Monday, December 17 by Kev  
various artists - winter on edge st (mp3 compilation)around this time last year i put together a compilation called "winter on edge st", which sold at the last best foot forward of 2006 with all proceeds going to charity. it was put together with a lot of love, was something pretty special (even if i do say so myself), and have been asked a few times this december to run another few dozen copies off. instead i thought why not put the whole lot up here for all to enjoy! tracklisting is as follows ... beack boys - silent night
julie london - i'd like you for christmas
vince guaraldi trio - christmas time is here
david bowie and bing crosby - little drummer boy / peace on earth
lead belly - christmas is a-comin
cotton top mountain sanctified singers - christ was born on christmas morn
elliot smith - angel in the snow
alabama sacred harp singers - sherburne
doris day - here comes santa claus
leona ness - christmas
sufjan stevens - that was the worst christmas ever
elvis presley - santa claus is back in town
rufus wainwright - spotlight on christmas
flaming lips - christmas at the zoo
the raveonettes - the christmas song
my morning jacket - xmas curtain
the black crowes - back door santa
run dmc - christmas in hollis
dan the automator - jingle bells
the blue hawaiians - we four kings
teenage fanclub - christmas eve
ron sexsmith - maybe this christmas
kansas city kitty - christmas morning blues
leon redbone and zooey deschanel - baby it's cold outside
elvis presley - blue christmas
mark kozolek - white christmassounds good no? merry christmas to you and all yours!
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Monday, December 10 by Chris
terry callier - you goin' to miss your candyman (mp3)a thorough going-over of this year's purchases following field-marshall maguire's orders to begin compiling our end of year chart (unbelievably the blog's first - especially considering said military tactician's predilection for lists) made me realise that over the last 12 months i'd managed to make a pretty good dent in my list of records i want/should have a listen to. of course, the cruel irony is that the more i listen to, the more stuff i have to add to the list: i'm sure you know how it is. terry callier's name cropped-up when i heard his collaborations with beth orton and, duly jotting it down somewhere, i then immediately forgot about it until his 1973 album 'what color is love' popped-up as one of those "people who bought this also bought this" bits on amazon. it was about £4 so i thought sod it. a sweet mixture of soul, blues, jazz and folk and right slap-bang in the middle of all of this, that bassline starts up. and on a completely unrelated note here's chris' tip of the week: don't shove broken wine glasses into your hand. not only does it hurt, but it means you'll be introduced to the joys of showering with a plastic bag sellotaped to your hand. no mad scratching skills from me then at the beef christmas special.
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Thursday, December 6 by Kev
black mountain - angels (mp3) (removed by request) black mountain - queens will play (mp3) (removed by request) black mountain - tyrants (mp3)well stephen mcbean and his band of merry men (and one merry lady) are back with a fuck-off album gifted from the ghosts of rock past, present and future. in a succinct and perfect distillation, the eternal bon vivant danny webb described this as " black mountain [their debut album] multiplied by 2", which will bring a feeling of overbearing euphoria for those familiar with the previous album's delights (anyone for some "druganaut"?) any release from the award-winning jagjaguwar stable is always welcome, but when it comes from their prized thoroughbred it truly is a really a call to attention for music lovers worldwide to listen up and "lay their halo down". after their various well-received solo meanderings (pink mountaintops, sinoia caves, lightning dust et al) this is a welcome return back to the black mountain base, and if this is how 2008 is going to sound then i'll happily miss christmas so we can get it can get started tomorrow ... in the future is release on january 22nd 2008. pre-order here!
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Tuesday, December 4 by Kev
shirley ellis - the name game (mp3)shirley ellis - the clapping song (mp3)if you're not familiar with the name, i'm sure you'll at least have heard one of these tracks before. often derogatorily referred to as a "novelty artist", shirley ellis was a sixties soul singer who's star proceeded to shine after her feel-good tracks were stomped along to throughout the northern soul years. two tracks which are sure to bring a smile to your face, and that's a best foot forward guarantee (please note: guarantee void in tennessee). oh and if you want to play along at home "the name game", wikipedia has kindly provided a formula - i shit you not! a verse can be created for any name, with X as the name and (X−1) as the name without the first consonant sound, as follows:
(X), (X), bo-b(X−1)
banana-fana fo-f(X−1)
fee-fi-mo-m(X−1)
X! but for those of the sensitive nature, please follow wikipedia's strict advice that playing the game with names such as "tucker", "chuck", "buck", "mitch", "bart" or or "richie" results in profanity - the prudish amongst you need not apply!
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Thursday, November 29 by Kev
david essex - city lights (mp3)no, don't run away. this is david essex, but not as you know it. i'd love to say i found this myself, but props must go to ex-beef guests quiet village who played this during their bain marie escapade on tim sweeney's boundary-expanding beats in space radio show. mark (i wish he was still with us) will be lapping this up, sri-lanka style.
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Tuesday, November 27 by Chris
happy end - ashita tenki ni naare (mp3)who the hell sampled this from happy end's 1971 album 'kazemachi roman'? i'm sure it's a circa 2000 jurassic 5/quannum/blackalicious/dj shadow type effort and possibly one of those short interlude-y album tracks that were all the rage back then. seriously, this has been doing my head in since i first heard this song at the beginning of last year and, since there are a couple of you who like nothing better than pulling us up on our poor, poor research, i thought i'd give you the opportunity to use your knowledge to non-smug ends, as well as finally allowing me to listen to this lovely little song in peace! a newton faulkner album to the winner!
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by Mark
be - nocturnal jam (12")experimenting with recording techniques, sampling, direction and writing, be works with music as a dj and artist to express a universal message that can be felt by anyone who listens. it would seem that nocturnal jam is that message. having been likened to the likes of theo parrish and 3 chairs, this is a must purchase for all real house music aficionados. also made record of the week in piccadilly records. i suggest you go buy it now... "stillove4music are back and this time another mysterious mancunian is behind the cut up soul / disco / funk jams contained herein. "nocturnal jam" is a perfect early floor filler, being a nice soulful boogie jam spliced for dancing pleasure. next is "provelove" a groovy guitar laden jaunt which will cross over into funk and disco sets. over on side-B is "whogothefloor" a four to the floor house jam comprised of a 4-bar late night disco loop. last up is "the needs" another 4/4 cut in a beatdown style, manipulating what I guess is an old soul cut into a pretty neat sluggish house number. very nice indeed."
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Wednesday, November 21 by Mark
tobago - pat and pats (mp3) tobago's pat and pats is an awesome italo boogie record from the early 80's. released on pineapple records this is as rare as it is fantastic. with both a vocal and instrumental version, not only does it sound ace, but it also beholds a fantastic jungle inspired record sleeve. one of my personal favourites. basically, you need this record...
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Thursday, November 15 by Kev
rolling stones - gimme shelter (mp3)damn, manchester is cold today. black frost was out last night, and now i'm decked out in multiple layers, with gloves, scarves and everything, and i'm still chilled right through to the bone. winter's here without a doubt. and in trying to forge a tenuous link between the weather and what i can find on my laptop at work i've unearthed this stone-cold classic from the rolling stones ... if i was to compile a 'top 10 records to effortlessly swagger around to' i'm sure this would be up right up there with wilco's bluestastic "handshake drugs".
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Thursday, November 8 by Kev
unknown - kernkraft 400? (mp3)unknown - louie louie? (mp3)songs with stories symbiotically attached to them, that's what i like. the song that played at your friends wedding, the album that was playing when you lost your virginity, the track that reminds you of one perfect summer. this synergy of memory and music elevates something that you might just have liked into something you could forever love. so why have i subjected you to this cod muso-psychology? well, last week i was heading home after a really incredible night out, when i was completely taken aback by what was coming through the speakers, colouring the insides of the taxi. i'm well used to terrible bollywood music for my journey home, but this was different. all the way home i was thinking of kala, and how this could well be the sort of shit that m.i.a. was listening to whilst getting some fresh perspective. when the driver pulled up at my house, i offered him an extra £10 for the cd that was playing. he refused, but would let me keep the cd and he'd come back to pick it up 24 hours later. one cheeky mp3 rip later, i present two choice cuts for your delight. i know nothing of these, except that one takes it's cue from the kingsmen's "louie louie", and the other contains the heavy melody from zombie nation's "kernkraft 400" ...
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best foot forward is a weekly hoedown at common, in manchester, england, where you can find residents kevin maguire and mark scholes playing great music to nice people every saturday from 9 til 2. this site is where we can let you know what how we're getting on, what's going on with the night and what's on current listening. if you like what you hear, leave a comment, and if you have any questions then give us a shout.
we're taking a little break from guests whilst we clean-up behind the decks and prepare for something special. keep 'em peeled ...
tracks posted are available for a short time and are for evaluation purposes only. we're only here to share music that we like with people who might never have heard it and we fully support these artists by buying their work. if you like it, go buy it. if you're the artist (or represent the artist) and you don't like it being here, please get in touch.
friends of bff
our much loved friends/regulars, in all their glory, without whom there would be very little feet being put forward. thanks to www.flickr.com
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