LISTEN: new tunes from Toy, John Cale, Woods

I know it's the summer and things are quiet, but it doesn't stop the new music arriving. I've been deliberately taking it easy with blog posts during July and August, but over the last couple of days I've heard a few things I want to share. First of all, the forthcoming 12" single from the much talked about Toy. I never want to believe the hype but this is great, and the last minute or so is stunning.

Toy 'Dead and Gone'


Next is the legendary John Cale, a damn fine producer in his own right, who has teamed with Danger Mouse for his new album, the ludicrously titled 'Shifty Adventures in Nooky Wood'. Once you have gotten past that name, the material actually seems pretty promising.

John Cale 'I Wanna Talk 2 U'


Finally for now, some tasty psychedelia courtesy of Woods, a a track from their forthcoming album 'Cali in A Cup. Enjoy.

Woods 'Size Meets the Sound'

The John Peel Archive: C

This is the third instalment of 26, so obviously we are looking at the first 100 albums beginning with C. I had to go through this list for quite a while before I got to an album I actually had, but due to a late run of John Cale and Calexico I ended up having quite a few of these.

I have Cabaret Voltaire 'Micro-phonies', Cable 'Downlift the Uptrodden', Cactus World News 'Urban Beaches', Calexico's 'Feast of Wire' and 'Black Light', and the following John Cale albums - 'Fear', 'Paris 1919', 'The Academy in Peril' and 'Music for a New Society'. That makes nine, which is my largest tally so far, although I only have two of the Cs on vinyl (Paris 1919 and Urban Beaches, and who knows where the latter has gotten to!).

So what surprises are in store this time? Well, early in the alphabetical list is C.A. Quintet's 'Trip Thru Hell' which is a fairly lost psychedelic wig-out from 1968, and as it was a limited pressing of 500, originals are worth over £500, although @Country_Steve has pointed out that Peel's is the Psycho reissue. There is more information and a streaming track over here and on Julian Cope's Head Heritage here







As well as rarities, this collection is good at filling in missing gaps in my collection, and helping my ailing memory in the process.
Following on from Babes in Toyland's dominance in the 'B' selection, we have something similar from Calamity Jane. Both of those bands were way better than Hole, you know. Happily Calamity Jane's album 'Martha Jane Cannary' has been reissued and is available to stream from Spotify, so here's another tune I can remember taping off the Peel show, 'Miss Hell'


Another one that languishes somewhere in a big box of cassettes is a track by the very first listing here, 'Witch' by C, which is actually the copyright symbol and not the letter C, rendering it rather unsearchable in internet terms. The track I taped and listened to a lot was 'Dream 1', and I'm delighted to report that Everett True has found it for his review of the Cs on the Quietus. Here it is.