I’m So Tired

Events are moving very fast at the moment- the government is reactive, constantly running to catch up with the virus. The announcement about schools yesterday means we’ll all be at home from after school tomorrow. I don’t feel any elation about this, there’s no real joy in having time out of work under these circumstances. I feel some relief- it’s been difficult coping at school this week as staffing numbers have fallen and those of us in school have been more and more stretched. Staff and children feeling anxious with an impact on the behaviour of some. Not an easy situation to manage.

Record Shop Day 2020 has been put back from April to June, another casualty of the Coronavirus. One of the announcements I was interested in from the initial lists was this single from Jennylee, Warpaint’s bassist- a cover of Fugazi’s 1999 song, a piano ballad from a band who played hardcore US punk. ‘I’m so tired the sheep are counting me’ Ian MacKaye sings before checking out with a bleak final line. Jennylee doubles the length of the song, picking out the melody on the bass and the two voices, hers and another, entwine around each other.

Back in January Warpaint sneaked a new song out on the soundtrack to a film called The Turning. The Brakes seems to be evidence that Warpaint are still a going concern and harks back to the sound of their early records, sparse and brittle but with that liquid, rolling groove and slightly stoned vocals they do so well.

The Brakes

Jennylee sang on a song on Trentemoller’s album last year, a very mid- 80s synth pop homage, Depeche Mode and New Order via Copenhagen and L.A. in the 21st century. I hadn’t heard this until I heard the RSD cover (or the soundtrack song) so I got three new Warpaint related songs in one go. Which is nice, as that man on The Fast Show used to say.

 

Hands Down

This came out on line on June 1st and is what happens when Danish dance producer Trentemoller gets Warpaint bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg to sing on one of his tracks. You could argue that this is so in thrall to The Cure, Siouxsie and early 80s goth-rock that it’s almost a Batcave tribute act but that would be churlish because this is so well done and so good that you should just let it push your buttons while you career around flapping your arms like a chicken. It wins, yes, hands down.

More Audrey

Last year Bagging Area’s patron saint Andrew Weatherall remixed Danish electronica wizard Trentemoller’s Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, Go! single, turning it into a supercharged glam rock stomp. He also provided a second remix, the Sky 81 Mix, a dreamier version, more echo and more submerged. I listened to an internet interview with Weatherall a month or so ago where he said this second remix had never been released. But, look, here it is…

Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, Go! (Andrew Weatherall Sky 81 Mix)

New To Me

I do like it when I discover something new- last Friday Drew at Across The Kitchen Table posted a new Weatherall remix, one I knew nothing about. I must be slipping. I’d get over to Drew’s place sharpish if I were you. It’s a remix of Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider, Go, Go, Go !!! from Danish artist Trontemoller’s album Into The Great Wide Yonder, and very good it is too. The 12″ turned up on Saturday morning, with the original version, Trentemoller’s own remix, Weatherall’s stomping 50s inspired mix and Lulu Rouge’s dubstep remix. Not having my finger on the pulse of the Scandinavian electronic scene suddenly I’ve got a whole new thing to go at, knowing I’ll be shelling out for both his albums and other stuff besides. This track is Shades Of Marble, also from Into The Great Wide Yonder, and is a lovely piece of melancholic but pacey electronica, with great swathes of 50s tremelo guitar popping up.

shades_of_marble-cmg.mp3