7" Sundays: Songs: Ohia/Scout Niblett

Lions prowl and break hearts.  Secretly Canadian released this split single in 2001 to serve as an introduction to Scout Niblett and they couldn't have a picked a better way to do it.  Songs: Ohia (Jason Molina) offers up a translated version of "Lioness", the titular track from his most recent album at the time, featuring guest vocals from Jennie Benford of Jim and Jennie and the Pine Tops and was recorded during the Didn't It Rain sessions.  Choosing a death in his lovers jaws rather than face her absence, the crushing fragility of a man in love is portrayed with a tenuous quaver and wonderfully spacious, sparse instrumentation.  Scout is also hurting from lost love here with "Miss My Lion".  Pounding down with fuzzbox choruses, her sentiment has a primal emotion to it, a mix of longing and anger.  Listen-->

Oval - Ah!

We Shave - In The Flesh

Free download available from We Shave's website or Buy it from Night People.

This tape from Viva L'American Death Ray man Brendan L Spengler and the White Lady is all over the place, which makes it perfect for cassette release, in that it feels like a mix tape, but also ill-suited, because it doesn't flow that well. From the start the Memphis duo gives us an under the breath Velvet Underground inspired groove over some vintage Rhythm King analogue drum machine (absolutely no complaints here). Next up, a Faust cover which is nice to see and wisely shorter than the original. Then things start to get interesting... I mean, yes... we all know that Sgt. Chowder is a bitch... but why are we singing about it?

Immodest Maus

Damn this is too good.

John Peel's Favorite Song

7" Sundays: Spoonbread

Dammit, how can you mend a broken heart?  That's a good fuckin question.  The BeeGees wanted answers, and that's why they wrote this song.  But it's doubtful that this mysterious juvenile group (supposedly from Germany??) knows anything about broken hearts, though this kid tries pretty hard to convince "the grownups" that he feels the sting of love just as badly as them.  Even at such a young age, they pull off a nice rendition, up there with the Reverend Al Green's version.  The flip side is a more energetic bouncer that could easily be mistaken for a Jackson 5 song.  Good stuff here, though not very original.

There is very little information out there about this group, no pictures or backstory, they only released one other song (also on Stang)... I'm guessing that they probably went back to school after the summer was over and never heard from Sylvia and Joe Robinson of NJ's Stang Records ever again.

Sample Spotting: Rjd2's Ghostwriter

I did a little crate digging today to pick up a new 45 for 7" Sundays, and stumbled upon Betty Wright's 1974 song "Secretary" and gave it a listen.  Something about it sounded vaguely familiar and I came to the conclusion that it must have been sampled by someone at somepoint.  Sure enough, with a little reasearch I found that the opening section was used in Rjd2's fantastic "Ghostwriter".  I had always recognized the Elliott Smith sample throughout the song, but never knew any of the other samples origins.  With a little more research, I have dissected the song a bit more.  Keep reading for the full breakdown and audio clips...