Plain Or Pan?
Free Us From Nancy Spungen-Fixated Heroin A-Holes Who Cling To Our Greatest Groups and Suck Out Their Brains
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Halloween’s Coming, Halloween’s Coming. Skeletons will be after you. No they won’t, but at least it gives me a half-arsed excuse to post some Nirvana on here for the first time.
I like Nirvana a lot. I’ve been going through something of a reunion with them every day in the car to work this week. They blow the cobwebs off before a hard day at the coal face, that’s for sure. Nevermind still sounds freakin’ A or awesome or whatever superlative those college frat boys would use to describe it back in the day. That the band became globally massive because of it (and ultimately why Kurt Cobain chose to blow his stupid brains out a few years later) is not up for debate. In 1991, music lovers needed something new and, unless you were Luke Haines (see Wikipedia, buy his book) Nevermind arrived at just the right moment in time. In my own wee part of the world Joe Bloggs flares had become recognised as the joke they always were. Morrissey quiffs that had already been outgrown into crappy bowl cuts (mine included) were looking for another new hairstyle to approximate. Reni hats had been put to the back of the drawer and wouldn’t see the light of day until the wattery fart that was The Second Coming. I’m sure your own wee part of the world was no different. Nirvana’s Nevermind blew all that away. And how. But you knew that already.
I worked in Our Price when Nevermind came out. I had been there for 2 weeks. The album sold out the first day (the Our Price buying team at Head Office were notoriously frugal with first day orders – we probably had 5 copies to sell). The distributors couldn’t keep up with demand and it was a full week later before we had any more copies in stock. Round about this time, Nirvana played Glasgow University’s QM Union. An old throwback to the 70s rep visiting the store put the store manager plus 3 on the guest list for the gig. Magic. Except that the store manager didn’t want to go. “Heavy metal shite” was what he said. Seeing as he was the only driver, the fact that it would be a late show and that none of us knew anyone with a floor to go back to in the wee small hours, none of us went. I’m still pissed off about it to this day. Aye, Hollins. I’m talking about you.
Anyway…..On 31st october 1991, Halloween night itself, Nirvana found themselves playing to a hometown crowd at Seattle’s Paramount Theater. Nevermind was only about 2 months old by this point. Nirvana had just returned from a triumphant British tour (Grrr) and the band were far from the jaded, cynical version that would tour subsequent albums. Their set was captured by the sound desk in all its ragged punk glory. It was such a good set (see below) and recording that it was once mooted as an official live Nirvana release. The version of School from the show made its way onto the b-side of the Come As You Are single. If you have that at home, you’ll know how pristine, exciting and definitive a recording this is, but the rest of the tracks remained in the vaults until some enterprising bootleger liberated it and put it on the internet.
Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam
Aneurysm
Drain You
School
Floyd The Barber
Smells Like Teen Spirit
About A Girl
Polly
Breed
Sliver
Love Buzz
Lithium
Been A Son
Negative Creep
On A Plain
Blew
Rape Me
Territorial Pissings
Endless, Nameless
Try before you buy – here’s mp3s of Smells Like Teen Spirit and About A Girl. Good, eh? Now get the whole shebang here.
*BONUS TRACK!
A band who’s quiffs defiantly stand proud to this day - Glasvegas do Come As You Are. Downbeat, slow and wee Glasgow ned-like in delivery, it’s something approaching aural methadone (I imagine). S’good! Here ye go.
POST SCRIPT
After Kurt Cobain killed himself, Julian Cope took out full page ads in the UK music press denouncing Courtney Love. The ads were brilliant. I’ve searched in all the darkest corners of the internet, but I can’t find a picture of any of them. I’m sure Cope wrote a whole big long rant, but I can’t find anything other than the quote I used to title this piece:
‘Free Us From Nancy Spungen-Fixated Heroin A-Holes Who Cling To Our Greatest Groups and Suck Out Their Brains.’
But, yeah, you knew that already.
Requests, Repeats and a Rockin’ Ringo Starr
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I’d been meaning to re-post this excellent Beatles show a couple of weeks ago when the world was going Beatles mad and I re-posted the best of the Beatles posts I’d done, but somehow I forgot to upload it at the time and I thought, “Ach, I’ll do it later…” Spurred on by a request from reader FC3 (as well as other requests in the past) I’m re-posting it here, right now, today. The original files were deleted by persons unknown during the great DMCA clampdown of November 08. Don’t be surprised if the new files are also removed by the internet police. Act fast! What follows is the original post from November 2007 along with newly updated download links and an MP3 sample.
“WE LOVE DISTORTION!”
So sayeth John Lennon. I can’t believe I haven’t posted anything Beatles-related at all until now. This post more than makes up for it. The music contained herein is cracking. What makes it all the more amazing is that this recording is of a radio show and is over 40 years old. It’s amazing to think these recordings exist, let alone in good quality. God knows who originally recorded it, or how they recorded it, but somehow they did, and thanks to the wonders of the internet, it’s all here. First though, the history part.
In 1963, as a live phenomenon, The Beatles were at the top of their game. Their years of playing extended sets in Hamburg had taught them how to handle a crowd. Their own fantastic songwriting talent was emerging and many of these songs were yet to be committed to vinyl. In a couple of years time they would be a spent force on the live stage. Limitations in their equipment couldn’t match the increasingly bigger venues the band were playing. This show was recorded for Swedish Radio at Karplan Studios in Stockholm on October 24th 1963. It captures the Beatles playing their early 60s set, drawing on a mixture of originals and covers. From Paul’s “2, 3, 4″ count-in onwards, this set sounds like proto-punk. The playing is spot-on. The vocal harmonies are tight and Ringo’s backeat holds it all together. There’s a John one (From Me To You), a Paul one (I Saw Her Standing There), a George one (Roll Over Beethoven), a fast one (Money), a slow one (You Really Got A Hold On Me) and all the big hits (She Loves You, Twist & Shout). And it’s all in crystal clear high fidelity mp3 (!)
Hans Westman was the studio engineer for Swedish radio. “The worst recordings I’ve ever made,” he said. “Totally chaotic. No time for rehearsals.” The studio wasn’t best equipped for recording a ‘beat group’ and there were problems overcoming the UK plugs on the Vox amps. But once sorted, The Beatles simply plugged in and played. Westman couldn’t apologise enough for his poor sound, but Lennon loved this recording. “We love distortion!“ Not long before he died in1980 he said that these were the best live recordings The Beatles ever made. And who can argue?
1. Introduction
2. I Saw Her Standing There
3. From Me To You
4. Money
5. Roll Over Beethoven
6. You Really Got A Hold On Me
7. She Loves You
8. Twist And Shout
You need this. It’s brilliant. Try before you buy? Here’s an mp3 of Twist & Shout. The entire show is available here as a rar file., from me to you (arf).
(Above) back cover art (right-click and save)
(Below)Hans Westman’s original tape reel, signed by the fab four.
Tres Bon Ivers
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That story from the other day (here) about the boy who swapped his iPod for a Walkman for a week had me thinking back to all my old compilation tapes I’ve still got in a box. I used to listen to the John Peel show religiously and sit with my finger poised over the pause button of the cassette deck on my music centre (as they were called, in my house at least, between 1983 and 1990, until CD first came into my life) waiting for something good to pop up inbetween the anarcho-punk, dub reggae, Ivor Cutler and Fall tracks. Nowadays I can appreciate that for the most part, John Peel’s show was all good, but to a 13 year old mad about Adam and The Ants, Crass, Culture and Captain Beefheart were a step too far.
By the end of the 80s I was a dab hand at recording entire Peel Sessions. If I was lucky I’d pause it just before Peel started talking. In hindsight, that was a stupid thing to do. I’d love to know what he said about some of the sessions I taped, but his comments have floated off into the ethers of time. I still have those tapes though…
The House of Love (“Hey man, the bongos are too loud” – I managed to capture Peel that night!), numerous Wedding Presents, a great Inspiral Carpets session with their original singer that sounded like The Doors and The Teardrop Explodes slugging it out after 17 microdots. And some fantastic Pixies stuff, including their first Peel Session.
You can find out all you need to know about any John Peel session at this indispensable site here. This Pixies one was recorded at Maida Vale 4 on 3rd May 1988 (21 years ago!!!) and broadcast about a week later, the session was notable for a couple of things. Firstly, it sounded fantastic. Pristine recording. Short, short songs. Frank Black screaming his big fat head off. Listening to it now, I can vouch that it still sounds fantastic today. Secondly, the choice of songs the band played was interesting. Two tracks from their recently released ‘Come On Pilgrim’ ep, two cover versions and a track that wouldn’t see the light of day until the ‘Doolittle‘ album.
About 10 years ago, long before file sharing had reached the West of Scotland I bought a Pixies bootleg called ‘Rough Diamonds’. This album has 5 tracks credited to the May 88 session, but my old tape has 4 songs from the session. I either missed their pre-Doolittle version of ‘Hey‘, or that song wasn’t broadcast in the first place. The 5 tracks are:
In Heaven (Lady In The Radiator Song)
In contrast to the rather daft and throwaway Beatles original, Wild Honey Pie is a full-on Frank Black scream-fest that wouldn’t sound out of place in any Pixies set of original material. In Heaven.. is a cover of a song from David Lynch’s ‘Eraserhead’. But you knew that already. Have you ever heard Peter Ivers original? Creeeeeeepy. High pitched voice, churchy keyboard and a wind effect at the end. The Pixies do a pretty good job of replicating it, but I think the Flaming Lips would really make this one soar. I’m now off to illegally seek out some Peter Ivers recordings. Enjoy the session!
I heart Peter Ivers
Tags: john peel, peter ivers, pixies
Peel Slowly And See
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On constant rotation chez moi this week has been the new long player from the Super Furry Animals. It’s called Dark Days/Light Years and it’s a belter. But you probably knew that. So far ahead of everyone else in terms of originality and imagination, I would say that the Super Furry Animals are currently the Best Band on the Planet.
Except they’re clearly not on this planet. To the uninitiated, on the face of it the Super Furries are just another generic indie guitar band. But look closer. Are there any other groups who can go seamlessly from pastoral folk to fuzzed guitar psychedelia to nose bleeding Belgian hardcore-apeing techno to native language singalongs? Effortlessly? Often in the one song? Nope. Of course not. So that’s settled. The Super Furry Animals are the Best Band (almost) on the Planet.
The band clearly stockpile songs and only release them when the stars are aligned and the vibe is right. ‘Inconvenience‘ from the new album sounds like Golden Retriever from their Phantom Power album, only with better lyrics. Gruff Rhys has said it was an old song looking for the right album. Looks like it found it. Even the slow songs on this album are fast, he’s said. And they are. But enough of that. If you’re a fan of SFA you’vre probably got the album by now. If you’re sitting on the fence, get off it now and hop over to any good music retailer, physical or online and take a punt. You won’t regret it. If you’re one of those folk who say you don’t like them (and there can’t be that many people), click on the link below and for free you can download the band’s Peel Session broadcast from John Peel’s house on 12th July 2001. Then get yourself over to any decent music retailer etc etc…
The session in question that was broadcast from Peel Acres is a cracker. In front of a small audience they go through 3 tracks from the Rings Around The World album that they were promoting at the time. They also play a Welsh language track that featured on that year’s Welsh language album Mwyng. But the highlight for me is the first track. Written on the way down to the session, reveals Gruff, ‘Zoom!‘ would not make it’s official appearance until 2005’s criminally under-rated ‘Love Kraft’ album. Another old song looking for the right album.
This session is as good an introduction to the Super Furries as anyone needs. Opening track ‘Zoom!‘ is a slow-burning builder of a song; a nice combination of acoustic guitars and Pink Floyd synths. By the time it had made it onto ‘Love Kraft’ it was twice as long and had swimming pool splashes, trumpets and all sorts of sonic embellishments on top, but the version here is pretty much complete from the off. Second track, ‘Fragile Happiness’ is worth hearing purely for the way mumbling Gruff sings “We’ll go to Miami“. It also sounds uncanilly like fellow pastoral folkies Gorkys Zygotic Mynci (seek them out if you’ve never heard them). With my ignorance of the Welsh language I have absolutely no idea what is being sung on ‘Nythod Cacwm’, but it’s that melodic you can sing along without needing to know the words anyway. Sevem minute long lighters-in-the-air power ballad ‘Run! Christian, Run!‘ follows and the whole session finishes with the excellent ‘A Touch Sensitive’. Sadly, not a cover of the Fall track (and given the setting, you could be forgiven for thinking that), it’s a hypnotic instrumental that sounds like the theme to some long lost sci-fi spy film. Big bass line, bubbling analogue synths, an echoey, dubby piano riff and Krautrock drums. Yep. Super Furry Animals. Hands down Best Band (almost) on the Planet.
Beardy, weirdy and bloody magic
Tags: peel acres, peel session, super furry animals
Come down from the mountain, you have been gone too long…
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…Spring is upon us, follow my only song. The clocks change this weekend, and the opening line from the Fleet Foxes ‘Ragged Wood’ has been ringing in my head since yesterday, when I logged onto The La’s forums to discover that Lee Mavers, my generation’s Syd Barrett, Arthur Lee and Howard Hughes rolled into one (Eccentric behaviour? Check. Reclusive lifestyle? Check. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? Check) has come out of hibernation for a one-off (or maybe more) guest spot on Pete Doherty’s tour.
He’s alive! And playing guitar! Picture copied from Las.org
Believe me, this has sent ripples of excitement towards anyone who still faithfully checks out what the La’s have been up to since 1990. For any uninitiated amongst you, here’s a quick summary…
Yep. Ignoring the ironic attempt at humour, or the eagerly anticpiated yet ultimately unfulfilling 2005 ‘comeback”; Maver’s toothache problems meant he couldnae sing very well. Drummer problems of Spinal Tap proportions meant that Lee’s gardener (he has a gardener?!?) played the smallest drum kit imagineable whilst standing up, The La’s have been pretty much gone, dead and split up. So yeah, ripples of excitement have splashed their way across the ether towards anyone still holding a 20 year old torch in anticipation of the mythical second album. Even a new song would be nice. Or a new chord. Or a new anything. Until then, we’ll have to make do with this…
The internet is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
They did ‘Son Of A Gun’ as well, which is easy enough to find on yer YouTube. I don’t want to clog this page up with videos when what I really wanted to give you was this……………….the Holy Grail of La’s recordings. Whispered in hushed tones from every corner of the Merseyssippi and beyond, rumoured to be an urban myth, a recording that wasn’t actually in existence, until 2005 when me, myself and I stupidly opened my metaphorical big mouth with one typed line on the La’s website. “The Kitchen tapes? I’ve got them.” Cue mass pandemonium. “No you don’t.” “Yes I do.” And my ego got the better of me. I won’t say how I got a hold of the original tape, but I feel I betrayed that person’s trust in a way. Sorry Mr L, if you’re reading. I know you browse here on occassion. As soon as I had copied the tape for one person it had spread like the River Irvine bursting its banks across the Low Green. It was everywhere. Every bloody file sharing site and half-arsed second rate blog posted it. And took the credit for it. Anyone could hear the session. I was pissed off. You had to earn your La’s stripes first. You couldn’t just turn up to the party as a newcomer in 2005 and just be given it. But that’s what happened. The emails never stopped coming. “‘Eh a’right fella/la/mate etc. Eh, about dem Kitchen tapes. Any chance of eh, y’know. I’ll send you me addy and a stamp.” I still get the emails to this day, even though if they looked hard enough, any dim wit could find it on most file sharing sites. All my fault. I let it out the bag and I hate myself for it. But you might as well get it from me as poke about on those dodgy file sharing sites full of adverts for swingers in your area.
But the Kitchen Session itself. What is it? If you’ve never heard of it before now, here’s the facts. Sometime in 1989, the La’s were staying at a cottage in Devon, ostensibly to write songs for their second album. The cottage was owned by Andy MacDonald, label boss of Go! Discs. In preparation for him visiting, the band recorded themselves in the kitchen (good acoustics apparently) doing a half hour or so session on video camera. MacDonald later took the tape back to London where an audio copy of it made it’s way into my lucky bastard hands. The songs are almost complete but not quite. Apart from ‘I Am The Key’ none of the songs had ever been heard before. The session is a masterclass in songwriting. Mavers is clearly in charge, shouting instructions and changes to the assembled band – John Power (bass), Chris Sharrock (bongos, percussion, banging noises, now in Oasis) and Barry Sutton (guitar). “The song’s just started…….Bongos man! Nah, You should come in second….2, 3, 4!” “ZZ Top! chaka-boom, chaka boom!“
He sings guitar riffs where they would appear in a studio recording. He scats, riffs and sings in that high falsetto that sounds so magical on The Hit Single the band are known for. Where the lyrics are incomplete, he makes up the words to fit the melody. He even sends himself up, him and Power singing Bryan Adams’ ‘Run To You’ at one point when they realise where they got the bassline from. But the songs. The songs! Pure gold! ‘Our Time’ features one of the best lines in any songs, ever.
“But the reasons unravel through the seasons I travel.”
Good, eh? I must’ve played my 17 year old tape about 300 times. As soon as I had the technology I converted it to a digital file, but for maximum effect I still like playing that old tape. It’s just about the best piece of music I own. Well. Apart from (insert obvious choice here) and so and so, but you know what I mean. The tape has reached such mythological status that it even has it’s own Wikipedia page (!) In fact, it’s so good only last week Mavers declared it “fucking rubbish“. Yes. It is that good. There is an inferior quality version in circulation which includes a daft R’n'B tune at the end. But if you want the original hi-fi/lo-fi master tape to wav file, the full unedited 34 minute Kitchen Session is here. I hope you enjoy every minute of it as much as I have. I’ve listened to it twice as I’ve written this article and it still knocks my socks off.
The official unofficial tracklisting is:
A plea. My recording is taken straight from the video tape and converted to audio. If anyone out there has the video, well, I’m your best pal. Drop me a line. I can send you me addy and a stamp if you like, la.
*If you like The La’s, and in particular studio outtakes, demos and the likes, you might want to click here. I put the music back up recently for a polite reader from Sweden.
The Queen Is Dead….Long Live The Queen
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My wee girl likes Hannah Montana, High School Musicals 1, 2 and 3 and all that sort of pre-teen garbage. A particular favourite of hers at the moment is Camp Rock, the story of a poor girl who finds herself at a summer school full of rich, beautiful and talented teenagers all intent on making their mark in the business of show. But you don’t need to know that. However. ‘Camp Rock’! I always have a wee snigger at that title. In my head I can picture Freddie Mercury in a puff-sleeve blouse singing “Scaramouch scaramouch do the fandango.” Camp rock. Hee hee. But from today that’s all changed.
Ooh! You are awful!
Morrissey played an intimate show for Radio 2 a couple of nights ago. I missed it at the time but caught it on the iPlayer last night. Initial reactions were….well…..I dunno. His new stuff sounds OK. Just OK. Not the triumphant return to form that you either a) secretly hope for or b) that the arse-licky journalists are required to write in order to have an audience with the grumpy old so-and-so. Highlight for me by a country mile was when he sang ‘This Charming Man’. I don’t have my Smiths history books to hand at the moment, and the old Smiths hardrive I keep somewhere in my brain is playing up, so I can’t tell you exactly when the last time he sang this song, but it was a long, long time ago.
The version he did the other night had me pining for the chiming guitars of Johnny Marr. This version was so LA rock it hurt. Devoid of any subtlety at all, the twin guitars bludgeon the chords to death and it ended up sounding like the bastard offspring of ‘Lust For Life’. If you are in the UK, you can watch it here. See Morrissey in all his barrel-chested, receding hairlined glory. Who ate all the (vegetarian) pies? If you are not in the UK, he looks a bit like Peter Mandelson. Go and google him. As he said himself on Wednesday night, “Life, in all it’s disgusting glory, goes on.” Yeah, so it’s not The Smiths. That’s obvious. But (whisper it)…………I quite like it. Camp rock indeed. I prefer this version though…
At the end of his set he also did a version of old Smiths’ b-side ‘I Keep Mine Hidden’, from the ‘Girlfriend In A Coma’ single if my afore-mentioned hardrive is correct. All tumbling piano riffs and power chords, I also (cough) liked this one (a lot, if truth be told after repeated plays) even if he didn’t do any of the whistling that he does on the original version. If you’re interested in the whole show, it’s here.
So. Not sure what to make of the latest version of Morrissey. I want to like him. I think I like him. But I’m not sure. If he was an artist I didn’t have any history with I’d not even bother with him. But if you are a music lover of a certain vintage (approaching 40 (fuck!)) you have to afford him some of your time. You might not be too keen on Morrissey the musician anymore, but we all still need Morrissey the popstar. “This Charming Man is about being charming, which so few people are these days. I think it’s nice to install these words into people’s brains and who knows, it might rub off on a new generation. We don’t have to be violent, or ugly, or arrogant, just be charming. And what a pleasant world that would be.”
*Bonus track. Stars verion of ‘This Charming Man’. I heard this in Gap a few years ago and spent ages tracking it down. I think you’ll like it.
And another thing. If you’re a fan of all things Morrisseyesque, you could do worse than add The Vinyl Villain to your favourites. Every Friday VV puts up a Friday I’m In Love…With Morrissey post. I’m sure today will be no different.
“I don’t care about the leaking, or the loss of sales, or anything like that, but I just don’t like it when someone comes and opens the curtains on my vaudeville show before I have my pants on.”
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The name’s White. Jack White. Iffy Bond themes notwithstanding, Jack White can barely do wrong. Even without his pants on, as you’ll hear below. In the past I’ve posted some fairly essential White Stripes shows and Raconteurs radio sessions. If you’re very quick and look in the darkest corners of Plain Or Pan? they’re still available. But not for long.
I know many people prefer the basic blues riffs and rudimentary style of the White Stripes to Jack’s more considered approach in The Raconteurs. I like them both. What I particularly like about The Raconteurs is that at any given time, Jack and Brendan Benson are both singing. And as I mentioned a couple of posts ago, much like The Beatles and even The Last Shadow Puppets, it’s often difficult to tell them apart. Those close harmonies really define The Raconteurs. Coming on like a 21st century The Band, The Raconteurs wipe the floor with the White Stripes. Uh huh, These boys can really play. As Jack says, “LJ’s a great bass player.”
Since moving to Nashville, the odd fiddle and honky tonk piano riff has crept into the sound and whilst this isn’t always a good thing – it springs to mind Ringo’s ‘Don’t Pass Me By’ on the White Album - in the case of some of the songs below, it fits just fine. It’s a wee bit Bob Dylan ‘Desire‘, to these ears. And anyway, if country hoe-downs ain’t your thang, it’s worth considering that by the time The Raconteurs are playing live near you, the songs could well have undergone a Dylanesque reshaping. That’s why they wipe the floor with those runny-nosed White Stripes.
Yesterday, KCRW’s ‘Morning Becomes Eclectic’ broadcast 2 sessions by the band. The first was recorded at The Village Studio, Los Angeles, on Sept 23 2008. The radio broadcast featured 4 songs followed by an interview:
Top Yourself
Old Enough
You Don’t Understand Me
Pull This Blanket Off
Interview
I can’t listen to the above version of Pull This Blanket Off without hearing REO Speedwagon’s Take It On The Run. Yep. Jack’s moved on somewhat from De Stijl. Take It On The Run’s a great track by the way, no matter how uncool that just made me. KCRW then broadcast 3 tracks from the Greek Theater, Los Angeles, from the same date as above.
Many Shades Of Black
Salute Your Solution
Rich Kid Blues
All files should be downloadable from here. It’s my first time trying this new file host, so bear with me. Fingers crossed. Let me know ease of use, speed of download etc etc. Cheers.
Back In Black
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Currently going through a major reappraisal in the house of Plain Or Pan? at the moment is Elliott Smith. I’ve been playing all my outtakes stuff and gone a-diggin’ in the deepest corners of the fabulous internet. Not surprisingly, my wee treasure hunt has turned up some good stuff, not least the following concert….
Some of you may be familiar with the Black Sessions. Effectively the French equivalent of a John Peel session they go out live over the radio. Usually there’s also 2500 promo CDs pressed up and distributed to the lucky few. The Teenage Fanclub one recently went for funny money on eBay (get it here). Perhaps not surprisingly I’ve never seen the Elliot Smith one, but I now have the next best thing - a badly edited mp3 version of the concert.
Elliott gets ready to rock out
Recorded at la Maison de Radio France on November 6th 1998, it was eventually broadcast on the 30th December at the end of the same year. It’s an ‘XO’-heavy show, complete with backing from the band Quasi and it’s rockingly good. Not quite AC/DC rocking, but for Elliott it’s pretty full-on. The set was…
Speed trials
Bled white
XO (Waltz #2)
Bottle up & Explode
Sweet Adeline
Baby Britain
Happiness
Division Day
I didn’t Understand
Between the Bars
Say Yes.
No individual tracks, the whole show is here as a .rar file.
Bonus track: Here’s a nice wee alternate version of Bled White from the ‘XO’ album, complete with false start.
Tan By Your Man
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Man-bag wearing, perma-tanned soul/folk/rock crooning all round pie, mash ‘n’ jellied eels geezer Paul Weller played a ‘God’s Jukebox’ session recently on Mark Lamarr’s Radio 2 show. And it was a belter.
Extremely well played (is that a mellotron?) and captured perfectly in the high quality files below, Weller and his “boys” run through a selection of tracks from his new album ‘22 Dreams’, as well as a track from ‘As Is Now’ and a cover of Manfred Mann’s ‘Pretty Flamingo’. All in all a good days work at the office and a nice session to own. You could be impatient and download just the music from the links below, or you could download the entire session, interview included in high quality flac files. I’d go for the latter.
The interview is informative, but fairly light hearted. It pokes fun at Sting, compares chord sequences to Abba’s ‘Take A Chance On Me’ and alludes to the band playing standing back-to-back à la Thin Lizzy. Which doesn’t really work on the radio, but would have you thinking that Paul Weller isn’t the next gurmudgeon due on the new series of Grumpy Old Men after all. He sounds like he’s having fun, both in his playing and his chat. Enjoy the session. (Recorded on July 5th, if you need to know these kind of things)
Soul, man!
Liz luvs Jeff (IDT INDT)
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* Broken link for ‘Grace’ fixed!!!
On the 12th May 1995, Jeff Buckley was playing at Prince’s club, ‘First Avenue’, in Minneapolis. On the same night, a session he recorded in Atlanta a couple of weeks earlier (probably) on the 22nd April was broadcast on the radio. It was later released on a bootleg CD simply titled ‘Sessions‘. I paid about £15 for my CD at the Barrowlands market one Sunday, way back before the internet was freely available and file sharing was all the rage. Of all the Jeff Buckley bootlegs and odds ‘n’ sods I have, the ‘Sessions‘ CD is probably the one I go back to the most, so in the spirit of the internet and Plain Or Pan’s ‘Hard To Find’ policy, the whole session is available for download below.
Played in front of a small studio audience, this is a mostly acoustic session even though Buckley plays with his band. It sounds intense, focussed and crystal clear. The one minor gripe I have with the session though is the way he bends, twists and strangles his voice into different sounds. I know that’s supposed to be part of the appeal, but sometimes during this session it can all get a bit much. He growls, yelps, warbles and yodels, and makes sounds that probably only dogs can hear. Round about this time he was shagging Liz Fraser (Cocteau Twins). There was a documentary on the telly when she said so and admitted her undying love for him. Who knew?!?!? Whereas some unfortunates get STD’s for their troubles, it seems Ms Fraser passed on some of her annoying vocal tendencies to lucky Buckley instead.
I am now ducking…
Of course, he also sings. And that’s what I always focus on when I listen to him. Well, that and his fantastic guitar playing. I still don’t know how he does it both at the same time.
Last Goodbye
So Real
Mojo Pin
Grace
Lover, You Should Have Come Over
Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! For those of you who are relatively new to Plain Or Pan?, you’ll find various Jeff Buckley stuff scattered around the site. You could look here, or here, or just click on a month on the sidebar and see what turns up. You won’t be disappointed. You could also do worse than check out Buckleyesque, a decent wee blog that has loads of Jeff rarities (although it could do with a bit of an update).
voice of an angel, wings of an angel
