Happy Hope

Happy birthday to Hope Sandoval, born 24th June 1966.

I've created a 60 minute selection of songs spanning 1990 to 2019, taking in Mazzy Star and Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions, collaborations with Mercury Rev, Massive Attack and The Chemical Brothers, and a trio of wonderful cover versions.

I've left off arguably her two most well-known performances - Fade Into You by Mazzy Star and Sometimes Always, playing foil to The Jesus & Mary Chain - but honestly, there are so many great songs to pick that I don't think you'll even notice.

Just one selection from each of the Mazzy Star and Warm Inventions albums, to allow room for the EP sides and extra curricular activity, and leading to a dreamy hour to immerse yourself in.

Have a wonderful day, Hope!

1) Under My Car: Mazzy Star (1994)

2) Big Boss Man (Cover of Jimmy Reed): Mercury Rev ft. Hope Sandoval (2019)

3) Golden Hair (Cover of Syd Barrett): Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions (2009)

4) I Thought You'd Fall For Me: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions (2002)

5) Paradise Circus (Album Version): Massive Attack ft. Hope Sandoval (2010)

6) Roseblood: Mazzy Star (1996)
7) Be My Angel: Mazzy Star (1990)

8) Bells Ring: Mazzy Star (1993)

9) Cherry Blossom Girl (Cover of Air): Hope Sandoval (2004)

10) Flying Low: Mazzy Star (2013)

11) Asleep From Day: The Chemical Brothers ft. Hope Sandoval (1999)

12) Trouble: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions (2009)

13) Baby Let Me: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions (2001)

14) Had A Thought: Mazzy Star (1996)

15) A Wonderful Seed: Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions (2016)

1990: She Hangs Brightly: 7

1993: So Tonight That I Might See: 8

1994: Fade Into You EP: 1

1996: Among My Swan: 6

1996: Flowers In December EP: 14

1999: Surrender: 11

2001: Bavarian Fruit Bread: 13

2002: Suzanne EP: 4

2004: Cherry Blossom Girl EP: 9

2009: Through The Devil Softly: 12

2010: Heligoland: 5

2010: The Madcap Laughs Again!: 3

2013: Seasons Of Your Day: 10

2016: Until The Hunter: 15

2019: Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited: 2

Happy Hope (1:00:57) (GD) (M)

Your Father Said I Was Too Nice But He Liked My Music

Skyworks by Pond today, based in Perth, Western Australia and tight with Tame Impala, apparently.

I checked my music collection and I have two songs by Pond, though one is 'another' Pond from the USA mid-90s and favoured by Dave Grohl. That leaves one song by 'this' Pond, 2016 single 30000 Megatons, which subsequently turned up the following year on seventh album The Weather.

On the strength of listening to these two, I like what I hear and I will be checking out this iteration of Pond a bit more. Current album (#12) Terrestrials came out on Friday so I will start there.

Car Chase Boogaloo With The Godfather Of Soul

Today's pick is the fabulous single James Brown by Big Audio Dynamite, both the song and the video inspired by the titular legend's misdemenours on 24th September 1988.

A random stumble across a recent reflective article in Far Out magazine skirts alarmingly close to hyperbole throughout, though in fairness this is one of those "you couldn't make it up" real life stories that allows for some dramatic licence because it's so crazy to begin with.

A bonkers mix of a misused toilet (allegedly), threats with a shotgun, PCP abuse and a nosediving career culminated into a car chase through the streets of Georgia and six years in clink (three served).

BAD's video captures key elements of the above, notably the police pursuit, a JB impersonator and Mick Jones throwing in a rap towards the end. The Godfather of Soul was unsurprisingly not impressed.

Sadly, neither were their label CBS, who seem to have got cold feet after the video and promo 7" and 12" singles were produced for Europe and the USA in 1989. The single only got an official release in Australia, in Jan 1990, which is where I found a copy of the 12" single in Perth a year later, and shipped it back home.

Today The Dub, Tomorrow The World

An hour of dub, disco style, courtesy of Ashley Beedle vs. Deep Dish, Róisín Murphy vs. Crooked Man and Cosmos aka Tom Middleton, before Richard Norris takes you the long way home. 

Let the bass vibrate, the funk flow and the groove move you. 

Much as I'd like to say that this will be soundtracking an afternoon relaxing with a cold drink, maybe a barbecue, and some socialising, closer to the truth that this will be motivating Mrs. K and I as we plough through a weekend's worth of chores before the working week begins again.

I think it'll work in either scenario, and more. Let me know what you think.

1) Revolutions In Dub (Deep Dish Jumpin' At The Bar Parts 1 And 2 (Full Length Extended Versions)): Ashley Beedle (1995)

2) Murphy's Law (Murphy's Big Dub) (Remix By Crooked Man aka Richard Barratt): Róisín Murphy (2020)

3) Summer In Space (Miami Dub Plate Mix By Tom Middleton): Cosmos ft. David Laudat (1999)

4) Shark Tooth Dub Extended: Richard Norris (2023)

Today The Dub, Tomorrow The World (59:29) (GD) (M)

Cherry Picks

I had an email just after 3.00pm on Friday with the welcome news that Fluke have released a brand new album, The Second Bite.

A dozen songs from their catalogue, revisited and recreated for 2026. And on gatefold double vinyl too. I needed no further persuasion.

I got home a few hours later, had a bite to eat with Clan K and then logged into Bandcamp to buy the album. 

Sold out.

Gutted.

I've had to console myself for now with a digital download, but may end up buying the vinyl from a record shop when it's generally released on 26th June.

Atom Bomb has also been blessed with two remixes by Daniel Avery, the first of which is available now.

And, as further consolation, today's Dubhed selection is a companion piece to The Second Bite in that it mirrors the album tracklisting, but draws on versions from the original singles and albums. I've also split Cherry Picks into two 40-odd minute 'sides'.

Side One

1) Bullet (Cannonball) (1995)

2) Slid (Glidub) (Single Version) (1993)

3) Absurd (Landslide) (1997)

4) Electric Guitar (Sunburst) (1993)

5) Atom Bomb (Atomix 3) (1996)

6) Absurd (Reeferendrum) (Single Version) (1997)

Side Two

1) Groovy Feeling (Mr Whippy) (Remix By Atlas) (1993)

2) Tosh (Cosh) (1995)

3) Electric Blue (Album Version) (2003)

4) Freak (Album Version) (1995)

5) The Bells (Mix 3) (1991)

6) Life Support (Album Version) (1993)

Side One (43:48) (GD) (M)

Side Two (42:09) (GD) (M)

If that's still not enough, here are both of my Fluke mixtapes from 1997 and a selection that I posted earlier this year.

Fluke (Singles) Side One and Side Two

Fluke (Mixes) Side One and Side Two

A Beauty To Behold

All This Confusion's Stressing Me Out In My Mind

Not a personal reflection, but an amended lyric from Cypress Hill, for their MTV-adjusted video accompanying 1995 single Illusions.

It's fair to say that a large chunk of the lyrics below are either swapped or silenced. 

The visuals and the choice phrases haven't aged well in places, but the production is hot and the Q-Tip remix is a bass-heavy behemoth.

What I hadn't realised before now is that Cypress Hill performed their classic album Black Sunday in it's entirety at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 10th July 2024. The show was released as an album in June 2025. Oh, I forgot to mention that the lads invited the London Symphony Orchestra along to play with them.

So, this is the orchestral version of Illusion...no, not an illusion...as performed on the night.

Lyrics not censored for this performance. 

Some people tell me that I need help

Some people can fuck off and go to hell

God damn, why they criticize me

Now shit is on the rise so my family despise me

Fuck 'em! And feed 'em, 'cause I don't need 'em

I won't join 'em if I can beat 'em

They don't understand my logic

To my gat to my money and I'm hooked on chronic

I never wanted to hurt a nigga

Unless ya come flexin' that trigger, I dig ya

That grave on the east side of town

Lay ya six feet underground

From man, to the dust to the ashes

All I remember tell me where the cash is

Click-clack, barrel at my dome

Give all your loot or you ain't goin' home

But I ain't goin' out with a bang

Wa da da dang, wa dada daa dang

I'm havin' illusions, all this confusion's drivin' me mad inside

I'm havin' illusions, all this confusion's fuckin' me up in my mind

I'm havin' illusions, all this confusion's drivin' me mad inside

I'm havin' illusions, all this confusion's fuckin' me up in my mind

Motherfuckers be drivin' me up the walls

Hopin' that I fall but they can lick my balls

Straight jacket, strap it

In a padded room when some punk niggas can't hack it

Distracted from all reality

Now I'm let out on a minor technicality

(Ah) They all fucked up now

'Cause they let a nigga back on the streets somehow

I'm lookin' for someone like me

Livin' in my own world to my own degree

On the loose in the city lookin' at the ho wit' the big titties

Lookin' at me and I feel shitty

A little tensed up gettin' hot

'Cause she looks like my girl who got smoked at the crack spot

I'm tryin' to find ways to cope

But I ain't fuckin' 'round with the gauge or a rope

I'm havin' illusions, all this confusion's drivin' me mad inside

I'm havin' illusions, all this confusion's fuckin' me up in my mind

I'm havin' illusions, all this confusion's drivin' me mad inside

I'm havin' illusions, all this confusion's fuckin' me up in my mind

I'm havin' illusions

I'm havin' illusions

I'm havin' illusions

I'm havin' illusions

I'm havin' illusions

I'm havin' illusions

I'm havin' illusions

I'm havin' illusions

Steady As It Goes...It's The Way It Goes

When things in the world seem so uncertain, you can at least rely on Johnny Marr.

Spin heralds the arrival of The Age Of Everything, Johnny's first studio album since Fever Dreams Pts. 1-4 in 2022. 

Whilst I don't expect the ground breaking, envelope-pushing sonics of the years with his former band, this is reliable, quality music with Marr seeming increasingly comfortable with the sound of his own voice as his solo career has progressed.

I feel like I'm damning Spin with faint praise, it's a good not great song, but it's a welcome return nevertheless. Sometimes, certainty is all that's needed.

A Brace Of Birthdays

A barrage of birthdays on 17th June and, tempted though I was by Barry Manilow and Lee Ryan from Blue, I've opted to pair Kendrick Lamar (1987) and Jello Biafra (1958).

Born nearly three decades apart but linked by a razor sharp political awareness and a drive to comment on the world around that have resulted in era-defining music as well as controversy and criticism.

Here's a timeless message from Jello's former band, Dead Kennedys.

Musically, another link between two is jazz. No, seriously. Check out this snippet from the same Dead Kennedys session, incorporating one of their greatest songs.

And For Free? from To Pimp A Butterfly.

I'll admit that I haven't listened to much of The Dead Kennedys beyond the 'hits' and nothing really from Jello's career since. And everything I know about Kendrick L:amar is thanks to SWC over at No Badger Required. 

I will get around to both eventually, I promise.

In the meantime, happy birthday, lads!

Hit It, Flip It, Switch It, Drag It

Oui is the first single and video I've encountered by South Korean band Balming Tiger.

Like a Pepsi ad directed by David Cronenberg, channeling the Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons.

I'm going to come back later and make sure that i haven't had a breakdown and hallucinated the whole thing...

Respectable Swindon?

This is a treat: Andy Partridge of XTC taking viewers on a tour of his home town Swindon, circa 1981.

This was the year that R.P.M., a magazine programme for the BBC West region, launched. It was sandwiched in the weekday early evening BBC1 schedule between Points West and the prime time schedule. 

I remember R.P.M. for three things:

1) Presenter Andy Batten-Foster, which would have put Kevin Keegan's poodle perm to shame;

2) Krek Bristle, a parady sketch starring Tony Robinson, based on Derek Robinson's book; and

3) The music features, which were frequently awkward and/or terribly stilted, but at least exposed me to new music.

Andy is great fun and whilst Swindon is a much-changed place - The Brunel shopping centre lasted more than 5 minutes, the Oasis is standing empty and festering - it's a fascinating snap shot.

And here's Respectable Street, which is referenced but not featured in the R.P.M. clip.