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Friday 30 September 2011

September Music Purchases

Golden Smog – Another Fine Day Alt-Country ‘Supergroup’ Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) Gary Louris (The Jayhawks) and members of Blind Melon last studio album. Great stuff.



Basement Jaxx – The Singles I don’t have much (any) dance music in my collection. On first listen I like about half the tracks on this album, which is what I thought before I bought it.

The Black Crowes – Warpaint Live Only Black Crowes album that I don’t have......

Mogwai – Young Team Mogwai’s debut album bought from a market stall in Tynemouth came with a free single of 4 remixes of Mogwai Fear Satan all for £3....



Bloc Party – A Weekend In The City Don’t know enough about this band so cheap purchase to find out whether they are one for me or not.

Mercury Rev – All Is Dream A #masterpieces discovery for me so picking up back catalogue when I can.

The Cranberries – Everybody Else Is Doing It So Why Can’t We Great debut from an Irish band that promised much and then appeared to lose the plot.



Gizeh Records I discovered this Leeds based label after seeing one of their bands, Sleepingdogs support Low. They specialise in post rock and ambient music for lovers of Mogwai, Radiohead etc. I bought a few CD’s in their sale and also downloaded some new artists for a nominal donation. Artists I bought were; Worriedaboutsatan, Redjetson, Immune, Greenland, Glissando,  Her Name Is Calla, Fieldhead, and Detwiije. This is a really good great label that deserves you support worth downloading the free sampler www.gizehrecords.com




Thursday 29 September 2011

Random Review #113 T-Model Ford - Pee-Wee Get My Gun


C9S3CD10 When this album was released in 1997 T-Model Ford thinks he might be 75 but he isn’t sure. When asked how many times he’s been in jail his response is ‘pretty much every Saturday night for a while’, although we do know he has been in jail for murder the rest is pretty vague. His only band member is his drummer called Spam, whose girlfriend is prone to smoking whilst carrying her oxygen supply around with her. This is just a small portion of the liner notes but you get the picture. This isn’t a plastic made for TV artist in fact I think I’d like to see Simon Cowell’s face if T-Model Ford rocked up at the auditions for X-factor.

This is raw blue, nasty dirty blues, if you think The White Stripes, The Black Keys or Seasick Steve had a raw sound then times that by 20 and you might get somewhere near the sound of T-Model Ford. In the mid nineties a number of artists like T-Model Ford were ‘discovered’ and brought into the mainstream. I use the term discovered loosely as they had been going for years but I guess the likes of R.L Burnside, Junior Kimbrough and to a lesser extent Cedell Davis, Robert Cage and others got a bit of the fame they deserved. This album is on the Fat Possum Record label which was responsible for bringing a lot of these artists to the general public. It is a great independent label that worked hard to promote these new artists and if you want an over view of what they do the compilation Not The Same Old Blues Crap is a great place to start.

The Blues is basic but good driven along at a pace by Spam on drums. You get 11 tracks all original as Blues can be as you hear the Blues classics in the rhythm and the beat of these songs. I suspect this music deserves to be heard in a dirty Juke Joint in Mississippi where it evolved, but I suspect it might not be the safest environment for a tourist to spend a Saturday night. Saying that I have survived a night in Newcastle’s Bigg Market so maybe I should have a go.

If you like The White Stripes or The Black Keys or saw Seasick Steve on Later with Jools Holland and thought I like the sound of that then this might be for you. It’s an insight into a different world of music that is still going strong and deserves to be heard.

Mark 6/10

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Random Review #112 The Wallflowers - Collection 1996-2005

C6S9CD9 Formed in 1989 The Wallflowers released their self titled debut in 1992 which interestingly is omitted from this compilation which is culled from their four albums realised as the title suggests between 1996 and 2005. For those that don’t know The Wallflowers were the band of Jakob Dylan, son of Bob but other than a name the 2 share very little in common with regard to musical styles or appearance for that matter.

The Wallflowers play American rock music somewhere between the Counting Crows and REM and although Jakob now is producing solo music a lot closer to his father he’ll never be held in the same esteem as Bob (very few are).

The compilation is a fair reflection of The Wallflowers career and what I mean by that is there are 5 tracks from the first album (Bringing Down The Horses) 4 tracks from their 2nd album (Breach) 3 from their 3rd (Red Letter Days) and 2 from their final album (Rebel Sweetheart) and I suspect if I looked up album sales they would replicate this decline. They started brightly with Bringing Down The Horses with One Headlight, 6thAvenue Heartache and Three Marlenas all achieving American chart success. This album is by far the strongest album of the four and although I like the other three they failed to deliver the hit tunes that they deserved. Tagged on the end of this album are 2 unreleased tracks which add very little to this compilation, but such is the want of record companies now they feel they need to add ‘new’ tracks on the end of Greatest Hits albums to make idiots like me who already have all the albums buy the Greatest Hits. 

If you like melodic rock served up in an American style then this might be an artist you might like to look up.

Mark 7/10


Thursday 15 September 2011

Songs I Love #29 Editors - The End Has A Start



I have nothing to say about this over than great tune

don't think that it's
Gonna rain again today
There's a devil at your side
But an angel on her way

Someone hit the light
'Cause there's more here to be seen
When you caught my eye
I saw everywhere I'd been
And wanna go to

You came on your own
That's how you'll leave
With hope in your hands
And air to breathe

I won't disappoint you
As you fall apart
Some things should be simple
Even an end has a start

Someone hit the light
'Cause there's more here to be seen
When you caught my eye
I saw everywhere I'd been
And wanna go to

You came on your own
That's how you'll leave
With hope in your hands
And air to breathe

You lose everything
By the end
Still my broken limbs
You find time to mend

More and more people
I know are getting ill
Pull something good from
The ashes now be still

You came on your own
That's how you'll leave
With hope in your hands
And air to breathe

You lose everything
By the end
Still my broken limbs
You choose to mend

You came on your own
That's how you'll leave
You came on your own
That's how you'll leave

You came on your own

You came on your own

Random Review #111 Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy


C3S9CD7 When I first started looking at this album prior to starting my review the first thing I thought was, I wonder whether the cover art of this album would be greeted with such widespread acceptance in this day and age? As you can see the album cover depicts a number of naked children climbing up The Giants Causeway Northern Ireland, entirely innocent but I would suspect the ‘moral police’ would have a field day now. I have no idea what the cover was supposed to portray, Zeppelin were trying hard to make their albums as mythical as possible, this album like the previous album did not have the name of the band on the front of the album. Whilst on the subject of the last album (Led Zeppelin IV) actually has no title, it is commonly known as IV as the first 3 albums were numbered but this was never acknowledged by the band, it is also known as 4 Symbols due to the 4 Symbols on the inner sleeve each that are associated to the band members. Anyway guess what I’m trying to say is that Led Zeppelin at this time (1973) could do what the hell they wanted and their albums would still sell by the bucket load so whether the name of the band or the album appeared made no difference.

Zeppelins 5th album and the first to have a album title, (ironically the album title appeared as a track on Zeppelins next studio album Physical Graffiti) 8 tracks, 5 of which would appear on their next album The Song Remains The Same the soundtrack to the film of the same name which was a mix of live concert footage and dream sequences, all very Spinal Tap but at the time they seemed like one of the most amazing bands in the world. Punk was just around the corner which would change things (for a little while) but at the time of this release Zeppelin were near Gods to the vast majority of the western world.

I retrospect I really like this Zeppelin album , not as much as Physical Graffiti but I think I play it more the IV, it has a good mix of styles, your standard rock which you would expect but, The Crunge is pure funk and D’yer Mak’er is reggae which may surprise many non Zeppelin fans. As I have mentioned a lot of these tracks turned up in the film but the studio versions are less bloated than the live versions and I think that suits the tracks. Favourites for me are The Song Remains The Same, The Rain Song, which is this albums Stairway to Heaven, slow mellow to start building to big rock finale, and No Quarter, but I can’t pick a duff track on this album.

I know that Led Zeppelin split music lovers, I think you either love them or hate them, but judging by the excitement that surrounded the (one off) live reunion a couple of years it’s safe to say that Zeppelins place as Rock Gods is still pretty secure.

 Mark 9/10

Wednesday 14 September 2011

random Review #110 Cassandra Wilson - New Moon Daughter


C7S9CD16. We have all been there haven’t we, you buy an album play it and after playing it a couple of times it’s left to gather dust until we hear the artists name mentioned somewhere, or a track turns up on a soundtrack and we think, ‘I’ve got that album’ and you dig it out to find that the albums far better than you actually thought. I’m not sure why this is, maybe your tastes change, after all I have been buying music for over 30 years, or like me you have far too much music to give all your albums the attention they deserve but this album is one of those for me.

This is why I started this blog in January, picking 3 of my CD’s at random to listen to each week forcing myself to roll with the numbers and listen to albums that I may not have picked if given the choice. This is an album I have always wanted to like more than I do and so when @amcyoung picked the numbers for it I honestly thought great I’ll give it another go. Well I have to say I don’t hate this album it has moments of brilliance, but it just doesn’t quite work for me even after all these years. (It was released in 1995)

I bought this album along with Lizz Wright’s Dreaming Wide Awake, both reviews seems very similar, and although I now own all of Lizz Wright’s albums I only have this album by Cassandra Wilson and that tells me a lot, but at the time I thought I was taking a chance with the Wright album and my expectation wad I would love the Wilson album. Music is fickle sometimes and throws up surprises and that’s why I love it so much.

On paper Wilson’s album sounds great, a mix of original songs and classic covers along with one or two surprising reworks, Love Is Blindness by U2, and Last Train To Clarksville made famous by The Monkees all given a jazz country makeover by Wilson who has an amazing voice. It’s the arrangements at times that I don’t like and it’s purely a matter of taste, they lean too much to the Jazz side of things for me and I guess that’s why I struggle with the album.

The album opens with Strange Fruit a song made famous by Billie Holiday and describing the hanging of African Americans slaves in the Deep South in the 1930’s. I have always struggled to listen to this song whoever sings it. The lyrics are so descriptive it devastates me every time. Once past this track we hit U2’s Love Is Blindness which real works paired down to its bare bones. Last Train to Clarksville and a rework of Neil Young’s Harvest Moon are also good, but I guess the problem is I’m always drawn to the original versions when listening to this album rather than being pulled into this album.

There is nothing wrong with this album I just have too many other albums I would pick before playing this one.

Mark 5/10


Tuesday 13 September 2011

Random Review #109 Lyle Lovett -Smile Songs From The Movies

C11S6CD11 Lets get the trivia out the way straight away, Lyle Lovett was married to Julia Roberts a long time ago and only for about 18 months. The fact that he has released 13 albums, contributed tracks to over 15 different films and acted in a couple of Robert Altman films seem to pale into insignificance compared to the Julia Roberts fact, even in main stream music publications!

I was lucky enough to see Lyle Lovett live this year at the third time of asking (he had cancelled his previous 2 visits to the North East) it was a really cool gig Lovett seemed at total easy with his self, confident in his own abilities and just delighted to be able to make music for a living. This album reflects all of those traits, it’s a compilation of tracks Lovett has recorded specifically for movies, they are all covers versions and showcase Lovett singing Gospel, Jazz as well as his usual country style.

What struck me the most when I bought this album (after all the different styles) is the diversity of films Lovett has contributed to, we have children’s favourites, Toy Story (You’re Got A Friend In Me) and Stuart Little (Walking Tall) romantic comedy, Hope Floats (Smile) and high end drama Quiz Show (Moritat, Mack The Knife). It seems that Lovett can turn his style to be appropriate for anytime of film, and as I write this I note he also has an original tune of the soundtrack of Dead Man Walking. The Sean Penn film chronicling a prisoners last days on death row.

Although not all the tracks work on this album (nobody can cover What’d I Say by Ray Charles) but this ranks as one of my favourite Lyle Lovett albums, his re- interpretations of Irvin Berlins Blue Skies and Smile which I am stunned to find out was co-written by Charlie Chaplin are brilliant. My Favourite is his rework of Moritat better known as Mack The Knife, I guess you could go like for like with Frank Sinatra on this tune, so Lovett slows it down and genuinely brings something different to the track.

This album isn’t a true reflection of Lyle Lovett work, but if a reflection of what he can do when given licence to steer away from his traditional country roots, and that might suit some people. Lyle Lovett is a real talent who deserves to be heard.

Mark 7/10


Saturday 10 September 2011

Random Review #108 Love And Money - Littledeath

C3S11CD13 The late Eighties early Nineties saw a number of Scottish bands emerge and obtain chart success, some was fleeting, Hipsway, Goodbye Mr McKenzie (soon to become Garbage) The Blue Nile and some would bring bands to our attention that would stay in the public eye for many years (Texas and Deacon Blue). Love and Money fall into the first category. Love and Money’s chance came between 1989 and 1991 when their single Strange Kind Of Love hit 45 and their album Dogs In The Traffic made it to number 41, after this dalliance of sorts with the charts Love and Money retreated back to Scotland and although they continued to produce music as Love and Money or solo (main man James Grant) they were never to threaten the mainstream ago.

This album was their fourth and last as a band I believe, and I’m trying to work out where I got my copy as it is stamped as a promotional copy. James Grant who fronts the band and writes all the songs is a song writer that deserves to be heard, he has honey smooth vocals and a knack for writing a grown up tune with pop sensibilities. The album opens and closes with Littledeath the opening track being a reprise of the final track and it’s a wonderful instrumental of sorts (minor backing vocals) which reminds me of the Godfather films, it’s atmospheric and feels very Italian for some reason. We are firmly back in Scotland with track 2 with The Last Ship On The River, although the track is lamenting the end of shipbuilding on the Clyde it’s very upbeat in tempo. The pace is mixed on the album the quality never dips other than Bitched Breach which comes over as The The outtake, but I’ll forgive them for that track. Highlights for be other that the tracks mentioned are Don’t Be Afraid of The Dark, and the Gospel tinged Keep Looking For The Light.

I’m not sure if this is my favourite Love and Money album but it does contain some of my tracks by the band and if you can get your hands on it (currently £35 on Amazon) it’s worth a punt, but if you’re new to the band Cheap Pearls and Whisky Dreams a low budget Best of Collection would be a great starting point.

I notice that Love and Money are back together and placing a one off gig in Edinburgh, I’m not sure but I hope this is the shape of things to come.

Mark 7/10

In the absence of any official video and also any decent live footage I have posted Love & Moneys nearly hit