Welcome to the Modslist Music Picks page for October 1997. This page will be updated monthly with contributions from modslist subscribers. All modslist subscribers are welcome to participate. Write me at modslist@mindspring.com for more info.
Welcome to the Modslist Music Picks page for October 1997. This page will be updated monthly with contributions from modslist subscribers. All modslist subscribers are welcome to participate. Write me at modslist@mindspring.com for more info.
Julian Lawton (Julian.Lawton@pancredit.com:
Smashmouth single (the one good song) - ("Walking On the Sun"?, ed.)
Beck - 'Deadweight'
Mogwai - Young Team, 10 Rapid
Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos
Verve - Urban Hymns
Cale/Riley - Church of Anthrax
Brenton Wood - Boogaloosville, Louisiana
Al Wilson - Listen To Me
Bridget St.John - Songs For The Gentle Man
Chris Tasch (cmtst29+@pitt.edu):
The Slackers - "Redlight"
Best ska album I've heard in a long time. Very afro-cuban influenced.
And how could they go wrong with a Gillespie/Pozo cover included?
Jimmy Smith - "The Cat"
Wow, 'nuff said about the album acid jazzuals looked to for inspiration.
The Kravin'"A"s - "Krave On!"
Great beat from the purveyors of 'Medwaybeat.'
The Acrylic Tones - "self
tiled"
An amazing organ filled band on detour records. Great musicianship!
The Fantastic Johnny C - "Boogaloo Down Broadway"
Johnny sure can belt out a tune! I also get a kick out of the b-side,
a reworking of the song called "Look What Love Can Make You Do." One of
my best finds.
Dee Dee Sharp - "Special Collector's Edition"
Soul at it's best.
The B-3's - "Only Human"
Pittsburgh ska. One for all you rumheads. Heavily influenced by blues
and rocksteady.
Man Or Astro Man? - "Destroy All Astromen"
Not exactly mod, but who can resist a good surf instramental?
Sonny
Rollins - "Alfie"
An amazing sound track by one of the leaders in modern jazz. This is a must
have.
The Slackers - "Tarantula"
I love the Slackers as they are, but listening to this song off they're
first demo makes me wonder how good they could have been if they kept up
with the garage oreinted ska instead of going to a more old-school oreintation.
Samuel Hugosson (samuel.hugosson@kb.se):
Built To Spill - "Perfect From Now On"
Eggstone - "Summersault"
Their second album but not their latest. In my humble opinion the best one.
Light guitar pop with great, quite original, melodies.
Man...or astrman?
Surf. Outerspace. Racingcars.
Elliot Smith - "Either/Or"
Acoustic guitars and his voice. What more could you ask for?
His second album.
Jason Ringgold (ringgold@btinterntet.com):
Maquina - "Look Away Your Happiness"
Very catchy beat number by a very talented Spanish group.
A late sixties effort complete with wah-wah's, fuzz and all the
essential ingredients.
Winston's Fumbs - "Snow White"
If there was a reason he was kicked out of the Small Faces, it wasn't
this song. This highly danceable song has a very subversive undercurrent
to it and is packed with great organ riffs.
Jacques Dutronc - "Le Responsable"
This song is getting a lot of airplay in London clubs and rightly so.
Possibly one of the best beat songs of all time. If you haven't heard
this you haven't lived.
Guess Who - "It's My Pride"
While some people might not associate this band with anything mod-related
you are wrong indeed. Decidely it sounds quite punky, but in a sixties way
with fuzz guitar and hammond organ thrown in the mix.
Rupert's People - "Hold On"
From the ashes of mod legends The Fleuer De Lys came Rupert's People. This
effort is again one of the best songs I've ever heard. With incredible guitar
work, a storming hammond, and the voice of Chris Andrews how could you go wrong?
Double Feature - "Baby Get You Head Screwed On"
British Soul at its best this song is a reworking of the Cat Steven's version
incorporating bongos, a horn section, and fuzz guitars.
Mouse & The Traps-"Beg, Borrow & Steal"
Their sixth single is quite a heavy song starting off with a plucky sitar and
swiftly moving on to gritty vocals and a pounding fuzz guitar workout followed
up by Chris Weiss doing a werewolf impersonation at the end.
Attack-"Colour of My Mind"
This tune from 1967 has a great feel to it. Dig the guitar in this song that
comes across as a sitar. This groove is rather punchy and especially danceable.
One of their better songs.
Rugby's - "You, I"
Hailing from Kentucky they sure don't sound like it. A combination of aggressive
vocals and melodic harmonies drenched in fuzz for an effect that must be heard to be
believed.
Professor Morisson's Lollipop-"You Got The Look"
One of my favourite songs by an American Band. Punchy, deliberate guitarwork is
laid over a hammond and matched with impressive harmonies, instantly danceable.
Doug McClintock (dwmcclin@indiana.edu):
the verve - Urban Hymns
the verve's new release. i have the promo copy, and i am in love with this band.
many good cuts, and the contraversial "Bittersweet Symphony"
the verve - A Northern Soul
classic verve...had to break it out in anticipation of the new album...
Paul Weller - Heavy Soul
it's PW. nuff said.
the crystal method - vegas
aquafolies
interesting sounds from the electronic world...
peter mulvey - deep blue
great soulful folk/rock guitar work from peter, not as good as his first two
albums, but good nonetheless
the Who - quadrophenia
been listening to lots of this double CD. it's been in my collection for some time, but
now it's spinning again...
blur - blur
the new sound of blur. isn't bad, and some gems...especially like
madness
a live recording of their Hudson River show in NYC (1983). put out on BeechMartin
in 1992. just love to hear the crowd shouting "madness! madness!"
V/A - give 'em the boot
ska, punk and such. good tunes from hepcat (a personal favorite) and the
slackers, as well as some good punk. hellcat records 1st big compilation.
the paragons - my best girl wears my crown
classic cuts from the paragons. just make me break out singing!!!!
Alberto (alba.bru@iol.it):
Small Faces - Small
Faces
Yardbird - Roger The
Engineering
The Creation - How does it feel to feel
The Artwoods -
100 Oxford street Dark Sides
The Outsiders - Outsiders
The Seeds - Evil hoodoo
Blues Magoos - Psychedelic lollypop
Mouse and the Traps - Public execution
Spencer Davies Group - The best of
Doris Gabaldon (dag4@email.byu.edu):
Man...or ASTROman??? - Destroy All Astromen
If you ever get a chance to see this band live DO IT!!
BLUR - S/T
Supergrass - I Should COCO
Soundtrack - Dance Craze S/T
The 2Tone Collection - Checkered Past
Superdrag - Regretfully Yours
Weezer - S/T
The Toasters - Dub56
The Stray Cats - Rock This Town
Mark Sandon (msandon@mars7post.unitedkingdom.ncr.com):
Wynder K Frog - Out Of The Frying Pan LP
Classic British Hammond tracks.
The Killermeters - Metric Noise LP
Great new release from Detour Records, perfectly capturing that 79 sound
for posterity.
The Birds - Say Those Magic Words LP
Brilliant British Freakbeat/RnB by Ron Wood's first band.
In Empire Made's prelude Art Wood describes them as the UKs best
60s Mod band - and who can argue. Well Reggie King I suppose :-)
This Is Sue Vol. 3 - Island
Includes greats like You Can't Sit Down, Treat Her Right & Daddy Rolling
Stone - just a great album from the vaults of UK Sue.
Paul Weller - Paul
Weller
Could have chosen any of his solo albums.
But in my opinion his first effort will take some beating.
King Curtis - Whole Lotta Love
Brillaint version of the Led Zep track - a big B'ham fave
Little Walter - My Babe
A perennial favourite.
Marvin Gaye - I'll Be
Doggone
Thanks to Miss Soultastic a permanent fixture to my turntable.
Willie Mitchell - The Champion Parts 1 & 2
Again a perennial favourite, just try and not tap your feet along to
this.
Cherry Waynor - Money
Great organ instrumental of this great track.
An Outrigger fave from the mid 1980s
Brian Poust (brianep@mindspring.com):
Les Incapables - Mon Pere Est Millionaire
From Quebec, these guys blew me away at FuzzFest. The surprise of the year!
The vinyl doesn't do their live show justice, but is still quite good. They do
all of their songs in French, and are somewhat disturbing to look at. FuzzFest
was their first show out of Quebec. And yes, they're fans of Dutronc.
The Loons - Face Out of Phase
Without question, the most amazing live band I've ever seen . This is from
their fourth 45 on as many labels, and considering their line up, I'm surprised to
not have heard more people talking about them. We've got Mike Stax other former
members of the Tell Tale Hearts, Hoods and Bomboras. The particular 7" that this
comes from also features an excellent cover of "In the Past".
Hurricane #1 - Chain Reaction/Keep Walking
The new single from Andy Bell's new band. I'm still trying to make up my mind
about this one. I always liked Andy Bell's work with Ride, but this is taking a
little longer to get into. You may not see this band on any future music picks
lists of mine, but....
The Eyes of Blue - Heart Trouble
I've had their first LP for a while and didn't think too terribly much of
them, but then upon finding their first two Deram 45's, I couldn't believe it was
the same band! Brilliant UK soul along the Northern vein.
Jacques Dutronc - "Les Cactus"
From his "Dutronc" LP on Vogue, this is the best song of his I've heard yet! The
fuzzy guitar and a great bouncing bass line makes this decidedly more dancable
than a lot of his garagey material. The rest of the LP is pretty groovy as well.
Catch Jacques in the film "Van Gogh". I'm trying to myself....
Episode Six - Love-Hate-Revenge
Ian Gillian, Roger Glover pre-Deep Purple. Not the nicest lyrics you'll
ever hear, but funny, and a great song musically. Ironically coupled with
the song "Baby, Baby, Baby"
Julie Drischoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity - Indian Rope Man
You heard it covered on Acid Jazz's "Totally Wired 12", but it originally
appeared on the "Street Noise" double LP. Blinding.
The Forum - The River Is Wide
Nice soul on the Los Angeles Mirwood label. What drew me to this song was
its thickly textured and well written music, it reminds me of a movie theme.
It didn't thrill me with my first listen, but after digging it out of the box
again months later, it really knocked me out! Proof positive that you shouldn't
throw cheap records away if you don't initially like them.
Joe Tex - Skinny Legs and All
Joe Tex has always been hit or miss with me. My boss at work turned me on to this
45. Recorded live, but the quality wasn't too great, so they got a bunch of
friends together, some beer (at least) and recorded it again live in the studio.
Too too funny! Not incredibly "proper", but damn funny. I wonder if Tom Robbins
ever owned this 45?
The Flirtations - Need Your Loving
This is the flip to their minor hit "South Carolina" (two members were from
South Carolina) which followed "Nothing But A Heartache". Another great soul
stormer from the Flirtations.