This Is Music

Trust me #93
This Is Music by The Verve

Released 30-years ago on 1st May 1995, This Is Music was the first single to be lifted from The Verve's A Northern Soul album (blog here). This euphoric declaration was a marked contrast to the trippy psychedelia of debut album A Storm In Heaven, like the band had sharpened their belief in themselves and turned up the volume. 

I remember being transfixed when This Is Music came on The Chart Show on a Saturday morning. This was a song, video and band that demanded full attention. This was music! 

A shimmering tambourine and Simon Jones rumbling bass introduce the song, before guitarist Nick McCabe fires off a monster guitar riff and Richard Ashcroft sings;

I stand accused, just like you

For being born without a silver spoon

Stood at the top of the hill over my town

I was found

In the video, Ashcroft is no longer the shamonic long haired hippy frontman who the NME and Melody Maker christened Mad Richard. He looks like a rock star as lift doors open to see him arms spread, denim jacket and shades, super cool haircut, 

Ashcroft has seen the light and is heading out into the world, questioning how the world is gonna take him. 

I've been on the shelf too long

Sitting at home on my bed too long

Got my things and now I'm gone

How's the world gonna take me?

There is a raw, pulsating energy throughout. Nick McCabe’s guitar work is outstanding, laying down shimmering, psychedelic textures. It’s lush and expansive, yet razor-sharp, slashing through the mix with a sound, style and swagger that commands attention. Meanwhile, Simon Jones and Peter Salisbury hold everything together with a rhythm section that grooves and stomps with primal urgency.

The Verve slow things down at 1 minute 50 with Ashcroft realising and admitting that he's been on the shelf for too long, before firing things up again into a chaotic yet beautiful storm.

We've got a lot of living to do

Ashcroft is off on one, singing on top of the euphoric repeated declaration of THIS IS MUSIC as the band drive things to conclusion. This is music he cries, lost in the sounds, and it’s impossible not to believe him.

This Is Music is added to my Trust Me playlist; search for Everything Flows - Trust Me on Spotify or CLICK HERE 

Check below for all previous blogs in my Trust Me series.

Previous Trust Me blogs

1. Something On Your Mind by Karen Dalton

1A. Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells

2. I Am, I Said  by Neil Diamond

3. Where's The Playground Susie?   by Glen Campbell

4. If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lighfoot

5. Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon

6. Gone With The Wind Is My Love by Rita and the Tiaras

7. In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans

8. The Music Box by Ruth Copeland

9. The Ship Song by Nick Cave

10. Sometimes by James

11. I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time

12. Didn't Know What I Was In For by Better Oblivion Community Centre

13. When My Boy Walks Down The Street by The Magnetic Fields

14. The Man Don't Give A F**k by Super Furry Animals

15. All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun by Jeff Buckley and Liz Fraser

16. Are You Lookin' by The Tymes

17. A Real Hero by College & Electric Youth

18. Feelings Gone by Callum Easter

19. Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground

20. Did I Say by Teenage Fanclub

21. Don't Look Back by Teenage Fanclub

22. Your Love Is The Place Where I Come From by Teenage Fanclub

23. Belfast by Orbital

24. Clouds by The Jayhawks

25. Dreaming Of You by The Coral

26. Everlasting Love by Love Affair

27. Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke

28. Teenage Kicks by The Undertones

29. Shaky Ground by Sneeze

29. Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells

30. I Can Feel Your Love by Felice Taylor

31. The State We're In by The Chemical Brothers w/ Beth Orton

32. Sunshine After The Rain by Ellie Greenwich

33. Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem

34. Mondo 77 by Looper

35. Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton

36. Rat Trap by The Boomtown Rats

37. How High by The Charlatans

38. I Can't Let Go by Evie Sands

39. Pop Song 89 by R.E.M.

40. Summertime Clothes by Animal Collective

41. There She Goes by The Las

42. We're Going To Be Friends by White Stripes

43. Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo

44. Sister Rena by Lomond Campbell

45. Revolution by The Beatles

46. Lazarus by The Boo Radleys

47. Wrote For Luck by Happy Mondays

48. American Trilogy by The Delgados

49. Loser by Beck 

50. Silent Sigh by Badly Drawn Boy

51. Comedy by Shack

52. Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven

53. Freakscene by Dinosaur Jr

54. Thank You For Being You by The Pastels

55. I Think I'm In Love by Spiritualized

56. Chestnut Mare by The Byrds

57. Cannonball by The Breeders

58. Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan

59. You Make Me Weak At The Knees by Electrelane

60. Lucky by Radiohead

61. Strange Currencies by R.E.M.

61. I Am The Cosmos by Chris Bell

62. Like A Ship (Without A Sail) by Pastor TL Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir

63. Nothing But A Heartache by The Flirtations

64. Made of Stone by The Stone Roses

65. Tonight In Belfast by Orbital, David Holmes, DJ Helen and Mike Garry

66. Anything by Adrianne Lenker

67. I Hold Something In My Hand by Bill Ryder-Jones

68. I Meant Every Word by Burnett Sisters

69. Dream Baby Dream by Suicide

70. Stove by The Lemonheads

71. Red Lady by Phil Cordell

72. Little Fluffy Clouds by The Orb

73. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart by Taylor Swift

74. Turnin' My Heartbeat Up by The M.V.P.'s

75. Razzle Dazzle Rose by Camera Obscura

76. Such Great Heights by The Postal Service

77. The Rat by The Walkmen

78. My God Has A Telephone by Aaron Frazer

79. Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack

80. Sweet and Tender Romance by The McKinleys

81. Hoppipolla by Sigur Ros

82. 69 Police by David Holmes

83. Hey Lisa by David Holmes

84. I Am A Rock by Simon & Garfunkel

85. Kung Fu by Ash

86. Kids by MGMT

87. Slight Return by The Bluetones

88. Give Peace A Chance by John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band

89. Cut Your Hair by Pavement

90. Race for the Prize by The Flaming Lips

91. Waitin' for a Superman by The Flaming Lips

92. Acquiesce by Oasis

A Northern Soul

I recently revisited The Verve's A Northern Soul LP. What an album! The menacing A New Decade, the ferocious proclamation This Is Music, the fragile and beautiful History, personal favourite Drive You Home, the blissed out psych groove of Life's An Ocean and the staggeringly brilliant Stormy Clouds/Reprise to close. All absolutely amazing!

With A Northern Soul The Verve reached a rarely scaled peak when they became, in my eyes, a perfect band - the cool frontman, incredible guitarist and a tight groove based rhythm section reaching for the stars and the sun. They got there.

Prior to their second album The Verve had been releasing blissed out psychedelic groove based singles and EP's, also their debut LP A Storm In Heaven. The title really kind of matched the sound they were searching for.

But they really hit the groove with A Northern Soul. 9 of the 12 tracks are longer than 5-minutes in length, 4 stretch beyond the 6-minute mark. Allowing the band the space and time to reach magical places.

Their was ferocity in the shape of A New Decade and This Is Music. Both were declarations, the latter let rip with Ashcroft proclaiming I've been on the shelf for too long and then going on to ask how is the world gonna take me?

I remember watching the video on the sadly defunct chart show and it blew me away. This band were on it. In more ways than one.

The energy portrayed in their videos and captured on vinyl was amplified live when Ashcroft seemed to be like a man possessed. A Barrowland show in between A Northern Soul and Urban Hymns just as Bittersweet Symphony came out will live long in my memory.

Ashcroft highlights his progress as a songwriter with the beautifully flowing On Your Own before the epic ballad History, with the first use of strings that would go on to feature so prominently on the Urban Hymns album. It is a stunning song, Ashcroft is on fire, singing his heart out for a lost love. It's soulful and to the point.

I've gotta tell you my tale

Of how I've loved and how I've failed

Because it's you and me we're history

There ain't nothing left to say

The Verve's ability to jam and create special moments comes across throughout the album; Ashcroft pours his heart out; talking about his family, his vision of how he will die, love, life, death and the universe.

But they really hit their peak towards the end when the last 3-tracks; Life's An Ocean, Stormy Clouds and (Reprise) really evidencing the exceptional talent of all the musicians and Ashcroft as a singer, writer, improviser and performer. Stormy clouds, new horizons .... The Verve were prepared to ride storms to get to where they wanted to go, just listen to and marvel at the stunning (Reprise).

If you haven't listened to this album then strap yourself in. If you have, then I hope you enjoy revisiting it like I did recently. The Spotify link (to the remastered album with demos and b-sides from the era) and a couple of stunning live videos are below.

Imagine the future

Woke up with a scream

I was buying some feelings

From a vending machine

Chemical Brothers collaborations

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