ABOUT THOSE RR NORTHERN SOCIAL CDs...

Celebrations
Firstly, a special mention to those brave enough to wear their heart on their (record) sleeves. My approach was to mix and match quite a lot, in the hope of pleasing all the people some of the time. Whereas, I think it’s quite brave to stick to one special thing, taking the risk that others might not like any of it. So credit and thanks to: DarceysDad for the heavy rock; Exodus for the reminder of that post-punk flourishing of weird, brilliant originality (into which the two Beatles tracks fitted amazingly well); TracyK for the low-fi indie tunefulness; Webcore for celebrating the pre-electric blues; and gordonimmel, hello over there on the central reservation; some stuff sells millions because it speaks to millions !

Rediscovering…
…is one of those pleasures that keeps on growing through one’s middle and later years, as memory struggles to keep up with experience. John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett’s "Beware of the Flowers…" (Exodus) and Klark Kent’s "Don’t Care" (DsD) reminded me of when every High St in north-east London seemed to have an independent record shop, with a seemingly endless supply of great 45rpm singles (on green vinyl in KK’s case). I remembered the Bunnymen’s "Crocodiles" (Exodus), but had forgotten how good it is. I’d not listened to the lovely Joan Armatrading (gordonimmel) or the infernally catchy St Etienne (gremlinfc) for years. I’m still giving Dr Feelgood’s “No Mo Do Yakomo” (DsD) repeat plays; I think the album, “Case of the Shakes” ( picture above) might be both my favourite ‘unsung’ album and favourite 1980s album. Nick Lowe at last perfected the capturing of the raw essence of the rhythm & blues band on vinyl, just in time for the world to go off in a different direction.

Soundtracks
Two songs popped up serendipitously while I was on the move: “Scattered Leaves” by The Be Good Tanyas (Tarxien) when I was on the train to work, looking out on the River Aire and Leeds-Liverpool Canal. The lyrics described the November day with uncanny accuracy. The chilliness a few degrees colder than the week before; through the trees, a little more of Kirkstall Abbey visible each day. The other was when The Dickies version of "Banana Splits" (DsD) came on as I ran for a train; it felt like being in a speeded-up scene from a silent movie; I’m sure everything turned black-and-white for a few minutes.

Questioning one’s old prejudices ?
DsD Rocks was a challenge for me, because I’ve been pretty sure since about 1977 – with the help of a little indoctrination from the New Musical Express – that I couldn’t stand most of the featured artists. Would it turn out after all that I like Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Rush, AC/DC, Scorpions and the rest ? Had I been duped out of 30 years of heavy rocking pleasure ? …… No - I really do hate ALL 1980s heavy metal ! What surprised me was how much I relished each press of the Fast Forward function. Not just a dislike, but a dislike that I’m very attached to and enjoyed having confirmed. Sorry DsD, I'd hoped I was nicer than that, and I hope you enjoyed doing the same to my jazz offerings.

And it did bring something to mind from my bachelor days, a telephone conversation with a woman I’d contacted via The Guardian’s ‘Soulmates’. She made me laugh when she admitted her policy of not dating any men (and there were quite a few) who claimed to have an “eclectic” taste in music. Perhaps one's dislikes can be as important and self-defining as the things we love ? Did she see eclecticism as evidence that a man is incapable of proper, thoroughly biased, loyalty and commitment ?

Bewitched, bothered and indeed bewildered…
Mnemonic won this category by miles. What on earth was going on ? Which is the artist and which is the title ?? However, having spread a few of the tracks around my MP3 player, so that they don’t all crowd in at once, I find that "Current 93" and "I Miss You" are really quite nice and friendly to listen to.

Favourite new discoveries
Of course this is what RR is all about: Taj Mahal & Toumani Diabate, and the Stanley Brothers (AliMunday); Asie Payton, Louise Johnson, and the acoustic predecessors of “I Can’t Be Satisfied” & the “Smokestack Lightning” riff (webcore); Bruce’s "My Lover Man" (Tarxien); Gregory Isaacs’ “Babylon…” & the Daddy Freddy – the way the samples are dropped in here is brilliant - (gremlinfc); The Eagles “Wasted Time” (gordonimmel). I'm still not sure what I think about Lydia Lunch's "Knives In My Drain" (Exodus), but I'm sure no-one else on the bus was listening to anything quite like it. And, the catchiest tune, that I could sing back after it had finished, and stuck there; "I’m A Paleontologist" – They Might Be Giants (TracyK).

Lipps Inc.
tincanman’s offering of Neil Young’s “Prairie Moon” was indeed a great gig by a great band, with Emmylou Harris an extra special treat. "Harvest Moon" and "This Old Guitar…" stood out especially for me. There were lip-synch issues on the recording which added an extra something for me, as if it were a Japanese Neil Young impersonator overdubbed by the real Canadian one.

Thanks everyone !

RR Northern Social CD Compilations: an update

I have so much music still to listen to, I've employed a crack team of hip young dudes to do it for me ...

Seriously, I know I'm not the only one still with discs to listen to, so I thought I would start another thread, so we can all keep our promises of feedback on the front page of The 'Spill.

The only comments I have ready to add to the previous thread are in as first response below.

For comments already made last month, go here.

RR Northern Social CD Compilations

Back row (l-r): gordonimmel, gremlinfc, DarceysDad, sonofwebcore, exodus, TracyK

Needing, sorry, nicking the sofa: Mnemonic, tarxien

Kneeling: DaddyPig, AliMunday, the extremely tall tincanman

The more formal team picture from Saturday night's shindig. I can't speak for anyone else, but I had a whale of a time, so thank you all. Apologies to our more sensitive readers about gremlin's hand; I did tell him not to pick his spots, but the camera's timer went off, so ... tough!

Anyway, the other reason for posting this - there was the customary exchange of compilation CD-Rs, and the usual promises to listen and feedback. Given that I was in a nostalgic heavy rock mood when I compiled mine, I'm not actually going to hold anyone to that promise! ☺ All I ask is that everyone attending, or with access to the 'Box (hint, hint!) listens to Track No.19 on mine, and forgives the fact that it was a live recording from a pub gig, and the source cassette is twenty-three years old.

So, any feedback welcome . . .

EOTWQ: Who Dat? Live at Leeds

Welcome to a special early edition of End of the Week Questions, recorded at the RR Northern Social in Leeds Saturday night. Feel free to post your answers to any of the questions posed, make clever remarks or just engage in general merriment.
(iPod version here)

The Union Tavern Social - 18 July 2009

As an RR Social virgin (as it were) I have to admit to a certain amount of social unease, not to say trepidation, about next Saturday. I have no idea of the etiquette in these matters. Should I bring gifts? Are we expected to contribute some music - a mix tape of some sort? Should I kiss on a first date? Would you all respect me in the morning if I did?

So for the sake of us filthy first-timers (that should get a few more Google hits for the 'Spill) could the more experienced amongst you, please post a few tips?

Northern Social

Judge Smith as 'The Climber'

photo Sandra Jecmenica/Avgarde

No, no ... not that Northern Social, it hasn't happened while you weren't looking ..... slightly further north.  As mentioned on the Mothership.  I was in Bergen, Norway last weekend for the premiere of Judge Smith's new songstory, 'The Climber' and was unmasked by RikiNadir who had flown over for the event.  We had in fact met before ... but had never twigged that we share an RR habit.  So, great show on the Saturday night, Judge Smith, 12 man male voice choir and a double bass. The piece was being recorded the same week and should be out by the Autumn.  Next day, up the mountain for a restorative walk ... where this picture was taken.                                          

TatankaYotanka   &  RikiNadir

Our (ex) Guru's secret

Here's Dorian on Saturday clutching part of his new collection of fine wine - a thank you from all of us in RRland.
And the secret of his new project can now be revealed. He's writing a book about protest songs, in 33 1/3 chapters. This will expand the original RR Protest songs column from way back when, into a full length feature. Each chapter will be one song/protest movement - civil rights, Vietnam, apartheid, etc. What he DOESN'T want is a a deluge of suggestions from us as to what songs to include in the book! So once you've got a copy of the excellent 'Guardian book of Playlists' start saving your pennies for Dorian's next awesome publication.
See y'all at the next social.

Some you might have missed

Bom dia todos! After a long journey I'm finally back. In my opinion, sunny January in Brazil is better than rainy January in London. So this is a test for podbean, which would be much more practical than my previous method. I've tried a few different formats to see which ones work. SO if all works there should be some songs that weren't available on youtube.
Turns out the m4a and m4p tracks don't work:

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EJD's Social CD#1 [Part 1]

Thanks for the tip Steenbeck:
SO here is what was my first RR Social Cd. The idea was to choose songs that we thought were underrated, the definition of which was pretty open. O just went for songs that I really liked and that people might not know.

Inspiration Information by Shuggie Otis from Inspiration Information - This album/semi-compilation released on David Byrne's Luaka Bop is almost flawless. This is the opener, but I hesitated until the last minute between this one and Aht Uh Mi Hed, but since I think it's slightly more famous I went for the funky/reggae-ish Inspiration... I think his main feature is his guitar playing, which is amazing (I always wondered what a collaboration between him and Jimi Hendrix (or a calm John McLaughlin) might sound like, but he plays all the instruments on the record Stevie/Prince style. Another brilliant song from him in Freedom Flight, but it was too long to put in.



Do You Dig You by Q-Tip from Kamaal The Abstract - This is from his yet unreleased album by the former member of A Tribe Called Quest, it was stupidly tanked for being not commercial enough.



Partir (Feat Diam's) by DJ Mehdi from (The Story Of) Espion - Starts off very quietly so don't adjust your stereo. The rapper is not a boy but a woman, (who is now the best-selling artist in the French charts, which is pretty impressive given the usually depressing state of of them) and it was before DJ Mehdi went fully elctro and had amore acoustic/organic side

Construçao by Chico Buarque from Construção - I've recommended this before (many times). It tells a good story, and it tells it well, but that's of no use to you all, so luckily, Chico took the time of accompanying it with a glorious orchestral track that suddenly calls your attention to the drama that's going on. Watch out for those horns.



Back In Bahia by Gilberto Gil from Novo Millennium - Here's the 2 brazilians in a row, now this one is just rocking and groovy and was probably written during his London exile, and here he is in full anthropophagous mode, eating psychedelia, rock'n'roll and a bit o'Beatles and spewing this out

Young Girls by Dan Sartain from Join Dan Sartain - I discovered this not too long and I love his rockabilly (I might be wrong about the term) mixed with the nerd-y, bitter lyrics and contempt of Young Republicans

Hora Do Espanto by Bonde Do Tigrão from Balas Do Funk - 2003 - This is probably love-or-hate-it stuff. Baile Funk is a musical style that mixes the sound and subject matter (sex, sex, more sex, inuendoi about sex, sex, sex) of Miami bass, and the same sound-system m.o. as dancehall. I love how in every song, there's likely to be a sample of a horrible pop song or a famous house track, but it always works. Now I wonder if this was the best introduction to this genre but I think it's my favourite. At the moment there's a band called Bonde Do Role that's getting some press and I would say they're to Baile Funk what the Beastie boys were to hip-hop.

Luchini (A.K.A. This Is It) by Camp Lo from Uptown Saturday Night - I have no idea what they're on about but it sounds great! this came out just before or around the death of Notorious B.I.G., which coincided with the emergence of Puff Daddy and all the Versace shirts and bling that entails. But their album sounds like it was made in the blaxploitation era. It's also good visually: