Sunset As Me - Terry Richardson

Youth - Beach Fossils

Totally love the jangly stripped down sound of Beach Fossils.

Gold Lion - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

This band are of course well-established but it's easy to forget the energy of the early tracks (all their stuff is great though)

School Friends - Now Now

Been etting back into indie recently. First in a series of posts on my choicest cuts.

Faces

Found this somewhere - a weird Halloween costume from 1910 or 1911.

A Closet Of Curiosities

... will be my next music blog to readd as they very kindly link to me and are also, as their name suggests, a mine of wonderful weirdness...




Just on the first page, train noises from around the world, Paraguayan harp, the 'no-wave' band Fat and a special French music session recorded for US radio in 69. Score.

Cats

I'm not only going on the Cardigan pretty much daily but trying to check the whole back catalogue too.

QNP

Bit of new stuff from old friend of the blog Quite Nice Pictures.

Orgy In Rhythm

As I said, I stupidly deleted my whole music link list which I'd built up over years and Google Blogger insanely provides no way to recover it. I couldn't find any screenshots on the web. Once again, I'd hugely appreciate it if anyone out there could help.

I won't hold my breath but until that halcyon day arrives I'm gonna add another one today...

After Ghost Capital (who I readded recently) the first one that occurs to me is Orgy In Rhythm. Man, he posts some great zips.



This one from Tubby Hayes is the first I've gone for today but any jazz lover who likes to go off the beaten track will find oodles of goodness here.

Orgy In Rhythm

Nuggets 3 - Put These Away - JC Pierric et Francois Rolland

Funky electric riff, melodic looping acoustic, handclaps - library nugget heaven. I heard this first on an mp3 blog.

Some favourites 6b - Late Nite Tuff Guy (LTNG)

Similar to Duff Disco who I wrote about some months ago. Taking familiar motifs and turning them into something completely new. 'I Don't Like Acid' really is its own track (much as I also love the original) and creates a lot of head nodding in the pub where I play. The Kate Bush remix is more about nicely tarting up a clasic rather than creating something new. As with all my favourites, I'm sure he's done loads more great tracks but these are my faves of the ones I've heard.

Some favourites 6a - Viceroy

Summery, poppy reimaginings of classics, first from B.I.G, then Mark Morrison. Very dancefloor friendly.





Also, look for his remix of Talking Heads' 'This Must Be The Place' which has been removed from Soundcloud / Youtube by heroic law enforcers.

Some favourites 5 - Bicep

Bicep are getting more and more well known. I should've mentioned them before so I got some kudos as a talent spotter. My little monthly DJ gig doesn't really call for this kind of stuff but I try to slip them in sometimes anyway. They're from Northern Ireland and continue the classic tradition of house. My favourite stuff by them is the first eight minutes of this Soundcloud mix below. I wish the riff in the first 4 minutes came back at the 8 minute mark. Boys, if you're reading, what do you reckon???



Here's a couple of their awesome sounds on the Tube, 'Drippin' and 'You'

Ghost Capital

*sigh* As I rebuild by link list from memory, I suppose I might as well do a series of posts of those I remember (and discover). So first up is Ghost Capital. He or they popped up on my Facebook and just found out he or they is are from Oregon, same as JOMF, Valet and others. He's doing the same earthy hipster thing but with some world and retro thrown in the mix.









download this mix here

Teenage Fanclub

Was in the mood for some 90s indie the other day and reconnected with my old faves Teenage Fanclub. Though I'm glad to see they're still going I regret to say they don't seem to have the spark they used to. Very glad to see these two very early tracks, 'Speeder' and 'Primary Education' have been uploaded on Youtube recently. Rough and ready, riffs, close harmonies, silly noises, drum machines - just as it should be. On the B side of Everything Flows apparently, though I had them on an odds and ends comp called 'Deep Fried Fanclub' which was subsequently nicked along with my bag at The Railway pub in Putney. Harsh.





I met them in Valencia when I lived there (about 2006) when me and a mate hung around after a gig. Raymond said nothing, Gerard was a bit cold and Norman was extremely warm and welcoming (even giving us a couple of free cans of beer). I mentioned my preference for a more rough sound which didn't seem to go down well. The EP 'Teenage Fanclub Have Lost It', I seem to remember, was released to fulfil contractual obligations, but here again we see the lack of polish and experimentation (which I favour) which is lacking on the later records. Here's a couple of tunes from that - 'Everything Flows' and 'Starsign'






When I met them, I also mentioned my overall favourite album was Thirteen. This also didn't go down well as apparently the band weren't happy with the final mix. It still sounds great to me though. One of the best is this track 'Tears Are Cool'. Surely there's a US indie to be made with some geekycool guy or girl wandering about in the rain to this song?



They also did a lot of good B sides. How about this, where, (I realise now) they sound like BJM? 'Maharishi Dug The Scene' (very BJM title too)



My favourite B side (though I've still yet to explore the full back catalogue of their fertile early years) is this epic cover of Yo La Tengo. Moody postrock to rival Mogwai or Fridge.



This is not Teenage Fanclub as most people know them, I think. Songs From Northern Britain was critically acclaimed but was the start of something earnest, po-faced, and, it must be said, undruggy. The tracks I've linked to today I hope give an impression of the Teenage Fanclub that sometimes was, could have been more and I hope could be again. Someone send Norman a big bag of skunk, some mushrooms and some MDMA please. He can slip it into Gerry and Ray's single malt.

Pepper by David Meltzer

Art's desire to get it all said
to all who thought him dead
in the joint & beside the point

Art's struggle to sing it all
through jazz warfare & tell
everything he knew in brass
speed rap stir crazy utopia
of muscle chops push it in your face
rough unrelenting grace

fierce Art pitbull clamps down
pulls edges out in time to break through
scream knotty beauty
toe to toe w/ any joe
who thinks they know better

Art tattoos blue needles into moonlight skin
junk light makes mirrors perfect
Art's smoke aches out of wounds

L.A. Art burritos & bebop
black guacamole serge zoots
Central Avenue cat copping

Pepper at Club Alabam
in Lee Young's band
all the chicks & the hatcheck chick
have big eyes for Art's horn

From 'When I Was A Poet' by David Meltzer

Nuggets 2 - The Dead Ringers - Vertigo

From Télé Beats Volume 1, an unofficial release. I heard this mouthwatering breakbeat / easy thing on Gilles Peterson's show in 98, soon after he moved from Kiss. GP was going through a library phase and was coming up with loads of cool tunes like that before he went into neo soul and electro Brazil. I taped it, scrawled down its name on the cassette sleeve but wssn't sure I had the right name and never thought I'd hear it again outside that tape but via the magic of Youtube, here it is. Big up GA1r, the uploader

Shiba Wow

Brown Cardigan is the most consistently funny site I've ever seen, constantly updated with new obscene, weird stuff. Here's one of the tamer but completely wonderful recent posts.

Aaaargh

Was just editing my music link list and accidentally deleted the whole fkkin thing. Any ideas out there what I can do???

Nuggets 1 - Imo - Oluko Imo

I used to post zip files of nuggets (obscure, jazzy / funky / library / world things) but I think Youtube is pretty much the way forward now. So I'm gonna start a new series of posts of nuggets in no particular order. Here's something I discovered recently. A guy from Trinidad influenced by African music sometime in the 70s.

Christian Storm

The photo of the tree jumped out at me in Vice, so I looked up Christian Storm, who I found out is the photo editor there, and I'm really loving his stuff.

Some favourites 4b - DJ Ayers

I heard DJ Ayers' awesome mix 'Next Of All' at the clothes shop Urban Outfitters a few weeks ago (I recommend tuning in about 11:30) and I've since been looking all over the place trying to find more mixes and stuff by him.

Next of All by Dj Ayres on Mixcloud

It's all decent stuff but the 45 King v Wale remix is out of the park genius. I found it on soulseek and uploaded it into youtube myself. Proper hip hop and proper dance groove.

Basquiat Painting Live Downtown 81

Horizon (Five Pounds A Belgian) By John Smith

Stills from John Smith's work which I saw at Museum Of London Docklands. Mostly just horizon, greys, blues, wave sounds and gulls.

One For Blaise Cendrars by Charles Bukowski

Baudrillard on Loneliness

'Nothing can match the loneliness of a pianist in a large hotel. All around him is just a hum of cocktails and small talk; he is more alone with his melody than he would be on an island. Yet at a particular moment, he stops and people applaud. You are doubly astonished: there was an end to this music then, and people were listening? He was playing something and he was not playing in vain? He seems stupefied himself. But he well knows, in the secret depths of his soul, that this applause only breaks out because his music has fallen silent, a silence these wild things notice in much the same way they notice the sugar melting in their glasses. So, like the bald prima donna, he quickly starts up with a new tune.' - Jean Baudrillard, Cool Memories (1990), p. 223

I'm requoting this from social historian Joe Moran's excellent blog

Image from Cosmicandshit now called Religioner.

Eric Duncan Mix at Coggles

C111 Eric 'Dunks' Duncan (Rub 'n' Tug) Mix by Coggles on Mixcloud

Recently found this link to an excellent mix by half of Rub N Tug, just after I'd done this post about him. I love all his mixes but this is especially worth a mention as it's a bit of a new direction. More spacious and atmospheric than usual but with the same joy of percussion, bass, riffs etc. Reminds me of Donato Dozzy in between his ambient and progressive moods.

Some favourites 4a - Them Jeans

Fresh vibes from Them Jeans out of LA. Can't get enough of his sound right now. One of Prince Language's remixes mentioned 'Them Jeans' - don't know if it's a coincidence or if they collaborated. Then I found his remix of Rihanna's Stay. Just adds a little clackety clack but makes it a much nicer track imho. I've enjoyed all his mixes and original tracks I've heard since then. Hope he blows up.

Moonlight by Blaise Cendrars

Pitching and rolling pitching and rolling
The moon the moon draws circles in the water
In the sky the mast draws circles
Points to every star
A young girl from Argentina leaning over the rails
Dreams of Paris as she gazes at the lighthouse outlining the coast of France
Dreams of Paris which she hardly knows and already regrets
These lights revolving steady double colored flashing ones remind her of those she saw from the hotel window on the boulevards and hold for her the promise of a speedy return
She dreams she will soon be back in France and live in Paris
The noise of my typewriter prevents her from completing her dream
My beautiful typewriter which rings at the end of every line and is as fast as jazz
My beautiful typewriter which prevents me from dreaming port or starboard
And makes me follow an idea to the end
My idea

M.K.

At the Wellcome Collection here in London there's a free collection of Japanese Art Brut / outsider art and this is my pick of the lot.

Bags Of Chris - Dudley Moore Trio

Been looking for this for 10 or 15 years since I heard it on Solid Steel on Radio London. Quality. So simple but so fuckin cool.

I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone - Richard Brautigan

I was trying to describe you to someone a few days ago. You don’t look like any girl I’ve ever seen before.

I couldn’t say “Well she looks just like Jane Fonda, except that she’s got red hair, and her mouth is different and of course, she’s not a movie star…”

I couldn’t say that because you don’t look like Jane Fonda at all.

I finally ended up describing you as a movie I saw when I was a child in Tacoma Washington. I guess I saw it in 1941 or 42, somewhere in there. I think I was seven, or eight, or six.

It was a movie about rural electrification, a perfect 1930’s New Deal morality kind of movie to show kids. The movie was about farmers living in the country without electricity. They had to use lanterns to see by at night, for sewing and reading, and they didn’t have any appliances like toasters or washing machines, and they couldn’t listen to the radio. They built a dam with big electric generators and they put poles across the countryside and strung wire over fields and pastures.

There was an incredible heroic dimension that came from the simple putting up of poles for the wires to travel along. They looked ancient and modern at the same time.

Then the movie showed electricity like a young Greek god, coming to the farmer to take away forever the dark ways of his life. Suddenly, religiously, with the throwing of a switch, the farmer had electric lights to see by when he milked his cows in the early black winter mornings. The farmer’s family got to listen to the radio and have a toaster and lots of bright lights to sew dresses and read the newspaper by.

It was really a fantastic movie and excited me like listening to the Star Spangled Banner, or seeing photographs of President Roosevelt, or hearing him on the radio “… the President of the United States… “

I wanted electricity to go everywhere in the world. I wanted all the farmers in the world to be able to listen to President Roosevelt on the radio….

And that’s how you look to me.

Some favourites 3 - Duff Disco

Prolific London DJ / remixer / producer Duff Disco. His standout track for me is Slow but it's all very very very quality stuff. Future classics no doubt.

Kate and Naomi

Look at this pic of the delightful Kate and Naomi snapped while young and full of fun from Lembergian Photography.

Donald Barthelme's Reading List

When he was a tutor at Houston University, teaching Creative Writing, this was his reading list. Still haven't read Barthelme but he always pops up when speaking of 'postmodern' writers.

Some favourites 2b - Rub N Tug / Dr Dunks

2b. Rub N Tug / Dr Dunks

The second is the prolific Eric Duncan, lately Doctor Dunks and half of Rub N Tug who has been quietly producing an array of dubby, funky and generally excellent tracks and mixes for ages.

I'm gonna post a link to his mix for WPS1 but I'm not sure if it works. I downloaded the mix a while ago and there's a track from it I love which I've played out a few times. Big fat bassy thing with a vocal simple from Indeep's 'Record Keeps Spinning'...

http://artonair.org/show/dj-eric-d-of-rub-n-tug

A few selections here but pick of the bunch is the 'Too Much Love' remix. I didn't like this one at first but now I 'get' it...

Some favourites 2a - Prince Language

2a. Prince Language

Joint second place goes to two NY DJs / producers, both associated with DFA, LCD Soundsystem etc but haven't reached the same heights of fame. Check out PL's mix for Fabric with an amazing mix of disco classic She Can't Love You by Chemise from, say, about 25:30 to about 32:25. I've played this one out a bunch of times. It's what PL is all about - a mix of early hip hop fresh cool, disco funkiness, some feelgood soul and house and a splash of trippy dubbiness thrown in. And his remix of Azari and III turns a very good tune into a freakin great one.

Some favourites 1 - Hot Chip

I was gonna make a best tracks of 2012 compilation but gave up so instead I'm gonna talk about some of my favourite artists right now...

1. Hot Chip

The most fun, creative and cool band on the planet right now. They both remix and get remixed very well and there's a bunch of cool side projects going on like The 2 Bears.