Lily And Me: The Truth

I did an interview with the delightful Lily Allen just before Christmas. Apparently, some people have got a little upset by some if what she had to say, which seems silly to me, really. But as I write, there are 167 different news outlets that have picked up on it. My personal favourite is this one. I think they've got it about right.

Landcroft House Broadcasts To The Nation

I was on Sky News earlier. They wanted to talk to me about the lenient treatment celebrity drug users appear to be enjoying and did I think this was A Bad Influence on Ver Kidz. Oh, it was live too, which may go some way to explaining why I appear to be grabbing random words out of the air. I want a t-shirt now that reads SOFT ON CELEBRITY DRUGGIES. Which I am, by the way. I couldn't give a monkey's what they do. Who could?

Hang On, These Records Are Nice...

Amy Winehouse: Love Is A Losing Game [Moody Boyz Original Ruffian Badboy Remix] (Island, 2007)
This Moody Boyz remix is bloody grate in the sense that it is PRECISELY the sort of wibble-wibble, hoik your fragrant "doobage" in the air, single red-light hanging above your head, heart-thumping dubfest I used to spend all day listening to when I worked in a record shop. Probably because I was listening to Tony Thorpe's excellent Moody Boys(z) then too. Music, eh? A bit like it always was - and sometimes that's not a bad thing at all.


Jimmy McCracklin: You're The One (Premium, 1956)
There's something entirely Christmassy about this record without it having anything to do with Christmas whatsoever. It's in the worn-down-to-the-bone shuffle of the drums, the done-with-pleading, resigned tone of McCracklin's voice, the cigarette-scented guitar solo played by someone for whom the next drink is clearly more attractive than the another recording session. It feels gloriously weary. And I think we all know how that feels, right?

Beau Jacket Required

Honestly? I could come up with quality puns like that all day long. I could. Like, I could have called it Sleeve To The Rhythm, or Bag-ism, or Sleeve Me Alone, or Paper Bag Writer, or, well, you get the idea. It's like a gift or something, I don't know...

Anyway, this online museum of factory sleeves for 45s is a delight from beginning to end. You might like to have a look at loads of them. I did.

Christmas Presence

Simone White: Christmas Makes Me Blue (Honest Jons, 2007)
More truly excellent Christmas music - this time from the very lovely Simone White who is a lady from America and everything. She plays guitar, she sings, she sounds a little glum, but she doesn't really mean it!

This is a sanctioned, seasonal give-away from the nice people at Honest Jon's up there in fashionable west London. Oh yes.

Hang On, This Record Is Good Too...

The Kingstonians: Hold Down (Trojan, 1970)
I went to interview Bristolian senior citizen and reggae vibesman DJ Derek the other night. He was a tremendous fellow. I received this CD the next day, which seemed quite appropriate bearing in mind his love for all things booming and lightly cracklesome. Fantastic record. Read a lot more about Derek in the February issue of The Word out January 8.

Laura N' Order

Oh Laura: Black N' Blue (SonyBMG, 2008)
This has to stop - it's getting embarrassing now. Oh Laura are from - guess! Can you guess? That's right, bloody Sweden. Like I need some more Scandanavian pop in my life... Anyway, this is just, well, lovely. Oh Laura love Richard Hawley and Dolly Parton and it shows. The album's out here next spring.

Until then, maybe another part of the world would like to give birth to some fantastic pop groups for a bit?

Basement Crates: 27, 28 & 29

Lynn Hope: Blue Moon (Premium, 1951)
How can you not love a sax player from Alabama whose shtick involved wearing a turban? Hope was a huge RnB star of the 50s whose records were much loved and sought after - and played to death - by the Jamaican sound system DJs of the time. No one covering Blue Moon is looking to change the world, but you might find yourself feeling a little better about almost everything by just exposing yourself to this very lovely record (that I found in a bag this afternoon while tidying my basement office).


David Axelrod: The Sign (Part. 1) (Capitol, 1970)
Oh, I know, Axelrod is the record snob's crazy-man of choice and here I am posting some old nonsense from 37 years ago. But, but, this is really, really good. Jazz, soul, RnB, funk have all been stirred in while Ax smokes filterless gaspers and expects just a little bit more magic from the string section. And Earth Rot may just have been the first LP to have concerned itself with the environment. And stuff. Found this in a bag that had some old tax returns in it. Tidying up rules, innit?


The Techniques: Queen Majesty (Treasure Isle, 1967)
Great picture, eh? If you can find a better one of The Techniques then, y'know, let me know. Anyway, I found this in a huge polystyrene box marked Silvana's CDs which seemed odd as she's never shown much interest in late 60s ska to my knowledge. Having said that, it was under a load of old magazines that I might have dumped there without knowing what I was doing. You know how it is. Anyway, this is a truly wonderful record, joyful, questing and tinged with sadness. What more could any of us ask for?

Hang On! This Record Is Quite Nice...

B For Bang: Julia (KML Recordings, 2007)
B For Bang are a group of (mainly) Italian artistes who have decided that Ver Beatles are a good stepping off point for their - and I quote - "discourse on the relationship between music and images". Well, that's what I thought! Anyway, Julia is a strong enough song to survive any onslaught - and this is one is, actually, rather nice. More stuff here...

Basement Crates: 25 & 26

Yargo: Bedtime For Rio (London, 1987)
Yargo were one of the first bands I really loved that I knew precisely nothing about. All I was sure of was that they were from Manchester, I loved the track Bodybeat and that Basil Clarke - that's him over there - had a really fantastic voice. They were a bit jazz, a bit reggae and a bit indie and, in 1987, that was more than enough. Later, I went with a few friends to see them at Dingwalls in Camden. I remember it for two reasons:
1. I wore a cap-sleeve New Model Army t-shirt, not a sight often seen at a Yargo gig I'm sure.
2: I got so drunk the bouncers didn't even want to let me in. Then, when I did get in, I nearly got chucked straight out again for, well, messing about... Oh the shame...

Anyway - they were great! Now, sadly, there's nothing on You Tube, Wikipedia or Myspace. Basil did a great one off single in about 1993 that I have somewhere, other than that, there's almost nothing.



Lewis Parker, Supa T, Braintax & Profound: Easter Island Heads (SSR, 1999)
Londoner Lewis Parker is a bloody genius and this, fairly obscure track, from a fairly obscure compilation (I think) neatly shows why. For one, it's absurdly funky. For another one, the production (by Braintax) is fatter than a fat woman's fat bits on a particularly fat day of an otherwise hugely fat month. For another, the rappers are all straight from the top drawer. Look, just have it, listen to it, enjoy the lyric about having a "coke'd up twat yapping in my ear" and tell me it's not fantastic... And it is! So don't bother even trying...

Hang On, This Record Is Good Too...

The Autumn Defense: Feel You Now (Broken Horse, 2007)
I know you don't spell "defence" like that, but these people are from Chicago and they don't know how to spell there. Anyway, this record is fantastic, lushly produced and full of hugely lovable pieces of what is best described as melodic soft rock. To be honest, it makes me wish I had some Bread albums. There are - at least - another five tracks as good (or, if you prefer, bad) as this on the album. I think it's great, but you probably worked that out for yourself already.

Bonus Chicago Fact: Silvana and I went to Chicago once. We had a Chicago "pizza pie" in what was recommended as the best "pizza pie" place in the city. It was revolting.

It's New Music Wednesday

Lacrosse: Let's Get Old (Tapete, 2007)
Here's a surprising thing. This here record is made by a bunch of attractive young Scandinavians and it's really good. Like this and this and this. Not that I'm tiresomely predictable or anything.

Oh no.

Best Restaurant In London

Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall: Piggy-raising, chicken-loving, fish-catching, corkscrew haired pin-up chap for the back-to-nature generation in a Landcroft House exclusive!

"My favourite place to eat in London is definitely St John. I’m not in London that often, so when I am I tend to want to go for a definite hit rather than risk something new. That doesn't make me sound terribly exciting or adventurous does it? But it’s true. I like Scott’s too – Mark Hix has a reverence for seafood that I really relate to. But I’m a great admirer of Fergus Henderson and his idea of nose-to-tail eating. St John has been – and continues to be – an inspiration to me..."

© our lawyer is watching (telly)

Kelly's Heroic

R Kelly is many things - a lot of them, apparently, dreadful - but one thing he definitely is is entertaining. Here he is, in the studio, doing a song called Real Talk. If Bret and Jemaine Conchord haven't seen this already they may want to learn it pretty damn quick...

Hello New Thing, Hello Other New Thing

Patrick Watson: The Great Escape (Secret City Records, 2007)
My friend Anthony - who knows about these things - kept telling me I really needed to listen to Patrick Watson and I kept holding the phone away from my ear and going "blah blah blah blah blah blah" while he did so as a) I'm hilarious and b) actually there isn't a b. Anyway, he was right and I was deeply, stupidly wrong (no change etcetc) as this is really good. Not a million miles from Anthony & Ver Johnsons - who are in the aces, but a little too intense for everyday pleasure. If you like the first 5 seconds of this you will like all of it. Hurray for Anthony. His book's good too.


The Weakerthans: Civil Twilight (Burning Heart Records, 2007)
I wrote something nice (scroll down) about the 'Thans a long time ago (it got mangled by someone sadly, so now it reads like I'm a mental) and now they have come back to haunt me. So, to recap, they are clever and they are from Canada and this is a very nice record indeed. Anyway, if you like seriously-old-enough-to-know-better geeks being arch (only with fantastic tunes) then - hey! - this is the band for you. And me, clearly.

Enjoy...

Hello Old Thing, Hello New Thing: 24

Henri René: Dinner For One Please James (RCA Victor, 1956)
That's him on the left there, yes. Famous for having a great shot of Jayne Mansfield on the cover, Henri Rene's Batchelor world is one that is scented by leather-backed driving gloves, the warm hum of a Robert's radiogram, the soft spread of bitters through a large pink gin before a gentle pipeful as you trawl all 18 holes. It's now available again through those nice people at Rev-Ola...


American Music Club: The Dance (Cooking Vinyl, 2007)
Lots of people got into Red House Painters through American Music Club. I, on the other hand, got into AMC through RHP. It was through - repeatedly - reading about how AMC's Mark Eitzel had encouraged ver Painters' Mark Kozelek that broke me down. I wasn't entirely taken at first. I think I just wanted to them to be the same. And they weren't. AMC were (are), more romantic, more worldly, more poetic, more open to the world, while Kozelek barely seems able, or willing, to engage with the world much at all. This, from their new album, is a wee bit lovely. As are many of the other tracks on there (I liked The Decibels And The Little Pills a lot too)...

And this one...

Hello? Landcroft House...

"Hello Landcroft House, it's George Clinton here."
Hello George Clinton. It's lucky you called - can you tell us something?
"I'll try..."
What is the best record ever made?
"Wow... Well, I think it's probably Bernadette by The Four Tops. It's just so brilliantly produced, every time I hear it I'm amazed. But I love Sgt Pepper too..."
You're only allowed one.
"Oh, OK."
Thanks for calling, bye!

George tackles fishing, lamb chops and "young girls" over at the very wonderful new WORD website...

Two New Records That Are, Literally, Quite Good

The Heliocentrics: Sirius A (Stones Throw, 2007)
This is the sort of record that makes coming back from holiday worthwhile. Much beloved by - *serious face* - DJ Shadow and Madlib, Ver 'Centrics are so analogue, so breakbeat, so downright space-jazz groovy that just listening to their album makes you want to call your firstborn Sun Ra and take to wearing a kufi.

Asobi Seksu: Strawberries [Ulrich Schnauss remix] (One Little Indian, 2007)
This Ulrich Schnauss mix is great. When I say great, I mean it makes New York indie-rockers Ver Seksu sound (a bit) like Slowdive. I think that, if not all, then the majority of the world's bands should sound like Slowdive. It's not a popular point of view - it won't win me many friends - but it's one I hold dear.

I Knew This Would Happen

Cats On Fire: I Am The White-Manteled King (Marsh Marigold Records, 2007)
This CD has been sat on my desk for about three weeks and I've "filed" (disposed of or burnt) everything else but this one just refused to move. And I kept looking at it thinking I'd like it. So, today I got round to putting it on. And I do like it. Quite a lot, in fact. I knew this would happen. And, what's more, they're from Turku in Finland, which is is quite near someone I know.

Hello Old Thing, Hello Even Older Thing: 3

Alan Parker: Frozen Stream (KPM, 1973)
Pictured here is the original 1973 sleeve from the KPM Library files. However, in a mixed-media presentation that would wow even those who know all about mixed-media presentations - someone like Natasha Kaplinsky maybe, or Ronnie Corbett? - I've purloined this from a marvellous (and a great deal easier to access) reissue on Tummy Touch that I would warmly recommend if - like me - you are interested in instrumental music that conjures up the majesty and mystery of the Dark Continent through the liberal usage of some none-more-fluid guitar lines and a breakbeat I fully expect to hear turned into a hit single by Christmas.


John Barry: Alone Blues (CBS, 1965)
As you may have surmised from the picture, this perfectly-poised slice of Barry-ology comes from the brilliant soundtrack to Ver IPCRESS File, innit. As soon as you hear this you'll want to put on a mac and smoke filterless gaspers while trolling about various London locales but that - CAUTION! Gag Approaching! - is caused purely by my skilful Induction of Psycho-neuroses by Conditioned Reflex Under StrESS.

Do you see what I did there?