Got your own top ten for tips for stocking fillers?
Mail them in here
Bollocks to Bonfire Night and hollocks to Halloween...
IT'S CHRISTMAS SOON! YAY!
And I'm sure you're all thinking: "Well, I've bought all those
spiffing LPs that were recommended in the last issue of R*E*P*E*A*T
but what do I do now? There's not a reindeer's shiny nose in hell's
chance of another issue winging its way to me before chrimbo, so what
on earth do I put on my Christmas list to send to McSanta in his Coca
Cola-sponsored grotto?"
Well don't fret my lovelies - here's 10 albums (in no particular
order) that have plopped into R*E*P*E*A*T Towers since the last issue
got stapled into being that really shouldn't be missed. May your stockings
brim with goodness
Al Brooker - Quixotic (Bella Union)
When he collapsed on stage at Strawberry Fair never to recover, the
world bid sad farewell to a man who had shed-loads to offer it. This
collection of his unreleased solo work shows the diversity, imagination
and sheer unbridled quality of his imagination and ear for a tune, including
a fearsome Um remix, a few darkly beautiful tunes with Steven 'Broken
Family Band/Hofman' Adams and some infectious and abstract weirdness
that never fails to carry a beat. Breathtaking.
Sixteen Horsepower - Olden (Glitterhouse)
A kind-of best of celebrating a decade of a band that boast that rarest
of attributes - a touch of the unique. Haunting, intense, timeless -
a Nick Cave for the 19th Century, with all those jolly themes like death,
religion and obsession. Twenty tracks from two recorded sessions and
one live show, this sees the band at their raw, stripped down best.
If classic tune American Wheeze doesn't affect you emotionally, you're
already dead.
Pavla Milcova & Tarzan Pepe (Indies)
Barking mad Czech woman Pavla Milcova has the voice of an angel, a worryingly
bonkers grin and a penchant for 50s jazz and the kazoo, often in the
same song. Think Kate Bush on drugs, if you dare. A lot of her stuff
is sung in English, but this doesn't make it much more intelligible,
so I wouldn't worry too much. 50p to the first person that finds an
English website dedicated to this deranged diva.
Saloon - If we Meet in the Future (Track & Field)
Beautifully crafted Moog-scapes with a French café feel and an
airy female vocal that will sooth the most savage beast, Saloon have
upped the tempo on this, their second album proper, but it doesn't dull
the enchantment. John Peel loves 'em, I love 'em, and you will love
'em to. It might be arty, but hey - there's a time and place for everything.
Put down your snakebite and your packet of Bensons and treat yourself
to a glass of Chardonnay and a packet of Gaulloise.
Black Lipstick - Converted Thieves (Gliterhouse)
Quick! Like them now before everyone else does! Remember The Fall and
Pavement before they both got all professional and by-numbers? Well,
if you'd taken the movers and shakers of both line-ups and shaken 'em
up, you would've got something like this. No pretension, no fear of
being disliked, this is simple alternative garage rock in its purist,
most innocent form. Catch them before they get ruined.
Welcome to
the-low-country (nowrecordings)
You'd think Rob Jackson popped out of the womb with a big smile, a bad
gag and a guitar in his hands, and you'd probably be right. While this
sees him at his finger-picking best, the real star of the show is aussie
Emily Barker, who's vocals are utterly beguiling. It's a bit country,
but there's so much more in the mix. Their reworking of Oh! Susanna
renders other versions moribund, while the self-penned tunes are equally
enticing. Emily's back in the UK next year to do some gigs with the
band, so start saving. Until then, you can get the CD from their website
www.the-low-country.com/
Armitage Shanks - 25 Golden Showers (Damaged Goods)
Billy Childish-style UK garage noise from the sadly defunct Armitage
Shanks. There are some corny but classic covers (Orgasm Addict and Are
Friends Electric), great song titles (Alf Ramsey's Porn Dungeon and
Icon Schmicon), some top-draw angry shouting (One Chord Wonders and
the classic Shirts Off) and garage racket (Support Slot and Who Chucked
Who?). Ugly, badly produced and aesthetically unpleasant. Hurrah!
Hugo Race and True Spirit - The Goldstreet Sessions (Glitterhouse)
Bad Seed Hugo Race has got the inevitable smoke-stained sleaziness associated
with all things Cave (except possibly Kylie, but I'll keep my opinions
on that to myself) but his solo stuff is much more funky than you might
imagine. This is a bit 80s but in a cool, The The kind of way - dubby
and with lots of horns, this is great late night fucked up jazz music.
Azure Ray - Hold on Love (Saddle Creek)
More beautiful female vocals - I must be getting soft. But lets face
it - after a few years of MTV2's steady diet of punk by numbers, surely
you're getting bored of bowling shirts, piercings and polite, tuneful
shouting? No? Well, just in case a belly-full of Linda Mcartney's I
Can't Believe It's Not Turkey mellows you out, this is two young
ladies delivering some breathy harmonies over all kinds of backing tracks.
Unrestricted by genre, it works more often than not, and the peaks are
well worth the occasional trough.
And of course
REPEAT Presents - Fear of a Black Kennett (REPEAT)
A fundraiser for the highly worthy Love Music Hate Racism campaign and
boasting a wealth of talent including Asian Dub Foundation, Chris TT,
Kinesis and Miss Black America, this 21-track compilation is a must
have for anyone with a pulse. Not only will you feel warm inside for
giving money to people who want to stamp on nazi shitheads, you'll have
lots of nice tunes to listen to as well. Joy. Funnily enough, even with
all those posh stars loitering on the CD, I still think Neo's Die in
America is the stand-out track. But that's just me.
Enjoy.
Chris of the Marlings
Got your own top ten for tips for stocking fillers?
Mail them in here
--------------------------------
Steven Adams - The Broken Family Band
My list for 2003 (at least I think they're all this year):
Herman Dune - Mas Cambios
A really honest record. Makes you wish you were them. It feels all
comfy.
Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf
Perfect rock 'n roll.
The Blood Brothers - Burn Piano Island, Burn
Nasty. I don't even know if I like it, but I like it.
Knife In The Water - Cut The Cord
Dark and fancy and more to get your head round than most bands manage
to fit into an entire career. Glad I'm not them.
Four Tet - Rounds
Gorgeous. It's like a music that was waiting to be invented.
Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
Just because it's good for hangovers and touching breasts to. Rubbish
lyrics.
The Be Good Tanyas - Chinatown
Very pretty. I think there's a real tension in the music that sets
it apart from traditional coffee table winsome ladybollox. Cool songs
and healthy disrespect for tradition.
UM - The Old Album
Prat.
Spacemen 3 - Forged Prescriptions
It's a reissue. I read somewhere recently that there's no point in
doing drugs unless you have this record handy.
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Master And Everyone
I pity folks who don't love this record.
-----------------------------
Attila The Stockbroker
Ten CDs to give this Christmas
Suede - The Singles Album
Rancid - Indestructible and Out Come The
Wolves
The Clash - The Story of The Clash
Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Streetcore
Dexys Midnight Runners - Searching for the Young
Soul Rebels
T Rex - Electric Warrior
John Cale - Paris 1919
TV Smith - Useless
Blyth Power - Beyond the Viking Station
----------------
Yalson's Christmas List
Ten CDs, in no particular order, that you should be
forcing on your nearest and dearest this yuletide season, whether they
like it or not.
Luke Haines and The Auteurs - Das Kapital - The Songwriting
Genius Of Luke Haines And The Auteurs
Renowned anti-social miseryguts genius Luke Haines returns with a collection
of 'greatest hits', (such as they are,) re-recorded for the occasion
with an orchestral string section to add extra pomp and bombast. Still
the wittiest and best current British songwriter around, as the three
new songs on here prove. Even better, the self-penned sleeve notes looking
back over his career are utterly hilarious.
The Distillers - Coral Fang
Honest, straight-down-the-line Yank sleaze-rock fronted by a woman who
sounds like she has her own Marlboro loyalty card. What's not to like?
Spiritualized - Amazing Grace
Jason Pierce returns with another album, this time with all the songs
allegedly recorded more or less in one take. It's rawer than Let It
Come Down, but the world still sighs with joy at the lush loveliness
of it all.
The Raveonettes - Chain Gang Of Love
The Jesus And Mary Chain return in the guise of a boy/girl Swedish duo
with an obsession for 1950s B-movies. I don't think any of us could
say we were expecting that to happen
..
Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
Equally, 'wistful', 'yearning' and 'subtle' were probably not words
that anyone was expecting to be using to describe another of the seemingly
endless stream of bands coming out of the basements of New Yoik this
year.
The Kills - Keep On Your Mean Side
Essentially The White Stripes with a nervous tic and a criminal record.
Songs about sex, sex and more sex. Nice to see Jamie from Scarfo doing
something constructive with his time.
Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around
The last album released by the man in black while he was still alive,
and a fitting tribute to his talents. A scattershot collection of mainly
covers, not all of them entirely vital, but all delivered in a voice
that sounds as if it has been around for a thousand years, and will
still be around a thousand after me and thee are gone. Some of the stranger
song choices are more than compensated for by the likes of Cash's own
'The Man Comes Around' and 'I Hung My Head', which in this version is
just about the darkest thing ever committed to record, despite the fact
that it was written by Sting. You can pay no greater testament to the
qualities of Cash's voice than that.
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Nocturama
Whether the album is any good is irrelevant. The fact that it was released
meant that the Bad Seeds did a tour to accompany it. There they proved
that they are the devil's own bar band. Watching and hearing the Bad
Seeds play is like watching some kind of infernal Rock and Roll machine
going about its business with a combination of ultra precision and terrifying
violence. It truly takes you breath away.
The album's great, by the way. But then you wouldn't expect anything
less.
Black Box Recorder - Passionoia
Oh, and while Luke Haines wasn't shut away, working away on his plans
for world domination, or whatever it is he does with his spare time,
he took a couple of weeks off to knock out another Black Box Recorder
album. Unlike his Auteurs/solo material, though, BBR sound like a recent
graduate from the BBC school of radio elocution reporting from a 1983
synthesiser convention. Larvely.
Various - Trojan Reggae Box Sets
Retailing for between £5 and £7.50, a Trojan Box Set will
get you three CDs worth of themed material. Every one contains gems
aplenty, and for that money, you can't go wrong. The Ska Volume 2 and
UK Hits editions are particularly good, but doubtless all of the sets,
(and there are about 60,) have their own treats in store. Proof, if
any were needed, that joy sometimes comes in oddly-shaped containers.
Yalson - The Exiles, R*E*P*E*A*T and Umm Juicy.
-----------------------------------------
Jordan Hacan Ramone - The Hammers
1) Elephant - The White Stripes
2) Kick Up The Fire and Let The Flames Break Loose - The
Cooper Temple Clause
3) Get Rich Or Die Tryin - 50 Cent
4) 2001 & The Chronic - Dr Dre
5) Appetite for Destruction - Guns'n'Roses
6) In Utero - Nirvana
7) Fat of the Land - The Prodigy
8) Get Your Ya Yas Out - The Rolling Stones
9) Never Mind The Bollocks - The Sex Pistols
10)Generation Terrorists - Manic Street Preachers
----------------------------
Jason TSH
All new music is irrelevant. I haven't had the money,
or the urge, to buy a Cd or record in maybe 18 months.I find that I'm
happier if I completely ignore modern music.
That includes all the bands that I'm in.
I hope this helps.
--------------------------
Tom King, Princess Drive
TOP 10 Xmas cds
i was going to name 10, but then I realised i left out the clash..................
The Specials- The Specials
*happy music; scary lyrics
The Dawn Parade- everything
*so good they get capital letters
The Virgin Suicides- Plough Over the Bones of the Dead ep
*Derek says it's always good to end a paper with a quote...
Nick Drake- Pink Moon
*only cool Cambridge university student i know
Asian Dub Foundation- Community Music.......
*union jack and union jill back up and down the same old hill
Kinesis- Handshakes for Bullets
*if only the manics still made an effort to sound like this
The Beautiful South- Carry on up the Charts
*how unfashionable of me
Public Enemy- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back
*flavour vision ain't blurry
Pulp- Hits........
*they live on lipgloss and cheap cigerettes
Primal Scream- Xtrmtr
*vowel less but great none the less
The Clash- London Calling
*get out of the kitchen you boys and girls
hurrah!!!!
--------------------
Pat King - Princess Drive
here are my favorite cds for giving/getting at xmas
1)the clash- the clash
2)nick drake- pink moon
3)asian dub foundation- community music
4)the saffs- ladyboy chaser
5)mogwai- come on die young
6)public enemy- fear of a balck planet
7)repeat records_ fear of a black kennet
8)manic street preachers- new art riot ep.
9)the smiths- louder than bombs
10)we can build you- comprehensive details of everything
And now, the man you've ALL been waiting for,
Phil Rose esq.
1. I love Trash by Oscar The Grouch.
Toddler punk rawk
2. Woody Guthrie by Alabama 3
Living in the good old US of Stateside makes me all the more appreciative
of a thumping techno bass-line and the lyrics ‘I don’t need
no country, I don’t fly no flag, Cur no slack for the Union Jack,
Stars and Stripes have got me jetlagged.’
3. The Clash by The Clash
Finally realised it’s great after all these years.
4. Drug Train by The Cramps
Dirty dirty. Evil. Bad music. For bad people.
5. Original Pirate Material by The Streets
The most original thing with a Cockney accent to come out of Birmingham
in years. This is one fantastic album. Having listened to it non stop
(nearly) from Nevada to the North of Washington State on a lonely road
trip I can assure you I know what I’m talking about.
6. Party Music by The Coup
Socialist non-pussy hip hop in the finest tradition of P.E. et al.
‘You as a woman got to know your place. That’s in the front
baby, I’m being blunt baby.’
7. Just as Dead Now by The Virgin Suicides
Just another pointless scream into the void. Just another bunch of
angry, nihilistic kids doing rock and roll. But be honest, what would
be better? Elton John? I’d rather see the Manics rehashed than
the Beatles rehashed. Again.
8. Once Upon a Summertime by Blossom Dearie
The finest, sweetest, sugar filled come-to-bed voice in jazz. Buy her
CDs. Buy all her CD’s. Finest lyrical moment ‘Brother let’s
stuff that dove, down down down with…love’.
9. We her Majesty’s Prisoners by the Manic Street Preachers
Another rediscovery. The first home made tape my brother gave me of
this band come to (temporarily) save the world had this track on it
and it made my eyes pop, my liver fester and made me want to go and
burn something down for the first time since I heard, I dunno, Borstal
Breakout or something (well, I was 12 when I first heard that.)
10. Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky
A more clearly and concisely documented account with page after page
of proof in the shape of facts and figures and sources about how we
(in the US) are daily fed horse shit by a propaganda machine of a media
one couldn’t ask for. Required reading. So go read it. Now.
Oh, and one required viewing webpage. Spot the odd man out.HERE,
DAMN YOU
Bob Exile's top 10 of the year (in no particular
order)
Sigur Ros - () - Just gorgeous. Best band at Glasto this year
by miles
Television - Marquee Moon - Bought in one of those '3 for £20'
deals cos I'd heard it was good. It is.
Super Furry Animals - Phantom Power - Their best since 'Radiator'
Black Keys - Thickfreakness - Probably my favourite new release this
year
Elbow - Cast of Thousands - Not quite 'Asleep in the Back' but
still better than most things released this year
The Libertines - Up The Bracket - Best getting-ready-to-go-out
album of the year
Cream - Wheels of Fire - It's all about Ginger
Elliott Smith - Either/Or - My favourite album by my favourite
songwriter. He's been on my stereo constantly for the last 3 years or
so. The guy was a genius. Tragic loss.
The Strokes - Room On Fire - I'm sure the backlash is in the
post but it's still a fucking good record.
True Swamp Neglect - Sleep Function Lost - Beta Band-ish stuff
from Bournemouth. Very tasty.
...and Adam Exile's:
Elliott Smith - X/O
Mars Volta - De-Loused In The Comatorium
Grand Drive true love and high adventure
Nick Drake Pink Moon
Jayhawks Tomorrow the green grass
Kings Of Leon - Youth and Young Manhood
RHCP- by the way
Ed Harcourt from every sphere
Athlete Vehicles and animals
The Strokes Room on Fire
Caffy St Luce - Music
Tourist Board
Mine is pretty traditional
My top ten!
No. 1 - SLADE (the national christmas anthem)
No. 2 - WAR IS OVER, JOHN & YOKO
No. 3 "FUCKING FUCK OFF YOU FUCKING BASTARD FUCKING CHRISTMAS
FUCKING CAROL FUCKING SINGING FUCKERS OR I'LL FUCKING STRANGLE YOU!!!"
- quite
probably the most christmas cheer our family have had in years, courtesy
of a neighbour (B. A. Humbug?) well it tickled my fancy. I guess that's
what passes for Seasons Greetings in Deptford.
No.4 Mr R. L. and a bunch of other road crew celebrated one Christmas
on gravy laced with acid, made the tree lights very pretty.
No. 5 Give children wrapping paper if you really want them to appreciate
their presents and enjoy endless hours of fun.
No. 6 solitary christmas is fab. Do what you like when you like. watch
what you like, eat what/when you like.
No. 7 shopping is hell. We celebrate Christmas in January when everybody
knows what they want and you can get it in the sales.
No, 8 Im rubbish at Top Tens...
No. 9 ...and hardly a pillar of the rock community, more like a pillock
of the rock community
No. 10 with regards to the speech by the old squatter on christmas
day
"R*E*P*E*A*T after me....
(or get the queens speech done by Graham Norton, the real queen).
Peas on earth... Share The Joy
Caffy.
Lady on a bike. South East X.
Anthony Gibbons, The Fly
1. The Darkness 'Permission To Land'
2. The Broken Family Band 'Cold Water Songs'
3. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'Fever To Tell'
4. British Sea Power 'The Decline Of British Sea
Power'
5. Snow Patrol 'Final Straw'
6. Elbow 'Cast Of Thousands'
7. Hell Is For Heroes 'The Neon Handshake'
8. Har Mar Superstar 'You Can Feel Me'
9. BRMC 'Take Them On... On Your Own'
10. ...and one for sentimentallity's sake... The Dawn Parade
'Caffeine Row' EP
Rosey, R*E*P*E*A*T Fanzine
Ten CDs to give this Christmas
(but don't give them to me, I've got them already!)
1) The Darkness - Permission to Land.
Simultaneously the savior of guitar bands, showing that they can matter
and make it massive without the support of a conservative media, and
their reason to quit, for who can begin to match the over blown riff
laden camp magnificence of this album?
2) The Raveonettes - Chain Gang of Love
A sublime mix of sweet sweet melody with raucous noise. Like the best
bits of The Jesus and Mary Chain , with a hint of added Swedish Country
twang.
3) The Virgin Suicides - Plough Over The Bones Of The Dead ep
Proof that attitude and intelligence and bile glamour and bookishness
are still alive and very muck kicking, as like little kids in a tantrum,
the band try to batter you into understanding them.
4) Kinesis - Handshakes for Bullets
This album isn't perfect, but at its best, its angular guitar lines
and intelligent lyrics show a way forward for committed rock into the
new year.
5) Manic Street Preachers - Lipstick Traces
35 B sides and cover versions that highlight some oft overlooked sides
of the Manics.
6)The Clash - The Essential Clash
The perfect retort to anyone who says that politics and pop music don't
mix. They do. And here's proof.
7) The Rolling Stones - Forty Licks
As if we needed reminding who just about started this whole shebang,
this shows the boys who made rock'n'roll big and bad and dirty at their
hip wiggling, whisky soaked, blues battering, Beatle baiting best. All
the bands above would never have existed without The Stones.
8)The Cooper Temple Clause - Kick Up The Fire and Let The Flames
Break Loose
For some killer tunes and great videos and exciting gigs, along with
more than a hint of ground breaking originality.
9)Cosy Cosy - Demos
Thought that pop music, that could make you leap around the room and
sing along and smile from ear to ear and play it again and again, was
dead? Then take a listen to this. That's POP with a capital P-O-P!!
Visit Cosy Cosy
here
10) R*E*P*E*A*T Presents Fear Of A Black Kennett.
OK so maybe I shouldn't be blowing my own trumpet, but that has taken
me 6 months of hard work - and I've still not seen the finished thing
(will it miss its launch party, as is traditional with our releases?).
Also it includes most of my favourite bands who I've not been able to
mention above, including Miss Black America, Chris T-T, Impact, Asian
Dub Foundation, Neo and more. And it's all in aid of Love Music Hate
Racism. So that's got to be top of everyone's Christmas list then...
11) The Star Spangles -Bazooka. I know this is only meant to
be a top ten, but here's eleven out of ten, and f*ck the marking system!!!
(Sorry Ainsley pop-idol,
there really is no room to include your single!)
The Azadi Collective
www.azadicollective.com
1: Punjabi Hit Squad: On Da Streets
2: Beginner : Blast Action Heroes
3: Sian Supa Crew : X Raisons
4: Asian Dub Foundation : Keep Banging On the walls (DVD)
5: Sigur Ros : ()
6: Mc Trix : Nu Skool
7: Asian Invasion : Day of Reckoning
8: The Freestylers : We Rock Hard
9: People Under the Stairs : OST
10: DJ Shadow : Endtroducing
Initially I had this email written out with little
bits of information for each cd, but then the computer crashed and i
can't be arsed re-writing it all. so here are my top 10 cd's:
1. Biffy Clyro - Blackened Sky
2. Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
3. Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists
4. Mew - Frengers
5. Thirst - Mouth to Skin
6. Oceansize - Effloresce
7. Sigur Ros - ( )
8. Miss Black America - God Bless Miss Black America
9. Biffy Clyro - The Vertigo of Bliss
10. Bright Eyes - Fevers and Mirrors
John Pitts
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