Boom...boomboom...kick...



Boom...boomboom...kick...



Boom...boomboom...kick...



Boom...boomboom...kick...



Talent borrows, genius steals.

Labels: music

It's funny. When I was growing up, I sort of assumed that when you reached a certain stage of adulthood, that you'd reach a level of equilibrium. That essentially, things would even out and there wouldn't be any more problems or disasters. It is fair to say that, as yet, this has not been the case. Not that, even in my state of arrested development, I'm still experiencing the same teenage angst. Just that your problems and anxieties mature with you.

But part of me still wonders if there's an age where you do achieve that sort of stability. And then I wonder, doesn't that get boring after a while? Is that where life ceases to be exciting? I think it's fair to say that I'm never going to be entirely happy. Oh well. The solution to such woes hasn't changed much since my teenage years, though. Music, turned up LOUD.

1. Foo Fighters - The Pretender
2. Paramore - Turn It Off
3. Huggy Bear - Hopscotch
4. Rage Against The Machine - Sleep Now In The Fire
5. Annie - I Don't Like Your Band
6. Charlotte Hatherley - Colours
7. Burial - Night Bus
8. Weezer - Undone (The Sweater Song)
9. Blondie - Picture This
10. Van Halen - Jump

You've got to roll with the punches to get to what's real.

Labels: girls, it's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine), music, philosophy, top 10's

What a few weeks. Weddings in Winchester, Weston-Super-Mare and Teeside, and meeting a wonderful brand new person in Cambridge. All terribly grown up, but very much counterbalanced by my single, media life back in London. In fact, life in London is a different kind of reality. The rest of the country seems somehow completely disconnected from the world that I am used to, and therefore feels a little unreal. Although the obvious fact is that it is London life that is unreal. I'm just tuned in to it.



But there has been fun in London's strange parallel universe too. A trip to Wembley Stadium to see Coldplay and very special guests was a treat. I won't bother to try and convert unbelievers, but they're probably the only act I would pay to see in such a huge venue. White Lies, Girls Aloud and Jay-Z all play their respective cameos perfectly, but the space only truly works for Coldplay. It is uncomplicated, uncluttered communal euphoria. We all know it's terminally uncool, clunky and almost embarrassingly earnest, but fuck it, I love it.



And in a very different space, I see Charlotte Hatherley (who, on Ash's 2004 cover of the Buzzcock's 'Everybody's Happy Nowadays', played alongside Chris Martin). I catch her at London's Borderline; a frustratingly small venue for her, frankly. She has some great songs, but in the preceding week I speak to no less than three girls who all seem to hold a grudge against her for having the audacity to join (and significantly improve) Ash's fledgling line up all those years ago. Let it go, girls. I personally can't wait for the new album.



Then there was Florence + The Machine at Shepherd's Bush Empire. Now, the Flo backlash already appears to be gathering momentum post-Mercurys, so I won't add to it. Being that this is the fifth time I've seen her in just over a year (supporting MGMT, on the NME Tour, at Radio 1's Big Weekend and supporting Blur), the set is now perhaps a little over familiar. And as impressive as her voice is, over a full headline set it does get a little... wearing. But hey. A more enlightening discovery is the xx in support, who are almost drowned out by the disinterested Florence fans. They're superb. Sparse, dark, minimalist, gloomy, and absolutely perfect. Their cover of Womack and Womack (and Lovestation's) 'Teardrops' is exquisite. The album is ace, too.



Then finally, finally, finally... Pixies at Brixton Academy. A band that I, like a vast number of the fans attending, got into late. I make no apologies for that, being that they released their masterpiece Doolittle, played tonight in it's entirety, when I was nine. Their legend stands tall in alternative music, and tonight I really see why. The records speak for themselves, but live they are taught, uncompromising, ferocious and quite simply fucking brilliant. Despite their combined physical age of 183, there is not an inch of flab in their performance. It is relentless and dreamlike. I jump around like a lunatic for the majority of the set. Not for a moment does it seem like some nostalgia trip. It feels utterly in the now, perhaps because they were never huge initially, they've never become stale or anachronistic. It's a masterclass in rock. No frills, just extraordinary songs. Ok I'll stop gushing now...

1. Pixies - Doolittle LP.
2. Mumford and Sons - Little Lion Man
3. Martha & The Muffins - Echo Beach
4. The Horrors - Who Can Say
5. Charlotte Hatherley - Grey Will Fade
6. James - Laid
7. Biffy Clyro - The Captain
8. Boards Of Canada - 1969
9. Sleeper - Inbetweener
10. Guns n' Roses - November Rain

Greatest wedding themed video ever. Best cake jumping trousers on...

Labels: gigs, london, music, top 10's

I remember when I started to read the NME in the mid-90s I would devour its entire contents. But then I would turn to the crossword. And much to my frustration, I'd manage to get about five of the answers, almost always to contemporary clues. They'd sit marrooned in a ocean of empty white squares, mocking me, like an abandoned game of Minesweeper. So instead I turned back to the latest spat between Blur and Oasis and thought nothing more of it.

Then, around a year or so ago, with time having healed the wounds of failure, I attempted the crossword once more. And to my astonishment, I completed it. Not straight away, but at a reasonable speed. And then the next week's. And the next. Every so often a clue would stump me. But I can and do complete the majority of crosswords by the time the next week's issue comes around. Fifteen wasted years of relentlessly pouring sounds and words into my brain have served some sort of purpose.

But it's one of those accomplishments that I'm not entirely sure I'm pleased about. It pretty much confirms me as a lost cause music geek. But I think I knew that anyway. Only other lost cause music geeks will be remotely impressed. I certainly won't be using it as a fresh chat up line for girls... however musically geekified they themselves are...

"Hey baby, how about we go back to mine for some fine wine, beautiful music and a hard, long think about what 7 Down is? I thought it was The Auteurs, but that doesn't quite fit..."

1. Elastica - Never Here
2. LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
3. Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
4. The Vaselines - Son Of A Gun
5. Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
6. Dananananaykroyd – Fall For You
7. The Beatles – Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds (Remastered)
8. New Order – Regret
9. The Chicks - Daria
10. Florence + The Machine - You've Got The Love (xx Remix)

"The Animals! Yes, it's The Animals! You gorgeous creature, kiss me..."

Could happen.

No.

Labels: geek, girls, guilty pleasures, music

Over the weekend, I finished reading Haruki Murakami's Sputnik Sweetheart at my parent's house. Another haunting novel from the author, with Murakami once again riffing on the themes of loneliness, loss and unrequited love. So, pretty much business as usual, but still quite wonderful. As far as I'm concerned, you can't go wrong with that sort of thing. Feeling spiritually satiated, I set down the completed book and picked up the other novel I'd brought with me. Stephanie Meyer's Eclipse aka Twilight III: The Revenge (probably. I've not got far into it as yet...)

Now, I have to confess, I've been completely sucked in by the Twilight series. Having dismissed Harry Potter out of hand as a kid's book, I can only plead that Twilight is at least a teenager's book. Melodramatic, moody and often ridiculous: I just love it! And in a vain effort to balance out some of the female furore surrounding Robert Patinson, I must say I'm rather taken by Kristen Stewart, who takes the lead of Bella in the films.



Um. Yes please. When's the new movie out?

Anyway, yes, so no apologies for loving Twilight. A friend described it to me as like junk food. You know it's not good for you, but you can quite resist it. Which is so true. And as I seem to be stuck in a state of permanent arrested development circa about 16, it seems perfectly appropriate. Although I do wonder at what point that stops being charmingly endearing and starts to stray into the worrying territory of Bryan Adams' risible '18 til I die'...

...probably about ten years ago...

1. Stars - 14 Forever
2. Johnny Boy - You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes and You Get What You Deserve
3. School of Seven Bells - Face To Face On High Places
4. The Go! Team - Bottle Rocket
5. Camera Obscura - French Navy
6. Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire
7. Maps - Let Go Of The Fear
8. Golden Silvers - True No 9 Blues (True Romance)
9. Bloc Party - Signs
10. Coldplay - Life In Technicolor II

Gravity release me and don't ever hold me down, now my feet won't touch the ground.

Labels: books, movies, music, top 10's

They say if you love something, let it go.

If it comes back to you, it's yours forever.

If it doesn't, then it was never meant to be.

Well, dear precious readers, I let you go, set you free, turned my back on you, with tears in my eyes.

And yet, and yet... if you're reading this now, then... yes, you came back to me, just like the saying said you would. Just as I planned. No... as I desperately hoped.

And now you're MINE.

FOREVER!

YOU FOOLS.

Anyway, yes, top 10!

1. Stars - Ageless Beauty.
2. Paramore - Ignorance
3. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
4. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Higher Than The Stars
5. Charlotte Hatherley - White (Squarepusher Remix)
6. Metric - Gimme Sympathy [and I choose The Beatles]
7. The Big Pink - Dominos
8. Pierre Henry - Psyche Rock
9. The Guild - (Do You Want To Date My) Avatar
10. The Cure - The Perfect Girl

The first time I heard The Big Pink single, all I could think of was pizza.

Labels: blogging, top 10's

Heheh. Toothpaste for dinner rocks.

Labels: comics, music

Huh? Wait.. What? Oh. Er. Yeah. Yeah, so I went to Glastonbury. And. Er. I didn't actually go to bed on Sunday night. At all. Yeah, er, we watched the sun come up over the stone circle. Which was cool. And then we got wet. And muddy. Again. And took the tent down and came home. And after the world's longest shower, I tried to stay awake as late as I could on Monday until I collapsed faced down on my bed fully clothed, with my trainers still on. And then I woke up and went to work today. Which was... uh... y'know, interesting. But I don't think I'll be doing that again in a hurry.



So, yes, it was "the best Glastonbury ever", the same as every year. Except for the first time I went with my gorgeous girl, who was determined to pack in all the exciting things I'd done at my last three Glastonbury's into her first, thus nearly killing me. But it made it even more fun to see her little face light up as band after band wowed us with their wonderful music, the weather dazzled us with SUN and RAIN and THUNDER and LIGHTNING, and we sampled far too much Brother's 7% Pear Cider.



I fully intend to write a full, exhaustive review... but I intended to do that last year and totally failed. So in the meantime, here's my 17 feel good hits of the summer (it was supposed to be 15, but I have no discipline these days):

Friday
1. The Maccabees - Can You Give It
2. Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains
3. The Specials - A Message To You Rudy
4. The Streets - Turn The Page
5. British Sea Power - Waving Flags
6. Animal Collective - My Girls

Saturday
7. Eagles Of Death Metal - I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)
8. Spinal Tap - Big Bottom
9. La Roux - In For The Kill
10. Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure
11. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - Born To Run

Sunday
12. Art Brut - Good Weekend
13. Charlotte Hatherley - Behave
14. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
15. Bat For Lashes - Daniel
16. Bon Iver - Skinny Love
17. Blur - For Tomorrow



What do you mean "Michael Jackson's dead"?

Labels: blur, festivals, top 10's

"Somebody was trying to tell me that CDs are better than vinyl because they don't have any surface noise. I said, 'Listen, mate, life has surface noise.'" John Peel.

I love that each new generation of musical media has it's own sound...

The pop and crackle of vinyl.
The whirr and clunk of 8-track.
The warble and hiss of cassette.
The skip and glitch of CD.
The fizz and flange of Mp3.

I wonder what the next noise will be.

1. Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
2. Nirvana - Come As You Are
3. Pat Benatar - Hit Me With Your Best Shot
4. Dweeb - Chart Raider/Space Invader
5. Bikini Kill - Rebel Girl
6. The Auteurs - Lenny Valentino
7. Le Vicarious Bliss Pop Experience - Together In Electric Dreams
8. Prince - Alphabet Street
9. Transvision Vamp - Baby I Don't Care
10. The Go! Team - Everyone's A VIP To Someone

Anyone coming to see me DJ tomorrow can expect to hear some, if not all, of the above. With plenty of surface noise... Joy!

Labels: djing, top 10's

Electro androgyny?

Soft emotional inner core shielded beneath tough girl exterior?

Ridiculous ginger hair?

Uh-oh. Developing a severe crush on Elly Jackson of La Roux. And I rather suspect she's trouble. Especially following Patrick Wolf's claim that her act was signed by his old record company the very day after they'd dropped him. A cat fight I wouldn't like to get in the middle of. The fur wouldn't half fly... (There's enough of it between them.)

Lucky there's room enough in my world for both, whatever they think of each other. La Roux have tunes and she can't half sing. Plus she possesses that indefinable pop star quality of seeming completely untouchable and otherworldly, yet simultaneously totally vulnerable and delicate. And with a pretend French name to boot. Can we get a Jacques Lu Cont remix from the new Thin White Duke Stuart Price please?



Kudos to Patrick though. After being dropped for evidently not being commercial enough, he makes an album with Alec Empire, once of German anarcho noise-terrorists Atari Teenage Riot. This is a very good thing indeed.

1. La Roux - In For The Kill (Skream's Lets Get Ravey Remix)
2. Hole - Boys On The Radio
3. Bat For Lashes - Use Somebody
4. Ash - Return Of White Rabbit
5. Gossip - Heavy Cross (Fred Falke Remix)
6. Gorillaz - M1A1
7. Little Boots - New In Town
8. Friendly Fires - Jump In The Pool (Thin White Duke Remix)
9. The Buzzcocks - What Do I Get?
10. Patrick Wolf - Vulture

If I was gay, I'd have a massive crush on Patrick Wolf too.

Obviously.

Labels: girls, music, top 10's

Continuing the recent Britpop revival, I've been flicking back over John Harris's The Last Party. A sort of behind the scenes story of Britpop, with added Politics. But whereas most "behind the scenes" stories are dull and indulgent, there are in fact a great many skeletons in the Britpop mafia's closets for our John to discover. Perhaps I was a little naive as a teen, but I had no idea there was so much debauchery going on behind the sleeves of my favourite records. I know it's supposed to be Sex n Drugs n Rock n Roll, but there seemed to be far, far more of the first two than the latter going on at the time. Especially concerning of my favourite bands of the era, Elastica.



Their debut album was one of the last I bought on cassette. I've since rebought it on CD and then again on second hand vinyl, such is my admiration for it. It was a trasitionary record for me, one that felt punkier, wittier and sexier than everything else surrounding it. Justine's orgasmic scream in the middle of 'All Nighter' got my 15 year old heart pumping, 'Car Song' was about loving it in a motor and 'Stutter' was all about male failure to perform. It was powerful, confident and genuinely intimidating to my teenage self. And thoroughly educational, in a very good way. Just a shame that they had to go and blow it all by doing shit loads of heroin, shagging each other and falling out big time. But, hey, we forgive them.

Because I adore this record. Absolutely. It hasn't dated one bit. Yeah, sure, the riffs are all ripped off from Wire and The Stranglers, but none of their songs had any of the wry seductiveness of Elastica's. It is one of my all time regrets that I missed out on seeing them play live in my home town in 1995 (the gig sold out before I pulled my finger out). And for ages, I've been after a decent Elastica T Shirt. Justine wore a great Adam and the Ants T Shirt on their debut's sleeve. I wanted to pay a similar tribute to her band. But unlike the craze for retro rock T Shirts, we haven't got to the 90's yet. Searching ebay and google, there was the odd one or two to be found, but none of any quality or featuring the iconic sleeve above. So I thought, fuck it, I'll make my own...



And I did! Proper Punk Rock DIY aesthetic. And I'm pretty pleased with it. Just a photocopier, some card, a stanley knife and some black & red fabric paints. I love it, and can't wait to wear it to Blur's reunion shows this summer. Well, always got to be the contrary one, haven't i?

Labels: music, punk, the 1990's

It's just over a month until Blur's Sunday night headlining slot at Glastonbury, and I'm starting to feel genuine, but also nervous, excitement. I've seen the band three times before, and each of those times was unique. But the fact that they've sprung from the dead after several years, and at Glastonbury no less, makes this feel extra special. I keep thinking of favourite songs, personal lyrics, and just the moments in a record that make me feel weightless: the wail of feedback over Alex's chiming bass in Sing, the swooping backwards drums at the start of This Is A Low and the radio chatter over the coda of Beetlebum.



I often cursed the band at the time for failing to make what I considered one truly classic record. One that compared with the greats from the past. But classics don't appear ready made. It's a status granted by the passage of time, viewing retrospectively with hindsight and context. And of course, with the personal memories attached to those recordings, thanks to the unique magical ability music has to conjure up emotions from otherwise lost days. So even records which at the time might have appeared a bit daft, now have an air of pathos about them. (You know the one I'm talking about...)



The headline spot at Glastonbury is always an experience. Last year I watched Kings of Leon step up to the plate and confound my expectations. Then Jay-Z absolutely stormed the Saturday night. Previously I've been utterly entranced by the extraordinary Radiohead and REM, seduced by the sublimely enigmatic White Stripes, and charmed by the epic yet humble Coldplay. But this is the one I've really been waiting for, and didn't really think I'd ever see. I'M SO EXCITED!

1. Blur - No Monsters In Me
2. Blur - Luminous
3. Blur - Young & Lovely
4. Blur - Magpie
5. Blur - Tame
6. Blur - Threadneedle Street
7. Blur - St Louis
8. Blur - Theme From An Imaginary Film
9. Blur - When The Cows Come Home
10. Blur - Bustin' & Dronin'

You know when you're a lost cause when you have to narrow down your 10 favourite B-Sides...

Labels: blur, festivals, music

I love it when things work out just right. So far this year, I've fallen in love with two songs by two very different artists. And the last two weekends, I saw both play those wonderful songs live. And really quite extraordinarily loudly.

The first?

Deadmau5 - 'I Remember' at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Swindon, 9th May.



In fact, his whole set was superb. Any DJ who arrives on stage on the back of a BMX whilst wearing a giant mousehead gets my vote. But more than that... the music is great and heavy house. The graphics are superb. The last dance artists I can think of who combined such great imagery and costume with superb tunes were Daft Punk, and it can't be a coincidence that Deadmau5 drops a remix of Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger mashed with Muse's Knights of Cydonia in the middle of his set. Just wonderful.

But it's 'I Remember' that I've waited for, and when it drops, it's just magical. Deceptively simple, bittersweet, vocal led house music. It's been a stressful few weeks at work, but at it's worse, a blast of this track at high volume just seems to soothe my soul. It's just gorgeous. It will take something truly magical to topple it from the position of record of the year. Although...

The second:

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - 'Stay Alive' at Brixton Windmill, 16th May.



Twee-gaze. A phrase that will either fill you with utter contempt or childlike joy. Couple that description with the very name of the band, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, and you're going to jump to a few pretty sizable conclusions. And you'd probably be right. I absolutely adore them. The influences are clear and obvious, the jangley twee pop of The Pastels and The Field Mice with the noise of Jesus and Mary Chain and early My Bloody Valentine. It's just gorgeous.

Live, they're louder, which is good, and appear to be just as sweet as they sound on record. ("Man it's hot in here, but the cardigans have to stay on, those are the rules.") But the lyrics are what makes them special, far darker and paranoid than their sound and image would suggest. This song is so beautiful and wonderful. It jangles and fuzzes and coos and swoons, with a breakdown that makes my heart sing. And yet underneath such sugar coated shimmering...

Can't you see his arms are a hell and you won't ever leave?

Just wonderful. Roll on the rest of the summer.

Here are ten more lovely bits of live joy from Radio 1's Big Weekend and my weekend of fun at Brixton's Windmill...

1. Florence & The Machine - 'Rabbit Heart Raise It Up'
2. Calvin Harris - 'I'm Not Alone'
3. Temper Trap - 'Science Of Fear'
4. Friendly Fires - 'Jump In The Pool'
5. Basement Jaxx - 'Where's Your Head At'

6. Help Stamp Out Loneliness - 'Rush Hour'
7. Betty & The Werewolves - 'Euston Station'
8. Sad Day For Puppets - 'Marble Gods'
9. Freshkills - 'I Know I Know'
10. Vivian Girls - 'Where Do You Run To'

Slight contrast between the two there. Equally ace for very different reasons.

Labels: festivals, gigs, music, top 10's

So I slink back to by faithful old blog, with Twitstick on my collar. It's been waiting up all night for me, worried sick. My dinner's waiting in the oven, and this is going to take some explaining...

Yeah, as Amy rumbled me in the Comments Box of my last post, a solid month ago, I've foresaken this place a wee bit. Twitter is partially to blame, but also a home web phone broadband TV failure that thrust me back to 1999 for over a week (trying to do anything via Dial Up is like trying to get a Camel Light through the eye of a needle). Plus, other stuff. You know. Life. Getting in the way, as it is wont to do. But in a very good way.

There's been lots of fun had. Wonderful live noise with Eagles Of Death Metal, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Doves. Jaunts around the cultural delights of the South Bank. An eyeball to eyeball encounter with an actual shark at the London Aquarium. I dressed up as Dave Tennant's Doctor Who. Again. Oh! And I succeeded in giving up sugar for Lent! And then fell off that wagon in quite considerable style. Let's just say the shop assistants in Hotel Chocolat are easily the politest, sweetest and most persuasive pushers in the game...

And this, of course, is what I've been listening to.

1. The Maccabees - Love You Better
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
3. Sugar - Helpless
4. Morjac & Fred Falke feat Sarah Tyler - When We Were Together
5. Jon Hopkins - Light Through The Veins
6. Art Brut - Alcoholics Unanimous
7. Deadmau5 feat Kaskade - I Remember
8. Doves - Kingdom Of Rust
9. La Roux - In For The Kill (Lifelike Remix)
10. The Field Mice - It Isn't Forever

And it wasn't forever. Been doing this for five years now, and sometimes I need a break. But I've not given up on it, not yet...

Labels: blogging, top 10's

Ok, something I've been meaning to gift you for a while. A podcast, of sorts, from a mixtape my DJ partner and I did for our regular night, Rock n Roll Jumblesale. That said, it's a bit different from our usual act of turning up and playing one record after the other. We've had a bit more fun with it. The first half from me is a mish mash of familiar tracks, whereas Tom's second half is more conventional formwise, but with a fantastic original selection of tracks.

Anyway, it's iTunes ready, and without blowing my own trumpet, I'm really pleased with it, and the quality of the tracks included speak for themselves. Approximate tracklisting in the comments box. Feel free to add your opinions, too...

You can download it here (right click, and Save As)

Enjoy!

Labels: djing, music, podcast

In the 19th Century, they invented the wonderful musical box. The wind up ones that played tunes on the teeth of a steel comb. I distinctly remember my Grandmother having a beautiful jewelry box with a ballerina on top, that would dance as the music played. As a child, it appeared to be truly magical, creating music from nothing but raw metal and minimal elbow grease.

Now it's the 21st Century, and I've got a magical music box all of my own. Except it can play thousands of songs, any that I care to choose from. And videos too. And photos. And as I lay on my bed last night, listening to it as I was reading, it dawned on me how wondrous a thing it is. I mean, we're a bit cynical about technology now, but really... wow. All that artistic intent, that endeavour, the musical creativity and talent distilled into 1's and 0's squeezed inside its modest dimensions. I mean, how cool! And there I was, using it to listen to Elton John's 'Tiny Dancer' and grinning a grin.

1. Elton John - Tiny Dancer
2. Shout Out Louds - Tonight I Have To Leave It
3. Tim Buckley - Song To The Siren
4. The Fall - Theme From Sparta FC #2
5. The Prodigy - Warriors Dance
6. The Velvet Underground - Run Run Run
7. The Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight
8. Propellerheads - Take California
9. Elastica - How He Wrote Elastica Man
10. REO Speedwagon - Can't Fight The Feeling

Ah bugger it, the bloody battery's run out!

Stupid piece of junk...

Labels: gadgets, geek, music

Coming back from the supermarket, late Sunday afternoon. Pleasantly hungover after a night out at premier subterranean bohemian hang out Shunt at London Bridge for the girl's birthday. Ipod on shuffle, and Pulp's 'Mis-Shapes' pops up, sounding wonderfully fresh. I've got a feeling, looking back, that it was the first CD single I ever bought (before that it was all cassette tapes around here, lad.) And I recall scrutinising the lyrics on the sleeve in the way that only 15 year olds have the time and will to do. And I thought, maybe one day, it'll be true...

Mis-shapes, mistakes, misfits, we'd like to go to town but we can't risk it
Oh cause they just want to keep us out.
You could end up with a smash in the mouth just for standing out.
Oh really. Brothers, sisters, can't you see?
The future's owned by you and me.
There won't be fighting in the street.
They think they've got us beat, but revenge is going to be so sweet.
We're making a move, we're making it now, we're coming out of the side-lines.
Just put your hands up - it's a raid yeah:
We want your homes, we want your lives,
we want the things you won't allow us.
We won't use guns, we won't use bombs
We'll use the one thing we've got more of - that's our minds.

And 14 years on, I think it is true. I've left those who I felt suffocated by as a teenager far behind, and I'm doing things my way, with friends who've done the same thing: the geeks who inherited the earth. And it's really cool. And that Jarvis can't half write a cracking song.

Labels: geek, getting old, music, the 1990's

What?

Ok, so I admit it! I've been cheating on my blog with a new playmate. I tried to resist as best I could, but yeah yeah, I've been sucked into Twitter. What of it?



Anyway, if you too have been assimilated, do feel free to follow me. And if not, well, I promise to pay my traditional blog more often (funny how something only becomes traditional when it's usurped by something new). Maybe it's the sugar depravation. Yup, over 30 days in, and I've not sinned once. Only 10 days left of Lent. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to Easter chocolate goodness...

Anyhow, lots has been going on, I've just been a tad rubbish. Needless to say, the appearance of the sun has brightened up the world significantly. The Boat Race on Sunday was great fun, if only due to the complete lack of interest most people had in the event itself. The BBQ and free flowing beverages were a worthy distraction. Anyway, one of the blue teams won, but noone sank. Boo. Still, the festival season starts in just over a month's time! A far finer excuse for braving the elements, drink in hand. I can almost taste the pear cider...



1. The Delgados - Everybody Come Down
2. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Kurt Cobain's Cardigan
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero
4. Eagles Of Death Metal - Cherry Cola
5. Chromeo - Bonafied Lovin'
6. Minor Threat - Out Of Step
7. The Pastels - Breaking Lines
8. Shout Out Louds - Tonight I Have To Leave It
9. Weezer - The World Has Turned And Left Me Here
10. Gay Dad - To Earth With Love

Played the very last track at my DJ night on Friday and got whoops of joy. Which was more than I could've hoped for having picked it up on 10inch in Camden for a couple of quid a few days beforehand. Time for a Gay Dad revival?

I'm gonna go with "No".

Labels: blogging, music, parklife

Sunday, late morning. Running late. Rushing through King's Cross tube station on the way back home to see the folks. Spot a huge biker dude on the escalator coming the other way. And he's ticking all the boxes: clad head to toe in leathers, dark glasses even though we're underground, balding hair swept back in a ponytail and a fierce expression that could kill at 30 paces. And clutched tightly in his cletched fist? A delightful bunch of pink carnations for his Mum.

Magic.

Happy (belated) Mothers' Day to Mums everywhere!

Labels: family, london

If I'm honest, I did think about getting tickets to see Michael Jackson. After all, his musical legacy speaks for itself. Even the late stuff like 'You Rock My World' retains a trace of his genius, and you know about the rest. But... I don't really want to give that man my money. And I don't think I could sit through a two hour tribute to his messiah complex. If Michael Jackson's the King Of Pop, then I'm a republican.

I would, however, pay a fortune to see Pulp.

Labels: gigs, music, the 1990's