Mix CD #36 - Welcome To Gunville

This mix was originally going to be a themed one, a contentious theme that you can probably work out from the mix title, which hasn't changed.
I started compiling songs that were both pro and anti-guns so as to try and be objective but then I got to thinking, I live in Bishop Auckland, a small town in the North of England and I spent the majority of my life in York, a small city in the North of England. I have about as much real knowledge on firearms as Donald Trump does about tiggy hido so it didn't really seem right for me to get involved too much. Also, I didn't want grief from either The Snowflakes or Team America World Police. Thusly, I bottled it. 

As I said, the title remained and a couple of the tracks but other than that it's now just an unthemed mix of music, both new and old, that I've been liking lately, as per the norm. Hopefully you shouldn't something you don't hate.

So yeah, here's the 36th mix, have a read, have a listen if you want and I hope you like it.

Cheers,
Luke
x

P.S. For what it's worth, I think there's probably a bit of room for compromise on both sides
.
Tracklisting
The Urge - Welcome To Gunville
Samarkind - Thru That Door
Master Boot Record - CLS.NFO
Eureka Machines - Let Me Tell You All About Myself
öOoOoOoOoOo - I Hope You Sleep Well
Million Dead - Smiling At Strangers On Trains
Not Scientists - I Don't Feel So Crazy
Echobelly - Pantyhose And Roses
Torche - Hideaway
NOFX - The Decline
Garfunkel And Oates - Happy Birthday To My Loose Acquaintance
For Love Not Lisa - Daring To Pick Up
Andy & The Odd Socks - Unique
Toehider - How Much For That Dragon Tooth?
Jackdaw4 - Deep And Meaningless
Bearsuit - Itsuko Got Married
[Spunge] - Ego
Owl John - A Good Reason To Grow Old

You can download the mix HERE should that be your fancy

Mix CD 35 - We Love You! - The Best of Regurgitator

Eighteen years ago, July 2000, I got the opportunity to travel to Australia, specifically Adelaide plus a few days in Sydney, for a couple of weeks. It was a bit daunting travelling so far on my own but who knew if a chance like this would come around ever again? I plumped up the courage and booked the flights.

Other than a couple of notable bands like Shihad and Frenzal Rhomb, I didn't really know much about Australian (and Kiwi) music and assumed it was all going to be Pub Rock bands along the lines of AC/DC, Jimmy Barnes, Screaming Jets etc. It turns out I couldn't have been wrong and they had a strong, vibrant music scene and a ton of fantastic bands. One thing I found, and I think it's probably still true today, is that a lot of bands had an almost naive charm about them; an exuberance for music that hadn't been neutered with cynicism like so much UK (and US music) I think that joy comes through in a lot of the music.

With help from Mardi (the person I visited), Alternative music radio station, Triple J and the pushy bloke at the record store in Glenelg, I ended up leaving with a suitcase full of CD's by bands like the aforementioned Shihad and Frenzal Rhomb plus Grinspoon, Skulker, Nitocris, You Am I, The Whitlams, Something For Kate, 28 Days, The Superjesus, The Mark Of Cain, Powderfinger, Killing Heidi, Sunk Loto, Blood Duster and some others I forget. One band though has stayed with me above all the others through the years, and that's Regurgitator.

(L-R) Martin Lee, Ben Ely and Quan Yeomans

As a band name, Regurgitator perfectly represents the band as Punk, Hip Hop, Pop, Folk, Funk, Metal, Synth Pop, Disco and all manner of musical genres are thrown in and then spewed out as the intermingled concoction that's Regurgitator. For all their large repertoire of styles, each song is always instantly recognisable as Regurgitator, this gives their albums a sense of cohesion it could quite easily lack. The fact they have a knack for big, memorable hooks and a wicked sense of humour probably contributes to that.

Originally formed as a side project by Quan Yeomans of Zooerastia, Martin Lee of Brazilia and Ben Ely of Pangaea. Both Quan and Ben take lead vocals though I didn't realise just how many songs Ben sings until compiling this, er, compilation, Once they were signed and their first two EP's (Hamburger and New) were successes, Regurgitator became the trio's main focus. their first three albums (Tu-Plang, Unit and ...art) were their most successful and are generally considered their best
During that time 'personal differences' were causing tension between Martin Lee and Quan that, eventually, saw Martin leave the band.

Their fourth album, Eduardo and Rodriguez Wage War on T-Wrecks, was more Hip Hop influenced than either Unit or ...Art and the first to feature new drummer Pete Kostic. He was originally a temporary fill-in as he was still in the band Front End Loader, though he eventually became a permanent member.
Their next album was recorded somewhat differently; the band, a producer, an engineer and a VJ were locked into a big glass room in the centre of Melbourne for three weeks, unable to leave until the album was recorded.  The whole thing was filmed and broadcast as Band In A Bubble, a kind of a Big Brother type programme. The result was the album Mish Mash! Personally, I think it's probably their best album so maybe the process worked!

(L-R) Seja Vogel, Ben Ely, Pete Kostic, Quan Yeomans

Following that, they added Keyboardist/vocalist, Seja Vogel and this line up recorded their sixth album, the excellent Love And Paranoia. I thought she added an interesting dimension to the band. Unfortunately, this is the only album of theirs she plays on,

They released a further two albums, SuperHappyFuntimesFriends and Dirty Pop Fantasy, both quite eclectic, before going on the dreaded indefinite hiatus in 2013. Thankfully this didn't last too long and they started touring Australia again in 2015. Hopefully, there'll be a new album at some point soon.

I did manage to see them live on their 2003 UK Tour and they didn't disappoint and were a lot of fun. The venue was pretty small (300 capacity) and there were about half a dozen VERY excited Australians down the front. After the show, Quan and Ben stood by the main door shaking hands and thanking people for coming as they left. Before that Ben was stood in front of me in the queue to sign up to the mailing for one of the support bands, Electric Eel Shock from Japan who were, quite frankly, sensational and wiped the floor with every band on the bill that night, including Regurgitator.

(L-R) Ben Ely, Quan Yeomans, Pete Kostic

This mix will be one of the most eclectic Rock albums you'll probably ever hear, but also jam packed full of some of the most enjoyably catchy songs too. Almost all of them will get stuck in your head if you let them.  I've tried to take songs from their entire career so there are quite a few that should be here that I had to cut so the mix would stay to length; I'm sure there's plenty of songs that another fan of 'The Gurge' would be apoplectic about their omission  As with all these band specific mixes I've done, take it as an introduction to the band and expect there to be a wealth of quality material on the full albums. If I can make even a couple of new Regurgitator fans with this then I'll consider it job done.

There's a couple of tracks I would most definitely have included if I hadn't already used them on previous mixes.

"Mountains" was previously used on Mix #12 - The Elephant's Graveyard

"I Sucked A Lot Of Cock To Get Where I Am" was previously used on Mix #21 - NSFW

Tracklisting
We Love You!
Happiness (Rotting My Brain)
Everyday Formula
! (The Song Formally Known As)
My Ego
The Lonely Guy
Future Is Plastic
Music Is Sport
Uncontactable
Romance Of The Damned
If This Is The Blues Why Do I Feel So Green?
Answering Machine
Blubber Boy
Couldn't Do It
So Tuff
Miranda July
Don't Go To Sleep
I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff (Live)
One Day
Hullabaloo
Drinking Beer Is Awesome!
Crush The Losers
Miffy's Simplicity
Metal Is Big In The Baltic States
Fun Fun Fun
I Wanna Be A Nudist
Black Bugs
Fuck The Goddamn World


You can download the mix HERE if you want, no worries. There's blurb about every track below if you fancy a read too.

THIS is their Facebook Page
And HERE is their Spotify Page
HERE's their website for more info, merch, CD's tour dates and all that.
They've got a fair bit up on Bandcamp, the majority of which is Name Your Price, HERE
There's a great interview with Pete Kostic you can listen to on, Australian Podcast, Long Gone Loser HERE

Cheers,
Luke
x

Mix CD #34 - Battered And Bruised

Happy Valentine's Day! Here's the first non themed blog of 2018 and it's full of wildly inappropriate Valentine's songs about loneliness and divorce. There's no subtle hinting to my beautiful wife, just coincidence and very poor timing.

I wanted to get it out and finished a while ago but I've been having personal issues that have meant I've been off work and staring at a screen for large amounts of time isn't conducive to a good time.  I've been working on it for far too long and changed it around a ton but it's finally done, finished and ready for your massive enjoyment. So enjoy massively please ta!

Tracklisting
Kick Joneses - Battered And Bruised
Jackie On Acid - More Like Television
Enuff Z'Nuff - Wheels
Bloodywood - Tunak Tunak Tun
The Class Assassins - For The Kids
Jesper Binzer - The Bumpy Road
Starcrawler - Ants
Skyscraper - Man Made Hell
One Minute Silence - For Want Of A Better World
Bull - 12 Minute Album Ender
Flora Greysteel - Emily Tries
Tom Keifer - It's Not Enough
Shelter - Spirits Blinded
Dire Straits - Skateaway
The Dollyrots - City Of Angels
Drama Club Rejects - Too Much Too Often
Dunes - Everything Is OK
The NX - Swingers & Roundabouts
Sloan - Can't Face Up
Baleful Creed - Levy
Harry Nilsson - Don't Forget Me

You can download the mix HERE

Mix CD #33 - Top Albums Of 2017

Hello and welcome to the first Sapphire Bullets blog of 2018! 
It's weird that we've reached 2018 already, it barely seems like any time at all that now was when the future was in dystopian, Post-Apocalyptical Sci-fi's. Sadly the future is very underwhelming and 12 year old me wouldn't be at all pleased. Back To The Future II was set nearly 3 years ago now and, where we're going, we most certainly still need roads.

Hopefully, reading this blog will assuage the pain of not having a flying car that runs on vegetables somewhat. As you can see it's a roundup of my favourite albums, in order from 20 down to 1 (there's actually 22 tracks not 20 but why will become evident should you read on). Much like last year, there's been an absolute ton of fantastic music and there were quite a few albums that I hated not to include. I'll bung some honourable mentions down at the bottom.

With it being more of a chart this time the format is slightly different. I don't want to post the track listing of the mix first and ruin your sweet anticipation of what's come where so, instead, I'll post it after the last entry along with the download link. I've also included a Spotify link for the first time if that's of use to you.

So yeah, here's my top 20 albums of 2017. Enjoy!

Mix CD #32 - The Start Of Something Beautiful

Hello and welcome to the thirty second blog and what will very probably be the last one of the year!

It has been quite a while since my last entry, the inexplicably popular, covers mix, six weeks or so I think. Sorry about that, blame The Punisher. 

It's back to a themeless mix this time, with a reasonably eclectic collection of songs that I have enjoyed and would also like you to enjoy. I would also like it if you read the banal drivel I've written about each track too, but don't feel you have to or anything. 

As I mentioned in the Facebook group, the next mix will be my top albums of 2017 and I'm aiming to have it done and published at some point in January but if I get it done earlier then there's no point hanging about and I'll stick it up. 

In the meantime, them songs to enjoy, look.

Tracklisting

Porcupine Tree - The Start Of Something Beautiful

Senser - Resistance Now

The Bombpops - Fomo

Monster Magnet - Radiation Day

Jim'll's Brain - My Bad Smell

Cockney Rejects - I'm Not A Fool

Wayward Sons - Be Still

Kris Drever - When The Shouting Is Over

Red Storm Rising - Fortnight Thing

KXM - Big Sky Country

This Year's Girl - Get Off My Radio

Stept In Dogshit - Gimme Viagra

Random Jon Poole - I Know You

Adam Ant - Goody Two-Shoes

Strapping Young Lad - Aftermath

Jim Bob - My New Walk

The Dreaming - Empty Promises

I Found God - Disarray

Jason & The Scorchers - Moonshine Guy

The Stone Roses - Waterfall

You can download the mix HERE

Mix CD #31 - Covers Vol. III: I Don't Like Mondays

It's been quite a while since the previous Covers mix, over a year in fact. I was wondering about doing another one when I stumbled onto the above photo of Brenda Spencer whilst Tori Amos' version of I Don't Like Mondays was playing and took it as a sign that the time was right. It turns out that might not actually be the case!

Brenda Spencer was the 16 year old girl who went on a shooting spree at a school in 1979  the inspiration for The Boomtown Rats' most famous song. After being asked why she shot those people she simply replied: "I don't like Mondays".

I did wonder about postponing this blog for a week or two following the shooting in Las Vegas this week as it might seem to be in poor taste. I decided against it in the end as it's just a little unfortunate in its timing and only has a passing connection to that awful incident anyway. No offense is at all intended and my apologies if you take it that way. 

Cheers
Luke
x

Tracklisting
Tori Amos - I Don't Like Mondays
The Bastard Suns - Walk Of Life
The Wildhearts - The World Comes Tumbln'
Rollins Band - Four Sticks
The Birthday Massacre - From Out Of Nowhere
Frenzal Rhomb - Home And Away
The Wannadies - Lee Remick
Stiff Little Fingers - The Message
Periphery - One
Strung Out - Bark At The Moon
Neko Case - Misfire
Toehider - Theme From M.A.S.K.
Leo Moracchioli - No Limit
Jeff Buckley - Drown In My Own Tears (Live)
Katatonia - Nightmares By The Sea
Nitocris - I Love Rock And Roll
W.A.S.P. - Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
Slayer - Born To Be Wild
Streetlight Manifesto - Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard
Muncie Girls - The Wicker Man
Left Side Brain - Severed
Frank Turner - My Poor Friend Me
Tricky - Pop Muzik
Muse - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want

You can download the mix HERE if you like. read my collection of blurbings below if you want to know who originally performed the songs and that.

If you're interested, here are the previous two Cover Mix Blogs:
Covers Vol. 1 - Such Great Heights
Covers Vol. 2- Come Out And Play

Mix CD #30 - Who Will Sing Me Lullabies?

So here's the thirtieth blog. Is 30 a milestone? It feels like it should be a milestone. It's certainly a lot. I'd regale you with debauched tales of what I got up to on my 30th birthday, only I haven't a clue what I did, completely forgot. Maybe it's because it was such a wild night but more than likely I just spent it playing Halo. Birthdays are rubbish after about 23 or so anyway.

Yeah anyway, the blog. It's the usual mix of new and old. There's some heavy stuff, some Punk, Indie, a little bit of Folk, an even littler bit of Hip Hop. All just things I've liked and wanted to use. As always, you can read what I have t say about each track below and also download the mix if you want too.

The next blog is gonna be another themed mix I've decided. It's been an age since the last Covers mix and I have a huge batch of prospective tracks to use. I've also got a couple of non themed mixes backed up too so I'm good for the time being at least.

I hope you enjoy this one for now though.

Cheers

Luke

x

Tracklisting

Kate Rusby - Who Will Sing Me Lullabies?

Honeycrack - Sitting At Home

Möngöl Hörde - Blistering Blue Barnacles

The Martin Harley Band - Take What You Want

Antiproduct - Bungee Jumping People Die

Gangstagrass - In My Aching Heart Shadows Linger

Stabbing Westward - Falls Apart

Randy - The Pretender

Knives Out! - Left In The Lurch

The Regrettes - Hey Now

Nural - Not Guilty

Bughead - Monster Truck Monday

Crystal Viper - I Fear No Evil

Josh Woodward - Do Not Go Gentle

Ben Folds - Hiro's Song

Karnivool - The Caudal Lure

Bad Religion - Popular Consensus

Stone Sour - Fabuless

Pulkas - This Is It

Masters Of Reality - Doraldina's Prophecies

You can download the mix HERE as piques your fancy.

Mix CD #29 - When The Devil Creeps In

Hello and welcome to the 29th mix/blog whatnot! After the King's X special last week, it's back to business as usual with just a selection of songs that I've liked and wanted to include. There's a mix of new and old, in the case of CJ Wildheart album, very new as it's not officially released until the end of September.  There's a fair bit of 90's stuff too, inlcuding a couple more from the bundle I dragged down from my attic a while back.

The cover art is a photo that was taken in 1948 of a young Polish girl called Tereska. She was rescued from a Nazi concentration camp and taken to a hospital for the 'emotionally disturbed'. In the photo above she was asked to draw a picture of home. 

As always, you can read a little ramble about each song below and download the mix if you like, there's a link after the tracklisting.

Cheers,
Luke
x

Tracklisting
El-Creepo! - When The Devil Creeps In
The Generators - My Days Are Numbered
The Four Horsemen - Drunk Again
Spoonful Of Vicodin - My Idea Of Anarchy Is Taking A Dump On Company Time
Earthtone9 - 3rd Ripple In (Wove)
CJ Wildheart - Beak
Djelmash - Crossroads
Hello Casanova - I Don't Want To Talk
Sonic Boom Six - Learn To Live With It
Piss Viper - Tell It To The Swamp
Savages - Fuckers (Live)
A - Bad Idea
Handsome - Going To Panic
SuperCharger - Undone
Lyriel - White Lily
Paul Miro - A Pocket Full Of Foreign Change (Acoustic)
Hagfish - Bop
The Deadlights - Pox Eclipse
Shihad - The Reason Why
Me And That Man - Get Outta This Place

You can download the mix HERE if you like.

Mix CD #28 - Shot Of Love: The Best Of King's X

It's been a while since I did a themed post, I've been listening to this fine band a lot lately and I figured they'd be splendid candidates for one of these Best Of's's. Unfortunately, I didn't count on how hard it would be but more about that later. Firstly, a little bit about the band for those who might not know of them.

They initially formed in Missouri (soon after they relocated to Texas) in the early eighties, though they didn't release their first album, as King's X, until 1988. At the very core of it, they're a classic Hard Rock trio but with strong ties to Prog Rock. There's also hints of Soul and Funk, particularly in Doug's vocals. Their musicianship is of a flawless standard; Ty is an incredible guitarist and Doug is a wildly influential bassist with a unique playing style. All three of the band contribute lead vocals, to a greater or lesser extent, but the real magic of the band comes when they sing together. Their voices mesh together perfectly and they create lush harmonies that are often compared to The Beatles, though that's a lazy comparison.

At the time of their commercial peak, they stood far apart from their contemporaries, fitting in with neither the Hair Metal or Thrash Metal scenes, on later albums they took slight influences from both Grunge and Nu-Metal during those era's, though never deviating much away from the overall King's X sound.
In their earlier career, they were considered part of the Christian music scene, mostly due to a lot of their lyrics being along a spiritual theme. The band themselves distanced themselves from it somewhat, the feeling eventually becoming mutual when Doug came out as gay in 1998. There's an interesting interview with him about it HERE. 

(l-r) Ty Tabor, Jerry Gaskill and Doug 'Dug' Pinnick

They've always been a prolific band and have absolute masses of brilliant songs. Whittling them down for a single CD length mix was so hard, I got stuck at around 46 songs, none of which I wanted to get rid of. After a load of swearing and head scratching, I decided I was going to have to be brutal and set to. As a result, there are a lot of songs that should be on this mix that aren't. I'd already used two of my favourite songs, Won't Turn Back and Fine Art Of Friendship on previous mixes which helped, but I also didn't include some of their better known songs like Summerland, King, Pleiades, Black Flag, Fade, Groove Machine, Junior's Gone Wild, Dogman, Pillow, Fool You, A Box, Alone, Pray, etc. I'm sure other big fans of the band will disagree completely with my eventual decisions. 

Most albums only have one or two songs included and there's nothing at all from 2000's Please Come Home...Mr Bulbous or any of the new tracks recorded for The Offical Best Of King's X. I also wanted to include something Doug recorded for various tribute albums, The Unforgiven maybe, but no chance. Perhaps I'll do another blog focusing on his many side projects one day. One day. 

If I'm being honest, this is more of a Beginner's Guide To King's X than a Best Of and I really hope that those of you unfamiliar with the band will track down some of the albums because you're missing out!

Cheers,
Luke
x

Tracklisting
Inside Outside
Shot Of Love
Black Like Sunday
It's Love
Shoes
Don't Believe It (It's Easier Said Than Done)
Jenna
Fly
We Are Finding Wo We Are
Ono
Lost In Germany
No Lie
Goldilox
Over My Head
Finished
(Thinking And Wondering) What I'm Gonna Do
Complain
Bebop
Go Tell Somebody
We Were Born To Be Loved

You can download the mix HERE

Mix CD #27 - Strength In Numbers

Hello and Welcome to the current edition of my shitty blog. Prepare your eyes (and ears if you can be arsed) for a feast!

I'd been wanting to use the above photo for a mix for a long time but nothing has really fitted with it. I've been listening to the Ryan Hamilton & The Traitors album a bit lately and the song Strength In Numbers seemed perfect for it as well as being a great song anyway.
 Also, I appreciate the irony in the fact that the old dude actually seems like the one in control of that situation, despite the odds.

As for the other songs on the mix, there's the usual mix of songs I have been enjoying, from the punishing Death Metal of Behemoth to the jaunty Cajun Rockabilly of Johnnie Allan. There are a couple of all-female Punk bands and the usual smattering of both '90's Britrock and Prog Metal as that seems to be all I listen to these days,

As always you can read a scintillating little anecdote about each band and/or song as well as download the mix if you want. Both things are below.

Cheers,
Luke
x

Tracklisting
Ryan Hamilton & The Traitors - Strength In Numbers
The Outcasts - Justa Nother Teenage Rebel
Rachel Stamp - Twisted
Kerbdog - Dead Anyway
Maid Of Ace - Minimum Wage
Poison - (Flesh & Blood) Sacrifice
Blood has Been Shed - Metamorph
Ballboy - You Can't Spend Your Whole Life Hanging Around With Arseholes
April Smith & The Great Picture Show - Drop Dead Gorgeous
The Yo-Yo's - Out Of My Mind
Reuben - Girls On Top
Galactic Cowboys - Ranch On Mars
Sicko - Attention Please
Johnnie Allan - The Promised Land
Iron Maiden - These Colours Don't Run
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Mermaids
Joyrider - It Moved
Nitocris - O.B.I.D
Oceansize - As The Smoke Clears
Behemoth - Blackest Ov The Black
The Mr T Experience - High School Is A Penalty For Transgressions Yet To Be Specified
Ryan Is Fun - Game Over

You can download the mix HERE