No. 24 Bailter Space - Splat

Mention New Zealand and most people think of egg-chasing, hobbits and butter that doesn't have the seal of approval of any punk icons (as far as I'm aware). What far too few folk will wax lyrical about is the fabulous music that New Zealand has produced over the last three decades. In my attempt to demonstrate that this is, in fact, the case, I present Exhibit A, Splat, a slice of gorgeous guitar-driven loveliness from Bailter Space, dating from 1997. The band was already a decade old when this was released, and in turn emerged from the legendary Gordons. Bailter Space have produced a string of great noisy guitar albums, often associated with the equally legendary Flying Nun Records, which has released material by pretty much every significant New Zealand band at one time or another.

If you're interested in hearing more like this, you could do far worse than starting with the excellent Tally Ho!: Flying Nun's Greatest Bits compilation from 2011.

No. 23 Jessica Bailiff and Alan Sparhawk

And I'm back. May is always a bit hellish work-wise, so time has been in short supply. Yes I know there's a week's holiday in there somewhere but we were camping in moderately wild Devon, in the land beyond Wi-Fi and 3G.

Firstly, there will be those that challenge whether this is in the correct place alphabetically (hello, Mark). By my reckoning it goes under B for Bailiff, rather than S for Sparhawk, V for various artists or (definitely not) J for Jessica. There are those misguided folk who might be tempted to file it under L for Low, but that would clearly be deeply wrong.

Having said that, the reason this is in the collection is because of the Low connection. Sparhawk is one third of Low and has been something of a champion of Bailiff's slow-core influenced music. It was he who first alerted Kranky, Bailiff's regular label, of her earliest demos.

I know relatively little of this single, released on Ypsilanti Records in 2001. Crush, Version 2 is a reworking of a track from her second album, 1999's Hour Of The Trace, whilst the B-side, Highwire, is a Marc Bolan composition. Sound-wise this is fairly typical of her shoe-gaze-y, slow-core sound; slightly buried vocals, drone synths and a glacial pace. It's not surprising that she's collaborated with the likes of His Name Is Alive and Flying Saucer Attack - they're working with a similar sonic palette. 

I can't find a copy of the single version anywhere, but here's the original; a lovely thing it is too!

No. 22 Badly Drawn Boy - Once Around The Block

I was reminded of Badly Drawn Boy twice this week. Once by the campaign surrounding the 15 year anniversary reissue of The Hour of the Bewilderbeast, the album that followed (and included) this single. Then it was announced Damien Gough would be touring this album to mark the occasion, as has become the fashion in these times. 

When this was released, I was pretty impressed by Badly Drawn Boy. Peel had been enthusiastically playing his early releases, which I'd grown to like, and so I snapped up this, his breakthrough single (it reached number 46 in the UK national chart). My enthusiasm waned pretty quickly after I saw what I still count to this day as the possibly the worst gig I have ever witnessed. He was touring the above mentioned (pretty solid) album and played Sheffield University's Foundry. The gig was an utter shambles - Gough had already consumed much of a bottle of Jack Daniels by the time he took to the stage and he'd finished it long before the gig ended. I honestly don't think he performed a single song that didn't disappoint. My mood wasn't improved when, just before the gig began, a huge crusty with the most enormous hair imaginable, decided to stand right in front of me. It quickly became apparent that he was also much the worse for wear and I spent the gig wondering when he might collapse on me, though on refection this might have at least put me out of my misery. It remains one of the very few times I've walked out (or at least retreated to the bar next door) during a headline set. A sad end to my enthusiasm really, as this remains a lovely tune, one of his best.

No. 21 Babes In Toyland - Bruise Violet

If I was pressed to pick out only ten of my 7" singles to keep, this would almost certainly make the cut, for a number of reasons.

1) It's a grunge classic. Babes In Toyland were as good live as any of the bands of that era, and this, from their second album, Fontanelle, must surely rate as one of their finest songs.

2) There are two b-sides, Gone and Magick Flute. The latter is one of drummer, Lori Barbero's excellent and all too infrequent contributions to their output.

3) It's on violet vinyl - pretty cool, huh?

4) A Babes in Toyland gig was the first date for my wife and I, way back in 1993 - Bradford Queens Hall to be precise, supported by Truman's Water. 

I'm genuinely saddened that I don't own more of Babes In Toyland's 7" singles -  I missed out at the time and they seem to fetch pretty crazy prices these days. They were an important and perhaps under-rated part of the grunge scene; even Mark Yarm's brilliant if scathing Everybody Loves Our Town, doesn't manage to diminish their contribution too much.

No. 20 Arcwelder - Captain Allen

The final single from the letter A and its also the final Arcwelder single, which was released in 1995 and subsequently turned up on Entropy, their fifth album. It's another solid tune and it's backed with a decent cover of Volcano Suns' White Elephant. I can't find a video for this tune, so here's a link to a (badly synced) clip from Touch & Go's 25th anniversary celebrations, which suggests that Arcwelder  are lovely people too and includes an excellent cameo from Shellac's Todd Trainer. Sadly despite owning most of their back catalogue, I've never seen Arcwelder live - I should have seen them at All Tomorrow's Parties back in 2002, but I managed to miss them, I think because of a clash - whoever it was I saw instead had better have been damned good.

Fact fans will be delighted to learn that Bob Weston IV (now of Shellac) who engineered and produced this was in Volcano Suns (but not when they wrote White Elephant).

Next up, the first submission for the letter B. The tension is almost unbearable...

No. 19 Arcwelder - Raleigh

March has become a most challenging month professionally in recent years, thus the lack of activity on the blogging front. However the ocean of marking is now behind me and normal service can hopefully be resumed. Anyhow, next up its another fine offering from Arcwelder, the stop-start alt. pop of Raleigh, the band's first single on Touch & Go, which would eventually feature on their third album Pull. Two b-sides feature (Walls and Rosa), which is always good value, even if they're a little forgettable (which they are).

Chicago's Touch & Go Records was consistently putting out great records at this time; the was the era  of Girls Against Boys, The Jesus Lizard, Slint, Man or Astroman and plenty more fine bands. This certainly won't be the last Touch & Go release to feature as I work through the alphabet.

Sadly, I've concluded that this song (probably) refers to Raleigh, the city in North Carolina, rather than the Elizabethan sailor, son of the West Country and populariser of tobacco, Sir Walter Raleigh. An opportunity missed I think.

No. 18 Arcwelder - I Am The Walrus/Sign Of The Times

The cover version; so often a feature of the seven inch single, often as a b-side offering. They can be great, as we shall no doubt see as this project unfolds. But they can also be terrible (there's certain to be some of those in the mix too). I have spent many hours, often in the company of my good friend and fellow anorak @pomfob, trying to shortlist favourite cover versions and I wonder if there aren't certain ingredients for a good cover; don't sound too much like the original, don't think playing it faster is in itself entertaining, (though it might be) etc. It's probably also a good idea to avoid taking on songs that are broadly agreed to be classics, and therefore pretty hard to improve upon.

On that note, the next single is Arcwelder's brave double cover of The Beatles' I Am The Walrus and Prince's Sign Of The Times (I believe its actually Sign O' The Times, which always makes me think it's sung by pirates). Sadly, neither tune seems to exist on the interweb, so you'll have to take my word that the version of Beatles' tune is better than the Oasis one and that the version of Sign O' The Times (arrrr) is vastly preferable to the Muse one (but then, so is sticking rusty needles in your soft, fleshy parts).