Jonathan Richman in the 21st century

The new Jonathan Richman compilation No Me Quejo De Mi Estrella takes songs from his last 5 albums, mostly live favourites. Many of the ones my friend asked me if they were new songs at Jonathan's last London gig 2 years ago.

So this compilation is good for Jonathan fans who haven't bought any of his new albums this century. The new songs Jonathan has played in the past few years suggest his next album - and let's hope it comes soon - will be a belter.

The record label says "you could pick sixteen different titles and still come up with an equally solid album". I'm not going to take that as a challenge. But 5 of the 16 songs are from Her Mystery Not Of High Heels and Eye Shadow, the best of those 5 albums and a record that you must hunt down. It's one of his best ever.

Yes, you could pick 16 different songs, but you could buy the 5 albums. They don't disappoint. As a taster, here are some of what I reckon are the more glaring omissions from this compilation:

2541 by Grant Hart with Robert Forster

The answer to 'favourite Grant Hart solo song' comes quickly and easily: 2541. Robert Forster covered it on the I Had A New York Girlfriend album. It's the one Forster album I don't own. I thought it unnecessarily defeatist that Forster made an album of covers as if to associate himself with the greats. He was - and remains - one of the greats.

His next album, Warm Nights, produced by Edwyn Collins, is warm and rich and dramatically intimate. I wonder if its sumptuous grandeur and quiet triumph suggested to Forster that the only way to improve was to reunite with Grant McLennan. Which is what happened.

I hope that Forster makes another solo album, although I was told he's not interested. Maybe when he's completed his book, Grant and I, and it's been published and he's done the promo...maybe then he'll find the time and passions will be rekindled.

The answer to 'favourite Grant Hart Husker Du song' is less simple. By instinct I'd go for Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely. But I can't overlook The Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill or Pink Turns To Blue. And it would be remiss to ignore Diane. I'll leave Scott Miller to describe that. If you like music criticism written with a fan's heart and a musician's insight, then you must buy Music: What Happened?

Oh, and this acoustic version of 2541 is quite something, too:

Grant McLennan tribute gig May 4 2014

Some words - wise words, bon mots, reflections, insights - from Grant McLennan:

I know that our dear friend Roddy Frame called his last LP Love, but I maintain that the Go-Betweens write about love better than anybody else in the world.

I don't think they [The Smiths] ever made a whole good album, but they made their fans think they could never happen again…they are not any better than the Go-Betweens or Belle and Sebastian.

We wanted to use Joe Boyd (Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson, REM) for Before Hollywood in 1982 when we were on Rough Trade, but at that stage he wasn’t making rock records. We wanted to work with John Cale for Spring Hill Fair but he was too expensive.

As an album [Before Hollywood] that really got close to a definitive sound for a certain period. It’s great because there’s very few records that do that. I’m not comparing the album, but Marquee Moon by Television does that; a statement of a band, of intent, an unmistakable mood. Like Highway 61, early Creedence records, The Doors’ first album, Revolver. They’re albums which come close to defining [something].

Describe to me the typical Go-Betweens fan
Female, heavily into Sylvia Plath, could have played hockey with the Australian Olympic squad but gave it up. And called Mirabelle.

Looking back and seeing that none of it is charted, a lot of people would say that's unsuccessful. But 'Marquee Moon' sold nothing, and I know much I still enjoy listening to Television. It doesn't really matter. To me the things I like, and that a lot of my friends like, are the things that maybe have fallen under the floorboards a bit. Our music was never connected with any kind of movement. There's a guilelessness to our music which I'm happy with.

We all love Wired for Sound by Cliff Richard. It’s just such a happy song.

What's your favourite Robert Forster song?
There are so many! I'll just say at the moment — 'Rock & Roll Friend'. But then I could go back to 'People Say', the second single, which is a fantastic piece of pop music, or 'Karen' — a great individual slice of liberation of R&B. Then I could go through every album...I enjoy all his songs.

Some words from Robert on his favourite Grant song
I really like 'Love Goes On!'. There's nine chords in a row, which he doesn't repeat. It's so him. A lot of his best songs are on '16 Lovers Lane'. And 'Cattle & Cane' is a really good song. It was like 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' or something — a quantum leap, a break-through song.

Last year, David Westlake, Elizabeth Morris of Allo Darlin' and The Mexican Postcards all played Love Goes On! for that very reason. This year, we don't know what songs David Westlake, Heathers and the Very Special Guest will play. Come along and find out. Doors open at 2pm. Music starts at 3pm. Entrance is free.

You'll find out who the Very Special Guest is on the day. A reminder of last year's extraordinary special guest's turn:

Cold Power: The Hippy Strutt

This one's a bit of a mystery - I'm unsure what it's "been an inner circle soul club power play for a while off dubplate" means exactly, but let's say it's new. And it's excellent. And it's got the direct funk snap and soul pop of Archie Bell and the Drells' Tighten Up (the riff's not a million miles away). You could play this after Stop Hurting Me Baby by Purple Mundi but you'll come back to The Hippy Strutt's freshness straight away. And then dig out some Drells.

This is the cheapest place to get a copy while they last.

Small Factory

Can we talk about Small Factory? About one of the very best singles bands of the early 90s? Their records are joyously frantic. They're electric-acoustic and frenzied like The Clean, even though they'd never heard The Clean. They're about love, because that was what mattered most.



There was a flexi in 1991 with Honeybunch and The Bachelor Pad because they kept good company. The next year they came to the UK and toured with Heavenly. A few days after their London gig I sat on a bus for 5-and-a-half hours so I could see them again. The day after that I got another bus to see them again. They were that good live.

Milky Way fanzine

A year later, their album I Do Not Love You didn't cut it for me. No matter. They were a perfect singles band. The only other band whose singles I played as much back then was Velocity Girl. I moved on from them, too. That's pop music. You fall in love, then your head gets turned by something newer and shinier. You move on. Eventually you come back.

Small Factory came up, accidentally, in late 1997. Jeffrey Borchardt of the Honeybunch played a low-key London gig on his honeymoon. I asked him to play Hey Blue Sky! He declined because that was about someone else and he was with his new wife. I later found out that Blue Sky is Phoebe Summersquash of Small Factory.

I came back to Small Factory this week because a Record Collector review of the brilliant new Trick Mammoth single compares them to Small Factory. Can't hear the connection, but I can hear the brilliance.

Norma and the Heartaches

Hot Pants (Gonna Get You In Trouble) is the finest in Philly funk. It's both good-time party crossover soul and cautionary tale. Music seldom gets more infectious and fun than this.

I think Hot Pants was 1971. You can get the reissue (an exact 45 repro) easily. Here's the b-side, Hot Pants Dance, from my scratchy original (you'll want your own copy, not least for the amazing vocal version).



Now you can get another Norma and the Heartaches 7", Nice and Slow:



Almost inevitably, the label describes it as 'more obscure and superior'. I'll disagree about the superior bit, but it's some record nonetheless.

I really urge you to go to Funkadelphia, my favourite boutique soul reissue label the past decade, and buy The Philly Sound You Never Heard - Philly Soul Girls Volume Two, which features Hot Pants, and pick up some other albums while you're there.

Web of Sunsets: Room of Monsters

These 9 songs have an eerie, glassy brilliance. There's an incorporeal atmosphere like Mazzy Star, a downhome twang like Scud Mountain Boys and a soft psychedelia like the sound of California, 1967. They call it "acid-country", which reminds me of Judee Sill describing her music as "country-cult-baroque".

It's no surprise this album was recorded in a day - the cumulative effect is a sustained reverie. There's no knockout pop song like Fool's Melodies, their first single and one of 2013's stand-out debuts, which is no bad thing because you're meant to take Room of Monsters whole in its intricate pattern of tender and uncompromising glory.