30 day song challenge - day eleven: from favourite band

Hmm... who are my favourite band today?

It was always gonna be...

I-Spy by Pulp



Especially this version (from Jools Holland in 1995) quite possibly the most brilliant moment of their appearances on JH.

30 day song challenge - day one: Favourite Song

Oh man - it's gonna have to be A favourite song from this minute, since 'my favourite song' of ALL TIME would be a nigh impossible task otherwise.

*ponders*

Full length version of Common People by Pulp. Preferably the live version from Glastonbury 1995 because it holds so many memories.

The George Volumes: The Graduation collection

Wow, I can't believe it is now over 2 years ago since this was compiled. Still, anything that begins with that Joy Division track is always going to press my buttons. In retrospect, I might have re-thought the final selections of the collection since I think it is quite difficult to follow the stunning impact of Simon and Garfunkel's chilling rendition of Silent Night combined with the 7 o'clock news of the day. Still, the remaining tracks were too good to miss out on and given this was compiled with some friendly goodwill from Lisette, it does largely hold together. And you have to love the Pop Goes the Weasal of Mr Perry.

Volume 4: The Graduation Collection

Atmosphere: Joy Division
We Are The Clash: Sparks
(Get A) Grip (On Yourself): Lambchop [a cover of The Stranglers...]
The Modern Dance: Pere Ubu
Modern Dance: Campfire Walkers [cover of the above in rollicking hoe-down style]
Die Interimsliebenden: Einstürzende Neubauten
Toyte Goyes In Shineln: Black Ox Orkestar
Dreaming (,,,Again): Polmo Polpo
Pink Dust: Magoo
Still Evil: Radar Bros.
Personal Jesus: Johnny Cash [Yes, originally by Depeche Mode...]
Feed Kill Chain: Jay Farrar
The Guns Of Brixton: Nouvelle Vague
The Sky Lay Still: Elisabeth Anka Vajagic
7 O'Clock News / Silent Night: Simon & Garfunkel
Inside Susan [Inside Susan: A Story in 3 Parts- part 2]: Pulp
The Book Is on the Table: Pere Ubu
Jungle Jim: Lee "Scratch" Perry


Actually, it's just nice to rethink through these track listings. Must replay these collations...

George - The Birthday Collection: further adventures in non-MP3 collations

Following my previous promise, here is the listing for Volume 3 of the George collections.

The First Big Weekend: Arab Strap
Free Until They Cut Me Down: Iron & Wine
Two Way Monologue: Sondre Lerche
All I Want To Know: The Magnetic Fields
Hackensack: Fountains Of Wayne
Wake Up: Love Spit Love
Avenue: Saint Etienne
Saturn: Suckle
Górecki [edit]: Lamb
The Day I See You Again: Dubstar
Salvation Song: The Lilac Time
Jeannie's Diary: Eels
My Lighthouse: Pulp
About Today: The National
The King Of Bring: Malcolm Middleton
Awkward Duet: Sons And Daughters
Couldn't Bear To Be Special: Prefab Sprout

Predictions and choices for James Bond theme songs

Marie has a great selection of suggestions for the artists who would produce the best and worst James Bond theme songs.

My nightmare selection would be Coldplay - or any of the other soundalike bands of that genre.

I can't beat the choices of Pulp, The Divine Comedy or The Flaming Lips, but I could add Ladytron who I think have enough girly electronica savvy to offer a suitably anthemic track to the catalogue.

Rewinding: in praise of compilations (especially on tape?)

Cloud knows when I haven't read something, because usually certain subjects will always get me raving and if I read them first I'll immediately get him to read the inspiring article.

So when he presented me with Laura Barton's article from the Guardian Film and Music supplement published last Friday, I knew from first glance I hadn't read it and that if I had I would have still been ranting about it. So belatedly I will now have a rant. You know this is a topic I love.

• Flow article link on compilations


• George compilation 1


• George compilation 2


• Gender split songsters compilation

Anyway, the topic of Barton's piece was the music compilation: specifically the differences between tapes (the beloved C90 cassette) and CDs (those brittle bits of... what are they made of again?)

Barton identifies two particular types of compilation: firstly, there is the introduction. This sets the scene for a new friend by passing on what you think of as tracks that identify the compilation as by you. Barton picks out "Heroin by the Velvet Undergound, Them's Gloria, Pixies' Hey and Frankie and the Classicals' What Shall I Do?" I'd probably go with something by Pulp (I'm especially fond of 'Seconds' from the Babies EP), something by Ballboy (possibly the exquisite duet version of 'I Lost You but I Found Country Music' with Laura Cantrell), a quirky cover version (I'm currently with Paul Morley on the beauty and majesty of Susanna and the Magical Orchestra's version of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart') and classic tracks by The Clash, The Beatles 'To Know Her is to Love Her (from the BBC sessions) and a good bit of jangly 80s pop (say ABC, The Smiths). I've also regularly passed on 'Tarmac' by Hazeldine from the cracking Uncut compilation 'Sounds of the New West', mostly for the classic line at the end of the first verse (I generally avoid swearing here, so let's just say you blink at the invocation of Batman...)

Then there is, as Barton notes, the compilations that are "crafted for your musical co-conspirators, when the compilation itself becomes part of your conversation - a Masonic handshake, if you will." These definitely describe the conversation we have with George, but I was intrigued by what Barton goes on to say:

A friend and I have a CD compilation conversation that has been going on for three years. But he said to me recently that even a decade ago he could not have made me such compilations because his wife would have divorced him, and quite rightly so - for back then they would have been cassettes, and they're different things altogether.

I have a certain sympathy with this idea of intimacy being part of the compilation tape, not least because, as she goes on to say, the physical act of making a cassette is entirely different to that of a CD: "making a compilation tape was akin to writing a poem...They took all Sunday afternoon, crouched beside your tape player with pins and needles in your feet, your finger hovering above the pause button ..." She's right about that physicality element as I fondly recall - before my tape player died along with the rest of the antiquated stereo system I had - the hours and hours I would spend in front of the tape recorder selecting tracks from both CD and tape to transfer to a new compilation. Cloud's "Derrida's Deconstruction" wasn't made for me (it was for his own pleasure) but every join was lovingly crafted and selected, the pausing not always (quite) right but sometimes you would end up almost breaking the tape as you paused, rewound, reset and restarted playing a track to get the join 'just so'.

Barton also wisely comments on the construction of the cassette: "At night you would lie awake puzzling over its structure: What song should you put on first? What should come last? The first of course has to be arresting. The last has to be the one you want to linger in their thoughts." But what she doesn't explicitly comment on is the fact that the cassette allowed you not one beginning but two, not one ending but two; moreover, the very first track of side one had a greater significance than that for side two, and the final track of side one had a lesser significance than that for side two.

Inevitably, by circumstance of my tape machine dying and not being replaced (though I am tempted - oh so tempted - to get one from Richer Sounds while such technology still exisits) I have shifted to CD making. She's right that it lacks the labour intensive practices of making a tape, especially when you work out that you need to play each track through in real time, plus the time it takes to cue up the next and start recording (though frankly I had that off pat by the time I made my last compilation tape: usually only just over 100 mins to make a C90, which isn't bad all things considered.

But where I part company with Barton's argument is on the issue of CDs inherently lacking thought: compilations may now indeed appear to be "made in minutes" but I would deny that "dragging and clicking and burning" means that "beautiful things go unsaid." In most instances, the time I spend preparing the CD is no less than I would have invested in making the tape: it is a careful process of playing selected tracks, playing them next to each other, mentally singing or humming the opening or closing bars to see how they sound as an overall narrative flow. What is made easier by the CD is the playing of the tracks (where I have them on the computer: as yet only a proportion of our music collection - ever expanded by Rough Trade, 1-Up and Selectadisc - is on either of our computers).

Although I no longer have to carefully stack up the CDs and tapes, shuffling their order before I even start selecting tracks, I still do that mentally (and before I got my own computer capable of making CDs I had to carry over a bag of CDs to H's to make those early George collections). Now - providing I don't need to upload (or frustratingly I realise I only have it on tape) - I can easily pop tracks into a provisional playlist. But I still spend hours pouring over the selection and ordering process, carefully weighing the choice of tracks depending on the person and the purpose of the collection. Equally, care is taken over the production values of the sleeve: selecting and framing images, borders, and sometimes even the choice of compilation title.

I still residually miss the compilation tape with its perfectly framed 45 mins per side, echoing the approximate length of a pop album. But technology and its frailty has guided me to the CD and I am learning to love it. I sometimes even wonder if, given the pace at which I was eventually able to construct a tape, whether I'm not now probably even slower making a CD.

Does the CD talk back to me the way a tape could? I would argue 'yes', not least because I remain committed to the process of the compilation, regardless of its format. There is still a romance to it for me, a measured sifting and thinking about the recipient's taste, my taste, and how I may even sneak in some material they would never have thought of listening to but which may open up new musical avenues to them. I doubt I'm always successful, but that was the chance one took on making any compilation - whether tape or CD. Whether rewinding, or reselecting a track or sequence of tracks, there is nothing like the home made collection. And for me they will never lose their romance.

The Rules of Rullsenberg

Matt_C asked for some, so here are a few:

1. Be passionate: about something, anything, many things, but avoid becoming obsessive.


2. Be angry and do something: they can always pretend there is nothing wrong if nobody tells them


3. Pursue knowledge and information but think about where you get it from: the internet, the news, books, and people are all great sources of knowledge and information, but always ask questions. Interrogate your witnesses/sources and think what might be influencing them and their opinions.


4. Be yourself (or many selves), but always be true: we can all have - and sometimes need - different personas, but don't be untrue to your overall self. Other people may be unhappy living with the consequences in the short-term; you have to live with yourself for longer


5. Life is too short to to just keep doing things out of duty or fear: obligation and feeling scared of the consequences are not particularly good reasons for doing stuff you hate or maintaining a front for the sake of it (see above for related points). If you really HAVE to do something you have always loathed, find some reward for yourself for doing it. And, as a non-believer, for me that has to be something more concrete than 'I'll get my reward for being so selfless in heaven'.


6. Try to enjoy things on their own terms: if you don't come out of a gig full of excitement and delight, it's probably been at best mediocre. In the high of something immediately finishing you should feel exhilerated by the experience. The critical faculties will come back, but the delight should suspend them temporarily. Basically, if you start reading a chick lit book to be intellectually challenging and deep there is a high chance of disappointment before your critical faculties ultimately return. Be sensible and engage with it for what it is or don't start. Why waste your time and money?!


7. You can never go back: less a rule, more a statement to be aware of. Life goes forwards, as much as we may wish otherwise. We have to live with events and find ways to move on. Otherwise we end up like Dark Willow*, trying to bring Tara back to life and taking it out on the world when we cannot. Mind, I really wish she hadn't ended up with irksome Kennedy.

Less serious rules (but nonetheless to be considered as mine):

Thou shalt know Jarvis as a great musical genius and meddle with the works of Pulp at your peril (William Shatner, that means you)

Scottish actors are hot, especially using their own accents, but also when they just look bloody gorgeous and can act the pants off many other so-called stars. They shall be acknowledged and adored because there is always the horrible possibility they will get swallowed up by the American movie industry when they become too successful. Sigh.

There will never be a better political drama than The West Wing, especially when looking at those first two stunning series but also its overall arc. So TV dramatists should all stop trying to do that right now.

Good TV comedy will invariably be better than a comedy film. The last really great comedy film I saw at the flicks was probably Shaun of the Dead. Given its pedigree that says a lot about the quality of TV comedy.

Hmm. Those were my first thoughts. They probably suck and I may change my mind about any or all of them! But I hope you enjoy them!

* Sorry about the music, not my choice but the clips are great.

iTunes meme, shamelessly nicked

Ta to Jim and Darren for inspiring me to do this!

Total Songs

6398 songs, 28.63 GB

Sorted by Song Title

First: '64 AKA Go - Lemon Jelly

Last: Zuckendes Fleisch - Einstürzende Neubauten

Sorted by Artist

First: 1-Speed Bike - Seattle/Washington/Prague/00/68 Chicago/Nixon/Reagan Circle-Fighting Machine

Last: ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man

Sorted by Album

First: The Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band With Choir - "This Is Our Punk Rock," Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing (first track = "Sow Some Lonesome Corner So many Flowers Bloom")

Last: Various artists - Zentertainment 2006 (final track = "Walk A Mile [Tiga remix edit]" by Coldcut)

Please bear in mind that the stereo is the main way in which we play things in our house still, so this probably tells you more about what goes on when I'm on my computer!

Ten Most Played Songs

1. A Long Time Ago - David Ford (12 plays)
=2. 13 Angels Standing Guard 'round the Side of Your Bed - A Silver Mount Zion (9 plays)
=2. Something's Going To Happen Soon - Ballboy (9 plays)
=2. Us - Regina Spektor (9 plays)
=5. They'll Hang Flags From Cranes Upon My Wedding Day - Ballboy (8 plays)
=5. It Dawned On Me - Calla (8 plays)
=5. 100,000 Fireflies - The Magnetic Fields (8 plays)
=5. Give Me Back My Dreams - Sally Timms [The Sixths, aka Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields] (8 plays)
=9. The Matter [Of Our Discussion] - Boom Bip, featuring Nina Nastassia (7 plays)
=9. Pull The Wires From The Wall - The Delgados (7 plays)

Ten Most Recently Played

Rhine & Courtesan - Rachel's
Besame Mucho - Dan Sartain
Green Pastures - Anonymous 4, Darol Anger, Mike Marschall
Parting Friends/Wayfaring Stranger - Anonymous 4, Darol Anger, Mike Marschall
You Fair & Pretty Ladies - Anonymous 4, Darol Anger, Mike Marschall
Beloved - Hannah Marcus
Looking for Space - Hannah Marcus
State of the union - David Ford
What would you have me do - David Ford
A Long Time Ago - David Ford

Find 'sex' - how many songs show up?

11 (but there's a lot of repetition here!)

Sex is Boring - Ballboy (from A Guide to the Daylight Hours)
Sex is Boring (acoustic version) - Ballboy (from Club Anthems 2001)
Sheffield: Sex City - Pulp (from Babies EP release)
Sheffield: Sex City - Pulp (from Intro: The Gift Recordings)
Sheffield: Sex City (instrumental) - Pulp
Wet Sex Anaesthetic - Nought (from Buffalo Bar Presents Sound Issues Vol.1)
Sex and Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
Sex Machine - The Flying Lizards (from Rough Trade Post Punk Vol 1)
A Complete History Of Sexual Jealousy [redone version] - Momus (from Slender Sherbet: NOTE this is a really really rubbish version but you can't get the original for love nor money and we only have it on vinyl!!!)
Sex - The Pipettes (from a sampler CD)
Sex and Mayhem - Devastations (from a sampler CD)

Reminder established from this: I still haven't loaded up 'Don't Try This at Home' with the excellent 'Sexuality' by Billy Bragg!

Find 'death' - how many songs show up?

10

Death Goes To The Disco - Pulp
22: The Death Of All Romance - The Dears
Death II - Pulp
The Death Of Ferdinand De Saussure - The Magnetic Fields
Clubbed to Death - Rob D (from The Matrix)
Time And Death Invading The Arcadian Scene - The Death of Rosa Luxembourg
Death Smiles at us All - Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard (from Gladiator)
The Black Angel's Death Song - The Velvet Underground and Nico
Death Of A Tune - The Hidden Cameras
Death or Glory - Jesse Malin

Find 'love' - how many songs show up?

203. The top 10 rated songs are:

Past Lovers - Ballboy
Labelled with Love - Squeeze
Love Will Tear Us Apart - Susanna and the Magical Orchestra
To Know Her is To Love Her - The Beatles (live at the BBC)
Is This What They Used to Call Love? - The Magnetic Fields
To Bring You My Love - PJ Harvey
Love's Almighty - Telepopmusik
The Night You Murdered Love - ABC
A Lover Sings - Billy Bragg
Love Minus Zero/No Limit - Bob Dylan

Find 'war' - how many songs show up?

13 (excluding those where war is just part of a standard word)

The War - Bill Hicks (spoken word stuff counts yeah?)
Between the Wars - Billy Bragg
Masters of War (Live) - Bob Dylan
Blood on Blood War - Cappadonna
War - Carla Whitney
Details of the War - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
War and Peace - Gilad Atzmon
What Do We Want? (We Don't Want No War) - Hondo
Postwar Glamour Girls - John Cooper Clarke
Girl in the War - Josh Ritter
The War is Over - Phil Ochs
We All Said Stop the War - Robb Johnson
The Riflemen of War - Seth Lakeman


Find 'peace' - how many songs show up?

7

War and Peace - Gilad Atzmon
Security and Peace - Superqueens
Peace in Our Time - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Peace in Our Time (demo) - Elvis Costello and the Attractions
We Want Peace - Hermione
No Justice, No Peace - Robb Johnson
Rest in Peace - Spike (from Buffy "Once More, With Feeling")

Find 'rain' - how many songs show up?

22 - 10 randomly selected

Why does it always rain on me? - Travis
Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall - Simon and Garfunkel
She talks to Rainbows - The Ramones
Black Rain - David Thomas and the Foreigners
Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Paint a Rainbow - My Bloody Valentine
In the Rain - The June Brides
A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall (Live) - Bob Dylan
Rain Down Blues - Big MayBelle
Dry the Rain - The Beta Band

Find 'sun' - how many songs show up?

58 - 10 top rated

When the Sun Goes Down - Artic Monkeys
Leave The Earth Behind You And Take A Walk Into The Sunshine - Ballboy
Sunshine on Leith - The Proclaimers
Another Sunny Day - Belle and Sebastian
The Warmth of the Sun - Brian Wilson
Warm and Sunny Days - The Dears
Fades the Sun - Duke Spirit
Sunrise - Pulp
Burnt by the Sun - Sophie Solomon (with Richard Hawley)
Blister in the Sun - The Wannadies

Find 'socialist', 'communist' or 'anarchist' - how many songs show up?

2

Cocaine Socialism - Pulp
Anarchy in the UK - The Sex Pistols

Pulp news!

Courtesy of the WONDERFUL Acrylic Afternoons website (though no doubt elsewhere too), I see that just before my birthday there will be a release of Pulp Peel sessions!

News 28.08.06 Pulp's Peel Sessions To Be Released
All of Pulp's session tracks recorded for Radio 1's John Peel Show are to be released on double CD on 9 October. Tracklisting details for The Complete Peel Sessions have yet to be confirmed but should include all 14 tracks from across the four sessions:

Turkey Mambo Momma, Refuse To Be Blind, Wishful Thinking, Please Don't Worry (recorded 7 November 1981)
Pink Glove, You're A Nightmare, Acrylic Afternoons (recorded 7 February 1993)
Underwear, Common People, Pencil Skirt (recorded 9 September 1994)
Sunrise, Weeds, I Love Life, Duck Diving (recorded 12 August 2001)

All tracks are previously unreleased with the exceptions of You're A Nightmare and Pink Glove. Since the 14 tracks barely take up a single CD, it's possible the second CD will contain some live concert performances which were originally aired on the John Peel Show. More details to follow.

Now THAT'S what I call a birthday present...

Lily's gems: Jarvis, oh Jarvis... we SO love you

Absolutely one of my most favourite Pulp songs.

Lily: thanks for this. youtube is awesome.

Pulp discography

I actually know people who own large numbers of these items. I own a few. I haven't been to a record fair in years (having gotten fed up with poor counterfeit goods). Promos, foreign versions, even live goodies: yes, yes, and yes. But counterfeit just makes me go cranky.

Captain Kirk covers Pulp classic

I had a lot of time for Ben Folds Five, and have no objection in principle to the hilarity-inducing project Ben Folds has just completed with William Shatner ("Has Been"). As Jonathan Ross said on his Saturday morning Radio 2 show, when asked if he thought Shatner's forthcoming album would be like the previous musical massacre, "We can only hope." Anyone who has listened to Shatner's "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" knows just how beyond bad Kirk's 'musical' interpretations were capable of being. So I was a tad disappointed to discover that Joe Jackson - a bona fide rock singer, "Don't You Know That It's Different for Girls" - had added his voice to Shatner's hysterical rendition of the Pulp hit "Common People."

Whilst the main vocal line features some appropriately jaw-dropping inability to handle phrasing - he seems almost astonished at the story of the song - the overall effect is diminished by Jackson's harmoniously 'straight' contributions as the song progresses. Its a pity, but actually the cover is not quite BAD enough to actually be as funny as it could of been. Shame on you Joe Jackson!