Episode 30 - Indie football classics

Before 'World In Motion' became the theme of England's Italian Summer of 1990 there had been very limited crossover between alternative music and football. The odd track, such as Love on The Terraces by Serious Drinking and Kicker Conspiracy by the Fall, yes, and of course the insanely brilliant All I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit by Half Man Half Biscuit. But nothing sustained. The two camps regarded each other with the same levels of suspicion as the White Walkers and The King's Watch; The Aesthetes versus The Hearties.

But by the end of the '80s tectonic plates were shifting in both the English football scene and within indie music. As the long dreadful winter of hooliganism, megalomaniac chairmen and disregard for the supporter yielded to a tentative spring of fanzines, terrace humour and a megalomaniac Premier League, music went through its own transformation. The Second Summer of Love validated a new generation of blissed out youths to sport that funny yellow smiley badge, tripping from the nightclub to the terrace (there were still terraces then), unselfconsciously singing "Arrivederci, it's one on one".

This isn't just about England though. The episode starts with the magnificent panegyric in praise of Cameroon's Roger Milla by Pepe Kalle. Deeper into the programme we get to hear the samba rhythms of Brazil in Umbabarauma by Jorge Ben, and there is a splendid ska track by the Jamaican group Ska-J, Te Gusta El Futbol.

I write this as England stand on the brink of their first semi-final in 28 years. Meanwhile their government is doing its level best to sabotage all the feelings of goodwill a young, vibrant, multi-cultural squad of players under a progressive and hugely likable manager has produced. For all I know I'll never see England achieve as much again. So good luck, you muddle-headed nation, and may your creative folk save you from your politicians, who can't see past feathering their own nest to the genius that lies within the best in football and the best in music.

Hot dogs and seat for Mr. Hogg!
Aaaaaannnnddd his grotty spawn! 

Tracklist:-

Roger Milla, Pepe Kalle

Theme from Sparta FC, The Fall

The Official Colourbox World Cup Theme, Colourbox 

The Ballad of Paul Tierney, Lonely Tourist 

All I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit, HMHB 

Love on the terraces, Serious Drinking 

Te gusta el futbol, Ska-J 

Strachan, The Hitchers

I don’t want to play football, Belle and Sebastian

Kicker conspiracy, The Fall

God’s footballer, Billy Bragg

Umbabarauma, Jorge Ben

World in motion, New Order

Episode 29 - The World Cup of football

Welcome to the World Cup of Football!

One of the things I love about the World Cup - and there are many, though time zones aren't one of them - is the opportunity to lift the head above the parapet and see what's happening around the world.

So, here's a collection of artistes we haven't heard on the show before, curated from the participating nations in the 2018 World Cup. I've tried to cover as many points around the globe as is feasible within the constraints of an hour's programme, but there'll be gnashing of teeth in Saudi Arabia, Peru, Spain, Egypt, Colombia and many other countries. What can I say? Sos.

A very diverse collection, as you might expect, from the post-punk of early 80s Denmark via the warm rhythms of Senegal and Nigeria to the contemporary chamber music of South Korea and all points in between. Well, some points in between.

I hope it finds favour.

Tracklisting:-

Brazil - Let’s make love and listen to death from above, CSS

Belgium - Is it always binary, Soulwax

Japan - Woo Hoo, The 5 6 7 8s

Nigeria - Samba, King Sunny Ade

Sweden - You can’t hurry love, The Concretes

Russia - Ariadna, Kedr Livanskiy

Iceland - Birthday, The Sugarcubes

Senegal - New Africa, Youssou N’Dour

France - 1982, Francois and the Atlas Mountains

South Korea - The longing of the yawning divide, Park Jiha

Germany - Isi, Neu!

Australia - Keep on lying, Tame Impala

Denmark - Marble Station, Sort Sol

Episode 28 - Slowcore

I have a feeling this is going to be least popular episode. Ever.

Which is a shame. I accept that hardly anyone listens to Slowcore these days. Or Sadcore, as it was occasionally known. So much so that I was utterly unable to find one of my very favourite tracks on MP3: God's Green Earth by Idaho. There's a slightly warped version on Youtube (soundwise, not in a kinky way), which I'd urge you to dig out.

It's not even as if it was especially popular when it was at its 'height'. 1992-3. It operated in that interstice of time between grunge and BritPop (or whatever was the mid-90s thing in other countries). People had become jaded with squally guitars from young men in torn lumberjack shirts and trip-hop had come and mostly gone. Things had yet to turn full-on fun-retro Union Jack. As often though, that made for stimulating music, rather like the diverse mid-70s pre-punk scene. Narrativeless, all types of odd forms flourished.

One of which was Slowcore. Bleak lyrics, downbeat melodies, slower tempos. Often, but not always, minimalist arrangements. Galaxie 500 and American Music Club were the godfathers of the scene, but both usually played at more or less normal speed. Cortez the Killer by Neil Young is a significant ancestor. This episode starts with Blue Thunder - the shape of slow things to come.

I was in the audience for gigs by quite a few of these artists. Sparklehorse was so quiet I could only really hear people's conversations nearby. And because Mark Linkous appeared in a wheelchair, he was invisible to most of the audience. A gig you couldn't see or hear that was also really slow. Two days later I came down with a form of chronic fatigue that bugged me off and on for the next year. Happy memories!

I saw Codeine and you could tell they were coming to the end of the road. Playing in a London basement club to me and a handful of others, one of whom shouted his B-side request after each song.

But there was always Mogwai. And I saw them recently in a majestically powerful performance, and chuckled at their reverence for slow core and Slint in particular. You can't always tell where things will end up. Britpop was a musical dead end, in the end, while Slowcore lit a path forward in its own awkward, gloomy, unheralded way. I hope you enjoy the episode. As much as that's possible.

Tracklist:-

Blue thunder, Galaxie 500

Tom, Codeine

Immune, Low

Breadcrumb trail, Slint

Mistress, Red House Painters

Take me somewhere nice, Mogwai

A tribute to, The For Carnation

Tears are in your eyes, Yo La Tengo

I see a darkness, Bonne Prince Billy

Morning paper, Smog

It’s a wonderful life, Sparklehorse

Episode 27 - The sound of young Melbourne

Melbourne has no Harbour Bridge. No Taj Mahal. No Leaning Tower.

But it does have the things which make life worth living. The world's most liveable city, sure, but cliches have to come from somewhere. For now, at least, it remains supremely livable. A legitimate question is how do another million people get absorbed into a city which has shown little flair for forward thinking sustainability in the past? For now, though, yes, livable.

Or at least in the eyes of businessmen seconded to the city, which is what The Economist measures. Yet it truly is the home of good food, good music and as much sport as you can handle. When in doubt, build a stadium.

And, good music.

I'm a relative newcomer to the city, thirteen years in. But there's always been a vibrant music scene, and, as mentioned in the transmission, I vividly recall as a teenager using up one entire lunch break in my store walker job to hunt out The Friend Catcher by the Birthday Party. I found it in the tiny Virgin Store, dwarfed by the corporate HMV behemoth, but home to the cool elite of Coventry. Ahem.

So, here we are, with a sampler of what's bubbling up in Melbourne right now. Some amazing music here. My especial thanks go, not just to the groups concerned, but to Joanne and Luke, my co-curators. What it lacks in 64-track polish, these songs more than make up for in what makes Melbourne great (apart from the avocados, the Sherrin and the coffee beans). A passion for sound.

Tracklist:-

Fitting In well, The Girlatones

All I must do, Blond Moss

Hija Comunista, Trouble Peach

Communist daughter, Neutral Milk Hotel

Barrage, Creek

Got to go, Sal Wonder

Breathe on Mars, Sonic Moon

Sunken world, The Tall Shores

The friend catcher, The Birthday Party

Bliss born, Cope and Drag

Wategos, Doona Waves

Collider, Super Symmetric

Rockley Gardens, Closet Straights

Episode 26 - The natural world

The very first songs were most likely about nature. A plea for the gods to be kind: to switch on the sun and bring long days of fertility once winter had abated. Green grass, flowers in the spring, lambs born in the meadows. And who knows, some lovelorn lad or lass may have sadly strummed the first wistful lament to their departed love, tending the sheep, or by the fireside in the evening.

Folk music is the bridge back to that past, and there’s a flavour of folk in this episode. Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci from the Welsh valleys, Nick Drake, deep in rural Warwickshire and Fleet Foxes from the hills of Washington state all show glimpses of what might have been had that shepherd or shepherdess had access to a recording studio.

We’re in globetrotting mode elsewhere, roaming to the shores of Iceland with Mum and, not before time, Australia is well represented. Two of its finest shine, The Triffids and The Go-Betweens, the latter with maybe their finest track, ‘Cattle and Cane’, a paean to Grant McLellan’s childhood days among the canefields of Queensland.

The episode is bookended with a couple of electronic tracks: the ambient dub of The Orb's classic ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’, and ‘In a Beautiful Place Out In The Country’ from The Boards of Canada. The sinister vocoder on the latter a useful reminder that nature does not answer to humanity in the domain of The Great God Pan.

Tracklisting:

Little fluffy clouds, The Orb

Poppies, The Teardrop Explodes

The crystal lake, Grandaddy

How I long to feel that summer in my heart, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci

Cattle and cane, The Go Betweens

Raining pleasure, The Triffids

Seaweed, Mt Eerie

Passing afternoon, Iron and Wine

Even dogs in the wild, The Associates

River man, Nick Drake

Green grass of tunnel, Mum

White winter hymnal, Fleet Foxes

In a beautiful place out in the country, Boards of Canada

Episode 25 - Silver anniversary special requests edition

25 editions, my my.

To celebrate, ‘Friends of Sombrero Fallout’ – why not join on Facebook? - were invited to request a track they liked from the first 24 shows.

It turns out democracy has its limits however, as the politicians of western Europe are discovering to their cost. So this is a semi-curated/semi-citizen-content hybrid. Perhaps a workable model for those same politicians to consider?

Tracklist:-

Digital, Joy Division (Kat Frame)

Ceremony, New Order (Michael Mosselmans)

Up the junction, Squeeze (Michael Mulcahey)

Eighties fan, Camera Obscura (Kat Frame)

Dust, Parquet Courts (Josh Bulafkin)

Friends of the night, Mogwai (Ollie Wearne)

Foxy lady, The Cure (James Shaw)

2017, Four Tet (Isabel Dupey)

Let me back in, Rilo Kiley (Ollie Wearne)

Trailer trash, Modest Mouse (Wil de Souza)

Fall of the high school running back, Mountain Goats (Michael Mulcahey)

Dead man’s curve, Nash the Slash (Danny O’Neill)

Somewhere in Hollywood, 10cc (Adrian Langford)

Episode 24 - Warp record label

Here's a Sombrero Fallout innovation - an episode dedicated to a record label.

Warp are an obvious candidate for such a show: visionary, high quality, fiercely independent. Founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store workers Steve Beckett, Rob Mitchell and Robert Gordon, they pursue artists of a certain type, essentially modern electronica acts.

More than any other label they've come to be associated with the phenomenon known as IDM or intelligent dance music. This has always seemed a category error, if I may use that term: attempts to combine Dionysus and Apollo are rarely successful. Others can let me know, but when you're inside the music and moving where it takes you, are you looking for 'intelligence' as a criterion for how much you're enjoying yourself.

What I find intelligent about Warp music does not coincide with the music I want to dance to. (As it happens, I very rarely want to dance anyway, missing a critical part of the DNA strand urging me to move about). This is intelligent electronic music - but intelligent dance music? Perhaps someone like Battles get close - but then we're into substratum of math rock.

Anyway, there's loads of brilliant music on Warp. Artists for whom time ran out in this episode include LFO, The Black Dog, Autechre, Flying Lotus, Rustie, Danny Brown, TNGHT and Kelela. Even Brian Eno's ended up on the label! I also feel there are some bands that ought to be on Warp, but aren't, such as Four Tet.

I may well do other labels in the future, should the mood take me. Factory, Sarah, Rough Trade and Island come to mind.

Tracklist:-

Come on let’s go, Broadcast

Atlas, Battles

Slyd, !!!

Flip ya lid, Nightmares on Wax

Pulsewidth, Aphex Twin

Get go, Death Grips

Rue the whirl, Boards of Canada

Chrome country, Oneohtrix Point Never

Ready, able, Grizzly Bear

Plainsong, Seefeel

Episode 23 - Songs under two minutes long

The short song, when executed to perfection, is a miracle of precision.

The archetypal short song collection is perhaps The Commercial Album by The Residents. The enigmatic group reasoned that since songs were essentially a verse and a chorus repeated three times, why not just do one verse and one chorus and stop there? The result was an album in which none of the tracks last more than a minute. Perversely the track played in the podcast is Japanese Watercolour - an instrumental.

However there's a reason that things are the way they are. The human ear needs the story to evolve, and three minutes feels "about right". Well, it does now, but worth noting that few of The Beatles early songs lasted more than two minutes. Then fast forward to punk and Wire's Pink Flag dealt largely in miniature masterpieces, of which at 1:18 Fragile is a wonderful example. Similarly The Clash's first album.

The power pop lo-fi movement of the early 90s in the U.S. stripped back songwriting to its essentials yet again, and there is a marvellous trio of songs featured from that era by The Lemonheads, Guided By Voices, and then a Pavement track to finish which is all of one minute long: I Love Perth (don't we all?).

Jonathan Franzen or Dickens or Zola are what you come back to night after night, and those are the stories in which we lose ourselves. But there's a lot to be said for saying what's on your mind, getting in and getting out. There's no room for manoeuvre or indulgence or digression. You wouldn't want all music to be this concise, of course. But in the same way a Raymond Carver short story is breathtaking in its economy, Fell In Love With A Girl or Final Day or Girlfriend In A Coma or Forever Drone are all the better for being neither one note shorter or longer.

And, on top of everything else, you get 24 tracks in one episode.

Tracklist:-

Fell in love with a girl, The White Stripes

Mayday, The Libertines

Something against you, Pixies

Rockin' stroll, The Lemonheads

Motor away, Guided By Voices

I love Perth, Pavement

My only friend, The Magnetic Fields

Underbelly, Wild Beasts

Girlfriend in a coma, The Smiths

Velocity girl, Primal Scream

King of carrot flowers Pt 1, Neutral Milk Hotel

Never talking to you again, Husker Du

Forever drone, Josef K

Fragile, Wire

Final day, Young Marble Giants

Detail for Paul, The Durutti Column

Another green world, Brian Eno

Japanese watercolour, The Residents

This ain’t no picnic, The Minutemen

Love song, The Damned

Vaseline, Elastica

New baby boom, Black Box Recorder

How can we hang on to a dream?, Tim Hardin

True love will find you in the end, Daniel Johnston

Episode 22 - Soundtrack songs

What makes a great choice of song for a movie?

Stanley Kubrick famously played The Blue Danube by Strauss as a guide track for the space station sequences in 2001 : A Space Odyssey, then discovered that the strange juxtaposition worked. Quentin Tarantino also knows that contrast plays dividends. Stuck in the Middle with You by Stealer's Wheel was a fairly innocuous track until it took on newly sinister significance accompanying the ear scene in Reservoir Dogs. For a while his trademark use of music could resurrect an artist's career, as it did for Dick Dale with Pulp Fiction.

Occasionally the soundtrack seeps into the plot, as when Natalie Portman's character is listening to The Shins in the doctor's waiting room of Garden State. But since Coppola used The Doors' The End to such effect in Apocalypse Now, a judicious use of alternative music has become a key weapon in the director's arsenal. The rise of independent cinema has allowed alternative music to find new outlets and encourage new demographics to hear the works of more obscure artists.

This episode is divided more or less in two. Part One features some jauntier numbers from Toots and the Maytals, Supergrass, The Beat, The Shins, New Order and Lou Reed. Then, as Paul McCartney decided for the end of Abbey Road, there is a thematic unity that unites Part Two in the form of a medley.

Here's a classic indie movie: perhaps a troubled boy in his early twenties, facing problems in his life, meets a similarly awkward girl (favourite band, The Smiths). Neither feels they quite fit in the harsh world of today. Although there are obstacles in their way - the path of true love never runs smooth - eventually they realise they are meant for each other. Comic supporting characters pad out the storyline.

What better soundtrack for this film than tracks by Air, Beck, Nick Drake, Belle and Sebastian, Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra, Broken Social Scene, Brian Eno and The Cure. You could even write a variant script in your mind.

Tracklist:-

54-46 was my number, Toots and the Maytals (from This Is England)

Alright, Supergrass (from Clueless)

Mirror in the bathroom, The Beat (from Gross Pointe Blank)

Caring is creepy, The Shins (from Garden State)

Ceremony, New Order (from Marie Antoinette)

Satellite of love, Lou Reed (from Adventureland)

Playground love, Air (from The Virgin Suicides)

Everybody’s got to learn some time, Beck (from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

Fly, Nick Drake (from The Royal Tenenbaums)

Piazza, New York Catcher, Belle and Sebastian (from Juno)

Some velvet morning, Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra (from Morvern Callar)

Anthems for a seventeen year-old girl, Broken Social Scene (from Scott Pilgrim vs The World)

The big ship, Brian Eno (from Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)

All cats are grey, The Cure (from Marie Antoinette)

Episode 21 - Sheffield

I don't know as much about Sheffield as I should. There was quite a good novel about the miners' strike, inter alia, called The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher which I can mildly recommend. It's the tallest city in Europe (I think). My football team travelled there in the quarter and semi-finals during our triumphant F A Cup run of 1987, just two years before Hillsborough became synonymous with tragedy.

Musically I did once travel to Sheffield after work (I was in Coventry at the time) to see The Teardrop Explodes at the university. Travelled back after the gig, got back home at 3 a.m., then showed up for work, no problem.

Musically there's an electronic post-punk thread in the experiments of early Human League, Heaven 17, Cabaret Voltaire and Clock DVA (the latter of whom time did not allow to be featured). Then the idiosyncratic twin peaks of Pulp and The Arctic Monkeys (plus Alex Turner's many other projects). All very fine music, and enough to organise any episode around.

But researching this programme I came across a slew of hidden gems including two excellent featured tracks from Chakk and They Must Be Russians, indicating a very vibrant local scene, overshadowed perhaps by Manchester and Liverpool's reputation as musical epicentres to the west. There is a host of other post-punk bands which would merit further exploration included in the book/CD Beats Working for a Living: Sheffield Popular Music 1973-84.

And, on a personal note, Into The Garden by Artery is one of those tracks that, once heard, has stayed with me for life.

Tracklist:-

Help the aged, Pulp

Being boiled, The Human League

(We don't need this) Fascist groove thang, Heaven 17

Where have I seen you, They must be Russians

Into the garden, Artery

505, Arctic Monkeys

Just wait, Chakk

Separated by motorways, The Long Blondes

Sluggin fer Jesus (Part One), Cabaret Voltaire

Baby you're my light, Richard Hawley

Standing next to me, The Last Shadow Puppets

Total war, Comsat Angels

Radio protector, 65daysofstatic