What Album Have You Just Bought?

[philipchevron]

The Performance by Dame Shirley Bassey (Geffen 2009)

Leaving aside the outrageous decision to include her title in her name these days, this is a pretty good comeback album by the Tiger Bay diva. Amazingly - she's getting on a bit - the voice is still in great shape. The songstack has been specially written for her by Shirl worshippers like the Pet Shop Boys, KT Tunstall, the Manic Street Preachers, the Kaiser Chiefs drummer, Gary Barlow, David McAlmont and Richard Hawley, alongside her James Bond collaborators John Barry, Don Black and David Arnold. The songs typically use tropes from James Bond Shirley and Heavy Metal Power Ballad Shirley to create bespoke Shirl anthems, none of which quite descends into mere pastiche. Predictably perhaps, the campest song is the PSB's "The Performance Of My Life" and the Manics "Girl from Tiger Bay" and Gary Barlow's endearing "This Time" are among the highlights, alongside Tom Baxter's quality "Almost There". Strangely, the least interesting contribution comes from Rufus Wainwright.

[philipchevron]

Wild Mountain Thyme The McPeake Family (Topic, 1962)

Finally available on CD and sounding more magnificent than ever. When it comes to standing on the shoulders of giants, not many of them are broader than Belfast's McPeakes.

[Clash Cadillac]

Wild Mountain Thyme The McPeake Family (Topic, 1962)

Finally available on CD and sounding more magnificent than ever. When it comes to standing on the shoulders of giants, not many of them are broader than Belfast's McPeakes.

Thanks for the heads up on this one. Doc Harry enjoyed it. He also just gave me this one to check out, have not listened to it yet but the book itself is a thing of beauty.

THREE SCORE & TEN A Voice To The People

note: you have to scroll down a bit

[Shaz]

The new Imagined Village album. It may be worth the dosh simply to hear Martin Carthy doing a cover version of that well-known Walsall folk song Cum On Feel the Noize!

[mike1]

The new Imagined Village album. It may be worth the dosh simply to hear Martin Carthy doing a cover version of that well-known Walsall folk song Cum On Feel the Noize!

And the first track My Son John is based on a similar tune to Mrs.McGrath as covered by Springsteen.

[firehazard]

Spider Bags: A Celebration of Hunger

Didn't know anything about them till someone bought me this CD. Fun songs about blood and death and whiskey and things. Apparently Shane is a fan, so says the bloke in the record store. Good punky stuff.

[philipchevron]

David Bowie David Bowie (1967 Deram, 2010 Deluxe Version)

A Reality Tour - Point Depot, Dublin 2003 David Bowie (2009, ISO/Sony)

[Jimmy Jazz]

Jay Reatard "Watch Me Fall" (2009 Matador Records)

[Low D]

Just received Alias Ron Kavana's "Galway to Graceland", an obsucre one from 1995 he self-financed and then never got a proper release 'cause of the usual crap. I think it might have been the experience that sent him out of the music industry for a few years. Has the look of a home-made album. Has the sound of beauty. Found it cheap on Amazon.co.uk.

[Low D]

Now i've received Kavana's "Rollin' & Coastin' (in search of America)" and was surprised to find - although it is a 1994 release credited to Ron Kavana - it is in fact recordings from 1984, 5 songs (demos maybe?) him & some guy named Gary Rickard, and the last 4 songs are actually Juice on the Loose.

I've wiki'd the details, if anybody is interested:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollin%27_%26_Coastin%27_%28In_Search_of_America%29

[Shaz]

Massive Attack: Heligoland

[TheDanielOfBrisbane]

Rumjacks Sound as a Pound...Good stuff.

[Hennybhoy]

Young Dubliners
- with all due respect - the irish sessions -



Great!

[moose]

Lungs - Florence and the machine

[Fr. McGreer]

Lungs - Florence and the machine

And about 10 million others who watched the BRIT Awards.