NUMBER 25 - MOJAVE 3 - LOVE SONGS ON THE RADIO

 

After the dissolution of Slowdive, Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell formed this quite sublime (and yet AGAIN totally undervalued by the fukkin music press in this country who were too busy licking the arse-cracks of the Gallaghers.... <_< ) Country/Blues tinged Indie band Mojave 3.. If David Lynch hadn't used Julee Cruise and Angelo Badalmenti for "Twin Peaks", I reckon he'd've gone with this... Goswell's ethereal vocal style has much in common with Cruise... On the face of it, there doesn't seem to be much in common with regards to their previoius band, but on closer inspection, the subtle guitar textures are common to both bands, it's just that Mojave 3 dont wash it in as many guitar effects as Slowdive... Enjoy....

 

 

She looks just like an angel

When she walks across the room

She shines tonight

Her golden light

Is everything I need

 

Lovers all around her

She wears them like her jewels

My friend says she's all he needs

To feel alive

 

Love songs on the radio

His sweetheart lies in bed

She's dreaming of the things he said

She's hoping that he's well

 

NUMBER 24 - QUEEN ADREENA - PRETTY LIKE DRUGS

 

WOW!!! Talk about a total change in moods huh??? But, then, that's what the Indie/Alt movement really is all about - it is NOT a particular genre, it is an umbrella-term which takes in all manner of styles... Mojave 3 are on an Indie label, Queen Adreena are on an Indie label.... Got it? Good...

 

Queen Adreena is what Katie and Crispin did next after the spectacular Daisy Chainsaw bust-up... They couldn't possibly operate under the name Daisy Chainsaw again, because the music of Queen Adreena while still totally uncompromising and chaotic is of a more mature and disturbing nature (and Daisy Chainsaw could be pretty disturbing....), but it just seems a lot more, I dunno, serious now whereas DC were a bit more playful.. QA are plowing a much darker furrow indeed, and on balance I feel QA has significantly more to offer than DC did. There are moments when QA recall P J Harvey or Nick Cave, and moments where they're just totally off the planet... QA live shows are an excercise in total catharsis, Katie throws tantrums, she spits and punches Crispin, she destroys mic stands, she tries to asphyxiate herself with the mic-lead (and has almost succeeded once or twice rather worringly...). There are times when you honestly think that Katie is either gonna kill herself or kill Crispin...

 

 

In vein, I seek farther,

the needle closer, the little.. end.

 

The world is watching as I take my last breath.

The world is watching as i get undressed,

cos I'm pretty like drugs.

 

The world is watching as my wings unfurl.

The world is watching the death of a girl,

cos I'm pretty like drugs.

 

I load the gun and I'm out of the world,

and I take it harder, coz oh.. pretty oh..

pretty like drugs.

I load the gun.

 

The world is watching with a pregnant pause,

the world is watching as I **** to applause.

The world is watching as I plant the last seed.

The world is watching me watching tv.,

cos I'm pretty like drugs.

 

I load the gun, I wax and wane,

subject all of my pain, onto you baby,

coz I'm pretty like drugs.

NUMBER 23 - MAZZY STAR - SHE'S MY BABY

 

Similar sort of Bluesey/Country-tinged Indie rock (with a bit of Goth chucked in there as well it has to be said..) as Mojave 3, but Mazzy Star were doing it first, and for my money slightly better... Mojave 3 were more blissful and melancholic, whereas Mazzy Star are a fair bit darker and more downbeat... Hope Sandoval's quite incredible vocals are the thing that really stand out, sounding at the same time desolate, empty, sad and yet so beautifully haunting, this woman knows how to sing the blues... In fact, I think 'Haunting' is the best way to describe this fantastic band. This track is taken from what I consider their best work "So Tonight That I Might See", and it is an album you simply HAVE to own....

 

 

she's my baby

she belongs to me

but yesterday she walked home all alone

 

everybody always looks at my baby

then they wandered over to me

 

but baby's feeling bad today

she said she's thinking of going away

oh baby i'm crying

and my body's flying

but i remember you

 

she's my baby

ain't that something

but i know she belongs to you

 

yesterday was another day

when i saw your baby

walking home alone

 

i'm feeling sorry

i called you but i

i guess that i forgot your name

 

but baby's feeling bad today

she said she's thinking of going away

 

but she's just like lightning

she goes right through you

then you know you'll never

be the same

 

now everybody goes

all around the corner

just to see your baby walking home

 

she's my baby

ain't that something

but i know that she belongs to you

she belongs to you

 

I really enjoyed that 'Pretty Like Drugs' video. :lol:

NUMBER 22 - SONIC YOUTH - DEATH VALLEY '69

 

You just have no idea how bloody difficult it was to distil my choice of Sonic Youth track down to just one.... I think that this was probably the single most difficult one I had to pick... To say that Sonic Youth are an important band to the indie/alt scene is a bit like saying The Beatles were a pretty handy pop group.... I just cannot think of many other bands that cast as big a shadow as SY over an entire generation of US (and many UK) bands.. Sonic Youth gave birth to the explosion of Underground talent that occurred in early 90s America, without a doubt.. Yes, Nirvana were the public face of it, but it was really all down to Sonic Youth and their influence over Kurt Cobain and many (MANY) others, the film "1991 - The Year Punk Broke" explains it all so well. It's just not possible to over-estimate the importance of this band, seriously... This is probably my fave track of theirs, a totally gonzoid, frazzled bit of Avant-Rock featuring none other than Lydia Lunch on vocals...

 

 

Coming down

Sadie, i love it

now now now

death valley '69

 

you're right

you're right

you're right

you're right

you're right you were right

i was on the wrong track

we're deep in the valley

how deep in the gulley

and now in the canyon

and now in the canyon

out in the yonder way out in the yonder

she started to holler

she started to holler

i didn't wanna

i didn't wanna

i didn't wanna

i didn't wanna

but she started to holler

so i had to hit it

hit it

hit it

hit it

deep in the valley

in the trunk of an old car

in the back of a chevvy

i got sand in my mouth you got sand in your mouth

and you got sun in your eyes i got sun in your eyes

blind blinded

and you wanted to get there

but i couldn't go faster i wanted to get there

but you couldn't go faster

so i started to hit it you couldn't go faster

so i started to hit it

i started to hit it hit it

hit it

hit it

hit it

hit it

hit it

hit it

hit it

hit it

 

coming down

Sadie, i love it

now now now

death valley '69

death valley '69

death valley '69

death valley '69

 

I really enjoyed that 'Pretty Like Drugs' video. :lol:

 

 

Oh, then you'd like the vids for "FM Doll", "Jolene" and "Medicine Jar" as well then... All on Youtube.... :lol:

NUMBER 21 - THROWING MUSES/KRISTIN HERSH - COUNTING BACKWARDS/YOUR GHOST

 

Christ, why dont Indie bands sound like this anymore....? I mean, seriously.... I cant actually point to a single Indie band in the world today really that can honestly write as good a Indie Guitar Pop song as Kristin Hersh or Tanya Donnelly.... This song is just fukkin' GLORIOUS.... The guitars, the vocals, the harmonies, the melodies, the structure... Simply fukkin' perfect....

 

Throwing Muses' Kristin Hersh has certainly had a lot of troubles in her life, very evident in the early Muses albums from the 80s such as "House Tornado", "Throwing Muses" and "Hunkpapa", she suffered from a bi-polar disorder which made for some incredibly, ahem, interesting (read, pretty fukked up and disturbing..) song-writing, most of which was pretty damned astounding... Then in 1990, they released "The Real Ramona" easily their most accessible album up to that point, with some absolutely sublime songs such as this one, "Not To Soon", "Grafitti", "Red Shoes" and "Honeychain", with the occasional lapse into mania with tracks such as "Hook In Her Head".... When half sister Tanya left the band to concentrate on Belly, Kristin was left to drive the band further into Country/Blues-Rock territory with the pretty damned excellent "Red Heaven" album which pretty much shed the poppy sheen of "..Ramona" in favour of a more abrasive production style concentrating on cranked up guitars and pulverising drum beats... Kristin then embarked on a solo career for a while, just her and a guitar and the absolutely fantastic "Hips and Makers" album followed... I was lucky enough to see both the Muses and a solo Kristin show, she is one of the most magnetic, enigmatic performers I have ever witnessed, she honestly gave me goosebumps and shivers when I saw her perform an acoustic solo set, and you better believe NO BUGGER uttered so much as a whisper when she played.... Simply amazing, I'm afraid the likes of Amy Lee can only dream of writing a song like "Your Ghost"....

 

Counting Backwards

 

Counting backwards I count you in

I don't remember him

I don't remember

In time I rope you in again

I try and turn you back through him

I built a tower in my bones

I spill the mortar through my home

Don't let your heartbeat beat keep you safe

No telling what keeps me awake

One hundred fingerprints I hear

A hundred linger in my ear

Measure fortune killing time

 

"Your Ghost" - Solo Kristin - because you all deserve to hear it...

 

If I walk down this hallway

Tonight, it's too quiet

So I pad through the dark

And call you on the phone

Push your old numbers

And let your house ring

Till I wake your ghost

 

Let him walk down your hallway

It's not that quiet

Slide down your receiver

Sprint across the wire

Follow my number

Slide into my hand

 

Its the blaze across my nightgown

It's the phone's ring

I think last night

You were driving circles around me

 

I can't drink this coffee

Till I put you in my closet

Let him shoot me down

Let him call me off

I take it from his whisper

Your not that tough

 

It's the blaze across my nightgown

It's the phone's ring

I think last night (you were in my dreams)

You were driving circles around me

Well, we've reached the Top 20.... Hope you're all enjoying the ride so far... A bit more to this whole 'Indie' lark than Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs or Hard Fi, eh....? Or indeed the dull crud that NME and X-Fm reckon we should all get excited over.....

 

But, I digress, on with the show....

 

NUMBER 20 - COCTEAU TWINS - HEAVEN OR LAS VEGAS

 

Look up the word 'ethereal' in the dictionary, and I'm pretty damn sure that you'll see a picture of The Cocteau Twins there.... Seriously... :lol: In a sense, it is both easy and bloody hard to pick out one particular Cocteus song, easy because all their songs are, essentially, pretty much the same, hard because all their songs are essentially pretty much the same.... :lol: :lol: I reckon I agonised almost as much over this as the Sonics, but then I just went 'fukk it' and just picked one at random.... I pretty much like all their songs equally...

 

The Cocteaus are really the inspiration for all the Shoegazer bands - Ride, Chapterhouse, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Curve, Slowdive, Boo Radleys, etc, etc, all of them owe the Cocteaus and the lush (pardon the pun) guitar soundscapes of Robin Guthrie and the ethereal vocals of Liz Fraser a debt of gratitude really, their presence is heard in bands today, even the likes of Massive Attack have been influenced by the Cocteus (never more apparent than when they got Fraser to do vocals on "Teardrop"..). They created this whole idea of the vocals being just another instrument, so in a weird sense, all Cocteau Twins songs are instrumentals, because I'm buggered if I can actually understand a word of what she says.. And you know what..? It doesn't even matter what she's singing, it could be the bloody shopping list, it would still sound fantastic.... :lol:

 

 

Who'll ever win?

Gee, you're just so ephemeral

Go back for new

For new in vain, it failed

 

Singing on the famous street

I want to love me

Am I just in heaven or Las Vegas

It's so much more brighter than the sun is to me

 

He's a hustler

It's a role, he'll never make a suit

Hang on to this

So stay and spin and fail and fail

Who'll ever win?

Gee, you're just so ephemeral

Go back for new

For new in vain, it failed

 

Singing on the famous street

I want to love me

Am I just in heaven or Las Vegas

It's so much more brighter than the sun is to me

The chill must itch in my soul

That's like any old playing card

It must be why I'm thinking of Las Vegas

It's why it's more brighter than the sun is to me

 

Furthermore, let's blast it off

I'm dizzy so I go, another bit it off

Come fantasy, for a carnival

I'm empty before our(a?) wedding / I'm ready to fall, I'm waiting (?)

 

Singing on the famous street

I want to love me

Am I just in heaven or Las Vegas

It's so much more brighter than the sun is to me

The chill must itch in my soul

That's like any old playing card

It must be why I'm thinking of Las Vegas

It's why it's more brighter than the sun is to me

 

Right, I've been threatening to do this for some time now, and I reckon I've wailed and gnashed my teeth and pontificated long enough about it... It's taken so long cos frankly there's over 25 years of Indie and Alternative Rock to bloody well COVER here.... :blink: That's right, I'm running the full gamut... Now, I've really thought long and hard about this, and yeah, the list is gonna be somewhat loaded in favour of 80s and early/mid 90s stuff because I feel that this is really when Indie was at its creative peak... And yes, a lot of it is gonna be pretty obscure and a fair bit of early 90s 'Shoegazer' stuff will feature as well...

 

 

Well, we've reached the Top 20.... Hope you're all enjoying the ride so far... A bit more to this whole 'Indie' lark than Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs or Hard Fi, eh....? Or indeed the dull crud that NME and X-Fm reckon we should all get excited over.....

 

so mate, pretty obscure stuff? cool but is it really the place to showcase it??? :lol: well (sarcasticly) im just worried that if you but 50 obscure leftfield and independent tracks into the indie and alternative rock forum then it might explode!!! cant handle anything thats not played on radio 2, the hits, tescos etc etc 9 million times a day :lol:

 

so you never thought of having your own sub-forum where razorlight's america would never ever feature :lol:

 

just the thought of it is sending me to sleep. must resist, must resist!!!! :lol: well keep up the good work

so mate, pretty obscure stuff? cool but is it really the place to showcase it??? :lol: well (sarcasticly) im just worried that if you but 50 obscure leftfield and independent tracks into the indie and alternative rock forum then it might explode!!! cant handle anything thats not played on radio 2, the hits, tescos etc etc 9 million times a day :lol:

 

so you never thought of having your own sub-forum where razorlight's america would never ever feature :lol:

 

just the thought of it is sending me to sleep. must resist, must resist!!!! :lol: well keep up the good work

 

I make no bloody apologies for it mate.. This is what Indie and Alternative Rock actually IS, not soft, shandy drinking guitar pop blandness like Razorlight, Hard Fi or Kaiser Chiefs... About as bloody 'alternative' or 'indie' as my left bollock.... <_<

 

i really enjoyed reading this, ive only just finished! theres alot of music that i wouldnt normally of listened to, let alone heard of! but i actually think some of these songs are really good. it was a very interesting read aswell!

 

im going to do one aswell, but only a top 20, 50's too hard!

 

 

im going to do one aswell, but only a top 20, 50's too hard!

 

Oh god, is it gonna have a lot of El Pres and GUN songs....? :lol: :lol:

 

I'm only choosing one song per artist myself, so that should be a guide for you....

 

Glad you're enjoying it so far...

 

I'm old, I've heard a LOT of music, so a Top 50 for me is pretty easy in theory, hell I reckon i could've done a Top 100 easily... The problems I had was actually narrowing things down, the 'one song per artist' rule that I imposed on myself meant tough choices, but I think in the long-run it's a good way of disciplining yourself and it just gives you list more variety...

 

Which ones would you say made you feel like investigating further...?

 

Cocteau Twins and sonic youth, curve, spaceman 3 and interpol.

 

ill do one el pres and one gun song! it wont only be indie though, theyll be some different stuff aswell

Well, that's the idea innit..? To educate, inform, etc..... :) Hope you're enjoying the ride (oops, no pun intended... :lol: ) anyway regardless of not really knowing many of the bands....

 

think the whole idea/benefit of these forums is to get pointers from things like this!!! (as well as charts obv) rather than just people just going 'yeah thats good', yeah i like that' to whatever record has been played to death on the radio for the past x weeks.

 

Which ones would you say made you feel like investigating further...?

 

how things should be done!!!! :yahoo:

Cocteau Twins and sonic youth, curve, spaceman 3 and interpol.

 

ill do one el pres and one gun song! it wont only be indie though, theyll be some different stuff aswell

 

Spacemen 3 stuff is VERY difficult to get hold of these days, their albums are long deleted. E-bay would be your best bet... Go for "Perfect Prescription", "Playing With Fire" or "Sound of Confusion" albums. And you really MUST check out Jason Pierce's follow-up band, Spiritualized, they are simply magnificent... "Laser Guided Melodies", "Let It Come Down", "Pure Phase" and "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space" are all fantastic albums... There's two compilations of theirs as well "The Complete Works" vol 1 & 2...

 

Curve - "Doppelganger", "Cuckoo" and "Come Clean" are good albums.... There's a very good 2CD compilation that came out a couple of years back called "The Way of Curve" which is a good place for any Curve virgin to start, spans their whole 14-year recording career... Second CD has interesting rare tracks...

 

Sonic Youth - Jeeeeez, where to begin, they've been around for almost 25 years...... :lol: The "Screaming Fields of Sonic Love" compilation of their early 'Blast First' (their first record label) recordings is a good place to start (it has "Death Valley '69") on it... Good early albums - "Evol", "Sister", "A Daydream Nation". As for their Geffen years - "Goo", "Dirty", "Washing Machine", "A Thousand Leaves" and "Sonic Nurse" are good albums...

 

Interpol - surprised you haven't heard these.... Check out "Antics" and then "Turn on the Bright Lights"... Strangely it actually works better listening to these albums in reverse order.... :lol:

 

Cocteau Twins - "Stars and Topsoil" compilation is best for you... Any one of their actual albums you're really gonna like... "Victorialand", "Bluebell Knoll", "Heaven or Las Vegas", "Four Calender Cafe", "Treasure", "Garlands"....

 

You dont like any of the Shoegazer stuff then.... Lush, Ride, Boo Radleys, Swervedriver, Slowdive....?

As someone who only recently began to appreciate such music, I am thrilled at this countdown. it's like a comprehensive list of not merely songs, but artists to further explore. Fantastic as usual! :D

ok - i'm not really sure what this thread is about so before I comment can you explain it a bit better? Is this YOUR favorite 50 tracks of all time? Or... your favorite track from your top 50 bands... or, or or... etc :)

 

quite a few tracks I would have picked a differnt song from that group so before I make such comments I'd like to know where you are coming from is all.

ok - i'm not really sure what this thread is about so before I comment can you explain it a bit better? Is this YOUR favorite 50 tracks of all time? Or... your favorite track from your top 50 bands... or, or or... etc :)

 

quite a few tracks I would have picked a differnt song from that group so before I make such comments I'd like to know where you are coming from is all.

 

The songs are personal faves, or songs that I connect to in some way. As I've said in many commentaries it was really hard to pick and make choices because there are a lot of other tracks I like almost as much...The bands are faves of mine from those particular eras as well....

 

Which ones would you change by the way and what to..? I'll probably end up agreeing with you on one level, because I had to make tough choices... I'm kinda regretting the Ride pick to be honest, I maybe shouldn't have put up the short version of "Leave Them All Behind", I just like that track (ie, the full-on 8-minute job which I cant get off You Tube..) so much though... "Vapour Trail" vid has the whole song....

ok - fair enough. I normally pick an odd track as my fav's bands so that's fair enough. For instance, my favorite Ride track is 'Close my Eyes' off the Smile EP. I won't say it's better than Vapour Trail... but I just like better... gimme some time to go through this and will make comments. Some stuff on here I actually don't know much about! :)

ok - fair enough. I normally pick an odd track as my fav's bands so that's fair enough. For instance, my favorite Ride track is 'Close my Eyes' off the Smile EP. I won't say it's better than Vapour Trail... but I just like better... gimme some time to go through this and will make comments. Some stuff on here I actually don't know much about! :)

 

Wow, you mean I've actually managed to 'out obscure' your good self...??? :lol: :lol:

 

I likely would've chosen album tracks (or 'odd' tracks as you say..) for a fair few too, but the choice on "You Tube" is somewhat limited for a good many of the more leftfield bands.. I also wanted to post official videos wherever possible, as opposed to live performances where the sound and picture quality can be rather hit-or-miss to say the least....