This week’s album-length playlist with music from artists including Andy Partridge, Pete Townshend and Fairground Attraction
The Gems album playlist—new and classic tracks compiled by Ian Sharp of LP.
Welcome to Gems, my weekly playlist of classic tracks and new releases. In keeping with the ethos of LP, each playlist is 40–45 minutes long, even if it won’t ever be pressed onto vinyl.
Publication note: There’s a change in the format of Gems. While the playlist remains the same, the notes are now concise commentary plus a video or two.
Why the change? Music remains the essence of Gems. But compiling the notes is a surprisingly lengthy task. This change means I can put more time into honouring the craft of music writing in my Glimpses or Long Gazes.
This week: a new track by Fairground Attraction, resuming after a break of 34 years, and an old one from Pete Townshend’s solo album White City: A Novel (just 39 years old). New music from Andy Partridge who we don’t hear from enough, and Elbow, whose new album has met with mixed reactions.
The new single from the Dave Foster Band is here - their previous album featured in one of the early Gems. I was unaware of Tash Sultana until she cropped up in a playlist I heard recently and I’m enjoying her sound.
of The New Cue recommended John Bramwell’s album - if you like the track included here, it’s worth seeking out.Every track has earned its place here to make up an LP of sorts. Which did you most enjoy? Which track did you skip? What would you choose?
Video Gem of the Week
The last few days have seen Roger Daltrey’s Teenage Cancer Trust event at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The Who played with an orchestra on Monday 18th March and Wednesday 20th March 2024, and during the second gig they welcomed Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam to sit in with them on The Punk and the Godfather. Was that the last Who gig? Probably not yet, but Townshend and Daltrey are muttering about how hard it is to keep touring now. Then again, the album Who’s Last was released in 1984, so anything is possible. Whatever the future holds, enjoy this performance.
Plus …
Here’s Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes again. A video has now been released highlighting who’s playing each part, and it’s been put together cleverly given the number of interweaving parts.
To buy the track and benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America:
https://markknopfler.lnk.to/download
Thanks Ian. I totally understand the change in format. Writing verbiage for ten tracks takes time as I’m learning with my weekly series!
Thank you.