Search "Engines"

Forgot to say that supporting the aforementioned Arkestra will be Edinburgh's own Fire Engines.

Davey Henderson at last seems to be getting the recoginition he so richly deserves, having seen action at pop's frontline with three different outfits, all fabulous in their own way. The Fire Engines famously said "no" to Postcard Records, opting instead for Bob Last's Pop:Aural label; Win produced punchy power pop in a mid-80s stylee, and also provided soundtracks for lager ads; Nectarine No. 9 continue to make sublime records. But it's with the reformed Fire Engines that Davey is getting most recognition at the moment, due in no small part to the patronage of Franz Ferdinand, who persuaded them to reform, recorded a split single with them and drop their name almost as often as that of Josef K.

In fact, when will Paul Haig be similarly recognised? Or will it continue to be a case of "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride"?

I think Paul Haig and Win will have posts of their own in the coming weeks (just as soon as I've dug out those vinyl copies of Crepuscule 12"s, and that copy of Freaky Trigger). In the meantime, listen to The Fire Engines "Untitled One" (deleted Feb 2007) from their new(-ish) album on Domino.



And then buy the Fire Engines CD.

Triptych is coming once again to Scotland, and among the audio delights is an appearance by the Sun Ra Arkestra, sadly minus Mr. Sun Ra himself who went off to the great UFO in the sky some 13 years ago.

Included here is a small reminder of the genius of the Saturn-born maverick (and how many times do you get to write that?). It's a clip of the Arkestra from "Music From Tomorrow's World", an Atavistic release. Incidentally, and while we're on the subject, did you know that Raymond Baxter from Tomorrow's World was Carl Andre's uncle?



Sun Ra site
Sun Ra article

Sun Ra Spontaneous Simplicity MP3 (deleted Feb 2007)







Buy Sun Ra CDs here

Guilt-edged

I mentioned this blog to a friend the other day, and tried to explain the "angle". You've got to have an angle, right? Not just a bunch of unrelated MP3s (though some of my favourite MP3 blogs have content where the author's (good) taste is the only unifying theme...see Spoilt Victorian Child for example). "So, your angle is rehabilitating unfairly maligned artists?" says he. "Like Guilty Pleasures, then?" Well, no, not really.

The problem I have with Guilty Pleasures is that it seems to only want to rehabilitate a certain type of music, as Alexis Petridis recently noted. It's all about Alessi Brothers, Gallagher and Lyle, Pilot, that sort of thing. Soft rock. Which is fine, but it's only the sort of music to feel guilty about liking if you're an insecure Nathan Barley type. What about Sean Rowley compiling an album of music you really should feel guilty about liking? Like, say, Skrewdriver? But that wouldn't get 1500 punters into a club, thinking how wonderfully ironic it all is.

So, rather than reinforcing the orthodoxy (you can admit to liking The Fall or LCD Soundsystem, but you can only like the Starlight Vocal Band if you feel guilty about it), in this blog, Sun Ra and Simply Red will get equal billing. There won't be any ironic tracks from Hall and Oates, alongside the supposedly hep stuff. If I do include a Hall and Oates track, it'll be a good one, not an excuse to have a laugh and a dance around a handbag.

Irk The Purists

Give me Love, give me Can, give me Meatloaf,
Give me Rush, give me Marquee Moon
Michael Ball or The Fall, I could listen to them all
In the twilight or the afternoon
Irk the purists
Irk the purists
Irk the purists it's a right good laugh
Irk the purists
Irk the purists
Irk the purists in the bath

Hall and Oates, ???????, Miles Davis
Patti Smith, Simply Red, Sly Stone
Be they false or 4Real, I don't care and nor does Neal
So long as we can hear their songs
Irk the purists
Irk the purists
It could well be an Olympic sport
Irk the purists
Irk the purists
If you've never then you ought

Husker Du-Du-Du
Captain Beefheart, ELO
Chris DeBurgh, Sun Ra, Del Amitri, John Coltrane

Irk the purists
Irk the purists
Come on boy, you know it feels so right
Irk the purists
Irk the purists
Irk the purists tonight

A great little song, and something of a manifesto for the site; there'll be selections from all of the above (with the possible exception of Michael Ball) coming up. Some need no bigging up from me (can Television's stock be any higher in the post-Rip It Up world?), others need reclaiming from the naff bin (Simply Red being a case in point). And can anyone tell me what Nigel's actually singing after "Hall and Oates"?


Download Half Man Half Biscuit "Irk The Purists" (deleted Feb 2007)


HMHB site








Buy Trouble Over Bridgewater