Song of the Week #114

Before we start, there is some difficult listening ahead so make like a Scout and "Be Prepared".

Some weeks music just flows over me and some weeks I feel like I am searching for tracks to challenge, inspire, outrage and potentially offend. This week is the latter so hold on to your hat.

I chose this first one because I heard the artist's name somewhere and just had to check him out. I was pretty surprised. As DJ Hopper will know, I know little or nothing about jazz! But, I do know what I like and I like this.

Thelonious Monk - Epistrophy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL4VapslryU

Nice hat. Cool tune. I'm on the lookout for some more Monk!

Now we'll go to the other extreme. One review described the album this song came from as painting America as a "cesspool of corruption and cruelty". For all the people that deride metal bands as being one dimensional it is worth fighting your way through the aggression and noise to get to the lyrics. This one is unashamedly brutal both lyrically and sonically.

Slayer - War Ensemble: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiheVD_PZLw

And if you think that was hardcore then you're going to love this...a song with pain, a song with a story, a song with a message or two. This one might not be quite what you're expecting.

Battlefield Band - The Dear Green Place: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c78Rmt7p-GA

In 1989 I found an old cassette in the bottom of a cupboard. It had this next band on it. Some of their songs were funny and crude so I turned them up. This one is probably as good a reflection on the mess that Britain was as anything by The Clash or Billy Bragg. The sentiment is the same as the original but the delivery just brought it to a different audience (and in my case back to the original as well).

Anti-Nowhere League - Streets of London: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj3HBwp3cps

Back in the early days of "Song of the Week" I reminisced about discovering the Pogues. For me they were, and still are, the ultimate mix of punk rock and traditional Celtic music. If you're not listening carefully it is so easy to think that they are just another band with a fiddle and a tin whistle. But, lyrically they are so strong.

The Pogues - The Old Main Drag: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjW8PSan3-o

The Pogues - Fairytale of New York: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmrUkB6UElY

Obviously you can't say "cheap lousy faggot" on the BBC. That's a weird version of censorship if ever I saw one.

This last song is a classic. It still makes me uncomfortable and I guess that's the point.

U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGwfh8agBc8

Have a good weekend and remember the sunscreen.

DJ Rob