A legacy of comfortable, odd-ball eclecticism that nearly died with John Peel at a national level continues to thrive in regional centres. BBC Radio One is doing its best to re-appropriate the ethos through its Introducing initiative. But for the real thing, On The Bone Records in Leeds is the sort of operation that keeps things alive with gigs and releases and to which the likes of Huw Stephens are now beholden. If the relationship were ever the other way round, it seems to me that the centre has now lost its grip on what really goes on. This is probably how John Peel would always have preferred it anyway.
On The Bones' latest contribution to regional vitality is "Compilation Number Two", a cheerful and eclectic fusion of old and new names. All of them merit wider circulation, and price/availability makes acquisition pretty straightforward for anyone with a taste for creative integrity and a bit of youthful madness. You might equally go get your own regional variant (and send me a copy if it's as good as this!)
Eclectic is the key word.. But if that seems to suggest disconnected and spasmodic, forget it. The 19 tracks on this CD, from the heavy opening vengeance of THIS ET AL to the layered folksiness of FRAN RODGERS could all have been played through the course of a night at the Brudenell Social Club, while almost any permutation of five of the artists could have been sharing the live billing. The connecting thread would be that ordinary won't do. However well nurtured this lot have been over the last few exciting years in and around Leeds, all of them have been working on their own music and paying attention to, and sometimes playing with, everyone else.
THIS ET AL (not for the first time) open with their explosive charge of thunderous guitar and anguish. "Special Bear" is a good title. The song roars with industrial grade vengeance. GRAMMATICS hold up the other end of the programme with a dreamy remix of current single "Polar Swelling". GRAMMATICS are setting small fires all over the place these days. Just watch them burn. PAUL MARSHALL (just being picked up by the Bella Union label), NAPOLEON IIIrd, THE LODGER, I CONCUR, BILGE PUMP and THAT FUCKING TANK are other names that will be known in plenty of corners well beyond the regional base. BILGE PUMP, of perverse virtuosity fame are about to release a new album - one every five years seems to be about our ration - and "Rise And Fall Of The Alpha Male is a promising foretaste.
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BENJAMIN WETHERILL has been working with A HAWK AND A HACKSAW and various jazz talents this Spring, and a considerable album is about to be released on Red Deer Club in June. If it matches the idiosyncratic splendour of "The Flower of Magherally" at track 18 on this collection, then it's going to be a treat.
James Brown, the energy source and catalyst for On The Bone has his own band PULLED APART BY HORSES on here too. It's a reckless vehicle, tearing around a tight curve of rocky roads and hastily demolished buildings, and a highlight all on its own. MUCKY SAILOR, a frantic combination of THE LONESOME ORGANIST and LIGHTNING BOLT are doing something comlex, noisy and new in "Drunken Dancer". WINTERMUTE continue their adventures into melodic songs with a cubist guitar band hooked on guitar hooks and sharp turn-around times.
The VARIOUS also count WORRIEDABOUTSATAN (emotional digitalisms) , THESE MONSTERS (Instrumental grandiosity), DINOSAUR PILE-UP (Funky indie rock fun). TWO MINUTE NOODLES (what it says on the packet! MUCKY SAILOR, takeaway style!), THE TWILIGHT SAD (Scots guitar band languor and a splashy drum sound) and MONTY CASINO (abrasive guitars and shouting) - all with plenty to offer. No duds, no hangers-on, and a lengthening queue of hopefuls for Number 3, no doubt.
www.onthebonerecords.com
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