The mix runs for the maximum burn time, just under 80 minutes, with a split into two 'sides'. I'd loosely describe this as the 'downtempo side'. The title itself is both a twist on the popular horror film franchise and perhaps a comment on the winter chill surrounding me as, on the other side of the world, my brother was experiencing a seasonal opposite.
In the summer of 2005, my wife and I also travelled to stay with my brother and his wife for a week, I think the first time we'd seen each other in person for nearly six years, so the title is probably a nod to the sadness of separation, 18 months on. Ho ho ho and festive cheer, indeed. Bloody hell, I should have sent a jangly pop compilation, in retrospect...!
Glancing at this tracklist, you'd be forgiven for thinking that I only bought one album in 2006, although if that had been the case, it still would have been White Bread Black Beer by Scritti Politti. The rest of the collection is made up of songs from the previous 5 years, a couple of which I had discovered in the bargain bins of Virgin Megastore in Bristol.
On such discovery was Your Love Means Everything by Faultline aka David Kosten. I was drawn in by the photo of a wrench on the cover and the list of guest vocalists on the back cover: Michael Stipe, Jacob Golden and Wayne Coyne. Okay, Chris Martin also pops up on a couple of tracks, but I didn't let that stop me from shelling out a couple of quid for what turned out to be a good record. I was surprised to find that this was the second and final (to date) Faultline album. Even more surprisingly, The Colossal Gray Sunshine was released as a promo single in 2004, with a remix by Paul Oakenfold, Apart from a one-off cover of Send In The Clowns featuring Lisa Hannigan in 2017, David Kosten seems to be largely working as a producer and programmer these days, with the likes of Bat For Lashes, Keane and Steven Wilson.
Another favourite at the time was Pony Club, not to be confused with New Young Pony Club. Much as I'm loathe to admit it, Pony Club first came to my attention in 2004 via cover mounted CD with NME, curated by the Manchester Racist. The track in question was from the debut Pony Club album, 2002's Home Truths, and I was sufficiently intrigued to pick up a copy, again troubling the bargain bins in the local megastore. Pony Club is essentially a vehicle for Mark Cullen and Home Truths is a claustrophobic and cutting depiction of a life trapped in housing estates and martial discord. Cullen also co-wrote a number of songs with Ian Broudie for Lightning Seeds, which is about as diametrically opposed as you can get.
Amongst the other sombre gems are Daníel Ágúst, on his first solo detour from GusGus, the much-missed Anita Lane, a Calexico rarity, a classic from former Voodoo Queen Anjali and Jah Wobble dropping his trademark bass into a remix of Norwegian Sami musician Mari Boine's 1994 song, Ĉuovgi Liekkas. Luke Haines resurrected The Auteurs in 2003 to air a combination of new songs and re-recordings on the excellent Das Capital, whilst The Go-Betweens returned for what would sadly prove to be their final album of new material, Oceans Apart, which is also one of their finest.
Likewise, Scritti Politti. Hard to believe - or accept - that it's now been sixteen years since White Bread Black Beer, with no immediate prospect of a further album. This is the third outing for Petrococadollar on the Dubhed blog, following it's appearance in my opening series 50@50 in December 2020 and again as part of a Scritti Politti selection in October 2021. I make no apologies, it's an exceptional song, even by Green Gartside's standards.
1) The Gray (Album Version): Daníel Ágúst (2005)
2) The Next Man That I See (Album Version By Mick Harvey): Anita Lane (2001)
3) Ballad Of Cable Hogue (Version Française): Calexico ft. Marianne Dissard (2000)
4) The Colossal Gray Sunshine (Album Version): Faultline ft. Wayne Coyne & Steven Drozd (2002)
5) Lazy Lagoon (Album Version): Anjali (2000)
6) No Reason To Cry: The Go-Betweens (2005)
7) Satan Wants Me (Album Version): Luke Haines & The Auteurs (2003)
8) Ĉuovgi Liekkas (Jah Wobble Remix II): Mari Boine (2001)
9) CCTV: Pony Club (2002)
10) Petrococadollar: Scritti Politti (2006)
2000: Ballad Of Cable Hogue EP (French promo CD single): 3
2000: Lazy Lagoon EP / Anjali: 5
2001: Remixed / Oðða Hámis: 8
2001: Sex o'Clock: 2
2002: Home Truths: 9
2002: Your Love Means Everything: 4
2003: Das Capital: The Songwriting Genius Of Luke Haines & The Auteurs: 7
2005: Oceans Apart: 6
2005: Swallowed A Star: 1
2006: White Bread Black Beer: 10
Blogpost title of the day.
ReplyDeleteI thank you, sir.
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