Art Decade

2012-01-24T20:18:00.002-05:00

Neil Diamond - Lady Oh

Off of 1976's Robbie Robertson-produced Beautiful Noise. This with Robbie Robertson on guitar, Bob James with the string and horn arrangements.

2012-01-22T08:37:00.000-05:00

Hatsune Miku Orchestra - Nice Age

It's come to this.

2012-01-19T07:30:00.003-05:00

Joe Dassin -
Le Jardin de Luxembourg
Salut les Amoureux

"Like many Russians, Olga adored Joe Dassin, especially the songs on his last album, with their resigned, lucid melancholy. Jed shivered, feeling an irrepresible crisis coming on, and when he remembered the words of "Hello Lovers" he began to cry."
--Michel Houllebecq

2012-01-18T07:30:00.003-05:00

Improved Sound Limited -
Nine Feet Over the Tarmac
Suicide Road

With a tip of the hat to my brother, here are two songs by Improved Sound Limited from Wim Wender's 1976 movie Kings of the Road. I haven't seen it, but based on these two tracks I'm going to tentatively say it's the best fucking movie ever made.

2012-01-16T07:30:00.003-05:00

Elton John - Amoreena

OK, this is the third time I've posted this song, but it's that good. And we haven't heard this version from 11/17/70.

Note to self - live more like a lusty flower in '12.

2012-01-15T07:30:00.003-05:00

Stephen Stills - Midnight in Paris

From 1976's not very good Illegal Stills, here's a track written by Donnie Dacus and Stills's wife at the time, Veronique Sanson. Listen as Stephen Stills sings in French. Wonder about the debt Woody Allen owes to this album. Midnight in Paris? And does Stephen Stills bear a little more than a passing resemblance to a certain Wilson brother? Just sayin'.

2012-01-14T07:30:00.006-05:00

The Beach Boys - Little Bird

Dennis Wilson comin' at ya off of Friends. I feel like the string section should be given the sample treatment. Or maybe it has been? Whatever. I'd still probably prefer this version.

2012-01-13T08:08:00.002-05:00

Bee Gees: I Close My Eyes

From the b-side of the Bee Gees' 1st.
Add it to the list of classics released in 1967.

2012-01-13T07:30:00.006-05:00

Terry Melcher -
Beverly Hills
The Old Hand Jive

And speaking of Terry Melcher, here are two from Terry Melcher, an album Bud Scoppa in Rolling Stone described as "a disturbing, difficult album that reverberates like a cosmic sigh."

That's a bad thing?

2012-01-12T07:00:00.003-05:00

Al Hazan - Just Another Broken Heart

Get ready to hit play again and again on this one from Al Hazan. Some things to know about the man, from his website: "In addition to his music career, Al has been a licensed real estate broker since 1954, worked as a professional photographer, is a proud veteran of the U.S. Army, and now specializes in treating crime victims as a Doctor of Psychology." And, relevantly: "Dr Hazan earned his PhD in Psychology in 1987 after writing his dissertation on the Seven Developmental Stages of a Romantic Love Relationship."

And yes, that is Terry Melcher you hear.

2012-01-07T23:30:00.009-05:00

Chris Robison - I'm Gonna Stay With My Baby Tonight

Special thanks to Wombletunes for this one.

2012-01-01T21:22:00.014-05:00

Eddie Hooper & Storm - Pass It On (Part 1)

Although I already recommended purchasing an mp3 of this, I have to post it now--slightly slowed, à la Tako in this mix--for New Year's inspirational purposes.

Can't wait to hear part 2.

2011-12-31T15:13:00.042-05:00

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...

2011-12-30T15:16:00.012-05:00

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.

2011-12-30T14:24:00.008-05:00

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.

2011-12-27T22:42:00.002-05:00

Roy Panton - Endless Memory

2011-12-21T11:15:00.001-05:00

Subway Sect: Ambition

2011-12-20T06:33:00.000-05:00

Oak Cliff String Band: Dallas Rag

song history "an old-timey howdy-do"

2011-12-19T08:47:00.003-05:00

Tom Zé - Defect 2: Curiosidade

2011-12-11T23:59:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-10T11:38:00.003-05:00

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

2011-12-08T00:49:00.007-05:00

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

2011-12-07T10:07:00.000-05:00

Cooley-Munson: Sightly Sue

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

2011-12-06T06:58:00.001-05:00

The Twistin' Kings: Xmas Twist

This tune comes courtesy of a pal in Memphis.

2011-12-05T00:12:00.002-05:00

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

2011-12-04T06:18:00.001-05:00

A bit of goth for the Yuletide.

Bauhaus: Dark Entries

2011-12-03T08:59:00.006-05:00

Virgin Prunes - Sandpaper Lullabye

2011-12-02T20:12:00.002-05:00

X: Come Back to Me

2011-11-28T23:52:00.007-05:00

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

2011-11-25T23:40:00.007-05:00

new Viva show (#118) in the archive

2011-11-23T22:53:00.005-05:00

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.

2011-11-22T23:44:00.005-05:00

Miller - Baby I Got News For You

2011-11-21T07:00:00.008-05:00

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

2011-11-19T21:45:00.004-05:00

Le Orme - Ad Gloriam

2011-11-15T08:39:00.002-05:00

new Viva show (#117) in the archive

2011-11-13T23:04:00.001-05:00

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.

2011-11-12T20:33:00.003-05:00

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...

2011-11-08T23:18:00.017-05:00

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.

2011-11-03T01:09:00.008-04:00

Tsurubami - Gekkyukekkaichi

palate-cleanser

2011-11-01T23:05:00.008-04:00

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.

2011-10-31T23:48:00.002-04:00

new Viva show (#116) in the archive

2011-10-31T22:20:00.011-04:00

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.

2011-10-30T12:18:00.003-04:00

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).

2011-10-29T22:18:00.007-04:00

Headstone - Turn Your Head

best singing of the word "cloud"

2011-10-25T23:18:00.007-04:00

Erton Revelation - Free Show

written by Erton-De Piscopo-Chiaravalle

2011-10-23T13:23:00.001-04:00

Brenda Lee - The Crying Game

music & words by Geoff Stephens

2011-10-21T21:48:00.005-04:00

Ilitch - Peripherikredcommando

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

2011-10-20T00:04:00.001-04:00

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.

2011-10-19T01:03:00.008-04:00

Clinic - Video Life

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

2011-10-12T22:57:00.014-04:00

Chris Spedding - Video Life

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

2011-10-09T22:08:00.009-04:00

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.

2011-10-08T21:33:00.003-04:00

Dif Juz - Cs

2011-10-07T00:14:00.002-04:00

Mitchell's Christian Singers - Who Was John?

2011-10-03T22:33:00.005-04:00

Ennio Morricone: Una Spiaggia a Mezzogiorno

From the soundtrack to Vergogna Schifosi

2011-09-28T21:23:00.011-04:00

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.

2011-09-27T07:00:00.001-04:00

The best part of this video is everything.

2011-09-26T22:15:00.003-04:00

The Jam: In The City

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

2011-09-10T18:33:00.005-04:00

Equals - Helèna

2011-09-05T09:21:00.002-04:00

Take two of these and thank me in the morning.

2011-09-01T09:42:00.001-04:00

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.

2011-08-31T23:22:00.005-04:00

The Space Lady - Ghost Riders In The Sky

2011-08-27T00:40:00.000-04:00

Lio - Speedy Gonzales

2011-08-26T08:05:00.004-04:00

Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd: And Then I Turned Away

2011-08-24T20:48:00.003-04:00

Pink Floyd: Grantchester Meadows

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

2011-08-21T14:17:00.014-04:00

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.

2011-08-17T11:17:00.006-04:00

new Viva show (#114) in the archive

2011-08-11T16:06:00.002-04:00

The Paragons - Abba

August 11th?

Time to party.

2011-08-09T10:25:00.006-04:00

Hot Chocolate - You Could've Been A Lady (scratchandsniff re-rub)

A cursory glance through today's papers has led me to an inescapable conclusion: it's time to party.

Check the scratchandsniff soundcloud for more great edits and mixes.

2011-08-08T21:02:00.004-04:00

Robert Wyatt - The Age Of Self

2011-08-07T23:54:00.011-04:00

Mau Mau - Mau Mau

Enjoyably empty and lonesome back-to-school sounds from Germany's Mau Mau. Thanks to Elena Reimeryte of the new "Silent Killers" show on viva radio for the heads-up.

2011-08-06T23:12:00.010-04:00

Roger Wolfe Kahn & His Orchestra - Russian Lullaby

1927. The Lower East Side of Manhattan. A hot August night. A young Jewish mother, a newcomer to this country, takes her crying newborn from his crib. She sits with him on the fire escape and lulls him back to sleep with a tune from the Old Country: a Russian lullaby.

2011-08-03T11:17:00.000-04:00

new Viva show (#113) in the archive

2011-08-02T11:23:00.020-04:00

Rattles - You Can't Have Sunshine Everyday

Thanks to Ted for peeling this one off in his now-legendary Turtle Dov mix. This song is a forerunner of Beck's Loser, and a descendant of the Hey Jude outro and (more remotely) Thus Spake Zarathustra*. On a side note, I'm liking these folks' sartorial decisions.

*I am becoming increasingly convinced of a crackpot theory of my own devising, namely that the Hey Jude outro (Na, na, na, na-na-na na, etc.) was subconsciously influenced by R. Strauss's Thus Spake Zarathustra. Note that 2001: A Space Odyssey was released on 4/4/68, and Hey Jude was recorded on 7/31/68.

Did Paul see 2001 before Hey Jude was written? IDK, but dig this:

"In the Magical Mystery Tour film, Flying was used to accompany landscape scenes of Iceland taken from an aeroplane. These sequences were unused outtakes from Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey."

source: http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/flying/

2011-08-01T11:21:00.011-04:00

Ketty Lester - Love Letters

Big thanks to G. Condon for peeling this one off in a nice summer mix available here. Composed in 1945 by Edward Heyman, who coincidentally also wrote the song that kicks off Viva mix #112. Beautifully hollow arrangement on this, with spooky organ backing kicking in at 1:01.

2011-07-29T00:13:00.006-04:00

The Marvelettes - The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game

So sultry.

2011-07-27T22:16:00.004-04:00

new Viva show (#112) in the archive

2011-07-27T22:11:00.011-04:00

Haruomi Hosono with Friends Of Earth - Alternative 3

Pretty abstract stuff here from Harry, but ultimately successful (I think) as a self-contained piece of music. Recorded and mixed digitally October-November, 1984, Tokyo.

bonus beats:
Kurtis Blow - AJ Scratch (1984)

2011-07-24T12:57:00.008-04:00

The Antennas - Just Your Love

The hugest of thanks to Jimmy Virkki at Prejka.se for the rip. Shades of Once In A Lifetime in the bassline. Featuring Franco Falsini of Sensations' Fix fame. Good times.

2011-07-23T00:06:00.008-04:00

Return To Forever - Earth Juice

2011-07-22T20:42:00.008-04:00

Johnny Russell - Catfish John

Thanks to my friend Jerry for turning me on to this one. Written by Bob McDill and Allen Reynolds. Vocal accompaniment by The Jordanaires.

Best vocal phrasing on "thangkin back" (1:01).

2011-07-20T20:42:00.010-04:00

Sadistic Mika Band - Hi Jack (I'm Just Dying)

Some choice pre-YMO here of sorts (Yukihiro Takahashi is the drummer in this band). Music by Kazuhiko Katoh, lyrics by Yuji Konno, in tribute to Jack Nicholson. Recorded at Onkyo House Studio, Tokyo, July 1975. Produced by Chris Thomas.

Don't go to Houston, you should come to Tokyo
Would you believe in a big chance meeting?

2011-07-18T21:56:00.003-04:00

David Sylvian / Ryuichi Sakamoto: Bamboo Houses (12" version)

And the '00 remix from David Sylvian's Everything and Nothing compilation.

Might as well place these tunes back to back with Emmett's Haruomi Hosono post to extend the YMO tangent. Please enjoy.

2011-07-17T20:11:00.005-04:00

Haruomi Hosono - Sports Men
(細野晴臣 - スポーツマン)

The world of YMO and related configurations is such a rich musical seam; the dedicated seeker may mine at length and continue to reap sumptuous delights.

available on compact disc

2011-07-13T00:01:00.004-04:00

new Viva show (#111) in the archive

2011-07-11T19:24:00.006-04:00

Marlon Asher - Ganja Farmer

2011-07-10T09:20:00.011-04:00

Miharu Koshi -
Bara No Yakai~Arui Wa Amai Mitsu No Imashime

Japanese title: 薔薇の夜会～あるいは甘い蜜の戒め
English translation (as per Google translate): Soirée, or, Sweet Nectar of the Commandments of Roses

Happy birthday (yesterday) to Harry Hosono, who produced this and presumably played the fretless bass(es). Written by Miharu Koshi. See here for another cut from the same LP. Artwork by Satoshi Nishizaki.

Best part at 2:15.

2011-07-08T00:01:00.006-04:00

The Soft Rocks - Whore Your Love

Disco Power Play, The Album, now available from all the finest European record-sellers.

The drummer does something quite nifty at 1:24 (and again at 2:14, 4:35, and 5:26). Kudos.

And yeah, I've had no luck trying to find the source of this re-edit so far, although I did encounter an even slower Nils Lofgren reggae-halftime version.

2011-07-07T22:36:00.017-04:00

The July Four - Mr. Miff

I'm down with this instro mainly because of the mellow strums that kick in at 0:05 and again at 0:57, foreshadowing not only Like A Hurricane* but also the mellotron interlude from Space Oddity^.

*Check the vocal version of this cut for further reinforcement of the Like A Hurricane connection.

^I mean the passage at 2:34 in this clip.

2011-06-28T00:03:00.007-04:00

The Sensational Nightingales - My Sisters And Brothers

Great ramshackle rhythm backing on this, and empyrean reverb on the vox (only fitting). I'm off on summer hols, back in mid-July, and then it's ON.

2011-06-27T23:22:00.005-04:00

Cream - Dance The Night Away

I like that you can pretty much see the revellers spilling out into the streets when the psychedelic part kicks in at 0:45.

2011-06-25T22:56:00.004-04:00

SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL

Franck Dervieux - Present Du Futur

2011-06-24T15:09:00.016-04:00

Radar - Una Splendida Emicrania

A search for more Italian new wave on discogs.com turned up this nugget. Old news for some but new to me. The chord progression reminds me a Dave Grohl-penned Nirvana B-side called "Marigold", of all things. Pretty crucial material here. I'm glad I didn't completely miss the boat on this one.

Recorded October 1981. Una splendida emicrania = "a wonderful headache"

La parti elettroniche dell'LP sono state suonate senza ausilio di computer o automatismi.
"The electronic parts of the LP have been played without the aid of computers or automation."

Nicola Salerno: voce, Korg MS10, Yamaha CS80, Roland Jupiter 4, batteria elettronica
Alessandro Ceradini: voce
Bruno Marini: assolo clarinetto basso

2011-06-22T20:28:00.001-04:00

new Viva show (#110) in the archive

2011-06-21T19:48:00.010-04:00

Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band - Observatory Crest

A descendant of For What It's Worth, arrangement-wise, this popped up on a couple of mixes last year. Are we talking Griffith Observatory? Was the concert at the Greek? These secrets now lie with the Captain... R.I.P.

Recorded at Stronghold Sound Recorders, North Hollywood, CA.

2011-06-20T12:53:00.013-04:00

Ramases - Balloon

If you're thinking, "Gee, that sounds like Lol Crème on lead guitar, moog synthesiser, and possibly background vocals," you are correct. Indeed, all four members of 10cc comprise the backing band here. (This was about a year before they recorded this.) The LP was reissued on vinyl somewhat recently by Mexican Summer.

2011-06-19T21:53:00.005-04:00

Electric Light Orchestra - Letter From Spain

2011-06-18T23:13:00.010-04:00

Miharu Koshi - パラレリズム [Parallélisme]

2011-06-17T20:25:00.008-04:00

Big Star - The India Song (alternate version)

Words and music by Andy Hummel, with whose sentiments I completely agree. Available in this box.

2011-06-16T14:47:00.004-04:00

Blackway - Follow Me

2011-06-15T17:45:00.014-04:00

The Stepkids - Shadows On Behalf

If this were a lost electro-psych-soul obscurity from '73, it would be one of the greatest crate-digs of all time. Instead, it's a genius single devised by three lads from Connecticut who style themselves The Stepkids. High-quality mp3 and vinyl available from Stones Throw records. Catch the 'Kids live at Fort Green Park in Brooklyn on July 12th.