It’s time for the reviews no? We’ve reached the point in the CD swap where it’s time to spill the beans to your group on the music you’re received, for the amusement and edification of us all. This is a gentle hurry-up to those still unposted, while those wondering if track 6 on a received CD is the White Stripes or Great Whit,e then give it another spin and get writing. Each group gets their handles in a comment, so post all reviews and sub-comments under that comment. Should be clear.
Post reviews here and not the original swap post, as that already has 100 comments and review posts have in the past gone well past that. We’ll remind everyone with a deadline before the track reveals so post your track listings and any liner notes to @kid-dynamite and myself. Let the reviewening begin!
@kid-dynamite @moseleymoles @bogart @contraryarticle
Ok it’s me kicking off this quartet with my thoughts on @kid-dynamite and his White CD:
One – like these American indie mystics a lot, with one of the most identifiable voices in rock. Starts slow appropriately. Swans are white – most of them, so get the link. Good start
Two – this is an absolute monster! One of the lost classics of the indie-dance goldrush in the wake of Screamadelica. I have the album this comes from and on there it’s a weedier and shorter mix. This is the real deal and am glad to be united with its full nigh on 10 mins majesty.
Three – some Spanish. On first listen a piece of disposable airy Latin pop but there’s a touch of darkness in the chorus that makes it a slight grower.
Four – a great track. Not a clue who the witchywoman is but this is a terrific slab of pop-goth. Top lyrics.
Five – more airy Spanish pop, a duet with her in Spanish and him in English. The very slight trip-hop leanings mean I’m guessing it could be on at the Iberian album that the Shaolin Satelliters did a few years back. Not enough going on here, first real dud.
Six – post rock. Wibbly wobbly intro but about three minutes in the melody kicks in and it starts going somewhere in a gentle meandering fashion. Like Mogwai at their mellowest, but may be just as likely to be one or none of Tortoise, God Speed, Explosions in the Sky etc.
Seven – completely unclassifiable (1). Is this Krautrock? But it’s an English vocal and rather twangy. Then it layers on some vaguely Gospelish coda in some Matt Johnson stylee. Possibly Wagon Christ? 18 Wheeler? I should say I’ve never heard a track by either but they sound plausible don’t they?
Eight – completely unclassifiable (2) Is this Staxish soul? No, There’s an indie band aping this, perhaps if Tindersticks did a Memphis album. Again, not a clue but very pleasant.
Nine – perfectly satisfactory piece of Dub. Probably about the White Star liner I am guessing. Is it from Five Star in Dub?
Ten – goddamn who is she? American new wave vocals, handclaps and a song straight out of Gogos /Martha and the Muffins/ Motels territory. I will kick myself when you tell me who this is.
Eleven – grunge. Sounds like the movement’s second biggest band. I do like this a lot, which surprises me as after their great debut I had written them off as over-earnest do gooders who seem to want to tell us how awful the music business is while selling millions of records and touring stadia. Huge chorus.
Twelve – ah the 4AD sound. Dat bass, dose drums. Can’t go wrong with that. Again, will kick myself for not knowing the female vocalist.
OVERALL A strong grounding in 80s – 00s indie with occasional diversions abroad. The tracks which sound like they are from earlier eras are I think still from this era but wearing their influences on their sleeves. The overall NME/Select vibe (nothing wrong with that, I bought both regularly) is leavened by an Iberian influx – where did that come from @kid-dynamite eh?
No.2 sounds familiar… I went down that road as well (and agree about the lesser radio friendly version too!). Double points for ‘white’ being in both song and album title?
Having seen your track listing you are right to say number 2 is familiar, Mr Cucumber, yet my copy of the album has this mix on as well as the radio version, but you both seem to be saying yours don’t? I am confuse.
thanks for the feedback @moseleymoles. A few comments without spoiling it for the others…you almost certainly do know the vocalist on 10, but might be missing it because this isn’t her usual band (I will also admit that this song has the second most tenuous link to ‘White’ in the whole mix). 11 – yeah, I’m pretty blah on the rest of their output, but this track is a genuine belter. I can’t work out if you know what 12 is or not. And those ‘Iberian’ tracks? Neither artist is Spanish….
Underrated album, isn’t it? Sorry for confusion, my copy has both versions too, and there is also a second radio mix of Breakdown on there as well… …and if you look on YouTube, they did a cover of Jolene….
thoughts on @contraryarticle‘s disc:
1- A funny, sassy piece of self help. Really taken with this.
2 – I like the opening of this one a lot with the cello and sonaresque keyboard, but it tails off for me once the vocals start. Ends up being just a bit too long and a bit too dour.
3 – sounds a bit Nuggets / 60s garage but something makes me think it is a modern record pretending to be old?
4 – oh, I’ll always go for this kind of frantic country punk. Like the slower breakdowns as well. This is a good un.
5 – I’ve got to be honest, this kind of old timey stuff is nails down a blackboard for me. Can’t believe it’s less than three and a half minutes long, feels like an hour.
6 – more garage fuzz, goes pleasingly beserk at the end
7- some electronica, punchy and pounding, I like this one
8 – horns, funk revue flavour. Only two and a half minutes, but I could listen to it for twice as long
9 – gritty Crazy Horse-ish Americana, right in my wheelhouse. I’ve not heard them properly but this is what I imagine Thin White Rope sound like, so I’m guessing it’s them?
10 – back down to earth with a folkier, pastoral sound. I find things like 4 and 9 very easy to like, other things I have to work at some more. My instinct with this kind of simple clear singer songwriter thing is run and hide in some nice distortion and thumping drums, but when I force myself to pay attention it’s a lovely tune
11- I’m never going to turn my nose up at squelchy aquatic sounds. Slightly robotic spoken word that stops mid flow, all the better for being brief and mysterious. Kind of think I know the voice, but I can’t place it at all.
12- back to the garage for a stomp. Fun without being essential.
12+1- a bit whimsical and mannered, puts my back up a bit
12+2 – think I know this artist, and I mulled some of his tracks for inclusion, but this is one I don’t know. I like it, a fitting end to the mix, looking on and out to the future
12+3 – but wait! There’s more! Sixtiesish psychedelia…I’d have been happy finishing with the sweet bird of mystery to be honest.
So, and eclectic mix, with hits and misses for me. The lows were low – I really didn’t like 5 or 13 – but the hits were genuine highs, and there are four or five songs here that will probably lead to me spending even more money once the reveal is out. A special note for the cover. Googly eyes will never not make me laugh. Thanks!
Ok @contraryarticle. Your cover was excellent and only slightly terrifying. Raymond’s eyes are following me round the room..
General Remarks: 1-12 I enjoyed a lot as a mix. I didn’t like every track – 6 and 8 and 9 were the high points and definitely need to know who they were. The range was great, and it all hung together. But the bonus tracks were less an unexpected gift than that type of excruciating extra time in a League Cup third-round tie when everyone just knows we are heading for penalties.
One – novelty intro is a good tactic.. Thinking nineties. Like the lyrics but slightly on the twee side musically. This could have appeared sung in Central Perk by a slightly-more successful musician friend of Phoebe in Friends..
Two – Bit dull. Nothing happens, very tastefully. If this was a colour it would be a Farrow and Ball offwhite.
Three – bit more urgent. Sixties beat stuff is not my beat (1). There’s a ton of this stuff out there to discover but I feel that for me stuff like this may remain undiscovered.
Four – comedy country, like this. No idea what it is. Again, great lyrics.
Five – this old timey stuff is always great in a mixtape. Providing its not 20 minutes long which it isn’t. Could have been on the Bob Dylan theme time hour virtually every week.
Six – Sixties beat stuff is not my beat (2), but this is genius. Love the wig-out guitar at the end.
Seven – ok they’ve basically nicked the Phat Planet phat beat, but it’s perfectly good slab of nineties clubtronica.
Eight – great funk, short and sharp. Like this a lot, it’s on the good foot, may have a funky drummer, getting a witness, saying it loud, being proud and so on.
Nine – Great intro, as if The Edge and Gang of Four had merged. This is my beat, so annoyed I don’t know this. Gets less interesting when the vocals come in, but still interesting.
Ten – I’m useless at standards, which clearly this is.
Eleven – nice enough. Erm can’t remember much about it but again a spoken word track is always a good mix choice.
Twelve – did Jack White produce this? Anyhow, it’s a bit bluesy a bit rockabilly and a bit Crampsy. More of this sort of thing.
Thirteen
This is a pleasant-enough pastoral prog – from an English cathedral town in the early seventies I am guessing. Could do with a flute solo or two. Don’t mind it’s place on this disc, but not really my scene.
Fourteen
Well did I like this one?
First, the lyrics are toe-curlingly cliched. Time passes like leaves falling from the tree, her hair is wafting in the breeze, and what’s this, he’s only gone and packed her a suitcase of smiles for the miles of road ahead. Surely a travel adapter for her hairdryer would have been more practical.
Second, if she really is too young and innocent for this big bad world and you’re letting her go then maybe she was a bit too young to take up with the first place?
Third, just the way his accent (I’m thinking Cleetus here), wraps itself around the refrain ‘sweet buuuuurd of mystery’ actually this bit is very funny.
Fifteen – know this one. It’s again not my stuff, but perfectly competent and listenable slab of sixties pscyh pop. Disappointingly daughter failed to get the three more famous bicycle songs than this as a car quiz (Queen, Floyd, Kraftwerk with a sidebar of Mungo Jerry).
and now it is @moseleymoles turn…
1 – Wordless choral vocals, lovely celestial quality with a nice ominous building synth part. Like this a lot, great intro
2 – I know this voice, I know it. But can I tell you who it is? No, I cannot. Is it something to do with tiny horses, perhaps?
3 – First one I’ve recognised, unfortunately the source of major irkage as TRANSPARENT IS NOT THE SAME AS WHITE, ALRIGHT?* I’m always a sucker for a bit of motorik, and I liked this album a lot when it came out, but haven’t really kept up with them since.
4 – Synthpoppy, short and sweet, no idea what it is
5 – I saw this lot at about the time this one’s parent album came out (it has just been reissued in a 21st anniversary edition, which I can only assume is some kind of chronological accounting error, as that would mean I was in my late forties now). They were absolutely scorching, thanks for reminding me of it. Listening back now, I’m struck by how much the non d’n’b bits sound like Templehead by Transglobal Underground, or is it just me?
6 – More electronica. This an atmospheric, John Carpenter-ish, brooding piece and I have no idea what it is. Top hole stuff, though.
7 – Lovely rippling aquatic piano, quite jazzy. Ultimately a little too polite for me, but I’ll be interested to see who this is
8 – Bit anonymous this one, a lady was singing and being a bit mournful and then she wasn’t.
9 – I like the way that in the first few seconds this threatens to turn into some kind of Wacky Races number. After that it settles down into some (what I’d guess are) early eighties post punk grooves, which are perfectly fine but lacking a cartoon pigeon (although the sax does it’s best).
10 – Good swirling build here, always enjoy a trumpet when it comes to that kind of thing.
11 – I can’t quite get my head around this one. It’s like you’d found a bunch of people who had never heard any music before, given them some synthesizers and a written description of bubblegum pop and let them get on with it.
12 – sombre, Teutonic, yet still too upbeat (and tuneful) to be Nico, I think. Ivory ticks the white box…oh hang on, marble’s white, innit? Maybe it is Nico, something off the Marble Index? Not sure, not sure at all.
So there we are. Not counting the two I already knew, 1 and 6 are by far my favourites. Can’t wait to find out what 1 in particular was, really dug it. There was nothing I truly hated, and as always I will be eager for the revelations. Thanks!
*Wait till you see just how shoddy some of my justifications are. You’ll be spitting blood.
Shall I stick my review of @moseleymoles here, so they’re together & easier to read. Have had to keep my reviews short but sweet as, intead of having a few days off to immerse myself in the reviews proper & do some gardening, ended up spending most of it looking after a family member in hospital, so my usual last minute rush. Sorry!
So
Track 1 – I think I had something like this from you on yer last disc swap. Not feeling it, but then I am not a great fan of electronica.
Track 2 -This could be a grower. Not my usual choice of music, but there is enough going on here to keep me interested. Yearning vocal, interesting lyrics.
Track 3 -Another interesting one. Again outside my comfort zone, but the most likeable one so far.
Track 4- Haha. We really have such different tastes in music. Think this is an older track. Sounds a bit Devoish & I don’t mind a bit o’ Devo.
Track 5 -Even though I spent most o’ the 90’s in a bubble to avoid almost all things Britpop, having such a loathing for it, I recognise this’n as a bit of a 90’s multiculturism anthem. And I’m sure I’ve heard it used on sporty things, not that I watch many (any) sporty things.
Track 6 -Spooky! Not feeling this’n, but at least ‘tis short!
Track 7 -This is quite a sweet little song, with interesting instrumentation. Yeah, I actually like this’n! It’s a hit!
Track 8- I recognise this West Country chanteuse. Not the most cheery of ditties, but very evocative. I wanna give her a hug! Many hugs.
Track 9 -Yup. Much more up my street. Enjoyed this bit of skronk. More please!
Track 10 -Voice sounds a little Green Gartside, but don’t think it is him. Again, not a bad track at all. I like how it builds. Another hit!
Track 11 -Yup. Another like. The hit rate is going pretty good on this mix.
Track 12 -A slow waltz to finish. A paean to lost innocence & ponytails. Electronica in full glory! Haha. But I didn’t not like, & a good song to finish on.
And so it ends. Short but sweet. I was sort of dreading it, to be honest, as the last swap we had I struggled with a lot of the songs, but this one I was pleasantly surprised by & will happily listen to on repeat. Am quite happy to be pushed outta my comfort zone to expand my horizons a little more. Thank ye kindly MM
@bogart here are the scores on the doors:
One. A standard. So it’s all about the treatment. The voice didn’t do much for me, but not unpleasant.
Two. This started out in that earnest blue-collar American singer-songwriter way that can really get my back up. But gradually it won me over, as he can tell a story. Still a bit B-grade Springsteen though.
Three. Now I am thinking is the original? Certainly could be as old as the original. Quick google, no it’s not. But it needs to be pretty far away from the original, which this isn’t. Bogglingly Annie Lennox has covered this.
Four. This guy is a serial killer obvs. Is he one of the bad guys from three? Certainly I would never go into the woods with him. Short and sharp. Not that keen on any level.
Five. I have to say I hated this. Z-grade 70s glam to my ears, sub sub Alex Harvey or Steve Harley ‘I’m playing a character me’. It didn’t half go on.
Six. Love this. First track i could reallyl buy into. A heavy layer of Morriconeish trumpets, but a touch from English pastoral symphonic a la Vaughan Williams. Probably from a very well known film with white in the title. Great.
Seven. Spoken world track. Always a good choice for a mix. Fabulous voice, nice backing. Great story. I could listen to his pronunciation of ‘maan in a vaan’ all day.
Eight. Utterly distinctive voice. I have some of their stuff I am sure. It’s quite nice with its acoustic and woodwind tones.
Nine. Choon! Dispatches from the North London liberal elite with her customary wit, restraint and ear for a melodic twist. Love this.
Ten. Dull. Dull. Dull. You have definitely used up your allocation of acoustic guitar by this point.
Eleven. Oh no, it’s more acoustic and more woodwind. Bonkers track – is it the Boosh with the crack fox! Not quite, but it’s the cocaine lady with everything else a bit cocainey, including a rat. Lots of white powder then. Under the transgressive lyrics there’s some pretty standard 70s singer-songwriter stuff going on.
Twelve. Beat groups not my beat (pt 4). Nothing wrong with this, and a welcome change of tempo from the acoustic singer-songwriter stuff. I like his ‘ahahahah’ vocals. There’s a billion groups it could be – is it The Beatles?
Thirteen – the textures are suddenly way more interesting. Possibly an American scientologist singer-songwriter or someone who has listened to him a lot. Anyway I like it.
Fourteen. I know this NY sax-skronking hipster and thought about him for my disc. A great track.
Fifteen Fabulous track to end on, though what the performer, album, lyrics or single have to do with our theme I am clueless about. It’s either a remix with ‘white’ in the remix title, or its because he wears a natty white suit on the cover. Anyway, one of my favourite performers and the first group I went to see live, when he was in a group that is.
Conclusion: up to track six I was a million miles from this, but from then on there were as many hits as misses. Wide mix, once we got past the teetering stack of acoustic guitars and some cuts I’ll want to know more about (6,7,13 chiefly).
And sorry, best album cover ever…as will now be utilised as a coaster chez moles.
and my review of @bogart‘s offering:
1- Obviously a standard, not sure who’s singing this version. Guess the white bit is the moon, right?
2- Country folk, a genre that lends itself well to this kind of story song. “I’m an old man…. of thirty-nine” HAHAHAHAHA. Cheery little number about people freezing to death. Like this one, could see it fitting on one of Springsteen’s acoustic records if the music was a little less pretty.
3- Like number one, a song I’d guess everybody here knows, but not the famous version. I guess the white link is in the name of the artist, otherwise it’s too depressing to contemplate.
4- Not sold on this one. It seems to be trying for a sinister vibe, but doesn’t pull it off. Imagine a Waitsian croak replacing the existing vocal and you’d be closer I reckon
5- Hmm, not this one either. Sounds like a track from a bad musical, all overly dramatic phrasing and portentous lyrics
6- stately and melancholy, I like this one.
7- this is what I imagine Ivor Cutler sounds like, but the accent’s not right. Is it?
8- no idea who this might be. A little bit too tasteful for me, when’s the banging and shouting coming along?
9-I know I know this singer but I can’t place her, and it is bugging me to the point of not being able to listen to the song properly any more because even after five listens my brain keeps threatening ot serve up the answer and then going “nah” and it is driving me mad.
10- You definitely like your close to the mic vocals and acoustic story songs, don’t you? This is okay, but nothing exceptional, and in a crowded genre I think it needs to be. I remember the great Heppo once saying something along the lines of “the world doesn’t need any more quite good”, and he wasn’t wrong. Quite like the pseudo military drums at the end, mind you, and was that a xylophone?
11- I think I may have picked up the cunningly buried reference to white in this one, but I’m not sure? This sounds like an act I’d stumble on late at night on a smaller stage at a festival and hang around to watch for a bit. Eccentric, individual, fun.
12- At last, a beat! I like a good horn section. Cover this in sweat and it could have been in the Blues Brothers.
13 – Ah, this is more like it. Odd synth noises and a bizarre rap, and then some pounding drums. I do know who this is, but was scratching my head looking for the white reference until I remembered the name of the album. One of the best bands to come out of these islands in the last few years, aren’t they?
14 – I don’t know this particular song, but I definitely recognise the voice. I’ve never gone past their first (classic) album, and I probably should. This maintains that sound, with a few more bits thrown in as well, and it’s great. EDIT: I should also say that after reading his comments, I don’t think this is who @moseleymoles thinks it is. One of us is wrong….
15 – Another good one, has a light industrial feel to it. I think I know what it is from the repeated vocal line near the end, but I haven’t heard it before, despite liking this fellow’s work with his more famous band. Think I’m going to check out the solo records of the back of this, really like it. An epic closer.
There’s nothing I really hated here, a few tracks I was indifferent to and a couple I really liked. The biggest issue for me would be the track ordering. It was so frontloaded with acoustic country / folk / blues at a similar tempo that those tracks began merging into one, and after one listen I’d dismissed the whole disc as that kind of thing, when it really isn’t at all. I’m glad I stuck with it, as there are very decent tracks here, just mostly shoved to the end.
I must also applaud the packaging. Tremendous stuff! For what it’s worth, my best friend lived in Bollington for a while, and I was there fairly often about fifteen years ago. I do vaguely remember that big white thing.
& my review of @bogart ‘s mix
Track I – Ahhh, ya can’t go wrong with a bit o’ Vicky Williams in the mix. One o’the sweetest people I have ever met. Just lovely. Kooky & warm & human. Hating her’d be like hating a puppy. I know her voice isn’t for everyone but fuck the haters cos this is a person who makes the world a nicer place to be in by just being in it. I love her.
Track 2 – An old man o’ 39 huh? We’re all fucked!! Don’t know this’n. A sad tale.
Track 3 – Oooh, I find this such a hard song to listen to as it’s SO feckin’ sad. I only know the Billie Holiday version. In a way, this one is easier to hear.
Track 4 – Ahh, haven’t heard this for a long time. Was quite a fan o’ Stephen Jones & his cohorts when they were starting out. A very odd lot to see live, until they had that ‘hit’. He is a strange being. Not sure that I like him in person, but some o the guys in the band were lovely.
Track 5 – Hmmm…. This’n might grow on me after a few listens. I like wordy songs, especially if the words are interesting. A slight touch o Baby Dee about this. Not her though.
Track 6 – Some British oompapa. Reminiscent of Sunday afternoon bandstands. Atmospheric I suppose. Not a great fan.
Track 7 – I like. Am a sucker for an interesting accent, & an interesting little story to boot. A little slice of ordinary life made extraordinary in the telling. Nice!
Track 8 – Sounds a little Howe Gelb/ Lambchopish but it’s not either o’ those. Not sure if I like this or not. It might grate on repeated listens.
Track 9 – Oh, I recognise that voice. Will kick myself I know. Nice song too. Yup.
Track 10 – Ahh, Jim. I love Jim.I don’t listen to him enough really.
Track 11 – The story o’Cocaine Lil. Dunno who this is. Sounds like summat that Dan Hicks might do. Have no idea if it is him. Not a great fan but it did remind me, I meant to put Lowell’s China White on my mix, but I forgot somehow. Doh!
Track 12 – I feel I ought to know this, but I don’t. Peppy.
Track 13 – Yup. A big yes from me. Liked muchly.
Track 14 – Hmmm…. Yup. GG’s voice always recognisable. Don’t know this particular track but enjoyed. Nice & skronky, & a Jew’s Harp solo thrown into the mix too. What’s not to like!
Track 15 – Great finish! A great bop around the house track.
And fab CD cover. I thought about doing that, for all of about 15 seconds, but I never have any white wool, & my crocheting’s shit! I only learnt as there was a crochet skirt that I really wanted to make, so I did a day class, & the woman teaching said she had never seen anyone crochet in such an awkward fashion ( bein’ a southpaw doesn’t help) Stubborn is my middle name. Made the skirt & never made anything again. Was trying to work out if I could knit a circle & decided it’d be too faffy. So glue & Raymond Blanc it was, & I only managed to glue my fingers ever so slightly together. Ha!
Yeah, overall, this disc is a keeper & the tracks I like I will like more the more time I give ‘em. Thank you Monsieur Bogart.
My crocheting’s shit. Afterword T-shirt.
@kid-dynamite @moseleymoles @contraryarticle
What’s the best way to do these reviews I ask myself, simple, do it In the order that I received them. So the first disc to come though the door was the Kid’s….. so here goes.
Track one – Could it be called the Queen of Swans which would tie into the white theme. A jaunty tuneful pastoral sound, reminds me of or could it actually be Jonathan Donahue & co.? Pleasant enough, wouldn’t turn it off if it came on the radio, but would it encourage me to seek out further of their work. Nope. But nice start for the comp.
Track Two – Track 1 segues into track two with muted voices, a funky white boy ambient groove that is over layered with breathy multi tracked female vocals. Sounds as though it comes from the Second summer of Love era, that’s if SSOL is a recognised period, the one that saw the Roses, Monday’s and Primal Scream at their prowess of e induced dreamy jams. As for this track, more indicative of Scream than the others, it’s good until the vocal kicks in, then from that point it just sort of exists, not giving any particular joy or sorrow to the ears. It’s sort of ‘hip boutique’ background music.
Track three – A jaunty South American (?) sounding guitar takes us out of the e induced tedium of track 2, vocals in possibly Spanish are equally as jaunty, a sort of dee-dum rhythm makes me think of Spanish Country and Western. Rather enjoy it. No idea who it is.
Track four – Indie-grungy guitar riff is accompanied a female vocal telling us she never wears white. Echo’s of Garbage and more recently in the same vein(ish) Goat Girl and She Holds The Gun. Yep liked that.
Track 5 – Latin sounding, Spanish female & English male vocal which could well have been recorded as the theme for the Balearic soundtrack of a Señor James Bond or to be played on your local Tappas bar. Bland and not for me.
Track 6 – Ambient mood music, piano, the sound of a row boat are joined by a guitar and strings both bowed and plucked, with a synth doing an impression of a errant dialling tone weaving though it. Apart from further odd sound effects nothing much happens. But it’s a most enjoyable ‘nothing much appears to happen’ track as with all the best such tracks, there is a myriad of tributaries joining and currents running below the surface that need to be discovered and as such it invites the listener to listen, to be drawn in and explore. Still waters run deep as they say, yep, like it.
Track seven – Opens with what sounds like Bert Wheedon accompanied by drum machine with a proggy era Rick Wakeman type supporting on keyboards. It goes on for a while and is not unpleasant on the ear then a sort of paint by numbers proggy-rocky-echo-chamber-choralish- vocals join the party, there’s a lot here but it doesn’t seem to actually do anything.
Last minute amendment. Listening while doing spell checks etc, this came on and it does have it’s merits, it’s growing on me, I now rather like it, even the use of the “ paint by numbers proggy-rocky-echo-chamber-choralish- vocals”.
Track eight – Mrs Miniver era strings before a stax horny bit give way to a laid back vocal over a drum beat heavy backing with horns, stings and some female sounding multi voices sitting in the back offering support, giving a gospelish light feel. For around 4 minutes then it builds, a bass holds a rhythm before the singer starts to tell us about Jesus and the song becomes more of a mantra, with horns and vocals.
Now I have a CD somewhere by a group whose name I can’t recall who legend had it recorded one self released ‘Jesus’ album in a commune and which was forgotten about until somebody found a copy of it in a second hand shop. They loved it so much they tracked down some of the members of the band and put it out on CD. Is this them? Oh and it’s a cracking track.
Track nine – Reggae, dub possibly as not sure what defines where, when and how a reggae tune become a dub reggae tune. Aside from that this particular effort didn’t do much for me.
Track 10 – Power pop/grunge light. Echoes of The Runaways, Go-go’s, Pat Benater and of today’s sounds (once again) the likes of Goat Girl and She Holds The Gun. Fine comes to mind. And it’s fine.
Track 11 – Oh dear I do dislike this sort of constipated growling vocal styling. As for the track, this genre which I do like, there are numerous better offerings although admittedly most wouldn’t fit the white theme, hence not making it on to the compilation therefore this track does. Shame. Tis for me at least, the nadir of this compilation.
Track 12 Into the white…..into the white….. at least I can spot (hear?) the link to the to the theme. Otherwise, makes me think of of guitar riffs and disinterested infused vocal styling drone type bands, Breeders, Sleeper that type of thing . It’s OK, that’s the best and worst I can say about it, it’s just OK.
As with all compilations you need to separate the wheat from the chaff, now that I’ve found the sound of track 6, it along with 5 & 7 meld together to provide the most enjoyable 17 minutes-ish on the disc.
As for the rest apart from tracks 2, 5, 9 & 11 enjoyable selections. As for the era that initially influenced and subsequently formed this compilation, I’d say the compiler was a child of the Britpop generation and an advocate of Uncut when it first hit the shelf.
Ta putting it together.
and finally, the bonus disc from @moseleymoles jr!
1 – Heavy psychedelia, foreboding and apocalyptic. Start as you mean to go on, I hope.
2 – More witchy doominess in a folk rock style.. You should get Moles Jr to listen to Crumbling Ghost. She’ll dig them, I promise.
3 – hmm, pretty sure this was on Contraryarticle’s mix as well. It’s times like this that I am reminded of just how much I hate Sixties British pop music.
4 – Ah, this early 90s psychedelia is much more like it. Love this band and this album, even the one that sounds like the plumbing’s knackered. This track was on my shortlist for my own mix. Great effort, sparking off some excellent memories of free festivals twenty odd years ago.
5 – Back to the garage. I know this via the Minor Threat cover, but not sure I’ve ever heard the original before.
6 – YASSSS. I was expecting some metal, and here we go. Best band named after a Boris Karloff movie ever, and this is off their best album (in my correct opinion). I’d have gone for the preceding track myself, but only because of the excellent dance the singer does in the video. Top stuff.
7 – oh fuck yes. Those drums are better than any defibrillator. Classic thrash energy and sound, but here’s also a touch of NWOBHM to this, I reckon. A tad worried that the lyrics are a bit “America – love it or leave it”, but I can only make out one line in five anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. Fantastic visceral metal.
8 – Downs the tempo a bit, but still heavy, and still with the NWOBHM influence. The lyrics teeter on the cheesy, and then the guitar solo tips right over into full cheddar. I’d like to imagine that in the video the guitarist would be playing on top of a boulder in Monument Valley, silhouetted against the moon. Fun, but I think the band are taking it much more seriously than I am.
9 – Galloping drums, flashy solos, terrible lyrics. This one feels quite spandexy, a little poodley. Can’t hear an obvious ‘white’ reference in the words, so I’m guessing it’s Whitesnake or Great White?
10 – Should have stuck to the metal. It’s too late to be throwing a few proggy crumbs to the Afterword crowd, I’m afraid. Those last few tracks sent them all scurrying off to their Gentle Giant boxsets, and they aren’t coming back until you cue up something off a Richard Thompson bootleg…
11 – …which is a shame, because I reckon a good few of them would like this kind of jangly tuneful power pop. It’s a bit too clean for my ears, but I’d be telling a little white lie (GEDDIT?) if I said that I wasn’t mentally singing along with the chorus once it came round a second and third time.
12 – It’s just the sound of records like this I don’t like, that horrible brash trebly noise. The song may well be okay, but it’d have to be supernaturally good to get over that hurdle. It’s not the song, it’s me.
This one was an unexpected gift. Some of it (3, 12) was a little twee for my ears, but when it was rocking I was fully on board. I already knew and liked 4 and 6, but of the other stuff I particularly dug 1,2 and 7. Cheers!
BELA LUGOSI, I MEANT BELA LUGOSI.
Of course I did. I am embarrass.
@kid-dynamite @moseleymoles @contraryarticle
Aptly as it’s a white theme, the Mosley offering was a double, one disc a Lennon the other a McCartney, possibly or not.. Anyway now it’s MM-jr’s turn.
Track 1 – Jon Anderson-esque vocals begins the disc as whoever sings the verse to a mooted backing track before a Philip Collins-ish drum roll heralds a more upbeat chorus about leading various colour’s of horses. Repeat, then into a guitar gurning proggy-physc-hippy-solo with a baa-barb-bar chanted refrain ad neuseum. Oh well it can only get better.
Track 2 – Folk rock, pleasant female vocal complete with a Russian sounding male choir lifted from Rasputin era Boney M going “ahhhh-ahhhh-ahhh”. In fact could quite easily hear Boney M doing a version of this. Like it.
Track 3 – 60’s psychedelic-garage rock n roll about riding a white bicycle. Enjoyed on CC’s disc and enjoyed once again.
Track 4 – I’m guessing it’s recorded live with the odd sound of a crowd being heard now and then. Sounds like they had one idea but realising it was a pretty awful idea gave up and just did 5 minutes of self indulgent impressions of Hawkwind. Didn’t like this, as you may have guessed.
Track 5 – More of the 60’s psychedelic-garage rock n roll, have heard the song before but can’t say who it is. Enjoyable.
Track 6 – Electronic noise, a bass rumble, Kraftwerk-ish traffic noise, a spoken vocal, HM type guitar all rather good until a rather insipid vocal kicks in and ruins it. Take the singing voice away and it would have got a thumbs up , but alas he did sing so it’s a thumbs down.
Track 7 – A generic heavy metal romp. I have a feeling that HM is marketed at young male’s in much the same way that Boy bands are for the young females. For one it’s pounding drums, riff-a-mania and god awful me-jeans-are-to-tight helium vocal whilst the other gets pretty boys in nice suits singing in harmony. At times the offerings of either camp can be enjoyable, but this isn’t one of them.
Oh and just to say that the boy = HM whilst girl = Boyband is a generalisation used to illustrate the argument, I don’t know the gender of MM’jr and of course gender doesn’t make your ears like what they do. But I view certain areas of HM as much a ready-made product as any Boyband and the marketer does target particular demographics.
Track 8 More heavy guitar, pounding drums another, well another by numbers HM band this time singing about American Indian’s and their right to the land. . If the previous was Boyzone this could be Take That. BTW just on the subject matter of the song I’d hazard a guess this is Iron Maiden?
Track 9 – More H.M. by numbers, is this with the polite, melodic chorus is this the metal version of Westlife?
Track 10 – A proggy return, organ sounds reminiscent of Hugh Banton of VDDG. Unfortunately it’s not a Van Der number. If 7 was generic H.M. this is prog by numbers, it’s not unlistenable it just doesn’t do much other than follow the ‘prog rules’ and therefore lacks spark.
Track 11 And then out of leftfield a jangly, M.O.R tune, extremely earwormish chorus. Enjoyable but it wouldn’t persuade me to search anything more from the artist.
Track 12 – When the vocal kicked in it sounded initially like Robin Gibb and really that’s all I can say about it. This track just made no impression. Not even enough to make me dislike it.
As you may have guessed I’m no fan of the light weight, polite formulated H.M. that is represented here, so that put certain tracks on the slippy slope straight away, but I always believe music should provoke a reaction and at least the H.M tracks do that, even if it’s simply one of disdain, in which case they are doing there job. Like Stock Atkin and Waterman they know their market, they know what noise to make to appeal to and to entertain that market and they go for it regardless of what non-believers may think. Good for them and to those who enjoy it.
But saying all that I enjoyed a fair few tracks and even those I didn’t enjoy at least I got to hear them as normally I’d avoid them with a passion and sometimes you do need to listen to that stuff you don’t like. It will either to make you appreciate the things you do like even more or on occasions make you re-evaluate your feelings towards something you didn’t like or had dismissed without giving fair hearing.
Sorry, lads, had a minor disaster. My phone ate my homework! Well kinda. Decided to try & be organised & kept notes on my phone of all the mixes, ready to post, & then o’ course, like a complete eejit, I lost my phone. So, start all over again. Hopefully get ‘em all up on here this week if I can, but I’ll make a start with Kid D’s mix anyhow @kid-dynamite, which came just in time for me to download to my little Walkman player & take on hols to Ireland with me. 1st listen was when we took off from Bristol airpost & finished just as I landed in Cork airport on the other side o the Irish sea. Then reversed it 2 weeks later. No time to listen in the time between. Too much family/friends to catch up with. And a few more listens since.
Track 1 Ah, I shoulda known these’d be on yer mix, ya big softie. These are one o those acts that I seem to have a stubborn blinkered attitude about (call me contrary- um…) I think it’s cos when I came across them first they seemed to be everywhere, & all the hype put me off, even though every thing I have heard from them I have liked & I love so many acts of similar ilk. This is lovely. I really need to dive in & explore more.
Track 2 Well, started out ok (hadn’t realised it had moved on to track 2 & thought twas a long fade out of track 1, until the female voice comes in. Nah, not for me. This just sounds like Dido doing a dance remix, & those breathy background vocals just make me want to throw summat through a window. Rarrggghhh!! (not a wise thing to do on an aeroplane)
Track 3 Ah, sounded like a Camper Van Beethoven track for the first 15 seconds, but no idea what this is. My son & his wife have just moved to Spain so this is making me think of them a lot. Am missing them a bit, but will have a good reason to holiday more in Spain now (in winter, the sun is not my greatest friend)
Track 4 Wish this track was a little rougher & I’d like it more than I do. Just a little too smooth & mannered. Sorry. Me being very picky.
Track 5 Grrrrr…. Well this can feck off to the same place that Track 2 can disappear off to. Nope. Nope. Nope.
Track 6 Kinda dreamy. A nice track to be looking out a plane window at clouds below. Probably not quite my cuppa tea, but ok in the circumstances. Goes on a bit though….
Track 7 Ahhhhh….. just got a copy o’ this to play at my local dj night. (Got told off for playing it too loud! Haha!)As time goes on I get really really sad about these guys splitting up. They really were such a fecking amazing band. I know you missed their last gig & I’m so sorry ya did. And kind of an apt song to be playin’ as I fly home to see my family in Cork, & yes, my mother IS called Mary (Isn’t every Irish Catholic mother??) I assume the white link is the cover? Cos I can’t think what else? Ha! And I still think their second album is the better ‘un. Controversial I know!(But listen to Breaking Point, or No Love In Your Heart really loud on a good set o speakers. Feckin’ amazing!)
Track 8 More mellow. Ooh blimey. Second half. I’ll get enough lecturing about this from my Irish Catholic mum when I’m back in Corcaigh. She calls my kids “The Heathens” cos they were never baptised, & claims the only reason the hall carpet never caught alight when we had a house fire years ago is cos they found a St Francis medal stuck under the carpet (nuthin’ to do with the neighbours who kept their hoses trained on the house to stop the whole lot going up before the firemen got there)(Sorry, more information than ya need to know, but my ma & I do not see eye to eye when it comes to religious beliefs. She has ‘em, I don’t, but she insists on trying to save my soul) Nope. (Sorry, that’s probably TMI, but I have to go through this every time I head home, & this was the soundtrack for getting’ there. I enjoyed it more on the way back!) Though I love so much that comes outta his Spacebomb studio on the whole. Still head over heels with Skyway Man, recorded there a couple o years ago. Check ‘em out.
Track 9 Nice bit o’ reggae which moseys along nicely. All good.
Track 10 Finally a bit o’ kickass. Sounds a bit 90’s. Sounds a bit like them “Ready To Go” hitmakers. Meh…
Track 11 Voice sounds a bit Grant Lee Phillips, but this is way more grungey than he ever got. This is deffo 90’s
Track 12 Ahh,… I dallied with putting one o these on my mix, this or Is She Weird, but I knew ya would, so I didn’t. Love Kim’s voice.
Was expecting a much heavier mix from ya Kid. This is very mellow. Almost horizontal. Nice mix fer travelling to though. I enjoyed, even if some o the tracks got on my wick individually. Ye’ve kickstarted my into finally getting on with listening to yer opening acts opuses, way beyond when I should have, so thank ye for that. And a few old favourites that I love anyhow, so not a bad mix all told.
Disc 2 arrived and it was from @contraryarticle and so here goes my thoughts on the contents.
The Chef cover reminds me of the Black Grape It’s Great When Your Straight album complete with the beady-jiggly eyes.
Track 1 – This sounds so Zappa it could be from the man himself or a cover version, yet it ‘sounds’ more modern, something akin to Garfunkel and Oates. An enjoyable and amusing start.
Track 2 – Prog land beckons, slow atmospheric intro, sparse beeps, strings (synth?) and piano lead into a moribund vocal the song continues in much the same tone apart that is from the the few moments when it almost blooms as they go to Lilly White’s party. This is what, to me at least the likes of Genesis, Yes and co tried to achieve on their ‘moody’ efforts but always failed. This lot, whoever they maybe passed with full marks.
Track 3 – 60s, know this track from hearing it on occasions over the years, could be (but isn’t) The Who or even The Animals, the latter especially with that organ sound. Another good selection.
Track 4 – Cow-poke punk country, jogs along at a fair old pace with a couple of short chorusy bits that slow the pace to allow you to get your breath back, then it’s back to business. . You’d be tied in knots trying to square dance to it. A Goody again.
Track 5 – Old time country, real old time country, you can almost feel your self sat around the camp-fire with the cow’s a mooing and the sound of bean’s repeating. Yet another good one.
Track 6 – Back to the 60s, sci-fi-ish intro with the organ swirling and drums and guitar making it sound like a Gerry Anderson TV show theme. Then the vocals kick in, multi tracked sounding like they where singing from the next room and to be honest not bringing anything to the party. As a instrumental this would have been good yet again, but alas those irritating vocals.
Track 7 – Opening noise indicates this could be dance, then the pulsing sounds come along to be followed by beats and looks like the initial thoughts are correct. A good dance/ambient track which could be the Chemical Bros. or Leftfield or any of those acts. Does what it’s meant to.
Track 8 – What time is it, it’s soul time. Singing about unity over a wonderful cacophony of guitar and horns, and ending with the JB style falsetto yelped vocals. This is getting repetitive, yet again a great choice.
Track 9 – Intro a sort of lightweight Joy Division /New Order bass and guitar dual, then the big drum beats enter, it’s all going along rather joyfully until the vocalist decides to join in. The voice sounds familiar with its Chapmanesque warble but I can’t think who it is and to be honest it’s not bringing anything to this party. Again would be a cracking instrumental.
Track 10 – Time to change the pace, acoustic and female vocal are to the fore, until later in the song when strings ( or again a synth) are introduced to good effect. Sounds familiar,. And staying with familiar, another good choice.
Track 11 – Ambient plink-plonk over a dud-dub then a spoken word vocal arrives, talking about the holocaust and the futility of conflict. Having a fondness for spoken word over ambient plink plonk makes this another winner.
Track 12 – Bloody heck know who this is. Trouble is I can’think of ‘who’ they are/is called. Another goodie.
Track 13 – Can’t beat a count in to a record and then away it goes with an acoustic, that’s joined by a electric and then a female or is it male, can’t fully decide. Folky-proggy territory. Bland, did nothing for me (oh Vienna).
Track 14 – This I deffo know. I own it and just about all of his output. It is of course a great choice.
Track 15 – I first came across this song as a 12/13 year old when I saw Nazareth performing it on TOTP’s and for years I thought it was their original. I learnt of course that it wasn’t, this I believe is the original or maybe Flanders and Swan did it first, but this is the is a wee bit more psychedelic than Naz’s rock version of my young days. And this I think is by a band whose not yesterday or today but, although I’m probably wrong there and I’m not going to Google it until the track list comes out. But a good way to end the disc.
What does it mean. Well I’d say that the compiler is a child of the 60s who has kept up with music though-tout the following decades and has darn good taste as well. Only one real duffer, couple that if they’d worked harder on finding a vocalist would have been more than acceptable and the rest where jolly darn good.
Ha! If ya mean by child o’ the 60’s that I was born in the 60’s, then yeah. I also have a penchant for unusual voices, so ya were lucky there was only 2 that ya got that ya didn’t like. Coulda been a whole discful! 😀
@contraryarticle
“unusual voices” ………. oh yes, without doubt you can’t beat a unique, off-kilter voice.
My problem with the couple I mentioned was that they were just a wee bit to pedestrian.
@kid-dynamite @moseleymoles @bogart @contraryarticle
And so to Mos of Mos.
Track 1 – Ethereal voice, filigree instrumentation. Ideal for the headphones moment of the Sally Anne Hobbs show. Good start.
Track 2 – Familiar voice, prominent bass sound dominates the sound with some nice pounding drums, it’s OK but rather pedestrian. Is the albaster the white link?
Track 3 – Again this voice rings bells, a sort of funky white boy 80’s synth sound, again a pleasant enough song but not something that would encourage me seek out more from them.
Track 4 – Synths a-go-g, sounds as though it’s from the era of Depeche Mode, Yazoo and co, a mention of tracks in the snow,once again pleasnt but not something that would make me seek out more, although if it came on the radio it wouldn’t make turn it off.
Track 5 – Chart aimed poppy rap/ DJing with a undercurrent of dance, late 80s early 90s maybe? This one doesn’t do anything apart from providing a slightly saccharine overload . Having another listen it strikes me that if East 17 had come along a few years later this is the sort of ‘product’ they would have been churning out for their fan base.
Track 6 -In the vein of Vangelis, Tomaita and later The Orb, Aphex Twin. It’s good.
Track 7 – My bête noire is jazz and coming close is swirly organ sounds, unfortunately the song is the ‘best’ of both and to add to this they throw in a bland vocal. It maybe very good for those who like this sort of thing, but for me, to quote Father Dougal “down with this sort of thing”.
Track 8 – Wipsy, distant female vocal, acoustic guitar and not much else to say. Well apart from after a couple of plays it grows and is enjoyable, but again too use that dreadful phrase, it wouldn’t make me seek anything else she/they have done.
Track 9 – Ahhh now this is more like it, dissonant, anomalous clamour I’m 85% positive it The Raincoats, it’s that lovely scratchy, jumbled noise they make. Yet 15% of me says it’s the Slits. Either way it’s glorious.
Track 10 – Nice moody guitar intro, breathy vocal join as the songs builds to a crescendo of horn, guitar, choral vocals before it once again descend back to the moody intro. Something akin to Spiritualized. Liked that.
Track 11 – A fairly basic musical background which manages to sound so much more, a song that don’t do a great deal yet gives so much. Is this Young Fathers? Either way, we are on a roll as this is another great selection.
Track 12 – Goth is a whole different ball game musically, but Goth would be an apt way to describe the ambience this track creates. Not sure who it is, but it would certainly make me look at more of her/their music.
And that’s that. Guessing the formative musical years of the compiler would be the very late 70s early 80s when synth pop came to the fore. Nothing that really offended, even the dreaded jazz track wasn’t that bad, although track 5 comes close (it is once again playing as I type this) as it sound a dreadfully twee, calculated Zeitgeist band wagon jumping product.. But all in all most enjoyable, thanks for doing it. Mr Jr is next.
Okay, here’s my tracklisting:
1) was, as most people guessed, Mercury Rev with a song called The Queen Of Swans, of their most recent proper album, ie not the Bobbie Gentry one
2) One Dove – White Love. There was a time in the early 90s when everything Andrew Weatherall touched turned to gold, and this is a fine example of that
3) Amparo Sanchez – Hoja En Blanco. Amparo is a Mexican (I think) singer who has done some work with Calexico, and they returned the favour by playing on this album (‘Tucson-Habana’). If you’re a Calexico fan this is well worth tracking down.
4) I did think someone might guess this, as I’d say she was a fairly AW friendly artist, but no. It’s Suzanne Vega, with a song called “I Never Wear White”
5) An act called Macuna, and the track is Retornaras, not that anyone will be looking out for it. The exciting (for me) thing, and the thematic link, is that it is a reworking of a New Model Army song called White Light. The male voice on the song is NMA’s Justin slowly reciting the lyrics to White Light. I really like this, maybe it works better if you’re familiar with the original and hence you can enjoy the contrast with the hard rock of that version
6) Salt Photographs by Brambles. This is a few years old, but I only discovered it last year and fell in love with it. If you liked this track, or any ambient / modern classical type stuff you’ll love the parent album ‘Charcoal’, available on a tiny Welsh indie called Serein. Tell them I sent you. They won’t have any idea who I am, but tell them anyway.
7) The Earlies, with Morning Wonder. Look, the album cover is predominantyl white, alright?
8) Matthew E White, ‘Brazos’. Another one that I thought might have been identified, although MM was close when he sussed it was a contemporary song trying to sound old
9) Winston Edwards and Blackbeard with ‘Whitehall Dub’, off possibly the only dub reggae album themed around the British political establishment, “Dub Conference At 10 Downing Street”. It’s great and @duco01 will back me up on this.
10) This is a band called Wild Flag, and a song called ‘Romance’. The voice that eluded MM is Carrie Brownstein out of Sleater-Kinney. Wild Flag also featured that band’s drummer Janet Weiss, and we all know that Weiss means White in German, right? Sorry.
11) Pearl Jam, ‘State Of Love & Trust’. As I say above, I am generally blah on PJ, but this one is an absolute belter.
12) Pixies – ‘Into The White’
Thanks for playing, cheers all!
Re: the 10 Downing Street track – this is called “White Hall Scandal” on my original vinyl – it’s track 4 on side one. Distributed by Joe Gibbs Records, 29 Lewisham Way, New Cross, SE14, Tel: 01 691 0070. Studio 16 catalogue number WE 0010. 33 rpm. Monster dub album.
“At 10 Downing Street – Dub Conference” is indeed a monster album. Interestingly, it is also included in its entirety on the 4CD “Evolution of Dub Vol. 7” box on VP records.
One question remains, though:
Who Made The Prime Minister’s Honour List Of 1975?
Perhaps there’s someone who knows on 01 691 0070!
@bogart‘s tracklisting revealed
Moon River – Victoria Williams
California Snow – Dave Alvin
Strange Fruit – Joss White
Little Whit Man – Babybird
Milked – Peter Hammill
David of the White Rock – Black Dyke Mills Band
The New Piano – Mark A Greenwood
White Room – David Thomas and the Foreigners
Long White Dress – Tracey Thorn
A Man Love His Wife – Hellwood
Cocaine Lil and Morphine Sue – Jackie Leven
Peaches and Cream – Supercharge
Holy Ghost – Young Fathers
Black Girls – Violent Femmes
Homosapien (dub) – Pete Shelley
I would just like it on the record that I was right about the Violent Femmes, nyah nyah nyah
Ooh! Hellwood @bogart
Jim White and Johnny Dowd’s little project from 2006. I saw them at either the London Astoria or the (Charing X Road) Mean Fiddler a few doors away. One or other of those ghastly places. Shiny dark ex-carpet in the foyer area that stuck to your shoes if you didn’t keep moving.
Quite possibly the loudest gig I’ve ever attended. The bass from Willie B’s bass pedals was vibrating the floor and slightly unsettling my stomach, where I was standing right at the back. I bought their album but can’t remember the last time I played it.
and @moseleymoles‘ delights were
One. Erland Cooper. Whitemaa. His album Solan Goose was one of the great ambient electonica albums of last year. Nice gentle easing.
Two. Foals. Alabaster. Again, good at the start of mix as it builds well in the song (I think).
Three. Fujiya and Miyagi. Transparent Things. Great motorik funk.Turning up the vibe a little without going too big too soon. Controversial link to theme.
Four. Devo. Snowball. Cannot believe @kid-dynamite was stumped by the Mothersbaugh mothership.
Five. Asian Dub Foundation. Black White. Now we’re rocking full out. This lot were so exciting in the nineties. In fact they still are.
Six.Boards of Canada. White Cyclosa. Let’s take it down again.
Seven. Laura Viers. White Cherry. An Afterword favourite artist, from her most recent album, rather lovely.
Eight. PJ Harvey. White Chalk. Oh yes she’s mournful @kid-dynamite. Can’t believe you didn’t get her (Part 2).
Nine. The Raincoats. Black and White. Every time I played this in making the mix it got better. And surely that’s one of the points of all this, to take a deep dive into your collection and see what you come up with.
Ten. White Noise Sound. There is No Tomorrow Where are they now? This is from a great debut album, like the missing link between Spacemen 3 and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Eleven. Young Father. Shame. From White Men are Black Men Too. Tooon! I thought, though this flummoxed the kid clearly.
Twelve. Beach House. Auburn and Ivory. And we’re out, floating away on some super-gentle slow grooves.
I think I actually have that Young Fathers track that flummoxed me….
@locust @wilson-wilson @mrsmoseleymoles
My review of @wilson-wilson‘s CD coming this weekend – I unfortunately believed that your parcel was something else (and less exciting) so it took me a while to finally go and fetch it at my local newsagent/betting shop/parcel pickup place!
Glad you got it @locust! My review of yours should be coming in the next few days too. The @mrsmoseleymoles disc arrived the other day so I’ll be getting to that next…
OK, @wilson-wilson, I’m ready to give my verdict! All of it was unfamiliar to me, bar a couple of voices that I can’t put a name to but vaguely recognise.
1: Slightly spooky ambient lullaby, repetitive in a hypnotic way with two or three humming voices over synthetic musical mantras which builds up in intensity until they suddenly chuck in a few energetic fiddles at the end (which is either annoying or genius, I keep going back and forth on that…) This sounds as if it could have been part of the previous swap theme; I can picture it being played during the end credits of a space horror-type film, as the big spaceship autopilots through the empty universe with its crew lying dead, post virus/alien attack… I like it, but have no idea what it is and who it’s by.
2: New wave:y intro turns into something more recent-ish sounding, dark grungey rock with a poppy chorus adressed to a girl called Caroline. On first listen I wasn’t that impressed, but it’s been growing on me and now I think it’s catchy and has good energy. No clue who they are (assuming it’s a band).
3: This voice is VERY familiar sounding, but I can’t figure out who it is, which is annoying me! Good track, high energy rock with snarling vocals, and an almost symphonic break around two minutes in, making it sound a bit proggy for a short while (not necessarily a good thing, but I do enjoy it as a short break from the sounds of rest of the track). Three for three, so far – good start!
4: Drums and sound effects set the tone alongside a melodic bass, with a female voice singing. Grunge-goth-indie pop – is that a genre? 😉 Very atmospheric, a bit spooky, a tad depressing, but very good. Blackbirds and vultures and dark nights…where’s the white?
5: Jazz violin and guitar, early 30s perhaps? Hm, could possibly be Django and Stephane? SG is my dad’s favourite, so I perhaps ought to know this, but I’ve never listened much I’m afraid. And it isn’t a tune I recognise and can spot the theme in. But I do enjoy it, very energetic and uplifting (although I keep expecting a Woody Allen film to start any minute now…)
6: Ringing acoustic guitar and a man singing in a somewhat fragile voice, with some flute tweeting away in the background. I’m getting hippie vibes, but all I know is that his voice doesn’t have enough vibrato to be Devendra…! The track is OK, but a bit on the dull side.
7: The intro sounds familiar at first, but then it turns into something else entirely than I was expecting. It’s an instrumental that never really gets going, very sparse, rather dull. There are points where I think something is going to get added that will lift it, but then it doesn’t. Highly frustrating. Oh well, they can’t all be good!
8: Man singing in a highpitched and strained voice, bluesy guitars and drums with a DIY grunge feel; sounds like some local band you’d hear in a small club in the 90s and either never hear from again or to your surprise find touring stadiums the year after. Ends in distortion and crackle. This is fine, but I wouldn’t buy tickets for the stadium gig.
9: Guy with a childish voice sings to piano and guitar, acoustic and a bit folk-poppy. Someone seems to be playing the spoons in the background, for some reason. Very repetitive. I suppose it’s ”cute” but a bit too simple and monotonous for my taste. Low energy.
10: Sitar-like guitars (or guitars enhanced by actual sitars?), drumslapping and tambourines starts the track…a man/men singing monotonously a simple melody that just keeps on trotting along and on and on. The sound is somewhat familiar (and perhaps the voice as well) but I can’t remember if this is something I’ve heard before or just similar to something else that also failed to make an impression on me. Quite frankly, this track really got on my nerves!
11: Indie-pop intro, several voices of both genders singing a fast-paced song with a nice uplifting energy to it, of a head-bopping variety. Lovely horns added at the end (should have been there all along!) I have a feeling that this is by some band that ”everybody” knows, but from the 90-05 era when I didn’t really buy music. Then again, it sounds fresh enough to be brand new as well. I like it a lot, but I don’t quite love it.
12: Man singing in a dull voice, I’m finding it difficult to stay focused on it long enough to hear a whole line of lyrics to the end…in fairness he gets better the longer it goes on, putting some emotions in to make it sound less dull. The track itself is also pretty dull, if I’m honest. I don’t know why, but this makes me feel very restless and bored. I just want to scream: ”Dude; where’s my melody?” Sorry. Still, one of very few tracks that I couldn’t find any enjoyment of in this mix!
Looking forward to finding out what I just listened to, and to your reaction to mine! (Feel free to be brutally honest…)
Cheers Locust, that’s not too bad!
4. ‘Grunge-goth-indie-pop’ should be a genre, although the rest of this band’s album doesn’t neccesarily fit it!
5. Bingo!
8. This came out in 2005 and the band’s still going, although they’ve never graduated beyond the small-ish clubs. It’s funny, they’re one of my favourite bands but I’ve never been able to convince anyone else.
11. This is also from 2005, not a band that everyone knows, although one of the singers on this is a pretty well know artist herself.
Ah, are they Canadian perhaps? (track 11) If it’s who your comment makes me think it is, for some reason I only have one of their albums, despite being a HUGE fan of hers!
Yes, Canadian. (That track has the most tenuous link to the theme, by the way!)
Here we go, @locust:
1. Whitemaa by Erland Cooper (from one of my favourite albums of last year, Solan Goose. All the tracks are named after Orcadian birds.)
2. Apocalypso by Mew (“white is the winter”)
3. The Red the White the Black the Blue by Hope of the States
4. White Glass by Loma (another favourite from last year, a collaboration between Emily and Dan from Cross Record and Jonathan Meiburg from Shearwater – see track 8!)
5. Black and White by Django Reinhardt
6. White Feathered Medicine by Scott Matthews
7. The White Lodge by Go March
8. White Waves by Shearwater
9. A Lack of Color by Death Cab for Cutie
10. White Tooth Man by Iron & Wine
11. 7/4 (Shoreline) by Broken Social Scene (This is the most tenuous connection to the theme – they have a member called Andrew Whiteman, but I love this song and when it popped up on an itunes search it had to go in!)
12. Scattered Black and Whites by Elbow
@wilson-wilson:
Ha! The Canadian band I was thinking of wasn’t the one it actually was – I was thinking of The New Pornographers (and I’m a fan of Neko Case, not Feist…)
Also shocked that I didn’t recognise Sam Beam’s voice, and how much I disliked that track – I own a lot of his recordings, but every time I visit a charity shop I find yet another album or EP of his that I didn’t know existed…he’s very productive, and not all of it is great (but a lot of it is).
Some names I’ve heard of but never investigated, and some I’ve never heard of before. I’ll have to check out a few of them.
Thank you!
Time for @mrsmoseleymoles mix – this was much more familiar to me, lots of tracks I either knew/own/almost put on my CD, but also tracks completely new to me which I’m keen to find out about.
1: Ah, this “Bacharachian” hit has a lot of charm, but I wish the lads had given it to another singer, as I’ve always had a hard time with the OTT theatrics and slight strain/screechiness of her voice. Still, nice track and not what you’d expect from these composers… The theme seems to have been turned on its head however, unless I’m missing something!
2: Don’t know this one; a folky track sung by a woman with a voice I’m not crazy about. Mandoline tinkling behind, she’s putting on her white dress, and it’s sweet but not really my cup of tea.
3: Oh yes; one of my favourite artists, and as white as you can possibly get! I love both brothers, but especially J. Great song and a wonderful soulful blues groove, and I love his voice, you can’t mistake it for anyone else. This really is a wonderful track…I want to binge all of his albums now!
4: Another familiar recording where the theme seems to have been replaced with other colours – but as the colour white has all colours, I guess red + blue works too! 🙂 I’m not super keen on this version, preferring the Frank & Bing one; being a movie musical nut.
5: I almost chose this one for my own mix (and reading the other reviews, it seems like it’s a popular pick!) Six White Horses, great track.
6: I’d never heard this song before, but her voice is easy to recognise (let’s just call her the Weird Al “Foil” original hitmaker…) Really good pop song, with an edge.
7: No idea who this female voice belongs to, dreamy melancholy pop with retro vibes, a bit “Lana Del Ray meets Bacharach meets Jane Birkin”, sort of. The sound production is a bit muddled and messy for my taste, difficult to focus on her vocals amidst all the kettle drums, echoes, synthetic strings, cembalo plinky plonk and mandolines (to name but a few). It’s not a bad song, but I’d enjoy it a lot more if it had a cleaner production.
8: Another voice I know, it took me a while to remember (I haven’t heard it since it was released) but I finally got which band it is (and the fitting title). To avoid spoilers but still give a clue, think of something that a lot of parents unfortunately are against nowadays… This is not a band I’m very keen on, but this track is OK.
9: Don’t know this one, a bit depressing but energetically chugging along with some banging on metal scraps to go along with the synthesizers, and a male singer channelling Julian Cope or Matt Johnson a bit. Sounds influenced by the 80s rather than of the time. Quite good, growing on me with every listen, can’t guess the connection to the theme. He’s looking for a quick exit, that’s all I know.
10: Are those finger cymbals? Alongside banging on drums and a monotonous guitar, with another Cope/Johnson type singer talk-singing his way through a rather fabulous apocalyptic industrial electro rock thingie that goes on for 7+ minutes but doesn’t feel long. Could be from the 80s, could be made yesterday. Whatever it is, I like it!
11: Another band I almost chose (until I decided to go with all white titles) and love. One of the best tracks from last year’s album, a great bluesy groove that I just have to bop my head to! I have however never worn [insert band name here] since the teenage disaster when that time of the month unexpectedly struck when I was wearing a pair of shorts of that colour and material… #Panic (as we didn’t say back then).
12: 😀
13: 60s slice of groovy pop that is demanding a clip of gyrating gogo-dancers wearing high boots and mini-skirts to achieve full effect. I assume the title of the track is “Misleading Colours”, very fitting for this particular mix! Never heard it before, I’m guessing it’s by some fairly unknown band of the kind you’ll find on Nuggets-type compilations. Not terribly original, but some quite nice organ-playing and Hendrix-imitating guitar solos gives it some extra charm.
A great mix, both the familiar and the ones I didn’t know. Especially looking forward to finding out what track 10 is! A solid start to your swapping – hopefully not the last time you join in.
First up, @locust:
Track 1: ‘starts with something familiar’ says Locust, but it’s not familiar to me! Late 60s/early 70s singer-songwriter stuff, mainly just guitar voice and a bit of bass with some subtle strings coming in occasionally. Cat Stevens or someone like that? A pretty low key start, but I like it.
Track 2: I thought I recognised this one at the start, but it’s just the piano melody is very similar to Coldplay’s In My Place. Another singer-songwriter, piano led this time. I like her voice and it builds nicely but it doesn’t really do much for me, a bit polite maybe.
Track 3: I really like this one – a simple finger-picked guitar with two women singing in harmony in French. No idea who it is, probably a similar vintage to track 1? ‘La Rose Blanche’. This is the one that’s stuck in my head most; I’ve been humming it to myself since it heard it. Thumbs up.
Track 4: Wasn’t sure about this one at first – the vibrato on the singers voice put me off – for some reason that’s something I generally don’t like –but there’s less of that as the song goes on, or it’s less noticeable as the arrangement fills out. Bit of an alt-country feel to it, with pedal steel guitar. It definitely grew on me the more I heard it.
Track 5: A gospel number, pretty much just the singer, an organ and some doo-wop backing vocals. I liked it but kind of wished it had developed a little, I kept waiting on some other instruments coming in, but I’m probably missing the point.
Track 6: Starts with some African sounding percussion mixed in with electronic elements, with some found sound and vocal samples drifting in and out. I really liked this, it felt like it was constantly shifting. Could be Four Tet or someone like that. My favourite so far, I’m keen to find out who this is.
Track 7: Jazz. I don’t really know enough about jazz to describe it, what style it is or anything. It’s pretty busy, the drums are frantic. Plenty of sax. I liked bits of it but in general, there’s just too much going on! Maybe jazz just isn’t for me…
Track 8: My favourite, I think. Another instrumental. Driving bass and drums, with keyboards front and centre. Kind of hypnotic. I played this one twice when I first put on your CD. Looking forward to finding out who this is.
Track 9: Sounds a lot like PJ Harvey to me, but I don’t think it’s her. Laid back, strummed intro. Some unusual shifts in rhythm in the verse. A good chorus with backing vocals and touches of organ that build the song without losing the laid back feel. Another good one!
Track 10: Intriguing voice, an accent I couldn’t place. Reminds me a lot of Grizzly Bear, particularly with the busy drumming and chiming guitar at the chorus. I like this but after a couple of listens I wonder if I like the feel of the whole thing – the production, her voice – more than I like the actual song. Still interested to know who it is.
Track 11: Reminds me of Wilco at their most upbeat and playful. Four to the floor drums and new wave-y guitars. Singing in a language I didn’t recognise – is this Swedish? pretty good.
Track 12: Starts with a single violin, then more plucked strings playing a relatively simple melody. Then some vocals drift in, I think a man and a woman, not singing any words as far as I can tell. After a couple of minutes it mostly drops out to a kind of drone-y passage for a couple of minutes before the main section comes back in. Clocks in at just over 9 minutes and I loved it. Strong finish.
All new to me and all in all pretty good – Nothing that I absolutely hated, although if it were a record I’d definitely play side 2 more than side 1. At least three acts (6, 8 & 12) I’m going to investigate further.
@wilson-wilson
1: Check! I meant “familiar” as in his voice and his ubiquity when I grew up, although this track probably isn’t the first one people in general would mention…
5: When you know who it is you can hear it, but he’s definitely tons better when he’s in a sinning mode.
6: Definitely more African than Four Tet! (Edit: yes, I do know of his African connection, but still…)
8: Glad you like them – they’re Swedish! 🙂
9. No, not PJ, from an interesting album that came out last year, she’s American but I don’t know much about her.
10: Husband and wife duo with a Swedish connection (hence the accent I guess).
11: Very Swedish, very Gothenburg, very funny lyrics.
12: Great musician, this is the (near) instrumental reworking of a regular song on the same album. I do love his instrumentals a lot!
Glad you liked so much of it, as always I had a crisis of confidence just after posting the CDs and thought of twelve other tracks I should have used instead… Nice review!
Ah, I have an inkling who 12 is – it’s the whistling, there aren’t too many people who whistle on their records!
Roger Whittaker?
@wilson-wilson – wrapping up this swap; I’ll post my track list now, hope to get yours!
1: Into White – Cat Stevens (1970)
2: White Flag – Rose Cousins (2017)
3: Roses Blanches – Kate & Anna McGarrigle (from the “Tell My Sister” compilation of demos and unreleased recordings 2011)
4: Like a White Stone – Iris DeMent (2015)
5: Milky White Way – Little Richard (1959)
6: Quick As White (Clap! Clap! Remix) – Kasai Allstars (2017)
7: White Magic – John Taylor (1971)
8: White Week – Les Big Byrd (2014)
9: I See The White – Jess Williamson (2018)
10: White Flags Down – Thus Owls (2014)
11: Snövit – Conny Nimmersjö (2015 – title means Snow White)
12: Beyond The Valley Of The Three White Horses – Andrew Bird (2012)
Cheers @locust! I’m off to check out the McGarrigles, Kasai Allstars, Les Big Byrd and Andrew Bird. I’ll post my track list shortly.
Finally getting round to reviewing @mrsmoseleymoles‘ CD. My phone is misbehaving so I had trouble uploading this, so it was mostly listened on the CD player in the car while driving – fine for listening to the tunes, not so much for writing reviews..
1. I Think I recognise the singer, someone I know more for light entertainment TV than for their singing. Based on this I should check out more of her music! Big 60s number, swinging drums, strings. Big chorus. Thumbs up.
2. Quite folky. Sparse instrumentation, guitars mandolins and the like. I like her voice. Is this going to be one of those people that everyone on the afterword loves but I’ve never heard? I liked it but it didn’t blow me away.
3. Big soul number. Nice horns and swirling organ. Hard not to like this sort of thing. Again no idea who it is!
4. I’m guessing this is from the 80s, a rocking version of a show tune (I think). A duet, I recognised the male voice (confirmed by the line “Drink up, Jim!”) but not the female. Good fun, but not sure how often I’ll listen to this again.
5. A bit of Americana. Banjo, harmonica, close harmonies and not much else. “6 white horses coming 2 by 2.” Not bad but not really my thing.
6. I recognise this one! Modern pop. Very sparse instrumentation – mainly just keyboards, martial drums and vocals that stack up as the song progresses. This is great, and I have no idea why I’ve never got round to buying any of her albums.
7. Reminds of Ladytron or someone like that, if not quite so cold. Synthy, vocals quite low in the mix. I really like this, keen to find out who it is.
8. I recognise this to the extent that I could sing along, but still couldn’t remember who it was! Will kick myself when I find out who it is. Makes me think of Interpol/Editors/The Killers, but don’t think it’s any of them. Big, anthemic, modern indie. Another good one.
9. I can’t decide if this is a genuine 80s number or something more modern influenced by that stuff. Kind of gloomy. Wouldn’t sound out of place during a dramatic moment in a John Hughes movie. For me, that’s not a criticism.
10. Sparse, guitars, drums and deadpan vocals, sing-speaking. Again makes me think early 80s, a mix of scratchy post-punk guitars and more electronic elements. Maybe Cabaret Voltaire or someone like that? I quite liked this from the start but it just keeps building. Brilliant, my favourite of them all.
11. Thought this sounded like T-Rex or something at the start, a kind of 70s boogie, but think I clocked who it was by the time of the chorus – White Denim? Another band I’ve always meant to investigate but never got round to. Nice horns on the chorus. Another winner.
12. For the first couple of listens (in the car) I didn’t even realise this track was there! Is it literally 40 seconds of white noise?
13. “Misleading Colours”. Late 60s/early 70s organ driven, some nice guitar here and harmonies throughout. The guitar part reminds me of ‘Love is the Key’ by the Charlatans and the verses reminded me of something I couldn’t place which kept distracting me. Not fussed about this one.
So all in all positive – like Locust’s disc I seem to have like side B more than side A, and will definitely be buying albums by numbers 6 and ten, and keen to find out who another couple are.
@lemonhope @SteveT @NigelT
Looks like I’m first up – Here we go
@SteveT
Track 1. Electronic space sounds open the disc. Track one gets under way with a long intro and some spoken announcements at what I guess is meant to be an airport judging by the sound of an aircraft taking off. Echoey words and laughter follow in what turns out to be an instrumental. A pleasingly motorik rhythm propels us along until a fake ending ‘crash’ some sirens and coughing spoil the previous 3 minutes – I could have done without the end, but otherwise I enjoyed the first track.
Track 2. Starts out so similar to track 1 it could be from the same album. Another instrumental track. Not as interesting as the first.
Track 3. Complete change of pace as we’re straight into an A Cappella intro of non English women harmonising nicely. In come some pan pipes reminiscent of El Condor Pasa by Simon & Garfunkel. A bit of mandolin joins in and the whole thing swells until an almost Irish finale. I like this one and it sounds like the only group who I know that sound like this who were famous for a bit after working with Kate Bush.
Track 4. Moody cover of Suzanne by Leonard Cohen. It’s not bad. I could listen to this again and they have at least tried to do something different with it.
So, four tracks in and I don’t have a clue how they connect with the theme – not a criticism, no-one said it had to be obvious, just an observation.
Track 5. Long fade in, acoustic guitar and bells jingling, a choral keyboard sound. A Germanic voice speaks short sentences, he’s basically reciting a list or maybe he’s ordering a long takeaway selection really slowly. Again, I don’t dislike it, and it has grown on me with each play, but it’s almost a novelty track in a way, in that you couldn’t listen to a whole albums worth of this stuff but it’s interesting in this environment.
Track 6. This voice I instantly recognise. Lovely understated singing. And – two for one – I know the song! Very pleasing version of a classic and I realise that it’s a three-for-one cos I get the link to the theme also!
Track 7. This sounds like Dire Straits with a pub vocalist. As if Mark Knopfler had a terrible accident that damaged his vocal chords but then insisted on still being the singer in the band. Despite that , I don’t hate it, it just doesn’t really move me at all.
Track 8. Ooh, a nice Indian style intro, sitars, tabla etc. It then becomes a straight up rock song with no obvious connection the intro. A slightly sardonic male vocalist [think Lou Reed] tells us the story over a driving beat with added horns. Ten miles to go on a nine mile road.
I’ve kind of damned this with faint praise a little, but I actually like this track the best, along with track 6.
Track 9. This track is unfamiliar, but I think I know who this is just because it reminds me of their most well known piece. They describe their sound as ‘modern semi-acoustic chamber music’
Good track and my kind of instrumental.
Track 10. Starts [almost] exactly like ‘Quiet Heart’ by the Go-Betweens, but maybe a live version so not quite the same. But then 3 seconds in, it’s not. A man is huskily talk-singing us a story, think John Grant if he stopped trying to shoehorn his words into music that can’t accommodate them.
Track 11. Irish pipes fade in and then a man speaks. There’s a hint of something else that reminds me of the Afro Celts, but the vocal sounds a bit like Van Morrison, but less hectoring than when he does this kind of thing. Not my favourite track but it’s short so I don’t hate it.
Track 12. A live instrumental cover of A Whiter Shade of Pale – Boo! Shame on you!! Etc 😉
It’s ok, they can play, but the crowd noise is a little off putting – too many whoops and Yeah’s! after a solo for my taste.
@NigelT
Track 1. After a spoken intro we have the unmistakable sound of TMSP. I didn’t know this track and after a few plays I quite like it.
Track 2. Rock a billy kinda sound, song title seems to be Refrigerator White, it sounds a bit like JD McPherson [who is the only artist I know that makes this kind of sound – ha] Again, I like this track.
Track 3. Another band with a distinct sound and a sound I enjoy. White Collar in the chorus so I guess that’s the title or part of it anyway. The best track so far.
Track 4. Slowing things down now, this has a nice feel. I enjoy the trumpet popping in and out. Good song.
Tack 5. This sounds like the sort of thing Bob Harris used to play on his overnight shows, the kind of song I would have enjoyed when he played it. Vocal has a trace of Laura Cantrell but with a little bit of rawness added. Another winner
Track 6. Similar in style to the last track, female vocal, this time leaning more toward Emmylou in style. Winner winner.
Track 7. I have this one. Americana supergroup Good stuff from a very good LP
Track 8. We’re edging over into a more folk vibe here, still has a country-ish hint, male/female vocals and lots of fiddles. It’s ok, but I don’t love it.
Track 9. Another one that I have already, love her or not there is no-one else like her. I love this song.
Track 10. Same vocalist as track 7, but this time with his own band. Good song from an underrated album.
Track 11. Musically this could be The Manics, but it’s not. I have no idea who it is. It’s not really my cup of tea. Ok in it’s own way, I think it’s called White Gold?
Track 12. Blues to finish. Well, a bluesy track with a plummy vocal over the top that sounds a little insincere and incongruous. Not unpleasant just hard to really enjoy as I don’t know whether it’s serious or a pastiche.
Two very enjoyable discs here, nothing to scare the kids, plenty to like and add to iTunes and explore further once I have the track lists revealed to me.
In summation, @SteveT ’s disc was a more varied affair so gains points for that, but the three instrumentals was pushing it a bit. While @NigelT ’s disc had more songs in a style I could easily enjoy, but was a touch same-y.
Thanks to you both for your efforts.
Thanks @Lemonhope – I consider that a very positive review!
The last track…I can’t believe you think it might be serious!!
@NigelT – I had to Shazam the track and now I can’t believe I thought it was serious – in my defence, I couldn’t make out the words [hangs head in shame]
Hi @Lemonhope and @NigelT I will be offering my reviews over the weekend. @Lemonhope I agree with you ‘re track 1 -the coughing definitely ruins the track. Was surprised you didn’t recognise the band though as one of their tracks appeared on your compilation.
…and @SteveT – after a swift Shazam of track one – Ah, it is them, sounding a little different and not a track I’m familiar with, despite having a B-side in my collection! I would not have guessed it, though
ROFLMAO! “As if Mark Knopfler had a terrible accident that damaged his vocal chords but then insisted on still being the singer in the band.”
Thinly-veiled sarcasm works every time. 😉
no way to speak ill of a recently departed legend methinks.
A big thank you to @Lemonhope and @SteveT for being so prompt with the comps and providing some interesting stuff!
First up…@Lemonhope – a rather swish labelled CD which was typical of the attention to detail here. The tracks were sequenced to run into one another, which was a nice touch.
1. Dreamy, ambientish opening. Interesting, warm vocal harmonies behind a falsetto lead voice draw you into the track. Gradually builds through added instrumentation. This is vaguely familiar, but not sure why…maybe I’ve heard something else by them. Spoken ending, which I’m not sure about as you really only want to hear that once (if at all), but nice opener 7/10.
2. Not entirely sure that the end of the last track isn’t the opening of this as they run into one another. Spoken (ish) vocal over spare, spidery instrumental track. Throws in a bit of trumpet at the end. Fancies itself as clever I reckon – bit irritating to be honest. 3/10
3. Breathy female vocal over another spare instrumental backing of strummed electric guitar and a bit of percussion. Not very engaging, and not entirely in tune. 3/10
4. Lush old school opening, then a female vocal. Tune is reminiscent of The Way We Were. Male vocal comes in and it all goes a bit weird – is this a send up? Nope, dislike this a lot. 2/10
5. Handbrake turn into a bit of country. I know who this is. I never really liked the lead singer’s voice, but the song is pretty good…a tribute to Jack White, it is OK. 6/10
6. Percussive opening, this sounds 80s. Again, I should know who this is, I’m sure I recognise it. Gonna kick myself. I like this quite a lot, it has a tune and they can sing, which is a plus. I’m singing along now…never a bad sign. A good track. 8/10
7. A bit of jangle. This is more like it now. This sounds like the 80s again – the instrumentation reminds me of The Stone Roses, but it isn’t them – I think I probably should know who this is as well. Great vocal and track. 9/10
8. Are we still living in the 80’s..?…no, probably newer but harking back to 80s indie. American I’d venture. Bit generic to be honest – it’s OK, but you’ve heard a million bands like this. Well played and sung, just not particularly original. 5/10
9. Piano opening and unusual male vocal. A very open sounding record – nice sounds coming into the backing enhancing the feel of the track. Not sure I like his voice to be honest, but gets better with the massed backing vocals halfway through. Interesting…but too long by half. This is the sort of Mrs. T would look up and go ‘What ARE we listening to’ and not in a good way. Goes on and on and on, which rather spoils it – seems longer than its 5.20 running time.. 5/10.
10. Bit of acoustic guitar, then a female vocal. Has clearly had a bad time and wants to share it with us. Takes a bit of an odd turn around 1.50 with several women adding some ghostly backing vocals…then back to the misery. I’m depressed now. 5/10
11. Slow piano opening, a bit of percussion and a subtle backing including some occasional backing vocal ‘oos’. A bit of a world weary song, a touch of the John Grants. As an aside, you do notice when listening to songs in this context (i.e. anonymous and needing to write a ‘review’ so listening closely) just how many build from start to finish adding more and more layers. This is Ok, but I’m not keen on the vocalist really. 4/10
12. ….O….K…..we have a short chorale piece which is rather super….and then a jokey coda featuring Ob La Di, Ob La Di in various guises (including scratchy vinyl!), which is clever and fun. 8/10 for making me smile on both counts.
Like many on here, when you read this back it looks a bit harsh, but the set did grow on me after several listens and the ones I like were definitely worth discovering – thanks @Lemonhope!
Now to the one from @SteveT ….
1. Sprightly opener – insistent electronica with Pink Floydish (sampled..?) vocal inserts. Bit of a sound effects record really, and seems to end with someone coughing. Interesting, but wouldn’t return to this. 4/10.
2. More electronica, but more discordant than track 1. One of those tracks which sounds like someone making it up as they go along, and not necessarily in a good way. Bit of a racket to be honest. At this point I was slightly worried I wouldn’t ‘get’ this compilation. 2/10.
3. A female vocal opening, gradually adding the various female voices in harmony. Sung in French, a rather medieval backing then adds to the rather bucolic air of this track. It could be a Christmas carol, it has that feel to it. I’m saved…I like this and I should probably know who it is as its probably old. 8/10.
4. You can’t really muck this song up – one of laughing Len’s finest. Actually, this version isn’t a million miles from the original and the vocalist is almost mimicking Mr. Cohen…none the worse for that. Hard to dislike. 7/10
5. Intro is a bit C,S,N & Y – acoustic guitar and a strange distant, spoken, vocal. Ambient, possibly Germanic…I get a bit bored with this sort of thing (it’s me, not you). I do find the vocals really off putting. 3/10
6. More acoustic guitar to open, a lazy female vocal, this has a country feel. Then…oh…I know those lines from a well-known song…but is this just recycling those rather than the whole song..? This is nice, with a bit of pedal steel adding to the countryish air. Probably someone famous….! Looking forward to the reveal on this. Heck, it’s long too, but contrives not sound as if it is. 9/10.
7. Country rock/blues. This is very Chris Rea/Dire Straitsish easy listening. Regrettably, the singer’s voice isn’t too brilliant on this. Great production values make me think this is someone well known (except by me, obvs). Not offensive by any means, but unexceptional. 6/10.
8. Nice engaging Indian style intro, then we are into countryish rock once more. Lou Reed style vocal with a sardonic lyric, which is really interesting. Great instrumental break in the middle 8 (with a real curve ball in there too), catchy chorus hook. I like this a lot – will seek out more. 9/10
9. Slow piano intro, then a busy rhythm leads to some really nice, understated piano chords played over the top. This is really quite good. There is a familiarity to this, but God knows where from. It goes on a bit, but you can just shut your eyes and float off. Fascinating. 8/10.
10. Straight away I knew I’d like this. The intro draws you in and then you get a lovely, warm, chocolatey male vocal over an orchestral background and the odd piano flourish. Exceptional in my book. No idea who this is, but I will delve further for sure. 10/10
11. Desolate Uilleann pipe opening puts you in mind of blasted heaths. A spoken vocal. I thought this was going to more interesting than it turned out. Not great for me. 4/10
12. Oh my, I don’t really like this version of the Procol hit that much, but I’m guessing this is really old as Billy Preston is mentioned on organ, so its probably someone well known again. The sax style is very familiar, so I’m guessing him with the monarchical first name. Well played for sure. 5/10
It is really good to get a mixed bag like this as it does make you listen to unfamiliar stuff, even if it is challenging in places. I am awful for listening to the same things, so well done @SteveT !
Thanks for the interesting review @NigelT – It always amazes me when I read these reviews that more of the tracks aren’t immediately obvious to the listener. I agonise over the more obvious [to me] tracks because I think they will be too familiar!
I must stop overthinking 🙂
As Mr. Hepworth says, anyone who knows lots of music realises that there is so much they don’t know about!
Absolutely – I’m sure there were tracks on your disc that I didn’t recognise that you were surprised at
@StellarX / @carl / @timtunes / @pizon-bros
Excellent! 🙂 I’ve received all three of my CDs and given them a few listens. Will deliver my verdicts ASAP. Cheers! 🙂
Oooh the tension…. nobody wanting to be first, for fear of ‘setting the tone’ of the reviews! 😀
Rest assured – my feedback will be brutally blunt! I welcome similar! 😉
Just realised I forgot to tag my partners in my reviews, so here’s a shout out to @carl / @timtunes / @pizon-bros that their feedback awaits…
I am a bit slow, but I have nearly finished all the reviews. Great antidote to boredom!
Ha Ha! 🙂 But hey there’s no rush!
now I am done with everyone!
OK so here goes with my first review. I’m doing them in the order they were received, so first up is Carl’s mix:
Being an old hand at CD mix swaps, I have long since passed the point where I ‘play nice’ and pull any punches when providing feedback. 😉 That being said, on the whole I enjoyed this mix very much. There are a couple of songs in there that I instantly recognized, and indeed number in my own collection; there are others that I didn’t actively dislike but found a tad dull and am unlikely to revisit – however there are at least four tracks here I have never heard before but absolutely loved, so am looking forward to seeking out more by said artists.
Having listened to the mix a few times, one might deduce that your own musical tastes lean towards the softer, middle-of-the road genre of folk/country pop/rock – though these mixes can give a misleading impression; the tracks being both constrained by the theme and influenced by the mood of the mixer, when selecting tracks (my own mix was definitely influenced in this manner and is by no means a reliable indication of my regular musical preferences).
So here are the results from the Norwegian Jury: I have given a basic marks-out-of-ten per track. The highest score I gave is an 8 – but that is high praise indeed – I reserve higher marks than that for utter genius only. Thanks for the mix – I really enjoyed listening. 🙂
01 – A song composed mostly of a soft-yet-driving drumbeat and lilting, harmonised vocals. The vocal and the musical style scream ‘Lindisfarne’ to my uneducated lug-holes, even though I’ve only ever been exposed to their mainstream hits. A perfectly pleasant start to proceedings – the theme link being the song title, which judging by the chorus is ‘Clear White Light’. 6/10
02 – A jolly folk/country/pop-rock number, possibly hailing from the late 60s or early 70. Puts me in mind of the Flying Burrito Brothers or something from the Byrds stable at the very least. And you can’t beat a drop of the old of harmonica. Grew on me over repeated listens. Couldn’t work out the link to the theme on this one, sorry. 5/10
03 – A totally splendid offering from the psychedelic 60s. Never heard this before but I like it – a lot. Sounds like Scott Walker dueting with a similarly prominent female vocalist of the era. Presumably the theme link is the ‘White Bird’ lyric, which may be the track title. Great instrumental break featuring fiddle and Hammond Organ. Top tune. 8/10
04 – A full-on, middle-of-the-road countryness. No idea who the artist is (to be fair, they ALL sound the same to me). Not unplasant but a bit dull, with twee lyrics. Not the sort of thing I would ever seek out (or probably ever listen to again). I presume the them link is the song title – which is likely the oft-repeated, horribly contrived line, “Red wine stain on a white dove’s wing.’ 4/10
05 – Gentle acoustic guitar intro with sultry electric guitar overtones, accompanied with a perfect, moody female lead vocal. Voice is equally reminiscent of Stevie Nicks/Maria McKee but it may be someone completely different for all I know. The chorus lyric repeats the phrase “My white dove’s away” (I think), which again may be the song title? Regardless, it’s the second track so far that I like a lot and look forward to finding out who it is and listening again. 8/10
06 – Back to the mainstream country/rock ouvre with a slow paced track from who I am pretty sure is ‘Counting Crows’. Pleasant enough but a bit predictable and uninspiring (you’ve heard one, you’ve heard ’em all). The middle eight is the highlight. ‘Four White Stallions’ appears to be the link? 5/10
07 – Ah… a song I recognise instantly – and love, taken from one of my favourite albums. This was actually in my list of ‘possible tracks’ for my own mix – but was discarded purely because I didn’t feel it ‘flowed’ with the other tracks tempo-wise. It’s a great song from an album full of them. Some friends I know prefer ‘Pirates’ – but I always favour this eponymous albun from RLJ. The ‘…White Boys Cool’ from the title is the link. Two points to me! 🙂 8/10
08 – Another song/album/artist I know extremely well – possessing many of his LPs and having seen him live more times than I care to try to recall. Good old Roy is an acquired taste – if you like him, you love him – if you don’t, then you can often wonder what-in- the-great-googly-moogly he’s bashing on about. This is one of his classics – but although the song title clearly fits the bill theme-wise, I can’t imagine even myself desiring to listen to it regularly as part of a mix CD – it does go on a bit! 😉 Just a shame you couldn’t have contrived to use ‘Same Old Rock’; that would have sorted the men from the boys… 7/10
09 – Another song I recognise – purely by osmosis. My other half asked for ‘Love & Hate’ for her birthday a while back. Thankfully she wasn’t sending a veiled hidden message. We went through a phase of often having this on in the background when eating dinner and sharing a bottle of the red stuff. Again, perfectly pleasant soulful pop with gospel overtones. A decent track in isolation (and again the song title is the theme link) – but I do struggle to endure a whole album of this Radio 2 favourite. 6/10
10 – Looking forward to discovering who this is, as I haven’t a Scooby-Doo. Sounds very much like late 70s / early 80s Joe Jackson but I don’t recognise the tune, which is an absolute belter. The lyric suggests it may be entitled ‘Satellite Town’ – which has no bearing on the theme, so perhaps the band name or album it is taken from are the them link? Grasping at straws really. Love the song, though. 8/10
11 – As with the previous track I am looking forward to finding out who this is, as it’s another track I really like a lot. Difficult to pin down the era – if I had to, I would plump for late 70s but am probably going to look daft when you tell me it’s more recent. Sounds like Crowded House crossed with The Jam. Am clueless about the theme link again, however. 7/10
12 – Blimey – another one I know. I own most of his stuff and am lucky enough to have seen him a few times. One of few living artists to genuinly deserve the label LEGEND. As with Bob Dylan, he can’t sing for shit – but who cares when he has written, played and produced such a catalogue of classics? Sadly (IHMO) this is not one of them! 🙁 In his later career, I have felt his output has sounded more and more ‘the same’, and lacks the spark of much of his earlier offerings. The theme link is the song title (‘White Line’) from ‘The Godfather of Grunge’.
So there you have it. There’s no absolute right or wrong in terms of what’s ‘good’ – it’s all wonderfully subjective. I’m grateful for having been exposed to new songs/artists that I like and will seek out further. Cheers! 🙂
In response to your post on ours, yes, I too love eavesdropping. Lovely deducing, so Poirot-esque I could guess some of the answers and was shouting ‘em out. Sounds a great disc!
Time for my review of mix CD #2 – this time up is Pizon-Bros:
It was only after volunteering to accept Pizon-Bros as an addition to our original trio, that I realised he and I had been paired in a previous life. Recollections soon stirred, of exposure to an unusual, quirky, non-mainstream musical taste – somewhat at oods with my own. It’s good to know there are some things in life you can rely on! 😉
Deviant 808 summed me up with piercing accuracy, by his sarcastic comment that I like “nice tunes, performed by nice people, with words that mean something”. Suffice to say that however much I appreciate the thought, the time and the effort that went into this mix, it isn’t entirely my ‘cup of tea’ as my review attests…
01 – The opening track commences with a Hollywood fanfare, introducing a male vocalist, emoting mournfuly ‘en Francais’, accompanied by piano. I would guess it’s Jacques Brel but that would probably only illustrate the extent my ignorance with regard to French aristes. The song erratically flips between morose verse, dicordant orchestration, and Dixieland Jazz – no two sections of which belong in the same universe as one another, let alone the same song. The result is an utter audible mess and if I never hear it again, it will be too soon. Sadly no idea what the theme link might be. I rate this a generous 2/10.
02 – A pleasant, Arthur Lyman-esque, exotic intro of tom-toms, flute and strings promises much but disappointingly plummets headlong off a cliff at about 1 minute 10 seconds; morphing into unbearable hip-hop/rap armageddon. And it was all going so well. Even the return of the tom-toms and string section toward the end can’t save it. Again, I am clueless regarding the theme link, sorry. 1/10 – for the intro.
03 – Deep South geetar-blues from the dim and distant past. Surprised not to hear any crackle from the original shellac. Extremely typical of it’s oeuvre, harmless but decidedly derivative. The theme link is the song title (I think) with the repeated lyric, “If you’re white, it’s alright.” 3/10.
04 – Fast-paced, mid-U.S., mildly-grungy folk-rock. Absolutely not my thing. Dour, overly repetetive and goes nowhere of note. Sadly another ‘miss’ for my tastes. No idea of the theme link yet again. 2/10
05 – Ah – this is more like it! 🙂 A relaxing, ambient track with gentle, lilting female vocal. The theme link is clearly the song title (‘White Tower’). I really liked this track and am keen to discover who it is, to hear if their other output is of a similar high standard. Suddenly I am starting to forget the horrors that preceded this number. 7/10.
06 – Produced to sound as if it’s recorded ‘live’ (not sure it is ‘live’ however, as the crowd fades in and out at unnatural junctures) – here we have some moody, hoochie-coochie jazz/blues. As with track three, another number totally typical of it’s genre; pleasant if unremarkable. The theme link once again eludes me. Still, a healthy 5/10
07 – A weird electronic intro delivers a nice, slow bass-line/percussion combo with haunting, Tom Waits-like vocals lingering in the background. It had me thinking ‘Portishead’ until the vocal comes in – but it’s probably a bit more Euro-pop than that. Not much here to clue me in on the link either. I can see it featuring on some modern-day vampire film soundtrack in the inevitable nightclub scene. ‘Okay’ background music. 4/10.
08 – Let’s make an utter fool of myself and put money on this being by either ‘Dodgy’ or ‘The Bluetones’, even though I have never heard this particular track before. A decent enough offering of lesser-known Brit-Pop. Clueless again as to the link. A welcome 5/10.
09 – More odd, electronic weirdness. A weedy male vocal from someone who can’t hold a note for love nor money is interspersed with bizarre movie sound effects and voices. In equal measure, bonkers and awful. Perhaps there’s a link to the theme – but by now I am beginning to lose the will to live. 1/10
10 – Good Lord, please tell me this was included as ‘joke’? Admittedly, I needed a laugh after most of what has preceded but this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. How can the act who gave us ‘Little Green Bag’ have concocted this abortion of a song? Three minutes and twenty-four seconds too long. They know where they can shove their ‘White Dove’ (but at least I got the theme link!). 😉 2/10 And yes, despite all that, I still rate it above tracks 02 and 09. Just.
11 – Hmmm… very 60s brit-pop – early Moody Blues? We’re in this era/ball-park surely? Not heard this one before. They sing ‘Wait for me’ a lot. Nice drop of hammond organ – but never really delivers. An acceptable 4/10.
12 – Another ‘fake live’ offering? Very nice back-beat. I’ve not appreciated a sitar so much since the theme to ‘Sir Prancelot’. This track has a 60’s choral throwback vibe to it – but the production values suggest it’s more recent. Perhaps a ‘retro’ production? Either way, I really, really like this one; you’ve saved the best for last as it’s my favourite of the lot. Theme link? Who knows – I’m just grateful to be able to give it a solid 8/10.
I’m really sorry I couldn’t be more complimentary about the majority of the tracks but they are (mostly) so far from what I ordinarily like, that I could not feign appreciation. Tracks 05 and 12 are definite highlights however. I look forward to finding out who they are and investigating further – and am grateful to have been exposed to them! Cheers! 🙂
Well, as you might remember, I wrote on my letter to you (the exact copy as the one I wrote to Carl and Tim), that I was sorry for one of my choices I decided to put it on the track 10 because I had no other and I didn’t want to delay. I wish I would be more efficient in getting tracks on Internet, but right now I only browse physically everything in my music collection, by memory, I found some, the other I get by reading every tracks on every records. My highest goal is getting a title with the keyword (“white”) in the lyrics, the name of the album, the song title, the name of the artist etc… We’ll see if I succeeded.
I suspected track 10 was the one you referred-to in the letter! That track certainly met the criteria for the theme… 😉
Yes, I was mortified not to find Bel Canto’s white light conditions or Alain Bashung’s own version of Nights in white satin, but I am working with low technologies…
I would never have noticed you were working with ‘low technologies’. 😉
checking everyday if some new music ended up in the trashbin is a bit low tech in my book. 😉
Time for judgment to fall on tim-tunes’ submission! As ever, I thoroughly appreciate all the effort that went into producing the CD. You’ll swiftly realise however, that my personal, narrow musical preferences meant that this was a bit of an endurance test…
01 – A bizarre opening song (if such it can justifiable be called) – a repeated mantra from someone taking huge, comedic deep breaths to repeat the same line. Even weirder is that fact that “that’s it” – it’s not even a strange intro to a song – it’s just the mantra repeated. As such, I felt it was a wasted slot when the mix is restricted to 12 songs only. Apologies but I think this is dreadful and 0/10 is all I can give it. Not a clue as to the theme link.
02 – Something tells me that you and Pizon-Bros may be seprated at birth! 😉 This track features on his mix also – and once again gets short shrift from me. I’ll simply repeat what I said in my prior feedback on this dirge of a track: ” Odd, electronic weirdness. A weedy male vocal from someone who can’t hold a note for love nor money is interspersed with bizarre movie sound effects and voices. In equal measure, bonkers and awful. Perhaps there’s a link to the theme – but by now I am beginning to lose the will to live. 1/10.” Further exposure to this, is making me consider that generous ‘1’… 😉
03 – A slight improvement on what’s gone before; an instrumental number, heavy on the indulgent lead guitar solo, which goes on a bit too much for my liking. I have little idea who the artist is (Dave Gilmour?) or what the theme link is. I’ll stretch to a 3/10.
04 – Derivative, hokey country-rock by someone singing through his nose. I suspect the theme link is the song title, which I am guessing is ‘Long White Cadillac’. This kind of thing leaves me colder then a cold thing on national let’s get cold day. I mean – why even bother? 2/10.
05 – Swiftly moving along, we encounter a modern electronic/dance number that I can only thinks entitled “Turn off the lights” seeing as these are the only words uttered, repeatedly, throughout. Vocoder-tastic and a decent bass-line. Doesn’t half go on, though. Somebody switch off the sodding lights for Christ’s sake… 3/10 Theme link? No idea.
06 – Hmmmm. More electronica. Instrumental this time. That’s 9 minutes of my life I’m never getting back. By now I am screaming internally “a tune, a tune, my kingdom for a tune!” Sorry but I hated this. 0/10.
07 – Early blues/soul, one suspects from the fledgling rock’n’roll era. “You can kiss tomorrow goodbye” seems to be the title. Not heard this before but the voice is familiar, as are the twiddly guitar interludes. Harmless enough but nothing to write home about. The theme link once again eludes me. 3/10.
08 – So ‘late 60s’ you could bet your house on it – perfect fayre for ‘Junior Choice’. Pity that poor, little white cloud… A pleasant enough ditty that put a smile on my face as I’d not heard it in, like, forever. The song title is the link (2 points to me!). An acceptable 4/10.
09 – The gorgeous and unmistakable voice of the sadly-missed Sandy Denny; a gentle ballad from FC. Again the song title contains the link (‘White Dress’).
Not among FC’s finest but pleasant enough. Another solid 4/10.
10 – Blimey, if whoever this is doesn’t sound like Johnny Cash (but it’s not him). I suspect this is called ‘Great White Cathedrals’ this linking to the theme. Another harmless and pleasant-enough song but nothing to write home about. 3/10.
11 – John Denver-esque acoustic plucking, accompanied by spoken Teutonic ramblings. An Edelweiss is mentioned in there somewhere, so that’s my best guess at the link. Would work far better as an instrumental for me. As it is, our German ‘loony-on-the-bus’ scuppers it completely. 1/10
12 – Dreamily hypnotic electronic mood music. Probably the favourite of yoga teachers or exponents of mindfulness, the world over. When the distant vocals finally emerge, it suggests that this may be of European continental origin (German or Nordic)? No idea what it is or who it’s by. A generous 3/10.
So – there you have it. I agonised over whether to be diplomatic or just come out and say what I really think – you kopped for the latter! 😉 I’m interested to discover if all of these tracks reflect your normal musical tastes, or if you were purposefully trying to put together a weird/strange mix just to see how far you could push the envelope? Again, sorry I could not be more positive about the feedback. Sadly there is not a single track on this mix that I ever plan on listening to again. I dread to think what you made of my offering. I deserve everything I get! 😉
Cheers Stellar! Glad you liked it…oh..hang on, you didn’t. Well, can’t win ’em all but thank you for all the feedback.
I did find the theme a bit of a stretch but all tunes were from my iTunes and were rated 4 Stars (my particular rating system) – so there. Yes, I do like a wide range – possibly eclectic but I also dislike quite a lot too. The intention was to provide a wide range, a journey and hopefully something will work for the listener – but obviously not this time!
Particular responses to comments above before the big reveal that I think you’ll probably pass on…
1. Says the chap who includes the most famous film chords of all time as his track one…
3. ‘Indulgent’ guitar solo?! Surely not?
4. I would say absolutely not derivative but from a prime exponent of hillbilly boogie country
5. I got a 3! I got a 3!
8. Blimey they played this on Junior Choice?
Ha Ha – thanks for taking it all in good spirit. I agree the theme was a challenge this time around! 😉
It’s always apparent that a lot of thought goes into everyone’s mixes (none of us ever casually throws one together) – and I always feel guilty when I provide less-than-glowing feedback on any tracks – so I’m relieved that you don’t take it personally. I recognise that I do have fairly narrow tastes and am infamously intolerant of anything I don’t like. I think if you were to take every bit of music ever produced in the entire world, my pie chart would read: LOATHE 50% TOLERATE 30% LIKE 15% LOVE 5%. So the chances of your choices dove-tailing with the lower-end bracket are pretty high. This is more of a comment on me than it is on you! 😉
P.S. My ‘track 1’ is really Track 0 – intended as an additional humorous intro only, in line with the theme. I’ll get my coat… 😉
P.P.S. I anticipate particularly scathing feedback about at least one of my tracks from yourself, as I’d noticed in another thread the casual comment from yourself hoping a particular band isn’t included – so needless to say I simply HAD to include them! 😉 I’m such a minx.
P.P.P.S Yes – the only reason I know your track 8 is that my first ever exposure to it was on that self same radio show as a nipper. Spooky!
I must admire your honesty there Stellar.
There is always that fear in CD swapping that you are presented with stuff so far away from your usual listening that you can find nothing redeeming in it.
What do you do? “Soft soap” or honesty?
Honesty is the best way, and I think we’re all big enough (and ugly enough) to take it.
Very kind of you – obviously I concur, or else I’d have been walking on egg shells throughout my reviews! 😉 Still – I always agonise which way to go. I’ve been doing these things for years (previously participating in the Velvet CD Swap) and was taught a harsh lesson in my first VCD swap. I received a truly terrible mix of nordic origin and spent days trying to phrase a seemingly-positive, diplomatic review. Only to receive the most harrowing, scathing, merciless feedback on my own mix, from said mixer. I vowed never again to pull any punches. I still try and couch things in humorous terms when I can – but I have to call a spade a spade. None of which makes my opinion ‘the right one’. I’m prepared to accept that my view of the musical world is the one that’s flawed. 🙂 Ultimately – I will always praise what I like and lambast what I don’t. That’s the whole point of a review isn’t it? But I never intend to hurt anyone’s feelings and would be mortified if I ever did.
@StellarX come in. Please, don’t look nervous. Sit there.
1. Those chords – hopefully it is a foresign of Great White-ness on this cd.
2. I’ve always liked the ‘when I was a child in Arizona phrase’ …then the rest just seems like parping 90s chugging electronica that outstays its welcome – much like clouds.
3. The first recipient of the ‘Documentary Is Better Than the Music’ award.
4. Faux 60s groove – C’est un homage je pense. Quite nice – might be the music for arrival at The Party. Cool
5. Some more shallow cuts. It’s that vegan electronica chap. Not sure how white it is but certainly blue.
6. A very August 80’s hit – as groovy as it ever was. Didn’t think of that connection, could have included say, Harry Nilsson
7. Drunken bluesy roots. Aha! The white disguise of the Klan. Got that one – but not the tune. Sober up next time chaps.
8. Maybe Kelis? she is ice cold water…I’d prefer she bought her Milkshake.
9. I have this. Can’t decide whether they are good or Black Keys copyists. This track sounds like the latter.
10. Those funky Scotsmen. Thought about including ‘When Will You Be Mine’ on mine.
11. Female-fronted Lorde lite electronic pop. Like the soft tribal sounds. Pleasant. AS to whiteness? Not a clue
12. Yes, that has White front & central.
Thanks for the journey. Wide range, perhaps a bit on the nose with some of the choices for me – but certainly met the brief. Cheers. I will be hunting down 5.
Blimey – I feel I got off VERY lightly there! Clearly some tunes you recognise – particularly “those funky scotsmen” who were included purely based on a throwaway comment of yours in a prior thread. Thanks for taking time to provide the review. 🙂
P.S. You missed one track – the film theme is an extra intro only – there’s another track between what you’ve identified as 11 & 12. Clearly it didn’t make a lasting, positive impression! 😉
Ah! I will revert….
@Carl, please come in and sit down. Right, you gave us..
1. Folk-rock chanting grooves. Clear White light? Pleasant – could be fans of The Tyne?
2. Almost included this. Unsurprisingly Byrds jangle about that White light. Great tune
3. Similarly, almost included this. One of the best album covers?
4. Nice rootsy ditty. Production a bit clean. White Doves Wing?
5. Love this one. Kept thinking, is this a Maria McKee track I have lost sight of. Great vocal, good build. Love the angry drums. I’d be happy to do what she said, that Virgin Queen bit. Epic length.
6. Another nice track. Like a Jayhawks cover. Nice guitaring. Quite a lot of issues with having 4 white stallions though – I’ll stick with the Virgin Queen.
7. A real marmite artist – like some but this one falls the wrong side. Prefer the ballads, torch songs to screeching sub-Tom Waits.
8. Like this. Need to explore earlier albums by this chap. He is really not happy about The White Man.
9. Keeping with the theme, he’s a Black Man In A White World. I’m in the middle on this, it grows well, with nice production and authentic Curtis funk but the tune is a bit meh. I keep trying with this artist but I’m not convinced yet.
10. Bit of stodgy Brit rock. S’alright. Sounds “Manc”? Reasonable tune. It’s got a lot in there – bit electronic, bit Deacon Blue.
11. Some more northern. Can we go back to the American stuff, this sounds rainy. V Nice guitaring though, gets a bit Diesel Park West. Don’t know the white connection
12. Talking of nice guitar..the unmistakeable tones of Mr Hannah.
Cheers, Carl. Really enjoyed that. Hung together well and 5,6,8 & 11 were hits (when not heard before). Good theme hitting too.
@pizon-bros, sorry to keep you waiting. Yes, do sit down. Right then…
1. Fantastic, starts with obscure French carnival torch. What is the French obsession with Le Cirque in songs? No idea, to my shame given an obsession with chanson, who this is.
2. Know this, starts really intriguingly well and then the Notting Hill Urban ruins it for me.
3. If you’re white you’ll be alright. Blues.
4. Great growl and angry groove. Bit like rocking Chris Stapleton. Really like it, no idea who though – Whitey White?
5. Peaceful electronic start. Stereolab-type vocals. White Tower.Nice, also a bit Lemon Jelly.
6. Back to the r n’b. He’s Pinocchio, well he maybe had a white strip round his hat. OK blues, no more.
7. Another one, I have no idea about. A mash-up of numerous samples – sort of 90s groove, arabian samples maybe, cross gruff old bloke. Cool.
8. Aha! Some Mr White! Great tune.
9. Yep, this one is on mine too!
10. Arrrghh! Thankfully not the biggest hit version in the UK.. White doves very popular on these playlists.
11. 60s mop-top a-likes. Wait For me, but no idea on the whiteness.
12. Nice Indian slacker, Cornershop style grooves. But hang on, is that Swedish by any chance. Like it.
Great cd, Pierre, never knew what was coming up and then when it arrived still none the wiser – as it should be. 1,4,7 & 12 are the keepers for me. Also really liked the supporting note, very droll
So, here I go @carl, I hope that you will forgive my french expressions:
1 Do you believe? When I was at the catholic school, there was this enthusiastic priest playing the guitar, (imagine Steve Buscemi as Lenny Wozniak in 30 Rock with a guitar instead of a skateboard and you will get the picture), he never succeed in convince us. I guess that if he had been singing in a group like that I might have left the church 10 years later. That’s how good it is.
2 White Light is the keyword I guess? It feels like a Bob Dylan pre-“I cleaned my nose and my throat with a blend of natrium-chloride and water”, he sounds like he can breathe normally though (he sang “normally on one album and I hated it”). Very christian text but on the opposite to the first one, I’m not convinced, spiritually of course. I could use it in a pub quiz to fool people in believing this is another song by Bob Dylan.
3 White bird, yes, I am sure that’s the title. We are antipodes from High flying bird, I like it though. I don’t know the group. I like it, one of my favourites.
4 A country song “White Doves Wings” might be the title not totally white though. “La cake sent toujours le hareng” as we say in France. There is no redemption for anyone. Nicely placed, but my french wine-drinker’s personality is lifting eyebrows.
5 A voice like Max Sharam’s she is as hysterical as her, I don’t know who this is but I like it. I couldn’t hear the word “white”, but I’m french…
6 It feels like some country music, but with the deification of a woman instead of the classical christianity “she has 4 white stallions” “She had skin like a statue, milky white and pure”
two reasons at least to chose that track…
7 Some kate bush orchestrations in it, I like her voice. My unexerced hear missed the white in the lyrics
8 “I hate The white man” roy harper eponymous this can’t be a new song the white man self-hating songs have a bad rap nowadays after the rise of the hoteps, Margaret Thatcher, the new white feminism. I would have heard about it for one reason or another. The singing style reminds me so much of early seventies Maxime Le Forestier (who copied who? If one ever did), so I guess it is a north american protest song.
9 “I am a black man in a white world” Of course you are! And in the seventies in the US. motown style disco violins, I like it more that the one before.
10 New Wave tear for fears vibe, how did I missed that one in the eighties? “There’s no color and no sound In a black and white town”
11 “I feel its right you know what is black and white left and right” or something like that. I could have been a catchy tune in the seventies France where no one spoke english. I like the instrumentation, it’s a pity that I don’t get the details.
12 “White line” Neil Young, of course I recognized Neil young as the local hippie throw away some of his albums in the trashbin, I couldn’t get my hand on a Pono player yet. “I’ve been down but I’m coming back up again”, it feels like the white line re(e)fers to cocaine. I did not know this song, great addi(c)tion Carl!
So, next one in line, @stellarx . I used the knowledge I have, instead of faking the one I lack of. English language is not my strong suit.
1 Oh, John Williams version of Igor Stravinski’s “the rite of spring” as the soundtrack of that movie Jaws, yes, the shark is a white shark as the one who ate a Czech snorkler close to where I was snorkling this month when I recieved your cd. Very symbolic. I gave away all my John Williams (amd James Horner) for a long time ago because of the plagiarism (James Horner reuse so much his own music that some called his doing “self-plagiarism” example: the soundtracks of Star Trek IV and Aliens).
I still make whistle some Igor when I bathe where some bloke where badly munched. I liked the pun and might use it again.
2 It sounds like some british sanpler electronic musician the likes of DJ Shadow, but british, an interview about the nostalgy of fluffy clouds, which are white, of course. I like it.
3 Sugar man, white as raffinated sugar is, but of course it is what we call here “la blanche” the song feels untemporal but I guess that it is older than me, the singer like Jules Laforgue did in his poem “La cigarette”, use images and expressions to describe his longing for cocaïne “For a blue coin won’t you bring back All those colors to my dreams”. it sounds perfect in my ears and mind but it might sound common to you? I like that one and it will be a part of my next travel cd.
4 A very long intro the likes of “light my fire” (not better, can’t beat Ray Manzarek), it might have inspired them? “Et le blizzard s’estompe” (of course, the blizzard is composed with snow and snow is white), It is some kind of french-speaking group, real french, not like Big Soul that made a patchwork of french words learnt through the years, instead, they made a patchwork of french song verses learnt through the years. (que reste-t’il de nos amours?)Well, after years listening to Serge Gainsbourg, Boris Vian, Charlélie Couture and Alain Bashung, I can’t be impressed by that songwriting, the expression ” et le blizzard s’estompe” is a nice try, I wished they had been criptically kinky. Instead, through the translation, they sound slightly poetical and a bit cool french with the beret and the cigarette gauloise. Works well as a lounge music, I need that when
I make a feast of surströmming on summerrtime’s south Öland. Le Blizzard ne s’estompe pas, le brouillard, oui Blizzard never fade, the fog do and when it fades,it is a sign that suicide was not such a good idea after all (le vent se lève, Il faut tenter de vivre).
5 Moby oh lordy, hard to forget that catchy tune. So, I bet that you wouldn’t want to refer to Billy Budd. I understood that Moby did a duo with Richard Nixon, that leads us to Moby Dick (the white cetacean), tricky eh? I haven’t played Mr Herman Melville’s descent for a long while, I like it, but I heard it too many times. It will need 5 years to listen to it again.
6 A sax intro, very eighties I’m a wonderful thing baby kid creole and the coconuts Nice one. I can’t hear the white in the lyrics. I guess that the inside part of a coconut being white.
7 Starts country, ends like Freddy Wadling “frozen ground” “underneath his white disguise I look up into his eyes”, oh that mouthplay was not Coati Mundi from the track before! I’ve had difficulties to understand what the singer says, a bit like in that dvd without subtitles a friend lent me, it was “True Romance” and Christian Slater was mumbling all the time, that kind of difficulties, but of course as I said before, it would have been a success in the seventies France when no one understood english nor cared about the meaning of the songs as long as it sounded well. It sounds great!
8 I don’t know what is white there, unless if she is on her knees too long, something white will meet her somehow. I like this hystery, she thing like she mean it, not like those second grade swedish singers from those US clones sång tävling that I must hear to often in Stockholm.
9 “Shining teeth”, okay, the teeth are ivory white, it sounds so eighties that I’ feel like it might have been used as the soundrack of an Miami Vice episode. Saxophone with echo chamber as in Tina Turner’s “we don’t need another heroes”. Fits well with an eighties party.
10 It starts like a Donald Fagen or Steely Dan, Put it where you want it, sounds like an answer to track number 8. No sign of “white”, In the name of the group, some of the performer? Works well to fool a Steely Dan’s fan.
11 Woman voice, It is about “deserving an angel”, “making love tonight” and that sort of thing. A bit ot sweet for for my taste.
12 “In the coconut grove”, the coconut grove sounds like the land of plenty, le pays de cocagne, I might get easily fooled by this voice, nice song, it might be a new favourite for me.
13 White lines, a reccurent title, that’s extremely funky and it is about drugs, I don’t know hat group, but I guess I should… that’s one title too much but I like this one.
Wow – pretty impressive – both in terms of identifying songs/artists and in identifying the link into the ‘White’ theme! 🙂 Take a bow, sir!
Am very happy that you liked some of the mix – there will be a couple of surprises in the ‘reveal’ but you seem to have most bases covered. Many thanks for the review! 🙂
Oh my review is a victim of automatic word recognition and correction, It looks like I am Japanese or a bit dyslexic.
It’s 100% better than my ‘French’! 😉
that’s a good occasion to learn some more,,,
Should anyone be remotely interested in my mix, this Google Drive link should do the trick (probably need to download rather than play online as it’s one humongous mp3):
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1gzxPx1TJetBqR8hDfGge7yOxmDl_8AO5
And (with any luck), thanks to imgur, here’s the cover, which goes some way to explaining the additional ‘Track Zero’ intro…
@Tim your review:
1 Ambiant, A voice repeating a litany “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower[…]” Genesis 11-1-9, as a multilingual, I can relate to the story of babel the “white” is not in the lyrics the name of the group or the performer I guess. I like it.
2 Sounds like Boris Cyrulnik atonal music animal sounds, skogsljud ! would say my ex-choir director. About white correlation ibidem, déjà vù or déja entendu, oh wait a minute!
I like it but I cannot promise that I will keep it from now on as I already have it. White Noise – Love Without Sound
3 orchestral music, then synth and electric guitar duo then trio rather close to musical masturbation, suddenly those violins from the disco era. Feels like a mashup of early Jan Hammer (Mahavishnu orchestra) Alan Parson a motown orchestra and Satriani or the likes. This is talent, for sure, but my inability to read the notes or play the guitar properly makes me
unable to enjoy it fully. I guess that one of the guitars where white (or both?), the composer, the group, any of the performers or the title, but not the lyrics.
4 Long white Cadillac, that’s something I can relate to as my father had a white peugeot 404, then an Ivory Peugeot 504 and a great white Austin Montego Turbo Diesel that I lent
sometimes for some road trips with my different dates. If that’s not country music, then’ I’m terribly wrong.
5 “Turn off the lights turn off the lights (ad libitum)” electronic voice distorted, it reminded me so much of Jean Michel Jarre in his Zoolook-period, I cannot say how much I like it. Is it white, because of the opposition to dark? Or title, the name of the group or the performer?
6 It starts with a very simple rythm box électronique “teeeeaars” I hear. I should try to dance to that (not to selv: take dance lessons). About white, ibidem.
7 Kiss tomorrow goodbye is certainly the title. Good, great voice and respiration and I like the guitar play. The wedding is in white, but the singer is probably not, according to the horrible north american one drop of blood rule.
8 “Do your best and always remember that…*, I didn’t get that one very clear whatever loud I played, I’m sorry. White page for me here.
9 White dress, I don’t know who sings that song, but it sounds like a realistic romance, the ones that I would, with with the helps of some glasses Viognier, believe in. It’s good to take some holidays from being cynical. Articulation is a good thing for an unexerced hear like mine.
10 Great white cathedral, is that some americana? John Steward
11 “Weiß blummen” white flower, I won’t do some Spike Milligan humor, but I know some german words like ausweiß, apfelstrudel, oberlieutnant, Die Wahlverwandtschaften, ich gehe mitt dem zuck das telefon klinger, out of that, I have some difficulties to understand lots of echoes, a guitar and a choir, it might be from the seventies a german tentative to catch up with the hippie songwriting or a visionary teutonic rap-singer. As they said in the eighties: interesting.
12 Sample voices oho oho sounding like human seaguls with piano repeated ad libitum, my sound memory crashes there.
So, some things that fits my taste, some that would require of me to be born in an english-speaking country to get all the nuances (and german for one), there are some great ambiant-electronic musics that I would like to learn more about, specially the babel one. A good work in désennui, thamk you Tim and sorry for being so late!
Thank you for the thoughtful review @Pizon-bros. I am pleased that you found some things of interest along the path, I did find the theme a bit of a struggle but hoped to provide a few ‘finds’ along the way. Listening to your disc I thought we might have some shared taste….Thank you for your time and great humour in your review!
On specific comments
1. I think we are supposed to wait to a ‘big reveal’ of the tracks but as advance word – this is from the excellent Mark Pritchard (was part of Global Communication) and his album of last year, The Four Worlds. The white link was a bit of a stretch, it featured Gregory Whitehead! – sorry for that but it made a great intro track.
3. Fine detective work, it does indeed have a Mahavishnu link
4. No Cadillac could approach the allure of a Montego
10. Spot on. 5/5
11. Well, that’s more German than me – but it sounds cool so I was ‘on board’
A can’t but agree with you Tim, I myself suffered to find any fitting track in my collection.
I can start to post some tracklistings now that a few sets of reviews are complete.
Here is @carl‘s mix (fao @StellarX / @timtunes / @pizon-bros):
Lindisfarne Clear White Light Part Two
Gene Clark White Light
It’s A Beautiful Day White Bird
Caleb Caudle White Dove’s Wing
Eileen Rose White Doves Awake
Counting Crows Four White Stallions
Rickie Lee Jones Weasel And The White Boys’ Cool
Roy Harper I Hate The White Man
Michael Kiwanuka Black Man in A White Man’s World
Doves Black And White Town
Shack Black And White
Neil Young White Line
Oh, Lindisfarne, there used to be an abbey there.
@retropath2 / @johnny99 / @nickduvet / @rigid-digit
We have all received our CDs now, so ready to roll I think.
Looks like I’m first to arrive – where shall I put the booze ?
My impressions of the three CDs – thanks for all the hard work chaps.
Rigid Digit’s White CD
1 “OK chaps – anybody here actually able to play a tune ? If not don’t worry – we’ll just take bits that sound as if you know what you’re doing and jam them all together – the public love that sort of thing and it gives the tape operators something to do as well. We’ll just throw all the tapes of all the bits together and throw them in the air and we’ll get something out of it”
2 I quite like this rocky track but there’s an annoying squeak running through it
3 Clash – White man in Hammersmith Palais. Kudos for avoiding the obvious Clash track of “White Riot”. Good to hear it again – from the times when the Clash meant something
4 Starts with a bit of marching drum – are we off to war ?
Psychedelic late 60s sounding guitar. Oh it’s “White Rabbit” but it’s a version I don’t think I have heard before. Could be the Damned as I think they did a version of it. Nice guitar and there’s keyboards in there – did the Damned use keyboards ?
5 I know the lyrics – it’s “Nights in white satin” but this isn’t the Moody Blues. Sounds like the Ramones off the “Acid Eaters” album which is no bad thing
6 I know this too – “White Punks on Dope” by the Tubes. Fine song and good band – saw them on the late 70s tour where all the city fathers throughout the land tries to ban them. Remember Fee Waybill coming out to do this with (what I assume was) a plastic dick just poking out of his posing pouch.
7 “My White Bicycle” by Nazareth . Was it them that used to sing “My right testicle” to this or was it just me and my mate Jon ?
8 “You had to know” or “Let me know” or something with “know” anyway. Medium rocky track – quite pleasant not outstanding.
9 Mid 70s cock rock – sounds like Paul Rodgers. Lots of guitar. Like this. Something about “Trouble always coming my way”
10 This is Sly and the Family Stone – Don’t call me nigger whitey. Excellent song.
11 “White city lights” ? starts off quite countryish. Nice guitar. Sounds a bit like Roger Daltrey
12 This sounds familiar – that is definitely Fish on vocals and it’s Marillion and “Childhood’s end”
13 – a hidden track ! Breathy female vocals. Pleasant – mentions “White flag” so perhaps that is the title. No idea who this is.
Nick Duvet’s “White” CD
1. I hadn’t heard this for ages – and it was only when that unmistakeable rumbling bass sound from Jaco’s bass started that I realized I not only knew it but owned it. Joni Mitchell’s “Overture Cotton Avenue”
2. Another quite jazzy track with female vocals. No idea who this is at all
3. Quite a jolly instrumental start to this one – very pleasant indeed. There’s a flute going on in there somewhere which would suggest it’s some sort of prog rock but it sure as hell ain’t Tull.
4. This starts and finishes with a quote from Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum fairy” so I’m willing to bet that it’s a jazzy reworking of same.
5. This is a piano instrumental. That’s all I had written down so I went back and played it again and that’s all I can really say about it. “Lounge” type jazz that someone might play in the music room of an hotel.
6. Jazzy instrumental with the guitar being the lead instrument . No ideas who this is. It’s OK without, in my eyes, being anything special
7. I have no idea who this is – and that, quite frankly, is the way I want to keep it ! Jazzy atonal noodlings with no discernible tune. This is the sort of jazz stuff that gives that form of music a bad name IMHO
8. Something about “She’s your cocaine, She’s got you shaving your legs” ? Screechy Kate Bush style vocal.
9. Breathy male vocals now – good lyrics about a “paranoid movie queen”
10.Very much more upbeat – something about “sugar and spice”
11. I like this – couldn’t tell you who it is but I know that bloody voice. I’d hazard a guess at mid to late 70s West Coast rock.
12. Oh this is a bit more like it. Very soul-y R&B with decent rock guitar. Called something like “Let’s get it on” (no not that one).Were it not for the fact that I know it’s not Funkadelic I’d say it were them. Sounds like they borrowed Santana’s rhythm section.
Retropath “White” CD
“White on bwutthers” – Retropathology no3
1 No idea who this is – a protest song sung from a “black” perspective about “I ain’t got nothing but Whitey’s on the moon”.
2 “Six white horses” – a completely new one to me which I rather like. Deep dark country style voice, decent lyrics and someone who I shall explore when I find out who it is.
3.Like this. Decent reggaish tinge to this instrumental with a farting bass sound underpinning everything. Ends up getting faster and faster until the (inevitable) explosion at the end followed by a period of quiet reflection
4. Someone has wandered into the recording studio and picked up some brass instruments that were lying around and is blowing into them with gay abandon -“Step away from the brass instruments” NOW !! The breathy female vocals are quite good but the instrumentation is a bit of a mish mash.
5 It’s the Chipmunks on vocals with lots of electronics. Sounds like it’s called “White noise”?
6. I know this one !!! It’s Bernard Allison and “Black and white”. Decent guitar but I’ve always felt he was never a vocalist – his voice is a bit light for the blues.
7 . I don’t know who this is but I caught the words “Vibration white finger” so I’m hedging my bets that this is the title. I like this – good vocals
8. I like this – I caught the words “White Coats” so that may be the title. It’s quite doomy and sounds like a slightly more cheerful Fields of the Nephilim
9 Folky Irish fiddle which I really like – again when I find out who this is I shall be exploring more of their output
10 Another which I think is called “White coats” – there would appear to be a whole convention of scientists on this CD ! Very “bored” sort of vocal which, to my ear, sounds like the singer is trying to imitate Ian Dury.
11 I put this on my CD too – our first duplicate ! This is the fabulous “White Paint” by Mr Toby Marks aka Banco de Gaia.
12 “White light white heat” but this isn’t by the Velvet Underground. Very countryish fiddle in the background
I loved your comments, hoping to christ I recognise our duplication on yours when I come to write. (I confess I hadn’t….). A slightly more cheerful Fields of the Nephilim will indeed tickle our ringmaster, or one of them, @kid-dynamite . I hope you enjoy exploring 7 and 9 at the reveal. 10 is, as you say, riding, near desperately, on those (white) coat tails I fear………. You were right about 6 and 12.
Haha – you’ve been Dido’d
🙂
Oh I say!
4. Yes, The Damned did use keyboards – initially by an untrained, but very keen, Captain Sensible. And later provided by *the brilliantly named) Roman Jugg
7. I will now always be singing that version
An yes. you have been Dido’d
I might be wrong about @Johnny99 .s tentative to put in words the fourth track on @NickDuvet ‘s CD, but this description remings me vaguely of “Sugar Rum Cherry”, Duke Ellington’s very own version of Tchaïkovski’s “Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy” that is a part of his album Three suites…
As mentioned below Pizon, it’s from the album ‘Wigged Out’ by the jazz pianist Randy Waldman, accompanied by Vinnie Colauita on drums and John Pattitucci on bass.
Oh I missed that information. That is another version of this thème. Something new to discover.
OK chaps, here are my thoughts
Johnny 99’s White CD:
1. A familiar guitar figure, 70s soul style. Then the strings come in and I recognise it. A groovy opener
2. 60s psychedelia. Some deeply echoey vocals and trippy effects. Quite effective but no idea who it is.
3. Yee-hah! Some foot-tapping Americana
4. A 70s blues rock instrumental, spoiled by an over-eager drummer
5. Vintage synth swathes, an intergalactic atmosphere gives way to a K&D-type electro groove
6. We’re definitely in the Buddha-Bar phase of the CD. Atmospheric and exotic sounds and because Johnny programmed his CD as one continuous track, there’s a good flow to it.
7. A gentle guitar and flute interlude
8. Beatle-ish pop. The fuzz guitar solo brings to mind mid 60s Jimmy Page or Ritchie Blackmore
9. 80s prog. The vocals sound distinctly fishy
10. A live recording, rock music fairly devoid of character– doesn’t move me I’m afraid
11. Echoey vocal backed by an 80s/90s vaguely Bunnymen-ish sound. Rather monotonous. Lost interest well before the end
12. Oh yes, I know this, have it on vinyl. A very cool jazz version of this SanFran classic. Billy Cobham on drums
Rigid Digit’s White CD:
1. Perhaps a soundtrack to a David Lynch film? Sort of Lalo Shifrin meets Bitches Brew
2. A raw guitar sound and a repetitive A-G-D riff. It looks to be getting interesting when they break away from this, but then goes back to the riff and repeats ad nauseum
3. A punk classic from ver Clash, one of their best songs. Could have done with better production
4. Surf punk version of this SanFran acid classic, the polar opposite of the same song on Johnny’s CD
5. Another interesting cover, this time it’s a Buzzcocks-style version a classic Moody Blues track
6. Punks of a different sort. The most entertaining live act I’ve ever seen. 40 years ago now.
7. Hadn’t heard this for probably 40 years but recognised the band instantly because this has the same intro as another of their songs. Once again, a cover of a 60s psych track
8. A bit of a mess this one. Could have been great if they’d allowed the melody to breathe and not given the drummer a handful of blues before the session. The muddy production doesn’t help.
9. The first late 70s incarnation of this band and for me their best period. The comparisons with Paul Rodgers were justified.
10. I thought about putting Gil Scott Heron’s ‘Whitey on the Moon’ on my CD. This US psych soul classic carries a similar sentiment
11. A piano ballad, I imagine recorded in the early 70s, though I don’t recognise it.
12. First thought on hearing the intro guitar was ‘Mike and the Mechanics’. Then the vocals came in. I wasn’t far away.
Retropath2’s White CD:
1. Someone had the same idea about Gil.
2. This one has a soul country feel. A nice chord change in the chorus
3. A spacey intro leads in a cosmic reggae tune, sort of Hawkwind meets Aswad
4. Dream sequence harp leads into a mildly jazzy 6/4 figure held firm by the piano and drums
5. A poppy electronic music track. Would be good in a club, I imagine
6. A change of style – sounds kind of like Johnny Guitar Watson with Billy Gibbons on lead guitar
7. A repetitive refrain – this must be all about the lyrics as there’s not much else to hold the attention.
8. Odd atmosphere with lots of echo and sounding like the band is playing in the room next door.
9. Accordion led toe-tapper. Sounds like a French version of Paulo Nutini’s band. Later on, the violins come in and it’s more like an Irish jig, or is it a reel?
10. Sounds a bit like Ian Dury on vocals and I don’t recognise the other singer.
11. Sounds familiar – oh yes, it’s track 5 from Johnny’s CD
12. Pub-singer version of Bowie’s favourite Velvet Underground song.
Overall, plenty there that I hadn’t heard before, so thanks to my swap pals, especially for sending them all the way to NZ.
12. Pub singer? Tell him that to his face…..
Blimey, this groups is flying!!!
First up is the disc from New Zealand, @Nickduvet
1. A while to get going before the unmistakeable tones of La Belle Canadienne, making me realise I have never strayed much into her jazzier oeuvre. Brilliant or annoying, uncertain which.
2. I prefer this, if not necessarily liking it. One of the not Bonnie Raitt blues gals. Is it Mrs Trucks?
3. Love it! One hump or two.
4. Is it the Manikin advert fella, french one? I have his greatest hits, can’t be arsed to check.
5. Not any ELP that I know, but very much emersonian. I dunno, Patrick Moraz, Pete Bardens, someone like that?
6. Sax and acoustic jazz defying from whom. I’m guessing Jan Garbarek cos it sounds chilly.
7. Funnily enough the sort of jazzy atonal noodling I DO like. Don’t know it tho’. Quite old, I feel, as more notes and fewer chords.
8. What dreadful din. Kate Bush on bad acid. I don’t even want to know. Is it early Bjork as a Sugarcube?
9. O his poor mother, pegging out those sheets morning after morning. Can’t sing for toffee. I may have had this once, selling it on promptly. Lyricist on Manticore records.
10. Triffic, got this one. Wrong colour, tho’ innit? (He)
11. This one too, from their imperial period. Roll me one, bro’
12. A bit David Clayton-Thomasy vocal. Too much gargle for me. Is it BST or similar?
Into the next, @rigid-digit . No markings on this to confirm, but, by process of elimination.
1. Hope this isn’t the shape. Not a clue, but the vocal bassline has me think they may have achieved the art of noise? Dreadful stuff.
2. Nope. Strangely familiar sounding vocal. Punk as in US 60s rather than UK 70s?
3. Say it ain’t so, Joe. Sounding surprisingly thin after all these years, but a classic on the flyover.
4. I remember this one, too. They’re so Vanian.
5. Cripes, and this. I remember annoying people with this. Haven’t heard in yonks. I think they rhyme with Tricky(s)
6. Bliss. Late night OGWT by myself. Yes, Way(bill) on the tube. Several of ’em.
7. My White Bicycle. Wasn’t this Alan Howe’s early group, neither today, nor yesterday.
8. Blue denim heavy rock generica of the early 70s. 2 guitars. Named after an albino python?
9. More of the same ilk. If the last one wasn’t who I thought, this one probably is.
10. Stone me, etc, a sly old choice.
11. Got me. Sounds like a yank yet the subject is clearly greyhound related. Nice brass band. Pass.
12. A fishy one. Haven’t heard it but it ticks all the boxes and isn’t as overblown as that ghastly Hogarth man. Same band, I’ll wager, tho’, rather than Derek solo.
13. Well, I like this song. Word’s worst selling issue cover star, they say.
Finally, @Johnny99
All in one single stream, ya booga, no fast forwarding….
1. Big bazza, the walrus of luuuurve, methinks.
2. The triple vocals, the top line being very slick, give this away as related to an airplane. Not a song I recognise. The trippy lyrics maybe betray a solo project where they all mucked in.
3. Legend of Leeroy/Deeray White? Sounds like the Devil Went to Kansas hitmaker, with all the fiddle.
4. I quite like the drums. Prompted by the earlier comment, is it a the boy Hiseman within an early Bluesbreakers? But the countryish tinge of the later guitar progressions has me scratching my head, hands and feet. Possibly?
5. Caught me out yet again, taking a while for me to rack my brains ahead of, ping, the boy Toby. As on track 11 on my bloody CD…..
6. Banking advert territory. Must be, as stated, Claud Challe related. The Whiii-iite Goo, is she singing? (What filth is this?)
7. Pleasant but norraclue. 12 string is lovely.
8. Beautifully dated prog-pop whimsy. Usually by bands called the Orange Pandemonium or the Corduroy Townhall Clock.
9. Is this the Stiltskin singer era of the IKWILIMWHMs? (A guess.)
10. Unputuppable tosh. Don’t care.
11. Dreadful lyrics around women down by the river. English as a foreign language? I am thinking Golden Earring or someone even less good. Bloody went on a bit.
12. Tip top stuff. Did you know he played with Miles Davis before both this and The Greatest Love of All?
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. Later version than you think
8. Yes
10. Yes
11. Not a Yank (e’s from ‘Ammersmiff)
12. Yes
Maybe not the most challenging selection on my part
Some good deductions there @retropath2 – you got 1, 3, 6 (correct it is Jan Garbarek, with Ralph Towner on guitar), 10 and 11
@rigid-digit – you got No. 10 right. 8 wasn’t PJ Harvey but it was one of the others you suggested
and @johnny99 correctly identified 1
of course you could all identify the melody to Sugar Plum Fairy, but not the artist. It’s from album ‘Wigged Out’ by the jazz pianist Randy Waldman, accompanied by Vinnie Colauita on drums and John Pattitucci on bass.
So not Bjork or peejay…. Thus Ms Torrid Amyl. And I like her. Normally.
My guess at Garbarek was merely cos me and the missus had been talking about choral music earlier in the day!
@nickduvet
9. Definitely the first incarnation for me. Will always be sub-titled “When they were good, and before he discovered hairspray”
@retropath2
1. I’m guessing this one is called Whitey’s On The Moon because of the constant repeating of that title.
(I could find out who this is but “Thou Shalt Not Google” applies)
A sort of African Drums with Blaxploitation poetry over the top
2. The opening bass riff has a whiff of Ken Boothe’s Everything I Own, but this ain’t no pop reggae – it soon settles into a Country-Americana thing. Not something that has figured big in my listening history, but this is darn good. Maybe I should be listening to more Country-ish stuff
3. There is a very minimalist atmospheric thing going on. Very ambiently-hypnotic (if that’s a thing?). Yes I’d listen to it again, but probably not while driving or operating heavy machinery
4. Is that a clarinet I hear in my ears? I think I’ve heard that voice before, but I may be confusing myself. Massively inoffensive, but not sure I’d go much deeper (bit to jazzy for me)
5. Is this some 80s Electro thing? (I doubt it)
Never heard it before – don’t dislike it – it just sort of happened – but doubt if I’ll be seeking any more out.
6. Blues-y guitar opens this one. The vocal sounds a bit White Denim-y (which means it isn’t them). Frustrating because I’m SURE I know it
7. Now there’s another voice I’m sure I know – Ben Folds? (I’m not very good at this guessing game). And now the chorus kicks in I know it’s not him. But there is “something” I recognise there. Honest assessment: all fine, but just sort of runs out of steam at the end
8. That bass sound, that voice – the guessing is over. I’m in comfy territory here with a track that nearly made it onto my offering.
9. A Parisienne accordion Polka? Not entirely fair, because the track does expand out to more than just that – almost Irish folk in places. I’m clutching at straws here – don’t recognise it, but can find nothing (good or bad) to say about it – it just “is”
10. Piano and drum giving way to Spoken male vocal with a female response. That male voice is nearly Ian Dury – is this Baxter Dury? If it is Baxter, I may need to discover more than his Prince Of Tears album from a couple of years ago
Interesting bit of electronica going on over the top – something else, but doesn’t detract from the song
11. Cinematic and spacey, almost hypnotic. And then starts to get a bit Epic.. Changes in the middle (a sort of drop out thing) and then seems to tie the 2 parts together.
No idea, but interesting to hear (and maybe explore further)
12. A classic – but this sounds like a “Country Hoedown” version. Not recognising the voices as those of the original authors. Interesting version, and proof that a great track is a great track whatever genre it falls in (except maybe Minimalist Peruvian Dub Reggae?)
@johnny99
1. Soul / Funk / Disco – a sort of Philly Soul meets Issac Hayes. Evokes visions of the inro to a Blaxploitation movie with Police chases, blokes standing in boarded up shop doorways, litter flying around the streets etc (the usual 1970s New York clichés)
2. Creepy-ish opening gives way to a plaintive piano and acoustic guitar. Almost a Doors-ian vocal, but the more it develops The Doors reference wanes.
There’s a whiff of 60s West Coast about it – and I’m finding it’s getting better and better the more I hear it.
Will doubtless be either kicking myself when it is revealed or moving quickly to Amazon to do some shelf filling.
3. Definitely in Country territory now – no doubt about that. But Country aint my thing, so I’m not even going to hazard a guess.
This track and the Country offering on the Retropath CD make me wonder why I’ve not embraced it before
4. Instrumental Blues-y/Country thing.
Wild stab in the dark: Allman Brothers?
Another one of those “I’m sure I’ve heard this before”
5. Hang on – where have I heard this before? Ah Yes – on the Retropath CD (Track 11 – see above, my thoughts are no different)
6. Electronica over a synthesised Afrobeat, with high register faux-Scat singing and a greasy jazzy sax going on.
A spoken vocal (Scottish?) and a bit of a whiny female backing.
Nice enough, but another “not really me” track
7. Acoustic, folky, almost pastoral. And there’s a bit of “Stairway To Heaven” in that riff somewhere. Keep expecting a vocal to come in at some point
8. Straight into a 60s Pop sounding thing – this is damn harmless, and hangs around in your head.
“5 White Horses” is probably the title – and a neat little guitar solo too.
9. I definitely know this track – it’s from their second best album, the last for that particular vocalist, and I bought the big box set re-issue last year.
Let’s not muck about – it’s Marillion with “White Russian”
10. This one is called “White Flags” because it says so at the start. But who is it?
Sounds a bit Blondie, a bit Indie, a bit Uriah Heep without the histrionics.
The statement made for Track 4 above applies here too – I am convinced I know this one (but my database must be corrupted?)
11. Solid drums, haunted sounding vocal and bluesy guitar licks.
The drums remind me of Mick Fleetwood type solidity and minimal frills (ie the same stuff he’s been repeating for 50 years). Is this Fleetwood Mac and/or Peter Green?
The slow blues gradually picks up a pace and becomes very dense sounding track.
Fine stuff.
12. Sounding a bit Ennio Morricone with Spanish and/or Greek guitar (what a stupid analogy?).
Now I can hear more tune, and beginning to recognise it – there another version of this track on mine.
This is “White Rabbit” but have no idea who is plucking that guitar. And then it all goes a bit Jazzy/Funky. Interesting to hear something else done with a familiar track.
track 2 is, most definitely, 60s West Coast
Not the Doors but a slightly later incarnation of a flying machine with a little “mercury” help !
@nickduvet
1. It’s jazzy/funky with a bit of a screechy vocal sound. And then a wibbly-wobbly bass and a recognisable (but unplaceable) vocal. Eddi Reader with a US accent?
2. More Jazzy stuff, this time of the more acoustic variety. The vocal sounds a bit Ella-ish with a tinge of Gospel. Nope – new to me (I fear a pattern maybe emerging?)
3. Prog Rock sounding with a flute. Is this Focus? I feel I should know this, but cannot place it
4. Starts with “Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy” and repeats the motif at times. A piano-jazz reworking with added noodling?
5. Nice enough, but I’m struggling to “get” anything. It starts, does stuff, then ends – the most unhelpful review ever.
6. Spanish-y guitar and a Sax of some variety. And so it remains for 4 minutes. Another “I don’t get it?” track
7. Piano noddlings over bass and drum backbeat. No idea, but if I was new to Jazz and it’s stylings (which I so obviously am), this would probably not be an ideal starting point
8. Female vocal that could be Kate Bush on a bad day, Tori Amos, Bjork or P J Harvey (or a collection of all 4 in some strange genetic experiment).
I’m thinking more P J Harvey, but probably nowhere near correct
9. Laid back organ and bass – breathy vocals (quite low in the mix, can’t easily make out the words). For some reason I’m thinking Antony Hegarty (which it definitely isn’t).
The track builds nicely though. Quite like this one.
10. 80s Funk. Very 80s – and another that I’m sure I’ve heard before (or at least vaguely recognise the voice) – Scritti Politti? (I’m pretty confident with that guess)
11. West Coast 60s/70s Rock – sort of CSN-ish, or maybe America? Nice guitar histrionics at the end.
12. R&B Groove – decent track. George Clinton? Parliament? Funkadelic? Sly & The Family Stone? I should know this.
Apologies for ‘gegging in’ (hopefully I’m not the only saddo who likes reading feedback from groups other than my own) – just want to say, splendid effort on the review gents – most entertaining. I think I may have received one or two of these tracks on my own compilations.
tracklistings a-gogo here! @retropath2 / @johnny99 / @nickduvet / @rigid-digit
Retro’s mix was:
1. Whitey on the Moon/Gil Scott-Heron
2. Six White Horses/Karl Blau
3. White Scarf In The Mist/Sly & Robbie feat. Nils Petter Molvær, Eivind Aarset & Vladislav Delay
4. White Cherry/Laura Veirs
5. White Noise/Disclosure feat, Aluna George
6. Black & White/Bernard Allison
7. Vibration White Finger/Jackie Leven
8. White Coats/New Model Army [editor’s note: Anyone who didn’t like this is now on The List]
9. The White Strand Sling/Sharon Shannon
10. White Coats/Baxter Dury, Etienne de Crécy & Delilah Holliday
11. White Paint/Banco De Gaia
12. White Light White Heat/The Bootleggers feat. Mark Lanegan
Johnny99 served up:
1 Love Unlimited Orchestra – What a groove (Rhapsody in white)
2 Kantner, Slick & Freiburg – White boy
3 Hank Williams III – D.Ray White
4 The Byrds – White’s lightning pt 2
5 Banco de Gaia – White paint
6 KLF – The white room
7 Leo Kottke – The white ape
8 Sun Dragon – Five white horses
9 Marillion – White Russian
10 Blue Öyster Cult – White Flags
11 Peter Green – White sky
12 George Benson – White rabbit
Nick Duvet treated you all to:
1. Cotton Avenue – Joni Mitchell (from the album Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter) featuring Jaco Pastorius on electric bass
2. Let The Good Times Roll – Phoebe Snow (from her first album) featuring The Persuasions on background vocals
3. Rhayader – Camel (from The Snow Goose)
4. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy – Randy Waldman (from the album Wigged Out) featuring John Pattitucci on bass and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums
5. A Walk In The White Forest – Peter Dasent (Mousey to you and me) from Songs For Solo Piano
6. Winter Solstice – Ralph Towner (from Solstice) featuring Jan Garbarek on saxophones
7. Revolution 1 – Neil Cowley Trio (from The White Album Recovered)
8. She’s Your Cocaine – Tori Amos (from The Choirgirl Hotel)
9. Antarctica Starts Here – John Cale (from Paris 1919)
10. Sugar and Spice – Scritti Politti (from Provision)
11. Clear as the Driven Snow – Doobie Brothers (from The Captain and Me)
12. Let’s Get It On – Edgar Winter’s White Trash – featuring Jerry LaCroix on vocals and mouth harp
while Rigid Digit offered:
1. Penguin Café Orchestra – Milk
2. White Stripes – You Don’t Know What Love Is
3. The Clash – White Man In Hammersmith Palais
4. The Damned – White Rabbit
5. The Dickies – Nights In White Satin
6. The Tubes – White Punks On Dope
7. Nazerath – My White Bicycle
8. White Denim – Had 2 Know (Personal)
9. Whitesnake – Trouble
10. Sly & The Family Stone – Don’t Call Me Nigger Whitey
11. Roger Daltrey – White City Lights
12. Marillion – Childhoods End? / White Feather
First impressions:
I really must follow up my promise to myself that after receiving a Word covermount compilation I would explore more of the world of Jackie Leven
Kantner, Slick & Freiburg – never heard of ’em, but wikipedia explains the Quicksilver reference. Intrigued and now it’s time to explore
Karl Blau is now getting YouTube and Spotify time – any particular recommendations?
How did I fail to recognise KLF’s White Room?
I own a copy of John Cale’s Paris 1919 – I must listen to it more
Sun Dargon features the session hadiwork of Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Paice and Jon Lord (pre-Purple).. Everyday is a schoolday
@johnny99 :
Hank III ! I only have his Atlantic City cover, and good is that.
I thought I knew me Byrds…. So, if it was Clarence on guitar, was the drums Gene?
Did the KLF ever feature on Buddha Bar? Somehow I doubt it.
@rigid-digit :
Its true, I did know most of the. Hindsight has me giggling at my comments on 9 and 10.
@nickduvet :
Phoebe Snow!!! Could have sworn it was the Blind Boys of Alabama on backing.
@mousey , eh? (Would ’emersonian” upset or uplift him, I wonder?)
Astonished that the enuretic tosh was John Cale.
@Mike_H / @bamber / @vulpes-vulpes
Spotted 3 tracks from mine amongst the above collections. So far.
Make that four. And a different track by one of my artists as well.
OK swap dudes – my CDs are burned and ready for posting. Brace yourselves.
POSTED!
Both CDs from my co-conspirators now received so time to give them a listen or few.
Back later..
Right, I’ll go first…
The What Album by @Mike_H
1 A low-key start with a track I don’t know by an artist I reckon I do. Spoken word with vocal loop and sparse bluesy accompaniment. I’ll damn it by using the word “Interesting”. It’ll probably send me to investigate the album it’s from.
2 Keeping it low key with a moody ambient jazzy piece. Muted trumpet in a Miles Davis style but sounds more modern than that (…but what do I know about jazz). Not my kind of thing but pleasant enough as it goes.
3 Easy enough to figure the name of this one. Sounds like authentic late 60s proto-hippy stuff. I could imagine this as the B-Side of Love Flower as sung by “Hitler”, in the Producers. It could also feature on the soundtrack of A Mighty Wind. Male voice is quite Scott Walker but the arrangement makes me think of early Mommas and Papas or Peter, Paul & Mary. The instrumental break is great. I really enjoyed this track.
4 I know this artist and one of his tunes was the last culled from my long list. Really good tune with a chugging beat and catchy arrangement. It’s funny how hearing a track in isolation on a compilation like this can make you appreciate it more than you would have hearing it as part of the original album.
5 I don’t know this track and am struggling to figure whether it’s genuinely 60s or a more modern “tribute”. The harmonies are reminiscent of Don’t Fear the Reaper and I really enjoyed it but I’m at a loss in placing it anywhere specific in the musical universe.
6 I know who I think this is. Very enjoyable piano led swinging jazzy tune with laid back vocals played in front of a live audience.
7 It took me a while to place the vocalist here (if I’m right!). Not used to hearing him channelling Leonard Cohen so obviously. This is a pleasant surprise. I really like the arrangement and production, though not sure it matches the dour lyrics.
8 This is an oddity, almost a miserabilist take on Suzanne Vegas’ Tom’s Diner with its setting and delivery. The recurring piano motif really got on my nerves after a while. I don’t think it’s John Grant although there are similarities. This is what I imagine American Music Club sound like having read more interviews than heard actual music.
9 Solo Female singing in fragile voice with acoustic guitar backing – a very oversubscribed genre nowadays. This is pleasant enough and the lyrics are interesting but wouldn’t have me rushing to hear more.
10 Big band calypso from 1930s maybe? Could be 50s. An interesting slice of history with lyrics that might not get released in the modern world. I enjoyed this one.
11 I should know who this is. I remember this getting a lot of airplay back in the day and it’s been annoying me for the past few weeks that I can’t figure it out. I’m sure the band name is one word but I can’t place it. It’ll pop into my head as soon as I press Send. Great ballsy riff and sung with attitude. I’d forgotten how much I liked this.
12 I haven’t heard this one in years and again had forgotten how good it is. Great dumb rocking tune with over the top production. A classic. I can remember the reaction to this back in the day. It’s more Jim Steinman than punk but it still has a bit of edge to it. I really enjoyed getting reacquainted with this one. Sounds especially good in the car.
Thanks @MikeH. This was a very enjoyable listen. I’ve lived with it for a few weeks now and there are no tracks I actually skip when playing it through. As indicated above, there was a high hit rate. I’ve tried to avoid naming the artists except where they are complete guesses. I hope you enjoy mine as much but be as brutal as you like with your review. It’s half the fun of these swaps.
Licensed for brutality, you say? Apologies anyway.
Starts disconcertingly with an intro soundbite from a rather dangerously disgruntled African-American person.
And then:
1) Fairground-y organ & brass on an Arctic Monkeys-ish (but not, I suspect) thing. Smartarse lyrics “White with no sugar”. I resisted the temptation to Shazam or Google it. Liked it but it’s not the kind of thing that I currently buy. 7/10
2) A rather messy mainly-acoustic thing with lots of different instruments appearing and disappearing to little purpose, I felt. Slide guitar, steel guitar, resonator guitar, banjo and piano all in there behind a rather weedy unintelligible vocal. No idea what the connection to the theme is. 3/10
3) A throw in the kitchen sink Bad Prog workout that seemed to go on forever. Nasty grunting simplistic bassline throughout. Over 9 minutes of it and what a relief when it finally stopped. A grudging 2/10 because there’s some musicianship in there.
4) Acoustic thing, possibly sung in Gaelic? Slight echo/reverb on the voice used very sparingly. A nice late-night listen when winding down. 8/10
5) Sounded very early-ish Waterboys, both vocally and structurally, but not sure that it is. Something about Vapour Trail in the lyric so that may be the tie-in to the theme. I liked it but it’s not the sort of stuff I listen much to, these days. 7/10
6) Hard-rocking indie with a ballsy female vocalist. Something about a Hard White Wall. The voice is familiar but I can’t place her and I resisted Googling or Shazaming to find out. 8/10 but again probably not one I’d buy.
7) A very well-arranged and played indie-jangle cover of a completely brainless song from my younger days. Obvious title and lyrical link to the theme. Rather good but novelty value only. 7/10 for putting in lots of effort.
8) Electro-fied Indie with clodhopping drums and rather silly (not in a good way) lyrics. Something about White Collar, so that’s the connection. 4/10 because it’s marginally better than numbers 2 and 3.
9) Another unintelligible mess but this time a noisy one. Annoying and seemed at least twice as long as it’s actual 4 minutes and 45 seconds. A false ending about 3/4 of the way through as well. Something about Let It Snow. Only 2/10 for this and they should think themselves lucky to get that.
10) This is much better. Familiar female voice but couldn’t tell who without cheating. No idea how it ties into the theme. Here In The Palm Of Your Hand in the lyric. Nice string quartet ending. Not my kind of fare but 6/10.
11) I know this one very well and have the album and a few others of his. Same artist as track one on my CD. Did you guess right? I was a really big fan of this guy for a while, saw him live a few times and had a pleasant chat with him at one gig, but I seem to have lost sight of what he’s doing in recent years. Must investigate. 9/10 for this one.
12) Like a spooky soundtrack to something. Reminds me a bit of Cinematic Orchestra but I’m not sure it is because the drums/percussion don’t feel like their style. Maybe, if it is soundtrack music, it would be better with the visuals. There doesn’t seem to be enough going on in the music to justify it’s length, particularly the end piano & percussion section which could have done with fading out the last 50% . I generally like this kind of stuff but this one didn’t grab me for some reason. 6/10.
Thanks for your effort. I know you put some time and deliberation into this and I do appreciate it.
I now have both CDs as well – so they will be loaded and listened to over the coming days. 🙂
Hi Vulpes. Your CD arrived yesterday. I’ll give it a number of listens before delivering my verdict.
OK Mr @Vulpes-Vulpes, it is time. No pussyfooting.
1) I know this one! An early-70s banger from a Northern folk-rock group. Great harmony singing in a very folk style (i.e. not clean pop-style harmony but with a bit of intentional dissonance). I hadn’t heard this in years and was pleasantly surprised. It seems I only have two tracks of theirs in my collection, not including this one or their best-known song. I should probably get some more. It strikes me that one or two harmony-singing acoustic bands of recent years may have had a listen to this lot. 8/10 and a very obvious tie to the “White” theme
2) Another old banger. A huge instrumental hit from the ’50s, but given a nice makeover with harmonica replacing the trumpet of the original and tasty surf-guitar accompaniment. Lovely good-silly stuff. I resisted the urge to cheat and I’ll be interested to know who this is. Another obvious theme tie-in. 9/10
3) Something by Rachid Taha? Sounds like him and his blend of North-African Rai and Western rock. I have an album of Rachid’s that I haven’t played in years. I really should give it a spin. No idea how this fits the theme as it seems to be in Arabic. Lovely Egyptian-style string orchestra with percussion, oud and/or mandolin and electric guitar . Another winner. 9/10
4) My notes say: String synth drone over bass & percussion to start. Percussion interlude. Is it from a soundtrack? Drum samples + sitar & tablas. A flute makes an appearance and some phased keyboards. A heavily remixed version of something I might recognise? I don’t know. Very abrupt end had me wondering if it was about to become something very familiar. OK but it didn’t grab me. 6/10
5) Chugging drums. Punky blues-rock. Pretty unmemorable stuff with annoying vocal like an English person trying to sound swampy American. Not very good guitar solo and nasty tone. I couldn’t understand how it fits the theme. Just 4/10 for this one.
6) Well-recorded and played complex keyboard-dominated Modern Prog piece consisting of several movements. Musicianship is here in abundance but I found it a bit Meh. I’m pretty much off this sort of thing lately unless it has a bit of swing to it. 6/10 Not the foggiest how it fits the theme.
7) A Gothy anthemic rock thing with female (American?) vocals which sound familiar. White something or other is mentioned but I couldn’t make out much else. Not my sort of stuff. 6/10
8) A lavish production job. I’m hearing strings and a harpsichord, kettle drums, low brass and woodwinds. A quality female vocalist with operatic tendencies. Something to do with Love In The Milky Way, which I suppose is the tie-in. No idea who and I’m still resisting the urge to cheat and Shazam the ones I don’t know. 7/10
9) A jazzy blues shuffle with two guitarists, jazz chords in accompaniment. Rather too much distortion on the lead guitar, who isn’t playing anything very exciting most of the time. Chanted female chorus vocal but I have no idea what they’re saying. Too far back in the mix. Doesn’t really go anywhere and then just fades away. 6/10
10) Military-sounding drums into a heavy distorted guitar riff. It’s a really raucous cover of an old SF hippie anthem. Performed here by The Damned, I’m certain. I’ve heard a few versions of this song by them, both studio and live recordings. This sounds like it might be a Peel Session or something. No evidence of an audience. Better, more precise drumming than any of the live concert versions I’ve heard. A proper banger. 8/10
11) I’ve swapped this one with you. We’ve both seen fit to put it in our mixes. Others seem to have used it in other swaps. Who’da thunk it’d be so popular. Bamber will think he’s having a Deja Vu episode! The relevance to the theme is obvious. I think we both deserve 9/10 for this.
12) Possibly an alternate take (or just an unedited version) of a ’70s monster hit by flower power’s dippiest UK hippy, reinventing himself as a popstar with this very single in search of fame and fortune. Daft lyrics of absolutely no consequence. Inoffensive but not something I’d hear by choice. 7/10
A decent strike-rate, Mr. V-V. Not a bad mix at all.
Check your tracklist again @Mike_H, V-Vs track 11 didn’t make your final cut. Not in the version I have anyway.
You are correct, sir. A last-minute swap with my #10 eliminated it.
I was confusticated by seeing it pop up on other people’s CDs. Maybe I should play my own mix again to refresh my memory. It has been a week or two.
Or just head for the library with a large single malt and my AW service revolver.
About time for the review of @Vulpes-Vulpes compilation. I’ve lived with it for a few weeks now and have done my best to ignore @Mike_H s review. By the way I remembered the band behind Mike’s Track 11 within days of posting my review. Funny how the brain works.
1 The first 20 seconds of this could serve as the soundtrack of an infomercial for a white supremacist group. Harsh voices harmonising about the Clear White Light before it thankfully mellows out. It clearly predates the likes of Fleet Foxes by years and I had it pegged as some American folky outfit from back in the 70s. It’s quite nice and easy on the ear. I liked it.
2 A jaunty tex-mex take on an old easy listening classic so the white connection is obvious. My only references to this kind of music would be some Ry Cooder stuff and Calexico – sounds more authentic than artist dabbling and it has to be said that the harmonica playing is top notch. Could be from a soundtrack. I enjoyed this too.
3 A modern sounding piece of North African/Arabic music. Whoever the artist is, he really puts his heart into the vocals. There are great cinematic strings and, the more I listened to this, the more it made me think of something the Bunnymen might do in their more adventurous moments. I could imagine the McCulloch croon working well with this backing. Another hit.
4 My notes include the HMHB lyric “Can you hear Talvin Singh?”. I can’t say I’m familiar with his stuff but I imagine it might sound like this. After more than two minutes of early 90s Ibiza/Goa chill sonic wallpaper, this starts to pick up a bit with some tablas and sitars. Could be a remix of something better known – Did I imagine a hint of Happy Mondays in there somewhere? Probably… Not a great track but at least it improved from an unpromising start.
5 Right. Some almost Beefhearty vocals suggest to me that this singer is probably better known for his playing. There’s enough guitar play here to suggest this is one of those artists who crops up on a Whistle Test Compilation in the early hours of a Friday night on BBC4 when you know you should’ve gone to bed hours ago. Given the theme, I’m going to stick my neck out and guess that it’s Johnny or Edgar Winter, whichever is the albino guitar hero. Not enough to make me want to hear more by whoever this is.
6 My notes for this slice of preposterous prog that smells strongly of the early 80s include “Bill Bailey taking the piss out of prog”, “an 80s keyboard on demo mode with the rest of the band trying to play along”, and “possibility of cape-wearing”. If it’s not the keyboard player, then it’s the guitarist working through his range of effects. Not entirely unenjoyable but not my kind of thing at all. Given the theme, this is as white as music gets.
7 Immediate impression was that this dated from the the early 90s golden age of Indie. One of those bands with a Tanya or Kristin probably. It’s got that 4AD label signature sound but doesn’t really have enough kick to it for my taste. If it’s more modern, then it might be Warpaint. Okay but not great.
8 This one is a puzzle. It veers from a kooky indie female vibe to full blown Eurovision-style ballad with the vocals turned up to 110%. The recurring chorus makes me wonder whether this was a track left over from the Space compilation. I can’t say I particularly enjoyed this one but I’m intrigued because I really don’t know what to make of it.
9 This one doesn’t really start properly until around thirty seconds in and then it doesn’t do a whole lot when it gets there. Jazzy guitar chords and over produced female backing seem to be the platform for some solo guitar noodling that does little to justify the spotlight. As a poor guitarist myself, this isn’t very good. Something about the vibe and the production suggests to me a remix of a Weller stab at sophistication, either late Style Council or early solo career, possibly one of the forgettable acts on his Respond label. Even Acid Jazz label’s inconsistent output was usually better than this. Not a hit…
10 A live ballsy take on a well known psychedelic anthem. Unusual to hear a male vocal on it. This singer is no great singer. My notes had me thinking about early 80s US New Wave acts throwing out a crowd pleasing cover for a West Coast audience. It’s okay but not ambitious enough to stand alone as a version in its own right.
11 Unmistakable delivery here. A great slice of early 70s political soul/proto-rap. I love it. Has any other son of a Glasgow Celtic player ever made music this cool?
12 Alternative take of a well known hit. Enjoyable as ever. A nice note to finish on.
So, overall there were a few duds but I enjoyed the compilation and didn’t actually hit the skip button once during my numerous listens. There are a few I’ll investigate further once I know who I’ve been listening to. Thanks Vulpes-Vulpes.
@Mike_H and @Bamber
OK, first, here’s a run through of the brilliantly titled “The What? Album” from Mike:
“Take me away!” he shouts. A couple of voices giggle, there are some ethereal noises off. Then the story starts, in a American accent; “That’s how they found him…”. The first time I heard this I immediately thought it could be Jim White – Cross Eyed Jesus and all that. Once it resolved into a suicide tale, I was even more of that opinion. But I’m still not entirely sure. It’s not something of his that I own, though I have a few of his albums. I’ll skip this number for subsequent playings, as it sort of delivers all its eggs in one go, and doesn’t tempt me to re-hear the yarn again.
Next up is a trumpet player, and it’s either Miles or someone trying really hard to play like him. If it is Miles, I’d guess it’s from a late album by the style and the treatment. It’s all moody tone poem. Really like this – I probably have the album but haven’t played it for ages – I want to hear more of this. Good one. So far so slow, I’m hoping for a change of pace next.
Ah, the tempo ups a little and this is one I considered for my own disc – bit of a classic. Lovely, languid, lazy late 60s folk-rock from San Francisco. I’d nearly forgotten how great this is. It doesn’t really go anywhere as a song, it just hangs around sounding splendid. One of the best violins in rock, and great vocals. Repays headphone listening this one, as there’s a lot more going on than you’d think. You can almost see the Golden Gate in the background and smell the grass.
Ok, now things are speeding up a bit more. Very simple sounding circular riff. At first I think I recognise this voice, and I’m tempted to think it’s Kevin Ayers. But it isn’t a posh enough enunciation, and maybe the guy is not English as I’d first suspected. Ultimately this is a bit of a throwaway number, but it is also very charming. Would like to know who this, and to hear more of their material to see if it can have more heft.
I used to dream in black and white? That seems to ring distant bells, or is it just that this actually sounds too much like a late 60s psych single by The Paisley Purple Happenings or something, and is it in fact a much more modern thingamajig, created with a whimsical ear for the baroque nonsenses put out by little known labels at the end of the sixties? I have absolutely no idea which it is, but I would veer towards thinking that it’s a track from one of those four CD boxed sets of unearthed 7 inch gubbins from the days of loons and patchouli. Quite enjoyable, in a lightweight, summery nonsense kind of way.
Hep cats next. Oh dear, this chap can’t sing. At all. Ouch. Then the drummer kicks up the beat and the piano takes off quite brilliantly. This is good stuff now that the vocals have ceased. Oh no, he’s off again, more verses of a clumsy self-deprecating song that is a bit cheesy. Ah, the song ends and there’s an audience present; so maybe this is a cut from a live album that probably doesn’t have too much more of those ghastly vocals? No idea who this is, but the band swings. Would like to hear more as long as the singer put a sock in it.
Next track starts off like a Strawbs number with laughing Len on vocals; but hang on a mo’, I’ve got this somewhere – who the HELL is it? This is darkly superb. Driving me mad that I can’t place it. This is the most intriguing and best realised track on the disc so far, and I need to know who this is!
Big piano chords and a majestic chug introduce the next track. An American chap sings a closely observed doomy song that pays more attention to its storytelling duties than to its lyrical dexterity, though it has a few neat twists – the deaf old ladies making a din while the other diners are transfixed by tragic events outside, and the idea that being drunk on a plane allows you to forget your fear of flying. An interesting number that doesn’t really resolve itself very satisfactorily, but at least it doesn’t outstay its welcome.
A charming young female voice delivers the next song, which is much more dextrous than the previous chuggers, and which has an elfin charm all of its own. I would definitely like to hear more of this woman – who is she please?
Next we’re listening to a jazz song from the forties I would guess. A black bloke sings in a beautifully enunciated voice about a black person trying not to be seen to be black by all sorts of means. Once more I’m not sure who this is, but I suspect I’ve heard it on one of the compilations that came out a year or two back called London Is The Place – calypsos and simple jazz tunes – I have three CD sets of that name which collected all sorts of interesting material; I played them a couple of times, enjoyed them and put them back on the shelf – time to dig them out again and have another listen – I can’t recall the artist, but I’m pretty sure I’ll bump into this there.
Great sax playing next, with a twisting and turning rock’n’roll number called “Honey White” I imagine – it’s repeated enough – it’s like a bastard offspring of Nick Cave and The Stranglers – hang on, of course! It’s Morphine! I have this one and the one before it, but nothing else from them. Both in those pale green CD cases that Rykodisc used to use – do they still do that? Good stuff this one.
And finally, the number that was the very first thing I thought of to include on my own “White” compo – except I eventually realised that I don’t have a copy of this nonsense, so I couldn’t use it! We used to play this loud to annoy the Daily Mail readers next door when I was at University. Gosh, to think there was a time that I thought Fee Waybill was a revolutionary! Bit of a larf this one, and great to hear it again after all these years. Not sure it’ll be going onto my next barbeque mixtape though.
What a great selection! I await enlightenment.
Thanks for that. Surprisingly positive, which while of no importance at all is still gratifying.
1st is a slightly edited live version of a song by Jim White, so your guess was right. It’s originally from “Transnormal Skiperoo”, which I think is his 4th album.
2nd is indeed Miles, from “Aura”, which was a project written and arranged by Palle Mikkelborg, from Sweden. It was recorded in ’85 but not released until ’89. An underappreciated gem.
3rd you know.
4th is someone who’s been recently mentioned on this blog. Not an artist I know anything about. From an old Mojo coverdisc. I just liked it and his name fitted the O.P.
5th is not an old ’60s nugget but a track from a current English band that I chanced to see at Daylight Music last year. All 4 of them sing harmony, including the drummer. I was impressed but their album is not quite there, IMO.
6th is a noted songwriter/singer/pianist on the bluesy end of jazz, who has always sung flat and nasally. Not his best song by any means, just one that fitted our brief.
7th artist may surprise you. Not a great singer by any means but a clever sod. A beautifully-arranged and interesting song and my own favourite on this CD. A shame they used synth brass, because real brass would have made it EVEN BETTER.
8th is from the weird end of Americana. Husband & wife duo.
9th is another who’s been mentioned recently on the blog. Again I’m extremely unfamiliar. Again I liked the song and the artist’s name fitted the brief. From an Uncut cover CD.
10th is probably the most famous of the Calypsonians who came to England in Windrush times.
11th you know. Baritone sax. I like baritone saxes. A little bit of that on #4 was a factor there.
12th is an enduring favourite of mine. Completely bonkers right from the start and gets even madder towards the finish with the choir and the false death/resurrection ending. Great rock riffage and stupendously good drumming. I particularly like playing this loud in the car.
Okay Mike, before the full reveal, are 5 a band “the K…?, is 6 MA? and is 7 an Irish former punk among other things?
No.
Yes.
Yes.
Very unlikely you’ll guess #5 as they’re probably completely unknown outside friends, family and people who’ve seen them by accident, as I did. I think one of Uncut/Mojo gave their album a single-paragraph luke-warm review at the time.
Out of curiosity, after reading the reviews and your hint above; is track 9 about bunnies at all? (If it is, I almost put it on my CD, one of my favourite tracks by an artist I own nothing else by…don’t know why not!)
Full Reveal of “The What?? Album” @Bamber & @Vulpes-Vulpes
1) Jim White – “Take Me Away”. From a live solo show in Hollywood that I downloaded. “This Motel Room Is Drunk”. A song from his 2007 album “Transnormal Skiperoo”.
2) Miles Davis – “White” from “Aura”, his last release (apart from the endless compilations and box sets) from his Columbia years. A direction that he chose not to take.
3) It’s A Beautiful Day – “White Bird” from that band’s eponymous 1st. album.
4) Matthew E. White – “Rock & Roll Is Cold”. I got it from an old Mojo coverdisc. From his 2015 album “Fresh Blood”.
5) Green Seagull – “(I Used To Dream In) Black And White” from their 2018 album “Scarlet Fever”.
6) Mose Allison – “Middle Class White Boy” from his album “The Mose Chronicles – Live In London Vol. 1”.
7) Bob Geldof – “Pale White Girls”. I got it from an old Uncut coverdisc. It’s from his 2001 album “Sex, Age & Death”.
8) The Handsome Family – “The Snow White Diner”. Another one from the same Uncut coverdisc as No. 7. From their 2001 album “Twilight”.
9) Simone White – “Bunny In A Bunny Suit”. Yet another Uncut coverdisc track, this time from 2009. It’s from her album “Yakiimo”.
10) Lord Kitchener – “If You’re Not White You’re Black”. From the Honest Jon’s sampler “London Is The Place For Me – Trinidadian Calypso In London, 1950-1956”.
11) Morphine – “Honey White”. This came from a food-themed mix CD “Scran” that I picked up at a Word Mingle in 2011. It’s from Morphine’s album “Yes” released in 1995.
12) The Tubes – “White Punks On Dope”, from their eponymous 1st album. The proper uncensored sweary version.
If I can find the tracks there I’ll do a Spotify mix. I’ll have to substitute the album version of No. 1, I suppose.
Hmm..
Too many missing from Spotify.
Nothing at all by “It’s A Beautiful Day”. An outrage!
Spotify is a civilian service, obvs.
Aha! So it’s Bob the Mouth! Not only that but I’ve actually got the album. I think I played it once, didn’t give it enough time, and went back to listening to the Vegetarians album instead, which I thought (and still think) to be an absolute belter.
Most intriguing track: The Handsome Family. Are all of theirs like this, like a spoken Hopper painting? Is this in any way indicative of what to expect? Or are they wildly eclectic? I hope it’s the latter, cos then I’d be tempted to investigate further.
Very popular with Uncut. Featured on 10 of their coverdiscs over the years. Basically it’s Brett and Rennie Sparks, a married couple living in New Mexico. She’s the wordsmith, with a very peculiar worldview, he’s the one writes the music and mostly sings them with a dark baritone voice. They are both lovers of the old dark and bleak folk and country songs.
.
I first noticed them in Jim White’s movie “Searching For The Wrong-Eyed Jesus” in which one of the things they do is performed out in the open somewhere and she accompanies him on the musical saw.
Handsome Family are terrific. Aeons ago the Oyster Band had them on a tour. I hope they copped a fortune for their soundtracking of, if I recall correctly, True Detective series 1.
Simone White gets added to the “follow up” list.
Lord Kitchener! Of course! Lance Percival owes him a few pints.
@Mike_H and @Bamber
…and here’s my run-through of Bamber’s rather splendid “Don’t Shoot Until You See The Whites…!” compilation:
We start with a snippet of what I imagine is a film soundtrack – “Don’t shoot until you see the whites. Period” – is this something from a Tarantino movie? It sounds like it ought to be, but I don’t recall which one if it is.
Then we’re off with a big bombastic romp of a track, presumably called “White with no sugar”, judging from what seems to be the chorus. There’s a half-spoken vocal that’s embarrassingly gauche, all 1980s knowing metropolitan swagger, but maybe it’s just trying for a tongue in cheek attitude. Whichever, it’s a harmless sing along. Not my cuppa, but not a “skip” either.
We progress to the second piece, and this time it’s a punky banjo stomp complete with slide guitar, frantic bass and kitchen sink. The lyric is a jaunty tale of obsession, and the music never fails to bring a smile in support of the whimsy. The male voice is probably American, and I am completely at a loss to guess who they are. Best track so far, for my money.
Oooh, a change of emphasis; grungy Chris Squireish bass, Hammond and synth wash sweeps and stabs and a melody on a flute. I’m waiting for a vocal, it’s taking its time to arrive, with a great prog-like build. Now we getting real funky and the vocals arrive; there’s a definite Stevie Wonder vibe going on crossed with an orchestral sensibility that recalls Yes at their best. I feel I should know who this, it’s certainly the sort of thing I have in my R&B/Soul stash – maybe something from one of the “5 Classic Albums” boxes from one of the psychedelic soul bands that I’ve never played? This is an absolute stonker!! Terrific.
By way of contrast, the next track begins with a closely miked acoustic guitar playing a gentle little refrain. There’s a Celtic air about this already and then the voice arrives; a strong male singing in what I believe to be Irish. This is truly superb; I only wish I had a translation to know the meaning. No matter, the delivery is perfectly listenable simply by the quality of its feeling and care. Wonderful, wonderful track. Tell me more; I will be investing.
Oh, hang on, with the next track we’re still out West, at least somehow in spirit – this sounds like a Waterboys number in many ways, but it’s not Mike Scott singing. This is a really nice easy going humalong tune, sung well and with an interesting arrangement – it doesn’t set anything on fire, but has the same sort of ambience as a JJ Cale number – easy on the ear and surprisingly hooky – I’ll listen to this again and wonder who it is, but more to the point, I’ll be humming along. Very promising. But who is it?
A woman sings over a languid guitar and a very 70s sort of arrangement – my first instinct was to wonder if it might be Judy Tzuke, but the voice doesn’t turn out to be good enough or strong enough for that conclusion, and I’m left thinking it could be any one of many singers whose works I don’t know. The arrangement puzzles me; it sounds so old school, and so reminiscent of something I know, but never really provides a hook I can settle upon. In the end I admit defeat, but I’m not that bothered, as this one has, unfortunately, rather left me flat and uninterested.
Ha! There’s no mistaking the next song. I lusted after Helga Anders for years as a boy, and the theme tune is a brilliant piece of shimmering Europop catchiness. Given that the song is so well known, I’m tempted to Google, and the list of covers tells me that this is The Kitchens Of Distinction – I would NEVER have placed them from the performance. Which probably says something rather good about both the song and the artist. What a splendid inclusion – worth the price of admission just for this gem!
Right ho, we’re off again and now it’s time for some T Rex meets Goldfrapp boogie in an ironic style. Shame the production is so harshly in your face, and the level of distortion is way too high – is this mastered from a crappy mp3 or something? Once again I have no idea who these are, but quite frankly the faux-seventies schtick is wearing thin as my ears start to scream. Ghastly racket. ENOUGH OF THIS: NEXT!
We seem to have plummeted from the heights of psychedelic soul, gorgeous Celtic folk and classy hook-laden pop to a slurry pit of US punky noise now. Hang on, the song’s unwinding differently now, and there’s more going on than at first appears in the initial 30 seconds. Someone’s having fun in the studio with this one, and there’s much more interesting things to hear after two and half minutes. We are almost in Talking Heads territory by now. This is going-out-on-a-Saturday-evening music; gets the pulse rate up and makes me want the first pint of the evening. Started out awfully, got better, and ended with a flourish. Quite like this. Who the hell are they?
Next song, and this is unmistakably very similar to late period blondie, though it’s not Debbie. When we reach the chorus whoever she is starts channelling Debbie big-time. She has a growl that’s very Harry! This is a good time power-pop number that ends with retreating violins that have otherwise been swamped by guitars, drums and all sorts of tuneful mayhem. Interesting.
A mournful slide guitar embellishes the next song, another gem from the unmistakeable pen of Jim (he even name checks himself in this song!) White. I discovered this chap some years ago on the tail of a chase across the edges of contemporary American country music – I’d been listening to Terry Allen’s brilliant Lubbock On Everything and I landed on Jim. Result.
An audible click on the track as the dozen comes up. Are we DJ Shadowing? Nothing much seems to happen here, in rather the same way that nothing much seems to happen during a DJ Shadow side, but at the end of it you wonder exactly what it was you’ve just heard, because it leaves a distinct mood that’s hard to pin down. Intriguing – I’d like to know who put this together.
All told another fascinating collection, some good, some rather less so, and a couple that will certainly lead to further explorations – which is what this lark is all about after all.
Tracks 2,3,4, 5 and 7 here are my keepers, given that I already have the Jim White!
@Mike_H and @Bamber
Here’s the gory detail of my effort for CD Swap 4:
1) Clear White Light (Part 2) – Lindisfarne.
This is from their first album, Nicely Out Of Tune. I cannot recommend this album highly enough – Alan Hull rarely did anything less than excellent, and this album is a real joy of a thing, chock full of great playing, great singing and great lyrics. Meet Me On The Corner meant that everyone knew the follow up album, Fog On The Tyne, but for me the first one has a deeper attraction.
2) Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White – The Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Pass me the hair pomade, start up the Vee-8 and let’s ride down town in that pretty convertible, hombre.
3) Winta – Rachid Taha
Bit of a cheat, as I’m sure Winta does not translate as vaguely related to white in any truly interpretable fashion, but I was playing Tekitoi as I made a shortlist and couldn’t resist the temptation. Stunning album, do investigate if you haven’t already.
4) Calm – White Breath
This is just a nice chill track from an early Ibiza comp – I wanted to provide a palette cleanser before continuing. It’s a shame that I didn’t realise that, due to the nature of the comp, the track cuts out abruptly instead of morphing into the next in a soporific sea of MDMA vibe-arama chillsomeness. Sorry about that.
5) Blues For Snowy – Ernie Graham
There had to be one track on here that was likely to be unknown to both of you – I plumped for this track from the single obscure album that Ernie Graham put out in the seventies. He was in a band called Eire Apparent, famous for having put out an LP produced by Hendrix, and then, briefly, in the rather more fab Help Yourself. So, awash with countercultural vibes and extremely well connected. The track is played by some of the Helps and some of the Brinsleys, and suffers a bit from the pub-rock overtones (i.e. they were probably all pissed).
6) White Rhino Tea –Ozric Tentacles
Yes, it’s modern prog. Yes, they go all widdly for minute after minute. Yes, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Not even of the White Rhino persuasion. But it fits, and it’s different, and I like them. So there.
7) White Belly – Belly
I had to be able to say that “I prefer their early stuff”, so here it is. The band whose first run seems to have vanished from the radar; you never seem to hear the early material mentioned, and yet they did some outstanding stuff back then. This is from Star, the debut album, wherein Tanya Donelly and pals deliver some fine work. They flourished, they faded, they returned, but the early stuff is rarely heard of. Listen again, they were on to something, even then.
8) Love In The Milky Way – Sarah Klang
The title track from the album of the same name, this was on an earlier CD Swap disk that I received from @locust. I liked it so much I bought the album, which is really very good indeed. When the theme was announced for this swap, I realised I could re-use the track and spread the word even further. So now you’ve heard her, I hope you investigate.
9) Mr White – Khruangbin
This is the opening track on their album The Universe Smiles Upon You, and for them it certainly does as they seem to be making a nice career out of simple gentle, vaguely jazzy noodling. Fair play to them. I put this on for background music (like the Café del Mar stuff) which allows the listener to drop in for a few bars of attention and then come back into the room without too much effort.
10) White Rabbit – The Damned
What can I say? A breathless run through of the Jefferson Airplane classic from the nutters in The Damned. Good fun, even though it’s neither a stone classic doper version or a completely deconstructed monster recreation transformer version. It’s just the lads belting out a tune and shouting over it.
11) Whiteys On The Moon – Gil Scott Heron
With a theme like this, there had to be a little bit of politics on board, so here’s Gil, relatively straight, reciting a bit of agit-prop in front of a friendly crowd. Gives a chuckle the first few times, then you realise its delivered its payload, and you don’t need to hear it again.
12) Ride A White Swan – T Rex
From the Godchild of Glam, Prince of Pixies, frizzy-haired Hampstead and Notting Hill style warrior, ruthless, platform heeled, two-penny-prince, street-walking five-foot giant of self-belief, widely hemmed trousers and skin-tight glittery shirts, the mainman himself, Mr. M. Bolan, esquire, late of the Beltane. There are no more like him and never shall there be. Uh!
Yes, the reviews made it clear for me that you’d recycled that track from the Space-swap! Glad you found and enjoyed her album (I suspect she has a new one on the way, soon).
For @Mike_H and @vulpes-vulpes here’s the tracklisting for my compilation ”Don’t shoot until you see the whites…”
(1) Intro: Excerpt from the film Fear of a Black Hat – an underrated classic. Worth watching for the explanation of the difference between a bitch and a ho alone.
(2) White No Sugar – the Clint Boon Experience – I had another track from this album on my last Afterword Space compilation. Never liked the Inspiral Carpets but his solo stuff is more fun.
(3) Who’s to Say – Blanche featuring Jack White – Two for the price of one here in terms of White-qualification. Not a fan of either acts but I like this track.
(4) Morning Glory/Life and Death Pt1/White Rose/Life and Death Pt2 – Chairmen of the Board – Yes it’s the GMJALMT hitmakers. Quite a polarised response to this one. I thought it was the most Afterword friendly track on my compilation. I love it. I had it on a funk compilation I’m fond of.
(5) An Buachaillin Ban – Iarla O’Lionaird – The title means the Little (or young) White (or blond) Boy. My Irish isn’t good enough to translate the lyrics. Iarla was the singer with the Afro-Celt Sound System, a band who always seemed to be supporting Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart. He’s now in the Irish Trad supergroup The Gloaming. I prefer his solo stuff. There’s lots on Spotify worth checking out. We would probably have named our son, born November last year, Iarla if we didn’t already have a cooler name picked out.
(6) The Cake Sale featuring Josh Ritter – Vapour Trails – The Cake Sale was an Irish indie charity project. Josh Ritter is huge in Ireland and he guested on this cover of a Bell X1 (another really good Irish band) track. I’d initially decided to go with Joan as Police Woman’s gorgeous cover version of the same song but then I wanted another of her songs on this compilation. The white connection is in the opening line.
(7) Hard White Walls – Joan as Police Woman – This was the Joan song I wanted to include (to muted acclaim!) I’m a big fan of hers. She’s so musical and has such an odd vocal style. Her live shows are generally great too.
(8) White Horses – Kitchens of Distinction – I remembered I had this odd cover version somewhere on a CD single. It is of course the theme music to one of those lame foreign language programmes that BBC tried to fob off on holidaying schoolchildren in the 70s after Why Don’t You was finished. I think it sounds quite like the Manics in places and some of the guitar tones are enjoyable. Not surprised it took a Google.
(9) White Collar Boy – Belle & Sebastian – Speaking of crap 70s foreign language programmes for schoolchildren B&S were named after another. I nearly left this track off as I figured it would be too well known among the Afterword cognoscenti. You clearly wished I had…
(10) Mess Your Hair Up – White Denim – I know very little about this band except this track which was on an Uncut compilation. I like the energy and general tone of kitchensinkery.
(11) White Fox – Ham Sandwich – I had to include this once I drew Vulpes Vulpes. Another Irish band. To be honest They’re a much better band than this suggests and their albums are getting better as time goes by. She’s a great singer.
(12) Girl from Brownsville Texas – Jim White. Well you both obviously know your Jim White so I won’t bother to elaborate.
(13) White Heaven in Hell – L. Pierre (aka Lucky Pierre) These would be among my favourite purveyors of ambient electronica. They are usually slightly unsettling in tone but I find their use of orchestral samples and less obvious beats sets them apart from other acts.
Thanks lads. As ever I’ve enjoyed the exchange of music and opinions. Looking forward to the next one already.
You’ve inspired my purchse of a disc from Iarla – the one with the track you chose upon it – a bunch of CDs from the Kitchens – including the single with the White Horses cover! – a band of whom I knew very little before – and a copy of that charity CD with the Josh Ritter track. I have a few of his already, but this track doesn’t show up on any of his albums, so I’ve invested in the charity comp; hope the other tracks are as charming as his!
Chairman Of The Board! YES! I have the little box that holds all of their Invictus recordings, and this is from one of those. My neighbours will be hearing this later on this morning if the day is warm enough to open all the windows, it’s a monster!
P.S. @Mike_H “Bad Prog”????? Rinse out yer ears old son, this is joyful!
I have yet to detect any funk in this, but I’ll give it another try just in case my ears have turned to cloth.
Bit worried that you chose not to call your son Iarla because you already had “a cooler name picked out”.
So what is he called? Hotpoint? Bosch? Miele?
Thanks for your concern @vulpes-vulpes He’s called Carrig which is the Irish word for rock, as in sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic rather than the music genre. It’s a longish story that wouldn’t make much sense in the telling. Actually sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic would have been great middle names!
I’m glad my CD has inspired some purchases. There’s no higher praise in my book.
@ron-cucumber / @deviant808 / @tinysuns
Both safely received and have given them both a couple of listens this week, so full reviews to come – probably at the weekend – but just to say in advance that I thoroughly enjoyed both of them.
I see you have received your formal feedback now, so I will add my thoughts on our usual, illicit side-swap in due course! 🙂
Gulp
Looks like you’re just missing one review @StellarX ?
Give me a nudge when you’ve had that and I’ll eviscerate^D^D^D^D^D^D^D^D^D^Dreview your mix accordingly 😉
Ha Ha – I cannot wait! Yes indeed – just one more review to come – I shall alert you in due course!
At the risk of – inadvertently and unintentionally – offending a few previous swappers, I had to psyche myself up to take part in this as previous iterations have either been so far from my tastes that I never listened to anything off them again, or so close that I knew (and often loved) the majority of the tracks already. So thanks to you two restoring my faith!
Ron feedback
1) A couple of discordant guitar stabs ahead of the loping beat coming in, and it’s something that nearly made it onto mix so I won’t say yet. Double compliance with the rule of course, from the title and the fact the animal in the group name is often white (he says trying to confirm he does know this but without spoiling it for anyone else…)
2) Fairly sure this is Aretha Franklin? So of course it’s great. Not sure on the link though.
3) Menacing, prowling electro/guitar throbber. I thought I’d heard this before from the first listen but couldn’t place it. Then caught the title near the end on the third listen and realised who it was. I’ve heard and liked a couple of other things by this lot, should probably investigate further.
4) Distinctive drawl to his vocals, and his ID was confirmed when he started name-dropping himself just to be sure. Great stuff, though not sure of the link again.
5) Sultry female vocals over minimal guitar strumming. Not something I’d normally listen to, but it sounds perfectly good in context. Mentions crests of waves, that are white?
6) Not sure I’d have recognised this as such as I’ve not heard it in ages and it sounds a bit different to how I remember it, but I did spot the title that’s used in the first couple of seconds so that gave it away and so we’ll never know! Angular punk-funk classic, link’s in his name (no spoilers!)
7) Mentions “White Dry Lipstick”, which sounds lovely, then “She’s dark white” so a few connections. Sounds a bit late-seventies / early-eighties initially, but the more I hear it the more I think it’s a bit earlier than that. Goes a bit hysterical and more psychedelic as it builds towards the climax. Did enjoy that, but probably don’t need to hear it again too many times.
8) Something bleepy and more contemporary, that I really rather like and is probably titled “White Noise”? I’ve heard this before, but there’s no way I’m going to place it
9) Howling punk-ish noise pop, chaotic stuff.
10) Easy listening time, which was a bit of a chance of direction! Mentions a “White Bird” that sits in her cage, so there’s the link. Again, not something I’d probably come across normally (which is half the point of these things) and it sounds perfectly fine as part of the overall mix.
11) Another sultry female vocal over a jazz-styled backing, but a modern(ised) one with hip-hop beats underpinning it. Really rather good.
12) A bit of an electro stomper to finish with on a high note. Vocal comes in half-way through and sounds like it’s David Bowie? Either a remix of “Jump They Say”, or something that’s sampled it? Haven’t heard it recently enough to tell how much of the original is in here 🙂
Tiny Suns feedback
1) Jazzy horn-powered stomper to get off to a good opening, something about “Honey White” in there as a link. Really liked this.
2) Thought I recognised her voice straight away, but wasn’t sure and it took me a couple of plays to place who I was thinking of. Is it Chumbawamba? Title might be “White-Washing”, or at least that’s in the lyrics. I’ve got a couple of their albums and do like them. Particularly like how this ones goes a bit nuts towards the end.
3) Don’t generally go for singer-songwritery acoustic guitar types, but this has a bit more heft and life to it than the stuff I normally avoid, so found myself rather enjoying it. No clue who it is or the connection
4) Lilting piano opening, crystal cut vocals, something about a White Room? Works nicely in context.
5) Americana/Country song about White Horses. I’d rarely listen to a full album, but I’m fond myself of dropping a Hank Snow or similar into a mix as a contrast, so I approve of this.
6) Something about White Devils in an americana-influenced indie style. I like this, nice clattery edge-of-collapse drumming towards the end.
7) Short and Sharp post-punk/funk thing that came very close to making it onto my mix too.
8) Change of pace and a more traditional country number. Nice clear voice, but not something I’d play outside this context. It was a real grower (no pun intended on the mention of white roses) though.
9) Psychedelic space-rock, clattering drums, doomy spoken word bit, lots going on!
10) Recognise this one, great stuff.
11) Harmonica leads into a jauntier country offering than track 8, sounds a bit familiar but I can’t place it. Interested to hear who this is.
12) Christ, I’ve not heard this – or them – in ages! I was living in Coventry when they first appeared and there was a huge buzz around those first singles.
@deviant808 Spot on with no.1! And yes, I was particularly pleased with the double-compliance!
And no.12 is indeed a remix, by Leftfield. I only stumbled across it whilst doing this CD, but thought it added something to the original (and the ending was a gift to close on!)
@tinysuns
1. A saxy beast. Something white gets mentioned (pearly white?), but no further clue. Bit Jim Jones Review-ish, but not his voice. I do quite like it.
2. Girl singer in the 80’s indie verses switches to a male voice for the 90’s shouty indie chorus. Then a bit with clanging chords that sounds like the 70’s Jam. Chumbabwumba springs to mind. No idea who it is or why, but not my thing.
3. Acoustic guitar ebbs and flows. Chap promises to buy somebody lots of stuff – a Cadillac, a house on the hill – he must be flush. Nothing familiar about it to my ears, but enjoyable. No idea of its white-ness.
4. Electric piano and female voice, threatens to get more dramatic than pulls back. I like this. Again, no clue as to who. Reminds me a bit of Smoke Fairies, but I don’t think it’s them. Then it’s over so soon.
5. Bit more of a country-ish shuffle. Six white horses seems to be the link – pleasant track, and a good change of tone in context of the mix.
6. Something about a “white devil”. Singer stiffles a laugh at one point, so perhaps not entirely serious. Though then starts ranting about Tony Blair. Random!
7. Punky, bit like the Slits. Mentions a white horse. Then gone in a flash.
8. Country-folk. White Roses. No idea who it is though. I like the natural drum sound and the wah-wah guitar bit lifts it out of becoming too MOR/Radio 2.
9. I do like a change of pace on a mixtape, and here we go into into something dramatic. Can’t hear a white link. No idea who it is (again!). Like it.
10. Hardcore punk. Mentions/shouts(!) white in chorus. Not my bag, but certainly contrasts with…
11. …country-folk! Dylan-esq (but it’s not him). White light gets a mention.
12. Is this Carter USM? It’s that sort of shouty, tinny 90’s indie, ends this otherwise enjoyable mix.
Don’t think I’ve recognised or even guessed a single one of the artists of these (not a bad thing!). Some white links in the lyrics, and maybe some of the artists/titles will reveal their white-ness. I enjoy mixtapes with contrasting styles and changes of tone/pace, tracks that I might not choose on their own, but work next to something different, and this delivers on that score. For me, I’d keep 1,3,4,8,9 and interested to find out who they are. Coolio.
@deviant808
1. A ‘White Lightning’ refrain gets the theme in early-doors. Late 50’s sound with a Johhny Cash/Elvis style backing, but no idea who it is. Good opener.
2. Ohh, now I recognise this one, “Blank” makes a good link to the theme. Top tune and link.
3. Like a punkier B52’s with The Specials’ Ghost Town’s backing vocals, but no idea. Mentions Beachy Head, home of the white cliffs…. smart link!
4. Pop punk, like a female fronted Ash. Enjoyable in the mix.
5. Yep, had this on my short list too, but took it off the ‘next day’…
6. Drums at the start made me think of the Only Fools and Horses theme(!). Then goes post-punk, Siouxsie and the banshees style (not sure it’s them though, or is it? Or is it the Slits?)
7. Early 90’s indie. Seems to be about dry eyes? Passes me by a bit this one.
8. Good link – ‘a whiter shade of’! And good track too, I enjoyed his recent solo album.
9. I know this one too (it’s definitely not rubbish), though not heard this version before – is that Tricky mumbling in the background?! There’s a good Massive Attack remix worth a listen too, if you haven’t already. They just need a Portishead version for the full Bristol.
10. “Walking with the ghost” – presumably the white link? No idea who, though might investigate further once revealed. Punky-pop. Nice sound. Helium voice!
11. “White Car” Clear link, but I’ve no idea who this is. Pleasant enough in the mix, but wouldn’t go back to it.
12. Crikey, this is awful! Some nonsense about Cocaine Sex (presumably the white link?). Sounds a bit like Pop Will Eat Itself / late 80’s. Really not aged well to my ears!
All in all, another good variety pack of tunes, thanks!
13+ blimey, this is awful, is that Eminem? Not my bag. After that I heard Manics, Therapy, Curtis, Gary Newman, Ride. But when it comes to a mix tape, I think 12 remains the magic number.
First off, I am SO happy to have had plenty of women represented on both these mixes, and cracking variety of styles too.
@ron-cucumber
I really enjoyed this mix; not a duff track in sight and lots to investigate further.
1. Muslim call to prayer(?) coupled with someone playing flanged guitar and tin can drumming. A whispering female voice and then a whump-whump beat kicks in, it starts to sound like something I know. A remix of…. I’m pretty sure this is something I have on the NME’s Singles of the Week 1993 cassette (still played regularly in my ancient old car that only has a cassette player) but I can’t remember who it is. A cracking extended remix. Great start.
2. Continuing on a dance theme but classic piano driven soul. Aretha? Great groove.
3. Low rumbling grooves, mumbling vocals, slightly psychedelic, druggy lyrics and snaky guitar riff. Slightly ‘eastern’ vibes, degenerates into shrieking. No idea what it is, but it’s tremendous.
4. Programmed beats, a very distinctive and instantly recognisable old skool rapper. Tinny beats, laconic rhymes, samples, refers to himself in the third person. Good work.
5. Patti Smith/Kim Deal-esque vox over a more mainstream tune. Doomily melodic, I like this too.
6. Beats and tapping, more female vocals and angular guitar kicks in. Another seductive bassline with skronky jazzy sax, ladies singing contort yourself. I’m genuinely unsure if this is some 1970s No Wave cult classic or it could just as easily be something from DFA’s punk-funk majestic 00s period.
7. Organ and bass intro – leading into a tortured torch song with haunted backing vox. Another corker
8. Great, this was on my long-list but got whittled out. Back on modern ground, thumping, driving bass. The sound of Saturday night.
9. Funky 60s groove with croaky bluesy vox. No idea who or what.
10. Glockenspiel grooves, more 60s vibes, male-female duetting, like Lee and Nancy on a serious day, being covered by Bill Medley and Grace Slick. Violin solo, folky, Spanish guitar. Love this.
11. Back to the beats, but with a balearic vibe and a mellow female vocal. Probably the most conventional track on this mix and therefore my least favourite
12. Sax, acid baseline and beats. When the voice finally kicks in there’s only one person this can be but this is some kind of gothy industrial remix beast and it’s brilliant.
@deviant808 yours to follow in the week, I’m on a train for work tomorrow so time for another listen through
Sounds like you’re nearly there with no.1, though I think it’s the original version, not a remix (see discussion up the top, where someone else also has this track too!)
No.4 – the beats aren’t programmed but a sample… their original source being the link to the theme…
@deviant808
Clever interpretation of the theme here, clearly worked a lot harder than I did at thinking round the topic. I don’t get all the links, so looking forward to the reveal. A good eclectic mix, with some I loved, and one or two I really didn’t like, but to be honest that’s no bad thing at all!
1. A cautionary Rock ‘n’ Roll tale of homebrew hooch. Hopefully not the eponymous 1980s stuff.
2. A punk classic, scratchy guitar and mellifluous bass. Amazing how melodic many of these sound now.
3. Something much more lo-fi and tinny. Could be one of hundreds of Peel bands but whatever it is, it’s absolutely cracking stuff! Loved it.
4. Starts with a car engine then driving indie guitars. Sounds like Taylor Swift ripping off the Undertones. Fab, no apologies pop.
5. Clattering psych, pretty sure this is by someone I should know but I don’t. Full of 60s archetypes, backwards guitar, panning across the headphones, whispering subliminal backing vocals, staccato guitar, Syd Barrett intonation. Very much of it’s time but good fun.
6. Nice walking (more like skipping) bass line, tinny guitars and teutonic female vox, but, I think, in English. Sounds great, an indie Lene Lovich. Whoops and handclaps are always a good combo in my book.
7. Fey indie-ishness, I want to say The Lightning Seeds or similar literate guitar pop. Pretty sure this would have been all over Radio 1 in the mid-nineties.
8. Latin tinged, Love-influenced pop, I’m sensing a liking for singers/lyricists that can cram lots of words into every sentence. I’m going to hazard a guess that this is from Liverpool.
9. Ah yes, listened to this loads when it came out. Lush and trip-hoppy with Tricky-esque rasping in the background.
10. Familiar-seeming helium female vocals, but can’t quite place it. This is going to bug me…
11. Another instantly recognisable voice with a scratchy punk funk vibe. No idea if this dates from his early or late phase, but the lack of hip-hop influence makes me lean towards the early eighties end.
12. More eighties. The kind of indie electro HipHop mash up that was thrilling to me at the time but sounds quite thin and dated now that I’m old and jaded. I’m guessing it’s someone like Age of Chance or PWEI? Takes me back, but ultimately outstays its welcome.
13. Eminem being angry. Plenty of others do this much better (and I do have a very big soft spot for a shouty rant). I’ve never knowingly listened to this before and it’s enjoyable enough.
14. I always like the idea of them more than the reality.
15. Really horrible funk metal with samples and indistinguishable mumbling through a loudhailer. Next.
16. New age-y water ripples through bamboo and then into some twanging guitars. This feels intriguing and could go either way… Ah, the voice comes in and clarifies who it is. I like this.
17. Dramatic opening and then klaaang, we’re into some tinny eighties production again (I’m not knocking it, it was my era). Sounds like a restrained Marc Almond fronting an electro Stones. Flips out a bit after the 4 min mark with some spoken geographical observations. I’m left intrigued.
18. Soulful, but rather tuneless. Another distinctive voice but he’s done plenty of this stuff much better elsewhere.
19. Blimey haven’t heard this in years. Sounds like he’s fronting RHCP with that slinky bass line. Not someone I’d usually seek out but I enjoyed hearing it here. Except for that sax break. Despite starting my own mix with some saxophone it’s not generally an instrument I’m that fond of
20. Squalling indie guitars, and drawling, snarly female vocals. I like the music better. than the singing, wish there was an instrumental mix of this one
21. Can’t remember who this is but I know it, pleasant melodic 90s indie jangle.
Good effort from @tinysuns there commenting on the whole bloated selection 🙂 Glad you liked a lot of it.
11) Interested who you think this is, given that I think your comment suggests you’ve pegged them as a solo artist when it’s actually a group…
14) My thoughts on them exactly, this is the only album of theirs that I have and I only bought it cheap pre-Spotify out of curiosity!
11) I thought was Scritti Politti, who I mentally think of as Green
That’s interesting. It’s not Green and I’d have never thought to compare them, but now you mention it I can see some similarity.
11 – Got me stumped! His voice sounds a bit like Nine Inch Nails?
OK, I’ll put you both out of your misery. The vocals are by Stephen Mallinder and the group is Cabaret Voltaire.
Blimey, I need to listen more attentively!
I only know their name and Neville Brody’s artwork (I’m one of them there graphic designers) but never knowingly heard their music… a quick dip into YouTube and they seem interesting… I would have guessed they were a bit goth, but looks like they were making House music around the early 90’s… will investigate further!
Pretty positive overall, I’ll take that 🙂 I think you’re right too, I really should fight the urge to fill up the whole CD and stick to the track limit otherwise it gets a bit much. I knew tracks 12 was going to be a Love It Or Hate It Thing, which is why it was the end of the official mix.
It became the Be Here Now of mixtapes – no track left unfilled!
I think in the end I just *really* wanted to get track 16 on there somewhere as the connection amused me (it’s easily done), but it didn’t quite fit in as part of the main mix.
Okay – so I am not officially part of this group but Deviant808 and I have for many years (in various CD swaps in one guise or another) always had a clandestine secret side-exchange to inflict our mixes on one another. It’s become a tradition – one I look forward-to far more than any bloody boat race.
So here is my unsolicited verdict on @Deviant808‘s latest offering:
01 – Classic 50’s Rock & Roll (“White Lightning”) the song title clearly being the link. I can imagine this kind of song causing quite a stir at its time of release, and being much beloved by youngsters of that era (it being such a departure from prior established popular music culture). Looking at it in that context, it’s probably a ‘classic’ – but listening with the ears of a 54 year old in 2019, it’s a but ‘meh’. I’m such a philistine. 3/10
02 – An excellent, circular guitar riff is the backbone of this splendid, late 70s punk classic. “Blank Generation”. Not heard it in simply ages and it sounds better than ever. 6/10
03 – Sinister chords and Gregorian-esque chanting are the foundation for this gothic-rock romp. Not heard it before but I presume it is entitled “Beachyhead”
given how much that place is mentioned. Maybe the artist name is the link? Or the opening line “White cliffs coming to a raging sea”? The song is perfectly acceptable but whilst I’d never skip it, I probably wouldn’t specifically seek it out, either. 4/10
04 – Ah yes this has ‘you’ written all over it in terms of musical taste! Guitar-driven, female vocal lead, Indy-pop. A thoroughly catchy, engaging little
number. The voice is familiar so I probably should recognize it. Quality tune. No idea of the link. 6/10
05 – The original (and best) version of “My White Bicycle” which gives us our link. Nazareth did a cover in the 70s but the sound and production are surely late 60s, so this must be the original. Nice one. 6/10
06 – Excellent choice. Another favourite I’d not heard in a very long time (too long!). Circa 1980? Post-punk Indy-pop from the Mo-Dettes – I remember
hearing this for the first time on ‘Peel’ – as fine an endorsement as there is. 7/10
07 – Not a clue who this is or what it’s called or what the them link is – but I bloody love it. Fabulously haunting, melodic guitar-pop. Can’t wait to find
out who it is and discover more. The ‘vibe’ screams mid 80s but the production feels more recent. Top tune. 7/10
08 – Among 1980s Liverpool’s finest. Deserved far more success and recognition than they received. I’ve always had a soft spot for them there Fountains. It’s a pleasure to hear another old favourite like this. 6/10
09 – Quite literally, Garbage. The final track from their eponymous first album, the song title being the link. I remember buying this from HMV in Manchester, the week it was released. I had accompanied a mutual friend of ours who needed moral support when getting his nose pierced, for fear of what his works colleagues might think. The poor bugger contracted ‘flu the following week. It wasn’t pretty. Not a bad track on the album, which is riven with powerful Indy rock and hauntingly mournful tunes such as this. Bloody hell, it takes me back. 5/10
10 – No idea who this is but it’s very teeny-pop, basic and annoyingly repetitive. “Walking with the Ghost” – ghost being the link (ghosts being traditionally white?). Not my bag at all. 1/10
11 – Solid 80s ‘techno’ courtesy of Cabaret Voltaire. Another track I first heard on ‘Peel’ if memory serves. The 12″ of ‘Sensoria’ is a particular favourite – but the song title here reveals a theme link of a vehicular nature. Quality. 6/10
12 – Jesus this is bad. A pounding back-beat, with some blurt banging on about Cocaine. I have fathomed the link but I cannot fathom why anyone would want to listen to this awfulness. 0/10
Thus endeth the official 12 track listing. On to the (un?)expected extras! 😉
13 – An intro proclaims, “America we love you” – and then uber-sweary rap shite commences. Utterly, utterly dreadful. Can I give a negative value please?
Minus ‘something’ out of ten. Terrible.
14 – A sample of a 1980s news announcer suddenly bursts into what can only be the Manics. “There ain’t no black in the Union Jack” – the song is familiar but I’ve never liked it, despite the laudable anti-right-wing sentiment. Too tuneless and shouty for me. 2/10
15 – I don’t know what this is and frankly, I don’t care. An audible nightmare. 0/10
16 – The link here is the plumage of our avian friend in the song title. I have a love/hate relationship with this band. What I like, I love – what I don’t like, I hate. This falls into the latter category, sadly. He can be a miserable fucker. 2/10
17 – Probably my favourite artist (of this genre) from the early 80s. The song title is obviously the theme link. Not one his finest (IMHO) but he never fails to deliver a tremendous bass-line. Give me ‘Wind Power’ or ‘Hyperactive’ any day over this – but it’s not entirely unpleasant. 3/10
18 – Groovy funk on a stick. The legendary, much-missed, mighty, mighty Curtis Mayfield. Again the song title is the theme link. 7/10
19 – The unmistakable vocals of Gary Numan. I never realised his backing sounded so ‘Level 42 ‘ before. Weird. ‘White boys and heroes’ is our link. Average averageness. 3/10.
20 – Too noisy and far too ‘force-produced’ to sound fuzzy and gritty. Make it stop. 0/10.
21 – The excellent ‘Ride’ channeling their finest ‘Charlatans’, keeping that Brit-Pop flame alive at all costs! 😉 A pleasant 6/10.
I have to say that on the whole I really liked this mix. Had you stopped at the mandatory 12 my overall comments would have appeared even more positive. Swap out 10 & 12 for 18 & 21 and you have a mix devoid of criticism whilst full of praise. Cheers for the fun ride!
Just spotted this, which might be the most positive feedback I’ve yet had from you.
Which just shows what a curmudgeon you are give the number of zero ratings 😉
Well, that’s a clean sweep of downvotes for Renegade Soundwave (track 12), which I sort of knew was a distinct possibility and accordingly I dithered for a while over including it. Eventually compromised by making it the last track of the official mix section, figuring that it was worth it as if anyone actually *did* like it then they’d absolutely love it, plus you shouldn’t pander (too much) to your audience in these things either!
Biggest surprise was that you disliked 10 so much, most predictable reaction was that you hated 12 & 15 🙂
#7 is one of my absolute favourite groups, and there’s lots of stuff to discover from them if you like this, though they did split up a while ago so it’s a finite amount. There are also a couple of other bands that the lead singer’s been in, all of whom are equally good…
Actually, I’ve had all my feedback now so I suppose there’s no reason why I shouldn’t post a tracklist? Or are we doing reveals on another thread?
Ha ha- you know me worryingly well! 😉 Looking forward to everyone’s reveals – speaking of which I can’t remember if I emailed my track listing to moselymoles yet…
I’ve got a memory like a… er… 😉
Another complete set of reviews! Well done, gold stars all round @ron-cucumber / @deviant808 / @tinysuns
Ron had:
1. White Love (Guitar Paradise Mix) – One Dove (from the album: Morning Dove White for a bonus point?!) [editor’s note: CHOOOON]
2. (Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone – Aretha Franklin (Co-written with husband Ted White)
3. Cream Of The Young – Fat White Family
4. Cuttin’ Rhythms – Tone-Lōc (uses a sample from Barry White, (plus Wings, Steely Dan and more!))
5. I See The White – Jess Williamson
6. Contort Yourself – James White & The Blacks
7. Dark White – The Bonniwell Music Machine
8. White Noise (feat. AlunaGeorge) – Disclosure
9. White Belts – MAKE-UP
10. White Bird – It’s a Beautiful Day
11. I’ve Been Thinking – Handsome Boy Modelling School Feat. Cat Power (from the album: White People)
12. Jump They Say (Leftfield Remix) – David Bowie (Original from the album: Black Tie White Noise)
Tinysuns gave us:
01. Honey White – Morphine
02. More Whitewashing – Chumbawamba
03. Medley A) Today Wonder, B) Hey Gyp, C) White Houses – Ed Kuepper
04. The White Room – Mary Timony
05. Six White Horses – Karl Blau
06. White Devil’s Dream – Quasi
07. The White Horse Is Bucking – Erase Errata
08. Plant White Roses – Kelly Hogan
09. White Spider – A Mountain of One
10. Guilty Of Being White – Minor Threat
11. White Light – Gene Clark
12. White – Birdland
(I’m definitely fixing it so I match with them next time)
I don’t seem to have the Deviant’s track listing yet, though. Consider yourself downgraded to a silver star. You could send it to me, or just post it yourself now (unless MM has it?)
Sorry, never did get around to sending you a tracklist, so here it is
1) White Lightning – George Jones
2) Blank Generation – Richard Hell and the Voidoids
3) Beachy Head – Veronica Falls
4) Sour Candy – Bleached
5) My White Bicycle – Tomorrow
6) White Mice – Mo-dettes
7) Ghost of an Unkissed Kiss – Trembling Blue Stars
8) (There’s Always) Something On My Mind – The Pale Fountains
9) Milk – Garbage featuring Tricky
10) Walking With With A Ghost – Tegan and Sara
11) White Car – Cabaret Voltaire
12) Cocaine Sex – Renegade Soundwave
Dodgy Bonus Tracks
13) White America – Eminem
14) ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit’sworldwouldfallapart – Manic Street Preachers
15) Teethgrinder – Therapy?
16) Like Cockatoos – The Cure
17) White City – Thomas Dolby
18) Mighty Mighty (Spade and Whitey) – Curtis Mayfield
19) White Boys and Heroes – Gary Numan
20) Bethesda – Bleach
21) Going Blank Again – Ride
Links should be obvious, especially if you bear in mind that milk/ghosts/teeth/cockatoos are usually white 🙂
Think that is everyone. There was some group-swapping so I’ve done my best. Apols if you’re missed out, just add yourself to the group concerned.
As on previous occasions, I utterly fail to see how listening to any of these CDs could possibly be as entertaining as reading these reviews.
Encore!
What HE said! 😉
It’s also fun to read the reviews and every now and then be able to spot what a track is, even when the reviewer doesn’t have a clue! 🙂
okay, last call people!
As far as I can tell, we still need some reviews from @carl, @SteveT and @mrsmoseleymoles. The anticipation is killing your fellow AWers, please ease their pain.
I am also missing a tracklisting from @contraryarticle (which is quite understandable as she was in my group) – please either forward it on or post it up yourself.
Thanks all.
@Kid-Dynamite have literally just got my Mac back up and running – will take time tomorrow evening to catch up.
Also @Kid-Dynamite I missed a track off the list I sent to you as was doing from memory.
Before Jackie Leven is The Handsome Family – Snow White Diner
They said it would never happen but here it is. My reviews of @Pizon-bros, @timtunes and @StellarX. You can post the lists now @kid-dynamite and @moseleymoles.
First is Pizon Bros
1) I hear it’s something about ‘en hiver’ so I guess it must be snowing. It sounds like it’s from a musical. I have limited tolerance for musicals, I have to admit to that fault.
2) The introduction sounds Turkish/Middle Eastern and the rap that follows seems completely incongruous. The vocalist sounds British, but I have no idea who it could be. Not really my tasse de thé.
3) A Mississippi Blues sounding song. The voice sounds familiar, but I can’t place it. I like this well enough.
4) The vocalist on this rocky number sounds very strained and strange. Don’t try so hard old chap.
5) This is reminiscent of Virginia Astley (whatever happened to…?) and I am quite taken with it.
6) Jazzy blues track. The audience sounds over-dubbed to these ears. The crowd noise seems to lie on top of the sound rather than be part of it.
7) Is this Shriekback? Thirty years ago they were a big favourite and I’d appreciate it more now then I do now. Not that I dislike it at all, I just don’t embrace it as I once would have.
8) It could be Liam Gallagher in some beat combo immersing and investing himself in the sound of Wreckless Eric. It’s decent enough without being an essential listen.
9) This sounds like an extract from an SF film soundtrack with alien teeth chattering prior to eating the humans. The singer has a very annoying voice and perhaps should be consumed by aliens.
10) A long lost friend of mine once proposed that this song was deeply philosophical telling of how the white dove flies over the mountain rather than round it. Magsy, where are you now when I need you?
11) Some 60s sounding garage punk. It’s blessed relief after JK.
12) I don’t know who this is but along with track 7 it’s my favourite on this compilation. There are hints of ABBA in the chorus.
A mixed bag there (isn’t that the point the Afterword masses cry?) but nothing, sadly, I would investigate to any great extent.
Next up is StellarX:
1) Jaws theme – clever intro. Already making me feel a slacker for not trying hard enough.
2) Strange song – newsreel then an early Floyd feel – set the controls for the heart of Arizona.
3) Ah Rodriguez and Sugar Man – the lost singer who could have been Bob Dylan. I quite like this album, but no, he wouldn’t have been a Latino Bob.
4) Another French song, making me feel parochial. I know comparisons are odious, but I like this better than Pizon Brothers French song.
5) Another nice oblique thematic reference with Moby. Philistine that I am, this is the only Moby song I like.
6) Wah! Nostalgia time and the sound of 1983. Reminds me of a girlfriend who wanted to become a Coconut after we went to see Kid Creole. Wonderful indeed.
7) Twangy bass. Guitar a bit like Chris Isaak, but I wonder is it Alabama3?
8) The female vocal really conveys a sense of desperation – I need ice cold water – while the deadpan male chorus contrast nicely. Great song.
9) This is just a bit weird and I can’t think of much to say. Most of what comes to mind is negative, so I’ll move on.
10) This sounds vaguely familiar – some 70s soul from Philly, perhaps? I like the way the call and response brass sound for each speaker. It may be an easy trick but it works for me.
11) The female vocal, contrasting with track 8, is very deadpan and unemotional and very limited in range, maybe deliberately so. After initial scepticism I quit liked it in the end.
12) Opening with acoustic guitar and flute a woman with a slightly husky tone joins in. I like the keyboard playing. A song about a coconut grove. It sounds, again, vaguely familiar.
13) Another visit to 1983 (or maybe 1984) This and its predecessor The Message opened up a whole new musical form. I haven’t hear this for many years. Its message has gone unheeded as the Mexican drug cartels testify.
A lot of work put into this and a pleasant dose of nostalgia for me.
And last, but only because his disc was third in the shuffle into the player, is Tim Tunes.
1) Is this something inspired by Game Of Thrones? Interesting (not à la Steve Davis) but there is limited longevity in the listening experience.
2) The female voice is rather tuneless and there are lots of silly noises behind it. We’ve got more than one synthesiser and by golly we’re going to use them.
3) A bit like Caravan, a bit like early Floyd. This is the first track I could imagine listening to more than once (sorry, Tim).
4) I’m fairly sure this is Dwight Yoakam. Call me limited and retro in my tastes but I think I’d really like to see this band live.
5) Turn off the lights. Heavy bass, maaannnn! It could be a 1980s Liverpool band. Which is not a bad thing.
6) Oh dear lord, what is this mess? Set the synths running then run away yourself.
7) What a contrast with the preceding. Classic 60s Stax/Atlantic soul sound. I should know it, but don’t. No matter splendid stuff!
8) More brass introduce this song. It’s a bizarre lyric. One would almost think the guy has been on acid, though it’s obvious he hasn’t. I think I should know this one too.
9) The unmistakeable, incomparable Sandy. It’s lovely. What can I say about her that hasn’t been said eloquently by many others. Also I don’t know this song, but it’s good to hear something by her that is new to my ears.
10) I first I thought it was Christy Moore, then decided it wan’t. It’s good but not great, but it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.
Which cannot be said for 11) After a finger picked introduction which I thought might lead to a Byrds copyist band it goes very strange. The pauses in the vocal between words are a unique affectation. It’s German I presume and goes on to at least twice the length it should.
12) This is very New Agey. It’s enjoyable but lengthy. A drone, a pulse, indecipherable lyrics with echo. I like it, but wouldn’t buy it.
I’m lost as to where the white is in many songs here.
Splendid deductions young @Carl! Thanks so much for taking the time to provide feedback as I know you have been mega busy of late. Glad you enjoyed the mix! 🙂
I would, @carl, but I’ve just gone to my messages and I don’t seem to have tracklistings from @Pizon-bros, @timtunes OR @StellarX! Seems a bit unlikely that none of them have sent them, so it’s possibly a failure of the messaging system or, ahem, human error on my part. Anyway, hopefully the fine gentlemen in question could post their own up, or forward them on to me….
@Kid Dynamite – Apols sent them to the wrong person (moseleymoles)…
Here is my track listing:
00 – Intro: ‘Jaws’ Main Title Theme (Edit) – John Williams
Theme Link: Jaws is a film about a Great WHITE Shark.
01 – Little Fluffy Clouds – The Orb
Theme Link: Little Fluffy Clouds are WHITE.
02 – Sugarman – David Holmes Presents The Free Asociation featuring Sixto Rodriguez
Theme Link: Sugar is WHITE.
03 – Et Le Blizzard S’Estompe – The Rebels Of Tijuana
Theme Link: A Blizzard is a WHITEout.
04 – Natural Blues – Moby
Theme Link: Moby is named after the WHITE Whale, Moby Dick.
05 – I’m A Wonderful Thing, Baby – Kid Creole And The Coconuts
Theme Link: Coconut flesh is WHITE.
06 – The Klan – Alabama 3
Theme Link: The Ku Klux Klan infamously wear WHITE hoods.
07 – Fishy Fry – Kelis
Theme Link: Battered, fried fish is typically WHITE. I’ll get my coat…
08 – Magazin – White Denim
Theme Link: Band name is WHITE Denim.
09 – Put It Where You Want It – Average White Band
Theme Link: Band name is Average WHITE Band.
10 – Always There When I Need You – Salt Cathedral
Theme Link: Salt is WHITE.
11 – Cocoanut Grove – Affinity
Theme Link: Coconut (sic) flesh is WHITE.
12 – White Lines – Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel And The Furious Five
Theme Link: WHITE Lines.
Sorry, I might have forgotten…
So here it is, @StellarX will I know be very keen to hear….
1 Come Let Us (feat. Gregory Whitehead) Mark Pritchard The Four Worlds 2018 Opening track from one of the albums of last year – OK the white connection is a bit obscure but it’s a good opener, so there
2 Love Without Sound White Noise An Electric Storm 1969 From the classic Radiophonic Workshop associated album
3 White Night Narada Michael Walden Garden Of Love Light 1976 When NMW was into fusion rather than pop disco – ie it didn’t sell
4 Long White Cadillac Dwight Yoakam The Very Best Of Dwight Yoakam 2004 Rockin’ Dwight
5 Turn Off the Lights White Virgins Belgica (Original Soundtrack By Soulwax) 2016 Groovy uptempo number from those Belgian polymaths
6 The White Flash (Trentemøller Remix) Modeselektor Reworked/Remixed 2011 Remix of track also featuring bloke singer from Radiohead
7 Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Danny White Soul of New Orleans 1958-1962 1962 Great old school soul for a change of pace
8 The Little White Cloud That Cried Damon Lane Song Of A Gypsy (Bonus Disc: A Collection Of Damon’s ’60s Recordings) 1968 From bonus disc for the latest lost late 60s masterpiece, good bit of pop
9 White Dress (Live On LWT 9/8/1975) Fairport Convention Rising For The Moon 2013 brief clip here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCdDxIYr9CU
10 Great White Cathedrals John Stewart Willard 1970 Backed by folk rock royalty from great spare 1970 album
11 Die Weisse Alm Sergius Golowin Lord Krishna von Goloka 1973 Getting in on the foreign language rule, this epic track of cosmic krautrock from the czech writer, Myths researcher (!), librarian, publicist and recording artist
12 Then It´s White The Field Looping State Of Mind 2011 Taking us out its Alex Willner with laid-back minimal techno journey into white-ness
Finally! 😉
Great work, thematically. Just think of me as a music neanderthal…
Well, technically, you are the Homo Sapiens Sapiens Sapiens Sapiens (ad libitum), I could with to have the one percent of the hability and the knowledge of both of you.
Oh, I didn’t know ths Sergius Golwin, it is normal that as someone born in former czekoslovakia, who lived in swittzerland, he would speak german. That’s impressive!
What was this thing with Mahavisnu orchestra and your track @timtunes , then? I think that I missed to ask at the time.
@Pizon-bros Narada Michael Walden was a drummer for the Mahavishnu Orchestra
I’ve been on a fusion thing for the last year – for example I did start this thread here last year which led me to this
Oh, I thought that I had sent the tracks from the very beginning.
Here they are @StellarX:@timtunes and @Carl
Pizon-Bros: CD De Blanc
1 Smoking Blanc – Jean Guidoni – Album: Le Rouge et le rose
2 White Flag – Gorillaz Feat. Bashy , Kano & T; – Album: Plastic Beach
3 Black Brown White – Big Bill Broonzy Album: Big Bill Blues
4 Rocky – The White Buffalo – Album: Love and the Death of Damnation
5 Cloudspeak – White tower Album: Päike Ja Jää
6 Daddy Pinocchio – Jimmy Witherspoon & Jay McShan; Album: Gone With The Blues
7 Blood, Milk And Sky – White Zombie Album: Supersexy Swingin’ Sounds
8 Now Mary – The White Stripes Album: White blood cells
9 Love Without Sound – White noise – Album: An Electric Storm
10 Paloma Blanca – George Baker Selection – Album: Paloma blanca
11 Fleur de lYs – Wait for me – Album: Reflexions
12 Jag ar gud – Eva Dahlgren – Album: en blekt blondins hjärta.
@StellarX @timtunes I should have left some spaces. While I am at it, I must add some explanations about my choices, the goal was to get the word “white”, in the name of the song, the album the group or singer . Some will be hard to spot as “Blekt” means “pale” in Swedish. The number eight is pretty close to my goal,
End of transmission….
@Pizon-bros – some nice ‘links’ to the them there – I always appreciate it when someone has managed to find an unusual way of making an artist name or song title fit the theme – nice one. 🙂
Cheers @Carl – yep, you got some of those on the nose. Thanks for the review