THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #323: STARLESS

Photo-2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

mp3: Starless – Paper (feat. Emma Pollock)

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

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

mp3: Starless – Paper (AXOR remix)

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

JC

Tindersticks

NOSTALGIA IN SEPTEMBER (4)

tindersticks-marbles

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

A Marriage Made In Heaven

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

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

Jism

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

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

Travelling Light

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

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

JC

Various

NOSTALGIA IN SEPTEMBER (3)

thumbnail_IMG_1643

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s some songs:-

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

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

JC

PJ Harvey

NOSTALGIA IN SEPTEMBER (2)

pj2

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

Here’s Craig……

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

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

Sheela Na Gig

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

Kamikaze

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

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

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

The Glorious Land

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

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

CRAIG

LCD Soundsystem

NOSTALGIA IN SEPTEMBER (1)

James-Murphy

JC writes…..

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

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

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

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

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

Daft Punk is Playing At My House

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

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

Dance Yrself Clean

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

All My Friends

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

SWC

Various

ICA WORLD CUP 2022 : GROUP H : THE RESULTS

vlcsnap-00574

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

mp3: The Affectionate Punch – Scars III

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

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

Panini-FEAT

JC

Various

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

icaworldcup

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

JC

Stanley Odd

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #322: STANLEY ODD

stanley+odd

Stanley Odd. A Scottish hip-hop band.

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

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

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

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

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

mp3: Stanley Odd – Killergram

One of the singles that was lifted from Reject.

JC

Various

TALKING ABOUT OVER HYPING THINGS

R-623058-1190317683

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

mp3: Big Leaves – Sly Alibi

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

More typical of the CD is this:-

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

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

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

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

mp3: To Rococo Rot – Telema

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

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

JC

Various

MUSIC THAT MATTERS

images

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

mp3: Various – Music That Matters

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

Bang on 60 minutes.

JC

Field Mice

AN OBVIOUS SONG FOR TODAY

R-409842-1256200748

It’s the last day of August. Which can only mean one thing:-

mp3: The Field Mice – September’s Not So Far Away

Released on 7″ vinyl by Sarah Records (SARAH 44) this was one of The Field Mice‘s final singles prior to them breaking up at the tail end of 1991. It is a very fine example of indie-twee pop with all sorts of things to tick off the checklist…..jangly guitars, a fragile and uneasy sounding lead vocal delivery, an angelic sounding female backing vocal, a lyric about the end of a relationship, and a tune which invites the dance floor at the indie disco to be filled to its tiny capacity.

As I’ve said before, I was very late to The Field Mice, but then again I didn’t do well in terms of really keeping up with what was happening in indie music outside my immediate environs in the late 80s/early 90s. It has, however, been a bit of a blast making so many discoveries in subsequent years, with my education on the band really only becoming more or less complete when I picked up in 2007, a decade after it was actually issued, the 2xCD 36-track compilation Where Did You Learn To Kiss That Way?

The b-side to the single can also be found on the compilation:-

mp3: The Field Mice – Between Hello and Goodbye

It’s indie-ballad time, led for the most part by an acoustic guitar and melodies. It’s a short tune, not much over two minutes in length, and so I’m certain must have found its way onto many a mixtape back in the day – particularly if the artefact was being curated/compiled by someone with a sensitive nature, as well as good taste.

JC

James

THE TUESDAY MORNING HI-QUALITY VINYL RIP : Part 71: JAMES

R-1632993-1233527731

I’m going back to February 2014 to re-post something from that time, partly as it covers everything I have to say about the song, but also that I was surprised it had been more than eight years since I embarked on the quest to have a weekly look, in chronological order, at the 45s released by James.

One of my favourite early James singles and the least favourite of the sleeves.

The latter half of 86, all of 87 and early 88 was a strange time to be a James fan. It was also a frustrating time to be in the band, and I’m assuming even more frustrating to be part of the label to which the band had signed.

James were uncompromising in how they wanted to sound while Sire Records had made it clear that if they didn’t release material that was more commercial or radio-friendly then nothing would ever see the light of day. In early 1987, a new album was recorded, but the label demanded a ‘better’ mix which just wasn’t forthcoming. It really did look for a while as if we had seen the last of the band.

The boys eventually relented and in return the label agreed that they would back a new single which was released in March 1988, a full 18 months after the previous 45. What For turned out to be a stunning record. Joyous, anthemic and completely radio-friendly. It was surely destined for the Top 10. It even had whistling on it!!

Except……….the record label felt it was still too indie-sounding to be deserving of a promotional push and so again it was left to the late night DJs to try and champion it….but the problem being that the band had been away for too long and nobody was really all that interested.

A crime for which lots of folk should be put in the dock and found guilty.

A 12″ copy of this single sits in the cupboard so here we go:-

mp3 : James – What For (Climax Mix)

The b-sides are worthy of your attention.

mp3 : James – Island Swing
mp3 : James – Not There

Island Swing perhaps suffers from having a wee bit too much in the way of harmonica and the second half of the song doesn’t match the opening minute or so, which is quite tremendous, but there can’t be many bands that have done something this jaunty as a dig at the British Empire and other forms of colonialism – while Not There is an alternative and better version of a song that would later appear on the LP Strip-Mine.

JC

Various

ICA WORLD CUP 2022 : GROUP G : THE RESULTS

FTYHbqdWIAA9p26

When I set out the timetable for this ICA World Cup, I forgot to take into account that there will be occasions when I’m won’t actually be in Villain Towers when the voting deadline passes, the numbers need to be checked and the results posted. Group G ended while myself and Rachel were in Manchester for the weekend (celebrating her birthday which fell yesterday on the Sunday), taking in some live music and some comedy, and catching up with some friends, not least Adam from Bagging Area.

I’m able to post this on schedule as I took the laptop down with me, but much of the work was done in advance by keeping on top of things prior to the cut-off point, with Thursday lunchtime being when I tallied things up with the aim of adding in the final few stragglers some 72 hours later.

Group G had a few big names. It certainly led to a quite unusual voting pattern in that the same five acts were appearing time after time after time, to the extent that after I had counted 20 sets of votes, it was as near a certainty as you could imagine that The Cure (19), Human League (17), Orange Juice (17), Soft Cell (15) and Suede (13) would all proceed comfortably to the knock-out stages. At the other end of things, it was looking that all of Fucked Up (1), Minutemen (1), Malcolm Middleton (3), Trashcan Sinatras (3), Mark Lanegan (4) Mogwai (4) and Paul Haig (4) were on their way out, while Goldfrapp (5) and Talulah Gosh (6) would require to improve dramatically in the second half to stand any chance of catching and overhauling Neil Young (8), The Delgados (9) and Carter USM (10).

By the time I looked at things on Thursday early afternoon, 43 sets of votes had been cast. The top five had even more of a stranglehold on things, with it just being down to who would finish in what position. Positions 6 to 8 were still as was, with time running out for anyone hoping to mount the dramatic late comeback in the style of It’s Immaterial last week.

Come Sunday, in the confines of one of Manchester’s many and very comfortable Premier Inns, I found myself checking up on 46 votes all told.

The Cure 40
Orange Juice 38
Suede 36
Human League 33
Soft Cell 32
Carter USM 21* (coin toss)
Neil Young 21
The Delgados 19

There was a gap to Talulah Gosh (15), Malcolm Middleton (14), Paul Haig (13) and Mark Lanegan (13), all of whom I’d had given a vote to if I was participating, but in the end it didn’t matter.

And with 40 out of a possible 46, The Cure gained votes from 87% of participants, which makes them the likely best performers in the group stages.

That’s us now got 56 of the 64 who will participate in the knock-out stages sorted out, just waiting for Group H to shake itself out, and the stage is just about set for the knock-out stages to get underway this coming Sunday. But for now, and in keeping with the practice since the tournament got underway, a song from an ICA we’ve had to say farewell to.

mp3: Malcolm Middleton – Break My Heart

JC

Various

ICA WORLD CUP 2022 : GROUP H

icaworldcup

Who’s left??

The Affectionate Punch – Scars I *(ICA 257)

Bananarama – Shy Boy (US extended version) (ICA 164)

The Breeders – Saints (ICA 173)

The Chameleons – In Shreds (ICA 294)

Lloyd Cole – Old Enough To Know Better (ICA 300)

Elvis Costello – Alison (ICA 224)

Frightened Rabbit – Fields of Wheat (ICA 214)

Mercury Rev – Planet Caravan (ICA 187)

The Hardy Boys – Wonderful Lie (ICA 275)

The National – Fake Empire (ICA 243)

Josh Rouse – 1972 (ICA 161)

The Sound – Missiles (ICA 264)

The Tragically Hip – New Orleans Is Sinking (ICA 154)

The Triffids – A Trick of the Light (ICA 155)

The Twilight Sad – There’s A Girl In The Corner (ICA 212)

Warren Zevon – Play It All Night Long (ICA 237)

*attributed to Holocaust Nancy as the lead singer on the track.

This might well be the toughest group to predict, given there’s no what could be described as a mega-headliner; Elvis Costello is arguably the best known, albeit Bananarama are by far the biggest selling act.

It’s a mix of singers and bands who have many devotees, and while it is the case that a fair number of the musicians who were part of the acts are no longer with us, at first glance, it looks like the sort of ideal line-up for a one-day festival over a number of stages.

As ever, let me know via the comments section those eight acts you’d like to see make it to the knockout stages, which begin next week. Voting will close at midnight (UK time) next Saturday, which is the 3rd of September.

JC

St Dukes

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #321: ST. DUKES

21647246851

Sometimes it pays to be very patient when you’re hoping to make an impact in the music industry.

St. Dukes formed in Glasgow back in 2014. Consisting of Lewis Douglas (vocals and guitar), Sarah Connor (guitar and vocals), Fraser Hamilton (bass) and Max Orr (drums), they were name-checked early on by some bloggers and music websites as being ones to really keep an eye out for. It took, however, fully five years before any songs emerged, a well-received self-released EP called Stranger By Day.

In due course, the band signed to Last Night From Glasgow and work got underway on the eponymous debut album, which came out in April 2022. The label’s website states that the band has a varied sound, but are best described as ‘Garage Pop Rock’.

mp3: St. Dukes – Animal Glue

That’s the opening track on the album, and one which was selected as an advance single.

JC

Police

STRADLING NEW WAVE AND M.O.R.?

91zvRfiST0L._SL1500_

Having become highly popular in the first half of 1979 with an album and singles originally released back in 1978, there was a huge amount of interest in the new material that was going to be released by The Police.

In September 1979 they unleashed a single which somehow straddled new wave and M.O.R. rock and in doing so turned the band into a global product for mass consumption. In other words, this is the single that re-invented stadium rock, just as those who had fought in the punk wars had thought they were going to win.

mp3 : The Police – Message In A Bottle
mp3 : The Police – Landlord

I’m not going to sit and here and say that this is a dreadful song. Far from it. It’s got a great tune and a catchy chorus to kill for. And the drumming from Stewart Copeland in particular the way he changes tempo all the way through it, is something to behold. Hell, even the bass playing of Sting is top-class stuff. As for Andy Summers on guitar…..well he’s not a million miles away from playing the same notes as can be heard on Don’t Fear The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult which has long been regarded by rockists as a classic.

In fact, I shouldn’t restrict the love for ‘Reaper’ to the rockists as I’ve learned from attending dancing events with Glasgow hipsters of all ages that I am very much in a minority with my distaste for the song…

So, Message In A Bottle was a single tailor-made for sounding brilliant on the radio. Heavy rotation on BBC Radio 1 as well as across the ever-growing independent local stations in the UK meant it was a certainty to hit the #1 spot within a very short space of time. I’ve looked it up. It came in at #8 and the following week it was on top of the pile, eventually spending three weeks at #1.

I bought this single on green vinyl when it was released – just as I owned other earlier singles by the band on different coloured vinyl as part of the marketing ploy by A&M Records.

After the success of Message In A Bottle there would be no need for such gimmickry……

JC

Idlewild

THEIR SOLE TOP 10 SINGLE

R-1223914-1398614085-3901

Idlewild are another on the long list of bands who I’ve a lot of time for without ever immersing myself fully with their material.

I’ve actually a fair number of CD singles sitting on the shelves, most of them picked up cheap after they dropped out of the charts or as second-hand copies. I knew the band had been successful, but I was surprised to find out that they had a run of twelve successive Top 40 singles in the UK, beginning with When I Argue I See Shapes (#19, February 1999) all the way through to El Capitan (#39, July 2005). There’s actually enough more than decent songs from this short space of time to make up a listenable ICA, but I’m sure any true fan with real knowledge of the band would look to the earlier and later material to make it a more rounded and representative effort.

Idlewild formed as far back as 1995, and are still very much on the go today, albeit there have been short periods where they were on hiatus with members concentrating on solo projects.

The one time they cracked the Top 10 in the singles chart was May 2002, when the lead single from their fourth album, The Remote Part, crashed in at #9 on the week of its release:-

mp3 : Idlewild – You Held The World In Your Arms

Ok, it’s got a touch of the anthemic about it, with a chant-a-long chorus helping to drive things along. But with the synths and strings also playing their part, it manages to soar majestically above being bog-standard stadium rock, to the extent that I’d argue it would make for the perfect ICA opening track, one that would surely have got then through the ongoing World Cup group stages if they had been eligible to enter.

It was released on limited edition 7″ vinyl and 2 x CDs. I’ve CD1 in the collection – picked up for 99p after it fell out of the charts – and here’s its two additional tracks:-

mp3 : Idlewild – All This Information
mp3 : Idlewild – No Generation

The first of the b-sides is a reminder that many have made a suggestion that Idlewild can occasionally come across, melodically, as the Scottish R.E.M. It’s a really decent listen.

The second of the b-sides is also worth a few minutes of your time. There are many bands who would have shoved this out as an a-side if they had come up with it.

JC

Kirsty MacColl

THE SONG CO-WRITTEN BY MARR AND MacCOLL

R-951346-1176569370

It was just a week after the break-up of The Smiths in 1987 when Johnny Marr came up with a tune he felt was worth getting some lyrics added to.

He knew his good pal Kirsty MacColl was going through a tough time of it with writer’s block, and his hope was that she would somehow be inspired from him sending her a tune. It eventually did do the trick, although it would be almost four full years before Walking Down Madison took her back into the charts and onto Top of The Pops.

mp3: Kirsty MacColl – Walking Down Madison (7″ edit)

Incidentally, my wee bit of research for this shows that this was Kirsty’s fourth and last solo Top 30 hit. Her first had been There’s A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis (#14, 1981) while Walking Down Madison, a full decade later peaked at #23. There’s a real irony that such a talented songwriter had her two biggest hits courtesy of cover versions – A New England (#7, 1985) and Days (#12, 1989) – I still think it’s a huge injustice that Free World stalled at #43 just a few months before Days was such a hit.

Free World had been a commentary on how the 80s had seen an ugly rightwards drift in UK politics, and the social conscience side of Kirsty was again to the fore on Madison, especially via the rap delivered by Manchester-born DJ and rapper, Aniff Akinola.

It’s quite damning on society that the scenarios mentioned in the song are very much still with us more than 30 years later.

Here’s the b-side of the 7″ side:-

mp3: Kirsty MacColl – One Good Thing

I’ll be kind by saying that it was always likely destined to be a b-side rather than fitted on to the consistently good album, Electric Landlady, released a few weeks after Madison.

JC

June Brides

THE TUESDAY MORNING HI-QUALITY VINYL RIP : Parts 67-70: THE JUNE BRIDES

R-1063286-1443182029-3774

A couple of weeks back I found myself, very willingly, at the very first Glas-Goes Pop Festival. It took place on Friday 5 and Saturday 6 August within the Glasgow University Union in the leafy west end of the city. (Regular readers will hopefully recall that, thanks to flimflamfan, I was able to offer one lucky reader the opportunity of a free ticket….the winner was Sarah and I was able to introduce myself to her during the course of the event).

As it turned out, I only managed to get along on the Friday. I always had plans for the Saturday involving the match day announcing duties at the football on the Saturday, but had hoped to make it along for much of the evening, but alas the fates conspired against me thanks to a combination of Rachel feeling very poorly (food poisoning) and public transport woes between the east coast of Scotland and my home city.

The Friday was worth the ticket price on its own given that four absolutely wonderful acts took to the stage – Davey Woodward and The Winter Orphans, The Catenary Wires, The Orchids, and The June Brides. I also saw Close Lobsters, but they proved to be a major disappointment, primarily because lead singer Andrew was as drunk as I’ve ever seen anyone on a stage.

The thing was, Close Lobsters, as headliners, were always going to struggle to top the performance that had been delivered by The June Brides, a band I hadn’t ever managed to catch before and who were the one I was most looking forward to in advance of the festival.

They played for maybe 50 minutes or so, rattling through many memorable tunes from their back catalogue, with an energy and vigour that belied the fact that all six musicians are well into their 60s (not that any of them looked anything like their ages). They were a ridiculously tight outfit, making it nigh-on impossible to believe it had been six years since they had last played live, with the really sad thing being when Phil Wilson said that there was a real possibility that this could be their final gig.

I know that The June Brides never achieved any sort of commercial success when they were active back in the early 80s, and maybe the reformation back in 2012, with two new singles released subsequently on Slumberland Records, didn’t quite reach the expectations that those involved had hoped for, but on the basis of the Glas-Goes Pop performance, they certainly are more than capable of bringing down the ceiling at an indie music venue in towns and cities across the UK, and further afield.

It’s got to be hoped that the ‘last gig’ comment was simply a throwaway remark, and that perhaps reflecting afterwards on the huge reception they received from the appreciative audience, there’s a view that playing together again would be well worth it. I know it’s nigh on impossible to put together any sort of tour, but the promoters behind the various established festivals akin to what was on in Glasgow the other week could do an awful lot worse than getting in touch with The June Brides.

I’ve dug out a 12″ single from the cupboard, issued on The Pink Label in 1986., which brought together all the tracks that could be found on the band’s first two singles, also on The Pink Label, from 84/85.

mp3: The June Brides – In The Rain
mp3: The June Brides – Sunday to Saturday
mp3: The June Brides – Every Conversation
mp3: The June Brides – Disneyland

There was a rather brilliant 41-track 2 x CD compilation issued by Cherry Red Records back in 2005, but it has long been hard to come by. The time for reissuing it, or some variant on it, is very long overdue.

JC

Various

ICA WORLD CUP 2022 : GROUP F : THE RESULTS

Charlie-Nicholas-Sky-Sports-Soccer-Saturday-1

I was pressed for time last week and didn’t glance at how the things were panning out at all until after polling had closed, with 45 sets of votes needing to ba tallied up.

As I was going through them, and I’d reckon by the time I’d been through the first twenty or so, it became obvious there was a distinct division in that almost half of the entries – An April March, April March, Vanessa Contenay-Quinones, Billy Ray Martin, Nits, Pizzicato Five, Slap Happy and Superturtle hadn’t been picking enough mentions on a consistent basis to have any hope of progressing, but that the other nine were all in with a chance. It also looked as if the likely winner stood a chance of getting a higher % vote than the 83% taken by Echo & The Bunnymen when Group D was played out. The most interesting thing was that with just eight available places, one was going to lose out narrowly, possibly in the cruellest of manners. Here’s the top nine:-

The Sweet 33
Stereolab 30
David Bowie 29
Siouxsie and The Banshees 28
Terry Hall 26 (*5th place on coin toss)
Scritti Politti 26
Bauhaus 23
It’s Immaterial 22
Julian Cope 21

So, it’s St Julian who misses out on the knockout stages, denied by a late comeback. None of the final eight voters gave anything for JC, while in contrast It’s Immaterial picked up four late ticks and Bauhaus six out of the final eight.

The Sweet, with 33 votes, picked up 73%, which means the Bunnymen with 83% remain the most impressive performer, thus far.

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

mp3: Espiritu – You Don’t Get Me (album version by Vanessa Quiñones, Tim Holmes & Mike Bolton)