Went to see Bob Mould last night, at the Rescue Rooms. He was much better than I expected; since it was billed as 'an acoustic evening' I was afraid it might be a bit intense and po faced, but it seems that these days Bob has come to terms with his Husker Du past, and happily straps on an Stratocaster to blast away through 'Celebrated Summer' etc.
There was a great moment when he stopped the show to berate a twit in the crowd who was talking loudly to his mate, with his back to the stage. Fat Bob (who is actually rather trim these days) asked this fool how much he had paid for his ticket, and since he was preferring to have a loud conversation during the previous song, would he rather have his money back? The bloke said no, and apparently shut up for the rest of the gig. Bob's blog is here, and includes a good story about being let through without a work visa at Heathrow by an immigration officer who was a lifelong Husker Du fan.
26.1.06
18.1.06
The Brakes
Now this lot are great - 16 tracks on an album that lasts 29 minutes...and covers of tunes by Johnny Cash and the Jesus and Mary Chain...
17.1.06
Rough Trade
15.1.06
14.1.06
GROTESQUE (AFTER THE GRAMME)
Wireless enthusiast intercepts government secret radio band and
uncovers secrets and scandals of deceitful type proportions.
Aghast goes next door to his neighbor, secretly excited, as
aforementioned was a hunter whom radio enthusiast wanted
friendship and favor of.
A new face in hell
Nearly a new face in hell!
poisoned just thirty seconds before by parties who knew of
wireless operator's forthcoming revelation.
A new face in hell!
A prickly line of sweat covers enthusiast's forehead as the
realization hits him that the same government him and his now
dead neighbor voted for and backed and talked of on cream porches
have tricked him into their war against the people who enthusiast
and dead hunter would have wished torture on. A servant of
government walks in and arrests wireless fan in
kitchen for murder of his neighbor
12.1.06
I stole away and cried
Willie Nelson does a nice version of Dylan's 'He Was A Friend Of Mine' on the closing credits to Brokeback Mountain...
8.1.06
Maximo Park
What have the monthly music mags got against this group? One of the best albums of the year, nominated for the Mercury music award, constantly on MTV2 - and the grown ups mags completely overlooked it in their end of year summaries, often in preference to pish like Hard Fi.
The NME stuck A Certain Trigger somewhere in their top 20, elsewhere it was totally ignored. The risible Observer music monthly (hardly a teenybobber periodical) showed up the oversight when they ran a 'reader's best of' alongside their own top 100 - readers voted Maximo Park 14th best of the year, whilst it was nowhere to be seen in the writers list.
You know what though, if REM had released Reckoning this year it would have beaten everything. A pity they didn't quit ten years ago, the later albums are so leaden compared to this.
The NME stuck A Certain Trigger somewhere in their top 20, elsewhere it was totally ignored. The risible Observer music monthly (hardly a teenybobber periodical) showed up the oversight when they ran a 'reader's best of' alongside their own top 100 - readers voted Maximo Park 14th best of the year, whilst it was nowhere to be seen in the writers list.
You know what though, if REM had released Reckoning this year it would have beaten everything. A pity they didn't quit ten years ago, the later albums are so leaden compared to this.
I work in hotel, all gilt and flash.
Well, the CDR best of the year compilations are pretty much all in, apart from a few stragglers. Looks like Arcade Fire and Gorillaz were the top albums of the year, there were 5 different tracks picked from each one. Other favourites were The Fall, White Stripes (albeit the same track chosen 4 different times - My Doorbell), Arctic Monkeys, LCD Soundsystem, Chemical Brothers, Elbow, The Tears, amongst others.
In the sales I picked up the Children of Nuggets box set, a compilation of the (very) loosely defined 'second psychedelic era'. What this means is a bunch of songs from 1976 - 1994, featuring jangly guitar bands with paisley shirts and pointy shoes. Apart from that, I've been listening to Reckoning by REM (every single track of which could well belong on the Nuggets box set), Achtung Bono by Half Man Half Biscuit, and Quadrophenia by the Who.
28.12.05
In the Kingdom of the Bland...
...James Blunt is King.
Well, according to Mr HMV anyway, who has done his usual trawl of the end of the year 'best of' lists from the mags and papers, compiled a 'best of the best ofs' list, and compared it to the top ten best selling records of the year. Here's how they rank:
Critics Top 10
Well, according to Mr HMV anyway, who has done his usual trawl of the end of the year 'best of' lists from the mags and papers, compiled a 'best of the best ofs' list, and compared it to the top ten best selling records of the year. Here's how they rank:
Critics Top 10
1 The Arcade Fire: Funeral
2 Gorillaz: Demon Days
3 Kanye West: Late Registration
4 Sufjan Stevens: Illinoise
5 Elbow: Leaders of the Free World
6 Antony & The Johnsons: I Am a Bird Now
7 The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan
8 Franz Ferdinand: You Could Have It So Much Better
9 Kaiser Chiefs: Employment
10 MIA: Arular
1 James Blunt: Back to Bedlam
2 Coldplay: X & Y
3 Robbie Williams: Intensive Care
4 Kaiser Chiefs: Employment
5 Westlife: Face to Face
6 Gorillaz: Demon Days
7 KT Tunstall: Eye to the Telescope
8 Eminem: Curtain Call - The Hits
9 Kelly Clarkson: Breakaway
10 Katie Melua: Piece by Piece
For my own two pence, I think the critics have been over generous to Franz Ferdinand and the White Stripes, who seem to become more toothless with each release. Overlooked LP of the year is A Certain Trigger by Maximo Park, which has had the most play in this house - or maybe it's just the only one that me and the Helster can agree on. The Elbow LP is great, and we are hoping to see them at Rock City in the new year. And who is Kelly Clarkson anyway??
19.12.05
Neu!
I downloaded this LP, the first album by Neu! about a year ago, and have listened to it on and off without paying it much attention beyond the opening track Hallogallo. I've played it all the way throught twice tonight, and it's bloody fantastic. Much of what is passed off as Krautrock is very very tiresome, but Neu are out on their own. Must have been great to see them live.
elsewhere, the mags are trotting out yet more best of 2005 music lists, and it seems to be a toss up in the main between Anthony and The Johnson, Gorillaz, and Arcade Fire. I've tried with Anthony, but I just don't get it, I've heard a lot of the Gorillaz LP on the 2005 cdrs, likewise Arcade Fire, sounding good.
A few tracks sticking out for me which I had missed this year so far but which have turned up on the cds from Graham and Jim - 'I Burn Today' from Frank Black's solo LP, and 'The Well' from the Smog album. will have to pick up both records in the new year when I have some spare cash.
elsewhere, the mags are trotting out yet more best of 2005 music lists, and it seems to be a toss up in the main between Anthony and The Johnson, Gorillaz, and Arcade Fire. I've tried with Anthony, but I just don't get it, I've heard a lot of the Gorillaz LP on the 2005 cdrs, likewise Arcade Fire, sounding good.
A few tracks sticking out for me which I had missed this year so far but which have turned up on the cds from Graham and Jim - 'I Burn Today' from Frank Black's solo LP, and 'The Well' from the Smog album. will have to pick up both records in the new year when I have some spare cash.
8.12.05
The Heavy Heavy Monster Sound
Went to see Madness on Monday night, at Rock City. Part of the 25th anniversary of the country's stickiest shit hole, apparently.
They were tremendous, it was bedlam, and they did all the old stuff. Not many bands had a better run of singles, and they weren't all Baggy Trousers jolly-ups either - loads of Madness songs are very dark and bleak, which is of course fine by me.
The sax player, name escapes me, climbed to the top of the PA , but down his horn, and made as if he was about to leap into a suddenly wary crowd. There's no way he's going to jump, no way - oh look - he's jumped. I thought he would have broken his spine and taken out a few aging mods with him, but no, apparently he was fairly unscathed, and eventually reappeared on stage more or less intact.
They were tremendous, it was bedlam, and they did all the old stuff. Not many bands had a better run of singles, and they weren't all Baggy Trousers jolly-ups either - loads of Madness songs are very dark and bleak, which is of course fine by me.
The sax player, name escapes me, climbed to the top of the PA , but down his horn, and made as if he was about to leap into a suddenly wary crowd. There's no way he's going to jump, no way - oh look - he's jumped. I thought he would have broken his spine and taken out a few aging mods with him, but no, apparently he was fairly unscathed, and eventually reappeared on stage more or less intact.
2.12.05
'You Call Glastonbury 'Glasto'...
...you'd like to go there one day.
When they've put up the gun towers
to keep the hippies away'.
Anyway - that's off the new Half Man Half Bisuit lp, Achtung Bono. Still doing it for me, 20 years on.
Those best of the year lists are starting to pop up in the mags, and a depressing quantity of them are dribbling hyperbole all over the Magic Numbers. Grown men reduced to tears at gigs, well crafted tunesmithery etc etc. Over-rated bland out toss I'm afraid.
When they've put up the gun towers
to keep the hippies away'.
Anyway - that's off the new Half Man Half Bisuit lp, Achtung Bono. Still doing it for me, 20 years on.
Those best of the year lists are starting to pop up in the mags, and a depressing quantity of them are dribbling hyperbole all over the Magic Numbers. Grown men reduced to tears at gigs, well crafted tunesmithery etc etc. Over-rated bland out toss I'm afraid.
30.11.05
We're already dead, but not yet in the ground
Saw John Cale on 'later' the other night, bashing away as if his life depended on it. He's 63 or something. I hadn't heard any of his solo stuff, apart from Songs For Drella with Lou Reed, and the Bill Bragg cover version of Fear (Is A Man's Best Friend). Anyway, bought the new one on spec, and it's pretty good - especially 'Perfect', which he did on Later. Better is the album 'Fear' from 1974, which I downloaded but will pick up from Selectadisc.
Angry old man shouting and beating the fuck out of a geetar, just the job at the moment.
best of 2005 cd is finished - wedding present, cale, fall, arctic monkeys, stones, malc middleton, martha wainwright, sufjan stevens, cuban boys, blind boys of alabama, x-press2, alabama 3, maximo park. i think that's about it...
22.11.05
Lucifer Over Lancashire
This is very odd, there's a BBC football programme on something called BBCi (some kind of sub-ether wave band as far as I can tell) which is broadcast on Saturday afternoons for people who care rather too much about football. Anyway, bless them, they got Mark E Smith in to read the classified football results last week. If you have more bandwidth than sense, you can watch him in action here.
The same link has a clip from the recent channel 4 prog about John Peel's record box, with some more good Fall stuff. MES is quoted as saying 'you should never meet your heroes', whilst Billy Bragg is of the opinion that 'you should never meet Mark E Smith'.
The same link has a clip from the recent channel 4 prog about John Peel's record box, with some more good Fall stuff. MES is quoted as saying 'you should never meet your heroes', whilst Billy Bragg is of the opinion that 'you should never meet Mark E Smith'.
15.11.05
A Creature Void of Form
Just back from seeing Dylan at Nottingham Arena. I'd heard that the venue wasn't quite as soulless and alienating as most other stadium gigs, but this proved not to be the case - it's a shed.
Anyway, Dylan was on tremendous form, his band these days are pretty much a straight up Blues / R'n'B / Swing band, and some of the interpretations of older tunes were majestic - there was a fantastic slow blues version of It's Alright Ma, and a mesmerising Blind Willie McTell. Times like this, the band sounds a lot like the Bad Seeds - a good thing.
It's best to approach Dylan live with a healthy scepticism and a readiness to be disappointed; on the evidence of tonight he was on his best behaviour, appeared to be enjoying himself, and even gave a straight version of Like A Rolling Stone full of feeling and (almost) all the right notes.
Maybe it was all down to a first time in Nottingham, wanting to impress, and a willingness to play up to the recent hype around the No Direction Home documentary and the paperback version of the Chronicles...either way, a night to remember.
set list:
Anyway, Dylan was on tremendous form, his band these days are pretty much a straight up Blues / R'n'B / Swing band, and some of the interpretations of older tunes were majestic - there was a fantastic slow blues version of It's Alright Ma, and a mesmerising Blind Willie McTell. Times like this, the band sounds a lot like the Bad Seeds - a good thing.
It's best to approach Dylan live with a healthy scepticism and a readiness to be disappointed; on the evidence of tonight he was on his best behaviour, appeared to be enjoying himself, and even gave a straight version of Like A Rolling Stone full of feeling and (almost) all the right notes.
Maybe it was all down to a first time in Nottingham, wanting to impress, and a willingness to play up to the recent hype around the No Direction Home documentary and the paperback version of the Chronicles...either way, a night to remember.
set list:
| 1. | Maggie's Farm |
| 2. | The Times They Are A-Changin' |
| 3. | Lonesome Day Blues |
| 4. | Love Minus Zero/No Limit |
| 5. | It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) |
| 6. | Under The Red Sky |
| 7. | Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum |
| 8. | Blind Willie McTell |
| 9. | Highway 61 Revisited |
| 10. | John Brown (acoustic) |
| 11. | Floater (Too Much To Ask) |
| 12. | Honest With Me |
| 13. | Masters Of War |
| 14. | Summer Days |
| (encore) | |
| 15. | Like A Rolling Stone |
| 16. | All Along The Watchtower |
12.11.05
Sacrifice Is Going On Tonight
Apparently, 2005 is the 25th anniversary of NWOBHM.
You don't need me to explain what NWOBHM is, do you? The New Wave of British Heavy Metal, as typified by bands like Saxon, Iron Maiden (especially the pre-Bruce Dickinson line up) Girlschool, Motorhead, Diamond Head, etc etc
Now, some of these bands were inexcusably terrible. Some of the records are bloody good though! In a very silly way, maybe, with a lot of songs about motorbikes, denim, leather, living after midnight and touching each other's bottoms etc...tunes like Running Free, Breaking The Law (YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIIIIKE!!) Please Don't Touch, Wheels of Steel...
Amazingly, lots of these bands are still about, schlepping around Europe on the metal nostalgia circuit, and good luck to them say I.
10.11.05
Twisted
"For whatever reason you refuse to feel this space we're in,
to know its insanity, really know it,
whatever your particular anaesthetic is,
that you hold on to so desperately,
the thing I mean that makes you think you know who you are,
whatever that thing is you allow to keep you sane,
your ace in the hole,
the pscyhe that keeps you from trying to guess at what your pimp has in store for you,
whatever keeps you from screaming out at this very moment in absolute and sheer horror,
whatever you fuck your brain with,
whatever that is,
whatever that is,
it's a lie.
It's a lie."
alabama3
to know its insanity, really know it,
whatever your particular anaesthetic is,
that you hold on to so desperately,
the thing I mean that makes you think you know who you are,
whatever that thing is you allow to keep you sane,
your ace in the hole,
the pscyhe that keeps you from trying to guess at what your pimp has in store for you,
whatever keeps you from screaming out at this very moment in absolute and sheer horror,
whatever you fuck your brain with,
whatever that is,
whatever that is,
it's a lie.
It's a lie."
alabama3
8.11.05
albums of the year
just picking over the tracks that might end up on my best of 2005 CDR...
It's been a year of good tunes featuring on otherwise disappointing albums, eg Teenage Fanclub, Beck. Plus, having become an iPod owner this year, I am losing the discipline to sit and listen to one LP from start to finish. The tempation is to skip about between favourite tracks, without devoting the time to properly get inside a whole record.
Anyway, my cdr will eventually feature the likes of The Fall (there's a surprise), Malcolm Middleton, Maximo Park, Martha Wainwright, Sufjan Stevens, Elbow, Seth Lakeman , Alabama 3, Arctic Monkeys, etc etc many other too tedious to list.
Last year, judging by most people's final 'best of 2004' cdrs, the most popular LPs were by Nick Cave, Morrissey, and Franz Ferdinand...it'll be interesting to see if anyone runs away with it this year.
It's been a year of good tunes featuring on otherwise disappointing albums, eg Teenage Fanclub, Beck. Plus, having become an iPod owner this year, I am losing the discipline to sit and listen to one LP from start to finish. The tempation is to skip about between favourite tracks, without devoting the time to properly get inside a whole record.
Anyway, my cdr will eventually feature the likes of The Fall (there's a surprise), Malcolm Middleton, Maximo Park, Martha Wainwright, Sufjan Stevens, Elbow, Seth Lakeman , Alabama 3, Arctic Monkeys, etc etc many other too tedious to list.
Last year, judging by most people's final 'best of 2004' cdrs, the most popular LPs were by Nick Cave, Morrissey, and Franz Ferdinand...it'll be interesting to see if anyone runs away with it this year.
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