S.P.O.C.K around the clock

A slice of classic mid-nineties Swedish synth-pop today, courtesy of the Star Trek-loving S.P.O.C.K. - I'm guessing they must be quite keen on that show, anyway, bearing in mind a) their name b) the fact that they like to don Starship Enterprise uniforms on stage & c) because one of their most famous songs is called Never Trust A Klingon. Oh, and d) their band members include one "Android" and a "Captain Eddie B Kirk".

So yes, they're possibly a *bit* wacky. Maintaining the space theme (I'm not a massive authority on S.P.O.C.K but it would seem that pretty much everything they ever recorded was sci-fi related in some way), today's song, Astrogirl, is chuffing brilliant if, like me, you're a fan of the whole cheesy electro Europop thing. Knocks Star Trekkin' by The Firm into a cocked hat too (not difficult, admittedly).

S.P.O.C.K. - Astrogirl mp3

Crushed by the wheels of industry

Cripes, just discovered I missed out on the release of a new I, Ludicrous single in September. Strange really as I'm sure it would've been record of the week on all the major music networks. Ho ho ho. Here it is anyway, and just in time for the new working week: Clerking Til I Die.



Download it here

Jonny Jonny Ooh!

A band comprising Euros Childs from Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake sounds like a pretty wonderful proposition, doesn't it? Well such a band now exists! They're called Jonny and they sound every bit as accomplished and effortlessly melodic as you'd expect a combo featuring this pair of indiepop luminaries, to sound.

Jonny's self-titled debut album will be released on the 31st of January, with lead single Candyfloss appearing two weeks before that. (Warning: watching the following video may well make you crave a certain kind of spun sugar confection.)



Mildly Interesting Floss Fact: Candyfloss is, as you may know, called "Cotton candy" in the U.S. and "Fairy floss" in Australia. I think I like the Aussie name best.

Late last year, Jonny released a free download single, which included the following paean to Gloria Estefan. (I feel like I should add the words "of all people" to the end of that sentence, but that would seem a tad churlish. Good song though.)

Jonny - Gloria mp3

The Orange Juice

Hello again! I trust you had an at least bearable Christmas and New Year. Mine was so diverting I managed to forget I had a blog to run. Speaking of which, let's get this thing cranked into life again, shall we?

The Sweptaways returned last month with their own inimitable take on Oh My Darling Clementine "supported by" Swedish fruit juice purveyors Brämhults, who it seems have a tradition of getting different acts to interpret the song on their behalf at this time every year (well, they've done it for the past two years at least). Here is that Sweptaways version in its entirety. As you might expect, it's rather good.




The Sweptaways - Oh My Darling Clementine mp3

Song of the Day

The Go-Betweens go country and western - with outrageously catchy consequences.

As Grant explained in the sleeve notes of The Go-Betweens 1978-90:

"I've always liked country music. This is a typical mix of pathos and sentimentality in the tradition of George Jones and Tammy Wynette. It comes close to pastiche but The Go-Betweens seldom genre-hop so this is what it is."

The Go-Betweens - Don't Call Me Gone mp3

New Acid House Kings & Christmas round-up

After a break of six years (six years!), Sweden's twee pop maestros Acid House Kings are back with new single Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends? Thankfully for them, after such a long absence, the song's a corker and well worth the extended wait. The band's new album, Music Sounds Better With You, will be out on Labrador in the spring.

Acid House Kings - Are We Lovers Or Are We Friends? mp3

The rest of this entry's devoted to Christmas songs so readers of a curmudgeonly nature may wish to look away now.

Sheffield duo Slow Club are giving last year's festive EP Christmas, Thanks For Nothing a belated release in the US. From it, here's their energetic and faithful rendition of the Darlene Love / Phil Spector classic, Christmas, Baby Please Come Home, a song I still love despite U2's best attempts to tarnish it forever.

Slow Club - Christmas Baby Please Come Home mp3

Buy Christmas, Thanks For Nothing at Moshi Moshi

Dublin's Indiecater Records have released a new Christmas compilation - their third - featuring mostly original seasonal compositions from the likes of Dolfish, Natalie Prass, Paisley and Charlie, The Very Most, Kate and After, Boca Chica, Ali Millstein, Adam and Darcie, Standard Fare, The Gorgeous Colours and Royal Fores. You can stream the entire album here while the agreeable country stylings of Boca Chica's offering can be downloaded below.

Boca Chica - Not On Christmas Eve mp3 (right click)

Christmas was better in the eighties - at least it was according to The Futureheads on their new single of the same name. And who could possibly argue with them, apart, perhaps, from anyone who didn't spend their formative years in that decade? Anyway, I'm with the Futureheads on this. The single's released on December 19th and is rather good. Here's the promo vid:



Finally, as you're doubtless well aware, John Lennon died thirty years ago today. We're marking the occasion here with a super version of Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by blog favourites Daryll-Ann.

Daryll-Ann - Happy Christmas (War Is Over) mp3

Get away

"Party all summer long with The Holiday CD - 16 original hits!" boast CBS Records on the front cover of their 1987 funtime compilation. If we must, CBS, if we must. But something's wrong with this picture. Take a closer look at the track listing below and tell me what's wrong with it (apart from the obvious).

1) Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
2) Mel & Kim - Respectable
3) Bananarama - Venus
4) The Communards - Don't Leave Me This Way
5) Miami Sound Machine - Dr Beat
6) Kool & The Gang - Fresh
7) Spagna - Call Me
8) Boney M - Hooray, Hooray, It's A Holi-Holiday
9) Typically Tropical - Barbados
10) Ottowan - D.I.S.C.O.
11) Ryan Paris - Dolce Vita
12) Modern Talking - Brother Louie
13) Modern Romance - Everybody Salsa
14) Denise LaSalle - My Toot Toot
15) K.C. & The Sunshine Band - Give It Up
16) Opus - Live Is Life

You're absolutely right, it's the choice of Wham! song: Wake Me Up Before You Go Go? Pfft! Maybe I could have let this go if Wham didn't have an actual, completely obvious song tailor-made for a holiday compilation in their repertoire. But I mean, hello, does Club Tropicana not ring any bells? The drinks are free, and there's enough fun - and sunshine - for everyone. Either the decision to eschew that in favour of Wake Me Up Before You Go Go (on holiday?) was one serious piece of lateral thinking or someone's missed a song title open goal here.

Now, you might argue that dredging up the whole subject of a mildly contentious choice of song on an obscure summer compilation almost a quarter of a century on is only exacerbating matters; hell, you may even say that it's an utter irrelevance in an age where there are a million more serious things to get het up about; but by gum this rankles with me. What were they thinking?

Anyway, I need to calm down. Here's some more holiday music!

Pullover - Last Christmas mp3

For more on Pullover click on their label at the bottom of this post and you'll be whizzed away to a post I wrote about them a few years ago. Before you go, here's another of their songs which, while not being suitable for a holiday compilation in any way, is also dead good.

Pullover - Holiday mp3

Not always touched by your presents, dear

Right, well, it's December the 4th so high time to crack open the Christmas songs I reckon. Thanks once again are due to Spike, this time for putting me onto today's funny folkers Garfunkel & Oates - a sort of cynical, clued-up female American version of Flight of the Conchords. The best compliment I can pay G&O is that their songs don't suffer one bit in comparison with their more famous folking comedy forebears. Have a listen to the Christmas-present-woe-inspired Present Face and the wonderfully sardonic Year End Letter and see what you think.

Garfunkel & Oates - Year End Letter mp3 (right click)

Garfunkel & Oates - Present Face mp3 (right click)

On a non-seasonal but equally hilarious note, have a look at the vid for Pregnant Women Are Smug, quite possibly the greatest song title ever!



Mildly Interesting Pop Fact (not had one of these for a while): The duo's name was inspired by the Garfunkel's Restaurant chain and Robert Falcon Scott's stoical sidekick Captain Oates. This is a lie, obviously. The name comes, as you may well have deduced, from the perenially-in-the-shade-of-their-more-illustrious-partners Art Garfunkel and John Oates (of Hall & Oates fame).

Garfunkel & Oates's website

This guy's nuts

Many thanks to Spike for drawing my attention to this (and for coming up with the title!). Naked man runs down snowy Brighton street with only a teatray and amused onlookers for company - with hilarious consequences!

Garageland - Nude Star mp3

Kathryn Williams - Madmen and Maniacs mp3

Get your eardrums round this!

EardrumsPop is a net label run, unsurprisingly, by our friends from the Eardrums blog, which releases, among other things, unfailingly enjoyable and melodic free monthly download singles. The latest of these is by the ineffably ace Baffin Island - a collaboration between Idaho combo The Very Most and Glasgow's own Hermit Crabs. Tim from the Eardrums team explains where the band's name comes from along with a bit more about their sound:

"Baffin Island is the exact midpoint on the map between their homes in Boise and Glasgow and their musical style can also be seen as a midpoint between the two bands music: they combine the densely-layered indie pop of The Very Most with the more stripped down, thoughtful folky sound of The Hermit Crabs. The result is as sweet as you'd expect with healthy doses of Phil Spector, handclaps, delicate vocals, and lots and lots of reverb."

Sounds fab, eh? And it is. All three songs on the single are terrific, especially lead track You Invited Me. Listen to the soundcloud below and see if you concur!



If you like what you hear - and I'll be surprised, not to mention a little disappointed, if you don't - get yourself over to Eardrums and download the single for free. Best decision you'll make all week.

The Gang's all here

Regular visitors will have noticed that we may have taken our eyes off the ball, blogwise, of late. Slightly. But all that's going to change. Oh yes. Starting right here, I intend to update this blog at least once in a blue moon. Or maybe even twice. We'll see how it goes. No point trying to run before you can walk, etc.

So, anyway, what better way to get back into the swing of things than to tackle some of the many email submissions we've received of late yet have thus far stubbornly failed to act upon. I'm going to start off with something that landed in our inbox in early September and which I've listened to many times since then but, obviously, never quite got round to blogging - namely the splendidly angular guitar pop of Fortune Favours The Brave by Edinburgh three-piece Come On Gang! Here's the rather ace promo vid.



You can download the single for free simply by clicking this link to the band's official site and entering your email address in the box provided. Signing up to the mailing list will also be the best way of finding out exactly when Come On Gang!'s hopefully imminent debut album is being released.

Orchestral manoeuvres, what a lark

We went to see the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain last week, and what a top night out it was. Brilliantly idiosyncratic covers of great songs and some genuinely hilarious onstage banter (e.g. after they'd re-entered the stage from the wings after exiting in advance of the first encore: "You can't get out that way".) I love the way they drop the 'U' word into the songs from time to time too - with (genuinely) hilarious consequences.

Anyway, you'll doubtless know all about this seven and sometimes eight-piece combo (unless you've been terribly remiss or remote from the UK) so I'll not blather on any more about them now, apart from to urge you all to head over to their website to buy some Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain merch at your earliest convenience. You know it makes sense. There's even a Christmas album, which would make an ace present for the music fan in your life. Which may well be you, come to think of it. Whatever. Here's a selection of classic Ukulele Orchestra of GB clips to whet your appetite: Teenage Dirtbag, The Theme From Shaft and a singalong version of Anarchy In The UK. Join in, swing your pants!







Also, here's one of the newer songs in the Orchestra's repertoire, Hot Lips, which was originally recorded by Swedish electro types Pacific! (Exclamation mark theirs.) The Pacific! version is here if you fancy comparing and contrasting. Thanks to super sleuth Spike for seeking these out.

R.I.P. the Walkman

Too predictable? Maybe. But any excuse to feature such a great song.

Songs for the dumped

After self-pity comes bitterness; here are three prime musical examples, especially recommended if you like your Swedes bitter. And trust me, if you've ever been dumped (as I'm sure most of us will have at one time or another) you'll not hear a more staisfying, or indeed better, bitter song all year than Lucky You. Let the catharsis commence.

The Wannadies - Lucky You mp3

Hello Saferide - Last Bitter Song mp3

The Bear Quartet - What's Your Virtue? mp3

That is like soooooo unfair!

Rol at Sunset Over Slawit has revealed the first instalment of his list of favourite self-pity songs today. What a splendid idea. I think I may already have blogged this song fairly recently, but it's perfect for the self-pitying theme, I think, and fairly obscure, so hopefully I won't be treading on his toes by posting it here. Oh, and once again, it's by a Swedish artist.

Mutts - Somebody Has To Be Me mp3

Now, stop feeling sorry for yourselves and get over to Rol's blog a bit sharpish!

Search of the Day

"David Rappaport trumpet"

There you go.

Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Trumpets & Violins mp3

Action Biker - TV Star mp3

(continuing the Swedish theme)