The View From the Afternoon

Today I have been mostly working from home.

Code Red!  Code Red!

Arctic Monkeys -The View From the Afternoon

Time to Right Two Gigantic Wrongs

Over 1800 posts in and the Pixies have never appeared on these pages.I'll say that again. The Pixies have never featured.


Frank Black and the Catholics appeared as part of my Burnt Offering series but never the Pixies.
I was sure that Kim Deal had appeared as part of The Breeders with the brilliant Cannonball but apparently not. Another shocking omission.



I saw them at Meadowbank alongside Idlewild and Teenage Fanclub and yet  they still have never featured.

This monkey clearly ain't going to heaven.

Pixies -Gigantic

Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven

The Breeders - Cannonball

1972

When I featured Josh Rouse in my Burnt Offerings series (number 9 since you asked) Rol commented that while he never knocks me socks off, he always manage to deliver some decent tunes. 
 This was a view that was shared by other commentators including myself.

I've always had him down as Americana artist.
However it appears that I may not have got my genres  or my views entirely correct if his fourth album 1972 (released in 2003 on Rykodisc) and a recent charity shop purchase (and a find) is anything to go by.
A re-listen to my burn of 2007's Country Mouse City House also confirms my initial misdiagnosis.
 
Sure there are Americana elements but I'm also hearing pop, some jazz noodling, a touch of gospel and some Shuggie Otis style psychedelia along with the occasional homage to 1970's bands.



Josh Rouse - Love Vibration

Josh Rouse - Sparrows Over Birmingham

Birthday Boys

Three birthdays to acknowledge today.
Johnny Cash was born on this day in 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas. Had he been still with us he would have been 86.
You are probably fed up with me featuring him given that he has appeared pretty much every Saturday since mid October last year.So instead of featuring him today you are getting covers of a couple of his songs.

The other person pictured above is a non mulleted Michael Bolton who is 65 today. Sadly there are none of his songs or indeed covers of his songs on the shelves.

Finally our mutual friend George is 55 today so we extend best wishes all the way to Portugal.

Birthday greetings to you all.

Robbie Fulks - Cry Cry Cry

Jawbone - Get Rhythm

A Sunday Single # 8

This series seems to be currently stuck in the 80's - obviously the peak single purchasing period of Mrs CC and her sister.
From March 1984 People Are People was Depeche Mode's 10th single and their biggest hit peaking at number 4 during a 10 week residence in the UK singles charts. It is also the one that first brought them to the attention of our American friends.
Despite it's success its writer Martin Gore describes it as one of his least favourite songs and has not performed it live since 1988. Popstars can be quite obtuse.
The b-side In Your Memory written by Alan Wilder is pretty tasty.

Depeche Mode - People Are People

Depeche Mode - In Your Memory

Covered By Cash -Redemption Day

The week before last Johnny succeeded in stopping the rot but sadly for him and all his fans it appears to have been only temporary as there was a fairly comfortable win for Steve Earle with The Devil's Right Hand.

That takes the score to Cash 8 The Rest 9. So the Man in Black requires to win this week to take it to a final end.Plus it's his birthday on Monday. So no pressure then.

Given his life story Mr Cash is no stranger to redemption and this is certainly the case when it comes to his choice of cover.We have previously had Bob Marley's Redemption Song and this we you are getting his version of Sheryl Crow's Redemption Day from his final American Recordings album - American VI: Ain't No Grave
When the subject matter has a whiff of religion Johnny usually comes into his own and this week there is no exception
It's JC for me by a distance this week.
Others ,of cours,e may choose to disagree but I suspect we are going to the wire

Johnny Cash -Redemption Day

Sheryl Crow -Redemption Day

Ooh - La - La! - Old Favourites

As promised/threatened I am revisiting the Uncut compilation Ooh -La -La! Rock'n' Roll in the Spirit of the Faces which I featured last week
This time around I am focusing on acts that I am familiar with and who have graced these pages before albeit somewhat briefly.
The Detroit based band The Deadstring Brothers are the ones who probably come closes to emulating the Faces. There is a touch of the Rolling Stones in there too. I saw them at the old Stereo bar in Glasgow's Kelvinhaugh street where they put on a stonking show.
This song is taken from their 2007 album Silver Mountain on the ever wonderful Bloodshot  label.
Okkervil River are an Austin band and  name from a short story by Russian author  Tatanya Tolstaya on the river in St Petersburg but then you probably knew that already.
This is from their 2007 album The Stage Names  on Jagjaguwar which is the one after their best known record 2005's Black Sheep Boy.

Deadstring Brothers - Queen of the Scene

Okkervil River - Unless It Kicks