The Sticky Bit.

You have reached There’s Treasure Everywhere – a rarely-serviced internet-bus-stop, much in the spirit of CBBC’s Playdays, except the music is better and there’s more gratuitous swearing. 

Treasures: Naked Raygun ‘Vanilla Blue’

‘Vanilla Blue’ by Naked Raygun is only half as long as it should be

I had an unnamed live version of this track for about ten years and, thanks to the double-edged sword that is Spotify*, I’ve recently been able to identify it.  It turns out that ‘Vanilla Blue’ is one of Naked Raygun‘s biggies.

Until now though, I’ve just been too busy doing other important things, like organising my Filofax and making badges, to investigate it properly.

Back to the programme. I’m not even sure how I got hold of this song. It just sort of turned up on my computer when I wasn’t looking and I loved it immediately.

It probably fell off the back of a digital lorry, to be honest. It was in the hazy pre-iTunes days, before the internet became purely about status updates (“COFFEE! LOLZ”), pictures of cats and videos of girls putting things into other girls.

*Remember Jonathan? He annoyed the shit out of me. And, when he finally fucked off, he took the entire Bob Dylan catalogue with him. Bastard!

New Band: FAMY

FAMY’s ‘Dogg Dogg’ deserves to be played through your biggest speakers

I’m serious. Listen to it. THAT’S INSANE MUSIC. Who writes a song like that? It sounds like some kind of 22nd Century sacrificial moon dance. What does that even mean? I don’t know! That’s how I can tell it’s good! Look at the ecstatic punctuation I’m using!

The other good thing about ‘Dogg Dogg’ is that it has a real, bona fide guitar solo at the end that sounds like it’s made from tiny drops of pure joy.

So those are the good points. These are the bad points:

- FAMY sounds like a name chosen because it was SEO friendly

- Who writes the best track of next year and then calls it ‘Dogg Dogg’?

- I know almost nothing else about them*

*This is also a very good thing.

I’ll reduce the level of non-sensical babble now so you can listen to the track.

Treasures: Gotan Project ‘Paris, Texas’

It’s probably time I posted Gotan Project’s version of ‘Paris, Texas’

Ah… The summer. Breathe it in. Don’t really, it’s pissing it down and that moisture primarily consists of evaporated fox piss. If we did have the balmy summer nights that I definitely remember from my adolescence, though, when there was excitement in the air, pollen in the fields and, err, fish in the sea, I would definitely recommend listening to the Gotan Project’s cover of Ry Cooder’s theme from ‘Paris, Texas’.

In fact, even now that it’s raining and summer has apparently taken up permanent residence in the months of April and May, I STILL recommend you listen to it, just in case a warm desert night wafts by without you noticing.

Also check out the film directed Wim Wenders because that’s good too, unless you like your films to have explosions and babes in. I did film at university. You can probably tell. My favourite film is ‘Hook’.

Image: Roberto Berlim, Wikimedia (used under Creative Commons)

Treasures: The Rolling Stones ‘Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadows’

This song makes me wobble like a three year old at playgroup

I realise I might be late to the party, but I have just discovered The Rolling Stones’ ‘Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadows’.

It’s the kind of unbelievably massive rock ‘n’ roll dance tune that, if I wasn’t a mature, discerning and professional musical journalist, I would put on the record player and hurl myself around the room to.

Meanwhile, my girlfriend would be giving me the angry eyes because we were meant to be talking about wedding stuff, but instead the man she’s about to commit the rest of her life to is dancing like a retarded toddler and refusing to pick any wedding cake that’s not in the shape of a pirate galleon.

Like I said though, I’m a serious music professional, so that wouldn’t happen to me.

Image: Kevin Delaney, Wikimedia (used under Creative Commons)

Treasures: Led Zeppelin ‘Out On The Tiles’

Tom Morello told me ‘Out On The Tiles’ is his favourite riff of all time

So, not too long ago, Tom Morello phoned my house to talk about guitar riffs. It was great, he was super-friendly, not afraid to talk  about Rage Against The Machine stuff (even though he was promoting Street Sweeper Social Club at the time) and good with the quotes too. My 16 year-old self would have messed his inexperienced pants. My 25 year-old self came pretty close. In fact, the whole thing was pretty surreal.

Mainly though, I was just glad of two things:
1) He wasn’t an arsehole
2) He still REALLY loves playing guitar

Anyway, ‘Out On The Tiles’ is a great pick. Not as well-known (read: over-played) as ‘Whole Lotta Love’, but recognisable all the same, it’s got a pop bounce that sticks with you. Touch my video box to hear it.

Image: Dina Regine, Wikimedia (used under Creative Commons)

New Band: Shimmering Stars

Shimmering Stars are not from a Disney film, contrary to their girly name

Don’t lets hold that against them though. They recently put out a four track 7″ EP on Almost Musique and every track is excellent. Yes, they’re doing that retro surf-pop thing that everyone and their surf-dogs are doing at the moment, but songs like ‘East Van Girls’ and ‘I’m Gonna Try’ are just too good to callously lump on top of the Hipstamatic retro pile.

You see new bands? This is how you should be doing things. Don’t record an album of mediocre material with stolen Pro Tools: record an EP’s worth of AMAZING songs (in a studio or on tape) that make me react like this kid.

Anyway, enough gabbing. Check out ‘East Van Girls’ below and stream the whole EP through Almost Musique’s SoundCloud page. Then go BUY IT.

 

Treasures: 13th Floor Elevators ‘Don’t Fall Down’

I didn’t nearly do a cry when I first heard this.

Whilst I was already a big fan of 13th Floor Elevators biggest hit, ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me’, a friend turned me on to this tune recently. It’s cracking. It’s especially poignant when you consider the battles that frontman Roky Erickson has since had with schizophrenia.

He’s still writing great tunes though and his last album ‘True Love Cast Out All Evil’ (which featured Okkervil River as his backing band) is definitely worth a listen.

Treasures: The Chills ‘Pink Frost’

The Chills ‘Pink Frost’ is almost definitely not about cake

Sat at home one night recently, I hit upon the very clever idea of making a playlist of my favourite songs for the walk to work. Pretty innovative, I know. I reasoned that listening to tracks I treasure, rather than have to review, might get my days off to a better start. Four hours and about 250 songs later (I shit you not) it was done. What was at the top? ‘Pink Frost’ by The Chills.

It throws you a curveball (baseball analogy from an Englishman, oh dear) this one – everything’s all happy bunnies and sunshine lollipops to begin with and then from nowhere it dives into a completely gut-wrenching guitar line. It’s nostalgic, paranoid, brutally honest and in it’s own way very beautiful.

Favourite song ever? Fuck knows, it changes with the wind.

New Band: Whales In Cubicles

Whales In Cubicles are exactly as awesome as their name would suggest

Check these chaps out, they’re the second new band I’ve heard through Track In The Box (the other being Sunderbans) and, although they occasionally have some questionable offerings, Whales In Cubicles more than make up for the duds. As evidenced by the track below ’100 Years Of Solitary Franchising’.

They’re taking the best bits of ‘Fracture’-era (as in the zine) UK punk rock, Future Of The Left and Queens Of The Stone Age and and mashing it in your face like a school bully with yellow snow…

Check out this video in which they have subtly super-imposed TVs for their heads. Why haven’t YOU made a video in which you’ve super-imposed a rear-projection TV for your head? Because YOU’RE not as awesome as Whales In Cubicles, that’s why.

New Band: Sunderbans

Sunderbans have infected my head with their ‘Road Kill’ song

This is a post about a new band called Sunderbans and their song ‘Road Kill’. There you go SEO bods, stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Anyways, considering how popular The National are right now (not that they haven’t earned it) and how, if you think about it, they’re a very English sounding band, it’s surprising that more Angles haven’t tried to pick up the idea of morbidly melodic indie rock and run with it in a quirky way. Like on ‘Chariots Of Fire’.

This is where that band I mentioned, Sunderbans, come in. It’s not just The National though, there are bits of Joy Division and Bon Iver in there as well. ‘Road Kill’ in particular has got its talons in me. It’s beautifully morbid and yet somehow  uplifting and  it won’t leave my head. Possibly unofficial video below.