It’s that Random Five again

Broken Cloud by The Lilac Time
Album: Looking for a Day in the Night

A favourite track from a favourite album. In 1999, Looking for a Day in the Night marked the return of the Lilac Time, and this album is a fantastic return to form. Nick Duffy, brother of Stephen and multi-instrumental talent in his own right, wrote this instrumental.
Speaking of the Lilac Time, Stephen mentions on his blog that the new album is almost finished, and he’s very pleased with it. I am in a state of intense anticiption.

Cuyahoga by R.E.M.
Album: Life’s Rich Pageant

This was my first R.E.M. album. I always liked this track, even when I didn’t know that background. Apparently the Cuyahoga river was so polluted that it once caught fire.

The Judgement is the Mirror by Dali’s Car
Album: The Waking Hour

Dali’s Car is my favourite Peter Murphy project. Mick Karn appears on his trademark wobbly bass, and the mood is dark and misty. Slap a Maxfield Parrish painting on the front and the whole thing’s a winner.

The video’s up on YouTube, as is everything else, so you might as well.

Around. Around. Around.

Ironically this video might have been the only time they saw each other during the entire project.

Home by the Range by The Cure
Album:

An excerpt from a 1986 interview with the Cure. Robert Smith explains why it’s better for everyone in the band to do what he thinks. It’s worked for him, but perhaps not for everyone. It’s a tightrope. If a band has a strong central member, it can survive line-up changes, but you’ll have to work to allay other band members’ feelings of stifledness.

Whilst we meditate on this, let us see a clip from the interview.

Little Drummer Boy by Chet Atkins
Album: Christmas With Chet Atkins
Christmas is months away, but I am powerless to control the vageries of the Random Five. Ol’ Chet has a special place in my Christmas memories, mostly because of his wonderful medley of ‘Coventry Carol’ with ‘God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen’. And also this track. Both songs show the softer side of Atkins’ guitar work. My advice: get the album and ignore the cover.