Kiki Lorraina checked in to ask that you check out her combo, THE LORRAINAS. I investigated her credentials and can hereby recommend that you take up this offer.

I've just been made aware of the fact that my old friend Gordon Spaeth, onetime Fleshtone and Action Combo figure has taken his own life. He was troubled for sure but I thought he'd found some kind of peace in recent times. I certainly hope he has now. My experience of Gordon was of a sharp, funny, cool individual who it was a pleasure to hang out with. I'm saddened at this and even although I haven't seen him in a long time, my memories of "The Wheelman" are fond ones.

RIP - DAVE ALLEN

Whilst I basically understand the sentiment behind the cliché that is “Thank God/Whoever/Expletive It’s Friday” it’s become a trite tape loop delivered alleged pleasantry of “Have a Nice Day” proportions. It’s like “What did you get up to at the weekend?” generally delivered by somebody whom, with all and any due respect, has no real business of knowing. This faux bonhomie irritates the eff-word outta the cut to the chase philosophy that drives me. If I want to convey my activities to someone then I will, but shall not, almost never, yatter my brains out unnecessarily, to a point that to some - getting “information” from me might be akin to extracting teeth. What’s wrong with me? Well, the only folks really qualified to have an opinion on that are my therapists that operate out of a practice on Anza in SF. I’m down with their findings and scientific methods of measuring such activities. I’m not sure anybody else would have the technology.

That said, Friday is the gateway to a few hours when my open plan goldfish bowl hell recedes without the aid of pharmaceuticals. Particularly inspiring on a clear, cold day like today. For something like forty hours, my purgatory doesn’t exist. The spectre only looms after 5pm GMT on a Sunday and at this point that’s pretty far away. This afternoon has been productive because I’ve been to the bank, had a conversation with one of the old guys that runs the local museum here in town, got a haircut and made the tea prior to switching this blighter on. Hopefully I’ll hook up with two of my Punk Kongress chums in Edinburgh sometime tomorrow and all will be as well with the world as I’ve come to expect of late.

Hasil Adkins wheels for sale...

This Just in...

"Ladeez an' gennlemen......la Intensive Care Partie de Bateau est arrivée!!!
You may've heard whispers......'tis true, we're having a boat party in April, and here are the details.

Intensive Care Boat Party Saturday 2nd April 2005, 8pm till 2am.

Leaves from, and returns to, the same location near the Palace of Westminster in Central London. Rest of the time, we're sailin', baby! Ticket price £15 DJ's include:

Declan and Perry (Intensive Care)

PJ (Dirty Water Club)

Joss & Joe (Sonic Reducer)

Playing Live, all the way from Memphis: Jack-O & the Tearjerkers (aka the Tennessee Tearjerkers) This band will blow your nuts off (yours too, ladeez!!). Band leader Jack Yarber used to be in Memphis garage rock legends the Oblivians. They are revered by everyone who likes their rock 'n' roll raw 'n' alive. The Hives decamped to Memphis en masse to see a recent reunion gig, and then hauled them over to Sweden to play in Dr Matt Destruction's bathroom. These guys incite fever in all who encounter their scorchin' trash. Jack now has two bands: the Cool Jerks, in which all four members sing; and his Tennessee Tearjerkers, in which only he sings, and which is more of a classic bar-room country-rock edge....perhaps you're beginning to see an Intensive Care marriage made in Valhalla......Our friend Todd says they're like JSBX with proper songs......yowzayowzayowza!

Now, friends, this is not the usual half-arsed IC arrangement. News of this one-off Tearjerkers appearance has spread like wildfire on the 'Net. People are gathering on messageboards, plotting trips from all over Britain and EUROPE and even AMERICA top come to this. Unlike previous years, you will not be able lazy-ass your way to the weekend of the party and bag a ticket. It will be sold out by then, no word of a lie. So please contact me or Dec to buy a ticket, pronto. Some tickets will be sold thru the Intoxica record shop at 231 Portobello Rd, W11.

If you want to save yourself such hassle. I will be at the Stag-O-Lee club (@ New Evarista in Greek Street) from 9pm tonight, and at Dirty Water on Friday 11th, watching Monsieur Jeffrey Evans. After that, amazingly, I'll be away for ten years. When I get back, I'm pretty sure it'll be all gone, ausverkauft, foryoumyfriendzewarwillbeovaaaaah..........apx"

Contact Intensive Care: Declan 07786 9378055 Perry 07970 924393

The SCREECHING WEASEL reissue program is in full swing. Get the set...

Another Radio veteran is off to that great station in the sky... RIP - Tommy Vance

Aha... of course it should have been obvious and my recognition faculties are evidently at a low ebb but "I Don't Wanna Go To The Party Tonight" is a RIVERDALES song which appeared on their "Storm The Streets" album. These Australian SpaZZ lassies evidently have good taste...

Something else I've thus far failed to do in my unravelling state is to plug the Rev Davie Scott's programme on BBC Radio Scotland entitled "CLASSIC SCOTTISH ALBUMS". 1st one was Bert Jansch, the most recent AWB's (Average White Band) "White Album" and comin' up Teenage Fanclub's "Bandwagonesque". If you have the technology to do the ol' internet on demand thing then these are very entertaining half hour snapshots that don't rely on you being familiar with the subject matter.

Nearly time for the mind-boggling SXSW in Austin where Laura Cantrell will play on Friday March 18th. From the program info... "Born in Nashville and based in NYC, Laura Cantrell has built a dedicated following on both sides of the Atlantic by combining a love of traditional country and folk music with a modern sensibility that informs a sound both timeless and thoroughly original. She recently completed her third album "Humming By the Flowered Vine", which will be released by Matador Records this Spring. She continues to host the weekly "Radio Thrift Shop" program on freeform WFMU in Jersey City, NJ."

Also at SXSW... The Rezillos on Thursday March 17th as part of a Scots Showcase Event (The lord deliver us...)which will run from 23:30 - 04:00 at the Tillery Street Theatre, Austin, Tejas. The self-same 'zillos will also appear on a bill at Elysium the very next evening (18th) with Shonen Knife (yay!), The Alarm (yay not!), New Model Army (you're kidding right?) and Wreckless Eric (saved at last!)

From Mod to Odd

These are some of the better pictures I took in and around New York & Jersey City last year. Mostly of rock and roll bands, but some cityscapes and what I like to call “barscapes”. The bands run the gamut, from Mod (The Insomniacs) to Odd (Pink Steel, New York’s Premiere Gay Heavy Metal Combo).

Others include (in no particular order) The Martinets, George & the Giblets, The Waldos, The Master Plan (featuring Keith Streng of the Fleshtones and Andy Shernoff of the Dictators), The Woggles, Muck & the Mires, The Billy Filo Starship masquerading as The Dead Boys for a special Halloween show, Holmes, the Dansettes and more!

The pictures were taken with a Canon Powershot SD10 Elph, a camera so small it can fit in a cigarette pack. Then I tweaked the pics in Photoshop to give’em that Roberta Bayley/CBGB’s vibe.

Comments? Feel free to contact me at fuzzco66@yahoo.com

Rather than churn out an “authentic” two-D garage sound, these Texan kids who call themselves THE UGLY BEATS but indulge in anything but, have seen fit to ingest a healthy dose of their own high-octane enthusiasm into this Get Hip mix. The result is "Bring On The Beats" - a seriously infectious party down that could well reinstate their musical form with the respect it once had. Their version of The Easybeats “I’ll Make You Happy” indicates that The Cramps used this song as the undercarriage for their “Mean Machine” and also throw in a cheeky wee Human Fly run just to bolster their recognition. Good call.

It all started off with a seemingly harmless slice of Ramonophonic abandon on the Rock and Roll Disease set where they trounced the competition easily. How was I to know that the song, “I Don’t Wanna Go To The Party” would lead to my becoming a full blown Spazzy addict in such a short space of time? Their album Aloha! Go Bananas on the Fur imprint is just about as infectious a short sharp set as I’ve heard since The Boonaraaas. Recorded big and loud and blowing a raspberry in the direction of anybody that isn’t captivated by its spell. This Aussie lass 3-piece has picked up the baton dropped by The Eastern Dark and they’re gonna shimmy all the way to the finish line. THE SPAZZYS would get top grades in the R&R High School for their crisp line in 1-2-3-4 abandon. What's not to like about a band that closes their album with the gloriously stupid statement of intent that is "I Wanna Cut My Hair Like Marky Ramone"?

Slovenian hillbluesgaragebilly and beyond combo Crazed Farmers have harvested a swinging monster with their gloriously frenzied debut entitled First Crop (Nika Records). While there are influences to be found there, I can’t recall them being poured outta the sonic blender quite like this. Choppy but never in that grating angular fashion, these guys put their back into their land with more gusto than it's perhaps safe to consider, to sound like something that ain’t quite playing with a full deck. These boys will puree and pummel just about anything to full tilt. Whatever they spray their produce with out there then I'd like a regular supply.

Howard Wall reports that Glasgow's ain Beat Poets dust off their equipment for an appearance at The Pearce Hall in Govan, Weegieville on Friday March 18th. Described in the draft programme as "twanngy", this is the local pronunciation of "twangy".

So I'm at the stage now where I don't know what's going on with this bloody e-mail. Some stuff seems to go out alright. Other stuff bounces back and thusly I dunno if anybody is receiving anything other than when I get a message back. I can't promise that this situation will be rectified because I dunno what's causing it. What I do know is that I feel like launching the bloody thing outta the window. However, i'll try to cool those beans and get on with addressing the pile of groovy stuff that I need to hep you to.

One thing, as traffic increases I get more and more requests for links to be placed on the blog. All I can tell you is that if something is worthy it'll go on there but there's a vetting procedure. If you're reading this and are thinking 'bout making such a request - try to get a beat on the environment we've created thus far - if you think you fit the loose criteria then fine but we're not pasting up a bunch of bogus "music" connections for the good of our health. Quality control will out and I'm unlikely to be hosting much in the way of rap anytime soon.

Just found out that MONK isn't on today again. It's been bumped in favour of Athletics - don't people pay subscriptions to Sports Channels for that kinda crap? It's enough to make you wanna cancel your TV licence...

Heap great photos of the beyond cool Croatian mutant-surf titans, The Bambi Molesters (thanks to Bro' BIGor for the tip)

A missive from Monorail Music to those in the greater Metropolitan area of Glasgow...

Monorail Music12 Kin
"Monorail is proud to announce the launch party for Alasdair Roberts' excellent new album, No Earthly Man. We are often found listening to Roberts' music, his crisp Caledonian tongue ringing out on a bright afternoon with impressive, austere authority. Roberts moves purposely forward with every release, and on No Earthly Man he presents a set of traditional British ballads and songs, each concerned with death. If this idea seems potentially drab or gothic, the album is far from. It is a celebratory, sometimes positively joyous album, lovingly sourced and compiled (often from different versions of the songs) by Roberts, who manages to bridge the worlds of historian and singer unselfconsciously and brilliantly. No Earthly Man is produced by fellow traveller, Will Oldham."

Further info at Monorail Music

12 Kings Court, King Street, Glasgow, G1 5RB. 0141 552 9456

So what validates the “brand” of a band for you? I’m talking about a combo who meant something in a previous dimension that maybe disbanded, or didn’t play for a while or well, just about any combination of all that. For me, I think that at least two previous members should be involved. If something is particularly good with just the one then I’d let it slide but that is almost never the case. I bring this up because I saw “The Saints” last night and to be honest, it wasn’t very good. It didn’t outright stink but it was very pedestrian. Had it been billed as a Chris Bailey show then the low expectations may have been ratified. He’s a disarming enough performer but his “band”, nice guys as I’m sure they are, just don’t cut it. “I’m Stranded” was the second song in the set and it appeared to be set on muffle. In fact, despite the guitar wrangling aerobics of Chris’ axeman the sound was decidedly fluffy. The loudness usually associated with The Saints clout just wasn’t there. And it wasn’t the club PA, because earlier The Primevals kicked up a gutsy, strident traipse through their not insubstantial back catalogue in readiness for a collection that should be out on Last Call in May. The Primevals always existed outside the axis of Glasgow pop and were somewhat more successful in Europe than they ever were in the UK. The straddled a kinda Gun Club meets Radio Birdman terrain with a soul bravado that sounded really sharp last night. If they can do this after two rehearsals then two dozen shows down the road, they’ll take your head off. This manifestation of that “brand” consists of people who have been involved in and around the band for a while. Their contributions allow the material to breathe and take on additional matured shape. The shapes that Chris’ most recent Saints throw are altogether more superficial and I don’t get any pleasure out of saying that. When you see Bailey with a real band like The Nomads, hammering out his “I’m Stranded” hymn then maybe it sets the bar too high. What can I tell ya? Mr Spence told me that they were better than they were eight years ago. There may be some solace there but not for me.

RIP - MARTIN DENNY... the great grandfather of exotica is gone!

News updates plus a preview of the sleeve for the upcoming Viva Dictators CD at The Official Dictators Website.

RIP: Michael B. Smith AKA Big Mick. (news c/o Joris at helmettes.nl).

Some wag (for want of a better expression) has been knocking about here changing all the calendars to March. What do you mean it IS March? How can it be?? So that means The Saints are at King Tuts in Glasgow tonight. I figured that was at least two weeks away… Talk about running on empty. I could blame it on the weather and a bunch of other things but where would that get me exactly? No fucking place is right. I’m aghast at the way time is passing. It doesn’t go in quickly when I’m at work in the bloody goldfish bowl but “freedom” goes by in a flash. I guess it’s the same for everybody, right? So I’ll just quit kvetching (for now). Got a lot of info to convey if I could just muster a little corner of that time stuff to put it together. Let’s call it “in due course”.

OK, shoot me, but this was the view on my way back home from work this afternoon, and it just happened to make my day...

This month's releases from Ace Records.

COMING SOON

monks: the transatlantic feedback

documentary film | USA, Germany, Spain | 2005 | color & b/w
96 min | DVCAM, Digibeta

SYNOPSIS

The monks were 5 American GI’s in cold war Germany who billed themselves as the anti-Beatles; they were heavy on feedback, nihilism and electrical banjo. They had strange haircuts, dressed in black, mocked the military and rocked harder than any of their mid-sixties counterparts while managing to basically invent industrial, punk and techno music.

The genre-overlapping documentary film not only illustrates the pop music phenomenon in its political, social and cultural historic contexts, but also reveals the monks project as the first marriage between art and popular music and this months before Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground.

The five protagonists of the film came to cold war Germany in 1961 as soldiers and left the country in 1967 as avant-garde monks. For more than thirty years they were not able to talk about their strange experience. In the film they recount for the first time their adventure.

So I guess Sunday is playlist day, time to hip you to what's happenin'on HQ's hi-fi, with no other intention than to "share" my current digs with alla you NBT readers. Here goes: Any of you remember Geordie for anything else besides providing AC/DC with a new singer after Bon Scott died?. Well, you should. These guys offered some solid mid 70s glam stomp. Equal parts Slade, T. Rex and Led Zep, I've been really diggin' their Hope You Like It LP lately. All Because Of You is as good as anything by Slade in their prime, and I can't stop spinnin' Don't Do That, a Hooker-ish boogie that's just waitin' to be tackled by a band like the Dirtbombs or anyone else on In The Red. Thanks to both the Boonaraaas and the recent Rousers CD (see below) I've also re-acquainted myself with the Roulettes' Bad Time. Penned by Chris Andrews this is the kinda merseybeat song I was hoping to hear as a youngster when buying Gerry & the Pacemakers 45s. Easily as good as anything the Beatles ever came up with!. It's just great when current bands turn you on to tunes like that. I mean, I love Suzi Quatro and have done so since way back when, but I'm friggin' thankful to the Sirens who recently hipped me to Glycerine Queen of her first album, a song that always took a backseat to hits like 48 Crash and Can The Can, but turns out to be equally worthwhile.
Just yesterday I was readin' some magazine and, almost absentmindedly, threw on a Box-Tops comp and became completely mesmerized by I Pray For Rain, a song so perfect it could have been part of the Left Bank songbook. Sonny Boy Williamson's KIng Biscuit Time (an old Arhoolie LP comp) has been makin' an equal impact on my long fried brains, makin' me wonder why people bother with the Queens Of The Stonage (Sabbath fans so lame/ordinary they wouldn't even merit their own real-life soap) and their ilk. As I'm reading Legs McNeil & Jennifer Osborne's The Other Hollywood at the moment, I've also been spinnin' plenty o' lushly orchestrated disco/soul discs from the 70s as they serve as the perfect soundtrack to this book. Favorites include; The O'Jays Back Stabbers, Three Degrees' Dirty Old Man, Love Unlimited's Walking In The Rain, Isaac Hayes' Ike's Mood and Walk On By.

The Primevals will open for The Saints this coming Thursday (March 3rd) at King Tut's in Glasgow. Look out for a release date for their Last Call imprint retrospective. Coming soon...

Check out THE FLASH EXPRESS... our crew in GROMKA - METELKOVA, ljubljana / SLO can get a taste of what they're capable of tomorrow night. They're blazing a trail throughout Europe but not the UK. On the other hand why would they? This country wouldn't know a good band supposing it fell on top of it. Other combos headed for twhat seems like an Eastern European utopia for live music include Nine Pound Hammer and the now Mr Nancy-less Fabulous Disaster.

It's coming on dvd already and the extras are:

End Of The Century trailer

Deleted scene -- Clem Burke as Elvis Ramone

Joey Ramone radio interview excerpts from FM 106.3

Marky Ramone drum technique

Johnny Ramone interview excerpts

Richie Ramone interview excerpts

Dee Dee Ramone interview excerpts

Joe Strummer interview excerpts

Tommy Ramone in Forest Hills interview excerpts

Debbie Harry and Chris Stein interview excerpts

Neighborhood friend Ritchie Adler interview excerpts

Who Wrote What On The First 3 Albums by Tommy Ramone

Also check out this from Scotland on Sunday...

Thanks to Martin P for the info.

So, this box has gone through some kinda electronic transfusion and is working again. I'm utterly sickened at the fact that I seem to be so dependent on it but wodjagonnado? Here is some news for LA readers about Fur Dixon revisiting her Hollywood Hillbilly roots... info courtesy of Trashy Ashell from the Staysick board.

From this week's LA Weekly. One time Cramp, Fur is doing a show next week!

THE WESTERN BEAT KRIS KRISTOFFERSON TRIBUTE

Very few modern country songwriters have made as great an impact as Kris Kristofferson, the onetime Columbia recording studio janitor who set Music City afire with a lyrical style that mixed graphic realism and forlorn atmospherics. In the Nashville of the early 1970s, "Sunday Morning Coming Down"’s key lyric ". . . wishing Lord that I was stoned . . ." was equivalent to getting jabbed by a cattle prod. His blunt poetics also kicked open a door through which renegades Billy Joe Shaver and David Allan Coe happily passed and, despite his subsequent descent into a swamp of mediocre movie roles, the Kristofferson impact cannot be denied. Tonight's homage, with the capable likes of Mike Stinson, the hardscrabble charms of folk insurrectionaries - Steve Werner and Fur Dixon, and much more, should provide fitting honor.

Highland Grounds, 742 N. Highland Ave.; Thurs., March 3. (323) 466-1507.

THE ROUSERS - A TREAT OF NEW BEAT (AGM CD).
Now here's a band that loomed large in my life way back in the early 80's, I must have seen 'm at least a dozen times at the time, and it's great to see their long lost debut finally appear on CD. The Rousers' tool of trade was a solid mix of punk energy and six-o tunes (call it powerpop if you like) that holds up surprisingly well. Lyrically they might be part of the long standing Dutch tradition of teenage exuberance, cheesy accents and misunderstood slang, but there's no denying the strength of the actual tunes. No less than 11 bonus cuts round up the picture with only a version of She Loves You inducing a shrug of the shoulders, but the previously unreleased take on the Roulettes' Bad Time (recently also tackled by the Boonaraas) is a nice surprise. 8 out of 10, even after all these years.

Visitors with a penchant for Scottish Pop will be sorry to hear about Edwyn Collins. Hopefully he'll pull through...

OK, so the short of it is this... home contraption still goosed, no' able to post and communicate as normal. Hope to have this situation under control soon but who knows... other than that, much as I hate driving, I'm looking forward to the drive home this avo (that's afternoon to those who maybe ain't familiar with that particular lingo). A half day on a Friday ain't nothing to be sniffed at and adds afew minutes to the lull before the storm that is the Monday dread. As opposed to Mikey Dread.

Gearclub at Debaser, Stockhom - Friday March 4, 20.00 - 03.00 - 80SvKr



Grande Ballroom:
THE HIJACKERS 22.00
THE GILJOTEENS 23.00
DJ's Mike Barbwire & Baby Diamondback

Lounge:
One String King 21.30
Gearclub Quiz 20.45 (win a free set of drinks)
DJ Reverend Billy Hill (100% Hillbilly & Roots music)
REAL TIKI Drinks 20.00 - 22.00

Also we have a new website

"Hey Folks

We're impossibly sad to announce that this Saturday's edition of Sonic Reducer (Feb 26) will be the last at The Boogaloo, due to circumstances (waaay) beyond our control.

However, it's gonna be one helluva wild-assed, day-after-the-DKT-MC5/Sun Ra-gig kinda blowout, replete with all of the serious garage, soul, punk, R&B, blues, soundtracks, reggae, reefer jazz, Nederbiet, and gen-u-wine skronk 7"s that you've come to know and lurve over the past year or so ... Joining us from the pulsating heart of Bristol's clubland will be dear friend and beat cosmonaut supreme, Steptoe, who'll be dishing only the finest deep funk and beat groovers ...

We'd like to take this opportunity to wholeheartedly thank y'all for being such a lovely crowd, and it's been a real honour to spin 45s for ya! To those who tapped a foot, or were in danger of knocking over the decks while dancing like a mad fule, we salute ya!

Looking back, it seems amazing that we've had such guest DJs as Michael Davis (MC5), Ben (Cornershop), Tim Rogers (You Am I), Andy Perry (The Telegraph / Intensive Care) and CherryStones (Twisted Nerve), and the capper has gotta be Ray Davies' regular visits ... Who could wish for more?

Of course, we'll continue to dish beats aplenty, and next from the Sonic Reducer Tag Team DJs is:

Mar 2 - 'Sure Trakings Trio' aftershow party

Mar 11 - Bassholes & Monsieur Jeffrey Evans @ The Dirty Water Club

Apr 2 - Top secret blowout!

Apr 28 - The Buccaneer, Memphis, Tennessee

For further details of where we'll turn up next, send an email to joss.hutton@talk21.com ...

But for now, it's sayonara, tattie-bye ... just remember to be good to your peoples, and have a drink for good old HST!

Much love

Joss & Joe xxx

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Dr Hunter S Thompson (1937-2005)

Sonic Reducer- The Final Conflict

The Boogaloo, Arway Road, London N6
Highgate Tube
7.30pm-1.30am
free before 10pm, £5 after"

Yowza, yowza! Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, and join Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. for an evening of the naughty and the bawdy at the "Wasabassco Cabaret Burlesque" (www.wasabassco.com) on Wednesday, February 23rd, at the space-aged Sputnik lounge. The SIT & Die boys will kick off the racy revue at 10:30, followed by a scintillating stream of the city's best burlesque beauties -- saucy sirens guaranteed to quicken the pulse and liven the libido -- and with free frankfurters for all! All for a mere $5.00 admission. Sputnik (www.barsputnik.com) is located at 262 Taaffe Place in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

For the more puritanically minded, please remember that the following night, like every Thursday night, SIT & Die Co. preaches the gospel of their patented "Ballads, Boogies & Blues" from 8:00 until 10:00 in the morally upright confines of Otto's Shrunken Head, located at 538 East 14th Street in the Eastern Village of Manhattan.

For all the explicit details, kindly visit www.SITandDieCo.com, won't you?

Sincerely,Michael

P.S. Just so that there are no secrets between us, please know that SIT & Die Co. takes to the Rodeo Bar stage on Wednesday, March 2nd. Thank you, that feels much better.

Fear or loathing? Pioneer of "gonzo journalism", Hunter S. Thompson shoots himself.

OK, OK, time for a short update from NBT's Dutch HQ. 05 got off to a very bad start so far. First I got stuck with not one, but two variations of the flu myself in January, and just last week my one year old son Bastiaan suffered from a severe bout of pneumonia. Bad as that is, there's the day-to-day stuff that seems to be taking up more time every week. I'll stop right here, and spare you the wall-to-wall moanin' 'n groanin', and instead focus on some kinda playlist of stuff that kept my spirits up (as far as possible) in recent weeks.
First off, Bob Marley's work with Lee Perry from the early 70s has hardly left the hi-fi here at HQ. Sparse, soulful, uplifting, this is just about as good as it gets. Forget all the blah-blah that's all over the music mags currently and dive straight into the heart of the matter. Trojan has the perfect introduction available right here. If reggae seems hardly the usual standard NBT fare, I have no idea what you will make of 40's big band sounds, but Lucky Millinder's Apollo Jump LP (Affinity) is another recent mainstay on my hi-fi. This disc features the earliest recorded work of the great Wynonie Harris, plus reknown gospel vocalist Sister Rosetta Tharpe singin' 'I Want A Tall Skinny Pappa'. Some songs: Pere Ubu - Final Solution, Dr Feelgood - Back In The Night, Duke Ellington - Take The A Train, Skeletons - Very Last Day, Bobby Womack - Woman's Got To Have It, Big Star - 13. And no matter what happens, I always listen to Creedence, Miles' Kind Of Blue and the Groovies. So there you have it...

Music and plenty else for NIMRODS!

Nice piece on Arthur Kane by David Johansen on the DOLLS site.

Check out this great little label based in Switzerland... Feathered Apple.

I'm pretty sure this computer is taking the piss outta me. Now that might sound like paranoia and even a little obsessive, compulsive but I can't shake the consideration that this bloody box in the corner across from the other one is extracting the ol' urine. Anyway, on a somewhat related note, my favourite TV show at the minute is MONK. It's on BBC2 here on a Saturday afternoon so while everybody else is at the mall, or getting on with their lives. We watch MONK. He's obsessive compulsive to a point beyond the call. It also takes place in San Francisco and there are great locations that just make you wanna be there. It's quite a gentle piece with an inherent sick cool that just doesn't make it to our screens too often these days. You should check it out if it appears on your schedules.

So we're entering our second month of belt tightening around here and I have it on pretty good authority that the Ethernet card in this pc is about to hit the wall. Lotsa connection problems this past week and difficulties with general e-mail too. It's a pain in the ass. Is it too much to expect things just to work? Evidently it is, so bear with the lapses in communication. Yeah, the coffers are at some kinda boracic level. (That's boracic lint = skint) Home maintenance doesn't come cheap and nothing much else does either, hence the kinda self-imposed exile. A little discipline probably ain't a bad thing and this shouldn't be interpreted as complaining. Merely an observation that stings a tad. Posting to the blog has caused a bit of head-scratching this past week also. It seems to hang mid-post but somehow makes it on there. He who hath no patience finds this a tad disconcerting. All of this admin is impeding the dissemination of info but stay tuned.

Mr Spence has a message for you folks in and around Glasgow!

Howdy Folks! Boy have we gotta treat for you....

SATURDAY 19TH FEBRUARY - STEREO, KELVINHAUGH ST., GLASGOW

£4 on the door; doors: 3pm ...YES, IT'S A MATINEE SHOW!!! (0141 576 5018)

THE DEXATEENS

THE GREASE MONKEYS

TAYLOR HOLLINGSWORTH

Aaah, record label discographies. Hours of joy!. They Could Have Been Bigger Than EMI.

The world has gone nuts... The Ramones are reincarnated as teddy bears (albeit toxic ones), Ms Amy Allison was telling me just the other night that FEZ was closing and now it seems that NY city may not "have it all" for too much longer... thanks to Martin Percival for the LINK.

Check out Hans Kesteloo's radio-stream - BEYOND THE BEAT GENERATION. Quite an archive of sound and vision.

And while you're at it, Scottish Beat Afficianados should keep the evening of March 24th to "talk about girls" n' stuff when THE CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND appear at King Tuts along with "wir ain" Lenny Helsing and his THANES!

Prescribed by Dr. Andrea, Medicine Wummin.

If you go down to the woods today... you'll see them goin' through a tight wynd!

Info from Prof. R. Stim, SF, CA.

"Dearest Friend,
Let's spend the night together, shall we? Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. hopes you'll say "Yes, I'd like that very much, thank you" and come to Otto's Shrunken Head, located at 538 East 14th Street in Manhattan, on Thursday, February 17th. It is then, from 8:00 until 10:00 sharp, that we shall present two most intimate shows that will express our deepest feelings for you. Both love and admission will be free and without obligation.

Yours most truly, Michael, Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.

It came from Memphis... to the BARBICAN in London.

Thundercut Alters Downtown WALK Signs in NYC.
"On the WALK/DON’T WALK sign outside CBGB on the Bowery, the orange DON’T WALK hand has had its middle two fingers and thumb obliterated with black tape, turning it into a devil’s horns—the universal hand signal for “Rock!” The white walking man is now wearing sideburns, a skull-and-bones T-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of Converse."

Atomic Affair is a new company specializing in vintage clothing. And if you are inclined to such matters, these gals deserve your support.

Crawford Smith spotted this train info...

Mr Martin Percival passed this along...

"Brothers & Sisters,Bow yr heads & pray to yr respective gods for the sadly departed soul of Dave Goodman, legendary Sex Pistols producer & regular all round good guy. Dave passed away following a heart attack at his Malta home this week. Our thoughts go out to his family & friends. RIP, Jean Encoule, trakMARX.com"

JIMMY SMITH - RIP (info from El Rapido)

I heard a funny expression for what’s happening to all of us. “Silvering” would appear to be a new tag for getting older. In this process, time seems to accelerate but only in your free time. When you’re going about the day to day guff then ol’ person time seems to travel painfully slowly. This can manifest itself in all manner of ways. He measure of time itself now is something I’m very aware of. As is thinking about using this precious commodity wisely. In reality though I’m prone to wasting big, hairy chunks of it. Nobody’s fault but mine I know but how does one actually get with addressing and more importantly actioning this condition? It occurs to me that I haven’t got a scoob. With age comes wisdom they say… so how come that wisdom stuff is in such short supply around these parts? Could be the “silvering” I guess…

Some Southern Culture headed our way in May...

I can't access the website but dates are

Wednesday 11 • London • Borderline

Thursday 12 • Bristol • St Bonaventures Parish Club

Friday 13 • Glasgow • Oran Mor (Part of Big Big Country Festival)

Saturday 14 • Newcastle • The Cluny

Better get to brewin' that 'shine now!

Up next from Norton: "RON HAYDOCK & THE BOPPERS - 99 CHICKS. Norton kingpins wild CD now on vinyl! Chicago's answer to Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps! Insane 1950's rockers and Ray Dennis Steckler soundtrack numbers plus rare demos, all culled from original master tapes! A MUST FOR EVERY ROCK N' ROLL FAN!. VARIOUS - SHAKE IT UP AND MOVE. 20 Primitive rockabilly demos by Elroy Dietzel, Jimmy Johnson, Johnny Fallin and others! This is the vinyl version of Ace Records phenomenal GENE VINCENT CUT OUR SONGS CD - sensational stuff!. VARIOUS - WILDCAT JAMBOREE. Live late 50s broadcasts from Corinth, Mississippis DIXIELAND Jamboree radio program! LLOYD ARNOLD, CURTIS HOBOCK, BILLY WAYNE, LEON BASS, BOBBY WOOD, WAYNE and BOBBY PRATT and more! Includes liner notes by Jamboree bandleader Hayden Thompson, interview with Jamboree boss Charles Bolton, additional commentary by the legendary Eddie Bond and many rare photos."

Two hours of Billy Miller and Lenny Kaye spinnin' old Fortune 45s on WMFU's Fool's Paradise. Essential listening !. (link c/o Jan Kooi).

Also on In-fidelity, you’ll find these Aussie outfits might hit some kinda spot with that craving for real rockin’ thrills you've been rasslin' with. That country has a fine pedigree of producing acts that can show 95% of UK grown bollocks how it’s done and well, here’s further proof of that claim.

THE SPECIMENS, that’s plural and not to be confused with the Batcave crowd, are a post-Hellacopters Detroit rock swillin’, potty mouthed ensemble that kick up quite a racket on their album, “The Quick And The Deaf”. It’s pretty def at any volume.

I thought that THE CANTS were from Detroit too being that their album was produced by Jim Diamond (not the Scottish JD). They knock out a nice Hoodoo Gurus-esque line in melodic punk which also owes a nod to 60’s garage but not in that authenticity over substance kinda way. Taking the Aussie accent into consideration when you say their name, you might arrive at a Pete’n’Dud appropriation of a very rude word indeed. Those scamps…

And what kinda name is THE ROYS? Especially when they’re not all called Roy? Well, it’s the moniker of a group with a sound that harks back to the cream of 70’s rock. Their EP contains 6 songs, the most immediate of these being “Till Next Time” which sounds like a collision between The Dictators and Big Star. In the gatefold of the cd booklet, they can be seen performing in front of a kid, a dog and an elephant. Now that’s crossover.

I guess I'd clocked THE COME ONS name but hadn't done anything about it. This, of course, was a slip up and of course, why would Sympathy have put out two records if they weren't at least worth checking out? Anyways, THE GHETTO YEARS is a collection of tracks assembled by In-Fidelity Records out yonder in Australia and it makes me wonder why their star hasn't ascended further by now. A sticker on the case suggests the contents sound "like Darlene Love quaffing Spanish brandy from a high-heeled sneaker" and tasty as that goes it's not entirely accurate. This punked-in, souled-out torch pop is way more fluid than that. Their sometimes tranquil fragility sits comfortably beside such monster grooves as "Complicated" (see the video on their website). This is sophisticated and savvy and it doesn't sound like anybody except themselves. Singer, Deanne Iovan, is also involved with fellow fine Motor City combo, THE SIRENS.

On Tuesday (8th February), BBC Radio Scotland will start a new series called Indie-Pendant Scotland about "the rise of independant labels" here in the auld country. Presented by Vic Galloway, it goes out at 11.30am but will be available on the station's "on-demand" facility.It will also be repeated on a Sunday Evening.

I need to clear something up. I have no contact with The Cramps. I've had no contact with them since they shut down the LOTC in August 1983 because the "tail was trying to wag the dog" or however it was put. Ergo, I can't put anybody in touch. I'm sorry if that's disappointing but that's the way it is. I still believe in them to an extent, especially now that Bill Bateman is involved but - I reiterate - I can't put anybody in contact with them. I believe that you can contact their agent/label/whatever via their website so I suggest you try those channels. I've just replied to the most recent request to be connected but won't address this matter again. Not outta rudeness, just because I'm tired of it.

I hold great store in loyalty and tend to be true to my school wherever possible. I've burned boats and done some daft, inane things in my time. Things way beyond having allegedly "wagged the dog" but sometimes mistakes are made in good faith via good old fashioned stupidity or because events dictate it. That said, life has to go on, y'ken... so please... hear this plea. It's the last one i'll make on the subject.

I just heard Janice Forsyth say that MARTYN BENNETT died last week and sure enough...

The great Alex Harvey would have been 70 today. That reminds me about the Neil Wilson Publishing published book, SAHB STORIES by Martin Kielty. Select music from the drop down menu at the top, the link doesn't seem to want to take you direct to the page for some reason. There was also a special edition available but those could well be gone.

Those Sonic Reducer fellas are outta hibernation and they mean (show) business...



"Hey Folks

We're ecstatic to report that the last Sonic Reducer bash raised £380 towards the tsunami appeal, which is deffo more than chump change ... This month, we're kicking off holding SR on Saturday nights, allowing yer good selves a full day's run up, and another 24 hours or so to recover! Ain't we just the kindest? Waaaaal ...

On Saturday January 12th, our guest DJ is none other than beat-hunter par excellence Cherrystones, who's just returned from helping David Holmes open up his new Belfast club ... From blistering funk to psych rock gems, the tracks this hairy fella has racked out on such mind-bending compilation albums as Rocks, Hidden Charms and B-Music proves that what he don't know about a myriad of musical styles could be written on the back of a postage stamp, and used to cover Pete Doherty's sense of propriety ...

Sadly, it looks as if the uber-special DJ we were wishin' & hopin' could make it to the decks on Saturday February 26th, namely Dictators frontman and DKT-MC5 guest vocalist Handsome Dick Manitoba, will be en route to play in Italy - for shame! But the big beat is for everyone, rite? And them Italians are mad for that ramalama racket ... Happily, veteran beatmeister Steptoe is travelling up from Bristol, to dish a whole box full of moves'n'grooves that have been wowing the hipsters at that fair city's Jubjub and Shake clubs ...

Natchully, we're still almost soiling ourselves at the thought of another go-round with the DKT-MC5 monster, this time avec the Sun Ra Arkestra, at Londinium's esteemed Royal Festival Hall on February 25th ... Do your ears, brains and souls a favour, will ya?!?!?!

The Soundtrack Of Our Lives are back in the UK this month, too ... Visit www.tsool.com for the lowdown, and be sure to watch the hilarious vid for their latest single, Heading For A Breakdown, which makes Aphex Twin's Windowlicker look like an episode of Ballykissangel ...

Also be sure to pick up a copy of the marvy Beat-Up album, Black Rays Defence, produced by the one and only Kevin Shields, which confirms their status as the finest rock'n'roll band in all the land ...

As if we didn't need to tell ya, Easter Weekend ain't for praising da lord - noooooooooooo! You should spend it genuflecting at the feet of The Chocolate Watch Band AAAND Love with Arthur Lee & (original guitarist) Johnny Echols, at Rob Bailey and co.'s Le Beat Bespoke weekender ... Visit www.newuntouchables.com for details ...

Lastly (but by no means least), our good, good friend Stewie Kirkham has just compiled a marvy selection of psych-rock obscurities, entitled Scorched Earth, for the "Eeee-Emmm-IIIII" label, and he'll be spinning cuts from it at SR during March ... Which will be nice ...

So that's all the news that's fit to sing for this month, seez ya at the bar ...

Selah, Joss and Joe"

News of some rock action in Edinburgh next weekend... chicken lickin¹ fun! Live at the subway - Cowgate, Saturday 12 february 8pm - alcohol with id -over 14s-£5
plus 4 support acts!!!! Bad Girls and Good ol¹ Boys Only!

OK kids, don't say you weren't given due warning -

"....hold onta ya assflaps LOS FABULOUS COYOTE MEN are back on the au go go! 'n' this time the mighty bruiser is chantin' 'n' dancin! yep... 1st confirmed date is sat may 14th with southern culture on the skids at the cluny, newcastle(part of a 2 day garage blow out) with other "warm ups" in spain 'n' london the week afore....it's been 6 years since the last REAL coyotes show (destroyin' mooney suzuki in nyc)'n' the son of h.d. is revved 'n' ready baby!"

Folks are continually asking me about back issues but i don't got none. However, heres a copy of Issue 21 looking for a home on Ebay. Maybe you'd care to liberate it?

Coupla things I’ve been thinking about that I’m gonna throw open to the floor…

First was the projected WHO WILL SAVE ROCK’N’ROLL exercise that I mentioned some time ago. While I appreciate those who were interested, it really wasn’t many and the state the ol’ finances are in of late - I can’t really afford to take a gamble. So the idea has kinda mutated into thinking that I might resurrect NBT as a newsletter to be mailed out in a physical form. Then I can send these binders out to those who “subscribe” as something of a receptacle for said newsletter which would build up into an archive (or wad of paper) depending on how you look at it. Does anyone indeed care? Or am I wasting my time even thinking about something like this? I have an urge to create something tactile. I want it to be of a DIY spirit that doesn’t look like it fell off the back end of a computer. As far as I know there’s no medication that exists to counter this. I have to consider the indifference though I guess.

The other question is – does an artist need to be affiliated to a label or should they just, jolly well release their own material? After all if you’re on a label and sell sod all then you’ve got someone to blame right? Sometimes that blame can be legitimate and sometimes… well… But if you release your own material then ostensibly you need to sell less to see some kinda return. Am I missing something here?

These two “questions” are somewhat intertwined and intersect at the point where I don’t think that anybody gives much of a fuck anymore. About anything. maybe they simply don't have the time? Maybe they do, but they’re just too worn down or drowning in crap that they can’t muster the energy? Maybe they’ve just grown out of giving a hoot? Give me a hand here, I’m trying to reason all of this out.

I know that the people who read this thing are not scenesters. Not fly by nights who flit from honey pot to Joe knows where. My experience is that you’re in it for the long haul and like me, couldn’t quit your habit supposing your ass depended on it. At least that’s what it says on “my telly”.

As we’ve hit February like a brick wall, I’m coming to terms with the fact that – no matter how I try to justify it – I can’t afford to hit up the DKT/MC5 show in London toward the end of the month. Life goes on however... and I wish this flu type thing that seems to be descending on me will either show itself or piss off back to whence it slid.

The latest edition of Lowcut magazine offers an interview with the always opinionated Tony Slug.

This month's releases from Ace Records.

Brother Bjorn sent me this link to the label that will present the new BARRACUDAS album to the world. Send 'em an encouraging word...

Seems to be a slow time for news and I don’t have much time for the old “listening process” right now. Too much of the day to day grind to be dealt with.

I did watch Fahrenheit 9/11 that I taped off the telly the other night though. What a load of mashed up, MTV generation cobblers that is. I used to rate Michael Moore but really hated Bowling For Columbine. This is perhaps even more cynical and loaded than that crock was. I’m pretty sure F9/11 won Dubya yon big compy that went down Stateside in November. I’d still like to see his movie, The Big One though, but only because The World Famous Blue Jays did the music.

Rejoice Children, rejoice !. February and March 15 will be the first important dates of 2005. Not only will Leg's McNeil's long promised book 'The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film Industry' finally see the light of day next month on that very day, but March 15 is the official release date of the Ramones''End Of The Century' DVD as well. Yes, 15 is your lucky number...

An early start this morning. Drop the car off for a "service". Obviously a euphamism for "shakedown" in that it always COSTS. I hate driving but that's another entchilada altogether, maybe I'll go into it one day. So, I head north with my parents to a wee place called Birnam which is about 12 miles from Pitlochry or thereabouts. Close to Dunkeld. It's an idyllic part of the world to have an outlet which agents the manufacture of cd's and if there was any justice at all, I'd be retired there by now. My old man's album will be foisted upon the world, March 1st or thereabouts and he has a lot of angles. More than I have these days that's for sure... There goes my last day of annual leave but I feel like I achieved something today. New holiday semester starts in March - bring it on!!

This link comes c/o S.J. Bink; some amazing videos of the Dolls, Ramones, Dead Boys and Runaways.

P3 POPSTAD - THE NOMADS + THE TEENAGE IDOLS + JOHNOSSI at Debaser in Stockholm this coming Friday (4th February). Make that scene if you can.

"hey, just got back from the (Magic Christian) show... first off i was blown away to see people i work with at the show... "what are you doing here?" "we're here to see cyril jordan".
i didn't even know they were into him, and they said the same thing about me. before long cyril pops up to say hi and that blew their minds.

anyways... the guys did a great show. very relaxed. but in a good way. very very enjoyable. prairie prince was using one of the other bands drum kits (nice black diamond pearl set like ringo's)... and let me tell you i never heard him so good. for once i could hear the whole band. i now get why they like prairie so much. i don't know if he didn't feel comfortable on these drums or didn't want to break them or what. all i know is he was great. i told him so... (altho i think i may have offended him... "hey, i liked you on this drum set" - guess it was a backhanded compliment! i gotta be honest... the guy's a real nice cat but he deafens me sometimes. he can be overpowering. but tonight he was right there. i mean totally right on.

people told me they found paul's singing much better too. not forced. this is the point... the band was not at all forced. very together. i think this is what was missing prior to this show. cyril played great. i still wish he'd go back to using a pick, but he pulled off his solos really nicely, and with no delay from coming off
the rhythm.(not easy). they opened with "made my bed" and went on to others they've been doing... "right back where i started", the stones' "gotta get away". spoonful's "my gal"...bunch of beatles... "any time at all", "things we said today", and a killer version of "don't bother me" with a great rave up ending. they did "angel" for the first time. cool song. "she's so good" rocked better than ever.
cyril wore his wonder woman t-shirt and played his dan armstrong thru the pod and into the twin reverb. alec had his ric bass this time... paul shook maracas now and then. girls were dancing up front. not a huge crowd but they were totally rocking. looks like the guys are headed for europe soon. i think they're playing with wayne kramer. in the meantime they're in the studio working on the next album."

- don in frisco

Happy birthday to both H.D. Manitoba; King Of Man, and H.B. Vedder; King Of Man version 2.0.

CHINABOISE THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (Gulcher 426)

Back at the dawn of No Future, before mid-70s boredom turned into late-70s hate, Rich Stim and Dave Mahoney were two young guys living in a trailer park. This trailer park was located in the midwest college town of Bloomington, Indiana. Rich was a newspaper writer by profession(ombudsman, obituaries, and music reviews), but longed to be a musician. He could play sax, bass, guitar, and other assorted instruments. Dave was a drummer, who even did gigs with a local country band. They both sang. In 1975, they began working up a batch of songs composed by Rich. They called their project Chinaboise.

In the very same trailer park lived Rich Fish, who soon moved into a house where he built a tiny studio in an empty bedroom (the teenage Gizmos would record there in '76 and '77). Rich Stim and Dave Mahoney joined their former neighbor at Home Grown Studios, where Chinaboise recorded a handful of tracks over a few months in '75.

Stim asked guitarist Bruce Anderson to join them in the studio for a few songs. Bruce was invited because he was the driving force behind MX-80 Sound, the high-energy avant combo which Stim considered local gods. It turned out Bruce had been thinking about moving MX-80 Sound closer to rock music, and the Chinaboise duo would soon join MX-80 to record the classic BIG HITS EP in 1976.

But back in '75, things were still kinda like the early 70s, and that's nowhere more evident than on this new Gulcher CD of Chinaboise music. If MX-80 '76 is like a pissed-off art punk finally lashing out, Chinaboise '75 is the punk's older boho brother smirking cynically and blowin' his horn.

"The Greatest Story Ever Told" was released on the BLOOMINGTON 1 comp LP (BRBQ Records '75), but none of the other Chinaboise material ever came out officially. Well, Rich says they "handed out cassettes to some people in town." "The Greatest Story Ever Told" is a great track. Stim's deadpan vocal and lyric combine with Bruce's jagged avant-metal guitar and Dave's drumming to sound not unlike the "new" MX-80 Sound of '76. Except this also has female vocals by Carolyn Boner and Kim Torgerson (who took photos of MX-80 over the years).

Bruce Anderson also appears on the ever-timely oil crisis ditty "Living On Oil," the angular MX-80-like "Take Two," and "Self-Conscious Pisser" (vocal by Steve Hoy), which became an MX-80 instrumental, abbreviated "SCP." There's also an early version of MX-80's "Myonga Von Bontee," done here as a sax-and-drums duet by Rich and Dave. "Partners In A Crime" was also re-arranged as an MX-80 song; the Chinaboise precursor features vocals by Stim, Dave, and Rich Fish, with only piano accompaniment.

There are a few tunes dominated by a sort of (pseudo-)beatnik campfire vibe--just Rich and Dave interacting like the doob's been passed for awhile. "Girl You Got It (So Go Get It)" and "Demons In The Lone Star State" both feature Rich on recorder! "Sodium Nitrate" is filled with back-and-forth hepster dialogue plus bebop sax. "Caught Between Dreams" moves the action to a jazzy little tavern just down the street.

"Working Girl" has Stim's typical workaday lyrics turned inside out, from the woman's point of view, with a lovely vocal by Holly Thomison. "Dear Tears" has a similar feel, with Kim Torgerson singing. These two tracks remind me of Stim's work in the 80s with Angel Corpus Christi (Mrs Stim).

The most surprising sounds here are two tracks of spoken-word humor done in the Firesign Theatre style. "Breakfast At The Gables" has Rich Stim, Rich Fish, and Carolyn Boner doing a mock morning radio show, complete with sound effects and fake commercials. On "In The Sahara" Stim is a bad stand-up comedian, Carolyn and Kim are drunk audience members, Fish an announcer and a drunk, and drummer Brad Fox
provides rimshots for Stim's jokes.

Yep, this is a weird one, Gulcher mulchers--lots of DIY fun, interesting musical approaches, and underground history in the making. The CD package includes cool early pix of the MX-80 boys and the rest of the crew, and an interview with Rich Stim. (Eddie Flowers, Slippy Town)

Talk about cross collateralising cultures.... I'm sitting here filling out the MCPS forms for my old man's soon to be released album of pipe tunes. It's turned into quite a project but it's all nearing completion. Check out the kiltie photo above. While I painstakingly list this obscure fare, which is not altogether straightforward, I'm listening to the great Radio Student (Hey BIGor and Ms Viva!!), broadcasting from Slovenia and hoping that something gives that'll mean we can head out that way this year. They just played a Beavis and Butthead trailer for the station... we really are not sodding worthy! You can tune into this sensation also by selecting the listing on yonder sidebar.

Hope to be able to give you the skinny on the tour dates for their Croatian neighbours, THE BAMBI MOLESTERS very soon... I'm on a sorta long weekend so I'm relatively chilled in that I don't have to think about going back to the rat race until maybe Monday evening.

OK, I just felt like a break from the compilation of publishing details for bagpipe tunes. It's a strange and complicated world and doesn't it all sound the same to you? That's what my parents used to say about The Ramones...

You wanna know "wha' 'appen(ing)? Well check out NERVOUS SHAKES "SEPARATE BEDS? I DON'T THINK SO" available now on the NUN label. Their Fred Willard-esque take on album titles contains the kind of no-frills, superior rock action that can sneak under the radar so easily these days.Straight outta Brussels and harbouring a prediliction for buzzsaw rock and roll. I thought track 5 was titled "Swedish Love Gym" until I adjusted my glasses. Turned out it was "Gun". Ah well, you can't have everything. So yeah, a considerable octane then. Visit their bijou website and sample their wares.

The South may well rise again! 'bama's DEXATEENS will be landing to serve up substantial lashings of their punk rock Skynyrd-lickin' marinade at the following venues during February...

FRIDAY 11TH - GLASGOW - 13TH NOTE CAFE w/
Raising Kain, the Grease Monkeys, Taylor Hollingsworth

SATURDAY 12TH - ABERDEEN - THE TUNNELS
w/ the Grease Monkeys, the Down Roads, Taylor Hollingsworth

SUNDAY 13TH - NEWCASTLE - THE CLUNY
w/ the Grease Monkeys, the Illegal Movers, Taylor Hollingsworth

TUESDAY 15TH - LONDON - ARTROCKER at the BUFFALO BAR

WEDNESDAY 16TH - LONDON - BRIXTON WINDMILL
w/ Taylor Hollingsworth, & 2 others

SATURDAY 19TH (afternoon) - GLASGOW - STEREO
w/ the Grease Monkeys, Taylor Hollingsworth

SATURDAY 19TH - EDINBURGH - MERCAT
w/ the Grease Monkeys, Denghis, Taylor Hollingsworth



Their just released second album, RED DUST RISING is on the prowl now via Mr Crider's ESTRUS imprint and it's sure to put the wind up them January cobwebs. You heard ol' Neil sing about it and you heard ol' Neil put it down but this should be a wake up call to the old duffer that them there Southern men still don't need him around anyhow.