This came out in 2003, a sumptuous electronic song from the turn of the millennium adorned with the vocals of Dot Allison, one of those songs that can leave feeling happy or sad depending on your mood when hearing it (and also that confused happy-sad state). King Of Woolworths was Jon Brooks who has more recently been releasing records as The Advisory Circle. The album Sell Me Back My Soul came from, L’illustration Musicale, also had contributions from Bob Stanley of St Etienne and Emma Pollock of The Delgados but I don’t own a copy of it. Given the quality of Sell My Soul Back To Me and effect it has on me I have no idea why I have never bought a copy especially as I’ve got almost everything else Dot has sung on. The video below is fan made from a film called The Cell, which I haven’t seen. The photograph is by William Eggleston and is perfect in ways I cannot describe.
I’d forgotten I even owned this- a remix of St Etienne’s How We Used To Live by Dot Allison. Stretched and abstract, some drones, static and whirring noises, and some distance from from Bob, Sarah and Pete’s usual sound. Nice though.
I’ve no doubt I will keep coming back to One Dove as long as I have the strength to lift the arm onto the vinyl or press play. Morning Dove White is one of the 90s high points, one of Weatherall’s too. This was their poppiest moment, soft, sublime and enveloping- even Stephen Hague can’t ruin it. It doesn’t have as many of the gorgeous dub textures that are all over the album but it should have been a big hit. I don’t remember seeing the video before, Dot and the boys miming in a pub/club. The bit where they get projected onto the pool table is a tad dated but no matter.
Drew reckons giving up smoking has affected my hormones, what with the Dot Allison and Betty Blue posts over the course of last week. I don’t know if he’s right but I thought I’d post this picture of celebrity shoplifter Winona Ryder anyway.
That Dot Allison album I mentioned (Pioneer, out December last year- did it get any press at all?) is a belter- as well as the Keith Tenniswood song I put up a few days ago there are several others that are as good as anything she’s done since the late 90s. This one, dance-pop co-written with Jagz Kooner (Sabres, Aloof), has a killer chorus and makes me throw my hands up in the air involuntarily, and wave them like I just don’t care.
Since writing this morning’s post I found a reference to a download only album at the end of last year called Pioneers with Dot and a whole host of electronica artists including Keith Tenniswood, Darren Emerson, Jagz Kooner and her hubby Christian Henson. It’s up at emusic, iTunes and at other such digital emporia. I’ve not listened to anything other than this song yet which sounds very much like Keith Tenniswood in his Radioactiveman guise with Dot singing- it has got a very busy, driving bassline.
I was listening to Dot Allison’s superb solo debut lp Aftermath the other day, especially the perfect single Mo’ Pop which should have been a hit in every country with a chart. Then I listened to the follow up, We Are Science, which had an electro-clash flavour with some assistance from One Lone Swordsman Keith Tenniswood- some cracking songs but less satisfying as a whole album. Then I remembered I also had 2007’s An Exaltation Of Larks- a much folkier affair with accordions and fiddles and acoustic guitars. Whispery and wistful music. She also released an album in 2009- Room Seven And A Half- which featured Pete Doherty and Paul Weller but I never got around to getting that one. Think I had Doherty fatigue by 2009. This was the single from An Exaltation Of Larks.
Posting that Death In Vegas song on Monday night prompted me to think that it’s been ages since I posted any One Dove. So, plucking a track fairly randomly from the hard drive we get the Old Toys Mix of Transient Truth. There are half a dozen different mixes of this song, most of them by Weatherall and his Sabres Of Paradise cronies Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns. This one is a killer- 120 bpm with a deep dubby bassline, pulsing synthlines, squelches and bleeps, a bit of Dot. They used to call it Progressive House. It still sounds like progress.
I missed a comment left a month or so ago from a reader called J who was looking for this- Death In Vegas’s Dirge (with the lovely Dot Allison on vox) remixed by dubmaster Adrian Sherwood. And though this may tip me towards the edge of the monthly bandwidth with Boxnet I’ll stick it back up anyway. Dubbed out Monday nights.
A reader called Anthony James has made a request, ‘on bended knee’ no less (quite fitting with all this reverence for our dear Queen)- One Dove’s Skanga. I’m only too happy to oblige with this majestic 12″ B-side slice of dub-house with Dot’s wonky vocals. Wonderful record.
I think I’ve mentioned this before but I can’t understand why this song and their cover of Jolene weren’t on Morning Dove White, instead of the multiple versions of Breakdown and White Love- they would have made it a different and better album.
> Continuing the recent Nancy and Lee theme this is Fallen by the much loved and much lamented One Dove. One Dove were Scotland’s premier post acid house dub-techno band, featuring the voice of the lovely Dot Allison, also featured recently round these parts. I know Drew will disagree, saying the original Soma version of Fallen is superior, but to my ears this Weatherall version, the Nancy and Lee Mix, is by far the best. Seven or so minutes of bliss.
It’s half term in England. We may be off camping for a few days, so if nothing happens here until Friday we’re under canvas somewhere. Hopefully dry.
Bagging Area 