Finley Quaye - B-sides & more + Bonus Live

Late 1997, I’d bought the latest edition of CMJ New Music Monthly Volume 51 at Tower Records in Bangkok! On the way home I browsed through the magazine and looked at the artists/bands featured on the CD, a lot unknown, but also Portishead, The Beautiful South, and Pat Dinizio (Smithereens!), at least some tracks I would enjoy.

Once home I inserted the CD into my player and read more of the magazine while listening to the songs. A lot didn’t do that much, one ear in, other ear out, until I heard something that sounded a bit like an old Bob Marley song!

This turned out to be from a new British artist named Finley Quaye with “Sunday Shining”, based on Marley’s “Sun Is Shining”, the Lee Perry production from 1970.

 

It sounded very refreshing, elements of reggae and pop with trippy lyrics, great.

Later I managed to score the “Sunday Shining” CD single (and another: “Even After All”) which had some great non-album tracks.

His album “Maverick A Strike” got excellent reviews and when I finally heard it I could only agree.

For a while Finley was very popular, but with his second album “Vanguard” things began to spiral downward, both sales wise as well as personal. Further albums didn’t improve this situation…

His last album, “Royal Rasses”, was released in 2014 and since then it has been suspiciously quiet…

My own interest in him faded as well, but those songs from the beginning I remember fondly and still get played from time to time.

 

A quick check on Discogs showed a lot of CD singles in 1997 & 98 and only 1”The Best of Epic Years” compilation in 2001.

Therefore the idea of making an alternative collection of those CD singles and some stray tracks from the same period began to look more and more appealing!

While doing some digital field work I discovered that Finley had recorded already a song in 1995 with A Guy Called Gerald on his album “Black Secret Technology”. This track, “Finley’s Rainbow”, combines a vocal from Finley, the Bug in The Bass Bin drums, nebulous sub bass line and plucked strings: “It feels like reggae, viewed under water and utterly devoid of joy, a psychedelic masterpiece of electronic music”. Oh well, but it does feature elements of “Sunday Shining”!

I also found another anthology (digital only) on Amazon (not on Discogs!) from last year called “Best of the B Sides + Remixes: The Epic Years”, which included some, but not all, of those tracks…

 

No matter that, my final resulting collection is quite different and I’m happy to share it here with you, enjoy!

It features tracks from the 5 CD singles from 1997-98.

These included dubs, acoustic, live versions as well as remixes and non album tracks.

Additional tracks include a cover of Gershwin’s "It Ain't Necessarily So” cover for Red Hot + Rhapsody, the A Guy Called Gerald collaboration, and a 2 Meter Sessies track: “My Cup Is Running Over”.

 

Bonus: FM Broadcast Live @ Glastonbury Festival, England, 26-06-1998