I know very little about the Icicle Works. I think I once had Birds Fly (Whisper To A Scream) on some 80s chart compilation and that was about it, until my mate Steve who I worked with in Our Price recommended Understanding Jane. There was a Best Of coming out and a newly remixed version of Understanding Jane was released as a single. Steve was usually right about such things, but in this case he was even more right than usual.
It is a great song. You know I'm a sucker for a good chorus, and this has one, but the whole damn thing is one almighty earworm that twists and turns in your brain and takes up permanent residence. The band had a troubled history, mainly because of singer Ian McNabb's control freakery, but you'd never guess it from listening to Understanding Jane.
The purists will hate me for this, but I always preferred the remixed 1992 version to the original. It just sounds fuller and bolder. That's the version I'm taking with me, anyway.
Y Cyrff (trans. The Bodies) will long have a place in the hearts of North Walians. They were never particularly well-known outside their own nation, but they left a rather indelible mark. Forming in 1983 at school in Llanrwst, Conwy, they were initially supported by their geography teacher. In their decade together, the band released one album and a number of singles and EPs.
Y Cyrff played a fondly-remembered show at the 1986 Eisteddfod, leading to Wales' biggest record label Sain signing them. Welsh TV and media began to take notice, and it wasn't long before London came calling and the band played slots on Whistle Test and The Tube.
Perhaps their peak moment came in 1989 with the release of the 'Yr Atgyfodi' EP which opened with a song that has become an anthem among the Welsh-speaking heartlands, particularly their hometown. Cymru, Lloegr a Llanrwst (trans. Wales, England and Llanrwst), is named after their hometown's motto. It alludes to a time in the 14th century when Llanrwst declared itself an independent state with its own flag. In 1947 the town council claimed to have sought its own seat on the UN Security Council, this assumed independence still very much in place after 600 years!
Y Cyrff split in 1993. Two members of the band - vocalist Mark Roberts and bassist Paul Jones - went on to form another much-loved band who also had a bit of a Welsh anthem themselves. I posted that one back here.
This piece briefly appeared for an hour or so last month on the day David Bowie died. I replaced it and held it over so it wasn't in danger of being overlooked. Echo & the Bunnymen - Seven Seas limited 7" double-pack
Bought from: Retro-Vibe, Cardiff
Price paid: £5
Ouch! A fiver? Well, it is a limited edition and it is a double. This is the only thing I've bought to date from Retro-Vibe which is located in Cardiff High Street just a stone's throw from the castle. It's not a bad little shop, but for some reason it doesn't excite me like some of the other places I've visited (The Record Shop, D'Vinyl, etc).
You probably know the main track on this single. If not, who are you? Sort yourself out! Seven Seas is unfairly placed in the middle of the Bunnymen's third album 'Ocean Rain' immediately following The Killing Moon. It's a really good track but can't compete with its predecessor. On its own though it hold up pretty well.
The main interest in this set lies in the b-sides. Both this 7" pack and the 12" carried four acoustic tracks recorded for Channel 4's 'Play At Home' series. Subtitled "Life At Brian's - Lean And Hungry", it featured the band playing in Brian's Diner in their Liverpool hometown along with a few locals. There are some interesting takes on Bunnymen originals - the aforementioned Killing Moon, Stars Are Stars and Villiers Terrace (in which famous Liverpool FC managers get namedropped alongside Haile Selassie!) - plus a fun run through All You Need Is Love, which also references Bob Dylan's Rainy Day Women, another Beatles track She Loves You and the Bunnymen's own Read It In Books.
These tracks appeared on the reissue of 'Ocean Rain' along with a version of Silver from the same sessions.
Out of interest, the 'Play At Home' series also included New Order, Siouxsie &The Banshees and XTC among others. A few of them are scattered across You Tube if you can be bothered to look for them. Here's the first half of the Echo & The Bunnymen one featuring some of these songs. Look out for Gladys - she's awesome!
I don't know about you, but I think Mark E. Smith would probably scare Satan. The guy doesn't suffer fools gladly, does he? If the big guy downstairs doesn't meet with our Mark's expectations I can imagine some words being said. In a barely comprehesible Mancunian drawl, of course. Lucifer Over Lancashire was the b-side to Mr. Pharmacist in 1986. A fine single indeed, both sides of it.
I've followed the Raveonettes ever since their first single in 2002. They've made some absolutely cracking records, even if there have been one or two rather average things too. One of their shining glories, however, was their third single, the lead track from their first full-length album 'Chain Gang Of Love'. That Great Love Sound is a blast from start to finish; that fuzzy bass, that reverbed twangy guitar, those trademark dual vocals - and that chorus.
The Raveonettes have made a career out of making retro sound so up-to-date it almost defies time itself. This is arguably their finest moment, though they have run it pretty close a few times. In fact, That Great Love Sound only very narrowly beat the glorious Ode To LA (featuring the legendary Ronnie Spector) to a place on this list, and 2014's album 'Pe'ahi' is a career highlight. One of my fave bands, for sure.
I note that Gwenno's wonderful (and award-winning) debut album 'Y Dydd Olaf' made a few people's best of 2015 lists. The only reason it was never even a contender for mine was because it originally came out in 2014. It did, however, win the 2015 Welsh Music Prize, Best Welsh Album at the 2015 National Eisteddfod, and was given the Deluxe Edition reissue treatment by her new label (the semi-legendary Heavenly). Add to that all the critical acclaim, radio airplay and numerous remixers clamouring to get their paws on its contents, AND having her face painted on the side of the famous Cardiff music venue Clwb Ifor Bach (see above), and I suppose you could claim 2015 is when it all happened for Gwenno.
So why is she not world-bleedin'-famous while the terminally irritating "I've only got one song"-Adele continues to sell millions of turgid MOR ballads and gets her mug splashed over every single mainstream news article that so-much as mentions the word 'music'? Isn't life just so unfair?
I featured a track from the album back last May, so today I'm giving you one of the new songs that appeared on the bonus disc of last year's reissue. Anthem Y Weriniaeth Newydd (trans. Anthem For A New Republic) really reminds me of Stereolab. It's largely instrumental with some lovely incidental vocals from Ms. Saunders, rather retro-sounding save for the very current electronics. I know Brian and CC were turned on to Gwenno the last time she featured here, and Swiss Adam is a fan as well. Maybe this one will convince the rest of you.
Spiritual psychedelic dub. Now there's a sub-genre I've never featured before, and to be honest, perhaps I'm stretching things a bit by including this in a reggae series. But hey, everyone's welcome here as long as the vibes are good. Gotta say, the vibes on African Head Charge's fifth studio album 'Songs Of Praise' from 1990 are most excellent. I hazily recall hearing this record first in my days working at Our Price. I thought it was the weirdest thing I'd ever heard. It's certainly not your average reggae record, but Adrian Sherwood's masterful production holds it together.
The band revolves primarily around percussionist Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah along with pretty much whoever he hooks up with. Two of his most famous members include Skip McDonald (aka Little Axe) and the legend that is Jah Wobble. Most of AHC's records to date have been released on Sherwood's On-U Sound label, though band and label went their separate ways in 1994. Following Bonjo's dalliances with his own label and a repatiration to Ghana, he returned to London in 2005 to once again work with Sherwood. Two new albums have since emerged, both through On-U Sound.
'Songs Of Praise' is the only African Head Charge record I have and it has long been hailed as an underground classic, a peak the band has struggled to scale ever since.
Lemmy's been dead for a month and it already feels like forever. Fortunately he will be eternal in his music. The very last thing we got from him - the closing track on Motörhead's final album - was this awesome version of probably the finest song ever written about old Lucifer, told from the protagonist's own viewpoint. To be honest, if this really were the Devil singing, I'm sure his/her voice would sound more like Lemmy's than Jagger's. D'you reckon Lemmy was buttering up our friend down there in preparation? I mean, this is a storming, full-blooded version that (s)he would be proud of. Talk about going out on high.
My list of top 2015 releases was really taking shape when suddenly I was thrown a curve-ball. A four-track EP came out in early December that grabbed me by the throat, kicked me up the jacksie and hollered: "Wait one moment, old man. We're Estrons and you're gonna love us!" And love them I did.
Estrons hail from the North Wales town of Mold. Their singer is a Welsh-speaking Canadian-Swede with the wonderful name Taliesyn Kallström. The band's name means 'aliens', and back in the spring they released a sort-of self-titled single entitled Aliens. It appears on the new EP 'Whoever She Was...' which could very well be one of the best EPs of the year. It also includes the single Make A Man which might be the one you'll hear on the radio. Their debut single C-C-Cariad (trans: L-L-Love) came out in 2014 via the Welsh music magazine Y Selar's singles club. It's not on the EP but worth checking out regardless.
I've picked the Welsh-language track Ysbrydoli for you today. However, as this is still a new release, I've decided not to post the whole thing, but a quick-and-dirty edit. If you want the full version (and why the hell wouldn't you?), I suggest you nip over to iTunes or Amazon and buy it. In fact, get the whole EP. Deffo worth a few quid I reckon.
A shoegaze special! Yep, we Brits invented shoegaze in the late 80s, but in the last decade or so the sound of loud, feedback-fuelled guitars with whimsical vocals has swept across the world. And none more so than in Japan where a swathe of really decent shoegaze bands are making some marvellous noises.
At the heavier end of the spectrum is the wonderfully named Cruyff In The Bedroom. Yes, that's Cruyff after Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff. They're from the trendy Shimokitazawa area of Tokyo and run their own label Only Feedback. To date they have released a half-dozen EPs (most of which have football-themed sleeves) and five full-length albums. Ukiyogunjou is the title track of their fourth LP released in 2010.
Another band with a great name is Plastic Girl In Closet. A hugely prolific trio, they have more of the ethereal Lush/Slowdive/Pale Saints shoegaze sound. They are signed to Only Feedback and have released an impressive six albums, a six-track EP and a live DVD since 2010. I've chosen the glorious Rabbit House from their second album, 2011's 'Cocoro'. Bliss.
Compared to their aforementioned compatriots, Civic are relative newcomers to the scene. They have just the one album so far and their chief dynamic seems to be the call and response vocals of Yasuhiro Hachisuka and Mari Miyata. They could barely play a note when they formed in 2004, but have patiently carved a niche for themselves, filling the void between the heaviness of Cryff and the lighter sounds of Plastic Girl. They also have a standing drummer, which is always a good thing. I love their song Tensai, but I've gone for Toilet Paper as it has a better title and rather entertaining video.
Yes, shoegaze is on the rise once more. Ride are back together, Lush have announced some live shows and an EP, Swervedriver released a very decent album last year - what next? A Chapterhouse comeback? A new Curve album? God forbid a Moose reunion??? Nah - let's leave it to the Japanese for the time being; they seem to have got it nailed.
(For the record, I know very little about the bands I've featured today, but I'm sure there's plenty of info about them all out there if you care to search around t'internet for it. You may have to brush up on your Japanese though...)
