My Back Pages (13/3/14)

Right then. Back in the saddle.

Not just back in the saddle but with a much faster internet as well. BT finally sorted out the cabling in our area and our internet speed is, as of today, 20 times faster than it was. For the first time in the history of mankind I have watched a trailer in HD on YouTube without a single second of buffering.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the 21st Century has hit Bootle.

so, back in the saddle in what way? Yesterday's lack of ...well...anything basically has disappeared, the muse has raised her head once more and I'm going to spend the rest of the day veering between a 40 minute stage play, the collected version of last year's blogs and my first novel (only a page in but everything starts somewhere doesn't it.

To warm up though, and since I haven't done this for a while: The iPod's on, the shuffle button has been hit, let's see what the first five songs say about me shall we?

Matthew Sweet - Vertigo

Not the U2 song of the same name with it's 1, 2, 3, 14 count in (it was the first track on their fourteenth album, a deliberate gambit despite the NME article last week that claimed the band had their facts wrong). Despite the fact that I own several Matthew Sweet albums (Girlfriend is a pure power pop classic) this track has shown up from a compilation called 'Beating Up The Campus' - all early eighties indie, what was called 'college rock' at the time. As memory serves (and the rules of this game are that I'm not checking) there's some Green On Red, early R.E.M, possibly Los Lobos' 'How Will The Wolf Survive' - they were so much better before 'La Bamba' made them a one hit wonder - and The Long Ryders' 'Looking For Lewis & Clark'. No idea where I bought this but it's a damn fine album. Production on Matthew's track is a bit 'glossy, commercial 80s' sounding though.

Beck - Chemtrails

The first single from his 'Modern Guilt' album - his last release before this year's magnificent 'Morning Phase' IIRC. Produced by the man himself and DangerMouse, it's full of DangerMouse's trademark modern take on late sixties psych. In fairness I've probably listened to the album twice but Chemtrails sounds fantastic when you come across it by accident. Stockroom at Speke, that's all it brings back really, no emotional resonance. Next track hopefully.

Summerhill -Lately

From The 'West Of Here' album. Vaguely eighties-ish county rock. Pleasant but not earth shattering. I vaguely recall there being a single that I really liked on here but couldn't tell you what it was. Nice version of The Stones' 'Wild Horses'. 

Ian McNabb - (I Go) My Own Way

Ah, finally a connection of some kind. First track from McNabb's first, post Icicle Works, solo album. The track itself has that early 90s, slightly 'baggy' beat and thoroughly sixties guitars (but McNabb has always embraced that feel so he was more than entitled to go with it here)

I first had this album (Truth And Beauty) on a pre release cassette, a promo copy that a mate in head office sent me when it was supposed to come out on an indie label, the release was held back as a bigger company came in. As per normal with McNabb's career, good reviews didn't translate into sales; fairly heavy radio play for 'If Love Was Like Guitars' didn't push the single any higher than number 42 IIRC.

We were living in Leeds at the time, approaching my 30th. The night before the landmark McNabb played The Duchess Of York. Me and our kid went. The gig was excellent (there's only ever been one bad McNabb gig and that was epically bad. To the point that he performed a free gig to make up for it. It did. In spades.) I became just a touch drunk and expressed the desire to go backstage and thank the artist for making 30 bearable. Keith was more sober and more sensible than I, he persuaded me that I didn't really want to do that.

The Decemberists - The Rake's Song.

I listened to this all the way through writing about McNabb and had absolutely no idea who it was. I own one Decemberists album (The King Is Dead?) which is enjoyable enough. As was this track. From a cover mount from 'The Word' magazine - possibly my favourite music publication of the last thirty years, a magazine that I read cover to cover every month without fail, happy to read about artists that I had absolutely no interest in because the writing was so good. Aimed squarely at me, obviously it went out of business about a year ago.

There you go, learned very little from that. The perils of random. Next up would have been The Real People which would have brought up my gigging days, Kate Bush, Prince's Gett Off which would have taken us to Hull and The Clash live at Shea Stadium which would have had me once again proclaiming the genius of Strummer and Jones.

Probably dodged a bullet there.