Nothing To Lose

McAlmont & Butler at the Anson Rooms, Bristol University, on Thursday 10th October 2002 remains the greatest gig that Mrs. K and I have experienced together.

Second album Bring It Back was our album, we loved it and we played it to death, so the opportunity to see David and Bernard perform on stage was too good to pass up.

I checked out Setlist to see what they played that evening, only to find that the Bristol date hasn't even been added! So, today's selection is a composite of gigs that McAlmont & Butler played in 2002.

I've taken a couple of liberties: it appears that Bring It Back was played in its entirety, with one exception, Make It Right. Even more bizarrely, there's no record that McAlmont & Butler have ever performed Make It Right live. So, I've included it anyway, in a place in the setlist that I think makes sense.

The hits are all present and correct: Bring It Back, Falling, You Do and, to bring things to a satisfying conclusion, Yes.

There are also a couple of cover versions. The Vegas-era Elvis classic Burning Love was played live, but only exists online as a VHS rip from a TV performance, introduced by Dermot O'Leary. The pair also have a stab at Back For Good by Take That, recorded for a NME/War Child album. Both were transmitted/released the week following the Bristol gig.

I was lucky enough to see David McAlmont and Bernard Butler perform live again last year, albeit in different cities on different nights. David was with HiFi Sean, opening for Erasure's Andy Bell in Bath; Bernard was playing with James Grant and Norman Blake in Bristol, about three quarters of a mile down the road from where Mrs. K and I saw him in 2002. Both were on spectacular form.

Wishful thinking possibly, but I hope Mrs. K and I will have another chance to see McAlmont & Butler in concert. If not, memories of that wonderful Thursday night in 2002 will be more than enough.

1) The Theme From 'McAlmont & Butler' (2002)

2) Can We Make It? (2002)

3) Where R U Now? (2002)

4) Different Strokes (2002)

5) Sunny Boy (2002)

6) Although (1995)

7) What's The Excuse This Time? (Album Version) (1995)

8) Bring It Back (Extended) (2002)

9) Burning Love (Live @ Re:Covered: Elvis Presley Special, BBC Choice TV) (Cover of Elvis Presley) (2002)

10) You Do (Full Length) (1995)

11) Make It Right (2002)

12) Falling (Album Version) (2002)

13) Blue (2002)

14) If You Want (2002)

15) Don't Call It Soul (Single Version) (1995)

16) Beat (2002)

17) Back For Good (Cover of Take That) (2002)

18) Yes (Full Version) (1995)

1995: The Sound Of... McAlmont & Butler: 6, 7, 10, 18

1995: Yes EP: 15

2002: Bring It Back: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 16

2002: Bring It Back EP: 8

2002: Falling EP: 14

2002: NME In Association With War Child Presents 1 Love: 17

2002: Re:Covered Series 1 (BBC TV): 9

Nothing To Lose (1:21:24) (GD) (M)

Double Entrendre

or, How To Get Away With Two "25 From 25" Albums Lists Whilst Pretending That Wasn't Your Intention All Along.

Looking back on 2025 so far, I think I bought more albums than ever, a mix of physical and digital. The latter was ably supported by a further year's subscription to the excellent Last Night From Glasgow label, which accounts for about a quarter of today’s and tomorrow’s featured artists.

A few were purchased at merch stalls following a headline or support slot gig, others on the recommendation of others, including you lovely people out there in the blogging community.

So, I've got two lists, loosely separated into artists that I'm familiar with and already owned albums by, the second compiling artists who, regardless of whether they'd been around for ages or just started out, were new to me. So, it's a hodge podge of debut albums and artists that I really only delved into properly with their latest long player. I'm posting the first list today, the second on New Year's Eve.

There are a shed load that I just haven't got around to buying yet and I haven't yet succumbed to streaming so I can't sneak them in on the technicality of having heard them. Apologies therefore include Pulp, Syd Minsky Sargeant, Death In Vegas, Mogwai and Water From Your Eyes, all of whom have released albums that I want to get (and said as much in previous posts), but who remain on my shopping list.

An honourable mention also to those that I did buy but who didn't make onto either list because, well, I had to stop at 25, right? A tip of the hat then to Manic Street Preachers, The Supernaturals, Julian Cope, Gareth Sager and Scanner.

I've listed them alphabetically, rather than in order of greatness, but I may reveal my favourite at the end...if I can decide on one by the end of this post!

25 From 25 - Old Favourites

(click on the links to buy these albums...and more!)

1) Let The Horse Run Free / Rodeo Disco: 100 Poems

2) The Collapse Of Everything: Adrian Sherwood

3) Pinball Wanderer: Andy Bell

4) Dead Souls: Armory Show

5) Metalhorse / Mary And The Hyenas OST: Billy Nomates

6) Mumbo In The Jumbo: Davey Woodward

7) Wise Music In Dub: Dennis Bovell

8) Subconsciousology: Dot Allison

9) Lay Low: Eddie Chacon

10) Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation: Edwyn Collins

11) Rats In Paradise: Emily Breeze

12) Begging The Night To Take Hold: Emma Pollock

13) Twilight: Hifi Sean & David McAlmont

14) Songs For Nina And Johanna: James Yorkston & Friends

15) Junk System EP 1&2: Junk System

16) Lotus: Little Simz

17) New Town Ghosts: Mark Rae

18) Lake Deep Memory: Pye Corner Audio

19) Barb And Feather: Red Snapper

20) Strawberries: Robert Forster

21) International: Saint Etienne

22) MAD!: Sparks

23) Faultline: The Cowboy Mouth

24) moisturiser: Wet Leg

25) Home: Xan Tyler & Dusty Stray

I have loved each and every one of these albums but my #1 of 2025 has to be Billy Nomates.

Not just because Metalhorse is a fantastic album, taking her music to another level, but also because she somehow found the time to write, record and release another album. The soundtrack to Mary And The Hyenas may have been relatively overlooked compared to Metalhorse, but it's every bit an equal. Astonishing to think that Tor Maries was also releasing one-off songs in between both of these. 

Finally getting to see Billy Nomates live in concert for the first time in September, with an excellent band and songs that took on a life of their own on stage, was an unforgettable experience and the push over the line to secure my #1 in a year of varied but brilliant albums.

Concert Climax

From a gig perspective, 2025 was fantastic. Here are my lucky 13 of the year:

1st Feb: John Grant / Big Special

6th Mar: Alan Sparhawk / Circuit Des Yeux

22nd Apr: Mark Eitzel

13th May: Andy Bell (Erasure) / Hifi Sean & David McAlmont

9th Jun: Little Simz

11th Jun: Butler, Blake & Grant / Charlie Noordewier

9th Jul: Josh Rouse / Later Youth

24th Sep: Billy Nomates / Cirquemily (Emily Sadler)

30th Sep: Edwyn Collins / The Hanging Stars

10th Oct: Robert Forster & His Swedish Band

18th Nov: Water From Your Eyes / Morgan Garrett

24th Nov: The Sabres Of Paradise

8th Dec: The Charlatans

Click on the links to read all about my experiences. I've not reactivated any of the related Dubhed selections on this occasion, instead opting for a brand new 20-song session.

Sequenced in chronological order of when I saw them, the whole thing kicks off with Shithouse by Big Special, who set the bar impossibly high for all the support acts to follow, though pretty much all of them rose to the challenge. Charlie Noordewier and Later Youth were especially good. 

As for the headliners, John Grant, Hifi Sean & David McAlmont, Billy Nomates and Robert Forster were on my wish list for a long time, whilst Mark Eitzel, Andy Bell and Little Simz were completely unexpected and completely brilliant.

Bernard Butler, Norman Blake, James Grant and Josh Rouse sold me their vinyl at the merch stand, signed it for me and proved to be lovely blokes to chat with.

Water From Your Eyes were a revelation. Speaking of which, Edwyn Collins brought tears to my eyes, as did Alan Sparhawk. And the previously unimaginable thought of seeing The Sabres Of Paradise reform and play live was hugely emotional. 

Another first to end the year, with an exceptional show from The Charlatans. 

I already have a clutch of tickets for 2026 and, if this year is anything to go by, it's going to be bloody brilliant.

1) Shithouse: Big Special (2024)

2) Black Belt (Dungeonesse Remix By Jenn Wasner): John Grant (2013)

3) Megaloner: Circuit Des Yeux (2025)

4) Can U Hear: Alan Sparhawk (2024)

5) Nothing And Everything: Mark Eitzel (2017)

6) Celebrate: Hifi Sean & David McAlmont (2024)

7) Put Your Empathy On Ice: Andy Bell (Erasure)

8) Lion: Little Simz ft. Obongjayar (2025)

9) Dear Diazepam (Live At Deep Litter Studios, Devon): Charlie Noordewier (2025)

10) The 90s: Butler, Blake & Grant (2025)

11) Arcane Love: Later Youth (2025)

12) My Love Has Gone: Josh Rouse (2005)

13) Moon Explodes: Billy Nomates (2025)

14) Ava: The Hanging Stars (2025)

15) Nation Shall Speak Unto Nation: Edwyn Collins (2025)

16) Good To Cry: Robert Forster (2025)

17) The Mirror: Morgan Garrett (2025)

18) Playing Classics: Water From Your Eyes (2025)

19) Wilmot (Edit): The Sabres Of Paradise ft. Wonder (1994)

20) For The Girls: The Charlatans (2025)

Concert Climax (1:19:12) (GD) (M)

Release The Beats

Immersed as we are in end of year round ups and best ofs, I'm swimming with the current and today's 64-minute selection rounds up some choice choons from the year to date. 

A couple of these tracks have appeared on previous selections, but are too good not to bring back in. 

Like Fire by Airsine came out on the ever-excellent Paisley Dark Records label in March and I've been obsessed with it ever since. Today's selection meaning that I've now posted all four versions from the EP, every one a winner, as they say.

Speaking of fire, Leo Zero has been on fire (musically speaking, not literally) with a truckload of releases that haven't skimped on quality. June saw Nebulon Systems Vol. 1, a 20-track monster of an album, with Orangutan placed smack dab in the middle, at track ten. Not only a great album, but a ridiculous bargain at £4.00 for the lot.

Another mind-boggling bargain was the Powder Wax Vol. 2 EP by Jesse Fahnestock, revisiting his 10:40 alias, whilst also delivering a dizzying array of music in 2025 with Darren Bell as Jezebell. 

Powder Wax Vol. 2 arrived in February as a 'name your price' purchase, comprising two songs, Beneath The Waves and Miracle Me. Both appeared on 2025 highlights selections in March and May, and Beneath The Waves makes a welcome return here.  

Pye Corner Audio have frequently dropped a new track in time for Bandcamp Friday, always an automatic 'add to cart' come the day. The Deep Cut appeared in March, one of five new standalone tracks in 2025, all of this calibre.

Orange Sunshine was originally on a flexi 7" with limited vinyl quantities of Hifi Sean and David McAlmont's album Twillight. In April, Orange Sunshine appeared as a standalone single, featuring rapper Sawlty (and David's nephew). Feel it!

In 2024, sLEdger provided Fluke with a superb remix of Fluke's single Real Magnificent. June saw the favour returned, with Jon Fugler and Mike Tournier's remix of Tweeba, sLEdger given a refreshing Fluke rinse. Wonderful stuff.

I've continued with The Future Sound Of London's 'calendar' compilations of outtakes and unreleased music for a few years now, and still get a buzz when each monthly link arrives, building up a 12-track collection by year end. PSUN K arrived in November, the penultimate piece from another cracking collection.

August saw the return of Puerto Montt City Orchestra with And We'd Be So Happy, a lovely slice of Balearic sunshine with a spoken word vocal by Kitty Salter, the daughter of band member Tim. The initial single was backed with The Cruel Mistress Mix, included here, with two further remixes from Balearic Ultras and downtownLOOP arriving a fortnight later. Sounds just as good in winter as it did in summer.

Fluke's spectacular comeback continued with May's release of I Wanna Be, a bouncing, life-affirming single in it's original form, and given a fantastic dub rinse by Justin Robertson's Five Green Moons. I am over the moon (all five of 'em) to have new Fluke music in my life.

Wrapping up this final round up of 2025's beautiful beats is Tambores En Benirras, who I splurged my cash on during Bandcamp Friday earlier this month, snapping up the entire catalogue in one go. It was worth every penny, not least for the trio of remix EPs accompanying the album Ondas Horizontales. 

It was almost impossible to pick just one, but I've settled with Steve Cobby's nine-and-a-half minute revision of Extensor Entregado from the inaugural EP. Highly recommended!

1) Like Fire (Mindbender Remix By Mårten Attling): Airsine

2) Orangutan: Leo Zero

3) Beneath The Waves: 10:40

4) The Deep Cut: Pye Corner Audio

5) Orange Sunshine (Single Version): Hifi Sean & David McAlmont ft. Sawlty

6) Tweeba (Fluke Remix By Jon Fugler & Mike Tournier): sLEdger

7) PSUN K: The Future Sound Of London

8) And We'd Be So Happy (The Cruel Mistress Mix): Puerto Montt City Orchestra ft. Kitty Salter

9) I Wanna Be (Justin Robertson - Five Green Moons Remix): Fluke

10) Extensor Entregado (Steve Cobby Remix): Tambores En Benirras

Release The Beats (1:04:11) (GD) (M)

More 2025 beats on prescription via these previous Dubhed selections: 

28th March: It's A Glamorous World 

11th May: Doused In Dopamine

4th July: Staring Into Air

9th August: Is It Obvious? Or Is It Delirium?

Is It Obvious? Or Is It Delirium?

Last Sunday's post summed up some of the great music in 2025 so far and tomorrow will complete the 25 For 25 set.

That selection has focused on what I would loosely describe as 'alternative' music, whereas I have featured several selections this year that are more electronic / beats based.

And there's so much of it, I can't keep up, to be honest. Exhibit A: another 90-minute, 15 song pick that refuses to be pigeonholed.

There is something of a nostalgic feel to this one. The All Seeing I have released an expanded version on their 1999 album Pickled Eggs And Sherbert, including 4 reworkings by founder member Richard Barratt aka Crooked Man, which you can also buy as a standalone EP. Of course I had to pick 1st Man In Space featuring living legend Phil Oakey.

Phil's in good company. The following song La Musica was originally released in 2014 by Munk and re-released this year as a collaboration with Kapote...although they are one and the same person, Mathias Modica. The version here features George Kranz, heavily incorporating his 1983 song Din Daa Daa.

Oh, and Yoko Ono pops up in the next song by the brilliant Jezebell,  Dub Narcotic Sound System's 1994 single Fuck Shit Up gets a makeover by hi-falutin' Hifi Sean and you'll hear a familiar snippet of Peter Fonda amongst the guess-the-sample offering by Follytechnic Music Library aka Paul Southgate. Paul's seemingly unstoppable output of edits and mash-ups deserves a post of its own. I must get to it.

It's not all reflective, though. If you've been following this blog all year, you will have twigged that I like Airsine's Like Fire EP. I mean, a lot. Three of the four versions have now appeared on 2025 round-up selections, so I guess I'd better save the remaining one for the 'best of the year' round up.

senses appear for the second time in a week with the same song. The original 'indie' version has a charm all of its own, but there was no way I was leaving out Andy Bell's GLOK remix. 

Likewise, Let Yourself Go by Una Camille & Dr. No (well, Richard Norris in disguise actually) popped up previously with one of his own remixes, but I had to make room here for the super Acid Mix by Leo Zero. 

Leo's been pretty busy himself this year, as I found to my (literal) cost last Bandcamp Friday, so there will be more from him here soon. 

Other gifts that keep giving since their release are albums by Hifi Sean and David McAlmont and 100 Poems aka Mike Wilson. Hugo Nicholson is in a real purple patch at the moment, Pete Bones too, here with a remix of Nick Hook for a charity fundraiser EP.

Relatively recent discoveries are Greendoxyn (here with Lyubava), via the ever reliable NEIN Records label,  and London duo Mermaid Chunky, who I found via their collaboration with Orbury Common in 2022.

Rounding things out is sLEdger, who got my attention with an excellent remix of Fluke in 2024, and have kept it with some top notch and brilliantly titled releases. Trippy Ass God Funk indeed.

Please come back on Sunday for more 2025 highlights.

1) 1st Crooked Man In Space (Remix By Richard Barratt): The All Seeing I ft. Phil Oakey (Return Of The Crooked Cat EP)

2) La Musica (Din Daa Daa Version): Munk & Kapote ft. George Kranz (La Musica EP)

3) Turn It Yes: Jezebell (Jezebellearic Beats Volume 2)

4) Like Fire (Single Version): Airsine (Like Fire EP)

5) Spanner: Hugo Nicolson (Black Stick EP)

6) have you ever had a broken heart? (Andy Bell/GLOK Remix): senses (have you ever had a broken heart? EP)

7) Sleeping Pill (Album Version): Hifi Sean & David McAlmont (Twilight)

8) Waiting For An Angel: Greendoxyn & Lyubava (Waiting For An Angel EP)

9) Viva Palestina (Pete Bones Remix): Nick Hook (Viva Palestina (Dance For Peace Remixes) EP)

10) chaperone (Peach's 2Good 2Be Remix): Mermaid Chunky (chaperone EP)

11) Fuck Shit Up (Hifi Sean Mix): Dub Narcotic Sound System (Fuck Shit Up EP)

12) Let The Horse Run Free: 100 Poems (Let The Horse Run Free)

13) Surfer Man Got Loaded: Follytechnic Music Library (FML25 Baggy Ravers 3)

14) Let Yourself Go (Leo Zero Acid Mix): Una Camille & Dr No (Let Yourself Go EP)

15) Trippy Ass God Funk: sLEdger (Funk From The Portal EP)

Is It Obvious? Or Is It Delirium? (1:30:45) (GD) (M)

And if you missed the previous 2025 So Far selections...

28th March: It's A Glamorous World 

11th May: Doused In Dopamine

4th July: Staring Into Air

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!

It's A Glamorous World

My new music purchases have been relatively modest so far this year, but here's a 10-song selection of 2025 bangers.

I'm running late this morning, so expect some expanded sleeve notes over the weekend. 
 
In the meantime, happy listening!

1) High With You (Night Version): Hifi Sean & David McAlmont

2) The Ballad Of Josey Wales: 100 Poems

3) The Man Behind The Counter (Timmy Stewart's York Street Collision Mix): The Vendetta Suite

4) A Pact (Skyscraper HiFi Remix B By Jon Dasilva & Jonas Nilsson): The Woodentops

5) The Ouija Board (MAN2.0's Kill Us For The Sport Remix By Mark Bailey): Legoheads

6) Let Yourself Go (Richard Norris Main Mix): Una Camille & Dr No

7) I'm In Love... (Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s Remix): Andy Bell ft. Dot Allison & Michael Rother

8) Toronto Street (The Vendetta Suite's Hope Street Diversion Mix By Gary Irwin): Timmy Stewart

9) Beneath The Waves: 10:40

10) Breaker City (Jezebell's Nice 'n' Slow Remix By Jesse Fahnestock & Darren Bell): Parvale

It's A Glamorous World (1:01:53) (GD) (M)

[Postscript, 11th May 2025]

I never did get around to those expanded sleeve notes, did I? Suffice to say, this is all killer no filler!

Blue, Gene

Remembering Gene Hackman, 30th January 1930 to 26th February 2025.

Ernie Goggins at 27 Leggies posted Too Many RIPs on Thursday, noting the recent losses of Jerry Butler, Gwen McCrae, Ken Parker, Bill Fay and Roberta Flack (with Rick Buckler from The Jam also noted). "This has got to stop", pleaded Ernie.

Sadly, later the same day, news emerged that Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and one of the family dogs had all been discovered dead at the home on the Old Sunset Trail in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. 

I will add some words to this post at a later date, as there is a greater understanding of the tragic circumstances that led to this discovery, and to reflect on the impact of Gene's immense and varied acting career.

In the meantime, in time-honoured knee jerk tradition, I've responded by collating an hour-long Dubhed selection, all song titles drawn from Gene's film and TV career. With over 100 credits, there were no shortage of quality contenders, but I think the final 14 hit the spot.

No apologies for tracks 11 and 14, which shoehorn in the film via the subtitle, they were too good to ignore. Likewise, who will argue that the opening song drops the definite article when it's Joni Mitchell?

Farewell, Gene and Betsy.

1) Conversation: Joni Mitchell (1970)

2) Route 66 (Single Version) (Cover of Nat King Cole & The King Cole Trio): Depeche Mode (1987)

3) Bonnie And Clyde (Cover of Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot): Mick Harvey ft. Anita Lane (1995)

4) Misunderstood (Album Version): Leila ft. Donna Paul (1998)

5) Two Of A Kind: Superstar (1998)

6) The Mexican (Short Version): Jellybean ft. Jenny Haan (1987)

7) Downhill Racer (Kenny Dope Remix): Everything But The Girl (2004)

8) The Quick & The Dead: Ladyhawke (2012)

9) Twilight (Album Version): Hifi Sean & David McAlmont (2025)

10) Superman (Album Version) (Cover of The Clique): R.E.M. (1986)

11) Wish You Were Here... (Postcards From The Edge) (Remix By Ashley Beedle): The Aloof (1996)

12) Another Woman (Album Version): Moby ft. Barbara Lynn (2000)

13) Crimson Tide: Destroyer (2020)

14) Plug Me In (The French Connection) (Remix By Rick Phylip-Jones): Scarlet Fantastic (1987)

Blue, Gene (1:01:08) (KF) (Mega)

Twilight Of The Valentines

A Valentine's Day gift from Hifi Sean and David McAlmont, in the form of Twilight, their frankly spectacular third album, released today. No need for spoilers here.

Valentine's Day is a mixed bag, whether you are loved up, loveless, joyous or jaded. And yes, it sells love when it's something that should be felt and freely given all year round. 

But, in the midst of all that commercial crap are moments of beauty and genuine joy, and in the shape of Twilight, something worth buying, holding close to your heart and treasuring. This album is for life, not just 14th February.

In an act of perfect timing, my vinyl copy arrived on Thursday night, so I am sitting here at 5.00am on Friday morning, listening to the album for the first time and typing away live, trying to keep up with the needle in the groove. 

And failing spectacularly, because I keep stopping to let David's warm vocals wash over me, or pausing because Sean has created a beautifully layered sound or little musical motif that just demands your undivided attention.

Sean's comment in the promo that he "wanted to make this album feel like you were in a dark head space while being hugged by your favourite person at the same time" is not hyperbole, it's exactly what it feels like.

Opening song The Comedown mirrors sister album Daylight, with the outer space broadcast of the thematic phrase, 

Daylight becomes twilight, 

Twilight becomes daylight, 

Daylight becomes twilight, 

Twilight becomes daylight

Set to the pulse of a beating heart, guest star The Blessed Madonna then comes in with a spoken word intro before handing over the mic to David. This is the moment in a comedown when you've washed up on the beach and realise you're still alive, that first moment of hope, that you will get through this, that there is a way out. 

The Comedown ends with waves crashing on the shore, the album's title track then coming in with beats, synths and an insistent bassline, before David sings about walking on the moon, hyperspace and "greetings from the nearest planet".

Uptown / Downtown keeps the BPMs relatively low with some lovely whooping synths and keyboard tinkles. I want to write about how beautiful David's vocals are on this song but that would be doing a disservice to the rest of the album as he is giving his all on every single line in every single song. Lots of shivers down the spine moments.

Driftaway also rides on a bubbly, warm bassline, sounding absolutely contemporary yet with a repeating key sequence that reminds me of mid-80s O.M.D. (and that is a good thing). I bought the limited edition vinyl version, which means that there's an additional flexi 7" single, containing Driftaway Dub. 

Side 1 closes with Sorry I Made You Cry, released as a single on Monday and described in the promo for Twilight as "A warped doo-wop influenced torch song from Sean’s twisted droning synths to its wonky exploding chorus". I'd say "yes, and so much more". 

Sorry I Made You Cry is described as one of the standout moments on Twilight. Having heard Side 1's five songs for the very first time, I'm honestly struggling to pick one over the other, they're all so good.

And so to the second side, with Goodbye Drama Queen. Also previewed as one of the four singles to promote Twilight, I avoided listening to it until I had the entire album in my hands. It was worth the wait. Sonically, there's a Depeche Mode vibe to this one, though these are always mere reference points, the music is unmistakably Hifi Sean. Much as I love their vocals, neither Dave Gahan nor Martin Gore could soar into the stratosphere the way David does, every time. 

Whilst Twilight is the album title, lyrically speaking, the songs lean heavily on what lies beyond.out there and Equinox's Children is a prime example, references to starlit dreams, planets, heaven's deep lagoon couple with the moon, and impact like asteroids. It's another connecting element that ties the whole thing together, creating a layered, immersive experience.

High With You contains some warming bossa rhythms, pseudo trumpet that sounds (and possibly is) Sean blowing through a rolled up paper cone, and David laughing after singing "Baby". For music that is so structured, technically proficient and thematically coherent, don't mistake this for a wholly serious record. What's evident throughout the record is how fun it must have been to make, the warmth and joy emanating with each revolution on the turntable.

Night Drive is a beatless interlude, bridging the two halves of Side 2. As I was chuckling to myself for mishearing "Can we get, can we get where we need to get" as an exhortation to Cary Grant, the needle got stuck on the word "today". Which served as a sobering reminder that I'm supposed to be getting ready for work and not lost in the twilight world of Sean and David's making. Much as I'd rather be there than here right now.

Star was the first single from the album and the only song that I heard in advance of this listening...well, I can't go so far as to say party, when I'm sat here on my own at the computer and even the cat hasn't been arsed to get up and bother me for food yet. I love Star. In an album full of them, this one shines especially brightly and beautifully.

And suddenly, it's the final two songs. Sleeping Pill offers up a juxtaposition of slowed down sounds, waves and waves countered by David's vocals, setting the pace up and down, mirroring the enervating and energising effect of the alien chemicals put in the body, tracing "your momentary incoherence into oblivious delerium".

Twilight's coda is Sirens, David observing that "it was a gift / It wasn't free / Feel no hate now / It's a home run honey" before the music drifts away into the Daylight becomes twilight cycle for one final time.

As an album review, this is all first draft, typed live whilst listening, and as such it's a mess. Which is the exact opposite of Twilight. As the second of two 12-song albums released in the space of sic months, it's an astonishing feat of ambition, coherence and execution that achieves exactly what it set out to do.

Apt for Valentine's Day, I've fallen in love with this album at first listen and I know that this will only grow deeper over time. 

In other words, you really should buy this album. Today. This minute! You will not regret it.

Side One

1) The Comedown

2) Twilight

3) Uptown / Downtown

4) Driftaway

5) Sorry I Made You Cry

Side Two

1) Goodbye Drama Queen

2) Equinox's Children

3) High With You

4) Night Drive

5) Star

6) Sleeping Pill

7) Sirens

Bonus flexi 7"

1) Driftaway Dub