Music Arcades: Various: The Wire Tapper 17

I'm live blogging this in a multi-tasking way. What that means is that I'm trying to catch up with my email, and will only write here when I hear something that demands comment…

And I was on Track 3 before I got round to writing the first sentence. A Hawk And A Hacksaw and the Hun Hangár Ensemble — I saw them at Bush Hall in 2007, in a double bill with the late Jack Rose. Andy was there too, and blogged a review, which I found helpful to refer to, as my recollections extended no further than "I was there". I pricked up my ears because it sounds a bit like Toni Iordache.

The Jonquil track sounds pleasant and tuneful. I'm often wary of praising things that sound pleasant and tuneful, however: years later they turn out to be the new Coldplay and your words come back to you haunt you. The "well, their early stuff was actually quite adventurous and quote-unquote edgy, you know" gambit always sounds hollow, and inside you know your music snob rating has just fallen a few notches.

Kammerflimmer Kollektief: I downloaded their Jinx album a few years ago, but haven't listened to it for a couple of years. Surprised to find how many scrobbles they'd had on my Last.fm account

Von Südenfed: ah, that collaboration between Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner (of Mouse on Mars), and Mark E. Smith, much feted in The Wire at the time, as I remember it. Certainly it was unexpected and unusual. Far from convinced — on the evidence of this track — that it was any good.

Fred Anderson and Harrison Bankhead. This is nice. Never heard of these guys before. By coincidence, it was reported yesterday that Fred had died, aged 81. RIP. (And, as Mr Jung and Mr Sting would have it, synchronicity!)

Fridge. Ah, Fridge. Whenever I read about about Kieran Hebden (a.k.a. Fourtet) or Adem, their membership of Fridge is cited as a mark of quality… yet Fridge seem to have a much lower profile than either of their solo careers. Perhaps it's just that the solo careers eclipsed the earlier work. This piece is OK, but less than inspirational.

Jack Rose & Glenn Jones. Not wishing to speak ill of the dead, but there's a little voice inside that sometimes suggests that when you've heard one of these guitar folk-rags, you've heard them all. That'll be my inner-Philistine, no doubt. Other times I rejoice in the endless stream of the notes. The only track I felt I had to listen to a second time (because I was uneasy with my first reaction).

Simon Bookish. Hooray! Humour! In The Wire!

According to Last.fm, half of Tonesucker is John Bowers. I wonder if it's the same John Bowers I mentioned here.

Zelionople. Although described as a "jazz trio" in Last.fm's profile, this track seems to exist in a space beween The Durutti Column and Low… until the squall of guitar feedback comes in. This was the first track to send me off on an eMusic search.

You know, I always think live blogging ought to be a quicker way of getting a post done. But it's not, is it?

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