I've Searched The Secret Mists....

I have found myself recently listening to a lot of female vocalists for no apparent reason, it just seems to be what I am enjoying listening to - a bit of The Cocteaus, Hope Sandoval, The Sundays, Kate Bush, Maria Mckee and in particular the sublime vocals of Tracey Thorn. I fell in love with her vocals back in the day and fell back in love with them on last years wonderful return to form, Love and Its Opposite. Somehow I seemed to miss out on them when they veered towards the dance floor, although like the music of The Style Council which I didn't really enjoy at the time I have came to appreciate that period more as time goes by.

However the track that has been on repeat the last few days is EBGT's cover of Weller's timeless, romantic folk ballad, English Rose. It is very faithful to the original but the perspective of a female vocalist seems to add a new level to the song. There is a certain honesty about Thorn's vocals that makes her believable and personally I could listen to her all day long...........

Everything But The Girl - English Rose

He'd Be Gunned Down Cold By The CIA....

For their third album The The became a functioning group for the first time, and the renewed focus the new musicians bring to the project is staggering. It does help that one of those new musicians was none other than Johnny Marr himself. Somehow their debut, Soul Mining, passed me by on it's initial release so my first intro to the majesty of Matt Johnson was through 1986's classic, Infected. The album seethes with lyrical rage and contains some of The The's finest moments but does sound slightly dated nowadays.

Mind Bomb not only avoids the dated musical gimmicks of its predecessor, but stands as one of the few albums to successfully fuse the sensual and political, pairing deep, sexy grooves with some of Matt Johnson’s strongest lyrics. Several of the album’s lyrics focus on the dichotomy between religious faith and freedom of choice married to music that is catchy, memorable and beautifully crafted. As well as raging against religious fundamentalism, superpower foreign policy and political misinformation, Matt Johnson also writes beautiful, aching, uncomfortable love songs which really get under the skin, literally, of human relationships.

If you need proof that there was good music that came out of the 80's, look no further than The The.

The The - Armageddon Days (Are Here Again)

A Perfect End....

Galaxie 500's final studio album, This Is Our Music, was the all time classic that both On Fire and Today had hinted at. The end of the band had been unfolding for quite some time prior to its release, with several of the songs sounding much like apologizes from Dean Wareham to his young mates Damon and Naomi.

This Is Our Music is one of those albums that gets better with each listen and contains quite a few of Galaxie 500's best tunes and it also has the richest production, with greater focus on keyboards and layered guitars. They never made it big, but during their short run, Galaxie 500's often quiet and always beautifully rendered music had a profound impact on a few people and that is way more than most.

Galaxie 500 - Melt Away

Some Sunday Jit Jive....

Probably the best known Zimbabwean guitar band, the Bhundu Boys brought the Harare sound to the UK and Europe in the mid 80s to much acclaim. Mixing Zimbabwean styles with rhumba influences from the Congo, the Bhundus labelled their fast-paced guitar music jit-jive. They were heavily championed by John Peel and Andy Kershaw in the mid 80's and looked at one point that success was just around the corner but it was not to be....

The full story of the demise of the original Bhundu Boys reads like the script of a tragic Hollywood movie but sadly it was all true with a suicide and AIDS related deaths amongst the many tragedies that befell them. The all-too-literal death of the Bhundu Boys would be a tragedy in any context, but it stings all the more because their music was so replete with the promise and joy of being alive.

The Bhundu Boys created their best work before they ever reached Britain. The Shed Sessions - a still-available compilation of tracks from their early albums - knocks several spots off their 1988 major label debut, True Jit which was slickly and soullessly recorded by Sade producer Robin Millar. The early recordings remain natural, effortless, packed full of personality and just full of bloody great POP tunes.

Forget the major label stuff but The Shed Sessions is well worth adding to your "world music" collections.

The Bhundu Boys - Hupenyu Hwangu

By All Means Necessary....

One of the most important and influential hip-hop groups of the latter half of the 1980s was undoubtedly Boogie Down Productions.

Led by the often brilliant and incendiary MC KRS-One, B.D.P. were pioneers of both hardcore and political rap and were also among the very first hip-hop artists to incorporate elements of Jamaican ragga and dancehall into their style.

In the time between their debut album 1987's Criminal Minded and the follow up, By All Means Necessary, founding member DJ Scott La Rock was tragically murdered and this had a profound effect on KRS-One, which is very apparent in the lyrics on By All Means... where he makes social commentary on the state of rap music and on American society in general. The first track "My Philosophy" is an example of what hip-hop was meant to be about, not what it has evolved into. KRS-One had a vision of entertaining as well as educating his audience and on By All Means... he emerges more as a teacher with some of his most intelligent and conscious lyrics.

By All Means Necessary is up there with the best work in hip hop and can be purchased here .

Boogie Down Productions - My Philosophy

Slendour In Silver Dress....

Opening track on the legendary C86 NME cassette and 1 and 25 seconds of pure pop perfection....Number 4 in Peel's Festive 50....not bad for a b side....

Here she comes again
With vodka in her veins
Been playing with a spike
She couldn't get it right

Splendour in silver dress
Velocity possessed
The world was hers again
It fell apart again  

I don't need anyone to hurt me
No, not anyone at all 

Cause my so-called friends have left me
And I don't care at all

Leave me alone
Leave me alone
Leave me alone 

Classic, short but sweet Byrdsian magic  from Bobby and co...bit of an influence on some Manc lads who just wanted to be adored....

Primal Scream - Velocity Girl

There's Something About Jonathan....

Jonathan Richman is what might be termed an acquired taste. Fortunately I acquired the taste a few years back and still retain it to this day.

The Modern Lovers album is often cited as being the "bridge between the Velvet Underground and the Ramones" and that's not too far off the mark. The album is a thrilling slice of rock and roll, informed by equal parts suburban-kid anxiety and three-chord (or less) cool. The Modern Lovers' eponymous debut was actually recorded in the early 1970s,though officially it wasn't released until 1976 and contains the greatest two chord song in rock history in the classic Roadrunner.

He was not the first geeky, awkward outsider to become a rock star, but he was one of the first to flaunt it so openly. In addition to Richman's obvious influence on punk, his influence is also apparent in the likes of  They Might Be Giants, Weezer, Fountains of Wayne and many, many others.
The album is about the joys, the pains and the trials of a young man who wants to find a place for himself in the modern world, fantasizing about getting the unobtainable girl, or longing for things to be the way they used to be and should be required listening for anyone interested in historically important albums in the evolution of rock n' roll.

The Modern Lovers - Pablo Picasso
The Modern Lovers - Girlfriend

Black By Design....

As much a book about what it was like to grow up whilst searching for an identity in Britain during the 1960's and 1970's as it is about the heady days in the late 70's as part of the 2 Tone movement, Pauline Black's powerful autobiography is a great read.

Black by Design is a moving story – of where we come from, what makes us strong and carries us through, of being a woman in the music industry, of life after musical success and reinventing yourself, of finding yourself.

Formed in 1979 and once described as “conspiring to make dancing the only way to walk", the Selecter led the ska revival movement, along with 2-tone labelmates, The Specials & Madness. Mixing punk, ska & reggae, their debut album Too Much Pressure successfully reflected the social and political issues of the early Thatcher years in Britain and gave a voice to disaffected youth across the racial divide.

One of the tracks from that debut was a cover of Time Hard by The Pioneeers retitled as Everyday. Without doubt The Pioneers were one of the best vocal groups of the early reggae era. Time Hard first appeared in the early 70's and is quite simply one of the most uplifting songs to listen to which is quite a feat considering they are singing "Every day things are getting worse"

The Sixties was the golden age for Jamaican vocal trios. During this incredibly creative decade, a multitude of singing groups burst upon the island’s music scene, but of these only a relative few possessed the talent and determination to endure, and in that select category along with The Wailers and The Maytals were The Pioneeers.

The Selecter - Every Day
The Pioneers - Time Hard