more from The Trees

Just like the title says - two more tracks by The Trees from their excellent album 'Things That Make You Happy', which can be downloaded free, from last.fm. Always a good sign if you get a new favourite on each listen-through... here's the trip-hoppy, tuneful and fuzzy 'Stop Talking' (the final thirty-odd seconds sound especially cool through headphones + I love the drum break just before midway), and a more delicate, acoustic guitar-led number - 'Odd One Out', which is beautiful, with lovely quiet little details; it's actually the sorta gentle song, fine harmonies, that I always thought The Bees shoulda done more of.


♫ Stop Talking - The Trees

♫ Odd One Out - The Trees

from 'Things That Make You Happy'
visit The Trees on myspace

Download the whole album free at last.fm

And in case you missed the glorious first track I posted a couple of days ago - here it is
♫ Dirty Money - The Trees

intodown + From Monument to Masses

A couple of (mostly) instrumental tracks from the inbox, both of which I like a lot, although didn't necessarily expect to. You can't judge a book by its cover, and you certainly can't judge a band by its press release genre label things; or maybe you can? - and I just surprise myself with what sounds good when I hear it, more to do with my own musical preconceptions. In the same spirit of discovery, and assuming your radar hasn't already blipped at 'instrumental'... I'll say nothing about these, beyond recommending 'em - see what you think.

♫ Elevator - intodown (4:49 excerpt)
Brave New World (2008)
myspace | buy | website

♫ Beyond God & Elvis - From Monument to Masses
On Little Known Frequencies (2009)
myspace | itunes | buy

The Honey Trees

Certain things (at certain times) strike me as agonisingly, heartbreakingly gorgeous; so beautiful that they engender feelings of not just joy, but huge sadness too, even a need to turn away...

Why, I'm not exactly sure, but perhaps the notion that they're too lovely & unblemished for this world, or maybe a crushing disappointment that life's not the Arcadian dream I often wish it to be, brought painfully to the fore by something that would surely have a place there. Said feelings can be tremendously painful, and tears are often shed, but if I can side-step the familiar, waiting, pit of despair, and concentrate on the goodness that unwittingly opened it, then great joy prevails.

Short version - I'm rather taken with the voice of Becky Filip, singer for The Honey Trees, and a sucker for lovely melodies & the sound of cellos.


♫ Orchard - The Honey Trees

♫ To Be With You - The Honey Trees

from the 'Wake The Earth' EP (2009)
myspace | buy

Tuesday's song - vee device

Not a song this morning, a shortish, gentle guitar/banjo instrumental instead (can you tell I'm running out of Tuesday ones?). It's nice enough, anyhow - and a good hook to hang 'The Ballad Of Abdul Sharif' on.

♫ Tuesday Morning Drive - vee device
Out Of The Darkness (2004)
buy | myspace


♫ The Ballad Of Abdul Sharif - vee device
Autobiography Of A Dying Band (2005)
buy | myspace

My Gold Mask

So I'm cooking dinner last evening, applying my patented "if it sounds good over sizzling & chopping, it must be something special" test, when despite the lowish volume (unusual, for me), something special did get my attention, in a big way - first, some sublime, slightly jazzy, revrb'y guitar, that Tarantino should consider making another movie for; then, the most striking female voice, soulful, but with a keen edge; and finally, a thumping great bass drum crescendo. Even over the culinary racket, this was clearly awesome, and a hasty check (who's this? - they're amazing) revealed that the band was My Gold Mask. Well, that rang a bell, and what remains of my mind led to a tart's gig review at Love Shack, Baby a couple of weeks ago, which had made them seem very interesting indeed (tart knows her stuff).


A bit sheepishly, the recollection of my being more concerned with making wise about one of My Gold Mask's song titles, than paying close attention to the name of the band, dawned on me; but it seems I musta gone a searching & listening after all, since there was this minimalist, a bit White Stripes'y, gem - 'O My Soul' winking back from the screen, and clearly it didn't download itself.

Enough with the preamble - My Gold Mask are a duo from Chicago (Gretta Rochelle & Jack Armondo), they've got a self-titled album out now, and what a ride it is - feeling almost sparse electro-gypsy at times, pared down Siouxsie at others, occasional hints of a sorta distorted German cabaret, the odd reminiscence of the raw energy of PJ Harvey's four-track demos, a dark, bluesy thing in places too, had me thinking of Francis, not that they sound similar... Ha!, impossible to pin down, I like that soo much. They get quite new wavely mediaeval on 'Like Eli', definitely dancey on 'Bitches', thumpingly raw & intense on 'O My Soul' & 'Your Coo Ka Choo', quiet(ish) & tender on 'A River'; and you needn't think it's a disjointed effort, cuz it ain't.  Jack's guitar feels wonderfully portentous throughout; and Gretta's voice? - I'm lost for words really, try 'captivating' for starters.

Fortunately then, here are three tracks from the album, you can stream all the others below, including O My Soul, the one that sucked me in. Buy the whole album in high quality from My Gold Mask on a 'name your price' basis. Listen first, then pay what you like - sounds more than fair to me.

I dearly wish I could make their next gig on 3rd April - My Gold Mask are playing with Wavves and Vampire Hands at The Empty Bottle in Chicago; it should be one great evening.

You could dance your socks off once Bitches gets moving.
♫ Bitches

♫ Your Koo Ca Choo

♫ Monomania

as I said, hear every track before you buy.





If you've read this far, it's possible you're wondering (as I did) where My Gold Mask have been hiding until now... and the answer is, they are 2/3 of Bang! Bang!, also very impressive - more from them another day.

Finally,,,, here's a taste of My Gold Mask, playing live...

Monday's song - Tender Forever

Ohh, such a short, almost impossibly bittersweet song today, from the lovely Melanie Valera, who is Tender Forever. If you haven't heard her before, it'll hopefully serve as a suitable introduction to her delightful, yet near painfully personal music. She has a voice & an eloquent ease of expression to die for, never mind Naples.

Just two albums, far as I know - The Soft and the Hardcore, that this is from, and the equally charming Wider, both hugely recommended for their touching short songs of love, separation & emotional tragedy. If Tender Forever is new to you, I'm actually jealous.

♫ Every Monday - Tender Forever
The Soft and the Hardcore (2005)
buy | myspace



1 April - Underground Coffeehouse - Bellingham, Washington
2 April - The Den - Tacoma, Washington
3 April - Seattle, Washington
4 April - TBA - Portland, Oregon
5 April - ARCATA, California
6 April - UC Berkeley - Berkeley, California
7 April - Bimbo’s 365 Club - San Francisco, California
8 April - SOhO Restaurant and Music - Santa Barbara, California
9 April - The Echo - Los Angeles, California

The Trees

I got wind of The Trees from A Future In Noise, and goodness, what a find they are. 'Beatle-esque psychedelic tinged rock' got my attention, but I hear a lot of things, all of 'em good. I'll return to The Trees again soon, when I've listened over & over, as I do with things I like; but for now, enjoy this exuberant anthemic number, the first track on their album - 'Things That Make You Happy'. Cards on the table; Dirty Money has me thinking a more harmonious early Oasis - it's marvellously rousing & just downright fabulous.

♫ Dirty Money - The Trees
Things That Make You Happy
myspace

Download the whole album free at last.fm

Sunday's song - Blondie

Call me lazy, but there's no denying the charms of Debbie Harry. The English language version of this, the second #1 single by Blondie, released in 1979, when I were just a boy. It did well in Europe too, although strangely, it was never put out as a single in the US - go figure, shoot, tarnation!.

♫ Sunday Girl (French version) - Blondie
originally on the UK 12" single of Sunday Girl
buy

Eagles of Death Metal - live in Portsmouth

I dragged myself down to the Pyramids in Portsmouth tonight, for the Eagles of Death Metal gig; what a soulless venue that is, makes the Brighton Centre seem cosy & intimate - all the warmth of a wet Sunday in McDonalds, and just twelve quid to get in, ha!, oh, and another twenty if you wanted a t-shirt; cheap at half the price eh?, err no. The dreadful place was packed though, even had some ticket touts trying their luck outside, so obviously a pretty popular bunch.

One for the fans, I'd say - since the band went down very well indeed, although the crowd was strangely quiet & mostly stationary during the songs, which sound much heavier & Rock and Roll than they do on record; but speaking of songs, I really think they need a writer - there was presence, Attitude (with a capital A), some storming good riffs, and, and... not too much else.

They make a great, if doubtless expensive, covers band - I thought the punters only really got going for their rockin' cover of 'Stuck In The Middle' (the Stealers Wheel number), and 'Brown Sugar' - beyond those, only 'I Want You So Hard', 'Anythin' cept the Truth' & 'Wannabe in LA' made any impression on me... suuure, the audience whooped & hollered at the plainly familiar intro riffing to many others, but the actual songs lacked a deal of substance for this unconvinced listener, - maybe Axl Rose was right? , probably not, of course - in fact I like 'em more now just for that.

You're thinking I'm not a die-hard fan?, and you'd be right, fairly obviously; and they're good, you know, but with some properly memorable songs, they'd be so much better.


♫ Wannabe in LA - Eagles of Death Metal
Heart On (2008)
buy | myspace | website



If you get this far, you deserve to know that Davey Jo, the guitarist, looked like my Granddad, with a mohican - not good; so blame my apathy on that, if you will.

The Saturday Nights - something to smile at

Revisiting Mingle -last years joyous & witty rap/a bit indie rock album by The Saturday Nights a few weeks ago, I really shoulda checked around more, because back in February they released this excellent feel-goody, Sesame Streety video, that's a real delight to watch. Made me smile, anyway.

Saint Bernadette

A new EP 'Word To The Lourdes' is out in a couple of weeks, from Saint Bernadette - doesn't Meredith sound more than a bit like the guy from Scissor Sisters on this track?, just me I expect, cuz it also brought a glammed & camped up Avengers to mind, which is a huge plus. If the rest of the ep's as good, it'll be a treat.

♫ Already Gone - Saint Bernadette
Word To The Lourdes EP (April 14)
myspace | buy & info

That's quite the difference in style, both musically & vocally, compared with last year's 'I Wanna Tell You Something' EP, and the 2007 album 'In The Ballroom', for that matter... if the apparent sea change is representative of a new direction, then for me, it's very welcome.

Saturday's song - Keith West

Something slightly psychedelic from the sixties, for you to savour on a sunny Saturday. 'On a Saturday' was a Keith West 'solo' release in 1968, with Ronnie Wood on bass, Steve Howe on guitar, and some excellent, energetic drumming from Aynsley Dunbar. Mark Wirtz is credited as producer.

Enough name-checks, this is wonderfully dreamy & evocative - anyone know if it made the charts? (bloody shoulda done).

Sunny days chase the night, waiting for the dawn
Now the season is rapidly changing, it's alive and warm
A new day is born
Why should I be worried or hurried?
Does she know the way that I feel?, when we meet for a while on a Saturday, sunny Saturday afternoon

♫ On a Saturday - Keith West
On a Saturday / The Kid Was a Killer (single on Parlophone -1968)
available to buy on cd - Tomorrow or A Teenage Opera

Ooh! new Rumble Strips

I'd never heard of The Rumble Strips until fairly recently, when It All Started With Carbon Monoxide posted their excellent cover of Thin Lizzy's 'The Boys Are Back In Town', and now I love 'em; that Agnes comes up with some very good music.

Anyway, 'London' is a taste of The Rumble Strips' forthcoming album, and for the first few seconds, almost sounds like a Morrissey song I reckon (lyrically, at least)... "We're bored, bored to the bone; conversations - some things are best left alone", but it's unmistakably The Rumble Strips of course - all joyful energy, bouncy brass, & pounding drums; not to mention Charlie Waller's splendidly extravagant singing. Roll on June, I say.

♫ London - The Rumblestrips
untitled album - expected June 2009
myspace | website | buy

Get to one of their gigs if you can -

27 March - Derby : The Rockhouse
28 March - Luton : Charlie Browns
30 March - Mayrhofen : Snowbombing
01 April - Cardiff : Clwb Ifor Bach
02 April - Exeter : Cavern
04 April - Chatham : Tap n Tin
05 April - Gloucester : Guildhall
06 April - Bristol : Thekla


& that fine cover version? here you go...

♫ The Boys Are Back In Town - The Rumble Strips
Alarm Clock ep (2007)
buy

Norb Payr - Hiding Place

So I mentioned Norb Payr a week or so ago, describing his music as ...hints of Rubber Soul era Beatles, Byrds, and various folk-rock I can't put a name to..., which I still think is a reasonable first impression, and certainly puts over the nostalgic feel, but doesn't convey the gentleness, the compassion, that runs through all his songs; I get the clear idea of Norb being a really nice guy, who quietly notices things about people & places, then crafts them into musical form.

Last time, I didn't have any mp3s for you. Well, Norb has agreed to let me share a couple, and really, I've had a hard time choosing - the problem is that they're all so good, and I keep changing my mind, a new favourite on every play. The bouncy, upbeat 'Cloud 9' ?, something slower & beautifully calming, like 'Wild wide sea' or 'Hey Mister' ?, the ambling country-blues of 'You Better Stop' ?. In the end, I've gone with 'Memory', which is just a delight, and the album title track - 'Hiding Place', because they nicely demonstrate the warmth & musicianship that'll draw you in & leave you feeling fine.



♫ Memory - Norb Payr

♫ Hiding Place - Norb Payr

Stream more songs by Norb Payr on myspace - his album, Hiding Place, is out now on Pumpkin Records : buy it via email : €10 + postage

Friday's song - Agent Simple

Hmm, unlike Thursday's plans for bedding (no, not the garden sort), today's tune lacks a deal of excitement, although Stefan Strömberg's fine, deep voice does make his intended arrangements sound surprisingly attractive; he's actually lined up a quiet night in, watching telly, with suitable snacks - all in an effort to avoid thinking about  an unnamed (ex?) lover.

What an excellent bit of Swedish pop this is, I'd forgotten all about it (again) & squealed all piggy like on hearing the opening chords. If you like his vocal delivery, you might care for the YY28s, who were blisteringly good, for an all too short period. Ashley Reaks, their singer (in character as Joe Northern), is still making music - check him out here. My word!, they were great, especially live.

♫ Friday - Agent Simple
Shaking an Egg (7" EP - 2007)
myspace | buy

new stuff that's good

A little lazy, I know - but here's a few recent inboxers that got way more than one play, I've a shortage of words this morning, or maybe they're being rationed in these economic straits, just like colour was after the war? (thanks Alexi), but not having a lot to say doesn't mean much, 'cept there's less to read, which might be a good thing.
Whatever, you can't stop the music... (no-body can stop the music), gah!, that's the Village People in my head, YMCA, In The Navy, Macho Man... oh heavens, gotta listen, now!; they're the musical equivalent of The A-Team I reckon - funny, formulaic & fuckin' ace. Great big grin on my face while playing ymca - marvellous, I'm happy now.


Nooo, Jeremy Enigk sounds nothing like The Village People, or the A-Team (Mr T's back on telly here, btw - yay!), and I'm reserving judgement about whether or not his voice grates any for a full album, but Mind Idea is very good, although I'd mix the leccy guitar wayyy up in the chorus, add some needed oomph it would. Damn, that chorus chord progression is wicked - a prize if you can relieve my pondering which Beatles song it reminds me of, cuz I know it, but... ooh, that'll bug me all day.

♫ Mind Idea - Jeremy Enigk
OK Bear (May 12 on Lewis Hollow)
myspace


A treasure of a voice, bouncy indie-folk & a California feel (nah, I've never been), reminded me of a deeper, breathier Sheryl Crowe, but then I played some & found Schuyler was way better to these ears. Definitely listen to more at msypace you should.
♫ The Good Stuff - Schuyler Fisk
The Good Stuff (Feb 2009)
buy | myspace



OK, this felt patchy on first play, albeit nicely theatrical & familiar; it's chuffing well infectious though, and I keep returning to it over & over, enough to search for more, which was a rewarding exercise. I hear early Sparks, bigtime, with all the inventiveness, & vaudeville, & varied vocal styling that suggests. Two more tracks (presumably) from the upcoming album, 'John & Betty' + 'Life Garden' are well worth checking at myspace.
♫ Gun and the Sword - Chase Pagan
Bells & Whistles (June 2009 on Esperanza Plantation)
myspace | website

same guy, a taste from 2007; very good & not at all Sparksy.
♫ Waltzing in the Sky - Chase Pagan
Oh, Musica! (2007)
buy

♫

Thursday's Song : honeyhoney

Amazing what you find in a music collection, stuff you hadn't appreciated first time round, due to constraints of time, or in my case, sheer quantity. On the basis of overlooking this gorgeous song of sexual desire & intent, I should listen carefully to each & every album, one at a time, rather than the scattergun approach which tends to prevail here. Hey ho, that's partly what picking a theme & going with it is for, to see what lustrous gems are uncovered.

Mmm mmm mmm, jazzy & a bit bluegrassy & that ace Hawaiian guitar ending; if tonight goes like this, you're obviously unlucky at cards - I fold.

♫ Thursday Night - honeyhoney
Loose Boots EP (2008)
myspace | website | buy

There's also a really nice album - First Rodeo

The Ropes

What an enormous pleasure it is, getting 'yet another' promo email, & finding that the music's as good as good can be, or downright bloody wonderful, actually. So it was with The Ropes, a two-piece from NYC who I heard for the first time yesterday. That's right, just the two of 'em; Sharon Shy on bass & vocals, Toppy on drums and guitar/keys (he plays drums with the guitar still slung round his neck, apparently).

What do I hear? - Hardcore era Pulp with Poe singing, might be accurate for 'I Don't Like to Get Dirty', a little more Poe/Pink (that's a massive thumbs up, so far as I'm concerned) on 'Kill Her Off', but tracks from the recent ep 'Be My Gun' are rather harder to pin down, which is a great sign of things to come. Hell's Bells, Sharon's got an amazing voice, that's for certain - whether strong & assured, or soft & breathy,as the song demands; it's always very alluring indeed. When are they gonna play the UK again?, soon I hope.

♫ Be My Gun - The Ropes
Be My Gun EP (Feb 2009)

♫ I Don't Like To Get Dirty - The Ropes
Cry To The Beat EP (2008)

♫ Kill Her Off - The Ropes
What Do They Do For Fun (2008)


Go make friends on their myspace &
buy Be My Gun, the earlier EP's & last year's album "What They Do For Fun' at amazon or itunes | or get physical CDs here

Michael Zapruder - Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope

Some albums are a beautiful thing to play all the way through; pick the right one, at the right time, and something you already like & know pretty well, can leave you feeling suitably startled at its goodness, & thinking how it was an exceedingly fine way to have spent the previous forty minutes or so. Not just aurally rewarded by pleasant music, but enriched, educated, enlightened even; and sometimes surprised by a nuance, an impression, that eluded you before.

I get that from say, a favourite recording of Elgar's cello concerto, or Lil Beethoven by Sparks, or more recently - Andrew Bird's Noble Beast, to name just a few; and now I've got another one, by Michael Zapruder. Like the others, Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope urges me to pop up the volume so as not to miss a thing, kick back, and listen.


even at the 128K I posted previously, this sounds great - better still in the higher quality below
♫ Ads for Feelings - Michael Zapruder
Dragon Chinese Cocktail Horoscope (released 24 March on SideCho Records)
buy on Cd - $9.99 | myspace | website | itunes


I love all the subtle details of the production, sweet little sounds you don't catch first time; the marvellous lyrics, especially (for me) on the tremendous, near nine minute ballad 'Black Wine'; and ahh, the sweet, spiritual, slow gospel'ish lullaby that is 'Harbor Saints'; great drumming & cymballing(!) on 'White Raven Sails', the artful bass playing throughout; and of course Michael's voice, which is just perfect for this kinda thoughtful, uncluttered, yet intricate music.

"Second Sunday in Ordinary Time' gives the lie to my use of intricate, being very sparse, mostly just acoustic guitar & vocals; the production feels quite different on that song, sort of older, nostalgic maybe? - but it works very well if taken that way. What doesn't work so nicely, is the album closer 'Experimental Film', which seems to share the mildly 78rpm sound, but without the charm. It's, well, unsettling - in rhythm, timbre, and lyrically... perhaps that's the idea - not all chocolate boxes & roses, see?. (gratuitous Jarvis quote).

I really recommend this album, hear a couple more tracks at myspace, but it's a better than the sum thing. You should also read the review at love shack, baby, (although I don't get the 'lo-fi' bit, save the final two tracks).



I gotta love any video with a cool cat in it...

I prefer the earlier stuff, myself...

Yes, after an abject failure to get it together last week, I did manage to record a brief intro for the latest Contrast Podcast, which has the subject - Trios.

I chose a song from way back when The Cure were a threesome, and Robert Smith hadn't gone & done whatever you call what he went and did, which I didn't much care for, and still don't really, even if that dislike is probably, even now, fuelled by thirty year old teenage resentment at one of my favourite bands making a big shift in style.

"I prefer the earlier stuff myself..." we used to say, and it was a well worn phrase, a standing-joke really, used about any artist, while hoping to seem knowledgeable or cool - but I really did prefer it in the case of The Cure. Not quite so sure about the first David Bowie single below; I mean, it's a decent enough effort, certainly equal to a medium Stones one of the time, but I dunno, it lacks something. We should be grateful perhaps, that the punters didn't go mad for Davie Jones, or his later, Anthony Newley soundalike phase - success then might have altered everything.

♫ Liza Jane - David Bowie

♫ Louie Louie Go Home - David Bowie

Both sides of Bowie's first single, from 1964, recorded as 'Davie Jones with the King Bees'.

Wednesday's Song - Tracy Shedd (+ free album)

I guess this could cover today & tomorrow, but no cheating from me, oh no. Mmm such a smooth, slightly jazzy voice has Tracy Shedd, here from her third album; vocals characteristically mixed low, something usefully remedied on last year's Cigarettes & Smoke Machines, which has an air of increased confidence about it. Hmm, not that this doesn't, growing from gentle beginnings to an imposing, rhythmic wall of distortion. The album title track, to all intents.

♫ Wednesday's The New Thursday - Tracy Shedd
Louder Than You Can Hear (2004)
free full album download | myspace | website

Here Come The Drums

Been watching reruns of reruns of Dr Who lately, and one of 'em uses music to great effect. The Sound of Drums has a superb scene in some giant floating sky ship, where The Master, gleefully played by John Simm, brings legions of destructive, living metal spheres down on Earth, accompanied by this Elvis Costello penned song - albeit artfully cut to start with 'Here come the Drums'. Note the sample from 'Pump It Up'.

♫ Voodoo Child - Rogue Traders
Here Come The Drums (2005)
buy

Later on, having used a clever 'laser screwdriver' to age him by a hundred years, The Master taunts the Doctor to an excerpt from a Scissor Sisters tune, sounding far more up-tempo than it does here.

♫ I Can't Decide - Scissor Sisters
Ta Dah! (2006)
buy

It's a captivating & joyous use of music to improve a TV scene: if a picture paints a thousand words, then picture & sound combined must run into millions. Way greater than the sum of its parts, perhaps particularly the musical ones, which seem a bit tame in isolation.

Tuesday's Song - Frida Hyvönen

Up at the crack of 05:30, just me, the birds, and the Fat Cat watching pigeons potter in the garden; and music too of course, always with the music. I've got Frida Hyvönen for you this morning, a Swedish singer/song-writer I'm very partial to, with something from her first album 'Until Death Comes', released in 2005, and last year's 'Silence Is Wild'. If you're the type that considers what other artists share a small label, she's on Licking Fingers, along with The Concretes & El Perro del Mar, which should come as a huge recommendation.

These are both really nice, and show the two sides of Frida's recorded work rather well - beautiful, sparse, piano & vocals; or songs evidently written for, or on a piano, but arranged & performed otherwise; sometimes a little too middle of the road radio for my liking, but what do I know?.


♫ Today, Tuesday - Frida Hyvönen
Until Death Comes (2005)
myspace | buy | website

♫ Birds - Frida Hyvönen
Silence Is Wild (2008)
buy

Dance to this!

Bloody Hell - my cat would likely groove to this, and he's Fat, Round, & Fourteen Pounds™ , as well as being extremely lazy. I swear these new 64revolt tracks get better each week, and there's only one more to go - Waaaa!.

Loud as you like; busy, busy, busy; you'd be crazier than me not to like this.

♫ Blue baby - 64revolt
What a horrible night to have a curse (2009)
myspace | website

get it free in glorious 320K at 64revolt.com, along with all the other new album tracks.

Care Bears On Fire

A three girl band from Brooklyn, aged just 13/14 - Care Bears On Fire are pretty damned fine. I suspended my usual rank cynicism, ignored news of the second 'debut' album, and just listened - forget the half-hearted cover of Everybody Wants To Rule The World, their latest release - Everybody Else (re-recorded version of a 2007 song) is a more than agreeable garagey/punk number. Suuure, you've heard similar before, but so what?, if it's good, it's good, and it is.

I've heard a couple from the 'first' album - I Stole Your Animal (2007) - 'Met You On Myspace' & 'Shadow Girl'; let's try & get some mp3's up here.

Care Bears On Fire album out later this year on S-Curve

Jesus Put A Bullet Through My Soul

Woo Hoo! - I've been after this particular song for years & years, and just found it sitting somewhere, waiting for today. Truly, it's wonderful - more rock/punk than the other way around, but that's just how I like things. Play it stupidly loud, and prepare to be converted; I love the Christian life.

♫ Jesus Put A Bullet Through My Soul - The Skulls
Dress Up and Die 12" EP (1986)
buy on ebay, or possibly new & sealed from Mike Mindless

Oh goodness, that's excellent - makes you wanna reach out & whack the cymbal bell along with the drummer... the true sound of the eighties for me, and first time I heard it other than a much-loved cassette tape - isn't that a Blue Oyster Cult (Hot Rails To Hell) riff just before the chorus?.

read a bit more about The Skulls (and lotsa pics) here, here and here and now I've got all their tunes (unplayed so far), expect more, if they're any good.

Monday's Song - The Boys Are Back In Town

I know, no 'Monday' in the title - but look whose cover of Thin Lizzy's song it is. OK, not from their heyday, and perhaps more wishful than factual, a slightly pale imitation of a much better original (both the band and the song); it nonetheless made #24 in the UK charts, and later appeared on the 'greatest hits' album, which makes for curiously depressing listening : forget King Midas - it's more like the Wizard of Oz in reverse, leaving me wondering what the hell I went looking for... no place like home, indeed!.


♫ The Boys Are Back In Town - Happy Mondays
Greatest Hits (1999)
buy | website


Original & Best, who doesn't know the tune within seconds of the intro? - this always feels more wistful, jazzy & intelligent than it did when I was twelve... ah, a tear or two. Spread the word around eh.

♫ The Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzy
Jailbreak (1976)
buy

Logan Lynn

Two tasters from an album you likely can't buy for six months - Logan Lynn's From Pillar To Post was recorded at The Dandy Warhols' studio & will be released on their own Beat The World label later this year.

I'm very partial to the first track here - Feed Me To The Wolves - and perhaps it's the most accessible on the album?, feeling more like a song than a remix, or clever exploration of electronic rhythms & sounds, which is an impression I got from a couple of plays of the whole thing. If Burning Your Glory is more to your taste (a bit long for me), then you'll almost certainly warm to the rest. It's fairly gentle, introspective electro-beaty stuff; not exactly shoegazing, but err, contemplative, certainly. Bung it on loud enough to catch all the intricacies, chill out or sway about, and it'd be spot-on with a nice glass of red, or the relaxing drug of your choice.

♫ Feed Me To The Wolves - Logan Lynn

♫ Burning Your Glory - Logan Lynn

From Pillar To Post is due in Autumn 2009 on Beat The World
myspace | Website

Lonely London Lad''s Lad Pad

The latest offering from Lonely London Lad''s Lad Pad, Drop Dead Lizzie; trip-hop opera anybody? - ooh yes, and a nice cup of tea. I'm getting PIL, Bowie & Barrett over some wicked rhythms myself. Hear more on their myspace & know that there's a double album out soon.

No mp3 (I tried, honest) - but a fine video.

Acorn Boys - the first free release on Holiday Records

A new indie e-label - Holiday Records released their first free tracks on Friday, and plan to do the same thing (free, did I mention that?) every Friday, for as long as they can. Well, gratis is always nice, but only if the quality matches the width - and based on this single by Acorn Boys, it definitely does.

Oh, this is just bloody lovely, and over far too quickly; think gentle, Neil Tennant'y love songs & you won't be far wrong I reckon. A full refund if you don't adore it too.

♫ Walkin' Under Trees - Acorn Boys

get another track by Acorn Boys- We'll always Have Each Other direct from Holiday Records - free (woo!)

Sunday's Song - The Apples in Stereo + Morrissey

Yetanother song with a day of the week in it; this time, the delicious, slightly psychedelic pop sounds of The Apples in Stereo, with Sssunday Sssounds (A bunch of us used to have a thing for making whistley sounds when speaking every instance of the letter S... hmm, you had to be there, maybe?)

Perfect tune fodder for a sunny Sunday drive, anyway - especially the short, sweet guitar solo - just perfect.

Soon comes the summer , so ghosts can leave this city for a while
It comes to life, and the sunlight goes a thousand miles


♫ Sunday Sounds - The Apples In Stereo
New Magnetic Wonder (2007)
buy | myspace


I see that the google/warner bros cadre of evil electronic winged monkeys have been busying themselves disabling audio on youtube instances of Morrissey's song, below (amongst many, many others), but the draw of Southend on Sea was too great for me.

...The coastal town, that they forgot to close down

Saturday's Song - The Cure

Coo-eee; a whole week of day related tunes, so I'm back to Saturday, which does give one of the largest number of songs to choose from. I've picked The Cure today - the B-side of likely the first painfully hip & up to the minute single I ever bought, which led me to getting all of the early Fiction label releases (sadly the local shops had sold all the original Small Wonder editions).

I saw The Cure play live once or twice in '79 - first time out they looked totally bemused at the idea that some kid might want their autographs on anything, never mind whatever scrap of paper came to hand. Poor guys - on one occasion the local crew of trench-coated rockabilly-punks got on stage & danced up a storm; while stealing the microphones & anything else that could be stashed in a large pocket. Welcome to Portsmouth, boys.

Stone me - thirty years ago & I can still remember repeat visits to some old record shop, until they had fresh supplies of this; and the other lads crowding round just to bloody look at it after a school-day lunchtime buying trip. Here you are then,  proper Cure to my mind...

♫ 10.15 Saturday Night - The Cure
Killing an Arab / 10.15 Saturday Night 7" single (1978/9)
buy it on Three Imaginary Boys

I must have played that Three Imaginary Boys album, which this opened, half to death in 79/80 - it's still impossible to hear the end of 10.15 without expecting the immediate start of Accuracy. Funny how some albums & mixes ingrain their play-order in your mind - if you asked me what track came next , I probably couldn't say; but hear or imagine one song ending, and I know right away what follows.

My name Is What?

This is of those "I read a at b blog & x at y blog & it led me to z sorta posts, and it may ramble on a bit, so get a nice cup of tea.

It started at It All Started with Agnes relaying some amusing mis-heard lyrics, after correcting one of her own... you know, Desmond Dekker - me ears are alight - that kinda thing. I was, & still am, a little incredulous at some of the more ridiculous examples that abound on the internet, and had a "ha - I've never done that" moment; rarely a good sign.

Then later, reading ib's Siblingshot on the Bleachers (always a good bet, btw) I saw he'd written about My Name Is Jack - The Manfred Mann song from 1968. I know it so well (I thought...) it must be on the computer somewhere, but it wasn't; so a quick click & I was listening in stereo, which was the first thing that struck me about it. Come the chorus, my mental sing-along was halted by some slightly unfamiliar words, and with the confidence of a man who's "never done that" I was off in search of the (imaginary) version I remembered.

Yes, my own lyrical blunder, cemented as indisputable fact into a mind & memory normally worryingly accurate at the recall of words to ageing songs; probably mis-heard as a child through some tinny AM radio & never questioned during the many subsequent years, it was a mild surprise to learn that the Greta Garbo Home which Jack lived in the back of, wasn't for 'wayward wanton girls' but 'wayward boys & girls'.

Anyhow (and I did issue a ramble-alert), fruitless internet enquiries about the 'other version' (ha!) did reveal that supposedly, the Greta Garbo Home referenced a real building in 1960's San Francisco - The Kirkland Hotel, and that the song 'My Name Is Jack' was written (by John Simon*) for, & first appeared on, the soundtrack to a 1968 rock-documentary by Peter Yarrow (of Peter Paul and Mary), called 'You Are What You Eat'.

♫ My Name Is Jack - John Simon
You Are What You Eat (soundtrack lp - 1968)
buy | listen to it all + much more info @ WFMU

hear the Manfred Mann version at Siblingshot

Now, this is growing ever longer, so I'll just trot out some links if you wanna know more about the movie, besides the wfmu page above - here & here - before returning to music.

*John Simon, in case you're wondering, is probably best known for his work producing The Band, amongst others, although he is & was a musician in his own right, releasing several albums & playing on many others as a session guy.

Furthermore, and to me, echoing the situation with 'Jack' from '68 - he wrote another song (with Robbie Robertson of The Band) that Manfred Mann more famously covered, this time as Manfred Mann's Earth Band - 'Davey's On The Road Again'. I remember the Mann version getting a lot of radio play here, but had never heard John Simon's original until today.

♫ Davey's On The Road Again - John Simon
John Simon's Album (1970)
buy | John Simon website

♫ Davy's On The Road Again - Manfred Mann's Earth Band
originally a live track on Watch (1978) - this is the thankfully shorter, radio edit
buy
---

Back on the subject of lyrical misunderstandings, here's another personal one; I always reckon that on Mott The Hoople's version of "All The Young Dudes" - Ian Hunter sings "...gonna race some cow to bed". Kinda makes sense to me, and it does sound like cow to me; played it again just now.

Friday's song - The Marine Girls

Finally(!) in this first week of day-related songs - a short (even shorter, lyrically), almost sombre story of staying at home on 'another Friday evening'.

Like Honey, from the same album - Beach Party - Fridays paints a cold picture of young relationships. May your Friday night be better than this.

♫ Fridays - The Marine Girls
Beach Party (1981)
buy | itunes | last.fm

The Balky Mule

This song by The Balky Mule turned up a few days ago, & seemed instantly familiar... because it was; I'd heard it via songs:illinois some three months ago. Seems the album - The Length Of The Rail - release must have been delayed, cuz it came out this week on FatCat Records where you can stream every track.

Should you fancy seeing The Balky Mule live ; there are a couple of gigs up tonight & tomorrow, + more listed here.

19 Mar - The Sanctuary Café. 51-55 Brunswick Street East, Hove
20 Mar - The Local. Downstairs at The king's Head, 2 Crouch End Hill, London

Take it as you find it; a charmingly lo-fi, nostalgic swing across a slice of home life, the radio playing familiar tunes, dinner cooking on the range... or let your imagination absorb the oddly profound lyrics : both work beautifully for me.

Spires along the bay, pile-drivers growing tired as they reach through the clay. One thousand metres down, the monster stirs from sleep, fossilising a frown
He's lived a long time, seen movies; he knows the law that states "a curse buried deep in the earth, can not be left to rest, it has to be dug up to demonstrate its evil worth"


♫ Range - The Balky Mule
The Length Of The Rail (2009)
myspace | buy

Bzzzz

This lovely lad flew just inside the house yesterday, and settled on the curtains. Heeuuge he was, as big as I've ever seen, with a deep baritone buzz befitting his size. Getting all Naturey - check out those amazing feet, they're like little anchors.

An all too obvious choice, as usual - but this is an absolute delight.
♫ Me and the Bees - Safe Home
The Wide Wide World and All We Know (2005)
buy | myspace

Thursday's song - The Features

♫ Thursday - The Features
Thursday / Rabbit 10" single (2000)
myspace | website

Oops - songs about Mountains

Plainly not the Contrast Podcast here, but had I gotten round to it... this week's theme is/was Mountains, and one of these woulda been my choice (hey, they say anyone can join in) . Cripes, I could build a six-lane motorway with good intentions, but the days dribbled by, and almost a week after resolving to have a crack - err, well... I haven't done. Sunshine, Moonlight, & Good Times I can't blame, nor any form of dancing; just bloody depression - maybe next week eh?, I'll kick my own arse otherwise.

Starting off with the song I'd elected to (hopefully) get on the podcast - you'll have to imagine my soothing 'Sarf of England' voice waxing lyrical over Anthony Newley. Before introducing the song, written by Newley & Leslie Bricusse, let's run through a few other tunes wot he wrote... Goldfinger (yeah, the Bond theme); Candy Man (love the Sammy Davis jr version) from Willy Wonka, along with all the others from the film; Feeling Good (Nina Simone et al); On a Wonderful Day Like Today; What Kind of Fool am I?; The People Tree... I won't bore you with 'em all.

It's all about the music here, but I can't do without commending one of his lesser known acting roles - the wonderfully surreal The Strange World of Gurney Slade - a video snippet at the end.

My reason for picking this, beyond the rather obvious title connection, is that most songs about mountains are either celebrating the physical things, or recognising the challenge of climbing them... but here, from Stop The World, I Want To Get Off, we've a man planning to build one, & then push a daydream up it.

♫ Gonna Build a Mountain - Anthony Newley
The Decca Years
buy

Lots of others I could have gone with - hope you find one you like.

fronted by half of The Knife - back in '99
♫ Something Above The Mountains - Honey Is Cool
Early Morning Are You Working? (1999)
myspace


♫ Big Rock Candy Mountains - Harry McClintock
O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack
buy


♫ Mountain Energei - The Fall
Country On the Click (2003 - not The Real New Fall LP version)
buy

♫ The Fucking Mountains - The Unreliable Narrator
myspace

♫ Magic Mountain - Blonde Redhead
Misery Is a Butterfly (2004)
buy | myspace


Get the thoroughly enjoyable, current 'Mountains' Contrast Podcast by clicking below - next week's theme is Trios, and I will try harder to get my act together.

Corsage Video

You might recall the Corsage song that is the Portuguese pick for the March Music Alliance Pact... well, there's now a video for Dried Up, River Blues , and if we can judge anything from it - Corsage are likely to be extremely entertaining as a live act. See the vid below, & here's a repost of the mp3 in case you missed it. I wonder if easyjet fly to Lisbon?.


♫ Dried Up, River Blues - Corsage
Finito L'Amore (2009)
myspace | buy via email

The Juan Maclean & Tortured Soul

I seem to have been 'getting on down' (in my sedentary style), to quite a bit of dancey sorta stuff lately; been a nice change from fairly fruitless perusal of upcoming local gigs & bands this week - notanother-indie-power-pop-bunch, I've sighed, more than once; talk about beware the bloody ides of March.

Anyhow, a lack of live acts to wet my whistle, or even tickle my fancy (ooer), meant my musical net got cast far & wide('ish), & caught a couple of undoubtedly danceable doozies.

First up, The Juan Maclean with a remix of 'One Day' by James Curd. I like this more & more with each listen - all groovy, up-beaty, & very Human Leaguey - just the ticket. Very different from 'Find a Way', which is equally fine, but has a more disco/PIL thing going, that I love to bits - listen to & download Find a Way, & if you like it, try the dark, dubby , instrumental - Deviant Device... nine minutes is never enough.

♫ One Day (James Curd remix) - The Juan Maclean
from 'The Future Will Come' (April 14 on DFA)
myspace | wesbite | buy



Next - Did You Miss Me by Tortured Soul, which if I'm honest, is not only way beyond my usual listening remit, but also has me thinking of (& playing) Gary Glitter's '73 hit Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again... same sentiment - two very, very different songs. This one's sorta retro 60's soul/r&b, replete with reverby handclaps, in-yer-face drums, and echoes of who knows how many old hits I can't put a name to now?. A super, lovely, smashing, happy, contemporary (despite what I said) sound that's improved my morning no end. Big Smiles.

♫ Did You Miss Me - Tortured Soul
from Did You Miss Me (March 24 on TSTC)
myspace | website | buy

Wednesday's Song

I know full well it's still Tuesday for many of you, but what the hell -if I'm up early, why wait?.
Continuing the theme of songs for days of the week, here's a sweet little tune from some sixty years ago, although it's origins go back to at least 1927/8, when it was a hit for The Leake County Revelers, an (even then) old-time country string band.

The version I have for you is by 'Chet Atkins & His Guitar Pickers', or 'Chet Atkins & Billie Rose Atkins' , depending on which sleeve notes you believe... although that female voice sure sounds a lot like Helen Carter, but I'm no expert.

♫ Wednesday Night Waltz - Chet Atkins
Chet Atkins - The Early Years
buy

Voxtrot - new song !!

It's true I tell ya - just two months after I was wondering aloud & hoping here that they might start creating music again.... yesterday saw an announcement at Voxtrot.net that they had been working away on a new song - Trepanation Party - produced, recorded and mixed by Spoon drummer - Jim Eno.

Moody, atmospheric, trancy, danceable, and detailed - enough hooks to get it played at any club I'd wanna go to - and ohhh, aren't Ramesh's voice & lyrics just sublime? ; a hugely welcome return.

♫ Trepanation Party - Voxtrot
myspace

Should you be one of the lucky souls attending SXSW - Voxtrot are playing tonight (17 March) at La Zona Rosa, 612 W. 4th Street, Austin (info) and on 21 March at Emo’s (inside stage)
603 Red River, Austin,

In case you never heard of Voxtrot before - catch a few earlier songs here & on myspace; but this is the 'oldie' I love the most.

♫ Rise up in the Dirt - Voxtrot
Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives EP (2006)
myspace | iTunes

Tuesday's Song

Now then, considering it was actually a proper CD, albeit self-released... this is pretty obscure. Best forgotten perhaps, according to the err, mixed reviews I can find online - I really enjoyed the album, finding it the perfect lo-fi, shoegazey, slacker-guitar-pop companion to the 2004 Camper Van Beethoven reissue. Oh, I'm not deaf, I know the vocals are a bit out of tune - that's part of the charm, I think.

One of the less optimistic tunes on 'Sounds of Sunshine' - "I've had these troubles before, I guess I'll have them some more. Nothing ever changes, until the day you die"

♫ Every Tuesday Morning - Somerset Meadows
Sounds of Sunshine (2003)
myspace

Miserable, but good - if not the best way to start a Tuesday. As a bonus; here's another, less downhearted track
♫ Big Game Souvenir Hunter - Somerset Meadows
Sounds of Sunshine (2003)
myspace