Escape – Jan 2010 – John

There’s No Night Out In The Jail – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. This is an old Australian folk song, I think. The only known instance of Nick using the word ‘cobbers’.

This Year – The Thrills. From ‘Teenager’, which is one of the great albums of the last decades.

Born To Run – Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Perhaps the ultimate ‘escape’ song. Bruce’s version is just Too Much, but you can’t go wrong with FGTH.

The Sweet Escape – Gwen Stefani. Woooh hoo.  Yeeeeh Ho!

You Keep Me Hangin’ On – Vanilla Fudge. No offence to Kim Wilde, but it had to be this version.

When Shall I Be Free? – Shpongle. I love Shpongle. This is from ‘Nothing Lasts… But Nothing is Lost’, another of my favourite albums of the last decade.  Psychedelic Trance is not the easiest of genres to explore, I’ll be honest, but you can’t go wrong with Shpongle.

Lucas With The Lid Off – Lucas. If you have a spare couple of minutes, look up the video for this on YouTube.

You Are My Asylum – Alan Moore, Downtown Joe Brown & The Retro Spankees. Alan Moore!  It’s really Alan Moore. From the CD that came with the first issue of his new underground magazine, Dodgem Logic.

Keep The Car Running – The Arcade Fire

Over The Wall – Echo & The Bunneymen

Breaking Free – Troy & Gabriella. I don’t fear High School Musical.

Jailbreak (live) – Thin Lizzy

Why Not? Why Not? Why Not? – Timothy Leary. Anyone curious about the philosophiocal background to this one should consult chapter 23 of <plug> my Leary biography </plug>.

Running Away (Section 22) – The Polyphonic Spree. Pretty much anything by the Polyphonic Spree seems to fit the theme of ‘escape’.

Free Man in Paris – Joni Mitchell. I had to fit a female singer/songwriter in here somewhere to keep Scott happy.

Opium Tea – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. A second Nick Cave track, but like the first one it is so lyrically perfect for this theme that it has to be here.  One of the tracks that didn’t make it on to ‘The Boatman’s Call’.

The Escapist – The Streets

Beyond Love (live) – The The. One of my all time favourite songs – especially this live version, with the added coda at the end.  A fitting ending for a CD about ‘escape’, wouldn’t you say?

 

Rachel’s ‘Wintersongs’ Mix

1. Tori Amos — Winter’s Carol
2. Enya — Trains and Winter
3. Rachel Unthank – Felton Lonnin
4. Delius -  Winter landscape
5. Loreena McKennit – The King
6. mumford & Sons – Winter Wind
7. Bill Caddick – Winter Fair
8. King Crimson – The Night Watch
9. Kate Bush – Oh, England, My Lionheart
10. Bond – Wintersun
11. Ira Stein – Medieval Memory II
12. Nightnoise – Nollaig
13. Paul Macandless – Coventry Carol
14. NicRachel Unthank – Raven Girl
15. Richard Stoltzman – Sonata for two Clarinets
16. Joni Mitchell – River
17. Peter Aubade – Shadowfax
18. Sting – And now Winter comes Slowly

I’m sorry, but it wasn’t until after I’d burned the CDs and was making the cover that I realised I’d put  King Crimson’s ‘Night Watch’ on again. Sorry about that. It was in my head.

 

Remembrance

1.    Korean War Memorial – Princeton

I lived with one of the twins from this band for a year. His bedroom was right underneath mine and he used to practice every night, at gig volume, until the early hours of the morning. In remembrance of a year’s lost sleep…

 2.    Everything Reminds Me of You – Emmy the Great

‘Oh but the fire will carry less higher in time.’ What great lyrics.

3.    You Remind Me Of Something (The Glory Goes) – Bonnie “Prince” Billy

Scott, I think perhaps Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s beard is something for you to aim for.

4.    Moments Last Forever – Drever, McCusker, Woomble

These guys recorded their album over 7 afternoons and demo’ed it on a latop. It’s one of my favourites this year.

5.    Remember Me – The Zutons

There had to be something a bit upbeat on here…

6.    This is Just a Modern Rock Song – Belle & Sebastian

This is just a sorry lament.

7.    For Emma – Bon Iver

No, this isn’t on here because it contains my name. Reeling from the break-up of his long-time band, Justin Vernon moved to a remote cabin deep in the woods of Northwestern Wisconsin for 4 months. The album this is taken from was the result.

8.    Remember Me – British Sea Power

Upbeat, yet about the decline into old age…

9.    Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl – Broken Social Scene

I’m sure there’s a very tragic story behind this, but I can’t remember what it is.

10.    Memorial – Explosions in the Sky

This band garnered some media attention with their second album due to rumours linking it to the September 11 attacks. The album art shows an aeroplane with the caption ‘This plane will crash tomorrow.’  There were false reports that the last track’s title was the same as the caption, and that the album was released on September 10, 2001 (The concept had actually originated in 2000, and the album was released in August 2001). Bassist Michael James was detained in an airport as a threat to security, and had to explain why his guitar had the words ‘this plane will crash tomorrow’ written on it.

11.    Long Live The Queen – Frank Turner

This track was released as a benefit single for the Breast Cancer Campaign, in memory of a close friend Turner lost to the disease

12.    Gravestones – Monkey Swallows the Universe

There’s nothing worse than to not know.

13.    Every Line of A Long Moment – Roddy Woomble

I still can’t quite believe such great folk can come out of the lead singer of Idlewild, so Woomble is making a second appearance on this disc… (Plus he has a pretty awesome name)

14.    There is a Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths

An obvious choice I know. But my cousin died in Toronto a few years ago…very shortly afterwards the entire Eastern seaboard had a power cut. It turned out to be the second most widespread blackout in history. So this is his song.

 

John: Remembrance

An interesting one this, and ideal for mulling over in the period between Hallowe’en and Remembrance Day.

 

1. Daddy’s Gone – Glasvegas. Well then!  Let the angst commence!

2. Love Is Stronger Than Death – The The. Written after the death of his brother.

3. My Culture – 1 Giant Leap. Included mostly for the idea of culture being remembrance of our ancestors, and the spoken word sample from the Maori guy at the start; not really for the bit where Robbie Williams turns up and moans about his dad.

4. Flushed Chest – Joan As Policewoman. Written about her late boyfriend Jeff Buckley (who wrote ‘Everybody Here Wants You’ about her).

5. Needle & The Damage Done (Unplugged) – Neil Young. I realised as I was making this compilation that it includes a lot of musicians that cause my better half to get up and leave the room.  Embracing that theme completely, I have added some Neil Young.

6. An Irish Airman Forsees His Death – Shane MacGowan. Words by W.B. Yeats, of course.  I still haven’t recovered from learning that Shane MacGowan is (a) English, and (b) a public schoolboy.

7. Lay Me Low – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Here Nick laments himself.  Of course these days it’s not about “informative six page features” when you go, it’s all about getting your own hashtag.

8. Flowers Grave – Tom Waits. Here iTunes antagonises my inner pedant by not including an apostrophe in the title, a situation made worse by my inability to decide if the ‘flowers’ is intended as singular or plural.

9. Death Is A Disease – Clint Mansell/Kronos Quartet. From the soundtrack to The Fountain.

10. Memorial – Michael Nyman. From the soundtrack to The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, a film which I have not seen for nearly twenty years but which I suspect has not aged well.

11. I Can Remember This Life – Julian Cope. Make of this one what you will!

12. New Grass – Talk Talk. I don’t think I have ever heard anything else remotely like this.

13. There Is No Death And There Are No Dead – Cadaverous Condition. Really, there is no excuse for not including any Scandinavian Black Metal on a compilation such is this.  ‘There Is No Death And There Are No Dead’ is a title that will one day be stolen for a novel, mark my words.

 

 

Scott: Remembrance

OK, I have made a bit more of an effort for this one and haven’t just gone for songs with the theme in the title.

Noah & The Whale – The First Days Of Spring. Their entire new album is basically a eulogy for the lead singer’s relationship with Laura Marling. This is a very good track to start any CD with.

The Delgados – The Past That Suits You Best. OK, perhaps some of the songs are on here because the titles fit.

Hello Saferide – Lund. Hello Saferide are my current obsession. I am staggered at how good the lyrics are, especially when you consider that English is not her first language (she’s Swedish). This is a wonderful evocation of teenage heartbreak.

Arvo Part – Cantus In Memoriam Benjamin Britten. Well, it is in memoriam so perfect. Takes while to get going so don’t be put off by the quiet start.

Band Of Horses – Funeral. A great band that should be huge.

Stina Nordenstam – The End Of The Affair. Ahh, you knew I’d have to put some Stina on, didn’t you?

Bic Runga – And No More Shall We Part. Bic is from New Zealand and this is a live version of a Nick Cave song with orchestral backing. Lovely.

Big Star – Thirteen. Because it reminds me of what my teenage years might have been like if I had gone to an American high school. Which I didn’t.

Laura Marling – Ghosts. Got to allow her a response to Noah & The Whale.

Gabriel Yared – C’est Le Vent, Betty. From Betty Blue. Ahh, the memories.

Dot Allison – Tomorrow Never Comes. I have basically included music that makes me think back. This is one song that does that every time.

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians – Ghost Of A Dog. One for all you animal lovers out there.

Nina Kinert – Memories Fading Out. More from Scandinavia.

The Go-Betweens – Dusty In Here. Written by Grant McLennan about going through his father’s things.

Hilliard Ensemble – Requiem Aeternam. Adding a bit of class.

Joni Mitchell – The Last Time I Saw Richard. Sort of fits the theme, I think.

Susanna & The Magical Orchestra – Love Will Tear Us Apart. For all sorts of reasons.

So, there you go. Not the happiest bunch of songs but hopefully will get you thinking.

 

Remembrance – Rachel

1. Enya – Miss Clare Remembers
2. Angelite & Huun-Huur-Tu – Fly, Fly My Sadness
3. Sting – Soul Cake
4. Nick drake – Try to Remember
5. Portishead – Half Day Closing
6. Aeone – I will Remember you Still
7. John Patitucci – Remembrance
8. Kate Bush – The Man I Love
9. Hanne Hukkelberg – Break My Body
10. Leslie Hutchinson – All I do is Dream of You
11. Stephane Grapelli – I’ll Never be the Same
12. King Crimson – The Night Watch
13. P J Harvey – The Darker Days of Me and You
14. Nick Drake – Day is Done
15. Lisa Gerrard – Immortal Memory

 

Homeland/Hometown

Quite a tricky one, this, so I’ve largely gone for songs that tell an autobiographical tale about the places I’ve lived.

1. This Land Is Your Land – The Waterboys. Fifty-five seconds of titting about from the Waterboys to start.

2. Born in the UK – Badly Drawn Boy. I can’t have been the only one to include this this month, can I?

3. I’m Moving To Wales – Eberg. At the age of three I moved to Wales, so here’s a song to mark that.  Don’t worry, the rest of this CD is not this literal.

4. Timeless Melody (BBC Session) – The La’s. At age 18 I moved to Liverpool.  This is what Liverpool sounds like.

5. Near The Moon – Animals That Swim. At the age of 23 I moved to London.  This is what – well, London sounds like a lot of things, but this is what London sounded like to me.

6. Pull Shapes – The Pipettes. At the age of 31 I moved to Brighton.  This is what Brighton sounds like.

7. A Hazy Shade of Winter – Simon & Garfunkel. I almost put ‘Homeward Bound’ on this compilation, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.  Instead, have Hazy Shade of Winter. It doesn’t have any link to the CDs theme that I can spot, but it is ace.

8. Boggy Home – Stump. It is good to follow Simon & Garfunkel with Stump, I think.  Notice how this song cuts out just before the end?  Thanks for that, Stump Complete Anthology 3-CD boxset.

9. Dacw Hi – Super Furry Animals. Having moved to Wales, primary teachers made a half-hearted attempt to teach me Welsh. To commemerate this, here we have a song about a primary school teacher. In Welsh.

10. Dolphins – Tim Buckley. Really, I wanted to find a song about the place I grew up – Buckley, the shining metropolis of North-East Wales. Unfortunately, no-one has ever written a song about Buckley.  So here’s Tim Buckley instead.

11. Heartland – The The. Matt Johnson’s State of the Nation address from, ooh, 1986 or so. Back then, it sounded left wing, now it sounds right wing.  But still apt.

12. Londinium – Catatonia. London is the best place in the world, if you are young, single and carelessly rich. This is a song for everyone else.

13. Goin Home – Dinosaur Jr. I love the way J. Mascis sounds like he just can’t be bothered singing.  He is the anti-X Factor.

14. All We Need is The Money – Black. This song was dedicated ‘to the people of Liverpool’, and probably describes them better than any other, for good or ill.

15. Panther Dash – The Go! Team. And to end, a clattering slab of Brighton joyfullness.

 

John’s Rookie Effort: Summer Songs

It is now September. Autumn is definitely here. I finally post up my Summer Songs playlist. I am not very good with calendars.

The Thrills – Big Sur. I like to think it is always summer at Big Sur. I went there in December once and it felt like summer, even if the huge Christmas Tree Farms they have there ruined the illusion a little.

Juxtaposed With U – Super Furry Animals. Included despite being sunnier than summer.

The Summerhouse – The Divine Comedy. Always reminds me of The Go Between.

Hanging Around The Day – The Polyphonic Spree. Listening to the Polyphonic Spree gives you all the fun of joining a cult, but without the drawbacks.

Summer Here Kids – Grandaddy. Kudos to Grandaddy for two entries on this compilation and one on Sarah’s. They own Summer.

Love Generation – Bob Sinclair. Summer is for dancing out of doors to wild utopian fancies.

How ‘Bout I Love You More – Mull Historically Society. Staying utopian, Mull Historical Society here give us the answer to everything.

Summer Rain – Meri Everitt. Great song from someone who you always used to see playing in the pubs of Brighton, but who seems to have disappeared recently. Lovely voice & marvellously tactless lyrics.

California Dreamin’ – The Mamas & The Papas. Actually a song about winter, but what the hell.

The Beach Is Free – Billy Bragg. I’m not normally one for Billy Bragg but you can’t argue with this.

The Great Gig In The Sky – Easy Star All Stars. Dub reggae covers of Pink Floyd = summer.

It’s Summertime – The Flaming Lips. Too obvious?

Days – Kirsty MacColl. Takes me back to a long ago summer, anyway.

Higher Than The Sun – Bat For Lashes. Very lovely cover, from a BBC session I think.  I sometime worry that I like this song a little bit too much.

Summer… It’s Gone – Grandaddy. It’s only fitting to finish with an ‘end of summer’ song.  But I couldn’t resist…

Indian Summer – Glenn Miller. …bringing in a surprise Indian Summer at the end. Indian Summers are tied up with nostalgia, so why not Glenn Miller?

 

Scott: Summer Songs

Lovely weather we’ve been having.

Violent Femmes – Blister in the Sun. One of my all-time favourites and perfect washing the car music. Not that I ever wash the car.

Leona Naess – Mexico. I do like a good female singer-songwriter and am surprised that Leona hasn’t been more successful. She’s extremely attractive, writes catchy songs and seems to tick all the right boxes but she remains a bit of an unknown.

Blake Babies – Out There. I can still remember the first time I heard this on the radio and fell in love with Juliana Hatfield’s voice. This is probably my all time favourite summer song.

Buffalo Tom – Summer. Alt.Rock bands can do summer songs just as well as pop stars can. This is a cracker.

The Cardigan – Rise & Shine. Although some pop groups do them very well.

Ane Brun – Treehouse Song. I think treehouses and summer go together.

Little Cow – The Chocky is Melting. Terrible when that happens.

Amiina – Hilli. It just sounds quite light and breezy.

Big Star – Thirteen. I imagine the events described in this song take place on a hot summer’s day in the 1970s.

The Ting Tings – Traffic Light. Perhaps the most surprising song on their album. Sounds like The Sundays.

De La Soul – Eye Know. They have to be on a summer compilation.

No Doubt – Underneath It All. I think you have to see the video to really get the summer vibe on this one.

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians – Black & Blue. I took the day off work when this album came out and played it all day long with the sun shining through the skylight of my attic flat.

Feist – Mushaboom. Just sounds quite summery.

Lisa Hannigan – I Don’t Know. I am playing this album quite a lot and this song is stuck in my head so it had to go on the CD.

The Go-Betweens – Streets of Your Town. Or maybe this is my favourite summer song?

Lemonheads – It’s a Shame About Ray. This album was the soundtrack of at least two summers for me back in the early 90s.

Les Negresses Vertes – Voila L’ete. School trips to France.

New Order – Regret. Just because they sang this on TOTP from the set of Baywatch.

Vashti Bunyan – Glow Worms. I think you need to be sitting by a pond for this one.

Victoria Williams – What a Wonderful World. No reason necessary.

Papua New Guinea String Band – Alir Pukai. It is sunny over there.

Hope this one made the sun come out wherever you are.

 

Scott: Guilty Pleasures

OK, a decade at HMV means I have all the typical muso prejudices but also that I can spot a good pop tune when I hear one. Hours behind the counter while the stereo churned out endless repetitions of Adamski’s Killer or The Power by Snap made Roxette seem like godlike genius. My guilty pleasures are mostly from the pop end of the spectrum.

Amiina – Souvenir. Amiina are from Iceland, starting out as the string quartet on Sigor Ros albums, and this cover of the OMD classic was a free download.

Sugababes – Soul Sound. The Sugababes Best Of should be in every record collection. Personally, I prefer their first album when the ginger one was still in the band.

Alice Martineau – If I Fall. Sad one this, get your hankies ready. Martineau was an up and coming pop-ish singer-songwriter about a decade ago but she died of cystic fibrosis shortly after her debut album was released. It isn’t a classic but it has some nice songs and I can never quite bring myself to chuck it out.

Gwen Stefani – Cool. So retro it could have come from the Pretty in Pink soundtrack.

Fergie – Mary Jane Shoes. I must confess that I have a huge crush on Fergie. I cannot explain why.

Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend. Everyone in the family likes this song.

The Cardigans – Lovefool. Nothing guilty in loving Nina and the band but this is their most poppy song and it felt like the right CD to put it on.

Cat Stevens – Don’t Be Shy. Not my normal cup of tea but it makes me think of Harold & Maude, one of the greatest movies ever.

Catatonia – Road Rage. It’s the wah Cerys rolls her Rrrrrrrrrrrrrs.

Eve & Gwen Stefani – Let Me Blow Ya Mind. I’ve gone all hippity hoppy.

De La Soul – The Magic Number. Told you.

P!nk – Don’t Let Me Get Me. I have a crush on P!nk as well. It might be that !.

The Dream Academy – Life In A Northern Town. Actually this remains a cracking album, some amazing stuff on there. They did a great cover of Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want which was used in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off but was never released. Must see if I can hunt it down.

Lauryn Hill – X-Factor. Hasn’t she gone a bit mental?

Natalie Imbruglia – Glorious. She lives round the corner. So does Anna Friel.

Sixpence None The Richer – Kiss Me. Perfect pop.

Doris – Did You Give The World Some Love Today Baby? A 1960s album from Sweden that I picked up in my HMV days. It is all this good.

Lene Marlin – Sitting Down Here. More Scandinavian ladies, this one a bit more recent.

US3 – Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia). Used to be a popular track in HMV Cambridge when we were cashing up the tills.

Charles Trenet – Boom! You should hear me singing along to this. Actually…

There you go. A pleasure from start to finish I am sure.