Snow Patrol - Late Night Tales

For the 22nd edition of the "excellent series of bespoke artist compilations - Uncut", Snow Patrol present the world with an impeccably selected and mixed Late Night Tales.

If you think you know Snow Patrol, think again. Of course, there's the band who are capable of outselling the Arctic Monkeys, getting numerous nominations for Brits, and monopolising the upper reaches the charts with alarming regularity with their superior song theory and balladeering.

This Snow Patrol have enjoyed platinum sales of their 'Eyes Open' album (in both UK and USA) and musical appearances on everything from Spiderman 3 to Grey's Anatomy. This Snow Patrol has toured with U2, performed at Live Earth and appeared on Saturday Night Live. It doesn't get much bigger than that.

There's also another Snow Patrol about which you may know little. The Snow Patrol that concerns us here are the musical aesthetes with fathom-deep record collections, the broad knowledge of the record obsessive and the deft selection skills of seasoned DJs. They are, of course, all of these things and a few more besides.

The Snow Patrol pair assigned with the task here, Tom Simpson and Gary Lightbody, know their way round their collections and are old hands at that grubby DJing caper. And it shows. The mix is bookended by a pair of beauties, beginning with the unusually ethereal 'Obseravtory Crest' by Captain Beefheart with its chiming guitars and Rhodes-drenched backing track. The end is signalled by John Martyn's 'Sweet Little Mystery' from the big man's 1980 LP 'Grace & Danger'. A fitting tribute for a fallen comrade.

But this is not a mix about DJ trickery. There are naturally some grooves in there (A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Food and Holy Ghost! all make appearances along the way), but really this is about song appreciation. The songs are groovy, natch, but it's the feeling that's important here whether we're falling in love with Jim Noir's daffy lyrics or wondering from which planet Arthur Russell may have landed.

And, as this is Late Night Tales, they always but always have something special for you in the comely form of a newly recorded cover version, this time their own homage to Antiopdean heroes INXS with 'New Sensation'. As Gary himself queries of their remake: "Why bother if you're just palely imitating the true form?"

Tracklisting:
1. Captain Beefheart - Observatory Crest
2. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight
3. DJ Food - Dark Lady
4. King Biscuit Time - I Walk the Earth
5. Iain Archer - Canal Song
6. Terry Callier - Ordinary Joe
7. The Week That Was and Field Music - It's All Gone Quiet
8. Allen Toussaint - Last Train
9. Bobby Gentry - Fancy
10. Arthur Russell - That's Us/Wild Combination
11. Jim Noir - Eanie Meany
12. School of Seven Bells - Half Asleep
13. TV On the Radio - Family Tree
14. Holy Ghost! - Hold On
15. Super Furry Animals - Download
16. Snow Patrol - New Sensation (Exclusive Cover Version)
17. Miracle Fortress - Next Train
18. John Martyn - Sweet Little Mystery

http://www.latenighttales.co.uk