Wednesday 30 March 2011

Let's have a game of 'Random Ten'........ please?

Be happy people, if you can. And remember to spell 'happy' with a Little H.


Here we go with a little more of my blog and it's time for a game of ‘Random 10’ – its easy to play. All you need is a collection of music on a pc or portable device and a random or shuffle button. So as not to appear in any way technically prejudiced, you can play this with a stack of CDs, tapes, or vinyl, but in that case you would also benefit from a blindfold, a willing accomplice and a vivid imagination (suggested instructions and rules could be supplied on request. Yes, I do need to get out more) Whether or not this makes for quality blogging material who knows, but I propose to hit ‘shuffle songs’ play through the first ten songs it throws at me and write just a little about each. One very strict rule – no skipping, ignoring or starting again – if it decides to throw a 40 minute Brian Eno ambient experiment into the mix then…… well it will be a long evening I suppose. OK then, here goes….


1. King Crimson – Lady Of The Dancing Water. ‘Uh-oh’ - King Crimson – could be in for a long night after all – no, wait, its under three minutes. Yes, very nice little acoustic number with some very pleasant flute and (what?) trumpet added in. The sound of a misty and mystical medieval glade, without the bad smells and murderous marauding pillagers. From Lizard (1970)


2. Sapphire Thinkers – Please Understand – Ah, this is good. Sun drenched, harmony filled US psych-pop that’s just edgy enough to avoid being too twee. Yet another excellent discovery thanks to the marvellous Psychedelic Lion website / blogspot (http://psychedeliclion.blogspot.com/ ) Taken from From Within (1969)


3. Echo And The Bunnymen – Monkeys – Suitably dramatic stuff from their 1980 debut Crocodiles – all echoey guitars and trademark Ian McCulloch histrionics. I was a few years late jumping on this particular bandwagon, after spending a fortnight in Ibiza in the summer or 1984, where ‘The Killing Moon’ was played nightly at the local disco. Crocodiles was given to me later that same year as a pressie for my 20th Birthday. What wouldn’t I give to go back and have 1984 all over again? Certainly not my ipod that’s for sure.......


4. Tears For Fears – Watch Me Bleed – One of the great pop bands of the 1980s, although I would never have admitted that at the time of course. This is a fairly likeable, but hardly classic track from their debut album The Hurting (1983). Hints at greatness on their debut would be fully realised on the excellent follow up ‘Songs From The Big Chair’ then overdone to the point of bloated excess on their third and final album of the decade ‘The Seeds Of Love’ The older I get the more I am willing to concede that the 1980s was a great decade for British pop music. Right on.


5. Kings Of Leon – Camaro – I’m still not completely sure about Kings of Leon. Certainly one of the better bands to emerge in the last decade and this is one of their better songs. Good rocking pace, incredible bass and top notch idioosyncratic lyrics about hot chicks in cool cars. From ‘Because of The Times’ their third album released in 2007


6. Elliott Smith – Christian Brothers. Starts with the line ‘No bad dream fucker’s gonna boss me around’ – excellent. I got into the music of the late Elliott Smith a few years ago when I heard his superb album ‘Figure 8’ from 2000. This song is taken from his eponymous second album released in 1995 and is fairly standard Smith – intense, breathy vocals over acoustic guitar and lo-fi backing. I’m still getting to know the rest of his back catalogue and I’m sure there will be much of a similar calibre to ‘Figure 8’ to be found.


7. Oasis – (As Long As They’ve Got) Cigarettes In Hell – I often forget how great Oasis were. And they recorded some cracking b-sides too. This is typically Beatle-ish, complete with a plodding Hey Jude / I Am The Walrus rhythm, Strawberry Fields mellotron and an excellent vocal from Noel, who usually sang at least one b-side per single. This was one of the b-sides on the ‘Go Let It Out’ CD single and to me is yet another heady reminder of the complete insanity that was the fine summer of 2000.


8. Frank Sinatra - The Gal That Got Away / It Never Entered My Head – From The Reprise Collection box set. Sounds like a live medley from later in his career. I’m still getting my head round Sinatra and hoping that it’s not too much longer before I am able to listen to and enjoy his stuff at other times of the day than 2am when I’m feeling sorry for myself and can’t sleep, but for now that will do nicely.


9. The Beatles – Mr Moonlight (Live At The Star Club, Hamburg 1960) – Somewhat inevitable that something by this lot would turn up in a random 10 – shame it had to be this one really. Archive Beatle recordings are priceless historical artefacts of course, but in truth they usually sound like a big old heap of turd. I think I have played the Hamburg Live album only once all the way through and this is a reminder of why. I’m sure the all-night, amphetamine fuelled marathon gigs played to pissed up German sailors were incredible if you were there of course. Let’s hope we get a decent finale.......


10. Blur – Till The Cows Come Home – Oh yes – that will do nicely. Blur’s brilliant 1993 single ‘For Tomorrow’ was the first CD single I bought, having left it quite late to get hold of something to play them on. Remember when you bought ‘Part 1’ of the CD single in a funky package with space to put ‘Part 2’ in that would be released the following week? So I got the box with the aeroplane on and both parts of the single to fit in it. This is one of the b-sides from ‘Part 2’ and is a fair indication of the Union Jack, Knees Up Muvva Brown, Best Of British path that Blur were to tread with their next few albums, which saw them enjoy the peak of their commercial and critical success.


So there you have it. Not such a bad bunch at all. If you feel inclined to play this at home, why not send me your ‘Random 10’ lists along with your comments, get a guest spot in the blog and save me all the hard work! Otherwise, I will return soon and there will most definitely be.......... more to follow.

4 comments:

  1. 1. CIRCULUS – My Body Is Made Of Sunlight

    I was given a copy of their debut album, and was instantly smitten!! Mediaeval folk mixed with acid rock wrapped up in joyful tunes of groovy loveliness. Any band that takes a lute and puts it through an amplifier is alright by me!!! Very theatrical and tongue-in-cheek, this band of crazy folk are also a joy to watch live (I actually saw them in the tiniest venue ever a few weeks ago!) and the current line-up includes a couple of members of ‘The Mighty Boosh’. The band frontman Michael Tyack gets through many line-ups, due to him sacking members for various delightful reasons (one of the last members was sacked for not believing in fairies!) Deliciously different.


    2. JOE JACKSON - Cosmopolitan

    There is something about his music that really resonates with me. It’s haunting, makes me feel scared and alone, but in an exciting way. So hard to explain, and I can’t put it into words. Some of Suzanne Vega’s stuff does the same thing to me – so it really impressed me to see that he’d been working on some material with her!! Proof (in my mind at least) that they pull their stuff from the same creative ether!
    By the way, I got into Joe Jackson after stealing one of his tapes from Woolworths back in ’84. I was the ultimate thief back then, but eventually got arrested at that very shop. But not before becoming a JJ fan…


    3. THE SISTERS OF MERCY – Bury Me Deep

    I adored (and still adore) Eighties Goth!!! Everything from the beautifully spooky Sisters, through to the glorious pastoral Goth-folk of All About Eve, to the theatrical darkness of Bauhaus. I love it all !!! I shall always be a Goth in my heart. Also always a punk. These things are unshakable! But I usually reserve my Gothic play to the Autumn only. Because this amplifies the atmosphere ten-fold.


    4. THE VIOLET HOUR – Dream Of Me

    A band from the early Nineties, pumping out a beautiful mix of folk-Goth meets Pink Floyd – truly fabulous stuff! I had a copy of their album on tape, and took an age tracking it down on CD (eventually did, and it cost £20 – the most I’ve ever paid for a CD, but worth every penny!)
    It was near impossible to find out anything about them on the internet, as they were casualties of a record company in recession, and never recovered. But through a strange twist of fate I stumbled upon the website of Doris Brendel – singer of this fine band – and emailed her gushing praise about her album and how it had affected me. I didn’t really expect to hear anything back, but to my surprise what I got back was a very long and lovely email from this singer/songwriter I had admired for so long! And so the email ping-pong began, and very quickly we became friends. A joyful friendship that continues to this day. Yes, fact is often stranger than fiction!


    5. BILLY JOEL – Last Of The Big Time Spenders

    I’m not sure if Billy Joel was EVER cool, but he certainly appears to rank rather low on the ‘cool’ list nowadays. I think this is an absolute travesty, and an injustice of the highest order. I adore him (and that automatically makes him cool - anyone wishing to argue with the Crowmeister on that one shall have their eyes pecked out!)
    His output in the Seventies can excuse him from any dodgy material in the Eighties onwards – because the songwriting from that early era is exceptional. Not to mention his unique voice and stunning piano playing. And it may have even been the song ‘Piano Man’ that inspired me to write the ‘story’ songs that I’m best known for. Disrespect the Joel, and I’ll be ‘aving words wiv you…

    ReplyDelete
  2. 6. BLUR - Advert

    I enjoyed the first album ‘Leisure’, but felt it was a band that hadn’t yet found its own identity. It appeared to be trying to emulate other indie bands of the day, yet broke out once in a while with an original sound (‘Sing’ and ‘Birthday’ come to mind) and that unique Graham Coxon guitar sound.
    On ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’, they’d finally come of age, and found their own feet! A truly excellent album I thought, and the first proper Blur sounding one.
    Of course ‘Parklife’ was the massive album, and I must confess is probably my favourite. Because this really was Blur at their Bluriest. I love every track. The Bowie meets Kinks chords fused together with Coxon’s delicious guitar and Albarn’s retro organ (ooer!) with suberb bass/drums backing, this was divine alchemy in action.
    ‘The Great Escape’ had multiple gems and several failures I thought.
    And then I followed them only half-heartedly after that, as I believe they had already peaked.
    Favourite Blur song of them all: ‘This Is A Low’ It can make a grown man cry.

    And just a note ha’penny’s worth on the Blur vs Oasis debacle…
    Don’t get me wrong, I think Oasis are fabulous. A good solid tight arse-kickin’ rock n’ roll band - you can’t go wrong with that! And Liam’s voice is quite extraordinary.
    But other than that?? The songs don’t even come close to Blur’s originality, or their musical inventiveness. And live?? Save your money; put a photo of Oasis down the bottom of your garden at night, and shine a torch on it whilst playing the albums. Because music and static images are all you’re gonna get! No movement. No interaction or banter with the crowd. Just grumpy Northern faces and attitude. Where’s the appeal in that? Am I missing something??

    But I think I worked out the secret to their success early on; in interviews, they would tell anyone and everyone that they were “the best fuckin’ band in the world!” And if you asked Oasis fans why they loved them, they’d tell you “because they’re the best fuckin’ band in the world!” Ahhh, the easily manipulated public! Inspired by that, I have employed the same technique too; people revere the Lord Crow Star and worship the ground he walks upon (everywhere I go in fact!) Is it because I’m a super-talented charismatic demi-god of cool? Quite possibly!! But I suspect it’s more to do with the fact that I TELL them how amazing I am, and really don’t have to try very hard to get them believing that, because people appear to be desperate for heroes (hey, people even worship Big Brother contestants for fucks sake!!)
    That’s a free tip. I may use that in my forthcoming ‘How To Con People Into Believing You’re Amazing And Not The Loser That You Really Are’ workshops…

    By the way, I’d just like to mention three other bands from the early Nineties (who may have been tagged under the ‘Britpop’ label) who were criminally overlooked in my opinion: Kinky Machine, Echobelly, and These Animal Men. All of whom I thought were far superior to Oasis, but didn’t have the necessary publicity and arrogance to pull it off!

    ReplyDelete
  3. 7. BILLY BRAGG – Ideology

    The fiddle player in my band is a delivery driver for a courier company, and he delivers to Burton Bradstock – home of ‘the one-man Clash’. And he recounts a recent incident where Mr Bragg couldn’t get his massive 4x4 through to the main road because my fiddle player’s van was blocking the way for a brief moment. This resulted in The Braggmeister hurling abuse at my poor bandmate, shattering a lifelong admiration for his hero.
    Disappointing Billy, disappointing… Firstly, a gas-guzzling 4x4?? WTF!?? Secondly, the relaxed Dorset attitude - FAIL! And thirdly, disrespect for the working man?!? Hmmm. A fraud, or just having a bad day??
    Either way, he’s still a stellar songwriter! And one of two artists (the other being Jonathan Richman) who have inspired me to SING my own songs – as they both, like myself, are not the greatest singers in the world – but write such excellent songs that you can totally forgive and overlook their technically musical shortcomings! Write a good song, and you can get away with murder…


    8. KULA SHAKER – Great Hosannah

    Now this is a band who were the cool hip darlings of the music world upon the release of their debut Indian tinged album. But they quickly crashed and burned, and were written off forever more.
    Ironically, I was not keen on that first album. I really wasn’t into them at all. But their second album (which this is from) remains on my list of favourite albums of all time!!! They have done a couple more albums since then, both fantastic!! But how strange that it’s their weakest album that made them famous, and their future masterpieces slip under the radar and are heard by nobody!! It’s all about marketing, baby...
    I got to see them play live a few years ago, and it must be said that Crispian Mills exudes a genuine X-factor star quality and is one of the most exciting musicians one could witness rockin’ out!! But with his mother being Hayley and his grandad being Sir John, charisma is in the dude’s genes.


    9. TORI AMOS – Yes, Anastasia

    Despite being more of a guitarist than anything, I have surprisingly few guitar heroes! My musical heroes are piano players!! Probably because the piano is my favourite instrument – it’s beautiful, emotional, and HIGHLY expressive!! And nobody handles it better than Tori. She literally becomes one with the instrument. It’s a spiritual thing. There is no division between woman and piano. And it’s fucking MAGNIFICENT!!! Most people don’t understand where I’m coming from, but I’ve always said that if I could transfer my soul into a musical form, THAT is what Tori plays!! She is playing my soul !!! Is that strange? Of course it is! But she’s in my soul group, that’s for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 10. BOB DYLAN – Went To See The Gypsy

    I’m one of the few people who adore this man for his music instead of his lyrics! Maybe I’m too thick to understand the symbolic imagery he uses. Or maybe too lazy? Or maybe just wise! Maybe Bob has been conning us all these years into believing that these lyrics have amazing significance, and like the dumb sheep we are, we hail him as a lyrical genius without understanding a word of it! I’m honest enough to admit I have no idea what the mental fuzzy-haired geezer is on about…
    But I LOVE the music!! Everything from the raw acoustic guitars, colourful piano, gorgeous Hammond organ, even the reverb on the drums! Very much ‘The Band’ sound, and one that I can’t get enough of.

    By the way, I was once mistaken for being the man himself (for about 5 seconds!)...
    My former boss also ran his own security firm, who did all the security at Hammersmith Odeon. Therefore I could go to any gig there for free (although I never exploited that as much as I should have done!) Anyway, I went to see Mr. Dylan, and after the show I had to wait around for my boss. We ended up leaving through the stage door. And several yards away were barriers, behind which were a multitude of Bob fans with their eyes firmly on that very stage door. When they saw me (with my then Dylanesque hair and long black coat) they immediately assumed I was him!! Much excitement ensued, until those with better eyesight realised their mistake - and I went from being an international superstar to a major disappointment in a matter of seconds…

    ReplyDelete