Evan Dando 12-string on a beach

Following on from my last blog, I was checking Evan Dando's YouTube channel and found this gem!

Just a video of Evan Dando being Evan Dando. Playing his 12-string on a beach on a sunny winters day. Wooly hat, layered up, yellow shades - super cool. Playing super cool tunes. Everything I love about Evan - his taste in, and love of, music just shines through.

Evan plays;

You Tore Me Down - Flamin' Groovies

Eight Miles High - The Byrds

I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better - The Byrds

Start Again - Teenage Fanclub

CLICK HERE if you don't see the video below.

Never Ending Mixtape Part 22

Welcome to a bonus edition of the Never Ending Mixtape.

I have listened to sooooo much music through March that I'm posting 2 updates to the mixtape this month.

The latest additions might be the most eclectic selection of tunes in a blog yet; we have the unique and brilliant Stereolab, the gorgeous tones of Cat Power, truly amazing songwriting and delivery courtesy of Wilco and Jeff Tweedy, artists I have never heard of before like Fruit Bats (not the guy from Carter USM.... at least I don't think so!), Phil Cordell and Darondo, some of my really favourite tunes like Saint Etienne's version of Neil Young's Only Love Can Break Your Heart, He'd Be A Diamond by The Bevis Frond and I Am A Rock by Simon and Garfunkel.

And more! Electro perfection from the Chemicals, Orbital and Lemon Jelly, classics from Fleetwood Mac and George Harrison, the exceptional version of The Last Time by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra that Richard Ashcroft used for Bittersweet Symphony, we have underground indie/dance from The Pastels and ESG sitting beside pure pop perfection from Madonna, we have a song from Belle and Sebastian with my sister Carla on lead vocals!!!!! And some hidden bonus tracks from Evan Dando, rock n roll from JAMC, the bonkers and brilliant Beta Band....

And just read on..... Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or click HERE.

Miss Modular - Stereolab
Way We Won't - Grandaddy
Dark End Of The Street - Cat Power
Gold Soundz - Pavement
All Your Secrets - Yo La Tengo
Jesus, etc - Wilco
I'm Always In Love - Jeff Tweedy
Crazy About You - Whiskeytown
When U Love Somebody - Fruit Bats
Pot Kettle Black - Wilco
There She Goes Again - The Velvet Underground
What Goes On - The Velvet Underground
That's That - Cass McCombs
Head On - The Jesus and Mary Chain
Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Saint Etienne
He'd Be A Diamond - The Bevis Frond
Squares - The Beta Band

Inner Meet Me - The Beta Band
Hudson Line - Mercury Rev
Reservations - Wilco
I Am A Rock - Simon and Garfunkel
What Is Life - George Harrison
Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac
Nathan Jones - The Supremes
Surface To Air - Chemical Brothers

The Staunton Lick - Lemon Jelly
Copenhagen - Orbital
The Last Time - Andrew Oldham Orchestra
Sweet Jane - The Velvet Underground
Dance - ESG
Material Girl - Madonna
Best Friend - Belle and Sebastian
Tongue Tied - Evan Dando
Whoops - Evan Dando
Rudy With A Flashlight - Evan Dando
Looking For Space - Evan Dando

Hitchin' A Ride - The Pastels
Femme Fatale - The Velvet Underground
Something On Your Mind - Karen Dalton
Red Lady - Phil Cordell
Didn't I - Darondo
Yesterday's On My Mind - Chrish Cohen
Baby I'll Come - Mary Love
Can't Get Away - Rodriguez

I Don't Wanna Grow Up

Cover version of the month #34
Scarlett Johansson covers The Ramones/Tom Waits

UPDATE - I usually research the history of a song before writing a blog about a cover version. However I was so confident that this song was a cover of The Ramones that I didn't bother! So thanks to Jamie Keenan from the La Fontaines for pointing out that it is in fact a Tom Waits song, released on his 1992 album Bone Machine.

Check the original version here, before my unresearched blog below. Lesson learned!

I'm not overly familiar with the back catalogue of The Ramones (who may feature in this regular feature again soon with their cover of The Ronettes) at all. Other than owning some of their 'hit' singles on various compilation albums, they are not a band who have inspired me to dig deep into their history.....or buy a t-shirt!

This is yet another song that I discovered through a cover version. I was browsing Scarlett Johansson ....(ahem!) on Spotify and loved the song title so clicked on play.

The almost homemade electro vibe captivated me immediately, and then Scarlett's treated vocals made me fall (further) under her spell.

The lyrics are brilliantly young, naive and innocent, yet at the same time some of them speak out and capture things that everyone thinks about at times.

Nothing ever seems to turn out right

I don't want to grow up

Seems that folk turn into things

That they never want

The only thing to live for is today

The song lists observations about the world and society, cutting through everything from watching the 5 o'clock news, to getting a loan, to hair falling out.

The Ramones version is predictably punk pop and it's great fun. But Scarlett's version would always get my vote as I think it capture that young frustration and is more believable than The Ramones.

She finds extra beauty in the song, in the lyrics and in the melody. And the sparse electro backing modernises the song brilliantly.

Previous covers of the month

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt
14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine
16. California Soul
18. Wonder wall 
19. Dancing In The Dark
20. Always On My Mind
21. Ceremony
22. Heroes
23. Different Drum
24. Wild Horses

25. Respect
26. Mr Tambourine Man
27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine
28. Superstar
29. Twist and Shout
30. Purple Rain
31. Baker Street
32. Not Fade Away
33. Stop Your Sobbing

Never Ending Mixtape Part 21

So my Never Ending Mixtape (Spotify playlist) reaches 500 songs! And it does so by bringing together 27-songs that largely have a very indie guitar vibe to them.

I add songs to my Never Ending Mixtape on a regular basis and do a catch up blog monthly. And I have to confess that I listen to it a lot myself! Even more so now there is so much on it. Shuffle is my preferred option, but if you want to listen to the latest additions back-to-back then you will need to scroll down t near the bottom of the playlist.

In February I discovered Ezra Furman and wondered why I hadn't before now. He comes across as an artist just pouring with imagination, stories, ideas and energy. Like a pilled up Dylan jamming with Springsteen and Arcade Fire. His latest album Transangelic Exodus should feature in many end of 2018 polls/blogs and he plays the ABC Glasgow on Monday 28th May.

Elsewhere Australia is represented by Smudge, Grant McLennan ad The Go-Betweens. We have the purity of Daniel Johnston, the playfulness of the Moldy Peaches, heartfelt indie gems by Sebadoh and a whole lot more; including Spotify discoveries of Sloan, Miracle Legions, Insecure Men and the crazily names Cleaners from Venus!

Dig in and enjoy. All feedback welcome.

Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or CLICK HERE.

Here are the latest additions.

Suck The Blood From My Wound - Ezra Furman
Take Off Your Sunglasses - Ezra Furman
Are You Gonna Break My Heart - Ezra Furman
Impractical Joke - Smudge
Easy Come, Easy Go - Grant McLennan
Black Autumn - East Village
True Love Will Find You In The End - Daniel Johnston
Anyone Else But You - Moldy Peaches
I Will - Sebadoh
Think (Let Tomorrow Bee) - Sebadoh
Brand New Love - Sebadoh
Rebound - Sebadoh
It's So Hard To Fall In Love - Sebadoh
Everything You've Done Wrong - Sloan
Bout des doigts - Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Ballad of Red Buckets - Yo La Tengo

Psychocandy - Jesus and Mary Chain
Can't Hardly Wait - The Replacements
All For The Best - Miracle Legions
Let's Go - The Feelies
Keep It Surreal - Ride
I Don't Wanna Dance (With My Baby) - Insecure Men
Depreston - Courtney Barnett

Bye Bye Pride - The Go-Betweens
My Favourite Dress - The Wedding Present
Holdin' On - The Clean
Corridor of Dreams - The Cleaners From Venus

Never Ending Mixtape Part 18

Welcome to the latest additions to The Never Ending Mixtape, which smashes the 400 song barrier without breaking sweat as a whole heap of songs are added to my Spotify Playlist.

We start with the sublime Rocket Man by Elton John, leading into a Dylan song that reminds me of the magical time I saw him at the Barrowland Ballroom. we have two sublime covers by The Fuzzy Bunnies and The Icypoles, the smooth seductive sound of Barry White, a Donovan song that I thought was a lost Belle and Sebastian number when I first heard it, the majestic Carole King, fantastic indie guitar from Guided By Voices and The Replacements, a beautiful Lennon song sung by Yoko, some gems from The Boo Radleys Giant Steps album and a couple of tracks by Royksopp that reminds me (pardon the pun) of dating my wife back in 2001/2 and going clubbing. Their Melody AM album was a post club favourite.

There is also 3 gems from New Order, including 2 from their Technique LP, we have Stevie Wonder covering The Byrds/Dylan, 2 from The Supremes, a beauty from Martha Reeves, a masterclass in songwriting from Gordon Lightfoot and 3 timeless pieces of rock n roll from Eddie Cochran.

You can search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or simply check it out below. You'll need to scroll to near the end for the latest additions (listed below). Or just press shuffle and enjoy. New additions are added and blogged about monthly.

Enjoy!

Rocket Man - Elton John

I'll Be Your Baby Tonight - Bob Dylan

Love Hurts - Gram Parsons

I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better - The Byrds

Wasn't Born To Follow - The Byrds

Blue Boy - Orange Juice

L.O.V.E. Love - Orange Juice

The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore - The Fuzzy Bunnies

Love Thy Will Be Done - The Icypoles

Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right - The Mayberry Movement

Let The Music Use You (12-inch) The Nightwriters

It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me - Barry White

Wear Your Love Like Heaven - Donovan

It's Too Late - Carole King

Glad Girls - Guided By Voices

Swinging Party - The Replacements

The Joker - Steve Miller Band

Time Of The Season - The Zombies

Remember Love - John Lennon and Yoko Ono

You Are Here - John Lennon

Take It All In - St Etienne

Wish I Was Skinny - The Boo Radleys

Lazarus - The Boo Radleys

I Don't Know Why I Love You - The House of Love

Eple - Royksopp

Remind Me - Royksopp
Age Of Consent - New Order

All The Way - New Order
Run - New Order
Disappointed - Electronic
Mr. Tambourine Man - Stevie Wonder
Bad Weather - The Supremes
Love Child - The Supremes
I Can't Dance To The Music You're Playing - Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot
Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran
C'Mon Everybody - Eddie Cochran
Somethin' Else - Eddie Cochran

Never Ending Mixtape Part 12

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another jam packed blog where I add songs to the Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify.

Dig in to one of Damon Albarn's  most heartbreaking songs, marvel at Handsome Boy Modelling School stunning Them Truth, the garage rock pop punk delight of The Strokes, euphoric electronic dance courtesy of Ultraworld that I discovered via an Optimo tweet, a song I checked cause it has a cool title, the glorious One Dove, the truly beautiful Night Nurse, two early gems by Primal Scream, funk, soul, acid jazz,  4 stormers from early Beatles, 3 choice cuts from Rodriguez and throw in The Box Tops, The McCoys and much, much more, ending with the dreamy beauty Junk from Paul McCartney.

The Never Ending Mixtape is now sitting at 238 songs! Open Spotify and search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape or just CLICK HERE.

Scroll down to start with the latest additions, play from the start, on shuffle or however you want. Let me know what you think.

No Distance Left To Run - Blur

The Truth - Handsome Boy Modelling School featuring Roisin Murphy

Someday - The Strokes
Last Nite

Wait - The Kills

House Of The Jealous Lovers - The Rapture

Northern Piano (hardcore piano mix) -Ultraworld

Strings Of Life (Danny Krivit re-edit) - Soul Central

Where Love Lives (Come On In) - Alison Limerick

Perfume (Loved Up) - Paris Angels

White Love (Radio Mix) - One Dove

The High Road - Broken Bells

Johny Stays Cool - The Babe Rainbow

Night Nurse - Dean and Britta

Love You - Primal Scream

Velocity Girl - Primal Scream

Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield

Love and Happiness - Al Green

Get Up Offa That Thing - James Brown

I Want To Take You Higher - Sly and the Family Stone

Hang On Sloopy - The McCoys

Goody Goody Gumdrops - 1910 Fruitgum Company

The Letter - The Box Tops

Twist and Shout - The Beatles
I'm Down 
Bad Boy 
Long Tall Sally 

Sugar Man - Rodriguez
I Think Of You
Cause

I Got My Baby Back - Lorraine Ellison

Man With The Golden Touch - Charles Thomas

You Forgot How To Love - Patti LaBelle

Afternoon of the Rhino - Mike Post Coalition

Something's Burnin' - The Marvellos

Got Myself A Good Man - Pucho and his Latin Soul Brothers

Nuther'n Like Nuther'n - Willis Jackson

O'Baby (I Believe I'm Losing You) - Billy Hawks

Brand New Girl - Billy Garner

Soul Brother's Testify Part 1 - Chester Rendle's Soul Sender's
Soul Brother's Testify Part 2

I'm Just  A Prisoner (Of Your Good Lovin') - Candi Staton

The Young Mod's Forgotten Story - The Impressions

Junk - Paul McCartney