On the eve of the London Olympics, Saturday 28 July, it seems apt that the Sound Island Music Festival will be paying homage to the ‘Best of British’, flying the patriotic flag high, with a host of top British bands that helped rock the 90s. We can now announce that a spark of ‘Madchester’, fused with some ‘Cool Britannia’, will open what is probably the Kent coastline’s biggest summer music event, in true Britpop style.
Headline band James, who are perhaps best-known for their hit singles of the 1990’s – Sit Down, Come Home and She’s A Star – will take centre stage. They’ll be capping a night which includes Echo & The Bunnymen whose chart-topping music includes The Cutter, The Killing Moon and Nothing Lasts Forever preceded by a much anticipated performance by the recently reformed, multi-platinum band, Cast, whose live performances have been described by Noel Gallagher as a truly “religious experience”.
Cast play Kent's Sound Island Music Festival
Crowds will also be treated to performances from, Inspiral Carpets, who are arguably amongst the most popular band to emerge from the early 1990’s ‘Madchester’ scene;, The Farm, best known for their chart topping album Spartacus which spawned the anthemic All Together Now and, British indie-rock band Space who came to prominence in the 1990’s with singles such as Female of the Species, Neighbourhood, Avenging Angels and The Ballad of Tom Jones.
The mercurial English band James came out of the fertile early 1980s Manchester post-punk scene. Combining an acerbic wit with honest yearning, the band’s vision – which a writer in ‘Musician’ called “eclectic, theatrical and introspective” – kept James relatively underground for many years. It was with the release of Goldmother, in the early 90s, just as the ‘Madchester’ movement, with its wave of popular Manchester-based indie bands, focused public attention on James and won them mainstream recognition.
Singles How Was It for You, the remixed Come Home, and Lose Control, all made the Top 40, and the band’s newfound success was re-affirmed when they played two sell-out dates at the Manchester G-Mex at the end of the year. In March 1991, the popularity of Sit Down, led to a re-recorded version being released as a single, reaching #2 in the UK Singles Chart and became one of the biggest-selling singles of the year.
Following the departure of lead singer Tim Booth in 2001, the band became inactive, but reformed in 2007 for a new album and international tour. Now, more than two-decades since first forming, James has sold more than 25-million albums worldwide
Commenting on the announcement, concert spokesperson Dion Clements said “Across the weekend The Sound Island Festival aims to cater for different verse tastes in music. The decade of the nineties, Madchester and Britpop is very much back in vogue so we opted to start this years Festival with several of the hottest acts from of the period. Sunday features Olly Murs and Rizzle Kicks, two of the hottest acts in music today, providing a truly eclectic offering of some of the highest quality music”
The concert will take place at Sound Island Festival, Quex Park, Birchington-On-Sea, on Saturday, 28 July.
For more information, or to book tickets for the event, visit www.gigantic.com, or call the 24hr ticketline 0844 888 9991 / 08712 200260.
Tickets can also be booked from www.quexpark.co.uk / 01843-848826 or www.margatewintergardens.co.uk / 01843-292795 and locally by personally visiting the Margate Winter Gardens.
In late 2009, after 17 years The Primitives played together for the first time to commemorate the recent death of their bass player, Steve Dullaghan. Tracy Tracy, Paul Court, Tig Williams and Raph Moore’s successful return to The Primitives home town of Coventry led to the former indie pop music darlings of the late 1980’s getting back together and playing to packed venues on UK tour the following Spring, before heading off to Europe & USA.
This year they released ‘Never Kill A Secret’ – a four track EP on Fortuna Pop! which included two new songs and two cover versions of obscure 1960’s female-led pop groups. The latter became the catalyst for a bigger project which resulted in their new studio album, Echoes & Rhymes.
Echoes & Rhymes is a collection of 14 cover versions of female-led 1960’s obscure or rare pop songs from the likes of Dana Gillespie, Polly Niles, Adam & Eve, Sandy Posey, Laura Ulmer and Reparata & The Delrons. Plus early singles by Nico and a very young Olivia Newton-John.
The Primitives - photo: Alison Wonderland
The album works. Seamlessly blending perfectly as it does, the original late 1980’s twee indie jangle pop revivalist sound of The Primitives with a selection of well chosen songs from the 1960’s to suit. In fact without knowing this was a collection of cover versions, you would be forgiven for thinking this is an album of new material from a group taking one step closer to their initial references. Thru The Flowers, Really Stupid and Way Behind Me wouldn’t sound out of place on Echoes & Rhymes.
The Primitives – Echoes & Rhymes
Below is an a short introduction to each track from The Primitives’ Paul Court
Panic
Reparata & The Delrons ‘Panic’ was one of those girl group tunes that became a big northern soul spin. It also sounds like a musical blueprint for early ’80s punk-pop outfit Bow Wow Wow, and I can’t help thinking they missed a trick not covering this song. We’ve kept the spikiness of the original, whilst giving it The Primitives’ bubblegum/jangle treatment.
Turn Off The Moon
This song was on the B-side of a single called ‘Lolita Ya Ya’, from the soundtrack of Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita. The singer was its 14-year-old star Sue Lyon. We’ve given it a punk edge, with some period Joe Meek sounds.
Move It On Over
Until recently we’d only known of one record by the exotically named LeGrand Mellon ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’. Turns out she released three 45s, and one of those was the original of this fiery little kiss off.
Sunshine In My Rainy Day Mind
We hadn’t even heard Polly Niles’ folk psych groover till we were half way through recording Echoes & Rhymes, but it was love at first listen. There was something inherent within the song that reminded us of post Lovely Primitives, so it seemed an obvious tune to cover for the album.
Till You Say You’ll Be Mine
This Jackie DeShannon penned ditty is probably one of the better known songs on the album. Luis from Elefant played us the Olivia Newton John garage band style version, and we’ve based our rendition on that.
I’m Not Sayin’
We’ve replaced the jauntiness of this 1965 Nico single, written by Gordon Lightfoot, with the kind of chiming folk drone and incessant floor tom and snare pounding associated with the band she joined the following year. The song is about someone who wants to have their cake and eat it and, as it’s one that I’ve sung lead on, I’m glad Tracy’s unison vocal comes in on “Baby if you let me have my way”, hopefully rendering the line a little less tacky. There’s an angelic little harmony at the end courtesy of TT, which should help coax the listener into overlooking the devious pussyfooting of the song’s protagonist.
The Witch
Nothing else on the Paradise Of Sounds LP by Germany’s Adam and Eve, is a patch on the groovy little oddity entitled ‘The Witch’. We’ve accentuated The Velvet Underground elements of the song and replaced the owl impersonations etc with wind style sound effects a la Hawkwind’s ‘Silver Machine’. Janie Jones, the notorious 60s pop star turned madam, also recorded the song (she was married to ’Adam’ aka Johnnie Christian Dee at the time). Her spine-tingling version sounds like Fenella Fielding’s character in Carry On Screaming, fronting some proto-heavy metal band, and it’s a charming slice of late ’60s goth rock.
I Surrender
It’s surprising that no one, to our knowledge, has recorded a cover of this hipster floor filler, so here’s our take on Bonnie St Claire’s Tamla-esque pop stomper.
Amoureux D’une Affiche
Well, we hope we’ve managed to pull this one off. Tracy is the only one of us that’s bilingual, but her other language is Spanish. The song, as far as we can make out, is about being in love with a poster of a girl who isn’t wearing much. One line translates into English as “Two sirs raise their eyes towards my naked thighs” – Ooh la la! One of the main things that attracted us to Laura Ulmer’s spirited yé-yé gem, was its brash, almost punk fervour; a sound and style which, in retrospect, a fair few 60s French pop tunes seem to have. It also, of course,has that killer ‘la la la la la’ vocal hook and a cracking little arpeggio guitar riff that’s very Primitives.
Where Will You Be?
‘You Just Gotta Know My Mind’ might have been the more obvious song for us to cover from Dana Gillespie’s Foolish Seasons album, seeing as we used to have a song called ‘You Don’t Know’ (only ever played live and not very good) that sounded just a tinsy bit similar. We opted instead for this dreamy, anthemic heart melter.
Single Girl
Unlike everything else on the album, this Sandy Posey song was an international hit record. We’d forgotten all about it until recently, but hearing it afresh, we decided it would be a good one to include. What at first appears to be the standard, lonely woman must find a man type scenario, soon slips into somewhat more illicit territory, with talk of having rent to pay, followed by the line “I need a night time love, to get me through the day”. Could be all perfectly innocent, but it does seem as if something a little saucier is being implied.
Who Are You Trying To Fool?
Little Anne’s soul shouter, which resurfaced in the ’90s, starts off with the vocals sounding quite restrained, but soon builds into an octave jumping frenzy. We tried it like that, but it didn’t sound very Primitives, so we resorted to our original plan, which was to take a full throttle ’60s soul tune and calm it down a bit, i.e., the opposite of when soul singers would tear into hits by The Beatles, etc.
Time Slips Away
Shocking Blue, a female fronted band who had a few other good tunes besides the one big hit that they’re mainly remembered for. Can’t help feeling a bit of an affinity, so of course we had to do one of theirs.
Wild Flower
There’s something unwittingly psychotic about The She Trinity’s ‘Wild Flower’. We’ve ramped up the mayhem with bongos, feedback and amp kicking, as you do. We also decided to uphold the tradition of me singing two songs per album, so it’s another one with me on lead vocals.
The Primitives – Echoes & Rhymes is due for release on 30th April 2012 on Elefant Records.
Elvis Costello & The Imposters in The Return of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook
Elvis Costello & The Imposters in The Return of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook Live CD & DVD from 2011 Tour was originally released in the US in 2011. It now receives internationally release in three formats – standalone CD, standalone DVD, Deluxe CD + DVD.
The DVD comes with a special introduction from Napoleon Dynamite (Elvis Costello) in true vaudeville style as he introduces Elvis Costello & The Imposters in The Return of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook.
Elvis Costello was once The Imposter, when his record label refused to release a single under his own name, so he used the pseudonym and had a hit single with ‘Pills & Soap’. For this show Costello’s backing group includes Steve Nieve & Pete Thomas of The Attractions. But tonight they are to be called The Imposters.
The Return of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook DVD shows Elvis Costello & The Imposters in great from sounding as good as the original Elvis Costello & The Attractions. The performance is tight, full of energy and includes some of my favourite Costello songs such as ‘Radio Radio’, ‘Alison’, ‘Everyday I Write The Book’ and ‘I Want You’.
After the opening four songs Costello turns his attention to MC Napoleon Dynamite and pulls someone from the audience to spin the wheel. The wheel is full of songs titles. Wherever the wheel stops the entertainers will play. What a great way to play a set, especially when you have the wealth of material that Elvis Costello can call upon.
The DVD gives the impression of an intermit show with Elvis Costello at his best and was recorded over a 2-night stand at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on May 11 and 12, 2011. He is joined by The Bangles to sing a great sixties-dripping version of ‘Tear Off Your Head’. They enjoy the spotlight so much they stay on stage to dance to The Rolling Stones cover version of ‘Out Of Time’; and again for the finale, ‘(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding’.
The Spectacular Spinning Songbook was first played to a US audience 25 years previously and this DVD / CD deluxe edition shows how far Declan McManus has come from mid-1970s London Pub Rock scene, through late 1970s New Wave success as Elvis Costello & the Attractions through to induction in 2003 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The show is a brilliant idea and perfectly executed. Costello is a star, a superb songwriter, and above all an entertainer.
The DVD includes three bonus tracks including a great rendition of my all-time favourite Elvis Costello song ‘Watching The Detectives’. Unfortunately, this isn’t a good version – too clinical and not packing the edgy punch of the original.
The CD includes many of the same songs as the DVD with a few exceptions.
Elvis Costello & The Imposters in The Return of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook
DVD
I Hope You’re Happy Now
2. Heart Of The City
3. Mystery Dance
4. Radio Radio
5. Clubland
6. God Give Me Strength
7. Tear Off Your Own Head (It s A Doll Revolution)
8. Out Of Time
9. I Want You
10. Everyday I Write The
11. Stella Hurt
12. A Slow Drag With Josephine
13. Jimmie Standing In The Rain
14. Alison
15. Earthbound
16. (What s So Funny Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding Bonus DVD Tracks
Uncomplicated
Watching The Detectives
Monkey To Man
CD
1. I Hope You’re Happy Now
2. Heart of the City
3. Mystery Dance
4. Radio Radio
5. Everyday I Write The Book
6. God Give Me Strength
7. Watching The Detectives
8. Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s A Doll Revolution) featuring Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles
9. Out Of Time
10. Want You
11. Stella Hurt
12. All Grown Up
13. Lipstick Vogue
14. Man out of Time
15. National Ransom
16. (What’s So Funny `bout) Peace, Love and Understanding
Elvis Costello & The Imposters in The Return of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook CD, DVD or Deluxe CD + DVD.
In association with Cherry Red Records, El has released a compilation of early recordings by Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot.
In the late 1960’s Bardot and Gainsbourg would record songs together, including the
original version of the hit single Je t’aime moi non plus, which Gainsbourg went on to record with Jane Birkin. But this is album pre-dates any recordings the two made together.
Serge Gainsbourg has been described as debauched, irreverent, misanthropic, dissolute, a provocateur, a genius, an alcoholic, a poet, a national treasure and a romantic who handled
language with cynical humour. His poetic lyrics have been compared to Rimbaud and Baudelaire, his morality to the Marquis de Sade.
By the beginning of the 1960’s, while Serge Gainsbourg was busy establishing himself as enfant terrible de la chanson française, Brigitte Bardot had already become a sex symbol and darling of the film industry after starring in ‘And God created Woman.’ Brigitte Bardot – the very name signals instant revolution in films, fashion, lifestyles and sexuality. She is undoubtedly one of the most famous French women of all time, indeed there has rarely been any woman of any one land commanding so much impact upon her times reverberating still in her retirement.
Lost Loves is a compilation of early recordings made at the beginning of the 1960’s including some of the earliest recorded singing performances by Brigitte Bardot. Bardot’s songs includes a version of Sidone for Sonarama flexi-disc magazine and songs performed on her TV show ‘Bonne Annee Brigitte’ first broadcast on New Year’s Eve 1961.
Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot – Lost Loves
Serge Gainsbourg
1. La Chanson De Prévert
2. En Relisant Ta Lettre (While Rereading Your Letter)
3. Le Rock De Nerval
4. Les Oubliettes (The Forgotten)
5. Chanson De Maglia
6. Viva Villa
7. Les Amours Perdues (Lost Loves)
8. Les Femmes C’est Du Chinois (Women, It’s All Chinese To Me)
9. Personne
10. Le Sonnet D’arvers
11. Isabelle Aubret – La Chanson De Prévert
12. En Relisant Ta Lettre – Jean-Claude Pascal
13. Les Oubliettes – Jean-Claude Pascal
Brigitte Bardot
14. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
15. Noir Et Blanc
16. Stanislas
17. Les Amis De La Musique
18. La Bride Sur Le Cou
19. Jeff’s Blues
20. Mambo Bardot
21. Tell Me Something Sweet
22. Arsenic-Blues
23. Paris B.B.
24. Manina Theme
25. A T’aimer
26. L’etang
27. Ma Vie Est A Toi
28. The Night Heaven Fell
Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot - Lost Loves is released on El / Cherry Red Records.
‘Let It Go’ is the debut EP from Fossil Collective, a Leeds duo whose music is an intoxicating blend of exquisitely structured songs and glorious, rich harmonies. This is reminiscent of Fleet Foxes.
The group mainstays are Jonny Hooker and David Fendick, two multi-instrumentalists, swelling to a five-piece for live performances.This is a collective by name and nature “we are always looking for people to come on board,” say the duo.
The spirit includes collaborators from beyond the world of music: Leeds-based animators Broken Pixel produced the brand new video for ‘Let It Go’
Painstakingly put together over the a period of months, the video was made using the time-honoured stop-motion animation technique. “It’s a love story,” say the duo, who put the story together with the team at Broken Pixel. “A tragic ballooning accident separates two lovebirds, and the story follows the male character as he s stuck on a island trying to build his way to the moon to rescue his love. It takes many years and a lot of effort for him to achieve this.”
As the title suggests, the EP is heavy hearted but hopeful, five songs about struggle, strife and relationships. The slide guitar-driven Without A Fight is about “not giving up on something you love” with Everything But You Is Facing North is about “the contradictions that can occur in relationships”.
Currently on tour with soul singer Ren Harvieu, and having toured the UK in February with Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Fossil Collective will be appearing live at the following dates including their first full UK jaunt:
Fossil Collective Live Dates:
Supporting Ren Harvieu:
1 Apr Ruby Lounge, Manchester
2 Apr Kings Tut, Glasgow
3 Apr Glee Club, Birmingham
4 Apr The Haunt, Brighton
11 Apr Bush Hall, London
5 May Live At Leeds, Leeds
9 May London Borderline
10 May The Great Escape, Brighton
11 May The Great Escape, Brighton
17 May – Liverpool Sound City Festival
Fossil Collective Headline Tour
25 May Middlesbrough Westgarth Social Club
28 May Edinburgh Sneaky Pete’s
29 May Glasgow King Tut’s
30 May Hull Adelphi
31 May Manchester Night & Day
04 Jun Leicester Musician
05 Jun Southampton Cellar
06 Jun Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
07 Jun London Ballyhoo
08 Jun Chelmsford Hooga
09 Jun Leeds Cockpit 3
Fossil Collective are due to release ‘Let It Go‘ EP on 11th June 2012 on Dirty Hit.
