It took me about five minutes to twig why the roads were so quiet this morning, before I remembered that it was Easter and that every other cunt but myself was on fucking holiday. Bastards. Of all the meaningless holidays we have, I think Easter might be the most pointless. Although I have to confess that when I lived down South, where the whole company shut on bank holidays, pretty much forcing you to take the day off, there was something rather good about having a compulsory long weekend at the start of Spring. Anyhow, as [...]
by teepoo With vocals buried a bit in distortion and rolling bass lines is Nova Scotia's Glory Glory. The track Wild Swans is a bit strange because the instrumentals drive the song but they are slowed down by the spaced vocals which takes forever to get a point across. At first this song leaves me a slight bit confused but I couldn't stop coming back to it so I thought I'd share it with you guys. Glory Glory- Wild Swans Here's [...]
A year end albums list is kind of a strange thing, especially when it's one person compiling it. Since this blog is a committe of one, it can become quite capricious. In all likelyhood I wrote about some records this past year that I was overtly enthusiastic about at the time. Now the end of the year rolls around and some of those records are not on the list. "What gives?" you might ask. It's hard to remember which label flew me to Tahiti and which one comp'd my CMJ this year, so I may have forgotten to include a [...]
The Wild Swans - In Secret
Creation Records' Alan McGee is quoted as saying, "Liverpool in the '80s was like Hollywood to me. The Wild Swans were part of the greatness of that city." The Wild Swans released one single in 1982 with the help of Echo & the Bunnymen's drummer Pete de Freitas who not only played drums on The Revolutionary Spirit, but also put up the money for the recording studio. The Wild Swans were the brainchild of former Teardrop Explodes keyboard player Paul Simpson. That first legendary single was nearly the end of [...]
The Wild Swans are one of those bands whose legend is several times bigger than its discography. In 1982 the Liverpudlian band, led by singer Paul Simpson, released "Revolutionary Spirit", which has been called one of the best British indie singles ever. The lineup fragmented, and the band didn't reappear until they released the wide-eyed cult favorite Bringing Home the Ashes in 1988. Again, there were lineup changes, with Simpson teaming up with the Lightning...
In the March 2008 issue of Mojo, there was a sprawling article on the Smiths. But if you look a little closer (on page 75 to be exact), you'll find a list of bands that were predecessors, contemporaries, and influencers on Morrissey, Marr & Co. These "indie" bands, oft classified as C81/86 or as part of Sarah or Postcard records, shared some of the jingle and jangle of the Smiths, without the spotlight. While some of the bands may remain in their cult status, others I must admit, I did listen to occasionally or often: Wild Swans, Orange [...]
But it is. 14th June 1989 when the life of Peter Louis Vincent de Fritas ended as the result of a motorcycle accident. He was 27 years of age. And he was the first dead pop star I ever shed a tear for. Born in 1961 in Trinidad, Pete de Freitas was a bit of a posh boy, educated at a famous Roman Catholic public school near Bath, England, and while he was far from dim, he was never [...]
Les Pattinson , the retired bassist for Echo and the Bunnymen , has been coaxed out of retirement to play two live shows for his mates, The Wild Swans. According to the Wild Swans website, "After a 21-year absence, The Wild Swans will play two exclusive gigs at Static Gallery , Roscoe Lane in Liverpool on the 23rd & 24th July. Static is a small, intimate venue. Only 200 tickets are available for each night. The band will showcase songs from their forthcoming album The Coldest Winter for a Hundred Years as well as classics from [...]
Good news! The Wild Swans have a new single out now called "English Electric Lightning." It's released on 103 vinyl on the Occultation label in a limited edition of 900 individually-numbered copies. The sleeve artwork was done by keyboardist Ged Quinn and is a little, um... interesting. The current line-up includes only two original members, Paul Simpson and Ged Quinn - unfortunately no Jerry Kelly. You can preview both tracks on their site: English Electric Lightning / The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years and order [...]
So, lucky weekly mix number thirteen...and it's the inevitable C86 mix. Many others have written about the legendary C86 cassette from NME (after all, there's even an excellent blog called Indie MP3 - Keeping C86 Alive ), and I doubt I have anything particularly new to add to the discussion. However, it continues to amaze me how one mail-order cassette spawned a genre, a scene, and an attitude toward music. Though NME had released a cassette five years earlier in conjunction with Rough Trade, appropriately titled C81, it never gained the same mythical status despite the fact that the [...]
Now look, its my chart and I'll have obscure 45s in it if I want to. The Wild Swans were one of the key bands in the Liverpool Scene that also produced Echo & The Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes and Pete Wylie/Wah! As a band, they were in and out of existence from 1980 to 1986, during which time they recorded a number of BBC sessions but released just one single (released in 1982) and no LP.
One Two Three - Another Knife In My Back (7" Single, 1983) Blue Section Two - Strange Fascination (7" Single, 1984) Ian McCulloch - The White Hotel (from Candleland , 1989) Hubert Kah - Explain The World In A Word (from Ten Songs , 1986) The Wild Swans - Bitterness (from Bringing Home The Ashes , 1988)
A quick post today of four totally unconnected songs/video before we head off on a pre-mortgage, pre-baby weekend in PA. Enjoy! Download - The Family Cat - The Theme From The Family Cat Download - Strawberry Switchblade - Trees & Flowers Download - The Wild Swans - Bible Dreams The Family Cat Strawberry Switchblade The Wild Swans The June Brides - In The Rain
Song, by Toad
Ride The Tempo
the finest kiss
Der Schwarze Salon
PopMatters
Thee Mightee Kittens
THE VINYL VILLAIN
The Color Awesome!
Shelflife Records
Condemned to Rock 'N Roll
Mine For Life
Turquoise Days
Azealia Banks - '1991' [Listen]
New Music Tuesday
