Without any further ado, a report from the Rotterdam (Water)frontline...

PRIMITIVE LIVING 2008 by Lenny Helsing

OK, so I missed the opening kick off party again on Wednesday night with The Peptones… and all of Thursday too I’m afraid this time, I didn’t arrive until Friday afternoon…So Thursday night’s picks like UK whipper-snapper garage-loudniks Thee Vicars, and Argentina’s Los Peyotes, I regrettably didn’t catch. Everyone who saw them said they were pretty great too! So for me, Primitive began on Friday afternoon when we picked up the Ronnie Splinter, Leendert ‘Buzz’ Busch and Appie Rammers – the Outsiders, and headed over to the venue.

We then rehearsed for an hour or two and it was amazing. The only singers present were Primitive Dave, Jorge from Dr Explosion and myself. A little later, Marky from Phantom Keys turned up. As you can imagine, getting to sing through a load of Outsiders songs was pure magic for me and for Jorge too. Plus the beer was now beginning to flow and I was supposed to get up and do a number with Dutch group the 1 2 5 in the Café but things started late – they weren’t there when we arrived at first at 4pm, so I thought I’d come back later…and then I absolutely couldn’t pull myself away from singing song after song with Ronnie, Buzz and Appie. It was all too much. So again, I really do apologise to the 1 2 5 for my no-show.

First on in the hall at 9-ish were Hipbone Slim and the Knee Tremblers who, despite being without our loveable bass-playing rogue John Gibbs (now an ex-member of the band) put on what was in essence a great rockin’ swampy / blues’a’billy show, with Diddlin’ Bruce ‘Tasker’ Brand on truly fine form bashing along on the drumkit / maracas as is per usual. The first up of the evening’s bu-bu-Burlesque dancers was the great Agent Lynch. She came on in slow motion, a high-healed go-go spacewoman no less, with primitive Union Jack in tow, and those filling the hall were spellbound.

My favourite UK group were on next, The Higher State. By this time I had also been cajoled into being some sorta MC for the night – well, after a fashion. So, like some kinda South Coast Pop Art Experimental Group, Marty, Mick, Mole and Mark took to the stage and thrilled all with their high-coined beat music. They have classic after classic building up in their repertoire, with big chiming Rickenbacker chords blazing over superb vocal harmonies. Also heard in this much clearer mix than I’ve heard before, were some of Marty’s climbing Elevatoresque breaks and so great to actually hear some of Mick’s cool tom-tom fills and Mark’s doozy bass lines. The fizzing, fuzzing latest 45 ‘And In Time’, and ‘If We Don’t Realize’ was aired with panache, plus some ‘From ‘Round Here’ faves and some great new tracks from their coming-out-soon LP ‘Darker By The Day’.

One of the longest-running or at least certainly one of the earliest of the UK garage-styled teen punk groups, The Cannibals, were here too. It was a different line-up from what I witnessed a couple of yrs back in Belgium and I think, all round, singer/leader Mike Spenser now has a better group around him. Pretty spaced-out sounding garage rock with drips of Electric Prunes-noise here and drops of Standells-isms there is what they specialise in. Lots and lots of repeat echo, over-the-top fuzz fx and cadavernous reverb is what they seem to especially like to put into their midnight-trash soup feast. Most of the crowd seemed to like what they were fed too.

Trixie Malicious of the Burlesque dancers was up on the podium next shaking and shimmying to the delight of the crowd. Then I was called over to introduce transatlantic beat bashers par excellence Graham Day & The Gaolers. These ex-Prisoners and Solarflares guitar / vocal legend doncha know, aided and abetted by two noise merchants, on drums and bass respectively from Georgia and LA-based combo The Woggles. More on The Woggles later. Them Gaolers were pretty much on fire from the off, having lots of energy to share out. Not sure of song titles since I’d never heard anything by them up until now, but I can tell you they really did liven up the night with their screamingly electric beat rock songs. Graham really knows how to write and sing out on these hook-filled garage mod-rock anthems.

And then of course there was the DJs spinning their mad records in the hall and in the café while the equally-mad folks got onto the floor and slipped, sloshed, stomped and biff-bang-pow-wow’ed their way through hits by lost rock’n’rollers inc. The Music Machine, The Seeds, The 13th Floor Elevators, Great Scots, literally loads of great Dutch 60s records like From’s ‘Be Mine Again’, and also of course some honest-to-goodness Big Bad Bo Diddley sounds!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday for many of us started before we even knew it had done, having not long gone to bed. Still bopping the night / morn away to the late-bar DJs including my good friend Eva Haller from Barcelona who, like a lot of them (not me though) were still there partying like crazy till the bitter end…I got out when the going was good and could still see kinda straight as I knew the following day I had to be not too done in, there was much to get through. I met up with Jeff Conolly as he got to the hotel fairly early. He’d just got into town having waited a couple of hours at Schipol with no-one showing up to ferry him onto Rotterdam… however Youri, the Primitive driver, did show up and brought Jeff to the Zeemanshuis, where we talked and drank coffee for a couple o hours until the Lyre-man’s room was ready for him to crash after an exhausting flight from Boston… me, well I was up and about. Having missed breakfast, I was ready for something and headed for the Waterfront area with various Screaming Apple / Soundflat folk. Frode and his missus (of defunct Norwegians, The Indikation) came too and my old pal Mal Kergan, ex-Thane, now of Spanish garage psychsters The Phantom Keys wandered by. Hellllllooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

So eventually after we found most of Primitive still locked up, we headed back the way we came along the water front to The Strand, where Baldy’s Knee Tremblers, or rather Knee-Jerk Reactions were soon gonna be bustin’ up the surfboards (had there been any on display) with their raucous rockin’ din and my Wildebeestin’comrade Russ Wilkins (also of Lord Rochester’s Diddley-itis infamy) was to be MC for the early afternoon’s hilarious bout of wooden shoes racing, yes Clogs by any other name. So we sat nursing white beer and were seen, well Russ and I anyway, addling maracas to the group’s more Diddleyesque numbers, as did a couple of the Burlesque Go-Go girls.

Ah yes the ‘clog race’ … well in my bout the clogs went flyin offa my feet 2m from the finishing line, and I went sprawling almost head first into the sand…and good buddy Lutz, of Screaming Apple / Soundflat came to my rescue and though he himself coulda won, he stopped, helped me up and dragged me over the finishing line. Whatta star that man is, give him a Bunker Hill 45. Dandy Dave, Lord Rochester’s Tim Matthews, Phantom Keys’ Mal and Lord Bacon, among others, also took part. I hope Tomas’s feet are not still giving him gip.
Then after all the excitement of The Strand happenings, we made our way to the venue for the start of the evening’s entertainment. I’m guessing they did play, but if so, then I / we missed J.C. Thomaz & The Missing Slippers, and the set that Armand, the Dutch 60s protest singer and hash/grass afficianado, played.

But we would catch up with him again later, as part of the Outsiders guest vocalists. First up that I saw at the café then, after a good few wild 45s being spun by PJ Dirtywater, were Finland’s The Micragirls. They were something special to behold, that’s for sure. They had a singing drummer, and a guitarist / singer who was into going quite nuts at times, and another Micragirl was on the bass, with added deep-drone Hohner mini-keyboard something-or-other at hand, which was very boomy and subsoniccy at times, and quite grating, but in a good way added to the Micragirls’ punk-style spirit. They were received rapturously in the now chokka-blokka café atmosphere, performing a great version of ‘Funnel Of Love’, a real spook-chilled instro of their own that I can’t recall the title of, and their theme of sorts, ‘Micraboy’ among other things.

Into the main hall again, first band up was The Phantom Keys from Galicia, Spain. Did I tell you these guys now feature on bass and backing vocals none other than Mal Kergan, ex- of The Thanes. I must say he fits in real well to this fantastic garage punk (with a little acid on the side) group. Their first single ‘In The Summertime’ sounded real fab, and the six guys put on a helluva show, with lead guitarist Roi pulling out all the stops, a perfect foil for vocalist Marky’s hair-shaking antics. Great to know that they can really do justice to the likes of ‘Velvet Illusions’ and Cuby+Blizzards’ beat-punk winner ‘Stumble and Fall’ on stage too. Can’t recall if it was Linda A- Go-Go dancing next or maybe it was Denise Dubieux, or even Miss Christine L’Amour, it all got decidedly blurry around this time…Anyway the next group on were London-based King Salami & the Cumberland 3. Their crude rockin’ rhythms and hill-billy blues racket went over great with everybody I spoke to. I thought Eric was great on the old drum-bashing front, even though I’d actually forgotten that they were gonna even be on the bill, ha ha…
And then, before you know it, it is the turn of the Outsiders to take the stage. Well…Dandy Dave introduced them as is on their first spectacular LP, live side…and then after a minute or so they launch into ‘Space Demo’ an old unissued thing that gets them warmed up nicely. First of the guest singers is Michel Terstegen, of Da Capo records, ex- of The Otherside, who came on with a giant blow-up of original Outsiders singer Wally Tax, and sang ‘Don’t You Cry’ and ‘I Love Her Still, I Always Will’. The group were amazingly fired-up with Appie on bass and Buzz on drums pounding away while Ronnie Splinter conducted some pretty lightning-fast cool guitar runs here and there, and some perfect, slower chord shapings for ‘I Love Her Still…’. The crowd were eating it up. Next to sing was Robert Muter, ex- of The Kliek and Kek ’66, now of The Timeflies. He vocalised perfectly on ‘Teach Me To Forget You’, and another of the group’s achingly happy/sad songs ‘You Remind Me’. Robert was nervous about singing such songs, but man, he was great, one of my favourite singers of the night.

Spanish Jorge from Dr Explosion and Circo Perrotti recording studios was third up, and wow, he was brilliant, willing the crowd to go mental along with him on garage punk killer classic ‘That’s Your Problem’, he also did ‘Keep On Trying’ with great spirit and style. And the group kept things just right, never floating off on a tangent or deviating too much from what we wanted to hear them do. Superb!!!! Dave from Dutch group The Madd took on ‘Do You Feel Alright’ and ‘Filthy Rich’ and did a great job with both, although Ronnie, Appie and Buzz played their hearts out more on ‘Do You Feel Alright’, sounding totally spot on, proving that they may be getting on a bit now, but they can still play better than guys half their age. Oh Yeah! Dandy Dave, the Primitive main man was up next giving a great account of the 1st LP thriller ‘Won’t You Listen’, again Buzz’s heavy drum beats were right on the money, and the others did well keeping the pace up too. Next was the turn of Armand, who looks like some Renaissance bard with his long flowing red hair and loose, flamboyant attire.

Armand was the ‘mellowest’ of all the singers, choosing to do the wonderful folk-beat-garage ballad ‘Lying All The Time’, and one of my all-time fave Outsiders songs – probably cos it was the first one I ever did with my old group The Green Telescope – ‘Thinking About Today’. What can I say that would sound right about the next one up…it was me, of course…all I can tell you is that it was a pure dream come true and a real honour for me to be up there participating with these deities of garage-punk-beat-psych. I was allowed to do a couple of their more Bo Diddley-ish bashers ‘Felt Like I Wanted To Cry’, and ‘You Mistreat Me’, but also ‘I Would Love You’ that The Thanes recorded for an old Misty Lane comp. LP back in the mid ‘90s, and that chilling CQ LP fave, ‘Daddy Died On Saturday’. Man, I could hardly contain myself.

And last, but by no means least, was Jeff ‘Monoman’ Conolly, of The Lyres and DMZ infamy. He chose ’67 ballad B side ‘What’s Wrong With You’, ’66 killer B side ‘Sun’s Going Down’ and that other – ain’t they all – Outsiders killa dilla ’66 garage smash ‘Touch’. He and the group did not disappoint, giving out with both energy and suave suss. And as if this wasn’t enough, they were called back on, and I couldn’t help taking a lead vocal, along with Jeff, and supported by most of the others on whatever percussive instruments were lying about, we set about ‘Lying All The Time’ as a finale. I think most people were happy…I know the Outsiders and friends / family were.

The night was not over yet folks, as USAs long-running garage rock’n’roll / soul firebrands The Woggles took the stage over and kinda blew everyone away, such was their post-midnight highly-energized set. They also invited various people onstage to help out in their crazy, sweat-drenched show, and although I missed him, Jorge turned in another wild performance by all accounts. They did invite Jeff C. back on but I don’t think the Lyre-man showed? By this time I was just hopping from one place to another trying to catch up with people and couldn’t stand still to watch much more… of course there was more dancing and drinking and dancing drinking and everybody was getting high high high, until the big hand in the sky pointed the way to a hotel, where sleep beckoned. Zzz

Sunday’s Primitive capers were kicking off in the late afternoon at the Tiki bar, but on the way there I caught the ‘60s Dutch Beat, and UK Beat picture exhibition at Vips! Wow, so many great pix of Outsiders, Het, The Motions, Q65, etc…and the ‘Stones, and The Who too…
After sipping a few beers at the Tiki, the phantasmagorically brilliant Lord Rochester’s Diddley-it is took to the floor. Their Bo Diddley sounds have to be experienced to be believed. Let’s see, we have His Lairdship on vocals and Mumblin’ guitar, Lady Muck on bass duties, and the great Mr Tim Matthews on drum bits and bobs. Great performances of tunes like ‘I’m Ridin’ The Train’, ‘Little Jermyn’, alongside the adopted future classic ‘Monkey Monkey’. Yours truly also participated during ‘Psychotic Reaction’ and ‘Cadillac’. Burlesque was by Agent Lynch and Trixie. A great time was had by all…Cheers and here’s to the next one!

The more eagle-eyed browsers of this portal will have noticed that CAKE has mutated into NORTH FORK SOUND. However, I know there are sleepier, less alert individuals out there that may not have gotten the memo, so here's another honk on the horn. A more diversely solid playlist is virtually impossible to find. Expertly curated, it's an encyclopedic journey through the entire history of all good music, irrespective of alleged pigeonhole. And there's also the NOFO blog to dig into while you're groovin'. With this and So Many Records... you folks are being spoiled but hey - you're worth it, right?

Suicide’s Alan Vega 70 This Year
Limited Edition EP Series - 4th Aug
Live Box Set - 4th Aug

Uncompromising solo artist and legendary front man of the band Suicide, Alan Vega celebrates his 70th birthday this year. To mark this occasion, blastfirstpetite is conducting a yearlong series of monthly limited edition releases.

Each release includes:
• an established recording artist paying tribute to Alan by covering one of his songs,
• a previously unreleased Suicide/Vega rarity from the archives, and
• proving that Vega's work even now continues to inspire, a cover version by a young up and coming band.

Major artistes will include Bruce Springsteen, Primal Scream, Peaches, Grinderman, Spiritualised, The Horrors, Klaxons, Sunn 0)) + Pansonic, Julian Cope, Lydia Lunch,Vincent Gallo and Liars . Upcoming bands include Beat The Devil/Shilpa Ray, No Bra, HTRK, X-Vectors, Nik Void (ex-Kaito), Effi Briest, S.C.U.M., and Stephen Burroughs (ex-Head Of David).
The sleeve images are all by contemporary visual artists who have been inspired by Vega, including Edward Mapplethorpe, Alex Rose, Cary Kwok, and Colter Jacobsen.

The series kicks off on 23rd July with two editions of 4000 each (catalog number PTYT 017), in both 10" vinyl & a limited download. Featured on the A-side is Bruce Springsteen’s cover of "Dream Baby Dream" (a live recording from The Boss's 2005 "Devils & Dust" solo tour). The sleeve is by Edward Mapplethorpe.

Any of series can be pre-ordered via links at blastfirstpetite.com and alanvega.com. Physical distribution is by Cargo (UK), Forced Exposure (USA), and digital distribution by State5.

Suicide Box Set Live 1977 – 1978
Out Aug 4th

Blastfirstpetite have released a six CD 3000 limited edition box set featuring thirteen live Suicide sets from the early New York performances and their legendary first European tour supporting The Clash & Elvis Costello. Entitled Live 1977-1978, the recordings are culled from the archives of Howard Thompson, the man who originally signed Suicide to Bronze/EMI outside of the USA.

Howard Thompson's archive, of which this box set largely comprises, consists of recordings made by himself and others who shared tapes so as to keep up with Suicide’s latest live adventures, and was originally intended purely for personal use. Captured on small handheld non-professional cassette machines of the era, tapes run out mid-performance and all the clunks, clicks, chatter and blather of amateur recording are captured fully intact, an audio-verité of Suicide performing in the flesh in clubs and halls of the time.

The gigs are presented in the order in which they happened, all the better to hear how the Suicide live experience evolved, to glean which audiences failed to grasp the implicit freedoms of Punk and which small bands of hardy souls rallied to Suicide’s brave new vision.

This set of recordings is not for the faint hearted. Nor is it the ideal starting place for uninitiated listeners seeking an easy introduction to Alan Vega & Marty Rev's dark and decidedly queasy proto-futuristic, low-tech sci-fi music, first unleashed on a mostly uncaring world under the banner Suicide many years ago.

Paul Smith
Blastfirstpetite (2008)

July 1 - Liquid Room - Edinburgh
July 3 - The Audio - Brighton (NOTE VENUE CHANGE!)
July 4 - Forum - London
July 5 - Guilfest - Guilford
July 8 - Open Air Free Concert - Town Square of Palma, Mallorca, Spain
July 9 - Kafe Antzokia - Bilbao, Spain
July 10 - MadridEl - Madrid, Spain

Finally some downtime to recharge these virtually unrechargeable batteries. Much as I'd like to see The Dolls tonight, I don't do the place they're playing. Perhaps I'll have to re-think that somewhere down the line but not today. Never say never.

Re-assessment does happen y'know, despite my overwhelming ability to cut my nose off to spite my face. Glasvegas are sort of an example of this. One of the main things that put me off them was the fact that Alan McGee was/is so keen. They tend to attract O*sis worshipping meathead fuckwits as a result.

It is rowdy, there's a lot of cussing and it sounds kinda exotic in the Scots brogue. That's one thing we're very good at. Swearing. We do it better and more expressively than any race on earth. Even the French. However, this "Geraldine" single is great, like Slik vs JAMC, and there are no swearies in it so it's radio-friendly. There's no question that they have a great sound. Founded on many of the things I (and you folks) hold dear so we'll see how it pans out. Maybe the music will do the talking in the end.

Glasto gets hip hop karaoke, Peace and Love gets something a little more god-like. It really happened and Björn kindly sent this link to prove it. I know photoshop can make anything possible but this was for real. While we're waiting for visual and audio action from the event, go to Roky's myspace and listen to "Wait For You". I'm keeping my fingers crossed for "I Have Always Been Here Before". Anybody out there up for filing a report?

Kjell just sent me this review and my limited command of the language suggests that our team played a blinder.

Woah, first photographic evidence! (I guess you have to be logged in to view 'em)

Got back too late last night, plus it felt like Saturday for some reason. Edinburgh seems to be a haven for packs of drunks way worse than I ever noticed before. However, as long as they keep themselves to themselves…

So let’s rewind to Thursday. My friends Valerie and Greg run Music4Games which is involved with pretty much what it sez on the packaging. They’re great kids and 150% immersed in the medium. They fixed it for me to go see the Video Games Live extravaganza in Glasgow. I’d never played a video game in my life until two weeks ago. If you read my Stockholm report then you perhaps remember that I was trounced by a 6 year old Vincent Vahlberg at Wiii (how many i’s?) Bowling. Anyway, getting the chance to hear the RSNO and choir perform the soundtrack to these alien forms (to me) seemed like a good idea.

The Royal Concert Hall is the perfect venue for a show like this. Where electric, bordering on rock shows can sound a bit tame, the orchestra sounds full and crisp. Plus its very civilised, the polar opposite of the Barra’s. Being unfamiliar with the material, it peaked and troughed in terms of the visuals but the sound was phenomenal. Some of this gear is very John Williams in terms of grandiosity. Very nice but quite bland. It was the stuff that hinted at Mancini or maybe Percy Faith that I got a kick out of. At one point, I even detected a little Esquivel maybe?

This is composition like soundtracking a film. Built to evoke emotional ties to the visuals and my problem with a lot of the graphics is that they have the same effect on me as your average costume drama. It’s not the same as anime or straight animation. It also has that Lord Of The Rings vibe which I’m not down with. This ain’t a hobbit for me anyone? A couple of earlier games looked like Hanna Barbera cartoons, those I could get a beat on.

Essentially, I never felt quite so out of my depth since I nearly drowned in the pacific. It’s a pretty slick affair and while I dug some of the pieces, the rendered nature of the stuff going on with the screen just began to blur. It impeded being able to watch the players. That’s the musicians not the “gamers”. One person I did see during intermission whilst trying to scope out the M4G banner which wasn't there was the writer, Ian Rankine. I'm sure his creation, Rebus, would share my trepidation for the format being celebrated. All the evangelical zeal in the world probably won’t snare me into going anywhere near a console anytime soon. I am curious about these "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" things though. I might well take another spin with the RSNO though.

So, Friday (the day that felt like Saturday)… back into film festival mode and an early start. How do you feel about the smell of Truffaut in the early afternoon? Well the practically full house for “The Bride Wore Black” at 2.30pm were certainly eager. It’s a pretty good period piece and said to be the kernel of the idea seed that was "Kill Bill". Tarantino apparently claims to have never seen it but what the hey. It’s these stories that give it all a little mystery. Closing the Jeanne Moreau season, it hit the spot, great Bernard Herrmann score too. Thinks were looking up as Artistic Director Hannah McGill introduced it, finally it seemed like an effort was being made.

Couple hours to kill before Werner Herzog’s “Encounters At The End Of The World” in a very wet Auld Reekie trying to keep out of the rain. So, back into the red with regard to effort, no intro, no nothing lights down and away. I like Herzog but this is too long and his dry, piss-taking style sort of started to grate. Some of the underwater photography is mind-blowing and turns out that this footage was shot by Henry Kaiser. I think it’ll look pretty good on your flat screen TV. The soundtrack is by Kaiser and David Lindley who also did “Grizzly Man”.

Once more into the pissing rain and down to Haymarket, missed a train by two minutes and had to wait a half hour for the next one. This is the back arse end of beyond in terms of public transport but it’ll all be different when we become indie-fucking-dependent. At this point, I’m about 50/50 not going to the Bill Plympton screening tonight. There’s a noon screening of "The Cool World" tomorrow and those Hoodoo Gurus at The Liquid Rooms on Tuesday. I think I’ve had enough of the cinema for now though. I’m all cultured out.

But hey, the sun just came out so who knows. My spirit is in Borlänge, what can I tell ya...

It's PRIMITIVE weekend in Rotterdam and I don't know if J is headed that way or not? Maybe there'll be a report if he is. But I DO know that Lenny Helsing will be performing with The Outsiders so you'll be hearing about all this one way or another. Don't let Graham Day and the Gaolers put you off, get along there if you can.

Meanwhile in Borlänge, The Roky & The Nomads show draws ever closer. That's where my spirit will be trying to gain entry without a ticket tomorrow evening. Who could ever have perceived that these generations would come together like this? It's a pretty cool thing... makes a guy think that there could be a grand plan after all. God was perhaps not an astronaut then, judging by this weekend's events - he's a garage rocker. Pray then that he's not a scene hopper.

Me, I have two more film festival days to go and I'm done but my heart just isn't in it. Innit?

I did have a wee adventure, aff the beaten track last night though. More about that later...

Caught a whiff of ganja on my way into Filmhouse last night... a couple obviously limbering up for the movie.

The Upsetter is as good a summing up of Scratch’s work as could probably be achieved in a little over 90 minutes. Mostly narrated by the man in his thick, bordering on martian rather than Jamaican brogue, it's thankfully subtitled so you can get at least a scoob about what he's saying.

Best bit for me is the clip of him performing "Daniel Saw The Wheel" in his alias of Piecock Jackson (?). It's quite simply mental. The years of ingesting the weed and everything else has created quite a monster. He's in the country because he has an Edinburgh show tomorrow, why wasn't he paid whatever was necessary to bring him to the film festival? Again there was no introduction or owt. I know it was the second screening but c'mon, this is supposed to be a special event.

The closing encounter with a Canadian in a San Francisco gift shop is funny to a point. It feels like a bit of a set up - irrespective of whether it is or not.

The Upsetter is certainly worth a look and I imagine that when it comes out on dvd there'll be a ton of extras to wade through. Strange that the clip of Junior Murvin is from TOTP2 and not the original film but maybe there's some kind of presentation reason for that. Who knows. Anyway, the best way to watch this would probably be at home. Where the only person(s) rustling bags of whatever might be you and yours.

It played with a short film called "Made In Queens" about some kids in the NY borough that build huge sound systems on to their bikes. Pretty sharp.

Been feeling below par since Monday so a mixture of that and needing to deal with sundry guff has resulted in my having to make an executive decision. The all-out fun fest that was Stockholm was sure to catch up with me eventually. I'm hankering to catch this Roky/Nomads action but alas tis not to be.

So no Harlan Ellison doc, my needle is nudging empty and I can't face another schlep into Edinburgh. No. Not tonight. Catching up with Season 4 of The Wire it is then.

Thanks to Larry Shell for the link

The first year I can actually recall attending the EIFF was 1979. In particular, the premiere of Alien, that's where I caught the bug and when I got the buzz. Uncle Lou is in the capital this week and like he said, "those were different times".

I'm not sure that I'm going to make the 30th anniversary scene next year. I might just sit it out and go with its smaller Glasgow cousin instead. Maybe I've just had my quota but I remain adamant that there's nothing better than watching something, maybe anything on the big screen. Not a costume drama though mind, I draw a line at those.

The Best of the Fest has been announced for Sunday and it seems decidedly calculated, even by recent standards. Maybe the switch to now has worked, maybe it hasn't. There were certainly plenty of people in FH last night to see the "Stone of Destiny" film and punters talked excitedly about seeing Robert Carlyle there.

So anyway, I’m feeling a little bit under the weather tonight, sort of relieved that there are no films. However, here are my findings on yesterday’s sojourn.

Ornette - Made In America was the first of the Shirley Clarke retrospective screenings. I’d love to see all of those but scheduling doesn’t permit it. As documents go, this is primo stuff. The free jazz aspect is one thing but there’s way more to it. Ornette Coleman is one of the few still living legends, now in his late 70’s I guess. During the film he tells us that Buckminster Fuller was his big hero. His “There is no up and down – only out!” is a credo his art has pushed the boundaries of at all times. Charles Williams of the Smithsonian talks about his “attack on the reed”. I’ve no idea who Chutney Dugan is, the name comes up in the credits, but it’s one cool moniker alright.

Next up was the international premiere of Strange Girls. I’d love to be able to tell you that I discovered some great new thing to recommend but in all honesty can’t. It’s not bad. There are echoes of Lynch and Waters but mainly it just made me want to see Eating Raoul because it’s more Bartel than anything else. The strangeness is pretty contrived but not without a certain charm in places. The security guard part (Max) would have been a great Dick Miller role. The guy who introduced the film reckoned that they’d coined the new “Under The Radar” strand to show films like this. I think this might be hovering there for a wee while yet and it registered a “meh” from where I was sitting. Would have liked to have hung around for the Q&A but it was a school night.

Tomorrow, I’m supposed to go see the Lee Perry doc but we’ll see. I’m feeling kind of weary. Like I’m coming down with something. Maybe I’m just od’ing on culture when all I really want to do is watch The Wire Season 4.

RIP - George Carlin

Birthday salutations to the one and only Alan Vega for today! You don't get many of those to the pound (or kg if you prefer).

Remember those days of very cool label compilations? Like The Age Of Atlantic, or The Rock Machine (Turns You On) or even You Can All Join In? Well here's the 21st Century equivalent. Weighing in as a sampler and also a damn fine selection of now music (as opposed to junk like That's what I Call Cannon Fodder Vol whatever). There's A Razzia Going On Vol 1 (with Wee Vega on the front there) collects the label assets and presents their store front as it means to go on. HS needs no introduction but Adiam Dymott's "Memory Loss" is very Sparks-like and just an utterly amazing cut. I'm not sure where they find them. Tripoli's "Walk On" was another new one on me. Like Sharleen Spiteri taking some time out in the black lodge. Other faves like Firefox AK, Konie and the Droid fellas are here too. You might have missed Svenska Kürkan's "Besatt" with it's Westworld meets The Stooges skiffletronica. Well here's another crack at scoring it. Their garnering quite a stable here. All pure thoroughbred pop for every occasion.

It's all too easy to become jaded with the state of music but this is the proverbial shot of jolt cola or even mountain dew. As refreshing as it is entertaining, the Razzia hit machine will turn you on. Lang may it's lum reek!! New Hello Saferide album, title TBA on September 24th. Blimey.

So finally, it's ready for action. Kevin Patrick's So Many Records, So Little Time is a brand new blog that'll have NBT regulars (and anybody else with the bug) burning many hours on 'ternet.

The tracks and the stories provide seamless entertainment that will thrill music nuts to the core. Prepare to discover new gems and be acquainted with old standards that you've perhaps forgotten. Might as well plonk it into your favourites right now.

Keeping and restoring faith in one fell swoop!

So to the first EIFF to take place out of the context of Festival City in August. There are several opinions and counter rumours as to why this actually happened. None of which I feel like dragging through the neighborhood right now. I approached the programme this year with the outline that I wouldn't go to anything at Cineworld. First up was Louis Malle's Viva Maria. You can't go far wrong with some very safe burlesque positioned within an extended episode of "The High Chapparal" with "Wild Wild West" tendancies. The fact that Jeanne Moreau and Brigit Bardot are involved don't hurt none either. Of course, it's utter tosh but pretty good fun with the girls coming on like the Morecombe and Wise film, "The Magnificent Two" which came out around the same time as this did originally.



Good to see Mr McKay so we retired to a local pub between screenings. By the time we left there, the heavens had opened and things got a bit damp. Patti Smith: Dream of Life is a documentary which meanders in alternative chronology but on the whole is very good if you dig Patti. I'm sure that there's a double length version someplace and that it was probably difficult to shoehorn into just over 90 minutes. I particularly liked the bits where she went to visit her parents and also when she and Flea shared peeing on the hop stories. Her son's Jackson's likeness to Fred Smith is uncanny. It also features Benjamin Smoke on stage with the PSG group just before he died. Actually I thought he was dead by that time. There was no introduction or appearance by the director or Ms Smith. That sucked. If the film maker isn't up for attending then their film shouldn't be in the programme. Simple as that. So I still don't have the answer to my Geator dilemma but the quest goes on.

From there, it was on through a horrible, drunk strewn Edinburgh which seems to be under construction. The grassmarket is something of a maze to be negotiated. Packs of stag party fuckwits roaming with their pointy faces toward Burke and Hare's strip joint. There was a pertty bad vibe in town and there were little posses of police trying to keep a lid on it. It was the polar opposite of my experience in Stockholm the previous week. And these people could drink the scumhordes from here under the table twice still there was no overbearing nastiness.

So I finally made it to the Liquid Rooms just as The Five Aces were closing their set. It was underattended to the point of Phoenix Nights. The Primevals were their usual stonking selves and it seemed to by in a heartbeat. If you can make it to the show in Stereo tonight then do so.

More packs of ugly, pished idiots were negotiated on my way to the station and sitting on the train I was thinking to myself, fuck this for a game of soldiers. Ostensibly I have another couple of films today but I'm not altogether sure that I can get it together to drag myself into town. We'll see, loathe as I am to waste the tickets - the flesh and spirit are competing for the accolade of weakest.

I hope Amy doesn't mind me swiping this picture off her site to convey that the word is out. The Wreckless (Eric)/(Amy) Rigby album will be coming your way on Stiff Records. Yes, you read that right. Back where it all began where it was semaphore signals we used, not the internut. Anyway - the full bhoona on that in due course. It's also the Grangemooth Gala Day (which means the rain won't be far away) and my mother called me last night to tell me about this. Who could have thunk it'd make the news today.

OK, if I'd switched my phone on last night then I'd have known but you know how I am with these things. Anyhoo - The Nomads will perform with the very Rev. Roger Kynard Erickson at the Peace and Love Festival next Saturday (28th @ 8pm). A very, very special event, I hope it will be recorded/broadcast for posterity. Maybe I should spring for a lottery ticket? Or better yet, move to Sweden.

If you're at a loose end in Glasgow tonight, check out this Raymond Scott celebration at the Panopticon.

All of last night and for much of today my mind has been on the restaurant we visited in Stockholm last Friday. Whoa, those meatballs. That monster mash, with a gravy that well, quite simply was beyond any mere gravy by a wavy mile. The place is called Tranan (thanks M) and if you ever find yourself in that fair city and if you're not of the veggie or vegan persuasion then you have to have these. This dish isn't on the regular menu but you have the inside track here. I rarely get that excited by food but by crikey, this made an impression.

Truth be told, I've been wishing it was last week all day today however, the weekend is finally here and it's a busy one. As for the news I mentioned yesterday, it's not absolutely set in stone but it is said that a certain Swedish rock'n'roll combo with credentials and a Texan legend will be taking to the stage together at Peace and Love - next week!? Of course, when it becomes available, the whole enchilada will be here. Still awaiting the nod on two new exemplary blogs too. You've got a lot coming up so fill your boots with fresh air while you're still able to tear yourself away from the computer. Or maybe you're mobile with all this stuff? There's a scarey thought.

Murdo sent a myspace message to the effect that The Primevals have two shows in aid of the Kai Davidson Trust this coming weekend. I knew they were coming up but not so soon. Anyway, Edinburgh Liquid Rooms on Saturday 21st and Glasgow Stereo on Sunday 22nd.

Also, some very exciting Nomads news... soon as I get the nod...

Murray just dropped me a line with a reminder about the New York Dolls show at The Garage (Glasgow) on June 29th. I actually thought it was July... plus DKT/MC5 is at The Arches (Glasgow) on July 16th. Not sure I'll be at either of those but will be in attendance at The Hoodoo Gurus at The Liquid Rooms in Edinburgh on July 1st. Tickets for all of these from the usual places. It's about time The Fleshtones were brought north of the border, dontcha think?

So the EIFF kicks off tonight and my semester is supposed to start tomorrow. We'll see. I might blow that out. Can't make my mind up at the minute. The thought of dragging myself into town isn't doin' it for me but you never know. Culture, and the pursuit of it can be a peculiar mistress. I'm still reverberating from Stockholm - talking to my friends at the bar after Sakert! on Thursday, I remarked how NOBODY could be expected to follow that. However, I'll give you some respite from that now.

But, like I said before, you never know. If Patti Smith is at the screening of her documentary then maybe I'll get an answer to my Geator question. I guess I could always ask Ben but this is something of a mission. There's a lot going on and I'm not exactly sure where to start. Quite possibly not at the beginning...

IN NYC TONIGHT! June 18th...New York Night Train presents...

WEDNESDAYS AT MOTOR CITY BAR!

With top NYC DJ Mr. Jonathan Toubin... and they finally asked ME to guest DJ!!!
10pm-4am me and Jonathan will be tag-teaming behind the turntables. Expect beat from England, rock'n'roll from America and anti-raggare punks from Sweden. Ludlow st at Rivington st. NYC. http://www.newyorknighttrain.com/







The Jadewalkers welcome Charly on keyboards....new rad addition celebrated with two free shows this weekend!

THIS FRIDAY. JUNE 20th

THE JADEWALKERS present.... MIDSUMMER IN THE WICK

Four bands live on the roof. BBQ - be a doll, contribute to the buffé, specially if you're vegan or something. Free aquavit snaps!!! Beer Chasers will be present by the keg, 3 dollar cups! On the glorious stage looking out over the skyline and river.... Magnetic City Kids - Phillie, P.A. The Rats NYC, The Homosexuals - NYC/London (yes! Original Bruno Wizard, formerly The Rejects). 5pm. 6 Stanwick St, Brooklyn, NYC. J to Myrtle. If you get lost call, Jadewalkers hotline: 718-443-3177 or Emma at 917-374-8556

THIS SATURDAY,
JUNE 21st

MF GALLERY present... EQUINOX MUSIC FESTIVAL

Part of the Time Out New York Summer Music something something (who cares?!). MF Gallery is moving from their well fitted spot on Rivington St. (god damn gentrification...). Let's wave em' off with a blast! Both shows are free.

Come to Motor City...listen to our new songs on myspace! Let us know what you think! Rough live cuts but with no doubt The Jadewalkers new line-up and new songs. "King Of Sweden"/"Spanish Sun" will be the forthcoming single (aug/sept). Double A-side, might be called "The International Single"...duh. "Weazel Man" is up on Emma's personal space. See address below.

Emma Vikingskull
The Jadewalkers/Writer/DJ

http://www.myspace.com/thejadewalkers
http://www.musikhjartanewyork.blogspot.com/
http://www.denimzine.com/blog
http://www.myspace.com/emmavikingskull

The Stripchords' Summer Season

June 20th & 21st – this Friday & Saturday!



Hey ho, kidlets,

The Stripchords are set to play a brace of gigs in yon Londinium, this coming Friday & Saturday (June 20th & 21st), both for yer general amusement and to facilitiate bouts of eyebrow twitching from both sexes. You must keep in shape, and a single Stripchords set can be considered one of your recommended five daily portions of fruit'n'veg!

Friday June 20th will once again see Captain Rex, 'Keg, Dil and Gluey Louie mount the stage at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, to play another strike at Francois Dirty South's Kingpin club. Feel the reverb, get a spare, shake a leg, have a pint, get the nightbus – it's that easy to have fun! Free before 9pm, £3 afters...

Saturday June 21st will be the first All Music Trends nite at The Purple Turtle, Mornington Cresent, headlined by Irish garage nogoodniks & Dirty Water Records artistes The Urges. Come along and make Melary's first event a success! The Stripchords will be joined onstage by burlesque artiste Miss Cherrylicious (www.myspace.com/miss_tang) so it should be a goodie!
Fortified by two rounds of live performance, The Stripchords will finally be entering the recording studio on Sunday 22nd June, to 'lay down' a quartet of tunes in a 'live to tape' stylee. We welcome suggestions for these recordings from friends and lawyers.

Meanwhile, you'll find two new 'berks in progress' up on our myspace page, namely Lilac Hayes, a Bert Weedon style take on Mr J Hendrik's personal tribute to his good chum Melvyn, the 'lah di dah gunner' hisself, plus a cover of Johnny & The Hurricanes' Sandstorm, a personal favourite of European royalty and our own Captain Rex. Do have fun with them, won't you? A little but of wonky does a boy or gel the power of good! See you up the lanes or down Mornington Crescent way!

Selah, The Stripchords

The Kingpin Club - Friday June 20th
Bloomsbury Hotel, London, London and South East WC1H 9EU Cost : £3 after 9pm www.myspace.com/bloomsburybowling

The Purple Turtle - Saturday June 21
Crowndale Road, London, NW1 1TN Cost : £6
www.myspace.com/allmusictrends
www.allmusictrends.com

RIP - Cyd Charisse

And more Sakert! from Hultsfred...



All of the clips posted so far are here.

Just a wee follow up on yesterday's opus. I've been searching for reports on Sakert! ruling Hultsfred and one particular thing really got my goat. To the effect that the fact their lyrics are in Swedish and this was offputting to the person who wrote it. It made me want to partake of a little shot-putting right on to his noggin. Maybe bang some sense into there...

Now where was the festival? Have a guess?? Sweden? Absolutely right. What language is the band's record in? This is where it gets difficult but bear with me. I've no idea why I was so sensitive to such abject stupidity. Maybe it's because this person got to witness it and I didn't. If you read my thing down there you'll understand that it really doesn't matter. The noise songs touch your soul beyond language. Everything else is a bonus.

So anyway, that's the beef. I'm going to kick back with a wee beer and the brand new S&LQ.

In the off chance you can't do likewise, check out this great pop song!

Never mind the trossachs…

It was an early start on Thursday and everything went according to the open-ended plan. Arriving at the Centralen just a smidge past 1pm, I had just texted (people who know me will be sniggering now) Qina as she was walking toward me. This gal is so organised she’d even found the time to collect Ollekarlsson earlier that morning.

So from there we headed for Björkhagen station and a spot of orienteering around the woods in that hood. Absolutely beautiful, like the Golden Gate park crossed with the Trossachs. Qina was looking after her brother’s dog, Nemi and a more ideal place to walk (er, maybe that should read run) an animal perhaps doesn’t exist. Oh yeah, and I was charged with the responsibility of taking Ollekarlsson to Nenne, which is something of an honour that doesn’t come along every day.

Due to a hectic schedule, this was the only time I got to see Qina this trip. She was headed for the tranquility of her summer house and I was generally headed for the opposite of that which translated into a very fine time. There was a vibe of utter symmetry to the whole entchilada, to the point to being able to meet Nick at the subway station on the way to Jocke and Hanna’s where I was staying.

From there, we headed for Solna for The Nomads show in the park where it all began, back to the source. The great Hans Ostlund still lives in that part of the city and tonight on their own turf, the band provides an abject lesson in rock’n’roll supremecy. As you know, I can bang on about how important this combo is for hours. I even talked to a guy at the airport yesterday that said he’d check them out in light of their being responsible for The Hellacopters. The campaign never ends and never shall. A lot of old faces and family was present and it was a privilege to be there.

Nenne had turned up too and I made the safe transfer of Ollekarllson, with this guy comes great responsibility. I think he was pleased to see her. I was too. Robert Johnson introduced me to Playboy Marse, the man who has joined Punchdrunks and the word on the pavie is that this is perhaps the coolest incarnation yet. Always a blast to meet up with Jens “Ubi” Lagergren and he told me they were just about to start mixing the new Hello Saferide record due in September.

Organised by Black Sheep, this is an annual event that encourages music in the area. The show also provided a platform for the debut public performance of I Are Droid.

So do they deliver? Do they meet the mighty criteria that their album suggests?? Could they???

Well of course, I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen an outright first show by a band before. Probably not. The sound of the PA was unfeasibly good for outdoors as The Nomads had just proven. It was loud and very clear, something that isn’t always in evidence.

And well. In answer to that last slew of questions, yes they do. The guys have a gig on the Friday that may determine a stratospheric rise in their combined stock. The word “agent” is involved and my opinion of that sub species is not altogether rosy. Essentially, if any prospective booker doesn’t grab the potential from the album then perhaps they require “retraining”. It’s not your average rock bluster and the show underlined that, there’s some very specific sonic alchemy at play here. My suspicions that Konie is a genius are confirmed and Peder and Frederick complete the blueprint. They should have been introduced to the crowd at Where The Action Is. Next year they deserve to be shooting up the bill. My opinion?, the Dirty Pretty Things should have been bounced to make way for them. I’m a controversial old hector innit.

So from there, some good old fashioned imbibing of alcohol in the park. Reminded me of going to see Slade and the Sleaze band in the Cally park circa 1971. Good vibes, stellar company. Alright! Saw my old pal Bengtsson too and myspace bud Janne Punk who gave me a minature of Pors Brännvin.

Next thing I recall is looking at my watch and it’s nearly 10. Time to head for Debaser and the Sakert! warm-up for Hultsfred. I’d kind of given up on seeing this in a small venue but the gods (Martina and Mr Ulf) smiled on me and gave me another chance. My excitement was palpable, even in the event of extreme tiredness. It was an utter trip meet the Razzia’s, Martina and Daniel Ledinsky run the enterprise that brought and continue to bring us the music of Annika Norlin. I’m not entirely sure we’re worthy.

The set started way later than anticipated, part of a club night called “Falling And Laughing”. The irony of this isn’t completely lost on me as I’ve never seen the fascination of the Postcard records phenomenon. Anyway, I digress, time lost all consequence when the curtain opened. The audience was 110% in from the start and sang every song like this was their last night on the planet. It was fairly overwhelming to be among it and there was more than a handful of times when I found that I had something in one or both of my eyes. By “Alt Somm Är Ditt”, I was completely overcome with emulsion. Of course you know that Annika is incapable of putting a foot wrong but the band is just so damned together. No ordinary combo in any way shape or form. Their interpretations of these fine, fine songs, sung in a language I have very little command of suggest that I’m only getting a fraction of the overall effect. I’m in trouble if Nenne gets those translations together. My plan to get Sakert! To Glasgow for Celtic Connections starts here and now. World music fused with traditional folk and pop values doesn’t come any more potent than this.

I guess I was grinning like a fool when I went back to the bar. Don’t think I’ve been in greater need of a drink in living memory. It was a perfect end to as fun a day as it’s legal to have. I felt like I’d had as good a time as Kim (of M&K) has when she plays. Off the flippin’ richter scale.

Up bright and early to start again, kicking off with a groovy walk up to Bonnier Amigo to put Ulf off his work for a bit. I really began to get a hang of where I was going without having to consult a map too much. Thought about going to sound pollution but didn’t have time.

We walked to Pet Sounds where I got the new Billie’s album and The Solution cd that came out last year. There’s a print/dvd store called Paper Cut that’s well worth a visit if you find yourself there. Managed to look some stuff that I’ve only ever seen pictures of. Nicely curated place.

Dropped the gear at Mr U’s and headed for Razzia for our historic lunch pow-wow. It was like one of those things that world leaders get involved in. The restaurant also served the finest Swedish meatballs I have ever had or are likely to. And I’ve had my share of those. Martina and Daniel have a very cool thing going on there and deserve to rule the world in terms of popular music and on several other fronts. It was an honour to visit the nerve centre and a pure pleasure to spend time with them over the course of the whistle stop.

Schlepped around a little more and got back to the most exclusive music listening zone in Stockholm. Nick and Eva dropped in during the evening and we were treated to a selection of the finest tuneage that has been created over the years. It wasn’t long until it was time to head for Debaser Medis, the site of the “I Are Debut” release party. Part of the where The Action Is “weekend”. Nice joint, pretty swanky and the room was great.

Their set was delivered in no uncertain terms. Bristling with an intensity that was like Aha if they’d been imagined by Trent Reznor. I’m convinced that their racket will be reverberating through enormodomes before too long. Small venues with little in the way of blast zones need not apply. The viceral nature of what they do came across more directly than it had in the park the previous day. Playing at night with some strategic lighting suits the heights that the material scales. IAD is a full-on rock monolith in waiting.

La Puma kind of drove us out of the building and on to Broderna Olsson and Nenne left us before we rounded the night off at Pet Sounds bar. The good times were persisting and I left Nick and Eva in the little square in front of their place and trundled off toward Jocke and Hanna’s place. They were out of town but heading back on Saturday.

My tour manager called when I was on my way to Konsum. Word was that Pascal might be playing. Turned out to be false but the prospect presented a frisson. Hooked up with Nick and Eva and went with them to pick up their son Vincent at Eva’s mums. She and Vincent had been baking Bullar and I managed to score a bag to bring home. I should have got Pölsa too but wasn’t sure how it would travel. And, just across the road from my friends parking garage, on a quiet street. It's possible to enter a 50's style Narnia called Sivletto. An entire parallel universe. They do mail order too so check out their site. Nice bijou spiral staircase entry opens out into a wonderland of everything you'd need to further the lifestyle. Even a pickup truck!?

Lot of fine food on this trip and the bolgnese pizza at Elies was no exception. I’m always bemoaning the lack of decent pizza and the quality of this went some way to shut my cakehole good and prop. A huge downpour ensued and our thoughts were with those at WTAI. Cats, dogs and plenty other animals would best describe the tenor of the rain.

Having been trounced at Wii bowling by a 6 year old, Nick and I headed for Landet to catch The Dee Rangers at 99th Floor. They should require no introduction to regulars but I’m hoping that folks around these parts might get to see them in Edinburgh. I have to contact Mr Helsing with regard to that. Anyway, it’s a fantastic room in a place that has a kind of Maxwells (Hoboken) vibe. The band hit the stage at 10pm and proceeded to instill their distinctive beat frenzy. Jocke joined Nick and I at the bar where I noticed that you could by a cocktail called a Laura Palmer. I like the sound of that.

Good to see the Vola girls (La Novocia and Doña Tella) there too, hopefully that particular phenomenon will be happening again soon. And not just in Sweden neither (right Patrick?). Spent sometime gabbing outside to some very nice folks. Most of them seemed to be surprised by the fact that I’d come to see Sakert! Mr Ericsson hailed a cab and we were soon speeding toward our final destination. The WTAI after party shindig. I met so many people there at it’s actually a blur. Mona (of The Nagz) was there and I’d completely forgotten that she had been in Glasgow with Voladoras once. I never put two and two together even via myspace and I felt like a prize putz when the penny dropped. She’ll forgive me maybe?, my being a card-carrying member of CRS (Can’t remember shit) these days. It’s an age thing.

So I remember a few beers, lots of cool people – including Nicke and Robert Hellacopter. Always a solid gas to see those guys. When I do though, it makes me think that it should be them that enjoys the stature of something like the Foo Fighters or QotSA. The rest of the world missed the real boat again, settling for burger instead of steak that kind of thing. I’m too tired to think of a veggie equivalent. The other new Punchdrunk was in attendance and PM did me the honour of an introduction to Maria (of Revl9n). I also remember dancing to Sweet Jane with a very nice young lady who wouldn’t take granpaw’s puzzled looks of “me?” for an answer. As we left, the Droid minus Konie had arrived. From there it was off into the Stockholm night in search of a cab. Soon as we got in, the cab light flashed “game over” because that it was.

And that’s just about us. I made it to the airport in half-shut knife mode and home buzzing with the excitement of it all. As total blasts go, this was the proverbial neutron bomb.

My thanks to everyone who made it such a memorable trip, they know who they are. I hope that I can reciprocate the deluge and kindness that was bestowed down the road apiece.

Photos courtesy of Ms. Nenne Zetterberg

Ok folks. I'm back and there are thoughts to be gathered. Meanwhile, here's the first clip I've been able to find from Hultsfred...



It would be great to understand the lyrics but it really doesn't matter. So dig it while I adjust to reality.

Brother Patrick has been talking to an Angel...
actually THE ANGEL!!


Since I discovered this awesome and soulful woman, I enjoy every single or album issued by Ms Andrea Ross, with the help of her accordion and talented musicians like her husband Rich Stim (he was a member the legendary MX-80) and the “flamin’ groovy” Don Ciccone.

The album “Louie Louie” is a tribute to one of Angel’s heroes, Lou Reed. Mostly covers but a few originals, like “Lou Reed’s Hair”. My first questions will be Lurid oriented :

Patrick: Since I got your album “Louie Louie”, I tried to find a connection between Lou and “Louie Louie” (this song was composed by Richard Berry, 1956, and wasn’t even covered by Lou. But I remember Lou saying that one day he’ll be rich with a song based on “Louie Louie” riff played backwards). So Angel, what is the reason why your tribute album to Lou is called “Louie Louie” ?

Angel Corpus Christi: I don’t understand this question but I like the idea of the Louie Louie riff played backwards!

P: Many of his early fans think that Lou Reed is not interesting anymore in (except for his album “New York”) since “Berlin” or “Coney Island Baby”. What’s your opinion about Lou’ more recent works ?

ACC: It’s all good. It’s all great. I could never allow myself to say that I didn’t like any of Lou’s work, recent or not. I am not worthy. He is my hero. All hail!

P: And what’s your fave Lou song ever ?

ACC: He hasn’t written it yet, but I hope he will someday. Its title will be “ANGEL I LOVE YOU”. Ha ha. And he’ll sign my copy “thanks for the inspiration”.

P: What is the origin of your name? Is there a relationship with this city called Corpus Christi where indians live?

ACC : No relationship to the city at all, just another dumb decision on my part. It’s a stupid name! Where to file it? Under A or under C? Is it a metal band? From Texas?

Back to history :
ACC issued a total of five albums between 1984 and 1989, all of them full of nuggets.
Her brilliant debut,”I Love New York” (originally issued on tape), as you guessed, was a tribute to this city, with covers of the Ramones, Richard Hell and Suicide (with Alan Vega – another ACC hero – as a guest) among others.

Then came “Wake Up And Cry” featuring the should have been a hit “Too late For Linda”, then “Dim The Lights”, followed by “Accordion Pop Vol. 1” who features another bunch of more ("Love Me Tender" ...) or less (Rolling Stones ...) oldies; hear these tunes like you’ll never hear ‘em again ...

The last one of this first period is the largely acclaimed “The 80’s”. This album received great reviews :- “The 80's is easy-on-the-ear, low-tech art rock that's a cross between Nico and Jonathan Richman. This gal manages to melt your heart” said the New Musical Express;
- "Maybe the most brilliant female pop/rock artist in America, just because she has the guts and brains to break free so simply and completely." This one was from Sounds.
My personal faves on this album are the fantastic and poignant cover of Alice Cooper anthem ”18”, the magical “Way Out West” and the original “John Cassavetes”, which is Angel's loving tribute to a deceased hero.

P: Your career can be divided in three periods : the 80’s, who saw the realease of five albums on confidential labels / gap / an album on bigger label in the mid 90’s / gap - a few 7” and 12” to fill the gaps / two albums in 2003 / THEN ?
– what about “Accordion Pop Vol 2” ?
- or “The 2000’s as a follow up to “The 80’s” : what songs would you choose to cover (it’s a view of mind – in other words, what are your fave songs from the past two decades).

ACC: Well, for years I’ve been thinking about recording a collection of metal ballads. “Nobody’s Fool” by Cinderella is a great song. “Love Song” by Tesla is a great song. And of course, G ‘n R’s “Sweet Child Of Mine” is a terrific song; the lyrics are beautiful and I like playing the guitar solo on the accordion. And the project wouldn’t be complete without “Eat The Rich” by Motörhead, because I like swearing and cussing in songs. “Bite down on the son-of-a-bitch” !!! Yeah! I’m aware that might scare some people, an accordion-playing female singing a Lemmy song. There’s a Youtube comment about my cover of “Jet Boy Jet Girl”: “Welcome to Hell, here’s your accordion”. Ha ha!!

P: You covered “Never Too Late For Linda”, which is a song written by your friend Don Ciccone for his group. The Trip, at the time (mid 80’s) recorded a mini album that still remains unissued. I have the chance to own this album, which is, to me, almost as good as the Flamin’ Groovies Sire trilogy (Shake Some Action / Now / Jumpin’ In The night). What can you tell us about “groovy” Don ?

ACC: He’s never early, he’s always late, first thing u learn is that u always gotta wait! And, he’s a dynamite guitarist.

P: On “The 80’s” album, there’s this song “Way Out West” that sounds like there has been a magical moment during the session. Do you remember something special happening in the studio that day ?

ACC: Yes, you’re right, something magical and special did happen on that song, and it was Don Ciccone’s guitar playing. He captured just the right feeling and mood and emotion of the song. Especially toward the end, leading to the end, the “outro” (author : Big Star fans, take note). Even to this day, all these years later, when I listen to his playing on this song, it makes me cry. It sounds like he is playing his guitar outdoors, sitting on the hood of his car, parked at the beach. And the waves are there, and the setting sun is there and people are walking by…groovy with a capital G.
(P: I forwarded Angel’s kind words to Don, here’s his reaction : the “Way Out West” session was my favorite moment of all with Angel. Funny thing about that solo was that the engineer couldn't understand it. He said, “you want it to sound like that?”. He kept trying to make it sound "better" but i wouldn't let him. I was trying to make it sound like the Velvet Underground. For any guitarists interested i used an old Gretsch guitar thru a very old Vox ac4 amp - tiny little amp that has a very special sound).

P: Your album “White Courtesy Phone”, issued in the 90’s on a bigger label (Almo, distributed by Geffen) didn’t receive the success that he deserved. But there’s that song “Threw It Away” who was a big success, as covered by Dean Wareham and Britta Philipps. Does this hit record bring you a bigger audience and a little money at the time, or did Angel Corpus Christi remained a “well kept secret” ?

ACC: Ha! For a minute there, it looked like we would make some money with “Threw It Away” when it was used as in-flight music on American Airlines. But it was categorized as a promotional use, which artists are not paid for. And speaking of crying over songs, in the studio recording this song, Hal Blaine cried while he was playing on it. I will never forget this moment as long as I live.

P: So what about Herb Alpert and Hal Blaine ?
(Herb is the famous trumpet player and Hal is probably the most prolific drummer in the r’n’r history; he played with Elvis, Phil Spector ...).

ACC: Oh boy, don’t get me started. Because once I start I may not be able to stop. I’ll tell you what happened in the recording studio during the making of “White Courtesy Phone”. First with Hal. What you have to understand is, I grew up loving and memorizing all the drum parts to all those songs Hal Blaine played on. Of course, at the time, I wasn’t aware of who he was, I just knew I liked that sound, those beats. So imagine the thrill I had in the studio watching Hal unpack his special percussion, which he took out of a big, old, taped-up cardboard box marked “Spector Stuff”! I asked him if this was really the stuff he had used on all those recordings and he said it was. Whoa! I lost it! I realized that this same stuff was gonna be used on MY record and I just lost it! I had to go in the bathroom and splash cold water on me face.
Then with Herb, I had an overwhelming moment when he took out the sheet music we had sent him to the song “Lazy”, and I saw that he had written notes to himself on it, different marks etc., and I understood that Herb Alpert had been at home practicing my song. In the 60s I’d had a crush on Herb and had a big poster of him over my bed. Naughty naughty!

P: For me almost any song by ACC is like almost any song by Roy Orbison or Lee Hazlewood : when you have the chance to hear it, you fall in love with it at first sight – er, I mean first hear, but like love at first sight. The problem for ACC music is that you can hear it nowhere. I’m sure that if someone with good taste had the idea to use one of your songs for a TV ad or a film, you’ll become famous.

ACC: Thank you, that’s very nice. I could never compare myself to Roy or Lee tho. I think I sound more like Alfalfa on Our Gang (Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a long-lived series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach in the early 20’s).

P: Ok, but what are your fave songs or albums by ACC ?

ACC: I like my version of Motley Crue’s “Home Sweet Home” (P : featuring on 2003 album “Divine Healer”, among other cool covers like “Eve Of Destruction” or “Hurdy Gurdy Man” and great original songs too) , the slippery slinky mix Dean Wareham did of “You” (Dean also played guitar), and Pete Kember’s mix of “Femme Fatale” (Pete also played omnichord and Britta Phillips played bass). The song sucked until I took out my vocals, then it sounded brilliant! Ha ha! Not a good sign when your song sounds better without you singing it!

P: You already told us about Lou Reed. What about Alan Vega and John Cassavetes ?

ACC: Maybe it’s time to tell a secret. I don’t usually like to say who a song is about, or where I got the inspiration, but the lyrics to the song “Fall”, on White Courtesy Phone, are kind of about John and his wife, Gena Rowlands. It’s surprising, isn’t it, how much we can love someone we’ve never met? I like the way that song turned out. If you listen carefully, you can hear Rich singing back-up parts. And Craig’s guitar solo is genius.

P: About Rich : except MX-80 and playing / composing with you, did he get involved in other projects?

ACC: Rich and I had 2 musical projects prior to ACC. Playette, and Poetraphonics. On Playette, we used this fabulous little mini-synth by Electro Harmonix that I just loved. It had black and white keys, but they were just painted on, to resemble a keyboard. It was kind of modern, but also low-tech. In Poetraphonics, our big moment was opening for Nina Hagen! My instrument in Poetraphonics was an electronic "clapper". No accordion. I just clapped along, quite happily!

P: A word about Alan Vega ?

ACC: Have u ever had the experience of feeling like u were hallucinating while watching Alan onstage? During one of his performances I saw him transform into a kind of giant beetle creature that was encrusted with jewels. I felt like I was seeing the “real” him, that he was only masquerading as a man. That’s my word on Alan Vega! He’s a bug!

P: I saw Alan Vega and Suicide twice, end of 70’s and more recently. I noticed that he “had the “bug”, considering the way he moved / shaked, but not that he was a bug. Probably because men don’t know but little girls understand ...).

P: You live in San Francisco (I just came here for one day, to see the Cramps one year and a half ago, and I fell in love with this city). Can you give us good reasons to visit Frisco – or even live here (I now some guy who’d like to).

ACC: You’ll never see any George Bush bumper-stickers, ladies with mustaches are accepted, and so are men with breasts!




P: Do you like the Cramps, got records, saw them play ?

ACC: I love the Cramps. It’s fun to sing their songs live because the crowd goes kinda crazy and of course, it’s always fun to sing nasty words… “You Got Good Taste” and “What’s Inside a Girl”, “Somethin’s tellin’ me it’s a ‘hole ‘nother world!” (P: please Angel come tour around here - Europe, or at least release a live album : I wanna hear those songs !).

P: You covered Serge Gainsbourg's "Je T'Aime, Moi Non Plus" (I love you, neither do I ? Serge was awesome for playing with words). Is there any other song by him or another French artist you even think to cover ?

ACC: No. Do you have any suggestions? I tried to sing with a French accent once. Unfortunately, I sounded like Pepe Le Pew.

P: Well, I’ll suggest a song that would fit perfectly to your style / class which is my fave Gainsbourg song. It’s called “Le Canari Est Sur Le Balcon” (the canary is on the balcony), a song by Jane Birkin. It’s about someone who has commited suicide by gas and who left a letter with only those words: the canary is on the balcony. A real tearjerker, it features on “Je T’Aime” US album (the one with a blue/pink cover).

One last question : is there a question you've never been asked in interviews that you would like to answer ?

ACC: This is a really good question, for which I have no answer!

Thanks Bro Patrick, a nice interview. I enjoyed it.

I'm about to undertake an important mission and will be incommunicado(ish) for a wee while.

So, while I'm offsky, take a look at this - from the land I'm bound for...

Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. returns to the rootin' tootin' Rodeo Bar this week for more rootin' *and* more tootin'!

Join us, won't you?

SATURDAY, JUNE 14th / RODEO BAR & GRILL

375 Third Avenue (at the corner of 27th Street) in Manhattan / Three comprehensive sets, from 10:30pm sharp until 1:30am /
No cover -- and free peanuts!

Yours truly, Michael

Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.
"Ballads, Boogies & Blues"

Step this way for The Fifty Worst Album Sleeves. Link courtesy of Jean-Marc Rimette over in the land of Dutronc.

Very jazzed about my impending Säkert! encounter. Trying to concentrate on that to take my mind off the trauma of earlier today. I was ko'd. Outta action for a good couple of hours. If you have to attend hospital and you're offered a sedative then take it. Regret could well be the order of the day if you don't. I'll leave it right there.

Amidst the distraction, I never got the stuff done that I wanted to but here's a great Ben Weasel thing by Larry Livermore to keep you amused, scroll down to 28th May posting.