Glenn Miller - In The Mood

ORIGINATION The Best Of Glenn Miller
LAST LISTENED TO not too sure
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT quite good since i heard The Puppini Sisters' version yesterday
RATING

Smoooooth. Smooooooooooth. Such smoooooth, smooooth brass. It's all very wonderfully creamy and neat. Not one rasping note and everything played straight from charts. All the build ups, calls and response and the creamy, smooooth, smoooth brass. The final climax - steel fist in a velvet glove. This may not be my usual jazz cup of tea, but just once in a while nothing beats it. I'm floating off now…
Further Glenn Miller songs: Moonlight Serenade

The Violent Femmes - Add It Up (again)

ORIGINATION Violent Femmes
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT high
RATING

I always feel cheated by two days of the same song in a row. It's just so unimaginitive.

The Violent Femmes - Add It Up

ORIGINATION Violent Femmes
LAST LISTENED TO last month
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT as much as ever
RATING

For some reason, this album more than any other sends me straight back to when i was first listening to it some fifteen years ago. That was when i became a student, which is no coincidence as this record seems to be something of a freshers' discovery year on year. There's a good chance that this is all down to this song. And when it get's down to it, it's because this is the 'why can't i get just one f**k?' song. There is much more to the song than this, of course, but that is all anyone is ever going to remember.

Add It Up, clearly the Violent Femmes song, is spiky and awkward and was made by the (then) teenage trio in their classic guitar/bass/drums format. There is an anger and passion here, which is backed up by both strong and quite sophisticated playing and writing. The level of sophistication seems just a bit unlikely for teenages, but it is none the less apparent. Also strange is that the song (like the album) seems somewhat out of time, in that it's incredibly hard to place it in any given period. That it was recorded in '83 is either all the explanation you need or just further muddying.

It's a great song, much like its parent album. The Violent Femmes went on to record plenty other good great music but somehow they just never quite made the big time. Maybe they just happened at the wrong time.
Further Violent Femmes songs: Never Tell

Joe Loss & His Orchestra - Wheels (Cha Cha)

ORIGINATION Latin À La Loss
LAST LISTENED TO early last year
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT teeny tiny
RATING

Joe Loss was an incomparible British band leader, who performed from the '30s through until the '80s. As you'd probably expect, Loss and his orchestra ran the full gamut of easy listening. Starting out in a kinda savoy jazzy way, they always moved with the times. In the early '60s all things latin were gaining popularity with both the easy listeners and the swingers and Loss, ever one for following fashion, jumped on that wagon.

Wheels had been originally been a bit of a hit for an instrumental rock'n'roll outfit from Texas called The String-A-Longs. Loss took their tune and easified it: he made it something that the older folks could dance to as well. It's got a lovely latin rhythm and a very proper-sounding brass section. A quite clean guitar. Really everything is just quite polite, but with the feeling that at the time it might've been just a wee bit racy. If you can imagine a fairly smooth WWII big band and the give it some tasty latin licks, you're pretty much there.

Loss' version was quite popular on the right side of the Altantic and there's a good chance that most folks from dear old blightly will know this tune, even though they'd never be able to tell you what it was. It's deep down in the British collective subconscious and we've no idea how it got there. In fact, to hear it even once it to never forget it and, most than likely, spend the best part of the following days humming it.

AC/DC - T.N.T.

ORIGINATION High Voltage
LAST LISTENED TO mid week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not bad
RATING

This is just classic AC/DC. It starts with Bon Scott almost grunting 'oi oi's in between Angus' guitar licks, before the bass cuts in just exactly where it should. That's the thing about AC/DC: their music is very straightforward, almost to the point of predicability. Almost predictable, but not exactly predictable because everything happens (in classic bluesy hard rock) not only where you know it was going to but where you wanted it to and where it had to. Doing things so very straightforwardly can't be at all easy and AC/DC do it very, very well.

T.N.T. is about being generally just hard (and in fact, 'dirty, mean and medium clean'). That's really it. Apart from those great 'oi's and the riffs and that magnicificent rolling AC/DC bass. You just have to love it. It's on their first album which everyone who has ever enjoyed an amplified guitar should own.
Further AC/DC songs: Sin City

The Wonder Stuff - Don't Let Me Down, Gently

ORIGINATION Hup
LAST LISTENED TO more than ten years ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT none, usually
RATING

I seem to recall quite liking this one many moons ago. I can barely remember how it goes now, i've just got a vague thread of it on a loop inside my head this morning. And, since i've never owned a copy of it and i doubt i ever will, this is not going to be any kind of a review. Goodbye.
Further Wonder Stuff songs (and jeez there are lots for some reason):
Donation | Maybe | Welcome To The Cheap Seats
On The Ropes | Radio Asskiss | Inertia

(radio silence)

Not had one of these in a while. But along came one today. An empty head space with nothing in. Is that what most people have in the morning? I'm not sure i like it. I do hope normal service resumes tomorrow.

Iggy & Green Day - Supermarket

ORIGINATION Skull Ring
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT reesinibul
RATING

The power of the Ig: who can deny it? Here i am having spent a good deal of time being at best indifferent to Green Day and yet now, with this one tune, i'm beginning to wonder if maybe they're actually ok. I may even investigate further. Most odd.

In 2003 Mr. Pop put out this album that sees him playing with a total of 6 different bands. The results are fairly diverse and rather entertaining. It comes as little surprise that best of the bunch are the four tracks recorded with the re-formed Stooges (hurrah!). What is a surprise is that the young upstarts don't come out sounding too bad. Even Sum 41!

Supermarket to me sounds like a fairly standard new punk number. It may not have the meters-in-the-red craziness of The Stooges, but even so the guitars and bass all sound just right for their idiom and there are more than enough hooks for any one track. There's also a nice anti-corporate message, the irony of which does make one smirk some. Well meant, though, i guess.
Further Iggy & The Stooges songs: Search And Destroy

Handsome Boy Modeling School - The World's Gone Mad (Feat. Del The Funky Homosapien, Barrington Levy & Alex Kapranos)

ORIGINATION White People
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT la la la
RATING

Wow. A fourth track from this album. That's practically unheard of. It's even more of a surprise given the full-on rawk action that's been shaking the walls in here for the past few days.

The World's Gone Mad has a bit of a reggae-ish vibe, which is not much of a surprise given that Jamaican star Barrington Levy is on here. He provides the focus of the song, but has two able assistants in tow. First up is Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, who takes care of the rapping that forms a good portion of the start of the tune. The rest of the vocal duties is taken up by Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, no less, who provides more of a supporting role (although he does get one short bridge).

As usual, the HMBS have pulled together a pretty random collection of perfomers and made it work well. Hopefully now that all the best tunes from this (their second) album have been used up, we don't need to see them again for a while. Back to rawk for me now!
Further Handsome By Modelling School songs: Are You Down With It | A Day In The Life | I've Been Thinking | Class System which is lost somewhere in April

The Beastie Boys - Car Thief

ORIGINATION Paul's Boutique
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT fair
RATING

When the Beasties put out Paul's Boutique in '89, it was more or less universally ignored. The dense collage of samples employed, which mirror the three MCs rapping over each other, scared off many listeners expecting something closer to their first album. Time, however has been kind to the album and it now holds a privileged place in the history of hip hop. Basically, it was an album that was ahead of it's time. It's also an album that became more or less impossible to make just a few years later, when sample clearance law was tightened.

Car Thief contains large chunks of some laid back funk from the Funk Factory (Rien Ne Va Plus), plus an noitceable guitar break from Funkadelic's version of I Bet You. These are just the tip of the iceberg, with so many bits and pieces scattered about throughout the track, that it is hard to track them all down. Over this then, the Beasties rhymes fit into each other like hands in gloves. It's a mess of clever word play and pop culture references that was to become their stock in trade.

There is a really interesting site about Paul's Boutique, that has tried to list all the samples and references. It's also worth checking out Allmusic's review of the album which gives a good view of it's place in history.
Further Beastie Boys songs: Ricky's Theme

Not right

No, not the Stooges song, but MY HEAD this morning. It has made up it's own little morning song and it's not right. In fact is so very not right that there is not way at all that i am sharing it with anyone ever and the sooner it gets out of my head the better. It's obscene and degrading and i think it's all because of the shower gel. I can say no more. And don't ask either. Very shortly i will have erased it from my head forever. I didn't write this. You never read it. This never happened. Now go.

Mudhoney - Suck You Dry

ORIGINATION Piece Of Cake
LAST LISTENED TO January
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT lower than the average hair
RATING

This one is from Mudhoney's first major label album. When it came out in '92, it saw Mudhoney experimenting with their sound and moving away from a regular grunge sound. For a major label debut at the height of grunge's fifteen minutes, it was a typically willful act that was pretty much the opposite of what everyone had expected.

Suck You Dry is about as heavy an assault as can be managed from the 'Honey battery, with big, beefy walls of riffage punishing the listener from the off. Other than that, it's business as usual with Mark Arm's sneering vocals and Steve Turner throwing in a typically fuzzed up solo. It's all over in two and a half minutes, althouth with the density of noise it at times seems longer.
Further Mudhoney songs: Inside Job | Shoot The Moon

Garnet Mimms - A Little Bit Of Soap

ORIGINATION From Route 66 To The Flamingo (v/a)
LAST LISTENED TO last month
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not muchuv one
RATING

It appears that Mimms was something of a second league soul star, at least in terms of sales. His music owes a clear influence to Motown, however it is tempered with a stronger gospel flavour than you would usually find there.

A Little Bit Of Soap comes from the happy-sounding, up-tempo, broken-hearted family of soul tunes. It tells the story of a man who has a little bit of soap that can wash the lipstick from his face but it can't wash away his tears. Running over several verses, it contains several variations on this theme. It features a quite open production, with plenty of air in between a jabbing rhythm guitar and a very Motown-esque snare-driven four/four beat. Mimms' assured tenor voice stands out clearly and is well supported by some female gospel backing voices, that at times take the lead and give a different take on the story. Towards the end some high trumpet licks give the song something of a crescendo, before the fade.

In words this almost sounds far too text book soul to be of much interest. But the track has an air to it, especially with its joyful delivery of a sad story that is undeniably uplifting. And it has that certain bounce, in common with Motown, that is always a winner. It's just a shame that he never had a hit with it.

Eddie Gale - Black Rhythm Happening

ORIGINATION Blue Note's Rare Grooves
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT fairly good
RATING


Trumpeter Eddie Gale recorded this in '69 for his album of the same name. It was a rare headlining appearance for the man who had served his apprenticeship with some of the biggest names in avant garde jazz.

All of the rhythm here is panned hard left, which is a device i have always found irritating and off balance, especially when listening through headphones. Other than that, however, this is a pretty groovy tune. The bulk of the interest lies in the call and repsonse vocals of what sounds like a whole room full of people. They seem to be having a damn fine old time, chattering away and yelling inbetween bursts of singing.

Weaving under this and through the polyrhythms is a guitar line that meanders all over the place, a bit like an off-kilter Grant Green. There are also some occasional bursts of brass that are just ever so slightly atonal. It makes for an interesting fusion of soul jazz, avant garde jazz and gospel. No wonder then that it is said to have been one of the inspirations behind Archie Shepp's classic Attica Blues.

Metallica - For Whom The Bell Tolls

ORIGINATION Ride The Lightning
LAST LISTENED TO a few weeks ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT oh, please
RATING

Jeezy creezy! This is no way to start a week. Still, at least it's better than the last lot of monday morning messes. Those weren'y right.

The Story of Metallica
by Stewart Bremner aged 32 & 3/4
And lo, it came to pass that in the mists of time Large Oilrig, who liked to bang things, did steal the name Metallica off of a mate. Together with Growlin' James Hatstand, who collected facial hair, they made it into a band. They were soon joined by denim-clad Cliff Bellbottoms with his big black bass and Dave Mustard, who tortured guitars. But no one liked Dave and his silly hair and he was told to go away and Kirk Hamster, known far and wide for his widdling, joined them instead. His hair was a bit less silly than mean Mr Mustard's, but only a bit.

At first they were angry, which was no surprise considering they had had Mr Mustard (who had now formed Megadud) in their band. They made an album that was red and had blood and stuff on it. But, as the chicken passes the egg, so they got depressed and proceeded to record an album that was blue and went on a bit. They kept on being depressed for some time after that because Mr Bellbottoms got killed by their tour bus and was replaced by Jason Newkid (who is not the newkid any more, because the others never really liked him and he left).

After they had been depressed for long enough, during which time they made an album about a cemetery and then a grey one that also went on a bit, they went pop but that made the little girls cry. Soon they got angry again, this time because of nu-metal being rubbish and because of the internet. After making their most recent album (which went on a bit too), they found Bobby Truepillow, who had won the All-American Gurning Championships for four years in a row in the early ninties and could play the bass with his knees and they made him join their band. And lived happily ever after.


For Who The Bell Tolls is one of the best bits moments on Ride The Lightning (the blue album), which can be a bit too angst ridden for me and my dog. It goes like this: argh! the bells! the bells! the riffage! Riff riff riff riff. Widdly widdle widdle. Was that something about war? Who's to say? Riff riff riff riff. Riff riff riff riff. Riff riff riff riff. Riff riff. For whom the bell tolls. Riff riff riff riff. Riff riff riff riff. Riff riff riff riff. Time marches on. Riffs. Squeal, squeal. Widdle thump thump. Bong bong bong.

It's very hot tonight, you know.

The Who - Baba O'Reilly

ORIGINATION Who's Next
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT durn good
RATING

It begins with an arpeggiated synth, before a piano and then some excellent open-hat drums break in. For me that's what makes the song: the piano and the rock steady, flashing beats over the burbling synth. Townsend is not particularly evident and why Daltry is banging on about 'a teenage wasteland' holds almost no interest to me whatsoever. To be fair it does sound good, whatever it may mean. In a nutshell: drums, piano, synth.

De La Soul - Take It Off

ORIGINATION Three Feet High And Rising
LAST LISTENED TO last month sometime
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT mmph
RATING

When De La Soul released their debut album, it's playful grooves where somewhat at odds with the prevailing fashion in hip hop at the time. Not that it was any less relevant or had less of a message, it just sugar-coated things more.

Take It Off has always been one of my least favourite moments on the album. There really isn't much to it and the repetitious use of 'take it off' just bugs me after a while. To be fair, though, i respect its anti-fashion/label stance. Still, it feels a bit like as album filler.

Radiohead - Lucky

ORIGINATION OK Computer
LAST LISTENED TO lest weekend
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT aye, no bad likes
RATING

This is not a track i have ever singled out from OK Computer. Like the Stones All Down The Line, seen here last month, it is part of such a strong album that, even though it is a very good song it just gets lost.

On OK Computer, Radiohead made their first obvious moves away from conventional rock. Their use of sound textures and strong song writing where hugely praised and can now be seen as a step in their ongoing evolution. Every song on the album is an intricate jewel that rewards close scrutiny with a multitude of delights. Lucky is no exception and is as strong as anything else to be found on the album.

Most noticeably, there are some outstanding guitar moments here, mainly the heavily-tremeloed chords that occur throughout the song as it changes direction. It's particularly obvious around the three minute mark, where the song has been stripped down to a simple guitar and drum pattern. With the introduction of the chord, the song begins to build to its crescendo. It is a great moment and one this is just a little similar to Tommy James & The Shondells' great Crimson & Clover.

The lyrics are also strong, especially when Thom Yorke pleads to be pulled from the air crash. It's melancholy, but there is a ethereal air of hope in there too. Much like the whole song.

The Jesus And Mary Chain - Man On The Moon (again)

ORIGINATION Munki
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT goody three shoes
RATING

Back again so soon! It was here too.

Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove

ORIGINATION 12"
LAST LISTENED TO i have no idea
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not much of one
RATING

Funkmeister and sartorial renegade George Clinton created Funkadelic in 1970 when he and his band got into some contractual bother and where unable to record under their then name Parliament. Essentially, the two bands were the same, although it came to pass that Parliament became their (mostly) funk brand and Funkadelic their wig-out funky rock one. More or less.

This binominal state continued for a good most of the '70s, with a good deal of bleed between the two platforms, forming a style that became known as P-Funk. Thus it was that in 1978 it was Funkadelic that recorded the funk-disco monster that is One Nation Under A Groove which, surely by now, you all know. Anthemic and seven and a half minutes long, it was a positive statement of unity. So good that it hit number one in the US R&B charts and has become their best-known tune. At times you can hear the influence of every big name in the field, from Sly Stone to Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix. Stick if on repeat and let the grins break out.

Here come the clowns!

Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. aaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggggghhhh! How on earth Nicola manages with this in her head all day is beyond me.

More monday morning mess

This monday's weird mess was a bit more acceptable than some of the previous ones, but i don't have enough time today to tell you all about it. So, all i can do is tell you that it started with twists of the bloopy intro from The Prodigy's Everybody In The Place, before great steaming chunks of The Temptations classic Ball Of Confusion fell all over it. The bass part of this then evolved into Aretha Frankin's Rock Steady, which to be fair sounds quite similar. That tune occured here in the not too distant past, but sadly it was another of these days where time just runs out. So there's hardly any point clicking that link. You'll just be disappointed. Still, there's always tomorrow, although looking at my diary it seems unlikely i'll do any better then. But you never know. Never say never.

Lulu - Feelin' Alright

ORIGINATION Right On! Break Beats And Grooves From The Atlantic And Warner Vaults 1967 - 1975
LAST LISTENED TO March
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not much
RATING

Yes, yes, yes, that Lulu. You know, her voice is not bad, it's quite soulful. And the music, recorded in Muscle Shoals with musicians who had been involved in top-rate soul music for several years by this point, is pretty damned good too. But there are better versions of this track around (Traffic created it, before Joe Cocker went on to do the best known version), so reallly there is little reason to bother with this apart from sheer curiosity. Still, i could think of many worse ways to wake up on a grey summer sunday.

Metallica - Fade To Black

ORIGINATION Ride The Lightning
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT thatcher winning her second bloody general election and the sane world dying one bit more
RATING

Metallica's first go at the quiet/loud dynamic song structure. It'd be pretty good if it wasn't for the angst-ridden lyrics. Urgh. I mean seriously, i'm not a teenager any more, why in the hell did i even listen to this bilge last night? I should've just listened to Kill 'Em All again again. No, instead i think i shall just stick to the Mary Chain once more today. Now there's a band that know how to do the quiet/loud/LOUDER dynamic damned well. Oh yes.

The Jesus And Mary Chain - Man On The Moon

ORIGINATION Munki
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT good 'n' high
RATING

The Mary Chain combined crazed white noise and bubblegum pop to create the best and most influential rock music ever to come out of Scotland. They were formed in East Kilbride in '84 by the brothers Bill and Jim Reid, who shared singing and guitar duties. Their first forays into public saw them scaring people with their revolutionary noise and causing riots. Undeterred they kept going, gradually evolving their sound until '98's Munki.

Man On The Moon has Jim singing in a typical quiet, almost delicate Mary Chain fashion and for the first minute or so, the song runs along with this in an understated fashion. Near the minute and a half mark, the noise kicks in with a combination of distorted and wah-wah'd guitar that makes for one of the most brillant guitar sounds in their whole career. However, it's just a lovely, brief flirt with the sound, before things calm down again. Another verse in the early understated style happens and then The Noise comes back. This time it brings some brass with it. Utterly joyous.

The lyrics just add to the overall goodness. They start out painting a picture of loneliness where it "sure gets lonely living here on the moon". However, by the end there is an acceptance of the solitude because "I guess it's got to be this way". It feels like redemption.

Go and listen to it and then buy every damn thing of theirs you can find. Right now. Go.

Joseph Malik - Melodies

ORIGINATION Diverse
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT higher than the sun
RATING

Local lad does good! Edinburgh DJ Malik's first album was quite different from what many people expected, being a fairly laid back blend of acoustic guitar, samples and Malik's falsetto voice singing quite personal lyrics. Melodies is the opening track and is one of the quietest tracks on the album. Whilst it is not the strongest track, it nicely sets the tone for what is to follow. There are also some nice harmonies through the choruses.

Iron Maiden - Revelations (Live)

ORIGINATION Live After Death
LAST LISTENED TO october
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT oddly high
RATING

Somehow this wasn't as jarring a morning song as it should have been and for the same reason that there was an oddly high chance of waking to it: i had just dreamt of it. In fact, not just that but i was actually watching Iron Maiden perform it (and from the front row) when the bastard alarm woke me this morning. Not the sort of dream i can even recall having before, but it was top fun.

I've got into Maiden during my early teens and it's no surprise that i loved is so much back then, what with all the guitar action, boys adventures and, well, Bruce's yelling. Proper metal. Funnily enough, it's a liking that has never really left me. Whether this is good or bad is purely a choice you'll have to make for yourself. I know how i feel about it.

Live After Death has always been my favourite album of theirs. It's got all the best bits of their early career (and some might say the best bit of their entire career), but with the added dynamic of a live performance or, more correctly, performances. Recorded during their 300+ night world tour of '84, they were really on form here and a lot of that has got to be down to Bruce Dickinson's masterful showmanship. He really pulls the crowd into the event.

Revelations comes midway through the first of the four sides of Live After Death and is something of an atmospheric breather after the full-on onslaught of the first three tracks. The track begins in a laid back fashion, running at a far slower tempo than the proceeding songs. Before launching into the vaguely mystical lyrics, Bruce starts encouraging the crowd to get involved. Soon, during the stuttered refrains that pepper the song, the crowd are in fine voice, shouting to fill the spaces. The track runs through several more verses that are equally full of great imagery (even if it's not exactly clear what they're about), with the crowd/refrain running in-between. Near the middle, things heat up when Adrian Smith and Dave Murray take a guitar solo each. We get a minute and a half of their combined pyrotechnics before it all drops back down to the refrain, a final verse and a whispered ending.

Live, Revelations shines far more than the studio version and this is all down to the great atmosphere in the venue and the crowd's voice. Going back to the original is always a bit of a let down after this. Without the yelling it just feels like something is missing and i always can hear the shouting in my head. Sadly, i also, i can't help but sing that final audience interjection each time as well.

(PS. If you're reading this when the songs are still on my Radio Blog, it's really worth listening to this and then the next tune, they make a wonderfully wrong combination!)

Mark Duval Big Band - The Race Machine

ORIGINATION Music For Dancefloors: The Cream Of the Chappell Music Library Sessions
LAST LISTENED TO May
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT as vague as ever
RATING

A shot from the library vaults again this morning, which seems oddly appropriate given that i am reading Haruki Murakami's Kafka On The Shore, which features a library prominently. The book kind, in this case. Anyway, Duval & Co start out on The Race Machine with a great bass slide intro, before launching into a fine sound library funky groove. It is mostly sax-led, with a robust horn section underscoring. However, the solos are taken by first a trumpet and then by a hammond. Judging by the length of the organ's solo, it's a good bet that this is Mr. Duval himself. It's a fine solo, moving mostly around mid-tones. It's all over in just over a minute and a half, just like all good library music: short and sweet.

Barry Adamson - Trouble Asunder

ORIGINATION a 12" b-side
LAST LISTENED TO last month, possibly
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT lower than your average bear
RATING

I seem to recall quite liking this when i picked it up some years back. But all i can remember about it today is that it was kinda like Tom Waits. I don't have it with me here, though, so you'll either have to find it for yourself if you're curious or forever hud yer weisht. Ta ta.

The Who - Substitute

ORIGINATION Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy
LAST LISTENED TO some time ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT little
RATING

The Who are a band that i've just never got into. I can't explain why, i just haven't. Don't get me wrong, though, there are some songs of theirs that i really like, although i'd guess that it's mostly the obvious ones. This tune, however, i neither particularly like or dislike. It just is. The best thing i can think to write is that the line 'i was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth' has always stuck in my mind.

Reveille

ORIGINATION huh?
LAST LISTENED TO not ever, really, but i think it might have been in From Here To Eternity which i saw in February
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT some days i give up
RATING

So who knew that the subconscious (or whatever) could do irony? Woken with a bugle call in my head. Pah. Well, it got me up at any rate. According to a random website, "upon the last note of this call, the flag was raised, the morning gun fired and the men all had to assemble for morning roll call. It is the same as a French call which dates from the time of the Crusades." So there. If you're really keen, you can hear it here. Now that i have listened to it, i fear it's going to be stuck in my head all day.