Many Are Called But Few Get Up

 

When I got the news that Welsh rockers Man released a box-set of live recordings from almost 50 years ago I was going to pick them old records out of my collection and listening to them. Of course it is a retro sound, massive influenced by late 60's heavy blues and west-coast LA-sound but I have to admit that their abilities in improvisation is still a pleasure. I can't explain why they are great in Germany and less known in Great Britain, maybe because they were too individual and there were more bands like them playing the same at the time. But live they were far ahead of many other bands in this decade. For me it is always a pleasure to come back to them from time to time.

Man - Many Are Called, But Few Get Up (Peel Session 1975)

The Children Of Scorpio

A few days ago I had an e-mail correspondence with our good friend Drew and he recommended an album to me that was really new to me. Project Gemini is the project of London based musician, producer and writer Paul Osborne. On The Children Of  Scorpio offers a tribute to Lalo Schifrin and the music of his soundtracks. Many will know the main title of Mission Impossible and Bullit in the early 70's. Osborne got the spirit of those vintage soundtracks and added ingredients of acid-folk and a whole of psych-funk to a totally new and exciting sound. I didn't excepted something like this but this is great, new and fascinating. Probably an album that could appear on many year ends lists.

Dropping Lalo Schifrin here there should be also played his fantastic soundtrack of Bullit at this place once again.

As well as the legendary car race in San Francisco from Bullit.

Kill Dem

 

Jamie XX returned unexpected last week with Kill Dem a track inspired by Notting Hill Carnival where he was at the first time at the controllers. He surprised with a soundsystem inspired track with a chopped dancehall-sample, a house piano and a great bassline. This could be main track in autumn in a good club.

Monday's Long Song

 

A few days ago I watched again The Beach, the movie by Danny Boyle from 2000 with Leonardo DiCaprio as a main actor. It is far away from my favorite movie but I still like the landscape because I traveled through Thailand several times during these days and I remember Phi Phi island as a peaceful and great place. In all his movies Boyle had a fantastic taste for the soundtracks. Most of them showing new bands and they got a greater audience. So it was no wonder that Underworld appeared on the soundtrack with 8 Ball that wasn't released on any of their albums before. A trippy beat, reduced guitars and the voices made this song outstanding and worth to be featured in this series.

Underworld - 8 Ball

Typical Music

 

Manchester's Tim Burgess is probably one of those artist releasing album after album and almost anyone is worth to listen to. Now he's going to release Typical Music a double album that is everything but not typical. It shows his abilities and abilities from the sound of The Charlatans to Roddy Frame. An album I listened to during the last days and there were few I could listen in a row. It is perfect because it shows every facet in pop music from the last decades. Chapeau Mr. Burgess

Enter Crocodile Mountain

 

Cari Cari, one of my favorite Austrian bands released their second album a few weeks ago. I featured them several times at this place and their new work fulfills everything I expected from them. Produced during the lockdown periods a few years ago they are back again with they psychedelic escapism and their love to Tarantino inspired pop song. Welcome To Kookoo Island is the perfect soundtrack for longer walks through the the landscape turning into brigth colours. Enter Crocodile Mountain might be the best example of their music: short licks on a deep tune electric guitar, a steady groove and a clear voice. What do we need more for a great song.

Monday's Long Song

 

Nottingham based DJ's and producers Timm Sure and Richard Hampson made under their stage name Coyote a few albums during the last years that impressed me very much. Now they released a new EP Everything Moves, Nothing Rests filled with six trippy balearic influenced songs. Each of them is far over this years average and the album will surely appear in my years end list. So if you don't know them by now - give them a chance.

Phase IV

 

If you grew up with CAN, The Velvet Underground and Tom Waits and then let techno, psychedelic rock and blues flow into your own sound, you did everything right. The London band Kerala Dust shows with their new single which sound you need for good nights in vibrant cities like Berlin, where they also have their homebase. "During the pandemic, we just got into a car and drove through the old east and found all these destroyed buildings. It is this mixture of nostalgia for the past, coupled with a melancholy about how far we would go to feel anything at all, "Kerala Dust say about" Pulse VI. And these words describe their new retro sound very well. Taking the best from the past to create a great song for night rides.

KERALA DUST · Pulse VI

In  1972 Neu! released their self titled debut and after 50 years a box of the 50th anniversary will be released soon. A remix album of this album will also be released. The National remixed the first song of the album and other contributors like Mogwai, Idles and New Order's Stephen Morris show their work work. It is good to see that this legendary krautrock album still has a massive influence to today's artists. Songs that can't be destroyed by no one. 

 

Diabolo

 

Once again Adam over at Bagging Area was a bit faster than me to feature a new superb release. But it doesn't matter to feature Gabe Gurnsey's new album a second time at this little place in the internet. Diabolo his second album is a hybrid of many of his influences and marks a fusion of Simple Minds, Suicide, DAF, Detroit techno, deep house and Eurythmics. And with the vocals of Tilly Morris she adds the spirit of Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder to their sound. Nothing more or less than an album from another great Manchester band that will be played at my place more than one time.

Starlings

Sally Rodgers and Steve Jones aka A Man Called Adam are going to release another album later this year they made during the lockdowns 20/21 when they had time enough to spent in the studios. The first result was a new song released a few days ago and it is what you could expect in this way. It is a slice of uplifting neo-folk dance pop. Not a great step ahead of what they did but another great piece of music from their space. A song that works in almost every time of day.

 

Warmth Of The Sun

 

It is autumn and 2022 is turning to the last quarter of the year. I know it too early to look back to the releases this year that impressed me much but I listened often the last weeks to Pye Corner Audio's release Let's Emerge from this year a collaboration by Martin Jenkins and Ride's guitarist Andy Bell. It is an album far away from mainstream and the more I listen to it I find more details in the sound both created. It is an album that is fundamental for me this year. Jenkins described this album as bathed in sunlight and acid-bright psychedelia. And this are just the right words to describe this outstanding album. Nothing more or less than another gem and classic recording in this genre that should appear in many playlist of this year. 

Pye Corner Audio - Warmth Of The Sun

Monday's Long Song

 

Another forgotten band are The Heads, a band formed in Bristol in the early 90's and active until 2002. Far away from the sound Bristol stamped in the 90's they played a post-psychedelic sound inspired by heavy blues but with ingredients of The Stooges. They were know for long improvisations and a massive sound. It is no surprise that John Peel invited them several times for his session to show their abilities of taking us to a heavy trip into space. Music like this is made today mostly in Scandinavia. Their last album Under Sided was re-released a few days ago including their sessions for John Peel.

The Heads - Neu 75!

Salt Marsh

 

British producer and DJ Rich Trent is back with a new EP and a song that accompanied me during last week. He isn't the next big thing in music but whenever he released something during the last years there was always a song thereby being more than average in this kind of music for me. Salt Marsh is one of those. Starting with the sound of sheep to introduce the rest of the Balearic inspired song with a country-side guitar lick and the song turn into slow stumping relaxed mood. Not to bad to start into another autumn Sunday.  

The Queen Is Dead

 

The news appeared right now that queen Elisabeth II died a few hours ago at the age of 96. She wasn't head of state but she was always present during my whole life. I don't have to judge if she did a good job or not but she always represent Britain for me - if only many people could agree with her. Who will be the next king, I don't know but anyway he will never get the respect and reference she got. Here are only some songs that came to my mind when I heard about her passing away.

 

Monday's Long Song

 

Neil Barnes and Paul Daley formed electronic duo Leftfield in the late 80's an released several singles until they released their first album Leftism in 1995. It was phenomenal when I first listened to it. Leftfield's music was termed as progressive house but for me it was much more. They were one of those bands that stamped electronic dance music including dub elements and echoes into their house sound. Release The Pressure is still a song a come back to from time to time. A landmark in house music still.

Leftfield - Release The Pressure (The Rough Dub)

Clear View

It's been a long time since I featured a German song at this place. Not that there are not artists enough but there was no song worth to be presented during the last months. In the past days a song by Oberst & Buchner came to my ears and it is a kind of those songs you hear and can't forget them. Oberst & Buchner are musicians and DJ's living between Berlin and Vienna and are active since almost 10 years. Freie Sicht is a hypnotic disco track with new wave influences that focuses on the important ingredients: catchy bass, punchy snare, breaks in the right places and lyrics that only explain as much as necessary. Close your eyes and drift away