As I write this introduction to the June playlist I've just read that The Word Magazine is about to fold. I do genuinely think that's a shame, I recall it launching around 2003 with the tagline "at last something to read" and remarkably it's hard to argue that they haven't stayed true to that remit. Despite this my loyalty as a reader has ebbed away over the past couple of years. It's hard to put a finger on why, although spotting editor Mark Ellen at Latitude festival a couple of years ago mincing around in skin tight jeans that would have looked illegal on a man half his age did (probably unfairly) shatter any credibility I'd attached to his writing. I suppose it just cemented my impression that this magazine was in essence an old gentleman-of-the-music-press's drinking club; a safe environment for them to utter their seen-it-all-before missives and blatantly lust after the younger women in their industry still just about grateful enough for the attention (Beth Ditto...erm, Roberta from Spotify!). But The Word was a publication that generally kept the content levels high and you'd often still be reading it a week or two after purchase, something you can't say for Mojo or Q. I was once stuck on a coach sat next to the horse racing commentator Derek 'Thommo' Thompson and it was only my copy of Word Magazine that provided me with enough of a diversion to avoid too much inane chat with the Alan Partridge-style buffoon, but that's another story. Optimistically, this does clear the way for Shindig! Magazine to consolidate a position as the premier music publication on the newsagent racks; now there's a publication I recommend without reservation. Anyway, onto this months playlist...
Cosmic Candy – CAPTAIN HAMMOND (
Is there a better way to introduce
any playlist than with a meaty, beaty slice of juicy cosmic Hammond organ? This
is the sound of a trio lead by the former Mother Earth organist Bryn Barklam)
/
Dedication To My Ex (Miss That) – LLOYD (
The trouble with focusing
less and less on what’s populating the UK singles chart these days is that
occasionally I miss out on a hit that’s just a brilliant pop moment no matter
what the era; this modern R&B cut from 2011 is one such example, featuring
Lil’ Wayne and Andre 3000)
/ Sky Is Falling – NATALIE DUNCAN (
Occasionally
the world of reality TV and light entertainment has to, albeit inadvertently, shine a light on some real and exciting talent. Duncan’s biggest
exposure to date has been on a BBC show in which Goldie put together a band to
perform music at Buckingham Palace, but whatever prejudices that information
fires up I’d suggest you set to one side as Verve Records have too, for there's clearly something pretty special going on here) /
Out Of The Game –
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT (
He always sounds classy, even on a record such as this
where he admits he’s trying to sell more albums and get an increase in plays on the radio) /
What Did The Hippie Have In His Bag? – CORNERSHOP (
Where
once Cornershop would release a single that, with a sprinkle of Norman Cook
fairydust, would go on to top the charts, nowadays their output seems to be
buried amidst exclusive e-mail subscriptions and downloads. And yet, their
music is still a thoroughly commercial pop proposition and fun too. Just listen
to this track from ‘Urban Turban’, the album that collects together the
releases from their ‘Singhles Club’)
/ Longest Day – SOULSAVERS (
In which they coax something moving out of Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan)
/ Mr E’s Beautiful Blues – EELS (
Funky soul horns and chops give this
tune a fresh dimension)
/ Lottery Winners On Acid – THE CRIMEA (
Still
an under-rated band despite the kudos of being a favourite during the later
radio career of John Peel)
/ ESP – HOODED FANG (
More modern Psych
madness) /
Elephant Head – COLD SPECKS (
Al Spx is a pseudonym of
a London based Canadian singer-songwriter who records music with her band as
Cold Specks for Mute records. There’s a soulful element to this music with a
hint of Gospel too that gives it a real burning, soaring edginess) /
Take
Me To Heaven – LAIBACH (
The Slovenian Avant-Garde collective are
extraordinarily gorgeous on this track from the ‘Iron Sky’ soundtrack, a film
that sees the Nazis fleeing to the moon after the second world war to build a
space fleet and attack the Earth in 2018) /
Be My Friend Awhile –
PUGWASH (
The latest album from songwriter Thomas Walsh touches base in
the ELO and XTC camps as before with Pugwash, quietly suggesting that his
Duckworth Lewis Method collaboration with Neil Hannon could and should have
featured him in a more forthright role, this is lovely stuff)
/ Idea –
BEE GEES (
The sound of the Bee Gees rocking out is rarely heard and
celebrated even less but it remains a 60s pop sound to treasure)
/
Through Eyes And Glass – ANN WILSON AND THE DAYBREAKS (
If, like me, the
band name Heart makes you think of dreary Soft Rock agony, then this early
piece of wispy, Acid-Folk finery from the singers who’d later become the heart
of erm...Heart will both surprise and delight you)
/ Can’t Be Wrong –
LOVE INKS (
Low key Art-Rock from Austin, Texas)
/ Henryk Part II
– DAVE STAPLETON (
From the concept album ‘Flight’ in which Stapleton
works with the Brodowski String Quartet and establishes himself as one of the most
talented and exciting new composers in Jazz)
/ She’s 22 – NORAH JONES (
She
doesn’t hold back on her latest album, primarily focusing on a relationship ended
by infidelity. There’s no neat resolutions to the mess, in fact Norah isn’t
ruling out murder by the albums end!)
/ Be Here To Love Me – TOWNES VAN
ZANDT (
Sublime)
/ Constantine – MARISSA NADLER (
Exquisite)
/
Two Weeks Last Summer – SANDY DENNY & THE STRAWBS (
These days Sandy
is a heavily archived artist, pretty much every last scrap of recorded material
must have been sourced and documented by now. It’s right and just that she
should be studied so extensively of course, hers was indisputably one of the
premier female voices of the twentieth century. Lately I’ve been sampling that
brief pre-Fairport period she spent working with The Strawbs. It’s not regarded
as her golden patch and she would re-record some of the material they worked on
later to greater effect and acclaim but, it is an interesting point for me
because for a woman working in the Psychedelic era of a progressive mind she
hardly touched on the eras typical style of music. That is except for here and on one or
two other, at the time un-released, moments in those Strawbs sessions. We’re
not talking Incredible String Band style way-outness; just a sort of floating
exploratory vibe that suggests whatever musical direction Sandy could have
walked down at this point, she would surely have left an indelible mark )
/ Seven Curses – JUNE TABOR & OYSTERBAND (
Jumping to the most alive
and vital sounding Folk album we’ve seen so far in 2012 and its great to hear
the Bob Dylan songbook approached with such blistering intent)
/ Since I
Fell For You – DAVY GRAHAM (
if this isn’t a seamless segue from Folk to
Jazz I don’t know what is)
/ That Old Feeling – CHET BAKER (
Baker’s
vocals are frequently as beguiling as his trumpet playing)
/ The Face Of
Mount Molehill – NEIL COWLEY TRIO (
Still giving us kick-ass piano Jazz)
/ Black Gold – ESPERANZA SPALDING (with ALGEBRA BLESSETT) (
If
Esperanza Spalding’s fourth album is supposed to replicate the experience of
listening to the wireless today you’ve got to wonder which station she’s tuning
in to. Hers is the kind of out and out musical eclecticism that I
wholeheartedly believe in but I don’t know of any radio station that covers
such an all-music, all-eras, absolutely-anything-can-come-next remit. I mean if such a music station existed I’d listen. But whether her celebration is based
on a fantasy matters little when her album is such a treasure trove of slowly
revealing gems) /
Something’s Got A Hold On Me – ETTA JAMES (
From
Chess Records in 1963, so already you should know how good this one is!)
/ Oh Marcello – REGINA SPEKTOR (
Her latest album includes a lot of
material previously only played live, including this astonishing re-imagining
of an old Nina Simone classic)
/ Get A Job – NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY
HORSE (
Is Neil Young making a social comment by including this as part
of his album of Americana standards or is it simply that he and Crazy Horse
enjoyed playing it during the sessions?) /
Who You Got To Love –
McGUINNESS FLINT (
Once upon a time Folk-Rock was always part of the
mainstream)
/ TVC15 – DAVID BOWIE (
Is it too optimistic to still
hope for a Bowie return now?)
/ I Am The Rain – STEALING SHEEP (
This
harmonious touch of DIY Folk-Pop was recorded at Abbey Road when Stealing Sheep
made a midnight pit stop during one of their early tours last year)
/ In The Past - ULVER (
Norwegian
experimentalists Ulver cover The Chocolate Watchband on their latest album
which includes other Garage classics by the likes of The Electric Prunes and
the 13th Floor Elevators)
/ Army – BOY (
Switzerland
and Germany combine to make some alluring pop melancholy on the new album
‘Mutual Friends’)
/ St Thomas – SONNY ROLLINS (
This standard by
the tenor saxophonist has a real Caribbean flavour which is down to its origins
as a nursery song from the Virgin Islands, a song that itself was developed
from a traditional English song called ‘The Lincolnshire Poacher’. Despite
this, it is the Sonny Rollins tune that’s become a Jazz classic and it is he
who is often credited as the composer. It’s the opening track on his 1956 album
‘Saxophone Colossus’)
