Blog: Irk The Purists

Happy birthday David Bowie, 65 today (actually, yesterday now: I'm writing this on the stroke of midnight). A fantastic blog, which, among other things, made me listen to Low in a completely new light. Extra points if you get the (double) meaning of the blog title: Pushing Ahead Of The Dame And given that you've probably heard Starman , Life on Mars , Fame , Golden Years etc. ad nauseam, here's one of his lesser-known singles, but a particular fave of mine from the mid-90s, Jump They [...]

Three luminaries who passed away at the end of 2011, the obituaries of whom escaped my notice until after I'd filed my last post.... James Rizzi (5th Oct 1950 to 26th Dec 2011) (obituary here ) [...]

Borag thung, earthlets. For the sixth consecutive year, we present the Irk The Purists look at the highlights and lowlights of the last 12 months. Zarjaz! Best gig Well, a narrow field this year, seeing as I hardly attended any gigs. Rock 'n' roll, eh? (Though I did see a mesmerising performance of classical Indian music in an Edinburgh church a couple of weeks ago .) Despite encroaching middle age, Mrs. Irk and I did manage [...]

And as it's Christmas, how about Nona Hendryx (ex-Labelle) and Graham Parker (ex-The Rumour) collaborating on a little ditty called Soul Christmas ? It was on a 1994 Parker single that also featured the Scrooge-ish Christmas Is For Mugs , but as far as I'm concerned it's difficult to be cynical about the one day in the year when you're allowed to drink Bloody Marys in your undies at 10am. And so, Christmas Is For Mugs won't be getting played at Irk the Purists Towers this year, while Soul Christmas will. It's just below, [...]

• Graham Parker & Nona Henryx - Soul Christmas

A big shout out to the good people at http://norecordshopsleft.blogs pot.com/ who have keen keeping me extremely entertained over the past few months with superb posts (and uploads) highlighting many unjustly forgotten groups (Clock DVA, Test Dept, Slab, Chakk) and labels, in particular Fetish and Illuminated. The recent posts featuring the Northern Lights audio magazine, of which I was previously unaware, were particularly welcome and informative. Highly recommended.

I quite like this. More former purveyors of ITV indie come good (cf. Bombay Bicycle Club).

Another Eno related tune? OK, since you've asked nicely. And slightly rare, in that it was included on the original pressing of My Life In The Bush of Ghosts , but was missing from subsequent pressings, due in part to protests by over-zealous religious nutcases who thought that the dynamic duo (David Byrne & Brian Eno, in case you didn't know) were being somehow disrespectful. Enjoy. Download Qu'ran by Brian Eno & David Byrne mp3

• Brian Eno & David Byrne - Qu'ran

R.I.P. Christopher Hitchens 1949-2011

'Maybe I can make the people of England forsake their new-wave records and rush out to buy Fela Ransome-Kuti?' Eno ventured optimistically: 'It's a beautiful music- it's so thrilling to me, I could work twenty-four hours a day on this music. it's rhythmically sophisticated in an interesting way; it's perfect for dancing because it leaves holes in all the right places...You listen to this and you can't help but think, "What do we have? The fuckin' Jam!"' (Brian Eno to Cynthia Rose of the NME, 1980, quoted in On Some Faraway Beach , p. 337) Ironically, the [...]

Half Man Half Biscuit's oeuvre (see below) includes a pin-sharp skewering of the nineties rockist cliché that was the Eno Collaboration . Which brings me, in a DJ-like segue, to David Sheppard's biog of Brian Eno , first published a couple of years ago, and which I've just finished reading. I only started it last week, and not a couple of years ago, incidentally. Sheppard (a sometime member of Ellis Island Sound along with Pete Astor of the Weather Prophets and The Loft) has a curious writing style, as a friend correctly identified. His sentences [...]

• Jon Hassell - Voiceprint (Blind From The Facts)

One of the most insightful and perspicacious articles I've ever read on any musical topic ever is here . Taylor Parkes absolutely nails the appeal and import of Half Man Half Biscuit, seeing past the lazy depiction of the group as a post-punk Grumbleweeds. A must-read.

Ken Russell R.I.P. 1927-2011

And seeing as it's Hallowe'en....

Straight outta Northern Ireland, by way of Simon Raymonde's increasingly relevant Bella Union label, it's Cashier no. 9. Very much liking this.

We've had the Colourfield, we've had Field Music, so it was only a matter of time before Colourmusic turned up. Luckily, they're pretty damn good, so we're not going to resent their unimaginative band name. This is Tog , which I believe may be the current single, but it's so damn hard to tell these days. Incidentally, that looks like a hell of a party.

Brooklyn's hottest combo, apparently. I'm liking this very much, and now that ESG seem to be on another hiatus, this will have to suffice if you're looking for a funky percussive NYC female outfit . They're called Friends. Who knew that Rachel, Phoebe and Monica had such great voices?

And one more from the vaults, if you'll indulge me. Staying in New York, 1984 this time, the only solo choon from Rick Rubin (it was on an ace Tommy Boy compilation LP).

And fast-forwarding to 1985... MCA and Burzootie's Drum Machine .

Staying in New York, c. 1983... I had no idea that this song had ever had a video commissioned. Enjoy...

They're back. God alone knows why, when the music business is on its knees, but if it's good enough for Michel Esteban over at Ze.... yes, Celluloid, the most diverse and prolific record label of the eighties, has decided to reform, reissue and, apparently, release new material (no pun intended). I doubt that Bill Laswell will be coming back, but if they can coax Anton Fier out of retirement, I'd be a very happy bunny. See more here ... And you can hear Jean Karakos talking [...]