Friday 26 June 2015

LIST 162 - 26/06/15 (a ninth Then and Now special)

Hello again,

Yes, yes, I know, this is already the third Then and Now special this year alone and follows only eight Lists since the last one.  However, people from yonks ago keep releasing new stuff!  Not a lot I can do about that, much less want to stop them.

The incredible return of rural psychedelia figureheads Flying Saucer Attack was referred to in passing a couple of weeks ago, and I'm delighted to be able to include one of the new fruits of Dave Pearce's labours - one of a whole album's worth of stuff for Domino all evidently entitled Instrumental, I think - plus his idiosyncratic cover of Suede's debut single from FSA's "Phase One" period of 1993-5 or thereabouts.

Elsewhere it's a pleasure to include, among other things, tracks old and new by three of the godfathers of disco (Mr Moroder), post-rock (Simeon Coxe of Silver Apples) and ambient house (Dr Alex Paterson of The Orb) respectively.

J xx



SARAH CRACKNELL – Nothing Left to Talk About (2015)

SARAH CRACKNELL – Anymore (1996)

SILVER APPLES – Missin’ You (2014)

SILVER APPLES – You and I (1969)

ASH – Cocoon (2015)

ASH – Uncle Pat (1994)

KATHRYN WILLIAMS – Mirrors (2015)

KATHRYN WILLIAMS – Leazes Park (1999)

THE ORB – Lunar Caves (2015)

THE ORB – Assassin (1992)

HOLLY GOLIGHTLY – Seven Wonders (2015)

HOLLY GOLIGHTLY – Virtually Happy (1995)

GIORGIO MORODER – Right Here, Right Now (2015)

GIORGIO MORODER – From Here to Eternity (1977)

LAZARUS CLAMP – Latch (2015)

LAZARUS CLAMP – This is Our Problem (2000)

ALTERNATIVE TV – Opposing Forces (2015)

ALTERNATIVE TV – How Much Longer (1977)

FLYING SAUCER ATTACK – Instrumental 4 (2015)

FLYING SAUCER ATTACK – The Drowners (1993)
 

Friday 19 June 2015

LIST 161 - 19/06/15 (a Leicester selection)

Hello again,

By the time you read this, I'll either be at the Maze in Nottingham, enjoying the latest in an increasingly triumphant series of comeback gigs from everyone's favourite Leicester-based scary man/tiny woman-fronted post-punk/krautrock exponents Prolapse... or else will still be recovering from an hour of throwing myself about to said act.  Suffice it to say, the return of Linda Steelyard, Mick Derrick et al is one of my music highlights of the year so far (right up there with the reactivation of Flying Saucer Attack and the discovery of Mbongwana Star).

With this evening's entertainment in mind, I came to think; can I possibly fashion a List consisting entirely of music I like from Leicester, past and present?  Turns out I can, and here it is.

Truth be told, the age bias of this List does err towards the 1980s and 1990s rather than the present day - that's possibly quite apt, given how many of the seminal venues in the city at which many of the featured artists honed their craft back then have long since seen their final gig-goer.  Nonetheless, contributions here from The Silver Factory, Grace Petrie, Nylon 9, the indefatigable Hibbett and - returning from the latest of a number of extended slumbers - Lazarus Clamp suggest Leicester's musical torch has been carried into this decade and the present day.

One final note: a lover of many aspects and exponents of grebo as I may be, a temptation to flood this List solely with Leicester's many contributors to that fondly remembered 1980s genre had to be resisted.  Suspect I'll find excuse enough to include something by Gaye Bykers On Acid and their incalculable aliases in another List before too long!

J xx




PROLAPSE – Doorstep Rhythmic Bloc (1994)

DEEP FREEZE MICE – Emile Zola (1979)

THE AMMONITES – You Me and the Sun (1988ish)

PO! – Northern Wonder (1994)

FEELABELIA – Feel It (1984)

PERFUME – Lover (1997)

THE FREED UNIT – The City (instrumental) (1998)

THE SILVER FACTORY – The World May Bring Us Down (2012)

THE ORIGINALS – Steven on the Radio (1989)

FISH FROM TAHITI – Decal Baby (2000)

RUTH’S REFRIGERATOR – Moulted from Labrador (1991)

BLAB HAPPY – Valentine (1991)

TIMELESS BANDITZ – Hose Down (2004)

MJ HIBBETT & THE VALIDATORS – Literature Search (2012)

YEAH YEAH NOH – Prick Up Your Ears (1984)

THE THURSTON LAVA TUBE – Don’t Borrow Dominoes... (2008)

KEVIN HEWICK – Haystack (1980)

CRAZYHEAD – Time Has Taken Its Toll On You (1989)

VOLCANO THE BEAR – My Favourite Tongues (2006)

NYLON 9 – Red Rum (2014)

THE BRAND NEW EXECUTIVES – Say No to Funk (1989)

GRACE PETRIE – How Long Has It Been? (The Topshop Song) (2013)

LAZARUS CLAMP – Latch (2015)




Friday 12 June 2015

LIST 160 - 12/06/15 (1985 special, part one)

Hello again,

Inevitable at some point, I suppose, that I'd get round to compiling some 10, 20 and 30 years ago, etc. Lists for 2015, if only for the gasps of incredulity that they inspire when uploaded.  "Was that really 30 years ago?!?  I feel old..." - you know, that sort of thing.

So, get ready to feel old all over again! 

I avoided the temptation to fill the first of these 1985 Lists with nothing else other than the sort of stuff that would eventually grace the C86 compilation, though tracks from the respective first ever singles by C86ers The Shop Assistants, The Wedding Present and Primal Scream are indeed included.  

A less obvious debut, perhaps, but a very timely one to include given the recent reactivation of rural psychedelia figureheads Flying Saucer Attack, is a single by a four-piece by the name of Ha Ha Ha who could count among their number FSA frontman Dave Pearce - at least until, by his own account, he did a Syd Barrett and got himself sacked.  Ha Ha Ha's loss, our gain, etc.

J xx





REM – Driver 8

HA HA HA – Up and Down

RUN DMC – King of Rock

THE DURUTTI COLUMN – The Room

THE FALL – L.A

THE WEDDING PRESENT – Go Out and Get ‘Em Boy

PROPAGANDA – P-Machinery

THE PALE FOUNTAINS – From Across the Kitchen Table

THE POGUES - Sally MacLennane

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN – Never Understand

CYBOTRON – R-9

THE SHOP ASSISTANTS – All Day Long

ROBERT WYATT – Gharbzadegi

THE WAKE – Of The Matter

THE SISTERS OF MERCY – Walk Away

BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE – E=MC2

PRIMAL SCREAM – It Happens

HELEN AND THE HORNS – Lonesome Country Boy

DEAD CAN DANCE – De Profundis