Archives for May 2010

STUART BAILIE

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Mondays, ten - midnight

Hank Ballard - Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go (Gusto)

The Divine Comedy - The Lost Art Of Conversation (DCR)

Jonathan Richman - Dancin' Late At Night (Rounder)

Villagers - That Day (Domino)

Paul Weller - Find The Torch To Burn The Plans (Island)

The Wailers - Small Axe (Island)

Cherry Ghost - Kissing Strangers (Heavenly)

The Handsome Family - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Loose)

Johnny Flynn - Churlish May (Transgressive)

Alejandro Escovedo - Anchor (Fantasy)

Flatt And Scruggs - Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (Righteous)

Karen Elson - The Truth Is In The Dirt (XL)

Grosvenor - Taxi From The Airport (Lore)

Second hour: Neil Hannon's Indie Disco

The Divine Comedy - At The Indie Disco (DCR)

The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead (Rough Trade)

Soft Cell - Tainted Love (Some Bizzare)

Depeche Mode - Just Cain't Get Enough (Mute)

The Pixies - Here Comes Your Man (4ad)

Stone Roses - Fools Gold (Silvertone)

My Bloody Valentine - Soon (Creation)

Blur - There's No Other Way (Food)

The Cure - Forest (Fiction)

Wannadies - You And Me Song (Indolent)

Ash - Oh Yeah (Infectious)

New Order - Blue Monday (Factory)

So my youngest children are footering around on the internet and they fetch up this half-familiar recording. It's an old classic from back in the day, but shockingly drained of vim and fun and bravado. It takes me a minute to guess the provenance of the tune. Hold on, is this 'Dancing With Myself'?

Yes it is, but not as the old folks know it. They may have jolted their punk rock joints around to this in 1980, when Generation X were making one of their last declarative statements. The singer was Billy Idol, he of the peroxide flat-top and the perma-curl lip. Billy had been part of the Bromley Contingent, who had followed the Sex Pistols around in the early days. He was already willing himself into a cartoon rebel, but there was still some value in the transition.

Now here's a rotten version of the song from the Glee series. I'm not a habitual viewer, but it seems like something lightweight and repellent. The cast can do what they want with a silly old Voyager tune, but hey children, leave our punk alone.

So the next time I'm driving the family in the car, I make them listen to Generation X. They look confused, and say they prefer the Glee version. I am appalled.

"But the Glee version is great," they argue. "It has a guy in a wheelchair and everything."

I tell them about Billy Idol and his careless ways on a motorbike - resulting in a in a mangled leg that obliged the rocker to perform on crutches for a while. They seem impressed, but not converted.

Thus emboldened, I zip forward a few tracks on the punk compilation. I play them Splodgenessabounds, another Bromley combo with their anthemic plea, 'Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please'. This is their turn to look aghast.

"That's not real music!" they wail.

Some day, they will understand.

If you're a bit fortunate and if you have some gravity in your soul, then the world might afford you a theme song. Frank Sinatra signed off with 'My Way', John Peel took 'Teenage Kicks' to the grave with him, and my grandfather had 'Far Away Places'.

He would sing it at Christmas parties, times when the family was together and the company was fine. The other folk would do parlour songs like 'My Old Irish Home' but when my granddad sang, it was different.

Hammy Simpson served 27 years in the Royal Irish Rifles. As a Sergeant Major, he took on the Nazis in North Africa and there were tours of India and Burma, the Middle East and Europe. He would occasionally talk of the Eighth Army, or Montgomery and Rommel, but mostly he kept his own counsel and we didn't hear nearly enough.

So when he sang 'Far Away Places' it was a hint of his life. The song had been released by Bing Crosby in 1948, as the dust was settling from the war. It's about the call of the exotic, about Siam and China and Spain. It's the story of a guy that has lived a rich life. His roaming days might be over, but still there is the romance of the journey.

I remember my granddad as he prepared to leave the shipyard. He had bruises on his shins and the tattoo of a lady on his arm. He was a big-hearted fella and he watched me play with my Airfix soldiers with some amusement.

Then one day he presented me with a little Bakelite tube. The top came off and there was a thin spoon attached to the lid. This, he explained, was for greasing his rifle. And then he told me a bit about a place called Dunkirk in France, and how the allies had to leave from there to escape the advancing Germans.

Everyone threw their weapons away before getting onto the relief ships. But Hammy kept his little tube and here he was, 30 years later, giving it to me. I was probably 10 at the time and I understood little of the significance of that moment. And my heart is sore because I lost that gift some time after. A priceless reminder from a far away place.

Jimmy Webb wrote a load of epic songs about loners and outcasts and the strength of character it takes to keep at it. The ultimate would be 'Wichita Lineman' and 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix'. But there's nothing lightweight about 'Highwayman' and I've got a personal delight in hearing the regal regret of 'Do What You Gotta Do' by The Four Tops. That's an entire blog in itself.

And then there's 'Galveston'. Back in the day, I used to think that the lyric was about an imminent suicide, as the soldier cleans his gun and sounds desperately sad. Yet when Jimmy Webb played Belfast in 2005, he put a completely different spin on the song, explaining that it was about the Spanish-American War of 1898. Effectively, the soldier is missing his girl and the shores of his native Texas, aware that the conflict might wipe out his chances at any time.

The Sparklehorse version appeared on a Loose Records compilation, 'New Sounds Of The Old West, Volume Three'. He strips the sound down to the most wretched elements, and the pain never relents. And with the recent passing of Mark Linkhous, it hurts even more.

STUART BAILIE

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Mondays, ten - midnight

Playlist 24.05.10

Lou Reed - Perfect Day (RCA)

Band Of Horses - Laredo (Columbia)

Woodenbox With A Fistful Of Fivers - Fistful Of Fivers (Electric Honey)

Generation X - Dancing With Myself (Chrysalis)

Silhouette - Volume Destroyed (VM)

Seven Summits - Ben (white)

Norman Blake - Ajimina (Rounder)

The Farriers - The Last Long Evening (session)

John Grant - I Wanna Go To Mars (Bella Union)

Unkle - Follow Me Down (All Surrender)

Paul Weller - Aim High (Island)

Band Of Horses - Factory (Columbia)

Divine Comedy - Tonight We Fly (session)

Ariel's Pink Haunted Graffiti - Bright Lit Blues Skies (4ad)

Norman Blake - 50 Miles Of Elbow Room (Rounder)

Rolling Stones - Let It Loose (Rolling Stones)

Band Of Horses - Blue Beard (Columbia)

Sparklehorse - Galveston (Loose)

Aaron Shanley - Someone To Take Care Of (White Mountain)

Rod Demick, Herbie Armstrong - That's What Friends Are Made For (MAM)

Villagers - Ship Of Promises (Domino)

Karen Elson - The Ghost Who Walks (XL)

Divine Comedy - Down In The Street Below (DCM)

The Mynabirds- Numbers Don't Lie (Saddle Creek)

A friend of mine had a dream last week. It took place at a frenetic party, and in one of the corners, there I was, with an easel, a clatter of paint, and a something rather impressive taking place on the canvas. From what I understand, it was more Jackson Pollock than Rolf Harris, with dramatic sprays of colour and some kind of implied passion.

Pretty flattering, I guess. But apparently I was also conducting a media interview with a mature lady who was seated beside me. Between dramatic brushstrokes, I was hurling these profound questions at my subject. Sheets of meaning were revealed and an audience had gathered to watch this barmpot spectacle. In time, it was revealed that the lady was the mother of someone quite famous, and so the drama took an extra spin.

What does this mean? I guess if I wanted to take the positive, I would imagine that the dream is some kind of commentary on my multi-tasking fever, keeping a series of projects spinning and sustaining. Alternately, I may be a dreadful old drama queen, constantly looking for reassurance and prestige.

Still it wasn't even the strangest dream I've featured in. Back in school, a mate confessed that I had made a cameo appearance in one of his nightmares. He was getting fresh with a lady friend when he looked around, the attractive girl's face had morphed into mine. My school pal was cleared bothered by this, and he wasn't sure if he should have told me about it. Actually, it's not an image that I'd like to dwell on myself...

I've seen most episodes of BBC's 'I'm In A Rock And Roll Band' and the value has been considerable. It wasn't a huge shock to be informed that drummers are habitually bonkers. But the recent survey of bass players has delivered extra interest.

Back in the day, I served on the four string machine. For much of the time, I used a dodgy bass guitar from Flood's in Smithfield Market Belfast. The sound was awful, but I had sprayed it the sweetest shade of lime green. A few years later I had graduated to a Fender Precision, but frankly, it was wasted on me.

My model had been Paul Simonon from The Clash. He was no virtuoso, but he played the root notes and added a boogie flourish. However, he was a magnificent poseur and he constantly mainlined the spirit of rock and roll.

On the other hand there was Mark King from Level 42. He played the bass high up on his chest and he slapped the strings with his thumb, which was reportedly insured for a million pounds. He looked silly.

In the BBC doc, we learned with Peter Hook from New Order has damaged the vertebrae at the top of his spine. His doctor couldn't work out the problem until Hookey showed that guy how he performs - instrument down by his ankles, powering those memorable phrases like a bearded berserker. Bad for the spine, but essential for the bassline.

'Exile On Main Street' has been a favorite Rolling Stones record for a long time. You surely know the form by now. Artfully sloppy blues, soul and gospel - recorded as a knowing mess. The band was down but not defeated, lost in a fug of substance overload, ill-advised friends and business havoc. Somewhere along the way there was a flight to

southern France, and a series of sessions that defined the Stones as loving curators of the music. Ultimately, that's all they had, that grain of belief.

The reissue is exciting in that 10 unreleased tracks are now in the public domain. A couple of these may have been tinkered with more recently, but the stand-outs are doused in that original spirit. The guitars glimmer, the vocals are astonishing and the mood is like nothing we're heard in decades. The Black Crowes, Kings Of Leon, Thee Hypnotics and a thousand other contenders have sought to re-ferment that sound, but it's a unique element in time.

There's a deluxe box set that I'll not think about owning or affording. The music seems to be the same, but the presentation is cute and there's the addition of the Robert Frank documentary film. I've seen the bootleg version which is apparently longer and more graphic that the legit release. It's intense, but possibly not worth the cost of admission.

STUART BAILIE

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Mondays, ten - midnight

Playlist 17.05.10

Rolling Stones - Shine A Light (Rolling Stones)

Dan Sartain - I Don't Wanna Go To Yhe Party (One Little Indian)

The The - This Is the Day (Epic)

General Fiasco - I'm Not Made Of Eyes (Infectious)

Manchester Orchestra - Here Comes A Hot One (Sony)

General Fiasco - Buildings (Infectious)

Darwin Deez - Radar Detector (Lucky Number)

Rolling Stones - Plundered My Soul (Rolling Stones)

Avett Brothers - Head Full Of Doubt (American)

The Payments - Brand New Automobile (T Bird)

Harper Simon - Whishes And Stars (Tulsi)

Billy Bass - I Need Your Love So Bad (Philly Groove)

Rolling Stones - Pass The Wine (Sophia Loren) (Rolling Stone)

Silhouette - Volume Destroyed (VM)

Black Keys - Never Gonna Give You Up (V2)

Baker Knight - Whose Little Baby Are You (T Bird)

Gorillaz - Empire Ants (Parlophone)

Villagers - Set The Tigers Free (Domino)

Rolling Stones - Following The River (Rolling Stones)

Unkle, Mark Lenagan - Another Night Out (Surrender All)

The Hold Steady - Weekenders (Rough Trade)

Kowalski - Letters From The Height Of Summer (white)

AlexCuba - if YouGive Me Love Carocol)

Burning Codes - Codes Are Innate (white)

If you're not particularly keen on the idea of photography as art, then do check out this lovely BBC feature on Henri Cartier Bresson.

The Frenchman was hip to all the painterly ideas, especially geometry. And while he came from a posh family and could be rather haughty when the mood took him, he was also bulging with humanity.

After all, he had escaped from a prisoner of war camp during the war, and experienced many privations. He then travelled the world, detailing the big struggles, the small epiphanies and the moments when the universe seems to react to situations with a cosmic smile. So he could show a sunrise over the Himalayas or a little kid with a stick of bread, and they would both reveal something.

I saw an exhibition of his workbooks in New York two years ago, but this new show seems to detail a lifetime of stunning work, including some rare images. Historians may argue that Andre Kertesz was the daddy of street Zen photography, but HCB elevated that idea, and routinely delivered wonders.

August 24, 1994 and Jeff Buckley is set to play The Limelight in Belfast. In the usual manner, a few simple requests have been sent to the venue in advance, asking for towels, food and some refreshments for the artist. In music biz parlance, this is the rider. Some of the more uppity acts will make absurd demands, but Jeff and his band don't need so much. Although 20 assorted sodas would be nice.

After the soundcheck, they look around their dressing room for the soft drinks they had requested. Maybe a few Cokes, a Sprite or a Fanta. They ask for their sodas and an employee happily points to a table overladen with Ormeau bakery's finest.

"There y'go... bacon sodas, cheese sodas, ham sodas, egg sodas, the lot."

Language issues, eh? Apparently they got over the confusion and enjoyed the food. And the next morning, the band were duly presented with a stash of fresh soda farls for the journey back.

It's a great story, and it was just one of the amusing anecdotes that were delivered by David Neely and Ciaran Smyth, custodians of CDC Leisure, who base their business on the Ormeau Ave strip: The Limelight, Katy Daly's and The Spring & Airbrake. They are part of the Belfast lore, the gigs that featured The Strokes, Oasis, Mercury Rev, the Manics, Ash, Therapy and Snow Patrol.

Many of the aforementioned are now celebrated on the venue walls; a fresh exhibition, legendary names and a testament to the value of a quality gig.

After the general election of 1992, when John Major kept the Conservative party in charge for another term, the left wing media folk were depressed. This was certainly true for the young hacks at the New Musical Express, a publication that had campaigned for Labour values throughout the Eighties and which had harboured a Socialist Worker's Party tendency for much of that. Where to now?

Enter Steven Wells, otherwise known as Swells, a mouthy, amusing and intelligent soul from Bradford. He would not be beaten and with a great rash of ingenuity, he delivered an alternate rock and roll story that compared the great moments of pop culture with the incumbent political parties. He concluded that rock and roll and the counter culture that feeds it are nearly always better under a Conservative government.

His rationale is that there's a common enemy, a reason to be exiled from the mainstream, a mandate to rebel against. It was classic Swells and people in the office were laughing at his cracked logic and twisted chronologies. But of course we ran it, and the readers responded with enthusiasm.

The kicker to the story was Tony Blair's election five years later. Pretty soon, Oasis were hanging out at Number 10 and there was an odd befriending of rock and roll. It didn't last of course and the NME followed up with a cover image of Blair and the headline 'Ever Get The Feeling You're Been Cheated?'

To extend the Swells theory, it would follow that music culture is going to have to earn its alternative stripes again. No bad thing, surely.

I saw John Fahey at the Elmwood Hall in Belfast, 1999. It was only a few years later that I appreciated his legendary value. There he was, in a baggy T-shirt that failed to flatter his pendulous chest. The beard was long and white and unfortunately the grey marl shorts were too short and too wide. A sudden shift in posture was akin to 'Basic Instinct' for mad people.

John didn't care, of course. Instead, he started improvising and ignoring the audience's implied interest in his fine catalogue - Delta blues with hints of free jazz and avant pluckings. Nope, this was off the menu for the first half of the show, which rambled merrily and minus any kind of discernible pattern. So I went home early. Apparently the second half was better. Either way, it was the chance to witness a ferociously artistic individual and I gave him less shrift than was politely due.

STUART BAILIE

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Mondays, ten - midnight

Playlist 10.05.10

Lee Dorsey - Four Corners (Soul Jazz)

The Magic Theatre - Summer Sun (Roto Disc)

The La's - Timeless Melody (Go! Dsics)

Band Of Horses - Compliments (Columbia)

Elizabeth Cook -Blackland Farmer (Proper)

John Fahey - Atlantic High (Rounder)

Johnny Flynn - The Water (Transgressive)

The Triffids - Save What You Can (Domino)

Captain Kennedy - Sweetest Friend (white)

Tracey Thorne - Why Does The Wind (Buzzin Fly)

Dan Sartain - Ruby Carrot (One little Indian)

The Persuasions - Ain't That Good News (Rounder)

Lone Wolf - Keep Your Eyes On The Road (Bella Union)

Carly Simon - Why (Arista)

Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn (Kitsune)

Johnny Flynn - Kentucky Pill (Transgressive)

Los Lobos - The Road To Gila Bend (EMI)

Villagers - To Be Counted Among Men (Domino)

Jacques Brel - Quand on a que l'Amour (Not Now)

Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu (Strut)

Eric Bell - Belfast Blues (Vinnie Lombardo)

Dylan Leblanc - If Time Was For Wasting (Rough Trade)

Daniel Lanois - The Maker (Opal)

Mary Gauthier - Mama Here Mama Gone (Proper)

NI Soul Troop - Jeckyl And Hyde (white)

Oscar Peterson - Wave (GTV)

Greil Marcus is the daddy of pretentious rock journalism. He was at it for Rolling Stone in the early days and then committed it to book form with 'Rock Will Stand' and most famously 'Mystery Train' in 1975. It's still a blinder of a read - measuring American singers and writers against the cultural heavyweights. The book deals with Elvis, Sly Stone, Randy Newman and The Band, and filters them into a critical method that consciously echoes a literary tome, 'The Mind Of The South' by WJ Cash.

After that was his punk story, 'Lipstick Traces', which puts The Sex Pistols into a tour of seditionary characters across history. 'Dead Elvis' was a fun discourse on the survival of a legend. Also, there was 'Invisible Republic', a journey into the phantoms of folk music and "the old, weird America" which has sucked in Dylan, Mercury Rev and more. That effectively prepped our imagination for 'Like A Rolling Stone', a small but potent read about the Bob song.

Common rock lore tells us that the aforementioned lyric is Dylan's response to a messy relationship with the Factory acolyte Edie Sedgwick. But Greil won't have that at all. He relies on his own imaginative response, which is the compass for so much of his writing.

Hence a Greil anthology called 'Listening To Van Morrison'. It gets a UK release in June but you can order the US import called 'When That Rough God Goes Riding'. It dispenses with the often-told biography and fires up the creativity instead. The last couple of Van books were forensic and hugely detailed, but not really able to articulate the pure frisson of prime-time Morrison, venting, rhapsodising and freewheeling.

And that's where Greil displays his best qualities, circling 'Astral Weeks', unfurling his own ciphers and significance. The prose is purple, the ideas go riffing like a jazz fiend and he has this signature device of ending a sweet passage on a register that's wilfully away from the key note. Fans of Irish traditional music will know exactly what that means, but I've never met it in mere music writing before Greil.

I reviewed the book on William Crawley's Book Show on Radio Ulster on Sunday. The book was twinned with a Chopin biography by Adam Zamoiski. This takes a very different steer, writing about the composer in a dry style - aiming to rescue the artist's life from overblown appraisals and melodrama. Adam has a point, but I still prefer the Greil thing.

I was talking to Neil Hannon yesterday about the new Villagers album and he started beaming with approval. While I had been taken with the sound of the record (the rich melancholia of Jacques Brel, the orchestral shimmer of Marvin Gaye's 'Trouble Man'), Neil was elated by the lyrics of Conor J O'Brien. And yes, those words, ideas and sentiments are supreme.

Apparently there had been some behind-the-scenes issues about Conor's business steer. Cool indie label or corporate shaker? He had chosen the former. Meantime, poor Cathy Davey was now minus a great guitarist as her sidekick was now a front person and a singular one at that.

It was a pleasure to see Neil lit up as a pure fan. Meantime, a first listen to his new album, 'Bang Goes The Knighthood' reveals much charm, humour, lyrical flight and emotional import. We should never take him for granted.

Reggie Chamberlian King made his monthly appearance on the radio show, building his case for an artist whose reputation may be undervalued. This time it was Yoko Ono, who has copped so much abuse over the years. She was of course blamed for the demise of The Beatles, but the writer Albert Goldman took the contempt to a monumental level with his Lennon biography. Reggie was more interested in Yoko's connection to the New York art scene, well ahead of her meeting John. Hence the 'Bottoms' film, the art statements inside bags and beds and the propensity to get her kit off at regular intervals.

I'll never be persuaded that when Yoko made barking sounds during John's performance of 'Hound Dog' that it was of any use at all. But a cursory listen to 'Walking On Thin Ice' will reveal a song and a sound that has become de rigeur with the young folk, while her recent collaboration with son Sean is also evidence for an artistic mind that sometimes turns mere pop music into something more remarkable.

STUART BAILIE

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Mondays, ten - midnight

Playlist 03.05.10

Fats Domino - Please Don't Leave Me (Imperial)

Ash - Binary (Atomic Heart)

She And Him - Over It Over Again (Double Six)

Vampire Weekend - Holiday (XL)

Yoko One profile, featuring:

The Plastic One Band - Give Peace A Chance (Parlophone)

Yoko Ono - Mrs Lennon (Rykodisc)

Plastic Ono Band - Listen The Snow Is Falling (Parlophone)

Yoko Ono - Walking On Thin Ice (Parlophone)

Yoko Ono - Between My Head And The Sky (Chimera)

The Divine Comedy - At The Indie Disco (Divine Comedy)

Villagers - The Day (Domino)

Rolling Stones - Happy (Rolling Stones)

Southern Tennant Folk Union - Holding On (Jonny Rock)

Gogol Bordello - Pala Tute (American)

Cathy Davey - Little Red (Hammer Toe)

Operator Please - Back And Forth (Brille)

Eddie And The Hot Rods - Do Anything You Wanna Do (UA)

Villagers- Home (Domino)

John Shelley And The Creatures - Killer (JSC)

Tracey Thorne - Oh The Divorces (Strange Feeling)

Bonobo - We Could Forever (Ninja Tune)

Eels - Little Bird (E Works)

Karen Elson - The Ghost Who Walks XL)

Martin Simpson - Wash In The Beautiful Pool (Gourd)

The Acorn - Restoration (Bella Union)

The Chieftains and Ry Cooder - The Sands Of Mexico (Universal)

Laura Marling - Goodbye England (Virgin)

Gene Vincent - Wedding Bells (Poppy Discs)

James Yuill - On Your Own (Moshi Moshi)

Villagers - Pieces (Domino)

May 22 will see Derry combo The Wonder Villains playing One Big Weekend in Bangor, Wales. It's another excellent turn in a story that has found them supporting Scouting for Girls and the New Young Pony Club, playing live on BBC's 'Headspace' online broadcast, selling many CDs and dispatching their tenth podcast, full of bright spirits and keyboards with wonky keys.

The band have been supported from the get-go by Stephen McAuley at Radio Foyle and Rory McConnell from Radio 1, as well as the ATL team. Now there is English management involved, bold plans for the remainder of 2010 and seemingly, no dent in the band's shiny self-possession. We hope, with good reason, that things will remain thus..

Ricky Warwick is an interesting soul. His cultural references include Axl Rose, Ciaran Carson, Terry Bradley and Glentoran Football Club. During his time with The Almighty, he was a Kerrang! cover star and he delivered eight singles into the UK Top 40. These days, he's making progress as a roots rocker, drawing on the American troubadours while searching for a mythology that's closer to home.

Last night, he was amplified and wholly committed to an event called 'Time To Be Proud'. It was a gathering in Belfast to celebrate the legacy of our punk era, and the new contenders who have taken something from the tradition. In Ricky's case, it was the chance to sing 'Alternative Ulster' by Stiff Little Fingers. The boy has often played testament to the life-changing potential of SLF and so he brought it home with maximum commitment. The guitar line resonated, the lyrics were refocused and he was joined on stage by Buck from The Defects, who were also in raucous form and happy to find fresh value in songs like 'Brutality'. Ace entertainment.