That decides it then....

I Bloody Love The Raveonettes

They may not make an appearance until 2.42 in the (very funny and sweet) video, but I bloody love them, they're my last.fm 7th most listened to artist, and they've just foisted 12 new songs on the world, this song's ace but isn't the best thing on the LP by a mile. i bloody love the raveonettes!!

Elmo Hope

I was looking at some bluenote covers online, and I liked this picture. I'd never heard of Elmo Hope, but I like his name a lot, and I listened a bit on spotify and like his music, too. (Oh, I just said "like" a lot, but I'm too lazy to go back and find a different word). I'm sure there are other spillers who know more about him?

Elmo Hope – Hot Sauce: http://open.spotify.com/track/7CEyuSyDGpF2tQveDpoYza

The Keeper

Catching up with Ninja Tunes, I found this recent release from Bonobo, featuring Andreya Triana. Proof that less is sometimes more, to (mis)quote Mies van der Rohe.

RZA Special

RZA's part in the upcoming Blakroc project with the Black Keys.

Bong bong!

Wednesday's end of the week questions.

1. What's the best present you've ever given/ what's the best present you've ever been given?

2. A friend of mine recently wrote "there are 2 kinds of people...people who believe there are two kinds of people, and everyone else." I used to think everyone was either a brat or a bully. An old friend used to say everybody is either a fool or a knave, and another old friend used to say everyone was either a big goon or an evil gnome. Have you ever developed a reductive theory about humankind? Or heard of any that you'd like to share?

3. If you could go back and have a drink with your 20-year-old self, what would you talk about? What advice would you impart?

4. I don't think of myself as superstitious, but somehow I've taught my boys some superstitions I've picked up along the way...If you kill a spider it will rain. SHoes on tables and hats on beds are bad luck. If your nose itches it means somebody is thinking about you (Left = brown-eyed, Right = blue). Are there any superstitions that you grew up with? Are there any that are specific to the region where you live? Any that you actually believe, whether you're willing to admit it or not?

5. (sorry, music-related) If you could be in a band, what would it be called? What kind of music would you play?

... we've even tried putting viagra in it - but it just won't get any bigger or go any faster

Short arses of the world unite...

Not being particularly long in the arse myself, I reckon I can get away with this one. To add to the "shortlist" (arf!) below, my favourite (and possibly only) song I have about little people.

A.V.A.T.H. - My Baby's A Midget

Tsiganiiii!

I was at the Royal Festival Hall last night to see what The Times have described, with uncharacteristic accuracy, as "among the greatest live-music acts of recent times", the legendary Gypsy Queens and Kings.



A touring collective of some of Europe's greatest Romany musicians, they combine staggering technical ability with an incredibly infectious sense of fun. With everything underpinned by a huge, undulating wall of brass from Fanfare Ciocarlia and Mahala Rai Banda we were treated to a night joining the dots between the various styles of music associated with the diaspora - from plaintive ballads to flamenco to glorious rolling Balkan funk. Star of the show, inevitably, was the formidable Macedonian icon Esma Redzepova, a favourite of Tito, twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and owner of a voice like nobody else.

Appropriately for such a geographically diverse band, shout outs to audience members from Spain, Romania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Moldova and the Czech Republic were warmly returned by a crowd determined to make a mockery of the 'no dancing down the front' rule security guards were vainly trying to enforce.

If you ever get the chance to see them, take it.

Tinny Mix-Tapes

It seems from recent posts, that a certain Tincanman is getting impatient for this year's festive 'Spilltivities. Perhaps by dedicating this short playlist to our own master of the box, we can get some peace - at least until after Halloween:
Walk Tall
Half the Man I Used To Be
Short Bursts
Tiny Craters in the Sand
Tiny Vessels
Little White Man
Tiny Steps
Little Stereo
Long Tall Shorty
Tiny Tears
Short Fat Fannie

Over hill over dale, Spill music is never stale

Oregon and England have one very thing in common. And it's not the forests of towering pines. It's the rain. And more rain, with more rain forecast.
The Oregon Guardian (OK, they call it the Oregonian) has an online Song of the Day feature which is often interesting. Sunday featured a gem called In the City in the Rain by The 6ths (a side project of Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt), with nice vocals by Lou Barlow. Coulda shoulda been an English song.

Free here

New Charlotte Gainsbourg (avec Beck!)

Charlotte Gainsbourg, 'spill favourite, much donded on the mothership, tremendous actress, impeccable of birth, cement of garden, is BACK!

Or should i say "IS BECK", as he's written and produced the lions share of the new record. Her first album, that received so much 'Spiller love, was a merry mix of Air, Jarvis Cocker, and Neil Hannon from the Divine Comedy - and is well worth seeking out.

You can get a free download of her new song "IRM" from her website, in exchange for an email address, by clicking here. Or you can have a listen below and then decide.

I have my reservations about the new song, as there doesn't seem to be much Charlotte on it, or in it, or around it. I think mebbe it needs to be heard in context of the new record.

play me

yup, well taller

Give 'em an Inch ...

It's amazing what a bit of assertive complaining can do; Mersey Ferrys PLC fixed their wonky boat ...






So that next time the Birkenhead Boys Pole Dancing Troupe were crossing the tideway for an away fixture, any hint of optical disillusion was banished.

The Banjo: an appreciation

This post may be so far outside the envelope of good taste and political correctness and aural comfort, that it may well get Returned To Sender. Some might end up wishing the postal strike had started a little sooner.

The banjo is a much maligned and misunderstood instrument. Apparently.
It should not be confused with the ukulele - unless of course it's a banjo-ukulele.



Nor should it be confused with this:



- banjos being made of a polished wheel-rim, a length of broom-handle, a selection of wire [from barbed to garotted] and some jubilee-clips.

But for some reason this made it onto Radio 4's Pick of the Week:

The Essay [ - it's an eleven-o'clockish sort of thing on BBC Radio 3.]
Novelist AL Kennedy describes what happened after she found a neglected banjo in a shop in Glasgow. Some quotes:

"The banjo? - it's joke. Funnier than a trombone - or even an ocharina."
"That strange metallic hum of a disturbed banjo."
"It's a naturally anxious instrument."
"You shouldn't want to know how to play it - and if you can, you should refrain."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00n6v12/The_Essay_When_Writers_Play_%28Series_2%29_AL_Kennedy/

It is the Contributor's sincere hope that no Blimps were harmed during the course of this missive.

slap dash for no cash

Andrew Jackson Jihad starts us off with a wealth of hope and advice, truthfully letting us know he’s ripped off Woody Guthrie.. although ‘I gave my money to the bank to look after it’ could be regrettable.

Kotchy kicks arse with track two – (Jimi Tenor meets Junior Boys via some Prince) and it’s not braggard cash, just a sweet spot.

Bran Van 3000 party up our Sunday night,
I wanna take off all my clothes too..
(anyone who has met me .. don’t have nightmares)
Scratchin’ - brass – human beatbox – sexy singing
now get F**kin’ loaded!

Camille hits the spot with this 12”
(in my top three tracks of ‘08)
is it a piss take of Witney and Maria?
Preferred the Le Fil album, but this is cool and Clever - I like that.. lots.

Survival Song
One For The Money
Loaded
Money Note

Saul Williams could supply a few tracks here.. most notably penny for a thought – but this rolls along with a powerful vibe… questioning… love him as ever.

London Posse take a bit of time to warm up properly, but then the flow hits its stride and old school comes home… blaggar with daggar – genius.
And then to drop in Diction as a rhyme – pure JOY

Scared Money
Money Mad

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds knock out beauty more often than you could say EASY money.

Space do some root of all evil samples – I like it, what more is there to say? – don’t think critics do – but then who listens to them.
Fits the theme.

Jens Lekman does his thing – out to have fun with a pocket full of money – let’s mug him.
(I read somewhere that this rips off some old track indecently. As I don’t know it, I don’t care – as someone who loves doing collages with artwork – what can I say, less than 30per cent stolen ((that might not stand up legally)), then it becomes yours – life is tough let others do the hard work)

OnTheFly (With Lone Pigeon And MC Quake) A JOY JOY JOY

Easy Money
Money
Pocketful Of Money
That LP Harmony

DALI + DISNEY

I'm not sure this is real, but I like the idea.

via Kanye

Lest auld aquaintance songs be forgot

Shoey has put his hand (foot?) up to co-ordinate the year-end Spill song list again, so he can tell us what we are supposed to do and when. I presume we'll email him songs again and he'll Spill 'em (Shoey, I'll make a separate dBox for you).

But let us know Shoeperson and we'll do what we're told, carping behind your back every step of the way of course.



Oh and I found a list of 2009 album releases to refresh memories. I'm sure there's other albums and songs which haven't troubled the mainstream lists, but it's a starting point. Click on the bagel to get the list.

Juice it

Another in the series of great hip hop tracks which sample jazz.. mention of Eric B and Rakim on the Mothership has led me to this classic, which uses Nat Adderley's Rise Sally, Rise.
Acknowledgements in this case are due to Whosampled.com.

Baaallin'

Dave Chappelle "MTV" Cribs - watch more funny videos

I don't have enough to do a 'Spill list this week, I might add some later, but I've got clips.