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Post by threehundred on Aug 5, 2024 7:31:25 GMT
I wanted to choose something by New Zealand’s best novelty folk group to start the week, but I’ve absolutely no idea who they are. Instead, here’s New Zealand’s second best novelty folk group, the muthaflippin’ Flight of the Conchords.
I love them. Seriously talented musicians and seriously funny. If anyone hasn’t seen their majestic tv series (surely everyone has..?), please check it out. They’ve also released two albums of songs from the series, which are essential listening.
I could have chosen any number of songs, but … it’s Monday morning… time for work. It’s Business Time. Genius.
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Post by Sir B3na1i on Aug 5, 2024 7:31:30 GMT
I’m losing track a little… Is it me up next? If it is I know I'm after you. Better start thinking of a theme!
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Post by melrose on Aug 5, 2024 8:59:52 GMT
Well this has been a week. So the final bit is even later. Spent quite a lot of of it at Northampton General.
It has been a week (and previous) for the NHS and my FIL - He with an apparently massive stroke etc. Mostly confusion about what is happening next on both parts. Or not. Called you in...but sending you home. Again today. So there you go. If I were to go that way I have issued a decree to the whole family to put a pillow on my face and sit on it. He is basically never going to leave so stop it.
However... if Arsenal win the first game of the season 5-0 against Wolves he may perk up a bit. Although Wolves are his second team - Difficult. May hang on for the Spurs excuses against Leicester - and so may twitch and fade out happy after that. We will give the match commentary. Or The Railway Children - his favourite book.
But the music remains - so putting another couple of the absolute gems of this era - Here are Head and Orange Deluxe.
Head realised three albums in two years on Virgin as one of their brightest hopes. Massive fail there as Head were full of Brizzle in jokes, art and film references and piss-takes that no-one else understood. They definitely did not take themselves too seriously. But superb musicians-who were brilliant live - and a set of strong - if sometimes weird-songs.
Main men were guitarist Gareth 'Hank Sinclair' Sager Who started off in the early punk The Cortinas before forming The Pop Group and then Rip Rig + Panic with Neneeh Cherry- Second Guitarist Nick 'Candy Horsebreath' Sheppard who replaced Mick Jones in The Clash for three years and released the Ill-fated 'Cut the Crap' with them, and Rich 'Clevedon Pier' Beal, one of the best and skinniest - 90% cheekbones - frontmen you will ever see. Later he formed a Band called 'Pregnant', which needs care on an internet search, and were even more obscure and less successful than head. The whole band had daft Pen-Names that changed for each album.
Anyway here is 'The Captain, the Sailor and the Dirty Heartbreaker'. It is Bristol and a Sea-Shanty, of course.
The final one is Orange Deluxe - Pall Basset's and Keith McCubbin's Post Five Thirty (see above) band. Possibly even better, they relished two stunning albums on Dead Dead Good, had some support and almost made it. They still had the Kinks and the Who pinned down - plus an even bigger Blues and Soul influence - but this time Pink Floyd and the Stones had also wandered into the studio the help out.
The main Stones reference is the duelling guitars of Paul Basset and Ian Copestake - These two - to my probably flawed ears - are the best I have ever heard - At least as good as any Stones combination you would care to mention.
The trouble with Orange Deluxe - along with a lot of great music - Is that it requires a bit of work on the listers' part. There is a lot to it and it is sometimes (over?) complicated. They were never afraid of extending things or throwing in the odd chords. If I played you either album 'Necking' or 'Vodka Doughnuts and Dole' you would probably say - 'It's alright, I suppose' on the first listen - on the second - 'There are some really good little bits there' -on third listen 'This is really, really good' etc. and onwards from there. They did release some pure Punk-Pop-Soul bangers though Eg 'Love 45' Not an ounce of fat on it and with one of my favourite ever guitar solos.
Here though is 'Dreaming of a Friend'. The B side to the Bluesy slide-guitar dominated - The Stripper' single. It's about John Major which puts it at a time.
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Post by threehundred on Aug 6, 2024 8:18:36 GMT
I decided against a theme this week, once again. I’ll keep it eclectic.
I saw the film ‘Oh Brother Where Art Thou’ at the cinema years ago and loved it. When the DVD came out, I bought it for my Mum and gave it to her at Christmas as a stocking filler. My Dad - not a great one for films - suggested we watched it a night or two later. When the first track came on - the Blue Ridge Candy Mountains - my Dad sang along. It turned out he knew pretty much all the soundtrack. He bought the album (3 copies, for him, me and my Aunt), then loads of stuff by bands who contributed to it. He got into the Punch Brothers, Rhiannon Giddens, the Milk Carton Kids and it opened his, and my, eyes, to a whole new genre of music.
My favourite song from the film is I’ll Fly Away, sung by Allison Kraus (who has done amazing stuff with Robert Plant) and Gillian Welch (of whom I know little about). It will be played at my funeral - but it’s not todays track.
Here’s something else by Gillian Welch that is utterly fabulous.
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Post by Sir B3na1i on Aug 6, 2024 9:15:48 GMT
I decided against a theme this week, once again. I’ll keep it eclectic. I saw the film ‘Oh Brother Where Art Thou’ at the cinema years ago and loved it. When the DVD came out, I bought it for my Mum and gave it to her at Christmas as a stocking filler. My Dad - not a great one for films - suggested we watched it a night or two later. When the first track came on - the Blue Ridge Candy Mountains - my Dad sang along. It turned out he knew pretty much all the soundtrack. He bought the album (3 copies, for him, me and my Aunt), then loads of stuff by bands who contributed to it. He got into the Punch Brothers, Rhiannon Giddens, the Milk Carton Kids and it opened his, and my, eyes, to a whole new genre of music. My favourite song from the film is I’ll Fly Away, sung by Allison Kraus (who has done amazing stuff with Robert Plant) and Gillian Welch (of whom I know little about). It will be played at my funeral - but it’s not todays track. Here’s something else by Gillian Welch that is utterly fabulous. Stunning - never heard it and loved it
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Post by threehundred on Aug 6, 2024 20:58:11 GMT
Well this has been a week. So the final bit is even later. Spent quite a lot of of it at Northampton General. It has been a week (and previous) for the NHS and my FIL - He with an apparently massive stroke etc. Mostly confusion about what is happening next on both parts. Or not. Called you in...but sending you home. Again today. So there you go. If I were to go that way I have issued a decree to the whole family to put a pillow on my face and sit on it. He is basically never going to leave so stop it. However... if Arsenal win the first game of the season 5-0 against Wolves he may perk up a bit. Although Wolves are his second team - Difficult. May hang on for the Spurs excuses against Leicester - and so may twitch and fade out happy after that. We will give the match commentary. Or The Railway Children - his favourite book. But the music remains - so putting another couple of the absolute gems of this era - Here are Head and Orange Deluxe. Head realised three albums in two years on Virgin as one of their brightest hopes. Massive fail there as Head were full of Brizzle in jokes, art and film references and piss-takes that no-one else understood. They definitely did not take themselves too seriously. But superb musicians-who were brilliant live - and a set of strong - if sometimes weird-songs. Main men were guitarist Gareth 'Hank Sinclair' Sager Who started off in the early punk The Cortinas before forming The Pop Group and then Rip Rig + Panic with Neneeh Cherry- Second Guitarist Nick 'Candy Horsebreath' Sheppard who replaced Mick Jones in The Clash for three years and released the Ill-fated 'Cut the Crap' with them, and Rich 'Clevedon Pier' Beal, one of the best and skinniest - 90% cheekbones - frontmen you will ever see. Later he formed a Band called 'Pregnant', which needs care on an internet search, and were even more obscure and less successful than head. The whole band had daft Pen-Names that changed for each album. Anyway here is 'The Captain, the Sailor and the Dirty Heartbreaker'. It is Bristol and a Sea-Shanty, of course. The final one is Orange Deluxe - Pall Basset's and Keith McCubbin's Post Five Thirty (see above) band. Possibly even better, they relished two stunning albums on Dead Dead Good, had some support and almost made it. They still had the Kinks and the Who pinned down - plus an even bigger Blues and Soul influence - but this time Pink Floyd and the Stones had also wandered into the studio the help out. The main Stones reference is the duelling guitars of Paul Basset and Ian Copestake - These two - to my probably flawed ears - are the best I have ever heard - At least as good as any Stones combination you would care to mention. The trouble with Orange Deluxe - along with a lot of great music - Is that it requires a bit of work on the listers' part. There is a lot to it and it is sometimes (over?) complicated. They were never afraid of extending things or throwing in the odd chords. If I played you either album 'Necking' or 'Vodka Doughnuts and Dole' you would probably say - 'It's alright, I suppose' on the first listen - on the second - 'There are some really good little bits there' -on third listen 'This is really, really good' etc. and onwards from there. They did release some pure Punk-Pop-Soul bangers though Eg 'Love 45' Not an ounce of fat on it and with one of my favourite ever guitar solos. Here though is 'Dreaming of a Friend'. The B side to the Bluesy slide-guitar dominated - The Stripper' single. It's about John Major which puts it at a time. Been away for a few days, so just catching up on IBO generally and these 2 tracks in particular… really enjoyed both.
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Post by threehundred on Aug 7, 2024 8:41:41 GMT
I thought I’d change it up a little today - mindful that some of you like it a little harder (steady, IM!)
Pixies were possibly the most important band from my teenage years, both in terms of their influence on other bands (Nirvana, etc.) and on me. I guess they were the band that broke me away from the Radio 1 crap I listened to (and taped on Sunday evenings like everyone else) and my parents’ music (Neil Diamond is a god and I won’t hear anyone say different. Sweet Caroline is, unfortunately, utter crap).
There were so many tracks I could have chosen. I wanted something reasonably accessible, but not the bubblegum pop of “Here Comes Your Man” that Frank Black (Pixies’ front man / songwriter) hates (it is a 24 carat nugget of joy), as I expect most people here will know it.
I chose this one. If you know Pixies, you’ll know it. If you don’t, well, give it a chance. This is four brilliant musicians at their absolute best.
Hey.
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Post by OneBeat on Aug 7, 2024 9:06:19 GMT
I only have one Pixies record. I feel I should have more. My friends in the US all seem to love them.
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Post by melrose on Aug 7, 2024 10:53:06 GMT
I thought I’d change it up a little today - mindful that some of you like it a little harder (steady, IM!) Pixies were possibly the most important band from my teenage years, both in terms of their influence on other bands (Nirvana, etc.) and on me. I guess they were the band that broke me away from the Radio 1 crap I listened to (and taped on Sunday evenings like everyone else) and my parents’ music (Neil Diamond is a god and I won’t hear anyone say different. Sweet Caroline is, unfortunately, utter crap). There were so many tracks I could have chosen. I wanted something reasonably accessible, but not the bubblegum pop of “Here Comes Your Man” that Frank Black (Pixies’ front man / songwriter) hates (it is a 24 carat nugget of joy), as I expect most people here will know it. I chose this one. If you know Pixies, you’ll know it. If you don’t, well, give it a chance. This is four brilliant musicians at their absolute best. Hey. That is a great choice! - It showcases all the things hat made them great - A great tune- The use of space in a song - The tension - Kim Deal's devastatingly simple bass lines (most bassists can't play these as they always crack and start adding bits) Joey Santiago's totally original guitar sound - as old as the hills and newest of the new at the same time - and then Black Francis fighting apparently numerous daemons in public.... That LP is probably my favourite of theirs and I would say holds the 'Most Played' record of any round our house. Late 80's early 90's again!
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Post by threehundred on Aug 7, 2024 11:02:36 GMT
I thought I’d change it up a little today - mindful that some of you like it a little harder (steady, IM!) Pixies were possibly the most important band from my teenage years, both in terms of their influence on other bands (Nirvana, etc.) and on me. I guess they were the band that broke me away from the Radio 1 crap I listened to (and taped on Sunday evenings like everyone else) and my parents’ music (Neil Diamond is a god and I won’t hear anyone say different. Sweet Caroline is, unfortunately, utter crap). There were so many tracks I could have chosen. I wanted something reasonably accessible, but not the bubblegum pop of “Here Comes Your Man” that Frank Black (Pixies’ front man / songwriter) hates (it is a 24 carat nugget of joy), as I expect most people here will know it. I chose this one. If you know Pixies, you’ll know it. If you don’t, well, give it a chance. This is four brilliant musicians at their absolute best. Hey. That is a great choice! - It showcases all the things hat made them great - A great tune- The use of space in a song - The tension - Kim Deal's devastatingly simple bass lines (most bassists can't play these as they always crack and start adding bits) Joey Santiago's totally original guitar sound - as old as the hills and newest of the new at the same time - and then Black Francis fighting apparently numerous daemons in public.... That LP is probably my favourite of theirs and I would say holds the 'Most Played' record of any round our house. Late 80's early 90's again! Yeah - I think Doolittle is probably my most played album too… I remember borrowing my mum’s car just after I passed my test and slamming it into the tape player. It was also the first thing I played when I picked up my current car from the dealership (blimey - that was about 12 years ago). Even thinking of the first 4 bars (that bass!) of ‘Debaser’ sends shivers down my spine…
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Post by Furry Frank The Combat Wombat on Aug 7, 2024 11:46:17 GMT
I remember borrowing my mum’s car just after I passed my test and slamming it into the I thought that sentence was going to go a lot worse initially! TBF, I barrel-rolled my mum's car on the A272 just after I passed my test, so that may've influenced my thinking.
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Post by melrose on Aug 7, 2024 14:26:35 GMT
That is a great choice! - It showcases all the things hat made them great - A great tune- The use of space in a song - The tension - Kim Deal's devastatingly simple bass lines (most bassists can't play these as they always crack and start adding bits) Joey Santiago's totally original guitar sound - as old as the hills and newest of the new at the same time - and then Black Francis fighting apparently numerous daemons in public.... That LP is probably my favourite of theirs and I would say holds the 'Most Played' record of any round our house. Late 80's early 90's again! Yeah - I think Doolittle is probably my most played album too… I remember borrowing my mum’s car just after I passed my test and slamming it into the tape player. It was also the first thing I played when I picked up my current car from the dealership (blimey - that was about 12 years ago). Even thinking of the first 4 bars (that bass!) of ‘Debaser’ sends shivers down my spine… Four bars of bass, four bars of the guitar joining in, another eight bars of nice surf-rock - and then the insanity starts. I can't think of a better opening to a song - and no-one has ever done it better 35 years later. We saw them in March and were superb - But didn't do Debaser and then a weird Surf/Country version of Wave of Mutilation. Which is right I suppose. Which today is my 80's 90's thing - There were the obvious candidates who did take things forward - sometimes a lot - but that stalled long time ago. I try to see new stuff - and some of it is very good - but I think I have seen most of it at least twice before. Maybe just old and cynical now and not able to visit the mosh-pit for the last 30 years! On a positive note Personal Trainer from Holland a few weeks ago were great. And the Bug Club are stll new and great.
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Post by threehundred on Aug 8, 2024 7:51:17 GMT
Today’s offering is a bit of hip-hop.
I saw the Pharcyde and De La Soul last week, who were both brilliant. I’ve been mainlining hip-hop for a few days now. I could have chosen any number of tracks by either of them, but didn’t. I very nearly went for something by A Tribe Called Quest, but didn’t. Maybe I need a hip-hop week at some point.
I’m not into heavy rap. I like lighter, funny / chilled flowing lyrics that are a bit more cerebral and songs that use clever sampling. I’ve chosen a number that shows both of those elements.
The main piano sample is Ike Turner - it’s worth checking out his track ‘Getting Nasty’ (no irony there!).
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Post by Mandochris on Aug 8, 2024 15:32:53 GMT
I love Gillian Welch. I don't suppose that will surprise any of you.
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Post by threehundred on Aug 8, 2024 15:48:14 GMT
I love Gillian Welch. I don't suppose that will surprise any of you. **falls off chair**
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