As is traditional, eighty-something minutes of ultra-creepy sounds to get you in the mood for next weekend’s festivities.

Mainly contemporary stuff this time around, and don’t expect many toe-tapping tunes; I’ve been doing these for over a decade at this point, so the go-to horror-rock classics have long ago run dry. Instead, expect ragin’ metal, soundtrack extracts, warped outsider rock, lo-fi electronica - all throbbing in praise of The Dark Gods (or something along those lines). I’ll refrain from adding bandcamp links, but most can (and should) be easily googled and given money.

If we don’t speak before the big night, may your kool-aid carry a kick, and your rites not go wrong.

(For the next seven days, a nice old fashioned mp3 download version can be found here - if you’d like a re-up at some point after that, just drop me a line and I’ll be happy to assist.)

Labels: halloween, horror, mixcloud, mixtapes

This compilation is the result of a long and rather convoluted gestation process. I initially began throwing it together after visiting Japan last year, as a gift for some friends over there who had expressed an interest in hearing some contemporary British bands.

I chose 2015 as a cut off point for ‘new-ness’ pretty arbitrarily, and, as noted on the back cover scan above, decided to concentrate on shorter, more song-based stuff rather than the gargantuan psyche/doom stuff I often favour, primarily for space reasons (although I’ve done my best to throw in a few stylistic curveballs along the way too, particularly in the second half).

As I began gradually knocking the tracklist into shape however, it occurred to me that the period covered by the music herein actually marked out a very specific period in the cultural history of the British Isles. From the Cameron government’s dispiriting election victory in 2015 and the ridiculous/fateful referendum which followed, to the ensuing wave of hate-filled, populist xenophobia, through the ultimately doomed attempts at a fight-back, to the surreal political chaos which consumed so much of last year, and the crushing, no-hope full stop of last December’s general election result.

Could some of this spiralling ugliness, uncertainty and frustration be heard reflected in the output of the UK and Ireland’s underground rock scenes during this period? I don’t know. But suffice to say, my selections herein couldn’t help but take on a certain political bent as I remained glued to the hell-ish, hour-by-hour parliamentary ruckus which characterised the latter half of 2019.

Little did I know at that point of course, that the music herein was about to acquire a whole new level of historical potency, as the fragile cultural ecosystem which allowed it to exist in the first place found itself obliterated more-or-less overnight in March 2020.

Eight months on, it’s still fairly mind-boggling to consider that, for the first time in history, the collective creation and performance of popular music has effectively been shut down, by virtue of both governmental decree and accepted common sense, with the kind of non-profit-making / DIY musical cultures represented on this comp potentially suffering most severe and sustained damage, as a result of being both deprived of industry/government hand-outs and existing almost by definition within the confines of small, unventilated rooms.

Of course, things will come back in 2021, in some as-yet-unguessed-at form. With a bit of luck, the vast majority of the bands and musicians featured on this comp will still be active in some form. But whatever happens, all will be changed.

The faces and the places we’ve all got to know over the past few years, the forms and norms we’d all grown to expect as we’ve trudged out on cold dark evening on our way to venues or practice rooms or other weird autonomous spaces of one kind of another -- all of that is now gone. When the time to rebuild comes, new faces will be gluing foam to walls and carrying boxes of Red Stripe into new places, and new things will be happening within when OGs like you(?) and I emerge from hiding to knock upon their doors.

To a certain extent then, the music featured herein can be seen to represent the last gasp of a certain strand of DIY culture, caught in amber and filtered through my own individual tastes, before things screeched to a halt. A final burst of amplified discontent before the universe hit the ‘pause’, and then ‘restart’, buttons.

I realise that’s a pretty heavy burden of significance for a humble mix CD to carry, but what can you do? Ladies and gents, a tiny slice of the sound of the UK and Ireland, 2015-2019. Enjoy.

(NB - As the keen-eyed/eared amongst you will note, this online version of the comp contains a very important bonus track not included on the initial CD version run off for friends in Dec 2019, from which the cover scans above are taken. Apols for confusion.)

(As is now traditional, I’ve linked to relevant bandcamp pages in the tracklist below. Whether these bands are still active or otherwise, your financial contributions will almost certainly reach someone who deserves a few quid.)

Labels: mixcloud, mixtapes, recent social history, UK Freak Rock

Spells and Incantations:
Being Thee 10th Annual Stereo Sanctity/
Breakfast in the Ruins Halloween Mix CD.

 [Cross-posted with Breakfast in the Ruins.]

As we kick off Halloween week, here, as tradition demands, is a just-under-80-minute mix of ragin’, unholy audio to get you in the mood for whatever safely socially distanced blasphemous rites and abhorrent festivities yourself and your household support bubble/coven have planned this year.

Given that this is the tenth instalment in the series (research gleaned from the long-shuttered archives suggests that the first occurred back in 2008, but that I skipped both 2018 and 2019), you’ll appreciate that the back catalogues of the true greats of Horror-Rock have already been thoroughly tapped by this point, but, as so often in life, metal has stepped up to save the day.

Betwixt the riffage, we also dip a disfigured toe or two into the faddish yet undeniably appealing waters of ‘dungeon synth’, and explore a wide range of atavistic diabolism during the first half, before a brief diversion into lycanthropy ushers us into some unspeakable realms of cosmic terror, concluding with a nod to everyone’s favourite Obeah Man. Dare you stand before the altar and offer up your mortal soul? Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, a quick click on the mixcloud ‘play’ button is all it takes.

Alternatively though, if you miss the riskier business of getting naked and throwing questionable fluids around the place, the old school mp3 download link below the tracklist may prove more to your liking.

(As usual, bands and artists who are still a going concern and deserve your support have been linked below as appropriate.)

 

Labels: halloween, horror, METAL, mixcloud, mixtapes

I know it’s a bit late in the day for a summer compilation, but I always end up making one of these each year, with the intention of passing it on to friends etc, then forget to post them here, so I’m determined to break the habit, even as we trudge on into September.

Plus, as the name and cover illustration subtly imply, we ain’t exactly looking at some “fun on the beach” type comp here, leading - I hope - to a mix which should be broadly suitable for all seasons. Sitting in a room, listening to some music – that’s what engagement with organised sound is all about here in 2020, be it thirty degrees or zero on the thermometer.

Compiled back in late July/early August, just before the killer heatwave intervened, this is once again dedicated to the memory of Mr. Morricone, and otherwise goes out to all the voluntary shut-ins out there, keeping it real and playing it safe for the duration.

As previously, links to non-major label artists who are still a going concern and could benefit from your support (which in this case is most of them) are provided within the track-list below. 

00:00 Allen Toussaint - Victims of the Darkness
03:24 Jeff Parker - Gnarciss
05:38 Obnox - Young Neezy
08:28 Cornershop - No Rock: Save in Roll
12:06 Edikanfo - Nka Bom
18:19 Sun Ra - Where Pathways Meet
24:44 Yussef Dayes/Alfa Mist/Mansur Brown/Rocco Palladino - Love is the Message
35:03 Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Driveby
39:45 Kawaguchi Masami New Rock Syndicate & Kryssi Battalene - Shadow of the Earth
46:05 Ennio Morricone - Per Qualche Dollaro In Più
48:55 Angel Bat Dawid - Transition East
52:16 BadBadNotGood & Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul
55:00 Kamaal Williams feat. Lauren Faith - Hold On
58:15 King Crimson - Starless
1:10:33 Bruce Langhorne - Harry and Hannah
1:13:27 Mundo Earwood - Pyramid of Cans

(Alternative download link.)

Labels: mixcloud, mixtapes, summer

Of course we knew this day would come, but still.

So, let’s get straight to the point here – Morricone IS film music, so far as I’m concerned. Even if he didn’t contribute to it all directly, a vast swathe of the cinema I love would sound very different without his influence.

Years before I actually saw any of the Leone films, hearing Morricone’s themes from them pop up on the radio (which they sometimes did in those days) was an event. My Dad (who, like many dads, had a yen for all things cowboy-related) would turn up the volume, and for a few minutes we’d soak it in. The drama, the atmosphere, the wild sounds were just completely intoxicating. They didn’t need any context – as always, Morricone’s music creates its own context. That was almost certainly the first time I stopped to think about music in films, about a kind of musical vocabulary which extended beyond lyrics and pop songs, and about the different ways in which sounds and images can combine to create emotion and excitement. Thirty years later, I’m still thinking about those things.

The medium by which I enjoy the Leone scores has moved over the years from radio, to parental vinyl, to CD, and back to my own vinyl, and during my adult life I’ve of course hovered up all the other Morricone I can find within my price range (which of course still only represents the tiniest fraction of the monolithic range of his total achievement).

From what little I know of Morricone’s beliefs and personality, I think it’s probably safe to say that he would wish to be remembered to the world for his work rather than his biography, so instead of rabbiting on further, I’ll share a swiftly cobbled together mix of fifteen (which could easily be thirty, or one hundred) personal favourite smash hits from his vast catalogue, assembled in no particular order. I’ll keep commentary to a minimum, because otherwise my responses to most of these tracks would just consist of variations on a theme of holy fucking shit.

Though the magic which Nicolai, Dell’Orso, Alessandroni and so many others brought to his recordings cannot be overlooked, Morricone remains a giant – one of the greatest composers and musicians of the 20th century, no questions asked.

For ease of ad-free listening, I’ve compiled these fifteen cuts into a mix on Mixcloud (embed below), but will also go through them one-by-one via Youtube links for those who wish to pick and choose.




1. ‘Titoli’ from ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ (1964)

Here’s where it all began.



2. ‘Il Grande Silenzio (Restless)’ from ‘Il Grande Silenzio’ (1968)



3. “Valmont’s Go-Go Pad” from ‘Danger! Diabolik’ (1968)



4. ‘Svolta Definitiva’ from ‘Violent City’ (1970)



5. ‘La Lucertola’ from ‘A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin’ (1971)



6. ‘Guerra E Pace, Pollo E Brace’ from ‘Grazie Zia’ / ‘Come Play With Me’ (1968)



7. ‘Giorno Di Notte’ from ‘A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin’ (1971)



8. ‘Magic and Ecstasy’ from ‘Exorcist II: The Heretic’ (1977)



9. Main theme from ‘The Thing’ (1982)



10. ‘Canzone Lontana’ from ‘Il Serpente’ (1973)



11. ‘Fraseggio Senza Struttura’ from ‘The Bird with the Crystal Plumage’ (1970)



12. ‘Ballabile No. 2’ from ‘La Cosa Buffa’ (1972)



13. ‘Titoli’ from ‘A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof’ (1968)



14. ‘Astratto 3’ from ‘Veruschka’ (1971)



 
15. ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ from ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ (1968)

This theme makes me involuntarily break down in tears each time I hear it. Really, every time, like clockwork. Which has proved quite embarrassing whenever I’ve watched the film in company.

My reaction has nothing to do with any personal/biographical connections, or anything in the film itself (incredible though it is). The sound of the music is just completely overwhelming.

It is simply one of the greatest pieces of music ever recorded, and any classical buffs who want to fight about that are welcome to. Everything that is worth feeling within the human experience, I can hear in this.

R.I.P. Il Maestro.

Labels: bad news, deathblog, Ennio Morricone, Italy, mixcloud, soundtracks

I’m painfully fully aware that I’ve been shirking my self-imposed responsibilities in terms of sharing mixes and radio shows here over the past year or so. The crushingly tedious explanation for this involves new computers, out of date software and conflicting file formats etc etc, and, given that finding solutions to such infernal issues is not exactly my idea of fun, I’ve only just got around to it.

How better to celebrate my return to ersatz DJing then than by unleashing a new instalment of Mystery Ships, my long-dormant series of global psychedelia mixes. (The last instalment was over five years ago at this point, unbelievably. Happy to re-up any of ‘em upon request, by the way.)

Working from home has naturally given me plenty of opportunity to huddle over my beloved circa-2006 iTunes and throw these things together, and in keeping with the effects if lockdown stasis, the theme of this one is HARDCORE PSYCH. By which I mean that, whilst earlier volumes in this series might have veered quite a long way off their stated remit, the cuts included here (excluding the fairly sedate intro and outro numbers) are full-steam-ahead, no nonsense psychedelia – overwhelming, full spectrum beautific sound to zone out to and get lost within. Not all rock-based by any means, but suffice to say, if you’re not in the mood for out of control fuzz guitar, smeary distorted organ textures, backward-masked blather, oversaturated tape sound and roiling, tempestuous rhythmic freakouts, well – just keep on walking ‘cross that quarantine seaweed, fella. It’ll still all be here for you on the way back.

A second mix on a somewhat more laidback / meditative tip will hopefully follow shortly.

Sample/stream via the embed below, or alternatively, the traditional mp3 download link follows the track list. Featured bands and artists who are still a going concern and deserve your support have been linked accordingly.



00:00 The Clean - Are You Really On Drugs?
02:35 H. Tical - Distillation
06:20 Kim Sun - The Man Who Must Leave
14:01 Erkin Koray - Mesafeler
17:42 The Bevis Frond - Window Eye
23:13 Masahiko Sato - Take It Easy
28:31 Oblivion Reptilian - Alien Shit
36:24 Don Cherry - Isla (The Sapphic Sleep)
38:45 The Insect Trust - The Skin Game
42:49 Taras Bulba - The Neon Midnight
48:00 Don Cherry & Terry Riley - Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector [Köln, 1975]
56:26 Headroom - New Heaven
1:02:25 Alice Coltrane - Hare Krishna
1:10:36 Shooting Guns - Feelings (Dub)
1:23:04 Brigadune - I’ll Cry Out From My Grave (God I’m Sorry)
1:25:54 Demon Fuzz - Message to Mankind

(Download link.)

(If you’d like me to re-up the file, or send it to you directly or whatever, just drop me a line in the comments - it’d be a pleasure.)

Labels: mixcloud, mixtapes, Psychedelia

The track list for this mix CD began to coalesce way back in 2016, when, partly inspired by the extraordinary God Less America compilation LP, I started throwing together a mix of my favourite country songs with lyrics concerning death, murder, crime, suicide, substance abuse, imprisonment (or, in the case of Chuck Wells’ remarkable ‘Down & Out’, all of the above compressed into three minutes between choruses).

The plan changed somewhat however when – much to my delight - my brother asked whether I could compile a mix of “cowboy music” for him (emphasis on the pedal steel). So, I began widening the scope to cram in some classics from country’s ‘big names’, and various cuts that I felt neatly demonstrate the pleasure of the genre’s trademark sounds.

I’ll admit, the polyglot mix that eventually resulted doesn’t really serve as an effective ‘starter kit’ for exploring country music (where’s Dolly / Patsy / Tammy / Buck / Willie / George / Waylon for chrissakes?), and neither does it work very well as a collection of eccentric/bizarre narrative country songs. You will also no doubt note the presence of a number of artists whose inclusion within even the widest definition of the genre is extremely questionable.

But, nonetheless, I believe that this compilation succeeds beautifully in encapsulating the things I love about country music.

High on the list of those things, I think, is verses. Far more-so than choruses, I’ve always loved a f-ing good verse or two, and (for English speakers at least) country gives better verse value than any other popular music genre I’m aware of, excepting possibly hip-hop.

So, if you feel similarly, and if you’re unfamiliar with these songs, all I can say is - please take the opportunity to give them a listen, because every single one is a marvel.



Track list:

00:00 Hank Williams – Ramblin’ Man
03:00 The International Submarine Band – Folsom Prison Blues / It’s Alright Mama
07:22 Jonathan Richman – Since She Started To Ride
09:53 Loretta Lynn – Bargain Basement Dress
11:32 Boxcar Willie – Truck Driving Man
14:21 Dave Dudley – Operation X
16:40 Jimmie Rodgers – Frankie & Johnny
19:27 Merle Haggard – The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde
21:30 Chuck Wells – Down and Out
24:35 Harry Johnson – It’s Nothing To Me
26:58 Gram Parsons – The Streets of Baltimore
29:49 Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra – Jackson
32:36 Arkey Blue – Too Many Pills
36:09 Bobby Gentry – Fancy
40:22 Lee Hazlewood – Pray Them Bars Away
42:57 Merle Haggard – Sing Me Back Home
45:44 Laura Cantrell – Lee Harvey Was A Friend of Mine
49:41 Tom T. Hall – It Rained In Every Town Except Paducah
52:32 Townes Van Zandt – Pancho & Lefty
56:12 Emmylou Harris – Wayfaring Stranger
59:38 The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
63:08 Dave Van Ronk – Hang Me, Oh Hang Me
66:18 Johnny Cash – San Quentin (live at San Quentin)
70:11 The Flying Burrito Brothers – Sin City
74:21 The Mekons – Lost Highway


Download links for mp3 version: one / two.

Labels: country, mixcloud, mixtapes

Well, it had to happen. How could it not?

As you’ll be aware if you’ve been reading this weblog for a while, each October I used to make a downloadable Halloween mix CD, and post it both here and on my other weblog. [Check the Halloween tag to peruse the archive – links are probably dead, but always happy to re-up on request.]

Last year, I knocked it on the head simply because filling eighty minutes with a consistent mix of top quality horror-related material was becoming a bit of a stretch, but since I’m now back on the fake airwaves, what more reason did I need to trek back through a whole decade’s worth of Halloween mixes, picking out my favourite bits and assembling an All Time Greatest Hits of Horror Rock / Best Halloween Radio Show Ever type play-list, with a little bit of added talking thrown in?

So, here it is. I can’t speak for talking bits, but if the music herein doesn’t get you in the mood for a ragin’ good All Hallows Eve, nothing will.

(Lacking the time or energy to pull together any original artwork, I did the next best thing and stole some promotional artwork for the ‘The Monster Club’ (1980).)

Mixcloud box, full track-list with timecodes and mp3 download link follow.



00:30 Goblin - Tenebre
04:48 Roky Erickson & The Aliens - It's a Cold Night for Alligators
08:17 The Misfits - Night of the Living Dead
10:13 The Cramps - Teenage Werewolf
14:53 *blather one*
18:19 Blood Ceremony - Oliver Haddo
26:56 Exuma - Dambala
32:30 The Del Aires - The Zombie Stomp
34:46 *blather two*
36:35 H.P. Lovecraft - The White Ship
42:38 The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets - Goin' Down to Dunwich
45:44 Acanthus - Le Frission des Vampires
49:56 The Spits - Witch Hunt
51:40 *blather three*
53:18 Mike Rep & The Quotas - Donovan's Brain
59:28 Ultimate Spinach - (Ballad of the) Hip Death Goddess
67:36 The Factory - Path Through the Forest
71:34 *blather four*
73:09 Greg Stone - Here in the Darkness
75:00 Gravediggaz - Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide
78:56 B.A. Robertson - Sucker For Your Love
82:25 *blather five*
84:41 SSQ - Tonight (We'll Make Love Til We Die)
88:40 Electric Wizard - Devil's Bride
95:10 *blather six*
96:13 Mount Vernon Arts Lab - While London Sleeps
104:28 Michael Hurley - The Werewolf
110:11 *blather seven*
111:57 Roky Erickson - Bloody Hammer (acoustic)
117:36 Anaal Nathrakh - Pandemonic Hyperblast
121:32 Ada Moore - The Devil

(Download link.)

Labels: Born Too Late, halloween, horror, mixcloud, radio show

So I knocked out another one of these radio shows last weekend.

Featuring a semi-accidental law & order / crime & punishment theme, this show delves into the extraordinary world of ‘70s Italian crime movie soundtracks. Also featuring big hitters like Slab City, Fealty, Obnox and Melting Hand, alongside such plucky newcomers as The Beatles, John Coltrane and Neil Young.

Being that Mixcloud is a modern thing, when you upload a file they naturally make you pick a “primary tag” from a list of about thirty entirely inappropriate options. I played safe with “OTHER” this time, but I was really tempted to go for “BUSINESS”, such is my confidence that the music herein will assist you in takin’ care of such.

I threw this one together pretty quickly, so as a result a few corrections and clarifications are in order:

1. Due to some confusingly labelled MP3s, I misidentified the title of the Emerald Web track that closes the show. How could I forget that it is actually called CHASING THE SHADOW BEAST?

2. I also forgot to mention that the Obnox album ‘Templo del Sonido’ is out on the Astral Spirits label, who can be visited here.

3. Perhaps most importantly, I should clarify that when I casually referred to actor Maurizio Merli as the “bitch-slapping don of Italian cop movies” at one point, I was not in fact making some horrendously misogynistic comment, but was using the term in it’s urban dictionary defined form to refer to Merli’s endearing habit of slapping (predominantly male) suspects open-handed whilst playing crusading cop characters.

4. Likewise, we should note that Ice-T’s description of the late Barbara Bush is ill-mannered at best, but I certainly wasn’t going to tell him that to his face. My apologies for any offence caused.

5. I also implied during the show that Sleep’s ‘Dragonaut’ has some connection to cars. Upon closer inspection of the lyrics, this does not seem to be the case. I'd just assumed, y'know, drag = dragsters, drag-racing, etc. I was quite tired. I was wrong.

6. And finally, my apologies too to any Italian speakers for the wide variety of names, titles and phrases I no doubt mangled over the course of these two hours of live-ish radio.

With all that out of the way then, here’s a mixcloud box and full track-list. (Where applicable, I’ve added bandcamp links in brackets for anyone who wishes to buy or investigate further.)



00:00 Lee Hazlewood - The Girl On Death Row
02:36 Slab City - Tu Historia [link]
04:09 Obnox - America in a Blender [link]
07:09 The Bevis Frond - Termination Station Grey [link]
12:16 Blather # 1
17:55 Luis Bacalov - Summertime Killer
21:30 Ice-T - Pulse of the Rhyme / Ya Shoulda Killed Me Last Year
27:30 Aggressive Perfector - Infernal Raids [link]
30:42 Blather # 2
32:45 Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - New Special Squad
36:27 Fealty - Death Penalty [link]
39:28 Obnox - Names (feat. Kisha Nicole Foster & Ngina Payola) [link]
43:30 Melting Hand – Dust [link]
50:43 Blather # 3
53:40 John Coltrane - Compassion
60:00 Warp Transmission - Crash Like Waves [link]
67:24 The Beatles - She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
69:19 Franco Micalizzi / Bulldog - Man Before your Time
73:02 Blather # 4
77:28 Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Driving All Around
80:22 Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Trans Am
84:28 Sleep - Dragonaut
90:03 Blather # 5
95:18 Guido & Maurizio De Angelis - Goodbye My Friend
99:19 Earthling Society - Super Holy Monk Defeats Black Magic Motherfucker [link]
106:16 Ian Helliwell - Water Gardens [link]
109:41 Blather # 6
114:31 Emerald Web - Chasing The Shadow Beast [link]

(Sneaky MP3 download link.)

Labels: Born Too Late, mixcloud, radio show, soundtracks

I’m sorry for temporarily letting this blog die yet again. No particular excuse this time around, but, as UK residents in particular will appreciate, summer 2018 has thus far been… quite a memorable one, I suppose. Here therefore is a random seasonal mix of OLD MUSIC to celebrate the mixed feelings and sun-baked uncertainties that have surrounded it.

Dedicated to pubs with cold, well-kept cellars, anyone else who managed to throw the Vs at a scary green helicopter last week and the hope of a world in which those in positions of power don’t run their mouths like hustlers at a fucking dog race.

A few notes:

1. In stark contrast to most of this blog’s other recent content, this is largely a heavy rock/psyche free zone. Well, I mean, it kind of kicks off with a 7 minute plus ‘Tokyo Flashback’ jam, but beyond that… pretty low on the fuzz, in view of my recent tastes.

2. Instead, this initially started off as more of a “return to good old singer-songwriter values” kind of playlist, with a side order of drug-dazed ‘70s L.A. cynicism, but that was just too grim, so, as the hot weather persisted, it thankfully got hijacked by a lot of “lazing around in the sun” type material – which, to not put too fine a point on it, basically means busting out the funk.

3. At one stage, this was also intended to be one of those mix tapes in which each track has a connection to the one that preceded it. (I find these a lot of fun to do, because, I don’t know… I’m like that.) Subsequent revisions broke this up a bit, but many of the links still remain – some based upon pretty obvious musical similarities, others on vague lyrical/atmospheric themes that may at times remain entirely mysterious to anyone other than myself. If you don’t initially see the connections, why not think up some new ones (forge your own chains)? If you are INCREDIBLY BORED, why not write them down and send me a list? I’ll reward you by… being frightened, quite honestly.

4. In the even more unlikely event that anyone has been specifically following mix tapes/CDs I’ve made over the years, they may notice I’ve dug up a few old chestnuts / past enthusiasms here. I dunno. Maybe it’s another summer thing. Too hot to think, let alone find anything new. Let’s just play that Minutemen track again. Perfect.

5. If you are sufficiently behind the times to still download music from the internet and burn it onto CDs – well, first of all, WELL DONE. My belief that the years 2004-2008 represented a golden age for music lovers that has now been cruelly shit-canned remains strong, so possibly you agree. (Let’s talk about it, perhaps on a messageboard.) Secondly though, please note that the track-by-track mp3 version of this mix I’ve uploaded is *slightly too long* to fit on a CD (devious mixing techniques brought the single track Mixcloud version in at just under 80 minutes). Thus I would probably recommend picking the track you’re least liable to enjoy and ditching it before burning. Sorry about that.

Right then. Mixcloud box:



Full tracklist & timecodes:

00:00 Dennis Wilson - Friday Night
03:00 Overhang Party - Now Appearing! Naked Existence / 今立ち現れる
10:13 The Bevis Frond - Waving
13:26 The Mekons - Millionaire
18:00 Neil Young - Hawaii
20:35 Sly & The Family Stone - Runnin' Away
23:26 Tony Grey & The Black 7 - The Feelings
28:13 Baby Huey - Listen To Me
34:50 Bullfrog / Franco Micalizzi - Man Before Your Time
38:34 Kool G Rap - Money in the Bank
43:21 Alice Coltrane - Lovely Sky Boat
50:12 Silver Jews - Dallas
54:24 D.R. Hooker - Forge Your Own Chains
58:48 Greg Ashley - Pursue The Night Life
63:15 Minutemen - Dr Wu
65:00 Barbara Faith - The Bramble and the Rose
67:54 some unknown Korean kids - beach scene from 'A Woman After a Killer Butterfly'
70:16 The Band - Whispering Pines
74:15 Bobby Charles - Save Me Jesus

(Mp3 version.)

Labels: mixcloud, mixtapes, summer

Recorded back in late April and derailed by Desertfest coverage, this second foray onto the digital airwaves includes some discussion of the more, uh, sensitive side of Motörhead’s early catalogue, along with a pinch over two hours worth of other raging nonsense.

It’s better than the first one, guaranteed!

Questionable enlightenment awaits via the Mixcloud embed below, or alternatively, you can download the whole thing as a magnificently crushed MP3 from here.




TRACK LIST:

00:00 Terry Thomas - Bring Back The Cat
02:59 High Rise - Wipe Out
08:10 Loretta Lynn - Bargain Basement Dress
09:49 J.J. Cale - They Call Me The Breeze
12:12 *blather 1*
16:40 Motörhead - Motorhead
19:29 *blather 2*
23:54 Motörhead - City Kids
27:34 Solid Space - Tenth Planet
30:23 The Bats - Rooftops
34:45 *blather 3*
37:04 Feral Ohms - Super Ape
39:59 Betty Davis - They Say I'm Different
43:56 Midnight Mines - Do The Locomotion
49:43 Endless Boogie - Back in '74
56:18 *blather 4*
59:13 Motörhead - Lost Johnny
62:42 Midori Takada - Crossing
71:03 Smokin' Willie - Evil Ways
76:52 *blather 4*
80:10 Charles Mingus - Hog Callin' Blues
87:30 Jerry Jeff Walker - About Her Eyes
90:20 Motörhead - Iron Horse / Born To Lose
95:35 *blather 5*
100:20 Bong - Time Regained
117:10 Richard & Linda Thompson - The Dark End of the Street

And, relegated to playing behind the blather:

Demon Fuzz - Past, Present & Future
Harmonia - Watussi
Eno / Moebius / Roedelius - The Belldog
James Brown - Popcorn with a Feeling
Flying Saucer Attack - Instrumental Wish

Labels: Born Too Late, mixcloud, Motorhead, radio show

I’ve been palming variations on this comp CD off on people for several years now, and I think the track list is now in it’s third, possibly fourth, iteration – so it’s about time I stuck it up on the weblog.

The initial impetus behind it was to provide something of a sampler for folks who dug Black Sabbath and Led Zep but hadn’t yet moved on to check out the wider field of mutant, riff-blasting heavy rock music that existed alongside them in the ‘70s British underground.

As I dug deeper into the period myself however, and kept discovering more great records and great stories, the track list began to take on a slightly more ambitious aim – namely, that of demonstrating the solid through-line of anti-authoritarian rage, musical thuggery and hair-raising electrified noise that ran straight from the psychedelia and counter-culture aligned free festival rock of the late ‘60s to the explosion of punk and heavy metal at the end of the ‘70s, and of countering the offensively reductive “hippies > prog > punk” timeline that various divvies continue to trot out every time the BBC makes a documentary.

Disclaimers:

1. Admittedly, some may wonder where exactly Badfinger fit into all this, but I would urge them to sample their track here before scoffing, because it is certifiably bad-ass.

2. Likewise, some may feel some of my choices here are a tad obvious – particularly in light of the many ‘70s Heavy compilations that have appeared in recent years - but I would ask readers to reflect on the fact that there are still many listeners out there for whom such hallowed names as Stackwaddy, Edgar Broughton Band, Third World War etc mean nothing. Imagine their pupils dilating as this oversight is corrected, and I’m sure you grizzled vets can stand to sit through ‘Maypole’ one more time.

3. Others still may question the total lack of female representation on this comp, and, whilst I realise that “it was the ‘70s, 98% of music was made by hairy-chested, ale-swilling brutes with facial hair like Genghis Khan” doesn’t constitute much of an excuse, I’ll simply say that, if you know of any good female-led British heavy rock bands from the 1970s, please tell me, because I’d love to listen to them.

4. Do you think there’s too much Hawkwind? It did cross my mind, but… if you can conceive of the concept of “too much Hawkwind”, you are probably not the target audience for this comp.

So -- case closed. I love every bit of this track list beyond words, and I’m gonna stick with it. Meanwhile, I’ve got Volume # 2 on the go, and if anything, I like it even better than this one, so if you get a kick out of Vol # 1 and/or want to complain that I’ve missed out your favourites, stick around.

WARNING: Please be aware that this compilation contains a LOT of rockin’ lead guitar. So much rockin’ lead guitar in fact that even the most ardent fans of rockin’ lead guitar are advised to split listening across several sittings to avoid burn-out. You have been warned.




Full track-list with timecodes as follows:

00:00 The Pink Fairies - Do It
02:57 Hawkwind - Master of the Universe (live)
10:22 Stackwaddy - Roadrunner
13:44 The Way We Live - King Dick II
16:58 Edgar Broughton Band - Out Demons Out
21:44 Badfinger - Suitcase (BBC session)
29:05 The Deviants - Slum Lord
31:19 Third World War - Ascension Day
36:10 Dark - Maypole
41:10 Wicked Lady - Run The Night
46:17 High Tide - Futilist's Lament
51:34 Twink - Ten Thousand Words in a Cardboard Box
56:00 Red Dirt - Memories
58:03 Atomic Rooster - I Can't Take No More
61:34 Larry Wallis - Police Car
64:52 Motorhead - Iron Horse / Born To Lose
70:09 Hawkwind - Urban Guerrilla


(Sneaky download link.)

Labels: mixcloud, mixtapes, UK Freak Rock

Well, I’ll keep this short folks. Just about every surviving music blog/website I follow has been branching pretty heavily into the arena of podcasts and playlists in recent years, and as such, I just couldn’t help myself – I’m back on the (fake) airwaves.

A (nearly) two hour imaginary radio show, complete with talking and bed music and everything, hopefully perfect to throw on whenever there’s nothing good to listen to on the real radio, this can be streamed via the mixcloud embed below, or via my page on that site, or can be downloaded in ever-glorious mp3 format from here.

Maybe there will be more of these, maybe not – let’s see how it goes.



Full track list, including time codes, goes as follows:

0:00 Peter Wyngarde – Come On In
02:08 Saint Vitus – Born Too Late (live)
09:20 Lower Slaughter – Tied Down
12:00 Heron Oblivion – Sudden Lament (live)
20:12 Natural Child – Natural Blues
23:07 Wu-Tang Clan – 7th Chamber
27:23 Depth Charge – Bounty Killers
32:46 War Head Constriction – Graceful Bird
40:32 Formulars Dance Band - Never Never Let Me Down
44:23 The Pointer Sisters – Don’t It Drive You Crazy
50:34 Blown Out – Void Sucker
55:10 Dead Moon – Dagger Moon
62:28 Ennio Morricone – Svolta Definitiva
67:03 Wrinkar Experience – Ballad of a Sad Young Woman
71:48 Chain & The Gang – I Hate Winners
77:57 Che Shizu – “Emperor / Notify”
85:42 Carmen Maki – “Faraway Country”
88:50 Neil Young – Cocaine Eyes
99:02 Joe Henderson feat. Alice Coltrane – Earth
111:14 Randy Newman – You Can’t Fool The Fat Man

And, in the background behind the blather:

Jack McDuff - Magnetic Feel
Donald Byrd – Black Bird
Etienne Jaumet - Mental Vortex
Ananda Shankar – Dancing Drums

Labels: Born Too Late, mixcloud, radio show

INTRODUCTORY NOTE:

Over the past few years, I’ve inadvertently become pretty fixated on making themed compilations and playlists – either carefully wrought overviews of particular scenes, sub-genres or sounds, or else exploring different musical approaches to different kinds of subject matter. I will usually tend to slave away over these things for months on end, initially just for my own amusement/edification, although I have sometimes made actual, physical CDs out of them and given them to people I hoped might like them. On one occasion, I actually dared to sell some of these CDs for money (with proceeds going to charity, natch) – a venture which proved surprisingly successful.

So, as one part of my campaign to revitalise this blog, it stands to reason that I should start sharing these comps – primarily streaming via Mixcloud’s user friendly, copyright police-ducking interface, although I’m also game for providing more, uh, ‘old fashioned’ listening options upon request [see below].

BLURB:

A sort-of sequel to ‘Songs About History’, which I posted here back in 2012, the concept of ‘Songs About War’ speaks for itself, more or less, so I'll spare you a round of socio-political hand-wringing.

In spite of the fact that few if any of the predominantly first world based artists on this comp have any first hand experience of war (I think Billy Bragg was in the army at one point, but beyond that… no idea), I have done my best not to simply fill the whole thing with ‘60s derived “war is bad man… why can’t we just stay in head and love each other?” type diatribes, which would have proved all too easy (although I’ve still let The Byrds in with a more-or-less definitive example of the form).

Instead, I’ve tried to select songs whose writers have at least *tried* to place themselves within the skin of someone participating in armed conflict in some capacity, creating what they feel is an appropriate musical analogue to the experience, and perhaps reflecting to some degree on the place of war as a seemingly inescapable component part of human nature and society.

In this respect, I quite like the way that, as you listen to these songs in close succession, the specific details of the conflicts many of them are written about tend to fall away, leaving behind the feeling of more abstract, universal scenarios, applicable to any time and place throughout history in which people have been driven to fight and kill each other en masse.

If you’re worried that such subject matter could potentially lead to a pretty monotonously grim track list, well, what can I say – I hope the inclusion of several banging dance tracks, ‘80s heavy metal and a hefty application of black humour will help ease the burden a little.

Naturally, I would have loved to have included some more songs emanating from areas of the world that actually have been ravaged by war within living memory, but, broadly speaking, my experience of such music tends to suggest that – as was discussed in my review of the excellent ‘Wake Up You!’ comp in 2016 - musicians whose countries have recently emerged from conflict tend to have better things to do than stand around singing about it. Funny that.

Anyway, I hope you get something out of these selections. Any comments, observations or suggestions for future volumes are gratefully received.


LISTEN:


(direct link.)


TRACK LIST:

1. The Mekons – Hello Cruel World
2. Joe Tex – I Believe I’m Gonna Make It
3. Napalm Death – Retreat to Nowhere
4. Michael Yonkers Band – Boy in the Sandbox
5. Iron Maiden – Intro / Aces High (live ’85)
6. Warren Zevon – Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
7. The Dead Kennedys – When Ya Get Drafted
8. The Byrds – Draft Morning
9. Nudge Squidfish – Part Cherokee
10. Bolt Thrower – Eternal War
11. Party of One – Baghdad Boogie
12. Billy Bragg – Island of No Return
13. Weird War – AK-47
14. William Onyeabor – Why Go To War?
15. The Gories – Sovereignty Flight
16. Honey Ltd – The Warrior
17. Rocket From The Tombs – 30 Seconds Over Tokyo
18. Geechie Wiley & Elvie Thomas – Last Kind Word Blues
19. Mike Williams – Lonely Soldier
20. Leonard Cohen – The Partisan
21. Wire – Reuters
22. The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – The Anniversary of WWIII
23. Dead Moon – Johnny’s Got a Gun


[PS - if you’d like either a downloadable version of this comp or an actual CD, my email address is at the top of the page – I’ll be happy to help.]

Labels: mixcloud, mixtapes, war