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.

So Hurried, So Tomorrow, No Today...I Can't Keep Up

As we're heading to the last Bandcamp Friday of 2025, I'm going to spotlight an A-Z of artist releases from this year that are at least on my shopping list, even if they don't quite make it final check out.

Today covers artists A-F, namely

Alex Kassian x Spooky x Placid Angles

Burial

Coyote

Deeply Armed remixed by Andrew Innes & Brendan Lynch and Keith Tenniswood

Eddie Chacon

Fatboy Slim vs. The Rolling Stones

Alex Kassian has taken Orange Coloured Liquid, a lush, languid track from Spooky's 1993 debut album Gargantuan, on a trip through time. Part I is upbeat, Part II is closer to the shimmering original, whilst Placid Angels aka John Beltran lands somewhere between the two. You also get Spooky's version to round out a satisfying EP.

 

Burial returned in August with the 2-track single Comafields / Imaginary Festival. As usual, I find both tracks simultaneously soothing and disconcerting, which are even more effective as I listen to this on a cold, dark, wet November morning...thankfully, not alone at Casa K.

Coyote aka Richard Hampson and Timm Sure have been successfully creating an immersive Balearic environment for many years now, and it shows no sign of running out of space to grow. This year has so far seen a trio of releases: 6-track EP/mini-album Wailing To The Yellow Dawn in April, one-off track Battle Weary in October; today's pick, also October, is the 3-track Escape Pattern EP.

Deeply Armed is Belfast trio Michael McKeown (vocals, guitar, synth, percussion), Aaron O’Neill (electronics, synth, engineering), and Kenny Whaley (bass, synth). 

The Healing is the first song that I've (knowingly) heard by them and there's a real David Holmes vibe, circa The Holy Pictures. No surprise that he and Andrew Weatherall were early supporters. Andrew Innes and Brendan Lynch offer a rousing 3-minute remix that sounds like (good) Primal Scream, but the pick of the bunch is Keith Tenniswood's down low mix that sounds like you're listening to the party next door, ear pressed up against the wall, wishing you there. Great stuff.

Eddie Chacon's solo catalogue has been a revelation. Lay Low is I think Eddie's third album, released at the end of January this year. The previous two were made with John Carroll Kirby; this time Eddie has collaborated with Nick Hakim and the results are phenomenal.

I could have picked any of the eight songs so, if you like Let The Devil In, you will love Lay Low.

Back in 2003, Fatboy Slim aka Norman Cook remixed The Rolling Stones' classic Sympathy For The Devil. Fast forward twenty two years, and this time he's mashed up (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (1965) with his own The Rockafeller Skank (1998)... and it works for me.

 

 

More tomorrow.

We Let The Devil In And It's Tearing Us Apart

I've been drawn back into the orbit of Eddie Chacon recently. 

The Dubhed selection focusing on Seahawks in the New Year included their excellent 2020 remix of Hurt from Eddie's debut album. His third album, Lay Low, was released on 31st January.

Since coming across that debut, Pleasure, Joy And Happiness, in late 2021 and discovering Charles' fascinating career - and life - left turns since his success thirty years previously as one half of Charles & Eddie, I've been a fan of his ongoing solo explorations.

After a second, equally brilliant album, Sundown, with John Carroll Kirby, Lay Low sees Eddie collaborate with Nick Hakim, the pair having first come together in 2020 when Nick remixed Above Below from the first album.

Lay Low is not a dramatic departure, but a further teasing out of the "low-key R&B" that Eddie has made his signature in the 21st Century. The touchstone for me is Why Can't We Live Together by Timmy Thomas, sharing the sparse, stripped back sound yet slowed down even further. The effect is to focus the mind on the words and the voice. And it works.

The economy extends to the album itself: eight songs, less than half an hour, but rewarding on so many levels that it feels like a complete, nourishing experience.

I've picked five songs from the Lay Low, a remix from each of the previous two albums and an extended segment from Later...With Jools Holland. The latter features an interview with Eddie, a clip of his 1993 debut on the show with Charles Pettigrew, performing Would I Lie To You?, and closing with Eddie, John Carroll Kirby and band performing Holy Hell.

What a way to start the week.

1) Empire (Official Video) (ft. John Carroll Kirby) (2024)

2) Good Sun (Official Visual) (2025)

3) Let You Go (Album Version) (2025)

4) If I Ever Let You Go (Album Version) (2025)

5) Let The Devil In (Official Visual) (2025)

6) Hurt (Seahawks Remix) (2020)

7) Holy Hell (Mndsgn Remix) (2022)

8) Interview / Would I Lie To You? (Charles & Eddie, 1993) / Holy Hell (Live On Later...With Jools Holland, BBC2 TV, 10th June 2023)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Floating Away With No Thought Of Coming Back

Nearly 62 minutes of Seahawks to usher in the last day of the first weekend in 2025.

 

I almost went for a Seahawks selection last Saturday, but I held off as I wanted to listen to the current album, Time Enough For Love, a few more time before deciding on which track(s) to include. I think the brief pause has made for a more satisfying collection overall.

The selection spans 2012 to 2024, with a big gap between 2013 and 2021, not for lack of quality tunes, but sometimes that's just the way the final track list pans out. Roughly half and half Seahawks originals and remixes of other artists, namely The Horrors, Private Agenda, Eddie Chacon and Tim Burgess. I ended up with three choices form the current album, plus a couple of remixes of Seahawks by Gatto Fritto and Laurel Halo.

Pete Fowler - and Jon Tye, especially - pop up in their own right and under various other aliases in my music collecton, but the music they've created together as Seahawks is something special indeed.

Not quite chill out, there are some hefty beats to be found within, but definitely in the realms of calming and replenishing music.

 

1) Comes In Waves (Seahawks Skying Suite): The Horrors (2012)

2) Malanai Ascending (Seahawks Remix): Private Agenda (2021)

3) Invisible Sunrise (Gatto Fritto New Gold Dawn Mix By Ben Williams): Seahawks (2013)

4) A New Star In The Sky (Album Version): Seahawks (2024)

5) Hurt (Seahawks Remix): Eddie Chacon (2021)

6) New Future Blue (Laurel Halo Deserts Of Mars Mix By Laurel Chartow): Seahawks (2013)

7) Journeys Out Of Mind (Album Version): Seahawks (2024)

8) Stoned Alone Again Or (Seahawks Remix By Pete Fowler & Jon Tye): Tim Burgess (2013)

9) Sail Across The Moon (Album Version): Seahawks (2024)

2012: Higher: 1

2013: Oh No I Love You More: 8

2013: Phantom Sunset: 3, 6

2021: Hurt EP: 5

2021: Submersion EP: 2

2024: Time Enough For Love: 4, 7, 9

Floating Away With No Thought Of Coming Back (1:01:45) (KF) (Mega)

You're Savagely Imperfect But I Love Your Style

As we fall into another weekend, some comforting mid-tempo beats to cushion your landing, sixty-two minutes of electronic gems from the last 18 months.  All highly recommended if you're making a shopping list for the next Bandcamp Friday - links below.

Happy Friday, everyone!

 

1) 20HZ Sous La Mer (Blasé Remix): Timothée Joly (2024)

2) Live With Me: Justin Robertson's Deadstock 33s (2023)

3) 100 Years On Pause: Matt Gunn (2023)

4) Loved: Four Tet (2024)

5) A Night In Siolim (Keith Forrester Remix): H​ö​gt I Tak (2023)

6) Flow (Ian Vale Breakmix): Malia Nima (2024)

7) G.E.M.: O.M.D. (2023)

8) Yeah x 3 (Sonic Boom & Panda Bear Reset Remix): David Holmes ft. Raven Violet (2023)

9) Straßenbahn (Jakob From Earth Remix): Die Zimmermänner (2023)

10) Bibbles (Baubles & Beads Mix By Jezebell aka Jesse Fahnestock & Darren Bell): Andres y Xavi (2024)

11) Sundown (Gigi Masin Remix): Eddie Chacon (2023)

 

2023: A Night In Siolim EP: 5 

2023: Bauhaus Staircase: 7

2023: Die Zimmermänner In Dub! EP: 9

2023: Mostly Fiction: 3

2023: One Lone Rider EP: 2 

2023: Sundown EP: 11

2023: Yeah X3 EP: 8 

2024: Bibbles EP: 10

2024: Flow EP: 6

2024: Three: 4

2024: UA+: 20HZ Sous La Mer EP: 1

Savagely Imperfect (1:02:00) (KF) (Mega)

Pleasure, Joy And Happiness

What originally started as an intentionally tongue-in-cheek post about 90s soul pop duo Charles & Eddie led me down an unexpected rabbit hole...

 

Charles & Eddie, aka Charles Pettigrew & Eddie Chacon, were an American soul music duo who had a UK #1 for 2 weeks in October 1992 with Would I Lie To You? The parent album Duophonic reached #19 but none of their subsequent singles troubled the Top 20. After a follow up album in 1995, Charles & Eddie amicably went their separate ways.

 

I'd describe Charles & Eddie as a guilty pleasure, only I don't feel any guilt whatsoever. Whilst other 1992 favourites included the Broken and Fixed EPs by Nine Inch Nails, the two Radiccio 12" singles by Orbital and Fear Loves This Place by Julian Cope, I had a lot of love for Would I Lie to You? Part of the affection came from my enduring impression that Eddie was throwing his poor mate Charles under the bus. Bear with me...

 

The basic gist of the song is that Charles is trying to convince his lover that he is faithful, in the face of rumours to the contrary. It's not revealed who has been spreading this malicious gossip, but I think it's obvious that the perpetrator is hiding in plain sight.

Charles continually pleads "Don't you know it's true girl,  there's no one else but you! Would I lie to you, baby?" to which Eddie responds "Oh, yeah!"

Clearly, Eddie thought the subject of Charles' impassioned argument was with the wrong guy and was trying his darndest to split them up. Who needs enemies with friends like these?!

Great song, though.

What started as a one (admittedly not very funny) joke and (I thought) fairly quick and simple post took a turn when I looked up Charles & Eddie to write the opening intro/background. I knew that Charles had passed away but I wasn't aware that he'd joined Tom Tom Club in 1998 and remained a member until his death in 2001. To be honest, the one studio album he appeared on, 2000's The Good The Bad And The Funky, is a far cry from their 1980s peak. 

 

Eddie's subsequent musical career, however, is far more interesting...

 

 

 

After a break of almost 15 years, Eddie's next musical venture was again as a duo, this time with wife Sissy Sainte-Marie as The Polyamorous Affair. They released three albums between 2008 and 2010 and, from what I've heard so far, it's compelling 'disturbdance' music (to pinch a phrase from Propaganda's Wishful Thinking). 

The videos, including 2009's White Hot Magic and the 'Uncut Director's Cut' of 2010's Softer And Softer, are also equally dark and funny. I'm not quite so sure about their cover of Lou Reed's Satellite Of Love, although it's a darn sight better than U2's excruciating version.

 

After another near-decade break from music, Eddie re-emerged last July with debut solo album, Pleasure, Joy And Happiness. The promo describes it as "a thoughtfully considered album of quiet, confident R&B: it doesn't jump out at you, but rather gets in you". Having listened to it for the first time whilst writing this post, that's a pretty spot on description. 

Described elsewhere as "celestial soul music", it's heartfelt, late hours music with understated vocals that mark out that this is a man who has lost, lived and grown in the 30 years since Duophonic. John Carroll Kirby is a sympathetic producer, letting the music underpin and not overwhelm Chacon's vocals. It's also a refreshingly brisk album: 8 songs in under 30 minutes, with no filler to pad out a 'normal' vinyl or CD album length.

 

There are a couple of interviews with Eddie from September 2020 that provide further background and insight into the album and the songs that inspired it, with Aquarium Drunkard and Andrew Male in The Guardian. You can buy Pleasure, Joy And Happiness on Eddie's Bandcamp page;  you will need to trawl other channels to get hold of a physical copy.

This is why I love music so much. A random shuffle to an old song can take you to somewhere new and surprising.

Would I Lie To You?: Charles & Eddie (1992)

White Hot Magic: The Polyamorous Affair (2009) 

Satellite Of Love (Cover of Lou Reed): The Polyamorous Affair (2009) 

Softer And Softer (Uncut Director's Cut): The Polyamorous Affair (2010)

Trouble: Eddie Chacon (2020)

Hurt: Eddie Chacon (2020) 

Pleasure, Joy And Happiness (Album Release Performance): Eddie Chacon & John Carroll Kirby (2020)