In memoriam...

I was going to write a few lines bitching about the new, faintly mediocre, album by Why? Eskimo Snow just doesn't cut it!

Instead I'll try and be a bit more positive, well in a blast from the past kinda way.

P4k is now in the process of listing the top 200 albums of the past 10 years. I haven't yet had a look at their efforts but for me the early part of the last decade was dominated by three things: university, doing those things that most people do at university (but a lot of them) and Sonic Mook Experiment.

For those of you who don't know the Sonic Mook Experament started as a London clubnight which attempted to collect people and music around the rather strange banner of art/dance/punk. It wasn't particularly original, similar and more successful attempts had been made in both New York and Manchester in the 70s-90s, but there was a sense of excitement that surrounded it. It was also a scene that stretch across the nation and abroad. The scene didn't die, it just evolved and many of the people and bands are still around wearing the same clothes and singing the same songs.

What SME did leave us with though were three compilation albums that pretty well summed up that scene.

Here are a few of the highlights from the series:

Add n to (X) - Plug Me In



Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Bang <- Still my favourite YYYs track



Fat Truckers - Teenage Daughter <- If you can take all of this track you would've been OK on a Tuesday night at Pigs in Leeds



Liars - Grown Men Don't Fall In The River Just Like That



Electrelane - I Wanna be the President <- Love, just love, the vocals here



Full track lists follow

Various Artists - Sonic Mook Experiment (2001)

Disk 1
1. Swastika Eyes - Primal Scream (David Holmes Mix)
2. Chrome Radio Rocks - The Toes
3. Dirty - Klart
4. The Second - Line Clinic
5. Teenage Daughter - Fat Truckers
6. Dirge - Death in Vegas (Pulp remix)
7. Whipaspank - Christian Vogel (Tube Jerk Mix)
8. Final Call - Guy Called Gerald
9. Naxalite Dub - Asian Dub Foundation (Adrian Sherwood Mix)
10. Plate Core - Squarepusher v Richard Thomas
11. Plug Me In - Add N to X
12. Bring Yourself - Meat Katie
13. Brain drain - Stereolab v Hairy Butter
Disc: 2
1. Neptune City - Death in Vegas (Andrew Weatherall Mix)
2. Street Gang - A.R.E. Weapons
3. Film Music - Electrelane (Jagz Kooner Mix)
4. Open Up - Leftfield (Andrew Weatherall Remix )
5. I Walk The Earth - King Biscuit Time
6. The Turk - Ceephax
7. I Came When I Heard - Hairy Butter (DJ Godfather Mix)
8. Kick My Teeth Out - Disastronaut
9. Make It Happen - Playgroup
10. Extreme Possibilities - 2 Player ( Wagon Christ Mix)
11. No Shit - Con Pro
12. England Sandwich - Earl Brutus
13. Dream Baby Dream - Suicide

Various Artists - Sonic Mook Experiment 2: Future Rock n Roll (2002)

1. Fix It - Fat Truckers
2. Troubled Mind - The Buff Medways
3. Walking With Thee - Clinic
4. Whiplash - Zongamin feat. Mike Sonovac
5. Grown Men Don’t Just Fall In The River Like That - Liars
6. Punk - The Drug Punks
7. Hate To Say I Told You So - The Hives
8. Why You Have To Be Me - WHITEY
9. Rose Giganta - Chicano
10. Burnin’ Up - National Bandit
11. Bang - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
12. Please Don’t Touch - Überwensch
13. Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues - Mclusky
14. I’m The Daddy Now - Joan of Ass
15. Morning Has Broken - The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
16. Sid Vicious Is Dead - Some Product
17. God Make Me Destroy Those Infidels - The Martini Henry Rifles
18. I Want To Be The President - Electrelane
19. Medicine - The Toes
20. Primitive - The Parkinsons

Various Artists - Sonic Mook Experiment 3: Hot Shit (2003)

1 Pink Grease - Shake
2 Big Two Hundred - Let It Bleed
3 Whitey - Twoface
4 Chrome Hoof - Opus Of Regret
5 Klang - Outside My Area
6 Mommy And Daddy - Beachy
7 Erase Errata - Other Animals Are No.1
8 Puppy Bucket & Donny Choonara - Cheltenham Flexin'
9 Montana Pete - Das Bot
10 Crack Village vs. Radioactive Man - The Breed
11 Radio 4 - Dance To The Underground
12 Queens Of Noize - Fantasy Jukebox
13 Ex Models - Sex Automata
14 Part Chimp - Cover Me
15 !!! - Feel Good Hit Of The Fall
16 Kings Have Long Arms - Viva The Tongue Sarnie (Lick It)
17 Valerie - Popstar
18 Ed Laliq - Maybe
19 Todd - Good Neighbourhood
20 Groop - Kosmic Sound
21 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Machine
22 Martini Henry Rifles - And Then We Hit A Truck
23 Bane Overlord - Climbing Up The Walls
24 Disastronaut - Coming To Get You