Guest Top 5 - Top Five Secular/Atheist Anthems by The Autumn Stones

It's been almost two years since I last had a guest top five to publish so here's a very welcome contribution from Canadian dreampop band The Autumn Stones. Written & selected by guitarist & songwriter Ciaran Megahey who provides us his favourite secular anthems in no particular order. Once you've read this you should go and check out The Autumn Stones music either via the band's website or via ubiquitous streaming platform Spotify.

Photo: Alison Waddell ©2015

The 6ths - "The Dead Only Quickly"
According to the songwriter's liner notes to his masterwork, 69 Love Songs, Stephin Merritt is a "rabid atheist". He is also my favourite songwriter and although he rarely tackles religion in his work, when he does he does so with wit and style. In verse two of "The Dead Only Quickly," he seems to be offering some degree of sympathy with the faithful: "It would be swell / To see some folk burn in hell..." But then comes the rejoinder: "But when they go / It's just as pleasant to know / That the dead only quickly decay..." leaving the listener wondering whether there isn't a trace of feline irony lurking in the shadows. The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon provides the masterfully understated vocal turn on this recording.



The Clash - "Rock The Casbah"
In the documentary film The Future is Unwritten, Joe Strummer describes "Rock The Casbah" as being about the inhumanity of religious fundamentalism. Not the kind of subject matter one expects to find topping the charts in 1982, but there you have it. I remember loving this song as a kid and love it slightly more now that I know what it's about.



Guided By Voices - "I Am a Scientist"
Another one of my all-time favourite tunesmiths: Robert Pollard. It's hard to imagine a finer moment in his extremely lengthy catalogue. "I Am a Scientist" comes across lyrically like his artist statement and perhaps the song that best defines him. Though making no mention of religion or faith whatsoever, it nonetheless seems to be about self discovery and finding meaning through art and being open-minded. "I know what's right / But I'm losing sight of the clues...to just unlock my mind / Yeah, to just unlock my mind..." A decidedly humble, secular and inspiring view in my book, making this song an appropriate fit on this list. I dare you to try to stop the hairs on the back of your neck from rising whilst listening.



Belinda Carlisle - "Heaven Is a Place on Earth"
This is another one that I remember from childhood as one of those songs that just makes your heart soar. It still does and as I read the lyrics to "Heaven Is a Place on Earth," I realized that this is pretty damn close lyrically to what I was trying to get at with one of my band's songs, "End Of Faith." Quoth Belinda, "In this world we're just beginning / To understand the miracle of living..." Dammit, she beat me to it. Heaven is a place on earth. And it is in the form of this song.



Kate Bush - "A Deal with God (Running Up that Hill)"
Yes, you read correctly: "A Deal with God" is the original, proper title of this Kate Bush classic. I am doing my part to help reclaim it! It was changed to "Running Up that Hill" at the behest of her fearful record company. Boooo! The public was very much ready for this — as its status as a classic attests. Hopefully, a lesson has been learned. The song isn't about religion; Kate Bush says it is about the misunderstandings that arise between men and women because of their differences. Still, the $uits feared that the lyrics would be interpreted as sacrilegious. They kind of are, actually — and that's why this song made it on this list (in addition to the fact that it is awesome).




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Guest Top Five "songs with drums" from my youth by Tony Ruff

There's not many things I enjoy better than someone sending me a top five out of the blue, and this is one of those. Tony has had to put up with me discussing my latest top five down the pub for a number of years and finally decided to give it a go himself. It's a corker too, enjoy.

In no particular order, these are my top five songs from my teens which feature drums in some way and which probably influenced my musical taste for ever. I can’t play the drums myself (or indeed any musical instrument) but I have always enjoyed watching and listening to good drummers – especially if they are in a heavy rock ‘n’ roll band!

1. “Dreaming” Blondie - I bought this on 7 inch single (1979 I think) after I first heard it on Capital Radio (never really liked Radio 1). My brother and I shared a bedroom and he had a record player and I used to play it over and over again until he finally snapped and demanded that I use headphones. This meant that I could turn it up (to 11) and I properly got addicted to loud music from that point on. The drumming on this song is simply brilliant. There are a couple of videos on You Tube where the drumming is mimed, but there is one version where I’m sure he’s (Clem Burke?) hitting the skins as ‘live’. Mesmerizing.



2. “Overkill” Motörhead - To be honest the first time I heard this was in 1982 at Hammersmith Odeon when I saw Motörhead on the Iron Fist tour. I had a few of their albums but not Overkill and seeing/hearing the double bass drum crescendo of Philthy Animal Taylor really did blow me away. After the show I got hold of the album and the 12 inch single and played them to death. When No Sleep Til Hammersmith came out, the live version of Overkill got played so often that I scratched the vinyl at the beginning and end of the song!



3. “Bad Boy Boogie” AC/DC - Although the brilliant If You Want Blood live album came out in 1978, I probably got my hands on it a couple of years later. The third track, Bad Boy Boogie really demonstrates the amazing teamwork of drummer Phil Rudd and Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar. The song itself is dominated by Angus Young’s guitar solo but for me the sound of the drums makes the hair on the back of the neck stand on end!



4. “Rock ‘n’ Roll” Led Zeppelin - I don’t remember when I got hold of The Song Remains The Same album, but I do remember going up to Soho to watch the film in 1982 (in a dodgy cinema that usually showed more adult type films!). The live version of Rock ‘n’ Roll on this album is a classic – I only have to hear the ‘Okay lets go’ at the beginning of the track and I have to put my life on hold for the next 4 minutes. Jon Bonham - one of the best drummers, if not the best, of all time.



5. “In The Air Tonight” Phil Collins - I’m gonna get slaughtered for having this in the list but I absolutely loved it at the time. It’s more famous these days for having a gorilla play the drums but there’s no escaping the fact that it has great drums on it. It was either this one, or ELO’s Mr Blue Sky.



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Guest Top 5 by JHO - Songs from Doolittle by the Pixies

It's been a long time since I had a guest post on here and this one is nicked directly from my friend Justin's blog. Over at Station to Station Justin has all sorts of music votes in progress which I've been contributing too (never one to pass up the chance of putting things into some sort of order) and his readers recently picked "Doolittle" by the Pixies as a contender for Ultimate Album. There's an extended blog about the Ultimate Album vote HERE which includes my top 5 moments from the same album but I've taken Justin's bit's out for the guest post below.

We decided to give a go at arguably the Pixies' strongest or at least their most consistently loved album Doolittle and give a proper inner Top 5 from the album. I voted for Stevie Wonder this round but I can't deny this 1989 release and its staying power as an album that was a precursor to the alternative explosion that happened in the following decade. And voters agreed. By one point it narrowly took down Wonder's tour de force double album a la kitchen sink and last night's leftover Songs In the Key Of Life. After wrestling with Wonder's shortcoming I quickly lightened up. Why? Because Doolittle is frankly a blast.

5. Gouge Away - As far as closers go, Gouge Away is wonderful for the way it sets the tone for the album that preceded it quite nicely. Musically, Joey Santiago rips through this one on guitar like the world is on fire around him. And Frank Black's lyrics are quite violently disturbing but he delivers them on target being a bit more gentle in the main chorus then getting up to his frantic antics in the verses for extra effect. I've taken Gouge Away as being trapped to something tangible (a drug, a lifestyle, a habit, anything you can't break away from) and being unhappily set in its moribund path of destruction. But further reading for this five shows it's of biblical proportions. Black had written Gouge Away around the story of "Samson and Delilah" which I didn't know previously but makes sense. Do all these things to me (Gouge Away, Break My Arms, Spoon My Eyes...) and I won't break. Unless of course, you cut my hair. If the song ended on that refrain it may have been a bit...corny? Nonetheless, I've got "Gouge Away" at #5...mainly because "Gouge" is a pretty terrifying bad-ass word.

4. Debaser - Well if you told an average Joe "Hey I've got this album you might have not heard and the opening song AND closing song are both about getting your eyes sliced up and gouged" I wonder what his reaction would be? Excitement or Bewilderment? Maybe he asks if you should try a new medication. Cause basically that's the blueprint of "Doolittle" and its bookends. And both songs make my Top 5. Debaser slightly ahead of Gouge Away because Frank sounds like he's having a panic attack. It's on par with Bone Machine for me, the previous album's "Surfer Rosa" opener in that there is this oddball mentality prepared to rip your mind and rock out at its own digression. Lyrically I guess Debaser is simpler (and if you dig French silent films from surrealists from the 1920s, you're in luck here too) and Kim Deal's sweet female counterpoint vocals of the word DEBASER off of Black's snarl of DEBASER is one of my favorite moments on the album. And of course the "slicing up eyeballs" reference. Ha Ho Ho Ho! What a great opener!

3. Tame - Cause there is quite a good amount of 2 minute and under songs on "Doolittle" I feel the need to add one in here and Tame is hands down the cake taker. It's aggressive and a bit mean hearted...but it's in good fun right cookie? The way Black crawls into your space just screaming Tame isn't for the lighthearted but making references to Cinderella's hips and falling on your face in bad shoes, well, that's for the girl you want to see fail because their mean hearted to begin with. And the dynamics of the simple chord progression in Tame was used time and time and time again in any grunge outfit you can count on your hands and toes in the next decade. Also Black's scream is probably on par with any metal vocalist you want to reference. Not one to throw on for your kids because they'd probably feel their father has lost their mind. But for style points if their just at the right age, you'd probably be a genius in their eyes. "Mom, dad's playing that guy screaming "Tame" again! And he's smiling the whole time! I'm, worried!".

2. Monkey Gone To Heaven - This is probably my first memory of the Pixies seeing the video for Monkey Gone To Heaven on 120 Minutes back in my early teen days. It made for a dark and mysterious band at first glance (the black and white video or the whole devil is six, pick one they both fit the bill at the time). But there is a touching side to Monkey Gone To Heaven. There is a more conscious environmental flow and spiritual side to Monkey Gone To Heaven. First off, the under water guy who got killed by ten millions pounds of sludge from New York and New Jersey. What bastards we are as humans to kill Neptune with our sludge! Also mentioned is the hole in the sky which I imagine was the first talks of what we're doing to the hole in the ozone layer back in '89. I may not recycle as much as I want to should, but Monkey Gone To Heaven does a great deal in wanting me to help our Earth. (As Jim Morrison drunkenly mumbled "What have we done to our fair sister?") And now that the environmental part of the song is out of the way a quick tip of the hat again to Santiago for crafting a guitar line that matches the mood perfectly. And Deal again works the bittersweet side vocals to Black who is much more subdued for most of the song. Of course he can't help himself by the time "Then GOD IS SEVEN" comes round near the end. Most people think of Monkey as the number song but there is much more here when you dig deeper...there's even cellos for goodness sake.

1. Wave Of Mutilation - Leave it to my pop sensibility again, I love Wave Of Mutilation the most on "Doolittle". It's like a slap across the face with cold water on a July day. Sure there's nothing refreshing about driving your car into the ocean (a reference to failed Japanese businessman's answer to failed business deals) but it somehow pulls off a romantic feel to it in that chorus. Something about just being on a wave with Santiago upping the feeling playing that guitar a bit off from the rest of the song for extra punctuation. Can any Wave Of Mutilation have a good ending to it? No way. But the Pixies make that wave feel right somehow, Black's crunchy rhythm guitar leading the way in the verse to a seaport mariana. Yeah, that's where we'd all like to ride to sometime. Even if it is one defined by mutilation. It's slightly better than slicing up eyeballs, a little more refreshing than being referred to as 5 and a top notch song from an ultimate album.

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Guest Top 5 by Joel of Giant Burger - The Top 5 Worst Sounds in my Record Collection

I've said before that the guest top fives are better than the ones I write myself and this just proves the point beyond doubt. Joel plays guitar and sings in the band Giant Burger who are so far the only band I have discovered entirely through Twitter. I went to see them at the Sebright Arms last week and they were ace.

Joel agreed to do this a while back and has put together something unique. I intend to follow Rosie & Nick by listening to the sounds and recording my reactions in the comments section. Assuming I've successfully worked out the html to embed mp3s in the blog, it would be cool if everyone had a go.

You should also go & see Giant Burger play live (check the video out at the bottom of the blog). Over to Joel.

BEYOND JAMES LAST: FIVE OF THE WORST THINGS IN MY RECORD COLLECTION.

There are the horrors that come suddenly, and there is the horror of endlessness. Music has both of these aplenty, and I try to find it. I collect terrible music and sounds, not exclusively, but actively. I do this to fight a narrowing mind. It is by confronting ugliness that we come closer to knowing and noticing beauty. Also, if you only listen to the voices you agree with, how do you know what you believe?

It is also important to share the horror you find. I find it amusing to expose my friends to bad music and sounds, I always have. For this Top Five, I chose some fairly terrible stuff to play to two people, Rosie and Nick, who both have a good idea about what they like and don’t like when it comes to music. I asked them some questions about how they felt about these pieces.

Here are the selections, either ripped onto mp3 (badly), or with a link. My apologies in advance for the mp3 quality, these are very obscure (or unique) sounds, and I have limited technology.

5. The Black Box Revelation "Love, Love Is On My Mind" (T for Tunes, 2011)



I got this when I ordered a really tasteful techno record, tucked into the package. I have absolutely no idea why the person I bought a Monoceros album off sent me this single. Maybe they had it sent to them. Maybe it was a joke. It’s fucking terrible. The name of the record label makes it even funnier.

ME – What does this make you feel?

NICK – Irritation and boredom, and almost sad at the waste of the time and the energy and the illusion and the delusion of the people making it. Music of that ilk, that they’re shooting for, the excitement isn’t there. It’s totally following the rules.

ROSIE - Embarrassment is the major emotion. I guess to me they sound about my age, and really British, and I just feel embarrassed that people would pick up their instruments and think that it’s okay to do that. It’s so Camden barfly.

NICK – Exactly.

ME – You both knew that band had a ‘The’ in the title.



4. Marvin Bernstein – "Burning the Candle" from Lebenszyklus (Life Cycle) (Music Deluxe, year unknown)

MP3 Player - "Burning the Candle"


Link to mp3 if audio player doesn't work

This is a peppy little number from a tip-to-tail exuberant CD of instrumental MIDI masterpieces. I also own a companion album called Schrecksekunden (Creepy Moments), whose tone is more Halloweeny. I bought them both from separate people selling junk on illegal pitches at Brick Lane Market. 20p each!

ROSIE – Has it been two minutes yet?

ME – We’re listening to the whole track.

ROSIE – Oh.

NICK – Gee, I just don’t know where it’s going, next.

ME – What is, in your opinion, the purpose of this recording, and is it fulfilling that purpose?

NICK – It sounds like a soundtrack for a series of uplifting moments of a forgettable, fairly shit TV movie.

ROSIE – I think the purpose is for a guy, cause it’s probably a guy, to explore the different options of his digital music producing equipment.

ME – Would you listen to it willingly?

ROSIE – No, I would have to be subjected to it.

NICK – Me, too.

3. Lalo Schifrin – "AD Main Theme" (BBC Cassettes, 1985)



For when Vivaldi is too hard hitting, this music was soundtrack material for a TV series about Late Antiquity. I’m not sure how Schifrin made what was an absolutely fascinating period of history sound so waxy, dead and boring, but he did, and well done to him for it! If the television series is anything like its music, it would fit well into a series of MST3K parodies. One track is called Gladiator School, though. Bought under a bridge in Oslo off a junk seller, if memory serves.

NICK – It’s like John Williams, without the imagination.

ROSIE – It’s like a Mills and Boone novel.

ME – What does it make you feel?

NICK – It fails to make me feel anything, it’s so contrived. Is that the best you can do to try to make me feel that?

ROSIE – I actually felt like I was on a cruise, it felt quite nice.

ME – Would you listen to it willingly?

NICK – No.

ROSIE – I actually wouldn’t mind. I like stuff that is just there, sometimes. That music is completely unobtrusive.

2. John Savage "The Art of the Drummer" (John Savage, 1977)

MP3 Player - "The Art of the Drummer"


Link to mp3 if audio player doesn't work

John is a fantastic drummer. This tape, no doubt, was made to accompany a tutorial book for people wanting to learn drums. To make this tape would have been a Herculean task, and John’s musicianship and precision I envy. However, when listened to as just a tape, a similarly superhuman level of stamina is required to get past two minutes. Perfect for unsettling house guests. I believe this is from a St. Leonard’s charity shop.

ME – What does this make you feel?

NICK – Kind of interest at first, and then annoyance. I kind of liked listening to it at the beginning, and at the end I just wanted it to stop.

ME – Would you listen to it willingly?

ROSIE – No, no, no, no.

NICK – No. Unless the bingo caller was sick, then I’d put that on.

1. Keith "Kent Stories Read By Keith" (Home taped, year unknown)

MP3 Player - "Kent Stories Read By Keith"


Link to mp3 if audio player doesn't work

Keith, here, is reading from what I can only assume is a very saucy book about Kent, and its goings on. Especially present are the sexual predilections of queens and kings, or their frigidity. I don’t know who Keith is reading this for, but they are also getting a peek into his mind. It’s not safe to stay long with Keith, especially not when you’re alone in the house. Sorry, Keith, but it’s true. I think this is from a charity shop in Hastings.

ROSIE – Oh, he’s creepy. He sounds like he’s reading the Shipping Forecast.

ME – What is, in your opinion, the purpose of this recording, and is it performing it?

ROSIE – I think it really fails, because you don’t want to listen to that guy. All you can think is about that looking at a page, and blabbing off some words.

NICK – It think it’s to convey Keith’s passion for history, and it fails! It Fails! I think it was created by Keith for friends or family, for a car journey.

ME – What does it make you feel?

ROSIE – Boredom is the overarching feeling, but it also makes me want to get away, and it also makes me feel sad that a tremendous tale, and history itself can be reduced to just some words, and artless drone.

NICK – Mostly frustration, because I wanted to hear the story told well. I listen to it and I think ‘How hard is it? I could do better than that.

ROSIE – He says his sentences that same way every time.

NICK – There’s no modifying the tone at all, no abstract shit like that.

Thanks for listening, folks.

GIANT BURGER play "Big Meat" Live at The George Tavern



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Guest Top 5 Favourite Things by Brandon Gilliard

OK, this is slightly out of the blue. I enjoyed this week's Live Later ... with Jools Holland which featured Pixies, Chvrches, Barrence Whitfield & The Savages and Janelle Monae. I made a passing comment about that on Twitter (where I misspelled Barrence's name) and my tweet was noticed by Brandon Gilliard who is currently playing Bass in Janelle Monae's band.

Obviously enjoyed the Pixies. Janelle Monae & Chvrches were both great but really loved Barrington Whitfield & The Savages #laterjools

— Chop Stick (@Chops_Top_Fives) September 26, 2013

I was a little surprised as I'd not copied in any of the band's Twitter accounts but Brandon must have been searching for #laterjools or Janelle Monae and favourited my tweet. I thought I test this out and see if he was interested in writing a guest top five.

@Chops_Top_Fives Possibly. What's a top five? #BrandonGilliArd #JanelleMonaesBassPlayer

— Brandon GilliArd (@btgillbass) September 27, 2013

Which was pretty bloody cool I thought. Here's a bit of background about him.

Brandon is a world touring bass player who has recorded or shared the stage with artists as diverse as KIMBRA, Erykah Badu, Avery*Sunshine, Big Boi of OutKast, P. Diddy, Bob Carlisle, Jennifer Holliday, Angie Stone, Chinua Hawk and a plethora of others. He has also performed with world class ensembles such as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. His bass lines have been recorded for major movie soundtracks including work for Henson Studios, Fox, Blue Sky Studios and world renown composer, John Powell. Brandon credits musicians such as James Jamerson (Motown), Rocco Prestia (Tower of Power), Pino Pallidino (John Mayer, D’Angelo) and Verdine White (Earth, Wind & Fire) as his biggest influences.

Brandon is currently the bass player for Atlantic Records/ Bad Boy Records recording artist and his bass work is featured on Janelle Monae’s new album "The Electric Lady". Here are Brandon Gilliard's Top 5 favourite things.

1. Performing live

2. Country Music

3. Boots

4. Basses

5. Ireland

Thanks for this Brandon, you're a dude!

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Guest Top 5 Songs by The Walkmen by Justin Howell

Justin writes the prodigious website Station To Station which has enough music content to keep you amused for years. He recently ran a Top Artists of All Time readers poll which spanned several months and was a lot of fun to take part in (even if the Pixies failed to win). So, I'm delighted to hand the reigns over to Justin for his top five songs by American East Coast indie rockers The Walkmen.

I'm usually not good at picking a topic for a list but once I've got one lodged in place (a random thought or usually, a moment with the IPOD) I can get a clearer vision of what that list will be. This list came to me when I dropped my 5 1/2 month old daughter Sydney at daycare Wednesday. It's funny, the first thing I thought of when Chop asked me for a Guest Top 5 was Five Songs I'd Sing To Entertain A 5 Month Old...but each 5 month old is different and mine is really digging only 4 songs I sing to her right now (James Brown medley of Get On Up/I Feel Good, Passion Pit-I'll Be Alright, R.E.M.-Stand and Elton John-I'm Still Standing which she REALLY is fascinated by). Anyways, we get in the car and "Sound & Vision" is the first song that bops us along on a gorgeous spring day for the 4 minute jaunt to home care for Sydney. The IPOD in the car is usually set to a mix of new stuff I'm digging (Foxygen, Phosphorescent, Kurt Vile, Mikal Cronin, etc.) and favorites from my past. Sydney seems impartial to Bowie when I stop to drop her off. Her mood is neither enlightened nor frustrated from the glimmering keys and stutter beat of the "Low" classic. Maybe she'll dance to it when she's older. It's when I get back in the car and start my way to work that the next song jump starts this Top 5 in an instant. "Little House Of Savages" from The Walkmen's 2004 LP "Bows + Arrows".


I'm staring at 40 in late September. The first thing that comes to mind is reflection when I hear the pulsating drumming of Matt Berrick and the wail of Hamilton Leithauser reminding me "Someone is waiting for me at home." The Walkmen have officially taken up a decade of my life...my 30's. Is it tough to stomach that 9 years have gone by since the first time I saw them perform "The Rat" on late night TV? Not at all. But it seems like such a long time ago now. I rushed out the next week and bought "Bows + Arrows" and a few weeks later got their debut "Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone." They were in modest rotation for me for awhile but their follow up "A Hundred Miles Off" left me a bit cold with the band. Maybe I'd had my fill after two LPs (though "Louisiana" from the album which just missed this five is still a great horn driven fiesta). It wasn't until a friend mentioned to me how great "You & Me" was in 2008 that I got back on The Walkmen train for their next three albums. The Walkmen have usually been consistent to me. Born out of the garage revival of bands like The Strokes and The White Stripes but much more savvy to just stay juxtaposed to just that sound. Their "rockers" are tour de forces...in a Walkmen sort of way. Their mid-tempo songs aim to make you nod your head in cool and cocky agreement. Their ballads make you swoon along with Leithauser's torch song like delivery. They are as complete a band as there is in the decade of my 30's. Their lack of a real pop sensibility is the only thing that has held them back from mass appeal.

I got to go see them live in my hometown of Pittsburgh in 2010. Seemed like a great bill with Japandroids opening up for them (another favorite band from my "late" 30's period). And it was a good show even if a Japandroids fan who accidentally snatched my PBR for a moment insisted that The Walkmen pretty much blew. I shrugged that off quickly. Sure they aren't an anthem laden machine like Japandroids are. They are their own entity with a hint of underlying loneliness brought together by strong songwriting and a whole lot of yearning instead of righteous declarations. Maybe the bill was a mismatch. But it was worth the 350 mile trip back home to just see "New Country" performed in the Walkmen's encore. Give me back my beer.

Oddly enough, I wouldn't point to them as the band that defined the past ten years for me either. There are several artists I'd put ahead of them (Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, The National, TV On The Radio, Animal Collective, Spoon, Drive By Truckers to name a few). If this was a list to name ten bands from my 30's I'll hold dear forever, I'm afraid the Walkmen would even fall out of that group. They're the guys you want to hang out with at the pub and eat spaghetti with before their concerts. Not the rock stars who are going to exhilarate you to pump your fist in the air and tell a stranger "Hey, have you ever heard of the Walkmen before?" If other artists I've admired from the past 10 years were honor roll students, The Walkmen were the B+ students who took the same classes as the smart kids but didn't participate in extra curricular activities for anyone to take any notice. I've never pushed for anyone to listen to the band or recommended them to anyone. But yet here they are with a decade worth of strong material as I look at a new decade for myself peaking it's head at me around the corner. And they keep popping up on my IPOD this Wednesday. "The Love You Love" from their 2012 release "Heaven" has me singing along as I edit at work on Wednesday morning. I find myself crooning along with Leithauser to "Stranded" and it's gorgeous horns from their Portugal infused and aptly titled "Lisbon" from 2010. It's like the band and My IPOD are telling me to dust off my 5 favorites and send them to a blog overseas because though I've visited England once in 2010 for a vacation of London and Dublin, I didn't leave a mark behind. Only an Oyster card for the Tube that I didn't use all the pounds I paid for it. So here's what I'll send back to the UK. My TOP 5 songs from the Walkmen....we'll say my 18th or 22nd favorite band of my 30's. (Looks like I need to get on that list of bands in October).

The Walkmen: Dad's 18th favorite band of his 30's

5. In The New Year
Anytime Leithauser is waxing shiny optimism on the surface you have to take it as either a comical or sarcastic approach. So the fact that he croons "It's gonna be a good year" comes off as hokey (See Lisbon's "Victory" for another happy ironic loser). And the jangly guitar intro is standard Walkmen fare. So what makes "In The New Year" great then? That brilliant Christmas time organ that rises up from the fire like a phoenix and holds on to each chord with stranglehold force. Oh, and Leithauser delivers my second favorite Walkmen line of all time "Out of the darkness, and INTO THE FIRE!" with so much conviction you want to buy the guy a pint and listen to his gospel. Is this a good song to play every New Year's Eve. Absolutely! Especially if your sisters have married all your friends and if your family is asking you how long will you ramble. Damn straight the next year is gonna be a better year.

4. Angela Surf City
You say the Walkmen can't do surf music? Yeah it doesn't seem plausible but here's a song where all of The Walkmen's strengths click at once. Silky romanticism, a roaring chorus, persistent percussion and a whole lot of great guitar work. And Leithauser sings this one to the rafters instead of shouting it out to the neighbors across the street. It showed the band maturing and incorporating a lot of great elements on a terribly underrated album with "Lisbon." It's coda ends with a bittersweet reminder that it's back to work and school and that life goes on all around you. I wonder if he won that girls' heart or not?

3. Heaven
2012's release of "Heaven" by the Walkmen left me thinking the band had lost a fire they once kindled on the first few listens but I admit it grew on me slowly through the year. This wasn't the same band that exhibited an uncanny passion for sloppy but smart nocturnal songs anymore. They sounded more mature in their songwriting. Nowhere is that on display as much as on the self titled song from that album. The chorus is angelic in every sense of the word. Leithauser delivers the line: "Remember, remember...all we fight for" with a conviction he never showed before. And the band sound as convincing as ever too. Growing up is hard to do especially in music but they pulled it off on songs like "Heaven."

2. The Rat
"When I used to go out I knew everyone I saw, now I go out alone if I go out at all." Favorite line in a song in my 30's? Well it's pretty close to perfect. And "The Rat" is pretty much perfect all together as a song. It rages without being pretentious. It tugs at your emotions with thoughtful simple call outs. Sure Leithauser sounds like a gravelly Rod Stewart to me even nine years on. His one line call outs of a relationship deteriorating is nothing short of breath taking. And as for the rest of the band on "The Rat"? Well they play with as much REAL intensity as anyone in the past decade. I love the way the bass comes in on the second line of each verse. "The Rat" is a locomotive in all terms of a song, one of the best of the 00's. "Can't you hear me I'm pounding on your door!!!!!"

1. Four Provinces
So I've got two "You & Me" songs in my 5 (along with "In The New Year"). "Four Provinces" has all the trade marks that make me want to feel alive in a song. A bossa nova backdrop, jangly high end guitars, stories of heartbreak, gin, cigars and an actual bar I believe called Sophia's Place, and that bridge where the guitars glide alongside a tambourine....I absolutely love "Four Provinces". Leithauser in the chorus garbles with a drunken undertone to his love "Hey Leah, am I getting through?" And then tries a little bit of flirtation "Your shining eyes are brighter in the moonlight." That one's for each of us that have tried a dumb line or twenty in a bar before. For all the heartbreak and half drunken tales of frustration that the Walkmen have crafted, nothing tops "Four Provinces" for me. It would be my number 1, although "The Rat" is probably their best moment.

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Guest Top 5 - Bands Featuring Members of Jane's Addiction by Here_Comes_B

After a few weeks of non-top five blathering you'll be relieved to see me hand the reins over to someone who actually knows his subject really well. This is @Here_comes_B second guest top five of the year. If he carries on at this rate he'll have done more top five posts this year than me! Mat's previous guest post was about bands or solo artists associated with the Brian Jonestown Massacre. I mentioned in that intro Mat was a fan of Jane's Addiction too, so here he is to complete the circle.

I grew up with the music of Jane's Addiction. It's been with me all of my adult life, through thick and thin. They're one of the bands I've always tried to see when they've been in England and I've seen them about 8 times since 1990 (with Eric, without, as a support band (for The Wonderstuff), on festival bills and headlining). I liked the sense of theatricality about them. That the visual and art aesthetic was equal to the music and the message (probably a reason why the group photo on "Strays" failed to inspire since the other LPs had featured some art). Their music seemed to encapsulate a bit of everything: love, sex, death, art etc. They also seemed to thrive on conflict, which is why Ritual de lo Habitual is my number one album of all time (I think they all pretty much hated each other by then, half were full time junkies and Perry was keeping the vast majority of the money as he wrote, sang and did some production. They didn't record it together, just went in separately and recorded their parts). When they split in 1991, I was obsessed with buying up all the music they put out separately (Deconstruction, Porno for Pyros, Dave Navarro's "Trust No One", Perry's electronica LP Song Yet to be Sung, Eric Avery solo LPs and later, the 2 Jane's sans Eric LPs they did) to try and recapture some of that Jane's voodoo magic. Here's the top 5 of the non-Jane's output.

Psi Com

5) "Xiola" Psi Com (Perry Farrell and some LA goth/punks) - This for me is the first Jane's Addiction song. I wish they'd rerecorded it under the Jane's banner. It's only got Perry on it (from Jane's) but probably has some of his most Perry-est singing ("Xiooolaaaaaaaah"). It's also about the same person (Xiola Blue) that "Three Days" is about. It's proper LA goth/punk sounding too. Dates to about 85.

4) "Fire in the Hole" Deconstruction (Eric Avery & Dave Navarro from Jane's...guest vox from Gibby Haynes)-
Surely born out of the Lollapalooza tour (Butthole Surfers played the first one I think), this track welded Texan madman Gibby Haynes onto LA psychedelic rock from Eric and Dave following the Jane's split. 2 minutes 30 in, it has a guitar solo worthy of Jane's at their peak, obviously it follows on from Gibby screaming.

3) "Kimberly Austin" Porno for Pyros (Perry Farrell & Steve Perkins of Jane's plus Peter di Stefano & Martyn LeNoble) - For all the chaos and ferociousness of Jane's, there's always been a pretty, simple side too (see "Classic Girl" or "Summertime Rolls"). This one is much the same: "I like to watch her sway, she's luck before I'm going away". Pure lovely.

2) "Sadness" Porno for Pyros (Perry Farrell & Stephen Perkins from Jane's plus Peter di Stefano) - But for the production, which is a bit tinny, this would be one of the best songs Perry has done. The right mix of psychedelia, menacing banshee vocals and interesting rhythm holding it all together.

1) "All Remote & No Control" Eric Avery - "Strays" by Jane's sans Eric was a straight up rock record in my opinion. It has its moments but lacks something. This track from Eric Avery, off of "Help Wanted", for me, demonstrates where some of that voodoo went. This LP and the one he's doing now ("LIFE.TIME" up on Bandcamp) have some truly wonderful art rock on them with Eric's lovely, almost baritone vocals. "Maybe" off the same LP has one of the all time great indierock duets, Eric singing with Shirley Manson (of Garbage, who Eric has toured with playing bass). "Fade (after Elliot's Hollow Men" off the current LP is well worth a look, while yer here).
"This is how the world ends. This is how the world ends".

Honourable mentions to "Awesome" by Satellite Party (Perry & Etty Farrell, Stephen Perkins and him from Extreme) which Etty told me came from when they had one of their babies ("what I behold is awesome"). Gets me every time. Also to "Song Yet To Be Sung" from Perry's solo electronic LP of the same name. Also to "Bali Eyes" off of the 2nd Porno for Pyros LP, pure beautiful. Finally to "Underground" off of "The Great Escape Artist" which is every bit as magical as anything off Ritual or Nothing's Shocking. "I'm a hustler, hustler, I'll never give up the underground".

Eric Avery

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Guest Top 5 - Things that show you are getting old! by Al Westoll

Happy Easter to those that celebrate it, and happy long weekend to those that just enjoy the additional bank holidays. Here's Al Westoll with the final part of his age related trilogy of top fives. As I mentioned Al's band The Phantoms play The Alley Cat Club in Soho on Thursday 18th April. If you fancy a fun night out I'll see you there, come say hi and I might even buy you a beer! THE GIG HAS BEEN CANCELLED BUT WILL HOPEFULLY BE REARRANGED AT SOME POINT SOON.

Top 5 Things that show you are getting old!

Here’s something to warn your younger readers about! Enjoy your youth while you can. All was fine until I hit 40 & then all this lot started happening!...

1. Bladder induced sleep interruptions (& Wind!)

I used to have a bladder like a camel! Now, no matter how much (or little!) I’ve drunk before going to bed I still need to get up at some ungodly hour of the night for a pee! What’s this all about? Annoying but manageable whilst at home, slightly more problematic when camping at Glastonbury ! Whilst on the subject of peeing! At some stage in your life (40 as it turns out) you suddenly can’t do something simple like just have a wee without farting at the same time! Although this point is quite amusing!

2. Moisturiser

As a smooth shiny faced kid it would have been unimaginable to think that in later life you would need to use moisturiser! I mean, that’s the sort of stuff your Nan used! But after many years of sunburn & exposure to the lovely Feltham atmosphere your dry cracked wizened visage simply cant cope without a daily application of E45! By the way, all those cracks on my face are laughter lines, not wrinkles!

3. Hangovers

In your youth you don’t give this a second thought. You can go out on the lash, drink as much as you like & wake up the next morning feeling fresh as a daisy. I got very used to these amazing powers of recovery and so was very surprised one morning after a heavy night in my late 30’s to wake up feeling like someone had hit me over the head with a brick & small mouse had nested in my mouth!

4. Weight & Exercise

Growing up as a kid & then a young adult I never gave any thought to the health or nutritional benefits of anything I ate. I just ate what I liked! Similarly I never bothered with exercise. Well obviously I did but it never seemed like it! Endless hours of football, first in the playground with a tennis ball & then later, a kick around with your mates or a Sunday morning league game running around on a wet, muddy council pitch was fun, not exercise. And then you hit 40. All of a sudden you start to get a little heavier, your six-pack starts to become more of a three-pack and you can now ‘pinch an inch’! So, you are forced to start eating vegetables and going to the gym. How tedious!

5. Your ‘Get Up & Go’ gets up and goes!

I can’t remember the last time I sprung out of bed and skipped to work full of the joys of spring. Nowadays it’s a real chore to drag my sorry aching body out of bed in the mornings and summon up the energy to face yet another day! How is it possible to wake up more tired & knackered than when you went to bed the night before? I thought sleep was meant to be restoratory!

Apparently the current life expectancy of a UK male is 78. Blimey! I’m not sure I can put up with another 36 years of this. What’s around the corner, Piles & Dementia! I’m now starting to think they had a good point in the movie ‘Logan’s Run’ (the bit about knocking it on the head at 30, not wooden acting or Jenny Agutter getting her kit of at every opportunity – although that bit wasn’t all bad!)

Note. I’ve not mentioned anything about hair! For me, going grey is not a sign of getting old as I started doing that when I was 18! I’m sure if Chop was writing this he’d have had to add something about hair loss though! (No idea what you're talking about Al - Ed.)

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Guest Top 5 - Things that as a kid I thought were fantastic and 30 years on, still are! by Al Westoll

Part 2 of the Alun Westoll Easter extravaganza. Al is the drummer and driving force behind Feltham's finest covers band The Phantoms who will be playing with JB & The Wolfmen and Clarabella & the Cryptkicker 5 at The Alley Cat Club in Denmark Street on Thursday 18th April. See you there hep cats!

Top 5 things that as a kid I thought were fantastic and 30 years on, still are!

1. The Wizard of Oz, 1939 film

Probably the genesis of my attraction to gingers! The Wizard of Oz was my favourite film as a kid & still is today. Most people berate the fact that it’s churned out every Christmas but apart from the presents (and a sneaky swig of my Nan’s Snowball!), it’s annual repeat was one of the highlights of my childhood festivities! It’s amazing to look back at it and think it was made in 1939! It looked and sounded great then, and still does. By the way, it is possible to love this film & not be gay!

2. The Beatles, Pop Group 1960 to 1970

As a child I’m sure you can all recall those long tedious car journeys on the way to some hideous Butlins holiday camp somewhere in the UK for your annual Summer family holiday. All the way there you were forced to listen to your parents music from the back seat of the Ford Mondeo, something like Abba or The Carpenters, and whether you like it or not, that music stays with you forever. I should be thankful though. Although I’m still quite fond of Abba & The Carpenters, my parents favourite was The Beatles, and so from an early age was inducted into the brilliance of the greatest ever pop band! I was only 9 months old when they split up (the Beatles, not my parents!) but their timeless songs have stayed with me for a lifetime & still sound as fresh & innovative today as they did 50 years ago! Thank God my Mum and Dad didn’t like Barry Manilow!

3. Stephen King, The Stand, 1978 Novel

I used to love reading as a kid. First off it was classics like Treasure Island, Sherlock Holmes & Around the World in 80 Days, but as I grew older (early teens) I developed a love of horror books and authors like Stephen King & James Herbert. To this day I can recall as a 13 year old being asked to read out loud to my English Lit class at Abbotsford School a paragraph from the book I was reading at the time. I chose to read the chapter from James Herbert’s ‘The Rats’ where a couple get eaten alive by a swarm of rats whilst having it off! I digress. I’ve also always been partial to a big fat book, the more epic the better, and as a result my favourite book back in the 80s was ‘The Stand’ by Stephen King. It’s a monster of a book (734 pages) telling the tale of the fight between good & evil in a post-apocalyptic America. I’ve never tired of this story and as I’m still an avid reader, will every now & then dip into it all over again. I’ve still got the same paperback I originally had all those years ago, but it’s starting to look a little faded & dog eared! By the way, like a lot of Stephen King books, it was made into an awful TV series sometime in the 90s & later released on DVD. Do not be tempted to watch it, but do read the book!

4. The Wombles Band!

The first albums I can remember playing on my tiny child’s record player were by the ‘furriest and possibly the tidiest band’, The Wombles (in reality songwriter Mike Batt). I loved all the songs and can remember many happy hours singing along to the lyrics reproduced in the lavish gatefold album sleeves! The Wombles released 4 albums between 1973 & 1975 and I had them all (my ‘little’ nephew has got them now but seeing as he’s now 18 maybe he can give them back)! Sadly they split in 1976 when Wellington left to pursue a solo career (really)! But why are they still great now I hear you ask? Well, in June 2011 I was lucky enough to be in the front row of a packed Avalon Tent at the Glastonbury Festival to witness the Wombles reunion! The capacity crowd (made up mainly of 40 somethings!) sung along to every word, just like me! Check it out! Fantastic!

5. BBC Classified Football Results (& Baked Beans on Toast)!

For many years as a young kid the highlight of the weekend for me was staying over with my Nan in her council flat in Brentford on a Friday night. I’d then spend Saturday morning doing my homework & watching TV. My parents would then come back and we would all sit round for our tea (always beans on toast for me!) at about the same time as Final Score on Grandstand & listen to Len Martin read the classified football results. This has hugely nostalgic memories for me & to this day I still love to tune in every week and listen the how all the teams got on (East Fyfe 4, Forfar 5, etc, etc) and remember my old Nan! Ahhhhhh. Incidentally, despite now being a bit of a foodie, I still love nothing better than a nice plate of beans on toast too! Oh, and a cup of tea. Obviously.


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Guest Top 5 - Things that as a kid I thought were fantastic but looking back were not so great! by Al Westoll

A bumper Easter special. You may remember by pal Alun Westoll from his previous Guest top five double header "Top 5 Bands that only ever made one album" and "Top 5 Bands that SHOULD only have ever made one album". Well he's back with not one, not two but THREE top fives and I'm gonna give them all to you over the next few days.

(Editor's note: I particularly like how Al has attempted to recreate Bruce Campbell's pose in the swimming picture)

Things that as a kid I thought were fantastic but looking back were not so great

1. Live Aid, Concert (1985)

Kicking off with the inspiration behind this top 5. Fellow band member, Mark Gibson, recently lent me his DVD box set of Live Aid which I slowly worked my way through over a number of evenings. This is a prime example of something everyone (including myself until now) rave about saying what an amazing gig it was. But having now watched it all over again it’s definitely not as good as we remember! Yes, the odd bit still holds up (Quo, Queen) but mainly it’s terrible! From the Wembley gig, the performances of The Style Council, Adam Ant & Paul Young have not aged well. And as for the Philadelphia gig, it’s all quite painful, with the Thompson Twins a particular low point! See for yourself! 27 years later I’ve now taken off my rose tinted specs regarding Live Aid and well and truly stomped on them!

2. The Evil Dead, Movie (1981)

I can vividly remember being scared witless watching this film one Halloween at about the age of 12. A bunch of us got together round a friends house and scared ourselves silly watching it on VHS. Then sometime in my mid 20’s I can recall going to see a late night re-run of it at the cinema & this time laughing all the way through! The time lapse plasticine special effects & ‘raping tree’ were certainly not as terrifying the 2nd time around! I have to admit that I still love this film and rushed out to buy it when it was released on DVD. OK, so as a horror film it no longer cuts the mustard, but it’s a great watch with loads of top memories attached!

3. Swimming!

Kids love nothing better than splashing around in the pool & would stay in there for hours if it wasn’t for your parents having to drag you out. I know I used to love nothing better than a trip to Staines swimming pool. But somewhere along the line the fun seems to go out of it and as an adult it just seems like exercise. And there’s no fun in that!

4. 80s Fashion!

Growing up as a kid in the 80’s it was all about having the in-look! All the girls wanted to look like Madonna. All the boys were busy nicking VW badges to look like the Beastie Boys! For me it was a mullet haircut (which I still had when I started work in 1988!), a Gallini jumper (a hideous 3 coloured horizontal striped sweatshirt with a huge logo in the middle), dark blue jeans with a thin red (or white) pin stripe down the leg and white socks! All bought from Feltham Market (where Tesco’s is now)! For my Sister it was massive hair, leg warmers & Ra Ra skirts. Good grief, what were we thinking! Although the Parka Jacket was good! Now when I see young white kids walking around today with baseball caps on sideways (like the chavy comedian Lee Nelson) I’m amused to think that they will probably regret it too in 30 years time!

5. Madness, Pop Band, 1976 to now (unfortunately!)

I used to love this band when I was a kid. I can still remember Baggy Trousers being the ultimate anthem as a 10 year old at the Echelford School disco! I spent many hours on a Sunday night up in my bedroom listening to Simon Bates presenting the top 40 on Radio 1 & taping the Madness hits (desperately hoping no-one would make any noise whilst I hit the Play & Record buttons on my cassette player)! I used to listen to them all the time. Which was probably as annoying for my family as I found my Sisters constant rotation of Tight Fit’s ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’! Some people still love the Ska sound but now with adult ears it’s just too close to Reggae for my liking! One step beyond! BTW, why do these pop dinosaurs keep getting wheeled out every time there’s some kind of high profile gig recently? It was bad enough having to see them ponsing around on the roof of Buck House at the Jubilee gig. And just as I thought they had gone they were back again (singing exactly the same bloody song!) at the Olympics closing ceremony! Please make it stop!

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Guest Top 5 - Early Blues Musicians by MaRaineyBlues

I got to know MaRaineyBlues thanks to the power of Twitter and Cerys Matthews Sunday morning show on 6music. My Sunday morning routine used to involve cooking a roast for lunch whilst listening to Cerys and trying to get myself name checked on air. Ma is one of a number of regular listeners who I got on with really well and who helped the show feel really interactive (Cerys is still making ace radio by the way but we now have the roast in the evening so I listen live less often). Anyway, it was pretty obvious Ma had a huge love of music and an amazing depth of knowledge to back it up. I'd been hoping I could convince her to do a top five for ages and persistence finally paid off.

This is the first top five I've published without an order as Ma decided she liked all five so much she couldn't place them. I think she's right so make sure you check out those video links 'cos they're all amazing.

Led Zeppelin. Cream. The Black Keys. The Rolling Stones. Jimi Hendrix. The Alabama Shakes. Janis Joplin. Jack White. Valerie June. Just a few of the new kids on the block and some of the legendary old guard who make or made music which comes directly from the blues or is influenced by it.

The importance of blues in music history cannot be underestimated. Academics say it is the very backbone of rock and roll. But I'm no academic, merely a fan. Here are 5 of my favourite blues artists from the era when blues was first being heard outside of the Deep South plantations, the illegal juke joints and the travelling shows, when performers were making tentative, ground-breaking steps into making records.

These five all made their first recordings pre-1935.

Skip James - Labourer, sharecropper, Baptist Minister and one of the first Delta blues singers to cut a record. Highly influential on people such as Robert Johnson and Eric Clapton and re-discovered in the 1960s, where he was feted for his mournful voice and virtuoso finger-picking style.

Skip James "Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues"

Lead Belly - Schooled in part by Blind Lemon Jefferson, multi-instrumentalist blues & folk singer Lead Belly was discovered by musicologist Alan Lomax whilst singing prison hollers as an inmate at Angola State Prison. Lead Belly's first recording was made inside the prison walls. Following his release,the Lomax family took him to New York, where, styled as 'King of the 12 string', he began a long association with left-wing causes.

Leadbelly "The Gallows Pole"

Son House - One of 17 children, it wasn't until he was in his 20s that Mississippi's Son House picked up a guitar. After reportedly killing a man in self defence in the juke joint where he was playing, Son House was sentenced to 17 years in prison. Although he made records in 1930, he faded into obscurity, to be rediscovered by younger generations in the 1960s blues revival. It was here that Son House first spoke of the legend that Robert Johnson had sold his soul to the Devil in return for his talent, a legend that continues to be talked of today!

Son House "Death Letter Blues"

Lonnie Johnson - Believed to be the first person to record a single string, guitar solo. Johnson won a blues talent competition in 1925, the prize included a recording deal with Okeh Records. Despite working with some high profile names, Johnson's career floundered & he was forced to take a job in a steel mill, only returning to blues singing & guitar playing in the late 1930s.

Lonnie Johnson "Life Saver Blues"

MA RAINEY - The 'mother of the blues' who i took my Twitter name from! With a deep, raw, country blues style, she fronted jug and washboard bands and, so it is said, was singing the blues in a touring minstrels band more than a decade before genre became well known. In the early 1920s she made her first recordings. A great influence on Bessie Smith who she knew, Ma Rainey paved the way for all female blues singers who followed.

Gertrude 'Ma' Rainey "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"

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Guest Top 5 Bands or artists spun off or affiliated with the Brian Jonestown Massacre by here_comes_B

A brief interlude to my incessant review of the year. This is partly because @here_comes_B provided me with this stonking top five within about two minutes of me asking him to do one, and partly due to my lack of progress with the next 2012 top five. I know @here_comes_B (otherwise known as Mat) thanks to the wonderful interconnectedness of Twitter. Mat is a friend of a friend who loves music and is a regular 6music listener. He has displayed an in depth knowledge of both The Brian Jonestown Massacre (as evident below) and Jane's Addiction as well as having a keen nose for exciting new music. If you're on Twitter you should follow him from one of those links I've included above. Over to Mat ...

According to musical folklore, well over 70 people have played in Anton Newcombe's Brian Jonestown Massacre over the years. He's probably fired or had more people quit than our own Mark E Smith. That said, there's a bit in Ondi Timoner's film Dig! where Anton alludes to shaking up the industry and I think this is all part of the plan. I think of the Brian Jonestown Massacre as the ultimate "hothouse" for training up bands. Many Brian Jonestown alumni have also gone onto start their own bands, here's my top 5 bands/artists who've started other bands or grown in popularity after being in or affiliated with the BJM.

1. Joel Gion/Dilettantes - erstwhile tambo player and true star of Dig!, Joel Gion started a 60s sounding band called the Dilettantes in the mid noughties and toured with them. Lately he's done a solo single which kept the vibe truly 60s but was a lot of fun. Try Dilettantes "the whole world". He is a nice man IRL. Funny too.

www.myspace.com/thedilettantes

Watch The Dillettantes "Ready To Go" on YouTube

2. The Warlocks - Bobby Hecksher I think played drums in the BJM and now has a wonderful, dronerock band, sometimes featuring as many as 3 or 4 guitarists, called the Warlocks. Look up "Death, I hear you walking", it's terrifyingly brilliant.

www.TheWarlocks.com

Watch The Warlocks "Death, I Hear You Walking" on YouTube

3. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Peter of BRMC is in Dig! I think Anton taught him how to play guitar too. Black Rebel make a big, dark noise. Try "Aya" out for size off of "Beat The Devil's Tattoo".

BlackRebelMotorcycleClub.com

Watch Black Rebel Motorcycle Club "Aya" on YouTube

4. Sarabeth Tucek - Sarabeth wrote a song which Anton covered. Both versions are wonderful. Since then Sarabeth had a wonderfully melancholic, folky LP out on Sonic Cathedral. It's well worth a look. The BJM track she wrote (+sang) is called "The Seer" and is on BJM EP "We Are The Radio". I think her version is called "Something For You". The title track of her LP "Get Well Soon" will put tears in the corner of your eyes.

SarabethTucek.com

Watch Sarabeth Tucek "Something For You" on YouTube

5. Miranda Lee Richards - is another one who features in Dig! She sings on one of the early to mid-era BJM albums. Her album "The Herethereafter" shoulda been massiver. Check "Long Goodbye". What a lovely voice, eh?

MirandaLeeRichards.com

Watch Miranda Lee Richards "Long Goodbye" on YouTube

I probably missed a few (Matt Hollywood was in another band but I don't know who). I am not counting the Dandy Warhols neither, as they were a separate band.