RIP - George Melly

RIP - Boots Randolph

Unseen of The Cramps (circa 1986) at Stockholm Rock Action (Thanks Johan)

Coming up this weekend in Edinburgh...


Once more into the torrential rain...

Second episode of the three part BBC OU programme about Paris with Sandrine Voillet was on last night. She reminds me of Françoise Cactus and that reminds me about the Stereo Total album "Paris<>Berlin" that came out a couple of weeks ago.
Anyways, I'm tempted to order the dvd of Paris, in order to brush up on places to visit the next time I'm lucky enough to swing a trip out there. Anyways, this is just a quick in and out to post the following items...

Suicide live in Hamburg circa 1978 anyone?

Gregg Turner at Cool Dude Quarterly

Still Game meets Big Brother (Thanks to Mr McLean for this link)
It's a funny old world. I imagine that there's an Anti-terrorist "Team" getting down to manoeuvres in and around Glasgow as I type... "they" (the would-be bombers) have absolutely no idea what they're letting themselves in for.

Another record retailer down... (link courtesy of Mr Percival)
It seems like it's hard out there. Support your local real record store. Not Virgin and HMV. Proper record stores. If you don't use them...

Celebrate July 4th with some CAKE!

A broad church of great music, going LIVE this very Independence Day...

"CAKE’s play-list is a deep mix of tunes covering (primarily) rock, reggae, punk, ska, blues, rock & roll, soul, r&b and pub-rock, but with some skiffle, funk, outlaw country, psychedelia, electronica, folk-rock, protest, instrumentals, jazz and, occasionally, a little classical thrown in. “New” tracks get added every day so by the end of the week the entire play-list has been refreshed."

There's a permanent "button" over there on the sidebar to help you connect easier.

Artwork by Alan Suicide.

Ladies and gents... the geezer they call JD King!!

RIP: Benito Gasolini (Nitwitz)

When I was just about finished reading "Chasing Cool", I happened upon something that was the polar opposite of this much sought commodity. The “Concert for Diana” from Wembley Stadium in London. What a stinker, the biggest karaoke event in history (maybe) but supposedly it had more viewers than Live Aid.

Which surely made it "cool"? Er, just joshing... It shocked me too but then I got to thinking. We’re always striving for consensus and this travesty of alleged entertainment nailed it by getting the biggest viewing audience in recent living memory. More than Live Aid back in whatever day.

There’s a theme throughout "CC" that sort of irks me and that’s the constant mention of the sodding ipod but let's not dwell on that. Cool is a perception that has been co-opted by those that bastardise expressions and descriptions for their own evil ends. If it even exists anymore then the commoditisation (is that even a word?) of it has been devalued to the point of being simply a label. Or maybe a big indelible pen mark on the forehead.

Cool is understated. Something that doesn't know or care that it makes a difference, it just does. Many, many things to different people but rest assured, any tangible pursuit of it is misguided. Anyone or anything that claims to be c**l almost never is. If on the other hand, an individual reckons something is of worth then it's their call. The fact that an ipod seems to be both well designed and easy to use is perhaps an indication of a successful product but that isn't necessarily cool. You hear twonks blurting out "c**l!" during their mobile phone confabs. Some people think those things are the bee's knees but in my humble op, they are the spawn of something way more wayward than satan. They're homing devices that will ultimately be the portal that handles all of your entertainment, at a price.

It will aid the compilation of vast amounts of information to be used agin you but never mind. Could be worse... The title is perhaps purposely misleading to snare those who actively do just that. “Chasing Aesthetic” simply isn’t as catchy. I should admit also to never having heard of most of the participants. Neither mover nor shaker do I claim to be.

“Standing Out in Today’s Cluttered Marketplace” is the strapline, but will it help you achieve that? Quite possibly not but the material is presented in an easy to browse format. I disagree with Ahmet Ertegun though in retrospect I think his angle that “celebrity sells” should be updated to read “celebrity sold” or “used to sell” but the public is equal parts fickle and sophisticated. The lifespan of most everything in this conned-sumer society has rapidly accelerated and nothing lasts anymore. And then came that "Diana" concert, I bet that all of that audience have ipods and have been downloading Kanye West and Did Puffy (or whatever his name is) all day.

Like an extended magazine article, "Chasing Cool" is as easy to dip in and out of as it is to read in one reasonably lengthy train journey. Info-mation isn't really my bag but this is a constructive pot-pouri that doesn't take itself too seriously. Careful with that C-word...

"Chasing Cool" by Noah Kerner and Gene Pressman is published by Atria Books.

CAKE... is coming!?

Mr Percival tells me that the archive thing isn't working again. If you type what you're looking for into the search bar at the top of the blog then it'll navigate to the info you want to find.

They keep referring to these people who caused the kerfuffle in Glasgow yesterday and the potential carnage in London as "terrorists" rather than "fuckwits". Or some comparable term that could be aired prior to the watershed. As stated before, disruption is preferable to what could have happened but the TV and radio is awash with minutae. Technology has made all reportage look like Big Bogbrush. But anyway, I hope my friends made it out of there yesterday before all this. Not sure when they were supposed to fly...

Tis July and last month saw a jump in our hits. Been trying to keep this updated so gracias for sticking with it. Also, Mr Arnoff showed me how to add "music" to the myspace page so I try to do that regularly too. However, I still don't manage much activity on there.

Several deadlines are looming so I'm off to deal with those. However, there's always the chance of distraction and just plain cannaebearsedness.

Been trying to find out further details about the "incident" at Glasgow Airport this afternoon but the BBC report seems to be the most informative. It's ended in severe disruption rather than carnage so I guess that's something however, this is the first instance of anything like this north of the border. As far as I recall anyhow. The situation is ongoing...

The one, the only, Billy Miller on WFMU yesterday...

Stranded... in Edinburgh - I put this together some time ago and it needs to be updated but what the hey, Pablo just done put it up on the interweb anyway. If anybody out there has any tips for the update then let's be 'avin 'em... Looking to put together a Glasgow versh also maybe.

Floods, pestilence, bomb threats, postal strikes, Fopp closures, dickey broadband and more torrential rain forecast. However, it's the right side of Friday and with the possible exception that I might schlepp into Edinburgh to see the Edith Piaf movie, there are no hard plans to go anywhere. Fast or indeed at any speed. The Very Rev. Marc Baines has kindly supplied me with a wad of Car 54 dvds so there's no reason really to go anywhere...

Oslo's hot ticket tonight, have a hopped-up 40th Jostein!

The great Roky Erickson at The Whisky in LA several moons ago

as captured by The Rt. Hon David Arnoff

(click on the photo for a bigger image)

ATOMIC SWINDLERS

Update@ 30/06/07

hey everyone,

A quick note on tonight's show (Saturday, June 30th). They changed the venue again (for the third time)!!! Now we are playing inside at Tiki Bob's. Tiki Bob's is hands down the best club at High Falls. The place is incredibly cool with a huge stage and a wonderful sound system.

Shows start at 8 and 10 sharp. Hope to see you there.

cheers,
the atomic swindlers

Woke up prematurely this morning. In a tiz because I couldn't find my Hello Saferide tickets. I had 'em because I'd bought them early but when I got to the door of the theatre they werenae to be found. And it was way past sold out. Which is exactly how it should be. Anyway, it was all a tad alarming. Lord knows what it all means but hopefully not the most obvious explanantion. Remembering dreams and dreaming at all is not a forte of mine irrespective of my fondness for the Suicide song.

Oh, I know I've lost the plot, that's not what me mean... OK got the new Ben Weasel and will use that to try to get back to terra firma in the car this morning. And talking about Ben's... Mr Gart kindly sent this report about The Fleshtones visit to the Windy (not windae) City on Saturday past...

"The Fleshtones were great. A cool little place I've never been to before -- The Subterranean (funny though...it was on the second and third floor of the building. It's an old theater-type room -- reminds me of what could've been a little Vaudeville place or old nightclub. Stage at one end, not a lot of room, bar at the other; stairs that go up and down, leading up to the next floor where there are restrooms and another bar and tables/chairs -- it all enables you to watch the show from that floor too. Here's a couple of pictures of the place: http://www.planet99.com/chicago/bars/subterranean.html. And here's a great pic from the second floor (what a cool little chandelier): http://www.subt.net/images/pics/subtpics/subt/subt1.html (from the club site). On to the show...

The Hentchmen were alright, interesting little garage rock combo. Was a little familiar with their output from Norton, but not really my kind of stuff. Good energy, but didn't grab me that night. Missed the first band, the Havocs, but Peter and the boys seemed to get a kick out of them and invited them on stage (more on that later). After the Hentchmen, I got to meet Ken while he was selling their wares; a really nice, cool guy.

I bore witness to something incredible last Saturday night. Things kicked off at midnight, with Keith and Ken playing the opening riff to "Hard Lovin' Man", hard to locate where the noise was coming from but eventually they appeared from the second floor balcony and made their way down to the first floor through the crowd, as Peter and Bill came around too. They all made way to the stage and the festivities began...wow, what a great show! So much energy, humor, charisma...even if there were non-fans in the audience, they must've been converted that night. Sure, there were some technical problems throughout the show (Keith's amp mic went in and out during a lot of the show, but he overcame and things got fixed eventually). Even if they never make way back to Chicago, at least I got to see them this night. They cranked out some of the stellar tunes from Beachhead, mixing in some older tunes and covers that were totally satisfying. Keith, Ken and Peter all moved and danced around the stage and audience throughout the entire show, including going up and down the stairs numerous times. The audience were all treated like friends at some crazy old party, and we were all being let in on the biggest secret. Keith dared to pull out a folding chair and played "Ready For The Mountain" from atop the rickety thing (later, bringing it out into the audience and standing on it there too). They ran through "Saturday night/Sunday morning", "...Do You Swing?", "I Am What I Am", "Way Down South", "Feels Like A Woman", The Dreg/Vindicators" , "Sha La La La (pts 1 & 2)"...they brought both openers up on stage with them, let Johnny Hentch wail on the harp...killer encore) and so many other tunes that night. The highlight for me...The Opus, is a medley of "I've Gotta Change My Life", "Hope Come Back" and "Stop Foolin' Around" -- a shame they were abbreviated but still wonderful to see them and the audience eat it all up. Hearing these old songs mixed in with the new one shows indicate how crafty and consistent they have been all these years. And then they flattened us with the stunning capper of "Bigger & Better". How can one band give so much from beginning to end? Amazing, simply awe-inspiring stuff. The kind of experience that makes people go out and start their own bands. Was truly a night I did not want to end...if only they could have kept going on. I think it's fair to say that The Fleshtones are the true heirs to the Ramones' throne of RnR royalty. They are what is right with rock and roll. I wanna know what their secret is -- how have they done it? I guess I'll wait for Sweat.

The energy they exude is simply incredible -- like every show is their last and they're going out with a bang. Amazing that they have been doing this for so long and have no plans on stopping soon. If only everyone could experience the Fleshtones once in their lives.

This rates among my top 10 shows, ever."

Thanks for testifying Ben!