The Limiñanas, a neo-psychedelic band from the south of France, are back with a new album, which is due to be released in a fortnight. As usual, they manage to span the musical spectrum from Velvet Underground to Serge Gainsbourg to Jesus and Mary Jane.
In addition to Jon Spencer, Bobbie Gillespie was also invited as a guest this time, whose voice fits perfectly with the sound underpinned by distorted guitars.
Their homage to the YéYé sound of the sixties is also very beautiful, as they cover a song by Francoise Hardy and transform its sound perfectly into the here and now.
If he were still alive, Bob Marley would be 80 years old today. Much has been written about his life, his music and his political stance, and better than I can. For me, his music was the ticket to another musical dimension and I probably couldn't have delved so deeply into reggae and dub.
In 1975 we were on a school trip to London. For me, this city was impressive because everything was so much bigger and different than I was used to. A lot of the music was also different and reggae was played in many places. If my teachers had allowed it, I would have bought tickets for a Bob Marley concert and listened to his album Live while chatting away.
A broad review of notable publications without a contextual link.
1967 - Buffalo Springfield released their only chart success. For What It's Worth became an anthem of the opponents of the Vietnam war.
1977 - Boz Scaggs is an musician which has never been mentioned in this blog before. He is well known in America but he was never the big thing with his honest rhythm & blues. His album Silk Degrees reached the top ten at the time, was pleasant to listen to and very similar to the sound of Graham Parker.
1986 - Simply one of the best pop songs from this year and one that made The Bangles everybody's darlings.
1978 - American Girl was the last song on Tom Petty's debut album and shows his ability to write catchy songs that have lost none of their class even after decades.
1965 - Martha Reeves & the Vandellas are one example, why you should dive into 60's soul from time to time.
1982 - ABC released their their debut album The Lexicon Of Love. One that you can either hate or love, because their completely arranged songs are very close to kitsch. But there are some damn good songs on the album.
1956 - Hard to believe that this song by Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps is almost 70 years old. For me is this song more rock and roll than from other artists of this era.
1981 - The Jam. Just another great song from them.
15 years ago, Andrew Weatherall and Sean Johnson founded the club series A Love From Outer Space, which quickly developed into a British institution, expanded and reached an international audience. ALFOS took a slower, more sustained approach at a maximum tempo of 122 bpm and became known for his eclectic and hypnotic sound, blending everything from cosmic and house to dub and post-punk.
Sean Johnson has now put together an anniversary sampler that reflects the music of ALFOS over the last 15 years, which stands for unforgettable club nights that I was unfortunately never able to attend. Sean Johnson has now put together an anniversary sampler that reflects the music of ALFOS over the last 15 years, which stands for unforgettable club nights that I was unfortunately never able to attend. The double album contains numerous tracks that are sometimes lost or only available at horrendous prices. The album will be released on Valentine's Day.
In 2016, I was at a festival in Mannheim and was already tired after a long day on my feet. Nevertheless, I really wanted to see the last act of the day, as I couldn't imagine anything specific about their music. Meute were announced as a techno-marching band and I had to say it worked well. The band rearranges techno, house and deep house works by well-known DJ's and realiezed the electro beats with wind instruments. The hypnotic monotony of techno remains intact and are complemented by the warm brass sections. Back then, they played in front of around 100 listeners, but they are now booked at major festivals. Slip is from their second album Puls from 2020, which is highly recommended in its entirety.
It's always good to see that there are new bands that still take a relaxed and simple approach to writing songs. Lovehead is a three-piece all-female indie band from Burgenland in Austria. They recently released their first single, which I loved with its indie charm. A low-fi guitar, a relaxed bass and not embarrassing lyrics about a love gone by makes this song great. If it had been released thirty years ago, the song would have been a hit.
A few weeks ago I was looking for a topic for a new series for this blog. I couldn't think of anything inspiring until songs with the word Saturday in the title were played twice in succession via shuffle mode. I'll take that as a sign and start a little series.
Let's start with a song by The Specials. Friday Night, Saturday Morning was the b-side of Ghost Town and Terry Hall described beautifully a mundane night out in Coventry.
From 1991 is a song by hip-hop trio De La Soul and it is still far away with it's light-heartedness form many other artists of this genre.
And finally you should name a song by Nick Drake if you have the chance to. Saturday Sun is the final track from his fantastic debut album.
