The Ramones and the celebrating thereof can sometimes be a bittersweet undertaking. The actuality often gets overtaken by the individuals involved or just some kind of clunky revising of what seemed to be the most simple songbook on earth. Not so. There has to be heart, soul and spirit involved and I have to tell you that the songs have seldom sounded better than they did last night.

I knew it would be good but wasn't expecting monumental. And so many songs that you'd never have heard the actual band play. It was something of a pleasure then to go home with my ears ringing to the sound of some seriously joyous noise. These things did more for the memory of the band in this short hour than has been done in a long, long time. They distill the fabric of that ripped denim powerhouse with a genuine passion for rock'n'roll. Not the commodity known as punk rock. This was Riverdales-type good!

And of course there are the credentials...! Any lesser mortal dedicating "Glad To See You Go" to Michael Jackson might have seemed trite. "You're gonna smile, you're gonna laugh". Not half.

So here was that chunky Wild Kingdom guitar tearing it up with a double solid rhythm section. What a joy to hear these cracked off by a real drummer and not some clockwork monkey making short work on the old biscuit tins. I'm not taken to grinning uncontrollably but there was no other way. And the crowd was great. Some old enough to know better but we didn't care because the excitement was back. If you could trap this kind of energy in a jar then we'd be on to something and gas or electricity could go fuck themselves.

And there was a little bit of CB's about the room. Not even the second most salubrious spot in town but a pretty decent venue nonetheless. So I hope that some of you folks will go to Camden tonight and that it turns out to be the blast that Glasgow was. You kids out there in Scandanavia and Spain should be thinking about how to get these guys out to your backyard too because this is an exercise in everything that's positive about what made us what we are.

No cynical, misguided ego trip just a schlepp down memory lane in the company of the greatest pop catalogue on earth. It was always about the music and an hour in the glory of this will reinforce that. I might not have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself. Leaving the place, people were heard to say that it was "better than any Ramones show they had ever seen". I'll leave you to draw your own conclusion to that. Murray saw it too so he'll hopefully second this emulsion. My thanks to Daniel Rey, a real gent and one of the great guitar wranglers. Grand to be able to catch up with him again. And as for the upcoming Joey album, Ed Stasium has all the raw material so it'll be coming out in due course. The fact that we'll finally get to hear it being the most important factor in all this.

CJ's site

As I tap away here in sleep mode, the CJ Ramone tour bus is heading toward London. Following last night's blitzkrieg on Glasgow, I urge you to get along to the Camden Underworld show tonight. More later. Then they're headed back to Germany and I can't find the other dates right now but I will.

Literally heading out the door to catch CJ Ramone and Daniel Rey at Ivory Black's in Glasgow. Danny will be playing almost literally just through several walls from where he was last September with Ronnie Spector. Last act I saw in the place was those fabulous Voladoras and I think it was called Strawberry Fields then. It's essentially a large bar that these days seems to specialise in punk and metal. I'm curious as to just how many this'll cajole out of the wood tonight. Hopefully at least twice as many as would consider going to see Wiggy Ramone. Last time I saw Chris was during the Odor Eaters incident with John, though I doubt he'd remember that. OK, couple of things and I'm gone...

Incase you're overseas or haven't heard or even both, Jo Callis has left The Rezillos. Where this leaves them isn't clear at this juncture but I imagine time will tell. Jo posted this info as a facebook message so no crossed wires involved this time...

Matt and Kim have 4 UK shows as part of a major jaunt with Swedish combo, The Sounds. Not to be confused with the singular British band of almost the same name from Liverpool or wherever. These will go down toward the close of November as follows...

Saturday 21st Nov - Birmingham Academy
Sunday 22nd Nov - Glasgow Oran Mor
Monday 23rd Nov - Manchester Academy
Tuesday 24th Nov - London Electric Ballroom

Ok, more after some school night punk rockin'.... see you over there?

Coming in December 2009... and don't forget, CJ Ramone with Daniel Rey

in Glasgow at Ivory Black's tomorrow night (17th).

Ian Foster hails from Newfoundland and “Room In The City” is his second album. It’s a quiet, unassuming creeper. First time I spun it, it barely grazed me but I did like the look of the girl on the cover. His vocal style is like a less-affected Steve Forbert and not unlike Chris Isaak while sounding nothing like either. Did you ever hear Will T. Massey? There’s a kinship with him here too. These are good old-fashioned songs delivered with an honesty and sense of craft. This is the kind of guy who will go out and play these and build an audience person by person, the best way to go if you have the patience and the stamina. I get the feeling that Ian Foster does.

Nashville, TN based - Mike Cullison does a nice line in honky tonk country rock and his “Blue Collar Tired” set will go some way toward setting you up for the day. Kicking off with “Wish I Didn’t Like Whiskey”, it makes a good foil for “The Whiskey makes You Sweeter” and I look forward to making a segue of the two somewhere down the road. The title cut takes some pointers from the “Blue Collar” movie soundtrack with its factory line, punch and die type rhythm. “Pour Hank on the Pain” is just about as RigRock a title as you might find in this day in age. This sounds like it might be on Diesel Only but it ain’t but it is worthy of your investigation. When I was doing some digging while putting this together, I noticed that our old mucker LP had given it the thumbs up way back in February. He always was way ahead of the curve that guy.

Steven Alvarado’s “Let It Go” is his fifth album. On Mott St. Records, it has a crack team of players on it and it’s quite latterday Springsteen although I’d have to say that the songs are better. Maybe it’s closer to Greg Trooper now I think about it a little more. I don’t see this so much as Americana, it’s more electricity-fused acoustic. Not really pop but courting certain elements of that. Essentially these are stories set in very able arrangements that deserve to be heard. But where? As the planet continues to disappear up its own hint end, there are less and less places to connect with good, honest music like this. Check it out in the confines of wherever you may be accessing this via the wonders of not-so modern technology.

Spanking Charlene might sound more like a pastime than a band name but it’ll grow on you like Smashed Gladys did. Trust me. “Dismissed With A Kiss” is their debut album and they're augmented by producer Eric “Roscoe” Ambel and fellow Yayhoo, Keith Christopher. Two gents that are no slouches on your two favourite types of music. Those being rock and roll. SC won a contest that got them a deal with Little Stevie Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool label but there’s no sign of that of yet. Anyhoo, first things first. This is some pretty entertaining US pub rock that sizzles with that patented blues/punk/country gristle. A wee bit X here, a smidge of Guadalcanal Diary there. That’ll do for me as I ease myself into Sunday afternoon in the direction of some harder stuff. That's music, not liquor incase you were wondering. Wonder what’s happened to the follow up? There are demos on their myspace but no info. I’ll let you know if owt turns up because I think you’d like SC.

All of these came from Hemifrån...

"2000 and Fifties: The Whisper Story"

"There is nothing new under the sun." Alright, hear that. Under the ground, well, that’s another story. The underground, if you like it, is where the action is. Elvis conquered the world breaking cover from a subterranea of blues and boogie the white folks had crossed the street to avoid, but which all the while was a time-bomb ticking as the pulse beneath their feet. The Beatles, incubated in underground Hamburg, broke cover to reconquer it. Punk, meanwhile, made the underground the foreground, reinventing culture randomly. Its imprimatur is everywhere today, its foremost pioneers assimilated at last to a point unthinkable even ten years ago.

The Boss reaching down to cover Suicide’s surrealist hymn "Dream Baby Dream" is the tasteful end of a spectrum where today John Lydon plugs butter and anarchy is a commodity. Martin Rev, Suicide’s musical, as opposed to lyrical, vocal half, composer of "Dream Baby Dream", is one of those for whom the underground is the only ground, whose insight makes it into – for his many admirers and fans – holy ground. And it is from Rev that came the music for "Whisper", subject of a new remix project conceived and produced by its lyricist, veteran pop and punk operator Marty Thau, whose career has already seen go from the sound heaven of early Van Morrison to the concrete soul of Richard Hell, with stops along the way to rear the Ramones, Blondie, Real Kids, New York Dolls, and Suicide, whose eponymous debut album established a parallel chorus-verse since responsible for countless electronic rock’n’roll mutations.

By a virtue of a fortuitous Facebook hook-up, about a year ago Thau came across Jeremy Gluck, former singer and songwriter of second generation garage punk heroes The Barracudas, whose solo work includes late-Eighties "I Knew Buffalo Bill", a collaboration with Nikki Sudden and Rowland S Howard considered the first "alt.country" work. Already a hardcore Suicide fan, Gluck couldn’t believe his luck to find himself in touch with Marty Thau, and duly interviewed him for top UK fanzine Bucketfull of Brains.

It didn’t stop there, though. At a point when both were looking for a new challenge and renewed commitment to music, by degrees an interest in collaboration became evident but was not catalysed until Thau suggested Jeremy covering "Whisper", a song written by Martin Rev and himself included on Rev's instrumental CLOUDS OF GLORY LP in 1980, which he also co-produced. Thau always believed WHISPER might be something special if it had a lyric, so he wrote one but did nothing with it until he decided to give Gluck a shot at doing the vocal.

Mediated by e-mail, chat and some furious file transfers, gradually "Whisper" was knocked into shape: Jeremy would send Marty draft vocals, the latter communicated instructions back by email and the odd call and when he finished he sent Marty the files to assemble and mix. Over a period of weeks the correct treatment appeared and at a local studio Jeremy laid down his parts. After a false start, an agreed new female part was finally nailed by Jeremy’s partner, Kate McEwan.

The files were duly despatched to the States where Marty assembled and finessed them into a polished production resembling nothing more than what might be called "Amartycan Graffiti", uniting and acentuating as it does elements of the Fifties romantic pop sensibility that informs the instrumental original while introducing late Sixties touches that taken whole create a strange, timeless feel that is both intimate and chaste, flying in the face of the vogue for crude pop and replacing sex drive with a kind of muted love cruise. It’s refreshing, disarming and deceptively catchy, Rev’s ingenious backing track a hit worthy of an imaginary "Alphaville" chart; joined with the soft-focus vocals, especially McEwan’s breathy and whispery anti-attack, this is elegant, retro-pop of a kind in too short supply.

Initially the idea was just to do a "Whisper" single but the project expanded. Different versions from different producers - each interpreting the song in their very own inimitable style but using Jeremy’s and Kate’s vocals however they wished – has resulted in llar mixes by Brendon Moeller, Beat Pharmacy’s rising remix and DJ star; revolutionary mixer Dub Gabriel, whose version is an homage to Suicide and dramatic departure both; UK rising star Amurgit, who offers a reggae take; and more to come.

With digital distribution due from The Orchard, run by Thau’s old friend and colleague Richard Gottehrer and with whom he originally managed Blondie, and interest bound to be serious from across the underground rock’n’roll and club spectrum, the WHISPER EP is going to make a lot of noise. Release date TBC.

RIP - Jim Dickinson

Brother Joss talkin' to the man, thanks to Nick for the link)

You might have heard the term math-rock bandied about, well if such a strain doth exist then MX-80 Sound are presumably in the quantum or advanced nuclear physics rock bracket. That’s not to say that their racket isn’t accessible to the lower strata. No sir. No ma’am. Their frequencies can be enjoyed irrespective of your IQ but the way these sounds tweak your subconscious could perceivably leave you scarred. This stuff is so smart that it undertakes procedures on the listener that no other act in the history of rock music has ever hinted at. Their instruments haven’t been sterilised but they’ll cut you clean and sew you back up before you can say “Myonga Von Bontee”.

This CD-R is available from the band’s website and contains the “Big Hits” EP and “Hard Attack” plus the additional outtake “Sad Girls”. This music swept into my existence over three decades ago and it’s making no allusions to leave. I wish you could see then live. If these guys were playing Wembley in a specially constructed stage then I’d consider the world to be a much better place. And why the fuck weren’t MX featured in all this 50 years of Island Records malarkey? Because they were at least 50 light years more sophisticated than Robert Palmer? Not a bad observation sport.

You can also score a copy of the "15 Laffs" 7” that came with Forced Exposure several light years ago. One of my most prized 45’s of all time. And the Bruce Anderson CD is now available from CD Baby and perhaps Volcanic Tongue too.

The Rise and Fall of BMX Bandits is a deluxe collection in a damned elegant digipack courtesy of that excellent Madrid imprint, Elefant. This retrospective was compiled by Duglas himself to represent the journey from 1986 until, well right now. It includes a lot of stuff that’s been unavailable for some considerable time and other gear that’s been unearthed for the first time. Kicking off with “E102” from their 53rd & 3rd debut 45, that cut in particular has aged well. I wasn’t convinced at all back then and thought it was a bit “mock rock” like Bob Harris considered the Dolls. Still, I realised that I was wrong and a finer distillation of pop music through the times very probably doesn’t exist.

Could “Your Class” really have sounded this ethereal in 1989? It really shimmers here, the mastering is beautiful. Surely it would have been all over the Top 10? And that version of “Baby Loves Lovin’”, that one’s worthy of Springfield, Mo’s finest. So no downloads folks, this is a tactile bijou package that includes the great, long gone Emma’s House “Whirlpool” and even their Northern Soul stomper take on Tom Waits “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” that The Ramones kicked into touch some time before old T became the big deal he’s become. The version of Galaxie 500's “Tugboat” with Angel Corpus Christi is on here too.

Folks around Glasgow are urged to make a note in their diaries that the band will be playing the best-looking venue in town, The Classic Grand on September 12th.

So keeping this kind of interrelated thread going for a bit longer, Cineplexx has just had a compilation issued here by Cherry Red. Sebastián Litmanovitch’s “Nuevahola” is a series of soundscapes that spans 1997 to the present. Born in Argentina but based in the fine city of Barcelona, the music on here includes contributions by Duglas and Stuart Bandit and also Norman Fanclub. There’s a definite Glasgow connection with the sound which is a spacious, filmic affair that goes from lush and sweeping to fragile and introspective via all the aspects of 60’s and 70’s pop.

It sounds like it would have been very much at home in the stable of el records, Mike Alway’s label from way back whenever that Cherry Red distributed. The name Cineplexx is odds with the connotations such a word has here in the UK. In many ways the project should be called GFT or Filmhouse. No Cameo I’m afraid, that’s already been sullied by those codpiece toting individuals. This is a classy verging on arthouse prospect. No mega buckets of popcorn or chemically-enhanced cheese in the mix here. Don’t believe the stats that say organic isn’t good for you, it certainly is where music’s concerned. “Nuevahola" also includes a dust bowl, weather-beaten version of “Paint it Black” the like of which you’ll never have heard before.

A nice introduction to a guy with a cool line in alternative treatments using acoustic guitars, synthesisers and pretty much anything else he can get his mitts on.

Better a tad late than never I suppose. Just realised that I hadn't mentioned that The Primevals are playing in Wishaw (pronounced Wishy) today. I hope the weather is a little less inclement thereabouts. Thanks to Paul for the heads up.

Tomorrow they'll be at Duckstock in Glasgow and will be onstage at 4.45pm - ish. Full details here.

I need to be gathering my thoughts and what have yer to bring this thing up to speed over the next day or so. Lot of "localised flooding" around these parts so bloocks to that for a game of soldiers. Did think about going into our local town centre to see a combo that I've heard were half-decent but I imagine that's likely to have been cancelled. Still, if there's a lull in the monsoon then maybe your scribe will brave the elements. Not very likely but there's always the possibility that I'll discover something on the "bunker supplies" front to be deficient.

Springfield, Mo. is the place to be this weekend... The Debs and The Sympletons.

Here's the scoop!

RIP - Mike Seeger

Thanks to Martin for flagging this one up... I'll also include the URL because some folks seem to have problems with the facebeak/blogger interface with regard to links showing up. Here y'go!

RIP - Les Paul

RIP - Rashied Ali

The Cramps section is just the first 5 minutes... thanks to Jennifer for reminding me about this via Facebeak...

I've had it with clutter in all forms. Digital and physical. Even although the former doesn't take up much actual space, it's still choking my hard drive. That sounds like some kind of twisted euphemism I know but it's not that interesting believe me. Been putting off getting a new system but I'm not sure how much longer that'll be possible.

Why do I download stuff that I'll NEVER listen to? A virtual attic-full that is slowly becoming like the actual one upstairs. Still, it's the comfort factor of knowing it's there, right? Just incase. My head is calibrated oddly with regard to that kind of thing these days. All those Mojo's I was on about? Lying up there waiting to be inventorised prior to disposal. The procrastination is undoubtedly linked to some kind of psycho-atric desire to hang on to them but I’m battling that.

While mulling all this over, I found what happened to Gerard Cosloy's place in Austin. He and his are fine but I imagine that a pretty decent collection of "stuff" in general literally went up in smoke. This kind of thing really gives me the collywobbles and reinforces my need to get with slimming down on the pack rat tendencies.

It's also the time when the utility bills come in and I have to fart about with meter readings and all that crap. The estimates are too low and I don’t want that accumulating and coming back to bite me. Pretty responsible sort of behaviour I think you’ll agree for a wild rock firebrand such as mysel'? I hate these comparison sites. They're supposed to help but my own angle is that they're all involved in a big racket and not the kind your favourite band makes either. Still I'm pretty cheap to run so I dunno if it's worth the headnip for a couple of bawbees.

I need to take care of this now though or it'll drag on. None of these “my life in the song titles of BÖC” on facebeak for this laddie tonight but I will break out the Stalk-Forrest Group CD to provide the soundtrack to my drudgery.

This is great, link courtesy of Lee Joseph via facebook...

Short and sweet tonight, I feel worn down and not exactly in any frame of mind to communicate to any degree. If this changes then I'll jump back on but it's unlikely. However, if you click here, you'll get the lowdown on who is playing with Roky in the UK next week.

Unfortunately I have to sit this one out but nae doobt you'll all hep me to what I missed.

Of course, that first part of last night's hit and snooze should have read "three halves". I was a bit pissed off having dragged the auld bahookie into Edinburgh when ideally a night on the sofa interspersed with the odd volley on here would have been preferable. Howe'er, I'm getting a wee bit ahead of myself so let's rewind a touch... Dropped my guests off the station yesterday am and headed back to the bunker before setting out for the Hippodrome. I was determined not to talk myself into not attending that event for some cockamamie reason that didn’t really fly. I’m a past master.

Anyway, The Southwell Collective’s scoring of "Finis Terrae" and the short film "St Kilda – Britains Loneliest Isle" was nothing short of phosphorescent. A decent turnout too which was good. The sextet did an immaculate reconstruction of an imaginary score just like they do on a proper soundstage. There were no limitations as they ventured from that which bordered on prog to full-on Badalamenti. Particularly groovy were the smokey Nico-like tones of the narrator, Isobel Morris. She has a project by the name of Bruise that I haven’t checked out yet but I’m pretty sure it’ll be worth hearing.

Anyway, the collective are doing the Highlands and Islands. I was surprised that it wasn’t stopping in Glasgow which made me all the more lucky to have caught them in a place as unique as The Hippodrome. It’ll be interesting to see how “Playing With The Past” measures up to this. So the culture bar was set pretty high with that

Would love to tell you the Janeane Garofalo thing was the funniest show I’ve ever seen but in all honesty I think it was one of the worst on a whole host of levels. Expectations were low anyway having read some reviews and things but part of me wanted to overturn those. I’ve liked almost everything that I ever saw her do but not this. Can’t really figure out if she was really that unprepared or if that’s part of the “script” but I can categorically state that, making like Richard Ashcroft’s drugs, it does not work.

The venue sucked too and Eugene Merman from Flight of the Conchords struggled with a short opening ramble. The evening was a textbook example of why I don’t go to see comedy very often. The audience didn’t seem to be too enamoured either. So too bad, if you were thinking about going to this – I think there are shows up until Saturday, save your money. Under normal circumstances, I’d say each to their own but I abhor waste and further to that – disappointment is even worse.

I had hoped the reviews were wrong, this one pretty much sums it up. The show is different every night? I wouldn't count on it. A couple of people leave and I'm not convinced it wasn't a ploy. I would have liked to leave too. Not sure about the health and safety aspect of that room she's playing either. It wasn't easy to evacuate under standard conditions (hur hur, he said evacuate). I also think that the "unprepared" vibe is entirely calculated.

It's full on festival antics up at the bunfight that is the Gilded Balloon. It resembles a fairground with every type of food concession on the planet at prices as horribly inflated as a bouncy castle.

Not conducive to a good time really. The emphasis is very much wheel 'em in, Upturn 'em until every conceivable penny is shaken down and schlep 'em out. The city was mobbed so it must have been a good day for them. I have no other hard and fast plans to attend anything except maybe Kim Edgar on Friday. I'm hoping that she won't be accompanied by a certain local musician that I can't abide and by the day of the show I might do that fabled Hutton procrastination thing. Prior to that though you may care to check in at the re-located for the festival only Go-Go!

THE GO-GO

Festival Special... Thursday 13th August

with Les Bof! Live! (french 60s garage & beat!)

12.30 am til 5am (band going on 1am) in the Park Room, Gilded Balloon (Teviot), Bristo Square.

£7.50 - tickets available on door, and from Gilded Balloon Box Office.

DJ's Tall Paul Robinson, with special guests

Holly & Sarah (Eyes Wide Open - Glasgow)

playing 60s garage beat pop soul mod & ska.

Many thanks to Cornelius Pearce and The Bang Bang Club who are letting us take over one of
their nights.

Finally, still in Edinburgh - they're fucking with another landmark people. You know what to do. (Thanks to Andrew for the link via facebook)