Sunday, June 1st, 2008

Palindromian Homesick Blues - Wierd Al does Bob Dylan

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Bob


Sounds like Dylan, looks like Dylan, makes about as much sense as some of his lyrics ;-)

The real thing

(Leave a comment)

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

Now this is how to cover a song - Nina Simone does Leonard Cohen


Nina Simone - Suzanne

I love the original - it's always been one of those songs that (unlike Hallelujah) is so perfect I've never even considered anyone else even trying to record it
but she completely transforms it into something that's a total celebration of love & living - even the lines about Jesus that seem full of dispair become something positive (I don't mean in a shallow cheesy not-understanding-the-song-and-it's-meaning ultra pop cover way) and the whole song sounds so fucking alive.


Leonard Cohen's original

Her Just like Tom Thumb's Blues is stunning too - she gives it a whole new layer of fragility. better than Dylan?
(Leave a comment)

Thursday, November 22nd, 2007

band/song of the moment

The Villains - especially Rough Road (just what I needed at this moment - been crying my eyes out at a thread on urban on the death of someone I didn't even know)
http://www.myspace.com/thevillainsreggae 
(Leave a comment)

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

Hello from Jeremy of the Levellers

Message From Jeremy Leveller
  eta: bah myspacetv videos won't embed outside myspace :-(
(Leave a comment)

Sunday, November 11th, 2007

Songs of the moment

the newly added ones on Atila The Stockbroker's music myspace

especailly Guy Fawkes' table, and his small act (in the grand scheme of things) of bravery of  putting up his memories of his father who fought, alongside his version of the Green Fields Of France, for today Remberance Sunday.
plus a anti fascist song dedicated to AFA backing up his thoughts on his main blog

"I would have been a conscientious objector, but I would have fought Hitler, no doubt of that.
The Second World War had to be fought - although if the spineless capitalist governments had not stood by and let the fascists destroy Spain, giving the fascists the message that they could get away with anything, perhaps it would not have happened - or at least not on that scale."

http://www.myspace.com/attilastockbroker

Guy Fawkes' table 
"Aneurin Bevan, your party is dead
And the time for a new one is nigh
Will the last person Left please turn out the lights?
New Labour, just fuck off and die."

full lyrics under the cut )

http://myspace.com/attilathestockbroker

(Leave a comment)

Sunday, October 28th, 2007

TOTP2 halloween special was pretty good too

great songs/performances from Atomic Rooster (Devil's Answer), Arthur Brown - Fire complete with shamanic dancing and pagan body dwabings - nowonder my mum freaked out about it being satanic way bacvk in 92/93 when it was on Sounds of The 60s. Shame they cut off the "I am the good of hell fire" intro.
Souxie and the banshees - spellbound, 

had fucjk I know this moments to Voice Of The Beehive (both Steve Wright and his reaserchers were too ignorent to know that the words monster in the title wasn't the only link of the band to halloween/horror), Stan Ridgway - Camaflage 
one of the reasons the 80's were great - a Johnny Cash style folk ghost story could get mimed too on top of the pops. His other guitarist was doing the goofiest "how rediculus is it that we're miming to this on toppy" looks I've ever seen (apart from Hank marvin and co on the next song - didn't they have a decent ghost riders in the sky left in the archives or something?)

and I've heard that Split Enz song a million tim,es without know it was them.

Full versions of the Ghost Busters & Thriller videos (not seen them for ages) 
minus points for cutting things short and the full horror of MC Hammer's addams family song (MY EYES!!) I'd somehow managed to repress every last bit of knowledge of having ever seen that from my mind until now :-(

Steve Wright is still a total twunt and a sexist prick towards Soiuxie and the wo/man with the Rattles.
(they were fucking great too - so was Bahaus . serious Bowie fixation from Count Dracula - no wonder they did The Hunger and covered Ziggy stardust.


Steve wrights a lyeing cunt too - first shot of Waren Zevron doing werewolves of london acoustically at a piano I thought ...OMG this is the one were he namechecked  Joe because he could see him dancing along must record....followed by no can't be because Steve said it's one "he came in and did for us" and that was Jools Holland not TOTP2 followed by it's a stunning performance must recored it - hit record only fuck all happens, try again and the tape ejects because it's the South Park tape left in the machine.

anyway - he get's to "I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen, saw Lon Chaney jr walking with the Queen" then just when I was sure it wasn't that version adds "I saw Joe Strummer walking with The Queen" and just he was finishing the camera panned along or pulled back a bit and you could see Joe & the meskies, standing at the side (waiting for their performance? they did London calling and another song or maybe two I think on the same show) - the Meskies looked a bit pissed off - and Joe was grooving to the music.
(Leave a comment)

Wednesday, October 10th, 2007

Radiohead - Videotape

When I'm at the pearly gates
This will be on my videotape, my videotape
Mephistopheles is just beneath
and he's reaching up to grab me

This is one for the good days
and i have it all here
In red, blue, green
Red, blue, green

You are my center
When i spin away
Out of control on videotape
On videotape
On videotape
On videotape

This is my way of saying goodbye
Because I can't do it face to face
I'm talking to you after it's too late
From my videotape

No matter what happens now
You shouldn't be afraid
Because I know today has been the most perfect day I've ever seen.
(Leave a comment)

Radiohead - In Rainbows - the NME's first impressions

http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=10&p=2761&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

oh and one of the songs completly pisses on Coldplay's borrowing from bands like Kraftwerk. (and I like Coldplay) 
(Leave a comment)

Fi rst thoughts on new Radiohead album

first impressions of first listen - written track by track.

I'm liking it so far - first track is surprisingly upbeat sort of electrofunk pop - well for Radiohead, track two is very Paranoid Android/|There There with a bit of the "flan in the face, flan in the face" (I think) bits of Hail to the Thief.

Nude is beautiful - sounds almost exactly like it dates from around Fake Plastic Trees

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - D&B and lovely piano ripples. beautiful floating vocals full of yearning. Perfect Radiohead - total synthesis of their highest points from all periods mostly without being deriative of them.
At least up to around 4mintutes followed by more D&B and spacey doomyness, wondering into both No Surprises and How To Disappear And Never Be Found territory.

All I Need - more dark floaty glitch/pop has a bit of a Postal Service - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight vibe to it. Beautiful sounding yet disturbing lyrics, obsessive love song? This is wonderful - best song so far. Very falling asleep listening to Peel or VPRO.

Faust Arp - kinda appropriate that the first lines to this are "Wakey wakey rise and shine. Has Thom's familiar paranoia rush of words from the few albums but quieter, mellower and near classical music, instead of jerky histerical delivery and electonica. A return to words drifting across space. Feels too short.

Reckoner - sudden sharp shock after the previous track. sounds like a machine assembly system attacking your brain, first fighting then strangely becoming a rhythmic accompaniment to the melodic tune and vocals. Oddly U2 like (but in a good way) reminds me of The Hands That Built America - Exit Music For A Film & Sail To The Moon too.

 House Of Cards - harder but at the same time soft echoing.
oh god this is beautiful - like angel voices. Could do without the reminder of bloody Texas "I don't want a lover" from the line "I don't want to be your friend, I just want to be your lover". Nicely fluffy. 
Is this a metaphor for the collapse of capitalist society or just stealing somebody from a house, 2 cars, kids, high salary husband, relationship/freeing them from that existence.

Jigsaw Falling Into Place - Bends/Ok Computer territory only with paranoiac electronic glitchy beats. Feels like a panic attack again, near the end, like whole chunks of the last three albums + Paranoid Android

Videotape - another tender ballad, (with lo key glitch/pop touches) but the vocals sound distorted just like as if on the watched and rewatched recording of Thom's life. Simultaneously warm and disturbing. Hypnotic music loop. Thom sounds hopeful yet mournful Could be depressing - narrator planning suicide? or very uplifting - not scared of death because he's been truly alive - "no matter what happens now, shan't be afraid because I know today has been the most perfect day I've ever seen"

(Leave a comment)

Songs of the moment

 The Flying Burrito Brothers version of Dark End Of The Street - this is stunningly gorgious, and Calexico - The Ballad of Cabel Hogue (why did it take me so fucking long to get Calexico grr)

I'm playing Uncut's More Sounds of the New West - "the best of Americana 2000" cd at the moment (Tiverton Oxfam cd section=win)

today I'm feeling alive and hopefull - posted somethings that were difficult/scary but feel a lot better for having said them.

comtemplating an adventure of going to meet/stay with total strangers (irl) off the internet in Birmingham to have a laugh and talk politics/Burma and 'ting. (explaining that to my mum should be fun)
What with me being HFA and having problems with finding my way arround and socalising it will be an adventure

Oh yeah The Handsome Family are wondifull (they've just come on - So Much Wine is the song) must, must must  buy their albums.

and hot Zaptista coffee with a dash of Carling may be the best drink ever
(Leave a comment)

Tuesday, October 9th, 2007

song of the moment - Serj Tankian - Empty Walls

such a gloriously powerful video
could so easily have been just wacky or a joke - especially showing things like the pulling down of Saddam's statue recreated with a teddy bear and Serge looking like Wierd Al - but it's not.

The video and the ending especially - when the kids stop playing their war games to watch the cofin being carried of a victem of the real thing - show how war is treated as if it was a game when it's anything but.

Wonder if those kids understood the parrallels to what they were acting out?(like the wendy house & toy guns renactment of houses being stormed and the inhabentants being killed, followed by playing dead, and the netting symblising prisoner camps)

High quality version here http://www.myspace.com/serjtankian & here http://www.serjtankian.com (+ Serge's thoughts on borders - worth reading.)

    
(Leave a comment)

Monday, October 1st, 2007

How Radiohead killed the record labels

 http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/shanerichmond/sept07/radiohead.htm
(Leave a comment)

New Radiohead album?

or is it just another hoax?

Looks genuine - emails belong to waste.
Album appears to be called In Rainbows - could be an outakes round up rather than a proper album - apparently some tracks are alt titles of songs they did live and never released.


It's available in two formats - Discbox: for £40 (sets are made to order)
"THIS CONSISTS OF THE NEW ALBUM, IN RAINBOWS, ON CD AND ON 2 X 12 INCH HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL RECORDS.
A SECOND, ENHANCED CD CONTAINS MORE NEW SONGS, ALONG WITH DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTWORK. THE DISCBOX ALSO INCLUDES ARTWORK AND LYRIC BOOKLETS.
ALL ARE ENCASED IN A HARDBACK BOOK AND SLIPCASE." and also includes free download version.

or digital download of the basic album for however much you want to pay for it

http://www.inrainbows.com

(Leave a comment)

Tuesday, September 25th, 2007

Ian Brown - Ilegall Attacks

Video, lyrics and discussion
http://goodheads.wordpress.com/2007/08/20/ian-brown-illegal-attacks/

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/chartblog/2007/09/ian_brown_ft_sinead_oconnor_il.shtml 

Chat about his classic NME interview (you need to register to read the boards)
http://www.ian-brown.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2058

Has the interview been put on line anywhere yet? 

eta: It's a classic interview - felt fantastic that he's saying these things out loud and the NME is once again putting them out there - just when I was thinking it was only happening in old cuttings and obscure artists/corners of the internet - this turned up to give me hope again. + the Gallows/Lethal Bizzle reworking Stareing at the Rudeboys for now and giving that still much needed mesage of unity (slightly off topic but it's turned up a few places starting with that piece - ffs it's 2007, do people really still need to told that we need to stop fighting each other, & instead come together and fight the real enemy? whether it's youth tribes or British workers v immegrents/refugees) - bonus points for the Thomas The Punk Engine line from the article writer - plus the new gobshite from Manchester. Was amazing walking into the post office and seeing "Bush and Blair should be banged up" right there on the selves for all to see. The Nme were right to list him (Ian) as one of the influanced in Joe's tribute - this shows it's not the swagger & the lip he stole from Strummer - yeah! Illegal Attacks The album The World Is Yours (Special Edition with Bonus Disc) (assosiates links) also Ian Brown's the first person I've seen anywhere sugesting the so obvious I can't belive nobodies said it before idea that Heroin 'flooding' our cities aftyer the Brixton riots etc could've been deliberate/deliberetly allowed to stop dissent (Lennon and Strummer had similar theories about America)
(Leave a comment)

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

T hey've even got DIY merchandise

make your own Red Guitar mugs - all you need is a computer, printer and some sticky backed plastic

http://www.redguitars.co.uk/freestuff.html

(Leave a comment)

The Red Guitars on Good Technology

 (and other songs)

http://www.redguitars.co.uk/songs.html  Red Guitars, music
(Leave a comment)

Red Guitars - Good Technology

 Thanks to Tufty for turning me on to this song and thanks to John Peel for playing it in the first place 

This blog has the lyrics and says everything about it  in just a few words. 

"It's that final bit that does it for me. After this random list of the things that we have, the mundane and the extraordinary, the fucked-up and the fantastic, it turns to the liberation from drudgery offered by labour saving devices. And what do we do with the time given us? Watch telly. "
(and in the ultimate coinincidence that post wouldn't exist if Tufty/Zoe hadn't quoted the lyrics on her blog to start with)

http://www.redguitars.co.uk/


 John Peel - Right Time Wrong Speed: 1977-1987 (amazon assosiates link)

  eta: from http://www.redguitars.co.uk/discog.html Paul Du Noyer reviewing Good Technology in the NME on 27/08/83. "Via one delicious melody and an ominously building beat, Red Guitars itemise the sundry achievements of modern science, from underarm personal hygiene to the hardware of instant Armageddon. In so doing, the song constructs an unforgettable vision of a world that's grown too clever by one-and-a-half at least."
(Leave a comment)

Sunday, September 16th, 2007

Oh Please leave us something to breath

Kate Bush - The Breathing live on Comic Relief just her and a piano
Devestating
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_g5UtTG2z4
(Leave a comment)

Wiki Is your friend

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power%2C_Corruption_%26_Lies

This the origanal -
  1. "Age of Consent" – 5:16
  2. "We All Stand" – 5:14
  3. "The Village" – 4:37
  4. "5 8 6" – 7:31
  5. "Your Silent Face" – 6:00
  6. "Ultraviolence" – 4:52
  7. "Ecstasy" – 4:25
  8. "Leave Me Alone" – 4:40
This is the American version (the one I've downloaded & is on amazon uk)
  1. "Age of Consent" – 5:16
  2. "We All Stand" – 5:14
  3. "The Village" – 4:37
  4. "5 8 6" – 7:31
  5. "Blue Monday" – 7:29
  6. "Your Silent Face" – 6:00
  7. "Ultraviolence" – 4:52
  8. "Ecstasy" – 4:25
  9. "Leave Me Alone" – 4:40
  10. "The Beach" – 7:18

" The American edition of Power Corruption & Lies, released later, featured "Blue Monday" and its B-side "The Beach" as extra tracks."(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Order#Power.2C_Corruption_.26_Lies)
"
from the albums page - "Certain versions of the album, including the US release, feature "Blue Monday" after "5 8 6"* and "The Beach" after "Leave Me Alone". Some copies list "Your Silent Face" and "Ecstasy" under their working titles, "KW1" (which stands for The Kraftwerk one), and "Only the Lonely", respectively. 'Ultraviolence' when debuted live was originally called 'Who Killed My Father?' and 'Leave Me Alone' as 'Only the Lonely'. The guitar line in the latter song was recycled from the melody played on the melodica on a previous release, 'Hurt'.

The 24 January 2000 CD re-release features just seven tracks, in a different order to previous versions. 'Ultraviolence' is omitted from these versions."

re issue tracklisting - (also on amazon)

  1. "Your Silent Face" – 6:00
  2.  "Ecstasy" – 4:25
  3. "Leave Me Alone" – 4:40
  4. "Age of Consent" – 5:16
  5. "We All Stand" – 5:14
  6. "The Village" – 4:37
  7. "5 8 6" – 7:31

*according to a review on amazon the recording of 5 8 6 accidentally led to Blue Monday

(Leave a comment)

Oh my god, oh my god oh my god

just got managed to get decent sound out of these speakers, turned them up & and repeated the realy_truely_hearing_Blue_monday_for_only_the_second_or_thitrd_time_despite_having_heard_it_ millions_of_times_and_known_it_nearly_al_ my_life epithany 

just reexperianced the full on imennesness of being attacked/shot down by the "machine gun drums" 

and started having flashbacks to the colours of the video 

first time was while playing Factory songs and toasting Tony Wilson

stuck on alternative 80s - fucked arround with winamp presets to get it to sound perfect turned the sound up to a rediculusly stupid level (fucked my ears for a week and my computer speakers have barely been the same since)

followed by finding the video on youtube - then seeing the pattens on somebodys shirt in the middle of tescos) that looked like those colours bleeding (plus triggering memories of the recorded dream seqrences in Until the end of the world) and the duh duh dududada beats starting up in my head as  I walked down the aisle.


Your silent face has just come on - triggering the reaction in the title 
how the fuck did I forget this track, this is the tune that I've been trying to remember for years every time I heard another song that sound a bit like it (can't remember what that was now), that was always just out of reach . 
this is so warm and beautiful and sounds strangly organic 

Sound formed in a vacuum
May seem a waste of time
It's always been just the same
No hearing or breathing
No movement no lyrics
Just nothing

The sign that leads the way
The path we can not take
You've caught me at a bad time
So why don't you piss off

(Leave a comment)
Previous 20