The Soundtrack To My Life. 07/01/2015.

Record: Storytone (Deluxe Edition).
Year: 2014.
Artist: Neil Young.

Old Neil Young sure does know how to convince me into getting a ‘Deluxe Edition’ of a record like nobody else. In the case of ‘Storytone’, he’s released the album twice. Each version being completely different.

The first record is a solo effort with Neil on the type of form he was on when he did ‘Philadelphia‘, and the second record, (Maybe my favourite), is that record again with overtly lush and downright Disney-esque orchestration. And it completely works!

Here’s my favourite song from ‘Storytone’…twice…

Record: Bathtub Love Killings.
Year: 2014.
Artist: Olivia Jean.

Olivia, you had me at “The name of my album is called ‘Bathtub Love Killings’, based on a serial killer from the 1800’s.”

Olivia Jean fronts (Or fronted?) one of my favourite bands of the last few years, The Black Bells, and this is her solo record. I think I read somewhere that she had these songs kicking around and thought they weren’t suitable for The Black Bells and so, encouraged by Jack White, she put this record together.

So far, this is my favourite song from ‘Bathtub Love Killings’…

Record: Mysteriis Alienis Mundi.
Year: 2013.
Artist: The Taikonauts.

I was listening to Man Or Astroman recently and I decided that I needed more bands like them in my life so I went looking and found The Taikonauts! That was a fucking piece of luck because y’see, I always thought that ‘Psychobilly’ was something that it isn’t. I remember someone telling me about ‘Psychobilly’ being a genre of music and I remember being very interested just on the word alone! But Psychobilly was nothing like I’d imagined it was gonna be. To me, it was a total letdown. What I was really after was Horror/Sci-Fi Surf music! That’s what I originally thought Psychobilly was! But it wasn’t. And that’s where The Taikonauts come in…

Record: Absurdistan.
Year: 1997.
Artist: Laika And The Cosmonauts.

After discovering The Taikonauts, I was hooked on Sci-Fi/Horror Surf music so I went on the hunt for more and immediately found Laika And The Cosmonauts. At first I thought they were a late 60’s band. They’re not. But the reason I originally thought they were was because the first thing I saw of theirs was this video…

Record: Songs From Zombex (OST).
Year: 2014.
Artist: Various.

“Zombex” is a zombie film by Jesse Dayton who is the main man behind one of my favourite horror bands, Captain Clegg And The Night Creatures. The film is not for me. It’s cheap and the acting is terrible and not in the good way. However, the soundtrack is right up my street and Captain Clegg And The Night Creatures even feature on it! You can only download this album right now but you can listen to a sample HERE.

Record: Yells From The Crypt.
Year: 2005.
Artist: Various.

Listen To This…

Record: Pura Vida Conspiracy.
Year: 2013.
Artist: Gogol Bordello.

I like Gogol Bordello but this record is too tame for me. Nothing stood out. I’ve come to expect shit like THIS from them…

Record: Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes.
Year: 2014.
Artist: Thom Yorke.

I wasn’t into Thom’s first solo record, ‘The Eraser’, but I fucking LOVE this new one! It was released via BitTorrent and at just over £3.00, you can’t argue with that…

Record: Clangers. Original Music from The TV Series And More…
Year: 2001.
Artist: Vernon Elliot.

Record: The Bootleg Series Vol.11: The Complete Basement Tapes. (6 Disc Version).
Year: 1967/2014.
Artist: Bob Dylan & The Band.

I’ve been waiting for YEARS to hear these tapes like this. 6 Discs is probably gonna be a bit much unless you’re a Dylan nut like I am but there’s a lot of treasure here. So dig it up!

This is one of my very favourite songs…it’s not lost on me that I say that about hundreds of songs but this really is one of my very favourites…

You May Also Be Interested In…
* The Soundtrack To My Life. 09/04/2014
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* The Soundtrack To My Life. 19/01/2014

 

The Soundtrack To My Life. 09/04/2014.

Record: “Werewolves On Wheels” (OST).
Year: 1971.
Artist: Don Gere.

I discovered this music and then later, the film, through Rob Zombie. I think ol’ Rob gets a lot of inspiration from “Werewolves On Wheels”. As a film, it didn’t really do a lot for me because I was expecting lots of Werewolves. On wheels! And well, there’s not a lot of that but the soundtrack is great!

Listen To This…

Record: “Blatantly Offenzive”.
Year: 1978.
Artist: Wayne County & The Electric Chairs.

I have no idea how I found out about this band.

Listen To This…

Record: “At Home”.
Year: 1969.
Artist: Shocking Blue.

Shocking Blue. I definitely discovered these folk through Nirvana’s cover of ‘Love Buzz’ on their album, ‘Bleach’. Apparently, Shocking Blue didn’t care much for that cover version.

Listen To This…

Record: “In Heaven”.
Year: 1981.
Artist: The Meteors.
Listen To This…

Record: ‘Perfect From Now On’.
Year: 1997.
Artist: Built To Spill.

A pal of mine recommended Built To Spill for me when i mentioned that I was on the lookout for bands that sounded like Grandaddy.

Listen To This…

Record: ‘The Stray Cats’.
Year: 1981.
Artist: The Stray Cats.
Listen To This…

Record: ‘Mozart’s Requiem, K626’.
Year: 1992?
Artist: Sir George Solti & The Wiener Philharoniker Orchestra.
Listen To This…

Record: “Back In the Game”.
Year: 2011.
Artist: Satan & Adam.

Satan & Adam. I fucking love these guys! I only got into them last year or so. I’d never heard of them before! Except, I actually had! I just didn’t know it. You know that clip in U2’s movie, “Rattle & Hum”, of the two guys jamming out on the street as U2 walk past? Yep. That’s Satan & Adam!

And Here It Is…

Record: ‘Big River’ (7″ Vinyl Single).
Year: 2010.
Artist: Secret Sisters (Featuring Jack White)

On my continuing and endless search for new music, I found myself delving into the signed artists on Jack White’s Third Man Records label. I love Pokey LaFarge, The Black Belles and Beck etc… so that seemed like a good way to find new music. That’s how I found the Secret Sisters. They sound a bit like The Chordettes to me.

Listen To This… Soundcloud Link HERE.

Record: ‘Ocean Floor’ (7″ Vinyl Single).
Year: 2010.
Artist: Hell Beach.
Listen To This…

Record: “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”.
Year: 1973.
Artist: Black Sabbath.
Listen To This…

Record: ‘The Bootleg Series Vol. 10. Another Self Portrait (1969-1971). (Deluxe Edition).
Year: 2013.
Artist: Bob Dylan.

A lotta of Dylan fans don’t like his ‘Self Portrait’ album very much. As a matter of fact, a lot that I’ve spoken to don’t like his ‘Nashville Skyline’ album much either. I think those folk are nuts. I’ve ALWAYS loved that period!
‘I Threw It All Away’? Loved it. ‘Country Pie’? Loved it. ‘All The Tired Horses’? Love it. ‘Alberta’? Love it. ‘Days Of ’49’? I fucking love it. I fucking love it all, understand?

This latest Bootleg Series album is a MUST as far as I’m concerned and if you go for the ‘Deluxe’ version, you’ll get the previously hard to find 1969 Isle Of Wight Concert Bob did with The Band.

A Preview…

You May Also Be Interested In…
* The Soundtrack Of My Life. 14/02/2014.
* The Soundtrack Of My Life. 09/01/2014.
* The Soundtrack Of My Life. 08/05/2013.

Album Cover Locations On Google Street View.

I ain’t gonna lie to ya. The idea for this blog post is not my own idea.

I was looking up famous album cover locations when I discovered the wonderful site that is Popspots. Whoever runs that site has put a serious amount of time and effort into tracking down the locations of many album covers with detailed images and maps from lots of different angles. I borrowed heavily from that site for this post but I didn’t want to just steal their entire idea.

I thought it would be interesting to explore the locations of where the album covers were shot as they appear today using Google Street View so that you can click around the Street View to get an idea of how much the locations have or haven’t changed over the years.

The Beatles.
“Abbey Road”. (1969).

Photo Outtake:

David Bowie.
“The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars”. (1972).

Note: Google Street View only allows you so far along Heddon Street so this view is actually facing the opposite way from which the photo was taken. So that means that Bowie would be standing to the left just under those canopies with his back to us…

Photo Outtake:

The Carpenters.
“Now And Then”. (1973).

Creedence Clearwater Revival.
“Willy And The Poor Boys”. (1969).

Crosby, Stills & Nash.
“Crosby, Stills & Nash”. (1969).

Note: Although the original house is long gone, this is the location of where Crosby, Stills & Nash shot the photograph for their album cover…

The Doors.
“Morrison Hotel”. (1970).

Photo Outtake:

The Doors.
“Strange Days”. (1967).

Bob Dylan.
“The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”. (1963).

Photo Outtake:

Bob Dylan.
“Highway 61 Revisited”. (1965).

The Eagles.
“Hotel California”. (1976).

Led Zeppelin.
“Physical Graffiti”. (1975).

John Lennon & Yoko Ono.
“Double Fantasy”. (1980).

Note: The cover for Double Fantasy seems to have been taken on this footbridge in Central Park with the San Remo Apartments building behind John & Yoko…

Photo Outtake:

“Double Fantasy”. (Back Cover).

Pink Floyd.
“Animals”. (1977).

Neil Young.
“After The Gold Rush”. (1070).

Original Photo:

That’s all for now. Feel free to correct me on any errors I’ve made.
I’ll update this from time to time.

You May Also be Interested In…
* Popspots
* The Beatles’ UK & US Single Covers
* On The Set: The Movie Filming Locations Channel

The Soundtrack To My Life. 09/01/2014.

Hi folks, I’ve been record shopping again!
Here’s what I’ve been listening to of late…

Record: “Re-Animator” (OST). (Vinyl Re-Release. 2013).
Artist: Richard Band.
Standout Track…

Record: “Chimpin The Blues” With Jerry Zolten & R. Crumb.
Artist: Various.
Standout Track…

Record: “Being Flynn” (OST). (2012).
Artist: Badly Drawn Boy.
Standout Track…

Record: “Pokey LaFarge” (2013).
Artist: Pokey LaFarge.
Standout Track…

Record: “Peace Sword”. (EP). (2013).
Artist: The Flaming Lips.

Record: “03”. (2008).
Artist: Son Of Dave.
Standout Track…

Record: “AM”. (2013).
Artist: Arctic Monkeys.
Standout Track…

Record: “Dear Miss Lonely Hearts”. (2013).
Artist: Cold War Kids.

Record: “NEW”. (2013).
Artist: Paul McCartney.
Standout Track…

You May Also Be Interested In…
* The Soundtrack To My Life 08/05/2013
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Two Outtakes From The Beatles’ “Love” Album.

I only found out about these iTunes-only bonus tracks from digging around the internet for information on how Giles and George Martin put The Beatles’ Love album together. I was pleasantly surprised!

First up is ‘Girl’ which features sitar from ‘Within You Without You‘, guitar from ‘And I Love Her‘ and drums from ‘Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite‘.

Next is ‘The Fool On The Hill’ which includes sitar from ‘Sea Of Holes‘, piano from ‘Dear Prudence‘ and vocals and horns from ‘Mother Nature’s Son‘.

You May Also Be Interested In…
* The Beatles: UK & US Single Covers
* The Beatles’ Back Album Covers
* Lennon’s Poster