Red House Painters - Silly Love Songs (Island, 1996)

Extended, anaesthetised take on chirpy Wings classic.

This record has a strong risk of coming over as some sort of conceptual joke but this extended, jammed-out version of Paul McCartney & Wings' chirpy 70s pop song actually works. The 70s AM radio sheen is replaced by desolate distorted guitar and time is slowed to glacial pace with some massive reverb the drums.

Red House Painters' Mark Kozelek's trademark yelp isn't heard until we're over five minutes into the track but, surprisingly, his rendering of the chorus sounds sincere.

It's a track that could result in a fairly harrowing Valentines Day should someone be unlucky enough to pick the wrong version in itunes. That would be a pretty disastrous eleven minutes of awkwardness in an otherwise lovey-dovey mixtape.

Download Red House Painters 'Silly Love Songs' (slowcore mp3) (Divshare)

Spirea X - Speed Reaction (4AD, 1991)

Pristine, buzzing, melodic indie pop with a West Coast tang.

Formed by former Primal Scream guitarist and songwriter, Jim Beattie, Spirea X dropped a couple of singles and an album on 4AD in 1991 and were gone.

It's the Primal Scream of 'Velocity Girl' mixed with a more widescreen sound and 'Speed Reaction' is bolstered by waves of harmony vocals, some subtle horns and a blast of energy.

Divine.


Download Spirea X - Speed Reaction (4AD mp3) (Divshare)

Pale Saints - A Thousand Stars Burst Open (Brass Band Version) (4AD, 1992)

Brassed Off treatment suits Shoegaze masterpiece.

Across two awesome albums, Pale Saints were genius, marrying proggy time signatures with skyscraping, yearning guitar pyrotechnics and angelic vocals. One of my absolute favourite bands ever.

This track was given away as a 7" with initial copies of 'In Ribbons' and just works perfectly.

Layers of gorgeous brass recreate the soundwash of the original, creating a wide open, In The Bleak Midwinter vibe that rouses to a joyful crescendo.

Stunning.

Download Pale Saints 'A Thousand Stars Burst Open (Brass Band Version)' (Brass Band, Shoegaze, 4AD mp3) (Rapidshare)

Ultra Vivid Scene - Special One (4AD, 1990)

Crunchily chiming indie pop with mumbled vocals. And Kim Deal.

Ultra Vivid Scene released a trio of rather fine albums on 4AD and then, I believe, disappeared.

This single was lifted from their (well, actually his, Ultra Vivid Scene is really a solo thing by the coolly named Kurt Ralske) second album. It features sweet, pure vocals from Breeder/Pixie Kim Deal alongside a lazily cute, indie pop-ish tune.

Download Ultra Vivid Scene 'Special One' (indie, 4AD mp3) (Rapidshare)

The Hope Blister - Happiness Strings (4AD mp3) (2005)

This Mortal Coil Mark II's  Gorecki-like rendering of David Sylvian classic.

The Hope Blister was the name that Ivo Watts-Russell gave what was effectively the fourth This Mortal Coil album '...Smile's Okay'.

A further collection of gorgeously sombre covers and originals, it featured covers of songs by Brian Eno, Slowdive, John Cale, Cranes and more. It was mined for a further album of odds and ends ('Underarms') and then a final scraping ('Underarms & Sideways') which collected string parts, fragments and such.

This string arrangement for the cover of David Sylvian's 'Let The Happiness In' is a frosty piece of modern classical, redolent of Gorecki and therefore somewhat akin to the Constellation/Godspeed You! Black Emporer sound.

Austere and restrained, it hangs in the air like a fog of longing and contemplation.

Download The Hope Blister 'Happiness Strings' (alternative, modern classical, 4AD mp3) (Mediafire)

Mixtape - This Mortal Coil Original Versions

Top quality collection of tracks that were reborn across This Mortal Coil's classic albums.

Having recently forked for the ridiculously beautiful This Mortal Coil boxset (beautiful except for the price, actually) I've been reminded what a wonderful thing This Mortal Coil was. A combination of exquisite covers and original material, TMC leads the listener to some great albums from Gene Clark, Big Star, The Byrds, Chris Bell and, more recently, Gary Ogan and Bill Lamb.

It's inspired me to collect together some of the This Mortal Coil original versions into a mix. And quite a mix it is too.

Melancholy Country, psychedlic-tinged Folk Rock, decimated post-Powerpop melancholy and New Wave. All these were put through the TMC mixer and assimilated into Ivo Watts-Russell's vision (with the help of John Fryer and a cast of diverse musicians, of course). As a consequence, it's sometimes quite a shock to hear the originals which can be somewhat less ethereral. All these songs are beautiful though.

Enjoy.

'This Mortal Coil Original Versions - A Mixtape' tracklist:
1. Song To The Siren / Tim Buckley
2. Alone On Piano / Colin Newman
3. The Jeweller / Pearls Before Swine
4. I Am The Cosmos / Chris Bell
5. Strength Of Strings / Gene Clark
6. Drugs / Talking Heads
7. You And Your Sister / Chris Bell
8. With Tomorrow / Gene Clark
9. I Must Have Been Blind / Tim Buckley
10. Holocaust / Big Star
11. Kangaroo / Big Star
12. Til I Gain Control Again / Emmylou Harris
13. I Come And Stand At Every Door / The Byrds
14. Help Me Lift You Up / Mary Margaret O'Hara
15. Morning Glory / Tim Buckley
16. I Wanna Live / Gary Ogan & Bill Lamb

This Mortal Coil - The Inspirations by Occasional Rain on Mixcloud

Lush - De-Luxe (4AD, 1990)

Shimmering guitars. Oozy vocals. Impressionistic lyrics. Delicious dynamics. Shoegaze classic.

My introduction to the wonder of early Lush - probably via The Chart Show - was this wonderful EP. Produced by Cocteau Twin Robin Guthrie it adds a hazy layer of mystery to the more straightforward sound of the previous 'Scar' mini-album.

'De-Luxe' opens with a spiralling, picked riff then simply bursts into a Shoegaze wall-of-sound and seems to climb, climb, climb in intensity. Layer-upon-layer of guitars and interlocking female harmonies create a wonderful, enveloping sound.

Bizarrely, it's also the basis for much Guitar Hero action.

Download Lush 'De-Luxe' (indie, shoegaze mp3) (Rapidshare)

#indiechristmas - Cocteau Twins 'Frosty The Snowman' (Fontana, 1993)

Something of a departure but their rococo swirl suits the song. 

By 1993, the Cocteau Twins were on a major label and singer Liz Fraser had started singing much more comprehensible words rather than the esperanto of yore. As it was, the songs mainly seemed to be digs at long-term partner Robin Guthrie but on this occasion we got a full-blown recognisable lyric.

As a consquence, it wasn't such a shock to hear them deliver a Christmas EP. 'Snow' paired their warbling take on 'Winter Wonderland' with a swirling, cascading version of 'Frosty The Snowman'. The refractions of guitar and glissandos of vocal suggesting a crystalline snowscape.

Perfect.

Download Cocteau Twins 'Frosty The Snowman' (indie Christmas mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Pixies 'Gouge Away' (Live, NYC, December 2004)

Brooding, controlled malevolence from the first round of comeback shows.

Building, building, building from understated threat to hollering rage. Kim Deal adding the sweet trills and rolling bass that made the Breeders rock.

Quite a good band.

Download Pixies 'Gouge Away' (Live, NYC, December 2004) (alternative rock mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Cocteau Twins 'Dials' (4AD, 1991)

Gentle rarity from the 1991 singles box set.

'Dials' was one of the tracks on the bonus disc in the 1991 singles box set (along with 'The High Monkey Monk' post herebefore). It was released as they were about to leave 4AD for Phonogram's major label headaches.

It's an outtake from the 'Heaven Or Las Vegas' sessions and is a beat-less piece of beauty. It bridges the ambient gorgeousness of the 'Victorialand' album to the richness of the later 4AD period, thereby teaching a generation of Shoegazers what singing should sound like.

Beautiful.

Download Cocteau Twins 'Dials' (indie, Dreampop, Shoegaze mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Swallow 'Lovesleep (Vocal Version)' (Volume, 1992)

Shimmering, chugging homage to the Cocteau Twins. Gorgeous though.

Whether Swallow had been on 4AD or not, they would have been compared to the indie alternative majesty of Cocteau Twins (mp3). Swirling mists of FX-laden guitars and oozing, angelic female vocals set against a metronomic drum machine. It's a particularly poised and precise strain of Shoegazer music.

Swallow were a male-female duo who released one proper album and a remix collection on 4AD in the early nineties. They had a hint of My Bloody Valentine's sturm und drang guitar abuse and a dash of Curve's arch frostiness (mp3). However, to be fair to them, they did pre-date Seefeel's gauzey shapeshifting guitar slide plus dub vibe (mp3).

Well worth a listen if you've fallen for I Break Horses recently.

Download Swallow 'Lovesleep (Vocal Version)' (indie alternative, shoegaze mp3) (Mediafire)

Bon Iver 'Towers, Perth, Calgary - Live on Later' (2011)

'Perth' in particular given an expansive, muscular makeover.

Bon Iver's second album is a treat, which is a quite an achievement after the brilliance of the 'For Emma, Forever Ago'.

This set from Later with Jools Holland features three songs played by an incredibly large ensemble - an array of multiple guitarists, drummers, brass and keyboards. This is one indie alternative hero who isn't skimping on the presentation.

'Perth' is a revelation - a stand-out for me on the album, here rendered even more epic but with a more muscular edge balancing the sweetness.

'Calgary' is a choir of yearning set over a driving, almost Arcade Fire-like chassis, bouyed by subtle brass touches. 'Towers' is a clattering shuffle with hints of Calexico/Beirut mariachi boogie.

Very beautiful.

Download Bon Iver 'Towers (Live on Later)' (indie alternative mp3 download) (Mediafire)
Download Bon Iver 'Perth (Live on Later)' (indie alternative mp3 download) (Mediafire)
Download Bon Iver 'Calgary (Live on Later)' (indie alternative mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Pale Saints 'Baby Maker (EP Version)' (4AD, 1990)

Barnstorming, noisy version of the 'In Ribbons' track.

The title track of the 'Half Life EP' was strangely baggy, Pale Saints seemingly trying out someone else's clothes. 'Babymaker', however, is a strident mix of underwater Shoegaze guitar (don't try gazing at your shoes when under-water, kids) and extravagant noise-pop.

The 'In Ribbons' version is less spiky but the EP version has more undeniable momentum, a headlong rush. It's almost falling over itself, careering across a park made of feathers, stopping for a giddy pillow-fight, creating a downy blizzard that harks back to 'She Rides The Waves' from the first EP.

Download Pale Saints 'Babymaker (EP Version)' (Shoegaze, Dreampop mp3) (Mediafire)

Pale Saints 'Kinky Love' (4AD, 1991)

Mesmerising cover of quirky Nancy Sinatra tune.

Shimmering, velvety Shoegaze delights from Pale Saints, covering an obscure Nancy Sinatra single from 1975. Soaring guitars and washes of guitar are applied to the already bendy guitar sounds of the Nancy Sinatra original.

Perhaps inevitably - given that I heard this version first, long before I heard the original - I think this is a better version. More prominence is given to Ian Masters' delicious, springy bass and the guitars have carte blanche to soar and swoon. Meriel Barham's vocal is less soaked in suggestion, but it's perfect nonetheless.

Beautiful stuff.

Download Pale Saints 'Kinky Love' (Shoegaze, Alternative, Indie, Cover Version mp3) (Mediafire)

Breeders 'Grunggae (Cannonball Demo)' (4AD, 1994)

Early demo of 'Cannonball'. Class stuff.

Not sure if I've thought that 'Cannonball' sounded like Grunge-Reggae like Kim Deal obviously did. However, it's a mighty fine tune, certain to bring the roof down at indie discos wherever it's played. Not that I'm advocating tragic loss of indie life.

By the time of the second Breeders album, the angular, noisy, sinsister atmosphere of 'Pod' had been excised and Tanya Donnelly had moved on to form Belly. 'Last Splash' is a more straightforward alt rock album, with a much more summery disposition, and this shows in this version of a classic as a work in progress.

Download Breeders 'Grunggae (Cannonball demo)' (alternative indie mp3) (Mediafire)

Throwing Muses 'America (She Can't Say No) (Original Demo Version)' (4AD, 1987)

Early version of debut album track from the bewitching Throwing Muses.

More goodies from the Underground tape following the Sonic Youth live cut. This time it's a demo version of some idiosyncratic early Throwing Muses from the tape that got them a deal with 4AD.

Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donnelly weave intricate vocal and guitar patterns over clattering but restrained drumming and an ascending/descending bassline. Something about it sounds like Kristin Hersh is singing backwards. I know that sounds weird.

Download Throwing Muses 'America (She Can't Say No) (Original Demo Version)' (indie alternative rock mp3, Mediafire)

Or download the whole of the 'Rhythm + Noise' tape from Archive: Live + Rare mp3s.

Pale Saints 'A Deeper Sleep For Stephen' (Melody Maker/Rough Trade Distribution, 1990)

Woozier take on 'The Comforts Of Madness' album track.

Gently remixed version of this album track from the Melody Maker/Rough Trade Distribtion mail-order compilation 'Gigantic 2'.

I don't want to sound like a Grumpy Old Man but I had to send-off for 'Gigantic 2' and part with cash. It wasn't a cover-mount like it would be today. It didn't just fall into my lap, I had to work for it. And wait. Two weeks or more. Crazy.

Well worth the wait in this case as Pale Saints take the chloroform to their original, letting it drift off and dream of the fuzzier end of Slowdive, A.R.Kane and Cocteau Twins' 'Victorialand' album.

Download Pale Saints 'A Deeper Sleep For Stephen' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Breeders 'Peel Session April 2nd 1990' (mp3)

First and only Peel Session by the best line-up of the mighty Breeders, the indie-alternative supergroup against which all others should be measured.

The Breeders' 'Pod' album is a sultry, smouldering, almost fetid album. It's raw and powerful, somehow contriving an unexpected level of originality from the old guitar-bass-drums line-up.

Like the album, this Peel Session was produced, sorry, recorded by Steve Albini and is a perfect aperitif for that album. Indeed, Steve Albini legendarily confirmed that he considered 'Pod' amongst his best work in an online poker forum in 2007.

Live takes on four of the album's tracks show what a superb line-up the initial Breeders were - Pixies' Kim Deal, Throwing Muses' Tanya Donnelly, The Perfect Disaster's Josephine Wiggs and Slint's drummer Britt Walford (credited as Shannon Doughton to preserve the all-female story, I believe). The rhythm section, in particular, rocks hard and Jo Wiggs would go on to release the Honey Tongue album 'Nude Nudes' which is one of my faves.

I've rescued the session from an old cassette recorded off John Peel's radio show, so apologies for a little hiss.

Enjoy.

Tracklist:
1. When I Was A Painter
2. Iris
3. Fortunately Gone
4. Hellbound

Download Breeders 'Peel Session April 1990' (320k mp3, ZIP) (Rapidshare)

Red House Painters 'Japanese To English' (4AD, 1992)

Almost desolate, post-rock flavoured songsmithery.

'Japanese To English' is a key track from Red House Painters' debut album, a selection of songs from the demo tape that was sent to label founder Ivo Watts-Russell. He was so blown-away that six tracks were released forthwith with only moderate tarting-up.

It's a stunning record of a soul laid bare over often stark but beautiful music. Not beautiful in the then-typical 4AD way - elaborate cathedrals of sounds and fountains of impressionistic, effects-heavy indie soundscaping like Cocteau Twins, Lush et al - but a more natualistic, austere beauty. It may even have something of the air of Bon Iver's debut album about it.

'Japanese To English' rolls plaintively, guitars chiming over a procession of bass and drums. Rich and sombre but very gorgeous in an alternative kind of way.

Download Red House Painters 'Japanese To English' (mp3) (Mediafire)

A. R. Kane 'Lolita' (4AD, 1987)

Whimsical, breathy dreampop with a Cocteau Twins flourish.

Utterly gorgeous stuff from A.R. Kane. A drifting, blissed out, palliative wash of proto-Shoegaze delight which briefly bursts into a chorus of Cocteau Twins-esque fireworks.

Perhaps unsurprising they get the sound spot-on as the EP was produced by Robin Guthrie.

Gorgeous though.

Download A.R.Kane 'Lolita' (mp3) (Mediafire)