Some good and bad things

Yeah, i've not posted much. No excuses apart from laziness. I hope everyone got fat and fulfilled over christmas. I got neither... although I made a good effort at getting fat I think i'm genetically predisposed to being a skinny twat.

So I guess i'd better do that whole thing that people do where you make loads of lists of things that happened last year. Well I was going to go 'hey, i'm no sheep. I don't need to do no lists. They were so 2004'. But then I realised that a: most lists i've read have been crap, b: i'm getting on a bit and if I don't keep reminding myself what i've done I will forget it and c: i don't have much else to write about.

So as the first part of a saga that will probably last long into January, here are some good and bad concerts what i saw.

First... the good! Hurrah!
1: Maximo Park, Hammersmith Palais
I love their album so so much, but had been sorely disappointed the last time i'd seen them (see below). Well everything just seemed to slot into place at Le Palais. An up for it crowd, amazing venue, rocking sound, and Paul Smith feeding off all this to put on the perfomance of a lifetime. Surely there's no better frontman in rock today. I can't find the words to describe how much I enjoyed this...
2: Arcade Fire, ULU
Until Maximo Park, I didn't think it was possible for anything to surpass this in 2005. I don't remember ever being so mesmerised by a stage show - just keeping tabs on who was playing what took all my attention. They finished by marching past me through the crowd, banging drums over their heads. The power was well & truly on. It took a good while for my mouth to close properly.
3: Arctic Monkeys, Oxford Zodiac
I may have mentioned this lot once or twice. No doubt everyone will hate them next year as they trot out number one single after number one single.. but hearing the entire audience singing along to every word of every song before they've even released anything was quite astounding. Standing close enough to get splattered by Alex's sweat, I can now imagine what it's like to lick the armpit of a genius. And i'd often wondered.
4: Hard-Fi, Notting Hill Carnival
Any gig is improved by being in an intimate venue. When the intimate venue is outside, in the middle of carnival, with a deafening soundsystem & a band at the top of their game, you know you're quids in. Particularly when the gig is free. Hooray for free gigs! And hooray for Hard-Fi for letting me imagine what it would have been like to see The Clash.
5: Bloc Party, Kentish Town Forum
Why is Bloc Party's drummer never recognised as the genius of the band that he is? Mind you, they're all gods... however I think the drummer should get some more love. He bangs his drums very hard. Perhaps in a related occurance, this was the first of many times this year that I thought 'ooh, it's a bit loud isn't it'. I start to worry about my ears y'know. I really ought to buy some earplugs, but they're not very cool are they. Particularly since they make them a yellow colour that makes it look as if you have a Father Jack-style wax problem.
6: Live 8
I didn't go, but even watching it on a portable tv at my sister's flatwarming party with thirty other people I was overwhelmed by the power of 70s rawk. Pink Floyd. The Who. Macca. Even Razorlight were excellent... which is not something I thought i'd ever say. Yeah, it was shit, and it changed fuck all. But it was good shit.
7: The Pixies, Ally Pally
It would have been higher but I stood at the wrong side of the stage, and was too far away from Kim. If I had ranked these gigs by how sweaty I got, this would have been number one.
8: Super Furry Animals, Somerset House
The best live band in the world. However each time I see them I will be forced to compare it to their gig at the Royal Festival Hall last year. And it will never ever be as good. Because THAT was magic. This was just sorcery. How is the sound coming from behind me? Oh, there are some speakers there.
9: Sigur Ros, Somerset House
A barmy, beautiful, London evening. These four blokes from Iceland crafted a unique blend of beauty and ferocity. Like going to the chair only to find that Brigitte Bardot is pulling the lever.
10: Kaiser Chiefs, Glastonbury
Glastonbury was as amazing as ever, but there were few musical highlights. Kaiser Chiefs were one. They are much maligned, but their album is excellent, and provides a fine accompaniment to singing along while standing knee deep in mud. Dinosaurs rock!

They coudda been contenders:
LCD Soundsystem, Astoria
Whitey, Camden Crawl
Arctic Monkeys, Astoria
Clor, Cargo
Blondie, Shepherds Bush Empire


But with the Ying comes the Yang. And this lot were well yang:

1: Akira The Don, Koko
I'm afraid I don't remember too much about this, except for the realisation at the time that it was quite the most appalling load of rubbish I had ever had the misfortune to experience. Never before has one man's ego been so at odds with the actual talent at his disposal.



2: Kasabian, Ally Pally
The Top Shopped hordes loved it. I was bored into submission. God they were crap.
3: Test Icicles, Kings College
You can't sing, you can't play, you're ugly as fuck. You're gonna be huge.
4: Maximo Park, Koko (Camden Crawl)
A gig that was spoilt by a hard to please London crowd. The band tried, but I left thinking that they only had two good songs (the two from their debut 7"). I was wrong. But why? Biggest disappointment of the year, as I was really looking forward to that one....
5: The Subways, LA2
Grammar school Nirvana fail to be saved by having a cute bassist. They are rubbish.
6: Lady Sovereign, Koko
She was ace, the audience weren't. I went through a phase of going to club NME on a Friday night, but after being the only person in the audience to appreciate both Lady Sov and Out Hud I realised it's full of pricks. Indie snobs fuck off. Unsurprisingly they went mad for The Subways. Yeah, cos they've got guitars n' shit innit.


Sorry if you wanted music and got my idiotic ramblings instead. You think it's christmas or something?

Turn Off Your Television Set

Yay! Thanks to Mike for sending me an MP3 of that track by The Rogers Sisters. I love it lots. Although it sounded considerably more awesome at Trash.

The band are two sisters (surprisingly) who come from Brooklyn via Detroit, plus vocalist / bassist Miyuki Furtado.

I don't know if he's related to Nelly.



They have released quite a few things already, but I'm sure this must be from some sort of forthcoming record, as I can't find any info on it online.

The band are signed to the Too Pure label - which I didn't know still existed, but was once home to PJ Harvey, Stereolab, Th' Faith Healers and the fantastic Seefeel - and is now home to Electrelane and Scout Niblett amongst others.

THE ROGERS SISTERS - WHY WON'T YOU


I only own one song by each of Scout Niblett and Electrelane. They are both bloody good though, so I shall share them here:


SCOUT NIBLETT - KIDNAPPED BY NEPTUNE


ELECTRELANE - FILM MUSIC (JAGZ KOONER MIX) (VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

This is from the first Sonic Mook Experiment compilation. Which is one of those things that's so good I had to buy it on CD and vinyl. Jagz Kooner was in Sabres of Paradise with Andy Weatherall. Electrelane are some cats from Brighton.

When they got together, it was MURRRRRRDERRRRRRRRR.

Get yer rocks off

Last weekend seems a long time ago now, but I guess i'd better update y'all.

First up Blondie on Saturday night. Now I don't actually own a Blondie album, so my knowledge of their tunes could be summed up in two words. 'Greatest Hits'. But when you've got hits as good as these what more do you need? To be honest the first half / two thirds of the show was a little lacklustre... but when they got round to 'Rapture' they took things to another level. Pure disco magic. I wasn't entirely sure about the extended guitar / drum solos in the middle of the song - it went on so long that the whole band had to have a sit down and a breather midway through - but then suddenly the disco came back out of nowhere and the place went bananas. I was thinking that it wasn't very punk rock to have extended guitar solos... but who cares. I didn't. After that it was a rocket full of hits till chucking out time. 'One Way or Another', 'Union City Blues', 'Atomic' and 'Heart of Glass'. Could any other band finish with such a magnificent sequence of songs?

'Atomic' was amusing.. in that the crowd were screaming 'oh, your hair is beautiful' at the start of every single line whether it was the right time or not. I think Debbie gave in after a while & just changed the words to fit. It was great though. Oh yeah.




Then Monday night was Hard-Fi. And jeezus if I thought the Astoria had gone ape-shit for the Arctic Monkeys i'd not seen anything. I had a quick go at getting in downstairs, but it was more packed than an EasyJet flight. And from my vantage point on the balcony it looked like absolute carnage down there!

It took me a little while to get fully into their performance, mainly because with the large venue it suffered in comparison to the gig at Carnival this summer.... but by half-way through the band seemed to hit their stride, the sound got better, and the delerious screams and singalongs from below were sending shivers down my spine. At the end two cannons pumped out a seemingly endless shower of confetti, completely filling the venue with floating ticker tape. It was something like Argentina '78!

I thought the band were awesome, but I was a bit off-put by Richard's banter between songs. It was a bit humourless, and they really didn't need to try and flog a ring-tone / download midway through. Despite this you couldn't help but get carried away with the quality of the songs and the energy in the auditorium. Quite excellent.

So a quick beer or two for refuelling purposes then off to Trash round the corner. For some reason i'd never been before. Well.. the reason is that it's on a Monday night. But if anywhere is worth pulling a sicky for it's here. I'd felt well spoilt having seen those cracking gigs beforehand, but Trash was better than both!

Unfortunately I didn't get there quite early enough to catch all of Hot Chip... however the half-hour or so I saw was everything i'd hoped for. They were quite brilliant. They finished with a truly amazing 'Over and Over', that had me leaping about & punching the air in a way not seen since Wycombe last won at C*lchester United.

The day before i'd managed to pick up a promo of the new 'Over & Over' remixes when out shopping... from which this cracking Naum Gabo (AKA one half of Optimo) version comes. If you enjoyed the original, this is even better. It's not massively different, but improved in all the right places.

HOT CHIP - OVER & OVER (NAUM GABO REMIX)

Hot Chip was only the half of it though.

After a bit of recuperation I headed into the main room, where Erol Alkan was rocking the Trash dancefloor as only he can. If I tell you what he played it'll sound like a bog standard indie disco, but his track selection is amazing; the sound at The End has to be heard to be believed; and some of his dj-tricks - like tweaking the filters ad extremis on DFA 1979 - rewired my brain, knotted my ears, and sent my legs into spasms.

What I can remember he played: Pulp - Babies; The Rogers Sisters - Why Won't You (really fucken amazing. I can't find an mp3 unfortunately, but do listen to it on their myspace page); Interpol - Slow Hands; Arctic Monkeys - From The Ritz to the Rubble; Black Sabbath - Paranoid; Battant - Jump Up; The Strokes; Arcade Fire; The Smiths; The Pixies.... you get the picture. Foot-stomping rock'n'roll played at deafening volume. Fantastic.

I can see one or two sick Tuesdays coming up next year!


If anyone's actually managed to read through all that i'd better reward you with another mp3.

PHARRELL'S ACID DROP

The follow up to 'Snoop's Acid Drop'.

Pharrell Williams + Acid = Ace

It looks like this is something to do with Boris Dlugosch and Tommie Sunshine. But don't let that put you off.

I wrote a motherfuckin' punk song

Bleurgh.

You'll have to fill in the gaps yourself today.

Blondie... Hard-Fi... Hot Chip... Trash.... Ears Ringing.... No sleeping.... Slightly stinking.... Paul Epworth... Good... Evil... New York... 7 inches... SquelchRock...



SHY CHILD - THE NOISE WON'T STOP


the band

the label

If there ever was a girl, who could rock your world

I met this (very pretty) French girl a couple of weeks ago. We spent quite a lot of the evening kissing and fondling, and I left with her number and a good feeling that I was quite into her, and she was quite into me and that we might do a bit more kissing and fondling in the future.

So i've been in touch a couple of times but she's been a bit evasive... so I suggested that she come out with me to see Annie (not the musical) and she was slightly less evasive. But then she decided that she didn't want to come after all, and pointed out that if I did ever have the priviledge of seeing her again it would be only as a friend blah blah blah blah blah...

Not that i'm bitter about being blown out or anything, but she missed what would have been the best fucking night of her life. Annie & Datarock last night were AMAZING!



After deciding a fortnight ago that the Arcade Fire gig at ULU in the spring was the best gig i'd been to this year, I think Maximo Park last week and Annie at 93 Feet East last night may have both trumped it.

Opening the evening were Datarock, who bounded on stage in their red tracksuits and immediately got the crowd on-side - mainly thanks to their duracell bunny electronics man leaping up and down waving his head from side to side. He could have done with utilising some tit tape on his balding pate though.. his hood kept slipping off throughout the gig.



The band played seven songs, which got better and better through the set until a blinding finale of 'Fa Fa Fa'. I also remember 'Nightflight to Uranus' (boom boom) being excellent. But.... THEY DIDN'T PLAY 'COMPUTER CAMP LOVE'. GGGGGAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH! That's like having a massage without a 'happy finish'. A thoroughly pleasurable experience, with a slight feeling of disappointment at the end.

But there was a happy finish half an hour later when Annie took to the stage. For some reason she has managed to acquire a reputation as a slightly weedy live performer. Well anyone who says this is wrong. She was spellbinding. Yes, she doesn't resort to the vocal histrionics of many other female solo artists, but she's got a great voice and a great stage presence. Every man in the room was completely captivated by her, and every girl was wishing they could be her.



It took me a while to get into opening track 'Always too Late' - the vocals were a bit quiet and the beats a bit limp... but by half way through the song I was completely sucked in... only to be spat out straight into Chewing Gum. Which was blinding. Pop perfection.



'Come Together' (which does have a touch of Screamadelica about it) turned up the disco, before 'The Wedding', from her DJ kicks album - which sounded much better live then on record. The swooning was audible as she pointed to members of the audience whispering 'I do, I do, I do'.

ANNIE - THE WEDDING (LIVE MIX)

For me the only moment of the gig that didn't reach perfection was what I presume is a new song where she was trying to get a bit rock 'n' roll - like the Yeah Yeah Yeah's or something. It was a decent song, but Annie didn't really convince me that she was a rock chick.

Last song before the encore was 'Heartbeat', of which the two Anniemals turned in a blinding version, approaching the euphoria of the amazing Alan Braxe mix. She finished with a couple of encores - as usual my memory fails me when it comes to the first one, but last song was a rousing 'Me Plus One'.

I saw Richard X lurking around the back earlier in the gig, and i'm sure he would have been proud of his protege. The X-Factor was strong with this one.

ANNIE - HAPPY WITHOUT YOU (SEBASTIAN REMIX) (VERY AWESOME)

Going home there were the usual office party hi-jinx round Liverpool Street, where I saw some posh city rugger twat punch out a car window with his fist. While it was being driven. I tell you what, he's gonna have a sore hand today. He punched the driver's window incredibly hard 4 times (making the whole car shake), before putting his fist through it on the fifth attempt. I'd never seen someone pick a fight with a car before. So that was interesting...

No Laughing Matter

As you'll know if you visit here often, i'm a bit of a fan of a good TV comedy. And last night was the 'British Comedy Awards'. I couldn't bear to watch it, since such uncensored arse kissing brings me out in a rash.... but no doubt they proclaimed 2005 as 'a great year for British comedy', and no doubt someone swore before 9pm (with hilarious consequences.....)

Winners

Actor
Chris Langham (Help, The Thick of It)
Hooray! Chris Langham's an excellent actor, and his recent programs - 'People Like Us', 'The Thick of It' have been superb.
EDIT: Or should I say 'Internet criminal Chris Langham'. Very mysterious.

Actress
Ashley Jensen (Extras)
A poor actress in a mediocre show.

Entertainment personality
Paul O'Grady (The Paul O'Grady Show)
Christ. 1-0 to the blue rinse brigade. Harry Hill wasn't even nominated!!!

Newcomer
Ashley Jensen (Extras)
Ditto above. What's the opposite of 'scene stealing'? Watching her performance in Extras, I doubt very much that she'll ever work again. Except, ironically, as an extra.

New TV comedy
The Thick Of It
I enjoyed this, despite the nausea-inducing camera work.

TV comedy
Little Britain
Talentless Cunts.
EDIT: Of course that's not strictly true. Maybe 'lazy and unimaginative cunts' would be more appropriate.

TV comedy drama
Shameless
The couple of episodes of this I saw were pretty good. More drama than comedy though.

Entertainment programme
The X Factor
Weren't these supposed to be comedy awards? The only programme I can think of that should have won this is 'QI', which makes me laugh every week. Or Harry Hill's 'TV Burp'. What are the chances, eh!

I wish I could be 'entertained' by these so-called entertainment programmes. However it's different strokes for different folks I suppose. Some countries regard bear baiting as a good night out. Which to be honest would indeed provide for a more entertaining Saturday night then seeing Sharon Osbourne's botoxed mug grimacing grotesquely out of the screen. Yeah of course you shop at fucking Asda you parasitic money-grabbing whore. Now GET OFF MY TV.

International show
The Simpsons
Last funny five years ago. Do the people who vote for this actually watch the programmes?? The Simpsons has won this award for the last two years - just when it has become stuck in an inspirationless, humourless mire. I keep banging on about 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' and 'Arrested Development' - but how on earth did one of them not win this?

Film
Festival
I've not seen it, but it's supposed to be pretty decent...

Ronnie Barker Writing Award
Little Britain
'Writing Award'? Little Britain? I can't fucking believe that one. Their 'script' is clearly knocked out in the taxi on the way to the studio. Now if there was a 'Les Dawson Dressing Up As Overweight Women Award' they'd be a shoe-in.

Yeah, I need to get out more and stop paying attention to shite like this. But it just annoys me that in a year of such feeble comedy, the few things that are worth rewarding get all but ignored, and the same old humourless crud beloved by tabloid columnists pick up all the plaudits.

Still, at least Ricky Gervais didn't win anything.

Anyway, the comedy nerds on the Chris Morris 'Cookd and Bombd' message board have celebrated the new depths British comedy has plummeted to with an alternative award ceremony. Yes, all the shite programmes and celebrities we are continually told are brilliant are revealed as the charlatans that they are. Although i've not seen most of the things they slag off. 'Spoons'? 'Balls of Steel'? 'Shirley Ghostman'?

One interesting thing that i've found last night & today while reading about this, is the constant praise that 'Peep Show' keeps picking up. A show i've neither heard of or watched. Has anyone seen this? Is it as good? Apparently it's on the third series now! I can't believe if it's that good it would have escaped my attention.....



Sorry for the diversion... it's just that i've watched my Father Ted DVD's to death, I watched the last ever episode of Curb last night and Arrested Development is constantly on a life-support. What am I going to laugh at next year?

And I noticed I was shaking gently

As i'm sure you're aware by now, i'm a bit of a fan of Hot Chip. And i've been meaning to give some love to their debut EP for a while now.



Released on the Victory Garden label back in 2000, the Mexico EP was a CD only release limited to just 500 copies... but remarkably still seems to be available direct from the label.

I bought mine on ebay (from the label) a while back, and was really impressed with what I received. The tracks are a lot more lo-fi and acoustic than 'Coming on Strong', and more introspective than that marvellous album.

I love opening track 'Beeting' in particular - and it's probably my favourite song of theirs. I've never quite worked out what he's on about in the song, but I imagine him sitting on a curb somewhere, frustratedly tapping out _____ ______ (?) rhythms on an upturned box, watching the traffic pass by. (can anyone decipher what he says there?)

HOT CHIP - BEETING

Track 3, 'Perfect Circle' is another great song... a slow hip-hop jam formed by a repeated guitar loop - and with tape scratches and glitches that make it sound like it was made in like 1935 or something.

HOT CHIP - PERFECT CIRCLE



By the way, if anyone has mp3s of the 'Sanfrandisco EP' or recent tour EP i'd really love to hear them! ,-)


And hang on, what's this??

TRASH
every monday
The End,16a West Central Street, WC1
10pm-3am £6 Please Do Dress Up!
www.trashclub.co.uk

Monday 19th December 2005
TRASH CHRISTMAS PARTY

Trash has stayed true to its word and continued to bring the best new alternative music to London, as well inviting various guests to play alongside its residents. 2005 has been spent in the company of The Long Blondes, James Murphy (Dj), Coachwhips, Noisettes, Mystery Jets, Soulwax, Clor, Tiga (Dj), Justice (Dj), Tom Vek, Paul Epworth (Dj), Cazals and Who Made Who to name just a few.. And last, and by no means least, our final party of 2005 brings us in the company of one of Britains freshest bands. The perfect end to a brilliant year.
HOT CHIP
who are they? where are they from? Hot Chip are Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Felix Martin, Owen Clarke and Al Do-it, who hail from South London and Leeds...

what can we expect? self confessed Prince freaks (see their EP 'Down With Prince') Hot Chip deal in infectious left field dance with a sense of humour and a healthy dollop of Beta Band-ish vibes. 'Over and Over' has been played to a funky reception at the club for some weeks now....

what can we listen to? their new 'Barbarian EP' is out soon on EMI.

for more info visit www.hotchip.co.uk

Dj's - Erol Alkan, Rory Phillips & The Lovely Jonjo
Doors 10pm - 3am Entry £6 - Please, please arrive early!

I reckon i might have to take the Tuesday off work & go to that. Anyone else fancy it? I suspect I might be going on my own otherwise.....

That's if i'm still standing after Annie, Justice and Blondie this weekend coming!



EDIT: Oh shitbags, i forgot i'm seeing Hard-Fi on Monday night. I suspect it'll be too late to get in to Trash once that finishes. I am clearly cursed to NEVER EVER EVER see Hot Chip! This must be the 10th time i've wanted to see 'em but not been able to!

Also, i'm currently going to Annie on my own tomorrow (Thursday) night. Yeah, break out the violins!

So I have a spare ticket.

Anyone fancy joining me? Nubile young woman prefered, but sweaty men also considered. My email address is to your right.

So Tired

EDIT: Link should be working now

Christ, that was one helluva party. I'm sorry I couldn't spread the invitation far & wide... next time I promise.

And i'll try & make sure there will be a next time!



A ferocious soundsystem (i'm very sorry for anyone I deafened - from where I was I couldn't tell it was quite so loud!); great decor (200 meters of tin foil have rarely been put to better use!); an understanding bar manager (advertised finish time: 4:00am. Time I left: 7:30am. Cheers EJ!); cool bar staff; fantastic venue smack bang in the middle of Brixton; great tunes all night (good work Kwok, Chris, Matt & Jules!) and most importantly an amazing crowd. Woo!

And special thanks to Jules, Fin & Karen for organising it so well.


I wasn't all that pleased with my own set. As usual it sounded pretty good at home, but as soon as i'm faced with a load of unfamiliar equipment I start to lose it a bit. And that's despite for once attempting to stay (relatively) sober until I went on. I've not played out very often though, so things will only improve.

Fortunately, however, I recorded the practice I had on Friday night... which went pretty smoothly. This is pretty much what I played on Saturday, except I finished up differently and had to cut out a few from the middle for time reasons.

The Gorillaz & Tiga went down well... the other stuff less so!

Hope you enjoy it....

HEADPHONESEX - THE NEEEDLE & THE DAMAGE DONE

(and i've just realised now i've uploaded it that I have got my months mixed up. It's not November is it. I'm clearly in christmas denial!)

Tracklisting:
Gorillaz - Dare (DFA Mix) (Parlophone, 2005)
Poni Hoax - Budapest (Tiger Sushi, 2005)
Annie - Always On Time (SebastiAn Mix) (679 Recordings, 2005)
Chemical Brothers - Life is Sweet (Daft Punk Mix) (Virgin, 1995)
Ruede Hagelstein - Eclectic People (Kitsune, 2005)
Playgroup - Make it Happen (Zongamin Remix) (Playgroup, 2003)
VHS or Beta - Night on Fire (Carlos D Remix) (Kitsune, 2005)
Tiga - Blue Sunglasses - Cosmos / Tom Middleton Re-Edit (City Rockers, 2003)
Betty Botox - Can Can (Botox, 2005)
Mocky - Micky Mouse Motherfucker (Tiefschwarz Mix) (Fine, 2004)
Out Hud - One Life to Leave (Requiem for a Requiem) (Studio !K7, 2005)
LCD Soundsystem - Great Release (DFA, 2005)
Justice vs Simian - Never be Alone (Ed Banger, 2004)
Annie - Heartbeat (Alan Braxe Remix) (679 Recordings, 2005)

South London Calling

I forgot to mention that some friends are throwing a party in Brixton on Saturday night, at which i'll be spinning some tunes for a bit. They asked me not to put the flyer up here as we can't squeeze all that many more people in (I think they overestimate the readership of this blog!), however if you're going to be in South London and at a loose end on Saturday night, drop me an email & i'll send you an invite.

We're gonna head for, new horizons....

Another gig last night.... and one that I nearly decided not to go to. After getting gripped by a thrilling first half in the Man U v Benfica game, mi amigo Steve & I were considering selling our tickets & staying in the pub. Thankfully it was a short-lived notion, as it turned out to what was probably my favourite gig this year. Yes, Maximo Park fucken rocked it.

After negotiating the Hammersmith Palais metal detectors (!) with Steve telling me that last time he was there someone had got shot on the dancefloor (!!) I was quite stunned to find it's a beautiful venue. Probably the best i've been to in London in fact. Nice decor, good sound, a dancefloor that's wide rather than deep meaning you're never far from the stage, and just about the perfect size. I'm a bit puzzled as to why it's so rarely used for gigs.

The other surprise when I arrived was to find that Clor were on stage. I really ought to check out who the support acts are before going to gigs. Fortunately I saw them a fortnight ago, so it wasn't a disaster that I missed half their set. They were great though - although you wouldn't have sensed this from the crowd's (lack of) reaction. I was on the balcony at the time, and there was no movement at all in front of the stage. Is it a particularly London thing where people can't enjoy or react to a band they don't know? Or that NME hasn't pronounced as 'good'? Clor certainly deserved a better reception than they got.

It seemed though, that the audience had been saving themselves for Maximo Park. The venue erupted when they came on stage. And remained spewing fiery magma for the entire set. The band were awesome.

I'd seen them play on the Camden Crawl back in February, when i'd had high hopes and was sorely disappointed. I felt then it was due to the complete apathy shown by the audience (much as with Clor last night) rather than the energies of the band on stage, but with a completely different vibe last night the band responded to the adulation of the crowd with a blistering show.

This was the tracklisting according to their message board:

Signal And Sign
Fear of Falling
The Coast Is Always Changing
A19
Graffiti
A Year of Doubt
Postcard of a Painting
I Want You To Stay
Limassol
Kiss You Better
Waste Land
I Want You To Leave
Now I'm All Over the Shop
My Life In Reverse
Once, A Glimpse
Apply Some Pressure
The Night I Lost My Head
--------------------
Acrobat
Nosebleed
Going Missing

The keen eyed will have noticed that they played every track from the album (including a rare performance of 'Acrobat').. and that thankfully they didn't finish with 'Apply Some Pressure'. I've never understood why that was released twice as a single, as I think it's far from the best track on the album. The best track is, of course, Limassol. And that was for me the stand out last night as well. That and 'Going Missing'. And 'Once, A Glimpse'. And 'Acrobat'.

Annoyingly, for once I left my camera at home. Which is a shame as the lighting was perfect and I would have got some cracking shots. Singer Paul Smith is a gift to the camera, especially when compared to the rest of the band, who despite their best efforts to get a bit rock 'n' roll still have something of the schoolteacher about them. That's a good thing though. I'm a bit tired of 'rockstars'. And besides, with Paul's on-stage antics you're not gonig to be looking at anyone else. He's clearly a star, and i've rarely seen so many gifts thrown on stage at an indie gig.

Much as Steve complained that they weren't nearly as good as when he'd seen them at Lowlands this year, i'm sure in February i'll be telling people at Brixton Academy that 'you should have seen them in Hammersmith last December'.


Although not as good as anything on the album, here's one of the b-sides they played last night... from the first release of 'Apply Some Pressure'.

MAXIMO PARK - I WANT YOU TO LEAVE


Sorry the recording's not great.... I think my stylii (?) are on their last legs. I'm wondering whether it's worth upgrading to these from my Stanton 500AL's?

Arctic Monkeys news....

The album 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' will be released on the 30th of January.

Is this the price we pay for progress?

Saturday night, on leaving a rubbish club, I had a paper-sleeved demo CD thrust into my hands. I nearly threw it away immediately as (a): the girl who gave it to me had annoyed me for some reason I can't quite remember... something to do with queuing at the cloakroom I think; and (b): I was drunk.

It is likely that (a): was a result of (b):

So I was driving into work yesterday, when I discovered in my coat pocket the now crumpled CD i'd been given on Saturday. I slid it into the car stereo.. and would you believe it, it's bloody good.



This first track sounds like Love (who made what's probably my favourite album - 'Forever Changes') or Belle & Sebastian. It's got that kind of jangly soul sound. If you're a B&S fan you MUST listen to this.

THE MORE ASSURED - YOU DO IT PRETTY WELL

The second song is even better, and is the one that's really got me listening again & again. A tale of paranoia, being watched, and being ground down by THE MAN.

THE MORE ASSURED - BEAT YOU DOWN


I think these two songs are absolutely fantastic - and I've been listening to them a hell of a lot the last couple of days. This band is UNSIGNED... so if you're working in A&R, you could do a lot worse that pay these guys a visit. Check their website or myspace for more info...

I LiKE THiNGS

THINGS I LIKE:

1: I LIKE DRAWING

Well, to be precise, I like I like Drawing. Or perhaps his name should be 'I like Drawing (on things)' because that's what he does. There was a collection of his work in the entrance to 'Santa's Ghetto', which put a big and much needed smile on my face on a headachey Sunday afternoon.



He has done quite a lot of other stuff, which you can check out on his website, however I loved the photographs of the rubbish he'd drawn on. Just look at how cute and cuddly he makes all those bin bags look. Aahhhh.














I want to take one of his old tins of paint or broken chairs home with me and play with it like a pet and teach it to do tricks. Oh, the fun we'd have.

I'd also like hime to come and decorate my bathroom like the one you can see if you scroll down a bit here

Santa's Ghetto also had a new Banksy painting on display..



I didn't enquire as to the price. Well out of my pocket I suspect seeing as a new Kate Moss screen print will set you back £2,500!

2: I LIKE TRAINS

Well, to be precise, I like iLiKETRAiNS. They are a band from Leeds who like capital letters (except 'i's') and Interpol. This song is about famous chess nutjob Bobby Fischer - who of course once had all his fillings removed in case the CIA implanted devices in them to control him.




Apparently Mad Bob once said he wanted to live in a house shaped like a rook (not the bird, although that would have been more interesting), hence the theme of the song. Some would say this song is depressing, however I think it's quite joyous really. With luck Bobby can finally reach solace in his dream rook house, safe from the CIA and his demons.

"All this talk of war
well it's only a game.
All I ever Wanted to Do
is play chess with you"

iLiKETRAiNS - A ROOK HOUSE FOR BOBBY


I just came across this interesting article by British grandmaster Nigel Short, who reckons he got an anonymous online pasting from Fischer a few years back.

As if chess geniuses weren't a strange enough subject for a song, the B-side to this single, 'The Beeching Report' is about the famous 1963 report recommending the disasterous dismantling of the British railway system. The network has never recovered, and iLiKETRAiNS have never forgiven.


This talk of nut-job chess players reminds me of a girl I once met in Lima (Peru). I was in this club, as you do, and she pretty much dragged me out and back to her place. I wasn't complaining mind - she was what The Sun would call 'a stunna'. So we started getting up to a bit of mischief, lubricated with some of Bolivia's finest, before she suddenly challenged me to a game of chess. I was a bit puzzled, but being in a, shall we say 'weakened' state of mind thought it didn't sound like a bad idea.

As the game progressed though, I began to understand the ulterior motives behind this game of strip chess. The purpose of the game was to see if I could beat her and therefore prove my worthiness to sleep with her. She was saying things about only fucking intelligent men as she wanted to make sure her children were clever (?!!). Needless to say I lost, and was unceremoniously shown the sofa!

Ironically I (re)learnt to play chess fairly well a few months later when travelling round New Zealand. If only I could have had a rematch!

I'm sure there's a funny story there somewhere.. but i'm not sure i'm the best at telling it.


Here is another great song by iLiKETRAiNS.

iLiKETRAiNS - GO TO SLEEP

Those Norweigans

Just stumbled across this christmas treat...

Thursday, December 15 at 7:30 PM
Annie plus DATAROCK & Guest DJ
at 93 Feet East, London

Having released her emphatic debut album Anniemal earlier this year, ANNIE goes from strength to strength with club classics like ‘Chewing Gum’ and ‘Hearbeat’ (which received the Paul Epworth touch on the remix) (james: yeah - the only rubbish one). Hot on the heels of her debut is the Norwegian pop princess’s installment of DJ kicks which features the exclusive track ‘The wedding’ and the unreleased track ‘Gimme Your Money. Support from fellow Norwegians DATAROCK who shoot for instant electronic pleasure and go so much further

As if the lure of what is surely one of Annie's first live gigs in London isn't strong enough, support comes from Datarock, who have lurked in my consciousness ever since I heard this fantastic track on Gabba Pod back in the dark days of 2004.

I've been looking for an excuse to post it here - and now I have one!

DATAROCK - COMPUTER CAMP LOVE

And as if the lure of seeing one of Annie's first London gigs, and hearing Datarock sing 'Computer Camp Love' wasn't enough, the gig is ONLY A FIVER!!!

Yes, that's FIVE POUNDS!

So Click On....


Actually, having just watched this video to Computer Camp Love, I think i'm more excited about seeing Datarock than Annie now!



Can you believe that this lot are from Bergen as well??? What do they put in the water over there? Or maybe it's because Bergen seems to be the European hub of tracksuit fashion. Of which about a hundred seem to have been used in this video for 'FaFaFa'. Which is another great track.

Dig it Deep

Another quick post - since I couldn't let this new collaboration between two Detroit legends go unmentioned.

If you're a Detroit head, these two will need no introduction. And my love for Carl Craig has been mentioned just a few times before!

THEO PARRISH - FALLING UP (CARL CRAIG MIX)

There's something indescribable about how these Detroit boys can just hold down one chord for minutes at a time while at the same time managing to fill it with so much emotion. On headphones this pins your brain back and pulls it out through your ears.


Only 300 copies of this 10 inch gem are in circulation..... if you find one, snap it up!

I've just bought a copy from here, where I also found a copy of the first release on Ed Banger records. Which must be pretty rare as well i reckon. I'll post a track up here if it's any good.



Also... it seems like only two weeks ago that the last David Shrigley book came out. That's because it was. Now it seems he has another on the way.

Called 'Worried Noodles', it's released as a 12" record on the Tomlab label. Except it's not a record, it's a book.

Take a look at it here.

If you're new to his work, i'd highly recommend 'The Book of Shrigley' - his recent compendium of old & new material. Beware though.. if you do get hooked there are a fair few books to collect! 'Enquire Within' is my top find so far... with a hand-crafted scribble on the front cover - although my copy of Grip signed 'You are a Fucking Cunt' is also a prized possession!



Since I mention Shigley, the location for this year's 'Santa' Ghetto' has just been announced. I've been the last couple of years, where a treasure trove of Banksy work has been available for sale. I suspect the way prices for his stuff have been going that there won't be anything by him that's good & affordable, but you never know. It is christmas. (GAH!) Otherwise i'm sure you'll find something else there you like:

	Open daily from 10am until 8pm, (9pm on Thursdays, 5pm on Sundays) until December 24th 9 Berwick St, Soho, London W1 The ghetto is a street level free-for-all art gallery that brings you some of the most feared names from the failed artist circuit FEATURING... I LIKE DRAWING - a bloke called Ian who has a beard and draws on rubbish 3D - former boy band member who paints in the shed at the bottom of his garden BANKSY - stencil graffiti artist who likes to be anonymous but gets in the papers a lot SOLO ONE - sticker king of south London who works in a swimming pool DAVID SHRIGLEY - king doodler, painter and film maker JAMIE HEWLETT - responsible for the biggest cartoon band the world has ever known GEE VAUCHER - former crass collaborator and official portrait painter of the Left STANLEY DONWOOD - 'the fifth member of radiohead' yet strangely the best looking SICKBOY - graffiti with a middle-eastern-temple-type twist KELSEY BROOKS - awkward animal angst from San Francisco FAILE - poets of the New York fly-poster revolution LUKE EGAN - purveyor of inflatable sculptures and novel uses of the traffic cone CHRIS CUNNINGHAM - maker of video nasties and related novelty goods ANTHONY MICALLEF - One of the few artists in this show who can actually draw SPACE INVADER - Parisian nutter who rides round on a scooter and glues mosaic space invaders wherever he likes MODE 2 - graffiti supremo and professional voyeur PAUL INSECT - East end graphic design king-pin EINE - obsessively paints letters of the alphabet but is crap at spelling D*FACE - draws a strange ball with wings everywhere and insists on calling it a 'dog' SIMON MUNNERY - stand up alcoholic comic and writer of nifty philosophical one liners JO RUSH - makes sculptures out of old metal on a travellers site by the Thames POLLY MORGAN - Britain's hottest bird stuffer CABLE STREET COLLECTIVE - young London graffers, designers and illustrators ZEUS - bizarre Parisian who has devised the only accurate map of the London underground system ever made