The Sugarcandy Mountain Radio Hour Episode 2
Welcome back to the Mountain!
Blimey it’s been ages since I did the first episode of The Sugarcandy Mountain Radio Hour and I had a lot of mic trouble. So I have decided that I’m just not going to talk on these broadcasts just play a ram shackle selection of music. A mix tape for a journey in my car.
Hope someone enjoys the selection.
Music Is Love
pH
The Sugarcandy Mountain Radio Hour Episode 2
Peters Trip – The Electric Flag
The Electric Flag was an American blues rock soul group, led by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and drummer Buddy Miles, and featuring other musicians such as vocalist Nick Gravenites and bassist Harvey Brooks. Bloomfield formed The Electric Flag in 1967.
Their initial recording was a soundtrack for The Trip, a movie about an LSD experience by Peter Fonda, written by Jack Nicholson and directed by Roger Corman.
Tamalpais High (At About 3) – David Crosby
Taken from If I Could Only Remember My Name is the debut solo album by David Crosby, released in February 1971 on Atlantic Records.
It was one of four high-profile albums released by each member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young in the wake of their chart-topping Déjà Vu album.
Stephen Stills, Songs for Beginners, and After the Gold Rush.
Here is a fact to bore your friends with, did you know the album was listed second on the Vatican’s Top 10 Pop Albums of All Time as published in the official newspaper of the Holy See, L’Osservatore Romano.
Sybil’s Dream – Beautify Junkyards
Beautify Junkyards are a Portuguese group influenced by English Acid Folk, Brazilian Tropicália and contemporary electronica.
Led by João Branco Kyron on vocals and keyboards. With Rita Vian also on vocals, João Moreira on acoustic guitar and synth, Sergue Ra on bass and Antonio Watts on drums. Helena Espvall, formerly of Espers, joined the band on cello and acoustic guitar in 2017.
Where Youth And Laughter Go – Broadcast
One of my favourite bands.
Taken from the EP called Extended Play.
Hailing from Birmingham, Broadcast, formed of Trish Keenan (vocals), Roj Stevens (keyboards), James Cargill (bass), Tim Felton (guitar) and Steve Perkins (drums), first appeared on Wurlitzer Jukebox back in 1996 with their first EP, Accidentals. Within a year, they had released two more EPs on Duophonic, collected on Work & Non Work, released on Warp, in 1997.
It would take nearly three years for Echo’s Answer, their next EP, to be released, shortly followed by the band’s first album, The Noise Made By People, and three more EPs. This profusion of EPs has shown that, far from being a simple tool to promote their albums, they are actually a platform for the band to explore and take their sound to uneasy territories.
Broadcast’s intimate experimental pop is fuelled with references to the work of the seminal BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Ennio Morricone or John Barry. Often associated with Stereolab in the early days, the sound of the band has developed considerably since.
Tragically Trish Keenan died of pneumonia on 14 January 2011 at the age of just 42.
The Birdcatchers Oath – Boom Bip & Doseone
I adored this album, Circle, when it was released – played it to death. Purchased from Spinadisc or given to me as a promo by Mark Thorneycroft ¿
Adam Drucker is Doseone. A nowhere man out to make the world small and something lovely of his neurosis. This cofounder to anticon and collaboration happy missionary skipped Cincinnati town for somewhere more dreamt in the dust of a marketing degree. His respective Midwest experiments with jel, why? and odd nosdam are testament to his versatility and prolific tendencies.
This 90’s guy au natural is free of form and slave to his own scatterbrained genius.
Boom Bip is Bryan Charles Hollon. Before 1992 Bryan Hollon was into guitars, drums and pianos together with his Sonic Youth, Bowie, Hendrix and Prince cassette tapes. He decided to search for something new and bought some turntables. In 1992 he set off on a path of discovering original hip hop sample material on classic jazz and funk albums that littered the Cincinnati thrift stores.
In 1993 he began doing his own radioshow and start DJing at coffee houses and small clubs in the area. In 1996 he released his first record with Mush Records after being discovered through his shows in town.
In 1998 he made his breakthrough album Circle together with poet Dose One that gained the attention of legendary John Peel on BBC Radio who invited him to do two Peel Sessions.
In 2001 he signed to the then Warp sublabel Lex Records.
Bryan also has a bloody rubbish side project called Neon Neon with Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals. I found there output extremely difficult to listen to. I remember getting a phone call from my DJ partner Stephen Dixy Dix, he was at a Neon Neon gig and had managed to get to speak to Bryan (Boom Bip) who he put on the phone to me with the introduction – ‘this is Peach and he thinks your shit’ or something like that. Cheers Dixy.
Early Morning Song – Bridget Saint John
Coming in at under 2 minutes. From the album Songs For The Gentle Man on Dandelion Records.
Bridget St John (born Bridget Hobbs, 4 October 1946, South London) is a British singer and songwriter, best known for the three albums she recorded between 1969 and 1972 for John Peel’s Dandelion label.
Peel produced her debut album Ask Me No Questions. She also recorded a large number of BBC Radio and Peel sessions and toured regularly on the UK college and festival circuit. Her popularity peaked in 1974 when she was voted fifth most popular female singer in that year’s Melody Maker readers poll.
An accomplished guitar player, she credits John Martyn as her guitar mentor.
The second album Songs for the Gentle Man, was produced by Ron Geesin. St. John then recorded another album, Jumble Queen, for Chrysalis Records in 1974. She emigrated to Greenwich Village in 1976 and virtually disappeared from the public eye for over 20 years.
She appeared at a Nick Drake tribute concert in New York in 1999, performing Northern Sky and One of These Things First. She toured Japan in 2006 with the minimalist French musician Colleen.
Aside from work under her own name, Bridget St John has also recorded with Mike Oldfield (on Amarok), Kevin Ayers and Robin Frederick. In 2007 she reunited with Kevin Ayers to record on his album The Unfairground in New York. They duetted on the song Baby Come Home.
She was described by John Peel as “the best lady singer-songwriter in the country”.
Jesse – Jill Cislaghi
Jill Cislaghi cut her one and only album Friends of Mine in 1977, during her senior year at Regis College in Massachusetts. She recorded solely for friends, family, and as a memento for the members of her graduating class.
Friends of Mine describes the loves and tribulations of Cislaghi’s life with a mixture of naivete and wisdom.
With nothing more than her voice and (mostly unplugged) guitar, Cislaghi’s folk sound is singular and resonant, bold yet humble.
Friends Of Mine’s hopeful yet wintry vision should appeal to fans of Sibylle Baier, Karen Dalton, Ruthann Friedman, and Ted Lucas.
Re-issued as a coproduction of Yoga Records and the new Music Inside Records label of Paris/London.
If I Knew You Were The One – Richard Twice
Richard twice were Richard Atkins and Richard Manning.
Richard Manning went to write and arrange music for a host of names, see full discography
In 1968, Atkins was building toward success he was certain would approach that of the Byrds or Simon & Garfunkel. He’d won a contract with Mercury Records, and recorded with the Wrecking Crew, a group of Los Angeles session musicians famous for their work with the Beach Boys.
But stage fright triggered a disastrous make-or-break performance in a small Hollywood nightclub, and everything abruptly fell apart. Atkins gave up music in the prime, and for 50 years he refused even to listen to a radio, so painful were his memories of a career he was convinced could have been.
Check out this short film by Matthew Salton below.
May You Give It All Away – Matt Deighton
From the 2018 and sixth solo album by the ex Mother Earth member. Doubtless Dauntless self produced on Monks Road Records.
Matt Deighton is a familiar name on the UK music scene through his work with Acid Jazz favourites Mother Earth and his association with Paul Weller and Oasis.
He initially made a name for himself in the mid-80s as a member of London-based indie rock band the Wolfhounds, before moving on to Mother Earth in the early 90s. As the band’s chief songwriter he was responsible for some of their most memorable songs, including the sublime ballad Jesse.
In 1995, shortly before Mother Earth’s demise, Deighton released his solo debut Villager, a charming folk rock collection that earned admiring comparisons to the work of Richard Thompson.
In 2000 Deighton issued his second solo album, You Are The Healer. Originally recorded in 1996 but delayed because of contractual difficulties, the album was reworked for release on the Yeaah! label and featured excellent keyboard work from UK music legend Brian Auger.
The Common Good 2001, Wake Up The Moths 2004, Kids Steal Feelings 2017 followed.
Crumbling Land – Pink Floyd
Taken from the soundtrack to Zabriskie Point. I have used the Italian cover art here as it’s the copy I own.
Pink Floyd’s contributions to the album were recorded in November and December 1969, after the release of Ummagumma.
Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up is a re-recording of Careful with That Axe, Eugene, originally released as a b-side in December 1968.
Love Scene (Version 4) is a Rick Wright solo piano composition.
Country Song (also known as The Red Queen) is a ballad filled with chess metaphors.
Unknown Song (also known as Rain in the Country) is a relaxed instrumental.
Love Scene (Version 6) (also known as Alan’s Blues) is a bluesy instrumental.
A track entitled Fingal’s Cave and another called Oenone were recorded but did not appear on the finished album.
Pink Floyd also recorded other unreleased material during the same sessions. Most notable is a lengthy composition which at that time was known as The Violent Sequence (later released on Dark Side of the Moon Immersion Box Set). This was later reworked, as Us and Them on The Dark Side of the Moon.
Zabriskie Point was directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. It was originally released in March 1970 and comprises songs from various artists.
A 1997 re-release includes four bonus tracks each from Jerry Garcia and Pink Floyd that were used in the film, but not the original soundtrack.
Jim Morrison of The Doors wrote the track L’America for the film, but was rejected by Antonioni and later released on The Doors‘ album L.A. Woman.
A Rolling Stones track, You Got the Silver, is featured in the film but not included on the soundtrack.
Season’s Trees – Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi Featuring Norah Jones
From the album Rome written by Danger Mouse and the Italian composer Daniele Luppi.
The album took five years to make and was inspired by the music from spaghetti westerns.
The album was recorded using vintage equipment and, as well as featuring musicians who recorded spaghetti western soundtracks, also features a reunited Cantori Moderni – the choir put together by Alessandro Alessandroni – which features on the soundtrack to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Sun’s Out – Hoops
From the album Routines released May 5, 2017
The Indiana band craft hyper-melodic songs, built around power-pop chords, deceptively complex drum patterns, and rock-anthem sentiments that hide some tellingly dark thoughts. Three of the four members write and sing, each a frontman and a sideman simultaneously. During a live show, the bandmates can be seen frequently swapping instruments and positions on stage. The setup isn’t democratic so much as it is simply adaptable and committed: doing what the song demands, getting the sound just right.
Hoops’ full-length debut, Routines is a bittersweet and honest record that sounds both warmly familiar and jarringly distinctive. Whereas their previous releases were recorded on four-track tape machines in living rooms and basements (both their own and their parents’), Routines marks the band’s first sessions in an actual studio – namely, Rear House Recording in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with Jarvis Taveniere (Widowspeak, Quilt). Those sessions, however, were just one step in the band’s careful creative process. After a few months of touring, they returned to Indiana to set up their gear in Krauter’s parents’ basement and began experimenting with the studio-recorded tracks. Some songs they only tinkered with, others they scrapped completely and rebuilt from the ground up. They were determi ned to make a record that sounded like Hoops. The result is Routines, the sharpest and clearest delineation of the band’s sound thus far, drawing from and emphasizing each members’ distinctive influences and personal styles: four guys making music that is larger than themselves.
Hoops is Drew Auscherman (vox, guitar), Kevin Krauter (vox, bass), Keagan Beresford (vox, keys, guitar), and James Harris (drums).
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The Mit Out Sound – The Sons Of Silence
Taken from the Lost For Words: A 17 Track Leaf Label Sampler from 2002
So, what happened was that Daniel Mudford, Pete Woodhead and Joe Gardiner were invited by Andrew Hulme to play live with O Yuki Conjugate. Performing and recording gave them a moment of confidence long enough to go out with their own ideas and somehow, there was a friendly ‘coup’ at the same time as OYC activites slowed down to Kraftwerkian-speed
Breeze – Horsebeach
Horsebeach are a four piece from Manchester, UK who make dreamy, jangly indie-pop.
Ryan Kennedy – Vocals, Guitar, Synths
Matt Booth – Backing Vocals, Drums
Thomas Featherstone – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Tom Critchley – Bass
Falling In – January
45 on Poptones in 2001.
Saw these guys live at the time and they were just bloody great. It was at the Soundhaus in Northampton in the main room. They blew me away.
Mornin’ Son – Orange Can
From the album Home Burns on Regal also from 2001.
I got to DJ support for these guys in Northampton and went back to reps house with my then girlfriend, and mates Mark Thorneycroft and Mark Refoy from Spacemen 3 for a drink and a chat. I remember them being bloody nice guys.
I also vaguely remember going to see them at Glastonbury walking up a hill to the tent and them letting off orange flares just outside which filled the tent with orange smoke for the set.
The origin of Orange Can can be traced back to early 1999, when brothers James and Jason Aslett began working on a large number of songs together.
Having just finished time in another band, the Asletts decided to fashion a record in their home studio and gather bandmates later. They spent three months recording Entrance High Rise, with the intent to re-record the material after attracting a label with what they had.
The independent Regal (U.K. home of the Beta Band) were impressed enough by the record to schedule it for release without changing a thing.
Shortly after cementing the deal with Regal, the Asletts recruited bassist Lee Catlin and a drummer, who would later be replaced by Rory Clarke.
The quartet recorded The Engine House, an EP that was released just prior to Entrance High Rise.
After a pair of 2001 singles, the Ansletts released their sophomore LP, Home Burns.
Exit Chasing followed in 2007 but then they disappeared off my radar.
Love Said (Let’s Go) – 77:78
The album Jellies released on Heavenlyin a Limited Edition Orange Jelly vinyl.
77:78 is a project from Aaron Fletcher and Tim Parkin (members of Isle Of Wight’s finest combo, The Bees). They released their first track as a very limited white label 7″ single in February 2018, with their debut album due for release in June 2018
I did a DJ support for the Bees and thought they were great live.
I’m a little non-plussed with Jellies at the time of writing, although I am hoping it will grow on me. But adore the summer single Love Said (Let’s Go) used in this episode
So that’s the second edition of The Sugarcandy Mountain Radio Hour. Perhaps I will talk next time…
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Comments always welcome.
Music Is Love
