Texas Sun

 

A chilly Glasgow winter's day or some Texas Sun? A bit of a no brainer really. Even the cover gives you a bit of a warm glow.

I think that it was Craig from the brilliant Plain or Pan who first brought this 2020 EP by Khruangbin and Leon Bridges to my attention. Thanks for that Craig.

Khruangbin are a trio from Houston, Texas whose music has global influences. According to Bandcamp

Taking influence from 1960's Thai funk - their name literally translates to "Engine Fly" in Thai - Khruangbin is steeped in the bass heavy, psychedelic sound of their inspiration, Tarantino soundtracks and surf-rock cool.  

Fellow Texan Leon Bridges is a soul singer songwriter. The two acts toured together which led to this collaboration. They followed this up in 2022 with another collaboration Texas Moon.

Khruangbin seem to enjoy a collaboration with their latest album seeing them teaming up with Malian singer and guitarist Vieux Farka Touré on the album Ali  with covers of songs by Vieux' dad the late great Ali Farka Touré .

Guaranteed to warm the cockles of your heart

Khruangbin and Leon Bridges -Texas Sun

Khruangbin and Leon Bridges - C-Side

The First Songs of 2023

 

Greetings from the other side.I hope that you all made it ok and that nobody fell by the wayside.

We watched Goodfellas, saw in the Bells and then went to bed.

To save any braincells unnecessarily being used up I've decided to feature some of the first songs I've listened to this year rather than anything more convoluted.

I've gone for stuff on the USB stick as it saves getting up every 20 minutes or so to change a record or 45 minutes or so to change a CD. All the choices are from albums from last year which have been  <ahem> acquired rather than bought. Some albums require a few listens prior to possibly purchasing.

First up is Americana singer Caitlin Rose with a song from CAZIMI her firt album since 2013. I have a couple of  her couple of earlier albums so I was interested to hear this one. My first thoughts are that it is a bit too mainstream for my tastes.

Bonnie Light Horesman on the other hand are excellent . A folk supergroup who were brought to my attention by our dear friend Ernie Goggins Thanks for this Ernie. Rolling Golden Holy is high on my list of required purchases.

Finally something from the latest album by The Boss,Only the Strong Survive a selection of Soul covers. Variously described as karaoke or a bit Meh. Rol sums it up neatly here. as do the comments. Not one that I'll be rushing out to buy but if I ever see it  cheap in a charity shop I will probably buy it for the sake of completeness.

Caitlin Rose - Modern Dancing

Bonny Light Horseman - Summer Dream

Bruce Springsteen - Hey, Western Union Guy

New Year's Day Homage

 

Happy New Year to you and yours.Let's hope it's a good one.

Long suffering readers will know the drill by now.It is a long standing CCM tradition on the 1st of January to pay homage to two of the absolute giants of  20th century music who both happened to die on this day some 44 years apart.

Hank Williams, the Hillbilly Shakespeare, died on this day in 1953 aged just 29 whereas Townes Van Zandt was 52 when he died on New Year's Day 1997. Two troubled souls which perhaps contributed to the honesty of their music which surely was from the soul.

For the last couple of months I have being doing a compare and contrast series of covers of songs by Townes .Hank obviously never dida cover of Townes given that Townes was only ten when Hank died.

Townes though has covered a couple of Hank songs which  you can listen to below. I'm not proposing to make this one a competition just enjoy two geniuses at work

Again in keeping with  tradition I'll get in that it will  obviously be downhill now on these pages for the rest of the year. before anyone else does.

Hank Williams - Lost Highway

Townes Van Zandt - Lost Highway

Hank Williams - Honky Tonkin'

Townes Van Zandt - Honky Tonkin'

That Was The Year That Was

 

Well we have finally made it to the end of 2022 and good riddance to it.

Despite the Covid situation improving by and large it has been a pretty grim year.

Where to start with the politics? Three words - Johnson, Truss and Sunak who have systematically set out to fill the pockets of their chums and to bleed the country dry.

The energy crisis is a classic example - compare the prices being charged here to the other countries in Europe and check out the profits of the energy companies.

Another example of how Brexit is working out for the ordinary folk perhaps?

Then there is the NHS which is a bit of a worry. It seems to me that the Government are deliberately not engaging in dialogue with the nurses in an attempt to turn the public against them..This of course will in turn help to facilitate the privitisation of the NHS and fill the pockets of their chums still further.

Lets hope that the public stand strong and that the Tories get annihilated in the upcoming General Election. Not that Labour are much better.

That's the rant over. On the positive side it has been a good year for music despite the sad deaths of many legends particularly in the last month or so.

I've also bought more records  this year than I have for about a decade and have also had some good charity finds and CD hauls. There is a lot of good music out there if you look carefully.

A particular highlight for me was the Edinburgh Bloggers Convention when I got to spend some time with Alyson, C, John, Martin and The Swede. It was great to meet and be in the company of such like minded individuals. Despite having only met Alyson before they instantly all seemed like old friends.

There is talk of something similar in 2023.Lets hope it happens.

I shall now stop wittering and take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year and all the best for 2023. And heres wishing Jez a speedy recovery.

See you on the other side.

Talking Heads -Don't Worry About the Government

Carter USM - I Blame The Government

Admiral Fallow -Guest of the Government

A Couple of Lists - Part 2

 

Records yesterday, gigs today.

This year I only attended a measly nine gigs.

Three were folky/family events - Sharon Shannon - Celtic Connections - Royal Concert Hall, New Auditorium (7/10), The Fureys - Pavilion Theatre (5/10) and Phil Cunningham's Christmas Concert  - Royal Concert Hall (8/10)

I also attended the LNFG Annual Birthday show at Stereo where I  saw Vulture Party and Domiciles who aren't really my sort of thing at all (6/10)

That leaves 5 which I will put in some sort of order

5  - Constant Follower - Glad Cafe  - October  8/10

This was the second time I had seen them this year. Whereas they were very good and had added a female singer (whose name I did not capture) to accompany Stephen McCall I wasn't as blown away as the first time I saw them.

4 - Hanging Stars/ Gerry Love - Stereo - October 8/10

This gig would probably have scored higher had I been in time to see Gerry Love's full set. I enjoyed the Hanging Stars who not surprisingly concentrated on their latest album Hollow Heart but thought that there set could have been that wee bit longer. Also no encore which was a surprise.Ava, as you would expect was the highlight

3 - Constant Follower/ Mt Doubt  - Stereo - March 9/10

This was the first time I saw them at a quarter full Stereo and they were mesmerizing . Four guys sitting in a row plucking acoustic guitars and bass with the almost whispered vocals of McCa. Stunning.

Support from Mt Doubt or more accurately Leo Bagary in one of his last shows as/with the band. He gave it his all despite the poor attendance. I shall keep an eye out for his new adventures.

2 - Broken Chanter/Raveloe - Glad Cafe - April 9/10

A terrific show which I reviewed here 

I was at the CCA a couple of years ago for the launch of his debut album Broken Chanter. It was a sit down show and a pretty sedate affair.

This one a belated launch show for Catastrophe Hits was a different beast altogether. The band and the crowd were totally jumping and David's patter was flowing. Raveloe was much quieter and reflective but I would certainly go and see her again.

1 - Rose City Band - Broadcast - September 10/10.

This was the first time I had been to Broadcast and was there to see Rose City Band for the first time.It was on a Sunday ,the day after the Manchester Psych Fest with a few stragglers having made it up north - review here

I am a big fan of the band who play some brilliant Psychedelic Americana as a side project by  Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo's Ripley Johnson. They have released three albums to date all of which are must haves. Songs from all three featured with a tight band and some terrific guitar and piano playing.

At the time I called it as my gig of the year and that still stands

Mt. Doubt - Caravans

Broken Chanter -Extinction Event Souvenir T-Shirt

Rose City Band - Only Lonely

A Couple of Lists - Part 1

 

Usually at this time of the year us Bloggers like to provide best of the year lists of records, gigs etc

This year I have bought more records than I have for a long time - probably about 50 in total. A mixture of those I get via my Last Night from Glasgow subscription, some new ones, some re-issues, some charity shop purchases and some gap fillers in my collection.

All of which got me in a bit of a tizz when trying to come up with a top five from 2022. Here goes:

5 - James Edwyn and the Broken Band - Highlights of the Lowlights (LNFG)

Some Glasgow based Americana from a sextet who have been on the go since 2013 with two previous album releases  LNFG

4 - Robyn Hitchcock - Shufflemania (Tiny Ghost)

The first every Robyn Hitchcock album that I have bought upon release

Recorded in locations around the world over the pandemic era, SHUFFLEMANIA! offers up 10 gloriously ingenious new Robyn Hitchcock songs in just under 40 minutes - a “proper pop album” as nature intended. Songs like “Midnight Tram To Nowhere” and the optimistic, album-closing “One Day (It’s Being Scheduled)” are state-of-the-art Hitchcock, manifesting his signature wit, miraculous gift for melodic craftsmanship, and striking humanity in a world gone mad.Bandcamp

I have a ticket to see him in March for a concert rescheduled from last year.

3 -The Poems - Young America (PNFG)

The first vinyl release from an album which has attained mythical status since its original release in 2006 and featuring some well kent faces from the Scottish music scene  LNFG

2  - The Hanging Stars  -Hollow Heart (Loose) 

This one came very close to topping the charts .The fourth album by the London based country band and the first to go down the Psychedelic Americana route which is fast becoming my favourite sub-genre. A band championed by John Medd      Loose

1 - Constant Follower - Neither Is, Nor Ever Was (Shimmy Disk)

A Stirling based group led by Stephen McCall this first came my way via a promotional plug. The album quickly sold out on its original release in 2021 and I got in early to ensure that I got a copy of the re-issue earlier this year. Since then I have managed to see them live on a couple of occasions and will be keeping an eye out for subsequent releases Bandcamp

The Poems - Lost and Found

The Hanging Stars - Red Autumn Leaf

Constant Follower - Set Aside Some Time

In Between Days

 

As Swiss Adam said yesterday we currently find ourselves in those strange days between Christmas and New Year. There appears to be no concept of time far less dates or an awareness of whether it is Tuesday or Thursday. God help you if you have a bin day scheduled. Having said that there is probably little to no change of the binmen actually turning up on the allotted day.

There is  also no concept of meal times or of eating proper food. You find yourself raiding the fridge at strange hours to come up with a  strange concoction of leftovers which need eaten before they go off.

Yesterday over a lazy and late brunch we were listening to two anthologies which seemed to capture the mood nicely.

Tomorrow's Wednesday, right?

Fairport Convention - Sloth

Nick Drake - Time Has Told Me