2011: The Year In Review

Igor Stravinsky - Otche Nash
Brenda Lee - The Crying Game
Zoo - Hard Times, Good Times
Tuesday - Sewing Machine
France Gall - Les Petits Ballons
Nancy Sinatra - Sugar Me
England's Glory - Bright Lights
Helen Banks - Do You Know
Sensational Nightingales - My Sisters And Brothers
Sadistic Mika Band - Hi Jack (I'm Just Dying)
El Tigre - Figure
Chris Spedding - Video Life
Ilitch - Peripherikredcommando
Step Lang - Airborn
Radar - Una Splendida Emicrania
Miharu Koshi - Parallélisme
Electric Light Orchestra - Letter From Spain
Haruomi Hosono - Sports Men

I wanted to do a little compendium of some of my top finds of 2011, the songs that really made "life work leaving" (to quote a cryptic James Joyce). I also needed a reasonable excuse to post this picture of my boy.

Best wishes to everyone for a happy 2012...

Marie Moor - Illusions

Since no one has offered to send me their copy of this record yet, I'm posting a sweet youtube rip of it for now. (Thanks to the folks at clipconverter.cc for the good times.) Words and music by Friedrich Hollaender. Here's a clip of Marlene Dietrich singing the O.G.

In this crazy paradise, you are in love with pain.

Pop the champagne.

Je Demain - L'Hiver Au Bord De La Mer

Special thanks to TV Disko for the tip on this one. Lordy, we haven't posted any hibernian French synth-pop this frothy since Mikado. Read an interview (in French) with Je Demain here. Have a spacious New Year.

Roy Panton - Endless Memory

Subway Sect: Ambition

Oak Cliff String Band: Dallas Rag

song history "an old-timey howdy-do"

Tom Zé - Defect 2: Curiosidade

Does anyone have a copy of this record they want to give me?

The Seldom Scene: Doing My Time
and a more popular cover Baby Blue;
Live at the Cellar Door

Duran Duran - Save A Prayer (after disco rough edit)

Cooley-Munson: Sightly Sue

Nice bit of history on this stellar track here. Thanks to KnowPhase for introducing me to Sue.

The Twistin' Kings: Xmas Twist

This tune comes courtesy of a pal in Memphis.

Igor Stravinsky - Otche Nash

Neo-renaissance moves from Igor on this setting of the Slavonic "Our Father." Composed in 1926 and recorded by the Tallis Scholars at Charterhouse Chapel, Godalming, Surrey, England, in 1982.

bonus beats

A bit of goth for the Yuletide.

Bauhaus: Dark Entries

Virgin Prunes - Sandpaper Lullabye

X: Come Back to Me

Lone Star - She Said, She Said

Dear Santa,

For Christmas this year, I would like an eight-and-a-half minute, totally overblown prog-boogie cover of one of my favorite Beatles songs, by an obscure Welsh hard rock outfit; one that busts into some rad Free-esque moments, e.g. at the 2:50 mark. Thanks in advance!

Love,
Emmett

new Viva show (#118) in the archive

Wizzard - See My Baby Jive

From an era when 3-minute pop songs were sometimes 5 minutes long (c.f. Tyrannosaurus Rex, "Hot Love", which clocks in at 4:23, and of which this is a lineal descendant). I'm mainly posting this for the melisma at 1:04.

Miller - Baby I Got News For You

Marvin Gaye: Star-Spangled Banner

Marvin singing the national anthem at the 1983 NBA all-star game.

This one goes out to NBA legend Earl Monroe on his 67th birthday. And here's Woody Allen on "the Pearl" in 1977:

It’s amazing, because the audience’s “high” originates inside Monroe and seems to emerge over his exterior. He creates a sense of danger in the arena and yet has enough wit in his style to bring off funny ideas when he wants to. He has, as an athlete-performer, what few actors possess. Marlon Brando is one such actor. The audience never knows what will happen next and the potential for a sudden great thrill is always present. If we think of an actor like George C. Scott, for instance, we feel he is consistently first rate, but he cannot move a crowd the way Brando does. There is something indescribable in Brando that pins an audience on the edge of its seats at all times. Perhaps because we sense a possible peak experience at any given moment, and when it occurs, the performance transcends mere acting and soars into the sublime. On a basketball court, Monroe does this to spectators.

Read the whole thing here

Le Orme - Ad Gloriam

new Viva show (#117) in the archive

Jacky Chalard - Superman, Supercool (extended version)

A track featured on a very worthwhile subscription series the lads at Finders Keepers have put together. As near as I can tell they created this "extended version" themselves by having the first half of the song play twice. Good times either way, with drummer Jean-Pierre Prévotat giving Ernie Isley a run for his money in the rad feel sweepstakes. Best part: the absence of snare drum on the "2" when Jacky sings "superstar" (e.g. at 1:55). Don't chouette the technique.

Beautiful Zion Choir - Let's Ride To The Mountain Top

More Duaneology while I'm waiting for records in the mail. The organist in the right channel is raging pretty hard...

Great Pride - She's A Lady

Analog delay on the vocals and a chorus that sounds like Styx? Now we are finally getting somewhere.

Plaudits to the bass player and to the organ player in the right channel. And huge thanks to Duane for the peel-off.

Tsurubami - Gekkyukekkaichi

palate-cleanser

5th Anniversary Spectacular!

Moons - Standard Planet

So we've been trawling through the audio archives of this standard planet for five years now. Halfway through the decade. What surprises will the next five years hold? Will I ever find another song as good as this?

Time will tell, rastas. Time will tell.

new Viva show (#116) in the archive

NRBQ - That's Alright

Any band that shows love for the pre-Help! Beatles can only win points in my book, especially when brilliant changes such as that occurring at 1:36 are on offer.

Words and music by Joseph Spampinato. Recorded November, 1974 in beautiful Maynard, Massachusetts.

France Gall - Les Petits Ballons

A thousand thanks to Davy across the pond for helping me to acquire this precious mp3. Written by J.C. Vannier and Serge Gainsbourg. Direction d'orchestre: Jean-Claude Vannier. This one's for fans of chord changes (you know who you are).

Headstone - Turn Your Head

best singing of the word "cloud"

Erton Revelation - Free Show

written by Erton-De Piscopo-Chiaravalle

Brenda Lee - The Crying Game

music & words by Geoff Stephens

Ilitch - Peripherikredcommando

Patrick Muller : Guitares, Traitements, Synthetiks (intro)
Philippe Doray : Synthetiks
Ruth Ellyeri : Guitares, Vocal
Thierry Muller : Traitements, Basse, Synthetiks, Sequenceur

Philip Lynott - Yellow Pearl

I'm still trying to track down the demo version heard in this video, but in the meanwhile here's the O.G. slowed to minus 4.

Clinic - Video Life

One of the better German-language Chris Spedding covers I've heard lately. Thanks again, Tedward.

Chris Spedding - Video Life

many thanks to Ted for the tip on this life-changer (on the RAK label, no less!)

Drip-Dry eyes - I Believe In You

Drip-Dry eyes is a Japanese musician and, not surprisingly, a huge Yukihiro Takahashi fan. Here's his myspace. As near as I can tell, this is a cover of an obscure Yukihiro b-side. I ripped the mp3 from a youtube. (Drip-Dry, please let me know if that's not cool...)

Bonus points for the detuned churchbell sound.

Dif Juz - Cs

Mitchell's Christian Singers - Who Was John?

Ennio Morricone: Una Spiaggia a Mezzogiorno

From the soundtrack to Vergogna Schifosi

Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers - Goody Goody

Thanks to Glen of Viva Radio fame for helping me realize that Frankie's voice is the tops.

"Goody Goody" was written by Matty Malneck and Johnny Mercer, in 1936.

The best part of this video is everything.

The Jam: In The City

I wanna say, I wanna tell you
About the young ideas
But you turn them into fears

Equals - Helèna

Take two of these and thank me in the morning.

Jimmy Cliff - Struggling Man

Here's another one from the "Roots of Jerry" mix I put together about a month ago (show #113 in these archives). Typically brill lyrics from Jimmy here.

The Space Lady - Ghost Riders In The Sky

Lio - Speedy Gonzales

Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd: And Then I Turned Away

Pink Floyd: Grantchester Meadows

Basking in the sunshine
Of a bygone afternoon
Bringing sounds of yesterday
Into my city room

Dreamworld - Summerdays

No time to do my own digging at the moment, so here's a nutty little jam I heard in a nutty Moonboots mix. I'm feeling that album cover, too.

new Viva show (#114) in the archive