From an old record box: Eels – Souljacker Part 1
Today’s offering is Dreamworks Records 450 893-7, the September 2001 (picture disc) release that featured a bearded E cuddling a pooch. For me, a title like ‘Souljacker Part 1’ should at least herald a disturbing sci-fi tale, if not go the whole hog and plunge the listener into a nightmarish vision of the future. As …
From an old record box: Brave Captain – Better Living Through Reckless Experimentation EP
On settling down to review this EP I was expecting it to at least be interesting, not least given that I couldn’t really remember anything positive about it. When I bought catalogue number WEBB009S I only played it once, thinking it was complete crap. I’m sure ex-Boo Radley songwriter Martin Carr thought that he had a great …
From an old record box: Prefab Sprout – Life Of Surprises
I’m doing this the wrong way ’round, mainly because that’s how this record was purchased. I was only really interested in the b-side of catalogue number SK 63. ‘The King Of Rock ‘N’ Roll’ is the only Prefab Sprout I can remember being able to stand – and nothing has changed over the years. I’ve a new …
From an old record box: Patrick Park – Honest Skrew
The old record box has thrown out some lovely surprises in this month’s bumper crop: a reunion with a clinical pop masterpiece in Roxette’s ‘It Must Have Been Love’, the indie rock rush of The Wedding Present’s ‘2, 3, Go’, and an R.E.M. 12” of high quality (‘Orange Crush’). But there have also been some …
From an old record box: Teenage Fanclub – Start Again
I first bought some Fannies in the early 90s – ‘The Concept’ on cassingle – and then had little to no contact with them until ‘Howdy !’ around early 2001. That album and I spent a good deal of time together before I finally got around to buying some more of their stuff, but the …
From an old record box: Tori Amos – Winter
‘Winter’ is one of the most gorgeous songs I will ever hear. You might think that a little strong, perhaps ? I hope to have many years yet and many, many songs, after all. But it’s been two decades already and if anything it only grows greater as the time passes. In a sense it …
From an old record box: Ian Brown – F.E.A.R.
Verdict: just-about-listenable hokum. Let’s be honest – the lyrics are complete hogwash. I’m sure at the outset Ian Brown thought it was a great idea to flesh out the acronym in every line, but he was wrong; not even the early ones justify this cod-philosophical balderdash. Quite why I bought this (catalogue number Polydor 587 284-7), and …
From an old record box: R.E.M. – Nightswimming
‘Nightswimming’ is unassailable. This beautiful song is a rarity in R.E.M.’s back catalogue in terms of arrangement and features a relatively straightforward set of lyrics, at least for Michael Stipe. Whether or not you skinny dipped as a teenager, and whether or not you did so poetically isn’t really the point. Anyone who ever experienced …
From an old record box: a-ha – Stay On These Roads
It’s a tough call, trying to work out which of Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig is my favourite Bond. Craig has definitely got the better movies and the benefit of being the vehicle for post-Bourne rejuvenation of the franchise. But that can’t be enough. Dalton only got two movies, and he tends to get dismissed …
News: The Handsome Family – UK & Ireland Tour 2015
What a year this has been for Rennie and Brett Sparks. Before Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson starred in one of the most exciting and talked-about TV series of recent memory (all-time ? of course not, that’s still Buffy), The Handsome Family were strong, personal favourites for plenty of people; but now they’re household names. …