What a gig!

The Boy Least Likely To, last night at the Water Rats in Kings Cross. I DJ-ed, there were bubbles and streamers, glitterballs and plenty of enthusiastic whooping and "radio ga-ga"-esque outbreaks of synchronised clapping. At one point I realised that the band perfectly encapsulate what Haircut 100 would sound like if they'd been asked to do the soundtrack to "Deliverance"....
The most wonderful thing to see though, is how much they've grown in confidence...There's a spring in their step-a realisation now that they're bloody good at doing what they do, that just oozes out of all of them when they're on stage. I was chuffed to bits.
DJ-ing was a blast as well, Jof came running over to enthuse about Strawberry Switchblade when I played "Since Yesterday" and there was a definite cheer when I played "King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1" by Neutral Milk Hotel-that doesn't happen everyday does it? Always nice to spin for a savvy crowd......

..and here they are, on stage...Pete fiddling with his hair, Jof looking suave..

Going down........... 

I can do the old-school thing with the longboards too...36" OG Benjyboard "Blue Tiler" with OG Tracker Midtracks and Alva flatbacks. 

Crikey, bit of a fish-eye thing going on here....but I like this photo...view from the back of my block. 

A day in Kent today....

Picked chestnuts off the verges of country lanes, watched the sunlight dapple the trunks of ancient Beech trees....ate chocolate and rosemary tart, listened to Saint-Saens, felt the winter closing in on me.
Listened to a bunch of weird stuff (as ever)
The Stupids, Philip Glass, JJ Johnson, Neu!, The Wonderful Ms. Marling...and more besides.
Gin and ELDERFLOWER??? Who'd have thought THAT would work, huh?
But it does.

A grin a MILE wide :)))))

Why?
Let me explain. Years ago, I was (and still am) a huge fan of Gloria Mundi, possibly the first goth band EVER, and also renowned as the band RCA signed instead of Siouxsie and The Banshees. Whilst the first Siouxsie album showed traces of what would become full-blown gothic grandeur in the future, it was still a punk album. The first Gloria Mundi album "I, Individual" was the total goth package, before ANYONE else....
I loved 'em to bits. I've got everything they ever did including *anorak alert* Japanese copies of some of the singles, but I never got round to ripping anything onto mp3. Yesterday, via a random bit of searching on Last.fm, I found someone who had the elusive mp3's, and, who was prepared to send me them. I've whacked them onto itunes this morning and have been listening non-stop. So, karasu, you ROCK.

If life is just one song, right now...

It's something off the Death Cab For Cutie album......prolly "I Will Follow You Into The Dark"
Lots of billowing clouds of loss and wistful thoughts swirling around my head today. If I concentrate hard enough, I can actually see them. Autumn is here and it's making my senses that bit more keen, just that little bit brighter and sharper.

Just time to whack some stuff into itunes...

And don't get me started on itunes, spent most of yesterday trying to repair it, apple's updates to enable music-sharing have resulted in some evil little tweaks which keep killing my computer :(
Anyway, today's batch of CD's:
New Order "Singles"
The Unicorns "Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?"
Some sort of promo CD with all of Richard Ashcroft's greatest hits on it (solo AND The Verve)
Beastie Boys ""Solid Gold Hits"
and *ahem*
Rachel Stevens "Come and Get It"
Now I know i've gone on record as saying that the Goldfrapp CD is the current ne plus ultra of sleazy electro glam-pop, but The Rachel CD is *whispers* just as good.......
And apart from the music, how's life?
Well, it's a little zonked, to be honest. Those of you who've read what i've been up to over the last ten days or so might have guessed that....
I feel a little fragile.
*sighs*
Oh well, not much I can do about it. Onwards and upwards.

Sorted my links out *points >>>> that way*

So you can all now check out my last.fm page and see what i've been playing :)

Blimey, what a week.

Tuesday was The Boy Least Likely To at the SBE: it was actually a rather proud moment, I've loved them since their first gigs and it was wonderful to see them onstage at such a big venue-more than that, it was great to see them so confident and assured. The future's theirs.
Wednesday, I DJ-ed at the Daily Mail Ski show, fun (though rather odd) and great to bump into Christian again, our paths have crossed many times in the past, and it's always nice to see him.
Thursday was another DJ gig, this time back in Brighton at the University of Sussex at Falmer..Top night, rounded it off with "Eye of The Tiger" (yes, I had been drinking)
Friday, back to the SBE to see Brendan Benson: great gig (fourth time I've seen him in the last few months) and a top crowd to boot. Brendan's (relative) lack of success has always rankled somewhat, but the last few gigs have shown that his fanbase is swelling and becoming more committed: he's approaching some sort of tipping point, when people will finally have to sit up and listen. About time too.
Saturday. Some day.
Started late (slightly hungover) and after a hearty breakfast headed off to Stamford Bridge to see Chelsea stuff Bolton 5-1. The second half contained ten of the most exciting football minutes it's ever been my privilege to witness: certainly the best at the bridge since we came back from 2-0 down to beat Liverpool 4-2 in the FA cup. Left the Bridge on a real high.
Then it was off to Brixton for Xfm's Big Night Out!
Mad night...So many people (4,500!!) and hardly any opportunity to meet any of the friends who I knew were in the audience *sighs*. I left Brixton in the middle of the night and caught a cab to ULU to do it all over again, DJing till the early hours.
And here we are then: at the end of all the madness, back in Brighton with a glass of wine and and belly full of spaghetti with meatballs. I've spent the day wrapped up in a CD of demos that a friend gave me on Saturday night: their lyricism and beauty has kept my soul from slipping into ennui and lethargy.

Oh, this is just GREAT :)

Pez MP3 player.

This Man is a HERO

Check out his hat.

"He doesn't like strangers..."

So, a birthday bash on Saturday night, attended by a select coterie of friends. There's the crucial word: select. Someone wanted to came along ,bringing a handful of their friends, who'd just arrived from Europe. They were told, "Better not, he doesn't like strangers".
It sounds so cold, so clinical, so final.
But it's the truth.
I've been to too many parties (mostly with the band) where most of the people in attendance couldn't give a toss about you: they're there to be seen, to drink the free bar, to spot celebs, whatever. After years of that, I'm tired. Now, I'd prefer to hang out with my mates, with people I know and love, drink some beer, have some fine food, talk some rubbish.....
Don't get me wrong: contact with strangers is an important thing; every once in a while, you'll meet someone and they'll cross the line from stranger to companion, maybe end up as a great friend. But the time to do all of that isn't at a party..

It's all go down here in Brighton....

I'm in the middle of a birthday party, and it's all good.
x

Well, that's the first of this weeks big nights out of the way...

DJ-ed last night for the relaunch of my mate Zak's website caught in the crossfire : was ACES. Relevant information? Was on a boat-kept rolling around on the waves, which heightened the effect of the lager. Pigbag can still rock a dancefloor. CDJ 1000's are not infallible. The orange light on a taxi is one of life's greatest sights.

Hurrah!

There's a new GROW game! The original kept me busy for ages (another one which is in the archives, somewhere) Can't wait to get stuck into this one..
*not right now, obv..i'm doing the x-list*

More FREE stuff :)

Hot on the heels of the KLF album (check the archives) here is some nice proggy 70's synth goodness for you, enjoy.
It's an overcast day in London, the weather seems to be infecting my brain: i Feel lethargic, listless..downright bored. DJing tonight on the Thames: a spot of wheels of steel-related jiggerypokery should hopefully sort me out.

my Birthday present to myself arrived this morning...

And it ROCKS.
(Great site, BTW-that's my second watch from Graham, he's the don as far as chunky 70's stainless steel goodness goes..)
Feeling rather maudlin today, perhaps a throwback to last night's 6th (eeep!) in the pop quiz (we'll be at full strength next time, so watch out ppl, fannyrat, 109's bloody c*ck.. et al)
I'm having a day where i'm watching the planes fly overhead and wishing I was up there.

Woot! another year older....

And deeper in debt, if the next house purchase goes through (builders plans permitting)
Anyhoo, what's been going on? Well, i've updated my membership at Last.Fm and that means the personalised streaming radio service is really starting to come into its own. i can't recommend it highly enough: if you haven't signed up, do it now!
Music i've been digging includes the very wonderful Unicorns and more Alasdair Roberts for my daily dose of melancholia.
Pop Quiz tonight in Clerkenwell...c'mon team Brave Kylie :))