You folks are brilliant. Thanks to everyone who has sent me those requested tracks. I will post them here-and try and wade through all the other stuff in my mailbox.
In the meantime, a re-post of my favourite EVER song to say thank you to you all.
Joy Division -‘Atmosphere.’ mp3
Britpop was acknowledged on the Festive Fifty (Bluetones, Ash, Pulp, Supergrass, Elastica) and some of the bands did better post-Britpop (Blur, Radiohead) and even Suede got a look in for the ‘Drowners.’ For whatever reason, Oasis didn’t ever have an entry…with the exception of probably their most famous tune ‘Wonderwall.’ Cat Power performed it in session in 2000, when it reached no.33.
Cat Power -‘Wonderwall (session).’ mp3
This track was sent to me by Steve at Teenage Kicks. It has never had a commercial release that either of us are aware.
Oh, and if anyone managed to get the Belle and Sebastian 2002 session, Wire’s 2002 session or got Bonnie ‘prince’ Billy doing ‘Little Boy Blue’ (cannot find this track either) could they get in touch, or point me in its’ direction.
God bless you all, God bless Les Paul, to quote Eugene Kelly.
Ah, Curve…fronted by the wondrous Toni Halliday and her partner in crime, bassist, Dean Garcia, in 1991 Curve released three fantastic EPs (Blindfold, Frozen, Cherry) on the Anxious label, owned by Dave Stewart. They were part of the shoegazing movement, and bridged or perhaps blurred the gap between Goth, Indie and Shoegazing. They had two entries in the 1991 Festive Fifty and recorded three peel sessions. In 1992 their debut album Doppelganger came out, earning them two top 40 singles. By the following year they were ready to release their second album, Cuckoo. Opening with the wondrous ‘Missing Link’ this was a strong set, but the public seemed to be moving on. After this album came out, the band went on a hiatus for several years, during which time Toni recorded the vocals on ‘Original’ a track on Leftfield’ seminal 1995 LP Leftism, which became one of that year’s defining albums. Guitarist Debbie Smith, meanwhile, joined Echobelly . Toni and Dean finally called time on the band in 2005.
Although unavailable on iunes UK, the compilation of those fabulous three EPs, Pubic Fruit and the debut are available through Amazon, but Cuckoo is only available on import. Therefore: I present it for you here.
1. Missing Link
2. Crystal Listen
3. Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
4. All of One
5. Unreadable Communication
6. Turkey Crossing
7. Superblaster
8. Left of Mother
9. Sweetest Pie
10.Cuckoo
Disclaimer: I do not own the copyright to this album. I am posting this album here due to its unavailablity in the UK. If you own the rights to this album and do not want it posted here, please email me and I will remove it posthaste. If you like what you hear, support Curve buy buying their albums.
Just as it says on the tin.
PJ Harvey -‘Naked Cousin (Peel Session).’ mp3 (1993 Festive Fifty no.32)
PJ Harvey -‘Wang Dang Doodle (Peel session).’ mp3 (1993 Festive Fifty no.18)
That Petrol Emotion -‘Big Decision.’ mp3 (1987 Festive Fifty no.4)
Gene -‘As Good As It Gets.’ mp3 (1999 Festive Fifty no.33)
Madder Rose -‘Beautiful John.’ mp3 (1993 Festive Fifty no.36)
Madder Rose -‘Lights Go Down.’ mp3 (1993 Festive fifty no.44)
Dinosaur Jr -‘Get Me.’ mp3 (1993 Festive fifty no.42)
Belle And Sebastian -‘Sleep The Clock Around.’ mp3 (1998 Festive Fifty no.26)
Belle and Sebastian -‘The Boy With The Arab Strap.’ mp3 (1998 Festive Fifty no.3)
House of Love -‘Love In A Car.’ mp3 (1988 Festive Fifty no.18)
If you like the PJ Harvey stuff particularly (and you should) check out Teenage Kicks has done another excellent post.
Hope you like this one it has taken several days work…
The Twilight Sad -‘Here, it Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did.’ (Fat Cat)
Last year, The Twilight Sad’s debut LP Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters indicated that here was a band from Glasgow who built upon their city’s heritage and then blasted it away. Whilst they work on the follow-up, they have issued this six track mini-LP.
Although they view it as self-contained release, given that four of the tracks appeared on their debut, it will be viewed as a companion piece by many. But four of the tracks are re-workings (and the re-examining of them suggests that’s a more appropriate word to use than re-recording, which infers their was something wrong with the original. Which blatantly there wasn’t). There are also two new tracks here which make the price of admission worthwhile alone, a cover of Daniel Johnston’s ‘Some Things Last A Long Time’ which closes the record, and the title track.
James Graham’s vocals not only sound like they are sung from the heart, it’s also refreshing to see that Scottish bands increasingly have the confidence to sing in their own accents (I wonder if Alex Salmond will take the credit for that,too?) Listening to this, I also hear more of the scottish folk influence coming through than I did on the debut.
It’s no bad thing to view this as a companion release to the debut, rather it indicates just how much promise this band have -and indeed, deliver. Don’t rush the sophomore, fellas, on this evidence, take all the time you need.
****
Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did is released by Big Cat on June 9.
Twilight Sad -‘And She Would Darken The Memory (Original Version).’ mp3
Twilight Sad – ‘Walking For Two Hours (Original Version).’ mp3
Hefner -‘The Fidelity Wars (Belka Records) RE-ISSUE
Coming hot on the heels of their debut LP, Breaking God’s Heart, this was hefner’s sophomore release in 1999. In British indie terms, it was pretty damn successful: four songs from it made John Peel’s annual Festive Fifty chart that year (and they had nos.2 and 3), and it gave them an indie chart no.1 in both the LPs and the singles (‘Hymn For The Cigarettes’). So how does it stand up nine years on?
Pretty damn well, in fact. Over the eleven songs, Hefner remind you that they are one of the bands that got away. And we shouldn’t have let them (though Hayman Watkins Trout and Lee, Darren Hayman’s latest project, are pretty good in their own way). Maybe if the blogosphere had been up and running ten years previously, they would have developed their cult staus more. We can but speculate. For, on listening once again, the lyrics show that they really were on a parallel with Morrissey and Half man Half Biscuit for being caustic, and pretty funny with it too. And they had great tunes as well. They called several of their songs Hymns for things they loved (‘Alcohol’ ‘Cigarettes’ ‘The Things We Didn’t Do.’ I was always waiting for one to the Beach Boys, but it never came).
The package is a double, including the eleven original tracks, the five fantastic tracks that make up The Hefner Heart EP, and another twenty four tracks that include b-sides, four track recordings and rehearsal versions (personally I would have preferred to see the three Peel sessions they recorded that year, but I’m notoriously picky). Though this can be a lot to take in in one sitting, Disc 1, with the aforementioned EP and sophomore album is a joy.
**** for disc 1, *** for disc 2.
The Fidelity Wars was re-issued on Belka records on June 2.
Hefner -‘The Hymn For the Cigarettes.’ mp3
Hefner -‘Don’t Flake Out On Me (demo version).’ mp3
The video for ‘I took Her Love For Granted.’ Bizarre body stockings ahoy!
The Primitives – ‘Lovely’ (Lazy/RCA)
Ah, The Primitives. Along with Primal Scream and The Wedding Present, the Primitives came out of the ‘c86’ scene and hit the charts and Smash Hits. Lumped in with The darling Buds and, erm, Tranvision Vamp in the ‘blonde’ movement, they had some class(ic) tunes. Best known for ‘Crash’ which opens this debut, they appeared on Top of the Pops, made great videos and even sold records. Then as the indie music scene became increasingly obssessed with there ‘always having been a dance element to our music…honest!’ they faded away by the early nineties.
I would love to get my mucky paws on their third album, but for now, here is their classic debut Lovely, from 1988. There are compilations available, but their studio albums are currently unavailable. Criminally.
1. Crash
2. Spacehead
3. Carry Me Home
4. Shadow
5. Thru’ the Flowers
6. Dreamwalk Baby
7. I’ll Stick With You
8. Nothing Left
9. Stop Killing Me
10.Out of Reach
11. Ocean Blue
12. Run Baby Run
13. Don’t Want Anything to Change
14. Buzz Buzz Buzz
Disclaimer: I hereby state that I do not own, nor have I ever owned the rights to this music. I am making no profit out of posting this music here. The reason i am posting this album is that it is unavailable in the UK. I hope that if people like this album they will track down a copy of it, and more importantly, that those who own the rights re-issue it.
Shearwater -‘Rook’ (Matador)
Oh, wow. I was expecting something good, given the acclaim, chinese whispers and the fact that it’s on Matador but not …this.
I want to this to be a considered, thoughful review and to try and keep me excitement under control. But the reality is that I think this is one of the albums of the year. I’ve reviewed many of the sixty plus albums I’ve heard this year, and this really is up there with the best of the best (thank you, Top Gun).
Jonathan Meiburg’s voice is the first thing that gets you. Think Antony Hegarty, Baby Dee, Jeff Buckley. That good. And then there’s the instrumentation. What’s impressive about this album is that there’s aspects here that could appeal to Muse fans, but there’s enough wondrous delight and experimentation that The Wire should be covering this band too.
It surprises you too – ‘Century Eyes’ remins me of Richard Thompson, but then I wouldn’t want to pigeonhole this all under folk-rock. (I wouldn’t want to pigeonhole Mr. Thompson either, but you get my drift). It’s almost pastoral, think late Talk Talk (Spirit of Eden), Virginia Astley (From Gardens Where We Feel Secure), John Cale’s Paris 1919. Maybe even Cale’s onetime bandmate Nico’s Desertshore, without being so dark or parts of latter-day Radiohead.
Could this be a commercial breakthrough for the band? Oh, who knows. This record is too good to be kept a secret, and whether the general public pick up on it, only time will tell. Amazingly, it’s only 35 minutes long, and not the sprawling release some might imagine.
But buy yourself a copy. This is a record you will want to live with and savour for a very long time.
*****
Shearwater -‘Rooks.’ mp3
In April it was my Mum, in May my darling Mrs. 17 Seconds and today it’s my dad’s Birthday. So happy birthday dad, here’s some for you.
My Da’s a legend, he’s encouraged music-making and writing and has alsways been very encouraging of this blog.
For car trips -Abba ‘The Winner Takes It All.’
…and Pet Shop Boys ‘It’s a sin’
For your university days Procul Harum ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’
…and Animals ‘House Of the Rising Sun’
And finally the track that got me into music originally: The Beatles’ ‘Hard Day’s Night’
Have a good ‘un, Da.
X
The Darling Buds -‘Crawdaddy’ (Epic, 1990)
Their sophomore release, Crawdaddy appeared within eighteen months of their debut …Pop Said. This album saw The Darling Buds embrace more of the ‘dance’ beats of the time, which was happening a great deal at that time on the indie scene, even those bands who had come out of the c86 scene.
1. ‘It Makes No Difference.’
2. ‘Tiny Machine.’
3. ‘Crystal Clear.’
4. ‘Do You Have To Break My Heart?’
5. ‘You Won’t Make Me Die.’
6. ‘Fall.’
7. ‘Little Bit Of Heaven.’
8. ‘Honeysuckle.’
9. ‘So Close.’
10.’End Of the Beginning.’
This does not seem to be available in the UK or US, unless you snap up a second hand copy, so many thanks to my reader Robert who sent me the files.
Disclaimer: I should categorically state here and now that I do not own the rights to this music, nor have I ever. This music is posted here in order so that people can hear the music, particularly those people who cannot locate a copy. I would recommend that if you enjoy this music you seek it out in a second-hand format and that the band and copyright holders re-issue it. If you are the copyright holder and do not wish we to post it here, e-mail me and I will remove it post-haste.