Another Sad Loss

I don't know what is happening this year as another musical hero of mine died this week. Alex Chilton of The Boxtops and more famously Big Star died on 17 March aged 59 of a suspected heart attack.

Chilton's career took off when he was just 16 when a member of soul group The Boxtops who had an international number one with the song 'The Letter'.

In 1971 Chilton joined Big Star, a band that had limited success but who influenced many. You need only to hear Teenage Fanclub and early R.E.M. to see how much they were influenced by Big Star. With Chris Bell Chilton wrote some truly fabulous songs. However after three albums it was all over. Bell left after the second album Radio City in 1974 and the third Third/Sister Lover was released 4 years later. Bell died in a car crash in 1978.

Chilton continued to tour, record an influence and 1993 he reformed Big Star with drummer Jody Stephens and Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer of The Posies. I was lucky enough to see Big Star a couple of years ago in London and it was a great gig (apart from a misguided attempt at playing Ode to Joy).

Big Star made some of my very favourite records and Alex's death has left yet another hole. He will be missed.

"I Got Sunburnt Waiting for the jets..."

Mark Linkous Rest In Peace.

Mark Linkous the multi-instrumentalist behind the wonderful Sparklehorse took his own life on March 6th. His music touched me greatly it is beautiful and melancholic. Mark you will be sorely missed.

Some Velvet Morning ~ Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra

I first heard this record when I was about 18 at a club night I used to go to and occasionally DJ at that was run by Paul Tunkin who when on to run the extremely successful Blow Up club and record label.

The record was from Paul's Dad's collection and was used quite often as the walk out record. It captivated me from the very start and it took about 5 years of searching through junk shops and boot fairs until I bought it whilst on holiday at Truro flea market where the Hall For Cornwall now stands.

To me it sums up the whole sixties scene of arty types trying to be hippies but without taking all the drugs and not bothering to wash. Full of impenetrable lyrics about someone called Phaedra (I once met a woman called Phaedra at a gig in Colchester and she was named after this song), lush orchestration and two voices that matched perfectly; Nancy's pure sound and Lee Hazlewood's amazing deep and soulful voice.

If pushed it is a song that would come with me to the desert island. It is that good.



Nancy Sinatra et Lee Hazlewood - Some Velvet Morning
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B.U.G. Mafia/Cheloo

I have always had a secret love of hip-hop. It started way back with Rappers Delight by the Sugarhill Gang and was cemented with the marvellous Public Enemy. I am no expert in the genre but I do like to seek out hip-hop from places other than the English speaking world. I was pleased therefore to discover an online mate of mine from Romanian saying she was a hip-hop fan. Who better than to ask about some Romanian hip-hop. Cristina recommended these two artists. The first is B.U.G.(Bucharest Under Ground) Mafia from Bucharest who are championed as starting the Romanian gangster rap scene. This track is called Baieti Buni (translated as nice or good guys)and is rather splendid.




This track is by Cheloo (pronounced Kilo) is called Fericit (pronounced fereecheet) meaning happy. Cheloo is a massive star in Romania and has collaborated with several artists including B.U.G. Mafia and on this track Guess Who. It is another cracker.



Este foarte bun.

Weather Reort

I haven't got much to say about this except to say that the musicianship is outstanding and it features the greatest electric bass player ever, the late, great genius who was Jaco Pastorious.

Genius - Luke Haines.

Last year one of the very best books about the music industry came out. "Bad Vibes - Britpop And My Part In Its Downfall" by Luke Haines was the most brutally honest insights into what it is like to be lauded by the music press as the next big thing and then be cut of at the knees by the very same press when the next big thing comes along.

What makes this book so fascinating is that Haines has not edited his reminiscences about the period to show himself in a good light. Haines seriously believed he was a genius and that The Auteurs (Haines' first project) would take the world by storm. Indeed their first album did take the world by storm (at least critically) and Haines genius seemed to be cemented.

It did not go quite to plan, although Haines continued to write outstanding songs for The Auteurs it ended in tears. 'Bad Vibes' charts this downfall frankly with Haines writing as he was at the time (basically a bit of a twat).

Further projects as Baader Meinhof (an edgy and brilliant concept album about the German terrorist gang) and the wonderful Black Box Recorder followed. BBR got back together for some gigs last year and I can confirm they were outstanding, so it seems Haines still has it.


Here is Haines as Baader Meinhof doing Meet Me at the Airport




As Blackbox Recorder doing The Art of Driving




And where it all started as The Auteurs doing Lenny Valentino

Record of the year.

It has been an odd year this year music wise. I have been to a lo of gigs, the highlight being Retribution Gospel Choir at London's Water Rats but musically I think it has been a bit barren. It maybe that I wasn't taking a great deal of notice, a fact that has certainly been true over the last 2 months or so when my mind has been elsewhere. However if I had to choose a record of the year I think it would be "French Navy" by Camera Obscura which is a delicious slice of Northern Soul tinged pop.

Vic Chestnutt RIP

American singer-song writer Vic Chestnutt died on Christmas day following a suspected overdose. He was 45. His body was discovered at his home by REM lead singer Michael Stipe. He recently told National Public Radio in the US that he had attempted suicide on three or four times. Long time friend and collaborator Kirstin Hersch left a message on Twitter that Chestnutt had told her he had left a suicide note so the speculation is that Vic took his own life.

Chestnutt was a master of the melancholy and his songs were dark and rather beautiful. He recorded 17 albums including two that were released in 2009. Acts such as Madonna and Sparklehorse have covered his work. He will be sorely missed.

Delta Maid

I went to see The Retribution Gospel Choir the other night at London's Water Rats. They were outstanding. To see Low's Alan Sparhawke rocking out was a joy. However the evening was made all the more memorable for one of the supporting artists.

I know little about Delta Maid (I'm not even sure that is her real name!) except that she is from Liverpool and plays a lovely mix of country and blues. She is a very gifted guitarist and although she hasn't released anything yet I'm sure it won't be long before we'll be able to buy her wonderful music. In the mean time here is a YouTube video taken at a recent poetry slam in London.



You can also catch her at Delta Maid on Myspace

No, I'm Spasticus.

I thought long and hard about what to write about for this years Blogging Against Disablism Day. I was initially going to write about the access to live music for disabled people which is still, I'm afraid, not good. In accessible venues, lack of accessible toilets and if you are lucky enough to get in lack of decent views of the stage are 10 a penny. it is improving and the excellent people at Attitude Is Everything are campaigning vigorously for venues to be upgraded to include access to ALL music fans.

Then I wondered about blogging about the lack of disabled performers in the music industry. There are of course notable exceptions; Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Ian Dury, Robert Wyatt and Vic Chestnut spring to mind but although that is a subject that brings up all kind of issues of body image and how the media portrays and excepts us and that issue has already been covered by others during BADD. Visit The Diary Of a Goldfish who is co-ordinating this years event for some excellent blog posts on this and many other issues.

In the end though I decided to post a comment from the late great Ian Dury who in 1981 wrote a song which wouldn't be out of place as a BADD posting today. It was banned by the BBC as offensive but as you will see was completely misunderstood. I'll let the video below do the talking as there is little to add. apologies for the slow loading time.

Sweet Soul Music ~ Laura Nyro

I was bought a rather good book at Christmas by my mate Rob (aka Jock Pop). 'The Best Music You've Never Heard' issued by Nigel Williamson published by Rough Guide is a treasure chest of lost classics that is a must for any music fan. Having been a fan of music 'on the fringes' I am aware of a fair proportion of the artists covered in this book but I have been led to some music that I wasn't aware of at all. I'll return to this great book from time to time but today I want to concentrate on someone I was aware of but to my shame had not heard until recently (thanks to Spotify for costing me money on Amazon).

Laura Nyro is one of those talents that a talentless person like me (although my Spaghetti Bolognese has been spoken of as far away as Leigh on Sea) is extremely jealous of. How can someone liby a great musician, singer and song writer. The only unfathomable thing is that Nyro isn't a household name. For example she wrote this song only for Barbra Streisand to cover it is a big showbiz way and make it a hit.

Her songs were complex and by all accounts difficult to play for instance at the 1967 at the Monterrey Pop Festival her band cut her set short because they couldn't follow her intricate music! You don't get that with your run of the mill artist. She recorded three seminal albums for Columbia 'Eli and the Thirteenth Confession', 'New York Tenderberry' and 'Christmas and the Beads of Sweat'.

This song is from 'New York Tenderberry' and is pretty special. It's called 'Captain for Dark Mornings'

The One That Got Away?

I despair sometimes. Whilst so called talent is festooned with plaudits despite sounding like a vacuum cleaner on reverse (Duffy for instance) really talented people are sidelined. One of the later is the excellent Candie Payne. Liverpudlian Payne's debut album 'I Wish I Could Have Loved You More' is a delicious slice of pop. It has the same 60's tinge as Winehouse and Duffy and she has even worked with Mark Ronson quite extensively.

What sets Candie Payne apart from her contemporaries however is a refusal to partake in vocal histrionics. This gives her sound a feel of the Dusty Springfield's or Petula Clark's. And that is not to be sniffed at. I only hope that the world wakes up to Candie Payne's talent and she gets the success she undoubtedly deserves.

Sad Day For Puppets/The Deer Tracks ~ Live at Somic Cathedral

It's not often these days that you can have a night out for a fiver. It is even rarer to get to see a decent band for a fiver either. Monday night was a treat then as there were two excellent bands to see at The Social a tiny venue situated off of Oxford Street in London.

The night was hosted by the rather excellent Sonic Cathedral who run nights with a distinctively Shoegazey feel to them. My mate Rob and I were extremely pleased to hear Loop being played by the DJ for example, which was the first time either of us had heard such a thing in a club.

The Deer Tracks and Sad Day For Puppets both hail from Sweden and had played the night before with The Deer Tracks headlining. Tonight it was the turn of Sad Day... to take the honours. The Deer Tracks play a lovely form of glitchy electronica with Elin Lindfors vocals floating above some truly gorgeous beats and music laid down by co-member David Lehnberg. The band are backed up by a keyboard player, bassist, trumpet and clarinet which although a tad unusual works extremely well. I bought there excellent album 'Aurora' after the show and can't recommend it highly enough. It is beautiful.

The reason we had gone along to Sonic Cathedral was to see Sad Day For Puppets. I fell in love with their music after hearing the wonderful 'Little Light' last year which turned out to be my favourite track of 2008. They are steeped in all the music that I love; as their Myspace page says "the music is all about shimmering layers of guitars, intertwined feedback melodies all dreamy and grand and sad, and ethereal harmony vocals" and in my view you that is just perfect.

Live (at least tonight) they were a little rockier. Vocalist Anna Eklund introduced several of the tracks as "a rock version" of the album. Stand out tracks for me were new single 'Marble Gods' which is as wonderful piece of jangly pop that you could wish to hear and the aforementioned 'Little Light'. I'm hoping that both of these excellent bands come back to the UK very soon as it would be a crime to miss either of them.


The Deer Tracks ~ Yes This Is my Broken Shield.



Sad Day For Puppets ~ Cherry Blossom.

My New Favourite Band.

I came across Sad Day For Puppets via Myspace and they have capture my heart. They are whimiscal sure but hell what's wrong with a bit of whimsy now and them. I',m off to see them in London on February 23rd and if it is a lovely as this tune, which was recorded live in a Stockholm library it will be rather splendid.

Lux Interior 1946 - 2009

There have been quite a few tributes to Erick Lee Purkhiser aka Lux Interior since his death on 4 February but I feel that I should also add mine.

The Cramps were a great band and first captured my heart in about 1982. I loved to dance about to them at my local nightclub 'Crocs' in Rayleigh with my blogging mate over at Planet Mondo. I was a Psychobilly for a while and whilst a lot of my mates rated the more violent bands like The Meteors and the Guana Batz it was always the Cramps for me.

Lux was a great showman and he shall be sadly missed.

Cramps - Garbage Man
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John Martyn 1948 - 2009

The death of British folk singer John Martyn has just been announced. John's music was some of the most inventive music of the genré and it is a very sad loss. It isn't the right time to regale many of the many fantastic stories about John's rather full life so I'll leave you with this, John and his partner in music and crime Danny Thompson performing the timeless 'Solid Air'.

Roy Steers

On 30 December one of the unsung heroes of British jazz died aged 83. Roy Steers presented a jazz programme on BBC Radio Cornwall for many years. His show was heard not only in Cornwall but in Devon, Somerset and Dorset as well and was therefore the voice of jazz in the South West. For seven years my Dad worked with Roy on the show and went from reading the gig news to co-hosting and over the last 20 years became very good friends with Roy.

He had many musicians on his show and he'd ask them to choose the records that week. I was very surprised one day when down in Cornwall visiting my folks when he asked me if I'd like to go on and choose my favourites. Now I am no musician (although my Dad is) and I was amazed to be asked. I think Roy asked me because I am a jazz fan and relatively young compared to most of the jazzers in the area. I had a ball and I went on the show three more times.Any music fan dreams of being asked to compile lists of their favourite music and I can never thank Roy enough for giving me the opportunity of fulfilling at least one dream

Roy liked all types of jazz but had a great affection for Count Basie. This clip of Basie and Oscar Peterson playing 'Jumpin' At The Woodside' is for you Roy.





You were a lovely man and you will be missed by many, many people.

Happy Winter Solstice

I'm not much of a one for Christmas records. Much of the nonsense we get thrown at us is utter shite in my opinion. There aree of course notable exceptions. The mighty collection from Sufjan Stevens (six albums worth) is excellent, Springsteen's 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town' is brilliant too.

My favourite though is the Christmas album by Duluth Minnesota's finest (no not Bob Dylan). Low have been producing superb material for about 13 years now and in 1999 they released an album of Christmas songs. It included several of their own songs and several cover versions including this fabulous version of 'Little Drummer Boy' which was used by GAP in a Christmas advertising campaign. I think it is wonderful.





Have a great Christmas and New Year.

Beware Of Safety ~ Dogs

For all its faults sometimes Myspace is pretty bloody wonderful. I have been introduced to some wonderful music via its pages. Stephanie Casey, who plays under the moniker of Fall of Snow is one (I'll return to her at some point in the future) that blew me away with her beautifully fragile and sparse sound. My favourite though is a band who wrote to me asking me to have a listen to their stuff (presumably because I had listed such acts as Mogwai, God Is An Astronaut and Mono as favourites).

I was hooked from the start and that very evening sent away for their debut ep 'It Is Curtains'. I've said before that I don't really like the phrase 'Post Rock' it is meaningless to me and doesn't express what the music is about, but if there has to be such a genré then Beware of Safety are right at the top of the tree along with Mono for me. Their music is exhilarating, vibrant, loud and passionate and their second release 'Dogs' ticks all the boxes and although it was only released this month is my favourite album of the year.

The album kicks off with 'Nu Metal' which floats along with layered guitars and fabulous drumming and then explodes, in fine 'Post Rock' tradition, into a whirling dervish finish. It is quite breathtaking and is one of the best 10 minutes you could hope to spend.

'The Supposed Common' kicks off with a lovely pizzicato refrain. Too many bands in the genré use strings these days in a lazy way and in is refreshing to see them used in a different way. Here is an early version of the track from Youtube.




There is plenty of good old fashioned wig outs on the album which is great but Beware Of Safety are far more than that. They are thoughtful and melodic and carry you away with the beauty of their music.

Although they haven't toured the UK yet I know the band are keen to do so and I for one will be first in the queue for tickets.

Guilty Pleasures # 1

Those that know me are aware that I am an embittered Indie Kid who despises the polished pop bollocks that we are fed by MTV/Radio One etc. True I do seek music out from other genres and love Jazz and Nothern Soul, Funk, Hippy stuff from the Sixties and Seventies and so on and so on.

In fact my music tastes are somewhat eclectic. However like most music snobs (and I am definitely one of those) I do have guilty pleasures. My girlfriend, for example, shook her head in disbelief when I admitted a love for The Carpenters and of course there is no denying that Abba knocked out some top tunes as well. Here though is a a record that although it ticks all the polished pop boxes is just so bloody good that I don't even think it a guilty pleasure.

After all, you can't get better than a bit of Kylie if the mood requires a bit of perfect pop.