That said, you never know how GP will join those dots. We know he’s a fan of Paul Weller these days, but this soundtrack concentrates on the late 70’s (when Weller was still talking to Foxton and Buckler, represented here by The Jam’s ‘When You’re Young’) and is firmly aimed at a John Peel fanclub audience and the era when the Casual was king.

The Awaydays story is a coming-of-age story of Carty and Elvis(!) who meet at an Echo and The Bunnymen gig in Liverpool and is released in cinemas tomorrow. Going on the snippets of dialog included, I won’t be rushing to see it but the CD is a reminder of some fantastic tracks and some of the bands that became/still are an influence on electronic/dance music of today.

And apart from The Cure (with a not very convincing version of ‘10:15, Saturday Night’) and Evis Costello, most bands are from the North in a Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool conurbation that were as strong a rivals musically as their own football teams. And being in the 70s, there was a pre-eighties feel of depression, gloom and violence as in the classic track by Wire, ‘I Am The Fly’ - “I am the fly in the ointment, I shake you down before you down to say please as you accept the next dose of disease”.

This was when Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark were at the forefront of synth-pop and Ultravox! (then led by John Foxx) and the original Human League were truly innovative (‘Being Boiled’) and not doing revival tours like they did recently. And if you were wondering about Alec Empire’s musical heritage, look no further than Cabaret Voltaire’s ‘Nag, Nag, Nag’; by co-incidence, there’s a strange “When We Go To Berlin” quote; it cost enough to get to London at the time ever lone Berlin.

Much like Franz Ferdinand getting the kids to dance, back in the day it was all about thumping bass lines to get the kids to move (Gang Of Four, Magazine, The Mekons) and you remember NEU! (as in the new Brand NEU! compilation), Curtis from Joy Division was the ultimate crazed dancer.

So it’s a bit like the BBC’s Life Of Mars meets Fight Factory but it’s already been said “the music is the star”; see you at Eric’s or, if you’re in Cannes Film Festival this week, Looking For Eric.

“Control meets This Is England in a razor sharp rites of passage tale” Dan Brightmore, LOADED.

“Homo erotic hooligan film” John Wilson, Front Row, Radio 4 (20th May)

This is the age of the train (1977 - 1984)

Reviewed: Various Artists - Awaydays (The Soundtrack That Inspired A Film) (Universal) Release date: 25th May 2009
1. Ultravox! - Young Savage (2:58)
2. Carty And Elvis in Eric’s (0:21)
3. The Rascals - All That Jazz (2:57)
4. Cabaret Voltaire - Nag, Nag, Nag (4:38)
5. “Sunrise” ( 0:49)
6. “Liverpool 1979” (1:11)
7. Magazine - The Light Pours Out Of Me (4:35)
8. “When We Go To Berlin” (0:58)
9. Ultravox! - Slow Motion (3:27)
10. “Wool Stomp” (1:17)
11. The Cure - 10:15, Saturday Night (Home Demo) (4:35)
12. Joy Division - Insight ( 4:23)
13. “Come And See The Stars” (0:39 )
14. “Elvis’s Dub” (2:36)
15. “Carty Deflated” (1:48)
16. “Carty’s Revenge” (1:07)
17. Echo And The Bunnymen - Going Up (4:01)
18. Carty’s Last Awayday (1:27)
19. Ultravox! - Just For A Moment (3:12)
20. The Mekons - Where Were You? (2:42)
21. The Jam - Where You’re Young (3:12)
22. Elvis Costello - Night Rally (2:44)
23. Dalek I - The World (2:28)
24. The Teardrop Explodes - Sleeping Gas (Zoo Version) (4:39)
25. Orchestral Maneovres In The Dark - Electricity (3:34)
26. The Human League - Being Boiled (3:51)
27. Wire - I Am The Fly (3:08)
28. Gang Of Four - Damaged Goods (3:29)

Links:
www.awaydaysthemovie.com
“I never heard a Beatles track played at Eric’s. The regulars had a dogged (and predictable) anti-Beatles stance, and we all moved to the bar when Souxsie & The Banshees played ‘Helter Skelter’. Whatever they’d done to put Liverpool on the map, we knew that Eric’s was giving the city a chance to move on from the burden of The Fab Four. Through Roger Eagle’s (Erics owner) zealous love of music from all nooks and crannies, we got to hear lots of reggae, weird Louisiana blues, Dub, German Electro and Rockabilly. All these sounds filtered through to the emerging local bands. From Rockin Dopsie & His Cajun Twisters to Tapper Zukie and Matumbi, a night at Eric’s was an education - truly the world in one city”.
Easy Star All-Stars - Lonely Hearts Dub Band
Casual Culture <20casual-culture07>
Ipso Facto “Citing their favourite band as Magazine, the music is opaque. Sure Ipso Facto’s music is dark, but it resonates just as much with the realms of Glam Disco.” www.theplaygound.co.uk
Looking For Eric “Ken Loach’s comedy about a postman who gets life lessons from footballing legend Eric Cantona is good-natured but erratic.” www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/may/18/cannes-film-festival-review
Jimmy Savile “this is the age………of the train”
21 May Sound City John Foxx with Wave Machines, Static Gallery, Liverpool
22 May Sound City White Lies with Wave Machines, Liverpool