So where did the weekend go exactly? I knuckled down and got the garden in some sort of shape. Hoping that's it for zero eight but who knows. Bit of hedge trimming next weekend if the weather holds but what's the bloody chance of that?

If you didn't shift your 'arris and order one of the signed HS cds from Bengans then "your tea is oot". They've vamoosed. Probably down to that world exclusive review of More Modern Short Stories from last week. Or perhaps not. The appearance of the Sandra Löv directed "Anna" video obviously pushed interest into hyperdrive. The "digi-single" went into the Swedish charts at 43 this past week. I'm rooting for a big climb this coming week. I guess these things matter in some terms with regard to perceived popularity. I don't think justice plays any part in it. However much it should. If it did then it would have been #1 with the proverbial bullet.

So, for those of you who had trouble locating it on msn.se, it's now on youtube, which means that you can view it here.

Pub rock is where it's at! Dig Ducks Deluxe in their prime!

Just caught up with a documentary that I'd been meaning to see for ages. "Searching For The Wrong-Eyed Jesus" is a traipse around the farthest reaches of the American South. Jim White stakes out the terrain which is punctuated by performances by artists who are steeped in the folk culture. The Handsome Family and Johnny Dowd to name but two of the acts.

Didn't realise it was a BBC production for Arena and that it had actually been broadcast here in 2006 but anyway, it's recommended. The film also features a pre-Dolls reunion David Johansen looking more like Peter Wolf from the J Geils Band than a glam slammer.

Compelling stuff in light of what's going on in America now as they hurtle toward November in the proverbial handbasket.

Taste the whup in Malmo, October 17th!!

Problem

Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks

Brother Don has just "phoned-in" this review of E & A from last night's SF show...

"i'm just back from that roach ridden dump way across town... it's 3 am and i'm bleary eyed... went all the way to oakland first to see opening nite of brian wilson's latest tour. theater was half-empty and everyone had balcony seats so they "upgraded" us to orchestra so as not to have an empty floor. brian was great great great but you don't want to hear about that so i'll go on...

got to theeee plopside at 11PM just a few seconds into the first song of the wreckless wrigbys which was the beer song. right off you could see they were gonna be way better than last time. much tighter but just as spirited. amy had her gibson j45 and eric had a nice guild hollow body just like the one on the cover of kinks kontroversy. they took turns with her songs and his but this time it really seemed like "someone nailed (them) together" as one of their songs goes. from amy's catalogue there was "till the wheels fall off", "raising the bar", "rasputin", "joey ramone" among others. eric did the great "reconnez cherie" and lots more faves including of course "whole wide world" and "take the k.a.s.h". they harmonized well. he played great bass (an old fender mustang with maple neck). amy played some keyboard.

oh-- they did "you tore me down"!! after which yours truly yelled out "groovies!" cause i know nobody knew the song but me. and eric said, "we're not the flamin groovies...you don't care for them do you? how do you feel about jefferson airlplane?"

they did some stuff off the new album -- the notorious "men in sandals" which eric introduced by complaining (rightly so) how stupid men dress in this country ("why do they dress like they're eleven years old?"). another good one was "here comes my ship" (which apparently would be the 45 if there was one). and they did my fave, "please be nice to her", accompanied by a rhythm ace via laptop. amy played some great leads on her little ol harmony solid body electric. eric peeled off quite a few decent solos. they played for nearly 2 hours and had a line of people waiting to buy the new album.

which i can't wait to hear but my eyes are closing as i write this... chatted with amy a while... great to see her again... she says she's headed your way in november. i wish someone would back them up with bass and drums... they'd be monstrous."

And the video for "Anna" is here... (Thanks Martina)

Working last weekend knocked my whole routine out of whack. Even although I generally rise at what most people consider to be the middle of the night, the graft aspect perhaps should have been factored in. Anyway, what matters most is that it's Friday now. Can't say I'll be venturing too far from the midden heid but you never know.

One thing I will be doing is tuning in to find out what happens when the E & A show hits the SF area today, September 5th, 2:00 PM Pacific, 5:00 pm Eastern, and 10 pm UK-time. Amy & Eric and will be stopping by KALX for an interview with DJ Mack.

If you're in the San Francisco Beige Area, listen on 90.7 fm. Otherwise online here.

Thanks to Lady Karen McB of the Goofenhaus Estate for the heads up.

FRIDAY 5th SEPTEMBER at

THE TWISTED WHEEL

72 QUEEN STREET

GLASGOW

It’ll be practically 3 years to the day since “Introducing…” was released. Time is flying by but it doesn’t seem like it could have been so long. That album helped me over a particularly fraught period and I’ll state right now that I’m biased, because I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the music that this artist makes. Without wishing to be a drama queen, it has a lot to do with why I’m still hanging in here.

"More Modern Short Stories from Hello Saferide" (Razzia) contains 12 “chapters”. Top yarns set to exquisite tunes. An object lesson in boardwalk folk complete with soul and countripolitan pop flourishes. Andreas Mattson’s production presents each vignette in a shimmering, understated cinematic snapshot.

In the olden days, it took at least four albums to reach this level of connection. The authoritative nature of the material bestows a providence that in terms of light and shade and space is pretty much unbeatable. The ability to exact such fine detail in such a simple, direct format is rare these days. Annika Norlin's songs are like short films, the narrative is often so compelling that they probably should be. They’re very real on the landscape of a time when (almost) nothing is.

“I Wonder Who Is Like This One” might sound like a Roky Erickson title but it’ll all fall into place when you hear it. The premise is that people are like songs. Which are you? This segues into “2008” which is positive compared to “2006” but still harbouring reservations. It sounds a little festive too. The dynamic of the segue between the first two tracks hit me like a truck. It's not always apparent that pop music can still do that. Not sure that "Can't Get You Out of My Head" is a good fit for the author or not but it certainly describes the feeling you get when you listen to her work.

I’m not going to describe each cut. You need to discover the joy of HS for yourself. “Overall” is perhaps the closest we come to Säkert! in English and incase you were wondering, it has nothing to do with protective clothing. Sparks and Pulp are just two acts that it reminds me despite the fact that it actually sounds like neither. The piano/hammond that forms the bed of “Lund” is perfect and that’s before you get to the warmth of the vocal. Consider Buffy Saint Marie with Roy Bittan and Danny Federici maybe, then you’re getting close (ish).

Remember “Leaving You Behind” (from the now out of print Would You Let Me… EP)? Well, some of “25 days” may surpass even that. I don’t think that I’ve heard the expression “You stupid fuck” expressed with such conviction. And anybody who knows me understands exactly my predilection for cursing.

By now you should be acquainted with Annika’s imaginary daughter, “Anna”. A chip off the old block complete with those “punk rock manners”. “Travelling With HS” may well remind you of Kirsty MacColl and that’s perfectly reasonable. An odd remnant of familiarity adds greater emphasis to underscore that this is as sonically pleasing a set of songs as you're likely to hear. Maybe ever.

As the strings drift wistfully out of “Arjeplog”, there’s pretty much no other option other than just to “press play again”.

And again.

(Don't forget, you can order a signed copy here - they won't last forever. Once the word really gets out then you'll be snookered.)

RIP - Jerry Reed

RIP - Don LaFontaine

If you're in LA then please go along to the Cinema Bar tonight. The entertainers known as Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby will be there to put a big smile on your coupon.

Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. again takes to the Rodeo Bar, the honky tonkin’est joint in town -- joined this week by a very special guest in Japanese country music star Tomi Fujiyama! As a mere youngster in 1964 Tomi toured the US and had the honor of singing on the venerable "Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville, TN. And now we are honored that she will be making her first return to New York since that tour, performing with us!

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4th / RODEO BAR / With special guest Tomi Fujiyama! /
375 Third Avenue (at the corner of 27th Street) in Manhattan / Three rollickin' sets, from 10:00pm sharp until 1:00am / No cover -- and free peanuts!

And, for those with a Long Island bent...
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6th / SWING DANCE LONG ISLAND'S "FALL DANCE" / At the Smithtown Historical Society's "Brush Bar" in Smithtown, NY / Three swingin' sets, from 8:00pm until 11:00pm (lesson at 7:30) /
SDLI Society members and non-members welcome!

Always yours,

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

As you may surmise from the time of my first post today, the insomnia is back. The first sign of the seasonal change was also evident with the temperature being quite a few notches below recent highs. The consideration of buying shares in a company that makes woolly jumpers might be a way of counteracting the daily gloom of the media economy coverage. Sales in these are bound to rise, after all nobody is going to be able to turn their sodding heating on, far less up.

I really need to get my eyes tested again too. Talk about being blind as a bat, at least they have some kind of radar. I'm pretty sure it's down to spending too much time in front of a computer. Driving in the dark the other night, some twat was giving it full beam in the opposite direction and I simply couldn't see a thing. Nada. Nowt.

And finally, to compound the ongoing e-mail problems, it seems as though this blog thing is unobtainable at times. I imagine it's a blogger problem but who knows. At the minute I just crack off e-mails and hope that they reach their destination. I never actually know because some of you folks e-mails don't reach me. All very frustrating but I don't have the energy or wherewithal to investigate right now. I'm harbouring a distinct yearning to fall off the face of the earth.

But I can't do that just yet because there’s a couple of three important things that I need to get together. While I’m doing that, here are some recent groovy myspace things that you may care to check out.

From Sweden, Säkert! alumni... 2 White Horses

Also from Sweden, NBT old timers surely remember... The Hidden Charms

Brother Patrick hepped me to Lover! from Memphis.

And HT, the curator of that North Fork Sound introduced me to The Lone Sharks

Something there for darn near everybody...

I saw a bus with the side emblazoned "Rocknrolla" and recalled something that Tony Thewlis told me some time ago. Checked out the website where the soundtrack details are and there it was, The Scientists "We Had Love". The score also features The Hives, The Sonics, Kim Fowley and Wanda Jackson.

I'm not a fan of Guy Ritchie's movies - "Lock, Stock...", supposedly the best of them is awful but kudos to him or whoever was responsible for getting "WHL" through the vetting procedure. Perhaps a whole new generation will discover this stuff?

There's a thought for this time of writing on a Tuesday morning...

Ben Vaughn is headed for Spain. Francisco Munster reckons it may even be with his LA band. Blimey.

12 de septiembre - Lemon Pop Festival - Murcia

13 de septiembre - Four Seasons Sixties Club - Castellon

17 de septiembre -

+ Dj Alexandre Crespo - Sidecar - Barcelona

18 de septiembre - + Dj Eneida Fever! - Sala Sol - Madrid

19 de septiembre - Popxiriapop Festival - Carballo

20 de septiembre - Azkena - Bilbao

(If you live anywhere near any of these then miss this guy at yer peril)

Thanks to Ulla and Francisco for the info.

I've had two 5am rises and two 6am starts this weekend so I feel a little puggled.

Not exactly down with blogging at this point so this'll be brief. If I don't pass out in front of the TV then I might be back later. What I did do since returning home from the stalag is watch Paradise Lost 2 because I believe there's some WM3 activity coming up very soon.

Hopefully justice will be seen to be done this time...

Want to see what "an alien of extraordinary ability" looks like?

Go to one of these...

Both of these clips are great so click play and dig 'em.

You've nothing better to do right?

I have a very early rise (even by my standards) tomorrow so I updated the North Fork Sound logo on your left there and that's it for tonight. Short and sweet.