Joy Division - Transmission

ORIGINATION Heart And Soul
RECORDED IN 1979
LAST LISTENED TO two days ago
RATING ★★★★★

Is it about the power of music? An illustration of how it can give us the energy to transcend our difficulties? Or is it simply about dancing to forget them? It is tempting to let the history of Joy Division dictate the answer to this. Perhaps that is unfair. Better instead to just dance.

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs

ORIGINATION Rain Dogs
RECORDED IN 1985
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
RATING ★★★★★

Few things in life as quite as fine as Tom Waits during his rebirth years of the mid-eighties. Rain Dogs was Waits' ninth album and the second in his move away from the lounge-style sound he was originally known for. The album is said to be about the urban dispossessed, which is seen by some as Waits straying into territory marked out in literature by Charles Bukowski. Whatever the truth of that assertion, the title track here does have something of that flavour to it, both in its impenetrably picturesque, booze-soaked lyrics and the strange thrift-store orchestra. It is a combination that Waits has been working in ever since, in his own unique way, and it is the reason why he has become such a worshipped cult figure.

The Smiths - Girlfriend In A Coma

ORIGINATION Best of the Smiths
RECORDED IN 1987
LAST LISTENED TO last week
RATING ★★★★★

I was quite a latecomer to The Smiths, after manfully resisting their unique charms throughout all of my youthfully foolish music clique years. It was more than a few years after that silly behaviour was done with that I finally purchased one of their albums, even then only opting for a collection. It has been over thirteen years since I bought that CD and somehow I am yet to buy another of theirs, which is rather foolish considering that I've enjoyed every song on that first-bought collection. I'm in no hurry.

Girlfriend In A Coma to me is the quintessential Smiths song: a clean, well-played pop tune with a dark heart.

Gogol Bordello - Alcohol

ORIGINATION Super Taranta! CD
RECORDED IN 2007
LAST LISTENED TO last night
RATING ★★★★★

As the closing song of a very frantic gig, this really was perfect. Sang almost entirely solo, it was a calming, a breath, one small step before turning out into the night. On album, it is a reflection on a sorry drug that seems the cure to many and yet is more often than not the cause.

Einstürzende Neubauten - Pelikanol

ORIGINATION Silence Is Sexy CD
RECORDED IN 2000
LAST LISTENED TO last night
RATING ★★★★★

Long-time German oddities Einstürzende Neubauten released Silence Is Sexy, one of their most successful albums, in 2000. A two-disc set, the second disc contained one single near-twenty minute long piece. Motorised metal strips throb deeply, mechanically and a child-like rhyme is repeated over and over. The world closes down, reality retreats. Humming, broken glass. Throbbing. As the piece progresses, the voices become stranger, flipping left and right, while white noise stabs irregularly, broken-speaker like. Over headphones, it is an intense experience.

Nur zur Erinnerung  Just as a reminder
Bittermandel  Bitter almonds
Marzipan  Marzipan
Pelikanol  Pelikanol (school glue)

Nirvana - Serve The Servants

ORIGINATION In Utero CD
RECORDED IN 1993
LAST LISTENED TO October 2010
RATING ★★★★★

In Utero was a welcomely abrasive follow up to the slightly-too-polished Nevermind. Serve The Servants, the first track, sets well the tone for the album. Like much of Kurt Cobain's songs, it is very personal, dealing with his reaction to his sudden fame and fortune, as well as his relationship with his father. However, the opening couplet 'Teenage angst has paid of well / Now I'm bored and old", as well as being typically self-depreciating, appears to trivialise what music had gone before and in particular Nevermind. Whilst this is understandable, given the disturbed state of mind of Cobain at the time, it does seem somewhat insulting to those legions of listeners who gave him the freedom to voice that very thought. It is a dark and twisted song, which begs the question, who are the servants? The record company, the fans, maybe even his muse? There is no clear answer to this and paying such close attention will only bring the listener too close to the troubled mind of the author. Ultimately, it is a good song but one whose darkness can be wearying.

The Bees - A Minha Menina

ORIGINATION Sunshin Hit Me CD
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT reasonable
RATING ★★★★★

A few years ago, I picked up a copy of The Bees third album, after hearing a few tracks from it on God's Jukebox. I liked it plenty and so a little later picked up their debut in a random second-hand music moment in Brum with the Doctor. To this day, it has failed to grab me in the same manner.

Today's track was the one that stood out for me, which is ironic as it is a version of a track by Os Mutantes, so perhaps I should finally get round to listening to them. Another thing I discovered about this track today was that it was licensed for an advert, along with another two of their tracks. It was at this point I stopped caring about The Bees.

Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Angel's Harp (Feat. Black Francis)

ORIGINATION Dark Night Of The Soul CD
LAST LISTENED TO two days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT yadda yadda
RATING ★★★★★

It has a catchy chorus, one that has been rattling around inside my head since I picked up this album last month. The guitar is also quite good and there are some enjoyable electronic embellishments. Yet somehow, trying to focus on this as an individual track is almost impossible this morning.

Violent Femmes - To The Kill

ORIGINATION Violent Femmes CD
LAST LISTENED TO three days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT annoyingly high
RATING ★★★★★

I thought by not listening to them for a few days, that they might release their grip. I seem to be sadly mistaken. Today, there was yet another return to their first album, this time one of the least good tracks. It feels less tight than the rest, formless in places. Whilst that is undoubtedly the intention, and it does form a good counterpoint in its place on the album, it does not make for a particularly arresting song.

Violent Femmes - Please Do Not Go

ORIGINATION Violent Femmes CD
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT rising farce
RATING ★★★★★

The Violent Femmes again? There are no songs of theirs that I dislike, howver writing about them for this many days in a row is a little tiresome. Please Do Not Go features a nice sing-a-long chorus. It is a slower song and, as ever, the up front Mariachi bass is great. There is a little falsetto singing in this one too. Nice.

Violent Femmes - Black Girls

ORIGINATION Hallowed Ground LP
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT damned good
RATING ★★★★★

The Violent Femmes return this morning with another song from their second album and one that is a particular favourite of mine. It starts out in fairly typical Femmes style, with some up-tempo drums and that distinctive bass guitar sound, which soon evolves when tenor sax comes in to augment the first verses. However, it is not until those verses are finished that the song really breaks new territory, with a choppy, hard-blown sax solo that edges into Pharoah Sanders-style freedom, which is followed by some bird-call vibrato trumpet and then a Jew's harp. Even more oddness follows that, when all the the blown instruments start trading off each other. It is a magnificent piece in its setting, at once seemingly at odds with the folky punk (or possible punkish folk) of the Femmes, whilst at the same time being the logical extension of, and perfectly complimentary to, it. Singer Gano returns for the ending, almost yelling lines about "digging black girls" which in itself seems pointedly at odds with the faith-inspired verse the precedes it. Marvellous.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - There Is A Kingdom

ORIGINATION The Boatman's Call CD
LAST LISTENED TO December
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT teeny
RATING ★★★★★

Each time a new Bad Seeds album comes out, almost without exception, my reaction to it is muted. Usually for some months after my first listen, I am unsure about it, about this change to a known entity. Then comes a day that I think, "actually this is all right". By the next day the album will be on constant rotation and will stay there for many, many days. Boatman's Call was something of an exception, it was and is so quiet, so low-key, missing the usual Bad Seed bombast, that I never reached that week of constant rotation. However, over the years it has gradually ebbed into my conscious and finally, in the past few years, I have come to terms with it and it enjoys a special place in my heart. It is a quietly beautiful album.

All of this makes waking to a particular song from this album rather unexpected, especially one that I have never once sought out to listen to on its own. As with the whole album, it is quietly beautiful, centred around Cave and his piano, with minimal further instrumentation. It appears, on the face of it, to be about faith. However, unlike yesterday's song of faith, this one could as easily be a song of secular love. The line is, as ever with Nick Cave, a blurred one.

Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground

ORIGINATION Hallowed Ground LP
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty high
RATING ★★★★★

After the last couple of morning songs, yesterday turned into Violent Femmes day, with three of their albums (which is all I have) on constant rotation. Most listeners rarely move beyond their classic first album and this is a real shame because the second album is just as good. It was culled from the same writing period as the first, and so contains something of the same flavour, yet it is a more ambitious and sonically diverse album. Today it was its title track that was with me when I woke.

Of the songs on the album, Hallowed Ground is the one closest musically to the first album, structured as it is around the strong up-front bass and guitar, although with the addition of some piano. Where it differs is through its the lyrics. Previously, they were centred around a post-pubescent world, on this album singer Gordon Gano's faith is the common theme. This song is a statement of faithful defiance against the coming apocalypse, which was close at the time of writing, and whilst the faith is strong it is not overt. This is not one of the brethren looking to bring you into the fold, rather it is a young man quietly asserting his beliefs.

Many found this statement of faith a reason to turn away from the Violent Femmes and it does seem at odds with the prevailing sentiments of rock music. Yet this was and remains more of an indictment of the listener than of what is a great album.

[repetition]

Yep. Same as yesterday. Which, given how often it was played, is no surprise.

Violent Femmes - Gone Daddy Gone

ORIGINATION Violent Femmes CD
LAST LISTENED TO very early this morning
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not waking to it would have been a surprise
RATING ★★★★★

A stand out track from a stand out album. It is not the most obvious stand out track on the album and the album is not one of the most stand out albums in the world. Both are slow builders. The lyrics from the song repeat again and again on an internal loop long after the album has stopped playing, the album slowly, eventually has become a hit, popular with an endless tide of post-adolesents, an album to take to heart at that impressionable time and to never let go of.

As well as the endlessly repeating hook of the lyrics, Gone Daddy Gone has a xylophone* solo. A xylophone solo. If this does not convince you of its greatness, you ought not be here. Go now.


*that's the one with the wooden bars

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home

ORIGINATION Megan
LAST LISTENED TO late week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT vague
RATING ★★★★★

Some mornings only the briefest of snatches of a song is in my head. These are the testing mornings, especially if it just a riff. Luckily this morning it was lyrics and ones easy to identify. Unluckily, all of the time I lay in bed, I could remember not one more piece of the song, just the endless tumble of two state names.

This song was a gift from my lovely friend Megan and it is one of those songs that will always remind me of her, whenever I hear it. It is a charming boy-girl pop song about finding a home in love, "home is whenever I'm with you", that can't fail to bring out a smile. It also starts with whistling, has that state name tumble and ends with some sweet, sweet trumpet. I'm sold.

Joy Division - Means To An End

ORIGINATION Closer CD
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT goodie goodie yum yum
RATING ★★★★★

It seems appropriate that on such a bleak morning, grey, overcast and lifeless, that Joy Division would be in my head. There is and almost certainly always will be an association between their music, their sound, and darkness; a near-tangible miasma of unhappiness, of gloom, that is inescapable. For me this makes them difficult to listen to, which is unfortunate because they made some very good music.

Means To An End is from their second (and in some ways last) album. To my untrained ears, it seems typical of their sound. Hooky's bass is front and centre, driving the tune, framed by machine-like drums, whilst jagged, skeletal guitar breaks around the incessant rhythm. Over it all is Ian Curtis, the dark centre.

I don't listen to Joy Division very often and I doubt I ever will.

The Kills - U.R.A. Fever

ORIGINATION Midnight Boom CD
LAST LISTENED TO May 2010
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT minimal
RATING ★★★★★

A couple of years ago I was sitting in a bar, eating a late lunch as the low winter sun disappeared somewhere behind thick cloud cover. The bean burger and chips were warming and filling, however my enjoyment of them was gradually intruded upon by the music playing. I realised I was nodding along, and had been for a little while, to a sparse bluesy-rock sound that was pretty appealing. Eventually I asked the bartender what he was playing and he named a band I had never heard of. On my way home I bought the album: Midnight Boom by The Kills.

U.R.A. Fever is the opening track of the album. It's a low-key beginning, that nonetheless signals clearly the dislocated boy-girl singing, rough guitars and slight electronic tinge typical of the whole album. The skeletal frame of the song is hung with enough hooks, in both some choppy guitars and a memorable repeated lyric ("U.R.A. fever / ain't born typical"), to make it memorable.

The Newcranes - Frontline

ORIGINATION Frontline LP
LAST LISTENED TO September 2010
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT slim
RATING ★★★★★

Back in the early ’90s, not washing was all the range amongst certain student circles. Crust was in, clean was out. The Levellers ruled all. The far lesser-known Newcranes were always lumped into that crowd, whether they liked it or not. However, their sound owed far more to Eastern European musical traditions that British ones. Notably here, on the title track with its Ukranian male choir intro and predominant accordian melody.

The White Stripes - Little Room

ORIGINATION White Blood Cells
LAST LISTENED TO a few days ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT goodish
RATING

Forty-five seconds of whiney White Stripe voice and drums. No guitar. Leave it alone.