Decayed V: 2008

Side 1 of a mirage-cum-mixtape, the penultimate plunge into the bracing waters of the Noughties.

The things you learn when you're scraping together info for a blog post. Somehow, I managed to get through the whole of 2008 without realising that the United Nations had declared it the International Year of the Potato. What, you too? Who was doing promo for the poor spud?!

Harrison Ford returned as Indiana Jones, the fourth film in the series coming nearly two decades after the original trilogy concluded. I'm not sure it was worth the wait.

Grange Hill left our TV screens, having run every year from February 1978 to September 2008. School was never the same.

BRIT Award winners in 2008 included Adele, Arctic Monkeys, Foo Fighters, Kanye West, Kate Nash, Kylie Minogue, Mark Ronson, Mika, Take That and Paul McCartney, the latter apparently having made an outstanding contribution to music. I must check him out sometime. None of them appear in today's selection.

Black Kids kick things off with I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You, a bit of a mouthful, but a very digestible slice of pop rock that sounds very much like an outtake by The Cure, circa The Head On The Door. The song - and debut album - was co-produced by Bernard Butler, but I never got any further than this CD single.

Hot Chip were slow to grow on me and I'll admit that much as I like them now, I still find Alexis Taylor's singing either engaging or irritating. Ready For The Floor is always a winner, though I was surprised to find that it went Top 10...

...much as I was surprised to find That's Not My Name by The Ting Tings got to #1, yet My Delerium by Ladyhawke was 'only' #33 and A-Punk by Vampire Weekend a mere #55. 

Returning exactly ten years on from his last appearance in the Decadance entry for 1998 is David Holmes, with the title song of the superb album The Holy Pictures. The Verve also got back together in 2008, and split again after fourth album, the imaginatively titled Forth.

The Verve aren't the only ones to aim high and deliver epic music. MGMT were the spearhead of a new prog/psych rush, swapping acid for heroin and wearing what looked like dayglo swimwear. 

The Last Shadow Puppets aka Alex Turner and Miles Kane carried more of Sixties John Barry James Bond soundtrack vibe which meant I bought their debut album before I did the same with Alex's 'main' band, Arctic Monkeys. To date, I've yet to buy any albums by Miles, either with The Rascals or as a solo artist. Sorry, la'.

As if it wasn't bad enough that I missed the International Year of the Potato in 2008, I also missed Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip's song, Letter From God To Man. It's not just the incredible lyrics, the chopped up sample of Planet Telex by Radiohead, or Scroobius Pip's emotive delivery which increases in intensity, it's all of the above. 

Making a welcome comeback since they both appeared in the inaugural Decayed 2000 selection a month ago are Róisín Murphy and Alison Goldfrapp, 

By 2008, Róisín was promoting her 2nd post-Moloko solo album, the rather wonderful Overpowered, including the fab single You Know Me Better, co-written with Andy Cato from Groove Armada. 

Alison and compadre Will Gregory meanwhile released the fourth Goldfrapp album Seventh Tree, which marked a departure from the glitter and glam of predecessor Supernature into more reflective, almost folky territory. Whilst A&E got to #10, follow up single Happiness peaked at #25, which is a shame as it's a gorgeous pop song and a lovely way to wrap up this year's selection.

The end will come tomorrow...

1) I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (Album Version): Black Kids
2) You Know Me Better (Radio Edit): Róisín Murphy
3) Ready For The Floor (Album Version): Hot Chip
4) A-Punk (Album Version): Vampire Weekend
5) My Delirium (Album Version): Ladyhawke
6) That's Not My Name (U.S. Radio Edit): The Ting Tings
7) Letter From God To Man (Album Version): Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip
8) Holy Pictures (Radio Edit): David Holmes
9) Time To Pretend (Album Version): MGMT
10) The Age Of The Understatement (Album Version): The Last Shadow Puppets
11) Rather Be (Album Version): The Verve
12) Happiness (Album Version): Goldfrapp

3rd February 2008: Made In The Dark (#6): 3

9th March 2008: Vampire Weekend (#55): 4

6th April 2008: Overpowered (#47): 2

13th April 2008: Partie Traumatic (#11): 1

20th April 2008: Oracular Spectacular (#35): 9

20th April 2008: The Age Of The Understatement (#9): 10

20th April 2008: Seventh Tree (#25): 12

18th May 2008: We Started Notrhing (#1): 6

3rd August 2008: Angles (# n/a): 7 *

14th September 2008: The Holy Pictures (#65): 8

23rd November 2008: Forth (#56): 11

14th December 2008: Ladyhawke (#33): 5

Side One (46:03) (GD) (M)

* Letter From God To Man by Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip may not have dented the Official Top 100, but it did get to #48 in the UK's Physical Singles Chart. The fact that such a chart even existed probably says more about the dominance of downloads at this point.

If you're hankering after years gone by, hunker down with my selections for 1988 and 1998.

Decayed I: 2000

Side 1 of a faux FX Super Ferric C90 cassette, properly kicking off a new series of mixtapes that never were, and a follow on from my previous runs through the 1980s and 1990s.

There was a thirty five year gap between Decade and its sequel, Decadance (sic). A mere eight months' wait this time!

The 2000s was a significant decade for me: I became a house owner, a husband, a father; I changed jobs; I got a home computer (with dial up internet!); I went to more comedy gigs than music gigs; I finally went to Japan with Mrs. K, and we had an unforgettable month there.

I also listened to music, lots of music, but even that was changing. Whereas the move from the 1980s to the 1990s had seen a shift from vinyl to CDs, as the 2000s progressed, there was a further shift from CDs to MP3s.

Entering the decade, I was still making mixtapes, though that shifted quickly to CD-Rs as soon as Casa K had a computer and printer set up at home. Times were changing, and I was trying to keep up.

I was no longer keeping up with Top Of The Pops or the UK charts, though. The former had pretty much lost me in the previous decade, with the predominance of bland bands that were visually and aurally uninteresting. 

Likewise, the stupid marketing of the early 2000s saw a smaller number of songs spread across an increasing number of formats. The chances of getting a decent, value-for-money EP were a thing of the past and instead, completists would be forced to buy the two or three CD singles, possibly a DVD and/or a 12" vinyl, to get a mere 5 or 6 songs.

First week promos and multi-buy deals meant that the chances of singles getting to #1 in the UK were pretty good; staying at #1 (or even remaining in the Top 10) by week two less so. According to Iffypedia, there were 274 UK #1 singles in the 2000s, 11 of those by Westshite, which illustrates better than anything how bad things were.

And yet... despite my expectation that this series would highlight a yawning chasm between music I enjoyed and chart success, I've been surprised by the consistent hits across this series. Starting with today's selection, there are a fair number of songs that either didn't chart or failed to crack the Top 30, but there are more Top 5s than I was expecting, too.

Enough of my yakking, let's get into things with the year 2000.

Last Sunday's Decayed Prelude revealed a number of artists that failed to make the cut for any of the ten upcoming selections. Likewise, many in the next five weeks will make just one appearance, including today's opening act, Primal Scream.

When I 'reviewed' their XTRMNTR album for the back page of an A5 DIY comic zine that I was selling in Forbidden Planet for 50p, it amounted to one word: FLLR. My opinion hasn't significantly shifted in the quarter century since: it's a good (imaginary) compilation of mixes and B-sides, but didn't and doesn't hang together for me as a proper album.  

Much as I love Kill All Hippies with it's samples of Linda Manz from Dennis Hopper's 1980 film Out Of The Blue and one of the filthiest basslines ever, it didn't (excuse the pun) scream 'single!" to me. Yet it was, I bought it, and it got to #24.

All Saints were also enjoying continuing success by association with a film, albeit a contemporary release. I revisit the soundtrack to The Beach more often than the film itself, due to the spot-on choice of artists. 

I wasn't a fan of All Saints, but I was a sucker for William Orbit's bleeps and bloops and on Pure Shores, it was a perfect pairing. The record buying public agreed, and it scored All Saints their fourth UK #1.

Other Top 5 hits include Kids by Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue, a pop song so good that they both included it on their albums released that year. The single was held off the top spot by U2 (Beautiful Day), though both were supplanted by Steps and the Baha Men the following week.

Porcelain was about the 500th single from Moby's mega-successful Play (an achievement in itself, given that there are only 18 songs on the album). The single peaked at #5, the most successful of the Play singles released here. 

Moloko are the third and final Top 5 contender this time, with the sublime The Time Is Now and my personal favourite of everything that Róisín Murphy and Mark Brydon wrote and recorded together. You've got Melanie C and Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes to thank for keeping this cracker off the top spot, as they released Never Be The Same Again the same week. Prophetic words, as Westshite had evicted them a week later.

Apart from Primal Scream, other Top 30 artists featured here include Black Box Recorder and Finley Quaye, whilst The Dandy Warhols just missed out on the Top 40 this time around with Bohemian Like You. However, they returned with a vengeance (and the same song) the following year, thanks to its use in a Vodafone advert.

Given that I ditched Groovejet by Spiller and Sophie Ellis-Bextor from my 2000 shortlist, the inclusion of obscure Australian electronic act Gerling may be a surprise. What was a surprise to me was that their single Enter Spacecapsule actually made it to #33. I picked it up on spec from the bargain bin at Replay Records in Bristol at the time and immediately fell in love with it. I had a similar reaction to the Mekon single guest starring 80s legend Roxanne Shanté. Bring it on!

Likewise with the lush combo of strings and beats, courtesy of ex-Voodoo Queen, Anjali. Lazy Lagoon was one of the very first MP3s I downloaded (for free) from the Wiiija Records website in 2000. Took bloody ages thanks to my ultra slow dial-up internet connection, though it was worth it. The single failed to chart - I bought the CD single a while later, dirt cheap - but it and the eponymous debut album that homes it, comes highly recommended.

Shocking to think now that Lovely Head, the debut single by Goldfrapp, also failed to chart back in the day. I've pretty much lost track of what Alison Goldfrapp is up to these days, though her work with Will Gregory still has the power to thrill and this song in particular had it all from the start. Excellent whistling, too.

As with the previous series, the info nerd in me has insisted on including info at the end, listing each single's peak (UK) chart placing and date, and the relevant album it sprung from (or EP if it was a standalone single).

Sunday, as it must, will take a long, hard look at 2001. Space odyssey or space oddity? I'll leave you to decide.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the next 45 minutes of sounds from 2000!

And, if you want even more nostalgia, I've reactivated the previous selections for 1980 and 1990.

1) Kill All Hippies (Brendan Lynch Edit): Primal Scream ft. Linda Manz

2) Pure Shores (The Beach Life Mix By William Orbit): All Saints

3) Kids (Album Version): Robbie Williams & Kylie Minogue

4) Porcelain (Single Version): Moby

5) Enter Spacecapsule (Radio Disko Remix): Gerling

6) Lazy Lagoon (Album Version): Anjali

7) The Facts Of Life (Radio Edit): Black Box Recorder

8) Lovely Head (Album Version): Goldfrapp

9) The Time Is Now (Edit): Moloko

10) Spiritualized (Album Version): Finley Quaye

11) What's Going On? (Edit): Mekon ft. Roxanne Shanté

12) Bohemian Like You (Album Version): The Dandy Warhols

20th February 2000: Saints & Sinners / The Beach (Motion Picture Soundtrack) (#1): 2

26th March 2000: XTRMNTR (#24): 1

26th March 2000: Things To Make And Do (#2): 9

16th April 2000: The Facts Of Life (#20): 7

5th June 2000: Felt Mountain (# n/a): 8 *

18th June 2000: Play (#5): 4

25th June 2000: Enter Spacecapsule EP (#33): 5

3rd September 2000: Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia (#42): 12 **

17th September 2000: Vanguard (#26): 10

17th September 2000: Relax With Mekon (#43): 11

15th October 2000: Sing When You're Winning / Light Years (#2): 3

22nd October 2000: Anjali (# n/a): 6

Side One (45:31) (GD) (M)

* Lovely Head had a second bite of the (black) cherry when it was re-released as a double A-side with Pilots (On A Star), peaking at #68 the week of 11th November 2001.

** Likewise, a re-release of Bohemian Like You rocketed the single to #5 in the week of 4th November 2001.

Lucky Bastard

Responding to absolutely no demand whatsoever, here's another trip back twenty years to the sounds of 2003.

My original shortlist was 20 songs, 10 forming yesterday's selection and the remaining 10 (in my mind at least) working well enough to provide another selection, just shy of an hour.

After a bit of a red herring with the opening two tracks, yesterday's turned out to be more of a downtempo, relaxed affair. Not so today. You want beats? You've got them. Well, at least until the closing track. But then, it's a remix by Boards Of Canada. You didn't really expect a gabba rave country crossover, did you?

A few of the big guns brought out for this one: Justin Robertson gets things off to a rousing start, Trevor Jackson ramps it up in his Playgroup guise and Ian Pooley's Solid Dub of a Nick Holder track is, well, solid.

After yesterday's DFA remix of The Rapture, two other bands from that (kind of) dance punk scene in the early 2000s - did it ever have a label? - come together. Dance To The Underground by Radio 4 was originally produced by The DFA and remixed by Trevor Jackson/Playgroup, both versions are personal favourites. The Faint (who also appeared in yesterday's selection) take the song in a different direction yet again and I like it.

 

Dubhed hero Rob Smith gives a shout for Bristol, whilst the rest of the mix variously takes in Bamako, Berlin, Paris, Ravenna, Cincinnati, Toronto, New York and Hull.

Today's title is lifted from a song by French DJ and producer Agoria aka Sébastien Devaud. Don't be fooled by the innocent sounding name, Spinach Girl is pure smut.

Enjoy!

1) Do It Proper (Justin Robertson Remix): Chicken Lips (2003)

2) Strict Machine (Rowan's Remix By Rowan Oliver): Goldfrapp (2003)

3) Bucci Bag (Playgroup Remix By Trevor Jackson): Andrea Doria (2003)

4) Serious (Album Version): Da Lata ft. Mamani Keita & Bémbé Ségué (2003)

5) Spinach Girl (Album Version): Agoria ft. Sylvie Marks & Kofea (2003) 

6) Dance To The Underground (Prance Mix By The Faint): Radio 4 (2003)

7) On My Mind (Ian Pooley's Solid Dub): Nick Holder ft. Sacha Williamson (2003)

8) Dead Again (Shirner Dub) (Remix By Reiner Schirner): Billie Ray Martin (2003)

9) Rock Dope Stupid (R & R Mix): Rob Smith (2003)

10) Last Walk Around Mirror Lake (Boards Of Canada Remix): Boom Bip (2003)

 

Lucky Bastard (59:46) (Box) (Mega)

Open Your Eyes And See

A fond farewell to Olivia Newton-John, 26 September 1948 to 8 August 2022.

 

I saw Grease on it's first release at the cinema in 1978, aged 7, and fell in love with Olivia Newton-John (although, in fairness, I loved all of the Pink Ladies) and I've lost count of the number of times I've seen it on TV since. Not that I actively seek it out or own the VHS, DVD, Blu Ray... but it's one of those films that's so embedded that a flick through the channels, a line of dialogue, a bars of a song, and I've found myself hopping on for the rest of the ride.

 

With the sad news of Olivia's passing, I'm guessing that clips and quotes from Grease will be all over the blogosphere and social media today, so I've opted for something else, but equally embedded in my young mind.

 

First off, I'll admit that I've never seen the movie musical Xanadu, which came out in 1980. Depending on which reviews you read, it's either brilliantly ambitious or woefully underwritten. However, it did contain a couple of pop song gems in the title track (with Electric Light Orchestra) and follow up single Magic. Xanadu spent two weeks at #1 in the UK whilst Magic managed a less impressive peak of #32.

I was less enamoured with follow up single Physical with it's, let's face it, pretty shonky video even for 1981. I'd assumed it was also a #1 as it felt like Top Of The Pops was always showing it (or at least an extract with the allegedly "racy" bits excised). I was surprised to find it only got as far as #7, although it managed 12 weeks in the Top 40.

 

Anyway, I still can't bring myself to post a link to that song/video so here's Goldfrapp performing a re-titled cover version of Physical in 2020, having originally recorded it as a B-side to her single Utopia in 2001.

Xanadu (Single Version): Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra (1980)

Magic (Single Version): Olivia Newton-John (1980)

U.K. Girls (Physical) (Live Version) (Cover of Olivia Newton-John): Goldfrapp (2020)

No Colours Or Shapes, No Sound In My Head

A return to my very infrequent selections based on past gigs I've attended. Today it's the turn of Goldfrapp.

 

Mrs. K loves Duran Duran* so when the original line-up, including errant guitar player Andy Taylor, reformed in 2004, then it was a no-brainer that we'd get tickets to see them live in concert. I'm not particularly a fan of Duran Duran or arena concerts, but the fact that the "special guests" were Goldfrapp was greatly appealing.

 

Being in Block G, Row H, I'll admit that the view of Alison Goldfrapp, Will Gregory and band was a tad distant and the nuances of the costumes and set pieces were a little lost on us. Aurally, the band were in great form and Alison inevitably in stunning voice. It was a relatively short support slot of just seven songs, heavily focused on second album, Black Cherry, with a couple of Felt Mountain tracks to open and their cover of Yes Sir I Can Boogie by Baccara thrown in for good measure. It's fair to say that for Mrs. K, like the PJ Harvey gig later the same year, Goldfrapp fell into the category of 'didn't like' but Duran Duran were great that night, so that's all that really mattered.

 

For today's selection, I'll dusted off some little-played remixes, the promo-only extended mix of Yes Sir and a nice new Italian bootleg re-edit of Lovely Head that I stumbled across recently.

 

1) Utopia (Sunroof Mix By Daniel Miller & Gareth Jones) (2000)

2) Lovely Head (Mix 2022 By Gianluca Avagliano) (2022)

3) Tiptoe (Album Version) (2003)

4) Twist (Single Mix) (2003)

5) Train (Ewan Pearson 6/8 Vocal) (2003)

6) Yes Sir (Extended Mix) (Cover of 'Yes Sir I Can Boogie' by Baccara) (2003)

7) Strict Machine (Paris Loaded) (Remix By Dave Bascombe & Tom Elmhirst) (2004) 

 

2000: Utopia EP: 1

2003: Black Cherry: 3 

2003: Train EP: 5

2003: Twist EP: 4

2003: Yes Sir EP: 6

2004: Strict Machine EP: 7 (aka Guitar Mix)

2022: Lovely Head EP: 1

 

No Colours Or Shapes, No Sound In My Head (41:41)

 

* Unlike my unconditional, arguably obsessive, love for certain acts, Mrs. K is a bit more discerning with Duran Duran. It's the original line-up only: little or no interest in their albums once Andy Taylor had slung his hook (both times).

Nothing More, Nothing Less, Love Is The Best

Today is a special day for a very special person. We've been to relatively few gigs together over the years, but they've always been special occasions.

 

Sometimes she didn't like the act (PJ Harvey), sometimes I haven't (Meat Loaf), sometimes the band have been damned awful on stage (Simple Minds), sometimes it's been possibly an emotional and brilliant experience (McAlmont & Butler, Green Gartside).

 

Regardless, it's always been all the better for the person at my side. 

This one's for you, Mrs. K.

 

1) At The River: Groove Armada (1999)

2) We Belong In This World Together: Stereo MC's (2001)
3) Bring It Back: McAlmont & Butler (2002)

4) Everybody Knows: The Free Association (2002) 

5) New Religion: Duran Duran (1982)

6) Black Cherry: Goldfrapp (2003)

6) Teardrop: Massive Attack (1998)

7) This Is Love: PJ Harvey (2000)

8) Spacehopper: Julian Cope (1987) 

9) New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84): Simple Minds (1982)

10) The Boom Boom Bap: Scritti Politti (2006)

11) Paradise By The Dashboard Light: Meat Loaf (1977) 

12) Suspicious Minds (Cover of Elvis Presley): Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra ft. Roland Gift (2013)

13) It Must Be Love (Cover of Labi Siffre): Madness (1981)

Footnote: Today’s selection is made up of songs we heard at gigs between 2001 up to & including Madness, postponed from 2020 but hopefully going ahead in June. 

With the latter exception, all of the songs featured in the set lists and are presented here in the order that we (first) saw them live. Julian Cope’s the only act we’ve seen together multiple times. 

Stereo MC’s & Simple Minds were both unlikely headliners at the Bristol Community Festival aka Ashton Court Festival. The latter really were appallingly bad.

Roland Gift was the guest vocalist when we saw Jools Holland’s band at Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire. And bloody good he was too. 

Goldfrapp supported Duran Duran at the NEC in Birmingham for their first (only) reunion tour with the original line up including Andy Taylor.