A Little Music For A Groovy Attitude

It's Fluke Friday, with both sides of a mixtape that I recorded on 7th May 1997, featuring remixes of their own tracks and songs by other artists. 

I've previously shared my love for everything that came out of Jon Fugler, Mike Bryant and Mike Tournier's musical brains. They just tapped into something that, for me, absolutely captured the sheer euphoria of the early 1990s, the excitement of entering the last decade of the 20th century and being young, free and (intermittently) single in my twenties.

The quartet of Fluke singles spanning 1993 to 1994 - Slid, Electric Guitar, Groovy Feeling and Bubble - were stunning and should have been massive hits, blasting out of radios everywhere. Their remixes were also a guaranteed 'must buy', even if I didn't know or particularly like the artist. The ones featured here - Björk, New Order, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Pop Will Eat Itself, Yello and Talk Talk - are top notch, but were pretty much the (high) standard for all of their remixes. They even found time to moonlight as Lucky Monkeys, with another stonking Fluke remix to boot. 

A few sleevenotes: 

G.Feel.8.The Popsicle appeared on the Virgin Records compilation Signed Sealed Delivered 2 in 1994. It's actually a(nother) remix of Groovy Feeling, but different enough that it justifies the song featuring twice on one side (well, I think so anyway!). 

 

A remix of Jig appears on the expanded edition of The Techno Rose Of Blighty that was packaged with second album Six Wheels On My Wagon in 1993. I've gone for the John Peel session version here, originally transmitted 25 November 1990.

Squirt was radically remixed and released as a single to promote the Risotto album in 1997. The version here is from the previous album Oto (1995), a more downtempo, darker version which I think is my favourite of the bunch.

I've plenty more Fluke gems in the vault and I've re-posted a previous mixtape below. However, I think this is about as good an overview of Fluke's imperial phase as I could hope. It's definitely going to have me bouncing and jumping to and from work today. Yep, I'll be that guy.

 

Side One

1) Big Time Sensuality (The Fluke Moulimix): Björk (1993)

2) Groovy Feeling (Lolly Gobble Choc Bomb): Fluke (1993)

3) Bubble (Speechbubble): Fluke (1993)

4) Bjango (Fluke Remix 'Six To The Floor'): Lucky Monkeys (1996)

5) Spooky (Magimix By Fluke): New Order (1993)

6) G.Feel.8.The Popsicle: Fluke (1994)

7) Two Tribes (Fluke's Moulimix): Frankie Goes To Hollywood (1994)

Side Two

1) Electric Guitar (Vibrochamp): Fluke (1993)

2) RSVP (Supper Mix By Fluke): Pop Will Eat Itself (1994)

3) Philly (Jamateur Mix: Fluke (1990)

4) Jig (John Peel Session): Fluke (1990)

5) Tosh (Mosh) (Single Version): Fluke (1995)

6) How How (Dee Doo Dee Mix By Fluke): Yello (1994)

7) Squirt ('Oto' Album Version): Fluke (1995)

8) Life's What You Make It (The Fluke Remix): Talk Talk (1990)

Side One (45:21) (GD) (M)

Side Two (45:24) (GD) (M)

 

Fluke (Singles) Side One and Side Two

Sixty Six

Happy birthday to Robert Forster, born 29th June 1957.

For one of my favourite singer songwriters, this selection is surprisingly light on sleevenotes. I'll fess up: I got home late from work and the last thing I wanted to do was stare at a computer screen for another hour or so. At the same time, I wanted to do something more than post a few YouTube links. The compromise is a hastily composed post this morning before the usual chaos at Casa K.

So - and perhaps quite rightly - I'll let Robert's music speak for itself. This 13-song selection comprises 'covers' of The Go-Betweens, including one written by Grant MacLennan, a choice from each of his solo albums, plus a few B-side and live treats.

What a guy.

1) Rock 'n' Roll Friend (Album Version By Edwyn Collins) (Cover of The Go-Betweens) (1996) 

2) In Her Diary (Live @ Weekend #3 Festival, Cologne, ft. Jherek Bischoff & String Quartet) (Cover of The Go-Betweens) (2013)

3) Beyond Their Law (1993)

4) People Say (Single Version ft. Jherek Bischoff & String Quartet) (Cover of The Go-Betweens) (2013)

5) Crazy Jane On The Day Of Judgement (2019)

6) Brookfield 1975 (1993)

7) Echo Beach (Cover of Martha & The Muffins) (ft. Mick Harvey & Warren Ellis) (1994)

8) Quiet Heart (Live @ Joe's Pub, New York) (Cover of The Go-Betweens) (2008) 

9) The Morning (Marc Riley Session) (2019) 

10) Is This What You Call Change (1990)

11) I'm So Happy For You (2015)

12) Let Your Light In, Babe (2008)

13) When I Was A Young Man (2023) 

 

1990: Danger In The Past: 10

1993: Calling From A Country Phone: 3 

1993: Drop EP: 6

1994: I Had A New York Girlfriend: 7

1996: Warm Nights: 1

2008: Live @ Joe's Pub, New York: 8

2008: The Evangelist: 12 

2013: Live @ Weekend #3 Festival: 2

2015: Songs To Play: 11

2017: People Say EP: 4 

2019: Inferno: 5

2019: Marc Riley Session EP: 9

2023: The Candle And The Flame: 13

 

Sixty Six (51:43) (GD) (M)

Wanted Too Much To Say No, No, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

One of the greatest pair of songs ever committed to 7" vinyl? Chris Bell's single, I Am The Cosmos b/w You And Your Sister, was released in 1978 and proved to be the only post-Big Star recordings issued in his lifetime. Tragically, by the end of the year, Chris lost his life in a car accident. A posthumous album called I Am The Cosmos, compiling these and other unreleased songs, came out in 1992. 

 

As a teenager in the 1980s, I didn't have a clue about any of this. My brother one day brought home a cassette called It'll End In Tears by This Mortal Coil. I was struck by the cover image and even more so by the music within, which in turn was my introduction to the music of Tim Buckley, Roy Harper and Big Star. 

 

I bought This Mortal Coil's second album, Filigree & Shadow, and pretty much thought that was it for 4AD founder Ivo-Watts Russell's collective. In 1991, I was walking past a record shop in Perth, Western Australia and was surprised to see This Mortal Coil's logo atop a striking image of cover star Pallas Citroen's face, eyes following me as I walked past. Of course, I had to go in and have a look.

 

I didn't buy the album until I was back home in England later that year but it included covers of both sides of Chris' single. I Am The Cosmos is recreated as a duet between Deirdre Rutkowski and Dominic Appleton.

 

It's good but, discovering the original I Am The Cosmos via a freebie CD with Uncut magazine the following year (to promote the posthumous album of the same name), Chris Bell's version is unbeatable.

I didn't hear Chris' version of You And Your Sister until a few years later. It's a beautifully simple yet nuanced performance, even more so with Alex Chilton's backing vocals. But...

 

Not just because I heard it first - and repeatedly over a relatively short period of time - but This Mortal Coil's version absolutely, unequivocally nails it. And it's all down to Kim Deal's heart-wrenching lead vocal, wonderfully supported by Tanya Donnelly's harmonies. It gets me every time. 

Others have tried - and failed - to capture the magic of You And Your Sister. Whale did a frankly awful version of the song in 1995, made even worse with a misplaced (and missed-the-point) rap from Leafnuts. Thankfully, this was relegated to a B-side. Not recommended but if you really must...

 

However, whilst it again doesn't match the sheer beauty of This Mortal Coil or Chris Bell's version, there is another cover that I like, which I'm sharing here in a live version from last December because... well, just because.

Birthday Dub

Another belated happy birthday, this time to Richard Norris, who celebrated his 58th on 23rd June by recording and releasing a new track called Birthday Dub. It's a monster and available as a name your price digital download on Bandcamp.

 

 

I'm a few months into my first year as a subscriber via Bandcamp. It's been an immersive experience. Not only do I get new music (like Birthday Dub) on release, there are subscriber-only releases (the similarly bass-heavy album Oracle Sound Volume One, for example) and access to Richard's full digital discography. And there's a lot, including his Music For Healing series and the rather wonderful Lore Of The Land by The Order Of The 12. 

 

The original 'Music For Healing' version of June is twenty minutes long. Here's the edited version to give you a flavour.

Richard is also a prolific remixer, not just as The Grid (with Dave Ball) and Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve (with Erol Alkan) but hundreds (thousands?) under his own name. This is a particularly fine example from last year, a transformative remix of Sundowning by Mark Peters featuring Dot Allison.

 

Here's another, Richard's 2021 remix of Machine Girl, a track originally from Perry Farrell's 2019 album Kind Heaven and co-starring his wife Etty Lau Farrell.

 

Speaking of remixes by The Grid, I've always had a soft spot for their rework of Am I Right? a 1992 hit for Erasure. The Unofficial Erasure Club clearly agreed and compiled a video montage for the remix in 2015.

As for The Grid themselves, Floatation and Swamp Thing are perhaps the defining tracks, but I loved pretty much everything they did. Another early favourite was the single A Beat Called Love, song and video featuring the rather wonderful Sacha Souter.

 

If Sacha looks familiar it's because she adorned the cover of Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs top notch compilation from last year, Fell From The Sun: Downtempo And After Hours 1990-91, featuring the original album version of Floatation which (if memory serves me correctly) is ironically one of the few versions not to include Sacha's sublime vocals!

 

I was tempted to cap this off by reposting a link to a Richard Norris-inspired Dubhed selection from 2021, but I'm going to hold fire on that for now as I have a few ideas for another post. In the meantime, many happy returns Richard and thanks for all the music, past, present and future.

Don't Stop Now

A belated happy birthday to Eddie Holman, 77 on 3rd June.

 

If you can ignore the watermarks on the video, this is a lovely clip of Eddie performing Don't Stop Now on TV in 1966. Boy, that falsetto.

Astonishingly, this song didn't chart in the UK and in fact his sole UK hit was (Hey There) Lonely Girl. The song was a cover version of Ruby & The Romantics' 1963 (US) hit, Hey There Lonely Boy, which Eddie recorded in 1969 and spent 2 weeks at #4 in the UK in November 1974. 

Eddie was in pretty good company for that fortnight. David Essex and Queen held the #1 and #2 spot with Gonna Make You A Star and Killer Queen respectively, whilst Ken Boothe and Barry White swapped places at #3 and #5 with Everything I Own and You're My First, My Last, My Everything.

Little Boy, Don't Think You Quite Understand

After her appearance with Sleaford Mods at last year's Glastonbury Festival, Billy Nomates had an hour-long set on The Park Stage at 3.15pm on Friday. On the back of a successful UK tour and a critically acclaimed second album, you'd think it couldn't get much better, right? 

These were Billy's words after her performance:

 

"the level of personal abuse on @bbc6muisc socials for goin to work today is insane. I've asked for all footage to be removed. I know it's not for everyone what I do. I know lots of people don't rate me. But the level of personal abuse on that public page is too much. there will be no more shows after this summer. You wouldn't stay in a workplace that did this to you. Why should I."

It's another fine example of a sad minority of male sad sacks who feel so threatened by a woman writing, creating and performing great music that they are compelled to troll and attack and belittle them. 

I like lots of music, I have very broad tastes and a passion for hearing and supporting new artists. There's plenty of music that I don't like and artists that I don't particularly care for, but I've don't feel the need to spend time online, tracking them down so I can denigrate and diminish them. 

I've not seen Billy Nomates live in concert, but I had seen her several times on TV, firstly with Sleaford Mods on Jools Holland's show, performing Mork n Mindy, then a year later blowing the other guests away with Balance Is Gone from her current album Cacti.

Her first public performance was on 28th September 2019 at Longwell Records in Keynsham (about halfway between Bristol and Bath and a go-to place when I used to bunk off school, but that's another story). It's available on YouTube and it's brilliant.

 

The main issue that the music "fans" seemed to have is that Billy Nomates performed on stage without a live band and to a backing track. Despite the fact that Billy had created pretty much all of the music, written all of the words, was singing live and absolutely owning the stage - I've seen anyone else doing high kicks yet - these "purists" seemed to be griping that somehow the set wasn't authentic. Even if I could play a note of music (I can't) or DJ (I can't) or sing (I most definitely can't), I wouldn't feel justified in seeking out an artist just to tell them how shit they are. What is wrong with people?

It has been encouraging and heart-warming to see the huge outpouring of love and support for Billy Nomates. Sadly, some of the male muso turds have refused to flush away; I read someone mansplaining to The Anchoress why it wasn't really all that bad; there are acceptable levels of misogyny, apparently. Twits.

 

I'm hoping that Billy Nomates aka Tor Maries sees and hears the love and respect that people have for her and can heal from this experience. The least I could do was go and buy her albums, EPs and standalone songs on Bandcamp and write a few words of support.

 

 

This wasn't the post I originally planned for Sunday but this is the one that I needed to post. Today's selection is a hastily compiled three quarters of an hour based on a few songs that I'm pretty familiar with and others that I've heard for the first time in the past 24 hours. They're all brilliant and I hope one day to see Tor performing them on stage.

 

1) No (2020)

2) Vertigo (2023)

3) Supermarket Sweep: Billy Nomates ft. Jason Williamson (2020)

4) 22 Spring (2022)

5) Wild Arena (2020)

6) Heels (2020)

7) Deko: Disableton ft. Rosa Deko & Billy Nomates (2020)

8) Blackout Signal (2023)

9) FNP (2020)

10) Mork n Mindy (Live @ Glastonbury): Sleaford Mods ft. Billy Nomates (2022)

11) Making Plans 4 Nigel (Not Going To The Beach) (Cover of XTC) (2020)

12) Saboteur Forcefield (2023)

13) Right Behind You (2020)

14) Spite (2023)

2020: Billy Nomates: 1, 3, 5, 9

2020: Bits: 11

2020: Deko (by Disableton): 7

2020: Emergency Telephone EP: 6, 13

2022: 22 Spring: 4

2022: Live At Glastonbury: 10

2023: Cacti: 2, 8, 12, 14

Little Boy, Don't Think You Quite Understand (44:15) (GD) (M)

Who I'm Meant To Be

As a tenuous link to that big thing happening this weekend, here's one of tonight's headline acts, Lana Del Rey. 

Whatever your opinion of Lana aka Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, there's no denying that she is prolific on an old-school level. Her breakthrough came with Video Games in 2011 and album Born To Die in 2012; actually her second, third if you count the unreleased album From The End from 2005. Lana's ninth album, Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, was released in March 2023. She's also found time to collaborate with other artists, drop mixtapes and release a further spoken word album, 2020's Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass. 

 

I've given it a good go, but I can't keep up with the rate of album releases. Aside from her latest, I'm still missing the brilliantly-titled Norman Fucking Rockwell! from 2019. I admire Lana Del Rey as an artist; some of her songs don't always work for me but the hit rate is astonishingly high.

The dozen selected here aren't the hits or even an attempt at a "best of"; as usual, I've just followed my instinct and let the songs find themselves. I've included some earlier, pre-Video Games songs and demos, which were leaked in the early 2010s. Apart from being good songs, they're stylistically different but hint at the cinematic sweep of the words and music to come. 

 

The subsequent material shows Lana shrugging off the labels, stereotypes and preconceptions and pursuing her vision and honing her craft. And delivering some bloody good songs along the way.

Tonight should be epic, even if I am watching it on BBC iPlayer and not in a field of thousands, cheering my throat raw.

1) Pawn Shop Blues (2010)

2) Million Dollar Man (2012)

3) Thunder (2021)

4) Once Upon A Dream (Cover of Mary Costa & Bill Shirley) (2014)

5) Oooh Baby (2010)

6) Put The Radio On (2010)

7) High By The Beach (2015)

8) Quiet Waiter Blue Forever (2020)

9) Gods And Monsters (EP Version) (2012)

10) Heroin (2017)

11) Let Me Love You Like A Woman (2021)

12) For You (2005)

 

2005: From The End: 12 

2010: Lana Del Ray a.k.a. Lizzy Grant: 1 

2010: Oooh Baby (unreleased demo): 5

2012: Born To Die: 2

2012: God Bless America (mixtape): 6 

2012: The Paradise Edition EP: 9

2014: Once Upon A Dream EP: 4 

2015: Honeymoon: 7

2017: Lust For Life: 10

2020: Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass: 8

2021: Chemtrails Over The Country Club: 11

2021: Blue Banisters: 3

 

Who I'm Meant To Be (44:41) (Box) (Mega)

Confessions

Emily Breeze is opening for James tonight at Canon's Marsh Ampitheatre in Bristol, a hometown gig following the release earlier this year of the rather brilliant album, Rapture. Another one I'm going to miss, though I am poised to snap up tickets for a headline show at The Fleece when they go on sale this morning. That one's not until February 2024 and it'll (finally) be my chance to see Emily and the band live in concert.

I was also very late in discovering Emily Breeze's music and first wrote about it here in July 2022 and again in October 2022 then most recently in March 2023, alongside the album release and Daddy G vs Robot Club Remix of Confessions Of An Ageing Party Girl.

 

So here's an 11-track selection designed to retro fit a cassette side and to played loud. I don't have Emily's first album, Penny Arcade, but a few songs from that album and period have appeared on freebie CDs and download EPs. I've also included a live song, which suffers a bit from some distortion and dips but it's such a good song and performance that I've included it in the mix with no apologies.

 

If you're going to the James concert tonight, do the right thing and turn up in time to see Emily and the band. If you've not heard Emily's music before, this may well change your life. Either way, listen to this then head online and buy her music!

 

1) Ego Death (Barry Adamson Remix) (2019)

2) New Flesh Old Bones (2019)

3) Monday's Right Hook (2009)

4) Last Request (Live @ The Fleece, Bristol) (2010) 

5) The Bell (2023)

6) Penny Arcade (2010)

7) Bust: Dark Robes ft. Emily Breeze & Sarah McGrigor (2020)

8) Money: Candy Darling (2014)

9) Confessions Of An Ageing Party Girl (Album Version) (2020)

10) Going Straight: Candy Darling (2015)

11) Ordinary Life (Album Version) (2023)

 

Confessions (44:53) (KF) (Mega)

I Lay Eggs Every Single Time I Think Of You

The lyric in the post title alone may be enough to tell you that it's Róisín Murphy.

Fader is Róisín's third single of 2023 (fourth counting 12"-only release Can't Replicate) and a precursor to sixth album Hit Parade. Not, as you might first think, an end-of-contract record label 'best of' mop up, but a new album of thirteen songs and her first for Ninja Tune.

 

I love Róisín Murphy as an artist because she delights, inspires and provokes interest on so many levels, from her music to lyrics to performance (both in the studio, at home (especially during lockdown) and on stage) to art direction and design to her wardrobe and the words and thoughts that explode from her brain during interviews. The video for Fader adds walking to the list. Róisín is the full package and, in a fair world, would be mentioned in the same breath as your Eltons and your Vans and (yes, I'm going to say it) your Adeles and your Swifts.

 

I mean, I thought Moloko were great but Róisín just gets better and better and better. Fader is a fab song in it's own right and the video does exactly what all great videos should do and enhances the experience. The sheer joy of Róisín's walk through her birthplace Arklow in County Wicklow, Eire, weaving in and out of a procession of dancers, brass bands, gymnasts, cub scouts and flag bearers, emanates from the screen. I like to imagine that that's basically how Róisín treats every excursion, whether it's a the walk to the stage for a live performance or a trip to Aldi to buy some frozen peas. 

 

I haven't got tickets for her concert at Alexandra Palace in London next February; it'll be an incredible experience, undoubtedly. Her performance at Glastonbury last year, which I enjoyed via BBC iPlayer and included a memorable walk to the stage, was one of the highlights of the entire festival. As if further proof is needed, here's a brilliant performance of Fader last month at the Albert Hall in Manchester.

 

As a reminder of her greatness before her new album lands, I've restored links to the Róisín Murphy selection that I posted on 27th June 2022. Hit Parade is out on 8th September and available for pre-order now, links via her website.

 

Loitering With Intent

The joy of the three-minute pop song in 1978*, however else you want to label it. I missed most of these first time around, as they were B-sides or album tracks, but this music refuses to be denied and at various points in my life have gatecrashed my consciousness and my record collection.

A collection of the usual suspects perhaps though when the songs are this great, is it any surprise? A rollercoaster ride that's over in under 36 minutes but packs a lot in to it's wild ride. Strap in!

* Or, in the case of The Stranglers, the six-minute-plus cover version of a stone cold classic pop song.

The selection includes several songs that appeared in JC's excellent 60 Albums @ 60 series, which revealed All Mod Cons by The Jam at #1. So today's post is dedicated to JC with thanks and love.

1) Friends (John Peel Session): Adam & The Ants

2) Radios In Motion: XTC 

3) Reasons: Skids

4) Action Time Vision: Alternative TV

5) Touch And Go (Single Version): Magazine

6) Just Lust: Buzzcocks

7) Billy Hunt: The Jam

8) Suicide A Go Go: Big In Japan

9) I'm Gonna Love You Too: Blondie

10) Drug-Stabbing Time: The Clash

11) Sand In My Joints (Album Version): Wire

12) Walk On By (Cover of Dionne Warwick): The Stranglers

 

1978: Action Time Vision EP / The Image Has Cracked: 4

1978: All Mod Cons: 7 

1978: Chairs Missing: 11

1978: Charles EP: 3

1978: Ever Fallen In Love... (With Someone You Shouldn't've) EP: 6 

1978: From Y To Z And Never Again EP: 8

1978: Give 'Em Enough Rope: 10

1978: Parallel Lines: 9

1978: Touch And Go: 5

1978: Walk On By EP / Black And White (ltd LP+7"): 12

1978: White Music: 2

1990: The Peel Sessions: 1

 

Loitering With Intent (35:51) (Box) (Mega)