L'art De La Discothèque, Volume 1

A 90 minute master class in the art of the remix, courtesy of François Kevorkian. 

Monsieur K is now his sixth decade (!) as a remixer, producer and DJ and although his work rate is proportionately smaller than in preceding years, if you collected his credited work alone, you would have a pretty large music collection.

It would harder to list the artists that François hasn't worked with, than the other way around and, particularly in the 1980s, it seemed that no 12" single was complete without a Kevorkian remix.

So, where to start with a Dubhed selection? I've picked a dozen remixes, spanning 1982 to 2021, taking in Yazoo and Depeche Mode, Arthur Baker and Arthur Russell (as Dinosaur L), GusGus and Underworld, The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen, Kraftwerk and Coldplay, Perry Farrell and Jimmy Cliff.

As eclectic as it sounds, what binds the music together is the man at the controls, a master at work, quality running through like writing in a stick of rock.

And yes, "Volume 1"...

1) Jumbo (Rob Rives & François Kevorkian Main Dish): Underworld (1999)

2) Lips Like Sugar (12" Mix By François Kevorkian & Michael Hutchinson): Echo & The Bunnymen (1987)

3) Enjoy The Silence (Bass Line) (Remix By François Kevorkian): Depeche Mode (1990)

4) On A Mission (FK 12" Mix By François Kevorkian): Arthur Baker & Rockers Revenge (2018)

5) Hot Hot Hot!!! (Extended Remix By François Kevorkian & Ron St. Germain): The Cure (1988)

6) Tour De France (Remix By François Kevorkian): Kraftwerk (1983)

7) #5 Go Bang! (Mixed By François Kevorkian): Dinosaur L (1982)

8) Roots Radical (12" Version By François Kevorkian): Jimmy Cliff (1983)

9) Very Important People (François K Vocal Mix By François Kevorkian & Rob Rives) (Full Length): GusGus (1999)

10) Talk (François Kevorkian Remix): Coldplay (2006)

11) The Solutionists (François K Brave Vocal Mix By François Kevorkian): Perry Farrell's Satellite Party (2021)

12) Situation (U.S. 12" Mix By François Kevorkian): Yazoo (1982)

L'art De La Discothèque, Volume 1 (1:30:06) (KF) (Mega)

Back To The Outside World

In April, I wrote about Propaganda's debut album A Secret Wish for the inspirational blog No Badger Required (thanks again, SWC, it was a privilege)

In a kind of timey wimey contrivance that Doctor Who would consider tenuous at best, I've uncovered a review of 2002 CD/DVD compilation Outside World, that I wrote in 2006, which I thought I'd share with you here. You can find the tracklist on Discogs.

As part of Zang Tuum Tumb's bid for music (world?) domination in the first half of the 1980s, alongside Frankie Goes To Hollywood and The Art Of Noise, Propaganda were fully immersed in remix culture from the outset. My first purchase was the p:Machinery 12" single that, characteristically for ZTT, segued the instrumental and vocal versions to provide an epic slab of Germanic alt. pop. 

I subsequently sought out their other releases, including the classic album A Secret Wish and it's accompanying remix set - at a time when remix albums were still few and far between - Wishful Thinking. 

Like all ZTT acts, the music was just part of Propaganda's appeal, taking into account the striking sleeve art and the ever-photogenic Claudia Brücken and Susanne Freytag. In an odd sense, Propaganda were my ABBA (Suzanne was my favourite, in case you're wondering), though their story pretty much ended with these few releases. 

Ignoring the short-lived and largely forgettable Propaganda Mk II at the start of the 1990s, the band and their music seemed consigned to the vaults of history. However, with music's obsessive need to reevaluate and reclaim it's past, Propaganda are back with a collection of their finest moments committed to single. 

Of course, times have changed: remix albums are now ten-a-penny and, as the flood of recent 1980s 12" compilations demonstrates, much material from this period now sounds horribly dated. Fortunately, the innovative approach of Trevor Horn, Stephen Lipson and Robert Kraushaar, combined with the quality of Propaganda's songs, means that Outside World neatly avoids this problem. 

The versions of signature tune Dr. Mabuse build on the original's strengths and never feel repetitive. Likewise, p:Machinery (beta), which originally appeared on the rare ZTT sampler album IQ6, replaces the song's killer synth hooks with the squalling guitar of Magazine/Siouxsie & The Banshees legend John McGeoch (RIP). 

The 12" mixes of Duel and it's aggressive sibling Jewel are little more than extended workouts, but lose none of their impact. However, the cassette-only mix of p:Machinery (connected) is a less successful segue of the original and 12" versions, seeming heavy handed by comparison. 

Of the B-sides, Frozen Faces - here in two versions - is the standout, whilst the take on The Velvet Underground's Femme Fatale retains it's curiosity value. 

A limited edition bonus DVD compiles the three single promo videos, plus alternate versions and TV commercials, which reinforce Propaganda's innate sense of style and are a treat for those like me who missed them the first time around. 

Despite original members Michael Mertens and Suzanne Freytag reactivating Propaganda and releasing a 12" single at the end of 2005, the prospect of a full reformation seems unlikely. Still, Germany's arguably greatest 80s pop act have left a formidable legacy that loses none of it's appeal with the passing of time.

Footnote: fast forward to 2025 and in time-honoured tradition, there now exist two active versions of the band. Propaganda, with Michael Mertens, Ralf Dörper and Thunder Bae, sound not unlike the Mk. II version if I'm honest. xPropaganda, reuniting Claudia Brücken and Susanne Freytag with Stephen Lipson are perhaps closer to the spirit of thie ZTT-era music that I love so much.

1) p: Machinery (The Beta Wraparound (Remix) ft. John McGeoch) (1985)

2) Frozen Faces (Live) (1985)

3) Tipping Point (2024)

4) Only Human (Album Version) (2022)

 

 

 

The Blood Inside Me Wants To Get Out

Unknown Mortal Orchestra's new song is called Boys With The Characteristics Of Wolves. It features on a 6-track EP called Curse, arriving in August.

In what seems to increasingly be the default, there's an AI-generated video, credited to Ruban Nielson (aka UMO), a melange of R-rated schlock horror cinema obscurities where the actors mouths have been manipulated to mime Ruben's singing. 

To be honest, my mild curiosity about the video at the start turned to mild boredom towards the end and I'm already struggling to recall anything memorable about the visuals.

The audio, on the other hand, whilst not pushing the envelope, is more satisfying..

I'm slightly disappointed that the introductory 80 seconds or so of scratchy, squally sounds with a distorted voice (presumably Ruban's) intoning, "My eyes! My eyes!" seems to be reserved for the video version only. 

Boys With The Characteristics Of Wolves: nice song, shame about the video.

Summer Fun, Big Fun, Funtime, Wang Chung, Well Hung

Why should fun wait until the weekend?!

Four videos that are bursting with fun, tight jeans, glow in the dark dresses, the spirit of Iggy, choppy 80s editing, one new/old classic Cope song and, if you stay to the end, a cool Breeze. Emily Breeze, that is. 

1) Summer Fun: Barracudas (1980)

2) Big Fun: Inner City (1988)

3) Funtime (Cover of Iggy Pop): Boy George (1995)

4) Everybody Have Fun Tonight: Wang Chung (1986)

5) Well Hung At Dawn: Julian Cope (recorded 2005, released 2025)

6) Fun: Emily Breeze (2025)

 

 

 

 

 

Hup! Hup! Heads Up!

Pop Will Eat Itself shuffled up onto my playlist, which placed them in prime position for today's post and half a dozen videos from YT.

I vaguely recalled that I had posted Wise Up! Sucker previously and I checked out the Dubhed archive. Sure enough, I had posted a link... on 27th May 2021.

Spooky!

I love these songs as much now as I did then. What an incredible band PWEI were.

1) Def.Con.One (1988)

2) Can U Dig It? (1989)

3) There Is No Love Between Us Anymore (1988)

4) Wise Up! Sucker (1989)

5) Ich Bin Ein Ausländer (1994)

6) Touched By The Hand Of Cicciolina (1990)

 

 

 

 

 

A Danger To Ourselves

Ten songs featuring David Sylvian, spanning his first solo single in 1984, an unexpected collaboration earlier this year and eight more diversions over the past four decades.

This is a sequel of sorts to Saturday's post, which focused on the Top 10 Jaoan songs challenge, posted by Top10Nathan on Bluesky. 

Whilst I enjoyed but didn't participate in it, I couldn't resist the inevitable follow up challenge, to post the Top 10 David Sylvian songs.

It was a fairly open brief, spanning not just David's solo albums (of which there are plenty) but also his collaborative efforts, including his 1993 partnership with Robert Fripp, the Nine Horses collective, and many, many guests appearances with other artists. 

I didn't have a defined sequence of ten songs to start, rather a short list of about 15-20, which I was deciding on instinct for the first five days, by which time the final five and order had been settled on.

These are not my Top 10 David Sylvian songs: there are far too many for that; I could have pretty much posted the whole of Brilliant Trees for example, and 'padded out' with a few more songs. 

I also imposed a couple of rules: vocal songs only, no instrumental pieces, and only one pick from each release; not that it made the shortlisting process any easier.

I knew from the start that the opening song would be Cosa Rora by Lucrecia Dalt, which came out on 28th February 2025. It's a great song as it is, but the completely unexpected spoken word passage by David at the end seals the deal. Check out the EP on Bandcamp, if you haven't already.

I also knew that the selection would end with Waterfront, from 1987's Secrets Of The Beehive, another album that I could have posted in its entirety for the majority of my 'Top 10'. 

My one song rule meant that I had to forego other brilliant songs such as Orpheus and Let The Happiness In, though others picked up on these and more on Bluesky.

It had to be Waterfront, though. The piano and strings arrangement by Ryuichi Sakamoto is sublime, and David's voice is so rich and deep that it gets me every single time. I've been moved to tears on occasion when the song has caught me in a moment.

To me, Red Guitar and Darshan represent the populist end of the Sylvian spectrum. The former was such a striking solo single in 1984, and a stark change of direction from where Japan had been heading. In sequencing Red Guitar as the immediate follow up to a new song, I also appreciate how timeless David's music is. Hearing the opening two songs for the first time, I think you would be hard pressed to guess that forty one years separated them.

Darshan appears on the David Sylvian and Robert Fripp album, The First Day. The original studio version is over seventeen minutes long. I instead went for a remix by The Grid, which clocks in at a 'mere' sixteen minutes and eight seconds. 

After an ambient introduction for three minutes, the beats kick in and David's voice and Robert's guitar lock into the groove, to great effect. I love Dave Ball and Richard Norris' partnership, but it's one of my favourites of their many remixes. 

I don't know if this was a label prompt (both were with Virgin at the time, alongside The Future Sound Of London, who also provide an epic reconstruction) but I'm siure that it would have needed David and Robert's buy in. Either way,  I'm glad that the Darshan EP came to be.

The natural follow on is 1989 one-off Pop Song, which of course is anything but...and yet. I loved it then as I do now, but Pop Song's quirky time signature and sudden pauses and, despite it's non-conformist structure and against all odds, for being an ear worm. 

I've paired a couple more collaborations, separated by a decade. David continued to work with his former Japan bandmates, including early contributions to Mick Karn's solo career. Buoy was the single from 1986 album Dreams Of Reason Produce Monsters, and it's great, though for this selection, I've gone for When Love Walks In which I think could also have been a contender for a promotional release.

David first collaborated with Russell Mills on 1991's Ember Glance (The Permanence Of Memory), comprising a near 33-minute piece The Beekeeper's Apprentice, and Epiphany, just shy of two and a half minutes. 

David returned half a decade later to guest on Russell's first album under his alter ego Undark. Notorious for returning to, refining and reworking his music, the Undark song How Safe Is Deep? is no exception, appearing a few years later on the Godman EP in two variations, re-titled Shadowland.

The rest of the selection comprises songs from the 1990s and 2000s, perhaps a period that many are less familiar with, though none the less rewarding in my experience. Dead Bees On A Cake (1999) and Blemish (2003) particularly resonate with me and whilst I've only relatively recently come to Nine Horses, it's another rich and deep addition to the Sylvian oeuvre. The song pick here features Stina Nordenstam, who proves a perfect vocal foil for David.

For something that began in a very loosely planned way, I'm really happy with the end result. Far from comprehensive, yet I think it captures the essence of why David Sylvian's body of work is so challenging and so rewarding. As ever, you'll be the judge of that!

1) Cosa Rara (Single Version): Lucrecia Dalt ft. David Sylvian (2025)

2) Red Guitar (Album Version): David Sylvian (1984)

3) Darkest Dreaming: David Sylvian (1999)

4) When Love Walks In: Mick Karn ft. David Sylvian (1986)

5) How Safe Is Deep?: Undark ft. David Sylvian (1996)

6) Darshan (The Road To Graceland) (Translucent Remix By The Grid aka Dave Ball & Richard Norris): David Sylvian & Robert Fripp (1993)

7) Pop Song: David Sylvian (1989)

8) Wonderful World (Album Version): Nine Horses ft. Stina Nordenstam (2005)

9) Late Night Shopping (Album Version): David Sylvian (2003)

10) Waterfront: David Sylvian (1987)

1984: Red Guitar EP / Brilliant Trees: 2

1986: Dreams Of Reason Produce Monsters: 4

1987: Secrets Of The Beehive: 10

1989: Pop Song EP: 7

1993: Darshan EP: 6

1996: Undark 3396: 5

1999: Dead Bees On A Cake: 3

2003: Blemish: 9

2005: Snow Borne Sorrow: 8

2025: Cosa Rara EP: 1

A Danger To Ourselves (58:48) (KF) (Mega)

If you like this, why not try Nostalgia Burns, my previous David Sylvian selection from February 2023? I didn't look at it prior to picking my 10 songs for Nathan's Bluesky challenge but incredibly I've managed to avoid duplicating any of the above tracklist. Even more incredibly, I managed to fit 11 songs into under 47 minutes!

Note: A few hours after posting this, I received an email from Lucrecia Dalt's mailing list, advertising her upcoming new album. It's title? "A Danger To Ourselves"...!

Twenty Five

This Dubhed selection was brought to you today by the letter T and the number 25, for no other reason than it's the twenty fifth day of the fifth month of the year twenty twenty five. 

The usual eclectic sounds here today, spanning dance, prog, psych, soul, rap and pop. You'll also find a few artists hidiing in plain sight, from the likes of Love And Money, Hawkwind, XTC and, er, Gary Numan's former backing band.

Oh. and a blistering version of 25th Floor by Patti Smith, which is just brilliant.

1) 25 Years: Sugartown (2018)

2) In The Year 2525 (Special Dance Mix) (Cover of Zager & Evans): Visage (1983)

3) 25 Hundred Friends: Coeo (2021)

4) Riding To Work In The Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now) (Alternate Version): The Flaming Lips (1997)

5) 25th Floor (Live @ The Old Grey Whistle Test, BBC TV): Patti Smith Group (1978)

6) 25 Years (Single Version): Hawklords (1979)

7) 25 Minutes To Go (Live, Udine, Italy) (Cover of Shel Silverstein): Diamanda Galás (1996-97)

8) Twenty-Five Miles: Edwin Starr (1968)

9) Twenty Five Years: Saint Etienne (2012)

10) Oh! Twenty Twenty Five (7" Version): Dramatis (1981)

11) Under 25: Enny (2021)

12) 25 O'Clock: The Dukes Of Stratosphear (1985)

1968: Twenty-Five Miles EP: 8

1978: Live On The Old Grey Whistle Test 1978 (bootleg MP3): 5

1979: 25 Years EP: 6

1981: Oh! Twenty Twenty Five EP: 10

1983: Fade To Grey: The Singles Collection (Special Dance Mix Cassette): 2

1985: 25 O'Clock EP: 12

1998: Malediction And Prayer: 7

1999: Waitin' For A Superman EP: 4

2012: Words And Music By Saint Etienne: 9

2018: Goosebumps: 25 Years Of Marina Records: 1

2021: Support Ukraine Compilation: 3

2021: Under 25 EP: 11

Twenty Five (51:20) (KF) (Mega)

Still Life

Forty seven minutes of Japan, spanning all five studio albums from 1978 to 1981.

This selection started off earlier this month, when Top10Nathan had the idea of posing a Top 10 Japan songs on Bluesky.

I didn't actually take part in the end, as I couldn't even begin to think where to start. My older brother was obsessed with Japan in the early 80s and therefore I was immersed in their music, all the albums, the Assemblage double play cassette, the live album Oil On Canvas and the final compilation Exorcising Ghosts.

I really enjoyed seeing what others were picking each day, whether their lists were ranked or unranked, random or carefully considered and curated. By this point, I felt that I'd bottled it and started thinking about it some more. 

Technically, I'd already been there. Around 1989, I recorded a C90 side of Japan music called Polaroid, though this was mostly drawn from my 12" vinyl singles and only ran to 9 songs. The flip side was resequenced songs from the Associates' album Sulk.

So, I started to imagine this less as a Top 10 Japan selection, but more of an imaginary Side 2 to the Polaroid cassette from 1989. Still Life In Mobile Homes was an early pick, which provided a complimentary title for this compilation.

Assemblage (on vinyl) was the first Japan album that I bought for myself, and I have never had a problem reconciling the band and sound of the first two albums, with the transitory period of Quiet Life, and the dramatically different aural palette for the final two albums. 

Which is lucky, given that here I have followed up Ghosts with Adolescent Sex...!

As with the first 'side', there are a couple of cover versions. Whereas the previous two reimagined songs by The Velvet Underground and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, here the focus is on Marvin Gaye and Barbra Streisand. 

Sadly, the world has lost Mick Karn (2011) and spiritual/honorary member Ryuichi Sakamoto (2023), but David Sylvian, Steve Jansen, Richard Barbieri and Rob Dean have all continued to make music in recent years.

What a legacy to be found in Japan, though.

1) The Art Of Parties (Extended Version By Japan & John Punter) (1981)

2) Ain't That Peculiar (Cover of Marvin Gaye) (1980)

3) Ghosts (Album Version By Japan & Steve Nye) (1981)

4) Adolescent Sex (Single Version By Ray Singer) (1978)

5) Don't Rain On My Parade (Cover of Barbra Streisand) (1978)

6) Despair (1979)

7) Still Life In Mobile Homes (1981)

8) Stateline (1978)

9) Sometimes I Feel So Low (1978)

10) Taking Islands In Africa (Remix By Steve Nye) (1981)

1978: Adolescent Sex: 5

1978: Don't Rain On My Parade EP: 8

1978: Obscure Alternatives: 9

1978: The Unconventional/Adolescent Sex EP: 4

1979: Quiet Life: 6

1980: Gentlemen Take Polaroids: 2

1981: The Art Of Parties EP: 1

1981: Tin Drum: 3, 7

1981: Visions Of China EP: 10

Still Life (47:37) (KF) (Mega)

You can find the 1989 C90 compilation Polaroid right here.

If you're left wanting more Japan-inspired music, here's more, much more!

Big In Japan: various (March 2022)

KarnAge: Mick Karn (January 2023)

Pioneer: Ryuichi Sakamoto (April 2023)

Bee Happy

Last Bandcamp Friday, Fluke released an exclusive remix of upcoming single I Wanna Be.

At midnight, Fluke offered up the original vocal mix alongside a visually arresting promo. A bee-themed journey through a honeycombed hive, with an array of images, from roller skaters to Fred & Ginger to palm trees to waterfalls to wheelies to Bowie to the apocalypse. 

The video's imagery is relatively easier on the eye than the frenetic pace of previous singles Real Magnificent and Insanely Beautiful, in step with the bouncing beats of the song.

Jon Fugler reels off a list of aspirations, including :

I wanna be 

like the man that I see every night in my dreams

the me I know you always wanted to see

like the calmest, coolest, gentlest brush of breeze

someplace like paradise please

Not too much to ask for really, is it?

Jon and Mike Tournier have really delivered a comeback that respects Fluke's past, but gives the thrill of the new. Michael Rendall (The Orb) is again present and correct on the mix, and Leah Cleaver once more elevates the song with her fabulous voice.

With the promise of a new album on the horizon, and on the strength of the music so far, this is something to be very excited about.

As I often post a Dubhed selection on a Friday, it seemed as good an excuse as any to celebrate Fluke's new single by dusting off some of my late 1990s Fluke selections from the archives.

Enjoy!

Fluke (Mixes) (Side One & Side Two)

Fluke (Singles) (Side One & Side Two)

And a very happy birthday to Mike Tournier for Saturday (24th)!

Water Baby

I've been a fan of BANKS aka Jillian Banks since I first saw her perform Gemini Feed on Later...With Jools Holland in 2016 and then went back to buy her 2014 debut Goddess.

I've struggled with commitment since and suddenly, here's Stay, the second single from fifth album Off With Her Head, the former released three weeks ago, the latter nearly three months ago.

What I like about BANKS is her minimalist approach to her songs: sparse arrangements, words using sparingly, economy of time; no song that I've heard is at risk of gilding the llily or overstaying its welcome. 

Stay uses that template with pinpoint accuracy and the video dives deep into water imagery, is an effective foil for the song.

Nothing groundbreaking here arguably, but if it ain't broke...

Off With Her Head is available here and here and hopefully also via your friendly neighbourhood record shop.

This Is Something Old, Something New, Something Balearic, Something Blue

This Is Something was the debut - and to date, only - single by The Summerisle Six in June 2022.

This Is Something of a supergroup, founded by Sean Johnston (Hardway Bros, A Love From Outer Space) and featuring Jo Bartlett (It's Jo & Danny, Kodiak Island, Blue Train), Andy Bell (Ride, Oasis, GLOK), Duncan Gray (Sons Of Slough, Tici Taci), Kevin Sharkey (The Undertones, That Petrol Emotion) and blistering sax from Mick Somerset Ward (Alison Moyet, Róisín Murphy).

This Is Something was re-posted on YouTube last week, with a brand new, bespoke video created for the original extended mix by Jo Bartlett. It starts off with a beautiful bllue, cloudy sky and has fun playing with the effects box for the nexy eight minutes or so.

This Is Something is available as a 4-track digital EP on Bandcamp for a mere £7.00, containing the extended mix, a radio edit and a dub as well as a stunning 10 minute remix from Rico Conning.

This Is Something was originally released as a 3-track 12" single (minus the radio edit) on Is It Balearic? and hit the #1 spot in the Juno vinyl chart back in 2022. Happily, vinyl copies are still available for a bargain #7.50, plus shipping. 

This Is Something of a sales pitch rather than a review, I realise in retrospect, but the music is too good to ignore. Buy now!

Now I’m Suing You For Mercy

A couple of weeks ago, U.S. Girls released a new single and video. It came in a fortnight of other music vying for attention, so I filed the link away, intending to come back to it.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting this.

Bookends is the lead single from Scratch It, which according to label 4AD is "a rock and roll album that bleeds soul". On the strength of this song, that's a modest claim.

Bookends is a biographical tribute to a lost friend - Riley Gale of thrash metal band Power Trip - unfolding over nearly 12 minutes. Musically, it's like Bowie's Station To Station recast as a torch song before going full-on funk disco two thirds of the way through. Aurally and visually, an epic in every sense of the word.

Meg Remy has been putting out music as U.S. Girls for nearly 20 years, roughly half of those on 4AD. So, I should be really familiar with her music, right?

A quick look and I have just one song on the hard drive, a single which came out in January 2020 and included on a Mojo magazine promo CD, inevitably lost in the mass of new music and the madness of lockdown. A missed opportunity, as Overtime is really great and I should had followed it up back then.

 

Small consolation, but Scratch It will be my belated entry point to U.S. Girls album back catalogue. It's out on 20th June.

WareHouse

Happy 69th birthday to Martyn Ware, born 19th May 1956.

Founder member of both The Human League, The British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.) and Heaven 17, Martyn has also had a hugely successful career as a production, working with the likes of Tina Turner, Erasure and Terence Trent D'Arby.

Today's selection pulls together some extended examples of Martyn's production prowess, which pretty much speak for themselves. 

Have a good one, Martyn!

1) Those First Impressions (Extended Version): Associates (1984)

2) Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry (Parts One And Two) (Uninterrupted Single Version): Heaven 17 (1983)

3) Medley: Rock 'n' Roll / Nightclubbing: The Human League (1980)

4) Wishing Well (Three Coins In The Fountain Mix): Terence Trent D'Arby (1987)

5) I Don't Depend On You (Extended Re-Edited Version By gkugno): The Men (1979/2011)

6) Brilliant Creatures (Album Version): Marc Almond (1996)

7) Party Fears Two (Album Version): B.E.F. ft. Glenn Gregory (2013)

1980: Holiday '80 EP: 3

1983: Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry EP: 2

1984: Those First Impressions EP: 1

1987: Wishing Well EP: 4

1996: Fantastic Star: 6

2011: I Don't Depend On You EP: 5

2013: Music Of Quality And Distinction Volume 3: Dark: 7

WareHouse (47:00) (KF) (Mega)

Another Happy Ending, Somewhere Between Daylight And Twilight

So, if the headline act at The Forum in Bath on Tuesday night was so great, why was the support act the big draw for me?

Well, it was Hifi Sean & David McAlmont, that's why!

If you are a regular visitor to this blog, then you will know how much I love Sean and David's music. If you aren't, then you can read my gushing praise for their three albums Happy Ending (2022), Daylight (2024) and Twilight (2025).

I actually had tickets to see the pair in London last year, but a last minute change of circumstances - which happens to me a lot - meant that I couldn't go (but my friend Stuart was able to go instead, so there was a happy ending). 

I was gutted to say the least and I vowed that I would not miss another opportunity, should it present. And that came earlier this year, when Hifi Sean & David McAlmont were announced as the support for Andy Bell on his Ten Crowns tour. Better still, there was a date in Bath. That was it: a few clicks and I had a ticket.

It didn't matter that I hadn't kept pace with Andy's music since 2000, both solo or with Erasure, or that at face value, it was a hefty price to pay for what was basically going to be a 30-odd minute performance from the opening act. It didn't matter. I didn't care. I was finally going to see Sean and David on stage together.

As it happens, Andy Bell was brilliant, but that's another story which I told yesterday. With expectations for the Hifi Sean & David McAlmont so high, could they possibly meet them?

I was in row S in the stalls, a fair way back but with a pretty decent view of the stage. Rather strangely, the eight or nine rows directly in front of me were largely empty. 

Alarmingly, this section remained pretty much unoccupied for the rest of the night. It may have been down to touts sweeping up a load of tickets and then not being able to shift them, as I think tickets were still available up until the day before the gig. However, my fertile imagination pictured a coach load of fans from Chepstow broken down at the side of the M48 on the approach to the Severn Bridge, cursing their misfortune. I'm hoping it was the former.

David took to the stage, dressed all in black including hat and fingerless gloves, Sean to his left in his distinctive baseball cap, jacket and jeans with XL turnups, both prepared to unleash magic.

The magic came straight away with a pair of singles from Twilight, released on Valentine's Day this year and played countless times since.

High On You kicked in with a gentle samba rhythm, before David's beautiful voice flew in over the top, weaving in and out of the melody with deceptive ease. Goodbye Drama Queen, another album highlight, upped the tempo slightly and with some wonderful lyrical notes. 

"When we start, we can find it hard to start", sang David, though he and Sean showed no such difficulty here.

Perhaps surprisingly, these were the only two songs from Twilight, the set drawing heavily from it's predecessor and companion album, six of the ten songs performed coming from Daylight.

There was method in the sequencing though. This became apparent as soon as the beats of Coalition came in and, as David explained immediately afterwards, this was a carefully curated set of bangers.

"And this next song happens to be called Sad Banger"

"No, it's not," corrected Sean. "It's You Are My"

"Sorry, Sad Banger is the one after! " apologised David. "This one is You Are My!"

Both brilliant, of course, and followed by Sun Come Up, with it's joyous refrain "If you hide in the dark / You got to put yourself out in the light".

The pair's debut long player got a look in with All In The World. I loved Happy Ending so much I wrote at the time that "it plays and sounds like a greatest hits compilation". Tonight's set was already feeling very much the same; one classic after another, regardless of whether the songs were officially singles or not. 

"I've been told that I could sing the phone book", David said, "so I wrote this song. It's also a very handy list if you're going on holiday" before launching into a bouncing, buoyant version of USB - USC. 

At this point, the show had already gone over the half hour mark, so I realised that the end was nigh. The penultimate song was what in barely a year has become an enduring anthem.

Celebrate is everything that you could wish it to be: infectious rhythm, warm electronic sounds that soar as high as the vocals and lyrics that demand to sung along to. Superb.

I wasn't sure how Sean and David would wrap up their performance and they did it wonderfully with a beautifully rendered version of another song from Happy Ending, Transatlantic. The studio recording sends a shiver down my spine every time, so you can imagine the feeling of seeing and hearing the song performed live.

Transatlantic ends with David asking, "What did we find?" 

My hope is that in Bath on a Tuesday night in May, Sean and David found a whole new legion of die-hard fans, who rushed out to buy Hifi Sean & David McAlmont's back catalogue from the merch stand and told all their friends about them the following day.

Sadly, not the pair of twits behind me in row T, who started talking before Sean and David came onstage and did not pause for breath for the entire forty minute set. Not even when David sustained a heart-rending note towards the end of Transatlantic for what seemed like an impossibly long time. 

Rude ignorant selfish people seem to be an unfortunate and unwelcome staple of gig-going these days, though even that could not dampen my enthusiasm and joy for the pair performing their hearts out before me.

After a run of bad luck and heroic failure, I finally (finally!) got to see Hifi Sean & David McAlmont together live in concert. I loved every single second of it, and I've got the T-shirt to prove it (as modelled at the top of this page, a bargain £20 from the merch stand, post-gig).

I'm hoping that they'll come back to this neck of the woods again soon, and as the headline act. I will not hesitate to celebrate.

Sean and David, thank you, thank you, thank you.

1) High With You (Album Version)

2) Goodbye Drama Queen (Night Version)

3) Coalition

4) You Are My

5) Sad Banger (Album Version)

6) Sun Come Up

7) All In The World (Album Version)

8) USB - USC

9) Celebrate (Shaka Loves You Disco Remix)

10) Transatlantic

2022: Happy Ending: 7, 10

2024: Celebrate EP: 9

2024: Daylight: 3, 4, 5, 6, 8

2025: Goodbye Drama Queen EP: 2

2025: Twilight: 1

Another Happy Ending, Somewhere Between Daylight And Twilight (42:55) (KF) (Mega)

Today's Dubhed selection recreates Tuesday night's set list and therefore is a little shorter than usual. Therefore, as an added bonus, here is Whatcha Gonna Do? the Hifi Sean selection that I posted in July 2023. 

The two selections duplicate one song, but when that one song is All In The World, who's complaining? Ninety minutes of great music to brighten your day.

Oh, and if you're into stats and such, you may like to know that today is the 1,500th Dubhed post. What a way to mark this ,minor milestone!