The Macc Lads - Beer & Sex & Chips 'n' Gravy

Come this way for some grade A 80s' filth from the semi notorious and legendary Macc Lads . Released in 1985 this album achieved a sort of cult status among aficionados of puerile/juvenile humour,Punk Rock and Viz . Which I suspect many would not admit to liking now. Well after a gap of nearly twenty years since the last listen I'll admit it still makes me chuckle . A lot . Rumored to have been funded with the aid of a government grant this sort of reminds me of a mix of Sham 69 , Half Man Half Biscuit and Chubby Brown. The lyrics are bordering on genius , for instance -  "Vauxhall Vivas's all covered in rust , but you can't shag yer bird on a 29 bus" or rhyming George Michael with menstrual cycle ,which everything written about The Macc Lads since 1985 has to mention by law. Quite fittingly The Macc Lads later went on to have their own cartoon strip in gentlemen's art pamphlet* , "Fiesta". Although I'd like to think the lyrics are all done just fer a laugh as all songs appear to be ARE about sex, drinking and fighting there is a whiff of homophobia hovering over it in places, which in one track come close to a frenzy (no pun etc )of anatomical detail which are either mean spirited or maybe ,cod psychology ahead, self hatred. And many will find the track "Buenos Airies" extremely jingoistic as this was released not long after the Falklands War . Just bypass those songs  and listen to the hilarious "Blackpool" and "Dan's Underpants'" or maybe "Sweaty Betty" - "She wore big knickers and worked on sewage farm". If none of that puts you off play this and offend everyone  within earshot or listen with headphones and try to keep a straight face . Boozy,bawdy humour from Northern England (macclesfield , as is quite rightly pointed out throughout) . Vinyl rip HERE .  BET THIS GETS DOWLOADED MORE THAN ALICE COLTRANE

Jah Shaka Presents Dub Masters Volume 1

Collection of dubs released in 1989 that previously could only be heard on Jah Shaka's world famous sound system . Kicks off with a sublime dub to Burning Spear's "Institution"  that features a mighty deep and hypnotic bass line that coupled with the snatches of righteous/ pleading vocals courtesy of the legend that is Winston Rodney can almost give me bloodshot eyes ( as often seen sported by Bunny Wailer in the '70s), stone cold sober . Not sure if there was a volume 2 to this but on its own still a good set of dubs worth adding to your itunes (or similar) dub playlist . Vinyl rip Here .

Tracks

1. Institution Dub - Burning Spear

2. Very Well Dub - Wailing Souls

3. Row Fisherman Dub - Wailing Souls

4. Wild Suspense - Wailing Souls

5. Natural Aggression - Aswad

6. Mosman Skank - Aswad

7. Carry Us Beyond - Human Cargo

8. Ghetto In The Sky (Version) - Aswad

Dr Phibes And The House Of Wax Equations - Hypnotwister

Second album of spaced out cosmic rock from Dr Phibes , my favourite "shoulda been massive" group, released in 1993 and just as good as thier storming debut.Keeping it short 'n' sweet on this one , check out previous posts for more info ,debut and Glastonbury 93 boot ( link now working again along with the link to Rockabilly Psychosis And The Garage Disease)

Hypnotwister

A bit late for this but some wise words from the old rogue ......"Be childish. Be irresponsible. Be disrespectful. Be everything this society hates" or the more well known and usefull, "You only get cash from chaos"

Alice Coltrane - Journey In Satchidananda

Hunting through local charity shops for vinyl,CDs and tapes the chances of finding anything interesting seem to be becoming increasingly rare lately, although it seems if you're after The Stereophonics or many other Brit Pop also-rans you will hit the mother lode . Now and again if the stars are aligned correctly I get lucky with something like this gem buried in a local Oxfam shop for £1.00 and which I thought would post up here.
My knowledge of Jazz stretches to hearing a teeny bit of Miles Davis and recognizing the names of some of the main players and thats about it so "Journey In Satchidananda" was ,as well as a bargain, a bit of a revelation. These 37 minutes of  "cosmic psychedelic trancendental jazz" was first released  by Alice Coltrane , the wife of John Coltrane, in 1970 . All four tracks have a sort of hypnotic drone thing going on provided by a tamboura in the background accompanied by  oud, saxophone (Pharoah Saunders),bass,drums,bells,tambourine and harp and piano, both of these played by Alice Coltrane. This is not freeform type jazz with weird ,odd time signatures and obscure musical scales or bland noodling lounge jazz ( my previous views on jazz) but should be way easy to get into if you have open mind 'n' ears. At the same time also picked up a Herbie Hancock CD, "Crossroads", which is just as good so may up that at a later date. Any recommendations on a similar trip,send this way.

"I hope this album will be a form of meditation and a spiritual awakening for those who listen with their inner ear.Om shanti."  - Alice Coltrane (from sleeve notes) .HERE.

Repo Man - Original Soundtrack

Storming soundtrack for one of the best films of the 80s' featuring Iggy Pop on the title track with Steve Jones doing his thing on guitar , bracing LA hardcore from Black Flag,Suicidal Tendancies,Fear and The Circle Jerks. Plus added Latino punk, a spacey instrumental mixing surf guitar , synthesizer,choir and orchestra which sounds like it ends on a snatch of Also Sprach Zarathustra , and throw in a mean "n"moody lowdown cover of Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso" and you have a soundtrack completely devoid of any duff/filler type tracks.
For a film that is creeping towards a mind blowing 30 YEARS OLD "Repo Man" made in 1984 still looks,feels and sounds to me like it could have been made anytime since then. First saw it while I was still at school on VHS and was blown away by the mix of comedy,violence,punk rock, sci-fi, swearing and Harry Dean Stanton ,"Ordinary people I fuckin' hate 'em". The film bears up on repeated viewings as it reveals much more . Probably the best film Alex Cox ever made , the guy portraying John Lydon in Cox's next film "Sid And Nancy" makes me cringe to this day just thinking about him .
 While googling "Repo Man" found out that Alex Cox has made a sort of sequel called ...... "Repo Chick" which I will leave everyone to judge for themselves by the trailer here.


For all things "Repo Man" this site has it all  http://www.bobcantor.com/repo/repoman.htm

Tracks:
1. Repo Man - Iggy Pop
2. TV Party - Black Flag
3. Institutionalized - Suicidal Tendencies
4. Coup D'Etat - The Circle Jerks
5. El Clavo Y La Cruz - The Plugz
6. Pablo Picasso - Burning Sensations
7. Let's Have A War - Fear
8. When The Shit Hits The Fan - The Circle Jerks
9. Hombre Secreto - The Plugz
10. Bad Man - Juicy Bananas
11. Reel Ten - The Plugz

Vinyl rip of soundtrack here 

Mad Professor - Psychedelic Dub - Dub Me Crazy Part 10

The 10th in Mad Professor's Dub Me Crazy series "Pyschedelic Dub"  has a great cartoony type cover featuring Mad Professor himself as always, Nelson Mandela (this was released months after his release in 1990),peace symbols,all seeing eyes and other cool positive images. Although bearing the title Psychedelic Dub ,it does have snatches of flute,backwards tape effects etc and I suppose top class dub has the very best in mind expanding qualities , this is more bright 'n' breezy good times dub than tripped out psychedelia,  but all the ten tracks on the album are all top tunes perfect for a hazy Sunday morning. Some tracks have the unmistakable trombone sound of the legendary Rico Rodriguez too.
The psychedelic tag seemed to be having a resurgance  around this time - Stone Roses , The Shamen , De la Soul and tons of others seemed to be taking elements of psychedelia ,if not the whole full on 60s' wig out style , making it more mainstream and actually having hits. Must have been something in the air then . Buddahs and Red Dragons anyone ?
Mad Professor released 12 in the Dub Me Crazy series from 82 to 93 and at this moment in time all but the first seemed to be hard to get hold of ,a box set of this complete series of upbeat digital dub seems like a good idea to me . Also can someone tell Massive Attack to let Mad Professor do his stuff on  "Heligoland" ?
WIKI HERE

 PART 10 HERE.VINYL RIP.

On U Sound - Pay It All Back Volume 3

Released in 1991 this probably represents a period when the On U Sound's profile was at its highest mainly due to a bit of chart action with Gary Clail ,the use of African Headcharge on a few soundtracks and some of Lee Perry's most critically acclaimed work since the days of The Black Ark. The Stone Roses even got themselves an Adrian Sherwood production for "One Love" , I seem to remember , not sure if it ever had an official release but if anyone can point me in the right direction I would be very grateful.
Anyway this is a very good comp containing all the usual suspects from the On U Sound collective including the aforementioned Lee Perry backed by Dub Syndicate singing about one of his favourite subjects , himself , and if I was Lee Perry I would too , on "You Thought I Was Dead" , the Jim Morrisson sampling Dub Syndicate track " Stoned Immaculate" and for a reminder of late 80s'/early 90s' UK suburban drudgery hear Kilroy , both morning and afternoon editions of Neighbours , CNN , housework and checkout Qs' all name checked in Little Annie's "When I Think Of You". Dub Syndicate's "Hey Ho" and African Headcharge's "My God" are both IMHO classic On U Sound tracks that if there is/was a best of On U Sound type comp representing the past 30 years they would have to be on it.The track "Blue Moon" by Barmy Army was a John Peel favourite with it's samples of football terrace chants (Man City fans singing their "theme" ) and commentary (Martin Tyler I think) and one guy I had forgotten about was Jesse Rae and who I assumed was a figment of my imagination until digging this out and checking out YouTube. A Scotsman in a funky style complete with kilt,helmet and brandishing a proper massive Claymore still performing to this day and currently up for election to become an MEP. Shows just how diverse the On U Sound - sound - is although Dub , Reggae ,Funk and loads of experimentation are never far from the surface.

A good vinyl rip if I do say so myself, have new cartridge fitted on the ol' turntable now ,after getting my head round the fact that some places charge £20 - £30 to set it up for you , sod that , can't be that difficult can it ? Not too difficult but , wow, not as easy as I thought. Will support my local Hi fi shop in the future. PAY IT ALL BACK 3 HERE .



Tracklisting


Disconnection - Strange Parcels
Heart's Desire - Strange Parcels
You Thought I Was Dead - Lee Perry & Dub Syndicate
Stoned Immaculate -Dub Syndicate
I Think Of You - Little Annie
Jack The Biscuit - Andy Fairley
Hey Ho - Dub Syndicate
These Things Happen -Mark Stewart
Ennio - Martin Frederix
To Be Free - Strange Parcels
My God - African Head Charge
Spirit Soul - Alan Pillay
False Leader - Gary Clail
Jacob's Pillow - Jesse Rae
Devo - Barmy Army
Blue Moon - Barmy Army
Nightmare - Bim Sherman







Need to set up a turntable? Pay attention and take notes.

Parliament - Rhenium

Anyone for some psychedelic funk/soul accompanied by bagpipes,yodeling,harps, jews harp,steel guitars,doo-wop,choirs and the genius of Eddie Hazel ? This is an early 90s' issue of Parliament's debut album "Osmium" with three non album singles added and renamed for some strange reason "Rhenium". "Osmium" was not surprisingly ignored on release in 1970 and has since been sampled to death by De La Soul and others.Although often labeled as a funk classic this skips across so many genres its beyond labeling and it doesn't ever sound like a band trying out different badly fitting outfits as it all works well together,retaining a sort of playful feel throughout probably due to the production of George Clinton .

Hard to pick highlights as I love it all even the ,probably intentionally, dumb nursery rhyme lyrics to "Funky Woman" - sample - "She threw them in the sink , the sink began to stink ....... Funky Woman " and "She threw them in the air , the air said this ain't fair"....... Funky Woman" all with church organ and some mean guitar playing. It even has a sort of come down track at the end, "The Silent Boatman" ,this is the one with the bagpipes.

Wiki here. Definitely one for the collection Here .

Good excuse too for a bit of this ......

Cult TV Classics

As far as I can tell this contains all the original versions of some classic TV theme tunes from the 60s' and 70s' most of which will be instantly memorable to many even if some of the actual shows themselves haven't been seen since the reign of Margaret Thatcher although a quick scan through the current TV listings will probably show, in the UK at least , that a fair few of them are still showing on ITV 8 or Bozo + 3 or one of many other such mind sapping channels. Okay a few veer towards the genre that lads mags of the mid 90s' seemed to want foist on an impressionable readership , "Lounge Music", but that shouldn't detract from the buzz you may get as your brain opens up long forgotten memory cells as you hear the theme tunes to "Joe 90", "Tomorrow People","Batman" and ,cliche ahead ,the stirring "Thunderbirds"once again. As this is ripped from a tape the quality seemed to drop a tad over the first few tracks but they are both still very much listenable as is the rest of it apart from the pointless Joe 9o remix.

Warning: Over exposure to the theme tune to Robinson Crusoe may induce those of a certain age to regress to a state of childhood and hanker for mornings in front of the telly during school holidays , or maybe it's just me.

1. Man from U.N.C.L.E.
2. Mission: Impossible [The Plot] - San Diego Symphony Pops, Lalo Schifrin
3. Mission: Impossible - San Diego Symphony Pops, Lalo Schifrin
4. Captain Scarlet "The Mysterons" - Barry Gray Orchestra
5. Captain Scarlet - Barry Gray Orchestra
6. Danger Man (High Wire)
7. Mannix - San Diego Symphony Pops, Lalo Schifrin
8. Batman
9. Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
10. Tomorrow People - Dudley Simpson
11. Stingray - Barry Gray Orchestra, Gary Miller
12. March of the Oysters - Barry Gray Orchestra
13. Aqua Marina - Barry Gray Orchestra, Gary Miller
14. Saint
15. Hi-Jacked [Joe 90] - Barry Gray Orchestra
16. Joe 90 - Barry Gray Orchestra
17. Avengers
18. Parker, Well Done - Barry Gray Orchestra
19. Thunderbirds - Barry Gray Orchestra
20. Joe 90 Remix - Barry Gray Orchestra

Wallow in nostalgia HERE

Derek And Clive (Live)

I remember copies of this being passed around at school where this blast of 70s' filth from Peter Cook and Dudley Moore was greatly appreciated.Probably due to the amount "Fucks" , "Cunts" , "Wanks" and general schoolboy level of humour contained within as two pissed up comedians make up bizarre stories and scenarios off the top of their heads. Many of it still makes me chuckle now, but the stand outs are "This bloke came up to me" ,"Blind" and "Top Rank". Oh and the track "Bo Dudley" was sampled by A Guy Called Gerald for the still awesome "Voodoo Ray". Wiki here. If easily offended stay away from HERE

Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers - 23 Great Recordings

Another tape from the box is this compilation from Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers released in 1990 covering his most commercially successful period on the Berkley label from 1974-1980. Many people probably know Jonathan Richman as the guy who pops up now and again singing to accompany the plot, once up a tree , in "There's Something About Mary".

A Velvet Underground influence is quite evident on the earlier tracks , this was a guy who left home at fifteen to go to New York to meet them and had John Cale produce many of their early demos which were eventually released as the classic album "Modern Lovers" ,from which many tracks make up the the first side of this compilation including "Roadrunner","She Cracked","Pablo Piccasso" and the anti hippy/stoner "I'm Straight" .

By the time Punk and New Wave were exploring and expanding on the territory laid down on these early recordings , Jonathan Richman had moved on to a more mellow sound accompanied with more whimsical lyrics with songs about Abominable Snowmen,Roller-coasters and Ice Cream Men which have a kind of laid back charm to them but unfortunately probably influenced a number of god awful fey indie type dross in the past but lets not hold that against him. Wiki Here. 23 Great Recordings Here .

John Peel Sessions - Radio Daze

Did have some vinyl lined up to record today but found out needle/cartridge is completely knackered . Nearest Hi Fi shop only gets them in on order so they've lost a sale there and ordered myself one online at a cost of £50 (Rega Bias 2 cartridge to go with Rega Planar 3 turntable if your interested ). Shame as I was looking for an excuse for a drive in the snow (it's a national disaster in the UK if all our media are to be believed ) and a visit to a Hi Fi shop which I haven't been to in years. Was sort of getting into Hi Fi a few years back and have had the same set up for the past 10 years which does me just fine and probably many years to come and won't ever feel the need to get some sleek looking and unnatural sounding box from a local washing machine/plasma telly/laptop/ipod docking station megastore . Having said all that I probably listen to most of my music through the computer or ipod now but every now and again its good to experience the warmth with a little crackle and pop of vinyl.

Anyway vinyl off limits so having a bit of a dig through the tape box and first out is a compilation of Peel session tunes given away with Vox magazine in May 92. Not much else to say apart from although this is made up the more popular end of artists featured on his show much like the much missed John Peel show itself you will probably love some of this( for me most of it) and hate the rest (for me Babes In Toyland who were probably flavour of the month at the time).

1 The Cure - 10:15 Saturday Night

2 Madness - The Prince

3 Happy Mondays - Mad Cyril

4 Babes In Toyland - Catatonic

5 Buzzcocks - What Do I Get?

6 Chicken Shack - I'd Rather Go Blind

7 The Undertones - Love Parade

8 Billy Bragg - A13

9 Syd Barrett - Love Parade

10 The Only Ones - The Beast

11 The Fall - Return

12 PJ Harvey - Water

13 The Inspiral Carpets - The Beast Inside

14 The Birthday Party - Big Jesus Trash Can

15 The Damned - Neat Neat Neat

Radio Daze here. Go here for a listen to some great Peel shows (festive 50s and more).

The Gun Club - Fire Of Love

A quickie today featuring The Gun Club's debut. Finding it incredible that this was released in 1981 , the year of Adam & The Ants , The Human League and other horribly dated 80s' acts many still going or reformed and playing Pontins this summer probably . The Specials an honorable exception of course . But this is something else , sounding as though it could have been released anytime in the past 30 years and showing how waaay ahead of their time they were. A perfect mix of blues, punk,garage,rockabilly ,sex ,drugs 'n' voodoo. A few Gun Club albums were reissued and expanded at the end of last year and "Fire Of Love" was frustratingly not amongst them . Try here . Wiki here.

Sun Dial - Other Way Out

Remembered reading glowing reviews in the music mags for this slice of psychedelia upon its release in 1990.Probably mentally put it on a list of "wants" , a lot harder in those days tracking down all that vinyl,Cd's and tapes you just had to have ,involving actually having to go outside and stepping foot in a shop if you couldn't get it on mail order, if you had the loot that is .Stumbled across a link for it earlier last year and finally got round to actually hearing it and realised I had made a BIG mistake in choosing to buy something like a Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine or a Lush album over this .Track names like "Exploding In Your Mind" and "Magic Flight" give a good indication of the sounds contained within . Although the whole album sounds as though it has been steeped in Hoffman's finest ,which is absolutely fine by me , it's still shot through with incredible guitar playing courtesy of Gary Ramon.Veering from a touch of the old fuzzbox to wah wah style wigouts to soothing reverby acoustic and to these ears I'm sure I can detect a bit of trash/garage thrown in too. A real gem this one and regret not making a note of the blog I got it from . Have also found out from Wiki here that they have a new album out later this year also coinciding with the reissue of previous releases , hope they tour as well . Microdots at the ready and Other Way Out here. And then buy the reissues or this or maybe this.