NEW MODEL ARMY

The post that had originally gone up in January has been completely removed. Every word, and every link is gone (the link to the Red Cross, the link to the band's website, and all the links to buy their albums). Apparently the IFPI feels I have infringed on some copyright, even though there were ABSOLUTELY NO MUSIC FILES ATTACHED TO THE POST! Let me say that again: A POST HAS BEEN TAKEN DOWN FOR A DMCA COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT, EVEN THOUGH NO MUSIC WAS LINKED TO IN THE POST.

In closing, let me just say FUCK THE IFPI. Who the fuck are these pin-headed assholes anyway? FUCK BLOGGER. Obviously they don't even bother to look at the post they're taking down. And, even though I love their music, FUCK NEW MODEL ARMY for allowing this shit to happen in their name. They will never be mentioned on this blog again.

TRAVIS

Before I get to the music, let me mention that I had another take-down notice last week. With the way things are going with Blogger, I don't know how much longer this blog will survive. Just a bit of a heads up in case you drop by one day, and there's nothing left.

On a completely different note, what the fuck is up with all the spam comments lately? I've had to remove three of them in the last day and a half. If you have something to say about the post, that's fine, but if you just want to sell an iPad, then go somewhere else.


Anyway. Travis. They're a band from Glasgow, Scotland. They've been around since the early nineties.

I remember having a promo copy of their first album in my store, all those years ago, and never playing it. It looked like just another dorky skater band. (yeah, I can be a snob sometimes) But then, a few years later, I heard The Man Who. What a fantastic album.

I've been a fan from that point on. Though, admittedly, I haven't been as rabid over getting their obscure stuff as I have been with many other bands. In fact, I only have two CD singles from them. Here's all the b-sides from those:

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From "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?":
Travis - "Village Man"
Travis - "Driftwood" (Live at the Link Cafe)
Travis - ". . . Baby, One More Time" (Brittany Spears cover)

From "Sing":
Travis - "Ring Out the Bell"
Travis with Jason Faulkner - "Killer Queen" (Queen cover)


Get some Travis:

Good Feeling, 1995 (buy)
The Man Who, 1998 (buy)
The Invisible Band, 2001 (buy)
Twelve Memories, 2003 (buy)
The Boy with No Name, 2007 (buy)
Ode to J. Smith, 2008 (buy)
A Chronological Acoustical Journey Through The Travis Back Catalogue, 2010 (buy) (Live)

NEW RELEASES

Nothing exciting to talk about at the moment. Just wanted to put up a quick post with links to some groovy new releases, since there's a bunch of good ones coming out today.

Lisa Hannigan - Live at Fingerprints (buy) I haven't seen a track list for it yet, but it's Lisa, so it's gotta be good.

Bob Mould Band - Live at ATP (buy) Import recorded at All Tomorrow's Parties Festival, 2008.

Matthew Ryan - Dear Lover (buy) Apparently, he's considered alt-country. I've always thought of him as edgy folk.

Solas - Turning Tide (buy) Irish-American group. I haven't heard this one yet, but I liked their first couple of albums.

Tindersticks - Falling Down a Mountain (buy) Yippee! It's available in the States now.

Bill Withers - +'Justments (buy) A remastered edition from the legendary Mr. Withers.

Wu-Tang Clan - Return of The Wu and Friends (buy) A remix and rare collection from The Wu. I've mentioned before that I've never been big in to rap, but you've got to respect the Wu-Tang Clan, and their influence on modern music can't be denied.


Overall, not a bad week for the new stuff. I'll try to get back before the weekend with some new tunes. The missing songs from the Daintees post will also be back up soon, by request.

THE CHARLATANS

Here's one I haven't covered before. The Charlatans (or The Charlatans UK in the States) are a band from the UK (big surprise). At the time they released their first album, they were lumped in to the "Manchester sound" category, along with the likes of Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses.

Two decades on, they've changed there sound a bit, replaced a few guys along the way, and left the major labels behind, but they're still going strong.

Yeah, there were a few other things that happened between then and now, but who really cares about the history? Let's get to the music.

For those of y'all who have followed the band from the start, you're already aware that they released an official compilation of b-sides a while back, Songs From the Other Side (buy), so I'm avoiding the tunes that are available on it..

There's also talk of a deluxe repackaging of the debut album, Some Friendly, to be released this year (its twentieth anniversary), but they haven't stated what's gonna be on it, and since most of the singles I have are from that era, there's likely to be some over lap. Once the track list is announced, I'll take down anything that may be on it.

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The Charlatans - "Weirdo" (Alternate Take) I wasn't overly impressed with their second album, but this tune is fantastic. This version was on the single of the same name.
The Charlatans - "Indian Rope" (Demo) A later version of this would become their first single, and get them signed to a major label.
The Charlatans - "Taurus Moaner" B-side of "Then".
The Charlatans - "Then" (Live) Recorded at the Manchester Apollo in 1992, and released on one of the "Tremelo Song" singles.
The Charlatans - "Time For Livin'" Recorded for an out of print album benefiting the War Child charity.
The Charlatans - "Sleepy Little Sunshine Boy" From the "Forever" single.

Get some imported Charlatans:

Some Friendly, 1990 (buy)
Between 10th & 11th, 1992
Up To Our Hips, 1994
The Charlatans, 1995 (buy)
Tellin' Stories, 1997 (buy)
Us and Only Us, 1999 (buy)
Wonderland, 2001 (buy)
Up At the Lake, 2004 (buy)
Simpatico, 2006 (buy)
You Cross My Path, 2008 (buy) (buy deluxe)

A completely unrelated announcement: The Proclaimers and Billy Bragg perform a double header acoustic concert at Bridport's Electric Palace in Dorset in support of Legal Action Charity Reprieve on Friday 26th March. Tickets: £25 from West Dorset Tourist Information Centre, Bridport South Street, DT6 3NY. Tel: 01308 424901

If anyone gets an extra ticket to the show, and airfare from the US to Dorset, feel free to pass it my way.


Addendum (this just in):

HOTHOUSE FLOWERS

So, it seems long about 2 years ago I did a little post on Ireland's Hothouse Flowers. In that particular post, I mention that I would be putting up some of the many b-sides and things from the era of their third album, Songs From The Rain, a bit later on. Well, I guess this is a bit later on.

As I mentioned in that post, I was a big big fan of HHF back in the late eighties / early nineties. I had the opportunity to see them in a small club when they where doing their first US tour (with Martin Stephenson opening!). An amazing live band they were.

Their first two albums still get quite a bit of play around my little shack in the middle of nowhere. But those aren't what I'm on about this time.

The third album was good. Very good by the standards of many other bands of the time. But, it just didn't click for me like the first two. A few of the tracks are still classics, like "Be Good" and "One Tongue", but I think the choice of lead single, "An Emotional Time", didn't do the album justice. Yeah, many people like the tune, but I didn't feel like it was one of their strongest.

The b-sides, however, where fantastic. Those of you who know a bit about the band already know there were a ton of b-sides from this period, and nearly all of them are as good as, or better than, much of what was on the album.

Here's the math: They released 4 different songs as singles. 2 different versions of each single, each with 3 unique b-sides. Of those 24 tracks, only 3 of them are live versions of previously released songs. That leaves 21 completely original tracks. OK, 2 of those are traditional songs, and 3 more are covers, but still. That's a heck of a lot of music right there.

Ah, but there's more. They also guested on albums by Michelle Shocked and The Dubliners around the same time, and helped write and record a charity tune with Midnight Oil, The Tragically Hip and others. And they had tracks on a few compilations as well.

So here's the deal with the tracks I'm putting up today. I figure most of those who are fans of the band, probably already have most, if not all, of the b-sides. So, I'll put up a few of my favorites for the uninitiated, and then add on a batch of the other things put out in the time period. Sound good?

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Hothouse Flowers - "Let the Rhythm Take You Home" B-side of "An Emotional Time"
Hothouse Flowers - "Of The People" B-side of "Isn't It Amazing"
Hothouse Flowers - "Getting Too Much" Another "Isn't It Amazing" b-side.
Michelle Shocked with Hothouse Flowers - "Over the Waterfall" From Michelle's album Arkansas Traveler. (buy)
Hothouse Flowers - "The Bright Side of the Road" (Van Morrison cover) From a Morrison tribute album.
The Dubliners and Hothouse Flowers - "The Rose" A fantastic pairing, but I wish they would of chosen a different song. I didn't even like it when Bette Midler did it.
Tim Finn - "Many's the Time (In Dublin)" Technically not a Hothouse Flowers tune. It's Tim with Liam and Peter from HHF, and Andy White, Dave Spillane & Noel Eccles. From Tim's album Before and After. Andy, Liam and Tim would later release a couple of albums under the name ALT.

Get 'em while you can:

People, 1988 (buy)
Home, 1990 (buy)
Songs From the Rain, 1993 (buy)
Born, 1998 (buy)
Into Your Heart, 2004 (buy)



On a completely different note, and having nothing to do with music, here's a little video for you in honor of the Super Bowl this weekend. This was originally shown during a Super Bowl many years ago, and it's the only clip from this entire campaign to be shown on television. Several more videos staring Terry Tate, Office Linebacker were online-only.




Next week, I'll be back with a post on a band that I've never mentioned here before. I swear.