The Tron's Penultimate Sonic Ensemble of One

Hamilton-based retro-electro producer Terrorball has had a busy start to 2021, with four new releases uploaded to his Bandcamp page in the past couple of months. 

I've covered off a fair few of his releases in the past, but for an introductory ‘just who is Terrorball?’ overview, this Q&A (here) from back in 2016 is probably as good a place to start as any.

Or better still, download all four 2021 releases from the Terrorball Bandcamp page, and you’ll get some idea of what I’m on about. If you enjoy them, go back further and explore the rest of his (earlier) catalogue. Maybe even flick him some coin. The most recent releases are as follows:

BJRD (here) … or “bass jazz rhythm drop”, a ten track album, released in early April, with highlights including ‘Firebirds’ and the sample-fried delights of ‘Turntable’.

2010 – 2021 (here) … exactly what it says on the tin, if there was an actual tin, this is a 28-track sampler collection of tracks extracted from previous releases, spanning more than a decade. As such, this may actually be the ideal starting point for any newbies.

Dimension X (here) … I’ve listened to most of his work at some point or other over the past half dozen years, and I think this is one of his best sets yet. Highlights: ‘Horizon’, ‘Fiend Zone’, and ‘Tactical Strike’.   

Heavy Atmosphere 4 (here) … the fourth and latest instalment of his edit series where he adds a Terrorball spin to the work of others. As much as the world probably didn’t need yet another mix of The Shapeshifters’ ‘Lola’s Theme’ in 2021, this one is actually quite decent.

All of the above are well worth your time if you’ve got a weakness for all things funky and retro.

Album Review: New Order - Education Entertainment Recreation (Live 2018, 2021)

I’m probably going to come across like a grumpy old malcontent here. Par for the course, perhaps.

First things first – I love New Order. I’ve got almost everything they’ve ever released in one format or another, I’ve seen them perform live, at their peak, and on any purely non-scientific gut-feel basis, they’re probably the band I’ve listened to more than any other across the past 35 years. Hell, I even named my blog after one of their early minor “hits”, albeit an early minor hit that might just about be the greatest single track ever committed to vinyl. And the band’s debut album, Movement, is unquestionably my number one album of all-time.

And so, all of that said, when Ian Curtis died, and Joy Division morphed into New Order across the second half of 1980 and into early 1981, I really wish the band had taken some time to find a new vocalist who was a naturally “gifted” singer. I completely understand why that didn’t happen, obviously, and I also understand that the passage of time and an ongoing familiarity means that Bernard Sumner’s vocal is now intrinsically and irreversibly linked with the band’s sound and all of its most memorable landmark tunes. My issue is that he’s just not a particularly good singer. That is all too painfully obvious on the band’s latest live release, Education Entertainment Recreation.

(It’s probably no surprise then, that Movement, the album where Peter Hook takes care of a chunk of the vocal duties, is the one right at the top of my own pile. Despite Hooky having vocal limitations of his own, his voice gels masterfully with Movement’s more downbeat feels.)

Try as I might, as much as I don’t want it to be the case, Sumner’s vocal frailty is the biggest takeaway I have after listening to Education Entertainment Recreation. A frailty which is far less obvious - although still evident - on much of New Order’s studio-produced output.

Right. Now for the positives, because wherever you find New Order, you’ll always find a positive: Education Entertainment Recreation was recorded at London’s Alexandra Palace (the “Ally Pally”) back in November 2018 and it contains one of the most comprehensive career-spanning setlists found on any of the band’s live releases. And the music itself - beyond those vocal shortcomings - is absolutely stunning in every respect.

All of the big guns are fired – ‘Regret’, ‘Crystal’, ‘Sub-Culture’, ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’, ‘Plastic’, ‘The Perfect Kiss’, ‘True Faith’, ‘Blue Monday’, ‘Temptation’, et al. Amongst many others – there’s 21 tracks in total, a double album (2x CD/3x vinyl), including a few gems from the Joy Division cannon, notably ‘Disorder’, and the three closing tracks ‘Atmosphere’, ‘Decades’, and ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’. Sadly, nothing whatsoever from Movement.

There’s a bit of Sumner stage banter as he interacts with what sounds like a massive crowd, and there’s the occasional crowd singalong also in evidence at various points. There is a certain rawness to the whole deal, a sense that the band remain a tremendous live proposition, with an off-the-cuff, unscripted spontaneity, even. It is everything a decent live album should be.

Except for that one small but still very important (aforementioned) detail.

Then again, it is perhaps a little churlish to ever expect a perfect live album.

I did warn you.

The Strummer Files: Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Live at Acton Town Hall (2002/2012) & Assembly (2021)

Craig Stephen digs deep to come up with yet another addition to The Strummer Files, the blog’s extensive overview of Joe Strummer’s post-Clash musical legacy …

Live At Acton Town Hall (2012) would turn out to be the last-ever gig for Joe Strummer and his band. And suitably it was recorded for posterity.

Strummer and the Mescaleros played the inconspicuous Acton Town Hall in west London on 15 November 2002. But, on 22 December, Strummer was cruelly taken from this world following a massive heart attack at his Somerset home, aged just 50.

This release captures that gig beautifully and it was one that is significant in ways beyond the fact it was the former Clash frontman’s final ever gig.

Firstly, in fitting with Strummer’s solidarity with the working man, even when Clash riches took him into a different financial sphere from those he was defending, it was a benefit for firefighters who were striking for an improvement on their dismal wages (firefighters save lives FFS). The Fire Brigades Union-led industrial action was the first nationwide strike in the UK since the 1970s and didn’t officially end until June 2003 with a pay rise that was below the FBU’s demands, which would have seen firefighters paid fairly for their heroics.

On the stage too, there was a momentous moment when Strummer was joined by former Clash man Mick Jones for the encore, the first time the pair had performed live together since the last classic line-up Clash gig in 1983.

Thankfully, someone at the mixing desk had the foresight to press the record button, and initially the set was released in a limited vinyl run in 2012, and five years later it was released again on vinyl, for Record Store Day. Those responsible didn’t bother with any artwork, sticking a flyer into the transparent plastic sleeve. Regardless, what a treasure this is.

Strummer splits the material roughly half and half between Mescaleros tracks (much underrated) and Clash classics.

This allows recent Mescaleros material such as ‘Shaktar Donetsk’, ‘Tony Adams’, ‘Cool ‘N’ Out’, ‘Bhindee Bhagee’ (about a New Zealander who’s just got off the plane in west London and wants to know where he can buy mushy peas) and ‘Mega Bottle Ride’ to be performed. ‘Johnny Appleseed’ is an absolute standout and there are even a couple of works in progress played for one of the first times – ‘Get Down Moses’ and ‘Coma Girl’, both of which would appear on the posthumous Streetcore.

I got on the Mescaleros bandwagon quite early when I received and reviewed the debut album Rock Art and the X-Ray Style (1999) for a Scottish newspaper. I never felt in any way disappointed in any of the trio of Mescaleros albums. They weren’t meant to sound like The Clash. They traversed the globe for sounds and ideas; the band were worldly-wise and clearly enjoyed themselves making these records.

But in reality it is The Clash tracks that people mainly want to hear and there’s plenty of those, foremost those with a reggae tinge, such as ‘Rudie Can’t Fail’, ‘Police and Thieves’ and ‘(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais’. The band rachet up a gear for ‘Police On My Back’ (which appeared on Sandinista!) and ‘I Fought the Law’.

Then Jones appears for the encore to join in on ‘Bankrobber’, ‘White Riot’ and of course (given it’s in aid of firefighters) ‘London’s Burning’. I imagine the place was buzzing by the end, you can sense that on the record.

Thoughts thereafter naturally turned to a Clash reunion and rumours are that it was being considered with Strummer seemingly contacting Paul Simonon just before he died about reforming. Simonon, apparently, was dead against it.

Assembly (2021)

Coming three years after Joe Strummer 001, a double album of Strummer solo tracks from studio albums and obscure sources, Assembly is a compilation of, well, much of the same. The focus though is more on the three solo albums with tracks such as the Wailers’ ‘Redemption Song’, ‘Yalla Yalla’ and ‘At the Border, Guy’. Most fans will have these albums anyway.

What it does offer pre-Mescaleros is ‘Love Kills’ from the Sid and Nancy soundtrack and ‘Sleepwalk’ from 1989’s somewhat underwhelming Earthquake Weather. It would’ve been better to have included ‘Gangsterville’ from the same album or one of the tracks from the Walker soundtrack which was entirely-Strummer contributed.

There are unreleased gems in live versions of ‘I Fought the Law’ and ‘Rudie Can’t Fail’ performed at Brixton Academy the year before the Acton Town Hall gig, and a home recording of ‘Junco Partner’.

It’s a sturdy compilation of the critical tracks in the Mescaleros cannon, which was shorter than it should have been. But that’s life.

What we really need now is a compilation of Strummer’s post-Clash tracks that includes film material and stuff on low-selling and now hard-to-find singles.

Classic Album Review: Wings - Wingspan (2001)

I’m breaking some rules by listing yet another compilation as a classic album, but you know – my blog, my rules, no rules, guilty pleasures, etc. 

Sir Paul McCartney has worn many hats over the years. Beatle, Wings commander-in-chief, and prolific solo artist, just for starters. For many he was the outstanding “composer” of the 20th century, and alongside John Lennon, Macca was one half of the most commercially successful songwriting duo of the Rock n Roll era. 

Even today, in 2021, he continues to attract all manner of critical praise for his work on the late 2020 album, McCartney III. I haven’t visited that release as yet, and to be perfectly honest I probably won’t. But I do want to share some love for McCartney and offer some thoughts on one of the very best compilation sets in my entire music collection.

Just as the album title suggests, Wingspan offers a comprehensive overview of McCartney’s post-Beatles career from 1970 through to the turn of the millennium, featuring 40-odd* tracks spread over two discs. So much so, it actually goes a little beyond the music of Wings and includes material from a few of McCartney’s solo efforts. 

(*As I understand it, there’s a slight difference between the UK and US versions of the album, and apparently the Japanese edition features a bonus track). 

I’ve always had something of a massive soft spot for the music of Wings. The band was one of the staples of my childhood - always there or thereabouts in the charts, and always on the radio. 

So I was pleased when Wingspan was released in 2001. Offering a 2-album set that included a number of unheralded gems and album cuts beyond the obvious hits. Which was a lovely bonus at a time when I had no other McCartney compilations in my collection and had long considered buying the far less expansive Wings Greatest (1978) just to tick that box. 

The two discs are quite distinct: one contains the band’s biggest hits, the other contains the less obvious stuff and wider coverage of McCartney’s solo work. 

I can’t really add anything about Paul McCartney’s music that hasn’t already been said, but I would dispute the notion - one I’ve seen punted often - that the Wings period of his career was something of a low ebb for McCartney. Yes, there were some patchy or uneven albums, but the same is true of late-career Beatles work, and certainly true when it comes to assessing the “solo” output of the rest of the fab four. 

I just think the music of Wings deserves a lot more love.

Just a few of Wingspan’s highlights: ‘Listen To What The Man Said’, ‘Band On The Run’, ‘Another Day’, ‘My Love’, ‘Silly Love Songs’, ‘Goodnight Tonight’, ‘Mull Of Kintyre’, ‘With A Little Luck’, ‘The Lovely Linda’, ‘Maybe I'm Amazed’, ‘Every Night’, ‘Junk’, and ‘Take It Away’ …

Album Review: Celt Islam - Acidanarchist (2021)

Sometimes when you follow an artist’s work closely for a decade or so, there is often a tendency to notice a subtle - or not so subtle - softening of that artist’s original sound. It might be due to compromises made on account of some sort of commercial breakthrough (often termed “selling out”), adapting to more recent musical trends, a change of environment, or simply a natural mellowing that comes with the irreversible passage of time. 

On Celt Islam’s latest release, Acidanarchist, the opposite applies. If anything, the UK-based electro dub maestro keeps ramping things up a notch (or seven) on each and every release – and there’s been a few releases. Celt Islam’s vibe just seems to get heavier and more hardcore each time out.

The Baghdad release (here) of some ten years ago was the album that first drew me into Celt Islam’s artistic vision. It was the perfect fusion of east meets west, an album which connected so many diverse global musical strands, and it appealed as a borderless, meditative blueprint for a better world. A couple of years later, as the Analogue Fakir, he released an IDM-geared album called Worlds We Know (here), which I absolutely loved, but with the benefit of hindsight, I can now view these early works through a slightly different lens … he was just getting started, still at the simmering stage, and slowly but steadily, over the course of the past decade, as world events descend into an almost farcical state, a cesspit of fakery, false information, and twisted narratives, Celt Islam has reached boiling point. Which is where we find him on Acidanarchist. 

As a Sufi Muslim based in Northern England, as a political activist and social justice campaigner, it is impossible for Celt Islam to separate his art from the environment or political climate in which it is made. That goes without saying. When forwarding the pre-release copy he noted … “this is a manifestation of our times, and where dance music needs to be, instead of the same carbon copy of everything boring, no depth, no meaning, void of any form of spirituality or real consciousness” … 

Or, anger is an energy, as someone else once claimed. Etc. And so we get drenched in a relentless high-bpm form of electronic punk (minimal vocal, often buried deeper in the mix), with track titles like ‘Vendetta’, ‘System Reset’, and ‘Resurgence’, progressively building in tempo to a reach a distinct DnB-style climax on closing tracks ‘Dominator’, and the majestic ‘Hikam’. 

And yet, for all of that forward pulsating electro momentum, my own favourite cut (of 13) is perhaps the most mellow of all, without being mellow at all … the Mark Iration collab, ‘Born As An African’ (“sufferer”), which for some reason taps into my love of On-U Sound/dub, and its bouncy swaggering skank would be absolutely begging for an Adrian Sherwood makeover if it wasn’t already near perfect in its current form. 

Other collaborators on Acidanarchist include Shahin Badar, who, amongst other things, is well known for her vocal work with The Prodigy (‘Smack’), Aki Nawaz (Fun-Da-Mental), and of course, regular and longtime Celt Islam collaborator Inder Goldfinger (percussionist extraordinaire, producer, TransGlobal Underground, far too many others to list). 

Acidanarchist will be released on 24 May, and can be found on the Earth City Recordz Bandcamp page (here).

Album Review: Bab L’Bluz - Nayda! (2020)

Craig Stephen takes a Real World trip and traverses a few continents for us:

Nayda! has been crafted by a trans-metropolitan act which mines the sounds of the Maghreb while holding the other ear to the west, in other words a magical mish-mash of influences and cultures.

The title refers to the transition from autocracy to a more liberal society at the turn of the century. It is a youth movement incorporating rappers, rockers, and jazzers and expanding to the nation’s minorities, such as the Berbers and the Gnawa. And while nayda can mean to party, it is also a reference to an intellectual awakening.

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Yousra Mansour is steeped in the Gnawa tradition, but grew up listening to Led Zeppelin and Michael Jackson. The band’s name means "gateway to the blues”, but the reference is to African blues rather than its more modern American version. Mansour’s role in the band is in a way pioneering as Gnawa music is traditionally a male-dominated domain.

Bab L’Bluz is made by Brice Bottin (guitar, guembri and percussions), Jérôme Bartolome (percussion, flute), and percussionist Hafid Zouaoui who met up at a music festival in Marrakesh. Mansour also plays guembri, awisha and percussion on the album. While the music and songs come from Morocco (and nearby Mauritania), the recording took place in Lyon, southern France.

As mentioned, Nayda! the album (which has been released by Real World) has an ear to the west and early rock, but to the untrained ear it is a beguiling listen: the vocal range and the unusual instruments – such as the guembri and the awisha – combine to riveting yet confusing effect.

An introduction to Nayda! is made simpler by a brief introduction to the songs and a translation of the Arabic lyrics into English in the booklet that accompanies it. ‘Ila Mata’ was inspired by the Tunisian poet Anis Shoshan, and is a call to search for what can unite us instead of going towards everything that divides us. “Until when will ignorance rule?/ How will the injustice last? Until when are we forced to remain silent?/ Until when will violence will be glorified,” asks Mansour pertinently.

‘Africa Manayo’ laments the centuries-old plundering of the continent’s resources by the West, leading to exploited workers, a depleted soil, and mass poverty. “They’re watching our children dying/ While our tears are watering the floor.” Contrarily, ‘El Watane’ celebrates the richness of Africa while holding out hope that poverty and slavery might be eradicated.

There are also a number of songs that focus on love, life and African people, such as ‘Yemma’, a tribute to all mothers, and the love song ‘Oudelali’.

There’s a solid ground of influences on here, and no more so than on songs such as the anti-corruption anthem ‘Gwana Beat’ (“Who tells the story of the citizens’ pain/ And the story of the crooks who destroyed this country?”), which is the kind of song Robert Plant has been striving to write for decades. Or there’s ‘El Gamra’, played at full-throttle throughout which is deceptive as it’s a song about the moon and is a festive song praising her restorative powers.

(Oi! … you can’t say that about Robert Plant - Hippy Ed)

Album Review: Sounds Like Winter – Fight the Stairs (2021)

Fight the Stairs is full-length album number three for Sydney-based four piece Sounds Like Winter, following on from Initiate (2016), and Sticks and Stones (2017). There was also a collaborative three-way split release with Melbourne’s Ikon, and Wellington-based post-punkers Disjecta Membra a few years back, which coincided with a short local tour. A release that got a fair bit of ear time at the everythingsgonegreen manor.

And despite having read a few profiles or features on Sounds Like Winter in the past which reference the likes of Joy Division and compatriots the Birthday Party as obvious markers for the band’s sound, I’d like to throw a couple more of my own into the mix … Sounds Like Winter sound a lot like Magazine, or perhaps even an early incarnation of Psychedelic Furs (less so).

I think I hear a little more Howard Devoto or Richard Butler in Ant Banister’s lead vocal than I do Ian Curtis, but there’s no question those Joy Division comparisons are valid when it comes to the rest of the band’s formula. This is post-punk of a distinctly 80s bent, and while it does sit at the darker end of that spectrum, it’s not so dark that it doesn’t contain the odd shaft of light peeking through the gloom. Not unlike Sydney in winter.

There’s no singular theme behind the lyrics found on Fight the Stairs, other than perhaps post-punk perennials like “the human condition and all of its many flaws” or “contempt for much of what modern life throws at us”, the song writing is strong across all ten tracks and there’s a nice pace through the album when listening to it in one sitting from start to finish. There’s a balance of fast and slower tracks, carefully arranged so as to never become too weighty or overwhelming - which is something I often struggle with when it comes to albums within this genre.

Musically, it’s an unrepentantly retro affair; compact, tight, and polished, but not to the point that there’s no 21^st century grit left in the mix. There’s no obvious filler over the course of its 45 minute runtime, with highlights including ‘The Monsters’, ‘No Interest’, and ‘He Was Gone’. 

Bandcamp link here.

Album Review: Kill Shelter & Antipole - A Haunted Place (2021)

A Haunted Place is a new collaborative album made by Edinburgh-based Pete Burns (Kill Shelter) and Trondheim-based Karl Morten Dahl (Antipole). It’s a partnership that feels like the most natural thing in the world. It’s also not an entirely new development, with Dahl having contributed to the Kill Shelter debut (Damage) of a few years back, and Burns having previously added deft remixing touches to Antipole’s past work. I think I’m also correct in saying that the pair were former labelmates on the Unknown Pleasures platform. But A Haunted Place, released on the Manic Depression label, is the first occasion that Burns and Dahl have put their names to the same full-length album.

It’s a blending of dark post-punk talent that complements each man’s skills perfectly. Burns really does have a terrific “goth” voice, the sort that immediately conjures up recall of some of the genre’s finest exponents of yester-year … the likes of Murphy, and Eldritch, to name only the most obvious of touchstones. The sort of vocal that undoubtedly adds an extra layer of drama and heft to proceedings. That’s without even starting on his abilities as a multi-instrumentalist, his generally excellent word-smithery, and crystalline production skills.

Dahl’s powers have been well documented on this site in the past. Antipole’s work will need no introduction to any regular everythingsgonegreen reader. If there is such a thing. I’ve fanboy-ed so often on this blog it almost feels embarrassing to wax any further about his melodic, always evocative, and frequently mesmerising guitar work. Suffice to say his instantly identifiable use of space remains a stand-out feature on A Haunted Place, and the manner in which his own fretwork blends so beautifully with that of Burns is key to making the collaboration so effective.

So it is an album that fair drips with a dark dense atmosphere, from the banging club-geared opener ‘Raise The Skies’, right through to the more mild paced album closer, ‘Every Waking Hour’, it’s a journey into a deep fog of nocturnal wanderings (and back). The sort of trip that might be traversed through the chilly or misty narrow cobblestoned lanes of old Edinburgh town in the middle of a winter’s night. With an all-consuming sense of drama. A prevailing angst proving impossible to shake due to the uncertainty of what might be lurking under that streetlamp off in the murky distance. A picturesque dream that hasn’t quite yet morphed into a fully-fledged nightmare.

Your blogger may have even experienced such, in a past life. I know that exact spot in Auld Reekie. Devastatingly beautiful by day, unnerving and foreboding by night. Sadly, I have no personal experience of Trondheim, but I imagine it wouldn’t be too dissimilar to Edinburgh … and maybe, just maybe, that is exactly where and how this album was born? Different cities, but shared experiences, past lives, and haunted places.

P.S. Don’t look behind you.

Bandcamp link here.

Melted Ice Cream and Wurld Series

Melted Ice Cream is a Christchurch-based label which has been at the forefront of the Christchurch indie scene for a number of years now. My own relationship with the label goes back to 2013 when a label sampler called Sickest Smashes from Arson City (here) hit my inbox, introducing me to previously unfamiliar artists such as Salad Boys, Transistors, X-Ray Charles, and Wurld Series. 

The general vibe of that release, and the music of those acts reminded me a lot of the earliest Flying Nun stuff I loved so much in the 1980s. Subsequent years have seen the label expand its roster to become a significant player in the always vibrant Christchurch indie scene, and although I can’t hand-on-heart say I’ve followed everything being released – the label is relatively prolific – I’ve always retained an interest in all of the above artists. In fact, I’ve previously blogged about Salad Boys (here). I also really liked the fact that Melted Ice Cream released cassettes during an era when that particular medium was being shunned almost everywhere else.  

Calling Melted Ice Cream a “label” might actually be a little bit inaccurate, or a bit of an injustice even, because I suspect, as with fellow Southerners Flying Nun and Xpressway, it’s much more of a tight creative hub or community than merely a vehicle by which to release music.

Fast forward to 2021, and it seems even the globally renowned and widely read music website Pitchfork has started to take note, with the brand new Wurld Series album, What’s Growing, receiving a very positive review (here) earlier this week. I downloaded the album, and although I’m unable wax quite as lyrically as our learned Pitchfork friends, or discuss the deeper meaning (maaan) behind the band’s songs in quite the same way as that website somehow manages, I can say I’ve enjoyed listening to it a fair amount over the past couple of days.

A very digestible 15 tracks, nine of them clocking in under the 2-minute mark, with stand-out track ‘Nap Gate’ (clip below) being the longest at just a few clicks under four minutes. What’s Growing appeals as being a far more polished collection than anything else Wurld Series has released in the past. You can read a little bit more about Melted Ice Cream, Wurld Series, and pick up a copy of the album here.

Julian Cope: The Early 90s Thrillogy

Craig Stephen reflects on the post-Teardrop Explodes musical legacy of Julian Cope, with focus on an early 90s “thrillogy” …

He gained chart success as a leather-jacketed rock God for the St Julian album, and followed it with a failed attempt at being a pop star on My Nation Underground, which he then dismissed as “the Scottish Album”. So Julian Cope went back to what he was best at: being a demented Druid-loving weird bastard.

And it worked, magnificently so. Cope produced what can be described as a monumental cannon of work tied together by his ambition and determination to subvert the norms, on three excellent and individualistic albums released between 1991 and 1994.

Each of these three albums - two of them doubles, such was the Arch Drude’s prolific output at the time - could be reviewed extensively and separately in their own right. And as tempting as that challenge would be, you know, I’ve got flies to swat and window sills to clean, so this compilation will suffice.

Peggy Suicide (1991)

A masterful concept delivered over four sides and 18 tracks that even contained some pop songs catchy enough to venture into the charts. Before unleashing Peggy Suicide, Cope had mightily pissed off Island Records through the covert, in-one-take-and-outta-here Skellington. He’d also found time to record and release another album that would never be played before 7pm, Droolian, which contained snippets that presaged what was to come.

Yet it was a leftover from the maligned My Nation Underground that set the ball rolling, ‘Beautiful Love’, with its subtle radio friendly sound the ghastly daytime DJs couldn’t help but resist. It was an exception, however. The follow-up ‘East Easy Rider’ was a Funkadelic-style trip utilising wah-wah pedals and heavy riffs. And Cope’s themes of the time – stone circles, cars v bikes, the Poll Tax, neoliberalism and climate change majestically seeped through almost every song. Cope was Jim Morrison and Syd Barrett rolled into one.

‘Promised Land’, for instance, bemoans the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, who had been deposed a few months earlier: “The hate that she inspires/ Has to be seen to be believed.”

‘Soldier Blue’ was a diatribe on police brutality: “On your hind legs you beat us/ And I hope that you're proud, Soldier Blue”, while sampling the famous 1990 anti-Poll Tax riot that Cope attended in costume and which ended in violence following police provocation. It also included a sample of Lenny Bruce’s notable refrain from a live skit: “Here's a stick and a gun and you do it/ But wait 'til I'm outta the room/ But wait 'til I'm outta the room.”

As Cope’s sleeve notes explain, ‘Leperskin’ is “for all the Lepers of Lambeth – Polltax value £521.” The Community Charge, which the British government always called it, saw rich pricks in mansions pay the same amount as people squashed into bedsits. No wonder the people were revolting.

Experimentation, mainstreamism, short songs, long songs, anger, energy, mellowness … Peggy Suicide had a massive reach.

Jehovahkill (1992)

Island hated Jehovahkill … and that in itself is a mark of honour. You can imagine the suits’ faces on learning what the title would be and the angst they’d endure about possibly upsetting a religious sect. They rejected the first version of the LP, called Julian H. Cope – again more God-baiting titles – which seemed to settle the nerves of the label heads but the resulting album was a commercial bypass.

It was far less attractive to the Madonna fans out there than its predecessor, with more emphasis on a Germanic, experimental sound, as exemplified on ‘The Subtle Energies Commission’ or on ‘Necropolis’, with plenty of rock and psychedelia in the mix too. 

It also developed Cope’s medieval/pagan themes with a photograph of the neolithic Callanish Stones of the Western Isles for the cover. There’s less of the blatant sloganeering and politics of Peggy, which allows Cope to focus wholly on subject matters that delve deeply into the esoteric.

Autogeddon (1994)

Shorn of the unwanted interference and haughtiness of Island, and now on new label Echo, Cope cracked on with the car-hating Autogeddon. It was also less encumbered, with just eight tracks on a single album, without any of the “phases” that broke up the previous works.

Cope’s dislike of our wheel had come full circle. Inspired, he writes on the reissue sleeve notes: “ … by Heathcote Williams’ epic poem of the same name, and a little incident concerning my pregnant wife (and myself) and £375,000 of yellow Ferrari in St Martin’s Lane, London, England.”

These moving chunks of metal had become symbols of the ecological vandalism wrought by man on the planet. “And my waking dream won't go away/ Motorway services were the new cities/ The poisonous air had wrecked our homes/ Gasoline rivers burning up the seas” (‘Autogeddon Blues’).

Cope laments the loss of the English countryside and the people who lay claim to the land: “But out here in the fields/ You know they're still just fields/ Still fences and signs screaming: Keep off my land/ No Trespass - By Order.”

On one of his more outlandish efforts, ‘Don’t Call Me Mark Chapman’, Cope truly takes the C road into Backwater Valley, dropping another assassin’s name, Sirhan Sirhan, into the mix, as well as Duran Duran and … the man who gave us ‘Copacabana’ and ‘Mandy’: “All night Barry Manilow playing loud over the speaker system/ Just trying to drive the fucker out.”

It’s not known if Jeremy Clarkson is a fan of the album.

Superfantasticextraspecialultradeluxe editions …

All three albums have been reissued with an array of b-sides, outtakes etc, making already lengthy albums even longer. These include remixes of two of the singles on Peggy Suicide and other such treatments, and on Jehovahkill the original 21-and-a-half minute version of ‘Poet Is Priest’.

Autogeddon, while not as revered as much as the other two, has been given an excellent reissue treatment, coming in a hardback book format with extensive notes including a lengthy retro review by Martin Bramah of the Blue Orchids. It includes the very obscure Paranormal in the West Country EP and a couple of other hard-to-find tracks on the extra disc.