Click here to listen to God*

 

The NME website is currently allowing you to stream the new Weller album, '22 Dreams', ahead of its release on Monday. My advice would be, do so. It's really rather good. Perhaps even as good as some of the recent orgasmic reviews have suggested. Listened to 'As Is Now' on double vinyl today for the first time. It really is a wonderful record and I remain baffled by its failure to sell. If you haven't bought it since it's come down to, oh I dunno, £1.27 or thereabouts, then you're a muppet. I know I risk alienating the casual reader with a remark like that, but there you go, eh? Life's too short to hold grudges. Apart from in the case of George Lamb, obviously. What was I saying? Oh yeah, go here...

NME Weller Page

and scroll down to the Paul Weller Media Player section. You'll need to register, but they don't want much info. Then click and you're off. Enjoy.

*It's a track on the album.

Plus, you can hear the new album from, the rather fabulous, Ron Sexsmith here. I've not listened to it all yet, but if you like the old stuff you'll like this. A little like Spiritualized, each album has plenty in common with the previous one, but if you like one, you'll like them all. Have a listen. It's free. That seems less of an endorsement than I'd meant. Never mind.

Scorpio, if you must know

I was definitely annoyed about something earlier and I was going to rant about it on here. Seems to have slipped my mind now. Although I can muster a mild amount of ire for the 'limited edition' version of the new Spiritualized album. My complaint is not with the music; it sounds exactly like you'd expect a Spiritualized album to sound - Quiet, loud, quiet, loud, discreet drugs reference, quiet, loud, blatant drugs reference, quiet, loud, invocation of the good Lord, quiet. No, my problem is with what you actually get for the extra few quid you have to pay on top of the normal edition. It's a slim hardback book, with some photos of medical equipment. The CD is slotted into a little cardboard sleeve page at the back of the book. That's it. I've had some slightly shite special editions in the past, but this one is the ultimate. To be six quid more than the normal version but to have bugger all meaningful to add AND a case that's a sod to store is taking the piss. So, if you're after that album, stick to the normal CD or the double vinyl.

To follow up from Monday, the Richard Swift album is enjoyably odd. I wouldn't be so brash as to say there are any actual songs on there, but there's some fabulous crashes, bangs and noodles as he gets out of his system whatever it is he feels he must prior to unleashing his next solo album proper. Good quality vinyl pressing too. Audio samples here.

Thought it was worth pointing out a new re-release programme by Stateside Records. If, like me, you're rather fond of Cannonball Adderley, then you'll be aware that plenty of his stuff is quite hard to track down. I was rather pleased to see a compilation covering the Axelrod era on sale during my Bank Holiday browsing, entitled 'Walk Tall'. It appears to be available online for a little more than bugger all. Off you go, I'll wait.

Anyway, I noticed one other new Adderley release alongside it, the concept album of sorts, 'Soul Zodiac'. I wondered at the time if this would mean a reissue programme for the albums from this era, including the much-vaunted, 'The Black Messiah'. Well, yes and no. 'Soul Zodiac' is the only one getting a physical release, but a stack of other albums from that era are now available for download as 320kbps mp3s from the Stateside Records online shop. Regular readers will be aware of my mixed feelings about download-only releases. Ultimately, if the music isn't going to be out there any other way then I've no problem with them, even if I'd rather a CD or vinyl. However, with these, I can understand that the record company wouldn't expect to sell that many and are therefore testing the water with one CD, whilst offering us muso types the chance to get our ears wrapped around some quality music. I've yet to download, but I suspect that 'The Black Messiah' will be on my hard drive sooner rather than later. They're not the first label to do this, I know, but this is the first time it's happened where I've actually been interested in the product for sale.

 

What do you mean, 'how predictable'?

I thought I'd use this Bank Holiday for some record shopping. Not an especially innovative idea for me, I know, but that doesn't stop it being thoroughly enjoyable. I spent a rather splendid few hours mooching around Birmingham's (open) record shops and have picked up some nice little bits and bobs. The new Weller single came out today and I've added both 7"s to my collection. One of them has been advertised on pre-orders as 'dinked'. I was curious to find out what this means and, it would seem, I'm going to have to remain curious. I'm buggered if I know in what way either of the pieces of vinyl I purchased are 'dinked'. Still, both sides of this double a-side are brilliant and I'm genuinely quite excited about the release of the new album, '22 Dreams', next Monday.

Also picked up the 7" of The Young Knives' 'Turn Tail'. I already own the album, but this version is from a lathe recording. A quite magical version recorded with the band standing round one mic and cut straight onto vinyl. Wonderful stuff and to be encouraged.

I appear to have been duped. Back in my reviewing-occasionally-for-a-national-magazine days, I was less than polite about Green Day's 'American Idiot' album. It's shite, by the way. I wasn't wrong. However, today I was merrily browsing through the racks in HMV to decide what to go and buy for a quid less in Zavvi (they're a big independent now, you know) when I happened across Foxboro Hot Tubs' new album, 'Stop, Drop and Roll'. It's packaged like an old 60s garage band, and while I knew it was a new recording, I figured it would be the sort of thing I might well enjoy. So, I added it to the pile and it was duly purchased a little while later. My suspicions were first aroused when, stopping on the way back home for bread, milk and a lemon meringue pie, I noticed it was in Asda's album chart. Surely not? Anyhoo, got home, bunged it on and was tapping my foot along to the rather pleasant opening numbers when Google hit me for six and left me wondering if the world is really as I took it to be. It's fucking Green Day using a pseudonym! Plus, and this is the bit that's really fucking with my mind, it's actually pretty good. Really. A couple of songs have normal vocal style  of the twattish lead singer (he has a name? Oh, well I've always called him that) coming through, but overall it's a bit of loving pastiche. So, all was not lost there.

Also picked up the new album by The Shortwave Set, which has been on my mental list for a little while now. It's playing as I type and it sounds bloody good. Different to the delightful debut, but nevertheless it's a cracking set of songs. Apparently it's produced by Danger Mouse, but then isn't everything these days?

The new Futureheads is in the pile to play, as is Richard Swift's 'As Onassis', on which he comes on all 'sixties garage rock'. As long as he doesn't come on all 'Green Day' I'm sure it'll be excellent. Plus, it's one of the splendid recent vinyl releases that gives you a free digital download to allow it to become a portable listen. Great idea.

Will comment on The Shortwave Set, The Futureheads and Swift in due time, as well as the new 2DVD 'Later...The First 15 Years' set, which Zavvi are knocking out for a very reasonable £14 off the shelf. Not the cheapest online price, but bloody good for high street prices. I've only watched the sublime performance of 'Electrolite' (one of my all-time favourite songs) by R.E.M. so far, but with over sixty songs I'm sure it'll keep me amused.

As you were.

Yes, another new artist decorated in hyperbole!

£17.50! £17.50! That's all it cost to see Richard Hawley in a tiny little venue in Derby last night. Not only that, and that's more than enough for that price, but the support act was absolutely beguiling. Pete Molinari has, rather shamefully, not been on my radar up to this point, save for a decent tune that appeared on a recent Mojo cover CD.

Playing solo, with nowt but a guitar and a harmonica, Molinari's raw vocal performance had me entranced from start to finish. It's hard to capture quite why. For a start, he has a deep, languid speaking voice but, at times, he sounds almost feminine when singing. He's bluesy and folksy and, on certain songs, there's hints of Dylan, in line with his traditional influences. In amongst the rather splendid self-penned songs came what I truly believe to be the best version of 'Satisfied Mind' I've ever heard. Words won't do it justice, so I'll not even try. Instead, allow YouTube to win you over...

And find out more about Pete Molinari via this fantastic interview on the Undercover website.

(Oh, and check the mux for a track. Plus, new stuff from Occasional Keepers, Northern Portrait, Bon Iver and Elbow, plus classic Trashcan Sinatras and Band Of Horses)

Wonders of the web

Just found this and figured the discerning folk that frequent this here corner of the interweb would enjoy it. That's you, by the way. If you still don't have Laura Marling's album, 'Alas, I Cannot Swim' then improve your weekend immediately by doing so now.

Just splendid

I was doing my regular Saturday morning trawl of the music channels when I happened upon the video for Mark Ronson's not unenjoyable take on Radiohead's 'Just'. I'm well aware that this isn't exactly cutting edge reportage here, but you get what you pay for. Anyway, this video is only tremendously funny if you're familiar with the original. Which is here:

Lovely stuff. But what was he doing? Ah, we'll never know. Incidentally, all of Radiohead's videos from the EMI days will be available on DVD from June 2nd.

Anyhoo, back to the point of this post. Mark Ronson's done his own take on 'Just', originally for the 'Exit Music' project that offered covers of Radiohead tracks by a variety of artists, with some bloke called Alex Greenwald on vocals. It's a more upbeat take on the original, as you might imagine, although it seems strangely plausible. I know it's very much the done thing to automatically hate Ronson at the moment, but I don't have any problem in admitting that I actually rather like his 'Version' album.

'Just' was released as a single earlier this year, and the quite fabulous video that accompanied it can be seen here. Not allowed to embed it, apparently.

Weller-Weller-Weller-Uh, tell me more...

Despite receiving middling reviews for most of his albums since 'Stanley Road', Paul Weller is one of those artists who are almost entirely above critical opinion. They're safe from attack and have pretty much carved out their own corner of cool, in which they will reside forever. Having witnessed him in action last night at Derby's Assembly Rooms, I'm reasonably certain I get it.

Firstly, and this was the first time I'd seen him, he is a quite wonderful musician, whose boundless enthusiasm radiates from him for the duration of the gig. You can tell he really fucking loves the songs he's playing, and it's a sense of abandon you don't see at many live shows.

Secondly, he's just about got the art of building a set sorted. Admittedly, after the years he's had to perfect this he should really have it perfected, but the material he played ensured that a state of rapture was duly bestowed upon all present by the point it was time to head homewards. Sadly, 'The Eton Rifles' got the biggest cheer of the night. While I understand this from the nostalgia angle, I'm a firm believer that much of what Weller has done solo is worthy of attention. Ok, so 'Illumination' is hardly an album that'll appear in Mojo's 'Buried Treasure' feature in twenty years' time, but can you honestly deny the quality of 'Stanley Road' and 'As Is Now'? A friend I was with suggested that the audience looked like they were here just for 'You Do Something To Me'. I'd argue that that was far too modern for many of this audience. Not to say it wasn't a great audience, mind. Weller seemed genuinely chuffed with the response he got - presumably this was at least in part down to the plethora of new tunes being debuted - and as a result we received a bonus encore of 'All You Need Is Love', which was thoroughly charming and almost as good an end to a gig as walking out of Richard Hawley's Buxton date to the strains of Louis Armstrong's 'What A Wonderful World'.

Thirdly, the new album is likely to be shit-hot, based on the material offered up. Only the odd song ended up chugging as he was prone to do around the turn of the new millennium, and the upbeat stuff sounded urgent and, most importantly, fantastically soulful. I've long been of the opinion that he could release a truly beautiful soul record, in the mould of the live version of 'Broken Stones' which builds on the already brilliant foundations of one of my favourite Weller tunes and takes it off into orbit. It was last night's joint highlight along with 'Wild Blue Yonder', the recent one-off single that was supposed to launch a whole run of stand-alone singles. Ah well, he'll do whatever the fuck he likes, one supposes.

Fourthly, and this is the weird bit, I don't think I'll ever feel the need to see him live again. Taking nothing away from what was, in the main, an excellent performance, there's slightly too much of the self-indulgent guitar wankery that is so acceptable to fans in possession of rose-tinted ocular matter and the overwhelming sense of 'hope he plays a few from his days in The Jam' that hung over the crowd a little to visibly is a little hard to ignore. I'm glad I saw him, and he kept me entertained. But with ticket prices at £30 and upwards, I'm not sure that's the most likely route for my disposable income in the future. I can't be the only one who feels like this after certain gigs, can I? Great, but once is enough.

I've pre-ordered the new album, '22 Dreams', mind. Here's the new single.

It was a 'Jim'll Fix It' reference.

Regular readers of the blog may be aware of my penchant for record shopping on a Bank Holiday Monday. It just seems so right. Not that it ever seems particularly wrong. Hmm, this may just be a thinly veiled excuse for buying more records. Anyhoo, as I had a wander round my nearest music emporiums of choice I noticed that Elvis Costello's 'Momofuku' had indeed crept into the UK shops. Fopp were blasting it out at a quite magnificent volume and had it prominently displayed on their new releases shelf. However, the most disturbing moment of the whole process was the discovery of a copy of the vinyl in their meagre racks. £13! Bargain. Pretty much the price I paid for the US import that's not proved to be particularly speedy. It's moments like this, moments when you think that you've cleverly circumvented the machinations of 'the man' only to have your face - or ears, I guess, as this is music related - very much rubbed in it (whatever the figurative 'it' is), that really piss me off. I shouldn't be annoyed. I'll have the album in no time at all on vinyl, a kind soul shared their bonus download code with me so that I can actually enjoy it already and yet, there I was smarting at its presence in the racks. I have to confess, dear reader, that I did spend a minute or two attempting to conjure a reason why I needed two copies of 'Momofuku' on vinyl thus rendering the purchase of this copy an absolute necessity. Thankfully, common sense kicked in (a new experience in a record shop) and I left without it. That said, if it doesn't turn up soon I may lose the plot.

Fopp are in the middle of a big clearout, with plenty of CDs at £3. Once the price is this low, I find it quite hard to avoid temptation and duly left with six titles from the vast range on offer. I still feel a little dirty shopping in Fopp in the same quantities I used to. It's a bit like when you see celebrities so desperate to appear 'trendy' that they start wearing a Stooges T-shirt for every TV interview they do. Fopp is HMV in a Sex Pistols T-shirt, and it's not quite right.

Oh, and this blog proved how scarily instant the interweb can be yesterday. Mere hours after I'd posted about the new Costello album, a quote of the entire post appeared on the exact forums I referred to, link and everything. Kind of appropriate once you've heard the lyrics to 'No Hiding Place', the opener on 'Momofuku'. Hi all. Be regular readers, won't you?

In a nutshell, I've bought lots of records.

I've had a thoroughly enjoyable week, piling up CDs wherever there was space remaining. After getting hooked on the Trashcan Sinatras last weekend, the three albums of theirs I didn't own arrived from various different parts of the UK. DVD.co.uk have an insane 4 for £15 offer on that, at the time I ordered, included the deluxe edition of Joy Division's 'Still' amongst the spoils. Add in The Loose Salute, The Blue Nile, Northern Portrait and Ladybug Transistor after hearing them played on Gideon Coe's show and it's been rather a splendid week for new tunes.

The Northern Portrait EP , 'The Fallen Aristocracy' is a little charmer. Four songs of prime British indie jangle a la The Smiths, only made by a trio from Denmark. Even the cover looks like a Smiths record, which earns them a bonus points or two. Sample a track via the mux if you happen to be interested. See the previous post about this EP to order yourself a copy.

I'm now incredibly glad that I pursued The Trashcan Sinatras after 'How Can I Apply?' piqued my interest last week. Its parent album, 'A Happy Pocket' is a total charmer of Teenage Fanclub proportions, while 'I've Seen Everything' - their second album - also has a touch of late Beatles to it. The harmonies are divine and every last second is so delicately constructed I can't help but wonder why I didn't know about it before this week. That said, when you look at it on Amazon, most of the reviewers seem intent upon mentioning Travis, which is enough to make you think again. The aforementioned, 'How Can I Apply?' has also made it to the mux this week, and their first three albums, while not in print, can be tracked down for reasonable prices by trawling all of the different online outlets for second-hand music.

'Momofuku' to you and you and ba-ba-bahh. Bonkers name for an album, even more bonkers approach to distribution in the UK, but nevertheless, the new Elvis Costello is upon us. It's actually really rather good. It was supposed to be double vinyl and download only, but it didn't quite work out like that and a CD copy will be in all good stores from tomorrow. Which is more than can be said about the vinyl edition. That said, it would seem that it has just reached British shores as Amazon briefly had two copies in stock on Friday. HMV are knocking it out cheap too, but to me it seems like the sort of thing you should buy from an indie store. You know, one of the shops that carried on supporting vinyl even when the big stores were trying to persuade us that we didn't need it anymore. The ones who haven't just come flooding back to it because they sense the opportunity for a quick buck. Anyway, despite the fact that the album actually came out in the US on April 22nd didn't seem to bother the distributors in the UK who, despite seemingly having told most shops that the UK release date would essentially be the same, have been unable to supply any copies to any shops until the last couple of days, thus bringing the vinyl release date, at least in the UK, in line with the CD's appearance. Dopey, if you ask me. I ended up buying my vinyl from the US because I was tired of waiting, and it's this kind of balls-up that the industry could do without right now. Some of the more charming if neurotic types over at the Elvis Costello forums have decided it's all a deliberate part of Costello's plan to piss off the UK because some posh people went to Glastonbury the other year. Is it fuck.

Oh, and the Portishead album's actually rather good. There had been mumblings about the record after a sub-standard leak appeared some time ago, but the beefy and brutal sound of the double vinyl has made me sit up and take notice. 'The Rip' may well be one of the finest tunes released this year. Still think that £40 boxset's a big old load of bollocks though.

Vinyl Junkies - written from scratch (d'ya geddit?)

Eurgh. This weekend I have mostly been getting annoyed with lazy journalism. Cajun Dance Party are just finishing their A levels, apparently. They got the album finished and ready for release and then went back to school. Fair play to them. But does that really make it ok to then say that they'll soon be 'top of the class'? Is that really the best way to say that they've got plenty of potential (and a decent debut album, as it goes)? It's like the reviewer was channeling the jokes of Jimmy Tarbuck in an attempt to avoid having to think of a single, original idea.

It's not entirely the fault of these vacuous dullards that clutter up the reviews section of most of the (notional, if not actual) broadsheets. If you're going to tell someone to review an album in 100 words or less you may as well have a rating system of just: Excellent, Good, Ok, A Bit Dull, Crap, Blunt. Why bother with the other words if, having deployed a subordinate clause, the review is pretty much over before its begun?

Today's Madonna review in The Observer set of the crapulous bullshit alarm almost as quickly as the actual album being reviewed. Almost every time Gavin Henson plays in a rugby match at which his partner, Charlotte, is present,  the commentators will call him Mr Church at some point in the game. What the hell is that all about? Apart from the fact it means absolutely fuck all, it's such a simplistic and dopey way of saying he happens to have a famous girlfriend. In a similar manner, today's review of 'Hard Candy' mentioned a 'Mr Ciccone'. When exactly did Guy Ritchie change his name by deed poll? I wasn't aware he had time in between making gangster films according to the law of diminishing returns to do such a thing. I mean, for fuck's sake, it doesn't matter where that review had appeared; it's shit journalism, and it's meaningless space filling. I should know. Ahem.

I know I shouldn't be getting worked up about this, but do any newspaper reviewers actually have anything to meaningful to say about the music they're attempting to evaluate? Having spent a few years writing reviews for one of the monthlies, I can vouch for the fact that it's bloody hard work, but that doesn't mean you should just settle for the first draft to avoid getting stressed. A review needs to be an interesting piece of writing on its own, irrespective of what it's about, otherwise why read it in the first place? 

I can't actually remember what the review said about the album, but I'm willing to bet it's every bit as desperate as the single that preceded it. Oh, and if you can spare a couple of quid, probably best send it to the 'Clothes-that-aren't-underwear for Madonna to wear in pictures and videos from now on fund'. Just Google it.

***

I've been thoroughly enjoying the tunes of The Field Mice and Trashcan Sinatras this weekend and, were I less worked up about trifling matters, I would happily tell you more. As it is, have a quick poke around the interweb. Emusic-ers can get a splendid compilation of pretty much all of the essential stuff by The Field Mice right now, while Trashcan novices can download slightly low quality audio files of much of their output here.

Oh, and the muxtape's been updated to reflect some recent musical highlights.

I's tunes

Recommending tunes was always meant to be the real reason for this blog existing, and I realised today that I've not done that for a bit. So...

A couple of weeks back, BBC 6Music's 'Roundtable' played a track from the Bon Iver album, 'For Emma, Forever Ago' which ticked all of those completely subconscious boxes that simply cause your ears to tingle and your heart to race. I quickly purchased a copy of said album and was not disappointed. It's hard to describe the quirky voice that ebbs and flows across the album's nine tracks. If Elbow staged a coup of Arcade Fire, it might sound a bit like this. Or not. It's lovely. Go here, and choose 'Skinny Love'. Then go here and click 'Add to Shopping Cart'. Or, if you're an eMusicer then it's here, with a bonus track.

Ever since I heard Mark Radcliffe play 'Fat As A Fiddle', I've been wanting to hear the new album by Chris Difford (you know, him out of Squeeze... no, the other one.) Rather brilliantly titled, 'The Last Temptation of Chris' is a beautiful little album full of melodic reflections on life from the other side of your fiftieth birthday. If you love Teenage Fanclub's 'Songs From Northern Britain' then you should really treat yourself to this one.

Here is the aforementioned single ("Now I have tits, just like my mum") while the album is knocking about with free delivery here.

The Sea and Cake are not exactly a groundbreaking discovery, but they're new to me. I heard them on Gideon Coe's show last week and was smitten. They have a slightly jazzy, soulful but acoustic feel and clearly love a good pop melody. If you look them up on places like Allmusic then you'll find that the members of the band were originally in lots of bands you've never heard of. Not that you need to now, as I've just told you. Anyway, I now own three of their albums and don't intend stopping there. You can hear tracks from the most recent, and deeply charming, album 'Everybody' here. Part with cash here.

Finally, an extra mention for Malcolm Middleton, who I surely must have talked about in the past. Hmm, he's not in the tags. How remiss of me. He's ace, to put it simply. Because he's a truly splendid man, you can listen to all of his latest stuff for free over at that there last.fm place. In particular, go for 'Blue Plastic Bags', a strikingly bleak, but ever-so-wry, take on British life. "The whole world's going home with blue plastic bags. Six bottles of Stella, Jacob's Creek and twenty fags." This track's just come out as a blue vinyl 7", although you should treat yourself to the parent album, 'Sleight Of Heart'.

An exclusive coalition?

Having wittered on about 'Record Store Day' last week, I did a bit of internet pootlage and found out a little bit about the Coalition Of UK Indie Stores. This has, apparently, been set up to try and fight the corner of indie stores, across the length and breadth of the country. Apparently, there will be Coalition-only releases in order to curry favour with those who might shop elsewhere, along with future events and the like.

However, there are only twenty-three stores in the coalition. As there are more than twenty-three independent record stores in Britain (admittedly, not many more) how can this be a true coalition? So far, it's been announced that the boss of Avalanche Records is in charge for the early months, and then leadership will pass to the supremo at Rough Trade East. Fair enough, you say, and so did I, until I read this.

Interesting post on the Norman Records blog. Click me!

A coalition of some indie stores then, and definitely not any of those excellent mail order only stores that offer a huge range of stock, fantastic customer service and tremendous reviews. The comment about the difference between Norman Records and Avalanche was what annoyed me most. What a twatty thing to say. And plain, bloody wrong.

I suspect that this particular blog post will make for an interesting read as it develops over the next few days.

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.

I'm still working on factual AND funny...

Thanks to those who've been in touch about indie stores of note. Will be doing some researching over the next few days and will start to add names soon. One that pops up quite a lot, and one which I have experience of and there I'm able to write about with relative ease, is Selectadisc in Nottingham.

In the last couple of weeks, things have changed in store and everything's been bunched up a bit. I've just tried describing this in words, but it didn't work especially well, so here's a visual aid.

Right then, the bit you can see some of on the left used to be the 'specialist' CD section but they've now put that up for rent and squidged the whole stock into the main bit you can see and the upstairs of said main shop. Confused? Good. Anyway, it's now even more bonkers and cluttered than it was before, but I think I might actually like it better like this. For a start, it feels much more like your traditional indie store, with things shoved everywhere and quality stock piled high. Secondly, if this ensures the store a long and prosperous future then that can't be a bad thing. 

Why's it worthy of your time and money? Well, the internet is full of people bitching about arsey staff and the like but from my personal experience this is utter cobblers. Sure, they're not the most talkative bunch but they're some way from the snobbery of 'High Fidelity'. In addition, as a result of Fopp opening in the city about over six years ago, prices altered. When Fopp's popularity was at a peak in the city, Selectadisc figured that they could be a little bit more competitive and, from that moment on, they regained the title of 'Best Record Shop in Nottingham'. Back catalogue is regularly no more than 8.99 on CD, with a lot of mid-price titles at 4.99 or less. New releases are very competitively priced and their vinyl stocks cannot be rivaled for many miles around. Where they stand out from many indie stores is their refusal to treat vinyl buyers as mugs and use scarcity as a reason to hike prices. They are regularly a couple of quid cheaper than any other sources on new vinyl and bloody quick at getting hold of import copies of select, splendid titles.

The main plus point for this lot is their excellent stock. Great prices, sensible organisation and atmosphere are added bonuses. Music fans who have lived in Nottingham at some point in their lives always seem to remember Selectadisc, and always seem to rave about it. You can count me in that group.

It's a grower, right?

Oh, and one other thing. What the hell is going on in the world of The Zutons? Their new sound appears to be a cross between Status Quo and 'Remember You're A Womble'!

If you fancy putting yourself through it, you can hear it here.

Did you find e̶v̶e̶r̶y ANYthing you were after?

I've ranted about this before, so stick with me on this, but the lack of decent music shops is alarming. Obviously it's not alarming to many people otherwise we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place, but for those of us who enjoy picking through obscure new releases and well-chosen back catalogue stock, the end is increasingly nigh. Last summer I found out about the demise of Derby's last remaining indie store, Reveal Records, which closed its doors for a final time at the end of last year. The reports of record shops in London closing keep coming thick and fast and Left Legged Pineapple has shut up shop in Loughborough, Track has departed from York and Selectadisc has downsized its operation in Nottingham.

I had the misfortune to be in Northampton yesterday and I haven't had such a poor record buying experience in a long time. I couldn't find a traditional indie store to speak of, and judging by a search of the net that is indeed the case, and the one second hand store, Pied Piper, that has something of a reputation is some way into a depressing 'closing down' sale that consists of utter toss that you couldn't pay me to take away. They will continue trading in a different manner, so I can only hope they've kept the decent stuff back for that venture. There's Sidewinder, a very specialist dance shop but beyond that I could find nothing. What's even worse is that HMV and Zavvi haven't opted to capitalise on this. HMV appeared to have no vinyl whatsoever, while Zavvi - currently doing a wonderful job of filling their stores with vinyl nationwide - had a limited stock that appeared not to have been updated in months. The Last Shadow Puppets single, 'The Age Of The Understatement' was released yesterday on CD and 2x7". I could not find either 7" anywhere, which is a major surprise. Why, when they happily pile it up in other stores, aren't Zavvi and HMV catering for music fans? Saying, "did you find everything you were after?" at the till counts for fuck all if it's a token gesture and the answer is of no consequence. I was amazed that people living somewhere as big as Northampton have so little access to music. Now that HMV find music a dirty word, favouring DVDs, the stock is growing ever more conservative and the range is diminishing rapidly.

Now, there's no point me issuing a rallying cry for people to go dashing off to their local indie store and purchase a record or three, as I suspect the game is already over and we've lost. In addition, if you're reading this, the chances are you already frequent indie stores wherever possible. The thought that in the not too distant future I won't be able to have a proper browse in an independent record store upsets me more than it probably should, but I won't pretend otherwise.

Thankfully, a stop off at Leicester to visit Rockaboom restored my confidence in the indie store. Well-run, competitively-priced and sensibly-stocked, this small indie store is a flashback to the glory days. There's a second-hand rack, a great back-catalogue with most essentials in stock at less than a fiver and new releases are shoved wherever possible, ensuring you get exposure to as much great music as possible. There's a good selection of vinyl, local bands are covered and the traditional rail of metal T-shirts is there by the till. Both Last Shadow Puppets 7"s were duly purchased, along with the Jim Noir album which, to dispel one of the rumours about independent stores, was actually a quid cheaper than HMV or Zavvi. I don't imagine you'll go out of your way to visit, and they don't have an online presence, but if you happen to be in the area, treat yourself.

All of this neatly links in with this weekend's 'big' event, Record Store Day. We'll just have to allow the Americans the word 'store' on this occasion, as it's for a good cause. You'll have noticed the logo for this in the top right of the blog for the last few days and by clicking on it you can read the philosophy behind the event. Worthy of your support, I would argue. Rough Trade East is having a whole day orgy of live music including the sublime Jason Molina (Magnolia Electric Co / Songs:Ohia), up and coming Glasgow band of note, Make Model and Billy Bragg. Full info here. Action Records in Preston will have live performances from 4pm - info here. Spillers in Cardiff are in the middle of organising something. Avalanche, in Glasgow and Edinburgh, are listed on the Record Store Day site, although I can't find out what they're doing. By visiting the RSD site you can access a list of all stores participating. It's mainly US, but worth a look. If your local indie store's not on there, ask them why not.

If you've got info on particularly lovely indie stores you know of, please let me know and I'll bung it up on the site - the more promotion the better. If you have any Record Store Day news, then likewise, bung it in the comments.

Shuffle The Third

1. Jens Lekman - Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo

Ooooh, now there's a tune to start with. This is taken from the absolutely wonderful album, 'Night Falls Over Kortedala' on the equally splendid Secretly Canadian record label. The good folks at Norman Records pointed out a few similarities to Barry Manilow on this album, and while the notion is horrifying I can see what they mean without that reflecting badly on Jens. He's from the stable of slightly fair vocalists that is headed by Stuart from Belle and Sebastian. Actually, there are some musical comparison points there too, but he's very much his own man. This album really swings and is a joy from start to finish. Vinyl comes with a code for a free download too!

 

2. Richard Hawley - Serious

Splendid track and it'll give me an excuse to post the sublime video that accompanied its release as a single. 'Lady's Bridge' is a wonderful album, although perhaps not as sublime as 'Coles Corner', and this is one of many highlights. Not particularly representative of the overall sounds, but perfectly in keeping with the jolly, skiffle-for-the-noughties sound he uses from time to time and which is a real delight witnessed live. The man loves his music and it's bloody obvious when you realise just how many wonderful songs the man has written. If you don't anything by him, sort that out now.

 

3. Soil & Pimp Sessions - Red Clay

Now here's a curious one. Downloaded this album from eMusic after seeing them on Later towards the end of last year. Their performance was, to be frank, fucking bonkers. But, despite straying a little close to Jamiroquai's wet dreams at times, their enthusiasm was enthralling and there is something genuinely great about the musical synergy that occurs when they've on stage. I'm not entirely convinced that that same magic is there in the record tunes, and this isn't one of their strongest tunes. Heavy on the sax and manic jazz drums.

Here's the track 'A.I.E.' as performed for Jools.

 

4. R.E.M. - Losing My Religion (Sheffield Hallam Fm Arena - 25/02/05)

This is a weird flashback from my past. Travelled up to Sheffield in the snow and frankly horrific driving conditions to see R.E.M. live for the first time. Finally got warm, stood not too far from the stage only for the intro tape to go quiet but the lights remained on full. At this point, a rather subdued looking Michael and Peter walk out to inform the crowd that Mike had an ear infection and couldn't stand up. Stipey was clearly battling nerves and emotions as he made the announcement and, having explained that the date would be rescheduled, told the dismayed throng that they'd do a few songs for us as an apology for us not doing the show. A wonderful little acoustic set followed, this being one of the tunes. A strange, but beguiling performance, with two men doing what they do best, but with the house lights up and everybody united in a mass singalong. Not to be forgotten. Amazingly, although perhaps not surprisingly, there's a video of it on Ver Tube!!

 

5. Dexter Gordon - Flick Of A Trick

My affinity with Dexter Gordon came about as a result of the rather well-known Blue Note record, 'Go'. That we can buy so many of the wonderful Blue Note albums these days for a fiver or less is something to be truly chuffed about. There's so much great music there for the taking. The only downside is that I never really feel like I ever get to know the music as well as I'd like, although I guess that's as true of any of the genres as much as it is of jazz. As a result, although I have a faint memory of this tune, I'm hearing it with essentially fresh ears. Delightful Sunday evening listening; a ten minute stroll through a master class in the saxophone.

Here's 'Cheese Cake' from the aforementioned, 'Go'.

Shuffle The Thirdish

Come here, little boy

Just when you thought she couldn't be any more repulsive, Madonna comes back and trounces her previous lows. Have you seen the video for '4 Minutes'? I was unfortunate enough to stumble across it today and found it absolutely terrifying. It appeared to be a promotional video for some kind of Granny-porn fetish site, in which their young male model who looked a bit like Justin Timberlake, only with far too many scarves, was groomed by an old dear whose clothes kept coming off in quite sinister fashion.

Does she honestly believe this is a good idea? Naturally, this is part 2 of the exciting, 'What was she thinking?' series, although for somewhat different reasons. I'm amazed that Madonna is persisting with that little dance she seems to think looks good and, at about the 3:15 mark, makes it seem like she's taken a little tumble. Which, at her age, is not surprising.

Of course, all of this would be of little consequence if the song wasn't based around the sound of two rhinos having a farting competition. Would have made for a more interesting video anyway.

Fair play to Justin Timberlake. As a first project since he pledged to work with 'Help The Aged', it's probably a little bit more high profile than he'd anticipated, but he's had a go. The huge wads of cash probably had nothing to do with it, and he really did want to work on some sub-standard tosh with a singer who hasn't released a decent record in six years.

The Kooks can fuck off too.

***

On a lighter note, and I don't think that phrase has ever previously been used with this band before, you can watch Portishead performing seven songs from their forthcoming new album, 'Third', in a special broadcast on Current TV. UK viewers can see it on Sky Channel 193 at various times over the next few days or you can simply nip over to the Current website and watch the video there. Here it is in a small, blog-friendly box.

Smooth Trading

I made my first visit to Rough Trade East yesterday and found it to be quite a pleasant experience. For those not aware, Rough Trade closed its Covent Garden store last summer in order to open what was widely described as a 'megastore' off Brick Lane. This new store has been much hyped by the media and hit the headlines with the free Radiohead gig back in January that was so popular it actually had to be moved down the road.

The internet community is littered with people unhappy with the prices in Rough Trade and so I approached the store uncertain about what I'd find inside. As it goes, the first thing that you're greeted with is a cafe, offering the chance to grab yourself something to drink as you wander about amongst the racks. There is something fundamentally wrong about this, it seems to me, although at the time I didn't allow it to sour the mood. As someone who practises the 'two-handed rummage' when looking through racks, I'm not sure where the coffee's meant to go when you're actually looking at the records you presumably went there in order to purchase. Am I over analysing this?

Anyway, the record shop is presumably what you're interested in. Firstly, the selection is huge but, as a result of being in a bloody big building, the shop is enjoyably spacious. Having sweaty, middle-aged men in raincoats squeezing past you as a fug of warm fart hangs over the artist-alphabetical section that you're battling to get a look at loses its allure pretty bloody quickly. Filing is pretty simple and none of the artists I could think of - and I did try to be a little bit awkward at times - were filed out of my grasp.

Price-wise, I take the point of those who mutter about how much certain things cost, although I don't think that they're particularly over the top for the majority of items. I have to say, my main focus was on the vinyl which was pretty reasonable all round and when I strayed into the CD sections the odd item was a little more than I'd have expected. To use a couple of the items I purchased as examples, £13.99 to add a vinyl copy of Richard Hawley's 'Coles Corner' to my collection is pretty standard and The Superimposers' new album, 'Harpsichord Treacle' was £9.99 on CD, with a bonus - Rough Trade only - disc featuring remixes and unreleased tracks.

Rough Trade East seems pretty good at stocking those items that you struggle to track down. In amongst the racks of 7" singles, I noticed Duffy's 'Rockferry' (ok, I know, I'm just using it to make a point) and Adele's 'Hometown Glory' at their original prices, rather than the inflated eBay nonsense that's occurred since they became famous. They've still got stocks of the 'Fat Children' 12" that Jarvis put out a while back, which everyone else tells you has sold out. Ok, so it's on their own label, but it's worth a rummage if you're after something in particular.

The other reason for visiting is the sheer exposure to different records. A sustained browse - caffeine assisted or not - will present you with all sorts of records you'd forgotten about or never seen physical copies of. In addition, the reasonably hyperbole-free description labels on everything help you to dig up something new that you just might like. Be in no doubt, there are plenty of better record shops out there, but this one is a worthy addition, and I can't help thinking it'll still be there long after many of my current favourites have pulled down the shutters for good.