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Earworms 13 May 2013

Thirteenth of May – unlucky for some – but not for us, I hope. The following worm cast has no particular theme, other than that the tunes all seemed to fit together somehow. “Themelessly”, you might say, if you had a lisp. See what you think – fingers firmly crossed.

Sailing Day – Bump of Chicken – Sakura: I am a big fan of Japanese indie band Bump of Chicken.  This is one of my favourites by them.  The song is about taking risks and being adventurous. I really like the positive feel and message of it.

The Dharma Bums – Cruel Acres – Rich James: The Bums were a Portland band during the late eighties/early nineties, tipped to be the first alternative band to really break into the mainstream. They didn’t – Nirvana did, and the rest is history. So their heartfelt paens and poignant pop songs about youthful longing were lost and forgotten. This is my favourite song from their debut record. Shimmering guitars and gutsy singing.  And lousy sound quality.

The Men They Couldn’t Hang – The Colours – bishbosh: “And to the masters, we are the rabble, we are the swinish multitude, but we can rearrange the colours of the red and the white and the blue…” Yes, it’s crude and a tad Les Mizzish, but it’s a right rousing tune. And these days, we should all constantly be yelling something similar at Cameron, Osborne and co, shouldn’t we? (And props to the likes of Mitch who are!)

Wild One – Jerry Lee Lewis – RockingMitch: The Killer covering the only rock & roll ‘classic’ to come out of Australia (Johnny O’Keefe). Later re-done by Iggy Pop.

The Bluebells – Cath – BeltwayBandit: Best known for the very catchy “Young at Heart”, there were some other great Celtic influenced pop songs in their canon, and I’ve always rather liked this one. Helpful if you are ever trying to work out how many words rhyme with “Cath”.

Coolio – Gangsta’s Paradise  – Abahachi: One of the very small number of singles that I have ever bought, as I loved this song (and not just because of Michelle Pfeiffer in the video) but found the hair too annoying to contemplate a more extensive engagement with his music…

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Musical Persuasion

johnnyrotten

Malcolm Maclaren famously discovered Johnny Rotten walking up the Kings Road wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt that he had added the legend “I hate” to in marker pen. Well, Mr. Rotten may be prone to bouts of twattishness these days, but when it comes to Pink Floyd (edit: I just mistyped it as “Punk Floyd” – oh the irony!), I couldn’t agree more.

I just can’t stand them! I’m not quite sure why, I think it’s a combination of being overblown and pompous but boring at the same time. I know it’s not regarded as their best (and it might not work without the film), but I would go as far to say that “The Wall” is the worst album I’ve ever heard! It’s the only record I’ve ever given away.

I know, I know, that’s a lot of negativity, for which I apologise. So here’s my challenge: what Pink Floyd track would you recommend to persuade me of their greatness? Or at least make me hate them a little bit less.

*Feel free to nominate your own Achilles heel’s to be converted to

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it’s a local shop – for local people

t-shirt-line

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King of the Village Fete Lazarus and the Plane Crash
Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo Jens Lekman
The Village New Order
Vibrate Mr. Scruff
I Was Unconscious, It Was A Dream The Slow Club
Dull Life Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Empty Nest Wild Beasts
Spent Gladiator 2 The Mountain Goats
Sweet William Pt. 2 Johnny Flynn
Tourist Woman Cass McCombs
Electric Village Add N To (X)
Woozy With Cider James Yorkston
Just Give ‘Em Whiskey colourbox

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End of the Week Quiz

There seem to be a few wisps of tumbleweed on the ‘Spill lately, so maybe this will create some interest. There is also the possibility of a small prize, if you read on:

1. You have not decorated your living room for 15 years. You make a start, but are hampered by small child, attached to X-Box and assorted paraphernalia with umbilical cord. Do you:

(a) Decorate around him, leaving the middle of the room murky yellow while the rest is terracotta and coral flair?
(b) Call a computer geek to sever the cord and lead him howling to his bedroom?
(c) Give up and contact a painter and decorator (it’s only money)?

2. You have too many books and, to your horror, you discover Aubrey Beardsley next to “The Children of Green Knowe”. Do you:

(a) Donate all the books to Oxfam, no one ever reads them;
(b) Take all the books off the shelves, go through them, decide you can’t bear to lose them and put them back?
(c) Sit on the ladder with a cuppa and a biscuit, and start reading the Aubrey Beardsley?

3. Your son assures you he can play blu-ray discs so you buy “Life of Pi” as neither of you has seen it. He rips off the wrappers (so you can’t return it) and then tells you you’re stupid because he can’t play blu-ray. Do you:

(a) Take him back to the shop, abandon him there and buy yourself a blu-ray player / download relevant software?
(b) Flog it on E-Bay, if you can be arsed;
(c) Forget about it, you’re too engrossed in that book?

There you are – the prize is “Life of Pi” on blu-ray disc for the first person to tell me they want it. Otherwise it’s ‘Spill points as usual for the wittiest answers. Have fun.

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Scottish Mini Social?

I’m going to be in Edinburgh at the beginning of June – unfortunately only during the week rather than at the weekend – and was wondering whether anyone was likely to be free for a quick drink on the evening of Tuesday 4th or Wednesday 5th June (nothing too heavy, as I’ll have to be serious and academic the next day). Obviously the main reason for asking is that I have hitherto failed to find any decent beer there, and hence was hoping that some local knowledge might help…

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Happy beach day vibes

Sorry I’ve not been around much lately, I’ve been on the beach. Well, today anyway. So in the spirit of sacking work off mid afternoon and bolting for some sunny sandy fun, here’s a super up happy vibes tune from someone I just stumbled over online. I know nothing else of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down at all, apart from this song. If you have a passing interest in Feist, you may like it, if not, you may like it anyway if you like being happy. Cheers!