|
Play
List - January 2001
A bout of sickness, the New Year
and the lack of any filing system resulted in a random selection from my
collection for this latest list. I
even resorted to picking out cds based on the colour of the packaging!
Yo La Tengo. And then nothing
turned itself inside-out. Matador.
Ole 317-2.
When in doubt turn to YLT. This
was one of my favourites from 2000.
Here’s a baker’s dozen of bittersweet love songs culminating
in the fabulous tone poem “A Night Falls on Hoboken”.
And then… is perhaps YLT’s most accessible album, but
these canny New Jersey tunesmiths could never be accused of selling out. See them live!!
The American Analog Set.
Late One Sunday & the Following Morning. Darla.
drl048-2.
Now this cd sums up my latest inertia music wise. It stayed on my player for nearly a week under the mistaken
impression that it was Built to Spill Live. Eh? Well, the
cds look the same and I really wanted to listen to Conan the Barbarian,
no I mean, “Cortez the Killer”, BtS’s cover of the Neil Young
epic. Instead I got this
throw away instrumental ep from Texases’s AAS.
The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.
New Tricks. Right Recordings. Right010.
Fantastic! Buy this for the
picture on the back of Viv Stanshall looking the fabulous lounge lizard
he is. The Bonzos, to the
uninitiated, come from the great British music hall tradition going back
to the time of Gilbert & Sullivan.
They merged this with typically off-beat nonsense humour of the
Edward Lear, Monty Python kind (Neil Innes wrote many tunes for the
Pythons) to produce such classics as “I am Urban Spaceman” and
“Hunting Tigers”. This
compilation shows the Bonzos music as timeless though they could only
exist in the late 60s.
Yo La Tengo. Autumn Sweater EP.
Matador. Ole 250-2.
Woops, more YLT. The
original single from I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One, plus
three remixes ranging from Chicago soundsmith Bundy K Brown to My Bloody
Valentine’s Kevin Shields (and μ-ziq – aka Mike Paradenis –
in between).
Paul Newman. Travels in Constants Series EP.
Volume 8.
From the excellent Travels in Constants series that’s been thrumming
along for 18 months or so comes Hollywood heartthrob Paul Newman with
post-rock stylings. Actually,
it’s some group of that ilk. Playable.
Shipping News. Save Everything.
Quarterstick. QS50CD.
Jeff Mueller, guitarist and vocalist from post-punk outfit June of 44,
has sometimes dabbled in this more introspective and more melodic trio.
Shipping News have, well, a nautical fixation.
A bit odd for guys hailing from Kentucky.
Nice ship related pictures included in the liner notes.
June of 44 have called it quits and Mueller and co have a new cd
in the works and a tour that includes DC’s Black Cat.
Excellent!
Primal Scream. XTRMNTR. Astralwerks.
asw49260-2.
Enduring from the Madchester days, Primal Scream laid down one of the
finest dance records of 2000 with this effort.
“Kill All Hippies” jumps out of your hi-fi and pulls you to
the dance floor: 60 odd minutes of grind.
Beyond that, please consider the radical lyrics and sentiments
– “subvert normality” indeed.
DJ Shadow.
Entroducing. Mo
Wax/Ffrr. 697-124 123-2.
The record sleeve says much: a record store, probably second hand. Shadow
grabs all sorts of found sounds, samples and scratches.
Usually this sort of stuff bores me after 10 minutes.
But, Entroducing is an engaging always moving platter.
Shadow wrecks it with cringe worthy liner notes name checking his
crew and all sorts of dudes.
Mogwai.
No education=no future. Fuck
the curfew. Chemical
Underground. Chem026.
There is a story behind the title.
Apparently, a local council in Scotland (er, that’s where the
‘Gwai are from) introduced a curfew for teenagers.
I guess to stop them from hanging around, being slackers and
frightening old ladies with their woolly hats.
Anyway, this little ep contains an alternative, grittier version
of “Xmas Steps” (the other’s on Come on Die Young).
Mogwai have a new long player in the can and will be playing odd
gigs in 2001 – there is one planned for Iceland in the near future.
Gastr del Sol. The Serpentine Similar.
Drag City. dex13/DC106.
I highly recommend the Wire’s profile of Gastr founder David Grubbs,
especially if like me you’ve had trouble with his lyrics.
The Serpentine Similar is an earlier effort and a bit
difficult to get into. Gastr’s
influences range from folk leg-end John Fahey to the Velvet Underground
via Fred Frith. Other
Chicago post-rock leg-ends Bundy K Brown and John McIntire help out.
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
Acme. Matador. CDP
7243 4 95566 2 1
Or not, as the case may be. This
is not really blues as such, but Spencer certainly funks up the place.
I picked it out because of the nice orange cover. “Let’s
have a party!!”
The Irresistible Force.
It’s Tomorrow Already.
Zen. Zen CD38.
Nom de Plum of Mixmaster Morris: eh?
Anyway, this is a how to of electronica. Lots of delicious synth sounds punctuated by clips and blips
and throw away recordings. “Playing
around with sound” contains, if I am not mistaken, a clip of Mr Rogers
ancient American whose twee kiddie programme “Mister Rogers
Neighborhood” should be a cult classic.
Orgasmic! Oh, nice
orange cover too.
Marine Research. Sounds from the Gulf Stream.
Nice orange cover.
I’m not quite sure what made me buy this record.
It’s a sort of sub-Garbage meets the Delagados over a
cappuccino. Well, whatever,
it was pleasant enough.
John Lee Hooker. Boom Boom. Virgin
Records. VPBCD 12.
Back in the early nineties John Lee Hooker became all the rage in
Britain. I can’t remember
why. It might have been a
profile on TV or Hooker’s music turning up as a film soundtrack. So, I joined the bandwagon.
But, heck this is some mighty fine blues! Eat your heart out, Slow Hand.
Loop Guru.
The Fountains of Paradise.
Hypnotic. CLPc589.
When I was scrambling around to find something new to listen to some
years back I recalled an interview with Brian Eno who said he was
listening to Loop Guru. So
out I went out to Tower Records to buy Amrita which is a fine
drug induced, ambient, techno, poppy (seed) conglomeration.
The Fountains of Paradise was however, one Loop too many.
Green covers now.
David Sylvian & Robert Fripp.
The First Day. Virgin
Records. CDV2712.
I have had the fortune of sitting at the feet of the Frippster.
It was at one of his soundscape shows in Philly a couple of years
ago. I was so close I could
see that he had not ironed his black jeans.
The gig was bliss despite lack of sartorial elegance.
Back in ’93 Fripp emerged from a period of contemplation,
teaching and obscurity to cut this effort with ex-Japan man Sylvian.
The epic roar of “Darshan” apart - highlighted by the
trademark Frippertronics - this does not quite stand the test of time.
Nevertheless, it appeared to energise Fripp after his long legal
battles to return to full time musical action.
The 90s saw a host of Frippertronic releases, some indifferent
King Crimson work countered by the release of years of KC bootleg
concert tapes all tidied up and packaged by Mr Fripp’s Discipline
Global Mobile label. It
satisfied many a Crimson junkie. By the way, this cd has a green cover
too.
Back
to Playlist Index
|
