Kissed

Christmas has come and gone and in some ways that's all I can say about it- I'm glad we spent time both on our own and with family but I can't pretend it wasn't really hard at times. A friend who has a lot of experience in the grief caused by losing a child sent us a card that said 'the first everything fucks' and that definitely seems to be true. 

Today's musical distraction is a thirty year rewind all the way back to Christmas Eve 1991 and Andrew Weatherall hosting a radio show at Kiss FM. Things start off in a manner you'd expect with the dance sounds of 1991- a three track mix of Future Sound Of London including the mighty Papua New Guinea, Inner City, The Orb, S- Express, 23 Skidoo, Bernie Worrell and Depth Charge. Then Bobby Gillespie turns up with a bag of records and The Faces, Pharaoh Sanders, The Impressions, Haysi Fantayzee, Dub Syndicate and Lee Perry all show up, things becoming more eclectic and wide- ranging. It finishes in most un- Kiss FM style with a visit to Patti Smith's Piss Factory. Stream at Mixcloud or download below.

Andrew Weatherall and Bobby Gillespie at Kiss FM 24th December 1991

• Future Sound Of London - Three Track Mix
• Inner City - Vibes
• The Orb - Perpetual Dawn
• Bernie Worrell  - B.W. Jam
• 23 Skidoo - Coup
• S'Express - Find 'Em Fool 'Em Forget 'Em
• Depth Charge - Depth Charge (Han Do Jin)
• Tyrone Davis - Turn Back The Hands Of Time
• The Chi-Lites - Stoned Out Of My Mind
• Esther Phillips - Home Is Where The Hatred Is
• Burning Spear - Social Living
• Faces - As Long As You Tell Him
• Gene Chandler - Groovy Situation
• Freddie Scott - Am I Grooving You
• Def Jef - Voice Of A New Generation
• Pharoah Sanders - Astral Travelling
• George Jackson - Aretha, Sing One For Me 
• Maceo And All The King's Men - (I Remember) Mr Banks
• Haysi Fantayzee - Sister Friction
• The Impressions - Check Out Your Mind
• Dub Syndicate - Ravi Shankar (Pt.1) / The Show Is Coming
• Lee Perry - Pussy Galore
• Stereo MC's - Smoking With The Motherman
• Fred McDowell - You Got To Move
• Dr. Alimantado - Born For A Purpose
• Patti Smith - Piss Factory

Cascades

I posted this song way back, one of my favourite records of the period 1990-91- Cascades (Hypnotone Mix) by Sheer Taft. It came out on Creation and was on the killer Creation dance comp Keeping The Faith. Cascades is an acid house influenced, hypnotic and trippy adventure from the imagination of Glasgow's Sheer Taft. I make no apologies for posting it again- you'll love it, if you don't know it already.

The picture above shows Sheer Taft with Bobby Gillespie at Glasgow Barrowlands in 1991, presumably at Primal Scream's gig there on the Screamadelica tour. The day before yesterday there was a comment left at the Wordpress version of this blog (which is just a back up version really, in case blogger ever pulled the plug on this one which has happened to other bloggers in the past). The comment was left by the man himself, Sheer Taft, in response to another anonymous comment asking if there was an earlier version of this song and how much input Hypnotone had. So Taft has helpfully cleared it up for us.

'The original version was recorded by myself (Sheer Taft) and Andrew Innes from Primal Scream in a flat in the east end of London.
We then recorded further versions of the same track at a studio in Fulham.
Hypnotone ie Tony Martin was involved along with me in remixing the track with a great deal of input by Thrash from the Orb answer a few suggestions from Brian Enough who was working in the same studio in Berwick Street at that time.'

Thanks Sheer Taft. It freaks me out a  little when the people who make the music comment on the blog but it's good too.

Cascades (Hypnotone Mix)

We are going away for the weekend, it being a Bank Holiday. We are camping. In a tent. With a load of other people. In tents. A few weeks ago when the sun was shining and the temperature was nudging 18 to 19 degrees, this looked like a brilliant idea. Now the wind is blowing, the night time temperature is close to zero, rain keeps sweeping in, and there was hail falling from the skies yesterday. It doesn't seem such a brilliant idea anymore. it seems a bit stupid. I'll let you know how we got on when we get back- supposedly on Monday. Have a good weekend.

Holmes And Bobby G

Back in the summer I listened to David Holmes' career spanning compilation The Dogs Are Parading several times was and struck by how well it all hung together and how much top notch stuff he has done- My Mate Paul, Compared To What, I Heard Wonders, Gritty Shaker, Sugarman, Don't Die Just Yet, 69 Police et al. This song didn't make it onto the double cd and wouldn't have fitted very well anyway, being Holmes does the Stooges. Sick City is off his Bow Down To The Exit Sign album from 2000 which had a variety of guest stars and tried to hit loads of targets at once. It also featured Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie on vocals and sounds like an out-take from the Scream's war on vowels, sonic terrorist stage.

Sick City

David Holmes is producing Primal Scream's forthcoming lp, a double album of 'strange psychedelic guitar music'.

Wake Up

Some old Factory music for Thursday from Glasgow's The Wake. It's against some kind of internet law to type the words The Wake without mentioning that Bobby Gillespie was a member (leaving in 1983). The Wake signed to Factory after Rob Gretton heard them, recorded at Stockport's Strawberry Studio (a Factory hangout), toured with New Order and released several singles and two albums through either Factory or Factory Benelux. Eventually they got fed up at Factory and left for Sarah Records splitting in the mid 90s. The Wake re-woke in 2009 and have an album scheduled for this year. There was a gig in Brussels in December 2009 with former Factory bands Section 25 and A Certain Ratio which sounds like the early 80s in a nutshell, but probably with fewer raincoats and less Situationism. This was a single in 1984, archetypal in it's own way, and has Durutti Column man Vini Reilly on piano. Rather nice really.

Talk About The Past

Jesus Creation

'The sun comes up another day begins

And I don't even worry 'bout the state I'm in'

The Jesus and Mary Chain have appeared here several time before. I make no apologies for that. They're one of the best bands ever. From the Creation roster you can make claims for Primal Scream (and I'd agree with you about several/many of their records), claims for My Bloody Valentine (and I'd concede some points there too), claims for other minor players (The Loft, The Weather Prophets, The Pastels, The Telescopes, The House Of Love say) and claims for Oasis (if you're an idiot), but Jim and William Reid's feedback drenched pop makes them the original and archetypal Creation band, even if not actually many of their records came out on Creation. And they may only have written one song but it's a great, great song.

This is from an October 1984 Peel Session as played by the original JAMC line up of the Reids, bassist Douglas Hart and 'drummer' Bobby Gillespie. The Peel Session also featured In A Hole, You Trip Me Up and Taste The Floor. Never Understand would become their second single.

Never Understand (Peel Session)

Death In Vegas 'One More Time'

That Death In Vegas 10" single I mentioned the other day, one sided with an etched B side picture of a girl's face, and on red vinyl. Could it have any more collectible features?

One More Time is a nice organ led, retro funky thing, and features Bobby Gillespie. He turns up at the end and says 'yeah yeah yeah yeah' a few times. Guess he forgot his lyric book when he went to the studio.

05 One More Time.wma