Still on a high from seeing The Damned on Saturday night. There are two absolute pop gems on So, Who's Paranoid? that I think deserve more attention.
Little Miss Disaster is MAGNIFICENT burst of POP!:
And Diamonds is a melodic delight (with very literal lyrics ; ), here live from the Craig Ferguson show 31/10/08 (Hallowe'en!):
And Neat Neat Neat from the same show the night before. Glad to see they got such exposure in the States with these.
Monday, 14 November 2011
Sunday, 13 November 2011
The Damned - "Wait For The Blackout"/"History Of The World Part 1"...
I went to see The Damned's 35th Anniversary Tour last night at The Roundhouse. I've reviewed it for godisinthetvzine so I won't say too much, except it was what I was looking forward to most this year and it did not disappoint. They were playing Damned Damned Damned and The Black Album in their entireties, plus a hits encore. Damned Damned Damned was a joyous explosion of raw energy, especially the anthems "Neat Neat Neat" and "New Rose", but it was The Black Album portion of the show for me that was truly wonderful, being one of my favourite albums and containing two songs of the highest quality.
"Wait For The Blackout" is MAGNIFICENT. Riotous fun from note one, a guaranteed feel-good pick-me-up. Hugely catchy riff, great melodies, wonderfully fun subject matter, amusing middle-8, killer outro. A perfect song, in my opinion.
With Rat Scabies miming Dave Vanian's vocals:
Great BBC Session (October 9th, 1980):
From The Roundhouse gig last night (November 12th, 2011):
And then there's "History Of The World Part 1". An epic single which should've been #1 for weeks. Enormous in scope, vast darkness speckled with thunderous ethereal lights. Gorgeous melodies, insistent playing, hugely musical, carrying one on a grand sonorous journey.
Mike Read Session 9-10-80:
And an absolutely frantic "I Feel Alright" from last night:
"Wait For The Blackout" is MAGNIFICENT. Riotous fun from note one, a guaranteed feel-good pick-me-up. Hugely catchy riff, great melodies, wonderfully fun subject matter, amusing middle-8, killer outro. A perfect song, in my opinion.
With Rat Scabies miming Dave Vanian's vocals:
Great BBC Session (October 9th, 1980):
From The Roundhouse gig last night (November 12th, 2011):
And then there's "History Of The World Part 1". An epic single which should've been #1 for weeks. Enormous in scope, vast darkness speckled with thunderous ethereal lights. Gorgeous melodies, insistent playing, hugely musical, carrying one on a grand sonorous journey.
Mike Read Session 9-10-80:
And an absolutely frantic "I Feel Alright" from last night:
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Mikael Tariverdiev (Микаэл Таривердиев)...
My most important musical discovery in a very, very long time, perhaps even years, I came across the work of Mikael Tariverdiev at the end of Marcella Puppini's radio show when she was interviewing Stephen Coates of The Real Tuesday Weld. Heard as the last song here, this piece from the 1966 Russian film "Goodbye Boys" begins with a lovely, delicate piano, tiptoeing through the shadows of a marbled city, before changing course, slightly heavier and swaying now, joined by wistful humming, bouncing along on the back of a pickup truck through dirt and fields, out into the twilight.
Tariverdiev writes exquisite songs in the grand European tradition, often sung by the popular Russian singers of the day, and reminding me of Gainsbourg on more than one occasion. I can't find any of his work available to buy, so here is a double cd Best Of that seems to be a safe download.
And another lovely one here.
Tariverdiev writes exquisite songs in the grand European tradition, often sung by the popular Russian singers of the day, and reminding me of Gainsbourg on more than one occasion. I can't find any of his work available to buy, so here is a double cd Best Of that seems to be a safe download.
And another lovely one here.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Mikey Georgeson - "Moth In The Flame Of Carnality"...
I keep meaning to write many posts on David Devant & His Spirit Wife, Mr. Solo, and the man behind it all, Mikey Georgeson, who I consider one of our greatest songwriters. He has written the most songs I consider to be of the very best. Will get to those posts soon, but until then, here's a new one that's stuck with me since I heard it. Utterly lovely:
And now there's a more fleshed-out band version:
And now there's a more fleshed-out band version:
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Afghan Whigs covers...
Yesterday I mentioned that The Afghan Whigs are my favourite covers band. Their takes on other people's songs are almost always a delight, often matching or outdoing the originals for quality. The recorded versions are mostly Motown and soul but live Greg Dulli would launch into seemingly whatever crossed his mind at any given moment (a tradition he continues to this day). Some of my favourites:
A perfect version of "Band Of Gold":
An astoundingly lovely "True Love Travels On A Gravel Road":
Dulli often changes major key classics into more menacing minor key versions, as is the case with "Come See About Me":
These three above are all on the highly-recommended Uptown Avondale E.P.
I've been looking for them doing the Stones' "Beast Of Burden" for a while, knowing it'd be great, and here it is live in Montreal '98:
"Dear Prudence" was always a treat live. Evidence at the beginning of these two of what a great frontman Dulli is.
The Twilight Singers doing "Hey Ya":
A soul-aching "Dark End Of The Street":
And if you can find the Beautiful Girls soundtrack, the Whigs' cover of Frederick Knight's "Be For Real" is excellent (done here by Leonard Cohen).
A perfect version of "Band Of Gold":
An astoundingly lovely "True Love Travels On A Gravel Road":
Dulli often changes major key classics into more menacing minor key versions, as is the case with "Come See About Me":
These three above are all on the highly-recommended Uptown Avondale E.P.
I've been looking for them doing the Stones' "Beast Of Burden" for a while, knowing it'd be great, and here it is live in Montreal '98:
"Dear Prudence" was always a treat live. Evidence at the beginning of these two of what a great frontman Dulli is.
The Twilight Singers doing "Hey Ya":
A soul-aching "Dark End Of The Street":
And if you can find the Beautiful Girls soundtrack, the Whigs' cover of Frederick Knight's "Be For Real" is excellent (done here by Leonard Cohen).
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Divine Comedy covers...
The other day I discovered this version of The Divine Comedy covering The Pixies' "Gigantic":
Which led me to today finding Neil Hannon covering the Pet Shop Boys' "Being Boring":
They've always been a great covers band, rivalling even The Afghan Whigs, who I believe have probably given us the greatest covers of other people's songs. But Mr. Hannon is such an excellent musician, he's able to play any song by ear; a highly entertaining part of the show often being his asking for people to shout out requests, though they must not be his own songs. Catching The Divine Comedy on the Absent Friends tour in Boston, MA, at TT The Bear's, we were treated to fun takes on Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O'Mine" & Oasis' "Champagne Supernova" with an amazing version of Prince's "Purple Rain".
Here's Neil doing The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" at The Lexington in London 4/11/10 (so wish I had known about this!):
With Cathy Davey performing "I Only Have Eyes For You" at Manchester Academy 9/11/10:
There's the 3 Magnetic Fields covers from the b-sides:
Jacques Brel's "Jackie":
A lovely lo-fi take on "Moon River":
Roxy Music's "Oh Yeah":
"Life On Mars?" with Yann Tiersen:
Kraftwerk's "Radioactivity" and "The Model":
Edwyn Collins' "Untitled Melody":
MGMT's "Time To Pretend":
Sacha Distel's "The Good Life":
Randy Newman's "Lonely At The Top":
And these last two come from the bonus disc of "Bang Goes The Knighthood", recorded live in Paris at Cité De La Musique, 23/9/08. I was at the second of these gigs, where Neil alternated between classic chanson and his own songs. Here's him doing Jacques Dutronc's "Les Playboys". And then one of my fondest gig memories when he went from Francoise Hardy's cover of Mina's "Se Telefonando" (one of my all-time favourite songs) "Je Changerais D'Avis" into his own "Tonight We Fly".
And there's plenty more too.
Which led me to today finding Neil Hannon covering the Pet Shop Boys' "Being Boring":
They've always been a great covers band, rivalling even The Afghan Whigs, who I believe have probably given us the greatest covers of other people's songs. But Mr. Hannon is such an excellent musician, he's able to play any song by ear; a highly entertaining part of the show often being his asking for people to shout out requests, though they must not be his own songs. Catching The Divine Comedy on the Absent Friends tour in Boston, MA, at TT The Bear's, we were treated to fun takes on Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O'Mine" & Oasis' "Champagne Supernova" with an amazing version of Prince's "Purple Rain".
Here's Neil doing The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" at The Lexington in London 4/11/10 (so wish I had known about this!):
With Cathy Davey performing "I Only Have Eyes For You" at Manchester Academy 9/11/10:
There's the 3 Magnetic Fields covers from the b-sides:
Jacques Brel's "Jackie":
A lovely lo-fi take on "Moon River":
Roxy Music's "Oh Yeah":
"Life On Mars?" with Yann Tiersen:
Kraftwerk's "Radioactivity" and "The Model":
Edwyn Collins' "Untitled Melody":
MGMT's "Time To Pretend":
Sacha Distel's "The Good Life":
Randy Newman's "Lonely At The Top":
And these last two come from the bonus disc of "Bang Goes The Knighthood", recorded live in Paris at Cité De La Musique, 23/9/08. I was at the second of these gigs, where Neil alternated between classic chanson and his own songs. Here's him doing Jacques Dutronc's "Les Playboys". And then one of my fondest gig memories when he went from Francoise Hardy's cover of Mina's "Se Telefonando" (one of my all-time favourite songs) "Je Changerais D'Avis" into his own "Tonight We Fly".
And there's plenty more too.
Friday, 4 November 2011
Martin Newell...
Yesterday Soph and I traveled to Wivenhoe to attend Martin Newell's book reading at the Wivenhoe Bookshop, for his new book, 'Stars On A Tray', a collection of his Saturday columns for the East Anglian Daily Times. I discovered Mr. Newell's (abundance of) work last summer when I stumbled across "Living With Victoria Grey: The Very Best Of The Cleaners From Venus" on the internet somewhere and fell in love with it. (I was so impressed that I listed "Discovering Martin Newell & The Cleaners From Venus" as one of my highlights of 2010 for Friendly Noise magazine) I was also astounded at the story behind the band, how many of their albums were very unconventionally released home cassettes and you'd have to send away or trade for them, but all yielding a lot of amazing pop songs. A few of these are due to get a proper, remastered, release very soon, but since it took me a while to track a lot of them down, here's some of the original cassette recordings here.
We met the man and he was very nice, funny and interesting, filled with a real passion for music and the life he's led. Some great stories. He seemed to really enjoy talking to Soph about The Plod, his first band, and was excited and surprised that Soph plays them at GlamRacket. We each picked up his, what looks to be highly entertaining, memoir of those days, This Little Ziggy.
There really is an incredible amount of music to delve into. Besides his solo work and The Cleaners (from both of which he continues to release albums and e.p.s at least once a year, details on his site), there's the Stray Trolleys (this took me a while to find but is great) and The Brotherhood Of Lizards. Here are some of my favourites:
"Goodbye Dreaming Fields". Lead-off track from his "The Greatest Living Englishman" album. Produced by Andy Patridge of XTC and Martin's best-known work.
The incredibly lovely "Mercury Girl" by The Cleaners From Venus:
"Victoria Grey":
"Marilyn On A Train" (the 'Blow Away Your Troubles' version is great too):
For more of an introduction to Martin Newell's life and work, there's the Cherry Red TV interview conducted by Iain McNay:
We met the man and he was very nice, funny and interesting, filled with a real passion for music and the life he's led. Some great stories. He seemed to really enjoy talking to Soph about The Plod, his first band, and was excited and surprised that Soph plays them at GlamRacket. We each picked up his, what looks to be highly entertaining, memoir of those days, This Little Ziggy.
There really is an incredible amount of music to delve into. Besides his solo work and The Cleaners (from both of which he continues to release albums and e.p.s at least once a year, details on his site), there's the Stray Trolleys (this took me a while to find but is great) and The Brotherhood Of Lizards. Here are some of my favourites:
"Goodbye Dreaming Fields". Lead-off track from his "The Greatest Living Englishman" album. Produced by Andy Patridge of XTC and Martin's best-known work.
The incredibly lovely "Mercury Girl" by The Cleaners From Venus:
"Victoria Grey":
"Marilyn On A Train" (the 'Blow Away Your Troubles' version is great too):
For more of an introduction to Martin Newell's life and work, there's the Cherry Red TV interview conducted by Iain McNay:
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