Penny Lane

Penny Lane was a record store in Toronto that I frequented alot at the height of Madchester and well into the mid-nineties Brit-Pop days. They had all the latest British imports, t-shirts, posters and much more. After a bit of a browse, the older English chap that owned and ran the place (along with his young Asian beauty of a partner) would pipe up with a, "Have you heard the new Gene?" or, "Have you heard the new Beautiful South?" One of it's best features was the score of cassette bootlegs that were hidden behind the counter, but if you were in the know, he'd pull em' out for you. At $10 bucks a pop it seemed reasonable and today's music is from one said cassette. The Stone Roses Live At Alexandra Palace. The quality is not so great, but the fact that this period of the Roses never made it to these shores makes hearing the songs live a whole new experience. The segue from Where Angels Play into Shoot You Down is worth a listen regardless for Reni's impeccable drumming style carries the band live and when the boys made it North America, Robbie's style just didn't do it! Unfortunately the last 3 songs are absent from this ancient cassette boot, so if you have these, please send them to me! However, the tape ends with a small portion of an early interview which is included here. So put on your flares on, grab some maracas and remember, "It's not where you're from, it's where you're at!"

The Stone Roses - Live At Alexandra Palace November 18th 1989


01 She Bangs The Drums
02 Standing Here
03 Where Angels Play->Shoot You Down
04 Elephant Stone
05 Waterfall
06 Sugar Spun Sister
07 Made Of Stone
08 Going Down
09 Sally Cinnamon
10 I Wanna Be Adored
11 I Am The Resurrection->Fools Gold
12 Interview

Ra Ra Riot!

My friend Graham took me to see the Editors the other night. They were pretty good but about halfway through their set it became clear it was all a bit samey, and had to wait til near the end to hear their best song, Munich. Before them was Biffy Clyro and have absolutly nothing to say about them other then it was a shame the wonderfull Ra Ra Riot didn't have their slot and play to more people. They were first on and totally blew me away! Maybe like The Arcade Fire hosting a Smiths vs New Order competion wrapped up in a Werther’s Original? They have a 7” which I grabbed at the show, an EP, and will be recording their debut album next month. The recordings so far don't do them justice so go check your local listings and be sure to go check their live set out.


Ra Ra Riot Each Year
Ra Ra Riot Can You Tell

Reading Present!

Music For The Amorphous Body Study Center has always been a favourite of the countless Stereolab releases spread amongst the various split, 7", 10", 12", limited edition tour only maxi ep.....you get the picture. So I was thrilled back in 95 with that particular weeks issue of Melody Maker (the August 26th 1995 issue to be exact) came with an awesome free cassette, Reading Present. Featuring exclusive tracks by performers from the impending Reading Festival, Bjork, The Bluetones, The Boo Radleys, Teenage Fanclub, Heavy Stereo, Soundgarden, and of course, Stereolab. This version of Amorphous' Pop Quiz was recorded for Mark Findlay's Sunday Session Show (Radio Fourth) at Funny Farm studios near Edinburgh.



Stereolab Pop Quiz (Session)

Don't Fight It, Feel It!

Select magazine was my fave ever. It's popularity soared during the Brit-Pop explosion in the mid-nineties but eventually went away as fast as you could say,"When's the new Menswe@r album coming out?" Often they would give away cassettes and later CD's of exclusive material just for the mag. This Primal Scream track is one that appeared on the Secret Tracks 2 tape that came with the May 1994 issue. Recorded live in Tokyo, it has never been released elsewhere.

Primal Scream Don’t Fight It, Feel It (Live In Tokyo)

Isn't It Funny How You Shine?

Ever wonder what The Stone Roses track Don't Stop sounds like backwards? Of course the original was built around a backwards version of Waterfall and the two tracks were paired up up on the bands debut self-titled album. Now thanks to the magic that is the CDJ1000 you can now hear what may be the rarest Roses track out there.


The Stone Roses Don’t Stop (Backwards)