Chris Bell – I Am The Cosmos

I played this collection the other day having not heard it for some time, and was blown away. For many years the title track has been a staple of compilation CDs I’ve made for people, but I’d forgotten how good many of the other tracks are. In particular, “Look Up” is a beautiful melody, while “You and Your Sister” is, to quote American writer Scott E Miller, simply one of the best pop songs ever.

Listening to the first Big Star album, #1 Record, it’s hard to hear where Alex Chilton started and Chris Bell began. Both have a clear love of the Beatles, jangly guitars, but with a dark melancholy that sounds all the sadder in the light of the personal traumas not unrelated to Big Star’s commercial failure.

It’s also hard to distinguish Bell’s solo songs collected on I Am The Cosmos from his Big Star material, especially since Chilton and drummer Jody Stephens play on some of the songs on I Am The Cosmos. They were recorded between his departure from Big Star - in 1973 after #1 Record flopped - and Bell’s premature death in a car crash in 1978. They were recorded sporadically, his career hampered by abuse of booze and drugs.

These songs never saw a commercial release until Rykodisc issued this CD in 1992. It was the first CD I ever bought. I’d held out against getting a CD player but when this was released (not on vinyl) I knew my luddite days were over.

The Free Design – Songs for Very Important People

I heard of this via the Guardian’s 1,000 Albums to Hear Before You Die – a rare example of a list that avoids the obvious choices and is clearly compiled by genuine enthusiasts.

The Free Design were the brainchild of Chris Dedrick. With his brother Bruce and sister Sandy they started playing Peter, Paul and Mary songs but somehow ended up playing beautifully arranged close harmony pop.

There's an undoubted Brian Wilson influence (not least because The Free Design are singing siblings), but it's more controlled, less dark. I don't know much about Dedric (though I mean to find out more) but he doesn't sound troubled or frightened.

With Felix’s arrival I’m seeking out music for children, so please post a comment if you can recommend any good albums.

The genius of Mike Nesmith

As a kid, it was pretty obvious to me that Mike Nesmith was the coolest of the Monkees. Peter Tork – dopey; Davy Jones – vain and effete; Mickey Dolenz – the funniest. Wooly-capped Nesmith came across as quiet and thoughtful.

In my teens, I got The Monkees’ Greatest Hits, a Music For Pleasure budget release. There was a Nesmith track on there, Listen To The Band, that sat uneasily among all the Help! homages. Country-tinged, but with brass, and psychedelic effects to boot. What was going on?

Then a couple of years ago I picked up a copy of Magnetic South in a great used record and book shop in Howarth in Yorkshire. What a revelation. Nesmith is a beautiful singer. As a songwriter, he is innovative and witty – with a beautiful melodic ear (witness the glorious “Joanne”). His adventures in country rock sound less ego-driven than contemporaries the Byrds and Gram Parsons, presumably because he was struggling to be taken seriously because of his boy-band past. But he’s every inch their equal. All his pioneering albums with the First National Band are superlative.

Here’s Frank Zappa and Nesmith in a weird clip found on YouTube:

Welcome Felix

Felix Hywel Dennis, born 8.17pm on Saturday June 30th at King's College Hospital, London. He was 8lb 8oz.

Facts about Felix: he smiles a lot (see photo); he says "lair" when he's hungry; admires his big brother Jude, bangs his fighty hand on his mother when he wants more milk; sleeps at night (hallelujah!); and likes his dad singing daft songs to him.

Alice Coltrane RIP

I was excited about Alice Coltrane's return to making music - so sad she's passed away. The antithesis of the "rock wife" of Spinal Tap fame, she made some brilliant albums in her own right. I'm a sucker for a harp, and anything with Pharoah Sanders is worth hearing. Read John L Waters' obit here.

Loaded Knife played by BBC Radio One shock

Loaded Knife's new single's been getting quite a bit of airplay on national pop radio! Very exciting of course. Here's the story so far:


The Bird / Ask a Bee

March 11 2004: John Peel plays "The Bird"

March 2004: Gilles Petersen plays “Ask a Bee” (no tracklisting available)

Normal Teenager / Berwick Street

June 19 2006 and June 26 2006: Steve Lamacq plays “Normal Teenager”

June 22 2006 and July 9 2006: Rob Da Bank plays "Normal Teenager"

Loaded Knife single reviewed by Rough Trade

Here's what Rough Trade say about our new single:

ace new 7 from loaded knife. it's chopped up funk hop, like luke vibert hooked up to a malfunctioning 50's american juke box. the b-side features various samples of market traders from soho's, berwick st. interesting stuff indeed!

Blab Happy

Now on You Tube: my old band (1987-1993) performing Valentine, the track that got us a record deal. Thanks to Nick Clay from the fabulous Pink Noise, Hull's finest.

Here it is embedded ...

Os Mutantes

I've been lax in updating my blog, but I wanted to share with the world (and show off, basically) that last night I witnessed a historic moment - the first gig by Os Mutantes in 33 years. Arnaldo Baptista and Sergio were clad in doublets and hose. The performance at the Barbican, part of the Tropicalia festival, was witty, complex, proggy, psychededelic, uplifting. A privilege to be there.

Adverts - Gary Gilmore's Eyes

I used to obsess about this track after hearing it late at night on Nicky Horne's "Your Mother Wouldn't Like It" show on Capital. I love the last line of the song! Listen to it here.