Archive for May, 2011
Dream Rock & Noise Pop in Videos: Lush – “De-Luxe”
Another one for all the Miki fans out there. Track ten from volume two.
Mix CD: Spring 2011
This is what the Bubblegum Cage III’s editorial staff will be listening to on its (early) summer holiday. As with all of this here blog’s seasonal mix CDs, Spring 2011 tends towards the poppy side of things. Basically, it’s something you can listen to while you drive your car or do the ironing or whatever it is you people get up to. And as with all mix CDs posted here, the MP3s are provided as samples of albums you really ought to go out and pay money for. If your music is featured on this compilation and you wish it wasn’t, just say the word and all relevant links will be removed, ASAP. Bubblegum Cage III recognizes and respects the fact that some artists don’t like having their songs shared online – which is the only reason Woebot’s “Argos” isn’t featured in the track-listing below…
1. The Fall – “Edie”
2. James Blake – “Lindisfarne II”
3. Destroyer – “Downtown”
4. Hype Williams – “The Throning”
5. Belong – “Perfect Life”
6. Panda Bear – “Surfer’s Hymn (Actress Primitive Patterns Remix)”
7. Das Racist – “Ek Shaneesh”
8. Gang Gang Dance – “Mindkilla”
9. Kellarissa – “Undock”
10. Seefeel – “Airless”
11. Oval – “Kreak”
12. Tape – “Companions”
13. Forest Swords – “If Your Girl”
14. Burial – “NYC”
Dream Rock & Noise Pop in Videos: Cocteau Twins – “Iceblink Luck”
The official promo video. Track nine from volume two.
The Bubblegum Cage III will now be taking its (early) summer holiday. See you in June!
Not Me 2011 12s Update
Volume two in the CSAF recording company‘s 2011 12s series of free MP3 EPs is now available. It features remixes of songs by Not Me courtesy of Vincent Parker, The Luminaries and connect_icut.
Here are the full details:
Vol. 2: dbm 2011 (CSAF130DL)
Featuring a new remix by award-winning beat slicer Vincent Parker plus mixes by The Luminaries and connect_icut.
Vincent Parker’s remix is packed with swagger. Or should that be stagger? In any case, every time you think this track is going to fall flat on its face, Vincent pulls everything back up into place. He even supplied his own artwork to go with the mix (see below). A class act all ’round.
The connect_icut mix starts off atmospheric but brings in the beats just when you need ’em. Like Vincent’s mix, this a fevered exercise in raw improvisation, with all the bloody edges left un-sanitized.
The Luminaries mix is rather more refined and contemplative. It’s based around a series of bleak time-stretched drones, which betray very little trace of the original samples. These are arranged around ominous silences that – while undeniably spacious and panoramic – do little to dispel the claustrophobic mood of the first two tracks.
Side A
1. Vincent Parker Remix (5:21)
2. connect_icut 2011 Mix (7:25)
Side B
1. The Luminaries House of Bhutan Remix (10:15)
DOWNLOAD 2011 12s VOL. 2
Dream Rock & Noise Pop in Videos: Ride – “Drive Blind”
Track eight from volume two. Recorded live in London, 1989. Another gem from Snub TV. Shame about the audio/video quality here, though.
Mix CD: The Acid Folk Vol. 5
This here blog never thought it would be posting another new Acid Folk compilation. After all, aren’t the four volumes already posted here exhaustive enough? But with May just getting start, who can resist? So, here it is: The Acid Folk Vol. 5. Perfect music for dancing ’round the May Pole, prancing around the village with the ‘Obby ‘Oss and generally going about your business on a May morning in May.
Actually, the most immediate inspiration for this compilation was Rob Young’s absolutely phenomenal book Electric Eden. Young’s 600-page survey of the “folk” influence on British music throughout the 20th century stood as a reminder of favourite tracks and an introduction to all sorts of weird and wonderful obscurities. If you have any interest at all in this stuff, you really need to get a copy of this book.
As with all of the mix CDs posted on this hear blog, The Acid Folk Vol. 5 is intended as a sampler. Most of the artists featured here have CD and/or vinyl re-issues in print. And if you’re looking for more compilations, Gather in the Mushrooms and the four-CD box set Anthems in Eden are both heartily recommended.
Here’s the full track-listing for The Acid Folk Vol. 5:
1. Shirley & Dolly Collins – “Go from My Window”
A particularly stirring performance from Shirley Collins MBE. A song in which sexual advances are successfully discouraged. Consequently, nobody gets murdered. Basically, British folk songs are like horror films – if anyone gets laid, someone’s gonna get murdered.
2. Bert Jansch & John Renbourn – “The Time Has Come”
A lovely Anne Briggs song from the Pentangle guitarists. Did Briggs maybe write this about Jansch? Anyway, more from all concerned later in the mix.
3. Steeleye Span – “Blackleg Miner”
For Carl Impostume.
4. Mellow Candle – “The Poet and the Witch”
Featuring Clodagh Simonds of Fovea Hex and therefore awesome.
5. Nick Drake – “Way to Blue”
Turns out this fellow was pretty good.
6. Richard & Linda Thompson – “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight”
Dig those synth-trumpet arpeggios! Showcasing the rockier side of 70s folk-rock. Speaking of which…
7. Roy Harper – “Male Chauvinist Pig Blues”
This Who-style romper barely even qualifies as folk-anything but what a tune! Why exactly does Harper’s magnum opus Stormcock (from which this song is not taken) only warrant literally about three sentences in Electric Eden?
8. C.O.B. – “Spirit of Love”
Led by Clive Palmer. He was in the original line-up of The Incredible String band but he didn’t do much, apparently. More of them later.
9. Shirley Collins & The Albion Country Band – “Poor Murdered Woman”
Shirley Collins MBE, again. There’s no actual sex or violence in this song but y’know… it’s implied.
10. The Woods Band – “January Snows”
Gay and Terry Woods, who we heard earlier on Steeleye Span’s “Blackleg Miner”. This is a really great tune.
11. John Martyn – “Bless the Weather”
More typical of the earlier, acoustic Martyn than the echoplexed aqua-funk of his classic era. It’s all good, though.
12. The Incredible String Band – “Koeeoaddi There”
Wilfully bonkers!
13. Heron – “Lord and Master”
Not featuring Mike Heron from The Incredible String band.
14. Anne Briggs – “Willie O’Winesbury”
Her finest performance? You might know this tune from Fairport Convention’s “Farewell, Farewell”.
15. Mr. Fox – “Mendle”
A genuinely peculiar band, without seeming to try quite as hard as certain other acts of the era. Not mentioning any names. Apart from The Incredible String Band, obviously.
16. The Pentangle – “Pentangling”
Freeform bass solo!
17. Fairport Convention – “A Sailor’s Life”
This track is pretty much the wellspring of all UK folk-rock. Incalculably seminal!
Download The Acid Folk Vol. 5