White Rose Movement’s debut album, Kick, was produced by Paul Epworth, and is an eclectic fusion of electronics and bass driven guitars which divided the critics, both impressing and confusing them. They made their foray into Eastern Europe, with gigs in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Ukraine, where they headlined a festival in front of 33,000 people. Despite the fact that their first album was never released outside the UK, with the help the internet, WRM have amassed a huge fan base and toured extensively throughout the world. Their USA tours have included gigs at Coachella, South X South West and the Bowery Ballroom, selling out the NY club before they had even arrived in the States.
This Mortal Coil / Song To A Siren
It’s rare to find a cover better than the original, but this succeeds. Originally earmarked as a B-Side, Liz Frazer and Robin Guthrie’s cover of Tim Buckley’s Song To a Siren became an underground hit. Liz Frazer’s voice is so cold yet so emotive. Dripped in reverb, she sounds like she’s from another planet.
Soft Cell / A Man Can Get Lost
This track sounds so seedy. It’s got that kind of lo-fi feel that early synth pop tracks had before they got too much technology. It was Soft Cell’s first single produced by Daniel Miller (Mute Records), but released on Some Bizarre.
Glen Campbell / The Wichita Lineman
In the summer of 2006, Justine Frichman from Elastica lent me her brand new white Mini while she went off to the States, and Glen Campbell’s version of this track was on a compilation tape in her tape deck. She has impeccable taste in music. It sat alongside LA by The Fall and MIA’s Galang, which she co-wrote and produced. The song was actually written by Jimmy Webb. I love the chord changes and the idea that a lonely Oklahoma telephone engineer thinks he can hear his lover singing to him as the wind vibrates against the power cables.
The Regents / Seventeen
A bit of a one hit wonder from the The Regents, but I really like this track because it sounds totally un-produced, like a demo. But it’s just so pop, it works perfectly.
Booker T and The MGs / Green Onions
Just a great dance record, really. It’s got this bounce in it: you can just imagine all the Northern Soul boys up in Wigan in their sharp Teutonic suits breaking out the moves to this little number. No vocals, totally instrumental, the pounding organ drives it forward like nothing else can.
Spizzenergi / Where’s Captain Kirk
A classic punk record from the 80s and apparently the first band to sign to Rough Trade records. The band changed their names several times, from Spizz Energy to Spizz Oil, to Athletico Spizz 80, and finally, Spizzles. Where’s Captain Kirk manages to sound really sci-fi and punk rock at the same time. I guess it came quite late in the punk scene and was probably about to be made redundant by the new post punk scene.
The Cure / The Walk
The Cure have recorded so many great records, it’s hard to pick one. Robert Smith is a true songsmith. He has, up until recently, always come back with a pop classic. I picked this one as it really works to drop when playing records out. An effortless move for The Cure to move from the experimental 17 seconds, Faith and Pornography, to the equally experimental but more pop album, Japanese Whispers, which brought the singles Let’s Go To Bed and The Walk. They were a band that could always adapt and come back again and again.
My Bloody Valentine / Only Shallow
When I first heard this song, it changed the way I thought about music. They took the whole Cocteau Twins thing to the next level. All the distortion and note bending sounded like a herd of wild elephants coming over the plain, but at the same time this beautiful ethereal vocal was sitting on top of it all. True genius, and a nice bloke as well. Jags Kooner once told us that Kevin Shields’ hearing was so acute that, when he had his own studio built in his basement, he complained about being able to hear a low frequency hum that no one else could detect. He finally got a noise expert in who traced the vibration to several clothes dryers in a laundry up the road from his house.
Related posts:
- Sune Rose Wagner, The Raveonettes If there ever was a buzz band, Danish rock...
- The Mary Onettes The Mary Onettes’ critically acclaimed debut was described as...
- Cage Depart From Me is the latest full-length album from...
- Harry McVeigh, White Lies A dark-edged trio hailing from London, White Lies take...
- The New Loud The New Loud is a three-piece electro/punk/new wave band...
{ 0 comments… add one now }