Hailing from post Joy Division Manchester, the band released one all-time classic LP “Script of the Bridge” (1983) and one very very good follow up “What does Anything Mean? Basically” (1985).

“In Shreds” was their debut single and appeared as number 42 (with a bullet!) in John Peel’s Festive 50 of 1982.

The original single version then a killer live version from 1985. I saw them at The Ritz in Manchester in late 1984 and they were stupendous!

Pretty straightforward stuff in principle. A meditation on family death. Never gets any easier.

Twenty years ago, saw a friend was walking by

And I stopped him on the street to ask him, how it went and all he did was cry

And I looked him in the face, but I couldn’t see past his eyes

I asked him what the problem was, he says, here’s your disguise

Now he’s hardly getting over it

He’s hardly getting used to getting by

Now he’s hardly getting over it

He’s hardly getting used to getting by

Old man lays, down by the railroad tracks

Got no paper on his pocket, got no paper on his back

And I asked him what the time was, he says, hit the road now, Jack

Went back to see him next week, he died of a heart attack and died away

Now he’s hardly getting over it

He’s hardly getting used to getting by

He’s hardly getting over it

He’s hardly getting used to getting by

Grandma, she was sick, and she is gonna die

And grandpa had a seizure, moved into a hotel cell and died away

My parents, they just wonder

When they both are gonna die, and what’ll I do when they die?

Well, I’m hardly getting over it

Hardly getting used to getting by

Hardly getting over it

Hardly getting used to getting by

Hardly getting over it

The original Husker Du LP track from 1986 (click througfh to Youtube to see!) then a remarkable live version by Bob Mould and Dave Grohl from late last year.

An accidental recording. Basinski editing his disintegrating recordings on the morning of 9/11 is overtaken by events.

Personally, I struggle to erase the images of that day. Too troubling to think of the last moments on American Airlines 11 or United Airlines Flight 175. The footage of The Falling Man is too much to bear. This music just helps somehow. A bit.

Basinski’s results are remarkable, Brian Eno, John Cage, Philip Glass-esque minamilist perfection. A wonderful record. Details here.

All the close followers (you know who you are sir!) of this blog will know that my commitment to the overwhelming genius of the entire LP output of The Fall, the merits of Crispy Ambulance, the Shakespearian qualities of Half Man Half Biscuit and the unimpeachable chutzpah of The Smiths, Rough Trade Records, Factory Records, etc is without parallel.

Nonetheless, I need to explain myself.

I loathed this record when it came out in 1980. How could I avoid doing so? I was 16!

The seminal genius of “Snow” by The Mekons, “Legion” by Theatre of Hate, “Last White Christmas” by Basement 5 were rubbing shoulders with “Closer” by Joy Division, “Sound Affects”  by The Jam. This was commerical tosh of the highest order.

So, I have to blame my sister. It was always on her sodding stereo. It never meant nothing to me. Honest, guv. I’m approaching 50 and I’ve only ever had one Valentine’s card. I’ve learnt to live with disappointment. So, as Jarvis Cocker observed “Why this, why now?”

Simple truth is, I don’t know. Old age. The loss of critical faculties. Being a sucker for a well strummed guitar. Your honour, please bang me up! Living a lie on the outside is more than I can bear.

The original video then some nightmarish, bloated live disaster.

This track was written by Bobby Womack.

Massively influential in the early days of Paul Weller.

There is no better time than Valentine’s Day to post this …..

Unbelievable live recording with a guitar line to kill for. The studio version follows for trainspotting completists like myself and then a wonderful guitar tutorial ….

One of my all time favourite songs from one of my all time favourite albums.

The opening line is particularly pertinent for those with a penchant for exotic gap years and career breaks …..

Cheap holidays in other peoples’ misery …

I don’t wanna holiday in the sun …

I wanna go to the new Belsen …

I wanna see some history …

Cos now I got a reason of economy …..

Tourists of the world, name anyone your presence liberated!

In the early 1990s, US Hip-Hop was in fine fettle – Gang Starr, Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, Mobb Deep, among others were, ahem, “dropping the bombs” – or, as us we here in the United Kingdom would say, “were releasing mighty fine recordings, thank you very much”.

At the same time, “overground” trip hop was establishing itself in the UK through seminal releases by Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky.

Alongside this, was a more experimental type of instrumental hip hop. On labels like Mo’Wax and Pussyfoot.

In my view, the high water mark of this fleeting genre was achieved by DJ Shadow – his “Entroducing” LP is wonderful but he peaked even earlier with “What Did Your Soul Look Like?” – previously posted here.

Also operating at the same time was DJ Krush from Japan. He released seminal LPs on Mo’Wax and some killer singles. “Yeah” was the third track on the “A Whim” EP of 1995 – remixed by Alex Reece, the track is elevated from mere excellence into the drum’n'bass pantheon.

I’ve already posted the peerless “Pablo Picasso” here and a day reading memoirs on familial death (Joan Didion and Rupert Thomson anyone?) in front of the Third Test match have prompted me to post this.

Most of the Modern Lovers LP was recorded in 1972 but this track, allegedly, was recorded in 1971. Confirming Jonathan Richman as a true genius and forging the missing link between the Velvet Underground and The Smiths (no, really) this track is a melancholic and sometimes tongue in cheek masterpiece.

I go to bakeries all day long

There’s a lack of sweetness in my life

And there’s pain inside

You can see it in my eyes

The LP version and then a live recording from a few years earlier.

Originating in the classic Trax/DJ International world of Chicago in the late 1980s (with Marshall Jefferson and Larry Heard as the godfathers) , there are now a bewildering number of releases every week.

To be frank, the technology has made it too simple for incompetent purveyors of formulaic nonsense to release their noodlings. In the world of t’internet, trying to sort out the wheat from the chaff is ever harder.

Beatport is a great help in identifying the good stuff and here is a classic example. Martin Zeyss is the latest in a long line of classic German producers and Maya Jane Coles is one of the hottest remixers of current times. A killer tune.

In the days before t’internet and before we lived in a world where any track that has ever been recorded is only the click of a mouse away, this series of cassettes was a window into another world. Of tracks long gone and potentially forgotten. Only to be retrieved, if at all, by painstaking hours in  the secondhand record shops that then filled the country and which I spent many of my waking hours in.

One of my favourite cassettes was the “Little Imp” compilation, showcasing tracks from the Aladdin and Imperial record labels of the 1950s and 1960s.

One of the all time great compilations – from it, I’ve already previously posted the staggering “I Ain’t Drunk” by Jimmy Liggins (here); “Messy Bessy” by Louis Jordan (here), “One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer” by Amos Milburn (here) and the peerless “Who Drank My Beer While I Was in the Rear” by Dave Bartholomew (here).

Joining this pantheon of greats is Patti Anne and the Flames’ “Shtiggy Boom” – another jump blues classic. Killer guitar, bass, piano and vocals ….