Here we go again

No musical advent calendars this year - too much work, too little reward. But there's always this, from Aidan Moffat: the perfect metaphor of Plastic Mistletoe. Bah, humbug, et cetera...

Blue Friday: You Got Me Wonderin' Now

Not all Blue Friday tunes sound maudlin on first listen - they're not all minor key, slow contemplative spirals. Take today's: You Got Me Wonderin' Now, recorded in 2013 by NYC four-piece Parquet Courts under their pseudonym Parkay Quarts. It buzzes along with joyous energy (or nihilist abandon, perhaps), all motorik drums and garage band guitar chords you can count on the legs of the nearest available tripod. Ah, but those lyrics - here's someone who's been hurt, badly... and decided to sing about it...

Seasick's better than heartsick, baby, I know that much by now
And I thought I knew nausea from sea to cars but 
You've got me wonderin' now

Blimey - what did they do to him? We're all wonderin' now...

A glorious blue noise, and I love, love, love it.

Lost lyrics II - the answers

Without further ado, here are the answers last week's lyrics quiz. These are the lyrics as I hear them, so if they're wrong, sorry, give yourself an extra point and move on.

Speaking of points, it's one for the artist and one for the song, so the whole thing is out of 100. How did you do? And which ones had you kicking yourself?

1. Oh, in your council home, he jumped on your bones.
   Suede, Animal Nitrate
2. He has his future in British Steel.
   XTC, Making Plans For Nigel
3. I hear your voice, it's like an angel sighing.
   Madonna, Like A Prayer
4. Cut your hair and get a job.
   Pulp, Common People
5. He ain't too hip 'bout that new breed, babe.
   James Brown, Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
6. You'll find me in the lavatory.
   The Sundays, You're Not The Only One I Know
7. I said, "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera."
   Simon & Garfunkel, America
8. Sir, it's the troops, jealous of youth.
   The Smiths, The Headmaster Ritual
9. Times were so tough, but not as tough as they are now.
   The Jam, Thick As Thieves
10. Well, did I tell you before when I was up? Anxiety was bringing me down.
    Talk Talk, Talk Talk
11. I don't need to fight to prove I'm right.
    The Who, Baba O'Riley
12. Can you picture what will be? So limitless and free.
    The Doors, The End
13. Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup.
    Crowded House, Don't Dream It's Over
14. We don't talk about love, we only want to get drunk.
    Manic Street Preachers, A Design For Life
15. Boy, it's more than I dare to think about.
    Kylie, Can't Get You Out Of My Head
16. It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been.
    OMD, Enola Gay
17. Let's put our heads together and start a new country up.
    REM, Cuyahoga
18. By order of the prophet we ban that boogie sound.
    The Clash, Rock The Casbah
19. My mind goes sleepwalking while I'm putting the world to right.
    Elvis Costello, Oliver's Army
20. It's like I got this music in my mind sayin', "It's gonna be alright".
    Taylor Swift, Shake It Off
21. Everyone I see just walks the walk with gritted teeth.
    Jake Bugg, Lightning Bolt
22. Just when you think you've caught her she glides across the water.
    Echo & The Bunnymen, Lips Like Sugar
23. Spinning on that dizzy edge, kissed her face and kissed her head.
    The Cure, Just Like Heaven
24. I hated you, I loved you too.
    Kate Bush, Wuthering Heights
25. Well, we drank champagne and danced all night.
    The Kinks, Lola
26. Thought of you as my mountaintop.
    The Velvet Underground, Pale Blue Eyes
27. Oh my friend you haven’t changed, you're looking rough and living strange.
    The Libertines, Don't Look Back Into The Sun
28. Let all the children boogie.
    David Bowie, Starman
29. The way she plays, there are no words to describe the way I feel.
    The Stone Roses, She Bangs The Drums
30. But tell me, does she kiss like I used to kiss you?
    Abba, The Winner Takes It All
31. Too much time's been wasted, so come and get my plateful.
    Gene, Fighting Fit
32. All I need is a pint a day.
    Wings, Band On The Run
33. So in the absence of a way of life, just repeat this again and again and again.
    Blur, Popscene
34. And I went down to the demonstration, to get my fair share of abuse.
    The Rolling Stones, You Can't Always Get What You Want
35. I'll see you baby when the clans rise again.
    Kirsty MacColl, Free World
36. One and one and one is three.
    The Beatles, Come Together
37. They get a gang of villains in a shed up at Heathrow.
    Squeeze, Cool For Cats
38. In Chinatown, hungover, you showed me just what I could do.
    PJ Harvey, Good Fortune
39. Don't wanna end up like no nine-day wonder.
    Buzzcocks, Love You More
40. Slicing up eyeballs, I want you to know.
    Pixies, Debaser
41. Sad days add to confusion, sad ways end in delusion, yeah.
    Kim Wilde, Chequered Love
42. She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak.
    Nirvana, Heart-Shaped Box
43. I'm a sex machine ready to reload like an atom bomb.
    Queen, Don't Stop Me Now
44. Looking back, she made us want her.
    Billy Bragg, The Saturday Boy
45. I gave her my heart, but she wanted my soul.
    Bob Dylan, Don’t Think Twice, It's Alright
46. I was half in mind, I was half in need.
    The Style Council, Shout To The Top
47. Mother has to iron his shirt, then she sends the kids to school.
    Madness, Our House
48. You and I should ride the coast and wind up in our favourite coats just miles away.
    Ocean Colour Scene, The Day We Caught The Train
49. Lost your love of life? Too much apple pie.
    The Wedding Present, Kennedy
50. The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear.
    Radiohead, The Bends

Been wanting an excuse to feature that last song for ages.

Monday long song: We Haven't Turned Around

Forgotten how good this is, especially in its long-form, unexpurgated version. Also that it was used in the soundtrack of American Beauty, for the slightly awkward scene in which Angela (Mena Suvari) teases Jane (Thora Birch) that she like her dad, Lester (Kevin Spacey). Anyway, remember when Gomez were it?

Your powers are weak, old man

I've been writting this in my head for a while, and Rol's recent Embarrassing Dad Songs theme gave me the kick I needed to turn that mental draft into an actual post. Here goes.

From a very early age, I tried to introduce good music to Amusements Minor. And by "good", of course I mean music I considered worthy. Music makes memories, doesn't it, and I have loads thanks to this covert musical indoctrination: dancing around the room to The Cardigans, laughing at (and impersonating) James Brown's vocal yelps, playing and replaying Blur's woo-hoos over and over, car-karaoke to Queen, dissecting Pixies lyrics, and so many more. And even now, as his taste in music takes on its own shape, I'm proud that he both loves, and is an avid listener to, music across a broad range of genres and vintages. Job done, right?

Of course, to loosely paraphrase Darth, now I'm the learner and Amusements Minor is the master. By which I mean he is regularly discovering new music (mostly through Spotify) and coming to me with either "Have you heard this?" or, better still, "I think you might like this..."

Here's a recent example, Tale of Two by Monkey Business, a band I knew nothing about but was inspired to find out. They're a seven-piece from Prague, centred around multi-instrumentalist and producer Roman Holý. They're big in Czechia, apparently, and have scooped up loads in the Anděl awards (the Czech equivalent to the Brits), year on year. None of which I would have known if not for the boy and his musical Weltanschauung.

As for the song... well, he was right - I do like it.

Sometimes overlooked, never overshadowed

At the time there were a lot of column inches about Squire's guitar heroics and the quality (or otherwise) of Brown's singing, but the sometimes overlooked rhythm section were vital in making the music danceable, and in doing so made it more than the sum of its parts. Mani and Reni made The Stone Roses funky, simple as that, and never more so than on their magnum opus, Fool's Gold.

RIP, Mani, gone too soon at just 63, no age at all. Didn't have that on my bingo card for this year.

Petty Salted

Terrorvision were/are a funny one. Even in their heyday, I can't say I was much of a fan. Easy to forget, now, that they were a heavy rock act, albeit with alt pretensions. Perseverance was about as ear-friendly as it got for this 90s indie kid. But then there was Tequila, an entirely unrepresentative track, the Mint Royale remix of which got picked up and flogged by Zoë Ball in her Radio 1 breakfast show pomp. It soared to #2 in the UK chart, and possibly alienated a good section of the band's fanbase who preferred heavier fare - after all, this was a group that were hoovering up Kerrang! awards.

Anyway, the upshot of all the "salt, lemon and lime time" nonsense is that you will now often find Terrorvision making up the numbers on indie or Britpop-themed compilations... but that really wasn't/isn't their bag. They were capable of more sophisticated moments though, such as this track, offered up by the band for the 1995 War Child charity album, Help. I've listened to it a good few times, and read the lyrics, and am still none the wiser as to why Tom Petty Loves Veruca Salt. Worth remembering that the latter, as well as being an entirely unpleasant character in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was also a grunge-lite band from Chicago (and is again). Maybe Tom, who needs no introduction, was a fan.

Anyway, this is better than Tequila, and probably not what you were expecting from five rockers from Keighley. Enjoy.

Now, how are you getting on with that quiz?

Lost lyrics II

I'm all out of posts, so am recycling something I did once before that was semi-popular (for me, at least - all things are relative).

So here's a quiz. No, wait, come back! Fifty little snippets of lyrics that have become detached from their songs ... all you have to do is identify them. There's a point on offer for the song and another for the artist, making a predictable one hundred points up for grabs.

Clues? Pah! There's nothing obscure and no surprises either... all the usual suspects are here, let's put it that way. If you'd rather print a question sheet, there's one here, and there's only one rule: no Googling, AI or other technological help. This is old-school, to make you blow the dust off your hippocampus and fumble around in the memories of your youth. Sound good?

Answers will be published at the end of the month. Have fun.

1. Oh, in your council home, he jumped on your bones.
2. He has his future in British Steel.
3. I hear your voice, it's like an angel sighing.
4. Cut your hair and get a job.
5. He ain't too hip 'bout that new breed, babe.
6. You'll find me in the lavatory.
7. I said, "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera."
8. Sir, it's the troops, jealous of youth.
9. Times were so tough, but not as tough as they are now.
10. Well, did I tell you before when I was up? Anxiety was bringing me down.
11. I don't need to fight to prove I'm right.
12. Can you picture what will be? So limitless and free.
13. Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup.
14. We don't talk about love, we only want to get drunk.
15. Boy, it's more than I dare to think about.
16. It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been.
17. Let's put our heads together and start a new country up.
18. By order of the prophet we ban that boogie sound.
19. My mind goes sleepwalking while I'm putting the world to right.
20. It's like I got this music in my mind sayin', "It's gonna be alright".
21. Everyone I see just walks the walk with gritted teeth.
22. Just when you think you've caught her she glides across the water.
23. Spinning on that dizzy edge, kissed her face and kissed her head.
24. I hated you, I loved you too.
25. Well, we drank champagne and danced all night.
26. Thought of you as my mountaintop.
27. Oh my friend you haven’t changed, you're looking rough and living strange.
28. Let all the children boogie.
29. The way she plays, there are no words to describe the way I feel.
30. But tell me, does she kiss like I used to kiss you?
31. Too much time's been wasted, so come and get my plateful.
32. All I need is a pint a day.
33. So in the absence of a way of life, just repeat this again and again and again.
34. And I went down to the demonstration, to get my fair share of abuse.
35. I'll see you baby when the clans rise again.
36. One and one and one is three.
37. They get a gang of villains in a shed up at Heathrow.
38. In Chinatown, hungover, you showed me just what I could do.
39. Don't wanna end up like no nine-day wonder.
40. Slicing up eyeballs, I want you to know.
41. Sad days add to confusion, sad ways end in delusion, yeah.
42. She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak.
43. I'm a sex machine ready to reload like an atom bomb.
44. Looking back, she made us want her.
45. I gave her my heart, but she wanted my soul.
46. I was half in mind, I was half in need.
47. Mother has to iron his shirt, then she sends the kids to school.
48. You and I should ride the coast and wind up in our favourite coats just miles away.
49. Lost your love of life? Too much apple pie.
50. The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear.

P.S. No answers, clues or spoilers in the comments please! Thanks.

Music Assembly: Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83: II. Adagio assai

In which I continue to haemorrhage readers...

I don't know much about Maurice Ravel, to be honest, aside from the one thing everyone my age knows: Torvill and Dean and Bolero. But this piece has nothing to do with ice dance or Sarajevo or 1984.

Perhaps if I'd paid more attention in actual Music Assembly at school, I might have learnt something else about Ravel. As it is, I learnt about this piece by listening to Stephen Mangan's Desert Island Discs on Radio 4. Stephen talked movingly about sharing it with his father during the latter's last days, and described it as a musical embodiment of living moment to moment. I don't think I can add much to that, really, other than to say I think it is a beautiful thing. Oh, and there's a bit about five minutes in that reminds me of Howard Shore's soundtrack to David Fincher's The Game, a film I absolutely love. So it works, for me at least, on multiple levels.

Adagio assai is a musical direction meaning very slow. It's like being back in Music Assembly after all.

You can hear the lovely Lauren Laverne casting Stephen away right here. And if this piece isn't to your taste, there's always yesterday's post...

New to NA: The Royston Club

The Royston Club are not from the Hertfordshire market town of the same name. In fact, the four-piece are from Wrexham, and have been plying their indie guitar trade since 2019. During that time they've recorded two albums and a whole slew of singles and EPs. Here's a track from each album, starting with Cariad from 2023's Songs for the Spine and then Missed the Boat (Jumped in the Sea) from 2021's Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars.

Okay, so there's nothing especially original here... but what they're doing, they're doing very well: it's an excellent noise, isn't it? I hear some Wedding Present-esque guitars in that second track too.

Lots for us all to explore at their website and YouTube channel, in other words.