Thursday, July 14, 2022
Song(s) of the Day # 3,088 Silver Biplanes
The writer of the Did Not Chart blog at the right hand side of this page doesn't post that often, but when he does his suggestions are generally worth following. Certainly this. In his words 'Forever Changes mariachi meets bewitching English Folk.'
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Things Found on My Local's Jukebox # 514 Judee Sill
Having requested this, it will get repeated play.
Song(s) of the Day # 3,087 Modern Diet
Brooklyn's Modern Diet with a laidback, minimilist and easy going album called The State of Things that I've found much to my liking over the past few days.
A band that apparently 'met and bonded outside OMG Pizza in the middle of the night, bonding over feminity and food intolerances,' They chart the modern condition and trying to find stillness within it.
Somewhere between The Shins and The Roches, if that comparison makes any sense. Swooning and understated.
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Can - All Gates Open - The Story of Can # 7 Can
Further, fascinating documentation of Tago Mago and the band's working processes.
Song(s) of the Day # 3,086 Anand Wilder
It's fairly commonplace to recognise band or artists reference points relatively quickly these days. A guitar band that has listened a lot to Pavement. Another that is in thrall to bands in the C-86 movement. He singer or songwriter who clearly venerates Nilsson.
Anand Wilder is not quite one of those. He owes a debt vocally to Marc Bolan's tender quiver. He has something of Donavan's hippy lovechild about him. I was sometimes reminded of Elliott Smith or Fairport Convention.
All of these inspirations make Wilder's latest album I Don't Know My Words, altogether the kind of thing Wes Anderton might listen to when he gets home. There's definitely a whimsy to all of this. A preciousness. But also poetic, rich and florid quality to Wilder's songwriting and delivery that's really quite rare nowadays.
Wilder has a rich track record. He was lead singer for Yeasayer, who were active for more than a decade before going their separate ways in 2019. I don't know their records but was aware their reputation was considerable and I Don't Know My Words, his first record since then, will definitely inspire me to investigate further.
It's a beguiling and intriguing record. Definitely owing a debt to the late Sixties and the artists I've mentioned but with plenty of bohemian and poetic fire of its own, in its own loins. Highly recommended.
Monday, July 11, 2022
Things Found on My Local's Jukebox # 513 Herbie Hancock
Sometimes what you want to her is already on the jukebox.
Covers # 196 Andy Bell
A fairly straight cover of Pentangle's Night Flight. But a song thats conventions need to be respected.
Songs About People # 1,352 Grayson Perry
One for one of the great Contemporary Art signifiers.Judging by this, it's a shame that The Graphite Set haven't put any records out since 2013.
Can - All Gates Open - The Story of Can # 6 Can
Dam Suzuki replaces Mooney and Can move onto Phase Two with the extraordinary Tago Mago.
Song(s) of the Day # 3,085 Weird Nightmare
Side project for METZ leader Alex Edkins, it seems de rigeur for everyone in leftfield bands to have a couple of these going these days. Weird Nightmare's debut is a true blast of fresh air.
Though I like METZ, thery're a bit relentless for me. This is much more to my taste. Sheets of guitar layer sweet pop pills the way JAMC, Nirvana, Husker Du and Mission of Burma used to do it back in the day.
There's plenty to enjoy here and plenty of reminders of Pop's more outre guitar past,.stand out track Luistania takes remarkable liberties with The Who's The Kids are Alright,but I'm not complaining.
Edkins has enough nous and love for what he's doing to vary the volume and intensity of attack, and turn down the speed and give things the light and shade you'd expect from an outstanding album. That's just what this is. I was really thrilled.
Sunday, July 10, 2022
Songs Heard on the Radio # 417 Flora Hibberd
I know nothing about Flora Hibberd. Perhaps I should find out more.
Mush - Down Tools
Leeds' Mush have been one of my favourite British guitar bands of recent years. Along with the West Country's Holiday Ghosts and Brighton's Penelope Isles they indicate that you don't always have to go with The Fall and The Gang of Four as your guiding mentors.
With Mush, the key influences are probably Wire, Television and Pavement primarily. I'm perfectly happy with that as a basic template. Down Tools, is their third album in as many years so they're a pretty prolific bunch and though the record stakes out no particularly new hround for them, it's a set of lively and engaging alternative guitar adventuring.
The sticking point for this band is probably lead singer Dan Hyndman's delivery. It's kind of Stephen Malkmus meets Yogi Bear frankly and as you might imagine, that can lead towards some deeply irritating moments.
Fortunately, it seems that Hyndman can switch the annoying switch on and off at will. There's certainly enough going on here to bring me back to it. Most of all, it's loads of fun. Make sure you see them next time they're playing in a small room near you.
Song(s) of the Day # 3,084 Young Guv
I'm a sucker for a certain kind of jingle jangle morning sound really, whether it's rooted in 1966, '76' or '86 . I know all about it's wistfulness, it's wanness, or if you prefer, uts essential limp wristed wetness. Although I'm no completist, and could certainly not listen solely to music of this sort, when I come across a good example of this kind of record, which I tend to every few months, I really couldn't be more delighted.
And this is certainly a very, good example of this particular kind of record. It has such precisional, mastery of the requirements of the sub genre I'm talking about that it pretty much feels like it was cooked up in a scientific laboratory.
It's the fourth album from Young Guv, essentially the brainchild and inamorata of American Ben Cook. Generally holed up in New Mexico it's no stretch to guess what you'd imagine would be the records Cook places at the front of his record stacks. I'd go for 5D and Younger Than Yesterday, Emergency Third Rail Power Trip and Stone Roses.
But more than anything it's clear that above all he venerates the new dawn purity, and wonder of the mid-Sixties. Young Guv IV practically radiates it. Every track glows with virgin wonder. The guitar lines are crystalline. The vocals adopt the unaffected inocence of Michael Quercio of The 3 O'Clock, Ian Broudie, Richie Furay or Syd Barrett. Everything is perfectly crafted with the end result in mind.
To pull off a venture like this you're going to require a certain steely quality and a very, very good set of songs. Because ultimately you're setting yourself up against the likes of The Beatles, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, The Monkees, and The Turtles. Among the best there've ever been. Cook clearly has both in spades. To such a degree that this feels like far more than an exercise in nostalgic pastiche even though it is perfectly evident where it takes its inspiration from. A magical record.
Saturday, July 9, 2022
Things Found on My Local's Jukebox # 512 Kate Bush
Just because it, and she, are here. Sounded great.
Songs About People # 1,351 Emo Phillips
One for the Jonathan Richman of alternative comedy. Sounds pretty much like you'd expect it would.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Fire Doesn't Grow on Tree
The Brian Jonestown Massacre have developed over the years from being something of a joke. From the moment when they initially came to prominence in the highly farcical documentary Dig,!, to evolving into a respected and influential touring band.
While never exactly being Flavour of the Month, they've put out some pretty good records over the years. Over twenty in total. I have no intention in listening to thme all, because you know exactly what the're going to sound like really; records released by American counter cultural bands from 1966 and '67. If you like that you'll more than likely like them. They're much like Primal Scream or Spiritualised in that respect.
It's difficult to know what to say about latest record Fire Doesn't Grow on Tree. It sounds like a Brian Jonestown Massacre record. Like The Stones and The MC5 in 1968. Anton Newcome might as well be Bobby Gillespie, Jason Pierce and Richard Ashcroft. It follows the rules of the unorthodox. Dots all the counter culture 'i's', crosses all its 't's'.
Nothing particularly stood out on this one. There was certainly not a track that would have stuck out on Beggar's Banquet, Kick Out The James, Screamadelica, Urban Hymns or Ladies & Gentleman. A couple of the songs were so lazy, they were farcical frankly. There were a couple of things I quite liked. But certainly not a record anyone needs.
Song(s) of the Day # 3,083 Katy J. Pearson
Heavenly recording artist Katy J. Pearson has a winning way of twisting the familiar into oddly unfamiliar shapes. Music that on the surface appears to be fairly conventional Folk Rock is transformed into something fresh and to my ears truly alluring on her second album Sound of the Morning.
So songs that might on the surface to be fairly straightforward, tracks that could be Judy Collins or Beth Orton ones, instead operate in the realm of the strange. There are immediate indication of the uncanny in the presentation of the record sleeve. The way she applies her make up and flashes her nail varnish at us. It's all rather early Seventies. The Virgin Suicides, The Brady Bunch.
Then there's Pearson's voice which is closer to Kate Bush or Karen Dalton than to the run of the mill Laurel Canyon wastrels you might expect. The other singer she's probably immediately reminiscent of is Stevie Nicks. Here though on Sound of the Morning, her vocal delivery is anchored by the weird rather than being employed in run of the mill shots at the chart.
Looking at the artists and songs Pearson chooses on her playlists on Spotify, this all makes sense. She goes for Karen and Judee and Kate. That's her tribe. She's also captured her what makes all of these artists so special. Sound of the Morning is a very good record, but I think she'll make even better ones in years to come.
Altogether a delightfully oddball album particularly as these freaky Pop Songs could easily come across as slightly mundane, but Pearson's apparent innate, unorthodox instincts keep things engaging throughout. A wonderful record which I'm immediately eager to return to.
Friday, July 8, 2022
Spiral Stairs - Medley Attack
Pavement in many ways feel like the moment when Rock became Post Modern. They were deeply self-referential from the off. Too cool for school. A band that couldn't stop punning and playing with their listener's expectations even if they'd wished to so. If Stephen Malkmus in particular seemed slightly too clever for his own good on many occasions, his main foil within the band, Scott Kannberg, (also answering to Spiral Stairs), always struck me as the laidback, alternative all-round nice guy.
So it's pleasing to see with his old band coming together for one last road trip that Kannberg has come out with probably his best solo album. Medley Attack makes smalltown American trust fund life in the slow lane seem like a damn good idea.
This is a highly feelgood alternative American guitar record. Kannburg plays his cards slightly straighter than Malkmus is wont to do. But there's plenty of smart wordplay and an essentially quirky, leftfield approach. He's clearly a man who's seen a lot of films, read a lot of books and listened to a lot of records and he uses that tellingly to deliver a record that's rooted in classic alternative songwriting and not so obviously indebted to The Fall or Captain Beefheart as Pavement often were.
Only nine tracks long, so falling slightly short of classic status, this is nevertheless something that Kannburg has every right to be very, very proud of. Apparently he's already decided that this will be the last solo record he'll make and it's a very fine way for him to sign off. Ah well, back to the day job.
Can - All Gates Open - The Story of Can # 3 Can
With the arrival of Malcolm Mooney, the first incarnation of Can comes together.
Song(s) of the Day # 3,082 Vintage Crop
Vintage Crop. My favourite new Punk or Post Punk guitar band from Geelong, Australia. They're not really new by any stretch of the imagination having been treading the circuit boards and putting out records for a good five years now and made the almost mandatory move to Melbourne.
New album Kibitzer is most immediately Aussie Pavement, with all the energy but none of the trust fund sneer. Vocalist Jack Cherry leads from the front with plenty of Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Total Control's snap and snarl.
It's perfectly clear by now, if it wasn't already blatantly apparent, that Australians do this best these days. Cherry's Aussie burr is fresh and upfront. The rest of Vintage Crop back this up with simple, unadorned Rock and Roll,never moving into Stooges, MC5 or Saints or Radio Birdman territory, but maintaining a lean, minimal, attacking approach. Another great Australian album. I'm losing count.
Thursday, July 7, 2022
Things Found on My Local's Jukebox # 511 Pavement
Brighten The Corners, now on the jukebox. Only a good thing.
Can - All Gates Open - The Story of Can # 2 Karlheinz Stockhausen
The members of Can, come into each other's orbit in a time of political turmoil in Germany to a suntrack of Stockhausen, Free Jazz and Sgt. Pepper.
Song(s) of the Day # 3,081 Adwaith
Welsh language trio Adwaith are back with their seconnd album, Bato Mato. Their native tongue adds layers of mystery and resonance to proceedings.
I many respects a pop album as much as a rock one. I found the record cut deeper the longer it played.
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
Coming Up # 16 Alvvays
Good news. Out of the blue Alvvays, one of the great indie guitar bands of the last ten years are back, with this splendid new song Pharmacist and a new album due in early October.
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