Eurovision Algorhythm

Laibach's new single Allgorhythm (sic) is simultaneously awful and the best song I've heard all day. 

This has been a repeated theme throughout their career, yet I can't help admiring them for it.

You may be interested to know that the song was co-prodced by Richard X and features guest vocals from Wiyaala.

Slovenia will not participate in this year's Eurovision Song Contest but if they had, this would surely have beaten their previous peak of #7 (twice), if not won the blooming thing.

Allgorhythm is available to buy now and there's a whole album of original songs - Laibach's first such in over a decade - coming in May. Naturally, it's called Musick.

There's a lot of talking

When Laibach drops a song

Because we do it raw

Ignoring every law

We're shattering the rules

We're tearing down the walls

Hey -   (let's) go and do the dance

Hey - (let's) fall into the bubble trance

Hey -  this is our last chance

Hey, hey - We all go rhythm!

All go rhythm! All go rhythm!

All go rhythm! All go rhythm!

We must keep moving on

The past is dead and gone

No matter what you do

No one cares about your point of view

What matters is the algorithm works for you

Hey -   (We all) go and do the dance

Hey - (Let's) fall into the bubble trance

Hey -  this is our last chance

Hey, hey - We all go rhythm!

All go rhythm! All go rhythm!

All go rhythm! All go rhythm!

All the girls, and all the boys,  All go rhythm!

Let's get loud and make some noise, All go rhythm!

Here's a beat you can't escape, All go rhythm!

Step right in and match the shape! Let's all go rhythm!

Algorithm  Let's do it!

Algorithm  Slaves to algorithm!

All go rhythm! Algorithm 

All go rhythm!

All go rhythm! Rhythm! Rhythm!

All go rhythm!

All the tired and the poor

All go rhythm!

Huddled masses at the doors

All go rhythm!

The homeless and the rich

All go rhythm!

From all the teeming shores   

Let's all go rhythm!

Some people go kung fu fighting

Some people go bitcoin mining 

Oh yeah!

Some nations go dynamiting

We like to do some crazy rhyming

Yeah!

Wow, wow, wow, yeah... 

Wow, wow, wow...

All  go  rhythm!

Let's all go rhythm!

All  go  rhythm!

All  go  rhythm!

All  go  rhythm!

ALL....

Gun Fire

Whilst I try to keep up with the wealth of new music and new artists coming out - and spectacularly fail to do so - I also try to keep a steady rotation of albums in my collection.

On the digital decks this week is The Fire Of Love, the 1981 debut from The Gun Club.

I knew of the band via bassist Patricia Morrison's subsequent stint with The Sisters Of Mercy, although she joined later, Rob Ritter aka Rob Graves being in the line-up that recorded this album. 

Another member who missed out on the recording was co-founder Kid Congo Powers, having temporarily joined The Cramps at the time The Gun Club entered the studio to record The Fire Of Love. but has a co-writing credit on one of the songs.

Otherwise, all songs are written by frontperson Jeffrey Lee Pierce, and I've picked the three fire-themed songs, including the title track. All live performances, all varying recording quality and camera angles, all fizzing with the same energy and excitement that listening to the album brings.

 

In 2004, Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood recorded a cover version of The Fire Of Love's opening song, Sex Beat, which was released as a single and included on the Two Lone Swordsmen album, From The Double Gone Chapel.

As a bonus, a live performance of Sex Beat by The Gun Club, still on fire after all these years...

 

Smooth Talking Love Shark

Anna Calvi has unleashed a second - and the opening - track from her upcoming guest-star laden EP, Is This All There Is?, landing in March.

For God's Lonely Man, Anna chooses none other than Iggy Pop and they create a compelling, electric partnership, accompanied by a hefty bass and drum driven beast. You'd be forgiven for thinkking that it's Iggy who sings the lyrical snippet used for today's title but it fact it's Anna.

Familiar though the tune may be - it immediately reminded me of Ladyhawke & Broods' 2021 collaboration Guilty Love - it's a strident tune all by itself. As with yesterday, the video is in monochrome - an accidental theme for this week? 

It's beautiful in it's simplicity as Anna switches between rolling and throwing herself over and away from Iggy and an electric guitar. Iggy remains shirtless (naturally) and still, the light and shade playing over his wrinkled flesh telling its own story within a story.

Great stuff and I'm looking forward to the rest of the EP, featuring Laurie Anderson and Matt Berninger from The National. For now, to add a splash of colour, here's track two released first, I See A Darkness featuring Perfume Genius. 

Another compelling video-cum-short-film, which cleverly plays a few seconds of God's Lonely Man, pumping from a pub/club as a woman waits outside.

Is This All There Is? is avaialble for pre-order now from Bandcamp. 

I couldn't stretch to £19.99 for vinyl or £12.99 for CD (both plus postage) for a 4-track EP but I had planned to shell out £3.99 for the digital format. Unfortunately, my connection crashed at the moment of checkout and, after a couple of failed attempts to complete the transaction in the closing minutes of Bandcamp Friday, I then ran out of time. I'm going to wait patiently until the next one on 6th March and try again.

The Noir Sound Of Tomorrow, Today

We're into the umpteenth day and week of rain here, to the  extent that I can no longer recall if there has been a day in 2026 so far that it hasn't rained. Everything feels damp right now, not least my squibs.

So, what a great time for monochrome videos from not one but two goth-aligned gloom merchants who I have a great fondness for.

First up is Ladytron with A Death In London, sounding unmistakeably like them, but with additional backing from LFO (beats) and Fad Gadget (Under The Flag-era sax). 

The latter was played by Alison Moyet, fact fans, and whilst there's no sign of her guesting on Ladytron's latest effort (but wouldn;t that be a great team-up?), the brass lends a further unsettling quality to the tune which works well. Looking forward to the upcoming album.

Today's other song is by She Past Away, who were recommended to me by Lady K, although as that was approx. two years ago, she's undoubtedly moved on and may now consider them old hat.

I quite like this old hat though and you will too, if you've always wanted to hear a collaboration between The Cure and The Sisters Of Mercy (early 80s, natch) with Andrew Eldritch intoning throughout in Turkish.

You don't need to be qualified to guess that Mizantrop translates as Misanthrope, the broad definition of which is "a person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society."

Given the (mental) state of those in power currently, you can get where they're coming from. 

Ladytron are playing Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester in March, then supporting Gary Numan in Halifax come July. Tickets available here.

She Past Away are also landing on these shores in Sepetember, with dates in Glasgow and Manchester, which you can find here. Not listed on Ents 24, but they're also performing at Strange Brew in Bristol, according to the Headfirst site, and they should know. I'm sorely tempted to scratch that itch.

Dance Craze

Another dive into chart history, this time going all the way back to the Top 20 UK singles on 8th February 1955.

These selections have typically also prompted reflections on my childhood, which I can't do this time as I was more than a decade and a half away from gatecrashing this crazy world. However, my parents were both pre-teens in 1955 and I was intrigued to see what would have been grabbing their attention back then.

Previous selections have cherry picked from the countdown, but today's 15 were rather more clear cut, in that the five songs that I haven't included were all 'rival' versions of the same song. In this week alone there were three competing takes on Mr. Sandman alone! 

I've gone for The Chordettes, which although not the first recording of Mr. Sandman (that was Vaughan Monroe & Orchestra in 1954), is considered the definitive version and landed them with their first hit single. Ironically, it was the lowest placing of the three in this chart, peaking at #11 in January 1955. The Four Aces were at #20 by 8th February, having previously hit #9. Dickie Valentine was at #5 with his version on this date, and that was as high as he got. The Chordettes is my favourite of the three.

Not content with a #5 hit, Dickie Valentine was also at #2 with The Finger Of Suspicion, this time with The Stargazers. The song had spent three of the last 5 weeks at #1, this week spending a second time at #2, before a seven-week slow slink out of the Top 20.

Serial offender Dean Martin is in the Top 20 with not one but two songs that try to steal the thunder of other artists, including this week's #1. He failed in February 1955 although he arguably won the long game as the songs are commonly associated with him these days. For this reason, I've disqualified him from this selection. Shame on you, Dino!

The other Dino 'steal' is The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane, first recorded and released by The Ames Brothers in the USA in October 1954. Dean Martin was swift to act, releasing his own version in December 1954. In the UK, his version has charted the previous week at #20, leaping up to #10. The Ames Brothers' original debuted this week one place higher, at #9, then up to #6 in the chart of 11th February.  Martin was hot on their heels at #7, but ultimately went one higher (#5 in March) and spent longer in the Top 20. The Rat!

Alma Cogan confessed that "I Can't Tell A Waltz From A Tango", though the UK record buying public were clearly a forgiving bunch as she got #6 with the song and spent a total of 11 weeks in the chart. Poor Alma subsequently learned the difference, but at great personal cost as by Christmas 1955, she was warning us to "Never Do A Tango With An Eskimo". There must have been more appropriate and suitably qualified dance teachers closer to home, I would have thought...

Ruby Murray is probably - and sadly - more famous in the 21st Century for being Cockney rhyming slang for heading out to an Indian restaurant. Ruby appears here twice. Heartbeat was at #7, down from last week's #3, and enjoyed 16 weeks in the Top 20. Softly, Softly at #3 was a fortnight away from a three-week stint at #1 and a whopping 23 weeks in the Top 20. Until I compiled this selection, Softly, Softly was also the only Ruby Murray song in my music collection.

With all of this (mostly) easy listening, it's easier to appreciate the impact that Bill Haley & His Comets had on the charts. Shake, Rattle And Roll spent a second and final week at #4, but it was clear that there was an appetite for this music and things would never be the same. 

Though rebellious youth - or Dean Martin - wasn't quite enough to topple the current dance craze from pole position on 8th February 1955. Rosemary Clooney, like Dean, Dickie and Alma, also had two songs in the Top 20.

At #18 was This Ole House, which became the bane of my 10-year old life when Shakin' Stevens cover version plagued the charts for 17 weeks, including three at #1. My primary school pals all loved it, knew that I didn't and would tirelessly try to change my mind. I resisted the urge to like the song, although I later succumbed to wearing double denim, though I stress not as a tribute to Shaky. Rosemary's version also got to #1 for one week, and she also managed 18 weeks in the chart. Take that, Mike Barratt!

Rosemary's biggest achievement this week was gettng to #1 for a second time in a fortnight with Mambo Italiano. In fact, the song spent a total of 10 weeks bouncing around the Top 3. The King Of Cool's version may be the one that seems to pop up here, there and everywhere these days. Rosemary's recording was the first and the best.

In keeping with the 'cover art' theme of my previous chart history posts, this one features the comic Eagle, cover dated 11th February 1955. Sadly, not from my personal collection, but just take a moment to admire the gorgeous art on the Dan Dare story by Frank Hampson and team. Dan himself doesn't feature on this page, but you do get The Mekon, one of the greatest sci-fi villains of all time, in any medium.

1) Mr. Sandman: The Chordettes (#19)

2) This Ole House: Rosemary Clooney (#18)

3) Rain, Rain Rain: Frankie Laine & The Four Lads (#17)

4) I Can't Tell A Waltz From A Tango: Alma Cogan (#15)

5) Drink Drink Drink aka The Drinking Song: Mario Lanza (#13)

6) Happy Days And Lonely Nights: Frankie Vaughan (#12)

7) I Still Believe: Ronnie Hilton (#11)

8) The Naughty Lady Of Shady Lane: The Ames Brothers (#9)

9) No One But You: Billy Eckstine (#8)

10) Heartbeat: Ruby Murray (#7)

11) Give Me Your Word: Tennessee Ernie Ford (#6)

12) Shake, Rattle And Roll: Bill Haley & His Comets (#4)

13) Softly, Softly: Ruby Murray (#3)

14) The Finger Of Suspicion: Dickie Valentine & The Stargazers (#2)

15) Mambo Italiano: Rosemary Clooney & The Mellomen (#1)

Dance Craze (39:35) (GD) (M)

The Sound Of A Brand New World

1986 was either a good year or a really, really terrible year for music, it's always subjective, isn't it? 

Whilst Wham! and The Police called it a day, Pet Shop Boys and Erasure became huge, Q magazine launched, Doctor Who faced The Trial Of A Time Lord both on- and off-screen, not least for the limpest version of the theme tune to date, whilst John Barry did alright at the Oscars with his soundtrack for Out Of Africa. Bizarrely, given my parents' spartan music collection, my mum actually bought this latter. On vinyl, too.

Anyway, none of the above feature in today's 8-song, 46-minute selection of 12" mixes. Instead, it's a mix of hits and non-hits, (quite a few) cover versions and songs that should be more deeply etched in the collective consciousness but had to make way for numerous singles from No Jacket Required by Phil Collins and The Chicken Song by Spitting Image instead. 

Train Of Thought was a-ha's fourth single from their debut album and third consecutive Top Ten, peaking at #8 in April 1986. The video is a similar mix of animation and live action that made Take On Me unforgettable. The animation by Michael Patterson actually originated as his student film at the California Institute of the Arts so predates his work on Take On Me. Unfortunately, the video is less memorable.

I paid little attention to Love And Money in 1986 but have come back to them in more recent years due to following the many and varied 21st Century exploits of former members James Grant, Paul McGeechan, Stuart Kerr, Bobby Paterson, Gordon Wilson and Douglas MacIntyre. Dear John is a 12" vinyl rip so the quality of the recording doesn't match the quality of the song. Not that the publlic noticed, it failed to dent the UK charts.

Similarly, Sparks seemed to be a spent force in the UK in the 1980s. They had just one charting single in the decade; Change managed to scrape to #85 in July 1985. Fingertips was a cover of the Stevie Wonder song, a rare step away from the Mael Brothers' focus on writing their own material. Both it - and Sparks' 1980s output - deserved more love over here than it got and it's wonderful writing four decades later in the knowledge that they've subsequently been embraced as the legends that they are.

Radio Head by Talking Heads has the dubious distinction of being the song that inspired the name of Thom Yorke and chums' own band, though generally that's the only inspiring thing about this song. I don't mind the music from the True Stories album and film, though it's a far cry from the essential early albums. Full Force clearly thought so too and felt obliged to drop in a sample from Once In A Lifetime to pep things up. 

No-one's going to argue that Communards' cover of Don't Leave Me This Way was a deserved #1, but Jeanie Tracy had a go the year before with her own version, produced by close friend Sylvester. In 1986, a re-edit by Razormaid co-founder Joseph Watt appeared on his 12 By 12 album and it's fair to say that I would have equally moved at the school disco if they'd popped this platter on.

Although I'm a fan of much of Boy George's music, I've not really connected to Culture Club, then and now. Gusto Blusto, featured here, was the second single from From Luxury To Heartache... in the USA and Canada, at least. Over here, we got God Thank You Woman. The latter stalled at #31. I'm not sure that Gusto Blusto would have fared any better. 

I'd known about The Residents for years, though I wasn't all that familiar with their music. I spotted the 12" single of Kaw-Liga in a secondhand record shop and was sufficiently intrigued to buy it and I'm glad I did. A cover of a Hank Williams song from 1953, it opens with a shuffling beat ripped from inspired by Billie Jean. The full 12" version runs to nine and a half minutes, the original aka album version runs to about half that, just as good.

Wrapping things up is Iggy Pop and David Bowie, reuniting as performer and producer for the first time in a decade, with greeat commercial results for the former. Blah Blah Blah will never be my go-to Iggy album but I enjoy it for what it is and the time it captured. I also ended up buying all the 12" singles, though the label had an annoying habit of recycling tracks for B-sides. The extended remix of Fire Girl was a 12" A-side then re-appeared on the B-side of Isolation the same year.

Sunday's selection will feature another trip back in time, for a different kind of dance music.

1) Train Of Thought (U.S. Mix By Steve Thompson): a-ha

2) Dear John (Extended Mix By John 'Tokes' Potoker): Love And Money

3) Fingertips (Extended Club Version By Steve Bates) (Cover of Stevie Wonder): Sparks

4) Radio Head (Extended Mix By Full Force & Glenn Rosenstein): Talking Heads

5) Don't Leave Me This Way (Re-Edited By Joseph Watt) (Cover of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes): Jeanie Tracy

6) Gusto Blusto (Rock Mix By Arif Mardin & Lew Hahn): Culture Club

7) Kaw-Liga (Album Version By The Cryptic Corporation aka Hardy Fox & Homer Flynn) (Cover of Hank Williams): The Residents

8) Fire Girl (Remix By David Bowie & David Richards): Iggy Pop

The Sound Of A Brand New World (45:47) (GD) (M)

Buy, Buy, Baby Baby, Good Buy

Everything is so laggy today (me included) that I'm going to dispense with the usual chit chat and just say that it's Bandcamp Friday and this half dozen at least are going through my checkout.

Why don't you, um, check 'em out yourself?

Hopefully, normal service will resume on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pure Water

I haven't listened to Leftield's second album Rhythm And Stealth in quite a while. Swords was the third and final single and in fact proved to be their last single/new song for a decade and a half, when Universal Everything signalled Leftfield's return in 2015.

I bought Swords in June 2000, opting for just one of the CD singles offered as part of the typical multi-format deal that prevailed at the time. I was surprised to find out when prepping this post that Swords apparently failed to crack the UK singles chart. 

An unusual choice for a single perhaps, menacing, downtempo, Nicole Willis' vocals down in the mix, but I think it's a standout song.

I've never seen the video before, the song itself almost relegated to a soundtrack of an engrossing series of car (and one motorbike) based vignettes. I've picked the 'long version' which extends the narrative by a further minute which accentuates to sense of unease and tension amongst the ensemble cast. It's brilliant.

It will be no surprise to regular visitors that my choice of the two CD singles on offer was the one featuring a remix by Andrew Weatherall and Keith Tenniswood aka Two Lone Swordsmen. Not the first time Lord Sabre had remixed Leftfield, but with a song title like Swords, it would have been foolish not to ask, right?

Vocals removed, electro beats added, it's very much akin to what Two Lone Swordsmen were releasing under their own name at this time, yet retaining the spirit of the Leftfield original. This is what remixes are all about.

Leftield's return in 2015 (albeit Neil Barnes without co-founder Paul Daley) included a session for Lauren Laverne's Radio 6 at Maida Vale, where a spectacular 8-minute version of Swords was performed, fronted by singer Ofei. Well worth your attention.

As it's the first Bandcamp Friday of 2026 tomorrow, I've managed to find two 21st Century 'bootleg' remixes of Swords, both available as a Name Your Price purchase. 

Nothing radical about either, more a layering of beats and a slight tinkering, which Swords is more than capable of handling. Nebulist aka Baz Popiolek goes for "hard and deep" breakbeats, whilst Moth Equals captures a "trip hop" vibe. Both worth your pennies, if you like the song in the first place.

 

 

She Didn't Think It Strange

You stumble across the strangest things on YouTube. Case in point: Kim Wilde performing 1981 single Cambodia for Swedish TV special Ölandssommar, broadcast on Sunday 7th December 1986.

One of three songs played on the show, the other two being more contemporary cuts, my initial thought was to wonder why Kim chose one of her more downtempo, downbeat songs (no chorus!) from five years previously.

It turns that whilst Cambodia 'only' got to #12 in the UK, it was a chart topper in Sweden (and nine other countries). 

Although try telling that to the guy in the lemon-coloured jumper in the foreground as the camera pulls back into the audience around the 1:09 mark. 

Apart from the fact that he can't even be arsed to turn his chair around to actually watch Kim and her band (rude!), he then seems to be either temporarily overcome by a misplaced sense of rhythm or in fact he's Dr. Sam Beckett, 'leaping' in (or out) of his latest hapless host.

Well he was Thailand based

She was an airforce wife

He used to fly weekends

It was the easy life

But then it turned around

And he began to change

She didn't wonder then

She didn't think it strange

But then he got a call

He had to leave that night

He couldn't say too much

But it would be alright

He didn't need to pack

They'd meet the next night

He had a job to do

Flying to Cambodia

And as the nights passed by

She tried to trace the past

The way he used to look

The way he used to laugh

I guess she'll never know

What got inside his soul

She couldn't make it out

Just couldn't take it all

He had the saddest eyes

The girl had ever seen

He used to cry some nights

As though he lived a dream

And as she held him close

He used to search her face

As though she knew the truth

Lost inside Cambodia

But then a call came through

They said he'd soon be home

She had to pack a case

And they would make a rendezvous

But now a year has passed

And not a single word

And all the love she knew

Has disappeared out in the haze

Cambodia, 

Don't cry now, 

No tears now

And now the years have passed

With not a single word

But there is only one thing left

I know for sure

She won't see his face again

Laughing Out Loud

Happy birthday to Lol Tolhurst, born 3rd February 1959.

Forever associated with The Cure, Lol has lit a creative fire of late, not least a collaborative album with Budgie and Jacknife Lee, but some impressive live performances and unexpected stage shares. For example,

I'd recommend watching the whole of Lol's gig with Gray in France from last April, a composite of two shows in Paris and Lille, but skip to 16:49 and you'll find Miki Berenyi join them on stage for A Strange Day, then the Miki Berenyi Trio in full for Stranger.

Lol also performed with David J and Robyn Hitchcock at the Musack Rock & Roll Carnival in Los Angeles last year, here with a version of Kundalini Express by Love & Rockets.

Unfortunately, the person filming this on their phone were positioned so that Lol remains hidden behind Robyn for most of the song!

Speaking of Los Angeles, aside from being Lol's home for the past three decades, it's also the title track of the 2023 by Lol, Budgie & Jacknife Lee, featuring James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem's unmistakeable vocals.

Los Angeles was also the opening song of Lol and Budgie's KEXP session in 2024. The session closed - as this post opened - with a shimmering version of A Forest by The Cure, Liam Hayden on bass, Lol and Budgie in their element.

Have a good one, Lol.