Although I try to update this thing at least once daily, the recent upturning of my routine suggests that this might not be the best way to go from here on in. Likewise, responding to and dealing with messages. I'm spending too much time in front of computers and in many ways achieving less. So I plan to try and regulate this. My napper feels like it's about to explode and that i'm headed for the rubber room if I don't reign things in. Maybe I'm down for a berth anyway but in any case... All's I'm saying is that there could be a lull coming up.

Priorities Pt. 2 4.11pm ... The healing sounds of the Hacienda Brothers have beaten off the demons for now. As has the threat of Mrs Stim's wrath. This ipod kicking is pretty funny and I'm not sure I subscribe to it 100% but it does raise a valid point. Of course there are many males who aren't interested in music either. Not "proper" music anyway and no amount of landfill gadgetry will halt the onslaught of these bastards so let's just try to steer around this veneer-deep temporary obstacle. Shall we?

The Plimsouls Reunion Show

(first shows since 1997!!)

with special guests Magic Christian feat. Cyril Jordan

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market St.
San Francisco,CA.
(415) 861-5016

Doors: 7:00pm - Show: 8:00pm promptly $15

Y'know - it's not really necessary to own a music collection anymore. However much we try, we can't have EVERYTHING and when you think about it, there still gazillions of things out there that we haven't heard. This is either depressing or empowering, depending on my mood. With the advent of stations like WFMU and shows like BBC London's Shake Some Action, we can just log in, hit the archive and to quote "The Great One" - "Awaaaaaay we go"...

Those of you with the means should hit up the SOA link there, it'll only be available until Monday but it's a belter, the second hour in particular because it features the one and the only Kevin Patrick spinning records and telling tales as only this one can. Follow the links to the show title, tucked away under "classic rock and pop" and simply play it again... and again...

Can anybody out there provide tips as to how to "capture" such broadcasts or what software is required to do so? Also, if you know of a show or a station we should maybe compile into a resource in the side bar there then let we know.

And on the subject of BBC output there, the Soul Deep episode last night was frustrating. Its surely should have been split into four. You can't pack all those bite size chunks in to tick the boxes marked James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Bootsy/George Clinton. What the P-funk? The last part is next Saturday and threatens Mary J. Bilge (I spell it the way I hears it). That crap might be hip but it don't hop around here amigo. And don't get me started about what some deranged twallies call r&b in this sorry day and age.

Who woulda thunk? A Zakary Thaks Website...

Latest news from Slugrock central:
"ACHTUNG YOUSE PUNK ROCKS !!!!
We are pleased to announce that Mikey "Offender" Donaldson will be rocking with
Amsterdam's unstoppable stalwarts the Nitwitz soon. Mikey played with legendary Austin, TX hardcore heavy hitters such as the Offenders, D.R.I., M.D.C., and Sister Double Happiness. Adding these credentials to the illustrious pasts of the other members (B.G.K., Loveslug, No Pigs, to name but a few) the Nitwitz are now packed to the hilt with bona fide trailblazing old school hardcore legend goodness AS WELL AS unbound talent! Better recognize, crackas. Cause it's about time all you biscuit-headed bozos stopped greeting the Nitwitz with screaming indifference, and got wise to the bowel-bursting Hurricane Power of Slugrock Riff-o-rama instead of jerking off over your Offenders/B.G.K.bootlegs and paying 200 bucks for old releases on Ebay. That's right : get your gelatinous, nostalgic, pringle eating retro-hardcore posterior off that sofa, and pick up the new Nitwitz CD "Sex Lies and Duct Tape" on Rocketdog Records from Clear Spot distribution.
Check the webpage to see what's up with live shows and freeload some mp3's while you're at it"

Check THIS Out!...

THE BEATSTALKERS - "Scotland's No. 1 Beat Group" is a collection of their 7 singles featuring the A + B sides plus two other cuts "Ramble On" and "St Louis Blues". The cd has been exquisitely curated to bring together this long lost material with a booklet containing plenty of great clippings and liner notes by Beatmeister, Lenny Helsing of The Thanes.

STRAMASH! blared the Evening Times, reporting the 'stalkermania that ensued at an innocent "boutique" opening. 2 of these 14 songs were written by one D. Bowie and to my knowledge have fallen off the face of the earth until now so maybe the more rabid of his fans are about to encounter some real music for the first time in a dogs age when they discover this.

Assembled by Alan Mair, the sound is great - particularly when cranked up. I would imagine that this is gonna create quite the stushy when the global beat fraternity get their paws on it. A vinyl edition would be something else entirely. I think the band would probably be up for some Cavestomp, Wild Weekend, Las Vegas Grind, Rotterdam Rumble type action when the blue touch paper is lit, meanwhile you can snag a copy this very instant by clicking HERE!

Ben Vaughn's DESIGNS IN MUSIC will be his first domestic (US) release in 8 years. I'll let you ponder the criminal nature of that fact while you test drive the wee mp3 samples and duly place your order thanks to the wonders of Paypal. More about the album when I get my hands on the whole entchilada...

Practically at the last act of my first week doing the (almost) 9 'til 5. I am nothing if not a creature of routine and said activity has been somewhat shaken up this past few days. Service will be resumed slowly as I morph some kinda groove around these latest developments.

Oh yeah, if you're in NY this weekend...

You need this record and even better it's not on cd. It's a real, honest to gawdness slab of 7" vinyl from Canada. Snarling, lo on fi - big on seismic r'n'r energy, girl punk from the folks that brought us that fine GOLDIROCKS movie. Contact 'em via the Goldirocks website, that's where that link'll take ya... E-mail Paula and Tina direct at sluttyrecords@hotmail.com

It's $10 (Canadian) to Europe so hightail it to your Bureau De Change and invest now.

Thanks to Bruce for the tip off and to Paula for the cover shot.

LAURA CANTRELL will kick off the campaign for her new album, Humming By The Flowered Vine on Matador, tonight at The Jazz Cafe in London.



Photographer: Ted Barron © 2005

The Rotterdam PRIMITIVE Festival is on again this year at The Waterfront venue in that there town. It's a great place to catch fine music. Seems like forever since we caught The Nomads there... but I think they're headed back that way this September also (?).

Tho' not much a fan of "vintage clothing" myself, some of you might wanna check the new stock at Atomic Affair, as these girls deserve your support and patronage...

For those of you in northern Europe able to recieve the German ZDF; They'll be broadcasting "House Of The Rising Punk" with (a.o.) Patti Smith, Richard Hell, Alan Vega, Iggy Pop, Blondie and Dee Dee Ramone, tonight at 0:45-1:45. (news c/o Michel Fenderwoods)

Yep, the new Norton's have arrived! and suffice to say it's yet another batch of top notch material. Best of the bunch must be 'Shake It Up And Move', the vinyl edition of Ace's 'Gene Vincent Cut Our Songs' focusing on the writing talents of Jack Rhodes. This includes fantastic early versions of 'Five Days, Five Days', 'Action Packed' and 'Red Blue Jeans And A Pony Tail'. All are previously unreleased bar Elroy Dietzel's Rock-N-Bones. Easily the biggest rockabilly archive "find" in years. And speakin' of "finds"; the third volume in the 'Kicksville!' series once again rounds up a solid set of rockabilly acetates, this time including previously unrealesed material by Benny Joy and Danny Dell, and just feast your ears on the first ever demo recordings by future surf legend Gary Usher and hit maker Ral Donner! The vinyl edition of Ron Haydock's '99 Chicks' is a bit of a let-down, leaving off 12 tracks from the CD and, almost as important, the massive liner-notes, which are and essential part of Norton's releases (and especially in this case!). Faith is restored with 'Wildcat Jamboree!', a fine, fine CD of rockabilly/country radio broadcasts as originally heard in Mississippi during the late fifties. This is truly amazing stuff, and possibly the closest we will ever come to real time-travel (Dig the furniture ads!). Liners by Jim Cole, Eddie Bond, Hayden Thompson and Billy Miller, this is an absolute must-have, no two ways... On the 45 front there's an excellent two-sider by the late "Jimmy Lee" Fautheree (backed by Deke Dickerson & the Ecco-Fonics), the cool "Jungle Stomp' by Northwest rock n’ rollers Johnny Clark & the Four Playboys and finally 'Party Date!', a four-track EP of ultra-cool Texas' rock & roll, featuring (ao) Vince Murphy & the Catalinas, who's story was first told way-back-when in Kicks #6.

The Dictators website is updated with new dates for the DKT/MC5 (again with HDM) and photos of Andy and others from the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash.

If you dig both on-line archives and (early) reggae Dance Crasher is a nice place to while away an hour or so. Scrapbook, charts, releaselists, labelshots and soundsamples, it's all there...

Now Wave magazine has a new, short but interesting piece on DMZ.

On the same day as France goes to the polls to consign the European Constitutional Treaty to the dumper (by all accounts), the Crazy Frog that's been terrorising the ad breaks is poised to become this nation's number one single. Outselling Coldplay by four to one (allegedly), the CGI amphibian has been all over the news since “his” cdingle hit the shops last Monday. The first time I saw the little twerp was when I was in Kassel last September. It had saturation coverage on German MTV and was brainwashing the kids even then. A full blown phenomenon awaited milking… stick that in your ECT and smoke it. It’ll all be over soon and even if it isn’t, this latest Blur vs O*sis type conned-sumer battle will be history soon enough. The wee blighter has more charisma than both of them Gallacher twallies combined. In my opinion...

The well intentioned spectre of Live Aid II is on the horizon and the world will reverberate to the “Make Poverty History” brand around the time that the G8 summit meets just up the road from here. Scotland will be shut over those few days, it looks like the “authorities” have something of a lockdown planned. If you even think about heading in the direction of Gleneagles then they’ll tune in to those thoughtwaves and come cattle prod your ass. Meanwhile, anybody who actually attempts to protest in the proper spirit will be outnumbered by government potted plants, pre-programmed to make sure it goes skew wiff in the name of some bozo idea of order. Hopefully some vestage of reason will out and deliver some degree of salvation amidst the general ballyhoo but I ain’t holding my breath. Most of us don’t care for having Wee Georro in our airspace, likewise his peehee-ridden talking shop which is poised to deliver exactly not very muckle tangible in the way of aid to those who need action rather than a bunch of over-oiled tossers giving it fleeting consideration between soirees.

But what can we do, except wait and see how the pieces fall. Maybe Humpty can be put together again? Let's bob and weave accordingly until our id cards are ready...

I’m not really sure why I use this to vent my day to day pish. It’s a form of denial I suppose. Such havering is not designed to garner sympathy in any “all the apples fell on me” scenario that’s for sure. There’s always someone worse off than one’s self and my inability to be able to deal with changing my circumstances is a problem only one drongo can ultimately solve. I’m not sure where all the taking stock actually kicks in to facilitate actual change. I set out for the ol' life laundry but have never, so far, made it to my destination. Life is too short to suffer fools though, gladly or otherwise. Maybe I use this conduit because it seems like I’m observing all of this happening to a character in some half-assed, wanna-be drama? With the season finale nowhere in sight, maybe it’s time to consider cancellation as an option?

Taking that broadcast analogy, good to hear that the planned 48 hour strike by the BBC this coming Tuesday has been postponed. Tom Morton’s blog has a far better angle on what’s going down around there than I’m qualified to muster. I stand by my comments about my dealings with the organisation in Scotland. The Beeb doesn’t have the monopoly on “dead wood”, every workplace has its share of that particular malignancy. A leaner operation will only thrive if it’s the chaff that gets the chop and thereby hangs a tale. Particularly if it's the chaff that's doing the scoring.

Anyways enough of that, if you're in the locales of Madrid or Valencia...



the reanimated coyotemen are all set to beat up the kids from spain next week. hawkin' their new - reduced to clear - rekkid "from parts unknown" at these spit 'n' sawdust salas...

sala sirocco:madrid:3rd june(w/ king kahn) NOT THE 2ND!as it says on the poster!

sala mogambo:valencia:4th june

'n' the masked masters of moronophonic muck have just snagged the headline slot at the 1st night of the rotterdam rumble on the 1st of september.