A few good times in my life
Next week The Limiñanas, probably the best new psychedelic band from Perpignan, France will release their newest album De Pelicula a collaboration with Laurent Garnier. I featured them a few month ago and can't wait until the postman will hand out my copy. Until then I have to listen to what I can find on bandcamp.
Yo La Tengo formed in 1984 as another band from Hoboken, New Jersey, playing their own sound based on feedback and whispered vocals influenced by Love, The Soft Boys and Mission Of Burma. During the last decades they released a lot of albums (and sometimes with their own interpretation of other artists songs). In 2015 they returned surprisingly with Fade and brought us back their true sound with a superb album. I saw them live in 1991 supporting Eleventh Dream Day in a small club in Stuttgart and was fascinated how good they are on stage. A few weeks ago they released a special edition of Fade and their version of Stupid Things is what you can expect live.
Yo La Tengo - Stupid Things (Instrumental)
Cari Cari were featured at this little place of the internet several times. Now they released a new song from their forthcoming album. And when they sounded like in former times like a hybrid of psychedelic and desert sound now they moved into late 60's inspired psychedelic. Not the worst road that they could chose. I saw them a few times during the last years and this way is a good road they are going no surprise to me.
It seldom happens that I feature the same artist the second time in the last weeks but I can't get enough of it during the last days. As said it was the founding of the year so far. Our Mother Was A Plant by Gioele Valenti aka JuJu is on heavy rotation at my place since I got this album. Sunny After Moon combines in a brilliant way krautrock, early 70's west coast sound with enigmatic tribes and guitars that can you forget everything.
Another three songs that appeared on my mobile phone in a row a few days ago on my way to work. The first one was by The Gun Club's second album Miami from 1982. A long time ago of course but I love this album from the first time I listened to it until now. It was a rough and grounded sound torn between post punk and pre-grunge. Seldom listened to a true sound like this later.
The Gun Club - Texas Serenade
In 1979 The Flying Lizards released their first self titled album, an experimental excursion in new sounds trying to find their own way between pop, experimental and dub. Their legacy will be superb cover versions by Eddie Cochran and Berry Gordy.
The Flying Lizards - Summertime Blues
Polly Scattergood is an English singer/songwriter and released more than one year ago her latest album In This Moment. It is an album I enjoy listening from time to time to her Eighties-tinged pop that could be recorded in David Bowie's Hunky Dory days
Polly Scattergood - The End Was Glorious
Rest well Charlie
In the late 60's Detroit's Rare Earth were signed as one of the first white bands to Motown. They had a few chart positions during the 70's with a cover of The Temptations I Know I'm Losing You. But their legacy was their versions of Tobacco Road and Get Ready - probably one of the first real long songs in history and still a masterpiece in this genre
Rare Earth - Get Ready
Today's long song is a new one that came to my ears last Friday. I got aware of it by checking the mailing lists from my inbox and found the announcement of a new release by London based label Fuzz Club. JuJu is the brainchild of Sicilian multi-instrumentalist Gioele Valenti and his album Our Mother Was A Plant from 2017 will be re-released next month. It is one of these albums that was overlooked in the mass of releases as well by myself. Dropping the album under the category Psychedelia does not do justice to it. The album is full of shamanic mantras and influenced by afrobeat, krautrock, glam, post-punk, drone and everything in between. One of my best findings this year.
Round 2008 A Mountain Of One, a project by Zeban Jameson and Mo Morris both London based musicians and DJ's, released a couple of EP's celebrating an Balearic sound. I really liked them for their relaxed but ambitious sound that included a lot of ingredients from the late 60's psychedelic era. Still a pleasure to go back to this times with their songs.
A Mountain Of One - Ride (The Time & Space Machine Remix)
Each day I go to work I have to travel for almost one hour with public travel. During this time I check the news on my mobile phone and listen to music. Sometimes on Spotify but mostly what is on the hard drive. I have to admit that I am surprised when I use accidental reproduction and what forgotten gems appeared. So I decided to start a series of three songs that appeared in a row. No thoughts if it will fit to a theme or makes sense - just a short reflection what came to my ears.
The first one was a song by Vic Chesnutt an American singer-songwriter who was a cross-border commuter between country, folk and a bit of punk. He collaborated with Bob Mould and a lot of other musicians from Athens, Georgia. I really love his version of the Southern gothic murder ballad of Bobby Russels' The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia not only because it is a sad story fantastic told.
The next one is by Matt Berninger, an American singer-songwriter and known as the frontman of The National. Loved So Little is a track from his first solo album released last year and superb like many of the songs on this album. A little gem that I rediscovered earlier this year.
In July 2016 Alan Vega died at the age of 78 by the aftermath of a stroke he had a few years ago. I don't have to tell about his influences and works with Suicide because most of you will know. During this year his widow and son opens their archives and releases album by album. The latest release was After Dark the result of a late night session from 2015 with Ben Vaughn's rock and roll band Pink Slip Daddy. And it shows what a great artist we lost. Based on a floor of classic blues rock his voice shows what rock and roll could be. Great stuff and I ask myself which collaboration will be released next.
I was surprised to hear that Dot Allison is going to release a new album after more than a decade. And I have to admit that I was really curious to her new songs and if they are still relevant in these days. Since Andrew Weatherall produced her bands One Dove epic album Morning Dove White a superb melange of country and folk melancholy with dub and electronica I enjoyed listening to Dot's voice. Now the album moved away from any electronic beats towards a classical singer-songwriter style from the 70's. Listening to her songs I think it is the release of forgotten Sandy Denny songs. But it is simply Dot Allison. A beautiful album that makes a good start into August. If you have enough of beats and rock take a time out and listen to this.
