Song of the Week Archive
15 July 2019 – ‘Tokyo Vampire Hotel’ – Tricot – Just felt the urge to have another song from my favourite Japanese band – this is from their excellent album 3
1 July 2019 – I saw MATA a few weeks ago and have found myself playing this slice of modern folk regularly since
23 June 2019 – ‘Murder To The Mind’ – Tash Sultana. So excited to see her at Barrowlands on Sunday. This is from her debut album Flow State – who makes debut albums that show as much confidence as this?
16 June 2019 – ‘British Mind’ – Hinds. This Spanish female garage/indie rock band are a fantastic live band. I have seen them twice and both gigs were an exuberant, fun riot – both band an audience rattling roof and floor of the venues. A band everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.
9 June 2019 – ‘Blankets’ – Craig Finn – no-one does love and bleakness like The Hold Steady’s main man (“You travel your whole life/Just to get the place you’re gonna die”). This is the first track of his excellent new album I Need A New War – check it out!
2 June 20019 – ‘You’re Gonna To Miss Me’ – The 13th Floor Elevators – as tribute to Roky Erickson who died this week.
26 May 2019 – ‘Save Tonight’ – Eagle-Eye Cherry – he plays at G2 (The Garage) later this week. This track is from his debut album Desireless which I really like (mainly great relaxed pop – with a bit of his jazzman dad’s influence on the title track), and I could have chosen several of its tracks. I am really sorry I can’t make his gig.
19 May 2019 – ‘Obsessed with Aretha’ – Graham Parker – as a sort of corrective to last week’s choice, “but not that much”, here is the great Graham Parker on typically cynical, acerbic form (but what a swinging tune!), from one of my favourite Parker albums, Acid Bubblegum. If you want to hear more from of one Britain’s great rock lyricists catch him on his acoustic UK tour at Òran Mór on December 3rd.
12 May 2019 – ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ – Aretha Franklin (live 2015) – this week I watched the film of her 1972 gospel concert Amazing Grace (only released this year after overcoming technical and legal issues) and that has inspired this week’s choice. She doesn’t appear until about 50 seconds into this and there the cutaways to the (famous) audience are perhaps a bit over the top, but nothing detracts from her singing. And then watch her truly regal touch at around 3.44. 0000003e0
6 May 2019 – ‘Your Time In This Life Is Just Temporary’ – Jane Weaver – her psych folk electronica has produced two acclaimed albums recently both of which are worth checking out– Modern Kosmology and The Silver Globe (from which this track is taken). 265
28 April 2019 – ‘The Sound’ – Sam Fender. This rising star is playing QMU this week, but the gig sold out ages ago. So, for those of you who did not manage to get a ticket here is a song in consolation. “
14 April 2019 – ‘Let Yourself Love’ – Cherbourg – I saw Bear’s Den at Barrowland on Saturday but here is a song from Andrew Davie’s previous group. I really loved their dark, brooding songs and it’s a pity they only released a couple of EPs. I only managed to see them live once, in 2009 at the ICA in London – they were excellent 11ae1000
7 April –2019 ‘Plastic Palace People’ – Scott Walker – yet another obit track – this time a belated thanks to Scott Walker who died last month.
17 March 2017 – ‘Teenage Kicks’ – The Undertones – it is St. Patrick’s Day and so what better way to celebrate than in the company of Derry’s finest with one the greatest ever songs
10 March 2019 – ‘Eden’ – Talk Talk – continuing the tribute to Mark Hollis, a track from the seminal album Spirit of Eden.
3 March 2019 – ‘Time Is Time’ – Talk Talk – in tribute to Mark Hollis who dies this week. The Colour of Spring, from which this track comes, sound tracked an important, and one of the happiest, parts of my life and I still play it regularly; indeed, I still listen to all their albums. 00000
24 February 2019 – ‘This Land’ – Gary Clark Jr – a piece of righteous anger from one of the more interesting American musicians.
10 February 2019 – ‘Gangsters’ – The Specials – in the week that The Specials scored their first ever number 1 album (just shows how good 1979 and 1980 were for music in the UK), it seems appropriate to have their first ever single as SOTW. Two of my best ever concert experiences were provided by the band – an open air gig in Coventry (I was an undergrad at Warwick Uni at the time) where ‘Ghost Town’ seemed to go on forever as the sun descended and their 2009 Brixton Academy gig (part of their 30th anniversary tour) in which a crowd in their 40s and 50s were transported back to being wild uninhibited teenagers. n1 \lsdunh
4 February 2019 – ‘Modern Drift’ – Efterklang – first track from the Danes superb 2010 album Magic Chairs, one of my favourite albums – and one of those that makes me ask why isn’t it more well known, it is a just a sublime example of indie pop
29 January 2019 – ‘Dancing and Blood’ – Low – I’m excited to see the band play tonight at their sold out show at Tramway and expecting to hear most of their excellent album Double Negative from which track is taken.
20 January 2019 – ‘Talking Straight’ – Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – a year ago their ‘French Press’ was my song of the week and it is still one of my all time favourite songs, and I was so happy when this young Aussie band came to Glasgow last year. I’ve chosen another of their songs this week to celebrate the fact that they were named Mojo’s ‘Best new Band of 2018’ and their debut album Hope Downs (from which this track is taken) made it to No.3 in Mojo’s list of best albums of 2018. ffffffff
13 January 2019 – ‘Do I Wanna Know’ – Arctic Monkeys – just been playing this a lot this week, great groove and I love the harmonies and backing vocals.
7 January 2019 – ‘Tilted’ – Christine and the Queens – a slice of French pop as a reminder that Europe has much to offer us. Saw her put on a great show at the Roundhouse, London in May 2016.
23 December 2018 – ‘25th December’ – Everything But The Girl. For December all songs of the week will have some Christmas connection. After last week’s irreverence here is a something more in keeping with the festive season, albeit a wistful.
16 December 2018 – ‘Mrs. Claus’s Kimono’ – Drive-By Truckers. For December all songs of the week will have some Christmas connection. The great DBT deliver the antidote to twee Christmas songs.
9 December 2018 – ‘I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up For Christmas’ – Aimee Mann. For December all songs of the week will have some Christmas connection. I’ve always liked AM and own all her albums. Saw her at the Indigo2 (the little O2brother in London) way back in 2007 and she was sweetness incarnate. Great songwriter.
3 December 2018 – ‘Hotel Chelsea Nights’ – Ryan Adams. For December all songs of the week will have some Christmas connection. This is probably the most tenuous (the link being the line ‘strung out like Christmas lights’) but a good excuse to play a song from the great Ryan Adams – I love the wooziness that creeps in around 2.54mins in this video – and this is a song on my favourite Ryan Adams album (indeed one of my all time favourite albums), Love Is Hell.
26 November 2018 – ‘Everything Is Everything’ – Lauryn Hill – she played the Hydro last week on a tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of the sublime and hugely influential The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, from which this track is taken. She could have one of the greats.
19 November 2018 – ‘SOS’ – Portishead – given the mess that is Brexit has been tom the fore the last week which made me think of my favourite Abba song but rather than have the original I thought this gloomy version from was even more appropriate.
11 November 2018 – ‘Bakuretsu Panie San’ – Tricot – they play Stereo on Friday and they are just a blast – this video gives just a hint of the energy and fun, not to mention musical chops, they have in abundance. Go see them!
4 November 2018 – ‘Still’ – Luke Sital-Singh. Had a cold this week so felt in need of some comforting music. Luke is one of the best of current British singer-songwriters; and he passes the modern test of male singer-songwriters – can they do a good cover version of Kate Bush’s ‘This Woman’s Work’? [My current favourite version is by Greg Laswell – maybe that should be a future SOTW]
29 October 2018 – ‘Counting Down The Days’ – Above & Beyond featuring Gemma Hayes – for those of you who haven’t managed to get a ticket for Above & Beyond’s gig on Sunday at SWG3. This has Gemma Hayes on vocals and I saw her give a great set at Oslo in London 14 Jan 2015, mainly based on her album ‘Bones + Longing’ which is worth checking out.
20 October 2018 – ‘Phantom in the Valley’ – Howlin Rain – One of my favourite songs – it has a lot of the elements I like – it’s long, it has a significant musical change (when the ok heavy rock song morphs into something completely different at 4.09 – makes Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’ shift seem tame), it has brass (cue great trumpet 5.56). I am not a heavy progressive rock fan but I also really like the song’s album, The Russian Wilds, and they put on great show when I saw them in 2014 at the Boston Music Room, London.
7 October 2018 – ‘A Case For Shame’ – Moby with Cold Specks – the song title just seems appropriate in so many ways on the day BK was confirmed as the next US supreme court judge. Never seen Moby live but saw a good CS performance at The Lexington, London in June 2014.
1 October 2018 – ‘Goodbye Sweet Dreams’ – Roky Erickson & Okkervil River – from 2010, The 13th Floor Elevators main man’s first album in 14 years contained this gem. And Okkervil River are playing Stereo on Saturday – go see them!
23 September 2018 – ‘Bros’ – Wolf Alice – they won the Mercury Prize this week for their latest album, Visions of a Life. I saw them in 2015 at the Brixton Academy when they were touring their first album and this track is from that album (also a nod to the fact that I went to that gig with my brother Noel).
17 September 2018 – ‘Heart Attack’ – The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – for some reason watching Tokyo Taboo last week reminded me of this group, who I saw in April 2012 at the wonderful Scala in London, and the highlight was their live version of this song.
9 September – ‘HEAL’ – Strand of Oaks (aka Timothy Showalter and friends) – saw them four years ago at The Lexington in London and they were awesome. This is a live version of the title track from their best album which is gentler, and more keyboard led version than the album version – it was recorded a month before I saw them.
4 September 2018 – ‘Picasso’ – Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band – obviously in a blissful mood as here is yet another exercise in chill
26 August 2018 – ‘Loveless’ – Lo Moon – Just discovered this band recently – this track is 7 minutes of blissed out joy
19 August 2018 – ‘I Say A Little Prayer’ – Aretha Franklin – the greatest soul singer, who died this week; and if you haven’t seen it before also watch her performance of ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ when in her 70s.
13 August 2018 – ‘Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale’ – Love – back to the 60s for one of my all-time favourites and cool to listen to on a balmy summer evening
6 August 2018 – ‘The Saint’ – Orbital – to celebrate their appearance in George Square on Friday
22 July 2018 – ‘Lord, I’m Discouraged’ – The Hold Steady – a brilliant live band, this is from their album and it should have been last week’s SOTW to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of the album it’s on, Stay Positive.
15 July 2018 – ‘Hanging Around’ – Hazel O’Connor – for Edel and Cathy who recently went to HO gig – I’ve always liked this cover, partly because of the way the sax replaces the keys of the original
9 July 2018 – ‘Sister Surround’ – The Soundtrack Of Our Lives. To cheer up the Swedes vanquished by England in the WC QFs a track from one of the best rock bands, both live and in the studio, of the first decade of the 21st century – although like the football team now gone. I saw them live twice (both superb gigs) including their last ever UK gig in Heaven, London in 2012 – with at least one Gallagher bro in attendance)
25 June 2018 – ‘Coma Pony’ – Omar Rodriquez Lopez Quintet – a blissed out instrumental for the promised blissed out summer week ahead
18 June 2018 – ‘Reckless Burning’ – Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter – great song, great pacing, peerless vocal. I saw them in 2007 at Bush Hall, London and embarrassed myself by being the only person in the smallish venue to whoop when the first few bars of this were played
11 June 2018 – ‘Temptation’ – New Order – the World Cup begins this week and they did one of the best World Cup songs. I can’t quite make myself choose that as a ‘Song of the Week’ but here is one of their better early ones instead.
3 June 2018 – ‘Ice Cream’ – Battles – what goes better with the sunshine Glasgow has been basking in for the last week than some ice cream!
27 May 2018 – ‘Wide Open Space‘ – Mansun – to celebrate this week’s re-issue of their seminal debut Attack of the Grey Lantern
21 May 2018 – ‘Whole Wide World‘ – Wreckless Eric, a classic in honour of his playing the Hug & Pint last week!
13 May 2018 – ‘Things‘ – Frightened Rabbit – for Scott
6 May 18 – ‘Little Colored Ballons‘ – John Murry – 9 minute autobiographical epic – album The Graceless Age is excellent too!
29 April 18 – ‘Geraldine‘ – Glasvegas – they are headlining the Stag and Dagger festival and they are from Glasgow so it only seems right to choose one of their early successes as song of the week
22 Apr 18 – ‘Goddess On A Highway‘ – Mercury Rev – very excited about seeing MR on Friday when they will be playing their classic album Deserter’s Songs and to keep me going until then here is a song from the album
8 Apr 18– ‘In My View’ – Young Fathers – from their latest, and best yet, album Cocoa Sugar
1 Apr 18 – ‘Mushaboom’ – Feist – time for some airy., light pop
25 Mar 18- ‘Crisis 1 & 2’ – The Dears. This is from the wonderful album Missiles – in a week in which the Trump White House lurched even further to the loony right the song and album titles just seemed appropriate. And The Dears are one the bands that I have liked for years but who have not managed to gain a wider acceptance.
18 Mar 18 – ‘Change of Heart’ – El Perro Del Mar – this week Sigrid, the Norwegian songstress who won the BBC Music Sound of 2018 award, plays a sold out gig Saint Luke’s and here is a song from GG’s favourite Scandi (don’t be fooled by the name!) female singer.
11 March 2018 – ‘Desire’ – Everything, Everything – because of their hugely enjoyable gig last week
4 March 2018 – ‘Cum On Feel The Noize‘ – Martin Carthy (as part of The Imagined Village) – I am an ice hockey fan and this season at the Braehead Clan each week they have played a cover of this Slade song but here is GG’s favourite cover – revealing Noddy Holder and Jim Lea to have written a stately modern folk classic
25 Feb 2018 – ‘Fugitive Motel’ – Elbow – looking forward to their gig on Friday – this is for those who’ve been with them since the beginning (‘I blow you a kiss/It should reach you tomorrow’)
21 Feb 2018 – ‘Amphetamine’ – Steve Wynn and the Miracle Three – time for some raucous rock
12 Feb 2018 – ‘No Need To Cry’ – British Sea Power – GG is sad is unable to go their gig at the Garage on Saturday so instead we have this song as consolation
2 Feb 2018 – ‘Lovers in Love’ – Portugal. The Man – their song ‘Feel It Still’ just won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance but this is my favourite song by them. They are great live too – I last saw them play a wonderfully sweaty dance-crazed gig at Electowrkz, London.
7 January 2018 – ‘French Press’ – Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – one of my favourite songs from last year, twangy infectious indie [Song of the Month]
17 December 2017 – ‘Tender To The Blues’ – James Yorkston and The Athletes – a classic from a Scottish folk hero (though this is not so much folk as just a great song)
10 December – 2017 – Modest Mouse – Dashboard– last week saw The Cribs, first saw them when Johnny Marr was member and this is song from his sojourn with MM
3 December 2017 – Oumou Sangaré – Fadjamou – a slice of superior Wassoulou music from its Malian queen
26 November 2017 – The Twang – ‘Two Lovers’ – one of their first hits and still one of their best – playing sold out gig on Saturday
6 November 2017 – ‘Beautifully Unconventional’ – Wolf Alice. Latest album sees WA move slightly more mainstream but the power and appeal is still intact.
29 October 2017 – ‘Cold Little Heart’ – Michael Kiwanuka. GG saw MK earlier this year and the gig opened brilliantly with this song (although version here is truncated single version)
23 October 2017 – ‘Decoration Day’ – Drive-By-Truckers. Tonight GG is going to see Jason Isbell who was previously a key member of the Drive-by-Truckers, one of the best Southern rock bands around – and this is my favourite song Isbell wrote for them, with Patterson Hood singing lead (the album version is great but this live version captures band’s energy)
Recent Comments