she calls my name....

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>>>>>ST's ALPHABETICON - Part xii: L<<<<< Previously in the Alphabeticon: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K

Evening. Welcome to the weekly rundown of "not my whole record collection". As always, this is just a run down through one particularly dusty set of shelves. It's not supposed to be definitive, and it's just for fun kids!

262. Mark Lanegan Band – Bubblegum

I first discovered Mark Lanegan through his work with the Queens of the Stone Age on "Songs for the Deaf" (a brilliant, brilliant album). He's got a fantastically bourbon and cigarette smoke soaked voice, a bit reminiscent of Tom Waits, and very, very distinctive. His work with Screaming Trees and QotSA aside, he's also made a bit of a name for himself in recent years through his solo work and for the (Mercury Music Prize nominated) album that he did with Isobel Campbell. This album made a few "best of the year" type lists back in 2004 (quite right Ben), and it's a very good album indeed.

263. The Libertines – Up The Bracket
264. The Libertines – The Libertines

Well, it's hard to argue with one of their own lyrics, isn't it:

"What a waster, what a fucking waster
You pissed it all up the wall"

Over the course of these two records, Pete Docherty and Carl Barat showed that they had some talent. Unfortunately, they blew it and hit the self-destruct button amidst burglaries, recriminations and drug addiction. Pete Docherty is hailed in some quarters as a genius, and presumably his claim to greatness is largely contained on these albums. Well, if that's the case, then I think he's somewhat overbilled..... there's some good stuff on here, but there's also a lot of shit. They were hardly The Smiths, were they? They were a good band, but not half as good or as important as some people (not least the band themselves) would have you believe. They've actually just put out a Greatest Hits album... and amidst the great moments, there's still some filler. As claims to greatness go, this one is just too thin (not to mention the minus points Docherty gets for his subsequent career as a staple of the tabloid press).

265. Led Zeppelin – Remasters

I used to have a load of Zeppelin albums on cassette, but this is the only one that I ever bought on CD (and this is a replacement, as my original copy was stolen when I was still at school). They're very much in the news at the moment, of course, and they are credited with pretty much inventing heavy metal and hard rock.... but I can't help but feel that they're a bit overrated. They're good enough, I suppose (and the "Immigrant Song" is one of my favourite songs ever), but I find their pastoral stuff very hit and miss indeed, and I'm now just bored by "Stairway". Good band though, and Robert Plant is a Wolves fan, so you have to give them credit for that.

266. Lemonheads – It’s a Shame About Ray

I saw the Lemonheads performing at Glastonbury in 1993 and I thought they were great. I think Evan Dando was off his tits and they didn't play "Mrs Robinson", their biggest hit at the time, but they did play an amazing cover of Suzanne Vega's "Luka" and were certainly the best thing that I saw on the second stage that Sunday afternoon (a lineup that included the Verve and, erm, Dodgy). This album is stupidly short, and it sounds a bit "of its time" now... but it sounded great back then. And Dando was supposedly stepping out with Juliana Hatfield too, the lucky bastard.... Mind you, wasn't she famously still a virgin? Perhaps he hadn't been so lucky then?

267.Love/Hate – Blackout in a Red Room
268. Love/Hate – Wasted in America

Wow. This is one from the depths of my lost teenage heavy metal years. I don't remember very much about the band except that I thought they were brilliant, and had one unforgettable song called "Don't Fuck With Me":

"Don't fuck with me 'cause I don't look like you
We can be brothers and wear our different colors too
Don't fuck with me and I won't fuck with you"

Beautiful sentiments, I think you'll agree. And how's this as a motto for life:

"Do unto others as you'd have others do unto you.
Don't fuck with me, and I won't fuck with you.
Yeah."

Me and my friend Des thought they were ace. If he didn't live in Hong Kong, I'd probably drag him all the way to the Rescue Rooms for the Love / Hate reunion in December.....

269. Leftfield – Leftism

I can't really tell you much about this as I've barely listened to it since I lived in a flat on campus at the University of Warwick and a chap called Dominic used to play it all the time. I think it's quite good. Well, it sounded it back then, anyway.

270. The Las – The Las

Ah, the great lost band of the 1990s. "There She Goes" is timeless, of course, but the rest of the album holds water too. It was one of the great moment of Glastonbury in 2005 when I got to see this lot performing live. They played their biggest hit about halfway through the set, so all those floods of people turning up at the very end just to hear the encore must have been very disappointed indeed. Against all the odds, they still sounded brilliant. You wouldn't want to be in Lee Mavers' head though.

271. Ray Lamontagne – Trouble
272. Ray Lamontagne - Till The Sun Turns Black

Big beard, big voice. I first saw him on Jools Holland, I think, and was intrigued enough to check out the album. The second album is even better. It's a good voice. A great big, booming voice. But it's quite a splendid beard too. Do I have to decide? Can't I have both?

273. Long Blondes – Someone To Drive You Home

Kate Jackson wears a mean beret, I know that much.

274. Lush – Ciao!

Worth it just to hear "Ladykillers", which I think may be one of my favourite ever songs.

Lost in iTunes: Los Campesinos!, Low, Lucky Soul, Lulu, Lynyrd Skynyrd

Next time: Morrissey! Oh yes, a lot of Morrissey.....

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Shuffleathon 2007 Update

Right, come on now. If you haven't yet sent out your CD, then please pull your finger out and get it in the post as soon as possible. If you sent your CD a while ago and it looks like it hasn't been received, then we need to start thinking about re-sends. Likewise, if you have received your CD and haven't yet reviewed it or perhaps even told me that you've got it..... well.... Don't make me come over there....

Shuffler	Posted	Received
1. Tina	yes	review
2. Sarah	yes
3. Cody Bones	yes	yes
4. Mark	yes	review
5. Michael	yes	yes
6. Hen	yes	yes
7. Cat	yes	review
8. bedshaped	yes	posted
9. Pynchon	yes	review
10. J	yes	review
11. The Great Grape Ape	yes	review
12. Ian	yes	review (sorry)
13. Martin
14. Monogodo	yes	yes
15. Threelight	yes	review
16. Paul	yes	review
17. Charlie	yes	review
18. LB	yes
19. Katyola	yes	review
20. Lisa	yes	review
21. Graham	yes?
22. Del	yes	review
23. Spins	yes
24. Ben	yes
25. Dragon	yes	yes
26. Adem	yes	review
27. Mike	yes	review
28. JoeInVegas	yes	yes
29. Wombat	yes
30. Max Bob	yes	review
31. Stevious	yes	review
32. Asta	yes	review
33. Alan	yes	review
34. Russ L	yes	review
35. E.	yes
36. Mike T-D	yes	yes
37. JamieS	yes
38. Briskate	yes	review
38. Me	yes	review

Big hello to YokoSpungeon and equally big thanks for the whole original Shuffleathon concept.....