1990
Andrew Weatherall’s remix of his own remix of St Etienne’s cover of Neil Young’s song is, to adopt football parlance, “A Mix Of Two Halves.”
This came on the radio the other day and I was reminded just what a startlingly original song it was. And it still sounds as fresh and innovative as it did 33 years ago.
I’d never say we were really friends, and we came from very different backgrounds. But as fellow punks of the same age (he was born on Christmas Day just 16 days before me) Shane and I had an acquaintance.
I’ve always loved soukous music, with its lively rhythms and circular electric guitar melodies. And if this doesn’t get you dancing then your feet must have fallen off. Either that or you’re dead.
The first time I heard this song it made me cry and it still does. Especially today. Its lyric, written in the 1980s, articulates why a young woman with a young child might not wish to bring up a child Thatcher’s Britain.
The word ‘iconic’ gets systematically misused, and overused, but it deserves to apply to the opening credits of Twin Peaks. And especially to Angelo Badalementi’s score.
The Pet Shop Boys and Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine don’t immediately seem like the most obvious bedfellows. And yet… this works perfectly. (more…)
I didn’t immediately jump on board the Madchester bandwagon. But I once spent an interesting three days in Barcelona trying to talk to Shaun Ryder. (more…)
After ten days of solitary confinement with Covid I am finally allowed back into the community today* – so what better song to celebrate than this. (more…)