IDEAS FOR XMAS (6)

OK, so this is the luxury item on this ongoing list of suggested Xmas presents, retailing for the best part of £40. But for the Lloyd Cole fan in your life, believe me they will love you forever if you manage to get Santa to deliver Cleaning Out The Ashtrays on 25th December.

It comprises 4 x CDs and a 36 page booklet compiled and written by Lloyd himself. There are 59 tracks in total, many of them previously unreleased but also including loads of b-sides that have been very difficult to get a hold of for years as well as tracks recorded for various tribute and compilation albums.

Lloyd says in his notes that via his weblog he had been made repeatedly aware that fans were out there who wanted to get a hold of the rare and deleted songs, and he personally doesn't think, at this stage in the evolution of the music industry, that tracks available only for digital download are 'in print'.

What is very evident from this exquisite box set is that some of the best solo work was stuck away on b-sides, which is either down to the record label not quite understanding what made Lloyd Cole such a great talent, or perhaps it was an act of perversity by the singer to hide away some great tunes that only die hard fans prepared to shell out for singles would be allowed to hear. It's also the case that some of the mixes of well-known songs are better than those released back in the day....but be warned.....a project like this inevitably has to throw up a couple of turkeys...and the less said about a cover of the pre-glam T Rex song Romany Soup the better. (Lloyd has always been a big fan of Marc Bolan.....one of the songs below taken from a b-side is his own heartfelt tribute....)

It is a crying shame that since the onset of the solo career in 1990, Lloyd Cole has only had one instance of chart success when Like Lovers Do reached #24 in the UK charts after it had been championed by breakfast DJ Chris Evans (in much the same way as the DJ had also just about single-handedly brought the attention of the UK public to the magnificence of A Girl Like You by Edwyn Collins). Yes, there's no question that the records released by Lloyd Cole & The Commotions have a special place in the hearts of many folk who are in the 40-50 age bracket as they represent times, places and memories in our lives which seemed so significant and unique; but Lloyd has done so much more as a solo artist, and almost all of it as valuable and enjoyable as the things released with his first band.

mp3 : Lloyd Cole - Don't Look Back (original mix)
mp3 : Lloyd Cole - 4MB
mp3 : Lloyd Cole - Like Lovers Do (Stephen Street mix)
mp3 : Lloyd Cole - Fool You Are (ETC session)

And here's a wee clip from a gig he played at the small and intimate Oranmor in Glasgow in the spring of 2008:-




Buy Cleaning Out The Ashtrays from this place if you live in the USA. If you live in the UK, this place is as good as any. Elsewhere, I can only suggest you google to find the best available deal. You wont regret it.