GRAND PRIX by TEENAGE FANCLUB (1995, Creation)

The Fannies have been treading the same melodic furrow for ages two and a half decades now. Their warm 'n' fuzzy West Coast rock sound, inspired by the likes of The Byrds, Neil Young and Big Star made them popular amongst their peers on both sides of the Atlantic with the likes of Kurt Cobain calling them "the best band in the world" and later Oasis' Liam Gallagher with his usual modest way "the second greatest band in Britain". They've never really hit big though. Couple of Top 10 albums aside they've seemingly just pottered along regardless.

GRAND PRIX is their fifth album released after the brilliant Bandwagonesque that topped many critics end of year lists in 1991, and the less well received Thirteen. 

With thirteen songs coming in at breezy 41 minutes it's a brisk album full of tightly constructed songs, neat melodies, expertly built guitar led power pop. Its rocks at times, but not too hard. There's a touch of Dinosaur Jr. in there, most obviously on the throwaway opening 'About You', 'Neil Jung' and 'Hardcore/Ballad' (the brief hardcore bit obviously) but it's mostly chunky melodic guitar pop music with 'nice' vocal harmonies.

The three principal songwriters, Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley and Gerard Love all take turns on lead vocals, singing the songs they've written. Given that every track is the traditional guitar/bass/drums and is so rooted in 1960s guitar pop, this democratic approach breaths life into an album that could have been quite a 'samey'.

Standouts are the 'Sparky's Dream' which has a gorgeously harmonious chorus, the dreamy 'Verisimilitude' and the acoustic wonder that is  'Mellow Doubt' a song that's as close to perfection as you can get. 'Mellow Doubt' contains some of the best whistling and handclaps you'll ever hear committed to vinyl. Seriously why is there not more whistling and handclaps on records these days? What record isn't be improved by a handclap and a pursed lip. Oh well.

If you're a bit of a traditional fuddy-duddy alt rock sort, then GRAND PRIX should be your old slippers and dressing gown. It's comfy. 

MELLOW DOUBT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83llkKQRnlM

SPARKY'S DREAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9buNckusos0

NEIL JUNG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tZ_eIrCegA 

30 SOMETHING by CARTER THE UNSTOPPABLE SEX MACHINE (1991, Rough Trade)

It seems somehow fitting on a day when I turn thirty-something (thirty-four to be precise) and that Red Dwarf is back on our TV screens that the album of the day is Carter USMs magnum opus.

For this masterpiece of punk-pop begins with a classic slice of Arnold J. Rimmer: "when you're younger you can eat what you like, drink what you like and still climb into those 26 inch waist trousers and zip them closed. Then you reach that age...24... 25... Your muscles give up, they wave a little white flag and without any warning at all you're suddenly a fat bastard"

Just typing that makes me feel excited by what's to follow.

What is it about Carter USM and a record titled 30 SOMETHING that appealed to 13 year old lad? I think initially it was the swearing. The chants of "You Fat Bastard" that kick off proceedings seemed incredibly funny, rude and dangerous. You had to listen to it on your headphones or turn the volume down low in case Mum and Dad heard it. Then there was the crunchy guitars. The samples. The drum machines. The cool t-shirts. And then they gave Philip Scofield a good kicking live on TV. In my mind that secured them as the epitome of punk rock.

Only they're not really that punk are they. Two thirty something blokes who can't play guitars that well and use a drum machine. It doesn't even sound punk. It wasn't till I actually heard them that I realised The Clash and  Sex Pistols never had synths, didn't sing ballads, go on Top Of The Pop or have lyricist as brilliant as Jimbob (ok, well The Clash did). It's also not very punk rock to form your duo because your other band mates didn't turn up to a rehearsal. 

Yet the majesty of Carter USM is something to behold for those of the right age and mindset during those halcyon days of '91-'92. The sound of thrashy guitar and tinny drum machine stirs something deep and primal inside me. The thought of this record makes me feel a bit giddy with excitement. I tremble a bit inside. It's a bit like the first flush of love. I've been coming back to it every now and again for years and the effect is always the same. Maybe its an echo or memory of the waves of exhilaration I felt as a teenager. The first time I crowd surfed was at Carter gig. December 18th, 1992. Hereford Leisure Centre. Doesn't sound very punk does it.

They alway say you never forget your first love. And I've not forgotten you Carter.  I've got a feeling it's the same for some of my fellow Carter fans (they know who they are). One day we shall all reach 80 something and I think we'll still feel the same. 

I'm not going to bother going talking my usual pretentious bollocks about the music. If you like Carter you'll understand. If you didn't, you never will. But maybe you feel the same about some other lesser band. And if you've never heard them, well it's probably too late, you just wont get it. 

Anyway I've got birthday cake to eat. 

SURFING USM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l6vTw97QWs

BLOODSPORT FOR ALL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeftQ8sTXZw

SHOPPER'S PARADISE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4NooXXUXHQ

THE 2ND LAW by MUSE (2012, Warners)

The 1980 science fiction film Flash Gordon is one of my favourite movies. It's just dumb, fun entertainment. Intended as a genuine contender to Star Wars it's Sic Fi so camp, so cheesy, so gaudy and utterly overblown that its almost impossible to know whether the film was straight movie that somehow went very badly wrong, or a knowingly arch comic spoof. 

Introducing THE 2ND LAW by Muse. Unlike Flash Gordon I've not yet decided whether I love it or not. One thing for sure it is the most camp (intentionally?) silly and ambitious and album of the year.

Muse have never a band known for their subtlety. I'm not knocking that. Live these three little lads rule the universe and are capable of crushing our puny human stadiums with their musical might. There is no one that touches them. They're also not known for their sincerity. It's hard to take a band that constant invoke the armageddon and sci-fi dystopian futures for dramatic effect as anything more than theatrical cranks.

Yet despite these "failings" Muse are totally unafraid of the new. Experimentation and boundary pushing is key to their success. They never go over the same ground twice. THE 2ND LAW proves that again and again.

As you expect from a Muse record there's plenty of bluster. 'Supremacy' is their desperate attempt at a Bond theme. Backed by a huge philharmonic orchestra, marching drums, strings and mexican horns it's Muse on a new epic scale. Adele is really gonna have to go some to top this.

And then there are the ever-so-bonkers tracks that are just as likely to annoy as entertain. 'Madness' is appropriately enough, the maddest track that M-m-m-Muse gave released yet for m-m-m- multiple reasons. Once you get past the stuttering it's the closest Muse have come yet to Queen. Freddie's vocals, close harmonies and when Brian May finally hears it he's going to wonder if its not actually him playing guitar. It also channels 'Faith' by George Michael. Things get really crazy with 'Panic Station' which sound like a hybrid of early Chilli Peppers with some outrageous vocal histrionics from Bellamy and 80s synthesised pop trombone action. 

'Survival' which seemed so out of place as the Olympics official song makes a slightly more sense now but it's impossible to categorise other than to say its "very Muse". A strangly disconcerting mix of Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera and with pompous heavy rock. The lyrics still don't seem terribly sportsmanlike either. Very strange.

Bassist Chris Wolstenholm sings on 'Save Me' and 'Liquid State' both also written by him about his alcohol addiction. 'Liquid State' is the most conventional rock track and most likely to please fans of '...Symmetry' or 'Absolution' era Muse. Alas he's not a great singer and you really miss Bellamy. 

Influence of dance music is huge thought it the record. Electronic duo Nero produced the space age lullaby 'Follow Me' which samples the heartbeats of Bellamy's then unborn child. It builds into a gigantic dubstep, hands-in-the-air club track.

They save the best till the end though. The much trailered Muse go Skrillex track 'Unsustainable' is just brilliant. Loud, thumping rock, fused with Dubstep beats, urgent strings, operatic choirs and and a wailing Bellamy. This really should have opened the album and should be longer, it's over in a flash. Its following house instrumental 'Isolated System'. 

THE 2ND LAW is massively ambitious. It's strives so hard to be exciting, new and relevant. Which is not something you could say about a Foo Fighters record is it? The downside of this is it's a record without a real narrative. It excitedly bounds all over the place, dabbling in everything. So brimming with ideas that its hard to follow. It's also this willingness to noodle and play that's going to annoy old fans who just want rock tunes with loud crunchy guitars. There's not many of those. This is pop as much as it is rock or electronica. 

There are many flourishes that are so silly and preposterous that they will make you laugh out loud. Muse are getting dangerously close to self-parody. All this ambition is good but there is a fine line between ambitious and Rick Wakeman. Fingers crossed Muse keep it tightly reigned and the next album isn't some kind of Space Opera On Ice. Those you wouldn't be surprised.

And yes for all it's messy weirdness, I think I do quite like it. 

UNSUSTAINABLE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF_xdvn52As

MADNESS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek0SgwWmF9w

ISOLATED SYSTEM

http://youtu.be/VXPoJAyeF8k

THROUGH THE NIGHT by REN HARVIEU (2012, Island)

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we can all agree that the last thing we want is another Jessie J or talentless Tulisa so it's with great pleasure that I may introduce a new singing sensation... Ren Harvieu

Only twenty-two and this Lancashire lass is blessed with pitch-perfect pipes that deliver the same smoothly rich '60 soul as Dusty, Petula or Cilla. Crucially Ren not trying to be The New Adele™. There's no foghorn blasting and neither is there any overwrought kitchen sink drama. Her voice is less powerful but it's sweeter, gentler and poppier.

Selected as one of the Sounds of 2012 by the BBC, although the sound of 1962 would be more appropriate. The songs and the arrangements are unashamedly retro, neo-60s compositions. The kind of big sweeping orchestral sounds you associate with Bachrach/David compositions. Closer in approach to The Last Shadow Puppets album than anything her young Brit soul peers are attempting. 

One of the other key influences for the record I would guess was Roy Orbison. The instrumentation on  'Dancing on Her Own' is very reminiscent of The Big O's later records like 'You Got It' or 'I Drove All Night'. It's got the same galloping guitars. 'Summer Romance' has the similar soaring bittersweet vocals as 'In Dreams'. As album climaxes go it's gave me goosebumps so must be pretty good.

Although only three of the albums eleven tracks are co-written by Ren the songwriting creds are impeccable, featuring Ed Hardcourt, Dave McCabe (The Zutons), Howie Payne (The Stands) and Jimmy Hogarth (songwriter for Amy Winehouse, James Morrison, Paulo Nutini and many others). She's also toured extensively with Glasvegas so it's fair to say she's no pop moppet. She's much savvier than that. Though given she's clearly a cool girl and not a fame hungry monkey I wonder whether she'll break big. 

Rather than watching X Factors endless parade of wannabes, 40 years ago on a saturday night we'd have sat back and enjoyed 'Saturday Night at The Palladium'. A class act like Ren Harvieu would be headlining.

Ladies and gentlemen, be upstanding...

FOREVER IN BLUE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bISZvP6Ceo

THROUGH THE NIGHT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjE4AuEwZzQ&feature=plcp

SUMMER ROMANCE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuqWpz1jg-E

NEBRASKA by BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (1982, Columbia)

The photograph on the cover perfectly captures the mood. Cold, lonely and hopeless. This isn't a happy record but it is a beautiful one. Sandwiched between the double album, The River, and the world-conquering Born In The USA it could be more different to both.

The ten short songs that make up NEBRASKA feature Bruce and only Bruce singing sad stories about blue collar workers, everyday Joe's and folks who fall on the wrong side of the law. There's no romance nostalgia here and the stories don't end well for these men. 

We start with the track 'Nebraska' which is a retelling of the Charles Starkweather murders of the 1950s when Starkweather and his teenage girlfriend went on an eight day killing spree that cost eleven people their lives. Starkweather got the chair in this version of his final moments he's asked why he did it. He replies "I guess there's just a meanness in this world". It sets the bleak tone for the rest of the album.

'Atlantic City' recounts the fictional story of a down on his luck man who gives up trying to do the right thing and always coming out on the losing end. He decides to do 'some work' for a guy he's met who's on the wrong side of the law. Resigned to his likely fate he's sings "everything dies baby, that's a fact, but maybe everything dies some day comes back". It's like he's trying to put a brave face on the inevitable.

In 'Highway Patrolman' we follow an honest man, a patrolman Joe Roberts. He has a brother, Franky who's always in trouble with the law. Joe admits "if it was any other man, I'd put him straightaway / but when it's your brother sometimes you look the other way". When Franky returns from Vietnam he gets into trouble in a roadhouse, a young man ends up in a bad way. Joe spots Franky's car and chases him in his until they come within five miles of the Canadian boarder, then Joe pulls to the side of the road and watches the tail lights disappear. Loyalty to his brother being greater than the law; if a "man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good".

The only track to feature an electric guitar is 'Open All Night' which is a  Chuck Berry style rock n roller about a boy heading down the Route 60 turnpike late at night to get to his girl who's working at Bob's Big Boy diner. But still being just Brucey and his guitar, no accompaniment, you get a sense of the car racing along a this cold, dangerous road at high speeds being complete isolated. As the protagonist sings, "this turnpike sure is spooky at night when you're all alone".

NEBRASKA is Bruce stripped right back to guitar, harmonica, mandolin and the occasional tamborine. They're demos he recorded on a cassette tape portastudio. The songs were originally intended for a full electric record with the E Street Band. The intended full version of the album was recorded with the band but is has never seen the light of day. Instead Springsteen released these raw versions and rightly so. It's hard to imagine tha the full version could have the same subtle power and emotional kick as these simple recordings.

NEBRASKA has a tone that Springsteen has tried to captured since with two equally pared-back albums, The Ghost of Tom Joad and Devils & Dust, but to diminishing returns. Perhaps because these were never intended to be anything more than rough demos, there is a greater honesty, intimacy and truth conveyed than a carefully mixed and recorded album could ever possibly hope to have. 

Though largely miserable record, NEBRASKA is a happy accident and impossible to repeat.

ATLANTIC CITY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3eu1gW-bQ8

HIGHWAY PATROLMAN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-wPDmQEy2Y

OPEN ALL NIGHT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY8e4IMxsVs

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND by THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (1969, MGM Records)

Their eponymous third album was the first the Velvets made without Welshman John Cale. The frictions between Cale and Lou Reed that had driven the creative experimentation of the their first two albums had boiled over. Cale was eased out of the group and replaced by musician Doug Yule who was a friend of the band. 

Following Cale's departure chief songwriting duties fell to Lou Reed and the brave experimentalism of the first two Velvets records disappeared out the door. 

That's not to say THE VELVET UNDERGROUND isn't a great record, but it is much more conventional and consciously so. Reed felt that the band couldn't release another harsh experimental album like 'White Light / White Heat' and was keen to show another side to the band, so not be seen as "one dimensional" which sea like an incredible statement to make when you think how diverse the two previous albums are. Subsequently the record has a more mellow rock sound. The softer approach was also due in part to the fact that the band had had all their amps and fuzzboxes stolen whilst on tour.

The album features several slow ballads. Starting with the sad 'Candy Says' is about Warhol superstar and transvestite Candy Darling. She's the same Candy Reed sings about in Walk On The Wild Side, "in the back room she was every-bodies darlin'". There's also Lou Reed's druggy spiritual 'Jesus' and 'Pale Blue Eyes' which is probably the albums standout track and has since been covered by the likes of REM, Patti Smith, Counting Crows, Hole and The Kills. Lou Reed revealed in his autobiography that is was actually written about someone with hazel coloured eyes.

'What Goes On' and 'Beginning to See the Light' are groovy 60s rock n roll.  'Some Kinda Love' is nicely country inflected and even drummer Mo Tucker sings sweetly on the final track 'After Hours' which incidentally fellow lady drummer, Meg White has sung live for The White Stripes.

As Velvet's records go, it's their third best, but that's genuinely no bad thing. 

CANDY SAYS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPgGjUSEWss

PALE BLUE EYES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KisHhIRihMY

WHAT GOES ON

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8REIw0amb8

DIAMOND MINE by KING CREOSOTE & JON HOPKINS (2011, Domino)

Probably my most played album of last year. And quite possibly because I'd rather imagine myself on a boat off the coast of Scotland rather than the train outside of London Bridge every morning.

DIAMOND MINE is Mercury Prize nominated collaboration album by Scottish independent folk artist King Creosote (aka Kenny Anderson) and electronic producer and Eno collaborator Jon Hopkins. 

It's a seven track of Creosote's lilting folk interwoven with Hopkins field recording made in and around the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. What DIAMOND MINE gives you is a romanticised view of the life of a small fishing villages in this little nook of Scotland. Starting with the sound of the village shop, the sound of sea and wind. Hopkins said: "It's a bit like my dream version of life... like the way Paris appears in Amélie."

As on his own excellent solo album Hopkins makes extensive use of 'Musique Concrete' the technique of capturing real sounds, voices and abstracting them to create something altogether more hazy and atmospheric. Added to this backdrop Creosote's delicate vocals and understated lyrics about the joys and sadness of a small town and the record conveys a quietly powerful sense of time and place.

'John Taylor's Month Away' is a delicately told tale of the melancholy of men away at sea. You can almost smell the sea salt and sense of quiet despair: "A dozen men, thirty days, with 24 hours in each / of shattered boyhood dreams and not much sleep".

The last track 'Your Young Voice' is a beautifully sung acoustic lullaby where Creosote sings repeatedly "It's your young voice, thats keeping me holding on, to my dull life, to my dull life". Granted when written it sounds miserable, but it's beautiful to listen to. The other five tracks I'll let you discover for yourself. To quote some fellow on iTunes who I wholeheartedly agree with, this album is "about the most beautiful thing i have ever, ever heard. Amazing".

Creosote has released over forty albums in the last eighteen years, mostly on his own Fence Records label, so it's gratifying for him to have had some success with DIAMOND MINE. He said "It feels like this is the beginning of something. And to feel that so far down the line, after putting out forty effing albums... oh my God! It means, I can still do this, it's not over."

Though somehow I think that of you've already put out forty albums, there's nothing that could stop you. And thank goodness for that.

JOHN TAYLOR'S MONTH AWAY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPVmAHdy5ZI

BUBBLE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Lr0igwLIY

YOUR YOUNG VOICE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0Woa6p4xkw