Jings, this takes me back...

Dammit! now why did I think this was in October??

John "Hoppy" Hopkins in Glasgow... tomorrow (26th September)

To quote a favourite songwriter of mine, “Today’s word is dejected”. However it’s Friday and that brings tacit relief for a wee while at least. A conversation I had about stuff and the hoarding thereof the other night has made me think that the recycle bucket will be receiving a hearty feed over this period. It’s more likely that I’ll find a bunch of stuff that will drain up the precious time but you never know. I will do the Mojo thing though so stand by for the word on that. Is the general malaise something to do with the ongoing Mercury retrograde or just par for the course?

I'd become a communist and drop the hell off the map if I could pick the commune.

Anyhoo, I just saw Brother Patrick report to Staysick that The Sonics will play Paris on December 7th.

I keep meaning to post a link to Chuck Miller's great Cramps blog.

Something else that I've been meaning to do is make you aware that Play Loud! could really do with some folks ordering The Monks dvd and other stuff direct from them so that they can keep making quality gear in the future. Lucia and Dietmar have fallen victim to the occupational minefield of a distributor going down the pan. DO NOT download their wares from any of these bit torrent sites or wherever, make an effort to prop up these stalwarts of cool popular culture out yonder in Germany. If you don't then you won't get to see their Martin Rev dvd...

And getting out of here but remaining in that fine country, the lady in question that penned that opening line back there is in Munich tonight and Hamburg tomorrow. Hello Saferide is one heck of a night out and could well reaffirm your faith that it's worth plodding on.

I'm going to attempt some reviews over the next few hours. Some of them will be very short in line with the average attention span these days. Mine included.

This is going to come over as one of these “it’s not you , it’s me” scenarios. Following last night’s JJR show in Glasgow, I need to file this report. Some will agree, others won’t.

Firstly, to my mind – the show was woefully promoted. I’m pretty sure hardly anybody knew about it. Hell, Monorail didn’t even have advance tickets and I’m pretty sure that some of their clientele would have been at least interested. Maybe if they’d played with The Primevals or another local rock’n’roll ensemble? Maybe that would have made some kind of difference?? But anyway, there go those scrambled eggs again. It was an opporchancity wasted. There was no support, which in another way was a good thing. When we wandered up, they were still soundchecking and it sounded pretty good. A good eal better than the soup of Madame JoJo’s. You could even hear the “piano”.

They went on about 9.45pm and there were maybe 40 people there by that time. Not bad considering it was such a well kept secret but way short of how many it should have been. It further gave further grist to the mill of the notion – why bring a decent band to Glasgow, or Scotland even? But that’s a debate for another day, or the comments if you feel like it. If you ever tried to “promote” a show here then I imagine you know what I mean. The JJR were very loud and sounded better than my previous encounter by a long shot. They work hard. They pummel. They have all the moves and the shapes and they look like a band. Did I mention that you could hear the “piano” for chrissakes. The efficiency from where I was standing though seemed that for all the high energy, even with the illusion of volume that was sometimes disorienting, the net result wasn’t particularly deadly. It was mentioned that they’re better than the Blues Explosion. Maybe so, but they’re nothing like them. The ingredients are all in place and my own tuppence worth is that they should be playing to youngsters up to the age of 35. They should have played Sleazy’s where the room would have better suited their oeuvre at this point. It’s all a bit Alanis that they’re belting out “Meat Man” in a vegan restaurant.

Irrespective of what I think, the JJR deserved a better reception on their first visit up here than they got. It won’t put them off but this wasn’t a great advert for a country that often lays claim to have the best audiences in the world. This is assuming that there is an audience.

The JJR do have the firepower to sock it to you but in essence, they leave me cold. It’s not them necessarily, it’s most likely me and I’m not sure this relationship will ever work. So I respectfully wish them every success and head in the opposite direction feeling pretty old and tired. It would be great if the youngsters could get on board their rocket but I’m not holding my breath.

Moon Duo is where I’m at right now, what can I tell you?

RIP - Sam Carr

(Thanks to Mr Duff for the info, Goner Board for the link)

The MO at the moment seems to be that I’ve come in for a bout of turbulence as caused by the minutiae of bullshit. I don’t take kindly to this but it’s an occupational hazard – it would seem - that is keeping me from more important matters.

Off to catch The Jim Jones Revue in Glasgow now, I think it’s their first foray this far Nort’. Hopefully it’ll be better than the Madame JoJo’s show earlier this year. For a start, Bobby Gillespie is unlikely to be there so that has to be an improvement. All will be revealed in the fullness of time he typed hoping that it won’t be a last train (not tram – hey TJ!) home situation. 10.48/11.18pm I could just about live with on a school night.

As my peeps know, I'm not somebody who is at the cutting edge of gadgetry.

I thought I'd lost my bog standard mobile phone this morning. I remembered charging it up and was pretty sure it never left the house. When I called it, it went straight on to voicemail. People who try to call me by that method know that it’s almost only ever switched on when I’m making or expecting a call. A trait, I'm reliably informed, that I share with Mose Allison. It’s not something that could be realistically perceived to be a tracking device. I never walk down the street or sit in a train staring at it. That said, I miss it because I HATE the thought of having to get another one and this little blighter had so much left to give. But thankfully, the device showed up on the floor of the car. God only knows how but I'm relieved to have been reunited with it. Even although it's seldom used.

I have some artwork and stuff to do so I'm off to see what kind of progress can be made on that. Don't forget that The Nomads are headed for Norway this weekend - if you can make that it'll be high in entertainment protein. The Wildebeests and Les Bof will also be out in those climes. Sadly I'll be UK bound with a reprieve on Sunday for the matinee show in Newcastle by Eric and Amy.

RIP - Arthur Ferrante

(info from Donna Lethal via facebook)

Before I begin, Mr Duff reminded me that The Lost Crusaders are at The Corn Rocket Club in London tonight. I've no idea who is joining Mike for these euroshows but you should cut along if you can. It should get pretty nuts in Ryans Bar a little later...

But I digress, some progress was made with regard to getting rid of stuff this past weekend then. A sizeable pile of The List, Uncut and Premiere were launched into the recycle bin. The next chore in that line is to list the issues of Mojo, send them to the smattering of folks that expressed interest and despatch those accordingly. This includes unwanted issues into the hungry jaws of the aforementioned receptacle. Slight inroads were made into a cd cull also but I need to apply the same level of ruthlessness as I have done with the printed matter. Records could well be next but that will be a more difficult matter. I can’t even begin to consider cassettes and VHS tapes at this point and never really caught the dvd bug. Still preferring to make the effort to go to the cinema, at least that habit hasn’t died although the logistics can be fraught sometimes.

The only thing I’m interested in seeing is the new “Curb” episodes that started to air in the US last night. This season apparently centres around the prospect of a “Seinfeld” reunion and by all accounts the first show was great. I did watch some eps of "True Blood" and found it kind of irritating in its post Twin Peaks style. Buffy via American Gothic with added raunch but not as good as either. The theme tune is good in a Chris Isaak/Fatboy vein (you see what I did there.. haw haw) and I think I heard Eleni Mandell in the background of one?

Apparently Season 2 is better and to be honest, I’m not sure that I’ll get that far. We’ll see. An hours de-clutter per night should see me done with it all by about 2015 or thereabouts.

Some other stuff I just discovered that I hadn’t passed on that’ll be coming out over the next wee while. I had scribbled and copied links on to a list but I’ve lost that. This is fairly typical of the situation that is ongoing hereabouts. The other aspect is that what you don’t know or never knew is unlikely to trouble you. That’s a positive note, right? The e-mail and file thing is in many ways worse than physical clutter, I’ve never really been able to fathom a systematic way of storing files. The backup discs to the left of me here are just a further example of what will eventually become landfill. Or maybe I’ll just make arrangements for them to go to one of the places that claims to recycle cd material. I guess I don’t have to make my mind up about that right athis instant.

The Rev. Mike Mastrangelo tells me that tehre's another round of Gun Club re-issues ("Miami", Death Party and The Las Vegas Story) coming in October via Cooking Vinyl. Nothing on the site yet but I'll keep you posted.

Need something to read as the nights are drawing in? Joe Bonomo's tome on The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis - entitled "Lost and Found", this could well be what you're after… I wonder what happened to those tracks The Radio Sweethearts worked on sone time ago??

John Cavanagh's Pirate Radio is on at The Arches this Tuesday and Wednesday. Be there prior to 8.20pm on either night.

The Jim Jones Revue are at Mono on Wednesday. £8 on the door, no advance tickets.

For the forseeable, one hour in the morning (provided I can get up as these dark mornings creep in) and another one in the evening will be my interweb activity for the foreseeable future. These heavy manners are necessary to pursue other avenues of what passes for an existence. I shouldn’t grumble but I do. All part of the charm. Kerfuffle’s and conflicts with regard to time off. Plus it’s not physically or fiscally possible to attend every shindig that I’d like to. Still, I shall be missing in action with regard to blogging between 22nd and 26th October .

Maybe J could be cajoled into interrupting his real life for a couple of day? However, I think you'll live if this thing isn't updated daily. Or even weekly come to that...

Let’s head out to Sweden this Sunday afternoon (GMT) and hit up some spots that might be of interest.

Theodor Jensen’s previous release went under the moniker of The Plan but this one sees him revert to his namesake. As “Walk For Gold” experimented with sophisticated pop shapes, “Tough Love” follows on from that and pushes the envelope marked grandiose even further. It reminds me of “Forever Changes” in some ways without actually sounding anything like it. Orchestral would best describe the fixtures and fittings and the sound is very ornate and off kilter. A little Calexico battling with the Spiders from Mars. That piano on “Bapada” is decidedly Garson-esque. I hear a wee Steve Harley type inflection in his voice too I think but that’s as far as the comparisons go.

It’s an unusual blend of styles with an ebb and flow of real drama. The print on the cd sleeve is too small for me to read even with my gregory’s so I can’t tell you who is actually playing on it but it’s printed on very nice paper. I understand that some of it was recorded at Konie’s Studio Cobra. There’s some skewed blue-eyed soul alongside equally twisted world music. A little like Scritti Polliti but way less po’ faced. “Side by side” is the best example of this particular aspect. I sense a folk aesthetic subplot going on with the instrumentation. That’s what hints at genuine oddness and ends up sounding all the more captivating. It’s not rock’n’roll but it’s good to head off the beaten track into relatively uncharted territory every once in a while.

And those Hemifrån hits just keep on comin’...

“The Power Of The Lord Will Set Us Free and we will be.... Trailerpark Idlers” isn’t the name of the band like “And You Will Know Us By Trail Of Dead” or however that goes. Bible bashing Sunday morning brimstone coming down or just interpretations? It’s hard to tell but by the time you get to “We Need a Lot More of Jesus and A Lot less Rock’n’Roll” the outcome is more obvious.

The gospelness can be taken with a pinch of salt, a rattle of the beads or however you get your faith jollies. Or not. What I’m trying to say is that, even if you’re not a god botherer these folks definitely have their moments of are they/aren’t they. And blow up quite a head of steam in the process. A fun combo then whose next project is a Jim Reeves covers album. I’d love to hear them do an Amy Allison song.

Citizen K is Klas Qvist and his “Meet Citizen K” album comes in packaging that looks not unlike Jackson Browne’s “Saturate Before Using”. This is something of a clue to what the contents sound like but there’s more than a hint of Richard Thompson present too which gives it a folkie edge. That Pinball Wizard guitar on “That Same Old Sun” displays that there’s more to this than just pastiche. Very nicely recorded and while it won’t necessarily grab you, there’s that undeniable Swede-pop element that’ll just creep up on you. I could tell this would be good because of the quality of the sleeve material. This is a guy that gives a hoot about presentation and I for one appreciate that sort of effort.

Jump4Joy ’s “Tasty” is some of that nostalgic rock’n’roll that sits someplace between The Refreshments and The Skeletons more cabaret type moments. It’s a little clean and clichéd even but quite charming nonetheless. Some toe-curling lyrics, the text speak nature of the name and the fact that one of ‘em would appear to have a ponytail can’t contain the fact that they can probably shake up a hostelry some.

Not that I would know anything about that culture whatsoever...

Post #4400 - Things don't get much more ridiculous than this... thanks to Sigrid Jakob via staysick for the link.

The Barman talks to James Williamson. He seems to have his head screwed on. Nice one Craig.

I was talking to Kaptain Krunch last night and he told me that I had to watch “Later”. The sequence in question was a performance by a group who recently professed an interest in penning a Bond theme, an act that had Mr Thewlis apoplectic earlier in the week. The whys and wherefores of that particular angle won’t impinge on my world at all. After all what could possibly follow that Jack White/Alicia Keys atrocity better?

I watched aghast for as long as I could take as these utter numpties trawled through something that sounded a little close to call like a certain well known theme tune by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. I’d be interested to see the publishing credit on that if I could stomach looking at a cd jacket. But the piece de resistance was the final number that surely trod on the “Queen” brand template with a little Yorke thrown in to snag all the lovers of what has killed music stone dead this past few years. There are other similarly heinous perp's doing the rounds - you probably have your own particular "favourite" for the high jump come the revolution. Or at least something. All the talk about dinosaurs during the punk wars? Selective memory or what??

Caterwauling Florence (or Horace as the Kaptain calls “her”) and her machine were on too. But don’t worry folks, I fast forwarded through. No real lasting damage was done as far as I can tell. But like damp cold, this stuff is insidious. It gets to your bones. Those bloody gears of what used to be a rockin' machine. There's plenty of WD40 out there, it just takes a little effort to find.

FYI - The Wreckless Eric/Amy Rigby show in Newcastle next Sunday (27th) is a matinee.

You should be at The Bridge Inn for 3pm or thereabouts to catch all the action.

RIP - Henry Gibson

(Thanks to Ben for the info)

I am effing flabbergasted. Now here's a dilemma I didn't see coming...

It’s been another braw, bricht autumnal day hereabouts. A week now without rain which must be some kind of record. Not a cd. Or a cassette. I’m looking at a wee pile of the former that I need to tackle out of the side of my eye as I type this. Lately I’ve been thinking that just about everything that needs to be said has been written about music. Certainly by me. Of course that doesn’t cover the act of actually convincing someone that they would want to hear something. That filter is still relevant. Sometimes I think about just adding a link with a sentence. That might assist both of us with the passage of that most precious commodity. Time.

Yesterday evening, I did a dummy run on my “no TV” thing. I survived. No jones. Not so far anyway so I may go for two in a row. Nothing good on the sucker anyway. I did get a new "remote" control today though so I have to at least see if it works. This weekend will have started by this time tomorrow and I’m brimful of good intentions right now but let’s just see how this will manifest itself. There shall be updates one way or the other because there are no plans to venture far. However there are cool things happening in other airts… so Mr Spence supplied these with the following proviso - "The Brutes have another rockin' South of the Border raid this weekend. We'll be rampaging in Liverpool on Friday (18th Sept) and ransacking Leicester on Saturday (19th Sept). Details in attached pretty pictures!

























While we're on the subject of "pictures", lets get a bit twisted fine art on your tucus and NYC welcomes the great Isabel Samaras and you can get all the info here.

On the culture wagon, JD King has another wee story ready for your perusal.

Ever wanted to know what might have happened if Lindisfarne covered The Ramones? Well have a look at this that Iain just sent me the link to...



This Just in from The Cameo... "Sunday 25 October sees a very special event. From 6pm we will be screening DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) followed by an in-person Q&A with Ken Foree and then DAY OF THE DEAD followed by an in-person Q&A with Joe Pilato. Every audience member will get a merchandise goody bag and a signing will follow the event.

Tickets priced at a bargain £10 Full/£8 Concession will go on sale at 11am on Saturday 26 September via the booking line on 0871 704 2052 or in person at the box office. There will be no online sale of the tickets. Demand is likely to be very high so early booking is recommended to avoid disappointment.

This event is in association with
Arrow Video www.arrowfilms.co.uk
Cult Fiction www.cultfictionmovies.com "

So have fun with that, I'm off to catch what's left of the daylight and when I get back there are big decisions to be taken which will undoubtedly be put off but we'll see. It sounds cryptic right? Well it is. You need to believe that.

RIP - Mary Travers