When You Don't Have Anything Left, She's Got The Music

Almost a month through 2025 already and although there's a lot of incoming new music to be excited about, I'm still immersing myself in the albums and singles that I bought last year.

Today's selection therefore is wall-to-wall 2024 and back-to-back female voices. So many to choose from, I did an entire selection as part of my end of year round up and here are 11 more.

I got the albums by Jane Weaver and Beth Gibbons relatively late in the day, so I'm continuing to discover more about them on each listen. Others, like Ibibio Sound Machine, Xan Tyler and Jo Bartlett, I've had for some while and played and played and played them.

Isobel Campbell delivered two for the price of one, with Bow To Love available on shiny disc with a French language counterpart, Place à l'Amour. I can't choose between them, I love them both.

Of the tons of great singles and EPs out last year, the Blueprints Revisited EP by Ammonite aka Amy Spencer was a welcome discovery via a remix she did for David Holmes. David reciprocates on the EP, though I've opted here for a lovely remix by South Korean duo Salamanda aka Uman (Jimin Sung) and Yetsuby (Yejin Jang).

Anzu by C.A.R. was already a favourite in both its original version and GLOK remix by Andy Bell. Then Sean Johnston came along and delivered a couple of Hardway Bros remixes that blew the bloody doors off.

There were also a couple of international musical pairings for one-off singles that grabbed my attention. Björk (Iceland) teamed up with Rosalía (Spain) for Oral, remixed by Olof Dreijer (Sweden). Meanwhile, Tanya Donelly (USA) collaborated with Gabi Lima (Brazil) on the rousing Golden Cut. 

I've been listening to a lot of Tanya's music since I posted about her last August, revisiting her back catalogue and catching up with her 21st century music. She really is an incredible songwriter and performer.

If any of these take your fancy, click on the album/single title and buy, buy, buy!

1) Motif: Jane Weaver (Love In Constant Spectacle)

2) When You Don't (Salamanda Remix): Ammonite (Blueprints Revisited EP)

3) Reste Calme, Suis Ta Voie: Isobel Campbell (Bow To Love/Place à l'Amour (ltd 2x CD))

4) Golden Cut: Tanya Donelly & Gabi Lima (Golden Cut EP)

5) She's Got The Music: Jo Bartlett (Ghost Tapes 1 To 9)

6) Ziggy: Xan Tyler (Holding Up Half The Sky)

7) Anzu (Hardway Bros Remix): C.A.R. (Anzu EP)

8) Dejalo: Charlotte & Reinhard (Guardian Of Sleep EP)

9) Oral (Olof Dreijer Remix): Björk ft. Rosalía (Oral EP)

10) Touch The Ceiling: Ibibio Sound Machine (Pull The Rope)

11) Lost Changes: Beth Gibbons (Lives Outgrown)

When You Don't Have Anything Left, She's Got The Music (45:30) (KF) (Mega)

Those Who Put Others Ahead Of Themselves

A Certain Ratio? A Christmas song? On my birthday?

Yes, I know I promised no shameless self-promotion today, but I wanted to say a big thank you for all the lovely messages yesterday. I had a lovely evening at Casa K and an especially lovely bonus was a brand new release from A Certain Ratio on my birthday. What could be better?

It wasn't a complete surprise, I'd had advance warning the previous month from ACR's promo mailing list, as follows:

 

Did someone say Christmas?

Yes, we too roll our eyes when we walk into the supermarket 

and see mince pies for sale in November, 

so yes it is too early to be releasing a Christmas single, 

but a Christmas single we have. 

 
Who would have thought it, 

ACR does Christmas.

 
Here is our new EP, 

another ACR surprise for 2024. T

he EP is called Christmasville UK 

and is released on December 11th. 

 

Only 500 have been pressed.

it features 3 remixes by old pals Jane Weaver & Emperor Machine 

and new pals Jezebell, 

who have all remixed tracks from It All Comes Down to This.

 
Plus the brand new track Now and Laughter, 

but we’ll tell you more about that in December.

 

The 12" vinyl sold out in no time, but I ordered the digital EP last Bandcamp Friday and the full gift was delivered and 'unwrapped' yesterday. An official video was released the day before for Now And Laughter.

What can I say? Very much in the vein of It All Comes Down to This, but Christmassy. But without jingle bells on top to gild the lily, as it were.

 

To these ears, there's a very slight relation in the chord sequence to The Pretenders' 2000 Miles, albeit in different key, with different instruments and a rumbling, almost menacing bass and fuzzy undercurrent, so this is a tenuous description to say the least! I'm trying to say it's great and very pleasing to the ears, in other words!

Now And Laughter is "dedicated to workers at the NHS, homeless charities, mental health crisis centres, care homes and all the people who give up their time to help the sick and homeless in our towns and cities" and this is reflected in the heartfelt lyrics. 

 

They also reference Christmas throughout, so the song has been automatically added to the Casa K Christmas playlist for repeated airings over the next few weeks.

 

The three remixes are no mere stocking fillers either, as the list of names above should have indicated. 

 

Jane Weaver turns Where You Coming From into a pulsating, electro earworm, all descending chords and spaced out backing vocals underpinning Jez's vocals.  

Andy Meecham aka The Emperor Machine delivers nearly nine minutes of irresistible body jerking disco funk with his rework of Out From Under, taking ACR back to 1982 and snapping them back like a rubber band into 2024. Placed in any decade, it sounds fantastic. 

The final and bonus birthday delight is the inclusion of long-time Dubhed favourites, the mighty Jezebell aka Jesse Fahnestock and Darren Bell. The dynamic duo put We All Need into the Jezebellearic blender and put the setting on 'pulse'. 

Here's what Jesse and Darren had to say about it:

 

"We've been awfully busy with remix work this year ... 

but when true pioneers come knocking, 

you answer the door. 

 

Chance has brought 

Manchester post-punk/dance legends A Certain Ratio 

and Jezebell together, 

and the results are available today."

 

And boy, do they deliver. It contains all of the elements that I've come to love about their remixes and own work, whilst losing none of A Certain Ratio's character in the mix. I'm already committed but I am confident that if this was your introduction to Jezebell, as it hopefully will be for many ACR fans, then you will want to check out the rest of their music immediately.

The advantage of music over cake (and the supremely talented Mrs K excelled herself this year) is that I can keep going back for more and more in one sitting without falling into sugar-induced unconsciousness. 

On the YouTube page for the Now And Laughter video, A Certain Ratio ask to consider donating to hometown-based initiatives Manchester Homelessness Partnership and Mustard Tree.

 

You may already contribute time and/or money to helping others in different ways. I'm a flawed, imperfect person in so many ways, but setting aside my personal challenges, putting others before myself and giving selflessly whenever and however I can is something I can get with.

 

 

Remix My Party And I'll Cry If I Want To

Happy birthday, Paul Weller, born 25th May 1958. 

 

From yesterday's sorrow to today's joy, celebrating 64 years of musical genius. It's not proven that Weller was composing music in the crib but I'm sure he was thinking about it.

I've had an on-off relationship with Weller's music, particularly his solo career, and sporadically purchase his albums, usually on the recommendation of friends and fellow bloggers.

What has always piqued my curiosity, however, has been Weller's openness to the art of the remix. From his earliest solo forays with the stunning Brendan Lynch remixes of Kosmos and Sunflower to last year's Fat Pop (Volume 1) reworkings by Pet Shop Boys, Jagz Kooner & Andrew Innes and Stone Foundation, they've always been of interest to me. At best, the songs are taken on a new, equally rewarding aural journey; at worst, they'll lift a song that I originally found less appealing.

So, to celebrate Weller's constant search for new sonic environments for his song ideas, here are 12 selections across the last three decades, coming in at a smidge under 64 minutes, one for each of Weller’s birthdays to date.

I have to give a credit to the superb Thirty Minute Paul Weller Remix Mix posted at Bagging Area in April, which planted the seed of inspiration for today's selection. I've managed to avoid duplicating any of Swiss Adam's selections, so I'd strongly recommend getting over there after listening to this for an extended Weller Remixed aural experience.

 

Tenuous link time: absolutely no apologies for today's punning post title; it came to me part way through the mix in a flash of inspiration (if you can indeed call it inspiration). The last time I featured Paul Weller (albeit as The Style Council) here was on 15th May 2022, which apparently was also the 7th National Pun Day in the USA (the UK seems to have plumped for 8th February instead). Either way, that's good enough for me.

1) Aim High (Aim Higher) (The Amorphous Androgynous Remix By Brian Dougans & Garry Cobain) (2010)

2) Phoenix (White Label Remix By Steve Aungle, Anth Brown & Tom Doyle) (2017)

3) That Pleasure (Get Involved) (Remixed By Stone Foundation) (2021)

4) Wishing On A Star (Steve Mason Remix For The Beta Band) (Cover of Rose Royce) (2006)

5) Brushed (Unreleased Brendan Lynch Remix #1) (1997)

6) Rockets (Jane Weaver / Mind Control Remix By Jane Weaver & Andy Votel) (2020)

7) Starlite (D-Pulse Remix) (2011)

8) Sunflower (Lynch Mob Dub) (Remix By Brendan Lynch) (1994)

9) Fast Car, Slow Traffic (The Primal Scream Remix) (7" Version) (2010)

10) Rip Up The Pages (Lynchmob Mix By Brendan Lynch) (2008)

11) There's No Drinking After You're Dead (Noonday Underground Remix By Simon Dine) (2000)

12) Kosmos SX Dub 2000 (Remix By David Harry) (1993)

Remix My Party And I'll Cry If I Want To (1:03:53)

Fear No Evil, Fear No Person, Fear No Spirit, Fear Nobody

Today's selection highlights 10 of my favourite albums from 2021. They're not ranked or scored, simply listed by the order that I sequenced the tracks for this playlist. This was initially a 'draft' post: due to life and stuff, I ran out of time to add comments on why I like these albums so much, but in a Christmas Eve update, here are my 10:

All Of Us: 10:40

My entry point was in Bagging Area in April, via the re-edit of Spacemen 3's How Does It Feel?, which inevitably led to Bandcamp, both the excellent Paisley Dark label and 10:40's debut album. The latter is almost an hour of dub-influenced beats and ambient washes, with hints of vocals threaded throughout. It was just the beginning of what has been a prolific year for Jesse Fahnestock, not only with 10:40 but with Emilia Harmony as Electric Blue Vision and Darren Bell as Jezebell. I'm looking forward to what comes next in 2022.

 

Catastrophe Hits: Broken Chanter

A pre-release recommendation by The Vinyl Villain in October, I bought the CD on spec and I wasn't disappointed. JC writes far more eloquently about the album than I can and closes his review with the comment that Catastrophe Hits "could well be the musical equivalent of the vaccination programme. Overdue, much needed, and a real shot in the arm." I won't argue with that.

 

Flock: Jane Weaver

I had a few songs here and there, but Flock was the first full album purchase I made. From what I can gather this is Jane's most overtly pop-oriented album to date and yes, it's choc-full of hooks, but with characteristic psych/prog/motorik undertones. Heartlow sets the tone and it flows seamlessly from there, 10 songs in 44 minutes. It's hard to pick a favourite, even from the singles, but Sunset Dreams deserves a special mention.

 

'NINE': SAULT

I'm often late to the party and, whilst I'd read about the mysterious collective led by Dean Josiah Cover aka Inflo, it was their drop of 'NINE' as a limited, 99-day release that prompted me to buy this and their entire album back catalogue in one fell swoop. SAULT's first album, 5, came out in May 2019; by June 2021, they were on album number 5, including two doubles. What's incredible is that this is definitely not a case of quantity over quality. Whether played as full albums or random shuffle playlists, SAULT's music is astonishing.

 

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert: Little Simz

Inflo was at the controls for what has turned out to be one of the year's highlights, also the fifth offering from Simbiatu Ajikawo aka Little Simz. I was aware of her and quite liked what I'd heard, but it was The Robster's post on Is This The Life? as part of his 50th birthday celebration in July that hooked me, with the stunning Introvert. I pre-ordered the album and it's one of those rare new releases that exceeds the hype and expectation. It's best listened to as a whole, the received pronunciation of guest narrator Emma Corrin can sometimes be a bit grating in isolation, but makes perfect sense as a full work. The breadth of influences and styles is breath-taking and the overarching personal narrative sets Little Simz as a unique and compelling voice.

 

Boy From Michigan: John Grant

I'm biased: I have loved every album that John Grant has released since Queen Of Denmark; I've probably said this before each time too, but this is arguably his best album to date. I guess a lot will rest on whether you have shared Grant's love of and commitment to electronica or wish he would return more fully to the Midlake-supported  70s sounds of his solo debut - I'm firmly in the former camp. Collaborating with Cate Le Bon on production was an inspired move. The Only Baby was an acutely well-timed lead single back in January and the quality of the album doesn't falter. It's a long album - 12 songs in 75 minutes - but never overstays it's welcome.

 

Animal: LUMP

Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay's second collaboration as LUMP wasn't something I'd assumed would happen, so it was a pleasant surprise to discover the lead single and title track back in May. I predicted back then that the forthcoming album would be a personal favourite of this year and here it is. Marling's lyrics are as sharp as ever: first track Bloom At Night opens with  

I heard a word that they paint mirrors on their face
And soon forget that they reflect but don’t create

 

and final song Phantom Limb closes with Marling reciting the album's production credits. She maintains a slightly distanced, emotionless tone throughout the album, juxtaposed with earthy, organic sounds, which provides a compelling tension.

 

The Art Of Losing: The Anchoress

Catherine Anne Davies' collaboration with Bernard Butler, In Memory Of My Feelings, was a 2020 highlight, which prompted me to purchase her 2nd album as The Anchoress in March, and her debut album a month or so later. It's a classic album in the sense of it's song structures, full of melodic and lyrical hooks. I had hoped to see The Anchoress supporting Manic Street Preachers live in concert in October. Unfortunately, Catherine had to withdraw from live commitments on health grounds due to the pandemic. In the end, I also had to pull out of going to the Manics gig (although that had a happier ending, with the ticket going to a good home). Pandemic permitting, The Anchoress will be on a solo tour in 2022 and I hope to experience these songs performed on stage. I think it'll be awesome.

 

Clarion Call: Xan Tyler & Mad Professor

When putting together posts for this blog, I'll often pick up on a song randomly or one that's perhaps languishing in my "haven't played for years" list and this can often lead me down a rabbit hole, discovering other music by the same artist. And so it was with Xan Tyler. Twenty years on from a previous collaboration with Mad Professor, July saw a new album Clarion Call, which I discovered in October as part of my research for the aforementioned post. It's been on repeated plays since and it's a wonderful mix of emotionally charged lyrics and uplifting dub sounds. I frequently listen to opener Why Do You Lie and think it's a comment on the current government, particularly the lumpen oaf in charge.

 

De Película: The Limiñanas / Laurent Garnier

An obvious choice perhaps, but the music and video for Que Calor ! reach out and grab you by the shoulders, shaking off the malaise and compel you to groove (warning: less advisable if working at height and in charge of heavy machinery). The album itself is a wild, hour-long ride and, whilst it may be less ground-breaking than some of the other albums on this list, it's one that cried out for the repeat button as soon as the final track ends. Another album that I pre-ordered following a Bagging Area recommendation in May and was it worth the wait.

Here's one selection from each album, apart from the Little Simz two-hander, which deserves not to be separated:

1) The Forever Yes (Album Version): 10:40

2) Allow Yourself: Broken Chanter

3) Heartlow: Jane Weaver

4) Trap Life: SAULT

5) Point And Kill / Fear No Man (Album Version): Little Simz ft. Obongjayar

6) Your Portfolio: John Grant

7) Animal: LUMP

8) Let It Hurt: The Anchoress

9) Why Do You Lie: Xan Tyler & Mad Professor

10) Que Calor ! (Album Version): The Limiñanas / Laurent Garnier ft. Edi Pistolas

 

Fear No Evil, Fear No Person, Fear No Spirit, Fear Nobody (49:14)

It Smells Like Something Set Apart From Time

After yesterday's preemptive start to my favourites of 2021, here is a selection of my most played songs of 2021 so far. Anything released post-September will be at a disadvantage simply because they've been available for repeated listens for relatively less time. Even so, it was still hard to whittle down to an even dozen. 

 

Opening with Andy Bell, the preview/pre-release from the Another View remix album and arguably the standout track. Brian Dougans & Garry Cobain have delighted with another subscription-only 'Calendar' album this year, with an exclusive new or archive track each month; May's FSOL offering was a particular highlight. The Limiñanas collaborative album with Laurent Garnier was excellent and I especially love this penultimate track featuring Bertrand Belin. Hifi Sean's re-remix of Fire Island's 1998 cover of The Style Council's Shout To The Top is arguably the new definitive version of the song. 

 

Kelsey Lu has been an enduring favourite of the past couple of years and their collaboration with Boys Noize was accompanied by a stunning animated video. Jane Weaver released one of the best albums of the year with Flock, as did The Anchoress with The Art Of Losing. I first heard of Dan Wainwright this year via his Hope & Deliverance EP and Feel was a winner, as was Joe Muggs' mash-up of Lorde's Solar Power & Primal Scream's Loaded with the appropriately named Lorded. Long-time fave Ladyhawke made a mighty comeback with Guilty Love featuring Broods and yet another great video. 

 

The Orb had dropped off my radar for some years but Adam @ Bagging Area pulled them front and centre with a brilliant remix by Gaudi, as a taster for their excellent remix album. Rounding things off, my favourite song from probably my favourite album of the year by John Grant, who I managed to miss live on stage this year, making for a record four times. 2021 was a great year for music, but on this basis 2022 will surely be even better.

1) Indica (Pye Corner Audio Remix – GLOK Re-Edit): Andy Bell

2) Ride Or Die (Single Version): Boys Noize ft. Kelsey Lu & Chilly Gonzales

3) Fledgling Sun: The Future Sound Of London

4) Au Début C'était Le Début: The Limiñanas / Laurent Garnier ft. Bertrand Belin

5) Sunset Dreams: Jane Weaver

6) Shout To The Top (Hifi Sean Mix): Fire Island ft. Loleatta Holloway

7) Feel: Dan Wainwright

8) Lorded (Lorde v. Primal Scream): Joe Muggs

9) Show Your Face: The Anchoress

10) Guilty Love: Ladyhawke & Broods

11) Ital Orb (Gaudi Remix (Iron Chair) By Daniele Gaudi): The Orb

12) The Rusty Bull (Album Version): John Grant

It Smells Like Something Set Apart From Time (1:03:43)

I've Lost All The Fears That Appeared In The Dark

I hadn't planned on posting any "best of 2021" lists just yet. Today's selection started off as a slightly downtempo, chilled mix as a reaction of sorts to yesterday's more frenetic festive fun. There's been so much good music this year that it ended up as a kind of alternative selection of some of my favourite albums, singles and remixes from the last 12 months. I've enthused about Andy Bell, Pye Corner Audio, Jane Weaver, Kelsey Lu, Dennis Bovell, Xan Tyler & Mad Professor, Richard Norris and SAULT previously, and this isn't the first selection to end with a remix of Walking In The Sun by Andres Y Xavi, but for a done-in-one-take sequence, I'm pretty happy with the end result. 

 

The world outside is still shrouded in fog and morning dew, but the sunshine is imbuing the haze with a golden glow that feels somewhat magical. I'll take that.

1) Pervitin (The Saw Torture) (Violeta Vicci Remix): The Orb

2) Ever New (Kelsey Lu's Transportation): Beverly Glenn-Copeland

3) Golden Ratio: Chez De Milo

4) For Alice: The Affectionate Punch

5) Lux: Jane Weaver

6) I Was Alone (Pye Corner Audio Remix): Andy Bell

7) Swanky Modes (Dennis Bovell DubMix Instrumental): JARV IS...

8) Left Dub: Xan Tyler & Mad Professor

9) Meet Me At Midnight (Justin Robertson's Temple Of Wonders Remix): D:Ream

10) Never Make Promises (Interlude): Little Simz

11) All Shall Be Well: The Anchoress

12) Alcohol: SAULT

13) Stay Here (Coyote Remix): Super FU

14) Water (Pulselovers Remix): Richard Norris ft. Bishi Bhattacharya

15) It's Kinda Funny (Cover of Josef K): Douglas MacIntyre

16) Quaquaversal: James Bright

17) Walking In The Sun (Xavi's Pianopella): Andres Y Xavi ft. Rolo McGinty

I've Lost All The Fears That Appeared In The Dark (1:16:01)

I'm Living Beside You In My Head

A highlight amongst many outstanding albums in 2021 has been Flock by Jane Weaver. Last week, Sunset Dreams was released as a 6-track EP, featuring an extended mix of Solarised (previously released as a standalone in June), a couple of Flock session outtakes and a pair of remixes by Manchester neighbours W.H. Lung and See Thru Hands. 

Fire Records' bold pronouncement that the EP elevates the original album "to a new esoteric panorama of new pop" is slightly overstating things, but it's very good nevertheless. The W.H. Lung remix in particular takes Weaver on a headlong rush to the dancefloor (presumably retaining the roller skates from the Solarised video), to great effect.

 

You can buy the Sunset Dreams EP digitally from the usual outlets, including Jane's Bandcamp page.

 

Sunset Dreams (Album Version) 

Solarised (Extended Rework) 

The Lexical Distance 

The Revolution Of Super Visions (See Thru Hands Remix) 

Solarised (W. H. Lung Remix) 

Don't Tell Me I'm Wrong 

 

And here's the album version of the track remixed by See Thru Hands, originally released as a single last October:

The Revolution Of Super Visions (Official Video)

Where Have You Been? You're My Violin

Martina Topley-Bird is back, with a new album Forever I Wait released in September and co-produced with Robert Del Naja aka 3D from Massive Attack. Lots of media interest, including NME, reporting that this is Martina's first album in over a decade. That particular album, Some Place Simple, mainly featured reworkings of songs from her first two albums, so it's actually her first album of new material since 2007's The Blue God.

Like most, I first heard Martina on Tricky's groundbreaking single Aftermath but I am also a huge fan of her solo material. Her first album Quixotic was a patchwork of styles and producers, the sound of an artist finding their identity. The Blue God, produced by Danger Mouse, is a cohesive and outstanding album that I keep coming back to. Some Place Simple, released on Damon Albarn's Honest Jon's Records in 2010, stripped back the songs to great effect.

The lead single from Forever I Wait is Pure Heart, with a rumbling, sinister bassline and guitar chords typical of latter day Massive Attack, but of course it's Martina's voice that carries the song. 

2021 is shaping up to be an great year, with excellent albums from Jane Weaver, The Anchoress (Catherine Anne Davies) and more to come from Dot Allison, Kelsey Lu (hopefully) and Martina Topley-Bird. 

Pure Heart: Martina Topley-Bird (You Tube) (4:12)

 

I Thought The Bells Would Be Ringing When I Walked Home

I cannot get enough of Jane Weaver's latest album, Flock.  Heartlow was the second single, released in March, with an excellent video by Douglas Hart and available in monochrome and technicolour versions.

Heartlow: Jane Weaver (Official Video) (Monochrome) (3:38)
Heartlow: Jane Weaver (Official Video) (Technicolour) (3:38)