LIST 195 - 25/03/16

Hello again,

An arboreal feel to the start of this week's List, all inspired by the title track of the new album by Hintermass, yet another winning psych-pop act to grace the roster of the impressive Ghost Box imprint (see also Cavern of Anti-Matter, Soundcarriers, Belbury Poly, John Foxx, etc).  Early contender for my personal favourite track of the year...

...as is "Out of Control", the lead track on the first original material by the newly reactivated Lush for two decades.  Such was the switch from the shoegaze/dream-pop template of their earlier years to the (for my money very much less satisfying) Britpop of final album Lovelife back in 1996, I've approached the return of Miki Berenyi, Emma Anderson et al with a degree of trepidation up to now, but it's pleasing to hear - albeit admittedly on the limited evidence of the one song - that the intention of the reunion has not been to pick up where Lovelife left off with half a dozen new takes on "Single Girl" and the like.  "Out of Control" is vulnerable, blurred around the edges, and very beautiful indeed.

Monkey Swallows the Universe rightly close out this week's selection, ahead of their for-one-night-only reunion gig in their native Sheffield that garnered enough interest for the venue to be upgraded to the Queens Road Social Club - do go along to see these fine word- and songsmiths one last time if you can (before, presumably, Nat Johnson returns to solo pursuits). 

From a far earlier era of Sheffield music, the inclusion of 1,000 Violins' nearly-eponymous second (I think it was) single seems reason enough for me to consider whether I could craft an entire List of tracks where the song title is also the band's name - LFO by LFO and the like.  Hmmm, one to keep in mind for the weeks ahead, I think...

J xx



MONTY PYTHON – The Larch (1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0zVsxUbbjM

HINTERMASS – Apple Tree (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV-dmDXq5c0

FOOLS GARDEN – Lemon Tree (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCDIt50hRDs

GRAND NATIONAL – Cherry Tree (2004)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kGYq9VqZOs

MBONGWANA STAR - Kala (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAZxMZBZ628

PLUME OF FEATHERS – First Date (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNgmyYn6XME

ELECTRONIC – The Patience of a Saint (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wXQZNC1864

GIRLPOOL – Before the World was Big (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDprSv9DjxY

ITAK TEL – Babel (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKlp_7PXolw

GUY CARAWAN – We Shall Overcome (1961)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdEv4BvQiuw

LUSH – Out of Control (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD4O20ePnXo

LUSH - Sweetness and Light (1990)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7cqkpy4QrQ

LAKE RUTH – Cabin Fever (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_D08_73Cqc

MOON B – Moments in Slank (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjxuKYF88Kc

1,000 VIOLINS – Like 1,000 Violins (1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpkqYhmaD5E

MIKRON – Sleep Paralysis (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIWjyIn0KXA

DOG CHOCOLATE - Emotionally Buff (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8iyU7Yepvk

渚にて [NAGISA NITE] - Me, on the Beach (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAVl0M6E_FY

THE EUROPEAN – The Settler (2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_teyz3AIuxI

MONKEY SWALLOWS THE UNIVERSE – Gravestones (2007)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT7IbeRxF44

LIST 194 - 18/03/16

Hello again,

Plenty to enjoy as usual this week, including an early offering from splendid new Colour Me Wednesday offshoot Baby Arms; something from the current Wire leftovers album that's actually even better than many of tracks which did make it onto the most recent studio album; something from last year's first I, Ludicrous album in over a decade which I inexplicably managed to miss at the time; and some stonking psychedelic fun from a band named after a genuine nine metre square (or should that be three-sided?) area of West Yorkshire. 

The inclusion of Gordon Giltrap's 1977 top 30  hit Heartsong is, as most of you will probably have guessed by now, entirely to do with it having been used as the theme tune of the BBC's long-running Holiday programme during the tenure as host of Cliff Michelmore, who departed this earth just four years shy of a century just yesterday.

J xx



BABY ARMS – A Sign (demo) (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bJsCNcMZvg

THE HELIO SEQUENCE – Leave or Be Yours (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_X3REFg5bY

THE WEDDING PRESENT – My Favourite Dress (1987)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uErGpb3SvIM

NICOLA RATTI – W10 (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNFbv2L8cZg

THE PARKING LOT EXPERIMENTS – Life After Death (2016)
http://parkinglotexperiments.bandcamp.com/track/life-after-death-2

THE HOUSE OF LOVE – Destroy the Heart (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nza7AlHV5I

THE HANGING STARS – Crippled Shining Blues (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufuz1sZzeHY

WIRE - Nocturnal Koreans (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NaPDtrTgFg

BRIAN ENO - Alternative 3 (1979)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9AldyuIh5A

I, LUDICROUS - Cheer Up (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix4ifoyCHcs

I, LUDICROUS - Quite Extraordinary (1987)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n726gCFVomE

MATTHEW BOURNE – Daniziel (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjKrhAfx4Go

YUCK - Hearts in Motion (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhKSyNiXIgs

THE HIDDEN CAMERAS – Smells Like Happiness (2003)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdmJvOoki4

DAMIEN JURADO – Exit 353 (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhL6jN00FBo

THE BALLET – Is Anybody Out There? (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PqyfVvLlLQ

GORDON GILTRAP – Heartsong (1977)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWTU4vXTV0I

WHYTE HORSES – Natures Mistakes (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xgf3irBXW8

THE RHUBARB TRIANGLE – Wakefield City Blues (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HritTiwNck

LIST 193 - 11/03/16

Hello there,

The return of PJ Harvey rates an obvious highlight this week (can the new album possibly match up to the stellar Let England Shake?  It might yet...), but by no means the only one, with new output to enjoy as well from Witching Waves (I really ought to have learned by now whether they're named after the early 20th century ride at Luna Park on Coney Island, but haven't), Big Ups (plenty here for fans of the likes of Shellac to relish), Goon Sax (whipsmart Brisbane teenagers) and Anna Meredith (pounding, astonishing multi-instrumentalism).

The inclusion of Frankie Machine, Finnmark! and The 10p Mixes could hardly be more timely, each set to make an appearance at Macho Music Is Stupid & Sparklemotion's spring acoustic pop alldayer at the Rutland Arms, Sheffield tomorrow (Saturday, March 12th).  Six pounds (or three for the unwaged) for a superb afternoon and evening's line-up which also includes the First Lady of indiepop Amelia Fletcher in her Caternary Wires guise is surely the best value entertainment you'll find anywhere this weekend.  The bar downstairs has the plum porter back on, too, I'm given to understand.

J xx



PJ HARVEY – The Wheel (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ReW0jJkag8

AFX – umil 25-01 (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nRsbS8_hc4

THE HIGHLINERS – Henry the Wasp (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX_uz8uo5cE

BIG UPS – National Parks (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiPV7T56iyU

FRANKIE MACHINE – How Great Thou Art (2016)
http://frankiemachine.bandcamp.com/track/how-great-thou-art

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS – Strange Powers (1993)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci37lvMsTsA

WITCHING WAVES – The Threat (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdRP3Dnp3kk

VIOLENT FEMMES – Memory (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIa_L25kR3M

VIOLENT FEMMES – Blister in the Sun (1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE-dqW4uBEE

FINNMARK! – A Quiet Night in Stockholm (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FTLcIHig98

GOON SAX – Boyfriend (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilBf_nZbxvw

ETON CROP – It’s My Dog, Maestro! (1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX7iVgHdiJw

DEATH AND VANILLA – California Owls (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvpe_lklFww

THE 10p MIXES – Everything I Do Is Gonna Be Sparkly (2013)
https://soundcloud.com/the-10p-mixes/everything-i-do-is-gonna-be

BJÖRK GUðMUNDSDÓTTIR & TRÍÓ GUðMUNDAR INGÓLFSSONAR – Brestir Og Brak
(1990)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7QFzjT3JMM

ANNA MEREDITH – R-Type (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4F2_cWk8cY

PALLENBERG – Bella-Esque (2015)
https://vimeo.com/147360055

KING OF WOOLWORTHS – Big Sur (2004)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVeasEhlahs

LIST 192 - 04/03/16

Hello again,

Snow!  In quantity!!!  Well, in quantity for this corner of South Yorkshire, at least.  I'm no fan of the stuff, but this late, defiant blast of cold weather after a relatively benign winter hitherto gives me the perfect opportunity to share a couple of snow-related gems in this week's List.  Twinned as it is with Geoffrey Jones's BFI film of the 1963 Big Freeze, the composition from BBC Radiophonic Workshop figurehead Daphne Oram is a particularly wonderful, evocative contribution.  Enjoy.

Elsewhere, it's a pleasure to share contributions from Slowdive-and-Mogwai-and-Editors supergroup Minor Victories; York's finest purveyor of deadpan, acerbic sprechgesang Mark Wynn; the first sighting of post-Dada jazz punksters and The Very Things forerunners The Cravats (cult hero The Shend and all) for aeons; and some seriously smart genre-bending work from Jlin (electronic/footwork/trap) and Golden Teacher (dancehall/Afrobeat/musique concrete). 

J xx


MINOR VICTORIES - A Hundred Ropes (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oz6nzPSZLg

GOLDEN TEACHER – Shatter (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qruqTtgWkxY

SUPER FURRY ANIMALS – Something 4 the Weekend (1996)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1QyO4TkWts

CLARK - Omni Vignette (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2tzRRm1dxA

ALPACA SPORTS – Need Me the Most (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_5gxdrDnY8

PUBLIC ENEMY – Gett Off My Back (1992)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXw_80Ktdwg

DARREN HAYMAN AND THE LONG PARLIAMENT – Old Man (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFP683p0HM4

MARK WYNN - Captain Fantastic (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBhvBxx6pV8

JOHN CARPENTER – Dark Star (1974/1980)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaiI2TN8ghk

THE CRAVATS – Batter House (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf2n9SwwSLc

THE CRAVATS – Rub Me Out (1982)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le5tnOU8cH4

TINDERSTICKS – Were We Once Lovers? (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1DDgKWc2HY

JLIN - Nandi (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I70DoLRXhBo

THE PRESETS – Beams (2005)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIkLUl-Phh0

XAOS - Pontos Blues (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyG3UeYbAHk

TREMBLING BLUE STARS - Snow Showers (2000)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLHdB7d-L3w

DAPHNE ORAM – Snow (1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4pJwcE7JI