From Paradise Rains To Paradise Circus

Some Massive Attack...kind of.

After yesterday's Paradise Rains by Eartheater, I'm dusting off Paradise Circus, specifically the link to the version used in The Fallen Sun, the Netflix film version of Luther from 2023. The link - not the film - has been languishing in my "must write a post about this one" file for a few weeks and now seemed to be the right time.

A brief diverson/rant before I carry on: Mrs. K and I really enjoyed Luther when it debuted on BBC1 in 2010. Idris Elba and Ruth Wilson were compelling leads, the supporting cast were excellent and Neil Cross' writing was top notch. 

Although the successive series stretched credulity to near breaking point, Luther continued to be 'must watch' viewing right up to the conclusion of series 5 in 2019.

That seemed about the right time to call it a day, but the subsequent announcement that there would be a feature film version of Luther nevertheless was something to look forward to. Except that it was being made by Netflix.

The proliferation of pay-to-view channels has been inversely proportionate to our disposable income and, frankly, whether we can be arsed to spend even more time in front of the gogglebox (as opposed to Gogglebox). So, apart from the occasional 30-day free trial that pops up, Netflix is pretty much out of our reach, and we didn't make it to any of the 'select cinemas' that screened The Fallen Sun in February 2023.

So, I also had no idea that Paradise Circus by Massive Attack had featured in the soundtrack.

Except... this is a different version, credited to Post ft. Ghostpoet. 

Post, as it transpires, is Daddy G aka Grant Marshall, founder member of Massive Attack, and Stew Jackson, who has also worked with Daddy G as Robot Club and been part of the Massive Attack collective since at least 2016.

It's a great version, and Ghostpoet is a spot on pick to provide vocals that provide the necessary grit and gravitas.

However... it's a very hard act to follow, when Massive Attack's version of Paradise Circus was co-written with and featured the incomparable voice of Hope Sandoval (sigh).

So, to reward those of you who stuck with this post to the end, here's the original version from 2010, plus a twelve-and-a-half minute reworking by Massive Attack vs. Burial the following year. 

 

The Prodigal Daughter, Fertile And Watered

Eartheater was offered up by Bandcamp as 'you might like' suggestion and you know what? HIt or miss (usually miss), on this occasion they were right.

Eartheater aka Alexandra Drewchin is another artist that has been active since the late 2000s and completely under the radar for me. 

On the strength of the two singles/videos from her new album, Heavenly Body: If I'm The Bottle You’re The Message, out on 10th July, then this is one for the shopping cart.

Although there are some truly awful examples, I am a sucker for cinematic goth with sweeping strings and soaring vocals and Eartheater has the presence to match. The album was made shortly after the birth of Alexandra's daughter and this has clearly inspired and resonated throughout the songs. 

There's a production credit for Dave Sitek and a guest spot for Oklou, another belated discovery for me late last year, 

 

I'm going to start with the album and if Heavenly Body: If I'm The Bottle You’re The Message, then a delve into Eartheater's extensive back catalogue will swiftly follow. 

The album closes with 2025 single Nova, named after Alexandra's daughter and co-produced by Nosaj Thing and Michael Andrews. 

Michael has been a long-time favourite for his film soundtracks for Me And You And Everyone We Know and Donnie Darko, the latter giving him and Gary Jules a UK #1 with their cover of Mad World by Tears For Fears. It's a vibe that inhabits Nova, to great effect.

 

Life's A Flow

I've had a MP3 of Amoriphous Androgynous' half-hour set at The Creation Of Peace Festival in Russia on 30th August 2008 for several years and was convinced that I'd previously posted the video here, but apparently not.

The Creation Of Peace Festival (this was the first) took place in Kazan, capital city of the republic Of Tatarstan, located in Eastern Europe. The packed line-up included the Adrian Belew Trio, White Flag, Manu Chao, Eddie Jobson, Tony Levin and Patti Smith. Audience numbers reportedly hit 250,000

Sets were reported kept to 20-30 minutes, culminating in a 15-minute jam of All You Need Is Love and Whole Lotta Love, with pretty much everyone packed on stage.

So, all things considered, Amorphous Androgynous were a perfect addition to the line-up.

Half an hour, half a dozen songs, guest vocals from Alisha Sufit and the finale a classic from The Future Sound Of London catalogue.

Mind-blowingly brilliant.

1) The Mello Hippo Disco Show (Slo-Mo / Life's A Flow

2) The Lovers

3) Riders (On The Circadian Rhythm) 

4) All Is Harvest

5) Elysian Feels

6) We Have Explosive

Ghost, Fire, Pain, Better, Comfort

I cannot express how happy I am that Kelsey Lu has a new album out on Friday.

I've been a huge fan since discovering samples online during lockdown in 2020, though there's been little in the way of new music since then.

So Help Me God is album #2 according to the promo blurb, album #3 if like me you count 2016's Church. Either way, its been seven years since Kelsey's last 'traditional' album Blood and five songs and videos have been posted on You Tube in the last couple of months.

Cutting Off The Head Of A Ghost, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, Running To Pain, Better Than That and Comfort have two things in common: Kelsey's incredible voice that soars and swoops and penetrate the emotional core, and orchestral arrangements that lift the songs even higher, even if you contemplate whether they will drop or hold you. This is epic with the caps lock on.

So Help Me God is available on physical and digital formats from the usual places, including Bandcamp.

Kelsey's also heading out on a 2-month tour of the USA and Europe, starting at the end of September. Just two dates in the UK - Manchester (9th Nov) and London (10th Nov) - so it's unlikely I'll get to see them, sadly.

In lieu of the album, here's a Dubhed selection of Kelsey's music that I posted in August 2021 and my debut post about Kelsey from May the same year.

 

 

 

 

Head On Back To Sleep

It's Monday and I wish I could...

...but instead I go to work and I listen to Life's A Dream by Modest Mouse.

(It's not lost on me that, following Pyncher last Tuesday, this is the second video I've posted in a week featuring someone wearing a fox mask. What's up?)

I won't pretend that I was there from the start. I suspect like many, it was the addition of Johnny Marr to the ranks for the album We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank* that drew my attention. 

And like many I suspect, much as I enjoyed the album, I didn't pay much attention to what came after Johnny departed.

On the strength of Life's A Dream, I need to catch up and get with it, not least because eighth album An Eraser And A Maze is already out.

 

* We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank came out in 2007. 2007! Jeez, I'm old...

Ambient Andrew

The 'Andrew' of course being Andrew Weatherall, the 'Ambient' a little misleading perhaps, but this is the nearest you'll get, a combination of chilled and chilling to get you through this mad, mad, mad world.

I've dug deep, going into Andrew's work with Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns as The Sabres Of Paradise, Keith Tenniswood as Two Lone Swordsmen, and Nina Walsh as Woodleigh Research Facility. 

There's also his remix and production work with all of the above, plus Hugo Nicolson with Primal Scream, Peter Hook adding a bassline to The Limiñanas' Garden Of Love that calls to mind The Times' 1990 classic Manchester, and Utah Saints' I Want You transformed beyond all recognition. Oh, and vocals too, from Marie Limiñana, Nina Walsh and, to close, The Guv'nor himself.

The thing is, trawling through my collection for compilation candidates, i ended up with enough for two hour-long mixtapes. So, Vol.2 will be here soon, probably next weekend.

For now though, sit back with a brew, and immerse yourself in Weatherall's world for sixty minutes. 

1) Kicking In Part 4: Two Lone Swordsmen (1997)

2) Garden Of Love (Lundi Mouillé Mix By Andrew Weatherall & Nina Walsh): The Limiñanas ft. Peter Hook (2016)

3) Flight Path Estate: The Sabres Of Paradise (1994)

4) Tiny Reminder No. 1 (C-Pij Remix Vocal) (Remix By Nina Walsh): Two Lone Swordsmen (2001)

5) I Want You (Sabres 110) (Remix By The Sabres Of Paradise aka Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): Utah Saints (1993)

6) Akwalek: Two Lone Swordsmen (2000)

7) Theme 4: The Sabres Of Paradise (1994)

8) Emancipation Garage: Woodleigh Research Facility (2015)

9) Still My World: Andrew Weatherall & Keith Tenniswood (2003)

10) Chapel Street Market 9am: The Sabres Of Paradise (1994)

11) Inner Flight (Album Version By Andrew Weatherall & Hugo Nicolson): Primal Scream (1991)

12) Ghosts Again (Album Version By Andrew Weatherall & Nina Walsh): Andrew Weatherall (2016)

1991: Screamadelica: 11

1993: I Want You EP: 5

1994: Haunted Dancehall: 3, 7, 10

1997: Stockwell Steppas: 1

2000: Tiny Reminders: 6

2001: Further Reminders: 4

2003: Still My World: 9

2015: The Phoenix Suburb (And Other Stories): 8

2016: Convenanza: 12

2016: Garden Of Love EP: 2

Ambient Andrew Vol. 1 (59:45) (GD) (M)

Time Will Tell

Happy birthday to Robert Hodgens aka Bobby Bluebell aka founder member of The Bluebells, born 6th June 1959.

One of the great things about becoming a paid up member of the Last Night From Glasgow label is that it introduced me to The Bluebells in a big way. I mean, everyone knows Young At Heart, I was familiar with the other singles Everybody's Somebody's Fool and Cath, but that was about it.

I joined just in time to receive The Bluebells' 'comeback' album, In The 21st Century, which I (and Mrs. K) enjoyed immensely. They've followed up this year with This Is...The Bluebells, a fabulous double album (mine's in snowdrop white vinyl) with sixteen songs.

I also bought the LNFG reissue of debut album Sisters on glorious picture disc vinyl. Only forty years late to appreciate what a great album it is.

The core of The Bluebells - Robert with brothers Ken and David McCluskey - continue to make stirring, joyous music and I wanted to celebrate that in today's selection, which focuses exclusively on their songs from the 2020s.

Twelve songs, eleven originals plus one contemporary cover of fellow Glaswegians Sister John, who I featured back in March. In fact, why not create your own C90 cassette-friendly compilation, with Sister John on one side and The Bluebells on the other?

If, like me, you knew about The Bluebells, but didn't really know their songs, I'd strongly recommend heading over to LNFG and treat yourself.

1) Days Of The Revolution (2026)

2) The Boy Who Slipped Away (2023)

3) Trouble Talking (2026)

4) Stonehouse Violets (2023)

5) Glasgow Rainbow (Cover of Sister John) (2022)

6) Dream On (2026)

7) Blue Train (2023)

8) No Pasaran (2026)

9) Daddy Was An Engineer (2023)

10) Indian Summer (2026)

11) Orienteering (2023)

12) The Ballad Of The Bells (2023)

2022: Young At Heart / Glasgow Rainbow EP: 5

2023: In The 21st Century: 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12

2026: This Is...The Bluebells: 1, 3, 6, 8, 10

Time Will Tell (45:53) (GD) (M)

Gelli And I Scream

The first comment sitting beneath Gelli Haha's KEXP session on YouTube is "Idk wtf this is but it’s cool as fuck", which pretty much sums up the entire 23 minute performance. 

Recorded 3rd April, posted 4th June, this has arrived at exactly at the right time. I didn't know I needed to see and hear this until I did, and I'm glad I stopped by KEXP to see what was new.

Gelli Haha is otherwise known as Angel Abaya, born Boise, Idaho, based Los Angeles, California. Angel started releasing music under her own name in 2020, a debut album (THe Bubble) following in 2023. Then came her reinvention as Gelli Haha and last year's appropriately titled second album Switcheroo.

This is the first I've heard of her, so I can't compare and contrast before and after, but Gelli Haha is definitely a smart move. It's fun, fun, fun.

Five songs plus a short interview and trampolines, tents, torches, hide and seek, swimming caps and goggles, an inflatable dolphin... and five women (six if you count KEXP host Evie Stokes) having a really good time in the studio.

1) Funny Music

2) Spit

3) Normalize

4) Bounce House

5) Klouds Will Carry Me To Sleep

And here are a couple more tunes from Switcheroo to give you more bounce to the ounce:

 

I Didn't Expect You To Cut The String

Tahiti 80's second single of 2026, Made Up, is a dayglo indie dancefloor classic, precision tooled for primetime radio.

Whilst Too Much Too Fast Too Soon in April is steeped in the 1980s, Made Up immediately calls to mind The Boo Radleys circa 1994-1995, albeit with the rough edges polished off. None of which is meant as a criticism, I love it.

Made Up isn't available on Bandcamp (yet) but you can track it down on YT and the usual sucky sources. Too Much Too Fast Too Soon can be snapped up at BC for one Euro fifty.

Will You Still Love Me Tomora?

I experienced TOMORA for the first time on Later...With Jools Holland last week. 

The show - and it's host - appears to have a Marmite reaction in this corner of the blogosphere, but I enjoy it (mostly), though I frequently skip through artists and the often excruciating 5 minute 'interview' at the piano.

However, the show does still manage to spotlight artists that up to then have been outside of my periphery, and Tomora is the latest addition to that very long list.

I was mesmerised from the start by the music and the performance: loud, exhilarating, lots of fun. Two women dressed in white with big fluffy boots, one singing, the other (mostly) with her back to the audience, and an old guy wearing glasses and a baseball cap behind a bank of kit, all having a whale of a time. And the song - I Drink The Light - was great.

TOMORA were the subject of one of Jools' brief interviews, as he introduced two of the band, Norwegian artist AURORA aka Aurora Aksnes and Tom Rowlands, 50% of The Chemical Brothers... wait, what? Tom Rowlands?! That "old guy" was born a month after me....

Anyway, as Jools interviews go, TOMORA were great value, especially Aurora's unexpected and frank response to his question about what they like to do to relax, which I think made Jools blush. You can see the chat for yourself here.

I was inspired to buy the deluxe digital version of TOMORA's debut album, Come Closer. As the above two examples demonstrate, it's chock full of quirky bangers, which will keep me occupied over the summer months, at least.

Tom and Aurora have been collaborating for over a decade, so I will also be checking out their previous work on respective Chemical Brothers and AURORA albums.

The third person on stage with TOMORA for their TV debut and live shows is fellow Norwegian Amalie Holt Kleive, who is a member of Ice Quartet and has released a couple of albums as a solo artist. Another avenue I will be exploring.

Thanks, Jools!