I’ve been listening to Beth Orton’s brilliant Weather Alive album once again. I say once again - I never really got going with the 2022 release.

As ever - I’m a slow listener, reader, watcher.

Beth has been under my radar for the past thirty years or so. I’ve always been aware of her, and in particular the singles. But I’ve never really taken it further.

And then three years ago, she put together an incredible live set for Gilles Peterson at Maida Vale to promote the Weather Alive album. I was hooked.

An ebay deal was done for the album. The entire back catalogue soon followed.

Weather Alive is a haunting album. Her voice sounds so fragile, almost to the point of breaking down. The lead song Friday Night is my soundtrack for walking the streets of South London alone in the evening.

There’s a strong hat tip to John Martyn. I think the Weather Alive album title might even be a reference to Bless the Weather?

So what if I’m running three years behind here. Music is right, right? Any listening is good. Especially if it’s Beth Orton.

There’s a lot of noise here. And not all of it good. I struggle with the US interpretation of punk and post-punk. It doesn’t speak to me. This sounds more metal than the street talk of UK punk.

⭐ ⭐

Mule’s Off White album, and Peter Gabriel’s self-titled third album.

I confess to not having heard the Off White album. I’ve got a Cleaners from venus search up and running on ebay. It usually serves up the boxsets.

I should really walk down the road, and hand over some cash to the man himself. Cut out the middle man, etc.

But this was a cheapo ebay price, with free postage as well.

I would love a complete Mule discogrpahy. But the old bugger is prolific, especially so in recent years. I’d need an entire new CD shelf to accommodate his back catalogue.

Peter Gabriel meanwhile completes the run of the first five solo albums. I love the wordplay for the fifth album, So.

Do, Ra, Mi, Far, So etc.

The modern interweb tells me that Paul Weller plays on a track for the self-titled album. That would have been a very young Paul Weller back in 1980.

There’s also Kate Bush and Phil, natch.

I am SO (aha) far behind with my CD listening btw. I do need something of a buying sabbatical.

Christmas is coming and so it must be time for another Beatles album.

Sigh.

It’s the music industry gift that keeps on giving, and giving and giving.

Punters need product. The Beatles industry of the 21st Century is booming far better than it ever was some sixty years ago.

And so for the 2025 Christmas market, we have Anthology 4, plus three more episodes of the Anthology telly series - y’know, the one that was the definitive tale of The Beatles back in 1996, that ended with The Threetles together again and a full stop on all things Fab Four.

Or Three.

So there.

I’m a tight arse and so haven’t forked out to stream the updated episodes. I have listened to Anthology 4 in one sitting.

tl;dr we don’t really need this.

Who would have thought?

Unlike Anthologies 1-3, the fourth instalment takes songs across all thirteen of the original albums. It’s basically a Best of the Bootlegs.

It starts off being a whole lotta fun with some goofing around in the studio by four very ambitious young men. It ends with AI stodge.

The goofy shit is great. Bands tend to goof a lot. We watched The Roses documentary last week after the news of Mani’s passing. My theory is that band goofing is good for the Them Vs Us music industry mentality.

But back to The Beatles.

You need to be an obsessive to recognise some of the slight differences compared to the original songs. Which defeats the whole point of unreleased rarities. You might as well listen to the originals.

The Beatles barrel is being scraped here.

But what a barrel.

You’re listening to songs that are staples of 20th Century culture. You are over-familiar with what follows.

Imagine listening - or even recording - these songs when they were completely unknown in our popular culture.

It’s hard to appreciate the outstanding qualities of the songs, given that you hear them every other day, given the relentless Beatles industry.

In My Life stands out amongst an incredibly crowded field of absolute monumental songs.

But halfway through, Anthology 4 starts to fall apart a little. The instrumental of Nowhere Man is bland. The strength is in the picture painted by the lyrics.

On the other hand, She’s Leaving Home works as an instrumental. It’s a rare case of the lyrics adding a little too much sorrow to an already downbeat arrangement.

Eggman sounds extra dramatic. You can imagine the instrumental working well on a horror soundtrack with all the stabbing strings.

The Something instrumental is… quite something.

Anthology 4 finishes off with the AI Beatles. Free as a Bird and Real Love benefit from a little extra production boost. But it’s still Beatles by numbers.

I actually quite liked Now and Then when it was released as the 2024 Beatles Inc release.

It closes the chapter on The Beatles for one final time.

Yeah, right.

Beatles AI will keep the business going for decades.

Blimey - a ‘new’ track from The Style Council ahead of the Cafe Bleu boxset drop in the new year.

And so here we Take It to the Top (demo).

If I’m being slightly less than favourable, then I would say that there’s usually a reason as to why demos remain just that.

Take It to the Top is no companion piece for the anthem Shout to the Top.

There’s a heavy funk riff going off; it still sounds like a different world away from the more retro sound of The Jam only a few years previously. But it’s not going to change the world.

It sounds more like a loose, ahem, jam between the various members of TSC at the time. It dies out a little before it even gets started.

I wonder how many other ‘lost’ TSC tracks remain in the Solid Bond archive? EIGHT discs for a boxset is at least five too many.

Related:

MOJO had a list of all the TSC albums rated. Before I even scrolled down, I tapped in my list, to see how it stacks up.

I wasn’t expecting MOJO to rank EVERY album, such as the Best Of and Live album etc.

I was close.

My list:

Our Fave Shop - the absolute MASTERPIECE

Confessions

Cafe Bleau

Introducing

Cost of Loving - which you really should stay away from.

MOJO has Cafe Bleu as the top album, then Confessions and Our Fave Shop.

We’re nitpicking. All three are absolutely glorious.

You can’t underestimate how radical Cut is: an all female punk band back in 1979, singing radical lyrics behind Dennis Bovell’s bass heavy production. It still sounds fantastic, almost half a Century later.

It’s rare to hear an album these days where the music is made purely for the artists, and not the audience. This isn’t a criticism; it only adds to the drama and intense atmosphere throughout Cut.

OUTRAGEOUS comment: The cover of Grapevine is even better than Marv’s original.

I think the album cover is ironic? If irony was such as thing in 1979.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

A really interesting record, released between punk and the rise of post-punk. Pre-post-punk? Art house gets a bad press when it comes to music. But Real Life shows that it needn’t be up its own arse. Shot By Both Sides amplifies the fucked by left and right message throughout. No future, etc.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Another drop from the forthcoming Sleaford fucking Mods album, The Demise of Planet X.

Here we have Bad Santa.

Ho ho bloody ho, etc.

But’s it’s not exactly a contender for an updated version of the absolute classic Now That’s What I Call Christmas album.

Bad Santa is non other than Trump. Sleafords thought now would be a good time to release the track, ahead of the album appearing in the New Year.

It’s a slight departure from the usual Sleaford rant ‘n’ rave. The beats are stretched out. There’s less all round frenzy taking place.

I often wonder where next for Sleaford fucking Mods. I still bloody love the racket they make. But have they got the balls to move away from the tried and tested formula?

Yep. Bad Santa shows what is possible.

The email from the mailing list to announce Bad Santa also mentions that Sleaford fucking Mods also have their own branded pizza.

I shit you not.

Gonna be a messy one, innit.

I cannot stress how much I absolutely adore The Auteurs debut. This has everything I want from a pop record: melodies, classic songwriting and a sharp wit.

It swings with ups and downs, never going for the safe middle ground. New Wave sucks you in with the promise of something joyous, and then leaves you thinking wtf was that?

Bands should have more cello players, although I doubt if Luke Haines agrees these days.

A strong contender for one of the best debut albums ever.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Chronixx has been keeping me rather happy over the past few days. The Exile album is a great example of the current shift back towards roots reggae.

Digi reggae seems to have nowhere else to go. The tech has transformed the genre, meaning it’s pushed the boundaries, and become a poor substitute for drum ‘n’ bass.

Meanwhile, roots remains timeless. Which is where Chronixx comes in.

Theres an unashamed attitude towards a revival on Exile. It’s an album that could quite easily have been released in 1976.

Family vibes feature strongly throughout. This is not a bravado record, but one that even has a neo soul feel to it in places.

The only criticism is that it is far too long. Seventeen tracks should have been slimmed down to nine.

Or even two standalone albums.

But Exile is a welcome return to a time when reggae was introspective, and not all about bragging rights.