Goldmine Trash

The Collected Films of Saint Etienne

2008-07-27T01:15:00.011+01:00

To anyone who knows me who might be reading...you knew I would do this.

Today, somebody asked me who my favourite group was. I gave the pat answer that OBVIOUSLY I couldn't choose just one. In truth, I was being coy, Saint Etienne sprang to mind immediately.

Their albums and singles, it should go without saying, are always brilliant, fresh-sounding, future-eyeing, intelligent pop. And they keep getting better, their most recent album "Tales From Turnpike House" is probably their best so far. A new compilation is released in September. Appropriately enough it is called "London Conversations: The Best of Saint Etienne", and two singles are coming along with it; a new version of "Burnt Out Car" (re-jigged by Xenomania), and a collaboration with Annie and Richard X called "This Is Tomorrow", which incidentally is the name of Saint Etienne's latest film.

My favourite thing Saint Etienne have ever done is probably their film "Finisterre", which they made in 2002 to sort-of promote their album of the same name, and which finally got released on DVD over here in 2005. It's about London: the train journeys to the city centre from the suburbs, the coffee shops, record shops and parks; it's about people's experiences of living and working there, or of leaving and coming back to it. It goes into the night life, romantic literature about the city, the gulf between thew sunken run down council estates and the luxury appartments in affluent areas. It depicts the city as it undergoes a period of renewal at the beginning of this decade; many locations in the film have apparently disappeared since it was made. Many people are interviewed to talk about their experience of London (among them White Stripes' producer Liam Watson, Vashti Bunyan, novelist Shena Mackay and Subway Sect leader-turned-postie Vic Goddard) but no-one actually appears on film as a talking head, instead we just hear their voices over lovingly-shot images of the city. Saint Etienne's music and a narration, which is delivered by Michael Jayston and written by Bob Stanley and Kevin Pearce, hold it all together via a flurry of musical and literary references (of which my favourite is the McCarthy/ Manics inspired "We told the friendly bank manager about our dreams, he talked of mortgages and pension schemes; Natwest, Barclays, Midland, Lloyds: use a bank? I'd rather die..."). At one point the voice over intones "I want to cultivate an appreciation for the neglected, the unlooked for..." - a sentiment which I, and I'm sure many "bloggers", can identify with. "Finisterre" is a real work of love; beautifully shot, well narrated, and ultimately... very Saint Etienne. Bob and co-director Paul Kelly (also a member of Birdie, of whom more tomorrow...) were interviewed for The Guardian's media section last week and you can see that here. Kieran Evans also deserves credit for his wonderful work on "Finisterre".

Here's a YouTube link of a live version of a track from the album "Finisterre" (on the album it's immediately followed by the quote "Rock could be so good, but we make it all so rubbishy...").

And while we're about it...
a very short and very selective history of rock on film.

Eggstone "Ca Chauffe En Suede! Avec Eggstone" (compilation, 1999)

2008-07-26T11:45:00.007+01:00

Further to the Scandinavian Pop post below...

Tracklist:
1. Waiting For The Bell
2. Still All Stands Still
3. Against The Sun
4. If You Say
5. Summer and Looking For a Job
6. See The Good Things
7. Good Morning
8. She's Perfect
9. Marabous
10. Wrong Heaven
11. Beach Boy
12. Shooting Time
13. Penguin
14. Sun King
15. The Dog
16. Birds In Cages
17. Brass
18. Taramasalata
19. Mizu

One summer in the late nineties, Supergrass were due to play at Denmark's Roskilde festival but had to pull out at the last minute. The gap they left on the bill was filled by Eggstone, who strode out on stage wearing stuck on sideburns and other items of comedy facial hair. This is reason enough to like them isn't it. Well I think so anyway.

Per Sunding, Patrik Bartosch and Maurits Carlsson, who comprise the group, had met about ten years previously on the ferry back to their native Malmo from the Roskilde festival. Eventually, along with their friends Tore Johansson and Anders Nordgren, they established Tambourine Studios in Malmo. Five years after that they set up their own record label and called it Vibrafon, which is sort of appropriate given what Eggstone's records sounded like. The Cardigans' best albums were recorded with Tore Johansson at Tambourine. Scott 4, Texas, New Order and Saint Etienne also recorded here. Not since Benny and Bjorn from ABBA founded Polar Studios in 1978, had one band had such influence over the sound of Swedish pop music.

Not that Eggstone get the credit they deserve outside their native country. In Spain there has for some years been a vibrant indie-pop scene based around the Siesta record label in Madrid. Eccentric record label boss Mike Alway, who helped to found Cherry Red and él records in the UK, is based in Madrid now, and has links with Siesta. It's no surprise then that the label released an Eggstone compilation called "Spanish Slalom", raising the group's profile - just a little - in Spain. In 1999, the confusingly titled compilation "Ca Chauffe En Suede! Avec Eggstone" was released to mild critical acclaim. In fact I think only Uncut magazine picked up on it at all. Tracks from all three Eggstone albums ("Eggstone In San Diego", "Somersault", Vive La Différence") appear here, so it's a good place to start with the group. They've never split by the way so hope remains of a fourth album appearing at some stage.

"Waiting For The Bell" is a brilliant introduction to the band, the Tambourine sound is all in place here, in the crisp drums, the bright pianos and vibes. Having been so taken with Eggstone in the late 90s that I visited Malmo myself, it's impossible to hear these records without thinking of woodcabins in the forests of Skane, of Malmo's modest fishing port, and still, chilly, Swedish air. Listening to the exhilirating "Against The Sun" now, I wonder why Eggstone weren't bigger in the UK. Just try to listen to it without grinning. The sixties swing of "See The Good Things" and "Marabous" would have sat comfortably in the UK charts at the height of britpop. They're just two of the songs here that lurch off into psychedelia, the sort of things you might expect to find on a Dukes of Stratosphear record. "Good Morning" and "She's Perfect" are string-drenched, cocktail party pop songs, while "Shooting Time" anticipates The Cardigans' disco direction on "Lovefool".

Enjoy!

The 2008 Popjustice Music Prize Short List

2008-07-23T11:33:00.005+01:00

Announced yesterday. Always a good overview of British pop in any given year, the recipitents of the PJ prize receive "a crisp £20 note" for their efforts. For the past six years the award has shadowed the Mercury Prize, so just as both shortlists were revealed yesterday, so the winner will be announced on September 9th. You'll have read about the Mercury Prize in just about every newspaper today, probably. Here's the shortlist for the 2008 PJ£20 Prize then...

'A&E' - Goldfrapp
'About You Now' - Sugababes
'Bleeding Love' - Leona Lewis
'Call The Shots' - Girls Aloud
'Dance Wiv Me' - Dizzee Rascal feat Calvin Harris
'Flux' - Bloc Party
'Money' - Daggers
'That's Not My Name' - The Ting TIngs
'Valerie' - Mark Ronson feat Amy Winehouse
'Ready For The Floor' - Hot Chip
'Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control)' - Groove Armada feat Mutya Buena
'Stuck On Repeat' - Little Boots

Popjustice

Frazier Chorus "Sue" (1989)

2008-07-23T00:23:00.006+01:00

Tracklist:
1. Dream Kitchen
2. Storm
3. Forty Winks
4. Ha-Ha-Happiness
5. Sloppy Heart
6. Living Room
7. Sugar High
8. Forgetful
9. Typical!
10. Ski-Head
11. Little Chef

This might be the most criminally underrated album I own. Seriously, if you ever find this in a second hand shop, on vinyl or CD, buy it. They were formed by vocalist Tim Freeman (brother of Martin Freeman, the actor who played Tim in The Office. And if that sentence sounds ambiguous that's ok - some people say he based the character on his elder brother), the woodwind playing Kate Holmes, Chris Taplin and Michelle Allardyce. Frazier Chorus's story really begins when an early version of "Sloppy Heart" falls into the hands of 4AD and is a minor indie hit. Then the band leave that label and sign to Virgin, releasing their debut LP "Sue" in 1989. Their second album was called "Ray", incidentally. I like to think the albums were given christian names but actually I think it's more likely the title "Sue" refers to litigation - there is a line on the album that goes "they say you're itching to sue..." - which would fit in with the band's darker side.

The most noticeable thing about Frazier Chorus on first listen is undoubtedly Freeman's whispery voice. Then there's the clarinet, oboe, flute and plucked violin strings. All of this is going on over gentle synth-pop. It's clear that the chief lyrical pre-occupation here is with domesticity. Most of the songs seem to be set in a sort of suburban middle-class hell. "Dream Kitchen" which was almost a hit in 1989 is full of this imagery, mention of the kitchen sink, tea and the phrase "this stuff's so kind to my hands, I'm never gonna change to a different brand". Dark humour abounds, sometimes it's laugh-out-loud funny: the aforementioned single contains the bitter line "Your life's too good to be true/ I think I'll ruin it for you", and it's just sung in a ridiculously chirpy way. Later, the opening lines of "Forgetful" go: "I just saw your friend and he told me to forget your haircut and forget your shoes/ He told me all the things I ought to forget and I forgot them all, except for you". It cracks me up every time, because the music behind it is so downbeat. Then I remember how sour the lyrics can be; when they're not all to do with revenge, infidelity and jealousy, they're about self-harm or wanking ("Sloppy Heart") or refer to dead dogs ("Ski-Head"). You won't be surprised to hear that "Dream Kitchen"'s b-side, "Down", was about oral sex.

An album with lyrics like that has no right to be so damn pretty. Frazier Chorus never quite matched it again, although their 1990 single "Cloud 8", which was produced by (Lightning Seed) Ian Broudie, is rather good. They hemorrhaged a member with each album until by 1996, Tim Freeman was using the Frazier Chorus handle to put out what was really solo material. Chris Taplin formed Espiritu who had a couple of decent singles in the mid 1990s on Heavenly. Kate Holmes is now a member of Client along with Sarah Blackwood (ex-Dubstar).

One Dove "Morning Dove White" (1993)

2008-07-22T21:15:00.005+01:00

Tracklist:
1. Fallen
2. White Love (Guitar Paradise Mix)
3. Breakdown (Cellophane Boat Mix)
4. There Goes The Cure
5. Sirens
6. My Friend
7. The (Transient) Truth
8. Why Don't You Take Me
9. White Love (Piano Reprise)
10. Breakdown (Radio Mix)
11. White Love (Radio Mix)

This is one of those records which you remember being a bigger hit than it actually was. Perhaps that's because One Dove were all over the music press during 1993 and 1994, to the point where lead singer Dot Allison became something of an indie pin up. It's suprising indeed that "Morning Dove White" wasn't a smash as its mixture of dubby, lollopping rhythms and dreamy melodiousness sounds like a perfect meeting between The Orb, Cocteau Twins and Curve. Maybe it was just a bit ahead of its time. Death In Vegas would go on to record similarly stoned pop towards the end of the 90s, to great acclaim and even commercial success. It's no surprise Dot collaborated with them. Andrew Weatherall, who co-produced this with the band and engineer Jagz Kooner, is legendary for his soporific Balearic productions whether under his real name or recording as Sabres of Paradise. This album could be his best work though.

You won't, I suspect, do much in the way of dancing to this album. And it's not really a record to do the washing up to either. This is very much a record to light josticks to. At its best you might catch yourself singing along to some irresistible tune ("Fallen", "White Love"). But really this is a lazy, downtempo sort of album. It's quite wistful and sad sounding in places, and often is redolent of the trippier moments from Primal Scream's "Screamadelica". That's quite a compliment. It really consists of conventional enough pop songs which have been stretched out, like dub reggae mixes, or like floaty, extended jams. Two of its singles ("Breakdown" and "Why Don't You Take Me") did manage to scrape into the top 30, as did the album itself. Nevertheless, "Morning Dove White" is a bit of an overlooked classic.

What Madonna Should Do Next

2008-07-22T18:07:00.003+01:00

Madonna "Something To Remember" (compilation, 1995)

Tracklist:
1. I Want You (with Massive Attack)
2. I'll Remember
3. Take A Bow
4. You'll See
5. Crazy For You
6. This Used To Be My Playground
7. Live To Tell
8. Love Don't Live Here Anymore
9. Something To Remember
10. Forbidden Love
11. One More Chance
12. Rain
13. Oh Father
14. I Want You (Orchestral) [with Massive Attack]

Her marriage to Guy Ritchie may or may not be in trouble, but after the disappointment of the recent “Hard Candy” LP, marital strife might just inspire Madonna to an artistic renaissance.

Last month, the tabloid papers were awash with speculation on the state of Madonna’s marriage. Just the usual gossipy prattle you expect really. In April Madonna released her latest LP, “Hard Candy”, featuring collaborations with Pharell Williams, Kanye West, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. It was something of a disappointment after the brilliant “Confessions On A Dancefloor”. Despite boasting the number one single “4 Minutes”, much of the new album’s 40 minutes seemed to take 4 hours to tick away. Only the current single “Beat Goes On” (a throwback to the era of 80s Soul Weekenders) and the polite but charming “Miles Away” really leaped out at the listener. Madonna always does this, of course. She succumbs to the law of diminishing returns only to arrest the rot about three albums down the line. Her next album will either be disastrous or it will be another, surprising, career highlight. If she’s aiming for the latter option, perhaps she should explore the complications of her personal life.

Back in 1989, after a painful divorce from Sean Penn, Madonna released what was by far her best album up to that point, “Like A Prayer”. Apparently, the recording process was torturous, delayed by the singer’s gloom, punctuated by extended sobbing sessions and much soul-searching. It may well have been painful for its creator, but it’s hard to deny that the resulting record was terrific. “Oh Father” and “Keep It Together” were ruminations on broken homes, “Dear Jessie” an exercise in comforting infantilism, “Cherish” was the moment of optimism amidst the anguish, and the title track was The Bold Statement. According to Lucy O’Brien’s superb study of the history of women in pop, rock and soul, “She Bop”, even the fact that Madonna ditched the peroxide and allowed her natural auburn locks to roam free was a statement. It said she wasn’t just the sexualized blonde strumpet of media imaginings - she was an individual, not just a marketing man’s puppet, and that she needed a change. Of course, a mere eighteen months after the album’s release she was blonde again, and cavorting with some manly hunk in the video for “Justify My Love” but that’s where a reputation as a sex-pot will lead you.

Since then, the “Ray Of Light” album has come to be seen as her best work but, for me, Madonna’s most interesting characteristic is her way with a despondent tear-soaked ballad. And for that reason, the 1995 compilation “Something To Remember” is a fantastic record. When I was a child in the 1980s it always seemed that the sort of pop the girls at school really liked wasn’t the product of Stock, Aitken and Waterman’s brainstorming sessions, or the enthusiastically received (in the music press) output of The Smiths, Pet Shop Boys or New Order. The girls at school preferred weepies. You were more likely to catch my elder sister and her playground friends singing “Crazy For You” or “Live To Tell”. Skip forward to the mid 90s, and ballads like “This Used To Be My Playground”, “You’ll See” and “Take A Bow” are the memorable Madonna songs. And when you remember that those 90s singles came after a truly low-ebb for Madonna - the release of 1992’s underwhelming “Erotica” album, and its attendant book “Sex” - a light-bulb pops in this writer’s head. The surest way for Madonna to turn around her lagging fortunes is to play to her real strength, which is singing brilliant big-balled ballads. You’ll find all of the best ones on “Something To Remember”.

She has of course had the occasional tender moment since the electro-revival of “Ray Of Light”. Some of that album’s more enduring moments include the terrific “The Power Of Goodbye”, lead single “Frozen” and the underappreciated “Little Star” (I say “underappreciated” because it’s lurking on a pop album, and albums are a rock business, right kids?). Since “Ray Of Light”, Madonna has pursued that dancey pop direction, best heard on the barnstorming likes of “Hung Up” and “Music”. But it feels like Madonna’s output this decade has been inconsistent. The general tunelessness and crap rapping of “American Life” didn’t help her critical reputation, and now “Hard Candy” has shown that Madonna is quite capable of following a genuinely great album with a frustratingly patchy one. If singles are anything to go by, let it be remembered that you could have picked almost anything for release from “Confessions…”, whereas this time it’s hard to say which of “Hard Candy”’s perfunctory r’n’b trots will be chosen next.

When Madonna fails in her attempt to make us dance, she can always rely on her ability to make us cry. That’s why I’m hoping her next album will be a blub-athon of mammoth proportions.

1234567890 Achtung! The Mysterious World of Short Wave Numbers Stations

2008-07-22T18:05:00.005+01:00

If you're in Ireland, you can read this article in the brand spanking new isssue of Analogue, which is out next week. :-)

Scandinavian Pop

2008-07-22T17:59:00.001+01:00

I’ve loved all things Scandinavian since I first heard ABBA’s “Greatest Hits Vol. 2” from the comfort of my crib (not in the MTV sense) when I was about three years old, and I’m open to the criticism that my musical taste hasn’t become much more sophisticated since then. “The Name Of The Game” was number one on the day I was born. Perhaps I was a viking in a previous life. It does seem though, that the pop music from that part of Europe is – unlike my efforts to account for my love of Scandinavian pop of all stripes - effortlessly uncomplicated. And so whistleable! Is it a response to the lack of daylight up there? Recently we have seen a wave of new Scandinavian pop groups release a body of amazingly good pop music. In the immediate wake of terrific albums by Annie, The Knife and Robyn, a glut of brilliant Nordic pop has emerged, much of it synthpop. Northern Europe has a long tradition in this regard, think of ABBA’s “The Visitors” as the jump off point. Giving the synths a swerve meanwhile, are The Concretes and Peter, Bjorn and John – the latter gave the world the bothersome or brilliant (depending on your fancy) “Young Folks”. Whatever instruments they employ, or whether they bother to learn an instrument at all (see Pay TV below), from Bergen to Stockholm, from Reykjavik to Silkeborg, the mood is vibrant, colourful, breezy pop. Amen to that.

Back in the 1990s of course, there was “Scando-pop”. This was a sort of scene-but-not-really based loosely around the Tambourine studios in Malmo. With producer Tore Johansson at the helm, The Cardigan’s best records were created here, alongside a series of brilliant (although overlooked on these shores) releases by Eggstone. The sound was literally wooden; the antique-pine acoustics of the studio, ancient instruments and brittle sounding drums led to a beautiful, icy sound. The Cardigan’s “Life” LP is a great example of this. It could hardly have been more twee if you’d stuck a slide in its hair and plopped a lollipop in its mouth. These people had obviously spent some time in the company of the back catalogue of “él records”. Operating elsewhere, and missing out on the Tore magic, there were meat ‘n’ potatoes rockers Kent, the practically bipolar Wannadies and Whale, the latter posessing it must be said a rather knockabout sense of humour. Anyone who remembers Whale’s “Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe” or “Young Dumb ‘N’ Full Of Cum” will attest to the rather irritating “wackiness” of the duo. If they’d recorded a single called “Look! My Dog Is Wearing The Sunglasses! Hoho!”, you wouldn’t have blinked an eyelid. Iceland’s Emiliana Torrini tried and failed to have hits here, although she did co-write Kylie’s hit “Slow”. Both of her albums are well worth a listen, and “Unemployed In Summertime” is one of the great lost singles of the 1990s. The rather more abstruse Stina Nordenstam could and perhaps should have had proper hits here, but remains a cult figure.

Now however, Scandinavian pop doesn’t sound so exotic, it doesn’t sound like it’s being produced in some outpost. Much of the most vital pop music of the past five years has been indebted to the likes of Royksopp and The Knife. Annie’s brilliant 2005 single “Heartbeat” was produced by the former, while The Knife used their royalties from the Sony advert which used Jose Gonzalez’s cover of “Heartbeats” to set up a record label. The UK’s most prolifically brilliant producers and songwriters, Richard X and Xenomania, have obviously been paying attention. Meanwhile Denmark’s Alphabeat are spearheading the so-called Wonky Pop movement, bringing bright brash pop to the sort of grimy sweaty clubs where you imagine a lot of trilbies get handed in to the cloak room. They appear to be going through a critical backlash of sorts at the moment, their album took a bit of a drubbing in the music press, but even dogs in the street know that “Fascination” is one of the best singles of the year so far. In 2008, our Northern European cousins are at the heart of pop.

As some of our readers will know, Lykke Li’s “Youth Novels” is one of the better LP releases of this year so far. Its pared-back sound has made it a hit on alternative radio, on Radio 2 and at festivals throughout Europe. Bjorn Yttling of Peter, Bjorn and John produced it, and the likes of “I’m Good, I’m Gone” , “Little Bit” and “Handing High” are lovely enough that you probably wouldn’t actually mind them reaching “Young Folks”-level omnipresence. Lykke Li is one of the guests on compatriot Kleerup’s new self-titled album. He collaborated with Robyn on “With Every Heartbeat” – possibly the greatest single of 2007. Elsewhere half-sisters Neneh Cherry and Titiyo guest.
The album has already been a top 10 hit in his homeland. Swedish pop is in a particular healthy state at the moment. Even its “melodifestivalen” (the route by which you may become their entry for the Eurovision song contest) displays brilliant imaginative pop. Recent participants Pay TV’s current single “Fashion Report” is incredible, see its disturbing but compelling video here. It’s part “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”, part “I’d Rather Jack”. With a dollop of KLF style black-humour on top. If you like this you’ll like Bodies Without Organs – formed by ex members of Army Of Lovers, very camp but possibly too clever for their own good on occasion. But what do you expect from a group who name themselves after a concept from Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari? For those of you who miss The Knife (currently on hiatus), Zeigeist’s LP “The Jade Motel” is a like a slightly more cheerful, younger sister to “Silent Shout”.

Most exciting of all though is the expected arrival (in October) of Annie’s new album “Don’t Stop”. A megamix of tracks from the album has been on a tour of the internet recently and it sounds completely brilliant. Her extraordinary debut set, “Anniemal”, stalled despite being one of the very best pop albums of the last 10 years. Hopefully this time proper fame will beckon, and to this end she has worked with pop-production gods of our time, Xenomania (as well as her usual collaborators Richard X and Timo Kaukolampi). Last time out, fellow Bergen dwellers Royksopp helped out, this time it’s fellow Bergen dweller Fredrick from Datarock who puts in an appearance (on the energetic “Misery”). Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand contributes guitar to “Loco” and “My Love Is Better” (Girls Aloud also contributed to the latter, but record company politics have seen to it that their vocals have been removed). If what’s been leaked on the internet so far is anything to go by, “Don’t Stop” will be the best pop LP of 2008.

Annie “I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me”

Pay TV “Fashion Report”

Emiliana Torrini “Unemployed In Summertime”

Lykke Li “I’m Good I’m Gone”

Alphabeat “Fascination”

Annie “Don’t Stop (Megamix)”

Time Out

2008-03-31T14:58:00.001+01:00

Because of the recent death of my friend Eoghan, final exam time pressure and just a general need to take stock of things and sort myself out, I am abandoning this blog. I may return at some point, and use it as an mp3 blog. There again I may not. Should you wish to contact me, I suggest you send me an email. Thanks for reading. Ciarán xx

"Dazzle Ships" and Comercial Suicide

2008-03-07T15:00:00.000Z

Bob Stanley has written a very interesting piece on OMD's recently re-issued "Dazzle Ships" in today's The Guardian. He also discusses the maverick spirit of the New Pop acts, people like ABC and Dexys, who followed up mega-selling albums with decidedly challenging work. Here's the full article...

How To Lose 3 Million Fans In One Easy Step

With just one album, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark more or less destroyed their career. And they weren't the only ones: the early 1980s were littered with commercial suicides. Bob Stanley finds out how it all went wrong

Friday March 7, 2008
The Guardian

Guy Hands wouldn't allow it these days - what are these "artists" trying to do? Bankrupt the company? - but in 1983, no one batted an eyelid when a major chart band followed a multimillion selling pop album with something extremely obtuse. An album, even, that contained no obvious hits and soundtracked the cold war at its coldest. No one bought it, mind you, so Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's Dazzle Ships came to be viewed as a heroic failure - the ultimate commercial suicide.

"Every year we'd visit American Forces Network [the broadcaster for US troops] in Germany," remembers OMD's Andy McCluskey. "There were almost a million people at [the US] Frankfurt base, it was like a colony. And we'd see the same guy every year when we went there to do an interview. So we gave him Dazzle Ships and he said, 'Wow! Gee, what a weird album. Radio Prague? Let's play it! They'll think the commies have invaded!'"

Architecture and Morality, OMD's third album, had been a monster hit following its release in 1981, with any number of potential singles. Souvenir was first out of the block and made No 3. When Joan of Arc got rave reviews ahead of the album's release, McCluskey told Smash Hits: "That's nothing. Wait until you hear the next single - it's our Mull of Kintyre." Maid of Orleans duly became another huge hit in the UK, and Germany's best-selling single of 1982.

"It sounds strange, I know, but we had been trying to change the world," says McCluskey. "It was the naive confidence of youth, the idea that music is that important. The music we made had to be interesting and different. And somehow we believed that would change the world, the way people think. So when we sold 3m albums and the world didn't change, we were scared."

The result was a bout of writers' block. It wasn't as though OMD wrote conventional love songs to start with - Enola Gay was famously about Hiroshima, Stanlow about a power station - yet Dazzle Ships took off what McCluskey calls "the sweet wrapper". For starters, the first single was called Genetic Engineering. "I was very positive about the subject! I didn't expect someone like Monsanto to come along and say, 'Fuck it, we can make money out of cross-pollination.'"

However, when Dave Lee Travis played the single on Radio 1, he said - with some gravitas - that it was about time someone in the music world stood up to the evils of tinkering with nature. "People didn't listen to the lyrics," McCluskey recalls. "I think they automatically assumed it would be anti. Generally, I was pretty dark and pessimistic. Very precious and strong-minded."

The song is still one of Dazzle Ships' more overtly commercial moments. Disembodied voices from the eastern bloc sit over recordings of time signal pips, speak-and-spell machines, wartime submarines. "It all made sense to us. We wanted to be Abba and Stockhausen. The machinery, bones and humanity were juxtaposed."

Dazzle Ships entered the charts at No 5, then dropped like a stone. Architecture and Morality sold 3m; Dazzle Ships sold 300,000. With one record, Orchestral Manoeuvres lost 90% of their audience.

"I was the ideas man, Paul Humphreys made it happen. It was a symbiotic relationship. But I'm the one who took us right to the edge of the plank. When people heard Dazzle Ships, they obviously preferred our music with the sweet wrapper on. Not a song about someone's hand being cut off by a totalitarian regime. After that, there was a conscious and unconscious reeling-in of our experimental side. We got more ... conservative."

As, of course, did the whole country. Dazzle Ships, falling between the Falklands war and the Tories' emphatic

re-election, sounded the bell for the new pop playground that the charts had become. An almost forgotten era, now lumped in with the ephemera that succeeded it- the likes of Johnny Hates Jazz - new pop was an attempt in 1981 and 82 to marry chart music to the avant garde. Incredibly, it succeeded. There was no manifesto, but the new generation - OMD, ABC, Soft Cell, the Teardrop Explodes, Dexys Midnight Runners - had lived through punk, understood its situationist leanings, and understood the real value of music. While OMD name-dropped Dancing Queen, Ian Curtis and Mies van der Rohe, ABC claimed they existed to write "a soundtrack for the 80s".

At the turn of the decade, ABC had been Vice Versa, a Sheffield post-punk unit who leaned more towards the atonal than to Abba. They were interviewed for a fanzine called Modern Drugs by Martin Fry, and got on with him so well they asked him to become their singer. After changing their name to the perfectly minimalist ABC, they sat down to write some perfectly modernist love songs: Tears Are Not Enough, Poison Arrow, The Look of Love, All of My Heart. All Top 20 hits; all soulful, well-dressed pop. Their parent album, The Lexicon of Love, defined the charts of 1982.

ABC predated OMD in their attempt to take on the preconceptions of their fanbase, and their second album, Beauty Stab, did not define the charts of 1983. The strings were gone, replaced by some tough guitars that sounded weirdly dated - sometimes like Low-era Bowie, sometimes closer to Led Zeppelin. Had it been released two years later, when guitars were voguish once more, it would have kept the ABC boat afloat. Instead, it just sounded confusing.

Like Genetic Engineering, the first single from Beauty Stab - That Was Then But This Is Now - was exhilarating and shrill, and made the top 20. The cause wouldn't have been entirely hopeless but for one line: "Can't complain, mustn't grumble, help yourself to another piece of crumble." It had perhaps been meant as a joke - it was followed by a cheesy sax break - but Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera lambasted it in an interview as embodying all that was bad in modern pop. Suddenly, the emperor's new pop clothes were revealed. The line has been a fixture in "worst lyrics" polls for 25 years, attaining the top slot in one conducted last year by BBC 6Music. Beauty Stab, like Dazzle Ships, died a quick death.

Which leads you to wonder what the hell happened in 1983. It was almost as if the country was tired of mavericks, had heard enough about unemployment figures and ghost towns and nuclear threat. They wanted glamour, in a Seaside Special way. Duran Duran had their first No 1 in 1983. Paul Young, Wham! and Howard Jones - considerably more pliable and predictable than OMD or ABC - were the year's new stars. Waiting around the corner, jacket sleeves already rolled up, was Nik Kershaw.

According to Kevin Rowland of Dexys Midnight Runners, the music industry had started to become "incredibly conservative. I was dealing with people who were much more careerist. At Mercury, by 1985, there were loads of public-school people - millions of them."

Dexys had already crashed once when, following the No 1 hit Geno, they recorded the super-intense single Keep It Part Two (Inferiority Part One). It received no airplay and failed to crack even the top 75.

"I just had something to say," says Rowland. "I was disappointed with success - we were still cramped in a minibus on hot summer days. I did not think, in any way, that Keep It was difficult. It was truthful, 100% truthful. Geno had been a No 1; I thought, if you like that amount of emotion, try this amount of emotion."

Dexys, though, had a second wind, and fought back with the million-selling Celtic soul of Too-Rye-Ay in 1982. Come On Eileen became an international No 1. They had survived and prospered. Too Rye Ay's follow-up, Don't Stand Me Down, was an astonishingly personal and beautiful record, but it became Dexys' equivalent of Dazzle Ships. The problem was it came out three years after Too-Rye-Ay.

Rowland is understandably proud. "I don't want to think about it too much because I want to think about what I'm doing now, but I remember coming out of the studio thinking, 'That's the best I can do.'"

Don't Stand Me Down emerged in a far less adventurous era than the one Too Rye Ay was released into. New mavericks on the block such as the Smiths and the Jesus and Mary Chain were entirely ignored by Radio 1. The same happened to Dexys, though it was their own fault - no single was released from the album.

"It was a stupid mistake," Rowland says. "I wanted This Is What She's Like to be the single, a 10-minute single. The manager said, 'Good idea ... or no single at all.' It was a chance to be like the groups of the early 70s, like Led Zeppelin. I thought that would be great, but I wasn't sure. There was a new guy at Mercury and he was like, 'What?' That was it. I said, we're definitely not releasing one. They [the label] went with Don't Stand Me Down for about a fortnight. Then they moved on to something else."

British eccentricity may well play a role in these crash-and-burn albums - a willingness to be contrary. Some Americans have followed gold albums with zero-sellers, but not many. Harry Nilsson's Nilsson Schmilsson contained the original lung-busting power ballad, Without You, and made him a rich man. Never one for the obvious, he gave its sequel the misleading title Son of Schmilsson and filled it with raggedly sung novelties. It contained no obvious hits, though You're Breaking My Heart, a song for his ex-wife, did stand out: ABC's "apple crumble" line hardly holds a candle to "you're breaking my heart, you're tearing it apart, so fuck you".

That was calculated self-destruction. Neil Young, having tasted fame and fortune with After the Goldrush and Harvest, famously said he would rather head for the ditch than stay in the middle of the road. And that's just what he did with Time Fades Away. Young recorded the stoned, muddy, hard-rocking album on a stadium tour to confused audiences who had never heard the songs before. No atmosphere, no acoustic balladry, just memories of getting a kicking in the schoolyard and an extended moan about LA. Young's profile duly disappeared.

Fleetwood Mac's Rumours had been recorded in trying circumstances. The sequel had the even more onerous task of following what was then the bestselling American album ever. Lindsey Buckingham assumed control of 1979's Tusk. Though it cost £1m to make - a figure that even today seems barely plausible - much of it sounded clattery, half-formed, with strange rhythmic leaps and offbeat tics. Hotel California it wasn't.

It later emerged in his girlfriend's memoirs that Buckingham had become obsessed with Talking Heads, and was desperate to make Mac relevant to a post-punk world. The problem was that even though Rumours had been all about break-ups and unfaithful lovers, it still sounded as though the roof was down and you were heading up the highway in the sunshine. Tusk was unleavened weirdness, as close to its predecessor as the Beach Boys' lo-fi Smiley Smile had been to Pet Sounds. It simply didn't cut the midwest mustard. However, like Dazzle Ships, Tusk makes a lot more sense to 2008 ears.

"The album that almost completely killed our career seems to have become a work of dysfunctional genius," says Andy McCluskey with a grin. "The reality is that it's taken Paul [Humphreys] 25 years to forgive me for Dazzle Ships. But some people always hold it up as what we were all about, why they thought we were great."

· The remastered edition of Dazzle Ships is out now on EMI

Exciting Annie-related News

2008-03-05T20:14:00.001Z

Annie, wonderful Annie, whose last album "Anniemal" is one of the Seven Wonders Of Modern Pop (or something) is back. Back! BACK! To celebrate, she has put her new single up on her MySpace page.

Annie on MySpace

Her forthcoming album features collaborations with Brian Higgins, Richard X, Girls Aloud and Franz Ferdinand. I for one, cannot wait.

REVIEW: ALBUMS

2008-03-04T21:19:00.000Z

Goldfrapp "Seventh Tree" (Mute)

With this currently number two (two!) in the UK Album Chart, it seems almost redundant to be reviewing it now. But I wasn't one of those cheeky sods who downloaded the album when it leaked in November. Not that I'm overly concerned about the "damage this sort of thing does to the artist" you understand. It's more to do with my still present juvenile excitement at buying a record on the first day it's out in the shops. I like to swoon over the lyrics before I get to hear the songs in question. Imagine my surprised expression as I sat on the bus back home as I encountered the now immortal line "Roasting, roasting, roast indeed, mahogany titties that live on and on" ("Clowns"). Goldfrapp have always revelled in bizarre imagery, and lyrical curveballs like the one just referred to are part of what make them such an exciting, unpredictable pop group. Much has been made of their current joke-folk-opus (as Roy Harper once almost had it), but for all the acoustic sounds on offer it's still a pop album. It's stuffed with melodies. So long as they don't lose their talent for cooking up truly corking tunes, I don't care if their next album is an exploration of the musical possibilities of the Bulgarian noseflute. "A&E" is the lead single here - already a top 10 hit - and it's not even the catchiest thing on the album. That award goes to "Happiness", a sarcastic Beatles-y thing which evokes some scary alternative version of the Salvation Army, doling out cynical advice to the downhearted. It goes: "Join our club and you will find/ Harmony and piece of mind...Donate all your money, we'll make it better". On tracks such as "Cologne Cerrone Houdini" or "Little Bird", Alison does sound remarkably like a cross between Kate Bush and Elizabeth Frazer. Perfect for one of those spring/summer days when the trees are dappled in glorious golden sunshine (and we get a lot of those in Ireland don't we), "Seventh Tree" leaves the impression that Goldfrapp have a whole lot further to go before they run out of ideas. God knows what they'll do next, and that's the most brilliant thing about them in a way. (9 out of 10)

Magnetic Fields "Distortion" (Nonesuch)

It's hard to escape the feeling that this album - a sort of tribute to the sqwalling feedback of The Jesus and Mary Chain apparently - is slightly hamstrung by the noisy arrangement. Stephin Merritt contends that the last original or interesting development to take place in rock music was the release of JAMC's "Psychocandy" LP in 1985. I'm looking at a copy of Smash Hits here from July 1986, brothers Jim and William Reid are peeping out at me from the centrepages and declaring "To get in the Top 10 you've got to write a nauseating, obnoxious record, something like The Housemartins or Dr and the Medics..." JAMC would have a top ten hit 10 months later with "April Skies", but Magnetic Fields will have to wait a while yet before they reach such lofty heights. It's not that Merritt hasn't written some really good songs again, songs which display once again his knack for wordplay and melody. It's just the feedback sounds like a dull joke, a gimmick. Nothing wrong with gimmicks per se, but here it does get in the way. A bit. "Distortion" also harks back to early Magnetic Fields albums "The Wayward Bus" and "Distant Plastic Trees". Even the sprightliest songs here like "California Girls", "Please Stop Dancing" and "The Nun's Litany" sound decidedly lo-fi. It's the more subtle, gentle tracks which ultimately prove most rewarding; "I'll Dream Alone" and "Drive On Driver" being particularly pretty. "Too Drunk To Dream" wins the award for best opening line. It begins "Sober, life is a prison/ Shit-faced, it is a blessing". In conclusion then, was "Psychocandy" that good an album? No. So why bother? But you can't keep a genuine songwriting genius down. (7 out of 10)

Hot Chip "Made In The Dark" (EMI)

Not the hoped-for world-beating triumph to capitalise on the chart success of recent single "Ready For The Floor". This finds Hot Chip add to their repetoire of interesting-and-all-that, but still-slightly-annoying, technopop. The in-jokes can be a bit tiresome - this features an unwelcome spoken word bit from Todd Rundgren in the middle of "Bendable Poseable" - but when Hot Chip reign in their wackier tendencies they are quite affecting. "We're Looking For A Lot Of Love" is a gorgeous ballad, rather calling to mind New Order's "Thieves Like Us". "One Pure Thought" is just a smidgin, a remix perhaps, away from being a surefire hit. And "Ready For The Floor" is of course a great single, but you already know that. There's nothing bad here, it's just hard not to feel slightly disappointed that this isn't BLOODY GREAT when it feels like it could/should have been. (7 out of 10)

Vampire Weekend "Vampire Weekend" (XL Recordings)

What do they call this kind of thing? Mathrock or something silly like that? Sometimes labels aren't that helpful. This does sound rather like Paul Simon's "Graceland" in places though, and it's no wonder as Vampire Weekend are well to do college-going types from New York who just so happen to be into West African music. And good on them too, for they seem to be part of a new indieband mindset that has broader musical horizons than the dreary old Smiths/Oasis/Radiohead followers we've become so immune to. And if "Vampire Weekend" leads to a youngster buying Bhundu Boys or Hugh Masakela record, then all's well and good. The standouts are; "Oxford Comma" (ultra-pretty tune, swearing), "A-Punk" (something to dance to) and "Campus" (the rather touching moment). (8 out of 10)

The Orb "...The Dream" (Dragonfly)

Here's something of a surprise. After 12 years distancing themselves from the classic ambient dub sound of their brilliant "Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld" and "U.F.Orb" albums, The Orb don't just revisit similar territory but practically offer us "U.F.Orb II". Turns out the Mike Oldfield influence ran deeper than remixing "Tubular Bells" for him after all... Well, this isn't quite as great as "U.F.Orb" of course, but it does throw in a similar array of beguiling samples; I spotted Christopher Lee in The Wicker Man in there somewhere at one point. And "Lost and Found" is to this album what "Towers Of Dub" was to the "U.F.Orb" LP - that is, a dub reggae track with farty noises over the top, and lots of echo. Unlike their 1992 career-highpoint, this album is a bit lightweight in the tunes department. Only "Vuja De" and "The Truth Is..." threaten to burst into something resembling "song" at any point. But it's good to have them back, sounding just a bit like their old selves, and they've even put a tiny little picture of Battersea Power Station on the back to remind us of "Orb Live 93". Aw. (6 out of 10)

Billy Bragg "Mr Love & Justice" (Cooking Vinyl)

First album in six years, in which time he's written a book on the subject of Englishness - a very good book it was too. But perhaps it took something of his zest for creativity out of him. This album struggles to reach the great heights of the Bragg of "yore". "I Keep Faith" features a guest appearance from Robert Wyatt (one which WON'T scare everyone out of the pub I might add) and it'd sound right on Radio 2 but that's ok. Elsewhere not many songs make a huge impression initially, but "O Freedom" is a good old attack on the so-called war on terror, and "The Johnny Carcinogenic Show" is a strident attack on the tabacco and advertising industries. So while old-age may indeed have "mellowed" him, it's nice to hear Bragg have a good rant now and then. Initial copies come with a version of the album without Bragg's backing band The Blokes, so it all works out rather well in the end. It's no "Don't Try This At Home" or even a "Brewing Up With Billy Bragg" for that matter, but it'll do.
(6 out of 10)

"I Love You, Tomorrow - You're Only 34 Days Awaaaaay!"

2008-03-04T21:15:00.000Z

Yes, I got a bit side-tracked by my dissertation there. But that's done and dusted now and we can plough on. Okay? Okay.

I'm Back. Back In Denim. And Denim Put The Soul In Yer Rock n' Roll.

2008-01-27T00:36:00.000Z

Well having moved house a couple of times in the last couple of months, I've settled down a bit now and can continue to "blog" to my heart's content. Will post more tomorrow. For now, have a look at two of the best videos of 2008 so far...

Toodle-pip!

Normal Service Will Be Resumed Shortly

2007-11-26T18:57:00.001Z

In the meantime, a little "light" music...

Frazier Chorus "Typical" (1989)

No Music Day

2007-11-21T11:31:00.001Z

Will anyone observe the third "No Music Day" today? I must admit, I forgot all about it until just now... I haven't listened to any music thus far so I may follow Bill Drummond's advice to see if I feel any different having spent a completely music free day. Here's what Drummond has to say about in on his Guardian blog today...

I feel shit. It has just gone 6.30am and this is when I usually feel my best, when my mind is at its sharpest, when the ideas start tumbling into place and I am eager for the day ahead. But this morning I feel shit.

I've no right to claim this state; I mean I'm not living in cyclone-hit Bangladesh or stuck down a mine in the Ukraine or wherever it is.

Now that I have got that out the way I'm feeling better already. First thing to be done is this 600-word blog for the Guardian, then get emails sent before the others get to their Macs and PCs.

The reason that I got invited to do this blog is because Wednesday November 21 is No Music Day. Now in its third year, No Music Day was something I made up. I didn't go to any authority to have it sanctioned. I do not know if there is anywhere one is supposed to go to anyway. I made it up just for me, a way of addressing my jaded relationship with music amongst other things, but it seems to have been catching on. Last year the London-based cult radio station Resonance FM decided to embrace it. This year BBC Radio Scotland, a national radio station with several million regular listeners, has elected to observe it. This I feel good about and to this end I will be catching the sleeper up from Euston tonight, arriving in Glasgow bright and early on Wednesday morning. The day will be spent at the radio station being a guest on a number of the shows, fielding calls, making my case and placating doubters. Of course I will have to defend myself against those that think it all some sort of publicity stunt, prank or even worse - a cynical scam. If you want to know why I felt the need to have a No Music Day and why that day is on the November 21 click here to read what I wrote last year for the Observer's Music Monthly.

The major thing that has changed since writing that piece is that I've decided to limit it to just five years. I do not want to spend every November, for the rest of my life, trying to breathe new life into a concept, that should have been left alone years ago.

So this year being the third, I'm already half way through. Next year I would like to focus No Music Day on film. With so many films I feel that the soundtrack music just gets in the way. It is used to lend drama and emotion but so often it just cheapens and allows for lazy film-making. For the final No Music Day, on November 21 2009, I would love iTunes to shut up shop for the day. Hang the closed sign in their window for 24 hours. Give the world a break and themselves a day off.

But all that is some time away. Between now and catching the sleeper up to Glasgow tomorrow night, I've got to spend today typing up the last chapter in a book entitled 17. I've been working on this over the last 12 months and the final draft was supposed to be with the publishers last Friday. If the book has a central theme, it is about our culture's evolving relationship with music. How, as we delve deeper into the 21st century, the primacy of recorded music is beginning to look more and more like a hangover from another era, we will start developing ways of making, consuming and thinking about music in vastly different ways to what we have been used to for the past 50 odd years. All big stuff, and not something that I can even start on in a 600-word blog, but lying in bed this morning I had an idea. It was for the closing lines of the book; I wanted to use the quote "Say bye-bye, Sooty. Say bye-bye, Sweep". I got myself very excited about it, but couldn't work out why. The quote has no relevance to the rest of the book and anyway how many people would know it?

Last night I presented a performance of The17 at the Seventeen Gallery in London. The17 is a choir, which I have been developing over the past couple of years and will not be going overground with for some months.

Today will be spent working with Mark Lawson, putting together a feature for this evening's edition of Front Row on BBC Radio 4. We are going to be interviewing various people involved with music making and business, about the idea of No Music Day.

And now that I have got this blog done, I will make myself some porridge and walk my youngest son to school.

- Bill Drummond, the Guardian, Nov 21st 2007.

You May Have Missed...

2007-11-16T23:47:00.000Z

Recently, I whiled away an evening by taking Garry Mulholland's excellent book "This Is Uncool: The 500 Greatest Singles Since Punk and Disco" down from the shelf and reading as much as my tired eyes could take in one sitting. While I did so, I played as many of the records he mentioned as I could put my hands on (i.e. whatever I could find on my iPod). After a couple of hours, I realised I had only managed to get as far as listening to the entries he chooses for the years 1977 and 1978. It's incredible how many great singles were released over the winter of '77/'78. The book is a real treasure, it has me gagging to track down singles I haven't heard, and re-discovering singles I'd neglected to listen to for a long time. There are (rare) occasions where I don't think he writes enough on a single (his treatment of Kylie Minogue's "I Should Be So Lucky" is a bit lazy, but I suppose I should be happy he chose to include it at all). One of the best things about the book is the reproductions of single sleeves inside. The author is obviously passionate about artwork as well as the records in question, so the thrill of pop oozes from every page. If you haven't read it, make it a Christmas present for someone and have a sneaky read of it yourself. His follow-up book, "Fear of Music", which follows a similar format, and applies it to 261 (?) albums is also worth a look, but not as good as "This Is Uncool". One small gripe: this is a book about "important" singles, which necesserily neglects the detritus that makes pop music so exciting and ridiculous. So no mention of "The Lone Ranger" by Quantum Jump, or Haysi Fantayzee's "John Wayne Is Big Leggy". Maybe some of the best singles just defy any kind of logic you could try and apply to them.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: How Great Is The New Girls Aloud Album...?

2007-11-16T21:08:00.000Z

BLOODY great is the answer you're looking for. Or to put it another way...

ALBUMS IT IS NOT AS GOOD AS; The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds", The Beatles "Revolver", ABBA "Gold", that sort of thing.
ALBUMS IT IS BETTER THAN; Kylie Minogue "X", Britney Spears "Blackout", Sugababes "Change", all of the previous Girls aloud albums.
ALBUMS IT IS ABOUT AS GOOD AS; Pet Shop Boys "Please", Betty Boo "Boomania!", Pulp "Different Class", TLC "CrazySexyCool", Goldfrapp "Black Cherry", Annie "Anniemal", Madonna "Confessions On A Dancefloor", Róisín Murphy "Overpowered"...

Alright, I'll review it properly. And in lieu of an image of the album sleeve popping up on google search, another pic of ver 'Girls.

GIRLS ALOUD "Tangled Up" (Polydor/Fascination)

What comes to mind when you think of Girls Aloud? Popstars: The Rivals, Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh? The phrase "Wives and Girlfriends"? Generic daytime radio blandpop? Fake tans? Very well, but only a buffoon would deny that Girls Aloud's best singles are among the most memorable and exciting British pop has provided us with in recent times. They've been lumbered with some iffy cover versions from time to time, but hopefully they're a big enough prospect to ditch the overwrought run-throughs of other people's hits. This album (their fourth, excluding last year's compilation "The Sound Of Girls Aloud") gives them the chance to step up a gear and, brilliantly, they do so.

This is not just a Girls Aloud album of course. It is also a Xenomania album. For the first time, every track on a Girls Aloud album has been written and produced by Xenomania (i.e. the production team which comprises all or some of the following; Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Nick Coler, Gisele Somerville, Matt Gray, Toby Scott, Tim Powell and Lisa Cowling). Xenomania have been responsible for a lot of the greatest British pop music of the last decade. In Girls Aloud's "Biology", they produced what The Observer called (rightly, in my view) the Single Of The Decade. In other words, expectations are high here, and "Tangled Up" it resolutely NOT a let-down.

It kicks off with "Call The Shots" (last week's Single Of The Week here, see below) which is as good as anything Girls Aloud have released so far. A lovely contemporary synth pop tune, it is great in the way "Love Comes Quickly" or "Love Action" are great. It is the first in a run of six absolutely great tracks - potential singles all of them - on what in the old days we would have called "Tangled Up"'s side one. "Close To Love" and "Girl Overboard" are brisk and sparkly. The former is reminiscent of early Duran Duran, the latter is a wonderful minor-key marvel. Both sound machine-driven but not overly icy or distant. Something for Kylie's (or indeed Britney's) "people" to consider next time out. "Sexy! No No No" exemplifies Girls Aloud's trademark sound, rawk guitars, stomping beats...quite difficult to dance to, or indeed to sing along with for the most part, but then the chorus sqauts in your brain and refuses to leave. "Can't Speak French" is particularly impressive" - witty lyrics "I can't speak French, so I'll let the funky music do the talking...", set to an odd honky tonk type rhythm. It calls to mind Goldfrapp's "Satin Chic". From this point on, all sorts of styles are thrown into the album's musical palette; drum 'n' bass ("What You Cryin' For"), house-y reggae ("Control Of The Knife"), disco ("Damn") and yet more mean-rockin' riffs ("Fling", "I'm Falling"). If the album is missing anything, it's a killer-ballad. Closer "Crocodile Tears" is as close as we get, but it's still mid-tempo, harking back slightly to the brilliant 2003 single "Life Got Cold".

Undoubtedly, "Tangled Up" is a "result". (9 out of 10)

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

2007-11-16T11:20:00.000Z

ESTELLE "Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)" (Atlantic)

"1980" feels like a long time ago doesn't it. Since that we haven't heard much from Estelle but now she's back! Back! BACK! She's enlisted John Legend and Will.I.Am from Black Eyed Peas to concoct a terrific comeback single, which could see her achieve her biggest hit yet. It's Brit-soul with a shuffly rhythm, a smidgin of brassy stabs and a killer chorus. Oh, and what can only be described as belchy noises. Lyrically it reverses the rampant misogyny of that other Will.I.Am collaboration, The Pussycat Dolls' "Beep". This single has more in common with, er, Common (whose "I Want You" is another excellent Will.I.Am aided hit from earlier this year). "Wait A Minute (Just A Touch)", happily, makes the winter feel like summer, so listen to it throughout the forthcoming cold, frosty mornings and be thankful.

YouTube:

Because Six Months Is Too Long To Wait For Another Fix Of Eurovision...

2007-11-15T00:08:00.000Z

In 1973, ABBA entered the Swedish "melodifestivalen", which is their Song For Europe, with the song "Ring Ring". They came third, and would have to wait another year for Euro-glory. Here is the song which won that 1973 competition, "You're Summer" by Nova. It contains the legendary line "Oh your breasts are like swallows nesting". Let's face it, that's why I'm posting it here.

(Ireland gave it five points in the '73 Eurovision Contest proper, by the way...)

ALBUM REVIEW

2007-11-14T22:25:00.000Z

Snigger all you like, student indie-snobs, one day you'll have a mortgage to pay too.

DAVID GRAY “Greatest Hits” (East West)

There are lots of people out there who seem to dislike David Gray intensely. For some it’s because he brought busking into the charts. Some people dislike him because they doubt his sincerity, others because his voice seems affected. Yet more people dislike his apparent wetness, and to some he’s a villain because he paved the way for the even less fondly regarded James Blunt. Gray’s rise to popularity seemed to usher in the age of what some commentators are fond of calling “mortgage rock”; a clearly dismissive term which puts paid to having to write anything at all sensible or thoughtful about bands such as Keane, Coldplay and Snow Patrol. A listen to this Greatest Hits album, does not reveal the blandorama Gray’s critics accuse him of cooking up. His reworking of “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye” is not included here, which will be either a blessing or a swizz depending on where you stand the David Gray “issue”. However, the memorable, gentle piano ballad “This Year’s Love” is present and correct, as is the really quite excellent single “Sail Away”. The admittedly overplayed, but really-not-as-ropey-as-you-might-remember-it “Babylon” is also included. Elsewhere, lesser known singles such as “The Other Side” reveal some surprisingly dark lyrics. Fans will own everything here bar two tracks, one of which is recent single “You’re The World To Me”, but there are pleasant surprises in store for the open-minded. (8 out of 10)

"Avoid Rock and Roll. Really. There's no money in it."

2007-11-10T17:22:00.000Z

Irish indie hopefuls The Immediate split up this week. Helplines have been set up to console their weeping fans (music journalists, most of them) so as we bid a fond farewell to the band who Could Have Been Bigger Than An Emotional Fish, I present an interview I did with their bassist Peter Toomey earlier this year. It was intended for publication in a student paper but a cock up meant the music section never got printed. (Ciarán accepts no responsibility whatsoever for The Immediate splitting up).

HOW’S THE SECOND ALBUM COMING ALONG? We’ve recorded demos in Donegal and they’re sounding good. We’ve played a few new songs live and they’ve gone down really well. We played at Whelan’s last night actually.

WHAT HAS THE RESPONSE TO YOUR MUSIC BEEN LIKE IN ENGLAND? Gigs have been really good there, but it’s a tough place to crack. We played in Brighton and Sheffield and toured with The Young Knives. It’s tougher in London. The audiences are more cynical and jaded there, they’ve seen it all before and they can be hard to please. But we’re going back to Brighton in the summer to play a festival.

IS DANCE MUSIC REALLY MAKING A COMEBACK? I don’t know about this New Rave. All these bands like Enter Shikari…they’re all shouty guitars and squelchy noises over the top. Slightly folky stuff like Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom…that seems to be more where things are going now. So, I’m not sure about this NME New Rave scene, no. I suppose it’s all about getting your music out there.

AND THREE PEOPLE STANDING IN A TELEPHONE BOX CONSTITUTES A “SCENE” AT THE NME, DOESN’T IT? Yeah…

HAVE THE NME IN IRELAND HELPED YOU AT ALL? Well, they mention us a bit but they’ve so many bands to cover. Yes, it’s a difficult one to break into really.

WHAT’S THE BEST BAND YOU’VE SUPPORTED OR BEEN SUPPORTED BY ON TOUR? The Young Knives…or Doves. I didn’t want to like The Young Knives but they won me over, they were so good. I was already a big fan of Doves, we got to play a few shows with them down the country and at The Olympia. Also there’s this U.S. band called Dios Malos, they were great too.

YOU USED TO WORK IN A RECORD SHOP. DID YOU EVER GET TO SELL A COPY OF YOUR OWN RECORD TO A CUSTOMER? Yeah! Before Christmas I sold a few copies of it. I just grinned. Some of them knew I was in the band, others didn’t.

DID ANYONE EVER TAKE THE RECORD BACK AND ASK TO EXCHANGE IT FOR SOMETHING ELSE? No, not in my presence anyway. If they had done would I have allowed their refund? Oh yeah! Of course…

WHAT WAS THE LAST ALBUM YOU BOUGHT? A compilation of stuff by Tim Hardin. I’d heard covers of his stuff by people like Scott Walker and The Small Faces. Also I bought a record by Au Revoir Simone. They’re three girls, really good…

SHOULD MORRISSEY HAVE ENTERED THE EUROVISION? I think so. He’s a big fan of sixties and seventies Euro-pop. He knows his stuff. But maybe he was just joking about actually entering himself. I think he would have done well, he’d have looked slick in front of the Eurovision viewers around Europe. Yes, I think they’re ready for something like that at Eurovision.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH POP MUSIC AT THE MOMENT? Too many bands are trying to be The Arctic Monkeys! Too many bands sound the same. You don’t get the weird one-hit wonders like you did in the seventies. It’s not as much fun now. You used to get things in the charts like (daft 1972 number one) “Mouldy Old Dough” by Lieutenant Pigeon. The guy had his mother on piano! And things like that would sit alongside stuff like The Sweet and T Rex. You don’t get that kind of thing now.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACHIEVE IN 2007? Just to get the record out and about a bit more here. People don’t know us well enough yet. We want to release the album (i.e last year’s superb “In Towers and Clouds”) in France. That’s it really. I’m looking forward to going to France…

DO YOU STILL HAVE TO GO TO LONDON TO ACHIEVE BIG SUCCESS OR IS IT POSSIBLE TO STAY IN DUBLIN? I suppose you do in a way have to go to London. But Europe is good too. It all filters down anyway. A lot of the bands from the sixties and seventies that I like are English bands but these days most of the bands I like come from the U.S. People like Wilco. But it’s good to do well in places like France, Germany and Scandinavia too, so we might concentrate on there a bit.

BONO : “YAY” OR “NAY”? (Not much hesitation…) Yay. It’s begrudgery isn’t it, all of these people putting him down. He must be doing something right. I wouldn’t mind being as successful as him.

WILL YOU VOTE IN THE UPCOMING GENERAL ELECTION? I think so, yes. I’ve got to get my voting card though! Should rock be political? (Thinks for rather a bit…) Nah. I don’t like when it gets too political. I like story songs, that’s what I try to write anyway.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR THE BUSINESS STUDENTS OF TRINITY COLLEGE? (Appears rather stumped…) Advice? Do I have any advice for them? (Thinks for about five years…) Um, keep your bus tickets, recycle them… Career advice? Oh. Er, apply for lots of jobs. Should they give it all up for rock and roll? Oh no. Avoid rock and roll. Really, there’s no money in it.

DID YOU CARE ABOUT IRELAND DOING WELL IN THE CRICKET WORLD CUP? I didn’t know we were in it! It gets a hard time of it in Ireland, cricket. I used to listen to it in the background while I studied. There was just something very relaxing about it. I didn’t really understand the rules, no.

WERE YOU A HAPPY TEENAGER? Like any teenager really, I was moody sometimes but I was happy. Did I ever write a song about my moodiness? I tried to write songs, yeah. They were a bit rubbish though.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST SONG YOU EVER WROTE? I just wrote some lyrics and gave them to Conor in the band (Conor O’Brien, The Immediate’s guitarist/ drummer/ singer!). He spent ages putting music to my lyrics. That was it really. I don’t really write songs by myself.

THE IMMEDIATE ARE RENOWNED FOR THEIR KNACK FOR SWAPPING INSTRUMENTS. IS THERE ANY INSTRUMENT WHICH YOU’VE TRIED – AND FAILED – TO MASTER? The guitar! I play drums and bass, but I never managed the guitar. There’s no competition among us over who’s the best guitarist, no. We’re all good at our instruments in different ways. We have different styles. We each bring our own thing to it.

WHAT’S THE MOST ANNOYING QUESTION YOU GET ASKED IN INTERVIEWS? “What do you think of the Irish music scene? Aren’t Irish bands doing well?” That’s because there are lots of bands in Ireland! Once this journalist tried to get us to slag off another Irish band. He was comparing our sales with theirs, things like that, trying to create competition or something. Yes, it was a bit nasty.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN SO NERVOUS BEFORE A GIG THAT YOU WERE SICK ON YOUR AMPLIFIERS? I get very anxious before a show but it gives you adrenalin. I’ve never actually been sick, no. You get a better performance out of it really, so nerves are a good thing. I don’t really mind having to come out from behind my drum-kit to sing. It just gives me the right frame of mind.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING THINGS WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO DO: (A) GO DOWN THE BOOZER WITH AMY WINEHOUSE; (B) GO TO A VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT WITH CHRIS MARTIN OR (C) DISCUSS GUITAR TECHNIQUE WITH GLEN HANSARD OF THE FRAMES? (Thinks for several aeons…) I can only pick one, can I? Go drinking with Amy, probably. Failing that, guitar technique with Glen Hansard. I could probably learn a thing or two off him. What if Amy got drunk and started causing trouble? Well, I’d walk away at that point I think…

THANKS, PETER OF THE IMMEDIATE. Thanks! (Click! Brrrrrr…..)

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

2007-11-08T12:48:00.000Z

Girls Aloud "Call The Shots" (Polydor/Fascination)

After the disappointment of the Sugababes' below-par album and The Spice Girls' comeback - a damp squib of a single if ever there was one - it's left to Girls Aloud to rescue British girlpop once again. Happy to report then, that "Call The Shots" is their best single since "Biology". We're talking triumphant mid-paced synthpop, wistful midwinter disco. It seems that Brian Higgins and his Xenomania pals are incapable of writing a bad tune, and they seem to save their very best ones for GA. If this doesn't whizz into the Top 5 next week, there really is no justice in the world. It is simply one of the most charming pop releases of the year and bodes very well for their imminent album "Tangled Up". Their guest appearance on X Factor next week will hopefully give it an added sales boost. Hurrah!

YouTube:

It's Late

2007-11-08T02:27:00.000Z

From now on, I'll write some bits and pieces here.

You have been warned. :-)