Roky in NY the other night over at North Fork Sound...

A strange thing happened yesterday. Nothing to do with the event that hijacked our namesake but the stats recorded the largest hit rate in (our) history. The reason for this is that Mr Paul Lukas gave we a shout out at UNIWATCH. A site that - on the face of it relates to sports - but underneath is so much more. I’m not sure that those visiting were or are looking for the stovies recipe but they’re welcome nonetheless. Maybe some of ‘em will even come back now and again. One thing is for sure that Paul’s site has some hardcore clickers going on and I thank him for his indulgence. I think I might start a band called The Vintage Stirrups...

Tried to collate a PDF of the film festival programme but it’s all skew wiff. In addition to "Cigarette Girl", I notice that "The Runaways" movie is on. Word on this ranges between stinker and pretty good but of course I have to see it. This could of course be problematic because it has that “Twilight” bint in it. Another minus is that it’s playing at Cineworld. Chances are it’ll be at “Best of the Fest” so maybe I’ll wait and see. I was at the band’s first show in the UK (Glasgow Apollo) and also The Roundhouse back in the olden days when they actually existed and also stood behind Joan Jett at a Sire Records party where the Flamin Groovies played.

It would be fun to ask the director why Lisa Fancher and Phast Phreddie are not portrayed. Most likely because no actor or actress could do them justice but I won’t accept that as an excuse.

Chugging a little of that Fridayness in these latter stages of Wednesday and a host of stuff to complete. Whatever I’ve done to my back isn’t getting a whole lot better but I’ll live. And meanwhile, some excellent news so it’s worth hanging in until September kids!

A letter from Säkert!:

Hey. Just wanted to let you know that we made a new record with Säkert! It's called “Facit” * and it's due September 15. The first single, “Fredrik”, will be released in August. This is new: we worked slower with this album. We even had some sort of plan before we started recording it. That plan obviously didn't work out, but still! Producer Henrik Oja also wrote some of the songs with me. This is old: we're the same people. Henrik, Mats Hammarström, Daniel Berglund. Lovisa Nyström and Jakob Nyström. (They are all involved in a lot of different bands incl. Isolation Years, Two White Horses and The Spacious Mind.) The songs are bigger than last time around. The production is bigger and the topics are huge: funerals, weddings, elections. Oh, and also we'll be recording the songs in English, especially for those of you who liked last Säkert! but got sour you didn't understad the lyrics.

All the best,
Annika Norlin

PS. My other project, Hello Saferide, is still around as well.

"FACIT" is the Swedish word for "result" or "answer". The correct pronunciation using phonetic symbols is [fa:sit]. The "A" pronounced like in "father".

Educational and informative. Meanwhile, I have a Film Festival programme to trawl through.

It all started off badly today and fell away, this is so often the way when the routine is affected. In addition to “sleeping in” (by my reckoning) there was a message that kind of brought on a mild strop. And several others that I didn’t have time to respond to because of my sleepy-heidedness. Mindful of the probability that the EIFF programme will take up much of my time when I got it, I’ve pretty much written the day off. The portals of destiny seemed to be running OK and I don’t take kindly to any turbulence. Still, it could be way worse, I might not be headed for big fun with my Catalonian (Catalan?) homies this coming weekend.

It did get a little better despite my not being able to download the EIFF brochure. Their website collapsed due to "demand". Have had to make do with one of these browser viewer things so maybe you've had experience of those things yourself. If you haven't then good for you. Anyway, now it can be told... I did post the trailer incognito a couple of weeks ago...

Cigarette Girl - a film by J. Michael McCarthy - Filmhouse 1 on Tuesday 22nd June at 9.15pm with the director in attendance. It is entirely your bag, have a look...

Much of Englandshire and I think the USA are on holiday today I think?

They’ll all be down the pub or wherever. Many of them well blotto by now. However here in the domain of the heathen, it was business as usual. Gazing out from the day prison at the rather cracking looking blue skies but that, as “they” say is how it goes. Sometimes. Most times to my experience although I am pencilled in for a dose of respite this coming weekend.

In a further skewing of time, there was Tony Blackburn on the wireless playing Be*tles records that he’d have spun on his first time out. I’d just gone down the factory and thought been caught in a timeslip. It’s pretty simple to confuse me right about now anyway but I admit to having done a triple take. A Bank Holiday special treat or the sinister shape of things to come at Radio 2? There’s a lot worse out there that TB though but if there was never another Be*tles record aired, would anybody really care? I mean, the hardcore have multiple copies and boxsets, etc., It’s time to maybe give the rest of us a break.

The Edinburgh Film Festival programme launches at noon tomorrow (June 1st) and then I’ll be able to divulge news of a very happening event that will be taking place at that very event.

Nothing much else to report right now and a fair bit of listening to be undertaken plus my back is giving me gyp. Enough to be going on with,

Robert Coyne’s “Woodland Conspiracy” is an altogether different beastie from “Death Is Not My Destiny” in all but one way. They both include versions of “What A Pleasure It’s Been”. It’s a stripped down, acoustic album. I’m tempted to use an overplayed cliché from the 90’s here but won’t because Rob deserves better than that and he’s just about as far away from MTV fodder as you can get. Not because his stuff isn’t commercial because it is. I mean more because it simply reeks of quality. I can never get away from mentioning Silver Chapter when I consider one of Mr Coyne’s ventures. As mere youngsters they always pushed the envelope.

Real teenagers making grandiose pop music but never in a pompous way, Pete Kember knows what I’m talking about. I’m pretty sure that Rob is sick of me asking him why there’s no one stepping up to the plate to compile that great old gear but I do it anyway. And there was Mean Vincent too. They should have been able to cash-in on that with the name alone. It’s a bit better than Elbow, you have to admit.

So yes, this is another treasure. Available on CD and also vinyl from the Meyer Records imprint. The closer is a version of “Sugar Candy Taxi”, recorded live. It’s a song that Robert wrote with his dad. There’s no big ad campaign or media push to go with this. It would be cool to think that something of such obvious worth would percolate on to the radar of those who need it most. This is what mags like Mojo ought to be raving about but Rob isn’t about to be booking ad space in the hope of making that happen. Always a pleasure to hear, see or hang out with this gent. That remains the whole truth and nothing but.





When I was looking for Silver Chapter, I found this. Britney goes Alan Vega via SSS. For Bill Henderson – The Big Kahuna – out there in Tacoma, WA.

Reading more about this Mojo (Kerrang! and Q) kerfuffle, perhaps there’s some way for a new publication to come together that might make it a priority to look out for the IP of the contributors. Those who populate the blank pages to make it worthy of buying or even just reading. The latest issue with the Waitsy cover is a bit of a stinker, all topped off by a thumbnail review of The Fleshtones Raven comp that is, in my view, written by a philistine. I don't reconise the name of the person.

Still, here is another example of something that is very successful – influential and authoritative even – being sniffed out because of corporate greed. Good music writing is a dying art as I’ve said before. It relies on cut and paste skills and inherent ability not to provide an opinion. While I might not have much time for what’s been in Mojo of late (I never see the other two), I certainly wouldn’t want to hear of its demise. I imagine that Bauer’s most bankable titles may have been diagnosed with a terminal illness as a result of all this.

I’ve turned down “paid” work in recent times because I’d rather that individuals who do this thing to make a living got the gig. It’s flattering to be asked and am under no illusions of possessing any such skills. Anything I do outside of this blighter now is done for the love and appreciation of the subject. I think Brother Joss is the same? All the goalposts have changed since the dawn of the interweb and ownership seems to be the drug of choice for the bean counters in board rooms that come up with this kind of rampant theft.

More power to those who haven’t just signed their livelihoods away.

Further info on the situation...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/apr/19/bauer-freelance-contracts-row

http://newsblog.thecmuwebsite.com/post/Bauer-in-dispute-with-music-freelancers.aspx

RIP - Dennis Hopper

I've been messing about with Brother Patrick's lengthy Kogar interview. Wondering exactly how I can do it justice here without cutting it way down. These blog things aren't really very good for reading longer pieces. In my opinion anyway, mainly because reading off the screen for any length of time really scrambles my peepers. So meanwhile, I'll keep trying to figure out a solution.

Been caught up with other stuff today hence the radio silence. Expecting houseguests too so maybe I can file that as an excuse?

Here's some good news, release date is actually July 27th according to Britta's FB,

Jeez Willis...

RIP - Gary Coleman

Barring any further acts of god, I’ll be far away from here this time next weekend. The excitement is palpable. And until then, there’s a fair amount going on and the probability of houseguests so I need to get my ‘arris in gear. Figured it was the perfect time to float this old favourite that fits a Friday afternoon mood like a glove.

Hello,

We would like to invite everyone to this Sunday's Monorail Film Club. Selected and introduced by Glasgow-based composer, Craig Armstrong, The Shout by Jerzy Skolimowski is a fairly wild slice of late 1970s British cinema with a robust soundtrack by Tony Banks. The Shout is a strange, disturbing, and elusive tale of a mental patient, Alan Bates, who, having once lived with a tribe of Aborigines, has learned the secret of "the shout," which has the power to kill. Told in flashback during a cricket match that takes place on the grounds of a mental asylum, the film follows Bates's relationship with experimental composer John Hurt and his wife, Susannah York. Bates moves in with the couple, and gradually his disturbing presence takes its toll.

The Monorail Film Club runs monthly at the GFT although this year we are taking a summer break and this will be the last screening until September. You can reserve tickets here: 0141 332 6535. GFT,
12 Rose Street, Glasgow G3 6RB

MONORAIL FILM CLUB
THE SHOUT (15)
Sunday 30 May (7.15)
Director Jerzy Skolimowski
Cast Alan Bates, Susannah York, John Hurt UK 1978, 1h26m

If I was flush (in the wallet dept.) and possessed of more energy then I’d be heading for tonight’s Heavy Trash show at Stereo in Glasgow. As it is, I’m blessed with neither. The physical dragging of my carcass into either town is problematic at the minute. It’s fine once I’m there but the bit in between, particularly the travel, is a hard slog. The last train palaver is just part of it, often like a zoo, and if you’re not pished it can get pretty annoying. I never am inebriated these days and potentially irritable at the best of times. I could drive to Glasgow and Edinburgh but I won’t. It would have to be an emergency and even then I’d consider alternative options first. Being that our public transport sucks, there’s not much room for manoeuvre on that score.

Today is Mr U’s final Thursday in his particular salt mine. Tomorrow he’ll be set free into the wild and will blaze a trail across the planet in due course. I wish him well with whatever presents itself next. This is the guy that connected me to the Swedish mainline some 27-ish of your earth years ago. Thanks man.

It’s official. Nothing is sacred. Today started well with the Annika song and then I got to work and heard about this. Unless they’ve annexed May 26th as an adjunct to April Fools Day then this is true. And look who else is on the bill. Horrible. I feel physically sick at the thought.

Watched the phenomenon known as “The Scheme” last night having forgot to tune in last week. It’s like "Still Game" directed by David Simon. Well not really but it makes Baltimore look like Bearsden. Or a bizzarro world versh of "The Jersey Shore", take your pick. Mr Longmuir described the location as a “methadone metropolis”. There are two ways to consider this – one is that perhaps it’s time to get the exterminators in or the other that it’s “ah pure laugh an’ that”. Possibly the reality is somewhere in between but it’s compulsive viewing. A whole ‘nother world beyond dysfunction in the wilds that's undoubtedly considered some kind of exercise in societal engineering and a finite example of not being able to make something up. I can see the must have T-shirt of the summer, emblazoned with "Dayna's No' A Dafty". Y not ie.

This was a big surprise this morning... thanks Brogues.

Just less than one week of May left and it’s been a sair fecht. Streaking by to some degree and positively crawling in otherwise. I feel like I’m creaking under what ain’t exactly strain but rather a need to re-organise how I go about populating this thing. My pathological mechanism to update every other day needs to be reprogrammed to maybe make it every second day. With some kind of dispensation if something noteworthy comes up. That sounds reasonable, right?

It could be the heat. Or the garden stuff. Or both to some degree. Whatever it is, it’s become blindingly obvious that I’m not equipped to be gallivanting on school nights anymore. It’s not even as if there’s any real inkling of partying. Just some nice civilised hanging out with good people, when the alarm went off at 5.35am this morning, it’s lucky that it was out of my reach because it meant that I had to actually shift my ‘arris to get to it. And by then, it was too late. I was up. Not firing on much beyond a half cylinder but up nonetheless. I feel old. And fucked. Neither of these in a good way but it’ll be different next week. I’ve printed my boarding passes for Barcelona and to paraphrase that old Starship cliché – “Nothing’s gonna stop me (now – within reason)”.

Teetering on the edge of nuclear attack or the world cup. Perhaps the de-evolution of the Euro-economy is steaming your bean. Whatever it is, things sure look like all of our jackets are on shaky nails. No point in mithering about it unduly. In light of what’s happening out in Korea, I figured I’d inject a bit of pop levity and a damn good song to boot. I should try to find “Wrap Up The Rockets” by The Freshies too, get a wee bit of a semi- apocalyptic whoosh going.



There seems to be some activity with regard to building upon the tracks that will become the "new" Joey Ramone album. Not sure when it’s likely to see the light of day but it’ll be cool to hear how it turns out. The most important thing is that we get to hear his voice again, by all (reliable) accounts, the vocal performances are really something. I’ll be keeping at least one eye and one ear out for progress on this. Maybe someone might feel like leaving a comment as to how it’s all progressing, if that’s possible.

And on that note, I’m offsky to listen to the spanking new Lola Dutronic EP that Red Star Digital is about to unleash. Laters...

East Coast USA down to Tejas... they're coming to get you!

RIP - Steve New

Been a bit light on the blog posts over the past week, it’s sort of like a diet. I’m pretty sure you could all use a break from my yattering. Hell, I could use a break from my yattering. Still, a couple or three visitors have noticed that the frequency dropped. That says something about them and also about me but if I get my act together, and take care of the chores, then there might be time to shoot the shizboobah over the course of today.

I saw two of these “touted” bands on TV – The National and Yeasayer. I’d clocked the names and saw the ravings but had never heard (or seen) either. Needless to say I was less than impressed and if those are the future then I want no part of it. There were no redeeming features and I actually had to turn off the TV. What with those and the constipated angst of The Hold Steady, no wonder the kids would rather fouter about with flippin’ video games. There is obviously an appetite for acts that just regurgitate past moods with no soul. It’s like lego music, made outta wee building blocks. Like airbrushed pixels.

You can approximate all you want but that will never ever hold a candle to music like you’ll find on these here releases...

The Dahlmanns debut EP on Pop Detective is just out. It kicks in with a versh of Amy Rigby’s “Dancing With Joey Ramone” and adds that patented Norwegian bubblegum gusto. The 4 songs here run for exactly the length of time that it takes me to drive from here to the car park in Bo’ness. 9 minutes and 42 seconds. I remember the first time I heard the song. It was in Laurie’s Bar in Glasgow when Amy was here with Hazel and the two of them stormed “Domino”. Anyway, Amy had not long written “Joey” and I don’t mind telling you that it choked me right there and then. Subsequently, every time I hear it or play it – I think to myself how it perfectly captures the guy who was our Elvis. It was quite a thrill then to get acquainted with André and Line in Spain last October. When I spun the song at the Wurlitzer, Line told me that they wanted to do the song and they have. They’ve done it justice too.

“I Want You Around” isn’t the Ramones song but it’s a belter. “Holiday Road” is a powerpoppin’ revup of the Lindsey Buckingham song and The Hitmen’s “Didn’t Tell The Man” rounds things off perfectly. Leaving you with bated breath for the album that is coming sometime in the latter part of the year. These kids get it. In addition they’ve got it. And you better grab this while you can. A 7” will be available soon but I’m not sure that it’ll include all these songs so maybe better grab both. Safety copies of great singles should always be considered as an option.

Jack Skuller’s “Love Is A Drum” (BarNone) is a hopped up Marshall Crenshaw-like heck of a debut for a real teenager. It has a nice Knack type crunch to it. You think of kids these days being all about that hippity hop music or whatever but this one seems to have a beat on what makes a short, snappy pop chestnut. This was produced by Daniel Rey, who also plays guitar and bass on it - under any reasonable circumstance – this kid ought to have a big future ahead. The only obstacle as I can see it is that he appears to have actual talent. Ex Fuzztone/Nada Surf (did they split?) man Ira Elliot is on drums. Cheers Daniel.




And around the same age, I finally got a copy of the Magic Kids 45 from Brother Joss. He picked it up on a recent jaunt to Memphis. Several of you will already be familiar with it but on the off chance you’re not and you still have a thing for Spector-esque, Beach Boys abandon then this is entirely your bag. “Hey Boy” sounds like it was made in Bellshill or East Kilbride. That part of Scotland was secretly twinned with Memphis some time ago. You weren’t aware of that?