Week In Music August 3rd - 9th

Early this week was all about listening to Paul Simpson's Skyray albums, which I then bought on Bandcamp Friday. Lovely stuff. 

'Jet Stream Summer' stood out early, as it reminds me a little of Saint Etienne's early albums.

And then I really dug the Krautrock-ness of 'Oxygum' from Ice Rink Music. Paul's notes on making this lost album were interesting to read too

I watched the Brainiac documentary which was excellent. They really were a force to be reckoned with and it would have been so great to see/hear what they would have become. This has been stuck in my head a lot

Remembered how much I love this tune and have ever since Chris Razz gave me the yellow promo cassette at Secret Sounds in Fairfield, CT in 1993. I can still remember putting it on on the drive home in the family caravan and getting into it. It's been my favourite song of theirs ever since and Transmissions From The Satellite Heart has remained my favourite Flaming Lips record

Discovered Hayley Mary just in time to buy her EP on Bandcamp Friday.

Watched Jim Jarmusch's Gimme Danger Stooges documentary two nights ago and really dug it. Iggy had a lot of cool things to say. It was touching that he thought growing up in such small space in a trailer really gave him the opportunity to know his parents. Had me once again taken in with the magic of 'Search And Destroy'. I have never forgotten the feeling of being 16, coming home after buying 'Raw Power' on cassette, popping in the tape, and being blown away by what I heard. Those opening chords, one of the best examples of the power of going to the IV. And despite Iggy being great on this, and 'I'm a streetwalkin cheetah with a heart full of napalm' being one of the all-time best opening lines, an awesome statement of intent, this song is all about James Williamson's guitar. Those lead lines bursting out like fireballs from the ruckus. It's unstoppable. And the whole 'honey gotta help me please' section, every chord underneath is perfect, and even after almost 30 years of listening to this, they seem like a surprise, a 'how did they make it this good?' sense of wonder abounds.