A much under-valued original, Basil Kirchin was one of the most unique musician producers to emerge out of the British post-war big band scene and will surely one day be recognized as an artist of stature. A native of Blackpool, he made his debut aged 13 playing drums in his father Ivor Kirchin's orchestra at the Paramount, Tottenham Court Road. The Ivor and Basil Kirchin Band released proto-punk classic Stone Age Mambo in 1956, a young Keith Moon took note.
In an impossibly bohemian move he went to India in the late 1950s spending some time in an ashram. In the 1960s he worked on experimental music and film soundtracks such as the Abominable Dr Phibes, using rock session men like Jimmy Page to make weird De Wolfe Library records. In the 1970s he issued his experimental sound works as "World within worlds". They were ahead of their time and maybe are still. Kirchin belongs the same pantheon of maverick British sound artists as Joe Meek or Vernon Elliot.
Primative London is a rare exploitation film about London's seamier side
Here is a review of Basil Kirchin's soundtrack LP which was issued in 2011.
here is the wikipedia entry but more interesting examination of Basil's work from Sound and Music
SKY HIGH: Alexis and Duffy blow away the London Blues
This is a real gem of British blues and one of Alexis Korner's best recordings. Recorded in 1965 with a much changed line-up from earlier sessions here we have Duffy Power and Alexis sharing vocal duties backed up by Danny Thompson and Terry Cox. Duffy sings on four tracks and plays harp throughout. For me this is British blues at its finest. Lo-fi and plaintive, the sound of the coffee bars and the night buses. Alan Skidmore and Chris Pyne bring a jazz feel that is always modern and tasteful. The title refers to the studio's location above a chemist in South Moulton St, at that time a hub of weed dealing. Producer Jack Winsley is one of the forgotten heroes of the British independents in the 1960s working with Mike Berry and Slade among others.
Here is the story of the sessions from Neil Slaven's liner notes to the reissue
Based on a true story about a Russian platoon in Afghanistan in 1988. The director/lead Fyodor Bondarchuk is a star in Russia and this big budget movie was seen by 3.8 million in its first two weeks. Its fully a war movie and a quality addition to the genre. A lot of sweat and muscle (and who knows what in subtitle translation) but the absolute payback are some awesome battle scenes that capture the mayhem and brutality of that conflict.
Very sad. Though he will no doubt be feted in obituary, Kevin Ayers never received the credit he deserved for one of the most creative and unique bodies of work in British music. His sometimes co-conspirator in psychedelia Syd Barrett became a legend on the basis of only three LPs whereas Kevin Ayers released album after album (17 in all) of his distinctive poetic, whimsical, mind-crawling psychedelic rock music without ever securing the reputation for creative genius that he deserved many time over. He should have been known as a British Lou Reed or Leonard Cohen for the consistency of his songwriting but for the most part remained an all-too-quirky footnote to the history of psychedelia despite being copied by everyone from Robyn Hitchcock to Peter Perrett and many more beyond. When he was part of The Soft Machine they were Britain's true answer to the Velvet Underground and his debut solo LP Joy of a Toy deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Transformer or Hunky Dory. That said there is so much to discover in all his albums. His is an oeuvre without too many duds. Shooting at the Moon, Whatevershebringswesing, Bananamour, right up to his later records like Sweet Deceiver and Yes we have no Mañanas on which he was accompanied by the even more underrated guitar hero Ollie Halsall formerly of Patto. Nowadays, with the internet revealing a musical landscape that was never so available the Canterbury scene is lauded as a pillar of the British avant-garde. Kevin Ayers was always his own man, however, never easy to pigeon-hole, a rocker and a poet with a charm that oozes from all his recordings.
For a start if you watch any of these videos once you will have to watch again. So get down on your knees and give tribute to a bunch of true rock motherfuckers. Mostly from French TV show Pop
Impossibly rare and obscure 1973 film of the Pink Fairies with Larry Wallis from French TV. It even has an interview with the mighty Lazza. Hooray for the world wide web.
Listen to Kings of Oblivion, Larry's 1973 Fairy freakout here
Great singer, Discovered in a record store in Greenwich Town, Kingston. Pals with Prince Allah and Earl Zero. Not much of a career for someone with all the moves.
Relax on beutiful sonic waves of pulse and feedback with this Eurotronique gem
Tuesday 8 January 2013
FIRST CLASS TICKETS
The hippest numbers in town
You gotta love this film footage of the High Numbers, soon to become the 'oo, playing to a heavy mod crowd at the Railway Hotel, Richmond, with cool footage of some hot steppin' young modernists, twisting and turning to their fave beat combo.
The bollocks, the real deal, the shit whatever you want to call it, that was the Pirates. Mick Green was an A lister as acknowledged by the likes of Macca, Brian Ferry and Englebert Humperdink all of whom paid for his services as hired guitar slinger. It was in the Pirates that Mick made the cranked-up riffed-out greasy rhythm and blues guitar sound that was like no other. Mick Green wasn't the type to be poncing about being a rock star but he was the guv'nor and the daddy. Listen to his guitar backing up Johnny Kidd
INTERGALACTIC VIBES FROM THE CAPTAIN OF THE BOUNTY
Merrell Fankhauser is one of our truely great space cadets. He has been to the stars and has beamed back good vibes. Here is a great video of him in Maui, touch the screen and you will get a contact high. Listen to his music as H.M.S Bounty, Fapardokly, Mu, all brilliant. He is a legend and long may he orbit the earth.
Two dumb and wonderful amateur videos for two of the best songs by The Angry Samoans. I love the animation particularly. The artist should be proud. The first two LPs by the Angry Samoans are among the all time best US Punk records. I would love to have seen them in the day. They have reformed and seem pretty good but somehow you know it isnt the same. This is teenager music to the max! Both songs from the 1982 LP Back from Samoa. Here lies the fullblown joy.
Jeff Beck Group with Rod on vocals do a real wangin' version of The Temptations 1966 hit from an early BBC Saturday Club appearance in March 1967. These BBC sessions show just how seminal the Jeff Beck Group was. This is heavy rock well before Zeppelin. Rod later did the song with the Faces and a more soulful groove but here Jeff just lets rip. Not even on YouTube! Find the full BBC sessions for a limited time in the Big O audio archive or here. Turn it up real loud now.
