69 Police and Hey Lisa

Trust me #82 & 83
69 Police and Hey Lisa by David Holmes

David Holmes is DJ-ing in McChuills this Friday night ... and I'm not going! I was, but having been a little run down with a bug since last Thursday, I decided to sell my tickets - cost price naturally! At my age, going on a mad night out while not at 100% isn't a good idea!

Holmes is someone I have admired since my friend Reddy introduced me to his debut album This Film's Crap Lets Slash The Seats way back in 1995. Reddy also fell for the 1997 follow up Let's Get Killed which included snippets and samples of audio recordings Holmes made while walking around New York City. It was kind trippy and totally cool.

But it was Holmes 3rd album, Bow Down to the Exit Sign, released in 2000, before I truly fell for the Northern Irish DJ, electronic artist, producer and film composer. 

Two song in particular stood out. 69 Police is flowing gem, layered beautifully to take listeners on a journey. The synth riff is utterly sublime. A couple of year ago I was fortunate to DJ in McChuills on a Sunday evening and this went down a treat.

The production is insane; the spoken word intro is turned up high in the mix, then the synth sounds and beats kick in, leading to the a glorious synth riff with lovely squelchy sounds interspersed. Holmes layers things and keeps it all going. I doubt that David will drop this into his set, but any regrets I have on Saturday night would be considerably multiplied if he did!

The dreamy atmospheric Hey Lisa closes the album to leave you floating, the mellow beats and swirling strings are absolutely gorgeous. Holmes works real magic here, layering guitars, string samples, synth riffs and bubbles, and what sounds like a xylophone ... weaving them in and out of each other beautifully.

Hey Lisa is a piece of music that never fails to move me. What a way to close the album, listen to the strings as the song ebbs towards the end. Majestic.

69 Police and Hey Lisa are both added to my Trust Me playlist; search for Everything Flows - Trust Me on Spotify or CLICK HERE 

And why not check David Holmes incredible Radio 1 Essential Mix from 1997 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

Weather Diaries by Ride

Weather Diaries is the sound of 4 friends reconvening after a couple of decades of life experience and rediscovering the chemistry that once propelled them to the forefront of the UK indie scene. The fire has been relit and on the stand outs Ride sound fresh, vital, forceful and like they are having fun.

Erol Alkan produces and what a splendid job he does; there are the fantastic guitar sounds you would hope for (and expect) on a new Ride album, Andy and Mark's voices combine gloriously, but there is also a little pop edge that Alkan is perhaps responsible for.

The album opens with Lannoy Point, a groovy instrumental jam for over a minute before Mark Gardner returns on vocals singing about being wiser for time and a better sense can start again. It's a promising start - dreamy vocals, good groove and chiming guitars at all the right moments.

Erol Alkan's production comes to the fore on All I Want with a distorted sampled vocal at the start, the music is suddenly more psychedelic, the drums sound fantastic.  Ride still like to sing about feelings (see Lannoy Point) and some of their lyrics are still touched with the teenage innocence that won them so many fans back in the late 1980's early 1990's.

I can feel how you want me to feel

I can know what you want me to know

The backing vocals are pure early Ride and when Mark Gardner and Andy Bell combine in harmony then magical things can happen. I think back to their Glastonbury 1994 performance for their Carnival Of Light album when they just looked and sounded like the kind of band I wanted to be in.

Ride at Glastonbury in 1994

The title track is a beauty, especially when it hits the chorus and everything is lifted in that glorious psychedelic way that Ride can hit when on form, all swirling guitars and harmonies.

I'm unsettled by the weather, it's getting stranger, 

Should it be this good right now? Are we in some kind of danger?

Is this atmosphere just me, or is the sky too blue?

It's too perfect, something's got to give

I'm going inder, where are you?

Rocket Silver Symphony has a slow pulsing synth instrumental intro suddenly bursts into life after 2-minutes as Ride find their guitars and pedals. The synth then has a groove and the vocals are more poppy than normal for Ride, but then they return to classic Ride harmonies for the chorus.

Lateral Alice zips along at under 3-minutes and sounds more American than any previous Ride recording, even mentioning surfing!

Cali takes things further and is extended to over 6-minutes. Gardener and Bell sound brilliant, a standout on first listen and also a few listens down the line.

The album closes with White Sands, a song clearly about the bands break up and make up. It's only after a few minutes that it turns into a song that sounds remotely like Ride - the Ride we know.

The breath between twenty years

That same breath tonight

We'll always betray ourselves

Always hold back time

Weather Diaries has enough to satisfy old fans and win new fans and turn them on to their back catalogue. More importantly, Weather Diaries sounds like a band not only rediscovering themselves, but strengthening friendships.

Introducing - KVASIR

If you want to hear possibly the most sublime music being produced in Scotland right now then look no further than K V A S I R.

K V A S I R is a producer from Glasgow who, with the help of a fencing max and some funky lighting, has created a mysterious anonymous guise that allows him to live out all kinds of electronic fantasies.

I'm not privy to these fantasies but I imagine that they might include Daft Punk meeting Mylo to cruise along a highway at night with the Drive soundtrack blaring out and a vocoder sitting on the passenger seat.

There is much more to K V A S I R's self-titled debut EP than the influences mentioned above though. Four-tracks, the length of a good old fashioned EP, give K V A S I R space to play and the music plenty of opportunity to breath.

Motion is sublime; uplifting electronic pop, beautifully crafted and produced. Exchange is vocoder heaven - the kind of song that many modern day pop stars would die for. But hey, K V A S I R is a modern day pop star!

Lyon has a glorious sun-kissed chorus. It's electronic robotic love with a heart. You know the kind that Daft Punk are so good at?.... Well that.

Cause I can say I'm sorry

I can say I need you

And I can say I'll tear myself apart

But you don't even want this

You don't even hear me

Cause I can't face the truth it breaks my hear

The EP flows beautifully into First Throws, bubbling synths build and build into a true hands in the air moment and you expect the big beats to come in. Only the don't, things drop down and a Mylo-esqe sample from a Trader talking about 'dreaming of another recession' comes in, before the beats do kick in.

Summary - so good you won't believe it.

K V A S I R will be supporting Crash Club at St Luke's on 3rd December and announcing a January date in the very near future.

Wuh Oh

New music in November

Wuh Oh is an act I discovered after reading about their song Stay Tuned on the Podcart website away back in April. Podcart described it as a summer soundtrack and had this to say;

With its own distinct flavour, 

this sun-kissed pop odyssey will make sure a smile doesn’t leave your face.

I totally agree, Stay Tuned by Wuh Oh is like the sound of sunshine on ecstasy, sample heavy uplifting pure pop, sounding like it is a lost cut from Since I Left You, the classic album by The Avalanches.

Wuh Oh has released the Wuh Oh EP to date (featuring All Yo, Saxy Beast, Trippin, the aforementioned Stay Tuned and Self Titled) and comparisons to The Avalanches can continue as he samples Marvin Gaye, jazz and pretty much everything he can get his hands on to create something unique.

I was going to email a few questions to Peter Ferguson, the producer behind Wuh Oh, but The list have beaten me to it and have an excellent interview with Peter HERE

Sample (and brilliant) quote;

My song 'Stay Tuned' is basically five seconds or so of a jazz fusion song spread out over three minutes, pitch shifted and chopped up and rearranged. I don’t usually actively look out for samples, but when you hear five seconds of music that clearly deserves to be a whole track, it’s hard to resist trying to make that happen.

It sounds like Wuh Oh is going to be releasing quite a bit of music in 2016, so Stay Tuned indeed!