Monday long song - Your Day (GLOK remix)

This is Your Day by Manchester revivalists Pastel. It's quite good but the eagle-eyed or chronometrically aware will notice that it is not a long song, Monday or otherwise, falling some way short of the unofficial MLS threshold of six minutes. It's alright though, isn't it? I'm quite partial to a band that wears its influences on its collective sleeve.

Yes, yes, yes, but this is a Monday long song post, isn't it? So let's get to a remix of the above by Andy Bell in full electronic alter ego GLOK mode. It's a very different animal and, truth be told, possibly more memorable than the source material? In the right setting, with the right speakers, I think this could sound immense. What do you think?

Quite fitting that the label, Spirit of Spike Island, have used footage from Kill Bill for this video, as the song in this form has a filmic quality, I reckon, and feels taylor-made for a soundtrack.

Anyway, if you could only take one version to a desert island, which would you choose and why?

That Was The Year That Was: 2025

Incredibly, this is the fifteenth time I've recapped a year like this (for completists, here are the others). Fifteen times, blimey ... God alone knows what we are both still doing here...

But since we are hanging around, still, I'll crack on with this nonsense, whilst you gaze in wonderment at just how staid, parochial and predictable I am.

It'll keep us both busy, if nothing else. Having said that, I've written noticeably less than in years gone by, so I won't keep you for long - we can all be thankful for that.

Best album

Well, there have been a couple of stand-outs for me this year: the unexpected joy of More by Pulp, and Antidepressants by Suede, who continue to surprise us all with the excellence of their third age.

Also noteworthy are Bowerbirds and Blue Things by Jetstream Pony and Find El Dorado by Paul Weller, the latter proving what a great reinterpreter he has always been.

Best song

Many of the songs I've heard for the first time this year are old, just new to me. But of 2025 releases, I've been impressed by Masquerade by Cardinals, Bonnet of Pins by Matt Berninger and Disintegrate by Suede. Oh, and a late dive for the tape was made by The Light Won't Shine Forever by Aussie band Floodlights. The nod, though, goes to Apple Green UFO by Andy Bell, which makes me feel about 30 years younger than I am. Who could ask for more? Here's the full length version to luxuriate in...

Best gig

As good as the usual suspects (The Smyths, From The Jam, The Wedding Present) have all been, and as good a night out as Roger Daltrey (morphing into Warwick Davis) was, the nod here, unsurprisingly, goes to the Gene reunion show at the Hammersmith Apollo in October. Literally everything I could ever want from a gig.

Best book

Like the song category, this has been tricky because most of what I've read for the first time this year has been old: Cider with Roadies by Stuart Maconie was very enjoyable, but was published in 2005. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, though an astonishing work of memoir, is even older (1999). But of course I can always rely on Stephen King - Never Flinch was not only published this year but also dependably enjoyable, even if not his best work.

Best film

The year was bookended by stand-outs: Dylan-goes-electric biopic A Complete Unknown at one end and Edgar Wright's ever-so-slightly-disappointing take on vintage King (as Bachman) The Running Man at the other. In between, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey deserves a special mention, for really making me think, whilst Brad's F1 and Tom's Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning both delivered predictable thrills without reinventing cinema. I must also mention Nina Conti's brilliant surreal simian road movie, Sunlight. Oh, and as a dad, it was lovely to share movie nostalgia with Amusements Minor with the live-action remake of How To Train Your Dragon.

Best theatre

I haven't seen much on stage this year. Does an NT Live cinema screening of Dr Strangelove count? Steve Coogan was excellent in four roles. Also noteworthy was the 30th anniversary on-stage gathering, for performance and anecdotes, of The Fast Show ensemble, minus the late Caroline Aherne. Aren't end-of-year round-ups brilliant?! Oh, and I finally got to see the Jon Ronson: Psychopath Night stage show. Entertaining and thought-provoking stuff.

Best television

I feel like I must have forgotten something, because this reads like a really slow year for TV. Finally got Wednesday 2 on Netflix, which was good but inevitably not as good as the first series, despite a liberal sprinkling of Joanna Lumley. Like the rest of the nation, Amusements Towers got into Celebrity Traitors, despite never having watched a single moment of the regular, non-celebrity version. Apologies if there's a theme developing, but Celebrity Race Across The World also hits the spot in our house. And as I write this, we're half way through Stranger Things 5, so far living up to the almost impossible levels of expectation.

Best sport

I enjoyed Liverpool FC winning the Premier League, even if it felt anticlimatic. Just as well, because they've blown up a bit this season. Other notables included Iga Świątek at Wimbledon and Georgia Hunter Bell at the World Athletics Championships (both awesome), and the Lionesses at the UEFA Women's Euros.

Person of the year

Well, it's not a person but a thing: the NHS. Fourteen years of Tory underinvestment have left it on its knees and, as a result, it's pretty far from perfect these days. Yet still it goes on, against the odds, delivering care and services to our sick and injured. It's easy to point out when things go wrong in the NHS, and to be frustrated by bureaucracy and poor communication... but it gets so much right, still, even in the most trying of circumstances. We'll miss it when it's gone, you know.

Tool of the year

Trump again, obviously. Not content with sending troops into US cities for paper-thin, politically motivated reasons, claiming to end wars that have not ended, failing to touch the sides of what's going on in Ukraine, bulldozing bits of the White House to make way for a huge/vulgar ballroom (compensating much?), not sending anyone of any status or significance to COP 30, doing anything to divert attention from the Epstein files, pardoning people he doesn't even know, expressing interest in somehow running for a third term, presiding over the longest shutdown in US political history, finally promising to release those Epstein files and then not, and so much more besides... he's ended the year by going after the BBC and giving himself a sports day peace prize medal at the World Cup draw. That's a sequence of words I never conceived would be necessary or even feasible to write. What a desperate, sad, insecure, delusional little man he is ... and/or a colossal orange prick.

I hope that was worth it but know, deep down, that it wasn't. Reader: how was 2025 for you?

New to NA: Floodlights

I came to this song via a recommendation from The Robster that was delivered as an end-of-year pick at the excellent No Badger Required. And they say blogging is dead.

Anyway, I haven't been able to stop playing The Light Won't Shine Forever since. It's how I think Fontaines DC would sound if they came from Melbourne instead of Dublin; that sounds intriguing, doesn't it? And it builds... it builds and builds.

The whole album from whence this comes, Underneath, is good, but this is the absolute standout for me.

The light won't shine forever
But it is now

Monday long song: There Goes The Fear

There are some songs that feel, well, if not quasi-religious, then certainly spiritual, to me at least. This is one such. It came on in the car at the weekend, an unexpected gem poking out through the grime of an otherwise mostly unremarkable indie compilation CD kept in the glovebox for emergency sonic variety - you know the sort of thing, The Best Ever Indie Anthems IV, available on the shelves of charity shops everywhere for 50p or less.

Anyway... I don't know if it was because I was with Amusements Minor and feeling sentimental because time is passing too quickly, or because I'd been thinking about my parents, or whether I'm just in a low place generally ... whatever the reason, we listened to this driving home and I felt myself starting to well up.

I've loved this musically since day one, when it was released as a single all the way back in (gulp) 2002. I especially love the extended musical outro, and how it ties itself up in a neat musical bow at the end: buh duh-duh, ba-dum dum. But on Sunday, it was the lyric that forced some mote or other into my eye, specifically the line about life passing you by. Because that's how it feels, often, I fear.

You turn around and life's passed you by
You look to ones you love to ask them why?
You look to those you love to justify
You turned around and life's passed you by
Passed you by, again

Here's the full-length album version, for a Monday long song. No single edits here.

Here we go again

No musical advent calendars this year - too much work, too little reward. But there's always this, from Aidan Moffat: the perfect metaphor of Plastic Mistletoe. Bah, humbug, et cetera...

Blue Friday: You Got Me Wonderin' Now

Not all Blue Friday tunes sound maudlin on first listen - they're not all minor key, slow contemplative spirals. Take today's: You Got Me Wonderin' Now, recorded in 2013 by NYC four-piece Parquet Courts under their pseudonym Parkay Quarts. It buzzes along with joyous energy (or nihilist abandon, perhaps), all motorik drums and garage band guitar chords you can count on the legs of the nearest available tripod. Ah, but those lyrics - here's someone who's been hurt, badly... and decided to sing about it...

Seasick's better than heartsick, baby, I know that much by now
And I thought I knew nausea from sea to cars but 
You've got me wonderin' now

Blimey - what did they do to him? We're all wonderin' now...

A glorious blue noise, and I love, love, love it.

Lost lyrics II - the answers

Without further ado, here are the answers last week's lyrics quiz. These are the lyrics as I hear them, so if they're wrong, sorry, give yourself an extra point and move on.

Speaking of points, it's one for the artist and one for the song, so the whole thing is out of 100. How did you do? And which ones had you kicking yourself?

1. Oh, in your council home, he jumped on your bones.
   Suede, Animal Nitrate
2. He has his future in British Steel.
   XTC, Making Plans For Nigel
3. I hear your voice, it's like an angel sighing.
   Madonna, Like A Prayer
4. Cut your hair and get a job.
   Pulp, Common People
5. He ain't too hip 'bout that new breed, babe.
   James Brown, Papa's Got A Brand New Bag
6. You'll find me in the lavatory.
   The Sundays, You're Not The Only One I Know
7. I said, "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera."
   Simon & Garfunkel, America
8. Sir, it's the troops, jealous of youth.
   The Smiths, The Headmaster Ritual
9. Times were so tough, but not as tough as they are now.
   The Jam, Thick As Thieves
10. Well, did I tell you before when I was up? Anxiety was bringing me down.
    Talk Talk, Talk Talk
11. I don't need to fight to prove I'm right.
    The Who, Baba O'Riley
12. Can you picture what will be? So limitless and free.
    The Doors, The End
13. Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup.
    Crowded House, Don't Dream It's Over
14. We don't talk about love, we only want to get drunk.
    Manic Street Preachers, A Design For Life
15. Boy, it's more than I dare to think about.
    Kylie, Can't Get You Out Of My Head
16. It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been.
    OMD, Enola Gay
17. Let's put our heads together and start a new country up.
    REM, Cuyahoga
18. By order of the prophet we ban that boogie sound.
    The Clash, Rock The Casbah
19. My mind goes sleepwalking while I'm putting the world to right.
    Elvis Costello, Oliver's Army
20. It's like I got this music in my mind sayin', "It's gonna be alright".
    Taylor Swift, Shake It Off
21. Everyone I see just walks the walk with gritted teeth.
    Jake Bugg, Lightning Bolt
22. Just when you think you've caught her she glides across the water.
    Echo & The Bunnymen, Lips Like Sugar
23. Spinning on that dizzy edge, kissed her face and kissed her head.
    The Cure, Just Like Heaven
24. I hated you, I loved you too.
    Kate Bush, Wuthering Heights
25. Well, we drank champagne and danced all night.
    The Kinks, Lola
26. Thought of you as my mountaintop.
    The Velvet Underground, Pale Blue Eyes
27. Oh my friend you haven’t changed, you're looking rough and living strange.
    The Libertines, Don't Look Back Into The Sun
28. Let all the children boogie.
    David Bowie, Starman
29. The way she plays, there are no words to describe the way I feel.
    The Stone Roses, She Bangs The Drums
30. But tell me, does she kiss like I used to kiss you?
    Abba, The Winner Takes It All
31. Too much time's been wasted, so come and get my plateful.
    Gene, Fighting Fit
32. All I need is a pint a day.
    Wings, Band On The Run
33. So in the absence of a way of life, just repeat this again and again and again.
    Blur, Popscene
34. And I went down to the demonstration, to get my fair share of abuse.
    The Rolling Stones, You Can't Always Get What You Want
35. I'll see you baby when the clans rise again.
    Kirsty MacColl, Free World
36. One and one and one is three.
    The Beatles, Come Together
37. They get a gang of villains in a shed up at Heathrow.
    Squeeze, Cool For Cats
38. In Chinatown, hungover, you showed me just what I could do.
    PJ Harvey, Good Fortune
39. Don't wanna end up like no nine-day wonder.
    Buzzcocks, Love You More
40. Slicing up eyeballs, I want you to know.
    Pixies, Debaser
41. Sad days add to confusion, sad ways end in delusion, yeah.
    Kim Wilde, Chequered Love
42. She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak.
    Nirvana, Heart-Shaped Box
43. I'm a sex machine ready to reload like an atom bomb.
    Queen, Don't Stop Me Now
44. Looking back, she made us want her.
    Billy Bragg, The Saturday Boy
45. I gave her my heart, but she wanted my soul.
    Bob Dylan, Don’t Think Twice, It's Alright
46. I was half in mind, I was half in need.
    The Style Council, Shout To The Top
47. Mother has to iron his shirt, then she sends the kids to school.
    Madness, Our House
48. You and I should ride the coast and wind up in our favourite coats just miles away.
    Ocean Colour Scene, The Day We Caught The Train
49. Lost your love of life? Too much apple pie.
    The Wedding Present, Kennedy
50. The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear.
    Radiohead, The Bends

Been wanting an excuse to feature that last song for ages.

Monday long song: We Haven't Turned Around

Forgotten how good this is, especially in its long-form, unexpurgated version. Also that it was used in the soundtrack of American Beauty, for the slightly awkward scene in which Angela (Mena Suvari) teases Jane (Thora Birch) that she like her dad, Lester (Kevin Spacey). Anyway, remember when Gomez were it?

Your powers are weak, old man

I've been writting this in my head for a while, and Rol's recent Embarrassing Dad Songs theme gave me the kick I needed to turn that mental draft into an actual post. Here goes.

From a very early age, I tried to introduce good music to Amusements Minor. And by "good", of course I mean music I considered worthy. Music makes memories, doesn't it, and I have loads thanks to this covert musical indoctrination: dancing around the room to The Cardigans, laughing at (and impersonating) James Brown's vocal yelps, playing and replaying Blur's woo-hoos over and over, car-karaoke to Queen, dissecting Pixies lyrics, and so many more. And even now, as his taste in music takes on its own shape, I'm proud that he both loves, and is an avid listener to, music across a broad range of genres and vintages. Job done, right?

Of course, to loosely paraphrase Darth, now I'm the learner and Amusements Minor is the master. By which I mean he is regularly discovering new music (mostly through Spotify) and coming to me with either "Have you heard this?" or, better still, "I think you might like this..."

Here's a recent example, Tale of Two by Monkey Business, a band I knew nothing about but was inspired to find out. They're a seven-piece from Prague, centred around multi-instrumentalist and producer Roman Holý. They're big in Czechia, apparently, and have scooped up loads in the Anděl awards (the Czech equivalent to the Brits), year on year. None of which I would have known if not for the boy and his musical Weltanschauung.

As for the song... well, he was right - I do like it.

Sometimes overlooked, never overshadowed

At the time there were a lot of column inches about Squire's guitar heroics and the quality (or otherwise) of Brown's singing, but the sometimes overlooked rhythm section were vital in making the music danceable, and in doing so made it more than the sum of its parts. Mani and Reni made The Stone Roses funky, simple as that, and never more so than on their magnum opus, Fool's Gold.

RIP, Mani, gone too soon at just 63, no age at all. Didn't have that on my bingo card for this year.