17 seconds

A new home

2009-01-03T16:15:00.001+01:00

After nearly 750 posts on blogger, 17 Seconds has a new web address! Please point your browsers to:

www.17seconds.co.uk

Album Review: Light Syndicate

2009-01-03T14:40:00.002+01:00

Light Syndicate -'Last In Line' (Pushbike Recordings)

There are few phrases more likely to make bloggers or record shop staff moan (apart from questions about really awful acts, I suppose) than bands saying 'Our music is really hard to categorise.' It smacks of people wanting to make out that they are really different and is almost never the case. Turgid, blantant, unaoriginal ripoffs are what follow on hearing.

Light Syndicate don't make that claim - but they are one of the few bands that would genuinely have the right to do so. This album shows a fantastic meeting point where the math-rock of Shellac meets the modern progressive rock of bands like Oceansize and Mogwai, with a bit of post-rock and folk rock thrown in for good measure.

Last In Line showcases some genuinely exciting sounds without ever becoming a self-obssessed, navel gazing soundtrack. Right from the instrumental opener '10 seconds To Live' to the album's closer, the title track, the band have made a genuinley thrilling debut. Vocalist Chris Bryden has been compared to Chris Martin (!) but really he's leading a band ploughing their own furrough. Long may he continue to do so.

****

Light Syndicate's website/Light Syndicate's Myspace

Last In Line is released on January 12.

Light Syndicate -' Sorry.'

Album Review: Autons

2009-01-03T14:16:00.004+01:00

The Autons -'Who do you think you are kidding?' (Jelly Maid Music)

Whoomph! It's only the first week of 2009 and this has arrived, packing a very mighty punch and ready to make you sit up and listen. The Autons' second album is the sound of a band ready to blow away all the cobwebs of insipid indie rock and show how beats and mighty guitar riffs can comebine together to produce something truly intoxicating.

I've been walking around with this on my headphones for the last week or so. It's something really special Hell, I want to have a party so I can play this record really loud as the soundtrack to it. This record will make you sit up, and make a new year's resolution to dicsover something very different in 2009.

Dismiss them as another electro-rock band at your peril; with each listen, this release becomes more and more necessary. Tracks like 'Amazing' actually...are. 'Election Singer' has already been a single; I'm sure there will be others to follow, and if there is any justice, hits.

****

Autons website Autons' myspace

Go on, see what the fuss is about!

The Autons -'Election Singer.'

Who Do You Think You Are Kidding? is released on January 26, 2009.

Some more Peel

2009-01-02T11:26:00.004+01:00

I received an email yesterday asking if I could repost the Special AKA's version of Free Nelson Mandela, so I hope I picked the right one...

anyway, it gives me an opportunity to do one of my Peel posts.

First up, these were Pell sessions tracks that made the Festive Fifty in 1989, and went on to become chart hits the following year:

Inspiral Carpets -'This Is How It Feels (session).' mp3 (1989 Festive Fifty no.35)

Inspiral Carpets -'She Comes In The Fall (session).' mp3 (1989 Festive Fifty no.50)

This was a track that became remixed the follwoing year under the name 'Move Any Mountain' and gave the Shamen several years as a Smash Hits and Top Of the Pops freindly act.

Shamen -'Pro-Gen .' mp3(1990 Festive Fifty no.34)

I know little about the Flaming Stars, but they sound great still. The BBC site erroneously credits these tracks as being done by the Flaming Lips, who John Peel also championed, rightly, IMHO, but are a completely different band.

Flaming Stars -'Face On the Bar Room Floor.' mp3 (1996 Festive Fifty no.48)

Flaming Stars -'Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.' mp3 (1995 Festive Fifty no.29)

This track took ages to find, not available on either eMusic or iTunes

Drop Nineteens -'Winona.' mp3 (1992 Festive Fifty no.28)

Another band I know little about...but they too sound great:

The Decoration -'Joy Adamson.' mp3 (2004 Festive Fifty no.39)

The Decoration -'I Tried It, I Liked It, I Loved It.' mp3 (2004 festive Fifty no.24)

As requested...from the last year that much 'pop' stuff entered the Festive Fifty:

Special AKA -'Free Nelson Mandela.' mp3 (1984 Festive Fifty no.41)

Finally, another track (this one supplied by JC over at The Vinyl Villain that seemed very hard to get hold of, but I repost here for your delight:

Robert Wyatt -'The Wind Of Change.' mp3 (1985 Festive Fifty no.47)

This track credits Wyatt with the SWAPO singers.

As always, PLEASE SUPPORT THE ARTISTS. EVEN IF THEY HAVE MADE IT BLOODY HARD TO GET HOLD OF THEIR MUSIC.

If you want to find more about John Peel, start here.

Absolutely essential Peel-related blogs include Sexy Loser, Teenage Kicks and Fades In Slowly.

Album Review: Damon and Naomi

2008-12-30T16:04:00.005+01:00

Damon and Naomi -'More Sad Hits' (Re-issue) (20-20-20)

A year after Galaxie 500 dissolved, Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang returned to producer their producer Kramer’s studio and recorded this album chock-full of what have been described as psychedelic break-up songs.

When Galaxie 500 had disbanded, they weren't even sure about continuing, and according to the sleevenotes to this re-issue, seemed to have enetered a stage of almost hibernation where they listened to Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom over and over again. Comrade Wyatt - and I use that phrase as warmly as possible - described this album on release as being “Like real water in a world of soda pop.” It's so real, so pure...so different. Yes, of course you can hear aspects of Galaxie 500 in here, but if you've never heard Damon and Naomi before, don't simply expect them to sound like Luna. This is some of the most beuatiful and fragile music you will ever hear. Belle and Sebastian and Low amongst others must have been taking notes.

But don't simply pigeonhole this as hardcore indie or slowcore or whatever. This is an album that has widely, and rightly, become regarded as an underground classic. now it's time for it to become as well-known as it deserves.

****1/2

More Sad Hits is out now on 20-20-20.

Damon and Naomi -'E.T.A.' mp3 (more mp3s can be found here)

Damon and Naomi's website

Album Review: The Old Romantic Killer Band

2008-12-29T23:40:00.004+01:00

The Old Romantic Killer Band -'The Swan With Two Necks (Bad Sneakers)

TORKB sound like an interesting proposition on paper, a singer/guitarist with an obsession with American blues and British folk and a drummer fired up by heavy metal and 80s hardcore. Following on from two singles they unleash their debut album, which is nine tracks and twenty two minutes long.

The good news is that there is no messing around. The...well, not exactly bad news as such, but reality is that as with their single 'You Don't Know How To Love' (not included here) I am still left with the feeling that there's an awful lot of potential here which isn't being realised. On the plus side, the tunes, drumming and guitars are great. However, whilst I wouldn't want to encourage smoking, the singer needs to rough up his voice if he's going to sing the blues and write lyrics that sound a little less cliched. Added to which, music like this should not be over-produced, and ideally, not produced but recorded by someone like Steve Albini.

I still think that one day TORKB are going to release an arse-kicker of a record. They need to work on things a bit more to do so, however.

**1/2

The Old Romantic Killer Band's myspace

The Swan With Two Necks is out now on Bad Sneakers Records

Album Review: Nickel Eye

2008-12-29T20:23:00.004+01:00

Nickel Eye - 'The Time Of the Assassins' (Ryko)

Nickel Eye is Nikolai (say Nickel Eye out loud, then cringe) Fraiture of The Strokes' solo project. With the Strokes seemingly still on hiatus, he came to England and recorded an album of his own. Including guest appearances from Nick Zinner (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, talking of bands who we are due another album from) and Regina Spektor. So far, so good...

..Unfortunately, his backing band are South, who have well and truly jumped the shark. Added to which, most of the songs feel like badly recorded Strokes songs and Fraiture's voice is completely lacking in charisma. The best track 'Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye' is of course, a Leonard Cohen cover. At least he didn't opt to do 'Hallelujah.'

It's not an awful album, but it's just utterly dull and boring.

**

The Time Of The Assassins is released on January 26 on Ryko.

Nickel Eye's myspace

Time to reclaim them for us

2008-12-27T12:22:00.003+01:00

They may have receievd a lot of flack over the years (a fair bit of which is almost certainly tall poppy syndrome), but I think it's time for people to embrace the music of early Simple Minds. Rather like with Roxy Music, the early stuff was genuinely pioneering, and has dated much better than some of the later stuff. And controversial though this may be for some, I think they were far more pioneering in their early days than U2, with whom they were always compared. They didn't want to be considered Jockrock and the song titles reflected an interest far more in tune with Warhol and European culture.

Take the two early tracks 'I Travel' and 'Theme For Great Cities.' To me they still sound utterly fresh now.

Simple Minds -'I Travel.'

Simple Minds -'Theme For Great Cities.'

This track hints at what was to come later...but also shows that several albums in, they hadn't compromised.

Simple Minds -'The American.'

In 1982, they broke through commercially with the album New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) and attendant hits like 'Promised you A Miracle.' There were celebrity marriages for singer Jim Kerr (to both Chrissie Hynde and Patsy Kensit), a US no.1 single, and huge, massive gigs. An increasing bombasticness alientated old fans, but there were some utter gems later too:

This was the first time I ever saw Simple Minds' music on TV, this made it into the UK charts in late 1986. Their manager of the time, Bruce Findlay, has said that this is a re-write of 'I Travel.'

Simple Minds -'Ghostdancing.'

Please do yourselves a favour: listen to the early albums: Life In A Day, Reel To Reel Cacophony, Empires And Dance, Sons and Fascination, Sisters Feeling Call. You can almost certainly pick these up very cheaply. Simple Minds are still recording and touring. Their manager of the eighties, Bruce Findlay now manages Aberfeldy and reads this blog, too...

Simple Minds' official website/Simple Minds myspace

A link to lots of Simple Minds videos on youTube

Two great losses

2008-12-27T11:12:00.006+01:00

Hello folks...hope you had a good Christmas break. Had a fantastic, quiet christmas, just me, Mrs. 17 Seconds, and our two cats. I have receieved new albums (including the new Sigur Ros and Kaiser Chiefs and very first Stones LP, all on vinyl, like obviously), some Fall comps from the in-laws and lots of Alfred Hitchcock on DVD. (One day I am going to do a post related to Alfred Hitchcock on this blog).

The only sadness (other than parents and bother and sister-in-law being in other countries) was the loss over Christmas of two absolute legends in my eyes: Eartha Kitt and Harold Pinter.

I am eternally grateful that my Mum and Dad had a much more singularly original approach to what music they played my brother and I as kids. Eartha Kitt was my Mum's favourite singer, who had absolutely appalled her parents as they didn't get that Eartha Kitt was sending herself and other people up. I've written about Eartha Kitt here before, posting stuff for my Mum's birthday. I'm convinced that artists as diverse as Diana Ross, Madonna and Amy Winehouse, amongst many, many others owe her a huge debt. (Listen to Kitt's 'Just An Old Fashioned Girl, then Madonna's 'Material Girl.' Just saying).

The other loss is Harold Pinter. I'm not an authority on Pinter, but the work of his I have read was amazing. At sixteen, in the no man's land between GCSEs and A-Levels, a very clued up english teacher got us to watch Death In Venice and read Pinter's The Homecoming.* Pinteresque pauses entered my personal lixicon. A few years later my brother was in a production of The Caretaker. Who was this writer, with his pauses and sense of unease and dread that he created in people? When I found out that Nick Cave had called his earlier band The Birthday Party** this made Pinter even cooler.*** In fact, I played in a band at university called The Betrayal named after Pinter's play.

I have been very disappointed by some of the idiots over at the BBC's webpages who have failed to realise Pinter's genius and slagging his politics. However, I do know that there are many people to whom Pinter was deeply important, politically and in terms of what he wrote, and if some folk are too ignorant to get that, then more fool them.

Both Pinter and Kitt got treated appallingly at times; Kitt was blacklisted for speaking out against the Vietnam War and couldn't work in the US for over a decade (and this was well after McCarthy!), and Pinter was often outspoken against both British and american Foreign Policy, his acceptance speech for the Nobel prize forliterature offended many when the BBC did not show it in its' entirety.

Rest in peace, both of you.

Eartha Kitt -'I want To Be Evil.'

Eartha Kitt -'Just An old Fashioned Millionaire.'

For Pinter's sheer genius watch this clip from The Birthday Party, the interrogation scene. In which Josef K's arrest seems like a mild understanding, and Harry Palmer was just having a joke played on him...

...and I wouldn't trust Lenny as far as I could throw him...(from the Homecoming)

* I wasn't very cool, then as now, in fact, I loved Polanski's version of Macbeth as well.

** I am aware that this has been disputed and may also be to do with Cave misreading Dostoevsky.

*** Rock music definitely had an effect on what I read and my consequently ending up studying philosophy: The Cure and the Fall lead to me reading Camus and Sartre, for example. And reading The Naked Lunch was kind of an obvious next step. (Still haven't finished the Catcher In The Rye, though)

Merry Xmas

2008-12-24T15:49:00.006+01:00

...phew. Christmas is nearly here, the school term is over...and I'm feeling absolutely exhusted and still quite some way off goodwill to all men, especially if they have anything to do with the RIAA or the DMCA.

But, it has been a good year for me overall, sustained by getting a better job, the continued love and support of Mrs. 17 Seconds and family, friends and readers. 17 Seconds Records Ltd. is go, make friends at our myspace page if you haven't already.

17SEC1 is already available as a download, Aberfeldy's first single for two years 'Claire.' The 7" is now supposed to be with us in January, not that I'm getting annoyed about this or anything...It was a proud moment hearing Riley Briggs talking about 17 Seconds Records from the stage at their two gigs on Monday and Tuesday; if you pop along to their myspace, where you can make friends if you haven;t already and hear their version of a Christmas classic. They were supported on Tuesday night in Edinburgh by the rather fabulous Gillyflowers who have already been recording with Riley Briggs from Aberfeldy producing and amazing it is too. Make friends with them, before some hip record company snaps them up.

17SEC2 is Ex Lion Tamer's fantastic 'Life Support Machine.' Thank you to the 100+ who have downloaded this; if you haven't please do - it's a free Christmas track.

Ex Lion Tamer -'Life Support Machine.' mp3

If of course, Christmas is getting too much for you, check out this track from Earth:

Earth -'Omens And Portents I: The Driver.' mp3

It's taken from this page whixh has lots of wonderful and not a little terrifying stuff from the likes of Om, Sunn o)), Burning Witch...and Boris collaborating with Merzbow. Two Japanese gods of noise collaborating together. Oh yes...

Have a good one, I'll be back in the new year

XX

Rolling Stones post exile

2008-12-22T10:05:00.003+01:00

I know it's kinda accepted wisdom that the Stones 'jumped the shark' at some point in the seventies, but I still think there were moments of genius.

This is very good, very funky and extremely political. The title track of their 1983 album Undercover. Much better than 'She was Hot.' U2 were taking notes...

Rolling Stones -'Undercover Of The Night.'

There's a link to another Stones song here 'She's So Cold.' (what is the point of disabling the embedding if you can still see it?!?!) This is from Emotional Rescue.

The very first time I ever remember seeing a Stones song on TV (deprived childhood) was this on Top Of The Pops in 1986. Keep putting off buying Dirty Work, there's something offputting about the sleeve...

Rolling Stones -'Harlem Shuffle.'

1994's Voodoo Lounge seemed a return to form in some ways after the eighties excesses that marred Steel Wheels. Charlie Watts seems to look completely perplexed in the video! This was the first post-Bill Wyman album. (Actually I once met Bill Wyman; he did a signing in the bookshop where I weas working at the time, so I spent half an hour chatting to him about stuff.)

The Stones ended up sharing a writing credit with k.d.lang for this song, after one of the Stones kids commented on the similarity to lang's song 'Constant Craving.' This is from 1997's Bridges To Babylon. Not an amazing album - but better than many of their latter-day albums.

Rolling Stones - 'Anybody Seen My Baby.'

Finally, when I met Bill Wyman, I couldn't not ask him about this video. It sounded terrifying!

Rolling Stones -'It's Only Rock'n' Roll.'

Rolling Stones' official website

17 Seconds' Top 75 Albums of the Year

2008-12-20T17:05:00.018+01:00

Lord knows this has been a very difficult list to compile, but thank you everyone for the love and support you have shown this week.

1. Cave Singers Invitation Songs
2. Santogold Santogold
3. Benga Diary Of An Afro Warrior
4. Jaguar Love Take Me To The Sea
5. Meursault Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues
6. The Bug London Zoo
7. The Cure 4:13 Dream
8. Shearwater Rook
9. Hanggai Introducing Hanngai
10. Fuck Buttons Street Horrrsing
11. Fleet Foxes Sun Giant
12. Escape Act Loosely Based On Fiction
13. Crystal Stilts Alight Of Night
14. Coldplay Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
15. Antony and the Johnsons Another World
16. Earth The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
17. HK119 Fast, Cheap And Out Of Control
18. James Hey, Ma
19. Jamie Liddell Jim
20. Boris Smile
21. Melvins Nude With Boots
22. Neon Neon Stainless Style
23. Mogwai The Hawk Is Howling
24. Jason McNiff In My Time
25. Matmos Supreme Balloon
26. Presets Apocalypso
27. Spiritualized Songs in A & E
28. RTX JJ Got Live RaTX
29. Sunn o))) Domkirke
30. Times New Viking Rip It Off
31. Dark Captain Light Captain Miracle Kicker
32. Cat Power Jukebox
33. Beatglider Witches
34. Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend
35. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
36. Fucked Up The Chemistry Of Modern Life
37. Baby Dee Safe Inside The Day
38. Giant Sand Provisions
39. Lambchop OH (Ohio)
40. Ladyhawke Ladyhawke
41. Elbow The Seldom Seen Kid
42. Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes
43. Yo Majesty Futuristically Speaking...Never Be Afraid
44. Mark Stewart Edit
45. Stereolab Chemical Chords
46. Sons and Daughters This Gift
47. British Sea Power Do You Like Rock Music?
48. Martina Topley-Bird The Blue Bird
49. Tricky Knowle West Boy
50. Residents The Bunny Boy
51. Dom DeLuca Birds Of Worry
52. Chris Bradley Voices
53. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks Real Emotional Trash
54. Dengue Fever Venus On Earth
55. Errors It's Not Something But It Is Like Whatever
56. Free Kitten Inherit
57. David Grubbs An Optimist Notes the Dust
58. Half Man Half Biscuit CSI: Ambleside
59. Hair Police Certainty Of Swarms
60. Rose Kemp Unholy Majesty
61. The Kills Midnight People
62. The Fall Imperial Wax Solvent
63. Lightspeed Champion Falling Off Lavender Bridge
64. William Parker Double Sunrise Over Neptune
65. Primal Scream Beautiful Future
66. Religious Knives Resin
67. Rosie Taylor Project This City Draws Maps
68. Magnetic Fields Distortion
69. Amplifico See Heart See Muscle
70. Cut Copy In Ghost Colours
71. Goldfrapp Seventh Tree
72. Sonic Youth J'accuse Ted Hughes
73. Blow Monkeys Devil's Tavern
74. Long Blondes Couples
75. Roots Manuva Slime And Reason

Top 10 Re-Issues/Compilations

1. John Baker The John Baker Tapes (Trunk)
2. Various Artists From Dancehall To Grime (Soul Jazz)
3. Mogwai Young Team (Chemikal Underground)
4. Various Artists Dancehall The Rise Of Jamaican Dancehall Culture (Soul Jazz)
5. The Smiths The Sound Of The Smiths (Rhino)
6. Jay Reatard Matador Singles '08 (Matador)
7. Yazoo In Your Room (Mute)
8. Hear, O Israel: A Prayer Ceremony In Jazz (Trunk)
9. Various Artists The First Chapters (XL)
10. Various Artists Give Me Love: Songs Of The Brokenhearted, Baghdad, 1925-1929
(Honest Jon's)

So there we have it. I will update this list with various links (and um, check the comments bit as well. Just saying...)

And, as always, for anyone who thinks this blog is just indie indie indie...umm, there is perhaps a bigger proliferation of Jazz, Reggae, Hip Hop, Electronica and World/Global than ever before. So if you think it's all indie...maybe YOU need to investigate more.

An announcement

2008-12-17T18:13:00.003+01:00

*deep breath*

It's been a hellish few days.

But I've been very touched by the support I've received from readers, friends, fellow bloggers and family. Most particularly my long-suffering wife.

I'm still trying to work out the future. But I wanted to say thanks (and watch this space).

In the words of Vigo from Ghostbusters 2 (above):

'Death is but a door, time is but a window. I'll be back.'

Crass -'Do They Owe Us A Living?' mp3

Ex Lion Tamer -'Life Support Machine.' mp3

the end

2008-12-15T23:35:00.006+01:00

Ok folks, this is very sad, but after two and a half years I have decided to stop doing 17 Seconds.

I have received yet another takedown notice. Yet again, I have had my Festive Fifty post removed. For the record the Festive Fifty was:

1. The Wedding Present -'The Trouble With Men.'
2. MGMT -'Time To Pretend.'
3. The Bug -'Angry (featuring Tipper Irie).'
4. Aberfeldy -'Come on, Claire.'
5. Santogold -'My Superman.'
6. M.I.A. -'Paper Planes.'
7. Mogwai -'The Sun Smells Too Loud.'
8. The Kills -'Cheap And Cheerful.'
9. Dom DeLuca -'Birds Of Worry.'
10.Escape Act -'God Says.'
11.Hayman Watkins Trout And Lee -'Sly And The Family Stone.'
12.Jamie Lidell -'Another Day.'
13.Broken Records -'If The News Makes You Sad, Don't Watch It.'
14.RTX -'You Should Shut Up.'
15.Brigyn -'Haleliwia.'
16.HK119 -'Mind.'
17.Madonna -'Give It 2 Me.'
18.Cave Singers -'Seeds Of Night.'
19.Broken Records -'Lies.'
20.Mr. Beasley -'Right As Rain.'
21.Breeders -'We're Gonna Rise.'
22.Presets -'This Boy's In Love.'
23.How To Swim -'Genesis P. and Me.'
24.Estelle featuring Kanye West -American Boy.'
25.Dizzee Rascal featuring Calvin Harris and Chrome -'Dance Wiv Me.'
26.Jaguar Love -'Highways Of Love.'
27.Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds -'Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!'
28.Coldplay -'Viva La Vida.'
29.Rustie -'Mic Of the Year.'
30.Neon Neon -'I Lust You.'
31.Vampire Weekend -'The Kids Don't Stand A Chance.'
32.Buraka Som Sistema -'Kalemba.'
33.Hercules and Love Affair -'Blind.'
34.Duffy -'Mercy.'
35.Laura Cantrell -'Love Vigilantes.'
36.Ready Aim Fire -'So Fine.'
37.Cave Singers -'Dancing On Our Graves.'
38.Wiley -'Wearing My Rolex.'
39.Yo Majesty -'Club Action.'
40.Ting Tings -'That's Not My Name.'
41.Sons & Daughters -'Darling.'
42.British Sea Power -'Waving Flags.'
43.Friendly Fires -'Paris.'
44.Cat Power -'Metal Heart.'
45.K-Salaam & Beatnik -'Babylon (Must Be Mad).'
46.Breeders -'German Demonstration.'
47.Broken Records -'Slow Parade.'
48.It Hugs Back -'Work Day.'
49.Bloc Party -'Mercury.'
50.Hot Chip -'Ready For The Floor.'

The mp3s I had posted were as follows, so far as I can recall:

Mogwai, Dom DeLuca, Escape Act, Hayman Watkins Trout and Lee, Cave Singers, Mr. Beasley, Nick Cave, Rustie, Ready Aim Fire, Cat Power, as far as I can tell. All of these mp3s had been made available as free downloads LEGALLY which I had specified next to each mp3. This clearly wasn't enough.

Why people couldn't have emailed me, I don't know. This blog has been a labour of love. I have spent hours working on this at a time to help promote bands and write about the music I love. I have made it abundantly clear that I wanted people to buy the music that I wrote about. It is time that the RIAA and DMCA were disposed of. These represent nothing but money and have nothing to do with art or integrity. God help those responsible if i ever meet them.

Whoever ordered this post taken down: BURN IN HELL. I HAVE SPENT THE LAST TWO AND A HALF YEARS PROMOTING BANDS. YOU DO NOT EVEN HAVE THE COURAGE TO GET IN TOUCH VIA EMAIL, MUCH LESS FACE TO FACE. YOU ARE SICK, SICK SCUM.
I have sent this email to Blogger.
FOR CHRIST'S SAKE: IF YOU REMOVE THE POST HOW CAN I SEE WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS?

I HAVE MADE IT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR: IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM EMAIL ME AND LET ME KNOW. YOU ARE VIOLATING MY INTELLECTUAL RIGHTS. ALL MP3S POSTED WERE AVAILABLE AS FREE DOWNLOADS.

DO NOT IGNORE THIS EMAIL. I WANT THE NAMES ADDRESSES AND EMAIL ADDRESSES OF THE PEOPLE WHO ASKED YOU TO DO THIS. HOW DARE YOU REMOVE THINGS CITING COPYRIGHT WHEN YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT THE PROBLEM IS?

EVERY MP3 POSTED WAS AVAILABLE AS A FREE DOWNLOAD. YOU OWE ME A BIG APOLOGY. REINSTATE MY POSTS AND GIVE ME AN APOLOGY.

ED, 17 SECONDS

Christmas no.2?

2008-12-15T19:28:00.008+01:00

OK, the likelihood of stopping Alexandra Burke being Christmas no.1 is alas, something I do not have the power to do, unfortunately, but it looks like Jeff Buckley could have a massive smash, with a song that's not even physically released.

See the promo video here.

And yes, it's a Leonard Cohen song. There is, apparently, a facebook group of people committed to buying the song as performed by Jeff Buckley, so let's see what people can achieve. BTW anyone know what happened to Brigyn and their fantastic version in Welsh?

And, seeing as he wrote it: Leonard Cohen's version:

And Rufus Wainwright's version:

And because I'd feel guilty not including it, and because it was supposedly an influence on the way Jeff Buckley did it, John Cale's version:

Go and take on X-Factor. Nothing against Alexandra Burke, but because Simon Cowell is nearly as a big a threat to music as the DMCA and the RIAA!

Countdown to Christmas #15

2008-12-14T13:04:00.002+01:00

I have covered more reggae and Hip-Hop on 17 Seconds as the years have gone by, I promise to try and do much better on this front in years to come.

So, Christmas tracks from two pioneers today, Run DMC and Kurtis Blow.

Run DMC -'Christmas In Hollis.' mp3

Kurtis Blow -'Christmas Rappin.' mp3

And please, if you like these tracks support the artists involved!

Countdown to Christmas #14

2008-12-14T12:20:00.005+01:00

This post does contain tracks I have posted before, but I thought might be worth hearing again. These tracks were freebies, in 2006 and 2007 respectively, so I hope their record dompanies are not going to suddenly become uncooperative.

Sweden's The Knife are a brother and sister act who do a rather fantastic act in electronica; this is no exception.

The Knife -'Christmas Reindeer.' mp3

Meanwhile, the Manic Street Preachers are possibly the biggest act ever to come out of Wales (Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones not withstanding). This year, long-lost bandmate Richey Edwards was pronounced officially dead. Wherever you are Richey, in this life or the next, I genuinely hope that you have found peace.

Manic Street Preachers -'Christmas Ghost.' mp3

If you follow this link, you will see James Dean Bradfield doing a solo version of 'Last Christmas' on YouTube. You can buy a version of the Manic Street Preachers covering this from iTunes from the album Lipstick Traces.

Please note: These tracks were released as free downloads in 2006 and 2007 respectively. 17 Seconds does not promote stealing music, rather it encourages people to hear about music, and to go and investigate it, rather than not knowing about it. Neither of these two tracks are available in the UK on iTunes at the moment, therefore I do not believe I can in any way be guilty of copyright infringement. If you are from the DMCA, the RIAA or some similar organisation, policing the net in a manner akin to a totalitarian regime, please go and shoot yourself. If you are just here to hear music, nice to see you, hope you are well and Merry Christmas.

Gig review: The Wedding Present

2008-12-13T09:43:00.005+01:00

Gig Review: The Wedding Present/Sally Crewe and the Sudden Moves

Edinburgh Liquid Rooms, December 12, 2008

Last year I was quite impressed when arriving at the Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh for my gig of the year, Aberfeldy, to find that the man on the door was none other than Paul Vickers of Dawn Of The Replicants. This year, on arriving at the Liquid Rooms, the person selling the tees, CDs and bags is none other than Weddoes frontman David Gedge! He's a lovely chap, and I'll forgive him for the stuff the Weddoes didn't play tonight.

Support band tonight is Sally Crewe and the Sudden Moves, who are about to release their third album. I hadn't heard them before, but this Austin, Texas three piece will be investigated by me more properly as soon as. They play a wonderful take on angular, post-punk music that makes me think that the revival of this genre that has been reactivated this deacde may not be over yet, with hints of The Wedding Present and Pavement. They play their set in record time, and come on to finish with a cover of Roxy Music's 'Love Is The Drug' which they manage to make their own. Sally Crewe resembles a young Tina Weymouth and before their set is over I'm vowing to buy their music.

The Wedding Present returned after seven years in 2004, and this is the third time I have seen them since they reformed. They are on fine form tonight. Taking to the stage for an energetic set, they tear straight into 'Kennedy.' Exhausted as I am -it's been a strange, long week -the band make a blissful noise for the next seventy five minutes (no encore, obviously, they still don't do those). Even if they don;t play latest album El Rey's best track 'The Trouble With Men' they do play tracks like 'Don't Take Me Home Til I Am Drunk' and 'What I Like Most About Him Is His Girlfriend.' They do also play some killer tracks from their back catalogue 'Interstate 5' 'Crawl' and my favourite ever song of theirs 'My Favourite Dress.'

It is rumoured that, following on from the twentieth anniversary last year of their George Best album that the band will do one for Bizarro. Whether this happens or not, I'm determined to see the Wedding Present every chance I get.

Note: you might want to read the comments page. Just saying...

Countdown to Christmas #13

2008-12-13T00:09:00.003+01:00

OK, very brief post: I know I have already featured the Wedding Present this year, but I have just come back from seeing them at the Liquid Rooms in Edinburgh, and as Mrs. 17 Seconds said, they were even better than last time.

...and I met David Gedge! The man himself was selling the tees at the merch stall, and I managed to not make too much of an idiot of myself, I think, and told him that this blog had nominated 'The Trouble With Men' as the top of the Festive Fifty. He also said that Watusi may get re-issued next year, as he himself has burned CD-Rs of it for fans.

Anyway, the Weddoes' 1992 Christmas single:

Wedding Present -'No Christmas.' mp3

Wedding Present -'Step Into Christmas.' mp3

This is getting beyond a joke...

2008-12-11T18:21:00.004+01:00

...the other day, I painstakingly wrote out my Festive Fifty for 2008.

After much deliberation, I finalised it, posted it, and added some mp3s. One artist, Dom De Luca, even sent out a mass email to say how pleased he was, which made me feel like I was doing some good.

Then I got this email this morning from Blogger:

Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog infringes upon the copyrights of others. The URL(s) of the allegedly infringing post(s) may be found at the end of this message.

The notice that we received from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the record companies it represents, with any personally identifying information removed, will be posted online by a service called Chilling Effects at http://www.chillingeffects.org. We do this in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Please note that it may take Chilling Effects up to several weeks to post the notice online at the link provided.

The IFPI is a trade association that represents over 1,400 major and independent record companies in the US and internationally who create, manufacture and distribute sound recordings (the "IFPI Represented Companies").

The DMCA is a United States copyright law that provides guidelines for online service provider liability in case of copyright infringement. We are in the process of removing from our servers the links that allegedly infringe upon the copyrights of others. If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement, regardless of its merits. See http://www.educause.edu/Browse/645?PARENT_ID=254 for more information about the DMCA, and see http://www.google.com/dmca.html for the process that Blogger requires in order to make a DMCA complaint.

Blogger can reinstate these posts upon receipt of a counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and 3) of the DMCA. For more information about the requirements of a counter notification and a link to a sample counter notification, see http://www.google.com/dmca.html#counter.

Please note that repeated violations to our Terms of Service may result in further remedial action taken against your Blogger account. If you have legal questions about this notification, you should retain your own legal counsel. If you have any other questions about this notification, please let us know.

Sincerely,

The Blogger Team

Affected URLs:

http://www17seconds.blogspot.com/2008/12/17-seconds-festive-fifty-2008.html

To say I am angry would be an understatement. I emailed Blogger, and as yet have not received the apology nor explanation I demanded. (I am pushing my luck on the first one but it's the principle of the thing).

Let me say this once and for all: Blogging is not stealing, it is promoting music. There is a disclaimer on the blog which states pretty clearly that if people don't want to post stuff, then to email me and I will remove it. But when an act of flattery, I would have thought, is treated like this, it makes me wonder why I bother.

Blogger as I have said before, are cowards for not standing up to these authorities. Do people really believe that reputable Bloggers will not remove mp3 links when asked? And seeing as half the music industry is desperate to get featured on blogs, it seems a bit rich to undermine what can and cannot be printed. That's called CENSORSHIP.

So...I will repost my Festive Fifty. But I am hopping mad. I am appalled that the takedown notices, which have NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO WITH ARTISTIC INTEGRITY, UNLESS YOU ARE SERIOUSLY DELUDED, AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH RICH, GREEDY, EVIL TOSSERS. WHO ALMOST CERTAINLY HAVE DODGY RIGHT-WING VIEWS, USE THE LAW TO SILENCE THEIR DETRACTORS, CHEAT ON THEIR WIVES. IT IS MORALLY ACCEPTABLE, NAY, NECESSARY TO EXPOSE THESE PEOPLE FOR THE EVIL __________ THEY ARE, PERHAPS BY PUTTING THEIR NAMES, ADDRESSES, EMAILS, PHONE NUMBERS ON THE WEB.

And any musician who seeks to silence blogs doesn't deserve to sell records. You are no better than Daily Mail reading scum. May your kids be taken permanently into care, your partners take every penny you have and you burn in hell for eternity.

Rant over.

Countdown to Christmas Post #12

2008-12-10T20:10:00.003+01:00

Danish band Mew first came onto my radar six years ago, when they first released their Christmas song 'She Came Home For Christmas.' I've seen them live, supporting Elbow, round about the time of the latter touring to support Leaders Of The Free World, and yet on record they've never really grabbed me as much as they have with 'She Came Home For Christmas.'

It's beautiful, it's European...and it's even a little bit prog. As heartfelt as 'O Caroline' by Matching Mole, even...

Mew -'She Came Home For Christmas.' mp3

17SEC2

2008-12-10T18:57:00.003+01:00

The second act to be signed to 17 Seconds Records
is Ex Lion Tamer. His first single for us will be a song called 'Neon Hearts' and very good it is, too.

However, before that, as an early Christmas present, he would like to share this fantastic song with you, that evokes Kraftwerk and Postal Service, along with much of the fine eighties electric pop that influenced him. It's called 'Life Support Machine.'

Ex Lion Tamer -'Life Support Machine.' mp3

Make friends with Ex Lion Tamer at his myspace, and if you haven't popped by to the 17 Seconds website or myspace, do so!

Feedback welcome, as ever...

Countdown to Christmas Post #11

2008-12-09T21:23:00.006+01:00

Is this one of the creepiest videos ever?

Low -'Santa's Coming Over.'

Boy am I glad I teach secondary (high school for American and Canadian readers).

Meanwhile, seeing as I am trying to tidy up some lose ends with this post, here is another Christmas Fall song:

The Fall -'Xmas with Simon.' mp3

Looking for the remix call 'Christmastide' which I do not own, and is not on either emusic or iTunes...

Countdown to Christmas Post #10

2008-12-07T11:46:00.003+01:00

Was reminded of this track the other day when reading the excellent Ghost Of Electricity blog.
This was a Top 30 hit for Kate Bush in 1980, a very successful year for her when she released the wonderful Never For Ever album, which had hits with Army Dreamers, Breathing and Babooshka (which in itself could probably be a Christmas related post, in terms of the Russian legend, though the Kate Bush song itself deals more with the notion of a husband who no longer sees his wife as young, while she is increasingly paranoid). She also contributed backing vocals to Peter Gabreil's eponymous third album (or should that read third eponymous album?), most noticeably on 'Games Without Frontiers.'

I don't know if there was an official video for this single in 1980 (not all songs did get videos made then, remember this is the year before MTV launched in the US and the best part of a decade before it launched in Europe), but this performance from YouTube is pretty great nonetheless.

Kate Bush -'December Will Be Magic Again.' mp3

How different would music have turned out without this track?

2008-12-07T00:59:00.004+01:00

Kraftwerk -'Trans Europe Express.'

I know this might be heresy, but I'm starting to wonder if Kraftwerk might actually have been more important than the Sex Pistols...Don't get me wrong, the Pistols changed a hell of a lot in the music industry, but to listen to Kraftwerk is like seeing a prediction for the next thirty years of music. Without this song...imagine how post-punk, hiphop, pretty much anything from the dance scene from Aphex Twin to trance would have turned out so differently. Like an omelette without eggs...

Perhaps Public Image Ltd. were ultimately more important than the Sex Pistols? Discuss. I don't know how much of an influence Kraftwerk had on PIL, but I think they must have seeped through in some way.

P.I.L. -'Death Disco.'

BTW...(final thought before stumbling off to bed)...is this 80s cheese or a seminal track?

Ultravox -'Vienna.'

Countdown to Christmas Post #9

2008-12-06T10:22:00.006+01:00

Well, y'know, it's been at least a week since I posted any Fall stuff here (!), so this is a special Saturday post.

The first track here was first heard on their second John Peel session, broadcast on December 6, 1978 (thirty years ago!!). 'No Xmas For John Quays' is a somewhat amusing gag (for goodness sake, say it out aloud), and the track was later recorded for their debut LP, Live At The Witch Trials. I present both versions for you here.

Fast forward, umm sixteen years, and yours truly is glued to John Peel, taping the shows when possible (and often struggling to stay awake until it's over). The Christmas shows that year were great (why did I not keep them intact?!?!), and the Fall's eighteenth Peel session, broadcast on December 17, 1994 contained covers of both 'Jingle Bell Rock' and 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing.'

In December 2003 they released a four track EP entitled 'We Wish You A Protein Christmas.' I always wanted to buy it, but as it was usually retailing for about a fiver, it seemed a lot for a new single. Now of course, I kick myself. Ah well...

The Fall -'No Christmas For John Quays (Peel session 1978).' mp3

The Fall -'No Christmas For John Quays.' mp3

The Fall -'Jingle Bell Rock (Peel session 1994).' mp3

The Fall -'Hark The Herald Angels Sing (Peel session 1994).' mp3

The Fall -'(We Wish You) A Protein Christmas.' mp3

Enjoy your weekend!

P.S. There are obviously loads of blogs out there doing Christmas related stuff, two of my favourites are I Correct Myself, I Mean All The Time and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. The latter is also written by Steve who writes my favourite mp3 blog of all, Teenage Kicks
. The I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday blog has been highlighted in the Guardian. Congratulations, Steve!

Countdown to Christmas Post #9

2008-12-05T20:44:00.004+01:00

I was kinda surprised when putting this post together to discover that a) I hadn't actually posted this last year during the big Christmas-fest I had and b) that whilst I had mentioned Elastica's name on the site I had never posted any Elastica on the blog in what is nearly two and a half years of existence. For shame, for shame...

Anyway, these tracks were recorded for a John Peel session in December 1994. I did actually manage to tape these off the radio, though these mp3s have come to me by other, ah, means...er, anyway two 'carols' from Elastica:

Elastica -'All For Gloria (Peel session).' mp3

Elastica -'I Wanna Be A King Of Orient Aah (Peel session).' mp3

More tomorrow, folks...

Countdown to Christmas Post #8

2008-12-04T23:00:00.003+01:00

There is an argument that this evening's track, the opening one on Low's Christmas LP, is the best Christmas track to appear over the last ten years.

I haven't been blown away by Low's latest single 'Santa's Coming Over' though I like the b-side 'The Coming Of Jah.' Mormons from Minnesota covering reggae? Don't knock it...

Low -'Just Like Christmas.' mp3

And, I know I posted this last year, but what the hell...

Aberdeen City -'Just Like Christmas (Low cover).' mp3

Countdown to Christmas Post #7

2008-12-03T22:35:00.003+01:00

OK, I have to admit I had barely heard of this record until last year, when one reader wrote in to ask if I had it. Investigating it, I cannot believe this band slipped through the net.

I didn't have the track, I eventually tracked it down and I post it here for you:

Basement 5 -'Last White Christmas.' mp3

basement 5 on Wiki/myspace

Countdown to Christmas Post #6

2008-12-02T19:25:00.004+01:00

The Wedding Present are no stranger to doing Christmas songs, and they have just released a rather ace Christmas song called 'Jolly Holly Wood.' It's rather fab, IMHO: GO AND BUY IT!

Back in 1992, as has been well documented, the Weddoes recorded and released a 7" a month. The a-side featured one of their original songs and a cover version on the b-side. For that final release, they covered Elton John's 'Step Into Christmas.'

The Wedding Present -'No Christmas.'

The Wedding Present -'Step Into Christmas.'

Countdown to Christmas Post #5

2008-12-01T23:32:00.004+01:00

[The end of term cannot come fast enough...I love teaching but whoever came up with the idea of marking St. Andrew's Day by getting the kids to wear football strips needs dealing with. Hyper all bloody day.]

...Sorry, just one of my occasional moans about teaching.

Anyway, you're here for music not my insights into the state of education, really, aren't you?

Ron Sexsmith -'Something To Hold Onto (At Christmas).' mp3

Be good. x

Countdown to Christmas Post #4

2008-11-30T20:55:00.003+01:00

Hello again.

It's offensively cold here.

Yesterday Mrs. 17 Seconds and I briefly went Christmas shopping. I will never understand the concept of retail therapy. Way too many people - who kept getting in my personal space.

This seemed appropriate...

Housewives On Prozac -'I Broke My Arm Christmas Shopping At The Mall.' mp3

2008 Festive Fifty and albums...advance warning

2008-11-30T12:17:00.006+01:00

Just to let you know folks, as well as the Christmas posts I've been doing over the last few weeks, I will be posting my annual Festive Fifty and lists of all the best albums of the year, including this year - for the first time -another list for re-issues and compilations. I'm still trying to finalise both lists, as well as worrying about all the albums I haven't heard this year. But as I have heard over 160 new albums this year, hopefully the list will be pretty comprehensive, as comprehensive as one person's list can be.

Two things I want to say now:

1. Glasvegas are not featuring.

You heard. I've thought long and heard about this, and have decided that as they refused to comment on the mp3 debacle back in October that I won't feature them. I haven't been able to bring myself to listen to them since then, anyway. Is this being childish? Um, no, I think their behaviour, smacking as it does of the outsider kid who suddenly negelcts all they're old friends once they're accepted, is unacceptable. So if you can't deal with this, umm, too bad.

And if you think that a professional magazine wouldn't do this...GET REAL!

There's a wonderful article here which I was consulted on.

2. Aberfeldy won't be featuring either.

This is for completely different reasons - as I have helped put the record out, I think it would be a little biased to do so. Obviously I think the 'Claire' single is fantastic, but it might seem like favouritism, and as a teacher, that's something I try to avoid.

Obviously, I am not for one moment suggesting that anyone else follows suit. It would be great if anyone chose to include the Aberfeldy single in their list!

2007's Festive Fifty topping entry:

Emma Pollock -'Adrenaline.' mp3

A post for St. Andrew's Day

2008-11-29T18:33:00.008+01:00

November 30 marks St. Andrew's Day, the Patron Saint of Scotland.

This isn't a particularly big day in Scotland, but then St. David's Day and St. George's Day aren't either. Which probably seems out to the Americans reading this, when you consider how important both Thanksgiving and the 4th of July are.

There's much I love about Scotland, my adopted homeland since 2001. I didn't just move here because I loved Belle and Sebastian or because of Fopp and Avalanche, though these were factors in my coming. Since moving here, I've interviewed Emma Pollock, had tea at Stevie Jackson from Belle and Sebastian's house, worked with members of the Prats, X-Vectors and Wounded Knee, to say nothing of seeing many acts. Oh, and started my own indie label, done my own club night, begun this blog...and qualified as a teacher. It's a place where many of my dreams have come true.

It's not just about the music. There's great literature, great films and a whole thriving culture. I don;t think I could live anywhere else. Sure the winter's are severe, but you can't have everything.

My favourite scottish band remain The Delgados, who are just brilliant. They split up in 2005, but are just life affirming. My favourite Delgados song is 'No Danger' which is from the album The Great Eastern, my favourite scottish album (it was recorded in New York State. Then again, Transformer by Lou Reed reminds me of New York but was recorded in London. Go figure...)

And an mp3 from the album, 'American Trilogy.'

The Delgados -'American Trilogy.' mp3

Oh go on! Here's the video too...

And some other great, classic scottish tracks...

Motorcycle Boy -'Big Rock Candy Mountain (Velocity Dance Mix).' mp3

Aztec Camera -'Oblivious.' mp3

Primal Scream -'Velocity Girl.' mp3

Jesus and Mary Chain -'Upside Down.' mp3

Camera Obscura -'Eighties Fan.' mp3

Yes, I know most of them are over twenty years old, but hey...

Another great review for the Aberfeldy single

2008-11-29T10:32:00.004+01:00

Ok, so I keep going on about this, but was pretty excited to arrive back at 17 Seconds Towers yesterday to find a fanzine waiting for me, the third issue of Twee As Fuck.

Our first single release 'Claire' by Aberfeldy has featured in their 'Seven 7"s we can't get enough of.' The review written by Erik Sandberg reads:

'Whilst the Major sector flounders, the Independents seem to flourish as is evident in this debut single from 17 Seconds Records. Quite simply, this is bliss: Neil Young backed by Joy Zipper at their poppiest. Edinburgh is the new Glasgow, it would appear.'

Oh yes, oh yay!

This is not the single version, but an earlier version as can be downloaded from the SXSW website.

Aberfeldy -'Come On, Claire.' mp3

Like it? We do, too. Support us, and more importantly, support Aberfeldy by buying the single download from one of these download stores.

And, obviously, we will let you know when it's available to purchase on 7". Can't wait for that...

OK, I'm off to try and continue googling record stores I think might stock the Aberfeldy release when we finally have it. whist listening to Crystal Stilts...

Countdown to Christmas Post #3

2008-11-29T09:56:00.002+01:00

Some videos for you today...

The Killers have made two Christmas singles (not sure if they're doing one this year) which have been great fun. As to whether these will join the great lexicon of chrsitmas songs, only time will tell, but I kind of hope so.

As these tracks were released to raise money for charity, I'm not posting the mp3s but enjoy the videos and then go and buy the tracks.

This was released in 2006, and features Toni Halliday on vocals, yes she of Curve fame...

The Killers with Toni Halliday -'A Great Big Sled'

The Killers -'Don't Shoot Me Santa'

This was last year's Christmas single...
(WARNING: Brandon Flowers is wearing a hideous jumper in this video)

Countdown to Christmas Post #2

2008-11-28T18:17:00.007+01:00

Cristina Monet, quite feasibly, in another world, could have been as big as Madonna.

Her wonderfully, dry style makes 'Child Psychology' by Black Box Recorder look amateurish by comparison.

Her contribution to the ZE Christmas Album is a wonderful tale of how, actually, Christmas isn't always wonderful. It sits along such other gems as 'Christmas Wrapping' by the Waitresses (which idiot thought it would be a good idea to let the Spice Girls cover that song?) and 'Christmas With Satan' by James White...which I might post another time.
Cristina -'Things Fall Apart.' mp3

And, ok, it's not Christmassy, but in another world it would have had the same impact as 'Like A Virgin':

Cristina -'What's a Girl To Do?' mp3

Cristina fan site

New Prodigy Track

2008-11-27T23:38:00.004+01:00

One of the biggest let-downs of the decade has got to be The Prodigy's Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned LP. But on the strength of this free track they've released, hopefully they're back firing on all cylinders.

I'm not going to say that this is the best thing they've ever done - but it's pretty much the best thing I've heard them do in over a decade. This is the title track from their new album, the tracklisting and more info can be found here.

The Prodigy -'Invaders Must Die.' mp3

Comments welcome please...

Countdown to Christmas Post #1

2008-11-27T23:02:00.004+01:00

It's that time of year again. Amongst other things on this site will follow much by way of Christmas related stuff, including some anti-Christmas stuff.

Just in case anyone is worried, as God is my witness, I promise not to post any painfully awful and/or obvious stuff. So there will be no Mud, Slade, Shakin' Stevens, Mariah Carey, Boney M etc.. If you want it, I'm sure you can find it elsewhere.

Mogwai have done two (or three, depending on yur point of view) songs with Christmas in the title. 'Xmas Steps', all eleven and a bit minutes of it, was released in 1998, as the lead track on the 'No Education =No Future (Fuck The Curfew) EP.' It made no.2 in John Peel's Festive Fifty that year. It was released in slightly shorter form as 'Christmas Steps' on the following year's Come On Die Young LP. Later on in 1999, the Mogwai EP contained the 'Christmas Song.'

To what extent are these Christmassy? After all the original 'Xmas Steps' came out in July. But they feature the word 'Christmas' in them, so that'll do for me.

Mogwai -'Xmas Steps.' mp3

Mogwai -'Christmas Steps.' mp3

Mogwai -'Christmas Songs.' mp3

(and yes, these were featured by both me last year and Teenage Kicks/I Wish It Could be Christmas Every Day. Three will be other stuff that wasn't. Promise)

More Peel, anybody?

2008-11-26T21:09:00.014+01:00

Well, it has been a little while, so why not one of my Peel posts?

By the way, before I get stuck into this, can people please go and vote over at Teenage Kicks so Steve can work out everyone's favourite Peel sessions. My list is likely to include The Cure, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Fall, Half Man Half Biscuit and the Breeders. Possibly...

First up, I know very little about this song, but its' title sums it up quite well, I think:

Robert Lloyd and the New Four Seasons -'Something Nice.' mp3 (1988 Festive Fifty no.21)

Madness fell flat on their face trying to cover 'The ''Sweetest Girl'' '; they didn't try this to the best of my knowledge:

Scritti Politti -'Asylums In Jerusalem.' mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty no.18)

From the same year, 1982, Aztec Camera's only other Festive Fifty entry:

Aztec Camera -'Pillar To Post.' mp3 ((1982 Festive Fifty no.24)

Peel often felt frustrated that the Festive Fifty didn't include stuff he'd been championing; I hope this pleased him, a rare Hip-Hop entry:

De La Soul -'Eye Know.' mp3 (1989 Festive Fifty no.34)

This was a classic case of a band that Peel had supported some time before finally breaking through, both to the 'proper' top 40 and the Festive Fifty:

The Farm -'Groovy Train.' mp3 (1990 Festive Fifty no.47)

These four tracks from the Wedding Present's Watusi album, still unavailable in the UK it appears, all made the Festive Fifty in 1994.

Wedding Present -'Spangle.' mp3(1994 Festive Fifty no.39)

Wedding Present -'So Long, Baby.' mp3 (1994 Festive Fifty no.37)

Wedding Present -'Click Click.' mp3 (1994 Festive Fifty no.30)

Wedding Present -'Swimming Pools Movie Stars.' mp3 (1994 Festive Fifty no.15)

Finally, it wouldn't be the Festive Fifty without an entry from The Fall. I spent ages trying to work out why I couldn't track this down, then realised that the actual version was in with my LPs and that the CD version seemed to call it Bremen Nacht Alternative. Thank god for the USB turntable.

The Fall -'Bremen Nacht.' mp3 (1988 Festive Fifty no.16)

Now...can anyone help me complete the following tracks, please?

From 1982:

Serious Drinking -'Love On The Terraces.' (1982 Festive Fifty no.38) [Gratefully received thank you!]

From 1983:

Redskins -'Lean On Me.' (1983 Festive Fifty no.30) [Gratefull received, thank you!]
Tools You Can Trust -'Waking and Shopping.' (1983 Festive Fifty no.34) [Gratefully received thank you!]
S.P.K. -'Metal Dance.' (1983 Festive Fifty no.39) [Gratefully received thank you!]

From 1988:

Overlord X -'14 Days In May.' (1988 Festive Fifty no.28) [Gratefully received, thank you!]
Loop -'Collision.' (1988 Festive Fifty no. 41) [Gratefully received, thank you!]

From 1989:
Inspiral Carpets -'So This Is How It Feels (Peel session version).' mp3 (1989 Festive Fifty no.35)
Inspiral Carpets -''She Comes In The Fall (Peel session version).' mp3 (1989 Festive Fifty no.50)

Thanks if anyone can help!

Edx

Some more Smiths related stuff...

2008-11-24T21:17:00.004+01:00

Isn't YouTube fab? This is a clip of Sandie Smith singing The Smiths song 'Jeane.'

The Smiths and Sandie Shaw on a programme called 'Charlie's Bus' (don't remember it, but I would have been around eight at the time. Probably watching Saturday Morning Superstore or something).

Also this link is
Sandie Shaw & The Smiths doing Hand In Glove on Top Of the Pops in 1984. [embedding disabled by request, you'll just have to go to the link]

Pretty cool, the Smiths working with Sandie Shaw. No-one could top that, could they? Until this...

And of course, Bryan Ferry's 1987 single, The Right Stuff which a) featured Johnny Marr on guitar and b) was based on The Smiths' 'Money Changes Everything.'

Album Review: The Smiths

2008-11-24T20:16:00.007+01:00

The Smiths -'The Sound Of The Smiths' (Warners)

Another year, another Smiths compilation? Well, of course, that does depend on which edition of this album you get. The selling point of this album, and surely the attraction to many of us is Disc 2, with many rarities (though still no 'Work Is A Four Letter Word').

Rather than dwelling on yet another Smiths compilation, let us focus on the music instead. For a band that were together for five years, with a recording career of four, The Smiths had a highly productive work-rate where the bar was set almost impossibly high for anyone to follow. Morrissey and Marr surely rate up there with Lennon and McCartney or Jagger and Richards as a songwriting team. They recorded so many classic songs that it's hard just to focus on one or two...but if you're a certain age and you haven't heard these songs, what the hell have you been doing? 'How Soon Is Now?' remains my favourite. With its' middle-eight:

'There's a club if you'd like to go,
You could meet somebody who really loves you
So you go and you dance on your own
And you leave on your own
And you go home, and you cry,
And You Want To Die.'

'Songs That Saved Your Life (referencing a track 'Rubber Ring', which is not included here) was the name of a book about the Smiths' music, and the reality is that their music did just that. As a miserable teenager, wondering if I'd ever get a girlfriend, this song spoke volumes to me. Years later, it soundtracked the mid-twenties slump as my relationships soured badly, and it still soundtracked break-up misery. 'Meat Is Murder' was definitely a factor in me becoming vegetarian, and apparently one of the most influential things on many people becoming vegetarian over the last twenty-five years. I was marginally displeased when one school friend wrote 'Sixteen, clumsy and shy' inside my Christmas card one year, though it was probably very accurate. The night I freaked out listening to 'Suffer Little Chidlren' and that image of Myra Hindley (shudder) filled my head. The girl I fancied who I got into The Smiths, if even just a little bit (we're still very good friends).

...and these are just my own stories. How many other people spent their teenage years clutching their Smiths records, living through them? Even repeated readings of Adrian Mole hadn't prepared us for how sodding awful teenage life would be. Marr made it seem like you could be a guitar hero without being a prat, Morrissey that beiong a rock god was not all about being full of testosterone. The fact is, it's not just about adolescence remembered, these songs are classic from any era. And yes there was misery (sometimes too much, 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore' is the sort of thing that gave The Smiths' detractors everything they needed on one seven inch single). But there was humour, dry observation, wit, and that music. When I heard The Queen Is Dead aged fourteen, it was pretty much a road to damascus moment. It wasn't always easy getting hold of The Smiths' music in the early nineties, with the collapse of Rough Trade; the studio albums were only avilable on expensive import from the US. Quite how four studio albums as strong as theirs were allowed to go unavailable is a mystery.

The music remains timeless. The second disc reminds us of tracks that perhaps fell a little down the list of how good they were - but I've loved listening to 'Jeane' 'Please Please Please Let me Get What I Want' and 'Oscillate Wildly' again.

So, we've heard these songs before. But why not once again?

*****

Listening posts:

QT

WMA

REAL

Is it time to rethink my views on prog?

2008-11-22T12:51:00.009+01:00

Soft Machine, above.

For many years, I've been fairly opposed to the whole concept, never mind the music, of progressive rock. Many years ago, a friend's dad played me Pictures At An Exhibition by Emerson Lake and Palmer, and it put me right off. (And I do like classical music).

Added to which, as someone who felt that punk was what had led to his beloved indie scene, it was a feeling that progressive rock's sole function was to be so damn hideous that punk had to happen. With the exception of Pink Floyd -' They're not prog, they're good!' I snapped at someone one time - I saw the early seventies as a wasteland, with a few notable exceptions -Bowie, Roxy, Nico, Reed etc.. and American soul and funk. I bought a Yes best of a few months ago, it ended up being returned fairly quickly. I love much of Peter Gabriel's solo stuff, yet find much of the Genesis stuff hideously self-indulgent. I have of course since discovered Richard Thompson and John Martyn. I don't see them as prog, but they have helped me realise that there was great music there in the first part of the seventies. I'd always loved Kraftwerk; in the last few months Can, Faust, Neu, Amon Duul II and Harmonia have shown that Germany was producing weird and wonderful stuff, and in the case of these, it influenced some of the more open-minded punks. (See here for more about that Johnny Rotten show on Capital Radio. Not a Stooges or Dolls track in sight).

Perhaps it's time to be a little less blinkered. I suppose Steve at Teenage Kicks must take the credit for pointing me in the direction of both of these tracks, they are fabulous. I've posted them before but I figure these are definitely worth hearing again.

Matching Mole -'O Caroline.' mp3

Roy Harper -'When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease.' mp3 (both cropped up here, no less!)

And these two tracks are pretty cool, too:

Soft Machine -'I Should Have Known.' mp3

Kevin Ayers -'Oh! Wot A Dream.' mp3

Sad songs say so much...2

2008-11-22T11:30:00.009+01:00

Haven't posted much here this week. It's been kinda busy, and isn't showing sign of letting up. How the heck did Tony Wilson manage to run a label and work in TV? No marking, I suppose.

Anyway, some songs for a cold winter's day...

Johnny Cash -'Hurt.' (No there's nothing wrong with me, just something in my eye...)

afterword: Johnny Cash's wife June Carter Cash, seen here in the video, died shortly before him in 2003. Someone said that 'she'd gone to get the house ready for him.' I'm sure some would criticise that statement as sexism, but to me it makes my eyes almost as misty as watching the video.

The Cure -'Charlotte Sometimes.'

Who would have thought a pop video could be so sad and creepy? I remember watching that video with my dad and the hairs on his arm literally standing on end. Also worth reading Penelope Farmer's book Charlotte Sometimes which inspired the song. Charlotte Sometimes is my favourite song by my favourite ever band, and second only to this...

Joy Division -'Atmosphere.'

My favourite ever song. Apparently the surviving members of the band hated this video but I love it. The bit when the synths ocme in sounds like the sound water would make if you could tape it forming on water (actually, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what Martin Hannett would have recorded). The bit where this is played in 24 Hour Party People is a misty-eyed moment as well...

David Bowie -'Life On Mars?'

For many years, this was my favourite song and it's still up there as one of my favourites. I'm sure I heard Flaming Lips do a cover of that on John Peel's show in about 1993. If anyone can help, please let me know...

Billie Holiday -'Strange Fruit.'

I was amazed but delighted to find footage for Strange Fruit. It's a beautiful but harrowing song. Covered by many people including Robert Wyatt, Tori Amos, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and also by Nina Simone, who had to give up performing it as everytime she did, she broke down. There's ingenious (IMHO) use of this in Ae Fond Kiss, a film that looks at sectarianism in Glasgow in the twenty-first century.

So...I'll finish with a clip of Nina Simone, talking about how important it is to her as an artist to reflect the times. I found myself thinking it was a shame she hadn't lived to see Barack Obama elected to be President of the US, but there's millions of Americans who would have loved to have seen that.

Aberfeldy return to the live arena!

2008-11-20T18:46:00.004+01:00

Guess who's back? Back again?

Na na na na na...sorry, lost myself a bit there.

Aberfeldy have just announced that they will play two very special dates this Christmas. They will headline at the ABC2 in Glasgow on December 22 and the next night at the Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh on December 23. Their manager told me that tickets should be on sale from tomorrow, priced around £10.

I have also been told that the test pressings for the new single 'Claire' on 7" should be ready next week. So if you live in Scotland you might even be able to snap up a copy at the gigs! You should certainly be trying Avalanche and Fopp.

So go and snap up those tickets fast! This is a regular music presentation.

Aberfeldy -' Come On Claire (demo).' mp3

Aberfeldy's myspace

Reminding youse all...

2008-11-18T18:33:00.006+01:00

OK, I know I have blogged about Pearl and the Puppets before, including when she was gigging as Katie Sutherland:

Anyway, this morning I got another email requesting I post 'Because I Do' again.

Very happy to oblige. It's a great song, still my favourite of hers and one I never tire of hearing.

Sorry it's been a bit quiet round here of late,it's just been kinda busy...
Katie Sutherland -'Because I Do.' mp3<

Then go and make friends with Pearl and the Puppets on myspace...

I feel hungover

2008-11-15T11:28:00.008+01:00

...and I don't even drink.

This week's had so many ups and downs it's not even funny.

There's always someone worse off than you, but with the death of the last surviving member of the Jimi Hendrix experience, there's one hell of a jam going on in heaven.

Wonder who's joining in?

Jimi Hendrix Experience -'All Along The Watchtower.' mp3

Presenting...Mr. Beasley

2008-11-14T14:49:00.003+01:00

I'd had this in my inbox for blooming ages...and I'm kicking myself.

This week with Aberfeldy's single 'Claire' getting play from NME Radio (did I mention this?!), I've heard this loads and can't get it out of my head. This has also been played on Iain Baker's show and it's bloody fabulous. Expect to see this in the 17 Seconds Festive Fifty at the end of the year.

Mr. Beasley -'Right As Rain.' mp3

Now, it goes without saying, if you like the song GO AND BUY IT!

Oh, and for those people who ask me when they can buy the Aberfeldy Claire 7",
follow this link to pre-order on vinyl from the Rough Trade Record Shops. My first co-release as a record label runner, available from Rough Trade, my favourite record shop. It's the best almost birthday present I could have hoped for...

Album Review: Ry Cooder

2008-11-13T16:49:00.006+01:00

Ry Cooder -'The UFO Has Landed -The Ry Cooder Anthology.' (Rhino)

An excellent compilation that does exactly what it says on the tin! Right from the weird and wonderful artwork (Ry says that he was given the artwork years ago, and he would love to find out who from), to the rich and diverse music contained inside, this is a treat.

I have to put my hand up here and say that I am not an authority on Ry Cooder's music. According to legend, Bob Dylan once went to him at 3am to learn to play guitar like Sleepy John Estes. So if he's good enough for Dylan, who are the hell are the rest of us to argue?

Cooder's career strectches back nearly forty years. This compilation includes his covers of 'Dark End Of The Street' which is heartbreaking, and is totally instrumental. Its' emotional strength is solely down to the playing. He also covered Johnny Cash's 'Get Rhythm' in the late eighties, which was the first time I ever heard his music, aged eleven.

Cooder has been described as one of the top ten guitarists of all time, and listening to this compilation, you'd be seriously pushed to argue with that. Whereas some have pilfered roots music and claimed it as their own, Cooder has always respectfully acknowledged the music that has influenced him, be it rock, blues, country, tex-mex, to name just a few of the styles on here.

He is also an accomplished soundtrack composer, perhaps most famously for Wim Wenders' masterful Paris, Texas. This is amongst another twenty soundtracks he has done.

If you've never heard Ry Cooder's music before, this is an excellent place not just to get an introduction, but also to get an education. It was assembled with his son, Joachim, who surely didn't find his father an embarassing Dad!

****

The UFO Has Landed -The Ry Cooder Anthology is out now.

US readers can hear much of stuff released on the album here and UK readers here

A video clip for Paris, Texas on You Tube:

Oh, and was sent these links by the PR company to help promote it:

QT
http://rhino.edgeboss.net/qtime/rhino/listeningparties/515893/515893_1888.mov

WMA
http://rhino.edgeboss.net/wmedia/rhino/listeningparties/515893/515893_1888_100.wax

REAL
http://rhino.edgeboss.net/real/rhino/listeningparties/515893/515893_1888.smi

Brothers, Sisters...We don't need this fascist, sexist, homophobic groove thang

2008-11-12T18:31:00.006+01:00

Hello folks.

A somewhat disturbing story that I read on NME which can be read in a little more detail over at AllHipHop.

The man in the picture at the top is called Trick Trick. Trick Trick is a collaborator of Eminem, and Trick Trick has some serious issues. The man is homophobic to his core. I am not going to reprint what he said here -with freedom of speech comes responsibility, and his views on homosexuality are just offensive, not just to those who define themselves as non-heterosexual but any right thinking person. He has said, quite bluntly, that he doens't want homosexuals buying his album. Don't worry, I don't think many people will, hater, bigotry has to stop somewhere.

I'm encouraged by most of the comments on the NME and AllHipHop posts that I read, it's clear that the majority of people think he's a sick, sick man in a very bad way. It's time that society confronted this sort of hatred full on. There is no excuse. Period.

Oh, and anyone who tries to excuse themselves by quoting this passage from the Bible can go away. Stop hiding your prejudice behind religious teachings that you have distorted to promote your hatred.

Society is changing, and hopefully, not just with Barack Obama's election as President, but people do seem to be realising that standing out against sexism, racism and homophobia isn't about political correctness, it's to do with human respect. Mrs. 17 Seconds and I have quite a few gay and lesbian friends; in fact, some of them - gosh! shock! HORROR! -are Christians as well. It is, as they say, not about where you're from, it's where you're at.

As a teacher, I find many young people are becoming more enlightened. The school where I teach does deal with homophobic incidents, though in the previous school there was amazement that I'd reported one girl for making homophobic remarks about another girl. There has been the somewhat disquieting rise in the use of the word gay meaning 'stupid.' As a fellow teacher said to one child: 'What do you mean, that chair's gay? Are you saying it wants to have sex with other chairs?!' tee hee...

There's an interesting list here about songs that speak out about homophobia.

Bronski Beat -'Smalltown Boy.' mp3

...and that video

Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy - ' The Language Of Violence.' mp3 [BTW excellent piece on this band over at Teenage Kicks

...and that video

Senseless Things -'Homophobic Asshole.' mp3

Chumbawumba -'Homophobia.' mp3

...and yes, the video for this too

'All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.' Edmund Burke.

Album Review: Escape Act

2008-11-11T16:56:00.005+01:00

Escape Act -'Loosely Based On Fiction (Volte Face Records)

Escape Act's debut LP Loosely Based On Fiction follows on from the June release of the rather fine 'God Says' single Having been impressed by that single the album does not disappoint either. Ten tracks long, and barely 35 minutes long, it comes in and does its' job extremely effectively.

The Belfast trio recorded this album at the legendary Chem 19 studio in Glasgow with Andy Miller. Not that they needed any more Celtic magic, but the producer (Fratellis, Mogwai, Sons & Daughters) has helped them deliver a debut that any band would be proud of. Whilst it seems a bit obvious to draw comparisons with the Undertones and Ash, there's defintely hints of those bands with both a bit of nosie and a lot of a tune. In this case, ten of them.

This is just hugely enjoyable, a fresh and exciting listen that continues to delight on every successive listen. Rather like the Strokes, here is a band who have realised that less is definitely more. Pure punky joy.

****

Loosely Based On Fiction is out now on Volte-face Records

Escape Act -'Broken Chin.' mp3

...and the video for 'God Says.'

Escape Act Website/Escape Act myspace

Oh, and a piece on them at The Devil Has The Best Tuna.

17 Seconds Records' latest signing

2008-11-10T19:26:00.003+01:00

17 Seconds Records continues apace...

Our second signing is the enigmatic Ex Lion Tamer, the project of the mysterious Tony T.

There will be a download single to come in the new year, 'Neon Hearts' with hopefully a free download to come before then.

Give him a listen and see what you think!

And go and make friends too, obviously...

Plus our first release, Aberfeldy's 'Claire' single is record of the week on Iain Baker's show on NME Radio. Yeah!

Album Review: Deerhunter

2008-11-09T21:39:00.003+01:00

Deerhunter -'Microcastle'/'Weird era Cont.'

Deerhunter's third album is their first on 4AD. This is not so much a double album, rather than a 'bonus disc of brand new material [Weird Era Cont]...an album in its' own right.

There are lots of great songs on this album, spread across the two discs. The problem is that it tends to be a little disorientating with the sheer arnge of stuff on here that it's a bit much to take in in one sitting. The album is a fitting one for 4AD to release, with its' overtones of sunny shoegazing (or dreampop, if you're American). At times they remind this listener of the Dandy Warhols, at other times Big Star is the point that comes to mind.

Stand-out tracks here include 'Activa' and 'Neither Of Us, Uncertainly.' There's bits here I will want to hear again, but I'm not sure that I feel the urge to keep playing the album in its' entirety. And that's not a reflection on the iPod generation, but rather on the fact that this is has great tracks which don't quite hang together as an album.

***

Deerhunter -'Nothing Ever Happened.' mp3

Deerhunter's Myspace

Microcastle/Weird era Cont. is out now on 4AD

Anyone heard anything about this?!

2008-11-08T17:36:00.003+01:00

According to this story, which was mentioned yesterday at NME, Orange Juice are reforming.

Does anyone know anything about this? Couldn't find out anything at Edwyn's site, but it would be great. Be interesting to know which members would be rejoining. Edwyn obviously, but what about Malcolm, Zeke, James...?

Orange Juice -'Blue Boy.' mp3

Album Review: Meursault

2008-11-08T10:38:00.006+01:00

Meursault -'Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues.' (Song By Toad Records)

Wow. Not content with writing a fine blog and having some of the Scottish Capital's finest bands round for sessions, Song By Toad has set up a record label.

And damn it, everyone's favourite reptilian blogger has done it again. Not content with releasing the rather good Nightjar EP, SBTR have released one of the year's finest albums. Damn you! Meursault have been plying their trade around the capital for a while now, and as their lineup has taken a while to settle, it has resulted in this stunning debut.

Call it folktronica, call it modern scottish; draw parallels with releases from Wounded Knee, Broken Records and even Swimmer One, whatever! This is a very strong, beautiful album. With 11 tracks in 39 minutes there is no flab. Instead, a wonderfully toned and tuned album that makes you want to hear it again and again.

Gorgeous tunes that you will want to play to everyone you know...what's not to love? Messrs Bryant, Pennycook, MacLeod and calder have, with Mr. Toad, delivered what I believe to be one of the year's best albums.

****1/2

Meursault -'The Furnace.' mp3 (Alternative version for preview)

Meursault -'A Few Kind Words.' mp3

Meaursault's mySpace is here, check out just how good they are.

The album is available on iTunes now, and will be released on December 15 in physical format.

...and for more examples of Toad and meursault related work, click here

Did they really believe that this war could end wars?

2008-11-07T18:50:00.008+01:00

This Sunday marks Remembrance Sunday, in remebrance of Armistice Day 1918 'The eleventh hour on the eleventh day on the eleventh month.' We did it in school, like a lot of people. I remember doing it aged about eight, via watching a programme called How We Used To Live, a show that looked at a family in Yorkshire.

A few years later, on a family holiday in France, we drove along passed the roads where the cemeteries are. Even as a twelve year old, it was quite sobering, and the picture at the top gives an idea of what it is like. The graves of thousands of young men, slaughtered for...?

For a long time, I considered myslef to be bordering on being a pacifist. In recent years, I've wondered whether I still would be. I would categorically have refused to fight in the Falklands War, or either of the Gulf Wars. These had nothing to do with humanitarian concerns and a lot more to do with muscle-flexing and oil, in the case of the Gulf. I like to think I would have fought against Hitler, and volunteered in the Spanish Civil War against Franco (the latter may have some rather ideological and romantic ideas, based on reading Laurie Lee and George Orwell). As for the First World War...did it achieve anything?

Eric Bogle wrote a song 'No Man's Land' that made John Peel's Festive Fifty twice. Once as 'No Man's Land/Flowers Of the Forest' by June Tabor in 1977 and later in 1984 as 'The Green Fields Of France' by The Men They Couldn't Hang. Everytime I hear eiether version of this song I'm deeply moved, and reminded of the futility of war. Especially those that use young people as cannon fodder. I was appalled a few years back when it was revealed that the Army were still heavily recruiting around some of the porrest areas of Glasgow, near where I was working and where many kids were seriously disenfranchised. Oddly enough 'Officer Class' wasn't being mentioned.

Check out Eric Bogle's work, and other people's covers of it. I also was lead to him through The Pogues ('And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda) and Billy Bragg ('My Youngest Son Came Home Today.') Even reading the lyrics is frankly, pretty emotional.

June Tabor -'No Man's Land/Flowers Of the Forest.' mp3

The Men They Couldn't Hang -'The Green Fields Of France.' mp3

Thanks due to Steve at Teenage Kicks for his bringing these to my attention!

Sweet dreams are made of this...

2008-11-06T23:12:00.002+01:00

One of those moments on the radio last week, courtesy of none other than Tom '2-4-6-8 Motorway' Robinson on his show on 6Music:

'Clip from the radio of Aberfeldy's single.'mp3 (Thank you, Dave!)

Album Review: Side FX Band featuring Kim Cameron

2008-11-05T21:10:00.002+01:00

Side F/X -'Contraditions' (self-released)

It's the voice that grabs you about this record. Kim Cameron really does have a very impressive voice. Their myspace site for the 'sounds like' bit says: 'Alternative music - a blend of pop, rock, jazz, and even country! We sound a bit like Carly Simon, Natalie Merchant, Sheryl Crow, The Cranberries, Lisa Stansfield, Annie Lennox.' Is this a bold statement? No, in a word. I'd add Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie and Chrissie Hynde to that list, too.

Whilst the production may be a little too slick in places for my liking, there's no doubt that Kim's voice is really pretty impressive. The tunes are pleasant enough, if not especially memorable, but the voice won't leave you.

What I'd really like to do is to witness Kim and the band in a live setting, because I feel that that's where they would really shine. And I hope they keep me up to date with what they're doing, and I hope they produce a really raw, honest record. because that's what vocals as special as this deserve.

***1/2 for the album

***** for Kim Cameron's voice

I was very politely asked not to post mp3s so I won;t, but please check it out at
Side FX band's myspace/website

Presenting...The Phantom Band

2008-11-04T23:18:00.002+01:00

Already the PR companies ( those who haven't tried to stuff blogs, that is) are gearing up to promote 2009's big releases.

As a big fan of scottish indie, the fact that Checkmate Savage, the debut LP from The Phantom band will be out at the end of January on Chemikal Underground.

It was recorded at Chem 19, the Delgados' legendary studio, and features Paul Savage from Scotland's Greatest Ever Band in the role of producer, engineer, and guiding force. It was also recorded at Franz Frdinand's studio in Govan.

Whilst i have turned my nose up at some ridiculous press releases that have crossed the threshold of 17 Seconds Towers in the past the description of 'Beefheart meets Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Neu! meets Nick Cave' might actually be pretty accurate on the basis of what I have heard so far.

The Phantom Band's webpage/The Phantom band's Myspace

As the big day approaches...

2008-11-03T18:41:00.005+01:00

Alright, so I can't vote in the US Presidential Elections.

But that doesn't mean I can't have an opinion on it. To any people who do have the option, please vote, and vote wisely. The President of the USA effectively has a massive impact on the rest of the world, in the way that being say, President of Ireland or Prime Minister of Australia just doesn't have (or First Minister of Scotland, for that matter).

You know Obama is the right choice. And if anyone thinks someone non-American should't be commenting, just remember how much impact a certain Australian has had on British politics for many years.

Here's a song I thought was appropriate, and by the sounds of it, as been misunderstood and misappropriated for longer than Springsteen's 'Born In The USA.'

Woody Guthrie -'This Land Is your land.' mp3

And remember: if you don't vote, don't bitch.

I'm playing the Yo Majesty LP, in the hope it will be the soundtrack of a brighter tomorrow...

Album Review: Spiritualized

2008-11-02T12:24:00.004+01:00

Spiritualized -'Songs in A&E' (Sanctuary)

I have to confess, this has been one of those albums on my 'hmm, must get round to hearing' rather like Primal Scream and Metallica, on the 'I like the stuff I've heard by them over the last decade and more, cannot afford to buy it just yet' list. And now I'm kicking myself at having, frankly, denied myself the pleasure.

Because, quite frankly, as The Wire had pointed out, this is their most compelling set for a decade. That album was the genre-busting psychedelic masterpiece Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. Rather like many other records of the time, it was a fantastic record that did well, critically and commercially, and was not dissimilar in vein to records that followed by Mercury Rev (Deserter's Songs and All Is Dream; Grandaddy's The Sophtware Slump; and of course Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

And rather like the follow-up albums from many of these artists, Spiritualized's next two studio albums Let It Come Down and Amazing Grace were good albums, but just not as amazing as we'd hoped they'd be. But this album is frankly, amazing. A gorgeous mixture of all that we have loved Spiritualized before. This confirms that Jason Pierce (or J. Spaceman, as he is credited on pretty much every Spiritualized album) is a genius. Genuinely a Brian Wilson for our times, who is trying to get the angelic music out of his head and down in the recording studio.

And from start to finish, the album does not let up. It never drags nor dips, and makes you want to go back and listen to it from start to finish again. Like many multi-layered albums it's a headphone work that beenfits from being listened to closely as it yields more and more of its' charms.

J. Spaceman is once again firing on all cylinders. Be sure to enter and be wowed.

****1/2

Spiritualized's official website/www.myspace.com/spiritualized

The videos cannot be embedded as the code been disabled by request (why?!) but here are the links to go and watch 'You Lie You Cheat' and 'Soul On Fire'

The tracks can also be streamed at myspace above.

A contender for Christmas no.1?

2008-11-01T14:28:00.003+01:00

Last night I was listening attentively to the Tom Robinson show on 6Music, partly because the man himself had emailed to say that he would be playing the first release on 17 Seconds Records the single 'Claire' by Aberfeldy. (let this be known: to his eternal credit, Mr. Robinson said he would actually buy the single off iTunes. Now that is the sort of support that restores your faith in human nature).

Whilst waiting patiently, he played a version of 'Hallelujah' the song written by Leonard Cohen that first appeared on Cohen's Various Positions in 1984. It has been subsequently covered by many artists including most famously, Jeff Buckley on Grace, but also Rufus Wainwright, Bob Dylan and John Cale. The version played last night was by Cale's fellow Welshmen Brigyn. It's called 'Haleliwia.' Yes folks, it's sung in Welsh. Obviously, it's not the first band to sing in Welsh, thinking of Catatonia, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and of course, Super Furry Aniamls, who made fantastic album called Mwng, sung entirely in Welsh back in 2000.

Now, what Tom Robinson is proposing is that a campaign be started for it to be the Christmas no.1. Is it possible? It would be great. they previously recorded a version of this a little while ago, but as I understand from the programme last night, apparently it's taken a while for Leonard Cohen to give his OK to releasing this.

Well, I'd obviously love Aberfeldy's 'Claire' to be the Christmas no.1 single, but if not, this would be pretty cool. And besides, sticking the boot into the likes of the likes of Simon Cowell's latest monstrosity, on principle, is surely necessary.

The single isn't due to be out until the end of November, I'm not even sure who's putting it out but hear it here. Pop along and make friends, and spread the word.

Brigyn's website/mySpace

VENCEREMOS!

Hallowe'en type post

2008-10-31T18:18:00.008+01:00

There are lots of things that scare me. The thought of John McCain and Sarah Palin winning the American Election. Things happening to the people I care about. Disaffected kids that I teach failing their exams in my subject. Carrie, The Shining and the original version of The Ring (the Japanese version, not the flaming remake).The existence of scary Californian copyright law (which has seen me lose another post; this time after I was sent the mp3 from their UK company, and the US company freaked out before checking with the UK. Talk about Cultural Fascism).

This song is gothic not just in sound, but in lyrics, with its' talk of forests, mandrakes and one of my favourite lyrics ever 'Your epitaph will ever say/your sun went down while it's still day.' Not planning on dying before I hit forty (I'm not a teenager anymore *tongue in check for any readers too stupid to understand irony*) but who are the Screaming Marionettes. I spent years trying to track this down; eventually found it (surprise, surprise) at Kensington Market in London, then London's premier goth hangout. I can find next to nothing about this band on the web, any info gratefully received etc..

UPDATE 2/11/08: I have found this web address for info about the band, who went on to become the Marionettes (not the indie band from Aberdeen). This is a fan's myspace site.

Screaming Marionettes -'Like Christobel.' mp3

And this is perhaps one of the scariest tracks ever, it attacks the listener, which is pretty cool.

Wolf Eyes -'Stabbed In The Face.' mp3

And 'cos it's Hallowe'en, the best horror pop song/short film of all time:

Michael Jackson's Thriller Video

(yes, 80s Goth, Noise and Michael Jackson in the same post. That'll teach ya to pigeonhole)

Hooray - finally getting the recognition they deserve

2008-10-29T22:39:00.004+01:00

Wow...it's like the eighties and the (early) nineties all over again. After a gap of about fifteen years, The Cure are back on the cover of NME! And they're going to get the Godlike Geniuses Award from the NME next year. It seems like a far cry from the days when the NME was either slagging them for being hasbeens or not writing about them at all...hopefully Echo and the Bunnymen will get their due next (perhaps to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Ocean Rain)

Their new album 4:13 Dream is fantastic, definitely a four an a half star album, IMHO.

And assuming this works, this will enable you to check out some of the tracks off the new album.

Enjoy, folks...

Guilty Pleasures from the closet

2008-10-28T19:45:00.003+01:00

Everyone has them, the songs we're not meant to like, the songs that Kurt Cobain, Sid Vicious et al died so that we wouldn't have to listen to.

And quite often they may be made by people whose work we cannot otherwise stand.

This track is a case in point. I am very happy never to have to hear 'Everything I do, I Do It For You' by Bryan Adams ever again.

So why is it, that this track, which I should despise beyond all measure, almost as muchas anything by his compatriots Celine Dion and Nickleback * involuntary shudder* is great?

Bryan Adams -'Summer Of '69.' mp3

(I know, other bloggers have laid down all manner of defences of me, and I repay them by posting this.)

Thank the Lord

2008-10-27T22:04:00.006+01:00

(Bet Che wouldn't have taken any crap from people purporting to represent artists and exploiting folk!)

A couple of days ago, I was deeply concerend when Steve at Teenage Kicks was going to pull the plug on his excellent John Peel-inspired blog.

To my intense relief, he has announced he will continue.

So in honour of Steve, and his immaculately researched blog, this is the Undertones' Teenage Kicks, (yes, John Peel's favourite ever song, I think we all know that now!)

This is not a long post from me, I've spent an hour and a half marking...

Undertones - 'Teenage Kicks.' mp3

By the way, this has appeared at Condemned to rock roll which makes for great reading.

The Fightback Begins

2008-10-26T11:21:00.006+01:00

As I wrote a couple of days ago, I had a post removed a few days ago.

This was not just of a handful of mp3s but of the entire interview of Glasvegas, a band I have given a lot of positive coverage to, not just when they were a small band, but as they signed to a major. I have tried, also, to be very tactful when writing about Glasvegas not to criticise them, and my tact has been commented upon.

To say I have been angry and frustrated would be an understatement. As I have made clear right from the very beginning, the point about this blog was the promotion of music and certinaly not deprive musicians of their earnings. To be made to feel like a criminal by an organisation that has the moral highground of nothing is pretty sickening.

I'm certainly not the only one who's been affected. Coxon Le Woof at To Die By Your Side had a similar thing happen to him earlier in the month, and Steve at Teenage Kicks had the same thing the day after me, as did Chad at Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands.

There have been supportive posts at The Vinyl Villain, and Song By Toad as well as a lot of supportive comments, from readers, musicans and people who do run record companies. It's been discussed on websites -and I've had more comments about this than any other. To my horror, Steve is talking about jacking it in. It will be a sad loss to the blogging world if he does.

I have certainly considered it, but I have decided that I can either let these bullies win, or I can stand up to them, in the hope that they leave us alone.

So, if you're up for helping fight it, then that would be great. Because, frankly, to take down posts without warning is bordering on extremely dangerous behaviour. The law should be there to protect everyone. The law is not there simply as a tool of the rich and powerful.

Some artists have been very supportive of the stuff I have written about them.

This guy is one of them.

Dom De Luca -'It's A Sad, Sad Day.' mp3

Come on, Care!

2008-10-24T14:36:00.004+01:00

As I may have mentioned a few times (this is MY blog, after all) 17 Seconds Records' first signing (there will hopefully be more, my Parents are actually now asking who the next signing will be) are Aberfeldy.

Now, this version is NOT the version that can be downloaded and bought, but it is the version that was gievn away for free through the South By Southwest website earlier this year.

I am still not receiving the communiques I had asked for when I tried to do something similar months ago for another BAND whose management have so far failed to get in touch AND whose record company's rottweilers are being immoral.

Anyway, enjoy this song, then go and get the great single off iTunes, leave feedback and help 17 Seconds and Aberfeldy on the way to ruling the world.

Aberfeldy - Come On, Claire (free download version).' mp3

Presenting...Ex Lion Tamer

2008-10-24T12:56:00.002+01:00

Ex Lion Tamer is the one man band from Edinburgh consisting of the enigmatic Tony T who works...well, I won't reveal where he works, but he does make some damn fine pop music.

Yes, cooler-than-thou people I said POP. Tony T describes his influences as being 'Whitney Houston, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Yazoo, Erasure, Rob Hubbard - things that sound clean' and says that Ex Lion Tamer sounds like the ending credits of low budget 80s teen movies - played on your mate's Amiga. With a gift for sarcasm that would put P.E. teachers to shame, he may be making one or two of those up. Though not the bit about the Amiga.

The name does indeed come from the song by Wire -some of you were just itching to point that out, weren't you? - but this is no three girl rhumba. Instead, check out the myspace and see how good it really is:

Ex Lion Tamer's myspace

Grrr...stand up to bullies

2008-10-22T17:16:00.006+01:00

Extremely displeased by bully boy tactics.

I checked my email this morning to find an email from Blogger saying that links had been removed 'Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog infringes upon the copyrights of others.'

Now, I cannot actually check the article concerned, which was an interview with James Allan of Glasvegas, because it was removed. Yes, not just the mp3 (which I had believed that I had removed, given that I allowed my account to lapse with the file hoster concerned, as I felt that they had seriously let me down a few months back) but the whole interview, which frankly speaking, I consider to be MY intellectual property.

I would like to say that I do not blame Glasvegas for this. They're a great band, James Allan was a charming interviewee and his sister and manager Denise remembered that he had promised me a place on the guest list when they played Edinburgh last month. However, I do feel that removing mp3s of demos that the band had made available for free on their website is somewhat unjust. Yes, I posted them, they were free. Added to which, james Allan had commented that before many of the songs were out, fans seemed to have learned the lyrics to the songs from blogs.

Until a few months ago, the first three singles from the band (recorded prior to their signing with big record company, I won't name it here,) were available to download from a well-known online retailer. You now cannot buy them from said retailer. Now, if the band chose to do that, that is their choice. BUT: if you have previously enabled things to be either downloaded for free or to be downloaded, then withdraw that, people will distribute them ILLEGALLY, and if they were once available to buy -guess what, the band won't make the money that it might have done!

Back when I interviewed the band in January, James Allan was very modest, and even with the signing frenzy that was happening, didn't seem to have let it go to his head. From what I saw onstage last month in Edinburgh, he still hasn't. As well as coverage in the NME (three covers this year, I think), what has helped them was the coverage in blogs like this. Oh, and bizarrely, people like me who played them to their students in aesthetics, and the students went and bought the album and singles.

There are those who see all copying and distribution of music as being the same as walking into the shop and stealing multiple copies. I beg to differ. Whilst I have had to cut down on music buying of late (there's, y'know, bills to pay, and there is a recession coming -sorry, but the Emperor isn't wearing any clothes, this is not scaremongering), I have bought pretty much everything by Glasvegas I could lay my hands on. Including buying a copy on vinyl even though I'd been sent a promo CD and buying a copy of the LP for brother Seconds' birthday. I might also add that when I reviewed the album in September I stipulated at the end of the review 'Don't copy this, go and buy it.' Short of going and buying thousands of copies of the album and giving it to strangers in the streets, I don't think I could have done more to promote the band.

So why the hell am I being made to feel like a common criminal?

Like I say, this is not a rant at Glasvegas, but at people who feel that they can use bully-boy tactics and scaremongering. As I've mentioned before, I co-run what is Scotland's newest and smallest record label. I hereby declare that I will never, EVER hound people who promote the bands whose records we release. And may I be struck down if I do.

Glasvegas' album is out now. It's brilliant, go and buy it. And go and buy the Aberfeldy single, it's brilliant too.

If you are the sort of person who is trying to concentrate on internet crime; here's a tip: deal with the real criminals: people who exploit others. Not bloggers who do this out of love of writing and music. The web police are no more than manifestations of George Orwell and William Gibson's worst nightmares come to life.

After that rant, there's only one thing I could possibly post:

Crass -'Do They Owe Us A Living?' mp3

I had been going to post 'Police and Thieves' by the Clash, until I remembered that it is on a label with big scary lawyers (well, very likely).

Oh, and I will post the review of the Mogwai/F*ck Buttons/Errors gig tomorrow, it was brilliant).

Album Review: Dark Captain Light Captain

2008-10-21T09:19:00.003+01:00

Dark Captain Light Captain - 'Miracle Kicker' (LoAF Recordings)

This debut LP is a real treat. Sitting down to listen to it again before writing this review, I couldn't help myself, and at the end, had to play it all over again...

Supported by the likes of Zane Lowe, Rob Da Bank and Mark Radcliffe, amongst others, DCLC specialise in a gorgeous sort of trippy folk-music. The press release mentions both The Strawbs and Can, and that seems appropriate. I'd be willing to bet that the people who fell in love with the Erland Oye-Royksopp-Kings Of Convenience Norwegian axis will fall in love with this too.

Sure, mixing electronica and folk is far from a new idea, but hearing it done this well is a rare treat. From opener 'Jealous Enemies' to closer 'Miracle Worker' this album is consistently wonderful.

...why deny yourself the pleasure?

****

Miracle Kicker is released on October 27 on LoAF Recordings

Stream the album here and see for yourself!

Dark Captain Light Captain's official site/Dark Captain Light Captain's Myspace

Album Review: The Present

2008-10-21T09:05:00.002+01:00

The Present -'World I See' (LoAF Recordings)

*Sigh* I have really, really struggled with this album. I have now played this three times and I have to confess, I like it less and less with each listen.

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy listening to challenging music. I enjoy the work of noise artists like Merzbow, Yellow Swans and of course, Wolf Eyes; albums this year from the likes of David Grubbs, Hair Police and Fuck Buttons have been challenging but they make for rewarding listens. This on the other hand, seems like the soundtrack to someone going mad.

It's received plaudits from the likes of Gang Gang Dance, and Panda Bear, people whose work I enjoy too. Whilst it may be trampling on musical boundaries, it's also trampling on me too. Whilst a track like 'Stabbed In The Face' by Wolf Eyes may attack the listener, there's still something that grabs you. If this is the world they see, then that's as maybe, but I don't want it in my head.

*1/2

World I See is out now on LoAF recordings.

Have I been unfair? Stream the album here and make up your own mind.

RIP - The Long Blondes

2008-10-20T18:12:00.003+01:00

Gutted to discover that the Long Blondes, who topped that ultimate barometer of taste, the inaugural 17 Seconds Festive Fifty in 2006 have split.

Not because of the usual 'musical differences' or because someone wanted to pursue a solo career. Sadly, guitarist Dorian Cox suffered a stroke in June and is unsure when he will be well enough to play again. Read more about it all NME and at their myspace site.

17 seconds extends sympathy to Dorian and all concerned and hopes he will recover soon.

Was going to post 'Weekend Without Make Up' the song that topped the list but decided to go with the opening number from this year's Couples. It's a great album and I've not really mentioned it much here.
Long Blondes -'Century.' mp3

Album Review: Various Artists - Kung Fu Super Sounds

2008-10-20T09:02:00.003+01:00

Various Artists - Kung Fu Super Sounds - Unreleased Shaw Brothers Soundtracks (De Wolfe Music Library)

Given the John Baker anthologies released earlier this year, and the upcoming Delia Derbyshire compilation, this has been a great year for the soundtracks obsessive. The de Wolfe Music Library has vaults stretching back one hundred years and as this is released, it is no doubt certain that there will be untold treasures released, many of which may never have seen the light of day before.

The Shaw Brothers, Run Run and Run Me, were responsible for a generation of Hong Kong Kung Fu movies between 1957 and their studio's implosion in 1985. I have to put my hand up here and say I know next to nothing about Kung Fu or Kung Fu movies. But the soundtracks here -and there's 43 of them on one disc, make for fascinating listens. they tend to zip by, but there are some gorgeous little gems here.

It's also worth pointing out that the influence of the Shaw Brothers's Kung Fu movies on both western cinema and music cannot be underestimated. Quentin Tarentino acknowledged that it had inspired his Kill Bill films and with its' references to Shaolin, the Flag Of iron and the 36th Chamber, the Wu-Tang Clamn were obviously taking notes as well.

For fans of the genre this release will come like manna. The sleevenotes are impecable, like you would hope for from any release of this calibre. And for someone who knows next to nothing of the genre's music or films, it's a welcome insight into both an area of world cinema and music.

***1/2

'Counterspy -Dirty Ho Theme.' mp3

'Spin Out - Heaven and Hell.' mp3

'The Mystified Man -Flag Of Iron.' mp3

For a full tracklisting see here

Kung Fu Super Sounds will be released on November 3, 2008

Album Review: Fucked Up

2008-10-18T18:12:00.003+01:00

Fucked Up -'The Chemistry Of Modern Life.' (Matador).

And, damn it, Matador just keep on doing it! This is the second album from the Toronto band with the moniker unlikely to trouble daytime radio (at least in the UK, wheer we can be frightfull uptight and repressed about that sort of thing) and it just adds to the lebgthy list of great albums that the label have released this year. To say nothing of adding to a frighteningly long list of music released over the last half decade by the band themselves.

FU don't have a myspace, which seems pretty damn radical and anti-establishment in 2008. Hell, to describe Fucked Up is to flail around for descriptions only to find that they're far from water tight. They are a hardcore punk band, who have released tracks that are eighteen minutes long and used multitracking. Opener 'Son The Father' starts off with flutes, for goodness sake. If you think Hardcore means anti-melodic, short bursts of noise, and worthy but inaudible lyrics, then FU have come to change your perception on all of that. They're punks at heart, but they bring punk, and hardcore punk at that, a reinvigorated feeling. This is an album that does not stop for breath, but contains as much invention as you could hope for from a Flaming Lips album.

Having made it onto the cover of NME and gained a fair amount of coverage, there will be no doubt those who scream sellout. (usually whilst funded by a trust fund). Each repeated play reveals something new. From it's opener onwards, onto first single 'No Epiphany' and the closing title track, this album is sure to feature in many of the year's best of lists. And it has earned its' place.

****

Fucked Up -'No Epiphany.' mp3

Fucked Up -'Twice Born.' mp3

The Chemistry Of Modern Life is out now on Matador.

Levi Stubbs Remembered (1936-2008)

2008-10-18T16:30:00.008+01:00

(L-R) Renaldo 'Obie' Benson, Lawrence Payton, Abdul 'Duke' Fakir and Levi Stubbs

17 Seconds would like to extend its' condolences to Levi Stubbs' family. The singer of the Four Tops, who had been ill for several years, has died aged 72.

The Four Tops were one of Motown's biggest acts, up there with the likes of Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye. While many acts changed their lineup over the years, the four original members Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton formed the Four Aims in 1954 and sung together until 1997, when Lawrence Payton died. Renaldo Benson died in 2005.

Primarily associated with the 1960s, they continued touring and making records for many years afterwards, and winning new fans. The 1980s saw a remixed version of 'Reach Out, I'll Be There' become a massive hit in the UK in 1988, waking this scribe up to Motown. They also had a hit in the film Buster 'Loco in Acapulco' selling to many who had not been born when the group was first formed. The 1980s also saw him provide the voice of Audrey II in Little Shop Of Horrors. Billy Bragg's first top 40 single 'Levi Stubb's tears' in 1986 namechecked the singer, as well as mentioning Holland/Dozier/Holland, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong.

Just look over your shoulder...

Pay tribute to Levi Stubbs here

Levi Stubbs' obituary at the LA Times.

Levi Stubbs at the Guardian

The Four Tops -'Reach Out, I'll Be There.' mp3

And because I nearly cried listening to this earlier today, (well, I had a lump in my throat)...

Billy Bragg -'Levi Stubbs Tears.' mp3

Hooray hooray, another (much-needed) holiday

2008-10-17T18:20:00.004+01:00

Hallelujah, now on holiday and no teaching to be done for eleven days.

Don't get me wrong, I (mostly) love my job, but it's considerably more tiring than working in a record shop. Long term I hope it will be more rewarding too.

As for how it compares with running a record label, well, thanks to anyone who has bought Aberfeldy's 'Claire' single off iTunes - thanks because it's good ol' 17 Seconds records' very first release, and if you have, please go and leave us feedback. In the UK, it seems to be the second most popular Aberfeldy track on there after 'Summer's Gone.'

Anyway, some sublime pop from My Bloody Valentine now...

My Bloody Valentine -'We Have All The Time In the World.' mp3

My Bloody Valentine -'Paint A Rainbow.' mp3

Do keep an eye on the blog, as it will get more updates more frequently over the next wee while, as I try to work my way through a rather large pile of review CDs!

Re-Introducing How To Swim

2008-10-16T17:52:00.003+01:00

OK folks, now not that I'm offended or anythingm, but seeing as i went to the trouble of posting the link to How To Swim it would have been nice if someone had commented on it. You're surely not just here for free mp3s are you?!?!

Anyway, the band have very graciously allowed me to post mp3s of their latest single so here you. The a-side is an ode to Throbbing Gristle's Genesis P.Orridge and his "Pandrogeny" body-changing experiments, taken from the perspective of his late partner. It is released on Personal Hygiene Records in the UK, and will shortly be available for download. So I hope you like it.

How To Swim -'Genesis P and Me.' mp3

How To Swim -'From Here To Dundee/Eternity.' mp3

And if you like it, let me know!

Pop over and make friends at their myspace

Introducing...How To Swim

2008-10-15T18:17:00.002+01:00

How To Swim are a fine, fine act hailing from Glasgow. With numbers into double figures (Deep breath, here goes: Ink Wilson - guitar, vocals; Martin Docherty - bass; Chris Brown - hitting things (sic); Sean Callaghan - guitar; Anissia Kerr - keys; Hannah Rankine - saxophone, flute; Anna Webster - vocals, keys, glockenspiel; Ross McCrae - trombone; Annie McFarlane - violin; Rich Merchant - trumpet).

Their many influences include Jim O'Rourke and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, and they sound pure gorgeous, as they say in Glasgow.

Go over and check them out for yourselves here and their website can be found here. Go and make friends.

What are you waiting for?!?!

Gig review: The Fall

2008-10-14T17:52:00.005+01:00

The Fall/Milophobia, The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, October 14

A mere 21 years after I first saw them on ITV's long-forgotten The Roxy performing Hit The North (Part 1), I finally got to see The Fall. Would they match my expectations? Would Mark E. Smith be on good form? Would they play Sparta FC?

I would have to wait. Support came from Milophobia, who are due to release their debut EP at the end of this year. Their six song strong set was excellent from start to finish. I heard echoes of The Fall, perhaps a little more of prime US alternative rock, and saw a front man with start written all over him. Watch this space.

John Cooper Clarke had been ill and missed Friday evening's gig in Aberdeen, so there was a risk that we wouldn't get him...and alas, we didn't. Maybe another time. In the unlikely event that you're reading this John, get well soon.

Sandwiched down the front of the gig for an hour, would it be worth it? It was certainly a diverse crowd. Anyone expecting it to be just middle-aged blokes in their anoraks...wrong. Men and women, punks, folks drinking wine who looked like they'd come from Morningside, Edinburgh's posh district, some kids who looked like they were barely out of primary school...The Fall have a diverse crowd following them.

In a word, yes. From the minute the band walked on until they walked off, they captivated, utterly. Mark E. Smith walked on, and I think in a good mood. The devotion he inspires has not faded one iota.

The set was made up of a mixture of old and new, including 'Wings' from 1983 but also more recent numbers from this year's Imperial Wax Solvent, like Latch Key Kid' and 'Wolf Kidult Man'. And after a while, so blown away was I by the performance of the band and yer man, Mark, that I stopped trying to worry about remembering the song titles and just lost myself in the music.

Partly because Mr. Smith was so close to me that I could see the whites of his eyes. I was that close to the stage. Not trying to hug him, like some other folks, but close enough to touch him. Not that I would dare. He may be smaller than me, but I wouldn't touch him. He'd be my dream artist to sign, to interview. If it wasn;t for the fact that I'd be so in awe I'd probably balls it up.

With a back catalogue stretching back thirty years, almost that in studio albums and certainly double that in compilations and live albums, there's no shortage of quality tunes to play, and it never dips. The recent albums have been excellent, and if I wasn't really into ...Missing Winner, there's a reminder of a reminder of how good as 'Reformation' and 'Sparta FC' show that they are just as good as stuff from the Step Forward, Rough Trade and Kamera eras. They go off after 'Sparta' and come on and do 'Carrier Bag Man' from 1988's The Frenz Experiment. It's at this point I really understand why there are so many Fall live albums; they are that good live that it's justified.

I'm reeling as I drive home. When my wife tells me that there's bugs in the flat, I just get on and sort them. It's fair to say that The Fall have knocked me for six. I have been to well over a hundred gigs in the last seven years since coming to Scotland, and this is the best of them all.

The Fall -'Wings.' mp3

The Fall -'Sparta F.C.' mp3

Oh wow!!!

2008-10-13T17:56:00.006+01:00

Finally, it has happened.

17 Seconds' first single release is available to download from today. Certainly in the UK and should be available from download stores around the world as we speak. It's on iTunes and should be on many other stores too.

For £1.58 (yes, less than a cup of coffee) you can buy the single and rate it.

Please let us know if you do so, do leave positive feedback, remember this is socialism in action. And if you're not sure if you'll like the song, though I cannot see why you wouldn't, check it out either at our myspace or at Aberfeldy's myspace
.

Have a nice day. Come on, Claire...

One that got away

2008-10-12T16:53:00.004+01:00

I've got to be honest, I know very little about Harvey Danger, but the American band did produce one of the great lost singles of the last ten years.

OK, by 'lost' I mean that it wasn't a huge hit, it reached no.57 in the UK chart. It got played a lot on XFM in London that summer, where I was working during university holidays, going to gigs and spending far too much money in Rough Trade.

I feel a bit bad, I've not really followed the band since (they're still going, as their website tells you), but this is a real gem of a song. Trying to sum it up earlier, this thought occured to me:

'The Wonderstuff forged a distinctive sound that was a mix of folk and punk, yet owed nothing (to these ears at any rate) to the likes of The Men They Couldn't Hang or the Pogues. Whatever it was, Harvey Danger took a similar blueprint and mixed it with Pavement, then produced a fantastic song.'

I'm sure a lot of people won't hear the Wonderstuff connection. Then again, I always thought the New Radicals' 'You Get What You Give' sounded like The Waterboys, so what do I know...

Harvey Danger -'Flagpole Sitta.' mp3

Harvey Danger website/Harvey Danger myspace

Baby, I Can't Wait

2008-10-11T16:20:00.005+01:00

'Always different, always the same.'

'I spurn [people who do not like them] with my toe.'

John Peel on his favourite ever band, The Fall.

How excited am I about seeing The Fall tomorrow night?

Oh, you know, it's only got me through the more difficult classes that I've had this week and given me the opportunity to re-read Mark E. Smith's autobiography, and play Slates this afternoon and re-listen to Live At The Witch Trials as I type. It should be noted that this album was not a live album (though obviously there have been live debut albums before, MC5, Jane's Addiction and 22-20s spring to mind...)

The autobiography is great, taking no prisoners and making no apologies. It's not a conventional autobiography but then, this is Mark E. Smith we're talking about here, what do you expect?!

One of the things that clearly irritates him is people who think that his former wife Brix Smith was responsible for bringing a poppier element to The Fall when she joined in 1984. He is also clearly irritated by people who haven't done their research.

This post kind of ties those two ideas in together and focuses on the 'Lie dream Of A Casino Soul' with its' b-side 'Fantastic Life'. Released a handful of months before their seminal Hex Induction Hour LP in 1982, this 1981 single's a-side is, surprise surprise, talking about the famous Wigan Casino, the home of Northern Soul. According to the sleevenotes of the re-issued Slates, Smith was getting fed-up of people who only seemed to have just discovered soul. Surprisingly, he did like Dexy's Midnight Runners. The b-side is gloriously poppy, and this is before he even met Brix...

The Fall -'Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul.' mp3

The Fall -'Fantastic Life.' mp3

This Fall website is unofficial but seems to be fairly comprehensive

The Fall on wikipedia (I own thirty Fall albums and I feel like I'm still only scratching the surface!)

A wet Friday night

2008-10-10T20:15:00.004+01:00

...in Edinburgh.

Delighted to be home with Mrs. 17 Seconds,
frustrated that the boiler has broken down again.
Fed up with trying to motivate a handful of students.
Ecstatic that there's week until I'm on holiday.

On nights like these I just want to crawl into bed and sleep...

But there's music to keep my spirits up as ever. I spent years trying to get hold of this at an affordable rate, did people really pay £7 for a CD single ten years ago? I shure as heck didn't...

Laptop -'End Credits.' mp3

Album Review: Beatglider

2008-10-09T17:49:00.007+01:00

Beatglider - 'Witches' (Enraptured)

Shoegazing -let's not shy away from that word here -is known in the US of A as dreampop. And that makes sense when you listen to a record like the third album from Beatglider. Not only does their name evoke My Bloody Valentine, but the sounds -and I mean this as a compliment - definitely owe much to those seminal albums Isn't Anything and Loveless.

Another influence on this wee gem of an album is Fotheringay, the fabulously flawed band fronted by Sandy Denny after she left Fairport Convention and before she embarked on a solo career. There's an influence of Pagan imagery here too, though I'm going to have to put my hand up and admit that that's something I'm far from an authority on. It's a very English sounding record and beautifully dreamy.

Will it change the perceptions of those who are not heavily into dreampop/shoegazing? Sadly, probably not - but that's their loss. For those of us who like to focus on their music and almost live in their soundtracks, this is a record for the likes of us. It's a record that seems to live in another place in time, rather than being retro, existing in its' own little world, and all the better for it.

***1/2

Beatglider website/myspace

Album Review: Jay Reatard

2008-10-09T17:12:00.009+01:00

Jay Reatard - 'Matador Singles '08' (Matador)

The idea of putting out a handful of singles then collecting them together on an album is not, it must be said, a new one. In 1982-3 The Cure reinvented themselves with a trilogy of singles then collected them together with associated with b-sides on the album Japanese Whispers. In 1992, the Wedding Present released a 7" a month then collected them together with their b-sides on the Hit Parade albums.

What is slightly different about this album by Memphis boy wonder Jay Reatard (just how many great bands can one label have?!?! -and it's been a phenomenal year for Matador) is that each 7" has been released in a succesively smaller run worldwide. Thus, April's single #1 'See/Saw' was released in a worldwide edition of 3,500, while September's 'No time' was limited to just 400.

A hype gathering exerise for those who play e-bay like the stock exchange? Oh ye of little faith and much cynicism! The thing is that this actually realy works as an album in its' own right. And whilst it is painfully cliched to say that an album works like a collection of singles...umm, well it is, but also, it does. The tracks flow together, and I've found myself playing this repeatedly over the last two weeks.

All eyes have been on the Kings of Leon as southern wonders of late, as they chart all four of their albums in the UK chart. But those eyes should divert their attention here. As Pitchfork pointed out, 'in this short space of time, Reatard has cranked out more memorable songs than some alcts do in their whole careers.' Know what? They've got a point. A wonderful confection of punk and garage pop-gems that still feels fresh and exciting on every listen. Dammit, what more can you ask for?

****

Matador Singles '08 is out now on Matador.

Jay Reatard -'See/Saw.' mp3

Jay Reatard -'Always Wanting More.' mp3

(have now sorted out the links)

Jay Reatard's myspace

Wanna rant wanna riot...

2008-10-07T17:18:00.004+01:00

Arrgh

How to rant without damaging anyone.

Post an angry song that's sugar-coated.

It could only be this...

Damned -'Smash it Up.' mp3

Album Review: A.Human

2008-10-06T20:44:00.005+01:00

A. Human -'Third Hand Prophecy.' (Wall Of Sound)

As I work through a large pile of stuff (sure I don't have to review everything I'm sent, but as I'm trying to get my own record company up and running, I think there's a sort of karma involved), it's inevitable that there are some albums that have kind of dropped to the bottom of the pile.

And more fool me, because this debut from A.Human is fantastic. I've played it several times, and each time I do, I hear something else, another pleasant connection made, another great riff that strikes me. It's got pulsing bassliness and analogue synths that evoke the best records of the early eighties. There's eleven fantastic tracks here, quirky, without being annoying and damn wonderful too. 'Black Moon' for example, is the tale of a woman with knives for hands. 'Third Hand Prophecy' is an excellent opener. And If you'd told me that a dance re-working of America's 'Horse With No Name' could work, I wouldn't have believed you...but now I do.

Evoking early Simple Minds, Death In Vegas, Primal Scream circa 1997-2002...this is a brilliant record. Once you hear it, you will want to hear it again. And again.

Don't make the same mistake I did, check it out. Now.

****

Third Hand Prophecy is out now on Wall Of Sound

A.Human website/A.Human myspace

A.Human -'Third Hand Prophecy.' mp3

A.Human -'Black Moon.' mp3

Album Review: The Chap

2008-10-05T18:16:00.004+01:00

The Chap -'Builder's Brew' (Loaf Recordings)

This has to rate as THE worst album I have heard all year*, and I have heard around 150.

The problem with The Chap is that they think that a) they're intelligent and b) that they are being post-modern and ironic (or moronic, for short). Unfortunately, all they are is bloody irritating.

The Chap have reportedly received praise for sources as diverse as Vice and The Wire, and been played by Stuart Maconie. Frankly speaking these people need their ears clearing out. This is a festering turd of a record, frankly. It's actually quite offensive that people are given money to make music this bad.

It finishes with their cover of 'What's Love Got To Do With It?' yes, the Tina Turner cheese-fest. Which apparently has been demanded by their fans for years. It makes The Residents' mauling of 'satisfaction' seem like a worthy statement.

Words cannot express just how bad this record is. There is no need for this to exist. Go away. Leave me the hell alone.

*

The Chap -'Proper Rock.' mp3

*yes, even worse than Black Mountain

Album Review: Eugene Francis Jr

2008-10-05T16:34:00.003+01:00

Eugene Francis Jr -'The Golden Beatle.' (Legion)

Umm, I'm feeling a little bit bad about this. A few months ago I wrote about Eugene Francis, after his record company had been in touch, sent a few mp3s etc.. And I wanted to hear more, and so I asked for the album to be sent and it was...

...and the problem is that I just find this fairly boring. Alright, so the cover art doesn't help. Nor does the title. but even if i'd been sent this in a plain cover nd it had been an untitled release, I still would have to say the same thing: this is a fairly boring album. It's not hideously awful, like The Chap's latest release, but it just doesn't do anything. The production makes it feel fairly safe, there's no wow factor. It's fine as background music, but when you start to pay attention to it (which if you're reviewing it, I reckon that you SHOULD be), after a couple of tracks it starts to get fairly annoying.

So yes, I asked for it to be sent. I'm sure blood, sweat and tears have gone into this. But it just leaves me cold.

**

Eugene Francis Jr -'The Beginners.' mp3

Eugene Francis Jr's myspace

Album Review: Nik Freitas

2008-10-05T11:52:00.003+01:00

Nik Freitas -'Sun Down' (Affairs Of The Heart records)

Every so often, along comes a record that has no pretensions, but just gets on and does its' job and is wonderful in itself. And right now, that record is the latest album from Nik Freitas.

Recently on tour in the UK playing guitar for Conor Oberst as part of his Mystic Valley Band, there are certain parallels with the sound of Mr. Oberst and his alter-ego Bright Eyes. But one thing Nik Freitas has over Coor Oberst is that his voice seems less strained, and somehow more natural. In fact, natural is very much the style of the record. Nothing seems forced here, and even the epic moments don't seem too grandiose. And that's a real feat.

This album has been written, played, engineered and produced every note by Nik Freitas. Now that's what I call independent. Right from the opening notes of the album's opener, the title track, this is an album that doesn't mess about and gives us a nice warm feeling when it comes to an end forty minutes later. It doens't re-write the rulebook, or sonicallly challenge you, but sometimes you don;t want that anyway.

Make sure you check it out.

***1/2

Nik Freitas' webpage/Nik Freitas' myspace

Sun Down is released on October 6 on Affairs of The Heart Records

Nik Freitas -'Sun Down.' mp3

Nik Freitas -'Sophie.' mp3

Oh yes, oh yay...

2008-10-04T17:10:00.005+01:00

...finally, I've got tickets to see The Fall today. I've been a fan for many years, but I'm really stoked about seeing them in Edinburgh soon.

Not least because supporting them is John Cooper Clarke.

I'm not an authority on JCC, but the stuff of his I've heard is fab, of which I include a selection below.

A few years ago, My Da came up to Edinburgh for a wedding of a family friend. He'd been asked to read John Cooper Clarke's 'I Wanna Be Yours' which I'm told is now a set text for the English GCSE syllabus, or at least, was at any point.

My Da is many things, but quite possibly the only two things that he and JCC share is that they were born in the same decade and were born north of the Watford Gap. Anyway, using a handful of punk compilations and rehearsing we got it sorted for the big day.

I knew those years of listening to punk was going to pay off some day. My Da had it so damn well sorted he got an even bigger cheer than the bride and groom. Serious respect.

So, can John Coooper Clarke read as well as my Da? I'm waiting to see...

John Cooper Clarke -'Psycle Sluts (Part 1).' mp3

John Cooper Clarke -'Suspended Sentence.' mp3

The Massed Carnaby St John Cooper Clarkes (sic!) -'The Day My Pad Went mad.' mp3

John Coooper Clarke website/Myspace

The Indestructible Beat Of Soweto

2008-10-04T09:57:00.005+01:00

At the risk of pointing out the screamingly obvious, compilations generally tend to fall into two camps: the ones that you make for someone (or very occasionally, for yourself), and the ones you buy that are ready-curated. There have been a handful over the years that have genuinely become legendary in their own right: Lenny Kaye's compilation Nuggets, which compiles 60s garage psychedelic sounds, perhaps being one of the most famous.

But it's this one The Indestructible Beat Of Soweto that I want to focus on today. Put together by Trevor Herman and Jumbo Van Renan, this might be responsible for opening up the world to so much of what has come to be known as 'World Music.' That's a label that a lot of people increasingly have a fair amount of opposition to, perhaps not unreasonably. But as an article here at Roots World points out, it was the first exposure that many people had to music from Southern Africa.

The styles within are hugely varied, from the a capella sound of Ladysmith Black Mambazo to jive to Udokotela Shange Namajaha's opener which seems to include so many different types of music within just the opening number. If you ever felt that the dance/electronica section of record shops was becoming too much of a catch-all, ask yourself why these artists wouldn't be featured there. Even to those who know very little about Southern African music -and I most definitely include myself in that- can listen to these twelve tracks and appreciate just how many different styles were at work here. At the time South Africa was pretty much the world's pariah nation, due to Apartheid, and whilst there was a lot of opposition to the policies of that, there was also little awareness of the music that came from the townships. This album changed that.

It's one of the records that made The Wire's 100 important Records Ever Made List where Mark Sinker had this to say:

'The Indestructible Beat Of Soweto (Earthworks/Virgin) This one record justifies all the dully worthy blah committed in the name of World Music. Trevor Herman's and Jumbo Van Renan's inspired compilation tells an essentially mythological tale of community resilience and survival, reaches into the gorgeous, raw-gritty sound of an already-vanished past for one last moment, without ever denying that the music can only really be so potently rediscovered because of the effects of a barbarously retarded social set-up: because Soweto's will to change was so violently thwarted. The music remains as tensile as it's witty: and old troupers like Mathlathini will later clearly enjoy recreating their roles to cartoon perfection, if that's what sympathetic whitey overseas wants.'

The rock world sat up and took notice. The albums made subsequently that both 'borrowed' ideas from this record have been well-documented, analysed and argued over. Forgot that, just for now, and check out this compilation.

Udokotela Shange Namajaha -'Awungilobolele.' mp3

Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Nansi Imali.' mp3

If you like this, check out the album (available on eMusic).

And as ever, let me know what you think!

Album Review: TV On The Radio

2008-10-03T21:58:00.005+01:00

TV On The Radio -'Dear Science,' (4AD)

TV on the Radio have now been recording for five years and this is their third full-length album proper, following on from 2004's Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes and 2006's Return To Cookie Mountain. So how have they handled that difficult third album?

...Only by making the best album of their career so far, that's how. The previous two albums have involved excellent art rock (it makes perfect sense that they're signed to 4AD, perhaps the artiest record label ever -and that's meant as a compliment). Whilst some accusations that the previous two albums were more to be appreciated than loved seem a little...harsh, the fact remains that TV On the Radio have done that rare thing: they've managed to produce the most accessible album of their career so far, without that having to involve compromising. And that's no mean feat.

Because the sound is still fascinating, the vocals still the right sort of impassioned, but the funk has arrived, and different elements are on here, and manage to sit side by side and work.

From the opening track 'Halfway Home' to closer 'Lover's Day' this is an album that grabs you on first listen and doesn't let go. If there is any justice, not only will this album clean up in the end of year polls, but it will also prove to be their commercial breakthrough. Surely their time is now.

TV On The Radio -'Halfway Home.' mp3

TV On The Radio -'Lover's Day.' mp3

TV On The Radio official website/ TV On the Radio myspace

Now that's just Crass

2008-10-03T18:07:00.004+01:00

There are very few artists who have managed to have questions asked about them in the House of Commons, in fact I believe that the list is just John Lennon, UB40, the Sex Pistols and Crass. The latter ended up being enquired about because of their single 'How does it feel to be the mother of a thousand dead?' an attack on Thatcher and the Falklands War.

I can't post it here - I don't have it, and it's not on emusic or iTunes either (can anyone help?!?!).

But I did track down this single, which deals with some of those who were offended by the aforementioned single, this one is 'Sheep Farming In The Falklands.'

Crass -'Sheep Farming In the Falklands.' mp3

This was inspired because I picked up their debut LP, The Feeding Of the 5,000 today, with the wonderful'Do they Owe Us A Living?' A fantastic riposte at the end of the working week...

Crass -'Do They Owe Us A Living?' mp3

Official website
Crass @ Wikipedia

Exciting stuff...

2008-10-01T19:47:00.003+01:00

Dead excited.

First of all, a 17 Seconds single has been played by Jim Gellatley on his podcast -which can be downloaded from here, and he mentions 17 Seconds records. As well as playing stuff by Broken Records and Pearl and the Puppets. Go here for more details or download it from iTunes.

And also, Aberfeldy will be played by Vic Galloway tonight on his show in Scotland, on Radio 1, which you should be able to download from here

And if you haven't made friends with us at myspace yet (and you have a myspace thing) please do so!

Album Review: Popup

2008-09-30T18:17:00.004+01:00

Popup -'A Time And a Place' (Art Goes Pop)

Popup have now been around for several years, but this is their debut LP. And instead of rushing it at the first whiff of interest, it's paid off that they've developed it over time. Debut single 'Lucy, What You Trying To Say?' was released over two years ago, and appears again here. The album has been made with help from the Scottish Arts Council (now that's what I pay taxes for, not for bombing the shit out of countries where the infrastructure's already collapsing).

Whilst some idiots (without listening properly) might dismiss them as 'another jangly guitar band from Scotland' more fool them, frankly, because there's excellent tunes on here, and some fantastic lyrics, that can hold their own with the likes of Pete Doherty, Alex Turner and fellow-countryman Aidan Moffat. I think my favourite might well be 'we shared a cigarette/turned out he had tourettes' from the aforementioned Lucy...

Over the course of thirteen tracks, right from opener 'Love Triangle' to closer Lucy, there's witty, biting lyrics and excellent tunes. 'Love Triangle', by the way, is about siamese twins cheating in love. This is a warm, exciting debut that makes you want to hear it again and again. Whilst much of the plaudits at the moment for debut albums for scottish bands are for Glasvegas, let's make sure that we all pay heed to Popup.

****

A Time And A Place is available to download now on iTunes and eMusic, and is released on Art Goes Pop on October 6.

Lucy, What You Trying To Say?

Chinese Burn

Popup website/Popup's myspace

The world's gone mad...

2008-09-29T22:39:00.004+01:00

The world seems to be in serious economic turmoil,and it's getting worse.

As a teacher, one of the things I do with classes, particularly if they have a double period, is to give them a general knoweldge and current affairs quiz to see what they know.

Sometimes it is nothing short of depressing to find out how little they know about the world they live in. Families no longer seem to buy newspapers, and whilst the know what Peter and Jordan are up to, there's seemingly very little awareness of their own history or what's going on in the world. 'What's this got to do with me?' The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist...

Whilst my parents and I haven't always agreed on politics, at least they encouraged me to take an interest in the world around me and to get involved.

As a teacher in Scotland, two days have been given up to striking by Unison, whose workers not unreasonably want a decent wage. Living where we do, the impact of HBOS being bought out is still waiting to be felt.

I don't put my political views down my students' throats, it isn't on, though I will rip shreds off kids who make racist remarks (the Polish are getting a lot of stick around where I teach), but it depresses me to think that people think that politics cannot change the world, or that it has nothing to do with them.

So, in support of the workers and those who are really struggling at the moment, these are for you:

Billy Bragg -'There Is Power In A union.' mp3

These are two different versions of the Angelic Upstarts' track 'Solidarity. First the video...

...and a different recording of the song

Angelic Upstarts -'Solidarity.' mp3

Sad songs say so much...

2008-09-29T20:57:00.004+01:00

One of my favourite albums of the decade has to be Things We Lost In The Fire by Low.

This is the opening track, and it kinda speaks for itself...Enjoy...

Low -'Sunflower.' mp3

Album Review: RTX

2008-09-28T15:23:00.003+01:00

RTX -'J.J. Got Live RaTX.' (Drag City)

Another violently cool release from Drag City...

Four years ago, Royal Trux was disbanded by its' founders and main runners Jennifer Herrem and Neil Haggerty. This is the third album that 'junkie icon guitarist' Herrema has put out under the RTX banner.

Being on Drag City, rightly or wrongly clearly makes this violently cool, to a certain sorta indie hipster, though the roots of this album have far more to do with pre-grunge metal. Not the eighties boys who spent more time on their hair than thier riffs, but those who had Sabbath, Zeppelin and Van Halen running through their veins. The fact there is a picture on the back of a girl with a leather jacket with a picture on it of a tiger gives you the sorta aesthetic we're dealing with here. Though with a fair bit in common with the likes of early Mudhoney and Royal Trux too, obviously...

So, is it inventive? No, but it's a lot of fun, and it has a hell of a lot of balls. The sort that would see the likes of The Darkness off pretty quickly, whiilst threatening the likes of The Black Crowes and ZZ Top into leaving pretty sharpish while they were at it. There's a cover of the barbarians' 'Are You A Boy or Are you A girl?' which given how scary Herrema can no doubt be at times, seems quite appropriate.

In this day and age, this kinda seems almost violently anti-commercial and perhaps all the better for it.

***1/2, no on second thoughts ****

RTX -'Cheap Wine Time.' mp3

J.J. Got Live RaTX is released on October 20 on Drag City.

RTX's myspace