Have I Told You Ledley That I Love You

If you had told me even 24 hours ago that I would be raving about a love letter to Tottenham Hotspur legend Ledley King from a Bristol-based, London-rooted jazz duo named after their football hero, I would have given you a quizzical look.

Yet, here I am. One of the hundreds of music-related mailshots that I receive every week led me to Ledley aka saxophonist Chris Williams and trombonist Raph Clarkson, whose shared experience of Spurs season tickets and, according to the Times in 2009, "Tottenham's 25th best player of all time" inspired their self-titled album.

Chris and Raph are joined by bassist, arranger and composer Riaan Vosloo, who is credited with co-writes, recording, post-production and 'electronics'. 

The album's been a while coming: recorded in the basement of Cafe Kino in Bristol on 7th October 2022; mixed at J&J Studio, also in Bristol, on 8th August 2023; released on vinyl and digital on 4th April 2025. 

Based on the four 'songs' and three 'videos' made available on Bandcamp and YouTube respectively, Ledley the album promises to be an intriguing, immersive experience.

Ledley the band are playing live at the Cube Microplex in Bristol on 8th April. The evening will kick off with "a solo electronic and percussive set of cut and spliced animated video with a playful and abstract, Dadaist and humorous approach" from percussionist and drummer

Tony Orrell.

Chris and Raph will then perform together, before an ensemble finale with Riaan and Tony. All for a tenner.

Until I left Bristol in the late 2000s, I used to go to the Cube loads. Back then, it was a humble cinema offering some cult classics, past and present, with occasional nights offering some live musical accompaniment and was always a gem of the city (off) centre. These days the Cube is described as an "arts venue, independent museum, and progressive social wellbeing enterprise".

The 'microplex' appellation was a nod and a thumbed nose to the multiplexes that were cropping up on the outskirts and subsequently in the heart of the Cabot Circus shopping centre. It says something about Bristol's maverick and creative spirit that whilst the latter multiplex is now long gone, the Cube Microplex endures.

Sadly, I'm going to have to give Ledley a miss this time, as I'm going to another gig the following night in Bath and these days I just can't squeeze in two consecutive outings in a working week. Hopefully there will be a 'next time'.

In the meantime, one more for the Bandcamp Friday shopping list.

 

 

 

 

A Pair Of Portmanteaus

Parvale = Neil Parnell & Ian Vale

Jezebell = Jesse Fahnestock & Darren Bell

I do love a portmanteau name and when Nein Records label head Neil Parnell teamed up with Ian Vale, Parvale was created and new EP Breaker City the first fruits.

The lead track is an unashamedly heartfelt love letter to Acid and Breakbeat, blending the best of both into 345 seconds of compelling body music. 

I've greatly enjoyed Neil's releases and remixes as Tronik Youth and relatively recently caught up with Ian's work, so I was pretty much bought into this concept before hearing the track. That first listen sealed the deal.

Who else do you turn to for a remix than Jezebell? In their own words, Breaker City is "gone cut'n'paste and pop 'n' lock", dropping the tempo but not the attitude. A recurring sample of "nice 'n' slow" provides the remix with its name and, as you might expect, it's a slick, groovy six minutes that thrills from start to finish.

Closing track Drip Dry brings the BPMs right back up, another consumate and confident example of Neil and Ian's ability to pull from the past whilst reaching forward. At once evocative of the late 80s/early 90s and fresh as a springtime flower, it's another winner for me.  

Breaker City was released on 21st February but if you hang on to Bandcamp Friday to buy, even more of your hard earned pennies will reach the artists. And whilst you're at it, check out more of the Nein Records and Jezebell back catalogue too.

Blamed It On The Moon

When I got to see Emily Breeze live in concert for the first time last February, I was mightily impressed by support act Mumble Tide, in spite of a cluster of 'scenester' assholes near the front who talked (well, shouted) through most of their set.

I vowed to get Mumble Tide's back catalogue at the next Bandcamp Friday and hoped that I would get to see them perform live again.

Well, it's another Bandcamp Friday this week and, even better, Mumble Tide's debut album os out on 1st April and available for pre-order. They're also playing at SWX in Bristol as part of the Ritual Union event on 29th March, with a further date in London in May followed by a UK tour in October and November.

Mumble Tide released Pea Soup a couple of weeks ago, the third single/preview from the album Might As Well Play Another One. I've included the videos for the other two, The Rails and album title track (more or less) MAWPAO. 

(The #BlogCon25 massive may be particularly impressed by the taster of The Galleries shopping centre and Cabot Circus car park ahead of their gathering in Bristol in June)

It's fair to say that Gina Leonard and Ryan Rogers have transcended their self-described "Bristol bedroom pop" and created something quite wonderful. I'm looking forward to hearing the album.

 
 

Grant My Wish...At Last!

"I think I’m more likely to see 

a ‘Pale Green Goat’ in the wild 

before you post the review..🙄"

I received this text from Mike two weeks ago and to be honest, I could hardly blame him.

After all, it had been nearly three weeks since we had both sat in the presence of John Grant and his band, performing live at the Beacon in Bristol on Saturday 1st February 2025.

A fortnight after Mike's message, half-joking, half-resigned, and a month after the concert, at last - at last! - some words, a photo and a Dubhed selection, recreating the set list. 

If your eyes have been unable to resist glancing down, then you'll see that it was a formidable set list: 7 of the 11 songs from current album The Art Of The Lie, 5 from Pale Green Ghosts (2013), 3 from debut Queen Of Denmark (2010), a couple from Boy From Michigan (2021), one from Love Is Magic (2018) and absolutely zero from Grey Tickles, Black Pressure (2015).  

 

Before all that though, a special mention for Big Special. The duo of Joe Hicklin (singer) and Callum Moloney (everything else, but mainly drums) had been scheduled to open for John Grant on 25th October 2024, before John fell ill and the show was postponed.

 

Thankfully, the pair were here to open proceedings and they were on top form, with Callum adding 'warm up' to his extensive CV.

 

"We are Big Special. 

We are not big and we are not special."

 

" We are what is known as the support act. 

We are contractually obliged to get you ready for John Grant. 

Are you ready?" 

(cue call and response with the audience) 

 

"This is our single. 

It didn't get any play on the radio. 

I can't think why. 

This is Shithouse."

A parental advisory for the liberal effing and jeffing throughout this and other songs, none of which detracts from how truly special their 30-minute set was. Joe pretty much left the between song banter to Callum and let his vocals, er, speak for themselves. 

 

Switching from one line to the next from a Black Country Mike Skinner to a Scott Walker-esque croon to stratospheric, operatic high notes, it was incredible to believe that all of this was coming from one body, but it was and it was something to behold.

 

When Callum asked the audience for the final time, "Are you ready for John Grant?", the response was raucous, but honestly I could easily have enjoyed another 30, 45 minutes of Big Special. Believe me, they are big and they are special. 

 

I bought the album the following morning.

 

So, a tough act to follow? Well yes, but we are talking about John Grant here. Though inevitably, there was a huge weight of expectation. As I wrote the day following the postponed gig in October 2024, as series of unfortunate events have meant that I'd missed John Grant concerts five times in the past ten years. Surely cruel fate couldn't intervene for a sixth time?!

 

Thankfully not. Music. Lights. Band taking position on stage. Then the great man himself. And I mean literally. Even from our lofty vantage point in the lower tier, face on to the stage, John was head and shoulders above his bandmates.

 

The set opened with an unfamiliar, funky passage, which meant that it was a song from the current album, The Art Of The Lie. I should explain. When the album was released last June, I made a conscious decision not to buy or listen to it until after the concert. That way, I'd get to experience the songs for the first time, performed live on stage. It was a bit of a stretch with a four month wait, but what could go wrong? Little did I know.

 

When the Bristol date was postponed and rescheduled for February 2025, my resolve remained firm and so, seven months later, I got to hear All That School For Nothing and another half dozen songs from The Art Of The Lie for the very first time. It was worth the prolonged wait. 

 

Of course, I bought the album the following morning.

 

From the groovy opening straight into a pulsing, persistent performance of Black Belt, before taking things down a notch for Marz and It Doesn't Matter To Him, followed by a couple more songs from The Art Of The Lie. At some point, one of the stage crew has dashed onstage to drape a cape around John's shoulders.

 

It's A Bitch briefly ups the tempo and, after one person gets up in the aisle to John's right to groove along, more quickly mass...although oddly gravitating to that one area, to the extent that some audience members pick their way along the rows from the other side of the hall to join the throng.

After that brief blip of BPMs, there is a further lengthy sequence of downtempo songs, John taking a seat at the piano, back to the crowd, voice resonating all around us. It's one thing to hear the studio recordings of these songs or even view radio sessions and live performances online. None of that compares to being in the room, with real shivers-down-the-spine moments, hearing those words, the music - that voice - in real time.

 

I could single out the versions of Glacier or The Rusty Bull, though really there is not a single misplaced vocal or musical note, even when the live rendition takes the song some distance from the version I first heard on an album.

 

A trio of songs from The Art Of The Lie follows, all more than holding their own with the better known tunes. Although I don't need to remind myself that I am one of the few - if not the only - one in the room who is unfamiliar with the album as the audience frequently join in. 

 

Maybe John's love of cussing provides a safe space for others to release all the expletives that they contain back in the 'real world'. Meek AF is another addition to that growing list of John's potty mouthed pop tunes, and Chicken Bones from Queen Of Denmark gets an airing shortly after, closing the show.

 

After a blink-and-you'll-miss-it break, John and the band are back on stage for a two-song encore. John's wearing a rich blue smock at this point and takes up at the piano again for the last 'new' song, Laura Lou.

 

The finale is - what else? - GMF, which is nothing less than fantastic. Two hours, eighteen songs and a ten year wait that finally, finally paid off in more ways than I could have imagined.

 

And yes, John Grant is the greatest motherfucker that I'm ever going to meet.

 

1) All That School For Nothing (Album Version) (2024)

2) Black Belt (Album Version) (2013)

3) Marz (Album Version) (2010)

4) It Doesn't Matter To Him (Single Version ft. Beth Orton) (2013)

5) It's A Bitch (Album Version) (2024)

6) Daddy (Album Version) (2024)

7) It's Easier (Album Version) (2010)

8) Is He Strange (KEXP Avast! Session) (2018)

9) Glacier (Strongroom Session) (2013)

10) Pale Green Ghosts (Nivolt Rmx) (2013)

11) Boy From Michigan (Album Version) (2021)

12) The Rusty Bull (Album Version) (2021)

13) Father (Album Version) (2024)

14) Meek AF (Album Version) (2024)

15) The Child Catcher (Album Version) (2024)

16) Chicken Bones (Album Version) (2010)

17) Laura Lou (Album Version) (2024)

18) GMF (Album Version) (2013)

2010: Queen Of Denmark: 3, 7, 16

2013: John Grant Gets Schooled EP: 4

2013: Pale Green Ghosts: 2, 18

2013: Pale Green Ghosts EP: 10

2013: Strongroom EP: 9

2018: KEXP Avast! Session EP: 8

2021: Boy From Michigan: 11, 12

2024: The Art Of The Lie: 1, 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, 17

Grant My Wish (1:40:23) (KF) (Mega)

 

Big special thanks to Mike for the headline picture of John onstage. I was so mesmerised by the entire show that I forgot to take a single photo!

Decadance V: 1999

After five week(end)s and ten posts, the Decadance series ends inevitably with 1999. 

Unlike my previous look at the 1980s, which largely recreated existing mixtapes, each one of these posts started completely from scratch and tried to imagine what my 20-something self would have tried to cram onto each side of a C90.

It's been a lot of fun, but a lot more time consuming. Even compared to my usual posts containing a Dubhed selection, each one has taken about three times longer to complete, sometimes at the expense of other planned posts (like gig reviews, with apologies to Mike...it's coming!)

I'm really glad I did it though, not least because it's enabled to me to revisit lots of artists and tunes that I haven't heard in ages. I also had the impression going into this that, unlike the Decade series, this one would be largely comprised of outlier music that only rarely troubled the UK singles charts. 

I decided to track the highest chart placings for each post and it turns out that my latter assumption was way off. Despite being subjected to some of the most dire, bland, identikit pop pap throughout the 90s, the decade also delivered some great music that made more of an impression (however briefly) with the record buying public. There are way more Top 10 hits than non-charting singles throughout, for example.

Decadance has delivered 120 songs by 110 individual artists, meaning that some - but not many - appeared more than once.  No surprise perhaps to find that Julian Cope and Massive Attack were the only to have three bites of the cherry, though the revelation that the former had at least 3 hits in the 1990s may.

Honorable mentions for those who managed two appearances: Fluke, Lionrock, The Sabres Of Paradise, Saint Etienne, Suede and, just under the wire with today's selection, The Chemical Brothers. Likewise, Dot Allison, by dint of her previous outing with One Dove.

So, let's have a look at who made the final dozen of the millennium.

1999 starts off with The Chemical Brothers and Hey Boy Hey Girl. I had assumed that like Block Rockin' Beats before it, this song had gone straight in at #1, but no. Keeping Ed and Tom off the top spot were Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann and the previous week's #1, Sweet Like Chocolate by Shanks & Bigfoot (more of which later).

As with most singles at this time, it was all about first week sales, usually bolstered by multiple formats offering slightly different B-sides and versions. Unfortunately, the following week Hey Boy Hey Girl dropped to #6 and it was downhill from there.

A song that deserved far better than its peak of #54 was Honey by Billie Ray Martin. A great pop song, produced by Dave Ball, remixed by Chicane and Deep Dish, it didn't get the love (or radio play) that it deserved. Time to address that injustice here.

It's hard to comprehend that it's been more than a quarter of a century since Dot Allison released her debut solo single (Mo' Pop) and album (Afterglow). Again, how was Mo' Pop not at least Top 40, higher even? Thankfully, Dot has continued to record and release wonderful music ever since.

I know, I know, there are many other and arguably better James songs that should have seen them appear earlier in the series. That said, I have a real soft spot for I Know What I'm Here For. I didn't buy the single or album but obtained it via Q magazine's 'best albums of 1999' freebie CD at the end of the year and it's remained a much-loved song since.

The Stone Roses made their sole appearance in my Decade mixtape series in 1989, with Fool's Gold. It seems fitting therefore that Ian Brown should make a solo appearance in 1999 with Love Like A Fountain. Never one for modesty, this song was a precursor to Ian's second album, titled Golden Greats. 

Great is a word I'd use to describe GusGus, the unlikely 4AD signing from Iceland, who brought a glacial cool to the dancefloor. Again, many other worthy contenders throughout the mid- to late-90s, but the opening seconds of Starlovers make me want to move every time. And Daníel Ágúst's voice is just sublime.

Lovefool did nothing for me, if I'm honest, and I figured The Cardigans to be just another band that were quickly in and out of favour. Then I heard Your Favourite Game and Erase/Rewind and really liked them both. By sheer coincidence, I'd placed the latter at track 7 in this selection before discovering it's peak UK singles chart placing was...7. 

I remember Sweet Like Chocolate by Shanks & Bigfoot as much for it's crap video, which I haven't seen since but which probably looks even more horribly dated now. Nothing to detract from what was quite a clever dance/pop crossover hit (it was #1 in May 1999). I normally avoided generically titled CD compilations like the plague, but I succumbed to the appeal of The Best Ibiza Anthems...Ever!, which included the Ruff Driverz remix of Sweet Like Chocolate featured here. It remains the only version of the song in my music collection.

Beck was back in 1999, although he'd never really been away, having released his previous album the year before. Sexx Laws was a bit different though, offering up a (retro)poppier take that I found quite appealing, as I did the rest of the Midnite Vultures album. I've know idea what esteem or place in the canon this holds with Beck fans. For me, it was the right music at the right time. Did it appear in the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me? If it didn't, it could have.

The final Mandatory Andrew Weatherall (MAW) appearance didn't present the same challenges as 1998. Another Two Lone Swordsmen remix, though this time included on the official CD single release with full vocals and a smidge under five minutes. That the song happens to be Swansong by Rae & Christian featuring the wonderful vocals of Veba aka Beverley Green is just icing on the cake. Andrew and Keith Tenniswood excelled themselves with this one.

Despite being their most commercially successful decade, R.E.M. make their one and only appearance as the penultimate song in the very last post of the series. What a song, though. At My Most Beautiful is a thing of, well, beauty although the jingle bell backing always had me thinking that it must have been released in time to exploit the Christmas market. Not so, it was March! 

I bought the CD single in the bargain bins, many moons later. I'd not heard the lead song at this point and got it solely for the bonus live versions of Country Feedback and The Passenger (Iggy Pop), performed on Later...With Jools Holland. At My Most Beautiful has since become a personal favourite.

How to follow that and close out the series and the decade? By going back to January 1999 and Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp by Mercury Rev, that's how. The album edit here comes in at just over 3 minutes, stretching my imaginary C90 tape to almost breaking point, though there was no question of ending this selection in any other way. Just a joy from start to finish, which then inspired me to dig out the full length version and remix by The Chemical Brothers to keep it going on and on.

Thank you for sticking with me for the last few weekends. I hope that, as it did for me, these weekly trips have been a reminder of some great music and artists, many of whom are still going in some shape or form today, continuing to add to their rich and varied history.

I suspect that when I get around to a series on the Noughties, the gulf between my singles selections and the UK charts will be vast, yet I know that like Decadance and Decade, there will be many gems to be uncovered and shared. I'm not planning on doing it any time soon, possibly not even this year, though I have come up with the series name. 

Decayed. 

1) Hey Boy Hey Girl (Radio Edit): The Chemical Brothers

2) Honey (Chicane Radio Edit): Billie Ray Martin

3) Mo' Pop (Album Version): Dot Allison

4) I Know What I'm Here For (Album Version): James

5) Love Like A Fountain (Radio Version): Ian Brown

6) Starlovers (Edit): GusGus

7) Erase/Rewind (Cut La Roc Vocal Mix): The Cardigans

8) Sweet Like Chocolate (Ruff Driverz Vocal): Shanks & Bigfoot ft. Sharon Woolf

9) Sexx Laws (Album Version): Beck

10) Swansong (Two Lone Swordsmen Vocal): Rae & Christian ft. Veba

11) At My Most Beautiful (Radio Remix): R.E.M.

12) Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp (Album Version Edit): Mercury Rev

31st January 1999: Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp EP (#26): 12

28th February 1999: Erase/Rewind EP (#7): 7

14th March 1999: At My Most Beautiful EP (#10): 11

28th March 1999: Afterglow (#81): 3

18th April 1999: Starlovers EP (#62): 6

23rd May 1999: Sweet Like Chocolate EP (#1): 8

6th June 1999: Hey Boy Hey Girl EP (#3): 1

13th June 1999: Swansong EP (#17): 10

25th July 1999: Millionaires (#22): 4

15th August 1999: Honey EP (#54): 2

31st October 1999: Love Like A Fountain EP (#23): 5

14th November 1999: Midnite Vultures (#27): 9

Side Two (47:01) (KF) (Mega)

Decadance V: 1998

Side 1 of an imaginary 90s compilation cassette, spooling out in 1998.

This selection went through several last minute changes as I discovered that several songs, whilst listed as or appearing on albums in 1998, weren't released or charted as singles until 1999. You may see some of those tomorrow, but the short list was already rather long, so maybe not...

Not the substitutes were sloppy seconds and, in what I think is a record for this series, a third of the selection all hit the UK #1 spot. Mind you, this was at a time when new releases would crash into the Top 5 in the first week and promptly disappear without trace the next. I'm not even sure that the guaranteed Top Of The Pops appearance carried all that much weight by then.

This was the first time I struggled to fill the MAW slot in this series. In 1998, Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood's cuts as Two Lone Swordsmen tended to be glitchy, queasy electro numbers, either very short or very long and with little or no vocals. 

The only real contender for me was their epic remix of Come Together by Spiritualized. The only problems being that it was over fifteen and a half minutes long, with not the faintest trace of Jason Pierce to be found. 

My solution - Lord Sabre forgive me - was to create my own vocal edit. I found a bootleg MP3 of the filtered vocal of Come Together and with some painstaking cutting, editing and sequencing, ended up with a version that comes in at just over four and a half minutes. The sound quality is shonky. the editing amaterish, but it's not as awful as I thought. Please feel free to disagree, I will not argue!

Cornershop were one the surprise #1s, entirely thanks to Norman Cook who was everywhere at the time as Fatboy Slim. Brimful Of Asha was a (very) modest hit in 1997, but Norman liked it, wanted to include it in his sets but needed to speed it up a bit. Cue the trademark big beats and carousel swirls and a chart topper was born. I still quite get over Tjinder Singh sounding like a member of Alvin & The Chipmunks and I will also prefer the original over the remix, but I'm happy that it gave Cornershop (and their album) a well-deserved boost.

A fair bit of rap here, from the masters Run-D.M.C. to new kids on the block Jurassic 5 and superb homegrown talent in Asian Dub Foundation. 

Roni Size Reprazent, er, represented my birthplace and, fresh off of winning the 1997 Mercury Music Prize, ploughed the prize money straight back into Bristol. Not the only Bristol artist though: Massive Attack return, this time with Elizabeth Fraser for Teardrop. Even the truncated promo edit featured here is phenomenal, and seeing it performed live last year was a real 'pinch me' moment.

Madonna returned with William Orbit at the controls for Frozen, with a Chris Cunningham-created video that had Madge looking her Gothic best. A slew of remixes accompanied the single as you might expect, though Stereo MC's version was head and shoulders above the rest.

Just outside the Top 30 was Don't Die Just Yet by David Holmes, sampling Serge Gainsbourg with aplomb. David remixed Failure by Skinny, label mates with Dido who also provided backing vocals on the song.

Speaking of samples, somehow Italian duo The Tamperer aka Alex Farolfi and Mario Fargetta managed to clear a hefty sample of The Jacksons' 1981 hit Can You Feel It? for their own song. 

Frankly, the sample does all the heavy lifting, but American singer and actor Maya Days gamely adapts lyrics from Urban Discharge's 1995 single Wanna Drop A House (On That Bitch), including the unforgettable line, "What's she gonna look like with a chimney on her?"  They don't write 'em like that anymore...

As a counter to all of the hits, 1998 closes with a 'flop' single from what proved to be one of my favourite albums of the year, by the wonderful Solex aka Elisabeth Esselink. Solex vs. The Hitmeister featured 12 songs, every single one featuring Solex in the title. I hadn't heard any of the music, but was so taken by the review I read that I tracked it down and bought the CD. A fabulously quirky album and a perfect way to round off the year.

Amazingly, sadly (for me at least), Sunday will see the final instalment of this alternative tour of the 1990s. Pre-millennium tension? Not 'arf!

 
1) Black White (Brendan Lynch Mix): Asian Dub Foundation

2) Concrete Schoolyard (Clean Radio Edit): Jurassic 5

3) Failure (Radio Mix): Skinny ft. Lee Stevens, Dido & Pauline Taylor

4) Watching Windows (Roni Size Vocal Remix): Roni Size Reprazent ft. Onallee

5) Brimful Of Asha (Brighton) (Norman Cook Remix Single Version): Cornershop

6) It's Like That (Drop The Break Radio Edit): Run-D.M.C. vs. Jason Nevins

7) Feel It (Blunt Edit): The Tamperer ft. Maya

8) Frozen (Stereo MC's Remix Edit): Madonna

9) Don't Die Just Yet (Radio Edit): David Holmes

10) Teardrop (Edit): Massive Attack ft. Elizabeth Fraser

11) Come Together (Two Lone Swordsmen Meet Khayem Downtown) (Vocal Edit): Spiritualized

12) Solex All Licketysplit (Album Version): Solex

4th January 1998: Don't Die Just Yet EP (#33): 9

22nd February 1998: Brimful Of Asha EP (#1): 5

1st March 1998: Frozen EP (#1): 8

8th March 1998: Watching Windows EP (#28): 4

15th March 1998: It's Like That EP (#1): 6

5th April 1998: Failure EP (#31): 3

12th April 1998: Solex vs. The Hitmeister (#n/a): 12

3rd May 1998: Teardrop EP (#10): 10

24th May 1998: Feel It EP (#1): 7

31st May 1998: The Abbey Road EP (#39): 11

28th June 1998: Black White EP (#52): 1

18th October 1998: Concrete Schoolyard EP (#35): 2

Side One (46:56) (KF) (Mega)

A Few That Didn't Make The Cut...

The latest instalment of the Decadance series will arrive later than planned today. A long day on Friday and Clan K stuff this morning, you know how it is.

To whet your appetite for what's to come, I've picked half a dozen songs that didn't make the final 12 for 1998, but are too good to ignore. 

I haven't seen most of these videos for years either and they are a visual treat.  

But if these artists didn't make the cut, then who did?

The top 40 selling singles of 1998 included Cher, Celine Dion, Boyzone, B*Witched, Leann Rimes and Chef from South Park. And the rest weren't much cop either.
 
1) Kelly Watch the Stars: AIR (10th May 1998, #18)

2) What It Means: Barry Adamson (16th August 1998, #98) (criminal!)

3) (Hey You) Whats That Sound?: Les Rythmes Digitales (11th October 1998, #76)

4) Hand In Your Head: Money Mark (22nd February 1998, #40)

5) A Little Soul: Pulp (14th June 1998, #22)

6) Music Sounds Better With You: Stardust (16th August 1998, #2)

 

 

 

 

Blue, Gene

Remembering Gene Hackman, 30th January 1930 to 26th February 2025.

Ernie Goggins at 27 Leggies posted Too Many RIPs on Thursday, noting the recent losses of Jerry Butler, Gwen McCrae, Ken Parker, Bill Fay and Roberta Flack (with Rick Buckler from The Jam also noted). "This has got to stop", pleaded Ernie.

Sadly, later the same day, news emerged that Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and one of the family dogs had all been discovered dead at the home on the Old Sunset Trail in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. 

I will add some words to this post at a later date, as there is a greater understanding of the tragic circumstances that led to this discovery, and to reflect on the impact of Gene's immense and varied acting career.

In the meantime, in time-honoured knee jerk tradition, I've responded by collating an hour-long Dubhed selection, all song titles drawn from Gene's film and TV career. With over 100 credits, there were no shortage of quality contenders, but I think the final 14 hit the spot.

No apologies for tracks 11 and 14, which shoehorn in the film via the subtitle, they were too good to ignore. Likewise, who will argue that the opening song drops the definite article when it's Joni Mitchell?

Farewell, Gene and Betsy.

1) Conversation: Joni Mitchell (1970)

2) Route 66 (Single Version) (Cover of Nat King Cole & The King Cole Trio): Depeche Mode (1987)

3) Bonnie And Clyde (Cover of Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot): Mick Harvey ft. Anita Lane (1995)

4) Misunderstood (Album Version): Leila ft. Donna Paul (1998)

5) Two Of A Kind: Superstar (1998)

6) The Mexican (Short Version): Jellybean ft. Jenny Haan (1987)

7) Downhill Racer (Kenny Dope Remix): Everything But The Girl (2004)

8) The Quick & The Dead: Ladyhawke (2012)

9) Twilight (Album Version): Hifi Sean & David McAlmont (2025)

10) Superman (Album Version) (Cover of The Clique): R.E.M. (1986)

11) Wish You Were Here... (Postcards From The Edge) (Remix By Ashley Beedle): The Aloof (1996)

12) Another Woman (Album Version): Moby ft. Barbara Lynn (2000)

13) Crimson Tide: Destroyer (2020)

14) Plug Me In (The French Connection) (Remix By Rick Phylip-Jones): Scarlet Fantastic (1987)

Blue, Gene (1:01:08) (KF) (Mega)

Voice Of An Angel

....Angel Deradoorian that is, who has been recording and releasing music mononymously since 2009. 

Sixteen years later, I've found Deradoorian courtesy of a new single and video for Set Me Free, ahead of third album Ready For Heaven, which according to the promo blurb, deals with "with heaven and earth, damnation and salvation".

All pretty standard fare, you might reasonably suppose, but there's something pleasingly subversive about Set Me Free, which somehow manages to evoke chamber pop, 70s prog and 80s Barbara Dickson. All of which sounds like a recipe for disaster, but works.

I've had a dip in to the back catalogue and selected three songs from her debut Mind Raft EP (2009) and previous albums The Expanding Flower Planet (2015) and Find The Sun (2020). 

 

 

Deradoorian's Bandcamp page includes all of these, plus her forays into extended improvisations and drones, the latter inspired by her Armenian heritage. Fascinating stuff.

Angel also found time to team up with Moscow-based artist Kate Shilonosova, who releases music as Kate NV. The pair formed Decisive Pink, which on first listen I can only describe as off-kilter synth pop. Here are two of the three videos that I've found online. 

 

 

There's a rather fab Jane Weaver remix of their debut single Haffmilch Holiday, which is right up my strasse.

Rounding off today's post, with a return to Deradoorian and the Ready For Heaven album (out on May 9th, by the way). Digital Gravestone was released last December, the first hint of what was to come.

Is It The End Of Time Or Just Tomorrow?

On 26th February 2022, I posted a mixtape of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, recorded in 1990 and featuring a selection of tracks from the superb double vinyl compilation, Radio One, released the previous year.

Three years on from that post, and nearly thirty five years on from that mixtape, here are a dozen more classics from Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding.

This time, it's a mix of radio and studio recordings, with no duplication of songs from the previous mixtape. Apart from Little Miss Lover, that it, but this time I've included the album version rather than radio session.

The selection opens with a version of Drivin' South from the Radio One collection, as a belated thank you to Martin for recently achieving 20 years with the excellent New Amusements blog. I only discovered New Amusements in 2020, but it's been a must visit and a continual source of inspiration ever since. 

Martin shared his love for this version of Drivin' South in a comment on my previous post. It took three years, but I finally delivered. Thanks, Martin!

1) Drivin' South (BBC Session Version) (1967)

2) 51st Anniversary (Single Version) (1967)

3) All Along The Watchtower (Album Version) (Cover of Bob Dylan) (1968)

4) The Wind Cries Mary (Single Version) (1967)

5) Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) (Album Version) (1968)

6) Little Miss Lover (Album Version) (1967)

7) I Was Made To Love Her (BBC Session Version) (1967)

8) Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) (Album Version) (1968)

9) (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man (BBC Session Version) (1967)

10) House Burning Down (Album Version) (1968)

11) Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (BBC Session Version) (1967)

12) May This Be Love (Album Version) (1967)

Is It The End Of Time Or Just Tomorrow?  (45:22) (KF) (Mega)

You can find the original 1990 mixtape Is It Tomorrow Or Just The End Of Time? right here