Right.......

I've sorted the links in the previous post, so it *should* work OK. Lots to be done today, off to visit my V/O agent, a little bit of shopping in the MVE, might pop into Cuts as well (i'm currently vacillating over the wisdom of having my hair cut short again) and a meeting with the new boss as well. If i'm up in Soho, i'll check out Berwick St. market again, got some wonderful Chillies yesterday and i'm on the lookout for some nice fresh wild mushrooms for a risotto *gets hungry*

What have I been doing?

Laughing a little too much over this..........
...and absolutely obsessing over the new Brakes album. At first I was unsure as to whether it was the equal of the first CD ("Give Blood") but now i'm pretty sure it's as good, if not better. There's a track on it called "No Return" which is genuinely the most heart-breaking thing you'll hear all year.
There's an MP3 blog post of the single "Hold Me In The River" right here.
While we're on the subject of MP3 blogs and the blogosphere as a whole, i've been featuring a "download of the week" mailout in my Sunday show on Xfm: essentially it's a round-up of all the blog posts that have been pulling my chain over the previous week.
Here's this week's.................
(cut and paste follows.....)
>>>>>>>
Ah, another Sunday, another mailout full of downloads......
Starting off with some of this, a little TECHNO MADNESS courtesy of CJ Bolland.....
http://www.thewhitenoiserevisited.co.uk/2006/11/banging-like-barn-door-in-force-10.html
(Just because the first links on the mailout tend to be bit mellow, and I thought i'd break with tradition)
You may remember last week I was musing on how the web was now the principal place to find bootlegs (and what a bloody good idea it was) Well, further proff of this comes in the shape of some quality Pearl Jam acoustic sessions.....
http://licorice-pizza.blogspot.com/2006/11/pearl-jam-unplugged-part-2.html
And while we're at it......Counting Crows get the same treatment.....
http://www.captainsdead.com/2006/11/10/coming-out-of-the-closet-of-sorts/
OK, a change of tack....
Cover Vs. Original, RATM Vs. Bambaataa.......
http://somevelvetblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/renegade-shout-out.html
....and some more cover action as well, including Death Cab doing The Smiths, and Modest Mouse doing Slayer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com/2006/11/new-song-modest-mouse.html
There's a new Trail Of Dead album! Rah! It's streaming over at their Myspazzzzz or there's a couple of snippits here:
http://therichgirlsareweeping.blogspot.com/2006/11/yeah-you-all-know-i-have-unholiest-of.html
OK, it doesn't get much better than this..two of the greatest pop songs OF ALL TIME. Wreckless Eric, and The Only Ones (can we get that dreadful cover version taken OFF the phone ad? Jesus, it's dreadful)
http://www.captainsdead.com/2006/11/10/whole-wide-world-with-another-girl-from-another-planet/
(FYI, Wreckless Eric's parent are known as Wreckless Frank and Wreckless Doris, honest!)
Did you get a copy of the new Scritti Politti album? shame on you if you didn't...but fear not, you can hear what you're missing here:
http://www.idolator.com/tunes/mp3/idolator-feasts-on-scritti-polittis-white-bread-black-beer-213943.php
I know the Jarvis album is getting ALL the plaudits at the moment, but let's bathe in a little bit of his glorious past shall we?
http://plagueofangels.blogspot.com/2006/11/pulp-fixation-on-second-thought-its.html
Right, remix time.....some great New Young Pony Club stuff....a great Wolfmother mix (which i think we may have done before, but if you haven't heard it, YOU NEED TO)...and more besides.....
http://soundgym.blogspot.com/2006/11/modular.html
Bloody Hell!!!! AMAZING post about the roots of punk rock....with musical evidence from The Velvets, The Voidoids, New York Dolls, Stooges and more.......
http://loadsafun.blogspot.com/2006/11/england-steals-all-credit-thats-how-it.html
(sod 'em for the "England Steals all the credit" though, we just took a good idea and made it BETTER)
jefitoblog SHOULD be on your list of favourites by now.....if not, you'll be missing stuff like this KILLER Sabbath show from 1974
http://jefitoblog.com/blog/?p=978

\m/ \m/
Nice varied post 80's stuff, Depeche Mode, New Order.....also contains Men At Work (eeeeep!)
http://speedofdark-web.blogspot.com/2006/11/its-80s-all-over-again.html
another mixed-bag post...B-52's (the wonderful, if a little barmy "Wig") Beck, Dead Milkmen and more.....
http://feedmegoodtunes.blogspot.com/2006/11/music-to-douche-your-nose-by.html
And YET ANOTHER mixed bag finishes todays mailout, this one's a corker.....MBV, Nick Drake, Hood, Of Montreal......
http://bushwickisbeautiful.blogspot.com/2006/11/painkillers-for-emptiness.html
enjoy 'em ALL.......
As ever, we do it all again in 7 days.....
love,
iain
>>>>>>>>>>>>

So that's what you get.

OK people....

It's been a while.......and i'm not even sure if you've missed me.......
But what have I been doing? A list of gigs as long as your arm....some DJ-ing, some voiceovers,
But mostly watching this video.
Is that not the greatest thing ever? Fatha Rodigan still believing, still repping the UK after all these years......there's a lesson in there for us all.
Also, there's a clear demonstration about what tunes to play and when: drop the big ones at the right time......game over.
On the youtube tip as well: it's hard not to be impressed with someone who's "too handsome to live" and it's also well worth knowing that there's other nerds out there too........and while we're at it: check out the accuracy for that video.........
But, at the end of the day, i've been doing a lot of this.

This another one of those times when the Jez tells us one of those "Rucksack Killer" stories (FYI, his most legendary tale ever was trying to conince us that a killer stalked Australians by posing as a rucksack, attaching himself to their backs and.......oh, do I have to go on?) .Typical reactions from Keys and Drums. 

Don, G-Blood, T-Bone (Drums) Febake. The Bushranger, Goldhawk road. 

In an advanced state of relaxation and refreshment : The Hospital, Covent Garden. 

Right, it's update time....

First off, how's the new template? I'd had the old one for a while, just thought it would be nice to change...
I'm one year older now (birthday last Friday) so I'm still feeling a little fragile..
And the highlight of my week? This video (and a couple of other songs too, check the "related" section) being posted on Youtube. I'll let you all into a little secret: I've actually dreamt about finding early-Ultravox rarities before, so seeing this footage at last has been a revelation, I'm the happiest anorak in the world. The songs actually predate the first album, and "TV Orphan" metamorphosed into "Fear In The Western World" on album number two "ha!-ha!-ha!" (the title was subsumed into the lyrics and some chord changes remain as well)
For anyone else out there with an Ultravox! itch they may wish to scratch: Torque Point.
It's a lovely sunny afternoon now, after a morning which brought stormy, squally rain to the streets of West London. Literally, as a matter of fact, the M4 was flooded and the traffic round Hammersmith was apocalyptically bad as a result. I should know, I was stuck in a 220 bus at the time. Bah.

The playroom has a new addition: 1920's Bluthner baby grand: isn't she a beauty? 

The listening booth..... 

Here's the "used" section of the quiver....at the front a Slam City Skates blank deck from 1992, behind it (L-R) a Skull Skates Duane Peters with indys and bullets, a mini Lance Mountain "future primitive", a Bryan Pennington and a Powell Peralta Caballero "Mask" with indys and G-Bones... 

On the left, Beadle "Hi-Torquer" complete, on the right...NHS Lucero "Red Cross" with G&S chromoly trucks and slimeballs..... 

Haven't done any quiver stuff for a while have I? On the left, G&S Doug Smith "Bomb", Aggro Trackers, 62mm Santa Cruz Bullets..on the right, Birdhouse Willy Santos, some new-school trucks whose name escapes me, Serial Killer wheels (Manson!) 

Gah.

I appear to be getting a bit of a cold. Oh well, must soldier on...
It's a sultry afternoon in London, i'm currently recharging itunes: on the positive side for once, the new version of itunes actually seems to be better than the preceding version. The new one has a function where you can rummage through all your albums by flicking through the covers; it's a quaintly retro little feature, but great nonetheless.
Here's my mate Mike's daughter Lulu, singing Abba: how cute is she?
:)
Here's my favourite tech-gadget of the moment......
As a sort of farewell to the summer *looks at the drizzle out of the window* here's a GAZILLION versions of "Girl From Ipanema"
FYI, I went to Ipanema beach, it was lovely. Then, at night when the tide came in, the beach was covered in used condoms, dead fish and syringes :(((((((((((((((
Oh, this is fascinating me at the moment, be careful in those internet forums, people.....

Nick, this one's for you.....

Bashment meets the Surfaris (eeeeeeep!)
And for everyone else, believe it or not, the new Siobhan Donaghy (ex-Sugababes) single is one of the records of the year.....

Another weekend zooms by....

Friday was International Hi-Fi at the Academy, and Saturday was Chelsea v. Charlton followed by Charlie's birthday party at The Purple Turtle. How many people can celebrate by having Nick Oliveri sing them "happy birthday" ? Not many, i'll wager. Also managed to get some pinball action for the first time in absolutely ages; it was an absolute pleasure to brush up on my flipper transfers.
Today, as ever on a Sunday, brought some relaxation, some siesta time, and some cooking: squid with fresh chilli, barbequed whole trout and some king prawn skewers. Now, replete, i'm contemplating sleep and finishing the last of the Riesling.
Oh, here's the latest on Lonelygirl15. The plot thickens.