Teenage Fanclub - I Need Direction

I know. But this is the last Teenage Fanclub for a bit, until I find whatever box the Scotland On Sunday CD is in... I love this song - the 'ba ba ba baaaas' are great. You'll find out. Both b-sides are also killer, yet another brilliant Raymond song and a very good Pixies cover.

I can't remember why, but I also have the b-sides of the other single on my computer, so for completeness I'm sticking them up too. They're labelled 2 and 6 for some reason. There's a Gerry Love song (although not one of his best, for what my opinion's worth) and an acoustic version of the a-side. Enjoy!

CD1
1. I Need Direction
2. I Lied
3. Here Comes Your Man

CD2
2. On This Good Night
6. I Need Direction (acoustic)

CD1 is here, and the b-sides of CD2 are here.

Portishead - Over

I'm guessing that this single must have come out between the second LP and the live LP/DVD from Roseland Ballroom NYC, because both of the b-sides are straight off the live recording. 'Humming' is about 20 seconds shorter, but you can't fool me.

If you don't have the live album then they're worth a listen, and if you don't have the a-side then it's definitely worth hearing. If you don't know them at all, perhaps you weren't near a radio or a westcountry in the mid-90s.

John Peel always called them Porti-shed.

1. Over
2. Half Day Closing (live)
3. Humming (live)

Over here.

Spiritualized - Electricity (CD1)

Along with the double a-side thing, with a few exceptions, the other thing I'm not too keen on is live versions of stuff as b-sides. It always seems like a bit of a cop-out to me, but in this case they are awesome. Spiritualized have always been so good live that it's nice to hear it come over on recordings as good as these, and they're such good songs too.

This is off Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, which is one of my favourite albums. I have a friend who bought it in the limited CD pack when it came out, where each track was on an individual 3" CD in a blister pack, like pills. The whole thing is packaged like medicine, with advice on dosage etc. He bought it on normal CD too, as he couldn't bring himself to pop any of the CDs out of the special packaging. I wonder what it's worth now...

1. Electricity (Radio Edit)
2. Take Your Time (Live)
3. All Of My Tears (Live)
4. Cool Waves (Instrumental)

It's here (tm).

Teenage Fanclub - Start Again (CD2)

Ah come on... It's been well over a week, so here's some more Teenage Fanclub. 'Start Again' is one of their finest tracks, I think, and I hope you agree. The covers from this single are both good, particularly the Pastels one. The Pastels hold a special place in my heart, partly for Truckload of Trouble, but also because I saw them in Bristol many, many years ago, and Gerry Love was playing bass. Chatted to him afterwards about how The King isn't very good, and they recorded it in a drunken night to get out of a record deal...

1. Start Again
2. How Many More Years? (originally by Half Japanese, written by Jad Fair and Don Fleming)
3. Nothing To Be Done (originally by the Pastels)

Start Again is here.

Pavement - Carrot Rope (CDs 1 & 2)

Now here's a band who really put the hours in for singles. I reckon that the b-sides, for CD1 at least, are better than the single itself (particularly 'Harness Your Hopes'), but I'll leave you to judge. CD2 gets a bit more rambling - that said, they do ramble better than most. It's no surprise that they're working their way through the back catalogue with 'deluxe editions', which normally reek of cash-in, but in their case are more than justified.

Great stuff, this. Do yourselves a favour...



CD1:
1. Carrot Rope
2. Harness Your Hopes
3. Roll With The Wind


CD2:
1. Carrot Rope
2. The Porpoise And The Hand Grenade
3. Rooftop Gambler

CD1 is here, and CD2 is here.

Tripping Daisy - I Got A Girl

You know what? I'm not sure how much I like this. I know I used to, and listening to it again... Well. Dunno. The a-side is good, but it's very much of its time, if you know what I mean. The cover is great, though, and for that alone it earns its place. Have a listen, see what you think.

Actually, on second 2009 listen (as opposed to many, many 199...5? listens) it's definitely worth an ear. Give it a go. The interesting thing about this lot, which I'd like to pretend to know, but just found out on Wikipedia (so it must be true) is that the singer, bass player and two drummers went on to found the Polyphonic Spree, while a guitarist started The Secret Machines.

1. I Got A Girl
2. Noose
3. Cause Tomb Shop
4. Margarita Tropendzando

Hear here.

Travis - More Than Us E.P.

In true music-snob style, I was only really into these guys' first album (which I own on tape), and so here's a single off it. The main track is alright, if you like that kind of thing, but this one's all about the b-sides. 'Give Me Some Truth' is a storming verson of the Lennon song, 'All I Want To Do Is Rock' features Noel Gallagher on geetar, and 'Funny Thing' brings you Tim Simenon from Bomb The Bass.

This single cost £1.99 from the Virgin Megastore, back in the day.

1. More Than Us
2. Give Me Some Truth
3. All I Want To Do Is Rock
4. Funny Thing

Here you go.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - (Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?

Nothing much needs to be said here. Right now, perhaps my favourite artist. Stunning band, great lyrics... Everything is good. This is from The Boatman's Call, which incidentally has the greatest opening song (with the greatest opening line) I think I've ever heard.

If you have the b-sides and rarities set which came out a few years back, you'll have all of these tracks. If you don't, you're missing out. If you don't know any of his stuff, you're missing out big time and need to get yourself out right now and buy the back catalogue. Now.

1. (Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?
2. Come Into My Sleep
3. Black Hair (Band Version)
4. Babe, I Got You Bad

NC&TBS is right here.

The Folk Implosion - Natural One (CD2)

As you can see, it's from the Kids soundtrack, a film which (among most other good films) I'm ashamed not to have seen. One day. I did watch King Of Comedy recently, though, which is brilliant.

Anyhew, this is Lou Barlow of Sebadoh/Sentridoh/etc., doing some groovy toons which y'all will love. Most of the tracks on Folk Implosion albums I've heard have been similar to this, and it's still more proof that a great songwriter often writes better with other musicians around...

1. Natural One (Original Mix)
2. Cabride
3. Nothing Gonna Stop
4. Simean Groove

More buff Lou Barlow.

The Bluetones - Cut Some Rug

Hey hey. Double a-side, this. But 'Castle Rock' isn't on the first LP, so dunno what's up there. I thought it was. Should have been.

Anyway, much as I don't like double a-sides (except on 7" when it's Careful/Rebound by Sebadoh or Faster/PCP by the Manics), I guess if you don't release the second a-side anywhere else then it's alright. B-side's very good too, as most of the stuff by this band was/is.

1. Cut Some Rug
2. Castle Rock
3. The Devil Behind My Smile.

Here they are.