way, either visually or musically, even though there was, of course, an immense amount of copy-cat styling in both clothing, hairstyles and sound. Influences could be flaunted, but the end product earned its cred from not leaning too heavily on the invention of someone else, least of all the old-wave musical establishment of the time.

Cover versions are therefore understandably rare in the canon of early punk and new wave releases from 1977 and 1978. Writing your own stuff was self-evidently more original than plundering the past you wanted to break with. The covers that did make it onto the official releases of new wave bands at this time come from an interestingly diverse list of artists and reveal a range of different approaches that kind of sum up all the main reasons why any band chooses a particular song to cover. All, that is, barring the most obvious reason, as we’ll see.

Homage is a good place to start. For the punk artist there was a fairly short list of formative influences that could be publicly praised, amongst whom were the kings of the Detroit garage scene, MC5 and The Stooges. The songs were suffused with nihilism, teenage boredom and drug abuse, and housed in rudimentary rock riffs that even the most musically incompetent guitarist could just about master. Not that Brian James of The Damned was musically incompetent, but I Feel Alright from The Stooges’ second album Fun House (titled 1970 in the original), was the perfect accompaniment to the nihilism, teenage boredom and punchy riffs of the other eleven self-penned tracks on Damned Damned Damned.

For The Clash, it was the rude boys of Jamaican music that deserved acknowledgement, and the choice of Junior Murvin’s Police and Thieves on their first album was a pointedly political one. Despite the contrast in style and tempo, the song sits proudly alongside the band’s own rugged compositions, drawing a seamless comparison between authoritarian policing in Kingston and the vindictive racism of the Met in Brixton and Notting Hill.

From the beginning Paul Weller wore his influences on his sleeve, quite literally in the form of The Jam’s three-button mohair suits. The Jam’s recorded catalogue, as well as Weller’s solo output, is peppered with homages to various heroes, and includes several of the r’n’b standards beloved by the original mid-60s Mods. Amongst these was Slow Down, a hit for Larry Williams in the late 50s, later described as a proto-punk adrenalin-fuelled raver and a perfect fit on side one of In The City.

I might have been describing Mark Perry in my opening paragraph above, as the creator of the Sniffin’ Glue punk fanzine and then founder of the band Alternative TV. ATV chose to pay tribute to Frank Zappa with their cover of Why Don’t You Do Me Right? by The Mothers of Invention. Zappa was one of very few artists associated with the hippy era who could be safely revered in 1978, largely because he was perceived to be weird as f and didn’t give a shit about commercial success. In fact, this song is amongst the most accessible things he ever did and makes for a great anti-romantic rant on The Image Has Cracked.

I’m not entirely sure whether The Stranglers’ version of Walk On By is a homage or not. There’s nothing much else in the band’s early repertoire that suggests they were big Burt Bacharach fans, nor would Bacharach be high on the list of punk-friendly composers. But the recording that appeared on a free white vinyl single with the first 75,000 copies of their third album Black and White is about as respectful a rendition as you could imagine from such disreputable oafs.

At any rate, it certainly doesn’t come across as parody, a category that comfortably embraces The Lurkers’ attempt to take the piss out of The Beach Boys.

Then I Kicked Her is a typically boorish transmogrification of Then I Kissed Her, a clean-cut tale of Californian sun and snogging, reduced to a coarse and ugly encounter in a Fulham backstreet by the simple substitution of a single consonant. Nobody thought The Beach Boys were still admirable in 1978, so The Lurkers probably thought they could get away with it, but they didn’t take the judgement of posterity into account.

The notion of covering a Fleetwood Mac song in 1978 without similar corruption might seem inconceivable. Part of the British blues revival alongside the likes of The Yardbirds, Rolling Stones, Them and The Animals, Fleetwood Mac had recently reinvented themselves as a soft-rock supergroup and their adult-oriented album Rumours had become a massive hit, polluting (to our ears) the turntables of every household in the land. Edinburgh punk band The Rezillos didn’t let this stop them exhuming an obscure 1969 b-side on their debut album, but then Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite had a certain ring to it, illustrating how a cover might have an unlikely source but carry the right sentiment for a punk band.

Another example of this is the Sex Pistols’ version of (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone, best known as a b-side hit for those confected pseudo-Beatles, The Monkees. I’m breaking my own rules here because the Pistols’ version wasn’t released until 1980, long after the event, but it was a staple of their live sets and was recorded in October of 1976 during their first studio sessions for A&M. There’s no irony in their rendition – despite The Monkees’ squeaky-clean comedy personality, the song’s sneering put-down of a wannabe celebrity social climber might have been written for John Lydon.

For someone who is so evidently the sum of multitudinous influences, Elvis Costello didn’t actually release a cover version until My Funny Valentine on the b-side of Oliver’s Army in February 1979. That is, if you don’t count the live version of The Damned’s Neat Neat Neat issued on a free single with This Year’s Model in early 1978. Costello and the Damned were briefly label-mates and the recording comes from a Live Stiffs tour, though The Damned didn’t feature. The flip side of the free single was the Costello composition Stranger in the House, whose country and western arrangement was so alien and provocative to new wave fans that it seems like a cover of an entire genre. A curiosity disc indeed.

Another example of new wave playing it safe by covering one of their own is Penetration’s version of Nostalgia, a Pete Shelley tune that glowed on their Moving Targets debut (luminously!) almost in the same week that it appeared under the Buzzcocks name on their second album Love Bites.

The final category of cover version is what I’d call deconstruction. This is where a song is lifted from an ‘uncool’ artist and made appealing to new wave taste by a radical restyling. It’s neither parody nor homage, but might seem like either depending on your point of view. To be fair, Helter Skelter was an atypical Beatles song, heavy and discordant and so it wasn’t that much of a stretch for Siouxsie and the Banshees to refashion it on The Scream. The song’s infamous association with Charles Manson’s deranged killing spree also helps to distance it from Beatlemania and the cross-generational adoration of the Fab Four.

All Along The Watchtower by XTC is sort of a cover of a cover. As Mr Tambourine Man was for The Byrds, Dylan’s song is far better known in Jimi Hendrix’s version than his own. Either way, these were not favourable associations for a new wave artist in January 1978, and the only way to carry this off was to smash it to bits. XTC took a sacred cow and led it straight into the slaughterhouse, the lyrics unintelligible in Andy Partridge’s contorted staccato yelp and the melody almost imperceptible in the eerie dub-funk arrangement. My brother, a faithful devotee of the old school, found the sacrilege unbearable and was almost moved to violence by it. And yet the end effect captures the song’s bleak and unsettling sense of malaise perfectly, a faithful interpretation in shattered form.

What none of these cover versions did was make money – the oldest and most obvious reason for singing someone else’s already successful song. It wasn’t until Sid Vicious staggered down a glittering staircase in an ill-fitting tuxedo, drunkenly slurring My Way, the cover of all covers, that punk, such as it was by then, finally sought to shift units by singing a song that everyone loved and everyone else had already sung. It was the capstone on Malcolm Maclaren’s edifice of the Great Rock and Roll Swindle. Leonard Cohen, that famous old punk, said he never liked the song except when Sid Vicious sang it. It made number 7 in the singles chart in July 1978.

The Damned – I Feel Alright (The Stooges)
The Clash – Police and Thieves (Junior Murvin)
The Jam – Slow Down (Larry Williams)
Alternative TV – Why Don’t You Do Me Right? (Frank Zappa)
The Stranglers – Walk On By (Burt Bacharach)
The Lurkers – Then I Kicked Her (The Beach Boys)

The Rezillos – Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite (Fleetwood Mac)
The Sex Pistols – (I’m not your) Steppin’ Stone (The Monkees)
Elvis Costello – Neat Neat Neat (The Damned)
Penetration – Nostalgia (Buzzcocks)
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Helter Skelter (The Beatles)
XTC – All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan)

Fraser

Released in June 2013, Scared To Get Happy (A Story Of Indie Pop 1980-1989) claimed to be the first box set ever to document the explosion of Indie Pop in Britain across the 1980s. Compiled in loosely chronological fashion, the five CDs charted Indie Pop’s development from the post punk era and the dominance of Scottish bands through to its genre-defining C86 period and onto the end of the decade, with the arrival of Madchester and the shoegazing sound. Inspired by the Nuggets compilations, the box set boasts 134 tracks span the Eighties, drawn from all the key labels of the period – Creation, Factory, Cherry Red, Rough Trade, Sarah, Subway Organisation, Zoo, Kitchenware, Pink, Chapter 22, In Tape, Medium Cool, Lazy, Dreamworld, 53rd & 3rd, Ron Johnson, el, Vindaloo, Red Rhino, Food, etc.

Here’s 60 minutes of highlights.

mp3: Various – 60 mins from Scared To Get Happy

The Loft – Up The Hill and Down The Slope
Art Objects – Showing Off To Impress The Girls
The June Brides – Every Conversation
The Shop Assistants – All Day Long
Girls At Our Best – Getting Nowhere Fast
The Dentists – She Dazzled Me With Basil
The Jazz Butcher – Southern Mark Smith
The Corn Dollies – Be Small Again
Marine Girls – Don’t Come Back
The Brilliant Corners – Delilah Sands
Prefab Sprout – Lions In My Own Garden (Exit Someone)
Friends Again – Honey At The Core
Josef K – The Missionary
The Servants – Loggerheads
The Charlottes – Are You Happy Now?
The Wild Swans – Revolutionary Spirit
The Siddeleys – My Favourite Wet Wednesday Afternoon
The Chesterf!elds – Completely and Utterly
The Monochrome Set – The Jet Set Junta (remix)
The House of Love – Shine On
James – Hymn From A Village

There may be a second volume of this sort of nonsense later in the year

JC

 

It’s a fact that we all need a little bit of sunshine in our lives.  But don’t forget that even the sunniest of times can end in haze or a storm.

mp3: Various – Maydaze

Billy Bragg – A13 Trunk Road To The Sea (Peel Session)
The Libertines – Time For Heroes
Graham Coxon – Freakin’ Out
Soft Cell – Where The Heart Is
Iggy Pop – Lust For Life
Hinds – Just Like Kids (Miau)
The Style Council – Long Hot Summer (extended version)
Edwyn Collins – Knowledge
Interpol – Slow Hands
Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg
The Primitives – Crash
The National – Apartment Story
Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us
Franz Ferdinand – Darts Of Pleasure
Violent Femmes – Prove My Love
Port Sulphur feat. James Kirk – Orient Express
Paul Quinn – Ain’t That Always The Way

JC