The Best of The Crimea and The Crocketts

Joe writes: The Crocketts built a dedicated live following but there was something slightly comedic about them (not least their name, as their singer was called Davey), which I felt held them back. But they did have one wonderful song, Mrs Playing Dead. Its opening lines are almost perfect: "It's not every afternoon that you walk into a bar" (I always thought it should be "a room") "and I look at a woman and I know I'm gonna love her all of my life".

Next came The Crimea, who featured two members of The Crocketts - singer and songwriter Davey Macmanus and drummer Owen Hopkin. They were a serious band with a serious name which was partly a reaction to the comedic element I mentioned earlier. I stumbled across them by chance at In The City (a now-defunct music industry conference which gave many bands early opportunities). Their gig was shambolic but I thought songs like Baby Boom and Bombay Sapphire Coma were literate yet anthemic, with the most wonderful extended melodies, and lyrics that pinpointed the male psyche like no-one else. They became the first signing to my publishing company and the first band I worked closely with.

There was a time when every relevant Radio 1 specialist DJ was a fan of theirs, including John Peel and Zane Lowe. Then they signed to Warner Bros US and disappeared to the US to remake their album (which, in retrospect, was unnecessary). By the time they returned home, their moment at Radio 1 had passed, never to return.

After leaving Warner Bros, they made headlines around the world by giving their second album away for free online, but they didn't manage to capitalise on that moment in the spotlight, nor on a TV ad for the most commercial track on that album, Loop The Loop.

Like The Crocketts, they built a loyal fanbase without truly breaking, and I'm still hurting about that, but at least they left behind some wonderful, unique music:

There's one Crimea song you should hear that isn't on Spotify et al - Six Shoulders Six Stone, wherein Davey's girlfriend dies from anorexia. It's hard for me to be objective about The Crimea so I will you leave you to decide whether this is brilliant or uncomfortable or both. It's definitely brave:

this tune by Francis and the Lights sounded so good on Zane Lowe last night

Joe writes: If James Blake had tried to write Wonderful Tonight (if only), it might have sounded a little like this.

Young Fathers - LOW

Joe writes: I heard this on Zane Lowe tonight. Best Scottish hip hop track ever?

FIDLAR - Awkward

Joe writes: This sounded rather good when Zane Lowe was singing along with it earlier.

Ruen Brothers - Aces

Joe writes: Henry and Rupert Stansall, AKA Ruen Brothers, are two brothers aged 22 and 23. One of the songs in their live set, On The Sunny Side Of Town, was written when they were around 16. I mention this to illustrate that they have been playing and writing rock 'n' roll for years - it's their passion and they're not bandwagon jumpers. However, they have undoubtedly been helped by Jake Bugg's breakthrough and the hype around The Strypes. This could be their time - as long as they don't pause until they're huge.

Fullish disclosure: I don't work with this band but I have been helping them out. Here's a track I pointed them towards which they were inspired by, Inside Looking Out by The Animals. I first heard this on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show, and Zane is now a big champion of Ruen Brothers (sometimes what goes around does come back around):



Here's a song I love, which I found out about thanks to Ruen Brothers, Lonely Weekends by Charlie Rich:



And here's Ruen Brothers' awesome breakthrough song Aces, written and produced by them:

yesterday The King Blues announced that they are splitting up

Joe writes: I worked with them on the album Save The World, Get The Girl which is full of great tunes and lyrics*. Here's one of its lesser known songs, The Schemers, the Scroungers and the Rats:




And here's the poem Zane Lowe played last night to mark their departure, What If Punk Never Happened:




I will always remember the first time I heard an entire crowd shout along with the words "Viva la punk, just one life, anarchy", and the last time, when they were headlining the Roundhouse in their spiritual home of Camden a few months back.

Zane played their demo a couple of times, but didn't play them again until the guy behind the counter in his local organic greengrocer said to him "Why don't you play The King Blues instead of all that rubbish you do play?". They were a people's band.


* Footnote - after George Galloway won a by-election last week I wrote on Twitter that one of my favourite King Blues lyrics is "A peace movement needs fire in its belly, but Galloway's lapping up milk on the telly" (which he did as a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother). Someone then tweeted me asking what song this is from - good question. I think it was from an early version of Save The World, Get The Girl, and they changed it before the album came out because it was no longer topical. They may have done this at my suggestion and I wonder now if it was a mistake.

Zane Lowe is playing Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez

Joe writes: It's a choice of Lana Del Rey who is being interviewed. It sounds amazing on Radio 1 (as it does everywhere else one might hear it). Bob Dylan is so great he even inspires other artists' finest work.



Also here is Lana Del Rey's second best track National Anthem:

The Bullitts feat. Lucy Liu and Jay Electronica - Close Your Eyes

Joe writes: Zane Lowe played this earlier and my ears pricked up