Happy 150th!
I thought it would be nice to have a miniature restrospective on the occasion of our 150th episode. So, what I did was carve the episode list into tranches of ten and then choose a vaguely representative song from each.
Camera Obscura gets us under way representing the rise of female bands and Scotland and uplifting melancholia, a hallmark of the programme.
Next, the late great Mark E Smith of The Fall, the most played artist on the programme.
Then a nod to our theme tune by Broken Social Scene, with another track from their classic album ‘You Forgot It In People’.
Covid hit next and so we have a track from the Gang of Four, partially because Andy Gill may have been Patient Zero for the pandemic in the UK, but also, an appropriate track about losing your job.
NZs Tiny Ruins gave us a mini-masterpiece, ‘Me at the Museum’ being a track I always associate with lockdown walks.
Three songs strong on humour next, as an antidote (not literally, unfortunately) to the pandemic with Jonathan Coulton, Dry Cleaning and Half Man Half Biscuit. We do not fear funny.
Dub reggae has frequently featured as well, and it felt important to have a Lee Scratch Perry track walk amongst us.
The podcast received a major boost from Adam Buxton when he recommended us; one song he called out was ‘Paper House’ by The Associates, so here that is again.
It was great to get to see two bands that have always meant a lot to me, Pavement and The Strokes with two of my children recently, and the song ‘Ode to the Mets’ clearly meant a lot to Luke Finley too because, like Kylie, he couldn’t get it out of his head.
Another of the many great new female bands around is Horsegirl and we play them a lot. And now we’re playing them again.
Television remind me of my time back in the UK last year catching up with my TV-head friend, Nigel.
And I thought it would be nice to finish with a band I’ve only just discovered, who split up ten years ago, Standard Fare. Because that’s what the podcast is meant to do.
Here’s to the next 150.
Setlist:
Eighties fan, Camera Obscura
Dr Buck’s letter, The Fall
Anthem for a seventeen-year-old girl, Broken Social Scene
Paralysed, The Gang of Four
Me in the museum, you in the Winter Gardens, Tiny Ruins
Shop vac, Jonathan Coulton
Scratchcard lanyard, Dry Cleaning
Knobheads on quiz shows, Half Man Half Biscuit
Here come the warm dreads, Lee Scratch Perry (feat Brian Eno)
Paper house, The Associates
In the mouth a desert, Pavement
Ode to the Mets, The Strokes
History lesson (Part 2), Horsegirl
Days, Television
Love doesn’t just stop, Standard Fare