Psychic Youth 7"...

My friend Jim was playing me some ace stuff the other night which I'll be putting up here in an attempt to get this blog going again.

First up is the Psychic Youth 7" from 1982. It was their only release and I can find out no other information about the band except that they were from Long Island, NY (or at least that's where the pressing plant they used was located). Apparently, despite the name, they have nothing to do with Genesis P. Orridge or Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth.

Some great minimal synthpop reminiscent of early Depeche Mode. I like the B-side best with its female vocals but the A-side is really good too.

B - The Future Now:



A - Step In Time:

R.I.P. Clive Burr/Gogmagog...

I just found out the sad news that Clive Burr, drummer on the first three Iron Maiden albums, died on March 12th. I loved Maiden growing up, still do. Nice obituaries here and here.

The Prisoner, from The Number Of The Beast album, live in Hammersmith 1982 with Clive on drums:



And I only just learned about the supergroup Gogmagog!  I feel like I should've known about, and would've been very excited about, them years ago. Notable for its combination of past (Paul Di'Anno, Clive Burr) and future (Janick Gers) Iron Maiden members as well as original Def Leppard guitarist Pete Willis.  I especially find this interesting as in the excellent Iron Maiden: The Early Days DVD, someone at EMI was talking about Maiden and Def Lep being the two biggest New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands at the time of them signing Maiden (1980-ish) so it's nice to see them converge here.

Gogmagog only released one 3 track EP, I Will Be There, in 1985. Nice catchy glam metal/hard rock but a bit of a punky snarl that I'm really enjoying. All 3 songs:

I Will Be There:



Living In A F*cking Time Warp:



It's Illegal, It's Immoral, It's Unhealthy But It's Fun:

The Wolfgang Press - Chains

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

Yesterday I was driving home and nearly lost control of the car as my mind wandered into considering what if The Wolfgang Press reunited in 2013 and I hit some ice on the road. I've never been big on reunion shows but Chains (from Funky Little Demons) had just come on an old mix cd I had found. Such beautiful Pop. A perfect summer evening song, when the twilight is descending and the shadows come alive with magic.

Saint Etienne - Sushi Rider...

My Quietus interview with Saint Etienne is up now. I really enjoyed this, talking the particulars of Pop - favourite record titles, those little bits of songs that really grab you, what makes Pop so wonderful. 

I've always loved their Sushi Rider since I first heard them doing it live at Axis in Boston, May 21st, 1999. I love how they would throw b-sides and rarities into the sets like that. This has been stuck in my head a lot lately.

Was so excited when I finally got I Love To Paint and it had the full-band version on it:





And the stripped down version, b-side of Like A Motorway:

Joost Swarte...

I interviewed Dutch comics legend Joost Swarte for The Quietus. An incredibly talented man and one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of talking to. I found our conversation very interesting. Check it out, and take a look at his lovely work. 

Besides comics, Herr Swarte is a huge music fan, drawing a number of sleeves over the years, and even collaborating on a couple of records with Arling & Cameron and Fay Lovsky.

I love Fun Shopping, the Shibuya-kei-esque opening of Arling, Cameron, & Swarte's Sound Shopping record:



Swarte's excellent cover art:

Appellation Contrôlée from Jopo In Mono, his collaboration with Fay Lovsky, based on his comic character Jopo de Pojo. Written by Swarte, this was a tune he would sing when doing the dishes after dinner.



And it was Swarte who recommended Amatorski to me during the course of our interview.

Smoked Duck

My novelty dance song, Smoked Duck is finally out! Like all those 60s dance crazes, the moves are in the lyrics. Hopefully there'll be a video soon of a roomful of people 'smoked ducking'.
 

‘Smoked Duck’ by The Space Daddy. A Ducked-Up Novelty Dance. Written by Aug Stone (The Soft Close-Ups, H Bird, Eiscafe) and “hatched” by Ian Catt (Saint Etienne).

“This is what happens when I’ve been drinking all afternoon on holiday and ‘smoked duck’ appears on the dinner menu.” – Aug (who at that time was drinking quite heavily and listening to loads of David Devant & His Spirit Wife. He had also just found a cd entitled Land Of 1000 Dunces – Best Of The Bug-Outs at a strange little store in Stockholm. The cd featured 30 novelty dances from the 60’s that never caught on like ‘The Twist’ or ‘The Locomotion’.)

Released on 22.11.12, the date that looks most like Ducks & Cigarettes.

Available at , Amazon, Rhapsody, eMusic, Spotify, Corporate Records, and Bandcamp.

Saint Etienne/The Springfields - Are We Gonna Be Alright?

Speaking of that December 1998 Saint Etienne gig at The Paradise, they covered The Springfields' Are We Gonna Be Alright? It was excellent, and I was thrilled when their recorded version of it surfaced on Built On Sand.  Here is the only place I can find it on the internet, on a page with other Matthew Sweet covers.

The original Springfields' version, written and produced by Matthew Sweet: