October 2008 Archives

I've recently been reminded of the genius that is Bang Bang It's Reeves and Mortimer, by a fellow Vic and Bob devotee. But, having acquired the series on DVD, I realised how under-rated this great comedy sketch show was. It never gets the same recognition as The Smell Of Reeves and Mortimer or Shooting Stars.

And this got me thinking of other things that are also under-rated, such as the movie A Life Less Ordinary. Naturally, it wasn't long before I got on to the subject of music. Here are a few albums I have in my collection that, had I listened to critics or other people, I wouldn't have had the pleasure of listening to.

"Second Coming" - Stone Roses
Lambasted by critics and even some fans for being different to their classic debut and seen as the beginning of the end for one of Britain's best bands. But all they did was discover blues rock and added it to their funky guitar pop to create an astonishing, powerful record.
And songs such as Begging You, Love Spreads, Breaking Into Heaven, Driving South and the lovely Ten Storey Love Song easily compare with anything they did before.

"New Adventures In Hi-fi" - REM
When REM went 'back to their roots' for the previous album Monster, they lost a lot of casual fans who had only been interested in the band's more commerical work. But they're the idiots as this turned out to be a beaut of an album.
Engaging, interesting and startlingly lovely, it also contains one of the most gorgeous and my personal favourite REM song, Electrolite.

"Hail To The Thief" - Radiohead
Talk about a no win situation. Some said they were merely covering old ground, others expressed disappointment that it wasn't like their earlier records! Many said it weak.
But if great songs make for a strong album, how can an LP that contains There There, 2+2=5, Go To Sleep, Where I End And You Begin, A Wolf At The Door and Myxomatosis be weak?

"Help!" - The Beatles
I know it seems strange to include the Fab Four in this list but I've always felt Help! is overlooked because it is caught between early Beatles and the start of their mid to late 60s transformation.
But this album is stunning. So many great pop singles. Yeah, yeah, Rubber Soul followed later in the same year but this is where you can hear the first traces of Paul, John, George and Ringo leaving Beatlemania behind and growing up.

"Trompe Le Monde" - Pixies
Ok, so they were on the verge of breaking up and the relationship between members was crumbling but that only adds to the brilliance of this record. It sounds fresh. More like a band on the verge of something bigger rather than the beginning of their end.
I still feel like leaping around like a madman when I hear Alec Eiffel, U-Mass and Planet Of Sound. And they even manage to do the near-impossible - a great cover of a Jesus and Mary Chain track, Head On.

I've been inundated with no comments or emails demanding to know what happened to Single File. To put all of you out of your indifference, the truth is it had become a chore so I ruthlessly dropped it from my act.

But I had to make a belated comment about Bjork's latest single Nattura, which is delightfully eccentric and ace. It is powered by some incredible tribal drums and sparse electronica which compliments the urgency in Bjork's voice. Oh, and it features a certain musical genius called Thom Yorke doing backing vocals.

It has been recorded to benefit the Nattura campaign which has been set up to seek ways to improve the Icelandic environment.

All in all, it is an amazing track. But I've come to expect nothing less from her. Check it out yourselves...

YouTube - Bjork - Nattura.mht

Just got back from a trip to the beautiful Senegal. But enough with the bragging. Being a music fan, I was interested to find out more about the local sounds from the country.

Of course, you'll have heard of Youssou Ndour and rapper Akon. You may have even heard of Baaba Maal. But I hadn't so I was delighted to unearth this little laid back, soothing gem. Just a pity I don't understand what he's singing about! But I love the tune and when I listen to it, I close my eyes and am taken back to the gorgeous beaches I was on less than a week ago. You can hear it at:

Baaba Maal - Miyaabele.mht

While I was out there I bought myself a little bongo. When I've mastered how to play it properly I might even start my own band...

While watching England's laboured World Cup qualifying win over the mighty Kazakhstan yesterday, there were a few things I heard that made me want to stab my ears in disgust.

These included some moronic In-Ger-Land supporters booing Ashley Cole after he made a mistake and the stadium announcer bellowing out "Substitution for England, replacing number seven Theo Walcott is number 15, David Beckham..."

But the worst thing, by far, I heard at Wembley during the game was that poxy brass band. I love hearing music in most situations. But who on earth told them they were welcome? Who encourages them to go to every game? Why hasn't anyone banned them?

Every time they strike up "The Great Escape", "Self Preservation Society" or "God Save The Queen" (the national anthem too, they don't even try to redeem themselves by playing the Sex Pistols song) I want to scream. Humphrey Lyttleton they ain't...

Euro 2008 was a great tournament and this was enhanced because, as England didn't qualify, that stupid band was left at home too. Perhaps if England were to fail to qualify for the next World Cup, it wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.

P Diddy, or Puff Daddy, or over-rated chancer with a messiah complex as I like to call him, has revealed in an interview that he has imaginary friends, one of them being dead crooner Frank Sinatra!

Gee, I bet imaginary Frank is delighted. Of all the Hip Hop superstars he could have been pals with, he gets "Puffy". Don't think it'll be too long before Pretend Ol' Blue Eyes is P Doff with that "collaboration"...

Last week's Single File caused a tiny bit of controversy when I handed the ZX Spectrum computer the dreaded 'one star' rating in the guide.

Of course, I didn't really mean it. As we had a Commodore 64 when I was a kid, I remember the arguments about which computer was the best and I was just trying to wind Speccy owners up by labelling the machine as the worst. And boy did it work. I was inundated with angry Spec heads (well, three of them) accusing me of blasphemy.

But, regardless of which machine you had, weren't those days great? Don't you get all nostalgic and misty-eyed when you are transported back to the 80s? For me, having a Commodore goes hand in hand with watching Top Of The Pops when it was still good, reading my sister's copies of Smash Hits and Look In, taping songs such as "19" by Paul Hardcastle off the Top 40 countdown on Radio One and eventually falling in love with Kylie Minogue as she belted out "I Should Be So Lucky" in 1988.

Yesterday (October 10) saw the first anniversary of "Radiohead Day" where people were able to download their "In Rainbows" album for whatever price they wanted. An incredible and startling event. And obviously something that could never have happened in the pre-internet days when Commodores and Spectrums ruled most households.

Yes, technology has moved on and it is amazing. But despite the improvements - and maybe this is just the sad old git in me wearing rose-tinted specs - I think I preferred having to wait ages for a computer game to load on the tape deck or going into a proper record shop to buy vinyl or cassettes when I wasn't taping the songs off the charts...

My weekly review of some of the singles out now. You know the drill...

***** Commodore 64
**** Atari 400
*** BBC
** Commodore Vic 20
* Sinclair ZX Spectrum

"The Bones Of You" - Elbow
Obviously a cash in of their thoroughly deserved success at last month's Mercury Music Prize awards.
But why not? It's a lovely rollercoaster of a song which shows exactly what impressed those judges.
****

"Love You Anyway" - Boyzone
See, the easy thing here would be to trash Boyzone. So I say, why make life difficult? Desperately trying to ride in on Take That's comeback success but, unlike them, Boyzone have not improved.
Why did Keith Duffy leave Corrie to to return to this?
*

"Girls" - Sugababes
Get "Here Come The Girls" by Ernie K Doe for a real, classy soul tune but this is a fine cover nevertheless and a great pop song.
Possibly their best effort post-Mutya. Although expect to be sick of it in no time as it will no doubt be played to death.
****

"So What" - Pink
While this isn't bad, I can't see why some people seem to be raving about it.
It's typical angry Pink telling people to accept her for who she is (again).
***

"He's A Rocker" - The Vines
Wow, The Vines are still going?! Saw them in their "Highly Evolved" days and they were mental.
But, sadly, this is a little plodding and doesn't really standout like their old stuff.
**

"She Made It Easy" - Kotchy
Stumbled across this tune purely by accident and, boy, am I glad that I did!
A shot of eclectic, eccentric electronica - not too unlike Beck - and a real treat. Single of the week for me.
*****