May it be filled with the pleasure principle in circumference to my voice…

1. De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)
   [Tommy Boy | 1991]

2. De La Soul feat. Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah & Monie Love - Buddy (Native Tongue Decision)
   [Tommy Boy | 1989]

3. De La Soul feat. Chaka Khan - All Good?
   [Tommy Boy | 2000]

4. De La Soul feat. Shortie No Mass - Ego Trippin’ (Part Two)
   [Tommy Boy | 1993]

5. De La Soul - Keepin’ the Faith
   [Tommy Boy | 1991]

6. De La Soul - I Am I Be
   [Tommy Boy | 1993]

7. De La Soul feat. Snoop Dogg - Pain
   [AOI Records | 2016]

8. Prince Paul feat. De La Soul - More Than U Know
   [Tommy Boy | 1999]

9. De La Soul feat. Truth Enola - Pony Ride
   [Tommy Boy | 1996]

10. De La Soul - Let, Let Me In
    [Tommy Boy | 1991]

11. De La Soul - Breakadawn
    [Tommy Boy | 1993]

12. De La Soul - Sunshine
    [Tommy Boy | 1996]

13. De La Soul - Eye Know
    [Tommy Boy | 1989]

    

    Clyde Built Radio is a non-profit community radio station highlighting Glasgow’s music, arts and culture communities to the rest of the world.
    
    Having started broadcasting in 2020, the station has since hosted thousands of shows from established locals, venues, labels and discovered tons of new favourite DJs along the way.
    
    More listening from CBR every weekend here: clydebuiltradio.com
    
    During the rest of the week here: soundcloud.com/clydebuiltradio
    
    Previous Spicy Crisis CBR gubbins here: soundcloud.com/spicycrisis

My boy - Cathal - is completely and utterly obsessed.

He might as well face it, he’s addicted to fishing…

He is 10 now and has developed something of a single-lane-road-one-track mind flavoured fixation.

Well… there are actually three if one includes both football and the (justified and) ancient tradition of screaming and shouting uncontrollably at one’s pals on the Xbox of an evening.

Fishing is sitting quite comfortably at the top of the passion-based league table for him though.

Rods, reels, rigs, bait, hooks, floats, knots. Perch, pike, trout and roach being the main ‘big hard excellent fish’ caught so far… Fisheries, rivers, lochs and canals are his haunts.

If there’s a body of water anywhere and of any type and description (from pond to ocean) within relatively reasonable travelling distance of his current location he wants to know what’s in it, where exactly the wee gilled guys might be hiding and how quickly we can get there.

Told me recently (quite funnily and very typical of his unique chat) that he wants to move to America because there would be more options… Some boy. He is a very buoyant and youthful human being and yet like a wise old man at the same time in some ways.

I kinda recognise some aspects of this fast developing obsession a little in myself.

From about the age of 8 onwards (in parallel with the wee man’s infatuation) I had something comparable going down with music. Mentioned on various pieces on here over the last few years but it all started with The Beatles, the NME, Melody Maker, Select and the overall 90s indie scene explosion of early-to-mid 90s for me. And subsequently has deepened and developed into and become my major personal preoccupation ever since.

Tapes, CDs, records, bands, producers, labels, artwork, books, magazines, documentaries, shops, facts, stories and so on and so forth. An unyielding and never-ending quest and need to know more, hear more and just get more deeply into it - and across all different musical worlds and scenes.

His version of this - at this point in time - within the flow of his existence, just happens to involve substantially more maggots…

Sadly not always of the Funky variety.

However, as far as bugs for things go, getting the fishing one at 8 years old onwards (and upwards) seems to me to be one of the better options out there.

Things could be quite considerably worse.

It quietly asks quite a lot of him. Patience, thoughtfulness, care and attention. Meticulousness. Organisational skills. Looking after his stuff. Learning knots, not to mention learning all the various other ins and outs of the undertaking that (fish) fry his old man’s (maggot) brain.

Taking advice. Sitting still. Being outside. Fresh air, water, braving and enjoying inclement and somewhat changeable weather conditions and just generally being in the countryside where everything is far fresher, more invigorating and more alive than being stuck sat in the house or whatever.

I also personally think it’s very, very important in life to have interests and things within it, that do not necessarily require the approval or involvement of anybody else. For loads of reasons.

He’s also very ambitious and adventurous with it all too, which is also highly commendable for a young man of these pre-teen, primary school years.

Chatting to people to not only socialise and vibe off the shared passion but also to learn more and share what he has learned. And doing so with people of all different ages and all walks of life - without a screen, score, streak, like or an algorithm getting a sniff anywhere near the overwhelmingly wholesome transaction. It really is mega.

Overall it seems to me to be a pretty good way to pick up a few useful things about life without anyone sitting you down and telling you that you’re learning them whether you like it or not.

Long may it continue, wee man.

Without getting too cosmic about it, I do think there is something quite fundamental in the connections we build with things over time. People, places, interests, obsessions, whatever these might be. The more you put into them, the more they tend to give you back. You learn about them, get better at them, care for and care more about them and - somewhere along the way - they become part of how you understand yourself and the world around you.

Watching Cathal begin to develop that kind of big connection with his big passion has been a really lovely thing to see.

The care and consideration he gives to all his fishing stuff is something else as well. Everything has its place. Checking it, sorting it, packing it, repacking it, decorating it and generally tending to the whole operation with a level of attention I struggle to apply to most areas of my adult existence.

He himself could definitely do with applying that same careful organisational meticulousness to others areas of his life to be fair, but I don’t mind too much. He’s still young!

I love going fishing with him and would like to do so more although I am by no means much of a guide or a help for him. He’s teaching me. Which again is a very healthy situation to have with the young team.

Anyway, just a short piece this as I have been pondering his fishy fixation a lot lately and observing and contemplating the parallels with my own at this particular period of the great growing up escapade.

It is all highly heartwarming and slightly silly and surreal and I absolutely love it.

Beautiful, brilliant and bonkers. The three Bs. Cathal Thomas McColgan - all three of these adjectives apply to you in spades, young man.

Would not want it (and cannot imagine it) any other way.

But because this is MY SUBSTACK (move over, wee man)…

And my writing typically tends to ostensibly focus on the tunes and that, I have naturally, effortlessly and casually used Cathal’s extremely wholesome new obsession as a fairly thin and tenuous ‘angle’ to pull together my current Top 5 fishy related musical moments. As one does… No deeper thesis than that.

Wider playlist of 25 heavy bait-trax I made him recently below the short list.

FISHY FAVES

1. THE KLF feat. TAMMY WYNETTE - JUSTIFIED & ANCIENT

2. THE CONGOS - FISHERMAN

3. JOHN PRINE - FISH AND WHISTLE

4. NEW FAST AUTOMATIC DAFFODILS - FISHES EYES

5. JOHN MARTYN - FISHIN’ BLUES
   
   

Thank you for taking the time to read this short piece.

Hugest thanks to everyone who has taken the time to help the wee fella along on his fishing journey so far and to everyone who will do so in the future.

Best fishes one & all… 🐠 🐠 🐠 🐠

I have a thing for things which - in my mind - are overlooked or misunderstood.

The bold man like 2Pac is quite easy to misunderstand if you only know the big records, the Death Row years, bandana, beefs and all the chaos and celebrity limelight that came with him.

There was obviously plenty of borderline naughty behaviour and contradiction in there too, as with us all, but he came from a much more politically charged and ridiculously and depressingly socially deprived world than the superstar mainstream image sometimes suggests; and within the confines of which many belittle his artistic output and world view and impact.

His mum Afeni had been a prominent and fiercely motivated Black Panther, who later struggled badly with crack addiction and Tupac grew up around poverty, instability, politics and a very strong sense that Black America deserved something much better.

You hear that anger at the injustice running right through him and his work - sometimes very clearly, sometimes buried underneath all the bravado, hustling, anger and madness.

He seemed to have this slightly restless soul that genuinely wanted to do something useful with the life he’d been given, even if he didn’t always know how to go about it.

So he rapped, hustled, acted, got into trouble, spoke his mind and generally lived at about 100mph. There’s a lot more substance in there than the caricature sometimes allows.

This documentary footage is great and especially poignant and powerful for seeing where a lot of that came from. Before everything got very big and very complicated.

Through his music and rollercoaster of a life, he had a wonderful way of making the realities of street life, poverty, racism and survival feel personal rather than political - even when the politics were sitting right at the heart and permeating underneath it all - front and centre and filled with his bold vision of bettering a culture and a people.

“Every time I speak I want the truth to come out. Every time I speak I want a shiver. I don’t want them to be like they know what I’m gonna say because it’s polite. I'm not saying I’m gonna rule the world or I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee you that I will spark the brain that will change the world." - 2Pac on MTV, 1994

Directed by Finlay Bald in 2021.

If the broad hip hop genre is a seasoning you like in YOUR soup, you may also enjoy this piece on the very subject I wrote a few years back about da culture and da music, yo.

Jackie Leven is a fairly recent discovery for me, and one where I immediately wondered how he’s managed to completely pass me by for so long. Only happens now and again that with music and always a good, wow-moment and life-affirming feeling when it does.

A weird, wonderfully and strangely romantic, poetic, enigmatic and quite singular folk troubadour of sorts from Fife, with a life and career that seems to have taken in and on about ten different lives at once.

Years of abundant solo records (averaging pretty much one or two per year at his peak - at times under different guises), extraordinarily innovative and accomplished guitar playing, tall tales, heroin addiction and recovery, incredible self-belief, ridiculous eccentricity, dark humour and songs full of bruised and battered romance, spirituality, travelling and various strange and deep corners and recesses of the human condition and experience with a very unique and idiosyncratic Fifer slant. Yes please. Presumably something of an influence on the fantastic Fence Collective and friends up the East Neuk of the Kingdom back in the 2000s.

My recent introduction was a song called The Sexual Loneliness of Jesus Christ, which I think might be one of the finest songs my ears have ever had the good fortune of being introduced to. Go check out if you have 5 mins or so. YouTube tune embed thingy below the short doc. Maybe an acquired taste of the Marmite variety but I’m absolutely obsessed by it. No stress if you ain’t…

Anyway, I’m only just beginning to find my way into and around his world but already very taken with this dude’s vibe. Some boy.

This lovely short film from an old STV programme and ripped from VHS is a rather good place to start if you have 20 mins or so.

TBC…

It just made me wanna… move into the woods, smoke lots of pot and… Hang out.

1. The Orb - Oxbow Lakes
   [Island | 1995]

2. The Orb - Spontaneously Combust
   [Cooking Vinyl | 2025]

3. The Orb feat. Jah Wobble - Doughnuts Forever
   [Cooking Vinyl | 2018]

4. The Orb feat. Lee “Scratch” Perry - Golden Clouds
   [Cooking Vinyl | 2012]

5. The Orb - Rolo
   [Kompakt | 2005]

6. The Orb - Toxygene (7″ Edit)
   [Island | 1997]

7. The Orb - Ripples
   [Kompakt | 2005]

8. The Orb feat. Jimmy Cauty - A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld (Loving You) (Aubrey Mix Mk II)
   [Big Life | 1990]

9. The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds
   [Big Life | 1990]

10. The Orb - Appletree In My Back Yard (Abakus Remix)
    [Liquid Sound Design | 2006]

    

    Clyde Built Radio is a non-profit community radio station highlighting Glasgow’s music, arts and culture communities to the rest of the world.
    
    Having started broadcasting in 2020, the station has since hosted thousands of shows from established locals, venues, labels and discovered tons of new favourite DJs along the way.
    
    More listening from CBR every weekend here: clydebuiltradio.com
    
    During the rest of the week here: soundcloud.com/clydebuiltradio
    
    Previous Spicy Crisis CBR gubbins here: soundcloud.com/spicycrisis

“Hello. Give me missing persons…”

Been very quiet on here over recent months as been deep into a bigger, more adventurous writing side-project that I hope to be able to share some news on soon…

However, I had a little momentary musical side quest one weekend in the summer just there, into a band my Dad played a lot when I was growing up. Somewhat different to the vibe of the bigger writing project I’m working on.

So yes, a huge band for my old man and one that I did like bits and bobs of without ever really getting hugely them, like I did with a few other things he was really into such as Steely Dan, JJ Cale and Stevie Wonder (among others). I only properly tuned into two or three of their tunes back then but - for one reason or another - really started feeling their stuff recently.

Their driving force was Lowell George - an LA virtuoso and genius musician who got bumped out of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. He was apparently both too talented and too much of “a challenge” to Zappa’s authoritarian dominance, as well as a tad too drink-and-drug-orientated to fit into the bold Frank’s militant sober ethos and musical direction.

After some words between the two of them, he went off and set up his own band, Little Feat.

A very unique, very musical proposition. A New Orleans funk come rock come jazz come blues come country phenomenon. Bit of an acquired taste, they have a fair few absolute dynamite tunes in their canon. Might have to chance a cheeky Spicy Crisis radio special at some stage. But might not… Let’s see.

The main man, Lowell George, was a peer and contemporary of any late 60s and 70s musical greats you could care to mention. In some ways, he took the LA sound of the likes of Jackson Browne and The Eagles and dragged it through a dirty swamp, fed it some gumbo among other strange consumables of a more chemical nature then gave it a proper seasoning of real filthy, funky deepness that was - and is - quite unlike anything else I have ever heard.

While Browne, The Eagles and the like were polishing the post-hippy era California sunshine, Little Feat were bending the rules, bending the walls, bending brains and making the furniture sweat while turning the whole thing upside down and into a properly strange, sleazy cartoon fever dream of a sound and style…

The songwriting, production, collaborations and session work he had a hand in during that era speaks for itself too. He was a key presence on Robert Palmer’s sensational long player Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley, providing guitar and helping shape the loose, greasy New Orleans funk adjacent feel of that whole record. He also appeared on John Cale’s impeccable Paris 1919 LP, contributed to future YMO don Haruomi Hosono’s early trippy folk-rock outfit Happy End’s self-titled album, Barbara Keith’s excellent eponymous 1972 album, Bonnie Raitt’s Takin’ My Time, Harry Nilsson’s Son of Schmilsson, James Taylor’s amazing soft rock masterpiece Gorilla and The Meters’ Rejuvenation. Quite the roll call.

Last but not least had a huge role in producing The Grateful Dead’s insanely immense Shakedown Street LP. His songs and creativity travelled far beyond Little Feat. Once you start digging deeper, his murky musical fingerprints are all over the musical map of the 70s.

For me, the two standout tunes in the entire Little Feat back catalogue - and perhaps not the ones the super fans would say were the best - would be Willin’ (his first and the tune forever tangled up with the story of him being bombed out by Zappa) and one of his last, the quite ridiculously poignant and beautiful Long Distance Love, from The Last Record Album. Both ridiculously immense. And both quite different from the general funk vibe of the bulk of the band’s brilliant output. The first and last tunes pretty much as well. Anomalous amazingness.

But there’s also the likes of Spanish Moon (from Feats Don’t Fail Me Now - sleeve above), Dixie Chicken, Roll Um Easy, Fat Man in the Bathtub, Sailin’ Shoes and a tonne more bluesy, funky favourites to explore if any of this overview sounds of interest…

There’s way more to his mad story, life and times to tell as well; but I just wanted to touch on a wee snapshot while in the zone. George was undoubtedly something of a party animal and boogie animal who really got and felt the blues, the soul and the funk in the deepest of ways and played it all back in a way that was so unbelievably, deeply “in it” that it makes one get down, take note and pay ultimate respect. Proper don.

The Little Feat man was a genuine, god-like musical artist. His musicality, mixed with deep soulful sleazy, druggy madness and creative application, is quite hard to comprehend. Touched by the hand of a wayward God.

One of a kind. Loads of great tunes. And well worth checking out.

Amazingly creative, wonky, trippy sleeve artwork on every album they put out too. Magic.

So, that’s the quick-fire summary version - a weird and wonderful example of a band and leading artist who were tighter and more talented than almost all their contemporaries but perhaps too good, too strange, too “far out” and too out of it to ever get the recognition and reward they ultimately deserved, both then and now.

Funny old game! Especially in the 70s… No mean feat.

It comes in like a flood and it seems like religion…

1. Eurythmics - I Did It Just The Same
   [Virgin | 1984]

2. Chris & Cosey - Sweet Surprise
   [Rough Trade | 1985]

3. Eurythmics - Aqua
   [RCA | 1983]

4. Eurythmics - This City Never Sleeps
   [RCA | 1983]

5. Eurythmics - Sing-Sing
   [RCA | 1981]

6. Eurythmics - We Two Are One
   [RCA | 1989]

7. Eurythmics - Thorn In My Side
   [RCA | 1986]

8. Eurythmics - It’s Alright (Baby’s Coming Back)
   [RCA | 1985]

9. Eurythmics - Paint a Rumour (Long version)
   [RCA | 1983]

10. Eurythmics - Love Is A Stranger
    [RCA | 1982]

11. Annie Lennox - The Downtown Lights
    [RCA | 1995]

12. Eurythmics - Plus Something Else
    [RCA | 1983]
    
    And, if you liked the sound of that and like the sounds of Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart and the mighty Eurythmics anywhere near as much as I do, you might well enjoy this piece I wrote on the very subject a few years back: DOUBLEPLUSGOOD
    
    And this - a look at one of their best quintessentially 80s music vids…

    

    Clyde Built Radio is a non-profit community radio station highlighting Glasgow’s music, arts and culture communities to the rest of the world.
    
    Having started broadcasting in 2020, the station has since hosted thousands of shows from established locals, venues, labels and discovered tons of new favourite DJs along the way.
    
    More listening from CBR every weekend here: clydebuiltradio.com
    
    During the rest of the week here: soundcloud.com/clydebuiltradio
    
    Previous Spicy Crisis CBR gubbins here: soundcloud.com/spicycrisis

One day won’t give it away…

1. Wally Badarou - Back To Scales Tonight
   [Barclay | 1980]

2. Tom Tom Club - The Pleasure Of Love (Instrumental)
   [Sire | 1983]

3. Grace Jones - Feel Up (UK 12” version)
   [Island | 1981]

4. Wally Badarou - One Day Won’t Give It Away
   [Barclay | 1980]

5. Wally Badarou - Chief Inspector
   [Island | 1984]

6. Level 42 - Starchild
   [Polydor | 1981]

7. Gwen Guthrie - Padlock (Larry Levan mix)
   [Garage Records | 1981]

8. Black Uhuru - Big Spliff
   [Mango | 1983]

9. Wally Badarou - Hi-Life
   [Island | 1984]

10. Wally Badarou - Oriental
    [Be With Records | 2023]

11. M - Pop Muzik
    [MCA | 1979]

12. Wally Badarou - He Was A Rasta In London Town
    [Barclay | 1980]

    

    Clyde Built Radio is a non-profit community radio station highlighting Glasgow’s music, arts and culture communities to the rest of the world.
    
    Having started broadcasting in 2020, the station has since hosted thousands of shows from established locals, venues, labels and discovered tons of new favourite DJs along the way.
    
    More listening from CBR every weekend here: clydebuiltradio.com
    
    During the rest of the week here: soundcloud.com/clydebuiltradio
    
    Previous Spicy Crisis CBR gubbins here: soundcloud.com/spicycrisis

Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world…

1. Grateful Dead - Sage & Spirit
   [Grateful Dead | 1975]

2. Grateful Dead - Unbroken Chain
   [Grateful Dead | 1974]

3. Grateful Dead - Eyes Of The World
   [Grateful Dead | 1973]

4. Grateful Dead - Friend Of The Devil
   [Warner | 1970]

5. Grateful Dead - Estimated Prophet
   [Arista | 1977]

6. Jerry Garcia - The Wheel
   [Warner | 1972]

7. Bob Weir - Cassidy
   [Warner | 1972]

8. The Jerry Garcia Band - Cats Under The Stars
   [Arista | 1978]

9. Grateful Dead - Fire On The Mountain
   [Arista | 1978]

10. Grateful Dead - Althea
    [Arista | 1980]

11. Grateful Dead - Shakedown Street
    [Arista | 1978]

12. Jerry Garcia - Tangled Up In Blue
    [Arista | 1981]

    

    Clyde Built Radio is a non-profit community radio station highlighting Glasgow’s music, arts and culture communities to the rest of the world.
    
    Having started broadcasting in 2020, the station has since hosted thousands of shows from established locals, venues, labels and discovered tons of new favourite DJs along the way.
    
    More listening from CBR every weekend here: clydebuiltradio.com
    
    During the rest of the week here: soundcloud.com/clydebuiltradio
    
    Previous Spicy Crisis CBR gubbins here: soundcloud.com/spicycrisis
    
    

I can’t seem to find the right charge…

1. Haruomi Hosono & The Yellow Magic Band - Tokyo Rush
   [Alfa | 1978]

2. Haruomi Hosono - Bara To Yaju (New Version)
   [Speedstar | 2019]

3. Haruomi Hosono - Fuku Wa Uchi Oni Wa Soto
   [Velvet | 1973]

4. Haruomi Hosono - Roochoo Divine
   [Daisyworld | 2018]

5. Swing Slow - Western Bolero
   [Mercury | 1996]

6. Haruomi Hosono - Pleocene
   [Epic | 1989]

7. Sandii - Drip Dry Eyes
   [Alfa | 1980]

8. Haruomi Hosono - Cosmic Surfin’
   [CBS | 1978]

9. YMO - Insomnia
   [Alfa | 1979]

10. Testpattern - Techno Age
    [Yen | 1982]

11. Haruomi Hosono - Body Snatchers (Special Mix)
    [Teichiku | 1984]

12. YMO - Cue
    [Alfa | 1981]

13. Haruomi Hosono - Sports Men
    [Alfa | 1982]

    
    🌶️🎶

    

    Clyde Built Radio is a non-profit community radio station highlighting Glasgow’s music, arts and culture communities to the rest of the world.
    
    Having started broadcasting in 2020, the station has since hosted thousands of shows from established locals, venues, labels and discovered tons of new favourite DJs along the way.
    
    More listening from CBR every weekend here: clydebuiltradio.com
    
    During the rest of the week here: soundcloud.com/clydebuiltradio
    
    Previous Spicy Crisis CBR gubbins here: soundcloud.com/spicycrisis
    
    

Put it in your pocket for a rainy day. Sing your song and you know you’re wrong now…

1. Cocteau Twins - Watchlar
   [4AD | 1990]

2. Howie B - Baby Sweetcorn (Come Here)
   [Polydor | 1997]

3. The KLF - Build A Fire
   [KLF Communications | 1991]

4. Psychonauts - Hips For Scotland
   [International Deejay Gigolo Records | 2003]

5. The Beta Band - The House Song
   [Regal | 1998]

6. Big Country - In A Big Country
   [Mercury | 1983]

7. Love & Money - Strange Kind Of Love
   [Fontana | 1988]

8. Eurythmics - Monkey Monkey
   [RCA | 1982]

9. Fingerprintz - Wet Job
   [Virgin | 1979]

10. Simple Minds - Theme For Great Cities
    [Virgin | 1982]

11. Botany 5 - Love Bomb
    [Virgin | 1990]

12. Al Stewart - Year Of The Cat
    [RCA | 1976]
    
    🌶️ 🎶

    

    Clyde Built Radio is a non-profit community radio station highlighting Glasgow’s music, arts and culture communities to the rest of the world.
    
    Having started broadcasting in 2020, the station has since hosted thousands of shows from established locals, venues, labels and discovered tons of new favourite DJs along the way.
    
    Please consider donating to keep the station alive here: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/clyde-built-radio

    
    More listening from CBR every weekend here: clydebuiltradio.com
    
    During the rest of the week here: soundcloud.com/clydebuiltradio
    
    Previous Spicy Crisis CBR gubbins here: soundcloud.com/spicycrisis
    
    

I recently decided to completely cut nicotine out of my daily diet. Been a bit of a bumpy ride! Like most who find themselves addicted to the stuff, I started smoking in earnest at 13 and was a fully fledged convert to the caustic cause by 15 or 16.

I’m only approaching the three-week mark as I write this (so very early days) but I’m extremely determined to see it through this time, after one or two half-hearted and ultimately failed attempts to cut down and quit over the years.

I originally started smoking cigarettes because I’d be buying ten decks of Lambert & Butler (£1.50, and amazing advertising billboards at the time) with my school lunch money to rip apart and sprinkle into soap bar three-skinner joints. “Illegal Regals” as my friends and I fondly called them at the time. Then after a short while I’d just end up smoking the cigarettes too, since they were burning a hole in my pocket, so to speak.

I was fairly impressionable as a young teenager and fairly rebellious too - the perfect recalcitrant recipe to be seduced by the stuff. My dad smoked when I was growing up (Hamlet cigars - also great ads at the time) as did my older brother (Marlboro Lights). My older sister dabbled I think but wasn’t quite as dedicated as my brother and me once I got started. All my older mates smoked (both legal and illegal Regals) as did all my musical and film heroes. There was no escaping it really.

After that initial High School period came about ten years of smoking ‘straights’, followed by more than a decade of roll-ups. Over the last two years (almost to the day) I’d moved onto vaping, thinking it was a healthier alternative and a step in the right direction. Subconsciously telling myself I’d quit completely at some point. Recently discovered though that my vape intake over those two years equated to about 30–40 fags a day. Pretty wild, especially since I’d gradually reduced to around five rollies a day before the switch. Quite an escalation!

Vaping seems healthier - no smoke, no stink, less tar and carbon monoxide - but the flip side is how easy it becomes to just vape everywhere: gigs, football matches, the house, the pub, the car, even in bed! Given that convenient ease, you end up constantly topping up instead of going outside for a cigarette’s worth a few times a day and leaving it at that.

Easy to see how the addiction can strengthen quickly without you noticing, or suffering much in the way of side effects, apart from that underlying sense you could be a bit healthier and less enslaved to something so ultimately unfulfilling.

Suffice to say, quitting hasn’t been easy. It’s a very strong drug and at those levels it’s hard to shake the physical and psychological pangs. I do feel like I’m getting there though and hope I’m over the worst, I might even be out of the woods in a week or two.

Weirdly, after making a proper vow to myself about this, I haven’t felt the urge to go buy a vape or tobacco, just the occasional borderline-mania-inducing symptoms. Not much fun!

The first week was actually easier than I’d anticipated, a doddle comparatively. Maybe it was the novelty or the early excitement carrying me through (on fumes)… Weeks two to three though have been testing. Thought it might be worth sharing the experience here.

Similarly to part of my rationale for chatting to my kids about it, writing it down and putting it out there might help keep me accountable in the long run.

In terms of side effects, I’ve had some pretty awful, consistent insomnia (now improving), an almost impossible time concentrating (also improving), edginess, jumpiness, grumpiness and pounding headaches for days on end. All from the two week point onwards. And all simmering a bit in recent days.

Coincidentaly and ironically though - a band called Headache have been a saving grace through all this. As with most of life’s trials and tribulations, music has helped hugely.

Thank You For Almost Everything, the second album from Headache, has been on constant rotation since its release, coinciding nicely with this newfound abstinence. It’s absolutely exceptional - every track’s a winner. My favourite album of 2025 so far, barring any major surprises in the next month or so. Their 2023 debut The Head Hurts But The Heart Knows The Truth was absolutely brilliant too, but this new one tops it.

They’ve got this amazing, distinctive, life-affirming electronic sound - sometimes dancey, sometimes more chilled - with surreal, often silly yet poignant and profound lyrics with allegorical dream-like streams of subconsciousness.

It all makes perfect (non)sense.

They’re hard to pigeonhole but I’d say they sound a little like Arab Strap meets Original Pirate Material meets Chris Morris (while candy flipping). In a good way!

Not much is out there by way of promotional info. Produced by the revered (but underground and under-the-radar) electronic producer Vegyn, with lyrics by Francis Hornsby Clark. I think there’s some clever and progressive AI involvement too, though I might be wrong about that.

A strong recommend if you haven’t yet listened.

Might fire up some Top Tens of other things (musical and otherwise) I’ve been enjoying in 2025 over the next month or so.

Pretty sure binning the vape will prove to be the number one achievement.

Wish me luck.

Listen to the wind blow. Down comes the night…

Dedicated and giving thanks to Keith McIvor (1968-2025)

1. Adrian Sherwood - The Collapse Of Everything
   [On-U Sound | 2025]

2. Tycoon To$h - Country House
   [Major Force | 1991]

3. Eddie C ft. Dr Mike Roma - Jam On Dallas Road
   [Endless Flight | 2013]

4. The Earlies - Morning Wonder
   [Names | 2004]

5. Hayden Pedigo - Long Pond Lily
   [Mexican Summer | 2025]

6. ddwy - Stars Stars
   [Test Pressing Recordings | 2025]

7. This Is The Kit - Earthquake
   [This Is The Kit Ltd | 2013]

8. Dutch Interior - Sandcastle Molds
   [Fat Possum | 2025]

9. Towa Tei ft. Haruomi Hosono & Yukihiro Takahashi - The Prophet
   [Matchbeat | 2025]

10. Protek - I Love To Dance With You (The Nightlark edit)
    [Isle Of Jura | 2025]

11. The Field Mice - Missing The Moon
    [Sarah Records | 1991]

12. Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
    [Warner Bros | 1977]
    
    🌶️ 🎶

    

    Clyde Built Radio is a non-profit community radio station highlighting Glasgow’s music, arts and culture communities to the rest of the world.
    
    Having started broadcasting in 2020, the station has since hosted thousands of shows from established locals, venues, labels and discovered tons of new favourite DJs along the way.
    
    More listening from CBR every weekend here: clydebuiltradio.com
    
    During the rest of the week here: soundcloud.com/clydebuiltradio
    
    Previous Spicy Crisis CBR gubbins here: soundcloud.com/spicycrisis
    
    

Really enjoyed watching this 1976 TV documentary - Aquarius: British Reggae. One of the first in-depth TV explorations of reggae’s rise on British shores.

Broadcast as part of the LWT Aquarius arts series, it captures the vibe and vibrancy of the mid-70s scene, moving beyond Jamaican roots to focus on the sound systems, community spaces and musicians shaping a distinctly British take on the genre.

Featuring performances and Irie insights from Aswad, The Cimarons, Delroy Washington and others, the film documents a pivotal moment when reggae was beginning to break into wider consciousness while remaining deeply tied to the lived experiences of Black British communities.

Directed by Jeremy Marre, it nicely balances music and social context, opening with the Notting Hill Carnival before delving into studio sessions, performances and candid interviews.

It presents and portrays reggae (quite rightly) not just as a musical genre or simply as entertainment, but more a cultural movement infused with Rastafari resilience, spirituality and Irie identity.

Nearly fifty years later, this 40 minute film serves as both a historical record and a vivid snapshot of how Caribbean sound and culture helped transform the landscape of British music and society…

Thanks to Stuart Milne for puff, puff, passing this one on.

More reggae flavoured viewing can be found here if that’s your thing. Also directed by Jeremy Marre.

I’m feeling supersonic. Get me up the Conic.

Out on a little hike this morning and got to pondering and contemplating a little about a lesser-known, under-the-radar indie band from the 90s called Oasis.

Was mad for them for a bit as a young lad. They played a huge but short-lived role in my overall musical journey. Have to give them that. Still have the very occasional dip and delve into their early material every now and again…

Love Liam. He’s the energy and soul of the band without question and - over the years since they disbanded - has proven to be much more genuine, fun, likeable and relatable than Noel, who has not aged well at all in my opinion. Always comes across as a bit snide, snobby and out of touch. Maybe the current tour will help mend his reputation a bit. Who knows.

Regular readers might be familiar with some of the anecdotes peppered below.

Guess the reason I started thinking about them was partly due to the topical buzz around the tour at the moment and partly due to my ramble’s close proximity to Loch Lomond - the location of their iconic (aye - Conic) double header alongside Knebworth back in the summer of 96. Around about this time of the year nearly 30 years ago.

Wasn’t allowed to go that gig while my older brother and sister went along and came back with their buzzy, blurry stories and new band T-shirts. Shaun and Kermit’s amazing Black Grape were on the bill too. I was gutted at the time but thinking back now and imagining the scenes, I think the correct decision was probably made by my parents. It certainly helped to delay the inevitable.

Not going to any of the Murrayfield dates next weekend either and have been feeling a bit 50/50 as to whether I’m bothered or not. On balance I’m not too perturbed to be missing out. I certainly wouldn’t be paying £300+ for a brief. But let’s not get into that now…

Their current form and the show production does look a lot better than I expected it to pan out, based on what I have seen from video snippets and reports from the other UK legs.

Does it matter if it’s outta tune? Well, yes actually. It does.

A few of my old faves not featuring on the set-list is some further consolation as well - Columbia and Shakermaker being the most notable and noticeable omissions; I’ve also got a bit of a soft spot for Married With Children, Round Are Way, (It’s Good) To Be Free, Bonehead’s Bank Holiday, Up In The Sky, Underneath The Sky and Digsy’s Dinner - although appreciate those ones were unlikely to make the cut.

What a life it would be…

I’ll be going to see a Steely Dan tribute band on Friday night in Glasgow instead and it’s my daughter’s birthday weekend get-together on Saturday, while my son has a football festival (in the Loch Lomond vicinity incidentally) on the Sunday. So - all in all - it’s probably for the best that I won’t be attending.

Despite missing out on Loch Lomond and Murrayfield, I did manage to see them twice back in the day. Both occasions in 2002. Firstly at T in the Park. I left halfway through to go and see Basement Jaxx who I suspected would be more fun. They didn’t disappoint. For me, the Jaxx were one of the best live acts of that early 2000s period. Although I’m not sure I’d be in a massive rush to rendez-vu with them were they to reform. Funny how it all plays out…

Second time was later that year at Braehead Arena, just outside Glasgow. Not long after their Little By Little single (immortalised by Lidl memes) was released. Really enjoyed the gig that night and weirdly remember that on entering and handing over my ticket I asked if I could get one on the way back out (I try to keep a hold of and collect gig ticket stubs) to which the steward replied without any hint of irony, “No bother mate, but it might not be the same one…”

Wouldn’t have gone out my way for that one, but was given freebies by the lads themselves as they were staying at the hotel I was working in at the time, One Devonshire Gardens.

Checked Liam into his room and took room service to Noel on that occasion during their stay. Very kind of them to sort me out with guesties. Cheers lads.

As a side-note Noel must have taken about 15 sugars in his tea. He also left some plectrums and handwritten lyrics in the room when they checked out, which I still have somewhere.

That was the first and only time meeting Oasis - Noel, Liam, Andy Bell, Alan White and Gem Archer comprising the line-up.

But it was the second time meeting Liam.

The first time meeting him at the hotel was a funny one. Just him. Well I say just him. Dani Behr (👀) hosted a TV show filmed in Glasgow every week for about a year during my ODG days. So every week she would stay. Chatted to her most weeks. I was in my late teens at this point. Was not complaining. Only spell where I actually wanted to work the Friday evening shift!

Was always too shy to take her up on any of her advances...

There would always be a band as well, because they’d be guests on her show.

Don’t remember the name of the show or many of the bands. The Polyphonic Spree I do remember. Pretty hard to miss and/or to forget them to be fair. A dozen or so mad hippy shepherds in kaftans cutting about the joint. Loved them for a bit in early 2000s, as a little side-note. Sometimes wonder what they're up to now.

This week now in question - the Appleton Sisters (👀) were on her show and Liam was up in Glasgow with them, along with a handful of other glamorous sorts that I wasn’t familiar with. Their pals basically. All female bar Liam.

I was working the bar, and they were in the hotel restaurant opposite side of the corridor, eating and large-ing it up. They would all have been a fair bit younger than I am now. And were (quite rightly) getting on it. After their meal, they came into the bar.

“EIGHT MARGARITAS PLEASE!” loudly swaggered Liam. No problem whatsoever, sir. Went and knocked them up, served them, wished them a pleasant evening, thinking that would be that. Went onto potter about doing various tasks that evening.

Later that night, maybe 30 mins after shift should have ended - longer than planned shifts not uncommon with one thing or another transpiring - I get a call to say Room 29 are looking for eight margaritas. Cool. No probs. I’ll do that then get down the road.

A consummate professional as always, made a big jug of the stuff this time and quickly polished 8 cocktail glasses, stuck it all on a wooden, linen-laid tray and hotfooted it up to Room 29.

Sounded like quite the party in there. Loud banging music. I think they were watching Seb Fontaine live at Glasto on the telly when Liam opened the door to welcome me in.

So, I moseyed on in, laid the glasses out, poured the drinks and turned around to walk out and head off. As I was doing so Liam runs up behind me, grabs me quite firmly by the shoulders, spins me around in a huggy/arm-round-the-shoulder way, so I can clearly observe the bevy of beauties in his company that evening and says…

“'ERE MATE - IT'S ARRRIIIGHHHHT BEIN' ME!!!”

Couldn’t have been any more textbook Liam Gallagher if it tried. Magic.

Always wish in hindsight that I’d said, “Mr Gallagher - where did it all go wrong?”

But I didn’t. Amazing, fond, mad memory though. Some boy.

That story - however - has always made me question the plausibility of Liam’s supposed Paul McCartney margarita encounter.

Who knows…

Now, they are not a group who would get a sniff anywhere near my top 20 all-time bands. They might squeeze into the top 50 for nostalgic reasons. As I say, loved them massively when they exploded onto the scene in 94 as a ten year old boy but was pretty much completely over them and onto new things by the end of 96.

Had zero inclination or interest to buy Be Here Now and have never to this day listened to that or any albums that followed from start to finish. They’ve had the odd half decent tune since their early definitive period but nothing to match the first year or two of their existence. Definitely Maybe, some of Morning Glory and a bunch of B-Sides from that period from time-to-time will do me fine, thanks.

Their peak moment would have to be the live performance of the aforementioned Round Are Way on the Channel 4 White Room programme back on NYE 95. A stone cold sober Liam absolutely sweating his pan in wearing a massive winter coat. Class.

A few days earlier that same year (1995) my sister, Jennifer, got me the Help Album on cassette tape for my Xmas. A charity compilation created to raise funds for War Child - all tracks on it were recorded in a single day to support children affected by war, particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

That comp featured an acoustic version of Fade Away with Noel singing alongside Johnny Depp on guitar, Kate Moss on tambourine and Liam and Lisa Moorish on backing vocal. Pretty 90s that line-up and sentence, you have to say…

I think having elder siblings was partly responsible for me getting into them at such a young age as well. Remember an Oasis tape my brother, Jamie, brought home from school one day of all their singles recorded onto it with the B-Sides. I was only familiar with Definitely Maybe by this point, but this had all those amazing B-Sides.

D’yer Wanna Be A Spaceman, Up In The Sky, the original version of Fade Away etc - everything up to the Whatever single which was the first single I bought myself with my pocket money. The funny thing about that tape was there was this mad crackling clicky sound on the tape every minute or so. Would find that hugely annoying now, but didn’t bother me at the time.

Prior to that, just when they first burst onto the scene and not long after Definitely Maybe had came out my sister and her best pal at the time, Simone, met Liam, Noel and Bonehead at Glasgow Airport and went up to them and chatted and asked for autographs. The boys weren’t being hounded, they had hardly been heard of at this point, they had just played a gig at Irvine Beach of all places and were on their way home!

So, not only did Jen and Simone get autographs for themselves, they also asked to get the same for me as I was such a big fan. ❤️

Still got the autographs of the three main players somewhere.

I think the Shakermaker video on The Chart Show was first real memory of being like WOW THIS IS FOR ME with them. Might have been Supersonic.

As I say don’t listen to them much anymore but every now and again have a wee delve in.

Not going to get into the ins and outs, tropes and cliches of their influence and impact (good and bad) over the years but it’s hard to argue with the fact that they made a hugely inspiring and culturally relevant impression on the UK when they emerged.

Love them or hate them, through the example of their gutsy attitude and their bravado, ordinary folk from ordinary backgrounds not only had a band “for them” but were in some ways urged to get up and go for it, do what you love and have fun along the way. Whatever you might be into.

Punk that, in a way.

Some might say…

Anyway… Etiquette on a hill climb or a hike always interests me. Conic Hill is a popular spot. I had set off to get there fairly early to beat the crowds so it wasn’t mega busy but there were a few folk passing and nodding and the like. Some with a friendly “morning” or “hello”, some with a reluctant one, a few mildly aggressive ones - almost as if it’s a very serious rule that you have to say something when you pass a person. And some folk just ignore you completely.

Not in any way bothered by this. I like a friendly “hello” and a chat and all that but no stress either way. You just know though that had Oasis been hiking this morning, Noel would ignore you completely, maybe even sneer at you a bit and Liam would’ve been the opposite. He’d have wanted to stop for a chat and a bit of a carry on. Think that sums up my preference towards Liam.

There's no need for you to say you're sorry.

Goodbye I'm going home.

*Black and white band photo near the top courtesy of the brilliant James Fry

I’ve been livin’ upside down…

1. Vulgata - Ethel 1
   [Optimo Music | 2017]

2. The Art Of Noise - Art Of Love (7” edition)
   [China Records | 1990]

3. Obscure Desire - Bullet
   [Emotional Rescue | 2025]

4. SHOLTO - For The Love Of Stripes
   [Root Records | 2024]

5. Coti K - Theros
   [Dark Entries | 2024]

6. Suzanne Ciani - The Seventh Wave (Sailing Away)
   [Musica International | 1982]

7. Lexx - Into The Stream
   [International Feel | 2025]

8. Good Block - Lema
   [Good Block | 2025]

9. Coral D - Boom Alarme
   [Tears | 2024]

10. D.D. Mirage - Livin’ Upside Down
    [Isle of Jura | 2025]

11. Idjut Boys ft. Dolla Man - Yagga Yao (Emperor Machine extended edit)
    [Bite The Day | 2025]

12. Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra - Some Velvet Morning
    [Reprise | 1967]
    
    🌶️ 🎶

    

    Clyde Built Radio is a non-profit community radio station highlighting Glasgow’s music, arts and culture communities to the rest of the world.
    
    Having started broadcasting in 2020, the station has since hosted thousands of shows from established locals, venues, labels and discovered tons of new favourite DJs along the way.
    
    More listening from CBR every weekend here: clydebuiltradio.com
    
    During the rest of the week here: soundcloud.com/clydebuiltradio
    
    Previous Spicy Crisis CBR gubbins here: soundcloud.com/spicycrisis
    
    

I recently had the pleasure of attending a half-day workshop with Vincent at Frank Marker. Framers. In the course of that session he gave me a brilliantly knowledgeable, attentive and digestible introduction to the history and art of picture framing and a clear, step-by-step, hands-on, practical grounding into all the aspects and elements involved. From selecting then constructing the perfect frame materials to best complement the piece, to cutting the actual glass, to bevelling and mounting, overall assembly, hanging and everything in between.

The session was not only a fascinating insight into the intricacies, history and art of the process but also really practical with loads of transferable skills in the mix and loads of new learnings for me. Think sustainability, preservation, team-work, problem solving, creative composition, working with and operating some old-school and quite beautiful industrial machinery and loads more.

Super delighted with the end-result and even more so, knowing I made it myself with guidance from a passionate expert. A first for me, but will be back for sure. Highly recommended. Vincent is a really top egg as well - extremely skilled, discerning, helpful and very easy to get along with.

Here’s a little info from him about the new Frame Your Own Art workshop offering.

Frame Your Own Art is a one-to-one practical, enjoyable six hour experience - that we can fit around your shifts/schedule/commitments - where you'll professionally custom frame and protect your own art item to gallery grade levels with expert guidance from start to finish.

The cost of *£269 is all inclusive*: A pre-class intro and consultation video call, all conservation grade materials for framing a flat artwork up to A3 size, friendly guidance, lunch, and support and discount offers after the workshop. Perfect for any level of experience or inexperience.

Classes take place in Glasgow, at the light filled studio workshop of Frank Marker. Framers Ltd in the Elder Park Workspace, an impressive red brick former bread factory in sunny Govan - the space hosts a collection of artists, artisans, makers and small businesses.

A very handy location for M8, Bridge and Tunnel, with plenty of free and secure parking and a seven minute walk from Govan subway.

*Discount codes available for Instagram followers of @frankmarkerframer and NHS staff from Queen Elizabeth Hospital and residents and businesses in the great Burgh of Govan, Glasgow.

For more about Frank Marker. Framers, details on the workshop and for bookings click here.

PICTURES.

As in moving pictures. An ongoing mini-series.

Skip past the intro blurb in bold, if you’ve read it already.

Love promo music videos. Always have. Especially ones from the 80s and 90s when they really took off in a big way, following the dawn of MTV and the opening explosions of the hyper-corporatised marketing and PR of the global music industry.

A nice counter-product of that was the emergence of lots of colourful and creative visual accompaniments to artists’ work. Even reasonably small-scale and niche ones, by today’s standards.

These promo videos often providing another insight into another dimension of their creativity and/or the creativity of the artists, animators, directors and visual visionaries they worked with on them.

The weirder and more unusual the better on the music video front for me, unsurprisingly.

Going to be posting some favourites on here with a short blurb.

PICTURES #8 - WUBBLE-U - PETAL

Something of a one-hit wonder as far as I can gather, I bought this single on CD when it was re-released in 1998 having read a review in the NME. The tune having originally been released a few years earlier in 1994 on Go Discs! when this promo video too was released into the wild.

Slightly different versions, the one in 98 featured a punchy punctuation point with this additional and most memorable line in the lyrics….

It’s difficult these days… to get good grass.

The group were active in the mid-late 1990s, signed from Go Discs! to BMG ‘indie' imprint, Indolent. Wubble-U consisted of Laurent Webb, Justin Bailey, Dave Pine and Dave Coker and they gained most recognition for this particular single.

In addition to their own work, Wubble-U remixed tracks for artists like Madness, Gabriel, The Cardigans, the 60ft Dolls, and Lisa Moorish, among others during that period. Their album Where’s Wubble-U received critical praise that year but not too sure whatever became of them beyond that.

The tune is very fun and nonsensical and combines elements of the dance music flavours I was beginning to explore at that time… along with the lo-fi, off-kilter indie sensibilities I had been obsessed with since the early-mid-ish 90s.

A dreamy, upbeat, effervescent, summer number that blends elements of indie pop and downtempo-dancey-house beats and features the amazingly eccentric odd-ball comedian and character, Stanley Unwin - famously communicating in his own form of verbal spoken language with lots of words playfully corrupted and crafted from English. Unwin is well worth exploring further. Loads of stuff from him on YouTube if you are unfamiliar and interested.

A bit of a cult celeb prior to this tune, he’s probably most famous and most remembered for his collaborative contribution to The Small Faces’s icnonic Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake LP in 1968.

Unwin's distinctive "Unwinese" language was featured as a core part of that album's overall concept. A proper 60s classic which had a suitably whimsical, psychedelic style.

On ONGF, Unwin provided the voice of The Hobo, a character who narrates part of the album's overall story. His unique and weirdly wonderful, comedic speech style added a suitably surreal touch to the record and nicely complemented its quirky English psychedelic sounds.

Petal starts with Unwin’s spoken intro then some mellow, hypnotic instrumentation kicks in - characterised by smooth synths and soft percussion, gradually building into a lush, layered trancey soundscape.

On this collaborative contribution with Wubble-U, the delicate balance between the mischievous madness, the dreamy electronic production and the vocal delivery makes it feel both strangely banging, soothing and poignant all at once. An anomalous amalgamation.

The promo vid is pure unadulterated 90s nostalgia. We see a sillier side of the post-acid-house explosion. But none the worse for that. Arguably a ‘novelty’ number, I really love it. Proper vibe. Would love to have been there that day when the video was filmed!

A very 90s loved-up vibe but with humour and playfulness at its core. The female vocalist, Charlie One’s delivery is innocent, soft and tender, almost whispered at times, which adds to the intimate and introspective feel of the song. She looks very 90s in the video too - very fun and very cool.

Stanley’s outro words to outro this pre-amble, before you watch the video and smile from ear to ear, below…

“Suddenly the lad on the realisation that the whole universe is just like that, forgot he shut me out and began to wobble. This is Stanley and me signing off… With Wubble-U. All joy-filled. Goodbye now…”

Joy-filled indeed. Hope you like it, petals...

The Glasgow Underground Music Scene.

Made by PollyMonoStereo back in 2016, the short trailer features some real informed takes and proper players and great eggs from the scene.

It touches on the early days (and current-ish days) of the underground house, techno and rave scenes in Glasgow - drawing parallels to Detroit and Berlin and cementing and celebrating Glasgow’s unique vibe as one of the ultimate underground (and overground!) musical cities in the world.

Shout to Messrs Cosgrove and Barbarossa in particular for their distinguished roles in bringing this to the world and doing their thing with aplomb. Both in this short film and beyond.

DIY in style and nature (no doubt due to budget constraints and inexperience - this was a University project production at the time) and while it could benefit from more diversity and female voices featured, it is still well worth a watch if you have 6 mins to spare.

Just stumbled on this for the first time recently. Completely missed it at the time.

Not sure if a full-length version ever seen the light of day. Let me know if you know, Glasgow heads!

Would love to see it if it it did.

Here’s what the clearly pro-active and talented documentary maker had to say on the film back then:

The Glasgow Underground Music Scene is a documentary that captures Glasgow’s unique rebellious character. The film will tackle the deep roots of the underground music scene and explore how the city established its characteristic 'Glasgow Sound'.

Within the film will be the ongoing discussion on the similarities between Scotland’s biggest city and the two capitals of techno’- Berlin and Detroit. All three cities share a dark post-industrial past of minority separatism.

People needed something to turn to and escape their dark reality - their escapism took the form of music. The film will show insight into Glasgow’s finer DJs, aspiring talent, venues and make the audience draw parallels between Glasgow, Detroit and Berlin through the similarities in the cultural and historical landscapes that have helped shaped the cities music scenes.

The film is a university project made for non-commercial releases. 2016.

Image at top is the Soma Records released 12” Big Sur Highway by Human Arts - an Ashley Beedle & Diesel side-project and release from that super pioneering and pivotal Glasgow record label of the 90s and 00s.

One of my faves from the label’s golden period. Video version of that tune embedded below the short docu-trailer.

Hope you like both.

Catch ye, Versace…

PICTURES.

As in moving pictures. An ongoing mini-series.

Skip past the intro blurb in bold, if you’ve read it already.

Love promo music videos. Always have. Especially ones from the 80s and 90s when they really took off in a big way, following the dawn of MTV and the opening explosions of the hyper-corporatised marketing and PR of the global music industry.

A nice counter-product of that was the emergence of lots of colourful and creative visual accompaniments to artists’ work. Even reasonably small-scale and niche ones, by today’s standards.

These promo videos often providing another insight into another dimension of their creativity and/or the creativity of the artists, animators, directors and visual visionaries they worked with on them.

The weirder and more unusual the better on the music video front for me, unsurprisingly.

Going to be posting some favourites on here with a short blurb.
PICTURES #8 - PARIS ANGELS - PERFUME (LOVED UP)

Paris Angels were an often-overlooked Mancunian indie band formed in the late 1980s, often associated with the early 90s Madchester scene.

Among their ranks was the legendary Paul Wagstaff who later went on to be a key member of the post-Happy Mondays project, Black Grape with Shaun and Bez as well as comprising among the reformed Mondays line-up in more recent years. Indie icon. He very sadly passed away the other day. Rest easy, Wags.

The band’s sound blended indie with elements of psychedelia, shoegaze and acid house, as can be heard on this 1990 single, their best one in my opinion - Perfume (Loved Up). This video is a fan-made effort rather than an official promo video, so bending my own rules a bit. That’s what rules are there for though, I suppose… Will try to keep things nice and above board, as much as I can, moving forward… Maybe.

The tune is a personal favourite and one of my standout moments in the overall Madchester and baggy style, loose fit, Madchester adjacent music scenes.

Although the band didn’t achieve the commercial success of some of their contemporaries in this realm, they cultivated a strong underground following with their rich, layered music and unique take on the era's sonic trends.

See also acts like the New Fads for similarly overlooked and interesting output of that variety, that city and that era, beyond the likes of Oasis and The Stone Roses. I love(d) both of those bands too, and still revisit their music from time to time, but they are a bit yawn and there’s a whole world of more fascinating and interesting sounds out there to be discovered by the inquisitive.

Perfume (Loved Up) was their most well-known track and a bit of a cult hit. The song (by name and by nature) captures the dreamy, "loved-up" vibes of the era and genre - blending atmospheric instrumentation with a hazy sense of decadence and romance.

It has a lush, almost trance-like quality, combining dreamy sounds with a catchy rhythmic pulse. Undeniably banging too. The lyrics evoke romantic longing, desire and the feeling of being… again… "loved up"!

Its emotional depth is matched by its expansive sonic layers which create an intoxicating sense of escapism and warmth. Lovely guitar work that is quite typical (not in a bad way) and evocative of the period’s independent beat combo output.

It’s a very fun and playful song too.

This animated video for Perfume (Loved Up) features footage from the Polish short film Lokomotywa, directed by acclaimed experimental filmmaker, Zbigniew Rybczynski in 1976. And it works a treat.

The surreal, madcap and vibrant animation uses abstract and psychedelic visuals to illustrate and bring the song to life. Amazing accompaniment.

The use of animation over live-action creates a sense of otherworldliness, perfectly aligning with the dreamy, trippy quality of the song.

With babies dancing, people smoking, magnets and dogs gurning… among other reasons, it feels VERY 1990 despite being created in the 70s. Magic.

Well done to Vicen Silvero for thinking of combining these arworks then expertly doing so.

The song and video combo offer a gentle yet banging, trance-like experience, blending romantic yearning with a surreal, yet weirdly familiar, visual atmosphere…

Fancy some colourful, silly, psychedelic nonsense for 5 minutes?

It’s up to you…