Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully

I realise now I'm writing about it that I've somehow managed to entirely miss series 1 of Radio 4 Sci Fi tinged comedy, Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully by Eddie Robson.  Which is a real shame because, having encountered series 2 by chance, I am very much warming to it.

The central premise is that a small Buckinghamshire village has been invaded by aliens as a test site that can be monitored ahead of a pencilled in future world invasion. The aliens then set up a force field to cut the village off from the rest of the UK, and cut all outside communication. Caught up in the invasion is Katrina Lyons (Hattie Morahan), a 30 something professional from London who happened to be visiting her parents at the time.

Series 2 picks up where Series 1 seemingly left off, and episode 1 opens with the two woman resistance party that is Katrina and sullen teenager Lucy Alexander (Hannah Murray) attempting to dig a trench under the force field, while arguing about who's doing the work and trying to avoid getting caught by the evil Uljabaan (Charles Edwards).

It's not the new Undone but it has the same kind of heart as Undone did, and mixes Sci Fi and comedy with similar ease. I was trying to explain it to a friend at work today, and he immediately thought of the film District 9. But what it really reminds me of is a slightly wonky, and much funnier, version of The Archers, with flourishes of Hitchhikers Guide and with George Osborne in the body of Field Commander Uljabaan.

Episode 3 was on last night, and can be enjoyed on iplayer for another 28 days.

Karren Ablaze! Underground goddess speaks

I interviewed the excellent Karren Ablaze!, of Ablaze! fanzine fame, back in early December. This was arranged after we met up for the first time in fifteen years at Louder Than Words in November 2015.

Karren was at Louder Than Words talking about Riot Grrrl with Julia Downes. I was struck, at the time, by how young the audience for their discussion was when set against the audiences for the other events I attended during the Louder Than Words weekend. Food for thought.

During the course of our interview, which was conducted via phone because Karren is in Spain and I am in Stockport, we discussed a range of things, including fanzine culture, then and now, austerity and the anti-austerity fight back, music, riot grrrl, the internet, social isolation...

Not everything made it into the written up interview, due to space, but the finished piece is an accurate representation of our conversation and, once again, The F-Word team have done me proud with their ace editing and layout skills.

A good writing start to 2016.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue #14

We begin this morning with the genius of Euros Childs in the days of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, and their lovely single 'Diamond Dew', which has a lovely summery vibe totally in contrast with January 2016.

The summer theme continues with White Blush and their track 'Summer', which came out in late 2014 or thereabouts. It's fairly new to me, so, once again, I'm stretching the boundaries of 'new' for the purposes of this post. Carol Rhyu is a prolific composer, and I would definitely recommend checking out the rest of her tracks on Soundcloud.

Autumn leaves in December, Offerton

The first self titled White Blush E.P included a masterpiece of moody electro called 'Jolene'. It wasn't a cover of the Dolly Parton song, but this song by Strawberry Switchblade is.

Strawberry Switchblade emerged out of the early 1980s post punk scene, as, in a very different way, did New Order. Years and years ago listeners to Piccadilly Key 103 voted 'Blue Monday' the best single of all time. A key moment of Mancunian sentimentality or the truth? You decide.



Image of Autumn leaves in December by Cazz Blase. Copyright Cazz Blase, all rights reserved.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue #13

Red berried tree, Offerton

 Dolly Parton's 'The Seeker' soundtracks the opening scene and credits to a brilliant Canadian film from a few years back, The Year Dolly Parton was my mom. In the film, the young heroine, during a particularly intense personal crisis, develops the fantasy that her real mother is Dolly Parton, and embarks on a journey to be reunited with her. I reviewed the film for The F-Word a couple of years back, and would recommend it to anyone who is seeking a female coming of age film that is intelligent, with fully rounded complex characters, and not patronising or simplistic. 

The Staves have had a good year, with a second album, If I Was, and a support slot on the Florence + The Machine tour. 'Teeth White' was a particularly strong single, with a good strong sing along chorus that only added to its likeability and charm.

The Cornshed Sister's take on Le Cox Sportif's 'Dresden' is an impeccable combination of folk and nihilism that has truly anthemic qualities to it. It's been a couple of years now since their self titled debut came out, and it would be good to have another album.

We end with a moment of classic country with qualities of torch: Neko Case's 'Bought And Sold'

which was a standout track on a standout album, namely, Furnace Room Lullaby from 2000.

Image of Red berried tree, Offerton, by Cazz Blase. Copyright Cazz Blase, all rights reserved.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue #12

 Child's abandoned welly, Stockport

Kirsty MacColl's 'Free World' seems a good tune and good attitude to approach 2016 with. It has a grittiness and barely contained anger to it that feels apt at the moment, and like a lot of Kirsty's songs, it is timeless.

There's a restlessness to Georgia's 'Kombine' as well, and an almost pent up anger that sits well with the glitchy, stop start, sample-y music. I really hope she does well in 2016.

Santigold's 'The Keepers' is probably not the only song to borrow the distinctive drum patterns from Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill' (indeed, Florence + The Machine's 'Spectrum' also features drums that sound as though they owe a slight debt to 'Running Up That Hill') but, as with 'Oh Superman', the source material is utterly transformed, leading to one of the strongest singles from Master Of My Make Believe. New album soon please.

We end today with Zohara and 'Lost', a song I took a lot of comfort from post General Election in May. 

Image of child's abandoned welly, Stockport, by Cazz Blase. Copyright Cazz Blase, all rights reserved.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue #11

Unknown shrub, Heaton Chapel

You know, I've never understood why Luscious Jackson didn't make it as big as I thought they were going to. They had all the best qualities of indie, punk and hip hop at a time when you'd have thought that would be A Good Thing. 

Natural Ingredients, which was released on the Beastie Boys label, Grand Royale, was the follow up to the 1993 mini album In Search of Manny, which is still worth a listen. 'Energy Sucker' has a certain

up yours kind of swaggery attitude to it that I really like. And it doesn't seem to have dated at all.

Pins, from Manchester, released their second album in summer 2015. 'Young Girls' was the leading single from it and saw the band taking a slightly more melodic, less garage route than on their previous album.

As the marking of the centenary of World War I continues, it felt only right to acknowledge it with Laura Cantrell's lovely take on 'When The Roses Bloom Again', a poignant folk take on those parted by war.

I saw Laura Cantrell in Manchester back in 2003, when she was touring with Paul Burch. The gig had a fantastically friendly atmosphere and Laura and Paul hung out by the merch stall afterwards, signing CD's.

Toussaint McCall's 'Nothing Takes The Place Of You' will be familiar to anyone who has seen the original 1980s film version of Hairspray. It is a timeless soul classic.

Image of unknown shrub, Heaton Chapel, by Cazz Blase. Copyright Cazz Blase, all rights reserved.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue #10

Berries growing in hedgerow, Offerton.

We begin this morning with Lamb, and their excellent drum 'n' bass classic 'Gorecki'. I was first introduced to this song not long after it was released, by a friend who was just starting to transition from a broadly punk based musical diet to hip hop and drum'n'bass. She put it on a mixtape for me, but didn't label it. I absolutely hammered the tape and, after about a year, nature took its course and it snapped...

Fast forward about 13 or so years and I'm at home in the kitchen listening to 6music on a Saturday morning, and Liz Kershaw announce's she's playing Lamb next. And I hear the words 'If I should die...' and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end because, at last, it is. That. Song.

End of quest.

I have a decidedly less intense relationship with Choir of Young Believers and their song 'Jeg Ser Dig', in which I have to concur wholeheartedly with the bands press release that singer Jannis Noya Makrigiannis sounds like a male Sade. This song was released in October, and there's a new album to follow in February 2016. The song is a lovely, sorrowful soundscape of a song. In Danish.

Probably not that many people, outside of the Lone Justice/Maria McKee fanbase, will have heard the Lone Justice version of Lou Reed's 'Sweet Jane', but it is definitely worth a listen. It first appeared on a Lone Justice E.P, which I suspect is now a collectors item, and resurfaced, years later, on a Maria McKee best of.

I've just discovered that, at last, someone has managed to upload the famous clip of Big Brother and the Holding Company perorming 'Ball and Chain' at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival without it being taken down for copyright violation within a week. Hurrah! Rolling Stone presumably have the correct licence. So here it is in all it's glory for your enjoyment. There really is very little left to say about it as a clip, other than it being the moment when Janis Joplin clearly got her first moment in the limelight and showed she was a force to be reckoned with. 

Big Mama Thornton gave the world the original 'Ball and Chain', and I blogged about that version when Holly Combe and I were doing the Song of the day series on The F-Word. Both versions are really worth a listen. 

Image of Berries growing in hedgerow, Offerton, by Cazz Blase. Copyright Cazz Blase, all rights reserved.