It would be very easy to dismiss this album as “just another Nick Cave album”. He has returned from the astonishing Grinderman to his normal method of music making. Most of the songs fit the pattern of a relaxed bass/drum groove while Nick intones his tales of America over the top using Blues vocal phrasing.

The thing is a half-decent Nick Cave album is probably as good as anything that will be released this year. If this was an album by a new singer/band then it would be lauded as brilliant but expectations are always high for Old Nick. So the critic in me wants to tell you that there are very few tracks that would make it onto a best of Nick Cave retrospective while the music fan in me just enjoys listening to more new Nick Cave songs. I really like the relaxed sensuality of Hold On To Yourself with it’s twangy guitar and Nick’s voice seems to be touched with sadness like he’d been crying earlier. Today’s Lesson is like the old stager’s reply to Iggy’s Real Good Time - not from the first person point of view but a lecherous observer.

Midnight Man(clip) by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

There’s nothing to change the world here (that has already been done) but there’s a haunting voice, brilliant musicians, and tales of debauchery to keep you warm at night.

Nick Cave on Myspace

I was listening to last Friday’s Friday Session and heard a band from Hereford doing a version of Joy Division’s New Dawn Fades. My bassist tells me that we used to do a better version of that song but it wasn’t the pretty good Ian Curtis impression I was interested in - it was the mixing in of another song. In the chorus the female singer mixes in “You abandoned me, love don’t live here anymore”. That was a hit for Rose Royce in 1978 so it is synchronous with New Dawn Fades and I think it fits in really well musically. At the very least it has shock value for someone like me who would assert that until now there was no point in listening to anyone’s version of this song other than the original.

New Dawn (clip) by Line Runners

For the next few days you will be able to hear The Line Runners from Hereford playing New Dawn on the BBC radio player. Click the link and the track is 26 minutes in (hit the jump 15 mins button and then the jump 5 minutes twice) .

BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester’s Friday Session.

I was going to write a post about Duos I have known. The problem was I couldn’t find my copy of the Silverman album Speed Of Life Part 2. I searched desperately but instead I found a copy for sale on Amazon Marketplace for 38p + postage! So this is the first time I have heard the album in 5 years and it still stands as one of the best CDs I’ve ever been sent. The clarity of Anna Dennis’s voice stands out and the backing of Martin Williams adds the complexity each song needs underneath.

Silverman were darlings of mp3.com and since the death of that site have kept their heads low. They organise the ‘Calmer’ nights in Cheltenham featuring other musicians but I still miss them as Silverman. There are moments of this album that make me swoon such as when the line ‘Can I have my heart back please’ comes in:

Can I have My Heart Back Please? (clip) by Silverman

As far as I’m aware this was the only ‘physical’ release by Silverman. The web site is well out of date but I did find some full length tracks on SoundClick - have a listen to Ctrl Alt Del from the album and September which sounds like a later track.

Silverman website

I was startled to say the least. I just found out that the product of the Little Fish trip to America was up on their MySpace site. I thought I’d give it a listen while the England match was just starting but I had to turn the radio off completely after just a few seconds. JuJu’s voice was different and the vibe of the song was completely different from anything they have done before. The song is similar to The Velvet Underground’s Heroin with just two chords and it speeds up/slows down. Further Velvets similarities are that the two chords are the same as I’m Waiting For The Man (just as Bowie’s Heroes was). There’s even a musical break with screaming feedback guitar that recalls Mr John Cale’s viola.

I can be the world’s harshest critic when faced with something that draws on such musical references as The Velvets or Sonic Youth but I have to say that this is a really good song and a great performance. I’m not denying my 30 years of belittling bands who sound like the Velvets (Jesus and Mary Chain etc) - just enjoying listening to a shit-hot drummer and stunning vocalist bring that original excitement back to me.

listen to it on Little Fish on MySpace

Death To The Ghosts (or The Ghosts as they were previously known) have the record for the fastest review ever on Cool Noise. I got their Trichroma EP on a Saturday morning and had posted a review within an hour raving about the first track Hoodoo Voodoo. The same thing almost happened with EP but I held myself back. The reason for the enthusiasm was the opening track Army Of Mice that surges along with energetic guitar and distorted vocals with a good few screams and shouts. Right up my street.

Army Of Mice by Death To The Ghosts

By holding back on the review I listened to all the tracks enough times to get a better idea of what Death To The Ghosts are really capable of. They are not just a band in the Solar Race tradition but with a deep Pop pedigree as well. Electro Boy is a sensously sung and played song of dumping someone. The final track Somni Saves is perhaps the most interesting track on the EP. Recalling The Mo-dettes with its tuneful delivery although with a much harder edge. Full of dynamic rhythms and saturated with sex and agnosticism. Death To The Ghosts are a band with real potential.

Death To The Ghosts

Sorry to rave on about it, it’s sad - but Boom Times is a total gem. I can’t believe it’s still getting better with each listen. It’s kind of simple, but completely perfect.

Above is a quote from an email this morning from Mike I work with. He is referring to Boom Times by Don’s Mobile Barbers - an album he bought with a bit of a recommendation from me. Obviously he has managed to wrest his copy back from his wife who also loves it. He probably bought one of the last available copies of this 2006 masterpiece even though DMB had split up. I have also been driving around with Boom Times! on my car stereo and continuing my obsession with this beautiful and sad music.

For us addicted souls there is the news that Robert Dobson (one half of the Barbers) has an album ready and I received it today. First impressions are that this is a wonderful album full of the same gentle pathos that entranced me to begin with.

You Fellows Of All Souls - Robert Dobson

I was going to report on the Jesse Malin gig in Oxford, possibly with pictures from my new camera. However when I got to the Academy I wasn’t on the guestlist as promised by the record company so I came straight back home.

I’ve been listening a lot to Home by Tom Stevens recently. I wasn’t too sure what to make of it at first and it has taken a long time to get into it. Now I have the album in my car and enjoy every time it comes around. It is very American - a man with a guitar and a few songs (think Chuck Prophet or Tom Verlaine) but no histrionics or theatrics. Most of the songs are Roots Rock but one which always makes me swoon is the Countrified In The Basement. It is maudlin lyrically and musically so fits straight into my taste for a touch of reflection and regret.

In The Basement(clip) by Tom Stevens

I’ve just found the video to the song Getaway Car by The Beat Maras. This was on their Huaraz EP a few months ago and really impressed me with the distorted guitar and vocals.

The Beat Maras - Getaway Car