'What Debsey Did Next': Birdie And The Art Of The Perfect Pop Song!

I cannot claim to be any kind of musicologist as I never properly studied music nor learned to play any instrument(although I did provide drums and percussion for various bands over the years), but one thing that I do pride myself on is an ability to spot a perfect Pop song on first listen.
Now, I realise that my idea of a perfect Pop song may differ greatly from many others including my two ~Streetlamp~ cohorts, but I guess what I mean is that I can immediately recognise songs that will inevitably become part of me and my life on first play. In an earlier Blog about the band The Church, I explained that there are some songs that, to me, are quintessentially 'ME', and yes I do know that comments like that usually end up in Private Eye's 'Pseuds Corner' but I really don't care....there are just some songs that, by their very existence, simply become a part of me.

Obvious examples of these, besides 'Under The Milky Way' by The Church are the rather obvious 'Dog Eat Dog' and 'This Charming Man'(if you don't know who these songs are by then please go and read someone else's Blog!). Both of these songs leapt out at me the first time I heard them and, almost 30 years later on both counts, still never sound stale or over familiar to me. I still get a thrill every time I hear them. You could say the same for 'XOYO' by The Passage, 'Nowhere Girl' by B-Movie, 'Michiko' by The Sultans Of Ping, 'Uptown Top Ranking' by Althea & Donna, and(whisper it) 'Save A Prayer'(cue Griff seething furiously as Duran Duran are mentioned in a ~Streetlamp~ Blog!!).
And the same could definitely be said for 'Let Her Go' by Birdie!

So....what is so good about 'Let Her Go' that elevates it into such hallowed company(and Duran Duran)? It just seems to comply with everything that is vital about the music I love. It has a haunting melody comprised mainly of minor chords which, like the best songs of The Beatles and The Smiths descends as it progresses....always a good thing. It's about painful unrequited love....again, always a crucial ingredient in the best Pop music. It's from a female point of view and delivered in such a honeyed tone that it melts your heart almost immediately. It features a muted trumpet which gives any song a touch of class! And it has little flaws and imperfections which accentuate it's charms manyfold....the electric piano being a little too high in the mix for one, but this just adds to the songs beauty.
Have a listen....

I can't remember where or when exactly I first heard 'Let Her Go' which is both annoying and unusual for me. I know it must have been about 1999 but I don't think I heard it on John Peel or even Radio 1. I have some vague recollection that maybe some Radio 2 DJ had pounced upon and made it his or her Record Of The Week; maybe Mark Radcliffe sitting in for Steve Wright, or maybe on one of Stuart Maconie's night-time shows. I just cannot recall exactly. All I do know is that I was immediately smitten and rushed out to buy it the next day. The single wasn't available anymore but the band's album 'Some Dusty' was, and a fine addition to my collection it became.
12 years on I still love playing this particular track(it's still on my MP3 player as I write) and I still like digging the album out now and again for a spin. But, like so many other records I've written about in these Blogs, for some reason I never investigated any further. 'Some Dusty' is still the only record of theirs that I own. Why? Same old story I guess, either laziness or a fear of destroying the happy memory I have of a particularly special song.


So, Who Were Birdie Exactly?
Well Birdie actually evolved from two of my favourite bands, Dolly Mixture and St Etienne! Vocalist Debsey Wykes had of course been lead singer in the charming Dolly Mixture(think The Slits poppier little sisters!) who had released some fine early 80s Punk-Pop and ended up providing backing on Captain Sensible's solo ventures. After the demise of Dolly Mixture, Debsey was involved in the band Coming Up Roses before joining the St Etienne's live band where she met Paul Kelly with whom she would form Birdie.
~Dolly Mixture~
Anyone who has followed our Blogs should already know that both Dolly Mixture and St Etienne are essential listening, so hopefully you will now add Birdie to that list.

Like I said, I may not know about perfect Pop Songs but I know what I like!

~Gordon~


'Some Dusty' can be downloaded here
(This download is not ours so if it does not work it is not our fault. Likewise, should anyone connected with Birdie object to us making it available, please contact us and we will gladly remove it.)

Gil Scott-Heron - An appreciation

The Streetlamp team were saddened today to hear of the untimely death, yesterday, of poet, author and visionary singer-songwriter Gil Scott-Heron. It was only this March that we featured his acclaimed , and still astonishingly powerful 40 years later, song; The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, in our article on Skuff and The Free Hetherington.
We hoped at the time that we were doing our own little bit to introduce Gil's work to a new generation of listeners who might recognise his genius and go on to be inspired by him, just as we were. Little did we suspect that a mere two months later, Gil would be dead. And yet, here at The Streetlamp, we fervently hope that it doesn't have to be that way, and that in some way he can still live on.
You youngsters who've only heard commercial, sanitised, 'black' US music go and listen to him now; listen to the true voice of black militant activism railing against government and corporate hypocrisy. You, who have only heard the worst of lazy, sexist, cartoon-violent rap music used as a means to make record companies rich; listen now to truly earnest and intellectual, yet uncompromising and raw, street poetry. You, who think that political music can only ever be empty symbolism and that music cannot carry real political power; go and listen to him, really listen, to the messages he gave to us. Listen to the beautiful, sorrowful, passionate anger contained therein and let it fill your soul. You, who think that musicians and performers have to play by the music industry rules in order to get your 'product' in the spotlight; think again, and then go back to your bedrooms, your rehearsal rooms, your garages and prepare to make some noise; a meaningful, fierce and impassioned noise, fit to set the world ablaze. Forty years ago Gil Scott-Heron spoke of the abuse of power by the powerful, the grabbing of resources by the wealthy, the hypocrisy of the media, the lies of politicians; he spoke to you, he's still speaking, and he's urging you to do so too. Listen!

Listen!




Addendum: The wonder of Gil of course is that he was embraced by both Hip-Hop and the Punks, and virtually any leftist thinker at that.
Why he holds a special place for me is not just that his father Gilbert Heron was the first black footballer to play for Glasgow Celtic(earning the slightly patronising nickname 'The Black Arrow'), but also because back in the mid to late 1980s we used to frequent local Frug-a-gogo beirkeller/discotheque/meat-market McQues in Bannockburn and, amidst the wafts of hairspray, jutting shoulder pads and streaked hair, the DJ would occasionally slip Gil's 'The Bottle' in amongst the endless extended remixes of mid-80s chart prattle.
Twas truly an oasis of beauty in a torrent of stagnant bilge.

R.I.P Gil....and take it away Brother Soul....


~Gordon~

Griff says; For the love of days!

I'm going quite mainstream tonight, I hope you'll forgive me. I know that Streetlamp's Ray certainly will, as tonight's music is right up his street; that particular alley being a gentle stretch of dreamy, almost psychedelic, indie-pop with a hushed and intimate female vocal. Think previous Streetlamp favourites of Ray's such as The Innocence Mission, Julia Stone and Syd Lane and you're in the right territory. Tonight's band is Amor de Días, an indie-pop supergroup of sorts, formed by Alasdair MacLean of The Clientele and Lupe Núñez-Fernández of Pipas.



Over the course of the last three years, the duo have pieced together their debut record, Street of the Love of Days, during spare time at evenings and weekends. To get the layered chamber-pop sound they required they have called on the talents of other friendly musicians such as Damon and Naomi (formerly of Galaxie 500) for sessions, and have carefully built up the songs’ clever arrangements with harps, bouzoukis, strings, recorders, and brass. These instruments have been carefully constructed around the core of dual Spanish guitars, rich vocal harmonies, and the dream imagery of their bilingual lyrics. The album was released on Merge Records in the US on 17 May 2011 (13 June for the CD outside the Americas).

Merge Records website describes Street of the Love of Days as:

"a focused, cohesive jewel of chamber pop that reflects a little of Gal Costa and haunting night music, and a large dose of spooky psychedelic folk. But the beautiful harmony that sings throughout the record makes it all their own. At times spare and empty, at times rich with instrumental texture, and at times jazz-tinged and hypnotic, Street of the Love of Days rivals anything either Alasdair or Lupe has recorded before."

Here's the beautiful and dreamy Bunhill Fields, track 3 on the album, and available as a free download:

Amor de Dias - Bunhill Fields by One Thirty BPM




Amor de Días are currently on tour in the US with the aforementioned Damon and Naomi, who themselves have a new album out this month called False Beats and True Hearts, released on their own 20/20/20 imprint. Here's the track Helsinki from that album:




Hope you enjoyed that. If so, it'a worth making a visit to Damon and Naomi's official website where you can pick up several free MP3s from their extensive back catalogue.

Griff
xx

Griff says; Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

I hope I'm not coming across as a mere cheerleader for Bad Panda Records, but tonight, as I did just last week 'here', I want to draw your attention to yet another of their free Monday singles, and when you hear it you'll realise why.
This week's song, My Darling Grace, is the debut single from a newly formed trio based in Barcelona, Spain called Berlinist. Bad Panda don't seem to have a lot of information available about them, but a quick look at their Facebook page is quite revealing, as they site their influences as; William S. Burroughs, Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, Jorge Luis Borges, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Dante Alighieri, H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, Allen Ginsberg, J. G. Ballard, Jose Saramago and Federico García Lorca. Wow! If they were trying to impress the literature-loving, name-droppers who staff The Streetlamp then they just did so, and some.


But leaving aside the literary influences for a moment, you may well be asking; what do they sound like? Well, the band are currently recording using piano, guitar, glockenspiel, accordion, drums and ukulele. The music they create has a sparse, haunting, melancholic and, on this single, rather eerie, otherwordly quality which makes it perfect night-time listening. They are currently working on their debut album and if it is as good as this debut single then we're in for a real treat. But don't take my word for it. Have a listen below:

Berlinist - My Darling Grace [BadPanda81] by Bad Panda Records





Don't you just love the way those vocals are reverbed to the max? Magnificent!
Thanks again to the lovely people at Bad Panda, as always the MP3 can be freely downloaded from their site. While you're there you can also read a short interview with the band. The Berlinist tumblr site is also worth a visit.

Griff
xx