Monday, October 31, 2005
BARBED WIRE
...home of the free... Though sometimes, you wonder.
:: Posted by pete @ Tuesday, October 25, 2005
GIVE THE GIFT THE GIVES
Christmas is not celebrated in the Donut household. But, we'll probably be giving our loved ones something better than a new cardigan or the latest video game.
The Oxfam Unwrapped catalogue popped through the post the other day. Here you can purchase gifts in kind. Auntie won't get a tea cosy, but a child in Africa can get school books. No oven mitts for sis: instead a family in Bangladesh gets clean water.
Gifts for every occasion at every price. Fun and worthy.
Monday, October 24, 2005
THIS WEEK AHEAD...
Ma and Pa celebrate 55 years of marriage. The last 10 or so have been tough. The last year has been the toughest.
Rain hits London as Autumn is now in full swing.
Maenwhile, Florida gets wrecked.
The phone rings; I don't bother to answer.
In the back garden, a fox continues to squat. Start paying rent you feline bastard.
In a vain effort to make life interesting, I try to restart my project of recording a CD a night on a mini-disc for replying in my head whilst bored commuters read the Metro or listen to bad music on iPods.
Too many cups of coffee will be drunk. Time for them to sober up.
Rain starts to fall again. The back lawn becomes a lake. Our resident fox dons wellington boots.
Lots of people will die violent deaths in far off places. Closer to home, other people will die violent deaths. But, the stock market's doing well so that's alright.
The Ozzie Sox win the World Series. Probably.
I go back. Missing an hour in the process.
Friday, October 21, 2005
A RARE NIGHT OUT
The Carling Brixton Academy. What does that say to you?
To me:
Carling - very shitty British beer pretending to be Carlsberg and now sponsoring music including London Underground buskars. I'm sure they appreciate that especially as a Carling fuelled idiot kicks over there guitar case full of change.
Brixton - scuzziness. Sorry, there is no two ways about it. Brixton deserves its gritty reputation. I've been offered weed, seen the deals go down, drank in horrid pubs full of chancers and thieves, stood in the bus stops with loons and alchies.
Academy - without the Brixton I might be expecting some ornate, Baroque even jewel box of a concert hall. Brixton Academy, though, means a big barn of a place with sticky carpet, disgusting bogs and a shit sound system. Yep, it's London concert going at its not very best.
Last night, your blogger took the No. 432 bus to 'Ston to see The Coral. I ask you. What was that hype all about. Ooh, look a psych-rock band. Ravens and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I did not enjoy The Coral. It's mediocre pastiche music. It's last year's thing. It was just boring - the same "quirky" song over and over again.
Those nice people at Ticketweb also sent me this.
The goth legends are back with their first performance at Carling Academy Brixton since 1998!! Bauhaus broke up in 1983, yet fifteen years later their back catalogue sells better than ever, their style still contemporary, and the live shows are now legendary. Don't miss The Near the Atmosphere Tour which is reaching Carling Academy Brixton on 3rd February 2006.
In case you want to go, here's a link. Ticketweb
Rather than suffering the Carling Brixton Academy and possibly 90 minutes of dull music, I'm kinda thinking a night in front of the TV might be more up my street.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
NOISE
...but, very nice soothing noises. blotting out the noise of Crystal Palace supporters on the train home tonight.
Mark Nelson's project - Pan American. Gentle gutiar lines over soft drones and walking electric beats. Mark was an integral part of Richmond, Virginia ambient artists, Labradford (q.v.). Yes, Wiki, they toured with Godspeed You! Black Emperor back in about 1999. That was around the same time as Mogwai's first tour of the U.S.A.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
LISTENING TO...
Downloads from the mighty Mogwai, Glaswegian noise monsters.
Included in my sorry collection is an absolute awful recording of "Mogwai Fear Satan", 15 minutes of noise, feedback and distortion. I love it.
RETURN TO SENDER
Returning from vacation: a full inbox.