Songs That Get My Juices Flowing #23

(mp3) Karen O feat. Peaches - Backass
Available on Jackass Number Two Motion Picture Soundtrack (2006)

(mp3) Ray LaMontagne - You are the best thing
Available on Gossip In The Grain (2008)

(mp3) Bill Cosby - Mojo workout
Available on Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings (1967)

(mp3) Jonny Greenwood - Future markets
Available on There Will Be Blood Motion Picture Soundtrack (2007)

(mp3) The Streets - Let's push things forward
Available on Original Pirate Material (2002)

Ciaran Lenehan

Make sure to check out Ciaran Lenehan, he's definitely going places. He hangs out on the same message board as me and one day he posted a video of himself performing a song called Wake Me Up.

Everyone went nuts for it, and so did I. I asked him to write a little something about himself so I could make a post about him. Now when the time has come to make that post, I'm too lazy (not to mention hungover) to write it into a piece, so I'll just copy and paste his own words:

"Right, well I'm from a place in Dublin called Tallaght, grew up and still live there.

I started playing guitar at 9, mainly just played old Irish songs and Gareth Brooks! Then at 15 I discovered metal and bought my first electric guitar, joined a band called Lugosi at 18. That's when I started writing songs. Lugosi went until 2006, when I was 20.

Then at 21 I started to write songs on my acoustic, first song called "Lullaby" which had a catchy chorus but never really worked as a song, played my first open mic in May of '07, played two songs called "Let Go" and "You Stole Today". The latter will be on my album.

Currently recording my first EP called "Your Songs" and that will be available on the MySpace for free around Christmas time. Then I start to record my first album in the new year."

Any regular reader of this blog knows I'm crap at describing what a certain band or performer sounds like, but Lenehan's music is acoustic, emotive, often pretty intense, stripped down and wonderfully lo-fi.

Let's just say it's good shit. Really good shit. He'll be back in the studio soon, hopefully he'll let me post some more of his stuff.

(mp3) Ciaran Lenehan - 1 journey left (highly recommended!)
(mp3) Ciaran Lenehan - Dandruff
(mp3) Ciaran Lenehan - Your song

More Ciaran Lenehan right here or here.

The aforementioned live performance of Wake Me Up (featuring bangable host and best hat ever):

Ciaran performing Too Late:

The red in the sky is ours

This is the last of the color themed themes mixes (for now). White, black, green, and blue were all great, and this one is every bit as good.

A lotta oldies and classics on this one, side by side with slightly more obscure offerings. An essential collection.

(zip) Metal Bastard's Red Songs (54 mb)

1. Fleet Foxes - Red squirrel/Sun rises (2008)
2. Love - My little red book (1966)
3. Sonny Condell - Red sail (1977)
4. Owen Wilson & Vince Vaughn - 99 red balloons (2005)
5. Lolita Pop - Tarzan on a big red scooter (1989)
6. Robert Johnson - They're red hot (1937)
7. Sweet 75 - Red dress (1997)
8. Kings of Leon - Red morning light (2003)
9. Peter Gabriel - Red rain (1986)
10. Howlin' Wolf - The red rooster (1961)
11. Pink Floyd - The red queen theme (1970)
12. Billy Lee Riley - Red hot (1957)
13. 16 Horsepower - Red neck heel (1996)
14. The Incredible String Band - Red hair (1971)
15. Bob Dylan - Red river shore (1997)

Buy 'em @ Amazon.com.

Previous installments:

Metal Bastard's Mountain Songs (November 30th)
Metal Bastard's Mind Songs (November 19th)
Metal Bastard's Light Songs (November 14th)
Metal Bastard's White Songs (November 3rd)
Metal Bastard's Tears Songs (October 23rd)
Metal Bastard's Green Songs (October 14th)
Metal Bastard's Dreams Songs Redux (October 6th)
Metal Bastard's Moon Songs (October 1st)
Metal Bastard's Black Songs (September 22nd)
Metal Bastard's Door Songs (September 14th)
Metal Bastard's Midnight Songs (August 22nd)
Metal Bastard's Capitals Songs (August 3rd)
Metal Bastard's Road Songs (July 28th)
Metal Bastard's Money Songs (July 21st)
Metal Bastard's Blue Songs (July 17th)
Metal Bastard's Eye Songs (July 12th)
Metal Bastard's Death Songs (July 3rd)
Metal Bastard's Summer Songs (June 29th)
Metal Bastard's Life Songs (June 15th)
Metal Bastard's Songs About Fellow Artists (June 7th)
Metal Bastard's Friends Songs (May 31st)
Metal Bastard's Angel Songs (May 25th)
Metal Bastard's Body Parts Songs (May 17th)
Metal Bastard's Street Songs (May 10th)
Metal Bastard's Fire Songs (May 1st)
Metal Bastard's Murder Songs (March 30th)
Metal Bastard's Bird Songs (March 25th)
Metal Bastard's Rain Songs (March 19th)
Metal Bastard's Boy Songs (March 15th)
Metal Bastard's Weekdays Songs (March 6th)
Metal Bastard's Lost Songs (March 1st)
Metal Bastard's Animals Songs (February 23rd)
Metal Bastard's River Songs (February 19th)
Metal Bastard's Hand Songs (February 14th)
Metal Bastard's Time Songs (February 9th)
Metal Bastard's Water Songs (February 9th)
Metal Bastard's Dream Songs (February 1st)
Metal Bastard's Satan Songs (January 28th)
Metal Bastard's House Songs (January 23rd)
Metal Bastard's Gone Songs (January 20th)

The best of 2004

I found these two albums today when I was tidying up for Christmas. One that was given away with Q Magazine, one with Uncut Magazine, both from the December issues of 2004 containing samples from what each publication considered the best releases of the year.

While both good, the Uncut one is easily my favorite of these two. Q's cd may have two fantastic tracks from Interpol and Nick Cave, and few other good ones, but overall Uncut wins by a long shot. These two show quite well the magazines' different views on music - Wilco is the only band shared by both. Q is more prone to write about perhaps overhyped U.K. artists (often overhyped by Q themselves), while Uncut is a bit earthier, with a stronger leaner towards the U.S. and things like alt country and rootsy rock.

I also feel that Q cheated a bit by putting old songs from reissued albums (the 10th anniversary edition of Jeff Buckley's Grace and the 25th anniversary edition of The Clash's London Calling) on the cd instead of making room for current artists.

But everyone has different tastes, and it'll be interesting to see which of these gets more downloads.

(zip) Q Magazine's Best of 2004 (69 mb)

1. Keane - Can't stop now
2. Jamelia - See it in a boy's eye
3. Franz Ferdinand - The dark of the matinee
4. The Killers - Mr. Brightside
5. Green Day - Letterbomb
6. The Libertines - Can't stand me now
7. The Clash - Train in vain
8. Dizzie Rascal - Stand up tall
9. Mylo - Drop the pressure
10. Kasabian - LSF (Lost souls forever)
11. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - There she goes my beautiful world
12. Interpol - Public pervert
13. Wilco - Muzzle of bees
14. Jeff Buckley - Dream brother
15. The Secret Machines - Now here is nowhere

(zip) Uncut Magazine's Best of 2004 (74 mb)

1. American Music Club - Home
2. Brian Wilson - Cabin essence
3. Wilco - At least that's what you said
4. Elliot Smith - Memory lane
5. Tom Waits - Baby gonna leave me
6. Lambchop - Something's going on and on (alternate version)
7. Björk - Desired constellation
8. Richmond Fontaine - Willamette
9. Ella Guru - This is my rock 'n' roll
10. Blanche - Another lost summer
11. Drive-By Truckers - Goddamn lonely love
12. Kevin Tihista's Red Terror - Oh
13. Jesse Malin - Silver Manhattan
14. The Dears - We can have it
15. Micah P. Hinson - The day Texas sank to the bottom of the sea

The Best of 2009

Sorry for the lack of updates but I've hella busy with this thing right here - a rundown of the best albums of 2009. It's a hard job but somebody's gotta do it.

And why not refresh your memories about how yours truly felt about the music of 2008 here and here.

(mp3) Etienne De Crecy - Scratched
Available on Tempovision (2001)

(mp3) Melanie - Brand new key
Available on Gather Me (1971)

(mp3) Ossler - Hotel Neanderthal
Available on Hotel Neanderthal (1997)

(mp3) Radio 4 - State of alert
Available on Stealing Of A Nation (2004)

(mp3) Wilco - That's not the issue
Available on A.M. (1995)

Songs That Get My Juices Flowing #22

(mp3) The Ark - Calleth you, cometh I
Available on In Lust We Trust (2002)

(mp3) Billy Eckstine - I left my hat in Haiti
Recorded in 1951. Available on Everything I Have Is Yours (compilation, 1991)

(mp3) Dean Martin - Day after day
Available on Capitol Collector Series (compilation, 1996)

(mp3) Helado Negro - Adios Mundo Maldit
Available on V/A - The Wall Rebuilt (compilation, 2009)

(mp3) The Clash - The man in me
Outtake from the London Calling rehearsals (1979)

Scott Morgan ♥ The Hellacopters

This story begins in Detroit in 1964.

A gentleman by the name of Scott Morgan was the lead singer and guitarist of a garage band called The Rationals. They never had a big hit, altough the single Respect (recorded a year before Aretha Franklin scored big time with her own version) did break the Billboard 100 in 1966.

After the band parted ways in 1970, Morgan joined forces with MC5’s Fred Smith, Gary Rassmussen of the band Up and wild-man Scott Asheton from The Stooges to form Sonic’s Rendesvouz Band (which I will from here on refer to as “SRB”, because it’s just too damn long).

The band only ever released one single before they split up, but over the years a cult following grew. Bootleg live albums were traded and rock ‘n’ rollers world wide drooled over this supergroup, full of Detroit rock royalty. One of these rock ‘n’ rollers was Nick Royale of Swedish rock heroes The Hellacopters, a band greatly influenced by the Detroit scene of the 1970’s. On the vinyl version of their second album Payin’ The Dues (1997), they included a cover of SRB’s City Slang.

This did not go unnoticed and soon Scott Morgan became friends with The Hellacopters. In 1998 Nick got together with two member of the Dutch rock band The Nitwitz to form the project The Hydromatics, which basically started as a SRB tribute band. Scott Morgan was asked to perform the vocals on the recording and the resulting album, 1999’s Parts Unknown, is an amalgamation of SRB classics and original material, with an MC5 cover thrown in for good measure.

In September 1999 The Hellacopters got their asses on a plane to New York to record two SRB songs with Scott for a single on SubPop Records. These two songs, 16 With A Bullet and Slow Down (Take A Look), were later included on the Hellacopters rarities compilation Cream Of The Crap Vol. 2 in 2004. During these sessions Scott and Nick also collaborated on a new song, entitled Hurtin’ Time, which was later recorded by The Hellacopters for their 2000 album High Visibility. Still with me? Okay, good.

With Nick’s newfound love for classic soul and r’n'b, and Scott hailing from the soul capital of the world, The Solution took form in 2003. Demos of songs (including Monkeyboy which would later appear on The 'Copters' 2005 album Rock & Roll Is Dead) were sent back and forth across the Atlantic, and with a full album’s worth of material assembled, Nick & Scott got together in Atlantis Studios in Stockholm to record Communicate!, with a horn section, female back-up singers and the whole shebang.

The first single I Have To Quit You Baby became a top 10 hit in Sweden, and the album was greeted with well deserved rave reviews, with more than one reviewer drawing parallells to blue-eyed soul legends Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels. To make a soul album is a tricky thing for white people, and the fact that Communicate! sounds nothing like The Commitments is a monumental achievement.

Nick soon left The Hydromatics to focus on The Hellacopters, and The Solution released their second album Will Not Be Televised in 2007. Let's hope that Nick, now that The Hellacopters are no more, will give The Solution a more attention. And Death Breath too of course. We need another Death Breath album NOW!

(mp3) The Hydromatics - Dangerous (recommended!)
(mp3) The Hydromatics - Get it together
(mp3) The Hydromatics - Calling L.W.A.
Availble on Parts Unknown (1999)


(mp3) The Hellacopters - Hurtin' time (recommended!)
Availble on High Visibility (2000)


(mp3) Scott Morgan & The Hellacopters - Slow down (take a look)
(mp3) Scott Morgan & The Hellacopters - 16 with a bullet (recommended!)
Availble on Cream Of The Crap Vol. 2 (compilation, 2004)


(mp3) The Solution - Get on back (recommended!)
(mp3) The Solution - Phoenix
(mp3) The Solution - Words
Availble on Communicate! (2004)

The Solution live in 2004:


The video for The Solution's You Gotta Come Down: