Teenage Fanclub - Mellow Doubt (CD2)

As part of my job I drive around a fairly limited part of the west of England, mostly Somerset and Wiltshire. In Somerset there are two old towns called Frome (pronounced Froom) and Warminster (pronounced Warminster). Both of these have branches of a record shop called Raves From The Grave, and both are worth going to, right now. If you're planning a trip to the UK then they should be on your list. If you live in the UK and you're planning a trip to Somerset then they should be on your list. If you live in Somerset, get to it. Their website is www.ravesfromthegrave.com. They give you a good discount if you buy a load of secondhand stuff too.

Anyway, alongside masses of vinyl, they have a huge CD singles section, with a load of old '90s ones. So of course I bought a load of old '90s ones, which I'm going to start posting (partly because they're a lot less of a pain in the arse than 7"s). Among them was this TFC single, which is the version I didn't pick up when it came out. Obviously the single is great (and a subtly different one from the album, this is in B sharp, not D flat, kids), and the b-sides are all excellent too; one Creedence (a really good one), one Rutles (I had to look that up), and a McGinley track which I don't remember ever hearing before. Lovely. Enjoy.

1. Mellow Doubt (Alternative Version)
2. Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
3. Between Us
4. You're My Kind

Here, somehow, is more Teenage Fanclub.

Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Stuck (CDS)

Another long gap between posts... I'd make an excuse, but you must be used to this by now.

Don't know how to start this, really. Obviously Ned's were famous for maybe two songs and having two bass players, and listening back to their better known output now is pretty much only a nostalgic pleasure. A pleasure, sure, but they couldn't really play too well, and there's a lot of dross balancing out the Happy's...

However, they kept going long after people lost interest (well, not that long - this is from 1995 I think), and got better at playing, I'd say. This is really quite a good song, if you're into the whole '90s thing. And what are you doing here if you're not?

The acoustic b-sides are pretty good too, and the first one is very Ned's. Have to say you can hear why the fourth track ended up fourth, it's kinda Ned's by numbers, but hey, that's what track four used to be all about.

Am I selling this to you?

1. Stuck
2. ... To Be Right (Acoustic)
3. Stuck (Acoustic)
4. A Tempted Fate

He's fallen in the water.

Tanya Donelly - The Bright Light CDS

Tanya Donelly isn't someone I've ever really been that into. Not through not liking her, but just kind of missed everything at the time. Not that she's stopped releasing stuff, right? But anyway... Belly were great, I was well into them, and The Breeders of course, but I'm always a bit suspicious of songwriters who go solo. It never works as well as being in a band; no-one to tell you that the song's shite.

Go on. Name one solo artist who's better than the band they were in.

This single, though, is very good. You can hear the Belly in it, which is no bad thing, and yeah, a really good song. I really like the first b-side, too, which is a bit heavier on rock and a bit lighter on production values. The third one's a nice slow atmospheric number. Good single overall, basically, and I hope you enjoy it.

1. The Bright Light
2. Bury My Heart
3. How Can You Sleep

Here she is.

James - Destiny Calling CDS

I listen to a lot of BBC 6music, and I'd recommend you do the same. Particularly Marc Riley and Tom Ravenscroft. But anyway, the station springs to mind because they like to play James periodically, and every time they do I remember that I really like them. Pretty solid output, too, there's a lot to like about all their albums, I'd say.

This is a good single, if not maybe one of their very best, but the b-sides are a nice little reminder of the heyday of the Reading Festival, when you used to tape it off Radio 1 (didn't you?) When I go back to these (or find DVDs of stuff from the era) I find myself recognising the chatting between songs and not knowing why.

This is CD2 of a 3-CD set. I don't think I ever had 1 and 3, so I can't tell you what you're missing. What you've got is pretty good, mind.

1. Destiny Calling
2. Jam J (Live At Reading '97)
3. Honest Joe (Live At Reading '97)
4. Sound (Live At Reading '97)

Hear it.

Catatonia - Bleed CDS

Still on the Welsh tip (and I've just digitised two more SFA singles, so more to come), here's a band where I only like the early stuff. Although that applies to most bands. Ah well, the life of a music snob.

This is a great track of their first LP, 'Way Beyond Blue', which I don't think they ever improved on, although a quick glance at Wikipedia shows that the next three went triple platinum, platinum and silver respectively. Keeping it indie, me. The b-sides are a couple more of their best songs, live at the Reading Festival in 1996 and the Phoenix Festival (remember that?) in the same year.

Have a listen, and realise it's not all about the Mulder and Scully tune!

Sorry about the big stupid gap under the cover picture. As I mentioned before, the lovely new blogging layout is a bit pile of shit, and life's too short to keep trying to fix it.

1. Bleed
2. Way Beyond Blue (Live At Phoenix '96)
3. Painful (Live At Reading '96)

Here you go.

Super Furry Animals - The International Language Of Screaming CDS

Just a quick one today, as time is short. More Welsh goodness for you all, just in time for St. Patrick's Day (I know).

You gotta love Super Furry Animals, right? The single itself is obviously brilliant; it's an SFA single. The first b-side is just as good, though. I have no idea why it's not an album track, it's really good. The third track is a story which is sung in such a strong/stoned accent it's pretty much impossible to understand, but worth a try. Track four is a reminder of the good old days, when bands could get away with putting complete nonsense as a b-side and no-one cared. Three cheers for Creation Records.

1. The International Language Of Screaming
2. Wrap It Up
3. Foxy Music
4. nO.K.

Here it is.

Is anyone else who writes a blog annoyed by Google making posting both prettier and less easy in one swift redesign?

Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Let's Get Together (In Our Minds) 7"

29th February, eh? Extraordinary. Who knows when this will happen again, so let's celebrate with some extraordinariness from the joint best band from Wales.

More Gorky's for y'all, as I find more of these 7" in the pile. All good stuff, this one a 1998 release in a laid-back style, is off the Gorky 5 album, which I actually don't know at all. What I do know, however, is that apparently Gorky's had 8 singles in the UK top 75, but never got in the top 40. That's what Wikipedia says, anyway, so it could be a lie.

The first b-side is a weird American country track, with violins and all, and is clearly a Welsh person singing in an American accent. Despite that, it's good. Or does that automatically make it good? Anyway. Good. The second b-side is a Welsh-language number, which appears to be a cover, but of whom I have no idea. Folky.

1. Let's Get Together (In Our Minds)
2. Billy And The Sugarloaf Mountain
3. Hwiangerdd Mair

Mynci is here.

PJ Harvey - A Perfect Day Elise 7"

Well done Pol. In (extremely late) celebration of her second Mercury Prize here's another single off 'Is This Desire?' from 1998.

This is one of my favourites of her songs, and I guess a lot of you may know it already. If you don't, you know what to do. Anyway, all about the b-sides, and there are a couple of them on this 7". The first is a real quiet one (sorry it's a little spoiled by some surface noise, but hey), and it's lovely. It sounds slightly like she's singing from the bottom of a fishtank or something, but it's good. The instrumental clocks in at about a minute, so make of that what you will. Sounds nice.

1. A Perfect Day Elise
2. Sweeter Than Anything
3. Instrumental #3

Right here.

Urusei Yatsura - Fake Fur (CDs 1 & 2)

I've been a bit lax recently. Sorry. Been busy, y'know. So by way of yet another apology, here's a double treat, both of the CDs of this single from 1997 from a band who I really like, still. Kind of Pavement-y, bit slack, sloppy, Scottish, tunes... Good stuff. This single is off 'Pulpo!' (it has an upside-down exclamation mark at the start. Don't know how to do that), which I actually don't have, but I love 'We Are Urusei Yatsura' from a couple of years before.

The a-side is great, and the other tracks are all good too - it's kind of a mini-album all on its own. 'Silver Krest' and 'Saki & Cremola' I like particularly. Hope you enjoy them. Back soon.

CD1:
1. Fake Fur
2. Silver Krest
3. Nova Static
4. Secret Crush

CD2:
1. Fake Fur
2. Pampered Adolescent
3. Bewitched
4. Saki & Cremola

The picture of CD1 doesn't do it justice, by the way; it's a rough cardboard sleeve with the picture of the tiger stuck on, as well as the info on the back. Nice.

Here's one, and here's two.

Palace Music - Palace Soundtrack free CD

Hello everyone, and happy new year to you all. As a special treat for the start of 2012, a departure from the usual 2-track vinyl goodness, and a dip into the freebies which I was lucky enough to get with various LPs. This is a film soundtrack for a film called The Broken Giant, which came out a couple of years after this was included with the LP of Arise Therefore in 1996. Apparently it was released as an EP later on, but I like to think this sounds a bit more special. Which of course it doesn't.

Sorry all the tracks are labelled as Will Oldham, which is what the thing that gives you CD track names called them. I only noticed after I'd uploaded it. I think they should be Palace Music. Although it's Will Oldham on his own. Well. And the EP's called Black/Rich Music, which it was called later. Well. And it has more tracks than a single. Well.

It's bloody great. Enough?

1. Organ: Watch With Me
2. Do What You Will Do
3. The Risen Lord
4. Organ: Allowance
5. Allowance
6. Black/Rich Tune
7. Organ: Black/Rich
8. Guitar: Do What You Will Do

Here it is.