Named after the debut single by Teenage Fanclub.
This blog is all about being a music lover in Glasgow; reviews, interviews, memories, old faves, new discoveries (past and present), playlists and more. Thanks for visiting - I hope you discover something amazing you have never heard before, or that you rediscover an old favourite.
Regular features/playlists; Never Ending Mixtape / Cover Version of the Month/ Trust Me.
Insta - @everythingflowsglasgow
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.
As the Never Ending Mixtape flies through the 900 song mark, this month has some stunning songs, including 5 from the latest Lemonheads album, stunning electro pop from Robyn, gems from the soundtrack to Netflix show Russian Dolls, a beautiful psychedelic acoustic number from The Verve's often overlooked debut A Storm In Heaven, the epic Sprawl II by Arcade Fire, super cool stuff by The Avalanches, the still mind blowing Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles, pure pop from Marshall Crenshaw and this must be the only mixtape where The Pastels sit next to Womack and Womack.
There is much, much more to enjoy. Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify and you'll need to scroll way down to find these songs, or dig in from the start, press shuffle orzo what you choose.
I hope you find some songs you'd forgotten about or some songs you've never heard that you fall for. Read on for the full list of the latest additions.
Missing U - Robyn
Girls - Death In Vegas
Tears - Stone Roses
Settled Down Like Rain - The Lemonheads
Speed of The Sound of Loneliness - The Lemonheads
Magnet - The Lemonheads
Round Here - The Lemonheads Things - The Lemonheads
Reflections - Diana Ross and The Supremes
If You're Ready (Come Go With Me) - The Staple Singers
Do It Again - The Beach Boys
Reach Out, I'll Be There - Four Tops
Gotta Get Up - Harry Nilsson
Dreams-Come-True-Girl - Cass McCombs
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire
Love Is In The Air - John Paul Young
See You In The Next One (Have A Good Time) - The Verve
Tomorrow Never Knows - The Beatles
In My Life - The Beatles
Waiting for the Sun - Sister John
Sky Is All We Had - J Mascis
If I Was A Folkstar - The Avalanches
Truck Train Tractor - The Pastels
Teardrops - Womack and Womack
Gepetto - Belly
It's A Hit - Rilo Kiley
Bad Weather - The Supremes
You're My Favourite Waste of Time - Marshall Crenshaw
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/Repriseto 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.
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
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