Bo Diddley 'You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover'

I found this picture of the great Bo Diddley, and realised I needed to post a song to accompany it. On this occasion, you can judge a book by it's cover.

04 You Can't Judge a Book by It's Cover.wma

Sons Of Slough 'Snares & Temptations'

Sons Of Slough (not Andrew and Ian Weatherall apparently, but Ian Weatherall and Duncan Gray) from the Haywire compilation cd I wrote about yesterday. I remember a while back when Weatherall did one of his 6 Mix shows he played a version of Liar With Wings (from his excellent solo lp A Pox On The Pioneers released last year) that Ian Weatherall had remixed. That's the sum total of my knowledge about Ian Weatherall's musical contributions, although Discogs lists various Sons Of Slough singles, an lp and a few remixes.

The photo? Slough bus station. Beautiful isn't it.

03 Snares & Temptations.wma

Teenage Fanclub 'Don't Look Back'

Teenage Fanclub, like Sonic Youth, saddled themselves with a name that looks slightly more daft each decade they survive. They have recorded some great and beautiful songs, this one Don't Look Back being one of them. There is nothing wrong with this song at all, it's perfect- wistful, wise, romantic, great vocals and lovely guitars, melancholic and uplifting. Somewhere I've got a 7" e.p. Teenage Fanclub Have Lost It, where they did acoustic versions of four of their songs, with old organs and shakers and stuff, which I need to go and dig out.

dont-look-back-teenage-fanclub.mp3

Two Lone Swordsmen 'Felt Under Pressure'

More rare Weatherall, this time from a Firewire compilation cd called Audiophiles 1.1. that cropped up on ebay a few years back and had to have. Firewire is the mulitmedia division of Haywire, a dj booking agency, who handled TLS back in the late 90s and onwards. This compilation was released in 1999, and someone at Discogs has it valued at 40 euros (I don't have a euro symbol on my keyboard). The cd also has Sons Of Slough (Weatherall and his brother Ian's alias I believe), Silicon Scally, Slick & Flash, Fictional Characters, Grain, Cold Dust and Patrick C on it. I'll post the Sons Of Slough track at some point- I can't remember anything about the other tracks, and apart from Silicon Scally I don't think I've heard of any of the rest. I'm sure some of the techno heads out there can advise. This is 7 minutes and 14 seconds of TLS beats, buzzes and funny noises. Click to download if you like the sound of that.


01 Felt Under Pressure.wma

La Dusseldorf 'Silver Cloud'

If the thought of dragging your weary self into work tomorrow is bringing you down this Sunday evening, perhaps this lovely, dreamy slice of post-Krautrock (don't let that word put you off) will ease the pain slightly. La Dusseldorf were Klaus Dinger from NEU!, Thomas Dinger and Hans Lampe and this is off their 1976 debut album Dusseldorf, a pristine 1976 pressing of which I snaffled on ebay a while back. Quite lovely this Silver Cloud.

silvercloud.mp3

Sabres Of Paradise 'Theme III'

There have been a lot of guitars round Bagging Area recently so maybe at the official start of British Summer Time it's time to (in the language mangling style of the brass hats at work) 'refocus on our core business'- the provision of rarer tracks by Andrew Weatherall. Sabres Of Paradise released the mighty Theme as a 12" single back in 1994. It came backed with two fantastic dub influenced B-Sides, Edge 6 and Return Of Carter, and all three got hammered on my stereo for several months/years. More recently I chanced upon the cd single in a second hand shop which had a as a fourth cd single-only track- Theme III. Theme 6 appeared on a free cassette with Select Magazine, which was posted a week or two ago somewhere (Weekender possibly). Theme's II, and V to the best of my knowledge haven't been released, but I'm ready to stand corrected (and I can't be bothered trawling through a Sabres back catalogue list right now).

Edit: Drew at Across The Kitchen Table has pointed out that Theme IV was on the Haunted Dancehall album, and blast my eyes for not remembering that and being made to look like a Weatherall anorak amateur.

04 Theme III.wma

The Vermin Poets 'Spartan Dreg'

Billy Childish has another new band, The Vermin Poets, with Billy writing the songs, playing guitar and doing backing vox, his wife Juju on bass, MBE's drummer Wolf Howard, and Neil Palmer from Fire Department on vocals and lyre (!). This one is of a poetical bent but with super-sharp mid-60s mod-op-art music. If you like Childish you'll love this. He's had a run of really good albums over the last few years, has a exhibition of paintings on in London, and was on Radio 4 this week. If you don't like him, you should give it a go. Steady the buffs.

Billy is modelling a First World War general issue British army shirt RB620. Just so you know.

Vermin Poets_01_Spartan Dreg.mp3

The Jesus And Mary Chain 'Head On' Live On French TV

And to round off Friday night The Jesus And Mary Chain in 1989 doing Head On live on French TV. William's guitar playing is a treat. Three posts in one evening. Good night.

Head On.mp3

The Troggs 'I Can't Control Myself'

Jump forward ten years from previous postee Sparkle Moore and here's The Troggs with I Can't Control Myself- great 60s garage rock, and Reg Presley is so het up he can barely keep his trousers done up. The sound of young lust- 'Your slacks are low and your hips are showing...'

02 I Can't Control Myself.wma

Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 8

OK, here we go. The kids have been to a junior disco and come back all amped up on sweets and mini-eggs, Mrs Swiss is off on the town with the girls, and our three household smoke alarms have gone off for no reason for a good twenty minutes (and I can still hear them ringing in my ears). And it's Friday night rockabilly time.

This track Skull And Crossbones by Sparkle Moore is a real hidden gem. Real name Barbara Morgan (and I kind of wish I didn't know she had a real name), Sparkle got her nickname due to looking like the character Sparkle from the Dick Tracy comics, often dressed in men's leathers with a bleached blonde quiff, and recorded only a handful of songs -Rock-A-Bop, Tiger, Killer, Flower Of My Heart and this B-Side Skull And Crossbones. She supported Gene Vincent and was set to play the Grand Ole Opry but quit music when pregnant in 1957 and never recorded again, instead raising a family. You can find her on compilations with wonderful titles like Good Girls Gone Bad, Them Rockabilly Cats, Cool Off Baby, Hot Boppin' Girls and Rockabilly Kittens. This is a good 'un- get it while it's hot.

'You should be labelled with a skull and a crossbones
Cos you're a jinx to my soul'

skull and crossbone.mp3

Patrick Cowley and Jorge Socarras 'I Never Want To Fall In Love'

Disco-meister Patrick Cowley probably isn't going to pop up here too often but here's a strange/good song that I found yesterday. I've no idea where I got it from. Patrick Cowley's best known for his epic remix of I Feel Love and the hi-nrg of Sylvester's (You Make Me Feel) Mighty Real. He had a less well known late 70s 'new wave' project with vocalist Jorge Socarras, and an album Catholic, re-released last year, that this came from. This song is an attempt to weld electro-pop/disco-but-not-too-disco production to Ramones style song-writing, with a Socarras vocal about wanting a boyfriend but not wanting to fall in love. Which seems pretty New York in the 1970s gay disco/new wave/post-punk to me. An oddity but one worth hearing.

I Never Want To Fall In Love.mp3

Shrag 'Talk To The Left' (DJDownfall Entente Cordiale Mix)

Shrag are a three girl, two boy band from Brighton, making a racket not a million miles away from shambolic c86 indie and early 80s post-punk, dripping with put downs and sarcastic, snotty lyrics. This one was remixed by DJ Downfall (presumably inspired by the film about the last days in the bunker or the childrens' game with dials to turn), who strips off the guitars and turns it into a clubby drum and synth fest. It's a withering put down of blokes who talk dirty in bed when they should be getting on the with job, and how they should 'talk to the left 'cos the right hand's busy'. So there.

Is this what we really want chaps? Sexually confident indie girls telling us what we have to do, over pulsing electronica? Eh? Hmmm.

Answers on a postcard.

TalkToTheLeft(DJDownfallEntenteCordialeMix).mp3

The Redskins 'Keep On Keepin' On'

After yesterday's Clash inspired Rancid roots-radicals-rock (which hasn't exactly sent Mediafire's servers into meltdown admittedly), here's some 80s political soul punk, The Redskins Keep On Keepin' On. Marxism you can dance to. Remember, Neither Washington Nor Moscow But International Socialism!
How quaint and dated those types of phrases sound now. Nothing quaint or dated about the music though.

Keep_On_Keeping_On.mp3

Rancid 'Time Bomb'

Cartoon punks, Clash sound-a-likes, silly third generation mohawks, fans of The Exploited, South Californian rebel rockers etc. Rancid may be all these things, but there's no denying this is a good song.

'Black coat
White shoes
Black hat
Cadillac
The boy's a timebomb'

Silly but fun, and what's wrong with that?

Time_Bomb.mp3

Grant Hart 'You're The Reflection Of The Moon On The Water'

I've written about Husker Du survivor Grant Hart before, when I posted his first post-Husker solo song 2541. I'd forgotten all about this, until a certain Mr A. Weatherall played it on his 6 Mix show the other weekend. Grant released his first solo album in ten years last year, Hot Wax, which I got from emusic, played a few times, and then sort of forgot about. This is as good a reason why the BBC should not axe 6 Music as any- a station where this kind of stuff gets played by people like Weatherall is not easy to find.

I used to be a massive Husker Du fan, still am I suppose but I don't find myself playing their stuff that often anymore. We have a fairly geriatric cat called Husker. Grant Hart has been a bit overlooked and over shadowed, releasing the odd solo album, forming and then splitting Nova Mob, rumoured to be working with Godspeed You Black Emperor (I can't remember where they put the exclamation mark anymore). This song sent me back to the album it came off, and it's pretty good, but this is the stand out track, a buzzing, rock and roll song, with nicely muddy yet fizzy production. Apparently the lyric is inspired by a buddhist saying 'He's the reflection of the moon on the water, but he's not the moon'. You can probably get as much or as little from that as you want.

Youre The Reflection Of The Moon On The Water.mp3

The Human Beinz 'Nobody But Me' Pilooski edit

This was the first Pilooski edit I heard and it's great. The original is also great, but Pilooski does a top job here. It's one of those wonderful 60s songs about dancing, and how nobody can do the shang-a-lang like him.

nobody but me pilooski edit.mp3

Guest Post! I May Regret This

My 6 year old daughter has seen me doing this and asked what I'm doing. When I explained about the blog she said she wanted a go, so here it is, a guest post by E.T.....

I like this song because i like dolly parton .I like the rhythm
and i like the music i also like the way she sings.

Dolly_Parton_-_9_to_5_(Surecut_Kids_Re-edit).mp3

Frankie Valli 'The Night' (Pilooski Re-Edit)

This should warm us up nicely for Saturday night, Pilooski's re-edit of Frankie Valli's Northern Soul-esque The Night. Great bassline, uptempo, great vocals, double edged lyrics. Sometimes great dance music is happy/sad rather than out-and-out euphoric, and this song manages that, nailing the lightness and darkside of going out on the town. Nicely touched up by our French friend Pilooski.

The Night (Pilooski Re-Edit).mp3

Keith Hudson 'Part 1-2 Dubwise'

Some proper 70s Jamaican dub to get Saturday going. Keith Hudsons' Pick A Dub was one of the first dub album releases, back in 1974. There was a beautifully packaged re-issue in the 90s by Blood And Fire (which Mick Hucknall was partly responsible for. That's the only time he's going to feature by name in this blog). This is top stuff.

Part 1-2 Dubwise.mp3

Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 7

As Dwight Pullen says, 'You really look sharp wearing sunglasses after dark'.

Sunglasses After Dark.mp3

Fluke 'Philly (Jamorphous Mix)'

This is one of my favourite records, one of the period's most under-rated bands, the opening track to Creation's Keeping The Faith lp, dance-rock-acid house-crossover, and one of the most euphoric records ever committed to vinyl. From the opening chords, to the 'put your hands up high' vocal, to the bass, to the soaring synths... everything about it. Sheer bliss.

philly_-_jamorphous_mix.mp3

The She Trinity 'He Fought the Law'

We haven't had any 60s garage rock for a while so here's a cracker- The Bobby Fuller Four's I Fought The Law, famously covered by The Clash in 1979, re-done earlier by girl group The She Trinity as He Fought The Law. Her boyfriend did it, and lost. It falls somewhere in between Bobby Fuller's version and Joe, Mick, Paul and Topper's. It turned up on a great cd compilation from the middle of last year- 'Destroy That Boy: More Girl Guitar Groups From The 60s'. They say cd is dying, and I don't suppose too many people will mourn it, but it is a great format for 20 plus track compilation albums.

04 He Fought the Law.wma

Rare Weatherall 'Hidden Library 003 My Backward Cousin Mark'

Last track in the brief Hidden Library series, the b-side to Hidden Library 003 (yesterday's great Lord Of The Hornets). To be honest I don't particularly like this one- the lyric leaves me cold, but perhaps that's just me. You should have it though for completisms sake.

my_backward_cousin_mark.mp3

Rare Weatherall 'Hidden Library 003 Lord Of The Hornets'

This is Lord Of The Hornets, a cover of the song by former Hawkwind member Robert Calvert. I posted the original back at the start of this blog. Lord Of The Hornets is the second and last Hidden Library single (Hidden Library 003). According to the label on the 7" this song and the b-side are credited to Jnr Poon, a pseudonym (according to Discogs amongst other sources) for Weatherall and Tenniswood. Released back in 2002 this would make it the first vocal by Weatherall (if it is him singing), sometime before The Double Gone Chapel lp. There was an interview somewhere where AW claimed a Hidden Library single was coming out featuring 'some mates' but I've no idea if that was this, or if that ever came out. If anyone can clear these matters up a small group of Weatherall anoraks would probably be grateful. Or at least satisfied that a small crumb of knowledge has been added to the file in their brains labelled 'Weatherall'.

This blew me away when I got hold of it in my early internet shopping days- I played it endlessly. The electro crunchiness, the buzzing hornet noises, the vocals. It took sometime for me to find out it was a cover, and some more time to get hold of the original- ebay 7", couple of quid, and recently a cd/digital re-release. I seem to remember thinking at the time that if this had proper promotion and a big record company behind it, it could've been a massive hit. Listening to it again now I'm not so sure- can't quite see the British music buying public going for this in large numbers, certainly not the people who buy what Weatherall himself called 'Top Shop music for Hollyoaks people' a while back on Lamack's Roundtable. Regardless, this is one of the gems of the RGC back catalogue, was only manufactured in small quantities (500 copies), and may or may not be Andrew Weatherall, but it deserves to be heard by more people. Enjoy.


lord_of_the_hornets.mp3

Rare Weatherall 'Hidden Library 002' B-Side

The b-side to yesterday's Hidden Library single. This is early Swordsmen style stoned hip hop, with a great distorted guitar line. Very nice.

hidden_library_2b.mp3

Rare Weatherall 'Hidden Library 002'

In 2002 I didn't have a computer. I knew little of websites, email or mp3's. Partly this was out of choice. When I got a laptop through work the following year I realised what I was missing. But at some point in 2002 we were at my in-laws, and they had an internet connection and a pc. I started it up, and unsurprisingly one of the first things I searched for was Weatherall. The Rotters Golf Club website in those days was set up like a country golf club, with different rooms (ballroom, lounge, library and so on). In the library there was a secret panel, which led to the Hidden Library. The Hidden Library being a shop for 7" vinyl only, limited edition releases. They had some copies of one of the singles left. So, being new to the whole online ordering, I ended up accidentally ordering two copies of Hidden Library 003. This single will be posted at some point over the next couple of days. When my vinyl arrived I gave one of the copies to my friend CJ. At some point a year or two later he got hold of two copies of this single- Hidden Library 002, and gave one to me for my birthday. As far as I can tell, there was no Hidden Library 001.

So, this is Hidden Library 002, Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood, released in 2002, limited to 500 7" singles. The a-side has no name, just Hidden Library 002 a. You'll get the b-side at some point, and then Hidden Library 003 (Weatherall and Tenniswood as Jnr Poon, covering Robert Calvert's Lord Of The Hornets, with what may be Weatherall singing. It's brilliant). I know, calm down, I can see you're excited, but you'll just have to wait.

hidden_library_2a.mp3

John Cooper Clarke 'Twat'

One of the bard of Salford's greatest moments to brighten up your Sunday. It turns out we know the subject of the bile in this poem. Trying to keep things as anonymous as possible, a friend of ours had a child the same time as our eldest was born. The father of the friend's child (father and mother are no longer together as a couple) shared a house with John Cooper Clarke way back when, and various events took place prompting the Salford Bob Dylan lookalike to write this about him. So many great lines in this poem- and as a bonus you can probably apply it to someone in your life as well.

JohnCooperClarke-Twat.mp3

Money Mark 'Hand In Your Head'

A snatch of flute I heard yesterday led me to this track, and an album I'd forgotten all about. While watching a snippet of a documentary about Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the two black American athletes who raised their fists in the black power salute on the winner's podium at the 1968 Olympics, the backing music caught my ear. The flute sample out of Sure Shot by The Beastie Boys. I couldn't remember where the sample was from, so googled it (Jeremy Steig, flute jazz-rock fusion). In the links to Youtube clips was the Sure Shot video and the original Stieg song Howling For Judy. Watched both and then ended up watching three more Beastie Boys videos (Sabotage, obviously, Root Down and Intergalactic). And then in the list of related videos on the right was this track, Hand In Your Head, by Beastie keyboardist Money Mark.

The Beastie Boys co-opted most of pop culture in the mid-1990s, especially for those people not too fussed by Britpop. Ill Communication, Hello Nasty, Grand Royale magazine and record label, 70s cop parodies, Mike Watt, Lee Perry, retro trainers, funk, soul and punk influences, all done with a sense of humour and lightness of touch. Money Mark released this lp in 1998, and it's full of his trademark funky organ, retro keyboards and noises, but also some top 'New Wave' songwriting, all shot through with those California vibes (ugh, just used the word vibes. That's the downside of what this stuff does to you). Money Mark always seemed like a cool chap. Apparently he was a carpenter, and only started playing with the Beastie Boys when he went to knock up some shelves at Mike D's house, and let slip he played keyboards. I listened to most of Money Mark's album, Push The Button, today for the first time in ten years, and this song stood out. Nice sleeve too.

'I've got my hand in your head
And I'm pulling out all of your mind'

13 - Hand In Your Head.mp3

Lust

Johnny Marr joined The The after leaving The Smiths, and this was the lead single from the second album he did with them, Dusk, released in 1992. While many people say Johnny's never matched the standards he set in The Smiths (and who else has?), this is one of his post-Smiths gems. Opening with Johnny's raspy harmonica and then a swampy, dirty guitar track, coupled with Matt Johnson's husky vocals and heavy drums. There's a great breakdown with the harmonica and guitar riff, before the meaty, swampy groove comes back. A must for your Johnny Marr compilation cd.

Edit Post removed by Blogger, reposted without track.

Bobby Gentry 'Ode To Billy Joe'

We've been on a bit of a rockabilly/country tip round here this week at Bagging Area Towers (as well as enjoying the new Weatherall disco track, available now over at Ripped In Glasgow). Here's a song we can't get enough of- Bobby Gentry's Ode To Billy Joe, a song that tells a story, the day when 'Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge'.

OdeToBillyJoe.mp3

Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 6

You better sit down boy. Don't mess with Peanuts Wilson- he's got a cast iron arm.

Cast Iron Arm.mp3

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

Glen Campbell 'Wichita Lineman'

Davy over at the wonderful Ghost Of Electricity blog posted Galveston a day or two ago, and since then this has been going round and round in my head. Six string bass solo. Sublime. Perfection in a pop song.

04 Wichita Lineman.wma

Sparklehorse 'King of Nails'

Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse took his own life last weekend. You'll find tributes in many of the usual places, better informed than this one. I'm no expert, and don't have much by him, but this song from the It's A Wonderful Life album is brilliant and bleak.

06 King of Nails.wma

Crispy Ambulance 'Deaf'

Crispy Ambulance were on Factory, allegedly signed because they were Joy Division sound-a-likes and dismissed by many because they were Joy Division sound-a-likes. Which wasn't always true. This track Deaf sounds nothing like JD, and is all the better for it, being more rough and ready, scratchy, shouty, post-punk, building and falling away. Good stuff this one.

I can't listen to Crispy Ambulance without thinking of the Half Man Half Biscuit song Running Order Squabble Fest, which details bad gig experiences (Half past four? Half past four? You said half past ten to us,... CND? CND? We're not going on after Chas 'n' Dave etc etc). In the middle it breaks down 'Hello boys there's a change of plan- You're going on after Crispy Ambulance' to the tune of the popular football song 'You're going home in a fucking ambulance'. It's better on record than being described. I'll post it at some point.

Also, I've got this record on 10" vinyl, which is a funny format, neither one thing or the other. Perfect for the e.p. and mini-lp, but also for the promo/collector gimmick trap. My 10" collection is pretty random- a Beastie Boys single with them as Action Men on the cover, a Green On Red 8 track live album, a Death In Vegas one sided single with Bobby Gillespie saying yeahyeahyeah a few times and an etching on the B-side, a Primal Scream remix e.p. with a rubbish poster, two singles by Doves, Richard Hell reading the first two chapters of his novel (played once), a Dinosaur Jr single, an Arctic Monkeys e.p., Bug In The Bssbin by Innerzone Orchestra, a Rancid record, Super Black Market Clash spread over three 10" discs, a Cowboy Junkies e.p with a fold-out poster bag, Weatherall's remix of VV Brown, the DFA remix of Clinic, a Folk Implosion film tie-in, Good Life by Inner City live (!), three Jesus and Mary Chain e.p.s, and a remix of Theme by Sabres Of Paradise. I mean, there's some good songs there but I wouldn't want to wake up in a dj booth with just my 10" records. I think they saw me coming.

19 Deaf.wma

Fun Boy Three 'Tunnel of Love'

In the five years after punk a narrow trousered army of people and bands stormed the singles charts, in the days when that meant something, who wouldn't have been pop stars in any other period. If punk musically was an ending, a full stop, it was a beginning for a mass of men and women with ideas, inspiration (do it yourself), and newly found access to the means of production (instruments, recording studios, independent record labels, pressing plants). Some brought a load of new or forgotten influences and musical styles (The Clash, Orange Juice, Scritti Politti, The Slits, The Specials, later on The Style Council, amongst others), some brought angry/fizzy pop songs (The Jam, Buzzcocks, Dexys Midnight Runners, Magazine, loads more) and found a mass audience, some went deeper and further (PiL, Joy Division) and some brought a unique view of the world and their place in it (Ian Curtis, John Lydon, Joe Strummer, Green Gartside, Edwyn Collins, Terry Hall). I'm sure there's loads of names you could insert or change. These people changed lives, trouser cuts, hairstyles, political beliefs, outlooks. They didn't really sound anything like each other- just relatively like minded, making outsider pop music.

Terry Hall had a reputation for being miserable. In recent years he's been diagnosed as bipolar. In between he recorded some great vocals and lyrics, in The Specials, Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield and his solo career. While musically The Specials were Dammers' band, making ska popular with teenagers, then branching off into lounge, easy listening and jazz, all the while with a frustrated rockabilly guitarist, it was often Terry's words or delivery of other people's words that gave them their contemporary twist- Too Much Too Young, Ghost Town, Gangsters, Friday Night Saturday Morning. When Terry, Lynval Golding and Neville Staple left to form Fun Boy Three they carried this on- weird, skewed pop music with interesting lyrics- try The Telephone Always Rings, or The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum. Or this, Tunnel Of Love, surely the most jaundiced, cynical view of love and marriage to hit the charts.

'You gave up your friends for a new way of life
And both ended up as ex-husband and wife
There were 22 catches when you struck your matches
And threw away your life
In the tunnel of love'

With violins and fiddles and a catchy pop tune. Selling hundreds of thousands. Who could do this today?

In the picture above right Terry Hall is modelling a limited edition V neck jumper from a well known street style label. Available in black or maroon, 500 of each, with a deeper than usual V and slimmer cut, and a signature label. I'm snobbishly thinking 'turning rebellion into money', while also thinking 'Mmmm.. nice, want one.'

08 Tunnel of Love.wma

Joy Division 'Novelty'

This is what happens when a band hit their stride, get a sound and have a producer who thinks he knows how they should sound. This was the B-side to Transmission, Joy Division's first stroke of genius moment. It's all about the intro this one- electric guitar scratchily unwinding over the opening moments, then Bernard begins the riff. After a while Martin Hannett lets the bass in and seconds later the bass drum, and these are among the best recorded and loudest bass and drums on vinyl. Once that's over the band are racing to get to the end of the song, while Ian Curtis gives us his killer question- 'What are you going to do when the novelty has gone?'

16 Novelty.wma

Iron and Wine 'Love Vigilantes'

Yesterday we had a cover of a Joy Division song, today a New Order cover. Love Vigilantes was the lead track on Lowlife, country-techno dead war hero song. One of their best. Beardy American alt-country man Iron and Wine takes out the techno and leaves us with a lovely ballad.

love-vigilantes.mp3

LCD Soundsystem 'No Love Lost'

Joy Division have become pretty much the biggest cult band in the world in the last few years, with the Control film, the excellent Joy Division documentary, and a whole slew of bands claiming to have been influenced by them (Interpol, Editors etc, who can all do the icy production and rumbly bass but seem to lack the weight. They ain't very good.)

LCD Soundsystem released this cover of No Love Lost, an early JD song, on their All My Friends single and digital 'bundle' in 2007. This LCD version is if anything more ragged than the original, punking up the riff, adding LCD drums, and dropping the admittedly fairly disturbing spoken section from the middle.

No Love Lost Joy Division cover.mp3

RVNG of the NRDS Pilooski 'AAA'

A bit of recycling here- I got this track from North Country Bhoy a few weeks ago, and I hope he doesn't mind me reposting it. It's one of the best things I've heard for ages, and my 12" vinyl copy from ebay turned up yesterday, and it sounds even better than the mp3 I've been playing on a loop for the last 2 weeks.

RVNG of the NRDs is a series of re-edits and remixes by folk like Tim Sweeney, Optimo, Lovefingers and Greg Wilson, and in this one, the last in series, French Discodeine hero Pilooski, my second favourite Frenchman *. Pilooski's done some fantastic re-edits in the last few years, but this is something else. He takes reggae singer Nora Dean's Angie La-La and monkeys about with it sending it towards the ten minute mark. We start in a tropical jungle, parrots screeching, birds taking flight, then Pilooski adds a big kick drum, the funky looped guitar riff or two, and then the amazing eerie vocal 'Where have you been all my life boy?'. A breakdown, extra drums, riff comes back, more and more, onwards and upwards. Perfection. Transporting. I like this a lot. Get it now people.

* Eric Cantona is my favourite Frenchman, obviously. For a year or so I'm guessing he was North Country Bhoy's as well. Heh heh.

a1-pilooski-aaa.mp3

Frankie Knuckles & Jamie Principle 'Your Love'

And in one deft flick of the slide fader we move from Charlie Feathers to Frankie Knuckles. Classic Chicago house and one of those songs that can take you way on up.

Dirty Diamonds II (2004) - 13 - Frankie Knuckles - Your Love.mp3

Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 5

The late, great Charlie Feathers for your Friday night rockabilly rave up .

one_hand_loose.mp3

Honkeyfinger 'Running On Empty' (Weatherall Remix)

One of the musical highlights of the last couple of years round at Bagging Area Towers has been the quality and quantity of Andrew Weatherall's remixes. Primal Scream 'Uptown', David Holmes 'I Heard Wonders', Doves 'Compulsion', Manic Street Preachers 'Peeled Apples', VV Brown 'Crying Blood', Detachments 'HAL', Siouxsie Sioux 'Into A Swan' and Fuck Buttons 'Sweet Love For Planet Earth'. Don't think I've forgotten any. A massive return to form and no mistake.

This one sneaked out in the middle of last year. I got a very nice hand stamped and numbered copy of the 7" from Rough Trade's mail order. Honkeyfinger is a one man band (see also Dennis Hopper Choppers), and plays blistering blues, all distortion, screeching and stomping. AW strips it back a bit and boosts the drums up, lets it get into a groove. This remix sonically has little in common with the drawn out disco of Uptown or the blissed out noise of Sweet Love For Planet Earth or the dub-rock of Compulsion, but it's an interesting addition, and one for your Weatherall Recent Remixes compilation cd or iPod playlist. Or is it just me that does that sort of thing?

running on empty weatherall remix.mp3

The Lilac Time 'Return To Yesterday'

A lost gem from 1988 this one, having little in common with what else was happening in that year. Stephen Duffy decided being a solo pop star wasn't his cup of tea, so formed The Lilac Time with his brother. They're still around in some form today. I havn't got much else by them but this is a cracking little song, very English sounding. It's got brisk drumming, a lovely melody, crisp and perfectly pronounced vocals, finger picking and folky banjo, and a tune that the milkman can whistle. I'm not really selling this one yet am I? The lyrics seem both nostalgic and rueful, but at the same time the chorus keeps telling us 'No I will not, return to yesterday'. It goes on

'We'll face this new England,
Like we always have,
In a language of denial,
We'll go out dancing on the tiles'

Which seems pretty English to me.

As does complaining about the cutting of rural bus services, as he does in the fourth verse.

I know you probably don't really care what I think about the lyrics, this isn't an English Literature lesson, but this gets into my head and nags at me, and I think Stephen Duffy really nails something here. So come on, even if you normally come for the dancier, more leftfield stuff (as the mediafire download stats tell me), click and download this one. It's a good 'un.

Today's post is dedicated to Mr Michael Foot, the last socialist leader of the Labour Party, who died today aged 96. Keep the red flag flying.

return_to_yesterday.mp3

Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds 'Rare As The Yeti'

Kid Congo Powers survived being in both The Gun Club and The Cramps. His real name is/was Brian Tristan but I think, especially looking at the picture, Kid Congo Powers suits him better. Last year he released an lp, Dracula Boots, which this track is taken from. It's a blast of cool modern garage rock, with interesting lyrics ('You're rare as the yeti, not quite as pretty'). The rest of the album is in a similar vein, some funkier songs, some covers, some instrumentals, some more garage rock. It was recorded live in a high school gym, and sounds like it (and I mean that in a good way).

By the way, just noticed, my hundredth post.

rare as the yeti.mp3

Primal Scream versus Tweet 'Oops I'm Loaded'

I've just nipped to the supermarket for a few odds and ends, thought I'd whip through the self-service bit, and been a victim of the bagging area- 'unauthorised item in the bagging area' three times. There's some grim irony for yer. A neighbour saw me and asked 'why do you do it to yourself?'. At this point I was about to rip the display screen from its mooring. I was already talking in an agitated way to the machine- 'I've put it in the bagging area. No there isn't. You authorised it. What do you want me to do? Why should I wait for assistance- the whole point here is that I can do it myself'. Grrrr.

Anyway. The mash-up. So mid-noughties don't you think? But good fun when done well. The bloke behind Go Home Productions has done it as well as anybody, and recently re-appeared with a Thin Lizzy/ Christina Aguilera mash-up. Which sent me back to this one, from several years ago. The vocal from Tweet's Oops (Oh My), the one where she sees a man in a club, gets hot thinking about it and, um, pleases herself, placed over Loaded, Primal Scream's blast off and Andrew Weatherall's starting point. He's getting everywhere round here at the moment. This is good- two very different songs, spliced together, done with a sense of humour and adding something to both.

oops i'm loaded.mp3