So far, no rainstorm of biblical proportions as was forecast but this could all change within an instant. No big plans this weekend but a fair supply of little ones. Let's see if I can counter those with the slightly lost/detached vibe that is currently clouding my judgement.

I was looking at the end of the month stats as one and this is shaping up to be the second biggest ever. February when Lux up and left was the highest. And talking of which, “Karl” sent in this image from the town of Söderhamn (in Sweden), “about 13 miles from the Brainbombs hometown Hudiksvall”. Apparently there is said to be a Sky Saxon wall there also.


In a related note, this weekend Scandanavian Garage jazz monsters, The Thing are in Edinburgh. They kick up quite the racket to the point that experiencing their ouvre first hand is not unlike standing or sitting in front of a jet engine. If I was in any sense of the imagination financially flush then I’d be heading for Perth this weekend. Pretty solid bill for the town’s Southern Fried festival including Los Lobos first-ever Scottish appearance taking place tonight on a bill with Booker T. Lucinda tomorrow.

So before I take off to start taking care of them "little things", I'll leave you with a new JD King story and this link to a pretty good sounding combo brought to my attention by David Brogan – Stolen Hearts. Wonder if they’re Barracudas fans?

And finally... Adiam Dymott in Berlin but as we're in Germany, why not check out the Beat Club archives too. That oughtta keep you amused...

Thanks to those who got in touch re - the Sam Phillips thing. Guess I didn't recall he was dead or maybe I thought he was still alive. Definitely the latter (probably).

No idea what I was on last night but I also typed Mike instead of Mick Medew. (Thanks to Craig for pinting out this errant clumsiness). Must try harder...

I'll be back way on the other side of 6am with what's coming up other than the forecast of torrential rain and of course it becoming August. It's just two bloody months until the clocks go back. So apologies for the misfires, plain and simple divotism, what can I tell ya...?

Mick Medew and the Rumours released the 9 song “All Your Love” on the fine I-94 Bar imprint a month or so ago now. The solo on the opener “Spinning Wheel” doesn’t so much blister as totally remove any coating you care to administer. Australian rock is a hardy thing, they can really make it sting and taking a bloody hammer harmonic to the title track was a masterstroke. Remember when bands used to project? Did you ever watch The Hellacopters and wonder just why they weren’t gazzillioplatinum? Then this is for you. Incase you're not of sufficient vintage, Mick was in The Screaming Tribesmen...

Shades of the Hoodoos harder moments with Dictators riffage are given that special antipodean rock action wallop. Unashamedly backdated, everything on here trounces each and every cut on the latest AC/DC record. The one cover, a version of “Another Girl, Another Planet” is very faithful albeit a tad more rip-roaring and come to think of it, didn’t you ever envision Peter Perrett singing “Igloo”? A little of that monolithic Kiss-ish axe-tion never goes awry with me and I’ll take that over Turbowhassname any old day. Ah, the old days when fanzine types would turn very peelly wally at the mention of Simmons and co. I don’t care much for their ethics now but damn those first 4 records are good.

Like The Riverdales, MM and co. are dealing in a commodity that combos with an excel spreadsheet or access to a record collection to plunder will never ever orbit. They have the heart and the soul that will never let ‘em settle for an approximation. It runs even deeper than dna. You can hear it in every lick. Your two favourite kinds of music, kids – rock AND roll – with an extra scoop of the former and packing the spiritual volume to make it count.

Murray checked in with this before he took off on holiday...

Messthetics in Edinburgh - Saturday August 8th

THE AXIDENTS / SHOCK AND AWE / 35mm DREAMS / MY T-HI - VIC GODARD !

Vic Godard live album playing from 7.30, first band onstage at 8pm sharp, all over by 10'ish

Henrys Cellar Bar, 8 Morrison Street, Edinburgh, EH3 8BJ.

PHONE: (0131) 228 9393 Tickets: £5

My T-Hi are flying over from Japan for a one off festival gig with their pop guitar take on life in Osaka. Short sharp guitar songs with big choruses from the world famous Shock And Awe and The Axidents celebrate 30 years since they initially formed in the first wave of post punk by bleaching their hair and growing beards

Unbelievably, the members of much-feted original Edinburgh indie band 35mm Dreams find themselves in the same place at the same time and will be performing a short set together for the first time in 30 years, they recently had a couple of songs released on the critically acclaimed compilation album "Messthetics 105 - D.I.Y. Scotland, 77-81" . As a special bonus the world premiere of the new Vic Godard Live Album "Live in Stereo" recorded in Glasgow last year will be playing in between bands

Saturday AUGUST 1st...

THE CRAMPS FETISH NIGHT:

A Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Party
with Trixie Malicious as Tura Satana + Fancy Chance Miss Alternative World 2009 + live music from...

KING SALAMI & THE CUMBERLAND 3 +
EMPRESS OF FUR
+ female wrestling with Kali vs. Honey
+ Djs Innes (Death Pop Records)
+ Jimmy Alucard (Rocket Recordings)
8pm - 1am at The Victoria,
110 Grove Road,London, E3 5TH.

Nearest Tube: Mile End.

Photo credit: Fancy Chance by Sam Francisco.

RIP - George Russell

Last couple of days, I've woken up and largely crashed feeling like my napper is stuck in a vice. Things like trying to sort out car insurance and other life-sucking activities aren't helping but I'm not really complaining. Just offering reasons why I can't seem to kick myself into any real blogging effort. Tonight I purposely didn't switch this on within minutes of getting home and attended to something that I've been procastinating with for weeks. Plus it wasn't raining so I had no excuse.

Me 'ave become somewhat obsessed with not wishing to burn valuable time whilst at the same time torching great bales of the stuff. It always helps to be able to spend some time with cool people that you don't get to see too often. I'm fortunate to have a few bouts of just that coming up over the next few weeks too.

With regard to getting e-mails with links and mp3's, etc. I know that addresses just end up on lists and that in the main, these things are just sent out in the hope that someone will care. More often than not, I don't. Unless I recognise something to do with a message or the fact that it comes from someone I know then it'll be deleted straight away. In conjunction with the time thing stated before, life is too short. Maybe I'll miss something huge but that's my lookout because really it's gotten to the point where I'm inundated. A lot of it is simply material that doesn't fit the bill here. We do convene over a broad canvas but really, no names - no pack drill, some of the songs suck so bad that they'll probably go on to be very popular indeed. Not with the blessing of this parish however. Whilst on the subject of time, I'm thinking about dumping the Twitter thing. Facebook is useful and as long as you don't put anything on there that might come back on you like a cucumber sandwich. Myspace I check but seldom use other than to quickly hear stuff. When I add all that to the dozen or so blogs I check regularly then that tends to take some kind of toll on the ol' peepers.

The ettiquette of not pissing people off is an important factor here. There are a lot of daily visitors here hence the need to update at least once every 24 hours. Sometimes it's possible to do more but not often these days. And anyway, with what frequency can each person process the information? It's not cool to just assault people and I hope that doesn't happen here. For the next wee while, I'm going to try and just blog short reviews and information. This will address the backlog of material. I'd also like to expand the Rock's Backpages aspect too but we'll see.

So in closing, Mr Spence has chimed in with the latest Brutes sighting at The Halt on Friday. A peculiar trailer for what appears to be a Roky Biopic was flagged up on The Blank Generation mailer today and I thought this BLR link about music magazines was worth looking at. Maybe you will too?

Always Been Here Before

I think we’re among friends here right? If there’s anybody who doesn’t miss the fact that The Ramones aren’t around to make life worth living then you possibly won’t care for The Riverdales.

"Invasion USA" is the long-awaited follow up to "Phase 3" and in terms of a phat-frat- proper punk rock experience then it doesn’t come any better. This is perhaps a more worthy successor to "Rocket To Russia" than "Road To Ruin" was. Ben even manages to sound like Joey sometimes. It’s quite a lot like “Subterranean Jungle” and I bet you could use a dose of that right about now. 14 songs flash by in what seems to be an instant, high octane hanna barbera-esque jingles every one. The way it segues from pounding pulsating anthem to anthem is an artform in itself with not a jot of slack.

“Agent for H.A.R.M.” does the pop and kicks the door down. From there it’s hell for leather (jackets). I read stuff about records and movies and stuff that goes along the lines of this. “If you don’t like this then you must be dead” which is almost always bullshit. However there is generally an exception to that rule so to resuscitate that cliché, “Heart Out Of Season” is the perfect Rubinooriffic bubblegum hymn. This isn’t pastiche, this is doused in love for the form and set alight with outright passion for the craft.

Whatever the laboratory conditions this was created were, I’m all for this type of cloning. If "I-USA" doesn’t get the adrenalin pumping then back to those Primal Scream or whatever records with you. No need for explanation or thesis, at this point The Riverdales are arguably better than the real thing.

Check it out here if that all seems a bit far-fetched, I almost don’t believe it either.

It's been an odd couple or three weeks around these here parts. Definitely not enough hours in the day and in the scrambling to at least try and cover many bases, it's be'd a tad scattergun. For instance, I still have to list the issues of Mojo so that you folks can score the one's that you want. Travolta - shut it!

I also asked somebody else who is looking to unload too so all of that info is coming soon. Something else that's been coming along is the PDFing of NBT back issues. Not an easy task and somewhat uncomfortable because I didn't half gibber some pish back then. You think it's bad now? Whoa Nelly and all of her tribe. Not entirely sure how I got away with it, some of it is off the scale ridiculous. To what's left of my mind, it doesn't travel well to my mind at least some of you might get a laugh out of it. In the interests of balance, there was a time when articles on bands I actively dislike were included too.

The events of recent times have also resulted in a backlog of stuff that'll be brought to your attention in due course. It's always a consideration just to list'n' link but I figure it's always an idea to give you at least an inkling as to what you might find prior to the click.

So there he goes, Mr Lindqvist is on his way back to Stockholm and the authorities are working hard to restore whisky supplies to Glasgow. Ha ha. It went very well and it was good to raise a glass (or was it two?) to absent friends.

Not only that but he brought with him the biggest surprise that I ever got. A "guldskiva" for "More Modern Short Stories" which was a gift from my esteemed homies at Razzia. As an honour goes, I am shocked and stunned and pretty bloody chuffed as you'd expect. I never saw that one coming.

Tha album is just about to to be released in Germany via Universal too so watch out for that. It will have the addtion of "The Quiz" and "Long Lost Penpal". So as the gravity of this accolade sinks in, the next question is - where to display it!? Got to catch up on this and that now. It's shaping up to be a busy August and this time next weekend we'll already have pulled into that eighth month. How exactly did that happen?

THIS WEEKEND - INDIETRACKS - (Delia?) DERBYSHIRE...

Roy, Cyril and them A-Bones at Maxwells, Hoboken last night.

Thanks to Doreen Davidson for facebooking this...

RIP - John Dawson (New Riders of the Purple Sage)

Link via message on facebook from Craig Leon

Good to see a decent turnout at Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh last night for The Joyriders first show in the capital in forever, ahead of their junket to Japan but enough of these j's already.

The Tango Rhums opened and I only saw a song and a bit or it might have been two. The Messthetics ethic is alive and well and gestating in Glenrothes. Investigate and encourage them because they're doing it for the right reasons.

The Bum Clocks are collecting a bit of an audience but what looks reasonable in theory and sounds a little like Alex Harvey reciting Burns with an appropriation of Detroit sounding software is alarmingly art-rock. The sound of young Scotland always kind of irrritated me and the sound of the middle-aged version ain’t thrilling me either. These guys were all there at The Big Bang but this is theatre and not rock'n'roll. It could run for weeks at the ICA. I've scratched the itch of wanting to see them in a club and don't want the wound to become infected. Their set seemed to last for a very long time and a minority of us were impervious to this Irvine Welsh intoned underside of the mither tongue. “Lust for Life” lost all its vital signs when it was used in “Trainspotting” and there’s a strange correlation between this and that in my opinion.

I don't recall ever seeing The Joyriders although I must have. Their entire recording history has just been put together as an omnibus edition “Others caught on but never caught up” on the “Fixing A Hole” imprint and they're playng out there in a couple of weeks. There's not a contrived bone in the box and their Lemonheads via Bob Mould fuzzpop sounds remarkably current. It also helps that they look like they're having some kind of fun up there. The reports from their opening stint for The Dolls were all good so this added to the expectation. And let's face it when was the last time you saw a band that reminded you of The Eastern Dark?

Exactly. Good solid pre-grunge, post buzzsaw pop in a dressing of nice tempo changes, these guys can segue. No faffing between songs other than to indulge in a bit of banter before they spiral off into another short sharp jolt. I hope that they keep at it this time because there are a lot of "hotly tipped" acts that are trading on way, way less. So mission accomplished with the beat ready to bring it on in the land of the rising sun come early August.

In just a matter of hours, Mr U will be arriving from Stockholm and we're gonna raise a couple or three to the immortal memory of a real bard, the late, very great Lennart Persson. Hopefully he'll be able to join us.

And finally for this instalment, I'd like to wish my good friends The Ledinsky's all the best for their sabbatical down under. Have a ball kids, there's a lot of GREAT music and people out yonder!

Oh to be able to get along to one of these...

but don't let geographical constraints deter you!

I won't be attending tonight's New York Dolls show in Glasgow. There are a number of reasons, none particularly watertight other than the fact that I swore that you'd never get me to cross the threshold of that venue again. So there's a certain amount of cutting off one's nose about this but really, my abiding memory of the last time I saw them was great so I don't want to futz with that. Anyway, I ain't going so I hope it turns out to be the show of the decade for all those who do drag their 'arris's along. As promised, here are the Morells tracklists. If they were playing then I would attend said venue so the rules are there to be stretched. I'm in no immediate danger of having to fold though. Short and sweet tonight folks, I'm out of here....

RIP - Julius Shulman

Any of you looking for issues of Mojo? I’ve got a couple of large piles (no oitment quips, thanks!) of the blighters and if there are no takers then they’re going to the recycle-toir. The attempt I made to offload them on the message board of that very mag garnered exactly no response so this is my final attempt. I don’t want anything for ‘em other than maybe postage but even that is negotiable. I’d much rather they went to a good home. Next for the high jump is a box of issues of The List that I simply don’t require any more. The trick would of course have been to realise this prior to their stacking up but those who know me realise that I can be really slow on the uptake sometimes.

And as the UK slowly winds down ahead of being towed out to the middle of at the Atlantic to be sunk, the latest bullshit activity to affect the lowly citizens of this backwater is a postal strike. At a time when we're all getting rogered to some degree on the monetary front, this is just the latest in a long line of aggravating activities. Not for the greater good because I quite honestly believe that the fuckers whose attention they're trying to get couldn't care less. They’re looking for excuses to ixnay the life support. That includes any so-called government because they've proven time and again that they can't find their collective bahookie orifice with a funnel.

Still, that’s not getting things done on this end is it? I’m off to do my ironing to the strains of North Fork Sound then I’ll be raising the rafters with the new Riverdales and looking at these NBT scans to see what, if anything, can be done with them.

Facebook is often maligned but it is good for something. In this case, getting reaquainted with my old mucker Paul Gorman, Did you ever see his blog? Great stuff that I know some of you folks will have many hours of fun poking about in. Here 'tis.

Nothing like them up here before or since. Thanks to Joe Foster for finding this...

Link via Bill Gibson facebook message...

I've no idea why this keeps coming out so small but hopefully I'll have some more artwork soon. Available now, only 6 of the songs are duplicated between the two discs. More info soon.

e-mail: tomtaber_14411@yahoo.com

Link courtesy of Duglas via facebook.

RIP - Walter Cronkite

Teenbeat ticket action and much more!

Scientologists gone too far?

(Thanks to Art Fein for the link)

Another week down, still undecided about The Dolls on Monday but that is forever away at this juncture. All that matters right now is this cup of coffee, the dark chocolate tunnocks and catching up on a few bits and pieces that'll keep you amused.

Continuing to pdf old issues of NBT but I'm not entirely sure they'll be possible to read. The excrecable quality of the xerox, coupled with the cringeworthy content may never see the light of day. We'll see. It was evidently very much of the moment and not meant to survive so perhaps I should do the decent thing and keep 'em buried.

Stefan Conrad's sophisticated brand of cyber boom boom is available on your computer tonight between the hours of 6 and 8pm GMT. Tune in here. The Brutes are running amuck in Edinburgh tomorrow night following their ransacking of Nottingham last weekend.

Time to finish me snack but I'll be back so don't say you weren't warned.

BLAST OFF!!!!

Nottingham UK July 9th – 11th - A report by Lenny Helsing

This was the first British garage punk-style weekend blast, that I can think of anyway, to happen outside London and I can assure you that it really was a great deal of fun. To be repeated in future years if at all possible.

A few groups scheduled to appear couldn’t make it for a variety of reasons: The Cavestompers from Russia had already played at Rotterdam’s Primitive festival but were refused entry to the UK. The Others from Italy were absent due to their drummer seriously injuring a finger. Same kinda thing for Liverpool’s Doktor Combover. Their Carl –who was there to dee-jay had broken his wrist/arm during a prank that had gone awry whilst over in France enjoying The Mummies. All-girl Danish combo Cherry Overdrive also pulled out.

The opening night party was at the Brittania Boat Club, a crazy little venue right next to Nottingham Forest’s football ground that was decked out like a trashy cave. Back in the late ‘60s this tiny club hosted gigs by The Who, Black Sabbath and Led Zep.

Vinnie and the Curse warmed up the first 30 or 40 or people that had started to congregate before Le Chat Noir got things rockin’ just a little more… all preparation for when things got a bit wilder. Cue the arrival of The Brutes (from Glasgow), complete with furred-up ‘Eegah!’ styled costume spectacle and – aside from a surprising bout of ‘nerd breakdown’ communiqué – they had a good line in uunga buunga backchat.

They played some of their own bashing trogg-progg ditties too like ‘Bottom Line’ and ‘Real Gone Gasser’, plus a grinding rendition of ‘Strange Movies’, a late-in-the-day groover by, who else, The Troggs!

THE BRUTES IN THE CAVE….UUUUNNGGGGHHHH!

Resplendent in matching stripy stripes were Los Imbasils from Bristol. They were a fine opening party attraction too, playing kind of sloppy guitar and organ based happy, fratty covers that we all know and love.

Friday and Saturday’s events moved to the ever so slightly larger Marcus Garvey Ballroom further across town. I jest, this place was completely massive, and of course this created problems as most of the sounds were just being hurled round and round the room, getting lost in the process. So for the most part I’m gonna try to be positive about it, and place the importance of sound a little behind the excitement of pure live action thrills. But in the main the sound was, er…shite!

Because The Others were outta the game, a sound little two-piece (they used to be four only a few weeks ago?) from York called The Federals opened the Friday show. Blasting forth with drums and fierce guitar noise and vocals, these young guys made quite an impression. With a full group aboard The Federals could be a force to reckon with such was their intriguing presentation. Next up Armitage Shanks, an old school punk rock combo from the London/Medway environs. To begin with the sound was quite abominable, but thankfully over the course of their set it did get a little better and we were treated to a fine set, including a stripping down of Subway Sect’s wonderful ‘Ambition’ to its absolute basics. Their own formidable ‘Shirts Off’, a cracking bit of rucking punk rock genius, was the highlight for me, and many.

A highlight of the whole weekend were Spain’s Los Chicos. I had heard of them for many years, even played on one or two bills with them, but this was the first time I had actually caught their act. Wow, whatta amazing blast of crazy soulful rock’n’roll garage pop shenanigans they are. Long-haired singer Rafa is flanked by two guitar-toting brothers, Antonio and Gerardo. Then you get the crazy ball of blast off energy that is Pina on drums. Manu the flamboyant bassist makes up their ultra-swingin’ rhythm section.

Individually and collectively they are all over the place and their presentation is all the better for it. You really do need to witness these guys live I feel in order to gauge just what it is they are all about. ‘My Head Got Stolen’, ‘New Shoes’ and especially ‘Tomorrow’s Another Day’ all employ some lightning-fast tempos, crazy rhythm/time changes, alongside real sing-a-long choruses etc. During ‘Tomorrow’s…’ they must’ve had about 50 of their fans and friends up on stage helping them create that truly special Los Chicos rock’n’roll garage party gathering moment.

Next up were The Gories, the long-lost US garage-blues-punk three-piece with Mick Collins on lead guitar/vocals, before he went onto make a bigger name for himself fronting The Dirtbombs. Well initially I wasn’t as bowled over as I thought I might be by these cats, probably due to the sound that was masking the real great talents behind. The growling Freddy King blues-wail of the guitars – no bass of course - soon made itself felt tho, duff sound or no… and Dan’s chugging rhythmic moves and Peg’s Mo Tuckeresque pounding slotted in and out of the grooves just fine. The rock-a-billy and Suicide influences detected on the early records didn’t seem so prevalent. I hadn’t pulled my Gories LPs out for yonks so probably some things did pass me by unnoticed but they did do great versions of the likes of ‘Thunderbird ESQ’ and of course the unrelenting crash ‘n bang of ‘I Know You Fine…’ LP killer ‘Nitroglycerine’ which they ended their set with.

Another US bunch, The Oblivians, finished off the evening’s live spectacle. Well, it’s not really my cuppa tea to be frank with ye, being for me way too heavy on the rock side of late ‘90s garage-style punk, but that said I admit that one or two of their tunes were actually pretty damn good, and thankfully were also more garage inspired than the almost hardcore-infused punk rock which informs the major part of their sound.

At the Marcus Garvey Ballroom on Saturday morning/afternoon there was a record fair and retro clothes stalls, not to mention a fabulouso badge stall run by Jin ‘n Ananda that dealt in all manner of obscure ‘60s beat garage punk and psychedelic names, and a few more famous monickers too. As a little aside to the main Blast Off attractions, the Old Angel across town also hosted an afternoon of raucous pub rock, and some garage beat punk’n’roll with The Murdocks, The Hipshakes, Beast With A Gun and, best of all, Thee Vicars, the Dirty Water records recording group who peddle a great line in adrenaline-soaked star-club-a-rama garage beat as played by teenage Milkshakes with a serious case of St. Vitus Dance.

Superb sound too with clashing feedback guitars, motoring drum action and yelping vox.
Back at the MGB, Torpedo Monkeys were the first of Saturday’s groups, a fairly rockin’ garage’n’roll band too, from around the Schalke area of Germany I think. They all had hairy ape masks on and their songs stomped along with neat guitar breaks and lots of cool ‘ugh’ and ‘hee heee haaargghhhh’ type noises goin on.

Impeccably attired Les Bof! are the kings of franco-phonic garage beat twang. Despite the crap sound again – I tried in vain to make the sound man take lots of the rumbling bottom end off the drums vocals and bass, and make the guitar and vocals louder - vocalist Laurent is fast becoming one of the scene’s contenders, and with Angus, Ross and Colin on lead guitar, drums and bass respectively, their sound is assured; their debut long-player will be hotly anticipated. I think it may’ve been The Eviltones on next. If so they should’ve sounded cool with mean fuzztone assaults here n there but honestly I can’t remember, and I didn’t catch much of whoever’s set it was, going out for some much needed air. Tho by this time, the rain was hammering it down outside.

What I did hear was rendered a big jumble of fuzz n distant rumble, due to the cavernous room, not enough bodies and that dreaded ‘drm’n’bs’ mixdown. Ouch! It was The Cosmic Vampires up next judging by the make-up, top hats and other apparel the group were got up in. They were kind of garage, and fairly rock sleaze ‘n roll now and again…they had sax too.

Apparently this could be the last ever time that anyone will see The Coyote Men, envious pride and pain of Tyne And Wear’s Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. These be-masked titans tore up the stage and put on such a great show of outrageous rock’n’roll hoopla that anyone following them would have a hard time no matter who they beez. The ‘Men were helped out by a bunch of other masked marauders, be-fuddlers and in-crowd jokers including various members of Los Chicos, dragged up, and/or down to the ground at various points. At one point the stage hands/sound men came onstage, ostensibly to tell the group to stop abusing their microphones, but were dumbfounded by the carnage that was in front of their eyes, they just stood open-mouthed saying nothing. Hey, it was all good, fairly clean rock’n’roll umbarumbamba anyway, nothing to really get too uptight about…or was it!

ONE OF THE COYOTE MEN ABOUT TO BE RASSLED BY ONE OF LOS CHICOS IN DISGUISE…

Last on from USA were The Ghastly Ones. I wouldn’t thought they were anything like true headliners but they gave it their best shot I guess. They included in their set Screaming Lord Sutch’s ‘Jack The Ripper’ and they namechecked and played The Masonics’ brilliant ‘I’ve Only Got Myself To Blame’.

Aside from all this there was a fantastic array of swishing go-go dancers, both inside and outside of the Blast Off Go Go Cage situated by the side of the stage. There were also international dee-jays who spun a welter of groovy sounds, including such pearls as ‘Misfit’ by the Outsiders, and ‘Neat Neat Neat’ by The Damned…well, that was that, huge kudos to Liz DH and AJ, plus all the rest of their team(s) who really helped to make this debut Blast Off weekend in Nottingham a real gone gas! Heap big thanks to Jim ‘n the Brutes for taking me down and back up with them, twas a riot, n a great road trip to boot!!!

Thanks to Lenny for taking the time to compile this... and for the pictures.

I've had a number of messages asking "Why?" so I'll try to answer...

Go to see Springsteen that is. Well, there are a number of reasons and without getting messy, I consider the E-Street Band to be something of a force of nature. Nils Lofgren might not be an original E-streeter but he can make this guitar talk alright. (Little) Steven Van Zandt, in my opinion is of good standing on a number of levels, not least his championing of (mainly) great rock'n'roll. Anybody that makes Palmyra Delran and The Nomads "coolest songs" is doing fine by me. And when Clarence Clemons blows that saxophone, I genuinely feel like I was hit by a truck and the only real highpoints on Tuesday were when the big man played. He’s the closest thing to Lee Allen we have left.

There's also the question that the only person who could really fill Danny Federici's involvement would have been Joe Terry and they don't got him. The show itself was OK. A little heavy on the more recent stuff but I might have felt different if they played "Jungleland". Who knows. But the location did them no favours at all. Hampden is not designed for concerts, pure and simple.

But let's start a little earlier on the approach to Central Station to make the (usually) 20 minute journey out to the closest stop. You'd think that heading out at 5pm to get there for 5.30pm would be fine. After all the scheduled start time was allegedly 7.30pm. But no, Scotrail wisdom means that a mega-queue is formed that must snaked all the way down and back along Argyle Street. For anybody not familiar with the terrain, it was bloody long. It was 6.45pm when we got to the destination and had another 1o minute walk to the (feels hackles rise) "venue".

Picking up the tickets and passes was a skoosh. Great. That worked and it seemed like things were getting back on track. There was some dubiety with the security as to what was where but that was dealt with professionally. By the time we got there, it was way past any chance of getting to see SVZ so perhaps I should just have left then and headed back into town.

The Herald and The Scotsman were peculiarly positive given what I witnessed. Elements of both were true but didn't mention the fact that the sound was quite often abysmal. The drum sound in particular was dampened to the extent that it sounded like a whoosh instead of the crack Weinberg trademark american beat. I also miss the days in which The Boss seemed to care rather than deliver the same old sermon. Lofgren playing "Flower of Scotland" as an opener was inspired rabble rousing and let me tell you there was some sprawl of rabble present. A good number more interested in the drinks dispensers on legs that were selling piss lager for £3.75 a tumblerful. It would have meant so much more if he’d gotten together “Shout” or a BCR medley. This is the main problem, the man seems to be on a hopped up autopilot with the band backing him. He needs to take stock of the fact that these guys are the secret formula.

"We want to build a house of love..." said Bruce in that by now well-worn banter. "Aye but ye'll no get planning permission..." countered Captain Kruickshank. Evidently The Boss has never had a tussle with the local government in these parts. The sheer scale just overwhelmed me and I wonder if most of the folk present aren't just conditioned into this mass consumption trip. Of course, the argument is - what else can you do with an act this big - but really there must be more imaginative, more tasteful ways to make it more of an event. My mind drifted back to the infinite bliss of last week’s incident at Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline.

I've witnessed Bruce turn (the old) Wembley into the Stone Pony before but that didn't happen on Tuesday. Several staunch Springsteen fans will validate my reporting as not just another grumpy tirade too just incase you reckon that's what this is. Just as well I didn't manage to get my "Dream Baby Dream” banner done after all. I wouldn't have gotten close enough to hand it over anyway. As I understand it, this particular Jersey landmark will be going the way of the boardwalk to be boarded up for all eternity sometime around November time. At least in terms of trucking around the world.

Anyway, when more than 50,000 punters spill out of a stadium you can bet that it's not a cool experience. The evening came to a climax with having to walk 3.6 miles, missing the last train and having to take a taxi back to the car in order to make it home. So, in summary - your reporter will not be attending any events of this scale in the UK ever again. If Hello Saferide or Matt and Kim become as big as is deserving then I'll make a special clause for them but anything else, no way, no how.

Here's the setlist and a report from Backstreets, obviously written by a fan. Even if it had been the greatest show ever, the bookends of the hassle to and from would put the proverbial tits on a boiled egg. Still it was nothing if not an adventure and whatever doesn't kill you for damn sure teaches you a lesson. An expensive one but a lesson nonetheless.

You in Boston? Check this out, heads up courtesy of Sal (DFFD) Cincotta...

Five veteran Boston rockers are teaming up as Faster & Louder to play The Dictators Bloodbrothers LP during an album tribute night on Friday, August 7th, at Church.

A virtual who's who of old school Boston punk, the band features Richie "Swinging Dick" Parsons of Unnatural Axe on vocals, "Fritz the Boss" Erickson of Gang Green on lead guitar, Johnny "Top 20" Black of The Johnny Black Trio on rhythm guitar and Lee "The Lawman" Harrington and "Johnny Rock" Lynch of The Neighborhoods on bass and drums.

Big Knife stick it to
the Big Apple

A report by The Very Rev. Juke Joint Johnny... pic by First Lady Karen McBurnie...
Thanks folks!

Well, they done it. Our young heroes from the Windy City descended upon Otto's Shrunken Head like a cool breeze, and left the locals begging for more after a tight 25 minutes of the punk rock, doled out in two minute hunks, Big Knife stylee! These kids can really pump out a terrifying sound. This reporter seemed to detect great slabs of Sabbath with notes of Flipper, but I hasten to add only the good parts of those, since I'd much rather listen to Big Knife than either of those dinosaurs.

Big Knife had a lot to say, and keeping the tunes to under two minutes, they wasted no time screaming it. The first selection of the evening was their own smasheroo “(I Don't Wanna Got To) Tutweiler”, a proven crowd sender, and it just got better from there. Hazel on bass, and Libby beating the skins became an unstoppable juggernaut of a rhythm section, as they screwed down a very heavy early 'Eighties postpunk groove over which Grant laid out his cold, metallic riff-age. That olde timey sound proved to be a shrewd strategy, given the unusual number of seniors in the audience.

Hazel managed most of the vocals in an unearthly shriek which resembled a Banshee with a bad head cold, a unique accomplishment for one of her tender years. The set flew by, which only proves Big Knife know the value of leaving 'em wanting more. The fracas screeched to such a sudden halt that the inimitable Ari Up was left pleading with the band to play a couple more, as she had missed most of the set. Apparently Ari had arrived a bit late, and then had some trouble getting into the club without i.d. (imagine Ari Up needing i.d.!) It happens.

But even with punk royalty begging them to extend their set, Hazel had to say no because she didn't want to cut into anybody else's time. That's integrity, friends. Or maybe they were out of songs. Either way, a memorable evening, and a rare one because it looks like Big Knife is on a farewell tour. From here it’s Cleveland or Hamtramck or Milwaukee or Chicago, but after those dates, that's all for Big Knife.

Voodoo Ball tickets!

The A-Bones and The Riverdales new albums are released today and it's Bastille Day where Brother Patrick resides... unlikely I'll be back posting here prior to the show later. look forward to hearing both of those though! Got some e-mail and other stuff to partake of. Catch you on that flipside. End of message.

Miriam Linna on Sky Saxon

Heading for the Springsteen show in Glasgow tomorrow and I think that rain is forecast. Big surprise but anyway much as yours truly isn't disposed to that environment, it'll be an interesting sociological experiment. Can't say I've been terribly enamoured with any recent output apart from "Dream Baby Dream" but it'll be good to see Little Steven and Clarence Clemons up there.

The E-Street band hasn't been this far north since May 1981. The night after The Cramps stormed the Nite Club in Edinburgh. There's nobody else that I'd go to this size of show to see. Not that you can see anyway and with regard to "hear" then best not to overcook expectations. I expect that technology has improved but let’s not expect miracles.

Then there's all the health & safety and security hoopla in addition to the chasm between the act and the audience too. All stacked against an all-round positive experience but heck, let’s give it a go. I can't think of anything worse than attending something like T in the Park. Aside from the of being way too old, there's the music which in my opinion was just one god-awful current phenom after another. And then there's aspect of so many of today's artists looking like brickies.

No disrespect to that particular trade but you expect some element of glamour, however misguided to be involved, right? I'm trying to get my head around the quite legitimate aspect of "it doesn't matter what he/she/they look like it's the music that counts". I'm inclined to along with it in terms of just listening but I don't want to go to a show and see the sonic equivalent of paint drying. And then there are some of the names these things have.

Elbow being a case in point.

It doesn't matter what they're called I hear you scream at whatever you're reading this on. To which I counter, oh yes it bloody well does. Used to be you could buy a record and pretty much tell what it sounded like by the way the act looked. Not anymore because in order to fleece every last sheckle out of you, unscrupulous individuals will style their wares to rope you in. Not that the combo named after that particular bodypart have done this. I have no idea what their albums look like but I know that I don’t care. Chin-stroking was never my forte and believe me I have plenty of them if I ever want to take that particular pastime up.

If you find yourself in Manhattan tonight, check into Otto’s and see the Big A debut of Big Knife. Now there’s an example of a GOOD name.

And blimey, there's another episode of the world according to Wreckless Eric just been uploaded!

Bloody blogger and whatnot have been playing up all day. So much so that the ebay action I was partaking of was only partially successful. I scored The Boonaraaas album but not the 45's so the quest continues... anyway, enough of my problems here's some good music to contend with. If there are no cd images then that means that the upload facility is still gubbed. That's a technical term incidentally.

S K R I E T – The Scream - is a Swedish duo that includes Isak Sundström of the amazing Pascal. Taking a bit of a neu wavelength, the debut release is of three mixes of “Fåglarna” ahead of an album in August. An ambient treasure, the third mix is by Novoton stablemate Hyper Plastic and adds another jewel to that label’s already encrusted crown. A lush example of superior cinematic chilloutronica. Check them out.

And while we’re on the subject of stuff that might not fly out of the speakers and grabbing your jugular, there are other means of attracting attention in sonic terms. Some of you know who Bruce Anderson is and some won’t. His band MX80 Sound pioneered new frontiers of sound in the 70’s and their influence can be traced to the here and now. The form that’s become known as “post-punk” is an anomaly because really, these guys were doing that before “punk” as the brand became happened. Anyway, that matters little here. Anderson is a guitar master, he has a style quite unlike anyone and you can hear that on “The Inherent Beauty of Hopelessness”. A plaintive, eerie piece that lasts for 40 minutes and 28 seconds. This meditative acoustic lullaby is like an orientalised Pìobaireachd for this stringed instrument. A apocalyptic wind chime for these turbulent times with quite the unexpected conclusion. “Hopelessness” works as a calming device on one frequency and as an unsettling theme of limbo in another. Disturbingly tranquil on both. My thanks to HT for the heads up and to Mrs Stim for the hook up.

Fur Dixon and Steve Werner have their second album “Travellers” out on their own Grass and Gravel imprint. It features the further adventures of this primo Californian duo. Kicking off with “Journey To Another Side” it seems oddly poignant in that the sound reminds me of the late, great Chris Gaffney. A gentle, jaunty tex mex conjunto. “Road Outside my Door” is a campfire kinda modern day “Trail Of The Lonesome Pine”. “We’re all just here for a minute or two and likely some of it will be wet” is a gloriously old-timey lyric. These guys deliver a crisp, clean take of the folk/country kind. Pretty much out of kilter with just about everything else but that doesn’t seem to concern them. They’re evidently having a damn good time pickin’ and singin’ and I imagine the grins on the attendees of their shows go a long way toward making it all worthwhile. If Cheap Trick can reactivate the 8 track then howsabout making this available as a boxset of 78’s with real clicks and hiss. None of your doctored to sound old bullshit, this is the real thing delivered for all the good and pure reasons.

From Arkansas via Springfield, Mo. - Cindy Woolf indulges us in some pristine, post-O Brother “hillbilly love-pop”. With a folk twist. Her musicians on here include one Joe Terry and the whole thing really sparkles like the proverbial gold nuggets in the creek. “Sidewalk Stars” and “Portland East to Portland West” are utterly infectious in a Fleetwood Mac from the Ozarks sense. This is vibrant Americana that is blessed with an honesty that is several leagues beyond authenticity. Cindy’s honey-toned warble imbibes the material with a warm, welcoming glow. You can almost hear the crickets and imagine the porch in the twilight.

I am indebted to the Rev. J Wunderle for having Cindy send me this. It’s the kind of album that folks like Bob Harris could really get behind. It is my hope that it won’t be too long before this lady is headed our way to deliver these impeccable songs first hand. Watch this portal.

Gary "Pig" Gold talks to Vera "Ramone" Colvin

This clip has at least 20 times more energy and better sound than any of the lame-o guff that I witnessed on TV last night. Way to go from here is to fast forward through the i-Player stuff methinks, to avoid any mishaps with electrical equipment.

A message from Sir Tom Phobic...

Hi Kids,

Please drag yourselves away from the box, the wii, guitar hero, the www, the local pub, or wherever most of you are when you should be supporting live rock n roll.

Come see us, the Bucha Effect and more in the flesh at the Malborough in Camberwell tomorrow (July 11th). It's right near the block that had the tragic fire so we may well be passing a hat round for a collection.

In the meantime you are free to your own (de)vices but tomorrow we'll be looking forward to the pleasure of your company.

The gig is FREE by the way.

tpx

Been a busy week and disarray reigns.

I don't feel much like sitting in front of this for any longer today but instead will try to restore some form of order to all the scraps of scribbled notes, etc. that are piling up. There's nothing earth-shattering to report to my knowledge so if I attend to what needs done now then that'll free me up for tomorrow. A whole swathe of you are in Nottingham anyway, right? Thought so. Hope that all goes swimmingly... OK troops, there's work to be done but not staring at this blighter.

Brother Patrick caught the Oblivians/Gories double header in Paris the other night...

"La Maroquinerie has a capacity of 500 which made it the perfect place for The Gories and The Oblivians in Paris. It was completely sold out with a very mixed audience. It included old people like me who already saw both groups in the 90’s (Gories:1992/Oblivians:1995 & 1997) and younger people with excellent taste like Vox, Marie and my son Jonathan.

Most people seemed to have come out for The Gories and others, like me were here to see both combos. The Oblivians were first up to the plate.

In a recent Dig It! interview, Jack told me that they were so excited to play that every show will have a different set list. And it was true! It was completely different from Detroit and it included the seldom heard “Bum A Ride”. During the first 2/3rd, Jack played drums and then swapped places with Greg for more Oblivesque blues songs. Eric sang too, mainly his hardcore-ramone-esque love songs (!) like “She’s A Hole” or Jim Cole” (who got too much soul, I can’t stand it, ha ha). They were almost as great as they were in the old days. It would have been great if they’d played “Never Change” or “Vietnam War Blues” but we can’t have it all ways.

The Gories set was different from Detroit too. They opened with (my fave) “Baby Say Unh” and ploughed through a trove of classics like “You Little Nothing”, The Motions “Everything (That’s Mine)” and Leaving here" by Jimmy Hannah. Mick Collins did his Hendrix shtick during “Ghostrider and the feedback bled into the remainder of the show. He was great, but in my opinion - Peg and Danny really made things fly. Two encores ended with a singalong - “Hey Hey We’re The Gories”.

Time then for a beer (the place was hot) and meeting great people like Isabelle Chelley and her husband Thierry. She kindly gave me a copy of her new book and dedicated it with a very appropriate “Cramps” message. Then it was time to go say hi to the bands.

I asked Danny when the new Gories album will be released? “in your dreams” he answered. He also told me that a single by his new band, the Readies will come out soon on the Cass imprint.

A fun night? You betcha!!"

Thanks to Tam Coyle for this link via facebook.

Hello Saferide at a very rainy Hultsfred just a wee while ago.

Photo by our man in the trenches, The Rt. Hon Per Hägred.

Last night, I was reminded that going to a show doesn't have to be an ordeal. The Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline is a great spot. A bijou proper theatre where the sound doesn't suck. Stop rubbing your eyes, it's true. In addition there's a nice airy bar and the whole-set up was a real eye-opener.

Of course there's the territorial, getting people to travel thing but education is never easy. Scotland is an odd place when it comes to getting people to come out or venture away from their comfort zone. First of all, pulling off this D&B thing was a coup of epic proportions. The big cities are used to having their own way but this was a genuine, on-off event. Not part of any treadmill or buck-sucking exercise. This was about bringing an evening of sophisticated and just plain ethereal music (and pictures) to an audience that would appreciate it. And here's another thing, the people who attended didn't spend the entire show yabbering on the phone or watching it via the screen on some device or other. I know. I wouldn't believe it either but you couldn't make it up. Not based on recent experience anyway.

So we've established that the setting couldn't have been more perfect. What about the show? It's such a rich mix that sensory overload is always a possibility. Some drama ensued when a circuit breaker tripped the power. Dean assured me that it wasn't part of the show. I think I mentioned before that Britta's version of "I'll Keep It With Mine" was spine -tingling but the live version raised the bar to a whole 'nother level. The sonic shimmer of the tambourine against the acoustics of the room were simply off the scale. Percussive bliss.

In terms of mellifluous guitar, there simply isn't anyone that hits the intersecting vein between Tom Verlaine and the racket we must attribute to Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison like Dean Wareham. The program is curated brilliantly and it requires the same of the location it plays at. This isn't something that'll be trucking around exhibition centres anytime soon. I'll keep you up to speed to when it might be coming somewhere near you. "13 Most" needs to be seen and heard. Evan Henderson's leap of faith was entirely vindicated and in the process, nobody who was there will ever forget it. Check here to see if they're heading in your direction.

In years to come, people will claim to have witnessed this. Anybody who dares to criticise any aspect of how cool it was is either jealous that they didn't do it or just a plain old trumpet. No disrespect to the instrument intended.

Were you there? It would be great if you could maybe leave a comment here to thank everybody in the band and the venue for creating something entirely out of kilter with the nature of what the common or garden concert experience has become. I appreciate the fact that a couple of you folks have already applied those to the previous post

I don't know about "arts" but to paraphrase The Killer, that's Jerry Lee incase you figured I meant that Brandon Flowers or one of his cohorts, but I KNOW what I like.

Some photos, link courtesy of Murray.

Should be a report coming from A Head Full of Wishes very soon.

Not sure if it's the weather and a general question of temperature but I felt like I'd been hit by a truck this morning. Factor in the extreme tiredness and blogging wasn't an option. And it isn't now because all roads lead to Dunfermline.

I know there's a cool Ivor Cutler tribute night at Oran Mor in Glasgow but there's a genuine first happening across "the watter". If we don't support this kinda venture then there's a good chance that we won't get similar opporchancities down the pike. Y'dig?

Still, conjecture about leading horses to water notwithstanding, I may be back later because it won't be a late night I'm sure. See you at the show? Or maybe here afterwards...

To all those that are able to make the effort. Good on yez!

So much to do, such little time and thusly I'm at sixes and seven's with blogging tonight.

I did remember what else I wanted to share with you folks the other day though.

Delayed reaction brought upon by the coffee nae doobt... anyway here it is.

Plus JD has posted another wee story for your browsing pleasure.

Yessir, pardner, it's time for another RODEO BAR roundup with SUSQUEHANNA INDUSTRIAL TOOL & DIE CO., meaning cold beer, hot Tex-Mex cuisine and a couple of numbers from our special guest -- Li'l Lenore! WEDNESDAY, JULY 8th / RODEO BAR / 375 Third Avenue (at the corner of 27th Street) in ol' Manhattan / Two rootin' tootin' shows, from 10pm sharp until 12:30am / No cover!
Yours on the trail, Michael
Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co."Ballads, Boogies & Blues"

Not exactly sure where all the time goes anymore. It flies by in a blip though. No matter how strong my intentions to prioritise are there's always something that shoves a stick in the spokes. Whilst I'm enjoying relative success at keeping away from facebook quizzes at the moment, there are sundry other things that suck up the hours. Still, it could be worse.

I'm really backed up with listening too to the point where it sometimes becomes a chore. I'll say it again, (please) don't send unsolicited mp3 files. They choke up the inbox and sometimes halt the delivery of other messages. If you're thinking about doing that and I don't know you, then exercise some consideration and ask first. This will assist both parties. What's more don't send links to stuff that would patently be of no interest. Look at the contents and tell me where you think some of the lame indie guff that floods in might fit here? Quality control is still something we believe in here. Some individuals may not be familiar with that concept as they cut and paste their little hearts out.

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A wee bit of info for anybody who is travelling to Dunfermline on Wednesday. If you aren't travelling by car then you can go from Haymarket Edinburgh to the main station and it's a five minute uphill walk to the Carnegie Hall from there.

Buswise from Glasgow, they seem to leave Buchanan St Bus Station at half past the hour and journey time is an hour and 10. You'd have to get back by train via Haymarket though so you'd be as well doing the whole shebang by train.

Public transport in the UK blows, but you knew that. The show should be over by 9.30pm-ish so I figure it's do-able by choo-choo. If you're coming from elsewhere or further afield then drop me an e-mail and I'll attempt to help you out if you're stuck.

You don't just want to hear about it the next day, right?

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So drinking coffee staves off Alzheimer's? I better load the heck up then because I'd forget me head if it wasn't screwed on. At this point in time, I feel like my batteries simply cannot be recharged. If I was a writer then I'd cry "writers block" but as it is, it's just block. As in concrete. I'm have no earthly idea what the answer is. Lefsetz was claiming that the Jackson fiasco is the final nail in the coffin of entertainment as we know it. I think this phenom is entirely a media fiction and that not nearly as many people give a hoot as the various forms or reporting are making out. Life long since imitates the National Enquirer but I'd prefer it was the Weekly World News. In the form it took when Lux sent me a whole wad of xeroxed headlines back in the LOTC days.

Here’s a few things that might pique your interest in lieu of my ongoing shortcomings

Danny Fields Interview (Link courtesy of Craig “The Barman” Regan)

A Thank You To Willy DeVille (Link courtesy of Peter Holsapple)

The other MJ (Link courtesy of Deborah Frost)

There was something else but this is where a cup of joe might come in handy...

Pittsburgh ought to take better care of their own, Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby are at Club Cafe this Tuesday, July 7 at 7 PM. 7/7 @ 7 Got that?

Now spread the word if you're around and about there and if you see the alleged promoter, give that person a good hard foot up the arse.

If you're on east coast USA then check if they're heading to a joint near you!

Peter Holmstedt runs Hemifrån, a bolthole for quality pop bordering on country, an amazing portal where he flys the flag for plain old quality music irrespective of pigeonhole. A kindred spirit for sure so let's make a start on some of those.

Releases with what I consider to be terrible packaging sometimes prevent me from caring what might be inside. This is a bad habit because you can’t judge a commodity by how it’s dressed right? Take All Day Sucker (apparently a Stevie Wonder song title?) for instance. Not a good name to my mind plus the lyric font is miniscule. I simply can’t read it. However this album, “The Big Pretend” is like Cheap Trick via The Raspberries taking in a wee Rundgren era-Hall And Oates marinade. Very impressive outright AM popping rock. Like 10CC maybe if they’d come from West Coast USA instead of Blighty. “Nobody Somewhere” and “Land Of Canyons” are really good songs. At first I thought the band name was The Big Pretend and have to admit that when I saw "Maroon 5" mentioned on their page I was ready for the worst.

Stephen Hedley is a Canadian that reminds me of Roddy Frame and the title track of his album “Scenes” is very Aztec Camera. If that’s your bag then you’ll most likely enjoy this but beware of the vocoder-y effect on “Downtown”. Not to be confused with The Skele-song of the same name.

Pick of this litter is “Still Glistening” by Ugly Stick. The packaging on this one is unassuming to the point of unattractive. This Columbus, Ohio quartet delivers the goods in sound terms though, good and dirty rock sitting somewhere between Lucero and Dan Baird, maybe a little Replacements and Hoodoo Gurus here and there too. “Little Lynn” kicks things off with a frantic hoedown and the Stick are wielding an almighty racket that is undoubtedly several degrees more deadly in the heat of a club. “Soul Satisfaction” is possibly my favourite cut, “What’s your favourite kind of monkey?”, now that’s what I consider a lyric. Fred Willard and Sondra “Kima” Sohn are pictured with members of the band at their myspace.

Joe Cassady and the West End Sound are toting a lavish digipack entitled “The 47th Problem”. From NY, these guys are actually headed for some festival action in the North of Scotland in August including Belladrum. This is superior roots rock or if you prefer, Americana. It certainly and undeniably is american music that’s for sure but covers a multitude of bases within that rather limited pigeonhole. Judging by the little research that I’ve done on the back of listening to this would suggest that this will be one combo worth catching. Wish they were stopping by the lowlands, “G3 Blues” is surely an ode to the Glasgow postcode? And how about those atmospherics on “Big Wave”? I feel like I heard this song before, not because it sounds like something else, but because it feels comfortable. It’s a little like Elliot Murphy maybe and it got me thinking that this guy could cut a great version of “Last of The Rock Stars”.

More Hemifrån coming soon...

RIP - Drake Levin (Paul Revere and the Raiders)

Info via HDM's facebook.

RIP - Allen Klein

If this is half as cool as the trailer then there are many hoots in store... thanks to HT for the heads up! Probably not safe for work and all that other baloney so proceed accordingly.

Here's where I was was 20 years ago today, 33 since The Ramones at the Round'ouse... Yeah kids, it's the 4th of July. And you know. all those Del Lords re-ish's are available now so let's see some justice done in the american music stakes.

Not a bad start to a Saturday, Eric's "A Pop Song" is on NoFoSo and I'm pondering the Tesco run. "Hell's bells, buckets of blood" right enough.

A good day to all my US cronies. I hope the mexican kids keep the firework action on the DL wherever you be.

It doesn't get much better than this for a Friday night, correctamundo?

From Peru, courtesy of Angel Aparicio Trujillo via facebook.



It's been a long, hot thankless week but this put a smile on my face and that's not an easy thing to do. I need to regroup and get together some music to post about tomorrow. Saturday 4th July - Dave Alvin Day...

RIP - Bobby Ubangi

(Link courtesy of Dr. H)

Aye, the nights are fair drawing in... I can’t recall it ever being this warm. Not here.

I’ve been elsewhere when it’s been bloody hot but it’s generally bearable. A huge thunderstorm can’t be far away surely? Wow, Dean & Britta and Buddy Greco in one week. Dunfermline is a happening place. I always think of Girl Trouble's "Cold Shoulder" video when I see BG's name these days. Digress? Who me??



I know it takes a bit of effort to go off the beaten track but I really must insist that you make said attempt at getting along to "13 Most Beautiful...." There are all too few genuine special events anymore and I'm not saying that this fine production won't return to the UK, or Scotland for that matter sometime down the pike but it's unlikely to be anywhere near as groovy as this.

Summon the energy and support something that isn't a travelling medicine show designed to fleece you. This is a shindig that you won't ever forget so make the pilgrimage from wherever you are in Scotland. Or further afield, you’ll have a ball.

And as a cool breeze goes, you can always count on Maia...

RIP - Karl Malden

RIP - Mollie Sugden

Not sure if it's the heat-induced sleep deprivation but I just read the latest Jackson snippet as "fairytale carnage" I think I'll start a band called that. I did have another good name that I got from this site (thanks Lisa) but the post seems to have been removed.

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Some stuff coming up in Edinburgh...

This Saturday's THE GO-GO (4th July)

is at Henry's Cellar Bar Morrison Street (and not Studio 24 as previously advertised).

60s DJ's Tall Paul Robinson & Angus A-GO-GO (Mod, Soul, Garage Etc)

Playing live ... THE HIDDEN MASTERS (psyche-y prog-punk trio)

band on at midnight. 11pm til 3am. £5/4

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The Joyriders will be opening for The New York Dolls in Glasgow on July 20th. They also have a show at Cabaret Voltaire on the day after (21st). These take place to limber ‘em up ahead of their jaunt to Japan. The Cab show is with The Bum Clocks and Tango Rhums .

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Not sure how the rest of this evening has in store but it would be cool if the temperature would go down a bit. Ha ha. Did you get what I did there? Every one a flippin' maserati...

Ideally I'd be on a boat out Stockholm way watching The Nomads but t'was not to be.

As the Dark Wave Swells