Fifty Days To You Know What

Well, the Christmas song battle is well and truly underway as Mariah Carey, Wham! and Slade have a new contender: Olivia Rodrigo.

I know next to nothing about Olivia Rodrigo apart from the fact that I may be about the only person on the planet this ignorant about her mega stardom and career to date. 

I know she managed to get Robert Smith on stage with her at Glastonbury, but no idea what they sang or what she thinks of The Cure (although I assume it's all very positive).

I couldn't name, let alone hum, a single song of hers, so dipping my toe in with a Christmas single is a bit of a punt.

take me home (4 christmas) - yep, all lower case - won't necessarily set the world alight, but it's a perfect assimilation of previous Christmas pop hits, whilst (presumably) sounding enough like an Olivia Rodrigo song.

There's jingle bells, fiddles and a stomping beat that will get you dancing. You'll be reminded of Christmas Wrapping by Waitresses, even decidedly unChristamassy songs like Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners, and the lyrics deftly avoid the sickly sweet schmaltz of many of the half-baked offerings served up in the 2000s.

I also like that Olivia isn't a 'vocal gymastics' type of singer (yes, you, Mariah), almost the antithesis in fact. For a good singalong, the fun can be that the notes are impossible for the average person to reach (add Justin Hawkins of The Darkness to the list) or that you can genuinely - and happily - sing along in your best atonal drone (that'll be me). take me home (4 christmas) leans heavily into the latter.

I think Olivia Rodrigo will the one to beat for Christmas #1 this year.

Ironically, I was only intending to stick this song at the top as a brief intro and focus the post instead on other Christmas music that you might be interested in buying, if you're the kind of person that switches on a festive playlist at the start of December.

If so, here's a few, old and new(ish), to try before you buy:

 

 

 

 

 

Seven Sleeps To Go

Never one to shy away from shoehorning in a theme, however tenuous the link, here are some 2024 releases relating to sleep.

Peirons has remixed Eels' 2004 song I Need Some Sleep, mashing it with a video edit of Steve Cutts' 2017 animated short Happiness (you can see the original version here), adding some Italian rapping (presumably his own) over the top. I love it all.

There was a time when I would buy anything that had Moby's name on, whether his own albums or singles, or his remixes for everyone from The B-52's to Metallica, Aerosmith to O.M.D. That time is long past, but I do occasionally dip into his new releases.

Moby's umpteenth album, Always Centered At Night, came out in June. I referenced it in a post about lead-in single Dark Days back in March...and then it completely passed me by. 

An album of remixes - 58 of them! - has emerged this month, good value at $25 but again not on my essential purchase list. However, Prins Thomas offers up a couple of remixes of Should Sleep which I was immediately drawn to.

The 5-minute Diskomix appeared on a previous single release, but this is the first time I've heard the 9-minute Extended Mix and it's the pick of the two for me. Both feature J.P. Bimeni's vocals left pretty much intact and used to great effect. 

Several tracks from Kito Jempere aka Kirill Sergeev's Part Time Chaos Part Time Calmness have featured in previous posts and selections. The album has marked an evolution in the Russian's musical journey, moving away from the house music that established him into a much broader span of styles and genres. Sleeping With The TV On is more of a jump than a (quantum) leap, but it's an intriguing 4 minutes of samples and beats.

Branching out from Rheinzand, hubby and wife duo Charlotte & Reinhard dropped the Guardian Of Sleep EP as a prescursor to a full length album. Sensuous, sexy disco... it ticks all the boxes.

 

Sensuous, sexy disco is not a phrase that you would use to describe a song by Field Music and I'm not about to start now. However, they've got a song called The Guardian Of Sleep which appeared on their latest album Levels Of Language in October. And it's one of their funkier ones, for sure. That bassline!

 

Another artist that I've revisited this year via a new album is Denmark's finest, Hess Is More. The album CÆKE is a sparse, minmalist treat, packed with melodies and nonchalant vocals, and Are You Sleeping is a prime example. Difficult to resist humming or whistling along to any of these, which is recommendation enough, surely?

But for those of you who can't sleep, rest assured that pretty much every week of the year, some have-a-go, would-be superstar DJ will post yet another remix of Insomnia by Faithless.

December's offering is by DJ Coruja from Brazil. Whereas most contemporary remixers seem obsessed with upping the BPMs, dropping 'mad' breaks and adding far too many bells, whistles and parps than the brain can hope to process, this one happily goes the other way. 

Lifting an electro rhythm - I'd like to say with confidence that it's Scorpio by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, but I'm not sure - the rest is positively restrained and, better still, complements Maxi Jazz's sublime vocal delivery throughout. At 11 minutes, it's more than a match for the original version and might be a tad too long, but it's head and shoulders above any of the other efforts that I've heard this year.

Take The Time To Smile!

I had a day off on Tuesday and made my first trip to Bristol in around three years. Much has changed. 

I spent most of the time in the vicinity of The Arches in Gloucester Road, with two essential visits: KBK Shoes, to buy a new pair of Dr. Martens, and a couple of hours' music truffling in Plastic Wax Records. 

I usually focus on the vinyl but this time - and purely practical reasons - I went for shiny plastic disc only. I ended up with 10 for £10, which is admittedly a far cry from Charity Chic's expert mining of charity shop gems, but I came away with some unexpected and delightful finds.

Actually, my total haul was 11 CDs as I just couldn't whittle it down any further. In fact, it was due to be 12, but some git had nicked the CD of Understated by Edwyn Collins, so I regretfully had to leave it behind. 

Still, much to dive into over the coming weeks, including a lovely hardback edition of Craig Armstrong's Piano Works, a Moloko best of with bonus live in concert CD, Dave Formula's solo album (including a lounge-y version of Parade by Magazine featuring David McAlmont...it's growing on me). to name but a few.

 

Today's selection features a track from each purchase.

 

1) Heatmiser 2 (Cover of Massive Attack): Craig Armstrong (2004)

2) What Sound (Album Version): Lamb (2002)

3) I Left My Tart In Sad Franks Disco: Groove Corporation ft. Bobby Blue & Dubby Galespy (2002)

4) 1971: Freddy Fresh (1999)

5) Rebel Heart: Roots Manuva (2005)

6) Cannot Contain This (Radio Edit): Moloko (2003)

7) Goodbye To The Country: Field Music (2018)

8) Rise And Fall (DJ Krush Mix By Ishi Hideaki): Galliano (1994)

9) Neon: The Knife (2001)

10) Via Sacra: Dave Formula ft. Howard Devoto (2010)

11) Tonight The Streets Are Ours: Richard Hawley (2007)

 

1994: A Thicker Plot: 8

1999: The Last True Family Man: 4

2001: The Knife: 9

2002: Dub Plates From The Elephant House Volume Two: 3

2002: What Sound (limited edition 2x CD): 2

2004: Piano Works: 1

2005: Awfully Deep: 5

2006: Catalogue/Value-Pak (limited edition 2x CD): 6

2007: Lady's Bridge: 11

2010: Satellite Sweetheart: 10

2018: Open Here: 7

Take The Time To Smile! (41:25)