Spiritualized - Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

ORIGINATION Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
LAST LISTENED TO eons ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT damned small
RATING

Spiritualized were formed in the early ninties from the ashes of Spacemen 3 by Jason Pierce and whoever he deigned to work with on any given day. Their brand of drug-fuelled fuzzy gospel rock reached it's zenith on their fourth album from 1997 which contained this title track.

The song begins with a repeating vocal, that will be sustained through most of the track:

"All i want in life's a little bit of love to take the pain away, getting strong today, a giant step each day"

It is a hopeful statement but one that comes from a place of heartbreak and darkness, a place that Pierce found himself in during this period. The album was recorded following his split with girlfriend Kate Radley, who remained a member of the band during recording. Hence the heart-broken sounds that permeate not only this track but others on the release. However, the influence of Pierce's love of gospel music stopped him from making things too depressing and leant an uplifting air in part.

The above vocal refrain is soon overlapped with many others, following variations on the heart-broken theme. These further vocals build in layers throughout the song, creating a complex tapestry at the song's close. This structure is reflected in the music.

The many lush layers of sound of music, mostly played by guitar/bass/drums are given an extra layer of heartbreak with some violin. Again, as with the vocals, these layers build and create an increasingly dense sound, before cutting back somewhat towards the end to give space for the vocals.

It all ends with a NASA beep, a slight jokey end to a very serious song.

Rob Dougan - Clubbed To Death Kurayamino Variation

ORIGINATION cd single
LAST LISTENED TO no idea
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT low
RATING

Clubbed To Death is a dark and moody piece of electronica that suceeds in its goal of being cross genre. It does this through a deft combination of orchestral and dancefloor music.

The orchestral pieces, all performed by Dougan (because he couldn't afford an orchestra at the time) are dark and brooding and mostly feature string sounds. This is overlaid with some driving beat loops and a synth string bass that help develop and move forward the mood of suspense. Sprinkled throughout this are a number of breaks, where the beats drop out to leave a haunting piece of piano that works as an effective release from the built-up tension of the track.

Of the six 'variations' of this track that were released in '95, this one became the most popular before going on to be used in the film The Matrix in '99.

Elvis - Let Yourself Go

ORIGINATION 1968 NBC TV Comeback Special
LAST LISTENED TO last week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT getting high
RATING

This is a bit of an odd one, in that it's part of the extended fifteen minute Road Medley from this legendary tv show and even in that it only features for 45 seconds. None the less, it's about as rough, dirty and funky as Elvis gets. As well as his vocals which are rougher than you'd expect, there's big brass (of course), supported by plenty of organ and some southern-soul style guitar picking. It's a neat and memorable little moment from one of the high points a show which had more than it's fair share if them.

Push - Northside Shuffle

ORIGINATION 7"
LAST LISTENED TO in the past month
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT vague
RATING

In the last part of last year, i unearthed my 7" singles mountain, after if had lain undisturbed for nearly six months. In particular, i went through my funk 45s, of which there are far more than a hundred. This one is a fine example of modern funk, having been recorded in 2001 and is more of a cop show funk than a hard soul funk. As you'd expect it features plenty brass, percussion and wah wah and it runs along at a medium-fast pace. In some ways, it has a vague similarity in sound to The James Taylor Quartet's cover of the Theme From Starsky And Hutch, which featured a few ex members of both James Brown's band The JBs and Funkadelic. Which puts this track in good company. However, with it's driving pace and repeating melodies, it's more of a chase scene tune than a main title. Of course, that's not exactly a bad thing.

Jimmy Smith - The Cat

ORIGINATION The Cat
LAST LISTENED TO about three weeks ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT there's always a good chance of some Jimmy
RATING

The Cat LP was arranged and orchestrated by Lalo Schifrin and consequently has a really big brass sound. This, the title track was from a film a few years previous to this LP's 1964 recording and is a Schifrin original.

The track starts with a big brass stab. Straight after is the main melody, played at a merry pace by the basic trio of Jimmy with drums and a guitar. This swings along in a groovy '60s way that could only be Jimmy Smith. After some brass stabs, he's off a'soloing. It's a short, to the point solo, but is highly energetic and definitely brings out a groovy hammond face in anyone who has one. The air hammond too.

Near the mid point, the brass kicks back in in a big way. Jimmy continues to weave his solo through it all, until he returns to the melody. The only down side is the track fades out.

La Vida whatever

ORIGINATION Shrek 2
LAST LISTENED TO never
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT mummy i'm scared
RATING

I feel sick. A version of this terrible song closed the film Shrek 2, which i saw just last week. It was an unfortunate end to the film, which had been quite fun up till that point. Imagine my disgust to awaken with it in my head. On the plus side, i think it may have been Weird Al Yankovic's version La Vida Yoda. If that's a plus. I don't know. Next…

The Rolling Stones - Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)

ORIGINATION Goats Head Soup
LAST LISTENED TO a few hours ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT bloody high
RATING

The Stones. Funky. A killer chorus. Keith and a wah wah. Big brass. Love it.

Quiller - General Direction

ORIGINATION b side of 7"
LAST LISTENED TO sometime in the past month
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not all that high, really
RATING

This is the b side to a song called Quiller, which was the theme tune used for a short-lived '70s UK tv cop show. I suspect the reason that the group was given the same name was because the theme (and by default this track as well) must surely have started life as a library tune and therefore there was never really a group behind it, just composers and session musicians.

General Direction is funky in precisely the '70s cop show way you'd want. From a fairly innocuous acoustic guitar start, it quickly builds (by way of bass and percussion) up to a fine moog melody (think Rockford Files). After that things just get better: percussion breaks, bass run downs, more funky moog and wah wah. A brass section as well, of course. It moves along, it breaks down, it builds up further, it breaks down. Repeat a few times and then top off with the opening moog melody. Job done.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - If You Have To Ask

ORIGINATION Blood Sugar Sex Magik CD
LAST LISTENED TO day before yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT pretty good
RATING

If You Have To Ask is pretty funky. It's from Blood Sugar Sex Magik which is for me the high point in the Chili Peppers career, probably because it's their funkiest point. This track is not be my favourite song on the album, however, for some reason it has lyrics that seem to glue themselves to my head particularly well. It's probably due to the chorus:

If you have to ask
you'll never know
funky motherf•••••s
will not be told to go

No need to guess which part of that sticks. I don't really know what they're on about here and i don't really care. After all, when was funk music for thinking?

The verses are pretty good too and probably more funky than the chorus, mostly due to the choppy rhythm guitar. There are a few of them spread about, with a guitar solo to end things off. I should probably also mention that there is some fine drumming and bassing, but given the group and the many mentions of the funk, you'll have figured that out for yourself i'm sure.

Iggy & The Stooges - Search And Destroy

ORIGINATION Raw Power
LAST LISTENED TO not sure
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT still good
RATING

Yes! Now here's a way to start the year. Happy b*st*rding New Year!

I like The Stooges. If you've ever enjoyed a distorted guitar you do too. Or you'd better. They came out of '60s garage rock, but managed to push it further and harder than almost anyone else.

Search And Destroy is the opening track from their final fling in 1973. Bearing in mind that The Stooges where harder and meaner than almost any other band of the time (and today), this track is probably their fastest, rawest, most high-octane moment. There are no words to express how utterly marvellous this is. It's a desert islander. I'd jump around to it until my brain numbed and my ears bled and i wouldn't care.

When this LP was initially released, it was produced by David Bowie and it was pretty weak. Bowie did his thing, but it wasn't right for the music. It wasn't until a couple of years back when it was reissued that it was finally given some balls and by no less than Iggy himself.

Go and get this CD. For that matter, get all of The Stooges CDs. You're wrong if you don't. Go away now.