Everything Flows
Named after the debut single by Teenage Fanclub. 1,000+ blogs! This blog is all about being a music lover in Glasgow; reviews, interviews, memories, old faves, new discoveries (past & present) and more. Thanks for visiting - I hope you discover something amazing you've never heard before, or that you rediscover an old favourite. Regular features/playlists; Never Ending Mixtape / Cover Version of the Month/ Trust Me. Twitter - @murrayeaston Email - murrayeaston {AT} gmail {DOT} com
Friday 15 March 2024
Bill Ryder-Jones at Room 2 Glasgow
Monday 11 March 2024
I Hold Something In My Hand
Trust me #67
I Hold Something In My Hand by Bill Ryder-Jones
I have attempted to write a blog on Bill Ryder-Jones lechyd Da album a number of times. I start, stop, I delete, try again and then accept that I cannot put my love and appreciation for this sublime album into words. In short, I think it is a masterpiece.
"It's been incredible making this album. Despite all the life stuff that's happened, it has brought me immense happiness. I've always rallied against it when people ask if making a record is cathartic but I'd have to admit that this one really was." Bill Ryder Jones
Released on 12th January, after only a couple of listens, I found myself messaging friends to say that the album of 2024 was already out in the world. Two months on, I still feel that way. I took a 2-week break from the album and when I returned to it, I found even more across the 13-songs.
lechyd Da is 48-minutes long, but time will stop when you listen. Ryder-Jones goes deep, pouring his heart and soul out over soaring and tender strings and soulful horns and conjuring words, melodies and feelings that tug hard on my heart strings.
I love the full album and I might try to write a full blog on it at some point in the future. But ahead of Bill visiting Glasgow's Room 2 tomorrow night, I thought I would focus on one of my favourite songs - I Hold Something In My Hand. Surely I can start and finish a blog on one song ... right?
Well, it was difficult to choose only one! I'll write another one on This Can't Go On another time!
There is a beautiful gentleness to I Hold Something In My Hand. The way Bill brushes and picks at his acoustic guitar as he sings of his need for, and addiction to, drugs;
I hold something in my hand
Feeling sick but better
We belong together
Ryder-Jones is caught - recognising his addiction, questioning should it mean that much to me? The playing and production is utterly sublime and the song goes really dreamy after Bill sings;
Better sick than feeling
What's the sense in feelings?
I could just drown them out
There is a beautiful instrumental section and then mournful horns are introduced at just the right time for the closing mantra.
Now I can't be caught without
So Jase can you sort me out?
Jase can you sort me out?
I can't be caught without
Can you feel that? The horns, the strings and Bill? Sheer heartfelt emotion, honesty, rawness and beauty. Soul. I Hold Something In My Hand is 3 minutes and 5 seconds of intimacy and openness, of admission, guilt and recognition. Genius songwriting, production and arrangement.
Previous Trust Me blogs
Thursday 7 March 2024
Girls & Boys
30-years ago
Girls & Boys by Blur
Release date - 7th March 1994
Britpop exploded in the spring of 1994 and went technicolour with the release of Blur's Girls & Boys. This single well and truly put the POP in Britpop, reaching number 5 in the charts and catapulting Blur to new heights.
Never mind song titles like Metal Mickey or Animal Nitrate, this was pop in its purest form. Girls who want boys, who want girls ... that's been the case since the dawn of time and even The Beatles hadn't captured this in such a bold way.
Girls & Boys is almost ridiculously catchy. The synth riff, disco beat, funky (Duran Duran - according to Alex James) bass and Damon Albarn singing about love in the nineties, is paranoid (I always thought it was it's paradise).
Albarn wrote the song after holidaying in Magaluf with his girlfriend Justine Frishmann from Elastica. He couldn't believe the way girls and boys would just meet up in pubs & clubs to get off with each other.
On sunny beaches
Take your chances
Looking for ...
It's easy to look back at the nineties through rose-tinted glasses (and believe me ... I do!) but it's easy to forget that Labour didn't come to power until May 1997, in the dying embers of Britpop. Albarn beautifully captures some of the challenges faced by the youth of the day in a line that is almost thrown away at the start of the second verse;
Avoiding all work
Cause there's none available
The song is just two verses and that incredibly catchy chorus that is repeated joyfully again and again and again. But just to give you something else to sing to, Albarn throws in an extra little hook while Graham Coxon pushes a phaser effect on his guitar and cranks it up.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Girls & Boys is energetic, contagious pop music, this was the Britpop klaxon sounding loud and clear. If Suede kicked down the door then Blur were the first to steam through.
Monday 4 March 2024
I Fought The Law
Cover version of the month #96
The Clash cover The Bobby Fuller Four / The Crickets
As is often the case when delving into the history of songs, I have uncovered information I wasn't previously aware of when researching The Clash covering The Bobby Fuller Four's I Fought The Law.
It turns out that the song was originally written in 1958 by Sonny Curtis who then joined The Crickets in 1959, taking the place of the legendary Buddy Holly following his death in the tragic aeroplane crash in February of that year. In 1971, Don McLean released the classic American Pie where he repeatedly refers to the crash as the day the music died. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson (AKA The Big Bopper) all lost their lives alongside pilot Roger Peterson.
I Fought The Law was released on the 1960 album In Style With The Crickets, also appearing as the b-side to 1961 single A Sweet Love.
Coming in at 2-minutes 15 seconds, this is the classic 3 chord trick of G, C and D ... making it absolutely perfect for The Clash in 1979. Each verse is one line followed by the hook (the title), followed by a middle eight where the hook is hammered home again. As a result, the song really just feels like it's the chorus (with slightly different lines at the start) that is sung throughout.
Chiming guitar, (almost) primitive beats and a vocal that is front and centre singing of love lost - possibly as the result of a robbery, judging from lyrics spread throughout the song; breakin' rocks in the hot sun / robbin' people with a zip gun / I needed money 'cause I had none.
The Bobby Fuller Four reached the top 10 with their cover version which was released as a single in 1965. I always thought this was the original. The Fuller Four don't stray far from The Crickets original, the beat is maybe a little more prominent in the mix while there is, ironically, more than a little bit of Buddy Holly in the vocals.
Over a decade (1978) down the line, The Clash heard The Bobby Fuller Four version of the song on a jukebox in San Francisco. This prompted them to record the song for The Cost Of Living EP, released in May 1979.
The Clash's eponymous debut album, released in 1977, never had an official release in America. It was only available as an import, until it was eventually released in 1979 with an extensively different tracklisting - including I Fought The Law. CBS deemed that the original album wasn't radio friendly enough, so they replaced a whopping 4 songs!
Of course many punk bands had an ear for melody, hooks and pop and that shines through in The Clash's version of I Fought The Law. The song really does fit them like a glove. Strummer and co add on an extra 30-seconds, giving time for a big intro before Strummer comes in sounding super cool, backed up by his mates on the hook.
I left my baby and it feels so bad
I guess my race is run
She's the best girl that I ever had
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the law won
The Clash version has an extra (punk) zip to it. Despite the extended intro, they still hit the guitar solo before The Crickets and Fuller versions! Handclaps are added after that, there is time for another guitar solo and the band break things down for the outro. All in all it sounds like they are having glorious fun as they romp through the song.
All three versions of I Fought The Law are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs (originals and covers) below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE
Previous covers of the month blogs
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?
54. Head On
55. Nothing Compares 2 U
Thursday 22 February 2024
Anything Goes & Everything Flows DJ Mix 29
Welcome to my 29th 60(ish) minute mix of songs that I can imagine playing in pubs like McChuills or The Variety Bar in Glasgow. They very much have an Anything Goes and Everything Flows policy and that's what I try and do with my playlists or when I occasionally venture out to DJ.
For this mix, I combined 2 playlists that I was working on. Both were getting somewhere, but not really going where I wanted them. So, in the same way Lennon and McCartney spliced a couple of songs together for A Day In The Life, I've spliced together 2 mixes.
The first section is very soul influenced, kicking off with an old gem but then going modern with Edinburgh's Joseph Malik, the incredible Michael Kiwanuka, Gabriels mixed by Greg Wilson, SAULT and a sensational cover by Niki & The Dove.
Moloko's smash hit The Time Is Now keeps the soulful flavour, but hints at a change in pace. Lou Hayter's sublime Time Out Of Mind eases things forward before we delve into all kinds of electronic goodness with the legendary Mr.Fingers, Underworld and The Chemical Brothers. Felix Da Housecat and Orbital with Mike Garry.
Search for Everything Flows DJ Mix 29 on Spotify or CLICK HERE
Music by Gloria Ann Taylor
I Quit My 9 to 5 by Joseph Malik, Niki King and Chris Greive
You Ain't The Problem by Michael Kiwanuka
Love and Hate in a Different Time by Gabriels (Greg Wilson mix)
I Just Want To Dance by SAULT
Galvanize by Niki and the Dove
The Time Is Now by Moloko
Tim Out Of Mind by Lou Hayter
Stars by Mr.Fingers
Cups by Underworld
No Geography by The Chemical Brothers
Ready 2 Wear by Felix Da Housecat
Tonight In Belfast by Orbital w/ Mike Garry (David Holmes mix)
Tuesday 20 February 2024
Gruff Rhys at Saint Lukes
Spring was in the air in Glasgow yesterday, Monday 19th February. The day felt lighter and brighter, perhaps it was just a co-incidence that Gruff Rhys was in town, but then again, I imagine that he brings a warm glow wherever he goes.
Gruff was playing Saint Luke's to promote Sadness Sets Me Free, the 25th album of his remarkable career, taking in Super Furry Animals, collaborations, side projects and his solo material. There is no sign, or danger, that Rhys is going to slow down.
The sold out Saint Luke's basked in Gruff's warm glow, marvelling at his natural creative energy, inventive way with lyrics, ideas, stories and melodies coupled with his beautiful voice.
Backed by a crack 4-piece; drums (nicely positioned side on - the drummer was sensational), double bass/bass, keyboards/electric piano and synth/mellotron, Gruff switched between a couple of acoustics and an electric guitar, dressed in a GR logistics lab coat.
Although we're only in February, I can safely say that Sadness Sets Me Free will be one of my albums of the year. Recorded in only 3-days in a studio on the outskirts of Paris, the timescale (almost 'forced' upon Gruff when his friend let him know he had time available) ensures that there is a lovely warm feel throughout.
Rhys is aided by his crack band of Osian Gwynedd (piano), V Williams (double bass) and Kilph Sturrock (drums). Kate Stables from This Is The Kit added backing vocals and the wonderful strings and orchestration was added back in Wales. BOOM!
Opening with album closer I'll Keep Singing, title track Sadness Sets Me Free and latest single Bad Friend, highlighted the confidence and belief that Rhys has in his new songs. He even stopped and started Bad Friend, highlighting the way he just changes how he plays the same chords for different sections.
When Gruff sings in his native Welsh it only highlights his way with melodies and knack for a pop hook. Pang! was delightful, everyone was smiling - onstage and in the crowd.
I Tendered My Resignation is Gruff singing about his regret of cutting off a relationship too early, seemingly just because he was too young. I love how unique Gruff's songwriting is. Rhys really just lets his mind and imagination wander, resulting in dreamy psychedelic lyrics and melodies. His tight rhythm section allowed the rest of the band to flourish and I got lost in some of Gruff's guitar riffs.
Sometimes doing the right thing
Is the opposite of doing the right thing
Sometimes it's the wrong thing
And doing the right thing isn't doing the right thing
Earlier on I spoke of Gruff having a warm glow and in his new song They Sold My Home To Build A Skyscraper he sings keep on glowing in the dark in a refrain at the end. Good advice. This is one of my favourites on the album, the opening line (the title) is just so off the cuff, slightly bizarre, beautifully unique ... and everything just flows from there. I particularly love Gruff's voice and melody on this as he comments on how everything is being built on, or modernised - including the fact that there is now a luxury development on the site of the dancefloor where he met a love.
They're building malls up to the moon
But even space ran out of room
Towards the end, Gruff's drummer paused proceedings to come to centre stage to announce that Gruff would shred all the emotional worries that people wrote down and put in a box at the merch stand before the show. It was typically offbeat humour with a warm edge (glow).
Gruff's Babelsberg album is a big favourite of mine, so I was delighted that he played Negative Vibes towards the end of the show (setlist below - my friend Lorna got). There was no time for an encore, Gruff and co kept playing, with Rhys having time to hold up signs for applause, tax the rich, sadness sets me free and more.
What a brilliant night. Rhys is a wonderful singer, songwriter and performer and his band are magnificent. I hope they will be back in Glasgow again before the end of the year.
Saturday 17 February 2024
Anything
Trust me #66
Anything by Adrianne Lenker
Tuesday 13th February 2024 was a sunny day. I was due to drive to the outskirts of Edinburgh, so I jumped in my car and was deciding what playlist to put on when 6Music started playing a delicate acoustic song with a gentle psychedelic tinge to the guitar and vocals. The melody flowed effortlessly and I just sat for a moment, utterly transfixed on the song.
It was Adrianne Lenker. So instead of a playlist I just played Adrianne Lenker and fell for her charms.
I had no idea who Adrianne Lenker was. Despite many friends shouting about the band Big Thief, I have to confess that I've never really taken the time to properly check them out. Weird, considering it is so easy to check bands out these days! Sometimes, just maybe, it is too easy.
Lenker is the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist in Big Thief who have released 5 albums since their debut in 2016. Lenker has also released a number of solo albums, dating back to 2006, 10-years before Big Thief's debut. New album Bright Future is due in March.
Back to Anything. It's just acoustic guitar and some delightfully fuzzy psychedelic effects. Lenker's voice sounds raw and pure as she sings about hanging in the sunshine, scoring drugs, mundane family life and being hopelessly in love.
This is songwriting of the highest order. Flowing so naturally in a gorgeous melody, telling so much in such a short space of time over a repetitive riff. Gorgeous, I must have played this 20 times in 5-days.
Staring down the barrel of the hot sun
Shining with the sheen of a shotgun
Carol has a little if we need some
Joyous rays, we wanna come
Hanging your jeans with a clothes pin
Skin still wet, still on my skin
Mango in your mouth, juice dripping
Shoulder of your shirtsleeve slipping
Christmas Eve with your mother and sis
Don't wanna fight, but your mother insists
Dog's white teeth slice right into my fist
Drive to the ER, and you put me on my wrist
Grocery store list, now you get this
Brunch, had calls and messages
I don't wanna be the owner of your fantasy
I just wanna be a part of your family
And I don't wanna talk about anything
I don't wanna talk about anything
I wanna kiss, kiss your eyes again
Wanna witness your eyes looking
I don't wanna talk about anyone
I don't wanna talk about anyone
I wanna sleep in your car while you're driving
Lay on your lap whеn I'm crying
Circle of pine and riddle
Circlе of moss and fire smoke
Fan on the ceiling like a wheel spoke
Push the clutch in, and I pull the choke
Wanna listen to the sound of you blinking
Wanna listen to your hands soothe
Listen to your heart beating
Listen to the way you move
And I don't wanna talk about anything
I don't wanna talk about anything
I wanna kiss, kiss your eyes again
Wanna witness your eyes looking
I don't wanna talk about anyone
I don't wanna talk about anyone
Wanna sleep in your car while you're driving
Lay in your lap when I'm crying
Weren't we the stars in Heaven?
Weren't we the salt in the sea?
Dragging the newborn mountain
Didn't you believe in me?
Yeah, you held me the whole way through
When I couldn't say the words like you
I was scared indigo, but I wanted to
I was scared indigo, but I wanted to
I don't wanna talk about anything
I don't wanna talk about anything
I wanna kiss, kiss your eyes again
Wanna witness your eyes looking
I don't wanna talk about anyone
I don't wanna talk about anyone
I wanna sleep in your car while you're driving
Lay in your lap when I'm crying, ooh