Circle number 1 notes
I am currently making my selection for the next Circle CD. To mark this, I am sticking up all the sleeve notes from my previous CDs, starting with this, the first one.
Circle #1. Sleeve notes by Toby
Well, since this is my first attempt at this, I have to confess i found it a lot harder than I thought it would be. Not surprisingly, the trouble was what to leave off, although I was also slightly disappointed by a couple of new albums I’ve bought recently that ought to have provided some tracks.
Looking at the list below, it all seems rather quiet, rather than the uptempo rockers I though I might have picked. I think the problem was that, given endless time, I’d have been dropping and adding tracks from now until my ears give out. So I just decided to stop once I had a reasonable selection. I’ll get another go, so I can put the stuff I might otherwise have put in here then. I can see I’ve completely missed out the Coral, even though I really enjoyed that album. But I’d rather put in some stuff from a couple of albums that are so new to me that I probably haven’t even put in the best tracks.
So, 20 songs, of which 12 are from 2002 or 2003. As for the rest: it’s just stuff that I thought you might like, plus some tunes you’ve probably already got. I left off all the 60s and 70s bubble gum pop I’ve been listening to - maybe next time.
As for the running order: alphabetical actually seemed good enough. Since I tend to listen to CDs in shuffle mode anyway, running order matters less to me.
Adrenalina Various Artists Mmmmm... Q Magazine 118 July 1996
I know nothing about this song or band. I acquired it with a magazine in the last decade and only just heard it for the first time about two months ago. Retro 60s pop (who clearly bought Dear Prudence by Siouxsie when it was out) done well, and suitably sunny way to start.
Ali Baba Various Artists Trojan Mod Reggae Box Set
Classic early 60s light reggae with a lovely tune and wholly nonsensical lyrics.
Caught By The River Doves The Last Broadcast
The Last Broadcast was a great album, following Lost Souls, also great. I think Doves are very good, but there is a danger of them becoming too much like their own parody. This track shows how good they can be, but also shows the sort of triple-time epic track they probably want to move away from. But for now its stirring.
Cock Mobster MC Paul Barman Paullelujah
Well, you need a bit of hip-hop, and since that tends to be a bit sexist, why not go the whole hog? MC Paul declares himself to be the Cock Mobster, and details what he’d like to do with a variety of celebrity women. But I suspect he might be joking.
DJ Vadim Featuring Sarah Jones - Your Revolution Giles Peterson INCredible Sound Of Gilles Peterson (Disc 2)
A necessary corrective to the cheery misogyny of MC Paul. With a nod to Gil Scott Heron, Sarah Jones throws a withering put down in the direction of rap’s worst chauvinists. This is witty and clever, but also deadly serious and very beautiful in its own right. Proof that a track can be angry, direct and forceful without becoming a lecture or dull.
Grace Supergrass Life On Other Planets
Three chords, vaguely nonsensical words, a two-note guitar solo and all wrapped up in under three minutes. Thank goodness for Supergrass: defenders of pure pop-rock.
Grand Parade The Reindeer Section Uncut - NeatNeatNeat
The Reindeer Section are the Scottish supergroup: various members of Teenage Fanclub, Belle & Sebastian and a lot of others are on their two albums. This is from their second outing and shows the signs of what happens when you have to record an album with a lot of different people, most of them only on one track, in a week. The songs tend to be slow to mid tempo, with only simple chords so to minimise rehearsal time. But the good news is that the end results are very lovely.
Guess I'm Doing Fine Beck Sea Change
I almost dropped this for being too sad, but Sea Change is a great melancholy album and this is the best track.
Hanging Around The Day Part 2 The Polyphonic Spree Q-The Best Tracks From The Best Albums 2002
Like the Reindeer Section, this is an album that almost suffers from too many people, but also triumphs thanks to the drive of one leader. And this is a very catchy track.
Heavy Metal Drummer Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
This is close to being a novelty track, with its nostalgic look at teenage metal bands playing covers. But its based on a great rhythm and feels like summer.
icewater.mp3 Peter Case
American singer-songwriter who recently played in London. This is a live version of a track from his first album.
Lessons Learned From Rocky I To Rocky III Cornershop Handcream For A New Generation
Smart slab of retro 70s rock that is almost impossible not to like. Start with a good riff and drum groove, and you can’t fail. Plus a great bass intro.
Let's Push Things Forward The Streets Original Pirate Material
Britain’s very own social commentator. I had a tough time choosing which track from the Streets to put on here, because they’re all worth hearing at least once, but this won out.
Lolleatta Holloway - Love Sensation Various Artists Funk Essentials (Disc 1)
Big, soulful funk shout. Might sound familiar in places.
One Girl Army Charlotte Martin One Girl Army
Too easy to dismiss as another Tori Amos clone, i.e. a talented woman who grew up with a piano and a pile of Kate Bush records. I like this, and it’ll do until there’s some new Kate Bush product.
Roxy Music - Virginia Plain virginia plain Decades - The Story Of The 60's/70's/80's - Disc 2 - 70's
More 70s than a three day week.
Shake Your Coconuts Junior Senior D-D-Don't Stop The Beat
Daft dance pop. The whole album is pretty much like this, and the Avalanches must be kicking themselves for not getting a new disc out first. But it’s a fun CD.
Three Questions Various Artists Uncut - Rebellious Jukebox
This is Bonnie Prince Billy, the very quiet man of alt.country
Wait The Kills Two Dollar Luck
This is an album that would probably have never been released if the White Stripes hadn’t been successful, and to be honest parts of it aren’t very good. But some of it is.
www.korea-dpr.com KFA Hymn Song of National Defence
Well, you have to allow me at least one comedy title. The North Koreans may or may not have nukes, but they do have analog synthesisers. It starts off like the intro to a holiday on ice extravaganza, then slips into the sort of song people write with a gun to their head, sung by the entire Korean army. But the good Communist on the synth never forgets to distribute the whooshing noises in accordance with strict Leninist principles. Please note that if you hear this again not coming from your CD player, you’d better start digging. They have missiles that could hit California, you know.
So that’s it for Circle #1. If I was to do it again tomorrow, probably only the Korean army song would survive and you’d have to put up with a lot of REM and prog rock. But we have to stop somewhere. You’ll get your turn soon.
Toby
Circle #1. Sleeve notes by Toby
Well, since this is my first attempt at this, I have to confess i found it a lot harder than I thought it would be. Not surprisingly, the trouble was what to leave off, although I was also slightly disappointed by a couple of new albums I’ve bought recently that ought to have provided some tracks.
Looking at the list below, it all seems rather quiet, rather than the uptempo rockers I though I might have picked. I think the problem was that, given endless time, I’d have been dropping and adding tracks from now until my ears give out. So I just decided to stop once I had a reasonable selection. I’ll get another go, so I can put the stuff I might otherwise have put in here then. I can see I’ve completely missed out the Coral, even though I really enjoyed that album. But I’d rather put in some stuff from a couple of albums that are so new to me that I probably haven’t even put in the best tracks.
So, 20 songs, of which 12 are from 2002 or 2003. As for the rest: it’s just stuff that I thought you might like, plus some tunes you’ve probably already got. I left off all the 60s and 70s bubble gum pop I’ve been listening to - maybe next time.
As for the running order: alphabetical actually seemed good enough. Since I tend to listen to CDs in shuffle mode anyway, running order matters less to me.
Adrenalina Various Artists Mmmmm... Q Magazine 118 July 1996
I know nothing about this song or band. I acquired it with a magazine in the last decade and only just heard it for the first time about two months ago. Retro 60s pop (who clearly bought Dear Prudence by Siouxsie when it was out) done well, and suitably sunny way to start.
Ali Baba Various Artists Trojan Mod Reggae Box Set
Classic early 60s light reggae with a lovely tune and wholly nonsensical lyrics.
Caught By The River Doves The Last Broadcast
The Last Broadcast was a great album, following Lost Souls, also great. I think Doves are very good, but there is a danger of them becoming too much like their own parody. This track shows how good they can be, but also shows the sort of triple-time epic track they probably want to move away from. But for now its stirring.
Cock Mobster MC Paul Barman Paullelujah
Well, you need a bit of hip-hop, and since that tends to be a bit sexist, why not go the whole hog? MC Paul declares himself to be the Cock Mobster, and details what he’d like to do with a variety of celebrity women. But I suspect he might be joking.
DJ Vadim Featuring Sarah Jones - Your Revolution Giles Peterson INCredible Sound Of Gilles Peterson (Disc 2)
A necessary corrective to the cheery misogyny of MC Paul. With a nod to Gil Scott Heron, Sarah Jones throws a withering put down in the direction of rap’s worst chauvinists. This is witty and clever, but also deadly serious and very beautiful in its own right. Proof that a track can be angry, direct and forceful without becoming a lecture or dull.
Grace Supergrass Life On Other Planets
Three chords, vaguely nonsensical words, a two-note guitar solo and all wrapped up in under three minutes. Thank goodness for Supergrass: defenders of pure pop-rock.
Grand Parade The Reindeer Section Uncut - NeatNeatNeat
The Reindeer Section are the Scottish supergroup: various members of Teenage Fanclub, Belle & Sebastian and a lot of others are on their two albums. This is from their second outing and shows the signs of what happens when you have to record an album with a lot of different people, most of them only on one track, in a week. The songs tend to be slow to mid tempo, with only simple chords so to minimise rehearsal time. But the good news is that the end results are very lovely.
Guess I'm Doing Fine Beck Sea Change
I almost dropped this for being too sad, but Sea Change is a great melancholy album and this is the best track.
Hanging Around The Day Part 2 The Polyphonic Spree Q-The Best Tracks From The Best Albums 2002
Like the Reindeer Section, this is an album that almost suffers from too many people, but also triumphs thanks to the drive of one leader. And this is a very catchy track.
Heavy Metal Drummer Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
This is close to being a novelty track, with its nostalgic look at teenage metal bands playing covers. But its based on a great rhythm and feels like summer.
icewater.mp3 Peter Case
American singer-songwriter who recently played in London. This is a live version of a track from his first album.
Lessons Learned From Rocky I To Rocky III Cornershop Handcream For A New Generation
Smart slab of retro 70s rock that is almost impossible not to like. Start with a good riff and drum groove, and you can’t fail. Plus a great bass intro.
Let's Push Things Forward The Streets Original Pirate Material
Britain’s very own social commentator. I had a tough time choosing which track from the Streets to put on here, because they’re all worth hearing at least once, but this won out.
Lolleatta Holloway - Love Sensation Various Artists Funk Essentials (Disc 1)
Big, soulful funk shout. Might sound familiar in places.
One Girl Army Charlotte Martin One Girl Army
Too easy to dismiss as another Tori Amos clone, i.e. a talented woman who grew up with a piano and a pile of Kate Bush records. I like this, and it’ll do until there’s some new Kate Bush product.
Roxy Music - Virginia Plain virginia plain Decades - The Story Of The 60's/70's/80's - Disc 2 - 70's
More 70s than a three day week.
Shake Your Coconuts Junior Senior D-D-Don't Stop The Beat
Daft dance pop. The whole album is pretty much like this, and the Avalanches must be kicking themselves for not getting a new disc out first. But it’s a fun CD.
Three Questions Various Artists Uncut - Rebellious Jukebox
This is Bonnie Prince Billy, the very quiet man of alt.country
Wait The Kills Two Dollar Luck
This is an album that would probably have never been released if the White Stripes hadn’t been successful, and to be honest parts of it aren’t very good. But some of it is.
www.korea-dpr.com KFA Hymn Song of National Defence
Well, you have to allow me at least one comedy title. The North Koreans may or may not have nukes, but they do have analog synthesisers. It starts off like the intro to a holiday on ice extravaganza, then slips into the sort of song people write with a gun to their head, sung by the entire Korean army. But the good Communist on the synth never forgets to distribute the whooshing noises in accordance with strict Leninist principles. Please note that if you hear this again not coming from your CD player, you’d better start digging. They have missiles that could hit California, you know.
So that’s it for Circle #1. If I was to do it again tomorrow, probably only the Korean army song would survive and you’d have to put up with a lot of REM and prog rock. But we have to stop somewhere. You’ll get your turn soon.
Toby
posted by Toby Scott at 7/21/2006 07:28:00 PM
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