My radio show Amazing Songs & Other Delights that airs every other Monday, 3-4pm (London time) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app). Amazing Songs & Other Delights #84 – The It Resonates edition can now be listened to on mixcloud.
You can read more about Amazing Songs & Other Delights #84 – The It Resonates edition here.
From Monday October 6 onwards Amazing Songs & Other Delights new editions are every 1st and 3rd Monday of each month, repeats every 2nd and 4th Monday of each month. The hour remains the same: 3-4pm (London time).
Tracklist: 01: Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson – Resilience 02: Liz Hogg – Curl 03: The Divine Comedy – Invisible Thread 04: Ned Swarbrick – When The Wind Blows (Live at City Varieties Music Hall) 05: Trademark Issues – Song for a Non-Touring Band 06: Massimo Silverio – Zoja 07: Tulpa – Let’s Make A Tulpa! 08: Miguel Feraso Cabral – Cenografia 09: Swimming Pools And Movie Stars – Never Let Go 10: The Cords – When You Said Goodbye 11: Noiserv – A casa das rodas quadradas feat. Milhanas 12: Glo-Worm – Change of Heart 13: Holly Golightly – Miss Fortune 14: Senhor Vulcão feat The Legendary Tiger Man – Rock N Roll 15: AVTT/MPTN – The Avett Brothers · Mike Patton – Eternal Love 16: Glyders – Shadow Stone 17: Anthony Moore – No Parlez 18: Hidrogenesse – A la Muerte 19: Umlaut – Grumpy Library
My radio show Amazing Songs & Other Delights turned. The 4th anniversary edition airs Monday 14th, 3-4:10pm (gmt+1) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app).
This year, the anniversary programme is a little different than usual. Trials and tribulations didn’t allow for the several costumary purpose composed pieces, aside from mine and Francisco Silva’s Lucid One. The lyrics of Lucid One have my poem 80 as starting point, adapted to song by Francisco’s chatgpt, then, on a second round of singing the song, by him. It was a very interesting creative experience.
My Loss and December: Death, Sérgio Rocha’s Seclusões (excerpt), digei de bairro’s MG B GT (pre-master), Ned Swarbrick’s Mr. O’Brien (mix 1.1), João Diogo Zagalo’ Lotar n.º 4 and Boxmonsters’ Holligans and Car Crash fall under that umbrella.
I picked two songs composed on purpose for previous anniversary editions. Mine and Francisco’s When Joe Came By, from the 1st anniversary edition, and Sweet Peace, by Bill Rivers and I, from last year’s anniversary show, here on Oh Bobby (Bill Rivers & Simon Wayward) version, from their album Swim The Universe.
There’s the usual assortment of songs, another round of surprises, picked for me by a few friends.
Because the songs represent me, because I may like them… Because…
Manuel Carvalho picked The Pixies’ Hey; António Cunha Suki Waterhouse’s Supersad, Paulo Navarro caroline’sTell Me I Never New That (feat. Caroline Polachek), Matt Hutchison Lyn Collins’ Think (About It) and Rui Pimenta Why Don’t You Stay by American Music Club.
As for both Francisco’s instrumental acoustic version of The Asphalt World and my soft instrumental electric stripped down version of The Asphalt World. Francisco thought it a odd choice for me to plays as far as Suede’s covers go, and sent me an impromptu short version of it.
At 0:55 it’s most likely the world’s shortest version of The Asphalt World. Mine runs past 10 minutes. It’s a one go, raw, unfiltered, no effects, aside from a little vibrato arm, and my micro jack amp distortion, no solos, also impromptu, played on a kitchen bench, purely for the joy of it version. Most of what seems effects, it’s my fretting fingers.
Lucid One lyrics Sleepless nights, stuck in motion Elevators fade, no clear emotion Crex crex crex — the artach calls Lucid tiles in echo halls
The megaphone speaks, louder than books Slogans win where no one looks Moral weight too hard to lift We float inside this aimless drift
The empire of futility Masqueraded as ability Symbols fail, the noise gets loud We vanish slowly in the crowd
Resperidone, the new tea brew
Quiet minds in static view Fork in the road, by the sea we stand Bathymetry traced in soul and sand
Invisible paths, the labyrinth sings We mistook noise for gravity’s rings You want the house still, free of harm But the woman bangs the pots — her charm
The empire of futility Attired in nobility Mirrors turn, the spiral grows Stagnant waters, no one knows (Francisco Silva & Raquel Pinheiro)
Poem #80 poem 80 sleepless nights, stuck perpetual movement fading through the elevator crex crex crex crex makes the artach hearth and home lucid tiles echoing the megaphone is easier than read serious books slogans are easier than moral inventory. the empire of futility disguised as art, intellectualism the sound mirrors, a spiral a stagnant pool of nothingness resperidone, the new chamomile there’s a road with a fork for you and me by the sea bathymetry of the soul invisible pathways labyrinth, the song mistaken noise for gravity symbols for substance brought us here you want the house quiet but a woman bangs the pots monks don’t worry about money terror dreams, rage somatic overload the lucid one in a house of somnambulists fog can’t be fought, what it erases is watched don’t go back to sleep the messiness of desire recycle, renewal, redemption like a benediction all the plants are watered (Raquel Pinheiro)
Tracklist: 01: Francisco Silva & Raquel Pinheiro – When Joe Came By 02: Raquel Pinheiro – Loss 03: Pixies – Hey (Manuel Carvalho) 04: Sérgio Rocha – Seclusões (excerpt) 05: Francisco Silva & Raquel Pinheiro – Lucid One 06: digei de bairro – MG B GT (pre-master) 07: Suki Waterhouse – Supersad (António Cunha) 08: Boxmonsters – Holligans 09: Francisco Silva – The Asphalt World (acoustic excerpt) 10: Talking Heads – Burning Down the House (Raquel Pinheiro) 11: caroline – Tell Me I Never New That feat. Caroline Polachek (Paulo Navarro) 12: Raquel Pinheiro – The Asphalt World 13: Oh Bobby – Sweet Peace – (*) 14: Lyn Collins – Think (About It) (Matt Hutchison) 15: Ned Swarbrick – Mr. O’Brien (mix 1.1) 16: João Diogo Zagalo – Lotar n.º 4 17: Boxmonsters – Car Crash 18: Raquel Pinheiro – December: Death 19: American Music Club – Why Don’t You Stay (Rui Pimenta)
Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, Strolling along the Seashore (1909)
My radio show Amazing Songs & Other Delights #82 – The It’s Summer edition airs Monday 30th, 3-4pm (gmt+1) on Yé Yé Radio: till yeyeradio.com (or on the app).
As the name says, it’s summer. Therefore, let’s celebrate it. Nearly all the songs, from Franz Ferdinand – Build It Up ft. Johnny Marr to Sydney Minsky Sargeant – I Dont Wanna have just been released or are recent.
There are two indie oldies, The Durutti Collumn’s Sketch For A Summer and The Go-Betweens’ Two Heads. As tends to be the case with my shows, indie and mainstream go hand in hand, although here there are several pop breezy indie alternative songs. But Harry Styles and Laufey pair with Jeanines or April March. There’s an acoustic guitar instrumental, AL Guitar Duo – Reencontro (feat. Pedro Jóia), and the customary Mamas & the Papas classic California Dreamin’, here in covered by The Rebels.
Tracklist: 01: Franz Ferdinand – Build It Up ft. Johnny Marr 02: Cass McCombs – Peace 03: Robert Robertson – Broken Arrow 04: Harry Styles – Watermelon Sugar 05: Pressyes – The Sunlighttt 06: The Durutti Collumn – Sketch For A Summer 07: Jeanines – Coaxed A Storm 08: AL Guitar Duo – Reencontro (feat. Pedro Jóia) 09: Panda Bear – Virginia Tech 10: The Go-Betweens – Two Heads 11: Laufey – Lover Girl 12: The Rebels – California Dreamin’ 13: Weezer – Island In The Sun 14: Lightheaded – The Garden 15: James Yorkston – Love Luck (feat. Johanna Söderberg) 16 – Forth Wanderers – Bluff 17: Swansea Sound – Pacior’Fan 18: Sydney Minsky Sargeant – I Dont Wanna 19 – April March – Laisse Tomber Les Filles
My radio show Amazing Songs & Other Delights #80 – The These Are a Few of My Favourite Songs edition is now on available to listen to on mixcloud.
Amazing Songs & Other Delights airs every other Monday, 3-4pm (gmt+1), on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com (or on the app).
Amazing Songs & Other Delights #80 – The These Are a Few of My Favourite Songs edition features 17 of my favourite songs, including my favourite song, Will Your Me Tomorrow sang by The Shirelles, and three songs I would have love to have written, Sometimes I Drink My Coffee by the Grave of William Blake, A Lady of a Certain Age by The Divine Comedy, and Canção de Amigo by Um Zero Amarelo. Of course I would have loved to have written all the other songs. 🙂 You can read about the songs and my choices here.
Tracklist: 01: Julie Andrews – My Favourite Things 02: The Shirelles – Will Your Me Tomorrow 03: The The – Sometimes I Drink My Coffee by the Grave of William Blake 04: The Ramones – Baby I Love You 05: The Devine Comedy – A Lady of a Certain Age 06: Josh Rouse – James 07: The Rolling Stones – Under My Thumb 08: Um Zero Amarelo – Canção de Amigo 09 Elvis Presley – (Marie’s The Name) of His Latest test Flame 10: The Buzzcocks – Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) 11: Mick Harvey – October Boy 12: Mark Lanegan – Don’t Forget Me 13: Ben Watt – North Marine Drive 14: Tiwiza – At u Azeka 15: Erica Buettner – True Love and Water 16: Butler-Blake-Grant – Bring An End 17: Queens of the Stone Age – Mosquito Song
My radio show Amazing Songs & Other Delights # 78 – The Debuts & More edition airs Monday, 7th, 3-4pm (gmt) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com(or on the app).
How many times will I write debut album is anyone’s guess. Other than debut album, collaborations, a couple of super groups (oh mine! are the 70s back?… ) and nineteen songs can be found on this edition of Amazing Songs & Other Delights. Scots abound too. Can you slop them all?
The musical genres are varied, at times in the same song. Folk, folk adjacent, dance music, americana, indie noise, hip-hop, romantic music, gentle pop, and some other flavours. Agrupamento Musical Os Tais’s Liga Pra Mim and Calvin Harris’ Smoke The Pain Away are examples of musical cross pollination.
Agrupamento Musical Os Tais are rappers Mike El Nite and the duo João Não & Lil Noon. Agrupamento Musical Os Tais is one of those things that to fully grasp you may need to be Portuguese and aware of our bandas de baile (electric ball bands that played, and still play, local clubs, associations, our equivalent of workers men’s clubs, fetes, carnivals and the likes). Liga Pra Mim is from their debut album Dance, Romance. Dance, Romance has shades of everything, from pimba (wikipedia is your friend), to kizomba, through hip-hop, house, a dash of pop, all wrapped in deliberated tacky elegance.
Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles is Alan Sparhawk of Low and bluegrass-folk band Trampled by Turtles.
The 90s is the third single by super group Butler, Blake & Grant. Super group being a bit of a joke. No stadium tours and 20 gear trucks, or Spinal Tap drama in sight. Butler, Blake & Grant are musician, songwriter and producer Bernard Butler, Norman Blake, of Teenage Fanclub, and James Grant of Love and Money fame. Their debut album has just come out. The 90s is sung and written by Bernard.
Sweet Peace was written by me and Bill Rivers for my 3rd anniversary 3rd anniversary show and is now on Swim the Universe the new Oh Bobby (Bill Rivers & Simon Hayward) album.
Mister Romantic is actor John C. Reilly musical alter-ego. Dream, a romantic, 1920s vibe song, is the first single from debut album What’s Not To Love?
Scottish singer and musician Alasdair Roberts teamed up with another Scot, Scottish Gaelic singer Màiri Morrison to sing The Bonny House of Airlie, a traditional Scottish ballad of the XVII century. As is traditional in these sort of ballads The Bonny House of Airlie tells a tragic real story, the burning of the castle of the Earl of Airlie castle and the murder of his family.
Lies is a song by The Hard Quartet, another super group, formed by Stephen Malkmus, of Pavement, Matt Sweeney of Superwolf, Emmett Kelly and Jim White.
God Knows by Tunde Adebimpe, of T.V. On The Radio, and Trey Calloway’s The Ballad of Righteous close the show. The Ballad of Righteous is a classic americana tradition storytelling song.
Tracklist: 01: Agrupamento Musical Os Tais – Liga Pra Mim 02: Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles – Stranger 03: Beirut -Guericke’s Unicorn 04: Bill Fox – Terminal Way 05: Butler, Blake & Grant – The 90s 06: Calvin Harris – Smoke The Pain Away 07: Courting – After You 08: Flávio Torres – Vamos 09: Màiri Morrison and Alasdair Roberts The Bonny House of Airlie 10: Mark Fry – Not On The Radar 11: Mister Romantic – Dream 12: Model/Actriz – Doves 13: Oh Bobby – Sweet Peace 14: Reb Fountain – He Commands You To Jump Into The Sea 15: Sex Beat – This Machine Kills No One 16: The Hard Quartet – Lies (Something You Can Do) 17: The Ophelias – Salome 18 Tunde Adebimpe – God Knows 19: Trey Calloway – The Ballad of Righteous and Wrong
My Amazing Songs & Other Delights #72 – The Ecosystem edition is now on mixcloud.
Of late, I’ve been coming upon the word ecosystem from different sources. Or happen upon lyrics, or otherwise that mention the concept that we’re all one, we’re connected, that we depend on each other.
That concept is part of Body Count’s Comfortably Numb version of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb the song that opens this edition. Ice-T writes and says: “Listen… ’cause I’ve been on both sides of the gun As you stand before me we’re all here as one We gotta come together or our chances are none Maybe I’m just a dreamer, too many obstacles” (full lyrics here)
An ecosystem implies environment and those in it interacting, forging connections, relationships, one thing leading to another. That is how both Mondo and Yé Yé came to be. The longer text about My Amazing Songs & Other Delights #72 – The Ecosystem edition can be read here.
Tracklist: 01: Body Count – Comfortably Numb (feat. David Gilmour) 02: Raveloe – Passing Place 03: 12 Roads – Waiting For JB 04: Rowland S. Howard – Shut Me Down 05: Ned Swarbrick – Somebody, Something, Somewhere Else (live York City FC) 06: Mick Harvey – October Boy 07: Johnny Marr – New Town Velocity 08: The Birthday Party – The Friend Catcher 09: Saint Sappho – Grass is Gold 10: Oh Bobby (Bill Rivers and Simon Hayward) – Are You Still There 11: Sorry Monks – One Rule For Them 12: Paradise Lost – The Last Time 13: Harry Howard And The NDE – Sensitive To The Cold 14: Mark Robin White & Adam Lato – Rabbit Hole (Tranquility mix) 15: The Courettes – Shake! 16: A Resistência – Maré Alta
