| Author | Message | ||
     Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8739 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Boat People - Dear Darkly, third and final album by this Brisbane band. And very good it is, too. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1489 Registered: 10-2006 |
Zaz – Effet miroir Nothing as brilliantly sassy as Je veux, nothing as straightforwardly pretty as her Belle & Sebastian soundtrack songs, nothing as heartbreakingly melodramatic as Eblouie Par La Nuit, but her voice, probably my favourite female voice of the last ten years or so, carries the whole thing forward. There are some fetching little piano ballads, a few nifty uptempo things, but I’m not sure if it’s an album to keep a stadium-filling career on (one sort of) track; better to see her live, anyway, with just guitar and double bass, in the streets of Montmartre, as one can on Y-tube. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1104 Registered: 03-2007 |
Vasas Flora Och Fauna - Strandgut Finnish band who recorded their first two albums ( Slakt Med Lotta Svard; Veneziansk Afton ) in Finnish-Swedish and who have now recorded songs from both of them in German. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE1OZRGN VG4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2fug6QH zUA | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8750 Registered: 05-2005 |
Amends - Premium Dead 7" EP on blood red vinyl. Five songs in 12 minutes by this new (to me anyway) Sydney band. I think these folks have a few Drive-by Truckers albums in their collection, but it's a very strong statement and augurs well for their future recordings. https://bestwishesrecords.bandcamp.com/a lbum/bw08-premium-dead | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1501 Registered: 10-2006 |
Merrie land – GB & Q A different sort of break-up album, running only 37 minutes but with a density of inspiration that makes it exceptional, both bleak and strangely heartening. I haven’t come to grips with the lyrics yet, I suspect we have a romantic approach to the whole subject rather than the fiddlier socio-economic one (I have just read three articles in the Daily Telegraph…. Yes, well, the only English paper that gets near to where I live, innit… and I admit I barely understood a word). As I listened, I reorganised the fascinating heap of documents I have to take down to the police office in Ancona to apply for my Italian citizenship. It’s a costly and complex procedure; a small price to pay, however, if Britain will be a happier, healthier, safer and wealthier place after the dust settles. And what an if. “Ribbons” is one of the loveliest things Damon has written, while over the other songs his voice manages to embrace both the tonalities of Suggs and Peter Gabriel. And what great drumming on 1917. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4023 Registered: 03-2005 |
Jeanne Balibar -- Paramour The secret behind this album is Rodolphe Burger. He writes the music, produces and arranges. The consequence is that "Paramour" will remind you of Francoise Hardy's "Le Danger." I consider "Le Danger" a classic so this is a good thing. What would be Side One if I had a vinyl version is very strong, whereas approximately one-half of Side Two is skip-worthy. So consider "Paramour" about 2/3 to 3/4 of a good album. That's a strong score in my book, especially for an album done by someone known as an actress rather than a musician. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1256 Registered: 08-2004 |
Made my firet ever Christmas comp/playlist. For dog walking and to enrage the family on the big day. Step Into Christmas - The Wedding Present Must Be Santa - Bob Dylan Santa Baby - R.E.M. (We Wish You) A Protein Christmas - The Fall Fairytale Of New York - The Pogues I Was Born On Christmas Day - Saint Etienne - God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman - Erasure Planecrash xmas - Babybird Child's Christmas In Wales - John Cale Xmas In February - Lou Reed Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - R.E.M. Christmas Island - Depeche Mode It's Clichéd To Be Cynical At Christmas - Half Man Half Biscuit It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas - Pet Shop Boys No Christmas - The Wedding Present | ||
| Austin Member Username: Bruegelpie Post Number: 193 Registered: 09-2004 |
Jerry, My view is that every Christmas playlist (even those made to annoy the relatives!) needs at least 1 Sufjan Steves song on it. (After all, there are 100 to choose from!). My favorite is: "Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!" Best Christmas song in years! | ||
| Andreas Severins Member Username: Andreas_severins Post Number: 422 Registered: 11-2007 |
Howe Gelb - Microcultures Label Pop Sessions! wonderful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5edutIsE Ztk | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1257 Registered: 08-2004 |
Thanks for the tip, Austin. Sadly I went off Sufjan Stevens at the first attempt. I'm worried it would annoy me and the family end up liking him. I forgot to add 'Weird Al' Yankovic - Christmas At Ground Zero - Which might raise a smile. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8763 Registered: 05-2005 |
Michael Bublé - Let It Snow EP, which came free with a Sunday paper in Sydney in 2010 and which I've enjoyed playing every Christmas since. It's not quite snowing in Sydney, but there were serious hailstones earlier and now it's raining heavily with thunder and lighting. | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 450 Registered: 05-2005 |
Aimee Mann 'll do the job for Christmas. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8765 Registered: 05-2005 |
Refused - The Shape Of Punk To Come. I wish I could say I was cool enough to have been listening to this when it came out in 1998, but I was not. I don't even recall reading about them, though I presume it was reviewed in Melody Maker at the time. It was about 2004 before I heard them. The best thing to come out of Sweden since Abba. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1110 Registered: 03-2007 |
Padraig, Startracks of Sweden have re-issued several of their albums in recent years. https://shop.startracks.se/sv/ | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8766 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks, Hugh. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8771 Registered: 05-2005 |
Abbasalutely, a 1995 compilation of Flying Nun bands doing Abba songs. Long time since I last played it. I'd forgotten how great it is. My copy is vinyl, which I see now goes for $88 on Discogs. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8786 Registered: 05-2005 |
INXS - Kick, on vinyl. On which it sounds better. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4036 Registered: 03-2005 |
Two late-arriving 2018 releases: Sad Lovers & Giants -- Mission Creep. They'd been teasing about putting out a new album for the past 2 or 3 years so honestly I forgot about the possibility. It's a shockingly good effort, certainly better than the last two of their now infrequent releases. If you enjoy vaguely gothic postpunk, consider picking this up. On Voight-Kampff Records. I ordered it directly from the band. Lowtide -- Southern Mind. This one I knew about, but just took my jolly sweet time to order it. If you aren't familiar with Lowtide, they are a neo-shoegaze band. Think of them as perhaps a cross between Jesus and Mary Chain and Cocteau Twins. More ethereal than J & M Chain but the female singer definitely isn't trying to do Elizabeth Fraser's thing. Had these arrived in time, they would have contributed to my 2018 sampler, probably in preference over the Shopping track. I'd have to think about what other one to knock off in favor of one of these. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1261 Registered: 08-2004 |
I read.somewhere that the Sad Lovers & Giants CD was record of the year for a Bunnymen forum member elsewhere. Remember the title mainly. Mission Creep has an appealing downbeat zing for me. Got some nice CD's for Xmas again. Top of which were: Wedding Present - George Best 30 PJ Harvey -Peel Sessions R.E.M - Bingo Handjob Also a.compilation of harmonica led classics which is a bit of an in joke with the family since I also got a mouth organ, keyboard and tambourine. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4037 Registered: 03-2005 |
To accompany reading Stuart's December 1 link from the "Watcha Reading" thread: Alain Bashung -- Roulette Russe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1LbBDz- gE8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52oBLpA9 iVY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcw7zxhj AYg | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1514 Registered: 10-2006 |
Elsass blues is such a great, emotion-rousing song, as well as a sort of statement of intent, and shows how well Boris Bergman could come up with the right words for him: “I was born all alone near the frontier…/It’s not easy coming from nowhere/to be the child of mischance…/the blues feel so good in your voice…” | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1113 Registered: 03-2007 |
Padraig, I don't have the album but I love the Headless Chickens' take on Super Trouper. A fabulous example of how to do a cover version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isr4-rwZ Owo Along with the obvious, they were one of my favourite Flying Nun bands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHpRnqja hg4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4topF9qZ Sjs | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4041 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thanks to Stuart reminding me to pull out and have another listen . . . . Miossec -- Ici-bas, Ice meme I have tended to rely too much on the iPod shuffle mode rather than listening to albums in their proper forms. Because of this, I'd clean forgotten that songs quite popular with my little digital players such as Des Touristes come from this album. I honestly don't think there's a weak moment on this album. Even when a song starts out seemingly tentatively, by the time it's ending you're all there with it. I think Ici-bas, Ici Meme rivals 1964 as his best album. Perhaps that's appropriate. He was 50 when he released Ici-bas, Ici meme just as he was 40 when he released 1964. My choice for a sample here? The understated yet ultimately smoldering Nos Morts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YhB_xUO y-c | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1516 Registered: 10-2006 |
Significantly, my wife just nicked it for drivetime listening, and that hasn't happened for a while. It's what, 33 minutes, 10 songs, and doesn't waste a second. I like the way he makes use of the backup voices discreetly here and there and then gives them the sock-it-to-'em last word at the end. He's touring now, the usual smallish venues from Lausanne to Lille. I'd love to see him. | ||
| Andreas Severins Member Username: Andreas_severins Post Number: 423 Registered: 11-2007 |
As you know I love a lot from the Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten label: https://soundcloud.com/kleineuntergrund The souncloud link with a new song from Endlich Blüte - Zeitvertreib from the new Glaspalast Sampler and an alltime highlight Jetstream Pony - Self-Destruct Reality | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8792 Registered: 05-2005 |
Stompy And The Heat by the Australian band of the same name. It’s from 2012 and seems to be the only album they made http://stompyandtheheat.com. The music is hard rocking blues, most - but not all - of which transcends the limitations of that genre. I got it in a JB Hifi bargain bin quite a while ago and this is my first time playing it. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4042 Registered: 03-2005 |
Peru -- Across Blue Skies Peru -- s/t EP Harper Lee -- All things can be mended All experiments. I have a weakness for Sarah Records style twee. I chose the Harper Lee on the strength of one or two youtube selections. They use strings, always a good thing. Maybe I was in a different mood when I heard the youtube selections but on first listen today Harper Lee's album is a little too much twee and not enough memorable musical ideas. The Peru recordings date from the 1990s, Derbyshire and Nottingham in origin. The music is relatively simple electric guitar rock. It will bear further listening. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4043 Registered: 03-2005 |
Caramel -- Ole Zamora! Caramel's 1997 collection Punkpopgaragemods is a favorite of mine, courtesy the French twee indie scene. Ole Zamora is an earlier collection, dating from 1994 and not quite as developed. Having said that, I still find plenty in its short 7 song program that is distinctive and interesting in a primitivist, lo-fi way. Unlike Peru and Harper Lee, Caramel originally came to me by way of the excellent quality filter known as Hugh Nimmo. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1266 Registered: 08-2004 |
Faust - Faust Working my way through Julian Cope's Krautrock suggestions the first of which is this. Depeche Mode - Demo's These are a nice addition to The Sounds Of The Universe box set. Perfect for a wintry rumble in the garden jungle as I planted up a couple of baby fruit trees before the snow hits. The sound on the demo's has that stark bleakness that goes well with the all day low sun. Stan Ridgway - The Big Heat I've only ever heard Camouflage before. Must admit this was a real treat. B-side Foggy River is a standout. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4049 Registered: 03-2005 |
Varsovie -- Etat Civil They have three albums. This is their first, released in 2009. I have also taken delivery of their second album (released 2014) which I will listen to later. The merit of this first album made me order a copy of the new, third album. Post-punk with emphasis on the "punk" half. Very stark and spiky. Very French. Attached here is the song that stood out most immediately even though it is over five minutes long: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX_kBF-t oz8 | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8801 Registered: 05-2005 |
Microdisney - Crooked Mile. A vinyl copy, made in what the sleeve calls Western Germany that I bought for the equivalent of 80 pence in a bargain bin in a shop in Andorra in June 1988. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8812 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra - Do Anything Go Anywhere. A Melbourne-based band, many of whom seem to be African. Parts of it were recorded in Nigeria and South Africa. The sound is very much Nigerian high life. Some of it is great, some less so. Probably really good live, though. | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 454 Registered: 05-2005 |
Ian Brown - Ripples. Mostly forgettable, but it's Ian Brown! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8815 Registered: 05-2005 |
Pet Sounds, on vinyl. I wonder if anything so profoundly beautiful will ever again get the budget to do its majesty justice. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1117 Registered: 03-2007 |
Various Artists - The Sound Of Leamington Spa German Edition The latest release in the Leamington Spa series by Firestation Records. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxk7X0qC 4z0 | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 582 Registered: 08-2005 |
Kate Bush's early LPs remastered on DVD. Fabulous, luscious and more. | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 583 Registered: 08-2005 |
That should be CD, not DVD. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1119 Registered: 03-2007 |
Quivers - You're Not Always On My Mind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt80RFfS NDo&feature=youtu.be Video of the band's new single which was filmed on Maria Island off Tasmania which is apparently home to wombats and convict ruins. The band hail from Hobart. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1534 Registered: 10-2006 |
I usually only give the Uncut CD a cursory listen, but this month's - well, April's - with Robert kicking off, is quite a doozy, a fine bunch of strong songs. Lambchop, Patty Griffin, Conor Oberst & Phoebe Bridges, Meg Duffy, Laure Briard, the Unthanks, Strand of Oaks... some interesting paths to explore. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1120 Registered: 03-2007 |
The BV's - Charlie, I Don't Know Who You Are! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYNXC17B R8I | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4071 Registered: 03-2005 |
They're sounding good here Hugh! I got a notice about this from bandcamp this morning. I suppose the new album will have to be a vinyl purchase. Grrr. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1121 Registered: 03-2007 |
Randy, The album will be released on vinyl ( Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten ) digital download and CDR ( Bandcamp ) on 14th March, 2019. I purchased 'Speaking From A Distance'and 'Interpunktion' directly from the band and they are both CDRs. According to Frederik, the shipping of the CDR will probably be delayed a few weeks as the band are currently touring. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4073 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thanks Hugh. I will opt for the CDR. I just ordered one of the four remaining CD copies of "Speaking From a Distance" which, bizarrely, I didn't even know about! That might be an artifact of a funny fault I encountered on the Bandcamp site this time also: when I first looked at the music and merchandise tabs I saw everything up to the new single ("Charlie . . .") but after ordering the first album when I came back to the available releases some of them were missing including the new single! Maybe something like that happened when I ordered Interpunktion however long ago. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1122 Registered: 03-2007 |
Doggy - Radio TP https://soundcloud.com/tervisel/sets/mas tering-jcl-09-11-2018 New album which is due for release on Kocliko Records on 8th March, 2019. Kocliko sell via Bandcamp but the album is not yet up for sale. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4077 Registered: 03-2005 |
Doggy is back?!?!? I thought Guillaume had finished with that. I am constantly checking discogs for Anorak releases. I will be all over the new album! Thank you for the information Hugh! | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1123 Registered: 03-2007 |
Randy, I don't think you will see any more titles released on Anorak. The last time I was in touch with Guillaume he mentioned that La Souterainne were planning to release a retrospective / his back catalogue but that was quite some time ago and it has yet to appear on their Bandcamp page. Ordered 'Radio TP' from Antonio of Kocliko Records earlier tonight and it is shipping tomorrow. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1541 Registered: 10-2006 |
Oh, that's good to hear! | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1124 Registered: 03-2007 |
The Stroppies - Nothing At All https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUajxde1 O_c The new album ( Whoosh ) shipped today. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1125 Registered: 03-2007 |
The Radio TP CD by Doggy has just been posted on the Kocliko Records website on Bandcamp. An ultra limited edition apparently so those who want a copy should get in quick. https://kocliko.bandcamp.com/album/kr12- radio-tp | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1542 Registered: 10-2006 |
Ha, excellent Hugh! Even on a hospital visit, one can do a brisk bit of shopping for cool French jangle pop. The wonders of etc etc | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4078 Registered: 03-2005 |
Hugh, you are priceless. Order completed. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1126 Registered: 03-2007 |
Stuart, Purchasing music is far too easy these days and it is costing me a fortune. There was a lot more effort / work involved back in 1980s. I could not afford / justify Bank Drafts etc. so I would visit Travel Agents to purchase foreign currency which I would then send in envelopes to small record labels such as Flying Nun to purchase their latest releases. A fun time. Randy, That's not what my wife says!!! ;-) Whoosh by The Stroppies arrived today and I have just finished listening to it for the first time. It is a really nice album and I am looking forward to seeing them at the Hug and Pint in Glasgow in July, 2019. I also have tickets for The Burning Hell ( Duo ) and Randolph's Leap ( Full Band ) at the Blue Arrow Club in Glasgow in April, 2019. Disappointed that the Burning Hell are only performing as a duo as the full band are touring the UK ( England only ) and the EU slightly later in the year. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1543 Registered: 10-2006 |
Oh yes, nothing beats the thrill of, say, floating round Delft rummaging through its strangely many record shops and picking out hard to find solo albums by Dutch prog guitarists you'd read about somewhere. But I'm not unfortunately going to be in Limoges any time soon so this will have to do! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8825 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Vanilla Sky soundtrack, which I picked up for one euro in a charity shop in Ireland. And it’s awesome. Really beautifully put together. I’ve not seen the film, put off by the “starring Tom Cruise” factor, but the soundtrack makes me curious about it. Maybe I’ll come across it on TV sometime. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4086 Registered: 03-2005 |
I am starting to work through the huge Alain Bashung box set that landed on my doorstep today. Of course I made a beeline for the rarities discs. Many of the tracks are raw writer's demos or alternative workouts of familiar songs but there are also oddities released for special occasions. Most striking was his Christmas 1982 offering. We are reminded that he grew up in Alsace. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cygZH8xC igE The video is almost dada with the jarring and painful contrast of early Bashung's trash-rocker getup and the besuited squares in the chorus behind him. But then close your eyes and listen . . . . The man was fearless: Teutonic Nashville as it might have been in 1960. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4087 Registered: 03-2005 |
Andrew Wilson's various bands: Four Gods, Frontier Scouts, Andrew Wilson & Associates--Amateurism Every bit as good as hoped. Hugh, you'll probably find that you need to bump up the treble on everything except for the two Four Gods numbers dubbed from vinyl (the two songs with Lindy and Grant). It seems to be the consequence of an odd preference for mastering the disc. Boosting the treble does not unleash the expected mass of tape hiss. It's uncanny how much Wilson sounds like David Westlake. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4088 Registered: 03-2005 |
I hit "post" before hearing the final two songs, by Andrew Wilson & the Associates. Also excellent songs the recording suffers from a malady probably resulting from imperfect tape storage that manifests in a higher pitch noise that actually sounds a bit like somebody randomly shaking a tambourine. This is obviously the reason for the heavy roll-off of the higher frequencies. It's probably only bad enough to justify the roll-off for these last two tracks. The collection is a great document, totally worth the $30 I paid for it. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1133 Registered: 03-2007 |
Randy, Glad to hear your copy has arrived. I am still waiting for mine. I will not be able to turn up the treble on my amplifiers ( Rega Elicit-R ) as they don't have tone controls. Very few U.K. audio equipment manufacturers fit bass / treble controls to their amplifiers these days. There is no headphone socket on the Rega Elicit-R either. Currently listening to :- L.A. Salami - The City Of Bootmakers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTew8gDS 4BA | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4089 Registered: 03-2005 |
That’s what you get for using new equipment. My trusty state of the art 1972 vintage preamplifier even has separate tone controls for each channel! Not to mention the late 1960s UK made speakers I couple with some later German/American ones to balance the sound. The Wharfies have their own tweeter control behind each enclosure. So I can fix these sorts of problems. Hopefully you get your copy soon. Don’t lose heart if it takes a while. A couple years ago i ordered something from a Canadian seller and it took so long to get to me I was sure it was routed via the Cape of Good Hope. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1272 Registered: 08-2004 |
Derrick Morgan - In London Doves - Kingdom Of Rust Pere Ubu - Song Of The Bailing Man Throbbing Gristle - The Second Annual Report Sunflower Bean - Human Ceremony Cocteau Twins - Victoria Land James - Wah Wah Sleaford Mods - Key Markets The Specials - Encore David Sylvian - Brilliant Trees | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1273 Registered: 08-2004 |
Derrick Morgan - In London Doves - Kingdom Of Rust Pere Ubu - Song Of The Bailing Man Throbbing Gristle - The Second Annual Report Sunflower Bean - Human Ceremony Cocteau Twins - Victoria Land James - Wah Wah Sleaford Mods - Key Markets The Specials - Encore David Sylvian - Brilliant Trees | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1134 Registered: 03-2007 |
Doggy - Radio TP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdwAyROL Ps4 Nine tracks and a running time of just over 23 minutes. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1135 Registered: 03-2007 |
Randy, The vast majority of U.K audio equipment manufacturers stopped fitting tone controls to their amplifiers many years ago as they felt they compromised the overall sound quality. Very much a personal thing but I have never missed not having them. My previous amplifiers ( Mission Cyrus III purchased back in the early / mid 1980s ) did not have bass / treble controls. A limited edition ( 288 copies on white vinyl ) of Cartography by the BV's was posted on Bandcamp this morning. Now showing as 'Sold Out.' | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4091 Registered: 03-2005 |
For the BVs it has to be a CD for me. I was aware that modern high-end equipment manufacturers have dropped out as many controls as possible in order to eliminate noise. I can't really argue with the basic idea as the repair and refurbishment work on my McIntoshes has almost always been to the volume control, switches and other rheostats like the tone controls, when not just to replace tired old capacitors at the end of their lifespans on the boards. But these optional controls are relevant for old or dodgy recordings that really do need help. I am surprised that your 1980s equipment had already ditched the controls. That's actually before the general global trend. I literally enjoy the modest amount of "dirty" sound in my system. It creates a warmer, woolier sonic environment. The irony is that neither your system nor mine can do anything to improve the awful booming over-compressed masters that a lot of people are releasing today. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1547 Registered: 10-2006 |
Doggy is indeed short but sweet. His music is always uplifting & life enhancing and a great soundtrack to a sunny Sunday morning. As with RF, you could wish for more, but that is always preferable to wishing for less. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4101 Registered: 03-2005 |
Listening to L.A. Salami's "City of Bootmakers." After listening to his stark and blindingly brilliant "Dancing With Bad Grammar" which struck me as "Blood on the Tracks" with actual meaning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmRDfGRU YJk | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1550 Registered: 10-2006 |
So, LAS is worth a punt then, eh? | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4102 Registered: 03-2005 |
Stuart, as always decide for yourself. I have a long history of love for what I call "the Dylanesque" which is not quite the same thing as a love for Dylan. (While Dylan was hit and miss, his disciples start out from his best work and go from there.) L.A. Salami really delivers in that category in a fashion I had not anticipated. Imagine someone with the passion and acuity of 1963 Dylan writing and singing about the roiling sea on which our little ship is pitching right now. The newer album uses full band arrangements and will probably be easier to digest for most people because of that. I am usually such a person. The first album (Dancing with Bad Grammar) varies from proto-Dylan acoustic guitar and harmonica only up to full band arrangements here and there. Lookman Salami sounds like a prophet just back from his forty days in the desert. The link in my previous post is from the first album. Here is a sample from the newer album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAqBRGit KTk Or how about this, also from the newer album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si3W4lTc Cg0 Like I said, Dylanesque and about what we are dealing with now. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4103 Registered: 03-2005 |
One of the full band tracks from the first album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJHV0oUh smk | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4104 Registered: 03-2005 |
I am on my second hearing of "Dancing With Bad Grammar." Actually it has a larger proportion of full band arrangement songs than I remember from last night. I was so taken by the more naked numbers that I simply forgot the weight of the others. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8827 Registered: 05-2005 |
Ex Hex - It's Real. Not to be confused with the Rob-approved Dutch post-punkers The Ex, though I'm sure Rob would also approve of Ex Hex given their provenance. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1942 Registered: 08-2006 |
I'm a big fan of Ex Hex and have seen them twice. I haven't heard the new one yet. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4106 Registered: 03-2005 |
My guess, Padraig and Rob, is that this will be somebody I've heard of but not somebody I listen to. Or maybe somebody I do listen to but only casually and not consistently enough to recognize the voices like, say, Yo La Tengo. I won't look it up. I'll wait and see if somebody (like Stuart) works out who it is. If it turns out to be somebody whose voice I should be well familiar with I'll definitely laugh. But right now I really think it's not a voice I am familiar with. Since I always buy her records, at some point I'll get this new Keren Ann album and then, of course, I'll know who it is. But I'm going to sit on it for a while. I've been getting more than enough music to absorb recently anyway. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4107 Registered: 03-2005 |
But I will go explore this Dutch post-punk band The Ex. It might be up one of my alleys. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4110 Registered: 03-2005 |
Meanwhile, I just finished listening to something I probably won't hear many times again. Dave Berry -- Hostage to the Beat Dave Berry was a figure in the original 1960s British beat boom. He had a squeaky unconvincing voice in the context of the sloppy R&B that he started with. The Sex Pistols' "Don't Gimme No Lip Child" was a Berry single b-side back in '63 or '64. The A&R folks at British Decca quickly switched him over to squeakily-sung crooner ballads, the best-known of which is "The Crying Game." His records always represented for me an interesting combination of above-average material and cringe-inducing performances. There's a certain weird fascination to Dave Berry. He could do a soppy weepie like "Mama" in 1966 and a naff Light Entertainment style rhythm number in 1968 like "I've Got the Feeling" with its wah-wah guitar and aggressively uncool mums and dads backup vocals and then he would spin around and do a cover of "The Coffee Song" from Cream's first LP or Pete Dello's evergreen break-up ballad "Do I Still Figure in Your Life" or what must be one of Godley & Creme's earliest songs "Chaplin House." So when I saw that he had recorded an album in 1985 I just HAD to check it out. There is nothing from it posted on youtube. "Hostage to the Beat" pointlessly reprises a number of earlier Berry-associated songs but also adds a respectable number of new ones. Four are written by rock nostalgia freak Alan Clayson, who also plays keyboard and harmonica. They're not bad songs and Dave Berry's squeaky little voice is entirely intact. The problem with "Hostage to the Beat" is the very low budget recording that obviously lacked a competent mixing and mastering job. It reminds me of the Saints' "Monkey Puzzle" which--besides lacking the essential Ed Kuepper--also had dreadful sound which seriously undermined any of the good material. And, of course, I also just HAD to check out the later album he recorded in the early noughties ("Memphis . . . in the Meantime") with a couple John Hiatt songs on it. It hasn't arrived yet. Stay tuned. | ||
| Billy Unregistered guest |
Clayton and the Argonauts? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8840 Registered: 05-2005 |
Big Chief - Mack Avenue Skull Game. I bought this on cassette about a quarter century ago (it came out in 1993) and finally found a CD copy in Greenwich a few weeks ago. It may not be the best funk/soul album ever recorded by white musicians, but it’s in the ballpark. It’s on Sub Pop, so there’s a an occasional 70s hard rock element. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1140 Registered: 03-2007 |
The Claim - Black Path ( Retrospective 1985 -1992 ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKBipRWO nSA | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4117 Registered: 03-2005 |
Yes Billy, Alan Clayson of Clayson and the Argonauts. I've never heard them; I'm familiar with Clayson from his 1985 book "Call Up the Groups" (with foreword by Dave Berry). Of course I did not know the significance of that foreword. Since my previous post I have received Dave Berry's "Memphis . . . . in the meantime." For the unfamiliar I should probably dial back a little bit on my previous post's description admittedly partly intended for comic effect. Dave Berry did indeed have a rather thin voice for R&B. He was no Van Morrison or Steve Winwood. But he was no less qualified an R&B singer than, say, Ray Davies who more or less got away with it for a couple years. His version of "Don't Gimme No Lip Child" is a glory of drunken British R&B. His muscular cover of Arthur Crudup's "My Baby Left Me" is the first thing of his that I ever heard, included on the excellent 1970s overview of overlooked British Decca artists entitled "Hard Up Heroes." But he also did an entirely wimpy version of "Memphis, Tennessee" that somehow managed to get into the U.K. chart and he had a very non-bluesy visual stage act. It was, however, a perfect influence for Bowie and a zillion post-punk types later on. Think hand and microphone ballets. Here is a link to his 1964 rendering of "My Baby Left Me": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqL71rZj b2s Excellent record. Rhythm guitar by Jimmy Page; lead by Big Jim Sullivan. Page fans all claim Page played lead but I'm pretty certain it was Sullivan. But with Dave Berry there were always things like 1968's "I Got the Feeling": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsuWCnol s14 The nicest thing that can be said for "I Got the Feeling" is it's a ride on a groovy casino elevator. 39 views indeed. All of this is to lead up to the acknowledgement that "Memphis . . . . in the meantime" is a pretty decent record in the genre of old-Brit-R&B-guy-goes-back-to-his-start. It's more enjoyable than some of the similar exercises done by Phil May using his old Pretty Things band name. In fact, maybe this album should be considered a halfway point between the above-described nostalgia genre and the records aimed at a return to relevance such as the final records by the late Johnny Cash and ones by Betty Lavette and Tom Jones. Berry's version of the John Hiatt title song is one of the highlights. Unfortunately I can't find Berry's version on youtube. He also covers Hiatt's "Georgia Ray," J.J. Cale's "Same Old Blues" and Tony Joe White's "Taking the Midnight Train." His version of "Mean 'ol Frisco" is creditable. His redo of "My Baby Left Me" is obviously redundant. The backing band is long on bottleneck guitar and swampy R&B feel, most players from producer Julian Piper's late-80s band Junkyard Angels. By the 2003 date of this album Berry was about my age (62) and with a voice still intact but possibly improved for the purpose by the intervening years. All in all not a bad album. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4118 Registered: 03-2005 |
Love the Claim, Hugh! I suppose they were probably a little too straightforward in their style of rock to fit into any of the recognized pop slots in the mid-80s. Though this one might have appealed to the Jam fans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alM-1fsE PrU | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1141 Registered: 03-2007 |
Randy, It was not until 2009 ( Black Path: Retrospective 1985 - 1992 ) that the material they released back then was released on CD for the first time. Their third album has just been released on CD and can be ordered from Bandcamp. https://theclaim.bandcamp.com/album/boom y-tella They are about to release a new album ( The New Industrial Ballads ) which will also be available to order from Bandcamp and if the track 'Journey' is anything to go by it will be well worth purchasing. https://theclaim.bandcamp.com/album/the- new-industrial-ballads | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4119 Registered: 03-2005 |
Hugh, I've had the Rev-Ola collection for many years, probably since not long after it was released. But I had no idea they were still active, nor that the Rev-Ola collection is not comprehensive. As usual, you are a priceless source of information. I have ordered both CDs from Bandcamp. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8841 Registered: 05-2005 |
Fire Escape in the Sky: The Godlike Genius of Scott Walker. Rarely has an album ever been so accurately named. | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1142 Registered: 03-2007 |
The BV's - Cartography https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wpOwcnZ q4E The CDR is now available from Bandcamp. https://thebvs.bandcamp.com/album/cartog raphy | ||
| Alexey Member Username: Alexey_p Post Number: 11 Registered: 03-2019 |
Edwyn Collins - Badbea A couple of listens into it, and the songwriting is as stellar as ever. Really addictive, too. Absolutely love this man. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1285 Registered: 04-2005 |
Cheers for that news about Edwyn's new record ! Didn't realise that it was already out. One of my heroes too. Got a lovely mail a while back from his wife Grace, thanking me for uploading loads of scanned material to his website. | ||
| Andreas Severins Member Username: Andreas_severins Post Number: 425 Registered: 11-2007 |
Just heared Edwyns new album Badbea for the first time! WOW! Very, very good and the trumpet fits wonderfully! Love it after the first listen! Well done, Edwyn! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 8843 Registered: 05-2005 |
Grouper - Grid Of Points. I heard this in Red Eye the other day and bought it straight away. Being an import it was quite expensive, but it’s great, so I won’t complain. Grouper is one woman, Liz Harris, playing ambient dream pop. That description would have put me off if I hadn’t heard it in Red Eye. The album is just under 22 minutes long, and definitely leaves you wanting more. |