Songs of the Day: Editions 144-145
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Full setlist here.
Michael Yonkers Band - "Smile Awhile" from Microminiature Love
Thursday, 4 October 2007
Full setlist here.
Extra Golden - "Ilando Gima Onge" from Ok-Oyot System
Bettye LaVette - "Before the Money Came (The Battle of Bettye LaVette)" from The Scene of the Crime
The Brigands - "(Would I Still Be) Her Big Man" from Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, Vol. 4
Peter Jefferies - "Catapult" from The Last Great Challenge in a Dull World
The Sisters of Mercy - "Lucretia My Reflection" from Floodland
Some extra music below.
Simple Minds - "Cocteau Twins"
(Yeah, the song that provided inspiration for the band name. This is pretty typical of what Simple Minds were doing in 1977-78 when they first formed from the ashes of Johnny & the Self-Abusers. Sort of a glam-punk feel. I do prefer "18-18" and "Pablo Picasso" over this, admittedly, but this isn't too shabby by any means. I could've sworn they did this for a Peel session, but it seems that their lone venture into the studios at Maida Vale was recorded around the release of Real to Real Cacophony.)
Thomas Leer - "Who's Fooling Who"
(And speaking of Cocteau Twins, this was released on the front side of a split 7" Dutch flexi in 1982 that had "Speak No Evil" on it. And you know, as much as I love the Cocteaux, this is definitely the better song on that flexidisc and it's completely different, sort of new wave/sophisti-pop but slightly askew from that. This song direly needs to be issued on CD.)
The Gordons - "Adults and Children"
(Kiwi punk classic. Most of these fellows ended up morphing into Bailter Space.)
The Au Pairs - "Inconvenience"
(This one just kicks straight out of the gates, doesn't it? Great post-punk single.)
(The) Verve - "Gravity Grave"
(Full-length version. Their third single, dating back to 1992. Utterly gorgeous. I'm not sure if they'll do anything quite so wonderful on their upcoming reunion album, but I secretly hope they'll astonish me, especially since A) Nick McCabe's around to keep him in check and B) Richard Ashcroft doesn't look like an aspiring pop star anymore. In fact, on the latest NME he looks almost like he did on the cover of A Northern Soul. And then this blurb gives me hope:
"It's pretty early days, really, to say what the sound is, where we are right now," explained the frontman. "From the bits I've heard so far, it's got elements of all The Verve sounds that people are into. Tunes, jams, jams that'll morph into tunes, you know?"
The band are now focused on their winter tour, with more dates rumored to be announced alter this year.
"I feel like I've never played as well in my life," explained bassist Si Jones of the band's rehearsals so far. "And hearing Pete [Salisbury, drummer] after such a long break, he's never played as well in his life either. Richard's playing keyboards and guitar and we're all contributing. That's how we do it, it's very organic. We came in and...Richard's got some tunes, but in terms of jams, we came in and just pressed record and see what happens. And what happens is The Verve.")
And finally, the Top of the Pops performance of Associates - "18 Carat Love Affair", complete with Rankine's chocolate guitar being fed to the audience. A nice, subtler variant on the "mimed performance" exposé. (For a not-so-subtle take, look up Public Image Limited's performance on American Bandstand.)
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