Do you have hallucinatory visions of The Chuckle Brothers?

Mojo readers - is it wrong to like that cover of 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da' by Gabriella Cilmi that's on this month's free CD? Clearly, it's dreadful, wrong and naughty, but something about it got under my skin. Surreal, to say the least. Not a great start, I know, wittering on about a track you'll only know if you buy a certain magazine. Not unusual, either.

The post had a few surprises in it today. Firstly, the new Herman Dune album, 'Next Year In Zion', which is really rather good. Never taken to them in the past, but, on first impressions, it sounds splendid. They haven't changed particularly, perhaps I have.

Secondly, a new album from Misty's Big Adventure! Oh yes! The last one only came out towards the end of last year, but even so there is more to delight, thrill and confuzzle your ears. 'Television's People' is a concept album about a troubled man seeking solace in daytime stodge who ends up getting sucked into the TV. Delightfully bizarre, but not especially surprising when it comes to Misty's. If you've not yet had the pleasure of this lot  then a) you're not a long-standing, loyal reader of the Vinyl Junkies internet presence (fair enough, really) and b) you're in for an absolute treat. Start with the album, 'The Black Hole' and then buy everything else. Anyhoo, this album is wonderfully good and comes with a quite brilliant press release by Grandmaster Gareth (the head honcho). I truly hope the good folk of Misty's and SL records won't mind that I've temporarily placed track 10, 'There Is Hope' on the Muxtape, simply because of its comic genius. It documents the daytime commercials coming alive in the head of the man at the centre of the story and he starts to believe that the telly is talking to him. Superb. Naturally, if anyone's pissed off at its presence on the Mux, please let me know and it'll disappear rapidly. That also goes for any of the new bands whose material I've popped on there as a taster for those who'd like to go and spend their hard earned quids on some independent releases.

As I believe I mentioned the other day, I was off on my jolly holidays last week and upon arrival I was heartened by the lack of phone reception and utterly shite TV signal. I was subsequently startled when I turned on the DAB radio and had the strongest reception I've ever had. Figure that out. Anyway, as a result of that, I ended up spending some time with 6music outside of the Gideon Coe show. In particular, I spent a few afternoons with the ever-delightful Lammo. Only the other week I was praising his blog and now it's the turn of his radio show. His 'New Favourite Band' feature is a logical extension of what he's been doing on the radio for years and years. Quite simply, each week he identifies a new act to which he's taken a shine. Last week it was Tom Williams & The Boat. It's a good band name that. Although the name at the start is nothing out of the ordinary, by adding '& The Boat' on the end, the name is suddenly memorable. It would've been enough to keep it lodged in my mind until I got back to the world of Google. Obviously, I'm geeky enough that if I ever happen upon music I like when I can't do anything about it, I save the name of act and song as a draft text message, but if I wasn't a geek, I'd still have been able to remember their name.

Anyway, we got sidetracked there. Tom Williams & The Boat's latest release is the 'Got Fuel EP', which you can get from this website. It's a delightful little package, coming as it does in a PVC sleeve with a wraparound sleeve made of glossy photos stuck to sugar paper. Inside, you get two more photos, a lyric sheet and, of course, the rather splendid CD. 'Got Fuel' is a delightfully woozy indie singalong that has been going round in my head for the best part of this week. To confuse matters, there's a song called 'Pete & The Pirates' that actually sounds like a menacing version of The Young Republic and 'Half Mast' contains one of my current favourite lyrical refrains; "I don't have a hoodie set at half mast, sitting on my fringe like  balaclava on my chin." I'm not putting it on the Mux because I think the bloke deserves £6 for that alone.

The whole EP is great but, should you want more convincing, over on the main TW&TB site there are loads of free downloads, including some rather amusing covers. Treat yourself.

One final act of note today. Our Broken Garden are a new act on the, quite superb, Bella Union label. She - for it is only one woman, Anna Broensted of Efterklang - had an EP out back in April called, 'Lost Sailor' and there's a new album on the way in September, entitled 'When Your Blackening Shows'. Nothing else to tell, I'm afraid, but you can be thoroughly enchanted by the tunes over at the Myspace page.

 

A curator, if you will

I'm not even sure what radio show it was, back in the day, one of the stations I listened to used to do a music press review on a Wednesday. Actually, it might have been in the early days of 6music when Andrew Collins' afternoon show (RIP) was still called 'Teatime'. Anyway, I used to love hearing the cherry-picked highlights and treated it as a buyer's guide. Sadly, there isn't enough music press to make that particularly worthy these days, but, on this occasion, indulge me.

There are two things I've been meaning to share with you. The first is the rather excellent list of 'Things heard at the Latitude festival' in this month's Uncut.

Some of my favourites:

• "Pimm's me up to the power of two!"
• Heard over a walkie-talkie: "Child control to the Poetry Arena!"
• "Seriously, I thought it was called Ricky Pedia. I assumed it was a bloke with a really popular MySpace page."
• Woman on phone telling her friends where to meet her: "I'm directly below the cloud that looks a bit like Cyprus."

Splendid stuff.

The second item of note is in today's NME. Now, I know that every few months I keep saying almost nice things about this magazine but it really has shown signs of improvement recently. For a start, the woefully pretentious letter from the editor - and his picture, for that matter - has disappeared from the third page and the writing just seems sharper and funnier. Mark Beaumont having a weekly column can only be a good thing. Anyway, this week, the main feature is a huge interview with Noel Gallagher. Say what you like about Oasis, and most people do, Noel is fantastically good value when it comes to interviews. Never one to disappoint, this time around it's regarding Jay-Z.

"I never dissed that guy. But there's no point going on about it or you end up sounding like Heather Mills."

Fair point, well made. It's worth £2.20 to read the whole thing.

And finally, today's new music mutterings:

They describe themselves as 'ambient/electronica/pop', which'll do for me. That said, one track, 'Handcuffs' is pure indie joy from start to finish. If you've already visited the VJ myspace then that's the track that blares out at you when the page loads. Good, innit? They're good Welsh boys, are Man Without Country. That's who I'm on about, by the way. There are delightful moments in the aforementioned track where you're left in no doubt about the band's country of origin and I can't deny that I love it all the more because of that. The other tracks that you can hear on their Myspace and iSound pages have a little more of that ambient feel to them, but if you love innovative, energetic songs then you should give them a few minutes of your time.

So, in conclusion, don't read this...

I love Steve Lamacq. Not like that. Obviously. Although, I guess I could pretend if I could get near his record collection. He was the aural comfort blanket on the nineties and I adored listening every evening to the Session. Jo Whiley's subsequent media whoredom has ensured that I've written her out of history and I just remember Steve's grand work. These days he's on Radio 1, Radio 2 and the afternoon host on BBC 6 Music, also home to the beloved Gideon Coe. His shows remain a delight, but he's gone back to his roots and you can read his musings on music in blog form. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, he's still as bloody great as he was back in his pre-radio days.

Go here for a number of witty, eloquent and downright entertaining blog posts.

Why do I bother?

I hardly said a word

I've had a thoroughly splendid week in terms of listening pleasure. I had an interesting conversation about musical snobbery and what makes a good pop song during several hours in bar that played the most chronic selection of shite I've heard in some time. A quick comment about how the Girls Aloud track playing when we went in was probably the best thing that they'd managed in about two hours spiraled off into something far more complicated. Anyway, the conversation leads me nicely to my first point of interest this week, Lily Allen.

A few months ago I read that she'd posted a couple of new tracks on her Myspace and I made a mental note to have a listen at some point. I finally did that today and I'm pleasantly surprised. There were some decent tracks on debut album; sampling Allen Toussaint is always good by me and 'Alfie' is pop genius, but for the new record she's gone in an electro-pop direction. The two new tunes are splendid, in particular the first offering, 'I Don't Know' which has an enjoyable quiet/loud Girls Aloud/Sugababes feel to it. Not that I imagine she'd be especially thrilled with the comparison. The second track, 'I Could Say' sounds a little like a Pet Shop Boys ballad. Anyhoo, whatever I think, I'd recommend having a listen via the link above.

Speaking of the PSBs, they recently recorded a cover of Madness' 'My Girl' while rehearsing for a live performance with Suggs. On this delightful demo, Neil takes lead vocals and it's a wonderfully quirky take on a classic tune. You can access it via the 'exclusive tracks' page in the 'Product' area on their website. Or you could just click here. You choose, why don't you?

A final true 'pop' moment before moving on. As I'm pointing out rather splendid bits of popular music that I'm rather fond of, I'll give a quick mention to Rihanna's 'Don't Stop The Music'. Now, I know this isn't exactly new and I know that you probably cut your ears off after the ninety-seventh time you heard 'Umbrella', but this is a true pop classic. Meticulously crafted, never quite as fast as you think it's going to be and yet deceptively uplifting. Ver Tube allows a listen below.

I've been living with Weller's '22 Dreams' for a week now, and it's almost as good as the reviews are suggesting. Let's get one thing straight before we go on - it ain't a five-star kind of album. It can't be, really, because of its quite deliberate ebbs and flows. A few tracks add nothing, and the final, noodly instrumental track, 'Night Lights' really outstays its welcome. But it's a definite four-star kind of album and one which repays repeated listens. That's not especially surprising when you bear in mind that there are 21 tracks to absorb. Apparently, the deluxe edition has sold out already, but you'll not be missing much if you've not got it. 'Rip Up The Pages' and 'Love's Got Me Crazy' are the additional tunes - both rather good, and probably more deserving of a place on the main album that some of the more fanciful farting about, but all of that stuff does rather add to its charm. Have a listen via the link below and make sure you do it in one sitting; it works better that way.

I should just finish by noting the fact that a true great, Bo Diddley died earlier this week. If you know nowt about the man or his music, you should probably get that sorted. One of the 'Chess' collections should suffice. Some far more professional and worthy tributes can be found via the following links:

1. Richard Hawley's tribute on the BBC site

2. First ten minutes of Gary Crowley's show, filling in for Tom Robinson on 6music on Friday 6th June

3. Mark Lamarr's 'God's Jukebox' from Saturday 7th June. Various tunes and references throughout.

Duffing is very much the anti-shabba

Attentive readers of the blog will have noticed the new clickable banner at the bottom of the page. It refers to Gideon Coe's quite brilliant radio show on BBC 6Music. I get nothing from doing this, naturally, I just love the show and think you might do so too. I was always rather fond of Mr Coe when he was in the mid-morning slot on the station, a gig he occupied from the station's launch in 2002 until October of last year. At that point, a straight swap was made George Lamb, then-host of the station's late show. I have to confess that I was actually quite pleased, as previously I'd had bugger all chance of hearing Gideon as I was in no position to listen to his daytime show at work. Catching his show when enjoying time off was always a delight, but it always seemed a shame that I couldn't hear more of it.

Gideon has created a wonderful show in the 10pm-1am slot and I cannot think of another radio programme being broadcast anywhere in the world that I rate higher than this one. The music is absolutely spot on and the sense of community is right up there with the work of the late, great Peelie. With regard to the music; as a reader of this blog I'm guessing we have at least vaguely similar tastes in tunes and therefore I should utter some brief words of caution. Unless you can afford to dispense with a tenner a week as a result of hearing something great that you previously didn't know existed, don't tune in. Only last night, I sent $8, via Paypal, to Matinee Recordings for the debut EP by Northern Portrait as a result of hearing one of the tracks on Gid's show.

The listener interaction makes for one of the most pleasant ends to a day I can think of, and it's not just about inviting emails and texts. Far from it. In fact, it's all about the topics he chooses to pursue and the quaint regular features such as 'Paintbox Jury' (famous-ish albums covers, re-done in Paint) and 'Duffing' (listeners' emails in which they have a gentle moan about the world - all ages welcome.) On top of all of this, Gideon is, quite simply, a very witty man. At a time when silly little catchphrases and tales of getting drunk constitute 'radio banter', it's a relief to listen to a show where it's acceptable to:

a) give a shit about music

and

b) have at least a modicum of intelligence

It's rarer than you'd think these days.

Were this blog a school playground, at least one person would now be shouting, 'Why don't you just marry him if you love him that much?' such is my eulogising about the show. But it's all perfectly sincere. It's nice to hear a show that seems designed for you. If it was bollocks then I wouldn't waste your precious time with it, but I genuinely believe you should have a listen. You may well like it muchly.

Gideon's video manifesto for the late show

Last Night's Show

Oh, and don't, whatever you do, play the new Portishead 12", 'Machine Gun', at 33 1/3 rpm. It'll fair make you shit yourself.

No more than seven years behind the times

Musical Revelations Of The Week:

Paul Weller - 'Heliocentric' - Yup, finger on the pulse of yoof music, once again. As I said a week ago, I've finally picked up the two Weller solo albums that were missing from my collection, this one and 'Heavy Soul.' I won't go over the reasons for the delay again, but suffice to say I've been proved wrong. Somebody I work with is absolutely obsessive about Weller and recently attempted to persuade me that this album was far better than critics judged it on release. I allowed him to blather on for a little while, before dismissing such fanciful notions with but a waft of my eyelashes. However, I think he might actually be right. I've been playing it quite a lot this week - that and 'Lady's Bridge' - and it's really starting to win me over. It's not so much individual songs that stand out, but the overall mood that it creates. It's soulful, it's got that earthy-rock sound that has more than a little blues in there and his singing is marvellous. There is, however, one tune that does stand out, and that's the closer, 'Love-less.' One of Weller's heart-breaking, piano-led ballads that just floors me. A delight, not to mention a surprise. The spiffing chap himself was in the Sunday Times magazine today which I happened upon as a result of switching from the Sindy as a result of the free World Cup guide. I'm such an oval-ball whore. That seems so much worse written down than it did in my head.
Booker T. & The MGs - Picked up the 'Stax Profiles' CD from Fopp the other day because a) it was £4 b) it's compiled by Elvis Costello. I've always been quite fond of BT&MGs, but the 'Complete Stax/Volt Singles' and their 'Green Onions' album had always seemed to suffice. This album was something of a revelation and Costello must take some of the credit for his wonderfully enthusiastic sleevenotes. Sitting between the speakers and giving it my full attention I realised that I'd done this lot a disservice in the past. Don't just judge them on 'Green Onions' and don't write them of as background music. At this price, you can just buy it rather than have me try and capture the raw power of these tracks on a blog on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Super Furry Animals - 'Hey Venus!' - I was convinced that, having waited an extra week for it, the vinyl edition was going to be a shit pressing that sounded like somebody was eating a bag of salt and vinegar throughout, but no, the LP of this quite marvellous record sounds ace. In addition to that, you've really got to get it just to see that artwork in its 12"x12" glory.
Non-musical Revelations Of The Week:
The Smoking Room - Got series two on DVD this week and it reignited my love affair with this programme. The laws of the land ensure that a third series would be highly improbable, but that doesn't stop the two that exist being laugh-out-loud funny throughout. A beautifully observed bunch of regular characters reaching into double figures spend each episode doing little more than talking. This would be shit, but for the perfectly crafted dialogue and the meticulous performances from the cast. Video samples from here.
The Likely Lads - It's my firmly-held belief that 'Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?' is one of the all time great comedy shows but I'd never got round to buying the DVD of the surviving episodes of the original, black and white series from the sixties. The Beeb, back in the days before archive material was the never-ending source of money, had wiped a great deal of legendary material - Pete and Dud and Dad's Army suffered similarly cruel fates, but these seven episodes remain. They're bloody funny. To be fair, it's the later episodes that stand up the most, but still, I remain hugely jealous of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, writers of not only this, but the follow-up series and another of the greatest shows of all time, Porridge and its follow-up, Going Straight. The Likely Lads owes a great deal of its entertainment value to the performances of Rodney Bewes and James Bolam who are superb throughout. Their entirely believeable relationship adds a dramatic elements to events, as well ensuring that every gag is milked to its full potential. Wonderful stuff, and currently going rather cheap. (You can get the surviving episodes of this series, plus both series of 'WHTTLL?' in a box for £17.99 here)
Gideon Coe on 6music moving - I was rather dismayed to learn that one of the most under-rated presenters on British radio is being moved from his morning slot to the equivalent show at the other end of the day. From 22nd October, Gid will be hosting 10pm-1am, while shouty E4 tyke, George Lamb will do a straight swap into the mid-morning show. Is it a genius move to provide music lovers with an excellent late night listening experience now that Radcliffe's been moved up the schedule or is it yet more dumbing down of 6music to the point that intelligent presenters can no longer be heard during daylight hours?