Hank Williams - The hmv Downstairs Section

Whenever I walk into the flagship hmv store on Oxford Street a nauseous feeling rapidly consumes me. After a very quick browse at what they have in the ‘new biggest ever sale’ I soon make my way downstairs to the blues/country/world/classical/soundtrack/ musical/folk/jazz/comedy section to get away from the crowd and the new Rhiannon or Kaiser Chiefs release that’s getting blasted out from the sound system.
I know this sounds like I’m old before my time but downstairs is just an all round better shopping experience. Okay so maybe not if you don’t like any of the music they have but even if I did want the new offering from Rhiannon or the Kaiser Chiefs I would still go down there to pay as the queue is almost non-existent.
Luckily I do like a lot of the music in the downstairs section and its where I bought my best ever value for money music purchase that is Hank Williams Greatest Hits. A two CD album with forty great songs for the price of six quid.

Get an mp3 of Hank Williams - Lost Highway by left clicking on this link.

Great Cover #8 (kind of) Beck - Burro

This is a great cover of the Beck song Jack-Ass by err… Beck. It first appeared as a B-side to the single but has since appeared on the deluxe edition of Odelay. Okay so it’s a re-working of the song but it sounds like a cover as its done in a full on mariachi style, complete with Beck singing in Spanish.
One of the main components of Jack-Ass is the sample of Van Morison’s old band Them performing Bob Dylan’s It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.
So Burro is sort of like a cover of a song that’s based on a cover of another song.
There’s another version called Strange Invitation which is stripped down to an acoustic guitar and strings. Its good but Burro stands out because it’s so different from the original.

Download an mp3 of Beck - Burro from this link.

Bon Iver - Blood Bank

When Bon Iver’s first album For Emma, Forever Ago came out three years ago the story of the album - After the break up of his band and a relationship Justin Vernon went back to Wisconsin where he recuperated in his fathers isolated cabin out in the woods - along with rave reviews was a great selling point, and I soon bought it without even hearing a note. In the main it lived up to what I hoped it would be, especially with the songs Skinny Love, For Emma and Flume.
So where did Bon Iver go with the recently released follow up? Well in some parts he's gone back to the 80s with bad sounding synth and keyboard. On the last song there’s even some cheesy 80s saxophone. Also the vocals are in a falsetto that has as much range as a water pistol.
It’s a huge let down. Especially after the in-between EP Blood Bank. With the title tracks slightly distorted chords, varied vocal range and well written lyrics its with out doubt my favourite Bon Iver track.
Shame that on the second album he decided to sound like fucking Enya.

Download an mp3 of Bon Iver - Blood Bank from this link.

The Jim Jones Revue - High Horse

There’s not too much subtlety from the London five piece band The Jim Jones Revue. Everything is full on and raucous as they play old time fifties rock ’n’ roll in a garage style that sounds like Jerry-Lee Lewis playing with The Sonics.
I’m a recent convert and what with them being from London I’ll soon get around to seeing them play live. I imagine it to be bordering on shambolic, with a feeling that the wheels could come off at any minute. The way this type of music should sound live.
Only thing is that the next time they play in London its at the Shepherds Bush Empire. Not one of my favoured venues. If only I got into this band earlier then I could have caught them in a in a small sweaty place that skinks of stale beer. That’s this type of music’s natural home.



Download an mp3 of The Jim Jones Revue - High Horse from this link.

Great Cover #7 Pelican - Geometry of Murder

My teenage metal phase was brief. But for while there I only listened to Megadeath, Metallica, Slayer and Pantera. I don’t listen to any of them bands anymore but I still put on a metal record every so often. I would be into the genre a whole lot more if it wasn’t for the vocals. Many times I’ve liked the heavy distorted riffing, pounding drums and throbbing bass and then the growling cookie monster vocals come in and ruin it. I just don‘t understand why they pretend to be some kind of evil devil from hell, its childish pantomime. And I can’t stand the high pitched Brice Dickinson type vocals either.
That’s why I like the instrumental post-metal of Chicago band Pelican. None of that growling of operatic screaming with them. Its heavy grooves that don’t let vocals get in the way.
Here is really good cover of an Earth song. A band who don’t need vocals either.



Download Pelican - Geometry of Murder from here.

The Redlands Palomino Company

The Redlands Palomino Company are one of the best UK Alt-Country type bands around. Okay so on the surface there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of competition for that crown, but there’s a few knocking about. They’re a band that know their sound and don’t fret about wearing their influences on there sleeve. But what really sets them apart are the vocals. Some songs have slightly ragged voice of Alex Elton-Wall, some the smooth voice of Hannah Elton-Wall and sometimes they alternate like on the opening song Call Me Up from their recently released third album Don’t Fade. Its their first album in four years and sees them continue with what they do best. The Redlands Palomino Company don’t throw any curveballs into the mix, its ten straight up country rock songs with guitars, bass, drums and pedal steel. And it sounds great.

Download an mp3 of Call Me Up by The Redlands Palomino Company from here.

Guided By Voices - Glad Girls

There’s nothing more smug than an indie rock fan who says “I was into (insert name of band) before they became well known.” And if the band in question is Guided By Voices then that would take smugness to a whole new level.
I’m not one of them people myself as I only got into them when they released a best of compilation called Human Amusements At Hourly Rates. By then main man Bob Pollard had broke the band up. So unfortunately I never got to see them live or could look forward to new releases. But its okay as its never too late to get into a band, and Guided By Voices can easily become one of your favourites. I go through spells when they're the only band that I want to listen to.
Some of their songs are Lo-fi, some just a verse snippet that comes and goes before you know it. Then there's indie rock anthems like this:



Download Guided By Voices - Glad Girls mp3 from here.

Björk - Going Back To Debut

The last couple of days I’ve been listening to Björk’s first solo album Debut. Well its her first solo album if you don't include the one she recorded when she was eleven years old and the album of traditional Icelandic and jazz tunes.
The first time that I was aware of Bjork was when I saw an interview with her on MTV (back when MTV was worth watching). She was onset making the video for her first single Human Behaviour and spoke in an accent that I couldn’t place. When they played the video at the end of the interview it was clear that she didn’t sound like any other female pop singers. I was intrigued.
Venus As A Boy was another great single with a strange video, as was Play Dead (that was released as a single but not originally on Debut), but it wasn’t until I heard Big Time Sensuality that I realised that I really do like Bjork. It’s a song that I regularly listen to. A song that I never skip when it pops up on shuffle. And it has that great chord change at the start of the chorus. I never tire of it.
And another really good video.

Sugar - Some Real Power Pop

The other day I was flicking around the TV channels when I came across Top of the Pops 2. The song playing was the awful Stacy’s Mom by Fountains of Wayne. As I watched the in studio performance I realised something. That the band look as if they are in their thirties. After doing a quick Google search I found out that Fountains of Wayne had been going for years before they recorded Stacy’s Mom. When I first heard it on the radio I thought that the band must a crap new American version of Busted or McFly. Kids pop music with guitars.
Power pop bands pushing thirty or forty singing about being a teenager like Fountains of Wayne and Blink 182 are much worse than Hanson still singing Mmm Bop.
So let’s have some power pop that’s worth listening to. Husker Du had melodic pop sensibilities along with their frantic speed and buzz saw guitar. But when the band split up and Bob Mould went on to form another three piece called Sugar some of the melody’s were pushed to the front. Especially on the single If I Can’t Change Your Mind where Mould uses an acoustic twelve string guitar to give it a Big Star, REM sound type of sound.
It even got to number 30 in the UK charts. Back when some people cared about that sort of thing.

Download Sugar - If I Can’t Change Your Mind from here.