Still no end in sight though I travel far and wide (Neil Finn) #474

Neil Finn She Will Have Her Way/ Faster Than Light/ Identical Twin (Parlophone, 1998)

Nil Fun has featured a lot so far in the singles countdown: as a member of Split Enz, as a Crowded Houser and now as a solo person.

Really this song could have been a Crowded House or Finn Brothers single. He has such a clearly identifiable sound.

A sound that borrows from the best in the universe. The Harrisonesque guitar and Beatle harmonies are intact on SWHHW: a pleasant song with a lovely hook that centres around the title.

Hidden gem: Both tracks are also from the parent album (Try Whistling This); Identical Twin was subsequently added as a bonus track. 

Neither stands out particularly - they are just superior songs, done by a master musician. Stuff this effortless takes a load of work!

We've got something (Evermore) #471 - 473

Evermore Slipping Away/ Oil And Water/ Pick Yourself Up/ Tears/ Colours Bursting (Warner Music, 2002)
Evermore Hold On/ My Own Way/ What's inside/ The Same As You/ So Fine (Warner Music, 2003)
Evermore Unbreakable/ Real Life (live)/ It's Too Late (live)/ Running (live) (Warner Music, 2006)

Evermore are a New Zealand band, originally made up of the three Hume brothers from down the road in Feilding (okay - actually about 90 minutes away to be more precise); drummer Dann left in 2012.

When they were a threesome

Their harmonic pop sound and Jon's soaring vocals are easy to like. 

The Oil and Water EP has Slipping Away as its lead off batter. The classic Evermore sound is there from the get go: those vocals, inventive pop arrangements, the Hume brother harmonies, singalong choruses, great musicianship, great production!

Hold on, off the My Own Way EP is a rock song with a sneery almost (almost) punk attitude. Blimmin' great song too!

Unbreakable comes from my favourite Evermore album: Real Life. A purple period (before the overblown Truth Of The World), the band were on fire with insanely catchy songs. Unbreakable itself knows it. A new confidence is evident. The sound is bigger. The song is huge! it's...UN-BREAK-ABBBBBLLLLLEEEEEEEE.

Hidden gems: The title song on Oil and Water is a gem but so are all these tracks! None, btw, including the A side, made the debut album Dreams! The boys move on fast. What is noteworthy are the guitar chops of the insanely talented Jon Hume! Tears and Colours...are, um, bursting with ideas! 

Same deal with the other My Own Way songs - this could side two of the unofficial pre Dreams album! My Own Way itself is a standout though! And then there's So Fine - a brilliant slab of attitude and driving riff rock noise that The Datsuns would love to call their own!

All of the live tracks on the Unbreakable Live EP are gems. Running is such a great song. All this and these CD singles still don't include my favourite all time Evermore song! That would be Light Surrounding You. Now that's entertainment folks!

Goddamn right it's a beautiful day (The Eels) #468 - 470

The Eels Cancer For The Cure/ Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas/ Exodus Part III (Dreamworks, 1998)
The Eels Last Stop: This Town/ Funeral Parlor/ Novocaine For The Soul by Moog Cookbook (Dreamworks, 1998)
The Eels Mr. E's Beautiful Blues/ Birdgirl On A Cell Phone/ Hospital Food (Live) (Dreamworks, 1999)

The background to the album Electro-Shock Blues (where these first two songs come from) is really harrowing. 

After three deaths (father,mother and sister) E found himself the only member of his family. 

His decision to write and sing about his situation on Electro-Shock Blues means much of the album is pretty bleak. But he's a very gifted writer and his black humour and way with a tune makes these songs not only heartfelt but highly listenable (go figure).

Cancer For The Cure clearly targets his mother's death but in an oblique way (if that makes sense). The weird metallic machine effects soundtrack what the Big Chief in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest hears. Then the song gets into its rhythm and some wild organ. All up - an unlikely, but effective singalong!

Last Stop: This Town is a jaunty number musically while the lyrics are another matter - You're dead but the world keeps spinning.

The third single in this set is from the third album (and I think their best): Daisies Of The Galaxy. E is still crafting superb songs - always catchy and pithy (full to the brim of pith), but now more playful and sunnier in tone. Mr. E's Beautiful Blues is a case in point - a fine rock song; E's vocals are brilliant.

Hidden gems: This time all the B sides are non album tracks (or live). Of them Funeral Parlor is a real hidden gem - second track on a CD single! It's only short but it punches above its weight. Likewise Birdgirl On A Cell Phone.

This paint-by-numbers life Is fucking with my head (The Eels) #463 - 467

The Eels Novocaine For The Soul/Guest List/Fucker (Dreamworks, 1996)
The Eels Rags To Rags/Spunky/Animal (Dreamworks, 1996)
The Eels Susan's House/ Stepmother/ Manchester Girl (Dreamworks, 1997)
The Eels Your Lucky Day In Hell/ Susan's Apartment/ Mental/ Altar Boy (Dreamworks, 1997)
The Eels Novocaine For The Soul (live from hell)/ Manchester Girl/ My Beloved Mad Monster Party/ Flower (Dreamworks, 1997)

According to E, main man of The Eels, "Rather than sound like The Beatles I wanted to do as The Beatles did. They soaked up everything around them at the time, and then put their own stink on it". Great aspirations and job done on these four singles + EP off the debut album - Beautiful Freak..

Having said that, it was Beatle inventiveness, melody and spirit that is most definitely present and correct and what drew me to the band in the first place. 

The A side in each case is a standout from the album (yet still doesn't include my favourite all time Eels song - Flower).

Novocaine was an early favourite. E is a brilliant lyricist - Jesus and his lawyer are coming back!

Rags to Rags is a terrific fuzz tone rocker.

Susan's House is a flat out unbelievable song with a great set of stories on the way to Susan's house, and Butch on drums is superb.

Your Lucky Day In Hell keeps the quality control on high. Effortlessly, E crafts a great 10cc style pop song!

Finally in this set - The Novocaine...Flower CD single came with my copy of the album. They are all BBC Radio 1 versions. It's a great version of Novocaine - spoken rather than sung and pretty damn awesome!

Hidden gems: ...everywhere you turn on these CD singles. E was mining a rich vein during the Beautiful Freak sessions. Guest List, Spunky, Mental are standout album tracks. 

Fucker was not on the album but could easily have been (hey it could have been a double!). Great pay off line - I hate you - fucker, is delivered full of nuance (think Billy Bragg and his version of Walk Away Renee).

Animal ditto! Haunting piano and close miked E get inside your head.

Stepmother and the live version of Manchester Girl pull no punches - by now E's fearlessness has been well proven.

The BBC live version of Flower strips away the choral synth part (which I adore) and goes for a stripped back version. Makes it sound like a field recording from the 19th century - superb!

I'm walking through streets that are dead (Bob Dylan) #462

Bob Dylan Love Sick (Live)/ Can't Wait (Live)/Million Miles (Live)/Cold Irons Bound (Live) (Columbia, QLT 41473, 1999)

I'm not sure how I happened upon this - maybe it came with a CD as a bonus?

The label says 'demonstration-not for sale' which indicates I may have got it second hand after a reviewer sold it but that's unlikely. I don't recall.

I'm not a Dylanologist by any stretch - clue: I have all the classic albums but not Self Portrait (I sold a vinyl copy in a purge many years ago) or the last half dozen or so albums after Time Out Of Mind so that kind of tells you a story.

Why not the latest albums? Actually it's the voice and the stream of blues infused songs (weird - I love blues songs generally and I love his sixties and seventies voice).

Love Sick is okay apart from being pretty depressing until the last line payoff.

Hidden gems: nope - these aren't the droids you're looking for, move along, nothin' to see here...

It's me - not him, I get that. He's a genius and beyond petty criticism. It's just that these songs don't move me or speak to me like all the material on Hard Rain, Blood On The Tracks and Desire. Not His fault!

You've got to believe it'll be alright again (Duran Duran) #461

Duran Duran What Happens Tomorrow/(Reach Up For The) Sunrise (Sony/BMG, 875650 1, 2004)

My wife was a big Duran Duran fan back in the day but actually I inherited this CD single (twenty years later) from one of my daughters. And it's a pretty cool pop song with hints of the Britpop that was current in the 1990s and into the new millennium.

It actually doesn't sound much like DD though. If it came on the radio you'd struggle to identify the band. There's even a whiff of (poppier) Oasis about it to my mind.

Hidden gem: Yes! A gem and this time - it's Simon LeBon's vocals that clue you into the band's identity. There's a nice hint of classic DD in other words.

Both videos are included because the songs are cool, and the videos have always been an integral part of the Duran Duran story.

You, you and me we take a ride on a rocket ship (The Datsuns) #458 - 460

The Datsuns Harmonic Generator (Live)/ Sittin' Pretty (Live)/ Fink For The Man (Live)/Little Bruise/O Woe Is Me/Freeze Sucker (V2/Hell Squad, V2CP 151, 2003)
The Datsuns System Overload/ Don't Shine Your Light On Me/Killer Bees (EMI/Hell Squad, 3769472, 2006)
The Datsuns Stuck Here For Days/ Kick And A Bang/Sky Is Falling/One Eye Open (EMI/Hell Squad, 3697302, 2006)

The Datsuns have been on a wild rocket ship ride and I've been there every (rocky) km of that ride. They started while at Cambridge High School (where I was Deputy Principal) and one of the band's brothers was good friends with my eldest son. Somewhat bizarrely, that connection has given me a personal investment in their progress.

The Harmonic Generator EP has Live At Radio 1 versions of tracks from the debut album - a wide eyed exciting selection of songs. The EP leads off with Harmonic Generator so I'll treat that as the A side.

For me it's one of the weaker songs on the debut. Which tells you how great the debut album is - yet to be bettered by the boys actually.

System Overload is well named - too much going on - it's loud but not especially coherent.

Stuck Here For Days is like System - from Smoke and Mirrors. It's got a cool early Led Zep vibe going on.

Hidden gems: Fink For The Man and Freeze Sucker are two personal favourites (along with MF From Hell) and they are delivered brilliantly on these radio sessions. EXCITING!!!!

Killer Bees is not on parent album (Smoke and Mirrors) but probably should have been - it's a ragey little number (btw Don't Shine Your Light...was also a non starter on the album - in that case a better decision).

Kick and a Bang is also a rager and would also have been a welcome addition to Smoke and Mirrors but wasn't included for some reason. Strange. What's going on guys?

The other two tracks on the EP are also absent from the parent album, but again - no great loss.