The Wedding Present – "Live Tape No. 1 - Leicester Poly 5th May 1987" (self-released C-60) 1987

One's gig-life in 1987 was dictated by the burgeoning C-86 Indie pop shoegazing scene ,so i saw endless groups of that genre,and I was AT this one. I have no memory of it beyond that,except for buying an industrial Hot dog outside the venue aprés-show,which was a dangerous occupation in Leicester at the time,involving various violent episodes involving Burger Vans and axes...."The Hot Dog Wars" as it was titled by investigative journalist knob, Roger Cook,on the Cook report TV show. Joe Perscico (spelling?)the rather frightening head thug, lived opposite my Leicester Poly indie friends,and he coned off the entire street for his Hot-Dog vans...and woe betide anyone who wanted to park outside their home!!!!

Hopefully the Hot-Dog I bought after The Wedding Present gig, wasn't one of his.He's either dead or in Prison now anyway.

I do remember that the venue was approximately half-full,and the very quiet audience reaction was mostly due to the microphones facing the band rather than the students who ,frankly, should have been revising!?

The Poly had a fine bar,with reasonable prices, so I wasn't here for the whole of the performance.

My record purchasing in 1887, didn't really include the C-86 mob, even though Bogshed/Big Flame etc were on that, but erred on the side of Ron Johnson Records and all that American noise Rock stuff,like Big Black etc, who didn't play in Leicester Pubs very often. The only Uk equivalents were stuff like Head Of David,Walking Seeds, and, I suppose, Napalm Death?

Ah Napalm Death, the ones who had a sticker on their first LP proclaiming them as the worlds fastest band?.....surely not?...didn't that accolade belong to The Wedding Present in 1987?

Also strangely, The Wedding Present was one of Steve Albini of Big Black's early "production" jobs? Even though he had never heard of them....'Producer' being a rather too fancy job description for his glorified Sound engineering....Production requires new ideas and a creative input of sorts.Something Steve vehemently shuns in favour of leaving the music to the Band....an attitude that would have robbed us of many classic albums.....eg Joy Division.

The Leicster Polytechnic is now called "De Montfort University", worryingly named after a famous 12th century anti-Semite,Psycopath, former Lord Of Leicester,and Dictator of England, Simon De Montfort;who passed a local law banning Jews from Leicester for all eternity.Apparently this is still on the statute books as I type.

Also, De Montfort university is responsible for taking over the city in an endless quest for huge profits, demolishing several of my favourite Pubs to build new student accommodation;some of which now occupies the site upon which I wanted to scatter my mortal remains,namely Filbert street Football ground. Its not there no more!?...but at least the music venue is still going,although renamed as something else....i dunno wot, doon't live there no more.

Tracklist:

A1 This Boy Can Wait
A2 Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft
A3 All This And More
A4 A Million Miles
A5 You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends
A6 I Regret Everything
A7 Something And Nothing
A8 The Day That This Letter Came
B1 My Favourite Dress
B2 Never Said
B3 Give My Love To Kevin
B4 Go Out And Get 'Em Boy!
B5 Getting Nowhere Fast
B6 Once More

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Jody And The Creams – "Jody And The Creams" (Cordelia Records – Ericat 026(C) 1988

Oh Fuck!.....I just inexplicably sat through two hours worth of Mad Vlad Putin spouting endless conspiracy theories straight outta the Q-Anon phrasebook....and I paraphrase :"We (the Degenerate West) are all pedophiles in same sex marriages who defile the sacred scriptures in league with Satan, and a corrupt,but secret Elite."...even the Anglican Church got name-checked for daring to suggest that their fictional deity might not have a gender!? ...I'm sure The Chinese self-imposed leadership agrees with that. So the fate of the free world lay in the hands of the slightly crazy population of the USA.

If Trump,or an endorsed version of said cunt wins ...or even loses it seems, the next US election, we are fucked,rather than our kids,who will likely be doing a lot of the shafting;and Q-Anon and its off-shoots win. Like the 1978 remake of 'Invasion of the Bodysnatchers', they know what we're thinking because they will decide for us and ultimately replace us. The conspiracy is the Conspiracy,and Putin, himself part of an untouchable Elite,is their Pin-Up boy.

Some of it is based on fact,for example we are obviously ruled by an untouchable Elite,and have been since the dawn of history,some could even be called 'Evil'?..But i tend to be somewhat skeptical about so-called Satanic child abuse by,for example, the Clintons, and Hilaries quaffing down gallons of Baby's Blood binges in the nineties. (I like how they pop the word Satanic in there,like Christian Sexual Abuse,and there's a lot of it about,isn't so bad?)

So this calls for more indie rock escapism with some untitled cast-offs by the prototype Jody and the Creams back in '88.

I suspect that this is just Alan Jenkins, on guitar and drum machine,but maybe I do hear some Blodwyn P. Tea Bag on her organ.

It doesn't quite work without those surreal lyrics,but there is a thankfully word-less version of Peter and Gordons hit ode to suicide, "I won't Live In A World Without Love" ,which seems more relevant today than ever.....living in a world without internet crazed bigots is more on the mark methinks.

Remember what Mad Vlad said about Gay rights?.....no?....let me remind you...."We must protect the children")...chilling. Que(-anon?), the return of the Nazi's Pink Triangle which must be worn at all times.

nb:

Especially interested in what Die or DIY?'s in-house conspiracy Junkie, Sandi Hook, has to say about this in the comments section.

Sandi?

Track Listing:

Side A:

1. Untitled # 1

2. Untitled # 2

3. Untitled # 3

4. Untitled # 4

5. Untitled # 5

Side B:

1. Untitled # 6

2. Untitled # 7

3. Untitled # 8

4. Untitled # 9

5. Untitled # 10

DOWNLOAD 10 anonymous tunes to drink babies blood to HERE!

Jody And The Creams – "Lords Of The Gromet Canning Factory" (Cordelia Records) 1998

Two slabs of almost seamlessly segued Indie collage experimentation from Deep freeze mice relations, the Creams with Jody,before they dropped the 'Jody' part and went all full cream on us.

Eight years after the debut long player,the formula has not changed,a lump gravy collage,furtively recorded girly chat,mixed up with some funny noises and half finished art pop numbers.Featuring the farewll appearances of Ariadne Metal-Cream Pie,and Ruth 'Po!' Miller.

The charming Blodwyn P. and her Organ.

Alan Jenkins and Blodwyn P. Teabag would carry it on in the Jody-less Creams,whom I understand were almost popular at some stage?

NB:

A sense of humour is required.

Tracklist:

A - Some Music By Jody And The Creams (19:17)
B - Some More Music By Jody And The Creams (22:06)

DOWNLOAD the creme de les creams HERE!

Jody And The Creams – "A Big Dog.n" (Cordelia Records Ericat 028) 1990

 

That's NOT Dennis Nilsen bottom right by the way!

Yet another LP with ever widening Deep Freeze Mice connectivity, featuring Ruth (Po!) without her refrigerator on singy duties, another appearance of Blodwyn P. Teabag, (She's the one who looks like Green in his squatting days but as a Lady) and a debut for Ariadne Metal-Cream Pie; the latter two wrote nearly all the tchoons.

Don't be afraid, the Dennis Nilsen-a-like is the prolific Alan Jenkins(Deep Freeze Mouse number one) himself, if you've never seen him before? Here pictured in the Producer's role.I suppose this was intended as a 'Girl Group' project?

It all starts off with a bang,with the best anti-monarchy song I've probably ever heard.It alone, is the best reason why the Monarchy should remain exactly as it is or we would have one less thing to moan about,and no more anti-monarchy songs as clever as this.....Monarchy for the UK.

There are a few more charmingly witty indie pop numbers,or to paraphrase blodwyn or Ariadne.... 'lo-fi vintage english agit-pop'.There's also a side long sound collage like a more listenable but twee-er version of the side of Tago Mago no-one plays called "N.",or 'Lumpy Gravy', and there's another inevitable Frank Zappa homage with a couple of Suzy Creamcheese moments as if the GTO's came from an English suburb.....in Shropshire(?).

"Margery is Dead" reveals a possible Joe Meek obsession by someone in the room, like the theme to an unmade Gerry Anderson pilot from 1961.....can't go wrong there methinks.

Absolutely one of the better releases on Cordelia Records by a yard or two, in Imperial measurements.Don't ask me what that is in Metric!

That's something you can thank the Royals for,that and Lsd ?!.....For those born after decimalisation,that stands for Pounds Shillings and Pence,the single most absurd money system ever thought up by one of God's relatives on Earth.

Tracklisting:

1 The Queen #1 1:34
2 Margery Is Dead 1:27
3 Moulted Fur From A Labrador 2:27
4 Tree Rings 4:38
5 Appleseed Alley
Written-By – Ruth* 3:07
6 Hi Felicity 1:40
7 Shropshire 4:18
8 N. 31:35
9 The Queen #2 1:41
10 Blue Moon 2:04

DOWNLOAD some vintage creamcheese HERE!

Po! – "Bedroom Tapes vol.1" - (self-released) 1989

Ruth, last seen as the 'Ruth' from Ruth's Refrigerator , otherwise known as Ruth Miller of Indie Twee Pop Leicester legends PO! Had her own label called Rutland Records. Named after the disputed part of Leicestershire that regained its independence sometime in the naughties I think , and better known as the fictional home of The Rutles,but absolutely NOT The Ruts. 

One never ,wittingly saw PO!...the more mischievous amongst us would misspell it as POO!... live,who seemed to be in the Leicester Mercury  entertainment section every friday night during 1989 and beyond. Oh No,I thought, not more of that bloody student indie-pop nonsense. Not brutal or aggressive enough for me at the time...of course. I now know better don't I?

There are lots of PO! albums on Bandcamp, but this is a bunch of demo's recorded in Ruth's Bedroom I guess?There are three more volumes i am assured.

Its a kind of poundshop Tracy Thorn's "A Distant Shore";she being the Godmother's second cousin twice removed's best friends sister of "Twee".

Ruth is sufficiently Twee enough on these intimate recordings to qualify as The Indie Oberleutnant for a good part of the East Midlands.

PO! weren't eccentric enough to adequately fill the void left by the demise of Yeah Yeah Noh! in the local scene,but Ruth was indeed a prolific writer of charming pop tunes,of which we have a few examples on this cassette.

Ruth in fact turned up in the Guardian last week,promoting her Older Womens Punk Collective called the Unglamorous Music project. I suppose another Ruth's Refrigerator LP is out of the question? 

Tracklist:

1 Danny's Girl
2 Fay
3 These Days
4 The Ice Cream Dream (Tina)
5 She Lies In State
6 Every Night
7 Look For The Holes
8 Sunday Never Comes Around

DOWNLOAD like shit off a sheet HERE!

The Chrysanthemums – "Is That A Fish On Your Shoulder Or Are You Just Pleased To See Me?" (Egg Plant Records – Two Eggs) 1987

The Chrysanthemums were Deep Freeze Mouse main man Alan Jenkins,whom I previously had decided sounded like Robyn Hitchcock on this one;with frequent collaborator Yukio Jung,also known as plain old Terry Burrows,best selling author on the subjects of Music History, Theory and Tuition.

Smart arses stick together it seems.

Yes this is the one thst sounds like The Soft Boys...only cleverer.The stuff that the lazy noun 'Art Rock' was invented for.

And this is what I was listening to as I wrote about The Deep Freeze Mice's 1989 album "The Tender Yellow Ponies Of Insomnia",which I likened to ...er...The Soft Boys(?)....;when they actually don't.Whereas,The Chrysanthemums do.....geddit?...'cus I don't!

Suspected Zappa fans ,DFM ,are far more DIY neo-Psychedelic in their cleverness than the abstract Indie mud-skipper dragging itself out of the primeval soup left behind by the shiny boots of Punk Rock,that is The Chrysanthemums.

Yet again more great song titles on this one,that tend to be better than the songs which can be overlooked merely for the recorded use of a Bassoon alone;but the fact that DFM and their many derivatives provide Further proof that Leicestershire is certainly not an illusion.....it really is like that!.....unlike Gloucestershire.

Tracklist:

1.Gloucestershire Is Just An Illusion 3:09
2.Bullshit 3:28
3.Mouth Pain 4:35
4.Geraldine 2:09
5.Logical Fish 2:10
6.The Unpronounceable Finn 2:53
7.The Holocaust Parade 2:15
8.You Are A Serbian (And I Like You) 2:59
9.The Ten Foot High Trim-Phone 1:14
10.Another Sacred Day 3:50
11.The Lawn 2:52
12.Geraldine (Reprise) 1:23
13.I Wish Marvin Gaye's Father Had Shot Me Instead 5:16
14.Buzzing Unobtrusively 2:42

DOWNLOAD if you are just pleased to hear this HERE!

The Deep Freeze Mice – "The Tender Yellow Ponies Of Insomnia" (Cordelia Records – ERICAT 027) 1989

I wrote this unintelligible blurb whilst unintentionally listening to
The Chrysanthemums' – "Is That A Fish On Your Shoulder Or Are You Just Pleased To See Me?" LP from 1987;which i had earmarked for this slot,and confusing myself somewhat in the process that I was listening to a Deep Freeze Mice album, namely the one entitled above.

An easy mistake to make,as both bands shared certain members.

So,as I can't be fucking bothered to write it again, I will review The Chrysanthemums as I listen to "The Tender Yellow Ponies Of Insomnia",following this utter bollox-up!

So keeping faith with the Bryon Gysin cut-up technique, and in the grand traditions of experimental literature,It remains as so,which keeps in fitting with the surrealism of yer average Deep Freeze Mice tchoon? Yes?

I know this maybe an insult, but there are times when The Deep Freeze Mice (The Chrysanthemums in fact!?) sound like The Soft Boys?

Apart from The Soft Boys being a better band name,of course  this is generally piffle Sidney ...oh no,they've got me at it now, all this surreal random sentence construction; for the sake of this blog...I like to think of it as YoOuR Blog, or in this epoch of gender re-assignment and pro nouns, maybe even Their blog?

I dunno how we got to posting more gentle mad-cap DFM madness,I was trying to indulge y'all in my new fascination with shoe gazing Twee-Pop,and its dreamy derivatives.

Well a couple of DFM members were in Ruth's Refrigerator,not literally IN her fridge,the band; which was quite Twee in places,but they're a Leicester band,and i don't need any excuses for a shaht aht for the old home town. I once wanted my mortal remains scattered onto the playing surface at Filbert street, but, like a lot of other iconic buildings ,pubs and places, It ain't there no more!!!The King Power ain't the same.....for a start its exactly the same design,\and just as soulless, as Southampton's St Mary's stadium, that replaced the very much missed,but eccentric 'Dell'.Bizarrely, that was my last match at Filbo (Filbert Street),at home to going places Southampton.....we lost 4-0,and i left early to a chorus of abuse from the home section expectorated in my general direction,when one irate young man shouted "Fuck Off Then, see you again when we're top of the fucking league.....Cunt!"

I was used to this kind of targeted heckling ,when i had the misfortune,or fortune, to pass my exam and get allocated a place in a Grammar school in those good old days of streaming and shameless elitism.Me being resident in the circle of scum that invariably forms around most cities,the ones left behind didn't take kindly to being labelled 2nd class,but didn't want anyone to leave ,or have any chance to"better themselves"...so i was frequently threatened with violence,and sometimes they even delivered on the threats, and referred to 'moi'as "That Fucking Posh Cunt"......to use a comedy catchphrase from the cult "Friday Night Dinner" comedy series..."SHIT ON IT". Hence the bitter prick I am today.

But....the Deep Freeze Mice is definitely the collective work of several persons who obviously passed their 11+ exams,and maybe a couple who didn't need to (Thinly veiled Trustafarian reference there), and boy do they want us to know it?

Yeah that singer does sound like Robyn Hitchcock don't he?...Only better,with better lyrics,better song titles and no future Eurovision song contest winners in their ranks.

Tracklist:

1 A (Dog Found A Stick In A Park With Such Magical Powers That A Bark Caused A Marvelous Pie To Drop Out Of The Sky And The Doggy Would Grin Like A Shark) 3:25
2 Ariadne Metal Cream Pie 3:43
3 The Postman's Dry 2:09
4 The Cake Of Conversation 3:26
5 Programme Controller Flowers 1:52
6 I Don't Have A Horse 2:53
7 Poodle Haddock: Part One 0:31
8 Poodle Haddock: Part Two 1:59
9 Conversation Gap Panic 2:32
10 Buzzing Unobtrusively 2:12
11 The Amphibious Nun 0:51
12 Love You More 1:54
13 Janis 3:10
14 Into The Valley Of Death Rode The Six Hundred Shouting "Dig It" 1:12
15 Don't Eat Aluminium 7:14
16 To Hell With It, Let Her Keep The Chicken (The Postman's Dryer) 2:09

Extra Tracks:

17 The Delicious Little Green Roosters Of Insomnia 29:00
18 Into The Valley Of Death (Demo Version) 1:09
19 The Grindy Track 6:30

DOWNLOAD mice and Chrysanthemums from the deep freeze HERE!

Ruth's Refrigerator – "Suddenly A Disfigured Head Parachuted" (Cordelia Records – CD072) 1990

Ruth and her Refigerator...note the standard indie bowl-cuts extreme left and right.

Escaping the the Twee-Dream pop minority of Leeds to the civilised end of the M1 motorway;leaving behind the last vestiges of the "North", lies the naturally Twee city of Leicester.....which,as if you didn't know, is my home town.Akin to an empty rugby players bath,it has nothing in the center ans a ring of scum around the outside.

No, it wasn't quite that empty in the center,it wasn't Coventry after all;but i did grow up amongst the ring of scum,of which i am proudly one.One has very hazy memories of seeing lots of these Twee Dream pop Shoegazer groups at the various venues on offer, a case of if you remember the earl 90's you weren't there,unlike Britpop,which if you remember that you definitely were there and trying to forget it.

of course, the leicster had our own Twee Pop combo's,the most celebrated of which being peel fav, Yeah Yeah Noh!

A Sense of humour certainly required The rather zany Ruth's Refrigerator,being a fine example.

Including various members DIY legends Deep Freeze Mice and, Po! and other indie hangers-on.

The lyrics are of the too clever by 'arf variety as preferred by such tiresome smart arses as Morrissy and Cocker, but as i have mellowed in the past decade i'll say, what's wrong with that? I fact they are pretty funny.Like the opening couplet of Dear Prudence re-write "Red Queen" for example:

"There Was A Girl,

She Was a Raving Psychopathic Killer.......in my eyes."

Of course you had to be there,but you get the gist.

As top Deep Freeze Mouse Alan Jenkins is in the group, you're gonna get mad cap song titles and surreal university life sentence humour in droves,all backed up with jangly twee indie psych Wimsey.

I have been less than kind to the voice of Me Jenkins during my angry years;bracketing him with such of the likes of Steve Solomar of Spherical Objects......i now know this to be plain wrong,as do I the Deep Freeze Mice, whom I have reassessed as rather good,and i even like Alan's voice too now.....but not as much as Ruth's.

So my previous reviews of DFM albums are but a window of time in which i was obviously very pissed off.....Ruth-less....haha..see what i did? (Smart arse!) 

Tracklist:

1 She Lies In State 2:16
2 Your Dog Is Rich And Your Cat Is Good Looking 2:40
3 Alan's Refrigerator 2:12
4 He Needs A Dog 2:19
5 Picasso's Problem 1:56
6 The Red Queen 2:49
7 Mind The Paprica, Joe
8 Gro Harlem Brundtland Wants Some Fish 1:57
9 On A Western Shore 2:58
10 Innocent Boy 2:26
11 Hello Anne Of Green Poplars 3:47
12 Examine The Insects And Hit Them 1:02
13 Hi Felicity 1:42
14 Fish In The Air / Birds In The Sea 7:31
15 Spot The Bear Theme 1:01
16 Hello Anne (With A Better Guitar Solo) 3:13
17 The Red Queen (With Robyn Singing) 3:12
18 I Am Big Chief Radio Luxembourg 5:15
19 She's Not There 2:02

DOWNLOAD from the deep freeze to the fridge HERE!

Leicester City & Supporters - "Filbert Street Blues" (Cherry Red Records) 1990

             

Well, i've just about recovered enough now from the revelries of yesterday's F.A. Cup final victory for my beloved Foxes.So as my hangover fades I will inflict this collection of Leicester City themed aural atrocities.

These 19 tracks are from a time when supporting the foxes was a kind of masochistic torture. There were brief moments of joy, but it was largely pain,frustration and disappointment. A lot of these songs ,seemed, at the time to be overoptimistic and unrealistic;but nowadays,the lyrics of all these tunes seem to have come true.

Suddenly those ill-advised tuesday evening round trips to Middlesbrough to watch our footy team lose seem worthwhile.

What a fucking goal!!!!!(click to relive the magic HERE!)

I could spend the rest of this post slagging off the so-called big boys,but frankly they ain't worth it;just listen to Chelsea fans moaning about handballs, offsides, and how we were lucky....as in they didn't win so the other lot must have been lucky...pathetic.

Leicester are the peoples team,rather than a Russian Oligarchs plaything. Moan all you like and wish your millions could buy a goal like that screamer.....

We also have players who are brave enough to show support for Palestine as they collected their medals

Leicester lad Hamza Choudhury risking being accused of Anti-Semetism for exercising his freedom of speech.

This also gives me a chance to plug my much praised compilation in Tribute to Leicester City for winning the Premier League in 2016. This one has lots of local groups,rather than a bunch of dodgy fans.

And a much more in depth analysis of what it means to support an 'unfashionable',read as 'Not Rich', football club in England: Click this......

"Dilly Ding Dilly Dong: No-one Listened To Our Songs (a Die or DIY tribute to Leicester City FC) " - (a DIE or DIY? mixtape No.9)

Here's the tracklist for Filbert Street Blues,including a tune that's on both of these tribute albums,the prophetically named "This is the Season For Leicester", the the 1974 squad....produced by Trevor Horn of Buggles fame nonetheless!?

Tracklisting:

1 This Is The Season For Us
by Leicester City F.C. 1974 1:37

2 The Tank
by Leicester City F.C. 1974 2:45

3 Champions
by The Leicester Lads 3:33

4 Post Horn Gallop
by The Band Of the Royal Marines 1:53

5 Yes We're Back
by The Back Five 4:42

6 Oh Leicester City (Calypso)
by The Back Five 3:07

7 Follow The Foxes
by The Back Four 2:23

8 The Glory Boys In Blue
by The Back Four 3:46

9 Blue Army Blues
by The Bangers 3:39

10 Wembley Roar
by Kev Price and the City Strikers 3:49

11 The FNF Rap
by Filbert Fox Songs 4:05

12 The Filbert Fox Song
by Filbert Fox Songs 3:32

13 We're Going Up
by Blue Army 3:35

14 This Is The Season For Us
by Phil Bert & The Foxes 1:37

15 Flowing Tears (Wembley 1993)
by Kev Price and the City Strikers 2:54

16 Come And Join Us
by Steve Tilbury and the Blue Team 2:58

17 Frank Worthington
by The Joe Jordanaires 2:22

18 Leicester Boys
by Kev Price and the City Strikers 2:42

19 We're Back Where We Belong
by Ray Nardfox 3:23

DOWNLOAD from the home of the blues HERE!

Preggy Peggy & The Lazy Babymakers ‎– "The Gang Rape Of A Short-Bus Rider" (Chocolate Monk ‎– Choc. 160) 2007

List under "Experimental" is a tasty cop-out when trying to categorize the unfathomable. Preggy Peggy and her lazy Babymakers are more aligned with the 'Piss-Take Experimental' tranch of Noise than anything experimental, or even original;although ,granted, there ain't many recording Artistes who sound as truly Nuts as  this.

Naturally I know nothing about the persons coupable for this attack on aural decency,and I dunno if they have any connection with The Ceramic Hobs' harsh noise offshoot "Smell and Quim", whose style is uncannily similar,if slightly less daft.

I knew many a young lady who would have qualified to have been called Preggy Peggy in my youth in the post war concentration camps that circled UK cities called "Council Estates". Giving flesh to the old joke about most British cities;Them being like an evactuated Rugby players bath,nothing in the center with a ring of scum around the outside..HaHaHa....I nicked that one from Jeremy Clarkson....the only posh boy in Doncaster,so he knows, right?

The Estate was also full to the brim of Lazy Babymakers too,whom i had to avoid,as they took exception to me being the only weirdo in the village.....they were not wery nice to me...boo-hoo. Therefore, like most Grammer School boys (ps,I had to pass an exam to go there so shut it!), I hate both the 'Upper'and the 'Under'classes equally.I believe in equality when it comes to hate.

Interesting point of information about my childhood homeland,was that the estate was named after Lord Eyres Monsell,who, before he had to sell his inherited lands after a compulsory purchase order in the fifties, to the UK Govt, became chums with William S. Burroughs at Harvard in the thirties.

Here's a relevant extract from Burroughs' excellent Biography, "Literary Outlaw":

'Billy met some of the more outlandish characters then at Harvard,among them Graham Eyres-Monsell, an Upperclass Englishman Whose father was the First Lord of the Admiralty. Billy thought he was glamourous because he was a Lord and knew all sorts of people, but at heart he disliked him,recalling:

"Ears Monsell....sounds like a Brooklyn gangster.He hung out with the undergraduates because he was in the habit of being deferred to and did not want to be with his equals.Like Cato gave his senate laws, and sits attentive to his own applause. He was a Cat-hater, and said he'd trained a Dog to kill Cats He was the one who told me that Vitamin A in large doses kills colds. He was a Fascist minded elitest,and not nearly as intelligent as he thought he was.I'm an elitest myself, but wouldn't want to be in the same lifeboat as him."'

Not sure I approve of Billy taking the piss out of the name synonymous with my childhood torture.Its a kind of warped Stockholm syndrome that i'll stick up for the place for the most rediculous reasons.I can feel a spike of annoyance if anyone dis's Leicester for any reason, never mind Eyres Monsell Estate....even the great William S. Burroughs.

In fact he isn't alone among literary genius's, to slag off my home town,the Father of Satire himself....and incidently a blood relative to yours truly,Jonathan Swift labelled the place a "Special parcel of Fools"....can't disagree with that,even if it included me for several decades.

The literary connections continue,Sue Townshend wrote the appalling "Dairy Of Adrian Mole" there, and Joe Orton lived in the neighbouring,and even worse,Concentration camp of the "Saffron Lane Estate".They used to send posses of sexually abused head cases on raids into Eyres Monsell looking for blood and someone else's sister,or brother,or family pet, to penetrate for a change...i'm crying just thinking about the trouser wetting fear of being beaten by these ruthless new life-forms.Who were they?....well,in this case it's more of a 'What' rather than a 'Who'.

One can only imagine the joy that Lord Ears Monsell(1905-93) would have gained knowing that his former lands were populated by cap-doffing breeders,hardly worthy of attending the Primary school which bore his name, never mind bowing to his magnificence.

Tracklist:

1 I'm Glad My Dad Is Sad 2:09
2 A Man Walks Into A Duck With A Bar On His Head 3:14
3 Baby, It's Cold Inside 5:21
4 A Broken Vag Is Like A Broken Badge 5:35
5 Saran Wrap Man 2:05
6 C.E.L.E.B.R.A.T.E. 4:11
7 The Mysticism Of My Fucking Sound 5:03
8 When The World Isn't There 1:25
9 A Dyke, A Kike & A Ten Speed Bike 5:10
10 Just Don't Forget. Peggy Is The Boss 5:08

DOWNLOAD another noisy baby HERE!

Phool - "Phosphorous" - (Year Zero Records - YEAR046) 2020

What's next for you fools?...Ahhhh...another new Year Zero Records release......hows about some gentle post-rock improv by Leicester band 'Phool'? Which includes a Scout Of Uzbekistan on drums
Indulge your stressed out lugholes with these soothing flotation tank rock sounds,as in rock without the 'rock' part. Minimally underplayed,so don't expect any face-melting guitar solo's, jazzy drum fills, or any slap bass, this just envelopes you like a creeping mist of that made-up as you go along stuff that some dare to call,... "improvisation",except this version of improvisation doesn't involve 'Showing Off'.
Strictly instrumental, it also saves one from that terrifying blight of the 21st century.....Singing!
Mark,Helen and Francis (Phool) are rare examples of musicians who obviously had lots of attention as children, which is in itself jolly refreshing.

Don't worry i'll stop being nice in the next post.

Tracklist:

1. Disaster (part 2)
2. Bandage Aid
3. Disaster (part 1)
4. McWerter McWerter
5. Are One Oh
6. Dizzy Diva
7. Cheese Cob and a Dog

DOWNLOAD or feel rather phoolish HERE!

OR

You can stream it HERE!

Gavin Bryars ‎– "The Sinking Of The Titanic" (Obscure ‎– obscure no.1) 1975

On the last post i suggested that you should play this simultaneously with Phill Niblocks 'A Third Trombone'...but to save you the bother i've mixed them together HERE for you.....don't say I never do anything for you!
Well the album is a classic of modern minimalist composition,on Eno's faultless Obscure label from 1975. I suppose this gets dumped in with the Ambient lot because of the Eno connection,which is not entirely unfair,but it does move minimalism away from the in-crowd of the manhatten avant-garde and introduce late 20th century neo-classical composition to the pop audience,thanks to  Brian Eno's ability to straddle both.......how's that for sentence construction?
The second side is probably more well known than the 'Titanic' side, mainly because of that re-recording Gavin did with Jesus Blood' fan Tom Waits, who insisted on singing along with the tape loop of the now long dead Tramp,and subsequently ruining it.
This is the definitive recording, featuring Michael Nyman and the late great Derek Bailey!
The loop for "Jesus' Blood" was copied in the music department of Leicester Polytechnic (now called after 13th century Jew-Hater Simon De Montfort,who banned jews from Leicester for eternity before he got killed in France and had his severed genetils stuffed into his big mouth,so naturally they called it De Montfort University!!!???);just across the road,in 1975, was an 11 year old Zchivago at Gateway Grammer school,most likely in the Metal Sculpture dept,where i learned how to make the products from which i still make a meagre living(no I don't sell meagres!).
Allegedly Bryars left the room to get a coffee while the tape loop of the singing tramp was being copied.On his return he found the students in the room subdued and some were even quietly weeping in the corner.This was the moment he thought that he might be onto something!.....in fact both of these tunes have the ability to turn even the uppest of persons into a well of melancholy within twnty five minutes of either side.
The "Titanic" side is the greatest recreation of a sinking ship,and or, Tragedy, that has ever been created in the medium of music.It involves a repeated section from the last tune the band on the Titanic allegedly played,"Nearer my lord to thee".Played at a snails pace above the droning strings of the double bass,it slowly disappears into the murky strings of the 'Cockpit Ensemble' as this tragic vessel slips beneath the waves and fades away with the music..all interspersed with dialogue samples from Titanic survivours......Hmmmm didn't Steve Reich do that over a decade later for "Different Trains"?
Plagarism aside,I'm fighting back the tears here!.....I can't go on.....boo-hoo-hooooo.


Tracklist:

A The Sinking Of The Titanic (24:26)

B Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (25:57)

This ship's-a-going DOWNLOAD HERE!

Elvis Costello and the Attractions - "Live in Leicester 22/10/1977" (Bootleg)

Just got back from a Holiday in Leicester???????....yes, when one lives in a beautiful sunny climate like here in the southern French countryside, you go to a shithole to regain perspective.
I'm from Leicester, and I love it in the same kind of way a hostage loves his/her captor.....'the Stockholm Syndrome' I believe its called.
I'm being harsh on the town of my birth, it is fact quite a good place these days,lots of fancy new buildings, plenty of entertainment, and a football team that will now go down as the achievers of the single greatest footballing triumph over greed and capitalist oppression in the history of sport!

So, naturally, in this Pub Rock trip we're having, here's Elvis Costello and the boys rocking it up on the 'Live Stiffs' tour of 1977 in this very same city.
He's on top form, its a soundboard recording, the first album tunes are better with the Attractions, and Richard Hell was in the audience. Can't get too much better than that?

Track Listing:

Love Comes In Spurts
No Action
(The Angels Wanna To Wear My) Red Shoes
Blame It On Cain
The Beat
Dr. Luther's Assistant
This Year's Girl
(I Don't Want to Go) Chelsea
Less Than Zero
Whole Wide World
Roadette Song
Neat Neat Neat
Little Triggers
Radio Radio
You Belong To Me
Miracle Man

DOWNLOAD in one spurt HERE!

"Dilly Ding Dilly Dong: No-one Listened To Our Songs (a Die or DIY tribute to Leicester City FC) " - (a DIE or DIY? mixtape No.9)

An achievement that was ten times more unlikely than the discovery of the Loch Ness Monster has happened! The People's Champions have been crowned.Leicester City strike a blow for the common man, and raise a rigid middle finger to the Murdoch controlled Football mafia.
Where,exactly, is Leicester (pronounced less-ter, or Less-toh in the slovenly local dialect)? 
Its located in the geographical center of jolly old England,at junction 21 of the M1 motorway,40 miles east of Birmingham,and 20 miles south of Nottingham.Home town of such luminaries as Englebert Humperdinck,David Icke,Dickie and David Attenborough,joking Joe Merrick aka 'The Elephant Man', and Roy from Coronation Street.Not forgeting that Richard the Third was buried in a car park there until recently; who's rediscovery and subsequent re-internment  seemed to be a catalyst for a change in the City's international profile.Culminating in 2016's unlikely Premier League triumph for the Local Football team,Leicester City FC;aka 'The Foxes',formerly 'The Filberts' after previous home ground Filbert street got demolished.
As a Foxes supporter of nigh on forty years,the unlikely story of my favourite Footy team winning association Football's most coverted trophy has stirred some deeply buried emotions over the past year or so. Yes, i've made inexplicable journeys to Middlesborough on a tuesday evening to join 500 other sad adults watch our lads get beat 2-0 at Ayresome park; one of the planets worst sporting cess pits.Or endure the six hour round trip to Newcastle to see us lose 7-1,while being 'entertained'(?) by Lindisfarne celebrating their promotion.
If you've ever been 'coined' by the human animals of Millwall at Cold Blow lane, as I have, on a freezing boxing day; while your team loses 2-0 again? Then maybe you will understand,and allow me a tear or two, as my torturer's actually win something 'important'....and with comparative ease to boot!?
I'm old enough to remember when Football (Soccer to our American readers), was a working class pastime rather than a Plutocrats playground. It was an era when any club could win the championship purely by teamwork, tactics, and developing young talent. It wasn't dictated by how many stolen billions some half interested Oligarch ploughed into his new boy toy. Clubs from the arseholes of the UK got to win the main prize quite often, like Derby County (Boo!), Nottingham F*#@+t (Boooo!), and Ipswich Town.
No longer do the little people of the slave classes get to have any simple joy, as the slave owners have bought all their places,and replaced the terraces with soundproofed (?) executive suites,for Champagne business lunches during the games.
The teams too are populated by strutting millionaire preening peacocks; the lowest paid of whom earn more in a week than the excluded underclasses can earn in five,or more, years.
The clubs themselves determine their own success by how many millions they spend on these narcissistic intellectual minnows. Thus crushing the ,so-called, smaller clubs ambitions to merely hoping for survival.
Leicester City FC once tried to compete with the upper echelons by splashing the cash that they didn't have; prompted by then Manager Martin O'Neil, who moaned constantly about New Stadiums, and increased wages.The club provided everything he had asked for, only for the cunt to fuck off to Glasgow Celtic?????....why?) Frequently heard from the supporters was the beyond dumb inquisitory grunt of "Where's the Muneh(local accent for the word Money) gone?"; there was even a 'fanzine' called "Where's the Money Gone?".
Where did the money go? 
Into the pockets of the increasingly swaggering Leicester City first Team squad, and the bank accounts of the Construction companies naturally.The 'fans' could never understand why Pele,Best,and Cryuff never played for Leicester City.This pressure,of course led to bankruptcy and administration, only to be saved by grinning local Leicester footy superstar and legend, Gary Lineker, with support from Serbian 'businessman' Milan Mandaric. 
I suppose we did win a couple of minor trophies in the early noughties (League cup x2),but nearly Lost our football team in the process.
Then in walked our saviours, the Duty-Free kings of Thailand; listen carefully, I shall say this only once: the Srivaddhanaprabha family;inflictors of the horrendous 'King Power' brand name.
Swiftly they brought in Buddhist monks to pray for success, paid off all debts,and bought back the 'Walkers Stadium', then promptly renamed it the, gulp, 'King Power Stadium'.
From here began an unprecedented run of success, rising from the third tier back into the premier league as relegation favourites in 2014/15.
Oh how the bloated cheats of the 'Big' clubs smugly smirked as we(LCFC) propped up the table for two thirds of the season. Then, apparently doomed, we started to win ALL of our games, and survived to struggle another day......except we didn't struggle, we continued to win all of our games in the following(this) season; including highlights such as destroying the most bloated billionaire club of them all,the Shiek's plaything Manchester City, at their own ground.The very club who were the template of 'How to Buy Success',what a bunch of wankers they are!? (just to wind up the geezer who writes the 'Bleak Bliss' blog).
Then amidst all this enduring success we've had to endure the patronising verbal vomit of football 'Pundits', who, for the last year and a half have predicted Leicester's impending collapse,in between sickening references to 'Football Fairytales'. This is no 'Fairytale',they won the premier league trophy because they were the best team, no Fairydust,or cash, required. A carefully balanced formula, of solid defense, lightening fast counter-attacking,played by an organised team of motivated journeymen and bargain buys that moulded into this well-oiled machine.
This, admittedly, may not have any great longevity however. I can sense ,PFA Footballer of the Year, Rihyad Mahrez has thoughts of that big money move to Barcelona written all over his performances,as he virtually disappeared from the game for the last five matches;designer Chav and top scorer, Jamie Vardy, has developed the beginnings of a swagger that could lead to his ruination.Also, that fearless brand of pacey counter-attacking football has turned into dour Italian style defense,grinding out cleansheets.
But so what? Leicester City winning the League Crown just once, is worth all the titles those big money boys have ever bought, all put together in one shiny dustbin.Yes i'm bitter,but who cares,Fuck 'em!
As the unlikely,and loveable, Genius that is ,team manager, Claudio Ranieri put it so succinctly:
"Dilly Ding Dilly Dong! We're in the Champions League Man! What's wrong with you?"

The Raison d'etre of this diatribe is to celebrate my birthplace's moment in the spotlight by remembering some of the missing pop groups who populated the Leicester music scene's seedy underbelly.
Better Known for annoying faux-cool fodder like Kasabian, Cornershop, Gaye Bykers On Acid,and grebo crud like Crazyhead(Nearly included a Family track, but they were Hippies weren't they?).Forget that nonsense,they are the Martin O'Neil era equivalent of Pop. What we want is the Brian Little era clumsy losers of noise. Making the sonic doppelgangers of the Leicester v Derby 1994 Play-off final, where the foxes put three centre halves in attack beating a slick and skilfull Derby team with brute force and ignorance. I can still see human donkey Gary Coatsworth's 50 yard diagonal ball, into Derby's penalty box,smeared over the goal line by a brutal Steve Walsh to score. Gary Coatsworth really was worth his body weight in coats. He never played another game.......just like many of the bands featured on this compilation.Beautiful losers with a route one musical approach that ultimately works.(I must apologise to Derby Fans for 1994,probably thee worst football Leicester ever played)

TRACK LISTING:

1/ The 1974 LEICESTER CITY SQUAD -"This is the Season For Leicester"

A very appropriate single released in 1974 in the vane hope that we went on to win our FA Cup semi-final against Shankly's Liverpool....we lost. A single literally 42 years ahead of its time!

2/ The SINATRAS - "Happy Feeling"

Peel touted post punk indie on the uber-trendy Dining Out Records from 1980. Very accurate vibe.

3/ STANDARD ISSUE - "Living in Leicester" (Live at Scamps 1980)

An autobiographical number by Atonal DIY post punk combo Standard Issue. The Charlotte crew mentioned would be the usual suspect who hung out at Leicesters premier muso-pub the Princess Charlotte.You can find the Hind (sans Crew) opposite the railway station if you are so inclined....unless its been demolished that is.

4/ DRAGON OR EMPEROR - "Your Success"

Avant-Rock collaboration from Aaron Moore(Volcano the Bear) and that bloke from Black Carrot who sounds like that bloke from Pere Ubu. Had to think twice about this as Aaron inexplicably supports West Ham????? The title says it all for the lads.

5/ FARMLIFE - "Susie's Party"

Another one from Dining Out Records by Farmlife, better known as The Bomb Party in years to come. It's the nearest tune I could get to Jamie Vardy's Party.

6/ DISCO ZOMBIES - "Top Of The Pops"

The legendary Disco Zombies are hear to remind everyone who's Top of The Football Pops, with a hefty slice of punky power pop.

7/ MC PITMAN - "Witness The Pitness"

Although officially from Coalville,which has the unfortunate affliction to be near 'The North', so has imported the yorkshire slang word 'Mi'Sen', meaning myself. Otherwise spoiling a near perfect example of the Leicester accent as presented here by Rapping Coal miner MC Pitman.

8/ YEAH YEAH NOH - "Cottage Industry"

John Peel favourites and poor man's Smiths, Yeah Yeah Noh, epitomise the cheapness of everything Leicester.

9/ METAL DOUGHNUT BAND - "Laura Norder"

Some horrific n-n-n-n-nineteen style sampling on this one.
The Maggie Thatcher sample "We will never compromise with Violence", makes this a perfect theme tune for Robert Huth (uncompromising Leiceter center-Half). The Doughnuts were a danceable version of the early to mid eighties fad for junk metal percussion, who like to perform naked......tut tut tut.

10/ DEEP FREEZE MICE - "A Ten Legged Beast (Or an eight legged beast with feelers)"

Prolific proto-indie DIY tunesmiths Deep Freeze Mice almost describe LCFC. Maybe 22 legged beast is more appropriate....or 21 legged beast as Mahrez only has one foot.

11/ MIDNIGHT CIRCUS - "Survivors"

DIY Cassette leg-ends pay tribute to last seasons great escape from almost certain relegation.

12/ BARRON BALLS - "Stoke"

Early eighties bedroom combo Barron Balls and some unhinged nonsense about Stoke, who did the foxes no favors when they shouldered arms against Spurs a few weeks ago! Twats!

13/ BARRON BALLS on WFMU radio.

......from Leechester says the DJ.Ah Bless.

Various Barron Ballers at Wembly 1992...er....we lost!

14/ MODERN LIVING - "Drink Is A Drug"

Wobbly post punk incompetence about the dangers of too much booze.

15/ THE AMBER SQUAD - "It's a Replay "

No Replays for the big four in the league i'm happy to inform them!
Power Pop from the mean streets of downtown Oakham.

16/ KEVIN HEWICK - "Plenty"

Yeah, that bloke who hung out with the Factory Records lot.Once touted as the potential Ian Curtis replacement after said singer topped himself.

17/ VOLCANO THE BEAR - "Planetary Bethlehem"

The Residents of the east mids. Dada-esque combo with members who were once in a hardcore band called 'Scalpt' with a 'T'. Artistic types, with Painter Aaron.....as in Painter and Decorator.
I suppose the KP Stadium is a kind of Bethlehem equivalent for us fans of the Filberts.

18/ THE ROCKIN' BASTARDS - "Dog Song"

The opposite end of the intellectual scale, either at the top or the bottom, depends on which way you want to see it; are The Rockin' Bastards. Upon revisiting this magnum opus, vocaliser Butch Clarke said "(it)sounds like people being murdered with angle grinders in a Victorian lunatic asylum."......I can't disagree....but murdered in a good way.......a bit like this song?

A Rockin' Bastard  Guitarist (Toffo) at Wembley 96

19/ PROLAPSE - "Every Night I'm Mentally Crucified (7000 Times)"

Featuring Leicester's only professional Scotsman.
The title is evocative of many wasted 90 minutes i've spent watching Leicester City.......it all seems so worth it now.

20/ SCOUTS OF UZBEKISTAN - "The Dilly Ding Dilly Dong Song"

Specially remixed, and unreleased track from Scouts Of Uzbekistan,in praise of Claudio, from their forthcoming ,and long awaited LP, "Hate Is Our Religion" on Year Zero Records.

21/ DJ tells us about the Scouts.

22/ THE BLIND MAN WHO WALKED PAST THE SUPERMARKET - "Keith"

Impossibly obscure weirdo's pay tribute to Leicester Legend Keith Weller when he played on a cocktail of Alcohol and 'shrooms.That must have been the game he wore the famous tights?

23/ FUTURE TOYS - "R.C.U."

Doon't no nuffink baht these Fookahs.....Future Toys....just like the footy clubs who haven't yet been taken over by foreign capitalist gangsters....y'know, The 'Sleeping Giants', like Wolves for example?

24/ NEW AGE - "Livin' For Now"

Another Dining Out band, who quickly slid down the New Romantic helter skelter to hell.
I'm Livin' for Now, because I probably won't ever see my footy club win another bean.

25/ THE BANGERS - "Blue Army Blues"

I have horrific memories of this tune echoing in my addled brain in the coach to Wembley in '94, when i had a hangover by half time.....oh the pain. A gentle reggae tinged run through the sink estates of Leicestershire, sung by some awful career Hooligan,who thankfully I don't remember the name of. Probably got knifed up shortly after this.

26/ SHOWADDYWADDY - "Blue Moon"

No Leicester compilation is complete without these celebrated chocolate box Teds. One of their sons actually played for the Foxes, Scott Oakes I believe.......New Faces had a lot to answer for, not only these anti-matter rockers, but Lenny Henry as well. These crimes easily puts the Third Reich in the shade.

Zchivago(Front Right) and Van Hellman of the Barron Balls(Front Left) with Super Steve Claridge , and unknown strangers after he shinned the winner at Wembley against Crystal Palace in 1996.

But, the only Leicester Band ever to be re-imagined as Leicester City players on an album sleeve was Family, with this charming depiction which adorned "The Best Of Family" album in about 1973

Great cover, boys,sorry you didn't make it on the Compilation. The "Weavers Answer" is a great tune anyway.
Back in the (Eyres)Monsell, where I wuz brung up.There was a couple of hippies living in a grotty council flat,one in a wheel chair and cowboy boots; wheeled around by an hippie in a cowboy hat and an eyepatch. Turned out the one in the whell chair was the one and only Ric Grech of Family,Traffic and Blind Faith! Ravaged with drink and drugs and broke,he was reduced to living in the council estate that he came from, to die. Let that be a cautionary tale to you kids who are flirting with the rock'n'roll myth. Don't do drugs and Alcohol or you'll end up in Eyres Monsell with renal failure!!!

DOWNLOAD "DILLY DING DILLY DONG" BY CLICKING THIS HANDY LINK HERE!!!!!!!!!