Violent Femmes

BLEAKNESS PERSONIFIED

Some 21 years ago, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds recorded a sinister, brooding, manic, dark and occasionally intentionally laugh-out-loud LP called Murder Ballads. The album title gives it away somewhat in that all the songs dealt with sudden, brutal and violent death. The record, rightly, received all sorts of critical acclaim, with many highlighting just how Cave’s amazing stories were perfectly matched by the tunes that he and his band members had conjured up.

But for all that the record did contain some gruesome and almost unthinkable tales of wrongdoing, none of the songs were as shocking or audaciously jaw-dropping as this from 1984:-

mp3 : Violent Femmes – Country Death Song

Five minutes of music in which there are two deaths; the murder of a young child at the hands of her father and his subsequent suicide, both of which are deeply disturbing. Like Cave’s songs more than a decade later it was a tale in which the tune captured your ear perfectly but such was the sheer horror of the lyric that it was a difficult thing to say the song was enjoyable. Blister In The Sun it most certainly wasn’t.

It took me many years to understand and accept the concept of the murder ballad, mostly thanks to an increasing awareness and acknowledgement of the darker and more brooding side of the country/folk genres but back when I bought the sophomore album by Violent Femmes, I really should have initially dug a bit deeper into the lyric and tried to seek out the true meaning.

Country Death Song isn’t just about a psycho dad gone mad who commits an act of filicide. It’s a genuinely horrific and sad tale of a man, so racked with guilt at being unable to ensure the land he keeps can fend for his family, makes a decision that his daughter would be better off and happier living alongside angels in heavan that enduring a miserable existence on Earth. His love for her is such, that he’s willing to pay the price of himself being eternally damned in hell. Religious beliefs don’t often make sense to me. But all too often, people acting on them send shivers down my spine.

JC

PS…..Here’s the anticipated schedule over the festive period:-

Saturday 23 December : Saturday’s Scottish Song #105
Sunday 24 December : The New Order Singles (Part 11)
Monday 25 December : A Xmas Day Song
Tuesday 26 December : A Boxing Day Song
Wed 27 – Fri 29 December : Three postings from the vaults
Saturday 30 December : Saturday’s Scottish Song #106
Sunday 31 December : The New Order Singles (Part 12)
Monday 1 January : 30,20,10
Tues 2 – Friday 5 January : Four postings from the vaults
Saturday 6 January : Saturday’s Scottish Song #107
Sunday 7 January : The New Order Singles (Part 13)

After which, normal service should resume……

 

Chemical Brothers

ICA #150 : A SHORT POSTSCRIPT

A few of the very welcome comments earlier today led to me doing a quick bit of number crunching.

150 ICAs – of which more than two-thirds have come via guest postings.

40 of you have made a guest appearance via the ICA at one time or another – SWC leads the way with 14.5 contributions, closely followed by The Robster (8) and Tim Badger (7.5). And they’ve come from all corners of the globe, although I’m still waiting on my first from Japan.

Full list of credits, in alphabetical order:-

Aidan Baker (1)
Alex G (2)
Brian Linear Lives (2)
C (1)
Charity Chic (2)
Comrade Colin (1)
Craig McAllister (1)
Dave Ashley (1)
Dave Glickmann (1)
Dave Martin (1)
Derek Howie (1)
Dirk Sexy Loser (3)
Drew Kitchen Table (1)
Echorich (4)
Eric (1)
Friend of Rachel Worth (1)
George Forsyth (5)
Gil Gillespie (1)
Jacques the Kipper (1.5)
Jen (1)
JC (46.5)
jimdoes (3)
Jonder (4)
Jonny the Friendly Lawyer (5)
Jules (1)
KC (as was, now KT) (1)
Martin New Amusements (1)
Martin Elliot (3)
Mike Melville (2)
Nik (1)
rhetor (2)
Rich Cundill (1)
Rol Hirst (2)
Strangeways (2)
Strictly Rockers (7)
SWC (14.5)
Swiss Adam (4)
The Crumpsall Correspondent (1)
The Robster (8)
The Swede (1)
Tim Badger (7.5)

Thank you so much. And keep ’em comin’

mp3 : Chemical Brothers – Music : Response

JC

Smiths

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #150 : THE SMITHS (2)

The first ICA was 19 June 2014. It featured The Smiths. Little did I know how popular the series would become or just how many fantastic guest contributions it would result in. Now that the series has hit #150, allow me a little self-indulgence with a long-overdue Volume 2:-

Side A

1. Girl Afraid

To me, the great single that never was. There are some critics out there who feel the tune is let down by a trite and simplistic lyric. Maybe it was one that Morrissey wasn’t completely convinced by and so it ended up initially as the extra track on the 12” release of Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now. It was one of the first of the second batch of songs that fans got to enjoy (i.e. it wasn’t on the debut album nor had it been aired on a BBC radio session) and to those of us who liked to throw ourselves all over the student union dance floor, it was deemed an instant classic. It’s still one that I love to air whenever I’m lucky enough to be putting together playlists for club nights. The lengthy instrumental introduction set a standard for indie music that very few, if any, matched over the remainder of the decade.

2. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

Released in August 1985. One that annoyed me back in the day for the heinous crime of having a promo video. Morrissey’s multiple statements from 1983 that The Smiths would never make a video to accompany any 45 had meant a lot when they were uttered. In an era when big-name bands were on what seemed like a suicidal mission to outspend one another on lavishly filmed features complete with nonsensical storylines in which the musicians were free to deploy abysmal acting and lip-synching skills, that my band were different was something to be proud and boastful about. I was such a sensitive prick in those days.

I also felt, back in the day, that this was one of the weaker tracks on The Queen Is Dead, mostly as there were so many other songs that would have made better 45s. As time has gone on, it has become one of my favourite numbers in the entire back catalogue – it’s one of the best examples of Johnny Marr’s quietly understated guitar work that is perfectly complemented by a gentle and whimsical vocal delivery.

3. This Charming Man

This didn’t make the first ICA? Really???? It seems not……

Just to be different, I’ve gone for the ‘London’ version of the song. Worth mentioning that Johnny wrote the tune, partly as a response to being slightly jealous that Aztec Camera were enjoying chart success. The London version was the first stab at cutting the 45 but was discarded for version recorded a few days later back up north in Stockport. There’s a great on-line description of the song which states “Early Elvis would have approved of the music, Wilde of the words”. Wish I’d thought of that back in the day.

4. I Know It’s Over

It was tempting at this point, having gone Girl, Boy, Man to launch into Wonderful Woman, and then perhaps complete side A with a name check for Jeane, Sheila,William or Mr Shankly. But I take these things seriously!!

Ballads were important to the band and their fans; the quality of the slow songs, from the very beginning, marked out just how special and unique The Smiths were. This was only kept off Volume 1, by the very slimmest of margins, by Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me. I sometimes look at ICA1 and think I might have got it wrong. But only sometimes.

5. You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet Baby

One of the songs that benefitted from there being a fifth, temporary member of the band in the shape of Craig Gannon. It’s one that was initially thought of as a possible single in 1987 but had such a spectacular fall from grace in terms of the politics of the band that it was never ever performed live nor featured in any radio or TV performances. Johnny, realising that he had written something rather special (again!!) was more than happy to return to the studio the following year and contribute to a superb version by his good pal Kirsty MacColl. Even Morrissey would, belatedly, acknowledge its worth by including his own solo version within a live CD released in 2009.

Side B

1. A Rush and a Push and The Land Is Ours

The strange ghost story piano number that opens up the band’s final album is ridiculously camp, even by Moz standards. But it’s one of his best, and I’ve always considered the couplet “There’s too much caffeine in your bloodstream / And a lack of real spice in your life” as being laugh-out loud for all the right reasons. And having, at the time, just gotten through a rather messy break-up of my own, I empathised entirely with not wanting to mention love as I hated the pain and the strain all over again.

It’s a song that gives an indication of just where the band could have gone to with a sixth and subsequent studio LP is they hadn’t combusted so spectacularly.

2. London

In complete contrast, here’s Johnny wigging out big-style on the guitar. Fast, furious and as frenetic as a late-running Virgin Train West Coast Line service trying desperately to make up time as it speeds onto Euston. It’s two minutes of musical mayhem and it’s also one of Morrissey’s most clever lyrics as he faced up to his critics, such as the late Tony Wilson, who weren’t happy that the band had decamped south in pursuit of their career. I’m sure there was plenty of jealousy in the eyes of the ones who had to stay behind and look on as The Smiths churned out one great song after another. I’ve included the rarer John Peel session version in this ICA, not on the grounds that it is superior, but just because it seems only right to have it feature just ahead of something else that is different…..

3. Reel Around The Fountain

A website dedicated to all things Smiths/Moz provides the following info:-

“The song was written in the spring of 1983. It was first professionally recorded on 18 May 1983 for the band’s first appearance on John Peel’s BBC programme (first broadcast on 31 May 1983), with producer Roger Pusey. It was professionally recorded again in July/August 1983 at London’s Elephant Studios with producer Troy Tate during the initial sessions for the band’s debut album.

It was recorded again on 25 August 1983 for the band’s second appearance on David Jensen’s BBC programme (first broadcast on 5 September 1983), with producer John Porter. However, because of controversy, the song was banned by the BBC and this version of “Reel Around The Fountain” was not broadcast until two years later when the whole session was repeated on Janice Long’s programme.

The definitive version was recorded in mid-October 1983 at Pluto Studios in Manchester, with producer John Porter. Additional mixing was done during sessions in November 1983 at Eden Studios in London.”

A flatmate had captured, in high quality, that first Peel session and that was the version of the song that I knew so well by the time the debut album was released. It was a fragile sounding song that ran to almost six minutes in length and felt like nothing else that any other band had ever recorded. I’ve no idea how many times I ended up copying this onto compilation tapes over the summer of 1983 as I desperately wanted to share it with everyone. The studio version on the debut LP, which was much more polished and accomplished, lost something along the way.

I’ve therefore gone for the middle ground and fished out the lesser known Jensen session from August/September 83. It’s one that captures the band on the cusp of true greatness.

4. Sweet and Tender Hooligan

The Smiths weren’t strangers to the BBC studios, broadcasting on four Peel Sessions (May 83, September 83, August 84 and December 86) as well as two Jensen sessions (July 83 and September 83). A number of these performances, going back to This Night Has Opened My Eyes in 1983, became the only time they were ever officially released songs either as tracks on compilation albums or b-sides, thus demonstrating just how seriously they took such events and how, having felt the radio sessions couldn’t be bettered, they never really returned to them in the studio.

This is a close cousin to London in that Johnny plays very hard and fast while Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce work hard to keep up with him. Its inclusion in the set list for Morrissey’s frantic and chaotic solo debut in Wolverhampton in 1988, in which he was backed by the duo as well as Craig Gannon, has always seemed as s two-fingered gesture at Johnny as if to say that the band was capable of continuing without him.

5. These Things Take Time

Indeed they do. Another classic b-side from the early days. “The most inept that ever stared”. I love that line so much.  Substitute ‘typed’ for stared and that’s sometimes how I feel in 2017!

JC

Fun Boy Three

IT REALLY WAS A CRACKING DEBUT SINGLE (12)

Thanks so much for the very kind comments that were added to the previous entry in this series.

As much as I think Gangsters was an outstanding single, I do think that Ghost Town was the finest moment in the career of The Specials. A well-deserved #1 hit, it does still seem bemusing that right on the back of it the band was torn asunder when Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Neville Staples left and decided to form Fun Boy Three, one of the most tongue-in-cheek monikers you could ever imagine given the sullen and serious reputation that the music press had attached to Hall who, despite arguing that the trio were of equal importance and relevance, was held up as the main driver of the vehicle.

Ghost Town was at #1 in July 1981 and finally dropped out of the Top 75 in mid-September. Less than three months later, the debut from Fun Boy Three was in the Top 20:-

mp3 : Fun Boy Three – The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)

I think it has to be admitted that without the pedigree of The Specials, there would have been little likelihood of any major record company such as Chrysalis allowing Lunatics to be a debut single. It was, however, the perfect follow-up to Ghost Town thanks to its very unambiguous political message around the dangers posed by those holding the highest political offices, particularly in the USA and UK where Reagan and Thatcher seemed unconcerned about using armed or nuclear war to get their own ways.

It wasn’t the easiest or most comfortable of listens, but it wasn’t meant to be. The pointed but angry verses are softly delivered over a tune that was miles removed from the poptones which were then dominating the charts. The ears of listeners were instead drawn to the choral chanting, the big bass drum and the eerie synth sound, all of which somehow combined to make a memorable bit of music that lodged in the brain – as indeed did the single ominous and titular line of the chorus. You just knew instinctively that the Fun Boy Three were making sense.

What happened next was a huge surprise as the boys linked up with another trio, the little-known all-female Bananarama for the follow-up, T’aint What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It) , a light and quite poppy cover of a jazz song that dated back to the 1930s. It stormed up the chart to #4 in March 1982 and for much of the next year and a bit, Fun Boy Three were never that far away for the higher end of the singles charts with five more top 20 hits, the last of which was their version of Our Lips Are Sealed, a song co-written by Hall and Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go’s whose version had barely dented the Top 50 in the summer of 1981 when Ghost Town was riding high.

Fun Boy Three split after little more than two years together but they left behind a very fine legacy of two highly listenable LPs alongside the aforementioned hit singles, some of which are rightly described as pop classics. They never quite made anything else that sounded as edgy or unique as the debut, and I reckon it’s one that is more than worthy of being included in this particular series.

Here’s your b-side, also lifted direct from the 12″ vinyl that sits in the cupboard :-

mp3 : Fun Boy Three – Faith, Hope and Charity

JC

PS : I know I’ve relied heavily on guest postings lately, but I am happy when asked to contribute at other places, as in this instance just yesterday.

Cramps

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #149 : THE CRAMPS

A GUEST POSTING FROM DIRK (SEXY LOSER)

Hello friends,

Had I written the below for sexyloser, there would have been no big need to be careful: I mean, there are seven readers and all of them are male and on the brink of their retirement, so why should I care?

Here, on the mighty Vinyl Villain, things are quite different. I know from good authority that this place is frequently visited by bright young ladies in their teens … and therefore I obviously don’t want to sound like a dirty old man when I try to describe why I love The Cramps as much as I do. It’s not all rousing vulgarity, it’s much more!

You see, The Cramps were perhaps not the most sophisticated band on the planet. In fact, there are times when I think they were the ones that invented rock ‘n’ roll! And that’s rock ‘n’ roll in the truest sense of the word, including all the dirt and filth it brings within.

If you have a look at the song titles below, you may perhaps already understand what I’m trying to say. I mean, ‘Bikini Girls With Machine Guns’?! The title alone tells you quite clearly that they won’t marry in the end, right? So, this band is nothing for romanticists, that’s for sure. Go on, listen to The Smiths instead!

The Cramps were Lux Interior on vocals and Poison Ivy Rorschach on lead guitar and occasionally on bass. And, listen up, romanticists, the two of them were indeed married! Now, I often wondered about Lux’ and Ivy’s family life. You see, when I wake up in the morning, Mrs. Loser and me just talk (although Mrs. Loser doesn’t like to talk much in the mornings anyway, but that’s a different story) about who drives Little Loser to the dentist in the afternoon or who buys some toilet paper when coming back from work. We pretty much don’t spend our time in disputing whether we’re gonna write a song about Zombies eating young girls today or one about young girls crashing Hot Rods!

I had the honor to see The Cramps live back in 1990. They were playing the Pukkelpop festival in Holland together with Billy Bragg, Henry Rollins, The Buzzcocks and Nick Cave. Up until then I was quite fond of what they did, their new album was rather splendid, but they were just a band I liked, not much more. But then everything changed, because their performance simply blew me away …. I fell in love!

There is a video of this gig on youtube, perhaps you have a look at it – or indeed at any other live show – ‘cos it’s rather hard hard to explain what happened on stage there: Lux came up in stilettos with heels as high as my forearm. I’m sure that if Mrs. Loser would wear a pair of those, she’d break her neck before having reached the front door! Poison Ivy wore what I (being not much of a fashion expert) would describe as ‘hot pants’, only they were way shorter than the hot pants I used to know then. Plus a bra. And that’s about it. In 1990 The Cramps had the wonderful Candy del Mar on bass, she looked as stunning as Ivy did, both of them just stood there, like icebound, rarely looking at the audience, just playing their instruments as if their lives would depend on it. Whilst Lux was jumping on the stage like a mad dervish, within the fifth number or so he was almost stark naked, just wearing his stilettos and some provocative lingerie that would have fitted Kate Moss nicely as well! Believe me, good ole’ Nick Cave had a hard time indeed afterwards in cooling down the crowd with his serious business jacket!

What I’m trying to say is: this gig showed me that both Lux and Ivy really lived this way, this hour up stage was not just for show, most certainly not. Of course it’s clear to me that Lux & Ivy needed toilet paper as well, but I’m willing to be that – unlike with me and Mrs. Loser – this has never been their main concern!

Alas, and to my great dismay, Lux died in 2009. Unexpectedly. And that, consequently, was the end of The Cramps. Rightly so, I would think. Lux was irreplaceable and I suppose everyone involved knew that.

Their legacy consists of nine fine studio albums, eight of which I proudly own. Plus a memory of a gig which will never fade, that’s for sure!

Coming back to the song titles: I went for a brilliant new idea in this ICA – series, a “Concept ICA”. Herewith legally ™, by the way! Forget about ‘Sgt. Pepper’ or ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’, here’s the real thing, friends! The concept is: it’s only songs about dangerous women, women you always dreamt about and dream to meet and talk to, to drink with, to spend the night with. And, probably, perhaps, even more. This sex thing, you know what I mean. Problem is, in reality those women wouldn’t even remotely think of returning your look, not for a second! And that’s because a) they are the definition of ‘cool’ and b) you – and me – are not. Not the slightest, to be precise. Unlike Lux. And – as far as said women are concerned – unlike Ivy. Because only the pair of them could wake up in the morning and come up with songs like these:

– “Thee Most Exalted Potentate Of Love” (live) (from ‘Smell Of Female’ (’83))

– “Bend Over, I’ll Drive” (from ‘Look Mom, No Head!’ (’91))

– “Naked Girl Falling Down The Stairs” (from ‘Flamejob’ (’94))

– “What’s Inside A Girl” (from ‘A Date With Elvis’ (’86))

– “Inside Out And Upside Down (With You)” (from ‘Flamejob (’94))

– “Bikini Girls With Machine Guns” (from ‘Stay Sick!’ (’89))

– “I Wanna Get In Your Pants” (from ‘Look Mom, No Head!’ (’91))

– “Sheena’s In A Goth Gang” (from ‘Big Beat From Badsville’ (’97))

– “All Women Are Bad” (from ‘Stay Sick!’ (’89))

– “Like A Bad Girl Should” (from ‘Big Beat From Badsville’ (’97))

That’s ten neat tunes, I would think, all about ‘bad girls’ indeed, but it doesn’t include one of the finest Cramps – tunes in all of their back catalogue. So, out of concept, consider this to be the bonus track, if you like:

– “Surfin’ Dead” (recorded as a one-off track for the horror movie ‘The Return Of The Living Dead’ (’85))

I do hope the above met with your approval. I know the first two albums are missing, ‘Songs The Lord Taught Us’ and ‘Psychedelic Jungle’. Reason is, they just didn’t fit the concept by and large. I could easily have chosen to do a Cramps – Concept ICA ™ about Zombies and other unpleasant creatures instead , in this case those two albums would have been heavily featured. Perhaps next time, ey?

Until then, enjoy! Especially the person who left a comment elsewhere recently, saying he basically knows nothing by The Cramps. I forgot who said it, but this might as well be for you…..

DIRK

JC adds…………….This post is the perfect illustration of why I am particularly proud of what the ICA series has delivered over the years.  The guest contributions have been immense for so many different reasons.  I hope the others who have been featured won’t mind me saying that this is probably my favourite yet.  Dirk’s love for the band shines through and he draws out his on-line persona perfectly with his writing (he’s a sweet and gentle pussycat in real life, but don’t tell him I said that!!)

#150 in this series will appear on Thursday.  It’s one of mine that I’ve had on the back burner for a few weeks….but it feels wholly inadequate now.

Velvet Underground

SOME SONGS ARE GREAT SHORT STORIES (Chapter Seven)

A GUEST CONTRIBUTION by JACQUES THE KIPPER

I feel this cautionary tale is particularly appropriate as we hit the festive period.

mp3 : The Velvet Underground – The Gift

JTK

Waldo Jeffers had reached his limit. It was now mid-August which meant he had been separated from Marsha for more than two months. Two months, and all he had to show were three dog-eared letters and two very expensive long-distance phone calls. True, when school had ended and she’d returned to Wisconsin, and he to Locust, Pennsylvania, she had sworn to maintain a certain fidelity. She would date occasionally, but merely as amusement. She would remain faithful.

But lately Waldo had begun to worry. He’d had trouble sleeping at nights and when he did, he had horrible dreams. He lay awake at night, tossing and turning underneath his pleated quilt protector, tears welling in his eyes as he pictured Marsha, her sworn vows overcome by liquor and the smooth soothings of some neanderthal, finally submitting to the final caresses of sexual oblivion.

It was more than the human mind could bear.

Visions of Marsha’s faithlessness haunted him. Daytime fantasies of sexual abandon permeated his thoughts. And the thing was, they wouldn’t understand how she really was. He, Waldo, alone understood this. He had intuitively grasped every nook and cranny of her psyche. He had made her smile. She needed him, and he wasn’t there (Awww…).

The idea came to him on the Thursday before the Mummers’ Parade was scheduled to appear. He’d just finished mowing and etching the Edelson’s lawn for a dollar fifty and had checked the mailbox to see if there was at least a word from Marsha. There was nothing but a circular from the Amalgamated Aluminum Company of America inquiring into his awning needs. At least they cared enough to write.

It was a New York company. You could go anywhere in the mails. Then it struck him. He didn’t have enough money to go to Wisconsin in the accepted fashion, true, but why not mail himself? It was absurdly simple. He would ship himself parcel post, special delivery. The next day Waldo went to the supermarket to purchase the necessary equipment. He bought masking tape, a staple gun and a medium sized cardboard box just right for a person of his build. He judged that with a minimum of jostling he could ride quite comfortably. A few airholes, some water, perhaps some midnight snacks, and it would probably be as good as going tourist.

By Friday afternoon, Waldo was set. He was thoroughly packed and the post office had agreed to pick him up at three o’clock. He’d marked the package “Fragile”, and as he sat curled up inside, resting on the foam rubber cushioning he’d thoughtfully included, he tried to picture the look of awe and happiness on Marsha’s face as she opened her door, saw the package, tipped the deliverer, and then opened it to see her Waldo finally there in person. She would kiss him, and then maybe they could see a movie. If he’d only thought of this before. Suddenly rough hands gripped his package and he felt himself borne up. He landed with a thud in a truck and was off.

Marsha Bronson had just finished setting her hair. It had been a very rough weekend. She had to remember not to drink like that. Bill had been nice about it though. After it was over he’d said he still respected her and, after all, it was certainly the way of nature, and even though, no he didn’t love her, he did feel an affection for her. And after all, they were grown adults. Oh, what Bill could teach Waldo – but that seemed many years ago.

Sheila Klein, her very, very best friend, walked in through the porch screen door and into the kitchen. “Oh god, it’s absolutely maudlin outside.” “Ach, I know what you mean, I feel all icky!” Marsha tightened the belt on her cotton robe with the silk outer edge. Sheila ran her finger over some salt grains on the kitchen table, licked her finger and made a face. “I’m supposed to be taking these salt pills, but…” she wrinkled her nose, “they make me feel like throwing up.” Marsha started to pat herself under the chin, an exercise she’d seen on television. “God, don’t even talk about that.” She got up from the table and went to the sink where she picked up a bottle of pink and blue vitamins. “Want one? Supposed to be better than steak,” and then attempted to touch her knees. “I don’t think I’ll ever touch a daiquiri again.”

She gave up and sat down, this time nearer the small table that supported the telephone. “Maybe Bill’ll call, ” she said to Sheila’s glance. Sheila nibbled on a cuticle. “After last night, I thought maybe you’d be through with him.” “I know what you mean. My God, he was like an octopus. Hands all over the place.” She gestured, raising her arms upwards in defence. “The thing is, after a while, you get tired of fighting with him, you know, and after all I didn’t really do anything Friday and Saturday so I kind of owed it to him. You know what I mean.” She started to scratch. Sheila was giggling with her hand over her mouth. “I tell you, I felt the same way, and even after a while, ” here she bent forward in a whisper, “I wanted to!” Now she was laughing very loudly.

It was at this point that Mr Jameson of the Clarence Darrow Post Office rang the doorbell of the large stucco coloured frame house. When Marsha Bronson opened the door, he helped her carry the package in. He had his yellow and his green slips of paper signed and left with a fifteen cent tip that Marsha had gotten out of her mother’s small beige pocketbook in the den. “What do you think it is?” Sheila asked. Marsha stood with her arms folded behind her back. She stared at the brown cardboard carton that sat in the middle of the living room. “I dunno.”

Inside the package, Waldo quivered with excitement as he listened to the muffled voices. Sheila ran her fingernail over the masking tape that ran down the centre of the carton. “Why don’t you look at the return address and see who it’s from?” Waldo felt his heart beating. He could feel the vibrating footsteps. It would be soon.

Marsha walked around the carton and read the ink-scratched label. “Ah, god, it’s from Waldo!” “That schmuck!” said Sheila. Waldo trembled with expectation. “Well, you might as well open it, ” said Sheila. And both of them tried to lift the stapled flap. “Ah sst, ” said Marsha, groaning, “he must have nailed it shut.” They tugged on the flap again. “My God, you need a power drill to get this thing open!” They pulled again. “You can’t get a grip.” They both stood still, breathing heavily.

“Why don’t you get a scissor?” said Sheila. Marsha ran into the kitchen, but all she could find was a little sewing scissor. Then she remembered that her father kept a collection of tools in the basement. She ran downstairs, and when she came back up, she had a large sheet metal cutter in her hand. “This is the best I could find.” She was very out of breath. “Here, you do it. I think I’m gonna die.” She sank into a large fluffy couch and exhaled noisily. Sheila tried to make a slit between the masking tape and the end of the cardboard flap, but the blade was too big and there wasn’t enough room. “God damn this thing!” she said, feeling very exasperated. Then smiling,
“I got an idea.” “What?” said Marsha. “Just watch,” said Sheila, touching her finger to her head.

Inside the package, Waldo was so transfixed with excitement that he could barely breathe. His skin felt prickly from the heat, and he could feel his heart beating in his throat. It would be soon. Sheila stood quite upright and walked around to the other side of the package. Then she sank down to her knees, grasped the cutter by both handles, took a deep breath, and plunged the long blade through the middle of the package, through the masking tape, through the cardboard, through the cushioning and (thud) right through the centre of Waldo Jeffers head, which split slightly and caused little rhythmic arcs of red to pulsate gently in the morning sun.

New Order

THE NEW ORDER SINGLES (Part 10)

I won’t beat about the bush. This is an abomination of a record.

Sub-Culture was, and remains, one of the highlights on Lowlife. It was inexplicable that Factory and the band went for a second single off the album and even more baffling that they went down the road of such a drastic remix that was so inferior to the original.

It sold poorly, reaching only #63 in the charts on its release in October 1985; there wasn’t even a decent sleeve to enjoy as Peter Saville hated this version so much that he provided a plain black sleeve.

Couple of things I learned from Hooky’s book.

#1 – he also hated the remix : “I thought the off-time bass synth too loud and distracting and there were too, too many edits, and the girly backing vocals, oh God. I thought John Robie (the remixer) was just showing off.” He also confirmed that Saville had refused to do any sleeve and what he therefore came up with was a ‘mourning sleeve’.

#2 – Sub-Culture, along with This Time Of Night, were influenced by the band (all four of them) being occasional visitors to Skin Two, a fetish club in London, not too far from Britannia Row Studios where they were busy putting their new LP together. You don’t have too look too far to spot some sado-masochsim references in the lyrics.

This was the first New Order single that I didn’t buy at the time. I did, some ten years ago, find a 12″ copy in a second-hand store in Toronto going for $2 – obviously a time that was was prior to the real surge in interest in vinyl. The sleeve looks like this:-

Although the b-side of the Canadian single is called Subvulture, it is in fact identical to the UK release which had it as Dubvulture. These are from that piece of vinyl:-

mp3 : New Order – Sub-Culture (12″ remix)
mp3 : New Order – Dubvulture

Here’s the 7″ edit of the a-side as found on the Substance compilation that was later released in 1987:-

mp3 : New Order – Sub-Culture (7″ remix)

Interestingly, there was a more than decent Robie remix made available at the time, but only if you were a reader of UK music paper Record Mirror.

mp3 : New Order – Sub-Culture (Record Mirror exclusive remix)

Pleased that I managed to track this down after all these years. It’s made the posting today somewhat worthwhile. Also makes me understand why the band would continue to work with Robie on later singles.

JC

Foxface

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #104 : FOXFACE

Foxface were one of many Scottish indie/folk bands to blossom in the first decade of the 21st Century only to fade away on the back of some well-received early material.

They consisted of Michael Angus (vocals, guitar), John Ferguson (drums, accordion, banjo, mandolin) and Jenny Bell (bass, vocals). They released one album in 2007 which is probably around the time I would have caught them in the live setting as they did a few shows as support to a number of mainstream acts.

The album was entitled This Is What Makes Us, and it consisted of 11 songs over little more than half-an-hour. I mentioned that it was well received, particularly in the Scottish media, with this being a typical review:-

This Glasgow outfit’s three members have been kicking around the Scottish indie scene for years, two of them most famously as members of Peeps into Fairyland, but their decision to join forces as Foxface is easily the wisest of their career. This beguiling debut is driven by a warm and romantic blend of haunting boy/girl vocals, mandolins, pianos, torrents of bluesy guitars, demonic basslines and thundering drums, veering from quiet poetic ballads to dark and rhythmic attacks throughout, and keeping us captivated from start to finish. Sons & Daughters devotees will go weak at the knees for Foxface, and rightly so. Utterly divine.

Camilla Pia, The List magazine, November 2007

I personally never saw the compariosonss with Sons & Daughters beyond the male/female co-vocals and always felt Foxface were more akin to a folk or traditional band than anything else.

Here’s a track from said record:-

mp3 : Foxface – Winners/Losers

JC

Leonard Cohen

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #148 : LEONARD COHEN

Any ICA is, inevitably, a tough task. Those of you who have contributed one or more submission to the series will know exactly what I’m getting at – to narrow down dozens or hundreds of songs into a solitary LP of ten tracks is a time-consuming, frustrating, seemingly impossible and yet, ultimately, a hugely satisfying task. And no matter what you come up with, you will look at your final selection and wonder why one or more great songs didn’t make the cut; oh and you’ll also provoke some sort of reaction from diehard fans who will be appalled that you’ve omitted something particularly special or meaningful to them.

In tackling the back catalogue of Leonard Cohen, I am expecting a fair bit of ‘WTF’ as reactions. You only have to type in ‘Top 10 songs of Leonard Cohen’ into a search engine to see how many different writers, journalists, authors, poets and fans have created lists that prove to be very different. So what follows is not my definitive list of 10 favourite songs, nor what I think are his best 10 songs. It’s simply ten songs that I think make up a fantastic vinyl album.

SIDE A

1. Suzanne

It is hard to fathom that by the time he released his debut album, Leonard Cohen was already 33 years of age, a well-known and regarded poet and novelist in his native Canada. He turned to music as a result of his failing to make much money as a writer, initially performing on stage in folk and jazz clubs in NYC where he befriended many of the bohemian set based around Greenwich Village. His big break came via a friendship with Judy Collins who, in addition to performing with him on stage, also arranged a TV show appearance for him in 1966 during which they duetted on a number of his songs, including Suzanne. The same year, Collins would record the song on her album In My Life and such was the interest in the songwriter that he was signed to Columbia Records with whom he would remain for the next 50 years until his death.

The debut album Songs of Leonard Cohen was issued in 1967 and opens with what was then his best known song. It has a particular simplicity that makes it sound as if could be from any of the past six decades. It is also the perfect introduction to his gravelly tones – you will know within 30 seconds or so if this song and this singer is for you in which case you will want to hear more; if it grates, well just take the record back for a refund or wrap it up as a gift for someone with taste. One word description : beautiful

2. First We Take Manhattan

It is somewhat astonishing to recall that the first airing of this song was via a Leonard Cohen tribute album with the great man not releasing his version for another 18 months. The original version was by Jennifer Warnes who had been a backing singer to Cohen in the 70s and 80s. The original was a decent enough song, with a lyric that hinted and suggested concerns about the way world politics were leaning ever-increasingly to the right. The version which opened up I’m Your Man in 1988, took the sinister elements to a whole new level, with Cohen rapping away like a madman who is intent on bringing the world to an explosive end. Looking back, it is scarily prophetic given that the past 30 years have seen a surge in high-profile acts of terrorism, carried out by those on suicide missions. One word description : chilling

3. The Future

The Future is a 1992 album of epics in that eight of its nine tracks are least six minutes in length – the exception being one of the two cover versions that made up the release. It’s also epic in the sense that the lyrics are full of giant and grim warnings, not least the key line in the title track – “I’ve seen the future baby; it is murder.”

First We Take Manhattan had suggested a lone madman would take us all down with him, but now Leonard, in soapbox preacher mode, is telling us that mankind itself is showing it is more than capable of doing the job itself. I’ve always thought that The Future, along with Anthem and Democracy, (two other outstanding tracks to be found on the record) would have made for great covers by Matt Johnson of The The, but I’m guessing he knew they would have been near impossible to better. One word description : apocalyptic

4. Chelsea Hotel #2

Much of Cohen’s early appeal lay in his ability to pen memorable odes to love that resonated with his listeners. This track from New Skin From The Old Ceremony, released in 1974 and his first album in more than three years, does sound, for the most part like a song that celebrates a brief and lustful affair, with lines of regret and longing that it had come to an end. And then, that killer and utterly ruthless closing line : “I don’t think of you that often” Indeed, on subsequent listens, it almost seems as the song is celebrating the location in which the tryst in question had taken place rather than any physical or emotional wellbeing it had provided. One word description : bittersweet

5. Famous Blue Raincoat

I’m closing off the first side of this ICA with a style of song – a lyric in the form of a letter – that, in many people’s hands, could be a cliché and a bore but ends up being a work of genius when done by Cohen. It’s also a song which, over the years since its release in 1971, has been interpreted in many different ways.

My own take on it is that the author of the letter, writing in the depths of a cold and bitter NYC winter at 4am in the morning to someone who has chosen to make a new life for herself in the warmth of the desert, is thanking the unnamed recipient of the letter, for the passion she bestowed on the other two parts of a bizarre love triangle – the author and his wife whose name we know is Jane. He’s also saying that if the desert dweller was to come back to NYC, he would not stand in the way of her and Jane fulfilling their lives together.

Others have said that there is no love triangle and that the writer is merely sending a letter to a male friend, who has left NYC after the discovery of his clandestine affair with Jane, in which he is offering his forgiveness for what happened. I’ve even read that it should be interpreted that Jane is the daughter of the letter writer and the recipient and that the recipient is being asked to come back to NYC to be reunited with her daughter in which instance the letter writer will move out and build a new life altogether.

That that song ends with the words ‘Yours Sincerely, L. Cohen’ makes if feel autobiographical, but yet, unlike Chelsea Hotel #2, the writer has never revealed anything about the characters in the song. For the record, Cohen was never married to anyone called Jane…….but he did live on Clinton Street from where the letter is being written. One word description : mysterious

SIDE B

1. Tower Of Song

The LP I’m Your Man was the first time I ever bought a Leonard Cohen album when It was actually released. I’ve said before that I came to him late in terms of appreciating him. My first exposure had been back in the mid 70s when a mate’s older brother insisted on playing his stuff all the time when I dropped by their family house and I wasn’t impressed as it was all doom and gloom that went right over my head at the time. But as a number of my own favourite musicians in the 80s began to name check him as an influence I re-approached his material with a fresh mind and discovered that I was indeed a fan.

The jazz-tinged, almost easy listening aspects of I’m Your Man should have seen me run a mile, but I was beguiled by its opening song First We Take Manhattan and almost all of its other songs provided something to enjoy on repeated listens. The album closes with a self-deprecating masterpiece, one in which Cohen pokes fun at his singing style and the painstaking way he comes up with finished lyrics. He also, in an era that was seemingly besotted by image and trying hard to stay youthful (Jane Fonda keep-fit videos anyone?), reflects that growing old in a graceful way isn’t so bad after all. All done to a tune that was as simple as anything he’s ever come up with, almost as if it came direct as a pre-programmed number in a Casio keyboard. One word description : genius.

2. So Long Marianne

Marianne Ihlen was the inspiration for so many of Cohen’s writings, songs and poems alike. They had met in early 1960, when they were both in their mid-20s, on the Greek island of Hydra. They would end up living together for the best part of that decade in Montreal, NYC and Greece. So Long Marianne, like many songs composed by others over the years, deals with a break-up. It is hugely autobiographical and its release in 1967 was a very early indication that Leonard Cohen was a different sort of songwriter and that indeed he was, at heart, a poet.

This doesn’t mope over the ending of a relationship, but instead looks back joyfully over an extended period in which two perfectly matched and compatible people had enjoyed life to the full, the ending caused by Cohen feeling he could not be content in a monogamous relationship. “You left when I told you I was curious / I never told you I was brave”. And not once did he blame her for what she did. One word description : heartfelt

PS : In 2016, Cohen learned that Marianne was dying from leukaemia. He also knew, at this time, that his cancer was likely to result in his death. He was able to compose a final letter which was read to her, by a friend, as she lay on her death-bed.

“Well Marianne, it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine. And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and for your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.”

If that doesn’t bring moisture to your eyes, then there really is no hope for you.

3. Hallelujah

Placed here cynically on the ICA just to keep the tear ducts on overtime.

In all honesty, we should be sick to the back teeth of this, such are the number of cover versions (many of which are superior to Cohen’s take) and its use as a poke-in-the-ribs to make you feel sad and upset at a particular point in a film or TV show. But, and I say this as someone who is not remotely religious or spiritual, Hallelujah is a song that makes me think, for a few minutes at least, if there really is something beyond what we know and experience on this planet. One word description : timeless

4. In My Secret Life (live)

It took until 2008 before I experienced Leonard Cohen in the live setting, in front of 3,000 adoring fans in the Clyde Auditorium (affectionately known locally as The Armadillo –have a look on-line and you’ll see why). It’s up there with the greatest experiences of my concert going life, with a near three hour-show in which the energy and vibrancy of the then 74-year old maestro was almost beyond belief. The set-list drew from throughout his entire career and, is usually the case, the old classics got the loudest and longest receptions.

But one of the real highlights was a lesser-known number, the opening song on Ten New Songs that had been released in 2001. The album was entirely co-written with Sharon Robinson and was his first since The Future back in 1992. Although the album was reasonably well received, the songs didn’t really come across as being essential listening until experienced in the live setting, with Lenny and Shaz turning it into a beautiful, soft rock tour-de-force.  One-word description : smooth

5. Avalanche

The closing track of an ICA is always the hardest to settle on as it has to make the listener want to go back and play the whole thing over again.

This is the song that Nick Cave really wishes he had written – indeed he did a more than passable cover for his 1984 album From Her To Eternity (which was, as you may have guessed from what I said earlier, one of my routes into re-assessing the merits of Leonard Cohen).

This is my all time favourite Leonard Cohen song.  The lyric is adapted from one of his earlier poems; it is utterly mysterious, bewildering and full of self-loathing and an entire thesis for a master’s degree could research and disect but still come up with nothing definitive.  But what elevates this to the very pinnacle is the playing and arrangement. Once heard, never forgotten.  A bit like the man himself. One-word description : almighty

RIP Leonard.  And thank you for everything.

JC

 

Various

JUST 60 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME IS ALL I’M ASKING….

It’s been a while since I put one of these together….I know that some of you quite like them and it does save me coming up with anything imaginative to write today.

mp3 : Various Artists – One side of an old C120 (Precisely)

Track Listing

If I Can’t Change Your Mind – Sugar
Brimful of Asha (Fatboy Slim remix) – Cornershop
Seether – Veruca Salt
Speed-Date – Arab Strap
Daft Punk Is Playing At My House – LCD Soundsystem
Sub-Culture – New Order
Tainted Love – Gloria Jones
Wrote For Luck – Happy Mondays
Slave To The Rhythm – Grace Jones
To Lose My Life – White Lies
Totally Wired – The Fall
Satisfaction – Rolling Stones
Love Plus One – Haircut 100
Ever Fallen In Love…? – Buzzcocks
Blue Boy – Orange Juice
Kennedy – The Wedding Present
Roi (reprise) – The Breeders

R.E.M.

TRUE CONFESSIONS : EVERYBODY HURTS

A GUEST POSTING by THE GREAT GOG

I don’t generally like being negative about things, other than the usual racist, sexist type stuff that would offend any right-minded individual. So, True Confessions is a tricky one. Having read and confirmed my understanding of the series’ premise with JC, I do still feel the need to unburden myself about a song that anyone who knows me will be amazed to find that I’m not all that keen on. So, my motivation is that by putting this in writing, it’ll help me understand why I don’t like the song, because on the face of it there’s no rational reason why I wouldn’t like it.

It’s fair to say I like R.E.M. Indeed I like R.E.M a lot. I have all the studio albums and various other recordings too – not the insanely expensive stuff, but enough that anyone perusing the shelves Chez Gog would be in no doubt that I’m a fan. I’ve even listened to Around The Sun in its entirety within the last six months. I was also the first person to play the band on the student radio station I frequented back in the mid-80s – “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville”, not that you were asking. So why would I have a dislike of one of their songs, and which one is it?

Ah! R.E.M., you say. Here we go. Why he doesn’t like “Shiny Happy People”. Er, no. I’m OK with that one, their first Top 10 hit in the UK. It is in fact their second UK Top 10 hit, a couple of years later, that I really struggle with – “Everybody Hurts”.

After I’d decided to write this piece, I had a chat with a mate with whom I regularly discuss matters musical. His take on it was that I’d got fed up with it being the soundtrack to heartstring-tugging film footage on various charity appeals on the television – you know, with the “please text your donation” message scrolling at the foot of the screen. I disagreed. There is far more chance of me donating on hearing Michael Stipe singing (even if it’s a song I don’t like) than there would be from watching a video with dancing weather forecasters and singing newsreaders – I’d probably just go and brew up if I had to witness that.

The other reason for disagreeing was that when I first heard “Automatic For The People”, it was the one song that I identified as “filler”. Shows what I know! True, it’s quite dirge-like and I’m certainly one for more upbeat songs, but there are other downbeat tunes on the album and I don’t have any real issue with those; in fact I’ve just played “Nightswimming” twice whilst typing this to confirm that point.

If I’ve got to put it down to anything (and I’m still not convinced), it’s the orchestration…

mp3 : R.E.M. – Everybody Hurts

As I wrote that last sentence, I had a lightbulb moment – surely the live version that I’ve spent years skipping on the CD, surely that is string-free (apart from guitar and bass obviously). Having sat and listened to it for six minutes and fifty seconds, I am now convinced. This particular live version is great, even with the crowd singing. Strange really, because I wouldn’t normally have any sort of issue with a bit of orchestral backing, but for me the song is enhanced by its absence here.

mp3 : R.E.M. – Everybody Hurts (live in Dublin)

So, mission accomplished. I have achieved my objective in understanding what it is about “Everybody Hurts” that makes me dislike it – the studio version anyway. I have also discovered that there is a version out there for me and I’ve owned it for a number of years and just haven’t bothered with it. I genuinely had no idea where this was going when I first started typing and have to admit at being quite surprised where the last hour and a bit has taken me. Thanks, JC – and take this as evidence that a supposedly negative series can have a positive outcome.

THE GREAT GOG

Fall

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #147 : THE FALL (4)

Another guest ICA from Jonder

THE FALL’S GONE MAD: DECADE TWO (1987-1996)

The mid-80’s were a peak of commercial success and artistic invention for The Fall.

Mark E. Smith‘s play “Hey Luciani” made its debut in 1986, followed two years later by the ballet “I Am Kurious Oranj”. The Fall hit the charts in 1987 with There’s A Ghost In My House and Hit The North, followed in 1988 by Victoria.

1. Jerusalem (live) – Smith contrasts William Blake‘s anthemic vision of England with a complainant from the 20th century nanny state (“it was the fault of the government”.) The album “I Am Kurious Oranj” is a mixed bag highlighted by Big New Prinz, a dramatic revision of 1982’s Hip Priest. In the stage production of “Kurious Oranj” (inspired by the life of William of Orange), The Fall provided musical accompaniment for Michael Clark‘s dance troupe.

2. Bremen Nacht (Alternative) – The 1998 LP “The Frenz Experiment” took a step sideways from the path of chart success. “We had had two Top 40 singles. So everybody expected a commercial album, and that was the last thing I wanted to do,” Mark later said. Bremen Nacht is a strict lesson in The Three R’s (repetition, repetition, repetition), demonstrating that The Fall had not lost sight of its core principles.

3. Dead Beat Descendant – Brix left in the summer of 1989. A few unreleased studio tracks were combined with a live set to fulfill the Beggars Banquet contract with the album “Seminal Live”. From the first live Fall album (“Totale’s Turns”) through “The Twenty Seven Points”, “2G+2”, and “Live Uurop VII-XII”, studio recordings have been scattered among live Fall performances. Dead Beat Descendant is a hidden gem.

4. Black Monk Theme Part 1 – 1990’s “Extricate” is an astonishing and essential Fall album. Martin Bramah, a founding Fall member, returned on guitar. Kenny Brady joined on fiddle, and The Fall expanded to a septet. It’s hard to avoid hearing “Extricate” as a divorce album, but the songs aren’t necessarily about Brix: Mark had married and divorced a second time before “Extricate” was released.

5. The Mixer – Martin Bramah left The Fall again before 1991’s “Shift-Work” album, leaving Craig Scanlon as the sole guitarist. Kenny Brady remained on fiddle, and with his help The Mixer became one of the loveliest melodies in The Fall’s repertoire. Dave Bush programmed electronic rhythms on this and the next few albums. “Shift-Work” was mostly tame, with the notable exception of Idiot Joy Showland, a virulent critique of Madchester bands.

6. Free Range (7″ Version) – this single from 1992’s slight “Code: Selfish” album is an example of what Smith and his fans claim to be his psychic or “pre-cog” abilities. The lyrics may refer to the history of Balkanization, or they might presage the coming Bosnian War. Smith seemed to predict the 1996 Manchester City Center bombing in the song Powder Keg, and Terry Waite Sez preceded Waite’s kidnapping.

7. A Past Gone Mad – this track from 1993’s “The Infotainment Scan” contains the unforgettable declaration, “If I ever end up like U2, slit my throat with a garden vegetable.” “Infotainment” was another strong Fall album. Brix contacted Mark to compliment him on it, and he responded by inviting her to rejoin The Fall.

8. City Dweller – “Middle Class Revolt” (1994) marked the return of the two drummer lineup (steadfast Simon Wolstencroft and the peripatetic Karl Burns). Behind The Counter was this middling album’s single. In City Dweller, Salford’s native son proclaims, “Get out of my city, you mediocre pseuds.”

9. Don’t Call Me Darling – Brix came back, cowriting and duetting with her ex. There’s not a lot of love among Fall fans for this 1995 LP (“Cerebral Caustic”), but it’s full of playful humor. Darling contains one of my favorite MES lines: “People hate beauty/ I cannot fathom it.” Mark fired Craig Scanlon after this record. Scanlon had played guitar with The Fall since 1979.

10. Cheetham Hill – another duet, this one with producer Mike Bennett, from the 1996 album “The Light User Syndrome”. Brix would leave The Fall again after the tour to promote this LP. She’s in top form as a guitarist here, and Julia Nagle‘s keyboards are equal parts melody and noise. It’s a wonderfully aggressive sounding album, a fine end to the second tenure of Brix and The Fall’s second decade.

BONUS TRACK – I Want You – despite what Mark E. Smith said about Madchester, he regarded The Inspiral Carpets well enough to lend an impassioned guest vocal to their 1994 single. Mark also made a live appearance with The Clint Boon Experience. A decade later, ex-Fall members Steve and Paul Hanley joined Inspiral Carpets’ Tom Hingley in his group The Lovers.

JONDER

Sons Of The Descent

2017 : SOME HIGHLIGHTS : SONS OF THE DESCENT

It was back on 30 May 2017 that Jacques the Kipper took over this little corner of the internet to compose a glowing review of the debut album from Sons Of The Descent in which he offered as short commentary on all 11 of its tracks.

You won’t be too surprised that I picked up the album on the basis of his review and I also accompanied him along to see the band’s live debut when they were the main support to The Wendys at a gig in Glasgow back in September.

I’m delighted to say that the album more than lives up to the praise heaped on it by my sparring partner while the duo of Hugh Duggie (ex Foil) and Ian White (ex Wendys) brought all their considerable experience to bear to deliver great live renditions of the standout tracks.

I’m sure you won’t mind if I do simply reproduce much of what JtK said back in May, along with a few other cut’n’ pastes of other reviews:-

“What do you expect when a member of best-known-in-the-90s indie band, The Wendys teams up with a former member of late-90s noiseniks, Foil, to make music? Probably not an album that contains more hooks than Vinnie Jones’s rucksack on a wild fishing weekend. But that is indeed what has happened on Lazy Glamour, the first album by Sons of the Descent, a self-produced masterpiece of electronica and guitars.” (The New Vinyl Villain)

“Edinburgh’s Sons Of The Descent have released their brilliant debut album, Lazy Glamour. With influences on the album as diverse as David Bowie, Happy Mondays and Wire you will not be disappointed with this monster groove cauldron of an album.” (Louder Than War)

“Old pop groups may fade away, but what of those who never quite became ‘stars’? Plenty of acts remain independent and making music for, well, the love of it, we assume. This duo were, respectively, signed to mega-indies Factory and Mute, and their 10 tracks follow in those footsteps – mixing the introspective (some might say doominess) of the Manc mega label with shades of electronic pop that spawned the likes of Depeche Mode. In truth we’ve no idea where they’ve been since the 1980s, but they’re welcome back any time.” (Is This Music?)

“Hugh Duggie and Ian White are the waggish brains behind this low-key smorgasbord of quietly crafted off-kilter pop gems. The effect of such pick-and-mix diversity is akin to turning the pages of a collection of fictional miniatures culled from a twilight zone occupied by Hogarthian pub bores and other animals. A textured subtlety peppers every song, some laced with a sly, dry-as-bone wit to offset the darkness.” (Product Magazine)

Again, the album is available via bandcamp, as a digital release for £8 or as a CD for £10, sums of money you won’t regret spending. You can also listen to all ten tracks to try before you buy. Click here

This is the album opener

mp3 : Sons Of The Descent – Look At The Sky

“If you enjoy a bit of Mark E Smith style vocalising over the first of those hooks I talked about, then I reckon you’ll like Hugh imploring you to “Look At The Sky”. Notable also for the first use of “Englandshire” in a song – that I’m aware of anyway. Also the source of the album title.” (Jacques the Kipper)

JC

New Order

THE NEW ORDER SINGLES (Part 9)

Only a band as perverse as New Order would choose to release a new single and new alum on the same day – but that’s exactly what happened in May 1985 with The Perfect Kiss and Low-Life.

Having enjoyed chart success with each of Temptation, Blue Monday, Confusion and Thieves Like Us, there was perhaps a sense of supreme confidence that fans would buy both releases. It turned out to be a bit misplaced, perhaps as it was the first time the band had ever included a 45 on an LP, a move that got a bit of press criticism at the time.

The Perfect Kiss is one of their most defining and timeless moments and it certainly should have done a lot better than stick at #46 in the singles chart. It is part of a truly outstanding album, one which went to #7.

I’m going to be lazy today and lift from the Discogs site:-

New Order’s 9th single. Released 13 May 1985 as 7″ promo and 12″. It is the first New Order single to be included on a studio album at the same time. The song has some famous musical elements, e.g. frogs croaking and, at the end of the track, some bleating of (synthesized) sheeps.

Lasting nearly 9 minutes, the 12″ single version only appears on the vinyl and cassette editions of Substance, while the CD omit 44 seconds of the climatic finale. The full version was eventually released unedited on the 2-disc deluxe edition of Low-Life, marking its first appearance on CD.

The versions on the album Low-Life and all post-Substance compilations are 4:48 edit, omitting the third verse (the one that mentions the song’s title) and fading out before the climax. Most 7″s have on their A-side another version,  further edited down without the percussion introduction.

Jonathan Demme directed “The Perfect Kiss” video, set in the band’s rehearsal room. It shows the band playing the song live from beginning to end. The video got cat# Fac 321.

And so, to try and wrap up all of the above :-

mp3 : New Order – The Perfect Kiss (12″ version)

The two b-sides:-

mp3 : New Order – Kiss Of Death
mp3 : New Order – The Perfect Pit

mp3 : New Order – The Perfect Kiss (album version)
mp3 : New Order – The Perfect Kiss (7″ version)

JC

FOUND

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #103 : FOUND

I’m quite surprised that this is the first time FOUND have featured on these pages. They’ve been around a while and have a fair number of fans, particularly here in Scotland. Here’s wiki with a very full backstory:-

FOUND are an experimental pop band and arts collective from Edinburgh, Scotland. The founding members, Ziggy Campbell, Tommy Perman and Kevin Sim met while studying fine art at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. They began working on sound art installations together whilst in their final year at college in 2001. Each project they do is given a catalogue number and documented on their website.

In 2005 they formed a band in order to play live music at the openings of their Stop Look Listen exhibition tour (which toured from Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen to The Meffan, Forfar and the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh).

They recruited the keyboardist Gavin Sutherland in 2005, and then Alan Stockdale joined on drums and percussion at the beginning of 2006.

In 2006, FOUND released their debut single, “Mullokian” (SP4502), and album, Found Can Move (SPCD01), on Tommy Perman’s label Surface Pressure Records. They released two more singles from that album: “Static 68” on the Scottish label Creeping Bent and “Synth Like Minds” on the Hamburg based label, Aufgeladen Und Bereit.

In October 2006, FOUND took part in the inaugural BBC Electric Proms with an unusual collaboration with multimedia comedians, (nobleandsilver).

In 2007, FOUND were commissioned to create a major sound installation to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. They produced a piece called Etiquette, which was funded by the PRSFoundation’s award for new music and uses some of the technology developed by Reactable. Etiquette was displayed at the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop’s Magazine 07 exhibition, during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Newhaven, Edinburgh.

In 2009, together with Simon Kirby from the University of Edinburgh, FOUND created Cybraphon, an “autonomous emotional robot band” in a wardrobe, for which they won a BAFTA.

FOUND’s second album, This Mess We Keep Reshaping (FNC-085), was released on Fence Records.

The group released their third album Factorycraft on Chemikal Underground in March 2011. After some line-up changes, the group, now a duo of Campbell and Sim released their fourth album CLONING in November 2015. The group released their fifth studio album Terra Nova on the 1st July 2016.

With so much to choose from, I’ve plumped for one of their more accessible and hugely enjoyable numbers.  It’s a single that was lifted from their third album on Chem:-

mp3 : FOUND – Machine Age Dancing

JC

Mark Lanegan Band

LOOKING BACK AT 2007 : A GUEST CONTRIBUTION

Huge thanks to Walter

(A Few Good Times In My Life blog)

Hi Jim,

It is a long time ago since I announced a contribution to your request for looking back in music for this year. Since then I often thought what about to write. Should I name all the great records that was released in 2017 or should I write about the newest trends in music?

I couldn’t make a decision for myself and almost struggled typing a few words for this contribution. Then I wrote down the albums that impressed me much this year, remembered the gigs I went and some other highlights that happened to me. And once I found an accordance. Remembering the days of our gathering in Glasgow I recalled the Saturday morning when we met at Mono cafe-bar. Drew bought a copy of Mark Lanegan‘s latest album and we shortly talked about the greatness of this record. Mark Lanegan is one of those artists I follow since his first days with Screaming Trees over Queens of the Stone Age and many collaborations such as Isobel Campbell and Mike Watt.

Gargoyle was one of those albums that stood the test of time and many times I returned to this record. This is one of his best records he released during the last years. Filled with dark and sinister songs he made them great by singing with his terrific baritone that makes him play in the same league like Lee Hazlewood. In July I was lucky enough to watch him live presenting the album in Stuttgart. I saw a man who doesn’t make many movements on stage. Just standing in front of the microphone and saying less more than ‘thank you’. After all it was an amazing concert filled with the best of his current album and a short retrospective of his career. A highlight was he gave as a bonus a very special version of Love will tear us apart. Truly one of the best records of this year.

mp3 : Mark Lanegan Band – Death’s Head Tattoo
mp3 : Mark Lanegan Band – Emperor
mp3 : Mark Lanegan Band – Goodbye To Beauty

Hope everything is well in Glasgow.

Take care.

Walter

 

Dead Hope

2017 : SOME HIGHLIGHTS : DEAD HOPE

It was back in August 2015 that I gave a plug to Dead Hope, a new act to emerge out of Glasgow.

In doing so, I went against my practice of drawing attention to new and often unsigned bands, and it was very much on the basis that they had been recommended by Basil Pieroni of Butcher Boy who was friends with the three blokes who comprised Dead Hope. As I said at the time, Basil knows me well enoug, however, to realise that I don’t just put things on the blog as a favour to someone and so when he handed over a CD with the two tracks that made up the debut single, he did say it wouldn’t matter if I had a listen and filed it away.

It turned out that I really enjoyed the songs as they brought back memories of that warm noisy fuzzbox sound that was very fashionable for a period back in the 80s while there’s a hint of wonderful and much missed Urusei Yatsura about them too.

Two years later, in September 2017, Dead Hope got round to releasing a debut album, entitled Songs From The Second Floor. It contains ten tracks and takes about 34 minutes from start to end. In some ways, the songs are a mild variation on the one tune, but in all honesty, it’s a belter of a tune that stands up to repeated listening.

Dead Hope make music that hasn’t ever really gone out of fashion during my time in listening to and appreciating music. It’s that blend of new wave and rock with the occasional hint of a catchy pop riff that worms its way into your brain. I’ve mostly listened to the album on the daily commute as it’s the perfect length to take in stepping out of the door to walking into the office via two short train journeys across a 4-mile distance, and without fail, I’m tapping my feet and nodding along to songs that are guaranteed to lift any gloomy mood. As with most debut albums, some songs are most instant or memorable than others, but such is their brevity that the next one is along before you know it.

I haven’t had the chance to see the band play live yet, but on the basis of the album, I can see the drummer bathed in sweat from his exertions while bassist and guitarist will most likely having bleeding fingers from playing so hard and fast. The singer would surely be unable to talk for days without it sounding as if sandpaper had been applied to the back of his throat. It’s akin to the punk rock championed by the likes of Black Flag that was later refined for radio consumption by the likes of Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr.

It’s pleasing to read that Dead Hope have received some airplay on BBC Radio 6 as well as being championed by a number of DJs on community stations in and around Glasgow, and I hope that a few more pick up the songs in their end of year reviews.

The album is available via bandcamp, as a digital release for £4.50 or as a CD for £5, which strikes me as a bit of a bargain. You can also listen to all ten tracks to try before you buy. Click here.

Here’s a reminder of the debut single

mp3 : Dead Hope – Truth Be Told

Play Loud

JC

Various - 2017

TEN REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

A GUEST POSTING by JIM CHAMBERS

Hey JC

As requested! Hopefully you get loads of your readers doing this – I genuinely love your blog and hope you discover some new music to get you over blog fatigue.

Here’s my ten reasons to be cheerful – it’s been a good year for music – and there’s plenty of stuff to look forward to in 2018. In strange sort of way I’ve found my listening habits now are shaped by what my teenage daughter listens to – when i hear new music i often think she’ll like it and play it to her – so i’m sort of listening to stuff with teenagers ears if that makes sense. She sometimes says to me ‘Have you heard this?’ and it’s generally something that is brand new to her but is music from my youth – most recently The Cocteau Twins and The House of Love. Anyway, here’s ten songs – in no particular order – hopefully there’s some stuff here you’ve never heard of!

1. Confidence Man – Boyfriend (repeat)

One of the highlights of my summer was me, my wife and my daughter going bananas to this song in a packed tent. If this song doesn’t make you want to dance then I don’t know what would – it’s so good. They are the first band we saw at Glastonbury this year – in a small tent on the Friday morning – we got there super early and we were front and centre. I think it was the sweatiest I got all weekend – the whole tent was going crazy by the end and everyone left smiling. I guess FUN is a good way to describe them. I’m really looking forward to their album which will be out some time next year and I desperately want them to play in Brighton before they get too big. Honourable mention goes to another of their songs Bubblegum which is also great.

2. Waxahatchee – Recite Remorse

Now a band that my daughter doesn’t like. But it’s my favourite track off possibly my favourite album of the year. A change of pace from Confidence Man. It’s the song that they opened her show with when I saw them in Brighton earlier this year and I must have listened to it about 50 times in the next week. I guess I like it so much because it’s got a touch of Throwing Muses about it.

3. Hercules and Love Affair – Controller

Every time I play this in the car my daughter asks me if it’s Hot Chip – which is no bad thing in my (or her) book. Another song to dance to off another great album – it’s got Faris Badwan from The Horrors singing on it and although their new album isn’t bad, there’s nothing on it as good as this.

4. Nadine Shah – Holiday Destination

Here’s a musician that my daughter introduced me to – she wanted to go and see the support act LIFE on Nadine Shah‘s last tour so thought she might as well buy the album by the headline act to get the most out of the show – and I’m so glad she did.

5. Wolf Alice – Don’t Delete The Kisses

I saw them at Latitude a couple of years ago and immediately thought that they were a band my daughter would love. And boy, does she love them – she’s seen them live 3 times already this year including an in store gig where she met them. Anyway this song is wonderful – one of the things I like about Wolf Alice is their youth – this song perfectly captures that sense of uncertainty of falling in love for the first time. It’s full of hope and joy. And I’m really looking forward to shouting the lyrics to this whilst stood next to her when we see them in Brighton at the end of the month (as long as it’s not too uncool being at a gig with dad).

6. LCD Soundsystem – Call The Police

I was worried about this record. What if they messed it up? What if they should have stayed away and not spoiled their legacy? But they’ve made the best song of the year – it’s up their with All Our Friends – sheer joy. My daughter loves it too, obviously!

7. St Vincent – New York

A worthy addition to songs about New York. And it’s got a really good swear in it.

8. Future Islands – Day Glow Fire

A band I never get tired of – I’ve been a fan for years (I always feel I have to say that – I’d seen them a couple of times touring the albums before things went a bit silly after they played Letterman). This was my favourite new song when I saw them in Brighton earlier this year – but I was disappointed that they didn’t play it at Glastonbury. This is one of the albums that my daughter always grabs from my collection to play.

9. Les Amazones D’Afrique – Dombolo

No idea what this songs about. It’s great though. All I know about them is that they are a West African supergroup of women musicians. The album has a great sleeve and this song just makes me want to move.

10. Noga Erez – Off The Radar

Another one that I heard and I immediately knew my daughter would love. She’s still in a fury that the Brighton show on Noga Erez‘s tour was over 18s only. She’s got that MIA vibe about her – taking influences from all kinds of music and making something really fresh sounding.

Bubbling under my ten – Bicep, Sleaford Mods, Mac De Marco, Girl Ray, Jane Weaver, Jen Cloher, Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile, This Is The Kit – all great but I listen to them as whole albums and haven’t got a favourite track off any of them.

Anyway

enjoy

xxxjim

Just Joans

2017 : SOME HIGHLIGHTS : THE JUST JOANS

A wee change of plan…..originally I had intended to go with a full week of guest postings reflecting on 2017, but I’m going to intersperse those that I’ve received with posts of my own as well as other guest contributions that aren’t necessarily about this past 12 months.

All of my own contributions will have one thing in common, namely that they will feature a singer or band from around these parts that I feel have provided something special in 2017.

The Just Joans are well-known to many aficionados of indie-pop; I’ve only featured them once previously within these pages, back in January 2016, when I posted a review of a live gig. As I said at the time, they have long been a very firm favourite of my dear mate and gig-going companion Aldo who fell for their charms at one of the Indietracks festivals at which the band first played as far back as 2008. I described them in my review as ‘shindie’ with the first two letters being short for shambling…..but I wasn’t using the word in any derogatory way as every one of the six members of The Just Joans is a talented musician in their own rights.

Between 2007 and 2016, they released a bunch of EPs and one album packed with knowing songs that reflect on everyday life, evoking ancient and recent memories on what makes us all laugh, cry or shake our heads in bewilderment. They are fronted vocally by the brother/sister combo of David and Katie Pope, with he being the main songwriter. They are a band who pride themselves on singing in their local dialect with many of the songs namechecking and referencing local landmarks; but somehow, while everywhere else in the world celebrates pop performers who sing in strong, local dialects, here in Scotland it is often the case that they are labelled as having  some sort of lack of talent or ability, which is something that has been thrown every now and then at the Just Joans. I’ve always thought it ridiculous that lazy journalists and writers proclaim them as a novelty band, refusing point-blank to consider them as not worthy as the likes of Altered Images, BMX Bandits, Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura, Pulp and The Vaselines with whom some of the most obvious musical and lyrical comparisons can be drawn.

One thing, however, that I’ve always felt about the band is that they haven’t quite ever put out something that you can point to as being a definitive example of what they are all about. Every EP, and the debut album, have songs that are memorable classics in one form or other but they also all contain material that I’ve felt would have been better left behind at the demo stage rather than making it all the way onto a physical release…but their philosophy, and it is an admirable one, is that the songs, once worked into some sort of shape deserve to be shared with the public at large.

In short, they are the classic definition of a cult group who aren’t that bothered about fame and fortune, happy enough to be appreciated by a discerning but loyal fan base.

This year saw the release of their sophomore album, You Might Be Smiling Now; I was lucky enough to be handed an advance copy of the songs and so gave them a few listens while I was away on holiday last month in Lanzarote which allowed me to be more familiar with them in advance of the gig to mark the album launch back in Glasgow on 2nd December. And while I found myself thinking a couple of the songs seemed sort of unfinished, the overall impression was that this was, by far, their most mature, ambitious and worthy release thanks to a more expansive sound encompassing extensive keyboards and what sounded like the occasional use of strings and horns, while the lyrics went deeper and further into some new areas that I hadn’t previously thought they were capable of.

In short, this turned out to be the most surprising release of 2017 that has catapulted The Just Joans way up the list of enjoyable and must listen to acts to have come out of Scotland in my lifetime.

Oh, and it’s also worth saying that the album launch gig, promoted in a typically understated and low-key fashion in the upstairs part of an old-fashioned pub on the south side of Glasgow with a capacity of probably now more than 60, was an absolute stormer of an event, with the set drawing on the best of the new and older material. It also provided a huge treat with the main support act turning out to be the aforementioned BMX Bandits, albeit they had to draft in a temporary backing acoustic guitarist to help them on the night….someone by the name of Norman Blake….he showed a fair bit of talent  and so I’m suggesting you keep an eye out for him in the future….

The new album is available from here.

This is one of my favourite songs from it:-

mp3 : The Just Joans – No Longer Young Enough

Tune in again on Thursday for another 2017 recommendation from myself, but before then, there’s a great guest offering coming along tomorrow.

JC

Holiday Crowd

THE HOLIDAY CROWD

A GUEST POSTING by DOUG McLAREN

Dear VV

I have long been inspired by your daily blog posts, and turn to them of an evening for some refreshing diversion from the news of the day and for some intriguing insights into the past and present of good, independent music, especially the jangly guitar and melodic pop tastes we (all) seem to share. You may recall that I have contributed a few small pieces in the past, under the secret code name “rhetor”, for your ICA series, and this has only served to help me realize what an impressive and profound service you render the great blogosphere by putting metaphorical pen to paper on a daily basis.

So when you asked (out of blog fatigue) for a few contributions from guests to be considered for the upcoming months, in order to give you a break, I felt I had to weigh in. Furthermore, your frequent mentions of Toronto as a city for which you have a particular affection have of course struck a chord with me, as this is my home city and indeed my place of birth, and I believe the music that this fine city is currently producing is second to none, though many around the world may not have heard of some of the fine talents we currently enjoy. One such (among many) that I think your readers would do well to give a good listen to would be The Holiday Crowd.

Of course, even a quick listen to a track or two of theirs will reveal more than a little of the influence of The Smiths, and I hope you feel as I do that they do it in fine style. It is early Smiths particularly that comes to mind with their first album dating from 2014, entitled Over The Bluffs. But it is not just homage to the great Mancunians as a form of hero-worship; they come by their influences honestly through a deep fondness for eighties post-punk and new wave, influences that are indeed many and varied.

As the promo material on their Bandcamp page puts it,

“With a name like theirs, it’s hardly a surprise that the band’s sound invokes scenes that feel quite distant from their home city of Toronto. If anything, the quartet sound as though they’d fit perfectly side by side with The Chills, Orange Juice, The Smiths, and other groups from the United Kingdom whose influence The Holiday Crowd wear proudly. Perhaps this could be partly attributed to the fact that half of them actually hail from the same place as these influential bands; bassist Alex Roberts is from the U.K. while John Coman, the group’s new drummer, calls Ireland home. As far as The Holiday Crowd’s North American half, guitarist Colin Bowers has reflected that he “can’t fully explain [his] love of English music,” but thankfully he doesn’t need to; the band’s sound speaks for itself…”

Their first album, Over the Bluffs, is a cracking debut and would be a fine accomplishment if they had produced no more. Perhaps as a visitor to Toronto yourself you encountered those impressive Scarborough Bluffs by the shore of Lake Ontario? As residents of Scarborough, I believe the band members had those same bluffs in mind, and the breezy landscape they evoke, when they were inspired to write the songs for this compact 7 track album. Take the light, repetitive melody and jangly guitar rhythms of the track “In My Arms”, and do you hear the wind, the waves crashing against sandy bluffs, the nostalgic yearning for more open waters, while standing one a shore one is destined never to leave? Perhaps that is a fanciful stretch, but I am sure you will admit that it is as much music “of a place” as indeed the vibe of Manchester imbued the songs of early Smiths oeuvres?

mp3 : The Holiday Crowd – In My Arms

In any case, the band’s lead singer himself, Imran Haniff, called their first album,

“an open love letter to Scarborough, Ontario, a notorious suburb of Toronto…The whole mood of the record has a Scarborough vibe to it and it only seemed fitting to name it with an honorary nod to our old stomping grounds. Scarborough has so much stacked against it; it almost seemed like The Holiday Crowd needed to stick up for it. There’s more material lyrically to write about a place that’s tangible and misunderstood than writing about Narnia or Mordor”.

But to take a quick look at another of the album’s tracks and a personal favourite, “While She Waits”, it is clear that their approach to songwriting does not limit them to love of places and a fondness for local colour, but more timeless subjects like love, loss, pain, and yearning for an ineffable better just off the horizon are handled with equal Smithsian deftness.

mp3 : The Holiday Crowd -While She Waits

I was fortunate to catch the band playing live in 2016, just as they were working on new material for their soon to be forthcoming self-titled sophomore album. It was in a very, very small pub in downtown Toronto, so small that if I stretched out my legs in the rickety folding chair I was given, I was just a little afraid I might trip up the guitar player Colin, or perhaps unplug his amp. Under these conditions, naturally, it was quite possible to strike up a conversation with the band, and after that evening, I have to say the guys in The Holiday Crowd are a fine collection of gents, really warm personalities and passionate fans of music as much as they are producers of it. The “chat” that began on that day continues to the present, in a sense, since, a little astoundingly, the lead singer friended me on Facebook thereafter, not just with the official band page but with his personal account too, and he is totally open and receptive to questions, comments, and the like. Moreover, his frequent posts linking to songs he loves has opened the eyes to more than one of the influences mentioned above.

Perhaps you may be wondering if the follow-up album, “the Holiday Crowd”, was equally enjoyable, or if it suffered from the “sophomore jinx” that so many bands with great potential fall prey to? Or, perhaps a more sophisticated question, “Were they able to grow beyond the strong influences of the first album and expand more musically, exploring their own voices and experimenting with different directions musically?”

The album is currently for sale, and as I believe the band makes their money from such mercenary things as album sales, I will leave you with just a song or two as suggestions, and encourage you to look into the album deeper on your own. For me, the answer is a clear yes, though, and I think if you give “Another Nite” and “After The Long Dash” a listen, though the Smiths fan in you will still be satiated, you can hear a band that is growing and maturing in sound with each new release. The latter, for example, begins with the ubiquitous but strangely impersonal “time signal” and makes of it something really quite lovely…

But if you really want to hear the spirit of Johnny Marr’s brilliant influence alive and at work, you will have to seek out “Rosy Lies” on your own and invest in the album. I believe you will agree it is worth it.

mp3 : The Holiday Crowd – Another Nite
mp3 : The Holiday Crowd – After The Long Dash

DOUG

JC adds……

Doug was the first to drop me a line after the request for December guest postings and I’m delighted to open up this month with his contribution.  I do indeed know Scarborough very well – it was where I actually lived and worked for a spell ten years ago – and I did visit the Bluffs which are quite spectacular to look at.

I really enjoyed these songs and Doug has described them perfectly.  Oh and I also thought that Another Nite was reminiscent of the much-missed Father Sculptor. I’m intending to put an order in for the albums as recommended.