Hall of mirrors

The latest track that I'm playing to death, from the excellent Saigon Rock & Soul, Vietnamese Classic Tracks 1968 - 1974. An album (and label) that brings home how vast an ocean of music there is out there.

Thanh Mai Long, Uneven Hair

I got the funk

I may have suggested recently that I find London a hassle but if you want stuff it's hard to beat. The other day I was roving the internet and some reggae tunes led me to Soul Jazz's Dancehall compilation. Checking out their website I dropped my quest for reggae and realised that I probably couldn't live without both their New Orleans Funk compilations.

And so lunchtime the next day I hopped on a bike and pedalled to Sounds of the Universe. Five minutes and about twenty-four quid later I walked out of there with six shiny vinyl discs of very high quality funk. What a bargain. What a label. What a shop. It's impossible to go wrong. I'm even considering that Polyphonic Voices of Georgia album.

Anyway, a tune from vol 2. The original, which I'm not ashamed to say I'd never heard before.

Benny Spellman Fortune Teller

And, for variety, a less funk but no less cool cover version. I've always loved the Stones version but found this during some pre-purchase sussing out. The Vibrations - a bit of confusion had me thinking those brothers really nailed that British Invasion sound. But no, a classic British garage track with one of the scruffiest riffs this side of You Really Got Me.

The Vibrations Fortune Teller

Khan!

From time to time I ponder the question: who does Rock 'n' Roll the best? The British or the Americans? Certainly America got off to a head start with Little Richard and Elvis, but bands such as The Who, The Stones and Led Zeppelin make the issue far from clear cut.

In the end though I think it's the American ability (not to say inclination) to perform a set in nothing but a pair of snazzy blue underpants that shows where the true spirit of Rock 'n' Roll resides. That and a more intuitive way with horn sections.

King Khan & The Shrines: 69 Faces of Love

Random pop attack

I found this last night, not quite sure how. Anyway, it's well and truly latched onto my brain, a proper earworm. An interesting looking bunch and probably a good bet to see play live.

Dengue Fever: Tiger Phone Card

Two minutes (twenty-five seconds) Hate

While looking for something else I found the track by The Stoics that I mentioned in the post about Pebbles compilations. It really is amazing what you can get on the internet. As I said at the time this is one of my favourite songs ever: the choppy drums, the economical, strangulated guitar solo. And while we're revisiting that post, I learned last week about the friend of mine who wore a car seat cover. Without wishing to sound too dramatic I honestly thought that he was probably dead but it turns out that a mutual friend had cause to arrest him a few Friday nights back: alive and well but prone to binging on ketamine and running around naked.

The Stoics: Hate

C'est Fab

I've only just discovered Fabienne Delsol. Why so great? It's not changed my life or anything but given that she's on the same label as Holly Golightly, and knocks out retro pop with a killer French accent in the manner of April March I'm surprised it's taken me so long. Oh and she's very attractive. It sometimes bothers me, even if I love the music, that so many singers (especially females) are so good looking. But, well...there's a waste of time for you. The music borders on retrophiliac but (again) so what?

Fabienne Delsol: Hanging on A String

A fairly straight cover of the ? and the Mysterians track. But miles better than the Mysterians because they are, when all's said and done, not very good.

Fabienne Delsol: My Love Is Like A Spaceship

Another cover, this time of a song by the mythical Big Boy Pete. The original can be heard on his myspace page. I'm currently weighing up whether or not to get some of his stuff.

Be a caveman

I honestly don't remember which of these albums I bought first (I've got about six) or who suggested it to me but the Pebbles compilations have provided some of my most enduring favourites. Possibly what makes a lot of these songs so good is that it was often the bands' one and only chance to record anything, in withering contrast to the career rockers of now. I'm not a fan of lo-fi just for the sake of it and some tracks with better production would cross from good to amazing ("Love at Psychedelic Velocity" and "Suzy Creamcheese" for two). I suppose people who don't like this music and describe it as amateur are saying that the bands can't play their guitars very well. I think that that is missing the point and in the case of songs such as "Going All the Way", "Good Times" and "Hate" (by The Stoics, my absolute favourite) the playing is awesome.

The cover here spoke to me sartorially, tonsorially, I even had a pair of those boots. I'm not sure I quite lived up to the primitive ethos (my girlfriends of the time might disagree). One of my then friends on the other hand really did live and look like a caveman. Too wasted once to walk home from a party on the other side of town he broke into a car and slept on the back seat. It was chilly the next morning so he tore a furry car seat cover off and wore it as a top. For weeks. The caveman look went out when he discovered he had lice and shaved all his hair off. The new skinhead called for a change of jacket and was matched with a belted black leather carcoat. Now he looked like a fascist. It was always a laugh going clubbing with him. God knows where he is now.

You can find the whole thing over at Snap, Crackle & Pop but I've put one of my favourites below. And that Left Banke track I was talking about the other day.

The Haunted: 1-2-5

The Haunted did actually have a bit of a career. I bought one of their albums excited at the prospect of more tracks of the calibre of 1-2-5 but it was poor. The best track was a Hendrix cover "Vapeur Mauve" (they were from Quebec) which is more interesting than it is rocking.

The Left Banke: Evening Gown

Queen of the Harpies

Considering how much I like a drink and how much I like flipping through racks of old vinyl it's surprising I've not spent more time in record shops drunk. One occasion on which I was saw me purchase the album "Sisters of Suave" by Thee Headcoatees. The bloke in the shop (Forever Changes) was the model of professionalism: "Are you sure? You seem er...", but I was smitten, mainly by the tune "Davy Crocket". Anyway, "Sisters of Suave" is an excellent record but its real importance to me is that it served as a gateway to the music of the most successfully solo Headcoatee: Holly Golightly. I think she's great and her greatest album has to be "God Don't Like It" (so far, she's incredibly prolific and I admit I'm a couple of albums behind). Possibly condemned as a revivalist by the wider public "God Don't Like It" is undeniably retro featuring such things as a double bass, echoey vocals and admirably direct lyrics. To my ears every single song is a winner, but the stand out is her version of Bill Withers' "Use Me". Bill Withers is a fine performer but predictably I prefer the folk garage version found here. The vocals, the playing, the lyrics, the production, even the artwork - it's an all round, bona fide, top quality pop artefact. And how many albums can you honestly say that about?

I think I heard once that she still holds down a day job at Hackney Council, that's pretty cool if it's true but she deserves to be better known. I don't know how many copies of "Elephant" the White Stripes sold but her guest slot on "It's True That We Love One Another", the worst song on the album, can't have intrigued many potential fans. The forced "jolly good" and "cup of tea" comments at the end are a shocking lapse and make me want to smash my teeth in.

She's a distinctive-looking woman and I'm sure I saw her once in a Neal's Yard shop. I could have jogged home and grabbed my LPs and asked her to sign them, but I don't understand why people do that.