Teenage Fanclub 'Interstellar Overdrive (Pink Floyd Cover)' (Creation Records, 1991)

Wild and free cover of the Pink Floyd classic from 1991's rare album, 'The King'.

Classic, psychedelic riff-ology from Pink Floyd rendered by Teenage Fanclub in heads-down, metal mode. 'Interstellar Overdrive' was included on 'The King' limited edition release that marked Teenage Fanclub's album debut for Creation Records.

More akin to the My Bloody Valentine of 'Feed Me With Your Kiss' or Swervedriver than The Byrds and Big Star moves they would become famous for on 'Bandwagonesque' and beyond.

Download Teenage Fanclub 'Interstellar Overdrive (Pink Floyd Cover)' (indie alternative mp3 download, Creation Records mp3) (Mediafire)

Download the whole of Teenage Fanclub 'The King' (indie mp3 download, Creation Records mp3 download) over on archive:live+rare mp3s

Laura Marling 'I Was An Eagle' (New Song) (Live, 2011)

New song performed live by indie folk songstress Laura Marling in September 2011.

A brand new song from Laura Marling's current live set.

She sounded great at Green Man festival back in August and this is great recording of the same band in a Washington DC synagogue in September.

Download Laura Marling 'I Was An Eagle' (indie folk mp3 download) (Divshare)

Download the whole live set Laura Marling Live in Washington DC, September 2011 (indie folk mp3 download) over on archive:live+rare mp3s

Miles Davis 'Ife (Live at Philharmonic Hall, New York)' (Columbia, 1972)

27 minutes of taut yet meandering, organic, rhythm-heavy electric jazz genius. Tortoise were listening.

'Ife' is a majestic piece from an incendiary period of music development between 1968 and 1974 that fused jazz to rock as only Miles Davis could.

I've been itching to write about Miles Davis for ages - but one never knows the right time to introduce jazz into the conversation..

The studio version of 'Ife' was recorded in 1972 but not released until 'Big Fun' in 1974. This version is from a 1972 live recording and 'Ife' is very much a journey of a piece. Over twenty-seven minutes of journey in fact, meandering from calm to locomotive, drum-powered groove.

I've never figured out whether the likes of Can on 'Tago Mago' (mp3) took inspiration from Miles Davis or vice versa, but it's clear that they were channeling the same wild spirit when they made their best works. More obviously, post rock jazzacists Tortoise and The Drift clearly basked in this music.

Enjoy.

Download Miles Davis 'Ife' (jazz, alternative, improvisation) (Mediafire)

Happy Mondays 'Wrote For Luck (7" Version)' (Factory, 1988)

Flailing, manic majesty from pre-Madchester Happy Mondays.

'Wrote For Luck' channels the lyrical and rhythm section mania of vintage Can - Can's 'Tago Mago' favourite 'Halleluwah' (mp3) in particular - thereby paving the way for latter-day Krautrock-ing indie like Connan Mockasin's mental 'Forever Dolphin Love'.

As with the rest of the 'Bummed' album, it's the point where the Mondays' vibe was firmly in the organic, Krautrock, groove marathon camp. The moment before Paul Oakenfold's sequencers took over and Madchester began, leaving behind the more organic dance/rock hybrids of New Fast Automatic Daffodils et al.

Beautiful insanity.

Download Happy Mondays 'Wrote For Luck (7" Version)' (indie alternative mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Can 'Halleluwah (Re-Edit)' (Spoon, 1971/1989)

Toughed-up re-edit of the 'Tago Mago' classic.

This version of 'Halleluwah' (originally from 1971's 'Tago Mago' album) was re-edited for 1989 compilation 'Cannibalism'. It dispenses with pre-amble and formality and gets down to the business of grinding out an intense tribal 'krautrock' groove.

To say Can are influential sounds trite now but back in the 1980s music as singular as this wasn't widely available - certainly not in the way that mp3s and downloading make it accessible now. (And, to be honest, I wasn't listening to Can back in 1989.)

Can had a massive influence of indie-alternative music, especially that which sought to move more than educate. Public Image Limited's angsty dub-heavy grooves like 'Poptones' (mp3) owe a massive debt and a quick listen to early, pre-Madchester Happy Mondays tracks like 'Wrote For Luck' (mp3) reveals an extensive lyrical and rhythmic debt.

Can's process of editing hours of savage improvisation down to fit the twenty-minute sides of an LP was at odds with the likes of Kraftwerk (mp3) who built lengthy pieces by refracting and reflecting simple, glacial melodies.

I've also always been fascinated by the parallel development of Miles Davis' fusion period and the work of Can. Can certainly took inspiration from Teo Macero's technique of editing finished pieces from hours of taped improvisation, a method which came to the fore during Miles' fusion period from 'Bitches Brew' to the mid-1970s.

Peerless.

Download Can 'Halleluwah (Re-Edit)' (krautrock, progressive rock, indie alternative mp3 download) (Mediafire)