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Thursday 31 January 2019

Some New Old Timey Music

Photograph (c) Erica Chambers Photography


I hope shortly to have some time to be able to give some brief feedback on the three recent gigs that I have attended.
Until then here are a few lines about the support act at the Karine Polwart and Kris Drever with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra concert at the King's Theatre


The Local Honeys are a bluegrass duo from Kentucky. Linda Jean Stokley plays  guitar and fiddle and is from the Blue Grass Mountains with banjo player Montana Hobbs hailing from the foothills of the Appalachians. They were the first females to graduate with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Traditional Music from Morehead State University.
Although their music is traditional and they have the utmost respect for their culture and history they also come across as somewhat left field highlighting such things as environmental concerns and their female role models.
At a concert in Cork an audience member exclained - you sing like angels and play like devils.


Given there choice of genre it is highly unlikely they will ever make the big time and they will probably struggle to scratch a living purely by making music.
They come across as two young ladies who are good at and who enjoy what they are doing and who seem genuinely excited to have the opportunity to travel to foreign shores to ply their trade. They even went as far as taking a selfie of themselves and the audience for their Moms back home.


They have recently  been touring in  England but if you are north of the border and quick you can catch then in Falkirk tonight, Inverness on 1st Feb, Ullapool on the 2nd and Aberdeen on the 3rd. You will be guaranteed a good night out.


Wednesday 30 January 2019

State of the Union - Illinois

George writes
Number 4, and it’s Illinois, birthplace if William Jennings Bryan. You might think that, given that Chicago is in Illinois, you might get a blues track, or two. We shall see.


Illinois is the USA’s largest producer of pumpkins, which fact inspired the name of one of the state’s more famous groups, the Smashing Pumpkins.


And Walt Disney comes from Illinois (Chicago), which reminds me of this:

Question: What’s the difference between Bing Crosby and Walt Disney?
Answer: Bing sings, and Walt disnae.

Like New York I found it a challenge to unearth a track about Chicago that might not be very familiar to many. Of course, I could be wrong there. The Hold Steady have made some belting albums, Stay Positive is a favourite in this house, one that inevitably results in a “that’s too loud, George” when when I descend the two flights of stairs after playing it. Loudly.



Today’s track is another belter, from the album Separation Sunday album. I expect, no demand, that when all you readers play it you get a similar reprimand.


And it would be simply perverse not to feature a track from Come On Feel The Illinoise. It’s Jacksonville, which is about the Jacksonville in Illinois and not one of the other twelve Jacksonvilles elsewhere in the USA. And after this you might as well not listen to anything else all day because this song is absolutely fantastic. It is so well, so cleverly, constructed, so well played, so well produced, it takes your breath away.


325 seconds of sheer brilliance.

And no blues.

CC writes
I can't believe George didn't choose this

The Handsome Family - The Giant of Illinois

or this
Wilco - Via Chicago

Over to Illinois native Brian for other suggestions

Tuesday 29 January 2019

See Emily Play


Sorry Floyd fans but it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up.
We are off to the Mitchell Theatre tomorrow night  for our second and final Celtic Connections outing to see Dumfries and Galloway native Emily Smith and her New Zealand born fiddle playing husband Jamie McLennan.

Mrs CC and I have been fans ever since picking up a copy of 2001's Traiveller's Joy from the library and yes that is the correct spelling. It will be the first time we have had an opportunity to see her.
She is pretty much in the traditional Folk music camp.
From Traiveller's Joy here is a beautiful cover version of Richard Thompson's Waltzing for Dreamers followed by the more traditional Lord Donald.

Emily Smith - Waltzing For Dreamers

Emily Smith - Lord Donald

Monday 28 January 2019

Washington Square Serenade


I'm a big fan of Steve Earle. I used to be a huge fan.
I have probably seen him more times than any other artist unless you count the likes of the Felsons or the Radio Sweethearts who used to support pretty much every Americana act who pitched up in Glasgow.

I've all his albums from  his 1986 debut Guitar Town up to 2002's Jerusalem picking  up many of the later ones on the day of release.
I have copies of the other three albums he released in the 2000's but none of those released since.
One of those copied is his 12th studio album 2007's Washington Square Serenade. I gave it a listen the other day and I had clearly forgotten how good an album it was.
It won a Grammy in 2008 for Best Contemporary Folk/American Album, There is pretty much a Grammy for every genre or sub genre.

Steve Earle -Satellite Radio

Steve Earle - City of Immigrants

Sunday 27 January 2019

Karine and Kris

Kris
Karine












The first of two Celtic Connections outings tonight Karine Polwart and Kris Drever with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at Glasgow's King's Theatre.
I think the only time I have ever been there before was for the pantomime - oh no, it wasn't ......

Two left field and contemporary Scottish folk artists who I have  seen in concert before but individually as opposed to collectively. It promises to be an interesting evening.
I'm just getting into Karine's recent Laws of Motion release. When I saw Kris he was promoting his 2016 album If Wishes Were Horses. I'm not sure if he has anything solo planned but he is part of the band Lau who have an album scheduled for February.

From Karine's song below  from Traces and I Burn But I Am Not Consumed from her current album and from what I know about Kris I suspect that Donald Trump may be in for a hard time tonight.No bad thing.

Karine Polwart - Cover Your Eyes

Kris Drever - Navigator

Saturday 26 January 2019

Double Initials - CC


The one that you have been waiting for - CC does CC
Again a myriad of suggestions from you clever folk. I'd selected my three choices in advance and they were all among the ones suggested.
So in the order I had written them down.

First up Charles Caldwell yet another Mississippi Hill Country bluesman discovered late in life by Fat Possum records. One of the 50 or so suggestions from Rol. From his only album Remember Me released posthumously in 2004

George correctly guessed Chris Cacavas  erstwhile sideman to the likes of Green On Red, Steve Wynn and Giant Sand. Here is a Mott the Hoople cover from his excellent 2002 album Bumbling Home From the Stars

Finally C came up with a CC. Here are China Crisis with Black Man Ray. A band my pal Raymie once saw in a pub in Largs

Next up DD. I've jotted down my choices. Let's hear yours

Charles Caldwell - Movin' Out, Movin' In

Chris Cacavas - Sucker

China Crisis -Black Man Ray

Friday 25 January 2019

Sister John


We are off to the  Poetry Club, SW3 tonight (a new venue for me) for the album launch of the eponymous second album by Sister John the follow up to their 2017 album Returned From Sea.

If it's half as good of  the predecessor, which was my album of the year for 2017, then we are in for a treat.
I'll be picking up on my copy on the night on transparent milk white vinyl no less.
 I haven't heard it, yet bar for single I'm The One  (see video below),  but any reviews I've read have been very positive. I know that Drew rates it highly.






If you don't have Returned From Sea you know what to do that is buy here. Available on both CD and vinyl

Sister John -Thinner Air




Thursday 24 January 2019

From The Vaults


Two songs by two bands who I've never owned anything by but have always had a bit of a soft spot for. In both cases I'm featuring pretty much the only "hit" they ever had , and I use hit in the loosest term of the word.

The Kursaal Flyers were a band from Southend-on - Sea and were contemporaries of the likes of Dr Feelgood and Eddie and the Hot Rods. Their drummer Will Burch  who later joined the Feelgoods wrote the excellent book No Sleep Til Canvey Island about the Essex scene which you should track down and read. Sadly I lent my copy to someone and never got it back.
Their hit was Little Does She Know from 1976 which was in the charts for 10 weeks peaking at number 14.


The Leyton Buzzards were even less successful. From Leyton in East London they were active between 1976  and 1980 and their  big single was Saturday Night (Beneath the Plastic Palm Trees) which spent 5 weeks in the charts peaking at 53  in 1979 earning them an appearance on Top of the Pops.
Two of their members  went on to feature with Modern Romance but the less said about them the better.


Kursaal Flyers - Little Does She Know

Leyton Buzzards - Saturday Night (Beneath the Plastic Palm Trees)


Wednesday 23 January 2019

State of the Union - Wyoming



George writes:

.Two states covered, forty-nine to go. This week it’s the smallest in terms of population, second smallest in terms of population density, but tenth largest in terms of area. Wyoming, the state with more sheep than people, and, certainly in 2013, the state with only two escalators, located in city of Casper. Having scoured the internet (whilst watching Judge Judy) I could find no famous musicians from the state, no noteworthy people at all, really, and nothing else terribly interesting about it bar the information I gave above. Wyoming: lots of mountains,,some coal mines and loads of sheep. Welcome to USA’s very own version of Wales.

                            
                                      

There is a famous film with a Wyoming connection, The Man From Laramie. Laramie is a small city in the state. James Stewart is the goodie in the film (isn’t he always?) and Arthur Kennedy the baddie. The theme tune was a big hit in the UK in 1955, sung by Thatcher-loving tory Jimmy Young, so there is no way on god’s planet you are getting that. Luckily, New Zealand’s version of The Shadows covered it in 1962 and it is well twangy, a fine song indeed. (Note to CC: there is far far too little twangy guitar music on these pages).

The Embers, for it is they, made two albums in the early 60s and a few singles, and this track is the B-side of one of them.


As I continued my research, post JJ, I got very excited……...there’s a city in Wyoming called Green River, and that is also a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival. RESULT!.....oh no…..it’s about a place in California, and the rules of the series  don’t allow me to use it in a piece about Wyoming. More research throws up Boxcar Willie, which in turn makes me throw up…...my hands in horror at the thought of inflicting the tune Cody, Wyoming on you. Can I stretch the rule to include famous landmarks so that I can include Devil’s Tower by Toto….of course not, and it’s total bobbins...but thankfully Roy Orbison comes to the rescue with a song from the early 1970s called Cheyenne, the state’s most populous city and the capitol. And it is a song about this city, so the rules are met.


Three down, forty seven to go, I have discovered that there are 50 states not 51.

Possibly more next  week.

CC writes :
I was just about to source Song of Wyoming by John Denver when I spotted a band called Map of Wyoming on the Blue Rose Collection Volume 8 . A narrow escape



Tuesday 22 January 2019

Just Joshing

Ritter
Rouse

Originally I had planned to feature three Joshes - the other being Josh T Pearson  but a) I didn't fancy any songs from my burn of Last of the Country Gentlemen and b) he featured yesterday as part of Lift to Experience.

Both Mr Ritter and Rouse have graced these pages before and I daresay they will again.
The Josh Ritter song Harrisburg is taken from his 2002 album The Golden Age of Radio on the Setanta label. I'm not sure whether that is the same Setanta who used to televise Scottish football.

The Josh Rouse song London Bridges  comes from my burn of Country Mouse City House which is from 2007 on Bedroom Classics.I got a copy of the CD cover in a charity shop in Broadford on Skye but sadly the CD was missing!

Any other Joshes I should be aware of?

Josh Ritter - Harrisburg

Josh Rouse - London Bridges

Monday 21 January 2019

The Texas Jerusalem Crossroads


This one could qualify as a Monday Long Song but I'm expecting relatively little traffic today.

This post will take the form of a survey.

Does anyone out there have The Texas Jerusalem Crossroads by Lift to Experience?

If so, have you listened to it and got to the end?

Any idea what the hell is going on?

It appears that this is a concept album about the second coming of Jesus with Texas designated as the Promised Land. Here is a wee bit more background
From 2001 it is the only album by Lift to Experience who were essentially a platform for Josh T Pearson who subsequently released the solo albums Last of the Country Gentlemen and The Straight Hits!

I didn't buy it at the time but being aware of the hype I picked it up second hand a few years later.
It's a right load of old tosh.
I've never managed to listen to it in it's entirety and am somewhat puzzled that it still on the shelves.I'm usually reluctant to jettison anything but in this case I really should get rid.
Anyone willing tp persuade me not to?

Lift to Experience - These Are The Days


Sunday 20 January 2019

Ladies of the Canyon


The general consensus among Joni Mitchell fans, and I include Mrs CC within this group, is that Blue her 4th album from 1971 is her best. Indeed it features in many of those greatest albums of all time lists and often as the highest by a female artist.

I'm not a huge Joni fan although I like her well enough. I am also quite contrary. So for me her best one is the one before from 1970 Ladies of the Canyon
It includes what is possibly her most famous song Big Yellow Taxi  (well her biggest hit at any rate) and also Woodstock.
Being contrary I've selected another two for your listening pleasure.

Joni Mitchell - Morning Morgantown

Joni Mitchell - Ladies of the Canyon

Saturday 19 January 2019

Double Initials -BB


Well last week's post fairly caught the public's imagination.
Over 30 suggestions for BB which would make for a terrific playlist.
I'd made my choices in advance and they all feature.
With regards to George's challenge to feature acts not mentioned the only name I can come up with is Big Bill Broonzy.

Like C the first one I thought of could potentially be a triple B. We start with B"B" B namely Bobby "Blue" Bland. Sorry C but Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City is clearly not absolutely essential given that it does not feature on my Bobby "Blue" Bland - The Absolutely Essential 3 CD Collection

Early bird SWC identified my other two choices.Billy Bragg ( who could also qualify as the Bard of Barking) is busy building Bridges Not Walls whereas the Bhundu Boys  are talking about the happy and enduring life of a musician

Any yes Dirk had I anything by the Ballistic Brothers or the Bollock Brothers they would have more than likely featured.

I've got my C's sorted. over to you for your suggestions


Bobby "Blue" Bland - I Pity the Fool

Billy Bragg - Not Everything That Counts Can Be Counted

Bhundu Boys - Hupenyu Hwangu

Friday 18 January 2019

Friday Night Lights


When I was rummaging through the A's for my new Saturday serious I happened across something that I thought would do just the job for Friday night - Scottish power pop.
The band in question are Attic Lights and the album Friday Night Lights is from 2008 on the Island label.

I thought I had featured it before but that was not the case. I did however post their self titled 2005 debut EP in my Tartan Texans series way back in 2014.

As far as I can gather at the time the band consisted of Kev Sherry (vocals/guitar), Colin McArdle (vocals/bass), Jamie Houston (vocals/guitar/keyboards), Tim Davidson (guitar/pedal steel) and Noel O'Donnell (drums).
The album was produced by Francis McDonald of Teenage Fanclub fame which might not come as a surprise when you hear the music.

They had another album Super De Luxe  in  2013 and seem to have Love in the Time of Shark Attacks scheduled for 2019 although I must admit that their name or music have not crossed my radar for a good few years.

Attic Lights - Never Get Sick of the Sea

Attic Lights - Nothing But Love

Thursday 17 January 2019

On the Level


I only have the one album by New Age crusties The Levellers and that is their 1990 debut A Weapon Called the Word on the Musidisc label.
An album which impressively achieved platinum status despite never troubling the UK albums chart.
Not one I play all that often these days but one I played a fair bit at the time.

I suspect that I bought it after seeing them perform at the Fleadh at Glasgow Green back in 1992
A pretty decent line up  as I'm sure you will agree.
I can only remember seeing them,Martin Stephenson,Kirsty MacColl, Christie Moore, the brilliant Frankie Miller and the grumpy Van Morrison
It is either the sands of time or the Workers Beer Company products on the day that have blurred my memory somewhat.

The Levellers - World Freakshow

The Levellers - Carry On


Wednesday 16 January 2019

State of the Union - New York



George writes

It appears that I am continuing with the series, and today it’s New York. Unfortunately, according to the rules of the game (the song must include the name of the state itself or a city or town therein) I cannot post Big Apple by Kajagoogoo, a single I bought when it came out and still have. And there’s more than a plethora of songs that could be included but won’t be. But never mind this song nonsense, did you know, and I include any readers from the United States, that each state has an official State Fish? And some states have two – I assume that only the landlocked states have one State Fish. Well all states barring last week’s Indiana, and Ohio and  Arkansas.  New York has the Striped Bass and the Brook Trout. I am unable to discover why the majority of states need an official fish.




 And from fish to cats (what a seamless link) to Cat Power and a cover version of a rather well known song, of course it is far far superior to any other version, including that one by Gerard Kenny.....

And an offering by Loudon Wainwright III,  recounting part of his upbringing in Westchester County, hence the name of the song:

A quick request: if anyone has a decent copy of Loudon Wainwright’s song Jesse Don’t Like it as performed for a John Peel session, can you send it my way?. Not the album version, the Peel Session one.




And in my increasingly desperate search for something interesting about New York, I found that someone tried to kill themselves by jumping from the 86th floor of the Empire State building.......only to be blown back into the building on the 85th floor.

Enjoy the music.



CC writes - as I was downloading this someone on the radio was saying there are at least 161 songs since 1960 which feature New York. It was Tam Cowan on Off the Ball so it may not be entirely accurate.
The first that sprung to my mind was

Ryan Adams - New York, New York

So good, they named it twice

Tuesday 15 January 2019

Prine Time


I was  going to start this post by stating that it was a long time since John Prine had appeared on these pages but a quick check shows that he has never featured before.
I'm hanging my head in shame as I type.
He has however been namechecked by Zoe Muth and possibly his two finest songs have appeared - Sam Stone covered by Swamp Dogg and Speed of the Sound of Loneliness covered by both Alabama 3 and Nancy Griffith.

Mrs CC and I won tickets to see him at the Glasgow Concert Hall. He was about an hour late in coming on but quickly won the audience over with an absolutely terrific show.
The album featured today is The Missing Years from 1991 on his own Oh Boy label.

It features the likes of Albert Lee, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Phil Everly , Bonnie Raitt and Bruce Springsteen which shows the high regard in which he is held by his contemporaries.

John Prine - Picture Show

John Prine - The Sins of Memphisto


Good timing as I have just read that he has just been inducted to the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. Richly deserved and about time too.

Monday 14 January 2019

A Cosmic Storage Solution


I'm beginning to experience an acute storage situation.
Plenty of room on the vinyl shelves but the CD's are a different story.
The indie/pop section is totally full which necessitated transferring my three Cosmic Rough Riders CDs to the Americana section. Having said that two of the three gaps have already been filled.

There is really only one Cosmics album that you need and that is the excellent Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine record from 2000. Thereafter main man Daniel Wylie left to go solo and things where never quite the same again.
I've featured that one a few times before so here are a couple of songs from the 2003 album Too Close to See Far which has Stephen Fleming at the helm.

Cosmic Rough Riders - Justify The Rain

Cosmic Rough Riders - Blind

Sunday 13 January 2019

Jackie Leven Said


Following Drew's recent post of a live version of The Ghetto I was playing A Donny Hathaway Collection with a view to featuring the late great man.
However the CD was playing up so it looks as though I may well have to fork out for the 5 cd boxset after all. It's a hardship I can live with.

The next random disc to go on featured another late great artist in Kirkcaldy's Jackie Leven with Elegy for Johnny Cash. on Cooking Vinyl  from 2005
The post title is the name of another album he released that year along with Rebus author Ian Rankin.  which is a story of the same title read by Rankin with musical interludes from Leven. One I don't have and have never heard.

Contains a late entry for Rol's Top 10 Museum Songs

Jackie Leven - Blue Soul Dark Road

Jackie Leven - Museum of Childhood

Saturday 12 January 2019

Double Initials - AA


January finds me scrabbling around looking for a new series or two. One or two finished up in December and this time of the year is always a difficult time for inspiration and motivation.
Fortunately George has offered up the State of the Union series.
I think I may have come up with another - artists or bands whose name contains double initials.
I can probably cover most if not all of the alphabet so we will see how we get on.
Unlike State of the Union this one will be alphabetical..

Therefore we start with A and the first artist who sprang to mind was the mighty  country soul singer Arthur Alexander a man who has featured a couple of times before on these pages.
The only other artist I could come up with who I have stuff by is Adam Ant.

A quick glance at the Guinness Book of Hit Singles gives us Alisha's Attic. I tracked down a song of theirs Indestructible on a compilation (the one I featured yesterday) but decided to spare you.
I'm happy to report that I own nothing by Angry Anderson. 
I'm open to other suggestions.
BB next week

Arthur Alexander - Soldier of Love

Adam Ant - Dog Eat Dog


Friday 11 January 2019

A Friday Random : Woman II



I was flicking through the dodgy compilations the other night  while looking for potential material for a series starting tomorrow.
I found what I was looking for on a compilation called Woman II but ruled  out featuring it  on the grounds of quality control.

However among all the Shanias,Geris, Mariahs and Whitneys there were the occasional diamonds in the rough which merit a listen.

Here are two such diamonds.

Blondie - Maria

Beth Orton - She Cries Your Name

Thursday 10 January 2019

The Original Memphis Recordings


My last purchase of 2018 was Primal Scream: Give Out But Don't Give Up - The Original Memphis Recordings.
It had been on the list since  I watched the BBC 4 documentary a couple of months ago.
I picked it up in Fopp but hummed and hawed about the price. I came to my senses a couple of days later and got it in  Love Music for 3 quid cheaper!

I don't have the subsequent Give Out, etc  1994 album (my Primal Scream collection consisted of Screamadelica, XTRMNTR and Riot City Blues  before this one) but am familiar with most of the songs.
It starts out reasonably rocky on Jailbird and Rocks but then descends into some wonderful soulful country rock and gospel.
Although it was original recorded and produced in 1993 by the great Tom Dowd  it did not see the light of day until very recently after Andrew Innes found the  tapes in a box in his house
I did not hear  this before  I had  listened to my top album of 2018 - The Last of the Gracious Losers. There are some similarities particularly with the brilliant gospel harmonies.

Here is a fine example


Wednesday 9 January 2019

State of the Union - Indiana


A new series where George does all the heavy lifting and I throw in the  occasional song if the mood takes me. Over to George

I have been reading a novel called Turtles All The Way Down. It is set in Indianapolis. And all the time I have been reading, well some of the time, occasionally, now and then, I have been thinking of the lyric “can’t go west, can’t go east, I’m stuck in Indianapolis dum dum dum dum  dum duuuh”.  Well, only part of that is the lyric, the rest I just made up. And I also wondered if Charity Chic wanted an idea for a new series, namely a song with a state of the USA in the title, and he’s taken me up on the offer. It was only later that I realised that Indianapolis is a city not a state, the clue being in the “polis” bit.  And before doing some more research I am assuming Indianapolis is in the state of Indiana. It is, and the city is sometimes referred as Indy, I am led to believe, and after further research it is indeed the home of Indycar racing, which I now know does not mean Independent Car Racing. And  home of the Indy 500 race, that one where cars go round a curved cornered rectangular track. And the Indy 500 does not mean 500 laps but 500 miles – there are 200 laps, no prizes for calculating the length of one lap. Sounds more tedious than basketball, the game where a goal is scored every two seconds.
So the series will feature a state of the USA each week (is it each week, CC?) (hopefully! -CC) and the title must contain either a city or town  in the state, or the name of the state. Well, it will for the first few (if I am allowed to get so far as “few”).  Maybe I can get a bit further than the risible two offered by Sufjan Stevens in his aborted series.


The song today is by The Bottle Rockets, who are as far as I am concerned an Americana band, although more southern rock than country. They have featured on these pages before, with the splendid track $1000 Dollar Car, and today it’s Indianapolis.  Whereas $1000 dollar car has a beat-up, indolent musical quality, well matched to the sentiments of the song, Indianapolis is more up-tempo, not by any means cheery given that the singer is Stuck In Indianapolis, but not frantically get-me-out-of-here quick either.  Here it is:


How GOOD was that?
·         I could have featured a song by The Jackson 5, who are from Indiana, called Going Back to Indiana, which would have met my original criterion, but it’s rubbish. So I did not.
·         If this series was to feature musicians from each state I could have featured Axl Rose, born in Lafayette, Indiana. But it is not, and I would rather eat Shaggy’s toe clippings than listen to Guns N’ Roses. Shaggy our dog, not Shaggy from Scooby Doo or Shaggy the reggae chap. Which is not to imply that I would eat the toe clippings of either of those gentlemen.
·         The bloke who wrote Jingle Bell Rock came from Helmsburg, Indiana. The Fall’s version is better, of course.
      And finally from me, there is a rather obvious song that meets my original criterion, one that got to number 2 in the Canadian charts, a song about being chased and finally, possibly, killed after a shoot-out with the police. And here it is! 


       More nonsense , possibly, next week

     CC writes - thanks George. You have come up with the obvious one. I've managed to come up with another.
     Over to you folks 

   
     


















   




Tuesday 8 January 2019

Foxes of the Fleet Variety


Over the holiday period I played the 2008 debut album by Seattle Indie Folk band Fleet Foxes for quite possibly the first time in about 5 years.
It was an album that was released at the time to an incredible amount of hype it debuted at #11 in the UK album charts and peaked at #3
It was critically acclaimed with Q Magazine voting it the 2nd best album of 2008 and Uncut going as far as describing it as the most rewarding of the last 12 months.
They were certainly an act that everyone was talking about at the time.

My take for what it's worth is that I like it well enough but I feel that the fact that I haven't listened to it for years probably tells it's own story. I never felt the urge to pick up their follow up albums Helplessness Blues from 2011 and Crack- Up from 2017 although I do have a burn of the former. I would probably pick them up were I to spot them in a charity shop.

Fleet Foxes - Tiger Mountain Peasant Song

Fleet Foxes - Oliver James

Monday 7 January 2019

A Fox of the Swamp Variety


As I type this mid afternoon on Sunday, I am still somewhat hungover after a day out yesterday enjoying a hospitality package with my pals at the Dundee United v Partick Thistle game yesterday.
It was a great day out despite a pretty poor game of football which finished one apiece.

The way I am feeling necessitates some slow, gentle and mellow country or soul or even better a bit of both.
Time then to feature Testifying: The Country Soul Review that does just that.On Casual Records and recorded between 31st January and 11th February 2004 it includes great artists such as Dan Penn, Donnie Fritts. Larry Jon Wilson, George Soule and Bonnie Bramlett.

I've opted for the Swamp Fox himself Mr Tony Joe White the man who wrote Rainy Night in Georgia.
It gives me an opportunity to acknowledge  his passing  aged 75 on 24th October 2018 something I failed to do at the time.

The Country Soul Review (ft Tony Joe White) - Who You Gonna Hoo-Doo Now

The Country Soul Review (ft Tony Joe White) - Drifter

Sunday 6 January 2019

Pylon


Referencing kevinpat's  epic Hoboken to Athens compilation in the recent Guadalcanal Diary post had me dusting it down and giving it a listen.
A whopping 74 tracks over three discs.
I was pretty familiar with early R.E.M. and the B52s and the Smithereens, Marshal Crenshaw, the dBs and the Waitresses rang bells.
The vast majority of the artists were however new to me.
The one I was most taken with was Pylon a jangle pop band from Athens, Georgia who have broken up and reformed a couple of times over the years.
The songs featured are from 1980 to 1982 and I have been long been meaning to find out more about them. I think I shall make it a New Years resolution to track down the extended version of their 1980 album Gyrate or their 1983 album Chomp or maybe even both*

Pylon - Cool

Pylon - M-Train

Pylon - Beep

* having checked the prices it is highly unlikely that it will be both!

Saturday 5 January 2019

Joan As Policewoman


The final purchase to feature from my last charity haul of 2018 is To Survive by Joan as Policewoman which is her second album from back in 2008 on Reveal Records in the UK (and Cheap Lullaby in the US).

The non de plume of one Joan Wasser an American artist and producer. Yet another artist whose name I was more familiar with than the music although checking back I see that she featured briefly in my Burnt Offerings series (number 26 if you are interested). She also got a name check recently for having produced the Lau album The Bell That Never Rang which I posted as part of the Monday Long Song thing.

I knew she was indie but was pleasantly surprised in that it was a lot more mellow and soulful than I expected. Mrs CC was particularly taken with her voice. The second song here features Rufus Wainwright an artist who you could easily compare her to.

A good find.

Joan As Policewoman - To Be Lonely

Joan As Policewoman - To America

Friday 4 January 2019

Guadalcanal Diary


This one is down to Brian
Guadalcanal Diary are a band I first heard of  courtesy of his blog when he featured their song Watusi Rodeo. A couple of their songs subsequently featured on the now legendary Hoboken to Athens compilation CDs by kevinpat.

Brian is on record in saying that he considers Jamboree their second (of four) album from 1986 on Electra as their poorest.
I was not however going to turn down an opportunity to pick it up at a reasonable price among the usual dross in the vinyl section of Oxfam in Clarkston.
A band from Atlanta in Georgia you can see some obvious comparisons with  their near neighbours from Athens R.E.M. Given that this was from when R.E.M were very good this is no bad thing.
Allmusic gives Jamboree 3.5/5 which is probably just about right.

If this is their worst I wouldn't mind hearing the other three

Guadalcanal Diary - Fear of God

Guadalcanal Diary - Lonely Street

Thursday 3 January 2019

Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's 2013


Today a post title and a CD which both first featured on this day in 2017.
Mojo: Presents 2013 The Best of the Year was the first CD I picked up in 2017 and one of the last I picked up in 2018.
Yup I've done it again - buying something I already  had.
Still all is not lost as it solves at least one puzzle that being what was the name of that song by Bill Callahan and where can I find it.
It led to the purchase of a Smog EP and I then obtained a Bill Callahan CD via a circuitous route
I make no apologies for featuring it again.

The CD also includes Victim of Love by the great Charles Bradley who sadly died in 2017 and Please Make it Stop from the album The Invisible Way by Low so it was good to give it a spin again before returning one copy to charity.

Bill Callahan - The Sing

Charles Bradley - Victim Of Love

Low - Just Make It Stop

Wednesday 2 January 2019

June in January


Wishful thinking on Julie's part
Two months for the price of one this time round
For the second month running Julie finds herself relegated from the 1st to the 2nd but given yesterday's post I'm sure she would have understood.

June in January is a song with music by Ralph Rainger and lyrics by Leo Robin which was first published  in 1934. It first appeared in the film Hear in My Heart where it was performed by Bing Crosby.
Many others have covered it including Dean Martin, Guy Lombardo and Jo Stafford

We are now a quarter of the way through Calendar Girl - only another nine to go George!

Julie London - June in January

Tuesday 1 January 2019

New Year's Day Homage


A Happy New Year to you all
Long suffering readers will know the drill by now and any  newcomers well you will just have to get used to it.

It is a long standing tradition on New Year's Day for CCM to pay homage to two of the greatest artists of all time who both died on this day

Hank Williams died on the 1st of January 1953 aged just 29 and Townes Van Zandt in 1997 aged 52
Two artists who profoundly influenced Country music in their own way. Hank brought it to the world's attention and Townes was influential in inspiring the Americana movement.

I find it inconceivable that there are people out there who don't have any music by them but if you fall into that category you know what to do.
A New Year Resolution that should be easy to keep and one you will not regret.

Hank Williams - Move It On Over

Townes Van Zandt - Tower Song