Chop's Top Fives

Top 5 Songs with Repeated Titles

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 20:51:00 +0000

This was a very busy topic so it’s taken me a couple of weeks to write it up. I’ve also added most of the suggestions from the Twitter thread to a Spotify playlist that, if all goes to plan, should be embedded below.

Top 5 Repeated song titles

1. “Down Down” Status Quo - One of my favourite bands and this was their only number one. For a long time it was never one of my favourite Quo tunes but it’s worn me down and I now see it as one of their best. It’s the distillation of everything the band had become over the first half of the seventies. Absolutely pure Quo.

2. “Neat Neat Neat” The Damned - The band’s second single, off the back of what might well be my favourite punk single (New Rose). It’s relentlessly fast and was on their debut album, Damned Damned Damned which must earn it double points (maybe triple points) on this list.

3. “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” Nancy Sinatra - Hot on the heels of Cher’s, also excellent, 1966 original this featured on Nancy’s second album and is a brilliant version which showcases her sultry vocal. It’s that tremolo guitar sound that really makes it for me though played by, producer and member of the Wrecking Crew, Billy Strange and used to exceptional effect by Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill volume 1.

4. “Run Run Run” The Velvet Underground - Project get to grips with The VU is still ongoing but this song was one of the very first VU tunes that I loved. Great intro with a rumbling bass line interrupted by jangling guitar, a motif that continues throughout. I love how Lou’s vocals are doubled up on the chorus too.

5. “Hey Hey Hey Hey” The Jim Jones Review - Oh my, full on rock n roll recorded with all the needles so far in the red it sounds like your speakers have blown. I loved The JJR and this was right up with their best tunes. Of course Jim is still very much still doing this sort of thing, initially with Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind and more recently The Jim Jones All Stars.

I also updated my Top 5 Versions of Louie Louie partly to give Richard Berry his due and partly because I’ve now heard the Toots & the Maytals version.

1. Louie Louie - The Sonics

2. Louie Louie - Richard Berry & The Pharaohs

3. Louie Louie - Toots & The Maytals

4. Louie Louie - The Kingsmen

5. Louie Louie - Motörhead

Here’s the Twitter thread

Friday Top 5: Repeated song titles

1. Down Down - Status Quo
2. Neat Neat Neat - The Damned
3. Bang Bang - Nancy Sinatra
4. Run Run Run - The Velvet Underground
5. Hey Hey Hey Hey - The Jim Jones Review #chopsfives #topfive reply or QT to share yours pic.twitter.com/0ERcRwGHfW
— Chöpstick (@Chops_Top_Fives) October 22, 2021

Top 5 Flags of the World

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 21:27:00 +0000

I’ve not got round to writing up last week’s top five which was a bit of an epic on Twitter and has resulted in a massive playlist so I picked a simpler topic this week and am sticking this one up first.

I love flags, I don’t love what they sometimes lead to (wars, xenophobia & that sort of thing) but, much like Sheldon Cooper, I do love a flag.

1. North Macedonia 🇲🇰

One of the newest countries of the world and my current favourite flag. The colours are great & the flaming sun design really eye catching.

2. Croatia 🇭🇷

Staying in the Balkans and a country I’ve actually been to. I’ve loved this flag since the 98 World Cup & the checkerboard kit the men’s national team wore which was echoing the flag. Those little additional shields are cool too (I think they represent historic regions that make up Croatia).

3. South Africa 🇿🇦

Another new flag, introduced in 1994 to coincide with Nelson Mandela being inaugurated as South Africa's first democratically elected president it’s a brilliant design aligned with great colour choices.

4. South Korea 🇰🇷

Lots of symbolism in this one. The Taegukgi in the middle represents the great polarity & duality, four trigrams represent four classical elements which can be translated in a number of ways & the white background is a traditional Korean colour for peace & purity.

5. Bhutan 🇧🇹

It’s got a cool dragon on it for a start, one that, even though they haven’t bothered to colour it in, could give the Welsh dragon a run for its money. It’s also another reddy orange flag which a favourite colour combination for me.

Tweet embedded below if you want to go check out more top 5 flag suggestions.

Friday Top 5: Flags of the World

1. North Macedonia 🇲🇰
2. Croatia 🇭🇷
3. South Africa 🇿🇦
4. South Korea 🇰🇷
5. Bhutan 🇧🇹 #chopsfives #topfive reply or QT to share yours pic.twitter.com/7YCpXbc9m2
— Chöpstick (@Chops_Top_Fives) October 29, 2021

Top Five Songs by Brothers

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 20:58:00 +0000

The natural partner to last week’s top five and a chance for me to play around with embedding the Twitter thread.

This topic was a bit of an epic as it turns out 90% of all bands have brothers in them … or at least that’s the way it seemed.

Top 5 Songs by Brothers

1. “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us” Sparks - Probably their biggest hit but still my favourite Mael brothers tune. They’ve been around since the mid-seventies yet it’s their most recent albums that have caught my attention & if all goes to plan I should finally catch them live in London next year.

2. “ABC” Jackson 5 - Perfect pop.

3. “Waving Flags” Sea Power - I’m a big Sea Power fan & they’ve got lots of songs I could have picked but this is a bit of a pro-immigration / pro-humanity over politics anthem and it makes my heart soar. A contender for best opening line too.

4. “Baby Come Back” The Equals - Definitely considered going with Police On My Back but this just edged it. I knew Eddy Grant via his solo stuff long before I discovered his original band with brothers Derv & Lincoln Gordon.

5. “Crazy Horses” The Osmonds - Discovered this song after seeing John Otway perform it live in the back room of a pub in Surbiton. Absolutely love the original & felt it was especially appropriate after our recent fuel shortages.

Here’s the original Twitter thread where you should be able to find loads of alternative suggestions.

Friday Top 5: Songs by Brothers

1. This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us - Sparks
2. ABC - Jackson 5
3. Waving Flags - British Sea Power
4. Baby Come Back - The Equals
5. Crazy Horses - The Osmonds #chopsfives #topfive reply or QT to share yours pic.twitter.com/KGT7ePXerQ
— Chöpstick (@Chops_Top_Fives) October 15, 2021

Top Five Songs by Sisters

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 20:17:00 +0000

Right then, another go at keeping this blog alive. I’m going to return the focus to Friday Top Fives as I’m planning to keep running those on Twitter. Maybe not every week but I’ll try and do them fortnightly.

Last Friday I ran a Songs by Sisters topic that was deliberately vague in what that might mean as you can tell by my selections. If I’m honest this was a quick throwaway idea and as soon as I started seeing others suggestions I realised I’d missed some great options.

Still love the five I went with though which are as follows.

Top 5 Songs by Sisters

1. “This Train” Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Sister Rosetta was such an important pioneer for the birth of rock n roll. Ridiculous that all these years further on black, female & queer artists still face such a backlash to be heard.

2. “Emmylou” First Aid Kit - Actual sisters on this one. Klara & Johanna Söderberg have created some gorgeous indie tunes that benefit hugely from their vocal harmonies. This song, from their debut album, is still my favourite.

3. “Complication” Ye Nuns - All female Monks tribute band who all go by a name prefixed by Sister. They’ve all played in some well known bands before and have even received the seal of approval from an original band member.

4. “Lost in Music” Sister Sledge - Had a bit of a battle choosing between this or something by The Pointer Sisters but I think Lost in Music is a real landmark song. Bonus points for being covered by The Fall.

5. “We’re Not Going To Take It” Twisted Sister - This one partially made the cut because I liked how it illustrated an alternative view of the topic but after playing it a couple of times I really didn’t want to leave it off. Probably should have picked something by The Breeders in hindsight.

Chop’s Fives: Daytime TV

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 18:00:00 +0000

I needed a topic that was a little easier to manage this week and for some reason Daytime TV has been in my thoughts a lot more over the last few months. Can’t think why.

1. Bargain Hunt - Hands down my favourite daytime programme. It’s become part of our lockdown routine as we aim to have lunch when it’s on and have now set up a series link so it doesn’t matter if we’re late eating. The temptation is to try and have a go but I think we’ve seen enough episodes now to know we’d make a massive loss.

2. Win, Lose or Draw - Initially hosted by Danny Baker (who I have something of a love/hate relationship with) this was effectively Pictionary for telly and featured mixed teams of celebrities alongside members of the public. Danny was at his witty best so it was disappointing when Shane Ritchie took over and the show list some of its irreverence. Shane only lasted one series before being replaced by Bob Mills who became my favourite host.

3. Countdown - I’ve been watching this on and off since Channel 4 launched in 1982. I’m still embarrassingly awful at the word games (always figured I might improve with a pen & paper to hand but almost 40 years have gone and I’ve not made the effort) but I am slightly more successful with the numbers.

4. The Mallorca Files - This is a more recent discovery. It’s a little like Death in Paradise so feels like an evening programme with a slightly reduced budget. I love a murder mystery and this ticks all my boxes. It benefits from a sunny island setting, which was just what we needed in the depths of a lockdown winter, and has two very watchable leads.

5. A Country Practice - Long running Australian medical drama that initially seemed dreadful but won me over in an era when television options weren’t as plentiful as they are now. It had quite a large cast, who often dropped in an out but helped create a broad dramatic dynamic.

Chop’s Fives: Songs that make you cry

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 18:17:00 +0000

I find many songs make me teary eyed, some because of the memories associated with the first or main time I heard them, some just because they’re great. I love nothing more than singing along with a favourite song at the top of my voice (and slightly out of tune), it’s the best form of therapy.

1. Five Years by Liz Green - A Bowie cover (obvs) that Liz did for a Marc Riley session on 6music. The original definitely gets me but Liz’s version was astonishingly raw. There’s a moment where her voice cracks and it sounds like she might not finish the song. Unfortunately this has never been released but Marc does play it occasionally and it hits me every single time.

2. Wires by Athlete - They were not a band that I associated with outstanding song writing but this song has a pretty consistent affect on my tear ducts. Written about the singer’s first child being on a incubator when first born it transports me back to the birth of my children and the emotions of those first few days.

3. Hurt by Johnny Cash - The song on it’s own, a cover of a Nine Inch Nails original, is powerful enough but the video undoubtedly pushed the emotional impact up a few notches. Johnny was 71 and in poor health, his wife June died shortly after the song came out and Johnny was gone by the end of the year. The love they had for each other is evident and this feels like a powerful final statement (notwithstanding further recordings that followed).

4. You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory by Johnny Thunders - This one hits me on many levels. Just a wonderful song with a brilliant lyric.

5. We’ve Only Just Begun by Carpenters - This one is all about memories of my Mum & Dad but particularly my Dad. We’d often go on car trips, usually for Dad to do chores or visit pals but mainly to get us both out the house for a bit & I vividly remember listening to The Carpenters in the car and being incredibly sad to find out about her death.

I’ve had a huge response on Twitter, not least thanks to Pete Paphides getting involved, so the embedded playlist will expand as I work my way through the many suggested songs.

Chop’s Fives: Songs of Protest & Revolution

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 13:36:00 +0000

Over on Twitter, where these recent fives originated, the song theme topics have been really popular and I’ve tried to add all the suggestions to Spotify playlists. I’ll try and embed the link below.

I ended up combining songs about Protest & Revolution as I had favourites that straddled both topics and thought it made the topic a little more open to interpretation.

1. Oh Bondage! Up Yours by X-Ray Spex

2. Killing In The Name by Rage Against The Machine

3. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Gil Scott Heron

4. Fight The Power by Public Enemy

5. A Change Is Gonna Come by Aretha Franklin

Chop’s Fives: Films of the 00s

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 21:27:00 +0000

My favourite films of whatever you call the decade from 2000 to 2009.

1. City of God (Meirelles/Lund) - A compelling exploration of drug crime in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. Many of the cast were residents of flavelas and that, along with the wonderful cinematography, created a very real feeling of tension throughout the story.

2. Hidden / Caché (Haneke) - The first Michael Haneke film I saw and a film that really struck a chord with me and invigorated my desire to see more art house movies. I love the subtlety of it, you’re never quite sure what’s going on and Haneke doesn’t spell much out.

3. No Country For Old Men (Coens) - A slightly darker feel for a Coens film but a fabulous retelling of the Cormac McCarthy novel. Tommy Lee Jones & Javier Bardem are both outstanding despite rarely being on screen together. Classy cinematography & some scenes that still stick in my memory many years later.

4. Shaun of the Dead (E Wright) - Bought this cheap on DVD from a pal who worked for the film company with no idea what to expect. It’s become one of the films I’ve watched most often and honestly gets better every time I see it (which is about once a month on itv2).

5. This Is England (Meadows) - Such a great cast & probably Shane Meadows best film. He has a naturalistic way of directing that allows the actors to really own & develop their characters.

Chop’s Fives: Matchbox cars

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 18:30:00 +0000

I’ve been wanting to do this top 5 for ages. My favourite matchbox cars as a kid. Probably my favourite toy growing up. My best mate would come round every Friday and we’d spend hours racing cars down plastic track.

1. Volks Dragon (1971) - My oldest and fastest car. Used to have a daisy sticker on the bonnet. Never let me down in a head to head race.

2. Dodge Challenger (1975) - No. 1 in the matchbox catalogue for years. Loved the US muscle car styling of this one & it was pretty reliable in races too

3. Ford Escort RS2000 (1978) - A more contemporary car that was less good “on the track” but looked classy in back garden rallying through the flower beds.

4. Porsche 911 Turbo (1978) - I was a bit older when I bought this from the post office shop but despite initially seeming a little dull it became one of my favourites. Opening doors too.

5. Lamborghini Countach (1973) - This was my nemesis for many years. My best mate’s favourite car and one I didn’t own. I eventually caved in and bought one of my own.

Chop’s Fives: Favourite NFL Quarterbacks

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 19:52:00 +0000

After a few weeks of trying to keep a lockdown diary of sorts I ran out of steam. That was partly me failing to find the time to write stuff that probably wasn’t of much interest to anyone but future me but also the feeling of unrelenting sameness that came with trying to survive a pandemic. Things haven’t entirely improved but the faint glow of light is glimmering in the distance.

Meanwhile, I’ve continued with my bullshit on Twitter (where it’s quick to write stuff and you feel less obliged to make it lengthy) so I’ve something of a backlog of Top 5s I could share on here plus a whole other project I’ll explain in a separate post.

If you’re still occasionally reading this blog then thanks for the patronage & apologies for the haphazard nature of updates. Let’s see how long I keep things going this time.

I’m a long time NFL fan, having first seen the Super Bowl via Grandstand who showed the highlights of Super Bowl XVI in 1982. Almost forty years later I’m still staying up into the small hours to watch the season finale (even though I really don’t like the now undisputed greatest QB of all time).

All that is a long lead up to my Top 5 favourite Quaterbacks.

1. Joe Montana - Joe Montana was the winning QB in that very first game I watched. He lead the San Francisco 49ers to a 20-0 lead half time over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals got back into things in the second half but Joe Cool stayed true to his nickname and helped ensure the Niners held on to win 26-21. Montana remained a top performer for many years as I watched more NFL and whilst I didn’t end up a 49er fan I always admired his ability & poise.

2. Aaron Rodgers - I’ve recently converted to being a Green Bay Packers fan and A-Rod was part of the attraction. A remarkably talented QB who rarely turns the ball over. The fact he hasn’t won more Super Bowl rings (1 win, 1 loss so far) shows just how difficult it is to achieve. The Packers came mighty close to getting back to the big game this season and in doing so Rodgers claimed a 3rd NFL MVP of his career.

3. Russell Wilson - In my wilderness years (the period when I stopped following my first team and watched less of the sport as it went exclusively to Sky) Wilson was one of the bright sparks. A mobile quarterback who did as much with his feet as he did with his arm. Wilson is a little like Rodgers, hugely talented, genuinely nice guy and a little unlucky not to have won more.

4. Joe Theismann - Joe was THE man who won me over to NFL and made me a Washington fan. Channel 4 began showing highlights during the strike shortened 1983 season. Theismann & that Washington team seemed to overcome all the odds to make it to the Super Bowl that year and I was hooked. Joe had bags of personality too, maybe not as talented as Montana but really gutsy.

5. Peyton Manning - The first quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises. Hugely talented and with a howitzer of an arm.

Feel free to add your fives in the comments.

Chop’s Journal - 16 Aug 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 16:10:00 +0000

A change of tack. I’ve finally caught up with posts and I think I’m going to drop some of the sections as they don’t add a huge amount to each week and just contribute to me not posting more regularly. I like the idea of keeping this going but so far it’s not really encouraged me to write.

If you miss the Song of the Week or Music I’m Enjoying sections you’ll find both on my Twitter at the following hashtags;

#SOTW every Friday morning
#chopsfm every Sunday lunch

That means this week is particularly light on content as I extended Week E of ChopsA2Z and didn’t do a Top 5 topic. Got a few things coming up with my boys that mean things may be quiet for a while too but hopefully I’ll get back in the swing by early September.

We did make a visit to the local Pick Your Own farm ostensibly to see the sunflowers but after a week of, much needed, rain they weren’t looking so good. Mrs T5 did take this awesome picture of a bee though.

I also shared a bunch of music I’ve bought over lockdown. The steady stream of new (and old) music & new t-shirts over the last few months have brought a little slice of joy with each arrival.

Chop’s Journal - 9 Aug 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 15:40:00 +0000

Fulham won the Championship Playoff final though so that was nice. Having lost twice to Brentford in the regular season, and finished one place & one point behind them in the league things were all set for a fairy tale return to top flight football for the Bees that would coincide with the opening of their new stadium.

In the end Fulham’s manager, Scott Parker, deployed a clever tactical approach that nullified the threat of Brentford and an unlikely double from our left back gave us the win. It’s been a long strange season but that was a pretty spectacularly way to end it.

New SOTW

Whole New Mess - Angel Olsen

https://open.spotify.com/track/5XRfIAdgYxZ3jLiqxSZnRj?si=7GMI0hWNQdW3TlElzh1QfQ

Music I’m enjoying

Listened to a lot this week. I love the debut Billy Nomates album, I’m still digging Damaged Bug & the latest release from Natalie Duncan was well crafted soothing jazz that helped me get through a mentally tough week.

Chop’s A2Z - Week 5: E

‪Week 5 of #chopsA2Z requested suggestIons for a favourite album by a band or artist beginning with E and explain why I should listen to it.

Albums I’d not heard before

1: Brian Eno “Here Comes The Warm Jets” @caroline_binnie - An astonishing album, I’m two listens in & there’s so much inventiveness to take in. One of those classic albums I can’t explain not listening to earlier but it’s a firm favourite now #chopsA2Z

‪2: Eddy Current Suppression Ring “Primary Colours” @WillieMcAlpine @GreeneDermot67 - I’d heard a the latest album by ECSR & loved it but not dipped my toe any further until I played this and boy it’s great. Long too but doesn’t outstay it’s welcome, prime garage punk #chopsA2Z‬

3: Ella Guru “The First Album” @TobiasCotton - Vague memories of this band from 2004 & the internet suggests I might have seen them support someone back then. It’s a lovely blend of Americana & indie pop with well matched male & female vocals & lovely instrumentation #chopsA2Z

4: ‪Elizabeth Cotten “Live!” @behappydadda - An astonishing live document of Elizabeth playing songs from her career at 85. She has some wonderful between song chat too. Definitely going to check out her studio recordings #chopsA2Z ‬

Albums I already own

Ezra Furman - Day of the Dog @mjgelder
Elastica - Elastica @elhozzo
Electric Soft Parade - Holes in the Wall @spooner_daniel
Elbow - Asleep in the Back @jnlangton & @soapboxjury

‪The Elastica album took 47% of the vote and still sounds brilliant. It’s one of the few britpop era albums I still listen too which is no doubt partly due to the significant Wire influence. I still think it’s an album that stands on its own merits too.

‪Of the four albums Ezra Furman’s Day of the Dog is my personal favourite. That album was my entry point for Ezra and is still probably my favourite of his album’s.

Holes in the Wall is great, though I never clicked with ESP as much as I thought I should. Interestingly I really love their latest album, Stages.

I’ve not listened to Elbow’s debut for ages and there are some gorgeous tunes on there even if as a whole I’m less keen.

Perfect Sounds pick:

I might have forgotten to mention my pick from James Acaster’s @perfectsoundpod pick for E week. I went with Esperanza Spalding’s album Emily’s D+Evolution which is a concept album that falls at the R&B end of contemporary Jazz with hints of Prog which I loved.

The full list of nominations:

🔺East India Youth - Culture of Volume @domsg

▪️E-Z Rollers - Dimensions of Sound @aldousleary

▪️Echobelly - People Are Expensive @sulaviedilejo

▪️Explosions in the Sky - The Wilderness @nomorefin

🔺Earl Brutus - Tonight You Are The Special One @sharkastic

🌀Ezra Furman - Day of the Dog @mjgelder

▪️Efterklang - Parades @darrenmjones

🔺Efterklang - Piramida @vicaviber

▪️Eleventh Day Dream - Ursa Major @bodlingboy

🌀Elastica - Elastica @elhozzo

🔺Elastica - The Menace @preservation76

🔺Everything But The Girl - Eden ‪@ApostateHymnals ‬

▪️Editors - The Back Room @drums_wires

▪️Electrelane - No Shouts, No Calls @darrell_clem

🔺Elephant Micah - Where in our Woods @sippyslicker

▪️Everything Everything - Arc @ambnorwich

▪️East River Pipe - Goodbye California @realruskus & @slowthrills

▪️Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - Horse of the Dog @bod_ball

▪️Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - The Royal Society @pablooplywiss

▪️Carla J Easton - Impossible Stuff @allan_milligan & @alanmuttley1066

🔺Brian Eno - Here Comes The Warm Jets @carolinebinnie

🔺Electric Prunes - Underground @durutti74

▪️El Goodo - El Goodo @ineeddirection

🔺The Empty Page - Unfolding @glpne73

▪️Eugenius - Mary Queen of Scots @lokessimon

▪️Eugenius - Oomalama @eveshambaggy

▪️Easy - Magic Seed @d_grayer

▪️Anderson East - Encore @thelovelyilgwu

▪️Erasure - The Innocents @tbragsdale

▪️Ed Harcourt - Here Be Monsters @tmulraney

🔺Ella Guru - The First Album @tobiascotton & @grizzlybeard

▪️Everlast - Whitey Ford Sings The Blues @jakepalmer04

▪️Eccentronic Research Council - Eccentronic Research Council @gigticket

🔺Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Primary Colours @greenedermot67 & @williemcalpine

▪️Edan - Beauty & the Beat @themightychew

▪️Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Imperial Bedroom @girlshirl1

▪️Eg & Alice - 24 Years of Hunger ‪@jjvwaardenberg ‬

🌀Electric Soft Parade - Holes in the Wall @spooner_daniel

▪️Marc Eric - Midsummer’s Day Dream @agarr45

▪️Eleventh Day Dream - El Moodio @stillhonest

▪️Eagulls - Eagulls @_sandywishart

▪️ESG - Dance to The Best of ESG @davidkbruce

🔺Elizabeth Cotten - Live! @behappydadda

🔺Esben & The Witch - A New Nature @pahudson

▪️Engineers - Engineers @johnnyshoegaze & @brinyhoof

▪️Errors - Come Down With Me @disco_juan

▪️Easy Star All-Stars - Dub Side of the Moon @adespink

▪️Ex Hex - Rips @paul_hilton

🌀Elbow - Asleep in the Back @jnlangton & @soapboxjury

▪️Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain @catanddrumsc

🔺Eton Crop - Peel Sessions 83-88 @theedgeofthesea

▪️The Egg - Travelator @emdehaney

▪️East Brunswick All Girls Choir - Teddywaddy @waj1

🔺Easterhouse - Contenders @johnynocash & @ersehole

▪️Einstürzende Neubauten - Halber Mensch @davidrogmoore

▪️Einstürzende Neubauten - Haus der Lüge ‪@ronanmaenardo ‬

▪️Elf Power - In A Cave @drfilth

▪️Earthless - Black Heaven @sipperana

▪️Eat Lights Become Lights - Into Forever @thewilsyboy

🔺Edsel Auctioneer - Simmer @heeleysteve

🔺Espers - II ‪@simonwstockdale ‬

▪️ El Perro del Mar - Change of Heart @badgyote

Chop’s Journal - 2 Aug 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Sun, 02 Aug 2020 15:00:00 +0000

Despite my best efforts to resist we’ve done some decorating. Mrs T5 & my youngest painted his room and we had enough paint left over (just) to do our bedroom too. So consecutive weekends freshening up the house felt more productive than we have for a while.

New SOTW

Trouble - Hen Ogledd

https://open.spotify.com/track/2QnzGRI9D2jnKL65BBRz9S?si=wz6aZO_TS-20s3OVZ-YGMg

Music I’m enjoying

The new Shirley Collins album is good, it’s really just lovely to have her making new music, but this week’s favourite was the long awaited Damaged Bug album of Alan Yonkers covers.

Book Reading

Book 9: The Pine Islands by Marion Poschmann (translated by Jen Calleja)

This was an unusual but enjoyable read. I only read it because the translation from German was by Jen Calleja of the band Sauna Youth. Jen recently completed a year as translator in residence at the British Library so I knew she had an intriguing career outside of music. This book was also nominated for the 2019 Man Booker International prize so I figured it was worth a read.

It’s quite sparse in its mode of story telling and is largely focused on potential suicide but the use of language is eloquent and I enjoyed reading it. I actually found that it was after I finished the book it really sunk home and I gave myself a couple of days to reflect before moving on the read something new.

Occasional Top Fives

I’ve been running more often during lockdown & when I do I listen to an old iPod nano that I filled up with compilations to make it as varied as possible. In particular there’s a classic collection of American AOR called American Heartbeat that I loved as a teenager. I couldn’t resist making a top 5 in my head as I ran hence this ...

▪️AOR Songs

Hold The Line - Toto
Heat of the Moment - Asia
More Than A Feeling - Boston
I Want To Know What Love Is - Foreigner
Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore - REO Speedwagon

AOR Playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1t4yzpdhwvaBWQjtSYKvfd?si=c3tQCHOlS_KVB51Vh7e7Ow

Chop’s Journal - 26 Jul 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 14:00:00 +0000

This was an eventful week though, as I mentioned last week, I’m catching up on posts and things are beginning to fade from my memory a little.

After lord knows how many weeks of me doing the weekly shopping I’ve got into the groove and am generally less stressed by the whole experience. It was a little unexpected then that this would be the week I got into a massive argument with someone in Tesco. I was queuing at the checkouts & things are less regimented than they were a few weeks back but I had an eye on where I expected to go.

A new cashier jumped on and called me forward to a different till. I spotted this old fella with a basket & tried to point him out but we’re all quite far apart and it’s difficult to make myself heard. She was quite jolly & beckoning me forward, old fella not paying attention either, so I go with it & begin to unload. I have three shops as I’m getting bits for the old folk across from us. Get first on when till manager waves to my cashier to try & get old fella in. That’s fine. I step back and let them through but old fella is being grumbly.

Then the cashier realises her till is broken & she needs to switch. She explains this & moves over, taking my first shop with her. Old fella is still unloading his basket on what is now the wrong till. She calls him over & it’s this point things get heated. He gets cross & moans at her. Tesco supervisor comes back to assist. Doesn’t help. He gets moaned at too. My first shop is now in the way, 3 Tesco staff are trying to assist & old fella is just being horrible to them so I step in and explain they’re just trying to help him out but that makes him angrier.

He starts having a go at me for pushing in. I kind of did but not deliberately and I explain that. He just carries on having a go at everyone. I have a go back. The 3rd Tesco cashier suggests moving me to another till and again helps me move my stuff. We leave grumpy fella to his thing and get set up ready to get my stuff paid for. She says thank you for trying to stand up for them. Of course grumpy fella didn’t have much to get through and walks past my new position. He has another go at me at which point I finish loading my shopping on the till before walking up to him & really letting rip.

This is a few days before masks become mandatory in shops. I’m wearing one. He isn’t. I point this out. I don’t believe in masks he counters. Of course you fucking don’t. Security guard arrives unaware of what has gone on but it’s over and he ends up just walking out with the grumpy git. It’s not a nice feeling to lose your temper in public & I regret it but I hate seeing people who don’t appreciate what folks like shop workers have to do, especially over the last few months.

Later on that week there was a fire at one of our neighbours. She’s been renovating for years and only moved in recently. We don’t yet know her very well & she was out at work when it happened. Builder had stripped the paint off the front sash window and left for the day. Seems an ember or two had slipped inside the sash housing and caught light.

My immediate neighbour had clocked this, he’s a decorator by trade and explained afterwards he’s always worried about the risk of stripping back like that. Maybe because he was concerned meant he was on look out but he smelled the smoke first & saw what was going on. As he rang the fire brigade we ran our garden hose round and I started trying to damp down the smoke. Got another hose on it from the other side too but by now it’s billowing smoke.

Fire brigade turns up within 5 minutes & we bail out the way. They put some proper hoses on it but it still takes half and hour to get it done. They have to rip off part of the housing & smash a window to get in the house. All things considered not that much damage and another neighbour brings them a cuppa when it’s done.

New SOTW

Dee Dee Ramone - Helen Love

https://open.spotify.com/track/05BN0nqt0hwAz0ysMg5T6p?si=WWSkirSyRmGYVOffrr8FLA

Music I’m enjoying

The new album from Samantha Crain is a stunner. Possibly her career best. I’ve failed to catch her live yet but did watch a little streamed show she did for Music’s Not Dead to support this release and very much hope to see her for real when we get the chance.

I’m also enjoying the debut Silverbacks album. I saw them play a free show at The Old Blue Last in January and they were the best band on the bill.

Chop’s A2Z - Week 4: D

‪Week 4 of #chopsA2Z please suggest a favourite album by a band or artist beginning with D and explain why you think I should listen to it.

Albums I’d not heard before

1: Tanya Donnelly “Beauty Sleep” @perlalaloca - Absolutely loved this. I’ve got two more listens to go but really looking forward to them. Highlights were The Storm & So Much Song.

2: Devo “Duty Now For The Future” @citizen_jc - This wasn’t the instant hit I’d expected. They definitely sound like a band I should like but maybe need my full attention and this week I’ve been multi tasking a lot.

3: Destroyer “Kaputt” @tristanjt - Some interesting songs on here. Another album I think needs further listening for me to really get. I’m not a huge fan of Dan’s voice but maybe that’s just down to expectation again.

4: Dusty Trails “Dusty Trails” @sulaviedilejo - Sumptuous cinematic vibe that I really enjoyed. Reminded me a little of the Air debut album but also very soundtracky. Some nice brass additions & loads of very cool bass lines.

Albums I already own

🔹Death in Vegas “The Contino Sessions” @mjgelder

🔹Dark Star “Twenty Twenty Sound” @eveshambaggy

🔹Detroit Cobras “Mink, Rat or Rabbit” @girlshirl1

🔹Dead Kennedy’s “Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables” @davidrogmoor @pablooplywiss

Of the albums I own already the Detroit Cobras is my absolute favourite. Full of stomping soul driven garage rock. The DKs a close 2nd with a ferocious album that I still love. DiV & DS felt like they’d aged less well but nice to hear both again.

Overspill list

🔺Disco Inferno “The 5 EPs” @williemcalpine

🔺Dory Previn “Dory Previn” @paul_hilton

🔺Doris Duke “I’m A Loser” @wcboggs

🔺Dion “Born To Be With You” @sineadmcq

🔺Devandra Banhart “Cripple Crow” @tobiascotton

🔺 Department of Eagles “In Ear Park” @citizenmeh

🔺DJ Shadow “Endtroducing” @disco_juan & @factoryjimbo

🔺Dumb “Club Nites” @SandyWishart

I was actually looking for a way to cut down the albums I listen to but there were too many intriguing suggestions this week for me to ignore.

Glad I gave this bunch a listen too. Actually pretty much enjoyed every one but Doris Duke, DJ Shadow, Dumb & Department of Eagles were my favourites.

The full list of nominations

▪️Dandy Warhols “Come Down” @shakastic

▪️Demented Are Go “In Sickness & Health” @dingasurfbunny

▪️The Doors “The Doors” @pahudson

🔹De La Soul “3 Feet High & Rising” @herealexhere

▪️Donny Hathaway “Everything is Everything” @danred71

▪️Delays “Faded Seaside Glamour” @neilc79

▪️Delta “Slippin’ Out” @sirsidneyp

▪️The Drums “The Drums” @hertfordsoul

▪️Iris DeMent “My Life” @darrenmjones

🔹Death in Vegas “The Contino Sessions” @mjgelder

▪️Dead Prez “Let’s Get Free” @emdehaney

🔹Dark Star “Twenty Twenty Sound” @eveshambaggy

▪️Dale Hawkins “L.A. Memphis & Tyler, Texas” @greatestalbum70

▪️Dinosaur Jr “Farm” @elhozzo3

▪️Dinosaur Jr “Where You Been?” @ipswichjon

🔹Detroit Cobras “Mink, Rat or Rabbit” @girlshirl1

▪️The Distillers “Coral Fang” @preservation76

🔹Deus “Worst Case Scenario” @GreeneDermot67

🔹Deus “Worst Case Scenario” @Maffrj

▪️The Distractions “Nobody’s Perfect” @ambnorwich

▪️Desert Mountain Tribe “Either That or the Moon” @stillhonest

🔺Dory Previn “Dory Previn” @paul_hilton

▪️Desperate Journalist “Grow Up” @GLPNE73

▪️DIIV “Oshin” @tansleyjames

▪️DIIV “Oshin” @cjl__73

▪️Dr Dog “Fate” @rock_goal

▪️Dr Dog “Be The Void” @tmulraney

🔺DJ Shadow “Endtroducing” @disco_juan

🔺DJ Shadow “Endtroducing” @factoryjimbo

🔺Doris Duke “I’m A Loser” @wcboggs

🔺Tanya Donnelly “Beauty Sleep” @perlalaloca

▪️Dvorak’s Symphonic Dances @nakedfooty

▪️Drab Majesty “Modern Mirror” @catanddrumsc

▪️Des Demonas “Des Demonas” @gigticket

▪️Delicatessen “Skin Touching Water” @bodlingboy

🔹Diesel Park West “Shakespeare Alabama” @domsg

▪️Dumptruck “Positively Dumptruck” @agarr45

▪️Dumptruck “For The Country” @apostatehymnals

▪️Dalek I “Compass Kumpass” @durutti74

▪️The Dream Syndicate “The Days of Wine and Roses” @davidpeters_

🔺Disco Inferno “The 5 EPs” @williemcalpine

▪️Disco Inferno “Open Doors, Closed Windows” @thesweetcheat

▪️Deja Vega “Deja Vega” @joefinegan1

🔹The Delines “Colfax” @kedwondo

🔺Devo “Duty Now For The Future” @citizen_jc

▪️Dub Sex - any album @mrwhotzit

▪️Drive Like Jehu “Yank Crime” @ruskus

▪️Decemberists “The King is Dead” @aussieguy11901

🔺Destroyer “Kaputt” @tristanjt

▪️Drive-By Truckers “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark” @heckler_spray

▪️The Dead South “Good Company” @thelovelyilgwu

🔺Dusty Trails “Dusty Trails” @sulaviedilejo

▪️Desert Ships “Doll Skin Flag” @seatinthestalls

▪️Departure Lounge “Too Late To Die” @lokessimon

🔺Dion “Born To Be With You” @sineadmcq

▪️Dean & Britta “L’Avventura” @simon_dodsworth

▪️Doll By Doll “Doll By Doll” @bullantics

🔹 Do Make Say Think “Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn” @spooner_daniel

🔹Dead Kennedy’s “Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables” @davidrogmoor

🔹Dead Kennedy’s “Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables” @pablooplywiss

🔺Devandra Banhart “Cripple Crow” @tobiascotton

▪️ Dukes of Stratosphere “Chips From The Chocolate Fireball” @d_grayer

🔺 Department of Eagles “In Ear Park” @citizenmeh

▪️Dancing Hoods “Surfing All Over The Road” @darrell_clem

▪️The Damned “Phantasmagoria” @johnynocash

▪️Diagrams “Chromatics” @vicaviber

▪️Dumb “Club Nites” @SandyWishart

🔹Dexys Midnight Runners “Searching For The New Soul Rebels” @davidohanlon7

▪️Distophia “Soda Lake” @brinyhoof

▪️Delphic “Acolyte” @zakw123

Chop’s Journal - 19 Jul 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Sun, 19 Jul 2020 13:00:00 +0000

I’m seriously running behind with these posts so actually writing this in early August & struggling to remember what, if anything, happened this week.

I did contribute to The London Ukulele Project’s charity single in a very small way. I recorded a very short piece of audio & video to help them create a chorus of over 100 ukes at the end of their version of “With A Little Help From My Friends”. You can see me in the video too.

https://youtu.be/bNp-du1dUkQ

New SOTW

Dinosaurs On The Mountain - The Flaming Lips

https://open.spotify.com/track/1oabTBniwctZ7yq1TzoFb0?si=HRFJAM7AQCqqIBlvJHtsJw

Music I’m enjoying

The Beths’ second album has been dominating my album listening this week. It’s an absolute joy and put a smile on my face every time I played it.

Occasional Top Fives

Maybe this will be a fortnightly thing in between the A2Z lists. Not sure but I’ll see how it goes. This topic proved to be a good one with loads of different songs making a corking playlist which I’ve linked to below. This one wasn’t my idea so big thanks to @sharkastic for the suggestion.

▪️ Top 5 Songs that mention other artists

Why Do They Never Play Les Savy Fav On The Radio?
Daft Punk Is Playing At My House - LCD Soundsystem or Losing My Edge
I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone - Sleater-Kinney
They Say I’m Different - Betty Davis
History Lesson Part 2 - The Minutemen

Spotify Playlist with more suggestions:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2VB929IE5ti9DjynvXofqI?si=XkOeKlf8Thyo0KkWTpVK4w

Chop’s Journal - 10 Jul 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 22:34:00 +0000

My eldest returned to Gloucester this week to recommence rowing training now that’s possible again. It’s been lovely having him home, despite the difficulties of us all being at home during lockdown, and this time it was harder to see him go than previous departures.

Whilst he was back he helped both me & Mrs T5 buy new bikes and was a really positive influence on my youngest. They did exercise together regularly and got on as well as they have ever done.

These are difficult times but there are little silver linings here and there that give me strength and spending more time with my boys than I would have done has definitely been a big positive.

New SOTW

Lockdown - John Coghlan’s Quo

https://open.spotify.com/track/4LInS6uIHRFdb1BQlHmZ3R?si=arCbK198TH6acRnimcZjHw

Music I’m enjoying

A mixture of albums by artists beginning with C and new releases. The standout album that coincidentally meets both criteria is Grande est la maison by Cabane which is an achingly beautiful record by Thomas Jean Henri which features vocals from Will Oldham and Kate Stables.

Book Reading

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane - Neil Gaiman: Gosh, I really loved this book. It’s fairly short but possibly the best Gaiman novel I’ve read. It’s one of those books that left me feeling a little bereft at finishing it. There’s elements of fantasy horror but ostensibly this is a tale about childhood, how we see things as children & how we remember them as adults. It really got me thinking about my own childhood memories & brought back some happy recollections.

Chop’s A2Z - Week 3: C

Albums I’d not heard before

‪1. Cinerama “Va Va Voom” @elhozzo3 @ApostateHymnals - I’m sure I must have listened to this before but this time it really hit the mark for me. I absolutely love it & if gigs ever happen again I’m gonna make sure I see Gedge do a Cinerama set soon.

‪2. The Clean “Anthology” @drums_wires - Every bit as good as people suggested & a clear influence on many of my favourite contemporary bands. I only listened to disc 1 as there’s a lot here but will come back to disc 2 at some point.

‪3. The Colorblind James Experience “The Colorblind James Experience” @StillHonest - I know Move To Memphis very well but I’m not sure I’ve listened to the whole album which was a mistake as I liked it a lot. Great lyrics, quirky tunes. Spot on.

4. The Congos “Heart of the Congos” @thehatandbeard - Another album I’ve played before but don’t know very well. It’s a smashingly positive & uplifting record. Definitely put a smile on my face. Completes a clean sweep of hits this week.

Albums I already own

‪1. Calexico “Feast of Wire” @vicaviber - The bands 4th album and the last one before I lost contact with their releases. Conversely I think this is the point they really took off success wise. I know it less well than their earlier stuff so great to revisit it.

‪2. Cornershop “Handcream For A Generation” @LokesSimon - This was, I think, the bands first album following “When I Was Born ...” which was such a huge record for me I was bound to be a little disappointed with what came next. It’s actually a brilliant collection of songs and one I should have listened to more often. Lessons Learned from Rocky I to Rocky III my absolutely favourite but there are plenty of absolute belters on here. Cornershop are a really great band.

3. Crack Cloud “Crack Cloud” @herealexhere - One of my favourite current bands & absolutely astonishing live if you ever get the chance. This is a compilation of 2 previously released EPs but counts as their debut album as I think it was their first global release.

‪4. Cowtown “Paranormal Romance” @gigticket - Absolutely joyful punky pop that is hard to resist. I’ve loved this album for ages but not yet managed to catch the band live #chopsA2Z ‬

Perfect Sounds Whatever pick

Cate Le Bon “Crab Day” @perfectsoundpod - I’ve not kept up with CLB as much as I should have done. I bought previous album Mug Museum (suggested by @emdehaney) & loved that so really should have got this one too it’s fab & the story behind the album title is ace.

The full list of nominations

🌀Crab Day - Cate Le Bon @perfectsoundpod

▪️ CocoRosie - La Maison de Mon Rêve @slowthrills

▪️Come - Eleven : Eleven @grizzlybeard

▪️Califone - Roots & Crowns ‪@darrenmjones ‬

▪️Crispy Ambulance - The Plateau Phase @thesweetcheat

▪️Crowded House - Temple of Low Men @call_me_cynical

▪️Chavez - Ride The Fader ‪@jjvwaardenberg ‬

🔹Crack Cloud - Crack Cloud @herealexhere

🔹Calexico - Feast of Wire @vicaviber

▪️ Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Twinkle Echo @citizenmeh

▪️ Chris Cohen - Overgrown Path @pauldn1

▪️Care - Diamonds & Emeralds @wallytbm

▪️Childhood - Lacuna @glpne73

▪️Codeine - Barely Real @beautifulpigeon

▪️The Chills - Kaleidoscope World @DrFilth

▪️Curtis Mayfield - Curtis ‪@1HowardWalker ‬

▪️Jayne Cortez & the firespitters - Taking the blues back home @sineadmcq

▪️Chumbawumba - Anarchy @sharkastic

🔺Chumbawamba - Slap! ‪@GreeneDermot67 ‬+ 2

▪️The Charlatans - The Charlatans @zakw123

▪️ Candidate - Taking On The Enemy’s Sound @realruskus

▪️Julian Cope - 20 Mothers ‪@pablooplywiss

▪️Cotton Mather - Kontiki @durutti74

▪️Laura Kantrell - Not The Tremblin’ Kind @williemcalpine

▪️Cloth - Cloth @MattLXIX

▪️Compulsive Gamblers - Crystal Gazing, Luck Amazing @wcboggs

▪️Coldcut - Journeys By DJ ‪@sirsidneyp ‬& @eveshambaggy

▪️Cold Beat - Mother ‪@SuspendedZimbra ‬

▪️The Comsat Angels - Chasing Shadows @domsg

▪️Crass - Christ the album ‪@madefromtoffee ‬

▪️Cardiacs - A Little Man and a House & the Whole World Window @brinyhoof

▪️Cardiacs - On Land and in the Sea @davidrogmoor

▪️Cardiacs - Sing To God pt 1 & pt 2 @spooner_daniel

▪️Chagall Guevara - Chagall Guevara @sipperana

▪️China Crisis - Working With Fire & Steel

‪@SeanKChambers1 ‬

▪️The Cure - Pornography ‪@jnlangton ‬

▪️The Cherry Orchard - The Start Of Our Affair @emmas_house

▪️Clint Mansell - Moon @pahudson

▪️Colman Brothers - Colman Brothers @tobiascotton

🔹Cate Le Bon - Mug Museum ‪@emdehaney ‬

▪️Colorama - Box @d_grayer

▪️ Cibo Matto - Viva La Woman @adespink

🔺The Colorblind James Experience - The Colorblind James Experience @stillhonest

▪️ Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career @brown_ak

▪️Chromatics - Kill For Love ‪@CatAndDrumSC ‬

▪️Campag Velocet - Bon Chic Bon Genre ‪@Simon_Dodsworth ‬& @preservation76

▪️The Common Cold - Shut Up! Yo Liberals! @jakepalmer04

▪️ Crime & The City Solution - Shine @adthedoor

🔺The Clean - Anthology @drums_wires

▪️Chris TT - The 253 ‪@Perlalaloca ‬

▪️Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas @tristanjt

🔺The Congos - Heart of the Congos @thehatandbeard

▪️The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge @girlshirl1

▪️The Connells - Ring @resumisu

▪️Cardinal - Cardinal @ambnorwich

🔹Cowtown - Paranormal Romance @gigticket

🔹Cornershop - Handcream for a generation @lokessimon

▪️Constant Mongrel - Living In Excellence @hodge_nufc & @kazashton

▪️Cactus World News - Urban Beaches @tmulraney & @bullantics

🔹The Cornshed Sisters - Tell Tales @millie_ran

▪️The Cult - Dreamtime live at The Lyceum ‪@sulaviedilejo

▪️Canshaker Pi - Canshaker Pi ‪@ApostateHymnals @elhozzo3 ‬

🔺Cinerama - Va Va Voom ‪@ApostateHymnals @elhozzo3 ‬

▪️Camp Cope - How to Socialize and Make Friends @ascott64

Chop’s Journal - 5 Jul 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Sun, 05 Jul 2020 17:00:00 +0000

This was my Birthday week and it went pretty well. I had the day off work, went for a run (5.2 k), watched a film (Bait featuring Georgia Ellery from Black Country, New Road) and ran a Top 5 of other people who are 52.

Then we drove to Shoreham to buy a 2nd hand bike (a gravel bike to replace my old & decrepit mountain bike) getting home in time to watch Fulham beat QPR 2-1 (rare chance to see my team play on my birthday) and eat a takeaway curry from the wonderful School of Spice.

New SOTW

Up The Nurses - Silverbacks

https://open.spotify.com/track/6oiclgORkkYvWcfMYgk87W?si=9SbpcajBQgaBYtFRypY-KA

Music I’m enjoying

A mixed bag this week as the B & C artists from the A2Z thing start to take over. There was new music but I only managed a single listen of most of those.

Birthday Top 5

▪️ People Born in 1968

Matt Le Tissier
Gillian Anderson
Thom Yorke
Barry Sanders
Hugh Jackman

Chop’s A2Z - Week 2: B

Albums I’ve not heard:

Chris Bell “I Am Cosmos” @caroline_binnie - This one will need further listens to totally win me over. I don’t think it sings to me in quite the same way as Big Star but I can see Chris’ influence on his former band. It’s a lovely blend of gentle folksy tunes and all out rockers. You & Your Sister is the tune that really stands out for me. Goosebumps when the harmony kicks in.
Broadcast “The Noise Made By People” @cjl__73 - I really love this. It’s got a soundtrack vibe about the instrumentation and Trish Keenan’s vocals are wonderful. Dashes of John Barry mixed with elements of Stereolab.
Broncho “Double Vanity” @kazashton - Scuzzy guitar driven rock with echoey vocals that at times, oddly, reminded me of Angel Olsen. I Know You & New Karma my fave tunes. Oh, 2016 release too for @perfectsoundpod fans.
The Bubble Project “The Technicolour Dream Machine” @millie_ran - This might be my favourite of the 4. Very little info about them online but @SLUG_MrIBlack was involved. It’s an explosion of colourful noise with a great ear for melody & very much up my street.

Albums I own:

British Sea Power “The Decline of British Sea Power” @pahudson - This is a pretty significant album for me. One I know & love every track on. Great to play it again, this is exactly the sort of album I don’t listen to often enough.
Built To Spill “Keep It Like A Secret” @elhozzo3 - Love this one too though I know it less well. I saw BTS on this tour supporting The Flaming Lips and bought the album that night. It’s been ages & lovely to hear it again.
Big Joanie “Sistahs” @_sandywishart - This is such a great record. I found them late in the year but I think it would now be in my 2018 top five. They all also do so much good work to encourage young girls & black musicians to make music. ‬
Bilge Pump “We Love You” @mightybilgepump - First entry to be nominated by the actual band. This was the album that introduced me to Leeds legends Bilge Pump and it’s an absolute corker. Worth catching live if we ever allowed to do gigs again.

Perfect Sounds Whatever:

Will Butler “Friday Night” @psp - A live album recorded after Butler got drunk at a winery & promised the owner he’d record a record just for him. Opens with the band playing a song they’d never performed before as an encore. Ramshackle but fun.

The full list:

🔺I Am Cosmos - Chris Bell - @caroline_binnie

🔺Double Vanity - Broncho @kazashton

🔺The Technicolour Dream Machine - The Bubble Project @millie_ran

🔺The Noise Made By People - Broadcast @cjl__73

🔹Keep It Like A Secret - Built To Spill @elhozzo3

🔹Sistahs - Big Joanie @sandywishart

🔹The Decline of ... - British Sea Power @pahudson

🔹We Love You - Bilge Pump @mightybilgepump

🌀Friday Night - Will Butler @perfectsoundpod

▪️Mother of My Children - Black Belt Eagle Scout @waj1

▪️Bangs & Crashes - Go West @seankchambers

▪️Happiness - The Beloved @scott_steve

▪️Stupid Things That Mean The World @peteuh70

▪️Jessica Bailiff - Jessica Bailiff @wcboggs

▪️Lust - The Becketts @bodlingboy

▪️A Cork Tale Wake - Chris Bathgate @vicaviber

▪️The Sky Is Falling & I Want My Mommy - Jello Biafra with Nomeansno @pablooplywiss

▪️Some Dusty - Birdie @apostatehymnals

🔹Keep It Like A Secret - Built To Spill @elhozzo3

▪️Black Dog Productions - Bytes @davidkbruce

▪️New Funky Nation - Boo Ya Tribe @sirsidneyp

▪️Pandemonia - The Bathers @dubhead77

▪️Docks - Amanda Bergman @realruskus

▪️Swagger - The Blue Aeroplanes @ambnorwich

▪️Got It Made - Brassy @superjules84

▪️It’s All True - Bellatrix @preservation76

▪️Lights Out, Words Gone - Bombay Bicycle Club @drums_wires

▪️Exodus - Bob Marley & The Wailers @fredngingabuns

▪️Apples & Oranges - Blue Ox Babes @sharkastic

▪️Between My Ears ... - Baby Bird @johnynocash

▪️Violostries / Bidule En Ré / Capture Éphémère - Bernard Parmegiani @greatestalbum70

🔺I Am Cosmos - Chris Bell - @caroline_binnie

▪️Endless Scroll - Bodega @theedgeofthesea

▪️Baby 81 - BRMC @zakw123

▪️Atomizer - Big Black @artyassassin

▪️Beach House - Teen Dream @darrell_clem

▪️Red - Black Uhuru @danred71

▪️The Bollywood Breaks Sampler @adespink

▪️Couchmaster - The Bats @simonfarrier1

▪️Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO - Besnard Lakes @sineadmcq

▪️Walking The Ghost Back Home - The Bible @lokessimon

🔹Songs About Fucking - Big Black @the_mattron

▪️Zima Junction - Mark Burgess @thesweetcheat

▪️Explicit Material - Blue in Heaven @greenedermot67

▪️All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace - Bravecaptain @brinyhoof

🔺Double Vanity - Broncho @kazashton

▪️Ben Hur - Bitch Magnet @heelysteve

▪️King of Madrid - Peter Bruntnell @westburtonlad

▪️Crooked Timber - Babel @sipperana

▪️Cold Water Songs - Broken Family Band @williemcalpine

🔹Sistahs - Big Joanie @sandywishart

▪️Let Me Come Over - Buffalo Tom @aussieguy11901

▪️ Soidemersol - La Buena Vida @weloveallthat

▪️Sing in a world that’s falling apart - Black Lips @jakepalmer04

▪️tryhard - The Band Camino @thelovelyilgwu

▪️Heart of my Own - Basia Bulat @andrewlockwood

▪️Shame - Brad @spooner_daniel

🔺The Technicolour Dream Machine - The Bubble Project @millie_ran

▪️A Walk Across The Rooftops - Blue Nile @girlshirl1

▪️Welcome The Worms - Bleached @glpne73

▪️ The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night - Besnard Lakes @jonnyshoegaze

▪️The Forgotten Art if Saying No - Beneath Utopia @pfybrown

▪️Let Me Come Home - Broken Records @agarr45

▪️A Guide To The Daylight Hours - Ballboy @stillhonest

▪️Modern Guilt - Beck @citizen_jc

▪️Justments - Bill Withers @davidpeters__

▪️Songs from the Big Pink - The Band @sbriceland920

▪️Bradley’s Barn - The Beau Brummels @durutti74

▪️We Are Ever So Clean - Blossom Toes @d_grayer

▪️Love Your Self Abuse - Baby Chaos @emdehaney

🔺The Noise Made By People - Broadcast @cjl__73

▪️Raytown Revisited - The Blades @joefinegan1

▪️Deportation Blues - BC Camplight @tmulraney

🔹The Decline of ... - British Sea Power @pahudson

▪️Bigger Than Life - Black Marble @catanddrumsc

🔹BCUC - The Healing @brown_ak

▪️Untrue - Burial @nomorefin

▪️Gone Now - Bleachers @atomryan

▪️Manic Magic Majestic - Band of Holy Joy @gigticket

🔹Wheel of Yew - Bilge Pump @mightybilgepump

▪️GANDHARVA - Beaver & Krause @sulaviedilejo

▪️Tales To Be Told - The Bookhouse Boys @ramblinmagnolia

▪️Normal For Bridgwater - Peter Bruntnell @riverboatcapt

▪️By The Sea - By The Sea @hertfordsoul

▪️BRMC - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @neilc79

▪️This Is Big Audio Dynamite - Big Audio Dynamite @bullantics

▪️Check Your Head - Beastie Boys @davidrogmoor

Chop’s Journal - 28 Jun 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Sat, 04 Jul 2020 21:29:00 +0000

I’ve been running regularly during lockdown & finally got up to doing 5k regularly when Mrs T5 challenged me to run 10k by the end of June. I wasn’t convinced I could do it but managed an 8k walk and realised it wasn’t impossible so really proud to say I did manage to run my first ever 10k.

I also jumped at the chance of joining the Phoebe Bridgers instore via Zoom for Banquet Records. Her latest album is brilliant and this was effectively free with the purchase. Phoebe played a lovely set of songs interspersed with a Q&A session. I even made it onto the photo Banquet shared (if you look closely).

New SOTW

Hard To Explain - Coriky

https://open.spotify.com/track/074pvxzTMN3toScC6oJbNy?si=rpmHQQy2TYa95vvxbxpF3A

Music I’m enjoying

Two huge albums this week. The debut release from Coriky, featuring Ian Mackaye, Joe Lally & Amy Farina, is the perfect overlap of many of their previous bands but is particularly getting me excited for being the closest thing I’ve heard to Fugazi in years. And Phoebe Bridgers sophomore solo album has also floored me with its beautifully sad songs.

Book Reading

A brilliant and fun read that interlaces chapters about albums from 2016 with ones that explore what was actually a terrible year for James. Despite covering some pretty dark moments Acaster finds the humour and writes in a very engaging way. He also manages that rare skill of making you want to listen to the albums he’s describing. As someone who listens to a lot of new music I was amazed that the vast majority of the albums discussed were completely new to me. Worth your time if you love music or enjoy James’ comedy. I’m off to listen to a bunch of music released in 2016.

Chop’s Journal - 21 Jun 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 22:30:00 +0000

This week I took a break from doing top fives and launched a new thing on Twitter to encourage me to listen to older music or bands I’d not had time to investigate.

In trying to make it interactive it kind of blew up to be bigger than I expected but I got an interesting list of recommended albums out of it.

Oh, and we saw the Red Arrows & Patrouille de France fly over our house in Shepperton (photo from a pal who was in Chertsey).

New SOTW

Down at the So and So on Somewhere Street - Fiery Furnaces

https://open.spotify.com/track/6OIyo9XWuQBRZmAe9bYRsW?si=sUB84vYzT1i8vORp-saiXQ

Music I’m enjoying

New releases from Wesley Gonzalez & Jehny Beth have been on my three play roster this week alongside some albums related to the Chops A2Z thing I’ll explain below and several albums related to James Acaster’s book Perfect Sounds Whatever.

Chop’s A2Z - Week 1: A

I listen to a lot of new music and often fail to go back and listen to bands or albums from the past that I’d probably love just as much. My plan is to get pals on Twitter to suggest an album by a band beginning with the letter of the week & explain why I should listen to it.

I then pick four I’ve never heard & four I already own and run a poll to vote for the albums I’ll listen to at least three times.

Albums I’d not heard:

1. American Music Club “California” @realruskus - AMC were exactly the type of band I was thinking about when starting this feature. I’m two plays in & it’s not grabbed me yet but having won the poll I’ll play it at least twice more & try to find the gem I’m sure is there.

2. Archie Bronson Outfit “Coconut” @brinyhoof - Big swirly noisy rock with a good groove underpinning it. Not quiet as noisy as I expected but worth further investigation. The basslines reminded me of Peter Hook and there’s a bit of a psych vibe going on too.

3. Amanda Applewood “I Love Boys” @608represent - This is a lovely bright & uplifting summer record. Amanda used to play keyboards with The Boy Least Likely To. Her vocals remind me a little of Miki from Lush and a little of Lail Arad though lyrically she’s closer to the latter.

4. Action Spectacular “From Here On In It’s A Riot” @sharkastic - Pretty sure I’d heard of Action Spectacular though there’s very little information about them online. This has a lot going on musically and some wryly observed lyrics. This warrants further listening.

Albums I Own:

1. Adam & The Ants “Dirk Wears White Socks” @DavidRogMoor - This is an album I only discovered recently after Marc Riley played a few tracks. The post-punk link is clearer than their subsequent big hits. Really love this.

2. The Auteurs “Now I’m A Cowboy” @Perlalaloca - Turns out I got confused & don’t own this album but I’m glad I gave it a closer listen. Luke Haines whip smart lyrics find their feet on this second Auteurs LP and Lenny Valentino stands out as the best track.

3. Art Brut “Bang Bang Rock n Roll” @cpsouthon - I forgot how brilliant this album is. Every song hits the mark for me & Eddie Argos’ lyrical powers shining through. This came out when I was discovering more new music via the internet but I know these songs so well.

4. The Amps “Pacer” @MrStuRobson - I pretty much love everything Kim Deal is involved with and this standalone album is a little gem that came out after The Breeders went on hiatus. Surprised it didn’t poll higher so give it a spin if you like The Breeders.?

I also add a selection from James Acaster’s book about the music of 2016, Perfect Sounds Whatever, as I’m reading that currently & listening to the albums he mentions. He has over 600 from that year so I figured there should be one for each letter. This week’s pick is “The Impossible Kid” by Aesop Rock. I picked it as the first “A” album on the list I hadn’t listened to yet. Turned out it’s hip-hop which isn’t a genre I’m a huge fan of but two tracks in and I’m already more engaged than I expected to be. Lyrically this isn’t usual hip-hop fair. There seems to be some fairly dense themes and I guess the delivery is a little closer to the rock end of the spectrum too making easier for me to connect.

Here’s the full list of nominated albums. I got more than I was expecting so ended up creating two polls;

🔺Albums that are new to me

🔹Albums I own

🌀Album from Perfect Sounds Whatever

🔺American Music Club - California

🔺Action Spectacular - From Here On In ...

🔺Amanda Applewood - I Love Boys

🔺Archie Bronson Outfit - Coconut

🔹Adam & The Ants - Dirk Wears White Socks

🔹The Amps - Pacer

🔹Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock n Roll

🔹The Auteurs - I’m A Cowboy Now

🌀Aesop Rock - The Impossible Kid

▪️Adorable - Against Protection

▪️Ayla Nero - The Code of the Flowers

▪️A Girl Called Eddy

▪️Amazing Snakeheads - Amphetamine Ballards

▪️Able Tamsans - Store in a Cool Place

▪️Ambulance Ltd - Ambulance Ltd

▪️Audioslave - Audioslave

▪️Terry Allen - Juarez

▪️Louis Armstrong - Disney Songs ...

▪️Astrid - One in Four

▪️All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavor - All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavor

▪️Arboretum- Coming out of the fog

▪️C Adigery - Zandoli

▪️Aimee Mann - Magnolia OST

▪️Ahem - Try Again

▪️ACR - Sextet

▪️Airstream - Follow Through

▪️Agent Orange - Living in Darkness

▪️Air Formation - Daylight Storms

▪️Amber Arcades - European Heartbreak

▪️The Associates - Sulk

🔹Ash - 1977

▪️Albion Band - Light Shining

▪️Afghan Wigs - Gentlemen

▪️Aziz Abraham - Rusholme Rock

▪️After the Gold rush - Neil Young

🔹At The Drive In - Relationship of Command

▪️Allo Darlin - Allo Darlin

▪️Aztec Camera - High Land, Hard Rain

▪️Aimee Mann - Lost in Space

▪️Aberfeldy - Young Forever

▪️Alvvays - Antisocialites

🔹Trail of Dead - Madonna

🔹Adverts - Crossing the Red Sea

🔹Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

▪️Amen Dunes - Blue Rose

▪️ABC - Alphabet City

▪️Abraham - Blue For The Most

▪️Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder

▪️Aim - Cold Water Music

▪️Ane Brun - It All Starts With One

▪️Absentee - Schmotime

▪️Autechre - Incunabula

▪️A House - I am the greatest

▪️Alvvays - Plimsoll Punks

▪️All We Are - All We Are

▪️AK/DK - Patterns / Harmonics

▪️Amiina - Kurr

▪️Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls

🔹Air - Moon Safari

▪️Allah Lahs - Allah Lahs

▪️Archie Roach - Charcoal Lane

▪️ABC - Look of Love

▪️TheAudience - theaudience

▪️Arctic Monkeys - AM

▪️Alien Ant Farm - Anthology

▪️Amusement Parks On Fire - Amusement Parks On Fire

▪️Annie - Anniemal

▪️APB - Something To Believe In

▪️Fiona Apple - Tidal

▪️Aaron Neville - Tell It Like It Is

▪️The Aliens - Astronomy For Dogs

▪️American Analog Set - Know By Heart

▪️Alpha - Comes From Heaven

Chop’s Journal - 14 Jun 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Sat, 20 Jun 2020 17:16:00 +0000

Running late with this one. I decided this would be the final week of, mostly, daily top fives. It’s been over three months which felt like enough but I do plan to keep it going at least weekly after a short break.

Photo below was taken by Mrs T5 on one of her walks.

New SOTW

Nothing At All - Emma Kupa

https://open.spotify.com/track/3IP8ehsY1k9nhqO0yYfi0h?si=MJcjZmmHSB6Cj4r_m0ML1w

Music I’m enjoying

This week’s best new release is the Roxy Girls EP though I’ve also enjoyed Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s second full length album.

Spent more time keeping up to date with BBC radio shows (Marc Riley, Natasha xxx Ruskin Sharp & Michael Bradley) and Mixcloud shows (Dan Whaley, Contraflow & Yesterday’s Jam).

Lockdown Top Fives - Week 12

LOCKDOWN WEEK 12

▪️Monday 8th: Northern Soul songs

I’ll Keep Holding On - The Marvelettes
Nothing But A Heartache - The Flirtations
There’s A Ghost In My House - R. Dean Taylor
Let’s Wade In The Water - Marlena Shaw
Landslide - Tony Clarke

▪️Tuesday 9th: Bands or Solo Artists from Germany

Can
Kraftwerk
Neu!
Amon Düül II
Helloween

▪️Wednesday 10th: Indie Songwriting Partnerships

Mimi Parker & Alan Sparhawk
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
Colin Newman & Graham Lewis
Ariel Sharratt & Mathias Kom
Darren Hayman & Emma Kupa

▪️Thursday 11th: Albums of the 10s (2010-19)

Meilyr Jones - 2013
Kathryn Joseph - From When I Wake ..
Richard Dawson - 2020
Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die ...
Jen Cloher - Jen Cloher

▪️Friday 12th: Films of the 80s

Paris, Texas (W.Wenders)
Blade Runner (R.Scott)
This Is Spinal Tap (R.Reiner)
Ran (A.Kurosawa)
The Shining (S.Kubrick)

▪️ Football Matches you attended

Fulham 4 Juventus 1 (Mar 2010)
Portsmouth 4 Fulham 4 (Jan 1985)
Southampton 4 Ipswich 3 (Oct 1981)
Fulham 1 Lincoln 1 (May 1982)
Aston Villa 0 Fulham 2 (Jan 1999)

Chop’s Journal - 7 Jun 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 17:37:00 +0000

One of the great lockdown conundrums is how I’m putting on weight despite drinking much less than I normally would (honest) and exercising more frequently.

Thursday I watched a Knock2Bag comedy show streamed via the MOTH Club. It featured Lou Sanders, Tim Key and a bunch of comics I hadn’t seen before and it definitely boosted my mood.

New SOTW

Out Of Time - Shark Toys

Music I’m enjoying

‪Stats dominated by my three plays approach so new albums by Deerhoof, Erland Cooper (the final album in his brilliant Orkney trilogy) and The Cool Greenhouse leading the way this week.

Lockdown Top Fives - Week 11

▪️Monday 1st: One Hit Wonders

Echo Beach - Martha & The Muffins
96 Tears - ? and The Mysterians
Mexican Radio - Wall of Voodoo
Uptown Top Ranking - Althea & Donna
99 Red Balloons - Nena

▪️Wednesday 2nd: Music Biographies

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys. - Viv Albertine
Sleevenotes - Joe Thompson
Bound For Glory - Woody Guthrie
Margrave of the Marshes - John Peel
Hell Bent For Leather: Confessions of a Heavy Metal Addict - Seb Hunter

▪️Thursday 4th: Songs about Rain - i40

Dry The Rain - The Beta Band
It’s Raining - Irma Thomas
So. Central Rain - R.E.M.
Spring Rain - The Go-Betweens
Have You Ever Seen The Rain? - Creedence Clearwater Revival

▪️ Xtra: Songs about Weather & Weather Systems

Weather With You - Crowded House
British People In Hot Weather - The Fall
This Is A Low - Blur
Stormy Weather - Pixies
Like The Weather - 10,000 Maniacs

▪️Friday 5th: Films of the 70s

The Godfather (Coppola)
Annie Hall (Allen)
Dog Day Afternoon (Lumet)
The French Connection (Friedkin)
Slap Shot (G.R.Hill)

▪️Saturday 6th: Football Grounds you’ve been to

Craven Cottage
Easter Road
The Dell
Emirates Stadium
Volksparkstadion

Chop’s Journal - 31 May 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 22:09:00 +0000

This week I’ve mainly been angry. Angry about Dominic Cummings. Angry about the lack of leadership from the Government. Angry about the lack of clarity on rules. Angry about the general ignorance shown by a large percentage of the UK population. I wrote to my MP. I got a stock reply but I wrote again to say how poor it was. It might not mean much but I feel I have to try.

Then, just as I was getting control of my senses, I got angry about the senseless death of George Floyd in America and see the troubles faced by Black Americans and remember how lucky I am. I need to explore options to be a more proactive ally to all those people who are suffering.

My focus next week will be on the good things in life. Hopefully I’ll be feeling more upbeat.

New SOTW

Ballet of Apes - Brigid Dawson & The Mothers Network

Music I’m enjoying

‪Despite the numbers below the album I’ve enjoyed the most is Ballet Of Apes by Brigid Dawson & The Mothers Network. Brigid was a member of Thee Oh Sees for many years but recently released an album with John Dwyer under the OCS moniker and this album feels like a nice progression from there.

Home Time is Darren Hayman’s second album of the year and it’s another great set of tunes. Featuring Hannah Winter (AKA Common or Garden) and Laura K (of Fortitude Valley) it features songs about break-ups recorded acoustically to 8 track.

Completing a trio of fine new releases is Four Against Fate by The Nightingales which continues their excellent run of form and might be my favourite ’Gales album yet.

Other notes

Despite the doom & gloom above I was off work until Thursday but didn’t really do a lot. The main bonus was not having to work.

My eldest boy was 20 this week, which doesn’t seem possible. A bit of a dull birthday for him but he was happy with a takeaway current, a big homemade chocolate cake and a few beers.

On Wednesday I did a 9 k walk on my own. That gave me time to catchup on episodes of the Off Menu podcast but also got me thinking I could maybe run that distance and Mrs T5 set me the challenge of running 10k by the end of June.

Lockdown Top Fives - Week 10

▪️Wednesday 27th: Bands / Solo Artists from New Zealand

Aldous Harding
Nadia Reid
Tiny Ruins
Marlon Williams
Lorde / The Beths

▪️Thursday 28th: Comic Book Writers

Alan Moore
Grant Morrison
Chris Claremont
Stan Lee
John Wagner

▪️Friday 29th: Films of the 40s

Passport To Pimlico (Cornelius)
Kind Hearts & Coronets (Hamer)
Arsenic and Old Lace (Capra)
The Third Man (Reed)
Notorious (Hitchcock)

▪️Saturday 30th: Favourite Music T-Shirts

Jim Jones Revue “Voodoo Face”
British Sea Power “Heron Addict”
Japandroids “Photo Snaps”
Art Brut “Popular Culture”
Inspiral Carpets “Cool as Fuck”

Chop’s Journal - 24 May 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Mon, 25 May 2020 15:17:00 +0000

Ninth week of lockdown and it’s been ok. My anxiety about work has reduced, as I managed to get a bit more productive. I relaxed a bit on the days when I didn’t fit in sport or didn’t find time for other fun things. It’s still a tricky balance but I’m doing ok. As always, music, exercise & list making helps a lot. I’m also fortunate to live within walking distance of some very pretty sections of the River Thames.

New SOTW

This week’s favourite song is the first release from Laura Kidd, previously known as She Makes War, under her new Penfriend name. It got a play on Steve Lamaq’s Roundtable and seems to be getting a bit of traction which bodes well. I definitely get the rebrand and am looking forward to the day I get to see the new act live.

Everything Looks Normal in the Sunshine - Penfriend

Music I’m enjoying

‪Not sure if I’ve previously mentioned that I try to play most albums at least three times before deciding if I really love them or not. This is a thing I got from Ruth & Martin’s Album Club blog, where Martin would suggest an album for a celebrity to listen to and get them to listen at least three times before discussing their thoughts. As someone who listens to a lot of new music this does mean I have to work quite hard to fit it all in but it also means I give the music a fair chance.

This week I’ve become obsessed with the latest album by The Electric Soft Parade having initially dismissed it. My first two listens hadn’t done much for me at all & I might not have bothered with a third play if I hadn’t been working from home and looking for something that wouldn’t distract me too much. Stages turned out to be perfect for that, actually helped reduce my anxiety and I found, after a couple of further plays, the album really clicked for me. I think it will be in my favourites of the year.

Book Reading

Book 7: Darkwood by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch

Thoroughly enjoyably modern fairy tale that weaves themes of intolerance & authoritarianism into a really enjoyable tale of good vs evil. There’s a gentle humour, characters you’ll want to route for and some neat reversals of the usual stereotypes. Gabby HC has previously written for Horrible Histories & the News Site but has been best known to me as Scriblit on Twitter. I read this book as it was offered cheap on kindle but I think this will be a series I’ll want to follow for some time.

Lockdown Top Fives - Week 9

A slightly curtailed week of top fives as I had a few days off work and decided I wanted to have a proper break. Still managed some fun top five discussions which you don’t get to see on here and as normal loads of great suggestions that made me want to reconsider my choices.

▪️Monday 18th: Bands with Punctuation* in their names

Godspeed You! Black Emperor
¡Forward Russia!
The Go! Team
Sunn O)))
? and the Mysterians

*not ampersands though you can include other typographic symbols like *

Sub Top 5: Umlauts Special

Motörhead
Hüsker Dü
Amon Düül II
Spın̈al Tap
Föllakzoid

▪️Tuesday 19th: Albums of the 00s

Cat Power - The Greatest (2006)
Sleater-Kinney - The Woods (2005)
Bill Callahan - Sometimes We Wish We Were An Eagle (2009)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Abbatoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus (2004)

▪️Wednesday 20th: Long Songs - over 6 minutes

Marquee Moon - Television
Moya - GY!BR
Good Morning, Captain - Slint
I Walk On Guilded Splinters - Dr John
Jungleland - Bruce Springsteen

Long Songs - over 15 minutes

Supper’s Ready - Genesis (23:06)
Mogwai Fear Satan - Mogwai (16:19)
Grendel - Marillion (17:16)
Cop Shoot Cop - Spiritualized (17:00)
Sister Ray - The Velvet Underground (17:29)

▪️Thursday 21st: Comic Book Artists

Walter Simonson
Steve Ditko
Alan Davies
Brian Bolland
John Byrne

▪️Friday 22nd: Films of the 60s

The Apartment (Wilder)
From Russia With Love (Young)
The Italian Job (Collinson)
Carry On Cabby (Thomas)
Fahrenheit 451 (Truffaut)

Chop’s Journal - 18 May 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Sun, 17 May 2020 20:30:00 +0000

A better week thankfully though other than running, work & occasional early morning raids on Tesco not much to talk about.

I did manage ninety minutes of music on Sunday and felt like my equilibrium had been restored by doing that. A bit of overdue bass practice, a bit of singing and a few new tunes on the uke. It’s good for my soul.

New SOTW

After The Fact - Martha Ffion

Music I’m enjoying

‪I first discovered Eve Owen when she accompanied The National on their last tour. She contributed song writing to the I Am Easy To Find album and performed vocals on the tour along with Kate Stables. Eve’s debut solo album, Don’t Let The Ink Dry, is really great.

A couple of people nominated Mogwai’s ZEROZEROZERO for my Albums of 2020 so far top five which took me by surprise as I had no idea they’d released anything new. It was available for pay what you can on Bandcamp and is a another excellent soundtrack release.

Another album that somewhat snuck up on me is Mark Lanegan’s Straight Songs of Sorrow. I think it’s released to coincide with his Autobiography and on first couple of listens it seems to be up with his very best.

Book Reading

‪I finished re-reading Good Omens this week. The recent TV adaption was very good and I enjoyed reading the book with those visuals fresh in my memory.

Lockdown Top Fives

▪️Monday 11th: Pop Bangers

Crazy In Love - Beyoncé & Jay-Z
Toxic - Britney Spears
Some Girls - Rachel Stevens
Never Ever - All Saints
Bad Guy - Billie Eilish

▪️ Tuesday 12th: Bands from all Ireland

Stiff Little Fingers
Lisa O’Neill
The Undertones
My Bloody Valentine / Rory G
Jetplane Landing

▪️ Wednesday 13th: Songs Under 2 minutes

Three Girl Rhumba - Wire
Tame - Pixies
Heard About Your Band - Brakes
Fell In Love With A Girl - White Stripes
Never Talking To You Again - Hüsker Dü

▪️ Thursday 14th: Songs of 2020 so far

Hope - Cable Ties
Kaizen - Peaness
Wee Guys (Bobby’s Got a Punctured Lung) - The Just Joans
Dear Sweet Rosie - Freya Beer
Checkout Girl - HANN

▪️ Friday 15th: Films of the Fifties

North by North West (Hitchcock)
Some Like It Hot (Wilder)
Seven Samurai (Kurosawa)
Twelve Angry Men (Lumet)
Touch of Evil (Welles)

▪️ Saturday 16th: Eurovision Songs

Waterloo - ABBA
Puppet on a String - Sandy Shaw
Hard Rock Hallelujah - Lordi
Boom Bang-a-Bang - Lulu
Rise Like a Phoenix - Conchita Wurst

Chop’s Journal - 10 May 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Chopper) — Mon, 11 May 2020 23:27:00 +0000

It’s been a really tough week one way or another. Not much to add here. Hope you’re all hanging in there.

New SOTW

Adding Up - Parsnip

Music I’m enjoying

Never Work, Ariel Sharratt & Mathias Kom’s second album of duets is a joy. Songs about robots, the gig economy and the nature of work in the 21st century with the usual wit & melody of The Burning Hell.

I’ve also enjoyed debut albums from Lavinia Blackwall, previously with Trembling Bells, and Green / Blue, the new band for Jim Blaha of The Blind Shake (among others) that I recently discovered via a Contraflow playlist.

Lockdown Top Fives - Week 7

▪️Monday 4th: TV Sci-Fi series

Blake’s 7
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Babylon 5
Battlestar Galactica: Original
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

▪️ Tuesday 5th: Bands/Artists from Canada

The Burning Hell
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Leonard Cohen
Rush
A Silver Mount Zion

▪️Wednesday 6th: Songs about Radio

1. Do You Remember Rock n Roll Radio - Ramones

2. Mexican Radio - Wall of Voodoo

3. Radio Free Europe - R.E.M.

4. Radio - Ty Segall

5. Radio Radio - Elvis Costello

▪️ Thursday 7th: Albums of 2020 so far

“The Private Memoirs & Confessions of …” The Just Joans
“Far Enough” Cable Ties
“Every Bad” Porridge Radio
“Juillet” En Attendant Ana
“The Neon Skyline” Andy Shauf

▪️ Friday 8th: Favourite Pubs

Masons Arms, Teddington
Bricklayers Arms, Putney
Royal Oak, Southwark
The Antelope, Surbiton
Red Lion, Shepperton

▪️ Saturday 9th: FA Cup Finals

1979 - Arsenal 3 Man Utd 2
1978 - Ipswich 1 Arsenal 0
1990 - Palace 3 Man Utd 3
1981 - Spurs 3 Man City 2
1975 - West Ham 2 Fulham 0