Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
I haven’t been making the most of my Cameo membership. The intention to go there every week hasn’t materialised but when I saw there was a screening of "Juno" at 11am this morning then I decided to cut along. That’s a great time to go to a movie theatre. If the shows started at that time normally then I’d have no problem. Wouldn’t have no time to convince myself not to leave the bunker.
However, the psycho-ology of this is not of your concern. The local flooding never even fucked the train schedule up and I ran into Happy G on the way back, total result. The only route from here is downhill. No, not Dowan Hill... Anyway, J is a pretty decent way to while away a little over 90 minutes. It’s like a modern day Bill Forsyth movie. Evidently the result of a fevered indie music mentality, the scene where Juno spits, “I bought another Sonic Youth album and it sucked” resonated somewhat on a number of plains.
A film about a 16 year old Stooges/Patti Smith fan with a smart mouth. What’s not to dig in terms of plain old entertainment? I enjoyed it a lot more than “No Country For Old Men”. I think?
However, the psycho-ology of this is not of your concern. The local flooding never even fucked the train schedule up and I ran into Happy G on the way back, total result. The only route from here is downhill. No, not Dowan Hill... Anyway, J is a pretty decent way to while away a little over 90 minutes. It’s like a modern day Bill Forsyth movie. Evidently the result of a fevered indie music mentality, the scene where Juno spits, “I bought another Sonic Youth album and it sucked” resonated somewhat on a number of plains.
A film about a 16 year old Stooges/Patti Smith fan with a smart mouth. What’s not to dig in terms of plain old entertainment? I enjoyed it a lot more than “No Country For Old Men”. I think?
Saturday, January 26, 2008
The Voodoo Rooms proudly presents
THE PHAROAH SANDERS QUARTET
Pharoah Sanders - Saxophone
William Henderson - Piano
Nat Reeves - Bass
Joe Farnsworth - Drums
The legendary saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, best known for "The Creator Has a Master Plan", who recorded with John Coltrane, Sun Ra and Don Cherry, makes a rare visit to Scotland. An unmissable opportunity to see a Jazz legend in an intimate venue.
For more Pharoah Sanders info please click here
Doors 7.00 p.m. 2 (hour-long) sets at 8.00 p.m. & 10.00 p.m.
Tickets £25 in advance (stbf) from Ripping Records, Tickets Scotland, 127 Rose Street, Edinburgh, The Voodoo Rooms, & Underground Solushun.
Buy tickets online here
Please note that this show is standing only.
Friday, January 25, 2008
It's been a quick week. I'll concede that. One in which my last remaining, precious leave day was burned because of the bunker water being cut off due to a burst around the corner. Made me feel for the poor blighters who have to go days, weeks and longer without any. Not a cool scene, with or without wet wipes.
Anyway, there was some solace in that Steve Forbert brought a cracking band with him for his Glasgow show the other night. I also had the pleasure of catching up with Mr Bobby Lloyd Hicks of The Skeletons. Always a good thing. I'm not a Forbert fan but he has his moments and a reasonable following. Highlight was a little number called "The Glasgow Rock" which they worked up just for this one Celtic Connections appearance. Lloyd announced it as "a Ramones outtake" so that'll give you an idea of where it sat sonically. John Williamson gave the musicians a bit of a roasting in The Herald but I disagree with his opinion. The show was too long for sure. I hesitate to use the word, stool, but SF falls somewhere between Springsteen and Earle without having anything like the firepower of the former or the songs of the latter. He brought one of the greatest r&r drummers on earth with him though and I’m definitely down with that.
Anybody going to see this Seasick Steve guy on Monday night?
Billie the Vision and the Dancers are the support so get there early and see them. I hope the SS audience will be open to what they do because it’s nothing like the headliner. And at 9pm, The Martial Arts are playing at Bloc on Bath Street in Glasgow. So if everything comes together, I’ll be at both of those. He typed optimistically, probably intoxicated by the fact that there’s no schlep to the stalag tomorrow…
Anyway, there was some solace in that Steve Forbert brought a cracking band with him for his Glasgow show the other night. I also had the pleasure of catching up with Mr Bobby Lloyd Hicks of The Skeletons. Always a good thing. I'm not a Forbert fan but he has his moments and a reasonable following. Highlight was a little number called "The Glasgow Rock" which they worked up just for this one Celtic Connections appearance. Lloyd announced it as "a Ramones outtake" so that'll give you an idea of where it sat sonically. John Williamson gave the musicians a bit of a roasting in The Herald but I disagree with his opinion. The show was too long for sure. I hesitate to use the word, stool, but SF falls somewhere between Springsteen and Earle without having anything like the firepower of the former or the songs of the latter. He brought one of the greatest r&r drummers on earth with him though and I’m definitely down with that.
Anybody going to see this Seasick Steve guy on Monday night?
Billie the Vision and the Dancers are the support so get there early and see them. I hope the SS audience will be open to what they do because it’s nothing like the headliner. And at 9pm, The Martial Arts are playing at Bloc on Bath Street in Glasgow. So if everything comes together, I’ll be at both of those. He typed optimistically, probably intoxicated by the fact that there’s no schlep to the stalag tomorrow…
Thursday, January 24, 2008
The Glasgow Film Festival programme is available now. It includes a Monorail Film Club screening of "A Life In the Death of Joe Meek" on Sunday February 24th. Here's a clip...
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Say, is the cat lucky? You'll have to join Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. this week for a visit to The Lucky Cat in Williamsburg to find out! It's an evening of readings and musical performances -- with us doing more of the latter than the former. Which is pretty lucky in itself: THURSDAY, JANUARY 24th / THE LUCKY CAT /
245 Grand Street (between Driggs and Roebling) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn / Program begins at 8:00, with one SIT & Die set at 10:00 /$5 cover, if you mention SIT & Die -- a hefty $10 otherwise!
And more good fortune...
THURSDAY, JANUARY 31st / WFMU / On Fabio's "Strength Through Failure" and later that same day... OTTO'S / Our East Village monthly residency
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd / FREDDY'S BACKROOM / Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd / SOUTHPAW / Park Slope, Brooklyn
Luckily yours,
Michael, Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. "Ballads, Boogies & Blues"
and sticking with Brooklyn, The Fleshtones "Take A Good Look" is out today on YepRoc. More when my copy arrives but in the meantime, you can take a good listen here...
Monday, January 21, 2008
Managed to drag myself out of the bunker yesterday for some culture. Starting with the Coen Brother’s “No Country For Old Men”. It’s not bad but is it a return to “form”?, I’m not sure. It has its moments and one particularly great line. Can’t tell you what the correlation is with the book because I haven’t read it. Javier Barden’s remorseless killing machine could be being set up to take on the winner between the Alien and The Predator. I’d like to see the Coen’s take that on. So yeah, it does have ripples of “Blood Simple” and it’s not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon but I wasn’t convinced that it was the tour de force the meeja is painting it as.
So after that, I had a rake about a couple of bookshops and some dvd racks. The sheer amount of stuff out there is alarming and the way it’s presented is generally soulless, as is the packaging. Saw the Ace book but it was shrink wrapped but the same publisher has another one on Rough Trade which is a very good-looking tome.
So on then to The Pearlfishers at the Classic Grand, first time that I’ve been in this relatively new venue. Good size. Better sightlines than Tuts. This old porno cinema has scrubbed up very well into a very cool room. Openers Finniston were on already and their homogenous folk pop was going down OK but it wasn’t for me. Mr Blake noticed that one of their songs bore a resemblance to Cliff’s “Wired For Sound”. I think we’ll leave it at that.
The Pearlfishers aren’t like anything else. Particularly when they can employ the full strings and horns bhuna as they did last night. In this day and age of the bottom line, quality is often sacrificed but not here. I believe that if this could be presented around the country and beyond like this then it the penny would finally drop. The version of “New Stars” convinces me even more that Teenage Fanclub should record it.
Playing tunes from all stages of their existence, it was a classy affair. There’s only one person on earth that I’d forgive for slipping a Paul McCartney song into a set and that’s Davie Scott. A lot of heart and a similar helping of soul arranged to perfection the way you (almost) never hear it anymore.
So let’s tackle a couple of cd’s that mine something of the same field…
The 17th Pygmy – Ballade of Tristram’s Last Harping (Trackwerx)
So here’s the paisley overground. A lush, soaring psychedelic psmogasbord that seems to connect Fleetwood Mac with Wooden Shjips. Beautifully packaged, which seems to be a trademark of Trakwerx quality and very tastefully recorded. If there were such a thing as airwaves in the traditional sense then this would or should be all over it. These lysergic folk pop hark back and pull forward at the same time. The result positively shimmers. If they can pull this off live then there are a wealth of REM and Dream Syndicate fans out there that are starved of something substantial. “Beautiful Lie” sounds like something Debbie Harry could use. In fact Meg Maryatt bears quite a striking vocal resemblance throughout.
She also plays accordion which is a big plus point. Heard a feature on the wireless this morning about that instrument being back but it was never away if you knew where to look. (Hi Angel!)
If you want something substantial that has elements of the Radionapper/Brian Jonestown formula then those vibes don’t come much closer than “Just Like Brian Jones”. Being that there’s no consensus anymore, I’m not sure how you get something like this to the people who would go gaga for it. In terms of what I perceive to be broad commercial appeal then this has everything. It doesn’t require hype, it just needs to be heard. It’s one of those things that if you heard it in a record store (remember those?), you’d be up at the counter asking what it was. I don’t believe there’s a higher accolade than that.
“No tambourines were harmed in the making of this album”. Damnit, they’re funny too.
Cult.With.No.Name – Paper.Wraps.Rock (Trackwerx)
This is a strange concept that initially sounds like a lounge pianists outing with a piece entitled “the morning after the night before last”. This is as far away from “rock” as I’ve been in some time. Drifting way out to sea and I think that the calming effect is something I could use more of.
There’s something quite Roxy Music about it without them sounding anything alike. Kinda abstract Ben Folds territory even. Or Todd Rundgren? It kind of reminds me of The Pearlfishers with a darker streak too.
PWR is a grower. I was sceptical at first but their songs have somehow wheedled themselves under my skin with repeated plays. Look at the influences listed on their myspace as you listen. Go easy on the head scratching though.
So after that, I had a rake about a couple of bookshops and some dvd racks. The sheer amount of stuff out there is alarming and the way it’s presented is generally soulless, as is the packaging. Saw the Ace book but it was shrink wrapped but the same publisher has another one on Rough Trade which is a very good-looking tome.
So on then to The Pearlfishers at the Classic Grand, first time that I’ve been in this relatively new venue. Good size. Better sightlines than Tuts. This old porno cinema has scrubbed up very well into a very cool room. Openers Finniston were on already and their homogenous folk pop was going down OK but it wasn’t for me. Mr Blake noticed that one of their songs bore a resemblance to Cliff’s “Wired For Sound”. I think we’ll leave it at that.
The Pearlfishers aren’t like anything else. Particularly when they can employ the full strings and horns bhuna as they did last night. In this day and age of the bottom line, quality is often sacrificed but not here. I believe that if this could be presented around the country and beyond like this then it the penny would finally drop. The version of “New Stars” convinces me even more that Teenage Fanclub should record it.
Playing tunes from all stages of their existence, it was a classy affair. There’s only one person on earth that I’d forgive for slipping a Paul McCartney song into a set and that’s Davie Scott. A lot of heart and a similar helping of soul arranged to perfection the way you (almost) never hear it anymore.
So let’s tackle a couple of cd’s that mine something of the same field…
The 17th Pygmy – Ballade of Tristram’s Last Harping (Trackwerx)So here’s the paisley overground. A lush, soaring psychedelic psmogasbord that seems to connect Fleetwood Mac with Wooden Shjips. Beautifully packaged, which seems to be a trademark of Trakwerx quality and very tastefully recorded. If there were such a thing as airwaves in the traditional sense then this would or should be all over it. These lysergic folk pop hark back and pull forward at the same time. The result positively shimmers. If they can pull this off live then there are a wealth of REM and Dream Syndicate fans out there that are starved of something substantial. “Beautiful Lie” sounds like something Debbie Harry could use. In fact Meg Maryatt bears quite a striking vocal resemblance throughout.
She also plays accordion which is a big plus point. Heard a feature on the wireless this morning about that instrument being back but it was never away if you knew where to look. (Hi Angel!)
If you want something substantial that has elements of the Radionapper/Brian Jonestown formula then those vibes don’t come much closer than “Just Like Brian Jones”. Being that there’s no consensus anymore, I’m not sure how you get something like this to the people who would go gaga for it. In terms of what I perceive to be broad commercial appeal then this has everything. It doesn’t require hype, it just needs to be heard. It’s one of those things that if you heard it in a record store (remember those?), you’d be up at the counter asking what it was. I don’t believe there’s a higher accolade than that.
“No tambourines were harmed in the making of this album”. Damnit, they’re funny too.
Cult.With.No.Name – Paper.Wraps.Rock (Trackwerx)This is a strange concept that initially sounds like a lounge pianists outing with a piece entitled “the morning after the night before last”. This is as far away from “rock” as I’ve been in some time. Drifting way out to sea and I think that the calming effect is something I could use more of.
There’s something quite Roxy Music about it without them sounding anything alike. Kinda abstract Ben Folds territory even. Or Todd Rundgren? It kind of reminds me of The Pearlfishers with a darker streak too.
PWR is a grower. I was sceptical at first but their songs have somehow wheedled themselves under my skin with repeated plays. Look at the influences listed on their myspace as you listen. Go easy on the head scratching though.
If you fancy something atmospheric, fairly relaxing with shades of Julee Cruise then check out Laki Mera for the princely sum of exactly nowt.And finally for today, I’ve just found out that Redd Kross and Wooden Shjips are paying the upcoming ATP vs Pitchfork. Fingers crossed that both will tack a few more shows on to their respective visits.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
I haven’t felt much like writing lately. The responsibility of updating this thing doesn’t seem to square with the amount of time that’s available. With that comes the pressure of needing to get the word out but not being able to. There’s no statute of limitations on this stuff though so that’s something. You read about something here then it’s a keeper. Sometimes there's so much coming out that it’s hard to keep up never mind being able to consume it all.
I was just about to go into Glasgow thinking that The Pearlfishers show was tonight but its tomorrow (20th). Paul Burch is on tonight but I don’t have the readies to do both. And I need to get a Pearlies cd for Amy Rigby too so that would scratch that itch. Hey, these are good options to have. Getting royally screwed in the day to day employment scenario sometimes pales into insignificance. There’s nothing one can do about it anyways so why spend so much time mothering? I could always buy a lottery ticket, right? I’m done with trying to make any sense of it, that’s for sure. He typed stoically.
Riches come in many forms and these are not always to be measured in hard currency. I should write that Bart Simpson-like until I get it into my skull. There’s certainly no recession dawning in terms of good music to be enjoyed. So some of that will be coming up in due course.
Talking of which, John Kongos is on CAKE (click on the link in the sidebar, directly below DWC). Great to hear that again… the proprieter of this fine portal was responsible for bringing this to the attention of Happy Mondays who baggified it in the early 90’s.
So yeah, plenty of distractions and no work until Tuesday. Good deal!
I was just about to go into Glasgow thinking that The Pearlfishers show was tonight but its tomorrow (20th). Paul Burch is on tonight but I don’t have the readies to do both. And I need to get a Pearlies cd for Amy Rigby too so that would scratch that itch. Hey, these are good options to have. Getting royally screwed in the day to day employment scenario sometimes pales into insignificance. There’s nothing one can do about it anyways so why spend so much time mothering? I could always buy a lottery ticket, right? I’m done with trying to make any sense of it, that’s for sure. He typed stoically.
Riches come in many forms and these are not always to be measured in hard currency. I should write that Bart Simpson-like until I get it into my skull. There’s certainly no recession dawning in terms of good music to be enjoyed. So some of that will be coming up in due course.
Talking of which, John Kongos is on CAKE (click on the link in the sidebar, directly below DWC). Great to hear that again… the proprieter of this fine portal was responsible for bringing this to the attention of Happy Mondays who baggified it in the early 90’s.
So yeah, plenty of distractions and no work until Tuesday. Good deal!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
DON'T LOOK BACK AUSTRALIAWith Sonic Youth's first night in Sydney performing Daydream Nation at The Enmore Theatre on Monday February 18th sold out, Feel Presents and ATP are proud to announce a 2nd and final Sydney show for Sonic Youth. The show takes place on the following night, Tuesday 19th February again at the Enmore Theatre.
In support are The Scientists, presenting the extended version of the grunge-template Blood Red River.
In addition to Sydney, Sonic Youth sold out their Perth Arts Festival show in just three days, and their appearance at Melbourne's Metro Nightclub followed closely after. There are no plans for a further Perth show but a second Melbourne Metro show on Thursday 21st February has been placed on sale. Again this is a double bill with The Scientists.
Tickets for the new shows are on sale now, and are available online from http://www.ticketmaster.com.au/
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