CD Circle 2 : The Circle Strikes Back

[Jackson Monk]

A fine eclectic mix from Strangerinthehouse:


CD 1

Maltese – Strip Club Moms
Piel de Nopal – Enanitos Verdes
What am I going to do With Myself – Al Green
Sugar on my Tongue – Talking Heads
I’m Sticking with You (outtake) – Velvet Underground
The Last Waltz Suite – The Band with the Staples
The Rat – The Walkmen
Don’t Mess with Cupid – Otis Redding
Deportees – Billy Bragg
Guiding Light – Television
The World Without Logos – Yasushi Ishii
Waiting for the Bus – Violent Femmes
Family on Blast – Cody Chestnutt
How Many More Years – Howling Wolf
How Low – Against Me!
Day of the Deadringers – McCluskey
Today is the day – Yo La Tengo
The Bank and the Trust – The Elected
Spelunking – Laura Viers
Pattern against the User – At the Drive In
Jumpers – Sleater Kinney

CD 2
Get a Grip on Yourself - The Stranglers
Lazy Line Painter Jane – Belle and Sebastian
Rue St.Vincent – Yves Montand
Where is My Mind (live) – Pixies
14th Street – Laura Cantrell
Apple Blossom – White Stripes
Cavalier Eternal – Against Me!
Just the Other Side of Nowhere – Johnny Cash
Side Two – Sondre Lerche
Cold Cold Heart – Hank Williams
I Wanna Live – Ramones
Give me the Cure – Fugazi
Camera – Pavement
Mexican Blue – Jolie Holland
Untitled – Jack Fendey
Joe’s Head - Kings of Leon
Hot Burrito #1 – The Flying Burrito Bros
My Eyes (Keep Me in Trouble) – Muddy Waters
Trash – New York Dolls
Tough Mary – Etta James
El Rey – Jose Alfredo Jiminez

I’ve only ever heard a handful of these bands. Some of the artists I have never come across before (Cody Chestnutt anyone?) and that’s quite exciting. Therefore I intend to give these CDs my full attention later this week, when I have fully digested River in Reverse.

A real bonus was Stranger’s highly entertaining story made out of the song titles of every track….post it Stranger….post it.

Anyway, I will be back with my thoughts as soon as I’ve given every track a fair shot.

Adios

[Otis Westinghouse]

Piel de Nopal – Enanitos Verdes

Had to look up 'nopal'. Means 'prickly pear', so not a wortd you'd see in Spain much. So this is 'prickly pear skin by the green dwarves'!

The eclecticism reflected by these compilations is stunning!

[mood swung]

Strip Club Moms

Best Band Name Ever.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Got me pretty excited too!

[strangerinthehouse]

I'm glad you liked the story, i started it as a way to figure out the sequence of the songs and then it took off from there.

The Strip Club Moms were three twenty something guys from southwest Florida (sorry not actual strippers.) They were one of the few rock distractions that made Fort Myers a little more enjoyable.

And the story goes something like this:

After stealing the Maltese Bear, I was to meet with Mary outside of town. I wondered about how she mentioned I had “Piel de Nopal.â€

[Who Shot Sam?]

Otis hand-delivered his CD to me when I met him in New York last week and now that I've had a few chances to listen to it and he's sent me the track details (not appearing in iTunes for some reason), here's the list and some comments/impressions from me...

1 Sketch For Dawn I - The Durutti Column
Had heard nothing by them (well maybe somwhere back in the mists of time), but I especially like this one. Nice percussion and bubbling, echo-y guitar in the foreground, with the vocals buried a bit, but it gives off a really nice vibe.

2 Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
It's pretty ubiquitous by now, but I don't have a recording of it anywhere, so still very welcome. Otis, have you heard Ray LaMontagne's cracking cover version? It's available here: http://www.fileden.com/files/4138/Crazy.mp3

3 I Walk Alone - Bob Mason
Otis says Bob was a TV personality in the UK and a late friend of his. This was never released but is really a gorgeous song, full of lovely pickin' and terrific lyrics. He really should post an MP3 of this somewhere, 'cause it deserves to be heard.

4 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - John Martyn
Good Bob cover. Otis thinks he might like it better than the original. I don't agree really - lacking in the somewhat ragged quality that Bob brings to it. Nice geetar work though.

5 Don't Give In - Steel Pulse
Haven't heard them in years. This sounds a little more tightly produced than the stuff I remember. Nice change of pace.

6 Rockin' In The Free World - Hayseed Dixie
Really goofy, as Otis says, but at least I don't have to listen to Neil.

7 Crush in the Ghetto - Jolie Holland
You know I'm not sure how I feel about this. The music and lyrics are lovely and intriguing but there is something about her voice. Maybe I just need to spend more time with it, because I can appreciate idiosyncratic voices like Waits, Meloy, John Darnielle, but there's something affected about it. Is she from the South, or just trying to sound that way?

8 Jump Me One More Time - John Lee Hooker
Good dirty blues. Gotta love this.

9 Marble Arch - Roddy Frame
I'm a big fan of Surf, Roddy's previous album. This is apparently from the new one, which I have not heard yet. Very nice indeed, though I think I like him best in a "one-guy-a-guitar-and-a-mike" setting.

10 So Sad About Us - The Jam
I did have this one already (it's on Direction Reaction Creation, twice), but it's a nice little obscure Jam gem.

11 Ya Ya Ya (Looking For My Baby) - The Detroit Cobras
Heard this on the radio a few months ago and I keep meaning to hunt down their stuff, but I never seem to get around to it. Good trashy fun. Love it.

12 And When I Die (Live) - Laura Nyro
My mom's record collection was full of stuff like Laura Nyro and Gordon Lightfoot, so I remember this song from my childhood (and of course everyone knows the Blood Sweat & Tears cover), but I'd never heard a live recording. Is this something they've unearthed fairly recently? Very nice in any case and nothing like the BS&T version.

13 Floating City – Shrift
Otis says The Word's editor David Hepworth came across these guys on My Space (and included in on one of their monthly CDs, I assume). Electronica with a bit of exoticism and it sounds like she's singing in several different languages. Intriguing.

14 See The World – Kooks
Otis' son likes 'em. Not bad, but nothing special IMO. Maybe if I was 13.

15 Sketch For Summer - The Durutti Column
Summery chill out instrumental. Birds chirping, bouncy guitar. Not as appealing as the first Durutti selection, but maybe I need to be lying stretched out on the grass in the back yard.

16 Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye - Ron Sexsmith
Ron does Leonard Cohen - live. Nice job. There's a peculiar cadence to Leonard Cohen songs that I can't take in large doses, but I like it in little bites.

17 Family Affair - Iggy Pop
Sly & the Family Stone cover - serious. I dunno Otis - sounds like it was recorded in someone's bathroom. A bizarre little curio. I like Iggy, but may skip this one next time.

18 Los Twangueros - Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban
I do have this too - and love it. Unusual rhythm, twangeriffic, as you'd expect from the title. Really underrated album.

19 Jaqueline - The Durutti Column
Nice guitar. Almost reminds me of some of Pat Metheny's stuff.

20 Dis, Quand Reviendras-Tu - Martha Wainwright
I really need to see Martha live at some point. Loved her debut album, but I did not have this, which I assume was included on a deluxe edition. I know the original version, by the French singer Barbara, and this is better I think. She is totally comfortable singing in French and sounds like she's grown up with the song, which, knowing her family, she probably has. Should have been on the standard version of the album. Just lovely.

21 Gettin', Havin' & Holdin' - Scritti Politti
Really spacey, with its Percy Sledge reference (plays off "When A Man Loves A Woman"). Havin' a bit of a hard time warming up to it, but I'll give it some time. A bizarre confluence of pop cliches (reggae beat, backing singers) and indy experimentalism (Wyatt's organ, meandering bass line and the strange, almost stumbling delivery of the lyrics).

22 And Now The Day Is Done - Ron Sexsmith
From Closer, the new album, which I do not have, so most welcome. Great melancholic song.

All in all a really eclectic collection, and not many things with which I was familiar. Thanks very much Otis - lots to explore here and enjoy!

[Otis Westinghouse]

Christ! The last ones on this thread go back to June. I'll be a bit quicker with Circle 3, honest! I actually made the CD back then, I just wanted to deliver it by hand! OK, can't resist replying to everything, cos I love the details in WSS's notes:

1 Sketch For Dawn I - The Durutti Column
Had heard nothing by them (well maybe somwhere back in the mists of time), but I especially like this one. Nice percussion and bubbling, echo-y guitar in the foreground, with the vocals buried a bit, but it gives off a really nice vibe.

Excellent - result! Tony Wilson jokes about how in A Certain Ratio's Simon Topping he had the best singer in England (an absurd overstatement!) who wanted to be a trumpeter, and in Vini Reilly the best guitarist in England (less of one) who wanted to be a singer. A real non-singer, but I love the buried, frail, slightly haunted feel of this. Incredibly evocative. There's another one off the LP called Never Known which is even more so.

2 Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
It's pretty ubiquitous by now, but I don't have a recording of it anywhere, so still very welcome. Otis, have you heard Ray LaMontagne's cracking cover version? It's available here: http://www.fileden.com/files/4138/Crazy.mp3

Ain't heard that. Great. Thanks. The song wasn't so ubiquitous at the time of compiling, but it was that happy event: a chart-topper that was also a great song.

3 I Walk Alone - Bob Mason
Otis says Bob was a TV personality in the UK and a late friend of his. This was never released but is really a gorgeous song, full of lovely pickin' and terrific lyrics. He really should post an MP3 of this somewhere, 'cause it deserves to be heard.

A minor TV personality, although he did make the Guaridan obits for being the first person to both write (in the 80s) and star (in the 70s) in the legendary Coronation Street, and he did get recognised the first time I went to the pub with him (for playing the copper in The Lakes). Very talented musically, we used to gig together doing covers, but his foremost joy was working out how to play the blues licks of the great masters. Never done the MP3 posting thing, but ought to, you're right. At one time we were working on arrangements of his own songs ina band, but there were 'musical differences' and all that bollocks, so we became a covers band! Our cover of Who Let The Dogs Out? was unmissable (especially to the 8 year olds we played to at school events a couple of times!).

4 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - John Martyn
Good Bob cover. Otis thinks he might like it better than the original. I don't agree really - lacking in the somewhat ragged quality that Bob brings to it. Nice geetar work though.

I just love his voice so much. He brings a different quality to the song which made me play it over and over, more than the admittedly fantastic original.

5 Don't Give In - Steel Pulse
Haven't heard them in years. This sounds a little more tightly produced than the stuff I remember. Nice change of pace.

I'd say this is standard production for them, e.g. on Handsworth Revolution, but maybe this is a little more commercial. Great band, saw a poster for a forthcoming gig in NY. Good to know they're out there still.

6 Rockin' In The Free World - Hayseed Dixie
Really goofy, as Otis says, but at least I don't have to listen to Neil.

Didn't know of your aversion or I would have included 3 x Neilsongs to try and change your mind!

7 Crush in the Ghetto - Jolie Holland
You know I'm not sure how I feel about this. The music and lyrics are lovely and intriguing but there is something about her voice. Maybe I just need to spend more time with it, because I can appreciate idiosyncratic voices like Waits, Meloy, John Darnielle, but there's something affected about it. Is she from the South, or just trying to sound that way?

She's Texan. http://www.jolieholland.com/history.html I really like this and would like to hear more.

8 Jump Me One More Time - John Lee Hooker
Good dirty blues. Gotta love this.

Just wonderful.

9 Marble Arch - Roddy Frame
I'm a big fan of Surf, Roddy's previous album. This is apparently from the new one, which I have not heard yet. Very nice indeed, though I think I like him best in a "one-guy-a-guitar-and-a-mike" setting.

Agreed, but this slow bossa nova groove is good too. Funnily enough, your new (Pernices) sig is very similar to the Aztecs song Walk out to Winter: 'Pictures of Strummer that fell from the wall/And nothing was left where they hung'.

10 So Sad About Us - The Jam
I did have this one already (it's on Direction Reaction Creation, twice), but it's a nice little obscure Jam gem.

Might have known you'd have the box set. For me another cover that outdoes the original (by the Who).

11 Ya Ya Ya (Looking For My Baby) - The Detroit Cobras
Heard this on the radio a few months ago and I keep meaning to hunt down their stuff, but I never seem to get around to it. Good trashy fun. Love it.

A hoot!

12 And When I Die (Live) - Laura Nyro
My mom's record collection was full of stuff like Laura Nyro and Gordon Lightfoot, so I remember this song from my childhood (and of course everyone knows the Blood Sweat & Tears cover), but I'd never heard a live recording. Is this something they've unearthed fairly recently? Very nice in any case and nothing like the BS&T version.

She and BS&T are two artistes I know very little about, and don't know their version of this. It's a 2CD live set from The Bottom Line (now defunct) in 93-94: http://www.amazon.com/Live-Looms-Desire ... F8&s=music

13 Floating City – Shrift
Otis says The Word's editor David Hepworth came across these guys on My Space (and included in on one of their monthly CDs, I assume). Electronica with a bit of exoticism and it sounds like she's singing in several different languages. Intriguing.

Yep, like the above and a couple of other things here, in a pathetic attempt to make my CD collection seem as eclectic and somehow as varied as yours, I trawled The Word samplers for inspiration... I like the way these CDs sometimes contain really obscure stuff you'd never hear otherwise. This is a lovely, floaty thing.

14 See The World – Kooks
Otis' son likes 'em. Not bad, but nothing special IMO. Maybe if I was 13.

Was trying to include something 'new and happening' from here that you might not know. I like them cos of the Hunky Dory ref in their name. They're OK, sound quite good live. Nice energy to this, especially if you're 13, it's true.

15 Sketch For Summer - The Durutti Column
Summery chill out instrumental. Birds chirping, bouncy guitar. Not as appealing as the first Durutti selection, but maybe I need to be lying stretched out on the grass in the back yard.

Absolutely, a song best consumed when supine.

16 Hey That's No Way To Say Goodbye - Ron Sexsmith
Ron does Leonard Cohen - live. Nice job. There's a peculiar cadence to Leonard Cohen songs that I can't take in large doses, but I like it in little bites.

Really suits Ron's voice. Wish I'd been at that bookshop event like Blue.

17 Family Affair - Iggy Pop
Sly & the Family Stone cover - serious. I dunno Otis - sounds like it was recorded in someone's bathroom. A bizarre little curio. I like Iggy, but may skip this one next time.

Oh yeah, forgot this too was a cover. Lots of covers here! You know I don't really know the original. Yeah, it's lo-fi, but I just love his singing on this, and how it combines with the female backing singer. Class. Give it another go!

18 Los Twangueros - Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban
I do have this too - and love it. Unusual rhythm, twangeriffic, as you'd expect from the title. Really underrated album.

See, just knew you'd have it, but there you go.

19 Jaqueline - The Durutti Column
Nice guitar. Almost reminds me of some of Pat Metheny's stuff.

Know what you mean. In case anyone isn't aware, Vini was the main guitar man on Viva Hate, though uncredited, and was pretty well responsible for all the music on the fabulous Late Night Maudlin Street. He's working on a new LP with a female vocalist, which should be good.

20 Dis, Quand Reviendras-Tu - Martha Wainwright
I really need to see Martha live at some point. Loved her debut album, but I did not have this, which I assume was included on a deluxe edition. I know the original version, by the French singer Barbara, and this is better I think. She is totally comfortable singing in French and sounds like she's grown up with the song, which, knowing her family, she probably has. Should have been on the standard version of the album. Just lovely.

Thought you'd appreciate this one! Was worth holding out for the special edition to get it (there are 4 extra tracks on it, this is the highlight by some distance: http://www.amazon.com/Martha-Wainwright ... F8&s=music). It was just fantastic live.

21 Gettin', Havin' & Holdin' - Scritti Politti
Really spacey, with its Percy Sledge reference (plays off "When A Man Loves A Woman"). Havin' a bit of a hard time warming up to it, but I'll give it some time. A bizarre confluence of pop cliches (reggae beat, backing singers) and indy experimentalism (Wyatt's organ, meandering bass line and the strange, almost stumbling delivery of the lyrics).

One of the highlights of the near-perfect first LP Songs To Remember. This lives up to the name. Good description there.

22 And Now The Day Is Done - Ron Sexsmith
From Closer, the new album, which I do not have, so most welcome. Great melancholic song.

Hang on, it's the closer of the new LP, which is called Time Being (not to be confused with Joy Division's Closer!). Sad song about passing friends, seemingly a farewell to a suicide, classic Ron, sad but somehow uplifting. He didn't play it live when I saw him in June, but maybe he will in Nov. Don't know why, as it would be a fantastic way to end the show.

All in all a really eclectic collection, and not many things with which I was familiar. Thanks very much Otis - lots to explore here and enjoy!

Quite a hard feat with you, sir! Glad you liked it in general. You probably know most of the items on the live Tower of Dime CD, but will send a note or two on that as well.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Hang on, it's the closer of the new LP, which is called Time Being (not to be confused with Joy Division's Closer!).

Ah, right you are. I wrote this late at night, so...

Now if Ron were to cover Joy Division...

(can't imagine that).

Good catch with the Aztec Camera reference in the Pernice Brothers lyric. I know "Walk out to Winter" but had not heard it in a while. It's the next to last song on the new LP, which I cannot recommend highly enough. I know I'm already a fan, but it really is the very best kind of literate pop music.