London Calling - and Coughing

March 1st seems like forever ago now, but it was my birthday (thanks) and Terry swept me away that weekend for a faboo long weekend in London. Saw The Go! Team at a wonderful club called Koko, ate well (albeit expensively), enjoyed boat trips on the Thames, modern art and flea market shopping at Spitalfields.
But then….(TA-DUM!) on the flight home, we both picked up some kind of bug and have been crawling around the house since. Not fair. We want to bask in the post-vacation glow.
But we have memories – and plenty of new music – to remind us.
As ever, much catching up to do.

Saturday, March 11:
After a nice chat on the phone a few days ago with a PR dude from the Stunt Company, his latest wares arrived:
1.TAYLOR HAWKINS and the COATTAIL RIDERS – S/T (Thrive Records)
One of my fondest photo pit memories was of a WHFS-estival some years back, watching from the up-close press-only access area as the beautiful, shirtless Taylor Hawkins smashed his kit during a Foo Fighters’ performance of “My Hero,” a personal favorite. Later, in the press area, while interviewing the band, Taylor recognized me and said something along the lines of ‘you looked like you were having fun.’ Yes, indeed. I think it says something (good) about the guy that he named his band the Coattail Riders.
2. NIGHTMARE OF YOU – S/T (The Bevonshire Label)
Hmmm…something ponderous this way comes. The song titles are listed in Roman Numerals, and include “I Want to Be Buried in Your Backyard,” “The Studded Cinctures” and “In the Bathroom is Where I Want You.” Still, the sticker touts a “Brilliant” from NME and “A Band You Need to Know” from Alternative Press, so maybe there’s some hope.
3. LIMBECK – Let Me Come Home (Doghouse America/WEA)
They Say: “building on a foundation of Big Star and Tom Petty-inflected power pop…”

Also on Saturday:
4. The EDITORS – The Back Room (Fader)
An album I probably would have bought in England, based on placement in Time Out London and in the retail racks at Virgin, but I was confident that my PR contact on this side of the pond would come through. And he did! (Thanks, Johnny)
5. JOEY DeFRANCESCO – Organic Vibes (Concord Music Group)
It was, admittedly, a long, long time ago, but I recall this guy doing some really cheesy roller-rink organ kinda stuff. Maybe I don’t remember it well, maybe he’s grown, maybe my tastes have changed, or I’ll have a new appreciation of cheese (it worked out that way with disco).

Friday, March 10:
6. DAVID GILMOUR – On an Island (Columbia)
Terry recoiled in fear upon seeing the latest from Pink Floyd’s legendary guitarist but I’ll admit that, having been blown away by the band’s comeback set at Live 8, I’m looking forward to a loll with that languid, trippy sound.
7. GYPSY BORDELLO – Gypsy Punks (Side OneDummy)
Or is the title Underdog World Strike? Hard to tell. Lately, I’ve been getting scads of emails, inviting me to faboo events at SXSW which I won’t be attending since I won’t be in Austin this year. But it’s a great excuse to reply and say, ‘can’t be there; can you send a disc?’ Maybe next year I can be among the Texas throng.
Anyway, at first listen, I was tempted to call this a novelty album, there’s something so willfully exotic about it, but then I found it to be great driving on a sunny day music, full of smartass humor and Clashy edge, Makes me wanna drink vodka and smash plates, and wear purple!
8. RHONDA TOWNS – I Wanna Be Loved by You (Dawn Records)
What are the chances that I am gonna like another generic country western singer? Not much, really, and when she goes into a full-on song version of The Lord’s Prayer, I know I’m in way over my head. Funny note there: she sings “and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Since when is God doing credit counseling?
9. VENICE IS SINKING – Sorry About the Flowers
Compared on the PR sticker, to Low and Galaxie 500, but I hear the Dambuilders, a local act that had a minor hit with the minor key, bittersweet “Drive-by Kiss.”
10. ABOUT – Bongo (Cock Rock Disco)
Freaky cover – black and white DIY punky collage with shots of color and Ralph Steadman-style splatter. Slightly off-putting, but it’s from the peeps at Team Clermont, who don’t get all hardcore on me. They compare the band to Devo and Fischerspooner. We’ll see.

Thursday, March 8
11. RICHARD ASHCROFT – Keys to the World (Parlophone)
The disc was made in Holland, so I suspect this is not the American label – and I doubt I can actually download the ringtones offered in the CD booklet promotion. Ashcroft is such a big deal in England, but his swagger doesn’t count for much here. Still, he’s got an interesting voice and grand ambitions, so I’m curious to hear what he’s on about this time.

Wednesday, March 7
Before the dread Airplane Flu knocked me out, I made it to the book store for the latest:
12. MOJO magazine – The Modern Genius of Ray Davies
Indeed, there’s nary a day goes by that Terry and I don’t hear something on the stereo that makes us nod and think, “Kinks influence.” After the Beatles and Stones, the Kinks really were the most important British band and arguable more intrinsically British than anyone else.
I don’t know who Peter Bruntnell is, but his version of “Waterloo Sunset” does justice to the tender masterpiece and that’s a high bar.

Mr. Customs Man, I declare the following U.K purchases:
13. UNCUT Playlist April 2006
I saved about $1.50 buying the magazine in England rather than in the States, but I was restless at the first newsstand, and anxious to start the acquisition process. And with a line-up like Nick Cave, Morrissey, Secret Machines and Moody Blues, it felt like a British thing to do (even tho’ there are US artists here as well. Oh, look, there’s a track from My Latest Novel, a band I read about in the British press and wanted to check out.
14. VA – NME Awards 2006 The Winners
Kaiser Chiefs, Babyshambles, the Strokes and Franz Ferdinand…Now, here I did save a bit of doss, as I think the Brits say. This magazine was only about $3 to buy in London and goes for about $7 here in the states. And with a 12 track CD offering samples of Babyshambles (nice rhyme there), Mystery Jets, and the Editors.Yeah, baby!
15. Flux magazine with free CD, "Speaking in Tongues" (Trama label)
Even at the venerable Tate Britain gallery, I’m looking for music (and not the Throbbing Gristle connection, provided by an “art” piece in which a former member of that band painstakingly documents her time as a worker in the sex industry). This art magazine comes with a sampler from a Brazilian-oriented record label.

But the big event, music acquisition-wise, was the obligatory trip to a British music store, in this case, Virgin, Tottenham Court Road, around the corner from the scary Freddie Mercury statue which looms over the theatre playing the Queen musical.

4 for 20 pounds:
16. POGUES – The Ultimate Collection (Warner UK)
2 discs, one a greatest hits and the other a live show from the Brixton Academy. I didn’t get tickets (and couldn’t have dragged my butt out of med) for last week’s 930 Club show, so maybe I’ll play this real loud and down a few pints.
17. ELBOW – Leaders of the Free World (V2)
Love this band and now that Coldplay has admitted that it may be time for them to step aside, maybe the rest of the world can discover this emotive, classy band.
18. VARIOUS ARTISTS – The Buddha Café (Dynamic)
Three CDs of “sublime chilled beats.” For 5 pounds!
19. The KINKS – Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society
I’d heard there was a version of this with an added disc – DVD I think, or concert material, but this is a single disc with the album in both mono and stereo. As I hope we have firmly established here, I love the Kinks, god save ‘em. Funny note: the spine leaves out the word “green” from the correct title.

Terry took advantage of the 4 for 20 pounds offer as well to stock up on hipster muzak for the kitchen. All of these, except for the double CD classical set, are 3–CD collections, which makes for quite a lot of music for his money. And, in the first samplings across the sets, we find them just right for the purpose – not as quiet as ambient nor as saccharine as muzak, just the right balance - non-intrusive yet pulsatingly pleasing. As Terry remarked, ‘I feel like this is what was playing in just about every cool bar and restaurant we visited in England.’
20. Brazilica Lounge (Dynamic)
21. Bollywood Beats (Dynamic)
22. Arabic Chillout (Dynamic)
23. Classical Chill (Retrospective/Union Square)

3 for 12 pounds. Another hard-to-resist promotion.
24. The MAMAS and the PAPAS – The Best of
I’ve been searching for a M&P collection that includes the song “Straight Shooter,” from the debut album, and here it is.
25. JAMES – The Collection
Includes a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “So Long Marianne,” but I can’t say I’m crazy about what they’ve done with it.
26. GREEN DAY – Dookie (Warner UK)
Emma had a copy, I had a copy (albeit a thrift store home-made duplicate) but Grace wanted one to call her very own.

27. SNOW PATROL – Songs for Polarbears (Jeepster)
An earlier album, somewhat shaggier than the breakthrough.
28. KATHRYN WILLIAMS – Dog Leap Stairs (CAW Records)
Purchased, without having heard a note, on the basis of a sterling review from Mojo, or Uncut. Played it the other night while falling asleep and found that it’s as good as the review said. She has a remarkable voice – crisp and beautiful.
29. The WHITE STRIPES – Walking with a Ghost (V2)
In hindsight, this wasn’t a very good deal – a 5-track EP, 4 of them live, for about $9.50 American. But I was swept away by the “staff recommends” card that said how it was sure to be out of print and a collector’s item soon. I’m such a sucker for that shit.

And of course, we had to check out the singles section:
30. ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS – Move Along CD single
Another treat for Grace, includes non-CD songs and a video.
31. MYSTERY JETS – CD single (679 Recordings)
In perusing the local music press, an ad and a review of the Mystery Jets album put them at the top of my list of bands to find out about. And here in the singles section, the play given to the band seemed to say, Big Thing Indeed. I was also smitten by the way the CD single is pressed, on a clear disc, so that the image of the boy running appears to be a die-cut shape even though it’s fully rounded. And it’s a catchy tune when you play it, too.

Genuine 7”vinyl singles, too! Terry mocked me for buying these, but I assured him I do still use my turntable. Still, to be honest, it’s not about playing them so much as there’s the fetishistic quality of the square picture sleeve…
32. MYSTERY JETS – 7” vinyl single (679 Recordings)
There were actually two different vinyl singles for sale (the British music industry is shameless about making the hard-core punters buy multiples in order to boost sales) and I had to talk myself out of grabbing both.
33. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH – 7” vinyl single (self-released)
You gotta support these guys, especially as they’ve done it all without major label support.
34. WE ARE SCIENTISTS – It’s a Hit
Groovy orange-red vinyl! Confused by the sticker, tho – “Ltd edition coloured vinyl that will reveal its true self when joined with its companion “It’s a Hit’ 7.” I looked all over the rack, but this was the only version of the song I could find. What would/could another vinyl single do with this one?

And one more, at the airport:
35. MYSTERY JETS – Making Dens (679 Recordings)
Oh yes, those Jets again. I asked the young punky girl at the Virgin store if there was a full-length Jets CD out, but she said she didn’t think so (she also had no idea who Damon Alburn of Blur was, either, so I should have questioned her authority). Lo and behold, there it was at the little Virgin store in the duty free, and I sprang for the deluxe version with the DVD. Thankfully, having invested a lot in this band I hadn’t heard a lick of, I’m finding the sound quite enjoyable – meaty, beefy, big and bouncy, as the Who once described it, with baroque arrangements and trippy effects.

Waiting upon my return:
Purchased
36. VARIOUS ARTISTS – Stubbs the Zombie soundtrack (Shout! Factory)
Gentle versions of oldies by modern indie types like Death Cab and the Raveonettes.
37. GRACE of MY HEART (DVD)
Elvis Costello, among others, wrote songs for this Brill Building-themed film, so I;m counting it.
38. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH – S/T (self-released)

By Request:
39. LESLEY GORE – Ever Since (Engine Company)
40. The BOY LEAST LIKELY TO – The Best Party Ever (Too Young to Die)
I was invited to see these guys open for James Blount (count me among those who can’t stand the guy) and would have enjoyed it, I think. The CD is twee, to be sure, but you wouldn’t want it to be otherwise, given the adorable cartoon characters running throughout the CD booklet.

Unsolicited:
41, 42. NORTHEY VALENZUELA – (The Lab)
Two copies of the same CD, in separate puffy bags.
Jesse Valenzuela of the Gin Blossoms and Craig Northey of the Odds.
43. BLACK 47 – Bittersweet Sixteen (Gadlfy)
Next week’s Post preview.
44. The DANGER O’s – Little Machines (Creep/Blackout)
45. CANDY BARS – On Cutting Ti-Gers in Half and Understanding Narravation (New Grenada)
46. The NEW ORLEANS SOCIAL CLUB – Sing Me Back Home (Burgundy/SONYBMG)
Soon to tour with Broken Social Scene, Washington Social Club, Paranoid Social Club…
47. DAMIAN “JR. GONG” MARLEY – Beautiful VHS (Ghetto Youths/Tuff Gong/Universal)
Catchy video version of the dreadlocked one’s single, with a scary looking Bobby Brown helping out.

And finally, catching up with what came in just prior to the trip:
48. HAZARD COUNTY GIRLS – Divine Armor (Rev Up Records)
Press kit came with plastic rose petals. Annoying, actually, for some reason.
49.VARIOUS ARTISTS – Take Action, Vol. 5 (Sub City)
Given to me by the publicist at the press conference for the tour, begun March 1st in DC.
You can see pictures of the event, where Matchbook Romance did a short acoustic set, here.

50. SONDRE LERCHE and the FACES DOWN QUARTET – Duper Sessions (Astralwerks)
I love that little Lerche dude, and I enjoy his quiet, tasteful take of classics like Cole Porter, but his version of Costello’s “Human Hands” doesn’t make the jump for me. Costello is many things, but straightly sweet? Not really.

YTD Total: 158