Author Archives: Phil

When Big Joan Sets Up 30/12/09 – Full Warp Speed

Greetings my plump, juicy lovlies, and as the fetid odour of partially digested sprouts begins to dissipate for another year, When Big Joan Sets Up picks up its boots and goes back to its roots with a contribution to Warp20 night.

A mix of classics and neglected gems from the dusty corners of the near faultless Warp records catalogue (we’re not going to mention Maximo Park as it’s Christmas and we’re in a good mood because we got gorilla slippers), alongside some of the banginest tunes from today’s new beat combos…

The Powdered Toastman – “Alley Oop” (12″) (Haunted House)
The Hollywood Argyles – “Alley Oop” (LP – “The Golden Age of American Rock and Roll Volume 2”) (Ace)
Bounty Killer – “Ungrateful Hellboy” (EP- “Raise Hell on Hellboy”) (Payday)
Vic Chesnutt – “Concord Country Jubilee” (LP- “At The Cut”) (Constellation)
These New Puritans – “We Want War” (10″) (Angular)

Big Joan’s Warp20 (Minutes) Mix

Chris Morris – “Club News” (LP- “Blue Jam”) (Warp)
Plone – “Plock” (LP- “For Beginner Piano”) (Warp)
Phillip Glass – “Heroes Symphony – (Aphex Twin Remix)” (LP-“26 Mixes For Cash”) (Warp)
Sweet Exorcist – “Testone” (12″) (Warp)
David Holmes – “Johnny Favourite” (12″) (Warp)
Sabres Of Paradise – “Wilmot” (12″) (Warp)
Kid Unknown – “Devastating Beat Creator (Dub Echo)”(12”) (Warp)

Liars – “Scarecrows on A Killer Slant” (LP-“Sisterworld”) (Mute)
Laura Cantrell – “I’d Be a Legend In My Time” (download from Lauracantrell.com)
Delphic – “Red Light” (LP- “Acolyte”) (Chimeric/Polydor)

When Big Joan Sets Up 24/12 – A big fat man with a beard – how festive!

Santa Claus wears a Red Suit,
He must be a communist.
And a beard and long hair,
Must be a pacifist.
What’s in that pipe that he’s smoking?
Arlo Guthrie

Happy Christmas bloggers, Here are the tracks from Wednesday:

Rage Against The Machine – “Killing In The Name Of” (LP -“Rage Against The Machine”) (Epic)
Lucky Soul – “Lonely This Christmas” (EP -“Ruffa Round The Christmas Tree”) (available free from www.ruffalane.com)
Sizzla – “Res A Dem” (LP- “Stand Tall”) (Yes)
Africa Hi Tech – “Blen” (CD – “Warp Sampler 2010”) (Warp)
Deiphago – “Subliminal Satan” (v/a CD – “Fear Candy 75”) (Terrorizer)
The Twerps – “Good Advice” (CDR – “The Twerps”) (Night People)
T-Model Ford – “Two Trains” (LP – “The Ladies Man”) (Alive)
Flore – “Feel Me” (12″) (Botchit & Scarper)
Morecambe & Wise – “Bring Me Sunshine” (LP – “EMI Comedy Classics”) (EMI)
The Fall – “We Wish You A Protein Christmas” (EP- “We Wish You A Protein Christmas”) (Action)
Sy and Unknown – “Move It” (12″) (Quosh)
Cliff Richard and The Drifters – “Move It” (7″) (Columbia)
The Soft Pack – “C’mon” (Download from Pitchfork.com)
Black Tusk Sound – “Sound Killin'” (12″) (Frozen O’s)
Bonny Billy and The Picket Line -“Ramblin’ Fever” (LP- “Funtown Comedown”) (Drag City)
Lee Perry and Adrian Sherwood – “His Master’s Voice” (LP – “Dubsetter”) (Beatnik/On U Sound)
The Shurfine Singers – “Silent Night/11 O’Clock News” (7″) (Josie)

Fuck Cowell, we won’t do what you tell us!

I ‘ve got a problem (one of many you may say, but let’s focus here). I am, I have come to realise, something of a musical extremist. Basically, the purpose of my existence on the planet is to make radio programmes that traumatise and upset people who have conservatories and cappuccino machines and who laugh at A Question of Sport, and give some kind of hope to the beautful people who find all this stuff as ennervating as I do.

It’s a childish and ultimately futile aim, of course, but it is the only thing that stops me walking into the Stock Exchange with forty pounds of Semtex strapped about my torso, so it’ll have to do.

And sometimes it’s a lonely life, but not today.

For something has happened today that proves that there are 500,000 other like minded(ish) souls who have assaulted the bastions of banality and emerged victorious.

I speak of course of the people, heroes everyone of them, who have put a shouty records full of “fucks” and guitar noises that could strip a picket fence at 200 yards, into the Christmas number one slot.

Continue reading →

When Big Joan Sets Up 17/12 – The Ones That Got Away

‘Twas the week before Christmas and all round our house ..were piles of records that I hadn’t had chance to play during our brief midnight assignations throughout the year and LP’s that we should have played more tracks from so in an ultimately vain attempt to right this grevious wrong this week’s programme featured some of the ones that got away during 2009.

Yeah, it doesn’t rhyme, does it?

Zola Jesus – “Six Feet from My Baby” (LP – “The Spoils”)(Scared Bones)
Staff Benda Billi – “Sala Mosala” (LP -“Tres,Tres Fort”)(Crammed Discs)
Pelican – “An Inch Above Sand” (LP – “What We All Come to Need”) (Southern Lord)
Orgone Accumulators – “Walk Don’t Run” (EP -“Good Advice”) (Sultans of Swing)
G.G.King – “The Letter” (CDR – “Last of the Late Night Wiggers”) (Self Released)
Jah Wobble and the Chinese Dub Orchestra – “Dragon and Phoenix Dub”(LP – “Jah Wobble and the Chinese Dub Orchestra”) (30Hertz)
Tilthammer – “Harlequin Fluker” (EP – “Reflections”) (Overweight)
Public Image Limited – “Careering” (Download – “The John Peel Session”)
Lightspeed Champion – “Marlene” (Download single) (Domino)
Robbie Long and Stormtrooper – “Rock Out” (12″) (Thin N Crispy)
Playdoh – “Oh Jay!” (LP- “Playdoh”) (Winning Sperm)
Buzzer – “Teacher’s Pet” (7″) (Tic Tac Totally)
Jahmiga – “Whiskey” (7″) (Jahmiga)
The Shitty Limits – “Swallowed Whole” (LP- “Beware The Limits”) (Wallride)
Jacob Miller – “All I Want for Ismas” (3 CD set “Trojan Christmas Collection)(Trojan)

When Big Joan Sets Up 10th December – Jack Rose 1971-2009

Jack Rose

Jack Rose (1971-2009)

This week instead of the usual attempts to be funny that accompany my playlists, I thought I’d tell you a bit about Jack Rose.

Jack was a guitarist from Virginia who made 9 albums of solo acoustic guitar tunes for various small labels betwen 2002 and 2009. The thing most often said about his work is that he sounds a lot like John Fahey , which is a bit like someone coming up to you after football and telling you that you remind them of Pele.

Jack’s was an unflustered, technically impressive but not flashy style which could switch effortlessly from heart lifting sunny picking to uneasy sounding drones and ragas, and then to spine tingling country blues, sometimes all with in the same song.

His version of Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark is the Night , Cold is the Ground” shows both his love for his influences and his uncanny ability to transcend them to make something scintillating, and is currently making this sentimenal old sod stupidly misty eyed as it plays in the background while I’m writing this.

He died last Saturday of a heart attack at the ridiculously young age of 38 and this week’s programme was dedicated to him, his friends and family.

Continue reading →

When Big Joan Sets Up 2/12/09 – “When two great saints meet, it is a humbling experience”

Cheeky Beatle

Cheeky Beatle

And that rather grandiose Paul McCartney quote from the front cover of John and Yoko’s 1968 avant garde bonkersfest “Two Virgins” (although no one saw it because they were too busy looking at the staggeringly unattractive picture of them with their gear off that also adorns said LP – at least it wasn’t Ringo and Maureen, though) is my way of saying that we had a guest presenter in this week. The wonderful Laura Rawlings came to add some much needed DJ class to the programme, and was kind enough to bring some tunes in for us which feature amongst this lot. And everyone kept their clothes on. Thankfully.

Continue reading →

NME – The case for the defence

Now y’see I like Albert Freeman. I like his excellent radio programme, I like his ready wit, I like his beard, hell, I even like his high visibility vest, but I can’t let his recent comments about my beloved NME go entirely unanswered.
So without prejudice and taking into account the fact I owe him money, I’m going to put forward a case for the defence.

Continue reading →

When Big Joan Sets Up 26/11/09 – Grrrrr Buzzz buzzz buzzz thump

That’s the noise that the CD player was making as I was doing the programme, eventually showing a shocking lack of discernment by refusing to play any drum and bass records. Serves me right for abandoning vinyl.

Anyroad, we staggered through thusly,

Jesus Christ (The Indie Band) – “Is This Really What You Want?”  (download from gorillavsbear.net)
Francis and the Holograms – ” I See It All” (EP- “Who Said These Were Happy Times?”) (Going Underground)
Jimmy Reed – “Honest I Do” (3CD Set- “The Essential Boss Man – The Very Best of The Vee-Jay Years 1953-1966”) (Charly)
Scott Brown presents Q-Tex – “Equazion Part 9 – E- Motion Remix” (12″) (Evolution)
Beres Hammond feat Assassin, Buju Banton and I- Octane -“Love in the Streets” (7″) (Penthouse)
Small Black – “Bad Lover” (EP- “Small Black”) (Cass Club)
Charlie Parker – “Scrapple from the Apple” (4 CD Set – “Boss Bird, Studio Recordings  1944-1951”) (Proper)
The Peppermint Lounge – “Bebop Suicide” (Demo) (available from  ongakubaka.blogspot.com)
Epitomie – “Rotten Brain” (LP – “SupeROTic Experience”) (Soulflesh Collector)
Vampire Weekend – “Cousins” (Download) (XL)
Bill Orcutt – “My Restless Parts” (LP – “A New Way to Pay Old Debts”) (Palilalia)
Shrinebuilder – “The Architect” (LP- “Shrinebuilder”) (Neurot)
Mika Vainio – “Vandals” (EP – “Vandals”) (Raster Norton)
501 – “Day Tripper” (12″) (Dub Ting)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – “Day Tripper” (LP- “BBC Sessions”) (Universal)

When Big Joan Sets Up 19/11/09 – Up All Night with Donovan’s Brain

Hello, legions of admirers. This week on When Big Joan Sets Up, the aforementioned hippie avatar, gets a brainectomy (that’s probably not what it’s called but, it’ll do) , alongside various other stimulating records…

Thee Oh Sees – “Blood in Your Ear” (7″) (Rock is Hell)
Gnod – “Off Somewhere in a Dinghy” (CD-R – “Wuste Zeremonie”) (Reverb Worship)
Kris Drever – “Mark the Hard Earth- (LP – ” Mark the Hard Earth”) (Navigator)
Sammy Dread and Lee Van Cliff – “My Princess/Get Up and Skank” – (v/a LP “Joe Gibbs Reggae Discomix Showcase Volume 3”) (VP)
Four Tet – “Love Cry” (12″) (Domino)
Loose Lips Sink Ships – “Coach Kukok’s Croatian Cous Cous” (7″) (Science is Fantastic)
Mike Rep and the Quotas – “Donovan’s Brain” (7″) (Columbus Discount)
Schlomo – “Socks” (download EP – “Schlo- Fi”) (from error-broadcast.com)
Blood I Bleed – “The Moral Slide” (LP – “Gods Out of Monsters”) (Selfmadegod)
Mr. Gasparov “1975” (12″) (Steak House)
Shirley and Co.- “Shame, Shame, Shame” (LP – “Shame, Shame, Shame”) (Phillips)
Northerner – “Can’t” (LP- “1976”) (Hibernate)
Pa Steele’s African Brothers – “Odo Mmera” (v/a “Ghana Special – Modern Highlife, Afro Sounds and Ghanian Blues 1968-81”) (Soundway)

When Big Joan Sets Up 12/11/09 -I’m a little bit country, you’re a little bit rock and roll

In a Dark Side of the Moon/Wizard of Oz type scenario , I’m still reeling from the fact that if you listen to Eclectic Mainline from last night whilst also watching “An Audience with Donnie and Marie” a strange syncronicity emerges that suggests there is a higher power at work.

Mind you, I flipped over to the Luton Town vs Rochdale game halfway through and it still worked , so maybe I should stop drinking Polish beer. Or maybe Albert Freeman is an emissary of Satan . Or maybe I should stop rambling and tell you what tracks I played;

Continue reading →