Decayed IV: 2006

Side 1 of a completely made up cassette compilation, stepping through the 2000s.

When approaching this post, 2006 didn't particularly stand out. I was half way though my first 3-year stint as a blogger, still with less than 100 posts by year end. 

However, it proved to be a helpful reminder of what I got up to in 2006, mostly going to comedy clubs and the theatre with Mrs. K, by the look of it. Little surprise, as the excellent Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken pub was at the end of our street, and Bristol city centre was a short walk away.

Comedy shows in 2006 included Adam Hills, Mark Thomas, Matt Welcome, Omid Djalili, Richard Herring and, er, Russell Brand.

Theatre-wise, we experienced 

Air Guitar by Peter Kesterston

Nights At The Circus by Angela Carter, adapted by Tom Morris and Emma Rice

Present Laughter by Noël Coward, starring Simon Callow

Restoration by Edward Bond

The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter

The Taming Of The Shrew by William Shakespeare

Jesus Christ, It’s Christmas by Bristol-based theatre company Paper Aeroplane

and, er. Scrooge, based on the 1970 film musical by Leslie Bricusse and starring Shane Richie ...and yes, he did shout "Taxi for Walford!" at the end.

I also enjoyed reading a fair few books, such as 

American Ghosts & Old World Wonders by Angela Carter

Black Hole by Charles Burns

N.P. by Banana Yoshimoto

Feeding Frenzy by Will Self

Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid On Earth by Chris Ware
Planet Karen by Karen Ellis

Whoa Nellie! by Jaime Hernandez

and The Fountain At The Centre Of The World by Robert Newman... actually, that one was shit, and the former star of The Mary Whitehouse Experience was a creepy sleazeball when we saw him perform stand-up around the same time.

As for TV, we were both obsessed with Lost and Dog The Bounty Hunter, Saxondale and Nathan Barley. To be honest, the latter two were me, Mrs. K wasn't at all bothered by them.

2006 was Clan K's first experience of Go Ape in the Forest of Dean; tree tops, rope walks and zip slides, it was a blast. 

Mrs. K and I also visited the Relaxation Centre in Bristol, sampling the outdoor and indoor hot tubs, steam room, sauna and floatation room and we both felt unbelievably great afterwards. I then blew it all the same evening as my oldest friend Stuart was in town and mandatory ale quaffing in The Three Sugar Loaves and The White Lion ensued, including pints of the prophetically named Doom. 

Gig-wise, 2006 was pitifully limited to Julian Cope in February and the Ashton Court Festival in July.

I've written about this previously, but 2006 was the year that Mrs. K and I experienced unexpected headliners Simple Minds. The once-free festival now charged entry, but £9.00 per day was pretty good, considering the range of music on offer.

What wasn't pretty good was Jim Kerr and co. In my blog review, I wrote that "Don’t You Forget About Me, a dire cover of Van Morrison’s Gloria and the closing third encore (!) of Alive And Kicking were little more than extended karaoke tracks, with Kerr preferring the audience to do the work on the choruses."

It wasn't all bad: I cited the "sole redeeming moment [as the] rendition of New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84) seemingly inspired by Utah Saints’ rousing mid-1990s cover version." 

In closing, I ruefully reflected that "Perhaps the festival is still a rites of passage for some, but my feelings towards Ashton Court were aptly personified by Jim Kerr: over priced, over the hill, out of touch and with an inflated sense of self-importance." Oh dear!

On a happier note, we had a fun holiday in Bulgaria in October.

But what else was going on in 2006. Here's a non-exhaustive and entirely subjective run through of some events (and non-events, I might argue).

1st January

The first UK #1 single of the year was That's My Goal by Shayne Ward. 

21st March

Twitter launched. Five days later, Elon Musk's company SpaceX's first launch of the Falcon 1 rocket crashed to Earth shortly after liftoff. Sixteen years, Musk acquired Twitter, with similar results, culturally speaking.

6th May

Grant McLennan of The Go-Betweens died of a heart attack at his home in Brisbane, Australia, aged just 48.

20th May

Finnish band Lordi won The Eurovision Song Contest with Hard Rock Hallelujah.

9th July

Italy beat France to win the FIFA World Cup.

24th August

The International Astronomical Union defines 'planet' at it's 26th General Assembly, consequently relegating Pluto to 'dwarf planet' status. Poor Pluto.

4th September

Steve Irwin, Australian TV legend and conservationist, is fatally stung in the heart by a stingray while filming underwater.

23rd November

Alexander Litvinenko, former Russian Federal Security Service officer and subsequent critic of the Putin administration, dies after being poisoned with Polonium-210. 

30th December

Saddam Hussein is executed by hanging for crimes against humanity.

31st December

The last UK #1 single of 2006 is A Moment Like This by Leona Lewis.

Yep, if we weren't facing the existential threat of talent shows like The X-Factor, music buying on physical formats was also under threat. Crazy by Gnarls Barkley became the first single to top the UK Singles Chart on download sales alone. Crazy remained at the top of the UK singles chart for nine weeks, the longest #1 spell for more than a decade. 

It's one of two #1's to appear in today's selection, albeit in a DIY extended version by DreamTime, whose music blog I was obsessed with at the time, even if the edits themselves were a bit hit and miss. Crazy definitely sits in the 'hit' camp for me.

The other #1 is by Arctic Monkeys, who also used the internet to their advantage, building up a groundswell of interest and support, which helped their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not become the fastest selling debut album in UK chart history at the time.

Aside from that, it's the usual eclectic mix of the well known and the wilfully obscure. And yes, although I committed the crime of not including The White Stripes, I have opted for Jack White's other band, The Raconteurs. Contrary sod, aren't I? Great song, though.

I missed The Go! Team at the Ashton Court Festival - they headlined the previous day - and I've still yet to see them live, but I love their gloriously joyful racket as much now as I did 20 years ago when I first heard them.

Muse and The Killers I'm less fussed by, but I do like the remixes featured here. Tahiti 80, Phoenix and Peter, Björn & John (with Victoria Bergsman) brings some European sunshine to proceedings. I finally got to see Peter at least live on stage, as the cornerstone of Robert Forster's Swedish Band in Cardiff last month.

I can’t promise the same level of diary diving tomorrow as I have done today, but 2007 will offer up another dozen examples of why the 2000s weren't so bad for music after all.

1) Big Day (Album Version): Tahiti 80

2) Young Folks (Album Version): Peter, Björn & John ft. Victoria Bergsman

3) Long Distance Call (25 Hours A Day Mix By Pierrick Devin): Phoenix

4) Cash Machine (Video Version 2): Hard-Fi

5) Why Won't You Give Me Your Love? (Album Version): The Zutons

6) Steady, As She Goes (Album Version): The Raconteurs

7) Crazy (DreamTime Mix): Gnarls Barkley

8) Ladyflash (Album Version): The Go! Team

9) Supermassive Black Hole (Team9 Remix By Neil Mason): Muse

10) Standing In The Way Of Control (Radio Edit): Gossip

11) When You Were Young (Jacques Lu Cont's Thin White Duke Radio Edit By Stuart Price): The Killers

12) When The Sun Goes Down (Album Version): Arctic Monkeys

1st January 2006: Stars Of CCTV (#14): 4

22nd January 2006: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (#1): 12

5th February 2006: Thunder, Lightning, Strike (#26): 8

5th March 2006: Fosbury (# n/a): 1

26th March 2006: It's Never Been Like That (# n/a): 3

2nd April 2006: St. Elsewhere (#1): 7

9th April 2006: Tired Of Hanging Around (#9): 5

30th April 2006: Broken Boy Soldiers (#4): 6

25th June 2006: Black Holes & Revelations (#4): 9

13th August 2006: Writer's Block (#35): 2 *

24th September 2006: Sam's Town (#2): 11

5th November 2006: Standing In The Way Of Control (#64): 10 **

Side One (46:14) (GD) (M)

* Young Folks was subsequently re-released the following year and got to #13 in the week of 23rd September 2007

** Likewise, Standing In The Way Of Control got a second bite of the cherry when it returned to the charts the week of 4th March 2007 with a peak of #7

If you're hungry for more, why not sample my selections from 1986 and 1996?

Not Quite Noughtie Enough

I'm going to spend a large chunk of this post talking about someone else's blog and posts, but bear with me, there's a brand new Dubhed selection waiting for you at the end.

SWC at the ever-excellent No Badger Required has just concluded The Noughty Forty, a countdown of the greatest albums of the 2000s. All voted for by a Musical Jury, assembled from music blog creators and commenters from around the globe. 

 

NBR is an essential read anyway, not a single one feeling like it's been dashed off in the seconds that the idea itself is forming (yes, I'm looking at myself here). There's something even more impressive about series like this though, not least the sheer amount of effort that goes into planning, coordinating and curating the posts. And of course it sparks debate, anticipation and - let's be honest - a degree of feverish excitement as it reaches the Top Ten. 

I was privileged once again to be a Musical Jury Member for this series. SWC assigns aliases to all and I won't reveal mine here, though my arch or overly earnest comments may be a giveaway. 

I was pleased with the #1 choice, an artist and album I voted for though not my top scorer (which made the Top 10, but not the Top 5). Back in the summer, when this was just a plan taking shape in SWC's mind, he invited potential Musical Jury Members to submit their own nominations. 

Over 300 nominations were submitted. Of these, SWC presented us with a longlist of 74, from which to pick our Top 20. After totting up the scores, The Noughty Forty was finalised, with a few surprises and an eleventh hour vote tipping the balance between the top two.

SWC not only delivered The Noughty Forty, but preceded it with ten of Not Quite The Greatest Albums Of The 00s, also sharing the albums that made #41 & #42 in the final list. The series was then bookended with four Honorable Mentions, meaning that NBR readers were treated to 56 albums in total. 

 

I won't spoil things by posting the various lists here. If you haven't already followed the countdown on No Badger Required, go and check it out. You'll get to experience some great music, some controversial voting decisions and best of all, some top notch writing that brings the whole thing to life. 

No Badger Required is 3 years old this month and November will see another series, this time focusing on the number 3. Not in the way that you might expect, of course, but naturally it's going to be required reading for the next 30 days. SWC sets the bar high, so much so that I'm on the Dubhed ladder, head tilted as far back as it will go, straining to see the bar up above me. 

A constant inspiration and pace setter. Here's to you, SWC, and many more years of NBR to come.

So... what of today's selection?

Well, back at the beginning, when I was invited to submit nominations for the best albums of the 2000s, I applied some rules of my own. The most obvious one being that I had to own the albums, either physically or digitally, in their entirety. 

 

This - and the subsequent Noughty Forty - immediately highlighted how many contenders where I had a few songs, but not the entire album. Examples being The Streets, Radiohead, The Strokes and Grandaddy.

The other dawning realisation when following the final run down was how many albums from the 2000s I'd never even heard in full at all. Arctic Monkeys, Art Brut, The Horrors, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Long Blondes. I'm working on it now.

The other rule which I mostly followed was to exclude nominations for an album which I thought would receive multiple votes from the MJMs and would therefore be a shoo in for the longlist, if not the final 40. Therefore, I left out LCD Soundsystem, Radiohead, PJ Harvey, Franz Ferdinand and The White Stripes, to name a few. 

Not that my 20 nominations were by any means albums that I didn't consider to be anything other than essential listens. Or, so obscure that mine would be the only nomination. I mean, White Bread Black Beer by Scritti Politti had to be Top 30, if not higher, surely?

Of my 20 suggestions, 1 made the Not Quite The Greatest Albums Of The 00s list, 1 featured in the Honorable Mentions and 1 in The Noughty Forty...the Top 30 in fact, though it's no spoiler to say that it wasn't Scritti Poliiti.

So, 17 of my 20 nominations didn't get even a whiff of fame. One other artist did make the lower reaches of the countdown, though not with the album that I nominated!

However, all of this of course inspired today's selection. Without fear or favour, I've randomly selected 12 to create a snappy compilation to entertain for the next three quarters of an hour. 

 

Hopefully, a few of them will provoke an "Oh, yeah!" response. Others may be unfamiliar, but inspire a search to check out the rest of the album, which will undoubtedly be worth your time and effort.

It's an eclectic mix, as always. Back in 2000, it was hard to imagine that it would be 2024 before The The's next full band, non-soundtrack album would appear. Sadly, we're still waiting for Green Gartside's follow up to White Bread Black Beer, and each year hope diminishes. A couple of artists - Mark Linkous and Mark Lanegan - have passed on, leaving us with a rich musical legacy, these collaborative albums included.

Mark Lanegan's association with electronic artists Soulsavers was perhaps no surprise, given his voracious appetite for working with others across multiple musical genres. What was unexpected was N.A.S.A.'s 2009 album The Spirit Of Apollo, not least from it's dizzying spread of guest artists, but that their number included Tom Waits, here 'duetting' with rapper Kool Keith.

There are a few albums that didn't make my nominations list, partly because I thought that no-one else would submit them, partly because I will deliver on my promise to SWC a seeming eternity ago to submit a Nearly Perfect Albums guest post for his consideration. I need to get on with it!

In the meantime, enjoy this companion piece/celebration of an inspirational blog, as it's likely back to the usual nonsense on Saturday.

 

1) The Whisperers: The The (2000)

2) Paris Is Burning: Ladyhawke (2008)

3) Superstylin': Groove Armada (2001)

4) It's A Funny Thing: Edwyn Collins (2002)

5) Road To No Regret: Scritti Politti (2006)

6) Pain: Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse ft. Iggy Pop (2009)

7) Ghosts Of You And Me: Soulsavers ft. Mark Lanegan (2007)

8) The Moss: Daníel Ágúst (2005)

9) Something Inside Of Me: The Coral (2005)

10) Huddle Formation: The Go! Team (2004)

11) Young Bride: Midlake (2006)

12) Spacious Thoughts: N.A.S.A. ft. Tom Waits & Kool Keith (2009)

2000: Naked Self: 1

2001: Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub): 3

2002: Doctor Syntax: 4

2004: Thunder, Lightning, Strike: 10

2005: Swallowed A Star: 8

2005: The Invisible Invasion: 9 

2006: The Trials Of Van Occupanther: 11

2006: White Bread Black Beer: 5 

2007: It's Not How Far You Fall, It's The Way You Land: 7

2008: Ladyhawke: 2

2009: Dark Night Of The Soul: 6

2009: The Spirit Of Apollo: 12

Not Quite Noughtie Enough (46:09) (KF) (Mega)

Get A Grip

Those of you of a certain vintage may recognise Norman "Gripper" Stebson, Grange Hill wrong 'un from 1980, expelled in 1983. 

Nothing wrong about this line-up, however. The Vinyl Villain's posting Lambchop's superb cover of This Corrosion by The Sisters Of Mercy on Tuesday got me thinking of today's opening song and from there a Dubhed selection was born. 

The similarly-titled song by A Certain Ratio gets a stunning synth rinse by Maps, whilst Thomas Leer dusts off his song of the same name, recorded in 2004 and languishing in the vaults until finally released in 2022.

Amateur Night In The Big Top was essentially a duo of Shaun Ryder and Shane Norton, with one self-titled (and hugely underrated) album and a few singles. Clowns was co-written and co-produced by Pete Carroll and Stephen Mallinder and gets a shoo in here courtesy of the remix artist Gripper.

The selection closes with a 12" remix of The Stranglers' classic, released in 1989 as far as I can recall to promote a greatest hits collection. The remix is an odd, welding the percussion track from The Sound Of The Crowd by The Human League to the undercarriage and generally making the song sound more lightweight. Not a patch on the original version, obviously, but an oddity that I think would have sounded as out of place in 1989 as it does now.

Come back here tomorrow for a tale of raffle tickets, home made marmalade and sweet, sweet music.

 

1) (Get A) Grip (On Yourself) (Cover of The Stranglers): Lambchop (2004)

2) Devil's Grip: The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown (1967)

3) Get A Grip (Maps Remix By James Chapman): A Certain Ratio ft. Maria Uzor (2021)

4) Kick It (Hippy Grip) (Remix By Randy Wilson): Nitzer Ebb (1995)

5) Get A Grip: Thomas Leer (2004)

6) Drums In A Grip (Wax Doctor Mix By Paul Saunders): Frank De Wulf (1996)

7) Clowns (Gripper Mix By Alan Gubby): Amateur Night In The Big Top (2003)

8) Grip Like A Vice (Black Affair Mix By Steve Mason): The Go! Team (2007)

9) Phantom Grip: Rival Consoles (2018)

10) Elektro (He Held The World In His Iron Grip) (Part Two): Stereolab (1992)

11) Grip '89 (Grippin' Stuff Mix By Barry Cooder & Taff B. Dylan): The Stranglers (1989)

Get A Grip (52:20) (KF) (Mega)

We Came Here To Rock The Microphone

I had to double check, as I couldn't believe that I haven't posted about The Go! Team previously. It's true, this is their first appearance on this blog. I was also surprised to find, on checking my digital collection, that I  either haven't uploaded or along the way have lost debut album Thunder, Lightning, Strike. The same fate seems to have befallen follow up, Proof Of Youth, although I do have the bonus disc that came with initial copies of the CD. Apart from that, my playlist is currently limited to contemporary B-sides and remixes purchased from their Bandcamp page earlier this year. Oh, and the only CD single by The Go! Team that I own. But what a corker it is. Here's what I had to say about it in Jukebox Juicebox #11 on my old blog, way back on Saturday 25tb March 2006:

 

The latest in a long line of collectives combining a dizzying number of samples with enthusiastic live vocals and instruments, The Go! Team may be this year's Avalanches (whatever happened to them?), but they bring a fun and frenetic activity that's a welcome counter to the static barstool crooning of mainstream pop acts these days. Culling elements from The Supremes' "Come See About Me", "I Can't Rest" by Fontella Bass and Davy DMX's "The DMX Will Rock You", "Ladyflash" is a gloriously upbeat mash up. Originally released in late 2004, but seems to have made more impact this time around. Accompanying track "The Wrath Of Mikey" is fun, but the remixes will fill out this EP are perhaps of greater interest. Kevin Shield's "Huddle Flash", which combines the lead track with another Go! Team song "Huddle Formation" is a surprise. I'd been expecting something along the lines of his previous cacaphonic wall-of-noise reworks. Instead, this barely tampers with the Go! Team formula and is all the better for that. Likewise, the "Simian Mobile Disco Mix" removes most of the rapping and incorporates further electro sounds, but works equally well. It's difficult to say whether the Go! Team will still be making an impact, even in two years' time. However, if this their own one-hit wonder, they could have done a lot worse.

 

I smile a little when reading those last couple of sentences as, 15 years on, The Go! Team are still very a going concern. Sixth album Get Up Sequences Part One came out in July 2021 on Memphis Industries, the band's record label since 2003. It's perhaps a less frenetic, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink wall of sound these days, replaced with a more organic, band feel and the vocals much more to the fore, but that's really not meant as a criticism. The current album's title is spot on: the urge to get up, bounce around to the music and generally just enjoy the moment is strong. Doing it at 6.00am in the lounge, with a startled cat and family sleeping elsewhere is perhaps not the ideal setting. Especially if you have wired headphones plugged into your PC. The cord is not as long as I thought it is was...

Whilst I assess the physical and emotional damage, here are videos for the 4 tracks on my Ladyflash CD single. 

 

The Wrath Of Mikey here is a different, live version from Coachella in 2006; the original single version was reworked and renamed The Wrath Of Marcie for second album Proof Of Youth.

The 2006 re-release of Ladyflash/Huddle Formation included further remixes from Hot Chip and RJD2 but neither beat the Kevin Shields or Simian Mobile Disco versions here.

Get Up Sequences Part One was preceded by the single Cookie Scene in July 2020.

Several more singles and videos from the album appeared in 2021, including Pow and A Bee Without Its Sting.

 

But honestly, just buy the whole album. It's described on The Go! Team website as "soda fountain soul, a handclap happening, a drumstick bulletin, a meteor shower in mixed media". What more do you need?!

Ladyflash (Album Version) (2004)

The Wrath Of Mikey (Live @ Coachella, 2006)

Huddle Flash (Kevin Shields v The Go! Team) (2006)

Ladyflash (Simian Mobile Disco Mix) (2006)

Cookie Scene (2020)

Pow (2021) 

A Bee Without Its Sting (2021)