Why Does The Darkness Elope?

Sleaford Mods. 

 

Florence Shaw from Dry Cleaning. 

 

Song named after a 1978 war film. 

 

Video filmed in a working men's club. 

 

Chock full of brilliant lines, e.g. "that’s my road kill hat, don’t touch it"

 

Force 10 From Navarone follows last month's drop of the title track from forthcoming album UK GRIM, out on March 10th. 

 

Stay angry. 

ElevenPercent Of EarthPercent

The biggest digital purchase I made during Bandcamp Friday was the EarthPercent x Earth Day compilation album, (re)released for 24 hours only, offering up 100 songs for £25.00. I took the plunge, figuring at best that 25p per track was a pretty good deal and if even a third of them were halfway decent, it was still a decent price. 

 

There were enough artists to pique my curiosity - JARV IS..., Dry Cleaning, Peter Gabriel, James, Brian Eno, The Weather Station - as well as a few that I'd heard of but not heard much by, plus many that were completely new to me.

 

The track listing has changed slightly since the previous release, swapping out some tracks and replacing them with new additions. It's meant that I've been spared Coldplay's contribution so I'm not complaining.

 

A whopping 17 of the 100 are given to Anna Calvi's soundtrack album for Peaky Blinders Season 5 which, isolated from the BBC TV series, has already had a few plays in it's own right so I'm already feeling that this was a worthwhile purchase.

I'm about a quarter of the way through the remaining songs and, unsurprisingly, it's a bit hit and miss. As the album is sequenced alphabetically by the artists' first names/words, I've gone for a random shuffle, listening to 45-minute, album-sized chunks over the past few days.

The big draw is perhaps Michael Stipe, who has released very little solo music since R.E.M. ended in September 2011. Future, If Future is a co-write with producer Andy LeMaster, who's only other appearance in my collection is a rejig of R.E.M.'s The Lifting, which appeared on their free download R.E.M.IX album in 2002. On a couple of listens, it's...okay. I'll leave it at that.

Today's selection is 11 songs that I've enjoyed listening to so far. I really like The Big Moon, who I've not heard before, and The Pictish Trail, JARV IS... and The Weather Station do not disappoint. Dry Cleaning made me kick myself again that I didn't see them live earlier this year. Nick Mulvey is a name that I've often seen but not heard. A Prayer Of My Own seemed like a natural choice for a closing song and I'm encouraged to check out more.

 

I've said very little about EarthPercent itself, the environmental charity founded by Brian Eno - you can read more here.

 

1) Act Now: Hannah Peel ft. Ulster Orchestra

2) Leaving (Niklas Paschburg Rework): Hania Rani

3) Her Hippo (Live): Dry Cleaning

4) This Way: The Weather Station

5) Beautiful Beaches (Conservatory Version): James

6) Nuclear Sunflower Swamp (Acoustic): The Pictish Trail

7) BIG: The Big Moon

8) Growing Pains: tummyache

9) Future, If Future: Michael Stipe

10) Depressive Disco: JARV IS...

11) A Prayer Of My Own (LaJoya Remix): Nick Mulvey ft. Liz Wathuti

ElevenPercent Of EarthPercent (45:09)

All The Stars Were Aligned

KEXP is a non-commercial radio station transmitting from Seattle, Washington. It became a regular virtual music stop for me during the pandemic and I've listened to hours upon hours of their Live On KEXP sessions.

The show follows a fairly consistent format: 4 or 5 songs, 20-30 minutes, usually performed in the small KEXP studio with lengthy Q&A mid-section with the resident DJ, sitting nearby. Occasionally, they'll use another location, even head outdoors to the local park, as evidenced by this beautiful performance from Ben Watt & Bernard Butler in 2015.

Too many favourites to mention here, so here's a small, half-hour selection of seven cracking songs for your listening pleasure.

1) Camels (Live @ KEXP, Seattle, 23 June 2019): Bill Callahan

2) Tokay (Live @ KEXP, Seattle, 10 February 2015): Dengue Fever

3) Maybe (Live @ KEXP, Seattle, 12 June 2019): SOAK

4) Is He Strange (Live @ Avast! Recording Co. for KEXP, Seattle, 18 December 2018): John Grant

5) Kicks (Live @ KEXP, Seattle, 18 November 2014): FKA Twigs

6) Corsicana Lemonade (Live @ KEXP, Seattle, 01 February 2014): White Denim

7) Magic Of Meghan (Live @ KEXP, Seattle, 10 March 2020): Dry Cleaning

All The Stars Were Aligned (Live On KEXP) (31:16)

Jumping On The Bandwagon

Spoiler warning: today's Dry Cleaning post is entirely indebted to The Vinyl Villain and Bagging Area's posts on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Until then, I'd never even heard of Dry Cleaning; since then, I've been hooked. JC and Swiss Adam describe the band and sound brilliantly. I won't try to echo that here, other than to say that sorry, JC, I can't wait for Christimas to get the debut album New Long Leg. I'd better get a wiggle on, though: their Bandcamp page has already sold out the album on all formats and there's currently little left on their official website too so I (and you) may need to look a little further afield, such as the 4AD store.

My usual next step when being introduced to a new band is to check out YouTube for sessions, a default being KEXP and it doesn't disappoint, offering up two 4-song sessions from the past 12 months.

The first, posted exactly a year ago today, was recorded in Seattle in March 2020, a few weeks into the first UK lockdown. The standard format includes between-song interviews with host Cheryl Waters and I love the band even more after watching this. They are endearing and honest about their formation, getting Florence to join the band and their plans for global domination, kicked off with "The Wimpy Meeting". There's also a hilarious snippet about bassist Lewis' mum's influence on the band through food and snacks and how differently things could have turned out.

The second KEXP set is at "at home" performance from April this year. They're an accomplished and engaging band, even more amazing given the lengthy early debates about whether or not they would even perform live. Dry Cleaning are currently on tour in the UK and - even better for me, given that I unlikely to get to a gig before early next year - will be in Bristol in February 2022. I have to be there...!

Scratchcard Lanyard / Viking Hair / Magic Of Meghan / Conversation (Live @ KEXP, Seattle, 10 March 2020)

Unsmart Lady / Leafy / Her Hippo / Strong Feelings (Live @ KEXP At Home, 03 April 2021)