#SynthPopSeptember

Another of my occasional engagements with Musk's Mad World, the theme this time being thirty days of synth pop throughout September.

No surprise that the likes of Visage, Depeche Mode, Chvrches, Duran Duran, AIR, New Order, LCD Soundsystem, Blancmange, O.M.D., Goldfrapp, Bronski Beat, Hot Chip, Pet Shop Boys and The Human League were generally well represented by their best-known songs.

 

It was a lot of fun and an opportunity to offer up some lesser tweeted songs by many of the above plus Fad Gadget, Les Rythmes Digitales, Ladytron, Alan Vega, Telex, Boytronic and La Roux, several of whom have featured in posts this month.

My 30 synth pop choices in full were

1) Lady Shave (Single Version): Fad Gadget (1981)

2) Sleep On The Left Side (Les Rythmes Digitales' Living By Numbers Mix): Cornershop (1998)

3) The Black Hit Of Space (Album Version): The Human League (1980)

4) The Sun And The Rainfall (Album Version) (Cover of Depeche Mode): Marsheaux (2015)

5) Cccan't You See... (Single Version): Vicious Pink (1984)

6) Almost (Album Version): O.M.D. (1980)

7) Leave In Silence (Single Version): Depeche Mode (1982)

8) (Hey You) What's That Sound? (Album Version): Les Rythmes Digitales (1999)

9) Clean Your House (The Emperor Machine Extended Remix): Blancmange (2020)

10) Pale Green Ghosts (Album Version): John Grant (2013)

11) Synthesize (Single Version): Autumn (1981)

12) Real Thoughts In Real Time (Vince Clarke Extended Version): Hifi Sean & David McAlmont (2023)

13) Frozen Faces (Single Mix): Propaganda (1985)

14) Let's All Make A Bomb (New Version): Heaven 17 (1983)

15) Gun (Album Version): Chvrches (2013)

16) Saturn Drive (Extended / Album Version): Alan Vega (1983)

17) Seventeen (Darren Emerson Radio Edit): Ladytron (2003)

18) Stand Up (Get Down) (7" Version): Kissing The Pink (1988)

19) You (Extended Version): Boytronic (1983)

20) The Walk (Album Version): Eurythmics (1982)

21) Mixed Bizness (Nu Wave Dreamix By Les Rythmes Digitales): Beck (2000)

22) Moskow Diskow (French 12" Version): Telex (1979)

23) Glam (Album Version): Icehouse (1982)

24) Let Me Down Gently (Prins Thomas Diskomiks): La Roux (2014)

25) Disenchanted (Album Version): The Communards (1986)

26) Mister Imperator (Album Version): Telefís (2022)

27) Lies (Bigger & Better) (12" Version): Thompson Twins (1983)

28) Jackson's Last Stand (Radio Edit): Où Est Le Swimming Pool (2009)

29) When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' (Album Version): Sparks (1994)

30) Pleasure Boys (Special Dance Mix): Visage (1982)

As my final contribution is being tweeted today, here's a random 10-song selection from the 30, spanning four decades and neatly squeezing onto an imaginary C90 cassette side. Click on the song title links for more YT goodies. Enjoy!

 

1) Pale Green Ghosts (Album Version): John Grant (2013)

2) Cccan't You See... (Single Version): Vicious Pink (1984)

3) Stand Up (Get Down) (7" Version): Kissing The Pink (1988)

4) Glam (Album Version): Icehouse (1982)

5) Frozen Faces (Single Mix): Propaganda (1985)

6) When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way' (Album Version): Sparks (1994)

7) Real Thoughts In Real Time (Vince Clarke Extended Version): Hifi Sean & David McAlmont (2023)

8) Synthesize (Single Version): Autumn (1981)

9) Mister Imperator (Album Version): Telefís (2022)

10) Clean Your House (The Emperor Machine Extended Remix): Blancmange (2020)

 

1981: Synthesize EP: 8

1982: Primitive Man: 4

1984: Cccan't You See... EP: 2

1985: p: Machinery EP / A Secret Wish (CD bonus track): 5

1988: Stand Up EP: 3 

1994: Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins: 6

2013: Pale Green Ghosts: 1

2020: Clean Your House EP: 10

2022: a hAon: 9

2023: Real Thoughts In Real Time EP: 7

 

#SynthPop September (46:02) (KF) (Mega)

Someone Taught Me How To Dance Last Night

It's Friday, it's nearly the end of September, the nights are drawing in, so time to get the glitter ball out and boogie 'til we just can't boogie no more. 

An hour of disco classics and/or obscurities, all guaranteed to provide a hefty bass and beat and some funky guitar licks or soaring string sounds, or both. And some belting vocals, of course.

Today's cover star is the multi-talented Marsha Hunt who, amongst many achievements, released three albums in the 1970s, the last of which was a disco-inspired collection produced by Pete Bellote which she later dismissed as "a musical departure that had nothing to do with my own taste". I've left her off the selection.

 

1) Do You Wanna Go Party (Album Version By Harry Casey & Richard Finch): KC & The Sunshine Band (1979)

2) Lovin' Is Really My Game (Parts 1 & 2) (12" Version By Jerry Peters): Brainstorm (1977) 

3) Love Magic (Special Disco Version By John Davis): John Davis & The Monster Orchestra (1979)

4) Garden Of Love (Album Version By Jean-Marc Cerrone): Don Ray (1978)

5) Thunder In My Heart (Disco Version By Richard Perry): Leo Sayer (1977)

6) Open Sesame (Part 1) (Album Version): Kool & The Gang (1976)

7) Dance Little Lady Dance (Long Version By Biddu Appaiah): Tina Charles (1976)

8) Jealousy (Album Version By Barry Leng): Amii Stewart (1979)

9) Bourgie', Bourgie' (Special Album Version By Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson & Jimmy Simpson) (Cover of Ashford & Simpson): Gladys Knight & The Pips (1980) 

10) How's Your Love Life Baby (Special 12" Version By John Luongo & Michael Barbiero): Jackie Moore (1979)

 

Someone Taught Me How To Dance Last Night (1:01:45) (KF) (Mega)

Like A Fish On A Hook With A Twitch

Last Friday (22nd), Mike and I ventured into Bristol to see Mozart Estate and Half Japanese co-headlining at Strange Brew in the city centre. It was a blast.

 

It was a real throwback to my twenties, when I would go to gigs just for the experience of live music without necessarily a clue or a care about what the artists were about or whether they were any good. I wasn't especially familiar with any of the acts performing on stage at Strange Brew. It was also the first time I'd been to the venue, so everything was fresh, new and without preconceptions on my part. 

 

I know about Lawrence, of course. Regardless of when you were born (I was a 70s kid), an interest in alternative/indie music will inevitably lead you to his legendary 1980s band, Felt. I've a few but not all of their albums and singles but, collection-wise, it's a case of diminishing returns for his subsequent bands: I've an album and a couple of singles by Denim (1990s), a handful of songs by Go-Kart Mozart (1999-2022) and absolutely nothing by Mozart Estate.

 

Likewise Half Japanese, although I am more familiar with Jad Fair and recently acquired the album he did with Teenage Fanclub, as part of my belated deep dive into the latter's catalogue. Half Japanese have been around even longer, self-releasing cassettes circa 1974/75 and indie label releases from 1980. As at last Thursday, I didn't have a single Half Japanese song in my collection and, if I had heard anything by them, I didn't know or remember it.

 

None of that compares to the support act, who Mike and I had never heard of before arriving at the gig. Sadly, due to the logistics of working in Gloucestershire, getting to Bristol, what turned out to be a very early running show and arriving at Strange Brew around 7.45pm, we only got to see the last one-and-a-half songs of Bruno & The Outrageous Methods Of Presentation's half-hour set. Despite the so-so name, they were fantastic in the brief burst that I saw.

A few words about Strange Brew, which boldly opened in September 2020. It's a former shop and everything's on ground level, stage included, bar on the right as you enter, tables and chairs around the side and a big space in front of the stage. It's about as intimate as you could wish but I could imagine that even a packed gig wouldn't feel overly claustrophobic. And I had to imagine, because sadly I don't think capacity for this show got above a couple of hundred, criminal given the quality of the music on offer.

As Mike and I approached Strange Brew, the blasts of music from within were both an indication that something special was happening but, in retrospect, an indication of why there was a 10.00pm curfew in place. Given the ground level placing of the stage, as we entered the venue, we couldn't see much of the band at first but it quickly became apparent that both musically and physically, Bruno & The Outrageous Methods of Presentation (BOMP) are not your typical band.

Frontperson Bruno Bof-Wilkinson is 17 years old. At a guess, BOMP's guitarist, bassist and drummer are at least three times that but the energy and synergy between the four in that brief 5 or 6 minutes was fantastic. The band were solid, steady, providing a foundation for Bruno's wired, full-throttle performance. Jumping off stage into the crowd (well, arguably a hop as it was the same level), at times all we could see was Bruno's hair (shaped into an Elvis Presley quiff) and/or guitar head as he bounced up and sank low. And then it was all over, finishing more or less bang on time.

When pulling together bits for this post, I came across this tweet about another BOMP gig in Bristol last year, which indicates the kind of next-level commitment Bruno gives to his art.

 

Bassist Delia Sparrow also posted the entire gig on YouTube. Watch out for the brave soul who tries to negotiate around Bruno to retrieve his pint from the mixing desk. Not the best band name ever, but I'd definitely part with cash to see Bruno & The Outrageous Methods Of Presentation again.

Half Japanese appeared on stage shortly after. My only visual memory of Jad Fair is that he looked a bit like Lou Barlow in the 1990s, tousled black hair and big, thick-rimmed round glasses. No more. 

 

As the photo (thanks, Original Smokin Jon) shows, the band are mostly all in their late 60s now. Guitarist Mick Hobbs may have spent the entire set seated though the songs themselves carried all the energy that was needed. Jad Fair's voice is arguably an acquired taste but it had lost none of it's quality and personality with the passage of time. 

Being completely unfamiliar with any of their songs, I can only say that the band played about 15 songs in just under an hour, including a mid-set acapella rendition by Jad of a Daniel Johnston song/poem. I can tell you that the set included the songs Firecracker Firecracker, Red Dress and Charmed Life because Jad introduced them as such. I can also tell you that it was a great set, which gave me that wonderful sensation of hearing songs for the very first time, without prejudice or judgement about 'favourites' or how the live performances compared with the studio versions. 

My abiding memory if of Jad's tiny guitar (ukelele?) which he twisted, turned and flipped over throughout the gig. The diminutive size of his guitar created the optical illusion of making the bassist's instrument seem ridiculously large by comparison. I'm not sure the photo quite captures that but it made me smile.

Here's a performance of Round And Round from a show a few days previously in France. 

And so to the Mozart Estate. Lawrence celebrated his 62nd birthday in August and celebration is probably the right word. There was a real sense of fun and mischief from the outset, with the show opener Lawrence Is Taking Over.

Again, it was a brisk set from a super-tight band, sixteen songs in just under an hour, finishing promptly at 9.54pm. A half-and-half mix of songs from the current Mozart Estate album and Go-Kart Mozart classics, the (should have been) hit rate was astonishing. A shame that there were relatively few people there to witness it.

"Come closer", Lawrence urged the audience at one point, "I can't see you!"

I'm not one given to impromptu and random acts of improvised and arrhythmic dancing but songs like I'm Gonna Wiggle are hard to resist and the aural treats just kept coming and coming. Until suddenly, Lawrence announced an encore ("We're not gonna leave the stage and come back again") and then that was it, all over. Brilliant, though.

Thanks to NUM for tweeting the photo of Lawrence below, setlist strapped to his wrist, and said setlist which opened up this post.

Here's an audience-filmed clip of I Wanna Murder You from about a third of the way through the set. The recording is a bit ropey, sound-wise, but you get the gist.

Needless to say, I bought the Mozart Estate and Half Japanese albums post-gig and am currently exploring the vast back catalogue of Bruno Bof-Wilkinson, all available on Bandcamp.

And Mike, Bruno was apparently singing about a stoic tree rather than a tree stump, but who's counting?!

 

 

 

 

Escape From The Reality Of Drab Decay

Teethgrinder by Therapy? popped up on my music shuffle, the first time I've heard the song in a while. 

 

Back in the early 1990s it was a staple of the alternative indie discos I used to go to, a guaranteed floor filler to the extent that none of their follow up singles seemed to displace Teethgrinder in the DJ's record box.

 

I have more songs than I thought in my collection but they;re pretty much limited to half a dozen or so EPs and a smattering of compilation appearances, the music mainly spanning 1992 to 1995, with a few later but no later than 1998.

 

To be honest, my favourites and most frequently played tend to be the remixes: Die Laughing by David Holmes, Nowhere by Andrew Weatherall/Sabres Of Paradise and Loose by Photek; Consolidated also remixed their cover of Isolation by Joy Division. And Teethgrinder, of course, remixed by engineer supreme Harvey Birrell, whose name appears far more in your record collection than you might expect.

 

In all that time, I've never listened to a single Therapy? album or paid much attention to what they were doing after those early singles. 

 

It was a surprise, then, when doing the minimal research for this post to find that Therapy? have carried on regardless for the last three decades and in May this year released Hard Cold Fire, their fifteenth album. There have been a few changes along the way, but the current three-piece has been stable since 2004 and still includes Andy Cairns (vocals/guitar) and Michael McKeegan (bass) from the original line up.

 

I've only heard one single from the album, the brilliantly titled Poundland Of Hope And Glory and aurally and visually (or in terms of editing, at least) it's not a million miles away from Teethgrinder.

 

Therapy? is about to embark on a European tour, with UK dates in late November and December. Dates and details are available on their official website. They're playing at The Fleece in Bristol. I'm intrigued but won't be there as it's a mid-week gig and I'm planning to see a living legend play a gig nearby a couple of nights later. Sadly these days, two trips to Bristol in a week is one logistical nightmare too far...

No One Gets Off Without Paying The Ride

A very happy birthday to Tracey Thorn, born 26th September 1962.

It's impossible to describe how much Tracey's voice, words and music have had over the years. Her body of work with husband Ben Watt as Everything But The Girl is immense and, as this year's Fuse album proved, unsullied by time.

Tracey's five solo albums are little treasures in their own right, each one offering something new and unique to that release, from 1982's A Distant Shore to 2018's Record.

Tracey's also been a superlative collaborator and interpreter of others' songs. This selection includes both, from John Grant and Massive Attack to covers of Pet Shop Boys, The Marvelettes and Kate Bush, the last seemingly untouchable and yet Tracey completely inhabits the song.

I'd been thinking about this post and had started pulling together a potential selection. On Sunday, Swiss Adam posted a frankly brilliant 40-minute mix of Tracey Thorn songs at Bagging Area that included quite a few overlaps with mine. Necessity being the mother of invention and all that, I started again from scratch and came up with a 30-minute selection that I hope acts as a decent companion piece to Adam's and taken together shines a light on Tracey's magnificence. 

And I haven't even mentioned Tracey's books. Buy them, read them, love them.

 

1) By Piccadilly Station I Sat Down And Wept: Tracey Thorn (2007)

2) King's Cross (Hot Chip Remix) (Cover of Pet Shop Boys): Tracey Thorn (2007)

3) Disappointing: John Grant ft. Tracey Thorn (2015)

4) Oh, The Divorces!: Tracey Thorn (2010)

5) The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game (Cover of The Marvelettes): Massive Attack ft. Tracey Thorn (1995)

6) Run A Red Light (Album Version): Everything But The Girl (2023)

7) Under The Ivy (Cover of Kate Bush): Tracey Thorn (2014)

8) Guitar (Album Version): Tracey Thorn (2018)

1995: Batman Forever OST: 5

2007: King's Cross EP: 2

2007: Out Of The Woods: 1

2010: Love And Its Opposite: 4

2015: Grey Tickles, Black Pressure: 3

2015: Solo: Songs And Collaborations 1982-2015: 7 

2018: Record: 8

2023: Fuse: 6

No One Gets Off Without Paying The Ride (30:18) (KF) (Mega)

In Love With The Light

More gems from this year's releases to distract from the drawing in of the sunsets and the drop in temperature as autumn beds in.

Richard Norris appears twice, firstly remixing Katy J Pearson's cover of Willow's Song from the classic film The Wicker Man then with Lightning Version, a 10-minute dub extravaganza from his Oracle Sound project. As a subscriber to Richard's music, which is worth every penny as it is, I was also recently the beneficiary of a free Oracle Sound T-shirt, which I'm happily modelling for today's selection.

A couple of purchases recommended this year by Swiss Adam at Bagging Area, who is always on the mark. Trotting the globe, New Zealand's Stinky Jim is remixed by British Columbia's Seekersinternational, featuring vocals by Nazamba aka George Scott, who sadly passed in July 2022. From there, it's a trip from Oxford to London via Mozambique as Steve Queralt and Michael Smith are remixed by Nandele Maguni.

 

Róisín Murphy's excellent Hit Parade album has been unfortunately overshadowed by her recent comments on social media, follow up response and what seems to have been a pulling back of promotion and support by record label Ninja Tune. The album, created in collaboration with DJ Koze, isn't quite as immediate as predecessor Róisín Machine but repeated listens reward.  

Dub Pistols have been around forever it seems though this is the first album of theirs that I've bought. Lots of dub and dancehall influences, unsurprisingly, with a great vocal turn from Natty Campbell, I can imagine this would go down a storm in a live setting. 

Jason Buckle's releases as JP Buckle have been a relatively recent discovery, including his quirky Covers mini-album/EP. The selections are quite heavily rooted in 1980s popular culture - Prince & The Revolution, Wham!, U2, Bruce Springsteen - with a few surprises such as a cover of Into The Garden, a 1981 song by post-punk Artery. Perhaps less of a surprise when you know that Jason Buckle is member of JARV Is... and Jarvis Cocker convinced Artery to reform and perform at the Meltdown Festival which he curated in 2007.

Pye Corner Audio possibly need no introduction if you've frequented these pages before. As I wrote last month, Martin Jenkins has released several superb pieces of music this year and the brilliantly-titled Cabaret Sauvage is just one example. I said at the time that the song "immediately strikes as lost Pink Industry outtake, with a striking bass line and synth effects that call to mind 1980s arcade games". 'Nuff said.

 

1) Willow's Song (Richard Norris Ritual Mix) (Cover of Magnet): Katy J Pearson (Willow's Song EP)

2) Steam Fish (Steam Veg Dub) (Remix By Seekersinternational): StinkyJim ft. Nazamba (Social Awareness: The Remixes)

3) Arabiklan (Högt I Tak Remix By Janne Berglund): James Rod (Synthetic Glory EP)

4) Can't Replicate (Album Version By DJ Koze aka Stefan Kozalla): Róisín Murphy (Hit Parade)

5) Moving On: Dub Pistols ft. Natty Campbell (Frontline)

6) Lightning Version: Richard Norris (Oracle Sound Volume One)

7) Cabaret Sauvage: Pye Corner Audio (Cabaret Sauvage EP)

8) Into The Garden (Cover of Artery): JP Buckle (Covers)

9) Vespertina (Nandele Remix By Nandele Maguni): Steve Queralt & Michael Smith (Sun Moon Town Versions)

In Love With The Light (57:49) (KF) (Mega)

La Roux Sans Voix

Some La Roux for you today, in another post inspired by my participation in #SynthPopSeptember over at the House of Musk.

I don't own any of the three albums to date: La Roux (2009), Trouble In Paradise (2014) and Supervision (2020). However, I do have a lot of singles, remixes and, which had kind of passed me by, a large number of instrumental versions from the first two albums.

 

I'm largely ambivalent about instrumental versions. So often they feel like a lazy way of supplying a B-side or, more cynically, a way of getting an airing on Sky Sports or some car advert. 

Often, the removal of the vocals reveals more of the music within and become just as enjoyable as the full-throated version. Surprisingly, this was the case when I started pulling together this La Roux selection. Elly Jackson's voice may be an acquired taste for some - I like it - but the 1980s-inspired music that underpins the songs is much more rich and layered than I'd expected.

I've limited today's selection to eight songs and a smidge over half an hour, with a focus on Trouble In Paradise which I'm less familiar with and the inclusion of a trio of hits from La Roux's eponymous debut.

 

It sounds like the soundtrack to an imaginary film circa 1986, possibly starring Steve Guttenberg and Lori Singer, with a romance, some slapstick and probably a life-or-death moment at the top of a very tall building or a bridge. Likely straight to video in the UK, too. Well, I can dream.

 

1) In For The Kill (2009)

2) The Feeling (2014)

3) Uptight Downtown (2014)

4) Quicksand (2009)

5) Kiss And Not Tell (2014)

6) Let Me Down Gently (2014)

7) Bulletproof (2009)

8) Paradise Is You (2014)

La Roux Sans Voix (33:38) (KF) (Mega)

What The @#?£ Was That?!

I went to a gig with Mike last night. More on the whole thing another time, I want to tell you about support act, Bruno & The Outrageous Methods Of Presentation.

 

Well, the last one and a half songs at least. Unfortunately, leaving work in Gloucestershire, getting home, picking up Mike and then making our way into Bristol, combined with the late breaking news that the entire show had a 10pm curfew (is that a thing now?) meant that we unfortunately missed the majority of Bruno & co's 30-minute set.

If the last six or seven minutes were anything to go by, it was a blistering set. But don't take my word for it, check out their London gig from earlier this year.

 

Suffice to say that I'll be digging back into the back catalogue. Main man Bruno Bof-Wilkinson has been making music since he was 13 (he's currently a sprightly 17) and has amassed dozens of releases on Bandcamp, including the 18-track magnum opus The Sad, Sad World Of Eden Kane in February.  All available as name your price purchases too, if you needed further incentive.

 

Oh, and for vinyl lovers, there's a 7" release of Just Sitting Around / Special Edition available at Rough Trade featuring Zak Starkey and Glen Matlock, no less.

Got To Live Your Life

The wonderful Cleo Sol returned with her third album Heaven last Friday (15th). It's a lighter offering, nine songs, barely troubling half an hour, though it's all in the quality of Cleo's beautiful voice and Inflo's sublime production. 

 

The snippet of Golden Child (Jealous) is on YouTube and Heaven is available on digital and vinyl formats via Bandcamp and other retailers. 

 

I'll follow up fairly soon(ish) with a new Cleo Sol selection, so I'll re-post my previous Cleo Sol/SAULT compilation then.

Late Summer Odyssey

Beck and Phoenix released a collaborative single back in June, which completely passed me until last week. Celebrating their then-upcoming co-headlining Summer Odyssey tour, the song is unsurprisingly called Odyssey. 

It's got Phoenix's trademark sound all over it but it's also in the same wheelhouse as Les Rythmes Digitales' 80s-inspired remix of Beck's song Mixed Bizness from 2000, albeit Odyssey has a much more laid back, funkier vibe. And is that bass reminiscent of Once In A Lifetime by Talking Heads? I suspect that last comparison has been made a thousand times online already.

 

Whatever, it's a fun three and three-quarter minutes and whilst the promise of a late UK summer in September seems to have been washed away by constant rain, the sound of Odyssey at least allows the illusion of sun-kissed days.

 

There are loads of live versions of Odyssey available online. I've opted for one from their show at the Hayden Homes Amphitheater in Bend, Oregon on 3rd August. It's very front-row and perhaps doesn't capture the full majesty of the band set up and back drop, but you do get crystal clear framing shots of Thomas Mars and Beck.

I haven't seen Beck on TV or other media for a long while and watching this video, I was immediately struck by his resemblance to Gene Wilder in Stir Crazy. Or is it just me?

All Licketysplit

Solex vs. The Hitmeister was released on 10th March 1998 on Matador Records and I bought it on the back of a review in Melody Maker, NME, Sounds or some such, without having heard a single note despite a John Peel session to promote the album in May that year.

 

Here's some background info on Solex from the John Peel area of the BBC website, which summarises it better than I could:

 

Solex is the pseudonym of singer-songwriter Elisabeth Esselink. Formerly the singer in the Dutch group Sonetic Vet and owner of an Amsterdam record store, Esselink decided to go solo and came up with a deft blend of low-key techno and 'found' sounds. 'Solex vs. The Hitmeister' was her debut album for Matador in 1998 and was comprised of snippets from all the records in her shop that she couldn't sell. In a change of tack, 1999's 'Pick Up' was painstakingly constructed from dozens of recordings that she'd secretly made at live shows in Amsterdam. This extraordinary technique was continued on the albums 'Low Kick And Hard Bop' (2001) and 'The Laughing Stock of Indie Rock' (2004) which showcased Esselink's wry sense of humour. Her latest album is 2005's 'In The Fishtank'. Oh, and Solex is a Hungarian moped if you're interested.

"My favorite session was a live show in the studio (2000). We played twosets on air in front of a live audience. Peel, who did the show from thesame room, said the audience should get closer to the band and not make itthat obvious they were only there for the free beers and snacks.When he aired our final session in 2002, I listened to the live webcast. He said some nice things and I dropped him an email right away. I joked about doing the next sessions at Peel acres. He read the email on the show and said that the Peel acres session was a very good idea. Unfortunately that session never happened."

What also attracted me to the debut album was that all 12 songs (13 if you happened to buy the Japanese import with a bonus song) had 'Solex' in the title. Solex All Licketysplit was the sole single release from Solex vs. The Hitmeister and it's a wonderful statement of intent and a possible comment on the trials and tribulations of signing with a record label, 

As soon as I got a paycheck
You ask me to make it high tech
And to bleach my flecks.
Tabloids will be all over it
Do you think I should be timid?
All licketysplit

"Upswing,
Plaything!"
That's very flattering

"Brand new!"
And that's just a preview

"One-two!"
I wouldn't know how to...

As soon as I got a paycheck
You ask me to make it high tech
And to bleach my flecks.
Tabloids will be all over it
Do you think I should be timid?
All licketysplit

"Upswing,
Plaything!"
That's very flattering

"Brand new!"
And that's just a preview

"One-two!"
I wouldn't know how to...

I wouldn't know how to...
I wouldn't... 

As soon as I got a paycheck
You ask me to make it high tech
And to bleach my flecks.

I've only just discovered that a video was made to accompany Solex All Licketysplit, directed by Birgit Rathsmann and Bruce Alcock. It's a bonkers couple of minutes of jump cuts, rapid editing, freight trains, bridges, rivers and Elisabeth bouncing around in a variety of brightly coloured clothes. All absolutely in sync with the song's character.

I loved the album and I had the good fortune to see Solex live in concert around the time. I've long lost the ticket and there's no info online to narrow down the date but I think it would have been late 1998, more likely 1999. What I do remember is that it was in the bowels of The Thekla, a former cargo ship permanently moored in Bristol's floating harbour and which I'd only known as a gig/club venue (it's still around and going strong, I'm happy to report).

Gigs in The Thekla, certainly in the 1980s and 1990s, were cramped, sweaty but energetic affairs and Solex was no exception. I saw Elisabeth carting her kit on stage, performing a great gig and then heading off to staff the merch stall afterwards. All de rigeur, I guess, but it just made me like Solex even more. 

To update the discography, Solex went on to release a further two albums. Amsterdam Throwdown King Street Showdown! was a collaboration with Cristina Martinez and Jon Spencer, released in 2010. Solex Ahoy! The Sound Map of the Netherlands followed in 2013. In a 2019 interview, Elisabeth referred to working on a new album that she hoped to release the following year. The subsequent COVID pandemic as well as the usual obstacles of recording and releasing a record have inevitably had an effect but I really hope it sees the light of day as I'm interested to hear what Solex in the 2020s would sound like.

Here's a link to my previous Solex post from July 2021, including an hour-long DJ mix from 2007 and the aforementioned 2019 interview.

Not In The Business For Pretendin'

It's been far too long since I last featured Little Simz here. Her single Gorilla has been out for a couple of months; her album No Thank You was released digitally last December and physically in June this year. 

 

I'm now in the second half of September and starting to reflect on contenders for an end of year favourites list with the cold realisation that I've bought and listened to so much and there's still so much more great music out there, undiscovered and unheard. 

 

I loved Little Simz' previous album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert ("So what?" I hear you say, "so did everyone") and I've really no excuse for not yet buying No Thank You. All of the elements are there: razor sharp lyrics and delivery; superb production (again) from Inflo and another visually arresting video, directed by Dave Myers but with Simz' character all over it.

Time for me to catch up.

Ding, Dong, Ding, Ah-Ah, Ring It

Getting the week off to a cracking start with Anita Ward performing Ring My Bell on TopPop in The Netherlands, which is a veritable treasure trove of mimed TV performances from the 1970s and 1980s. 

 

Broadcast on 23rd June 1979 as a new entry in the TROS Top 50 at #30, Ring My Bell went on to peak at #2 in August 1979. It did one better in the UK, coming to the end of a two week run at #1 on the date that this edition of TopPop was broadcast.

 

I love how this clip starts off with Anita sitting next to the presenter, head turned away as he does the intro, then turning around getting up amongst the crowd and then getting straight down to business. What a pro.

 

And what's the story with the guy with the dog, sitting on the other side of the presenter? Get the poor thing out of there, they need a walk and a treat!

Dub '83

Body popping sure means something different to me now than it did forty years. 

 

Not that I was in any way inclined to bust a move when I saw a group of people, a boom box and a sheet of cardboard back in the day. These days, body popping is more likely the sound made by an unforgiving joint when I try to lift or reach for something. Bust a move? Bust a hip, more like.

Still, I can imagine. Here's ten songs from 1983 given the dub treatment by the likes of John 'Jellybean' Benitez, François Kevorkian, Arthur Baker, John Luongo, Martin Rushent and John Robie. 

 

A Sunday quiz for you (in no way *cough* ripping off someone else's far better executed idea): 

1) Which song featured in it's original form in the hit film Flashdance?

2) Which song was co-written with Sting?

3) Which 4AD act and song sampled Din Daa Daa by George Kranz to great effect in 1987?

4) Which act featured the namesake of this legendary English actor?

5) What do German electropop act Boytronic and English girl group Sugababes have in common?

Answers will be posted in the comments later today.

 

RIP Denis LePage, who passed away on 21st August this year.

 

1) Angel Eyes (Remix) (Dub Version By Denis LePage): Lime

2) I.O.U. (I Dub You) (Remix By Arthur Baker, John 'Jellybean' Benitez & John Robie): Freeez 

3) Din Daa Daa (Trommeltanz) (Dub-Version By George Kranz & Christoph Franke): George Kranz

4) You (Dub Remixed Version By Boogietunes): Boytronic

5) Riders On The Storm (Dub Version By Wally Brill & David Anderle) (Cover of The Doors): Annabel Lamb

6) Many A Time (Dub) (Remix By Pete Shelley & Martin Rushent): Pete Shelley

7) The Key (Dub) (Remix By François Kevorkian): Wuf Ticket

8) Maniac (Dubstrumental) (Remix By John 'Jellybean' Benitez): Michael Sembello

9) Blind Vision (Instrumental/Dub Version By John Luongo): Blancmange

10) Adventures In Success (Dub) (Mixed By Steven Stanley): Will Powers

Dub '83 (1:08:17) (KF) (Mega)*

* KrakenFiles is still being a pain in the arse. I'm currently unable to upload new files or access my previous files. So, it's Mega only today. If the KF issues persist, I will be trying (yet another) provider. Apologies!

 

**  KrakenFiles issue resolved and link added. Thanks for your patience!