Decayed Prelude

Exactly eight months ago, I posted Decadance V: 1999, the final year in my mixtape series covering the 1990s, itself a follow on from Decade, the original cassette compilations I had recorded to sum up the 1980s.

In an attempt to create some (pre-millennial) tension, I concluded my post with a portentous - many (me included) would say pretentious - statement

I suspect that when I get around to a series on the Noughties, 

the gulf between my singles selections and the UK charts will be vast, 

yet I know that like Decadance and Decade, 

there will be many gems to be uncovered and shared. 

I'm not planning on doing it any time soon, 

possibly not even this year, though I have come up with the series name. 

Decayed. 

Well, it proved to be a scratch that I needed to itch sooner rather than later, it seems!

And so, here we are again, with a prelude to a series that will start properly next Saturday (8th) and run for the next 5 weekends.

As before, each mixtape will cover a single year via a dozen songs to fit on, in old money, one side of a C90 cassette, just like the original Decade series managed back in the day.

It turned out that "the gulf between my singles selections and the UK charts" was not as vast as I suspected and there are a fair share of UK hits, number ones even, throughout. That said, I've reserved the right to include songs that spectacularly failed to dent the Top 100, just because I think they're great songs and should've had more love at the time. Especially when you consider some of the inexorable crap polluting the upper regions of the Top 40 in this decade.

This was a decade of significant changes in my life: becoming a homeowner, a husband, a father; I gained friends and lost friends; soaring highs and deep, deep lows. And always music to discover or rediscover and rejoice in.

Today's prelude selection features ten songs, each charting in the UK in respective years from 2000 to 2009, starting and ending with a #1 hit. None of the artists featured today will appear in the main series. Yep, this is the only time that you'll hear The White Stripes or Massive Attack in the next five weeks. 

Much as I'd like to make an exception, Julian Cope will be absent from proceedings, as The Arch Drude didn't release any singles in the 2000s. Some might argue that he didn't release any decent albums either, but I will stick my fingers in my ears and sing ba ba ba ba ba if I see any of this nonsense.

A feature (gimmck, you say?) of the Decadance series was my efforts to shoehorn in a MAW (Mandatory Andrew Weatherall) track into every year, mostly remixes of other artists, which proved to be less difficult than I first thought.

No such studio trickery this time, though I can reveal that The Guv'nor will be making an appearance in this series, with a surprise Top 30 single.

But what of the ten that have made the cut?

Groovejet by Spiller was a ubiquitous tune in the summer of 2000, although in terms of chart action, it followed the growing trend of singles debuting at #1 then dropping out immediately after. In fairness, Groovejet dropped to #2, then #3, and spent 12 weeks in the Top 40, 30 weeks in the Top 100, which clearly reflected it's popularity. 

It also proved to be a relaunch for Sophie Ellis-Bextor, fresh from the break up of theaudience and about to launch a solo career that, a quarter of a century later, has seen her elevated to National Treasure status.

In 2001, The Avalanches came out of nowhere (well, Australia) with an approach to sampling and cut-ups that as dizzying as it was unsustainable. Since I Left You sounds as magical now as it did then and the album of the same name that followed was a breathtaking piece of work. I don't know the full story of the  'extended alternate version' featured here, and discovered on YouTube in 2016, but I reckon it's a DIY cut and edit job by the poster, the wonderfully named Chungus Bungus.

From two seven-minute songs to one that comes in at under two minutes, it can only be The White Stripes. It took me a while to catch on to Jack and Meg's back-to-basics music and whilst I don't love everything they did, singles like Fell In Love With A Girl were spot on, retro yet sounding fresh and exciting. I'm surprised that this stalled just outside the Top 20 in March 2002.

Massive Attack returned in 2003 with 100th Window, and lead single Special Cases, featuring Sinéad O'Connor. Only four albums in, yet a world apart from the Blue Lines album just over a decade before. I finally got to see Massive Attack live in concert the following year, appropriately enough in our shared birthplace, Bristol.

Reign was originally released on the UNKLE album Never, Never Land in 2003, then as a single, peaking at #40 in November 2004. The song features Ian Brown, at this point half a decade into his solo career, with no hope of The Stone Roses getting back together again. 

Antony & The Johnsons caused a stir in 2005 when they won the Mercury Music Prize with debut album I Am A Bird Now, qualifying in part as Antony Hegarty (now Anonhi) had been born in Chichester, West Sussex. You Are My Sister features a beautiful duet with Boy George, who also enjoyed an artistic renaissance in the 2000s.

The Automatic had a monster hit with, er. Monster in June 2006. It looks like the band called it a day in 2010, after three albums. I can confidently say that I have never knowingly heard another song by The Automatic and, much as I like Monster, I don't feel a strong urge to check out their catalogue. 

Asobi Seksu, on the other hand, were a band that I feel for as soon as I heard the single Strawberries in 2007. Clearly the record buying public didn't agree, as Strawberries managed only one week at #54 before disappearing without trace. Sadly, Asobi Seksu have been on 'indefinite hiatus' since 2013, though I hold hope of a musical reunion one day.

When I started accessing loads of free MP3s via the RCRD LBL in 2007, I discovered loads of new artists and songs as a result. Paper Planes by M.I.A. is a good example, with a plethora of official and unofficial remixes offering up for download. Roughly a year later, it was released as a physical single in the UK, cracking the Top 20 in September 2008. The mix I've picked here, by then-partner Diplo, retains The Clash sample and adds raps from Big Bun and Rich Boy. Whatever happened to them?!

Another RCRD LBL freebie in 2008 was Just Dance by Lady Gaga, remixed by the RAC (that's the Remix Artist Collective, not the motoring services company!) Just Dance subsequently scored Lady Gaga her first UK #1 in January 2009, followed a couple of months later by Poker Face. Her debut album was appropriately titled The Fame.

As with previous series, for all those info heads, I've listed the parent EP or album, and the single's peak position in the UK charts. I've also included the date it got there which sometimes, but not always, is the same week that it debuted.

If you're thinking, as I did back in March, that the 2000s was the decade that your music tastes acrimoniously parted from the UK Top 100, stick around for the next five weeks, you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

1) Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) (Spiller's Extended Vocal Mix): Spiller ft. Sophie Ellis-Bextor (2000) 

2) Since I Left You (Extended Alternate Version By Chungus Bungus): The Avalanches (2016)

3) Fell In Love With A Girl: The White Stripes (2002)

4) Special Cases (Album Version): Massive Attack ft. Sinéad O'Connor (2003)

5) Reign (Album Version): UNKLE ft. Ian Brown (2004)

6) You Are My Sister: Antony & The Johnsons ft. Boy George (2005)

7) Monster (Album Version): The Automatic (2006)

8) Strawberries (Album Version): Asobi Seksu (2007)

9) Paper Planes (Diplo Street Remix): M.I.A. ft. Big Bun & Rich Boy (2008)

10) Just Dance (RAC Mix By André Allen Anjos): Lady Gaga ft. Colby O'Donis (2008)

20th August 2000: Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) EP (#1): 1

1st April 2001: Since I Left You (#16): 2

3rd March 2002: White Blood Cells (#21): 3

2nd March 2003: 100th Window (#15): 4

21st November 2004: Never, Never, Land (#40): 5

4th December 2005: I Am A Bird Now (#39): 6

11th June 2006: Not Accepted Anywhere (#4): 7

12th November 2007: Citrus (# 54): 8

28th September 2008: Kala (#19): 9

11th January 2009: The Fame (#1): 10

 

Decayed Prelude (45:37) (GD) (M)

Bring Out Your Junk On Wednesday And We'll Give It A Home

...or, here's something I made earlier. Much earlier. 

 

Here's a review of The White Stripes' then-new single that appeared on my old blog in June 2007.

 

I have this strange connection with certain bands, in that I like their songs that I hear, read their interviews, articles and reviews with interest and yet don’t get around to actually buying any of their records. Perversely, I’ll often pick up records that I’ve never heard by bands I know little or nothing about, often for the flimsiest of reasons, but that’s a whole other story. 

 

So, this happens to be the first White Stripes record that I’ve bought, even though I’ve been a ‘fan’ since I saw the video for Fell In Love With A Girl donkeys years ago. I haven’t even got around to downloading anything by them; the best my iPod can muster are mash-ups of 7 Nation Army and The Doorbell Song, pairing the duo with Alter Ego and Jay-Z respectively. 

 

In fact, the impetus for getting this record without having heard it was that part one – the one-sided, etched red vinyl 7” of Rag And Bone – was a giveaway with the 9 Jun issue of NME. Icky Thump was released the following week, seven days before the album of the same name.  

 

Rag And Bone is my favourite of the three songs here, mainly for the subject matter, the ‘in character’ dialogue between Jack and Meg that bridges each verse and a guitar hook that sounds uncannily like Mud’s 1973 smash Tiger Feet.

 

In fact, there’s a 1970s (by way of the 1950s) feel pervading this EP, the antiquated guitar licks and muffled rhythms evoking the ghosts of blues and rock ‘n’ roll. Yet at the same time, The White Stripes continue to sound fresh and exciting.  

 

Icky Thump reminds me of Led Zeppelin of all things, with Jack’s vocals recalling Robert Plant, some mighty Jimmy Page-esque riffs and a naggingly insistent keyboard and drum combo. 

 

Exclusive B-side Baby Brother is unabashed blues rock, the reference points here being Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and The Cramps. It’s short and sweet but lacks the inventiveness of the previous two songs.

 

Fast forward to 2024 and whilst I managed to catch up with The White Stripes' back catalogue in the years that followed. Icky Thump turned out to be their sixth and final album. In September 2007, The White Stripes cancelled the remainder of their tour dates in the USA and UK. The band went on hiatus and though Jack White referenced plans for a seventh album, The White Strips officially called it a day in February 2011.

I haven't heard this single in a long while and it's been good to revisit the songs again. In resurrecting this review for today's post, I also discovered two wonderful fan-made films for Rag And Bone and Baby Brother, neither of which had an official video back in the day.

Whilst The White Stripes arguably made better music, these songs take me back to a particular place and time and it's a good place to revisit.

If, like me, you're of a certain vintage and lived in the UK during the 1970s when there were only three TV channels, none of which ran 24/7, then you'll almost certainly have got the reference point for Icky Thump. 

 

If you weren't, brace yourself.

 

 

I've Seen The Rain

Today's post was supposed to be a new album review but due to some technical issues, I'm parking that one for now and present instead a random selection from this week's playlist. And a pleasingly eclectic mix it is, too.

I've been having a bit of a clear out since the New Year, the same dilemma covered by Swiss Adam and the prompt for his excellent current 'Various Artists' series, i.e. what to do with the ton of compilation CDs, mostly acquired from being cover mounted with music magazines.

As Adam notes, some of these are really good and bear repeated listens. But... I only have a plug-in USB CD/DVD drive and the CD/radio that was infrequently used by Lady K when she was younger. My car has no CD player and I've ripped all of the CDs to my digital collection. I do still have the CD player element of my stacking hifi, but it's been boxed in the loft for several years due to lack of space. So, the likelihood of getting a CD out for a listen is more and more limited. I'd much rather listen to vinyl when I'm relaxing and everywhere else, it's my phone every time.

I'm gradually sorting through the CDs and whittling them down in small amounts every week, either charity shops (selected ones that I know have an interested music CD buying footfall) or local freecycle sites. However, it's also provided an opportunity to revisit the compilations, mingled in with my general listening, each week. Here's a C90-friendly side with a baker's dozen of songs from the past seven day's travels.

To start, a song from Love Above All, an Uncut magazine compilation curated by Devendra Banhart in 2007. It's a cracking collection of artists including a few that were completely new to me. Kyle Tomzo aka Kyle Thomas is one example, with the rather lovely song Bicycle.

From there, the wonderful Katy J Pearson with a track from her EP of covers from The Wicker Man soundtrack, released last year to commemorate the film's 50th anniversary. Featuring Broadside Hacks, this is a beautiful bridge between Kyle Tomzo's stripped acoustics and the lush, sweeping strings to follow.

A compilation of James Bond themes was released in 1992 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Dr. No, the first 'official' release in the series, starring Sean Connery as 007. You Only Live Twice was probably my favourite of his and the theme song by Nancy Sinatra never gets old.

Back further in time to 1952 (I seem to have been on a real 1950s riff recently) and the brilliantly titled I Want A Slice Of Your Puddin' by Julius King. Much as I would love to own the original 10" shellac release, Mojo magazine spared me the expense by including it on their excellent compilation CD Love In Vain: The Old Weird Blues last year.

New Year's Eve by First Aid Kit is a more random selection as I don't own the parent album, The Lion's Roar (an oversight which I need to correct). This song was courtesy of that bastion of good taste, Charity Chic, in his Happy Hogmanay post at the close of 2023.

I was quite surprised to find that the Mojo magazine CD Let's Shake Hands: A Third Man Records Anthology was released as far back as 2019 as it still feels quite recent in my mind. In addition to music from the label's current roster, the compilation included The White Stripes' cover of a Love classic.

In 2016, Marc Almond released the career-spanning Trials Of Eyeliner: The Anthology 1979/2016, a mammoth undertaking that was jaw-dropping in it's breadth of material. The Guilt Of My Secret was an Almond co-write with Andrei Samsonov that first appeared on the deluxe edition reissue of album Glorious in 2001. It speaks of the quality of Marc Almond's music that songs as good as this could sit gathering dust for years.

A complete change of pace now with The Jesus Lizard, one of only three songs of theirs in my collection, all from various artists CDs. Gladiator came to me via another Mojo magazine compilation, Teen Spirit (sub-titled "15 Noise-Filled Classics From The American Underground Scene 1989-1992") which accompanied a cover feature on Nirvana. I didn't follow much of this at the time, outside some of the obvious ones. I'm not sure that The Jesus Lizard and others would have changed my life at that point in time, but it's an enjoyable CD.

Opinion seems to be divided on Know Your Enemy, the 2001 album by Manic Street Preachers. I've liked Let Robeson Sing since I first heard it but was less familiar with the album that it sprang from, or that the original intention was to release two separate albums simultaneously. I've subsequently revisited Know Your Enemy as well as 2022's deluxe edition which presents this song in it's 'intended' place within the first of the two planned albums, Door To The River.

Daniel Johnston is an artist that I've read and heard a lot about but who was also poorly represented in my collection. That was remedied in a big way in mid-December when the Shimmy-Disc label released Daniel's first 14 albums on Bandcamp, available for the first 48 hours as a 'name your price' download. I couldn't resist and bought all 14 for little more than 20 quid. I'm working my way through each album slowly and surely. I've picked Daniel's song The Beatles from his 1983 cassette-only 4th album, Yip/Jump Music. It's fair to say that the songs are resolutely lo-fi and the vocals a bit Marmite, but I'm really enjoying this crash course introduction to his music.

Another mammoth Bandcamp purchase late last year was the 84-track Spanish Cadillac Selected compilation of music by James Ray, spanning his early releases with The Performance and James Ray's Gangwar to more contemporary work with 25men and The Longfolk. This Is This is from another project, The MK Ultra, and the closing track of the 1994 album of the same name.

Last and most certainly not least is the welcome return of John Holt. I'll Take A Melody was written by Allen Toussaint and originally released by The Hues Corporation in 1974. John Holt reggae-fied the song for a single in 1976 and it was dusted off and given a polish for last year's Back In Time compilation. Which is as good a way as any to wrap up this selection.

1) Bicycle: Kyle Tomzo (2007)

2) Lullaby (Cover of Magnet): Katy J Pearson ft. Broadside Hacks (2023)

3) You Only Live Twice: Nancy Sinatra (1967)

4) I Want A Slice Of Your Puddin': Julius King (1952)

5) I'll Take You There: The Staple Singers (1972)

6) New Year's Eve: First Aid Kit (2012)

7) Signed D.C. (Cover of Love): The White Stripes (2011)

8) The Guilt Of My Secret: Marc Almond ft. Laska Omnia & Andrei Samsonov (2001)

9) Gladiator: The Jesus Lizard (1992)

10) Let Robeson Sing (Album Version): Manic Street Preachers (2001)

11) The Beatles: Daniel Johnston (1983)

12) This Is This: The MK Ultra (1994)

13) I'll Take A Melody (Cover of The Hues Corporation): John Holt (1976)

1983: Yip/Jump Music: 11

1992: The Best Of James Bond: 30th Anniversary Collection: 3

2001: Know Your Enemy: 10

2004: Mob Life: 16 Great Tracks From The Films Of Martin Scorsese: 5

2007: Love Above All: Inside The Mind Of The Acid-Folk King (Compiled By Devendra Banhart): 1

2012: The Lion's Roar: 6 

2015: Spanish Cadillac Selected: 12

2016: Trials Of Eyeliner: The Anthology 1979/2016: 8

2017: Teen Spirit: 15 Noise-Filled Classics From The American Underground Scene 1989-1992: 9

2019: Let's Shake Hands: A Third Man Records Anthology: 7

2023: Back In Time: 13

2023: Love In Vain: The Old Weird Blues: 4

2023: The Wicker Man EP: 2

I've Seen The Rain (45:00) (KF) (Mega)