General Music thread 2

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

While there are some elections going on in the UK today, a much more important thing is World Goth Day. Yes – wear a gloomy smile today. 😀

I covered The Sisters of Mercy upthread, so here are another couple of grand-daddies. Now I’ve got the important stuff done, I can get my shit together to go and exercise my right to choose the set of lying hypocrites I least object to.

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

@phaseshift
I love Joy Division

[Whisht @whisht]

Ah, the gloom of Goth – great tracks you guys.

A Goth made me smile on Sunday. It was in North London and he was a kid with lank hair wearing a black denim jacket, black denim jeans, black boots… and a bright red and white Arsenal shirt in honour of the Arsenal winning the FA Cup.

Yet he resolutely kept his eyes glued to the pavement and never smiled once.

8(

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

How nice of the UK weather to join in the spirit of World Goth Day with thunder and lightning. Very appropriate.

Ah @whisht – I know what you mean, but I can’t explain how fun that scene actually was to be inside in the late eighties. How we used to laugh (while not showing anyone, obviously).

Anyway – Rain.

That was Ian Astbury looking suitably absurd, there. I was delighted to come across a track he did in collaboration with UNKLE a while ago in the US TV prog Person of Interest. Great use of a track that suits their ambient soundtrack.

@thekrynoidman

Ian Curtis was a sad loss. Just think, in happier circumstances, we may have been spared World in Motion.

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

@phaseshift It’s strange that New Order, which was pretty much Joy Division minus one member, sounded like a completely different band. I guess Ian brought something that they couldn’t recapture after he died.
BTW have you read Peter Hook’s book, there’s quite a bit of information about Joy Division.

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

Always loved these two. Ollie is surprisingly a very good singer.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

Awhile ago, @purofilion was talking about chansons having been “something special”. So rather than go all geeky and post something from 13th-century France (my first instinct), here is a renaissance springtime chanson for puro, and hoping that it is finally spring for everyone by now! “Here again comes the Spring, the amorous and fair season”. Complete translation here if you want it.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

Like all the “same name” songs, especially @fatmaninabox’s Pretenders vs. Iron Maiden. That would be a bit of a shock if you were looking for the first and ended up with the second!

@whisht   Well done with the four “Save Me”s. All very different feels. I love Aretha and kd! On songs with the title “Fortune Teller”, how about this “timeless classic”, by Bobby Curtola?   😀

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@fatmaninabox    Daleks doing G&S. Oh dear, that was an OMG moment. No tea in hand, fortunately. (Big Finish had the Daleks quoting Shakespeare, but this is even funnier.)

@whisht  Thanks for those Durutti Column tracks, wonderful. I’ll agree, there were tears.

@thekrynoidman   South Park really nailed those musical numbers, didn’t they? And I will freely admit to a great fondness for Les Mis. But I always love a good sendup.

@phaseshift   I’m not sure I know how to smile gloomily. I can do the long-suffering smile (I have a teenaged son, after all). I can do the smile of frustration (usually saved for grocery store line ups). And I’m great at the smile that hides my thoughts about what a complete **** someone is (useful in committee meetings). But I will practise a gloomy smile for next year. 😕

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

The theme song to my personal favourite Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

[Whisht @whisht]

ah that’s an absolute classic @thekrynoidman – one of the best songs even though its for a film (if you know what I mean).

(I think we linked to What a Wonderful World here before though I can’t remember why – another awesome song).

Anyway, there’s been some Eleanor Bron love elsewhere on the threads, so here’s a version of a song I’d not heard before but kinda like (after I get over the complete change in tempo etc). Aretha Franklin also did a version and her voice is incredible, but I don’t think it was a good version of the song, whereas after a minute or so I think I believe Ray’s version.
Anyway, less waffle, more Eleanor.

[Anonymous @]

@arbutus thank you  4 the chanson @whisht and @thekrynoidman I agree great song, and, as a for the film, well, OK! Oh and Kry? I didn’t know much about Laurel & Hardy my Czech parents thought they were something awful…something wacky they had tried to escape from. Same for Charles Chaplin. Thank God I met other people! Kindest, Puro. How you all doin?

[Anonymous @]

Whisht  I agree wid you. Ray’s is great….”no-one was saved, no-one came,  now look at all all all the lon-el-y peo-ple”  And that gorgeous low bluesy coda. Niiiice.

Now, I have to wrack brains to find something equal 🙂

[Anonymous @]

sorry to take up the boards 3 separate times emperors and mods but I just had to say something to @arbutus about Fortune Teller. I can’t believe you found that/had that!  As it has 4 simple chords I usually use this song (among others) to teach simple 60s song writing to the young ones (and the older ones I tutor too -they can’t believe they can hear a song, learn how to write one, then sing it and play it in just under  45 mins: OK, so they’re simple tunes, but still!). Great stuff. With that almost other worldly gentleness of that long-gone era. All mythical no doubt. But I hang on to those myths… Just like I do with the Fry’s chocolate advert that Lazenby did before his Bond film 🙂 It’s funny all these big and little things that connect us all. From the Great Doctor to Bond; Aretha; KD; Armstrong; The Kinks (I think they’re on this site somewhere); The Clash; Joy Division (who wudda thought of that?); Ray Charles; South Park… Wonderful. Really. What a great spot this has been, is being…Thanks to @craig @phaseshift and all the mods. Thought I’d lift up my coffee cup. It’s a spectacular brew on this 30 degree day and it’s JUNE. Oh, I want some Winter…please…? Kindest,  purofilion

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

@purofilion I can understand not liking Chaplin, but Laurel and Hardy? How can someone not find them funny? Your parents clearly had no sense of humour.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

Ooh, @thekrynoidman, I just love that song, and Louis. I enjoy everything he did, from the early groundbreaking jazz to the gorgeous renditions of American songbook classics that he did on his own and with others. His recordings are standard Friday evening fare in our house. Here is one of our faves, performed with the great Jack Teagarden.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@whisht   I’d never heard that Ray Charles version before, gorgeous. He is amazing. On first listen, I just hear the soul, and think, wow. Then, on second listen, I hear the quality of his voice, which is so much cleaner, clearer, than you realize at first. And then, I realize that, unlike many singers of pop, rock, or blues, he is hitting every note on purpose. Whether it’s a blues inflection or something basic to the melody, he meant to do it. This always impresses me, because it’s not something I hear all the time.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@purofilion   As hard as it is for a Canadian to say these words, I wish you winter, winter, and more winter.  🙂

Yes, you can’t beat those simple old songs for memorable hooks and catchy tunes, can you? Get one of those in your head and it sticks for days! But as you say, there is so much wonderful stuff put up here every week. I blink and I fall behind, behind. And lots of blinking lately, because it’s baseball season, and so our life is pretty much revolving around catching, throwing, hitting, and making sure that enough protein has been consumed and the uniform is clean. And of course, this song.

[Arbutus @arbutus]

@thekrynoidman    Ah, a sense of humour. But sometimes it’s like a foreign language to others. I have never forgotten a moment in a lecture room at university, years back. Our musicology prof was announcing an upcoming lecture by the early music conductor and scholar Andrew Parrott. Our prof, very seriously, said, “I’m sure it will be interesting, although I myself have never heard Parrott speak.” Well, I just about lost it, and nobody else even cracked a smile. I was torn between mortification and wanting to demand, “What is the matter with you people? Polly want a cracker?”   😆

[Whisht @whisht]

Gotta catch up on a few tracks up above!

Some great Goth tracks (though I wasn’t a goth, I’ll admit to a long black coat and a fedora-I-bought-but-never-wore as an awkward teen).
Interestingly(?) (probably not) this season’s hipster look seems to be either pastel 80’s Miami Vice/ kajagoogoo (shorts, dungarees, deck-shoes) stretching to extreme glitter makeup/carnival accessories (much as the hipsters had last year and dare I say it the year before [ouch, the financial straits hits us all]) OR very pure-black tailored vaguely 80’s cuts (but must be un-faded black).
Not sure if its ‘Goth’ or merely “black is the new black” or “we simply must have a change from last season”. But certainly little lace.

I’ll keep you all posted as to the clothes de jour in Hoxton as I’m sure its both fascinating and not info you can pick up anywhere else.

[ahem]

Anyway, I doubt there’ll be fighting on the Sowfend beaches between mascara and comb wielding gangs. They seem to mix quite happily which is nice.

Anyway, I’ve digressed (beer) and just wanted to say:
Ian Astbury – thanks (weirdly a couple of twangs on geetar remind me of Echo Beach!), and notes to look for something to reply with included “a bit sludgy, Billy Idol, anthemic, psychedelic”.
UNKLE always interesting (though haven’t listened to them for ages). They have a good history of featuring singers like Thom Yorke.
Its quite a restrained performance from Astbury – I only know of his more anthemic stuff.

@thekrynoidman – you’re right, quite a surprisingly sweet voice from Ollie.
Though probably shouldn’t be surprised as this was the only song of theirs that ever springs to my mind.

@arbutus – great Fortuneteller and not one I knew of. Before @Purofilion ‘s proper description I shorthanded ” – bubblegum pop? Precisely chewed and delicious in its sweet way!” – and that just show’s the benefit of a musical education to be able to explain stuff! And to carry on that theme of “ooh, I really don’t know stuff” I had to double check that the Renaissance tune you posted (which was beautiful) wasn’t 13th century. The clue was in Renaissance but…. it took me a few seconds and a google to make sure.
Anyway – that was a wonderfully cleansing song, like a tall glass of clear spring water in a meadow – Spring indeed!

[Whisht @whisht]

oh – and @thekrynoidman as for humour, its such a fine line between finding something funny and finding something dull or even offensive – and its the audience who decide, not the comedian.

I guess its for the comedian to either care and tailor their material to their audience, or not care and suffer the “that’s not funny” and even “that’s actually not nice”.

[Whisht @whisht]

and @Purofilion and @arbutus – completely agree with both of you on the Ray Charles cover.

And puro, feel free to pong to my ping.

😉

[Anonymous @]

@arbutus indeed to all: I would have laughed at parrott myself.

And @thekrynoidman I should have explained myself better -being Czech, well, they had their own sense of humour, I guess. Humour in a politically & philosophically driven society which they’d escaped had to have a point. Slapstick was not a large part of East European culture in the 30s and 40s -even Tsarist Russia saw very little of such humour. I think ma & pa saw Chaplin and L and H as some weird stepping back into childhood and it was anathema to them: they were adults, they were earning money and had vanished from a home with nothing but a pistol, a change of clothes and some rye bread and salami.

Upon trudging across mountains a la Sound of Music and walking into Italy; many times hiding from weapon wielding guards  (they could literally smell their bodies -they were so close -and of course their strong & nasty cigarettes) they found out mum was pregnant with my elder brother. Yep. A musical it warrants 🙂 I think, for them, silly humour-or so they thought it to be -was embarrassing and pointless. Even a night out for dinner was a bit naked unless there was dancing you see? Everything needed connection in a vast and otherwise confusing country, unlinked from their home, I think they believed that there was something in this humour that they should have been seeing and couldn’t: like a propaganda merchant withholding information routinely just to peeve them off. Also as @whisht says -it’s in the audience, in the receiver, not the giver. It’s like an argument or lack of communication; where is the fault there? Well, never with me, of course! Ahem…

Kindest,  puro

[Anonymous @]

Ay yes the fundamentals of clothes wearing *icks. Honestly. Well, we’re all clothes wearing -although there is a nudist beach down near Byron Bay, a place, strangely, I have never visited and yet, I love the beach but it’s all gone hippy and by that I mean a cup of soy raw sweetened bla bla coffee is $6.50!  Forgeddit. Here, @whisht  teachers at school wear the same thing -despite weight/height etc.: these odd knicker bocker/3/4 pants with  zip and buttons and then the shirt which is frighteningly tight and yields the inevitable muffin top and shows faaaar too much décolletage .At work! Now, OK, so I’m, 5 ft 3 and fairly within weight parameters (due to Crohns ) but I do know what suits…. (re Goths up thread and realising this conversation should not be on this page -sorry sorry. Lots of bowing and scraping). In the city it’s not that different: there’s the inevitable ill-fitting suit (for both sexes) and then the high heels! Ye gods: worse than that, is not being able to walk in them: just stumble and bumble. I wonder the point…about a lot of things. I get things, I see ’em, but I don’t understand ’em… There’s that song; “I wander, I wonder” Can’t remember much of it. But it says “I wonder” a lot. Great help I know 🙂 Kindest,  p

[Whisht @whisht]

btw @arbutus – is that Louis track from Jazz on a Summers Day? maybe I’ve got the wrong Fairport year, but I know that track.

I remember watching that film and just being completely bowled over by every act as well as the beautiful cinematography.

First time I’d heard (of) Thelonious Monk (apologies if I’d linked this before).

I pity those who ever heard me try to play Blue Monk on a Marine Band harmonica after listening to this version ie deliberately off (as well as being un-deliberately off!)

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

@purofilion oh, I get it now.

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

@thekrynoidman

Sorry – I’ve not read the Peter Hook book. I’ve tended to avoid music biographies because they can ruin some happy memories. I’ll agree with you in that I think Curtis was the damaged soul of Joy Division, and responsible for much of the sound trying to replicate it without him would be pointless.

@whisht

UNKLE always interesting (though haven’t listened to them for ages)

UNKLE were new to me with that track, and I’m still exploring them (must have passed me by first time around). I’ve come to that stage in life when new music is introduced to me either through use in TV progs or via this thread! I may be a decade or so out on some stuff, but there are worse quality controls. 🙂

I was quite impressed by some of the guest vocalists. Mark Lanegan, for instance, I remember in Screaming Trees. They got lumped into that entire “grunge” thing, when really they weren’t. I still love Butterfly (although after my ramblings on time, I’ll assure people it has nothing to do with chaos theory).

[ScaryB @scaryb]

As we’re currently viewing City of Death, it seemed an opportune time to post a couple of clips from Julian Glover’s younger half-brother, Robert Wyatt (I only found out about the family connection because of the current viewing schedule! Who says hanging around on internet forums isn’t educational!). Connections are weird 😉

This one caused a bit of a stushie in 1974 when the BBC originally deemed that Wyatt in a wheelchair wasn’t suitable for Top of the Pops family viewing!! Wyatt won 🙂

And this is a stonewall classic –

[Craig @craig Emperor]

@whisht Cezanne? When discussing City of Death? Happy memories and terrible spelling. The great Jonathan Richman.

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

This is House of the Blue Danube by Malcom McLaren, a cover of sots of the Blue Danube.

[Mobius64 @mobius64]

Okay, this is very Doctor Who related but I wasn’t sure were else to post it. During the episode The Doctor’s Daughter, This is Gallifrey plays when the Doctor talks about the Time War but it is arranged differently. Does anyone know what this arrangement is called and where I could find it? I tried to search for it on Google and Youtube but failed to find it.

[Anonymous @]

@mobius64 – Sadly, the Doctor Who soundtrack albums don’t include all the music used in each series which is a shame as there are a number of alternate arrangements of songs that I’d like as well.

[Whisht @whisht]

some nice stuff above (always great to hear those Wyatt’s) and @craig that track from the Modern Lovers is a new one on me (as is most of their stuff except Roadrunner). really really liked it.

Now then, I’ve been to the Rose & Crown and a great choon on the jukebox there (always thought this was the jukebox! 😉 ) but realised that all the screens on the rooms upstairs are showing sci-fi! No footy anywhere (and yes my antipodean buddies, I mean real footy).

Now, I was thinking of linking this but on listening again I’m not sure I really like it (though love the film) so will give this tune from a New York based Puerto Rican.

Because its “Latin American” (though salsa? rather than samba?) and I like it and it raises a smile and there’s a link to the genre love all around here (don’t look at the title, put it on in the background and see if you recognise it).

Hands up who wasn’t tapping or shimmying after about 3 or 4 mins.

ah – second half about to begin!

[Anonymous @]

@whisht oh reaaaally?  ‘real’ footy?  This morning at 4.30 am who was watching the footy -Spain against Holland?? mmm? And then, and then, we had the antipodes play Chile. Now, anyone watching that would know we play footy alright…..OKay, I’ve gone and done a nutty, it’s the lack of sleep, it’s the endless Kia ads, it’s the whiny players, and their tats…. Another month of this? Oh  Noooooo. Kindest, purofilion

[Anonymous @]

actually we’re shite I know…. but it’s not fair (whining) we are playing a terrible tough draw (did I say it wasn’t fair?). Thank you for the foot tapping, shimmy (yes, you were right it was great and must needed break from the stoopid fouls) -Spain and Holland, not good.

[Whisht @whisht]

fair’s fair.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw26fLW_gg4

(could’ve sworn I’d posted this before but can’t find it, so hopefully not too repetitious!)
(not sure why that’s not embedding… ah well.)

oh and Puro you know I’m kidding.
I watched England lose the rugby too!

🙂

[Anonymous @]

Aaaah @whisht I have never heard of this Mr Rossi character! Not sure it made it to Aus you see?  It reminds me of this jazz station my folks used to listen to at their Sat night parties where tequila was involved: it was the 70s/80s then….Dad would wander about with the accordion which seemed so very sophisticated at the time

Yes, I watched the Eng. game -uber sad to watch. Of course….about the thing…well, actually not many peeps I know are into ‘football’ here -you’d think there’d be more involvement. It’s all Aussie Rules;  Rugby played in the Private schools all the time (mind you, this is Brisbane we’re talking about-in Melbourne and NSW, it might be quite different). So, there is one ‘soocer’ academy, and it happens to be just up the road from me- the boy ilion thinks he has a shot at getting in. Dunno. We’ll see. Kindest, puro

[Whisht @whisht]

Ah Puro – yes Mr Rossi was a fave of mine as a kid – mainly for the artwork!

anyways, here’s a Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy tribute:

[Anonymous @]

Ah yes, “gettin’ old” sings Simon. Know the feeling -what a lovely melancholy voice, I always thought. I remember, years ago, never seeing his face and picturing it according to his voice- bit of a shock when I saw his face but then I loved him anyway. Love the melodious nature of his toons -a bit like McCartney -with the swooping and generous antecedent phrases but better in that he controls his tone, volume and vocal range. Then, I always loved McCartney -everyone adored John (so did I), but I think they were Ying and Yang together. A perfect duo? Dunno. I think, pretty close. As for Neil, over the years, he didn’t do badly for himself, he adapted but never lost the original quality that gained those immediate followers. Kindest, puro.

[Anonymous @]

New track from Six Years. The hauntingly beautiful video stars Katy Manning.

[Whisht @whisht]

Interesting @fatmaninabox – I know nothing about Six Years and a very quick google only gets me a band that doesn’t have that track (but probably is them!).

Weirdly as I watched the video and was musing “Is that Canvey Island?” based on nothing other than having seen “Oil City Confidential” I came across this.

Incredibly terrible crap TV show from 1975 called “Geordie Scene”, with a poor-man’s Jimi Saville ruining every moment between songs. Truly awful.

But, but… this show doesn’t deserve music this raw and with such a focussed delivery.

This VHS tape has obviously been played a lot of times!

(and the guitarist Wilko has been suffering for years from cancer – however after recent surgery is convalescing – he’s endearingly well loved so hope he’s doing as well as he can).

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

[Whisht @whisht]

A bit cruel, but…

(only of even marginal interest if you’re following the World Cup.

and not Spanish)

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

@whisht Classic

[Whisht @whisht]

ah – thanks @thekrynoidman

Playing that now just before the Uruguay v England match.
Sets a nice tone.

I presume Jaws is in honour of Suarez?*

*(I promise no more rubbish footy jokes)

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

@whisht What? no, it’s because you made a Jaws reference. I don’t even like football, which probably makes me a blasphemer considering I’m a Geordie.

[Whisht @whisht]

ha ha – no worries @thekrynoidman

As I say – they were rubbish ‘jokes’.
(Suarez has been known to bite players and my Jaws clip was for the early exit of Spain.
Schadenfreude karma? hey ho!)

Anyway, that’s enough of my stoopid footy-related music!

[The Krynoid Man @thekrynoidman]

Couple of tracks from the real King of Rock and Roll

[PhaseShift @phaseshift Time Lord]

Loving the XTC and Buddy Holly double bill from @whisht and @thekrynoidman.

I’m in the mood for oddness this weekend. When aren’t I? This bloke is the son of yer’ actual physicist who didn’t get invited to those sort of parties and dies early – having given us the “many worlds” or parallel worlds theory. His son buggers about with instruments and is much more successful. Shows you how life works doesn’t it?

The story about this is weird. Not only did Mark Everett have his dad die early on, but his sister committed suicide shortly before this was written. The studio were that fearful of this track it wasn’t released officially in the US. Only in the UK and the glorious land of OZ, where it became a minor hit, leaving the record company thinking D’oh! as it became one of the early digital music pirates across frontiers.

Odd.

[Author]

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