Day 210 the Beta Band "Push It Out"

So much promise in those first 3 Ep's, and much as I love the first 'proper album' and hot shots, they never quite scaled the heights again, did they?

Day 209 Shirley & Dolly Collins "Are You Going To Leave Me?"

A bit of old, wyrd England today. I love the fact that the only comment on YouTube is "this is the worst piece of music ever recorded!" - My kind of music...

Day 208 Crazy Horse "Going Down Again"

I've been tunelessly singing this to myself all morning...not for any reason I can fathom. Great band, great guitar and slow motion drums.

Days 208 and 209 Graham Gouldman "No Milk Today" & Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders "Game Of Love"

On the day Manchester put 13 goals past London, let's have a couple of tunes from the rock 'n' goal capital of England, shall we?

Day 207 The Lotus Eaters "The First Picture Of You"

Off to an 80's themed party tonight - hope the DJ plays this...

Day 206 Mustafa Ozkent "Burcak"

A musical answer to the question posed by Colynjah - "Is there any funk in Istanbul"?

Days 204 and 205 Rose Batiste "Hit And Run" & Chuck Wood "Seven Days Too Long"

Gearing up for tomorrow night's Souled Out at Happy with a couple of Northern gems...

Day 203 Elmore James "Look On Yonder Wall"

It's one of those musical moments I'll never forget. I was 16. After hearing Nick Cave's "The Firstborn Is Dead", I'd decided I liked the blues (or maybe the blooze, as Nick would have had it.) I bought a cheapo Elmore James comp (10 tracks per side) from Plato Plaaten in Leiden and this was the first track. The voice and guitar just came BOOMING out of the speakers. I remember being genuinely taken aback. Loved it ever since...

Day 202 The Hot 8 Brass Band "It's Real"

I first heard this on fellow Soul Affairian Kenese's show years ago, and have loved it ever since. A guaranteed party-starter...

Day 201 Slim Dusty "A Pub With No Beer"

The Lucky Country's alternative national anthem...

Day 200 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds "Tupelo"

Here's Nick, "pursued by the band at their fugitive best" as the sleevenotes for "The Firstborn Is Dead" had it. I don't think there's a drum and bass guitar sound on any record to rival that on the first two Nick cave albums. So loping and queasy...I love it.

Day 199 The Hoodoo Gurus "What's My Scene?"

Like Alistair Cook, I'm approaching my double century calmly, in singles. Here's the next instalment in Aussie week...

Day 198 AC/DC "Shoot To Thrill"

My favourite album of all time changes quite frequently, but the best gig I've ever been to never does. AC/DC, Wembley Arena 1995. 'Nuff said, i think...

Day 197 Kylie Minogue "Shocked"

Australia week...I have fond memories of dancing badly to this at a party in Dalston with Matt H back in the early nineties.

Day 196 The Gordons "Adults and Children"

Continuing the antipodean theme, this is a fantastic slice of NZ post-punk that I suspect my Northern Hemisphere chums won't have heard...

Day 195 The Go-Betweens "Part Company"

OK, I may have been wrong about the Aussie thing - Queensland's finest...

Day 194 Elmer Bernstein "Return Of The Magnificent Seven (Main Theme)"

Wet sunday afternoon, Western on the telly...bliss.

Day 193 The Triffids "Wide Open Road"

Other than Nick Cave, here's the only Australians who will feature on this blog. Unless I go for "A Pub With No Beer"....great song

Day 192 Trouble Funk "Still Smokin'"

Hey, if we're going to have an eighties revival - mass unemployment, riots, economic crises, right wing governments - then we may as well have some Go-Go, mightn't we?

Day 191 Smog "Bloodflow"

I'd listen to pretty much anything Bill Callahan put out. Like with Morrissey, he's funny, not bleak. This is him at his humour at it's blackest...

Day 190 Transglobal Underground "Templehead"

More London memories - good ones, of course...

Day 189 James Hunter "No Smoke Without Fire"

Lovely mid-60's James Brown vibe to this...

Day 188 Roots Manuva "Witness The Fitness"

My favourite UK rap song. Great video, too - very 'Superstars'...

Day 187 Amazon II "King Of the Beats"

I was thinking about London a lot today - specifically how sad it is how little has changed. Heavy handed policing, shooting an unarmed man...it's the children of those who responded to this kind of thing at Broadwater Farm who are having to do the same thing again.

But then I thought happier memories of London, and this came to mind.

Day 186 Bob Dylan "Desolation Row"

Saw Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" at the film festival tonight, and had this going through my head whilst watching...

Day 185 Main Ingredient "Everybody Plays The Fool"

ah, Sunday afternoons listening to the tranny in the kitchen - Billy Butler on Radio City, normally. Positively Proustian...

Day 184 Neu! "Isi"

Germany's best...outside of Kraftwerk of course.

Day 183 Warren Zevon "Lawyers, Guns And Money"

What a supremely twisted individual he was...

Day 182 Nina Simone "Mississippi Goddam"

After watching the excellent 'Black Power Mix Tape' at the film festival today, this seemed appropriate...