I'm at home with my 2 children and our musical preferences tonight couldn't be more different. Let me share with you what we are listening to. My 12 year old has this splendid Fabric album mix by M.A.N.D.Y.
I particularly love track 22, - Basic Soul Unit'. Pure minimal techno with a lot of soul. Whereas I was listening to Jim White's 'Wrong Eyed Jesus'. If you ever get a chance please watch the BBC documentary when Jim White explores the backwater towns of the Deepest South and the folk music that is its backbone. Forget insipid Nashville country, this is the real deal.
I wasn't sure what to make of this new track when I first heard it. It's definitely drawn influences from the dark side of British electronica - Depeche Mode in their 'leather" phase or maybe early 90s Marc Almond. It's definitely growing on me. It's not one for your granny's 70th birthday party though.
Whilst we're on a funk tip I'm reminded that I should have posted ages ago a link to my friends' radio show, Family Funktunes. It's a well established radio show with the very best in funk, disco, northern soul and rare groove broadcast on Radio Reverb, Brighton's biggest community radio station. DJs Dante and Delv really know their stuff and you are always guaranteed to throw in a killer tune you've never heard of. You can listen online here and they have finally started to upload the show onto mixcloud here too.
Who says so? Bootsy Collins - that's who. And if Bootsy says so who are we to argue? The song was released earlier this year and featured rabble-rouser, the Rev Al Sharpton. There's now an accompanying video to this floorshaker.
Proving that she hasn't lost her golden touch, the queen of all divas Grace Jones has a new dub remix of her 2008 album Hurricane out next month. It's a 2 CD affair with the first CD being the original album and the second containing brand new dub remixes by Ivor Guest who also produced Hurricane.
I've only managed to track down a remix of 'Well, Well, Well' so far, available to listen to and as as a free download here. Wow, wow, wow.
A new EP 'I Want To Go Out' from German punk/electronic outfit Terranova with an accompanying video to one of the tracks that almost defies description. I've got no DJing abilities but I think this would meld well with Agaric's 'Who Made Up The Rules'.
Oupa is an alter ego of Yuck's Daniel Blumberg recorded at his flat and definitely on the melancholy side of depressing. Sometimes musicians can get too wrapped up in trying to make a downbeat song but when done right it can be truly beautiful.
The War on Drugs - 'Slave Ambient'
This is very much a band being tipped for great things and it will be interesting to see how the critics view this new album. They have a Bruce Springsteen-like sound to their rockier moments but I quite like this slower number.
Balam Acab - 'Apart'
This is the first release from Balam Acab's album 'Wander/Wonder' and it sits in that oddest of genres 'Witch House'. There's a lot to listen to here, he's layered it with so many loops, samples and breaks that it shouldn't really sound as fragile as it does.
Ifan Daffyd - 'No Good'
I love a song with a story behind it. Ifan Daffyd is allegedly a pseudonym of James Blake although Blake claims they are friends. One things for sure, the style is similar...perhaps too similar... This song is a mash up of Amy Winehouse's seminal classic 'No Good' splicing samples from the song onto a very laid back, almost lounge-like mix that seems all so prescient. Amy looked so good when she made that video too. If you are after a fitting tribute to the lady then this is as good as any.
Ambassadors of Sorrow - 'There is no Ending'
I'm a big fan of this group based down in Cornwall. Songwriter and singer Angeline Morrison draws heavily from the Billy Fury, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates era with tales of lost love and tragic romances.
Fionn Regan - '100 Acres of Sycamore'
This Irishman has been bubbling away quite nicely building in musical circles and has a very impressive back catalogue of material already. He's a folk singer who draws inspiration from very orthodox routes: Dylan, Young et al and has already featured on soundtracks to several big named shows. Don't let that put you off if you're thinking it's MOR fluffery because it's far from it. There's a darkness to the lyrics that could give Nick Cave nightmares.
Various Artists - 'Johnny Boy Would Love This'
I've been waiting for this album for ages. A tribute to the late great John Martyn, a lot of big named stars have fought to get on this album: Robert Smith, Beck, Morcheeba and of course Martyn's long time friend and confidant Phil Collins to name but a few. I am a little surprised though to see the likes of housewives' choice Paolo Nutini included on the roster. I'm not making any judgements as I haven't heard his contribution, I'm just saying...
I've picked the one tune by the artist I really wanted to hear: Beth Orton. Ms Orton has always cited Martyn as one of her greatest influences and I've read of her numerous abortive attempts at re-interpreting his songs in a way that is both innovative and in keeping with the intentions of the project. I think her contribution is first rate.
Those bastard rioters burnt down the PIAS distribution centre in Enfield earlier this week. This is the warehouse used by a large number of Britain's indie labels as storage. The knock-on effect is seismic (if that's the right word). To put a few figures to this, my favourite local music shop Resident Records estimate that 40% of their stock comes from here. It's the independent record labels, record shops and of course the artists that will suffer. A website has been set up here and here where you can show support, offer help and read about what others are doing to rally the music industry. You can also see what's going on in Twitterland by searching for the #labellove tag (I think that's right. I'm still not entirely au fait with Twitter).
In the meantime, this song is dedicated to the memories of Haroon Jahan, Shazad Ali and Abdul Musavir who died protecting their community from rioters.
Fans of ambient, minimal electronica will no doubt be as excited as me to hear that Swede, Axel Willner, aka the Field is releasing a new album in October. It will be titled 'Looping State of Mind' and the tracklisting has 7 songs that were recorded both in the producer's home studio in Berlin and at Kompakt's studios in Cologne. Axel is quoted as saying: "Some of the ideas stretching back to the debut are still there ... but we’ve just made a real attempt to grow the sound."
You can view the list and artwork here. In the meantime, I'll use it as an excuse to play this wonderful track from his first album.
My office has just relocated to very near Soho and I've been taking advantage of this by exploring the music shops nearby. There's a few well known ones, notably Sister Ray but also some smaller, mainly dance oriented record shops. I particularly like BM records. I looked in Sister Ray today and I was impressed with the range of tunes but to be honest the prices they were asking was a bit steep for a lot of stuff. It's all well and good them tarting up an album by marking it as 'rare' but I wouldn't say CDs are collectable in the same way as records are and the quality of some of the CD cases weren't great. I'm doing the shop a disservice here because it's the music that's important after all. I bought the following albums:
Felice Brothers - Celebration, Florida
Steve Mason and Dennis Bovell - Ghosts Outside
Holy Other - With U (this is an EP)
Interpol - Interpol
Mazzy Star - She Hangs Brightly
Rodney P - The Future
The last 3 albums were filling gaps in my collection. Christ knows why I never got round to buying Interpol's album last year. I should have got that at the time. I've always loved Hope Sandoval's voice and this Mazzy Star album is the only one I don't have. I'm glad I've got the set now. The Rodney P album was a completely random purchase. It was sitting there in the downbeat section, it looked quite groovy so I bought it. Time will tell if it's any good but I've got a very good success rate from random buys so I'm not going to stop even if this is a dud.
The Holy Ghost EP is going to be a grower, I can tell. My newly-12 year old son described it as the opposite of minimal techno - kind of maximal. I know what he means as it has a lot of layers to it. I need to grow into this little number, I think.
Now onto the last two. The new Felice Brothers album - Celebration, Florida is quite simply excellent in every way. They go from strength to strength and cover so many bases with this long player. There's some old fashioned country and even a bit of yodelling, there's a sub-dancey 'I Feel Love' soundalike, there's everything. Buy it - you won't be disappointed.
I wish someone would upload the 'Dallas' track but this, the opening song ' Fire at the Pageant' is a lovely backup.
The other album is a Dennis Bovell dub remix of Steve Mason's Boys Outside album that the ex-Beta Band lead singer released last year. I think I mentioned it a few weeks back actually. It's co-produced by Richard X who also did the Foxbase Beta album a year or two back. I really wouldn't have thought that the deeply personal and haunting Boys Outside would have been a contender for a dub remix but bloody hell, this absolutely hits the spot.
I was listening to I Am Kloot this morning and was enjoying especially 'To the Brink'. It's a great drinking song. Not in an 'Irish Rover' kind of way, it's just rather laconic and is about drinking. The lyrics are sublime too, I Am Kloot are very good songwriters as well as excellent musicians. It got me thinking of other songs about drinking. I'll avoid the Pogues as that's a bit cliched and the most apt one from the Beautiful South - "Ol' Red Eyes" is not a favourite of mine so I'll go for the songs below. Please feel free to let me know what you would pick.
This entry is dedicated to the boys (and girls) in blue who are out on the streets tonight trying to keep it safe. 3 songs, all with a police connection in the band's name and all are personal favourites of mine. The last is particularly beautiful.
Melanie Pain is best known as the sultry voice behind Nouvelle Vague. She's made a career of whispering over 80s electronic classics and very good she is at it too. I hadn't realised that she had made a solo album, My Name, a year or two ago until I picked up a copy recently.
I like it a lot. It's a lot more conventional than the bossa nova lounge style of her day job and I've returned to the album a few times now. It starts off with a very 'French singer with guitar' sort of affair. It would feel quite home in an Emilie Simone album. So far so good. We then get a bit retro with the likes of 'Bruises' that has a sort of 60s hook to them. 'Helsinki' puts us firmly in Morcheeba country. Not surprising as both Morcheeba and Ms Pain have a deep love for folk with a soul edge to it. Neil Young, Nick Drake, Beth Orton all have left a big influence and it shows.
The title track is an intimate acoustic number where she confesses to not yet knowing herself. Perhaps this is a reference to the musical style that she calls her own. I hope she pursues her journey through albums such as this. It would be a waste of a talent for her to typecast herself as a kitsch singer of songs in an ironic style. Saying that she has a lot of fun with 'Little Cowboys'. It sounds like one of those Andrews Sisters doo-wop songs from the 40s. Fortunately it's very short so the joke doesn't start to grate and then we're back to the serious stuff.
The rest of the album takes a very Gallic turn now. La Cigarette is very French, not just because it's sung entirely in her mother tongue but it's a tad cliched for my liking. It's just a bit too earnest and is probably the weakest song on the album. 'Celle De Mes 20 Ans' is also sung in French but a bit more whimsical with a lovely Carpenters-esque guitar interlude. L'espace D'un Instant doesn't work well for me. I'm not sure where she intended to go with this song and is instantly forgettable. It's a shame but there you go. 'Everything I Know' is much better and rescues the album from turning into twee dinner party mood music. It reminds me a bit of Martina Topley-Bird and is infuriatingly catchy. The penultimate song is also in French and once again doesn't quite hit the mark. It's odd that it's the French language songs that aren't pushing my buttons with this album. Normally I'm a sucker for that usually. The album reprises with a 70s style ragtime 'If You Knew'. I haven't heard this style of song in a long time and I am now inspired to dig out a Lynsey De Paul album now!
Melanie Pain alluded in the album to not 'knowing her name' and I think she proves that here but it's been fun listening to her search for it. There's been a few dead ends and I dare say there will be in the future but I hope she carries on the journey. I'll be a willing Sancho Panza to her Don Quixote.
I don't want to think about the riots in London at the moment or whether I can get to work tomorrow. It's just nice thoughts from me after a lovely weekend with my children.
Instead I'll play this lovely EP from Chilean DJ/Producer Fantasna. 'Las Siete Canchas' was released a week or two ago on Neovinyl Recordings and is a fresh sounding deep house collection that would be perfect for a hot night like this. I have played it a few times tonight and am enjoying discovering different things in it each time. It's almost as if there's a Villalobos influence with the depth and complexity of the rhythms.
...and this deep house mix is just perfect too. Time, I think, for a Sunday roast down the pub with my children.
Here's the tracklisting:
1 Lift Up Your Faces - Rising Sun
2 What Happened (Vocal) - John Gazoo
3 Harmless Frustration (Original Mix) - Huxley
4 Coney Island Boppers - Ethyl & Flori
5 Red Sparrow - Marvin Dash
6 Midnight Hours 1 Track 4 - Artist Unknown
7 Moreno - Anette Party feat. Anita Coke
8 Keep It Physical - Elef
9 Music - Vakula
10 Boulonnais - Cavalier
11 Color Of Love - Daniel Bortz & Sascha Silber
12 Twilight - Patlac
13 Piece Of Mind - Andre Lodemann
I once read somewhere that men always feel the Sunday blues. I don't know if this is true or not generally but it's certainly true for me. I can be quite happy in the blues too. I'm in that state now, post-euphoric after yesterday's dramatic last-minute-in-extra-time win for Brighton over Donny Rovers. To revel properly in this slightly melancholic funk requires the right kind of music too and I've been listening to some gems this morning.
Eddie Floyd - 'Oh, How it Rained'
Lambchop - 'Close Up'
Dave Van Ronk - 'Cocaine'
Beautiful South - 'Bell Bottomed Tear'
Mike Blookfield/Al Kooper - Blues for Nothing
...and lastly thanks to my little brother for putting me onto this gem
I can't sleep and it feels like I'm 9 years old and it's Christmas Day. After 14 years of Brighton and Hove Albion playing in temporary (and various degrees of crap) temporary stadia we finally move into our new £100 million new home for our first league game of the 2011/12 season. It's never dull supporting the world's coolest football team but today is extra special not least because it's also my eldest son's birthday. I may cry tears of unbridled joy.
This is my eldest son modelling our new top. As you can see he has opted for a philosophical name on the back. My youngest is staying old school with 'I H8 Palace'. I have no idea where they get this from. *ahem*
Right...I got the emotional stuff out of the way so let me get back to the music for a bit and then I'll love you and leave you for the day. Swedish dream pop bands must be like buses, no sooner do I hear that jj have released new material than one of my other favourite bands, Air France also release a free download to listen to. As others have said, they haven't made any great changes to the 'Air France' formula but it still sounds quite fresh and summery. I hope this isn't the only output in the pipeline as I've been waiting 2 years for new material from them.
Whilst I'm yacking away about Air France it gives me a chance to play my favourite song of theirs, 'Never Content'.
Another exciting piece of news is everyone's favourite Brighton band, Paisley and Charlie have finally released their debut full length album. I've been following their progress for a bit now and I know they've both worked very hard in getting this far. I love bands that are unashamedly good at pop music - Saint Etienne, Belle and Sebastian, Beautiful South - they all have a charm and sophistication and most importantly an ability to make music that means something to the listener. Paisley and Charlie are rooted firmly in this tradition and deserve every success. Fingers crossed that this album is a commercial success.
