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…

You May Also Be Interested In…
* The Soundtrack To My Life. 07/01/2015
* The Soundtrack To My Life. 09/04/2014
* The Soundtrack To My Life. 14/02/2014

The Soundtrack To My Life. 15/04/2012.

“A Night To Remember” (Audio Book). (2010).
Artist: Written by Walter Lord. Read by Martin Jarvis.
Why You Should Get It: This is a complete and compelling moment by moment account of The RMS Titanic disaster as told by the survivors themselves.

I bust my audio book cherry with “A Night To Remember” last week and it has left me completely stunned.
Highly recommended!

“Cape Fear” (Original Score). (1991).
Artist: Bernard Herrmann & Elmer Bernstein.
Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.

Ah, Bernard Herrmann. I’ve listened to his work every week ever since I got the “Taxi Driver” soundtrack last year! Did Herrmann ever write something that wasn’t completely brilliant? I can’t find any evidence if he did.

This is of course the soundtrack to the 1991 Martin Scorsese film “Cape Fear” and not the original 1961 film of the same name and so, what we have here is Bernard Herrmann’s original score adapted and arranged by Elmer Bernstein.

And it works!
It’s gloriously ominous.

“Left My Blues In San Francisco”. (1967).
Artist: Buddy Guy.
Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.

“A Wasteland Companion”. (2012).
Artist: M. Ward.
Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.

I had to get M. Ward’s “A Wasteland Companion” because last month he supported the brilliant Leslie Feist in Glasgow all by himself and I thought he carried it all off well. When he opened for Feist, Ward only used an acoustic guitar and (I think) a loop pedal and it was really great y’know? He’s a magical guitar player with really interesting and unusual chord patterns.

“A Wasteland Companion” is a very nice album but it’s mostly full-on band material instead of the stripped down bare bones I saw at the Feist gig. It’s probably one of those albums which I’ll listen to a few times before forgetting BUT!
– As I was typing this, I asked my pal Sean if he’d ever heard M. Ward’s material and he said that he has his first two albums which are bare and stripped down so maybe I should go and dig those up before I go any further with M. Ward.

“Grinderman”. (2007).
Artist: “Grinderman”.
Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.

I like Grinderman much more than I like Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and despite what everybody I know told me, I thought that “Murder Ballads” was a fucking terrible album.
SO THERE YOU GO!

“Romeo And Juliet”. (2001).
Artist: Sergei Prokofiev.
Why You Should Get It: Just click HERE.

“Deja Vu”. (1970).
Artist: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.

“Deja Vu” (or as I’ve come to call it, “Davie Who?”) is a complete classic of an album and I guess now is as good a time as any to explain how I have an almost mint condition vinyl copy in my house.
Basically, I stole it.

Way back in the mid 1990’s my girlfriend’s Dad had “Deja Vu”  on vinyl and he never played it. It was such a hard to find album back then and I could not wait to hear it. I couldn’t even believe that he had a copy nevermind a mint conditioned vinyl copy.

I constantly asked him for a loan of the album or if he could even see his way to playing the album for me. Just once. It wasn’t a lot to ask but he wouldn’t do it so one day I just removed it from his house and moved it into mine. I still have it and I play it all the time but I am sorry that I stole it.
No really, I am!

“The SInking Of The Titanic / Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet”. (1975).
Artist: Gavin Bryars.
Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.

I don’t really have any words to describe how great and profound this music is. If I think of any, I’ll come back and write them down.

“The Godfather PART II” (Original Score & Soundtrack). (1974).
Artist: Nino Rota.
Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.

“L.A. Woman” (40th Anniversary Edition). (2012).
Artist: The Doors.
Why You Should Get It: Click HERE.

I’ve always loved the “L.A. Woman” album and I’ve always loved The Doors. I think every single song on the album is a belter and the remastered 40th Anniversary version sounds AMAZINGLY clear.

Jim Morrison recorded his vocals for this album in a bathroom and you can really hear it in this version. Matter of fact, unless you have “L.A. Woman” on vinyl, you should pick up a copy of the 40th Anniversary Edition.

– But make sure you get the correct edition because strangely, this is the second 40th Anniversary Mix of this album. It was first remixed, remastered and released in 2007. Weird eh? I really don’t know why that was.

The version I’m recommending to you contains 2 discs and was released in 2012.

You May Also Be Interested In:

The Soundtrack To My Life. 13/03/2012.
The Soundtrack To My Life. 04/02/2012.
Balls & Noise.

The Soundtrack To My Life. 31/07/2011.

The Beatles. “Rubber Soul” (1965):

Bob Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline” (1969):

The Velvet Underground’s “Loaded”- The Fully Loaded Edition (1970):

Iggy Pop. “Lust For Life” (1977):

Guns ‘N’ Roses. “Appetite For Destruction” (1987):

At first glance I suppose these albums could look weird together but that’s what I’ve been listening to this week and if you think about it, they make sense together.

As well as the music, I really love the album artwork on all of those records.
Especially Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline” and Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life”. I always have a laugh to myself when I see Iggy’s smiling face looking out from a shelf in a record shop.