Up To My Brain

Waiting for the starman? It's 1972, and Ziggy and his Spiders From Mars play homage to the Velvets on auntie Beeb. Pay special attention to the mad guitar work by Mick Ronson on White Light. Down to his toes indeed.

David Bowie - Waiting For The Man
David Bowie - White Light, White Heat

Tot Sants

Today's no-brainer: an instrumental Low outtake for your listening pleasure. It's no Warszawa, but it will have to do.

David Bowie - All Saints

Tower Of Song

The golden sings of 2016? Look no further, my amigos da musica. You want it darker? Shine on.

1. Heron Oblivion - Heron Oblivion
Heron Oblivion - The Desert
2. David Bowie - Blackstar
3. Hiss Golden Messenger - Heart Like A Levee/Vestapol
4. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
5. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
6. Brent Cobb - Shine On Rainy Day
Brent Cobb - Black Crow
7. Cian Nugent - Night Fiction
8. William Tyler - Modern Country
9. Ryley Walker - Golden Sings That Have Been Sung
10. Kikagaku Moyo - House In The Tall Grass
Kikagaku Moyo - Trad

I'll Be Free

Just got the sad news that we've lost one of the true greats of popular music yesterday. I'm stunned. David Robert Jones, 8 January 1947 - 10 January 2016. Miss him.

David Bowie - Lazarus

Change In The Weather

How about some Bowie today? Ok, so enter the Thin White Duke, majestically live during his Station To Station tour. It's 1976, and that guitar tandem of Carlos Alomar and Stacy Haydon sure is hot.

David Bowie - Stay (live '76)

All You Need

Fully Qualified Survivor, the second album by underrated British folkie Michael Chapman, is essential listening, my amigos da musica. Interesting plus: it features a young Mick Ronson on guitar, just before he would hit the big leagues as a member of Bowie's Spiders From Mars.

Michael Chapman - Naked Ladies And Electric Ragtime

Of Kings...

"I used to be a king and everything around me turned around, but I know all I have to do is sing and I'll lift myself way off the ground..." Presenting part 1 of a royal megamix. Stay tuned for installment #2.

Graham Nash - I Used To Be A King MP3

Bob Dylan - Queen Jane Approximately (live Rotterdam '87) MP3

William Bell - A Tribute To A King MP3

Soft Boys - Queen Of Eyes MP3

Minutemen - King Of The Hill MP3

Ike & Tina Turner - Mojo Queen MP3

Henry Cow - Nine Funerals Of The Citizen King MP3

David Bowie - Queen Bitch MP3

Guided By Voices - Weed King MP3

Rachel Sweet - Truck Stop Queen MP3

Wild Weekend Vol. 50

Welcome to Wild Weekend #50, the Golden Jubilee edition, yessir. Me oh my, how the time does fly and all that. Yassassin! This week we´ve got a fine oldie from Gillian Welch for you, a cool countryrock re-release, a postpunk krautrocker, and that´s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of course.

We´ll start off this milestone edition with the Thin White Duke, if only because Yassassin means ´long live´ in Turkish. A groovy immigrant song from Lodger, Bowie´s last really great album and part three of his Berlin trilogy, it always makes me happy somehow. "Don't want to leave, or drift away..." Gillian Welch hasn´t released any new music since 2003, apparently because of a writer´s block. Shame, as the rootsy singer´s talents are many. Just try on the touching Elvis Presley Blues for size, from the fine Time (The Revelator) album with David Rawlings as always on guitar, and join me in hoping that her inspiration will return soon.

David Bowie - Yassassin MP3

Gillian Welch - Elvis Presley Blues MP3

I managed to miss last years re-release of Grandma´s Roadhouse by Riley somehow, but all that has been corrected now, and I´m glad. Because we´re talking about a cool, very obscure countryrock album from 1970 here, which originally came out on vinyl in a vanity pressing of only 500 copies. And yes, that´s the mighty Gary Stewart, no stranger to these pages, guesting on vocals on the faintly Band-like Drinkin´ Them Squeezins. Wonder if he ever performed a song which didn´t mention drinking... You may know Jah Wobble as the bassist for his mate Johnny Lydon´s Public Image Ltd., and Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit as prominent members of pioneering krautrockers Can. But did you know they briefly played together, too? The result? Excellent, dubby postpunk with a groove.

Riley - Drinkin´ Them Squeezins MP3

Holger Czukay, Jah Wobble, Jaki Liebezeit - How Much Are They? MP3

Ever tried you hand at flamenco clapping? I did, and it´s far from easy believe me. Great fun though. Here´s an excellent opportunity to practice your skills: a classic performance by famous gypsy singer Antonia Gilabert Vargas (1925-1975), better known as La Perla De Cádiz. And last but certainly not least, we move to the windy city once again. If you would ask me for my fave electric blues song ever, I´d probably come up with Reap What You Sow by lefthander Otis Rush. Soulful perfection from Chicago´s West Side. Just check it out and have a wild one.

La Perla De Cádiz - Ganas Me Dan De Volverme MP3

Otis Rush - Reap What You Sow MP3

Hip To Be Alive

Couldn´t get this song out of my head today. Maybe because of tonight´s Arsenal vs. Barça clash? "Since I'm not supposed to grin, all you've got to do is win..." People often refer to Bowie´s Young Americans album as plastic soul. That´s rubbish of course. It´s the real deal.

David Bowie - Win MP3

Faits Divers

No that´s not a new supergroup, it´s just French for odds and ends. Would make a good band name though... but anyway. Here´s a collection of assorted sounds that kept me busy over the last few weeks. Featuring amongst others the return of a former Joy Division and New Order stalwart, the post Pop Group postpunk-funk of Rip Rig & Panic, and some more happy Len.

First up is Bernard Sumner´s new band, named after a pretty good movie starring Harvel Keitel. Got this one in the mail and didn´t expect a lot of it to be honest, but Sink Or Swim proved to be a pleasant surprise. Hit!

Bad Lieutenant - Sink Or Swim MP3

Rip Rig & Panic rose from the ashes of The Pop Group, and featured wonderwoman Neneh Cherry on vocals. An impressive avant-garde funk ensemble, they had a way with wonderful song titles, and are now sadly forgotten. Their highly original ´81 debut God didn´t even get a cd release yet. And that´s just plain ridiculous.

Rip Rig & Panic - Those Eskimo Women Speak Frankly MP3

Rip Rig & Panic - Constant Drudgery Is Harmful To Soul, Spirit & Health MP3

Another postpunk gem I just can´t stop playing is I, Bloodbrother Be (£4,000 Love Letter) by the Shockheaded Peters. A dark and jazzy gay anthem that even caused a bit of a scandal back in the early eighties, my sweeties...

Shockheaded Peters - I, Bloodbrother Be (£4,000 Love Letter) MP3

Some dear friends of mine surprised me with a cd called La Cantina by Mexican/American singer Lila Downs recently, and I quite like her postmodern take on traditional Mexican fare. And hey, is that the mighty Flaco Jimenez on accordeon here? Yup. What´s more, he even wrote the song.

Lila Downs - Tu Recuerdo Y Yo MP3

Have also been on a total Bowie trip over the last few months. Used to be a huge fan, but can´t say I´ve given the Thin White Duke much thought over the last couple of decennia, probably because he never released an even half-decent album since Scary Monsters came out in ´80. His classic stuff still stands though, as I was glad to find out. Here he covers Jaques Brel. And he does that very well.

David Bowie - My Death MP3

As a Mountain Goats fan from stage one, I usually prefer their early lofi stuff to the more polished recent output. But the newly released The Life Of The World To Come has me converted. I repent, Mr. Darnielle, I repent. A masterpiece.

Mountain Goats - Matthew 25:21 MP3

Let´s end this mixed bag with the song I liked most from Leonard Cohen´s recent Barcelona concert. "I said to Hank Williams: how lonely does it get? Hank Williams hasn´t answered yet... But I hear him coughing all night long, a hundred floors above me in the tower of song..."

Leonard Cohen - Tower Of Song MP3

Married Man´s A Fool

"Ever since you walked right in, the circle's been complete,

I've said goodbye to haunted rooms and faces in the street,
To the courtyard of the jester which is hidden from the sun,
I love you more than ever and I haven't yet begun..."

Thanks for that, Bob, could not have said it any better myself. As it happens to be my - umpteenth - wedding anniversary today, here´s a tenpack of songs about that weird phenomenon called marriage. Married man may be a fool, Ry, and granted Tom, I do indeed have to ask permission when I want to go out fishin´, but that´s cool with me.

"And I could never let you go, no matter what goes on,

'Cause I love you more than ever now that the past is gone..."

Ry Cooder - Married Man´s A Fool MP3

Bob Dylan - Wedding Song MP3

Tom Waits - Better Off Without A Wife MP3

George Jones & Tammy Wynette - Golden Ring MP3

David Bowie - Be My Wife MP3

Blind Willie Reynolds - Married Man Blues MP3

Freda Payne - Band Of Gold MP3

Jimi Hendrix Experience - 51st Anniversary MP3

Replacements - You´re Getting Married MP3

Moby Grape - Gypsy Wedding MP3