Wednesday 28 May 2008

Boxerbears Vol 11 (Roadtrip Mix)


This is the last mix for a week or so as i am off on a nice UK hollibop Ooop North. With that in mind its an upbeat collection of songs for you and me to singalong to in the car. Enjoy!

1) Fatima Mansions - 1000% ( A great track from Cathal Coughlans post Microdisney band. This was the lead single off the great Valhalla Avenue album which scraped the charts back in 1992)
2) S*M*A*S*H - Real Surreal (The second track from SMASH to appear on a Boxerbear Comp and this was the first track I heard of theirs and was from the first Mini Album which was self titled. Again great track slightly let down by under par production)
3) New Model Army - Space (New Model Army were one of those bands that fell in a number of genres, they have been a consistently brilliant live band for more than 20 years now and this track is from my favourite album of theirs, Impurity. If anyone has the Live Melody Men album on their site please let me know as I would love a copy but don't want to pay the £20 odd quid its going for on Ebay)
4) Mega City Four - Anne Bancroft (From the brilliant Sebastapol Road album which highlights what a brilliant songwriter Wiz was. I wished I could have attended the Wiz Tribute gig a couple of years back as it would have been a special night)
5) Bridewell Taxi's - Honesty (There must have been something in the water between 1987 and 1992 in Leeds as it brought a gaggle of brilliant bands. The Taxi's were never anywhere near as famous as they should have been and you wonder if they were based in Manchester and signed to factory or Mute just what they could have achieved. From the EP of the same name)
6) Stare - Mood (Sorry BSG having listened to the recent comp I had no choice but to include this track and to keep up the Norfolk element in these compilations. This was the major label debut single and indeed their last one!! Backed by the equally brilliant No Way as a B-Side. Again a band blighted by bad luck)
7) Jah Wobble and the Invaders of the Heart - Becoming More like God (Wobble has always fascinated my both by his hugely varied back catalogue and my love for the Bass Guitar. This has an enormous Baseline and was his biggest post PIL hit. Complemented by Sinead O'Connor's haunting vocals this reached the Top 30 in 1993)
8) The Farm - Rising Sun (One of the first bands I ever saw live and Sparticus was one of my first CD's this was a later track by the Brookside writers and appeared on the Love See No Colour album in 1992)
9) Midway Still - Jamie and Gigi (London Fraggle Rockers second album featured a number of great tracks this being one of them. Was also released as part of the Slugabed EP in 1993. Saw them at a Travellers festival in the woods somewhere in East Anglia with Back to the Planet and they were ace)
10) The Wonderstuff - Its Yer Money (What can I say Wonderstuff = legends)
11) Gin Blossoms - Follow You Down (Coming away from the usual era and genre and a track that may split peoples opinions. My opinion is that this is a brilliantly crafted pop song that I love. Released in 1998)
12) Mock Turtles - And then She Smiles ( Follow Up to Can You Dig it? and unsurprisingly less successful, but still reaching the Top40 with ease. A great pop song from a great band from the 1993 album Two Sides)
13) Warm Jets - Hurricane (Briefly flitting into the Uni era, The Warm Jets were best known for having Zoe ball's one time Boyf in the band. They were worth much more than that as the Future Signs album shows. This was the biggest hit reaching the Top20 in 1997)
14) Blur - Pop Scene (Realised I hadn't featured any Blur yet so here is the inclusion of their great "Lost" Single. Released to coincide with the Rollercoaster Tour with MBV, Dinosaur Jr )
15) Tone Loc - Funky Cold Medina (I have a penchant for good Hip Hop and I love this track and the Frank and Walters version recorded a few years later. Fantastic Story Telling for the Track15 curveball of the week!)

http://rapidshare.com/files/118292565/Boxerbearsvol11.zip

Tuesday 20 May 2008

Boxerbears Vol10 (The Sticker Mix)


I know its early but i am on Holiday in a week or so's time so make the most of it. This the 10th in the series of Boxerbear mixes is dedicated to that wonderful institution if sticker albums. I never did get Steve Nicol for Liverpool to complete my 1986 book


1) Carnival Art - Ray's Jesus ( From the brilliant Holy Smokes EP. Brian Bell from the went onto become a founding member of the brilliant Weezer and on this track you can tell Brian was due to go onto great things. I only have this ep and one 7" but I believe the band released 2 albums on Beggars Banquet which are now worth a fortune due to his success with Weezer. Saw them on a co headline tour with Hooky's Revenge many moons ago. Enjoy)
2) Pele - Megolamania (Mmmmmmmmmmegolamania. Pele were from Liverpool wrote great tunes releasing a load of singles around 91/92. This is an unashamedly brilliant pop song taken from the excellent Fireworks album. What is it about bands from Liverpool being able to write brilliant pop tunes??)
3) Bedazzled - Summer Song (One of three singles released by the Band on Columbia records in 1992 a lovely summer pop song. I tried to google the band but I found nothing, so I will have to leave you with the interesting fact that the B-Side to this single was a rather ropy version of Kylies Step Back in Time!)
4) Mover - We Got it Going on (This song is another that is on the fringes of my fav 20 songs ever. A fantastic mix of indie/soul and pop featuring co- Vocals from Ruby Turner. Saw them supporting the Bluetones once and have the album which is quite a decent record. This however is the best track by far. Have duetted with Julia in the Car and kitchen many times to this one!)
5) Half Time Oranges - Panini (Keeping the Norfolk link going these football loving boys wrote a couple of albums worth of jangy tunes about various footballing themes and most are excellent. Saw them a couple of times around Norwich in the 90's and always good for a night out. This ode to football stickers is from the Rotterdamnation album)
6) Voodoo Queens - Kenuwee Head (The Riot Girl's tribute the Mr Dude himself Keanu Reeves. Released on Too Pure in 1993 the Voodoo Queens were probably the best of the very small Riot Girl scene and actually had some tunes to boot. I have a limited hand painted 7" of this single at home. Released an album called Chocolate Revenge in 94 before splitting up. Did 3 Peel sessions in 18 months to boot.
7) Afghan Whigs - Something Hot (This is included as I re-visited my Afghan Whigs albums having seen Greg Dulli on Later with Jools last week. This is a great soaring tune from the 1965 album released in 1998 and was the lead single. This track also features on one of the Later Live Loud DVD's that I have.)
8) Diesel Park West - Fall to Love ( Released in 1991 on the Food label this track was the second single from the album decency. DPW have quite an impressive back catalogue and have continued on and off to release music for 20 years. Thoughtful crafted pop)
9) Flowered Up - Egg Rush ( Double A -side to the re-issued version of Its on which reached No38 in 1992. A more downbeat track than Flowered Up normally produce but no less brilliant.)
10) Soho - New Love Generation (A band fronted by two sisters Pauline and Jacqie Cuff whose most famous track was the Smiths sampling Hippychick. This follow-up single should have been a bigger hit than its predecessor. Toured America with Jesus Jones and EMF apparently! Taken from the album Goddess)
11) PWEI - XY and Zee , Electric Sunrise 12" Mix ( One of hundreds of PWEI remixes in the ether. This was from the coloured 12" version of the single and is pretty darn dancetastic. Fact - I met the guys from PWEI at a signing session before a gig aged about 16 and cheekily asked if we could have backstage passes! They obviously didn't want us there but didn't want to seem like bad guys so passed us on to the tour manager in the pub round the corner to ask him. He was an arse and said no! Got signed records and t-shirts though!!)
12) Molly Half Head - Just (Another fine Manchester band from the 90's. This was one of the 93 albums from the album Sulk. A perennial support band and some members went on to form the band Wireless who also released some rather good singles.)
13) Senser - The Key (Senser were(are?) a great live band fusing punk guitars, dance beats and rap together. This single was an NME single of the week in 1993 and taken from the excellent Stacked Up album. Have appeared at virtually every festival you can think of and by the looks of it are back in fields near you this summer!)
14) Buffalo Tom - Taillights Fade (One of the bands Julia and I first realise we both loved after meeting at Uni. This is a great song as is most of the back catalogue to be fair if you want a starting point buy Red Letter Day or A-Sides Compilation.)
15) Nik Kershaw - Wouldn't it be Good (Latterly covered by Soulwax this pop gem is included as our track 15 guilty pleasure in its full 1980's 12" extended glory!)

http://rapidshare.com/files/116043769/Boxerbears10.zip

Monday 19 May 2008

Damn you Scooby Doo


A couple of things.


Firstly my frustration that however good my mixes are Garrett from Boxsetgo keeps creating even more brilliant ones!!! Damn you BSG!!! Lol




Secondly Norwich released Darren Huckerby last week and i am going to publicly voice my disapproval about that decision. Hucks has pretty much single handedly got Norwich promotion and then kept a very poor team in the Championship. He is so loyal that he said he will never play against City for any other team and that will be written into his contract wherever he goes next.. Cheers Hucks

Friday 16 May 2008

Boxerbears Vol9 (Henry the Joker Mix)



Its Friday again thank the lordie and this weekend i will be booking a holiday for the autumn hurrah. Another mix to confuse and astound you and another track15 to moan about!


1) The Trash Can Sinatra's - Hayfever (An apt song top lead us into volume 9 on a warm day. The Trash Can Sinatras were another one of those enigma bands seemingly appearing and reappearing at will over the last 15 years, This is one of my fav songs of theirs and was a 92 single)
2) Miltown Brothers - Which way should I jump (Ok so everyone probably knows it but there is no getting around its summer pop brilliance hence why it has been deserving of a place here. The first MB album Slinky was brilliant the second Valve no so much. The whole of this EP is excellent actually Fact - I Bought Slinky on the same day I bought the La's album which was in a French Hypermarket on a family holiday)
3) World Party - Ship of Fools (Karl Wallingers band who recently released a best of (Best in Show) produced brilliant pop songs and have recently got back into the studio and are currently touring America. This was a single from 1987 which fact fans reached the Top 5 in Australia no less!)
4) Mudhoney - Suck You Dry ( Hey this compilation was getting far to nice with sun drenched pop so lets add 2 mins of scuzzy grunge pop into the mixer. Mudhoney who were the Grandaddy of Grunge also actually have some fine tunes, this being one of those and from my fav album Piece of Cake. Fact - In my brief teenage years in a band we covered Mudhoney covering Motorheads Over the Top. Its a fine tune)
5) New Fads - Big (Probably the most famous of the New FADS singles this was released in 1990 and was a big alternative hit. A Band that never quite achieved mainstream chart success but were consistently innovative and fresh in their output. Taken from the Pigeonhole album)
6) Pete Wylie and Wah - Don't Lose your Dreams (This was the follow-up to the Farm/Wylie Sinful hit in 1991. I always had Wylie down with Ian McCnabb as hugely underrated songwriters and this song does nothing to disprove this theory. I must buy the best of)
7) The Real People - Window Pane (Like the Miltown Brothers a much loved band by the 30 something fraternity. The four track EP this is from is a wonderful 12 mins of music. Another band who would make an astonishing Best Of if ever released)
8) Mega City Four - Wallflower (From the Magic Bullets album which was MC4 polished and clean in sound. There are disagreements as to if this was a good thing but personally I like guitars to sound loud not like tin cans so imo this is a great album. Also featured the brilliant Iron Sky and Perfect Circle. Buy it )
9) Ben Folds Five - Army (I came onto Ben Folds around the time of the second album and although not a huge fan of his solo work all of the BF5 albums are works of genius. His piano style is described as if he were playing guitar sideways. This song is from the 1999 ....Reinhold Messer album)
10) Carter USM - Rubbish (Carter at their shoutiest best, one of my fav tracks of theirs and was the third single. Never appeared on an album amazingly. If you dont have any Carter material may I suggest the 30 Something album or the BBC Sessions)
11) Slowdive - Alison (And breathe, a beautiful haunting song that makes you wonder exactly how the wall of sound is actually made! Taken from the second album Souvlaki this was the lead track of the Outside your room EP released in 1993)
12) Jacobs Mouse - Good (East Anglian connection returns with this band hailing from Bury St Edmonds. Saw them a number of times in the 1990's and were the first band I saw with a Lead Singer/Drummer. Had a good local following a headlined the Cambridge Strawberry Fayre a couple of years to very big crowds. This was an early single from the band. For more great songs check out the No Fish Shop parking album)
13) 808 State - cubik (lets add a bit of dance into the mix. This track from the manc dance uberlords was released lots of time the most successfully as a double A-side with Olympic in 1990)
14) Revolver - Since yesterday (taken from the Venice EP in 1991 Revolver released 3 great EP's and a great album called Baby's Angry followed by a couple more good EP's and an average second album called Cradle Snatch.)
15) Craig McLauchlin and Check1/2 - Hey Mona ( I couldn't resist after seeing this on VH1 or some similar channel the other night. Sounds very much like Korean Bodega by Fun Lovin Criminals and people liked that!!!)

http://rapidshare.com/files/115114497/BoxerbearsVol9.zip

Wednesday 14 May 2008

Boxerbears Vol8 ( Minelli Mix)



Well here it is volume 8 in the Like it Love it hate it Boxerbears compilation series. I hope those who are downloading them are enjoying them the last one has currentely had 27 downloads which is nice to think that people are bothering! Anyway to the music.........


1) Curve - Fait Acompli (Biggest "hit" for the band fronted by the gorgeous Toni Haliday. Released in 1992 and best listened to in a darkened room at a loud volume. From the Doppelgagger album)
2) Neds Atomic Dustbin - Less Than Useful (They appear for the second time. This is an album track from God Fodder, Neds had two bass players and with songs like this you wonder why everyone doesn't. I might go and buy the DVD from play thinking about it now.)
3) Eat - Bellytown (Found out this week that the band Doolittle have released an album and supported CUD in London last week. Cant work out whether its just Ange the singer in the band or anyone else but it maybe on my purchase list! Anyway B-side to the Golden Egg single and what a B-Side indeed)
4) My Bloody Valentine - Soft as Snow (from the album isn't anything, the sounds MBV make on this song are amazing and its a bizarre lead off track to an album but makes you want to hear more. Cant wait to see what the new material is like)
5) The Shamen - LSI (I like the Shamen although many indie kids didnt. Saw them 3 time most noticeable at Sound City 92 supported by a fledgling Prodigy. This was from the Boss Drum album released in 93(?) and spawned "that" hit single.)
6) Bang Bang Machine - Geek Love (Topped Peel's festive fifty in 1992 and is their second best song after Breathless. I have the album on lovely vinyl and its really quite good and will soon be converting it into this new modern format so expect so other tracks! Fact - They are the only band from Worcestershire I can think of!)
7) Emperor's of Ice Cream - Purile ( Saw EOIC supporting the Sultans back in the day and was heartily impressed by their tunefulness! Bought the William EP, that this is from in 93 and it contains some good tunes. Like the Sultans from Cork in Ireland the only other single I have by them is Skin Tight.)
8) Senseless Things - Primary Instinct ( The great music that has come out of the nucleus of this band is amazing. Delakota/3 Colours Red/Morgan/Streets/Jolt/Wildhearts the list goes on. This was a Top40 single from the Empire of the Senseless Album which had amazingly lame artwork for the usually brilliant covers they had.)
9) Throwing Muses - Not too Soon (From their best album The Real Ramona, this track from 1991 is a brilliant piece of pop from Tanya Donelly and Kristen Hersh. If you dont have the album buy it....Now...Im waiting...Go on....)
10) Audioweb - Policeman Skank (A band that I seemed to see god know how many times over a 2/3 year period at festivals and as support band and headliner. fronted by the amazing Martin Merchant this was a top 30 single for the Manchester band in 98. I believe I have everything they have ever released in one format or another. Still have a dedicated fan base despite splitting nearly 10 years ago. All members still musicians involved with Manchester music)
11) Billy Bragg - Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards (I have a huge soft spot for Mr Bragg and think some of his songs are immense and Workers Playtime is one of my fav albums, this track is from that. Can produce brilliant powerful lyrics about love and the world. This was released in 88)
12) Happy Mondays - Gods Cop Live (A track from their legendary Glasto headlining show in 1990 captures what they are all about live in their prime. Website says they are working on a new album which is good news as music needs SWR)
13) Double Trouble and the Rebel MC - Street Tuff (Love this single neither act did anything as good without the other which is a shame. Will have you singing along like a loon. What hip hop should be all about. released in 1990)
14) The Mission - Tower of Strength (The Mission and the Cure were as close to Goth as I liked but both acts were excellent at pulling off dark sweeping epic tracks. Have been buying some of the old albums on Cd and there is some great stuff to be had. No comprehensive best of has ever been released which is a shame so its a DIY Mission best of on the way!)
15) Christopher Cross - Theme from Arthur ( Love the film love the song pure indulgent sentimentality, its hard not to like this song)

http://rapidshare.com/files/114784925/Boxerbears8.zip

Friday 9 May 2008

BoxerBears Vol7 (What a Doozer Mix)


Wow the sun is still shining and its Friday and wine and mexican food tonight and to top it off a mix for the weekend. Dont ya just love it!




1) Neds Atomic Dustbin - Kill Your TV 'Remix' (Neds were a fantastic band, and God Fodder is still a magnificent album from start to finish. This is the remixed version from the 0.522 compilation, that start of this song is fantastic building up into a crescendo, you cant help but pretend to hold a mike stand and shake your head. Fact - I had 2 glow in the dark Neds T-shirts!)
2) Wildhearts - Caffeine Bomb (I had to google to work out if they were still together or not as they seem to break up and reform more than any other band. At the moment they are together. Wildhearts are one of the great singles bands of the last 20 years, I cant think of a duff single they have released, even the newer material still has a killer hook. This was a lovely Sick green 7" vinyl single released in 1994, and goes at 100 miles an hour!)
3) Catherine Wheel - Thats when I reach for my Revolver ( I must have heard at least half a dozen versions of this song but this is my fav. A cover of the Mission of Burma track and it featured on the 20th Century Man EP released in 1992 which bridges the gap between first and second albums. Fact - I still have a signed Catherine Wheel Ferment T-shirt with now very faint signatures on the reverse, 15 years and counting not bad for a t-shirt!)
4) Inspiral Carpets - Sleep Well Tonight (One of the best non single tracks by IC. This featured on the Beast Inside album and has featured live in the recent reunion tours. Great mid tempo sing from the madchester legends)
5) Happy Mondays - Freaky Dancin 'Peel Session' - (A track that is now an unbelievable 22 years old! I have to say I didn't buy this originally as I was only 9 on its release. But is still a great tune and captures the ramshackle essence of the bands early live sound. Fact I was only a fingertip away from being the proud owner of one of Bez's maracas a couple of years ago, and is the closest I ever got to wanting to rugby tackle a girl!)
6) Swervedriver - Sandblasted (The song that tuned me into the band on the Evening Session. I bought Raise straight afterwards and wasnt disappointed. Took me years to get hold of it on CD and when I finally paid about 20 quid for it they went and re-released the back catalogue and best of shortly after! Apparently have reformed and are touring in America but no Uk live dates yet)
7)The Apples - Eye Wonder (I saw the Apples supporting the Mock Turtles in 1991 and was impressed, I have 2 or 3 of the singles all of which are great little pop tunes. They released an album on Sony before being dropped which I have never managed to get hold of, so if anyone knows of its whereabouts!)
8) My Jealous God - Pray (Um er I only ever had this single and the vid on an indie top 20 compilation. Despite the fact I know every word to this great single, I Know nothing of interest about them so if you like it go find out about them and let me know!)
9) AC Acoustics - Stunt Girl (My fav AC Acoustics track and a single from 1996. They are a Scottish band who have had numerous labels and are still releasing great music. I recently picked up the (O) album on E-bay. Saw AC Acoustics on a tour with Senseless Things and also as a headline at NAC, great band who I cant really pick a genre for)
10) Jesus Jones - Bring it on Down ( The 3rd single from the band and came from the 1989 Liquidizer album which I still have a very battered cassette of ! To me that album was the best they released and was the soundtrack of many a day and night. Reminds me of a mate of mine at school named Johnny Clover!)
11) Northside - Take 5 (If only Dermo could sing live and that NME hated them they could have been massive. I still listen to Chicken Rhythms regularly and I believe they still play the odd live show Ooop North. Fact - It will blow your mind blow it every time, cos......)
12) Superchunk - Throwing Things (Another band I have to thank Paul King for, having had this vid on one of my hand picked recorded off the tele 3 hour video mixes. American 'slacker' band very much contemporaries of Pavement released in 1992 and is a great off kilter track)
13) Wedding Present - Dalliance (I love the Wedding Present but have only ever seen them live once (Shame on me) I recently bought the 5 CD Peel Sessions box set and love it. This was taken from 1991's Seamonsters album which was a harder edged album that they had previously recorded. Due a new album next month, my lucky arsed brother has tickets to the tour later this month. Fact - I am jealous!)
14) Sonic Youth - Superstar (From a Carpenters tribute album from 93. Sonic Youth confuse me I have some of their albums and I love them others I cant listen to due to the lack of a tune or melody! Fact - Kool Thing on guitar hero is brilliant to play though!)
15) Fraggle Rock - The Theme Tune (Yeah yeah yeah cmon get them doozers)


http://rapidshare.com/files/113634716/Boxerbears7.zip

Tuesday 6 May 2008

Boxerbears Vol6 ( Father Jackmix)


Its Sunny and everythings Ok! here is another hand picked mix of some of my fav songs from the alternative 90's vaults, with the now legendary track15 gem!




1) Boo Radleys - Lazy Day (Another track I first heard on a Select compilation tape this time a Creation one. Genius 95 seconds of music from the first album proper by the Boo Radleys. Saw them shortly after (1992?) at Norwich Waterfront in a double bill with the Pale Saints. Fact - Sice actually had hair at that time!)
2) Northern Uproar - Rough Boy (For a modern reference to this band see The Courteeners! Very young manc lads who wrote fine ballsy rock tunes. This was from the debut album and was also the B-Side to the 1996 debut single Rollercoaster. Released two albums (the first better) and split up around 1999. Saw them play once with Audioweb but for the life of me I cant remember who supported who!)
3) Frank and Walters - Fashion Crisis Hits New York (Irish band who formed in the early 90's and who continue to release splendid records and tour to this day. This is on of the earliest tracks they did and reminds me of a teenage "romantic" interlude at the UEA whilst watching them play. I keep meaning to catch them again live but the dates never work out. Maybe one day)
4) Mega City Four - Stop (Another "Fraggle" Rock band who constantly toured. Saw them at the Astoria and at the Waterfront and were excellent both times. Singer Wiz sadly passed away last year, but as they say the music lives on. Fact -Actually bought the Sebastapol Road cd that this was on a trip to the very un indie Harrods! Still have the CD and the price sticker on it (A very reasonable £7.99!))
5) Black Grape - England's Irie (Shaun's back again on Boxerbear this time with 'ver' Grape. I had kinda forgotten about this track until recently as it wasn't on either album, and was written off as a novelty football track. Its far from it and is the usual brilliance from SWR)
6) Gary Clail's On-U-Soundsystem - Human Nature (Only Top forty hit for Bristol based Clail's dub outfit and featured a Cabaret/drag singer on vocals. Clail actually released some excellent and eclectic material in the 90's and is worth checking out. This is from the 1991 Emotional Hooligan album.)
7) Belly - Slow Dog (A top single from 1993's Star album. I had a big crush on Tanya Donelly but the closest I ever got was about 200ft at XFM's Great Expectations gig at Finsbury Park! Sigh)
8) The Family Cat - River of Diamonds (Their best song (I think) but not the best version which I have yet to transfer from 7" to MP3. A band whose t-shirt adorned many an Indie kids body. This was from the 92 Furthest from the Sun album. If anyone has the Family Cat peel sessions I would love a copy!)
9) The Mock Turtles - Lay Me Down (How many albums did they release, well im not sure most seemed to be collections of various tracks with the exception of Two Sides. Saw them live when they were on the crest of the 'Can You dig it' wave and were very good and at the time singer Martin Coogan was the most famous Coogan brother! This was a single release in 1990 on Imaginary records)
10) Pale Saints - Sight of You (Leeds based band who according to legend had a rivalry with Ride for many a year resulting in Ride covering "The only good Pale Saints song" this one! This wasnt true but a rivalry about who was best with Ride was foolish one and one that couldn't be won. This is probably their best known track. And came from the debut Comforts of Madness album.)
11) Frazier Chorus - Nothing (7" edit) - Second part of the famous brothers theme as Tim Freeman the lead singer is the brother of Brit Actor Martin! This was the highest placing of the Brighton bands singles and reached No51 in 1990 and come from a really nice little album called Ray on the Virgin label)
12) Lush - Nothing Natural (From the debut album proper Spooky this was probably the first song that hooked me onto Lush. Everything in place Swirling dreamy guitar melodies haunting voice with a dark undercurrent. The Black Spring EP reached No 43 in March 91. Fact - The band recorded a version of Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep for a compilation album called Alvin Lives in Leeds and still managed a successful career!!)
13) Kenickie - Punka (Best known for being Lauren Laverne's pre presenting band, Kenickie were a 3 girl one boy pop Punk band from the North East. This lovely coloured vinyl single was released in 96. Fact - I stood behind David Gedge watching Kenickie at Leeds Breeze festival in 1998, getting frustrated that I seemed to be the only person to A)Notice B)Understand the magnificence of this happening!)
14) A Tribe Called Quest - Bonita Applebum (I have to say I knew nothing about them bar owning the two singles they released in the early 90's (This and Can you kick it), upon Wiki search I found that... formed in 1988. The group is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip (Kamal Fareed), rapper Phife Dawg (Malik Taylor), and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad, who formed in 1988 and recently reformed. Bonita Applebum is a funky hip hop tune from 1990)
15) Divine Comedy - My Lovely Horse (Keeping with my track 15 a little something to make you smile format. This gem will make you smile!)

http://rapidshare.com/files/111994975/Boxerbears6.zip

Weekends Activities

Friday night we went to see James Corden and Matt Horne do a preview show for thier up coming BBC sketch show and it was fantastically funny and the show will be a massive hit elevating them to Little Britain Status. Trust me they are that funny!

Sunday night was the NME New Noise Tour at Norwich Waterfront the reveiw of the bands in a nutshell...

White Lies - Missed them as they were on really early and we were still in the pub garden over the River!
Team Waterpolo - I had only heard the Letting Go single that i really liked and they only played half a dozen songs but looked like they may be a very good little band. Pleasantly surprised.
Freindly Fires - Excellent, innovative sound, mixing dance rhythms with guitar and bass and a really strong singer. Not a duff song in the set. Would pay the £9 ticket to see them alone again. The debut alum could be a corker.
Crystal Castles - Mmm Came on in darkness and played the whole set with a strobe light going. The New rave kids were out in force with the glow sticks and face paint. Very dancy techno although i would question how much was "Live" with a drummer/singer/guitarist only on stage no noise seemed to be linked to thier movements and the music!!! Pretyy good sound but more like being at a club than seeing a band. After Freindly Fires was a bit of an anti-climax although they did get a very good reaction from the crowd.

Overall - Worth it for FF alone, and a good insight into some promising new bands for the less than a tenner entrance fee.

Thursday 1 May 2008

BoxerBears Vol5 (The Ramsey St Mix)


Its May its the Bank Holiday Weekend, Its gonna rain. To cheer you up here is another astounding mix compiled by hand using only the finest and freshest ingredients. Enjoy!

I am off this weekend to see Matt Horne and James Corden do a bit of standup and also to catch some new (gasp!!!) bands on Sunday on the NME New bands tour. I will let you know if the future is bright or not next week!

Taa Raa

Boxerbears Vol5
1) Scorpio Rising - Watermelon (First came across Scorpio Rising on MTV's 120 mins which was bizarrely hosted by 80's popster Paul King for a while. I bought this 12" and the Saturnalia 7" and that was all I ever had by the band until I tracked down a mini album on a site rather like this! Lyrics are not exactly Wordsworth but "Tune")
2) Sultans of Ping FC - Indeed You Are (I actually bought the single for Wheres Me Jumper when it came out and loved it. That was soon to be "Borrowed by a friend who for the purposes of this blog I shall call "Winnie" and it never returned! We saw them a number of times live and to this day "Winnie" would quite happily make love to Niall or morty from the band in exchange for an EP of new songs. I may indeed contact him to put together a special Sultans related mix. This is from the debut Casual Sex in the Cineplex)
3) House of Love - I don't know why I love you ( The last single I believe Terry Bikers played on before quitting the band to form Levitation. Great song which helped put them on the map in America by going to No2 in the College Rock charts. Hugely underachieving band whose back catalogue should have provided them with more success. Released in late 1989)
4) The Wendys - Pulling my fingers off ( Found out about the Wendys on a free factory records cassette on Select Magazine, a magazine which I think was the king of music magazines and should be brought back format and all. This single was fac297 was released in 1991 and produced by Ian Broudie, which should say a lot about its pop sensibilities. One album only released yet again due to poor sales and factory going bust.)
5) Eat - Shame (Brilliant single off the brilliant Epicure album. Eat should have been massive and from having read a lot about them it appeared that vocalist Ange Doolittle was shall we say a bit 'crazy' maybe that's why the potential was never fulfilled. If you haven't got the album get it!)
6) Electrafixon - Never (The band that re-united McColloch and Sargent from the Bunnymen a dark sharp fuzzy album which had great pop moments like this track. I remember going to a engagement party and finding this amongst the 80's record collection they had in the house and put it on instead of Fairground Attraction and people loved it. From the Burned album and released in 1995)
7) Kingmaker - Eat Yourself Whole (Second appearance from this band and this was one of those singles whose title was the same as the album but yet didn't appear on it! Weirdo's! This EP bridged the gap between said album and the pop crossover Sleepwalking. Fact - Loz Hardy the lead singer lived with Justine Elastica for many years following Kingmaker's break-up)
8) 808 State - In Yer Face (Techno techno techno techno, make some noise. Great tune from the Dance legends. Had this on 7" and sadly it broke in half about 10 years ago after being played and slung about so much, I still have it though!!!. Makes u want to be a DJ when you hear it up loud. From the dancemongus Ex:Cel album)
9) Luna -Chinatown (I actually only got to find out about Galaxie 500 by buying some Luna records and making the Dean Wareham link. This was a single from the early 90's and is a great example of what the bands sound is like.)
10) Morphine - Early to Bed (From their most popular album Like Swimming. Morphine used a Sax played like a guitar to great effect and it creates a strange warm sound that is almost bluesy in feel. To appreciate the band its best to listen to a whole album, but heres a nice taster)
11) Disposable Heroes of Hypocrisy - Famous and Dandy (Michael Frantis band before he formed the superb Jazz/Hip Hip Outfit Spearhead. DHH were almost Public Enemy like in their style, use of samples and political lyrics, which is no band thing. Greatest Luxury is a great album and this is one of the standouts which was also a single. Fact - U2 used the 'Television the drug of the Nation' track as entrance music on the Zooropa world tour.)
12) Dinosaur Jr - Start Choppin ( Their highest UK chart entry (No17) in 1993 came with this track at the tail end of the Grunge thing. I never really really loved any of the albums as an entity but if you put together a best of Dinosaur Jr album it would be a 10/10 job as they knew how to write a great rock song. Now reformed I would like to see them again, even if they all are knocking 50!)
13) The Telescopes - Celeste (Another shoegaze band as is my penchant. The Telescopes released some great singles on creation and continue to make music sporadically to this very day. I picked up one of the more recent albums on ebay and to say it was experimental was an understatement!!! Released in 1991 and never featured on an album proper)
14) EMF - Lies (Probably the least played of the singles of Schubert Dip hence its inclusion. EMF were massive for a couple of years and the trainer boots/shorts combo nearly enticed me away from my Flares and long sleeve t-shirts. Only for me to stick to pretending I was from Manchester. Great live band who sold a bizillion records in America with Jesus Jones.
15)Angry Anderson - Suddenly (Oh you shut up... if you like the above they you will know this and secretly love it. It is of course the theme tune from Scott and Charlenes wedding in Neighbours and still evokes one of those...No Charlene dont do it its me you love moments. Sniff if only Neighbours was as good now as it was then... Henry/Mike/Plain Jane/Mrs Mangle/Helen Daniels. Good Times!)

http://rapidshare.com/files/111776544/Boxerbearsvol5.zip.html