Song of the day – 159: Syl Johnson
I was watching To Kill A Mockingbird last night, which of course features the killer courtroom scene with Gregory Peck playing Atticus, the white lawyer defending a black farm worker wrongly accused of rape. Man, that was some kind of moving – almost more for what was left unsaid, and the silent dignity of the […]
Song of the day – 158: 8 Eye Spy
Anyone with more than a passing knowledge of the Music That I (Really) Like will catch the reference in the name right away. It’s a tribute to one of Lydia Lunch’s seminal No Wave bands from back in the early 80s. (Actually, I think they were more Beefheart-influenced jazz skronk than straight No Wave, but […]
Song of the day – 157: Johanna Buccola
Ah, this song of Johanna’s, ‘Stockholm Syndrome’, is just great. Laidback, groovy. Turntable movements slipping in and out of view. A backing track that recalls ‘Us And Them’ from the Pink Floyd album I sometimes pretend I don’t own. Slipping through the other side of consciousness. Makes me think of Ann Magnuson and Kid Koala […]
Song of the day – 156: Laura Borealis
…so I receive these emails from a Canadian lady called Laura Borealis and the gist of them is, well, let’s have a look… “I think when you stayed at my place interviewing Sloan it wasn’t mentioned that I made music. I’ve never been signed, 20 years running- a clean record.” No, it wasn’t. The place […]
Song of the day – 155: The Like
Obviously, I hate everything about this group, but the music and production and playing on this album (courtesy of Amy Winehouse’s producer and backing band) is quite exemplary, and… …I’m glad I’m not the only one who misses the original Pipettes. This is Wendy James-level desperate, and Transvision Vamp-level good. Now, maybe if Mark Ronson and the Dap-Kings […]
Song of the day – 154: Winston Echo
Winston Echo. He makes Daniel Johnston sound like Daniel Johnston. He makes Clive Pig sound like Clive Pig. He makes Lesbo Pig sound like Lesbo Pig. (See what I did there?) He makes Ivor Cutler sound indubitably like Ivor Cutler. And so on. He doesn’t like folk making jokes along the lines of “Is there […]
Song of the day – 153: Grinderman
Ask, and lo, it shall be delivered! I’m a frabjocilous fool sometimes. I’ve been a-whining and a-griping that no one’s bothered to send me the new Grinderman, and there it’s been, a-sitting in my email inbox for a week now. Sitting there, slightly festering and mouldy, and angry at my complete lack of know how, […]
Song of the day – 152: Black Diamonds
It would be ridiculous not to list one of the many incredible bands I unearthed in my research for my new Something Awful column. It’s called Everett True’s Australian Garage Rock Primer, and many of the recommendations came directly from a thread on the Mess And Noise message board, so props to all involved. And […]
Song of the day (Australia) – 151: Super Wild Horses
I’ve mulled and mulled over this. I want to include present-day Australian bands I love in this mini-series, otherwise it wouldn’t be representative – but I’ve already written about dozens here. I’ve written about Melbourne’s Super Wild Horses as well, but they have their debut album Fifteen out this week or something, so it seems […]
a new Deadnotes + The Legend! song
I swear to Bangs, this is just about the most incredible piece of music I’ve ever been associated with! It reminds me of, variously, ATV, loneliness, The Door And The Window, useless energy, Lindsay Cooper, fierce skills, The Red Crayola, that scary bloke who always seems to pin you down with his eyes when you get on […]
