2017 Latecomers: Kurt & Courtney

The newish album by Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett has been filling my eardrums lately. The first question we must ask is if they only got together because their names were Kurt and Courtney. It wouldn't be the first time that had happened. I mean, we all remember Kort, the collaboration between Kurt Wagner & Courtney Tidwell, don't we? I dunno, maybe there was even another famous Kurt & Courtney prior to this...




Anyway, the union between this latest Kurt & Courtney seems a bit one-sided if you ask me, with the wonderful Ms. Barnett doing all the heavy lifting and Kurt Vile merely turning up to look pretty. A bit like Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra in reverse, except Nancy had a better singing voice than Mr. Vile.

The songs mostly sound like Courtney Barnett songs though - full of oddball observational details and that guitar...

I'm going to go out on a limb now and say that Courtney Barnett is the best guitarist in contemporary "indie" (if we're still allowed to call it that). I'll go you one further: she is the 21st Century Johnny Marr. Don't believe me? Close your eyes and listen to this and tell me you can't hear Johnny, 30+ years ago...

My Top Ten Olympic Songs

So the Olympics are here, and even I can't avoid them...

But I promise, you won't find any songs specifically written for the Games here... because songs written for sporting events are usually pretty dreadful. As Muse have confirmed.

I'll get onto songs about specific sports - running, jumping, Top Ten Songs About The Shot Put, et al. - in the next few posts. First though, a random smattering of Olympic themed tunes...

10. Green Day - Nice Guys Finish Last

Green Day finish last... could this be the nicest song of the ten?

9. The Hives - Dead Quote Olympics

Yes they were smart but they're dead
And you're repeating all that they said
You know it don't make you clever like you thought it would

8. The Donnas - The Gold Medal

7. Lush - Olympia

Will I ever be Olympia?

6. Soft Cell - Torch

5. Kurt Vile - Runner Ups

If it ain’t workin’, take a whiz on the world

Come on, Kurt - have some dignity in defeat.

4. Peter Gabriel (with Kate Bush) - Games Without Frontiers

And the medal for whistling tunes and kissing baboons in the jungle goes to...

3. The Decemberists - The Sporting Life

Everyone had hopes for Colin Meloy's sporting prowess... his dad, his coach, his girlfriend... but he lets them all down in championship style here. An anthem for those of us who were always last to be chosen for the team. (See also Billy Bragg's The Boy Done Good, though I'm saving that for if I ever do a football Top Ten. However unlikely that may be.)

2. Belle & Sebastian - The Stars of Track and Field

Could I write a piece about you now that you've made it?
About the hours spent, the wilderness in your training
You only did it so that you could wear
Your terry underwear
And feel the city air
Run past your body

1. Gene - Olympian

If they were handing out medals for underrated bands, Gene would get the gold.



Which Olympic tune gets your gold medal?