Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue #7

Fake Poinsettia

We open today with the rather lovely 'Crimson and Clover' by Tommy James and the Shondells. Tommy James and the Shondells, while being a particularly classy sixties outfit, also crop up regularly on 'Sunshine pop' compilations of the era. And a bit of sunshine pop is exactly what we need this side of Christmas I think.

Earlier this year I heard a fascinating BBC radio documentary about Cambodian music, Pol Pot and the Killing Fields. While incredibly harrowing, it also brought alive to me a real sense of what the Cambodian music scene was like in the years before the Khmer Rouge. Dengue Fever pay homage to that heritage and I've liked them for a couple of years now without fully understanding their heritage and context.

It's a case of two for the price of one with todays 'borrowed' track. For here is the epic Milky Wimpshake cover of Daniel Johnson's 'True Love Will Find You In The End', which the band incorporated in with their take on Jonathan Richman's 'Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste'.

I watched them do it live at least twice, and it was brilliant. I was so pleased when they released it as the B side to 'Dialling Tone'.

Our final track is not so much blue as icy blue. This is the commanding and sepulchral 'Vessel' by Zola Jesus, in which Nika Danilova really gives voice to something eerily beautiful.

Image of Fake Poinsettia by Cazz Blase, copyright Cazz Blase, all rights reserved.