In Which Rousing Tunes are Sung, for the Benefit of Mr. Gordon

A tweet from Evilgordon last night;

"Listening to the Lemonheads 'Shame about Ray'... This is not going to cheer me up! Suggestions please??"

alerted me to a freind in need, so I leapt into action, and tweeted some suggestions - as ever with twitter, there sometimes isn't enough room to post everything you're thinking of, so a blog post seemed in order.

This post was originally titled "Happy Songs", but on reflection I think "rousing" is a better description. Especially given the inclusion of the blood curdling "Mars Forevermore", which describes just what the crew of the "HMS Agamemnon", under the command of Nelson at the time, hoped to do to the Spanish.

Happy Days are Here Again - The Harry Reisman Orchestra (hosted at archive.org)
Donkey Rhubarb - The Aphex Twin (youtube.com)
The Boy With the Arab Strap - Belle and Sebastian (last.fm)
Enjoy Yourself (It's later than you think) - Todd Snider (youtube.com)
Robots Need Love Too - Superpowerless (superpowerless.co.uk)
Let's Play Video Games - Derek Williams (Amazon.co.uk - no preview)
Mars Forevermore - Holdstock and Macleod (Stumbleaudio)
Eyen - Plaid (youtube.com)
De Fiets Van Piet Van Pa - Henkie (youtube.com)

The selection is a quick, and very much off the top of my head set of choices, but on the day I chose them, these are what I'd listen to if I'd had a bad day. Incidentally, "Robots Need Love Too" now has a pleasingly bonkers video, a development I thoroughly approve of.

Note that the Aphex Twin and Plaid tunes can be bought from Warp Records' "Bleep" site (drm free too). "Happy Days are Here Again" is available as a no cost download from archive.org . "The Boy with the Arab Strap" is available on the album of the same name, and should be avilable on iTunes et al. Todd Snider's "Enjoy Yourself" is on eMusic, Derek Williams' "Let's Play Video Games" is on the "Music to Play Games By" cd available through Amazon, and Superpowerless' "Robots Need Love Too" is on his website. My favoured version of "Mars Forevermore" is by Johnny Collins, on his cd "Best of the Early Years" available from Amazon, although the version posted here is on iTunes. I can't find anywhere to buy Henkie's song, I'm afraid, although I first heard it on the Ruby's Chicky Boilups Tour De France special, which is available here.