RIP - Bert Jansch

(Thanks to Brother Don for the link)

Viv Albertine

Thursday November 3rd – The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh (with The Tango Rhums)

Friday November 4th – Beat Generator Live!, Dundee
(with The Creeping Ivies, more support acts to be announced)

Saturday November 5th – Secret Show, details to be announced closer to the time

Sunday November 6th – Mono, Glasgow (with Aggi Doom)

Viv Albertine, ex-guitarist and main songwriter for highly influential, all female punk, and indeed Post-Punk band, The Slits, plays her first ever Scottish solo dates in November. A founding member of The Flowers of Romance with Sid Vicious, a band of legendary proportions in the punk scheme of things, but who never wrote a song or played a gig; and latterly of The 49 Americans, and Adrian Sherwood’s Dub-influenced collective, New Age Steppers. Viv retreated from Rock’n’Roll to study film-making in 1982 after the demise of The Slits, then working mainly as a director, mostly for television, throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s. Her freelance directing work included stints with the BBC and the British Film Institute

In 2009, she began performing as a solo artist, playing venues around London showcasing new material.. In March 2010 she released a four-song debut solo E.P. titled Flesh on Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace! label.

She additionally recorded a cover version of David Bowie's Letter to Hermione for the Bowie tribute album We Were So Turned On: A Tribute to David Bowie which was released on September 6, 2010.

Viv Albertine's debut solo album is scheduled for release in 2012, her first major recorded work in 25 years, and she is currently writing a book, to be published in tandem with the album release.

I'm having some computer problems so it seems like a good time to leave you with the latest David Lynch protege... I guess that it's not particularly safe for work either visually or sonically. Ain't them the breaks.

Maybe a wee recap is in order. The weekend disappeared faster than one would have hoped but the twisted turns weren’t completely devoid of entertainment.

Saw a couple of movies… “Fright Night” – a remake – isn’t too bad and is savvy and stupid enough to entertain. Mid way between an episode of Buffy and True Blood lite. It’s pretty good Saturday afternoon mind candy. Not a classic but neither is it an utter waste of two hours.

Which is more than can be said for “Cowboys and Aliens”. True tripe but not of a very high order. Liked the premise but is there some kind of union agreement where all monsters are modelled on a cross between Stripe and “Alien” (a la the original Ridley Scott-fest). Gave that guy Daniel Craig a chance and he blew it – unless his part was playing a lump of wood. In that case C+A is oscar material. Even as mindless pish goes, this was pushng it. Shame really because of the two, I didn’t expect this to be the clunker.

RIP - Sylvia Robinson

I just noticed this on David Scott's fb...

RIP - Bobby Henry

Thanks to Stefan for reminding me about this top notch blast from the past outta Norway... not safe for work probably.

Stream of unconsciousness… I need to be out that door soon and will undoubtedly collapse on the sofa when I return. Not because of strong drink or any other kind of stimulant I hasten to add.

Anyway it occurred to me that one of the few saving graces of “One Day” was the inclusion of Derek Amitri’s “Roll To Me” in the soundtrack. In some ways, they were Glasgow’s version of The Smithereens. I also like the one about “Always The Last To Know”.Is that the title? Can't recall.

Anyway yes – afore I go, the fifth birthday of a favourite haunt is coming up. Really hope that I can stop off for a visit soon but in lieu of that… here are the details of this years shindig.

RIP - David Croft

Say what? Say hey! It's a double dose of Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. this week with a return to Otto's (complete with free raffle prizes!) and a final visit to Hank's Saloon for the Brooklyn Country Music Festival...

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th / OTTO'S SHRUNKEN HEAD / 538 East 14th Street (just west of Avenue B) in ol' Manhattan /
Two prize-winning shows, from 8:00 sharp until 10:00 / No cover / This month featuring a *free raffle* of semi-fabulous prizes!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1st / HANK'S SALOON / It's day two of the eighth annual "Brooklyn Country Music Festival"! /46 Third Avenue (at the corner of Atlantic Avenue) in Brooklyn / One SIT & Die set at 11pm -- and no cover!

See the full lineup at:
www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=195691533824971/

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

Things are a wee bit out of my control in these parts of late, hence the erratic nature of content.

It’s gone from seemingly having all the time in the world to well, not having that. There’s a whole bunch of things I need to get to and will do when the gittin’ is possible. Finding the time to just listen to and read stuff has been engulfed.

Did get to the pictures these past two afternoons though, saw "One Day" which isn't so great - a bit wummin-y but I don't mind staring at Anne Hathaway for a bit. Also wondered if the director had clocked Matt and Kim's "Lesson's Learned" video.

On the other hand today's offering "The Guard" is really, really good. I would have made one small change to the outro but other than that - excellent. It's like Bill Forsyth directing a bizarro world "Rush Hour" scripted by Graham Linehan. Trust me on this one, it's cool and twisted. pity it's not a pilot for a TV show.

The news that REM split doesn’t really trouble my world. They had a few good songs but I never saw them. There were peripheral aspects to them that have some resonance though. Such as getting Murmur through the mail from Field Marshall Peter Zaremba when those Fleshtones were on IRS. My friend Scott McCaughey toured with them for many moons and most recently I guess the tie up with The Bambi Molesters on Sonic Bullets. They were fans of great music and supported it, even although their own fare was often a tad “meh”. It’s not their fault they shifted a lot of records. Damn, look at the time, gotta split again.

It's that time again...

Hello,

We are extremely pleased to announce the return of the Monorail Film Club.

First up, this Sunday we have Billy The Kid, Jennifer Venditti's powerful coming of age film. ‘I’m not black, I’m not white, not foreign, just different in the mind. Different brains, that’s all,’explains fifteen-year-old Billy. Intuitive commentary and intimate verite footage reveal a unique attitude as he responds to a painful childhood, first time love, and his experience as an outsider in small town Maine. By turns humorous and disturbing, this portrait challenges the viewer to understand a triumphant teen on his own terms.

The screening will be preceded by a short film The Waltzer Boys (20 mins), directed by Martin Clark. The Waltzer Boys is a charming documentary about the magic and lure of fairgrounds in small towns in the north of Scotland.

Martin Clark will be introducing the screening. He is a Glasgow- based photographer and filmmaker. Join the film club after the screening in Café Cosmo.

As ever we recommend booking tickets in advance from the GFT box office on 0141 332 6535.

Billy The Kid - Venditti, USA, 2007 - Sunday 25 September at 7.50pm.

Death by Unga Bunga - Nudist Beach from Rolf K Bang on Vimeo.