In her eyes, in her eyes

Really being drawn to a lot of 60′s Nuggets and Psychedelic rock recently (as well as proto-punk) – was checking out the 100 Records That Set Fire To The World (Not – as the The Wire article pointed out – these are their ‘great lost classics’) after frenchbloke linked to a follow-up on Twitter.

Working through the list and it’s surprising what I like – I think I knew of Bob Graettinger’s work with Stan Kenton, I was definitely aware of the myth, but City of Glass/Thermoplyae is an amazingly mad work, a Big Band Jazz Band goes modern classical, atonal, strange. Not a fan of Jazz (a lot of the free/modern jazz in this list can go twiddle elsewhere) but I kind of like this. I think.

Other ones new to me are Son House (well sort of – as an avid radio listener you tend to get the likes of Son House always played on 6Music or Radio 3 etc – Andy Kershaw just wouldn’t leave Son House alone years back, and sure John Peel played him regularly too) and Dr John’s early stuff where he’s not all Dixie Bow-Tie Nawlins tribute act but doing the swampy hoodoo thing, a bit variable in the fashion of overlong Fela Kuti length ‘jams’ but mostly I like.

On the psych tip so far we have Pearls Before Swine (bagpipes? In psych rock? Woah) and the above “The United States of America’ who have just the right level of Radiophonic swoopage and acid-fry lyrics, reminds me of White Noise. Through the Rabbit Hole, indeed.

Currently at 1969…will delve further, it’s like an exploration into musics I rarely listen to.

EDIT: And Phil Ochs…love Rehearsals for Retirement (the song) but this one is too deliciously true not to post – Love Me, I’m A Liberal. Funny but also says in song what I’ve been trying to say to/about Liberals for years…

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RC 216: Pop Is Dead 1 – Radio Musicola

I started the Pop Is Dead mix back in 2004 or 2005 – yes 7 or 8 years in the making! Finally got round to doing it, and I’ve collected so many songs about the music industry that I decided to do a series of shows about the State of the Music Industry – starting with my favourite subject: radio and especially the dumbing down and computerised playlists of music stations. Starting with the commercial and local stations in the 70′s and 80′s was  the rise of the playlist and the DJ not having track selection choice.

Now in the digital age we have the same repetitive stale format being copied endlessly by corporate megaliths and the music being as disposable as the products advertised between the songs, safe ‘classics’ and golden oldies, inane chatter and local radio blether.

And sadly it’s spread to the non-commercial BBC stations so Radio 1, 2 et al are also playlist/genre crazy and ruled by producers and committee. The last of the truly freeform DJs are being sacked, have died or are on digital stations or relegated to very late night on public broadcasters who have to have the odd token cred DJ – John Peel would spin in his grave. And sadly the music industry is complicit – feeding lazy X-Factor slush and corporate blandie to these playlists. Radio 1 originally and 1Xtra now might exist to provide an alternative to the pirates, but really it mostly doesn’t cut it.

So here’s an audio fight back against the playlist and dumb music radio programming (this is why the podcast is called Radio Clash – did you guess?) with a lot of interruptions from bad commercials, subverted jingles, George Carlin, Victor Lewis Smith, Whispering Bob Harris, Chris Morris and loads of hiss…

The One And Only One for You… (2:05 112Mb)

or listen on Mixcloud

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New Order 6Music playlist help

Looks like Now Playing on Friday is doing a New Order special and via Friend of Radio Clash (I should make Tshirts saying that) Jeb 50PoundNote I’ve heard they want input from New Order fans what to play…links in quite nicely with their recent Kraftwerk specials too, I bet – and New Order have some dates later in the year so the Troxy gig which I went to in December wasn’t a one-off! Hooky won’t be pleased though.

So who’s going to be brave enough to vote in The Happy One? Go on, I know you want to…or the Xmas Flexi LOL. Someone recently on YouTube or FB was denying it was them…yes it was!

My list Goes. A. little. Something. Like. This.

  • New Order — Cries and Whispers and
    New Order – Procession – along with Cries and Whispers it was the first time I ‘got’ New Order was more than Blue Monday…and lead into Joy Division for me.
    New Order – Regret, as a comeback track it bode well for Republic and a great TOTP performance. Shame Factory didn’t survive…
    New Order – Elegia – shows the Philip Glass influence
    New Order – Don’t Do It – some of the best New Order tracks were B-sides!
    New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle (Richard X remix) – was going to play this at Ian’s wedding. Ace remix of an amazing track, hard call to improve it but he did.
    Klein + M.B.O – Dirty Talk one of the four tracks that inspired Blue Monday, a great track in it’s own right
    Sylvester – You Make Me Feel Might Real – ditto
    New Order – Turn The Heater On (Peel Session) – a great Peel session and shows their love of dub, 5-8-6 from this session is probably better than the PCR version
    Section 25 – Looking from a Hilltop (Remix) – a remix by Bernard Sumner who also produced Section 25 track, proto-acid house years before Phuture but of course Factory never released it til years after. DOH!
    New Order – Hurt – ace tune and love the Bis cover too.
    New Order – Homage – this is a strange one, I heard it on a really bad bootleg tape years back, it’s now out there in decent quality via the Western Works 1980 demos, oddly it was recorded but never released.

So what’s yours? (to them, not me! Well copied here if you want…)

I almost added the Stephen Morris version of Truth off said Western Works demo, always preferred that to the album version. Hell all the demos and B-sides are better than Movement! *thwack sound of Jeb hitting me* OWW! It is! It is! ;-)

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John Peel’s Shed

This is one for those of you in the UK, but over Xmas (until the 28th) you have to listen to John Peel’s Shed – wonderfully touching story about the transformative effect of radio and specifically a box of records won from John Peel’s Shed in 2002. I think a lot of people have been inspired to do radio or music cos of Peel – certainly this podcast and blog wouldn’t exist without him.

If you listen to one piece of radio this year, or have never listened to Radio 4 in your life you have to listen to this. It’s beautiful and moving and appropriately isn’t really about John Peel – and even talks about Resonance FM! And kitkats on trains…the wedding part made me tear up in the street. It’s that good. (via Bryan Flying White Dots – thanks for bringing it to my attention!)

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