Papercuts Rekindled

Let's Try Again, Shall We?

2010-02-28T18:28:00.006Z

Here are both sides of my fabulous tape, this time housed on a rival filepilfering site. If this doesn't work it might have to become one of those Great Lost Projects because it took bleeding ages to upload, which suggest you might be wise to pour yourself a stiff one while you're waiting for it to do an incy wincy spider down your broadband guttering. I am dispappointed to learn that my new favourite song was used on an advert at some point, so its charms may be lost to those of you of a telly-watching disposition. I assume this happened in the 90s, because I'd certainly never seen it before. I have included tracklisting documents.

Here goes. I hope you derive something other than frustration and annoyance from this. As a special bonus, the URL almost contains the word "jizz". Shoud boost my download count considerably. If that is not enough, Blogger gives me sone examples of labels for this post, in this case "scooters, holidays, autumns". Why not try to write a short stroy of not more than a thousand words incorporating these three elements? You could post your finished story in the comments section, so that I feel more popular than usual. But I digress:

http://www.mediafire.com/?ynnjzznjm1w

Feb 2010 C90 Side 2

2010-02-28T11:23:00.003Z

Here is side two of MY TAPE. I think it is better than side one because it has some singing on it and also ROXY MUSIC who are brilliant and my new favourite song, PUSH A LITTLE BUTTON by 60s technophobe NINETTE. The last song is very poignant, COME LIVE WITH ME by HEAVEN 17. It is so poignant you are supposed to sit in silence after it has finished, pondering life's missed opportunities and wishing you were 37 again.

Don't say I never give you nowt.

Incidentally, thanks to BOTH PEOPLE who downloaded side one, I'm touched.

01 Free South Africa – Stetsasonic
02 Hot Smoke and Sasafrass – The Bubble Puppy
03 I Never Loved A Woman (The Way I Love You) – Spencer Wiggins
04 Push A Little Button – Ninette
05 West African Safari – Sir Victor Uwaifo
06 Cobra – Bailey’s Nervous Kats
07 Reformation! – The Fall
08 Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear
09 Fine Fine Fine – Judy Hughes
10 Same Old Scene – Roxy Music
11 Falling In Love – The Dynamic Tints
12 You Should Have Seen The Wayu He Looked At Me – The Dixie Cups
13 Jet Biguine – Les Loups Noirs d’Haiti
14 Come Live With Me – Heaven 17

Side Two:

http://rapidshare.com/files/356810727/FEB_2010_C90_SIDE_2.zip

And Side One again:

http://rapidshare.com/files/355791738/FEB_10_C90_SIDE_ONE.zip

Feb 2010 C90 Side 1

2010-02-25T18:55:00.005Z

Here is side one of a tape what I made (link below). It is mostly instrumentals. Side two will be songs with singing on them, for the most part.

Laurie Johnson tracks are from The New Avengers

Phenomenal Cat is a Kinks instrumental of the Village Green track. It is... Floydian.

101 Strings Orchestra is a groovy freakout involving a young lady getting a jolly good whipping. I have no doubt she deserved it.

The Byrds prove their Coltrane thing goes all the way up to eleven.

The Dead Weather had the good grace to include a corking instrumental on their debut album.

Big Youth Fights Against Capitalism is heavy dub by King Tubby. It also serves as a tribute to the recenlty deceased Yabby You, my favourite Jamaican renaissance man.

Gene Page - Black + Dracula = Blacula.

United is a Gamble and Huff track here presented in a sumptuous instrumental version WITH HARPS AND THAT.

Duane Eddy jumps on the lunar exploration bandwagon so beloved of instrumentalists and ends up sounding like a Joe Meek protege.

Bill Justis's Flea Circus is on Sun Records. Well I never.

Black + Rio = Black Rio. Bluesy Brazil.

A Sly and Robbie dub with more bass than is really sensible, thank goodness. Nice title too.

Louie Ramirez does another Gamble and Huff tune with lashing and lashings of disco strings swirling around the lation percussion.

Pipeline is the opening track from Johnny Thunders' album with the likes of Phil Lynott and him out of The Only Ones.

That is all. Stay tuned for side two, which I will have to be quick about because it's nearly March.

01. Laurie Johnson – Pop Fans Riot
02. The Kinks – Phenomenal Cat
03. 101 Strings Orchestra – Whiplash
04. The Byrds – Universal Mind Decoder
05. The Dead Weather – 3 Birds
06. Yabby You/King Tubby’s – Big Youth Fights Against Capitalism
07. Gene Page – Blacula
08. Music Makers – United
09. Duane Eddy – Moon Shot
10. Bill Justis and his Orchestra – Flea Circus
11. Black Rio – Uniao Black
12. Sly, Robbie and the Gang – Tickle Me Version
13. Louie Ramirez – Do It Any Way You Wanna
14. Johnny Thunders – Pipeline
15. Laurie Johnson – Red Mask Party

http://rapidshare.com/files/355791738/FEB_10_C90_SIDE_ONE.zip

2010-01-14T09:49:00.000Z

Some tracks that didn't make the cut, hopefully tagged and named in an acceptable fashion:

DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.zshare.net/download/711913157f808aa4/
FILE NAME: PJM 2009 OUTTAKES.zip
FILE SIZE: ~85.75 megabytes

Sonic Youth, Prodigy, Stone Roses, Airplane Crashers, etc.

Alley Oop

2010-01-11T19:46:00.002Z

Back in the days when broadband meant cummerband, I waited weeks to see this short film. It was being shown in San Sebastián as part of a season of films called Islam and Cinema. It kept being delayed because they couldn't get hold of a print. It is by Abbas Kiarostami, but I had never heard of him, or the resurgence in Iranian cinema. Instead I was attracted by some information in the small print - the music was by The Beatles! So I waited and waited, weeks and weeks. I saw a highly technical Egyptian film about mummification, an Algerian youth drama about the difficult choice between listening to rai music or consuming cassettes of speeches by radical clerics, and several other films I can't remember. By the time Bread and the Alley arrived I was in a frenzy, fully expected to hear the legendary Carnival of Light or some unknown psychedelic wig-out. It wasn't what I expected, but neither was it a disappointment. Now you can see it on YouTube for the price of a few clicks. I think my love for this film depends on how hard I had to work to see it (freezing cold, catching the last bus home, etc.), so it probably won't have the same effect here. The big screen helped, as did being part of a pretty large crowd, and sitting in an old theatre with a very particular smell. But I still think it's well worth seeing. It started me off on a love affair with Iranian film that lasted a few years, and which I hope will one day bloom again. Here it is:

I was reminded of this film by watching the strikingly similar The Red Balloon, so here that is as well, in two parts (short version, it says here). Watch it with a small child and marvel at the strong emotions it produces:

Bread and the Alley also reminds me of another Iranian film, The Apple, and that Norman Wisdom film, On The Beat, where he wants to be a policeman (after two minutes, I'm not completely mental):

PJM's 25 from 2009: Revised Repeat

2010-01-08T10:11:00.007Z

Following the annual barrage of complaints from the Shepherd's Bush area regarding my end-of-year compilation, I have renamed the mp3 files, retagged them to enable ease of use, and provided the following exhaustive and fascinating multimedia sleevenotes (mp3 download link below):

01) MORRISSEY - SOMETHING IS SQUEEZING MY SKULL

Like a New York Dolls track, only about depression. Curiously uplifting. I don't think it made much of an impression on the wider world. I wonder if Morrissey really is on any kind of medication. It would explain his girth and also his willingness to settle for producing less than brilliant work, such as most of the rest of the album this is taken from.

02) DEPECHE MODE - WRONG

Another song about depression. This and the Morrissey song would make a great double A-side. Again, it screams so loud it becomes kind of life-affirming. This on Later was perhaps the TV appearance of the year. The album is not much good.

03) DENNIS COFFEY - BLACK BELT JONES

From the compilation Can You Dig It? which explores the Blaxploitation mini-genre of soul. I knew about half the tracks already, but even so it is quite revelatory, that there such be such a solid heavy little slab of this stuff, a lawlessness unto itself.

04) WORLD OF TWIST - SONS OF THE STAGE (RADIO EDIT)

Rediscovered via the wonderful world of music blogs. So much better than most of the Madchester stuff it was lumped in with, and it has really stood the test of time. I had a tape with this on, it followed Emerson Lake and Palmer doing Stravinsky, which seems ideal.

05) GOD HELP THE GIRL - HOWARD JONES IS MY MOZART
06) GOD HELP THE GIRL - STILLS

I just think these two are brilliant. The first one is a B-side; the second is an EP track.

07) BLONDIE - RAPTURE (SPECIAL DISCO MIX)

From a Blondie singles compilation, this version goes on for ages, but never flags.

08) LITTLE BOOTS - STUCK ON REPEAT

Not much to say about this, except I like it a lot. Some people call it Coronation Street in space, but I call it Giorgio Moroder on Pukka Pies.

(Speaking of food, if you go to the catering tent featured herein later on in the day, the only thing left is cake. Mountains and mountains of cake.)

09) THE BEACH BOYS - FALLIN' IN LOVE

First official release, apparently. I think the introduction has been added. Just a beautiful song, although now it reminds me of David Walliams.

10) JK AND TRU-SKOOL - JHOOTEH LAAREH

From Derby. I suppose one of the advantages of the download era is you can hear something on the radio and then just look for it and buy it, which is what I did when this was played by one of the northern puddings that populate the radio waves of an evening. I think it may have been Marc Riley. I hope it was.

11) PET SHOP BOYS - LOVE ETC

Up there with Left to My Own Devices. Again, the album is not very good. But the video is.

12) YOKO ONO PLASTIC ONO BAND - THE SUN IS DOWN!

The new Yoko Ono album is full of haunting melodies and poetry that is simple to the point of dumbass, yet no less effective for that. I think (and hope) it will be around for years to come. This is probably the most disco track. I saw her in concert and it was... OK.

13) THE DEAD WEATHER - HANG YOU FROM THE HEAVENS

Blues explosion.

14) THE HORRORS - SEA WITHIN A SEA

This reminds me of The Psychedelic Furs. The album is quite My Bloody Valentine-ish, guitars that have lost their voices, only with these blunderbuss vocals. The video is very rock'n'roll, and rather beautiful.

15) JOYCE - CLAREANA

I have never bathed in molasses, in fact I don't think I have ever even seen molasses, but I imagine bathing in them is a bit like listening to this.

16) TINKERBELL'S FAIRYDUST - (YOU KEEP ME) HANGIN' ON

This is what happens when you think you've heard it all - you end up buying obscure UK psych albums by beat groups trying their hand at the new thing, except by the time it gets released the new thing is no longer the new thing and nobody buys the resulting record. It turns out you really have heard it all before, but it's still quite good fun. In my opinion, the definitive version remains the snippet at the end of Time Buckley's live performance of Pleasant Street on the Dream Letter album.

17) THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - LOVE SONG FOR THE DEAD CHÉ

Drifting, drifting...

18) THE CLIENTELE - HARVEST TIME

The live version of this by Amor de dias at the Hangover Lounge was one of the highlights of the year.

19) RODRIGUEZ - SUGAR MAN

Second appearance by Dennis Coffey, who produced this. If ever a record sounded like it knew it wasn't going to be a hit, this is it. Very popular in the South African army, apparently. I wonder what their Cuban counterparts were listening to during the Angolan war. Here's hoping for a themed compilation.

20) HERON - SMILING LADIES

From Maidenhead. This is your acid folk, which I got deeper into when my considerable skills and experience, obtained and honed over many years of hard work, were required to subtitle a 70s nudie film featuring incidental music by Comus.

21) LENNY BRUCE - TESTING THE SONY MICROPHONE

I am slowly learning to love Lenny Bruce. Not sure I have anything useful or interesting to say yet.

22) SEYFU YOHANNES - MELA MELA

Ethiopian. I think I actually wanted another, quieter track, but I couldn't find it. This one is fairly indicative though. One could lose oneself in Ethiopian music, and one day that is what I intend to do.

23) SARAH WEBSTER FABIO - GLIMPSES

From Fly Girls, a 2CD history of women in rap featuring all your favourites and a few more besides. Jazz meets poetry, I suppose. It is very beguiling.

24) FUCK BUTTONS - SURF SOLAR (7" EDIT)

The other side of the Little Boots coin, I think. Album of the year? Possibly. There is Weatherall involvement. The video features penguins underwater. I don't think I would have taken much notice if this if it hadn't been for the penguins in the video, so that is conclusive proof that videos are a necessary promotional tool in the music industry.

25) DAVE GRUSIN - ASCENSION TO VIRGINITY (CANDY OST)

I watched this film Candy, which is basically a load of very dodgy rape fantasies with an air of mysticism and flag waving, but the music is fantastic. There is also a Byrds song. Well, two Byrds songs, but one wasn't used, apparently because McGuinn's co-writer wasn't well-known enough. This is Captain Useless Information, signing off.

Download 25 from 2009 (164 MB):

http://www.zshare.net/download/70928813b904cd62/

Nina Simone - For A While

2009-12-23T22:33:00.003Z

My favourite album of the year is 'Watertown' by Frank Sinatra, from 1969. It is a concept album about the decline of a marriage. Unfortunately they get back together agin, which kind of spoils it for me. There does not appear to be any film of him performing any of the songs, but as a more than compensatory bonus, there is this footage of Nina Simone wringing every last drop (and a few more besides) of emotion from this song, which is actually quite a minor one on the album. No happy ending for Nina, God bless her.

25 from 2009

2009-12-22T13:17:00.003Z

Dear friends,

Here is my end of year roundup "tape". As ever, few tracks are actually from this year, but my toss-giving capacity is greatly reduced. Please make up your own sleevenotes for the time being. The files themselves have funny names, but they have been tagged properly, so they should be fit to grace any portable listening device, and even be listened to in the right order, should you shun the shuffle as you should. Obviously you might like to buy anything you like, blah blah blah, unless it is by millionaires, they can sod off, innit.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ndtnmzm0gqy/2009%20version%202.zip

Do not thump me Hiawatha if you object to any of this. Just tell me.

Cheers,

Peter xxx

NOTES FROM THE GOOD SHIP SHOPPIE POP

2009-11-27T23:14:00.001Z

NOTES FROM THE GOOD SHIP SHOPPIE POP
Under Thatcher, both practitioners and aficionados of the arts were considered enemies of the state. Thus any output from anyone halfway aware of the situation can be considered political, regardless of content. Here is moored the good ship Shoppie pop.

Edith, 4 years old, said to me in an accusatory tone, "Daddy, you don't know much about girls, do you?"
"No, I bloody don't!" I guffawed bitterly. We were not talking about the same things.

It's the Need for Symmetry again. Geometrical patterns forming around the retina. Here she is, everyone's little investment.

I am unaware unsure intrepid and unavailable, unfathomable and intractable, tumbledown and slapdash, helium-filled and Simonized, celibate and consumptive, terrible and indifferent.

Playdoh clit-flick Anti-Christ.

The first EP proper came in a hand-coloured sleeve. Like all hand-coloured sleeves, hand-coloured meant carelessly scrawled upon. Still, it was carelessly scrawled upon by one of the objects of one's obsession, and therefore to be pored over and treasured. I imagine these hand-colouring session were a riot: all the band members lying on their fronts, Chelsea boots kicking leisurely in the air, tongues lolling out with the effort and concentration. Mine must have been done towards the end of the session, when the colourist was dying to get back to their effects pedals or watching a battered videotape of The Monkees or The Banana Splits, maybe Get On Board With The Double Deckers, in their very own Shop Assistants hideout, a converted bus in an Edinburgh lock-up, electricity pilfered from a lamppost outside.

I am one of the select group of people who think The Shop Assistants are one of the best bands of all time. What's more, I am one of the even more select group of people, a group that might just be a one-man band, who think they went downhill after their first single, which is actually their second single.

I got the third single on twelve inch because it was on offer. I bought it from, sin of sins, HMV on Sauchihall Street, Glasgow. The person who served me was the kind of 80s vintage HMV employee, job for life, who seethed with contempt for anything that might not have been willing to bow down before the twin gods of Buster-era Phil Collins and frizzy-haired conquerors Dire Straits, anything that might labour under the weight of the "alternative" label a label that meant hhomosexualityand socialism, to name but two 80s evils that required eradication, preferably through the effective wweed-killer of the approved blandathons known as Radio One playlists. The barcode rang up the normal price. I meekly, that is to say, indiely, pointed to the dayglo orange pay-no-more-than 79p sticker. Mulletman sighed heavily, brutally, much like a Glaswegian taxi driver if you ever dared not to have the right change. I thought I was finally going to be able to die for my art, decapitated by a black vinyl disc, a martyr to buzzsaw guitars smothering plaintive melodies. But he just sent me to another till, where the correct price was applied and I lived to dither another day.

I had a friend who was a fellow Shop Assistants fan. I guess it brought us together. She walked through Angel Delight, I stumbled through porridge. She was from Edinburgh and she told me the Shoppies' singer Alex could often be seen "clanking around Edinburgh in her leathers." Think about that image for a moment. The streets of Edinburgh, I think it is fair to say, have seen their fair share of clanking, both real and supernatural, but rarely has it been caused by a young woman with a fine folk voice dressed head to toe in black leather. She wore a Marlon Brando cap and went on to front a group called The Motorcycle Boy. She probably couldn't afford a motorbike until she reached middle age. In fact I bet she's still saving up now. Her vocals were like a rainbow slick of oil on an autumn puddle, and her defiance was as old as the volcanic rock she walked upon - You leave me and I'll scratch your eyes out.

The Shop Assistants gave one of the best concerts I've ever been to. The Beastie Boys were still in Cookie Puss mode, so support band Pop Will Eat Itself were still good, the ideal warm-up really. What's so fucking good about Candy? That kind of thing. Then, sandwiched between The Poppies and The Shoppies, came Peter Case, a bewildered Jay Gatsby who was forced to suffer a great deal of vociferous abuse. For some reason, I had heard of him, and tried to listen. But it was hopeless, and so was Peter Case. Then came the Shop Assistants and they were loud and brash and had two drummers and if they were shambolic, as legend has it, I didn't notice. I don't know if it still happens now, but in those days women performers got lecherous comments hurled at them by drunks and numbskulls. After a while this became intolerable for the guitarist, whose name was, I think, David Keegan. I think he might have been from up north. He kicked someone in the crowd in the head, or rather he brought his Cuban heel down on someone's head, pressing it down like one of the plastic footballers in Subbuteo poor-substitute Striker. The atmosphere became electrified with the promise of rioting. It didn't really develop into anything major, but it was thrilling, it was rock'n'roll, it was what I wanted from life. Add to this the troubled expression of one of the drummers as events unfolded, and I was in something approaching heaven. This was what eighteen-year-old me wanted from life. Rarely was I to experience it again in such a mountain-pure form.

I got their album on the popular musicassette format, a format second only to the cassingle in the embarrassment stakes for pop fans. It's a hard-contested field. 8-track cartridges have been revered for some time, lauded by Big Black et al, but there are, as far as I know, no songs about musicassettes or cassingles. I would like someone to take the opportunity to tackle these artefacts in song before they disappear from the collective memory for ever.

The album was, at the time, a dreadful disappointment. It was on some kind of major label, Chrysalis, I think, so it had to be shit. And that was the end of that really. They disappeared, dissolved. The unavoidably inferior Motorcycle Boy, drumming for Meat Whiplash, guest guitar on a Vaselines record, not much else as far as I know. Which is the way it should be really, like a slowly disappearing vapour trail in a blue blue Scottish sky.

King of fools

2009-11-19T12:57:00.003Z

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN: THE RIOT YEARS

2009-11-08T18:53:00.002Z

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN: THE RIOT YEARS
Everybody loves a riot, and I am no exception. But real riots can be so unpredictable. It's all too easy to get a brick in the back of the head or a truncheon up the jacksy. One rioter once asked me if I could lend him a handkerchief with which to obscure his features, but the only I had had bogeys, so I was forced to pretend I hadn't got one. When I first started working in the Basque Country, Friday night was riot night. We would come out of work to be met by the huge hulking figures of riot police and would have to basically follow a line of them up to the railway station, which was being guarded to dissuade the disaffected youth from indulging in one of the favourite pastimes, setting fire to means of public transport. This is all very well, but it can (and did) go wrong, and the regular bouts of stone throwing were as unpredictable as forest fires. Good fun, I admit, but best to keep your distance if you value your freedom and/or physical integrity. So what better way to enjoy a riot than in the controlled environment of a small concert hall or nightclub? This was the brave social experiment carried out by followers of The Jesus and Mary Chain in the mid-eighties. Like May '68 without the slogans. The Jesus and Mary Chain made great records, records with cheese wire solos and dustbin lid drums. They were unavoidably exciting, and the experience of very loud feedback in a confined space could be quite agitating. Add to this the group's habit of playing for ten minutes or so before skulking off-stage and it is no real surprise tempers could be stretched to breaking point, if indeed this is what happened rather than just people "having a laugh" or whatever.

I went to see The Jesus and Mary Chain at Nottingham Rock City when the riot thing was still in the air. I was under-age and had borrowed my brother's provisional driver's licence. I had some kind of mental block at the door when the bouncer asked my date of birth and was ejected from the queue and put in some kind of holding pen, all my rock'n'roll dreams in the balance. I can't remember how I managed to convince my interlocutors that I really was over eighteen, but I did. Me in my cut-off donkey jacket. This was, after all, the time of the miners' strike (another false legend) or thereabouts and a cut-off donkey jacket seemed like a nice balance between a statement of solidarity and Duranee-baiting stylishness.

Once inside the venue (a fairly charmless place next to a car park, but by the far the most exciting place I had ever been) the long wait began. I think there were two support bands, but they were the kind that pay to get on the tour and everybody hates them. They must have got a fair bit of abuse that night. Someone's elder sister was working behind the bar (no doubt a glamorous student at Nottingham Poly), and gave my friends cheap drinks, but not me, because I had embarrassed myself in front of her in some drunken incident or other involving vinegar. I considered being mortified but... nah, no point. We waited. And waited. We had some chips. We waited, waited, waited. By now the venue was filling up and it was clear that quite a few people were there for a ruck - men with moustaches and white trainers, Terry-from-Brooksidealikes, Clough-era Notts Forest fans, definitely not people interested in The Jesus and Mary Chain and their clearly delineated scalpel slice through Warhol-fuelled selective rock'n'roll history. My clearest memory of the night is everyone, JAMC freaks and ruck boys alike, standing around trying to look tough when the DJ played Time Flies By When You're The Driver Of A Train by Half Man Half Biscuit at ear-bleeding volume. Try it some time, it's a pretty tricky pose to pull off.

Eventually the objects of our adulation shambled onto the stage. Obviously at the time I had a Bobby crush, so I was disappointed that Gillespie had either decided on a new sticky-uppy haircut or had been replaced. It later transpired (via the Hello Goodbye section of Mojo Magazine) that this gig was the début of John Moore. Bobby G was there, but backstage, giving his replacement moral support. Apparently he told him that all that was expected of him was to keep time, look good and dodge the bottles. Well, he didn't look good, and there were no bottles thrown. It was a disappointment, Bobby G not playing, and I find it hard to cling to the notion that this was some kind of historical event, a new drummer being baptised. I suppose in effect it was the beginning of a very slow end. The gig itself wasn't very good really, not after such a long wait. I think they were on for about half an hour, and I think they'd learned to defuse the latent violence by playing an excruciatingly long version of one of their more tuneless B-sides. Certainly the aforementioned Terrys from Brookside were hoping to start something by shoving and pushing and swearing and threatening, but the majority of punters were gentle souls more inclined to Pastelism than punishment, and nothing really happened. I'm glad I went, but to be honest, it wasn't much good. I loved the feedback, loved the melodies, loved the idea, but the vocals were almost inaudible, the shape and texture of the records was lost, and you couldn't help feeling that the band's obvious contempt for their audience was kind of deserved. That's not a nice feeling. So we all trooped out and some of us returned to the land of the tractor and the cow-pat, and went back to school next day with something to brag about and a legend to start building.

Years later I saw The Jesus and Mary Chain again in Prague. They were fantastic, but my abiding memory of that particular ghostly tube stop on the Revolution line from 1968 to 1989 was the wonderful sound of Big Star's Big Black Car hollowing its way from the PA in a cavernous venue as the audience trickled in. This time I was with people who'd taken real risks in the name of rock'n'roll, for which read freedom, people who'd run samizdat printing presses and so on, people who felt it was a really big deal to see The Jesus and Mary Chain. So I knew I was in the right place, and that I had been in the right place all along.

(I wanted to embed this, but I can't get it to work, but please click away.It is a video entitled The Jesus and Mary Chain North London Poly Riot)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hclcrEpui64

It's good to hear your voice, you know it's been so long

2009-03-09T12:45:00.001Z

And it's hard to believe this song is 30 years old.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPq9tF1FbnA

(having trouble embedding it if someone can help me out?)

Maybe you should welcome the new soul vision

2008-10-22T13:02:00.007+01:00

One of the first LPs my sister and I bought together (by the cliched but nonetheless effective methodology of saving up our pocket money) was Dexys Midnight Runners' debut album, Searching For the Young Soul Rebels (1980). Listening to it again, it's stood up very well; it's full of humour, intelligence and acute observations as well as the distinctive sounds of a kick ass horn section. Classic songs on the album include "Geno", still a great and curiously moving song; and the hyperarticulate "There There My Dear".

One song in particular, Thankfully Not Living in Yorkshire It Doesn't Apply, reminds me of dancing in the livingroom with a guy we called Randy Andy, a friend of my mum's in the category normally known as "freak", laughing with sheer joy because he was such a funky mover. The song contains the inimitable line "Lord have mercy on me, keep me away from Leeds". Which at the time, based on a complete absence of evidence, we deduced was about the Yorkshire Ripper.

Dexys went through some odd incarnations after this northern soul, teams-that-meet-in-caffs period: moving from serious, rather po-faced men in black clad in woollen hats to embrace the excesses of the day. Who can forget the risible dungarees circa "Come on Eileen" and the questionable hair? To the jaundiced eye, the age old problem: they seemed to have sold out as they got more popular. Their appearance on Top of the Pops for Jacky Wilson Said was notable for the pictures of darts player Jocky Wilson displayed in error by BBC props staff. Kevin Rowland went through several breakdowns and ended up heavily made up and wearing a dress on the cover of his solo album My Beauty. Not that there's anything wrong with this, of course; better a dress than dungarees.

Absolute Beginners (the Film)

2008-01-14T18:22:00.000Z

I think this was the most expensive British musical ever, or something like that, and was a total flop on release. Well, I think it is time it got the digging it deserves. It is so highly stylised that anyone who doesn't fully surrender themselves to its logic will not enjoy it. Once you enter into the spirit of its studio-bound Soho, however, it is top entertainment. The music, despite the involvement of Gil Evans, is a bit trying, to put it mildly. But surely this is better than an attempt at "authenticity", especially when the plot deals so explicitly with falsehood and prioritising practicality over idealism. That is does this with the help of Slim Gaillard is surely a one-off worth celebrating. Sade is surprisingly good, both visually and vocally. The protagonist, Colin, mouthing along to Paul Weller is quite a jolt. The choreography is competent (to my ignorant eyes) and there are echoes of Fellini (explicit at one point), Ken Russell's Tommy film and Cliff vehicle The Young Ones. It is surprising to me that the likes of Patsy Kensit and Eddie Tenpole are not bigger stars than they are. Presumably Ray Davies's career was pretty slow at the time it was filmed, and his turn as a henpecked husband is gloriously understated. Surely this film would find more of a welcome in a world where the Pirates of the Carribean series is such a big earner. And where else are you going to find a film featuring a fight between rival groups shouting their allegiance to either "Mods!" or "Trads!" respectively. Not to mention the equally hens' teeth occurrence of the insult "chocolate drop" used in anger.

Four stars out of five.

PMQs

2008-01-14T18:16:00.000Z

One unexpected advantage of the digital age is that I am now able to review Prime Minister's Questions every week. I can just press a button and my hard disk recording device will tape it for me, whether or not my attention is drawn to it by a lot of preceding fuss. This week was Nick Clegg's debut as Liberal head honcho. I thought he did OK, although I did not know who he was until he stood up. Never having watched PMQs in its entirety, I was surprised by how, erm, likable, or at least relatively entertaining, Big Dave Cameron is. At one point he answered a question from Big Gordon Brown, who insisted that he hadn't. This was a bit odd. Not side-splitting, just a it weird. The theatrical nature of the event helps, I think. After all, the proper debates are often unwatchable except by the hardy few. It was a few days ago, so I have forgotten most of it. I will have to either take notes or be a little more prompt next week.

PJM 2007

2007-12-14T19:58:00.000Z

Here is the tracklisting for my end of the year roundup CD, with reasons for choosing them. No one has heard it yet, but still.

1. JOHN BARRY – THE WHISPERERS

I watched this film when it was on the telly.

2. IAN BROWN – ILLEGAL ATTACKS

I particularly like Sinead O'Connor's contribution to this record. It is also here as a tribute to me seeing Ian Brown having a fag outside his hotel in Reading.

3. STYLE COUNCIL – SHOUT TO THE TOP (INSTRUMENTAL)

Not sure why this is here. It's good though. Better with the words, mind.

4. R DEAN TAYLOR – THERE'S A GHOST IN MY HOUSE

Got this on a Motown compilation for a quid out of Fopp before it went into meltdown.

5. GRINDERMAN – NO PUSSY BLUES

Apart from everything else, what I really love is the guitar sound, which is one of those little guitars. I did some research and found out that they are called travel guitars.

6. DINOSAUR JR – ALMOST READY

This is just brilliant really.

7. EDWYN COLLINS – HOME AGAIN

I went to his comeback concert.

8. JONA LEWIE – STOP THE CAVALRY

From the Stiff Records box set, most of which is rubbish. It was cheap, but I would still like my money back. Roogalator.

9 and 10 ROKY ERICKSON – BERMUDA/THE INTERPRETER

Again, I went to a concert, in this case, Roky Erickson's British debut. It was good, but nowhere near as good as these two songs, which are from a 7 inch single originally.

11 and 12 THE MONKS – CUCKOO/I CAN'T GET OVER YOU

This is a 7 inch single too, now extra tracks on the CD of the album. Edith has spent the past few minths asking for "cucko music", so I am always delighted when I come across something that fits that description.

13. TONY CONRAD WITH FAUST – THE DEATH OF THE COMPOSER WAS IN 1962

I went to a Tony Conrad concert in which he droned on for bleeding ages. Here is a nice short drone from his session with Faust.

14. TELEVISION – BLANK GENERATION (LIVE)

From a Richard Hell compilation CD, which might be the album of the year if I could be bothered listening to it more often.

15. YOKO ONO/J SPACEMAN – WALKING ON THIN ICE

From an album in which "guests" do new music for Yoko Ono songs. They are all pretty good, but this one stands out for me as WALL OF PAIN of the year.

16. SUPER FURRY ANIMALS – WALK AWAY

Bought this especially for this end of the year roundup. Had never heard it before, but it is good. Reminds me of the Dion does Roy Wood and Wizzard extra track on Dion's Born To Be With You (?) CD reisssue. And it has been another year of Wales in my head.

17. ESG – ERASE YOU

From a "rarities" CD, which I think is better than the non rarities CD I got a few years ago. I suppose the word is "insistent".

18. GORDON JACKSON – THE JOURNEY

19. LAURIE JOHNSON – THE PROFESSIONALS

My idea of a joke. Still, they are both very good. I find Gordon Jackson a bit too much like hard work, as is true with most of the folkies that are being dusted off these days. I hope they are all growers. This track is the most "psychedelic" on a fairly plodding album.

20. JOHN LENNON – NOBODY TOLD ME

I like this song. It is from the soundtrack to the film "John Lennon vs the USA" which was on the telly at some point. All the tracks on the soundtrack are political in some way. Here we are concerned with "Nazis in the bathroom", which has inspired me to draw a little Hitler moustache on our Toilet Duck.

It has very much been a year of Nazis too, what with "Downfall" and "Winnie and Wolf" both dealing with the Fuhrer.

I am begining to warm to my task, but there are only two tracks left.

21. CANDIE PAYNE – ONE MORE CHANCE (INSTRUMENTAL)

This is a Mark Ronson production. It has been his year as well. I hate the little twat. I like Candie Payne though, for bringing back kitchen sink psychedelia, my favourite imaginary genre
.
22. WHITE NOISE – BLACK MASS: AN ELECTRIC STORM IN HELL

I hadn't actually heard this before putting it on here.

God Gave Rock and Roll To You

2007-11-03T20:01:00.000Z

Here is a zip file of mp3s of my "best of" for 2007. It is a bit early, but who cares? At a later date I shall provide detailed sleevenotes and link to vaguely related videos, but in the meantime, here is the zip a de doodah:

http://www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=r1vo6xtk7tc

I hope it proves entertaining, perhaps on a long journey or at the launderette.

Radio Two Shitefest

2007-10-13T00:10:00.000+01:00

I haven’t done this in a while, for various reasons too dull to mention. Anyhoo, I’m going to be a bit briefer than before, so that it seems easier to do. And also because my critical faculties don’t really extend beyond ‘this is shit’ and ‘this is transcendent’.

I’m only basing this on this week’s playlist on Radio Two, as I have failed to note down what got my attention recently. Finally, there’s a whole new section, now - not only is there Good and Bad, but also a section for the songs I am Unsure about! Woo.

nb, some of the videos are not proper videos, just those shoddy fan videos you get on Youtube.

GOOD

Richard Hawley – Serious – this reminds me of something I can’t identify. I don’t think it’s much of a song really, but it’s catchy enough. The video is amusing.

Kylie – Two Hearts – of course this is going to be great. Plucky Kylie etc etc.

UNSURE

Take That - Rule The World I quite like this, but my 16 year old self is recoiling in horror. To appease this I imagine that it’s being performed by Suede, and that helps a great deal. Besides the lyrics are kind of Prozac Brett Anderson anyway.

Seal – Amazing – I never knew that Seal’s real name was Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel until I looked on Wikipedia. Now I know. I’ve never been a fan, and this song hasn’t changed that but it’s a bit of an earworm, I’ll give it that much. If it was by Unkle Jam I'd probably give it an easier time.

Mika - Happy Ending – it utterly pains me to say this, but this would make a passable Scissors Sisters b-side, and is therefore classifiable as ‘not absolutely fucking mind numbingly dreadful’, therefore elevating it many levels above Mika’s previous effluvia.

The Hoosiers - Goodbye Mr A I want to hate this, I hated the previous single, and feel this is very similar, but it’s somehow not as awful. I would make the ELO comparison but it’s been done to death.

Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love – I’ve only heard this once, and a perverse 5% of me wants to like it. It’s how I imagine power ballads were like in early 1990s South America. Although thinking about it I’m not sure why this would be a good thing.

BAD

Amy MacDonald - L.A. – Her previous single was dire, yet this surpasses it in the shite stakes. I can’t quite express the baffled rage I feel in regard to this song, and indeed to her. I honestly cannot believe that anyone would think her voice is at all pleasant – it’s almost comedically low, and ‘oirish’ to the point of being distorted. I saw her do it live on some TV show, and she dropped her voice at least an octave, and it was fucking bizarre. And wrong. Perhaps she is an elaborate joke. I hope so.

Orson – Ain’t No Party – Tedious, just tedious. The singer’s voice is retarded, they’re clearly gay for Toploader, and have written this song expressly with the intention of it getting using in adverts and the other inbetween bits of telly. If I’m ever at one of their parties I’m going to kill myself. After I've dispatched with them and their moronic mates that is.

Ben’s Brother – Carry On - My antipathy to this lot is already known, and nothing has changed with this song, it basically the same song as last time, so I won’t repeat myself. Basically, they really shouldn’t ‘carry on’.

Ja, bitte!

2007-08-10T00:05:00.000+01:00

Here's some that didn't make me vomit!

RICHARD HAWLEY – Tonight The Streets Are Ours
I don’t know much about the rest of Hawley’s output, I believe he was in the Longpigs, and is mates with Jarvis, and initially I thought this song might be Cocker’s latest, although Hawley doesn’t have quite enough charisma to fool me for long. Whatever though, it’s charmingly upbeat and just a little bit timeless, which will do for a drab Wednesday afternoon. I have come to accept that my critical faculties have been altered, some might say dulled, by months of listening to Radio 2’s daytime playlist. What of it though - I am content. It’s like valium.

SOPHIE ELLIS BEXTOR - Today The Sun’s On Us
Like Hawley, someone who’s reinvented themselves after Britpop. How many more are there around today? Louise Wener doesn’t count. Anyway, here Sophie manages to take this quite positive lyric and make it sound wistful. I’ve always liked Sophie; she has very good legs.

AMY WINEHOUSE – Tears Dry On Their Own
It took me awhile to notice Amy Winehouse, having for a long time filed her away in the bit of my brain reserved for Glamour magazine, strappy heels and cocktails with the girls. None of which appeal to me, apart from the cocktails, so for ages I ignored her. I realised I was mistaken when Rehab came out, and although she’s clearly heading for a massive crash she really does have a remarkable voice, and this is one of the strongest songs on the album. Also, the world needs pop stars who get fucked up and fall over, and are mouthy and don’t give a shit.

JOSS STONE – Tell Me What We’re Gonna Do Now
A surprise entry in the Ja, bitte! list here, I had no idea who this was the first couple of times I heard it and by the time I found out who it was it was too late; I was already captivated by her overly mature voice, and the straightforward stylings of this track. I guess that’s why I didn’t click that was Stone, I associate her with overblown vocal displays and hideous white soul. As an aside, I love these singers who are basically children, there’s something quite satisfying about watching them go off the rails as time goes by.

THE THRILLS - Nothing Changes Around Here
Does what it says on the tin (the tin says ‘Standard Indie – Non Toxic). I see this lot as methadone to the Shins smack. It’ll do. Although I hear methodone is highly addictive which fucks that analogy out of the water.

Also-rans for the good list: THE REVELATIONS - Baby, I Want You To Know/ GROOVE ARMADA FEAT. MUTYA - Song 4 Mutya/ ARCADE FIRE - No Cars Go

EDIT: Cannot get the link for Joss Stone to work, but what the hell, you all know how to use Youtube, right?

Nein Danke!

2007-08-09T23:52:00.000+01:00

Hello! Here I am again with my ramblings. First up, the crap that's been on Radio Two in the last month or so.

AMY MACDONALD - Mr Rock and Roll

Christ this is awful. I’m unclear what it’s about, but there’s something almost nauseatingly embarrassing about her singing about someone being rock and roll. It’s like a shoddy uncle trying to do a hip-hop dance. The music itself is so remarkably uninspired and cliched that its pointlessness is almost remarkable. Almost. Her voice is deeply unsubtle, like a blunt hacksaw. Finally, ‘multicultural’ is not a suitable word for a pop song. And actually, nor are most of the other words in the song, not in this combination at least.

BEN'S BROTHER – Let Me Out

Have you seen (at top) what this lot look like? It’s like an advert for banality. Anyway, song starts with emo piano, alarms bells should be ringing around now. The vocal wanders in, with some shit lyrics, and the voice is a cross between Steve McFadden (on that duet CD he did with Barbara Windsor. Or whatever) and Joe Pasquale. Essentially unpleasant is what I’m saying. The mixed messages in the chorus elevate it from bland to actually annoying (‘Let me out. Or let me in'. WHICH IS IT TO BE?).

JAMES BLUNT – 1973

Born in 1974, the only way James would have been in a club in 1973 is if his pregnant mother had been there, no doubt passively inhaling cigarette smoke, which as we all know can lead to birth defects. I put it to you that James’ birth defect is to be condemned to a life of producing shite, annoying MOR songs.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT - Rules And Regulations
Rufus’ previous song irritated me so much that I would leave the room when I came on, much like when Big Girl by Mika comes on. His Thom Yorke esque voice is whiny, and just so gloomy. This song sucks the life-force out of me. What fucking rules and regulations are you on about anyway? Cheer up goth.

NELLY FURTADO - In God's Hands

I don’t have much to say about this, but why is it that some singers often do say, two or three great upbeat tracks then follow it up with this kind of drivel?

Also rans: NATALIE IMBRUGLIA – Glorious/ GOLDSPOT – Friday.

Three for Ten Quid

2007-07-19T10:12:00.000+01:00

I sometimes go to a little record shop in Reading that sells secondhand CDs at three for ten quid, which usually seems cheap enough to take a chance or to pick up something you've had your eye on but never dared pay full price for.

LFO: Frequencies

I used to have a double CD called Warp Influences, which was early techno and house records. Foolishly, I sold it, but the memory of it was enough to persuade me to choose this album by LFO. I expected it to be more minimalist, but even so it is pleasantly bleepscapist and makes for good background music whilst playing Lego or toy cars, two of my most frequent activities now that I am a stay-at-home dad. There is one track called "Love is the Message", but it sounds like the lady vocalists are cooing "hunt the sausage". Neither message seems particularly relevant to the music, but still. I think this album might be a grower. It begins with a track aligning itself to house pioneers like Phuture and Adonis rather than KLF, but I think it is quite similar to KLF's Chill Out album, a form of easy listening. Perhaps it stuck out more in 1991 when it was released.

The Cramps: Flamejob

This album is now available with loads of extra tracks, but this is the original release on Creation Records from 1994. I was hoping it would put itself forward as the greatest late Creation LP, but unfortunately it is for the most part quite tame, at least by Cramps standards. It ends with three cover versions, which are probably the highlight of the album, including a strangely affecting version of (Get Your Kicks On) Route 66. Thoughtful and sedate, it effortlessly evokes the passing of time, a surprising end to a Cramps album.

Sonic Youth: Rather Ripped

Another album that saves best for last, the closing track here is called "Or" and appears to revolve around fanzine interviews, something Sonic Youth used to make a point of making themselves available for. I conducted one myself on the Daydream Nation tour, and if I'm perfectly honest, I consider that album to be their cut-off point. Still, it's nice, if slightly chilling, to be a small part of this lacerating lyric - "What comes first, the music or the words?". Yes, I asked something very similar. (The answer is jam sessions.) Like the Cramps album referred to above, this LP lacks a certain spark or edge of desperation, and it's a shame the bonus track undoes the good work of "Or" which is a fantastic closer, like "Caroline No".

I bought the above three together. I can't remember what I bought the next one with, but I remember I only bought it to make up the three CDs required to qualify for the cheaper price:

Ministry: Early Trax

Ministry is a group I would like to like, along with spin-off projects like The Revolting Cocks and 1,000 Homo DJs. Here we have some early 12" singles and their accompanying remixes and B sides. They are not blessed with the corrosive guitars of later Ministry records and come across as something like a poor man's Depeche Mode. They do not sound particularly angry or twisted, so to my mind they are not much use. I suppose you could play them at a party, and the album might be a grower, if I ever give it a chance. I have been tempted to check out later Ministry, but I have not got round to it yet.

You may have noticed that these reviews have been written with only the most cursory of listens to the albums in question, so I reserve the right to completely change my mind.

Radio Woohoo More Like

2007-06-29T10:37:00.000+01:00

Part two of my monthly round-up.

Feist – 1 2 3 4
Aw, this is lovely. What a nice voice. Hadn’t heard anything by her before, so it’s a bit depressing that I’m discovering stuff though Radio 2 now. Brass instruments and faintly shambolic Kate Bush feel. First place!

The Bees – Listening Man
Really nice production, all retro, if that’s the right description. Lovely, laid back, confident pace. Bit like Clinic but happy not angry.

Travis – Selfish Jean
I railed pretty hard against Travis back in the day, and Coldplay too. It’s clear now that neither band is a fraction as medicore as the dirgemongers they’ve spawned. Anyway, this song is great, all jaunty and compelling. I am converted (in this instance at least).

Unkle Jam – What Am I Fighting For?
I was really surprised to hear this on Radio Two – it feels much more suited to a younger station, and definitely more a night time song. Also the word ‘jam’ is funny. Jam. It’s almost as pleasing in the mouth as ‘Dade’*. Dade. Say it now. Dade. Jam. Jam. Dade. Dade.

Enrique Iglesias - Do You Know?
Starting with the sound of a ping-pong match, this song spent much of the first half of the month in my Bad list, but oddly it’s totally grown on me, but I really can’t explain why. A radio version of Stockholm Syndrome?

Simon Webbe – Grace
Again, a surprise hit. This style of music has never appealed to me, but with Radio Two you take what you can get. This song however, is calm, understated and just plain nice and oh my god you best not play me any Lighthouse Family cos I’ll tell you I’ve changed my mind about them and then I’ll probably start going to church, voting Tory and eating desiccated coconut. This is the slippery slope my parents warned me about. Quick, fetch the Throbbing Gristle box set; this is an emergency.

*As in CSI: Miami (Dade). ‘Sunglasses ON, Horatio, sunglasses ON’

Radio Poo More Like

2007-06-27T22:12:00.001+01:00

Hey, me again! I'm making this a monthly thing. Readership of 3, if I'm lucky. My original idea was to list 10 good and 10 bad songs for the last month, as heard on Radio Two. I had too many bad though, and not enough good, so here in part one is my abridged baaaad list. Gooood follows tomorrow. Aren’t you excited!

Mika - Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)

I had time for Mika’s first single. It was charming, vaguely intelligent; I thought he might be an all right kind of cove. How wrong was I? This latest lyrical vomit is utterly awful; I go and lock myself in the bogs when it comes on. People think I’ve got the shits, but I don’t care, I never want to hear this heavy-handed hymn to lardy lasses and how great every single one of them is ever again.

Paul McCartney – Dance Tonight

For me, this song is as surreal as the stuff on Yellow Submarine. The concept of the long-faced Gillian McKeith lookalike providing musical accompaniment to people ‘dancing tonight’ and having fun is just plain weird. Plus is that a ukulele? Unforgivable Paul, you look like a right nonce. No wonder Heather fucked off. She knew this was in the pipeline.

Andrea Corr – Shame On You

First of all Andrea gets some credit for leaving the Corrs. That’s the extent of my goodwill though, as this song is basically a Corrs’ song that has been put through some kind of generic lite dance processing machine in order to give Andrea some edge, I imagine in an unimaginative attempt to buoy her career along for a bit longer. Is ‘MOR Dance’ a genre? Andrea’s just invented it if not.

Gareth Gates - Angel On My Shoulder

In some interview recently GG was explaining how he had a fresh and exciting direction. Whereas Andrea Corr at least has the decency to try something a little edgy (I’m being generous here, ok?) GG has opted to perform a song so overwrought, down tempo and downright tedious that it makes me wonder whether his label isn’t trying to sabotage him from the inside. Genuine queries – who buys this shit? And at what point in one’s day does it feel right to listen to this? Is it for when the Samaritans are engaged*?

Robin Thicke – Lost Without You

Two problems – first this is a sorry excuse for a song, pretty much a textbook example of everything I hate, and second, his name is Thicke. THICKE. Is the final ‘e’ silent or voiced?

Sonny Jim - Can't Stop Moving

When I first heard this I was optimistic but by the second listen it was clear that it’s insubstantial chaff. Chucking together a load of vintage samples and saccarine motivational quotations, a la ‘Wear Sunscreen’ and generally ripping off the Go Team!/ Avalanches may impress Steve Wright but not me. Try harder Sonny Jim.

Scouting For Girls - It's Not About You

“Dear Jim

We really like McFly, even though they’re a bit shit. Can you fix it for us to be like them? Obviously we don’t want to be as good as them cos that would be disrespectful, so can you fix it for us to be a third rate tribute act to a third rate somewhat generic guitar band?

from Roy, Greg and Peter from ‘Scouting For Girls’

Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry

Some people, myself included would point out that one Anastasia is quite enough for the world. Fergie’s voice on this is pretty weird, strangled and cutesy and all over the place. The one redeeming feature of the song is the unintentional humour in her pronunciation of the line ‘I’m gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket’

Justin Nozuka - Mr Therapy Man

Justin is 12 years old and last year for Christmas he got an acoustic guitar and a random blues lyrics generator. Since then he has put togther some cod blues records, much in the style of tens of other nondescript male singer-songwriters with guitars and sensitive-yet-macho haircuts, and is inflicting them on us. He lives in Luton and although he often sings about his ‘baby’ (who in this song has left him boohoo), he has actually only got as far as brushing up against Laura’s boobs in General Studies.

*I didn’t want to write this, as I know full well the Sams operate a phone system whereby if one branch is busy you’ll get put through to another branch, meaning the phone is always answered. Well done them.

Radio Two baybee

2007-05-30T23:13:00.000+01:00

(I figure some posts here wouldn't go amiss! Is anyone reading?

Anyway, I have knocked something up. It follow below. Obviously.)

This is my five best and worst newish tracks as heard on Radio Two in the last week, with brief commentary...

Good

1. Umbrella - Rihanna

The 'ella-ella-ella-eh' part is like catnip to me.

2. World is Outside - Ghosts

Reminiscent of Valentine by the Delays, gets the dance/ rock balance right.

3. Willy Mason ft KT Tunstall - We Could Be Strong

Catchy and charming, with minimal Tunstall. He looks like the sort of chap who would entertain a novelty beard though, so some reservations remain.

4. Samson - Regina Spektor

Not the type of song I usually like, but I like RS, and her voice goes a long way to make a miseryballad or whatever this is into something rather listenable and not heavy handed (take note Natasha Bedingfield)). The video is pretty also.

5. Someone to Love - Fountains of Wayne

A last minute entry here, I've only heard this once, but it sounds interesting.

Bad

1. Last Night I Nearly Died - Duke Special

Offensive voice, terrible sixth formish concept for lyrics, stupid gentle crescendo into repetative nothingness on the chorus.

2. Tiny Dancers - Hannah We Know

Songs by blokes with girl's names in the title in fuck me right off*. Can't actually work out what the song is about, so feel the name is a bit gimmicky. The singer looks like a sickly creep.

3. Cherry Ghost - People Help The People

Just monotonous, over-worthy lyrics.

4. Natasha Bedingfield - Soulmate

This is just painful. Overwrought, whingy, no one cares, woman! Ooh, she knows long words, isn't she clever, not like all the others!

5. Ben's Brother - Rise

Just look at them.

*with the exception of Eleanor Put Your Boots On by the Frank Fergusons.

Top Telly from Irvine Welsh and Someone Else

2007-05-24T10:22:00.001+01:00

(I started a new blog but no one read it, so I am repeating it here.)

I am proofreading the subtitles for this new Irvine Welsh TV thing called Wedding Belles. Due to the nature of the job I can only watch it in fits and starts, on a tiny little screen on my computer. Even so, I can tell it's a fantastic piece of work. Apparently it airs on March 29th, and then the DVD will come out, I suppose. My favourite scene is when the crackhead heroine is enjoying her drug of choice whilst listening to Krautrock by Faust, which is one of my favourite pieces of music, punishingly hard psychedelia that seems to go on and on for ever. Then she tries to kill herself. Something about the conjunction of music, image and content makes this scene especially moving to me, even without the benefit of a proper context. I suppose it is because I share her desire for oblivion (at least some of the time), but me being me, I know that after the oblivion wears off I would be right back where I started, if not actually worse off. I suppose this is one of the positive effects of being a negative bastard.

Murphy's Law

2007-05-24T10:19:00.000+01:00

(I started a new blog but no one ever read it, so I am repeating it here.)

I had a closer look at my Murphy's Law Series One DVD what I got from Woolworth's for £4 last night. Imagine my surprise to find that it's the same story over and over again:Pilot Episode - Murphy's Law: A team of undertakers are moonlighting as diamond thieves - and the bodies are beginning to stack up. Murphy goes undercover to infiltrate the team and discovers a sinister connection with Japanese heroin dealers. Electric Bill: When Richard Mooney is arrested on suspicion of being 'Electric Bill', London's most infamous kidnapper, Murphy and Annie are in a desperate race against time to locate his latest victim. Mooney isn't talking so Murphy goes undercover in prison to win his trust. Kiss and Tell: A beautiful serial killer is terrorising London's business elite. Murphy goes undercover as a top financier and joins the same health club that the victims belonged to. Now he must date a number of beautiful and sophisticated women, each of whom might be the killer. Manic Munday: A top Irish snooker player is ordered to fix his next game - or die. Murphy and Annie go undercover to protect him - and uncover the sinister organisation behind the death! threats. Reunion: A top member of an east end gang is murdered - and London looks set to be torn apart by a bloody gang war. Murphy infiltrates the ranks of a rival gang and sets about gathering evidence against its leader. But as time starts to run out, and as tension on the streets reaches boiling point, Murphy and Annie find themselves on the front line...Having said that, the Irish snooker player one sounds quite good.

Stopper For None

2006-11-05T15:32:00.000Z

Last night I started reading a book called Starter For Ten by David "dandy" Nicholls. You may have seen advertisements for the film based on this book. It is about students in the 80s, and they go on University Challenge. I did quite well at this week´s University Challenge (by my standards) so when I saw the book going for half price, I thought i would do my bit for the eventual ruin of the publishing industry as we know it, and snapped it up. (Actually I had to go back the next day after thinking through the possible repercussions of spending three quid on a book.) Anyway, I have been waiting all day for a chance to pick it up again and have a bit of a laugh. But instead, I have been brouhgt to my knees by this:

"I'm stood behind her for the whole of the extended twelve-inch version of 'Blue Monday' by New Order."

That's it. A whole day of anticipation ruined. Now what am I going to do? Watch the fucking rugby?

Automatic for the people

2006-11-05T03:01:00.000Z

My mother travelled from Scotland to Hong Kong a few weeks ago, and she brought with her a CD by a Scottish singer/songwriter, David Heavenor, called "The Automatic Eye". This was a more personal gift than it sounds: David is a family friend who used to spend time at our house in the 70s and he is one of those figures from the past who I remember through the filter of summer gardens and heat on the tarmac with the strumming of a guitar as backdrop; he seemed to like spending time with the kids, the price for which was always a story; and the tales he used to tell us ("and the captain said, tell us a tale!") , including the legendary story of the hut in the woods, with its genuinely terrifying denouement, still burn in my mind. The gentle, unmistakeable Scottishness of his voice and its clear timbre contain so many things that I can't even name which are all to do with my memories of childhood, and my undeniable nostalgia for the place where I come from, which, at the risk of sounding sentimental, often seems even further away than 6,000 miles.

I've always been distrustful of people who sing unnaturally, in an accent other than their own, as if ashamed ("Brown Sugar! Just like a young girl should!") ; and I love those voices which in song are no more than a gear shift away from the spoken word: like David's.

The best track on the CD (what cheesy radio DJs call "the standout track") is called "Sign In a Stranger" and lines keep recurring to me, sitting at my desk in the office in the glass edifice where I spend my day, or lying awake at night worrying about work:

building up like storms,
bursting in mid-air

When David sings, in a hush, "I'm walking behind you, I'm climbing the stairs", I'm in a darkened, damp Edinburgh close with someone I can't have. It's strange being transported by something as simple as a song, but I realise that that's what I love about good music, that it can speak to you on so many levels: even though I now know nothing about David, his experiences, his life, I feel as though I know everything I need to know.

How I Want To Live My Life

2006-10-25T16:25:00.000+01:00

Inside I'm Plastic Bertrand:

The Byrds

2006-10-17T08:34:00.000+01:00

The Beatles are the sound of sitting on a damp wall waiting for something good to happen; of discomfort first mingling with, and then becoming the same thing as, the certainty of salvation.

The Byrds are something different: a beach, a leaf-carpeted grove, slanted sun in your eyes, the promise of something beyond.

I have been listening to this music for 20 years now, so that seems as good a reason as any to invest in a new box set. There Is A Season, it is called. I can’t remember what the previous box set was called, but There Is A Season is a good title, containing as it does a no-arguments-brooked reason for its existence.

There is more Gene Clark here, and with good reason. You don’t miss your water.

Disc 1 kicks off with some pre-Byrds stuff and some tracks from Pre-Flyte. Unlike many exercises of this type, they make pleasant listening aside form, or despite, their evolutionary importance. You can’t say the same for Steve Marriott gurning his way through Consider Yourself or the Reed/Cale demos that lie like the Slough of Despond before the Velvet Underground box set.

Then onto the well-loved classics, straight down the line, with the odd googly for good measure. The tracklisting flows beautifully, a broad and deep introduction to the band with no dud tracks whatsoever: chiming, drowning, skipping, dawdling and traipsing – out on the end of time. The dynamics are spot-on; propulsive and convincing, the rhythm section draws you in like quicksand, the Eighteenth Emergency of Pop.

Tracks tagged onto reissues can shine here, showing themselves to be the true equals of their more celebrated siblings. 65 minutes of bliss – just right. The exact number of drum beats and tambourine tattoos, the exact quantity of piled-high Rickenbacker glory, of heaving walls and pounding floors, of shaken mops of hair and breathless rides home.

Flash is fast, Flash is cool

2006-09-27T12:22:00.000+01:00

It must be the first and only time that the word “sacroiliac” has ever appeared in a song lyric. On paper it’s a toweringly cheesy idea, but somehow in song it works: how else to explain the unexpected shiver down my spine on hearing in passing a bar or two from Blondie’s “Rapture”?

I don’t think it’s just pure nostalgia either. Something about the cool, easy way Debbie Harry (oh, how it used to irk me when they called her Blondie! No, that’s a category error, I should have self-importantly cried) drawls: “Fab Five Freddie told me everybody’s fly…” makes the unworkable work. Poor old Vanilla Ice, who tried the same thing to practically worldwide opprobrium just a few years later, should have learned from Debbie’s chutzpah: do it first, do it best, then henceforth keep well away from a genre you are plainly ill-suited for.

Like many things, of course, none of this bears closer analysis, least of all the lyrics (“You get in the car and you drive real far/And you drive all night till you see a light/And it comes right down and it lands on the ground/And out comes the man from Mars”, anyone?). But I’ll throw my hands in the air like I just don’t care, and that’s what music is all about.

A Little Hell

2006-09-18T09:33:00.000+01:00

In the gym this morning they were playing Jamiroquai (as a brief respite from Nickelback: albeit not brief, and no respite) and in the shower I was musing about Jay Kay's inexplicable global success as he whinged in the background: a multi-millionaire who espouses green issues but owns dozens of cars; whose lyrics are the wrong side of doggerel (“I got candy in my heels tonight, baby” doesn't really withstand any kind of textual analysis); whose records all sound the same; a posturing, style-dodging white boy who steals everyone else’s sound and puts it through a hot wash to produce anaemic cod-funk and who’s been getting away with it for ten (10) years now.

Either he’s thick as mince or we are.

He’s always wearing a risibly oversized hat, though, so no one really knows what he looks like. Genius! He gets to make shite records and walk away incognito to his Lotus Élan.

Set this against the equally inexplicable failure of Maximo Park to make much of an impact (thus far) and you have a real travesty.

Madame Onassis Got Nothin' On You

2006-09-09T19:40:00.000+01:00

An early rockumentary, showing where Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, and the rest of The Faces got their raunchy and rebellious image, providing an "excess all areas" pass to the kind of backstage high-jinks that got the seventies such a bad name. Hold on to your hollyhocks!

Insane Clown Posse

2006-08-21T13:20:00.000+01:00

I am quite surprised that Leo Sayer's classic song of urban multi-instrumentalist alienation, "One Man Band", was written for the toughest man in rock, Roger Daltrey. See for yourself on this excellent video, uploaded by the equally excellent Paris1919:

PS: I apologise for Leo Sayer's lack of afro.

Validate Singleton

2006-08-15T17:54:00.000+01:00

I have watched "Boyz n the Hood". It stars Cuba Gooding Jr, an actor what I saw in real life last year, at the San Sebastian Film Festival, where he was promoting a truly terrible film in which he has physical relations of a sexual nature with BAFTA award-winning actress Helen Mirren. Had I known that he had hung out with Compton's Most Riddled With Attitude Problems, I would have been more impressed. I believe the crucial shooting scene, where Ice Cube empties his clip, takes place in the same "parking lot" as the time travel sequence from the far superior "Back to the Future".

Poptimism: The Game's Up

2006-08-04T17:16:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately for all you 'poptimists' out there, it's now not cool to like popular, but 'uncool' music, because it's gone mainstream, according to this BBC article. What will happen now? Do the poptimists go back to being indie kids?

The Beatles Are Shit

2006-07-30T19:15:00.000+01:00

My friend and I were talking about the Beatles the other day. Spefically, we got fixated on 'Old Brown Shoe' for about half an hour. 'Old Brown Shoe' is not a well-known Beatles song, but it does figure on the Beatles very famous 'blue album'; which is possibly the Beatles album most people own.

It's pretty much impossible to say anything useful about the Beatles on the grounds that everything's already been said, and all of us at our age have grown up always knowing virtually all the songs. 'Old Brown Shoe' is not in this category, though. Unfortunately, it's just piss poor.

So, in looking closely, we figured that the Beatles are basically (a) a collection of songs where you can't tell whether they're good or bad, and (b) bad songs; ergo, the Beatles are shit.

Which is of course great news, because I like shit bands. I think I'll pop on Abbey Road.

Silver Machine vs Love Me Like a Reptile

2006-07-19T09:59:00.000+01:00

I have decided that my job is like being in Hawkwind - smelly, pointless, going nowhere. What I need is a job that equates to forming Motorhead - admittedly also smelly, but dynamic and unstoppable, like a runaway freight train shovelling speed instead of coal.

To extend the analogy, I suppose I need to meet the subtitling Philthy Animal.

Instead, I am stuck with The Worst Week of My Life, a BBC comedy series that updates the standard scenario of hapless middle class twat creating havoc and navigating his way through pandemonium.

What annoys me most about this series is its outdated assumptions, such as "it is unacceptable to talk about breastfeeding" and "inverted nipples are something to be ashamed of" and "pregnant women do not have sex" and "people called Cordelia are more worthy of attention than people with normal names".

It is a load of posh crap, and I urge you to avoid it.

Keith’s University of Rock, part 2: How Punk is Suede’s Stay Together?

2006-07-10T23:04:00.000+01:00

Recently, I’ve been re-reading John Harris’ Britpop book ‘The Last Party’ and enjoying it, though I disagree with many of its conclusions. One of these points of disagreement is the assessment that Suede’s ‘Stay Together’ is ‘pompous and overblown’. He also claims that nowadays, Bert of The Suede thinks it is too.

Am I missing something? I think it’s probably the best thing they ever did, though I don’t really know, since I pretty much lost interest after Bernard Butler left. That said, I did hear the singles and they were plums. Part of the problem here seems to me that the ambition to do something different had gone with Butler. With the arrival of Britpop that year, having the desire to produce anything other than standard issue pop/punk songs soon became spectacularly unfashionable, but that’s OK, because with mega-memorable tunes from the likes of Northern Uproar, who needs that.

In general, this sort of thing is OK for a while, but things haven’t really recovered from that period. The ‘indie’ scene, having grown out of punk, on the whole tends to maintain the status quo (not the band: it’s arcane machinery and the blood of young virgins that maintains them).

The Tweenet internet site claims that the C86 movement carries the true spirit of punk. Trouble is, Skrewdriver think the same thing and I know who I’m backing in a fight. Some of the principles are the same: keep a lid on it lads, anything longer than three minutes is rubbish; oh yeah and hurry up Harry, we’re going down the pub.

Anyway, the phrase ‘pompous and overblown’ has been overused in the extreme since punk broke in 1991. Oh no! Hold on, it was 1976, or 1977 if you’re not a member of the Sexpistols. Cowabunga! That was thirty years ago! Thirty years is, for example, the amount of time between 1957 and 1987.

It's fucking annoying that since then, musicians have had to wear straitjacket for fear of slagged off for not being ‘punk’, by the taste makers (typically, the music press and its followers). Strange thing is, fundamentally it seems to me that anything that promotes anarchy would have a stated aim not to have a well-defined view of what’s good and bad.

Wikipedia claims that anarchy means:

that all forms of rulership are undesirable and should be abolished

Though personally, I think it’s more about sticking two fingers up to grannies, but taken either way, it doesn’t mean make three minute sort-of-pop-songs. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that punk has provided the guiding principles for popular musicians for the last thirty years, but that for the most part, those adhering to these principles have been anything but anarchic; in fact, they’ve been quite ordered really, following a pretty strictly defined aesthetic. What a bunch of bobbies’ helmets!

It’s clear to me that in a land where the rules are that you must stick to three minute songs and have no guitar solos that releasing an eight-minute single with guitar solos and trumpets and stuff is pretty anarchic.

Strangely, if the punk aesthetic had been strictly held to in the years following the initial punk explosion, then many of the great bands from that era (Wire; Associates; Talking Heads; Television; the Dooleys; Devo etc.) would not have been allowed to exist, and yet most of these bands exhibit sounds that draw inspiration from the early ‘70s and the late ‘60s.

There was another period in the years immediately following the acid house explosion of 1988, or 1987 if you are lying, that demonstrated a significant amount of invention, largely in and around the ‘indie’ and ‘dance’ fields and quite often deviating from the rules that were laid down by punk; however, around about 1994, the world (well, the UK anyway) was ready for a change. I was ready for a change, in fact. At this time I remember dancing to Primal Scream’s ‘Rocks’ and liking the third Ride album. I think I was sick of endless ambient records by guys called Pete Namlook at the time. Steve ‘Global Chillage’ Hillage seemed to be enjoying a revival too. Funny thing is, looking back at it, the need to rock was a short-term need. I kind of wanted it to fuck off by the end of 1994 and to go back to not rocking.

Unfortunately, music has on the whole, followed this dull pattern since back then. I thoroughly enjoyed a quote by semi-celebrity dafty Louise Weiner a few years ago. I can’t remember it exactly, but the question was along the lines of ‘what had Britpop accomplished’ and as I remember, her answer was something along the lines of ‘at least it got rid of all those twenty minute guitar solos’. Hmm. Yeah, that’s a result! See you down the front in your TRUSTY DMs. It got rid of... Err.. Exactly who? Hmm. The Porcupine Tree perhaps. Maybe Ozric Tentacles, though I bet they’re still popular in Swampy’s wigwam. It’s a sad reflection of the movement, in that it seems to indicate a degree of wishful thinking; that something had actually been achieved by it all.

‘Dance music’ lives in its own world entirely. There, it’s OK to have twenty minute long track, though clearly not twenty minute guitar solos, because guitars are for neanderthals, but this is another story.

In conclusion, inspired by the great animated version of ‘Lord of the Rings’, I’m just going to finish here. In any case, conclusions are for hippies.

Nirvana - Live! Tonight! Sold Out!

2006-07-02T12:01:00.000+01:00

My dad used to call me a bloody anti. He meant that I was a contrary little bleeder. Nirvana's 1994 VHS release Live! Tonight! Sold Out! is a masterclass in bloody anti behaviour, from the title on down. This 83 minute film documents their discomfort at "selling out" by which they seem to mean simply becoming successful. They are repeatedly shown claiming that the music is all that matters, yet a large percentage of the video's running time is taken up with extra-musical matters, and the music itself is edited in such a way as to preclude the normal enjoyment one might find in watching a performance by a favourite group. This is fine with me. Unlike most music videos or DVDs, I was not itching to switch off after ten minutes. I was fairly gripped in fact, and when I wasn't gripped, I was transfixed by a strange squirming embarrassment. There is no doubt in my mind that here was a brilliant, brilliant group, and this video does a great job of putting them in context, without spin or gloss. Television appearances are shown with the original incongruous presenters' claptrap (Jonathan Ross is a prize twat), and the original on-screen text, all of which helps to expose the absurdity of the whole circus without allowing the film to become a morose reflection on the perils of popularity. Some of the attempts to sidestep the mechansims of fame (singing in a funny voice, miming with no attempt to suspend disbelief) presage the coming of Robbie Williams, a performer whose refusal to take himself seriously has done nothing to slow down his global ascendance. There are hardly any glimpses of "the real Kurt" (unless on stage lost-in-music counts). The best bit by far is when a bouncer tries to beat Kurt up after he takes a lunge at him with his guitar whilst crowd-surfing. One telling interview clip trots out the old "we're not interested in the business side of things" line of evasion, before Kurt pipes up with "but you have to take an interest, otherwise people will take adavantage of you". So I suppose that is the difference. In the olden days, pop stars didn't mind being taken adavantage of, until it was too late. This enabled Joe Brown and the Bruvvers to develop unhindered, whereas now we have a fight, with pop stars dissipating their energy by becoming food critics or whatever they need to assuage their falling star, or rather their star that never quite comes into being, forever reamianing a ball of gas. The glory is gone, and here you can see it being flushed down the toilet.

Much too long and quite boring. Hurrah!

2006-06-28T15:43:00.000+01:00

I made a CD for my friend in China - only it seems a lot like I made it for myself:

Cat Power – The Greatest
Reluctant as I was to pick the most obvious track from the album, I have because it remains my favourite, mainly due to listening to the album when falling asleep, resulting in only ever really remembering the first 3 songs properly.

Au Revoir Simone – Backyard of our Neighbours
One of those bands where you hear a track on a compilation and think ‘that sounds good, I’ll buy their album’, then upon listening to the album realise you should have left it at the one track because the rest of it is quite weak and little annoying. This is the good track obviously.

Nina Nastastia – It’s a Dog’s Life
This is funny because it’s about being a dog and how although it’s fun to be a dog sometimes you are misunderstood and chased away by old men and sometimes you upset small children. Just like being a human.

Neko Case – If You Knew
I am still firmly in my Neko Case phase. This is slightly more, erm, strident than I’d usually go for, but I like it nonetheless. I am pretty sure that the recipient of the CD will dislike it though.

Concretes – Chosen One
Still not sure about the Concretes, but I really like this one. Also squashed face cats in the video.

Jenny Wilson – Let My Shoes Lead Me Forward (Knife mix)
This one makes me feel clever because it’s a bit dancey and I’d never heard of Jenny Wilson, and for quite a while I mistakenly thought it was Jenny Lewis the winsome country singer being remixed by the Knife, and I was impressed but it turned out it wasn’t her, but remained impressed, albeit in a different way.

Orange Juice – Rip It Up
Just because.

Baltimora – Tarzan Boy
This was the entire reason for making this CD, so my friend could hear this, err, gem. Anyway, it’s pretty much terrible, apparently sung by people who have no idea how to pronounce English, but who are actually Irish, so should know better. The chorus is the best part, and the bits where he says ‘monkey business’.

April March – Winter Cave
I don’t know if I like April March, I think I bought this album because it has a cover of ‘Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind’, but I find her voice grates a tiny bit. Naturally I included the track mainly because it would make me look eclectic.

Stina Nordenstam – Winter Killing
Lovely lovely Stina, revealing herself in this song as the other woman in an affair. Proof if proof be need be that Millie Jackson’s concept album ‘Still Caught Up’ was not the final word on this subject. Thankfully.

Camille – Vous
Makes me look good because its modern and in French. The French aspect helps cover up the fact that it’s a bit shite. No idea what it’s about but suspect it’s political as she can be heard to sing ‘Angleterre’ and ‘Tony Blair’. Oh well.

Belle and Sebastian – Your Cover’s Blown
I still think this is the best thing they’ve done for ages. Also any song that uses multiple key and tempo changes, sounds a little bit like Pink Floyd and uses the word ‘bummers’ is ok by me.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Y Control
I just like this.

Francoise Hardy – Ton Meilleur Ami
Again, French, so I look good. Also old, so even more cool points. Could be about bestiality for all I know.

The Motels – Anticipating
A good track from an album that contains many laughable moments, including a song called ‘Porn Reggae’.

Neko Case – Star Witness
More Neko. She pretty lady. Has undertones of violence.

Cat Power – Naked If I Want To
And more again. The word ‘naked’ is a bit rude too.

El Perro del Mar – I Can’t Really Talk About It
I know nothing of this lot; I listen to it and wonder how it is possible to sing like they do.

Coco Rosie – Good Friday
It’s about Santa. I’m running out of things to say.

Kate Bush – The Kick Inside
Wrong choice of Bush here. Totally inappropriate for the target audience. I should have gone for James and the Cold Ham, or something jauntier.

Neil Young – One Of These Days
Again, totally wrong. More proof that I made this CD for myself and I will probably never post it to Shanghai at all. Nice way to end though.

The First Time We Met, You Were A Kennel Maid

2006-06-20T13:10:00.000+01:00

Apparently, THE WHO recreated LIVE AT LEEDS at the same Leeds University Refectory the original concert was performed at. I wonder how they recreated that album's famous "tape clicks", caused by the monstrous volume at which they played back in 1969. I imagine it was like an elaborate game of musical statues.

Disappointingly, the only report I can find of this major cultural event suggests that THE WHO played free and easy with the setlist, whether the original LP or the expanded reissues. There was no skeleton-suited Ox doppelanger tearing into Heaven and Hell while Daltrey beat his chest and hurled himself into a giant concrete mixer, for instance. So I suppose it is a good thing I wasn't there. But Daltrey did undo his shirt to his waist, much to the delight of all the ladies present.

Heeeeey!!!

2006-06-19T17:58:00.000+01:00

How do, I'm Keith and do you know what? These are my Madchester anthems! Madchester! Mad Mad Madchester! Mad Mad Madchester!

Flashback to way back when! Top banging dance classics from back in the day!

Happy Mondays: Bob's Yer Uncle 12" Mix
Stone Roses: Something's Burning
The Charlatans: Overrising
The Dylans: Mary Quant in Blue
Northside: My Rising Star
808 State and MC Tunes: Tunes Splits the Atom
The Mock Turtles: Can You Dig It?
Primal Scream: Don't Fight It, Feel It (Graham Massey Mix)

Call the fookin' cops!

808 State: Cubik
Inspiral Carpets: Move
Happy Mondays: W.F.L. (Vince Clark Mix)
The La's: Timeless Melody
The New FADS: Big
The Paris Angels: Perfume
Stone Roses: I Am The Resurrection

Mad, Mad, Mad fookin' Madchester album!

Keith.

Wilkommen auf Papercuts Rekindled

2006-06-19T08:23:00.000+01:00

The Rekindled is a contractual obligation, due to someone already having a Papercuts blog. In any case, the idea is to recreate somethinbg of the spirit of the legendary Papercuts fanzine that launched the career of Taxxi out of Waitrose Movement and ended the careers of many others, such as Cousteau and that group who did "We're Going Top Deck".

You are welcome to join in, whether or not you were part of the original Papercuts. You can write whatever you want, as long as it isn't too rude. I suppose it is mainly about music and films and whatnot, but you may wish to rant about public transport, excessive fees at the local yacht club, apalling customer service, or any of the other things people "blog" about. You may even wish to share your innermost thoughts (although I doubt it).

I think I, Sister Disco, am the moderator, but you are welcome to be a moderator once I work out how to do it.

Someone needs to teach me how to do links too.