Forgotten Music #24: The Housemartins - "Five Get Over Excited" (1987)

Hull, UK's Housemartins were an odd band, but not necessarily in a musical way. Many times, they stood on the brink of stardom, only to walk away from the limelight and retreat back into obscurity. Their style was a mix of happy alt-pop with stunning vocal harmonies, mixed with gospel and cabaret style pop. They sang about love and politics. And they're oddly known for the bands they spawned and not the original band.

The band started as a busker duo in 1983, but quickly expanded into a quintet. They put out some recordings in 1985, made a Peel Session, then in 986, they scored their first hit single with "Happy Hour". They followed that up with a number one single with an a capella version of the Isley Brothers "Caravan of Love". Their first album, London 0 Hull 4 was a huge hit in the UK, and their follow up in 1987, The People That Grinned Themselves to Death, was a similar success, and saw the band getting a lot of college radio airplay in the States.

The band is well known for their sunny dispositions and their strong left-wing stance, which was often portrayed in their music. One of their later hits was "Me and the Farmer" a folky pop song about the importance of farming in society, and the plight of the working man.

They broke up in 1988, but often help out with each other's projects. Most of the band went on to form The Beautiful South, who are still together today, playing mopey Smiths style Brit-pop. And the other big name to come out of the band was Norman Cook, better known as the electronic superstar Fatboy Slim.

"Five Get Over Excited" comes from The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death, from 1987.

DNTTA Playlist for June 2, 2017

Artist - Song - Album (Label)  * indicates Canadian Content 

Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca 

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Melted Mirror - Flying Fortress* - Borderzone (Independent)
Goldfrapp - Become the One - Silver Eye (Mute)
Andrew Franey - Maybe Life Goes On* - Human (We Are Droid)
Ghost Twin - Saturn Swallows the Sun* - Plastic Heart (Artoffact)
Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Theme - Twin Peaks OST (Warner)
David Bowie - Fill Your Heart - Hunky Dory (Virgin)
Nine Inch Nails - The Perfect Drug - Lost Highway OST (Nothing)
Jarvis Cocker and Chilly Gonzales - Tearjerker* - Room 29 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Family Band - Solitude* - Four Standards (Egg Paper Factory)
Julien Sagot - Bleu Corail Electrique* - Bleu Jane (Simone)
Alpha Six Romeo - Want it Back - Flint Loves Silver (Independent)

Covers Courageous #11: Tin Huey - I'm a Believer (1979)

As a fan of new wave, I know there's an incredible amount of obscure music, trivia and "also ran" bands in the music lexicon. Tin Huey qualifies as one of those "also ran" bands.

Tin Huey were part of the Akron/Cleveland new wave scene that grew up alongside the NY punk/new wave scene in the late 70s. Tin Huey were from Akron, which spawned bands like The Dead Boys, The Pretenders, Rubber City Rebels and, yes, Devo. The band ran with the Akron scene and the Cleveland bands of the time (Pere Ubu, Electric Eels), touring through Ohio and on to the New York scene.

Tin Huey released a few EPs and just two proper albums, 1980's Contents Dislodged During Shipment (their only album for a major label, Warner), and 1999's Disinformation, plus a B-sides compilation in 2009.

The band is still together and tours in the US Midwest.

Their cover of The Monkees' "I'm a Believer" comes from 1980's Contents Dislodged During Shipment.

DNTTA Playlist for May 26, 2017

Artist - Song - Album (Label)  * indicates Canadian Content 

Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca 

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Kytami - Renegade*- Renegade (East Van Digital)
Kytami - Silk Road* - Renegade (East Van Digital)
Kytami - Hello Friend* - Renegade (East Van Digital)
Kytami - Sirens* - Renegade (East Van Digital)
Blue Hawaii - Lilac* - Blooming Summer (Arbutus)
Factory Floor - Ya - 25 25 (DFA)
Lou Canon - Coma* - Suspicious (Paper Bag)

Video Playlist #12: That Eastern Country

With Russia being all up in our North American area lately, here's bands named after Russia, about Russia and from Russia.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0QOmyo1JgZdCz2sy_CaSZMoukXpEjmTI

1) The Beatles - Back in the USSR
2) BB Gabor* - Soviet Jewelry
3) Russian Circles - Vorel
4) White Russia - Papertown
5) Radio Moscow - The Escape
6) Soviet Soviet - Ecstacy
7) Forward Russia - Nine
8) Gorky Park - Try to Find Me
9) Warsaw Pakt - Believe Me Honey
10) Kremlin - Ghost Flyers
11) Zoviet:France - I Felt the Breath of My Assassin
12) The Vulgar Boatmen - You Don't Love Me Yet
13) t.A.T.u. - All the Things You Said

DNTTA Playlist for May 17, 2017

Artist - Song - Album (Label)  * indicates Canadian Content 

Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca 

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METZ - Wasted* - METZ (Sub Pop)
Soundgarden - Get on the Snake - Louder Than Love (A&M)
Heavy Living - Level the Ground* - Heavy Living (Independent)
Gun Control - Jimmy and Janice* - Volume 1 (Independent)
Soul Mates - Empty* - Snake Oil (Independent)
Mi'ens - Challenger* - Challenger (Kingfisher Bluez)
Blessed - Endure* - EP 2 (Kingfisher Bluez)
Crims and Flow - Lizard People* - Nightmare Food in the Vacuum Room (Independent)
Prepared - Ohio Glory* - Trust Me (Revolution Winter)
Re-Gen - Mercury* - GEN II (Independent)
Blood and Glass - Whiskey* - Punk Shadows (Independent)
Okilly Dokilly - White Wine Spritzer - Howdiddly Doodilly (Independent)

DNTTA Playlist for May 12, 2017

Artist - Song - Album (Label)  * indicates Canadian Content 

Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca 

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Little Scream - Wreckage* - Cult Following (Dine Alone)
Lush Buffalo - Jane the Ripper* - Lush Buffalo (Independent)
No Joy - Slug Night* - Wait to Pleasure (Mexican Summer)
The Garrys - Druscilla* - Warm Buds (Independent)
Dim-Sum - Things Just Don't Add Up* - Dim-Sum (Big White Cloud)
Thinking Plague - Thus We Have Made the World - Hoping Against Hope (Cuneiform)
Ghostkeeper - This is Our Love* - Sheer Blouse Buffalo Knocks (Independent)
Music Maul - Manhours* - Special (Independent)
B.A. Johnston - Alley Beers* - Gremlins III (Wyatt)
Kele Fleming - Mosaic* - No Static (Tin Forest)
Midnight Oil - The Power and the Passion - 10 to 1 (Columbia)

Canadian Indy Band Round up, June 2017

Been a while since we've focused on new Canadian indy talent that you (yes YOU!) should check out.

Soul Mates

Saskatchewan has been a real hotbed for indy bands lately, from country and folk to more experimental and noisy bands. Soul Mates are a new band from Saskatoon and are in the noise rock/post punk/hardcore punk vibe. Their debut album just came out, and it's called Snake Oil.


Elephant Skeletons

From Fredricton, NB, Elephant Skeletons are a jazzy, dancy electro-rock band. They run the gamut from spacy, playful indy rock, to dance floor raves, to jazzy house. Their first album is called The Traveller and is a fun, disco-tinged electronic romp.


Apollo Suns

Apollo Suns are a sprawling, seven-member jazz-rock collective from Winnipeg, MB. Their debut EP, Each Day a Different Sun, only has 5 songs, but all clock in around 5 minutes or more. Their style is a mix of rock, prog, jazz and experimental rock.

DNTTA Playlist for May 5, 2017

Artist - Song - Album (Label)  * indicates Canadian Content 

Listen to Do Not Touch This Amp every Friday 8-9 PM Pacific at www.thex.ca 

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Celebrity Traffic - Chains* - We Bleed Blood (Independent)
Elephant Skeletons - Metals* - The Traveler (Independent)
Kytami - Silk Road* - Renegade (East Van Digital)
Pavel - Laziness or Fear* - [sic] (Independent)
Soldout - Breaks - Forever (Flatcat)
Moby and the Void Pacific Choir - Don't Leave Me - These Machines Are Faling (Arts and Crafts)
Mome - Hold On - Panorama (Mercury)
Kele - The New Rules - The Boxer (4AD)
Mid Pines - Winds* IIVIXIXXX (Circuit Song)
Moon:and:6 - Welcome to Space* - A Brief History of Space Travel (Maisonneuve)
Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society - Ride Under Trees - Delia Derbyshire Apprecation Society (Six Degrees)
Magic Sound Fabric - Heaven's Coming Down - Observer (Spiralight)