More Freedom Is A Good Thing

I was just re-reading a few of the lads’ previous efforts and happened across Tiny Dancer’s posting of his first Uncut cd and it reminded me of my first one as well. Unconditionally Guaranteed Volume 5 from June 1999. I remember this cd immensely well as it came at a time when I was immersed in the world of Legend Of Zelda – Ocarina Of Time and I can’t hear any of the songs on it without thinking about that game. I was feeling nostalgic about it a few months ago and bought a Wii specifically for the new Zelda game and yet I’ve had neither console nor game out of the box yet. Perhaps I’m finally putting away childish things – or more correctly, not taking them out of their boxes.

But back to "The Music".

A cursory glance of the track-listings of the cds for the two or three years I used to get the magazine reveals how much it and the magazine in general at that time influenced me. I would go through the whole magazine and make a list of every album I wanted to buy and would then hit the record shops as soon as I had a bit of money. Much of my record collection dates back to those days. Lamchop, Flaming Lips, Tom Waits, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Ryan Adams, The Go-Betweens and many others would all have been discovered much later without it.

When I was a less lazy boy I actually went through my collection of about three or four years’ worth of these free cds and copied all the ones I liked, but hadn’t at the time bought albums for, onto four discs worth of compilations. I present highlights of the first of these to you now.

LA Freeway by Guy Clark was from the first free cd I got. I know nothing about the guy but this is 70s country at it’s finest. If anyone knows any "interesting facts" or can recommend an album / compilation from this lot or anything earlier, then please post a comment below as I really want to buy some; but for now I’ll leave you with some of his lyrics to wet your whistle:

Here's to you old skinny Dennis
Only one I think I will miss
I can hear that old bass singing
Sweet and low like a gift you're bringin'



Guy Clark – LA Freeway


As a quick aside, looking at the track-listing that was from the June 1999 magazine I can’t overlook the presence of the hateful Moby. One Glastonbury I had sun-stroke and lay in my tent shivering and feverish while this being sang Radiohead’s Creep through his computer box thing. It is the worst memory of my life and will no doubt be awaiting me on an endless loop in Hell. Suffice is to say he didn’t make it onto my compilation.

Back to that.

There is this song called Bitch Lounge by Noahjohn who is something of an enigma. It’s kind of "slacker country". I’d forgotten how much I love this track and have just ordered the album Had A Burning as for some reason I never got round to it before. You should get it from here.

The way he sings the lyric:

I’ll call you princess if you want me to. I’ll call you princess.

Makes me want to be in unrequited love.



Noahjohn – Bitch Lounge


Will give you an update in the comments section when I’ve listened to the album.

Next is Scottish Pop by Spearmint. Lovely little band and I keep coming across stuff of theirs on compilations. This one is about their Scottish Pop influences and name-checks all the greats (most of whom were the soundtrack of my late teens). See what you fancy from here.



Spearmint – Scottish Pop


Get A Room by the wonderful Jim O’Rourke is a dark little story about a man who has one night to live and spends it with the wrong girl who just falls asleep. It’s quite stripped down compared to his usual production work but the simplicity works as the drama is all in the wryly funny lyrics.

Maybe if you kick her
But your leg’s getting weaker
And she’s such a deep sleeper
And you would get a snorer
To share your last hour
You sure picked a winner



Jim O’Rourke – Get A Room


Get Insignificance and more from here.

And finally off of this cd is Black Lite Blue by Shelby Lynne, from her album I Am Shelby Lynne - it’s a very strange little song and feels like it’s been plucked from the brain of an alternate reality medieval Virginia Woolf. I’ve no idea what she’s going on about and I’m not sure that it all adds up to anything but it sure sounds purrrty!

And that, after all, is why we’re here.



Shelby Lynne - Black Lite Blue


Ricky Stardust


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The Sopranos

Is there anything more thrilling, more hair-raising or more arousing than a male singer reaching into the depths of his soul, finding his inner woman and letting it fly in a swooning fit of high-pitched beauty? Not for me there isn’t. Blokes singing in high voices are great.

Let’s pass over the all too obvious falsetto recordings of the likes of The Bee Gees and Freddie Mercury (and, indeed, his bizarre-to-the-point-of-upsetting modern-day ‘inheritor’ Mika) and move quickly on to the classic 1976 Junior Murvin hit Police And Thieves, later covered of course by The Clash. A steady beat, a soulful voice and a bit of Lee Scratch Perry production and the result is reggae perfection. Never has civil unrest sounded so sweet. Get Junior’s Greatest Hits from here.



Junior Murvin – Police And Thieves


Tim Buckley was by all accounts a bit of a swine – were he still alive his estranged son Jeff could probably attest to that – but boy, could he sing. Here is perhaps his finest track, Sweet Surrender, taken from the album Greetings From L.A. (buy it here, it’s great). Genius string section on this one, too.



Tim Buckley – Sweet Surrender


Greetings from L.A. also from Sparks, the legendary pop duo who formed there in 1970. Gaining their big breakthrough here in the UK, the flamboyant stylings of Russell Mael alongside the mad staring eyes of Hitler look-alike Ron Mael on Top Of The Pops gave them instant fame. Russell’s vocals leap about like a man possessed on the simply perfect glam stomp Amateur Hour. They’re still recording to this day I believe, and still looking a bit like Hitler as well – confirmation of that is here.



Sparks – Amateur Hour


It’s hard to talk about mid-80s Norwegian boy band heart-throbs A-Ha without facing accusations of being nostalgic or ironic, but please buy the album Hunting High And Low immediately. Get over the cheesy synthesisers and you will find that this album is quite simply pop perfection with song writing far greater than they were given credit for at the time. In keeping with the high-voiced motif I should post Take On Me (the ruin of many a karaoke night as drunken man realises that no, he can’t reach that note after all) but you’ve all heard that a million times so here’s Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale instead. For most of this you’ll be thinking hang on Crisp, he’s not singing that high on this one – don’t be deceived, dear Morten is simply building himself up to the point when at 3:52 he lets forth a yelp of startling soprano genius. Best played as loud as possible.



A-Ha – Living A Boy’s Adventure Tale


For sheer highness of boy voice though, surely the crown has to go to German maniac and tragic AIDS victim Klaus Nomi. Check out Death, culled from the Morrissey curated Under The Influence album. It’s almost impossible to describe this slice of baroque synth opera so I’ll merely issue a warning – don’t play it in front of the kids. If I’d heard this when I was a lad I’m sure I wouldn’t have grown up normal, like what I am. More adult material here.



Klaus Nomi - Death


Of course, even the highest of high man voices can never compete with that other bunch of people, the ones with bumpy bits. As evidence please relax to another reggae classic – Silly Games by Janet Kay. She hits a note on this one that I’m almost certain will be the sound the universe makes when it collapses in on itself at the end of time. More armageddon here.



Janet Kay – Silly Games


Crisp Debris


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I Am Not A Good Reader

There is a man and his name is Irwin Chusid and he is a clever man because he wrote a book about music that is strange music because he likes music that is like that.

The book is called Songs In The Key Of Z and it is about people who made something that is called in the book outsider music I think this is because their friends used to lock them out in the garden a lot.

Some of the people that Irwin Chusid writes about are Captain Beefheart The Shaggs Joe Meek and Daniel Johnston.

I have not read the book because I am not a good reader but a man told me it was a very good book and I did listen to some of the strange music because they have been put onto a music player.

I have listened to the music player and I like it some of it makes me happy one of the songs I like is by a man called Bingo Gazingo which is a very weird name it sounds like he is singing while he is typing on a computer like I am now ha ha and the typing of the computer is at the same time as the singing and he has a weird voice which sounds like he is a nonce or something but I’m sure he is okay he sings words that I don’t always understand but that doesn’t stop me liking it I like it there is more about him and more by him here.



Bingo Gazingo & My Robot Friend – You’re Outside The Computer


Another one of the songs I like is by a person that lives in space she is called The Space Lady and she is singing a song about dreaming and sleeping at night and she sounds like she’s singing in a spaceship with a small noise machine and it sounds really good and I like it a lot I’d like The Space Lady to be my mum I think and live with her on her spaceship and sing songs together and that there is more about my new mum here with some other space songs.



The Space Lady – I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)


Another one of the songs I like is one of the weirdest songs on the music player is it by a person called Shooby Taylor and he starts his song talking normal words and then all of a sudden he starts making these noises that are really strange and I don’t understand them but I like them I think he might be talking in words that are foreign but I don’t really know because I don’t know any foreign there is noise machine on it as well and there is more about Shooby Taylor at this place where you can get more of his foreign talking as well.



Shooby Taylor – Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing


I’m not a good reader but I think the book by Irwin Chusid would be good to people that can do reading and so you can get it from here and if you can’t read good like me get the music player it has lots and lots of good songs on which is here.


Tiny Dancer


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Generic Indie White Boy Sounds

Back in the late 90s, I went for an interview at an art college hoping to study Fine Art. The conversation collapsed for me as we moved to other art forms and, in particular, to music. When asked what I was listening to at that particular time, I reeled off a list of my obsessions du jour... the then current OK Computer and Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space albums and the mainstays of my record collection since childhood - the Motown, Stax and Trojan labels. The interviewer listened patiently to my list before asking if I felt that maybe that was all a bit "generic indie white boy" and asked if I listened to jazz.

Now, doubtless you will be aware that whilst these labels are responsible for many amazing things, "generic indie white boy" music isn't one of them. Indeed, Motown was known to knock out the odd Jazz side back in the early days and many Motown artists (I'm looking at you, The Four Tops) started off in Jazz bands before hitting the big time with Berry Gordy's guiding hand. I had to resign myself to two inescapable facts; firstly, the man was an idiot and secondly, I wouldn't be spending the next three years of my life at his art college. So Mr Art Teacher, here are some of my favourite generic indie white boy stylings for you to get your head around.

From the Stax label we present Philosopher of Soul Johnnie Taylor. Ironically given his status as a flagship Stax artist Johnnie's biggest hit came after he left the label; his first release for Columbia Records was the single Disco Lady, which various biographies assure me was not only a massive American chart hit but also "captured the spirit of the time". The song that grabbed me, however, was a far different beast. In August 1972, Stax staged the one day Wattstax festival to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the Watts riots. Wattstax is often referred to as an answer to Woodstock from the black community; recognising the poverty of the target audience, tickets retailed at $1 to ensure as many people could afford to attend as possible.

I’m 27 years old, so sadly wasn’t even able to attend in conceptual form, but documentary footage of the show is available and is mostly amazing. The standout for me was Johnnie Taylor's performance of I Am Somebody, a powerful, instantly uplifting funk monster. Like all great funk soul masterpieces, it comes in two parts. Get more here.



Johnnie Taylor - I Am Somebody (Part One)

Johnnie Taylor - I Am Somebody (Part Two)


Arguably the best known examples of Motown's experiments with the funk are the psychedelic soul masterpieces Motown golden boys The Temptations released under the guiding production hand of Norman Whitfield, including Ball Of Confusion, Psychedelic Shack, I Can't Get Next To You, Cloud Nine and Papa Was A Rolling Stone, the latter found below in 10 minute wah-wah epic format.

Compare the sonics and lyrics of this to Motown's previous political or topical efforts; say, The Supremes classic, beautifully arranged but comparatively simplistic Love Child, and the rapid development of the label's songwriters still has the ability to surprise. Why Berry Gordy took issue with the political themes of Marvin Gaye's later-released What's Going On? remains a mystery when placed alongside the unremittingly grim tone of the lyrics to this; a gossiped checklist of the faults of a now-deceased absent father as heard through the ears of the children he left behind.



The Supremes - Love Child



The Temptations - Papa Was A Rolling Stone (Full Length Version)


Although now like much Motown material part of the cultural wallpaper, the lyrical material is still remarkably potent. Jamaican superstars The Pioneers take on the song loses none of this drama. The simple, sparse but tense bass remains the same but is given a staggeringly different feel in its new context of an off-beat shuffle. Start off with a greatest hits.



The Pioneers - Papa Was A Rolling Stone


And finally, in belated answer to Mr Art Twat, yes, I do listen to Jazz. Here is the generic indie white boy's favourite/token Jazzer, Miles Davis, from the live album Dark Magus. It's taken from the mid-70s, when Davis was in full-on jazz-funk odyssey mode and may just blow your tiny mind.



Miles Davis - Tatu (Part One)


Casanova Cox


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Chaque Jour En Transparence

I never really liked French at school. The subject, not the people. It was obligatory for the first five years, and was about as much fun as forgetting your games kit in January, and having to do cross country around Danson Park in vest, pants and a pair of ill-fitting, borrowed, verruca infested plimsoles. I saw it happen once. Nipples like tiny blue wheel nuts. The poor lad was never really the same. Not good.

What didn’t help was having a joyless crone for a teacher. She didn’t like me. In fact, she didn’t like anyone. She always caught me cheating, would mark mistakes with big red sweeping circles and ‘NO! NO! NO!’s (like you’d just committed a particularly nasty atrocity against all of humanity) and generally set out to make the learning of the French as miserable a process as possible. She succeeded, and on that I suppose she should be congratulated.

But now, my opinion has changed. Only slightly, but changed nonetheless. Because not one week ago, I managed to successfully traverse the French Amazon, to purchase an album. Admittedly, it’s set up exactly the same as the English version, and admittedly, Stardust has managed to carry out successful transactions on the Japanese Amazon before, but at this point every victory is precious, no matter how big or small.

The reason for this crazy adventure is that you can’t seem to get anything released by Les Rita Mitsouko prior to 2007 over here for love nor money. Well, you can, but it has to be ordered, and then you have to wait for ages, and then you have to pay for it at import rates, and it’s all a bloody great big horrific massive bloody nightmare basically. So, being the worldly wise and upwardly mobile young buck that I am, I went straight to the source. Because, you see, they are a French band. Mais non... Mais oui!

I only came across them the other day because they’ve released a new album and ep, and they played recently at the Scala. I was informed it was a ruddy triumph, so I thought I’d have a look a bit further back, and being a thorough sort of chap, I went back to the start. 1984. Who would believe such times existed?

After a bit of a wait, and the paranoia that only the most selective of postmen can cause (one for you, one for postie, one for you, one for postie), it turned up on Thursday. Up until then, I wasn’t having the best of weeks. I’ve had a touch of the man-flu, and as any man will tell any woman that listens, there is nothing worse than that. Yes, when inflicted with a dose of the man-flu, we carry on, but God knows it’s not easy. We don’t like to whine, it’s not in our nature, but oh yes, it is a burden. Oh yes. So, I think we can say I was feeling a bit sorry for myself.

Where modern and self medication failed, Les Rita Mitsouko triumphed. It’s a bit hard to pin down why – I’ve seen them described more often than not as ‘avant-garde’, but that tired, over-used phrase never really entered into my mind. French, yes, 80s, yes, Cabaret-era-Weimar-Berlin, possibly. All over the place definitely. Euro-tastic, oh yes. In fact, a couple of tunes, most notably album opener Restez Avec Moi, start off like every summer’s family favourite song that only the most cursed of Europe’s holiday hotspots can boast. Fortunately, they sort themselves out, but for a while, it’s a bit of an eyebrow raiser.

Occasionally, the album reaches brilliance. Marcia Baila might be the most played song in French radio history (nice little fact there), but it doesn’t feature "Atiai’s rythm computer" – "Aie (Kriptonite Miss Splein) does, and it’s deemed worthy of a mention in the sleeve notes. As such, it is also deemed worthy of inclusion here.



Les Rita Mitsouko – "Aie (Kriptonite Miss Splein)


When listening, you never get a chance to get comfortable or settle down, because the direction changes so often. Along side straight-up-pop-ditties come doom-laden-synth-wails, triumphantly so on Galoping – which as well as being a magnificent blend of Kraut-Gallic-Sioux, is a prime example of a band struggling to name a song.



Les Rita Mitsouko – Galoping


And because I’m feeling particularly saucy today, here’s one more, the most played song ever on French radio ever.



Les Rita Mitsouko – Marcia Baila


So there you have it. A man-flu curing treasure from across the seas, possibly making up for 5 years of abject nonsense suffered at the hands of Britain’s worst teacher. And not too many records can be said to tick both of those boxes.

You can find the album on the usual websites if you can be bothered to have a look around and a wait, but I’d heartily recommend stepping into Europe, and getting it from here. Just don’t blame me if The Best Of Charles Azavour turns up instead.


Tiny Dancer


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Sad News From Distant Shores

A nation mourns. Well, three young men who should have known better in the first place, anyway...

We have decided that the upcoming gigs will be our last for the foreseeable future. After ten years of much fun and hard work, we have realised that we all need a break and time to do other things. This was a tough decision for us to make, but ultimately a positive one.

A big thank you to everyone who has come to our shows, put on our shows, and bought our records over the years. It means a lot to us. We're really grateful to have had the opportunity to play gigs all over the world and to meet so many lovely people. This last year has been especially enjoyable and we feel happy about moving on with all these good memories to look back on. At the moment we haven’t made any band plans for the future, but we’re going to have a break and see what happens.

Love, Electrelane

In light of this upsetting news, it is now obligatory to ensure the following:

1 - You must complete your ownership of the available Electrelane back catalogue at the earliest opportunity.

2 – You must attend at least one of their remaining gigs. Pick from the following:

09 November 2007 – Gagarin205, Athens, Greece
10 November 2007 – Xylourgeio-Mylos, Thessaloniki, Greece
16 November 2007 – Rocking Chair, Vevey, Switzerland
17 November 2007 –Rote Fabrik, Zurich, Switzerland
19 November 2007 – La Laiterie, Strasbourg, France
20 November 2007 – Transbordeur, Lyon, France
21 November 2007 – Le Cleo, Toulouse, France
23 November 2007 – La Nef, Angouleme, France
24 November 2007 – Trabendo, Paris, France
27 November 2007 – King Tut’s, Glasgow, Scotland
28 November 2007 – Academy 3, Manchester, England
29 November 2007 – KOKO, London, England
01 December 2007 – Pavilion Theatre, Brighton, England

Some tickets from here.

Now, please don your blackest of clothing, and spend some moments of private, quiet thought whilst listening to these.


Electrelane – Bells

Electrelane – Blue Straggler


Tiny Dancer

The Theme Tune From Grangemouth

Sometimes, you will read an article about a band that makes you instantly want to rush out and buy their music – and if that music hits home you will always be thankful, and maybe even remember the review that inspired you.

So it is, that had I never read a review many years ago simply stating that The Cocteau Twins were the best band to listen to on a Walkman when visiting a zoo, I might never have fallen under the spell of Elizabeth Fraser. Thank God I did.

The Cocteau Twins were formed in 1980 in Falkirk; at the time Liz Fraser was only 17. It wasn’t too long before they had signed to 4AD and were busy making moody and brilliant music – over the top of which was Liz Fraser’s unique and beautiful voice. It’s impossible to describe her voice (and, both incidentally and controversially, to understand a single word of what she sings in any of The Cocteau Twins songs) so instead, just listen to Sugar Hiccup and you’ll quickly see what I mean.



The Cocteau Twins – Sugar Hiccup


Try also this track from the 4AD label’s mid-80s vanity side project This Mortal Coil on the album It’ll End in Tears, which combined the talents of a host of 4AD bands at the time (actually, that gives me a weak excuse to let you hear Not Me from the same album as well, even though it has nothing to do with Liz Fraser. It does feature Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde from The Cocteau Twins though, so there’s a bit of a link and anyway it’s my post so I can do what I want).



This Mortal Coil – Song To The Siren

This Mortal Coil – Not Me


The Cocteau Twins disbanded years ago and Liz concentrates nowadays on painting, but she still records for films and does the odd bit here and there, like this great cover of Robert Wyatt’s At Last I Am Free on the Rough Trade best of 25 years album Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before.



Elizabeth Fraser – At Last I Am Free


She has also collaborated with The Future Sound Of London and of course Massive Attack on the spine-tingling Teardrop, the jewel in the crown of Mezzanine.



Massive Attack - Teardrop


Once you’ve listened to all this and logged on to Sister Ray to buy Stars And Topsoil, the best of The Cocteau Twins, consider the beauty of the idea that the review that originally inspired me is once again causing more Liz Fraser to be heard around the world. It’s enough to make a grown man cry. Although actually, I’m going to eat a pie instead – but you know where I’m coming from.


Crisp Debris


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Flying Into The Night

010. Magnetik - Dancing On The Moon

~==>



011. Alain Goraguer - Ten Et Tiwa Dorment

~==> ~==>



012. Duran Vazquez - Chant 2_2_1

~==> ~==>



013. Shuki Levi - Ulysses 31

~==>


Tiny Dancer


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Wonder Drummer Wanted For An Avante-Rock Group

News reached us early last month that “The Nation's Favourite” BBC Radio 1 is to release an album of covers featuring modern artists re-interpreting one top hit from each year of Radio 1's 40-year existence. A lot of this album looks terrible. Most of it looks pointless. The Cox household is, however, particularly excited about the prospect of Kylie "doing" the Roxy Music hit Love Is The Drug.

Roxy Music were formed in the winter of 1970/1 by famous ceramics teacher Bryan Ferry. Given a leg up by King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp (whom Ferry had unsuccessfully auditioned for), they released their eponymous debut album in June 1972 and went vaguely supernova.

I was initiated into its ways by a mysterious chap in a darkened pub somewhere off The Strand, back in the murky days of 1999. He gave me a cd of his own awful songs that also had these two beauties at the end. The actual album will set you back less than a fiver at your local Music & Video Exchange. So go. Now. Or when it's open. Or if you’re elderly or infirm, try here.

Calm but driving, 2HB is one of the most beautiful moments in early 70's rock. A serene musical cousin of early Kraftwerk or Neu!, Ferry sings a tribute to Humphrey Bogart (2HB – you see?), quoting Casablanca over tightly focused drums and bass, floaty echoing guitars, synth and woodwind. This version comes from a John Peel Session broadcast on 23rd May 1972.



Roxy Music - 2HB (Peel Session - 1972)


By contrast, Ladytron is bawdy and lusty, building and building until its libido explodes into a galloping, rhythmic duel between thrusting guitar and squawking oboe, not just once but twice, before rolling over and falling asleep. The dirty scoundrel.

Taken from a TV show broadcast in 1972, this version is notable for the presenter not only getting the name of the song wrong, but also referring to singer and songwriter "Bryan Ferris". Those were the days.



Roxy Music - Ladytron (NNC2 - 1972)


Casanova Cox


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