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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.
The Chameleons are one of those bands who's influence has reached far and wide. There's been a big slice of their sound in quite a few bands doing the rounds the last few years, Interpol, Editors and She Wants Revenge instantly spring to mind - and all have drawn comparisons with the Manchester band. The Chameleons do a superb line in big and anthemic indie pop - big blustery guitar sounds and pounding rhythms.
They did the best of their work back in the early half of the 80s. I've had their first LP Script of the Bridge for a while now, and it's a pretty decent record. Needing some more of that big indie sound, I've recently been listening to another of their LPs and if anything, it's even better than the one I already have. Anyway, from Script Of The Bridge, here's a demo video of the band running through one of their signature tracks, Up The Down Elevator - just the sort of track you need to get you into the weekend.
Since I first picked up the LP Song and Legend - the band have been a regular fixture on my play lists. It surprises me that they haven't got more of a reputation or standing, as for me they were one of the few Goth bands that transcended the clichés of the genre and had a much wider appeal. Maybe the name was enough to turn people off them. Apparently the name was taken from a William Burroughs poem, and was passed over by Boy George who settled for Culture Club instead.
The best of their music was instantly danceable and surprisingly eclectic - there's elements of dub reggae mixed with pounding punk and 40s cabaret. The songs were in the main short and snappy with twists and turns galore, great hooks and superb spaced out effects. Given their Goth styling, dark lyrics and reputation, I've always found them really upbeat and optimistic. I think Song And Legend has finally been reissued on CD, it wasn't for a long time - well worth picking up for some uniquely early 80s alternative music. Today's pick is a live version of the track Sebastiane. It's maybe one of the more ominous sounding tracks on the album, and this is a fantastic live version of it.
I've got some rips of cherished teenhood tapes on the old hard-drive. I picked up one today that I hadn't heard for a while, a nice compilation of Peel Sessions from around 1989. The quality's not great, but the music is. One of the sessions on there was from an Irish band called Hey Paulette, not a band I knew beyond this tape but I thought, let's have a quick shufty and what do you know? They got a video on the old YouTube.
I've only ever heard the Peel Session version, and it's not too different from the original single version on the video. Some nice jangly guitar work, distinctive singing and a clutch of feelings and memories of days long gone. Looks like the Peel Session was one of the highlights for 'em - and they did it justice. Great little personal find for me is this one, and not one I'd would have ever expected to see.
I first heard the band through the Melody Makers' seminal (for me at least) compilation cassette of 1988 called Gigantic. I'd been vaguely aware of them through the years but never really jumped in. I loved the video for their song Tactless - that was on another compilation I owned and loved, and that was it. I never got any of their albums or dug deeper. The band's music is all out-of-print and 2nd hand can go for a good few quid. Last month though, I managed to get my hands on their second LP, Manic, Magic, Majestic which had both the tracks I knew and loads I didn't.
It's a classy little album, full of sneering wit and sweet strings. There's all sorts of good stuff on there and it's fast becoming a favourite around these parts. The standard of the whole LP is superb and I feel a bit silly for having waited so long to enjoy it. Luckily, the video for Tactless is currently available on YouTube so I had to share. It's still one of the stand-out tracks, and it's nice to see the video again. The quality's not great, but keep an eye out for an early appearance of Vic Reeves (not as early as the Shakin' Stevens video he appeared in though.)
Dio Bach is a music fan who loves sharing his opinions on his favourite music and videos. Subscribe for regular nuggets.
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