I'M LEAVING YOU IN THE CARE OF SOME VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE...

I dont go on holiday until the 16th May - two lovely weeks on the beach pictured above in St Kitts with Mrs Villain - but such was the magnificent response to the request for guest postings while I'm away that TVV is being handed over to various 'villains' throughout May and the early part of June.

Quite a lot of the mp3s that will be featured here over the next 6 weeks or so are quite different to what you would normally find, and to be perfectly honest, that was what I was hoping the outcome would be. Everyone has contributed in a way that is personal and unique. Some of the words will have you laughing out loud, others will leave you extremely moved. Some folk have contributed lengthy, entertaining and thought-provoking pieces, while others have captured exactly what they want to say in a handful of lines.

Many of the contributors will be dipping their toe into the wonderful world of blogging for the first ever time, and I hope that having done so and enjoyed the experience some of them will find the time and energy to start up something of their own.

I'm in the fortunate position of knowing exactly what is coming over the next few weeks, and given that I'm not the best at keeping secrets, I'm finding it difficult keeping quiet about the many highlights. But I'm going to say nowt....

Other than a couple of contributors who asked for specific dates to coincide with a special event in their lives, everything was put together at random, and I reckon it works out quite well in terms of no two posts on consecutive days being all that similar.

Amazingly, no-one requested the same songs be posted (although a handful of groups will appear more than once). I'm still waiting on 4 more posts arriving - all from some of my closest friends and confidantes as it turns out (John Greer, Comrade Colin, Mike from Manic Pop Thrills and Jacques the Kipper), so I cant say precisely how many songs and artists will eventually be featured.

In many ways, its like a gigantic festival on the one revolving stage....there will be great headlining acts doing familiar stuff......there will be some acts that wont be to the taste of everyone.....there will lots of acts you may well be hearing for the first time and who you will fall in love with.....and there's some acts that will may leave you wondering why the festival organisers went to the trouble of booking them.

I do hope that everyone who is a regular reader will offer words of support and encouragement via the comments page when they come across a posting that strikes a chord. I'll certainly be chipping in a few words and thoughts before I head off to my fantasy island, and even while I'm away I'm intending to go on-line every now and then to see what's been happening.

I'll be back with my own brand of rubbish in early June. In the meantime, this series will spare you live reviews of Lloyd Cole, Morrissey, Martin Stephenson and Maximo Park, all of whom I'm going along to see over the next fortnight.

I'll leave you for now with these variations on a theme:-

mp3 : Weezer - Island In The Sun
mp3 : Albert Hammond Jr - Holiday
mp3 : Kirsty McColl - He's On The Beach
mp3 : Belle & Sebastian - Another Sunny Day
mp3 : Urusei Yatsura - King Of Lazy

Happy Listening. See you in a while, but please keep on coming in......each new posting will appear at 0700 hours, UK time....

FROM UNDER THE COVERS (Parts 54, 55 and 56)

Three offerings from Scottish crooners today.

mp3 : Paul Quinn & The Independent Group - Misty Blue

A song that has been covered by loads of artists the world over - particularly by some great female singers. It's a song that has its roots in country music in America back in the 60s, and this version from the 1994 LP Will I Ever Be Inside Of You? really demonstrates the vocal range of one of the greatest singers to ever have come out of Scotland.

mp3 : Associates - Boys Keep Swinging

Originally released in 1979 only a few weeks after the original by David Bowie, this was the song that first brought the talents of Alan Rankine and Billy Mackenzie to the attention of many people. I'd love to be able to say that I heard this back in the days, but it wasn't until 1982 when the band began to enjoy mainstream success that someone played this to me on a cassette tape. A copy was made available on the compilation LP Double Hipness released in 2000.

mp3 : James Kirk - Felicity

Not sure if this technically really counts as a cover given that James wrote the song for his band Orange Juice. Mind you, it was Edwyn Collins who sang lead vocals when it was released as a single in 1982, unlike this great version from the 2003 LP You Can Make It If You Boogie (an album you should all have in your collection - click here).

Happy Listening

IT'S TUESDAY...BUT I MESSED UP

I normally make a weekly contribution to the Contrast Podcast, a new episode of which is broadcast every Tuesday - it's something I've been doing for about 16 months now and its always great fun.

But I've been so caught up in other things this past 7 days that I didn't have the time to record and submit my intro before the cut-off point. Given my absence, I've no doubt that episode #161 which has the theme of Yes will be an absolute belter.

Given that I often submit tracks with a distinctly Scottish bent to them, I would probably have offered this track as a contribution:-

mp3 : Arab Strap - Not Quite A Yes

Except......my last contribution to episode #160 was an Aidan Moffat song, so I would have needed to have gone for something different to avoid accusations of having a lack of imagination.

And the great thing about the Contrast Podcast is that the theme can be interpreted in any way you care to choose....so I would have gone for a variation on the word and narrowed it down to one of this trio of tunes:-

mp3 : Ash - Oh Yeah
mp3 : The Wedding Present - Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
mp3 : Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps

I would have hummed and hawed over this choice for hours...maybe even overnight. Still not sure what I'd have gone with...and no doubt by the time I eventually recorded the intro and sent the mp3 over to the fabulous Tim Young, then someone else would have beaten me to it.

So I recommend that at some point later today (it might be quite late as Tim has a lot on his plate as well just now and the podcast might not get posted until not long before midnight) you pay a visit to the Contrast Podcast and have a look and listen. You'll even be able to put some voices to some familiar names....

Click here (but I'll warn you that #161 might feature prog rock......oh Yes)

Happy Listening.

I WOULDN'T NORMALLY DO THIS KIND OF THING

In the normal course of events, I don't usually go in for plugging stuff. But I'll make an exception today.

First of all, I'm going to mention a temporary exhibition at a Museum & Art Gallery. No wait, come back and hear me out, cos I'm not going to thrust some second-rate opinions about paintings and sculpture on you....this is an exhibition devoted to football.

Some of you might know that I'm a fan of Raith Rovers FC....I suspect most of you don't care one bit. But the club is 125 years old now, and to celebrate the anniversary, some fans have put together an exhibition of material including strips, programmes and photographs from their own collections. One of the driving forces behind the exhibition is a good mate of mine called John Greer (he's also someone who is contributing to the upcoming series of guest posts), and I was lucky enough to be asked along by John to the official opening. All I'll say is that he has done a stunning job....so if in the unlikely event you find yourself in the vicinity of the town of Kirkcaldy in the Kingdom of Fife between now and Sunday 24th May, get yourself along to the local Museum & Art Gallery. Full details are here.

This song goes out to the aforementioned Mr Greer:-

mp3 : Soft Cell - Memorabilia

The second thing to get a mention is a forthcoming bio of the great Martin Stephenson that is being published on 1st June. Here's what the advance publicity is saying:-

The Song Of The Soul is the story of a unique musical troubadour.

Born in Washington, Tyne & Wear on 27th July 1961, Martin Stephenson has devoted his life to developing his craft as a singer, songwriter and guitarist incorporating his love for an eclectic range of musical styles from pop and folk through to bluegrass and punk.

In the early 80s he formed The Daintees, a collaboration with like-minded souls, who produced several critically acclaimed albums. However, Stephenson’s purist tendencies sat uncomfortably with the mainstream record industry leading him to shun the populist route and plough an increasingly humble, low-key furrow. Many lesser souls would have bowed out after a series of strong solo albums fell on so many deaf ears – and live performances began to turn into battles; against ignorant audiences and, most pointedly, the bottle.

Such a determined talent could not be suppressed and after recharging his batteries in the Highlands of Scotland, Martin Stephenson returned to stunning and prolific form. By harnessing the power of the internet, Martin brought together a hardcore of fans to create a unique two-way communication; rediscovering the traditions of American bluegrass playing and reforming his beloved Daintees for a glorious series of gigs that have now become an annual event.

This burst of creative energy has continued with The Daintees recently returning to the studio for the first time in 16 years. The resulting album, Western Eagle, was released in March 2008 to glowing reviews in the major music publications.

The Song Of The Soul captures the restless, musical spirit of a man who has proved that talent and independence can not only survive but thrive in the music scene of the new millennium.

It's an authorised biography that has been written by Richard Cundill and Mark Bradley and it is being published by Ardra Press. It costs £11.99 including P&P, and is available by clicking here. *

I've already ordered my own copy.

mp3 : Martin Stephenson & The Daintees - In The Heal Of The Night

Happy Listening.

* link provided before 3.30pm was wrong!! Sorry for any confusion caused.

THE CLASS OF '79 (Part 16)

In a few weeks time I’m going to be celebrating a very significant anniversary. 31st May to be precise…..

It will be the 30 years to the day that I saw my first ever live gig at the Glasgow Apollo. The headliners were The Police and there were two support acts for the princely sum of £2.50 (although until I found a picture of one of the tickets from that gig, I was sure it was only £2)

I had bought my ticket some months earlier not long after hearing Can’t Stand Losing You for the first time. It was for an unreserved seat in the Stalls, and from recollection, it was something like ticket #358. It was highly unusual for an-all seated venue like the Apollo to have unreserved seating, but this was probably on account of the fact that a band such as The Police were never going to sell out the 3,500 capacity, and indeed there were no tickets on sale for the circle or upper circle. (These were days when outwith The Apollo very few venues in Glasgow would book bands seen as part of the punk/new wave movement)

All that changed however in the few weeks before the date of the gig as a re-released Roxanne became an enormous hit in the UK, and all of a sudden the demand for tickets rocketed - especially in Glasgow as it was the opening night of the tour. But it was only on the actual day that tickets were released for the Circle, and I remember a couple of class mates going in that morning to buy them and me being quite smug about it as it was well-known fact that the vicious bouncers at the venue didn’t allow anyone to stand up in the circle but were pretty powerless to prevent you pogoing in the stalls.

So you can imagine how heartbroken I was on arrival when, despite having a ticket for the stalls, I was refused access because they were full. What had basically happened was security was so lax that with tickets to all parts of the venue being the same price that the stewards/bouncers didn’t bother checking to see where you should be going and had only started to pay attention when downstairs got overcrowded. So, there I was with a seat in the circle for my first ever gig….and down below in the stalls I spotted those very classmates I had been mocking a few hours earlier…they had done the right thing in going straight to the venue after school in the hope of seeing the band go into the venue via the stage door, while I had gone home had something to eat and then made my way in not long before the start of the show at 7.30pm.

My face was tripping me when Bobby Henry took to the stage. What should have been a great moment in my life felt such an anti-climax, and I didn’t really pay too much attention to the musicians……even now I can’t tell you anything about him or his band despite efforts via a google search. But I do know he/they were signed to A&M records and were labelmates of the headline act.

After maybe 20-25 minutes they shuffled off and things livened up thanks to the music that was being played over the PA system which was a mixture of UK and US punk/new wave. Then the main support act came on ...The Cramps.

They were not what I imagine 90% of the audience were expecting. Where The Police were a band who wanted to conquer the world via catchy pop-songs on the radio, this lot just wanted to shock your senses into submission. The music seemed tuneless in many places and the lyrics were undecipherable. The lead singer had no intention of trying to win over a largely hostile audience who seemed determined to live up to the stereotype that if a Glasgow crowd didn’t like you they were very vocal in letting you know all about it. The boos were deafening…..all it succeeded in doing was making the band play louder and faster. I reckon at least half the audience walked out seeking the sanctuary in the foyer.

The singer (I had no idea at this time who he was) started delivering weird monologues in between the bursts of music and really antagonising what was left of the crowd. The Apollo had a stage that must have been about 15 foot high that was impossible to invade, and this allowed him to continue to wind everyone up in complete safety as no-one could get near him….and with this knowledge, the singer decided to get his dick out and wave it around a bit as the ultimate inult to those who were screaming for his head on a plate.

Cue pandemonium down in the stalls. But then when you thought it had reached fever pitch doesn’t the singer not just decide to jump off the stage and into the crowd below??? But where I was expecting the crowd to tear him limb-from-limb, they bowed in respect and treated him like a god….or maybe they were terrified of the bouncers who were quick to dive in beside the singer hoping that trouble would break out. After maybe 35 minutes it was all over to a mixture of cheers and boos, but the latter did exceed the former...

Did I enjoy it? I suppose I did, but in all truth I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it all as it felt it was more like a theatrical performance than a gig. But given that I can recall so much of it, you can be certain that it left an impression on my young mind….

And so to the main act, who I reckon didn’t take to the stage until almost 10pm and didn’t play for much more than 45 minutes including an encore. I cant pretend that I can recall the set-list song-for-song, but I think just about every track from Outlandos D’Amour got an airing, including a spoken vocal from Andy Summers as he serenaded a blow-up rubber doll during Sally (which to my 15 year old mind seemed just as outrageous as anything that Lux Interior had gotten up to a little while earlier…I soon learned….). I also remember immediately discovering that the legend about not no-one being allowed to stand up and pogo in the circle was a load of nonsense as everyone got out of their seats when Sting & co took to the stage…and we stayed on our feet for the remainder of the night

It turns out that the gig became a special one in the annals of The Police…as recounted by Andy Summers himself in his autobiography:-

The stage at the Glasgow Apollo slopes downward to a drop of about twelve feet. The edge disappears into blackness, and in the heat of the moment it would be easy to dance off it. We pogo about on this incline, with the Scottish audience chanting and screaming. The balcony sways, bending up and down as if it is about to shatter, but oblivious to the fragility beneath, the fans jump up and down as if tempting fate.

This is our first gig as headliners in the UK., and with a crowd surrounding the hotel and waiting outside the Apollo, it's already out of control. I hit my pedals, leap in the air, run around the stage, and pray that we are not about to witness a tragedy.

Toward the end of the show we do a song called 'Be My Girl - Sally' which after the initial chorus has a monologue from me about a hapless individual's love affair with a blow-up doll. I always deliver this ditty in a Yorkshire accent, as it seems to give it the right tone, and even this unlikely piece gets chanted along with, and we all rise to a crescendo with "And I only have to worry in case my girl wears thin.

Back in the dressing room, drenched in sweat and sitting among piles of little tartan-wrapped presents, we remark about the bouncing balcony, amazed that the whole thing didn't collapse. Later we find out that the Apollo has been condemned.

I’m proud that I was part of that bouncing balcony on 31st May 1979….and it was a place I would return to again and again and again over the next few years.

Andy Summers wasn’t lying however when he said the venue had been condemned. The Apollo was closed by the safety authorities two months later but it re-opened within weeks. Over the next few years it would be periodically closed down and then re-opened again after some safety work had been carried out. The final gig turned out to be 16th June 1985 and I was there that night to see The Style Council.

The Apollo was torn down in 1987 and it lay as a gap site in the city centre for a long while before a 203-foot high 18-screen multiplex cinema with a pub and a comedy club on the ground floor opened in 2001

mp3 : Bobby Henry – Head Case
mp3 : The Cramps - Human Fly
mp3 : The Police – Landlord/Next To You (live)

The tracks by Bobby Henry and The Police are rips from my vinyl copy of the 1979 compilation LP Propaganda a copy of which is available for £15 on ebay just now…The Police tracks were recorded in April 1979 at the Bottom Line Club in New York.

Happy Listening.

PICTURES ON MY WALL

It's lovely sleeve dontcha think?

Nice song too...

mp3 : Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon (All Night Version)

Kind of criminal this only reached #9 in the charts in January 1984 (is it really 25 years since I was wearing my dad's old raincoat???)

Happy Memories.

IT'S FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE....WITH MORRISSEY (Part 20)

A highly appropriate selection this week given that the Friday-Morrissey series is going to be given an extended break thanks to the forthcoming guest posts throughout May and the early part of June.

It was back in August 1994 that the world got to listen to the fruits of the union between Morrissey and Siouxsie Sioux. It was a track that had been recorded at least nine months before release during the sessions for Vauxhall And I, and LP that hit the shelves in March 1994.

The song is a cover originally recorded by Timi Yuro. If like me, you don't know anything about the lady, then this obituary from The Guardian newspaper back in 2004 might assist.

The lack of a b-side on this CD single didn't help sales, and it only reached #25 in the UK charts, a position that was, at the time, very consistent with that of most solo offerings from the two protagonists - which makes me think either every Morrissey fan in 1994 bought Siouxsie & The Banshees singles (and vice-versa), or it was a single that many fans missed out on because they weren't aware of its existence. The latter is possible given that there was absolutely no promotional work done on the single at all - no video or TV appearances - and it got next to no airplay on radio.

Personally, I think it is quite lovely:-

mp3 : Morrissey & Siouxsie - Interlude
mp3 : Morrissey & Siouxsie - Interlude (extended)
mp3 : Morrissey & Siouxsie - Interlude (instrumental)

The sleeve from a snap taken in 1957 by Roger Mayne, and is entitled Girl Jiving In Southam Street. Southam Street is in the North Kensington district of London, and as far as I know, the girl in question has never been identified.

As mentioned above, next Friday being 1st May will be the start of the series of guest postings. Part 21 of this particular series will be made available on Friday 12th June.

Happy Listening

BEAUTIFUL SONGS NEEDN'T ALWAYS BE BALLADS

The closing song on the 1989 LP Technique is one of the most underrated bits of work ever recorded by New Order. It has a quite wonderful tune that is underscored by one of Bernard's more lovely lyrics:-

Nothing in this world
Can touch the music that I heard
When I woke up this morning
It put the sun into my life
It cut my heartbeat with a knife
It was like no other morning

I dont belong to no-one
But I want to be with you
I can't be owned by no-one
What am I supposed to do
I cant see the sense in your leaving
All I need is your love to believe in

Don't look into the sun
Its not for me or anyone
To steal the light out of the sky
Is it really such a sin
Cos if it is then I'll give in
I cant live without your love

I dont belong to no-one
But I want to be with you
I can't be owned by no-one
What am I supposed to do
I cant see the sense in your leaving
All I need is your love to believe in

And for you I would do what I can
But I cant change the way that I am

mp3 : New Order - Dream Attack

Sigh.

OH DEAR, HE'S RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS (Part 4)

This was originally posted on Tuesday 12th June 2007. It attracted a fair few whimsical comments, so apologies for those suffering the repeat:-

HORSIN' AROUND

I'm sure I'm not the first blogger of my age to mention how lucky today's kids are in terms of what they can watch on TV.

In my day, it was three terrestrial channels - BBC1, BBC2 and Scottish Television - and quite frankly, most of the shows aimed at those aged under 12 were crap.

Except for Tom & Jerry.

Nowadays, with all sorts of specialised channels on satellite TV, there is a wider choice, and while much of it is probably just as crap, at least they can watch something different all the time.

I just remember every single school holiday being marked on BBC1 with a re-run of two black-and-white TV series. One was called Belle & Sebastian. The other was The White Horses. The former had a really creepy theme tune that was sung in a foreign language, the latter had a theme tune that was ace.

Here's an abridged extract from wikipedia:-

The White Horses is a 1965 television series co-produced by RTS of Yugoslavia and BR-TV of Germany. It follows the adventures of a teenage girl (played by Helga Anders) who visits a farm, run by her Uncle Dimitri (played by Helmuth Schneider), where white Lipizzaner horses are raised. It is called Počitnice v Lipici in Slovenian and Ferien in Lipizza in German. The series was a cult hit with children and comprised 13 episodes, filmed in black and white.A dubbed version was broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1968 and repeated for many years afterwards (the dubbed soundtrack has since been lost). The theme tune, credited to "Jacky", was sung by Jackie Lee. It became a top 10 hit in the UK charts in April 1968. Jackie Lee also had a hit with the theme tune to Rupert (The Bear) in 1970/71.

And guess what:-

mp3 : Jackie Lee - White Horses

And how about a couple of my favourite bands doing cover versions:-

mp3 : The Trash Can Sinatras - White Horses
mp3 : The Wedding Present - White Horses

The former is on the b-side of the 12" single Circling The Circumference, while the latter can now be found on the recently released Peel Sessions boxset.

Happy Listening.

MY LIFE, AS TOLD BY MOZZA

The idea for this posting is pinched from Rol from Sunset over Slawit........he did it this way.

Picking an artist, and using ONLY SONG TITLES from only that artist, cleverly (preferably) answer these questions. (Please note I'm not 100% serious with these answers....99.5% I'll admit to.....)

1. Are you a male or female:

Spring-Heeled Jim

2. Describe yourself:

Maladjusted

3. How do you feel about yourself:

Last Of The Famous International Playboys

4. Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend:

Interesting Drug

5. Describe your current boy/girl situation:

Pashernate Love

6. Describe your current location:

East West

7. Describe where you want to be:

Redondo Beach

8. Your best friend(s) is:

Our Frank

9. Your favourite colour is:

Black Cloud

10. You know that:

The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils

12. If your life was a television show what would it be called:

I'll Never Be Anybody's Hero Now

13. What is life to you:

I Know Its Gonna Happen Someday

14. What is the best advice you have to give:

Hold On To Your Friends


mp3 : The Smiths - Paint A Vulgar Picture

The image is taken from a cover of a tape made for my 30th birthday back in 1993 by Jacques the Kipper- L to R : Andy Rourke, Morrissey, JC and Johnny Marr.

Dream On.

A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Received an e-mail from Paul Haig the other day, and given that he's been so supportive of this blog in recent times, I think it's only fair and right that I share it with you:-

It has been reported in place that the Cathode Ray is a new band formed that I've formed. This is definitely not the case.

I've been very busy and wan't fully made aware at all of the developing situation. For reasons of factual accuracy and to save people a lot of wasted energy it is now necessary to set the record straight.

It has been erroneously reported as a new band venture. There has never been any intention of starting, or for that matter joining a new band since the end of Josef K - I'm perfectly happy writing and recording as a solo artist. This particular collection of co-written songs (circa 2005/06) started as an experiment to see if there would be any interest from publishers with a view to placing them. Involvement ceased after that and it was made clear at the time it had been a song writing project.

I know that a similar sort of e-mail was fired out to other folk via the ROL website, so hopefully the word is spreading about the identity theft.....

mp3 : Edwyn Collins - It's A Steal
mp3 : The Teardrop Explodes - Thief Of Baghdad (Peel Session)

Happy Listening

THE CLASS OF '79 (Part 15)

This lyric spoke much to me when I was 16 years of age:-

Life is timeless, days are long when you're young
You used to fall in love with everyone
Any guitar and any bass drum
Life is a drink and you get drunk when you're young

Life is new and there's things to be done
You can't wait to be grown up
Acceptance into the capital world
You pull on some weed and you pull on someone when you're young

But you find out life isn't like that
It's so hard to comprehend
Why you set up your dreams to have them smashed in the end
But you don't mind you've got time on your side
And they're never gonna make you stand in line
You're just waiting for the right time

You're fearless and brave - you can't be stopped when you're young
You swear you're never ever gonna work for someone
No corporations for the new age sons
Tears of rage run down your face
But still you say "it's fun"

And you find out life isn't like that
It's so hard to understand
Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam
It's got you in its grip before you're born
It's done with the use of a dice and a board
They let you think you're king but you're really a pawn

You're fearless and brave - you can't be stopped when you're young
You used to fall in love with everyone
Any guitar and any bass drum

In a couple of months time, I'll be 46 years of age. And its still a lyric that speaks to me...

A #17 smash in August 1979, it was in fact the last non-import single by The Jam not to at least reach the Top4 in the UK singles chart. They were truly on the cusp of having greatness bestowed upon them by the masses.....

mp3 : The Jam - When You're Young
mp3 : The Jam - Smithers Jones

Cracking b-side as well, from the pen of bassist Bruce Foxton.

Happy Listening.

SONGS THAT MRS VILLAIN IS PARTICULARLY FOND OF (1)

After mentioning yesterday that Mrs Villain was a teenage T Rex fan, I think its only fair to recognise that she is not someone stuck entirely in the past and that there's a fair amount of new bands that she likes.

One of her favourites is Young Knives, an English trio that I'm rather fond of myself. A superb live act, you can guarantee that Mrs V will be right down the front when this lot come to town, surrounded by folk old enough to be her offspring (and in some cases, young enough to be a grandchild....).

I could have shoved up any of this band's singles and Mrs V would have been happy. Decided in the end on this October 2007 effort, the first to be taken from their second LP Superabundance which van be purchased tight here.

It's a record that deserved to be a bigger hit than just #43, and the tracks made available on the reverse of the 7" and the CD single aint bad either:-

mp3 : Young Knives - Terra Firma
mp3 : Young Knives - Back To Back
mp3 : Young Knives - A Cavern
mp3 : Young Knives - Holiday Everyday

Happy Listening.

IT'S FRIDAY, I'M IN LOVE....WITH MORRISSEY (Part 19)

A bit of a historical moment this July 1991 single as it marked the first release that involved the then relatively unknown Boz Boorer - the one consistent member of the Morrissey entourage over the past 18 years.

The song was a new one that hadn't featured on Kill Uncle or any of the singles taken from that LP released just four months earlier. But it was one that had been written in conjunction with Mark Nevin who had been so heavily involved in the LP...

It's a single that I was very impressed with on its release. It was a more than passable move to a rockabilly sound completely different from anything Morrissey had done before. My only grumble is that over the next few years, the rockabilly sound proved to be just about the only way this band could play live and too many of the gigs and tours in the early part of the 90s were a letdown....

But I digress...for this series is really only about looking at the single, and as I mentioned above, it was one I liked on release and one that I still have a soft spot for even now all these years later.

The other tracks on the CD single (for it was in that format I originally bought the single although I now also have a 12" copy as well) were a strange mix of a cover, a live cover and a live version of a song that had previously been a b-side.....

mp3 : Morrissey - Pregnant For The Last Time
mp3 : Morrissey - Skin Storm
mp3 : Morrissey - Cosmic Dancer (live)
mp3 : Morrissey - Disappointed (live)

The single only reached #25 in the charts, marginally higher than the two efforts taken from Kill Uncle, but a bit of a let down given it was a new song altogether.

Skin Storm had originally been recorded by Bradford, a band much lauded by Morrissey, who had in fact been the support act at the (in) famous Wolverhampton gig in December 1988. Despite the great man's endorsement, the band never really amounted to much beyond a cult. Here's the original version:-

mp3 : Bradford - Skin Storm

The live cover version is of a song that, courtesy of Mrs Villain, can be found inside the cupboard in its original release on vinyl from away back in 1971 when she was a teenager with a big crush on Marc Bolan and Mickey Finn and bought all their records at the time.....and here's a rip from that LP, Electric Warrior:-

mp3 : T Rex - Cosmic Dancer

She clearly took great care of her records......

Incidentally it says on the back of the sleeve

"This stereo record can be played on mono reproducers provided either a compatible or stereo cartridge wired for mono is fitted. Recent equipment may already be fitted with a suitable cartridge. If in doubt, consult your dealer."

A reminder that in those days, you bought records from specialists shops, most of which also sold record players, transistor radios and stereograms....

Happy Listening.

SPEND, SPEND, SPEND

Any of those dmca bastards that say bloggers are killing the art of buying music ought to have a look at my next bank statement.

Just last week (and I admit it was a bit of a binge spend to make up for not having been in the record shops for a month or so), I spent £120 on sixteen CDs (mostly new stuff I've been meaning to buy, but there were five old things that I got thanks to listening to songs on other folks' blogs), as well as the £25 or so that I spent directly at ROLinc filling in the gaps in the Paul Haig collection.

I'm not looking for any plaudits or medals....simply a recognition that those fuckers who insist we are the enemy have got it very badly wrong.

Oh and while I'm on the subject, have a read of this and smile....

One of my purchases cost me just £4. It was called Independents Day : ID08 and it contains 29 songs over 2xCDs.

The sleeve-notes say the following:-

This album is dedicated to the millions of music fans who like their music from Independents, and respect their Independence. There is no quick definition for the music itself, but there is a world of difference between the large music multi-national companies and the small entrepreneurial companies who make the music, and who have been responsible for almost every new sound and genre in the past fifty years, brokering a position of unrivalled influence along the way.

The spirit of the independent sector is embodied in this album with artists covering songs of other independent artists on one disc, and the performing artists and their labels recommending the new artists featured on the second disc.
So remember everyone, while I do make mp3s available for a short while, it is in the hope that if you like what you hear, you will go out and spend money supporting the act/band/singer in question. I know that a great many of you do that already....so thanks.

mp3 : Maximo Park - Was There Anything I Could Do?
mp3 : The Prodigy - Ghost Town

I also know I dont really need every day to direct all you clever people to where you can buy things. Get surfing.

Oh here's some originals just in case you didnt know them...

mp3 : Go-Betweens - Was There Anything I Could Do? (live version)
mp3 : The Specials - Ghost Town (12 inch version)

Happy Listening.

OH DEAR, HE'S RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS (Part 3)

Found this back on Sunday 29th April 2007. Amazing how these things come round again. Only jusT now its not work that's got me struggling......


THE SUNDAY POST

I've been struggling a bit of late - my mind has been on far too many other things to concentrate properly on the blog.

I've even been neglecting all the other blogs that I try and visit on a regular basis, but I've just spent three hours or so reading through them. Except for Song, By Toad.

Toad is like the equivalent of a posh Sunday broadsheet that's full of magazines and supplements that take an eternity to get through cos there's always something of merit/interest which requires a load of concentration/attention that needs to be put to one side and read when there's nothing else to distract you. So that will be done later tonight...

All of the others had great things to say and loads of fantastic mp3s to listen to. And I've stolen from a number of them to help me on my way today. You all know who you are, and thanks for being such great friends of late. The type of friends who you don't see/talk to/meet for years on end, but then when, by arrangement you do, you realise you just have such a natural rapport that it all seems really easy. I like it when that happens.

So, reading other folks blogs this morning made me want to post these songs, all of which I have loved at different times of my life:-

mp3 : Orange Juice - Get While The Getting's Good *
mp3 : Giorgio Moroder - The Chase (12" mix)
mp3 : Black Box Recorder - The Facts Of Life

Another hard week at work beckons. Bear with me for the time being and normals service will soon be resumed.

* SORRY TO SAY, THAT WHEN I WENT INTO THE CUPBOARD TO DIG OUT THE LP ON WHICH THIS TRACK APPEARS, IT WASN'T THERE......IT MUST HAVE BEEN LOANED TO SOMEONE YEARS AGO AND NOT RETURNED.SO HERE'S AN ALTERNATIVE OJs TRACK INSTEAD. AW BUGGER IT, HERE'S TWO OJs TRACKS COS THEY'RE JUST SOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD.

mp3 : Orange Juice - Intuition Told Me (Part Two)**

** a song that was criminally placed on a b-side instead of being a single.

mp3 : Orange Juice - Salmon Fishing In New York

Delighted that I can now make the missing track available....

mp3 : Orange Juice - Get While The Gettings Good

If Edwyn can beat a life-threatening illness, so can my mate.

Oh and my good mate Ctel from Acid Ted left behind a comment back in 2007 saying he preferred this remix of one of the tracks:-

mp3 : Black Box Recorder - The Facts Of Life (remixed by The Chocolate Layers) ***

*** aka Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey of Pulp.

Happy Listening.

--------------------------------------

A LATE PS ....AN E-MAIL ARRIVED YESTERDAY MORNING (about 24 hours after AFTER THE ABOVE POST HAD BEEN PUT TOGETHER BUT OBVIOUSLY BEFORE IT WAS PUBLISHED).

IT WAS AN E-MAIL THAT ASTOUNDED ME GIVEN I HAD MENTIONED EDWYN MAKING A RECOVERY, AND HINTING THAT I WAS DRAWING ON WHAT HE ACHIEVED TO HELP ME COPE WITH WHAT MY MATE IS GOING THROUGH...

'Hello there Grace Maxwell here, Edwyn's manager. Just wanted to give you our full support.

I stumbled on your page and as a result, we got to hear theFRENCH(!) language version of `Poor Old Soul' for the first time in twentyfive years. We had forgotten it existed. What a laugh. He sends his thanks for putting it up.

Keep on keeping on... Grace'

That's when I know that the time and effort put in here is more than worth it.....

OH DEAR, HE'S RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS (Part 2)

This was originally posted on Thursday 29th March 2007 during a short series looking at Compilation CDs.

Some of my favourite performers have been the subject of tribute albums, the results of which have, to put it mildly, been mixed.

There was a great 1991 effort – I’m Your Fan : The Songs Of Leonard Cohen in which the likes of REM, Ian McCulloch, James, The Pixies, Nick Cave, Lloyd Cole and John Cale delivered some really special versions. But there was also Fire and Skill, the shambolic, lumpy and frankly, quite awful tribute album to The Jam that came out in 1999.

But while these drew on a whole career of recordings for the cover-version treatment, there’s not too many times when a particular album, and the album only, has been given the treatment.

Which was the case back in 1996, when to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the release of The Queen Is Dead, an LP that many would argue was the best of the 2oth century, a small French label, Les Inrockuptibles, brought together ten diverse independent artistes to record cover versions of each of the songs. The result was The Smiths Is Dead.

Those who took part were:-

The Queen Is Dead : The Boo Radleys
Frankly Mr Shankly : The High Llamas
I Know It’s Over : The Trash Can Sinatras
Never Had No One Ever : Billy Bragg
Cemetry Gates : The Frank & Walters
Bigmouth Strikes Again : Placebo
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side : Bis
Vicar In A Tutu : Therapy?
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out : The Divine Comedy
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others : Supergrass

On paper, it’s quite an impressive line-up as a number of them were established chart-acts at the time of the CD’s release. But I’m sad to say, that it’s something that doesn’t quite work.

One major problem is, whether you’re a Smiths fan or not, it has to be admitted that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to improve on the original versions, and the tribute album as a whole will be judged in that way. Secondly, there’s a bit of evidence that the bands themselves struggled to cope with what was perhaps expected of them, as 8 out of the 10 tracks were self-produced efforts - the exceptions were Billy Bragg who used his trusted sidekick Grant Showbiz, and Placebo who used Phil Vinall. I think that’s an indication that most of the bands were a bit apprehensive about having a second opinion, or perhaps being steered towards a sound that they didn’t like.

Some of the versions did make their way onto various b-sides, while others only saw the light of day on this CD. Some versions are quite different – for instance there is no way that a Rock/Metal act like Therapy? could do a straight copy of a Smiths song, while others, such as Bis and The Divine Comedy, tried hard to turn it into a song that sounds like most of their own output rather than a Smiths song.

Overall, it was a disappointing effort, and I’ll confess that I haven’t listened to it right through all that often since buying it nearly 11 years ago. But I’m still happy enough to have it in the CD collection, even if it is purely for this one rather stunning and unique cover:-

mp3 : The Boo Radleys – The Queen Is Dead

It’s pretty much unrecognisable from the original, and it’s far from a typical song by the band. But I’m sure even that will upset diehard fans of Morrissey/Marr/Rourke/Joyce.

And given I mentioned the album earlier, here’s one from the Leonard Cohen tribute record:-

mp3 : David McComb & Adam Peters - Don’t Go Home With Your Hard-On

I did think about posting the 33 minutes version of Tower Of Song as recorded in a drink/drugs fuelled frenzy by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, but the bandwith use would have gone through the roof.

One thing I was amazed to find was the price you would have to pay to pick up a copy of The Smiths Is Dead. I couldn't find it on e-bay, but there were some second-hand copies for ssale at amazon. The lowest priced was $88. Maybe I will make it open to offers after all...*

* CD now available for a much more reasonable price if you click here.

Happy Listening.

TWO OR MORE OF THE SAME (v)

I've got that many series on the go at any one time that I sometimes forget about them for a while. So for any fans of those posts that have different songs with the same titles I apologise for not featuring anything lately.

Today's offering has a simple one-word title:-

mp3 : Sons & Daughters - Gone
mp3 : The Sundays - Gone
mp3 : The Wedding Present - Gone

The first song is the closing track on the 2005 LP The Repulsion Box, which is a record I reckon every reader of this blog should own. Try here if you dont already have a copy.

In complete contrast to the manic vocal delivery of Adele Bethel which will have you cowering in fear, you can sit back and chill to the dreamy loveliness of Harriet Wheeler on a track released on the b-side of the 1997 single Summertime. Try e-bay if you want to get hold of a copy.

And finally, yet another great piece of noise from David Gedge & co that was originally stuck away on a the b-side of a 12" single - Brassneck - but can be found on the extended CD of the 1990 LP Bizarro.

Happy Listening.

THE CLASS OF '79 (Part 14)

Up until now, all the songs featured in this weekly series have been ones that I went out and bought at the age of 16. But I cant try and pass myself off as being such a hipster at that tender age that I understood what The Fall were all about.

Indeed, it took me quite a few more years to 'get' The Fall, by which time I had tried listening to singles and albums and gone along to see them live (once with, of all bands, Cocteau Twins as support) without ever becoming a convert. It was 1984 in fact when I fell in love with the incredibly poppy and catchy Oh! Brother before I owned any product.

I wont say that I became an instant convert - they're a band that I really need to be in the right frame of mind in to listen to - but there's a fair number of songs now on the i-pod that come round reasonably often enough on the i-pod random shuffle to have me singing along in my head without any sensation of unpleasantness.

This was released on the indie label Step Forward in July 1979. There's a great piece of writing by Garry Mulholland in his book This Is Uncool - The 500 Greatest Singles Since Punk and Disco which I must plagiarise:-

The third single from the Manchester Marvels concerns drugs. Ro(w)che are the Swiss pharmaceutical company that developed Valium, and who better to rant about addiction to prescription downers than the archetypal speed freak, a man who sings as if he's perpetually chewing gum and warding off comedown? 'Menopause wives are hard to handle' he observes, but the genius lies in the no-fi whirling dervish riff, the tribal drum breaks and Smith's yelping, malevolent chant ("well its-a vali-arm KISH-KISH!!!), and Yvonne Pawlett's insane fairground-sickness organ. Sorry to harp on, but this does make modern rock sound so tame.

It's words like that that make me accept I should stick to giving you the music and leave the words and analysis to others.

mp3 : The Fall - Rowche Rumble

Happy Listening.

RADIO FRIENDLY UNIT (NON) SHIFTER

All that talk the other day of Paul Haig (and again I'd like to thank everyone who lent their support) got me thinking of other great songs to come out of Edinburgh. And right away, this piece of magic from 1986 sprung to mind:-

mp3 : Goodbye Mr Mackenzie - The Rattler

Goodbye Mr Mackenzie actually formed in Bathgate, which is a small town some 15 miles or so west of the capital, and their first single in 1984 was recorded (as The Mackenzies) on the record label of a local further education college.

This follow up single was put out on the Glasgow-based Precious organisation, which was the home to the soon chart-conquering Wet Wet Wet, but despite a lot of support from local radio stations across central Scotland (with one of the lines changed to avoid references to eating beavers), it flopped. There continued to be a real buzz about Goodbye Mr Mackenzie - this was a time when Scottish acts like Deacon Blue, Hue & Cry and the afore mentioned Wets were hugely popular and GMM were lumped in with all of them - so it was hardly a surprise that they ended up signing to a major label, in this case Capitol Records, in early 1988.

The first couple of singles flopped, and so band and label decided to release a re-recorded version of The Rattler which hit #37 in the UK charts in 1989. Debut LP, Good Deeds And Dirty Rags, did make the Top 30 a few months later, but a fourth single from the album sold poorly.

While some of the songs were as radio-friendly and catchy as many of their Scottish contemporaries, GMM never quite took off as expected - this was probably down to the fact that live they were quite a different proposition.

For instance, the lead guitarist was a huge bear of a man who was once part of a local punk outfit (and still looked as if that's where he'd rather be) and there was a strange gothic-looking girl on keyboards and backing vocals, and you could never accuse them of being cuddly and photogenic...

With no real sustainable success, the record label lost interest, and while the band soldiered on for a few more years, they ended up as a mere footnote, albeit one that left us four LPs, about a dozen 45s/EPs and a couple of live recordings.

After they broke up, the gothic backing singer went onto find real fame and fortune :-

mp3 : Garbage - Queer

Yup, it was Shirley Manson who used to stand at the back of the stage with GMM, and before long she was a huge star the world over as lead singer in the band put together by Butch Vig, previously best-known as producer of Nevermind, the breakthrough album by Nirvana.....with who the Big John Duncan, the guitarist with GMM, occasionally played live.
It's a small world y'know....

My copy of the 1986 single is well worn out, and the mp3 of The Rattler is taken from a CD compilation that gathers up all sorts of indie songs from that year, but I have managed to salvage one of the b-sides:-

mp3 : Goodbye Mr Mackenzie - Candlestick Park

Happy Listening.

IT'S FRIDAY, I'M IN LOVE....WITH MORRISSEY (Part 18)

C'mon, its Good Friday, so there really can only be one Morrissey single highlighted today:-

mp3 : Morrissey - I Have Forgiven Jesus

Released just before Xmas 2004, the song title clearly rattled the controllers at the BBC for they didn't allow it to be playlisted on either Radio 1 or Radio 2. Other radio stations weren't so concerned, nor were various music video channels, and so this became the fourth highly succesful single to be taken from You Are The Quarry, hitting #10 on its week of release.

Last week I mentioned that, between 1989 and 1997, only one out of the twenty of the great man's singles released during that period got as high in as the Top Ten in the UK. Fast forward seven years to the comeback...and all four singles released in 2007 go Top 10. The only other act to enjoy such chart success in the UK that year was boy band McFly.....

The single came out on 7" and on two CD formats. The b-side on the 7" and the widely available CD1 is probably the weakest of the three previously unavailable songs - and its a cover of a record released back in 1987 by Raymonde, a band that featured James Maker who appeared as a dancer/backing vocalist with The Smiths at a handful of their very early gigs - but that in some ways is a bit of a harsh criticism as they all have something to offer:-

mp3 : Morrissey - No One Can Hold A Candle To You
mp3 : Morrissey - Slum Mums
mp3 : Morrissey - The Public Image

No One...is the cover version. Slum Mums and The Public Image surely deserved to be on something other than CD2 of the fourth single taken from an LP, for they are among some of the best things he has released since emabarking on the comeback.

The cover photo is a still taken from this promo video:-




Great stuff.

Happy Listening....and viewing.

OH DEAR, HE'S RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS (Part 1)

I'll admit that I'm struggling a wee bit for inspiration just now - my best friend (not someone I've mentioned here before as his taste in music is pretty lousy) suddenly took very seriously ill over the weekend and is facing a fight for his life over the next couple of months.

As a result, I'll be spending a fair bit of time visiting him in hospital and trying to help out his wife and kids in any way that I can. And I've decided that when I'm in a situation where I'm feeling a bit tired and cant thing of anything new to say or offer, I'll dip back into the vaults of TVV to the days when it was a blog read by no more than a handful of people and re-post something.

This was originally posted on Thursday 14th December 2006

JUST WHAT I NEEDED

Last night, I got to hear a song for the first time in more than two decades. This evening, I'm sharing that song with the world.

I used to have boxloads of 7" singles, but lost them all in a rather unfortunate incident in Edinburgh back in 1986. Bit-by-bit, I've tried to replace them - mostly by buying CDs - but there are some songs issued on small independent labels that have been near impossible to get a hold of.

The growth of the Internet, and in particular the phenomena that is e-bay, has however, made things easier in recent years.

While having a browse around the other night, I saw that someone was inviting bids for a copy of the original version of this song - one that I've been after for a long long time. I made a reasonable bid, but didn't think it would be enough - but I no matter how much I want a record, I have my limits about how high I'm prepared to go. In this case, my bid turned out to be enough.

Now some folk might think I'm daft - especially as a different version of the song is on the band's debut (and as it turns out) only LP that came out on a major label. But this earlier recording is vastly superior, and its absence was a huge hole in my collection. My life is today that bit more complete.

And I don't care if any of you think I'm a pathetic saddo.

(Incidentally, the original posting attracted one comment left by Erik who said I wasn't a complete saddo as it's a brilliant, brilliant song and I'd tracked down the best version of it.)

So here, especially for Erik (if he's still reading me all this time later), from May 1983 on the Moonboot label:-

mp3 : Friends Again - Honey At The Core
mp3 : Friends Again - Lucky Star

Happy Listening

GIG REVIEW : FRIGHTENED RABBIT/MEURSAULT : BOWERY, EDINBURGH : FRIDAY 3rd APRIL 2009

Such has been the growing popularity of Frightened Rabbit (pictured left) over the past six months, that I've been unable to get tickets to many of their recent shows in Glasgow. So I was enormously grateful to Matthew of Song, By Toad for sorting out access to this gig in a very intimate venue in Edinburgh - his involvement being that support act Meursault (pictured top) are on his recently launched Song By Toad Records.

It was a gig to commemorate the release of new LP Quietly Now!, a live and acoustic recording of last year's critically acclaimed Midnight Organ Fight. Unusually for an album that I've played to death over the past 12 months, I've yet to grow tired of Midnight Organ Fight, and each listen has me again struggling to decide which track is in fact my favourite (it all depends on how happy/sad/drunk/melancholy I am at the time).

This was an acoustic performance, and the band were on tremendous form. As I've mentioned before on this blog, I was lucky enough to see the band a few times around the time the LP was released in early 2008, but I reckon this was as good a live gig as I've seen them give us. All four members, along with guest Ross Clark on mandolin and banjo, didnt put a foot wrong, and if I had one grumble to make it was that I'd love to hear more than just two songs from debut album Sing The Greys played. Oh and I wish Keep Yourself Warm could be claimed back by the band instead of it being a mass-audience singalong....(but that's the music snob in me coming out).

The band announced that this was going to be their last gig for quite some time as they were now looking to record a third album. I was lucky enough to grab a word with Scott Hutchison and Andy Monaghan afterwards, and they both explained that while a new LP might be ready this side of Xmas, the record label had indicated it wouldnt be released until early 2010, so any promotional tours and the such-like would be put off until then.

Given how hard they've worked over the past 18 months with what seems to have been tour after tour after tour, I hope the boys enjoy their short rest, and that the magic is still still there when they do eventually get back into the studio later this year. It will be a tough job to release a record that will top Midnight Organ Fight, but I've a sneaky feeling they'll bring us something quite special...

mp3 : Frightened Rabbit - Fast Blood (live at Captain's Rest)

taken from the new live LP - buy direct from the record company by clicking here.

Oh and I suppose I better mention Meursault given it was a connection with them that allowed me and my mate Jacques the Kipper entry.

The thing is, being mates with Matthew aka Toad, I've long been wary of talking about Meursault and their debut LP Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues - if I didnt like it, I'd be worried about grossly offending him, while if I raved about it, cynics might say I was overly influenced by a friendship.

So I decided I would hold back offering an opinion until I saw them live.....

Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues opens with an outstanding track called Salt - Part 1 which is laden with electronica and something akin to a drum'n'bass rhythm. Last Friday, the band played an acoustic stripped-down version that was one of the most astonishing live performances of any song that I have ever seen in 30 years of going to gigs. All I could do at the end was clap as hard as I could and and stand there open-mouthed at its magnificence....

If you've read this post from the start, you'll know just how highly I rated the performance of Frightened Rabbit. But Meursault were better....

In addition to radical reworkings of songs fro the LP, the band played a couple of great new tracks that Matthew informs me will be on the b-side of a couple of limited edition 7" singles coming out later in 2009. I've already put my order in....

Jacques the Kipper was equally impressed, and that this acoustic performance reminded him a lot of the Factory-era James back in the 80s...and I didn't disagree.

I really do urge you to have a listen to these two songs, and if you like what you hear, please, please, please buy the LP:-

mp3 : Meursault - Salt Part 1
mp3 : Meursault - A Few Kind Words

The LP is available here.

Video footage of Meursault can be viewed here.

Happy Listening.

GIG REVIEW : THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT : GLASGOW QMU : TUESDAY 31st MARCH

Things have been a bit hectic round here of late, so apologies for the lateness of this review and the one coming tomorrow.

I'm not concerned by the fact that a recent glowing review of the single Sometime Around Midnight resulted in a dmca notice being served on me, nor will I let it affect my judgement on the gig. I just wish I had a copy of what I had said...This was the third appearance in Glasgow by the Los Angeles-based The Airborne Toxic Event in just over four months, following two gigs at King Tut's (one of which was a support slot to Frightened Rabbit). This particular night was originally due to be held at Oranmor, but such was the demand that it was moved to the students union' venue at Glasgow University, and even then it sold out its 900 capacity some weeks ago.

This is a band that divides opinion. I'll put my cards on the table and declare that I'm a big fan. Sure there's nothing truly unique about them, and there is an awful lot about them that you can hear in other bands (e.g. Arcade Fire, Interpol, British Sea Power, Razorlight, The Strokes to name but a handful). But they make music that is genuinely populist that means they're already capturing an audience beyond a cult following, and look set to become the 2009 darling of critics in the UK broadsheets and their colour supplements.

Live, I was told beforehand by Drew from Across The Kitchen Table (who caught them at King Tut's on a night when work commitments meant I was press ganged into attending a posh dinner instead) that I was in for a treat. Turned out he was right...

Despite the fact this was an audience that gave them a tremendous reception as they took to the stage, there was no sign of any complacency from the five members of the band. Over the course of the next 60 minutes or so they put everything into the show...and then some.

Sure, some of it (such as singer Mikel Jollett climbing on top of the stacked speakers to deliver one of the songs) was likely pre-meditated and choreographed, but it never detracted from things. It was a set that was far from perfect (there were a few bum notes throughout the night), but Jollet's voice (which was at times awfully similar to Iggy Pop) always held your attention. And call me old fashioned, but I'm a bit of a sucker for bands that make strings such an integral part of their sound, and on the point, the live playing of the viola by Anna Bulbrook was quite stunning.

The high-energy set never flagged, not even during a couple of songs that were unfamiliar to the vast majority of the audience. The aforementioned Sometime Around Midnight was an expected highlight, but it was easily topped by the magnificence of an extended Innocence, which on record seems a little bit plodding and radio friendly power-pop by numbers but live was transformed into something that is both beautiful and furious at the same time and also by the encore of Missy in which the band were able to sweet-talk the over-zealous security to allow some members of the audience up onto the stage for a wee dance....

But don't just take my word for it. I was accompanied by Mrs Villain who was in fact initially reluctant to come along at all as she hadn't had the time to listen to the album beforehand. She came away from the gig raving about the band, insisting that we both bought t-shirts afterwards and wishing that she was 25 years younger so she could run off with guitarist Steven Chen....

The aforementioned my space is here and has a bundle of videos to enjoy as well as a few songs, including the hit single:-

mp3 : The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime Around Midnight

If you fancy buying the album, then you can do so right here.

Happy Listening.