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Summer Skies 2013 Day 38: Troon

 

Summer Skies 2013 Day 37: Troon

 

Summer Skies 2013 Day 36: Irvine

 

Summer Skies 2013 Day 35: Sidmouth

 

Summer Skies 2013 Day 34: Stoke Canon

 

Summer Skies 2013 Day 33: Churchinford

 

Summer Skies 2013 Day 32: Dunster

 

You Held My Heart

Staring at the record sleeves for hour after hour <no longer a download link. But you do still remember record sleeves, don't you?

Shut - Colour Me Wednesday (from 'I Thought It Was Morning'. On Bandcamp)
Sunshine Thuggery - The Siddeleys (from 1988 EP. On YouTube)
Into My Arms - Bloods (On Bandcamp)
You Held My Heart - The Flatmates (from new 7". Order on Bandcamp)
We Get By - The Gooch Palms (On Bandcamp)
Flag Pin - The Human Hearts (from the 'Flag Pin' EP. On Bandcamp)
Bloom/Decay - Dot Dash (from 'Half-Remembered Dream'. Order on Bandcamp. Free track on Soundcloud)
Stick Around - The Eversons (from 'Creepy' single. On Bandcamp)
Summer 3D - WESTKUST (from new 7". On Bandcamp)
Gold Leaf - Soft Arrows (from 'All Through The Sinew'. On Bandcamp)
Japan To Jupiter - Kitchens Of Distinction (from new album 'Folly'. Pre-order here. On YouTube)
Saturday Knife Fight - BELLE GHOUL (On Bandcamp)
Colors In The Whites Of Your Eyes - Heaven (from 'Telepathic Love'. On Bandcamp)
Over You - Dear Georgiana (On Bandcamp)
THE CULT OF LESS (alternate version 2012) - lispector (from 'Life Without A Map'. On Bandcamp)
Windy - Ruthann Friedman (from 'Windy: A Ruthann Friedman Songbook'. On YouTube)
I´m only sleeping - One Man Bannister (from 'Evolver'. On Bandcamp)
Secret Song - CRISTINA QUESADA (from 'Pineapple Princess' EP. On Bandcamp)
The Unsent Letter - Jack Hayter (from 'Audio Anti-Hero's "Commercial Suicide Sampler"'. On Bandcamp)
A Country Heart - Twin Library (from 'Moss Pop 2008-2013'. On Bandcamp)

high on anxiety, low on attention

Summer Skies 2013 Day 31: Stoke Canon

 

Evolver

 

Seasoned readers will know of my distaste for The Beatles. They are one of those groups whose 'importance' I do not doubt, but whose sound I simply cannot find appealing. It is not something I would want to spend/waste a great deal time analysing, but suffice to say I simply don't much like the sound of Lennon and McCartney's voices. They may well be song-writing geniuses (or then again, they may not) but personally I'll almost always go for a cover version over the original. In this respect they are like Springsteen for me. I know Springsteen is a great songwriter but again, try as I might, I simply can't really get to grips with Bruce performing his own songs. Which is why my favourite Springsteen album is the 'Play Some Pool, Skip Some School, Act Real Cool' collection that WIAIWYA put out a few years back. And favourite Beatles song? Perhaps Jesse Garon & The Desperadoes take on 'If I Needed Someone' although if we were to be talking full album I'd be happy to now pick 'Evolver' by One Man Bannister. You should know Matthew Bannister from his time in Sneaky Feelings, whose records for Flying Nun in the mid to late 1980s were some of my favourites from that era. Which is really saying something. You should also know him from his excellent book 'Positively George Street': pretty much the default text for anyone interested in the story of Flying Nun and the Dunedin Sound, as well as for anyone wanting to know how much fun it is to be in a band. For what it's worth it made me happy I couldn't sing and failed miserably at learning any instrument…

'Evolver', in case you hadn't worked it out for yourself, is Bannister's take on 'Revolver'. I expect you have also worked out that I find it immeasurably easier to listen to than the original. This probably sounds like heresy to Beatles fans, and I'm sure if you asked Bannister himself he would probably tell you that he has made only a pale shadow of a facsimile, but my opinion is true nonetheless. Of course I have not really given 'Revolver' a great deal of air time. The first time was when I was fifteen or so. My musician friend was doting on The Beatles and I tried to dig them as well. Failed. The second time was last winter. I downloaded it onto my iPhone and listened to it whilst walking the streets of Glasgow at night. Kept skipping to the next track before each one finished and ended up swapping it for the Taken By Trees playlist before 'She Said, She Said' turned my heart to concrete.

 

When listening to 'Evolver' I get echoes of several things that I have listened to much, much more than The Beatles. On 'I'm Only Sleeping' for example I get a tinge of Dave and Ray Davies much more than John and Paul. It reminds me too that The Kinks were so far ahead of The Beatles it's laughable. Seriously. Line up their outputs and play them side by side. No contest (and if your contest delivers a different result to mine then clearly you got it wrong). At other times I hear The Sea Urchins, or an echo of James Roberts' lovely 'Everything You Know Is Right' solo set. Plus of course the sounds of the Dunedin set - of course there are tickles of Sneaky Feelings, but also bursts of Straitjacket Fits and Verlaines. Sadly not even this can rescue 'Yellow Submarine' from being trite nonsense, but you can't have everything can you?

You can order 'Evolver' from the Powertool Records presence on Bandcamp.