Fuck Buttons - Surf Solar

I went and watched Fuck Buttons last night performing an in-store set at Rought Trade East.

A couple of points;

1. Why do I always get the tallest, biggest-and-smelliest-haired, head-bopping freak in the room standing right in front of me? About one minute before Fuck Buttons were due on I thought I was sitting pretty, and then this lanky great loser pushes in front of me (remember, we're in a record store, and despite the gig status you just don't expect this kind of jostling. Would you stand for that kind of behaviour at the Pick 'N' Mix in Woolworths?) and starts bopping his head all over the shop, continuing threatening to stick his filthy mop in my face with every swing. Most disconcerting. It's not even as though he was so taken with the music that he couldn't control himself; he kept stopping every minute or so to take a look around and check who was watching him and look at his mobile phone. What a cunt. "Oh, I can't possibly enjoy myself watching live music if I'm further than 3 metres from the stage, which is why I have to barge my way in and ponce about like I'm in Ibiza on a pills-and-cock binge."

2. IT WAS JUST WAY TOO LOUD. I know I am grumpier and olde-before-my time than most, but I still want to be going to gigs and listening to music when I'm 50, and this sort of din can do some serious damage. Uncomfortable.

Other than that the show was fine. There has been a lot of rhetoric put out there, mostly by ATP, about Fuck Buttons, which to me just doesn't ring true. Highlight of the set, 'Bright Tomorrow' is a fantastic track, building up swathes of vintage electronic sound to its glorious, screaming finale, but almost all the rest of their material last night seemed like a pale imitation of this song. Fuck Buttons are just too formulaic to hold my interest over the course of half an hour.

Of course, I couldn't resist picking up their new 7" with all its picture-disc goodness, even if the £4.99 price tag for two tracks seems a little hefty.

The A side is a 7" edit of 'Surf Solar' and is the first track taken from upcoming album Tarot Sport produced by Andrew Weatherall, whose name for some reason, I always confuse with Andrew Ridgeley. I'm not sure what Ridgeley is up to these days, but is it so hard to imagine him as the fat-cat producer of cutting edge indie/electro acts whilst George does community service and spunks up walls?

So, 'Surf Solar' follows the familiar pattern of being kind of interesting with some exciting sounds and textures, but never quite soars as high as 'Bright Tomorrow', nor reaches any kind of satisfying conclusion. I am hoping that it is merely the time constraints of the 7" format that have neutered this track and that the 10min-plus album version will be a revelation.

What do I like most about a new 7" single? A lovely bit of non-album sounds on the B-side. Here we have 'New Crossbow' which has a kind of non-intrusive tribally beat behind it, with a whooping, swooping sound and lots of glimmering, sparkling bits, and kind of meanders on its way to nowhere in particular for a few minutes. Quite nice, and a bit more interesting that the A-side, but I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to it.

The brilliant artwork comes from Benjamin John Power who may or may not be responsible for mid-to-late 90s British shitstorm of arse-drippings, Cast.

Tarot Sport is out next Monday 12th October.

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Sweet N Sour

Third and final in my unplanned trilogy of Pussy Galore-related reviews is The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's 'Sweet N Sour', released 24th June 2002.

The track was the second single from 2002's Plastic Fang, an album that found the raucous rock 'n' roll revivalist sound of JSBX sounding increasingly hollow and cliched. By this point in the band's career they sounded like they were flogging a dead horse. The act was always more about style and attitude over substance, but here the songs, and Spencer's vocals particularly, sound like a pastiche, sans the irony, and do little to set themselves aside from their already vast back catalogue of samey material. For me, JSBX begins and ends with 'Blues X Man' and once you've heard and loved that all that's left is album upon album of songs that are similar but not quite as good.

All that said, 'Sweet N Sour' isn't a bad track. If I'd never had heard a rock 'n' roll song before I'd have said this was brilliant, but as it is, this comes across at best as a novelty or at worst a tired retread. The video is HOT though, produced by Swedish collective StyleWar:





This type of music usually lends itself better to the live experience (how good can shaking, sweaty RnR be in the confines of your home?) and I remember seeing a smoking performance on Later with Jools Holland, memorable not only for Jools' piano accompaniment, but for Spencer stomping all over said piano. You just can't capture this stuff on disc:





The artwork ties in to the concept of the Plastic Fang album, with all design by Chip Kidd. Kidd is a pretty big name in graphic and sleeve design (particularly books) and has used his success in this field to manoeuvre himself into music and writing. There's nothing that special about the imagery on show here; just some pretty cool retro graphics inspired by 60s comic-books and B-movies that match the Blues Explosion's punkabilly/rock 'n' roll throwback aesthetic well.



The B-side is a live version of 'Shakin' Rock 'n' Roll Tonight' (the album version later becoming the third and final single from Plastic Fang) that was recorded during a session for Dutch radio station VPRO on 9th February 2002. From what I've said above you can probably already infer what I think about this one. Let's just say it's better than the album version and call it a day!

Devo - The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize

Following on from the Melvins' 'Night Goat' is another record with a Pussy Galore connection. But I'll get to that later.

This song is taken from Devo's second LP, 1979's Duty Now for the Future and reflects the slight shift away from the edgier post-punk sound of their debut, Q: Are We Not Men A: We are Devo (1978), towards the synth-pop of 1980's Freedom of Choice. The album is certainly weaker than Q: Are We Not Men?.., in that most of the material had been around since 1976-7, as heard on a multitude of bootlegs, and was basically the stuff that hadn't made the cut for the first album. Interesting, then, that the sound should be stylistically so different; something that can probably be put down to the approach of producer Ken Scott (as opposed to that of Brian Eno on their debut).

'The Day My Baby Gave Me a Surprize' is a highlight of the album, being pretty much a straight-up pop song, but with some typically idiosyncratic drumming and a chorus sung in an almost pseudo-lounge refrain. The lyrics seem to refer to a girl making her boyfriend aware of an unplanned pregnancy ("Got a message from my girl / When she picked up the pen from beside the bed and wrote me a scribbled note") and how this affects their relationship ("Go out on a loving spree just like before the accident / My baby would look at me").

The music video refers to these themes in a somewhat flippant manner as the boys examine a crying baby in a sterile control room, and later have trouble with the cheeky tike when he takes off flying. We also get to see a potato playing a hippopotamus's tooth! What's not to like?

The sleeve of this record is one of my favourite, being completely independent from the art concepts of the album it's from. It's an old photograph blown up with the Devo logo and the title in a pretty funky typeface slapped on top. This thing is creepy, but in a wacky sort of way; jolly yet sinister. It's pretty much generally accepted that clowns are creepy. And everyone knows masks are creepy. But look at the way that guy's mask appears to be one with his face. And this is before the days of digital photo touch-ups. The whole thing hints at something darker under the face of Americana, which is pretty much the general theme to most of Devo's work.



The back cover is also rather fetching and always reminds me of Gilbert and George.



The B-side is 'Penetration in the Centrefold'; a song covered by Pussy Galore on their Sugarshit Sharp E.P. to such successful effect that it convincingly sounds like an original Jon Spencer composition, both musically and lyrically. It doesn't sound much like a Devo song and even when you hear the original it still doesn't sound much like a Devo song. Well, not 1979 Devo. At a stretch it sounds like it could fit in with the more weird, experimental and troubling compositions on Hardcore Vol. 2 that Devo were writing in the mid-1970s, but it seems anachronistic as the B-side to this single. Not that it's not enjoyable - its just such an odd little song and there's really not anything else like it that I've heard: nasty guitar; squealing synth noises; stop-start verses leading to a clattering caterwaul of a 'chorus'; Mark's desperate, half-barked vocals and the whole thing dressed up in a lyric about the unappetising subject matter of a hardcore porn mag that displays, ahem, 'penetration in the centrefold'. This is unpalatable and ugly, yet fascinating and compulsive; a track to rubberneck to.



Production credit for this one goes to Eno, so I'd guess it was recorded during the Q: Are We Not Men?... sessions and left off the album for obvious reasons. It's since been tacked on to various Devo compact disc reissues so go check it out.

Duty Now!

Melvins - Night Goat

'Night Goat' is one of the greatest and darkest songs from one of the Melvins' most popular periods of their long and illustrious careers. It's also one of the more accessible, having what in the Melvins' repertoire comes closest to a conventional rock sound and structure. So, it's only fitting it should have received a single release.


I think this was the first involvement Melvins had with the infamous Amphetamine Reptile Records label; a relationship that has sporadically continued to this day. This single was released at time when Melvins were in between leaving previous label Boner and making their major-label debut with Atlantic. That came in 1993 with Houdini, probably their best-known album, probably in part due to a partial producer's credit for one Kurt Cobain. Apparently, Cobain actually had very little input and most of the role was carried out by the Melvins and engineer Billy Anderson. Anderson was also one of the engineers on the 'Night Goat' single, which goes a way to explaining why there is very little difference between the version found here and the version on Houdini.


The track starts with one of the most memorable bass-lines ever; low, mean-spirited and ominous, but with a definite groove. In this version the bass sound seems grimier than on the later album version. The intro is also longer, giving the band time to build up tension and anticipation with some carefully-placed percussive flourishes from the extraordinary Dale Crover. The song features a sludgy verse that has Buzz bellowing his way through some indecipherable lyrics climaxing with a classic blood-curdling scream that leads into a killer guitar solo that I suppose would be the chorus. Hard to say with these Melvins! Not that it matters.




The sleeve goes a long way to replicating the sinister and unpalatable sounds within: a boy with a deformed jaw (possibly trussed up?) in a pantry alongside what appear to be a hogleg and some kind of poultry. Nice work Harvey Bennett Stafford! It also lists what is hands-down the worst-ever pseudonym for a moonlighting musician; Salty Green, made even worse by the fact that he wasn't even moonlighting: this is, I believe, Joe Preston's final appearance as a member of the Melvins. Recorded in 1991, but not released until 1992 it seems likely that Joe was gone by the time the record came out, hence the misnomer.


The B-side is the Pussy Galore cover 'Adolescent Wet Dream'. I was very excited was I discovered the Melvins had covered this song since while I'm not the biggest fan of Pussy Galore, I do love the E.P. this track is taken from, Sugarshit Sharp, which perfectly condenses the whole P.G. attitude and sound into a concise package with like, you know, actual SONGS, unlike a lot of their other recorded output. The thing is, I couldn't imagine the slow and heavy sound of Melvins meshing well the scathingly chaotic rock 'n roll songs of P.G. - a band famed for not even having a bassist. I've since discovered that in the SPIN Alternative Record Guide (1995, Vintage) King Buzzo listed Sugarshit Sharp as one of his top 10 records of all time. So there you have it!


The Melvins' version of the song is a great reworking; channeling the energy and swagger of the original in a sludgier groove; more heavy and hypnotic. Where Jon Spencer would have yelped, Buzz unleashes his Kiss-like high screams and the drums thud rather than clatter along. So, not better than the orginal, but the Melvins really make it their own to the point where Buzz seems to swap some of the lyrics for gibberish words that are phonetically suited to the music (a technique utilised extensively on Houdini as well as many other Melvins records).






The record itself is a nice item; this one here is a marbled blue, but I've also seen it in orange. Apparently there are purple marbled and white copies out there, too. This was released in a limited edition of 1,000 copies, although it comes up fairly often on eBay so I'm not sure how accurate that is. In fact, I'd go out on a limb and say the CD version that was released in Germany is rarer, if less desirable.


This version of 'Night Goat' was compiled in 2004 on the retrospective CD that came with the beautiful Neither Here Nor There book. 'Adolescent Wet Dream' is yet to released elsewhere.

L7 - Everglade

In the early-mid 90s L7 were a fairly big name in the 'grunge' movement, probably due in part to their distinctive look (i.e. being an all-female band in a male-dominated genre) and Riot Grrrl attitude. They helped set up Rock for Choice; a women's rights group that was supported by other big names of the rock community, like Red Hot Chili Pepper and Nirvana. Now it seems that all most people remember them for is Donita Sparks dropping her pants on 'The Word' and flashing her "mons pubis" (as Wikipedia specifies), and for raffling off their drummer at a 2000 show. That's some confusing gender politics right there for a nice, middle-class English boy living in a post-feminist society to get his head around.

It's no surprise that these salacious acts have outlived the memory of the music, which hasn't stood the test of time if this single is to go by. Even in 1992 this must have sounded kind of dated; big, dumb, hair-metal riffs with snarling, snotty mob vocals, 'Everglade' seems more in tune with everything 'grunge' purported to hate. L7 never really fitted the 'grunge' sound; sure there was 'Pretend We're Dead', which was kind of melodic in a Hole-like way, but really they got lumped in with it due to their look and the sudden marketability of 'grunge'. They were signed up by Slash Records, by then owned by London Records and recorded their major-label debut Bricks are Heavy with....can you guess.....yep, Butch Vig. Who else?

'Everglade' was promoted via a fist-pumping, head-banging video:

The cover makes a point of mentioning the "exclusive new track FREAK MAGNET", which couldn't have stayed exclusive for long as it was later included on L7's 1994 album Hungry for Stink. I'm not sure if that was the same version or a re-recording, but either way the song sucks. It starts with a laughably heavy and cheesy riff, then shifts tempo and explodes into another all-out metal extravaganza. This treads the same ground as the A-side, although those with a sense of irony (or just really, really drunk) may find it marginally more enjoyable.



Well, this record is the pits. The only thing to recommend it is the nice cover by famous poster artist Coop, and maybe the green vinyl. The memory of the mons remains.

Deerhoof - My Pal Foot Foot

Deerhoof just announced via Facebook that they have recorded a four-song session for Daytrotter, which you can download for free here. This has put me in fine mood for listening to some old Deerhoof records. I've got a few that I've had for years, but not gotten around to playing, so let's try...



...Uh-oh. Deerhoof covering the Shaggs. Already having a tendency to go off into tuneless but twee meanderings, Deerhoof, unfettered of any noise or alt.rock bent, could be about to deliver the ultimate in cutesy pain to my ears.

Well, Deerhoof's 'My Pal Foot Foot' is pretty much unlistenable. No tune, rhythm, meter, just Satomi drivelling on and on about 'Foot Foot' over some sporadic drum beats, scratchy gee-tar and splodgey synth sounds. It's got a charm of it's own, though, with Satomi breaking out into a laugh at the end of the song. Seems like the band are just having some fun, but it sounds like they must have totally deconstructed the original. Right? I am familiar with the Shaggs, and I know this is their most notorious song, although I've never actually had the pleasure of...

...Egad. Just listened to it on YouTube. I can't believe that's from 1969, since it sounds a lot like the sort of stuff you might hear on a Kill Rocks Stars compilation. Now, I'm all for indie-pop. I love Beat Happening. Daniel Johnston is good by me. I value creativity and expression of ideas and feelings above technical prowess. Yet while this song made me smile, its atonality rivaled Merzbow for most grating sounds ever thrust upon this listener's brain. But you know what? I kind of liked it.



Now, YouTube is typically a dumping ground for some of the most uninformed, ludicrous, aggressive and downright banal comments, so while I am loathe to reproduce any quotes from there I feel this gent has summed up the general consensus in rather an astute manner:

"Foot Foot probably died after listening to this pile of aural excrement."

A bit harsh, but then certainly more considered than some of the other comments, which would make a fishwife blush.

There's plenty of people bleating about how amazing this music is in its naivety and authenticity of expression, but what these people fail to acknowledge in their nice, little, tied-up-with-a-bow world is that the girls didn't want to be writing or playing this music and were only forced into it by their domineering and pushy father; confirmed by the fact that they didn't break up until the day he died. This isn't the sound of freedom and innocence - it's the sound of untalented musicians trying to make music with a gun to their head. I suppose that's also some of the appeal; although it is outwardly friendly, sincere, child-like etc. it is also unsettling, awkward and so in some ways, dark.

Anyway, I should be gassing on about the Deerhoof version and having now heard the original I can see where they're coming from. It's actually a fairly faithful cover and it's the Shaggs and not Deerhoof that are responsible for the weirdness that is 'My Pal Foot Foot'. Makes you wonder why they bothered? Probably because it was originally commissioned for a Shaggs tribute album, Better Than the Beatles.

Some people may be underwhelmed by the artwork, but I quite like the hand-made look. It's just a plain red sleeve with 'DEERHOOF MY PAL FOOT FOOT' hand stamped on, with the song titles upside side and backwards ("TOOF TOOF LAP YM," anyone?) The label has some drawings of geometric shapes and what-not and that, sirs, is it.



The B-sides are 'Sunny Forty Fours' and 'Aho-Bomb'. 'Sunny Forty Fours' is a lush guitar-driven track with flute accompaniment, leading to occasional electronic and keyboard embellishments before the songs cascades away. 'Aho-Bomb' starts with a repeating chiming guitar refrain and slowly builds in sound and atmosphere, before it bursts into a blast of bassy, all-out rock. Pretty cool and certainly the best track on the single.

Either song sounds like it would fit nicely on the Reveille album (in fact, I think they may be bonus tracks on the Japanese version). Other than that, I believe that this is the only place to get both songs, and would make for a nice addition to your stack of Deerhoof LPs.

(Edit: Turns out 'Aho-Bomb' was included on the 2006 download-only E.P. +81. Damn these downloads).

Ween - Even If You Don't

I don't really know that much about Ween, other than that they are wearers of many a musical hat. This one finds them in super-polished radio-friendly pop mode, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, and seems to be the prevailing concern for their White Pepper album, from which this is taken.

The problem is, the song itself doesn't cut the mustard. It's quite sweet and catchy, and reminds me a lot of Paul McCartney; but just as a lot of his solo work misses the mark, so does 'Even If You Don't'. It just isn't that interesting. It is a grower, though, so check out the video directed by Trey Parker and if you don't like it the first time, give it another go!



To me, the B-side has always been more interesting. Whenever I've pulled this record out in the past it's been 'cos I wanted to get me some o' that Cornbread Red. 'Cornbread Red' isn't going to blow your mind, but it's a nice little ditty with violin, and that refrain of "Cornbread, cornbread red, all that cornbread goin' to your head," has a way of lodging itself in your brain for days. It's a chugging, twangy country jangle that certainly wouldn't be out of place on their 12 Golden Country Greats album.

The CD edition of this single also included a dub mix of 'Cornbread Red', which adds psychedelic elements to the track, sounding like a Beck outtake or even mid-80s Butthole Surfers. But was the CD coloured translucent green!? I think not!

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Weeping Song

I like it when an A-side has one particular B-side and that is that. The big, chart-bound radio-friendly song, twinned with its strange half-brother that was deemed too weird and wiry for mainstream album consumption. No juggling tracks about or sticking live versions or remixes on there; the two songs are to remain forever associated. The songs, though different in nature, complement each other, forming a one-two punch. And that's what we have here with 'The Weeping Song' and 'Cocks 'n' Asses'.

I'm very underwhelmed by the sleeve of the record. The cover has Cave and Blixa Bargeld sat in a boat under the moon. Bit Echo-y. Nothing wrong with that, but it's pretty naff and well-charted territory. The thing is, it's not a very good photo. I'm sure there must have been better pictures from the session. I mean, Cave is all kind of stooped and hunched up like a shitting monkey and appears to have been caught mid-sentence.

As seems the norm with other Bad Seeds releases of the 80s and early 90s there's some shoddy design work, with the band logo lazily slapped on top of the snap with 'The Weeping Song' in some kind of Sunday papers women's magazine supplement typeface.

'The Weeping Song' is a highlight of The Good Son. Like most of that album it moves away from the intense and visceral sound of previous album Tender Prey and concentrates on creating a delicately mournful song. Notably, Blixa Bargeld shares vocal duty with Cave in the role of the 'Father' answering his son's questions on the nature of human sorrow.

The title of 'Cocks 'n' Asses' is a wilfully puerile pun; the song is replete with samples of cockerels clucking and hee-hawing donkeys. It has the unenviable distinction of being earmarked by fans as one of, if not the, worst Nick Cave B-sides. A shame, as it's not really quite like anything else in the Bad Seeds' repertoire; a mostly instrumental drum-machine lead track sounding like a catchier Throbbing Gristle. The song seems to be improvised, built up around an industrial-lite programmed beat courtesy of producer/engineer Victor Van Vugt. Cave adds some hypnotically rhythmical piano, both doom-laden and bouncy and this continues throughout, making for a pretty odd vibe. He also mumbles and murmurs in spectral fashion. Layers of samples and guitar are built up gradually by Mick Harvey and some string synths get thrown in for good measure. The whole thing trips along for a few minutes and then ends in a blast of rapturous applause. I think it would be fair to say that the song doesn't really go anywhere and do anything much, which I suppose is a pitfall of improvised music, but while it's on I find it an enjoyable and creepy little song. Not every Nick Cave track has to be an epic exploration of the darker side of the human condition!

'Cocks 'n' Asses' was included on the 2005 compilation B-Sides and Rarities.

Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus - We All Stand Together

I love this song and I love the short film it's from (the film being slightly longer and different to the music video). If you are one of those people who deride this track and believe that this was the nadir of McCartney's career or that this song is silly or unworthy for an ex-Beatle then you are a scurrilous blackguard and a rascal, standing against all that is boundlessly creative, imaginative, childlike and innocent, beautiful and magical and deserve to be cursed, mocked, ostracised, cast down into the depths of Hell, stripped naked, oiled and thrown into the flames to languish in the eternal moans of your wicked Rupert-hating brethren and have your bottom troubled by the hot trident of Satan himself. You're also very clearly just plain wrong. 'We All Stand Together' is brilliant.



My favourite bit is when those three big bullfrogs go "Bom buh buh buh buh buh buh bom." I like that operatic fish as well. There are so many different segments to this song with some astounding arrangements and singing it's almost symphonic. This is epic McCartney. Seriously, I do not understand why this song isn't universally praised. It's a really good song with a beautiful sentiment, interesting and creative and hugely commercially successful. I guess the fact that it doesn't feature guitars and can be enjoyed by children is too much for some people to get over.



The back cover has some nice pictures of the various players, including the bullfrogs and the fish. It is unknown just exactly what happened to The Frog Chorus after they scored this hit, but it seems apparent that the rigours of the music industry where too much for the poor souls to take. Management were quick to arrange licensing deals for posters, towels and pencils etc. and the Frog Chorus were chewed up and spat out, too burnt out even to release a follow-up. Shame, as a collaboration with Alfredo Frog surely beckoned.

It was produced by George Martin and the pair of them must have been glad of the time in the studio to get down to some proper work without that clown Lennon philandering and womanising and shoving acid down his throat and banging on about attention-seekling, self-referential Eggmen guff.

The B-side is 'We All Stand Together (Humming Version)' by Paul McCartney and the Finchley Frogettes, so in the tradition of many great hardcore punk bands I guess we could call this a split? Maybe not. It's a gentler arrangement with an even dreamier hummed vocal melody than on the A-side; a nice way to kick back and relax after the crashing and splashing of the Frog Chorus version.

The single was released in November 1984 for the Christmas market, reached #3 and spent 13 weeks on the chart before dropping off, only to have a Lazarus-like return in December 1985, re-entering the charts for 5 weeks and peaking at #32.

In 2004 the song had a re-release of sorts as a double A-side 7" with 'Tropic Island Hum'; a song from McCartney's more recent foray into children's film. Someone has put a nice video online of the record being played:

Pavement - Carrot Rope

I'm not sure what informed my decision to buy this record as at the time I wasn't really familiar with Pavement. I think that somewhere in the back of my head I had a vague concept that Pavement were a 'good' band and that to purchase a single of theirs on vinyl was a 'good' thing to do - I was, after all, supporting an obscure and independent and alternative band on a marginal format (as opposed to buying the CDs) and therefore some greater god of indie-rock would see to it that my 99p investment would be rewarded with at least 3 minutes of musical pleasure.* Of course, I had no idea of quite how big the band really were or anything of their previous output, so I think it was a pretty good punt.

*Actually, thinking about it, I already knew and quite liked the song 'Shady Lane' as I think I had seen it on The O-zone (remember that show?) or something and that guided me in 1999 to buy 'Carrot Rope' on one of my trawls through the new release singles box in my local independent record shop.

I love the song 'Carrot Rope'; breezy, poppy, just odd enough to be interesting and it has that rose-tinted sound that makes you believe it could have been the soundtrack to your parents' old super-8 summer home movies. It's in contrast to most of the darker material on the Terror Twilight album.

Ten years on, I'm just watching the video for the first time and it's actually pretty annoying. Here it is anyway:

The song reminds me a lot less of earlier Fall-influenced indie-rock Pavement and far more of the sort of stuff on Stephen Malkmus' eponymous debut album, so at the time this would have been a pointer as to the direction he was going in, with Pavement playing their final show later that year (Brixton Academy, London Nov 20th 1999).

Like the music contained within, the record sleeve can't fail to raise a smile. Silly, yes, but also intriguing, the image of what we can safely assume to be a carrot rope makes me wonder whether it was commissioned for the single or if someone in the Domino art department opportunistically came across it and had a Eureka moment ("That's it! That, my friends, is a Carrot Rope!)

The B-side is 'And Then...’ which is an edited early version of 'The Hexx' from Terror Twilight. The song is dark and brooding Pavement at their best and makes a great counterpart to 'Carrot Rope'. It was recorded for 1997's Brighten the Corners, but left off that album for whatever reason. At a time when a lot of singles were released on two CDs and a 7", with the vinyl B-side being one of the CD bonus tracks, it was cool that the 'Carrot Rope' 7" got its own B-side, as 'And Then...' wasn't on either of the two CDs. Nice touch. The only other place you could hear it was on the B-side of the American 'Spit on a Stranger' 7". The track has since been compiled onto Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition with all the other contemporaneous demos, B-sides, and sessions etc. There was also a version included on Pavment's recent Record Store Day release: a live album of a concert in Germany from 1997. Good luck getting one of those outside of the USA!

Well, this is a great single, representing the two sides of the Pavement coin. It appears to still be in print, and you can get one here.

Mrs. Mills - Everybody's Welcome at Mrs. Mills' Party

Mrs. Mills' web presence is pitiful. It's a disgrace that a British recording artist who achieved so much commercial success both at home and internationally should have been so woefully neglected and seemingly thoroughly forgotten. I have never in my life seen her name in print or heard it uttered on TV or radio. I've heard more songs by The Jesus Lizard broadcast on radio than I have by Mrs. Mills! Everything I know of her has been gleaned from her record sleeves that I have purchased in charity shops and at boot sales. And this is a woman who was managed by the man who went on to manage The Rolling Stones; spent her entire recording career on Parlophone and EMI; shared recording space at Abbey Road with The Beatles and sold records by the bucket load. The sheer amount of Mrs. Mills records clogging up the charity shops racks is testament enough to that. So what's going on? It's as if she's been blackballed from the entertainment annals by some peevish God of taste. What terrible offense could she have committed? A jellied eel 'lost' maliciously behind a radiator?

Well, the answer of course is that this stuff hasn't any longevity. Her material was mostly covers of standards from the 20s - 40s designed for a good old knees-up and aimed at an ageing demographic. It was already old hat in the '60s when she was discovered and peaked, and it seems that after her death in 1978 her music didn't hang around long in the public consciousness. Which is a terrible shame, I feel. From the very few videos I have seen on YouTube (who is putting this stuff out there!?) she seems like quite a character and could certainly give the likes of Susan Boyle et al a run for their money in the 'rough diamond' charm stakes. Her record covers certainly give an impression of boisterous and fun-loving entertainer. Who wouldn't want to be invited to Mrs. Mills Party?

This is good-time music that brought pleasure to a great many people and that was reflected in Mrs. Mills' popularity and record sales. So, what started for me an an exercise in buying her records for their kitschy covers has developed into a deep-rooted respect for the lady.

As I said, her record covers are mostly fantastic, this being a particular favourite of mine. Another fave is Glad with Love, and not only because of the delicious pun (Mrs. Mills' christian name being Gladys). What better advert for multicultural diversity and tolerance than the cover of this album? Screw you, Benetton, Mrs. Mills has got it all wrapped up.



Everybody's Welcome at Mrs. Mills' Party is a fairly early release from 1963 (her recorded debut came in 1961) and was issued in both EP and LP format and I'm not sure which came first. I own both (nothing wrong with that. In fact, I own more Mrs. Mills records than I do of Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective and Bon Iver put together, so put that in yer pipe and smoke it!) and there are some large discrepancies in the track-listings. I like to think that this EP contains the very cream of the LP!

Both sides have two medleys featuring Mrs. Mills on piano with some accompaniment, which the LP sleeve attributes to being directed by one Geoff Love. But it really is all about Mills. Well, and the songs. As much as this is a showcase for Mills' potent piano skills, it's the song selection for the medleys and the creative, new and exciting ways in which they segue into each other that really counts. Clearly Mrs. Mills is the forerunner of 2 Many DJs and other mix artists of their ilk. Except, of course, that Mrs. Mills brings a level of flair and panache to the table (and the ability to play an instrument) that quite frankly leaves the knob-twiddlers choking in the dust!



I won't go into detail about the songs in the medleys as I quite frankly don't have a clue what any of them are, but here are a few choice titles to give you an impression and whet the appetite: 'In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town', 'Alexander's Ragtime Band', 'Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet', and so on. Mrs. Mills tinkers along in rude fashion and everybody has a thoroughly good time. I expect the same could be said about all of her records, but there's a mighty lot of them to get through before I can put my name to it!

Here's a poem by me about my love for Mrs. Mills records:

Mrs. Mills
Gives me thrills
When I spin
Her disc of vin
yl

Yeah. It still needs a bit of work, but it's getting there.

Big Black - The Model/He's a Whore

I bought a huge batch of Big Black vinyl a few months ago and I've been looking forward to writing about one of the 45s in there, and since I did Krafwerk's 'The Model' last week this seems as good a time as any...

I hate those people who dismiss a band by saying, "all their stuff sounds the same to me," so it's with some trepidation that I say of Big Black that a lot of their stuff sounds the same to me. Big Black for me are less about the songs and more about the sound; that pummelling, scratchy, aggressive, mean, cruel sound. In a lesser band's hands it could come across as a pantomime, but there's a sincerity to Big Black: Albini is really pissed off.

When twinned with a memorable song the Big Black experience really takes off, so it should come as no surprise that some of my favourite Big Black tracks are covers of songs that have more than a modicum of melody in them that the majority of Big Black originals eschew. So, this record sits pretty well with me, being as it is a tribute to both Cheap Trick and Kraftwerk.

'The Model' appears on Big Black's 1987 swansong Songs About Fucking and 'He's a Whore', although originally only intended for this release, was also included on the compact disc and cassette editions of the album. Although both tracks are freely available on the CD this record is a still a desirable item as it's such a cool, fun package, which is what this blog is all about really.

This is a double A-side and so you get two different covers! Awesome. Both covers playfully ape classic artwork by each band.



The Cheap Trick side, the first time I saw it, had me exclaiming "Holy shit! Is that Steve Albini?" When Albini is the looker in the band, well - you've got a band that could make onions cry. But that's what Big Black was about: brutal songs about ugly subjects. It's a great photo though, perfectly mimicking Cheap Trick's 1977 debut album cover.



Even the record label continues the theme with the Big Black logo, which is a really nice touch.



The song itself is a poppy new-wave number. This is about as poppy as Big Black get, with those drum machine beats sounding more danceable than punishing. It is surprisingly faithful to the original, except for the dead-panned vocals, and it seems like Big Black are having fun with it, even having stab at some - shock! - harmonies! Sounds to me like Santiago Durango on lead vocals growling, "Ahh'm a whwwooar."



The Kraftwerk side brilliantly replicates the artwork of their 1978 album The Man-Machine. That album's photography by Gunther Frohling has become quite iconic and whoever did this Big Black record has done an excellent job of recapturing it. I wonder who that mystery man was?



Again, this side gets its very own Big Black 'Kraftwerkesque' logo which repeats on the record label:



As for the song, it's an aggressive and heavier take on the original, with the drum machine and grimy bass very prominent. Steve Albini turns in some wonderfully noisy guitar squall in place of the synths. Overall the tone is nastier and this is a more menacing version than the original with Steve Albini sneering the vocals atonally. Lines like "I'd like to take her home with me that's understood" take on new meaning in this version: whereas in Kraftwerk's they sound sad and wistful, in Big Black's version it seems like a taunt; lurid and goading. Kraftwerk's 'Model' is unattainable; on a pedestal. Big Black's 'Model' is in the gutter getting spat on. You don't want to know what they have in mind for her if they get her home. It's a great cover as the band really find a different angle and feeling in it, while retaining most of the elements that make the original such a great song. Steve Albini must have had a soft spot for this as he continued to cover it with Rapeman and in his collaboration with Zeni Geva.

Absolutely classic 7" and well worth getting even if you own the CD. And remember, CDs make Mr. Albini sad.

Kraftwerk - The Model

This is an amazing single.

First off, it's got 'The Model' on it, which could very well be Kraftwerk's best song, and if not is certainly the song which best captures all the elements of what the group is about in an accessible and enjoyable three minute 'pop' song. With that in mind it's slightly baffling as to why it wasn't chosen as a single in 1978. Originally one on the highlights from 1978's The Man Machine it was a further three years before the song enjoyed commercial success in the UK.

'The Model' didn't receive a UK single release until July 1981, by which time Kraftwerk had released and were promoting the Computer World album. 'Computer Love' was selected as the second single from the album with 'The Model' included on the B-side. The single fared admirably, reaching #36 in the singles chart, but it was the B-side that caught the attention of the radio station DJs. After 'The Model' began to receive substantial airplay EMI reissued the single in December, with the same catalogue number, but this time with 'The Model' on the A-side. A music video was also produced. The re-issued single spent thirteen weeks on the charts and scored the group a #1 hit. However, it seems they were unhappy with the label's decision to release old material instead of focussing on Computer World.



Anyone who comes out with the tired old "soulless, emotionless, cold and clinical" response to Kraftwerk should listen for the melancholic yearning in this track. The lyrics speak of glamour, but the music tells the real story; the narrator is made to seem detached from that world, looking in mournfully at a girl whose success seems increasingly hollow and pitiful.

'Computer Love' is another great Kraftwerk track, now sadly more widely recognised as a Coldplay song. But before they got their dreary hands on the sparkling little riff and spread a thick, dull layer of grey jam over the whole thing it actually a rather sweet little song. It's rather light and whimsical in comparison to most of Kraftwerk's body of work; although quite representative of the Computer World album it is taken from.



Finally, the thing I love most about this one is the artwork. Slick, bold, bright and funky; it's just a great, iconic image; perhaps even better now than when originally issued.

Black Francis - Threshold Apprehension

This one goes THRESHOLD APPREHENSION! THRESHOLD THRESHOLD THRESHOLD THRESHOLD THRESHOLD THRESHOLD THRESHOLD THRESHOLD which is quite good fun. Then a female voice goes Threshold Apprehension oo-ee-oo-ee-oo-ee-oo-ee-oo-ee-oo-ee-oh-ee-oh-ee-oh-ee-oh-ee-oh-ee-oh-ee-oh in her best mock-Kim Deal tones. And I guess therein lies the justification for Mr. Charles Thompson to revert to his old Black Francis psuedonym. It just about makes sense on this track which has the old Pixies vibe and the backing vocals and Black Francis kind of screaming and all that, but a lot of the other songs on the album this is from can't really be distinguished from Frank Black stuff. So, the past few years Frank Black has been getting more country-fied and folky, but if you stood most of Bluefinger against late-90s Frank Black you wouldn't detect a huge departure. Maybe after the Pixies reunion Thompson just realised that Black Francis is a far more marketable name?



One thing this certainly has in common with previous Frank Black releases is the underwhelming artwork, a trend begun in 1996 on the 'so bad it isn't quite good, but is certainly quirky and interesting' The Cult of Ray; continuing on 1998's 'computer graphics from the Crystal Maze's Aztec zone' Frank Black and the Catholics cover; crystallising on Pistolero's subtle blend of shit photography and amateurish design; and reaching a nadir with Fast Man Raider Man: a bland and over-saturated shot of Frank Black that is truly grim to behold.

God, I'm really giving Frank Black a hard time here. I shouldn't be. I really like him. I feel like I'm one of the few who can claim to be a true fan, and not just a Pixies fan that has a few FB albums. But sometimes he just makes it so hard! Crappy artwork; albums coming at you left, right, and centre; download exclusives etc. It's too much! We were considering starting a campaign in 2003 to preserve Frank Black's legacy by introducing some degree of quality control after he released three full-length studio albums in the space of twelve months and quickly followed that up the next year with Show Me Your Tears. Not that every albums isn't brimming with great songs, it's just that to the uninitiated a lot of them can seem samey and lacklustre and if you collected the best twelve tracks from three years' output and just released that, well Frank Black would have some classic albums on his hands by now. Instead we get Honeycomb, followed quickly by a DOUBLE ALBUM in the same vein and then a live/odd and sods album the next year. It's just too much of a good thing.

Thankfully, the rate seems to have slowed as Black Francis hasn't released anything since the Sevenfingers EP in early 2008, which means I just might have time to go back and fully digest everything. This makes me kind of twitchy, though. I feel like Frank Black is merely biding his time and working away furiously on something huge that will be unleashed when I least suspect it, probably when I have a mountain of other things to do and cannot placate its demands for my time and attention, like in 2002 when we suddenly got two albums on the same day. *



The B-side of this single is 'Get Away Oil' which is exclusive to this disc. Unless you go to Black Francis' official website and download the mp3. But that would ruin the fun, right? This is a cool bluesy rocker with plenty of screaming and Black-Francisy bits. Just as any lazy music journalist would do in this situation where they don't really feel like describing or critiquing a track I'll pull a couple of established bands out of the bag and let you imagine the sounds. So, it's a bit like The Doors meet GG Allin. But only a bit. And not quite that good.

* Okay, I've just found out the Golem film project Black Francis has been working on scoring is going to be released 'soon' and will comprise FOUR discs of music. Egad! It does sound like a beauty: a signed and numbered book with DVD, two CDs comprising the studio score, two more CDs comprising a live performance and other nice deluxe thingies. Sounds like a must-have. Why do you do this to me, Frank Black!?

Tubeway Army - Down in the Park

Released in March 1979 as the first single from Replicas, ‘Down in the Park’ heralded Tubeway Army’s shift to a starker and more synth-driven sound. Both music and image seem to be highly influenced by Thin White Duke and Berlin-era David Bowie and electronic pioneers Kraftwerk. However, the music contained on this disc is far more sinister and distopian than anything released by either Bowie or Kraftwerk, and whereas pop acts of the early 80s that adopted the synth-pop style can now sound gimmicky and cheesy this melding of new technology and electronic sounds with post-punk guitar riffs has stood the test of time well.

The cover has a fantastic photograph that was later used as the cover of the Replicas LP. Gary Numan, with white hair and skin, stands like a mannequin, dressed in black, in an undecorated room with a bare light bulb hanging down, perfectly capturing the urban alienation that was a central theme of his work for years to come. A panel of the window captures his reflection and juxtaposes it against the moon, giving him an other-worldliness and suggesting the alien invasion themes that pervade Replicas. A bit too literal an interpretation of the song title is the inclusion of a huge neon ‘The Park’ sign, seen through the window. Not everything can be perfect, I suppose.

‘Down in the Park’ exudes a calm, frosty malice and is by turns creepy, menacing and brooding; stark, slick and cool, but also exhibits a wistful and melancholic nostalgia; the sound of looking back with regret and sorrow (most notably heard on the line “I was in a car crash or was it the war? Well I’ve never been quite the same").

Tubeway Army perform 'Down in the Park' on The Old Grey Whistle Test

The back cover is a close up shot of Numan’s eye, with a black bar for a pupil, hinting at themes and characters from the works of Philip K. Dick and further confirming the otherness of Numan’s new image and sound.

B-side ‘Do You Need the Service?’ is far more guitar-centred, but with repeated jabbing synths and an infectious rock drum pattern. Originally a non-album track, it has of course since been included on CD reissues on the album. More urgent and frantic than the A-side; if ‘Down in the Park’ is the menace, then ‘Do You Need the Service?’ is the paranoia.

‘Down in the Park’ failed to chart upon release, but follow-up single ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ scored a UK no.1 a mere two months later. Whatever you may think of Numan’s later increasingly industrial work, this single is an excellent and influential slice of early British synth-pop.

The Yodelling Comedians

Well, I saw this and I just had to have it. The Yodelling Comedians look like such a jolly bunch and are “TV Film Stage and Record Stars”. To achieve such extensive cross-platform media saturation you’ve got to be pretty hot, right? The record is also being touted as “Something Different” and I’m a sucker for that. It’s like a challenge. The Yodelling Comedians have laid down the gauntlet and I’m going to do whatever it is you’re supposed to next (either pick it up or thrown down a gauntlet of my own or something….never quite sure about that).

From the back cover it is apparent that this is a tourist souvenir from a place called the ‘Floragarten’ in Lucerne, Switzerland. I don’t actually speak Swiss, although I do have superior multi-linguistic skills, so I’m going to stick my neck out and say that the Floragarten is a Flower Garden and that the Yodelling Comedians appeared there ‘Live! In person!’ to entertain the crowds.

This lot are “known throughout the world,” although sadly seem to have now slipped in the publics esteem since a Google search returns two results for the “troup” and hopefully this post will rectify that and raise their profile and return them to their rightful place in the pantheon of musical legend. How can this be anything but amazing when it features “alphorn, cattle bells, (and) yodel?” I’m not sure that I’m too keen on the comparison to the music heard in a “Swiss peasant’s house,” but I’m pretty psyched up now to hear this thing.

The record comes in a U-shaped plastic bag, which I’ve rarely seen; it’s pretty cool and seems to make a lot more sense than a square paper sleeve. Why did this die out? Oh, well let’s check out the label: no date, sadly, but we do have some song titles to whet the appetite and some pretty vague line-up details: Leader: Freddy Pulver.” Now, I can see from the cover that there are plainly three members, but it looks like Freddy here holds the most clout which is why he’s the only guy that gets credited. So what does he play? “Alphorn – cattle bells – moving coins.” Moving coins? This is going to be some weird music if someone gets a credit for moving coins around on the recording. Yep, Freddy’s the man, all right and he’s even autographed the sleeve!

I don’t think anything could prepare for the disappointment that is the music on side one. ‘Water from the Glacier’ is what I guess is traditional Swiss music, all accordion and horn trumping and paring cheerily away. Where are the ambient sounds, though? The moving coins? Where’s the comedy? I was expecting the Swiss equivalent of Chris Morris’ Jam, not this crap! About half way in we get some yodelling for a minute or so and then it’s all over. The Comedians have already rocked us with ‘Water…’ and now they’re bringing us delicate introspection with the far slower “Yodelling is my Hobby,” which paradoxically features very scant yodelling. This could be track one just playing at 33rpm. Oh. Hang on. No, no it’s no mistake of mine, this really is just that dull.

Side two carries on in the same vein with ‘Glamorous Alpine World’ and ‘My Sweetheart Lives in a Chalet’. Some more yodelling here and there from the same one yodeller (do yodellers ever harmonise?) Where the hell is the comedy? I don’t ask for much, but if you’re going around touting yourself as the Yodelling Comedians, you better be ready to bring the funnies. Or just make some stupid noises like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets; I’m not a hard man to please, Yodelling Comedians, but you guys just aren’t even trying. Maybe you are better in person. Maybe the coin-moving is a riot when performed live.

I suppose I should be relieved to be spared 1960s Swiss humour, but when only one of the group is actually yodelling on this thing, and very occasionally at that, well it all seems a bit disingenuous. I want my 20p back, Yodelling Comedians! The only fun to be had from this record is when the needle gets stuck mid-yodel: “Yodellllooo-oop-oop-oop-oop-oop-oop-oop” and when your idea of fun is listening to a yodel over and over again you know you’ve been listening too long!

Amazingly, a quick search for the record label has uncovered an eBay auction for this record, but with a totally different cover! Oh, my God! Rarity! I like to think that mine is the definitive version, though. Recommended only for masochists!