Horror

 

The Mekons have always been a band I've appreciated and followed since their first single Where Were You. Over the years, they have released many records celebrating their love of country-inspired indie. 

The Mekons have been fighting tirelessly against the forces of capital for almost 50 years. Now the British punk band returns with their new album Horror which was released today. The work deals with the darkest aspects of everyday life and combines a wide variety of musical styles such as dub, folk, new wave and Americana. Despite the serious themes, the indie veterans prove that you can still have a good time while reflecting on world-weariness.

Without going too far out on a limb, they manage to write an album that sounds relevant and fresh - with roots in punk and a foot each in folk and history. Horror is about what's in the papers yesterday, today and tomorrow. In other words, the horror of everyday life. But the Mekons wouldn't be the Mekons if they weren't interested in the causes. And as a decidedly left-wing band, they arrive at the original sin of the British Empire: imperialism. With Oliver Cromwell's concept of “The Western Design” as a starting point, the idea of viewing land as a business opportunity - and dealing with the people who live there accordingly.

Despite all the criticism, the album has a positive mood and once again they manage to make me enjoy listening to a record from start to finish.

Underwater Moonlight

 

A few days ago, the Soft Boys' second album was re-released to mark its release 45 years ago. Reason enough to bring this gem to mind once again. Robyn Hitchcock and Kimberly Rew founded the band at the end of the seventies in Cambridge in the wake of the punk wave and created their very own sound.

Like many others, their music was based on a few chords, but they knew how to write melodic songs spiced up with jangly guitars and a psychedelic touch like few others. Still a record I come back from time to time.

The Soft Boys - I Wanna Destroy You

The Soft Boys - Kingdom Of Love

The Soft Boys - Insanly Jealous

The Soft Boys - Positive Vibrations

Singles Released This Week Years Ago

 

Another Tuesday and a look back at which singles were released. And, as always, without words, because the songs speak for themselves, even if they only allow a sentimental look at days gone by.

1985: Katrina and the Waves

1977: Steve Miller Band

1982: Roxy Music

1989: Cowboy Junkies

2006: Red Hot Chili Peppers

1985: Eurythmics

1968: Small Faces

1988: The Smithereens

1988: Tracy Chapman

Bourgeois Masqué

 

In the late eighties, Galaxy 500 released On Fire, an album that seemed to have fallen out of time. With their dreamy sound arrangements, dreamy indie, psychedelic influences and sparkling guitar passages, they struck a chord with the times, but went unnoticed by the masses.

Dean Wareham was the head of the band and knew how to create a symbiosis between Johnathan Richman, Spacemen 3 and Velvet Underground. After three albums, the band broke up and Wareham tried to gain a foothold with Luna, but was unable to build on his previous successes. He eventually retired to New Zealand and released several records with his wife Britta in recent years.

In the past few days, he has released his fourth solo album and in a few songs he really does manage to bring the magic of Galaxy 500 back to life. In his best moments, Wareham plays a casual dream-pop with his own guitar solos. Unfortunately, he doesn't manage to maintain this quality over the whole time and so, once again, only a few songs will be remembered.

Monday's Long Song

 

Almost two years ago I listened the first time to Love Makes Magic, the latest full album by Nottingham's songwriter and producer Jim Baron under his stage name JIM. Since then I often go back to this album that is a mixture of Westcoast sound like Crosby, Stills and Nash with a massive Balearic beat. Fine fingerpicking guitar and a warm sound added later with relaxed electric guitars show us that the spring has finally come.

JIM - The Ballad Of San Marino

New Song On Sunday

 

Today's song is from the new album by Japanese Breakfast the project of Michelle Zauner a Korean-American singer/songwriter. She is active since more than a decade and nominated for a Grammy a couple of years ago. She has left the electro-pop of recent years behind her and has set her songs to music with acoustic instruments and cello. The result is fairytale-like and melancholy songs in which she reflects on herself and her music. As I said, sentimental and melancholic, but pretty much recommendable for everyone.

Fluoreszent

 

In the seventies, there were virtually no magazines in Germany that dealt with contemporary music. Apart from the German Sounds, the only other option was to buy British music magazines in the international magazine shop in the capital. For a long time, Sounds was characterised by old hippies who found it difficult to make friends with punk and new wave. The inevitable happened - Sounds ceased publication and many of the journalists jumped ship to work for Spex in Cologne.

One of these music journalists was Hans Nieswandt, who favored writing about new electronic music and broadened my musical horizons with his clever reviews. He tried his hand at DJing at a young age and has since developed into a respected DJ and producer, with a preference for house, techno and electronic music in general.

His latest record is being released today and with Flureszent he has written a song that I can't get out of my head after hearing it for the first time. Over a motorik beat, he recites about his golden days when he first started dabbling on the decks.