Hamid Baroudi – Desert Roots
An Algerian from the Sahara. You might have heard of him via the group he founded in Germany, Dissidenten. This is from his solo album City No Mad, a play on words, it’s a wonderful fusion of music from the Maghgreb and Western contemporary music. This has been a real earworm in this household for many years. – goneforeign
Family – My Friend The Sun
Family were incredible live performers; brilliant multi-instrumentalists, fronted by the genuinely scary vocalist Roger Chapman. Let’s face it, how many late-sixties rock singers had jailhouse tattoos other than Chapman? Often categorised as a prog band, I never thought of them as such. I just considered them unique. They adhered to no formula, so how could they be pigeon-holed? My Friend The Sun has beautifully-sung multi-layered vocal parts, stitched together by Charlie Whitney’s acoustic guitar picking. It still sounds as good today as it did thirty-eight years ago. – sonofwebcore
Admiral Fallow – Squealing Pigs
Thumping, impassioned Scots indie folk, once you’ve heard each section building up and up, you’ll want to hear it again straight away – especially after a whole circus invades the stage at the 2.20 mark! – blimpy
Gibson Kente – Saduva
From the Next Stop Soweto series of compilations, a slow instrumental from 1976, backed by the simplest of basslines. It reminds me a bit of Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain. I love how it slowly creeps to life, and the guitar playing is full of bluesy elegance. – ejaydee
The Ravishing Beauties – Futility
I know we’re not supposed to serve up leftovers from recent RR themes – but this one didn’t make it into the Box or the Collabo, and there wasn’t a link on the blog, and I’d hate to think anyone missed out, because it’s my discovery of the year. I know only what Wikipedia has told me about Virginia Astley and the Ravishing Beauties, but this take on Wilfred Owen’s “Futility” is just heartstoppingly beautiful. Despite (or possibly because of) the recording – a home digitisation of a home taping of a Peel session – this has actually put tears in my eyes. – barbryn
Lupe Fiasco – Kick, Push
Thematically it is Neil Young’s Helpless – a boyhood search for identity and independence in a small town/’hood. Musically it is hip hop for people who think they don’t like hip hop. One of my best ever RR discoveries (thanks Steen) – tin
Barbryn: Glad you went to all that trouble, I needed the lyrics, google helped, here they are:
Futility
by Wilfred Owen
Move him into the sun –
Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.
Think how it wakes the seeds, –
Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides,
Full-nerved -still warm -too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
- O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth’s sleep at all?
Blimey! Never even HEARD of four of these artists, and own nothing by Family or Lupe Fiasco (unsurprisingly!).
Will have to wait until bedtime as I’ve got the girls on my own for a couple of days, but of course, I wanted to be able to tick the email notification box.
The Family track is lovely, very different from the one of theirs I remember, “In My Own Time” from when it was in the charts and on Top Of The Pops. That one could’ve been an advert for “International Talk Like A Pirate Day” if they’d had such a thing then, so gruff and nautical was Roger Chapman’s singing. And thanks to everyone for all the earworms.
Admirable Fallow was my favourite discovery, Futility was indeed beautiful, and Lupe Fiasco is a modern classic of course.
‘Desert Roots’ kicked it off perfectly for me this week.
interesting set – like DsD not many known to me – ‘kick push’ being the exception. the only Lupe track I knew until steen helped me out.
I have a few Hamid Baroudi tracks, more than one of which begin with found sounds. Great track that I hadn’t heard before.
Admiral Fallow is new to me, and I loved the song. Sweet acoustic guitar intro belying the crescendo to come. Excellent!
Gibson Kente also is new to me. I was hooked from the first bar. When I can’t predict the direction a piece of music will take is when I’m most intrigued. The arranger did a marvellous job.
The Ravishing Beauties blew me away. If there’s one thing that turns me off it’s predictable, formulaic music. Futility, being new and fresh to my ears, was a treat. If GONEFOREIGN hadn’t posted the poem I’d have gone and looked it up. I’m typing this about a mile away from Wilfred Owen’s blue-plaque house in Birkenhead. Oh, and thanks, Tony, a line from the poem has given me the title for something I’m working on.
I already have the Lupe Fiasco track so I must like it! Like most of my hip-hop I’ve extracted it from the ‘box. It’s a great shout.
Thanks everyone.
DADDYPIG – I never liked In My Own Time. In its favour I can report hearing Tony Blackburn, who was forced to play it on his breakfast show, saying, “I have to play this but it’s not OUR kind of music, is it?”
I relenquish my anonymity!
‘Relenquish?’ It was late. Back to anonimitie . . .
Another busy day out west so I’m listening has I get ready for work so quick impressions. Desert Roots -Just fascinating rhythms & a total earworm. My Friend the Sun – great guitar & vocal exchange, enchanting. Squealing Pigs – Ok what pub are these guys playin’ in tonight ’cause I want to join the throng. Can see the whole audience shouting lines- great energy. Saduva – wow I’m on my 3rd play & have to pause cause I’m out the door. This one tickles all me fancies (in a good way). Rest tonight cause I’m out the door.
Another nice set of Tunes. The high point for me was Squealing Pigs followed by Saduva. Two good buildy uppy songs in a row, that worked really well together.
And all credit for RR – Lupe-discovering should be traced back to it’s source, which is Ejaydee.
This is one of those occasions when RR and the Spill has taught me something. Like DsD, I’d never heard of a lot of these people. Family – great track. The Ravishing Beauties – stunning! Loved the Gibson Kente and Hamid Barouti, also.
Admiral Fallow reminded me of nights in folk clubs in the 60s and not being totally averse to hip-hop, I appreciated the Lupe Fiasco track.
Good stuff – many thanks.
Rather predictably, I love the Admiral Fallow – knew I would from the first note. Lovely stuff. I’m *literally* grinning as I listen.
When I was 13, we did Wilfred Owen at school. We each had to choose a poem to present to the class and I choose “Futility”. Because it made me cry, basically. Still does in this version. Thanks barbryn.
Lupe Fiasco is great too – another Spiller introduced to him by ejay/steen here! I must have got “Little Weapon” from the Box a few months ago and have listened to it loads since – this is up there with it.
Blimey, talk about running the gamut of emotions! Great collection, peeps.
What a lot of lovely comments! Glad you’ve enjoyed this week’s offerings. Keep sending me the goods and I’ll try to keep putting interesting lists together!
all of the above goes for me too. I loved loved the Admiral Fallow track!
Better late than never …
Hmmm, my appreciation of these tunes would probably look like a
normal distribution curve in the order that Maki planned them.
goneforeign‘s selection suffered for being first up on an evening when I’m not feeling particularly receptive; I suspect a fully listening-attuned DsD would like it more than the overtired me actually did.
webcore‘s Family cut threw me a real curve ball, but I liked it.
Blimpy‘s Admiral Fallow song is this week’s big hit on me; no surprise given how much I’ve listened to I Build Collapsible Mountains in the last couple of days.
The Gibson Kente is a scorer too, but after that I’m afraid my interest fell away rather rapidly; I can’t put my finger on why The Ravishing Beauties doesn’t work for me, because it should. And sorry, hip-hoppers, still don’t get it.
Thank you all, regardless, and goodnight.
love the chart DsD…
Oo-er! That was only meant to be a link, not an insert!!
Sorry about that, everyone.
Oops – my fault! I thought it’d look more graphic like this and the link wasn’t showing up right (colour resolution is so poor in comments that if we don’t mark links in bold they’re virtually unnoticeable) Sorry DsD!
Oh, OK then Maki. No problem, I was just worried I’d made yet another cock-up trying to get my head around WordPress.
Although to make the link work, I wrote that comment on RR to do the link bit, then cut’n'pasted it over here. I’m still W-W-A-A-A-Y-Y off being able to post music / podcast threads on WP.
Like most others, some of these are new to me. Once again a tremendous mix.
The stand-outs for me were – Desert Roots (fab-u-lous), Saduva (feel that guitar) and Kick Push (more than interesting).
DsD, I’ll have to stay behind after class to study the chart.
Great selection – enjoyed those Sixties chord progressions in Family (even if it reminded me a bit of Stackridge…), loved Admiral Fallow (a slightly deranged Scottish Slow Club?) and “Kick, Push” is one of my favourite hip-hop tracks of recent years – it’s the dischord (suspension?) in the musical backing, and the general likeableness of it all.
Glad to see some love for the Ravishing Beauties. I don’t think they ever made any official recordings. Our loss. I’ve always loved the poem, though it’s only on recent re-reading that it’s struck me that the whole conceit is scientific nonsense, given that the Earth started out life not as a “cold star” but as a molten fireball, and was only able to sustain life after it cooled. Still, I guess there’s some higher poetic truth…
Hamid Baroudi – Magnificent! Odd rhythms, handclaps…. wins by a desert mile for me this week. Given me an idea for a ‘Spill playlist if I can figure out how to do it. Hint, hint.
Admiral Fallow – Yee-ha! Like this a lot. Nothing’s hidden, and the dynamics are about as extreme as it gets in this style. Happy sound.
Gibson Kente – Nice. Wish it were longer. Though I must say, Eejay, I’ve definitely heard simpler bass lines. Played a few, too…
Family – Not bad at all. Of whom does it remind me, though? Driving me bonkers… And is that the same Roger Chapman who invented the Chapman Stick?
Ravishing Beauties – Great poetry, nice music, can’t deal with the voice. That’s my fault, not hers; since birth, I’ve had ear trouble. Resulting issues are normally very minor, but one of them is that I find some voices difficult to hear. Can’t decipher words. It’s the mix of tone, timbre, pitch. Sorry…
Lupe Fiasco – Nope. I don’t see it. What is it about this particular piece that sets it apart from other similar cuts? That’s not rhetorical; I’m genuinely interested because I don’t get it. Sorry again!
Hint taken WB. Mail me if you need help!
Another fab bumper bonza box of brilliance – across the board, with Family tinkling my dinkle this bright and chilly morning.
I usually get up at 5am, lunchtime over there, make a cup of coffee and fire up the computer; first off a quick scan of the G and then open the Spill.
Monday mornings have become such an unexpected pleasure, everyweek there’s a surprise, a new Earworms, my favorite post. I click on ‘play’ while I read through the comments and occasionally do a google for indecipherable lyrics. Once through and then back to the G. for a read. At some point I’ll come back and do it again, this week I’ve played the list 3 times, loved most of what’s there, several new names to me. I particularly liked Webcore’s ‘Family’ beautiful. Ditto el Blimps ‘Pigs’, I didn’t get the SA connection with Ejay’s but I liked the cut regardless, I connected with Futiliy on my first go around but I also had problems with the voice, hard to understand, maybe because it’s distorting but the lyrics helped, I’m glad I’m not alone in not ‘getting’ Lupe, but thanks anyhow Tinny. Glad that Roots connected, I love the simplicity and the way it builds and that it’s so ‘foreign’ to our ears. WilliamsB, give us a clue?
Lupe Fiasco is astoundingly brilliant. At this stage in my listening life I am actively paring back, reducing the stuff that sits on shelves or hardens the arteries of my hard drives; consciously harder to convince and happy to up that ante. I’ve got my bases covered but live music and RR/The Spill leave a window of opportunity that ‘Kick,Push’ and ‘Food and Liquor’ have just burst through. Cheers dears
Which is a good reminder that earworms don’t have to be so obscure no one else has heard of them.
Wise words from our founding father! I would hate to think anyone would be put off from sending submissions in because they were not “obscure” or “cool” enough. I’m going to start pestering again soon as stocks are not exactly running low but some of you have sent a few and others none!
Ha ha, it has started to feel intimidatingly obscure at times, hasn’t it? I have been deliberating over possible choices and then thinking, “Nah, too mainstream” – so it’s good to be reminded that it doesn’t matter if someone has actually heard our choices before!
K’naan Dusty Foot Philosopher is another to check out, TY
Has Laura Barton been checking out earworms? This was my last contribution to the series. I feel bizarrely zeitgeisty.
we’ve know for a long while the journo’s just nick their ideas from the ‘spill.
(‘bizarrely zeitgeisty’ – the Falls next single? or John Peels fav band?)
Cool Bish!
what did I miss?
Follow this Link and then check the 11th Oct earworms. Not the first time the Guardian has echoed stuff on here. Coincidence maybe. Would be nice to think it isn’t, though…
Nice article on the song, I thought – I am not literate enough to have made the Shakespearian sonnet connection, so was mighty impressed by that!
I enjoyed Laura Barton’s article too; Friday’s Guardian is a weekly pleasure for me, not just RR but loads of good stuff.
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