Not Quite Noughtie Enough

I'm going to spend a large chunk of this post talking about someone else's blog and posts, but bear with me, there's a brand new Dubhed selection waiting for you at the end.

SWC at the ever-excellent No Badger Required has just concluded The Noughty Forty, a countdown of the greatest albums of the 2000s. All voted for by a Musical Jury, assembled from music blog creators and commenters from around the globe. 

 

NBR is an essential read anyway, not a single one feeling like it's been dashed off in the seconds that the idea itself is forming (yes, I'm looking at myself here). There's something even more impressive about series like this though, not least the sheer amount of effort that goes into planning, coordinating and curating the posts. And of course it sparks debate, anticipation and - let's be honest - a degree of feverish excitement as it reaches the Top Ten. 

I was privileged once again to be a Musical Jury Member for this series. SWC assigns aliases to all and I won't reveal mine here, though my arch or overly earnest comments may be a giveaway. 

I was pleased with the #1 choice, an artist and album I voted for though not my top scorer (which made the Top 10, but not the Top 5). Back in the summer, when this was just a plan taking shape in SWC's mind, he invited potential Musical Jury Members to submit their own nominations. 

Over 300 nominations were submitted. Of these, SWC presented us with a longlist of 74, from which to pick our Top 20. After totting up the scores, The Noughty Forty was finalised, with a few surprises and an eleventh hour vote tipping the balance between the top two.

SWC not only delivered The Noughty Forty, but preceded it with ten of Not Quite The Greatest Albums Of The 00s, also sharing the albums that made #41 & #42 in the final list. The series was then bookended with four Honorable Mentions, meaning that NBR readers were treated to 56 albums in total. 

 

I won't spoil things by posting the various lists here. If you haven't already followed the countdown on No Badger Required, go and check it out. You'll get to experience some great music, some controversial voting decisions and best of all, some top notch writing that brings the whole thing to life. 

No Badger Required is 3 years old this month and November will see another series, this time focusing on the number 3. Not in the way that you might expect, of course, but naturally it's going to be required reading for the next 30 days. SWC sets the bar high, so much so that I'm on the Dubhed ladder, head tilted as far back as it will go, straining to see the bar up above me. 

A constant inspiration and pace setter. Here's to you, SWC, and many more years of NBR to come.

So... what of today's selection?

Well, back at the beginning, when I was invited to submit nominations for the best albums of the 2000s, I applied some rules of my own. The most obvious one being that I had to own the albums, either physically or digitally, in their entirety. 

 

This - and the subsequent Noughty Forty - immediately highlighted how many contenders where I had a few songs, but not the entire album. Examples being The Streets, Radiohead, The Strokes and Grandaddy.

The other dawning realisation when following the final run down was how many albums from the 2000s I'd never even heard in full at all. Arctic Monkeys, Art Brut, The Horrors, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Long Blondes. I'm working on it now.

The other rule which I mostly followed was to exclude nominations for an album which I thought would receive multiple votes from the MJMs and would therefore be a shoo in for the longlist, if not the final 40. Therefore, I left out LCD Soundsystem, Radiohead, PJ Harvey, Franz Ferdinand and The White Stripes, to name a few. 

Not that my 20 nominations were by any means albums that I didn't consider to be anything other than essential listens. Or, so obscure that mine would be the only nomination. I mean, White Bread Black Beer by Scritti Politti had to be Top 30, if not higher, surely?

Of my 20 suggestions, 1 made the Not Quite The Greatest Albums Of The 00s list, 1 featured in the Honorable Mentions and 1 in The Noughty Forty...the Top 30 in fact, though it's no spoiler to say that it wasn't Scritti Poliiti.

So, 17 of my 20 nominations didn't get even a whiff of fame. One other artist did make the lower reaches of the countdown, though not with the album that I nominated!

However, all of this of course inspired today's selection. Without fear or favour, I've randomly selected 12 to create a snappy compilation to entertain for the next three quarters of an hour. 

 

Hopefully, a few of them will provoke an "Oh, yeah!" response. Others may be unfamiliar, but inspire a search to check out the rest of the album, which will undoubtedly be worth your time and effort.

It's an eclectic mix, as always. Back in 2000, it was hard to imagine that it would be 2024 before The The's next full band, non-soundtrack album would appear. Sadly, we're still waiting for Green Gartside's follow up to White Bread Black Beer, and each year hope diminishes. A couple of artists - Mark Linkous and Mark Lanegan - have passed on, leaving us with a rich musical legacy, these collaborative albums included.

Mark Lanegan's association with electronic artists Soulsavers was perhaps no surprise, given his voracious appetite for working with others across multiple musical genres. What was unexpected was N.A.S.A.'s 2009 album The Spirit Of Apollo, not least from it's dizzying spread of guest artists, but that their number included Tom Waits, here 'duetting' with rapper Kool Keith.

There are a few albums that didn't make my nominations list, partly because I thought that no-one else would submit them, partly because I will deliver on my promise to SWC a seeming eternity ago to submit a Nearly Perfect Albums guest post for his consideration. I need to get on with it!

In the meantime, enjoy this companion piece/celebration of an inspirational blog, as it's likely back to the usual nonsense on Saturday.

 

1) The Whisperers: The The (2000)

2) Paris Is Burning: Ladyhawke (2008)

3) Superstylin': Groove Armada (2001)

4) It's A Funny Thing: Edwyn Collins (2002)

5) Road To No Regret: Scritti Politti (2006)

6) Pain: Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse ft. Iggy Pop (2009)

7) Ghosts Of You And Me: Soulsavers ft. Mark Lanegan (2007)

8) The Moss: Daníel Ágúst (2005)

9) Something Inside Of Me: The Coral (2005)

10) Huddle Formation: The Go! Team (2004)

11) Young Bride: Midlake (2006)

12) Spacious Thoughts: N.A.S.A. ft. Tom Waits & Kool Keith (2009)

2000: Naked Self: 1

2001: Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub): 3

2002: Doctor Syntax: 4

2004: Thunder, Lightning, Strike: 10

2005: Swallowed A Star: 8

2005: The Invisible Invasion: 9 

2006: The Trials Of Van Occupanther: 11

2006: White Bread Black Beer: 5 

2007: It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land: 7

2008: Ladyhawke: 2

2009: Dark Night Of The Soul: 6

2009: The Spirit Of Apollo: 12

Not Quite Noughtie Enough (46:09) (KF) (Mega)

Saturday's Alright For Alighting

A bumper selection of train-themed/titled songs for you to steam into the weekend. It's been done before - and undoubtedly better - elsewhere in the blogosphere, but when I have ever let that stop me in the pursuit of an unoriginal idea?!

So, two volumes to neatly fill a C90 cassette, 25 songs across an hour and a half, criss-crossing the globe as we go and ignoring the logistics of traversing those pesky oceans, seas and rivers.

All aboard!

 

Volume One 

1) Rail On: Julian Cope (1989)

2) King Of The Track: Dennis Alcapone (1974)

3) Ur Train: Leila ft. Luca Santucci (2008)

4) Can't Catch The Train: Soulsavers ft. Mark Lanegan (2009)

5) Beside The Railway Tracks: The Divine Comedy (2010)

6) Mule Train (Cover of Buz Butler): Count Prince Miller (1970)

7) Roots Train (Album Version): Junior Murvin (1977)

8) The Last Train: Josh Rouse (2005)

9) Last Train To Lhasa (2k2 Mix): Banco De Gaia (2015)

10) Railroad Man: Eels (2005)

11) Train Of Thought (Remix 7" Version): a-ha (1986)

12) Last Train To Satansville (Satansville Revisited) (Album Version): Swervedriver (1993)

Volume Two

1) The Gravy Train (Nightmares On Wax Mix - Delayed Departure Edit By Khayem): Ian Brown (2002/2024)

2) No Train To Stockholm (Cover of Lee Hazlewood): Erlend Øye (2002)

3) Long Empty Train: The Gadgets (1983)

4) Night Train To Lichtenstien: Dawn Of The Replicants (1998)

5) Stop The Train: The Wailers (1970)

6) Blue Train: The Bluebells (2023)

7) Long Black Train: Richard Hawley (2001)

8) It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry: Bob Dylan (1965)

9) Railroad Blues: Beastie Boys (2000)

10) Dead Grammas On A Train: Thin White Rope (1985)

11) Victoria Train Station Massacre: The Fall (2017)

12) Train Is Coming: Iklan ft. Law Holt (2020)

13) Lame Train (Single Version): Flesh For Lulu (1983)

 

1965: Highway 61 Revisited: B8

1970: Mule Train EP: A6 

1970: Stop The Train EP: B5

1974: King Of The Track: A2 

1977: Police & Thieves: A7

1983: Blue Album: B3 

1983: Roman Candle EP: B13

1985: Exploring The Axis: B10

1986: Train Of Thought EP: A11

1989: China Doll EP: A1 

1993: Mezcal Head: A12 

1998: Hogwash Farm (The Diesel Hands E.P.): B4 

2000: Country Mike’s Greatest Hits: B9

2001: Late Night Final: B7

2002: Remixes Of The Spheres: B1*

2002: Total Lee! The Songs Of Lee Hazlewood: B2

2005: Bedroom Classics Vol. 2 EP: A8 

2005: Blinking Lights And Other Revelations: A10

2008: Blood, Looms & Blooms: A3

2009: Broken: A4

2015: Last Train To Lhasa EP: A9 

2017: New Facts Emerge: B11

2020: Album Number 1 Featuring Law Holt: B12

2020: Bang Goes The Knighthood/More Sordid Details (Expanded Edition): A5

2023: In The 21st Century: B6

* This is essentially the main vocal mix, with the first 90 seconds of the instrumental mix tacked onto the front to provide an extended intro.

Volume One (46:10) (KF) (Mega)

Volume Two (45:33) (KF) (Mega)

 

Today's cover photo is Queenstown Road Station in London, snapped and written about by 'Joe Blogs' in August 2010.

I Got No Expectations To Pass Through Here Again

Celebrating Mark Lanegan, 25 November 1964 to 22 February 2022.

Mark Lanegan's made a couple of appearances here and I'd always intended to feature a selection from his vast body of music, though never as a posthumous tribute. But, sadly, that became an unavoidable truth on Tuesday when Mark passed on at the age of 57. Too soon, too soon.

There have been a number of excellent posts in the past few days on music blogs that I follow and admire: A Few Good Times In My Life (choice words and videos from Walter); Bagging Area (Swiss Adam's excellent 30-minute mix); and The Vinyl Villain (a stunning Imaginary Compilation Album produced in the few short hours following the news by Jonny The Friendly Lawyer). So, how to follow those?

I'm not going to pretend that I was a fan - or had even heard of - Mark Lanegan from the start. I was largely unmoved by Grunge when it dominated the early 1990s. I was largely immersed in electronica and dance music at the time, with a grudging like of Nine Inch Nails, NIrvana and other guitar-based bands, but I avoided Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, etc. by the proverbial country mile. Therefore, Screaming Trees and Queens Of The Stone Age remained firmly off my radar.

 

In 2007, I bought It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land, the second album by Soulsavers, having enjoyed the cinematic sweep of their debut, Tough Guys Don't Dance. That album was predominantly instrumental, with a few songs written with singer Josh Haden. The follow up couldn't have been more different, with Mark Lanegan featuring on the majority of the songs and co-writing nearly half of the album. It remains one of my favourite albums, full stop.

It was not long after that I first heard Who Built The Road, a collaboration with Isobel Campbell and, as I discovered, their second album together. I swiftly bought both, as well as the third and final album, Hawk.

 

At this point, the extent of Mark Lanegan's role as serial collaborator was becoming clear: between 2007 and 2009, I also acquired another Soulsavers album (Broken), the sole album by The Gutter Twins (Lanegan & Greg Dulli) and Future Chaos by Bomb The Bass, featuring Lanegan on the excellent Black River.  

 

Mark Lanegan continued to produce music in subsequent years, including several albums in his own name &/or as Mark Lanegan Band, a mix of self-penned songs and interpretations of others' songs. In commenting on Swiss Adam's mix, fellow blogging legend Echorich commented "Only Johnny Cash sounded more world weary and worn" and he's spot on. Lanegan's rich, earthy baritone, often on the brink of cracking, is so evocative of a life lived hard, of mistakes made, of regrets and hope, of emotion deep, deep, deep into the soul. 

 

I cannot help but be moved whenever hearing Mark Lanegan's voice, but the stories he sings - whether his own or someone else's - have the power to bring me to tears. 

In the days since his passing, I've agonised over today's selection. I wanted to capture the breadth of Mark Lanegan's work, but in doing so, would leave out so many other great examples of his music, his songwriting, his ability to transform and inhabit songs so that they were never mere cover versions, his thirst for stretching himself, ever striving forward.

I've done my best not to duplicate the songs that Walter, Swiss Adam and Jonny The Friendly Lawyer chose for their tributes. There is one exception, in the opener Black River, though I've opted for an equally excellent remix instead. I've also repeated myself by including The Lonely Night, which appeared in my Photek selection back in September, for which I make no apology.

The resulting selection is almost exclusively 21st century, with one exception. There are no songs by Queens Of The Stone Age. I have only a couple of songs by Screaming Trees and I was inclined to leave them off too, but I like their cover of The Velvet Underground's What Goes On and it seemed to fit in it's particular place in the track listing.

 

There are a lot of cover versions (seven in all), taking in the Velvets, The Cure, Nancy Sinatra, Massive Attack and The Gun Club. A stunning cover of The Breaking Hands by Nick Cave and Debbie Harry has been featured elsewhere in the blogosphere, but I think Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell's take is right up there with it. A couple of years later, Lanegan was one of a number of artists completing Jeffrey Lee Pierce's unfinished music, producing Desire By Blue River with French singer/songwriter Bertrand Cantat. I made the difficult decision not to include Lanegan's interpretation of Brompton Oratory, even more difficult when I subsequently read Nick Cave's tribute, citing it as his "favorite ever Nick Cave cover". 

 

Hit The City featured in both Swiss Adam's and Jonny's selection, so I've opted for the other song from 2004's Bubblegum to feature a divine duet with PJ Harvey, Come To Me (not a cover of the Björk song).

 

Mark Lanegan's work with Isobel Campbell inevitably makes several appearances, though only one selection from their three albums. Aside from the aforementioned Who Built The Road and The Breaking Hands, I've included a song from 2004's Time Is Just The Same EP, a solo release credited to simply 'Isobel' and featuring - I'm guessing - her first co-write with Lanegan on the second track. The start of a beautiful partnership.

 

I've also featured a trio of Soulsavers songs, two of them from the second album, two of them cover versions. The selection closes with No Expectations, a version of The Rolling Stones' 1968 song that sends a shiver down my spine whenever I hear it, and a perfect example of Mark Lanegan's ability to take a song and surpass the original. 

 

I was listening to this selection whilst writing this post and found that I constantly had to stop what I was doing and listen, just listen.

 

That's the brilliance of Mark Lanegan. Thank you.

 

1) Black River (Gui Borrato Remix): Bomb The Bass ft. Mark Lanegan (2008)

2) What Goes On (Cover of The Velvet Underground): Screaming Trees (1991)

3) Desire By Blue River: Mark Lanegan & Bertrand Cantat (2014)

4) The Wild People (Alastair Galbraith Remix): Mark Lanegan Band (2015)

5) The Lonely Night (Photek Remix By Rupert Parkes): Moby ft. Mark Lanegan & Mindy Jones (2013)

6) Cold Molly (Roman Remains Remix By The Duke Spirit): Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood (2013)

7) The Breaking Hands (Cover of The Gun Club): Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell (2012)

8) Ghosts Of You And Me: Soulsavers ft. Mark Lanegan (2007)

9) Why Does My Head Hurt So?: Isobel Campbell ft. Mark Lanegan (2004)

10) Close To Me (Cover of The Cure): The Separate ft. Mark Lanegan (2012)

11) You Will Miss Me When I Burn (Cover of Palace Brothers): Soulsavers ft. Mark Lanegan & Rosa Agostino (2009)

12) You Only Live Twice (Cover of Nancy Sinatra): Mark Lanegan (2013)

13) Who Built The Road: Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan (2008)

14) Live With Me (Cover of Massive Attack): The Twilight Singers ft. Mark Lanegan (2006)

15) Come To Me: Mark Lanegan Band ft. PJ Harvey (2004)

16) All Misery / Flowers: The Gutter Twins (2008)

17) No Expectations (Cover of The Rolling Stones): Soulsavers ft. Mark Lanegan (2007)

I Got No Expectations To Pass Through Here Again (1:10:43)