VA - Now Hear This! The Word Magazine, March 2009

Tracks
01. The Damned - A Nation Fit For Heroes (3:56)
02. Mary Coughlan - The House Of Ill Repute (3:11)
03. Aidan Moffat & The Best Ofs - Big Blonde (2:06)
04. Oumou Sangare - Seya (4:14)
05. Jay Jay Pistolet - Bags Of Gold (3:03)
06. The BPA - Spade (feat. Martha Wainwright) (3:24)
07. Ane Brun - Treehouse Song (3:22)
08. The Redwalls - The Hangman (3:16)
09. Rachael Yamagata - Sidedish Friend (3:01)
10. Novalima - Ruperta/Puede Ser (4:07)
11. Teitur - Your Great Book (4:18)
12. Bridgette Amofah - What It Takes (3:59)
13. The Grey Race - The Johnsons (4:11)
14. The Long Lost - Overmuch (3:18)
15. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu - Wiyathul (5:53)

Total time: 55m 19s


What's on the CD with the March issue.


1. The Damned - A Nation Fit For Horses
It's been 32 years now since their first release was advertised under the memorable slogan "Play it at your sister". They've been through punk rock and Grand Guignol while skirting on goth and all manner of other extremities. With their tenth album, the band – who still have Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible from their original lineup – have arrived at a sort of classic rock, with the odd excursion into grandiose balladry and a storming psych-krautrock finale.
From the CD So, Who's Paranoid?

2. Mary Coughlan - House Of Ill Repute
There is no sign that the second oldest profession will succumb to the government's most recent effort to make sin illegal and therefore Irish singer Mary Coughlan's latest album, which more than once touches upon the subject of commercial sex, will find its mark. Recorded with her old collaborator Erik Visser, the album, which also features a version of Kirsty MacColl's Bad, comes at the end of a 13-year relationship.
From the CD The House Of Ill Repute

3. Aidan Moffat & The Best-Ofs - Big Blonde
Falkirk musician Moffat used to be part of Arab Strap with Malcolm Middleton. He is releasing the first record by his group on Valentine's Day this year. His reasoning? "It's a very romantic record and it will make a perfect gift for lovers everywhere, tucked in between the rose bouquets and heart-shaped Swiss chocolates. Or – more likely – the novelty candy cocks and Ann Summers edible thongs."
From the CD How To Get To Heaven From Scotland

4. Oumou Sangaré - Seya
Oumou Sangaré comes from a musical family that hails from the fertile south of Mali but she was brought up in the capital Bamako and became well known as a teenage performer. The patronage of the late Ali Farka Touré brought her to the attention of World Circuit records and she has achieved some eminence in Mali and beyond. Of all the musicians featured on these CDs she is the only one to have had a Chinese automobile named after her. Unless you know better.
From the CD Seya

5. Jay Jay Pistolet - Bags of Gold
That is not, you'll be surprised to hear, his real name. That's Justin Hayward-Young. He's a chum of Laura Marling, which has brought in a number of useful supporting appearances in the London area. Pistolet describes himself as "a bit of a romantic" and this is one of four tender but not too gooey love songs from his current EP, which serves as an excellent introduction to his work.
From the CD Happy Birthday You

6. The BPA - Spade (featuring Martha Wainwright)
The Brighton Port Authority is a project wherein Norman Cook persuades various guest names to front his musical ideas. Those names include David Byrne, Iggy Pop, Dizzee Rascal and, in this case, Martha Wainwright. The conceit is that this music comes from a cache of sessions tapes from the '70s that have only recently been uncovered. Funny how nobody wants to make the sound of today any more.
From the CD I Think We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat

7. Ane Brun - The Treehouse Song
Norwegian Ane Brun didn't take up the guitar until the age of 21. She then went off to be a busker in Barcelona. Because her "set" was comprised largely of obscurities this didn't go too well. But it was all to some greater purpose. You may have heard her version of Cyndi Lauper's True Colors advertising Sky Television. Having recorded with Teitur Lassen in the past, she can claim a connection with somebody else on this particular CD.
From the CD Changing Of The Season

8. The Redwalls - Hangman
The Redwalls, who come from Deerfield, Illinois, are fronted by the brothers Logan and Justin Baren. They started life as a covers band specialising in British invasion classics and steadily graduated to writing their own material. They have encountered the British market before, supporting Oasis on their UK tour in 2005. They recorded their self-titled third album in Sweden while signed to Capitol, who later decided to let the band go and take the rights with them.
From the CD The Redwells

9. Rachel Yamagata - Sidedish Friend
The second album by this Japanese-American musician is a double. "I didn't set out to make a two-part album," Yamagata says. "We just followed the songs' lyrical lead and built them up with textures and sounds that served the story. The beautiful ones were darker and worked with lush arrangements. We used the sounds of rain, tree branches falling on the roof… The second part became more anthemic, like a reclaiming of personal power."
From the CD Elephants… Teeth Sinking Into Heart/strong

10. Novalima - Ruperta/Puede Ser
Novalima is a production collective founded in 2001 by four Peruvian musicians situated in different places of the world, Ramón Pérez Prieto (Lima), Grimaldo Del Solar (Barcelona), Rafael Morales (London) and Carlos Li Carrillo (Hong Kong). Its music is heavily driven by Afro-Peruvian and Latin percussion, blended with downtempo, dub and house beats.
From the CD Coba Coba

11. Teitur - Your Great Book
Teitur Lassen is the first musician we've featured here who comes from the Faroe Islands, those fragments of the kingdom of Denmark that lie a long, cold sail directly north of John O'Groats. He has recorded a number of albums, one of which was in the local language. This one was recorded on the Swedish island of Gotland. Says Teitur, "If you want to create something musically ambitious… you must listen and wait, break rules, let go and make choices on the way."
From the CD The Singer

12. Bridgette Amofah - What It Takes
Bridgette Amofah has spent time in the past fronting KT Tunstall's old band and as a resident performer of cult theatre shows. This breezy slice of summery pop-soul is typical of north London-based Bridgette's fondness for marrying a wide array of influences – Feist, Minnie Riperton, The Beatles and Burt Bacharach to name a few – to create a hybrid neo-soul sound in a similar vein to a certain A Winehouse.
From the double A-side What It Takes/Not Your Style

13. The Grey Race - The Johnsons
Formed in New York, though hailing from as far afield as New Zealand, The Grey Race recorded their debut album in bassist Jeff Hill's bedroom utilising a small drum kit, a Mac and a few basic microphones. Friends and family (including singer Jon Darling's sister Julia) were called in to add extra layers of vocals and instruments, using a rich palette belying the record's humble, unassuming origin. "We were doing it for the love of it", asserts drummer Ethan Eubanks
From the CD Give It Love

14. The Long Lost - Overmuch
Alfred A Darlington and Laura B Darlington are The Long Lost, a rather dynamic duo combining contemporary programming techniques with more traditional fare such as clarinet and alto flute, complemented by Laura's wispy, ethereal vocals. Onstage, the Darlingtons are often joined by three regular auxiliary musicians who aid in translating their atmospheric, textured sound to a live audience. Their MySpace page suggests that they are influenced by a cat.
From the CD The Long Lost

15. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu - Wiyathul
This native Australian singer came to the fore with Yothu Yindi and then The Saltwater Band. He comes from the Aboriginal community on Elcho Island, at the very top of the Northern Territory. His first solo album, this is produced by his collaborator Michael Hohnen. The songs are traditional. You won't understand them but the voice says a bunch.
From the forthcoming album Gurrumul