Thursday, August 02, 2007

Wednesday, August 01, 2007






Edinburgh 60s-retro club, THE GO-GO continues with its 4th comeback in 7 years at Studio 24, this Saturday 4th August. Playing garage, mod, soul, ska, punk etc. 11pm til 3am. DJ Tall Paul Robinson said: "All this venue-hopping has actually been quite a good thing in the long-run. Now we're on a 2-for-1 door with a rock club. All the rockers come upstairs to request The Kinks and are amazed to see females wearing primary colours. Some of them even dance to Wooly Bully."

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Excuse me, I'm in a modicum of discomfort here having burned the skin off the roof of my fecking mouth and it's smarting like something that's smarting a lot...

So how do you stand on the reported imminent death of the “album”?

I’m not so sure that it’ll directly affect fans of music per se. Maybe the countless thousands on the periphery never gave a hoot anyway? If it stops a bunch of chancers assembling something around one track to milk the hard earned moolah out of folks who are easily duped then bring it on. Been reading a lot of opinion on all this and it seems to me that the end result will be the fall of your Virgins, HMV’s and the like. HMV has reportedly bought some FOPP's and plans to reopen them ASAP but they want to retainthe identity they had. And how's that supposed to bloody work? The megastores gave up on music ages ago anyway. Banishing it to other floors to embrace the dvd so fuck them. They also charge too much but they have to pay their rent somehow I imagine. Wherever possible, I urge you to buy your stuff directly from the artist or from an independent shop. The dust may well settle when these huge outlets finally crash.

While I am prone to downloading a little bit, I can’t see it being the way I enjoy music ever. Not being an ipod or mobile phone receptacle owner, I’m waiting until the global jukebox model hits. This will involve the act registering their material in a huge inventory that will be accessed through a portal such as TV or monitor. The “purchase” of a track or several will then be administered at source and the owner of the material will be paid. Not unlike selling an article on ebay or whatever. These huge stores are just overheads. They serve no social purpose. Which makes me think, I’ve been meaning to watch High Fidelity again. To bring back the (gooder) old days to the rapidly aging, increasingly agitated yours truly.

Having stuck my toe in the fetid waters of ebay once again recently, it wasn't terribly pleasurable. On top of the palaver itself, the way the mail setup here is now means that there are all kinds of whys and wherefores to consider. While magazines seem to pass for "letter rate", everything else (records, cd's etc.) is "packet" which means that they rack up the cost. I think I mentioned before that recent activities by this once proud organisation definitley indicate a trajectory of freefall. On top of that you get nickel and diming with regard to postage. I charge postage at cost, that means if somebody wants recorded delivery then that's what they get. At exactly what it costs to mail. Some people just fire in an inordinate amount to begin with, which doesn't seem to deter buyers. I've paid a couple of quid for something I know was only 34p to ship but that's a symptom of the disease. It's not enough to get all bent outta shape about but it rankles and is the fundamental reason why I try to work the way I do. Most people are fine to deal with. Some of 'em are even a pleasure but it's the fineglars that spoil it. My old practise of actually mailing stuff before it was paid for hit the dust a long time ago. You can just never tell. Oh sure, I want to get rid of the stuff that's gathering dust before I turn to same but is this the best way to go about it?

Angel said to me the other day "you made it".

I did but it's been a bumpy, stuff-festooned journey.

Monday, July 30, 2007


More schniztel, please! Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. offers a taste of old Vienna this week as we journey to the quaint Cafe Steinhof in Brooklyn's Park Slope. Two big shows are on tap -- not to mention an assortment of Austrian and German beers -- and the kitchen's open late if you're hankering for Viennese comfort food...
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1st /
CAFE STEINHOF /422 Seventh Avenue (at 14th Street) in Park Slope, Brooklyn / Two shows, from 10:30 until 12:30 / No cover! /
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Also, later this week and through August...
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 4th /
Red Hot & Blue Rockabilly Festival (Montreal, Quebec)
SATURDAY, AUGUST 18th / 2007 Coney Island Rockabilly Festival
THURSDAY, AUGUST 30th / Otto's Shrunken Head (East Village, Manhattan)
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Internationally yours, Michael
Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.
"Ballads, Boogies & Blues"
http://www.SITandDieCo.com
http://www.MySpace.com/SITandDieCo
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Sunday, July 29, 2007

Rebellion festival press release

The biggest punk festival in the world is back on August 9th to 12th for another raucous celebration of the music that refuses to die. Fresh from selling out in Amsterdam in May 'Rebellion' returns to its spiritual home of Blackpool with high expectations. Last year 10,000 people went to the sell out show last year at the Winter Gardens- the venue’s ballroom dancers having to take the weekend off as the punk rockers come to town!

It's fitting that the 30 years after ‘God Save The Queen ‘ was number one that punk can still put on a massive event. All shades of punk from The Damned and TV Smith and The Bored Teenagers to the Adicts from Conflict to the Cockney Rejects, there are big American bands like The Casualties, The Dwarves, hardcore heroes Madball and Leftover Crack as well as legendary groups like Slade and Chas and Dave as well as punk and post punk names like Penetration and the UK Subs as well as some of the scene’s new leading lights like Goldblade. Showing off the variation of styles encompassed by Rebellion is Neville Staple and even Alabama 3 as well as bands from all over the world- a collection of legendary names and a selection of upcoming young bands reflecting the huge renaissance.
‘Rebellion’ attracts people from all over the world with its all ages policy. Reflecting punk’s massive status on the worldwide stage where it has become the main youth music for disaffected Russian youth to Brazilian kids in the favelas to Mexican street kids in LA.
150 bands, acoustic and cabaret stages and market stalls that stretch around the venue. This is the biggest one yet, the most bands and the biggest expected audience, for one weekend, Blackpool gets a riot of its own, a rock n roll riot!

If you want more information please get in touch with John Robb at
Johnrobb1@btinternet.com 07940 514 622

We can arrange interviews with any of the bands- the festival makes a great story for TV. Radio and the press.

www.rebellionfestivals.com
"Rock and roll is a pretty egalitarian affair. On any given night any band can be the best band in the world, if for only ten minutes. The amazing thing about the Fleshtones is that every night for the last thirty years they have consistently been the best live band on earth. Year in, year out -- high, low and in between -- the Fleshtones have embodied the very essence of rock and roll. This great book by Joe Bonomo really gets to the heart of who the Fleshtones are, and the price they paid. Now it's up to you to check out the Fleshtones when they hit your town. And in my own defense, that fire that Keith and I started in France was really a very small fire. Not worth mentioning at all. Please."
Peter Buck, R.E.M.
Jr. Grenadier, as far as I know, doesn't have a myspace page. He seemed to drop off the face of the earth after putting together the six track "What Is A Kiss" cassette in 1986. I just found said tape and hooked up a deck to see if it would measure up to the memory? No problems on that score. It sounds just as good now as it did at the time. Maybe even better in that it was always like it was ahead. So anyway, not a lot is known about the identity of JG. Some clues may lie with the other musicians on the recording. These include Dave Mahoney, Bruce Anderson and one Angel Corpus Christi. It was recorded in San Francisco too so maybe that's another clue and it reminds me a bit of Poetraphonics. Anyways, that outro to the title track sounds like Phil Manzanera doing a Rick Neilsen. And that has to be a good thing. If Junior is out there, and by some twist of fate might be reading this, then I urge him to make these fine tunes available to the ipod generation and whatever is on the cards to follow that. This gear would sound great blasting out of anything, anywhere.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Ben Weasel and his Iron String Quartet
These One’s Are Bitter (Merdota Recording Co.)
I came to Screeching Weasel relatively late and somewhat by accident. Having had them pegged as some kind of terrible hardcore group. Not sure why exactly but I couldn’t have been more misguided. And it’s fairly clear to anybody with a penchant for rollercoasting pop that Ben may well have been able to save The Ramones. We’ll never know for sure but I reckon that he and Joe King could have been their Leiber and Stoller. So anyway, he's moved on and will always move and shake a good sight faster and louder than any alleged talent that thinks they’ve got something to offer. Shuning the trappings of conventional popularity but toting all the chops to leave the competition, if there was any, in the dust. This guy has nothing to prove to anybody but he’s just made a benchmark album by enlisting the All American Rejects to provide the ballast. The result is 14 tracks that should be lighting up the airwaves if there still were such a thing. The sound is immense, like The Who crashing skulls with The Dickies to create a dynamic that’ll flash up a dirty big dumb grin right across your mush. "These Ones..." is only available as a download for now but it will be available on vinyl and as soon as that happens, you’ll find out where to score one here as close to first as I can muster. The one slow song “In a Bad Place” is a heartbreaker which could pack out a stadium on its own if there was any justice or indeed if the guy who wrote it gave a shit about such hollow trappings.


The LeftoversOn The Move (Rally Records)
A quick google on the name throws up many bands called The Leftovers but this is the three piece from Portland, Maine that we’re dealing with here. Imagine The Smithereens wearing jetpacks and harbouring some Tommy James and The Shondells intent. 13 songs clocking in at just below 29 minutes, looking at them on the cover, you’d never think that three youngsters could kick up such a full-blooded racket. They’ve been abetted in their mission by the aforementioned Mr Weasel and his sequencing has been carried out with precision rock’n’roll action in mind. This is what I expected The Fratellis to sound like according to their press. Superior pop hammered out with a gusto that’s rare in these processed pre-packed, pigeon-holed times. I’m sure that yours truly is well outside their demographic but they’re bloody stuck with me. The sound is as clean as a whistle and that drum propulsion really carries the epic proportions of the “teenage excitement, romance and mystery”. The Leftovers are anything but.

The music will always transcend the T-shirt. Won't it?
(Thanks to Mr Percival for the link)
The Soho Dolls are embarking upon an extensive expedition to take their electro-glam-twang stylings to the highways and bye-ways of the UK. In the olden days, an appearance on TOTP and a cheeky wee Saturday morning TV spot would have been enough to drive the kids out to the record store with their pocket money but things are different now. It's the 21st century apparently. The tour is to promote the album "Ribbed Music For The Numb Generation". Anyway, check out their wares on YouTube and Myspace and get ready for some real old-fashioned future pop.



04.09.07 London Hoxton Bar & Kitchen
13.09.07 Taunton Café Mamba
14.09.07 Crewe M Club
15.09.07 Milton Keynes Pitz Club
17.09.07 Newcastle Cluny
18.09.07 Glasgow Kings Tut’s
19.09.07 Aberdeen Tunnels
20.09.07 Greenock Red
21.09.07 Carlisle Brickyard
22.09.07 Staffordshire University
24.09.07 Leeds Joseph’s Well
25.09.07 York Fibbers
26.09.07 Hull Lamp
27.09.07 Barrow-In-Furness Nines
28.09.07 Liverpool Barfly
29.09.07 Oxford Bar Academy
01.10.07 Derby Susumi
02.10.07 Leicester Charlotte
03.10.07 Bristol Louisiana
04.10.07 Cardiff Barfly
05.10.07 Swansea Sin City
06.10.07 Coventry Colosseum
08.10.07 Southend Chinnery’s



09.10.07 Guilford Boileroom
10.10.07 Brighton Barfly
11.10.07 Plymouth Hub
12.10.07 Winchester Railway
13.10.07 Southampton Lennon’s
16.10.07 Cambridge Soul Tree
17.10.07 Manchester Night & Day
18.10.07 Sheffield Corporation
19.10.07 Doncaster Priory
20.10.07 Wolves Little Civic
23.10.07 London 93 Feet East

(Thanks to Maya for the info)

Friday, July 27, 2007

Suicide are at the South Street Seaport in NYC tonight.

If you're in the tri-state area then cut along... and while we're on the subject, Mr Percival sent me the following

"Saw this on the Revega Yahoo Groups... Suicide Documentary Film Posted by: "suicidefilm" suicidefilm@yahoo.com suicidefilm Date: Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:15 pm (PDT)
My name's Mike and I work for a TV production company in London called Start. We're just about to commence work on a documentary film on Suicide, which is being made with the full co operation of Alan & Marty. We're really keen to get hold of any personal photos or footage that you may have, either of the band themselves or the venues they played at (particularly the early venues - like the Mercer Arts Centre, Max's etc) - or really anything that you think might be interesting! Please feel free to get in touch either through this forum or by emailing me directly at mike.kerry(at)startproductions.co.uk - please substitute @ for at (am trying to avoid any un-necessary spam). Thanks."


Seems like a worthy endeavour, let's hope it's done for next year's EIFF.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Laura Cantrell shows in NY next week!

with Jimmy Ryan on mandolin, Jeremy Chatzky on Upright Bass and
Mark Spencer on Acoustic Guitar and Weissenborn. (info via Mark Spencer)

July 31st at...

11th Street Bar
510 E. 11th St.,
New York, NY 10009 (nr. Ave. A) 212-982-3929... Free

and...

August 1st at...

Stuyvesant Town Outdoor Series
Stuyvesant Town Oval (enter at 16th street and First Avenue )
6:30pm, co-bill with Christina Courtin and the Running Kicks Free

http://www.lauracantrell.com/
http://www.jimmyryan.net/
http://www.jeremychatzky.com/
http://www.markspencer.us/
So did you hear the news? It's the patio heater that's the culprit in all this climate change kerfuff. Breathe easy you SUV drivers, Chinese and Indian Power Station owners and Airlines. I bet all those barbeques aren't helping the environment much either. Think about that when you're scarfing your burgers and steaks, or veggie kebabs if that is your particular barbie poison of choice. Have you ever heard so much pish? Actually, I imagine you have but really, this is news? And what will it do to Garden Centre profits? Did anybody think about that?? No it's just me, me, me with you people. And as I look out at the sweeping rain I'm thinking, the experts are too late.

The latest mail strike made me think of the days when I spent my entire lunch break at the post office. The sheer volume of stuff that I used to send out was pretty incredible. At the time you would have thought that a business like the PO would always be there, now I have my doubts. The spectre of competition coupled with a marked reduction in quality of service can only suggest that their fate is sealed (no stationery pun intended). The opening hours of the collection office have been reduced to the point of daftness to a slim window of 8am until 12 noon, nae bleedin' use to me. You can't not have some sympathy with regard to the erosion of conditions that workers are facing but that’s happening to all of the great “institutions”. Actually it’s going on across the board, everywhere. It has little or nothing to do with the people who actually work in any given location. It's the greedy bastards at the helm who fear for their inflated existences that are invariably running once reputable ships aground and making off with the spoils in full fucking daylight.

Oh yeah, this is supposed to be about music and entertainment isn’t it? Well I imagine we’ll get back to that at some point. I'm just relieved that I don't have a patio...

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

I signed up for this facebook thing but have entirely no concept of what it's meant to do or be. Let alone how to operate within it. Maybe I should I enlist in this Second Life carry on also? However, I figure it might be appropriate to try and sort out my so-called existing life on this plane first. That's just a notion mind, it's not necessarily do-able. So if you've contacted me and I've become your "friend" on Faceache then bear with me. I may well never get around to doing anything about figuring out how it works. It's bad enough with myspace which I kind of have a handle on but never seem to be able to establish a permanent link. My ISP sez it's not their fault and to be honest, I don't really care. In the grand scheme, it's really not important and not even in the same postcode as my list of priorities. I just got the The Leftovers "On The Move" today and it's reverberating at a volume that I'm sure is making the neighbours teeth rattle. It's like the anti-Fratellis, god bless 'em so more about that later.

Bunch of info on upcoming shows and stuff to compile for an anticipated bumper post so look out fot that but no holding of breath, OK?

And finally, Sharon Osbourne's auld fella passed away... RIP - Don Arden
Martin Rev... three shows on the West Coast starting tonight in Silverlake... back on the Eastern seaboard on Friday for the South Street Seaport appearance of Suicide.