Earth Is Burning

 

Mr. Mould does what he has to do in these dystopian days and delivers a really angry record with all the intensity of his Hüsker past. Chapeau! For further reading, go here to sample an endearing interview in this week's Guardian. Nice to hear that Grant Hart and him were able to bury the hatchet in the end.

Bob Mould - Forecast Of Rain

...And Today

You knew you had it coming, right? Yesterday's gone... And forever came today.

Hüsker Dü - Something I Learned Today
The Only Ones - Lovers Of Today
Eric Ambel - Forever Came Today
Merle Haggard - A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today
Mel Street - I Met A Friend Of Yours Today
Blind John Davis - No Mail Today

Colour Me Pink

"Hot pink volcano in the heart of the tornado, is shaking the lemonade tree..." That´s right, here´s one more hand picked, hot pink six pack to turn you on. In this installment of Colour Me, the Kirkwood brothers see mirages left, right, and center, Grant Hart mourns a junkie friend, while Blonde Redhead space out under a blue blue sky. Plus: sweet Gene Vincent´s got it all, except the lady he wants of course, Lou Barlow´s Sebadoh pays a heavy tribute to Nick Drake, and Blitzen Trapper goes glam in pink padded slippers. Dig it? Buy some featured albums purleeze.

Meat Puppets - Hot Pink MP3

Hüsker Dü - Pink Turns To Blue MP3

Blonde Redhead - Pink Love MP3

Gene Vincent - Pink Thunderbird MP3

Sebadoh - Pink Moon MP3

Blitzen Trapper - Pink Padded Slippers MP3

Colour Me Green

Tell me now: have you ever bean green? Presenting an exclusive hand picked six pack for your listening pleasure, featuring sixties psychedelica by the Soft Machine, triumphant white soul by Dexys, and a fine folkblues by Furry Lewis. Furthermore, the Tune Rockers deliver a sharp novelty instrumental, the Hüskers flip their wigs and Tim Hardin wants to know who you love. Like what you hear? Buy the albums these tunes come from. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Soft Machine - Have You Ever Bean Green? MP3

Dexy´s Midnight Runners - Tell Me When My Light Turns Green MP3

Furry Lewis - I Will Turn Your Money Green MP3

Tune Rockers - Green Mosquito MP3

Hüsker Dü - Green Eyes MP3

Tim Hardin - Green Rocky Road MP3

Wild Weekend Vol. 12

Wild Weekend, take 12. Like some ancient Greek oracle, the ghost in the iPod has spoken again. And once more it prophesied a musical six pack with a little something for everyone. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Btw: despite his lousy musical examples, I kinda agree with this guy that iTunes and iPods have changed the way one listens to music, and that these new technologies have even diluted the act of listening in a way.

But enough of that, we´re off to a furious start with some early Hüskers, from the days the Minneapolis power trio still played hardcore of sorts. "The only freedom worth fighting for is for what you think." Exactly. After which we´ll play the ace of spades, but not the Motörhead song this time. Nope, this is lush southern soul by way of Overton Vertis Wright. "I'm the ace of spades, baby that's me, ace of hearts just keep loving misery... ace of diamonds, somethin' every woman craves... I use the ace of clubs to keep my baby in place..."

Hüsker Dü - In A Free Land MP3

O.V. Wright - Ace Of Spades MP3

The first five Roxy Music albums are all dear to my heart, but nothing beats their adventurous untitled debut from ´72. Must be the prominence of a certain Brian Peter George St. John Le Baptiste De La Salle Eno, whose synth wizardry is the cream on the glamrock cake here. Just take that mysterious intro to Ladytron for instance... Time to travel to the Arizona desert now, where Calexico reigns supreme. I´ve been following them since their fine debut came out in the late nineties, and they never disappointed me since. You can find the infectious, Mexican flavored Victor Jara´s Hands on the excellent Carried To Dust. For some background on Jara, check here.

Roxy Music - Ladytron MP3

Calexico - Victor Jara´s Hands MP3

It´s Everly time. I was lucky enough to see Don and Phil perform once in the early nineties, thanks to a friend who managed to sneak me in for free. I didn´t expect that much of it, but was pleasantly surprised to find their voices still soared in perfect harmony. Which is quite a feat really, as by that time the love between them apparently had gone rather bad indeed. And we´ve come to the end of another Wild Weekend with Motorpsycho, the pride of Trondheim. These adventurous Norwegians made some fine varied albums in the early nineties, alternating between hard rock, experimental noise, psychedelica and pop with ease. The latter two styles are showcased in the exuberant Waiting For The One.

Everly Brothers - So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad) MP3

Motorpsycho - Waiting For The One MP3

Songs Of The Sea

"Bring me song of the sea... sing me a song of the sea." After a sailor´s theme, a six pack of songs about the sea is so obvious I almost opted out in the end. But as there are simply too many great songs inspired by the briny, I had no choice really. Selecting six beauties out of a truckload of candidates was hard enough. Here´s the ones that made the cut.

Robert Wyatt´s contribution stems from his terrific Rock Bottom album. "You look different every time you come from the foam-crested brine, it's your skin shining softly in the moonlight... partly fish, partly porpoise, partly baby sperm whale..." Great stuff. Postrockers avant la lettre Codeine succeed in matching the rhythm of the waves, while freakfolkers Tunng are stuck in the big city, transistor radio buzzing, longing for the sea.

Iggy finds himself in the service of the bourgeoisie and threatens to jump into The Endless Sea. A gem from New Values, his last really good album. The protagonist of the Hüskers´ classic punk opera Zen Arcade finds himself at a desolate shore. "The waves kept on repeating, each one crashing to the shore, and my footprints nowhere leading, as they disappeared once more..."

And last but not least here´s Sandy Denny again, this time making an appearance with the great Fotheringay. "Sea flows under your doors in London town, and all your defences are all broken down... you laugh at me on funny days, but mine's the slight of hand... don't you know I am a joker, a deceiver? And I'm waiting for the land."

Robert Wyatt - Sea Song MP3

Codeine - Sea MP3

Tunng - Song Of The Sea MP3

Iggy Pop - The Endless Sea MP3

Hüsker Dü - Standing By The Sea MP3

Fotheringay - The Sea MP3

Grab bag a-go-go

Time for another episode of grab bag. Every Friday you´ll get a mix of songs old and new that got me all excited during the past seven days. And that´s no mean feat I´ll tell you. This week´s batch includes the nearly forgotten folky Eric Von Schmidt, a fatal game of Russian roulette, some ´nederbeat´ from the Dutch Stones, and much much more. Enjoy the weekend!

Let´s start with a song that matches the weather here at the moment. After a nice week of false spring it´s mighty cold in the great city of Barcelona, with an icy wind blowing from the north. So "we sit and pray together that they may change the weather..." That´s Hüsker Dü of course, from their Warehouse: Songs And Stories album (´87). Bring on la primavera. 

Hüsker Dü - Ice Cold Ice MP3

Please mister record company man, do us a favour and finally release the first couple of albums by Eric Von Schmidt on cd. As Joshua Gone Barbados shows, his sixties folkblues still sounds fresh today. Giles Joshua was the president for the tiny Caribbean island of St. Vincent once upon a time by the way. He split for Barbados after a while, no doubt with government money in his pockets, leaving the country in misery. Bob Dylan did a take on this song too, with The Band during the Basement Tapes sessions in Woodstock. No strange choice, as Von Schmidt was an old pal. And since I´m such a nice guy, I´ll give you that version as well. 

Eric Von Schmidt - Joshua Gone Barbados MP3

Bob Dylan & The Band - Joshua Gone Barbados MP3

The Outsiders were more or less the Dutch Rolling Stones. Lying All The Time (´66) has an intro to die for, but it´s the unique vocals of singer Wally Tax - check out his English with an Amsterdam accent - that really steal the show. Collectors (especially the Japanese for some reason) were always paying top dollar for Outsiders vinyl, but since Bam Caruso released the excellent compilation Strange Things Are Happening everyone can enjoy their so-called nederbeat.

The Outsiders - Lying All The Time MP3

Time for some more modern sounds now. Brightblack Morning Light´s self-titled album (Matador records ´06) still makes my day every time I play it. Under the motto "it´s easy being green" these tree hugging, teepee dwelling neo-hippies came up with a highly original, organic and relaxed sound. This is my music to chill by.

Brightblack Morning Light - Star Blanket River Child MP3

Mose Allison is one of my favorite piano players. Is it jazz, is it blues, is it boogie? Who cares, it´s just Mose, doing his thing. If You´re Goin´ To The City is from The Best Of Mose Allison (Atlantic) and gives some great advice to all you country hicks planning to move to the big city.

Mose Allison - If You´re Goin´ To The City MP3

Last but not least here´s the late great Johnny Ace. This young soul singer was hanging around backstage at Houston´s City Auditorium on Christmas Day of 1954, waiting to go on, and decided it would be fun to play a game of Russian roulette. He first pointed the Colt 45 at his girlfriend and pulled the trigger. Nothing. Then he aimed at her friend, but again the revolver´s chamber proved empty... So he pointed it at himself and ended a promising career. You can find Never Let Me Go - and many other gems - on the Memorial Album compilation (Duke/MCA). And guess what, Bob Dylan performed this one too a couple of times, during his Royal Thunder Revue tour, duetting with Joan Baez. And as I´m getting nicer by the minute, I´ll include an example (recorded live in Augusta 26-11-´75) of that here too. 

Johnny Ace - Never Let Me Go MP3

Bob Dylan - Never Let Me Go (live ´75) MP3