When We Were Young - Belle and Sebastian

Rather splendid but troublingly reflective new track from Belle and Sebastian, who's lead singer and vocalist Stuart Murdoch seems to be going through a bit of a rough time right now. Wishing him all the very best, in the unlikely event that he'll ever read this... 

Breakout - Swing Out Sister

How can this be 37 years old? Good grief. I must still have several copies of the album it came from (It's Better To Travel) on vinyl but picked up an original pressing of the CD at the weekend for a mere 99p and gave it a spin last night. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the memories. Amazingly the band's still a going concern although their last album was six years ago. Maybe they need to...wait for it...breakout a new one eh? 

Hi Ren - Ren

This has been popping up on a few friends' Facebook pages recently and it's well worth a share. Apparently Ren was signed by Sony back in 2010, then he got ill (Lyme Disease) and was dropped like a sack of spuds. Clearly he's been through the mill over the past few years then but he's seemingly doing his own thing now and it's starting to pay off. At seven and a half minutes this track's a bit of an epic, if it gets your juices flowing try the newbie Sick Boi too. 

What a Bloody Long Day It's Been - Ashton, Gardner and Dyke

Picked up an Ashton, Gardner and Dyke compilation CD (for a mere 50p) when we were in Brighton last year and only just got round to listening to it. What a gem! Take this track, which seems pretty appropriate for a Friday afternoon. Enjoy! 

Enjoy Yourself - The Specials

Did you see the news yesterday? Taking cake into the office is the same as passive smoking? Health Canada claims that there's no safe drinking limit but you should stick to no more than two a week?  Wow. Just wow. What's happened to the world eh? Until recently no one had any idea what a 'unit of alcohol' was or how many calories such and such contained and everyone seemed a hell of a lot happier. It's the young I feel sorry for, they're fed this bullshit from day one. No wonder the poor sods are self harming and committing suicide like there's no tomorrow, which sadly there isn't for far too many of 'em. I'm not advocating injecting heroin into your eyeballs or stuffing you face with lard but we're here for an all too brief time so just enjoy yourself.  You might knock a few years off your life, but lets face it they're unlikely to be the best. Mine's a pint of scrumpy. Cheers! 

Barney - The Toasters

You know you're getting old when the stuff that was brand new and cutting edge when you were a kid ends up in an antiques centre, but that's where I picked up an excellent ska punk CD compilation called Know Your Skalphabet 2 (for a whole £1) released waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2002 on the seemingly now defunct Good Clean Fun Records. This track by The Toasters is one of the picks of the bunch but there's not a duff one on there. Expect to see it on the Antiques Roadshow any day now...

Louis Jordan - Caldonia

Picked up a rather spiffing Louis Jordan compilation CD this week and couldn't resist sticking up a vid. Neon bedecked (yes...bedecked...I've been reading the dictionary again) instruments, dance routines and the blueprint for rock 'n' roll, all in one three minute clip. Enjoy! 

Roy Wood, Phil Lynott, Chas Hodges and Bev Bevan mash it up...

Came across this clip on Facebook courtesy of Bob, our old postman from back in Bearwood. Allegedly it was filmed at The Dog on the Hagley Road too...wherever it was imagine popping in for a pint that night eh?   

Septober Energy - Centipede

I know what you need at the end of the first week of 2023...85 minutes of progressive jazz! Trust me, it's worth a listen, even if bits of it are, let's say, a little 'challenging'. Enjoy! 

Alan Rankine RIP

Sad to learn of the passing of Alan Rankine yesterday. The Associates are one of my favourite bands of all time and they're criminally underrated. Pretty much everything they ever recorded is worth listening to but if you're new to the band start with their Sulk album and go from there. Here's a gem from Rankine's solo work too...

Rich - Yard Act

Pretty sure I posted this track up last year but after getting the album on heavvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvyweight vinyl for Christmas I can't resisting sticking it up (again?). Yard Act's debut was the album of the year for my money and hopefully 2023 will see more from them. Speaking of my musical hopes for 2023 how about a prime time music show on the BBC eh? It's telling that there wasn't a Christmas Top Of The Pops this year, has the Beeb given up on music? Okay, so there's an awful lot of utter crap around these days but bands like Yard Act give me some reason to be optimistic about the future and it would be great to see them on 'mainstream' TV. Maybe that ship's sailed though. Maybe the charts are destined to be populated entirely by computer programmed autotuned garbage until the end of time? Anyway, Happy New Year and all that jazz!