Peter's Power Pop

Song of the day: Celadore - "Distance Is A Gun"

2012-03-01T06:00:00.000+10:30

Here's Australian band Celadore with the title track of their Distance Is A Gun EP:

Celadore - "Distance Is A Gun" (2010)
Distance Is A Gun by Celadore

Apparently, the band like playing in forests. I have a (possibly impertinent) question for them: When you're playing in forests, where does the electricity come from?

Whilst looking for links to the band, I came across an article in Beat Magazine that seemed to me to have an oddly worded introductory paragraph:

"It can be a long road to success in the music industry, but for Melbourne based indie-pop group, Celadore, a lack of drive won't stop them. Nor will a lack of talent."

Maybe it's just me, but I think the article's author is implying Celadore has no drive or talent.

By the way, here's the band pestering a Beatles song:

Celadore official website
Celadore on Facebook
Celadore on MySpace
Celadore on Twitter

Song of the day: Field Music - "A New Town"

2012-02-29T06:00:00.000+10:30

I was all set to play you a swag of Australian songs this week (I already have posts ready to go that feature very Australian songs), but before that I'm going to sneak in a song by Field Music. It's because I've finally gotten around to listening to the band's latest album, Plumb.

Although I had pre-ordered Plumb, and the little beastie arrived a couple of weeks ago (thanks for the prompt delivery, Memphis Industries!), I hadn't heard it until now because I'd been in the grip of a huge Split Enz phase. I decided to exert some willpower and have a break from my Enzarama by listening to Plumb. (The CD was sitting on my desk for all that time, just looking at me, and not being played. What could I do?)

Now that I've heard it, I can give you a mini-review of Plumb:

It'll stretch your brain.

I'm going to designate today as Field Music Day*, because the band appears in both of today's posts – this Song of the day and the latest Musical coincidence (see below).

To celebrate Field Music Day, here's a song from Plumb:

Field Music - "A New Town" (2012)

"A New Town" is available on Field Music's website (and for free – woohoo!). Apparently, the song has been available there for quite a while (making this post pretty redundant). I didn't know about it because as soon as I pre-ordered Plumb I studiously avoided seeing or hearing anything associated with it until I had the album and could hear it in its entirety.

Incidentally, the Field Music chaps said in an interview that the album cover was inspired by artist Edward Ruscha's Standard Station, which looks a little like this:

(From The Museum of Modern Art)

It looks to me like it might have also inspired this album artwork by Australian band The Valery Trails:

Or maybe not.

Field Music official website
Field Music on Facebook
Field Music on Twitter
Memphis Industries

(*As opposed to Field Day, a splendid album by Marshall Crenshaw.)

Musical coincidences # 185

2012-02-29T05:55:00.000+10:30

I was listening to "Is This The Picture?", one of the songs on Field Music's new album, Plumb (see Song of the day above), when a little guitar lick appeared towards the end of it that sounded a little familiar. When it was repeated it sounded a lot more familiar, but I couldn't quite figure out what it reminded me of. However, when that guitar lick appeared for the third time, my brain went "That's it!". This is why my brain exclaimed so heartily:

Field Music - "Is This The Picture?" (2012) (excerpt)

Link

10cc - "Don't Hang Up" (1976) (excerpt)

Link

Thanks, Field Music chaps, for reminding me of 10cc, one of my favourite bands of the 1970s.

Here are the full versions:

Field Music - "Is This The Picture?" (2012)

Link

10cc - "Don't Hang Up" (1976)

Link

Song of the day: ABC - "Hey Citizen!"

2012-02-28T06:00:00.000+10:30

I'm not entirely sure why, but I feel the need to apologise for the haphazard nature of the recent posts on this blog. I frequently think that this blog should just focus on Australian power pop (it is its raison d'être after all), but I'm continually interrupting that thought with non-Australian, non-power-pop songs. Unfortunately for you, here comes another one...

I was reading a blog a few days ago (I've forgotten which blog) that said something about something (I've forgotten what exactly). Nevertheless, the post reminded me of ABC, the 80's band that had all those ~~wonderful~~ ~~dreadful~~ ~~witty~~ ~~cheesy~~ ~~wry~~ hits ("Poison Arrow", "The Look Of Love", "All Of My Heart" etc) from The Lexicon Of Love, an album I thoroughly enjoyed owning on vinyl.

As I was reminiscing about ABC, I remembered that I also had their second album (Beauty Stab) and I really liked it as well. (I also remember liking that second album because it was more guitar-centric and focused less on synthesizers.)

There was one particular song on it that I thought was the cat's whiskers. Here 'tis:

ABC - "Hey Citizen!" (1983)

Link

What originally drew me to that song was the guitar part. The overall production is ultra-slick, but I still love that guitar part, as well as its sound. (I wouldn't have minded it being more forward in the mix – maybe even drowning out the other instruments.)

I must admit that, after listening to The Lexicon Of Love and Beauty Stab again, I'm still diggin' ABC.

As a bonus (or punishment, depending on how you feel about ABC), here's another track from Beauty Stab:

ABC - "Bite The Hand" (1983)

Link

Tomorrow I'll try to get back to Australian power pop and keep playing Australian power pop – for a few days at least.

Song of the day: Go Betsy - "Boy From Canada"

2012-02-27T06:00:00.001+10:30

I know exactly two things about today's song, and I'll let you know what they are after you play it:

Go Betsy - "Boy From Canada" (2004)

Link

1. That song appears on a Popboomerang Records (Hi, Scotty!) compilation called Shake Yer Popboomerang 2.

2. There's another version of that song. It's by Jane Vs World and I played it here in June last year. If you don't want to read that earlier post (or you may be reluctant to click on that link for some reason), you can hear the song here:

Jane Vs World - "Boy From Canada" (2006)

Link

And that's it.

My guess is that Go Betsy morphed into Jane Vs World and someone decided to use "Boy From Canada" again. (Why waste a cute song?) I like a band that recycles.

Buy Shake Yer Popboomerang 2 at Popboomerang Records
Buy Shake Yer Popboomerang 2 at Bandcamp

Musical coincidences # 184

2012-02-27T05:55:00.000+10:30

Today's coincidence involves no music – it's purely visual.

(Given the title of this series, I guess that makes this a false-pretences post. But I'll post it anyway.)

Plenty of observant people have noticed a similarity between the artwork for Van Halen's latest album and a 1975 album by the Commodores:

Song of the day: Split Enz - "How Can I Resist Her"

2012-02-26T06:00:00.000+10:30

Look, I'm terribly sorry about this but I'm still* in an enormous Split Enz phase, listening and re-listening to their entire back catalogue, as well as all the associated solo Finn music and spin-off bands (Crowded House, The Swingers, Schnell Fenster et al).

I'll try very, very hard to make this the last Split Enz post for a long time. (Well that's what I'm hoping for anyway. After all, this is an Australian power pop blog, not a Split Enz blog.)

As I was listening to True Colours again after a decade or so of not hearing it, I was struck by how one song in particular could quite easily pass for a decent power pop song – especially if you didn't know it was from Split Enz:

Split Enz - "How Can I Resist Her" (1980)

Link

To me, that's a mighty good power pop song from 1980 – regardless of who recorded it.

(*And it's all because of this book.)

Musical coincidences # 183

2012-02-26T05:55:00.000+10:30

Today's coincidence involves a song that I first heard – then completely forgot about until very recently – on the blog of my friend, Stonefish (hi, Stonionio!).

As hinted at in the previous paragraph, I'm a forgetful chap. (Correction: I have no problem with recalling music trivia, but I'm hopeless with important things like birthdays, anniversaries, people's names etc – you know, the stuff that matters.) To counter my dreadful memory I developed a habit some time ago (I don't remember when) of writing notes to myself and putting them in my pocket, Columbo-style. If I don't, I'm guaranteed to forget what it is I found noteworthy at the time. (For example, I'll have a brainwave about something while I'm at the shops, but by the time I get home I'll have forgotten about it.)

This note-taking has come in handy because I recently found an old one that said "Musical coincidence: Groove - You Are The One I Love (Stonefish's blog) / The Rolling Stones - Let's Spend The Night Together".

I revisited Stonefish's post featuring The Groove, had a listen to "You Are The One I Love", and thought "Ah, that's why I wrote that note."

The Rolling Stones - "Let's Spend The Night Together" (1967) (excerpt)

Link

The Groove - "You Are The One I Love" (1968) (excerpt)

Link

And the full versions:

The Rolling Stones - "Let's Spend The Night Together" (1967)

Link

The Groove - "You Are The One I Love" (1968)

Link

Thanks, Stonefish, for posting that Groove song in the first place.

Song of the day: Ral Donner - "You Don't Know What You've Got (Until You Lose It)"

2012-02-25T06:00:00.000+10:30

I thought for today's song I'd play you something from the 1950's or 1960's, because I've been playing a lot of new-fangled music recently. Just for today I wanted to delve into the early days of rock'n'roll, back when there were elves in the charts (i.e., Elves Presley*).

In my auditory travels I came across an old song that isn't Australian, but one that I found eminently blog-worthy because of my response to the singer in question. The song is called "You Don't Know What You've Got (Until You Lose It)", and I hadn't heard it before. When it started I thought "Oh, an Elvis Presley song. I don't know many Elvis Presley songs. This is another one I didn't know about, but I know his voice when I hear it." When I saw the artist listed, I thought "Ral Donner? I don't know who Ral Donner is, but that's not Ral Donner – it's Elvis Presley. Someone made a mistake when they tagged the MP3." I looked through Elvis Presley's discography for confirmation of my magnificent astuteness, but came up blank. I then looked up Ral Donner's discography, and there it was. It's a Ral Donner song.

By the way, in what I consider to be The Understatement Of The Decade, Wikipedia states that Ral Donner "had a voice similar to Elvis Presley's".

I know that in the wake of Elvis the P's phenomenal popularity there were a lot of singers who did their best to sound like him, but this Ral Donner fellow is... is... well, I think he possibly out-Elvises Elvis.

Here's the song that apparently is definitely not by Elvis Presley:

Ral Donner - "You Don't Know What You've Got (Until You Lose It)" (1961)

Link

(*I really hope that's the worst pun you see all year.)

Musical coincidences # 182

2012-02-25T05:55:00.000+10:30

And one more coincidence from the ultra-helpful Mr. Fabulous before I pester you tomorrow with one he didn't find (but given time I reckon he would have).

Before I go on, I'd just like to point out that Mr. Fabulous prefers to be called Dr. Keats. I prefer to call him Mr. Fabulous.

The Big F has discovered a marvellous three-for-the-price-of-one deal with this coincidence. Behold a trio of songs using remarkably similar chord progressions:

Hoodoo Gurus - "Bittersweet" (1985) (excerpt)

Link

Tom Petty - "I Won't Back Down" (1989) (excerpt)

Link

Texas - "Black Eyed Boy" (1997) (excerpt)

Link

Here are the full versions:

Hoodoo Gurus - "Bittersweet" (1985)

Link

Tom Petty - "I Won't Back Down" (1989)

Link

Texas - "Black Eyed Boy" (1997)

Link

Song of the day: Regurgitator - "No Show"

2012-02-24T06:00:00.000+10:30

Here's Regurgitator with a song that fellow blogger Bill Kopp (Hi, Bill!) says "channels their inner Fountains of Wayne – it's a powerpop gem of the first order":

Regurgitator - "No Show" (2011)

Official website
Bandcamp
MySpace
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter

Musical coincidences # 181

2012-02-24T05:55:00.000+10:30

As with all the coincidences this week, today's comes to you courtesy of Mr. Fabulous.

Here are two pieces of music that share a bit more than just the same key signature:

Australian Crawl - "The Boys Light Up" (1980) (excerpt)

Link

Queen - "I Want It All" (1989) (excerpt)

Link

I wonder if that is coincidental, or if Brian May (composer of "I Want It All") had heard and decided to rework it a tad (or maybe even a smidgeon).

Here are the full versions:

Australian Crawl - "The Boys Light Up" (1980)

Link

Queen - "I Want It All" (1989)

Link

Song of the day: Skeleton Staff - "I Told You I Was Poor"

2012-02-23T06:00:00.000+10:30

I'm a big, big, big, big fan of Australian neo-psychedelic-baroque-pop-power-pop-music-hall-vaudeville band* Skeleton Staff, and I've only just realised that it's been way too long (37 days to be precise) since I last played you one of their songs. (Note to self: tsk, tsk.)

Here's a song by Skeleton Staff:

Skeleton Staff - I Told You I Was Poor" (2011)

Link

"I Told You I Was Poor" is the first track on the band's latest album, Psychomorphism. Feel free to buy this splendid album. ("The Skeleton Staff Telethon – Helping To Brighten The Day Of Skeleton Staff Musicians Everywhere.")

Official website
Twitter
Facebook
MySpace
Bandcamp
Last.fm
Rock And Roll Tribe
SoundClick
PRWeb

(*Skeleton Staff may actually be the only neo-psychedelic-baroque-pop-power-pop-music-hall-vaudeville band in Australia. I could be wrong, though.)

Musical coincidences # 180

2012-02-23T05:55:00.000+10:30

And another coincidence from the redoubtable Mr. Fabulous. I was going to say that excerpts are unnecessary with these two songs – all you have to do is wait until the introductions of both songs are out of the way and then it's plain sailing on the Sea of Coincidences – but I might as well carve up both songs for you:

John[ny] Cougar [Mellencamp] (alias Mr. Multiple-Name-Changer) - "Hurts So Good" (1982) (excerpt)

Link

Henry Lee Summer - "I Wish I Had A Girl" (1986) (excerpt)

Link

And here are the full versions:

John[ny] Cougar [Mellencamp] (alias The Man Of A Few Names) - "Hurts So Good" (1982)

Link

Henry Lee Summer - "I Wish I Had A Girl" (1986)

Link

Song of the day: The Wellingtons - "I'm Feeling The Same Way"

2012-02-22T06:00:00.000+10:30

I've only just noticed that I haven't played you a song by The Wellingtons recently. To redress this dreadful iniquity, here are The Wellingtons with a song from their latest elpee:

The Wellingtons - "I'm Feeling The Same Way" (2011)

Link

The Wellingtons are everywhere:
On their official website
On Wikipedia
On Facebook
On MySpace
On Twitter
In England
On Soundcloud
On Bandcamp
On Audioleaf
On YouTube
On Mixi.jp

Musical coincidences # 179

2012-02-22T05:55:00.000+10:30

Here's another coincidence supplied by Mr. Fabulous. Thanks, old bean!

Exhibit A:

Squeeze - "Tempted" (1980) (excerpt)

Link

Exhibit B:

Diesel - "Tip Of My Tongue" (1992) (excerpt)

Link

Here are the full versions:

Squeeze - "Tempted" (1980)

Link

Diesel - "Tip Of My Tongue" (1992)

Link

Song of the day: The Valentines - "My Old Man's A Groovy Old Man"

2012-02-21T06:00:00.000+10:30

Way back (well, two years) before Bon Scott was a hairy hippy in Fraternity (see yesterday's post), he was in a bubblegum band called The Valentines. Bon shared co-lead vocal duties with a chap called Vince Lovegrove (that's a great name for a bubblegum singer). Here's one of their ditties:

The Valentines - "My Old Man's A Groovy Old Man" (1968) (instrumental)

Link

Groovy.

The reason I chose this particular song over any of the others that The Valentines recorded (they're all very similar in their bubblegumminess) is that it was written by Australian songwriting stalwarts Vanda and Young, and that means it has some history to it – specifically, Easybeats history.

There are two versions of "My Old Man..." by The Easybeats, and they both have the same backing track, but one has vocals and the other one doesn't. I think they're both interesting, but for different reasons (1. I find it fascinating to hear 1960's tracks without the singing on them; and 2. when The Easybeats did get around to adding vocals to this song – three years later – they decided to add weird vocals):

The Easybeats - "My Old Man's A Groovy Old Man" (1966) (instrumental)

Link

The Easybeats - "My Old Man's A Groovy Old Man" (1969)

Link

Musical coincidences # 178

2012-02-21T05:55:00.001+10:30

Today's coincidence appears courtesy of my friend Mr. Fabulous (aka Dr. Keating). Thanks, Mr. F!

The Hummingbirds - "Blush" (1989) (excerpt)

Link

Nushu - "Spill" (2007) (excerpt)

Link

Now that's what I call blatant.

Here are the full versions:

The Hummingbirds - "Blush" (1989)

Link

Nushu - "Spill" (2007) (excerpt)

Link

Incidentally, when Mr. Fabulous told me about that coincidence he also told me about a heap more. So for the next few days on this blog there's gonna be a storm* of coincidences, all from the wonderfully observant Mr. Fabulous. (Much obliged, O Provider Of Coincidences.)

(*Is there a name for a group of coincidences? Would it be an "irony"?)

Song of the day: Fraternity - "Seasons Of Change"

2012-02-20T06:00:00.000+10:30

I've haven't* gotten around to reading (or even buying) the Bon Scott biography Highway to Hell: The Life & Death of Bon Scott yet, but I do want to play you a track from when Bon wasn't the hairy-chested rocker fronting AC/DC. Before that, Bon was even hairier. He was in a prog rock band called Fraternity. As well as being the band's singer, he also played a recorder. (Bon sure did have an interesting career.)

Here's the band's best-known song:

(I know the phrase "best-known" in this circumstance may be stretching it a bit, but if the band's known for anything it's this.)

Fraternity - "Seasons Of Change" (1971)

Link

Mimed

Live

I just discovered that I'd already posted this song, although it was by a different band. Oops.

Ah well. I've typed this post now, and I don't want to untype it.

Tomorrow I'll play you another track from Bon's varied past.

(*Please see this post if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)

Musical coincidences # 177

2012-02-20T05:55:00.000+10:30

I was almost not going to post this coincidence for three reasons:

1. it's very small;
2. it involves a song that inflames an awful lot of passions in people (both love and hate); and
3. the song that inflames a lot of passions is sung by an individual who inflames even more passions in people (almost unfathomable amounts of love or hate considering the innocuousness of the individual)

But then I thought: "Why not? The coincidence involves 10cc. That's good enough for me."

So, at the risk of inflaming passions, here comes a very small coincidence. But first...

Back story time: Yesterday, as I was walking into the lounge room past the TV, a program was on and in the background there was a youngster singing "Baby, baby, baby..." over and over again. I thought to myself, "Oh, it's that 'Baby' song by Justin Bieber. Just keep walking, Peter." By the time I got to the kitchen, that little bit of "baby, baby" had transformed itself into "baby, baby" being sung by 10cc in one of their early songs.

To me, this...

Justin Bieber (feat. Ludacris) - "Baby" (2010) (excerpt)

Link

...reminds me of this...

10cc - "The Sacro-Iliac" (1974) (excerpt)

Link

Incidentally, given the exceptionally strong feelings people have for the Justin Bieber song I was almost not going to post the full version. But being an equal opportunity blogger, I think it's only fair that I keep doing what I've always done here – i.e., present you with the full versions of whatever is involved in these coincidences.

Here are the full versions:

Justin Bieber (feat. Ludacris) - "Baby" (2010)

Link

10cc - "The Sacro-Iliac" (1974)

Link

Song of the day: A band - "Stand In Line" (live)

2012-02-19T06:00:00.000+10:30

The following video is just one reason why this particular band is my all-time favourite live Australian band. (Ever!)

A band whose record company is keen to sue individuals who mention them on blogs - "Stand In Live" (live – recorded Sunday January 13, 1985)
(Suggestion: Please, please, please, please turn this up as loud as possible.)

That video comes from the band's Best Of Both Worlds, my all-time favourite live music DVD.

Trivial sidenote: the two notes of the guitar riff that starts "Stand In Line" always – and I mean always – reminds me of the singing part of the Batman TV theme tune (where they sing "Batman!")...

Song of the day: Paul Steel - "Your Loss"

2012-02-18T06:00:00.000+10:30

As you're probably aware (I go on and on about it with alarming regularity), I'm a CD kind of guy. As far as material objects go, I like those little shiny discs. ('Cos they have music on them.)

The latest CD to arrive in the post was Paul Steel's Moon Rock, and it's now my second copy of the album. The first was an English promo (apparently Moon Rock has never actually had an official release in the UK). The English promo had this cover:

Moon Rock did finally get an official release, but only in Japan. The Japanese version has bonus tracks and a hefty booklet as well as a much more colourful cover. (See the top of this post.) So I bought the Japanese one, too. And now I have two Moon Rocks at home.

I've just realised that I didn't need to mention any of that. All I needed to do was play you today's song, and maybe mention that it's from Moon Rock, an album I like very, very much:

Paul Steel - "Your Loss" (2008)

Link

Oh, and one of the bonus tracks on that Japanese import is this groovy remix of "Your Loss":

Paul Steel - "Your Loss (Shawn Lee's My Mate Remix)" (2008)

Link

Incidentally, if you have a spare 48 minutes you can hear all of Moon Rock streamed at Bandcamp – or here if you don't want to click on that link:

Moon Rock by Paul Steel

Paul Steel official website
Moon Rock streaming on Bandcamp
Paul Steel's blog
Paul Steel on Facebook
Paul Steel on MySpace

Song of the day: Athletes in Paris - "Echoes Louder Than Voices"

2012-02-17T06:00:00.001+10:30

The non-Parisian* band Athletes In Paris (and I'm not entirely sure they're athletes either) have released a new song, and spokesperson "Mooch" ever-so-gently asked me to mention it on the blog.

Mooch said this about the new song:

"It's called 'Echoes Louder Than Voices' and is a bit rockier than the previous release from us but also still mega catchy in our humble opinion. The track will be out in all online music shops from the 19/03 [that's March 19 for people who live in the land of Americans] and is currently streaming from SoundCloud, however we will make it free from AthletesInParis.BandCamp.com upon release because we're too kind ha!"

Thanks for the generosity, chaps.

Athletes In Paris - "Echoes Louder Than Voices" (2012)

Athletes In Paris on Facebook
Athletes In Paris on Twitter
Athletes In Paris on MySpace
Athletes In Paris on Bandcamp
Athletes In Paris on SoundCloud
Athletes In Paris on YouTube
Athletes In Paris on ReverbNation

(*They're from Newcastle in England.)

Song of the day: Split Enz - "What's The Matter With You"

2012-02-16T06:00:00.000+10:30

I'm still in my huge Split Enz phase* I'm afraid, so that means I'm a-gonna pester you with some more Enz-ness.

Here's one of their rip-roaring, high-energy songs from the band's 1980 skinny-tie album, True Colours (and I love it):

Split Enz - "What's The Matter With You" (1980)

Link

(*This post explains why.)

The CRY! has a new VIDEO!

2012-02-16T05:55:00.000+10:30

It's Attack Of The American Bands this week because I was contacted by The CRY! who let me know they have a new video for their song "Think I'm In Love". It looks a little like this:

Incidentally, "Think I'm In Love" was Song of the day on this blog a while ago. You can hear it properly (i.e., not in a video) there, along with some of their other songs.

The CRY! official website
The CRY! on Twitter
The CRY! on Facebook
The CRY! on MySpace
The CRY! on ReverbNation

Song of the day: Spinning Jennies - "Day Away"

2012-02-15T06:00:00.000+10:30

I mentioned yesterday that I received a bonus CD when I pre-ordered The Well Wishers' latest album, Dreaming Of The West Coast (thanks, Jeff!). That CD was Full Volume: The Best Of Spinning Jennies (Jeff's previous band).

Here are two tracks from it:

Spinning Jennies - "Day Away" (2006)

Link

Spinning Jennies - "Tea & Apathy" (2006)

Link

Buy Full Volume: The Best Of Spinning Jennies at CD Baby
Buy Full Volume: The Best Of Spinning Jennies at CD Universe
Buy Full Volume: The Best Of Spinning Jennies at Amazon.com
Buy Full Volume: The Best Of Spinning Jennies at Yahoo! Music
Buy Full Volume: The Best Of Spinning Jennies at iTunes

Song of the day: The Well Wishers - "Here Comes Love"

2012-02-14T06:00:00.000+10:30

Jeff Shelton (Hi, Jeff!) is an extremely generous man. Not only is he selling his band's latest album, Dreaming Of The West Coast, for $8 on Bandcamp (that's a bargain right there), but a few weeks ago when he was accepting pre-orders of the CD – for $10 – he added a bonus CD to the order. Two CDs for $10. When I found out about that, it didn't take me long to click the "Buy Now" button (approximately 0.73 seconds I'd say).

Here are a couple of tracks from Dreaming Of The West Coast:

The Well Wishers - "Here Comes Love" (2012)

The Well Wishers - "Allison" (2012)

One thing I like about Jeff's songs is that he's not afraid to use what sounds like about 19 guitars per track.

Tomorrow I'll play you one or two songs from the extra CD that Jeff so recklessly provided with my order of Dreaming Of The West Coast.

Update:

Jeff has let people know (I was going to say "Jeff has announced", but that sounds pompous) that he's made a video for one of the other songs on Dreaming Of The West Coast:

Buy Dreaming Of The West Coast at CD Baby
Buy Dreaming Of The West Coast at Kool Kat Musik
Buy Dreaming Of The West Coast at CD Universe
Buy Dreaming Of The West Coast at Amazon.com
The Well Wishers on Facebook
The Well Wishers on MySpace
The Well Wishers on ReverbNation
The Well Wishers on YouTube

A new album involving motels and beds

2012-02-14T05:55:00.000+10:30

A band from the land of Americans by the name of Motel Beds emailed me to let me (and you) know that they're about to release an album called Low Noise (the optimist in me thinks that "low noise" means "more melody") and are more than willing to accept pre-orders for it.

In what may be an attempt at "collectability" (or maybe it's just a case of "affordability" for the band), 100 cassettes of the album will be made. Yes, cassettes – as in:

And the band rather portentously stated: "100 copies only, limited edition. Once it's gone, it's gone."

The aforementioned Beds also supplied a little preview:

Pre-order Low Noise at Bandcamp
Motel Beds official website
Motel Beds on Facebook
Motel Beds on Twitter
Motel Beds on YouTube

Song of the day: The Uncommon Houseflies - "Wretched Radio"

2012-02-13T06:00:00.001+10:30

An American gentleman named Kevin Gibson (Hi, Kevin!) asked me to have a listen to a couple of songs by his band, The Uncommon Houseflies, and to maybe pester the blog with them. My response was along the lines of "Yes indeedy".

Before I get to the music, I want to mention two things that EP cover reminded me of:

1. It reminds me of the band The Residents.
2. It reminds me of the movie The Fly (the original one from 1958, not the gooey 1986 remake).

Incidentally, when I saw the name of the band I started wondering if there were any real uncommon houseflies (as opposed to humans calling themselves uncommon houseflies) and as far as I've been able to tell, there aren't any uncommon houseflies. That makes me wonder ("ooh, it makes me wonder") why anybody bothered adding the word "common" to houseflies, considering all houseflies are common. It's one of life's mysteries I suppose. (And now the word "common" looks really weird to me. You know when you look at a word over and over again until it completely loses all meaning?)

OK. Now to the songs...

The humour in each song reminds me of bands that play what I'd loosely describe as Comedy Power Pop. For me, the most notable exponents of Comedy Power Pop are the Barenaked Ladies. The Uncommon Houseflies remind me most of The Barenaked Ladies (despite the fact that I've heard very little of The Barenaked Ladies – so the two bands might not actually sound that similar). Two other bands I can think of that play Power Pop Comedy would be Fountains Of Wayne and Weezer. Incidentally, I once called this kind of thing "Joke Rock" in an earlier post.

And now to each individual song (this post is gettin' convoluted)...

The Uncommon Houseflies - "Wretched Radio" (2012)

Link

I think this is a decent enough song, but my inner producer wants to overhaul it. For the purposes of this comment I'll call my inner producer "Aristotle McGee". Aristotle wants to tell the singer the try a few more takes to get that voice sounding more secure and in tune. He also wants to remix the instruments (he'd definitely change the drum sound, especially the bass drum), maybe adding an extra guitar so we end up with two guitars, one in each channel to give it the song a fuller sound (Aristotle would almost insist on using 12-string electric guitars to give the backing a wonderfully jangly sound).

The Uncommon Houseflies - "Border Disorder (The Canada Song)" (2012)

Link
Oh-oh. Aristotle again. In this song he'd be asking the singer to do some of the vocals again. For example, "...were not free..." (from 1:33 to 1:35) is sharp; "...though I had done nothing wrong..." (from 1:47 to 1:49) is flat; and "...dignity..." (at 3:43) is painfully sharp. I'll admit that this is all fairly trivial, but my inner producer is sitting inside me, saying "Hey guys, can we do that one more time?". Aristotle would also ask for a different snare drum sound. (He thinks it sounds pretty dead, and actually sounds more like a floor tom than a snare drum.)

But apart from those niggles I thought both songs were OK, although a little too jokey for the mood I was in when I listened to them. How about I just be quiet and let you decide what you think of them?

The Uncommon Houseflies official website
The Uncommon Houseflies on MySpace
The Uncommon Houseflies on Facebook
The Uncommon Houseflies on ReverbNation
The Uncommon Houseflies on SoundClick

Musical coincidences # 176

2012-02-13T05:55:00.000+10:30

The 15-year-old in the household (Hi, Natalie!) is a fan of an Australian TV soap opera called Home And Away. (It's one of two soapies in Australia aimed at teenagers. The other one is Neighbours, and Natalie watches that as well.) The show has been going for decades, and one thing the show's producers do to keep up with the times is to change its theme music every couple of years. It's the same song, but it gets a makeover once in a while.

I mentioned all of that because: a) today's coincidence involves Home And Away's theme tune; and b) the coincidence involves the earliest version of the theme tune.

There's a bit at the end of the chorus where a male and female singer sing the words "home and away":

Karen Boddington and Mark Williams - "Home And Away" (1989) (excerpt)

Link

To me, that sounds sounds a lot like the little guitar filigree that starts The Beatles' "I'll Be Back":

The Beatles - "I'll Be Back" (1964) (excerpt)

Link

Here are the full versions:

Karen Boddington and Mark Williams - "Home And Away" (1989)

Link

The Beatles - "I'll Be Back" (1964)

Link

I must admit that I hadn't noticed that similarity until somebody posted "I'll Be Back" on Facebook last week. As soon as I heard the start of that Beatles tune I thought "Home And Away!" Much obliged, Facebook Person.

Song of the day: Space Waltz - "Out On The Street"

2012-02-12T06:00:00.000+10:30

As you may know, I'm currently reading a biography of the Finn brothers called Together Alone (I mentioned it yesterday). On page 128 it talks about a New Zealand band called Space Waltz who had a number one hit in 1974 with their song "Out On The Street". I was duly intrigued (how could I not be with a band called Space Waltz?), so I went a-looking. Thanks to YouTube, I didn't have to look far:

Space Waltz - "Out On The Street" (1974)

or

That was number one. Wow.

Space Waltz on MySpace
Space Waltz on NZ on Screen
Space Waltz on music.net.nz

Song of the day: Split Enz - "Sugar And Spice"

2012-02-11T06:00:00.000+10:30

I must apologise for the next paragraph. It does relate to today's song, but it is long and you're under no obligation to read it.

I don't know why, but I'm currently in a huge music book reading phase. I've been buying music books left, right, and centre. I can't get enough of 'em. It started when I received the Keith Richards autobiography, Life, for Christmas (thanks, family!). I didn't enjoy it (thanks anyway*, family!), so I quickly moved on to something else. I pounced on Starman: David Bowie - The Definitive Biography, and enjoyed it. Next was the fascinating Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music. Then Legendary Guitarists & Their Guitars (great photos). And then Hunter Davies' hallowed Beatles biography (I hadn't read that one since 1979 and lost my copy years ago so I bought the updated one – now it's even more fabulous). I'm happy to say that those books more than made up for the sour taste that Life left. There are a few more books on the bookshelf I haven't gotten around to reading yet, such as 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die, Sid Vicious: Rock and Roll Star, and Touch Me, I'm Sick: The 52 Creepiest Love Songs You've Ever Heard (thanks for the donation, sis!), but I hope to get my eager eyes on to them soon. At the moment, though, I'm reading Together Alone, a biography of the Finn brothers (Tim and Neil), and I'm enjoying it a lot. It's prompted me to revisit the discographies of the Finn brothers (solo and together) and Split Enz. I'm loving those Split Enz albums all over again, especially the early ones. Because of this Split Enz listening frenzy (sorry about that, Enz fans), most of their early songs are stuck in my head. And a fair amount of those are from the band's third album, Dizrythmia. Of all the Split Enz albums, Dizrythmia may very well be my favourite. (It's the one I return to most often.) This is one of its tracks:

Split Enz - "Sugar And Spice" (1977)

Link

I love Dizrythmia.

The next book I want to get my greedy eyeballs on is Highway to Hell: The Life and Death of Bon Scott, which means there'll probably be an AC/DC song here before too long.

By the way, apart from that Hunter Davies biography of The Beatles my favourite music biography is Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of ABBA by Carl Magnus Palm. It's eye-opening.

(*I really wanted to read Life, so the family did a lovely thing handing it over at Christmas time.)

Song of the day: The William Street Strikers - "MadBoy"

2012-02-10T06:00:00.001+10:30

Today's post is an example of pure nepotism.

My friend Adrian (Hi, Adrian!) filmed and directed the following video:

The William Street Strikers - "MadBoy" (2012)

Link

The William Street Strikers official website
The William Street Strikers on MySpace
The William Street Strikers on iTunes
The William Street Strikers on Sounds of Oz

Song of the day: Hell&Lula - "Razor Love"

2012-02-09T06:00:00.001+10:30

I received an email from a music PR company called LaFamos (Hi, folks!) that has one of the weirdest requests I've ever seen in a music-related email. Although the email was basically letting me know about a band called Hell&Lula, it started with this:

Help Hell&Lula's Cool Bus Run on Veggie Oil

Electro-pop Band Looks To Set Environmental Friendly Example

Los Angeles, CA - Hell&Lula, the commanding electro-dance group from Los Angeles, is doing a PledgeMusic Campaign, with goal of the campaign is to raise enough money to modify their "Cool Bus" (a converted school bus) so that it can run on waste vegetable oil from restaurants instead of diesel fuel. PledgeMusic is an online platform that allows fans to fund creative projects.

It then went on to describe how great the band were, how fabulous the songs were, how the band were moving up, up, up in the world etc – all the usual things music PR companies say about the bands they're looking after. (Sorry about being blasé there. I'm not usually this cynical.)

But that plea for assistance in converting the band's bus from a gas guzzler to an oil guzzler is possibly the strangest request I've received from any band.

By the way, I don't know if it was Hell&Lula's intention, but from the first time I saw the band's name I thought it was their way of saying "Hallelujah".

Anyway, I had a quick listen to one of Hell&Lula's songs and enjoyed it. (I really want to call this band Hallelujah.)

I listened to a few more Hallelujah songs and thought, "Hmm – I don't mind these songs at all. They're not power pop, but I reckon I can put a couple of them on the blog, and hopefully anyone who visits this blog won't be terribly bothered that the songs aren't exactly power pop."

~~Hell&Lula~~ Hallelujah - "Razor Love" (2012)

Link

~~Hell&Lula~~ Hallelujah - "Backstage Burden" (2010)

Link

Both of those tracks appear on Hallelujah's album, Catch Up!!! Catch Up!!!. The last time I saw a title that excited was with the name of an Adelaide band: Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire!.

Oh, and here's the band's odd, odd request:

Hell&Lula official website
Hell&lula on Twitter
Hell&lula on MySpace
Hell&lula on Facebook
Hell&lula on YouTube
Hell&Lula on LaFamos
Catch Up!!! Catch Up!!! on iTunes

Song of the day: Blur - "Charmless Man"

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000+10:30

I heard this 1995 song for the first time only a few days ago and thought: "I like that. It's Britpop, but it sounds like power pop to me. Yep, that's definitely one for the blog."

Blur - "Charmless Man" (1995)

Link

Musical coincidences # 175

2012-02-08T05:55:00.000+10:30

Here's a case of what appears to be a band borrowing a verse from another band:

Go You Huskies - "S.A.W." (2003) (verse)

Link

And from four years earlier:

Muzzle - "Broken Tooth" (1999) (verse)

Link

Here are the full versions. At least the choruses are different:

Go You Huskies - "S.A.W." (2003)

Muzzle - "Broken Tooth" (1999)

Link

Song of the day: Icecream Hands - "Yellow And Blue"

2012-02-07T06:00:00.000+10:30

Here's Australian band Icecream Hands with one of their non-charting* singles:

Icecream Hands - "Yellow And Blue" (1999)

Link

If you're a Squeeze fan you may have noticed something in "Yellow And Blue" that sounded fairly familiar. I talked about it in one of my previous Musical coincidences.

Icecream Hands official website

(*Being a power pop band, pretty much all of Icecream Hands' singles didn't trouble the charts. As you probably know, not troubling the charts is standard practice for power pop bands.)

Musical coincidences # 174

2012-02-07T05:55:00.000+10:30

Quite a few people on the Internet have mentioned the similarity between the music in a food advertisement played at half-time during the (incredibly American) Super Bowl and a riff in a song by an Australian hippy rock trio:

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

One lawsuit comin' up.

Song of the day: You Am I - "Jaimme's Got A Gal"

2012-02-06T06:00:00.000+10:30

Here's You Am I with a wonderfully poignant song about growing up:

You Am I - "Jaimme's Got A Gal" (1993)

Link

Song of the day: Apple Jam - "I'll Keep You Satisfied"

2012-02-05T06:00:00.000+10:30

I've already played you a Lennon/McCartney song recorded by Seattle band Apple Jam on this blog, but I'm rather in the mood to play you another one.

Apple Jam plays songs that Messers Lennon and McCartney gave away to other artists but never recorded themselves when they were in that band they were in. I have to say that of all the bands that do this sort of thing (i.e., play, sound, or look like The Beatles circa 1963-1965), Apple Jam would be my favourite Mop-Top re-creationists:

Apple Jam - "I'll Keep You Satisfied" (2009)

Link

And here's the original:

Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas - "I'll Keep You Satisfied" (1963)

Link

Apple Jam official website
Apple Jam on MySpace
Apple Jam on Facebook
Apple Jam on ReverbNation

Song of the day: Tracer - "Too Much"

2012-02-04T06:00:00.001+10:30

It's been a while since I played you some Australian stoner rock, so to compensate for the dearth of Australian stoner rock on this blog, here's Tracer with a riff-happy fist-pumper:

Tracer - "Too Much" (2011)

Link

Oh yeah.

As a bonus, here's another one:

Tracer - "Walk Alone" (2011)

Link

I think they do what do very well indeed. Or putting it another way: "Wow dude!"

Tracer official website
Tracer on Facebook
Tracer on Twitter
Tracer on MySpace
Tracer on YouTube

Song of the day: The Valery Trails - "This Town"

2012-02-03T06:00:00.001+10:30

I've been asked to review an album.

Now, before you run away screaming ("Oh no, it's gonna be one of those horribly long posts again! I can't read them! They're too long! Life's too short!" etc), I want to reassure you that I'm going to exercise as much restraint as I can and make this 'review' mercifully concise. (Well, as concise as it can be despite a pointless couple of paragraphs starting it.)

Sean Bower (Hi, Sean!) is the bass player from Grand Atlantic, and he's the gentleman who rashly asked me to listen to an album that he and his musical buddies* made.

(*Typo confession: I had originally and accidentally typed "biddies", then corrected it, then laughed as I thought of "musical biddies", then started wondering if I should keep it as musical biddies, then started typing this sentence... Get back to the review, Peter.)

Sean and his musical biddies call themselves The Valery Trails, and their album is Ghost and Gravity. Sean said:

"The Valery Trails is a band made up of my brother Andrew who is the principal songwriter and lives in Houston (USA), along with myself and Dan McNaulty (We All Want To). The album was recorded in Houston TX and Brisbane before being mixed in Dunedin NZ."

There's a press release if you want to know more about this globetrotting band.

I'm very pleased to say that I can sum up this album in less than 5,000 words. I can actually sum it up in two words:

"It's moody."

That's my short review. Here's a slightly longer review:

"It's a moody album by one of the dudes in Grand Atlantic. I thought the singing was a bit dreary, but I liked the songs."

Here's the album:

(Recommended: Track 2)

Ghosts and Gravity by The Valery Trails

I did it! A short review! Yay!

Postscript

Suggested band names using the letters of "The Valery Trails":

Hairstyle Travel
Arrival The Style
Hearsay Vet Trill
Athletes Rivalry
Retreat Lavishly
Lateral Hives Try
Ashtray Eve Trill
Travail The Lyres
Larval Heist Tyre
Astral Every Hilt

The Valery Trails official website
The Valery Trails on Facebook
The Valery Trails on Twitter
The Valery Trails on ReverbNation
The Valery Trails on Bandcamp
The Valery Trails on YouTube

Song of the day: Crowded House - "Distant Sun"

2012-02-02T06:00:00.000+10:30

In the extremely unlikely event that someone ever asks "Hey, Peter – what's your second-favourite Crowded House song?", my answer would be this:

Crowded House - "Distant Sun" (1993)

Link

I think that chorus is sublime.

And a splendid live performance:

By the way, that artwork for the "Distant Sun" CD single (see above) reminds me a little of the artwork for The Good China by Icecream Hands:

Song of the day: Clouds - "Souleater"

2012-02-01T06:00:00.000+10:30

Here are the Clouds with a song that sounds to me like an updated (and twisted) version of Shocking Blue's "Venus":

Clouds - "Souleater" (1991)

Link

Musical coincidences # 173

2012-02-01T05:55:00.000+10:30

I recently watched a TV show playing old, old music videos (Rage), and Terence Trent D'Arby's faux-funk hit "Wishing Well" came on. When the song finally got to the catchy part (a synthesizer playing "doop, doop, doop"), it entered my head and stayed there for a while. Here's the song's catchy part:

Terence Trent D'Arby - "Wishing Well" (1988) (the catchy part)

Link

As I kept repeating that "doop, doop, doop" bit to myself, it started resembling something else. It started resembling this:

Bill Haley and His Comets - "Rock Around The Clock" (1954) (excerpt)

Link

Here are the full versions:

Terence Trent D'Arby - "Wishing Well" (1988)

Link

Bill Haley and His Comets - "Rock Around The Clock" (1954)

Link

Song of the day: Jellyfish - "The King Is Half-Undressed"

2012-01-31T06:00:00.000+10:30

There I was on Sunday reading the local Sunday newspaper (we still have newspapers in Australia), and I was gobsmacked to see Jellyfish's album, Bellybutton, get a mention. Ooo-wee!

To celebrate the weirdness of a South Australian newspaper mentioning the debut album of a defunct 1990s American band, here's that band with a song from the album, the splendid "The King Is Half-Undressed" (or as I like to call it, "Ticket To Ride On Steroids"):

Jellyfish - "The King Is Half-Undressed" (1990)

Link

Splendid.

The Sunday Mail, 29 January 2012

Musical coincidences # 172

2012-01-31T05:55:00.000+10:30

I'm sure this is a coincidence. Maybe.

The Strangers - "Lady Scorpio" (1969) (beginning)

Link

The Hollies - "Magic Woman Touch" (1972) (beginning)

Link

Here are the full versions:

The Strangers - "Lady Scorpio" (1969)

Link

The Hollies - "Magic Woman Touch" (1972)

Link

Song of the day: Rod Kirkham - "I Can't Get Sunday Out Of My Mind"

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000+10:30

To make up for yesterday's monumental post (yes, I know it was far too long), here's something short 'n' sweet:

Rod Kirkham - "I Can't Get Sunday Out Of My Mind" (1973)

Link

Sorry about the sound quality of that MP3, but it's the best I could find.

Update: Thanks to the fancy electronic footwork of two individuals – Thirsty Mac, who had it (Hi, Thirsty!) and Tom Mix, who ripped it in the first place (Hi, Tom!), I now have a version of the song that may be better than the one I had. (I'm not entirely sure it sounds "better", but it does sound different.) Thanks enormously, chaps!

Rod Kirkham - "I Can't Get Sunday Out Of My Mind" (1973) (Tom Mix rip / Thirsty Mac donation)

Link

As a bonus here's the almost-original version:

The Changing Scene - "I Can't Get Sunday Out Of My Mind" (1971)

Link

By the way, if you're wondering which of the people in the photo* is Rod, it's the chap in the turtle-neck sweater (second from left). And if you're wondering who all those people are, they were members of TV show Young Talent Time, a program from the 70's and 80's that highlighted Australian young'uns singing and dancing on TV screens across the nation. It was hosted by the chap in the middle of the photo, Johnny Young. The show was a bit like American/Australian/UK Idol, full of young people bursting with enthusiasm and varying degrees of talent, but the program was incredibly wholesome and had none of the nastiness of the modern talent shows. ("You're out!") Wikipedia reckons Young Talent Time was like The Mickey Mouse Club. I never saw that, so I'll have to take their word for it.

(Photo (1971), from left to right: Debbie Byrne; Rod Kirkham; Johnny Young; Jamie Redfern; Vikki Broughton; Philip Gould; and Jane Scali [front].)

Song of the day: Cirrone - "Uplands Park Road"

2012-01-29T06:00:00.000+10:30

The chaps who make up the band Cirrone – brothers Alessandro, Bruno, and Mirko Cirrone (hi, chaps!) – sent me an email asking if I'd review their album, Uplands Park Road. Although I was more than happy to listen and comment (it's music that's new to me, so I'm always keen, keen, keen), I'm afraid that this post may have ended up being a case of "be careful what you wish for".

I've listen to the album a few times and have jotted down some of my responses. Unfortunately for anyone reading this, I found a lot of things to comment on.

The Cover

Before I get to what matters (i.e., the music), I feel compelled to mention the appearance of the young gentlemen on the cover of the album. I'll be the first to admit that, being a man, I may not be the best judge of male attractiveness, but I reckon Alessandro, Bruno, and Mirko all look like male model material. Have they ever been male models? If not, have they ever considered becoming male models?

The Album

UPLANDS PARK ROAD by CIRRONE

Overall I found the album to be enjoyable, although nowhere near as enjoyable as other bloggers have found it. (People all over the Interwebs have raved about the album, putting it at, or near, the top of plenty of "best of" lists for the year.)

As I kept listening to the album, I wasn't "getting into it". I've listened to it 10 times now, and every time I've enjoyed it – but not loved it. For ages I couldn't figure out why something so rooted in the early 1970's musically didn't engender all the responses I usually have when listening to something from the 70's. (I'm a sucker for early-70's power pop.)

But then I finally figured out why I didn't go ~~gaga~~ ~~nutso~~ bananas over the album:

It's a pastiche.

I usually don't mind it at all when an artist or band pays homage to music of an earlier time, and enjoy the recreation of an era, but for some reason when I'm listening to Uplands Park Road I'm fully aware that this was recorded in 2011, not 1973. I know it's an anachronism. As a result, to me this album feels more ersatz than authentic. Maybe "ersatz" is too harsh a word. I'll put it another way: I'll say that the music is more an approximation than the real thing.

Having typed that, I do want to point out that as an album of music sounding like early-70's power pop it's expertly written and recorded, and impeccably executed.

I also want to point out two more things: the more I listen to the album the more I enjoy it; and as I keep listening to it I'm noticing how much effort went into the making of it.

The Songs

1. "Here Is My Song"
Here Is My Song by CIRRONE
I've never been a fan of album-opening tracks that are low-key. I much prefer "bang!" songs to start an album. This song, to me, meanders along rather pleasantly. It's nice, but that's all I can think of to describe it: nice. I like the mandolin (from 1:27 onward).

2. "Uplands Park Road"
Uplands Park Road by CIRRONE
I love the riff that starts this song. Now this is how I like an album to start. For me, the riff was the best part of the song. I liked most of it, but some parts I wasn't especially enamoured of. (The chords used in the chorus for instance. A bit too ordinary for my liking.) This song reminded me of a host of other power poppers. For example, The middle 8 of this song (starting at 1:16) reminds me very much of Emitt Rhodes – or maybe Big Star. And the bit after the middle 8 (1:47 to 1:50) leading into the cowbell-driven guitar solo reminds me of one of the drum breaks in Cheap Trick's version of "California Man". This to be precise:

Cirrone - "Uplands Park Road" (2011) (excerpt 1)

Link

Cheap Trick - "California Man" (1978) (excerpt)

Link
(Full song)

Oh, and speaking of Big Star: in "Uplands Park Road", the bridge/refrain/whatever-it's-called after the guitar solo (from 2:17) reminded me a lot of Big Star – specifically a chord progression in "Feel":

Cirrone - "Uplands Park Road" (2011) (excerpt 2)

Link

Big Star - "Feel" (1972) (excerpt from later in the song)

Link
(Full song)

3. "I Still Remember"
I Still Remember by CIRRONE
A good old foot stomper. (Glam, baby!)

4. "Let The Wind Blow"
Let The Wind Blow by CIRRONE
A slightly country-boogie-ish song, courtesy of the beat and the slide guitar. After the eighth listen, it'sNice vocal harmonies. Actually, this album is full of extremely nice vocal harmonies.

5. "All I Know"
All I Know by CIRRONE
A nice mid-tempo pop-rocker. With extremely nice vocal harmonies.

By the way, there's a riff in this song that reminds me a bit of the main riff in Kiss' "Love Her All I Can":

Cirrone - "All I Know" (2011) (excerpt 1)

Link

Kiss - "Love Her All I Can" (1975) (excerpt)

Link
(Full song)

Also by the way – and this doesn't have much to do with anything – a guitar solo plays some stuff in the song and ends on a note that sets my teeth on edge. It's not a bad note or anything, it's just that the song is in the key of B flat major, and for me the note the guitar plays should be D instead of the D flat it stays on when the song ends. I keep wanting that note to bend up a semitone from D flat to D. I really, really want it to do that. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's the end of the song. Now try to imagine me sitting here wishing that last solo guitar note would go up just a bit to make it all nice and in the key of B flat major:

Cirrone - "All I Know" (2011) (excerpt 2)

Link

I know it's nothing major (pun definitely not intended), but I wanted to let you know about it because it's bothering me. (Note to self: Stop being bothered by it, Peter.)

Sorry about sidetracking you with those two things (the riff and the guitar note). I'll try not to keep noticing little things like that. They'll just make this post way too long.

Right. Next track.

6. "Brand New Life"
Brand New life by CIRRONE
I absolutely adore the chorus of this song. That's a great chorus. I think this album is worth buying just for the chorus. As for the whole song: I reckon it would be what critics call "a long-lost Badfinger track". I'd call it a Hudson Brothers track. If I was to offer a criticism (here we go again), I'd say it goes on a bit too long. But apart from that, I like this song. Especially that chorus. What a chorus.

7. "How Does It Feel"
How Does It Feel by CIRRONE
A fun bit o' brass to start this staccato-beat song. And I like how the fun brass is used sparingly in other parts of the song. I'm glad the lads didn't go berserk and think to themselves "Hey, we've got this great brass sound. Let's put it everywhere in the song. Brass! Yeah!"

8. "Your Eyes Are Wide Open"
Your Eyes Are Wide Open by CIRRONE
Nice chorus. I like the tambourine* that propels the chorus along. (*I think that's a tambourine.)

9. "Just Tell Me"
Just Tell Me by CIRRONE
I don't quite know why, but this song reminds me of The Red Button's She's About To Cross My Mind (not any particular song – all of it). But back to this song: I like the "la-la-las". Extremely trivial observation: I like the two guitars going "oo-wee-oo" at 1:38. Cute.

10. "You're Not Alone"
You're Not Alone by CIRRONE
I like the off-beat rhythm in the section where they sing "I know you will find your own way..." (from 0:46). I thought it spiced up the song quite nicely. Howevever, I wasn't especially keen on the Hendrix-esque guitar playing (e.g., 0:41 to 0:46). I'd be quite happy if I never heard Hendrix-esque guitar playing in any more songs. By the way, this song employs the chord progression that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. I like the abrupt ending.

11. "Here We Will Go"
Here We Will Go by CIRRONE
I just noticed I'm spending way too much time on this post. I'll try to hurry it along by not waffling much more than I have already. Great vocal harmonies. And I love the triplets in the fade-out (3:05 to 3:07). When I say "triplets" I don't mean the three brothers in the band. Sorry, I'm waffling again. Next song.

12. "In The Sun"
In The Sun by CIRRONE
A pleasant little "Julia"-ish acoustic number. However, it does include the lyric "since you've gone, I can't go on". I don't know why, but I tend to have an aversion to that particular line, in whatever song it appears. (Maybe it stems from childhood. As psychologists like to say: "It all stems from childhood!")

13. "Running Time"
Running Time by CIRRONE
This reminds me so much of another song, but I can't remember what it is. Grrr.

The End Of The Post

If you've made it to the end of this post, you'll now know why I'm no good at reviewing albums. I ramble, waffle, and prattle. Unlike proper music reviewers, I can't just say in a few words what I think is good/bad/meh about an album and sum it all up with a delicious turn of phrase.

I'm relieved that I've finally finished this post. And I'd say you're relieved, too. I've spent way too much time on it, and you've spent way too much time reading it. Thanks for your patience and perservance.

Buy Uplands Park Road at CD Baby
Cirrone on Bandcamp
Cirrone on MySpace
Cirrone on Facebook

Marshall Crenshaw - "For Her Love"

2012-01-28T06:00:00.000+10:30

I know that some readers of this blog are not particularly keen on the music of Marshall Crenshaw, but I'm in the mood for one of my favourite songwriters of the 80's (i.e., Marshall Crenshaw).

At the risk of displeasing a few people...

Marshall Crenshaw - "For Her Love" (1983)

Link

Sorry about that, non-Marshall fans. But when you're in the mood, you're in the mood.

"For Her Love" appeared on Marshall's second album, Field Day. Because the album's bombastic production (by Steve Lillywhite) was not universally loved, someone decided a remix of some of its songs was in order.

As a bonus (for people who like Mr. Crenshaw's music), here's the remix of "For Her Love" (not by Steve Lillywhite):

Marshall Crenshaw - "For Her Love" (remix) (1984)

Link

Song of the day: Splendid - "I'm No Better"

2012-01-27T06:00:00.002+10:30

For the last few days I've had a song stuck in my brain. It's called "Come Clean" by an Australian duo called Splendid. I love this song (it's probably my favourite song about infidelity), and I'd love to play it to you today so I can share my adoration for this bittersweet tale of an affair, but it's already been Song of the day.

For me, one of the attractions of "Come Clean" is the voice of Angie Hart (see above). To console myself I'll just have to play you another Splendid song.

Take it away, Angie...

Splendid - "I'm No Better" (1999)

Link

Splendid on MySpace
Angie Hart on MySpace
Angie Hart on Facebook
Angie Hart on Twitter
Angie Hart on Bandcamp
Angie Hart blog
I Hart Angie

Song of the day: Mary Hopkin - "Goodbye"

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000+10:30

My first love:

Mary Hopkin - "Goodbye" (1969)

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I was only eight, but you never forget your first love...

* * *

Incidentally, you probably know that Paul McCartney wrote "Goodbye" for Mary.

In case you're interested, here's his demo:

Paul McCartney - "Goodbye" (demo for Mary Hopkin) (1969)

Link

Song of the day: Madderlake - "Goodbye Lollypop"

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000+10:30

I reckon this is one of the weirdest songs I've ever posted on this blog. It starts off as a light prog-rock boogie kind of thing, but about halfway through it becomes... well, I won't spoil the shock of the sudden change of musical direction if you haven't heard it before. Even telling you that it takes an unfathomable musical detour won't stop you from going "What???". But be forewarned: the second half of the song sounds nothing like the first half.

Madderlake - "Goodbye Lollypop" (1973)

Link

Ah, 1973. When you could do anything in rock music.

And that was released as a single.

What you can do (if you really wanted to) with 12 guitars

2012-01-25T05:55:00.000+10:30

I found this on a design website called Colossal and was gobsmacked:

Yoshihiko Satoh Turns the Guitar Volume Up to 12

Japanese artist Yoshihiko Satoh takes mass-produced goods and alters or multiplies them to "unleash the energy residing in their function and shape". Or, simply speaking, he multiplies them by awesome. His guitar sculptures are by far his most impressive works, however hes also experimented with exaggerated length in irons, toy trucks, and even functional mopeds. His latest work is on exhibit at Roentgenwerke AG in Tokyo through August 27. (via lustik and wonderful opportunity)

And there are plenty more "Huh?" photos here.

Up until now, I'd thought that Rick Nielsen had the most impressive multi-necked guitar:

(Rick Nielsen photo pinched from Retro Rebirth.)

Song of the day: Motel Beds - "Hopeless"

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000+10:30

Last week I posted a song by Motel Beds, a band I knew next to nothing about.

I'm pleased to say that I was contacted by Ian (Hi, Ian!), the band's drummer, who filled me in on who they are. Ian pointed me in the direction of their website, and it told me everything I needed to know:

Motel Beds is a rock band from Dayton, Ohio.

They have been together in various permutations since the proto-blog days of 2003, when their first EP "Hasta Mañ̃ana" garnered positive feedback. A track from this EP, Laugh Until You Die, was included on the first volume of the popular series "The Artist’s Den."

Time passed, as it must. In 2007, the band solidified their line-up in 2007 and managed to write and record three albums between 2009-2010: "Moondazed," and their first full-length, "Feelings."

Like men possessed, they have soldiered on, writing and recorded at an astounding rate and, in March 2011, released their critically acclaimed album, "Sunfried Dreams."

The band is now pleased to announce the release of their second LP of the year, "Tango Boys," on Chapel Hill, NC’s No More Fake Labels. The band was also warmly received at the 2011 CMJ Festival, and had its music hand-picked to appear on the 2011 CMJ Freeplay mixtape.

Momentum continues to build with a track from "Tango Boys," Tropics of the Sand (featuring vocals by Kelley Deal of The Breeders) already playing on Sirius XM Radio. In 2012, the band plans more touring, more recording and playing the No More Fake Labels showcase at the South by Southwest festival.

And here's one of their tracks:

Motel Beds - "Hopeless" (2011)

I'd like to point out that "Hopeless" isn't particularly typical of the band's music. (I chose it because it's the one I liked the most.)

This is:

Motel Beds - "Lit Eyes" (2011)

And this:

Motel Beds - "Chuck Solo" (2011)

And this:

Motel Beds - "Mr. Salad Days" (2011)

Incidentally, their back catalogue (except for their latest album, Tango Boys) is available for free (yippee!) at Bandcamp.

Motel Beds official website
Motel Beds on Facebook
Motel Beds on Twitter
Motel Beds on YouTube

Song of the day: The Smithereens - "Blood And Roses"

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000+10:30

The first time I heard this song (way back in 1986 at the tender age of 25), I got that feeling you get when you hear a song and inexplicably find yourself tremendously excited. I remember at the time thinking: "Wow. It's got a great drone in it. I wish I'd written that."

The Smithereens - "Blood And Roses" (1986)

Link

The Smithereens official website
The Smithereens on MySpace

Musical coincidences # 171

2012-01-23T05:55:00.000+10:30

My friend David (hi, David!) alerted me to a passage in Keith Richards' autobiography, Life, in which Uncle Keith mentioned a similarity (apparently inadvertent, courtesy of Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger) between a Rolling Stones song and a k.d. lang song.

This similarity to be precise:

The Rolling Stones - "Anybody Seen My Baby?" (1997) (excerpt)

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k.d. lang - "Constant Craving" (1992) (excerpt)

Link

I'm very pleased to state that I don't have to go into detail about how the coincidence came about, because it's been done already...

As I was gathering information for this post (artist links, artwork for the MP3s etc.), I found an older post by Steve Simels (Hi, Mr. Smiles!) over at his PowerPop blog which discusses this very coincidence. Terrible Confession Time: I'm a regular reader of PowerPop (it's one of about 15 blogs I check every morning) but must admit that I'd completely forgotten about that post. Oops. Anyway, Steve details the circumstances of the coincidence, and does it better than I could. Plus, Steve supplied full versions of both songs – which makes the rest of this post superfluous.

Nevertheless, here are the full versions:

The Rolling Stones - "Anybody Seen My Baby?" (1997)

Link

k.d. lang - "Constant Craving" (1992)

Link

Song of the day: Field Music - "(I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing" (live)

2012-01-22T06:00:00.000+10:30

Sorry about this.

I'm going to do two probably unjustifiable things. Not only am I going to post another song by Field Music only four days after I'd already posted a Field Music song, but even more annoyingly it's going to be a song I've already posted on this blog (a month ago). Now here comes the justification...

1. I recently found a live version of Field Music's "(I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing" on The Guardian's website. It's from their forthcoming album, Plumb.

(Note to Field Music: please, please, please release the album as soon as you can so I can stop being impatient about the album being released. Thank you.)

2. Because I'd already posted this song on the blog a month ago, I was all set to tack the new live version on to the end of that post and leave it at that. But then...

3. But then I thought that because the post is over a month old, you wouldn't remember it at all and not even think about visiting it again, thereby not seeing it.

4. I think this live version is too good to languish at the bottom of a long-forgotten post. (See point 3.)

5. Field Music is currently my favourite band, and unfortunately for you even the tiniest excuse (like finding a new live version of one of their songs) will prompt me to pester you repeatedly with more Field Music.

Incidentally, I tried to find some embed code for the video where it originally appeared (at The Guardian), but there didn't apear to be any way I could link to it from here. I ended up putting it elsewhere and embedding it from there instead. I hope I'm not stepping on any copyrighted toes by puttin' it here.

Field Music official website
Field Music on iTunes
Field Music on MySpace
Field Music on Facebook
Field Music on Twitter

Musical coincidences # 170

2012-01-22T05:55:00.001+10:30

Fabulously attentive and astute listener CGHill (Hi, CG!) noted this ~~coincidence~~ blatant theft in yesterday's Song of the day:

The Dugites - "Goodbye" (1980) (excerpt)

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Diana Renay - "Navy Blue" (1964) (excerpt)

Link

Yep.

Thanks, CG, for pointing that out.

Here are the full versions:

The Dugites - "Goodbye" (1980)

Link

Diana Renay - "Navy Blue" (1964) (excerpt)

Link

Song of the day: The Dugites - "Goodbye"

2012-01-21T06:00:00.001+10:30

Here's a jaunty* little pop song with a nautical* theme:

The Dugites - "Goodbye" (1980)

Link

(*I'm trying very hard not to combine those two words and come up with "jauntical". I'm a hopeless fan of puns and wordplay, but even I know there's a limit to what's acceptable in the world of portmanteaus.)

Song of the day: Boom Crash Opera - "The Best Thing"

2012-01-20T06:00:00.001+10:30

Here's a band that likes C major:

Boom Crash Opera - "The Best Thing" (1989)

Link

(Pointless Personal Opinion: I like how the band cruises along on that C chord throughout most of the song.)

Boom Crash Opera on MySpace

Song of the day: Skeleton Staff - "Gateway To The Stars"

2012-01-19T06:00:00.001+10:30

I've just realised that the Songs of the day for the last five days have all been resolutely non-Australian, and for what's claimed to be an Australian blog (i.e., this one) that's simply unacceptable. (Or, as I sometimes like to say, "inacceptable". I also like to say "ex-acceptable".)

It's definitely time for something Australian.

Here's Skeleton Staff, an Australian band I may be a little too fond of (I've blathered on about them plenty of times before), with a marvellously wonderful and ineffably refulgent song from their latest album, Pyschomorphism:

Skeleton Staff - Gateway To The Stars" (2011)

Oo-wee, I like that song.

By the way, one of the reasons I like it so much is that there's a part of it that reminds me of an ABBA song:

Skeleton Staff - Gateway To The Stars" (2011) (excerpt)

Link

ABBA - "Under Attack" (1982) (excerpt)

Link

I didn't make that an official* Musical coincidence because I thought the resemblance probably wasn't strong enough.

Mmm: Skeleton Staff.

Mmm: ABBA.

ABBA - "Under Attack" (1982)

Link

(*Note to self: that's a little pompous, isn't it Peter? "Official"? Since when is anything of yours "official"?)

Song of the day: Field Music - "Let's Write A Book"

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000+10:30

I know it's only been about a month since I last posted a Field Music song, but I have a huge urge to play you this one. Every time I hear it my neck goes all rubbery, and I start feelin' all loose-limbed:

Field Music - "Let's Write A Book" (2010)

Link

Funkeh.

Incidentally, a few weeks ago I was watching a TV music show and a video came on that got me terribly excited. I thought, "You beauty! A new Field Music song! Yay!" Unfortunately, that feeling lasted until the show identified the song as something by an American band called Grizzly Bear. It's not Field Music at all:

Grizzly Bear - "While You Wait For The Others" (2009)

What a rip-off.

Field Music official website
Memphis Industries
Field Music on Facebook
Field Music on MySpace

Song of the day: Motel Beds - "Rattle Rattle"

2012-01-17T06:00:00.001+10:30

Today's post is a little mysterious. I received an email a couple of days ago, and the only thing in it was this:

Motel Beds LIVE

I'm game, so I went to the link. This is it:

I didn't mind that at all.

I'd like to tell you more – well, anything – about Motel Beds, but a three-worded email is all I received from the band, so you'll have to be content with me saying "There's a band called Motel Beds, and they made a video."

Motel Beds on Bandcamp

Song of the day: Peter Skellern - "Hard Times"

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000+10:30

I'm currently listening to a 2011 compilation album, Sugar Sugar: The Birth Of Bubblegum Pop" and almost* thoroughly enjoying it. As many of the songs prompted me to reminisce (ah, the power of popular music), I remembered a non-bubblegum song that I haven't heard in years. It was released in 1975 (when I was 14), and I was batty** about it:

Peter Skellern - "Hard Times" (1975)

Link

Yep. I'm still batty about it.

(*There are a few songs on the compilation that I think shouldn't be there because I don't think they're bubblegum songs. As far as I'm concerned, songs like "Da Doo Ron Ron", "I Got You Babe", "Brand New Key", "Crocodile Rock" and a few others have no place on a bubblegum compilation.)

(**"Batty": a musical expression meaning "extremely enthusiastic to the point of mania".)

Musical coincidences # 169

2012-01-16T05:55:00.000+10:30

Today's coincidence is so noticeable you could pick it a kilometre* away:

The Gathering - "Lovely Loretta" (1969) (excerpt)

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Otis Redding - "I Can't Turn You Loose" (1965) (excerpt)

Link

Here are the full versions:

The Gathering - "Lovely Loretta" (1969)

Link

Otis Redding - "I Can't Turn You Loose" (1965)

Link

Incidentally, that version of "Lovely Loretta" isn't the original. This is:

The Merseys - "Lovely Loretta" (1968)

Link

(*Here in Australia we went metric in 1970.)

Song of the day: Origami Hologram - "Ghost Horse"

2012-01-15T06:00:00.001+10:30

Ultra-friendly American music-makin' chappy Justin Kline (Hi, Justin!) sent me an email to let me know that he's currently in a three-piece band called Origami Hologram, and they've just released a four-track EP entitled Bats In The Attic. One of the reasons I described Justin as ultra-friendly is that he and his bandmates have made Bats In The Attic completely free (as in "help yourself to a download or nine"). I think that giving away your music is one of the friendliest things a musician can do.

If you're wondering whether the EP is worth your bandwidth, I'll make it short:

Yes.

Depending on precisely what kinds of music you like, that "yes" may not be all that helpful. If you're looking for a description, Justin provided one in his email. Justin rather rashly described the band's music as "...kind of like noisy power pop. Maybe think along the lines of Teenage Fanclub with the noisy guitar stuff from Sonic Youth or My Bloody Valentine."

Well, after listening to it (repeatedly) I can state quite categorically that I think those comparisons are moderately misleading. I think that the music on Bats In The Attic is nowhere near as slick-sounding as Teenage Fanclub, not as howlingly arty as Sonic Youth, and it's not as orchestrally distorted as My Bloody Valentine.

Here's the EP:

1. "Bats In The Attic"

For me, this song was cloesest to Justin's regular solo music. It has similar chord progressions to Justin's other songs, and similar melodic phrasing. For example...

Origami Hologram - "Bats In The Attic" (2012) (excerpt 1)

Link

Justin Kline - "All I Need" (2008) (excerpt)

Link
(Full version here.)

And while I'm in coincidence mode:

Origami Hologram - "Bats In The Attic" (2012) (excerpt 2)

Link

Ayumi Hamasaki - "Daybreak" (2002) (excerpt)

Link
(Full version here.)

Right. Back to the EP...

2. "Ghost Horse"

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! Of the four tracks on the EP, this is my favourite by far. This had me bobbing my head in a remarkably short amount of time. (I think it was the chorus that prompted my head to start nodding uncontrollably.) Incidentally, the sound of the guitar in the solo reminds me very much of Midnight Oil. As far as I'm concerned, that is An Incredibly Good Thing.

3. "Cat Fight"

I like this song, but I must warn you that I'm about to make a criticism. It's not of the song, which I think is fine, but of the EP as a whole. My criticism is this: I think the mastering isn't as good as it could have been. The volume drop from track 2 to track 3 is mighty unhelpful for the flow of the EP. When this song came on, my first thought was: "Why is this track so quiet?" It's a song that's as noisy as the others on the EP, but the overall volume of "Cat Fight" is a whole lot lower than the rest of the EP. Grrr.

4. "Orange Tree"

I just noticed that this post is becoming way too long courtesy of my gibberish. I'll have to shorten it by using as few words as possible about this track. I'll use one: "enjoyable".

When I finished playing the EP, I was rather disappointed that there wasn't another track. Is wanting a four-track EP to be a five-track EP a sign that you liked the EP? (Note to self: Yes.)

I've listened to it six times now. I think I'll listen to it again.

Song of the day: Focus - "Hocus Pocus"

2012-01-14T06:00:00.000+10:30

Behold a band displaying complete mastery of their craft (especially guitarist Jan Akkerman, who is simply astonishing):

Focus - "Hocus Pocus" (1971)

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This video never fails to make my jaw drop:

This one's not too shabby either:

And here's the version they recorded for the American market:

Focus - "Hocus Pocus" (U.S. single version) (1973)

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