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Obscurity comes knocking, 33 years late

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Physical release label (and shop) Last Night From Glasgow have remastered the Trashcan Sinatras’ debut album, Cake. It only made number 74 when released by Go! Discs in 1990, and was then out of print for decades.

Midweek album charts have it at number 10, wedged between Elton John and Taylor Swift.

P.S. Q Magazine is back? Who knew?

https://qthemusic.com/p/john-douglas-of-the-trashcan-sinatras-reflects-on-the-sudden-top-10-success-of-cake-after-33-years/

Mars Williams, 68

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Obituary

Saxophonist for The Waitresses, The Psychedelice Furs, Liquid Soul and the NRG Ensemble. Ampullary (small intestine) cancer.

Played his final gig with the Furs two days before.

Uncut’s Top 75 albums of 2023

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My subs copy of Uncut has dropped onto the doormat. It is only the second week of November and publication deadlines mean it must have been written in October. Anyhow, here’s the top 75 albums of the first 10 months of the year.

Full list in comments, copied and pasted from https://www.brooklynvegan.com/uncuts-top-75-albums-of-2023/

Sean Martin of The Night Café

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Obituary

“Sean Martin from The Night Cafe has died suddenly, aged 26, the Liverpool band has announced in an Instagram post.

The group said they were “devastated” by the death of their band mate and “childhood best friend”.

Indie rock band, The Wombats, who The Night Cafe toured with, said Martin was “literally the nicest, most lovely guy to have around on tour”.

In April last year, he had revealed he had been struggling with his health and would be having some surgery.”

26 is far too young.

Recycling chazza staples

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“The Turner Prize-nominated artist David Shrigley has pulped 6,000 copies of Dan Brown’s best-seller The Da Vinci Code and republished them as George Orwell’s novel 1984.”

I heard about this on the wireless this morning and it got me thinking… If you could melt down every copy of a chazza staple, what out-of-copyright album would you turn them into?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67218454

Ellie Walker & The Folly – Sink Or Swim

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What does it sound like?:

“Piano-driven folk pop from Cambridgeshire” say the tagline, and it is hard to disagree.

I’ve followed the musical career of Ellie Walker for nearly 20 years, from painfully shy undergraduate hiding behind a fringe and a keyboard, her half-whispered vocals a nightmare for live sound engineers; through the rotating cast of indie-pop scenesters Model Village; to multi-instrumentalist and occasional singer with Cambridgeshire’s answer to Lambchop, now approaching their third decade, superb sprawling ensemble The Pony Collaboration.

As Ellie approaches early middle-age, with a family of her own, she has blossomed, the creative spark rekindled and she’s co-opted a couple of moonlighting Ponies to be her backing band. She’s married to one of them, so I’m sure that helped pull some strings.

As it says on the tin, the album is chock full of piano-driven folk-pop nuggets. Ellie’s vocals have a clear, high-register and her words come tumbling out, often over jittery rhythms – perhaps, after years in the creative furrows, she has a lot she wants to say.

Lyrically there are references to self-belief, the sanctity of home, the benefits of the great outdoors, and the quiet ones – for whom it will » Continue Reading.

Rudolph Isley, 84

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Obituary

Rudolph Isley, whose smooth vocals graced Isley Brothers hits like Summer Breeze and That Lady, has died at the age of 84.

The musician, who also co-wrote many of the band’s biggest songs, died in his sleep, his brother Ernie said.

RSD Black Friday

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24/11/2023

I thought RSD was just one big one this year?

A relatively small list. I’m probably in for The Beat and the Colourfield as I know the bloke at Chrysalis who does the reissues and the recent Sinead, Specials, Selector, etc are all outstanding examples.

And Under The Blacklight is my second-fave Rilo Kiley album.

Bryan Ferry – Mamouna deluxe

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From the site:

“Bryan Ferry’s ninth solo studio album ‘Mamouna’ is being reissued for the first time since 1994 and is being released on two deluxe formats. It was Bryan Ferry’s first studio album in seven years to feature original recordings, having worked on the album for six years under the working title of ‘Horoscope’. The previously unreleased alternate recordings to the final ‘Mamouna’ versions are collected for the first time on these deluxe reissues as the ‘Horoscope’ album.

The 2LP audiophile heavyweight vinyl was half-speed cut at Abbey Road Studios, London, by master engineer Miles Showell. The 3CD version also includes the ‘Horoscope’ album, with an additional disc of previously unreleased demos or “Sketches” from both the ‘Mamouna’ and ‘Horoscope’ albums. The artwork direction for the updated reissue was overseen by Bryan Ferry himself.

The album features a stellar cast of supporting musicians including Nile Rodgers, Guy Pratt and Steve Ferrone, as well a contributions from his Roxy Music bandmates Phil Manzanera, Andy Mackay and Brian Eno. The album peaked at Number 11 on the UK Official Album Chart and includes the singles ‘Don’t Want To Know’, ‘Your Painted Smile’ and title track ‘Mamouna’.”

https://store.bryanferry.com/product/123250

Monsters of Music

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BBC Radio 3 prove there’s nothing new under the sun.

“Welcome to Monsters of Music where comedian Tom Allen and celebrity guests dig into the scandalous lives of classical music’s legends. With the help of conductor and classical music expert Ben Gernon, our guests unearth the facts to decide whether these classical characters were angelic geniuses or grade-A monsters.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0g8sb99

Close To The Edgeley

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Listening to R4’s Front Row as I made dinner last night, there was a feature on ‘Lark Rise to Ambridge’, in which the cast of The Archers tackle Flora Thompson’s Lark Rise to Candleford.

It got me thinking: soaps and music.

I came up with the concept album by The Yes and hit a brick wall.

Over to the hive mind of The Massive.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001r172

Geoff Davies

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Obituary

“Label boss and record shop owner Geoff Davies, who worked with some of Liverpool’s biggest stars, has died.

The 80-year-old co-founded the Probe Records shop in 1971 with his former wife Annie and was considered a driving force of the city’s cultural scene.

His death, which was announced online by new wave band Deaf School, follows Annie’s own two weeks ago.”

National Album Day

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14/10/2023

I lived through the 1990s in my twenties and remember it as a time of musical shifting sands (and going to gigs six nights a week). I used to support National Album Day but it seems to have become an excuse to rerelease a load of forgettable albums on ‘limited edition’ coloured vinyl. Look at that list! What have they missed? I’ll start with Portishead’s Dummy.

FONDA 500 announce final ever show

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09/12/2023

“After 24 years, Hull’s Fonda 500 are calling it a day with one final performance. We go one last time… with a bang… and then we will bury Simon’s famous hat in The Adelphi Car Park. It will be fun. It will be magical. It will be the end.”

Happy 40th birthday, No Parlez

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Badowww… Is this the day The Fabulous Wealthy Tarts turn middle-aged?

Paul Young was interviewed on the BBC Breakfast sofa the other day. What video clip did they choose as an intro to a feature on No Parlez? That’s right, Every Time You Go Away.

PY took it, and questions like “how did you feel when George Michael covered your song?” in good humour.

I spy Interns.

If this doesn’t bring Moosey back, I don’t know what will.