Safe As Milk

Out to a gig tonight, the Magic Band - minus Captain Beefheart, who is apparently holed up somewhere in the Mojave desert, in ill health.

His erstwhile band are in terrific form, with a set list from Safe as Milk to
Ice Cream For Crow...and an audience full of freaks old and young.

So that's me on the last bus from town, just out of the shower with a stray can of Red Stripe retrieved from the fridge, a few tunes before bed, then Alabama 3 on Thursday - testifying with Mr Bond and Mr Penco...

Bollocks

Have a look at this. 'Wonderwall' is voted best ever song ever in the world by some cloth-eared baboons down at Virgin radio. According to some sappy DJ:

"It is the perfect song to stick your arm around your mate and sing out at the top of your voice after a few beers".

Is it really? And that's the criteria for a great song isn't it? I'm always singing along to it after 12 pints of wifebeater down the local. In reality, it's the perfect song to stick your arm round the DJ's throat and throttle every last breath out of the bastard.

The most perfect pop single

The most perfect pop single

"It might be interesting to find out what the august readership of Ice in the Cider think of as the most perfect pop single of all time. I'm not speaking of obscurities. I'm not even speaking necessarily of good records. I'm talking about pop, and pop singles at that.

My two pennorth would be The Who's "I Can't Explain" or the Spice Girls and "Wannabee".

There's more to life than books you know

"The safest general characterization
of the European philosophical tradition
is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato"
A. N. Whitehead, Process and Reality, 1929


Most of what passes for the modern indie rock music tradition is little more than a series of footnotes to Morrissey and Marr.

Graham is tripping on the Pet Shop Boys:


"I seem to be getting in touch with my gayer side. Purchase of the latest in the admittedly mixed, though occasionally brilliant, Back to Mine series - a 2 disc offering from the Pet Shop Boys - started it. Maybe a bit closer to being an "Under the Influence", there's a distinct PSB feel to a lot of it. As Mojo put it, "Chris Lowe's choices pack in torrid druggy disco then get tired and emotional and puts Dusty on". Neil Tennant's is an altogether more interesting mix of classical, ambient and lounge. One of the better in the series. Not quite up with the Talvin Singh or Death in Vegas mixes, but no complaints.

And caused me to dig out the old Discography compilation for a long drive through France & Belgium this week. Maybe they were too mainstream to ever be cool, but they were out on their own at what they did - West End Girls remains one of the best singles of the 80's; It's a Sin is even better.

Also got the Antony and the Johnsons album; quite unlike anything else around. For Today I'm a Boy is already on my shortlist for the my 2005 mix."

Isn't going home a low and lonely ride?

Here's an obscure classic for you, courtesy of Jarvis Cocker on Desert Island Discs.

Dory Previn was an early 70's singer songwriter in the Scott Walker, Marianne Faithfull, lavishly orchestrated torch song vein, with very dark lyrics. Mr Cocker picked Lady With The Braid for his desert island, wonderful stuff.
I picked it up for £6 on eBay, after trawling town with no joy anywhere.