The best laid plans of the past week have been somewhat difficult to put into practice. I have managed to attend to other stuff that I’ve been putting off for forever. Last night for instance, the hedge at the side of the house was seriously pruned which should mean that I don’t have to touch it again this summer. Been doing my bit in the loft too, so incase you were thinking that I’m just sitting around watching TV or whatever then please be assured this is not the case.

This enforced lay-off is set to run for at least another week, perhaps a little more. It’s out of my hands. In the meantime though, more gardening havoc will be wreaked and the lord only knows what else. Might see St. Deluxe and BMX Bandits this weekend at Stereo in Glasgow, part of this Stag and Dagger thing, but even if I don’t then maybe you could? That's if you can buy tickets for individual venues?

Chris sent me a link to something that reminded me that Raw Power was then and this is now. Shake and vac appeal anyone?

Matt & Kim are in London at Old Blue Last on Monday June 1st. Circumstances prevail that I won't be there but you can find all the Eurodates at their myspace.

OK, I have 6 minutes to eat something and get back to the coal face...

Remember that Adiam Dymott interview I mentioned? It's out now and you can score a copy here for £3.95.

The website is in the process of being updated so I'll put a link up for that as and when.

Conventional mailers should contact:

35a Dalhousie Street, Glasgow. G3 6PW.

Subscription for 4 issues:

UK: £12/Rest of EU: £14/
Rest of the world: £16

This just in from Brother Craig Regan (The Barman)

Raw Power Live Redux with James Williamson!

Joey would have been 58 today. Are you going to the Party tonight?

This was snapped on the reunion tour of some Swedish proto-avant-punk combo. I can't recall the name of said outfit but maybe you know? The members do look familiar...? Hmmmm...

Thanks for the messages regarding the mighty LP. I'm still having difficulty with processing the reality of it. I'll make sure that any missives get to his family in due course.

Photo by Mr Hägred

MONORAIL FILM CLUB

This Sunday, 24 May, the Monorail Film Club resumes with Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece, Wild Strawberries, selected and introduced by Stevie Jackson of Belle & Sebastian.

An allegorical 1957 road movie, it slips between present and past, dream and reality, exploring the external and internal worlds of its central character, Professor Isak Borg (played by silent cinema actor/director Victor Sjöström) on a poignant journey from Stockholm to Lund where he is to receive an honorary degree from his old university. He is accompanied by his daughter-in-law Marianne, who although pregnant, is planning to separate from her husband. En-route she and Isak meet a squabbling married couple and a trio of hitch-hikers, one of whom conjures memories of a long-lost childhood love.

Tickets from the GFT box office on 0141 332 6535.

It is with considerable regret that I report the passing of my friend, Lennart Persson. I know that some of you know him but for those who don’t then let me explain some. I don’t think that anybody would argue with the fact that he was probably the foremost music writer in Sweden. He lived and breathed the stuff and was that rare breed that never let ego get in the way of his resolute fandom. Starting out with Feber, it was my pleasure and privilege to be able to consider him part of this extended family. The few times that I was able to hang out with him were very precious.

Of course, until recently – I figured there would be many more.

He recently launched a website to collect the many strands of his professorial work and did me the honour of asking me to contribute to that. Lennart was the Dean of all cool things and always a staunch keeper of the rock’n’roll flame.

I spoke to him 2 or 3 weeks ago, just after sending him a copy of Barney’s Tom Waits book. He’d been looking forward to reading it and I hope that doing so, in some way, took his mind off what was happening. Another thing we shared was being fully signed up members of the Annika Norlin fan club. This guy’s taste was impeccable. All the way.

We had hoped that he’d make it out here to Kiltland this summer for a return bout of the Glesgae culture with his tag team companion Mr Hägred. Before fate dealt this mortal blow, he should be in London right now with Mr Ulf having watched Nick Lowe’s stonking Albert Hall performance last night. It’s a cruel reality indeed that takes him from us on that self same day.

Actually, if it wasn’t for Ulf then I probably wouldn’t have met LP anyway. I should mention a bunch of other stuff like Music and Konst, The Nomads, etc. but the technology precludes all that right now Lennart was a fella that made a difference. He set a high standard that so many are just not capable of. Myself included.

In addition to all this, he has a family and I can’t even begin to understand the depth of their sorrow. His wife Bera, his kids and the grandkids and I didn’t know this until yesterday but his mother is still with us. My thoughts are very much with them at this rotten time. At least he’s not suffering and if I know LP, he’s probably looking up Lux right now.

So long pal. You may have left the theatre but you will never leave our hearts and minds. Not ever. Lennart Persson - a “God Only Knows” guy if ever there was one.

Photo by Avy Carroll - Mr Hägred and LP in The Elvis Booth.

Please leave messages in the comments section and I'll make sure they get passed on.

Could be a couple of weeks before this home computer hoo-hah is sorted and the situation, if you’ll excuse the terminology, is cramping my style. This enforced discipline is causing some chaos but in the grander scheme of things is nothing more than an irritation.

Like something you should treat with ointment or a course of pills. I did get to throwing out some stuff from the archive. I developed a relatively ruthless streak to override my packrat mentality and dumped a big pile of stuff. And found some other stuff that’ll maybe find it’s way on here at some point.

Time is tight so if anybody in Madrid is around this weekend then those Coyotemen would be mighty pleased to see you. Meanwhile, I need to figure out what needs to be done in order for me to return to some kind of routine.

T'ain't no big thing in the beleaguered tapestry...

"How many "legendary" bands did you catch in their early days?" It's one of those one-upmanship questions populair among "collectors" or "fans". Me, I'd like to think I've seen it all ;-)

About 25 years of seeing 3 to 4 shows a week. One of the absolute worst was Nirvana right here in Utrecht when they supported Tad @ the Tivoli. Apparently this was one of their worst shows ever and I sold all my Sub Pop/Tupelo discs the next day. If only I knew...

Here's a video of Kurt & Co. playing the Tivoli.

GABBA GABBA GOOF! ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME FINALLY HONORS THE LATE JOEY RAMONE

Punk Before Punk Was Punk

It's official. My computer is kaput. Things will be slow here until I figure out what's up re- a replacement (shudder).

Meanwhile, you won't miss me at all because the one and the only Miriam Linna is in the blogosphere.

I also got some rotten news to do with a very dear friend of this parish which sort of kicked my arse perspective-wise. More about that in due course. But I gotta run. See you Monday...

J - you out there? To quote the lady just mentioned... "take up the slack daddy-o"

My home computer antics are still severely curtailed, evidently I’m being punished for something… but anyway, I said I’d lay 5 songs but decided to start on these 5 acts. Never really managed to do much in the way of trawling and I shall be out of cyber-earshot now, until Monday.

Amy Allison

Big Knife

Adiam Dymott

Piroth

The Riverdales

And a new JD King yarn to be going on with...

Jacques (Still Shakin') Ball kindly sent this report from last weekend's Chris Wilson show in Paris...

"Chris did a great performance at La Mecanique Ondulatoire, a nice and cosy venue near Bastille. I met him before the show and he looks young, slim and relaxed. He told me he would be playing his semi-acoustic twelve string that had just been refurbished by his favourite luthier in London. Familiar faces filled up the foyer, the die hard core of the French Flamin’ Groovies fans. Musicians, rock critics, photographers are there too.

Chris introduced the Stones “I’m free” as a slow song. What strikes me at once is that his voice is in great shape providing a feeling that it would be a good show. Little did I know to what extent. We were treated to a great and unpredictable setlist, “Tell me again”, “Hide your love away” (Beatles), “You tore me down” (a pristine rendition) and an unreleased but very promising new song “Cold cold night”. “He who waits” and “all the action” from Second Life too.

Chris said there would be a surprise as he is inviting his buddy Jimmy Ferrell to join him on stage (“he’s going to hate me for that”). James is on vacation in France and had showed up just before the show. Asked if he was going to play, James denied. saying he was a bit rusty. But here he was, smiling when Chris hands him a Telecaster. “Shake some action” is the obvious song they share with the audience that knows the lyrics off by heart and sings along. This perfect pop song is always at its peak when sung by Chris, James is knitting his licks smoothly (“rusty eh?” he must have been kidding). Everyone around me is getting hypeexcited, and this is going “at full speed” indeed.

James smiles and when Chris suggests “Slow death” he jumps on the unmistakeable riff and the audience goes wild. The two pals are finding out unconsciously about the old Groovies stage acts that leads James, as if caught in a trance, to step on the cable of his guitar and unplug the jack. After that’s fixed , both catch up and the song is ended with the perfect crescendo it deserves. Waooow !! James leaves the stage to an overwhelming ovation.

Chris resumes his solo act and breaks a string that sticks into his finger. He rips it quickly with a wince and starts an instrumental improvisation teasing all the sounds his guitar is capable of. How did they say in San Francisco in the old days? “Far out “. The set ends with an emotional “If wishes were horses” that was just magic.. Of course there is an encore, nobody wants Chris to leave the stage. And, what an encore, a cover of The Records masterpiece, “Starry eyes”. That’s how I left the cave, starry eyed.

An awesome evening with Chris Wilson definitely back in action as the recent CD, “Second Life” suggested. Before leaving, I discussed a bit with James about the Phantom Movers, the Fondellas and of the Groovies in 72, old timers never resign."

There are pictures of the show shot by Baldo at the following url :

http://baldo.art.free.fr/chris-wilson-gallery-baldo/index.html

and I put some videos on mytube :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXcdUyHA-uc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E00WEW4PXa8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xlPS-MSXkI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjEWK_89_sE

monks: the transatlantic feedback

by Dietmar Post & Lucia Palacios

finally plays LONDON (UK)

May 19th at SW1 Gallery

May 20th at Lexi Cinema

FREE TO GET IN...

I never made the connection between Two White Horses and where the name comes from before. Lovisa and Jakob Nyström weren’t even born when Tir na nOg originally roamed the earth. Were they on Chrysalis or was it Island? I don’t recall but it’s a pretty cool connection this far down the line.

And it doesn’t quit there, because this brother/sister combo are dealing some very cool folk pop here that wouldn’t have been out of place on either of those imprints several lifetimes ago. You may recognise the names as being members of Säkert! So you know that you’re not dealing with some musical chopped liver here. Their debut contains originals rubbing shoulders with smart cover versions. Best of these on first impressions is the treatment of The Equals “Good Times Are Gone Forever”. Reduced to an assured Velvet Underground flavoured rumble.

You might not think you ever need to hear another cover of “Super Trouper” but I think you’ll appreciate the Kraftwerkised twist on the backdrop to this one. Love what they’ve done to El Perro Del Mar’s “Candy” too. Their own, reflective “Eyes of the Noble” and “Statues and Ponds” have an understated grace as does “Face Me Now”. The simple orchestration is the key to what makes this introduction to the duo all the more captivating.

Let TWH get a cool kind of mediaeval on you, you won’t regret a second of it.

Out now on the Stand By Your Band label.

The way it goes right now, I have to manipulate images in my lunch (half) hour in order to forward these back to the bunker to post here. A long road for a short cut you'll agree, but a necessary evil. I don't feel entirely in control of my own destiny right at the minute. This has all conspired to create a backlog that will be dealt with in due course. Theres no statute of limitations except for events and if I haven't been able to post something on your show or whatever then apologies for that.

In addition to trying to post info that I think our visitors will be interested in, I'm also receiving increasing amounts of guff and mp3's that have little or nothing to do with this universe. Many of these are simply deleted, I don't have the time to listen to everything, it's just not possible under the current regime.

If you DO want to submit something then drop me a line with brief info and I'll tell you whether or not you should proceed. Don't just clog up my incoming with upward of 6MB files without warning. Of course, there are exceptions and they know who they are but prospective NBT candidates need to understand that this is not a job or a vocation. It's merely a hard habit to break. Like fannying about with heroin or smoking or some other "disease".

I just got back from the dentist... and as expected, it’s gonna cost. So that put's the kibosh on attending Where The Action Is!

Free music, free gigs, free whatever... it doesn't work. If you can create the illusion that the swag can be "stolen" then maybe that will create a temporary frisson. But it will only be fleeting. The education process to correct the situation will be long and slow if indeed any lost ground can be made up.

With that in mind, I've decided to compile a list of five songs per week that you might care to hear and the links to where you can find them. And maybe even investigate further. These could be new, old or otherwise and will be based on nothing except my own gumption (or lack thereof).The assumed "lifespan" of a release date will be waived because I don't believe that a sell-by date applies to good music

The five items will be presented in alphabetical order so as not to indicate favouring one over another and there will be no commentary. Just the link. First five coming Friday 15th...

And here's what's going on at this year's Joeython!... (click on image to enlarge)

RIP - John Furia Jr