Kicker and Rebel head off at stupid o’clock to meet up with an old friend of the pod, Jump Back Jacket, to make sure they get a front row position in the pit to see the phenomenon that is Bruce Springsteen live.
just the 36 hours to go…
Have a listen to the trio’s hopes for the gig and what it is that makes otherwise reasonable people spend nearly two days in a queue, an interview with the brains behind the E Street Fans ‘Tougher Than The Rest’ charitable organisation (see below), and, of course, the tired and emotional reflections on a very special concert.
So last night I met up with my fellow wizard Kicker of Elves & his son Kicker Junior in Liverpool to see one of our favourite bands The Thyme Machine.
Support came from David Leach, a singer who was new to us but one who made an immediate impression with his intelligent witty songs sang unamplified with uke accompaniment. He sang songs about Bullseye, crap office dinners at Wagamamas, sneery snide Megadrive-owning teenage girls who turn into sneery snide adult women and Accrington Stanley. (“Who are they?” “Exackkkkkkkkkkkkly”)
All of these can be enjoyed on his new CD “Nothing Concrete” which both of us bought copies of, each in a unique handmade knitted CD cover.
Get your copy here:
After that, the evening went rapidly downhill because just minutes before the headline act came on, the venue staff asked Kicker Junior for I.D. to prove he was 18 which he didn’t have because he isn’t. Whilst we understand the reasons for this and we appreciate that dealing with city centre licensing laws is difficult for small independent venues, the likelihood of this being enforced at this particular time was pretty slim. I think even Liverpool City Council licensing inspectors have got better things to do at 10pm on a Bank Holiday Monday!
So Kicker and Kicker Junior went home without seeing the band they’d come to see. I could’ve left too but being the selfish git that I am, I stayed and watched Kriss Foster and the band turn in another brilliant set. He really is a lyrical legend and the band are fantastic. Great to see his Freddie Mercury style shortened mike stand made from a table football table again. They played quite a few from the last album, “Going Steady with The Thyme Machine” starting with the song that sets out the band’s manifesto called, appropriately enough, “Manifesto” and ending with my favourite song from the album “I’m in Love with the Girl from the Argos Catalogue”
They also played plently of older tunes, particular highlights being the library jigsaw misadventure “998 Pieces”, the homage to favourite seabird “Kittiwake Kittiwake” and the scratty gannet’s lament “The Amateur Taxidermist’s Bird.” Masterpieces every bloody one. They even got us to hold hands and form a circle for an impromptu hokey-cokey during “The Only Statue Cleaner In This Town”
I was reminded me of a lyric from “Let the Weird Band Win” by MJ Hibbett.
“The songs that they sing Are about all sorts of things That no one else has sung about Or thought about before”
But really that’s just the beginning of the story.
Kriss was aware of Kicker Junior’s troubles last night and even though it wasn’t his fault at all, he was very apologetic and said he’d do something to make it right. But we had no idea the lengths he was prepared to go to in order to do just that.
At lunchtime today, The Thyme Machine and support act David Leach turned up at Kicker’s house with a full P.A. to re-play last night’s gig. They set themselves up in the garden and made Kicker Junior’s day / month / year.
Here are some photos from an extraordinary day.
They even did the forming a circle thing and that’s not easy when there’s just Kicker, Mrs Kicker and their teenage son who’s not been awake long and is still in shock from it all!
Last summer at Indietracks festival, Kicker and I got chatting to a bloke who was wearing a Thyme Machine t-shirt. It turned out that his name was Benni from a band called Ice Pops for Breakfast and he was a neighbour of Kriss’s. I remember him telling us that Kriss was the kindest and most generous person he knew. He was right, wasn’t he.
Thanks a million to David Leach and The Thyme Machine for an unforgettable day
The wizards learn all about bathroom etiquette from the get-go on this globally-reaching show.
note lack of queue
And despite struggling with not one, but two foreign tongues, they still find time to play a whole bunch of cracking new music including an exclusive new track, all the way from Chattanooga, from Mythical Motors. Oh, yes.
Check out all the usual nonsense right here and there:
So, two wizards meet up with both our listeners at the Arts Club in Liverpool to catch a trio of trios and three turns out to be very much the magic number.
We get to see Osaka’s Shonen Knife, Cincinnati’s Leggy and Liverpool’s own Good Grief on a night where we firmly believe music might just save your life.
Have a listen to our predictions and reflections and the musings of a real musician in the form of Will out of off of Good Grief, who very politely bats away our ridiculous questions about half way through.
[Unfortunately we had some technical issues with sound towards the end of this recording, but soldier through to make sure you don’t miss out on Chorizo’s never-less-than-mildly-entertaining anecdote and a mention of David Seaman.]
Tindersticks @ Liverpool Philharmonic, 1st May 2016
Two Wizards and 2 Mrs Wizards went to see Tindersticks play a “cine concert” in Liverpool on Sunday night.
Have a listen to what they thought of it right here.
We forgot to mention in the podcast that some of the songs we played are not the regular album versions. We played “A Night So Still” from Tindersticks’ most recent live album “Philharmonie de Paris.” The version of “She’s Gone” we played is from “Live at Bloomsbury Theatre” which Chorizo was at and he reckons it’s one of the best live albums ever! Neither of those are easily available unless you want to pay quite a bit but we heartily recommend the “Live at San Sebastian” album which you can buy here from the band’s online shop.
Tindersticks @ Liverpool Philharmonic, 1st May 2016
I must’ve been keen for this one because I was standing outside before they even opened the doors. Listening to the conversations of those around me, it was clear that, like me, most of them don’t live in Liverpool but had travelled into the city especially for this gig. Quite a few of them were seeing the headliner for the second time, having been so impressed by his appearance supporting Richard Hawley at Liverpool Music Week last October.
It was my first gig at this venue and what a fine place it is. It looks like what it is, a recording studio replete with soft furnishings. There’s parquet flooring, a low stage covered in retro carpet, portraits of jazz greats on the wood panelled walls and a huge red LED sign saying “ON AIR” It’s a small venue that’s pretty rammed by the time the gig starts. The sumptuous bar area is decorated with covers of some big-selling but dull albums that were recorded here (Coldplay, Elbow) as well as at Bjork’s magnificent “Homogenic” album that surely can’t have been, can it?
Gulf @ Part Street Studio 2, 29th April 2016
Gulf @ Part Street Studio 2, 29th April 2016
Support tonight came from local band Gulf. There’s a free track to download on their website but it doesn’t really do justice to how good their material is. They combine retro drum machine sounds with funky Nile Rodgers style guitar and (apologies if I’m about to get too technical…) lots of wibbly wobbly noises from the keyboard. Throw some heavily FX-laden guitars into the mix and you’ve got a band who would fit well onto the more accessible end of the roster of labels like 4AD / Bella Union / One Little Indian. Best of all was the vocals, lots of cool harmonies and the lead singer’s voice was fantastic; pure Scritti Politti pop-soul, smooth, sweet and totally without histrionics.
Check out this stripped down version of “Emitter” to hear what I mean.
So on to main act then and this is someone I was very excited about. You may remember a band called Race Horses whose song “Cake” we played on podcast number 49. That song is from their 2010 album “Goodbye Falkenburg” which is a decent album but the thing that really makes it stand out from other slightly psychedelic slightly Pulp-y indie rock is the vocals. Race Horses split up in 2013 and their singer Meilyr Jones went off to Rome to recuperate. There he spent time reading great Romantic literature, visiting art galleries, listening to Berlioz and all the other stuff that being in such a monumentally culturally and historically significant city inspires you to do.
The resulting album opens with a track called “How To Recognise a Work of Art.” Well, I don’t know much about art but I know what I like. It’s clearly an album that’s been put together with great care and no doubt at great expense, for a relatively small label like Moshi Moshi. But I believe that they’re right to put their money and their faith into an album like this because I’ve only been listening to it for about a month and I’m already convinced that this album is a classic. Lyrically it seems to tell the story of a journey through heartbreak, loss and coming out the other side of that (“Return to Life”) into some kind of resolution on the stunning final track “Be Soft.” The musical arrangements are astounding. The album sounds very grand, very baroque, very “Forever Changes” with a dash of “Bryter Later.” Check out this photo of the CD inlay card. The left hand side credits 46 orchestral musicians, including 2 (TWO!) harpists and 17 people that comprise the Glad Cafe Choir. Some bloke by the name of Wezi Elliott plays something called a theorbo. To use the parlance of our times: “WTF?!!?”
Being the helpfully informative wizard I am, I have Googled it so that you don’t have to. A theorbo is a large 20-stringed instrument that you strum like a guitar. It’s basically a fucking big lute and surely the forefather of the dreaded twin-necked guitar.
In addition, on the right hand side of the inlay card you’ve got all the people playing the more traditional indie-rock instruments (bass, guitar, drums etc)
So I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the gig because obviously not all these musicians are going to fit on that stage. Even if they did, I am no economist but at 7 quid a ticket you’re going to have to sell a lot of merch just to cover the petrol money spent on getting everyone there!
It turned out that the band were just 5 people including Meilyr but there was so much instrument swapping, mike stand and personnel movement that it seemed like there were more! Drummer Gwyn Llewellyn also sang and played trumpet. Emma Smith started on the Hohner violin bass, so iconic round here, but at various stages of the evening was seen brandishing violins, clarinets and saxophones. Euan Hinshelwood and Richard Jones moved around so much I lost track of which one was which but between them they played guitar, bass, keyboard, bongos, another sax, another violin and on the very last song some kind of bass synth thing. Meilyr himself is the former bassist with 2 acts who are very much favourites with us wizards, Super Furry Gruff’s band Neon Neon and the glorious genius Euros Childs, and tonight he popped up on bass guitar on the positively groovy b-side “All is Equal in Love.” These 5 people are the 1970s Holland team, everyone popping up in every position and excelling in whatever role they were given. Total football! The only thing I can be sure of is that at no point did anybody play the theorbo.
Meilyr Jones @ Part Street Studio 2, 29th April 2016
Meilyr Jones @ Part Street Studio 2, 29th April 2016
As expected, the setlist was pretty much a run-through of the album and I wouldn’t want it any other way. After kicking off with a raucous rollicking Rocks-Offing “How to Recognise a Work of Art“, Meilyr changed the mood in an instant starting “Passionate Friend” (not the Teardrop Explodes song) stood on the lip of the stage and singing off-mike. Previously I’ve seen Tony Bennett and Elvis Costello do this live and just as it was then, tonight it’s a hair-standing-up-on-arms moment.
Another of those comes soon after when the rest of the band leave the stage for Meilyr to perform “Refugees” on solo piano, a mighty tour de force of a song which was one of my selections for our Best of 2015 podcast. The live version was amazing and as I looked across the stage, I could see the audience on the other side just staring open-mouthed in wonder having been taken completely away from their lives and becoming wrapped up in this song. That’s why we leave our comfy sofas to go and see live music, for moments like that.
Meilyr Jones @ Part Street Studio 2, 29th April 2016
Meilyr Jones @ Part Street Studio 2, 29th April 2016
The band got a bit early 70s Bowie / Roxy on “Strange Emotional” and as well as some more fantastic singing, Meilyr moved off the stage to show off some pretty weird and wonderful dance moves right up close to the front row. He’s got this interesting contrast going on where during the song’s performance he’s incredibly intense, pumped-up, a little aloof, mysterious, unpredictable, glamorous and everything a proper pop star should be. But then as soon as the last chord fades, he transforms, softening all the rough edges and reverting into an affable modest softly spoken Welsh lad.
Meilyr Jones @ Studio 2 Parr Street Liverpool, 29th April 2016 by Robin Linton
Meilyr Jones @ Studio 2 Parr Street Liverpool, 29th April 2016 by Robin Linton
Meilyr Jones @ Studio 2 Parr Street Liverpool, 29th April 2016 by Robin Linton
Meilyr Jones @ Studio 2 Parr Street Liverpool, 29th April 2016 by Robin Linton
Meilyr Jones @ Studio 2 Parr Street Liverpool, 29th April 2016 by Robin Linton
Meilyr Jones @ Studio 2 Parr Street Liverpool, 29th April 2016 by Robin Linton
Meilyr Jones @ Studio 2 Parr Street Liverpool, 29th April 2016 by Robin Linton
Meilyr Jones @ Studio 2 Parr Street Liverpool, 29th April 2016 by Robin Linton
Meilyr Jones @ Studio 2 Parr Street Liverpool, 29th April 2016 by Robin Linton
Meilyr Jones @ Studio 2 Parr Street Liverpool, 29th April 2016 by Robin Linton
When they announce that they will play 2 more songs, I think “oh bugger” as I mentally count off 4 favourite songs from the album they haven’t played yet. The songs “Rome” and “Be Soft” were not played tonight but it seems nit-picky of me to complain about that after such a great gig. The first of the 2 songs that were played was “Return to Life” and here was another highlight of the night.
A few words about gig etiquette. Whilst the huge majority of this audience were as entranced as I was, there were half a dozen people near the back who had come out for a drink and a catch-up. Fair enough, it’s Friday night and I like drinking and nattering as much as the next wizard but if that’s what you want to do, then go and do it in one of 100s of other bars that Liverpool has to offer. If you don’t want to go far, you could just walk 15 meters to the separate bar area in this very venue that was empty during the gig and would’ve been ideal for such a purpose. Talking to your mates throughout a gig is, at best, inconsiderate and disrespectful and as you can probably tell from this paragraph, something that really pisses me off.
One thing I don’t think I’ve ever seen done before in 30 years of gig-going is for the singer to force them into silence. “Return to Life” has a couple of sections where most of the band drop out and when he realised that the people chatting weren’t going to stop in those bits, then Meilyr just stopped singing. Not for long but just long enough to shame the people at the back into shutting the fuck up. That takes balls and best of all it worked! *
*for a bit
Following that was “Featured Artist” possibly the catchiest song on the album with a dynamite self-analytical lyric and a chorus of “I will never rehearse.” Here again it hits you what an amazingly good singer Meilyr is, calling to mind under-rated singers such as Billy Mackenzie, Paul Heaton, Kevin Rowland and highlighting just how much I need to update my reference points.
I didn’t know the last song of the gig but bandmember Euan told me afterwards that it’s called “Watchers” and it was recorded for the album but didn’t make the final cut. Apparently it’s about a man who looks at the sea for a long time and then goes blind. It was a very gentle song with beautiful backing vocals and great way to end a great gig.
Meilyr Jones is on tour a lot over the next few months and he’s busy in festival season. Looks like there are more dates being announced for the Autumn too. Check his website for dates and get yourself along to see a really special show.
In the meantime, buy the album and don’t shuffle mode it. Listen to it in full and in the right order and you will fall in love with it like I have.
Thanks very much to Robin Linton for the great photos above. As you can see they are far better than the rubbish ones I took.
So, there I was, having a barely-earned cup of tea in my favourite mug…
here’s one I made earlier
.. when who should pop into my Inbox – only that Ian Button out of off of the band Papernut Cambridge. Fate, huh? Or possibly just coincidence. Anyway, Ian was getting in touch to highlight me to the fact that the follow up to last year’s cracking covers collection, Nutlets, is out next month.
Presented in the form of 2 x 10″ white vinyl records and a CD (with an alternative mix) in a natty plastic bag, the new album, Love The Things Your Lover Loves, looks fantastic and is a must for the Glasgow Celtic or Hibernian fan in your life. (There’s also a tape version full of instrumentals for all you completists.)
Moreover, this record confirms, if confirmation were indeed needed, that Papernut Cambridge are undoubtedly a supergroup – led by Ian Button, the band also features indie glitterati in the form of Darren Hayman, Robert Halcrow, Robert Rotifer, Hélène Bradley, Emma Winston, Jack Hayter and Ralegh Long – because, as everyone knows, the defining feature of a supergroup is their having a suitably self-referential band anthem. Well, this lot are, as the glorious final track (We Are The Nut) puts it, “the nut, the nut, the paper nut.”
On this, the band’s fourth album, they sound pretty much what you’d expect a group who have recently released a series of cult covers circa 1967-1980 to sound like. However, although there are definite nods to the psychedelic 60s, it’s more a 70s glam feel that dominates proceedings and at times you might just be listening to a Mott The Hoople, or Be Bop Deluxe, for the 21st Century.
The songs offer up a combination of sagacious relationship advice (Love The Things Your Lover Loves), celebrations of new experiences (Chantreuse) and strange ghost stories (Them), but if there is an all pervading theme, it would be that of communication. One of the stand out tracks, the previously releasedMirology, here in pared down form, presents a new form of philosophy, where “all mirologists say / step into tomorrow today” and concludes “the better used communication is mirology”, which, whilst not a little confusing, fits perfectly on a track that manages to conjure up a tremendous Eastern (Asian not Anglian) tinged mystical dreamscape. There won’t be many records released this year that reference the scale used in measuring a civilization’s level of technological advancement, but Karadshev Fail is certainly one. This track has a lovely jazzy opening twinned with some superb drumming from Darren Hayman (a very underrated percussionist) and leads to a song that explores the desire to communicate with the future (at the expense of the present) – “they think somebody’s out there trying to get in touch” – the title kind of gives the end of the tale away. There are more terrific and peculiar rhythms underpinning the track Spell It Out, which confirms that Papernut Cambridge are more than likely a single entendre type of band, where what you see is what you get and they “don’t always get innuendo” – Ian Button’s lonely harmonica intro is a particular delight here. And of course, what better way to communicate than get your songs on the radio. The song Radio, with its jaunty fuzz guitar and plant pot percussion deserves to do just that.
Possibly the centrepiece of the album is the track I’m Stranded with its country feel (according to the final track, that’ll be Jack Hayter on steel guitar) building a sense of melancholy that, funnily enough, put me in mind of The Replacements Sadly Beautiful. Here there is an admission that they are “closer to the past than to today”, which might just be a justification for the band’s sound perhaps. St Nicholas Vicarage gives us “tea on a Davenport… cakes with the edges caught, Gas Mark 5” and lyrics that flow like nursery rhymes, especially the section “what can the matter be… I wanted to call you but had no battery”, where, for once, the present is brought into stark focus. The line “I don’t want to go back not there ever” must surely relate to a place rather than a time, and so leaves you wondering what might have happened. There’s more mysterious storytelling on Them – a strange tale of outsiders who may or may not be imaginary – “they weren’t doing anything wrong” – and gives us a big twangy guitar solo to boot. There’s definitely a more 60s feel to the track Chartreuse – a Kinksian ode to the best green drink ever (excluding St Patrick’s Day Guinness, obviously), a true story of where “I lived all my days and never thought I’d taste anything like it”. Look out for a joyful monastically/fantastically rhyme too.
Perhaps my two favourite songs bookend the album. The opener Love The Things Your Lover Loves gives us relationship advice Papernut style, where “it’s not an obligation”, but research of potential partners is heartily recommended, and features high quality handclaps throughout. The song also suggests that “keeping things exclusive isn’t good for you”, which made me think of the band as a politically correct Slade. The closing We Are The Nut is a singalong delight and one of those songs that name checks the players. This is now “a band with a song about itself”, but in typical self-effacing style, they admit “there are quite a few things we’re not interested in”. Nevertheless, “everybody better look out, cos we’re gonna put another record out” and no doubt it’s going to be a regular play on the jukebox in the Nutflake Social, just as it will be on the turntable in Wizard Towers. Originally named after a band that appeared in a dream, Papernut Cambridge are the real deal, more than simply the sum of their parts, they are a super group and this is a super record.
Kicker’s Key Tracks: Mirology, We Are The Nut, Love The Things Your Lover Loves
You can get your copy of the record from the Papernut Cambridge bandcamp page where it has a release date of 13 May on Gare du Nord Records
With new tracks galore from Chuck Prophet, Pulco and Picturebox and an exclusive from Martin Newell to share, the wizards are back and flouting all media restrictions.
There are also tense reviews of both the new albums from Violent Femmes and Future Of The Left, and the thrilling tale of Rebel Rikkit nearly buying two records to enjoy.
To listen, download and love either click here or follow the soundcloud thing below.
Anyone with a working knowledge of this site will be aware that all the Wizards are massive fans of Bruce Springsteen and are incredibly excited at the prospect of seeing him on his latest visit to these shores in Coventry and Manchester this year and bought tickets on the day they were released. However on 9th April 2016 Bruce Springsteen announced that he is cancelling his concert in Greensboro North Carolina in protest over the ‘Bathroom Law”. Bruce has stated that this is “an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognising the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress”.
Well whats that all about? After some research I find that the “Bathroom Law” is a law that prevents people from using toilets of the gender that they were not at their birth. The background to the Law is complex, many, including it seems Bruce, feel that this is part of a climate of bullying against LGBT people and a way of making their lives more difficult as it would force someone who has has a complete sex change to use the mens lavatories. Not that I have ever really thought about it but, on balance I am probably against that.
However reading further on in 2014, the Office for Civil Rights within the U.S. Department of Education said federal student non-discrimination law covered sexual identity, and federal officials have said school districts that do not allow transgender students to use bathrooms assigned to the gender with which they identify are violating those students’ civil rights. So at a national level the government have made all schools make provision for transitioning students to use the bathroom (and of course changing room) they identify with, so to speak. This has problems for states who worry about an increase in claims from transgender people for not providing gender neutral bathrooms.
So you can see this as, A) a clash of ideologies between enlightened free thinkers who want to express their sexual individualism against the forces of religious conservatism that fundamentally disapprove of those lifestyles or B) an attempt by state bureaucrats to stave off legal claims from disgruntled transgender or transitioning people.
On a practical level while I would not want a person who has had a sex change to be forced to use the bathroom designated to the biological sex however, neither am I that enthusiastic on allowing people to choose which bathroom they use based on the gender they identify with at the time. After all what is the qualifying criteria for this and how committed do you have to be to the new gender identity and for how long? In addition what seems to be missed here is the position of women in all this? are they happy for men to have the right to have access to their bathrooms when they choose to identify as a female? I don’t know why, but I am not that keen on Women having the right of getting into my bathroom when they are transitioning into their new male sexuality, after all why can’t she continue in the other bathroom so as not to interrupt the flow so to speak.
The Debate in Cartoon Form
The more I look into the bill its seems to be riddled with confusion and complications and I think its an area that all involved could probably negotiate perfectly well without legislation, if only life was that simple. However where does this leave me and Bruce as politically I can’t think of a time when I have not been inspired by his political involvement, thinking about his response to 9/11, calling Woody Gutheries “This Land is Our Land” the American national Anthem, his opposition to the Iraq war to name a few. In short Bruce consistently gave a voice to political concerns I absolutely shared you could say that “we walked together side by side” and it felt good.
Sticking to the Wizards toilets
But on this one I am less than enthusiastic to the point where I think I disagree with Bruce.
In addition what is Bruce hoping to achieve? He punished his fans in North Carolina by not allowing them to see him play? or as he puts is on his web site “I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters”. I do not mean to trivialise the plight of transgender people but I am not sure that those people who have laid their lives on the line fighting violent and oppressive regimes would feel that their Freedom Fighting activity was comparable with someone wanting to use the alternative bathroom, Its hardly The Sandinistas is it! Would Bruce not be better served to hold back his most dramatic gesture for bigger causes after all he never cancelled a concert when America invaded Iraq or any other time as far as I am aware.
Anyway even East Street has two ways, between audience and artist, they can boycott us but we can also boycott them! I have enjoyed the warm glow of Springsteen Concerts sharing communal celebration with like minded souls for 3 decades. Well now of course that might not be the case, i have taken for granted that we have shared the same dreams and visions and were driven by the same passion and desire musically and more importantly philosopically. Lets be honest when you believe in something, heart and soul, you cannot caveat sections out, be 75% in love, life does not work like that. So the concert experience will not be the same and I have to face the fact that maybe these ties no longer bind.
There will be much soul searching in the next few week before I make my decision to boycott the Coventry concert and if Bruce wants to put some flesh on the bones of his very brief statement to help me understand then that would help, he knows where I am or maybe i should say “and if he wants to see me you can tell him that I easy to find….There is truly a darkness at the edge of town!!!
Just put the puppy down Bruce
Bruce I have loved all the time we have spent together but it maybe time for us to take a break (which is really annoying because The River is my favourite Album).
Been a while, huh? Well, without further ado let’s turn our attention to the musical…
And on the agenda for today we have twenty points that need your serious consideration. First to be hoist up the flagpole for our proud brother salute is the Magic Circle Express, with a funky St Lucian take on Calypsoul from 1977 (possibly). Check out the squelchy keyboard riff of band leader Arthur Tisson over the top of what I am reliably informed is double time drumming. From the slightly less exotic Birmingham, but with a distictly exotic Swedish label release come The Castillians with one of many great garage punk mod stomps from this year’s You & Me LP. Our pals at Fruits De Mer have also released their first batch of new records of 2016 (with the second due any week now) and have put out a new album by the wonderful The Chemistry Set – The Endless More And More – that psychs up its prog influences and has me vibrating and smiling in an unseemly manner. Another favourite label, Upper Class Recordings, have been bringing us interesting music all the way from Canada throughout this millennium and a sampler I picked up recently included the fantastic Girlsareshort, who go like this…
More psych next with The Orgone Box, whose Centaur album is one of those masterpieces that seem to have been so unfairly overlooked by the masses. Their self-titled effort is also excellent and here’s a track that should convince you to delve further into their back catalogue. A recognised big hitter next with Throwing Muses and probably my favourite track from The Real Ramona, which will have you ahyaaanyaaaoww-ing for the rest of the day. A more subdued mood is offered up on the Home Cinema collection by Emma Kupa; an artist I have regrettably only seen playing live through a window standing on tiptoes (me, not her). That needs to be put right as a matter of urgency as does my not having caught the next band in the flesh. The superbly monikered (take that, Chorizo Garbanzo!) Sauna Youth have an offshoot band called Monotony, I believe, but here is the song of that name from their Distractions LP that is anything but. Speak Kindly Of Your Volunteer Fire Department may well be my favourite Robert Pollard album title; it finds Bobby Pop and guitar hero, Doug Gillard at their most powerpoptatstic and here getting a little hot under the collar. That takes us up to a track that featured heavily in all of the TTW DJ sets that were mostly played to an empty room way back in 2015. The Big City Nights Band, for it is they, came to my attention via prolificity’s own Graham Repulski and really should be heard by more people. So, check it out here and tell a friend.
Now, despite appearances to the contrary at the aforementioned DJ nights, Fast Cars were right in telling us in 1979 that The Kids Just Wanna Dance, and they are right right now. Similarly, if you’re still in need of sagacious advice, look no further than I, Ludicrous, who, on last years’s Dull Is The New Interesting, gave us more reasons to be full of cheer than you can shake a rhythm stick at. Our Scandiwegian pal, MMS, has been all over these pages under various guises in the last few months and here he’s back as This Heel with a paean to the hard of thinking taken from his accurately and romanly numbered This Heel II collection – apparently that’s his cool looking old man on the cover too. It’s all in the genes, obviously. Ultra cool is the fabulous Lady Lex, who put out her Is This Love album last year. By all accounts she got this record released after walking in to the label’s shop and singing along to a selection of singles. She’s also related to Keith Moon. Now, that is cool. The best band ever to come out of Luxembourg is Monophona. A big call, I know, but one effectively supported by the band’s Blackonblack (one word) release. You may recall us playing The Hill on a previous podcast, well, here’s another excellent example of their creepy acoustic electronica. Also, rather shadowy, ahem, are psychedelicists Shadow Folk, who hail from New Scotland and starred on the Active Listener Sampler 22. They very much sound like this…
Chile Barnaby Kersey. Kole Warren Stacey. Johnnie Brock Hobson. Yes, I have been randomly generating names as inspired by the best track by far on the latest Wilco LP, the one named after that film. Have a go yourself and let us know how it goes. Don’t, for god’s sake, tell us anything that relates to the next track though. The band Spunky Onions presumably used a form of random generation to get their name, but like the gentlemen they are, don’t name names on the wonderful How I Lost My Virginity – a song that I feel should really be played back to back with Wreckless Eric’s Whole Wide World. Instead it leads us onto another fine portrayer of the messier side of relationships, Malcolm Middleton, who, it should be noted, has an eagerly anticipated new album due for release any day/month now, but here he is with a beautiful track from 2014’s Waxing Gibbous, which is an astral, rather than primate, reference. And rounding things off this time, we have a pick from Tex that takes us to Boise, Idaho and The Very Most, who are Wond’ring, and also possibly wand’ring. The stars. Til next quarter, …
Those all important tracks in full:
Pass Me & Harass Me
Magic Circle Express – Magic Fever
The Castillians – Piggy In The Middle
The Chemistry Set – Come Kiss Me Vibrate And Smile
This podcast reveals the truth behind the identification of one of the wizards that you may well find shocking. Not as shocking as one of Rebel Rikkit’s musical selections, mind.
which wizard could this be?
We also play a load of new songs from some of our favourite bands, take Rebel Rikkit’s World of Ska back home, and allow one wizard to show a remarkable porcine knowledge.
The wizards kick off their latest podcast on the receiving end of a lecture, but recover to bring you some of the more interesting music from Australia, America and, er, Nottingham.
bloody hippies
There’s also room for some suggestions for bands whose whole recorded output just got better and better, and talking of which, we also have an exclusive play of a track from the new Joseph Airport album. Oh, yes.
So get yer ears pointing in this direction and tune in to all the fun and games.
66% of the wizards were in their sick beds on Saturday trying to work up the strength to kick themselves about missing this gig. Chorizo Garbanzo was the last wizard standing and he made it to the gig along with his mate from over the road and some bloke off Twitter.
Hear what he’s got to say about it all right here.
We recently caught up with Kyle Melton from the band Smug Brothers and forced him to put his romancing on hold to answer our usual set of intrusive questions. This is what he had to say…
Hi, Kyle. How the hell are you?
Very good, sir. Just waking up here in Columbus on Valentine’s Day.
Can you tell us who is in the band Smug Brothers and how you got together?
Currently, the band is me, Don Thrasher, Brian Baker, and Larry Evans. The band started out in 2004 as a side project of my old band Montgomery Greene. Darryl Robbins [currently of Motel Beds] had just joined the group and we set out to do a quick album where he did all the music and I sang. The first album Buzzmounter, which came out in 2005, was done that way. Then we kinda laid low until early 2008. Don joined at that point working on the Fortune Rumors album with Darryl and I. Brian joined in June 2009 as we were getting ready to play out. Larry joined in February 2012.
You are from Dayton, Ohio – the birthplace of flight (and Guided By Voices) – is there a ‘Dayton Sound’ reflecting these two facts?
Well, we are all huge fans of GBV [Larry has a tattoo], so that is a touchstone for us, of course. But we also love the Breeders and Brainiac and the Beatles and Beefheart. I’m not so sure there’s a Dayton sound, but obviously when people from your hometown make great music, you certainly get a certain degree of inspiration or pride or whatever about what’s growing in your backyard, you know?
I first identified with your sound as echoing the late 90s period GBV. What are your favourite songs of theirs?
Is there such a thing? It’s usually whatever song is on. However, “Make Use” & “Subspace Biographies” are crushers. And so is “Get Under It”. And “Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department” is amazing. I got “Faulty Superheroes” last summer and couldn’t believe how good it was. Yeah, we could go on and on….
Your own label is called Gas Daddy Go – is this a reference to the Tobin Sprout song ‘Gas Daddy Gas’?
No, Don started that label back in 1989. He put out a bunch of cassettes & vinyl in the 90s, then it just sat there until he and I revived it 2011 to release Treasure Virgins and start working with other Dayton bands.
[It might not strictly be relevant, but it is an ace song! – TTWGBV Ed]
I now have 86 more of your songs than I did when the year started. Should I just start listening at Buzzmounter and catch up chronologically?
You could do that. I dig chronological listening parties. I think you can jump in pretty much anywhere though.
Kicker’s feeling pretty pleased with himself for scooping this little lot
Is Buzzmounter a reference to getting on buses? If not, what is it? [Us northern English folk pronounce ‘bus’ as “buzz”, dontcha know? – TTW Phonetics Ed]
Ha! That’s a great notion. But no, it’s not about that. Darryl and I were joking about the “mounting buzz” amongst other Dayton friends when we were working on that first album. Hence, “Buzzmounter”.
When you’re writing songs do you start with a title, a lyric or the music?
I write a lot of lyrics, keep them in a folder, then sit down with a guitar and see what happens. I have a 5-folder system to keep all the little pieces of paper organized. A friend asked why I have so many short songs, then I showed him the tiny pieces of paper I write lyrics on. You set different boundaries, you get different results. He went out and got himself one of those notebooks.
How do you develop songs as a band?
Typically I send the guys demos and we pick which ones we like or whatever. At my old house, Don and I would just 4-track in the basement and then let everyone else add their parts later. We’ve had a lot of bass players, so we never really had a solid working model. Larry has been really diligent about learning new material, so we’re moving a lot faster than we used to, which I love. Gotta get them songs out.
Which is your favourite EP/album of yours? Why?
I thought Fortune Rumors was pretty much perfect. They all have great bits though. Punchline was pretty solid as well. I thought we did a good job on that one, and I love the art that Louis Zeija let us use for that. This guy in NYC who I met through GBV Facebook stuff does this great collages and I asked if we could use a couple and he let us.
And Woodpecker Paradise is solid all the way through. I dunno, they all have really good parts I’m proud of.
Your latest release is a split cassette with the band Brat Curse called Echo Complex – is this an effect pedal reference? How do you think your band’s sound has moved on since Buzzmounter?
I dunno where I got that title from. I have lists and lists and lists full of them. I just like the notion of Echo Complex. Makes me think of past things bouncing back and having to address them before they bounce away again. As far as our sound, yeah, it’s definitely changed a lot. I mean, I write pretty much the same, but I’ve changed some. Darryl had a style, which isn’t there anymore. The four of us have a style of playing that is just different. I think we’re less overtly GBV and trying to do more proggish stuff, but in our own way. I don’t know that I’ll ever get in Peter Gabriel style costume phase. But you never know…
We played Glamour Suitcase on the pod recently and I have used this to open the Smug Brothers Mix CD I am currently forcing on people I know (and some I don’t). What do you think an introductory mix to your band should open and close with (I closed with All The Right Territory)?
Those are good choices. I dunno, your guess is as good as mine on that one. I sequenced them all once already, It’s your turn.
The line “A shovel head salute to a dying institute” (from the song Fortune Rumors) has been in my head for weeks now and is one of my favourites of yours. What turn of phrase were you most happy to get in to a song? Have you got a line you are still waiting to use?
I was pretty happy with that one, lyrically. There are some very evocative lines in that one. I just like imaginative lines, things that conjure something you can sink into, you know? That can happen a lot of ways. Pretty much every song has to have some thing I can get into singing. If there isn’t some line that makes a song work for me, we just don’t do it. I trash it and move on to the next one. I don’t know if I have a line that I’m really waiting to use at the moment, but there are pages and pages of stuff to work on.
Some of my favourite Smug Brothers songs e.g. You’ve Got A Margaret Guarantee and Stand & Leave are barely a minute long and yet say so much. What are the particular challenges of writing shorter songs?
There is no challenge, really. That comes back to the small pieces of paper. You make music until you run out of words. Then you’re done and it’s a song. Those are just so fun to write, for me.
I really like the bass sound on Farewell Equator – is this a particularly fun song to play live?
That was our old bass player, Shaine Sullivan. He was in the band for about 18 months. He had this weird old bass and ran it through an old Silvertone amplifier, which just sounded incredible. He is only on like 5-6 songs on Punchline, but he did a great job. We played it live only a couple of times and it just didn’t go over. Maybe we’ll try it again some time…
Another particular favourite is A Favourite Shark Treat, which has a really cool intro, but I’m pretty sure what our reader really wants to know is what you feel would make a good treat for a shark.
I dunno. I’ve never interviewed a shark.
me? i prefer custard
There is some top-notch whistling in the song The Feast You Invited. Are you generally a fan of whistling in rock songs? Which is your favourite example?
Thanks. Yeah, the demo I did was done on like the first really sunny spring day several years ago and I got to that part and just whistled a solo and Don loved it and insisted I do it on the album. I dunno about whistlers in rock, but my grandfather was a great whistler. It’s an ode to him.
Do you have a smug brother?
Two, actually, by birth. Brian and Joel. Was just joking around with them this morning about the movie “Strange Brew”. We have great bouts of uncontrollable laughter when we visit. They are not smug though.
Apart from GBV, who else has influenced you musically?
The usual suspects: Beatles, Stones, Who, Zep, Floyd, Bowie all were huge growing up. More recently the Strokes, Wolf Parade’s first album was great. Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s first one was good. Twin Peaks is some great newer stuff. I love weirder stuff like Steve Reich and Stockhausen and Eno’s Ambient albums. Tons of jazz and blues and country. I dunno, there’s so much to listen to all the time. There’s so much to be inspired by, but influences are more difficult, since they take time to sink in and really become a part of you.
What are the more obscure instruments you have used on any of your songs?
Oh, we don’t get too exotic. A little organ here and there, some weird effects. We like guitars and drums, really. Probably won’t hear any digeridoos on the next album.
Which other current bands should we be listening to but probably aren’t?
There are so many bands out there it’s tough to keep up. However, if you aren’t hip to the Gas Daddy Go! Records roster, I’d check that out. [wink wink]
As an American you may not be overly familiar with the sport of cricket, but I still have to ask you – is it any good or a load of old bollocks?
Seems like you Brits take it pretty seriously, so I say more power to you. I haven’t made heads or tails of it myself.
Another traditional question that I have to ask you is this: you’re in a caff (diner) ordering breakfast. You can have toast and your choice of tea or coffee and then you’re allowed 4 more items. What are they?
Eggs, home fries with cheese, fresh fruit, and gravy.
for breakfast? respect.
What do you have to be smug about?
Nothing, really. I actually try and be humble and nice to people.
When can our listener expect to see you playing in the UK?
Whenever we get that invite to Glastonbury.
Can we expect to see any new Smug Brothers releases in 2016?
Yeah, we are planning a retrospective disc this summer and we’re rehearsing for a new album, Disco Maroon, which we’re going into the studio for in April. Hopefully that will be out by the end of the year.
Thanks so much for talking to us. What are you going to do right now?
I’m off to get more coffee and spend Valentine’s Day with my girlfriend, Nicole. Thanks again for the interview, Kicker! Cheers!
Check out the following sites and build your own Smug Brothers playlist:
To celebrate Valentine’s Day, the 3 wizards have each chosen a suitable love song.
Rebel Rikkit’s choice: “Hold Me” by Damien Dempsey
The image of the bareknuckle fighting stoner singing so directly about their desire to enter into a physical sexual interaction is one of the most disarming and moving feelings anyone can have. Why mess about with coded romantic messages, let’s get it out there my love come on and “softly sweetly kiss my lips” Oooow Damien stop it, you’re making me blush!
Chorizo Garbanzo’s choice: “Orange Coloured Sky” by Screaming Jay Hawkins
It’s one of those love songs where the protagonist gets bowled off their feet by some divine vision of loveliness powerful enough to cause hallucinations of sky turning orange, purple striped and green polka dots. Nat “King” Cole’s version is the famous one but the tempo changes and typically unhinged vocals on the Screaming Jay version do a better job of capturing the joyful abandon of reason that is falling of love.
Kicker of Elves’ choice: “Whole Wide World” by Wreckless Eric
The best punk love song. Love is all about possibilities and this song gives us plenty. Oh it’s also all about delusion too.
A bit of bonus information:
Haddaway and Howard Jones both memorably posed the question “what is love?”
More wizardly discussion for your delectation featuring, at its heart, an attempt to reclaim the people’s instrument.
see, it was always cool
There’s also a heartfelt call to help Rebel Rikkit decide which gig he should go to [it’s on Thursday, so get your suggestions in sharpish – TTW Ed], and not one, but two songs name-checking a man with ice-cream-cone hair.
All that and reggae from Russia can be enjoyed via this link and that widgit.
Kicker Jr deigns to take our own Kicker of Elves as his ‘Plus One’ and they both meet up with Chorizo Garbanzo to see They Might Be Giants on their brief European tour at the middle-sized Manchester Academy venue.
Listen here as TMBG lyrics are traded as if they were Panini Cards and then as our intrepid gig-goers reflect on quite a night of musical mayhem.
Here are some typically piss-poor photos for us to remember the night by:
And Kicker Jr’s new wardrobe…
This is our hazily recalled setlist playlist – do let us know if we missed any!
Please also note that all related posts of glum-looking audience members is all part of the joke. On you. We LOVED the gig!!!!
Finally, the wizards break their silence to launch their first podcast of 2016, and it’s a (safe) cracker.
ooh, that looks pricey
On the show, there’s a proper exclusive from deep inside the vaults as well as eyewitness reportage from Rough Trade East, and a doffing of the pointy wizards’ hats to the recently departed.
All that and a whole bunch more can be heard here and down there:
Some of the physicality we played looks like this:
Please do also have a look at these sites, should you wish to help fund Thomas Fekete’s treatment.
By happy coincidence I happened to be working in my former home city of London last Friday on the same day that the magnificent Tindersticks were launching their new album “The Waiting Room”
Tindersticks are a band I have adored since 1993 when I saw them support Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at Brixton Academy. Since then I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them in all sorts of venues (swanky theatres, grimy rock venues, festivals, hushed concert halls and even a cathedral) but never before in a record shop.
In the Q&A section of the evening, Stuart A. Staples articulately explained why people like us revere record shops so much. It turns out that he has a special affinity with Rough Trade shops in particular as he used to work there when the band were first getting going (presumably the one near Portobello market because the East London shop didn’t exist back then)
But before the Q&A session, we were treated to a screening of the DVD that comes with the deluxe version of the album. Stuart explained that after being invited to join the judging panel for the Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival, he was inspired to commission films to accompany each of the albums 11 tracks.
The first of these simply showed a door with the sunlight very gradually moving to show the reflection of a window whilst a gentle instrumental piece plays. This track “Follow Me” was originally written by Bronislau Kaper for the soundtrack of “Mutiny on the Bounty”. As ever, the band are casting their net wide for inspiration, just as you would expect from a band whose lists of previous covers include artists like Odyssey, Pavement, Otis Redding, Psychic TV, Townes Van Zandt, Hot Chocolate, Tom Waits and the theme tune to Mary Mungo and Midge.
A lot of the visuals were very simple ideas but made for strangely compelling viewing. Brazilian film-maker Gregorio Graziosi used 1950s footage of his grandparent’s wedding for the song “How He Entered” and Pierre Vinour’s film for “Were We Once Lovers?” is mostly made up of sped-up footage of a busy road.
Frequent Tindersticks collaborator Clare Denis’ film for the song “Help Yourself” shows actor Alex Descas walking around a train station for a bit and then buying a drink from a vending machine. Sounds rubbish doesn’t it but it isn’t, it’s quite enthralling especially as it’s accompanied by the album’s most striking song on first listen. It’s unmistakeably Tindersticks whilst simultaneously sounding quite unlike anything the band have recorded before. The song starts off with maracas and builds into a late Talking Heads style groove punctuated by some fantastic bursts of brass, arranged by renowned jazzer Julian Siegel, and reminded me of the Ivorian self-proclaimed “king of ziglibithy” Ernesto Djedje.
Another big surprise came in the song “Hey Lucinda” when I was taken aback to hear the beautiful and much-missed voice of the great Lhasa di Sela, who unfortunately passed away in 2010. This is another to add to the list of great duet songs which have been highlights of many of the previous albums (see playlist below) and as far as I can recall the first Tindersticks song to feature steel drums!
As Stuart explained later, this song’s video was filmed by Joe King and Rosie Pedlow near Clacton, Essex where Stuart is represented by the rundown amusement arcade and Lhasa as the neighbouring bungalows.
Brazilian directors Gabraz & Sara Não Tem Nome’s film for “We Are Dreamers” has become quite familiar to me because it has been on the band’s website for a couple of months now. But it remains as striking and enigmatic as it was on first viewing. It shows a young girl with a shovel dwarfed by a monstrous monster truck and it’s filmed in a kind of distorted pinky-purply haze. This somehow makes it feel like sinister sci-fi, as do the lyrics “this is not us, this not us”
The Q&A session that followed was both interesting and entertaining. There was a good story about former bassist Mark Colwill’s efforts to shake Johnny Cash’s hand when they shared a bill at Glastonbury and when Stuart seemed unsure of which year that was, the geeky fanboy in me had to hold himself back from shouting out “It was 1994 and you guys were brilliant!”
But the undoubted highlight of the evening was the live set. This was a streamlined version of the band with no additional strings, woodwind or brass, just the core members. Stuart was on vocals and guitar along with other founder members David Boulter on keyboards and Neil Fraser on guitar. They were joined by drummer Earl Harvin and bassist Dan McKinna who both came on board around the time of 2008’s brilliant “The Hungry Saw” album.
After some mumbled apologies for being under-rehearsed (which they weren’t) and some pocket-searching to find the piece of paper with the setlist on, the set got under way with track 2 from the new album “Second Chance Man.” Here Neil, as ever, shows that when it comes to playing just what’s needed with subtlety and restraint there’s no guitarist to match him while the 70s soul influences are apparent again in David’s Rhodes-style keyboards and the rhythm section’s bass and hi-hat.
I’d been expecting to only hear songs from the new album so it was a huge bonus to hear songs from the last 3 albums as well. There was more outstanding guitar playing from Neil on “Medicine” with his FX pedals summoning up an echoing sound reminiscent of Cocteau Twins / Durutti Column. Next up was “Keep You Beautiful” from “Falling Down a Mountain” with great backing vocals from Dan and Earl followed by the magnificent and powerful “The Other Side of The World” from “The Hungry Saw.” This song has been a highlight of quite a few Tindersticks gigs I’ve seen in recent years and seeing it performed from so close (2nd row) was just breathtaking. Stuart’s heartfelt vocals and Earl’s incredible drumming made it a real emotional rollercoaster.
After that was “This Fire of Autumn” played on dual nylon string guitars, rather than the slightly post-punk electric guitar of the version on “The Something Rain.” My favourite bit of this was watching David play (and totally nail) the tricky glockenspiel part with just one hand. It would be far easier if he had a second beater to play with but there is a recession on I suppose.
The song that closes the new album “Like Only Lovers Can” also closed the short set tonight. The refrain of “Where do we go now our meeting place is gone?” had me thinking of my experience on the way to the venue. I’d walked from Tower Hill up Leman Street and all around the Whitechapel / Aldgate area where I used to work 20 years ago, nostalgically reflecting on changing places, changing faces, friendships and loves lost and found and the many mixed emotions that surface whenever I return to London.
Tindersticks music can do that to you.
Tindersticks tour dates for Feb to May 2016: (we’re going to Liverpool on May 1st)
You’ve probably already read what Tony Visconti wrote on his Facebook page but in case you haven’t seen it:
We have been talking about recording a “David Bowie special” podcast for a long time without ever actually getting round to it. Todays sad news has made us get our arses into gear so we’re going to get that done very soon.
In the meantime we’ve compiled a list of our favourite David Bowie albums. It’s probably no great surprise that “Ziggy” and “Hunky Dory” have come out on top. But what is quite revealing is the number of different albums chosen, spanning from 1969 to 1995, a reflection of just what a strong back catalogue he has.
Here’s a playlist of the new album “Blackstar” mixed in with a whole bunch of our other favourites.
The final word on the best music of 2015? It is as far as us wizards are concerned as Rebel delivers his verdict. In addition the long awaited “Name the final member of the band quiz” is launched to literally no fanfare.
Can you name him?
Oh, and here is a word from Stephen Jones…
Never to be released!
You can listen and download the whole rip, rapping, spirit sapping noise fest right here!
Physicality played on the show: Click for links to the artists:
The Leaf Library made one of our favourite albums of 2015 “Daylight Versions”. Part 1 of the interview, in which we grilled the band about the making of the album, can be found here. In Part 2, we move on to more general questions about music and, inevitably, breakfast preferences.
Why not listen to the album whilst reading this?
CG: What is your favourite key & why?
MA: C. C is life itself. See Terry Riley’s ‘In C’ (and its many iterations) for further proof. [TTW Ed: we liked this version from Africa Express]
CG: If you could magic yourself into any band, past or present, which would you choose?
MA: A really nerdy answer but I’d probably choose Radiohead or The Bad Seeds. They both have a lot of opportunity to do whatever the fuck they like and people listen to it. Although, I watched a great documentary on 10cc the other night and they looked like they were having a lot of fun.
CG: What have been your favourite music / books of 2015?
CG: Would you like to play a parlour game we invented? It’s called “1 from each”. You make a playlist taking just 1 track from each of a chosen band’s albums.
MA: I’ll do one for Radiohead. Prove Yourself, Nice Dream, Let Down, Treefingers, Pyramid Song, Where I End and You Begin, House of Cards, Codex
[TTW Ed: House of Cards not on Spotify so replaced with a different version below]
[spotify spotify:user:trustthewizards:playlist:395fqTZLZ2NaT16OXRHRK0] CG: If music is not your full-time job what else do you guys do to earn your keep?
MA: Lewis does design-y things, Gareth’s a librarian, Kate teaches and I look after social housing tenants. All very rock and roll.
CG: Can you choose a song that soundtracked your life when aged 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 etc
MA: 5: Nena – 99 Red Balloons
10: Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
15: Smashing Pumpkins – Cherub Rock
20: Stereolab – Wow & Flutter
25: The Notwist – Off The Rails
30: Burial – Raver
35: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – We No Who U R
CG: What bands/artists should’ve been massive but weren’t?
CG: What are your favourite songs with questions in the title?
MA: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Do You Love Me? (Yes)
The Smiths – How Soon Is Now? (Very)
Tribe Called Quest – Can I Kick It? (Yes, of course)
KLF – What Time Is Love? (All the time)
Yes you can
CG: Finally the 2 questions that we ask everyone we interview… You’re in a caff ordering a breakfast. You can have toast and your choice of tea or coffee and then you’re allowed 4 more items. Go.
GJ: Only 4 items! Bacon, egg, black pudding, beans.
MA: Sausage, bacon, eggs, beans. Why anyone would dirty their plate with tomato or mushrooms is a mystery. If I could have one more I’d have black pudding. [TTW Ed: of course you can’t have one more, that would be ridiculous]
CG: Cricket, is it any good or is it just bollocks?
GJ: I expect I’ll enjoy it one day, purely in a quiet day out with a book and some ale, occasionally checking the score and applauding politely sort of way. Much like Indietracks.
MA: No room in my head for cricket at the moment but I think there might be one day. So I’ll say good until proven otherwise.
Huge thanks to the band for making such great music and for taking the time to answer our questions.
TRUST THE WIZARDS 
