Out With The Old

Whatever you're doing tonight you could do worse than letting this man provide you with some musical accompaniment. Here is an hour's worth of Andrew Weatherall, his Hogmanay mix for BBC 6 Mix this time last year, no tracklist I'm afraid. Have a good evening, don't overdo it. You'll regret it in the morning. I usually do.

Andrew Weatherall Hogmanay 6 Mix 2010

Wonder Where I'm Bound?

...is as good a question for New Year's Eve as any. It's also the title of Dion's 'great lost' 1969 album. The Wanderer and Runaround Sue pop star recorded this album of folk blues, acoustic songs, folk rock and full-on electric blues. It's got its moments but is also a bit of a 'chuck everything against the wall and see what sticks' record and, surprise surprise, it bombed. The song here is Now, with a great Dylanesque chorus- 'No-one knows better than I how you feel'.

As for the question in the title and 2012- who knows? More of the same I reckon.

Now

The Return Of Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 40

Is it Friday? It is Friday. Then there must be rockabilly. Chuck Barr can't decide whether to 'stroll with Susie' or 'rock with Mary Lou'. Decisions, decisions...

Susie Or Mary Lou?

The World According To Weatherall

Another early Andrew Weatherall remix, this time of club boy/girl duo Sly and Lovechild from 1990. Does a similar thing to yesterday's S'Express remix, very nicely and very lengthily.

The World According To...Weatherall

I'm Inside Free Enterprise

The DMCA don't knock off for Christmas do they? My Kurt Vile and Hollie Cook posts have both been hit.

In the Trafford Centre today (very, very busy), in HMV (also very, very busy) with daughter ET looking for the Jessie J album and, Lord help us, the One Direction single (both for her I hasten to add) this Public Image Ltd song came on and it sounded like a) the best song in the world at that particular moment and b) a witty and appropriate comment on the madness of the post-Christmas sales.

This Is Not A Love Song

Picture is inaccurate- Wobble had left by this point.

Find 'Em, Fool 'Em, Weatherall 'Em

I'm not sure anything qualifies as 'rare' in the internet age but this is a lesser known (or lesser heard) Andrew Weatherall remix from 1991, wherein our hero takes S'Express's disco house and stretches it out over up to eight minutes.

Find 'Em, Fool 'Em, Forget 'Em (The Eighth Hour Mix)

Weatherall And The End Of The World

This one I missed and maybe you did too- an Andrew Weatherall and Ivan Smagghe playlist, each choosing the last five records they'd play in the face of the apocalypse. To listen only here.

Wooden Shjips Versus Peaking Lights

Soundcloud have another free download for you here, Lights Out by Wooden Shjips (San Franciscan long haired drone rockers) remixed by Peaking Lights (husband and wife psychedelic dub via a Fisher Price mixing desk). Yummy.

Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself

Here's one for that curious cover versions compilation/playlist you've been meaning to make- Sandie Shaw doing Sympathy For The Devil in 1969. Crazed and frantic, it's a million miles from the Eurovision stuff of two years before and the Smiths collaboration of the mid 80s. The album, Reviewing The Situation, also has a fair stab at Led Zeppelin's Your Time Is Gonna Come and a Donovan cover but this is the WTF? moment, if you'll excuse the young persons slang.

Sympathy For The Devil

Free Johnny

Just found this, a few days too late but never mind- Johnny Marr has resurrected The Healers and re-started them with this free download over at Soundcloud, a very Christmassy instrumental called, wait for it, Free Christmas.

Post Christmas Post

Pfffft. Phew.
It's very nice to spend a few days of enforced isolation with family doing little but eating and drinking but there's a bit of a sense of relief when it's all over as well, at least at not eating every hour or so just because there's a load of food to be eaten. Having said that we're off to a family gathering today where inevitably there will be more food and more drinking. Here's some very unfestive reggae from Hollie Cook, who is the daughter of ex- Sex Pistol Paul Cook and who spent some time in the reformed Slits on keys and backing vocals. Nice little uptempo Lover's Rock tune this, think the album might be worth having a look at.

Body Beat

In The Drunk Tank

It's become a cliche but the only Christmas song that's out in the popular consciousness, is actually good and can be listened to on repeat is The Pogues number 2 single Fairytale Of New York. It's beautiful, a mixture of rawness and romance. The version posted here is an earlier one than the released A-side, an accordian intro, different lyrics and arrangement and Cait O'Riordan in the Kirsty MacColl role. Whatever you're doing tonight and tomorrow, have a good one. Happy Christmas!

Fairytale Of New York (version)

She Is The Poet's Dream

Judging by the stats there's no-one reading this at the moment- I suppose there's shopping to be done, guest rooms to prepare, all the Christmas malarkey, so it doesn't really matter what I post. This came up yesterday on random and sounded good. Pete Molinari, Medway singer-songwriter, sharp dressed man, Bob Dylan and Patsy Cline comparisons ahoy, doing Wild Billy Childish's The Poet's Dream for a B-side some time back, a lovely tribute to his muse. Sing it to your loved one this Christmas and see where it gets you. I heard a while back that Pete has done some demos with Bagging Area's favourite Andrew Weatherall. Here's hoping we get to hear them soon.

The Poet's Dream

Too Late For My End Of Year List Post But This Is A Bit Of A Revelation

Looks like the good folk at Piccadilly Records got it right- 936 by husband and wife team Peaking Lights is stunning and is now at the top of my post-Christmas shopping list 'cos I've got to get this on vinyl. Home made sounding, tape deck technology, analogue synths, massive speaker rattling dub basslines, and the sunniest splashes of psychedelia and sing-song vocals. Go get it, it sounds great.

All The Sun That Shines

The Return Of Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 39

Yes, that is a rockabilly Barbie.

Jimmy Witter warning all and sundry to stay away from his girl, over the most rudimentary backing and least produced song you're going to hear tonight. The song's none the worse for it either.

If You Love My Woman

Bagging Area End Of Year Annual Review #2

All the proper blogs have end of year reviews and lists and I did one last year so here goes again...

I really don't think I can offer any broad, balanced or authoritative review of new music. I read Drew's list and crumbled, voted in Song, By Toad's list and not for the right kind of artists, read other bloggers lists and realise how out of touch I am. This is partly financial- I just haven't had the money this year to buy loads of new records (albums, singles, e.p.s, vinyl, cds, shellac, any format). I don't have the time/concentration span to listen to new albums all the way through anymore and I don't want to just make a list of my favourite songs of the year because I fear it'd stop at around number 17. I'm going to try to sum up my 2011, the music I've listened to that's been released this year, in some spurious categories I've invented for this post. My favourites of the year rather than an objective 'best of'.


Best Andrew Weatherall Remix Of 2011

My favourite category and a fistful of career highlights from Mr Weatherall who has been on fire for two or three years now. The contenders include; DJ Harvey 'Gunship' (Weatherall Dub), Alice Gold 'Runaway Love' (Weatherall Dub)- one of the most popular tracks/posts here at Bagging Area this year-, The Shoes 'Cliche' (Weatherall Remix), and the recent Cut Copy 'Sun God' (Weatherall Remix). Recently Weatherall remixed Soft Rocks 'We Hunt Buffalo Now' turning it into a glam-rockabilly monster, but it's the runner up I'm afraid, as the winner has to be Toddla T and Roots Manuva's 'Watch Me Dance' (Weatherall Remix), a massive slice of dub disco, my song of the year and the song that soundtracked us driving around France this summer, while England burned. The 12" copies of this record burned also, in that factory. The moment when civil disobedience went way too far.

Best Album I Bought As A Result Of Listening To Andrew Weatherall On His BBC 6 Mix Radio Show

From the morass of stuff Weatherall plays on his irregular radio show I got two standout albums, completely different from each other and I love both. One is the synthy, krautesque, heady and melodic Here Come The Warm Digits by The Warm Digits which I thoroughly recommend, kind of like a less noisy, less headsplitting Fuck Buttons. The other was the 60s garage psyche of The People's Temple, again highly recommended.

Best Drone-Rock Kraut Inspired Fuzzed-up Guitar Album

Two way split between Moon Duo's Mazes and Wooden Shjips' West. Same album really. Same band (or very similar). Lovely. Repetitive but lovely.

Best 'What Do We Call This Music Cos I Don't Think You Can Dance To It?' Dance Music

Two winners here- the Massive Attack v Burial 12" was very good, especially the Paradise Circus side. Death In Vegas' Trans-Love Energies is dark, scary and very absorbing. Jamie Xx's single was good but I find his/their stuff easier to admire than to love.

Best Neo- Balearic Records

Thanks to Nolan Micron at Castles In Space I loved Free School's Lemon single, especially the Time And Space Remix. Back in the spring Gatto Fritto's full length debut album had me skipping around the house. Ace both. DJ Harvey's Locusolus was chock full of electronic delights as well.

Best British Guitar Stuff

I wasn't knocked out by the album but Arctic Monkeys recorded the best song this year that expertly spliced peak period Bunnymen with peak period New Order- That's Where You're Wrong, a great song. The Horrors Skying has been played a lot, and their song Still Life is a contender for something or other, although at times those early Simple Minds keyboards are a little too much (I know, I should like Simple Minds early stuff). Despite their generic, derivative, two chord indie fuzz album being generic and derivative I can't dislike The Vaccines debut album. It's good to singalong to in the car (sounds like a very Dad thing to say).

Best Half Man Half Biscuit Album

That would be 90 Bisodol (Crimond). A little underwhelming at first but it's wormed it's way in, what with Iceland, Tommy Walsh's eco house, the Gok Wan acolytes, the Duke of Westminster and his good lady wife, Razor Ruddock, so-called soccer sofas on so-called soccer Saturdays, the bands Curry Night and TBA (they do two sets and take requests, 'play one the drummer knows'), jigsaws of Nazi war criminals and much, much more. And you can phone up about the much, much more. Nigel did so and they lied to him on their poster.

Best Billy Childish Record

The Spartan Dreggs, which added some 60s whimsy to the mod/garage Childishness.

Best US Garage Rock Record

Kid Congo Powers and The Pink Monkey Birds album, Gorilla Rose, was good. The Black Keys El Camino is pretty rocking too, especially the album opener Lonely Boy, if you like that guitar-drums duo thing. Similarly, I loved much of Cults debut album not that it's garage rock. The Dirtbombs Party Store, guitar covers of Detroit techno was hit and miss but when it was good, it was very good.

The Rest

Lykke Li's Wounded Rhymes, played a lot earlier in the year and again more recently. Jimmy Cliff's Sacred Fire e.p. with it's Guns Of Brixton cover version, available in green vinyl. I really liked Discodeine's collaboration with Jarvis Cocker Synchronise, though the rest of the album didn't grab me as much. And despite all the internet grumbles and gripes Lana Del Rey's Video Games got me in the end as well.

Best Records (Or More Likely Downloads) That People Who Don't Go On Music Blogs Bought

A while back daughter Eliza told me 'When I go in other peoples' cars their Mums and Dads play pop songs on the radio or Now albums. We just listen to old music by weird people'. Or was it weird music by old people? Either way she may have a point. For the record I have very much liked Beyonce's Countdown, the more recent Cher lloyd single (I know, I know) and eventually Rhianna's We Found Love. Eliza's gone for Professor Green's Read All About It and Jessie J's Pricetag (kerching, kerching). I think she likes Cher Lloyd too, so at least we agree on something.

I know I should've heard the PJ Harvey album. I haven't. Therefore I can't offer my opinion on it. Peaking Lights 936 is Piccadilly Records album of the year; their opinion is always worth bearing in mind, and I will go looking for this soon.


I think that's it for what it's worth. I may have forgotten something. I definitely missed things that other people have rated and raved about. This was the record of my year. It'll only be up for a little while seeing as the physical copies got melted and it was only available as a download.

Watch Me Dance (Andrew Weatherall Remix)

Well I Wish I Was Drunk In Havana, I Wish I Was At The Mardi Gras

Joe Strummer 21 August 1952- 22 December 2002.
Gone but not forgotten.

From the soundtrack to the film Walker-

Tennessee Rain

Vile Stuff

Kurt Vile's album Smoke Ring For My Halo is getting in all the end of year lists. I haven't got it. I got an earlier one, Constant Hitmaker, but just haven't got around to the new one, partly due to financial constraints. Despite his long hair, slacker, acoustic troubadour image there's quite a bit of wit and intelligence at work, along with some indie-folkiness and some of that big mid-West US rock music. S'alright really but I can't get that excited about it.

Don't Get Cute

Stay With Me

Sharon Tandy, who came to London from South Africa in 1964, with one of those great 60s blue-eyed soul songs which seem to have been ten-a-penny in 1967. Dusty-esque.

Stay With Me

On The Way To Oslo It Started To Snow

A perfectly formed little Christmas themed song from Low.

Just Like Christmas

It's Cliched To Be Cynical At Christmas

Half Man Half Biscuit, who have been featured here at Bagging Area several times before, haven't contributed too much to the Christmas songbook but this is a noble effort. They were in sparkling form at the Ritz on Saturday night, especially in their choice of cover version for the encore- Tragedy (yes, that Tragedy, the Bee Gees song made famous by Steps) and during Nigel Blackwell's extended and improvised spoken section during 24 Hour Garage People, although he missed out asking for two Scotch eggs and a jar of Marmite. He played the caravan guitar as well.

It's Cliched To Be Cynical At Christmas

Anyone

If you've been enjoying Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror series on Sunday nights you might want to go over to this youtube page where someone has uploaded actress Jessica Brown Findlay singing on last week's 15 Million Merits episode. I'd be quick as well, as Channel 4 have shut down other youtube pages with the song on. Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand) was originally recorded by Irma Thomas and as such is close to untouchable but Jessica gives it a rather good go.

Dear Santa...

...have you seen these cherry red Dr Martens brothel creepers?

We've bought the tree today so we'll have a Christmas song to get us feeling all festive. Billy Childish was asked to record a Christmas single a year or two ago, which led to the barnstorming Christmas 1979 7", posted here last Christmas. He also went one better and recorded a whole album of garage Christmas tunes. This one uses The Who's A Quick One mini-opera and is guaranteed to get a Christmas party rocking.

A Quick One (Pete Townsend's Christmas)

A Gas

Last weekend I posted We Wanna Live by early 90s Acid Jazz combo Sandals. In the comments box reader Anto and I agreed that their 12" A Profound Gas was their best record. I see no reason to change that decision now. The hippy/beatnik lyrics in particular are a profound gas.

A Profound Gas

Sun God- Weatherall's Back

Ctel's already tipped people off about this over at Acid Ted, but just in case you missed it here's a very nice early Christmas present- Andrew Weatherall's remix of Sun God by Australia's Cut Copy. It's available to download, nearly nine minutes long, and has the early 90s splashed all over it. T'riffic, as Ray Wilkins might say if he were an ex-clubber and not an ex-footballer.

The Return Of Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 38

Rockabilly is really pretty limited isn't it? I mean you've got a voice, a guitar (or two), bass (stand up or electric) and some drums. But so many great records came from that limited set-up, with lots of technically limited recording techniques in the early days, and lots of modern bands who recreate it with its limitations.

Grant Grieves' Four In The Floor, a tale of drink and drinking, stretches the sound out a bit and takes it a little further down the road and though it sounds like a 50s recording this wasn't recorded until 1969, which maybe explains it.

Four In The Floor

Yesterday I Got A Letter

The evergreat Jimmy Cliff and his 1970 song Vietnam, with a soldier getting ready to come home, his sweetheart with 'golden lips as sweet as cherries' and then his mother receiving the telegram giving the news of his death. Sorry if that spoilt the ending for you. I'm pretty sure New Order had been listening to this when they recorded Love Vigilantes (and they covered it at some point in the late 90s).

Vietnam

Jimmy's new e.p, Sacred Fire, recorded with Tim Armstrong and including two versions of his cover of Guns Of Brixton (posted here in September) and a cover of Rancid's Ruby Soho among its five songs is out now and you should get it. Emusic have it here for download if you're a member though you (and I) should really go looking for a copy we can actually hold in our sweaty mitts.

Boxing Clever

Yesterday's first gig postees JoBoxers with their second single, the still rather wonderful Just Got Lucky, a much poppier affair than Boxerbeat. I seem to remember the sleeve (above) got us teenage boys quite interested at the time. Innocent times- teenagers today can see anything they want and more on their phones, back then we got excited about a few pairs of breasts on a 7" sleeve.

Just Got Lucky

First Gig

The first gig I ever went to was Madness at the Apollo, which is pretty good as first gigs go. This was 1982 or '83. The place was half full of schoolkids and teenagers, which I imagine at the time must have pissed off Madness' older, skinhead following and I remember there being a large amount of threatening looking people there. We were up in the seats somewhere near the top; myself, two of my brothers (one of whom was a Madness obsessive, who can still list Madness singles chart entries and weeks on the chart), a friend and his Mum. It was exciting and in truth all a bit of a blur. Madness were introduced by Radio 1 dj Peter Powell, careered on stage and bounced for however long the gig was. It felt about ten minutes but must have been longer. Memory tells me they'd just had a number one single with House Of Fun but I don't know if this is right.

This also means though that Madness weren't the first band I saw play live- that honour falls to the support band, JoBoxers. We were entranced by them as well and their Dexys influenced, uptempo soul stomp. JoBoxers contained two former members of Subway Sect (I didn't know this until recently), an American singer called Dig Wayne (previously in a psychobilly band Buzz and The Flyers) and drummer Sean McClusky, who would go on to be a face and promoter on the London acid house scene. They looked great, played this uptempo punky-soul pop music and would have two hit singles, the debut 45 Boxerbeat (number 3 in the UK chart) and follow-up Just Got Lucky (number 6). At some level they must have made a deep impression on me-their look of boots, turn-ups, tanktops, donkey jackets and woollen coats, and flat caps not being a totally unknown look around Bagging Area Towers, although I've never worn braces over a tanktop. I'd forgotten about them until recently and rediscovering them has been fun. The early-to-mid 80s truly were a fertile time for pop music.

Boxerbeat

P.S. My good gig strike rate fell at the second hurdle. A friend could find no-one to go to Howard Jones with him, also at the Apollo. I went. That man did his chained up mime thing. Howard played his hits. Thanks Alex.

P.P.S. I've just found out (after writing this post) in a weird moment of synchronicity they've got a reissued and expanded album coming out in January 2012. More info here.

Little Post

Little Barrie, featuring the stripped down r'n'b, garage, rockin' sounds of guitarist Barrie Cadogan, bassist Lewis Wharton and drummer Virgil Howe, sound good on shuffle mode and kick up a storm live. Barrie has been Throb's replacement in Primal Scream live and is more than capable of filling those shoes judging by the Primal Scream shows I've seen in the last few years.

How Come

Christmas Corsair

Corsair Records are putting out a Christmas single by Casino. It's a rocking Northern Soul version of Nick Lowe's (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding, you can find it at Corsair Records (to listen) and youtube. It is very good. Bring the talc over here baby.

From the press release; Casino are renown for their trio of 21st Century neo-Northern Soul singles 'Floorshaker', 'Good Times' and 'Running On Back To You' which garnered 5 star review superlatives across a range from The Guardian to the dance press, and with airplay stretching from XFM through MTV to Radio 2.

Available to buy from 19th December.

1000

Phew.

1000 posts.

But will this blog outlast this currency?

Swords Of A Thousand Men

Justice Tonight The Other Night

So it turns out that while we got The Stone Roses, London got Paul Simonon singing Guns Of Brixton and playing Brand New Cadillac, along with Wylie and The Farm, and Primal Scream chucked in as well. Good stuff.

Train In Vain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7XeTfCjCjA&feature=related

Guns Of Brixton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFWY18MQuzQ&feature=related

Another Something For The Weekend Sir?

From the Vintage Sex Songs compilation, Blind Boy Fuller (1907-1941) celebrates the sweet honey hole. Whatever can he mean?

Sweet Honey Hole

We Wanna Live

I always liked the post-acid house crossed with beat poetry records made by Sandals back in the early 1990s. Signed to Acid Jazz, produced at different times by the non-Weatherall parts of Sabres Of Paradise and one half of Leftfield, and over the twelve odd minutes of this head stomp of a single remixed by DSS, who if I'm not mistaken were The Disco Evangelists, a pseudonym for David Holmes. That list of names should not hide the fact this is an ace record.

We Wanna Live (DSS remix)

The Return Of Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 37

It's 1959, it's Ronnie Allen (not pictured), and good golly Molly, he's a juvenile delinquent.

Juvenile Delinquent

Hot On The Heels Of Love

If you think Throbbing Gristle are all industrial grind, dubious imagery, burning flesh, bodily fluids, performance art and an obsession with the dark side of humanity and inhumanity while challenging society's preconceptions and conventions with distorted tape-loops and buckets of noise then you haven't heard proto-acid-disco-techno masterpiece Hot On The Heels Of Love.

Hot On The Heels Of Love

Lipstick

Buzzcocks had such a sharp grasp of guitar pop music, melody and universally affecting lyrics that they'd probably have sold records if they'd been born ten years earlier, ten years later or ten years from now. I suppose the arrival of punk and DIY meant that they could just go out and do it, as this 1979 B-side shows. B-side!

Lipstick

Holmes And The Bogeyman

David Holmes remix of yesterday's Red Snapper single, Bogeyman. Very much the sort of thing Holmes was doing in the late 90s, LSD references and everything.

Bogeyman (David Holmes Mix)

Bogeyman

It's been all guitars recently here hasn't it? How about some jazzy, dubby, breakbeaty kind of thing? Red Snapper were a trio who signed to Warp and made several meandering and laid back records combining live drums and percussion, stand-up double bass and electronic bits and bobs. This track, Bogeyman, a single from 1998 came with remixes by both David Holmes and Two Lone Swordsmen. This one spends a long time going nowhere really but does it very nicely.

Bogeyman (Two Lone Swordsmen 5 day Wonder Mix)

On The Railroad Tracks With The Gravel On Your Back

Bill Callahan used to (and maybe still does) make music as Smog, and for a while as [Smog], and various other aliases as well I think. I bought his 2000 album Dongs Of Sevotion, partly just because I liked the title and I was listening to this type of thing back then. This song, Dress Sexy At My Funeral, is wry and slinky and worth a few minutes of your Monday.

Dress Sexy At My Funeral

The Best Band Performance On A TV Show By Anyone?

I've Tried

Some more trashy (good trashy), New York, loser chic in the shape of Johnny Thunders. This song may well be his best and was a standout from his 1978 solo album So Alone, an album stuffed full of special guests- Phil Lynott, Chrissie Hynde, Steve Marriott, Only One Peter Perrett, Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook and Johnny's own Heartbreakers.

You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory

Justice Tonight Last Night

If you live near any of the venues hosting Mick Jones and friends Justice Tonight tour you should consider getting yourself down there- we had a blast last night. And saw The Stone Roses as well. On stage. Well, two of them, Squire and Brown. I think that counts as news.

We got in as Pete Wylie was getting near the end of his set, backed by all of The Farm and Mick Jones grinning on guitar. Wylie finished with Heart As Big As Liverpool, Johnny Thunders' You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory and Sinful. Everyone then stayed on stage, Wylie announced it was now a Mick Jones gig and the band launched into Train In Vain. Several Clash songs followed- Should I Stay Or Should I Go, White Man (In Hammersmith Palais) 'sung' by The Farm's Peter Hooton, Clampdown sung by Pete Wylie (with lyrics on a piece of paper), a few others. Everyone seemed to be having a ball, mics were dropped, lines fluffed, cues missed, but hugely enjoyable and The Farm made a surprisingly good Clash covers band. The stage then emptied and a minute later Ian Brown and John Squire came on and played Elizabeth My Dear. A thousand jaws collectively dropped. Jones, Wylie and The Farm re-appeared and Brown led them all through Bankrobber and Armagiddeon Times. Someone filmed it. You can watch it here. After that we got John Robb fronting Janie Jones, spending the whole song in the audience, Big Audio Dynamite's Rush and The Farm's All Together Now. We were then tipped out into the wet Manchester streets where we took refuge in The Peveril Of The Peak and a drunk man told us at some length that The Chameleons were in fact the best band in the world.

Kick It Over

Something More For the Weekend Sir?

More from Vintage Sex Songs, this time from The Swallows (ahem), an R'n'B group active throughout the 40s and 50s. Singer Eddie rich continues to perform today, well into his 70s. Here he offers us his thoughts on size...

It Ain't The Meat (It's The Motion)

Gig review of Mick Jones, Pete Wylie et al to follow when my head stops hurting.

The Return Of Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 36

Some new rockabilly for you tonight from my new favourite band. A blog celebrating all things rockabilly started up recently, Sad Man's Tongue Rockabilly Bar And Bistro- Prague, and features a heady mix of rockabilly bands, tasty recipes and rockabilly pictures (of girls mainly). I found this band there a week ago- Mystery Gang Rockabilly Trio, Budapest's leading exponents of rockabilly. Their best song, Woodoo Doll, over at Youtube is a corker. As is the one below. Who knew the Hungarians could do this? Scorching.

My Baby Wants To Look Like Betty Page

Trash

I can appreciate the historical importance of the New York Dolls, the bands they inspired and the groups that formed because of them, but sometimes I think they're just, well, The Stones in women's shoes. Their trash rock, garbage glam, seems a bit underwhelming compared to their reputation. Maybe you had to be there. On the other hand the odd song by them works very well on a compilation cd or on shuffle. In fact at least half of their debut album is top notch now I'm looking at the sleeve- Personality Crisis, Jet Boy, Subway Train, Looking For A Kiss and this song, Trash.

Trash

What A Mess

I always liked the look and idea of Gallon Drunk, even if listening to them could be a test to the ears. And that was the point I suppose- uncompromising, swampy rock that took in free jazz and punk and bumped into several other dark corners of music on the way. They were home for a while for Bagging Area's favourite punk trumpeter Terry Edwards and frontman James Johnston also served in The Bad Seeds. This is a noisy, live version of their 'classic' Some Fool's Mess, and seems a fairly good way to celebrate the arrival of December.

Some Fool's Mess (Live in Chicago)

The Poor Take Courage, You Rich Take Care

I was using this song the other day in a work-based capacity (yep, I played it to some twelve and thirteen year olds)- Billy Bragg's The World Turned Upside Down (sometimes known as The Digger's Song). The lyrics were written by Leon Rosselson and Billy released it in 1985. The music alone is stirring enough, Billy's palm muted guitar punctuated by urgent, staccato, metallic stabs. The Diggers were a radical 17th century group, the first Communists arguably, who claimed the earth as 'a common treasury', pressed for economic equality and led by Gerrard Winstanley put their money where their mouths were and began to cultivate common land. The Diggers made the point that the common people of England had been robbed of their birthrights since the Norman Conquest and exploited by the ruling class. The government and local landowners between them, back up by the threat and use of the army, crushed them and by 1651 most Digger colonies had vanished.

In 1649 to St. George's Hill

A ragged band they called the Diggers came to show the peoples' will

They defied the landlords They defied the laws

They were the dispossessed reclaiming what was theirs

We come in peace they said to dig and sow

We come to work the lands in common and to make the waste grounds grow

This Earth divided we will make whole so it will be a common treasury for all

The sin of property we do disdain

No man has any right to buy and sell the Earth for private gain

By theft and murder they took the land

Now everywhere the walls spring up at their command

They make the laws to chain us well

The clergy dazzle us with heaven or they damn us into hell

We will not worship the God they serve

The God of greed who feed the rich while poor men starve

We work we eat together, we need no swords

We will not bow to the masters or pay rent to the lords

We are free men, though we are poor

You Diggers all stand up for glory stand up now

From the men of property the orders came

They sent the hired men and troopers to wipe out the Diggers claim

Tear down their cottages, destroy their corn

They were dispersed but still the vision lingers on

You poor take courage you rich take care

This Earth was made a common treasury for everyone to share

All things in common, all people one

We come in peace the orders came to cut them down

All of which seems to strike quite a few chords at the moment, what with the Occupy protests, rightful disgust at our banking system and successive governments failure to control or regulate it, student protests, kettling and pepper spraying policemen and so on. On top of this, I and millions of others, are on strike today. I'm not saying it's the same to argue that withdrawing our labour for a day in protest at changes to our pensions is the same as what The Diggers were trying to achieve or that we are 'the disposed reclaiming what is ours' but... these things are all in the ether at the moment. There are people at my place of work who are going in to work, under the guise of 'I can't afford to lose a day's pay' or to impress management. Wrong headed I think. I may even go on a march. ET's always wanted to go on a demo and as her school's closed we may as well. See you down the front. Must remember to take a lemon with me.

The World Turned Upside Down

Can't Seem To Make You Mine

Ooh, it's been ages since we had any 60s garage rock round here, so pulling out a nugget at random here's The Seeds, led by top nutter Sky Saxon. This song was their 1965 debut single. The following year they had a US hit with the equally great Pushin' Too Hard.

The Bagging Area style desk notes that animal prints are quite popular at the moment but I haven't seen anyone rocking giraffe skin trousers.

Can't Seem To Make You Mine

Orphan's Lament

The Urban Voodoo Machine are a 'collective of shadowy ne'er do wells', who make boozy, swaggering, gypsy stomps, using guitars, accordian, tuba, mandolin, empty wine bottles and other instruments which suggest the twenty first century is but a rumour. Live there's often also a half naked woman who plays the gong. This song was on their debut album from 2009- Bourbon Soaked Gypsy Blues Bop 'n' Stroll- and has bags of menace, oozes swagger, and is really rather good.

Orphan's Lament