Made in Britain

Mrs CC came in the other day with Made in Britain - MOJO presents:The Sounds of a New England 1977 -1983.
I shall overlook the usual arrogance that Britain equals England as obviously no music was being produced in  the rest of Britain during this period.

A quick check of the PC revealed that I already had this CD from MOJO October 2005. The physical check took a while longer as my generic compilations are filed in no particular order.

I hadn't listened to this for years and there are some great tracks particularly these two which will lead my to digging out the original albums to give them a listen.

The Redskins - Kick Over The Statues!

Steel Pulse - Ku Klux Klan

The Ally Arms

Never mind your record shops in Antwerp which sell beer; the Allison Arms, that fine drinking emporium on the South Side of Glasgow, now stocks CDs which are yours if you wish for a small donation to charity

I was there last night for Thursday quiz night run by the legendary Big Pete when I stumbled across this latest innovation and stored  in a dinky little house too!
In my advanced state of excitement I grabbed the first semi-decent CD I saw rather than have a good browse - after all there was beer to drink!

Needless to say, we came absolutely nowhere in the quiz!

Squeeze - Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)

Norwegian Good

For all of you out there who thought Norwegian music began and ended with A-Ha and nil points in the Eurovision Song Contest I have a pleasant surprise for you.

Let me introduce Ms Lene Marlin

Purchasing this was a total gamble as I had never heard of her. It paid off and in my humble opinion she is better than her near alphabetic neighbour Laura Marling.

This is from her second album Another Day from 2003.She has since produced a further two.
Hardly surprisingly she is big in her native country but also in Italy as well according to Wikipedia
Well worth a purchase.

Lene Marlin -From This Day

And a wee bonus:
Cornershop - Norwegian Wood

Ash Wednesday

First off a heads up to Town Full of Losers who posted a far more interesting and informative post on the actual date!

Getting towards the end of my holiday purchases. Came across Nu-clear Sounds by Ash which I wasn't sure if I had

Turns out I didn't have it and the only Ash in my collection was a  vinyl copy of 1977.

I'm also about 80% per cent sure I've never seen them live although a small part of my brain thinks I may have seen them at the Carling Academy in Glasgow. If I did, they can't have been much good!

Old age, it doesn't come itself!

This is a stonkin'  Stoogiesque cover version

Ash - Fortune Teller

Swan Song

My pal Donno has a swan's nest in his garden and he forwarded this picture under the caption Double Omelette (sorry George!)

Given the strange way my mind works I immediately though of Bjork, her infamous Oscar dress and my recent acquisition of Vespertine (50p, Faith, Hope and Charity, Whithorn).

Even at 50p I swithered before purchasing and was initially a bit unsure of it although I think that it could be a grower.
Anyway, I've now got it for keeps.
Two songs attached , the second being for those of you who don't particularly like Bjork

Bjork - Pagan Poetry

Bjork - Frosti

Anal Retention

Following comments on the recent Jackie Leven post and earlier posts about the legality or otherwise of disposing of records can I quote the following mantra from Giles Smith's excellent book Lost in Music

“I do not sell, exchange or give away records that I have bought. These are not transactions I’m prepared to contemplate. It seems to me that one’s ownership of records and the moral responsibilities and personal significances involved are way to grave to allow for the kind of flippant horse-trading that some people go in for.”

This is something I subscribe to but I realise the somewhat paradoxical and indeed hypocritical nature of this stance which is somewhat contrary to the ethos of this blog with its focus on second hand music from Charity Shops.

Like Mr Smith, however, I do not have a problem with others (including Mrs CC) disposing of records and CDs to charity and if they look ok I am more than happy to buy them.

The down side of this philosophy is that you can end up with such rubbish as David Bowie's Heathens

David Bowie - Slip Away

If You Tolerate This

Congratulations to Wales for doing the double over Scotland.
The team which wanted it the most won last night (and without Gareth Bale for 45 mins) on another embarassing night for Scottish football.

I was going to play The Only Way is Up but instead have opted for this given it's Welsh connections.Plus, it is more prophetic - as opposed to Scotland who were pathetic!
Knowing Scotland, we will probably gub Serbia on Tuesday - but then again, maybe not

Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next