Now this looks like my idea of big fun... (thanks to Lada for the link)

Just about to head for Edinburgh and remembered that The Standells are playing "the London" tonight with King Salami and Thee Vicars (I think).

Not at The Boston (Arms)... they'll be delivering their "dirty water" here.

It's been a spartan week blogwise. By the time I dragged my carcass into work and back again the energy level was lacking somewhat. The city limits of what passes for normality are being approached and things should be picking up. I say picking up but what I mean is that I'm not sure that the lost time can be regained. I'm thinking more of a line in the sand kind of deal. Anyway, we'll see.

Look forward to meeting Michael McCarthy today for a toddle around Auld Reekie. His film "Cigarette Girl" is playing at the Edinburgh Film Festival and I urge anybody who can - to get down to the Filmhouse on Tuesday night at 9.15pm.

Here's the trailer in case you missed it on previous postings.

And a wee story about it by Brother Joss who is heading north with Nadia to make the scene. It'll be a stoatir and I can almost guarantee that Sean Connery will not be there but you never can tell.

Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth - I need to clean up and return a lawnmower...

I think there's just a little over a week's worth of Eric and Amy gigs across the US left so get out there and partake of a fine evening of entertainment, the like of which isn't widely available these days anywhere. Milwaukee tonight, Minneapolis tomorrow... the dates are here.

The rumour mill is rife with the tale that JJ will make an appearance at "The Runaways" screening in Edinburgh on Sunday. I can't believe that it's not sold out already. We'll see... however, meanwhile - courtesy of Mr Percival...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This could never happen here.



Thanks Iñigo.

RIP - Garry Shider (Thanks to Tim for the link)

After all my kvetching, I managed to get an appointment for today. One that didn’t entail any complicated logistics in terms of travel or leaving work early or anything like that. All a bit of an anti-climax compared to the apoplexy of yesterday. My experience of dealing with red tape and “the system” is severely limited. I have no idea how to play it and no desire to do so. The fact that nothing is ever simple galls more than anything and must surely ramp up the inefficiency that riddles even the most apparently straightforward procedures. There’s never any problem to my experience with the people who do the job. It’s the management and peripheral jobsworths that are the menace. This includes the dimbulbs that prepare the legislation.

So anyway, I have my antibiotics scrip’ but was advised to see how it goes over the next couple of days. Apparently it’s not really advised that one should neck such a thing unless it’s absolutely necessary because of all these superbugs. So we’ll see. I reckon that if I lay low until the weekend, I’ll be clear. If I were in NY, then this would be where I’d be this coming Saturday...

Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. takes to the borough of Brooklyn this week with a pair of shows sure to suit most any taste -- be it at Red Hook's genteel Jalopy or at downtown's divey Hank's!

THURSDAY, JUNE 17th / JALOPY THEATRE /315 Columbia Street (between Hamilton and Woodhull) in Brooklyn, USA /One hefty horseless set at 10:30, preceded by the twangy Wicked Messengers at 9:00!

SATURDAY, JUNE 19th / HANK'S SALOON / 46 Third Avenue (at the corner of Atlantic Avenue) in Brooklyn /It's "Cemetery & Western Night III", with one slighty gothic SIT & Die Co. set at 10:00 sharp, followed by Ninth House at 11:00 and Shattered NYC at midnight -- and no cover!

Yours across the East River,

Michael

Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.
"Ballads, Boogies & Blues"

Something of a lost night yesterday as I finally recognised that maybe I need to address the matter of this cold that’s plagued me since I got back from Barcelona. Ate, went for what I intended to be a short nap and didn’t surface until much later. Even then I was like a half-shut knife. So I propped myself up in front of the TV for a short while – not entirely aware of anything approaching being compus mentis. Nothing new there, I hear from the back of the class.

The intention of heading into Glasgow tonight to catch Iain Shaw has also gone by the wayside. Got a busy couple of weeks coming up and need to be firing on most –if not all –cylinders and it be patently obvious that I’m not.

I won’t go near a doctors surgery unless it’s absolutely necessary . This compounds the annoyance that it’s never possible to get an appointment when you need one. I have to call them at 8am tomorrow morning whereupon I’m telling you now, it’ll ring off the hook. If I wasn’t so conscientious I’d bunk off work and go down there but even then, it’s pot luck. I’m sure there are appointment touts operating. So if I peg it meantime you’ll know who to thank/blame (delete as applicable).

Seems as though farcebook has dropped a couple dozen blog posts on my unsuspecting “friends” in the past few hours. I have absolutely no scoob as to how that thing operates and had noticed that the blog synch didn’t seem to be working. The random nature of the status updates alone are enough to drive me barmy and I envy those who can stay away from it. Twitter is something I have absolutely no trouble in staying away from to the extent that I’m finally removing the link to it from here. And adding the EIFF button.

Ideally the relentless nose-blowing and coughing. If it was a game of charades, I’d be doing the title of a Screeching Weasel album.

Not sure if it’s the ol’ hayfever or some kind of general congestion but I’m out of sorts, not helped by yesterday’s stint outside trying to restore a semblance of order to the drive. The intentions of preparing a “loose ends” post hit the wall because I passed out in front of the TV, that terrible remake of Bewitched I think it was. What a stinker. Not really sure that I’ll fare any better tonight to be honest, the flesh and the spirit seem to have abandoned me. I’m not entirely convinced that my batteries are in any way rechargeable.

Anyway, I'm grateful to Duglas T for sending this - very lo-fi but top notch.

Sophisticated Portuguese pop for a Sunday afternoon courtesy of Ms Rita Redshoes...

The past couple of days have been something of a bust. With seemingly simple logistics taking on the shape of a well known item of fruit in addition to other things just going phut and not in a good way. Still the film festival is on the horizon and what about that news of Mose Allison heading for Glasgow?

I need to try and gather together various strands that have been left to drift today. I should be outside continuing with the garden tidy up but that horrible smurry rain has come on. Maybe things are looking up. This will give me time to search back the e-mails for info that I’ve neglected to pass on.

Like the news about The Primevals album for instance.

RIP - Crispian St Peters

Talk about short notice...

Mose Allison in Glasgow - Old Fruitmarket on June 25th.

Glasgow gave a rousing send off to an honorary citizen of its musical community last night. In the true tradition of the man that it celebrated there was a looseness in the house and aside from featuring Alex’s own compositions, equal billing was given to the human jukebox element of his work and how he liked to introduce covers, that could – in the end – have been his own. He was a deep miner of forgotten gems. Like The Cramps, I imagine that could have been part of the attraction in them coming together way back whenever.

To my mind, Chilton never “mailed it in”. the closest I ever came to seeing him do that was the Big Star reunion at QMU. Every other time, and there were many, you went away having really felt privileged to having been given a lesson in popular (and not so) music history. He had a long and chequered career on either side of what he gets most kudos for. I think that what may people miss is the character and he was alive yesterday evening through stories related from the stage. I know for a fact that a few of these guys could do a season of spoken word shows on the tales.

There was no Panther Burns or indeed “Bangkok”. Perhaps in retrospect, The Primevals would have been able to do something with that but then the show would have had to be even longer, and I feel like a burst ball as it is. It did cross my mind too that ideally The Nomads would have been on hand. Short of it is that the assembled artists pulled off what they set to do, with no small amount of gusto.

First up was Milk. I’ve no idea who they are but they tackled “Human Fly” and in this setting it was fine. Their version of “The Letter” vexed me a bit by making me remember the name Blue Rondo A La Turk, before it disappeared down The Gaslight Anthem’s idea of E- Street. Before long, a nervous Francis Macdonald kicked off with “Margie” and did a great version of a Frederick Knight song that I’d never heard called “Claim To Fame”, based on Lx’s version from “Live At Chalen”.

The reconstituted V-Twin were really smokin’ with a little Ernie K Doe action, a version of “Hey Little Child” that had a Gun Club-like intensity and the anthem known as “In The Street”. In my head I was screaming “We’re All Allright” as it came to a close.

There was an intermission where some video clips were shown. Hot Chip sent up some songs specially for the bash and an amazing clip of “Never Found A Girl” of Alex and Teenage Fanclub from some TV show called “Up On The Roof”. STV or BBC? I don’t recall that at all. Probably 1995-ish? Anyway, Duglas told me it’ll be on Youtube soon and you’ll see it for yourself. The way it nestles into “A Summer Place” is spine-tingling.

It was a pleasure to meet Laura Chilton. She told me that she came to Glasgow to see what Alex loved about it and I think she knows now. Laura recited a version of “Past, Present and Future” with accompaniment from David Scott plus Duglas, Jason and Mike. A lo-fi industrial symphony with a Lynch frisson.

The Pearlfishers/BMX Bandits portion was when Davie got to tell his Rockin’ Sidney story and to perform "Thirteen". Duglas delivered an amazingly poignant “Thank You Friends”. Forensic verbiage at this point seems meaningless, you had to be there. A straight off the plane Stevie Jackson performed Hoagy Carmichael’s “Memphis in June” and a rousing “Alligator Man” abetted by Francis. The TFC portion was charged with no small amount of electricity. Being that they were entirely responsible for any of this route of history being taken. They are the blue touch paper that allowed so many of us to become so familiar with the subject. It’s a strange world and in this case, for all the right reasons.

Jason did The Olympics “Mine Exclusively” with the Fanclub and declared it to be “like Booker T and the MGs”. There is no bigger keeper of the flame in these parts than this guy. He put this revue together, most likely with some input from his spiritual brother from the other side.
One last hurrah was a run though “September Gurls” that was positively incandescent. Several leagues better than the version that the reconstituted BS ran through at that Glasgow show I mentioned earlier. It took me back to that version of "Telstar" in Glassford Street and the soul-saving nature of loud guitars.

It was a triumph on the part of all concerned and something that could only have happened in Glasgow. Take a look at some great photos here and here. And the setlist and some videoclips can be found on the TFC board. It was abuzzbuzzbuzz with activity before I left for the salt mine this morning. God bless 'em.