Great Closing Tracks: Playlist #1

It could well be due to the kind of artists I mostly get into, but there does seem to be a trend in my record collection for closing tracks to be the emotional heart of the album. So how about an album's worth of closers for a reflective hour's listening, eh?

We kick off with Envy of Angels, from the same-name album by The Mutton Birds, and a song which may well be the greatest 6 minutes in songwriter Don McGlashan's back catalogue. If the descriptions of the New Zealand countryside in this song don't make you instantly want to get a plane ticket to Auckland, you truly have a heart of stone. I've just had chills down my spine listening to this tune for the first time since June, when I had it on loud it in the car having just interviewed Don after his gig with Crowded House in Sherwood Pines Forest. A lovely guy and an immense talent whose forthcoming second solo album is hugely anticipated around these parts.

Other highlights include possibly the greatest moment in either of the Finn Brothers' back catalogues, some acappella loveliness from The Research, Darren Hanlon's magnificent piano-led Old Dream, a brilliant dash of Jason Falkner (with a fantastic Beach Boys 'Til I Die'-inspired coda), and a drop-dead classic from Scott Walker. Enjoy!

MP3: The Mutton Birds - Envy Of Angels
Info -- Buy Envy Of Angels

MP3: The Finn Brothers - Gentle Hum
Info -- Buy Everyone Is Here

MP3: Darren Hanlon - Old Dream
Info -- Buy Fingertips & Mountaintops

MP3: Bic Runga - Gravity
Info -- Buy Beautiful Collision

MP3: Candy Butchers - Hunker Down
Info -- Buy Hang On Mike

MP3: Josh Rouse - Snowy
Info -- Buy Country Mouse City House

MP3: Hunters and Collectors - Long Way To The Water
Info -- Buy Juggernaut

MP3: Jason Falkner - Goodnight Sweet Night
Info -- Buy Can You Still Feel

MP3: The Starlets - Firestorm
Info -- Buy Surely Tomorrow You'll Feel Blue

MP3: Trashcan Sinatras - Weightlifting
Info -- Buy Weightlifting

MP3: Scott Walker - Rhymes Of Goodbye
Info -- Buy Scott 4

MP3: The Research - Splitting Hairs
Info -- Buy Breaking Up

Do me a favour, open the door, let 'em in...

Blimey, is it June already? Must be time for a few random thoughts, this time prompted by some upcoming action from some old favourites.

The new Crowded House album is less than a month away, which is of course a fine, fine thing indeed. Anyone who knows me will appreciate how exciting the prospect is of a new set of songs from the master himself, Mr Neil Finn. The brilliant video for the comeback single Don't Stop Now is a work of genius. I'm desperately trying to avoid the leaked album tracks that are doing the rounds - this is going to be one those 'event' releases, one that demands a sit-down-in-a-darkened-room-with-the-volume-right-up, listen-from-start-to-finish kind of attitude. I don't find the need to do that too often nowadays... But if the idea of a Crowded House revival floats your boat too, here's an old rarity to tide you over til 'Time On Earth' hits the shops at the start of July:

MP3: Crowded House - Most Unwanted (live)

Pre-order 'Time On Earth' from amazon.co.uk


Macca's back as well, and, given how fantastic his last record was (2005's 'Chaos & Creation In The Backyard'), expectations are high for 'Memory Almost Full'. Hoping for a career best is obviously a little optimistic, but here's the standard he needs to look at trying to match:

MP3: Wings - Let 'Em In

Buy 'Wingspan: Hits and History' from amazon.co.uk

Or indeed pick up 'Memory Almost Full'

Or even treat yourself to 'Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard'


And last but by no means least, a little bit of Scott Walker activity, as the hugely anticipated '30 Century Man' doco eventually comes to Leeds for a handful of showings at the Hyde Park Picture House in the middle of June. An edited version was shown on TV recently, which whetted the appetite. Just acquired a copy of the lost classic and nigh-on impossible to find 'Till The Band Comes In' (occasionally referred to as 'should-have-been-Scott-5'), which has some crackers on it, not least the stunning title track:

MP3: Scott Walker - Till The Band Comes In

Amazon can sort you out with a copy of 'Boy Child - the Best of 1967-1970'