I’m away working at the “Royal Welsh Show” for a week so before I head off for this “farming extraveganza” thought I’d clear the decks with a few tracks I’ve been meaning to post for ages.

First up, Rufus Wainwright with a live cover of “Casanova In Hell” from the latest Pet Shop Boys album. As always with Rufus he makes the track sound as though he’s written it himself, and is superbly backed by the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Recorded for Radio 2’s “Sold On Song” Pet Shop Boys special in early May the song imagines an ageing 18th Century lothario Giacoma Casanova suffering from impotence problems. Some suggested it refered to John Prescott but I think this is probably just amusingly co-incidental.

Rufus Wainwright – “Casanova In Hell (MP3)“

There are four more unbroadcast recordings from concert over on the Sold On Song site, including “Numb“, “You Only Tell Me You Love Me when You’re Drunk“, “After All“, and “Dreaming Of The Queen“.

Tighten Up – The Story Of Trojan Records

Another BBC Radio 2 programme that i’ve already blogged about, but its such a good documentary its worth returning to. Its no longer available for streaming, but I had the tape recorder running:

Tighten Up – The Story Of Trojan Records (Part 1) / (Part 2)

The documentary features brilliant music from the Trojan vaults, as well as great storys about the label such as how the name Trojan presented problems when trying to break the US market, and how accompanied by the tax man they used to take their unsold records to a london car park and smash them. Dont think I’ll be sharing this one for long as its a bit of a big file (apologies also for the glitch at the start of part 1).

Spank Rock

Apart from being mindblowingly good live, Spank Rock are also generously giving away one fo their singles “Rick Rubin”. You can download it from myspace by clicking here, or visit the Big Dada site to get both the MP3 and the video (and while youre there do yourself a favour and buy the album).

They are also offering accapellas galore:

“Here’s the idea… We give you free- range on the album’s accapellas. You creat a remix and send it back. The best remixes will be chosen for an upcoming release”

Get the accapellas here, get more information here, and I suppose get remixing too.

Recommended Blog:

Dilate Choonz is one of those blogs that makes you question whether its actually worth opening your mouth about music at all. In the last month alone theyve posted a good half dozen tracks that are firmly rooted at the top of my “most played” list. Soul from Ray Charles, summer reggae from Pato Banton, disco from Kerrier District, Fuckponys Chicago house, classical music inspired by Chairman Mao, and thats just scratching the surface. I could go on but I really must pack, just bookmark it now

Final Word

Richard Hawley’s wife keeps his feet firmly on the ground after his Mercury music prize nomination:

“I rang my missus and told her I was nominated – she said, “I’m cooking breakfast, what the f**k is the Mercury Prize?”

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