Allez! Allez!

By the time this post is published I shall be somewhere in the lanes of Cheshire, pushing the pedals round, in our attempt to ride 100 miles. Admittedly that's 400 miles less than The Proclaimers said they would walk but it is 53 miles more than Bo Diddley walked in Who Do You Love? And Bo was proper badass. Mind you, he was walking barbed wire not leafy green lanes. And I couldn't do it wearing a cobra snake as a necktie though. I can't stand snakes.



The ride is raising money for The Christie and fighting cancer. If you haven't sponsored us there's still time. The Just Giving page is here. Many thanks to those who already have.

The Chart Show

The Chart Show was more or less the only place to watch videos in the late 80s and early 90s, MTV being the preserve of the well off. Every week it had a specialist chart, indie, dance or metal and was required viewing, often with a hangover and a day with no responsibilities in front of you. So, make yourself a cup of tea, sit back and slip back in time...

...to October 1989's dance chart with Electribe 101 and De La Soul...



... and to the indie chart in April 1991, with New Fast Automatic Daffodils and The Shamen, showing dance's influence on indie...



...and from a few years later, February 1994, this top ten run down has the mighty Inspiral Carpets and Mark E Smith collaboration and Suede...



No metal charts here I'm afraid but there's plenty more where these clips came from if you look at the Youtube sidebar.

Friday Night Is Feeling Grateful And A Little Emotional

I'm interrupting the Friday night rockabilly this week- I'm very grateful to those people who have donated to the Manchester 100 Mile cycle ride fund. I'm a little taken aback really. I've never met any of you in real life, Drew excepted, and that some of you have been so generous is really touching. And it makes me think that, in a way, real life and internet life are actually the same thing, and that although most of us on here have never met, we're friends in just the same way that we are with the people we actually see on a daily or weekly basis.

Excuse me for getting a bit soppy there folks.

*Pulls himself together*

This is an utterly infectious piece of Jamaican ska that I think Davy H posted shortly before he shut up shop. Listen to this and see if you can keep your feet still. Have a good Friday night.

Ba Ba Boom

Switzerland

Weatherall techno week continues- stop groaning at the back, yes, I can hear you. I think this will be the last one, and these tracks weren't even on the tape I found but they would have fitted very well.

Switzerland were, I'm pretty sure but feel free to correct me fellow anoraks, Martin Price's post-808 State outfit. Sabres Of Paradise did three mixes of their track Inflight but they were never released, white label only. I don't know why.

I went to Switzerland once, about 12 years ago- a conference for medics and scientists dealing with the set of genetic diseases called lysosymal storage diseases or mucopolysccharidosis. Our son, now 15, has MPS1 and we were invited to give a parental perspective. Lake Geneva is beautiful. We took a cable car part way up  a mountain. On the Saturday evening I sat with an Italian geneticist and we smoked the biggest cigars I have ever seen. He got through the whole thing. I didn't.

Inflight Mix #1 has Bunnymen Cutter-esque style strings and a breakbeat. Mix #2 has rave keyboards, a chopped up vocal and a breakbeat. Mix #3 has a big electronic bassline and sax. All three are very good and I can't choose between them, so have all three.

Inflight (Sabres Mix One)

Inflight (Sabres Mix Two)

Inflight (Sabres Mix Three)

Edit: when I wrote this post I still had some bandwidth at Boxnet. Now I don't- you can listen to them but if you want to d/l you'll have to wait until Monday.

Bonita Manana

It's Thursday- here's another techno track from the Weatherall cassette and this is a beauty. I think you might like this one even if you don't fancy techno that much. Espiritu were a latin-housey bunch on Heavenly Records. This Sabres Of Paradise remix keeps much of the vocal and takes some time to wind itself up and then lets loose, chugging away for a good fifteen minutes. Easy does it.

Bonita Manana (Sabres Of Paradise Remix)

Cycling. Cancer. Charity.

Over the last twelve month we've lost two friends to cancer. SH died in August 2013, in her early 40s, leaving behind a husband and three children. JG died last Saturday morning, leaving a husband and two children. She was in her early 50s. Both were treated at The Christie, a cancer hospital in Withington, South Manchester.

On Sunday myself and a team of middle aged men are taking part in the Manchester 100, a cycle ride from South Manchester through Cheshire and back, a route of 100 miles. Cycling 100 miles will probably be more painful than pouring a bucket of ice water over our heads. If you can spare any change to sponsor us, that would be grand- no amount is too small, it all counts.
The donation page is here.

I don't want to type a whole load of 'standing up to cancer' and 'together we can beat it' style stuff- but I have seen the effect cancer has on a person, the physical effect and the emotional, and the effect it has on those who try to cope with a loved one who has cancer, and on those left behind.

Tribal Tone

Take two from the Weatherall/Techno Stuff cassette I found in the car the other day is this relatively obscure set of Sabres Of Paradise remixes released in 1993 and sounding very much of the time. Tribal Tone was by Ohm and big in certain house/dance clubs at the time. I don't know (or have forgotten) who Ohm were and the web isn't giving much away. The only information I can find on Discogs is that Tribal Tone was written by A. Watson. Sabres produced three remixes that all ratchet up the techno- Mix 3 is the pick featuring some steel drums and man-hitting-a-bin-with-a-stick bass drum. I listened to all three mixes the other day and enjoyed all three which isn't always the case with early 90s techno, some of which can sound very harsh to my 2014 ears.

Tribal Tone (Sabres Mix #3)

Donna

Listening to Richard Fearless' new single Gamma Ray put me in mind of a track he put at the end of the Death In Vegas All Back To Mine compilation- Donna by MMM, high quality lysergic techno. And then, lo and behold, I clicked on a link to a Richard Fearless Q&A interview somewhere on the internet and there he was, still praising it and calling it the 'record he wished he'd made'. Inspired by Donna Summer's Our Love and crafted by  Erik Wiegand and Michael Fiedler in Berlin. Vorsprung durch technik.

Donna

Bumble

I found a cassette recently in a carrier bag in the boot of my car (my car is the only place I could actually play a cassette). It was labelled Weatherall/Techno Stuff and dated from the mid-90s, taped from vinyl. It was 90 minutes of early 90s records most of which I now have on mp3 as well as vinyl. I stuck the cassette into the car stereo and after a few seconds of tape hiss and then the magical sound of needle hitting vinyl groove the first track that came up was West In Motion by Bumble, remixed by Andrew Weatherall. Over twelve minutes long and I'd forgotten how good it was, despite the poor recording transfer to cassette. Thumping drums, some nice house piano early on, later replaced by a Celtic tin whistle, and some trancey keyboards. Released in 1992 on Mother Records. I'll post some more of the tracks from the tape up over the next few days if anyone's interested.

West In Motion (Andrew Weatherall Mix)

For JG

I had a totally different post set up for today but it doesn't seem appropriate. This one is for Jacqui.

Places

I've been uncovering and re-discovering bits and bobs by Dreadzone recently, which includes keeping an eye on the Soundcloud page of Greg Dread. Coming out of the ashes of Big Audio Dynamite they spliced dub with dance and made many good tunes through the 90s and into the 21st century, for a variety of record labels. Last year's Escapades album reunited them with Mick Jones for the single Too Late. This song has been posted by Greg Dread- Places, a beautiful tune and vocal, with some dialogue sampled from Harry Dean Stanton in Paris Texas (above with Nastassja Kinski). The cost of the sample led to it being removed from the released version- which is a shame as it works really well. I'm currently playing this half a dozen times a day.

The Return Of Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 153

It's not easy coming up with stuff for this series, Friday after Friday after Friday, but here we go again with some 1950s rockabilly for your Friday night. Tonight, Bobby Wayne and The Warriors and a tribute to a girl, this time Sally Ann. Nice riff on this one.

Sally Ann

Rebel Waltz

Yesterday would have been Joe Strummer's 62nd birthday- so, happy birthday Joe.

Rebel Waltz is one of many hidden gems on Sandinista, an album I can still listen to and find something new in it. It's an unusual song, on an album full of unusual songs, being a waltz (5/4 time y'know) over a dub bassline, Strummer's lyrics inspired by a dream. This cover version by Infantry Rockers is from a dub inspired tribute album to Joe and The Clash. Prince Fatty and Horseman were involved in a lot of the songs on it. I don't know if they had anything to do with this one, but it is very good and unusual- a reggae waltz.

Rebel Waltz

I slept and I dreamed of a time long ago
I saw an army of rebels, dancing on air
I dreamed as I slept, I could see the campfires,
A song of the battle, that was born in the flames,
and the rebels were waltzing on air

As the smoke of our hopes rose high from the field
My eyes played tricks through the moon and the trees
I slept as I dreamed I saw the army rise
A voice began to call, stand till you fall
The tune was an old rebel one

Rock Section

Julian Cope's 'gnostic hooligan road novel' One Three One is utterly brilliant and somewhat crackers. As you might expect.

Told through the eyes of Rock Section, lead singer with post-punk band Low Countries and reinvigorated as the late 80s dj and dance act Dayglo Maradona, and set in three different times- June 2006, June 1990 and 10, 000 years ago- Rock returns to Sardinia sixteen years after he and three friends were kidnapped following an England game at Italia 90. The kidnapping has led eventually to the recent suicide of one of his fellow kidnappees. During the England game in 1990 posh rapper Full English Breakfast (of the band Kit Kat Rappers) fell to his death from a TV tower. After shitting himself, literally, on the airplane (and the opening sentences of the book) Rock is rescued by his Sardinian driver Anna. Their first stop is the prison holding Judge Barry Hertzog, a Dutch hooligan, dj and promoter of the club Slag van Blowdriver- the man suspected to be responsible for the death of Full English and the kidnapping.. Rock is aghast at what Hertzog tells him and spends his brief time on Sardinia seeking closure and justice for his dead friends, all the while receiving phone calls from the sole remaining kidnappee Mick Goodby, a Shaun Ryder-esque rave poet and former lead singer of Brits Abroad.

Constantly tuned in to Sardinia's brilliant FM radio station Rock and Anna discover several stone doorways on Sardinia. Through these doorways Rock travels back in time 10, 000 years to prehistoric Europe where he gets mashed up on the golden substance ephedra and finds himself a tribal King.

There's plenty more but you should read it for yourself. It is very funny, irreverent, compelling, frequently baffling (but you just have to keep reading and enjoy the ride) and also totally convincing (despite the time travel). Cope also takes time to aim his words at various targets- religion (Christianity and Islam), the British authorities following the Hillsborough disaster, Thatcher, and a little bafflingly Half Man Half Biscuit. Highly recommended reading.

In June I posted Cope's original mix of Dayglo Maradona's 1989 indie-dance song Rock Section. You can still get it for free through Bandcamp. At the time I mistakenly called this the Andrew Weatherall remix. It isn't. The Weatherall remix is only available on limited white vinyl.

Rock Section (Andrew Weatherall Remix)

The rest of the bands, artists and records in Cope's vividly imagined rave world of 1990 are also on Bandcamp through the One Three One Doorway. Hours of fun.

Songs Of Pressure

There's a burst of Weatherall related activity here currently- what's new? you might ask.
This is an Asphodells remix of a new Richard Sen song. I think Weatherall may be singing on it- quite dark and dubby.

I'm Falling And I Can't Stand Up

The Impossibles put out this single in 1991. The Drum had a lengthy, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink remix by Andrew Weatherall. This is the original unremixed version, far more traditional indie-pop, and a cover of a song by Slapp Happy (Anglo-German avant-pop from the mid 1970s).



Download?

The Drum

Easy Money

A new single/song from Johnny Marr ahead of his second solo lp has appeared on the internet. It's an energetic, catchy as anything, guitar pop song. His first solo album in 2012 sounded great at first but paled a bit over time- not enough variety I think, outside the three or four stand out songs. And while this is a good single and I like the video a lot, I hope his talents get stretched a bit more on the album, that there might be a bit more depth and variation.

JAMC Connections

The Jesus And Mary Chain have popped up in several places recently. Firstly, when they announced tickets for a series of gigs in November where they will play Psychocandy in full and some other songs. I bought tickets for the Manchester gig.

Secondly, on our campsite in France the family in the tent two up from us were from Dublin. The father, Michael, was a keen road cyclist and it turned out a Mary Chain fan. I can't remember how the topic got raised between us but it did. He went to the gig they did in Dublin a couple of weeks ago and told me how good they were. We then passed between us a recently published JAMC biography.

Thirdly, I got home to find a post by Scott at Spools Paradise where he is attempting to list his top ten albums and he's started with Psychocandy. A comment thread ensued and Drew chipped in to say that he thought about tickets for the Glasgow show but has decided against it, because they can't possibly match the intensity of the 1984-5 era shows. Which is undoubtedly true. But still, I couldn't resist tickets and Scott couldn't either.

Psychocandy is a one of a kind album and made a statement, drowning the band's Spectoresque girl band melodies in sheets of metal feedback. It is a blast. But I love Darklands just as much- the quality of the songwriting, the stripped back nature of the lp coupled with a slightly poppy sheen and the gloom of the lyrics make it Psychocandy's equal to me, just without the 'here we are' statement and shock factor.

Two songs today, the first from Psychocandy and the second from Darklands.

The Hardest Walk

Deep One Perfect Morning

Look At The Sun

This is just the sort of thing for a Sunday morning, a blissed out, sun drenched song from Seahawks with Tim Burgess on vocals. When I first saw The Charlatans at a tiny venue in 1989 doing Indian Rope I wouldn't have put much money on Tim Burgess still being around twenty-five years later but here he is, a survivor as has been said many times before, and doing stuff that is much better than many of his contemporaries are currently doing.



There is also a very nice Prins Thomas remix if you fancy a version with a bit more shimmy shimmy.



The Seahawks album is out in September, which might be a little too late to do much looking at the sun. Mind you, we spent two weeks in the Loire valley in August and we didn't see too much sun there. This was the view from our tent more than once. Our neighbours were flooded out and started digging a levee before they were moved.

When the sun did come out it was lovely- this is the Medieval bridge at Beaugency. The Loire valley is beautiful and we met lots of very nice people on the campsite. French roads are amazing for cycling on- great condition, little traffic and motorists that don't try to run you off the road. It's just good to be away from home sometimes, especially when the wine, cheese and bread are so cheap.

The Loire valley is beautiful and we met lots of very nice people on the campsite. French roads are amazing for cycling on- great condition, little traffic and motorists that don't try to run you off the road. It's just good to be away from home sometimes, especially when the wine, cheese and bread are so cheap. We found the time to do a bit of exploring. This is Grande Pierre, a menhir in a farmer's corn field in the middle of nowhere, north of Blois. Not everyone in our party got on the prehistoric tip. Our eldest refused to get out of the car to look at it and child number two was fairly unimpressed. 'It's just a stone in a field'.

And this is Special Sport, my favourite shop in the village of Mer. In France the shops open at about 9.30 and stay open as late as midday. Then everyone shuts up shop and takes a two and a half hour lunch break before ambling back to work at around three, going through until about half six. No-one looks particularly stressed out, no-one rushes anywhere, things get done eventually. I think they may be onto something. Although I'm not sure Special Sport has survived the recession.

Floatation

It took thirteen hours of driving to get home yesterday. While sitting in a traffic jam on the M25, having gone counter-clockwise towards the M40 to avoid advertised  long delays at the Dartford Crossing, this superb example of early 90s Balaerica from The Grid and Mr Weatherall made staring at another car's bumper and back window more bearable. Blissful sounds.

Floatation (Sonic Swing Mix)

Vallee De La Loire

A popular online encyclopedia writes...

'The Loire Valley, spanning 280 kilometres (170 mi), is located in the middle stretch of the Loire River in central France. Its area comprises about 800 square kilometres (310 sq mi). It is referred to as the Cradle of the French and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards, and artichoke and asparagus fields, which line the banks of the river. Notable for its historic towns, architecture and wines, the valley has been inhabited since the Middle Palaeolithic period. In 2000, UNESCO added the central part of the Loire River valley to its list of World Heritage Sites. The valley includes historic towns such as Amboise, Angers, Blois,Chinon, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours. The climate is favorable most of the year, the river often acting as a line of demarcation in France's weather between the northern climate and the southern. The river has a significant effect on the mesoclimate of the region, adding a few degrees of temperature. The climate can be cool with springtime frost while wine harvest months may have rain. Summers are hot.'

That's me and my family sorted for the next two weeks. Wine, historic towns, heat, pool, campsite, some cycling.

This is some fuzz guitar Franco 60s mod pop from Jacques Dutronc. Cool as le fuck. See you later my friends

La Responsable

Packing

We had friends round for tea and a couple of glasses of wine each and we're now trying to pack to go on holiday tomorrow. And I'm mucking about on the internet.

I missed this absolute gem of a song and only discovered it by accident earlier today- from last year, Emiliana Torrini and Steve Mason, noisy and way up there. The noise, I've just discovered, is provided by Toy.



And this, a remix of Lana Del Rey's Video Games by Dreadzone's Greg Dread. Lovely.



Right. How many pairs of shorts do I need?

Edit: I've ripped both of these- would you like them?

I Go Out

Lana Dub Rey

Dread

This Dreadzone song, from their early days on Creation, pays homage to spaghetti westerns and features a vocal appearance from Miss Alison Goldfrapp, and is very good indeed for a Sunday morning in August. Where's that sun gone? It's been pissing down here for days.

The Good, The Bad And The Dread

And I like this Don Letts cut and paste video too.



And this is a very tasty, hard-to-find, promo only, Rez inspired remix.

Duffy

Not that Duffy, this Duffy- Martin Duffy, keyboard player for Primal Scream since the late 80s and before that in Felt (and briefly a Charlatan following the death of Rob Collins). Duffy has a solo album coming out, not coincidentally on Tim Burgess' O Genesis record label, and some of the tracks have begun to appear on line. This one is a spooky piece with some minor key tinkering and sawing noises and bodes well for the lp, Assorted Promenades (out on Monday).




Duffy has done solo recordings before. This song, a beautiful piece of hushed, end-of-the-night gospel was sung and played by Martin, and closed Primal Scream's electro-rock/terrorism album Evil Heat in 2002.

Space Blues #2

The Return Of Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 152

A 1956 single from Curtis Gordon extolling the simple joys of drag racing down Main Street. Isn't that a bit dangerous?

The lead guitar line on this is scorching.

Draggin'

Pop A Cap In Yo Ass

Tracey Thorn's autobiography Bedsit Disco Queen is turning out to be a surprisingly good read. I've never been a huge fan of Everything But The Girl but they've always been there, on the outer fringes of my musical radar. Her story is well written, self deprecating, honest and full of the politics and passions that came out of punk and produced such a wide variety of post-punk bands. Even without a detailed knowledge of EBTG or The Marine Girls, it's an engaging book and she comes across as a real person who ended up making records and being in a band. Interestingly, having also read Viv Albertine's book recently, womens' stories of life in the music industry have a very different tone from many of the mens'- more circumspect and less bullish, more about the process and personal politics of being creative in daily situations with other people. She writes about the contradictions of being in a group sometimes viewed as sappy or sissy, playing weedy jazz influenced music (which they saw as modern and progressive) while also coming across in interviews as spikey, defensive and having very strongly held indie/punk beliefs.

This was an EBTG single from the mid 80s with Johnny Marr playing popping up on harmonica.



Ben Watt, partner in both senses, had a dance music career in the 90s and his label Buzzin' Fly put out several fine compilation cds. I remembered this song, which I bought on 12", where over Ben's Chicago deep house grooves Estelle puts in a spoken word vocal about shoplifiting and growing up on violent streets. Really good.

Pop A Cap In Yo Ass