Real Cool Time is a regular and on going collection of alternative classics, live performances, old videos, new videos, musical commentary and free MP3 downloads. Celebrating and sharing the best of indie, punk, garage, lofi, dub, shoegazer, goth, twee pop, grunge, psychedelia, post-rock and much more...
This blog has been quiet for quite some time, for which I apologise. The longer it's been left the harder it has been to return. That said, the news I spotted today compelled me to shake the dust off and say a few words regarding the sad news of the death of Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton, one of my personal musical heroes.
I have loved the sound of his guitar, the simplicity, the energy and sheer power of his playing since I first heard Be Your Dog back at the end of the 80s (a good 20 years after their birth). I'd go as far as to say his playing has always inspired me and made be believe that maybe I could do some stuff with the guitar that didn't revolve around playing lots of notes meticulously and without soul. Those original Stooges records have not aged a jot and sound as fresh and relevant today as ever, and most of it is down to Ron's unique style. If you've never checked out his work in the 70s with Destroy All Monsters, then that is pretty exemplary as well, definitely worth seeking out.
I was really saddened to hear of his death today, and even more saddened that I didn't take the opportunity to see the reformed Stooges the last couple of years. I love the music and watched them online, but I missed the chance to see them do it for real which would have been superb. Life and lack of time caught up with me, but that said, Ron's work has been listened to lots in those intervening years.
I rate Ron as one of the best guitarists ever and whilst the critics would go for people like Hendrix, Clapton and other unarguable great players, none of them ever ever made so little sound like so much, and to this day I still want to make music and listen to music that has a direct lineage to Ron's sound and influence. It's a real loss, but what's been done already will live on in the ears and hearts of right thinking music fans forever. RIP.
Photo by
Dena Flows.
Wow this a real find for me, and takes me right back to the heady days of MP3.com circa 2001. I won't ramble about my love of the old MP3.com here, but I wrote about what it meant to me back in 2003 when the once great site closed down, and if you're interested, you can read it here. I still love the music I amassed during those days, and it still get's many a play on the stereo even now. I've been toying with trying to get in touch with some of the old bands on there to ask them if I could hawk the best of their MP3s here for free and simply for my love of their music. I've not got around to it yet, but I was having a nose around and found this on my first search of the day - a promo video for an old MP3.com band I loved called the Ethereal Drains.
It's fair to say their particular brand of music was very personal. Made in the best lofi tradition, home brewed and itching with passion beyond the abilities of the players. I really loved their long rambling tracks and ragged sound - it was a million times more real than much of the dross that passes for alternative these days. So, it gives me great pleasure to feature one of their tracks here in video format. Hibernation.
I've been enjoying a splurge of new LPs the last week or so, one of the stand-outs so far has been the new LP Carnavus from the Silversun Pickups. They weren't a band I'd ever heard about before a friend said he was going to see them live. On the back of this I picked up the record and gave it a spin. At first it didn't really sound too hot, but subsequent listens have turned it into a real favourite. From what I've seen, they're drawing lots of comments that they sound like the Smashing Pumpkins - but whilst I hear the odd bit that reminds me of them, that's far from the truth.
Their sound features hints of a wide range of bands, from the likes of My Bloody Valentine to the Rentals to Cursive. The songs do some interesting double takes, chop and change and are drenched in a lot of spacey shoegazing atmosphere. With the snarly vocals, it makes a strong impression and is a real pleasure. Anyway, they're playing live Monday in Cardiff, but as it would be a 4 hour round trip to see them, I'll have to pass for now. But if you got a chance to go see them locally, do so. From the LP, here's the video for Lazy Eyes. Bob your head along now.
The first Public Image Ltd LP, First Issue has been a favourite of mine for years. The dense guitars and Lydon's angry lyrics compliment each other perfectly. I'm not a big fan of their later work, but for that one LP they managed something one song short of perfection (you know which one...)
Sparkled with flashes of darkness, inventive instrumentation and exhilarating melodies, it couldn't be any different to Lydon's previous life in the Sex Pistols. The anger in his words is about the only thing the two bands have in common. The one everyone knows from First Issue is very much the signature tune - Public Image. Sharp and danceable, it's one of those great tracks that sounds as fresh today as it did when it came out. Spotted the video over at another blog and couldn't help but post.
Bang up to date for a change - Editors have a new LP out today An End Has A Start, much anticipated around these parts after 2005's excellent The Back Room. Editors are up there with my favourite bands of the last few years. Their music harks back to some great 80s stuff infused with some smart modern streaks and production. As well as creating a strong mood with their music, they're one of those bands who's songs you'll just end up singing along too. Some might find them a bit dour, but personally, I find them pretty driving and uplifting.
The first single off the new LP is brilliantly titled Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors - and it's a winner, a real sing it loud and not get it out of your head all day winner. I was lucky enough to get the LP at the end of last week, and it's been on a fair bit since then. I'm happy to report it's good, maybe, even better than The Back Room (time will tell though) so with out further ado, and simply because it's one of the best singles I've heard this year - here's the video.
I can put a finger on when my tastes skewered away from the fairly mainstream, chart based tastes of a typical mid-teenager to a more alternative viewpoint, it was around the end of 1987 beginning of 1988. During that time, the first real indie LP I bought was the Throwing Muses' excellent mini-LP The Fat Skier. It was like nothing I'd ever heard before and paved the way for more esoteric music in coming years. It wasn't long after that everything was fair game. Over the years I've kept a love of those earliest LPs by them, but it's fair to say I sort of fell out of love with them as well. After House Tornado it got a bit too samey and lacking the earlier fire that I liked. Recently they've got another airing thanks picking up nice digital copies of music I previously owned on cassette and the music remains as quirky and enjoyable as it ever was.
One of the stand out tracks from their earliest LPs (it appeared on two LPs - The Fat Skier and their untitled debut) was Soul Soldier. At the time it struck me in its changes in pace and mood, and it got lots of late night, falling asleep plays over the years. It was the soundtrack to a great teenage youth club holiday to the western shores of Ireland and almost made me want to take up dance, just so I could choreograph a piece to it to woo one of those teenhood sweethearts (you were young once too...) The funniest thing was, I only picked up the LP as I'd seen them briefly on TV, and thought they sounded like Sinéad O'Connor - who I was well into at the time. They don't - but I'm glad I was willing to take that leap as it led me here on this path of joyous music. Here's the video for Soul Soldier.
Take one riff, play it lots, play it hard and solo over the top of it. Whilst sounding very simplistic, it's the formula that Loop used to make a couple of the essential indie LPs of the 80s - Fade Out and Heaven's End. It's hard to think of any other musical artists that have come close to what Loop did with their music, there have been echoes of it since, but there's little out there to compare with their drive and commitment to such a solid guitar groove.
If you had to pick a top ten of EPs from Indie during the 80s then the Collision EP would have to be in the top three. The title track's riff is so simple yet so effective, driving and pounding, you had no choice but to dance when it came on. The sound is both distant and crystal clear - the lead guitar spiders away like a bad night's dreaming and the vocals come from out of the same place. It's fitting that the band choose to base the video for the song on the imagery of the Hellraiser film. Here for your entertainment is one of my personal all time favourites - Collision.
I have to admit, until about a month ago I'd never heard of The Swell Maps. Funny thing is, I was looking for a fairly obscure shoegazer band from the late 80s called Jane From Occupied Europe on eBay, and instead, The Swell Maps kept showing up. Then a couple of weeks ago I tried the same at YouTube, and whilst the band I wanted failed to appear, The Swell Maps did. Intrigued, I took a look. Within 30 seconds of seeing this I was off buying their 1980 LP The Swell Maps In... Jane From Occupied Europe (see the search dilemma) and it's been on the headphones all week since it arrived. It's pretty damn fine. Apparently the band I was after took their name from this LP.
Basically, they've proved to be an influence on bands like Sonic Youth and Pavement, I can hear some Spacemen 3 in there as well. I was aware of both Nikki Sudden (and the French Revolution and solo stuff) and Jowe Head (Television Personalities) both of which originally started out in Swell Maps. Kraut rock, punk, ambient and lo-fi, the LP is superb and this track was one of the singles from the same era. Let's Build A Car - it's not an offical video as such, more a compilation of 8mm films and stuff, but it does the job.
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