Monthly Archives: February 2008

More Festive Fifty delights

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My 399th post, and I’m pleased that people are still reading.

So, ten more tracks for today and I’ll do a special post tomorrow…watch this space…

First up, the first UK punk record.

Damned -‘New Rose.’ mp3 (Deep breath: 1978 Festive Fifty no.13, 1979 Festive Fifty no.10, 1980 Festive Fifty no.8, 1981 Festive fifty no.12, 1982 all-time Festive Fifty no.13)

Northern Ireland’s top two bands of the punk-era (there seems to be quite a political tone to today’s post BTW)

Stiff Little Fingers -‘Alternative Ulster.’ mp3 (Another deep breath: 1978 Festive Fifty no.11, 1979 Festive Fifty no.6, 1980 Festive Fifty no.9, 1981 Festive fifty no.16, 1982 all-time Festive Fifty no.16)

Undertones -‘ You’ve Got My Number (Why Don’t You Use It?).’ mp3 (1979 Festive Fifty no.29)

I know next to nothing about this band, again, info etc.. etc..

Red Guitars -‘Good Technology.’ mp3 (1983 Festive Fifty no.11)

With the emphasis on Red (very much the colour of their politics) things were not getting any better in 1984.

Redskins -‘Keep On Keeping On.’ mp3(1984 Festive Fifty no.10)

By 1986, Britain’s ‘special relationship’ with the USA (ha, bloody ha) lead to commenting in two tracks that year about this being the 51st state of America. This was one of them, can you name the other? (Not in the Festive fifty, but by a band hat Peel did champion)

The The -‘Heartland.’ mp3 (1986 Festive Fifty no.32)

My all-time favourite song:

Joy Division -‘Atmosphere.’ mp3 (1980 Festive Fifty no.2, 1981 Festive Fifty no.1, 1982 All-time festive Fifty no.2, 2000 Millennium Chart no.1)

Mr. Peel’s favourite band EVER. This wasn’t political per se, though the Pharmacist in question may not have been dealing in over the counter medicine…

Fall -‘Mr. Pharmacist.’ mp3 (1986 Festive Fifty no.3)

Two Peel favoured artists I’m just discovering and loving:

Nina Nastasia -‘You, Her and Me.’ mp3 (2003 Festive Fifty no.13)

Laura Cantrell -‘Queen Of The Coast.’ mp3 (2000 Festive fifty no.42)

There will be more music tomorrow.

D’ye ken John Peel with his coat so grey?

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John Peel in 1976

OK, slightly rubbish heading but I’m running out of funny original titles.

Anyway, it’s been a few days since I did a post resting on John Peel’s Festive Fifties, so here we go:

In recent years, it is increasingly being considered that John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten)’s post Sex Pistols band, Public Image Ltd (PiL) may, in fact, have been far more groundbreaking than the Sex Pistols. No kidding.

Public Image Ltd.- ‘Public Image.’ mp3 (1978 Festive Fifty no.9, 1979 Festive Fifty no.9, 1980 Festive Fifty no.11, 1981 Festive Fifty no.26, 1982 All-time Festive Fifty no.20)

Famously, John Peel’s favourite ever song was this, the opening lines of which are now on his gravestone:

Undertones -‘Teenage Kicks.’ mp3 (1978 Festive Fifty no.10, 1979 Festive Fifty no.2, 1980 Festive Fifty no.7, 1981 Festive Fifty no.6, 1982 Alltime Festive fifty no.8, Millennium no.2)

There seems to be a bit of a link between teaching and rock’n’roll, despite the fact that the two might seem to be diametrically opposed. Step forward, in this case, Gordon MacIntyre and Katie Griffiths from Ballboy.

Ballboy -‘All The Records On the Radio Are Shite.’ mp3 (2002 Festive Fifty no.10)

There have been a number of cover versions making the Festive Fifty over the years, including this one (a fair bit of ‘goth’ made it onto the FF over the years):

Bauhaus -‘Ziggy Stardust.’ mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty no.14)

…and despite the accusations, it wasn’t all white boys with guitars in the Festive fifty over the years either

Broadcast -‘Echoes Answer.’ mp3 (1999 Festive Fifty no.36)

Though some of those white boys with guitars did make some excellent records, though:

Pavement -‘Range Life.’ mp3 (1994 Festive Fifty no.14)

‘At least once a week I drive a nail through my foot for not seeing them while I had the chance’ said Peel of Big Black. Maybe I’m just afraid of pain. Main man Steve Albini went on to produce Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Low and the Wedding Present.

Big Black -‘Colombian Necktie.’ mp3 (1987 Festive Fifty no.18)

Finally, many thanks to Steve at Teenage Kicks for posting these, without whom I wouldn’t be able to post these here:

Sabres Of Paradise -‘Wilmot.’ mp3 (1994 Festive Fifty no.

Ministry -‘Jesus Built My Hot Rod.’ mp3 (1992 Festive Fifty no.3)

Very Things -‘The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes.’ mp3 (1984 Festive fifty no.27)

Will be more music here over the weekend. Keep it tuned, so to speak. X

‘Scuse me, son…

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But I heard it was valentine’s day and even that couldn’t get you to comment on Cat Power or Aberfeldy!

Tut tut…

In an attempt to let people get their hands on it again, I have reposted the final two tracks off the C86 cassette here:

The Shrubs -‘Bullfighter’s Bones.’ mp3 THIS LINK NOW FIXED

Wedding Present -‘This Boy Can Wait (A Bit Longer!).’ mp3 THIS LINK NOW FIXED

and here’s a view tracks that really should be heard:

Only Ones -‘Another Girl, Another Planet.’ mp3

Richard Thompson -‘1952 Vincent Black Lightning.’ mp3

Darling Buds -‘Uptight.’ mp3

Wherever you may be, hope you’ve had a good day. I’m still enjoying my new job and will be even happier when spring comes…

Album Review: Cat Power

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Album review:

Cat Power -‘Jukebox.’ (Matador)

…in which Chan Marshall releases her second covers album (mind you, how many did Bryan Ferry do) of this decade. There’s an impressive cast list of both songwriters (Bob Dylan, Hank Williams and oh yes, Cat Power) as well as collaborators and guest appearances, too many to list here.

The voice sounds as fantastic as ever, and if anything has got even better. It’s been noted that she has re-recorded her own song ‘Metal Heart’ which first appeared on Moon Pix ten years ago. Whilst I like her vocal on this take more, the piano and blues guitar are great (this is the first record she has made with her new band), it isn’t anywhere near as good as the original. Her version of ‘New York’ as popularised by Frank Sinatra is a complete reworking that opens the record and sounds like a completely different song, and all the better for it.

If Bob Dylan is arguably the songwriter’s songwriter, then it’s almost inevitable that his presence is going to be here in some form, and it is twice: Power covers ‘I Believe In You’ with guitars that echo the Stones’ ‘Brown Sugar’ and the only new song on the record called ‘Song for Bobby’ which she wrote about meeting him for the first time.

The versions of this record vary, I was sent a 12 track promo to review, but iTunes has versions with 13 and 17 songs on it. Whatever the song, what strikes me most is her voice, and just how great it is. Perhaps though, the best song on her is the aforementioned ‘Song To Bobby’ which showcases her at her best. Once you have heard Cat Power’s voice, few singers will ever be able to touch you in the same way again.

***1/2 (for the record)
*****1/2 (for the voice)

Jukebox is out now.

Cat Power’s MySpace is here

Matador have been really strict about the mp3s on this one, so here is a link to her official Matador webpage.

Meanwhile, just in case you haven’t ever heard Cat Power before, here are two excellent tracks (linked to Insound. These are free, and legal but you really, really should own these albums. Don’t let yourself down):

Cat Power -‘The Greatest.’ mp3

Cat Power -‘He War.’ mp3 .

The legendary C86 cassette

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When you think of ‘indie’ what do you think of? Anything that involves guitars? Or, like me, do you think of it as short-hand for independent, an attitude as much as a sound, perhaps even more so.

The NME C86 cassette is so-called, because it came out in 1986, on cassette (too many tracks for flexi-discs and not many people in 1986 had CD players) and was compiled by the NME, who did many cassettes in those days, and was seen as a successor to C81. For some, indie is a term of abuse, but the twenty-two tracks are diverse in their approach, and by no means all twee, though C81 was definitely even more diverse.

For more on the C86 tape, I suggest you try the wikipedia entry and the always excellent indie-mp3website entry here, as well as this post on the tangents website by Alistair Fitchett.

Alas, I don’t own the original cassette, but thanks to links managed to get the mp3s for it (cannot remember which blog/site so apologies, but thank you!)

The full tracklisting for the C86 compilation was:

Side one

Primal Scream – Velocity Girl
The Mighty Lemon Drops – Happy Head
The Soup Dragons – Pleasantly Surprised
The Wolfhounds – Feeling So Strange Again
The Bodines – Therese
Mighty Mighty – Law
Stump – Buffalo
Bogshed – Run To The Temple
A Witness – Sharpened Sticks
The Pastels – Breaking Lines
Age of Chance – From Now On, This Will Be Your God

Side two

The Shop Assistants – It’s Up To You
Close Lobsters – Firestation Towers
Miaow – Sport Most Royal
Half Man Half Biscuit – I Hate Nerys Hughes (From The Heart)
The Servants – Transparent
The Mackenzies – Big Jim (There’s no pubs in Heaven)
bIG fLAME – New Way (Quick Wash And Brush Up With Liberation Theology)
We’ve Got A Fuzzbox And We’re Gonna Use It – Console Me
McCarthy – Celestial City
The Shrubs – Bullfighter’s Bones
The Wedding Present – This Boy Can Wait (A Bit Longer!)

In 2008, four of the bands are still together, and I’m proud (especially given that when this tape came out I was unaware of its existence, being only nine) that I have seen all four of: Primal Scream, the Pastels, the Wedding Present, and Half Man Half Biscuit. Some of the other ands disappeared not long after, some went on to commercial success for a time (the name-shortened Fuzzbox, The Soup Dragons) and of course McCarthy’s Tim Gane formed Stereolab.

As far as I, and many other folk out there are concerned, this is a piece of essential rock history, recognising when many facets of the underground came together. Of course things have changed in twenty years, daytime radio is far more open to new sounds, and underground bands may be more likely to be written about on blogs than paper fanzines. But it’s appalling that a document as important as this in rock history is not available, nor many of its songs (and the same can be said for the aforementioned C81), and that’s why I’m posting this.

…And if anyone out there can help me do a post on the C81 tape (which I do own, but
haven’t yet figured out how to digitise) then the email address is at the top.

For the Peel fans out there, many of the bands made appearances either before, during or after 1986, the following three songs from the C86 cassette made the 1986 Festive Fifty:

Primal Scream -‘Velocity Girl.’ (1986 Festive Fifty no.4)

Wedding Present -‘This Boy Can wait.’ (1986 Festive Fifty no.18)

Bodines -‘Therese.’ (1986 Festive Fifty no.19)

However, if you’re really interested to see what made the 1986 Festive Fifty follow this link.

Hope you enjoy it! (Please, please leave feedback, this post has taken several hours!)

Edx

Sugarcubes re-post

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I received feedback from an American reader today asking me if I could re-post the Sugarcubes tracks I had posted a few weeks ago, so here they are, bjork and her merry men (and woman):

Sugarcubes -‘Birthday.’ mp3 [the original version, 1987’s Festive Fifty no.1)

The remixes from 1988, with the aid of Jim and William Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain:

Sugarcubes -‘Birthday (Christmas Eve).’ mp3

Sugarcubes -‘Birthday (Christmas Day).’ mp3

Sugarcubes -‘Birthday (christmas present).’ mp3

Sugarcubes -‘Petrol (live).’ mp3

And a few extras:

First up, the original Icelandic version of ‘Birthday.’

Sugarcubes -‘Birthday (Icelandic).’ mp3

A track, originally the b-side to the UK single of Birthday:

Sugarcubes -‘Cat.’ mp3

And finally, as Jeremy had politely asked for it, the 1982 Festive Fifty no.5:

Tears For Fears -‘Mad World.’ mp3 (Mrs. 17 Seconds says she prefers this to the Gary Jules version, and I think she’s right).

As for other people who’ve emailed asking for reposts, please hold on, I’ll try and get there ASAP.

In other news, I interviewed Foxface today, so will try and post that here soon.

Peel Festive Fifty Favourites Volume ??

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John Peel with Laura Cantrell, 2004

I’ve got to say, I’ve been very impressed with the amount of feedback I’ve been getting over the last few weeks since I started doing the Peel Festive Fifty posts. It’s great, and I just wish that when I posted about new music I got the same response (did no-one like the Vampire Weekend tracks?)

Anyway, here are another ten;

Gregory Isaacs -‘Nightnurse.’ mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty no.52)

Butthole Surfers -’22 Going On 23.’ mp3 (1987 Festive Fifty no.44)

Public Enemy -‘Night Of the Living Baseheads.’ mp3 (1988 Festive Fifty no.50)

Mighty Lemon Drops -‘Like An Angel.’ mp3 (1986 Festive Fifty no.34)

Helen Love -‘Does Your Heart Go Boom.’ mp3 (1997 Festive Fifty no.3)

White Town -‘Your Woman.’ mp3 (1996 Festive Fifty no.31)

Marine Research -‘Parallel Horizontal.’ mp3 (1999 Festive Fifty no.47)

Nina Nastasia -‘Ugly Face.’ mp3 (2002 Festive Fifty no.4)

Aztec Camera -‘Oblivious.’ mp3 (1983 Festive Fifty no.29)

Massive Attack -‘Teardrop.’ mp3 (1998 Festive Fifty no.21)

Hope you like them, and leave feedback!

Edx

Album Review: Vampire Weekend

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{I know, it’s been all over the blogs recently. But sometimes it’s interesting to investigate what all the hype’s about].

Album Review:

Vampire Weekend-‘Vampire Weekend.’ (XL Recordings)

By the time you read this, most of you who are regular blog readers will wonder why on earth I’m adding my twopence worth, to a record that has already been fawned over, raved about and sneered at in the matter of weeks since it’s been out. Heck, I was even ready to hate them. According to their website: ‘The name of this band is Vampire Weekend. We are specialists in the following styles: “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, “Upper West Side Soweto”, “Campus”, and “Oxford Comma Riddim.” ‘ Oh good grief. So, an internet sensation band, who might be the next Arcade Fire or not, and who have the capacity to be as bloody annoying as Canada’s Bare Naked Ladies.

Well, as I’m learning every day, you can’t always go by what your senses tell you (empiricism will only take you so far with rock music). Yes, they graduated from Columbia University, yes there is a certain amount of cleverness…yet damn it, it feels so good. They may write songs about grammar (‘oxford comma’) or Architecture (‘Mansard Roof’), but damn it, thye’re good, no, great songs. So they may sing about life on US College campuses, but at least they’re singing about what they know. And the music is just…great. Nice little pop songs, with orchestration that knows South African township jive and baroque as well.

Well, yeah there’s a lot of press and coverage about them. Yes, some people will genuinely hate them. But I tried, and I’ve ended up starting to love this band. You might just do too…

****

Vampire Weekend is out now on XL Recordings, but you probably knew that already.

My two favourite songs from this record:

Vampire Weekend -‘The kids Don’t Stand A Chance.’ mp3

Vampire Weekend -‘M79.’ mp3

Vampire Weekend’s website is here

Vampire Weekend’s MySpace is here

Ten more from John Peel’s Festive Fifty

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John Peel with Radio 1 DJ Jo Whiley in 1999.

Yup, kids, just like it says, ten more tracks that made John Peel’s Festive Fifty, and I’ve tried to go for even less predictable stuff this time…

Gang Of Four -‘Damaged Goods.’ mp3 (1979 Festive Fifty no.23, 1980 Festive Fifty no.50)

Bluetones -‘Slight Return.’ mp3 (1995 Festive Fifty no.21)

Detroit Cobras -‘Shout Bama Lama.’ mp3 (2001 Festive Fifty no.21)

Dead Kennedys -‘California Uber Alles.’ mp3 (1979 Festive Fifty no.33 , 1980 Festive Fifty no.31, 1981 Festive Fifty no. 42)

Soup Dragons -‘Whole Wide world.’ mp3 (1986 Festive Fifty no.25)

Camper Van Beethoven -‘Take The Skinheads Bowling.’ mp3 (1986 Festive Fifty no.47)

PJ Harvey -‘Dress.’mp3 (1991 Festive Fifty no.2)

Melt Banana -‘Stimulus for Revolting Virus.’ mp3 (1998 Festive Fifty no.37)

Helen Love -‘Long Live The UK Music Scene.’ mp3 (1998 Festive Fifty no.10)

Broadcast -‘Come On Let’s Go.’ mp3 (2000 Festive Fifty no.5)

As always, if you want to find out more about John Peel start here and for more music featured in his annual Festive Fifties, an excellent place to start is the Teenage Kicks blogspot, especially for music long since deleted.