Great Song Titles of 2009 Part one...

They Live By Night - Ctrl+Alt+Del my heart



Apparently Ctrl + Alt + Del is what you do when your computer crashes. If you're stupid enough to run Windows. Who knew?

The Killers at the O2

It's taken a bit of time for me to formulate this review of Monday's gig, partly because it's not easy for me to say whether or not I like the band. You see, for me, the Killers are really two bands - one anglophile electro pop, one full-on American rock. If I'm entirely honest, I like one of them more than I like the other. A lot more. When they push the guitars to the front (both guitarist and bassist were sporting full-on beards) then it all seemed a bit, well, limp. Brandon Flowers' vocals don't really have the power to rise above the riffage (not helped, it must be said, by an occasionally muddy sound mix at the O2) and it all seems a bit limp.

The best stuff is when Flowers is allowed to take them back to the 80s for some Depeche Mode aping synth pop. Even the less familiar songs from the new album (which I have to confess to not having heard) have a groove underpinning them good enough to get OMD's foot tapping and the singles, whilst lyrically ludicrous (Human? Danser? Who cares?) are pretty dancefloor friendly.

Pontiak: Daytrotter Session

I may have previously mentioned how much I like Mogwai... The epic guitar riffage, drawn out tracks building to an electric crescendo etc. Today's Daytrotter session touches many of the same bases as Mogwai and other "post rock" types. Start with Maker and work from there is my advice.

Soul on Sunday - Maybe Just Maybe / Blue Magic

Some Philly sounds this week with this chilled song from Blue Magic. They were one of a slew of bands that sprung up in Philadelphia in the early-to-mid 1970s, aping the sounds of Gamble and Huff; indeed Blue Magic were backed by the MFSB band. Like a lot of Philly bands, they struggled with the rise of disco and faded from view after 1976.

Sabres of Paradise

This has been on my to-do list since I was at school... well Warp finally arrived on Emusic today so I snaffled it straight off.



This is my 100th post. Huzzah for OMD

At Least The Brits Got One Thing Right...

North Mississippi Allstars

Sometimes what you really need is some lowdown dirty blues:

Soul on Sunday - Is it Because I'm Black / Syl Johnson

I dug out an old compilation of 70s soul and funk this week and it had this on it - perhaps the best known song from Syl Johnson. Recorded in 1969, it inspired Willie Mitchell to sign Johnson to Hi Records, where he provided a rawer counterpoint to Al Green's smooth stylings. Unfortunately at the time smooth sold, and Al Green got the success whereas Syl Johnson didn't and despite some well received albums he retired in 1982.

The Delgados - Pull the Wires from the Wall

I miss this band... Still I believe a new solo album from Ms. Pollock could be out this year (rumour alert), but still wish they would reform and get the respect they deserve.

Soul on Sunday - Memory Lane / Minnie Ripperton

There have been many sad stories featured on Soul on Sunday, and this one is up there with the saddest. Minnie Ripperton first hit public conciousness with the single "Lovin' You" which went to No.1 in America, and No.2 in the UK in 1974. Just 2 years later she underwent a mastectomy for breast cancer. The cancer had already spread to her lymphatic system and in 1979 it claimed her life.

She continued to perform right up until her death in July of that year. This video clip is taken from a month previously, by this stage the cancer had paralysed her right arm. She had featured as the American Cancer Society spokesman, featuring in adverts such as this one.

The way you held me:

Colin Macintyre - You're a Star

And to end Catch up Monday here's something that's out today. Colin Macintyre was the driving force behind Mull Historical Society who never really got the success they deserved. Now he's recording under his own name and not getting the success he deserves. This song is from Irvine Welsh's mockumentary about darts "Good Arrows" which apparently was on ITV4 recently (I missed it).

Bessie Jones - Sometimes

This is probably the best known of the call-and-respond type of music recorded by the Lomaxes in the fields of the deep south in the early 20th century. Best known because it was sampled by Moby on the song Honey from the Play album that was utterly ubiquitous a few years back. Around about that time this album was released with the selling point of featuring a number of tracks pilfered by Moby, alongside some Blues and Folk classics. It is well worth a listen and is probably the blues comp I return to most often.

Lowell Fulson - Reconsider Baby

Another God's Jukebox tip this one, played last week (I think). Great Blues guitar and vocals. Reconsider baby was originally recorded on Chess back in the 50s. It was later covered by Elvis Presley of course. This performance is from LA in 1983.

Sin Fang Bous - Advent in Ives Garden

The Icelandic answer to Architecture in Helsinki? Perhaps. The debut album is definitely one I am looking out for...

The Phantom Band - Throwing Bones

This is brand new (out last week). I know very little about this lot, except that they are scottish and like all good scottish bands they've signed for Chemikal Underground. Wouldn't be in the least surprised to see them doing the festival circuit this summer... Fingers crossed anyway.

Throwing Bones is my personal favourite from the album... I particularly like the dom-dom-dom bit about three minutes in...

Dr John - Goodnight Irene

Amongst the albums I've recently re-visited is this one by Dr John. For a long time for me it was all about the voice with Dr John, but recently I've really started to appreciate him as a piano player and musician. The album really shows off his versatility and is just about my favourite of his. I couldn't find the title track on Youtube, but here is the good doctor playing a classic song originally done by Leadbelly.

Joe Bataan - It's a Good Feeling (Riot)

As mentioned I've been listening to God's Jukebox a lot this year, and Joe Bataan was the featured artist a couple of weeks ago. I know absolutely nothing about Latin music, but took the plunge and got this album from Emusic, from which "It's a Good Feeling (Riot)" is taken. It almost feels like 2 songs welded together, but the whole works really well and is pretty much guaranteed to get your foot tapping.

Welcome to catch up Monday!

Apparently a little bit of snow in the South East means that what's left of British industry grinds to a halt (stop sniggering at the back Northern Europeans!). This means that, having been sent home, I have the time to bring OMD up to date with that which I have been listening to so far this year.

Perhaps the biggest change this year is that, following some nifty computery things, I am now listening to Mark Lamarr's God's Jukebox show every weekend, at a more civilised time than the small hours of Saturday morning. After a few years when I didn't really dig out many new-to-me older acts, I've been picking up on plenty so far in 2009. It also pushed me to dig out some albums that I've not listened to for some time... some of which I'll pick up today!

Soul on Sunday - Cold Game / Myron and E

Something brand spanking new for you this week, this came out just before Christmas. It's on Timmion Records who put out that Nicole Willis album a couple of years ago. The Soul Investigators played on that album, and they feature here, providing the backing to Myron and E. The B side, I can't let you get away, is also excellent and I can totally recommend parting with £1.89 to buy the single on download.

Out there running around?