There are a number of Mekons references scattered throughout the conference, but I couldn't find what I wanted, so I will start a new item. (For Mike.) I'm looking for shopping guidance on an old Mekons album, FEAR AND WHISKEY (as part of the ORIGINAL SIN compilation) and a new one, JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT.11 responses total.
I wasn't really all that wild about the material on "Original Sin",
but I put it away after only a few listens and haven't tried it
recently. I suppose it's about due for another chance.. I haven't
heard "Journey to the End of the Night" yet, although I'm increasingly
tempted to buy it.. I hear good things about it, but I just don't
believe anything I hear about a Mekons album anymore.
The Mekons are a very, very cruel band.. I guess I started off
with their best two albums ("the Curse of the Mekons" and "Rock 'n' Roll")
and my purchase record since then has been very spotty.. Basically I've
been extremely disappointed with most of their other material, but good
stuff comes down the pipeline just often enough to keep me strung along.
Every time I buy a disappointing album from them I swear I'll never fall
for the same trick again, and yet I always seem to.. <sigh>
I broke down and ordered "Journey to the End of the Night" in a moment of weak resolve, but if it doesn't satisfy me, I swear it'll be the last Mekons I ever buy.. Of course even if I stop buying actual Mekons albums I could still go on for decades buying discs by Mekons members and their side-project bands.. Jon Langford, for example, seems to produce new recordings faster than I can keep track of them, and Sally Timms, Rico Bell, and probably others are also releasing things under their own names..
Remember that world music radio site I've been raving about at http://www.wen.com ? The June audio show from Folk Roots editor Ian Anderson included a track from that Mekons album, and it sounded promising on a Real Audio listen. So I think there's a chance you'll like it, Mike, and if not you can unload it on me if I haven't gotten it yet.
The new Mekons disc arrived before the holiday and I've had about a week
in which to listen to it.
On first impression, it's much more enjoyable than anything they've done
since "I {Heart} Mekons". Several songs feature gorgeous vocals by
Sally Timms, the songs cover a nice variety of styles and instrumentation,
and the album by and large lacks the grating sorts of tracks which have
spoiled their last few releases for me. It's certainly their most
accessible recording in a while, and I'm pretty sure that's why I like it.
Sounds good; I'll put the new album on my shopping list. I'm pretty familiar with Sally Timms' solo work, but what has Rico Bell done?
He's got two solo albums that I know of, "The Return of Rico Bell" (1996) and "Dark Side of the Mersey" (1999) I'm pretty sure I bought "Dark Side of the Mersey" before I left Ann Arbor but I think it got packed away immediately as part of my move -- anyway, I can't say much about it. However, I enjoy "Return of Rico Bell". About half of the songs are co-written with Langford, and another couple are credible (but hardly exceptional) covers of familiar tunes (e.g. "Dark End of the Street", "Acadian Driftwood") I'd rate it about six and a half or seven on a ten point scale.. Enjoyable listening but not destined to be a timeless classic.
The August "Froots Radio" playlist on http://www.wen.com lists a new album billed to Jon Langford and Sally Timms. I don't recall the title. I went looking for it today at the local used shop which is pretty good about stocking Mekons items, but did not see a copy. Yeah, that's pretty vague, isn't it.
Apparently the Langford/Timms item is an EP available through mail order only; see http://www.bloodshotrecords.com. Mike, do you have this?
No, though I've been thinking about mail-ordering a bunch of stuff from Bloodshot/Quarterstick
NP: Jon Langford & Sally Timms, "Songs of False Hope and High Values." Completely (?) acoustic, and more interesting to my tastes on first listen than most of the other Mekons & Mekons-related material. This is the limited edition mail-order only EP.
While shopping one of the surviving local independent record stores today (looking for something to listen to on the plane trip back to MI tomorrow..) I noticed that they had a pile of stuff in the Mekons slot.. It appears that their two excellent albums, "Rock 'n' Roll" and "Curse of the Mekons" have both been re-issued. "Curse" has apparently had the contents of the "F.U.N. '90" EP added as bonus tracks, and "Rock 'n' Roll" has two tracks that weren't on the release I own.
You have several choices: