The New Cue #396 July 12: Michael Kiwanuka, Kitty Liv, Lifeguard, OSEES, The The, Dream Machine, Laura Marling, Paul Heaton

"It sounds like Wind In The Willows if it was set in Gomorrah"

Hello,

-      Welcome to your weekly Recommender edition.

-      We’re experimenting with bullet points in this edition.

-      But only for the introduction.

-      It’s because we’ve done 396 editions now. That’s almost 400, number fans.

-      Each one of those editions has an introduction.

-      Each introduction has to come from our brains.

-      That’s a lot of introductions from not much brain.

-      Hence the Bullet Point Trial.

-      Don’t worry we won’t do it again.

-      This edition is for paying subscribers only.

-      They have probably already skipped this bit.

-      You can too, by clicking Subscribe Now and paying £5 a month.

-      That means we can get paid for this tomfoolery.

-      Below are this week’s playlists.

-      And then the introduction will end with our customary “Enjoy The Edition, Ted, Niall and Chris”.

-      Although Chris isn’t here this week because he’s ill. We’ll pass on your regards.

-      By regards we mean that we’ll tell him you became a paying subscriber by clicking Subscribe Now below, don’t turn us into liars!

And here it is for the Apple Music crew.

Enjoy the edition,

Ted, Niall and Chris

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An Album To Blow Your Mind #1

The Dream Machine’s Zak McDonnell waxes lyrical about ‘60s crooner Dion making music that “sounds like Wind in the Willows if it was set in Gomorrah”.

The Wirral’s psychedelic pop voyagers The Dream Machine have a full-throttled and dynamic second album released today. Produced by The Coral’s James Skelly, Small Time Monsters is out on Modern Sky, home of kindred spirit Michael Head. Give its paisley pattern a whirl.

Dion
Dion (1968)

“Dion’s self-titled fifth solo record. I’m not sure if this counts as a ‘comeback’ record as he’d only been away as a solo artist for about five years (and still doing bits with the Belmonts) but this is definitely a return to form, if not his best ever in my eyes. 

I’m reading his book at the moment, and I’ve just got to this bit in ‘68 where he had a religious epiphany and kicked his heroin habit, then made this. One of the best singers in the world covering Hendrix, Fred Neil and Leonard Cohen. It’s the first time the label properly trusted him to do more of his own tunes and they’re actually the best ones on it. ‘Abraham, Martin and John’ sounds like Wind in the Willows if it was set in Gomorrah. ‘He Looks A Lot Like Me’ is as about as good as war songs come: “They say he’s my enemy, ain’t it funny Momma? He looks a lot like me…” 

Bookending the album on the other end is probably one of our most played songs in the van - ‘Daddy Rollin’ (In Your Arms)’. It reminds me of being absolutely bladdered, screaming at the top of our voices, hurtling down some nondescript motorway after a gig. I can smell the spilled bottle of piss and burnt hash when I hear the opening hum falsetto thing he does. I’m sure I heard that some of the percussion is just his mates banging on cardboard boxes like his doo-wop loving crime gang used to do on street corners. Album closers don’t get much better than that.”

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Recommender

Niall Doherty

It is a testament to the soothing power of Michael Kiwanuka’s music that despite overdosing on his 2019 masterpiece KIWANUKA during lockdown that when I listen to it now, I associate none of it with that period. It was a little ring-fence of comfort during a strange and troubling time. If anything, it helped underline what makes the north London singer-songwriter’s music so good. It’s the great reassurer.