M Over M - Walk Away

7" Single, released in 1989

M Over M  - Walk Away (A-Side)

M Over M - I'm Scared (B-Side)

Don't know much about these guys but the single is quite reminiscent of Simple Minds from the same era i.e. Street Fighting Years and Real Life.

Random 80's Wednesday

Square Root of Now - Bent Around Corners (from Bent Around Corners, 1987)
Greg Guidry - Show Me Your Love (from Over The Line, 1982)
Helen Terry - Now You're Mine (12" Single, 1984)
Winter Hours - Churches (from Winter Hours EP, 1985)
Unique - Half A Bird (from Psychadermic, 1991)

The Rave-Ups - Class Tramp (1983)

I've decided I love the Rave-Ups. I've owned the 1990 CD Chance for years but partly because of the name I've always associated the group with Baggy England and didn't think they had done much else. When I found this six track album in the dollar bin, I wasn't sure it was the same group, but a quick flick through Trouser Press set me straight.

The remarkable thing about this first recording is main man Jimmer Podrasky's way with a studio. Clearly the dominant force (the line up would change before the first album proper) the writing is clear and incisive, the music direct and succinct, and the dynamics are truly worthy of a well honed studio band. The way Jimmer tells it, the band performed for years without looking for a deal or cutting a demo, and that shows in the professionalism on display here.

More Rave-Ups on the way very soon.

1. They Do Talk
2. That Mexico Song
3. It's You
4. A Girl We All Know
5. Right Now
6. Up To Me

Download or Download

Here's a Sendspace link also.

Jimmer released a solo album a couple of years ago. More details here.

Woyehyeh - Give This Heart

7" Single, released in 1985

Woyehyeh - Give This Heart (A-Side)

Woyehyeh - Doll's House (B-Side)

Glenn Frey on Top of The Pops

Like, thirty years ago

Album Review: Midge Ure - Fragile

It might seem strange to begin a review of Midge Ure's latest album by pointing out that I have been heavily into David Bowie lately. As usual, I have a point, albeit a somewhat convoluted one. It started when I recently picked up the double CD of the Reality Tour from 2003 and like I usually do I ended up reading a lot and listening to a lot, in particular the Reality album from 2003 which for some reason I had never really listened to before. This morning I pulled out a few discs for the car including a compilation of Bowie covers. The first track I played was Midge Ure's cover of The Man Who Sold The World, which I observed definately sounds dated with it's heavy 80's production and excessive length.

That being said, my next thought was to ignore all the albums I had piled onto my passenger seat and play a couple of tracks from Midge Ure's latest album which I had downloaded through Rhapsody at least a couple of months ago.

As a lifelong Ultravox fan, I then spent the rest of my car journey wondering why it was that for all the excitement over the Ultravox reunion a couple of years ago, I immediately liked the new solo record much more than the last Ultravox one, which to this day I don't think I have played all the way through, and certainly not in one sitting. The new album is incredibly listenable, and is sonically much more diverse than I would have expected. To describe the album in one word? Elegaic. The vocals might be more muted, occasionally dropping to a whisper, but the intimacy is welcome on what comes across as a powerful artistic statement. From the first track, I Survived, which strikes a note of triumph, the album is replete with washes of keyboards and melodies that chime and soar in equal measure. By the time Dark, Dark Night came around with, of all things, a stunning guitar solo, I was hooked. In a note of irony, besides skipping impatiently through the last 30 seconds or so of Let It Rise, the tracks melded brilliantly into one another, ending with the impressive title track, and I was surprised to notice that I had set the album on shuffle play which had the benefit of sequencing album highlight Are We Connected about half way through instead on track two where is appears on the record. Either way, this is clearly an album that builds on itself and begs your attention.

I suppose whereas the last Ultravox record, with its one word titles, might have seemed like an exercise in dynamics and reclaiming their unique sound, the new album has something to say and feels like a work of depth and import.

Very highly recommended.

Green Pajamas - The Carolers' Song

I recently discovered Seattle artist Jeff Kelly and finally heard some stuff from his longtime band The Green Pajamas this morning.