LIST 189 - 12/02/16

Hello again,

Further mixed offerings again this time and, sad to say, another in loving memory moment following the passing earlier this week of Des Stanley aka Wild Planet, founder of and guitarist with early-mid 1980s punk revellers !Action Pact!.  The Heathrow Touchdown EP, in particular, will be familiar to John Peel fans of the period, and the later track included at the end of this week's List gives no less accurate an indication of the tremendous amount of fun they were at their peak.  Rest easy, Des.

Ex-Standard Farer Emma Kupa and ex-Stereolabber Tim Gane make an appearance this time around with new produce from their respective Mammoth Penguins and Cavern Of Anti-Matter projects; ditto The High Llamas, the longstanding vehicle of course for another Stereolab alumnus (and Microdisney before that) in the shape of Sean O'Hagan.

Curios old and new include the most Sheffield track ever to reach the UK top 10 singles chart; Bjork doing a spot of jazz all of 26 years ago; and an all too pertinent, biting Smiths cover...

J xx


MAMMOTH PENGUINS – Strength in My Legs (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-Sk-ITID20

CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER - Phototones (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa0cR-PGKdE

SUPER FURRY ANIMALS - Focus Pocus / Debiel (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az00dyUbJmY

CALEXICO – Falling from the Sky (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_gfQ9CssLA

CRUMPLEHORNS – On Off (2014)
https://soundcloud.com/crumplehorns/on-off

BRIAN ENO - From the Same Hill (1979)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixF6OsJfOME

KAKI KING – Great Round Burn (2012)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVG8DJLOs5U

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

TONY CAPSTICK – The Sheffield Grinder (1981)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTXjp2bf1vo

THE HIGH LLAMAS - Here Come The Rattling Trees (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-7h9cfoDlw

THE HIGH LLAMAS – Campers in Control (1996)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFGEy2yAM48

JOY AGAIN – Looking Out For You (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx-4NuzjA1Y

THE STRANGLERS – Thrown Away (1981)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGmYHEH1P8w

HONG KONG IN THE 60s – Patricia (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkqJuhfpwsg

SARAH CRACKNELL ft THE RAILS – Take the Silver (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON-MTg5103c

BJÖRK GUðMUNDSDÓTTIR & TRÍÓ GUðMUNDAR INGÓLFSSONAR – Pabbi Minn (1990)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWExAM2ZSYU

ELVIS PERKINS – Hogus Pogus (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNqRb8JdWkY

LOW – Spanish Translation (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0TJrlemmVQ

THE BOO RADLEYS – Reaching Out From Here (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQSgSpnNghQ

THE IAIN DUNCAN SMITHS – Girlfriend in a Coma (She’s Fit for Work) (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So5fszZjvMs

!ACTION PACT! – Johnny Fontaine (1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5elt4ajvIc

LIST 188 - 29/01/16

Hello again,

As epic gig fails go, missing a secret(ish) gig by Field Music held barely two minutes' walk from one's place of work must rate pretty highly, and that is sadly what transpired the other day when a performance at the Harley in Sheffield by Sunderland's finest passed me by completely.  I suck.

In light of which, the title of their brand new single seems strangely aposite!

Other highlights this week include something new and something very old indeed from cult heroes Half Japanese; a splendid semi-lost gem by messrs Vega, Chilton and Vaughn now rereleased on 7" single; the highlight of Slowdive's third and tragically underappreciated (not least by Creation Records) album, 1995's Pygmalion; and, practically 35 years to the day since it reached its highest chart position, my favourite one-hit wonder of all time from Susan Fassbender.  

"Sometimes I get so low"... Something terribly sad and portentous about the opening line of Twilight Cafe, isn't there, considering Fassbender would take her own life ten years later when still in her early thirties.

J xx

FIELD MUSIC – Disappointed (2016)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBAm0eQ7czA

XTC – The Disappointed (1992)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG3YTqOlIkI

HAIKU SALUT – You Dance a Particular Algorithm (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1BJQujj_XI

SUPERFJORD & ASTRALASIA – Fjord Transit (2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC229VY8V5Y  

STEREO TOTAL – Moviestar (1995)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMTWcUHtGPM

HALF JAPANESE – That Is That (2016)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3anL4lrE5Y

HALF JAPANESE – No More Beatle Mania (1979)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMGMhX-d0IY

HOLLY HERNDON - Morning Sun (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Z1lEx8khM

BECK – Waking Light (2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixtNYSiNyO4

SLOWDIVE - Blue Skied an' Clear (1995)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Ve8hVX0C4

DIET CIG – Sleep Talk (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVUcgmnm2GQ

OH PEAS! – No Ships on Mondays (2015)

https://soundcloud.com/ohpeas/no-ships-on-mondays

SUSAN FASSBENDER – Twilight Café (1981)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfGHOkPERsY

ZUN ZUN EGUI – African Tree (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpRiNV_DwWw

THUNDERCAT - Them Changes (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNCd_ERZvZM

THE BODINES – God Bless (1985)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqWlYOHz5OA

UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA - Multi-Love (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEtDVy55shI

ALAN VEGA, ALEX CHILTON, BEN VAUGHN – Candyman (1994)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8NrjxInQZE

JIM GHEDI – Home Is Where I Exist, Now To Live and Die (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf7KR9taX0A 

LIST 187 - 22/01/16

Hello again,

More 2015 catch-up, something brand new from We. The Pigs, two New Order tracks from 34 years apart, the odd 1980s/1990s track, and a tribute to the recently passed away Pierre Boulez - for many years the enfant terrible of 20th century French classical music - to finish.

J xx

 

KENDRICK LAMAR - King Kunta (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRK7PVJFbS8

RODNEY CROMWELL – Black Dog (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RRYNKdSWCw

THE CHESTERFIELDS – Nose Out of Joint (1985)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKO1FtK7bqA

FEVER DREAM AND LAURA K – Ghost (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLAtPRix0yg

LAETITIA SADIER – Then I Will Love You Again (2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9hTiqts5Ms

PALE SAINTS – Throwing Back the Apple (1992)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay9oWB3xdbI

LEON BRIDGES – Coming Home (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTrKkqE9p1o

THE FAIRLIGHT MYTH – Alpha November (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN5gPGHvQDo

HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT - Westward Ho! Massive Letdown (2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVXgTz49wNk

AGE OF CHANCE – Bible of the Beats (1985)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECt4V50MY6U

SONA JOBARTEH - Gambia (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtmmlOQnTXM

REX THE DOG – Sicko (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taqpQwNsJ1U

NEW ORDER - Tutti Frutti (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koXE2TuQ1_c

NEW ORDER – Everything’s Gone Green (1981)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRgHSxWnhqk

WE. THE PIGS – Fly (2016)

https://soundcloud.com/discosdekirlian/we-the-pigs-fly

MICACHU & THE SHAPES - Sea Air (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrXbYZ66Zwk

PIERRE BOULEZ – Piano Sonata (1946)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy1atgXYSRs 

LIST 186 - 15/01/16 (a David Bowie tribute)

Hello there,

Very little explanation required as to what this week's List entails, though hopefully not all of the selections will prove to be blindingly obvious. 

A broad historical span of the late Mr Bowie's recorded output is represented, from the early singles (including under his birth name) to the final album, via a few personal favourites from several points in between.

There's cover versions, too (Nirvana, The Yummy Fur); samples of his work (Death Grips, DNA); material inspired by Bowie tracks (Peter Schilling, Philip Glass); and even one track penned for another performer (Oscar rather than Mott the Hoople this time, however).

Even then the selection probably hardly does the man full justice, but consider this our own small offering to the many tributes of the week.  Rest easy, David.

J xx


DAVID BOWIE – Jump They Say (1993)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avJt0SQec0I

DAVID BOWIE – Helden (1977)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb6Gbi1MpoE

DEATH GRIPS – Culture Shock (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBO5PbpDPng

DAVIE JONES AND THE KING BEES – Liza Jane (1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNNfqh-iJXs

NIRVANA – The Man Who Sold the World (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fregObNcHC8

DAVID BOWIE – Baal’s Hymn (1982)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nsGE5KWa6Q

PETER SCHILLING – Major Tom (1983/4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Hs2AQwDgA

OSCAR – Over The Wall We Go (1967)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu6NFORA0go

DAVID BOWIE – Dead Man Walking (1997)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOZrGHmMl4o

DAVID BOWIE – Up The Hill Backwards (1980)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jm7W1qbruM

DNA ft JAZZI P – Rebel Woman (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNi7pUFHe7s

DAVID BOWIE AND THE LOWER THIRD – Can’t Help Thinking About Me (1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgBe8NL1818

DAVID BOWIE – The Buddha of Suburbia (1993)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48d4irOHhLY

THE YUMMY FUR – Always Crashing in the Same Car (1997)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoams1Hhq_E

TIN MACHINE – Baby Universal (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7q3FDDmqmA

PHILIP GLASS – Heroes (from Symphony No. 4 “Heroes”) (1996)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TZsW99Vw_U

DAVID BOWIE – Art Decade (1977)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBprICVPzKA

DAVID BOWIE – Lazarus (2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-JqH1M4Ya8

LIST 185 - 08/01/16

Hello again,

Another mish-mash this week, and regrettably also another musical in Memoriam at the end of it, following the passing just before Christmas of charismatic Stump frontman Mick Lynch.  Few bands came as close as the mid-late 1980s Anglo-Irish quartet did at reshaping Captain Beefheart's idiosyncratic musical stylings into something approaching a halfway radio-friendly form, and whilst Buffalo and Charlton Heston (both already featured in previous Lists) probably right stand as their career-defining tracks, its no less of a pleasure to include Chaos here.  Rest easy, Mick.

Elsewhere, it's a pleasure to include another track from the mighty album by erstwhile Aberdeen-ers The Luxembourg Signal, as much to remind myself how much they overcame the often soupy acoustics of the loco shed at Indietracks in a way that many, many other bands cannot manage - truly, theirs was one of the very best sets that festival has seen in any year, never mind just 2015.

J xx



THE LOVELY EGGS - Goofin' Around (in Lancashire) (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ20kZkU4nc

ESCONDIDO - Heart is Black (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcSbljRjtCE

IT'S IMMATERIAL - Ed's Funky Diner (1985/6)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL1h39PxInI

EUROS CHILDS – Donkey Island (2006)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_sM9ln95kU

FLOWERS – Pull My Arm (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OWTNCJ5npU

ZOMBINA AND THE SKELETONES – Nobody Likes You (When You’re Dead) (2002)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlgKj4dGlVU

REX THE DOG – You Are a Blade (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEQuYcTmewQ

LET’S WRESTLE – Rain Ruins Revolution (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypGRdLe7PUk

LED ZEPPELIN – Trampled Underfoot (1975)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftknR1gf9qw

THE LUXEMBOURG SIGNAL – Distant Drive (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zslyq82GoYY

BARBARA MORGENSTERN with T RAUMSCHMIERE - Was du nicht siehst (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgJuHzZnG4g 

WIRE – A Serious of Snakes (1986)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S99rSyeGekA

COURTNEY BARNETT - Pedestrian At Best (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-nr1nNC3ds

SAMARIS – Nótt (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv92z0OCwy8

LEVITATION – World Around (1992)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hZegWPxytk

DARREN HAYMAN – All for the Cause (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qzzx0HTIec

SPILLSBURY - Weisst du wie es ist (2005)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg8dBp1sa6Q

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING - Go! (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHIo6qwJarI

STUMP – Chaos (1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNZXoEvikd0

LIST 184 - 01/01/16

Hello again,

A very happy 2016 to all That Music List readers/listeners/both (delete as applicable) - let the new year deal us all a fair hand.

It's back to the regular weekly updates for the winter, I think, starting with a mish-mash of hitherto overlooked 2015 highlights and some other morsels from further back - yep, including a couple or three that couldn't fit onto any of the 1985 or 1995 specials, I admit...

The passing of both Motorhead stalwart Lemmy and raver Guru Josh over the festive period have already been extensively documented elsewhere; perhaps less so, however, that of John Bradbury, drummer with The Specials.  Coventry to his fingertips, to the extent of never having moved away from the city, he was 62.  A selection from almost exactly 35 years ago, which those of you following BBC4's recent reruns of 1980/1 Top of the Pops episodes will have seen only a fortnight ago, is included as tribute.

J xx



THE SPOOK SCHOOL – I Want to Kiss You (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ56pAfCStI

PINEY GIR – Keep It Together (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZfUjfnKqLY

YO LA TENGO – Decora (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgFA1VpiIYM

LAURA VEIRS – Sun Song (2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P8mfvCGKyg

SPRING KING – Who Are You? (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvlJed74Aoo

THE MEN THEY COULDN’T HANG – Greenback Dollar (1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtWvxDm5V4w

BRAD SAN MARTIN – Lessons Left Me (2015)
https://soundcloud.com/jigsaw-records/pzl088-brad-san-martin-lessons-left-me

OMAR SOULEYMAN – Bahdeni Nami (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlu1XyPexn8

EDWARD BALL - Docklands Blues (1997)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIju6R7FzI

SCHOOL OF LANGUAGE – Dress Up (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU4qDI_F-wU

DESTROYER – Girl in a Sling (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcWD_CroKhc

DESTROYER – J Tailor (1996)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my4wBzq4uq0

FEAR OF MEN – Descent (2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRq_RMJsp28

SONIC YOUTH - Little Trouble Girl (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJWJcSTPNpM

JLIN – Guantanamo (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-SOxiWncp0

RON SEXSMITH - Words We Never Use (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuNzfhFG8iQ 

HELVETIA - A Dot Running for the Dust (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn0PZygBHfc

HAIKU SALUT – Skip to the End (2015)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCxB0uihT7E

THE SPECIALS – Do Nothing (1980)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyL17d0Ny-g