This has been a somewhat trying week to say the least! Sorry for a lack of posts.

As I was asked when I was going to do something on the Cure, here are some videos, which I hope you’ll enjoy (assuming they ‘paste’!)

First up, 1987’s sublime ‘Just Like Heaven.’

And From 1992, ‘Friday I’m In Love.’

Buy Galore

And to remember how good gothic can be, my favourite Cure song ever, 1981’s Charlotte sometimes.’ I have actually used this video in teaching before now!

Buy Staring At The Sea: The Singles

Some mornings…it’s just too much. Metal Urbain (click here to find out more about them) were one of France’s first punk groups and the very first band to rele

ase a record on the mighty Rough Trade, the seminal label that would go on to release the likes of Scritti Politti, The Smiths, The Fall (one of their many labels), Belle and Sebastian, Aberfeldy and the Long Blondes over the following thrity years. This somes things up well.

Metal Urbain -‘Panik.’ mp3

Buy Anarchy in Paris

On the other hand…I am also trying to calm down with Death Cab for Cutie. Go to their

website and also to the insound site where you can

download Death Cab For Cutie stuff.

Buy Death Cab For Cutie at Amazon

Sorry. It’s been a long day – I’ve had two interviews and my brain is just MUSH. Too mush to type an exciting heading. Anyway, whilst I type distractedly, two lovely playful kittens demonstrate not on

ly how wonderful they are but how good they are at gettinng into small nooks and crannies…

There are some bands that are on the radar, m

ake great albums, and you buy said albums, enjoy them, see the bands’ gigs and/or support slots, and are pleased when they make the end of year polls.

I’m a bit embarassed to admit I have only st

arted listening to The Duke Spirit again in the last week or so, but I have started listening to them in the last week, and I remember why I fell for them in the first place. Guess I’m sometimes a bit fickle with my music loves. Leila Moss certainly packs a punch live and on record with the band. They seemed to be a support band of choice at a certain time last year (in a six week period I saw them twice supporting in Glasgow; the first gig was Mercury Rev, the second Kasabian). If you enjoyed the Sons and Daughters post earlier, give this a try.

The Duke Spirit -‘Cuts Across the L

and.’ mp3
Buy Cuts Across The Land

Don;t forgte to check their myspace site too, which has more downloads and streams.

Hello again. Haven’t posted for a few days due to a lot going on. On the positive side, my girlfriend and I are now proud to be owned by two very lovely, lively naughty kittens. However, other hassles, shall we say, have had to be addressed.

Anyway…

The picture at the top of the page is of CSS (as it says on their record label subpop‘s site (and indeed their own site. However, their myspace page is www.myspace.com/canseidesersexy. Given the sheer problems I have had trying to tyoe that url in, maybe CSS is best.

They come from Sau Paulo, Brazil. I know no more than I like very much what I hear (and can glean from the aforementioned websites). You will too, especially if you like electro or dance or indie-pop

(as distinct to indie). If you enjoyed the Postal Service stuff last week (see earlier post) or

even like stuff like Felix Da Housecat go check it out. The album Can Sei Der Ser Sexy is out now. Sau Paulo seems to have quite an underground music scene, and the eighties version was documented on the rather fab ‘Sexual Life Of The Savages‘ LP that came out on Soul Jazz last year. This track is brilliant!

CSS -‘Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above.’ mp3

If you like that, head to their myspace page where there is the just as amazing ‘Meeting Paris Hilton’.

As always, if you like what you hear: GO AND BUY IT!

Actually, my dentist seems like a very nice guy, but my mouth is still numb, and for someone who frequently can’t keep quiet, it’s painful in more ways than one…

As a result, I’m listening to music to try and take my mind off the pain and get on with something. As you may have noticed, if you are a regular visitor to this blog, I have expanded the links to other blogs here at the right hand side. Please take a look.

I had toyed with the idea at one point of doing a post on my favourite tracks of

the decade so far, but I suppose that may be a little premature at the moment. I wonder at what point m

onthly and weekly rock magazines have to start making their decisions about this? (And at what point to record companies start issuing, uh, inducements to persuade people to nominate certain albums.

But if you can’t sing along with favourite tracks, then you may as well listen to stuff that feels great.

Here are two for starters:

I had read about The Stills in NME, back in the days when I was a pretty regular reader of the magazine, regardless of who was on the cover (these days: Pete Doherty? Maybe. Syd Barrett? Definitely. Oasis? It’s 2006, not 1995, people. Kate Bush or Robert Smith or Aretha Franklin? I wish…) I bought the Rememberese 7″ and was not disappointed by the lead track:

The Stills -‘Still In Love Song.’mp3

Buy Rememberese (US version) or UK version

Another band I fell for pretty early on this decade, and am genuinely delighted that they have done well are Bloc Party. They may fit in with a lot of the new wave of post-punk or whatever you want to call it (Franz Ferdinand, the Rapture, the Futureheads et al) but there’s just something so vital about this track. I remember having to order this from my local indie store when it came out, but a year later it was a HIT. The world needs Bloc Party. Some bands do justify the hype, and this is one of them. The quitar interplay on this track is like Television on 78 rpm (note: if you don’t know what this means, ask your Mum. Vinyl rules!) I’m on Fire!

Bloc Party -‘Banquet.’ mp3

Buy Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm

…Scuse me, what

‘s that? Speak up, I’m an old man, can’t hear you (selective deafness is almost as necessary as eyes in the back of your head for a teacher). I’ve whetted your appetite. Good, good.

The Stills – ‘Retour a Vega.’ mp3

The Stills – ‘In The Beginning.’ mp3

Buy Logic Will Break Your Heart and Without Feathers

Bloc Party -‘Helicopter (Whitey remix).’ mp3

Buy Silent Alarm Remixed

…I haven’t slept a wink. Well, it feels like it!

First of all, sincerest apologies to my friend Jared, who provided the setlist to the Richard Thompson post below, and I ddin’t credit him. Sorry.

Kinda braindead here, if fairly happy. Two tracks that fit the mood would be these two:

First of all, a Mogwai collabor

ation with Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals, singing in welsh. This is from Mogwai’s 2001 album Rock Action.

Mogwai -‘Dial:Revenge.’ mp3

Go here to buy Rock Action

And, because you can’t run the risk of living without hearing it: track four from Sigur Ros’ 2002 album () That’s rig

ht, bracket. or Untitled. Either way, a track for the end of the day.

Sigur Ros -‘Untitled #4.’mp3

Go here to buy ()

…I had been meaning to do a post about great albums to listen to whils

t travelling for a while. Given the news yesterday, I figure I had better focus

on music I like listening to on trains – as opposed t

o in the car, when I often have to figure other people’s tastes in there. He

y, it’s only polite.

A while ago, I went to Oban for a Stag wee

kend, which was huge fun. The thought of the long train journey (no car at time) didn’t appeal, particularly, but until it got dark, the scenery was fantastic. And I had music with me.

So great travel albums? Razorlight’s Up All Night. Sigur Ros’ Agaetis Byrjun (see a couple of posts below). Kraftwerk are a definite – but I would put Man Machine ahead of Autobahn (ooh! sacrilege!!) REM’s Murmur…but my favourite travel album would have to be Give Up by The Postal Service. It’s just fantastic. Ben

Gibbard is a member of Death Cab For Cutie, who I like, but this is my favourite release of his that I have heard.

If you go to their website you can download three tracks, the same three you can download on the Subpop site. They do have a Myspace page as well. If ‘such Great Heights’ doesn’t make you want to dance around the room (though I appreciate this may be a bit, y’know, forward on a train, then shame on you!) Get there and get downloading!

Then go and buy the album.

This is take two of this post; I tried posting this last night, and then the internet connection in the flat started playing up…anyway. Hope you like the flowers.

The aim of this post was to post a few tracks to kick back with, that (with the exception, possibly, of TV On The Radio) you could dance to.

First up, Dizzee Rascal. I really liked the first Dizzee Rascal album, especially this track. There are all sorts of discussions about the merits of using the terms ‘grime’ or’UK Hip-Hop.’ Whatever. It justs grabs you.

Dizzee Rascal -‘Fix Up, Look Sharp.’ mp3 Buy Boy In Da Corner

I still have a wee thing for Karen O. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs seem part of the landscape now but they weren’t in 2002. I love the first album, and the second is a g

rower. But this

has a certain sort of rawness. And there’s just something about the way she says the word ‘baby.’ Just like that. As if it’s in inverted commas. Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – ‘Bang.’ mp3 Buy The Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP

…and doesn’t this sorta make ya wanna do the hokey-cokey? (y’know, when you turn around and that’s what it’s all about.)

The Strokes -‘Last Nite.’ mp3 Buy Is This It

OK, musically I felt this fitted in with this post, even if dancing to it might be hard (mind you, have you seen how hard it is to dance to a lot of the stuff st

uck in the ‘Dance’ section of record shops over the last twenty years? Just saying…)

TV On The Radio -‘Staring At The Sun.’ mp3 Buy Desperate Youth Bloodthirsty Babes

I know it might s

eem weird to some people posting the next track, but then, there ar

e actually people who haven’t heard the Pixies. I used to run a guitar group at the school where I taught. A lot of Nirvana fans there, and Sir (yup, me) was old enough to remember Nirvana. Don’t know if they all understood it, but as us cynical

teachers are fond of saying ‘ You can lead a h

orse to water…’

The Pixies -‘Debaser.’ mp3 Buy Debaser

As a sometime teacher of English as a Foreign Language, sometimes I have to go through the process of trying to explain a word or concept to someone who doesn’t speak English as their native tongue. However, if you had heard Sigur Ros, and knew someone who hadn’t; how would you go about it?

They come from Iceland, and can seriously be described as the most important act to come from there since Bjork and the Sugarcubes (yeah, I liked gus Gus too. BUT!) As for how they sound…NME once said

shoegazing (‘dream pop’ in American English) but they only vaguely remind me of My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Lush et al. As for the ethereal, sonic cathedrals that were always used to describe those bands (overused terms in much the same way that ‘angular’ keeps being applied to The Futureheads, Franz Ferdinand and The Editors)…perhaps a bit ethereal. They sing in Icelandic and their own madeup language (I have to confess that I don

‘t speak either; but I am not blaming anyone else for this). It sounds lush, beautiful, like waking up on a summer morning (hey! If John Tavener can get away with writing ‘Flows like the tears of the mother of God’ as a music description then I, a humble blogger, am allowed to get away with that one).

Rather like with Low last week, much as it amazes me that there might possibly be people who haven’t heard Sigur Ros, just , courtesy of mp3s on Insound and their own website I present you four tracks from their essential 1999 album Agaetis Byrjun:

Sigur Ros – ‘Agaetis Byrjun.’ mp3
Sigur Ros -‘Fludufrelsarinn.’ mp3
Sigur Ros – ‘Staralfur.’ mp3
Sigur Ros -‘Olsen Olsen.’ mp3

Like what you heard? I thought you would! Go Buy Agaetis Byrjun

I had been going to post something different today, then I came home and found out that Arthur Lee has died. Hmm.

For those who haven’t come across Arthur Lee, he fronted a band called Love, formed in 1965. Their third album, Forever Changes, is deservedly recognised as one of the key sixties records now, even if it wasn’t quite seen as that at the time. The opening track, Alone Again Or, is quite possibly on

e of the most sublime pieces of music ever recorded, and has been covered, amongst others by The Damned (see 1986 LP ‘Anything’) and Calexico (2003 single). He was also a huge influence on Michael Head and Shack.

Do yourself a favour or three: first of all, if you haven’t done so already, go and buy Forever Changes (my third favourite album of the sixties, after The Beatles’ Revolver and The Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet).

Check Lee’s official site; his myspace page. The NME meanwhile have, bless their collective cotton socks, put together a special on him. Hopefu

lly they’ll do a special issue on him like they did for Syd Barrett a couple of weeks ago.

Now go and play at least one his records loudly and pay the man the tribute he deserves.