Glue - The Miserable Rich

If this song - and the story behind it - doesn't melt your heart then you probably don't have one. A glorious comeback from the criminally underrated The Miserable Rich. 

Loving Arms - Lack Of Afro

It's been out for a while but Lack Of Afro's new(ish) one's been growing on me lately. It's got a bit of a The Go! Team vibe, oh go on then...any excuse to post up something by The Go! Team...

Strange Things - Tom Jones

Enjoyed a relaxing soak in the tub with Tom Jones the other night...by giving his Praise and Blame album a spin...he wasn't actually there. He's more than welcome to pop round for a pint or two though if he's in the area. Anyway...this track's been going round in my head today.  

The Jazz Defenders...niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice

Fresh from some dates in Paris (although the clip above's from a previous visit) The Jazz Defenders hit Teignmouth on Saturday night and played a blinding set of originals that are up there with some of the best Blue Note influenced jazz I've ever heard. If you like jazz...or just have ears...this lot are highly recommended. 

PS: For those who like their jazz with some hippity hoppity rappity in it check out their new single with Doc Brown.

Theme From Dirty Harry - James Taylor Quartet

Good grief, a whole week without a post. I'm getting even slacker in my old age. In my defence it was Lady Baron's birthday on Wednesday. Still found time for a quick trawl through some of Exeter's charity shops though and picked up this little gem from JTQ. Thank funk it's Friday... 

Victory Dance - Ezra Collective

Well, it's only taken 32 years for a jazz band to win the Mercury Music Awards but better late than never. Apparently they've got a sold out gig at the Royal Albert Hall and have ambitions to play stadiums...and why not eh? Hopefully this will bring jazz to a much wider audience, something that's been building up for a number of years now, and encourage people to dig into the older stuff too. There's a lot to listen to...a hell of a lot...shedloads...literally...here's a cheeky little number from a mere 80 years ago...and yes, they really are dancing like that...no CGI needed here. 

Jeffrey Lewis/Moya Silk @ The Phoenix, Exeter – Tuesday September 5th

 

Regular readers of the Aid over the years (and apparently there are a few of you…bless) will know that my live gig going pretty much slowed to a dribble after we moved to Devon, mainly due to the frankly lousy public transport (and the fact that we got rid of our car back in 2007). Our last train back home leaves Exeter at 10.55pm, which doesn’t leave a lot of room for error, but the chance to catch up with the great Jeffrey Lewis again was too much to resist. Would we catch the train…or am I writing this from under a bush somewhere…oh the suspense.

Anyway, for those of you unfamiliar with The Phoenix it’s a decent venue (more of an arts centre really) with an above average bar - I can highly recommend the Mena Dhu Cornish Stout - just a short stagger away from Exeter Central Station. Tonight’s gig was seated, which was a little unusual, but given that I’m 103 I ain’t complaining. Opening act Moya Silk (sometimes a band but tonight flying solo…her name’s not Moya Silk either but I forgot her real name…as I say I’m 103) warmed things up nicely with some spiky grunge/Riot Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl tinged tracks including recent release Grotbag Girl, which wouldn’t be out of place on a Kim Gordon album in my humble opinion. Moya Silk, the band, play Exeter Cavern on October 31^st.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen Jeffrey Lewis over the years but it’s been a while since we last shared oxygen. Joined tonight by his band The Voltage I’m happy to report that he’s lost none of his unique charm, the only slight change being the use of a projector rather than a flip chart to illustrate some of his tracks, including brilliantly witty summaries of Star Wars Episode 4, The Great Gatsby and part 7 of his history of communism…you don’t get that from a Megan Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Stallion gig do you eh? Lyrically Jeff pisses all over…well, pretty much everyone…and it’s a constant source of amazement to me that he’s not revered but there we go, give it another 30 years and maybe the rest of the world will catch up. Tonight I particularly enjoyed his Covid tracks (they’re just begging for an album release) and a speedy thrash through Except For The Fact That It Isn’t, which is rapidly becoming my theme tune. 

Sadly no outing for LPs, possibly the greatest song about collecting music ever written, but that’s just a good excuse for him to come back to Exeter again. How about next week Jeff? Actually screw that, I'd be up for another show tonight.  

PS: I had the great pleasure of briefly meeting Jeff after the gig before making a quick dash to the station, making the train with…ooooh…a good four minutes to spare. What a bloody lovely bloke. 

PPS; Bought one of his bootleg CDs and a signed UK tour poster to add to my stash of Jeff stuff, the lady in front of me dropped £100 on merch which tells you something about the kind of fandomania that Jeff brings out in people.   

La Vie En Rose - Belinda Carlisle

I have to admit that Carlisle's Voila album passed me by back in 2007, so when I found a copy in a charity shop last weekend I was intrigued. As the title hints at it's an album of 'tracks de Francais' (who knew I was fluent in French eh? Sacre blue!) and it's really rather good. At the time of recording Belinda and her family were living in France and the accent sounds pretty spot on to me. Plus she covers one of my favourite tracks of all time Ne Me Quitte Pas...