There Went The Romans

Well after watching good old Barcelona hand out a footballing lesson (who knew someone five foot five could jump so high, there is hope for me yet), my belief in good over-coming evil has been confirmed. To celebrate such an occasion, classic montage music is required and here in facta do come the Romans. Cherry Ghost and not a bad song from Bolton.

Autolux: Sounds Like A Brazilian Car Kit Manufacturer

Once more the technological combination of lastfm (the sounds like feature, god its like a music related Play The Game reference. Charades on television, no wonder the eighties were so damn depressing here) and spotify, in Captain Planet style, to open the magic door to the wonder of Autolux. Really they should work on the name, doing themselves no favours there! (British Seapower take note, brilliant band, dodgy name that ain't gonna shift many units, but its really too late to change it). More to the point Turnstile Blues has most excellent riffs and decent beats. It just works as a unit. Enjoy...

Smashing Pumpkins meets JJ72

This gettin spotify to work discovery has been a revelation. No longer does one have to wait to head to the record shop after reading Q/Mojo/Hot Press. Now one can confirm one's anger almost instantly with piece of streaming software. No more will beepy beepy indie crap music be given a conditional nod while you wait to buy the actual album, now the dissing can start within about thirty seconds. The wonders of the internet (on moral grounds downloading was never an option).

Anyways first discovery for me anyways on this piece of software, although after checking out youtube looks like I'm about 200,000 views behind the curve. Not even leading edge never mind bleeding edge. Here are Silversun Pickups and Lazy Eye. Smashing Pumpkins meets JJ72!

Calm In Your Eyes

Guitar intro to, "Once I thought I saw you in a crowded hazy bar". It can only be Like A Hurricane.


I was going to do my version of five steps to understanding Neil Young, but then realised that it was bloody impossible. Instead the definitive version in many peoples eye's of Like A Hurricane. Guitar solos abound, just a genius tune. Shame about the sound quality, its shit, this should only be a prompt to dig out the vinyl version and enjoy it in its full glory!

Now That's...

Finally some time to compile a list. This week, songs I vaguely remember being on a local radio station and not fully understanding the lyrics. Not the most concise of titles but I can't afford an editor.

5. J. Geils Band: Centrefold

4. Dexy's Midnight Runners: Geno (Buy the album Searching for the Young Soul Rebels, actually its quite good)

3: Spandau Ballet: Through The Barricades (Only Video to appear twice in the blog. Sad, very very sad)

2: Shakespeare's Sister: Stay (You gotta love nineties drugs, what was the director thinking.... hmm!)

and finally

1. The Jam: That's Entertainment.... Indeed it is Mister Weller

Err Funny All Blacks, Just Don't Mention Rugby Semi Finals

A musicish/comedish related posted. Flight of the Conchords, pretty... pretty... funny as Larry David would say!

Blue Squares Make Twenty Million You Know

After getting a chance to watch some proper television last night (thank you BBC4 and your constant stream of nerdy documentaries) which was mainly concerned with the bubble within the modern art market (I'm sure there is a Paul Simon pun in there somewhere), I have meandered to being a part-time art critic (I don't get 90% of modern art hence I criticise it, and how can you be an artist and have six offices????) and Malthusian disciple (we are all fucked). One hour of television has caused moral abhorrence within me for people trying to make money out of creating false demand within an art form (should I be angry at EMI for Leona Lewis???), and then people going to a gallery because someone oligarch paid thirty million for some dubious art just because they want a look see out of curiosity. To top it all off Hirst had a GOLDEN CALF within the last proper auction to make money. At least he has a sense of humour I suppose.

Anyways at the end of the documentary the market goes belly up and for some reason you start thinking of tulips in Amsterdam and did anyone ever read a history book. On a less angry note there was a cracking programme on poetry (whoever thought) featuring the work of George Makay Brown who I was ignorant of until last night but after the opening lines of Hamnavoe I was caught. Seemingly its on the national curriculum across the water so maybe its not looked on as kindly over there (something akin to lots of us pretty much hating Yeats).

Moving away from an attempt at a critique of modern society and art ( Poetry good, modern art rubbish, I call it a caveman review) I have started using spotify and it is the business. Go to England buy yourself an office and install a server if needs must to access the site. Never again will an album be bought in the dark although that does take the whole romance out of the ritual of cd shopping.

After plummeting the depths of art and soaring with poetry only one song is appropriate. The Well and The Lighthouse (see what I did there, its almost, almost, a metaphor)

North Country

Still not interested in writing too much. Eels do you are a great job covering this and the string section makes it. Just a quality song.

Exit Music

Don't feel much like writing. Just let Radiohead play us out

If This Was An Essay I'd Be Told To Re-Submit

Oh the joys of public transport! Damn kids and their Nintendos driving me slowly towards the edge of reason. I always find having to turn up the i-pod to ear bleed levels slightly counter-productive when trying to block out background noise, it just appears to produce an even larger headache and the search for respite continues. This search includes attempts to simulate smoking using a Biro so as to try to chill the fuck out.

Guinness Store House today and didn't sample any of it. Instead listened to people talking about development environments and machine translation code (not a notion what was going on). I have seriously got to set some priorities.

As I was heading home after the excitement, I realised why the shuffle songs function is the bestest thing ever and its because of this. It would never appear on a play list but its just raw class, and all in all the day didn't turn out so bad.

Keep Your Trap Shut

Von Bondies was eventful last night. Put on a decent show and rocked out a small venue like Cyprus Avenue. Word to the wise, stuff not to do at a Von Bondies gig: comment out loud during a lull between songs on your feelings regarding an anecdote that in your humble opinion wasn't up to scratch. As a result, pushed to the front row and get the piss mercilessly ripped out of you for the evening. I will learn to keep my trap shut for the future. Pretty funny though and for being a muppet I deserved it.

Who would have thought that Been Swank would cause such hassle. I will never live this one down.

C'Mon C'Mon

In a post more akin to a twitter (Christ, what the internet has done to the English language), off to see the Von Bondies in about an hour, so here is C'Mon C'Mon...

Romeo & Juliet

God I haven't posted a shambolic eighties video in a while!!! Crap video, cracking song. Nothing like literal interpretations of lyrics through-out the music video. Imagination was in short supply.

Here is Dire Straits with Romeo & Juliet

This Week I Will Mostly Be Listening...

To this!

I'm a culchie at heart and the lyrics make no sense. Culchie's were never known for the intelligence so I'm not too bothered if I haven't a notion.

Last Night, I.....

It has been a few day's since I have been able to get enough time together to even contemplate a blog posting. The government enforced 8% of professional fees has seen to that. Mad scurrying around to try and get the house in order so things can keep going. Seeing as it the first time one of these emergency laws have really affected me, I decided to go take a look see. After a quick review of the thing I have realised what a complete load of bollix it is and how basically it allows them free reign while not aiming at anything in particular. A case of head in the sand while having a card board cut out looking around for you. To top it all off the newly enacted law is called the Public Interest Act 2009. Irony sucks some times.

Well back to more important things, recently purchased the Yeah Yeah Yeah's new album It's Blitz!. The album did come with the usual hype and one of my music listening compadre's described it as the greatest album ever. A slight exaggeration perhaps, its okay and Karen O is always quality but I think the title of greatest album ever (which is something similar to the Ricky Bobby Oscar for Greatest Movie Ever which was won by Highlander is case anyone is wondering) is safe for the time being. Its a decent effort with probably about five hit singles on it although Zero is already doing my head in. How come alternative music stations keep playing the same music, not very alternative if you ask me.

Today's video though is coming from another direction entirely. Duke Special has this song out for quite awhile and had completely slipped my mind until now when someone suggested that it was the saddest music video they had seen. It now appears that all I do is rank stuff in greatest/saddest/funniest of time, but that usually is not the case.

Also Didier Drogba is an idiot. That is all.