Just Like Honey

There aren't many songs you could happily sit and listen to 11 times in a row, but here's one that you can. The JustLikeHoney podcast has put together 11 cover versions of the early Jesus & Mary Chain track for a Breast Cancer Care charity record.

The Compilation features Laki Mera, Oh Minnows, Keep Shelly in Athens, We Are Enfant Terrible, Kidcity, The Spruce Campbells, Glisk, Wanda and Wonder, Shark?, Pursesnatchers and Seapony.


You can purchase and listen to it here 

And here is the Laki Mera cover.

Jack White III - Love Interruption

Jack White has announced his first solo LP, Blunderbuss, and the release the first single from it, Love Interruption. You can listen to it here

A Sombre Note: Top 5 Domestic Violence Songs

Domestic abuse is rife in music. Here are my top 5 (and then some).

1.     The Throes – Two Gallants

2.     He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss) – The Crystals

3.      Luka – Suzanne Vega

4.      Fistful Of Love – Anthony & The Johnsons

5.      Woman When I’ve Raised Hell –Josh T. Pearson

Honourable Mention

Behind The Wall – Tracy Chapman

Jim O'Rouke - The Roeg Years

As All Tomorrow’s Parties announce Jim O’Rourke as their I’ll Be Your Mirror Japan 2012 curator, I’ve taken the opportunity to write a few words about his music and the most accessible period of his career.

A few month’s ago, my flatmates asked me if I’d been awoken by the horrific drone from the road works at 6am. After some discussion and clarification, we discovered it was not the unbearable noise of jackhammers, but in fact me… up late (or early, depending on the hours you keep) listening to Happy Days (Revenant, 1998).

They were not amused… But I was!

Yes… after the first 10 minutes it does descend into repetitive looping drones and a cacophony of noise, but it starts out as intricate guitar pick and ends up in the same place and you come to realise it was there throughout. 

The reward most definitely comes from this realisation, but O’Rouke’s career is varied, and with each release comes new challenges, obstacles and most of all enjoyment.

Few artists, are as diverse, exciting and daring as Jim O’Rourke. More a modern composer than a songwriter, his work meanders through a variety of ideas, never settling on a single style or genre. One moment he takes you through an improvisational exploration, the next he’s singing a love song, lyrics ‘n’ all. But as is always the case, what you first hear is never what it seems. Perhaps his most accessible efforts, Insignificance LP (Drag City/Domino 2001) and Halfway To A Threeway EP (Drag City/Domino 1999) at first appear to be his attempts at straight singer-songwriter releases. On closer inspection, they retain all the quirk, improvisation and misleading qualities of his earlier compositions. O’Rourke clearly has a taste for the dark and uneasy. This is immediately apparent from his album titles, several of which are named after, or reference the films of Nicholas Roeg. On these albums he embodies many of the qualities of a Nicholas Roeg film, things never to be taken at face value, the music leading you one way and the lyrics telling a very different story. The title track on Halfway To A Threeway EP (Drag City/Domino 1999) at first comes across as a love song, a letter to a loved one explain a desire to take care and nurture, but as the story unravels you come to realise the true intentions. It is instead a tale of someone taking advantage of the vulnerable, and indulging in sexual fantasies, kinks and fetishes with a disabled subject. The dark lyrics fight against O’Rourke’s beautiful lilting guitar, and you are left thoroughly confused as to your feelings towards the narrator.

In a similar way, on the track Good Times from Insignificance LP (Drag City/Domino 2001) a simple two bar acoustic guitar lick takes us through unexpected confessions of dislike for a character. Musically, the riff adjusts ever so slightly with usually only one note difference on each pass as if an expression of the lyrics, always adjusting our view of the narrator, but only through slight slips in his dialogue. There are many darkly comic and memorable tracks on this album including Memory Lame and It’s All Down Hill From Here that make this a good in for anyone wanting to explore his music. However, this is not a typical example of O’Rourke’s work.

The latest in the “Roeg” series is The Visitor LP (Drag City/Domino 2009), a reference to the album made by David Bowie’s character in the film The Man Who Fell To Earth. The album consists of one 38 minute composition that is far closer to his original efforts before the introduction of vocals. The majority of the piece revolves around a solo acoustic guitar, much of which feels improvisational in the vein of Derek Bailey (clearly a big influence on O’Rourke). Much like Happy Days, it takes one idea and explores it for 40 minutes pushing it to the limits of listening. These works often seem more like experimentation than entertainment, but are they really that different? Unlike Happy Days, The Visitor sticks to the confines of it’s acoustic nature but still pushes in every direction.

Prior to the Roeg period, O’Rourke seemed deeply rooted in experimentation, avant-garde and freeform jazz. The interesting thing is, he never needs to stray far from this, but instead interprets it in more accessible and mainstream packages. I love this run of albums, and think they embody everything his early work explores. It became a fantastic gateway into his vast repertoire and also established themselves as firm favourites that never leave the record player.

Since this period in his career, O’Rourke has set up shop in Japan, and his music certainly seems to have embraced the culture. He has submerged himself back in a world of experimentation with sound and continues to produce exciting new material in his Old News series (Old News, 2011/2012). Today he seems (justly) regarded as a post-classical composer and his work continues to be prolific whether it be album releases, soundtrack composition, collaboration or producing other artists records.

Demona by Grouper

Here is the latest offering from Liz Harris. A cover of Dead Moon's 1989 Demona.

Nick Drake Photography

Here is a link to an article in the Guardian about exhibiting an unearthed Nick Drake recording of 'Cello Song' in the form of a photography project. The comments at the bottom suggest this idea is not everyone's cup of tea, but I think it's great.

Guardian Article

50 Good Listens

The newly revised Top 50 Albums:

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan (1963)

Revolver - The Beatles (1966)

Axis: Bold As Love - Jimi Hendrix (1967)

Ogden's Nut Gone Flake - The Small Faces (1968)

The Beatles - The Beatles (1968)

Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin (1969)

Scott 4 - Scott Walker (1969)

L.A Woman - The Doors (1970)

After The Goldrush - Neil Young (1970)

Hunky Dory - David Bowie (1971)

Transformer - Lou Reed (1972)

Darkside Of The Moon - Pink Floyd (1973)

Solid Air - John Martyn (1973)

Small Change - Tom Waits (1975)

Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan (1975)

Rumours - Fleetwood Mac (1977)

Back In Black - AC/DC (1980)

Graceland - Paul Simon (1986)

Appetite For Destruction - Guns N' Roses (1987)

Daydream Nation - Sonic Youth (1988)

I'm Your Man - Leonard Cohen (1988)

Doolittle - Pixies (1989)

Spiderland - Slint (1991)

Gish - The Smashing Pumpkins (1991)

Loveless - My Bloody Valentine (1991)

Screamadelica - Primal Scream (1991)

Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine (1992)

Dry - PJ Harvey (1992)

Selected Ambient Works 85-92 - Aphex Twin (1993)

Gentlemen - The Afghan Whigs (1993)

Grace - Jeff Buckley (1994)

Dummy - Portishead (1994)

After Murder Park - The Auteurs (1996)

Endtroducing... - DJ Shadow (1996)

Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space - Spiritualized (1997)

Brighten The Corners - Pavement (1997)

In An Aeroplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel (1998)

Good Morning Spider - Sparklehorse (1998)

Come On Die Young - Mogwai (1999)

Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea - PJ Harvey (2000)

Insignificance - Jim O'Rourke (2001)

Rounds - Four Tet (2003)

Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (2004)

i - Magnetic Fields (2004)

I Am Not Afraid Of You & I Will Beat Your Ass - Yo La Tengo (2006)

In Rainbows - Radiohead (2007)

Ivori Palms - Peter & The Wolf (2007)

Street Horrrsing - Fuck Buttons (2008)

When The Haar Rolls In - James Yorkston (2008)

Last of The Country Gentlemen - Josh T. Pearson (2011)

Golden Voice Returns! - Old Ideas by Leonard Cohen

First Listen:

This album is superb. I'm glad to hear it sound more like 'The Future' and 'Ten Songs' than 'Dear Heather'. It works wonderfully with his recent touring 'gentlemen' persona and I much prefer it to the ageing lothario turn on 'Dear Heather' which felt a bit seedy.

The highlights are many, but lyrically 'Going Home' and 'Come Healing' stand out. His delivery on 'Anyhow' has an almost Zappa-like quality. Musically, there is plenty of variety. 'Show me the place' starts with a gospel style piano but eventually sinks into a sound reminiscent of Tom Waits, before settling back into familiar territory with the help of the Webb sisters. The more 'Future' like elements come in the form of 'Darkness', 'Banjo' and the albums closer ' Different Sides'.

Obviously few albums are free from flaws. For me the biggest clangers on this album are the name and the horrendous artwork! 'Old Ideas' is a weak album title. It should have been called...

'Leonard Cohen: Sportsman, Shepherd, Lazy Bastard Living in a Suit'