Random jukebox – Roni Size

Posted on 27/04/2016 by rollo

Last week, we heard a song about The Size of a Cow, so this week, we’ll go with Roni Size. This is Bite the Bullet.

Retro chart for stowaways – 29 January 2005

Posted on 01/02/2015 by rollo

Here are the top ten singles from a decade ago this week:

Client feat. Carl Barât – Pornography
Erasure – Breathe
The Chemical Brothers – Galvanize
Delerium feat. Sarah McLachlan – Silence 2004
Kylie Minogue – I Believe in You
Lemon Jelly – Stay with You
Roni Size – No More
Bent – Flavour Country EP
Dirty Vegas – Walk into the Sun
Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence 2004

Music for the Masses 1 – 17 November 1999

Posted on 17/11/2014 by rollo

Hopefully you’ll excuse the interruption of normal service, because I stumbled across this in my archives and wanted to share it! Long before this blog existed, there was a student radio show called Music for the Masses, and the first ever show took place fifteen years ago today, on Aberystywth’s brand new student radio station, Bay Radio. The gaps in the playlist are the bits where I talked.

Tracks played on the first show, Wed 17 Nov 1999, from 11am-1pm

Tracks taken from the playlist (Total 12 tracks). A indicates A-list (7 tracks); B indicates B-list (3 tracks) and C indicates C-list (2 tracks). S indicates the Single of the Week. R indicates tracks taken from my own collection (Total 8 tracks). L indicates tracks we grabbed from the drawer to impress people (Total 9 tracks).

1. Everything But The Girl “Before Today” R
2. Garbage “The World is Not Enough” A
3. Jamiroquai “Canned Heat” L
4. Manchild “Return to the Dragon” C

5. Gay Dad “Joy” L
6. Offspring “She’s Got Issues” S
7. R.E.M. “At My Most Beautiful” L

8. New Order “World (The Price of Love)” R
9. Amar “Red Sky” A
10. Jean Michel Jarre “Oxygène 10” R
11. Beastie Boys “Alive” A

12. Cartoon “Alcoholic Show” L
13. Murry The Hump “Colouring Book” A
[Advert Break]
14. Barenaked Ladies “It’s All Been Done” L
15. Spacedust “Let’s Get Down” L
16. Beloved “Sweet Harmony” R

17. Primal Scream “Swastika Eyes” C
18. Cast “Magic Hour” L
19. Atomic Kitten “Right Now” B
20. Pet Shop Boys “Happiness is an Option” R

21. Roni Size/Reprazent “Watching Windows” L
22. Wheat “Don’t I Hold You?” B
23. Olive “Miracle” R
24. Glamma Kid “Why?” L
25. Saint Etienne “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” R

26. Madonna “Nothing Really Matters” L
27. Muse “Muscle Museum” A
28. Depeche Mode “Only When I Lose Myself” R
[Advert Break]
29. Aim & Kate Rogers “Sail” B
30. Longpigs “The Frank Sonata” A

31. James “We’re Going To Miss You” A

Producer: Mark (and, unofficially, Karl Homer)

Notes: A reasonable flow to the tracks, considering the complete lack of planning. A slight surplus of playlist tracks at the end meant that I over-ran by about 2 minutes. Odd selection of music I suppose, but given the limitations, this is unsurprising. Better luck next time!

Mercury Prize Winners 1992-2013

Posted on 24/10/2014 by rollo

Last year, we looked at the nominees of the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize in excruciating detail (you can find the links below). This year, let’s just take a very quick browse through the list of winners!

1992 – Primal Scream – Screamadelica
1993 – Suede – Suede
1994 – M People – Elegant Slumming
1995 – Portishead – Dummy
1996 – Pulp – Different Class
1997 – Roni Size / Reprazent – New Forms
1998 – Gomez – Bring it On
1999 – Talvin Singh – Ok
2000 – Badly Drawn Boy – The Hour of Bewilderbeast
2001 – PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
2002 – Ms. Dynamite – A Little Deeper
2003 – Dizzee Rascal – Boy in da Corner
2004 – Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
2005 – Antony and the Johnsons – I Am a Bird Now
2006 – Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
2007 – Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future
2008 – Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
2009 – Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy
2010 – The XX – XX
2011 – PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
2012 – Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
2013 – James Blake – Overgrown

Which does make for a slightly odd list when you see it all together – it’s a mix of legends and total drivel… but who are we to judge? That’s the job of the judging committee.

If you want to delve into the gory details of previous years, you can find them here: 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. The nominees for 2014 can be found here, and we’ll take a look at the winners next week.

The Best Singles of 2003

Posted on 15/10/2014 by rollo

I recently found this document in my archives, dated November 2003…

Conjure One “Sleep / Tears from the Moon” (Nettwerk; January; #41)

An amazing debut for Rhys Fulber’s solo project (he’s more commonly known as half of Delerium), which is taken to new heights by remixes from Tiësto and Ian van Dahl. This is how dance should sound in the twenty-first century.

Conjure One “Centre of the Sun” (Nettwerk; August; #83)

Although not quite as instantly catchy as its predecessor, this single boasts some fantastic electroclash and retro remixes from the likes of JXL and Pete Lorimer.

Dirty Vegas “Simple Things” (Parlophone; March; NCQ)

Another great track from the fantastic eponymous debut album, including live acoustic tracks and deep and dark remixes, showcasing all the different sides of the band.

Front Line Assembly “Maniacal” (SPV; October; no UK release)

I bought this because I’d heard a few tracks by the band (who are, rather confusingly, the same people behind Delerium) and knew their reputation, and was totally blown away by this release. Dark and powerful industrial electronica.

Dave Gahan “I Need You” (Mute; August; #27)

One of the best tracks from the Depeche Mode frontman’s debut solo album, including remixes from Ladytron and Gabriel & Dresden and exclusive tracks across the different formats.

Alex Gold feat. Phil Oakey “LA Today” (Xtravaganza; April; #68)

A slightly odd track that sounds something like a cross between the Human League and Dirty Vegas, but essential nonetheless.

Goldfrapp “Train” (Mute; April; #23)

Fantastic comeback from Goldfrapp including an exclusive track and remixes, and welcoming them into the electroclash arena.

Lemon Jelly “Nice Weather for Ducks” (XL; February; #16)

Huge airplay propelled this querky but endearing track towards the right end of the charts. Unfortunately the single is fairly sparse, but it’s worth getting for the main track if nothing else. And of course it’s got beautiful packaging.

Yoko Ono “Walking on Thin Ice” (Parlophone; April; #35)

Worth buying not for the track itself but for the fantastic Pet Shop Boys remixes on the second CD, which introduce beautiful rippling retro analogue synths and prove that the lads have still got it.

Erlend Øye “Sheltered Life” (Source; July; #93)

Fantastic remix for the second single from the debut solo album from half of Kings of Convenience that frankly ought to have been a huge hit.

Pet Shop Boys “Miracles” (Parlophone; November; #10)

A new Pet Shop Boys release is always a treat — this one is no exception, backed with new b-sides and remixes from the bonkers Lemon Jelly and someone called Eric Prydz.

Röyksopp “Sparks” (Wall of Sound; June; #41)

Another single from the essential album Melody A.M, this time with a daft remix by Roni Size but also an excellent new track and, on the second CD, the video to their best track yet, Remind Me.

Saint Etienne “Soft Like Me” (Mantra; January; #40)

A slight departure from their normal sound, but nonetheless one of the best tracks from their 2002 album Finisterre backed with remixes and dozens of exclusive b-sides.

Yello “Planet Dada / The Race 2003” (Motor; October; no UK release)

Sometimes bands slip in and out of fashion by moving ahead of the times. Yello, on the whole, have slipped out of the public eye by doing much the same thing (on the whole) for the last decade. Finally, the rest of the world has caught up with them, so their fantastic brand of electro is finally contemporary once again. There are even Tomcraft mixes of their biggest hit to boot.

Preview – Roni Size

Posted on 25/08/2014 by rollo

It’s another video of a picture I’m afraid, but Roni Size is back this week with a new album called Take Kontrol. This single, Bite the Bullet, available to download for free from the page with the video on it (if you can get through the security system, anyway) is rather brilliant:

Q Awards Winners 1990-2012 (Part Two)

Posted on 15/10/2013 by rollo

We’ll look at this year’s ceremony next week, but for now here’s a continuation of the list that we started last week, of all the winners to date, by award:

Songwriter and Producer

Although seemingly now discontinued, these were a couple of Q’s better awards, recognising the contributions of the people behind the music.

Best Songwriter / Q Classic Songwriter

1990 – Prince
1991 – Richard Thompson
1992 – Neil Finn
1993 – Neil Finn
1994 – Morrissey
1995 – Van Morrison
1996 – Rod Stewart
1997 – Paul McCartney
1998 – Paul Weller
1999 – Ian Dury / Chas Janke
2000 – Guy Chambers and Robbie Williams
2001 – Kate Bush
2002 – Jimmy Cliff
2003 – Dexys Midnight Runners
2004 – Elton John
2005 – Nick Cave
2006 – Noel Gallagher
2007 – Billy Bragg
2008 – John Mellencamp
2009 – Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)
2010 – Neil Finn
2011 – Gary Barlow

Best Producer

1990 – Paul Oakenfold / Steve Osborne
1991 – Trevor Horn
1992 – Daniel Lanois / Peter Gabriel / The Orb
1993 – Flood / Brian Eno / The Edge
1994 – Stephen Street
1995 – Tricky
1996 – John Leckie
1997 – Nellee Hooper
1998 – Norman Cook
1999 – William Orbit
2000 – Pete Devereux and Mark Hill (Artful Dodger)
2001 – Nigel Godrich
2002 – Moby
2003 – Nigel Godrich
2004 – Mick Jones
2005 – Gorillaz / Danger Mouse

Best Newcomer

One thing the Q Awards do pretty well is having lots of almost identically-named awards. They do show a pretty good track record with the newcomer and breakthrough artists though…

Best New Act

1990 – They Might Be Giants
1991 – Seal
1992 – Tori Amos
1993 – Suede
1994 – Oasis
1995 – Supergrass
1996 – Alanis Morissette
1997 – Fun Lovin’ Criminals
1998 – Gomez
1999 – Basement Jaxx
2000 – Badly Drawn Boy
2001 – Starsailor
2002 – Electric Soft Parade
2003 – The Thrills
2004 – Razorlight
2005 – James Blunt
2006 – Corinne Bailey-Rae
2007 – The Enemy
2008 – The Last Shadow Puppets
2009 – White Lies
2011 – WU LYF
2012 – Django Django

BEST BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST

2007 – Kate Nash
2008 – Duffy
2009 – Mr Hudson
2010 – Plan B
2011 – Ed Sheeran

Q’s Next Big Thing

2010 – Clare Maguire
2011 – Lana del Rey

Best Live Act

One of the jewels in the Q Awards’s crown:

1990 – Rolling Stones
1991 – Simple Minds
1992 – Crowded House
1993 – Neil Young
1994 – Pink Floyd
1995 – Oasis
1996 – Pulp
1997 – The Prodigy
1998 – Roni Size / Reprazent
1999 – Stereophonics
2000 – Oasis
2001 – Manic Street Preachers
2002 – The Hives
2003 – Robbie Williams
2004 – Muse
2005 – U2
2006 – Muse
2007 – Muse
2008 – Kaiser Chiefs
2009 – Arctic Monkeys
2010 – Biffy Clyro
2011 – Blur

Best Artist

The oddly named ‘Best Act in the World Today’ Award goes right back to the Q Awards’ beginnings in 1990, but was also recently joined by special solo awards too…

Best Act in the World Today

1990 – U2
1991 – R.E.M. / U2
1992 – U2
1993 – U2
1994 – R.E.M.
1995 – R.E.M.
1996 – Pulp
1997 – Oasis
1998 – Manic Street Preachers
1999 – Blur
2000 – Travis
2001 – Radiohead
2002 – Radiohead
2003 – Radiohead
2004 – Red Hot Chili Peppers
2005 – Coldplay
2006 – Oasis
2007 – Arctic Monkeys
2008 – Coldplay
2009 – Muse
2011 – Coldplay
2012 – Muse

Best Male

2010 – Paolo Nutini
2011 – Tinie Tempah

Best Female

2010 – Florence + The Machine
2011 – Adele

Best Solo Artist

2012 – Emeli Sandé

Q Innovation Award / Innovation in Sound

Perhaps the most fascinating of all the awards, except for the couple of years when it was given to really dull and non-innovative artists.

2002 – Depeche Mode
2003 – Muse
2004 – The Human League
2005 – The Prodigy
2006 – The Edge
2007 – Sigur Rós
2008 – Massive Attack
2009 – Sonic Youth
2010 – Mark Ronson
2011 – Kaiser Chiefs
2012 – Underworld

Outstanding Lifetime Icon / Idol Achievement Awards

I suspect that, like me, you’re totally taken aback by this slew of near-identical awards. But hats off to them for finding a hundred different ways to honour U2 and R.E.M.!

Special Merit Award

1990 – Paul McCartney
1991 – Lou Reed
1992 – Led Zeppelin
1993 – Elton John
1999 – Keith Richards
2000 – Jerry Dammers / The Specials
2001 – Elvis Costello
2002 – Tom Jones
2004 – Shane McGowan
2006 – Manic Street Preachers
2007 – Ryan Adams

Q Inspiration

1992 – B.B. King
1993 – Donald Fagen
1994 – The Kinks
1995 – David Bowie / Brian Eno
1996 – U2
1997 – Patti Smith
1998 – Blondie
1999 – New Order
2000 – Joe Strummer
2001 – John Lydon
2002 – Echo and the Bunnymen
2003 – The Cure
2004 – Pet Shop Boys
2005 – Björk
2006 – a-ha
2007 – Damon Albarn
2008 – Cocteau Twins
2009 – The Specials
2010 – Suede
2011 – Fatboy Slim
2012 – Pulp

Lifetime Achievement

1997 – The Who
1998 – R.E.M.
2003 – Duran Duran
2004 – Roxy Music
2005 – Bee Gees
2006 – Peter Gabriel
2007 – Johnny Marr

Q Icon

2003 – Jane’s Addiction
2004 – U2
2005 – Jimmy Page
2006 – Jeff Lynne
2007 – Sir Paul McCartney
2008 – Adam Ant
2009 – Marianne Faithfull
2010 – Bryan Ferry
2011 – Noel Gallagher
2012 – Dexys Midnight Runners

Q Outstanding Contribution to Music Award

2005 – Paul Weller
2006 – Smokey Robinson
2007 – Johnny Marr
2008 – David Gilmour
2009 – Robert Plant
2011 – Siouxsie Sioux

Q Legend

2005 – Joy Division
2006 – The Who
2007 – Ian Brown
2008 – Glen Campbell
2009 – Edwyn Collins

Q Idol

2006 – Take That
2007 – Kylie Minogue
2008 – Grace Jones
2009 – Spandau Ballet
2010 – Madness
2012 – Brandon Flowers

Hall of Fame Award

2010 – Take That
2011 – Queen

Q Awards 1997-1998

Posted on 01/10/2013 by rollo

We continue our romp through the history of the Q Awards in 1997…

1997

November 4th 1997 saw the eighth Q Awards ceremony. Here are some scans of Q Magazine’s coverage from January 1998. Here’s a picture of Danny Baker pointing at Chris Evans.

BEST ALBUM

Presented by Eddie Izzard. Nominees:

Sheryl Crow – Sheryl Crow
Texas – White on Blonde
Fun Lovin’ Criminals – Come Find Yourself
Oasis – Be Here Now
The Prodigy – The Fat of the Land
Radiohead – OK Computer

Winner: Radiohead

BEST REISSUE / COMPILATION

Winner: Various Artists for The Songs of Jimmie Rodgers

BEST LIVE ACT

Winner: The Prodigy

BEST ACT IN THE WORLD TODAY

Winner: Oasis

BEST NEW ACT

Winner: Fun Lovin’ Criminals

BEST PRODUCER

Winner: Nellee Hooper

SONGWRITER AWARD

Or, the “Person Called Paul” award. Presented by Bob Geldof. Nominees:

Paul Weller
Paul Heaton / David Rotherhay
Thom Yorke
Beck
Paul McCartney

Winner: Paul McCartney

Lifetime achievement

Winner: The Who

Q INSPIRATION AWARD

Winner: Patti Smith

Special AWARD

Winner: Phil Spector

1997

November 1998 saw the ninth Q Awards ceremony. Here’s a picture of Debbie Harry after, and here she is before, wearing some razor blades. Here she is again, looking less surprised, and here she is with her friends.

BEST ALBUM

Winner: Massive Attack for Mezzanine

BEST SINGLE

Winner: Catatonia for Road Rage

BEST LIVE ACT

Winner: Roni Size / Reprazent

BEST ACT IN THE WORLD TODAY

Winner: Manic Street Preachers

BEST NEW ACT

Winner: Gomez

BEST PRODUCER

Winner: Norman Cook

SONGWRITER AWARD

Winner: Paul Weller

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

Winner: R.E.M.

Q INSPIRATION AWARD

Winner: Blondie

Epilogue

After 1998, you can find pretty good coverage on Wikipedia’s Q Awards page. Next week we’ll summarise the winners to date…

FURTHER INFORMATION

Mercury Music Prize 1995-1997

Posted on 28/09/2013 by rollo

By the mid-1990s, the Mercury Prize was firmly placed as a reliable guide to the albums worth hearing of that year. Certainly there were omissions – indie always seemed to be overrated, while the pop and R&B inclusions were a little unpredictable, but there are still a huge number of great albums in the lists below.

Mercury Music Prize 1995

Nominees:

Guy Barker – Into the Blue
Elastica – Elastica
PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love
Leftfield – Leftism
James MacMillan – Seven Last Words from the Cross
Van Morrison – Days Like This
Oasis – Definitely Maybe
Portishead – Dummy
Supergrass – I Should Coco
Tricky – Maxinquaye

Winner: Portishead. Noel Gallagher famously thought he should have won for Definitely Maybe, but he turned out to be wrong.

Mercury Music Prize 1996

Took place on 10th September 1996.

Nominees:

Artists for War Child – Help
Black Grape – It’s Great When You’re Straight… Yeah!
Peter Maxwell Davies / BBC Philharmonic – The Beltane Fire / Caroline Mathilde
Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go
Mark Morrison – Return of the Mack
Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
Courtney Pine – Modern Day Jazz Stories
Pulp – Different Class
Underworld – Second Toughest in the Infants
Norma Waterson – Norma Waterson

Winner: Pulp. Presented to Jarvis Cocker, who then immediately handed over the award to Brian Eno and Tony Crean for the Help project.

Mercury Music Prize 1997

Took place on 28th August 1997, at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

Nominees:

The Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole
Beth Orton – Trailer Park
Primal Scream – Vanishing Point
The Prodigy – The Fat of the Land
Radiohead – OK Computer
Roni Size / Reprazent – New Forms
Spice Girls – Spice
Suede – Coming Up
John Tavener – Svyati
Mark-Anthony Turnage – Your Rockaby

Winner: Roni Size / Reprazent

Further information

Mercury Music Prize on Wikipedia
BBC News retrospective of the first decade of awards
The 1995, 1996, and 1997 Mercury Prize albums at Discogs.com
The Independent coverage of the 1996 award
The Independent coverage of the 1997 award

Live – September 2013

Posted on 11/09/2013 by rollo

Here are your live highlights in the next month or two:

The Orb

With dates coming up in the USA, the UK, and eventually France over the next few months, it must be fascinating to see them live.

Full list of dates on Songkick

múm

The experimental Icelandic group are taking in the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Iceland, and the UK over the next few months.

Full list of dates on Songkick

808 State

Straight out of 1989, but with a whole slew of albums behind them, some of which are really rather good too. Over the next few months you can catch them at festivals and supporting the Happy Mondays around the UK.

Full list of dates on Songkick

De/Vision

Depeche Mode-imitators or not, they’ve been responsible for some pretty excellent tracks. Catch them live across Germany through the Autumn.

Full list of dates on Songkick

Roni Size

It would be fascinating to know what to expect from Roni Size live, so if you can, head to see him across the USA through October and November.

Full list of dates on Songkick