I could do with your help - as I mentioned in the "iPod shuffle" thread I've been asked to produce a desert island-style top 10 tracks for a website called Desert.fm.
I have the following list... would any of you be able to give it a quick read through and check for typos, and also to see if the damned thing actually makes sense?
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Stooges: I Wanna Be Your Dog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJIqnXTqg8I
When a 16 year old me stumbled into Manchester’s legendary Goth nightclub The Banshee at the tail end of the 80s, I already had a pretty good awareness of the Goth genre, but less so when it came to Goth's roots. After walking into The Banshee that first time and sitting/dancing to a couple of hours’ worth of delayed guitars, baritone vocals and cheap drum machines, the DJ played this track and it blew my mind. Iggy’s deranged howling is, to this day, one of my favourite sounds.
Ramones: I Wanna Be Sedated
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLlLtSG7xe4
Everyone likes the Ramones, right? Even if you haven’t heard them, you probably own the t-shirt. The thing here is that I really do like the Ramones. All of it. Even "Rock & Roll High School�. This song is quintessential Ramones for me - it’s fast, repetitive, has dumb-ass lyrics and a singalong chorus, and it's groovy as hell.
The Sisters of Mercy: Adrenochrome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eimy8u1qvD4
For me, everything started with The Sisters of Mercy. And everything will probably end with them. They're the only band I've consistently listened to, regardless of what other genre has been tickling my fancy at the time. I've seen them live all over Europe - I've lost count but I think I'm somewhere in the region of about 20 gigs, which may sound bizarre but I know people who have seen them live all over the world, over a hundred times. They're one of those bands that change your life and stick with you forever. This track isn't my favourite Sisters track, but it does encapsulate everything I love about the band. It's raw, it's a bit of a dirge, and it's as dark as f**k. And the artwork for this single (it's actually the b-side to their second ever single - 1982's "Body Electric") is an interpretation of one of Francis Bacon's amazing "Pope" series of paintings. It doesn't get any seedier or cooler than this. Utterly bastard groovy.
The Cure: Catch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWPnYXldfY8
1988. Alan Melvin. He was in the year above me at school and was a bit of a John Peel indie kid. I was just starting to discover alternative music and Alan was the school’s music geek. He took pity on me and made me a compilation tape of indie and alternative tracks he thought I might like. That was the best C90 I’ve ever owned. As far as this song goes, the music is beautiful and Fat Bob's tragic tale of yearning and loss gets me every time. Without doubt my favourite Cure song.
Suicide: Rocket USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SDMdvOfggs
Alan Vega and Martin Rev. Cheap sunglasses, a boat load of amphetamines and a ridiculous synth sound. Perfect. It's said that Alan Vega coined the term “punk� to describe a youth subculture in NYC in the early 70s. Suicide’s sound wasn't punk, but they were part of that NY punk scene. They pushed the limits of what synths (and the Roland Space Echo) could do, while still being called music. They combined avant-garde experimentation with f**ked up gutter sleaze, and although what emerged varied between brilliant and utterly unlistenable, it was always very cool. A young me gave them bonus points because their aesthetic wasn’t a million miles away from The Sisters of Mercy's early look (it’s well documented that The Sisters stole a lot of their sound and image from bands like Suicide, The Ramones and Iggy & The Stooges), and a younger me fell hook, line and sinker for anything with that "shades and leather jacket" schtick.
Gogol Bordello: Wonderlust King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4hbSW8tm2k
I was sat having my tattoo done a few years ago and this preposterous eastern european Gypsy punk racket started playing on the studio's stereo. I was amazed. Turns out it was Gogol Bordello. I promptly went out and bought everything I could find (once he’d finished tattooing my arm). There’s something jubilant and defiant in everything they do, and when you see them live on stage their energy is immense. It’s like watching a really f**ked up carnival, or the world’s weirdest circus perform. For me this song captures the band’s vibrancy (and Eugene Hütz’s pidgin English) perfectly. As an added bonus the video is filmed mainly on the boardwalk at Coney Island, a place that is equal parts "faded seaside glory" and complete and utter freak show. Love it.
Autechre: Eggshell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4jpy836IJo
By about 1993 I was getting bored of the new bands on the Goth scene. Musically it had stagnated and every new band was slavishly emulating one of the big 4 (The Sisters, The Nephilim, The Cult, Siouxsie & The Banshees). The nascent “industrial� scene, which had been an interesting diversion for a while, had descended into a cat-fight between Trent Reznor from NIN and Bill Leeb from Frontline Assembly about who was “the hardest", with everybody trying to sound like a thrash metal band as a result. If I'd wanted to listen to a Slayer tribute band, I’d go out and find one, thank you. There was nowhere to go, so I took a step back and started to think about what I loved about music at that time... The answer was intelligent use of drum machines and rhythms, interesting synths, and a really strong groove. A friend put me on to Autechre, and my life changed again. Their debut album “Incunabula" is another of my all-time favourite albums. It’s delicate, intelligent, and groovy as hell (you may be noticing a theme here). Autechre were a gateway drug into the whole electronica scene, which was what made me choose to go to university in Sheffield (being the home of Warp Records, who practically defined the UK electronica scene at the time). This band, and this album, changed so many things for me.
Lykke Li: Sadness Is A Blessing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu-b3u5jDiU
A classic 60s Phil Spector sound, heart wrenching lyrics and an incredible voice. Pretty much ticks all my boxes. I first heard this when I stumbled across her performing it live on Jools Holland. I’d never heard of her before but her incredible performance of the song stopped me in my tracks. After it had finished I rewound it (God bless you, Sky) and listened to it again. And again. Absolute perfection. Probably my favourite song from the last 15 or so years.
Max Romeo & The Upsetters: Chase the Devil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N505JczoEGI
I’ve been into dub for quite a few years, and have a passing fondness for other styles of what people collectively call “reggae". I was exploring some reggae compilations a few years ago when I stumbled across this song. I recognised the melody but couldn’t place it immediately… and then he sang the chorus. It was a real lightbulb moment. I love sample spotting: the hairs on my arms literally do stand on end when I accidentally come across the source of a sample used in a song I've known for years.
Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood: Summer Wine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH800q8qQsg
I nearly picked Nancy & Lee’s strange, quirky and beautiful "Some Velvet Morning", which has so many memories for me and was my first introduction to the floor-shaking baritone of Lee Hazelwood, but as I started writing this summary I realised that my love of that particular song has been eclipsed by my fondness for this epic. Just listen to those strings! Not to mention that pseudo-Bond riff… Sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it. There’s a story that when Frank Sinatra found out how Lee had been “corrupting� his daughter Nancy he threatened to set the mafia onto him, and that’s why Lee became a recluse, living in solitude atop a mountain for years. I don’t know if its true, but I like to think so. Regardless... those strings!!
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Thanks in advance
