I use to own a copy of this over 35 years ago. From memory I absolutely adored it. I barely recognised a song, apart from the Velvets cover, when I played it back this morning. It’s still a decent album. It just didn’t leave me hanging, wanting more. The mood is more late night than early morning. The ambience thing with the single mic works well. But not the masterpiece my memory wanted it to be.

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The perfect beat, so to speak. This sounded like the future in 1983, and still feels the same now. the beats are so crisp. There’s also some half decent rhythms behind all the pulsating electronica. All good groups need a persona. The Soul Sonic Universe added to the mystery by building comic book characters around the music. Recent years have sadly soiled the legacy.

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More wine bar wanker music.

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Another Late Junction collab with Max Syedtollan meeting Chunky Mermaid. It’s quite magical, as well as absolutely bonkers, as you would expect from the Chunky girls. Max is a composer, adding a little grounding to the chaos with his keyboards; Chunky Mermaid add the colour, creativity and whistles. All nu rave projects need whistles, right? Late Junction is always essential for me at this time of the year. It’s a seasonal escape from all the Christmas crap that pretty much every radio station or show feels obliged to suffer upon you.

A storyteller, a lover, a man of funk. Add in some good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll , plus a little music hall camp. We should all aspire to this. An amazing debut of an album. It’s the sound of an artist that has so much to say and express, and isn’t afraid to hide his influences. We need more innuendo in songs, always sang in a playful manner, without ever resorting to shock tactics for the sake of it. What a diamond.

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I’ve picked up the bass again. Jase the Bass is a Bandcamp account waiting to happen, Comrades. There was no particular reason, apart from a spare half hour, and an urgent need of a distraction from work. I think I remember how to do this.

A brief tuning up - why do guitars become untuned? - and then I was away. Woh! Where to start? I know, how about Marley’s Jamming? I’ve always loved that Aston Barrett pulsating bass. Right from the opening chords, the bass anchors the whole track.

A brief online shifty for the bass line, and BINGO! Yeah, it’s cheating for sure. I’m playing bass by numbers. Move your finger here; play this string. Now repeat. There’s an awful lot of repetition when it comes to bass playing. Jamming has three parts, and that’s pretty much it.

I’ve two thirds of it nailed. I’m, ahem, jamming along with Bob. It think it’s best to keep it in the bedroom and offline for now.

English isn’t his first language, right? The instrumentals work best. It’s a real curiosity of an album. The intention was never to make an outstanding record. Experimentation was heavy on the agenda. As ever with these types of projects, some hit the spot, others fall very wide of the mark. Hit and miss, pick and mix. Enjoyable, but not a must listen.

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A fourth drop from the new Sleaford fucking Mods album, The Demise of Planet X. Here we have No Touch, a killer collab with Sue Tompkins from Life Without Buildings. I’d forgotten all about the early 2000 Scottish indie band, tbh. Sleaford fucking Mods always choose the best artists to work with. There’s almost a pop feel to No Touch with Tompkins adding a little cheer to the usual rantings. The video was filmed in Dartford, apparently. It could be any town outside the M25. The boarded up shops are a dead giveaway. I’m creaming it ahead of the album in the new year.

Whinny.

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There’s an awful lot going on here: you can’t ignore Lydon’s cry for help - but even an instrumental version of this album would rate highly. Levene’s guitar is like a dental drill; Wobble’s bass sends you dizzy. Even the drums sound unlike what you would expect. There’s something of a rock god feel to them, but somehow they still slot into the jigsaw. It’s a fucked up picture, for sure. But that’s how I like my music.

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