The Endless Note

Goodbye

nobody@vox.com(Helpless Dancer) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:18:57 +0000

When I started this Blog I didn't realise how compulsive even addictive it would become, guilt crept in when a day went by without posting and suddenly it appeared to become an obligation rather than a pleasure.

Like most people sometimes you need a change and pressures of work and life now really mean that I can no longer due justice to my blogging.

It is therefore with a mixture of regret and relef that I make this final posting, thanks to all who joined me along the way and especially to all those who take time out to comment, I hope everyone who visited the site left enlightened or informed in some way and perhaps found new music that they would otherwise have missed out on.

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Rock On!

1-08 Helpless Dancer

The Who

When a man is running from his boss
Who hold a gun that fires "cost"
And people die from being cold
Or left alone because they're old

And bombs are dropped on fighting cats
And children's dreams are run with rats
If you complain you disappear
Just like the lesbians and queers

No one can love without the grace
Of some unseen and distant face
And you get beaten up by blacks
Who though they worked still got the sack

And when your soul tells you to hide
Your very right to die denied
And in the battle on the streets
You fight computers and receipts

And when a man is trying to change
But only causes further pain
You realize that all along
Something in us going wrong...

You stop dancing.

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Blast From The Past - Pub Rock

nobody@vox.com(Helpless Dancer) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:43:42 +0000

Islington Hope and Anchor

The "Pub Rock" scene of the early to mid 1970's was very much London orientated and pre-dated punk as the first rebellion against the pomp of music early 70's progressive rock.

This limited scene was as good as it's word "pub rock" lived and played in the pubs and the Hope and Anchor as pictured above was one of the main venues and later appeared as the centre piece for a live compilation of the era.

Some of the original pub rock fraternity did jump ship to follow the punk route, most notably Joe Strummer who transformed his 101'ers into The Clash.

Ian Dury went from Kilburn and The High Roads to form the Blockheads and had great success for the short period before his untimely death thans to the doors to the charts as opened by the punk/new wave bands.

Ian Dury - Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll

R&B was a major influence on many of the pub rock acts, some but not all of whom are listed below.

The 101er's
Ace
Bees Make Honey
Blast Furnace and the Heatwaves
Brinsley Schwarz
Chas & Dave
Clancy
Cock Sparrer
Elvis Costello (using the stage name D.P. Costello)
The Derelicts
Ducks Deluxe
Eddie And The Hot Rods

Dr. Feelgood "She Does It Right" (1975)

Wilko Johnson
John Otway

12 Don't Ask Me Questions

Graham Parker and The Rumour

The Records
Riff Raff (Billy Bragg's first band)
Ruthless Blues
The Smirks
Sniff 'n' the Tears
Squeeze
The Stranglers
Wreckless Eric

04 Whole Wide World

Wreckless Eric

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New Music - The B-52's

nobody@vox.com(Helpless Dancer) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:27:10 +0000

The B-52's

The B-52's are back with a new album after a gap of 16 years!

Here is the fun filled power pop of the title track.

01 Funplex

The B-52s

B-52's Rock Lobster

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Cover Story - All The Young Dudes

nobody@vox.com(Helpless Dancer) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:43:53 +0000

Mott The Hoople

Despite it being a David Bowie composition "All The Young Dudes" is perhaps best know via the hit single by Mott The Hoople.

03 All The Young Dudes

Mott The Hoople

I suppose it will depend upon how fanatical you are about Bowie when you consider which is the best version, well for me Mott's is the definitive version and that comes from a man who believes "Hunky Dory" to be in the Top 10 Best Albums of all time.

David Bowie - All the young dudes (live)

I'm sure the song has been covered by countless others but here is The Skids performing a pretty understated for them version that doesn't deviate too far from the original, in addition there is a live version from Billy Bragg.

03 All The Young Dudes (Kid Jensen S

The Skids

15 All The Young Dudes

Billy Bragg

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The Music Weeklies

nobody@vox.com(Helpless Dancer) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:30:06 +0000

NME

"Last week's biggest-ever New Musical Express awards show at London's O2 Arena should have been a triumph for Britain's longest-serving rock weekly. It was, says the Editor, Conor McNicholas, “one of the greatest nights on my life” watching Klaxons, Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs and Manic Street Preachers play to 15,000 indie/rock fans.

But there were glum faces and dark mutterings among the assembled media insiders. One key reason for this gloom was the magazine's circulation figures for the second half of 2007. Averaging around 64,000 per issue, they are the lowest ever, and a steep decline on previous years.

Given NME's growing profile online, on TV, at festivals and branded tours, these figures seem a strange and bitter pill. Some industry commentators are even speculating that the print version could close within months. “Who reads the NME then?” Ricky Wilson of the Kaiser Chiefs singer asked pointedly."

The above quotation is from www.timesonline.co.uk and it would appear that the NME as a paper medium may shortly expire.

The music weekly papers were a major source of knowledge for me through the 70's and 80's and as they generally lost out to the new age of glossy monthly magazines it was the NME that held firm though it also, whilst remaining weekly, adopted a magazine format.

Wednesdays used to be special when you picked up your weekly fix of music news and reviews in a traditional broadsheet format, hands would be covered in ink and pictures and articles would be cut out for the wall or a scrap book.

I remain a fond reader of the new range of Music Magazines, many of which feature in this blog (Q Mojo Uncut), which are bright and colourfull and full of good well written articles but as usual nostagia can get the better of you and the fondness remains for the old newspaper format.

Below is a trawl through my memory lane via the front pages of the papers of the past which featured my all time favourite band The Who.

New Musical Express May 1970

This is now somewhat of an iconic edition as this front page has been reproduced as a limited edition signed poster print run and 980/1000 hangs on my office wall.

Sounds May 1976

Sounds was actually the first music paper I bought, this edition lives forever in my memory as it came out during the build up to my first Who concert at Celtic Park on June 5th 1976. The stadium tour, the first of ot it's kind also played at Charlton and Swansea football stadiums under the banner of "Who Put The Boot In"

Who Put The Boot In Poster

New Musical Express June 1976

This edition of the New Musical Express carried the reviews of the concert and was cut up and sellotaped to my wall for many a year.

Melody Maker September 1977

Following the explosion of punk The Who like many of the big bands of the time were accused of being "boring old farts" here Townshend got his own back, after punk lost it's street credibility it was not surprising to read how The Who were a major inspiration to many of the bands.

New Musical Express August 1978

By August 1978 production was beginning on the film "Quadrophenia" and the New Musical Express ran a competition to win the chance to be an extra in the film.

A month later and The Who needed a new drummer following the death of Keith Moon resulting from an accidental over dose of prescription drugs.

Melody Maker October 1978

Melody Maker followed Townshend on the set of "Quodrophenia" as he struggled to come to terms with Monn's death and any future for The Who.

Melody Maker January 1979

The year 1979 would see the release of two films "The Kids Are Alright" and "Quadrophenia" and would see the decision to carry on with The Who with Kenney Jones as Moon's replacement.

Record Mirror August 1979

Record Mirror was never a regular purchase for me, as a paper it was popular in the 60's reflecting the chart scene, the early 70's was a bit of a bleak patch for it as it never really grasped the concept of non-chart rock and it wasn't until punk and new wave stormed the charts that it had any real following again.

Melody Maker May 1979

This is another iconic image for me as it records my second Who concert, the summer of '79 saw the premier of "The Kids Are Alright" at the Cannes Film Festival, whilst in France The Who played their first gig without Moon as reviewed in the above edition.

A week later the film was premieried in Glasgow and to tie in a low key concert was arranged at the Apollo, tickets were put on sale at 9am on the Saturday morning for the concert the following Friday, an overnight sleep on Renfield Street secured the necessary tickets for what was an emotional night for all.

Daltrey's hair cut was as a result of his filming of "McVicar".

Melody Maker October 1980

Meet the new boss the same as the old boss.

NME April 1980

NME is born, I liked the New Musical Express better myself.

Melody Maker January 1981

!981 saw The Who release their first post Moon album "Face Dances" and whilst it produce a hit single and TOTP appearance for "You Better You Bet" it and it's successor "It's Hard" found it difficult to match up to past achievements.

After tours to support both albums The Who went on a long sabbatical by the time they re-emerged the world of music journalism had progressed to the magazine medium where they continue to appear on a regular basis with many other artists of their generation saisfying the nostagia market for us 40+ folk with more money than sense.

The images used and many more can be found at White Fangs brilliant Who Site www.thewho.info an essential visit for even the most casual of Who fan.

04 You Better You Bet

The Who

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New Music - Portishead

nobody@vox.com(Helpless Dancer) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:15:42 +0000

Portishead

Portishead have finally recorded and are releasing shortly their third studio album imaginatively titled "Third"

This follows "Dummy" in 1994, and "Portishead" in 1997 which is a work rate that almost makes The Blue Nile look prolific.

Has the wait been worth it? You can judge for yourself below on the grounds of at least one track, it hasn't pushed any buttons for me yet but I have found from the past that Portishead can take a few listens to get inside your head.

11 Threads

Portishead

What has been roughly ten years in the making finally sees release in the form of Third, the aptly titled release from the Bristol-based trio known in part for helping standardize trip hop in the mid ’90s. With the exception of a few scattered contributions and a Beth Gibbons solo album the group has been largely unspoken for in commercial recording since its 1997 self titled release, ever since mystique and anticipation have blossomed around the band’s absence. Now releasing an album of new material, matching its first two releases with an eleven song tracklist, Third may act as a question rather than an answer to the band’s layoff. Not only does Third’s release question whether or not Portishead is still a relevant in a changed musical landscape, but it also suggests asking whether or not the trip hop Chinese Democracy was simply worth the wait.

Performing its first full set in roughly a decade at last year’s All Tomorrow’s Parties: A Nightmare Before Christmas festival the group presented five new, and at the time yet-untitled, tracks. Capturing the interest of fans the world over, the new material was received with a stark feeling of separation when contrasted with of the sounds of both Dummy and Portishead. The thoughts of a music departure are quite suitable, for to call the new music trip hop would be a disgrace to both what the term came to represent and to the honest beauty of the variation in Portishead’s sound visibly apparent with Third.

“I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you and I don’t know what I’ll do without you” moans Gibbons on “Nylon Smile.” Almost serving as an echoing conclusion to ’97s “Only You,” Gibbons now plays the role of a songstress who has achieved her romantic grasping. Much in the same sense, Third seems to repeal any bloated stabs at grandeur which may be expected, rather its tracks are heavy with reaching innovation and variety in place of excessive beathugging.

“The Rip” blooms with a stench of cheap ’90s ambiance, accounting for a sound that could be construed as appropriate of the album if out of the context of the rest of its songs. But its sound grows appropriately while consoling Gibbons’ lyrics, adjusting to their delicateness in a way that Air’s denser electronic may have melded with Charlotte Gainsbourg had her 5:55 taken a different direction. Likewise the track’s following sounds further shed any idea of repetition between this and any other Portishead album; “Plastic” determined in its minimalist orchestral texture, and “We Carry On” sounding of deceiving gypsy with Adrian Utley’s guitar acting as a deceptive monkey scouring for unguarded pocket change.

And as the album continues to relax, “Deep Water” surprises as a ukulele-driven ballad, waxing just before Third chomps with “Machine Gun.” The song’s Downward Spiral beat provides a uniquely hard shell, an environment surprisingly suitable for the harmonically quenching Gibbons. Its beat unfolds into a psudo-industrialist electronic rhythm, one a bit too basic to be a Squarepusher anthem, though it teases some of Tom Jenkinson’s earlier subtleties.

Perhaps “Threads” is as close to what was last heard from Portishead, post-Portishead. The song’s early violin moan captures a hair of what was 1998’s live Roseland NYC album, Utley and Geoff Barrow adding haze to the transparent sound. “I’m always so unsure” groans Gibbons as “Threads” begins to wail, possibly attributing a few words to the theme to not just the album but the group’s prolonged recording hiatus. When so much is expected of a band so talented, yet so remotely unusual, uncertainty is not merely granted but presumed; however Third as a solid body of work fulfills in its surprising assuredness, failing to even whisper suggestions that Portishead was ever irrelevant. Third is ten years worth of anticipation fulfilled.

Portishead “Threads” (mp3) (alt. link)

Portishead - Official Site
Portishead - MySpace Site

Review from www.culturebully.com

Here is another track from the new album.

09 Small

Portishead

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New News - Leonard Cohen

nobody@vox.com(Helpless Dancer) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:36:44 +0000

Legendary singer and poet Leonard Cohen has announced his first world tour dates in fifteen years, to start in June.

Following his induction into the US Music Hall of Fame yesterday (March 10), the reclusive singer has announced a mammoth tour in association with AEG Live.

The world tour will open in Toronto on June 6 and 7, before performing across Europe in the Summer. The dates include the previously announced festival appearances at Glastonbury, Big Chill and Bennicasim festivals.

Cohen's celebrated albums include Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967), Songs Of Love And Hate (1970) and I’m Your Man (1990).

Cohen’s songs have been covered by several other artists, including U2, R.E.M., and Johnny Cash.

For the world tour, Cohen will be joined by a full band of renowned musicians: Roscoe Beck (bass & vocals, music director) Neil Larsen (keyboard, accordion, brass instruments), Bob Metzger (guitar, steel guitar & vocals), Javier Mas (acoustic guitar, oud & misc. string instruments), Christine Wu – Violin, viola, cello & keyboard, Rafael Gayol (drums & percussion) and Dino Soldo (keyboard, saxophone, wind instruments & vocals).

UK dates include four nights at Mancheser's Opera House this June and Edinburgh Castle and London's O2 Arena in July.

The full Leonard Cohen world tour dates confirmed so far are listed below.
More dates are due to be announced within the coming months, fans should keep checking http://leonardcohen.aeglive.com for information.

Toronto, Sony Centre For The Performing Arts (June 6/7)
Dublin, IMMA (14)
Manchester, Manchester International Festival, Opera House (17/18/19/20)
Montreal, Place des Arts (23/24/25/26)
Glastonbury, Glastonbury Festival (29)
Oslo, Aliset Stadium (July 1)
Helsingborg, Open Air (3)
Copenhagen, Rosenborg Castle (5)
Arhuus, Raadhus Parken (6)
Montreux, Montreux Jazz Festival (8)
Lyon, Festival (9)
Bruges, Cactus (10)
Amsterdam, Westerdam (12)
Edinburgh, Castle (16)
London, 02 Arena (17)
Lisbon, Passeio Maritimo (19)
Spain, Bennicasim, Festival (20)
Nice, Jazz Festival (22)
Lorrach, Stimmen De Welt (25)
Lucca, Summer Festival (27)
Athens, Lykabettus Theatre (29)
Ledbury, Big Chill (August 3)
Istanbul, Arena (5/6)
Prague, Castle (10)
Budapest, Sziget (12)
Girona, Cap Roig (14/15)
Vienna, Opera House (28/29)

From www.uncut.co.uk

Uncut Apr '08

Edinburgh Catle

The ONE Scottish date is at Edinburgh Castle and although I have been to a few concerts there I always found the view to be better than the sound, anyway here is Lloyd Cole's version of "Famous Blue Raincoat" because given the type of Scottish summers we have been experiencing if you are going you will need one.

Famous Blue Raincoat

Lloyd Cole

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Dead Flowers

nobody@vox.com(Helpless Dancer) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:19:03 +0000

Sticky Fingers

The Stones "Dead Flowers" must surely be the best country song written and performed by a British ROCK band.

I was always convinced that it had been plagurised from some american roots song but despite research I can find no known writer other than Jagger/Richards.

It is so authentic it could be a Townes Van Zandt song as you can hear from his live cover version below.

14 Dead Flowers

Townes Van Zandt

Rolling Stones - Dead Flowers

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KT Tunstall

nobody@vox.com(Helpless Dancer) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:42:29 +0000

KT Tunstall

Friday nights "Later With Jools..."as a compilation of debut performances from all the shows, the best of the evening was KT Tunstall who was completely unknown at the time of the initial broadcast and put on a performance which guaranteed her future success.

Watch and listen carefully as she builds up her own backing track using a multi-track record and playback machine.

KT Tunstall "Black Horse & The Cherry Tree" on Jools

Here is a track from her current album

08 Saving my face

KT Tunstall

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