Out of step with Britpop, pre cool-folk, definitely due a re-appraisal. This album was part of my soundtrack back in the mid 90's and I've been meaning to write a piece about it for some time. It's recently been re-issued so now is as good a time as any. Proof indeed that there was more to the 90's than Britpop, post-rock, boy bands and bling.
Click over the jump for more on Matt Deighton's Villager LP.
Yeah man, you knows it, that simple but effective ten note riff. We all know it best from The Kingmen's frat-party anthem Louie Louie, written by Richard Berry with supposedly obsene lyrics resulting in the FBI opening a case on the song. But the tune and its rhythmic riff has a history both before and after The Kingsmen's landmark 45. Read on punks...
Waves crashing, pagan symbolism, drug reference, spiritual redeemer, or maybe just a horse. If you look back over rock and dance music's history there's a fine tradition of the old white horse appearing out of the mist. A loaded metaphor in so many ways. A shame then that perhaps the greatest horse song, The Byrds' Chestnut Mare doesn't feature a white horse! No mind, for our purposes we're sticking with the white ones. The LP cover above is XTC's English Settlement. It seemed to sum up the mystical vibe of at least some of the tracks in this list. Until the next white horse comes along, feast your eyes on the playlist. Saddle up and let's ride!
Seems like quite some time since the end of the Cold War. The world continues to open up in so many ways. Been thinking about the Cold War a lot recently since watching "The Lives Of Others", so thought I'd put together a video playlist of some of the most memorable tracks inspired by that era.
Click over the jump for my Cold War video playlist
It's been a while since my last post as I've been catching up on some soul-refreshing reading. After reading the Bill Drummond piece on damsons in the new "On Nature" book brought to us by the good folks at Caught By The River (click here for more details), I've decided to compile a new video playlist.
Click over the jump for my "fruits in rock" video playlist.
2nd album from Danny Wilson's South London indie-country collective.
This album arrived at my house as I was suffering from an extremely debilitating chest infection. I'd been laid up in bed for the best part of a week. Couldn't face much reading, or food so had spent most of my time coughing and ruminating on life's twists and turns. A strange week of introspection. This album seemed to arrive at just the right time, forcing from me the easy tears of a convalescent. It's themes of family and friendship striking a deep chord.
The photo on the sleeve shows a close up of a pair of road-weary trainers placed on railway tracks that stretch off into the hazy distance. It's a clue to the reflective lyrical themes that lie within these 9 songs. Danny Wilson takes a mid-life stock take, looking back at distance travelled, while keeping a hopeful eye on the journey still to come.
Opening track “Henry The Van” laments the breakdown of a tour bus but is really about fanning the dying embers of youthful passions and ambitions. It comes drenched in gorgeous CS&N style harmonies courtesy of Trevor Moss and Hannah Lou.
“Lose These Rags” is a community empowering anthem Springsteen might have written had he grown in Wandsworth rather than New Jersey.
Recurring references to familial love, community, ageing and nature, most notably rivers and birds, continue throughout the record. Strong autobiographical song writing and an assured English country sound makes this a very rewarding listen.
Here's a clip of the band playing an impromptu version of "Restless Feet".
Here's a video playlist for y'all. This could have been so much longer but I kept nodding off while trawling through clips of The Corrs. Please add some suggestions for additions in the comments box, I may add them to the list. I'm gonna dedicate this to my brothers, you drive me up the wall sometimes but I love you to bits. Enjoy!
Scouse-psych folk-rock opus gets the unplugged treatment.
It would be easy to see this album as a cynical cash in, milking the goodwill towards last year's classic album for maximum financial return, while giving little in return.
Although missing the character and bite of the original versions, this is a master-class in melody and a better insight into James Skelly's vague yet meaningful lyrics.
The 12 songs from the original album (plus new instrumental “Dreamland”) are stripped of the Forever Changes style baroque folk flourishes, and re-worked with no percussion, and heavy on vocal harmony and 12-string jangle. Recorded in one session the album is not without its imperfections, but that's part of its demo-ish charm.
Not essential, but an absorbing stopgap from a band at the top of their game.
I happened to hear this track last night by Bill Callahan. It's featured on a CD that was given away with Mojo magazine a couple of years ago. The compilation is entitled New Harvest and features the hip and happening of American songwriters and bands. This track by Bill Callahan is taken from his album "Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle". It stopped me in my tracks somewhat. It just reminded me of something I'd heard long ago that was buried deep within my psyche. Took me a while to figure out what but I think I may have dug deep enough to find it.
Compare and contrast with the theme tune from '70s craft-based children's TV classic Fingerbobs.
NB. This post is not meant to be derogatory to either Bill Callahan or Fingerbobs but does make for an interesting juxtaposition I think.
Take a look at your record or CD collection, or at the mp3's on your player. Chances are the vast majority of tunes are by white westerners, usually male to boot. Certainly the case for my own collection, I'm afraid to say. This CD compilation, released in 2009 goes some way to rectifying this embarrassing fact.
Like Britain, Japan is an island nation with a complex, sometimes suspicious interaction with the rest of the world. Just over a couple of centuries ago no foreigner was allowed to enter the country and all foreign trade was conducted via a man-made gated island at the port of Nagasaki. (For an insight into this era I recommend reading David Mitchell's excellent novel "The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob De Zoet").
Japan also has an amazing track record of hardiness and re-invention after suffering devastating horror and destruction, both natural and by mankind. Think of Nagasaki, Hiroshima, along with devastation caused by the recent tsunami. Japan may currently be suffering and greiving but the new Japan that emerges from this most recent disaster will certainly be a country worthy of our respect and admiration.
It was released on the Ace Record label and was compiled by girl-group expert Sheila Burgel, who also wrote the fantastically imformed sleeve notes. It's worth checking out Sheila's wonderful website dedicated to all things girl pop. www.chachacharming.com
Here's the first track from the CD, Jun Mayuzumi's "Black Room"...
