Le Six Mix
MP3: Blonde Redhead – Here Sometimes
MP3: Shiny Toy Guns – Money For That
MP3: Factory Floor – I Just Left These As Attempts
MP3: Air – Cherry Blossom Girl
MP3: Worriedaboutsatan – You’re In My Thoughts
VIDEO: Arcade Fire – No Cars Go
S.I.T Wolf X
Filed under the six mix
Breakbot (feat. Irfane) – Baby, I’m Yours
Incubus – Wish You Were Here
Kobai – Serotonin
Pixies – Here Comes Your Man
Longview – Further
S.I.T Wolf X
Filed under the video dose
Unless you’ve been living on the moon for the past few weeks you’ll know that the World Cup is on. It is after all the single most watched sports event in on this planet of ours, with millions (billions if you believe FIFA) tuning in worldwide. You can’t escape it at the moment. Not that i’m complaining, i love it. But it’s everywhere. Every time you turn on the TV, every little advert that pops up online, every time you open the paper it’s there staring back at you. To be fair that is the case with most World Cups but this one even more so because it’s the first time it’s been held in Africa and it’s been celebrated just that little bit more. And so it should be.
Since the World Cup is now past the cat and mouse tactics of the group stages and is actually getting exciting it’s time to dedicate a post to it. So to celebrate this momentous World Cup i’ve compiled a list of songs in honour of the great continent of Africa. I’m not gonna lie i could only come up with about 7 or 8 tracks i knew so i had to search for some more online and came across two Paul Simon and David Bowie tracks i could use. The first songs that came to mind for the list were the obvious ones by Toto, Errors, The Very Best, Leftfield and The Chemical Brothers then there were one or two i found by searching my external hard drive then i got stuck and reverted to Google. The song that actually made me think of doing the post was “Bloemfontein” by a band i’ve just got into called Junior Fencing Club (post more soon). I was listening to them on the way to work this morning and the idea came to me to do an African based post after seeing the song title. For those unaware, The Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein is one of the venues used during the World Cup and is coincidentally the stadium at which Germany beat England 4-1 yesterday 🙂 Apologies to any English readers but with me being half Scottish half German you can imagine that i was very, very happy with that result.
Africa List
—————–
1. Leftfield and Afrika Bambaataa – Afrika Shox
2. Chemical Brothers – It Began In Afrika
3. Air – African Velvet
4. Toto – Africa
5. Errors – A Rumour In Africa
6. Trentemoller – African People
7. J Dilla – African Rhythms
8. The Very Best (feat Ezra Koenig) – Warm Heart of Africa
9. Paul Simon – Under African Skies
10. David Bowie – African Night Flight
BONUS TRACKS:
MP3: Junior Fencing Club – Bloemfontein
MP3: The Housemartins – Johannesburg
As another bonus i thought i’d put in a bit about this man….
Mr Lucas Radebe. He’s so much more than a footballer. He’s a national hero in South Africa where he holds almost god like status among the fanatical football fans. He’s also the influence behind (i shudder to say the name cos i HATE the frontman) the Kaiser Chiefs. Yes, this pain in the arse of a band are all Leeds United fans. Radebe played for Leeds United for almost a decade and was their favourite player so they decided to name their band after Radebe’s first club a South African team named Kaizer Chiefs. So, it was with the swift swapping of an “S” for a “Z” (probably to avoid legal wrangles) and the band formerly known as “Parva” (Parva? Kinda fucking name is that anyway?) became the Kaiser Chiefs and proceeded to irritate the ears of the world.
The Good Kaizer Chiefs
The Irritating, Evil Kaiser Chiefs
Ok, so maybe i’m being a bit harsh. It’s not the actual band i have this massive dislike for, it’s just the main dude. Singer Ricky Wilson looks and acts like an overweight, arrogant, smarmy, chipmunk on speed. I’m not and never will be a fan of the group, i don’t really like their music, it doesn’t do anything for me but seeing as i’ve verbally denounced them so much tonight i suppose it’s only fair they get a song up.
It could’ve been worse for them. They should be grateful that Lucas Radebe’s team before signing for Leeds wasn’t a club called Moroka_Swallows. Sounds more like an African XXX effort than a football team.
Just for the record, my money’s on Argentina for the World Cup. I stand to when a fair old amount of crispy notes if they win it.
S.I.T Wolf X
Filed under the monday list
The second part of the cover versions special is 60% Scottish. Mitchell Museum, WWPJ and Sons and Daughters make up the Scottish contributions, doing covers of M.I.A, Bon Iver and Adamski respectively. There is another Scottish element amongst the tracks in the form of Blue Boy, the track “Remember Me” was written by ex Shamen member Lex Blackmore and is covered here by Aussie rock troops Tame Impala. the final track is courtesy of Passion Pit, who do an outstanding version of The Cranberries hit “Dreams”.
ORIGINAL: Blue Boy – Remember Me
This is a messy yet steady cover of Blue Boy’s 97 huge pop hit. Loud and brash from the offset. The best thing i can say is that Tame Impala definitely make this song their own. That’s a compliment by the way.
MP3: Tame Impala – Remember Me
ORIGINAL: M.I.A – Paper Planes
Done for Radio 1 and Vic Galloway, this is an indie pop masterpiece. Mitchell Museum take the rhythms from the original and push them around, throw them out the window then drag them back in and in the process put their own stamp all over this. The naive, young Scottish vocals sit neatly on top of the repetitive backing beat. A strange choice as a cover but one that was carried off very uniquely and commendably. A must hear.
MP3: Mitchell Museum – Paper Planes
ORIGINAL: Adamski feat Seal – Killer
Wow. This version of the Adamski classic starts as it means to go on. It’s a sleazy, adrenaline fuelled sounding number that rumbles along nicely for the full duration of the track. It barely pauses for breath and when it does the vocals keep it going. Strong effort from the cult Scottish stars.
MP3: Sons and Daughters – Killer
ORIGINAL: Bon Iver – Blinsided
Yet another track done for Vic Galloway. There are many artists who cover Bon Iver but to be honest i never imagined We Were Promised Jetpacks would be one. When i heard about them covering this i must admit i wasn’t too confident that it’d be any good. How wrong was i? They’ve carried it off with aplomb. Showing that sometimes the unexpected can prove exciting and fresh sounding. After listening to this i could imagine it appearing on the Jetpacks debut album as one of their own tracks if i didn’t already know it was a cover.
MP3: We Were Promised Jetpacks – Blindsided
ORIGINAL: The Cranberries – Dreams
I absolutely adore this cover. The vocals of Michael Angelakos do more than justice to Dolores O’Riordans dreamy (no pun intended) work on the original. It’s more tinkly and electronic than the original but it keeps the main components together whilst adding that perfect pop factor that Passion Pit do so well. The breakdown sounds magical, i could imagine Passion Pit releasing this as a single and it doing really well. I’d love to see them make a video for it. One of the most perfect covers i’ve heard in a while. In fact i’d go as far to say that out of the 10 covers i’ve posted over the past two days this is the best by a mile.
MP3: Passion Pit – Dreams
S.I.T Wolf X
Filed under duck for cover
Recently i’ve been randomly listening to and enjoying a lot of cover versions from my music collection and realised that i haven’t really done a post about covers in quite a while. So to make up for it i’m gonna do two.
Straight to the point then….
ORIGINAL: Tom Petty – I Won’t Back Down
The first song is a Tom Petty cover courtesy of Dawn Landes. A respected artist in her own right but maybe unfairly mainly known for her appearances alongside the likes of Alexi Murdoch, Jose Gonzalez and her husband Josh Ritter. The Kentucky native has put her own relaxing Americana tinged spin on this already American rock classic. There are a few cover versions of this song floating around but this is my favourite one.
MP3: Dawn Landes – I Won’t Back Down
ORIGINAL: Queen and David Bowie – Under Pressure
I love this song. I love the original but i love the uniqueness of this cover. It manages to stick quite close to the original version yet somehow manages to throw in all sorts of jangly,chimey, instruments/weird noises that fit in perfectly. Yet another track that has been covered several times. The most famous of which are probably the Keane version and the My Chemical Romance/The Used version. Both of which were comprehensively shit and not worth mentioning. Even though i just did. Shit. But let’s try and imagine those ones never existed. The only one worth checking out is Xiu Xiu’s version.
MP3: Xiu Xiu – Under Pressure (Feat. Michael Gira)
ORIGINAL: Dee-Lite – Grrove Is In The Heart/Beach Boys – California Girls
This is essentially two covers. As if hearing the scuzz merchants use their filthy guitars to do THAT catchy lead line from Dee-Lite’s disco classic wasn’t enough they then go and mash it up with the Beach Boys track “California Girls”. The Crocodiles deserve your love and praise simply for the fact that they were brave enough to attempt this track and the fact they’ve successfully transformed a disco anthem and a sunshine pop gem from the 60’s into a groovy, disturbingly good cover.
MP3: Crocodiles – Groove Is In The Heart
ORIGINAL: Erma Franklin – Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart
Jaguar Love hid this track away as a bonus song at the end of the album “Hologram Jams”. They decided to take this ode to heartbreak from Aretha Franklins big sister Erma and turn it into a mad psychedelic synth and guitar filled shriek fest. The vocals certainly take centre stage followed closely by the slightly deranged solo around the 2 minute mark. Bonus points for replacing the line “I’m going to show you baby that a woman can be tough” with the line “I’m going to show baby that a JAGUAR can be tough”. Brilliant.
MP3: Jaguar Love – Take Another Piece Of My Heart
ORIGINAL: Dolly Parton – Jolene
Treading safe water here. Ellie Goulding has the perfect voice to tackle the legendary Dolly Parton number. The guitar plucks steadily alongside the fragile yet assuring voice. It’s nothing new and doesn’t really add anything extra to the original but is a good cover nonetheless. I love The White Stripes version as well.
MP3: Ellie Goulding – Jolene
Remember if you wanna download any of the MP3’s just right click and save as.
S.I.T Wolf X
Filed under duck for cover
I’m sure most of you are aware that today is the summer solstice. The day when the sun stands still. The longest day of the year when the summer is at its brightest.
Todays solstice has certainly lived up to it’s billing so far, it’s been yet another fantastic day weather wise. So to celebrate the summer getting into full swing and the beginning of the long, long summer nights, barbecues and parties here is a list of summer based tracks i had lying around on the laptop. They vary from summer holidays through to summer romance and more.
SUMMER SOLSTICE
————————-
1. Wavves – Summer Goth
2. Girl Talk – Summer Smoke
3. Refused – Summerholiday Vs. Punkroutine
4. Raindear – Childhood Memories Of Summer
5. Incubus – Summer Romance (Anti-Gravitiy Love Song)
6. Avi Buffalo – Summer Cum
7. Crocodiles – Summer Of Hate
8. The Manhattan Love Suicides – Indian Summer
9. Singapore Sling – Summer Garden
10. Taking Back Sunday – You’re So Last Summer
Bonus track:
MP3: The Unwinding Hours – Solstice
Summer also means festivals. Sadly though this year will be the first year since 200o that i have missed T in the Park. In previous years i’ve also managed to take in summer festivals in Germany and Austria. Both were unforgettable experiences. In fact the only musical festivities i’ll be taking in this year is that of the West End Festival in Glasgow.
I suppose it’ll be a nice change and for once i won’t have to wake up boiling hot and hungover in a tiny polyester tent……….who am i kidding? I’m gonna miss it big time. Festivals made my summer to an extent but the new house takes priority this year and if i’m lucky i may be able to fit in a big festival of some sort at the end of the summer or maybe even September. There’s always ATP as well at the end of the year.
Summer also brings that old tingling warm sensation, literally. It’s called sunburn and a few of my friends have already been “lobsterified” this summer. So has this dude below, why is he still smiling!? Feel the burn!
OUCH!
MP3: Muse – Sunburn
Summer Can Do Strange Things To A Man
S.I.T Wolf X
Ps. Today is also my big sister Lisa’s birthday. 29 today! I’ve tx and phoned her so i might as well go for the treble and wish her a good one on here as well, Happy Birthday Lis! xxxx
She’s away on holiday at the moment so i gave her the prezzies a few days back. Among them was Iggy and The Stooges “Raw Power” Special Edition. A fine choice if you ask me.
Filed under the monday list
At every party there are two kinds of people – those who want to go home and those who don’t. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other. – Ann Landers
Maybe The Shittest T-Shirt Ever?
Nope, i didn’t go to the party last night. I decided in my better judgement that i’d rather stay in and continue single handedly ensuring my flat turned into what was pretty much my own little smoke haze filled cave.
MP3: IAMX – After Every Party I Die
I stayed up to the wee small hours (3am to be precise) enjoying as much Aphex Twin as my mind could handle before retreating to my bedroom to enjoy the many advantages of YouTube and 4OD.
Upon awakening this morning i immediately realised that not going was 100% the right decision…
A) it’s another beautiful day. If i was hungover i would just stay in bed all day. Such a waste.
B) my flatmate, who went to the party, got in at 7am this morning. I couldn’t have handled that in my psychoactive state. Although to be fair to him he did then arise at 11am. He’s also working at 4pm this afternoon. Hardcore.
C) i get to go jam in the studio, lie in the park and then watch tonights World Cup game between Brazil and Ivory Coast.
So my plans for today are simple. Finish this post. Finish the pre-prepared joint and the black coffee. Head to the studio with FX pedal in tow. Laze in the park for a bit afterwards then home for the game which will be enjoyed with a few spiced rums on ice.
Here’s a few songs from the mini playlist i’ve just finished listening to this morning….
MP3: 1, 2, 3 – Confetti
MP3: BitCrush – Demons and Dandelions
MP3: Min-Y-Llan – Sunset Over Mathry
MP3: Silver Columns – It Is Still You
MP3: Teeth – See Spaces (Visions of Trees Remix)
Also been listening to these guys a lot again recently….
This is another summer gem in waiting.
The somewhat cult but soon to be not-so-cult Glasgow band Mitchell Museum. They’re a must live. They played earlier this month @ Sleazys. They were on my radar about a year ago but they kinda slipped off it. Welcome back.
MP3: Mitchell Museum – Extra Lives
One more thing….apologies for what seems like my constant referencing to weed and getting high recently. It’s just that i’ve not found the time to be able to just relax and chill by myself over the last week or two and i’m taking full advantage of it. Plus this stuff is some of the best i’ve smoked 🙂
If you want an album that is perfect for sitting on your own with some weed, look no further.
TheSoundOfAnimalsFighting_Lover,TheLordHasLeftUs.zipfile
S.I.T Wolf X
Filed under aye choons
Today i gave my heart away.
I fell back in love with being lazy. I supposed it was only a matter of time before we reconciled and what better time than the summer.
I spent the whole of this afternoon lying in the park with a farmers daughter (*) and some friends listening to some brilliant albums (on what was the best plug in and play speakers i’ve heard so far) and talking about general nonsense. It was an idyllic afternoon by anyone’s standards but one that was especially nice for me. I’ve been needing a day like today for ages.
I had two options when i woke this morning. Go through to Luss for a day out with Morgan and her family/friends or go to the La Fete De La Musique in the west ends Ashton Lane. The annual Glasgow West End festival kicked off on the 7 June and i’ve been lucky enough to take in a few bits of it so far and to be honest the music festival did sound appealing but i declined both in favour of lying on the grass and cloud watching. Luckily i convinced Simon and his on/off partner to join me in lazing around all afternoon, well at least until 7pm. That’s when they went along to Ashton Lane to join in the festivities. To be fair Simon does know a few of the DJs playing it so it’s understandable that he should go along. Me? I lay in the park for another half hour before the munchies kicked in and i made my way through the gardens and back to the flat. The sun was still splitting the trees. I love summer.
When i got back i made some pancakes and smothered them in nutella then polished off the bitesize jammy dodgers i bought on the way home.
As for now? Well i’m doing this post, gonna roll a few more smokes then i need to decide whether or not i should go to a party tonight. I’ve been invited to a house party that is literally 5 minutes round the corner from me. But i only know 3 people out of the apparent 77 who are going so i’ll either need to get really drunk and chatty or just do the usual and sit silently and get stoned and secretly plug my iPod into the sound system in without anyone knowing. Also according to Simon i’ll need to make an effort and dress nice as there will be plenty of “talent” there. Eh, no thanks man, i’ll stick to the tramp look. The world’s an ugly place so let’s keep it that way.
Here’s some tunes that we listened to in the park this afternoon….
MP3: Incubus – Are You In
MP3: DJ Shadow – Giving Up The Ghost
MP3: Jamie Lidell – Completely Exposed
MP3: Maelstrom – I Long To Be Free
MP3: Foals – Spanish Sahara (BangaTang Remix)
MP3: The National – Bitters & Absolut
Of all the things we had a stoned talk about in the park today there was one strange subject that kept everybody amused….Google. Google and the hours of endless fun it can give you. I don’t mean the fun that you can have by browsing endlessly all day. No, i mean the amount of “Google Games” that everyone can play.
Example:-
A) Google your name and the word “needs” [i.e. JOHN needs]
B) Click search
C) Record the first 10 results
According to Google i need….
1. John needs 13 bottles of water from the store.
2. John needs father.
3. John needs charisma.
4. John needs a better wig.
5. John needs a better online ingredient.
6. John needs to tone down that profile.
7. John needs our help!
8. John needs to get his patootie back here.
9. John needs a job.
10. John needs an acoustic guitar.
Another game, which is one of my favourites is “Question Google”. Type in “why”, “what”, “when” or “who” then follow that with a “are” or “is” and any letter and be bewildered/amused by the amount of unbelievably strange suggestions that get fired at you.
WHY?
are Michael Jacksons kid white
are British people so ugly
are Americans so stupid
are adverts louder than programmes (i SO agree!)
are Jamaicans so fast
are Qwerty keyboards in that order
are men attracted to breasts
are Jews so successful
are x’s kisses
is there a dead pakistani on my couch
is belly button fluff blue (Whaaaaa? Who asked this? Someone from fucking Avatar?)
is Google racist
and last but not least, my personal favourite.
Why is water wet?
Well enough of this hazey tomfoolery. I’m off to listen to some Kyuss and make a decision on this party. On one hand it’ll be good to get out and meet new people but on the other hand i’m loving lounging in these combats and over sized tshirts with some weed and cans of Tennents. I’m scared that if i do go to this party it might be shite and ruin an erstwhile pretty glorious day. Yet again it might be the perfect ending to it. I’ll report in the morning.
S.I.T Wolf X
(*) Farmers daughter = a quarter of weed. Si enjoys making up slang. That’s one of his better ones.
Filed under aye choons
UNKLE recently released the album “Where Did The Night Fall”. I managed to score a pre-release copy some months ago and on first listen i was disappointed. But unsurprisingly like every other UNKLE album it grew on me. I’ve loved UNKLE, James Lavelle in particular, for years now (my early teens) but every time there’s a new album i always feel let down until about 3 or 4 listens. That’s usually the stage where i go “wait, this is actually fucking brilliant”. Each new listen providing different sounds and conjuring up new images. It seems i’ll never learn to appreciate Mr Lavelle’s talents first time round. Some collaborators from the last album, the critically acclaimed War Stories, joined in again on the newie. The returning guests included Joel Cadbury, Gavin Clark and the frustratingly inactive yet genius Autolux. But what caught my eye more than anything was a guest appearance from Mark Lanegan. If he lends his smoke tangled, gravelly, tortured voice to anything then i’m definitely in.
The first track “officially” released was a teaser in the form of “Natural Selection”. A number featuring the Black Angels. But the song that caught my attention most on the album was “Follow Me Down”. I’d never heard of Sleepy Sun until that track. Rachel Fannan comes across like a slightly more laid back version of Bjork. Her vocals sound like a mixture of frustration and freedom mixed together, if that makes sense.
Anyway, the whole point of this post was to stick up two remixes of “Follow Me Down” that i’ve been wanting to post for a while now and seeing as i don’t have much time (i never seem to have much time at all recently) tonight i’ll get straight to the point.
MP3: UNKLE – Follow Me Down (The Golden Filter remix)
MP3: UNKLE – Follow Me Down (Dave Sitek Remix)
The first remix is courtesy of The Golden Filter. I first heard these guys a few summers ago and the track “Solid Gold” was a mainstay on my iPod for months. It reminds me of a catwalk fashion show for some reason, check it out if you haven’t already heard it and i guarantee you’ll think you’re in Milan watching models glide by but enough day dreaming back to their remix of UNKLE. Their remix certainly gives the original a bit more oomph and elevates the track to a level and style that would be passable in a nightclub. Albeit an indie nightclub.
The second remix is by the ridiculously talented Dave Sitek. If you don’t know who this man is then be ashamed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Andrew_Sitek
His version is a slighty more abstract remix, slowing the tempo slightly before bringing it back up and highlighting and making full use of the many vocal elements that are maybe not as evident as they should be on the original.
Here’s the original…
Just as a little extra and seeing as it’s a briliant track in it’s own right here’s a classic from Greg Dulli and Twilight Singers….who just happen to be regular collaborators with a certain Mr Lanegan also. See it’s all relevant and related! It’s not really, i just wanted to post this track. I love it. I love the chords, the voice, the emptiness of it. I love playing it on guitar and sometimes i even love ATTEMPTING to sing it.
MP3: Twilight Singers – Follow You Down
More posts at the weekend. For once i have an absolutely diary free weekend. No plans, no nights out, no visitors. Just me, some weed, the drinks cabinet, the newly freshened up iPod and my laptop. Perfect.
S.I.T Wolf X
Filed under aye choons
Someones In The Wolf 