I Resolve That This Is My Last Post Of The Year

Abandon Ship
This Year
Let's Get Out Of This Country
Can We Start Again?
Black Hole Sun
A Promise
Seasons In The Sun
Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Christmas Playlist

Today is a public holiday over here, nothing to do with Christmas of course (the 25th is a normal working day) but in celebration of the Emperor's birthday, which gives me time to put together a Christmas playlist.
I've always been fond of Chrimbo songs, both cheesy and non-cheesy, but when I checked the old collection, they were all hideously noisy dirty garage rock numbers, so i've tried to keep those to a minimum.....unsuccessfully!

Enjoy! and of course Merry Christmas!

The Sonics - I Don't Believe In Christmas
Ten Benson - Black Snow
Badly Drawn Boy - Donna and Blitzen
The White Stripes - Candy Cane Children
The 5,6,7,8's - Rock and Roll Santa
Bantam Rooster - Let's Just Fuck For Christmas
The Sonics - Santa Claus
Noel - Merry Christmas Everybody
Ten Benson - Snowman-Snowgirl
The Von Bondies - No Chimney In The Big House
The White Stripes - Story of the Magi/Silent NIght

Getting in the Christmas spirits!

xmas spill
merry spill
santa spill
(these were s'posed to have my added wisdom on them.... it didn't work.. you are all saved)

I'm off to Bar Humbug for a beer (or the fridge)

these songs added to the snowman for any old reason that I'll make up later:

strange girl
records of a flagpole skater
Essential wear for future trips to space
snow on dead neighborhoods
cold white christmas
Howling christmas
darling (christmas is coming)

sample sampler

Take You In My Arms--Detroit Emeralds
Ahmad Jamal--The Awakening
Space--Deliverance
Arhie Whitewater--Cross Country
Fred Williams and the Jewels Band--Tell Her
Donald Byrd--Places & Spaces

Shameful Neglect Of Fine Fife Folkie

Pondering mine and others end of year round ups, it's become painfully aware that there were a ton of good records that I never got around to getting, for one reason or other, and consequently they've missed out of my end of year lists. 

James Yorkston's LP is one of those. Even though I wrote about him back in September in the still-inexplicably-popular and much searched for post Songs about Scottish Sea Mist. 

I never managed to seek out the record; so I now need to right this wrong. 

Unfortunately I'm in bed ill, so here's another fab track from him, and I'll resolve to catch up with 2008 before too much good stuff in 2009 kicks in:

Tortoise Regrets Hare by James Yorkston

Funniest website discovery of the year!

If, like any right minded person, you loathe The Daily Mail, here is a site you might just enjoy. Lovely 'front page' today too, a bit too close to home!
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/

The 1st Annual 'Over Awards' - A Template

Another year over, a new one just begun...

...so said some hippy refusenik or other. And in doing so he accurately summed up the passing of one year to the next and marked the fact that now is the time for us - like a set of miniature monkeys with a set of miniature cymbals - to hand out awards, to sarcastically post pictures of Phil Collins with an Oscar and, most important of all, to make lists.

In that spirit, then, I bring you a basic idea for the first ever 'Over Awards', wherein we will hope to find whether mildly un-enthusing consensus will be followed (I'm looking at you, Fleet Foxes) or whether we can make a glorious break with tradition and not all vote for what the record company want us to vote for.

To whit, I propose that we decide the 'Spill albums of the year - what I shall slickly call 'The Overview' - in the following way:

With a deadline of the 31st of December, anyone that wants to should compile their top albums of the year, in order of preference, up to a total of ten. Whether you submit three, eight, ten or eighty albums the scoring will remain the same - 10 points for number one, 9 for number two and so on down to 1 point for number ten. Email your list to me via snadfrod@gmail.com (newly minted for the purpose, although too many of you know my true identity already...) and I shall tally all scores and produce a final list as long as may be reasonably typed. I think the system is fair, but am happy to have flaws pointed out in any manner that doesn't involve scoffing.

I think, for the purposes of scope, that the lists should be limited only to 2008 releases (although I will include Bon Iver, Pitchfork aside) but that could include remasters, special editions, best ofs and live shows. To cover those older albums that people may have discovered and loved this year, I am offering everyone the chance to give one 'Overtime Nomination' (this ain't just thrown together, folks) which I will list in the final presentation as an accompaniment to the 2008 selections.

Furthermore, hoping to provide a wider critical snapshot of us lot, I am suggesting that we throw the nominating open to books and films as well. These are entirely optional categories and could be widened beyond 2008 to include those works that have most defined your year. Here I reckon we should stick to top threes and see what happens. It may not work but the chance of having an Overwrite and an Overact category was just too much to resist...

Lastly, please feel free to submit ideas/winners for any other award you fancy and lets just see where it all goes, shall we? My aim will be to post all the awards over the first few days of 2009, so be sure to get your vote in soon otherwise it'll just be my list and do you really want to see that set in stone forever more as our collective opinion? Trust me on this one, you probably don't...

Anyway its Christmas, what else are you gong to do?

Happy voting!

I resolve not to waste any more time making playlists...doh!

Talib Kweli--Get By
Sister Rosetta Tharpe--Down By The Riverside
Mississippi John Hurt--PayDay
Stanley Winston--No More Ghettos in America
Screamin Jay Hawkins--Not Anymore
Common--Retrospect for Life
Common--Book of Life
Sonny Boy Williamson--Fattening Frogs for Snakes
Tricky--Make a Change
Q Tip--Johnny is Dead
Billy Bragg & Wilco--Stetson Kennedy
Billy Bragg & Wilco--Someday Some morning, Some TIme
Modest Mouse--The World At Large

Merry Christmas to all my fellow 'Spillers!

Season's Greetings to you all.

Festive 'Spill - We Are Number One

Cover art by our resident artistic genius Saneshane. Delighted that Carole has emerged from her funk and the wandering gypsy, that is Snadfrod, showed up to play too - so now there are a couple of extra tracks in the #3 and #2 posts - go have a listen. Think that Uncle John would approve of the way we have mutated his tradition here on the 'Spill. Thanks to all for a wonderful year of music and madness. With your permission, would like to dedicate this final selection to Blimpy, without whom there would be no 'Spill. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all. Here are your #1 picks:

Maconius7
Kalyr
Toffeeboy
Debbym
Abahachi
Gremlinfc
Darceysdad
Goneforeign
Shoegazer
May1366
Proudfoot
Treefrogdemon
Glasshalfempty
Carolebristol
Snadfrod
Shivsidecar
Saneshane
Ejaydee
Steenbeck
Nilpferd
Japanther
Mnemonic
Elderino
Tincanman
Blimpy
GarethI
Frogprincess
Tracyk

33 1/3 R.P.M

New Resolution
28 Butts
Seems Fine Shuffle
Love Connection
Avenue of Hope
Never say Never
Azure Ray/ Little Jackie/ The Concretes/
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone/
I am Kloot and Queens of the Stone Age... now where's me beer!

Demain, J'arrête, Promis

I hope he's taken his resolution.

El Pito (I'll Never Go Back To Georgia)
I'm Gonna Take Over Now
I'm Gonna Have To Tell Her
I Ain't Gonna Do It No More
The Grown Up

Topical Christmas Cheer!

why

did I post this track? Extra 'Spill points to anyone who can guess.

FelaKuti--Mr. Grammarticologylisationalism is the Boss

This is the man who got me out of my musical slump.

Yes, it's Rory Gallagher, the album that helped is the masterful "Live in Europe" from 1972, so this YouTube clip is exactly contemporary.

Now all I've got to do is start learning that mandolin that is sitting in the spare room waiting for me to pick it up again.

Festive 'Spill - The No. 2's

Debbym
May1366
Nilpferd
Elderino
Shoegazer
Blimpy
Proudfoot
Kalyr
Abahachi
Japanther
Snadfrod
Gremlinfc
Goneforeign
Saneshane
Glasshalfempty
Treefrogdemon
Steenbeck
Darceysdad
Garethi
Toffeeboy
Frogprincess
Tracyk
Mnemonic
Marconius7
Ejaydee
Carolebristol
Shivsidecar
Ticanman

Davey Graham 1940-2008

Oh dear...one of the greatest folk/blues guitarists, an inspiration to many, dead at 68 just as he'd been persuaded out of obscurity and was back gigging again. His most famous tune, 'Anji' was THE test of guitar prowess when I was a young thing - I can only manage the bass line myself.

'Blue Monk' (written by Thelonius Monk) is played by Davey; 'Angie' (sic) is played by his mate Bert Jansch. I've added 'Better Git It In Your Soul' a Mingus tune.
Blue Monk
Angie
Better Git It In Your Soul

Festive 'Spill - Your No. 3's

As this became quite large in a hurry, thought it best to bring forward the release schedule to allow time to digest. Look for the "number two's" on Thursday and grand finale on Saturday (will try to post a little earlier in the day). Play order is by song title, but have hidden the names so, hopefully, we can keep these up for a while (right click will download & reveal for the curious). Thanks to all for taking part (Abahachi & Proudfoot will be joining us in the next installments). Enjoy:

Saneshane
Glasshalfempty
Darceysdad
Japanther
Ticanman
Frogprincess
Garethi
Elderino
Mnemonic
Marconius7
Shivsidecar
Toffeeboy
Gremlinfc
Ejaydee
Snadfrod
Shoegazer
Debbym
Carolebristol
May1366
Nilpferd
Treefrogdemon
Kalyr
Blimpy
Goneforeign
Tracyk
Steenbeck

Fun with Not Not Fun

Now, I know that experimental underground psychedelic drone noise rock may not be everyone's cup of tea (wait..come back!), and to be fair, it is an acquired taste, but with Blimpy posting the Sun Araw track a while back, I reasoned there was at least some interest in what is personally my favourite record label; Not Not Fun records. So here's a bit of background:


Not Not Fun is a DIY record label run by the lovely Britt and Amanda out of their house in Eagle Rock, California. The label started out as an indie-ish/alt-folk style label (see the Foot Foot track below), putting out mostly local talent (current 'proper magazine' (Mojo, Q, NME have all featured/reviewed them) luminaries such as Abe Vigoda and Mika Miko both cut their teeth on early NNF records) on very limited cassettes and CD's with the occasional vinyl. In the early days, the packaging was the key for NNF releases, I seem to remember one cassette coming with a free beer!!






I got on board pretty early, I can't quite recall how I heard about NNF, but I found myself on their website and on a whim and judging by the description alone, I ordered a copy of the Haunted Castle/ Grey Skull 10" direct from the label. I was over the moon when, just over a week later (come on, California to Tokyo!) a package arrived, containing not only the 10" i'd ordered complete with skull shaped die-cut sleeve adorned with fake cobwebs and a plastic spider, but also another complete LP (stitched sleeve with glued on cloth aeroplanes and sequins) by Weirdo/Begeirdo (which I later learned was Britt and Amanda in their first efforts at music making - imagine a less annoying Moldy Peaches) absolutely free! Now, this could have been a cold and calculated marketing strategy (akin to a dealer giving a free sample), or it could have been a genuine wish to get their music out to as many people as possible, whichever it was, it worked, and 25 LP's (or split LP's), 4 10"'s and 21 7"' s later, i'm still a loyal customer.





Amanda is one half of my NNF faves Pocahaunted and Britt is part of minimal-drone-verging-on-avant-garde-ambient-metal group Robedoor.

The label has evolved a lot since the early days, the releases are still limited, but now mostly vinyl (yay!), with the odd cassette and CD (not to mention 3" CDR freebies!) and the music is now a almost exclusively drone/psychedelic with the odd bit of free jazz noise thrown in (see the Ettrick track below).

This is not a best of, but just a random representative sample of the kind of sounds they put out:

Foot Foot - Pilgrim Hat In Indian Summer
Foot Village - World Fantasy
Haunted Castle - Bleaches and Canyons
Raccoo-oo-oon - Visage of the Fox
Pocahaunted - Silk Fog Traveler
Ettrick - Sky Bellower

Odds & Ends

Here's a song I mentioned on RR that I thought Treefrogdemon might like, mostly because I think it's about listening to Bruce Springsteen, but also because I think it's pretty, and TFD's 'Spill posts usually involve pretty songs. I don't actually know anything about the Cash Brothers.

The Cash Brothers--Nebraska


And here are my two Errol Dunkley songs, for Goneforeign for comparison purposes.

Please Stop Your Lying (1967)
Love Brother (1968)

Really am bored

Also demotivated and listless.

I seem to be suffering from a lack of sociability at the moment. I wish it was different. I have had difficulty in joining in with RR too, even though my King Tubby "Laser Rock" nom got on the B list the other week.

Here it is;



I have so much music but I really can't be arsed to listen to it most of the time right now. I must be suffering from some kind of pre Christmas ennui.

Maybe after the end of this week I will be happier - mainly because I am on holiday for the week leading up to the 25th.

THE BULLETIN BOARD

It occurred to me that a continuing bulletin/notice board might be handy, a place to post comments/questions that don't fit with any post, it came about when I posted a comment on Ejay's last post recommending everyone to be sure to hear the Linton poem over on page one, I'm sure he didn't mind but wasn't related to his post: it prompted this idea. There's also been times when I've wanted to make a comment to a fellow Spiller not related to any specific posts, plus there's enough 'cries for help' re. podbean et. al. it might help with that. It could be fresh each week or it could be over on the side there and cleared occasionally. Is it worth the minimal effort?

If Santa asks, I'd like this t-shirt for Christmas! 

Yawn

Boredom
Palmcorder Yajna
Wasted State of Mind
This Is The Day
Preposterous Tales
Every Day is Exactly the Same
Theme

The World's Most Important 6 Second Drum Loop

This fascinating, brilliant 20-minute video narrates the history of the "Amen Break," a six-second drum sample from the b-side of a chart-topping single from 1969. This sample was used extensively in early hiphop and sample-based music, and became the basis for drum-and-bass and jungle music -- a six-second clip that spawned several entire subcultures. Nate Harrison's 2004 video is a meditation on the ownership of culture, the nature of art and creativity, and the history of a remarkable music clip.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back on the Spill…

I recorded this last weekend and, listening back to some of it just now, I realise that may have been a mistake as I was suffering from a bit of a cold at the time, as a result of which my usually crystal clear voice is rather more muffled than I’d like it to be.

Anyway, this is ToffeeBean 2 in all its glory. The more observant among you will have noticed that there are three parts to this particular Bean – two half-hour long helpings of music and chat, with a quiz thrown into the mix for good measure, forming the meat in a Toffee-flavoured sandwich.

Hopefully, those of you who don’t want to listen to the podcast will at least join in the fun by taking part in the first ever ToffeeBean quiz.

Let me know what you think...

Powered by Podbean.com

Wastin' away again in Margaritaville

Here's Mrs. Marconius and I enjoying the biggest darn Margaritas you've ever seen at a restaurant called Margaritaville in Cabo San Lucas.  This was a couple of years ago on a Mexican Riviera cruise.

Know how you feel, mate

Bedazzled – Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
No Fun - Vitalic

7" REGGAE SINGLES.

This started with some conversation over in the comments of Japanther's 'Singles Night', I mentioned that most of my 7" singles came from Kingston Jamaica, I used enjoy going there regularly and would always buy whatever was popular at that time, I accumulated quite a few. Kingston is hot, it's tropical and so in the summer every door and window is open and everyone seems to play their music loud so as you travel about you hear a wonderful cross section of all kinds of reggae and it's all on 7" singles or radio. I offered to post a few so here's some that bring back memories of many summers spent there.

1. Rock my Soul by Marcia Griffith, I'3's. Classic gospel with a twist.
2. G.P. General Penitentiary. Gregory Isaacs meditates on time spent there.
3.Get Flat, every posse get flat by The Bloodfire Posse. Came out of nowhere, who the hell are the Bloodfire Posse, nobody knew. First use of electronic distortion in reggae, biggest hit of the year, you heard it everywhere.
4. Melting Pot by Light of Love, a trio of young Kingston women, I love 'em.
5. Time by Kiddus I, I spent some time with Kiddus, he told me how he 'took up a rifle against the inequities of government', he was arrested and spent many years in jail, several in solitary. He told me of a poem he wrote the first night out of solitary where he'd been in a windowless cell, the poem was titled "I saw the moon last night", it made me weep.
6. Final Decision by Sophie George, a young ghetto girl trying to make it as a singer, she writes her own songs.
7. Roots Girl by Brigadier Jerry, Briggy tells exactly what he wants in a girl, she must be a 'roots' girl.
8. Hard Times by the 7th Extension, another group that came out of the blue.
9. Cool Runnings by Bunny Wailer, Another massive hit that everybody was singing all summer, you heard it coming out of every house.
10. Cool Runnings version, the version' was a manipulated instrumental on the B side of a single, the origin of dub.
11. Jah Jah Children by Uriel Dunkley, a singer popular with collectors but not widely known outside of Ja.
12. This little boy is Lost by Jimmy Riley, backed by the Wailers, long time great reggae artist.
13. Wolf in Sheep's Clothing by Big Youth, lovely lad, one of the originators of this style.
14. Outformer Parker by I Roy, another in the same league as Youth, don't ask me what the song's about, no idea.

Powered by Podbean.com

Put On For Your City

Singles Night

What began as randomly copying a few songs as a means to getting my noggin around all this new technology has turned into an inner debate on the current status of the music industry and the grim reality of facing my own mortality.　

When I was a younger man, the single was the be all and end all of music for me. Not only did it have the freshest music, (singles always come out before albums) but it was a condension of all the best bits the album had to offer. Between the ages of 18 and about 28 I went to my local record shops (wherever I happened to be living) every 'new release' Monday without fail to see what gems the weeks slew of releases would throw up.
However, as the years advance and the need to keep up with each and every new release dissipates, and the pleasure found in getting to know the intricacies of a complete aｌbum increases, I find that I have more or less stopped buying 7"'s altogether (save for the yearly Not Not Fun Records singles club I always sign up to).

Is it the changing nature of the way we consume music? The idea that it's just not "worth" buying something for 3 or 4 quid when you can just download it for nowt in a matter of seconds.

Is it the notion that as we mature our appreciation of art requiires a deeper level of communication that the superficiality of the 3 minute pop single is unable to provide?

Is the reason altogether more functional? That the constrictions of adult existence; a full-time job, running a household, appeasing partners etc leave no time or room for manouvere that a teenager with no responsibilities cocooned in their private space does have. It takes time and effort to phsyically get up every 3 minutes and change/turn over the CD/record.

Am I just turning into an old git?!!

Is it all irrelevant in these "shuffle" happy times?

I'm not sure of the answer but as a means to avoid forgetting what made and indeed still makes these small discs of wax so special I have been spending a lot of time with my 7" collection over the last couple of weeks.

- As an aside, that is one of the things that I love about RR/The 'Spill - as well as getting turned on to new kinds of music, and it seems, for me at least, that new musical vistas are being revealed on an almost daily basis - it also forces you to take a closer look at youir own collection. If you are someone (like most of us here) that buys/downloads a lot of music, it's so easy for some records to get one listen then get forgotten about for months or even years at a time.

Whilst being by no means a definitive list, here is a random selection of favourites from the records I have with me in Japan (I have another couple of shoeboxes full in the UK but I can't even remember what's in them - lots of early Twisted Nerve releases maybe?!)

Let's have some nominations for YOUR favourite singles (EP tracks and B-Sides are allowed but it has to have been released as a single and sound best in the context of a single).

Mclusky - Lightsabre Cocsucking Blues
State River Widening - Unsung Couples
John Callaghan - I'm Not Comfortable Inside My Mind
Graham Coxon ^ Freakin' Out
M'n'M's - Knock Knock Knock
1910 Fruitgum Company - Goody Goody Gumdrops
The White Stripes - The Big Three Killed My Baby
Riff Randells - Who Says Girls Can't Rock?
Nish - Jwel
Clinic - Distortions

This is eggshausting - donde esta el gremlin fc?

An easy one for the arty spillers out there - truly inspiring place if you're that way inclined...

Two For Tuesday

two for tuesday. one for the future and one from the past. one laid back, one loud and lairy. 

i am currently listening to the belle and sebastian bbc sessions album. 

it's fab, but then i would say that. b&s fans will be overjoyed at the four (four!!) previously unreleased songs. those new to b&s can maybe have it as an introductory greatest hits sorta thing. the song i'm posting even namechecks john peel as they sang it for him, and is just amazing. 

if you're like jack black's character in high fidelity, and you don't like this fey, lilly livered typa stuff, the other song is more for you.

titus andronicus' eponymous song comes on like the clash, bright eyes, and andrew wk having a scrap in the carpark out the back of the black bull after drinking 12 pints with shane mcgowan. 

all together now - "your life is over, your life is over, your life is OVER!"

the b&s LP is out now, a more hi-fi version of the titus andronicus will be out in january. 

my girl's got miraculous technique by belle and sebastian

titus andronicus

Festive 'Spill Update

Don't forget that polls close next Monday, so send those nominations to shoemail@earthlink.net. Blown away by your response to this - well over 50 tracks nominated so far. Think the final playlists will reflect the eclectic musical madness that is the 'Spill. That said, there is still room for more if anyone else is passing through who wants to take part. In particular we could use some more Europop (FP), reggae (GF), prog (Kalyr) and you can never have enough indie, Scottish or otherwise (Tracy). If you can't pick 3 tracks from 2008, rules are made to be broken if that's all that's stopping anyone from taking part.

What?!? More now n later songs? That's Right.

Outkast--Slum Beautiful
Jurassic 5--The Break

SILENT NIGHT QUIZ.

OK music fans, you all like quizzes right? here's one. I listen to a fair bit of radio and one service I check weekly is Radio Deutsche Welle, they have a quiz every month, this month's is musical, right up our alley? Here's the bit from their website:

"One of the most popular songs to sing during the holiday season is "Silent Night."

It's been 190 years this month since the Austrian Christmas carol "Stille Nacht" -- or "Silent Night" -- was first sung. It's since become one of the most popular carols and countless famous artists have recorded their own versions of it.
Click on the link below and listen to our medley featuring 11 famous voices singing "Silent Night." We want you to identify as many as possible.

 We have a special award-winning DVD collection of Classical Masterpieces to give away to five winners, so get those answers in."

You post 'em here and I'll send 'em in as the Spill's combined effort.

Powered by Podbean.com

Today's Lessons

Midnight Summer Dream
Life's What You Make It
Bad Education
Advice To The Graduate
The Sash My Father Wore
Life And Other Sex Tragedies
Grumpy Old Men
What's Your Business Here, Elijah?
St. Peter's Gate
That's All There Is

life lessons

I should mention that the Expansion Outro (For Women) has some space at the beginning, and the actual song starts at around 1 minute 15 seconds in. I didn't know how to edit that out. So be patient, grasshopper...

Tom T. Hall--Faster Horses, The Cowboy and the Poet
TTH--Old Dogs, Children, and Watermelon Wine
Bill Withers--Grandma's Hands
Nina Simone--Another Spring
NS--Turning Point
Gil Scott Heron--Message to the Messengers
Common--It's Your World
Tommie Young--Take Time to Know Hiim
Talib Kweli--Expansion Outro (for women)
KImya Dawson--I LIke Giants
Cee Lo--Sometimes
Riddles Wisely Expounded
Blackalicious--As The World Turns

"Indian Summer" - Beat Happening

just because i have now given up on the indian summer happening this year

Conversations with Life Guides

When I was seven years old, I lived on a farm that backed onto the grounds of a home for the mentally disturbed....

My Dad said "the grass is always greener on the other side..."

here's listening to hip hop?,Dads, Grandads, not your Priest, your left handed girl, your self, your social worker (the Angel on your shoulder), dad, the voices, your baby.
It all means nothing 'cos everyone understands 'MOTHER KNOWS BEST'



Fog

The Earlies
Her Space Holiday
Johnny Flynn
James Yuill
French Miami
Glasvegas
Buck 65
Tinariwen
Hot Chip

A proper sort of gardener

Sorry, I know non-Brits and non-gardeners won't get it, but to me Geoff Hamilton is THE proper sort of gardener (of a Mr Harding kind) and the present incumbent of Gardeners' World just can't cut it.

However. Here are some of my recommendations. The 'Learning the Game' is neither Buddy Holly nor Any Trouble but Sandy Denny, because you can never have too much Sandy Denny.

Learning the Game
When You Awake
Thomas the Rhymer
A Proper Sort of Gardener
Mother Knows Best

Hippo New Year (TM SS)

By way of taking my leave for this year, here are a few loopholes through which this week's theme can just be glimpsed..

Rather strange, but compelling- DJ Food and Ken Nordine's spooky tale of the Ageing Young Rebel.. this is a much better version than the one I Youtubed on RR.

And one of the other The The tracks I've always quite liked- Helpline Operator. Although if you end up dialling through to Matt Johnson on your quest for life-changing advice, best hang up straight away...

Next up with Harmonic, by Hex/Coldcut. I've posted this before, with its story of the bug in the persian rug, unaware of its surroundings. It was a remix album so the following track, Mod you, is also included to end the story.

Ending with two spoken word parables- Dana Bryant's Heat and Margaret.

Powered by Podbean.com

The 'Pferds are off down south- way down south- for the winter next week, so here's wishing you all a merry christmas and a happy new year.

I'll add the top five tracks I've discovered this year thanks to the spill...

Portico Quartet, Cittagazze.
Cittàgazze.mp3
Super Rail Band of Bamako, Silanide.
Silanidé.mp3
Eddie Harris, Instant Death. My favourite track of the year. Thanks to Steenbeck for making me want to find out more about Eddie.
Instant Death.mp3
Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, T.R.O.Y.
Pete Rock & CL Smooth- TROY.mp3
Lastly, a segment of E2-E4, by Manuel Göttsching..

Words of Wisdom

Not sure my nominations are particularly on target this week, but I wanted to practice using Wiretap and Boxstr, so thought i'd try my first topic related Spill...


Six By Seven - Eat Junk, Become Junk
Supersnazz - Do Your Homework
Peter Hammill - Betrayed
Le Tigre - Keep On Livin'
Hope Of The States - Enemies/Friends
ARE Weapons - Hey World

The Light pours Out....

Missed my chance to post this week, and it was a good theme. Here's my cover art quiz. There's even one for the jazzers, who seem to be growing in number. I blame radio abahachi. Most are fairly well known, I think, but there's one from my singles collection. If I'd had the red vinyl it would have looked like traffic lights. As it was...
P.S. I managed to sneak in some artwork by the late lamented Barney Bubbles. (Hawkwind, Ian Dury and many stops in between.) Subtle hints to the missus (What d'you mean you've never heard of Barney Bubbles? No, not him from the Flintstones!) may yet result in a seasonal gift of his recently published coffee table tome, Reasons to Be Cheerful: The Life and work of.

So go on, light up. As if you have a choice...

Don't move lads...gah!

Where's the dip on this vehicle Albert? Oh, now you've turned them off...

Unlike Radi Aba, this one has no amber...

Green vinyl not pictured. Otherwise it goes green, amber and back to green. They probably spent more on this than they did on Physical Graffiti and Blue Monday combined. It still doesn't work.

I think the fridge is flirting with the lamp. There is a vacuum cleaner on the right but he was spurned.

Late Nite Oddity

sounds like a panda bear on morphine

***

 an old house record played on 2 RPM

**

beautiful stuff

*

play me

Passive Aggressive Help Required!

someone at my place of work sent out a ridiculous email about the state of our shared kitchen today, which sent me scurrying off to passiveaggressivenotes.com, where the above gem comes from. i intend to start leaving surreal and ridiculous notes in said kitchen on order to satirise the situation in a merry prankster fashion. this is where i need some help. any suggestions on notes i can pin up would be gratefully received - the odder the better! i will take photos and report back. 

also, if any spillers have any interesting quirks, similar to the one expressed in the photo above - do tell! 

in other news, fans of jayz, kanye, and santogold - you should probs click here for a treat! nice work from death from below. 

Odetta

New York Times Article

What's the Word For This?

I mentioned Nina Simone's Jelly Roll over on RR, and I think I may have posted it before, but here it is again. It set me thinking, and listening to her music. These three tracks, among many others by Simone, just...I don't really have a word for it in my very inadequate music-describing vocabulary. But I thought I'd share them. I was thinking of what Japanther said about appreciating jazz through a punk lens, and I certainly think these have that energy...


Jelly Roll
Sinnerman
The House of the Rising Sun

Testing #2 and a plea for help!

The time between now and my inaugural post has been spent fruitlessly grappling with the ogre that is Audacity. I finally got it to record, but can't get rid of the background hiss and try as I might , I just can't get it to convert to MP3 format.

I thought i'd just give it a go as it is anyway to see if it works as a WAV file. But if there are any geniuses out there who have mastered the mighty Audacity and have any tips on how I can get rid of the background noise and get it to MP3, all advice would be greatly appreciated.

The track (if you can hear it) is intended as a gift for Toffeeboy (in the highly unlikely event that he doesn't already have it) as a thank you for getting me to buy "George Best" by The Wedding Present over the weekend, I love it! Thanks!

Jonathan Richman - " You Can Have A Cell Phone That's OK But Not Me"

(The song is on a free 7" that came with the vinyl edition of his latest album - i'm not sure if it appeared anywhere else)


Jonathan Richman - You Can Have A Cell Phone That's OK But Not Me

EDIT!! Thanks a lot everyone, especially Goneforeign, I officially LOVE Wiretap. So Simple! Saying that, I hope this works! This should be a nice, clean, clear version of the same song.

Jonathan Richman - You Can Have A Cellphone That's OK But Not Me

That Difficult Second Podcast...

How to replicate the success of the first Radio Abahachi broadcast? Producers have been hired and fired in rapid succession, a vast array of ever more obscure modern jazz records has been auditioned for possible inclusion, expensive new technology has been purchased and a series of eminent philosophers have tendered their opinions, and now, at last, episode two is...not quite ready to go. For some reason neither podbean nor boxstr is willing to upload anything at the moment, and since I'm in London all day tomorrow and then off to Berlin until Saturday evening, and anyway I'm not completely happy about it so may start all over again with a completely new group, we may be looking at a Chinese Democracy situation...

Update Okay, podbean still isn't talking to me, but boxstr has decided to co-operate. Shame that I'm not sure what to do with it; does it work if I just post the links in here?

Radio Abahachi 2a
Radio Abahachi 2b