Taking all the credit

Having been banging on about physical media and the demise of the record shop only yesterday, I found myself purchasing a download-only album mere hours after publishing said blog entry. My main excuses are that a) it was only a fiver b) it isn't available by any other means. I'm not especially fond of downloads, mainly because I rarely form an attachment with music I acquire in that manner, but on this occasion I'll make an exception. The album I download was 'I, Yeah!' by up-and-coming (get me!) Bristol band, Glow.

Regular readers may remember me droning on about the sheer majesty of Northampton's finest, Maps, last year. The album, 'We Can Create', just edged 'The Good, The Bad & The Queen' as my album of 2007. It's slightly squelchy, delightfully indie, intelligently-crafted electronic music. And that, my music-loving-internet-browsing chums, is also how I would describe 'I, Yeah!' Seriously, it's that good. It hasn't been with me long enough for me to make insanely hyperbolic statements about how it's as good as the Maps album, but I can forsee a long and beautiful relationship. It won't be quite as beautiful as could be though, because it's a CD-R. Still, mustn't grumble. This appears to be a clear argument for the increasing reliance on digital releases. My guess would be that this album would have been a financial nightmare to get off the ground if it had to be pressed up and packaged as a full CD release, but as a download that you can pay for with Paypal, it's a (relative) piece of piss.

I should just confess at this point that I shambled upon this rather wonderful album as a result of the tireless work of one Adam Walton. I've mentioned him before for one reason or another, but for those not up to speed he's the host of a late-night new music show on BBC Radio Wales. I became hooked on the show in an earlier format during my later teenage years living in South Wales and I've kept listening from time to time ever since. A few months back he played the Glow album in its entirety. As it happens, I missed that show, but while following the time-extinguishing Google/Wiki trail of Adam Walton I happened upon a post on their site about him doing that. So, I had a listen and the rest, as they say, is history. For those counting cliches in this post, I think that's four.

Adam's great, by the way, and sadly not as revered as he should be. There are two remaining, essential new music shows for me these days - one is, as you may be aware by now, Gideon Coe on 6music and the other is Adam's. He plays some truly bizarre stuff from time to time, but his show is essentially a latter-day John Peel show with the emphasis on Welsh music. Last night I heard a hip-hop group called Mudmowth - great, although the Myspace page appears to have been written by an Alan Partridge version of Westwood - a delightful female artist by the name of Georgia Ruth Williams, the folksy delights of The Toy Band and a truly brilliant indie band called Man Without Country. Click on the respective names to find out more and/or have a listen to last night's show via the BBC iPlayer. He's on every Sunday from 10pm.

Oh, and if you didn't click on the link above, go and buy the Glow album here.

We have to look at the positives

Musical Revelations Of The Week:
Edgar 'Jones' Jones - 'Gettin' A Little Help From The Joneses' - I'm not quite sure what I expected from this album, but I do feel like it has not only met, but exceeded my expectations. As I said earlier in the week, it sounds like one of those utterly brilliant compilation CDs that come out on labels like Honest Jon's and Soul Jazz comprising long lost classics. The sound is quite deliberately murky at times, and it's no secret that Jones is rather fond of mono recordings. Ska, rock'n'roll, soul and out and out pop all nestle together along with a bit of funk and easy listening just to confuse matters. A great, fun, summer record that you should get hold of before the sun fucks off again.
The Northern Soul Story - A set of four CDs designed to offer a thorough insight into the Northern Soul phenomenon. Now, I'm quite happy to admit that I know a big bag of bugger all about this particular genre, other than that I like good soul music, and I know that Northern was essentially about importing the best, obscure American soul to play in certain clubs in the top half of the UK. The four CDs are based around four of the key venues for Northern Soul nights. Volume 1 focuses on 'The Twisted Wheel' in Manchester, while volume 2 looks at Stoke-On-Trent's 'The Golden Torch.' I have to confess that I've not got as far as Volume 4's look at the legendary 'Wigan Casino', but of the three I've listened to, it's the third volume, looking at 'Blackpool Mecca', that's really grabbed my attention. In particular, the quite brilliant, 'Soul Improvisations Pt 2' by Van McCoy. As a means of attempting to convince you to buy these tremendous CDs, you can listen to that track here.
Ryan Adams - Tough call for the third spot this week. The Loungs deserve another mention for their excellent psych-pop album, 'We Are The Champ,' but ultimately Ryan must sneak through as a result of the BBC Four Sessions show. I picked up 'Love Is Hell' on Thursday and couldn't quite believe that I hadn't been persuaded to do so much earlier. It's a great record, and as I was saying previously about 'Cold Roses', once you give it the time it deserves, you start to realise that it isn't overlong, it's just a long album, full of great tunes. Quite what all the record company politics about it at the time were about, I've no idea. It's not like it's the sound of one man pissing in a bucket for an hour whilst tapping a spoon on a wheelbarrow. Why a record company would be annoyed with sixteen beautiful, heartfelt songs, I'll never know. This renewed focus on Ryan has also sent me back to his most recent effort, 'Easy Tiger' which I'm starting to realise is one of the year's best. Either dig him out yourself, or get buying if you've none of his in the house.

Non-musical Revelations Of The Week:
House - As the third series draws to a close on Five, it's worth reflecting on just how good this programme really is. The character of House, so wonderfully portrayed by Hugh Laurie, is written to perfection and his team are a meticulously thought out balance of jobsworths, deviants and geniuses. I could quite happily sit and watch 40 minutes of House talking with Wilson, his colleague, confidant and best friend. I believe the DVD boxsets of seasons one and two are now ridiculously cheap. If you've not partaken of this particular joy just yet, then it's time to change that. You won't regret it.
Gareth Jenkins - A brilliant rugby mind. Honest. Oh, and chin up, eh Gav?
BBC iPlayer - Despite the fact that it makes my aging computer slow to the speed of an asthmatic ant with heavy shopping (ta, Slacky), I'm quite enjoying this latest development from the Beeb. With access to a chunk of the previous week's televisual output you can download whatever you want to watch, and then have 28 days to watch the files before they cause your monitor to explode and your hair to go green. Or no. Presumably they just stop working via the usual DRM methods. Anyhoo, it's good fun, and I believe you can still sign up for the Beta trial somewhere on the BBC website.