Nine Feet Underground

I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist it - it's even the title of compilation by quintessential Canterbury band Caravan - but my musings on the album titled The Wilde Flowers could only have one title. It probably hasn't escaped your notice that Mr NineFeetUnderground is quite a fan of the Canterbury sound / scene (is it a 'sound' or is it a 'scene'?) - both past and present, so it should also come as no surprise that the release (or strictly should that be "modified re-release"?) of an album by the band who are the progenitors of almost every original Canterbury band should arouse some interest. [Aside: Even if it has escaped your notice I'm still writing about the album anyway. So there.] I'm not going to witter on about whether or not the Canterbury sound is a lazy music journo invention or indeed whether every band that spawned, directly or indirectly, from the metaphoric loins of The Wilde Flowers actually conforms to s...

New Order have always had a way with the melancholic dance song, somehow managing to mix euphoric dance tunes with melancholic lyrics as shown on their most recent album 'Music Complete'.  Even without the glorious rumbling basslines of Peter Hook the album does mark a return to form that is far better than might be expected.  A high spot of the album is the track 'Tutti Frutti' which epitomises the dancefloor tristesse.  The lyrics hint at coming to terms with getting older - "I feel like I'm a setting sun" - and perhaps mid-life crisis, whilst at the same time being a hymn to a partner though even that hymn is tainted by some level of dependency - "I'm under your command". The video seems to take theme of getting older to a another level, capturing a sadness that goes well beyond the lyrics and really rams home a message of someone coming to terms with their self-image compared to how they are seen by others.   Perhaps all ...

There’s nothing like being topical and, as this post demonstrates, NineFeetUnderground can’t be accused of being too topical.  To be fair this was largely written at the time however “real life” prevented its completion. As the post is mainly a personal perspective I have decided to post as it was originally conceived – with the appropriate amount of grunting, sweating and recriminations… In the space of just under two weeks music lost two of its greatest figures, first on the 28 th December a few days after his 70 th birthday Lemmy died then on the 10 th January, two days after his 69 th birthday and the release of what proved to be his final album, David Bowie died.  A lot of media coverage followed both of these sad events – both making the main TV and radio news – so I just thought I’d write a few words about how they both touched my life though I met neither of them (well, I "almost" met one of them - read on). Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister to me was first ...

One of the best things about this time of year are the annual reviews of the year's best music according to the music press. Each magazine, blog or e-zine has its own bias so I like to take a cross-section: in terms of the printed press this means NME, Mojo, Uncut, Shindig! and Wire. Apart from the obvious joy of the list (!) there are three pluses: the fun of disagreement; the thrill of finding something explosive that you've missed; and most of all because it's the prompt for me to survey my albums of the year. To date I've seen the lists from Mojo and Uncut and both of these agree on one thing - their album of the year is Julia Holter's album 'Have You in My Wilderness'. It’s a great album and features one of my tracks of the year - it could even figure in my top 10, but that'll have to wait until another post. In the meantime here are a few tracks from some of my contenders... An absolute screamer from Anna Von Hausswolff... ...

All it takes is that electric piano and I'm lost to it. The woman's voice, the spoken intro, the loping drumbeat kicks in...'Midnight In A Perfect World'.  This is one of those songs that stops me in my tracks: once heard I have to listen all the way to the end.   Since I heard it again the other morning I think I've played it 6 or 7 times.  I found the official video for the track which I've never seen before - it's damn good for a video, not least because there's a sequence which leads to the cover shot of the album from which 'Midnight...' is taken: 'Endtroducing'.  The clock on the wall reads a quarter past midnight...

Nostalgia has featured a lot in my life lately - a 40th anniversary school reunion next year is generating lots of social media chatter with associated memories and Mr and Mrs 9Feet Underground have been enjoying a 22nd wedding anniversary - all of which has prompted me to write this piece on music and nostalgia. Let's get straight to the point: when it comes to music, in general, I'm not keen on nostalgia.  Let me expand on that.  I don't mean that I don't listen to any music that was written / recorded / released in the past. Far from it.  To me "new music" just means music I've not heard before, whether it was recorded yesterday or before I surfaced, screaming, onto this planet.  The key thing is to not only be open to new music but to actively seek it out; I'm not interested in the view that all the good music was made in the sixties, seventies, eighties, or whatever period happens to coincide with the speaker’s youth. There always has been go...

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 ...

An article published by  Uncut magazine suggests that people cease to take an active interest in new music once they hit their mid-thirties.  I certainly know people whose musical taste has frozen: they only listen to music from the sixties, or the seventies, or the eighties or perhaps the nineties.  Typically the era in question coincides with the years when they were in their teens or twenties. The Uncut article is a summary of research into the listening habits of US Spotify users published in an article titled ‘ “Music was better back then”: When do westop keeping up with popular music? ’ . Putting to one side the source and coverage of the data used, for me the premise is a flawed one.  My approach to music is more aligned to that of John Peel who said: “People do find it curious that a chap of my age likes the things that I like but I do feel that it's one of those situations where everyone's out of step except our John, because in e...

It's been a while since my last playlist so this time there are five songs rather than the customary three.  At least one of these songs has been bouncing round my brain for several weeks now - more on that below. There's one older track too - though not that old - the title track from Saint Etienne's 2002 album 'Finisterre'. 'Let it Happen' by Tame Impala has been playing in this brain for quite a while now, so much so that I've decided to adopt the title as my new approach to life :-J  This track is one of those restless Tame Impala tracks that seem to start off as one song, go through some changes and finish as a different song. Really can't say much about 'Fool' by Nadine Shah, other than I'm totally hooked. Album's good too.. The second track from Tame Impala's forthcoming album is ''Cause I'm a Man'. Not restless like the first track, it has been a slow burner that's insinuated its way into my b...