Why Everybody Needs A Bosom For A Pillow

Side 2 of a mixtape, compiled 14th February 1998. 

 

As I reflected when I posted Side 1 in 2022, this date was either the most unforgettable Valentine's Days ever, or one so traumatic that I've erased it from memory. I was in a relationship at the time, though not the long-suffering Mrs. K, who I hope can at least vouch that Valentine's Days have been a slight improvement on this one.

I was either in an upbeat mood or urgently needed cheering up, if the tracklist of this cassette is anything to go by. Beats, happy keys, lots of energy...I even wrote the word 'funky!' on the DIY front cover!

 

This 10-song selection picks from 1990 to 1994 and is chock full of gems, opening with Freaky Realistic and Subsonic 2, two acts that I loved but never got the attention that they deserved, seemingly due to record label shenanigans and mishandling.

 

The Grid on the other hand hand a monster hit on their hands with Swamp Thing (see what I did there?). It was a thrill to see Dave Ball and Richard Norris on Top Of The Pops, when it was still (just about) worth watching.

 

Fame was fleeting for poor ol' Adamski, sadly. Barely two years after enjoying #1 success, both follow up singles and album failed to make much of an impression, chart-wise. Which is a shame as the PiL-sampling Back To Front was a great single, bolstered by superb remixes by Leftfield. Vocalist Ricky Lyte had also enjoyed Top 5 success thanks to his guest spot (as MC Lyte) with The KLF on What Time Is Love?

 

Peppering their song with a sample announcing that "one spliff a day keeps the evil away" ensured that Fortran 5 were never going to trouble the charts, but Groove takes the already groovy album version down a notch, riding on a infectious bassline. Great stuff.

 

The Shamen, Scritti Politti and Sparks all hook up with remixers du jour, with Tommy D, Apollo 440 and The Rapino Brothers delivering tasty variations.

 

And, to add a little grit to the honey, The Fall's cover of Lost In Music by Sister Sledge, which I was clearly obsessed by in the 1990s, given the number of my mixtapes it appeared on. Admittedly, I still think it's a brilliant version and one that, when it comes crashing through the speakers, I turn up the volume.

1) Something New / Cosmic Love Vibes (Full Frealistic Version): Freaky Realistic (1992)

2) Addicted To Music (Incognito Brass Mix By Jean-Paul Maunick) (Edit): Subsonic 2 (1991)

3) Swamp Thing (Radio Mix): The Grid (1994)

4) Back To Front (Album Version): Adamski ft. Ricky Lyte (1992)

5) Groove (Edit): Fortran 5 ft. Shola Phillips (1991)

6) African And White (The Steve Proctor Remix) (7" Version): China Crisis (1990)

7) Phorever People (D's Mellow Dub) (Remix By Tommy D): The Shamen ft. Jhelisa Anderson (1992)

8) Lost In Music (Single Version) (Cover of Sister Sledge): The Fall (1993)

9) She's A Woman (The Apollo 440 Remix) (Cover of The Beatles): Scritti Politti ft. Shabba Ranks (1991)

10) When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' (The Rapino Brothers Extended Sola Mix): Sparks (1994)

Side Two (46:09) (KF) (Mega)

Side One here

Judas MacDoubt

In response to my April Fools' Day selection on Tuesday, I received a lovely comment from jonder the following day, with an unexpected bonus:

"Yesterday I made my first mashup. 

 Only two decades late for the trend! 

 Was trying to think of people who might appreciate 

the (minimal) effort, 

and your name came to mind as a potential victim."

Now, I love the Jokonky blog by jonder, Koen and Stinky and I love a good mash-up, so what's not to love?

Hella Green (by the wonderfully named Mothra Poodle) takes Hella Good by No Doubt from 2001 and Judas Priest's 1979 cover of Fleetwood Mac's 1970 song The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown), written by Peter Green. 

After giving them a good talking to, they all start playing nicely and getting along, which is music to my ears. 

Great job, jonder!

You can share in the fun by going to https://archive.org/details/hella-green

And, if that has whet your appetite for the originals, say no more.

 

 

 

Fruity Piggybacks

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith's upcoming album, due in August, is called Gush and the title track is the third song to be released with an accompanying video. 

As with the first single, Into Your Eyes, there's an intriguing fruit theme, although it has to be said that the banana and orange in Gush suffer a less ignominious fate.

Another artist that I'm familiar with but poorly represented in my own music collection, I own just four Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith songs currently: two from Mojo magazine freebie CDs released in 2018 and 2020; one from 2022's EarthPercent x Earth Day Compilation Album; a solitary remix of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard from the same year.

In an attempt to redress the balance, I had a dig around Kaitlyn's Bandcamp page and unearthed some more treasures from her back catalogue.

The Neptunes EP came out in November last year, a collaboration with Joe Goddard that also sees them remix each others songs. Kaitlyn's remix of Rapid Fire by Joe featuring Laima closes the EP and is a doozy.

2023's Let's Turn It Into Sound Remixes EP reworks three songs from the previous year's album of the same name, including a beautifully chilled-but- glitchy remix of Check Your Translation by fellow Los Angeles resident Hrishikesh Hirway.

2020 album The Mosaic of Transformation also got the remix EP treatment with a breezy and jaunty run along The Spine Is Quiet In The Center by Fools aka Christopher Bear, also an Angeleno. 

From 2017, a remix of I Will Make Room for You by Four Tet from her album The Kid. It's Kieran Hebden, so it's going to be special and this sits comfortably with anything from his own back catalogue. 

Back to forthcoming album Gush and the second single/video release, What's Between Us, which features some morbidly fascinating choreography, though my back is aching in sympathy just from watching it for four minutes.

Gush is available for pre-order right now. There's no Bandcamp Friday this month, so I have added Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith to my shopping list for May. 

Queen Fatoumata

The fabulous Fatoumata Diawara seems to be steadily releasing videos for every song on her 2023 album, London Ko.

The latest addition is Yada, another co-write and co-production with Damon Albarn, who also provides drums and synth programming but on this occasion spares the vocals. 

Given that every song on the album is a cracker, it's no revelation to say that Yada is a great tune, with an insistent rhythm, synth washes and Fatoumata delivering compelling vocals and some great guitar licks.

Yada inevitably sent me on a welcome diversion into Fatoumata Diawara's video catalogue, with five more picks across the years. 

If that leaves you wanting more and/or you missed it first time around, I shared my experience of an exhilarating hour in the presence of Fatoumata Diawara last May and served up a 50-minute Dubhed selection to celebrate, both of which you can find here.

1) Yada (2025)

2) Netara (2025)

3) Nsera (ft. Damon Albarn) (2022)

4) Nterini (A COLORS Show) (2019)

5) Djonya (2017)

6) Bissa (2011)

 

 

 

 

April Fools

What else for All Fools' Day than an all fools playlist?

Oh, and whilst I'm here: pinch, punch, first of the month, no returns.

And happy birthday, Mama K.

1) Caravan Of Fools: John Prine (2018)

2) Don't Be A Fool (12" Extended Version): Loose Ends (1990)

3) The Fool On The Hill (Demo): The Beatles (1967)

4) Fools (Single Version): Depeche Mode (1983)

5) Fools Gold (Grooverider's Mix) (Edit 2): The Stone Roses (1999)

6) Where Fools Rush In (Radio Edit): Billie Ray Martin (2001)

7) Fool Yourself (Skit): Little Feat (1973)

8) Ditch The Fool: The Pastels (1989)

9) These Foolish Things (Album Version) (Cover of Leslie Hutchinson): Bryan Ferry (1973)

10) Why Do Fools Fall In Love: Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers (1955)

11) Wise And Foolish (John Peel Session): Misty In Roots (1980)

1955: Why Do Fools Fall In Love EP: 10

1973: These Foolish Things: 9

1983: Love In Itself EP: 4

1989: Sittin' Pretty: 8

1990: Don't Be A Fool EP: 2

1995: The John Peel Sessions: 11

1996: The Beatles Anthology 2: 3

1997: Tribe Vibes Vol. 1: 7

2000: The Remixes: 5

2001: Where Fools Rush In EP: 6

2018: The Tree Of Forgiveness: 1

April Fools (46:29) (KF) (Mega)

Panic Forgives Me For Trying To Choose

It seems like only five minutes ago that I was posting about Mick Harvey's album, Five Ways To Say Goodbye, but it was last February! 

A year on and Mick has just released Golden Mirrors: The Uncovered Sessions Vol. 1, a collaboration with Amanda Acevedo and a follow up to their 2023 album Phantasmagoria In Blue.

As the title suggests, Golden Mirrors: The Uncovered Sessions Vol. 1 is the first in a series of albums covering songs by other writers that Mick and Amanda have a shared interest in. The debut volume reworks 11 songs by Jackson C. Frank and includes the above single/video The Night Of The Blues.

Mick is renowned for his approach to cover versions, shining new light on artists not least his extensive translation and reworking of Serge Gainsbourg's catalogue. I've not heard of Jackson C. Frank before now and even a brief search has revealed a tragic story of childhood trauma, mental health issues, homelessness, and a untimely death the day after his 56th birthday.

Just one album - self-titled, produced by Paul Simon, 1965 - was released in Jackson's lifetime, with a collection of complete recordings in 2015. Here is a version of The Night Of The Blues from the latter.

More Altered Perceptions

Side 2 of an 80s mixtape recorded 26th November 1999.

Another compilation that's taken me ages to return to, Side 1 making an appearance here in November 2023. Better late than never...!

In 1987, Get It On by T. Rex was re-released with a new remix by Tony Visconti. I don't remember why exactly, as the (rather excellent) Best Of The 20th Century Boy compilation had already been out for a couple of years and there was no jeans ad tie-in as far as I recall. There were two 12" singles with new extended versions: the Dawn Mix on yellow vinyl and the Dusk Mix on blue vinyl; I've got both, there's not a lot of difference between the two.

Propaganda's second single was Duel, a gorgeous slice of Germanic pop. On the flip side was its roughneck relation, Jewel, Claudia Brücken's sweet voice replaced by Susanne Freytag's shouty vocals. Similarly, their album A Secret Wish was mirrored with a remix companion, Wishful Thinking. It's a bit hit-and-mix, but the remix of Duel/Jewel is superb, creating a sublime duet between Susanne and Claudia.

Love Like Blood is arguably Killing Joke's defining song and originally came out in two extended 12" single formats. Not content with that, producer Zeus B. Held had a go at the song, providing the flip side to his other remix of 1986 single Adorations. This one adds a few contemporary remix touches, including some crowd noises for some reason, to firmly root the song in the mid-1980s.

I do have the 12" single of More by Doctor & The Medics, which features a remix by an up-and-coming artist called William Orbit. Unfortunately, I don't have a MP3 rip and couldn't find an alternative on t'internet. So, I've grabbed the intro from the video version and spliced it with a slight edit of the album version and Hey Presto! a DIY extended version to fill the void. Derivative it may be, but I like this song.

Derivative is not a word that could be used to describe Peek-A-Boo by Siouxsie & The Banshees. When I first heard it in 1988, I was thrilled by this change of direction for the band. Unfortunately, the rest of the album is less experimental and more familiar, but the impact of this song hasn't diminished. Peek-A-Boo was released on 7", 12" (two of 'em) and CD single. The eight minute Silver Dollar Mix which appeared on the limited edition 12" single is in fact an edit; the full length version appeared in the USA and runs for another two minutes.

Whilst Siouxsie and co were trying to push themselves in a new direction, by 1988 Iggy Pop had pretty much gone full hair metal. I like the album Instinct but it's dumb rock, even by Iggy's standards, though unapologetically so. I first heard this remix of Cold Metal on the Sounds Blasts! 1 EP, a freebie 7" single with music paper Sounds that also featured The Blue Aeroplanes (yay!), Fishbone (mmmm) and the Dan Reed Network (meh). 

Closing out this compilation is my favourite version of Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, the Carnage remix by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson following the standard ZTT format of instrumental first half and vocal second half. However, they also chuck in a few vocal snippets from Nash, Peds and Mark taken from throwaway B-side 'interviews', which add a bit of colour. 

As with my previous post, I've tracked down the videos for each song, or TV performances where these aren't available. The clip for Jewel by Propaganda is a real treat. The others run the range from so so serious (Killing Joke) to stunning (Siouxsie) to silly (Doctor & The Medics) to... well, you've just got to see Iggy Pop's video to wonder how many cans of hairspray the film crew got through for this one.

And then there's Two Tribes, possibly one of the greatest videos ever made. If a band tried to do that today, the pustulous orange turd would probably buy MTV, install himself as CEO and shut it down. That's if the barrel chested bareback rider hadn't already dealt with them permanently.

 
1) Get It On (Dusk Mix) (Tony Visconti 87 Remix): T. Rex (1987)

2) Jewelled (Remix By Robert Kraushaar & Paul Morley): Propaganda (1985)

3) Love Like Blood (The '86 Remix By Zeus B. Held): Killing Joke (1986)

4) More (Full Video Version By Doctor & The Medics & Graham Meek): Doctor & The Medics (1987)

5) Peek-A-Boo (Silver Dollar Mix By Mike Hedges) (Edit): Siouxsie & The Banshees (1988)

6) Cold Metal (Rock Version By Andy Wallace): Iggy Pop (1988)

7) Two Tribes (Carnage) (Remix By Trevor Horn & Stephen Lipson): Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1984)

Side Two (46:06) (KF) (Mega)

Side One here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Previous Stuff

In June 2023, I posted the second disc of three CD-Rs of ripped albums gifted by my friend John in early 2010. Appropriately titled Stuff, the bundle contained a fair bit of stuff - artists and albums - that I wasn't familiar with.

Today's belated return visit focuses on disc !, and again I've collated a 9-track selection, sequenced in the order that the albums were presented on the CD-R.  Seven of the songs date from 2009, one from 2008 and one from 2010, which must have been freshly released when I received John's gift.

Editors appear here twice, not because I thought they're way better than anything else here, although In This Light And On This Evening is a very good album. The second track is the opener of a bonus mini-album, Cuttings II, which was included in the CD-R bundle of bootlegs.

John had previously shared music by David Kitt, which I like most of the time, depending on my mood/frame of the mind at the time. I love the instrumentation and structure but find - perhaps unfairly - that Kitt's voice can sound annoyingly indifferent at times. I like this song very much, though.

Both Editors and Doves were bands I was familiar with, yet hadn't heard any of their albums in full. I'd really liked the slew of remixes that accompanied the latter's Kingdom Of Rust and the album itself didn't disappoint either.

Likewise, Fever Ray. An astonishing solo debut from Karin Dreijer, and the beginning of an enduring fascination with their work. The same can be said for Laura Marling's debut, another artist that made an immediate impact and has grown with each album.

The Filthy Dukes album was a revelation. Based on a few tracks and remixes, I'd fully expected a collection of four-to-the-floor club bangers. Nonsense In The Dark proved to be much more complex and genre-challenging. Poison The Ivy, for example, features frYars aka Benjamin Garrett and sounds like a cover of a lost Joy Division song.

Although The Trials Of Van Occupanther will probably remain my favourite Midlake album, they proved with 2010 follow up The Courage Of Others that the parting of ways with Tim Smith wasn't the end of the road. 

Of course, around the same time Midlake also provided the musical bedrock for an artist who had been in a band and gone solo. So, 2010 saw the release of The Courage Of Others as well as Queen Of Denmark by John Grant. Whatever happened to him?!

Like the Filthy Dukes pastiche of Joy Division, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart's self-titled first album sounded like it could have been released on Sarah Records back in the 1980s. However, this music was purely 21st Century NYC, not Eighties Bristol.

Come Saturday seemed like an obvious pick, knowing that I was going to post the selection today, though it's also a fair representation of the album as a whole.

When I posted disc 2 back in 2023, I doctored a negative image of John's self-produced sleeve for the headline photo. This time, I've taken it outside for a very welcome dose of springtime sunshine. 

I've just noticed that disc 3 includes a Christmas-themed album amongst the picks. I may not leave it until December - or another two years - before presenting the third and final part of this collection!
 
1) Learning How To Say Goodbye: David Kitt (2009)
2) Compulsion (Album Version): Doves (2009)
3) Papillon (Album Version): Editors (2009)
4) This House Is Full Of Noise: Editors (2009)
5) When I Grow Up (Album Version): Fever Ray (2009)
6) Poison The Ivy: Filthy Dukes ft. frYars (2009)
7) My Manic And I: Laura Marling (2008)
8) Bring Down: Midlake ft. Stephanie Dosen (2010)

9) Come Saturday: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (2009)

 
2008: Alas I Cannot Swim: 7

2009: Fever Ray: 5

2009: In This Light And On This Evening: 3

2009: In This Light And On This Evening / Cuttings II (limited edition 2x CD): 4
2009: Kingdom Of Rust: 2

2009: Nonsense In The Dark: 6

2009: The Nightsaver: 1

2009: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart: 9

2010: The Courage Of Others: 8

 
Stuff (Disc 1) (40:40) (KF) (Mega)

Stuff (Disc 2) can be found here

It's A Glamorous World

My new music purchases have been relatively modest so far this year, but here's a 10-song selection of 2025 bangers.

I'm running late this morning, so expect some expanded sleeve notes over the weekend. 
 
In the meantime, happy listening!

1) High With You (Night Version): Hifi Sean & David McAlmont

2) The Ballad Of Josey Wales: 100 Poems

3) The Man Behind The Counter (Timmy Stewart's York Street Collision Mix): The Vendetta Suite

4) A Pact (Skyscraper HiFi Remix B By Jon Dasilva & Jonas Nilsson): The Woodentops

5) The Ouija Board (MAN2.0's Kill Us For The Sport Remix By Mark Bailey): Legoheads

6) Let Yourself Go (Richard Norris Main Mix): Una Camille & Dr No

7) I'm In Love... (Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s Remix): Andy Bell ft. Dot Allison & Michael Rother

8) Toronto Street (The Vendetta Suite's Hope Street Diversion Mix By Gary Irwin): Timmy Stewart

9) Beneath The Waves: 10:40

10) Breaker City (Jezebell's Nice 'n' Slow Remix By Jesse Fahnestock & Darren Bell): Parvale

It's A Glamorous World (1:01:53) (KF) (Mega)

James, Billy And Derek (Not Eric)

A trio of cover versions that will likely have caused purist fans of the originals to choke on their cornflakes and fire off angry missives to Terry Wogan c/o the BBC.

Personally, I love 'em.

1) Sex Machine: The Flying Lizards (Cover of '(Get Up I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine' by James Brown) (1984)

2) It's Still Rock 'n' Roll To Me: Laptop (Cover of Billy Joel) (1999)

3) Layla (Derek Sings Derek): Fortran 5 ft. Derek Nimmo (Cover of Derek & The Dominos) (1993)