On Hold

I've got more and more out of The Xx as time has gone on. At first I thought they were impressive but easier to admire than to love. That's changed over the years since their debut and its follow up, even more so after Jamie Xx's solo album from last year. News came out on Friday that their third album will be released in January and in advance of it comes a single called On Hold.

The opening section with Romy and Oliver trading lines starts out sounding like an 80s power ballad but stick with it. The synth stabs coming in forty seconds and then the repetitive vocal sample (Hall and Oates) at fifty seconds take it elsewhere, into higher places.



While I'm in the Xx zone this Jamie Xx edit of Sunset off second album Coexist is a wonderful bass and kick drum led thing of beauty. The repeated guitar line building up to Romy's vocal drop is magnificent use of tension and release and the end section is pretty amazing too.

Pulling Out Of Ricardo And The Dusk Is Falling Fast

I don't know about you but I could do with a lie down in a darkened room for a little while.



The KLF's Chill Out, forty four minutes and twenty seconds long, recorded in one go by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, and released in February 1990, is a mythical drive through the night up the Gulf Coast from Texas into Louisiana. Bill Drummond said at the time he'd never been to those places, it was all in his head. If you want more about the background, samples, recording, track titles and whatnot there's more here. But maybe it's best just to press play and let go.

It seems wrong to let today go by without a tip of the trilby to Leonard Cohen.

'Now I bid you farewell
I don't know when I'll be back
They're moving us tomorrow
To the tower down the track
But you'll be hearing from me baby
Long after I'm gone
I'll be speaking to you softly
From a window in the tower of song'

Remembrance

Some photos I took at the Somme and around Ypres this summer, one hundred years on from the Battle of the Somme. Ninety eight years ago from now the First World War came to an end. We still remember them.

Back In The Day

'Back in the day
Even circles were squares'.

Another lost piece from the Joe Strummer jigsaw, Generations was recorded in a day in 1996 while Joe was in Los Angeles. Having spent some time driving around the surrounding areas in his Cadillac with Shaun Ryder, Bez and Richard Norris, getting hopelessly lost on occasion, Joe was beginning to get back towards a band style scenario. The Mescaleros started to come together not too long afterwards, Joe writing with Richard Norris. England's Irie, England's unofficial Euro 96 song led to Joe's only Top Of The Pops appearance with Black Grape. Joe was on the move. Contacted about a project to put out an album called Generations- A Punk Rock At Human Rights Joe went away inspired to contribute a song and wrote the lyric quickly. It was then recorded in a day in LA with Rat Scabies and Seggs from The Ruts on bass and drums. The producer Jason Rothberg came up with the name Electric Dog House. Joe's response was along the lines of 'well we're not going to come up with anything better today' so Electric Dog House it was. It's a funny song with plenty of charm- loose drumming and some organ open it up and then Joe comes in. The mix and echo on the vox make it sound quite chaotic and the instruments pile up towards the end but there's a good tune inside it, a nice chord change in the chorus and an affecting lyric- 'let's go running down the road' Joe repeats. It's a shame the three of them didn't go on to record anything else together.

De Testimony

Difficult to know exactly what to say after yesterday's news that other people haven't already expressed elsewhere. Right wing demagogues stoking up waves of populist revolt, people excluded economically and who see political elites as the cause of their problems, racism and xenophobia used to fan the flames, multimillionaires posing as voices of the people who represent the man in the street and tell it how it is. This has happened before, in Europe in the 1930s to give one example, and it doesn't go well.

I still haven't got my computer back either. I did manage to get into my emails last night for the first time in three weeks but haven't got the will to go through them all.

This record by Finitribe from 1986 is a blast. Just check the beat... and those bells! Dancefloor rocking stuff, electronic 80s, on the fringes of industrial, picked up by the thudding, slow mo New Beat djs in Belgium and then the Balearic scene in Ibiza and South London a couple of years later.

There Ain't No Asylum Here

Straight to hell...



Swastika eyes...



Heaven help us all...

America Is Waiting For A Message Of Some Sort Or Another

I remember clearly the first time I heard David Byrne and Brian Eno's 1981 album My Life In the Bush of Ghosts. This would be circa 1988 so it probably didn't have the same shock impact it may have had on listeners in 1981- sampling voices from the TV and radio was all over the place in the late 80s, as were drum machines and tracks constructed from loops and treated instruments. But it still made my head spin. America Is Waiting isn't necessarily the best song on Bush Of Ghosts but it seems the most relevant today. Snatches of ranted vocals ('we ought to be mad at the government not made at the people', 'no will whatsoever, absolutely no integrity'), distorted funky guitar from Byrne and a clattering rhythm track.

Vote B

Given the choice between Clinton and Trump, there is no real choice at all. And obviously we don't get a choice, we just watch as the USA makes its decision and potentially unleashes a man patently unfit to hold any kind of public office into the White House. Let's hope they get it right. Given the way things have been going politically recently, a Trump victory is a genuine and utterly terrifying possibility. Eric B would be a much better bet.

Nice Outfit

I can't decide if it's heartening or disappointing that a group as critically adored as A Certain Ratio can pull about two hundred people to a small venue underneath King George's Hall in Blackburn on a cold night in November. Heartening I suppose that a band who have sold so few records have a devoted fanbase, many of whom travelled some distance to see them but disappointing that it was only two hundred. On the plus side there was plenty of room to have a shuffle and no barrier in front of the low stage so we were within touching distance of the group. Not that I did touch them- that would be a bit weird. One audience member did spend part of the final song on stage with them, stepping up onto the stage and being given a cowbell to bang. 

As ACR took the stage Jez Kerr opened with 'Evening Burnley', a nod to the not very friendly rivalry that exists between the two Lancashire mill towns. Then it was straight into the punk-funk. The group were all dressed in monochrome, fitting the austere sound of their early 80s work. Martin Moscrop's guitar playing bringing the wiry sound, Jez's bass the funk, Donald Johnson more on it than a drum machine and Tony Quigley's clarinet a discordant edge. Do The Du is spectacularly northern, stepped chord changes and muscular rhythms. 'We'll get you dancing later' Jez quips after Flight has filled the room. Half way through Liam Mullen's keyboards start to bring us from the early 80s to the late 80s and we're into the house influenced tunes, a wonderful 27 Forever with Denise's vocals now to the fore and then into career high points Won't Stop Loving You and Good Together. ACR were always in New Order's shadow but these songs show there wasn't much between them in terms of making dance-pop. The samples kick in ('Nice outfit') and we're into full on Hacienda territory with Be What You Wanna Be. Then a wonderful, fully fleshed out Shack Up and after a brief pause we're at the encore with the samba sounds of Si Firmi O Grido, band members swapping instruments, congas, shakers, whistles, bongos, everything you can bang, tap or shake. 

Everyone seemed to have a good time, the middle aged Factory heads, the former ravers, the Mums and Dads on a night out, a smattering of younger people. For a group who are no longer a full time job for any of the members, who only do one offs or sporadic bursts of gigs (they played Lille and Paris two weeks ago), they are fantastically tight, able to to turn on a sixpence and shift the rhythms around telepathically. They've just signed a deal with Mute so expanded re-issues of their 80s and 90s albums are on the cards plus something new. You can't say these nearly men and women of Manchester's music scene don't deserve it.

Mayday

My ears have been very much attuned to techno recently, especially the futuristic sounds coming out of Detroit between 1987 and 1989. There are lots of discussions and arguments in music about firsts, who made the first record in a particular style, who the inventor or originator was. This record, Nude Photo, made by Derrick May as Rhythim Is Rhythim, is arguably the first techno record and it is sublime, hitting the head and feet equally with its marriage of rhythm and melody, and the shock of otherness. There are arguments that Model 500's No UFOs was first or Cybotron was. Others argue that these were electro rather than techno. It gets like that. And it doesn't really matter I suppose.

We have spent some time this week emptying some cupboards and drawers, de-cluttering, rationalising and in some cases chucking shit out. Why I had kept hold of some things? Why had I saved not one, not two, but five old mobile phones? This was made much easier by listening to Innovator, a 1991 six track vinyl compilation of Derrick May's work, where he invents much of the sound of the modern world.

Cabbage

Would you like a blast of something loud to start your weekend? Yes? Good. Cabbage come from Mossley, eight miles to the east of Manchester, a town in the Pennine hills. Five young men with something to say and the amps turned up nasty and loud so they can be heard. If you want some old fashioned references there's more than a little punk in here, the surrealist rumble of The Fall, the snarl of Sleaford Mods, the acute and humorous observations of Nigel Blackwell even. A commentary on the Britain of Cameron, Theresa May and Brexit with other stuff shoe horned in (see It's Grim Up North Korea). Guaranteed to wind some people up.

Bleu Bandulu

In the second hand record shop the other day I picked up a 12" of Lundi Bleu by The Times. The Times was Ed Ball's (note NOT Ed Balls) acid house project and Lundi Bleu was his cover version of Blue Monday which I posted here several years ago. The 12" had two remixes of the track by The Grid which were what caught my eye and at £2.00 I decided it was worth a punt, having heard none of the remixes before. The two Grid remixes are both good, dubby with vocal samples, chugging away nicely. Here's The Grid's World Communications remix. It's a Youtube video only I'm afraid- my computer issues continue and ripping anything is a bridge too far at the moment.



I enjoyed both The Grid remixes, especially as being off this week I had the house to myself and could turn it up loud enough and sit back with a cup of tea. But the real treat is on the flipside with Bandulu's remix. Bandulu were from London, also on Creation and made reggae influenced dub/techno. Their remix of Lundi Bleu is a delight which defies description really- bubbling sounds and bouncing bass with an otherworldly, underwater groove. Futuristic in '92 and still sounding so today. Properly making something wonderful and new out of a track.

Listen To This

Dexys in 1985, when Kevin Rowland realised that nothing is further out than looking totally straight. They then released an album (Don't Stand Me Down) that the press didn't get but now can't get enough of. I Love You (Listen To This) could easily be my favourite Dexys tune (One Of Those Things off the same record runs it close, with Kevin's impassioned realisation that 'It all sounded the same'). Here are the group on performing live on The Tube in '85. Kevin's dancing at the three minute mark is a joy to behold.

Mechanical Sky

I'm a big fan of Daniel Avery. His music is proper techno, minimal and purist machine music with human feeling, pristine production, superbly well constructed, full of tension and release. If you missed his Drone Logic album from 2013 you should go and investigate forthwith. This is a new one from a DJ Kicks mix compilation.

October's Not For Everyone

All the trees round here have suddenly gone into autumn mode, all going to reds, golds and browns from the green of summer. Last week Andrew Weatherall returned to NTS radio for another edition of Music's Not For Everyone, more mind bending music from the outer and inner reaches by bands and artists you've never heard of but go scurrying off to investigate. I do anyway.



Weatherall's had another busy year. In January and February he released two albums, one under his own name titled Convenanza and one in partnership with Nina Walsh as The Woodleigh Research Facility. Both are still in residence near by stereo. Convenanza has been remixed by various friends into a new companion album called Consolamentum with new mixes by Red Axes, The Emperor Machine, Timothy J Fairplay, Justin Robertson, Vox Low, Solar Bears, Duncan Gray, Heretic, David Holmes, Bernard Fevre and Scott Fraser. The cd and vinyl versions have slightly different tracks which means buying both if you're a sad completist. This one is the one for me right now, Scott Fraser turning the spectral Ghosts Again into a piano house monster (with a tinge of mournfulness still there).

Meanwhile, In Timperley...

Borrowed from the internet. Trick or treat.

Winter Hill

Winter Hill sits north of Manchester on Rivington Moor, near Chorley and Bolton with Blackburn and Darwen further north. On top of it is an enormousTV mast which can be seen for miles around. I pass it on the way to work. Next Saturday a few of us are going to Blackburn to see A Certain Ratio play at St George's Hall. Given its part in the story of the north west's musical history- Blackburn's warehouse parties in the late 80s, the Sett End in Shadsworth etc- you'd imagine that ACR might pull a decent sized crowd. When we got our tickets a few days ago they came in the post number 47, 48. 49 and 50. At least we should be able to get a good view and place down at the front.

In 1981 ACR released Winter Hill on their To Each... album. Produced by Martin Hannett, Winter Hill is a twelve minute long journey in sound, with some urgent drumming and whistles and an alternating two note drone. Stick with it as the tension builds and then fades away.

Porkbag

Here is some wonderfully relaxed ambience from Steve Cobby, digital balm for the ears and the mood receptors (I was going to say soul but I'm not sure we're dealing with Judeo-Christian concepts such as the soul). A clicking and whirring rhythm track. Washes of sound. The pop of a drum. A voice comes in and then there's a change of pace. All three Cobby and Porky e.p.s are set to be released as a mini-album in December, titled Cities Below Future Seas.

I don't know if Steve is finding it difficult to sleep at the moment or something, but the amount of music he's putting out is almost superhuman. If you want something gritty, northern and real have a look at the spoken word project he's been doing with Russ Litten.

You can buy Porkbag from Bandcamp, three tracks from Hull for only £2. Get it here. Keep him happy and in business.


Cobby & Porky - Porkbag from Steve Cobby on Vimeo.

I Just Want To Sit Here And Watch You Undress

PJ Harvey turned up at The Vinyl Villain yesterday and I'd been meaning to post this since before my computer went down. I haven't got anything like all of Polly's albums but I'm content to drop in and out and recently played her 2000 album Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, an album inspired by New York that famously won the always slightly pointless Mercury Prize. This Is Love is my favourite song off it, direct, upfront and confident from the off with a driving Stooges, Heartbreakers guitar riff and that attention grabbing opening couplet. There isn't any doubt evident here, Polly knows exactly what she's feeling and exactly what she wants.

Diamond

Another post cobbled together under difficult technological circumstances (a new definition of blogging modernism after Kit Lambert's description of mod as clean living under difficult circumstances for you there). This is Mike D, Beastie Boy, remixing Warpaint. The new Warpaint album is pretty good but I don't feel like it's got under my skin yet in the way the previous ones did. For his remix Mike D slows it right down, strips away the instruments, lets the vocals carry the melody and adds a Kangol hatful of 80s hip hop influences. Whatchuwaitinfor? Ch-ch-ch-ch-check it out.

I finish work today for a week off and it cannot come soon enough.