A Smorgasbord Of Songs

These days, my inbox is overwhelmed with notices and heads up regarding new music, so much coming through on a daily basis that I just can't keep up with it, let alone mention it on this blog. 

Which is a shame, because there's a lot of interesting stuff out there, whether it's artists that I'm hearing for the first time, don't know a lot about but am already hooked, or long-time favourites still hitting the mark.

So, I've gathered ten releases in the past week or so and put them in one big smorgasbord of audio and visual tasters. If you like them, click on the artist's name to buy their music.

Oh, and make sure you stop by A History Of Dubious Taste, where Jez wrote a great piece yesterday, enthusing about one of the artists featured below, an early contender for his album of 2025.

Immerse yourself in the music.

1) You Were The Ones I Had To Betray: Dean Wareham
2) Queen Of 14th St: Decius

3) Vacillator: Ethel Cain

4) Switch Over: Horsegirl

5) Orlando in Love: Japanese Breakfast

6) Cuntology 101: Lambrini Girls

7) Fanzine Made Of Flesh: Mogwai

8) Disco Nap: Polo & Pan ft. Metronomy

9) Imagine 100 Dads: SKLOSS

10) Mirror: The Weather Station

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Is Central To Our Survival And Wellbeing Is Meaningful Connection And Love

So says Lawrence ‘Larry’ Wilson, in the introduction to Lion Rumpus, the new single and video by Mogwai.

 

You don't have to be a dog lover - or a bucket hat wearer for that matter - to find this video a real joy. As for the music? It's a little bit more abrasive than previous single God Gets You Back, but still 'softer' and less jarring than Mogwai of old. Which is no bad thing, of course. I like the fact that it's undeniably Mogwai though not just a retread of their 90s catalogue.

 

 

Mogwai's eleventh album The Bad Fire arrives in January 2025. The flowery promo claims that Lion Rumpus "does actually sound like a lion rumpus". Even better, that God Gets You Back "sounds like Daft Punk being hunted by My Bloody Valentine". I'm not sure I agree with either of those, although the latter provokes quite a striking image in the mind's eye! 

 

However, I can get with the claim that "the music contains [...] a sense of beauty encased in the onslaught." This sums up Mogwai as well as any other description and is why I've enjoyed their music for nearly 30 years now.

 

Happy Mogwai Monday, everyone.

A Different Donald

Celebrating Donald Sutherland, 17th July 1935 to 20th June 2024.

A brilliant actor, Martin over at New Amusements nailed it with a succinct and spot-on summation of his star turn in the 1978 remake of Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers, also a personal favourite. 

Donald brought an intensity to every role that he played, sometimes seemingly effortlessly, always enhanced by those piercing blue eyes. In ...Bodysnatchers, you could absolutely believe that Donald's character had gone for days without sleep and was running on empty...and that final scene. Stayed with me for a long time!

It was also a joy to see Donald appear in the video for Cloudbusting along with Kate Bush. Frankly, whatever he was in was better for his presence. Much is made of Will Smith's against-type role in 1993's Six Degrees Of Separation, but it stands or falls on the dynamic with the couple that his character encounters. It works because Donald and Stockard Channing were cast in the roles. Worth watching if you can track it down.

 

Which clumsily dovetails into the theme of today's selection. Unlike son Kiefer, Donald didn't release any albums or play gigs at the Cheese & Grain in Frome, However, he has appeared in many, many films, and there are plenty of songs in my collection that share titles. I've got form with this, having created previous selections based on the work of Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth Taylor and Juliette Binoche (possibly others, but I forget).

Unfortunately, no songs titled Six Degrees Of Separation (I do have a 12" by a band of that name, which I'll spare you) but I did run a few posts last year based on the fun variation Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon. 

 

So, an obvious starter for today's selection were The Comsat Angels, whose members include (the other) Kevin Bacon. Conveniently, they also recorded a song for 1982 album Fiction with the same name as one of Donald's most famous films. Don't Look Now, but I think I've got away with that tenuous connection!

It's an eclectic sequence of songs and artists, taking in Roxy Music, The Kingfishers, Black Uhuru, late period Ultravox and Scanner aka Robin Rimbaud collaborating with Anni Hogan and Thomas Lang. I've taken some liberties with spelling and the inclusion or omission of the definite article here and there. I've also crowbarred in a reference to Donald's starring role in 1971 film Klute, where the titular drum & bass artist appears in the song name. It also allows me to sneak Mogwai in through the back door. Just imagine if Donald had accepted a role in Gremlins, it would have been even better...!

I felt compelled to include Cloudbusting but at the eleventh hour swapped Kate Bush for a cover version that Neil Halstead (Slowdive, Mojave 3) recorded for a US compilation in 2010. I like it.

It seemed appropriate somehow to pick a fellow Canadian to close the selection, and Neil Young happily stepped up to the mark. Ordinary People was Robert Redford's directorial debut in 1980 and Donald is astonishing as you might expect. Timothy Hutton won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Donald was never nominated for an Academy Award, though he received an honorary Oscar in 2017.  

Not one to do things by halves, Neil Young's take on Ordinary People is an 18-minute chug-a-thon epic, with all the bells and whistles that you may expect, but doesn't feel a second too long. I don't know what Donald thought of Neil's music but I've just discovered that they did meet at least once, when they were both inducted into Canada's Walk Of Fame in 2000, along with Joni Mitchell, Michael J. Fox, Martin Short and William Shatner. Now, that must have been some dinner table conversation...!

Ninety minutes of music then that I hope will also get you looking up some more of Donald's films - Kelly's Heroes! - and rediscovering what singular, otherworldly talent Donald Sutherland is.

And the post title? Well, another take is that when I read the sad news, I wished that the Grim Reaper had come calling for a different Donald instead...

Rest easy, Mr. Sutherland, you did good.

1) Don't Look Now: The Comsat Angels (1982)

2) Casanova: Roxy Music (1974)

3) Instinct: Iggy Pop (1988)

4) Setting Sun (Edit): The Aliens (2007)

5) The Eye Of The Needle: The Kingfishers (2023)

6) Alone: Scanner & Anni Hogan ft. Thomas Lang (2016)

7) Fools Gold (7" Version By John Leckie): The Stone Roses (1989)

8) Heaven Help Us (Try) (Manyanamegamix): Zeke Manyika ft. Sylvia & The Sapphires (1984)

9) Ask The Dust: The Porch Song Anthology (2006)

10) Kelly's Heroes (Album Version): Black Grape (1995)

11) The Great Train Robbery (Dance Mix By Arthur Baker): Black Uhuru (1986) 

12) Cloudbusting (Cover of Kate Bush): Neil Halstead (2010)

13) Thee Eagle Has Landed: Genesis P-Orridge & Psychic TV (1994)

14) Summer (Klute's Weird Winter Remix By Tom Withers): Mogwai (1998)

15) Time To Kill (Album Version): Ultravox (1986)

16) Ordinary People: Neil Young (2007)

1974: Country Life: 2

1982: Fiction: 1

1984: Heaven Help Us (Try) EP: 8 

1986: The Great Train Robbery EP: 11

1986: U-Vox: 15

1988: Instinct: 3

1989: Fools Gold EP: 7 

1994: Ultradrug: 13

1995: It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah: 10 

1998: Kicking A Dead Pig: Mogwai Songs Remixed: 14

2006: Spell Of The Trembling Earth: 9

2007: Chrome Dreams II: 16

2007: Setting Sun EP: 4

2010: Sing Me To Sleep, Indie Lullabies: 12

2016: Scanni: 6

2023: Reflections In A Silver Sound: 5

A Different Donald (1:30:03) (KF) (Mega)

I'm So Deep In A Cloud I'm Drifting Out

Storm Eunice was fairly gentle with us: a couple of smashed windows and a strip of roofing ripped off of the shed and that was pretty much it. The Saturday morning sky promises a calmer day, and although the wind and rain will be back in force later, hopefully nothing like yesterday.

To capture this moment of serenity, today's selection gathers up some healing and uplifting tunes from the past couple of years. I raved about Jezebell's new one on Monday and Little Dragon's latest EP in January. I subscribed to The Future Sound Of London's digital calendar again this year and include their first offering for 2022. 

 

On the last day of 2021, Dave Allen's new project Uptick released the marvelous Universe, with a typically fantastic remix from 10:40 aka Jesse Fahnestock, bringing Bolton & Stockholm together in a stupendous soundclash. Available as a free download on Soundcloud.

 

Thanks also to blogging legends The Vinyl Villain and Bagging Area for the nods to Mogwai, GCOM (aka Tom Middleton) and Hypernatural (including Cut Copy's Dan Whitford). The selection closes with Mildlife, hailing (like Hypernatural) from Melbourne and bringing some welcome Antipodean sunshine to dispel the stormclouds.

 

1) Drifting Out (Version): Little Dragon ft. Jakob Koranyi & Yo-Yo Ma (2021) 

2) Beyond The Milky Way (Edit): GCOM (2021)

3) Jezebelle Et Moi (Original Widescreen Version) (Cover of Max Berlin's): Jezebell (2022)

4) Opk Machines Trx M2: The Future Sound Of London (2022)

5) Ritchie Sacramento (Other Two Remix By Gillian Gilbert & Stephen Morris): Mogwai (2021)

6) Universe (10:40's Dark Matter Mix By Jesse Fahnestock): Uptick (2021)

7) Stormfront (Album Version): Hypernatural (2022)

8) Automatic (Jono Ma Ascend Mix By Jonathan Marr): Mildlife (2020)

I'm So Deep In A Cloud I'm Drifting Out (51:44)
 

A Crawl Around The Clubs Getting High

Dusting off some sorely neglected (by me, at least) club cuts, ready for the Friday dancefloor, personally these days a patch of carpet between the sofa and the TV. I'd forgotten how much I love these songs: the Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Cortney Tidwell tracks are particular delights; Fred Falke and Mark Pritchard are guaranteed to get me shaking (although there's now a simultaneous creaking and rattling); the brief detour to Japan via 5th Garden & Pizzicato Five brings a smile every time; Prins Thomas, James Zabiela & DJ Q bring some serious beats and, to cap it all off, one of my favourite ever remixes by The Orb. The original version of Home by PWEI supplies today's post title. Happy Friday, everyone!

1) Carambola (Mark Pritchard Remix): Azymuth (2000)

2) I Feel Bonnie (House Mix): Hot Chip ft. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (2010)

3) Kanal (Prins Thomas Sure Oppstøt): Telephones (2010)

4) Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan Pearson's Objects In Space Vocal Remix): Cortney Tidwell (2007)

5) Candy (James Zabiela Remix): Spooky (2008)

6) Animal (Fred Falke Remix): Miike Snow (2009)

7) Cooking (Arling & Cameron High Pressure Mix): 5th Garden (1998)

8) Love's Theme (Saint Etienne Mix): Pizzicato Five (1997)

9) R U Still In To It? (DJ Q Remix): Mogwai (1998)

10) Home (Orb Sweet Sin And Salvation Mix): Pop Will Eat Itself (1995) 

A Crawl Around The Clubs Getting High (1:16:17)

Chic Thug Stuttered Through A Stereo Dream

I have too much collected music. Simple as that. I listen to music for at least 2-3 hours every day, directly tuned in through my headphones, in the background whilst I'm working from home or soundtracking my business commutes across Gloucesterhire. I try to discover new music, revisit old favourites and dust off songs neglected in the depths of my hard drive. This selection falls into the latter category, Apple Music stating plainly (though with a possible hint of cybernetic smugness) that I have failed to give any of these songs an airing since November 2013. Jeez, that's nearly 8 years ago, where did the time go?!

The common thread here - apart from the fact that they're all very long - is that I first heard them in the 1990s, a time when I was fully immersed in electronic and ambient music. Gavin Bryars' truly epic Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet dates from two decades previously, originally paired with his equally epic The Sinking Of The Titanic. However, like many, I first heard the song on the radio - possibly Annie Nightingale's wee hours BBC Radio 1 show - in the re-recorded version with Tom Waits from 1993, which places it with the other songs in this selection. 

The post title is a line from the album version of the opening song (in this remix arguably better titled Eno's Removing The Band), Brett Anderson trying to channel Mark E. Smith, perhaps.

 

1) Eno's Introducing The Band (Remix By Brian Eno): Suede (1994)

2) Mogwai Fear Satan (Mogwai Remix, LP Version): Mogwai (1998)

3) Democracy (The Russian Tundra Mix By Le Petite Orb & Sheldon Isaac): Killing Joke (1996)

4) Wild Horse (Global Mix Communication) (Remixed by Tom Middleton & Mark Pritchard): Nav Katze (1994)

5) Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (Album Version): Gavin Bryars (1975)

Chic Thug Stuttered Through A Stereo Dream (1:24:22) (KF) (Mega)