NINE POUND HAMMER EUROPEAN BREAKDOWN TOUR, MAY 2005

(* slight changes to these four dates/venues, please note!!!)

A whirlwind tour from Barcelona to Oslo! 16 days straight! Whew!

* 15/5 SPAIN - Barcelona @ Magic
* 16/5 SPAIN - Madrid @ Ritmo y Compas
* 17/5 SPAIN - Valencia @ Pequeno Diablo
18/5 HOLLAND- Rotterdam @ Waterfront
19/5 HOLLAND -Groningen @ Vera
20/5 DENMARK - Kopenhagen @ Loppen (Punk and Billy Bash)
21/5 DENMARK - Aalborg @ Studenterhuset
22/5 SWEDEN - Goteborg @ Sticky Fingers
23/5 NORWAY - Oslo @ Elm Street Rock Cafe
24/5 DENMARK - Odense @ Rhytmeposten
25/5 GERMANY - Munster @ Gleis 22
26/5 GERMANY - Berlin @ Wild at Heart
27/5 GERMANY - Dresden @ Scheune
28/5 GERMANY - Tubingen @ Sudhaus
29/5 GERMANY - Darmstadt @ 603 QM
* 30/5 BELGIUM - Gierle @ JH -t Hoekske

CAREER RECORDS is a groovy little enclave that resides in Bozeman, Montana. Run by Mr Ron Sanchez with help from Deniz Tek and hosting releases by musicians of the calibre of Roy Loney, Scott Morgan and his own combo Donovan’s Brain among others. The just released DB album, "A Defeat of Echoes" is the closest thing you’re ever gonna get in terms of new material from Barrett era Pink Floyd but it’s also much more. It’s psychedelia of a decidedly 21st Century variety whilst retaining the vivid qualities of the music that undoubtedly inspired it. There’s an edginess which keeps this jalopy well away from the noodling that so often can befall such a beast. “When You’re Falling” is top power pop, like The Long Ryders crashing a party as Blue Oyster Cult. The album is accompanied with a dvd which contains short clips of Career artists in action.

Roy Loney and The Longshots “Drunkard In The Think Tank” has been out a while now and may be familiar to NBT readers. If not then it oughtta be. Penny Ikinger’s “Electra” may not be so familiar. Ms Ikinger plays loud folk music like The Velvet Underground and is of Australian origin. Natalie Imbruglia should give some consideration to covering her material if she really wants to be credible. “Kathleen” is just one of several classic songs waiting to be discovered.

WHITE DOT... make the world a better place. It don't matter how many stations you got access to...

(A big thumbs up to my homefolks, K & J, who were hep to this way before New Scientist!)

And while yer at it, don't forget PIPE DOWN...

So, Party Animals? The new album by Turbowhasname sees them paddle deeper into Andrew Lloyd Webber territory. "Hot stuff in the middle of a firefight"?, Unfortunately not. I'd really like to be able to say that I've been proven wrong but it's all so bleedin' safe. Talk about not pushing the envelope. My main reason for even investigating this is because Steve McDonald of Redd Kross produced it. The usual riff appropriation and grandiose rawk shapes are all intact but it’s so soulless. “Blow Me (Like The Wind)" is proof enough that they haven’t evolved other than toward sounding like a hairier-arsed version of Queen. The money hoover that is TRBNGR is in full swing and they’ve even roped in Nick Oliveri of that equally-overrated QOTSA mob. It’s at this point that I mourn “the kids” inability to thrust The Hellacopters to superstar status. Why should I go over my line in the sand if these guys won’t? Everybody tells me that they're nice guys. My correspondence with Happy Tom in the past has always been a pure pleasure but how come that I'm the only one that can't dig "the product"? The kindest thing I can say about it is that it's mercifully short. I hope Steve made enough money from this to get the new RK album nearer completion. Now there’s a combo we could really do with hearing from right about now. So forget about the “City Of Satan” and all it’s faux Ezrin orchestration and board the boat for The Dark Lord’s Island instead.



“Satan Island” is the opening cut on the 4 song CD ep by NJ combo, SUBWAY SURFERS. This isn’t surf music though, more a melding of The Damned with The Fleshtones to come up with something that sounds like some great 45 lost since 1977. What it lacks in fi is more than made up in spirit so check it out.

And if it's spirit you want then look no further than the new Chips K produced album by WILMER X. This Swedish institution has all it's high octane pub rock chops in place. Mostly Svensk-language, 13 Våningar Upp is an effortless flexing of their collective muscle. The utter and very welcome antithesis of where we came into this post.

A message from those fine, fine people at Norton...

"PLEASE TUNE IN TO WFMU TODAY FOR A TWO HOUR TRIBUTE TO HASIL ADKINS ON THE FOOL'S PARADISE SHOW WITH REX (91.1 FM) 6-8 PM SATURDAY MAY 7. GUEST WILL BE BILLY AND MIRIAM FROM NORTON, ARTIST JOE COLEMAN, JESCO WHITE, AND OTHERS."

I urge you to comply either in real time or via the archives later. Please consider sending a donation to WFMU via Paypal for their continuing services to cool broadcasting. If it weren't for my loyalty to BBC Radio Scotland, I'd be sending my licence fee to Jersey City.