Galaxie 500 - Blue Thunder

I always think of Galaxie 500 as being sort of a shoegaze band, but only sort of. I doubt they ever thought of themselves as being part of that genre (then again, did anyone?) but they were around at the right time for it and certainly every shoegaze fan I knew loved them. So into that label they go anyway.

After an unbelievable debut album their subsequent recordings were a bit of a disappointment. Great tracks here and there, but marred by some stupid lyrics ("I stood in line and ate my Twinkies") and tunes that weren't strong enough to overcome Dean Wareham's, erm, distinctive vocals. The songs that bassist Naomi Yang sang on tend to be my favourites of their later period, which says something, I think.

But here's a nice one from an EP they released near the end of their career. It's notable also for a really nice cover of New Order's "Ceremony" and a Red Crayola cover, "Victory Garden". Who covers Red Crayola songs????

Galaxie 500 - Blue Thunder | Music Videos | SPIKE.com

Magoo - A to Z and Back Again

I don't really know much about this band except that they were on Chemikal Underground, although they don't have the lo-fi sound associated with that label. Closer to Stereolab, I think, albeit somewhat different vocally (to say the least). The album this is from, The Soateramic Sounds of Magoo, is a bit of a mixed bag but this is a great single.

The Smiths - Cemetry Gates

I'll admit it, I was one of those sad obsessive Smiths fans in the mid-1980s...but I have a much lower tolerance threshold for them now. Maybe it's my dislike for nearly all of Morrissey's solo work, or for his persona, or maybe it's just that I'm older now and some of the lyrics which struck me as unbelievably profound when I was 15 now just seem kind of silly. I still like a lot of their songs, don't get me wrong, but I'm a bit more discerning about it, let's say.

Here's one of the ones that has stood the test of time.

Orange Juice - In A Nutshell

Everything I love about Orange Juice is summed up in this song.

Biff Bang Pow! - It Happens All The Time

It's a general rule of thumb that people involved in the "business" end of the music business are useless at music themselves. Which makes sense when you think about it. If you were any good at making your own music why would you spend your time dealing with other people's by, for example, releasing their records, producing their records or, erm, writing/blogging about their records? (Yes, I speak with some authority on this matter I'm afraid...)

Alan McGee is a rare exception. Despite being the brains behind Creation, with Biff Bang Pow! he also managed to release half a dozen albums of his own tunes which were, for the most part, really quite good. A lot of music critics seemed to dismiss them as a frivolous pet project (like they were Russell Crowe's band or something) but that was really unfair, I think.

Pity about his taste in football teams.

Band of Holy Joy - Real Beauty Passed Through

Here's another Holy Joy track, showing off Johny Brown's stunning lyrical gift (only he could write such a romantic love song with words like "choked and defiled"). Although dating from the 1990s - just - it has a real 1980s feel, what with the prominent keyboards and slick production. I actually think it would have benefitted from a little less technology but whatever. It's really the lyrics that make this one.

Echo and the Bunnymen - My Kingdom

Although I was quite young and still relatively new to this kind of thing, I can remember knowing instinctively when Ocean Rain came out that it was a bit of a disappointment. The edge had come off the Bunnymen's sound and they were moving towards the more mainstream "modern rock" (remember that awful term?) which left an awful lot of unhappy Bunnyfans behind.

Funnily enough though, 25 years later (I feel so old saying that) I actually think it holds up better than some of their previous albums. OK, so it's not as dark and intense and Ian's lyrics, never great to begin with, verge on dreadful in spots - but the songs themselves are really quite strong and taken as a whole it's a remarkably coherent work. Their swansong, as it turned out. Next to Crocodiles I'd put this on before any other Bunnymen album today.

The recording here is from a Peel session.