| Author | Message | ||
     Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9137 Registered: 05-2005 |
Nada Surf - So Much Love. It's the first track from their new album Never Not Together, which is out next week. And it's up there with anything they've ever recorded. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1287 Registered: 08-2004 |
The The - Armageddon Days (Are Here Again) On the first day of myself and many others cease to be am EU citizen, also the day coronavirus hits the nation, | ||
| Austin Member Username: Bruegelpie Post Number: 209 Registered: 09-2004 |
Padraig, Totally agree about the 3 new Nada Surf songs that have been released thus far! Can't wait for the album, which I think is out on Friday. Also, there are many great songs on Of Montreal's new album UR FUN. My favorite is "You've Had Me Everywhere," although "Polyaneurism" is a close second! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9139 Registered: 05-2005 |
Austin, I have the album as I'm reviewing it. It's great. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1673 Registered: 10-2006 |
Jake Thackray - Rain On The Mountainside https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHgr8fYH 2qI A great name from the past, a unique talent I often used to see on various TV shows in my youth providing an oddly-accented, richly-worded perspective on life to the brisk, percussive plucking of an acoustic guitar. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1321 Registered: 04-2005 |
Gang of Four - To Hell with Poverty RIP Andy Gill Saw the band in Glasgow in the early 80s. Without a doubt the most intense gig I've ever seen. It was almost frightening to witness. King and Gill crashing into each other as Gill produced the most unbelievable sounds from his guitar. Along with John McGeoch, they both pushed their instrument to another level. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4313 Registered: 03-2005 |
What a great tidbit of U.K. esoterica Stuart! I've never heard of him. Watching and listening some of the other videos of his from TV I found myself thinking "he looks and his music sounds French." So I did a little primitive google work. Thackray is from the Norman "Tancred" and found in Yorkshire. So not recently French, no. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1674 Registered: 10-2006 |
But he was a huge admirer of Brassens, translated several of his songs and lived in France and Algeria in the early 60s. So there is indeed a lot of French influence going on there. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4314 Registered: 03-2005 |
More education for me, Stuart! I hadn't heard of Georges Brassens either. And, yes, listening to a couple of his songs reveals Thackray's homage clearly enough. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1322 Registered: 04-2005 |
C'est pas possible Randy !! Here they are...the 3 towering figures of chanson together in '69...according to the article it is one of the photos the most sold in France… https://www.lefigaro.fr/musique/2017/02/ 05/03006-20170205ARTFIG00003--trois-homm es-sur-la-photo-la-reunion-historique-de -brassens-brel-et-ferre.php I find that Brassens is not that easy for a non native French speaker (like me)! In the sense that musically there is not that much going on and it is all in the lyrics and work play..if you ever find yourself in his home town of Sčte (in the SE) the Brassens museum is excellent. On a side-note, last Friday I was telephoned at work by my local mairie to inform me that because "Vous ętes anglais.." (deep breathe Andrew…reply "My nationality is actually British") "and as a result of Brexit you are hereby removed from the electoral register" Given the legendary inefficieny of French administration, this was incredibly quick ! The shit is hitting the fan  I'm OK in the end as I was recently informed that as from 17 December I am a French citzen. But it might take 6 months to get all the papers. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9141 Registered: 05-2005 |
I’m glad to hear you have French citizenship, Andrew. I wonder if the quarter of a million British citizens who live in Spain are getting similar calls? I don’t suppose they’ll much care if they can’t vote in Spain, but they’ll care if their access to healthcare gets cut off or reduced. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4315 Registered: 03-2005 |
Mais c'est vrai, Andrew. (And I had to look up how to say that!) When I read "the 3 towering figures of chanson" I figured the third would be Charles Aznavour! I've never heard of Léo Ferré either. It's a wide ocean I suppose, and I'm not much of a pre-rock guy aside from the occasional classical or jazz. The big '60s Europop that I have enjoyed for years is of a later generation than Brel and the others and it contains a lot of rock elements in the arrangements. Maybe later when I grow up. I do love the sound of the French language though--even without understanding it--and Brassens enunciates his lyrics so clearly I wonder if I might teach myself the language just from listening to his music. I can get a cheap 14 CD(!) box of his studio recordings and I might. The concern is that a huge box set is a bit over the top but it extricates me from making a choice when I know nada. He doesn't seem to ever use accordion, which I admit I consider a definite plus unless it's used in an unusual fashion. I second Pádraig in congratulating you for your French citizenship. Didn't you (or Stuart) say that expats weren't even allowed to vote in the 2016 referendum? Talk about putting a finger on the scale. I had to think a moment about the problem with "Vous ętes anglais." But at least I just learned how to find the special characters in Safari on a Mac! It's a fiddly operation though, so I can't promise to do it all the time Pádraig. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9142 Registered: 05-2005 |
I appreciate the effort, Randy. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1323 Registered: 04-2005 |
I love the accordion. Marcel Azzola who played with Brel died last month aged 91. Here he is on a live version of "Vesoul" with Brel..."Chauffe Marcel, Chauffe!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VakkMDar FDQ And here he is playing on Abd Al Malik's "Je Regarderai Pour Toi Les Etoiles" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Ant2bU GrU Thanks for your congratulations ! Over 2 years of waiting and lots of paperwork. What was quite humbling was going to an evening class for the language exam and being practically the only non African there. And realising that for these people it was on another level of difficulty...not because of the language, as they all spoke much better French than me (and probably several other languages) but simply because of their backgrounds and the situation in their home countries. There was a lovely woman from Somalia who was laughing about French administration and their obsession with the right documents...she said that she was born in the street and only the rich had birth certificates. As for the referendum, as an expat you could vote if you had left the UK less than 15 years before. No idea where that figure came from ! Yes the French speak all the time about the "English" when they really mean "British". | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 482 Registered: 05-2005 |
Pierre Vassiliu : Face B Sampler published by a little parisian record company (mainly for post-punk bands…). The travelling singer had a very long career but is only known for this 70's smash hit : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpHkbNqY 7zY (a Chico Buarque cover). As with Brassens (who helped him), I don't know if these erotico/funny/sad songs could be of interest here but there is a worth reading biography (the english version follows the french one): https://www.bornbadrecords.net/releases/ bb100-pierre-vassiliu-face-b-19651981/ Still have to listen to the new 'En Voyage' sampler ( https://www.bornbadrecords.net/releases/ bb117-pierre-vassiliu-en-voyage/ ) Sad that the talent of this guy has a little recognition after his death.. And the link with the Go-Betweens is that the magazine Magic has written about both in their last issue : http://www.magicrpm.com/le-magic-de-janv ier-fevrier-en-kiosque-jeudi/ | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9145 Registered: 05-2005 |
Bike - Take In The Sun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnhjlgm0 ukw | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1675 Registered: 10-2006 |
Fantastic Brel video, Andrew, thanks! What a performer he was. Same in Italy, meanwhile: "Inghilterra" and "Inglese" basically covers the UK. Still, now I see that BJ intends to "love bomb" Scotland it's probably only a matter of time before we both have our Scottish passports as well. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9146 Registered: 05-2005 |
Girls Against Boys - Super-Fire | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1676 Registered: 10-2006 |
Name that tune!! Yes, one of these, I'm afraid - well, you never know... Anyway, I was down at the pasta shop getting gnocchi when a song came on the radio, not my usual stuff, being all intertwining soul voices, mainly female I think, a lush production, decent tune, stonking beat, so that even I, much to the worry of the other customers, found myself hopping rather giddily from leg to leg. I tried to pin down one phrase so I could look it up later online and thought I heard, "Here comes my Chevrolet", a sequence of words which, unfortunately, and perhaps surprisingly, never seems to have made it into any known lyric. The radio station publishes no playlist and responded with silence to a friendly e-mail. So, there you go, based on such spartan evidence... any ideas?? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9147 Registered: 05-2005 |
No Shazam on your phone, Stuart? It really works. I used it recently and immediately bought the album the song I’d just shazammed is on. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1677 Registered: 10-2006 |
I know, I know, it would certainly make life a bit easier. I am, to the constant despair of my wife, very slow to adjust to the modern world. | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 483 Registered: 05-2005 |
Do your vinyl yourself with Scritti Politti : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn4HC2Df m_k&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR1IV4E8OMlcO AVY9hhoAHL5rvp9dIPXCdSjFKSwF3eXm4pYSSuU2 mVO6uA | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9149 Registered: 05-2005 |
The National - Quiet Light | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1975 Registered: 08-2006 |
Rich Krueger - "O, What a Beautiful, Beautiful Day." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukbCDCu3 NwQ&list=PLCklm70CoK9T7NYL_joD4o88W_FqeW V3H&index=16&t=0s A friend of mine, who's also a neonatologist at the University of Chicago. He's gonna be a future feature on CBS Sunday Morning, which is pretty cool. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9151 Registered: 05-2005 |
I like it, Rob. Please post a link (if there is one) after he's on CBS. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1976 Registered: 08-2006 |
I will, indeed. If you're interested, I highly recommend both the records he put out in 2018 - "Life's Too Short" and "NowThen." The song "Kenny's (It's Always Christmas in This Bar)", off the latter, is about a place called the Gallery Cabaret, a neighborhood watering hole that's just a few blocks from my house. Here's the video for that, in which I'm somewhere in the background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeAJqzsz Kmc&list=PLCklm70CoK9T7NYL_joD4o88W_FqeW V3H&index=1 | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4317 Registered: 03-2005 |
That's a great video for "Kenny's" Rob! | ||
| trou Unregistered guest |
Pierre Vassiliu - Face B. Sampler released by a little parisian post-punk (mostly) record company. This travelling singer, crossbreeding between Georges Staline and a porn actor of the 70s, had an incredible life. He is known for this smash hit in the seventies : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpHkbNqY 7zY , cover of a Chico Buarque melody. As with his friend Brassens, don't know if these forgotten songs with erotic-funny-sad lyrics could interest people here. The biography of him in english, beneath the french one :https://www.bornbadrecords.net/releases/ bb100-pierre-vassiliu-face-b-19651981/ Still have to listen the new 'En Voyage' sampler : https://www.bornbadrecords.net/releases/ bb117-pierre-vassiliu-en-voyage/ | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9152 Registered: 05-2005 |
JPS Experience - Bleeding Star. What a song. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4319 Registered: 03-2005 |
Trou, I definitely get the porn vibe on M. Vassiliu. The music I found on my first search of youtube often sounds like a soft porn soundtrack. The link to the record label's bio in English helps a lot. I should have read it first. It sent me to "Le Mančge désenchanté," a much nicer song than what youtube was pitching up with a simple query using Vassiliu's name. He sounds really interesting, but it does seem that having the language is necessary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDdS7kU7 wLo And "Marie en Provence" is rather nice musically, unlike the almost novelty-sounding things I got when I just pulled songs at random: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV3crLvM 3P0 On the other hand, a lot of his music is from the 1970s after all. I am not a fan of 1970s musical aesthetics. He seems to do a lot of stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEHy9DHi -as I understand a lot of people like things like the above number but I really truly don't. It was when music like this was being made that I started digging into the more obscure corners of 60s music. For example, that's when I discovered the mostly-unknown (in the US) joys of the Easybeats and Scott Walker. So Pierre Vassiliu takes work. I wonder if "Face B" might be a good shortcut. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4320 Registered: 03-2005 |
Trou (and anybody else who's interested), if you haven't, I recommend you go onto the discogs website and look up Vassiliu's 1972 album "Attends." The entire album is loaded onto the website to be heard. Never reissued on CD. Grrrr. It's actually pretty nice up to the 6th song so far. Born Bad should simply reissue this album, maybe coupled with another album if they're worried about its brevity. https://www.discogs.com/Pierre-Vassiliu- Attends/release/703465 | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 484 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thank you Randy. In the 70-80s, french music was also so horrible … Sorry for the double post. Back to Pale Saints, again and again. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9153 Registered: 05-2005 |
Billie Eilish - No Time To Die. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've heard anything by Ms Eilish, and it's great. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9155 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sonny Condell - Red Sail, a psychedelic/folk/jazz song by an Irish musician. From 1977. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPQXy59P KDk | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1678 Registered: 10-2006 |
Peggy sue - In dreams Cool retro sounds from this Brighton duo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGbjA_er 60Y | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9159 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Real Thing - Can't Get By Without You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbP0R4dF qyc | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1327 Registered: 04-2005 |
The singer Graeme Allwright died yesterday at the age of 93. Originally from New Zealand he arrived in France in the 50s to work in the theatre, but ended up a folk singer. He translated many American folk songs and also several by Dylan and Leonard Cohen. He turned his back on the commercial side of the music scene in the mid 70s, but continued playing all over France. He also bought back to France several musicians from Madagascar that he had met there.. This live version of "Il faut que je m'en aille" (probably his most popular self composition) was recorded with them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFYhsmuL SZU I had the enormous pleasure of helping put on a concert by him in our village square in 2005. He was playing in Paris the night before and I had the duty of going to pick him up from the railway station. This frail looking character emerged from the train, shabbily dressed with a guitar in a plastic bag and my immediate thought was “what have we done ?”. But the converation in the car was fascinating and he was obviously someone who had stayed true to the ideals of the 1960s. He was utterly unmaterialistic for example. When he finally walked on stage (barefoot) that evening , the transformation was unbelievable. He played for over 2 hours and held the audience in his hand. Some had come from several hours drive away to be there that night. In 1973 Allwright had put out a very popular double live album from a concert at the Olympia in Paris. As we we were clearing up a man came to us and said “I was there in ’73...and tonight was even better” He was also notable for finding the lyrics to La Marseillaise ugly in their violence and celebration of war. So he wrote a pacifist version and sent to it Nicolas Sarkozy. No reply. At another concert by Allwright a couple of years later my children got up on stage and accompanied the singer in his version of France’s national anthem. To this day my son says he gets still gets mixed up between the 2 versions. RIP Graeme Allwright | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4322 Registered: 03-2005 |
Thank you Andrew. You are the person who made me aware of him, however many years ago. | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 352 Registered: 05-2005 |
That's a great story Andrew. A friend of mine runs a New Zealand site called Audioculture which is a terrific resource for anything related to NZ music (some great stuff on Dunedin bands). They published a piece on Graeme Allwright last year - and I have just let them know about his passing. https://www.audioculture.co.nz/people/gr aeme-allwright | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1328 Registered: 04-2005 |
Cheers Mark for that link ! It's an interesting read...and the man certainly had a full and interesting life. My French partner once explained me to me that he is well known to an entire generation because of his songs (or his translations) being included in a songbook that was used for "colonies de vacances" (childrens' holiday camps). The Cohen song "Suzanne" is well known in France mainly because of Allwright's version for example. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9160 Registered: 05-2005 |
What a great story, Andrew. And welcome back, Mark. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1679 Registered: 10-2006 |
I enjoy those rare moments where music seems to intersect with life in an almost mystical way: yesterday I was listening to British radio and chatting with the wife about whether to go and see the new documentary about Fabrizio de Andrč at the cinema. I gave up going to the cinema in Italy ages ago, so I was humming and hawing and considering which version of no, probably not, to choose, when Tom Robinson played: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t20tefoJ Vrw We looked at each other in astonishment. “Looks like I’m coming, then,” I said. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1329 Registered: 04-2005 |
Hüsker Dü - Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEVi0IxC 0yM | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9162 Registered: 05-2005 |
New Order - Vicious Streak. One of their lesser sung works of genius. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9167 Registered: 05-2005 |
Midnight Oil - Gunbarrel Highway, in which Jim Moginie lets his occasional power pop tendencies rip. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1680 Registered: 10-2006 |
Talking Heads - Television Man A no-brainer soundtrack song for Mr Crowe's robust performance and also a good example of David Byrne's poppier instincts, which I always did enjoy. "And she was" must have been one of my most played songs back when it came out, something to bop me through the long, lovely Swedish nights. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1682 Registered: 10-2006 |
Disq - Daily Routine A sort of grunged up Lemonheads, perhaps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xv1JByU Z9E | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1253 Registered: 03-2007 |
House Deposit - Cruise Control https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVfcqIJe ius Track from the first release ( Reward For Effort ) by this young Melbourne band. Only available on cassette or digital download as far as I know. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9174 Registered: 05-2005 |
Billie Holiday & Louis Armstrong - Sweet Hunk o' Trash. From 1948, and almost certainly the first ever released recording of the f word - at 2.53 by Mr Armstrong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_176jJiv MdA | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4330 Registered: 03-2005 |
I assume it's not him, but the male vocalist sounds like Louis Forster, Hugh. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1334 Registered: 04-2005 |
Big Thief - Masterpiece https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oacUgWXr qwc | ||
| Hugh Nimmo Member Username: Hugh_nimmo Post Number: 1254 Registered: 03-2007 |
Randy, Not a lot of information available online but I believe the line-up of the band is Meaghan Weiley, Sam Lyons, Dylan Bartlett and Dan Oke. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9176 Registered: 05-2005 |
Mazzy Star - Fade Into You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uJ61jgF CMM | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 1335 Registered: 04-2005 |
Mazzy Star - Into Dust https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiO_7LhP ZFM | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9179 Registered: 05-2005 |
Nick Lowe - Endless Sleep. Originally the last track on Lowe's Bowi EP (so titled as a play on Bowie's Low), it's on the 2008 rerelease of Jesus Of Cool. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1684 Registered: 10-2006 |
Motorama - Eyes Making the most of their photogenic drummer. But sung in Russian, perhaps with a female vocal, this might sound even better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-69TZ1P 4Qo |