Friday Camp Out At The Shops

In other words, it's Bandcamp Friday and I am poised to purchase.

I already had a long list, including

‘Aphex Meets Some Simple Minds Uptown’: sLEdger

Disturbia: Phonolab (Gaudi & Eraldo Bernocchi)

Don't Leave Me This Way (Cover of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes): Crooked Man

La Musica (2025 Version): Munk & Kapote

Vertigo: Michele Mininni

Wise Music In Dub: Dennis Bovell

...and here are five more new releases that have jumped the queue from Bicep, Bright Eyes (gone ska!), Cardiacs, Adrian Sherwood and Daphni aka Dan Snaith.

Tame Impala's new single isn't available on Bandcamp, but it's so good I had to include it. And, based on the shite weather in this neck of the woods in the past few days, calling the song The End Of Summer perhaps wasn't as premature as I first thought...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Array Of Audio

As a companion piece to yesterday's post, ten more new songs that have piqued my curiosity in the past week. 

And this is still only scratching the surface. I've missed out Rialto's unexpected comeback single, but don't worry, Martin and Rol have got amply it covered at New Amusements and My Top Ten respectively. And Swiss Adam wrote some beautiful words about the opening song last Friday at Bagging Area.

As with yesterday's post, the ten songs are listed alphabetically by artist. With one exception, you can click on the artist's name to buy their music. 

And please do, they're all very good.

1) "i'm in love...": Andy Bell ft. Dot Allison & Michael Rother (Cover of The Passions)
2) CHROMA 008 TANGZ: Bicep ft. Eliza

3) Climbing (Solomun Mix): Caribou

4) Summertime (Joe Morris Dusk On The Playa Mix): Cree

5) Black Sun (Jack Essek Revision): Dead Can Dance

6) A Day To Breathe: Julie Pavon

7) The Place I Call My Home: Mark Rae

8) 8th Deadly Sin: Miki Berenyi Trio

9) Shake Yo Bum Bum: Moony ft. DJ VonDiego

10) Druantia (City Lights Sessions): The WAEVE

I could easily offer up another ten tomorrow, but it's Friday so...

 

  

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Man, The Medd, The Legend

Today's Dubhed selection is dedicated to John Medd. If you've been following his blog Are We There Yet? (and if not, start today!), you'll know why.

 

I've gone back through all the comments that John has left on this blog in 2024 and curated a 19-song selection from the songs or artists that he's liked, plus some that he suggested I check out and consider for a future post. Well, today's the day and this is that selection.

 

I think (I hope) I've tracked down Frank Sinatra's original take on a Gershwin classic from 1954, he revisited and recorded the song many times in his career, from what I can gather. That's by far the oldest song here, with many fresh out in 2024, including a live version of The Zuton's infectious single Creeping On The Dancefloor.

 

One artist that John hasn't mentioned here this year (so far) is Robyn Hitchcock, But I have John and fellow legend The Swede to thank for their own enthusiasm leading to my belated appreciation of the Robyn's work, so he sneaks in with the penultimate song on this selection.

 

The working titles for this selection were 'Medd in Nottingham' and 'Dear John', but a chance comment on the monthly photo challenge over at John's blog on Sunday sealed the deal. 

All in, just over an hour and a half of eclectic and great music, which I hope will provide some entertainment over the coming days and weeks.

Will be thinking of you tomorrow, John, and sending good vibes and love your way.

 

xx

 

  
1) Only The Best Will Do (Album Version): ABC (1997)

2) Aim High (Aim Higher) (The Amorphous Androgynous Remix): Paul Weller (2010)

3) Teenage Lament '74 (Single Version): Alice Cooper (1974)

4) They Can’t Take That Away From Me (Album Version) (Cover of Fred Astaire): Frank Sinatra (1954)

5) Silently (Album Version): Blonde Redhead (2007)

6) They Don't Know How To Fall In Place (Album Version): The Lemon Twigs (2024)

7) Take You Down: Daniel Pemberton (2017)

8) Creeping On The Dancefloor (Live @ Hertford Corn Exchange): The Zutons (2024)

9) A.L.O.E: Bicep (2024)

10) Unfinished Symphony (Ion Rayne Remix): GusGus (2023)

11) Paper (Single Version): Saint Etienne (1992)

12) Love Plus One (BBC Radio 2 Piano Room): Haircut 100 ft. BBC Concert Orchestra (2023)

13) Transition 2: Joy O & Ben Vince (2018)

14) Aqua Grey (2019 Short Edit): Meditation Y.S. (Yoshihiro Sawasaki) (1994)

15) "Bed Heads": Jezebell (2022)

16) Hallelujah (Ewan Pearson Remix): Happy Mondays (2020)

17) ONE (Extract XI): Noema (2023)

18) Belltown Ramble: Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 (2006)

19) The Good Old Human Race: World Party (2012)

 

1954: Songs for Young Lovers: 4

1974: Alice Coopers Greatest Hits: 3 

1992: Avenue EP: 11

1997: Skyscraping: 1

2006: Olé! Tarantula: 18

2007: 23: 5

2010: Wake Up The Nation/Change Up The Nation (Deluxe Edition): 2 

2012: Arkeology: 19

2017: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. OST: 7 

2018: Transition 2 / Systems Align EP: 13

2019: Perfumed Garden Edits EP: 14 

2020: Hallelujah EP: 16

2022: Shelter Me: 15

2023: BBC Radio 2 Piano Room, 16 February 2024 (bootleg): 12 

2023: ONE: 17

2023: Unfinished Symphony EP: 10

2024: A Dream Is All We Know: 6

2024: CHROMA 001-005 EP: 9

2024: Live @ Hertford Corn Exchange, 22 February 2024 (bootleg): 8

The Man, The Medd, The Legend (1:31:39) (KF) (Mega)

Wish You Well

It was a shock to read that Matt McBriar of Bicep had surgery for a brain tumour last Friday (9th).

 

Matt (on the right, with Bicep partner Andy Ferguson) had the full diagnosis earlier this year and continued with 'business as usual' until the operation. 

 

Matt is currently recovering in hospital and has revealed, "The good news is firstly, it’s almost certainly not cancerous and secondly, I’ve caught it in the earlier stages of damage."

Here's wishing Matt all the best for a speedy and full recovery. Andy Ferguson will continue solo with Bicep live dates until further notice, including Creamfields on 25th August.

As a reminder/introduction to Matt and Andy's brilliance as Bicep, a selection of videos below, a stunning performance from Glastonbury 2022 (which you can see in full here) and the latest of their CHROMA releases which came out last week, a few days before Matt went into hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Mellifluous

Bicep has just released a new single Meli (II) on the back of their set at the West Holts stage st Glastonbury at the weekend. As the press release notes, the set delivered "on their promise that the live versions of ‘Isles’ would be 'much, much harder'".

 

I haven't seen Bicep's Friday night closing set in full yet (so much to catch up with on BBC iPlayer) but, on the strength of their performance of Meli (II), it's a triumph.

 

Meli (I) appeared last April as the last of three bonus songs on the deluxe edition of debut album Isles. I remembered that Bagging Area had featured it at the time and was drawn back to Swiss Adam's original post. Adam described Meli (I) as "all textures and atmosphere [...] and could easily be twice as long without losing anything" whilst fellow blogger Echorich commented that the song "seems like a musical probe sent out to search for new sounds, leaving a trail of where they've been in afterburner smoke and vapor". 

I think Bicep exceed all expectations with Meli (II). The song is stretched out to double the length of its predecessor and still feels like it could go on and on; you get an extra minute on the Glastonbury version but I could easily lose myself for quarter of an hour in the pulsing, surging, sweeping sounds. 

Taking Echorich's comment to a ridiculous extreme - and apologies in advance for the clumsy analogy with a rather crap film - but it's like the bit in Star Trek: The Motion Picture where Kirk and co. finally twig that the energy cloud they've encountered is in fact Voyager 6, a 20th century space probe coming home after 300 years having become sentient along the way.

 

Meli (II) has been on a shorter journey and, let's be honest, in the real world, but it really feels like the song has evolved way beyond it's origins. Magnificent.

 

You can buy Meli (II) and Meli (I), as well as a treasure trove of previous releases, on Bicep's Bandcamp page right now.