The Soundtrack To My Life. 07/03/2015.

Record: Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance.
Year: 2015.
Artist: Belle And Sebastian.

Belle And Sebastian’s best record in some time, if you ask me. I was pretty surprised and impressed to find a Euro-Disco track in the middle of the album but yep, that’s just what they’ve done. Suits them too…

Record: A Mighty Wind (OST).
Year: 2003.
Artist: Various.

I’d never seen this film until recently. LOVED IT! Loved ALL the songs in it! Especially this one…

Record: Dracula’s Deuce.
Year: 1964.
Artist: The Ghouls.

I went looking specifically to find some sort of Horror themed Surf music and found ‘Dracula’s Deuce’ by The Ghouls. It’s exactly what I was after! Imagine an entire album of tracks by a band that sound like early Beach Boys meets early Chuck Berry where every song sounds a bit like ‘The Monster Mash’? EXACTLY what I was looking for…

Record: Foundations Of Burden.
Year: 2014.
Artist: Pallbearer.

I found Pallbearer through Pitchfork. I never read Pitchfork reviews but they seem to keep a better eye out for new bands than I do so I occasionally drop by there to see if anything catches my eye and the artwork to Foundations Of Burden did just that.

I liked this band just fine. I think they’re musically interesting. I think they have a good sound. I think they can be hard and rough when they want to and gentle and melodic when they try. But the only thing is that Black Sabbath did all of this years ago.

Record: Shadows In The Night.
Year: 2015.
Artist: Bob Dylan.

For the first time in YEARS, Dylan has made a record that does almost zero for me. What we have here is a collection of Sinatra songs that have been covered hundreds of times before by various artists and that’s kind of my problem with it.

Dylan says that they’ve been covered so many times that these songs have almost been buried. I think he was aiming to put a bit of life back into these songs and I love that he recorded them all live but for me personally, Dylan doesn’t add anything to the likes of ‘What’ll I Do’ for me. But then again, nobody could add anything to that song for me. Not since I first heard Harry’s version…

Record: It’s A Big World Out There (And I Am Scared).
Year: 2013.
Artist: Kurt Vile And The Violators.

Kurt Vile. That name stood out to me in a Reddit forum thingy in which Tom Waits fans were recommending music to each other so I got this album. I don’t see why so many fans of Tom Waits’ music recommended Kurt Vile. I thought it was all a bit bland but I like this track…

Record: Hide.
Year: 2013.
Artist: The Bloody Beetroots.

I got a hold of this record solely because I heard and liked the name, The Bloody Beetroots. I dunno what I was expecting. That’s the fun of going in blind like that. This was the only track I liked from the record…

Record: Dawn Of The Dead (OST).
Year: 1987.
Artist: Goblin.

I’m a sucker for soundtracks and I like to listen to Horror soundtracks especially when I can’t sleep and wander around Glasgow. But y’know, Goblin’s music for “Dawn Of The Dead” doesn’t really do anything for me on its own without the film. I dunno why because I really like the soundtrack! It just doesn’t work for me on its own without the film…

Record: EP.
Year: 2005.
Artist: The Fiery Furnaces.

I’ve liked The Fiery Furnaces ever since I heard their ‘Bitter Tea‘ record years ago…

Record: Harry.
Year: 1969.
Artist: Harry Nilsson.

I’ve always had lots of time for Harry Nilsson and last week I found this record in Glasgow for £2.00. A Canadian Import seemingly. It has Nilsson’s great cover of The Beatles’ ‘Mother Nature’s Son’ on it…

Record: Fox Confessor Brings The Flood.
Year: 2006.
Artist: Neko Case.

When Andrea recommended the soundtrack and film, “A Mighty Wind”, she also hit me with hundreds of other artists and albums she thought I may like and I’m working my way through those at the moment. I was glad to be introduced to Neko Case and this ‘Fox Confessor Brings The Flood’ album. I don’t like the album cover and so I bet I’ve passed this by when I’ve been record hunting. Anyway, I’m glad I found it eventually because it’s a brilliant record and really well produced too! So far, this is my favourite track from it…

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* The Soundtrack To My Life. 07/01/2015
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The Soundtrack To My Life. 21/09/2012.

ELEPHANT (Single). (2012).
Artist: Tame Impala.
Why You Should Get It… From their forth coming album LONERISM…

THE VERY BEST OF THE COASTERS. (1994).
Artist: The Coasters.
Why You Should Get It…

TEMPEST. (2012).
Artist: Bob Dylan.
Why You Should Get It…

THE WASHINGTON SQUARES. (1987).
Artist: The Washiongton Squares.
Why You Should Get It…

Recommended to me recently by a bartender pal and described as: “Like Peter, Paul & Mary except, good!”

SING TO GOD (Parts I & II). (1995).
Artist: Cardiacs.
Why You Should Get It…

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The Soundtrack To My Life. 16/08/2012.

“The Deer Hunter” (OST). (1978).
Artist: Various Artists.

An utterly heartbreaking soundtrack from one of the greatest films ever made!
It’s nothing short of a pleasure to listen to this record.

“Different Class” (1995).
Artist: PULP.

This takes me right back to the 1990’s. Back to the days when I was jumping over fences at festivals, watching bands from the top of police car roofs and generally smoking and trying to fuck anything and everything I could get my hands on. Them were the days!

Unlike myself, “Different Class” holds up very well today.
Here, have some E’s And Wizz…

“I Just Started Hating Some People Today” (EP). (2012).
Artist: Beck.

This is Beck’s debut for Third Man Records who also have Jack White and Pokey LaFarge & The South City Three on their books and eh, I dunno about it. It’s Beck doing Hank Williams for a couple of minutes and then doing something FAR MORE INTERESTING and sinister for the outro.

Hear for yourselves:

“Blood On The Tapes” (Bootleg). (1974).
Artist: Bob Dylan.

“Blood On The Tapes” is far and away the best Bob Dylan Bootleg record that I’ve ever heard and I get a lot more from it that the officially released “Blood On The Tracks” album.

What you’re getting here is basically up, close and personal, crystal clear alternate recordings of the songs that would eventually make up “Blood On The Tracks”. The quality of the sound is incredible and a lot of the songs just seem to feature Dylan on his own with a guitar.

Some of the cuts from “Blood On The Tapes” would appear in many other bootleg titles over the years and that is what I’m going to have to let you hear as an example because I can’t find a decent link to “Blood On The Tapes”.

Check out this alternate take of “Tangled Up In Blue” for starters…

“The Rainbow Children”. (2001).
Artist: Prince.

From the late 1990’s till right now, buying a new Prince album can be a gamble but the thing is, it’s almost always worth it. “The Rainbow Children” is a seriously funky and under appreciated record and here’s why: Because the songs deal with his then recent conversion to the the Jehovah’s Witnesses religion. That said, it could be under appreciated because of the sssssssslowed down, deep vocals from Prince and…ah…who the hell caes why it’s under appreciated. All you need to know is that it contains some downright fonky shit okay?

Like this:

“Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts”. ( 1978).
Artist: The Adverts:

Well, I’d never heard about The Adverts at all until I read about them. To be honest, it’s nothing I haven’t heard The Buzzcocks do 100 times better but I enjoyed listening to “Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts” all the same.

“Remain In Light”. (1978).
Artist: Talking Heads.

…Aye, 1978 was a good year for music!
Here’s a video of Talking Heads performing ‘Once In A Lifetime’ on German T.V. in 1980:

“DARE!” (1981).
Artist: The Human League.

It suddenly struck me that I’d never really heard any music by The Human League apart from “Don’t You Want Me” (Which I liked) so I went out and bought their album “DARE!” …and became COMPLETELY ADDICTED!

I especially latched on to the track “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of” and played it to death.
I recommend listening to it whilst you’re on a train and as always, crank the volume up to 11:

“Grace”. (1994).
Artist: Jeff Buckley.

Jeff Buckley’s voice is working it’s magic on me all over again these days. “Grace” still sounds as fresh as it did when it came out and as you’re about to see, Jeff Buckley could sing like a fucking ANGEL…

“As Time Goes By …The Complete Schmilsson In The Night”. (1973).
Artist: Harry Nilsson.

…Speaking of angels, I bought some Harry Nilsson on vinyl a couple of weeks ago.
This is probably THEE Harry Nilsson record to get if you’re gonna get one.

It’s a lovely, lazy, live recording of Harry effortlessly singing his way through a few 20th Century classic standards such as “Lazy Moon”, “Over The Rainbow” and of course, “As Time Goes By” backed by an orchestra and it’s perfect midnight listening.

The original vinyl recording was titled “A Little Touch Of Schmilsson In The Night” and was later expanded and cleaned up for a finally complete 1996 CD release.

You can watch the entire recording on Youtube starting right here:

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The Soundtrack To my Life. 03/07/2012.

“Born To Add: Great Rock & Roll” (1983).
By: Sesame Street.
Why You Should Get It…

“Bringing It All Back Home” (1965).
By: Bob Dylan.
Why You Should Get It…

“Highway 61 Revisited” (1965).
By: Bob Dylan.
Why You Should Get It…

“JAWS” (OST): Anniversary Collector’s Edition (2000)
By: John Williams.
Why You Should Get It… I feel that I should point out something about the soundtrack to the cinematic classic, “JAWS”.
If, like me, you have the original soundtrack on vinyl, you don’t have what you think you have. The original vinyl soundtrack was a re-recording of the film score specifically for the soundtrack. Make sense?
Basically, if you have the original soundtrack to the film “JAWS”, you don’t.

This my friends, is why you really need the ‘Collector’s Anniversary Edition’. It IS the same recording as used in the film without the 70’s tape hiss etc… and it sounds better than ever!

“Banga” (2012).
By: Pattis Smith.
Why You Should Get It… The really (un or intentionally) freaky cover of Neil Young’s ‘After The Gold Rush’:

Which leads me on to…

“Americana” (2012).
By: Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
Why You Should Get It… Hands in the air? Honest engine? I don’t think you should get this album. Not because it’s bad, just because as far as Neil Young & Crazy Horse standards go, “Americana” is just not that good. It also has a lot do with Neil’s choice of songs. See, there are hundreds of better versions by other people and bands out there.

That said, every single video for the album is old timey and brilliant!
This is my favourite:

“Rock Around The Clock” (1954).
By: Bill Haley & The Comets.
Why You Should Get It… Whenever I think of Rock & Roll, I think of Little Richard, Berry, Jerry Lee and then Presley. I almost never think about Bill Haley and yet he was the one who made it all popular.

“Rock Around The Clock” is a peach of a song and the album is brilliant too with none of the filler you’d expect from an old Rock band like this BUT! Sadly, this record was deleted from circulation some time ago.

I found a mint condition copy in Glasgow’s Panopticon Shop and it only cost me ₤1! I was lucky that day and that night, I danced around my house to the sound of this:

“The Complete Million Dollar Quartet” (2006).
By: The Million Dollar Quartet.
Why You Should Get It… This is one of the greatest records I own. The Million Dollar Quartet was the name given to a one-off chance jam session at Sun Records in 1956 between Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. The results are GOLDEN! I’ve spoken to hardcore Elvis fanatics and they don’t even rate this record! That’s how good it is!
Never trust an Elvis fan who loves his entire discography!

See, The Million Dollar Quartet session was an unplanned jam. There are bum notes, studio chat, giggling and false starts ALL OVER THE PLACE!
It’s an utter joy to listen to and you feel like you’re right there in the room with these people.

Elvis is obviously the star of the show here and you can actually hear the awe coming from the other 3 whenever he says something.
The Million Dollar Quartet session actually highlights how amateur Presley was as a guitar player and how mesmerisingly fiery Jerry lee Lewis was as a piano player.

There’s a great moment where Elvis explains how he saw some unknown and unnamed singer do a song called “Don’t Be Cruel” and how he himself took some of Wilson’s mannerisms for his own version. The singer Presley was talking about was Jackie Wilson and you can hear it here:

Johnny Cash is particularly quiet during the entire session and Carl Perkins is…Carl Perkins but for me, Jerry Lee Lewis is the main man of the quartet and you can easily pick up on him silently plotting to wipe the floor with Elvis and as far as I’m concerned, that’s exactly what he does when he rattles this off on his piano at the end of the record:

“The Chess Story 1947-1975” Volume 1 (1999).
By: Various Artists.
Why You Should Get It… I’ve mentioned this 15 disc set before and I’m sure I’ll talk about it more in the future because it’s ASTONISHING! It’s probably the greatest collection of popular and rare blues music that exists. I keep being caught off guard by little tracks that I’d maybe missed before and a few days ago, this wee shiny gem had me cracking up right in the middle of the street…

I couldn’t get enough of the 15 Chess Story discs. I needed more! I dug around and discovered THIS:

“The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968” Volume 1 (2003).
By: Various Artists.
Why You Should Get It… I managed to get my hands on Volume 1 of 3 which is 9 Discs worth of some of the greatest music that’s ever been!

So far, my favourite track is ‘Last Night’ by The Mar-Keys and the Rik Mayall fans among you may find it to be very familiar…

All of these albums and records come highly recommended from me to you!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

…Of course, you could spend a lot of time and money tracking all of those records down OR you could spend 11 bucks on a 12″ vinyl copy of “Love Lust Tales” from HERE which I designed the artwork for…

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The Soundtrack To My Life. 08/05/2012.

“Twisted Nerve” (OST). (1968).
Artist: Bernard Herrmann.
Why You Should Get It: You probably already know it from “Kill Bill“.
Recognise THIS?

“Kill Bill”. That’s where I first heard it but the full “Twisted Nerve” soundtrack is so much more than whistling. I’ve been going through Bernard Herrmann’s scores and soundtracks at a rate of one per week and I’ve yet to hear any of his music and not find myself in a complete atmospheric trance.

I’ve also yet to see “Twisted Nerve” but I’ll get around to it.
Here’s the trailer:

“Odelay” (2 Disc Deluxe Edition). (2008).
Artist: Beck.
Why You Should Get It: You probably have it right? Everybody has “Odelay”. Don’t they?

I don’t play this record often enough. I hadn’t listened to it for years but as soon as I put it on, that was me! I was off dancing on down the street like the honky I am.

You don’t need the 2 Disc Deluxe Edition. The second disc is full of long remixes and bland B-Sides. It’s filler with lovely cover artwork but the original album sounds better than you remember!

“Electric Dirt”. (2009).
Artist: Levon Helm.
Why You Should Get It: Helm’s reworking of The Grateful Dead’s tired sounding ‘Tennessee Jed’ into a swinging and swaying slide guitar Americana classic!

The late great Levon Helm kind of worked backwards. His music got better as he got older and “Electric Dirt” was his last studio album. You can hear the effort he put into every single song.

“The Lost Notebooks Of Hank Williams”. (2011).
Artist: Various Artists.
Why You Should Get It: Speaking of Levon Helm…he’s on this album which contains arrangements of Hank Williams’ incomplete, unreleased and unrecorded final songs.

This is a real treat for lovers of Hank Williams and his music. The lyrics to these songs were found in the car that Williams died in and were passed around over the years until they found their way into the hands of the SONY / ATV company who had the good sense to hand them over to Bob Dylan.

Setting Hank Williams’ lyrics to their own melodies, Bob Dylan completed one song and various other artists including Levon Helm, Jack White, Merle Haggard, Norah Jones and Sheryl Crow finished up other tracks and it’s really interesting to hear. There’s no honky tonking or yodelling but the words are Hank through and through.

…Which leads me to…

“Together Through Life”. (2009).
Artist: Bob Dylan.
Why You Should Get It…

“Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike”. (2005).
Artist: Gogol Bordello.
Why You Should Get It: Because it’s Ukrainian Gypsy Punk Music and frankly, it’s insane…

“New Boots And Panties!!” (1977).
Artist: Ian Dury.
Why You Should Get It: Because Ian Dury was a Clever Bastard…

“Sticky Fingers”. (1971).
Artist: The Rolling Stones.
Why You Should Get It: I’m not big on The Stones but even I can’t deny that this is a fucking peach of a record!

Due to many years of hearing pub bands cover it, I couldn’t listen to ‘Brown Sugar’ for a long time but I’ve since realised that loud, drunken heckling sorts this right out.

“The Band”. (1969).
Artist: The Band.
Why You Should Get It: Every single song on this album is perfect.
Every single one.
This entire album is completely perfect.
Listen to THIS, THIS and THIS and as an extra treat, here’s a documentary about the making of the album:

You May Also Be Interested In:
* Bob Dylan Changed My Life.
* Neil Young’s Sound.
* The Soundtrack To My Life. 15/04/2012.