This week's Brilliant Things includes my new shelves, The Nine Lives Of Ozzy Osborne, Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan covering Metallica, The Coral's Coral Island finally arrives, and Tears For Fears are back, Back, BACK!
1. Store the Black Circle
Having gone back to vinyl in 2014, I quickly realised that a small flat would have its storage challenges. In recent years, chairs, floors and any available surface would often be covered in record sleeves. My conversation with friends moved from which bands we were seeing to storage solutions. But finally I think we've cracked it, thanks to the marvellous Melanie Woods, formerly drummer with the fab Sidi Bou Said and the amazing Joanne Joanne. Melanie is an incredible carpenter as well as drummer and the shelves are fantastic, though I fear some brutal decisions on selling vinyl will eventually be essential...but these shelves give me quite a lot of breathing space as well as looking super.
As I have mentioned previously, we are waiting on a quote from The Sash Guy (aka Guy Chadwick from The House Of Love) to repair our sash windows....this is quickly becoming the flat that indie rock built...
2. The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osborne
It's not particularly deep, or revealing, it's not a tough examination of his lifestyle and at times terrible behaviour and actions. But if you can separate that, it's great fun hearing about the carnage and music that is the life of Ozzy Osborne. It's on BBC iPlayer right now.
3. Dave Gahan covers Metallica
The idea that the singer of Depeche Mode would cover Metallica would have seemed incongruous 40 years ago. But these days, Gahan is a more adventurous artist, with a fabulous career outside the Mode.
This track is not on his new covers album with Soulsavers, but part of the celebrations of 30 years of Metallica's masterpiece, their eponymous classic known as The Black Album.
His version of Nothing Else Matters is stripped back, chilled, the anti-Metallica, and it's brilliant.
4. Coral Island - The Coral
Released back in April this year, I missed out on getting a vinyl copy of this album, they sold out ridiculously quickly, a victim of the shortage of vinyl. I ordered the album from the band's site when they released additional copies in the summer, but it's taken until now to get here, with further production delays. But it's totally worth the wait, a Scouse version of The Small Faces.
It's an ambitious, catchy, intricate, quirky record, the first half celebrating the hustle and bustle of a busy seaside town at peak season, whilst the second half reflecting the bleaker times as summer ends and the visitors disappear.
I love the little spoken word pieces that connect parts of the album, narrated by The Great Muriarty - in fact the Skelly brothers 85 year-old grandfather. Brilliant and deranged and endearing and wonderful.
5. Tears For Fears are back, Back, BACK!
We saw Tears For Fears back in 2019 at The O2 Arena. It was a good show, but Roland and Curt did not seem comfortable with each other, barely interacting through the gig. It felt cold and very much a "let's top up the pension" effort.
So I was surprised to hear they were back with new material and even more shocked to hear how good it is. The Tipping Point heralds a new album and tour for 2022 and it's a cracker. Poppy but a bit prog rock, it's a belter and in interviews they seem more relaxed, more genuine. Really lovely to see after that bit disappointing show last time round. Can’t wait to hear the new album!
See you next week, stay safe, x
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