Named after the debut single by Teenage Fanclub.
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This blog is all about being a music lover in Glasgow; reviews, interviews, memories, old faves, new discoveries (past & present) and more. Thanks for visiting - I hope you discover something amazing you've never heard before, or that you rediscover an old favourite.
Regular features/playlists; Never Ending Mixtape / Cover Version of the Month/ Trust Me.
Twitter - @murrayeaston
Email - murrayeaston {AT} gmail {DOT} com
Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions cover The Jesus & Mary Chain
The Jesus & Mary Chain released Automatic, their 3rd album, back in 1989. The CD version added a couple of bonus songs; Drop and Sunray, on top of the 10 songs available on the LP version.
Drop is a beautiful song that the band would go on to rerecord for the Stoned & Dethroned album sessions and this version came out on the Sometimes Always CD single.
Sometimes Always, a duet with the divine Hope Sandoval, is one of my very favourite songs, so there is some synergy in the fact that a b-side of that song was the opening track on Bavarian Fruit Bread, her 2001 debut album as Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions.
Good God, I could listen to Hope Sandoval sing the phone book and feel moved. Hope's dreamy voice hypnotises me. Glockenspiel is sprinkled over a raw acoustic guitar and very gentle percussion and Sandoval comes in with vocals set to stun.
The way you drop
Is like a stone
Making out you're flying
But you've just been thrown
Drop is a beautiful song and Hope Sandoval adds dreamy qualities to make it almost lullaby like.
The original Mary Chain version is only 2-minutes long. Sublimely raw, Jim Reid's vocals have that elegantly wasted quality that he delivers so well over just a couple of chords, understated strings, light percussion and a Velvets-y lead guitar on top. Classic Mary Chain. The lyrics are imaginative, druggy, provocative and have a religious reference in the kiss off line.
I should have guessed
When I took that pill
Do I love her still?
Well, did Jesus kill?
I love the original, I mean, it's pretty perfect. But I also love the version from the Stoned and Dethroned era. It's a little more country blues, a little more groovy, sounding like the Mary Chain could well have taken a trip to Memphis with their Primal Scream buddies around that time.
In short, Drop is a brilliant song, check out the links to the recordings below. All 3 are added to my Cool Cover Versions playlist. AND as a bonus check the live version from Creations Undrugged show at the Royal Albert Hall from 1994!
All previous cover version of the month blogs are listed below. To listen, search for Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist, featuring all of the songs below, on Spotify or CLICK HERE
The first time I heard Hope Sandoval's voice may well have been her gorgeous dreamy swoon on Fade Into You from 1993's So Tonight That I Might See album.
I would have been 17 and religiously reading the NME and Melody Maker every week, listening to the Evening Session and John Peel when I could. Hope Sandoval captivated me, with her voice, her looks and her style.
Around this time I was always writing lyrics and playing around with my guitars. I actually wrote a song with the working title Mazzy Star (Song For Hope Sandoval), imagining her lush whispery voice over acoustic guitars and strings. I still have the lyrics in an old folder that I found up in my Mums loft a couple of years ago. Maybe I should send them to her!
Mazzy Star always seemed pretty mysterious. I don't recall them touring often, indeed I can only find a record of them playing in Scotland once - at King Tuts in Glasgow back in 1993. So I've never seen her play live. Something I'd love to rectify at some point in the future.
Sadly it won't be as Mazzy Star. David Roback passed away in February 2020. Roback left a celebrated body of work from his time with The Rain Parade, Opal and Mazzy Star.
Mazzy Star released 4 albums; She Hangs Brightly (1990), So Tonight That I Might See (1993), Among My Swan (1996) and then following their reformation; Seasons Of Your Day (2013)
Hope Sandoval and The Warm Inventions were the post Mazzy Star outfit that Sandoval formed. To date, they have released 3 albums; Bavarian Fruit Bread (2001), Through The Devil Softly (2009) and Until The Hunter (2016).
So many have fallen for Sandoval's sublime voice. The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack and Death In Vegas have all invited Hope to sprinkle some magic on their songs.
I think the opportunity to work with a singer like Hope really inspires them to create some really beautiful, atmospheric, magical music. Check this spellbinding version of Cherry Blossom Girl with Air.
I've enjoyed digging back through Sandoval's back catalogue to choose ten of my favourites.
You can check this Spotify playlist and my musings and videos of my choices below.
Let Me Get There It's all in the groove, let me get there sings Sandoval on this truly sensational duet with Kurt Vile. Stretching beyond 7-minutes, the band and singers are in no rush, there is plenty of space for everyone.
And it is all in the groove. Sandoval and Vile trade lines over a country blues vibe with a slight tinge of psychedelia coming from the reverb on their vocals. Some of the guitar playing is exquisite.
Vile sounds beautifully stoned while there is a chilled determination in the way Sandoval sings let me get there. Echoes of Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra.
A gem of a song.
Look On Down From The Bridge
Get ready to have your heart melted.
Sandoval's voice is fragile and beautiful as she sings How could I say goodbye? over a beat so gentle is is barely there, as Roback conjures stunning sounds from his guitar. The church organ creates an incredible atmosphere, listening to this with headphones brings tears to my eyes.
Look on down from the bridge
There's still fountains down there
Look on down from the bridge
It's still raining up here
Everybody seems so far away from me
Everybody just wants to be free
This is the closing track from 1996 album Among My Swan. It's almost impossible to describe how delicate and beautiful it is. Just listen ... with your headphones on and your eyes closed.
Disappear
How f**king gorgeous is this song? One of Sandoval's dreamiest vocals. I could listen to her voice for days. Roback's fingers dance over his guitar, there is a gentle tambourine being tapped and all kinds of gorgeous reverb-y echo effects.
Close your eyes and look at me
I can't believe what I cannot see
Drop
A cover of a Jesus and Mary Chain song, Drop is the song that Hope chose to open her debut album with the Warm Inventions. I love the opening lines of the first verse quoted below.
The way you drop
Is like a stone
Make out you're flying
But you've just been thrown
Into Dust
This song feels and sounds special. At their very best Mazzy Star capture magic on record. Into Dust is exceptionally atmospheric, I hang on every word and sound.
Paradise Circus (with Massive Attack)
Sandoval's voice is set against very different soundscape. Rumbling dub like bass and little flickers of piano. Listening back to this song made me appreciate how little bass there is in a lot of Sandoval's song. Of course, it's Massive Attack, the bass is heavier than most acts, but it does rumble delightfully and the contrast with Sandoval's voice is stunning.
Love is like a sin, my love
For the one that feels it the most
Look at her with a smile like a flame
She will love you like a fly will never love you again
Asleep From Day (with The Chemical Brothers)
The Chems totally get Hope Sandoval and create a magical comedown track
The chilled build up and then the drop at 2 minutes 41 seconds is beautiful, for those of us who have lay on floors at friends houses after a night of clubbing, you'll know that feeling; you've had a great night dancing and talking with friends, now your energy has gone and you're lying dozing, dreaming, listening to music to help you unwind ... if something like this came on you would drift off blissfully into a psychedelic dream.
I've got a lot of friends
And they've got beautiful eyes
That make my heart feel surprised
Sometimes Always (w/ The Jesus and Mary Chain)
This duet with the Mary Chain never fails to bring a smile to my face. The chiming guitars, Hope's sweet voice against Jim Reid's cracked pleas for one more chance.
Hope stands firm but in the end gives in and lets Jim back. It's all over in 2 and a half glorious minutes. Guitar pop perfection.
Killing Smile (w/ Death In Vegas)
This song absolutely floors me with its majestic beauty. The strings ushering in an acoustic guitar and then the most gorgeous vocal.
You can spend your life behind my falling star
This life will meet you with a long and killing smile
Don't have a feeling but I wanna waste my time
By the time we get to the line And you know I want to the follow up with you is so hushed and whispered that you can hardly hear it.
This is my favourite song featuring Hope Sandoval, everything about it is just perfect.
All the while I spent my time making schemes
Now I know when things are always what they seem
The strings are heart achingly beautiful, the melody being plucked on a banjo (?) just tweaks the heart strings and I could listen to Hope Sandoval singing like this for days on end.
Fade Into You
Another absolutely sublime song. Another perfect song.
There is a reason it is is Mazzy Star's most famous sand celebrated song. From the off, there is a little extra urgency in Fade Into You, with the acoustic strum, with the dreamy slide guitar and even the beat. Sandoval, of course, sounds incredible.
I look to you and I see nothing
I look to you to see the truth
Everything is perfect. This is dream music, dream pop.
You live your life, you go in shadows
You'll come apart and you'll go black
Some kind of night into your darkness
Colours your eyes with what's not there
There is reflection and then the realisation that her love never knew.
Fade into you
Strange you never knew
It's easy to get lost in this song, so go on, lose yourself for 5-minutes. Marvel at its beauty.
I was driving around the other day with my Never Ending Mixtape on shuffle and all of a sudden Wide Open by The Chemical Brothers with Beck came blasting out of my car speakers.
I marvelled at the song and, not for the first time in relation to a Chemical Brothers collaboration, questioned 'what if?'
What if Beck and The Chemical Brothers had got together for an album?
It is something I have thought about many times in relation to Chemical collaborations, particularly in relation to the mesmerising, pulsating, modern psychedelic masterpiece The Golden Path, their work with The Flaming Lips from their Singles 93-03 compilation in 2003.
What if some bright spark had suggested - that really is incredible, lets get together for a week or so and see what we can come up with? I suppose at that time that both the Chems and the Lips were riding high and touring constantly on the back of their success, so that option never materialised. What if?
A full list of Chemical Brothers collaborations is listed below. Here are my own top 5;
1. The Golden Path
Wayne Coyne from The Flaming Lips takes on lead vocals with bandmate Steve Drozd on backing vocals. The song flows superbly and takes the listener on a trip, much like the dreary office worker living in a grey world and dreaming in technicolour glory. Coyne and Drozd apparently sent the Chems a demo thinking they would get another chance to improve on it, but the Chems called them back ecstatic - and that was that.
2. Life Is Sweet
Tim Burgess was into the Chemical Brothers from the off, partying at the Heavenly Social and getting them to remix and produce some Charlatans tunes; Patrol, Nine Acre Court and the Time For Livin' cover being those I remember off the top of my head.
Life Is Sweet is a match made in heaven. The beats and groove suit Burgess, his vocals, melody and style are perfect for The Chemicals. The beats, synths and bass combine in a funky flowing way
I'm driving in the sun
It's a hell of a way down south
Bring me back my love
3. Out Of Control
Bernard Sumner is someone who responds very well to opportunities to work with others. He is a bit of a studio boffin and I love his work with Electronic and more recently a collaboration with Hot Chip on the brilliant Didn't Know What Love Was - check the video to that HERE.
As for Out Of Control, it surges, soars, floats - the guitar break is pure New Order with fizzing laser synth sounds - and then it surges some more. Sumner is in great form and he's joined by Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie on backing vocals.
Maybe I'm just scared of losin' you
Or maybe it's the things you make me do
4. Where Do I Begin?
Beth Orton was crowned the 'comedown Queen' back in the day. She collaborated with the Chems on a number of occasions and I was torn between this and the glorious The State We're In, but this just wins for me.
It really is a comedown tune. A lovely riff is picked out with all kinds of psychedelic effects in the background. Orion's voice is whispery and gorgeous.
Sunday morning I'm waking up
Can't even focus on a coffee cup
Don't even know whose bed I'm in
Where do I stop, where do I begin
And then the beats come in and it all kicks off in a typically frantic and glorious Chemical Brothers fashion. The video below is an edited version. You can check the full 7-minute album version HERE.
5. Wide Open
The song that prompted this blog. It's sublime, it really is outstanding. The beat that comes in with the synth bass is instantly cool, Beck's vocal is one of his best.
I'm wide open
But don't I please you anymore?
You're slipping away from me
You're drifting away from me
If you haven't heard it then stick your headphones on and drift away in a song that flows superbly. There are little twists and turns along the way; the one day just gonna see me section is stunning, the bass really kick in at one point and the song just keeps flowing and building.
Chemical collaborations
Life Is Sweet - Tim Burgess (Charlatans)
Alive Alone - Beth Orton
Setting Sun - Noel Gallagher (Oasis)
Where Do I Begin? - Beth Orton
Out Of Control - Bernard Sumner (New Order)
Let Forever Be - Noel Gallagher (Oasis)
Asleep from Day - Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star)
Dream On - Jonathan Donahue (Mercury Rev)
The State We're In - Beth Orton
The Test - Richard Ashcroft (The Verve)
Galvanize - Q-Tip
The Boxer - Tim Burgess (Charlatans)
Believe - Kele Okereke (Bloc Party)
Hold Tight London - Anna-Lynne Williams
Left Right - Anwar Superstar
Close Your Eyes - The Magic Numbers
No Path to Follow - Willy Mason
All Rights Reversed - Klaxons and Lightspeed Champion
Do It Again - Ali Love
The Salmon Dance - Fatlip
Battle Scars - Willy Mason
The Pills Won't Help You - Tim Smith (Midlake)
Wide Open - Beck
Born in the Echoes - Cate Le Bon
Neon Lights - Annie Clark
EML Ritual - Ali Love
Go - Q-Tip
The Golden Path - The Flaming Lips
My copy of Uncut arrived through the post this week and my heart skipped a beat when I read about Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis covering Mazzy Star's classic 'Fade Into You'.
The result is beautiful, pulling on heartstrings as Mascis sings in a fragile and fractured voice over warm and earthly acoustic guitar. The solo towards the end is just stunning.
As I missed my five for Friday blog yesterday, here is one extra tune for your weekend.
Enjoy Murray
We kick start with the trippy, mellow sound of The Orb and the utterly gorgeous 'Little Fluffy Clouds'. This was a real pre and post club fave of mine back in the days I went clubbing.
We then move forward with mor deliciously beautiful vocals courtesy of Hope Sandoval and Mazzy Star. I could listen to this for hours on end.
Changing pace we go to the ever reliable Jason Pierce and Spiritualized with the floaty, trippy, multi layered 'Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space'. It develops a lullaby like quality at times, stunning.
And then we go for the monumental Massive Attack and 'Unfinished Sympathy.'
We pick it up with the loveable eccentric and ecletic Beatie Boys;
And we end with the Beastie Boys keyboard player Money Mark;
