Alex Chilton/Big Star - Holocaust (Live at CBGB) (1978)

Ragged, emotional live version of the This Mortal Coil-inspiring late Big Star classic.

Rough, raw and dilapidated run through what was already an emotionally bleak song. Hard to listen but testament to Alex Chilton's genius and talent.

Famously covered by This Mortal Coil of course.

Download Alex Chilton/Big Star 'Holocaust (Live at CBGB)' (alternative rock mp3) (Mediafire)

The Strokes 'Last Nite (Original Demo)' (c.2000)

Remember them? Demo from back when they didn't have to think about it.

Irresistable clang and drawl from the once-stratospheric New Yorkers. Perhaps without them there would have been to Libertines or no Arctic Monkeys.

Shame they ran out of steam as this is effortlessly cool.

Download The Strokes 'Last Nite (Original Demo)' (indie mp3 download) (Mediafire)

The La's 'Callin' All (Nicky Campbell Session)' (BBC, 2006)

As the rumours circulate of another reunion, the closest thing I could find to a new La's track.

Apparently, Lee Mavers played a secret gig the other week and another reunion is on the way. Still no sign of any new material since that debut album.

This cut is a session recording of 'Callin' All' was recorded for a live session in 1990. It's a song that dates back to before the debut album and this version - like all the versions on the BBC Sessions collection - is wired and fizzing with energy.

Enjoy.

Download The La's 'Callin' All (Nicky Campbell Session)' (mp3) (Mediafire)

The Springfields 'Tomorrow Ends Today' (Sarah, 1991) (Sarah 40) (mp3)

Reverent version of an early (allegedly unreleased) Primal Scream 12-string indie-pop track. Bears the catalogue number Sarah 40.

'Tomorrow Ends Today' by The Springfields aka Ric Mench and Paul Chastain of Velvet Crush. Urgent and trebly with shards of Rickenbacker melody bursting from the vinyl. Byrds-y in tone and harmony, with a nod to C86 and one of the fey-est vocals you'll hear.

Download The Springfields 'Tomorrow Ends Today' (mp3) (Mediafire)

The View 'I Need That Record' (Record Store Day 7", 2011)

I have only very occasionally been a fan of The View's oeuvre over the years but this is their contribution to Record Store Day 2011. It's a spiky little number, a pretty faithful cover of The Tweeds' 1980 power-pop paean to record-lust.

Of course, today is Record Store Day. Check out the full list of participating stores. Happy shopping!

The Tweed's version is also the soundtrack to 'I Need That Record: The Death (Or Possible Survival) Of The Independent Record Store' a US documentary featuring Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, Fugazi's Ian MacKaye, Noam Chomsky, ex-Talking Heads Chris Frantz and Lenny Kaye of The Patti Smith Group. You can watch the trailer here.

I Need That Record by The View

New Music - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart 'Belong' (Fortuna Pop, 2011)

The Pains (surely not the best band name abbreviation ever) have graduated on this record - from buzzing Sarah Records pop to a harder, grinding buzzsaw sound. There are echoes of the Jesus & Mary Chain's awesome 'Sidewalking' and submerged My Bloody Valentine vocals. And it suits them.

This is the second taster - after 'Heart In Your Heartbreak' - from their second album, 'Belong'. It promises to be more knockabout indie fun.

ThePains of Being Pure At Heart - Belong by SlumberlandRecords

Arcwelder 'Favor' (Duophonic, 1992)

The excitement of mail-ordering 7"s from Stereolab's Duophonic label yielded a number of delights - not least an array of coloured vinyl Stereolab singles.

On one occasion it delivered me this single from Arcwelder - 140 seconds of urgent powerpop majesty (plus a b-side I have long since forgotten) that just begs you to put the needle back to the start and play it again.

Whilst more was heard from Arcwelder (a series of albums on Touch and Go) for some reason I never sought out anything else by them. Maybe I knew that this was perfection and I shouldn't risk sullying its memory with less insistent, less mercurial fare.



Arcwelder's website