Conversations With Ben #20: M&S or S&M?

Ben: Are they threatening me?

Rol: I'm more interested to know what X Bite is. Some weird S&M shit?

Boardgame website.

Can't have M&Ms, they're not vegan.

We bought a car yesterday.

Just a little nipper run around.

It's a Chevy.

Now I need to work out what the levy is and how to push it there.

Wrong answers only, please.

Wasn't he the lead singer of the Four Tops?

Billy Bragg made him cry.

We're currently calling it Eugene.

After this...?

Although it's more likely you named it after Sufjan or Kevin... or maybe the Beastie Boys.

Eugene Levy... Chevy!

Is it a...?

No.

Hang on, here's a Top Ten...

10. Alabama Shakes - Heavy Chevy

9. The Beat Farmers - Blue Chevrolet

8. The Barracudas - Chevy Baby

7. Deer Tick - Chevy Express

6. Foghat - Chevrolet

5. Patrick Gammon - Yo Chevy

4. ZZ Top - Chevrolet

3. Mickey Jupp - Chevrolet

2. Sammy Johns - Chevy Van

1. The Mountain Goats - New Chevrolet In Flames

I hope it's not that last one.

I'm fully aware you won't listen to any of those, but it kept me entertained for an hour or so.

They all came from my music library. I could have put Chevy into a streaming service and come up with a hundred more, but that would have been fake.

They are all phenomenal actually

I will make a CD with them on for it.

Once I get a CD recorder.

Or a CD drive for a laptop.

There's no need to be sarcastic.

I wasn't.

I genuinely appreciated them.

One more then...

I think you should go into work on your last day dressed in Fubu, pretending that that's who you were all along.

I had to google Fubu.

For Us By Us.

I thought it was like Fubar

Or Snafu.

Or just another one of your S&M things.

I only get my bits from M&S, not the full shop.

Have you been tested for dyslexia?

Yes. By the Marquis de Sade. (M de S.) It was a pretty grueling test.

I'm concerned about the company you're keeping.

You stay away from that boy, he's a bad influence.

I thought he was a Smooth Operator.

Did you have a special meal as a celebration for leaving the job?

Or just jam sandwiches?

That's how I picture all your meals.

Maybe the odd ham salad sandwich.

But mainly jam sandwiches and a coffee.

Breakfast, it's jam on toast.

Lunch: jam sandwiches.

Tea: confiture en croute.

I don't like jam sandwiches. I prefer my jam on scones.

So, jam on toast. Ham salad sandwich, scone for tea.

Clotted cream only at weekend.

Or Friday nights.

I eat blueberries too.

I like real blueberries. I prefer rhubarb jam.

As long as we agree quince is the king of jams.

It would be Top 5.

We stopped at a Farm Shop the other day. They're normally a good source of interesting jams. All they had was Strawberry and Raspberry. I burnt the place to the ground.

I'd leave them a two star review on Google.

Because you're a millennial. We did things properly in Gen X.

Joined the NF?

Yes! The New Frontier...

Would you consider this a Large Americano?

Small.

Regular at a push.

I'd finish that and then take the cup to the counter and say you're ready for the other half of your large coffee.

 It was a thimble.

Surely that's a war crime.

Luckily. I carry my matches with me at all times.

I'd get the UN involved.

I prefer to keep my protests apolitical.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali would be furious at that comment.

I call him Al. He always chuckles at that.

I said Boutros Boutros-Ghali... not Chevy Chase.

I know they sound the same.

It's pronounced Gar Lee. Not Gull Lee.

Al-Boutros!

Jesus. Do I have to spell it out for you?

Well, I spelt it correctly.

Again, have you ever been tested for dyslexia?

My Top Ten Country / Americana Songs of 2018

It's been a fine year for new music, so as well as my Top 18 countdown, I also wanted to shine a light on some of the tunes that didn't make my final list. Here's ten great country songs I discovered this year...


10. Courtney Marie Andrews - Took You Up

I'm still working on appreciating Courtney Marie Andrews as much as other people do, but there's some great lyrical detail here to draw me in.

Karaoke on a Monday night

Television when we want to hide

Frozen dinners when money's tight

Makin' love on a laundry pile

Ain't got much, but we got each other

Not much but love to offer

I took you up

9. Kacey Musgraves - Slow Burn

With splashes of pop and even disco on her most recent album, there's a sense that Kacey hankers after following Taylor Swift to the dark side. She can still write a great song though.

8. Dawes - Living In The Future

Couldn't get into the most recent Dawes album as much as I have their previous offerings, but this lead track certainly blew the dust off my speakers.

7. First Aid Kit - Ugly

Their latest album was pretty good, though I didn't love it half as much as their last one. This is from the follow-up EP, and suggests they're heading back to top form.

6. Eric Church - Hippie Radio

With his last couple of albums, Eric Church would have easily made it into my favourites of the year list. His latest record, Desperate Man, plays it a little safe and leaves the Waylon-esque outlaw stuff on the back-burner. Still some fine tunes on it though.

5. Mary Gauthier - Got Your Six

A soldier's life is not a happy one one Mary's outstanding new album. More here.

4. Dave Giles - Devil In A Green Dress

Dave Giles calls himself "an American artist from London", and to be fair, this was recorded in Nashville. Sounds more like Nick Lowe meets Frank Turner to me. Classic songwriting.

3. Midland - Drinkin' Problem

Like The Eagles crossed with Dr. Hook. If that sounds like your idea of hell... well, you and me comes from different places, I guess.

People say I got a drinkin' problem

But I got no problem drinkin' at all

They keep on talkin'

Drawing conclusions

They call it a problem, 

I call it a solution

2. The Nude Party - Chevrolet Van

They call it Americana, but The Nude Party owe as much to the Stones and 60s garage rock. Whatever label you hang on it, this is a smashing pop song destined to put a grin on your face. The rest of the album is similarly fun. More here.

1. Ashley McBride - A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega

You know how some of the best indie music is written for outcasts and losers, those down on their look and living on lonely desperation? So is some of the best country music. This is one of my songs of the year - kinda like a country version of Drugstore's Say Hello.



Stay tuned for more great country and Americana music as I continue my 2018 countdown.

2018 Contenders: Get Nude & Party!

I first came across today's artist when they were played on Ricky Ross's country show on BBC Radio Scotland (which I've discovered has two or three unmissable shows when it comes to discovering new acts I dig). Ricky introduced The Nude Party as an Americana band, and I suppose that may be the genre they want to belong to, but to me they just sound like the Rolling Stones, maybe with a dollop of Jonathan Richman.

When was the last time you heard a young band so in debt to the Stones? Back in the 90s, Primal Scream and The Black Crowes came very close to walking around in Mick & Keef's shoes for a while, but I can't think of many 21st Century Stones imitators. The Nude Party sound like they stayed up all night smoking their dad's (grandad's) old Stones joints and then hit the studio at the crack of dawn to have fun. There's a lot of offbeat humour in this album, and touches of psychedelia in a couple of the tracks... plus some sage advice to anyone thinking of joining a band in the present musical climate...

You’ll never make enough money

And no one cares about the things you say

You’re gonna wake up someday

And you’ll wish you got a job

Spend half your life in that Chevrolet

Driving up and down the freeway

Someday when you’re too old to play

Man, you’ll wish you got a job