Destination Underworld

 

In these Covid times, my fave electro-freakfolkers fittingly take a trip down Hades way. Which means a dive into the dark stuff alright, but there's no reason to be afraid that things may get a little too morbid here. Tunng whistles past the graveyard, remaining faithful to its trademark sound. What's more: Dead Club is even wickedly funny at times. Just check out the catchy track below to hear what I mean.

Tunng - Death Is The New Sex

First One's Always Free

"We're catching bullets in our teeth, it's hard to do but they're so sweet..." Presenting yet another six pack for your listening pleasure, with explosive artwork by Tinca. Number one with a silver bullet, baby, and it's got your name on it.

Observer All Stars & King Tubby - Silver Bullet
Tom Waits - The Right Bullets
The Dream Syndicate - Bullet With My Name On It
Cosmic Psychos - Bullet
Tunng - Bullets
Calexico - Bullets & Rocks

Groovy Thunder

It's nearly time for the inevitable FTSOTS end of year list, but let's get the finest reissues and archival albums of 2019 out of the way first ok? You'll come alive when the band starts swinging... With stocking stuffing artwork by the almighty Tinca, it's ho ho ho and here we go.

1. Peter Laughner - The Peter Laughner Box
2. Bob Dylan - The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings
3. Jimi Hendrix - Songs For Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts
4. v/a - If You're Not Part Of The Solution: Soul, Politics And Spirituality In Jazz '67-'75
5. Jim Sullivan - If The Evening Were Dawn
6. Neil Young & The Stray Gators - Tuscaloosa
7. Sachiko Kanenobu - Misora
8. Grateful Dead - Dave's Picks Vol. 30: Fillmore East 1970
9. v/a - Black Man's Pride 3: None Shall Escape The Judgement Of The Almighty
10. Tunng - This Is Tunng... Magpie Bites And Other Cuts

Peter Laughner - Fat City Jive

Speak Slow

"In the distance we now hold on to you..." Fans of British freakfolkers supreme Tunng will love this cool collection of non-album ditties. I know I do.

Tunng - Clump

From The Deep

Tunng's latest dream letter has arrived, a vital sign of life from an always intriguing bunch of musicians. With founding member Sam Genders finally lured back into the fold, their patented folktronica blend sounds fresh, funky and full of surprises once again. "I know you have a gift for me..."

Tungg - Crow

Out To Play

Expanding the Peel theme for a bit, here's our Britfolk trivia facts desk in action. Shortlived late sixties duo Trader Horne was named after John Peel's nanny. Her name was Florence Horne, and she was nicknamed Trader in tribute to the famous 19th century explorer Trader Horn. Bet you didn't know that, pop kids. Addendum: just add some electronic weirdness and the rather lovely Jenny May could be mistaken for a tune by the modern freakfolkers of Tunng.

Trader Horne - Jenny May
Tunng - Jenny Again

Take What You Can Get

Finally gonna see Tunng tonite, so I'm cool. Fell head over heels in love with these adventurous British freakfolkers the moment their first album came out, been following them ever since, but somehow they've always escaped me live. "All the talkers lose their breath..." I'm ready. Some rare tracks, you ask? But of course.

Tunng - Shove It
Tunng - No Man Can Find The War
Tunng - Robin

And We'll Run

Heard that cacklin' fresh Tunng track yet? If So Far From Here is anything to go by, Turbines will be one more mesmerizing freakfolk masterpiece. Out in June.

Tunng - So Far From Here

Blood Boils

Musical hybrid anyone? Here's Tamatant Tilay, on which British freakfolkers Tunng team up with the Tuareg troupe of Tinariwen in the studios of Auntie Beeb. Works wonders. Next, compare with the desert original.

Tunng & Tinariwen - Tamatant Tilay
Tinariwen - Tamatant Tilay

Pattern Forming

Staying on the remix front a wee bit longer, here's the rather wonderfully named instrumentalist Zoon Van Snook, hailing from - where else? - Bristol. His oddtronics stuff is not my usual cup of tea, but the treatment (and added vocals!) he gets from my fave freakfolkers Tungg really tastes delicious. Find it on Remixes From The Nutty Tree, out now on Mush records. "Dive into hot spring scalding..."

Zoon Van Snook - The Cross I'd Bear (Tunng remix)

Wonder Show

It´s a dirty job, but somebody´s gotta do it... So without further ado, here´s the one and only For The Sake Of The Song end of year list. Accept no substitutes, baby. Ten albums that were in heavy rotation during 2010, and that´s what counts in the end. Check! Buy the whole wonder show why don´t you.

1. Gil Scott-Heron - I´m New Here

Unexpected comeback of the year, by one of HipHop´s true forefathers.

Gil Scott-Heron - I´ll Take Care Of You MP3

2. Bonnie Prince Billy & The Cairo Gang - The Wonder Show Of The World

Will Oldham met guitarist Emmett Kelly, which lifted the fog on many a dreary day.

3. Charlie Parr - When The Devil Goes Blind

Intense and authentic pre-war blues, anno 2010. No, I´m not kidding.

Charlie Parr- 1890 MP3

4. Neil Young - Le Noise

Teaming up with producer Daniel Lanois was an excellent idea, sonically speaking.

5. First Aid Kit - The Big Black And The Blue

A lovely Swedish girl duo provided no-frills acoustic bliss. Jag älskar dig.

First Aid Kit - Sailor Song MP3

6. Phosphorescent - Here´s To Taking It Easy

Matthew Houck´s take on Americana compared to slipping into a warm bath.

7. Wounded Lion - Wounded Lion

Growling barb wire pop from smoggy LA. Debut of the year I´m sure.

Wounded Lion - Pony People MP3

8. Tunng - ...And Then We Saw Land

Not as adventurous as previous outings, but still the finest freakfolkers around.

9. Isobell Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Hawk

That marriage between a Belle and a Screaming Tree surely was made in heaven.

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - You Won´t Let Me Down Again MP3

10. Bill Callahan - Rough Travel For A Rare Thing

The former Smog foreman impressed once more, this time in an intimate live setting.

Bubbling under: Sun Kil Moon, Grinderman, Joanna Newsom, Drive-By Truckers, Pearly Gate Music, Off!, the Black Keys, Alasdair Roberts, Roky Erickson with Okkervil River, and the Graham Nash tribute Be Yourself.

Some old stuff released this year that I really enjoyed: Johnny Cash´s epitaph American VI: Ain´t No Grave, Dylan´s Witmark Demos and Live At Brandeis University, Complete Mythology by Syl Johnson, Satan´s A Waitin´ by Sonny Burns, and the Legacy Edition of Raw Power by Iggy & the Stooges. Music books of the year: Bob Dylan In America by Sean Wilentz, and We Never Learn - The Gunk Punk Undergut 1988-2001 by Eric Davidson.

Wishing you a bopping new year, dear readers. I´m off on a short break, see ya sometime early 2011.

Don´t Look Down Or Back

Time for some recent stuff that caught our ears here at For The Sake Of The Song headquarters. All the tracks in this refreshing ten pack either came out recently or will be released in the very near future.

O man, can´t wait for that new Tunng album. But don´t stop there, we´ve got a lot more excellent tunage here. Try the intimate sound of The Fools for instance, a very promising girl duo from New York City. Or take the crispy folk rock of Timothy Cushing from Maine, the lush dreampop of Californians Avi Buffalo, the Baltimore country of Paul Masson...

Hell, just check ´em all out and if you like what you hear, please support the artists in question. Go to their shows, buy their albums, start a fanclub, fall in love. Promise?

Tunng - Don´t Look Down Or Back MP3

The Fools - The Great Whale MP3

Timothy Cushing - Dandelion Wine MP3

Avi Buffalo - What´s In It For? MP3

Paul Masson - Where Have All The Gentlemen Gone MP3

Ryan Doyle - The Motor Works In An Empty Room MP3

Harlem - Friendly Ghost MP3

Kevin Barker - You & Me MP3

Holopaw - Little Stallion With A Glass Jaw MP3

Scout Niblett -The Calcination Of Scout Niblett 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

Fever pitch Grab Bag

Welcome to Grab Bag, that weekly roundup of songs that got a lot of airplay here over the past week. And what have we got for you this fine Friday night? Tom Waits of course, as I´ve got my tix for his July concert in Barcelona, plus a great Waits cover by the one and only Lydia Lunch. Ole Hank gets some airplay again, just because he´s the undisputed number one in my all time top ten of country artists. Saint Nick makes an appearance with a ship song, while those brilliant freakfolkers called Tunng sing a song of the sea. For all you blues lovers out there we take a look at the magnificent Skip James Today! album. And good news for the footy haters among you: the Speedtwins provide a fitting soundtrack to the upcoming European Championships madness... I probably won´t be posting here as much as I´d like to in the coming week, as we´ve got friends coming over and there´s loads and loads of football matches to be watched. Fever pitch! Bring it on.

They may have been way expensive, but I´m still very excited that I´ve got tickets to see Tom Waits here this July. So let´s celebrate with a great Waits cover by no wave godmother Lydia Lunch. She makes the song her own almost effortlessly, like Tom wrote it especially for her. And those trademark semi-bored vocals crack me up every time. Find it on the tribute album New Coat Of Paint - The Songs Of Tom Waits (Manifesto ´01). "Well this stuff will probably kill you, let's do another line, what you say you meet me down on Heartattack and Vine..." And here´s the goateed master himself, live in Stockholm back in ´99. "See that little Jersey girl in the see-through top, with the peddle pushers sucking on a soda pop, well I bet she's still a virgin but it's only twenty-five 'til nine, you can see a million of 'em on Heartattack and Vine."

Lydia Lunch (featuring Nels Cline) - Heartattack And Vine MP3

Tom Waits - Heartattack And Vine (live in Stockholm 14-7-´99) MP3

Over at the very interesting Star Maker Machine blog, this week´s theme is ´boats´. Check it out, as the ever growing army of contributors has posted a lot of interesting songs with a nautical flavour there. And here´s one more, with a solemn Nick Cave advising you to burn your bridges and let your hair hang down on this impressive single (Mute ´90). Next week´s theme on Starmaker is ´advice´ by the way, featuring songs that tell you what to do, or what not to. Can´t wait what everybody will come up with...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Ship Song MP3

"Bring me a song of the sea, sing me a song of the sea." Let´s stay in the briny for a bit longer with Tunng, purveyors of fine freakfolk since 2005. A gorgeous melody, with just enough electronica and samples to keep things interesting. Everybody even remotely attracted to the genre should buy their debut album This Is... Tunng (Static Caravan ´05) immediately. And as a bonus track, here´s the equally impressive Wolves by Tunng side project The Accidental. Find it on the recently released There Were Wolves (Full Time Hobby ´08).

Tunng - Song Of The Sea MP3

The Accidental - Wolves MP3

Bluestime now. Skip James made his most legendary recordings back in the early thirties. Amazing stuff, but the sound quality is hard to handle for some. That´s no problem with the best album James recorded after his rediscovery by blues scholars in the sixties. Skip James Today! (Vanguard ´65) is one of these records I can listen to almost every day. What a voice! Most tracks find Skip on guitar, like the exquisite Cypress Grove. "I will drink muddy water, I'll sleep in a hollow log, before I stay up here, honey, treated like a dog." But seated behind the piano - as on How Long for instance - the results are just as fine.

Skip James - Cypress Grove MP3

Skip James - How Long MP3

If you haven´t done so already, please submit your votes over at the Setting The Woods On Fire blog. The Motor City cowboy who runs the place is on a blogging hiatus at the moment, but in the meantime he´s desperate to know your favorite country artists. Johnny Cash is currently in the lead, with Hank Williams hot on his heels. Now I love the man in black of course, but I maintain that the title should go the the father of them all: ole Hank. Here´s my all time favorite Hank Williams song, Weary Blues From Waitin´. "Oh sweet mama, please come home..." Sadness incarnate. Find it on 40 Greatest Hits (PolyGram).

Hank Williams - Weary Blues From Waitin´ MP3

Tension mounts here as it´s only three days until Holland takes on Italy, the current champion of the world, in the European Championships. Its´gonna be a tough one, but I´ve got plenty confidence in the lads. Forza Olanda! For those of you who are not into the beautiful game - hey, nobody´s perfect - here´s an anti-footy song for you. All together now: "We... hate... football!" The Speedtwins were one of the first Dutch punk bands around, and this song is actually directed at the Argentinian junta that organised the ´78 World Cup. Find it on the exemplary compilation I´m Sure We´re Gonna Make It (Epitaph ´96, sadly out of print).

Speedtwins - Football Song MP3

Tungg revisited

Tungg has been my favourite British band ever since their debut Mother´s Daughter And Other Songs came out and hit me like lightning. File under electro-folk, which basically means a combination of gorgeous melodies, crispy acoustic guitars and a refreshing layer of electronic beats and samples to keep things interesting. Follow-up Comments Of The Inner Chorus proved just as good.

A couple of posts earlier I confessed I wasn´t really sure yet what I thought of their new album, Good Arrows. Well, I gave it some more spins and came to the conclusion that it´s actually quite good. I still don´t rate it as high as their predecessors though, probably because there´s a little less electronic weirdness to be found here. Interested? Be sure to buy the limited edition of Good Arrows if you can still find it, as it´s got two bonus tracks.

Tungg - Cans MP3