For Louise.

Dj Miko - What's Up

Two Thousand and Eight

So here it is, finally, about a month after I should have done it. I'm not going to write loads. But here we go...

Top Ten Albums

10. Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Flight
9. Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid
8. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
7. She & Him - Volume One
6. Santogold - Santogold
5. Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
4. Yo! Majesty - Futuristically Speaking...
3. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreaks
2. Neon Neon - Stainless Style
1. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

Top Ten Gigs

10. Madonna - Wembley Arena (Only so low as I can only remember 3 songs)
9. Morrissey - Hype Park
8. Smashing Pumpkins - o2 Arena
7. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Roundhouse 12th March
6. Vampire Weekend - Reading Festival
5. Neon Neon - Summercase Festival, Spain July 19th
4. Yo! Majesty - Barfly Camden
3. Radiohead - Victoria Park 25th June
=2. Blondie - Summercase Festival, Spain July 19th
=2. Kings of Leon - Summercase Festival, Spain July 19th
1. TV on the Radio - Shepherds Bush Empire, 19th Nov

There are so many bands that could have made the list.. Glasvegas, Florence and the Machine, Manics, Bjork, Breeders, Verve, QOTSA...

So there you go. If my opinion counts for anything in your life, you have it above.

Everytime You Close Your Eyes

I have decided to write more in my blog, and not just make it musically centered. I'm bored of reading blogs that all mention the word 'drop' 'mix' 'nice' 'blow up' and other 'cool blog' type words. I am not cool and never will be.

So. I'll start with gigs, then move onto other topics.




A few weeks ago I went and saw Yo! Majesty at Camden Barfly. What can I say? They were brilliant. JWL-B kept flashing her tit and the other one with the abs was on top form, giving a shout out to me, a 'fan'. How we LAUGHED. My personal highlights were Louise pulling some small girls hair, the crowd in general, JWL-B's burger nips.

A few days after that was TV on the Radio. I can honestly say I haven't been to a gig where I've enjoyed myself so much and not really known many of the songs. Apparently there were loads of sound problems, but being deaf and wearing ear plugs I heard it all pretty clearly. I don't know why people are labeling them the 'new Radiohead' though, because they're quite clearly not. Setting Sun was so good to hear live.

I went to Bills in Brighton the other day, for dinner. It was the biggest letdown of my entire life, second to the time Louise and I made all our exhausted friends stay up to watch If These Walls Could Talk 2 and it had been replaced with the golf. Don't go there for anything other that lunch. The food was terrible and it had all the atmosphere of a hospice canteen, complete with cement floor for easy vom wiping up.


Also, I am adoring my new Girls Aloud 'Dreams That Glitter - Our Story' book, plus Sex on Wheels, a collection of 70's porn shots by Eric Wilkins that all feature ugly birds lolling about on cars with their tits out (see above). Both brought for me for my 22nd by very good friends. They know me so well.

Hear Me Hailing From Inside and Realise

Hello.

My so called blog is BACK. Well for a short time whilst I procrastinate from writing scripts.

I can't even remember the last post. So I'll just start from the beginning.

I managed to NOT get tickets for Built to Spill for some reason or other I had it in my head it 'wouldn't be very good'. Now reading reviews of it and it already appearing on peoples lists of one of the best gigs ever, I am really regretting not going.

So I decided to cheer myself up by spending far too much money for a TV on the Radio ticket. I've liked them since their first LP, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, then kinda forgot about them until now.

Staring at the Sun - TV on the Radio

Robots - TV on the Radio

Dirtywhirl - TV on the Radio

Also have got really quite into Au Revoir Simone after deleting their album then getting it again.

Hurricanes - Au Revoir Simone

Aside from that, I went to see Jesus and Mary Chain who were brilliant as usual, supported by British Sea Power who I thought were really good live.

Also went to see Neon Neon/Yo! Majesty. Neon Neon were a bit of a letdown. But then again I don't think seeing any band as the sun sets in Barcelona compared to seeing them at Digital really is any comparison. Yo! Majesty on the other hand I loved (see above picture, courtesy of B Dawg.) So got tickets to see them in London next Monday.

Blame it on the Change - Yo! Majesty

The Rain It Never Stops

Oh hello, you look fabulous, how have you been?

Expect a huge update coming very soon... including what exciting things I've been listening to, what exciting things I'm going to and possibly some other tiresome rubbish.

Good For Nothin' Type'a Brother

This remix is so good.

Bills - Destinys Child (TLC Silly Ho Remix)

Plus the new Kings of Leon album is amazing.

Do You Not Yearn, At All?

So, welcome back. I have had a fantastic summer, thanks for asking. I haven't updated for many reasons:

1. I've been really busy
2. It's been the summer
3. I don't have the Internet in my new gaff

So there's your explanation. This summer I've been to see some amazing bands at various festivals, highlights include Blondie, Kings of Leon and The Verve in Spain, Rage Against The Machine, Glasvegas and Vampire Weekend at Reading and Morrissey in Hyde Park. Plus a David Bowie tribute act, and Madonna at Wembley.

But onwards to more recent times. Here's some stuff I like:

Pink Ghosts - The Acorn

Foxes - Cats In Paris

For some reason, I can't stop listening to Kate Bush, especially Big Sky.

Gig wise, I want to go see Vampire Weekend, Sigor Ros, Jesus and Mary Chain (again), Built to Spill and TV On The Radio. But I have tickets for none. Not until my loan comes through anyway.

And that's it sports fans.

And Don't You Think That It's Strange

As I finally had a day off today, I was able to download music. God Bless The Internet.

Song We Don't Speak Of - The Seabellies

For My Two Seconds (Teenagers Remix) - Operator Please

Back of the Van (Mock and Toof Remix) - Ladyhawke

Teenage Kicks - Seabear (Undertones Cover)

I really, really like the first and last two songs. I think Seabear did a good job on tackling such a massive song. The others are just on there because "don't you know 'electro'/rmx is what everyone is listening to nowadays, sweetie."


Sadly I can no longer go to Wild in the Country next Sat/Sun. However I'm still going to see Morrissey, Beck, New York Dolls, Black Kids etc this week coming, and then it's obviously Summercase, which I'm hoping they announce more for, as M.I.A, Santogold and The Long Blondes have pulled out - three of the bands I wanted to see.

Forget About Your House Of Cards

Radiohead + Bat For Lashes
Victoria Park, London
25/06/2008


After a mission from Stratford to Victoria Park in London, with a few cans to drink on the way, we completely missed Bat For Lashes, which I wasn't too fussed about as have seen her before, and she's quite depressing/dull/annoying.

Radiohead came on about 8.15, and played an amazing 2 hour set, with the majority being tracks off In Rainbows, with House of Cards and Bodysnatchers being my high lights from the album. The rest of the set was made up of a mix really... 2+2=5, Everything In Its Right Place, Lucky, The National Anthem, No Surprises to name a few... the encore which included The Bends, Karma Police, My Iron Lung and Paranoid Android was epic.

I can't really put into words just how good this gig was. The atmosphere was brilliant, except perhaps the gaggles of TopShop indie girls about... "oh.my.goddd, someone just spilt BEER on my fuckin' Marc Jacobs purrrse". SHUT UP.

Quite possibly the best gig of my life. Even though I say this about every good gig, this one actually is my new number 1, knocking off The Libertines at Brixton in 2004 off its pedestal.

You Held Your Breathe, And The Door For Me

So Alanis Morissette on Thursday 19.06.08 at Brixton was a pretty gay affair.

Got there JUST as she came on with Uninvited... can't remember any of her new stuff, definantly made Chris go to the bar at those points in the evening. Anyway, because we are mega gaylords, we enjoyed it lots. She played mostly stuff of Jagged Little Pill i.e. Ironic, Hand In My Pocket, You Oughta Know, Perfect, Head Over Feet, You Learn.

Aside from that, I can't WAIT for Radiohead on Wednesday. Actually can not wait. Gutted to all those not going.

Also, http://www.nme.com/news/amy-winehouse/37538

How my heart bleeds.

Put Your Lovin' Hand Out, Baby

Get it.


Beggin' - Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons (Pilooski Remix)

I Try My Best To Stay Calm As I Watch You Unload

After a hectic weekend, it doesn't look like things are going to slow down until the end of July. However, the other day I did find the time to delve into the mists of time and submerge myself in a flurry of mixtapes and old Melody Maker compilation CD's.

I used to make such crazy compilations called 'Claire's Tape - Numero Uno' or the slightly more original title of 'CLB's Tape'. With crazy names like this, you can only expect the songs to be in the same vain. For example the aforementioned 'Number Uno' tape opened with Slipknot and closed with Crazytown.

Thank god my music taste has (vaguely) advanced since the early days of the millennium.

However, upon my trip down memory lane, I was reminded how much I loved these two songs:

Beretta - Turn
B'cos We Rock - Brassy

On a further note, I forgot to "review" the Silent Disco. So here it is:

It was well good.

I haven't been listening to much new music, just catching up on things that were released months ago. So to sum up, Foals and the Ting Ting's albums are both shit, and I really like the new Weezer release, especially this song:

Troublemaker - Weezer

Before I stop my inane babble clogging your computer screen answer me this: Does it go 'artist - song' or 'song - artist' when listing tracks and bands?

Alanis Morissette on Thursday, then Radiohead next week. Also got tickets for the one day event on Clapham Common which Ash and The Lemonheads are playing. WINNER.

Tiny Mix Tapes

I used to be really obsessed with this site when I was about 16/17.

http://www.tinymixtapes.com/

Click on the Mix Tape link on the yellow bar to get to the mix tape page. You can submit your own for people to make, or just read what others have made.

I miss the days of sitting in front of my cd player and spending hours and hours choosing songs, recording them, writing out track lists and designing inlays. Damn iTunes and technology. I still have all of the mix tapes I made, I might dig them out when I get back home to Brighton and post them online.

Loop Duplicate My Heart

I've been neglecting this of late. In all honesty, I've been really damn busy with University and working on the sex channels, plus keeping up with socialising and friends etc.

A couple of weekends ago Colour of Water and I went to The Great Escape. Saw the following:

Thursday - lots of weird unsigned bands in the daytime, Doll and The Kicks, Elle S'Appelle, Alphabeat and I'm sure someone else too.
Friday - The Shoes, Black Angels, Saul Williams, Syd Matters (for literally 2 seconds)
Saturday - Bunny Rabbit, The xx

All in all, it was a bit of a pain because you had to get to a venue really, really early to actually see anyone you wanted to i.e. Young Knives. And I should have made more of an effort to see bands and not just get really drunk. Hey ho. Was worth it though.

Doll and The Kicks were easily the worst band I saw all weekend, and Saul Williams the best.

Apart from the, I've been manically doing work on media violence. HUGE STAB.

My music taste has gone considerably down-hill. Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy anyone?

Apart from that, I'm also going to see Tina Turner in all her wrinkley glory next year.

We Don't Need Another Hero - Tina Turner

Sorry, but this would be EPIC live.

Wearing My Rolex

SOLID.


Great Escape review coming shortly.

What About The Groove That Soothes, That Moves Romance?

Long time no nothing. I have been far too busy enjoying the glorious weather we've been having. Especially sunbathing at the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain ('What shall we listen to?' 'Dunno... Candle In The Wind?'). Fun times.

Anyway, onward and upward to more important matters. What am I going to see at the Great Escape festival which commences Thursday 15th May - Saturday 17th May.

Defiantly the following:

The Young Knives - Weekends and Bleak Days (Hot Summer)

Envelopes - I'd Like 2 C U

Elle S'appelle - She Sells Sea Shells


And hopefully: Vampire Weekend, Iron + Wine, Black Lips, Laura Marling, Wiley, The Whip, Doll and The Kicks, Jacobs Stories, Alphabeat, The Shoes, Saul Williams, Soko, Santogold, and Bunny Rabbit.


Also booked tickets to go to Wild In The Country - Bjork, Soulwax, Foals, Battles, The Presets, Hercules and Love Affair, and loads of DJ's including 2manydj's, DJ Yoda, Mylo and Plump DJ's.

Just to round off, here is my all time, top favourite summer song:

Sly and The Family Stone - Hot Fun In The Summer Time

Actually, tell a lie... it's this:

Number 47 Said To Number 3 'You're The Cutest Jailbird I Ever Did See'

Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley

Possibly THE most beautiful man to walk the face of the planet?

Until he got all fat and ugly obviously.

Boots Wit' The Furrr

Long time no update.

Went to see Bjork at Hammersmith Apollo on Monday. Didn't really know any of her stuff, but she was really good live. Glad I made the effort to get a ticket.

I haven't really been listening to much new stuff, everything just seems so similar at the moment. However I have been plotting my Great Escape plan, as the stage times were disclosed the other week. More on that at a later date.

I guess I should post some music on here, since it is meant to be a 'music blog'. Here is some stuff I've heard/enjoyed/got obsessed with.

Jique - Brazilian Girls

It Pays To Belong - The Embassy

If You Should Try To Kiss Her - Dressy Bessy

Remembered how much I love Dressy Bessy after seeing Clea DuVall in Girl, Interrupted which took me back to the days of being obsessed with But I'm A Cheerleader

With Every Heartbeat (Punks Jump Up Remix) - Kleenup feat. Robyn 

Low - Flo-Rider feat. T.Pain

Why I am so obsessed with the above track, I have no idea. 

Brought some tickets to see Alanis Morrisette in June, Wireless festival - The Morrissey date which also has Beck, The Black Kids, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, New York Dolls and Siouxsie Sioux and the Silent Disco when it comes to the Brighton Fringe festival in May.

Busy times.

Dirty Cash I Want You, Dirty Cash I Need You

After a few days in Brighton, which included being verbally assaulted for merely expressing my opinion and utilising my right of freedom of speech, copious amounts of Tanqueray and Gordons, I came back to London to spend my Saturday at work. Sunday has been spent in the snow (oh go on then, because we all know I've been listening to it Snow - jj72) and my pyjamas, although not at the same time.

Right, enough blah. Here's what I've been discovering/re-discovering and listening to:

Miscommunication - Timbaland (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)

Dirty Cash (Money Talks) (Original 12" Version) - Stevie V

Stop Me (Dirty South Remix) - Mark Ronson

YES. I know, I hate Mark Ronson, but Dirty South are amazing, as is this remix.

Egg - Smashing Pumpkins - From the Reel Time Sessions, circa 1989.

Roam - The B-52's - Booked my ticket to see them at the Roundhouse in July which will be actually fantastic.


Also brought a Reading Festival ticket. The line-up so far looks quite awful, and have seen the majority of people announced... just hoping some of the bands on the smaller stages will be worth a peek. Seeing Rage Against The Machine will be intense though.