dub sex | splintered faith

dub sex get a brief mention in the associated bands of "death to trad rock", with john describing them as having "tight, menacing songs underpinned by some great drumming and dub bass undertow". despite this, and recording 4 peel sessions in a short space of time, they remain largely forgotten these days.

they released one album, which i don't have, plus a bunch of singles, collected on this here record. "swerve" was the "hit", but "time of life", "kicking the corpse around" and "then and now" show they had plenty more up their sleeves.

get.

(image stolen from rate yr music as i can't find my copy.)

podcast | curious beast 3: death to trad rock

whoops, went a bit quiet there for a bit... back again with another podcast.

i've been hugely enjoying john robb's "death to trad rock" book. for the uninitiated it covers all those difficult, angular, wonky uk bands from the 1980s that small numbers of men can't talk about without getting slightly breathless and/or misty-eyed.

sarandon has the distinction of being the only contemporary band to be included, and while we wait for the release of the accompanying compilation album, crayola has dun a podcast:

ac temple - all hail discordia
dandelion adventure - fly on the wall documentary
bogshed - the story of bogshed
the membranes - penal landscape gardener
colgates - annotations of brian
death by milkfloat - ttyf
world domination enterprises - hotsy girl
pigbros - the way things currently are
stretchheads - housewife up yr fuckin' arse music
dog faced hermans - yellow girls
dawson - white colonial
the ex - state of shock

get.

mixtape | our tunes: dodgy dance music from school

i think this was probably the funnest compilation i've done so far, chiefly i think because i haven't heard many of these songs since i was at school so it was a bit like bumping into old friends. except of course this is a collection of mostly terrible cheese, so for friends read enemies.

anyway, hearing some of these songs takes me back to an era when simon bates and his excruciating "our tune" segment ruled the uk airwaves and the kid next to you was nodding his head along to snap! on his aiwa "personal stereo". and i had a minor obsession with marilyn monroe and iron maiden postcards. ah, those were the days...

::: snap! - the power
::: the shamen - move any mountain
::: black box - ride on time
::: soho - hippychick
::: betty boo - where are you baby?
::: c+c music factory - gonna make you sweat (everybody dance now)
::: kicks like a mule - the bouncer
::: altern 8 - active 8
::: nenh cherry - manchild
::: n-trance - set you free
::: n-joi - anthem
::: shampoo - trouble
::: stereo mc's - connected
::: the klf - 3am eternal (live at the ssl)
::: utah saints - something good
::: lisa stansfield - all around the world

download at your own risk.

mixtape | 3 slices of indie pop perfection

you know, much as i like all the awkward, angular stuff like big flame and all the "clever" post rock, sometimes you just want songs that give you a bit of a cuddle.

::: shop assistants - it's up to you
::: mccarthy - the well of loneliness
::: los campesinos! - miserabilia

coming up next: a seriously dodgy mix of mostly terrible songs that were popular when i was at school. bet you can't wait.

mixtape | bleak house: a uk post rock primer (vol 2)

and without further ado, here's volume 2. this one picks up at 1994 and ends in 2007 with the slo-core bliss-out of epic45.

i should point out that these two mixes focus on the "experimental" side of post rock. a primer on the sturm und drang noisy side (mogwai etc.) is coming soon.

::: main - rail
::: pram - life in the clouds
::: hair & skin trading company - *
::: 'o'rang - little brother
::: navigator - driving bell
::: state river widening - unsung couples
::: third eye foundation - a galaxy of scars
::: fridge - five four child voice
::: rothko - april 18 / undone
::: hood - closure
::: epic45 - the stars in spring

fill your boots.

mixtape | bleak house: a uk post rock primer (vol 1)

after a 2-week break it's time to get back into the fray. and here's a mix that i've been tinkering with for a while now. if you're a last fm user and a fan of post rock, then you're probably aware of samuel macklin's uk post rock group and therefore of the compilations he's been posting. in which case, here's my version.

post rock, by definition, is hard to define, but i think the original premise of post rock as a genre was the idea of the rock song deconstructed. think of it as an evolution of the dub/beefheart/punk melange of post punk, with added jazz and house music, plus a genuine sense of space combined with an "anything goes" approach. kind of.

i've sequenced the compilation in basic chronological order, so you get a rough idea of the evolution, though of course i'm not included any of the actual influences, just the influencers (if that makes sense). volume 1 covers the period 1981 to 1994.

anyway, like i said, this is just my take on it. i started to write about each track individually, but really you don't need my waffle.

::: dif juz - heset
::: ar kane - sperm whale trip over
::: bark psychosis - i know
::: my bloody valentine - instrumental
::: talk talk - after the flood
::: earwig - every day shines
::: moonshake - seen and not heard
::: papa sprain - bathtime
::: butterfly child - lunar eclipse
::: disco inferno - the last dance
::: insides - darling effect
::: laika - coming down glass

get.

moving

just to warn you, i'm in the middle of moving house, so things are going to be a bit quiet here until i get everything sorted out. i'm sure you can handle it.

scarce | all sideways

bet you haven't listened to this song in a long time eh? (if ever.)

::: scarce - all sideways

mixtape | up! 7 songs to get you up & out

7 songs guaranteed to make you get out of your seat and jiggle a little - if you're me anyway. seriously, if i was djing in the pub at atp in camber sands i'd be playing all of these songs. the room might be empty but i'd be having a brilliant time.

::: fool's gold - nadine
::: guillemots - trains to brazil
::: miracle fortress - whirrs
::: mazarin - chasing the girl
::: vampire weekend - horchata
::: akron/family - everyone is guilty
::: clinic - the return of evil bill

get.

mixtape | 3 slices of indie fuzz/pop

all three of these songs popped into my itunes at once. there must be something in the water at the moment (or maybe it's the pot). the kind of music that makes me excited about limited edition 7" singles, like the last 15 years didn't happen, like there was no such thing as itunes.

::: pens - high in the cinema
::: vivian girls - can't get over you
::: pains of being pure at heart - higher than the stars

*bonus* a classic of yore:

::: velocity girl - crazy town

get them all.

del amitri | nothing ever happens

not sure this really can be classed as a power ballad, but it's certainly a ballad and round these parts del amitri aren't on any "cool" lists, so in my mind this fits the bill.

i was introduced to del amitri while slaving away clearing tables in a tourist trap in bath. i got talking to a girl (it's always a girl isn't it) about music and she taped "waking hours" on one side and that edie brickell album on the other. nothing ever came of the girl, but i did listen to the tape. not my usual fare but the earnestness of a number of the songs dug its claws into me and have yet to let go.

this is a song destined to play over that scene where the girl sits and hugs herself and cries on a bench in a park overlooking the city.

::: del amitri - nothing ever happens

photo nicked from here.

mixtape | loose fit: a baggy primer

like my britpop urge, i've recently been listening to a fair bit of baggy, that scene where former indie no-hopers popped a few e's and suddenly discovered that "there'd always been a dance element to our music". thus bands like the farm and the soup dragons, after years of toiling in indie obscurity all of a sudden were on top of the pops.

the real kings of the scene of course were happy mondays and the stone roses, closely supported by organ ginders insprial carpets and the charlatans. you know all this already of course.

for me baggy kicked off with the james single "come home" and a 30-second experimentation with white socks and tracksuit bottoms after looking at pictures of inspiral carpets' audience in select. oh, the folly of youth etc.

so, once again, here's my own personal journey through baggy, with paris angels song thrown in for a laugh (be grateful it wasn't bridewell taxis). no major surprises here i don't think...

::: the stone roses - she bangs the drums
::: james - come home (flood mix)
::: the farm - groovy train
::: happy mondays - dennis and lois
::: paris angels - perfume (all on you)
::: primal scream - come together (farley mix)
::: the soup dragons - lovegod
::: insprial carpets - move
::: electronic - get the message
::: jesus jones - right here, right now
::: the high - up and down
::: northside - shall we take a trip
::: new fast automatic daffodils - big
::: the charlatans - then
::: candy flip - strawberry fields forever

grab it.

headbutt | disillusioned

here's the other headbutt record. on the always excellent fourth dimension label...

7" released by fourth dimension in 1994.

get it.

insides | clear skin promo

not had a chance to listen to this properly yet, but this is a 12" promo geurnica/4ad put out to promote insides' "clear skin" record. this record was of course a single, long long track, so it's not surprising on the promo you get a couple of edited versions. plus there's "further distractions", an extrapolated version of a "euphoria" album track that was also included on the limited 7" extra.

according to this release's discogs page, the release of this promo against the band's will was what led them to leave the label. but i remember kirsty telling me in an interview that she had had to beg ivo to release "clear skin" in the first place since guernica was meant to be for one-off releases only. so who knows the truth of this.

12" released by guernica in 1994.

get.

image knicked from discogs as, frankly, i couldn't bother to get the camera out.

idaho | year after year

wonderful, dreamy first album from idaho, the vinyl crackles just enhancing the overall intimate experience for me.

lp released by caroline in 1993.

get. *link fixed*

papa sprain | flying to vegas

first-class debut ep from gary mckendry & chums. if you've listened to the demos already then you've heard the lead track already. and if you've listened to the "may" ep then you'll already be familiar with the dreamy ambient style of "spout". my favourite is "rich", all thumbclicks and gary's intimate "back home/my room/with your letters", reminiscent of no one except his cohort butterfly child.

my copy is a bit crackly and judders a little at the outer edges. bummer.

12" released by h.ark! in 1991.

get.

**bonus**
::: papa sprain - flying to vegas [remix] (from "volume one")

for more about papa sprain, take a look at this post on bubblegum cage iii.

*update*
defintely take a look at bubblegum cage if you haven't already - sam's post brought some former members of papa sprain out of the woodwork and revealed some recent recordings!

john davis | blue mountains

for most people, if you know john davis at all, it's from his collaboration with lou barlow as folk implosion, a band i first heard via their chocolate monk cassette debut. "everyone" of course knows lou, but here's a later period album from the wispy-voiced other half of the duo.

to me, john's music is all about silence and fragility. my favourite song by him is his contribution to the shrimper compilation "abridged perversion", "i had a dream i was down by the ocean" - it's so dreamily wistful. i only got this album recently - his records are sadly hard to find these days - but on cursory listen it's very much in that vein.

as far as i can tell he hasn't released anything since he left folk implosion in 2000 - i wonder what he's doing now.

lp released by shrimper in 1997.

get it.

devendra banhart | baby

let's face it, devendra banhart is pretty annoying. he's something of an anachronism, a 60s flowerchild, on the one hand apparently away with the fairies, while on the other i suspect he knows exactly what he's doing.

yet like a moth to the flame i keep going back to "cripple crow" time and time again. so it is with great interest that i listened to "baby", the first official sampler for this new album "what will be". according to a recent, typically "cookie" pitchfork interview he believes he has yet to make a good record, but judging by "baby" i'm going to get burned again. and again.

::: devendra banhart - baby

elton john | sorry seems to be the hardest word

like rod stewart, a love of elton john was pounded into me early through repeated plays at home. he's a bit of a cantankerous git these days, but you have to admire him for chewing out overexposed nuisances like madonna. plus he lives in atlanta. and he's write a huge amount of good songs.

today's choice was a toss-up between this song and the cold-war classic "nikita", but the latter feels more like a pop song than a true ballad, so there we go.

::: elton john - sorry seems to be the hardest word

earwig | hardly

first of the three early eps from earwig, forerunner to the much-admired-in-certain-small-circles insides. sadly i haven't tracked down the other two, at least at a price i'm willing to pay right now...

much thinner than the later womb-like insides, it has that almost harsh sound of early cocteau twins instead. and it's no worse off for it.

12" released by la-di-da in 1990.

get.

the swell season | in these arms

like millions, i was thoroughly charmed by the film "once", and have listened to the soundtrack many times since. and now glen hansard and marketa irglova are releasing a new album at the end of october as the swell season. and judging by this preview track it's going to be lovely.

but the real question of course is, are they still together?

::: the swell season - in these arms