Royal Trux

There's a good 2 hour special here on Royal Trux, who were the most consistently great rock group of the 90s. This is a career retrospective of the band and Jennifer Herrema is interviewed throughout by Ajay(?).

Herrema has now got her own dublab show named after an old Royal Trux tune The Banana Question. There are 2 episodes so far and it's an amateurishly ramshackle affair with 80s hip-hop, metal, disco, classic rock etc. all sort of shabbily dub mixed. Quite entertaining. I imagine pro DJs will hate it.

Take the 90s Avant-Rock challenge here with Twin Infinitives. Hey, it took me a couple of years to realise this was a mental scuzzy masterpiece.

They started to get a bit more accessible after Twin Infinitives. Driving In That Car was a few years later from the great 1993 Cats & Dogs LP.

Morphic Resident is reaching almost FM worthy commerciality but they're still them. I'm pretty sure the story goes that the band handed over these tapes to Greg Archilla and he just did what he wanted with the mix. The band liked it and 1997's Sweet Sixteen was the result, another classic.

Another gem from Sweet Sixteen.

More Bass Bits

Always loved the bass in this. I can't get enough of this type of bass. It seems particularly British, I've got loads of Jamaican reggae and dub records from from the 70s but the bass lines aren't quite like this are they?

This bass style is so versatile. Here it's in more of a soulful context. Geez...nice.

The bass here, played by Harvey Williams (From many a Sarah Records group), is similar and soo good. I guess there are hints of The Specials and Jah Wobble here which makes me think this particular dubby bass style comes from a post-punk heritage. Feel free to let me know if you know from whence it came.

Another version where the bass is a bit more....I dunno...pointy or something. Still very bloody nice.

Heavenly bass. Heavenly tuuune....oh.... no pun intended. Wasn't everything on Foxbase Alpha sampled though? I could post most of that LP here but I'll spare you, just go and listen to it.

Similar bass style to the above to tunes but in more of a hardcore rave context. Me like.

The bass is great in this I just wish it would come even further forward.

More from the Suburban Bas(s)e label. Wicked bass on this in that classic style, I've been talking about.

Massive Bass

That Safe From Harm bass is sampled from a Billy Cobham tune Stratus. It's only part Cobham's track where it comes in at the 3.05 mark but Massive Attack make it their whole tune here. It's like a warm blanket which befits the title of the song nicely!

Bass Bits III - Killer Bass

Liquid Liquid

Cavern

I don't mean to be so obvious but how could you go past this and didn't it get sampled a couple of times. Bass Most Awesome!

The Buggles

Video Killed The Radio Star
Probably not an obvious choice but I used to love the bass in this.

Bootsy's Rubber Band

Munchies For Your Love

I couldn't sign off without the greatest funk bassist of them all. It starts off slow then his bass starts bubbling up unexpectedly then eventually goes intergalactic by the end of this epic. Timeless bass gold.

*Originally posted here
*Some more bass bits here

Bass Bits II - Tracey Pew

Simon Reynolds is doin a bit on bass bits so I thought I'd put in my Tuppence worth. Well I wrote these a couple of years back anyway.....Immediately what sprang to mind was Tracy Pew of The Boys Next Door/The Birthday Party. There's a reason why he's on the cover of that HITS compilation because he was the heart and soul of the band. He drove them and without him on bass they would have been nowhere and nowhere near as fucking great!

The first one I love is The Friend Catcher particularly when the guitar/clarinet/sax(?) end up following his bassline every now and then. I could post entire LPs but I'll spare you. Mr Clarinet and Happy Birthday are much tighter and clipped but no less effective. A Catholic Skin is so good for the most part it is just one bass note propelling the song forward. Hats On Wrong is a much looser Pew and an indication of what was to come, geez he was good.

Then there's The Red Clock where Rowland S Howard does the old Ozzy Osbourne trick of following his vocal melody with whatever Toni Iommi guitar is playing (or was it the other way around?), except with Rowland's vocals it's to Pew's bass.

King Ink is possibly Tracey Pew's finest moment of bass glory. It's just so fucking grimey, muck is pouring from his fingertips. Human Skin and electricity fusing for a pure expression of filth. How does he keep playing that bassline amongst the rest of the shitstorm that is going down in this song.

Zoo Music Girl's bassline is just dirty funky fun for all the family. I could go on. Tracey Pew's bass on Nick The Stripper and Figure of fun are killer. 

Lastly there's Yard off Prayers On Fire. This is fucking incredible. Pew plays the bluesiest and most lonesome bass I've ever heard in my life. I think it's the only time he ever played double bass on a Birthday Party record.

*Originally posted here                                                                        

Bass Bits Replay - Walk On The Wild Side

Lou Reed

Walk On The Wild Side

Well how could you go past this iconic bassline with a little bit extra thrown in on the jam. Lou's group are fuckn cookin' right here (not Velvets as stated). That's Robert Quine on guitar dunno the other two but they're also awesome. Live in 82, rude form!

A Tribe Called Quest
Can I kick It

Then it was sampled here to great affect! Tribe kickin it to Lou in the goal square!

The Original LP version. Gotta give Herbie Flowers his due. He played two basslines on it, one double bass the other electric so he could get paid twice or so the legend goes. This has been an FM staple since it came out and with good reason. It's probably where I first heard about givin head. Double the bass pleasure!

*Originally posted here 

We Apologise for This Interruption In Transmission

Sorry For This Break In Transmission

But due to ill health my blog is not transmitting.

RIP Stevie Wright

Surely Friday On My Mind should be Australia's national anthem. Strangely, I had written an entire post about this song for my 2015 wrap up but never posted it because I thought it was too negative. It was about how this tune ceased to be my weekly anthem as I'd given up the booze and finishing work on Friday had become something to not look forward to....blah blah blah...anyway after a couple of years I decided to have a wee drink on Friday nights again and well...the song's status may well be restored soon, I hope. Stevie, the lead singer of The Easybeats, died a few days ago. He had hedonistic demons that nearly destroyed him at one point. Wright suffered brain damage due to controversial treatment of his addictions in the 70s. He made several comebacks though. I saw one of these appearances that he made on the telly late one night and it was heartbreaking yet triumphant at the same time. That brought me to bittersweet tears which is no mean feat for the hard arse I thought I was at the time. So this guy touched me like few artists ever have plus he was fucking awesome! RIP.

Best Of 2015 - Albums & Mixtapes & ....

Reflekzionz/Enttropik EP - Ekoplekz
Another great LP from Nick Edwards and the EP has two of his best tunes ever. He's on a hell of a roll and is quite possibly the best living electronic artist on the planet.

Lost Themes - John Carpenter
Carpenter knocks his clones out of the park with this classic epic slab of prog-horror. He just does what he does and that's the beauty of this album.

Playclothes From Faraway Places/Why Does My House Make Creaking Moises? - Moon Wiring Club
MWC are still intriguing, captivating and delightful after 10 years. This is his best since Today Bread, Tomorrow Secrets and that's saying something as that's probably his 2nd best work. So this could end up at 1 or 3. This conjures images of ye olde English spectres breakdancing in dank haunted houses. Like Stereolab before him he makes writing about his music pointless as the song titles say it all 'Hide & Ghost Seek' 'Cobwebby Whodunit' 'Chic Exorcist' 'The Hushening' 'Haywire Assistants' 'Timeless Tea Gowns' etc. What is all that whispering about?

Barter 6/Slime Season - Young Thug
How the fuck does he keep it up? Two great releases from rap's weirdest tripper with the most original flow in hip-hop's history? Me like a very lot.

Nightvision - Mark Van Hoen
Mark continues on his merry way outside of trends and makes a little gem of an electronic LP in the process. Did anyone even notice?

Thrilla - Boosie Badazz
Ignore his stupid name change, he's still Lil Boosie to me but as he says he's a 'bad ass mother fucker.' He sounds like a real slime ball with the most menacing swagga in the game. When he gets in a maniacal zone it's as intensely infectious as prime Iggy Pop. Why isn't he as big as Kanye?

Rudeboyz EP - Rudeboyz
Mesmerising tumbling rhythms that bounce around amongst gloomy minimalism.

DS2 - Future
What a year Future's had, especially when you consider his inconsistent previous year. This album is just the tip of the iceberg of his 2015. This is his unapologetic paean to nihilistic hedonism and something tells me this all ain't gonna end well...

EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE - Rustie
Rustie makes a fine return to form and sets us adrift on memory bliss. It's so hard to resist this cheesy, cheap and cheerful noise.

Rich Off Mackin - RJ & Choice
Everyone wanted to write off DJ Mustard in 2015 (including my barber) but Rich Off Mackin can't be denied. This is gold and really feels like a true collaboration between RJ, Choice and Dijon. It's party time, people!

Houston 3AM - Beatking
Beatking continues to kill everything he does and Houston 3AM is up there with his best LPs/Mixtapes. The King is the most un-PC rapper in the game. Bret Easton Ellis needs to do a podcast with this guy!

Safe - Visionist
Everything about this on surface value make me wanna be sick ie. the cover, the artist's name, the song titles etc....omg I want to punch this C*** in the face. So it's with great disappointment then that I have to announce this music is good stuff: Minimal, thin & empty with occasional flourishes into neon lit sound. Hauntological Grime, anyone?

OTHERS I ALSO LIKED
Slime Season 2 - Young Thug
The Hateful Eight OST - Ennio Morricone
Cub OST - Steve Moore

London Overgrown - John Foxx
Tales From The Black Tangle - Howlround
Don't Let The Sauce Fool U - Sauce Twinz
I'm Movin' To Houston - Starlito
Beast Mode/56 Nights - Future
3 Weeks/Club God 4 - Beatking
Candy, Diamonds & Pills - Gangsta Boo
Life II Death - Amber London
What A Time To Be Alive - Drake & Future
12 Reasons To Die II - Ghostface Killah

WHAT'S WITH THESE???
John T Gast - Excerpts
Puts in perspective how good Scorn were circa Evanescence and Ekoplekz are now. Switch it off.
Father - Who's Gonna Get Fucked First?
Awful Records is a rather apt title for his label, innit?
Arca - Mutant
It's alright I'spose but am I gonna play it a 4th time? No.
Helm - Olympic Mess
Olympic snooze-fest.
*I could go on and on and on some more but that'll do.....

TELEVISION
Girls: These characters are so fucking awful, I hate them. Genius.

Better Call Saul was alright particularly the comedy gold of the Bingo scene in the final episode.

The American TV Golden Age didn't last long did it? Beginning with the first episode of Sopranos and ending somewhere around the last episode of the fourth season of Breaking Bad, I reckon. Britain however has pretty much been in a TV golden age since the 70s.

MOVIES
Remember when they used to make good movies?