THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SINGLE (Part 92)

From last fm a few years ago:-

Popup are from Glasgow. They are Adi, Damian, Michael and Nicholas. Some might say that they’ve worked up a storm – others might say that Scottish weather is too turbulent to notice.

They rehearse in a drafty old tobacco factory near the River Clyde where they sit close together to keep warm. This is how they write their songs – by sitting close together until an idea sneaks in through a crack in the wall. There are many cracks – things break – guitar strings, drumsticks, amplifiers, hearts and tempers, and so Adi, Damian, Michael and Nicholas have nowhere to hide – no option but to be honest. They can only be themselves or be Popup. And so Popup simply sound like popup – like Adi, Damian, Michael and Nicholas from Glasgow, and without a word of a lie.

They have played a few hundred shows in the UK, Europe and the USA. Some highlights include sets at T in the Park, Latitude, The Wickerman Festival, The Borderline (London), The Paradiso (Amsterdam), The Knitting Factory (New York) and at SxSW 07 & SxSW 08. They have released two singles and one album on Art/goes/pop records in the UK, and one album on Team Love Records in North America.

You can see that they were once fairly active. A couple of really goof indie-pop singles were released back in 2006 and then the debut LP appeared in 2008. In 2010/11 they were seemingly hard at work writing and recording a follow-up but I can’t ever recall seeing that it was ever released. The band’s twitter account has been inactive since December 2012 which would indicate they have broken up. Which is a bit of a pity, cos I really enjoyed them on the couple of occasions I caught them live. Here’s the second of their singles (which as you will spot makes more than a nod to early Franz Ferdinand):-

mp3 : Popup – Chinese Burn
mp3 : Popup – Stagecoach

There’s a few clips of Popup kicking around on YouTube. They’re well worth a bit of your time.

Cars

MY FIRST EVER PICTURE DISC

There was a while when picture disc singles were all the rage. This was the first one I ever bought. A single that hit the charts in February 1979, peaking at #17.

The thing was, nobody meaningful in the UK seemed to take The Cars all that seriously, (by that I mean music journalists – the fact they got a couple of Top 40 hits means enough people liked them to buy things – or maybe we were all suckers for the picture discs).

They did however, do quite well over in their own country. I suppose that we Brits had enough of our own home-grown new wave singers and bands to talk and write about that we could ignore what was happening over on the other side of the big pond. Maybe it was also the fact that the early releases were produced by Roy Thomas Baker who had a close working relationship with Queen. But they were never really hip or trendy in the UK despite the early singles and LPs being a great mix of spiky guitars and pop-orientated synths.

Just What I Needed had in fact been the band’s first success in the States in 1978, but was only released over here as the follow-up to My Best Friend’s Girl. After that, more or less nothing. But back home, they continued to greatly outsell the likes of Blondie and Talking Heads, both of who had emerged around the same time, but both of who enjoyed great critical and commercial acclaim in the UK and across Europe.

Most people nowadays think of the hit song Drive when any mention is made of The Cars, which is a dreadfully dull and dreary song that conquered the charts, not once but twice, both pre and post-Live Aid (the second time being when when it was used as the soundtrack to a particularly emotive video appeal associated with the fundraising)

The Cars broke up in 1988. While most of the lead vocals on their songs were handled by guitarist Ric Ocasek, it is bassist Benjamin Orr, who died of cancer in 2000 at the age of 53, who sings on this great wee bit of pop:-

mp3 : The Cars – Just What I Needed

There’s no way I’m not going to make any case for The Cars being a band that should be in everyone’s record collection, but I will defend the greatness of their early hit singles in the UK. They sound a bit like Squeeze…….

(Originally posted in June 2009)

Airborne Toxic Event, Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers, Paul Haig

EVERY MUSIC FAN’S BETE NOIRE?

Triggered off in part by that XTC posting the other day featuring a photo of a concert ticket from 1979….here’s a re-post of a rant from August 2009, together with the various comments folk left behind…..

I’m guessing almost everyone who read this blog likes going along to see live music, in all its shapes and forms, whether it is unknown, unsigned bands in tiny sweaty venues or the weekend-long music festivals that dominate the summer months (or what passes for summer these years in the UK) and all points in between.

Sadly, there are certain companies we have to deal with when trying to get our hands on many of these valuable bits of paper that will gain us admission to the venue. Its changed entirely from my early concert going days in the late 70s and early 80s where you basically went along to the box office at the venue, handed over cash and got a ticket in return. The amount you handed handed over was the price on the ticket.

Nowadays, its usually over the internet or at a centralised booking office and it never reflects the price of the actual gig.

Music fans – and indeed fans wanting tickets for the theatre or sports events – have been getting robbed by these faceless tossers for years, and other than actually taking the drastic action of not going to the gigs at all, there’s very little we can do. If you google the word ‘Ticketbastard’ you’ll quickly get hours of horror stories to cast your eye over.

In the end, its not been an outrageous mark-up that’s got me pissed off, but instead something so small and insignificant that I almost didn’t notice. But when I thought of how many times this small difference would add up to a huge profit, I thought it worth mentioning.

Now, we all know that the ticket agencies levy their service charges somewhat in proportion to the price of the tickets. So, for a sports event later this year at £67.50 a ticket, the service charge is £6.08 per ticket, while a gig ticket at £18.50 gets hit with £2.25 service, and a £9 ticket gets £1.25 (interesting that the music levy is more than 10% of the face value while the sport ticket is marginally below it).

But….there is also a processing fee on top of this…..and it was the amount charged for the music gigs that annoyed me.

On 10th October 2009, I’m off with Mrs Villain to see Jonathan Richman at the Oran Mor in Glasgow, while exactly one month later, we’re off the see Airborne Toxic Event at the ABC in the same city. It was £18.50 per brief for the former, and £9 per brief for the latter, plus that service charges I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Both sets of tickets were ordered the same day, using the same credit card and over the same PC with the same email address. Both sets of tickets were posted out on the same day, and both arrived on the same day, in identical envelopes and with identical packing.

And yet…..the Jonathan Richman tickets cost 65 pence more to process.

Why? Anyone out there know the reason???

OK, its only 65p, but as I said earlier, add up all the 65 pences and you soon get a fair whack of money for fuck all. And there’s no logic….my Morrissey tickets earlier this year were a whacking £32.50 each, with £4.50 service charge on top. But the processing fee was less than that applied to the Jonathan Richman tix.

Feel free to use the comments section to vent your own frustration.

mp3 : Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers – Roadrunner (Twice)
mp3 : The Airborne Toxic Event – Does This Mean You’re Moving On?

I’ve a funny feeling this posting might just end up with a dmca notice….so I hope you’re onto this quickly swissadam. Thanks for asking for it yesterday:-

mp3 : Paul Haig – Ghost Rider

Happy bitchin’.

11 RESPONSES TO “EVERY MUSIC FAN’S BETE NOIRE?”

Mona Says:

August 6, 2009 at 5:39 am
Indeed all those early morning hikes to the (Glasgow) Apollo to get in line back in the 70’s, I was invariably the first but at least I would get a ticket! we have the same shit out here in Australia and what exactly is all this money for…the recent gigs by I think it was The Police had the front seats auctioned off by the promoter, which is just scalping under a different name…I could go on…Regards/
Ed Says:

August 6, 2009 at 7:54 am
When it’s people who do it as a small business (see Ripping Records in Edinburgh, for instance) I’m sympathetic for a couple of quid, but Ticketmaster are just ripping us off left, right and centre. Another of my rants wuold be tix going on sale at times that mean you can’t get there; it’s one thing skiving school if you are a student (that that I condone this) BUT if you work for living like most of us do, then you may not be able to access the internet site from work or spend a small fortune on your mobile trying to get through…GRRR!
Coop Says:

August 6, 2009 at 8:24 am
A new development that really cheeses me off is that some venues/companies now ask you to print the tickets of yourself and charge you a fee still for the pleasure off wasting your own fucking ink. Unbelievable!
JC Says:

August 6, 2009 at 8:51 am
Ed, Like you, I have no problems with Ripping Records or other small shops in cities and towns who sell the tickets incl the booking fee. Its the big boys with their hidden and inconsistent charges that really get to me.
swissadam Says:

August 6, 2009 at 10:23 am
Thanks for the Paul Haig re-post. Agree completely about tickets- extortionate and booking fee system makes little sense. What pisses me off is tickets go on sale at say 9.00 am, 2 mins later all sold out, then re-appear on ticket selling websites, double price and upwards. When the Specials sold tickets for the Manchester Apollo gigs back in June standing tickets immediately jumped to £65, within minutes of them selling out.
condemnedtorocknroll Says:

August 6, 2009 at 1:19 pm
I have had my fair share of ticket problems (mainly to do with tickets selling out superhumanly fast and then reappearing for crazy prices on auction sites, or selling out because apparently everyone but me had some pre-sale code). And I agree that we are all being burned being slaves to the Ticketmaster. I miss the old days of lining up and first come, first serve. Thankfully, quite a few of the bands I see just aren’t popular enough to sell out quickly. I dread to think what would happen if I wanted to see David Bowie live again – I’m thinking I won’t get third row again.
Jim Says:

August 6, 2009 at 2:53 pm
That’s one thing that really pisses me off about King Tut’s. If you want to get a ticket online, you need to go through Ticketmaster. A recent gig I’d planned on going to was only a fiver, by the time Ticketmaster added their booking fee and a bonus charge for me picking up the ticket at the bar, the price had nearly doubled. I’m off to see Beerjacket in Tut’s on Saturday and he is so pissed off at Ticketmaster – apparently he’ll see no money from any tickets sold through them – he’s been arranging to meet people and sell them tickets himself, for the proper price. That’s great for me, not a problem to go meet him and get some tickets, but sucks for both people who are buying online and then for him when he doesn’t even get their cash.As Coop said, the new trend for charging you an extra couple of quid to print the ticket yourself – and I’ve seen a few times where this has been the ONLY option – is another kick in the nuts.Booking fees really get my goat. And I don’t even have a goat!
a Tart Says:

August 7, 2009 at 1:48 am
I live literally less than 10 blocks from the venue where Yo La Tengo will play and I cannot get tickets other than by online via TicketBastard who will take a $23 dollar ticket and after all their fucking service charges and fees end up taking $38 off me! That’s FIFTEEN FUCKING dollars of FUCKING FEES!!!! I am literally screaming at my computer and my wife is looking at me rather horrified even after I’ve explained why. Yes, welcome to ‘merica, land of the free to rape you in every way we possibly can. /rantthank you sir, for the space, love as always, xoxo
Agnes Says:

August 7, 2009 at 6:17 am
I’m with Mona, here in Oz ticket prices are scandalous. I’m not sure if it’s because we’re so bloody far away from everywhere else and it costs more to get here, but if that’s the case then I object! That’s a geographical fee that is, and it’s not our fault we’re at the end of the bloody world! Rubbish.Example ticket cost: $83 AUS to see Sigur Ros at Festival Hall which is basically a big barn with plastic seats and old wooden floors. Hardly a palace. That reminds me of merchandise costs too – $45 for a shirt as well! The sad thing is that I write this and I’m still thinking to myself “yeah but it was worth it”. That’s how they get us in the end.
Mona Says:

August 7, 2009 at 10:16 am
Indeed how do they justify these prices, upcoming Ry Cooder + Nick lowe @ Palais in Melb $140, that is 70 quid and that is before the extra’s. pearl Jam advertised as a value for money $99!!!Regards/
Ah Fong Says:

August 10, 2009 at 8:21 pm
whats with the same fee to pick up at the venue OR have them posted? and does anyone remember buying at the door with no booking fee? or am i just an auld bastart?do venues/promoters get cash from these companies, or does it just relieve them of the hassle(?!) of printing and selling themselves?ticketmaster are the ryanair of music.any chance of richmans ‘into the mystery’?

Violent Femmes

IT’S MEANT TO BE A TUNELESS TAKE DUMBASS….

The bio of Violent Femmes in the on-line edition of the magazine Rolling Stone says:-

“..too bad the Violent Femmes‘ tuneless take on Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” actually makes you pine for Boy George”

It’s such sentences that remind me irony isn’t always a strongpoint of Americans.

At the risk of stating the obvious…..IT’S MEANT TO BE A TUNELESS TAKE DUMBASS.

Personally, I never did care much for the music of Culture Club. That’s one of the reasons I have a great deal of fun listening to a wonderfully bitter, twisted, and yes tuneless, cover version:-

mp3 : Violent Femmes – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? (7″ edit)

The original took the world by storm. It was #1 or #2 in twelve different charts around the world selling who knows how many millions of copies. But that doesn’t make it a good song.

It’s trite, it’s inspid and, well boring is the word that springs to mind. It’s also wholly unrealistic.

The protagonist is heartbroken because a love affair has come to an end. And he’s willing just to let it slip away and take all the agony, pain and heartbreak imaginable without wishing any ill on the other person. The lyrics are sickly, syrupy and unreal:-

You’ve been talking but believe me
If its true you do not know
This boy loves without a reason
I’m prepared to let you go

If its love you want from me
Then take it away
Everything is not what you see
It’s over today

Do you really want to hurt me?
Do you really want to make me cry?
Do you really want to hurt me?
Do you really want to make me cry?

Gordon Gano on the other hand, with just a few little word changes here and there, ends up turning into a quite shocking tale of someone revelling in the hurt, pain and misery of a break-up:-

I’ve been talking but believe me
I know that its true now that there no more
I’m in love and loves the reason
I’m not prepared to let you let me go

So if it’s love you want
Then take all of me
It’s this love I want
I can finally see

Do I really want to hurt you?
Do I really want to make you cry?
Yes, I suppose I want to hurt you
You told the truth but it was still a lie

Methinks the man from Rolling Stone didn’t actually listen to this re-interpretation before making his ill-advised comments.

C’mon…..whose take on the song is closer to reality????? Here’s the other tracks on the CD single:-

mp3 : Violent Femmes – Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? (full length)
mp3 : Violent Femmes – Dance Motherfucker Dance!
mp3 : Violent Femmes – To The Kill (live – November 1990, The Palace, Melbourne, Australia)

Enjoy

(Originally posted on 7 August 2008)

Quasi, Queens Of The Stone Age, Quickspace

FROM THE SOUTH-WEST CORRESPONDENT…..Q-TIPS

Dirk aka Sexyloser chose the letter Q

Before I start a note to my sponsor – Just for the record ‘Graham’, I’m not trying too hard (see Jay Talkin’ two weeks ago), what you read is a mixture of wit, talent and arrogance some of us have it, some of us don’t and jealousy is really bad attribute to display publicly. Whilst I’m on the subject of talent, what I type is nothing compared to the daily brilliance of the JC, and the likes of Drew over at ‘Across the Kitchen Table’and countless other bloggers who really should be doing this stuff professionally. The reason I don’t do a blog daily is because by Friday no one would be reading anymore (that and having an 18 month old takes up most of my spare time, I write this as she naps). Some people don’t like certain types of music, other people do like it. Don’t call me an idiot just because I was nasty to one of your heroes. Get over it, or start your own blog dedicated to what you like – I’ve even thought of a name for it for you ‘Killing the Bland’ (that’s a relatively obscure Prolapse song that I hope features in Saturdays Scottish Single sometime soon). You can thank me when you have one million readers.

Anyway…Welcome to the letter Q. I have three bands on my iPod who start with Q. Which is lucky. None of them are Queen, Queensryche or strangely, Quicksand, as I do own an album by them. It’s not the Quads either Dirk, sorry.

I’ll start with the obvious… Formed from the ashes of stoner rock band Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age revolve around the genius that is Josh Homme. Their best record is perhaps ‘Rated R’ which features the classics ‘Feel Good Hit of the Summer’ and ‘Lost Art of Keeping a Secret’. The former is a three minute blast which name checks various narcotics and substances and very little else, but we all know that. If you don’t download it…Now…and then come back and finish reading this.

I think I said previously that the most recent album (their sixth?, I forget) by QOTSA’…Like Clockwork’ was my favourite of last year. Considering that for most of his career Josh Homme has crafted a fine knack of not giving a shit, ‘…Like Clockwork’ is as close to perfection as you can get. I’ll start by mentioning ‘If I had a Tail’ a track so damn sexy is pretty much rubbing itself against as you listen to it. The song features Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys but I’m buggered if I know where. Much of this record wouldn’t sound out of place in a sleazy bar, it’s a dirty, filthy kind of record, and that is great. But it has its tender moments, ‘The Vampyre of Time and Memory’ is a very low key, piano led ode to memories which I think wouldn’t sound out of place on the last Daft Punk album. It is a simply stunning record, from probably the greatest balls out rock band on the planet right now.

mp3 : Queens of The Stone Age – If I Had A Tail

Following the rock trend, next up we have Quasi with ‘Repulsion’which is taken from the 2010 album ‘American Gong’. I’m kind of hoping that most readers will be aware of Quasi, but if you may have missed them here’s the brief…they are a male and female duo who both grew up in South California, moved to Portland to make music, got married and then divorced, the two of them also feature on many Elliot Smith records and the odd Sleater Kinney album. They started recording in 1993 and I think American Gong is their ninth studio album.

It was a bit of change of direction for them as it was their first proper rock record, usually concentrating on drum centric keyboard pop records. It was also their first as a three piece, as they added someone to play bass, whose name I forget but was in Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks.

Repulsion was the first single to be released from ‘American Gong’ and it’s a lot of fun. It reminds me of early Dinosaur Jr records, which is no bad thing, the voices of the main two people Janet Weiss and Sam Coomes sound lovely together. This was my first experience of Quasi and from this I downloaded ‘American Gong’, but if you are curious then the tremendous music streaming site Epitonic has some more free stuff of theirs.

mp3 : Quasi – Repulsion

Finally we come to Quickspace, who were formed in 1994 and were originally Quickspace Supersport. Singer and founder Tom Cullinan was formally in Th’ Faith Healers but formed Quickspace to develop a more tuneful and experimental band. The first review of Quickspace that I remember called them ‘the Stereolab that rocks’ that is no bad thing at all. It’s not strictly true, as they favour a more drone rock style but y’know still good.

Quickspace are one of those band that I think a lot of people would find it hard to like, I think they are the nearest contemporaries that The Fall have, perhaps slightly more tuneful. In the late 90s they shunned big money offers from major labels and instead set up the Kitty Kitty Label and that is where they released most of their records. These include the terrific singles ‘Friends’ and ‘Rise’ both of which were minor indie hits thanks largely to radio play by uber fan Steve Lamacq. In 1998 they released their second album proper ‘Precious Falling’ to much critical acclaim and it featured perhaps their best known songs ‘Hadid’, and ‘Quickspace Happy Song #2’ . Personally I love them.

mp3 : Quickspace – Quickspace Happpy Song #2

S-WC

Dukes Of Stratosphear, XTC

THIS IS POP…

Today is going to be one of the highlights of the week’s golf in Hilton Head as I’m scheduled to play over a course which has, for years, hosted a tournament on the PGA Tour. I thought it would therefore be appropriate to feature an old posting from someone who will be with me today – Mr John Greer – and given that some words on XTC a few weeeks back proved to be one of the most popular ever to feature on the blog, I’ve gone back to what he said on 7 June 2009:-

I remember the first time I ever saw XTC it was in 1978 on the music show Revolver; I was in the bar of St Andrews University, I worked for the University , I wasn’t a student.

Revolver was an ITV music show, which preceded Channel 4’s The Tube; it only ran for one series of 8 episodes and had Peter Cook as the manager of the fictional nightclub where the show was being filmed.

XTC played their single This Is Pop and the following Monday I had to buy it. It seemed to be totally different to any of the other singles of the day with a very angular sound. Their appearance on Revolver can be seen on youtube if you have a search.

The previously released single Statue Of Liberty had been banned by the BBC for having the line “sail beneath your skirt”, this song showed off the band’s great early sound which was a hybrid of punk, reggae and ska. Andy Partridge preferred to call their style of music ‘New Pop’ rather than ‘New Wave’.

mp3 : XTC – Statue Of Liberty

1979 saw the release of the band’s most successful album Drums and Wires, with the wonderful single Making Plans for Nigel. It was during the accompanying tour that I saw them for the one and only time at The Odeon in Edinburgh.

Lead singer Andy Partridge had always suffered from stage fright, but he struggled on until he suffered a breakdown on stage during one of the first concerts of the English Settlement tour in Paris in 1982. It was reported that his wife had thrown away his supply of Valium. According to the band’s biography, Andy had the drug prescribed to him as a teenager during his parents’ divorce and over the subsequent years, having never been withdrawn from the drug he had become overly-dependent on it.

The European and British dates were cancelled and after one show, the U.S leg was also abandoned, and in due course XTC withdrew from live appearances and became almost exclusively a studio band, only occasionally performing live on radio shows.

As with most people my music buying changed with age, marriage and becoming a father and the subsequent 5 albums passed me by, but I did buy the occasional single found while trawling in record shops.

I also did with hindsight, a very stupid thing; I sold all my vinyl albums, 12-inch singles and singles. I thought CDs were easier to store and transport when we moved house, – and on a few occasions on this blog JC himself has talked of the agony of and woes of losing many classics in a change of address.

Indeed it was JC, who gave me the compilation CD, Fossil Fuel as a birthday gift, that started my interest in listening to XTC again. The early singles were as good and fresh as ever and I liked the newer material.

Over the years XTC have influenced many bands, it’s hard not to listen to The Futureheads without hearing a similar sound, and I recently read an article where Coldplay credit Andy Partridge’s writing as being a major influence.

In 2003, I heard a single on Radio 2 and thought it was pure XTC; it turned out to be aband from my own Kingdom Of Fife – indeed they were from my old stomping ground of St Andrews – Dogs Die In Hot Cars, with their minor hit I Love You Cause I Have To.

On Boxing Day 2007, I was standing doing the dishes in the kitchen, feeling quite sorry for myself, as I’d been down to Berwick to see Raith Rovers suffer an unexpected defeat to Berwick Rangers, when Bob Harris played, again on Radio 2, a track that lifted my gloom for a wee while.

It was the wonderful Wrapped in Grey by XTC. At that moment I thought it was a new track but I later found out it was from their album Nonsuch. It prompted me to download the album. I had the singles from Nonsuch on Fossil Fuel but I’d never heard this track.

mp3 : XTC – Wrapped In Grey

I read recently the band felt it was one of their finest moments and would be perfect to release as a single; they loved the Pet Sounds feel to it. But the band were in dispute with Virgin Records and after pressing thousands of singles, they were recalled and destroyed.

During their long career, XTC have also released material under a variety of pseudonyms, including two albums of psychedelic outings as The Dukes of Stratosphear, a Viz comic’s promotional single as Johnny Japes and his Jesticles, and a Christmas-themed single as The Three Wise Men.

My younger brother had also been a XTC fan and I think the concert in Edinburgh in 1979 was the only gig we ever attended together. He did have the The Dukes Of Stratosphear albums and the track I always loved was Vanishing Girl. The albums were a homage to 60’s pop and psychedelia. If you were to listen to Vanishing Girl alongside the Small Faces it wouldn’t seem out of place.

mp3 : The Dukes of Stratosphear – Vanishing Girl

As recently as 2007 XTC were still releasing new tracks via their own online streaming webpage.

As a footnote, a very good friend of mine and reader of this blog, Iain Fenton always hated XTC, after Andy Partridge made a statement to the NME or Sounds that “ all the Scots were good at, was growing ginger hair!!! …… At this point, I have to explain that when I still had hair it was ginger ( well….. strawberry blonde)….

Morrissey

THE MOZ SINGLES (Part 8)

Now, this is just a hunch, but I reckon that in any poll of 1,000 fans asking for a list of their Top 10 favourite Morrissey singles, there will be at least 999 who include this. And the one who doesn’t is a liar.

Released in June 1988, Everyday Is Like Sunday has proven to be one of the most enduring songs of the solo career, having being played on most of the solo tours, particularly those since the 2002 comeback. The single went to #9 in the UK charts which is a hugely impressive achievement given that the song had been available on the LP Viva Hate for a few months beforehand. And while I imagine that many fans would have bought the single for the sake of keeping up the collection (that was certainly my reason at the time), the fact is that the three extra tracks provided on the b-side of the 12″ single are as good as anything else Morrissey had released as a solo artist at that time in his career.

It was like a throwback to his early career with The Smiths when the release of a new single was every bit as eagerly anticipated for the b-sides as well as the ones you would see them perform on Top of The Pops.

mp3 : Morrissey – Everyday Is Like Sunday
mp3 : Morrissey – Sister I’m A Poet
mp3 : Morrissey – Disappointed
mp3 : Morrissey – Will Never Marry

The lead track (but not its b-sides) was once the subject of a dmca. It’s been filed differently this time.

Enjoy.

Phantom Band

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SINGLE (Part 91)

From wiki:-

The Phantom Band is a Glasgow-based band consisting of Duncan Marquiss (guitar), Gerry Hart (bass), Andy Wake (keyboards), Rick Anthony (vocals and guitar), Iain Stewart (drums) and Greg Sinclair (guitars). They are often generally described as indie-rock but are known to utilize a variety of genres and styles. The band’s debut album Checkmate Savage was released in January 2009 and the follow up The Wants in October 2010.

The band initially performed and released material under various names, never sticking with the same band-name for long: NRA, Les Crazy Boyz, Los Crayzee Boyz, Tower of Girls, Wooden Trees. In 2005, using the adopted name Robert Redford, the band released a one-off CDR titled The Mummy and Daddy Dance on their own temporary label “Extreme Nudity”, self distributed to independent record outlets in the UK, before removing all reference to it from their online presence and reforming under a new name, Robert Louis Stevenson. The sought-after release now only changes hands on online auction sites, and the only element trackable from the band’s current incarnation is the presence of the track “Crocodile” (formerly “Crocodile Dundee”) on their 2009 album Checkmate Savage.

Under the title of Robert Louis Stevenson, they played a number of exclusive live shows in Glasgow (Stereo, Nice’n’Sleazy) and Edinburgh (Wee Red Bar) and released a limited run of 150 audio cassettes under band member Nobodaddy (Andrew’s DJing alter-ego) and Hugo Paris’ home imprint, ‘Sweat on Cassette’.

In 2006 the band began using The Phantom Band as their name (apparently in reference to their elusive activities up to that point) and in 2007 released a 7″ single Throwing Bones on London based Trial & Error Recordings. The critical acclaim of this single, their first fully distributed release, was the impetus for their signing to Chemikal Underground.

After signing with Chemikal Underground the band began recording their debut album early in 2008. Despite planning on recording the album in a few weeks in the labels Chem19 studios in Blantyre, the whole session ended up spanning many months and was mixed at Franz Ferdinand’s studios in Govan. Checkmate Savage was eventually released in January 2009 to critical acclaim and it peaked on the UK Albums Chart at number 181 in February of that year.

The recording sessions for the band’s second album were apparently quite difficult- even more so than the first record. Much of the music was written in the studio and under quite tight time constraints and this seems to have led to some difficulties within the band. Sometime in the summer of 2010, between the records completion and its release, the band parted ways with original drummer Damien Tonner.

The Wants was released in October 2010 to critical acclaim. On the day of its release the band travelled to the United States of America to appear at the CMJ festival in New York. Directly after this the band supported Frightened Rabbit on a string of dates during their headline tour including shows in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, New York and Chicago.

The plan had originally been to post The Howling which was the debut Chemikal Underground single on the basis that the 45rpm version is a couple of minutes shorter than the LP version while there’s also an unreleased track on the b-side. But then I spotted that the single version of Throwing Bones (which would be later re-recorded and included on the debut LP) is a much rarer beast so thought I’d pull that out of the cupboard instead:-

mp3 : The Phamtom Band – Throwing Bones (single version)
mp3 : The Phantom Band – The Riff

Then I thought, what the hell:-

mp3 : The Phantom Band – The Howling (single version)
mp3 : The Phantom Band – The Tall One

Enjoy.

Cinerama

THE WOW FACTOR

Between 1998 and 2004, David Gedge took a break from The Wedding Present and instead released music under the name of Cinerama.

In essence, it was a duo of the great man (on his releases he was known by his full name of David Lewis Gedge) and his then-girlfriend Sally Murrell, augmented by guest musicians. The initial songs were a long way removed from the guitar-driven indie-pop of TWP, and instead were often heavy on strings, keyboards and lush instrumentation. Lyrically however, they didn’t stray too far away from the subject matters that Gedge is such a master of – the joys of love, lust and romance, the misery of infidelities and heartbreak and the utter pleasure of revenge. Oh and there was also the occasional belter of a cover version.

The fourth single is an absolute masterpiece.

As you’ll hear, it is one of the songs about infidelity. What I love about this lyric is how the protagonist spends the first two and half minutes detailing all the nagging doubts about cheating on his girlfriend, even as he climbs the stairs to a bedroom. And then…….

…….he utters “But don’t close the door because I’m still not sure.”, after which there is a gap as he makes his mind up. A gap that is about two seconds in length…………….just long enough to let the listener know he’s feeling guilty but just short enough to let the listener know that lust has again triumphed over love.

Song writing of the raw and brutal variety.

mp3 : Cinerama – Wow

The CD single was released back in 2000, and thanks to the production involving Steve Albini, it’s not a million miles removed from the brilliance of Seamonsters, the classic 1991 LP by TWP. I reckon its one of the best songs David Gedge has ever penned. And the b-sides are rather good as well:-

mp3 : Cinerama – 10 Denier
mp3 : Cinerama – Gigolo

Later on, there was also an near seven-minutes-long extended version of the single made available on the LP Disco Volante on which the band were now a five-piece, backed with additional musicians on flute, cello, violin, trumpet, french horn and accordion.

mp3 : Cinerama – Wow (extended version)

Wow is a word I expect t0 be using a lot over the next 10 days or so. Just a matter of hours after this post is published I will be boarding a plane and crossing the Atlantic. My eventual destination is Hilton Head Island in South Carolina where I will playing a lot of golf in the company of some great friends, including occasional TVV contributor Mr John Greer.

Mostly it will be the scenery which leads to the use of the word but hopefully I will also be able to utter it after the occasional spectacularly good hit of the golf ball.

In the meantime, TVV will continue in my absence with the usual weekend and S-WC features interspersed with a short run of old reposts from the old blog before normal service resumes on 14 May.

Wolfman feat. Peter Doherty

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL TO BEGIN THE MONTH OF MAY

The review in the NME on 16 April 2004 said it all rather eloquently:-

Pete takes his hands from the rudder of the good ship Albion to release this lovelorn ballad. Still, it should be glaringly obvious – even to those without a passing interest in the Libs’ never-ending soap opera – that this brilliant. Encased within the twinkling piano arrangements of old chum Wolfman, Pete proves himself capable of weaving both hope and honesty into the lining of his exquisite melodies. That it’s actually a bittersweet dedication to Wolfman’s broken marriage and the romantics they’d watch from a Paddington station bar matters little – it’s Pete’s choked croak that musters the shivers.

Soulful, sublime.

It was an all-star indie cast who assembled at Britannia Row Studios in London to make this possible including Julian Taylor (bassist with Rialto), Matt White (guitarist with The Egg), Ned Scott (keyboardist with The Egg) and Carl Barat (guitarist with The Libertines and later with Dirty Pretty Things).

The boys done good. On both halfs of the single.

mp3 : Wolfman, featuring Peter Doherty – For Lovers
mp3 : Wolfman, featuring Peter Doherty – Back From The Dead

I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that Pete would still be with us 10 years on such was his the extent of his headlong plunge into hedonism.

Enjoy.

James

THE JAMES SINGLES (10)

Fontana Records wanted to maintain the momentum of finally getting James into the singles charts. No sooner had How Was It For You? dropped out of the Top 75 then the next single was lined up for release.

But to long-term fans it all appeared a bit of a con as it was a re-release of Come Home which just seven months earlier had been issued by Rough Trade.

Doubly galling was the news that it would again be subject to all sorts of formatting with a 7″ having a pink sleeve with silver writing, a 12″ having a purple sleeve with silver writing, a 12″ live version having a green sleeve with gold writing, a CD that had a sleeve of orange with silver writing and a cassette which was purple/silver.

The difference in this version of Come Home was that is was mixed with the dance floor in mind with uber-producer Flood brought into oversee things. And for the real hardcore clubbers, the song was also given to Andrew Weatherall to have a go at……….

The results were a completely different sounding James than before and as far away from the Folklore-era Factory days as could be imagined. But it worked….thanks in part to the quality of Come Home as a song but also the fact that the re-mixes were right out of the top drawer.

This is a single I have in all the vinyl formats, so here goes with the songs:-

mp3 : James – Come Home (Flood Mix)
mp3 : James – Dreaming Up Tomorrow
mp3 : James – Come Home (extended Flood Mix)
mp3 : James – Fire Away (extended mix)
mp3 : James – Stutter (live)
mp3 : James – Come Home (live)
mp3 : James – Gold Mother (remixed by Warp)*
mp3 : James – Come Home (remix by Weatherall)

The live version of Stutter is taken from the same show as provided the tracks for the b-sides of How Was It For You? The live version of Come Home is from a radio session recorded in April 1990. The two new b-sides are among my favourite James songs – indeed Fire Away has the distinction of being the very first song I ever posted over on the old blog back in September 2006.

The remixes? Everyone of them stunning….with a special mention to the Warp remix of the LP’s title track. Totally unexpected and a real joy.

Despite all this, the single only reached #32….but it was one of those ones that sold for weeks and months afterwards in reasonable numbers as those who frequented the clubs looked to pick up the mixes that DJs were playing up and down the country.

Enjoy

* the previous jumpy version of Goldmother has now been replaced with a fresh recording…..

Frank & Walters, Fuck Buttons, Future Islands

FROM THE SOUTH-WEST CORRESPONDENT…THE F-WORD

Tim Badger chose the letter F…

Three of my favourite bands start with the letter F – these are The Family Cat, Four Tet and Fucked Up but the rules state that I can’t post the same band twice, so I have to skip over these bands, so this week I have gone for a bit of electronica, a bit of old school indie and what is definitely my favourite song of the year so far. I also know Tim Badger quite well and he mailed me and said, that the ‘F better contain Weekender by Flowered Up, as it’s the best song by a band beginning with ‘F’ ever’. He’s wrong. As usual. That honour goes to I Want to Know what Love Is? by Foreigner and secretly you all know that I’m right.

Firstly I want you to have a read of something…. Finished laughing…Good. Now swap the word UB40 for the words Fuck Buttons and this story becomes instantly more believable. I would love to read what happened to Anna Webster’s ears after she attended a Fuck Buttons gig. I can see the quote now ‘I left after 45 minutes because my eardrums had exploded and my bottom lip had come loose from the pounding non stop beat’. By the way I love Fuck Buttons and would probably consider it an honour to have my hearing permanently damaged from one of their live shows.

For those of you who don’t know, Fuck Buttons are two piece from Bristol that formed in 2004 and are heavily influenced by Aphex Twin and Mogwai and you will hear that from the sound that they create, a sound that was once described as something akin to the noise made at the end of the world. If this is true then it is perhaps only fair that their music was chosen to feature in the Opening Ceremony at the London 2012 Olympics. Just before the queen jumped out of the chopper with James Bond, if I remember rightly.

Their third album Slow Focus was released last year and a brief hiatus whilst Ben Power from the band worked on his Blanck Mass side project (also excellent and worthy of your attention). It certainly didn’t disappoint and featured heavily in the end of year music polls that we all find so interesting. I don’t think there is anyone out there right now doing anything as adventurous and as aurally stimulating as Fuck Buttons. In the past they have used old Casio keyboards, power tools and karaoke machines to make music with, who does that! Their sound is difficult to categorise, they make sensual exhilarating and majestic music, lets put it that way. The track I’ve posted The Red Wing starts with a simple percussion beat and then they just add layers and layers to it – you can almost see the percussion shrinking away in the background to a tiny pinprick. Once they described their name as ‘Playful and Abrasive’, that describes the music perfectly.

mp3 : Fuck Buttons – The Red Wing

It’s difficult to follow Fuck Buttons with anything but let’s try some old school indie. I first heard How Do I Exist? by The Frank and Walters when I walking to local shop when I lived in Plumstead. Regular readers will recall that I was burgled whilst living there and to be honest I didn’t much like the place. I used to get CDs sent to me all the time, my job was to review them and hope so paper published what I thought of them. I’d been into The Franks when I was younger, but had kind of ignored anything released after the terrible After All record.

So I was sceptical – I’d even pre written the review, ‘It’s the Frank and Walters. Buy something else instead, you won’t regret it’ or something equally rubbish I think I’d written. Then on a stroll down the road to buy some biscuits, listening to a cassette on a Walkman, it came on. A gorgeous string inspired tear stained wonder of a record and then you remembered, that The Franks made great records, records that if you put them all together would soundtrack a very good summer (apart from After All, that is terrible). ‘How Can I Exist?’ is as close to perfection as the Franks ever managed it is bursting with more truly heartfelt emotion than most bands ever manage in their careers, yet it avoids sounding pompous or overblown. It makes me wonder how on earth they managed to fall off the radar when they made records as great as this.

mp3 : The Frank and Walters – How Can I Exist?

Talking of great records, a few weeks ago Future Islands released Seasons (Waiting on You), which is right now holding firm as the best record I have heard this year. Yup better than Happy by Pharrell Williams.

Just after the release of their fourth album Singles the bad were invited on to the Letterman Show and there they played ‘Seasons’ and delivered a performance so staggering, so jaw droppingly fucking magnificent that all of a sudden a big secret had been let out of the bag. Put ‘Future Islands Letterman’ into a search engine and you will understand.

Take the singer – Here is this guy with sensible clothes on, a receding hairline and dancing like he is at a wedding and he is delivering absolute pop perfection on a TV PROGRAMME that doesn’t happen and he doesn’t give a wet one in a spacesuit how uncool he looks because after that we will all look him, dance like him and pretend we can sing like him. He knows that they are destined for big massive epic things, the thing is, he could be you or me (well the chaps among us). What does it sound like? Reader, this is the best song New Order never wrote. If Barney Sumner wrote this in 1987 we would still be talking about it to this day. That’s what it sounds like.

mp3 : Future Islands – Seasons

Next week its the turn of Q,

Oh and I was joking about Foreigner.

S-WC

Aztec Camera, Go-Betweens, Josef K, Orange Juice, Postcard Records

SIMPLY THRILLED : THE PREPOSTEROUS STORY OF POSTCARD RECORDS by SIMON GODDARD

All three previous books on pop music written by Simon Goddard have been a delight to read and so I was bursting with excitement and anticipation approaching the release of his endeavours to tell the story of Postcard Records .
As someone who is old-fashioned enough to still want to walk into a shop to buy things rather than go on-line, I set out on a tour of book stores across Glasgow on the supposed day of publication only to find none had been delivered, although very helpfully I was informed some book and record shops were expecting copies in time for Record Store Day on Saturday 19 April.

Sadly, this didn’t prove to be the case. I could have gone to a personal appearance by the author the following day and picked up a copy but couldn’t reschedule pre-arranged plans. On Easter Monday the shops were closed, and come Tuesday and Wednesday I was too busy with work to find time to get into the city centre shops. Thankfully, the late night openings on Thursday allowed me to take care of things. All that pent-up energy waiting to see what was behind the wonderfully designed cover led me to read the first few pages on the train home rather than do the usual thing of getting lost in music.

It was a strange introduction in that a short but informative prologue told the tragic story of Louis Wain, the Victorian and Edwardian era artist whose drumming cat became the symbol adopted by Postcard. It’s only a short journey from the city centre to my home…just enough time to read the seven-page prologue and whet my appetite for what was to follow.

Over the course of the next two nights, interspersed by a particularly tiring and troublesome day at the office, I devoured the remaining 240 pages of the book. And I woke up on Saturday morning feeling a bit iffy and sick as if I’d eaten something that was a bit off.

It pains me to say it but Simply Thrilled : The Preposterous Story of Postcard Records was a bit of a let-down. I’m not saying it’s a badly written or boring book – far from it – but the sense of excitement and anticipation of the chase of getting my hands on a copy was far greater than what I felt as I turned its pages.

The fault lies with the way the author has gone about the task. The publicity material churned out by the publishers says:-

“This is the preposterous true story of Postcard Records, the renegade label which, with its mad DIY ethic, kickstarted the 1980s’ indie music revolution. From its riotous punk origins to the intertwining sagas of Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and cult heroes Josef K, this is how they took on and triumphed over the London ‘music biz’ big boys, against all odds. Acclaimed music writer Simon Goddard has interviewed everyone involved in the making of the legend of Postcard Records. The result is a giddy farce involving backstabbing, ‘Arthur Atrocious’, gluttony, heartbreak, ‘Disco Harry’, cheap speed, ‘Janice Fuck’, disillusion, Victorian lunatics and knickerbocker glories. But it’s also the story of creating something beautiful from nothing, against all the odds.”

Simon Goddard has interviewed everyone and has seemingly taken everything they said at face value and published it. He himself knows such an approach is risky – in the foreword to the book he says what follows is a fairy-tale and not a documentary. He admits that many people’s recollections contradicted one another while others were distorted for what could be any of a number of reasons.

So what we get is a book which feels too much of an in-joke in which the main protagonists tell the story as they want it to be remembered and which, understandably, puts them in the best possible light. This book isn’t really the story of Postcard Records – it’s more the like one of those projects in which people are asked to give their memories of a time and a place – in this instance Glasgow in the late 70s and early 80s – for a talented writer to record for posterity. I do admire the tenacity of the author in getting the notoriously reclusive Alan Horne, the brains behind the whole Postcard venture, to speak to him in such depth.

It’s quite clear that Simon and Alan spent countless hours together and there can be no argument that the mogul has a treasure-chest of wonderful anecdotes, many of which are embellished throughout the book. But such is the size of the shadow cast by Alan Horne that I can’t help but feel that the story would have been better told as an authorized biography of his life and times rather than having others come in and say completely contradictory things and so confuse matters.

In terms of the music, the main focus is on Orange Juice and Josef K which is fair enough given that between them they accounted for around three-quarters of the material released on the label. And while the chapter on the Go-Betweens is one of the most enjoyable in the book – Glasgow must have seemed like a strange and alien planet to Grant McLennan and Robert Foster – the dearth of material on Aztec Camera is a bitter disappointment. They don’t feature until well into the book and there’s not actually all that much said about them.

It’s almost as if this version of the story of Postcard comes to a crashing halt at the time Orange Juice decamped to a major label and Josef K called it quits in the aftermath of one disastrous gig too many in a Glasgow discotheque in August 1981. It certainly reads to me that Roddy Frame was signed to the label only because it allowed it to boast of having a 16-year old wunderkid on the books rather than the label owner actually liking his music. As such, it is no real surprise that Alan Horne makes no real effort to make a star out of Roddy.

Simon Goddard admits he has written a preposterous tale which means he hasn’t been able to come up with the definitive story of Postcard Records. And therein lies my disappointment in his latest book. In saying all of this, I am glad I bought Simply Thrilled. It has a number of very funny and outrageous tales although whether they are true or not is another matter.

It is also a reminder that the Glasgow of the late 70s and early 80s was not the greatest place in the world if you dared to be different and a bit of a dreamer. It was a conservative city in its outlook and its attitudes and all too often those traits made it a dangerous and frightening place for flamboyant and confrontational characters like Alan Horne and Edwyn Collins.

The book ends at the point in time when Alan Horne gets the opportunity to set up Swamplands as part of the London Records empire. How that came about is one of the best and loveliest stories in the entire book….but to say anything more would be to spoil things.

I think I can however, get away with quoting, in full, the afterword:- “So when is your book ending? Just with Postcard? Those were sort of my normal years compared to what came after. Seriously, the real nuttiness was when I went down to London. That’s a whole different soap opera of insanity there. Another story. God! That’s a whole other book…” – ALAN HORNE Here’s hoping.

It’s not that long since I posted all of the Postcard singles on the blog, so today I’ll link in a few alternative takes, all inspired by the book:-

mp3 : Orange Juice – Felicity (flexi version)

(recorded April 1979 at an Edinburgh concert on a low-fi cassette by Malcolm Ross; made available on flexidisc with copies of Falling & Laughing as well as various fanzines)

mp3 : Josef K – Heaven Sent

(recorded for a Peel session in June 1981; given a posthumous release as a single in 1987 by which time Paul Haig had re-recorded it in a completely different style at the outset of his solo career. Oh and the tune is also near-identical to that of Turn Away as appears on the Orange Juice LP Rip It Up)

mp3 : Aztec Camera – We Could Send Letters (NME Version)

(different mix from the Postcard b-side; made available on C81, a mail order cassette from the NME)

mp3 : Go-Betweens – Your Turn, My Turn

(a song Grant and Robert offered to Postcard for release as a second single on the label but which was turned down flat by Alan Horne)

Enjoy.

Morrissey, Vini Reilly

THE MOZ SINGLES (Part 7)

Released in February 1988, a matter of months after The Smiths had split-up, Suedehead was not only adored by fans but critically acclaimed in the press – unlike many subsequent singles and LPs.

The music on the single, and its additional tracks, was written by Stephen Street, who up to that point in time was known only as a record producer. Street also played bass guitar on the record. Lead guitar duties (as well as keyboards) were undertaken by Vini Reilly, better known as the brains and talent behind cult Factory Records act The Durutti Column, while the drums were pounded by session musician Andrew Paresi (his previous best-known work was with 80s UK pop act Bucks Fizz).

Such is the craft in particular of the hugely talented Reilly that Suedehead could very easily pass as a single by The Smiths, and there’s no doubt that this contributed enormously to Morrissey’s debut single reaching #5 in the UK singles charts – a position much higher than any single released by his former band. (It remained his biggest chart hit in terms of any single until 2004)

The initial critical acclaim continued over the coming weeks and months thanks to the release of debut LP Viva Hate, which also had a number of songs that sounded as if they were the work of his former band. However, some journalists, and indeed fans, took Morrissey to task over some of the lyrical content and subject matters of songs on Viva Hate, and I reckon its fair to say that he was never so widely regarded and loved ever again.

But getting back to Suedehead……It’s a single that still sounds great 26 years after its release, and that’s down to the combination of Morrissey singing as well as he’s ever done, the fact that Vini Reilly chose in effect to pay tribute to Johnny Marr and indeed the musical and production skills of Stephen Street.

If ever Morrissey had any doubts about the break-up of The Smiths, these would surely have been swept aside by the reaction to this single and indeed the b-sides (from the vinyl anyway) which are also among the most popular solo recordings in what is now a very lengthy career. Indeed there are some who say it all went downhill from here…..

mp3 : Morrissey – Suedehead
mp3 : Morrissey – I Know Very Well How I Got My Name
mp3 : Morrissey – Hairdresser On Fire
mp3 : Morrissey – Oh Well, I’ll Never Learn

The first 3 songs are on the 12″ version of the single but the last was exclusive to the CD single.

Oh and the cover star is a very intense (and thin) Morrissey from a photo taken at a London gig by The Smiths back in 1986.

Finally, here’s a cover version which you will either love or loath:-

mp3 : Vini Reilly – Hairdresser On Fire

Rumour has it that Morrissey, on hearing this, decided on the spot to end his working relationship with Vini….

Enjoy.

Jock Scot, Nectarine #9, Paul Quinn & Nectarine #9, Paul Quinn & The Independent Group

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SINGLE (Part 90)

OK…..it wasn’t really a single release. But it’s an excuse to feature Paul Quinn for a fourth successive Saturday.

It’s simply a posting of the four tracks that made up the Pregnant With Possibilities EP released on the revived Postcard Records back in 1995, (catalogue number DUBH 952CD).

mp3 : Paul Quinn & The Nectarine No.9 – Tiger Tiger
mp3 : Paul Quinn & The Independent Group – Will I Ever Be Inside Of You
mp3 : Jock Scot & The Nectarine No.9 – Just Another Fucked-Up Little Druggy On The Scene
mp3 : Jock Scot – Grunge Girl Groan

The mighty Quinn’s final release is to be found on this EP, which hit the shops after the release of the two LPs with the Independent Group. In fact, I know that mine was bought from Avalanche Records in Glasgow on 26 June 1995 and it cost me £3.99 as there’s an annoying bar code sticker on the back of the sleeve that I don’t want to remove for fear of damage…

Some of you might not know much about the other artists who feature on the EP.

I’ve cribbed this bio about Jock Scot from elsewhere, as it captures him just about perfectly and also gives you some info about The Nectarine No.9:-

Born 21 September 1952. Leith, Edinburgh.

Jock began his career in the music industry as a renowned supplier of “good vibes”, providing his services to entertainers as diverse as Ian Dury and The Blockheads, The Clash, Blondie, Talking Heads, B52s, Taj Mahal, Dr. Feelgood, Rip Rig and Panic, Neneh Cherry, Viv Stanshall and Wreckless Eric. He rarely let them down, and when he did it was in spectacular fashion.

After waking up in a broom cupboard at the end of a particularly arduous tour, he settled in London at the time the west London scene was wakening up again, centered around a pub in Portobello Road, the Warwick Castle. It was here that Jock started reading his poems to the public, where they were loved by both speed-crazed street sweepers and landed gentry.

Thousands of readings later, in 1993, his first book, “Where Is My Heroine?” was printed and rapidly sold out. It was also around this time he made his first excursions to vinyl and cd, renewing an old acquaintance with Davey Henderson, who he had known from the Edinburgh days, when Henderson was fronting the Fire Engines.

Their first recorded collaboration was on “Going Off Someone” – a track on Henderson’s new band, The Nectarine No.9′s first Postcard e.p., “Unloaded For You”. Subsequently, Scot appeared on their second album “Saint Jack”, and on a Postcard sampler ep, “Pregnant With Possibilities.

The logical outcome was a full length album – “My Personal Culloden”, which was released in May 1997, followed by the release of his first single “Tape Your Head On”, a cover version of a song which originally appeared on his musical cohorts, The Nectarine No.9′s “Saint Jack” album.

I know since then that Jock has released some more material, including 2006′s The Caledonian Blues, recorded with Gareth Sager (ex The Pop Group and Rip, Rig & Panic).

As mentioned above Davey Henderson has been a legendary part of the music scene in Scotland for nigh on three decades. Given his own vocal talents don’t feature on the EP, I thought it only fair to offer up my own favourite Nectarine No.9 song:-

mp3 : The Nectarine No.9 – Don’t Worry Babe, You’re Not The Only One Awake

Enjoy

Pulp

COMMERCIAL SUICIDE

After waiting well over a decade to enjoy commercial success, it was a bit of a shock when Pulp embarked on such a high-profile and deliberate fall from grace with their next LP.

The fact speak for themselves – flop albums in 1983, 1987 and 1992 before gaining a degree of popularity in 1994 with His’n’Hers. And then it was 1995 and the release of Different Class which eventually sold over 1.2 million copies in the UK alone – a quite astonishing feat for a band who up until that point had only ever had two Top 40 singles/EPs in their career.

While it is true that Different Class rode in on the tails of the Britpop era that saw pop music become fashionable again and part of everyday culture, it doesn’t detract from the fact that it is a cracking piece of work (albeit not as cracking as His’n’Hers in my humble opinion).

But all was not well in Pulp-land. When they went back into the studio to begin work on the new LP, with all the hopes and expectations of not only the record label but also an adoring public, there was nothing happening. Jarvis Cocker couldn’t come up with any words or tunes, and even more crucially, guitarist, violinist and key member of the band Russell Senior decided to leave.

The band eventually managed to record new material, and the first thing to emerge was the single Help The Aged in November 1997 which was about as far removed from the chant-a-long songs which had led to so many folk embracing the band. At this stage, it might still have been regarded as a one-off Cocker-like prank to choose the most awkward and difficult of the new songs to be the lead-off single, but it became clear in March 1998 with the release of the next single that Pulp were going to lose a lot of mainstream fans and not get many new recruits to replace them:-

mp3 : Pulp – This Is Hardcore
mp3 : Pulp – Ladies’ Man
mp3 : Pulp – The Professional
mp3 : Pulp – This Is Hardcore (end of the line remix)

This was difficult and uncompromising stuff of the highest or lowest order, depending on your point of view. But it’s too easy to dismiss it as a song about porn…it could easily be interpreted as Jarvis using sex and sexual imagery to attack anyone in power, whether it be the captains of industry in the likes of film, music or newspaper or indeed on politicians who had, for a while, gotten off on Britpop only to walk away when the musicians started dishing out the criticism.

But whatever the intentions behind the song, it remains one of the bleakest and yet most brilliantly subversive bits of music ever to have been played on the radio, climbing to #12 in the UK charts. Hell, it even managed an appearance on Top Of The Pops.

The b-sides were hugely uncompromising and self-mocking and then to top all of that, CD2 had some astonishing remixes to further confuse everyone:-

mp3 : Pulp – This Is Hardcore (4 hero remix)
mp3 : Pulp – This Is Hardcore (Swedish Erotica remix)
mp3 : Pulp – This Is Hardcore (Stock, Hausen & Walkman’s remix)

Enjoy. I certainly do.

Air

A SECOND CONSECUTIVE APPEARANCE FOR THIS FRENCH CHANTEUSE

From wiki:-

Air is a music duo from Versailles, France, consisting of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel.

Air’s sound is often referred to as electronica; their form of electronic music was influenced by the synthesizer sounds of the 1970s such as Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis, and Francis Lai. Other influences include psychedelic and progressive rock pioneers Pink Floyd; film composer Ennio Morricone; krautrockers Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk; early pioneers of the eurodance electronica subgenre Space; Jean-Jacques Perrey and Claude Perraudin (although there are some echoes of dance music styles in the production); French crooner Serge Gainsbourg (Histoire de Melody Nelson, for example); and soft rock duo The Carpenters (Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft, originally by progressive rock band Klaatu for example).

The thing is, if I was to read all of that before hearing any of the music I’d be expecting something bloody awful and unlistenable to the point of being up its own arse. And yet, this 1998 single is pretty irresistible:-

mp3 : Air – Sexy Boy (radio edit)

It was #13 hit here in the UK which remains the highest-placing they’ve managed to achieve. There were three remixes made available:-

mp3 : Air – Sexy Boy (Sex Kino Mix)
mp3 : Air – Sexy Boy (Cassius Radio Mix)
mp3 : Air – Sexy Boy (Etienne de Crecy et Les Flower Pistols Remix)

The first of these is by Beck Hansen, and as you’d expect, is quite idiosyncratic. The others are by well-known French DJs/performers.

There’s one more track available on the single:-

mp3 : Air (avec Francoise Hardy) – Jeanne

That’s two in a row for Ms Hardy following on from yesterday’s appearance with Blur. This song is one that she has been given a writing credit for alongside messrs Godin and Dunckel. It’s quite tasty….

Blur

A LA FIN

May 1994.

Blur had just enjoyed their biggest chart hit to date with Girls & Boys. The song chosen as the follow-up single was a bit of surprise. Instead of taking the easy way out with another upbeat indie-pop number, the boys went for a very sad ballad, complete with lush orchestration and some lyrics that needed subtitles:-

mp3 : Blur – To The End

It climbed to #16 in the charts which was higher than most of the band’s previous eight singles, but was probably something of a disappointment to all concerned at the time. The co-vocal is provided by Laetitia Sadier who was at the time part of the wonderful Stereolab.

The single was released in 2 x CD format, with one of the formats featuring a couple of non-album tracks:-

mp3 : Blur – Threadneedle Street
mp3 : Blur – Got Yer!

Both tracks are perhaps a little bit Blur by numbers, but that doesn’t mean they are dull and boring. Got Yer! in fact must have been a candidate for inclusion on the LP Parklife as one of those odd little tracks that the band were fond of using to break up the pop songs.

Of much more interest was the fact that two versions of the Pet Shop Boys remix of Girls & Boys were made available on the other format:-

mp3 : Blur – Girls & Boys (Pet Shop Boys 7″ remix)
mp3 : Blur – Girls & Boys (Pet Shop Boys 12″ remix)

Some 15 months later, an awful lot of people would find themselves owning a new, longer, lusher and more French version of To The End thanks to its inclusion as one of the tracks on the smash single Country House:-

mp3 : Blur – To The End (comedie)

This time the co-vocal was provided by the iconic chanteuse Francoise Hardy whose recording career stretches back to 1962. She was 50 years of age when she sang alongside Damon Albarn which seemed ancient to me back then. I’m now nearly 51 years old………………

Enjoy

James Blake, Joey BadA$$, Joy Formidable

FROM THE SOUTH-WEST CORRESPONDENT ….JAY TALKIN’

JC chose the letter J. This was an inspired choice as it reminded me of something that happened a couple of weeks ago.

There are a lot of people that I really don’t like. Phil Collins, CJ from Eggheads, most of the current UK Government to name some people I don’t like but have never met. However a couple of weeks back whilst sitting in a room for two hours with only an iPod, a copy of the Great Gatsby and the Guardian for company I met a man who within twenty minutes I loathed, and that people I am afraid to say was solely down to his musical tastes, well that and the fact he was a bigoted old fool with a face like Keith Richards scrotum. So what follows is a true story revolving around one artist beginning with J and at the end I add two songs by artists beginning with J on to it to give it some form of meaning.

So I’m in a room, I have to stay there until it is my turn to go into a bigger room and say some stuff. It’s a work thing. I’m reading the Guardian and listening to the iPod (Thirteen by Teenage Fanclub since you ask), no one else is there and its quite nice.

Nothing else happens for the next hour, I change reading material to The Great Gatsby and change music to a random shuffle. Ten minutes later this bloke comes in, so my peace is kind of disturbed as we do that blokie kind of head nod greeting thing we do. Six minutes pass, the music keeps playing I’ve just had Over and Over by Hot Chip.

‘This your paper?’ says the man, unfolding it and starting to read it (straight to the sports pages, just so you know). It is my Guardian, ‘Help yourself ‘ I say and he does. Three minutes pass. ‘Lefty nonsense’ he says throwing it down in a heap on the table. He read two pages of the sport. It was the morning after Chelsea lost to PSG (the first leg) so I think it was a bad performance (I should say, my team, are languishing in mid table obscurity in League One).

‘What you listening to?’. Aah, the question I dread when I have an iPod on. I think I sighed. I probably shouldn’t have done. Right then I was listening to Amethyst Rockstar by up and coming East Coast Rapper Joey Bada$$.

Joey Bada$$ hails from New York and is part of the Pro Era Collective that have been gaining attention in the US for a while. He is 19 years of age and is quite a talent. My knowledge and liking of hip hop is limited. I loved Kendrick Lamar’s last album, think Chuck D is a genius and think Lil’Wayne is over rated, oh and Snoop Dogg fits into the category discussed at the top of the page. For me Joey Bada$$ is one of the most exciting things to happen to hip hop in a long time. I’ve posted ‘Amethyst Rockstar’ for you to make up your own minds about it. He is 19 people, what were you doing when you were 19? I was smoking Marlboro, moaning about student grants, and wearing Levellers T Shirts (mainly), I wasn’t writing songs and lyrics as fantastic as this, oh and having a $ in your name means something in hip hop, I don’t know what I’m 38 years of age, I can just about remember where I left my shoes, but A$AP Fergie, A$AP Rocky and a few others might be able to tell you.

mp3 : Joey BadA$$ – Amethyst Rockstar

Anyway…’Joey Bada$$’ I say to the man,( lets call him Keith). ‘Never heard of him’ came the predictable reply – I should state here, I’m not a musical snob, I’m really not, but he was over 45 had a moustache, I’d bet my house on him not having head of Joey Bada$$. ‘Is it rap music – well rap with a C, as I call it’.

Now as you can imagine it took every strain of my soul not fall about laughing at this wonderfully original joke. I sighed again and did that fake cough/laugh thing we do when want someone to shut the fuck up. ‘Yes, its really rather good’.

His turn to cough. It transpires that according to Keith, all rap music is terrible, going on about bitches and hoes and guns all the time, they promote violence and that is a bad thing, he then uses the N word over and over again like it was going out of fashion. Which is uncomfortable, I think he tried to use it in an ironic way, but white men over 45 with moustaches shouldn’t use it, ever. End of.

He continued, his music tastes were quite eclectic apparently. ‘I love everything from Queen (quote ‘Freddie was a bit of ponce, but you know, good songs’) to Elbow, oh and a band you might not have heard of, Nickelback’. Aarrghhh , please make him leave. I humour him.

‘I’ve never heard of Nickelback, they any good, what do they sound like?’ (correct answer, they sound like the musical equivalent of having your balls kicked by a buffalo. Twice. In quick succession. Whilst the buffalo is wearing concrete shoes.). ‘They rock, big time, they are quite cool’ (are they? Really?).

I genuinely like most music, I have previously bought a Simply Red album (I was thirteen) so I can do mainstream MOR, but I’m was thinking right now that I am willing to bet that he doesn’t own a single rap album, or a single techno album or for that matter anything that isn’t centred around a man singing whilst accompanied by an electric guitar. I was wrong… he went on ‘Adele, I like her, bit fat mind you’. I apologise he likes Adele despite her podgy arms. Lucky her.

Twenty Minutes he’d been in the room I genuinely thought about pretending I had a call on my phone. Then he said that The Great Gatsby was ‘a bit gay’ but I think he’s probably never read it. Then my saviour’s voice came over the speaker, my name was called out. I stood up and then Keith said ‘Nice to meet you’. The pleasure was all mine, Keith.

So, Keith, if you are reading…these two are for you, a little bit of variety….And I don’t want to waffle on about these songs both are great – one features a cover version of a Joni Mitchell record and doesn’t feature guitars, just a piano. The other does contain guitars but has a woman singing who isn’t fat (but she is Welsh). Isn’t she clever.

mp3 : James Blake – A Case of You

mp3 : The Joy Formidable – The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade

I’ll be in a better mood next week.

S-WC

XTC

REMEMBERING XTC

There’s a terrific little song from the late Ian Dury called There Aint Half Been Some Clever Bastards in which a number of folk from the entertainment industry are given a loving name check. I’d like to think that if anyone was around willing to update the song, they would have a go at including the name of Andy Partridge.

He is of course best known as the guitarist and main songwriter for XTC. However, he’s also recorded songs under a string of aliases and worked with dozens of other acts either as producer, songwriter or performer. Away from music, he’s been an agony-aunt on a Radio 1 show, a panelist on quiz shows and he’s written a series of comedy sketches that have appeared on television in the UK. Oh and in doing some more research, I learned that he’s also had an uncredited one-off appearance as a cricket commentator in the cartoon series Family Guy.

Not bad for a guy who suffered from such appalling stage-fright that he insisted his band give up touring just as they were becoming famous – a decision which in all likelihood cost them a place at the top table of the very best of British pop groups as the opportunities to grow the fan base was limited to radio and the odd TV appearance.

And yet it may have been the ability to concentrate entirely on studio output rather than a live sound that made XTC so special to so many people as they released one excellent album after another over a fifteen-year period up to the early 1990s. And every album produced at least one humdinger of a single, even if many of them failed to trouble the higher echelons of the charts.

They first came to prominence in late 1979 with Making Plans For Nigel, a song on which the lead vocals were taken by bassist Colin Moulding, thus leading many newcomers to thinking that he and not Partridge was the main driving force behind XTC. The two follow-up singles in the early months of 1980, Ten Feet Tall and Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down were Partridge compositions and vocals, but both flopped. At this point in time, it would have been fair to think that the band could have quietly faded away having enjoyed their brief flirt with fame.

But later that year came the release of the LP Black Sea, a truly stunning and wonderful piece of work of which just about any of the 11 tracks could have been a hit single. In the end, four singles were released by Virgin Records, of which the biggest hit was, at long-last, a Partridge number – Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me)

With no tours to concern them, the band were soon back at work in the studio with Partridge promising that the next LP would be the one they would be best remembered for. The first taste of what was to come appeared in January 1982, with the release of the single Senses Working Overtime, which went Top 10. The LP followed a month later. Sadly, it didn’t quite live up to Partridge’s pre-release claims.

Maybe the problem was that it was a double LP which was a bit of a rarity in the post-punk days (London Calling notwithstanding), with some songs stretching out to over six minutes in length, which again was unusual for the period in question. The follow-up singles Ball and Chain, and No Thugs In Our House also flopped.

Never slow to cash in on one of their acts having some time in the limelight, Virgin Records put out Waxworks, a collection of singles spanning 1977-1982 just in time for the Xmas market.

The band then recorded and released the LPs Mummer in 1983, The Big Express in 1984 and Skylarking in 1986 to little or no fanfare. But 1987 saw another upturn in their fortunes with the song Dear God, which began life as a b-side but was later resurrected as a single (shades of The Smiths and How Soon Is Now?). This period coincided with MTV in America picking up on the band, and the 1989 double LP Oranges and Lemons, as well the singles King For A Day and The Loving sold as well as anything in their career.

Another double LP, Nonsuch, was released in 1992 at which point in time the band fell out with Virgin Records. As a consequence, it would take until 1999 before the next XTC album came out, although the intervening period was filled with yet more collections of hits and rarities.

I’m a big fan of just about any of the singles XTC released between 1977 and 1992. They were lyrically clever and the tunes were more often than not different from most of the pop fodder that was kicking around. Neither did the band didn’t stick with one particular sound throughout that period in time.

My favourite single of theirs is that top 10 hit from 1982 :-

mp3 : XTC – Senses Working Overtime

I love the really quiet acoustic opening and the gradual build-up in tempo and sound all the way to Andy Partridge calling out 1-2-3-4-5 and then the infectious chorus. There’s just so much to enjoy in this song with all sorts of instrumentation going on in the background. It’s fantastically produced and it has aged magnificently. Indeed, it’s such a tremendous song that it deserves to feature here on its own and not have any of the other great XTC singles alongside to distract you.

Enjoy.