THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN

RECOMMENDED LISTENING FROM 2023 (Volume 11)

AS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY CRAIG McALLISTER for PLAIN OR PAN? on 6 NOVEMBER 2023

Bathers

JC writes……

The eleventh and final (bonus) instalment of this occasional feature, in which I’ve tried to draw your attention to some albums that have been purchased in 2023 and which I reckon are worth highlighting. This one landed very late – it was only released at the beginning of November – and there is no way I could better Craig’s review from his place over at Plain or Pan?. My huge thanks to him for allowing me to copy it.

——-

The Bathers, Chris Thomson’s vehicle of unravelling melodies and swooning arrangements, moves at such a stately, tectonic pace that those other west coast hummers and hawers the Blue Nile and the Trashcan Sinatras might consider themselves in Allan Wells territory by comparison. Like a Michelin star chef marinating his secret ingredients overnight for extra devastating effect, Chris has waited 20 years and more between new studio releases before letting Sirenesque out and into the ears of anyone still tuned to his particular station. Entire bands, entire musical careers, at least 72 UK Prime Ministers at the last count, have come and gone since then. And now Thomson, with his ancient, withered, weathered, leathery vocal has crept out of the shadows bringing with him a heavy dose of pathos and regret to remind us what we’d almost forgotten about. Let it be said: Sirenesque is the finest, most autumnal – and most adult – listen you’ll have this year

From concept to realisation, it’s a grand album in every sense of the word; magnificent…awe-inspiring…important…all of this. Concert pianos, delicate and gossamer and bassy and rich, their notes captured suspended in solid air, form the basis of the record. From here, all manner of instrumentation pours forth. Clean twanging electric slide guitar, gently plucked nylon-stringed acoustics and fantasy land harps, subtle muted brass that might well be the ghostly breath of Chet Baker himself, chirping birdsong, the sweeping weep of the Scottish Session Orchestra’s strings, the Prague Philharmonic’s chamber arrangements, filmic and fragile and Tindersticks-tender, a coming-and-going, eerie and vampish female vocalist pitched halfway between wonky Disney and Mercury Rev’s Deserter’s Songs… it’s an album packed with ideas and invention and, crucially, control and discipline. There’s not a wasted couplet or jarring note across the record’s dozen tracks. It might’ve taken 20 years to get here, but every nuance of the record’s structure has been expertly thought out.

At its core is Chris Thomson, his close-miked ethereal whisper vocalising a very particular Glasgow; the Glasgow of high corniced ceilings and Kelvingrove and University Avenue and understated Harris Tweed and Mother India and Royal Exchange Square and croissants and coffee and 20-year old malts in the Old Toll Bar. And the words are sung in a voice of the greats, of Scott Walker, of Tom Waits, of David Bowie…very Bowie, as I’ve come to consider it. That thought struck me midway through side 2’s Welcome To Bellevue and the opening phrasing on the track that follows (She Rose Through The Isles) and has stayed with me through every subsequent spin ever since then.

I now can’t not listen to the record without filtering it through Bowie ears. It’s all there in the considered arrangements and unexpected phrasings and the time-stopping production of it all. Sirenesque is almost a companion piece to Blackstar. Seriously. And while that record’s underlying theme of death couldn’t be further from Sirenesque‘s observations on life, this new record hits almost as hard, unravelling more of its secrets and majesty with each subsequent play. In this live fast, move on, next! next! next! world that we live in, you could do worse than downpace to the thrum of Sirenesque. It’s great – Bowie great. The best kind of great.

CRAIG

Dream Wife

RECOMMENDED LISTENING FROM 2023 (Volume 10)

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The tenth ~~and final~~ instalment of this occasional feature, in which I’ve tried to draw your attention to some albums that have been purchased in 2023 and which I reckon are worth highlighting.

Dream Wife‘s third album, Social Lubrication, landed in June, some three years after the previous release, So When You Gonna had taken the trio into the UK Top 20. I’m guessing hopes were quite high for this one, but it barely dented the chart, spending a solitary week at #73 before disappearing.

I wrote a guest post a few months ago over at No Badger Required in which I referenced a few all-female bands, and said this about Dream Wife:-

“A London-based trio whose frantically fabulous mix of punk, indie, and pop has been captured on three studio albums. They make a magnificent racket in the live setting with a refreshing and welcome on-stage approach in which they are quick to call out any boorish behaviour from males in the audience, while also insisting that space down the front in the mosh-pit be reserved for ‘bad bitches’ (to which all genders are welcome to be part of).

“Dream Wife are a smart and very sassy group. They make music which is vibrant and energetic, but are more than capable of slowing things down to get their viewpoints across in ways that very much appeal to a modern audience, whose awareness of social and political issues is refreshing and welcome. My one concern is that the new album hasn’t sold as well as the last one, which makes me wonder if they are part of that cycle that’s always been with us, where a band bursts onto the scene, gathers itself a large fan-base, often of folk who are at school/college/university, but whose changing priorities as they move on in life means the music becomes less important. I hope not, and that their appearances at festivals over the summer and their own headlining tour later in the year reignites a well-deserved interest.”

Social Lubrication was on the end of loads of praise from the critics:-

‘a righteous mix of pleasure, anarchy and empowerment’ (The Line Of Best Fit)

‘a record that’s both a progression, and that shows off wonderfully just what made them so exciting to begin with’ (DIY Mag)

‘a stunner of an album – anthemic, coarse and confrontational at times, but sensitive, curious and passionate at others’ (Riot Mag)

‘a thrillingly intoxicating album. It’s spine-tingling in its themes and presented wrapped in dirty riffs and choruses built for dancing together in shared spaces’ (God Is In The TV)

‘Another blistering, brilliant missive from one of rock’s most fearless bands, on ‘Social Lubrication’, Dream Wife prove two things. Firstly, social commentary and exorcising your fury at the world don’t have to be joyless, and secondly, they’re still one of the most vital acts we’ve got right now’ (NME)

‘Nevermind lighting up the UK’s the alternative scene, Dream Wife have shown here that they’ve got everything it takes to gatecrash the mainstream. Now wouldn’t that be a dream?’ (Louder)

‘an exhilarating listen crackling with energy, made for yelling along to with both glee and rage’ (Stereoboard)

I, of course, agree with all of the above…and have picked out the quotes so as not to be accused of plagarism!!

The track selected as the advance single is the most angry on the entire record. It was chosen despite knowing it had no chance of being broadcast on regular radio stations.

The next track that was made available was a bit more tongue-in-cheek and great fun.

Not all ten tracks proved to be as riotous and noisy as the two songs released in advance, and indeed there’s few really danceable indie-pop numbers:-

mp3: Dream Wife – Kick In The Teeth

It’ll be very interesting to see what happens next. I do hope there’s a fourth album and more shows in the offing.

Just to finish off today with a note that I’m heading off on holiday this coming Sunday for a couple of weeks. The usual Saturday and Sunday things will still be appearing, but otherwise I’m going to be putting up daily one-hour mixes that I’ve curated to take away with me to listen to while sunbathing. Some of these will be brand new, while others will be retreads of mixes that haven’t been available to download for many years.

Things will get back to normal in early December.

Very late PS..……

an 11th album for recommendation landed in Villain Towers just a couple of weeks back. It was given a tremendous review by the incredibly talented Craig McAllister over at Plain or Pan?, and he has kindly allowed me to repost said review on TVV. It’ll be up later on today as a bonus post.

JC

Jane Bond & The Undercovermen

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #040

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#040– Jane Bond & The Undercovermen – ‘Hot Rod Lincoln’ (Ear Movie Records ’82)

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Hello friends,

as we’ve now seen enough of England beautiful countryside for a while, it’s time to jump the plane to the US of A again – to L.A. we go, which is, let’s face facts, much more approvable than the UK now that autumn kicks in, right?

And again we find a band there which might be absolutely uncommon to most of you, the mighty fine Jane Bond & The Undercovermen! As mentioned often enough here, the more unknown these combos were, the harder it is to find something interesting on the net these days. So here’s what I can tell you: Jane Bond & The Undercovermen were Ethan James and Lisa Mitchell basically, plus a few guest musicians. James, although the name might not ring a bell, once was a member of Blue Cheer, plus he produced records for The Bangles, The Minutemen, Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers amongst others. In 1981 he released his first own album, Jane Bond & The Undercovermen’s self-titled debut.

Now, I own this album, but I must say: I don’t like it very much. It’s the band’s second LP (from 1985) which struck a heavy chord with me, still does, in fact: ‘Politically Correct’. Some might say this album hasn’t dated all too well, and yes, they may be right. After all it’s (just) underground/new wave/synth-rock to which Lisa Mitchell delivers lyrics about spies, communists and politics. The thing is that she talks more than she sings, which – when listening to all of the album – is becomes a bit tiresome over the whole length. But do not despair: this a singles-series, therefore you just need to listen to one tune, and this one, oh boy, is just f.a.b.u.l.o.u.s.!!

And also it’s a cover, performed by quite a handful of artists, astonishingly enough, but originally done by Charlie Ryan in 1955. Apparently it was written as an answer song to Arkie Shibley’s ‘Hot Rod Race’ from 1950. It describes a drive north on US Route 99 (predecessor to Interstate 5) from San Pedro, LA and over the Grapevine (a long, nearly straight grade up Grapevine Canyon to Tejon Pass, near the town of Gorman, California) which soon becomes a hot rod race that ends with serious consequences.

The car race is described between two hot rod cars, the narrator’s Ford Model A (with a Lincoln motor) and a Cadillac. The song says the Ford’s ‘got 12 cylinders‘, overdrive, a four-barrel carburetor, 4.11:1 gear ratio, and safety tubes’: all this is pure customer service for potential car enthusiasts amongst you readers of this wonderful blog, because me, I drive a shabby 10-year-old Peugeot 208, which is as powerful as a donkey cart, so you can perhaps imagine what I understand from the above … sod all, that’s how much I understand!!

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mp3: Jane Bond & The Undercovermen – Hot Rod Lincoln

‘Hot Rod Lincoln’ was released as a 7” in-between the two albums, in 1982, their only 7” in fact. There is no difference between the 7” and the album version, as far as I can tell.

Also it just occurred to me that this would be a good contender for JC’s “Some Songs Make A Great Short Story” – series, that’s if it still exists in any meaningful fashion. (JC adds…..it does!)

Either way, enjoy the tune, let me know what you think of it – and take good care,

Dirk

Wet Leg

I WONDER WHAT THIS LOT WILL OFFER UP IN 2024….

Wet-Leg

Wet Leg must surely be the biggest ‘they came out of nowhere’ sensations to hit indie-pop when they began to make inroads on the listening public in late 2021. I reckon you have to go back to Arctic Monkeys in 2005 to get something quite as impactful.

The common factor for both acts is Domino Records, so there’s clearly a lot of very smart and sassy folk working for that label who know exactly how to tap into the zeitgeist.

I’ve really enjoyed all the music that’s been made thus far by Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, along with Henry Holmes, Josh Mobaraki and Ellis Durand, the three musicians who are part of the touring band. The debut single was as catchy as it gets:-

mp3: Wet Leg – Chaise Longue

The next handful of singles, as well as their self-titled debut album, proved to be every bit as enjoyable and turned into one of the really feel-good stories about new music during 2022. The way they just continued to grow in popularity seemed to catch just about everyone out. They were booked for an early afternoon set on one of the smaller outdoor stages at Glastonbury, and ended up attracting a crowd that was on a par with many of the longer-established headliners, leading to a number of concerns about crowd control and safety.

The biggest male pop star on the planet, Harry Stiles, declared himself a huge fan, and they ended up accepting his invitation to be the main support act on his tour of Australia and New Zealand. They were nominated for numerous Brit Awards and Grammys, the latter being proof that they weren’t just a UK phenomena. The fact they picked up two awards at each ceremony in early 2023 was something nobody would have predicted some 12 months previous, when they were still very much a word-of-mouth act.

There’s been nothing at all musically in 2023, so the assumption must be that they’ve been working away on new material. There’s bound to be some sort of backlash – there always is when a band or singer enjoys unprecedented success from the get-go. I really do wish them luck, and I’m looking forward to finding out if the new material is as good as songs such as these.

mp3: Wet Leg – Angelica
mp3: Wet Leg – Wet Dream
mp3: Wet Leg – Piece Of Shit

Just paid a visit to their website and noticed that they appear to have some live shows in the offing next year……as the guests of Foo Fighters at stadium shows in Manchester, London and Cardiff. It’ll be interesting to see how their whimsical brand of pop goes down with the rock crowd.

Oh, and the prices they are asking for band merchandise from their 2022 tours is really on the steep side. The things you can get away with when the general public fall for your charms……

JC

Deerful

ONE SONG ON THE HARD DRIVE (6)

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Today’s song is on the hard drive courtesy of it being included on the Indietracks compilation of 2016.

This info is lifted direct from the performer’s official website:-

“Deerful is Emma Winston, a musician based in London, UK. She writes electropop about feelings on synthesisers small enough to use on the bus and in tiny live-coding environments, and exists in a perpetual state of being far too excited about making things.

Her most recent record, Tell Me I Can Fix This On My Own, examines friendship, personal transformation and loss through songs lovingly coded in the music programming language ixi lang.

Her musical influences include the Postal Service, The Magnetic Fields, Kero Kero Bonito, Emmy the Great, CHVRCHES, Owen Pallett, Grimes, and the DuckTales for Game Boy soundtrack.”

The above info refers to Tell Me I Can Fix This On My Own being her most recent record, and according to Discogs, it was a seven-track digital only release issued in September 2018.

The song on the Indietracks compilation is from one of her 2016 releases, the lead-track on Staying Still, a cassette-only release issued through Gare Du Nord Records, the sleeve of which is at the top of this posting.

mp3: Deerful – Some Nights

I think this is a delightful little song. I’m not arguing that it’s groundbreaking in any sort of way, but it’s very much a pleasantly distracting three-and-a bit minutes that I’d be more than happy to listen to on a frequent basis. The sort of song that I’d want to ‘Shazam’ and find out who was behind it.

JC

Assembly, Aztec Camera, Blancmange, Care, David Bowie, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel, Julian Cope, Madness, Simple Minds, Smiths, Style Council

DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER (11)

Chart dates 30 October – 5 November

If you’ll recall the closing few sentences from last month, then you’ll know that the first week of November was likely to have some decent stuff kicking around the charts, with The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees and New Order still hanging around the Top 20, while PiL, Joy Division and Bauhaus were all a bit further down. On the flip side of things, Billy Joel, Lionel Ritchie and Culture Club were still dominating the very top-end of things

It was also a week in which loads of new singles became eligible for a chart placing – 15 songs appeared for the first time in the Top 75 (20% of the total), although most of them were utter pish and/or unrecallable. Here’s the full list of new entries

#75: Brian May and Friends – Starfleet
#73: The Danse Society – Heaven Is Waiting
#66: Imagination – New Dimension
#65: David Bowie – White Light/White Heat
#63: Major Harris – All My Life
#61: Aztec Camera – Oblivious
#47: Marilyn – Calling Your Name
#45: Eurythmics – Right By Your Side
#43: Rainbow – Can’t Let You Go
#34: Limahl – Only For Love
#26: The Police – Syncronicity II
#25: ABC – That Was Then, This Is Now
#24: Status Quo – A Mess Of Blues
#21: Madness – The Sun and The Rain
#19: Shakin Stevens – Cry Just A Little Bit

The Danse Society, one of the many goth-rock bands who were suddenly finding success )of sorts), were on a roll as Heaven Was Waiting was the second 45 of theirs to crack the Top 75 in 1983. It would actually make it as high as #60, while the parent album of the same name, released just in time for the Xmas market in December 83, got to #40. Wiki offers the reminder that the album wasn’t well by professional critics, with reviews such as “further plodding nonsense” and “Heavy on gloomy atmosphere […] but short on memorable songs.” The fact I can’t recall anything of them maybe bears that out.

David Bowie was having a stellar year in 1983, sales wise at least, thanks to Let’s Dance selling in millions and all his other albums enjoying resurgent sales (in July 83, ten Bowie albums could be found in the Top 100). This live cover version of the Velvet Underground staple had been released as a single to promote a live album, Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture, which was hitting the screens that very month.

Aztec Camera had moved from Postcard to Rough Trade to Warner Brothers, and the promotional efforts of the major took them into the charts with the first ever time with a re-release of an old song. Oblivious is a great pop song, and while I’m not normally a fan of re-releases, it was good to see this going on to do so well, eventually climbing up to #18 before the year was out, the first of what proved to be eight Top 40 hits for Roddy & co.

The Eurythmics might have burst onto the scene earlier in the year with the majestic Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) but the release of new album Touch, had seen the adopt a more commercial and mainstream pop sound that brought huge success all over the world. Not a sound, however, that I recall with much love or fondness.

Talking of changing style and sound, ABC had gone down a different road from that taken with debut album The Lexicon Of Love. It didn’t go down well with critics or fans but the first single from what turned out to be The Beauty Stab, did eventually reach #18. I~~t proved to be their last ever Top 20 hit single~~. They had just one further top 20 hit, courtesy of When Smokey Sings, in 1987 (and thanks to the observant readers who spotted this error!)

Madness were enjoying their 17th successive Top 20 single. The quite excellent The Sun and The Rain would eventually get as high as #5 which actually turned out to be the very final time they would make the Top 10.*

*in the 80’s, I should have added. A re-released It Must Be Love was a hit in 1992, while a much later single, Lovestruck, reached #10 in 1999. Again, my thanks to the ever-helpful readers…..)

Chart dates 6-12 November

It was inevitable after the previous week’s glut of new entries that things would slow down a bit. The highest new entry came from the Rolling Stones, offering up something that was a bit more funk/dance orientated than much of their previous material. Undercover of The Night came in at #21 and later climbed to #11. Who would ever have imagined back then that 40 years on, they’d still be going strong and having hit singles?

Some notes of interest from further down.

mp3: The Assembly – Never Never (#36)

It proved to a one-off collaboration between Vince Clarke and Feargal Sharkey, and this electronic ballad soon took off in popular fashion, hitting #4 just two weeks later.

mp3: Care – Flaming Sword (#58)

One of the great long-lost bands who really should have been much bigger than things turned out. This was their second single, but the only one that cracked the charts. Main songwriter, Ian Broudie, would have to wait a few years with The Lightning Seeds to enjoy commercial success.

Oh, and I almost forgot about this one.

mp3: The Smiths – This Charming Man (#55)

It would spend 12 weeks in the Top 75 all the way through to February 1984, peaking at #25 in early December 83. It was the first of what proved to be sixteen singles from The Smiths that would crack the charts over the next four years, only two of which reached the Top 10 (and both peaked at that particular number). Have a think and see if you can remember….the answer will be given as a PS at the foot of the post.

Chart dates 13-19 November

Fourth single of the year and a forth chart hit. It was only a year since The Jam had split up, but Paul Weller was proving to be every bit as popular as ever.

mp3: The Style Council – A Solid Bond In Your Heart (#12)

I remember at the time being a bit let down by this one. It certainly didn’t seem up to the standards of the previous three singles, but in some ways it was just a minor bumop in the road as the imperious pop phase of TSC was just around the corner. Oh, and a couple of years later, we would learn that Solid Bond had been demoed while The Jam were still going, so it could very well have come out as one of their later singles if they hadn’t disbanded.

mp3: Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel – White Lines (Don’t Do It) (#60)

One of the very best of the early rap singles, it sneaked into the bottom end of the charts in November 83 and then disappeared, only to re-emerge in the following February from where it would spend 37 successive weeks in the Top 75, the first 18 of which were outside the Top 40, before really being picked up on by the general public and hitting the #7 for two weeks in July/August 1984. It was inevitable after the previous week’s glut of new entries that things would slow down a bit. It’s the full 12″ on offer today, as that’s the one I have in the collection.

mp3: Julian Cope – Sunshine Playroom (#64)

I’d totally forgotten that this had been released as a single. It was actually the first time that Julian Cope had taken solo material into the Top 75. Again, it’s a quiz question with the answer at the bottom. How many JC singles went into the Top 75 between 1983 and 1996?

Don’t be fooled into thinking that all was sweetness and light in the singles chart some 40 years ago. The top 4 consisted of Billy Joel, Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson, Shakin Stevens and Lionel Ritchie. Some of new entries and highest climbers this week included Paul Young, Genesis, Tina Turner, Nik Kershaw, and Roland Rat Superstar – a grim reminder that the British public have always been suckers for novelty records.

Chart dates 20-26 November

A couple of the new entries were Christamas-related and readying themselves for all-out assaults in the month of December. Yup, I’m looking at you The Pretenders and The Flying Pickets…..

There were some things worthy of attention.

mp3: Simple Minds – Waterfront (#25)

It was booming, bombastic and anthemic, and it was the beginning of the end of the cutting-edge Simple Minds. But it was a song totally inspired by home city of Glasgow, and in pulling together the promo video for the single, the band hit upon the idea of opening up and using the Barrowland Ballroom for a live performance. A huge debt is owed to them for that…..

mp3: Blancmange – That’s Love, That It Is (#43)

The duo had enjoyed a great 12 months, with the previous three singles (Living On The Ceiling, Waves and Blind Vision) all going Top 20, as indeed would their next again single (Don’t Tell Me) in April 1984. This is the one nobody remembers as it got stuck at #33 in mid-December among all the stuff that tends to dominate the charts in the month of the year. Maybe, in hindsight, it should have been held back six or eight weeks.

mp3: Yello – Lost Again (#73)

This has long been a favourite of mine and I was disappointeed that it flopped so miserably. The record buying public were seemingly far from convinced by the merits of off-centre electronica musicians from Switzerland.

And finally this month.

mp3: Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Relax (#67)

For the next six weeks, this single hung around the lower end of the charts, making its way up to #46 with steady but unspectacular sales.

It then eventually reached #35 in the first week of January 1984 which led to an appearance on Top Of The Pops….it wasn’t their first UK TV apppearance as they had already been on The Tube, broadcast on Channel 4, on a number of occasions. The TOTP appearance resulted in huge sales the follwowing week and it went all the way to #6.

A this point in time, long after the horse had bolted, Radio 1 DJ Mike Read announced he wasn’t going to play the record due to the suggestive nature of the lyrics. He also felt the record sleeve was disgusting and amoral. The BBC then decided Relax should be banned from any daytime play, but this didn’t stop the likes of David ‘Kid’ Jensen and John Peel having a bit of fun and airing the song in their evening shows. The ban was extended to include Top of The Pops.

All this only prompted a bit of mania among the record-buying public, and Relax initally went to #2 in the wake of the ban and then spent five weeks at the #1 slot through to the end of February 84, going on to spend 48 succesive weeks in the Top 75, including a rise back up to #2 when FGTH’s follow-up single, Two Tribes, went massive.

The BBC eventually relented and dropped the ban -it had become a joke in as much that the commercial radio stations and the non-BBC TV channels were more than happy to play the song or have it performed on programmes.

Who ever said there was no such thing as bad publicity was certainly right on this occasion.

One more month in the series to go. It’ll appear sometime in late-December.

JC

PS (1): The two singles by The Smiths to hit the Top 10 were Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now and Sheila Take A Bow.

PS (2): Julian Cope had 16 singles reach the Top 75 between 1983 and 1996. Seven of them actually cracked the Top 40, with World Shut Your Mouth being the best-achieving of them all, hitting #19.

Various

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #354: UNCOMMON INSTRUMENTS

A GUEST POSTING from JONNY THE FRIENDLY LAWYER

In compiling the last Trumpets ICA (#353) I remembered a song I’ve always liked: ‘In The Aeroplane Over the Sea,’ by Neutral Milk Hotel. But I forgot that, in addition to a trumpet, the song also has someone playing a singing saw. I got to thinking about other songs that feature uncommon instruments and wondered if I could come up with a respectable ICA. No limitations or rules apply—just songs by artists we like that have an instrument you wouldn’t ordinarily hear. Here goes:

1. Steel Drums.

Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town – Talking Heads

The Heads were unusual right from the get-go. The opening track from their debut album, 77, features drummer Chris Frantz playing the solos on steel pan.

2. Theremin.

Velouria – Pixies

Maybe most recognizable on the Beach Boys epic ‘Good Vibrations,’ Velouria’s got a theremin going throughout. It’s the only instrument I know of that you play without touching it. Instead, the movement of your hand between two antennae causes wave oscillation that the theremin converts into an electronic signal. I read somewhere that the instrument came out of Soviet research into proximity sensors. I tried one once. It’s easy to get a sound out of it, but really hard to make the sound musical.

3. Oboe.

Quizmaster – Julian Cope

An album track from World Shut Your Mouth. Of course, it’s unusual to have an oboe as the lead instrument in a rock song, but it’s the lyrics that make this tune one of my favorites. How I wish I’d written:

Through the confusion I see you, practicing hard at your faith
Oh, your uniform’s muddy but still I can see
The arrangement of stars underneath
But one of these two is not on my list
We can’t expect to explore without explosion
All my ideals were destroyed in the flood
And what use where they anyway?
When the mute get lucid, pray!

4. Musical Saw.

James K. Polk – They Might Be Giants

TmbG were always an unconventional band, both lyrically and musically. Their signature instruments are accordion and baritone sax. On this track from Factory Showroom the entire solo is played on a singing saw. I love this tune because, without it, I’d have known nothing about James K. Polk, our eleventh president. American presidents are awesome because they’re honest and reasonable!

5. Harp.

Sprout and the Bean – Joanna Newsom

There are loads of rock and pop songs recorded with full orchestras, but the use of a harp as a solo instrument just didn’t happen until Joanna Newsom came along. Here she is on her debut album, The Milk-Eyed Mender, playing a big, damn harp! Her voice isn’t for everyone but the music is phenomenal. My daughter is a big fan and confirms that she, in fact, plays the harp and sings simultaneously in concert. No one else to compare Joanna to, really.

6. Xylophone.

Gone Daddy Gone – Violent Femmes

In which bassist Brian Ritchie plays two xylophone solos. Fun fact: the whole verse beginning “I can tell by the way that you switch and walk” is lifted word for word from “I just Want to Make Love to You” by Muddy Waters, a hit in 1954.

7. Melodica.

Clint Eastwood – Gorillaz

The melodica is a cross between a harmonica and an accordion. You blow into it while playing notes on a miniature keyboard. It might sound familiar because a melodica was used extensively on early Gang of Four, Joy Division, and New Order songs. And there’s one on virtually every Augustus Pablo song, if you’re a reggae person. Here’s Damon Albarn/2-D playing one on the debut single by Gorillaz, on a track also featuring Del the Funky Homosapien.

8. Spoons.

Spoonman – Soundgarden

This song is named after and features Artis the Spoonman, a street performer in Seattle where Soundgarden were based. You can see the dude whacking the spoons in the video for the song. My cover band is working up a version (albeit without the spoons). It’s a little tricky because it’s played in drop D tuning in 7/4 time, but we’ll get it.

9. Harpsichord.

Golden Brown – Stranglers

And here’s another number in a weird time signature. It’s sort of a waltz, but with extra beats stuffed in. It’s literally in something like 13/8 time, or 6/8+7/8 time. Whatever—I can’t read music anyway. But this single from 1982, played on the most baroque of instruments, never gets old.

10. Mellotron.

Pale and Precious – Dukes of Stratosphear

XTC, disguised as the Dukes, wore their 60’s psychedelic influences on their paisley sleeves in this pastiche/homage to the Beach Boys. The mellotron is a keyboard instrument whose keys play short lengths of magnetic tape. It was popular in the hippie 60’s, most famously on ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.’ And, yes, that is a theremin you hear at the end.

JTFL

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Part Seven)

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Debut album George Best, released in October 1987, had been a hit. The end of year polls in most of the UK music papers had The Wedding Present listed high in one category or another, whether it was best new band, best indie band, best band or best album.

But for one person, the year ended on a sour note as drummer Shaun Charman was asked to leave the band. It has since been admitted by all concerned that it could have been handled better, and Shaun himself says that while he didn’t deal with it well at the time, he has come to accept it was for the better.

The situation was only made public in late-January 1988 along with the news that another UK tour with an as-yet unnamed drummer (who would turn out to be Simon Smith) was taking place the following month as a way of promoting a new single. The three remaining members of the band were given the accolade of a front cover by the NME around the time the new single came out:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm

I’ve always felt this marked a bit of a turning point in the way the songs were recorded and presented, with David Gedge‘s vocals much more prominent in the mix than previously. A sign perhaps that he was finally getting much more secure about his abilities as a wordsmith?

This one came out on 7″, 12″ and CD, marking the first time a single had been released on that format. As usual, the 7″ had one b-side, but the other formats had additional songs.

mp3: The Wedding Present – Nothing Comes Easy
mp3: The Wedding Present – Don’t Laugh
mp3: The Wedding Present – I’m Not Always So Stupid

Nothing Comes Easy was an unusual number in that it was a bit slower-paced than just about anything the band had released prior to this point in time, and with a running length of almost four-and-half minutes, it was one of their longest songs. The other two songs were everything that fans had come to expect, with the mix of fast and frantic guitars accompanying lovelorn lyrics.

I never thought I could live here on my own
But then I guess everybody’s got to live somewhere
Four tins of paint made this our home
Oh, I got less on the walls than I got in my hair

When we moved in here the dog was still a pup
Oh do you remember the time he chewed those curtains that we found?
I laughed the day you put them up
The day you left, I tore them down

(from Don’t Laugh)

It’s fascinating to look back and see how prolific the band were in those early days. This was already the seventh single and there had been one album – and by my reckoning it meant 28 different songs were already out there, of which just two were covers. I could easily come up with two ICAs on this early material alone.

JC

Woodenbox

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #382: WOODENBOX

This six-piece folk-rock outfit from Glasgow formed in 2008, initially as Woodenbox With A Fistful of Fivers. The inclusion of saxophone and trumpet within their sound did mark them out as a bit different from many of their contemporaries, and there was fair bit of buzz around them when debut album Home and The Wild Hunt was released on Electric Honey Records in 2010, with the band invited onto the bill of a number of festivals and making an appearance at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas in 2011.

About a year later, the name was shortened to Woodenbox and plans were revealed for their new material to come out on the then relatively new Glasgow label, Olive Grove Records.

Two more albums would follow, End Game (2013) and Foreign Organ (2015)., before Olive Grove, in 2020, re-released the long out-of-print debut on its 10th Anniversary.

A lot of people whose tastes I admire and appreciate did their best to convert me into a fan, but it never quite happened. I’ve only a couple of songs on the hard drive, courtesy of them being part of compilation CDs, including one made and sent over by Phil Hogarth, long-time supporter of the blog, from which this is lifted:-

mp3: Woodenbox With A Fistful Of Fivers – Twisted Mile

You can tell from the fact it’s when the band had the longer name that this one comes from the debut record.

JC

Various

THE 7″ LUCKY DIP (10)

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Today’s lucky dip is the last for a while, but I’m sure the series will return at some point in 2024. It just happens that it offers a bit of a bargain, with four songs for the price of one……and it’ll be interesting to see if anyone likes all four.

This 7″ vinyl record came free with the edition of the NME that was published on 22 May 1985. It rotates at 33.333 rpm and the quality, which wasn’t all that great to begin with, isn’t the best on my copy, which is at least second-hand in nature.

The idea of the record was to acknowledge the NME Readers Poll Winners from 1984, the results of which the paper had published in February 1985. The best album had been Treasure by Cocteau Twins, while The Smiths picked up the votes to be named best group. Bronski Beat took the plaudits for best new group, while Bono was given the accolade of best male singer and Elizabeth Fraser was named as best female singer.

Fair play to those involved in persuading the various parent record labels to allow songs to be included.

mp3: Bronski Beat – Hard Rain
mp3: Cocteau Twins – Ivo (new version)
mp3: The Smiths – What She Said (live)
mp3: U2 – Wire (dub)

Hard Rain was a previously unreleased track, and as far as I’m aware, was never included on any future singles or albums by Bronski Beat.

Cocteau Twins offered a different take on one of the best tracks on Treasure, and I reckon the NME version is a better listen.

The Smiths supplied a live track from gig that had taken place at the Oxford Apollo back on 18 March 1985 (a show in which they were supported by James), while U2 provided a fresh mix of a track that had been on the multi-million selling The Unforgettable Fire.

Given how many copies the NME shifted back in 1985, it’s no surprise that this EP is really easy to pick up on the second-hand market. There’s more than 200 listed on Discogs alone, with prices going from 40p to £50.45 – I’ve a feeling that the seller who has it listed at that price may wait quite some time before they shift it.

JC

James

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #039

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#039– James ‘Hymn From A Village’ (Factory Records ’85)

Hello friends,

James, ey? Yes, them of ‘Sit Down’ – and ‘Come Home’ – fame, for younger readers, if such creatures do at all exist over here!

But, you know, James were more than those two hits, by far more, in fact! In my book, they easily were one of the best bands to come from the UK for a full decade. And as we have seen on numerous occasions, it certainly isn’t easy for a band to remain true to a self-imposed style for such a long time, especially when satisfactory success is not in sight by and large. I mean, we listeners, we easily tend to complain about bands who try new stuff, expand their horizons in order to gain wider attention – and consequently sell more records, so that they can afford a living. Because this is what bands make music for, not for pleasing boring nerds like us!

James though, they never changed a great deal, at least that’s what I would think. They had considerable success from scratch on, first locally in Manchester, where they gained a reputation as a good live act. They quickly got a record deal with Factory, released their debut single in 1983, supported The Smiths in early ’85, all of which is not too shabby for a band, so perhaps rightly they were considered to be ‘the next big thing’ back then. Then again, ‘the next big thing’ was a term much too inflationary used in those days anyway, so it should be taken with a pinch of salt, perhaps. Anyway, the guitarist became a drug addict whereas the singer and the bassist ended up in some sort of sect which entailed restrictions on their lifestyles. Under these circumstances, the next record would turn out to be utter crap, you would have thought.

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mp3: James – Hymn From A Village

Jim Glennie, the bassist, once said that “this is the one James song that he would want to survive if all but one were accidentally erased”. That would be my wish as well, although I strongly suggest to everyone reading this to have a closer look into James back catalogue until, let’s say, 1993: if you’re not familiar with what they issued then, you may have missed a treat.

But first of all, enjoy the one above!

Take care,

Dirk

P.S.: fun fact: I saw them live once at an indoor festival in Germany (they were absolutely stunning). And I spent the whole show standing right beneath one of the few indie rock goddesses of the time, Naomi Yang out of Galaxie 500 (who were on the same bill, along with, oddly enough, Einstürzende Neubauten):

naomiyang

I still could drive a nail through my foot every I remember this gig, because within all of James’ set I was too shy to address Naomi …. ah well …

JC adds……

I hope Dirk doesn’t mind, but the release of this single back in 1985 coincided with what I think was James’ first appearance on national TV in the UK. It was on Whistle Test on BBC2 and consisted of two songs played live at the ICA in London. I’m sure Microdisney were also on that night….I’ve got in on a VHS tape somewhere.

HOUSE oF ALL

RECOMMENDED LISTENING FROM 2023 (Volume 9)

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The ninth of an occasional feature in which I’ll draw your attention to some albums that have been purchased in 2023 and which I reckon are worth highlighting.

There is no denying that The Fall are irreplaceable. Mark E Smith‘s death brought an understandable end to everything, but with so many musicians having been involved with the group over the decades, it was surely only a matter of time before some sort of tribute act popped up.

I approached the idea of HOUSE oF ALL with some trepidation. The initial single had been released via internet channels but had created a ruckus with the family of the late singer stating that they found the idea “extremely offensive and very misleading to the wider audience of Mark E Smith and The Fall”.

mp3: THE HOUSE oF ALL – Harlequin Duke

The fact that the band consists of Martin Brammah, Steve Hanley, Paul Hanley, Simon Wolstencroft and Pete Greenway (and includes a dual-drummer approach, it is inevitable that much of the sound will give off vibes of the band they had all at one point in time, been heavily involved in. But Brammah has long been his own man in terms of songwriting and singing, and his contributions are quite some way removed from those of MES, albeit he does make playful reference in the lyric with ‘maybe our bingo master has returned’.

In short, I didn’t see what all the fuss was really about.

It seems that the problems were all about the use of the phrase “the Fall family continuum” within the promotional/PR blurbs. It was quickly dropped and those involved with HoF got on with getting the record out there and making plans to play live.

The album arrived in the shops in May. It’s the result of three days in a Manchester studio from the first time all five had actually played together. It contains just eight songs, and has a running time of just over 35 minutes, and while it is fair to say that the trademark Steve Hanley basslines are very much to the fore, not forgetting the dual drums of Paul Hanley and ‘Funky Si’, it turned out to be a record that has influences from The Fall rather than being any sort of pastiche or tribute.

I guess that many listeners did initially look out for obvious rip-offs or reference points, but what became clear very quickly was that HOUSE oF ALL was more than worthy of being considered entirely on its own merits. I tried hard not to think of it as a debut album given the combined decades of experience that the five members have, not to mention the many hundreds of albums and singles they have played on, and indeed one of its great strengths is the confident playing from all concerned. It certainly sounds as it was rehearsed professionally to within an inch of its life, rather than coming together over such a short and intense period of time.

The Bay City Pistols??? Utter genius. And one of the catchiest sing-a-long songs I’ve heard in decades.

Highly recommended.

JC

Belle and Sebastian

60 ALBUMS @ 60 : THIS MISSED THE CUT?

Belle and Sebastian- The Boy With The Arab Strap (1998)

I’m playing my newly-acquired copy of the 25th Anniversary reissue of The Boy With The Arab Strap, the third studio album in the career of Belle and Sebastian. It’s kind of hard to believe that this year saw the release of Late Developers, their 12th album….I don’t think many of us who were listening back in the mid-late 90s would have imagined they’d still be going strong all these years later.

The Boy With The Arab Strap was very much on the longlist for inclusion in the rundown earlier this year. It was the victim of having to make really tough decisions. If it had made the cut, I don’t think it would have been at #60….it would have been looked at along with everything else on the list and compared to them.

Anyways, today’s review is an effort to make up for the omission.

I’ll begin by saying that the 25th anniversary reissue is rather lovely to look at. Where the original had a green coloured sleeve (and it’s a release I only picked up on CD), the reissue has a blue sleeve, which is in keeping with the posters which were illegally plastered all over Glasgow back in ’98. The vinyl is also a lovely shade of light blue.

It’s an album on which the lead vocals weren’t exclusively taken by Stuart Murdoch. There’s two from Stevie Jackson, one from Isobel Campbell and one from Stuart David….but that still leaves eight for the main man. It’s an album on which many of the fan’s favourites are included, not least the magnificent, pop-orientated and utterly danceable title track:-

mp3: Belle and Sebastian – The Boy With The Arab Strap

And yup, the title of the song and album was inspired by the Falkirk band. The two groups had toured together, and rumour has it that Aidan Moffat was slightly besotted by Isobel Campbell, and in due course provided the inspiration for some of the lyric. Malcolm Middleton, in a later interview, said that came to be annoyed about it all as some folk thought it was some sort of collaboration between the two groups.

I don’t think it’s a perfect album, or indeed a near-perfect album. The spoken-word effort from Stuart David doesn’t fit in all that well, albeit the outro part of the song over the final minute or so is well worth a listen as a sort of film soundtrack piece of music – but at least with this vinyl version it comes at the start of Side 2 and the needle could be placed in a groove slightly further on (not that I’d dream of doing that!!). And while one of the Stevie Jackson tracks is more than fine, his second contribution, Chickfactor, is a ballad that has never done anything for me….it’s a reminder that his voice is an acquired taste.

But here’s the one I do like:-

mp3: The Boy With The Arab Strap – Seymour Stein

The tale of how the American mogul tried so hard to get the band to leave Jeepster Records and take the filthy lucre of cash from Sire.

Listening again afresh, I do think the Isobel Campbell song is among my favourite B&S tracks. I didn’t, however, include it on ICA 165 which now seems a major error on my part

mp3: Belle and Sebastian – Is It Wicked Not To Care?

For the most part, it’s a gentle-paced album, perfect for those long, lazy and warm summer days, to be listened to while eyes are closed and the rays are caught. But it doesn’t sound too shabby on a cold but fresh November morning. I can see this bit of vinyl getting lots of spins….it’s strange that the CD hasn’t been played in years….but then again, very few of them are these days.

Talking a moment or two ago about cold…..I’m heading off later today to somewhere I expect to be chilly. It’ll be my first ever trip to Oslo, the capital city of Norway, and I’m quite excited about it.

Only downer is that it is very much a straight there and straight back effort that won’t leave me much time for sightseeing. It’s also probable that I’ll land just as the dusk comes in, and my journey back out to the airport tomorrow will be so early that the sun won’t have fully risen.

But it’ll have all been worth it, I’m sure, as the reason for the trip is to see Arab Strap play live (well, Aidan and Malcolm as a duo), performing the album Philophobia, which was #21 in the 60@60 list.

They have been out on the road for a fair bit of this year, and things are closed off next month with a series of gigs in Scotland, all of which coincide with me being away on holiday. So, Norway it is. The flight and hotel were very reasonable, and I’ve vowed that I’ll stay off the drink to save money!

Oh, and I’m going in solo for this one…it should be quite the adventure!

JC

10000 Maniacs, Natalie Merchant

AN IMAGINARY COMPILATION ALBUM : #354: NATALIE MERCHANT/10,000 MANIACS

A GUEST POSTING from STEVE McLEAN

JC writes……

Steve submitted this with the suggestion that it be used across two separate non-ICA pieces, partly on the basis that with 8 songs on offer for each of the 10,000 Maniacs and solo years, there weren’t enough songs. I’ve decided to roll things into one, with the result that you get to enjoy a wonderfully expansive ICA totalling 16 songs. After all, there’s nothing to say that these MUST be 10 songs in total, although it is my preference. That’s enough from me….so without further ado, please give a big and warm welcome to Mr Steve McLean………

Hello internet friends!

I love Natalie Merchant. She’s awesome, she’s caring, she’s non-judgemental and while she’d probably get you ethically made wooden toys for Christmas and not the Transformer you specifically asked for, I reckon she’s still great fun to be around.

I went to see her recently at the Palladium and while she was prone to bouts of tears, she also picked fluff off of Billy Bragg and teased him about his jumper. You see, FUN! pure fun.

There’s a Faceook group called Alternative Ballpark run by Phoenix Phil for music fans who are mostly over 40. They have a great regular segment called “The Wondertour”, which is a run through of the back catalogue of an artist. I recently hosted the Merchant / 10000 Maniacs Wondertour to a reaction audience of sometimes double figures (she’s what the people want). These choices are essentially a distilled version of that project. I’ve picked 16 songs. 8 on each ‘side’. One side for the Maniacs and one for Natalie. It’s not enough but it’ll have to do. It his however ripe for splitting into two posts on this fine blog. (JC adds….see above intro!!)

SIDE ONE – 10,000 Maniacs

I’ve ignored the first album and first EP. They’re both pretty hard work and the best songs turn up later on the on the major label records.

Scorpio Rising – (from The Wishing Chair)

The second single from the major label debut record and what I like to think of as the first proper Maniacs single. Up until now the band had the training wheels on (This post is going to invoke some strong FANZINE FEELS!) But this has all the hallmarks of their classics; powerful but not overbearing with lyrics that smack you around a bit. It’s one of those songs where the meaning changes with the mood the listener is in.

“Treat me to an honest face sometime. AMAZE ME NOW!”

Fucking hell, right?

Back O’The Moon – (from The Wishing Chair)

The lyrics always make me think of my pal Jenny who saved me from going up the wall during lockdown. It’s a great example of why you need to be tuned into Merchant to hear what she’s singing. ‘A car make go, where’s the operator?’ is actually ‘A comical where’s the end parade’.

I love Natalie but sometimes it’s like listening to a BBC Micro.

The Painted Desert – (from In My Tribe)

This is either a song about ghosting or an affair. There’s a feeling of someone being strung along. The way Natalie Merchant of 10KM writes about love often feels it’s from a position of someone who has never been in love. Like she just detaches herself and watches what happens to others. There’s a real sadness to it.
”I haven’t read a word from you since Phoenix or Tucson. April is over, will you tell me how long before I can be there?”

He’s never going to leave her Natalie. He’s a bastard!

A Campfire Song – (from In My Tribe)

I don’t think this is an anti-capitalist number, it’s more of an observation on how greed taints the soul (FANZINE FEELS!). This might be about a Scrooge McDuck or a Cyril Sneer type. Whoever the case study is, they don’t recognise their own folly. Someone clever once said ‘No one who is evil realises they’re evil’ (it was me but I was quoting) The bridge features a sneaky cameo from Michael Stipe. I picked this song as I know he’s popular around these parts.

Please Forgive Us – (from Blind Man’s Zoo)

Remember the Iran / Contra affair? In the 80s Congress blocked giving any aid to the Contras of Nicaragua during their “revolution” as they were spending it on cocaine smuggling and landmines. Reagan & Co bypassed congress by selling arms covertly to Iran and using the money to fund the Contras. This wouldn’t have been quite so bad if the White House hadn’t spent most of 81 to 85 trying to convince the rest of the world not to sell weapons to Iran.

The internal thinking / excuse was that this might thaw relations between the US and Iran and that Iran would be ever sooooo grateful to the US that they’d release the hostages they had. This ultimately turned into an Arms-for-Hostages scandal and an Ignoring-Congress scandal that would have implicated Reagan, George Bush Snr and Lt Cl Oliver North. Guess which one of those three took the fall?

Reagan went on TV and denied everything, then he went on TV and said it happened but he didn’t know about it and then he went on TV and said it happened and that he knew about it but he didn’t know that he knew about it. Boris Johnson got his notebook out and started scribbling. Everyone was eventually pardoned by Bush when he went from VP to P.

10000 Maniacs watched all of this unfold and then penned a song saying sorry to all the kids killed by landmines, the villages ransacked under the name of revolution by the US trained Contras and all of those oppressed in Iran by US weapons.

“Please forgive us, we didn’t know”

Headstrong (from Blind Man’s Zoo)

Petulant, unreasonable and entirely relatable. It takes balls to admit when you’re wrong. It takes even bigger balls to admit that you can be a dick rather than admitting you’re wrong. Although ultimately it’s a plea for the other person to listen and the last verse changes the meaning considerably. It’s the frustration you feel when you’re arguing with someone who is always being entirely reasonable. My Dad used to say ”Don’t trust anyone who doesn’t call you a cunt in an argument” But I think that was just a get-out-of-jail card for him to call people cunts. Clever.

Noah’s Dove (from Our Time In Eden)

Natalie has had her heart broken and Imma gonna punch the guy. Religious imagery plays a part in a lot of 10KM songs but here that gives way to pity and a loss of trust (she’s not angry, just disappointed in you). If bedroom dwelling songs are an art then this is a masterpiece (fanzine McLean strikes again). It’s looking out the window on a bus, planning your future with the girl who works in the library or walking in the rain. It’s sad but it’s a hug.

Eden (from Our Time In Eden)

It’s strange that this wasn’t really a single, it got one of those promo-US-Radio type releases. it has the hallmarks that appealed to daytime One FM of the time. Steve Wright would have fucking loved this (the afternoon posse would too, but those bitches liked what Steve told them to like.) The lyric ‘To pick a rose is to ask your hands to bleed’ is astounding. It floored me when I first heard it. The whole song feels like it’s about paying the piper or the boatman or whatever your reference of choice is. It’s about understanding we’re all flawed and weak and that every personal utopia, be it a relationship or a friendship or just a peaceful time will always end. Blimey!

SIDE TWO – NATALIE MERCHANT SOLO

1993. Merchant quit and went solo. The rest of the band carried on with Mary Ramsay as the lead singer. Lately, Leigh Nash of Sixpence None The Richer has been fronting them. That’s not a bridge we’ll cross.

Natalie enjoy a worldwide smash hit record with Tigerlily. She was the darling of the Coffee Table Book set and edged herself from MTV to Radio 2. Later, while the world was enjoying Central Perks and Deep Blue Something / The Rembrants / Hootie Blows Fish, Natalie was releasing gothic folk records about children’s toys that froze to death. Take that you pastel-Gap-advert-loving fucks.

Jealousy (from Tigerlily)

It’s a brutally honest song about Jealousy (hence the title). It doesn’t shy away from what a small minded, petty, childish emotion jealousy is. The word ‘deb’ is slang for Debutante, you might have known that but I didn’t, which to me adds an angle of class gripe to the song and suddenly she’s being fucked over by the poshos and that gets my back up. It’s gone all Pretty In Pink but with without Duckie being too creepy. I’m not Duckie.

Frozen Charlotte (from Ophelia)

Frozen Charlotte is the name of a Victorian china doll. The name originate from a poem called “A Corpse Going to a Ball” about a girl who didn’t want to cover up her pretty dress while traveling to a party so she froze to death (I’ve got a lemon yellow and pink bowling shirt that I feel similar about). I think this is a song about those tragic folks who take their own lives and their love for those that are left behind. It’s the confused feelings that troubled souls have. It’s quite beautiful.

The Ballad Of Henry Darger (from Motherland)

This has strong Nick Cave vibes to me but I don’t know if that’s just because it’s about someone called Henry. The real Henry Darger was an orphan who worked in hospitals and went to war in WW1. He was an advocate for caring for abandoned and poorly treated children. Today he’s a renowned outsider artist and novelist, although his novel The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion is still seemingly unpublished, it certainly takes all of those wanky overly long naughties book titles like ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ or ‘The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared’ to the fucking cleaners though, right?

Bleezer’s Ice-Cream (from Leave Your Sleep)

A great example of Natalie doing after hours jazz that will subvert our teeny-poppers in their bobby-sox. Except it’s a poem about ice cream flavours. Flavours straight out of Bod’s Milkshake Quiz. Ebeneer Bleezer runs Bleezer’s Ice Cream. Bleezer Good, Bleezer Good. There’s a guy in the place he’s got a bitter sweet ice cream taste.

Tuna taco baked potato, Lobster litchi lima bean and Mozzarella mangosteen all sound rank but you’d try the Checkerberry cheddar chew, right?

Lulu (from Natalie Merchant)

A gentle tribute to Louise Brookes, the silent film start (in case you thought it was dedicated to the ‘…and the Luvvers’ fame or the album by Lou Reed and Mehtallica, although she did inspire that album cover).

She’s the same star of OMD‘s Pandora’s Box and Marillion‘s Interior Lulu. Natalie tracks her life from early chorus girl to scandalous German superstar who gave Hollywood a proper fuck you. I can’t do the life of this lady or the song justice so go to the wiki entry and check her out.

‘Christened in straight up gin’

She Devil (from Butterfly)

This has a sinister feel to it, it’s got an undercurrent of menace and the saxophone is sexy af but also evil, the breathy verses add to the danger and it feels fucking amazing. If only, and I say this thinking that she almost certainly hasn’t heard the 1998 infectious / grating hit, IF ONLY the whole vibe isn’t ruined in the first line with the lyrics

COMIN’ ATCHYA. CLEOPATRA.

Hunting the Wren (from Keep Your Courage)

A cover of the Lankum song. Hunt the Wren is a Manx custom (Isle of Man). It takes place on St Stephen’s Day and it’s basically a group of locals (three surnames between twenty of them) doing a celtic version of Morris dancing. I spent my formative years there and I can tell you that even on their best days it is cousin-fucky as fuck. Things like this don’t help. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunt_the_Wren)

There’s an Irish tradition too called Wren Day which I think probably has more actual hunting but retains the essential 6-toed feel.

Tower of Babel (from Keep Your Courage)

The tower in the bible is an explanation of why humans speak different languages. The story of the Tower of Babel explains the origins of the multiplicity of languages. God was concerned that humans had blasphemed by building the tower to avoid a second flood so God brought into existence multiple languages. Thus, humans were divided into linguistic groups, unable to understand one another.

God is a bit of a prick. Imagine punishing people for not wanting to be drowned again. The song itself is a bluesy stomp with a cracking horny section. You hear that God? I said HORNY! Get it round ye, ya fud.

This is really just my favourite songs of today. There’s absolutely stacks of stuff she’s recorded, even with only two albums of original material since 2001. She’s released a couple of folk cover albums, songs with Billy Bragg, The Kronos Quartet plus loads of one offs and guest appearances. A deep dive into her output is well worth your time.

If you see her, remind her she agreed to marry me in a dream. And by that I mean I had a dream once where Natalie was singing the her cover of ‘If No one Ever Marries Me’ and I was in the audience. After the song I shouted ‘I’ll marry you Natalie’

She asked me to stand up, looked at me and then said ‘hmmmm…. anyone else?‘

Even my dreams are pricks.

STEVE

Wedding Present

THE WEDDING PRESENT SINGLES (Part Six)

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April and May 1987 saw The Wedding Present out on tour across the UK, mostly at student union venues, while the following month they were a late replacement, well down the bill, at Glastonbury after Red Lorry Yellow Lorry had to pull out unexpectedly. Otherwise, the time was spent, writing, rehearsing and eventually recording the songs for the debut album.

A few weeks in advance of the album, a new single was released as a taster:-

mp3: The Wedding Present – Anyone Can Make A Mistake

Maybe it was around this time that someone cracked the line ‘all the songs sound the same’, to which the smart reply has to be ‘maybe….but it’s a helluva song isn’t it?’ Anyone Can Make A Mistake didn’t deviate too far from the tried and tested, but perhaps the one minor criticism on offer is that it wasn’t quite as brilliant as My Favourite Dress (but then again, what possibly could be?)

This one came out on 7″ and 12″, as well as on cassette, which was a limited edition with a free Reception Records badge. The 7″ had one b-side, but the other formats had two additional songs

mp3: The Wedding Present – All About Eve
mp3: The Wedding Present – Getting Nowhere Fast

The interesting thing about the latter is the fact it’s a cover version, something that the band would increasingly become famed for in the succeeding years. This one is of a song originally released back in 1980 by Girls At Our Best, a short-lived but much-loved post-punk band from Leeds. The decision by TWP to cover the song re-ignited interest in Girls At Our Best (they had broken up in 1982), one that has been maintained through to recent times with Optic Nerve, the Preston-based label which specialises in re-releases from the golden eras of indie-pop, giving said treatment to Pleasure, the band’s sole album from 1981.

JC

Wojtek The Bear

SATURDAY’S SCOTTISH SONG : #381: WOJTEK THE BEAR

Wojtek The Bear is an incredibly unusual name for a band.

The backstory can be read in full here on wiki, but in short, Wojtek was a bear cub who was found in 1942, who was adopted and raised by soldiers in the Polish Army, and who lived the latter part of his life in Edinburgh Zoo, passing away at the age of 21 in 1963.

The name has now been adopted by five Glasgow-based musicians, whose third album is scheduled for release in early 2024. The band, consisting of Tam Killean (vocals), Graham Norris (lead guitar), Paul Kirkwood (bass, vocals), Martin McClements (drums) and Becky Cheminais (violin) have been around for about five years, with the debut album A Talent For Being Unreasonable coming out on Scottish Fiction Records in 2018.

The band were a quartet at the time, but having guested on a number of the songs on the debut, Becky was asked to join by the time everyone went into the studio to record the follow-up, Heaven By The Back Door, which was issued by Last Night From Glasgow in 2021.

They make the sort of intelligently enjoyable indie-pop that has never quite gone out of fashion, certainly in the environs of Villain Towers, and I’m only sorry it was taken so long, and their appearance in this long-running series, for them to debut on the blog. Rest assured that when the new album, Shaking Hands With The NME is made available to buy, it will be getting well mentioned and plugged. I should mention that the new album, which will again be on Last Night From Glasgow, was produced by Stephen Street, which is usually a sign of quality.

To make up for them not featuring in the past, here’s a song from each of the two previous albums.

mp3: Wojtek The Bear – Made Out Of Maps (from A Talent For Being Unreasonable)

mp3: Wojtek The Bear -One Things’s For Certain (from Heaven By The Backdoor)

Ach…. let’s go the whole hog. The band recently released a video to showcase what will be the debut single from the third album.

It’s rather wonderful, isn’t it??

JC

Robert Smith, Twilight Sad

THEY’VE BEEN GREAT PALS FOR YEARS…

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The Twilight Sad appear to have won legions of new fans this year, thanks to them being the special guests of The Cure on what was a very extensive tour of North America back in May and June.

It’s not, of course, the first tour they have undertaken as the specially invited guests of the legendary pop-goths, and the fact they were asked to do so again is testament to their abilities not to be overawed by the logistics of playing in cavernous arenas not forgetting also that Robert Smith has been a long-time admirer of their music.

It was back in 2015 when Smith provided a vocal to a Twilight Sad song, one which was issued as part of a Double-A side single:-

mp3: Robert Smith – There’s A Girl In The Corner

The song had originally appeared as the opening song on the album Nobody Wants To Be Here And Nobody Wants To Leave. I’m sure I wasn’t alone, when I read that it was to form one half of the latest Twilight Sad single, that it would be one where he contributed a vocal to either the original tune or would see him in the studio with the band doing it all again fresh.

Nope.

As you can see from the back of the sleeve above, the voices and instruments were all the work of Robert Smith, and that he engineered, produced and mixed everything too.

The result is hugely enjoyable, with James Graham and Andy MacFarlane both saying at the time how thrilled they were that one of their heroes had accepted what they thought was an ambitious request to cover one of their songs.

But it’s not a patch on the original.

mp3: The Twilight Sad – There’s A Girl In The Corner

I’ve this one on 7″ white vinyl, which I had long believed was the only format in which it was released. Turns out there’s a rare and sought after CD version, with only 100 copies issued as a promotional release in America.

JC

Alan Rankine

THE 7″ LUCKY DIP (9)

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Bit of a strange one today.

The late Alan Rankine, who passed away on 2 January 2023, was probably best known as being a founder member of Associates. He quit in 1982, not too long after the release of their third album, Sulk, quickly moving into production during which he worked with, among others, Paul Haig, Cocteau Twins and The Pale Fountains.

He returned to performing in 1986, eventually recording three solo albums before moving on in a new direction by joining Stow College in Glasgow as a lecturer on a music business course, where he was instrumental in providing a very firm launchpad for the career of Belle & Sebastian.

His solo material was a bit on the patchy side, and that’s me being kind. This is the single which also lent its name to his debut album:-

mp3: Alan Rankine – The World Begin To Look Her Age

It’s one in which the kitchen sink has been thrown at, production wise, but all it seems to do is highlight that his own vocal is quite one-dimensional and limited. I don’t think he was ever cut out to be a frontman. He was probably more comfortable doing the more experimental stuff that was on the b-side:-

mp3: Alan Rankine – Can You Believe Everything I See? (Part 2)

This single, like much of his solo material came out on Virgin Records. It didn’t chart.

JC

Jam

ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SINGLES : #038

aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser

#038– The Jam– ‘Down In The Tube Station At Midnight’ (Polydor Records ’78)

Hello friends,

in the long run The Jam certainly were one of the most notable bands of all time. If you just consider the five years from ‘In The City’ to ‘The Gift’, there aren’t that many competitors who managed to keep up with such a level of constant brilliance. This makes it rather hard to pick just one single out of the big lot that the band had released within this period. So at the end of the day, basically it could have been any other one, but I went for their eighth 7”, ‘Down In The Tube Station At Midnight’, taken from their third album, from 1978.

Why this one? Well, just like The Clash, The Jam have always been a “lyrics band” for me. I well remember that once I finally had access to internet (when would that have been? 1995 or thereabouts?) I more or less immediately tried to get hold of ~~free porn~~ Jam lyrics, and when being successful, it was always a revelation for me, nearly for each and every tune of theirs. But I think finally being able to understand the full lyrics of ‘Tube Station’ stood out by quite some distance.

Of course I had already realized that Weller is not exactly singing about love, peace and harmony, no, the message seemed to be quite the opposite, in fact. But only after having access to the ‘missing parts’ – the bits I simply couldn’t translate, regardless how often I would play the record – the circle closed, and I loved the tune even more than I already had done before – a masterpiece, I thought: not only lyrically, but musically as well, obviously.

The funny thing is: Weller wasn’t at all fond of the song, so I learnt very much later. He even didn’t want to have it on the album. Apparently the producer, Vic Coppersmith-Heaven convinced him in the end: “I was insistent on him reviving it, and once the band got involved and we developed the sound it turned into an absolutely brilliant track, a classic. Maybe we would have come around to recording it later on in the project, but he’d just reached that point of ‘Oh bollocks, this isn’t working, it’s a load of crap.’”

In hindsight, it seems rather ludicrous that Paul Weller thought so bad about this song. But it is easily forgotten that Weller was only 20 years old in 1978. Me, I could barely write my bloody name when I was 20, let alone write three essential albums full of clever lyrics – which often tried to give the listener an understanding of the fucked up state of Britain’s politics, economy and society.

But the BBC, in their wisdom – instead of putting the single on heavy rotation in order to spread the word – subsequently banned it: in a time when racism was commonly accepted in British society, the song’s powerful message was not acceptable to play on the radio for the station apparently. To quote Tony Blackburn, BBC Top DJ at the time: “It’s disgusting the way punks sing about violence. Why can’t they sing about trees and flowers?”

These days a down-right ridiculous attitude of course, but as it seems at least a handful of young Britons were ahead of their time, because ‘Down In The Tube Station At Midnight’ became The Jam’s second Top 20 hit:

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mp3: The Jam – Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

And finally, for fact-fans: the cover photo was shot on Bond Street tube station on the Central Line whereas the the sound of an Underground train at the beginning of the song was recorded at St. John’s Wood Station.

Enjoy,

Dirk

James

RECOMMENDED LISTENING FROM 2023 (Volume 8)

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The eighth of an occasional feature in which I’ll draw your attention to some albums that have been purchased in 2023 and which I reckon are worth highlighting.

OK. This is a total nostalgia kick. There’s a huge number of singers and bands who’ve been around for decades flogging many a dead horse to fans who are prepared to pay silly money for limited edition represses, gig tickets, t-shirts and all the other paraphernalia that comes with music in the modern era. I’m as guilty as most when it comes to forking out, although I’ve increasingly become tetchy and unwilling to pay the asking price for live shows which are unlikely to be as memorable or enjoyable as those from a few years or decades ago. (£50 for the Bunnymen at the Barrowlands next year? No thanks…….)

I did, however, fork out for the James show in Glasgow that was to feature an orchestra and choir. I did so as the venue was more than decent, and I’m very fond of hearing songs adapted to include strings. It proved to be a good call, as it turned out to be one of the best of what ended up being many live highlights during 2023.

I have to admit that the actual performance was far more spine-tingling than the accompanying album, but that really is down to the magic of seeing and enjoying things in the flesh as opposed to hearing a note-for-note perfect reproduction at home via the stereo speakers. It’s also the fact that the running order of the live show was quite different from the order in which the songs appear over the four sides of the vinyl, as well as having a number of songs that don’t appear on the record. But, all minor grumblings aside, Be Opened By The Wonderful is an album I’m very happy to recommend be added to your wish list from Santa if you’re looking for ideas.

I love that James went deep into the back catalogue for this one. Yup, a fair chunk of the better-known hits are given the full treatment, but there’s also a fair number of album tracks from before they hit payola, at least one very obscure b-side, a handful of songs from their most recent releases and one completely new song. They have all been imaginatively arranged by Joe Duddell, the Manchester-based composer and conductor, and the playing by the ORCA 22 Orchestra and the singing from the Manchester Inspirational Voices Choir is, as you’d expect, from the very top drawer, as too is the playing by the various members of James.

But none of it would work if Tim Booth wasn’t on top form. It’s hard to believe that he sounds as young, fresh and invigorated as he did when he started out some 40 years ago. He brings beauty, drama, power and raw emotion to every one of the tracks, his voice soaring when required but falling to a near whisper when the moments call for it, sometimes on the same song.

mp3: James – Hey Ma

The album and concept was pulled together to mark 40 years in the business. It would have been easy enough to go down some sort of box set route, but instead the band, and all involved with them on the management side, have spared no expense in this incredibly lavish production. Here’s one of the big hits.

If you need any more tasters for what the album offers, you can hear everything over at the James YouTube channel. Just click here.