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Monday 25 February 2013

25 February 2013

Another cosmopolitan show this week, featuring a first trip to Belgium.

Primal Scream - 2013
John: Back recording after five years, there's an album due in May called 'Morelight'. That's four minutes and some, but there's a full nine minute version.
Carolyn: I'd always be wary of naming a record after a year. Limits your market somewhat.

The Jim Jones Revue - Where Da Money Go?
John: Rockabilly for a new generation, that's a slice of Americana from London. Off last year's album 'The Savage Heart'.
Carolyn: I'm not sure what it is, genre-wise. I'll have a think.

Schizo Fun Addict - Make A Stand
John: I don't know a lot about these other than they're from New York and are taking psychedelia in new directions to a new audience. I've heard about half a dozen of their records and really like it. As best I know, that's from 2005.

Cover Version Corner
Isley Jasper Isley/The Housemartins - Caravan Of Love
John: Two very different versions. Two-thirds of the Isley brothers and their brother in-law from 1985 with a very dated soul number which the Housemartins did acapella a year later. Only the second acapella record to make it to number one.
Carolyn: Flying Pickets?
John: Exactly.

Balthazar - Sinking Ships
John: I promised you Belgian and here it is. Off the album 'Rats' which is out today, so we're bang up to date.
Carolyn: It's not all waffles and beer then.

Goat - Run To Your Mama
John: To Sweden now, and these are from a town called Korpilombolo which I have no doubt pronounced badly. That's from last year's album 'World Music' and is that a bhangra type of sound I detect?
Carolyn: Yeah, a little bit. Similar cues, for sure.

Julian Cope - Trampolene
John: We've not had new stuff from Mr Cope for a while, but we can make do with a re-issue of 'Saint Julian' which this comes from. It's 25 years old and I bought it when it came out. I always was a huge fan.

Flume - Sleepless
John: Australia now, and Flume is Harley Stretten from Sydney and the album 'Flume' came out earlier this month.

John Cooper Clarke - I Don't Want To Be Nice
John: The Bard of Salford himself, seeing as you expressed a fondness for spoken word last week.
Carolyn: Well I meant tracks that involve someone speaking rather than poetry, but yeah.
John: I see. Well I'll try and find some others then. That's from 1978, a period in which he recorded a few albums of poems set to music. That one comes off 'Disguise In Love', but the recording is from an edition of The Old Grey Whistle Test.



One Degree of Separation
Death In Vegas - Aisha
Goran Bregovic - Get The Money
John: Goran Bregovic is a Bosnian musician and that track is from the soundtrack to the 1993 film Arizona Dream that starred Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis and Faye Dunaway. The Death In Vegas track is from the 1999 album 'The Contino Sessions' and featured on the soundtrack to Gran Turismo 3, the computer game.
Carolyn: And the link? Not soundtracks, because that would be rubbish.
John: Both feature vocals by Iggy Pop.

Judy Street - What
John: How about a bit of Northern Soul? Originally recorded in 1968, this was a smash on the Northern Soul scene a decade later and got a re-release in 1977 and is still cracking.

King Creosote - On The Night Of The Bonfire
John: Kenny Anderson records under the name King Creosote, prolifically so. That's off the 2010 album 'That Might Be It, Darling' and he's one of those rarities that sing in their own accent. Fife, in this case.
Carolyn: Yeah, I got that.

Two Door Cinema Club - Next Year
John: I'm not sure about this. It's had plenty of airplay, but I just don't know if I like it or not.
Carolyn: I know we've had these before a couple of times. It's alright, that.
John: It's the new single from the album 'Beacon' which came out last summer. It's not bad, but is it enough to get excited about? I still can't make my mind up.

Lonnie Donegan - Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O
John: I play this for a couple of reasons. First, I like Lonnie Donegan. Second, because I hear a lot about Jake Bugg and it's my theory that he's a cheap Donegan knock-off. So why have that when you can have this?

More next week. In the meantime, here's your YouTube playlist.

Monday 18 February 2013

18 February 2013

On today's agenda, new stuff by old bands, new stuff by new bands and old stuff by old bands, stuff from Cuba, stuff from Heckmondwike.

Sparks - Amateur Hour
John: From 1974 and the album 'Kimono My House'. No, me neither. Sparks are Ron, the scary one, and Russell Mael and we'll have another sibling combo later. We have an hour, but we'll try to be a bit more than amateur about it.

Orchestral Manouvres In The Dark - Metroland
John: Now one of the new ones by old ones. We're on very familiar territory here.
Carolyn: Yeah, we are. But then if it works... And that does.
John: From the new album 'English Electric' which is out on April 8.

!!! - Slyd
John: New stuff from another old band. That's !!! - chkchkchk, by common consent - and it's bassy, funky and I flippin' love it.
Carolyn: They're called what?
John: From the album 'Thr!!!er' which is out imminently. Who knows how they're pronouncing that.

Cover Version Corner
Buzzcocks/Nouvelle Vague - Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You  Shouldn't've)
John: Nouvelle Vague a French outfit who solely do covers in the bossa nova style. We'll probably come back to them in future as they're a rich source of material. That's off the 2006 album 'Bande A Part'. The Buzzcocks, of course, Bolton's finest. That's from 1978.

Tom Tom Club - Downtown Rockers
John: Another old band putting new stuff out, that came out last September off an album of the same name. It's an homage to that whole CBGB's New York scene. They also namecheck Talking Heads - is that a hint of reconciliation?

Lemon Jelly - Ramblin' Man
John: Apropos of nothing other than it's a good record, here, have 7 minutes of Lemon Jelly.
Carolyn: I like some of the stuff with spoken word on. That sounds really.... what's the word?
John: Dreamlike?
Carolyn: Yes, I think so.
John: That's from 2002 and the album 'Lost Horizons'. And at one stretch, the letters of the places spells out 'Bagpuss sees all things'. Y'know... Because.



Ghost Capsules - Inside
John: Remember Bomb The Bass?
Carolyn: Bomb DA Bass, surely?
John: Yeah, well it's him, Tim Simenon. Now based in Vienna and working with some musicians he toured with while he was Bomb The Bass.
Carolyn: Da Bass. Bomb Da Bass...

One Degree of Separation
Ry Cooder - The 90 And The 9/Buena Vista Social Club - Hasta Siempre Comandante
John: Ry Cooder, still angry. That's off last year's 'Election Special' album. Back in 1996, he and Nick Gold went to Cuba to record local musicians. The result was a load of musicians playing under the Buena Vista Social Club banner. That track is a paean to Che Guevara.

Tegan and Sara - Closer
John: Well I promised you more siblings. Tegan and Sara are identical twins from Calgary and that's off 'Heartthrob' which came out last month. Big bouncy tunes and a massive '80s vibe which I like.
Carolyn: I could tell by the way you were singing along.

Spectrals - Peppermint
John: Spectrals is 21-year old Louis Jones from Heckmondwike. Big things are expected and this ain't bad. He's certainly got the tunes, with that big old jangly guitar in a Richard Hawley stylee, but I don't think he's found his voice yet.
Carolyn: That'll develop though.
John: Oh yes, and it's a great start. We'll certainly be keeping an eye out.

Swim Deep - The Sea
John: Another new band, a 4-piece from Birmingham. Close your eyes and that could be The Charlatans.
Carolyn: Now you say that... I was wondering who it reminded me of. Another one to look out for in future.

Special bonus website-only feature
Mmoss - War Sux
John: A 10-minute slab of krautrock indulgence from New Hampshire. Just at that length, I don't know when I'm ever going to be able to squeeze it into an hour-long show.
Carolyn: I like most of it, but then at about 7 minutes, I lose it. There's a section that's actually really annoying, which is a shame.
John: Off last year's album 'Only Children'.

Hat-tip to chums Lawrie and Ryan who suggested a few tracks this week.

And here's all that wrapped up in a YouTube playlist.

Monday 11 February 2013

11 February 2013

Back to normal this week.

The Black Keys - Tighten Up
John: We've had these a couple of times before. This is another from their smash hit album 'El Camino' which came out in 2011. I could just play the whole album one week and not have to plan anything.

Public Service Broadcasting - New Dimensions In Sound
John: We've had these before too.
Carolyn: I like that one a lot. Their stuff is really interesting.
John: We're due an album soon too. 'Educate, Entertain'. Very Reithian.

Cayucas - High School Lover
John: Cayucas being Zach Yudin from Santa Monica and that's off the forthcoming album 'Bigfoot' which comes out in April.

Cover Version Corner
Wedding Present/Toquiwa - Kennedy
John: From the 1988 album 'Bizarro', that's one of my favourite Wedding Present records. Toquiwa are an all-girl 3-piece from Tokyo who have toured with the Wedding Present and are on the same record label.
Carolyn: That's nice and cosy.

My Bloody Valentine - New You
John: Back after 22 years, a new album, 'm b v', came out last week. I found a lot of it not to my taste, but that one I like.
Carolyn: You can't go wrong with a few doo-doo-doos. What were they up to for 22 years anyway?
John: I don't know, but it makes the 7 years for the Stone Roses' 'Second Coming' look positively prompt.

The Knife - Full Of Fire
John: Now I'm expecting this to divide opinion. It's over 9 minutes long and pretty experimental. It's by brother and sister team The Knife who are Olof Dreijer and Karin Dreijer Andersson.
Carolyn: I liked bits. Some other bits didn't work and it was probably too long, but you had warned me and I'm not totally against it.
John: Well that's something. I think it's quite astonishing. Off the album 'Shaking The Habitual'.
Carolyn: We'll no doubt have something less challenging next.
John: ...

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät - Mä Vihaan Maailma
John: Finnish punk from Pertti Kurikan and his band formed in 2008. The four of them all have some sort of learning disability and work in a not-for-profit music workshop for the disabled. Mä Vihaan Maailma means 'I Hate The World'.

Woodkid - Iron
John: That's something isn't it? Yoann Lemoine is Woodkid, better known for his music videos. This originally appeared on an EP in 2011 and also features on the album 'The Golden Age' which comes out next month.


One Degree Of Separation
Dalek, I Love You - This Is My Uniform
Teardrop Explodes - Treason
John: Two records from 1980. Your connection is Dave Balfe who played keyboards for both acts.

Yacht - Le Goudron
John: That's actually a cover of a Brigitte Fontaine record, reinvented for a neon-filled dancefloor it says here. Yacht are from Portland, Oregon and that came out last year.

Juaneco Y Su Combo - La Cumbia Del Pacurro
John: More Peruvian rarities off the Tiger's Milk label. That's from 1978.

Melt Yourself Down - Fix My Life
John: Jazz/funk excellence. And a flute.

And here's that lot wrapped up into a YouTube playlist.

Monday 4 February 2013

4 February 2013

With Carolyn unwell, John was flying solo this week. Who said men can't multi-task?

Adam Green and Binki Shapiro - Just To Make Me Feel Good
That's what we're here for - to make everyone feel good. This is the second one we've played off the album, also called 'Adam Green and Binki Shapiro' which came out last month.

Bat For Lashes - A Wall
Natasha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes. What a voice. This is the latest single off 'The Haunted Man' which came out last October.

Junip - Line Of Fire
Wonderful stuff. Don't know a lot about these other than they're Swedish and this is off an album also called 'Junip' which is out in April. This reminds me of a number of things, none of which immediately leap to mind. Maybe they will with repeat listens, which is definitely what this will be getting.

Cover Version Corner
Massiel/St Etienne - La La La
Massiel - Maria De Los Angeles Felisa Santamaria Espinosa to you - was Spain's 1968 Eurovision winning entry, bumping Cliff's 'Congratulations' into second. The St Etienne version was done for a Eurovision special of Eurotrash and was on the bonus disc of the deluxe edition of the 1998 album 'Good Humor'.

Django Django - Zumm Zumm
We haven't quite played everything off the Mercury-nominated - but scandalously not Mercury winning - album 'Django Django', but we're getting there.

Wedding Present - End Credits
Off the album 'Valentina' which came out last March and totally passed me by - what was I doing?? That's cracking, as good as they ever have been.

Matthew E White - Big Love
A huge slice of brand spanking new '70s Virginia funk, if you see what I mean. Off the album 'Big Inner' which came out last month. Big Inner.... Beginner.... I see what they've done there.

One Degree of Separation
LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing In My House
Daft Punk - Robot Rock
Where we tangentially link two records... The only link here are the words Daft and Punk. LCD Soundsystem sang about them playing in their house, so we play them on the radio. Both from 2005 as well, the former off 'LCD Soundsystem', the latter 'Human After All'.

Applescal - Spring and Life
That's quite fantastic. Applescal is Amsterdam-based producer Pascal Terstappen and that's off 'Dreaming In Key' which comes out tomorrow.



Delphic - Memeo
That ends quite abruptly. That's the new one from the Manchester band whose new album 'Collections' which came out last week.

Jesca Hoop - Ode To Banksy
That's nice and jaunty. From last year's album 'The House That Jack Built'.

Foals - My Number
Time to squeeze one more in, the new one from these off the forthcoming album 'Holy Fire' which is out next week.

Hopefully we'll be back to a team effort next week. In the meantime, here's your YouTube playlist.