Nine Feet Underground

Today would have been John Peel's 76th birthday were it not for his untimely death in 2004.  As a small note of respect for the man who introduced me to more new and exciting music than any other person, here's a musical tribute. I'm not 100% certain whether it was John Peel or Alan "Fluff" Freeman who first brought Captain Beefheart to my attention.  If it was Alan Freeman, then the first track I heard would have been 'Big-Eyed Beans From Venus' - I know I heard him play it. If it was Peel, then I really have no idea - he played so many of  Either way John  Peel remained a huge fan of the man, regularly including tracks in  his radio shows and was the person who first brought Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band to the UK This is one of my favourite Beefheart tracks: Happy Birthday John. Gone but not forgotten.

The best new music I've heard recently has either been from solo female artists or originates from Scandinavia. This post sticks to former though there is one track that fits into both categories... Here's the first three songs: It took a couple of listens find the heart of Julia Holter's new single 'Feel You' but it repays the effort - the sadness and longing at core of this song make it really moving. The phrasing is exquisite and the chorus that begins after the line "Are you mythological?" is like toppling of a cliff, but in a pleasant way :-) In stark contrast 'Dragged Out' - the first song I've heard by Chelsea Wolfe, though this is by no means her first album - has a much darker melancholy at its centre. It sounds like the soundtrack to a soul's descent into hell, a thing of obsidian beauty and is hypnotically compelling. On a slightly lighter note - though perhaps only at the surface - is Roisin Murphy's ...