RIP - Suze Rotolo

RIP - Mark Tulin (Electric Prunes)

RIP - Eddie Kirkland

Thanks To Jasmin for the link...

Where some people avoid and ignore, I mope and wallow and it’s not an attractive disposition. I’m not really too well versed in avoidance but I would dearly love to learn how to ignore. If these were Olympic events then I would be way up the table rankings. Presumably drinking can alleviate certain elements, at least briefly but that’s not my bag anymore, at least not here at home. Stimulation just isn’t forthcoming and as entertaining as tearing some lacklustre music a new one might seem, that’s not what this backwater is for.

Mr Stigliano should be aware that I did start some reviews and then got sidetracked. Really need to hook up the various players and replace some cables. In retrospect, seems that I’ve been avoiding doing that pretty good so maybe you ought to take that first statement with a pinch of salt.

The Monorail Film Club presents Blank City.

Tomorrow night (Sunday 27th) at GFT.

Mondo Morricone at The Arches in Glasgow tonight (Saturday 26th).

Listen to this.

The Primevals are set to journey south in April and then they’ll hop over to France for a few days to spread the word on Disinhibitor. Re-issued on Twenty Stone Blatt and available in blood red vinyl and on CD. I imagine you can “download” it too but who in their right mind wouldn’t want one of the more tactile editions? There are some landfill artefacts you just can’t do without. If you’ve sat through one of my sermons on de-cluttering and take issue with any of this, including the “right mind” stuff then please be informed that I have no idea where I’m at if truth be told so that's my get-out clause.

Here are the show dates...

9th April : London, 229 Club at The Water Rats (Kings Cross)
10th April : Brighton, The Hydrant club
12th April , Rennes, Le Sambre
13th April : Paris, La Féline
14th April : Dijon, Deep Inside Klub
15th April : Pagnier, Chez Paulette
16th April : Nîmes, Café Olive

Managed to drag myself out to attend a genuine world premiere screening last night but it didn’t take place at the Glasgow Film Festival, this one went down at the Bo’ness Hippodrome.

Northside is the first feature by a couple of local chaps (Bruce Strachan and Simon Beattie) shot in this area rather than being a documentary on the Factory Records post-baggy (?) band. Brought this far on what must be considered fumes as compared to a real budget, it hangs together pretty well. Like a darker aspect of Take The High Road intersecting Glen or Glenda with a rumour of Bill Forsyth. If The Broons ever made it to “the pictures”, the lady that plays Mrs McLeod would make a “braw” Maw.

It was the first time that the makers saw it on a proper (big) screen too and even though the date is 2009, this was the first time it had made it beyond family and friends DVD players. The venue really adds a sense of occasion to something like this. Not sure where it might be seen next but maybe you can find out here.

Brother David Alvin... Justified! (thanks to HT)

I’ve had to face the fact that I can’t head out for any the Palmyra Delran shows with Stupidity & The Cocktail Slippers!.

A mix of vacation time conflict and most damaging, the escalating over-budget of upgrading the bunker in recent times, means that I have to sit this one out. Guess the fact that I’m actually typing this rather than thinking it makes it all final.

While I’m not altogether relishing hearing about how I missed out on some real big fun – that’s just the way it goes sometimes. Anyway, that doesn’t mean that you can’t go. The shindigs start tonight!

Fri Feb 25: VIRUS, Örebro, Sweden (plus the Satans!)
Sat Feb 26: NEW BOWL HALL, Stockholm, Sweden (plus the Satans!)
Tue Mar 1: REVOLVER, Olso, Norway
Wed Mar 2: VERTSHUSET, Sarpsborg, Norway
Thur Mar 3: HOUSE OF ROCK, Moss, Norway
Fri Mar 4: BRYGGETAKET, Fredrikstad, Norway

RIP - Eddie Serrato

Mr Duff wishes it to be known... "Following from the February 4th Edinburgh celebration of the life of Lux Interior, we're doing it all again on the West Coast this Friday, the 25th February in Bar Bloc.

Some new bands, some repeat performances, all giving it up for Lux, the frontal lobe of the greatest rockandroll band ever to ooze over your record collection. Join us and throb to the Songs The Cramps Taught Us from...

• The (new) Pharisees • Iain Shaw • The Charles Randolph Rivers Slim Rhythm Revue • Acid Fascists • The Bastard Suits • Z28 • The Kosher Pickles • The Fnords • The Bucky Rage • Filthy Little Secret • Louise McVey & The Cracks In the Concrete •

All of this and extremely cool interband dancing tunes from the esteemed record collections of DJ Brydo and Mickey Rooney from the Primevals! Free badges and Cramps Family Tree CD for first 50 in the door.

Exclusive liner notes by Ian Johnston (author of the Wild, Wild World of The Cramps) and by me. £5.00 at the door and all profits to charity, www.dec.org.uk

Records on at 9pm, first band on at 10.30pm, close at 03.00am.

I don’t even switch the computer on before I go to work in the morning anymore, part of the regime change in this particular part of the world. There’s some bunker guff to contend with this evening so I’ll leave you in the company of Girls On Top. Ulf sent me the link yesterday with the message “bet you love this”. I’m pretty sure that I met the singer at DWC once and this 7” only release is possibly something that you won’t want to pass up. What's not to?

Good old fashioned punk rock daftness in all its glory. And it reminds me that there’s a Phobics around here someplace that requires my attention and subsequently yours.

The weekend went by in a blip. Mixed blessing but in my particular case, more of a mixed curse.

The soon to be released to cinemas restoration of The African Queen is cracking and perhaps proof that digital editing can be used for good. Seven years in the process and well worth catching if it plays near you. A sixty year old masterpiece. Angela Allen who worked as continuity girl and even Katherine Hepburn's stunt double here and there during the film. they don't make them like this anymore. Films nor Angela Allen.

The second part of the No Wave strand was a bit of a bust although there were aspects of “Letters To Dad” that I liked. Almost typed “that were interesting” there which would reveal too much of my advancing ADD. For some reason, I got it into my head that Wildgirl’s GoGo-rama was to feature in one of the films but that was delusional and I cut out before the final slice. Hopefully my leaving meant that it was bearable for the remainder of the audience but I wouldn't count on it. So I made my way past the Reel Big Fish queue at the ABC and just made it to the station in time for the train that would speed me toward home. Thankfully there were no stragglers from the bigots gala that took place earlier in the day.

And if there was, they were gye quiet.

And to box off this weekend of culture, the Nic Cage fracas that is Ghost Rider was on TV. Utter piffle and a missed opportunity to use the grandeur of Rev/Vega to sprinkle it with at least some memorable music. I fuh-fuh-faded away during it and woke up after it was all over

I don’t check spam very often. Mainly because I get hammered with it but just recently I found several legit mails in that howff and a lot more bogus messages in my regular in-box. ISP can’t stop it. There are bots generating cyber-reams of this crap to bombard us with and I don’t have the will or the mind to police it. So I just delete everything. Inevitably there will be (mail) casualties but that’s the line in the sand.

There are a dozen or so sites that I check pretty much daily even although they’re not updated regularly. The rest are totally random and even sites that purport to be about news aren’t refreshed to the extent that they used to be. Cutting to the chase, the sheer volume of crap has overwhelmed everything and I’ve pretty much decided that I’m not playing anymore. The scale of my disentanglement will be in direct correlation with my getting shorter by the minute fuse. Even I’m not sure what I mean by that but the general timbre is correct.

Winter doldrums?

Join Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. this week for two hours of uplifting songs about bears, hot dogs and grandma! Um...feeling better yet?

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24th / OTTO'S SHRUNKEN HEAD /538 East 14th Street (just west of Avenue B) in ol' Manhattan's East Village / Two neo-classical shows, from 8pm sharp until 10pm / No cover!

Most sincerely,

Michael

Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.

"Ballads, Boogies & Blues"

A missive from Ericland.

ATTENBERG (Trailer) from filmswelike on Vimeo.

"Attenberg" is a strangely compulsive piece. It combines some genuine heart with some toe-curlingly awkward moments to arrive at an downbeatly positive conclusion. Must admit to the hairs standing up on my neck when the credit music cut in. One thing I would say is that the main character Marina is more of an Alan Vega fan than outsight Suicide but many of you will enjoy the exchanges and the way that the music is cut in there, paricularly with regard to "Bebop Kid". I was hoping the director would be there to explain the connection but she wasn't.

There's another aspect to the soundtrack that is cool also but I won't spoil that. For those of you around these parts, the film will be screened again this afternoon at the Cineworld megaplex. Not sure where it stands with regards to distribution in any given territory. I imagine it'll make the rounds on DVD but would be best enjoyed on the big rather than the flat screen.

"The Blank Generation" programme afterwards took place in exactly the same room as the last Suicide show in Scotland. When the CCA opened. It's more of a lecture hall vibe than a proper cinematic experience but it was good to see "Punking Out" with other people. many of whom weren't even born when the material was shot. It was all running late so I left to make the traipse home. Through the war torn streets that is Glasgae on a Saturday night.

Today it's the restored version of "The African Queen" and then more no-wave shenanigans. Topped off with another run through the jungle on this an "auld firm" day.