Well the gallavanting is over, it's time to knuckle down and get things done. I know, you've heard that before but maybe this time it'll work out. I know I have to get my notes for the Munster DVD release by The Beasts of Bourbon done by Monday. There are a lot of distractions but i've kinda rallied from my recent downer as a result of 2 Hello Saferide infusions. Not to mention actually getting to meet this phenomenon in the making. I'll be taking a break to watch "Monk" of course but then I don't intend to stop until "Charmed" tomorrow afternoon. A likely story? Quite poss.

RIP - Ruth Brown

Ruth Brown website

(Info courtesy of Ben Gart)

BIG ENOUGH Records are proud to announce the release of the first ever official Fleshtones DVD, Brooklyn à Paris! The dvd will consist of the band’s latest show at La Maroquinerie in Paris, France, filmed on 22 October 2006. I
was there and you can trust me: the show was smoking! You can pre-order the dvd at the special price of €23 for France, €24 for Western Europe and €25 for the rest of the World, packing & shipping included. (Note: the street price will be €25 without P&S in France). Please remit your payment to PAYPAL account bigenoughdvd@hotmail.fr. This Special Offer will be available until 5 December 2006 only.

French buyers, please email bigenough@hotmail.fr for details as you can also pay by cheque.

Stocks are limited so get it while you can!!!

Release date : Mid-December 2006

Jean-Marc Rimette

All I’m gonna say at this point is that if you missed the recent HS shows, and you lived in the immediate radius of any of them then you blew it. Everybody who made the Admiral Bar scene last night knows what I’m talking about. These are Stacey’s photos and you can see more here.

The Poems opened. Iain said they reminded him of The Paradise Motel and that’s not a bad shout.

Maia Kirasawa did a great set to a respectable relative silence. There were almost none of these nitwits that jaw through a person’s set disturbing the peace and tranquillity that this girl is packing.

The Hello Saferide combo came on, did their stuff and didn’t play anywhere near long enough but that was OK. That brass section (from Autisterna - Thanks Martina) is like an Action Combo for the 21st Century. Made me think about my old pal Gordon Spaeth. The people from Sounds Of Sweden and Dolly Mixture deserve massive props for organising the show. It’s a great spot and these people are music fans. This is what shows should be like, untainted by corporate bullshit. It may be a tad off the radar but there are supposed “real” promoters that couldn’t attract a crowd like this. That fucking wish they had this kind of cred. You can't "buy" this kind of reaction, it only evolves through trust.


Anyway, read this STYLUS magazine review and check out Tom Morton's Beatcroft angle on the HS Glasgow debut. The smart wee gif thing there is from the Stylus review.

As I type this, I’m listening to Dave the Spazz's WFMU Norton Records Anniversary show and it’s everything you expected and more. If you haven’t heard it then scoot over there. A great testament to the coolest couple in rock’n’roll and their unrelenting services to making life bearable through the greatest music you never heard. They even have Roky call in to wish them well, jeez this almost makes me think there's a god out there someplace. I remember being in Berlin with them when it all kicked off like it was earlier today.

It’s a "town & country" weekend for Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. as we travel over the East River to citified Brooklyn -- and up the Hudson to rustic Cornwall-On-The-Hudson!
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17th / HANK’S SALOON /
46 Third Avenue (corner of Atlantic Avenue) / Brooklyn, NY / Adam Turns 26: with the Arkhams and Pete Yorko / One set at 10:00 / No cover / http://www.blogger.com/www.HanksSaloon.com /
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18th / 2 ALICES COFFEE LOUNGE /
311 Hudson Street / Cornwall, NY /
Two shows, from 8:00 until 10:00 / No cover / http://www.blogger.com/www.2AlicesCoffee.com /
Unrelated, but lest thou forget...
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30th - OTTO’S SHRUNKEN HEAD, last Thursday of every month! /
538 East 14th Street (just west of Avenue B) / Manhattan, NY / Two shows, from 8:00 sharp until 10:00 / No cover / http://www.blogger.com/www.OttosShrunkenHead.com /

Sincerely yours in travel,
Michael
Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.
"Ballads, Boogies & Blues"
http://www.blogger.com/www.SITandDieCo.com

Hello Saferide made their UK debut last night and i’m not given to random leaps of faith but I had to be there. Even although there’s a Glasgow show tomorrow, it was important to attend. Last time I was at The Water Rats was when Angel Corpus Christi blew through town. A lot of the proverbial has gone under the bridge since then.

Maia Hirasawa opened with a sweet but short set. She’s great and I’d like to hear her with a band. Another guy came on and futzed with his tuning a lot, don’t recall who he was, songs were OK but it was holding up the main event. (Update - He goes under the name, The Fine Arts Showcase and hails from Malmo via Seattle. Thanks to Stacey for the info.)

From the opening slaps of “The Quiz”, it was clear that we were in the presence of greatness. A crisp, clear sound with a confidence and perkiness that counters the bittersweet nature of the lyrics. There were two new songs, one called “Anna” (?) and another called "I Was Definitley made For These Times". I concur! The actuality of the show being better than the high hopes I had was one thing. Witnessing it was positively euphoric. Annika conducts this amazing band, Maia is a perfect foil and the combo is a like seductive pure pop version of The Hives. The brass just made the whole thing soar with a mariachi swing. I’m gushing like a sad fanboy here but it’s entirely justified and if you see them then you’ll feel it too. The projection is almost too big for the small stage that they were packed on to.

Ms Norlin, you are charged with harbouring a blatant disregard for the effect these songs might have on an unsuspecting public. And with malice aforethought the boundless charm of such material is likely to drive grown men and women (who think they’ve heard it all) into fits of complete pleasure.

Maybe I’ll be able to sort out a more reasoned report on tomorrows gig… but don't count on it.

If anybody out there has pictures from the London show then (pretty) please forward a couple…

Jump on LAST TRAM HOME, the new TJ Honeysuckle blog...

Update 14/11 - This show has been cancelled because of a screw-up on the venue front. Skedaddle along to Hello Saferide at The Admiral Bar instead...

Hey Hey Hey!!!Have we got a midweek treat for y'all this week?!!....

WEDNESDAY 15TH NOVEMBER - in the cellar bar of O'HENRY'S, Drury St., Glasgow (across the road from the Horseshoe Bar); £4; 8.30pm

Is This Music? - an independent music magazine from Scotland presents

SPOOKEY - all girl bubblegum-garage-powerpop-punk trio from Hamamatsu, Japan ..."walk like the Shangri-Las, talk like the Ramones!"

THE MEOW MEOWS - female-fronted ska nine-piece from Brighton.

THE GREASE MONKEYS - local hardy perrenials delivering cranked-up garage punk rock'n'roll ...last Glasgow show for a while.

THE BUCKY RAGE - hot new kids on the block bringing the manic surf punk to the party. Described by the Daily Record as "sounding like the Monkees doing a zombie dance".

Value for money or what???!!!

OK, shows coming up in the next wee while. If you're in the vicinity, or fancy travelling then roll on along...

Hello Saferide's first foray into the UK:

Monday 13th November - Monto @ The Water Rats, London (onstage approx 8.30pm)
Tuesday 14th November - The Dublin Castle, London
Wednesday 15th November - The Admiral Bar, Glasgow

You can get the "Introducing... " album on vinyl now from "It's A Trap".

The Nomads are hitting up Italy and Belgium in the very near future.

Thursday 16th November - Milano - Transilvania Live
Friday 17th November - Bassano del Grappa (Vicenza) - Transilvania Live
Saturday 18th November - Colle di Val d'Elsa (Siena) - Sonar Club

Saturday 25th November - Gent - Vooruit

Closer to the bunker here...

Gig #15 of 2006 for the World Famous Shock And Awe is coming up...
Saturday November 18th
The Three Tuns cellar bar
7 Hanover Street,
Edinburgh
EH2 2DL
with "Rosie and the Death Threats" and all the way from Liverpool "S-Punk 7".

The Last Town Chorus will perform several very special intimate shows on Wednesdays in November in the East Village at Mo Pitkins at 7:30pm. The shows begin this week, in anticipation of the US release of Wire Waltz in March 2006. Musicians who will perform with Megan as The Last Town Chorus include Pete Galub, Alan Bezozi, Greta Gertler, Michael Gomez, and Matt Keating. Arrive early, as shows will be opened by friends of The Last Town Chorus, including Matt Keating (8th), Pete Galub (22nd) and Amy Allison (29th).

DECEMBER TOUR JUST ANNOUNCEDThis is a tour of very intimate venues, so ticket supplies are quite limited.
* 1st GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - Nice n' Sleazy > TICKETS
* 2nd EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - Cabaret Voltaire
(supporting Willard Grant Conspiracy) TICKETS
* 4th LONDON, ENGLAND - Spitz > TICKETS
* 5th MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - The Late Room > TICKETS
* 6th NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - The Social > TICKETS
* 7th LONDON, ENGLAND - The Scala (supporting Juana Molina)
* 8th BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - The Glee Club > TICKETS
* 11th PARIS, FRANCE Le Maroquinerie > TICKETS

RIP - Jack Palance

Yaka Yaka is the password to Peter C Johnson’s cave. The latest recording to emanate from that lair is a stark reminder of this guys talent. More orator than vocalist, PCJ recites like a seasoned broadcaster. The music is at times more atmospheric more than instrumentation and the result is equal parts bleak and reassuring. Like Johnny Dowd channelling Nick Nolte or maybe if Kris Kristofferson had recorded Lou’s "Berlin". You’ll get some kinda ballpark idea of where this is both coming from and headed. A tough fragility bordering on psychosis and not a thousand miles from the sound of Dire Straits if they found themselves in a Deliverance situation. I’m not sure what a “subterranean cluster fuck” is but it’s probably not pretty. I do like the way Ardys Flavelle says it though. I also find the reference, "the best way to dismantle someone is to isolate them" that occurs in his apocalyptic take on "I Still Miss Someone" to resonate chillingly with my own journey of late.

Like Joe Meek dabbling in country/folk backdrops, the version of “Victims of the Flood” here is entirely different to the one he recorded in 1978(?). He certainly has a way with words (and sounds) that sits entirely apart from anything else you ever heard. On the site, the album is described as “one man’s story of loss, grief, confusion and redemption in a violent world”. It certainly doesn’t conform to any single shard of commerciality but it shimmers all the harder for it. At the moment it’s only available from CD Baby. I think you can listen to it there too and you should make time to do that. It’s quite a journey. Jimmy Ryan from the Laura Cantrell troupe appears on “The War Is Over”. The sparse, spare stylings of Peter C. Johnson are exactly what you need to get acquainted with over these coming winter nights. This isn’t something that’ll hit you instantly but if you give the chance then there are depths to be mined here and it never sounds the same twice.

"MANCHESTER CITY COUNCIL NEWS RELEASE Central Library Friday 24th November at 6:30PM

The Rock Journalist who introduced Kurt to Courtney will be in conversation at Central Library Find out what really happened when Kurt Cobain met Courtney Love from the man that introduced them. Rock journalist Everett True will be in conversation with journalist John Robb to talk about his book Nirvana: The True Story.

Everett True is responsible for bringing Nirvana to the attention of the masses and it was he who introduced frontman Kurt Cobain to Courtney Love at a Butthole Surfers gig in 1991. True started out writing a fanzine called The Legend and contributed to NME and went on to become Assistant Editor of Melody Maker and Editor of Vox. It was through his work with the British music press that he was to befriend the late Kurt Cobain.

He travelled to Seattle in 1989 to cover Sub Pop records and what was then becoming known as Grunge. He wrote about Mudhoney, Sonic Youth, Pavement and the Lemonheads among others and gained a reputation for dishing the dirt. However he was also a friend to many of the musicians and particularly Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide in April 1994. True performed with Nirvana and is known for the fact that he pushed Kurt Cobain on stage in a wheelchair at the Reading Festival in 1992. He is also the only journalist who was allowed into Cobain's house immediately after his death. He is held in high regard by many music fans and journalists alike and has written books on The Ramones and The White Stripes. Councillor Mark Hackett, executive member for culture and leisure at Manchester City Council said: "Central Library is a great venue for authors, journalists and poets to come and share their work with a captive audience. I am sure that fans of Everett True and the music he has written about will find this event very informative and entertaining. It is certainly one not to miss for fans of Nirvana."

To find out more about the event or the Henry Watson Music Library

call Steve Shepherd on 0161 234 1976.

Just incase you don't read the "comments"... this message came in:

"I'll also be in Edinburgh and Glasgow the following two days -

Saturday 25th Eve 5pm – Edinburgh Forest Café 0131 220 4538 www.theforest.org.uk

Sunday 26th 11:00 am at Hitherto/Tinderbox

Unit 4, McIntyre Hogg Building, 14/1 Ingram St, Glasgow".

"Greetings Friend,
Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. heads uptown this weekend -- in a return to the quaint Riverdale section of the Bronx for the monthly "Riverdale Round-Up"! The setting is An Beal Bocht Cafe, a warm and friendly Irish bar that serves up both a cold pint and a hot sheperd's pie, and your singin' "Round-Up" host is Karen Hudson, so join us, won't you?
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11th / "RIVERDALE ROUND-UP" / An Beal Bocht Cafe / www.AnBealBochtCafe.com /
445 West 238th Street (between Waldo and Greystone) / Show starts at 9:30, with SIT & Die Co. sets at 10:00 and 11:00 / No cover charge! /
Quite truly yours, Michael
Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.
"Ballads, Boogies & Blues"
www.SITandDieCo.com

Saturday Night in Stockholm... Voladoras Burlesque Action!

(Thanks to Ima Wino for the link)

Dead Flowers Presents: Norton Records 20th Anniversary bash!

Featuring; The Real Kids and The Stalkers

Plus DJs Josh Styles! and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus!

Friday November 10. Early Show! 8:00 PM sharp!!! at: Magnetic Field, 97 Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn, NY. This may sell out, more info and advance tix at: http://www.magneticbrookyn.com

RIP: Art Wood.

"Hi all:

I'm happy to report that my biography of The Fleshtones is coming out. Continuum (the press behind the cool 33 1/3 series) is publishing Sweat: Thirty Years Of Nonstop Rock & Roll With The Fleshtones, America's Garage Band next Sept/Oct.

There will be a couple of book-release events in and around the NYC area when the book comes out. I'll keep everyone posted.

Joe Bonomo"

Turkish Delight: The bizarro world of Turkish record sleeves...

Whilst I echo that sentiment entirely, as I told you before I'm a sucker for a great Christmas song and Hello Saferide's "iPod Xmas" is exactly that. Thanks to the good offices of Craig at Swedesplease and the Razzia Myspace, you folks can hear this festive nugget for yourselves. More about the comp when I lay my mitts on a copy... and those debut UK shows are just a week away now.

The Star Spangles are back on the beat... NORTHSIX in the borough of Brooklyn!