I received a copy of the new Lemon Jelly DVD single in the post on Saturday. Lemon Jelly are one of my favourite bands at the moment. They take samples from all over the shop to create hypnotic music that has a genuine innocence – something quite rare these days. They have a new album out in January and if you clink the following links, you can watch their new video “Stay With You” or have a quick preview of their ’64-’95 DVD release.
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Who said that you can’t have humour in music? One of the best spoof bands around is Goldie Lookin’ Chain and I just think whoever is the brains behind this outfit is god. If you like Spinal Tap or The Rutles and understand what a chav is, then these guys are worth checking out. Here’s a link to their latest video (Americans need not to investigate futher because you WILL NOT understand any of the cultural references).
Visit their site at:
http://www.youknowsit.co.uk/
Welcome to this website and more confessional, self-obsessed bullshit chronicling the minutiae of my everyday life for you to read while you drink your Starbuck’s coffee and try to decide what pirated music to upload on to your customised iPod.
Cynical, moi? You betcha!
Wreckless Eric opened the proceedings and wasn’t too happy about the sound. Neither was I. The Bloomsbury gets my vote for worst concert sound…ever. Using an acoustic guitar, there were so many rogue frequencies bouncing around the place, I could barely follow his lyrics. And this is a great shame because Wreckless Eric is noted for his lyrical content. At 50 years old, this guy still tries to push the punk ethic and belted out numbers from this new album Bungalow Hi.
Despite the sound problems, Eric settled into his stride after about the third song and things began to come together nicely. While not being the most technically proficient guitarist around, he attacks his instrument with such honest, brutal, vim and vigour that you have to give a nod of respect. After one particularly brutal song, he was left with only two strings left on his guitar. Rock ‘n’ roll man!
I am not that familiar with his work, but I shall be investigating further. He also gets my award for “Use of Anglo-Saxon” by using the word cunt in an introduction.
After this belting opening 45 minutes, I already felt exhausted, so we feasted on strawberry ice-cream during the intermission (go on, crack you albatross gags now) – it was that kind of venue.
So then The Rutles appear on stage an immediately open with Goose Step Mama. The sound was still terrible and I could barely hear the vocals. Even the drums were buried in the mix of guitar and keyboards. Despite this, I got behind the music and we lent our vocal talents to the proceedings. Songs from both “The Rutles” and “Archeaology” albums were played. I’ve devised a songlist (in the wrong order, of course) to demonstrate just how much music was performed.
Goose Step Mama
Number One
Hold My Hand
I Must Be In Love
With a Girl Like You
Living in Hope
Ouch
It’s Looking Good
Doubleback Alley
Good Times Roll
Piggy in the Middle
Cheese & Onions
Get Up and Go
Let’s Be Natural
Major Happy’s Up-and-Coming Good Time Band
Rendezvous
Questionnaire
Lonely-Phobia
Hey Mister!
Easy Listening
Eine Kleine Middle Klasse Musik
Joe Public
Shangri-La
Back in 64
So this was 90 minutes of Beatle-inspired musical parody and I loved every minute of it. I especially wanted to see/hear the great Barry Wom/Jon Halsey banging the skins, but my view was slightly obscured by the keyboard player. Not to worry, The Admiral Jon Halsey came to the front of the stage to perform one of the greatest paper-tearing solos I had ever seen (in fact it was the only time I had ever seen someone tear a newspaper to music and make it a solo…it made me laugh a lot).
It was a great evening of music (despite the sound and the butt-achingly bad seating) and well worth it. It makes you appreciate the phenomenal talent of Neil Innes and his fellow musicians for pulling this all together. Even better than the Beatles, I say, and better than the Beatles parodies that bands like Oasis or even Adrian Belew commit to record.
Where did the year go? Was that the sound of the days whizzing past? Oh well, it’s Neil Innes and the Rutles tonight. Should be fun!
The Xmas lights are already springing up around my locale. It gets earlier every year (the same way that policemen are getting younger and fatter). Do I feel festive? Nope…not yet. Do you?
Remember to tune into http://www.radiofrontiers.com/ at 10pm Eastern Time.
It was a missed opportunity that the Winter TU US tour was postponed. To make up for this you can still purchase the “Official Bootleg” that was due to be sold on the aforementioned tour.
This CD weighs in at 36 minutes and 50 seconds (slightly longer than your average “new” improv on a KC re-re-re-packaged re-re-re-release) but despite its slight stature give you an insight into the live TU beast. The music is taken from the band’s second night at the Third Eye Gathering in August. I was at the first show and missed the second, but heck, I now hold a portion of that very show in my grubby little mitt.
The first two tracks finds the band finding their feet and I remember these being played at the show I saw. They are very muscular tracks and if you enjoy the ProjeKcts, you will get a big buzz from these songs.
The band are joined on stage by Eddie Haskell and his singing saw for the third track “Sumo” and it sounds as if someone is torturing a little puddy tat live on stage. Interesting in a LTiA/Jamie Muir kind-of-way.
By track four, Eddie has stopped stroking his saw and has moved over to the jew’s harp (boy, I bet the politically correct brigade are having a field day with that. “It’s not jew’s harp anymore, it’s a JAW’S HARP, I bet they are bleating!”. Anyhoo, it continues the vibe.
The last two pieces on the CD are my absolute favourite and re-inforce my idea for having a female vocalist in King Crimson. The band are joined by Azam Ali who provides some really ethereal vocalising. One way I describe “Bells” is to imagine “The Power to Believe, Part II” but take away the guitars and have a human voice providing the lead. That’s what this is like…
Despite it’s shortness, this is a really sweet collection. Shame that they didn’t compile tracks from both nights (with GGT + Tony Levin) because that would have been just peachy.
But heck, I can’t complain about this…except for the $8 it cost me to get it shipped to the UK. The CD is housed in a flimsy cardboard sleeve and DGM saw fit to use a standard padded envelope, so by the time it had been squeezed through my letterbox and gone through the Alex The Wonderdog patented letter mangling procedure, it could hardly be described as pristine. Oh well…c’est la vie, eh?
Great stuff…more please!
The Missus keeps forcing me to write. Nag, nag, nag…she goes. Finish that novel, she says. Blah, blah, blah… So now I fill the gaps in-between my freelance writing work with…WRITING! GAK!
Stupid bloody novel. I hates it. I hates it, I do… I know what you are going to say. You are going to say, “What’s it about, Darren?” and I say, I don’t know. I am not even sure if it is a novel. At the moment, it is a series of dubiously connected monologues chronicling the angst and despair of 21st Century London. Or it could just be heap of unreadable horse-shit…
Anyway, the BBC website (god bless it, that’s where my £125 a year TV license fee goes, so that any filthy herberts from around the world can access information I PAID FOR…the bastards) informed me that today, 24 November 1991, Freddie Mercury died. I remember that day only too well. Cold and miserable and travelling via the tube to University. Bah…
Also on this day, the band Electric Six release their cover of “Radio Ga Ga”. I saw this video last night on TV and I was in mixed minds about it. Part of me thought it was offensive and part of me thought it was the funniest thing I’d seen in ages. I really love the Electric Six.
I’m gonna take ya to a Gay Bay
Gay Bay
Gay Bay…
Anyway, enough of that, roll the video, Henry!
Windows Media
http://mfile.akamai.com/9139/asf/stream.wmg.com/wmi/uk/electric6/Electricsix_radiogagaWin_hi.asx
Real Player
http://mfile.akamai.com/9139/rm/stream.wmg.com/wmi/uk/electric6/Electricsix_radiogagaReal_hi.ram
Last night, I also watched a TV programme where a couple were instructed by two “experts” on how to have sex properly. Highlight for me was the disappointed look on the guys face when he told us how his partner had told him that she faked an orgasm: “None of my other girlfriends ever did that,” he said. But behind his eyes you could see the fear and doubt growing. Then there were plenty of clips of his white buttocks pumping for dear life…ahhhh, this is the apex of British TV. THIS is what I pay my TV licence fee for. He humped and humped and humped, but was getting nowhere.
“It’s like trying to push a sausage uphill with your nose,” I remarked, before changing channels. I never did find out if the experts got this guy to make his girlfriend cum…not much of a cliff-hanger, was it?