Music – A Note On a Rainy Night

Wacken Earth

I got this postcard from a supermarket in a small town in NW Germany near where the festival is held. I hope it has genuine Rammstein tears in the soil sample, or I’ll ask for my €3 back

I love using Photoshop product mockups – there’s something satisfying about creating a total lie of an object that doesn’t exist. I wanted an 8 track tape mockup, but I couldn’t find one. So I made one and you can download it.

Australian Radio Playlist

Here’s a playlist I made while I was in Melbourne of (mostly current) Australian stuff I heard played in various shops and cafes. Daytime Australian radio is where cock rock goes to die, and keeps Midnight Oil forever living off royalties, but I definitely didn’t go there with this playlist.

Record shops of Melbourne

You Get Used to an Empty Room- playlist

Everything has been grim- the world, politics, more personal matters. Here is a short playlist of a certain mood of corruscating bleakness.

I want my MTV (late 90s edition)

I was a teenager in the dark ages when you had to have lightning reflexes to tape songs you liked when they came on. I didn’t have cable or satellite at home, but I did a lot of babysitting at houses where they had the music channels. So I used to to make mix tapes of music videos. Here’s some of the stuff I remember taping.

It’s a fool who doesn’t see what I see watching trees

Here’s a playlist. There’s a certain early 80s synth pop mood, even if all the songs aren’t actually from that era. There’s some Russian stuff, there’s the Deftones covering Duran Duran (yes, really). Have a good aesthetically composed sulk on me.

Amps for Total Beginners

If you are playing an electric guitar or bass, you will need an amp. Here’s a guide to how they work, and how to find the one that will suit you.

A general update

I haven’t posted much this month because I was ill- not ill enough to need medical attention or be bedridden, but not ill enough to do anything much either. Was it the virus, or not? I have no idea because of course I wasn’t able to get tested, but the symptoms fitted, and the people in the flat next to and below me were equally ill with the same symptoms, and I live in one of the most affected parts of the UK. I also felt tired and grey for a long time after recovering- similar to after having glandular fever and shingles (not helped by doing something painful to my shoulder in the meantime). So it seems likely.

Crossing the Alps playlist

To travel in between Vienna and Graz, until the never-ending tunnel under the mountains is finished later this decade, you have to take the train over the top of the Semmering Pass, going up and down over the Alps. You get some spectacular views, and the trainline itself is a UNESCO site. It’s hard to take good photos out of the train window, so here’s my playlist for over the mountain.

Das Geht Sich Gut Aus

I’ve been in Vienna and now a tiny village on the Austro-Hungarian border for the last few weeks. Here’s what I’ve been listening to.

An Apparition or Whatever You Call It

I haven’t done a playlist on here in a long time, so here’s one. All of a certain mood and a certain era.

Lunatraktors at Halloween

I took some photos of my “broken folk” musician friends the Lunatraktors doing a Halloween performance. The setting was an art installation of a crypt of obsolete technology in a tunnel on the seafront by Sadie Hennessy. The metalwork headpieces were created by local jeweller and metalworker Billie M Vigne.

Nervy Betters poster

I designed this poster for my friend Henry, based on Ware landmark Scott’s Grotto, but forgot to post it here. It’s tomorrow if you are in the area.

Lunatraktors

Last week I went down to Pegwell Bay in between Ramsgate and Sandwich to take some press shots for my friends Carli and Clair- aka the Lunatraktors. They describe their work as “broken folk” and combine folk, ambient vocal overtone work and choreography into it (Carli is also a choreographer and clown by profession).

Oh with your eyes of blue, I want to drink rice milk with you

Today’s song- Rice Dream Girl by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Longing and sadness captured on nothing but a microphone and a cheap Casio keyboard.

I found the fragrance separate from the flower

Today’s song is Black Cat, by Broadcast, from Tender Buttons, one of my all-time favourite albums (I was torn between choosing this or I Found the F). I really wish I had seen Broadcast more times than I did. There seemed no hurry.

Pig- Sparklehorse

So another song- Pig by Sparklehorse. I was considering picking Tears on Fresh Fruit, which is my other favourite song by them, but this won out.

Ghost Fang

Kevin who I run Connect Nothing With Nothing with has an improv group called Ghost Fang. Each performance includes whatever musicians want to take part…

Nuns contemplating Dog

I took some press shots of “”pineal-poking punked-up psychedelic speedfreaks” Casual Nun at Dreamland when they came down to Margate to play a gig recently. While everyone’s back was turned, Iraklis won a huge toy dog from a sideshow on the first attempt.

Kleenex- Nice

So next up, Nice by Kleenex. (Who later had to rename themselves Liliput after pressure from the tissue company). Infectious early 80s Swiss post-punk.

Over the Edge- Wipers

So I thought I would pick a song I like each day, and write something about why I like it, in an attempt to make myself write more often.

Bismuth

Hello from the southern hemisphere. Here’s some new press shots of my friends’ band Bismuth I took a few weeks ago at the original UK Botany Bay…

It Came From the Merch Table

People loved the poster, so I got some merch printed up to sell at the festival, and some local friends to model it in an impromptu photo shoot…

Bloody Head

So here’s another gig I’m helping to organise and did the poster for. This time I went for a pretty simple design. Spilt blood speaks for itself…

Beige Palace & Dead Kaczynski

Here’s another gig poster I did (this time for a gig that’s already passed, because I’ve been so slack about updating this blog)…

Enter the Vortex

So here’s the posters I designed for two gigs I’m helping to put on- one in London, the other in Margate. As per the press release “Girl Sweat is the ever-changing garage-noise project fronted by the 6ft 5” beast that is ‘Sweat’” along with the fine collection of psych and drone weirdos assembled in support. My brief for the poster was “illuminati/masons cult shit”. I hope I delivered.

Very Friendly

Here’s some photographs I took of my friends’ band Very Friendly. For a while we had intended to take some promo shots with a miserable day at the beach theme, and then the beach was suddenly covered in thick snow, so this happened over a lunch break. Harry eventually got warm again. Eventually.

Primordial Soup

Here’s a gig poster I drew recently. I was given free reign to do whatever I wanted, and it turns out what I wanted was to do a fake cyanotype of pondscum. Facebook event for the show here.

Dawnwalker

So I recently did some artwork for an album cover- Human Ruins by Dawnwalker (featuring Dane Cross from Sacred Son, who caused an incredible fuss last with the Black Metal fanboys with his choice of album artwork). I did the moons and runes, and someone else did the photograph and logo. Photos courtesy of Mark from the band.

January Playlist

The second half of January has been a bad time for me, with a lot of very difficult things to deal with. I’ve been low on energy for doing anything much creative. Here’s a playlist of songs I’ve been listening to lately though.

Domestic Abuse Support All-dayer fundraising gig

I recently went to a local gig put on by Art’s Cool raising money for the local domestic abuse support charity. It was an all-dayer, with half the lineup being local Kent bands, and the other half being from Leeds. The next day they did it all again, but in Leeds, and raising money for an education charity there. I missed the first band, but they were kind of a supergroup made up of members from the different Leeds bands

They only want you when you’re seventeen

I made this playlist a while back, and the post has been languishing in the drafts for a while, so I thought I’d finish it off for the end of the year. It’s all songs I liked when I was 17, which was in 2002

Zilinski album launch

So here are some much more recent gig pictures- from this week in fact. Local label M8s Records held an album launch party for Canterbury band Zilinski. With Lazy Pilgrims and Trash Mammoth in support.

Cloudrat & Moloch

A couple of years ago my friend Steve Larder’s band Moloch did a split LP and tour with American grindcore band Cloudrat. I found the unedited photos the other day, and finally sorted them out. Enjoy.

I’m Curious To Know Exactly How You Are

I had to put a Hüsker Dü song in this list, as they are one of my all-time favourite bands, but it was hard to decide which one. In the end I went for a really obvious choice- the first song of theirs I got into.

Croatia Playlist

So here’s my playlist from Croatia- it goes with the zine I wrote about the trip.

That Cat’s Something I Can’t Explain

I would describe this as essentially a Bond theme about a Siamese cat. I’m a big fan of Syd Barrett, but have a deep pool of loathing for Roger Waters. I would call it an irrational hatred, but I feel like I could come up with plenty of reasons for my loathing. My mother is a big Pink Floyd fan, so I’ve had plenty of exposure over my lifetime to fuel it.

I just wait, I just think

I debated which Codeine song to use, the competition was strong. Codeine are often described as Slowcore. Slow songs in Stephen Immerwahr’s (a fitting name- his surname is German for “Always True”) clear voice with vivid images about the small despairs of everyday life and relationships. A long evening alone in the Winter. I imagine a lot of people will hate this and find it dreary, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s anything but.

Ponder this to get nearer to nothing

When I wrote the 50 Things About Me entry a little while ago, I started creating a playlist of 50 favourite songs. It got unwieldy and didn’t flow well though, so I gave up. Instead I’ll write a little bit every so often about songs from the list.

The Van Pelt are not famous or well-known outside a small niche. The singer/song-writer Chris Leo’s brother Ted Leo is much more well-known, and bass player Toko Yasuda has had success over the years playing with Enon, Blonde Redhead and St Vincent, but they never hit the big time. Instead they released two quietly treasured albums in the mid-90s (Sultans of Sentiment and Stealing From Our Favourite Thieves) and then disbanded- they’ve released a collection of sessions that were intended for a third album (Imaginary Third) and done the odd reunion tour (I was lucky enough to catch one in London-it was a very special evening) but I’m guessing only a small selection of my readers will know them.

(((O Boards of Sunnada O)))

Anyway, in July Sunn O))) toured the UK, and I couldn’t go because I was committed to working long hours on this residential course I was teaching, and I felt pretty sad about it. So I used It Took The Night to Believe as the prompt for that week’s creative writing activity for my students. The previous week I’d used the video for Reach for the Dead by Boards of Canada (both pieces of music gave good results in the student’s writing) . While setting up the activity I accidentally set off both songs at once, and discovered they actually sound amazing together. So enjoy. For best results, start the Boards of Canada song first.

Japan playlist

Here’s a Spotify playlist I made while I was in Japan, of Japanese artists and music that matched my mood at the time. (All the Japanese bands are marked with a J).

Forgotten late 90s Indie Pop

A little while ago, there was a thing on Twitter where people used the #indieamnesty tag to tell funny or embarrassing stories about their involvement with the whole Landfill Indie and Nu Rave thing in the mid 2000s (there’s also a surprisingly intelligent and self-perceptive interview with Johnny Borrell (!!) here). As the Guardian article I’ve linked to said, “Indie amnesty brings together thousands of relatively banal anecdotes about unglamorous people doing slightly idiotic things into something quite majestic” and most of the people were writing about being foolish and easily impressed in their teenage years.

Should a word have two meanings?

My three top new albums this year have all been by female solo artists, two of whom are Welsh, Cate le Bon’s Crab Day, Gwenno’s Y Dydd Olaf (the Last Day) and Artangels by Grimes. Crab Day is well worth checking out, combining influences from spooky 70s folk, Fleetwood Mac and Devo.

“Solar on the Rise- summer, summer, summer” (Winter 2015 playlist)

Actual Crimes

Last week I took some promo shots of my friends Kirsty and Aaron’s band Actual Crimes. They recently became a two piece after the departure of Lenny for a job in the US, but are hopefully becoming a three piece again in the near future. No expense was spared for this photo shoot, we bravely walked five minutes down the road to a brightly painted garage door, and devoted ourselves to posing for ooh, at least half an hour.

Fanzine Ynfytyn

My zine, Fanzine Ynfytyn, is named after a song by Welsh language post-punk band Datblygu (“Develop”). The name could be construed as either “Fanzine Idiot”, “Idiot Fanzine” or “Idiot’s Fanzine”. People either look at the name with bafflement, go “uh, is it Welsh in some way?” or are pleased because they know the song (those people get a free copy). In some ways I regret giving it a name that so many people struggle to pronounce or understand, but I’m on issue 22 now, so they’ll just have to get used to it. When I started it, I only expected to give a few copies to some friends who were already familiar with the song, so it wasn’t really a concern (I also had a mini collage zine called “Pobble Eh Come?” like a really mis-spelt version of the soap opera). Seeing as one of those people was a fellow language student penfriend who I had a running joke with of us mangling Welsh and German together to make one überbendigedich language, I wasn’t too worried about the palatability of the name. I was never expecting to get to issue 22, and have sold or traded hundreds of copies of some of the back issues and have them in libraries and academic collections. I was surprised I got to more than a couple of issues to be honest.

Sleater-Kinney

A few weeks ago I went to see Sleater-Kinney, one of my favourite bands, at the Roundhouse. They had been on hiatus since 2006, with the members working on other projects like Portlandia in the meantime, so I was pleased and surprised when they announced a new album and tour. The last time they had played in the UK was when I was doing my finals, so I’d had to give it a miss. I’d seen them before at Reading Festival, but I never really count short afternoon festival sets at massive outdoor festivals like Reading as really seeing a band properly, because you’re basically watching them on a tv screen standing at the other end of a field (one of the many reasons I don’t go to them any more). I don’t think I have ever been to such a big gig as the Roundhouse one where I just constantly ran into so many people I know and like, it was almost too much, there was someone new to say hello to every time I turned around . The band themselves were superb, and played for an hour and half. I don’t think you could ask for more, really.

Your suspicions I’m confirming, as you find them all quite true

1) Continental Shelf- Viet Cong
One off the radio at work. I’m not that fussed about the whole album, but I really like this single.

2) Kingdom of Heaven (Is Within You) – The 13th Floor Elevators
From the True Detective soundtrack. The seedy side of the late 60s. It really fitted the show well.

Gigs of 2014

I was really broke for most of 2014. I didn’t get to go to many bigger gigs, but I did go to a lot of smaller ones. I made this playlist of songs each by a band I saw last year. It’s not an exhaustive list, I just picked songs I liked by bands I had a good time seeing, which were also available on Spotify and worked together on a playlist. If you are outside the UK I don’t know if all of them will play, due to a lot of them being bands of people I know putting their records out on small labels or themselves. Hopefully they will.

Auto-suggested pathways

Long time, no see. I’ve been without a computer recently. Now it’s been fixed, I’ve got a bit of a backlog of posts. This is a spotify playlist I made a little while back. I was going for a introspective and slightly witchy mood.

International Pop Hits

My all-time top Finn Tukru, sent me some weird Finnish music videos from the past. (Don’t introduce me to any other Finns, Tukru, you might get demoted).

Ponder this to get nearer to nothing

Long time, no see. In the last week I started a new design job, had some major dental work done, and also moved. Busy. I now have a bit more money, and a lot more space though, which is always a good thing. I’ve got a fair few things to catch up with here. I’ve got films I took at Homespun Festival to develop and scan, and some illustration and sewing things to finish.

Frozy, Dog Legs and Los Cripis

Last night I went to see my friends Frozy play with Dog Legs and Los Cripis. Los Cripis are from Argentina, but play over in the UK quite frequently. I don’t know any other bands from Argentina, so they can be my favourite one. I tried to take some photos, but the lighting in the bar was appalling, and I don’t like to disturb people with flash, so here’s a music video instead. Don’t watch it if you don’t like blood. Los Cripis have an album out now, and Frozy have one coming soon. Why not give them some money?

Wake and walk and talk and take

More like wake and talk and work and talk and work lately. I’ve been working teaching on a residential course in an ex nunnery near St Albans this week. I’ve worked for the company for a few years on and off, teaching the odd course here and there. Most of their work is residential, so I just do it occasionally. They hire out beautiful historical buildings and teenagers from abroad come for 2 week holidays. You take them out on field trips, give them lessons about cultural topics, and to improve their practical use of English, and do a creative project with them. This time we have been doing film-making. Last week they did a detective story, this week horror stories. No, you can’t see them, because of child protection rules at the job.

BARR at Power Lunches

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The other night I went to see BARR aka Brendan Fowler at Power Lunches. I had pretty much forgotten about him until I saw the gig announcement on the Upset the Rhythm mailing list, but I was really happy when I saw it. I always like good spoken word. He doesn’t do so much music these days, more photography (he’d come over to the UK to give a talk at the Tate). I never got around to seeing him at the time, and somehow only a handful of people I know remembered his existence, and even fewer could make it on that particular Sunday, but luckily it turned out my friend Tobi was coming up from Brighton. I was particularly keen to go, because the next morning I was due to go off for two weeks to teach a residential course in the middle of nowhere, so it was my last outing for a few weeks, and I’ve been a skint hermit recently.

Rocks are slow life

I’ve been enjoying hermitting recently. I’ve gone out and done the odd thing and for work, but I’ve been happy to stay in the last few weeks and work on various projects, and apply for more work, and declutter junk. Sometimes these phases are nice.

No jokes about fireman’s poles here

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Some people I know put on a byo gig on Friday at the old fire station in Stoke Newington. It makes a great venue. More of these, please. The band in the photo above are Tyrannosaurus Dead. I didn’t take a lot of pictures, because it’s difficult in low light situations, and I don’t like to use flash if the ambient lighting is atmospheric.

How to Be a Cult Leader

Last week I went to a How To Be a Cult Leader show. My friend Mel was doing the visuals with Space is Ace. I liked the setup and atmosphere of the show a lot. There were different musicians dotted around the room in the small theatre, and they would each play one or two songs in turn, with a 10 minute bar/toilet break every so often. There were also projections and lights directed at the two side walls. It was quite tricky to take photos, because the theatre was dark, but there were also a lot of vibrant colours I wanted to do justice to without leaving the performers blurred.

A Hawk and a Hacksaw

The other night I went to see a Hawk and a Hacksaw at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. My friend Fliss had a spare ticket at the last moment. I had seen them a few times before, the picture above is one I took at ATP around 6 years ago. She had booked the tickets so long ago she had forgotten the details of the show. It turned out to be a collaboration between A Hawk and a Hacksaw and the BBC Orchestra. The orchestra played pieces by Bartok and Ligeti, a Hawk and a Hacksaw played folk songs from Hungary, Romania and Ukraine, and the two joined together for some songs at the end. It felt very civilised to sit watching an orchestra in plush padded seats. It’s not something I do that often. I had an ice cream in the interval too.

Easter House Gig

Last weekend I went to a house gig in South London. These things seem to be few and far between in London, because people tend to be pressed for living space. Hugh, the host, played, and the other bands were all various configurations of my friend Nicol from Sussex and three of his friends from Bristol and London. One of the residents of the house is a little girl, who helped out by finding a toy drum and a stick from the garden, and joining in as a second drummer while wearing a princess dress (while jumping up and down on a trampoline too when Roxy played in the garden). All gigs need more of that. (Also, something is weird with Bandcamp – the audio controls don’t appear in the preview, and you can’t centre them

Tömeny romantika, imádlak 80s hungarian songs-ika

The other weekend I went to visit Erika and her partner at their beautiful house. I always have a nice time there. The worst thing that ever happened to me there was that I once ate too much Stilton and had to have a lengthy lie-down. If the worst thing about your day is that you ate too much blue cheese, then the day is going well.

The more you use it, the more it works.

Februrary has been a deeply weird and confusing month, for various reasons. I had to go to hospital with gastritis and a kidney infection. I didn’t have to stay in or anything, but I had to take loads of different medications and was pretty ill for about a week and a half. I had to also follow the most boring diet possible until my stomach healed up (like, literally nothing was allowed). I was basically eating the diet of a fussy toddler. I never want to see another quorn nugget as long as I live. My stomach is fine now, and I’m reintroducing various foods and drinks, but it’s weird to have to try to remind myself to eat proper meals again. I also lost weight. Society wants to tell you that you should always be happy about that for whatever reason, because women aren’t supposed to take up space in the world or something, but actually my weight was fine before (they definitely don’t want you thinking that). Now my clothes are a bit sad and loose looking. Hopefully now I’m back on proper food that will be sorted out quickly.

Space is Ace II

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

My friend Mel put on a space-themed night at Power Lunches with some other students from her MA course. I helped out by designing the flyer, helping with decorating, and djing in the bar. I had a really good time, but I really don’t have anything nice to say about the behaviour of the three other St Martin’s students.

The night was really popular though, the place was packed, and everyone seemed to have a good time, which was the important thing.

Stef Kamil Carlens at Neu Gallery

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I wrote before about going to a gig at Neu Gallery run by Greek artist Stefanos Rokos. I returned the following week, to see Stef Kamil Carlens, ex of dEUS. Like Matt Friedberger’s performance, it was quite different stuff to the bands both of them are known for- more singer-songerwritery in this case. I particularly liked the songs which were in French. I think I’ll leave this picture to do the talking.

Field Day 2013

I also went to Field Day this year. It was the first Saturday I had off work in about 3 months, so it was good to make the most of it (I also had to go to work the next day- somehow I looked and felt fine, I must be a wonder of biology). I managed to see most of the bands I wanted to, bar Toy and Mount Kimbie. I was there with my housemate, but we managed to keep missing each other. When I left I suddenly had a flood of texts onto my phone saying things like “I’m at the bar by X, we’re going to watch Y in a min, where are you?” which might explain it. Stupid technology. He saw Mount Kimbie and found it disappointing anyway. I managed to find my Medway friends anyway, and spent some time with people from Reading too, which was nice.

Revert to Disarray

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The gallery has some kind of connection with a hotel, and they held another event there the following night, with Jim Sclavunos from the Bad Seeds djing ( a strange mix of Iggy Pop and novelty jazz records), and a repeat of the music. It was quite a surreal experience. I don’t really drink in fancy hotels anyway, it not being in the budget. Also, on the way there, we stopped off to get some food, and eat it in a little park, the sort where office workers go to eat sandwiches. There was a crown green bowls contest going on in the middle of the financial district. We felt very civilised, watching bowls before going to socialise in a hotel.

Listening to my grandad’s stereo (but not his record collection)

I recently received my grandad’s stereo. He’s 89 and has moved into an old people’s home, and said he didn’t need it any more. He was an electrical engineer for Philips, so his choice of appliances can usually be relied on. I was expecting something from the 70s, but then it turned out he’d actually bought this one 3-4 years ago. I don’t know why he felt the need to buy a whole new stereo to listen to his 10 Shirley Bassey records. He once gave me a tape with Italian lessons on one side, and Shirley Bassey songs on the other. I guess he felt it was about time I took up both of those things.

The things I did and didn’t do (mostly things I actually did)

I went to a fair few small gigs recently. I’ve been moving house, but trying not to be a hermit who spends all their time making bookshelves.

Signal to Noise

On Sunday night I went to my friend John Newman’s sound installation at the Deaf Cat in Rochester, put on by the TEA people. There was a Damo Suzuki improv gig the previous night when I was away. I’m sure they organise these things when I can’t come specifically to spite me. I also went to watch at their band dating event they put on on Thurs. They got musicians to fill out a profile, then assigned them to a band, gave them 2 free rehearsal sessions, then they played whatever they came up with on the night. It all worked out very well. There were soundscapes and something that sounded like a Talking Heads rehearsal.

Werebitches and devils

On Friday, my friends Tukru and Louise had their first gig (for Tukru in 10 years) appropriately on International Women’s Day. The band only formed a couple of weeks ago, so it was a bit nerve-wracking for them, but everything went fine. I tried to take some photos, but it was in the cellar of an old restaurant/bar, where you could touch the ceiling and there were no stage lights, so I didn’t get anything much usable

What is not but could be if

Here’s another mix, no theme this time, just songs I’ve been listening to a lot lately. When I moved the blog over to wordpress, I had to put the playlist on Spotify, so a couple of the songs aren’t available.

Songs based on books- a playlist.

Here’s a short playlist I made of songs based on (good, enjoyable) books, with some short descriptions for people who haven’t read the books in question.

Record Fair

On Saturday I’m doing a zine stall with my friend Fliss Collier at the inaugural How Does it Feel to Be Loved Record Fair. As well as our own zines we’re bringing a selection of music zines and stock from Vampire Sushi distro.There will be record stalls from Fortuna POP!, Where It’s At Is Where You Are, Odd Box, Fika, How Does It Feel To Be Loved?, The Great Pop Supplement, Dirty Water Records, Enraptured, Cherry Red, and Lojinx and lots of second hand records. I will have to restrain myself from spending any money, because I’m broke.

Someone somewhere somehow feels you should be here

I guest djed at Moogie Wonderland with Tukru last week. It went pretty well, although the students were conspicuous in their absence because it’s exam/assessment time. I didn’t plan what I was going to play, just went with intuition.

Like the librarian said … everyone respects the dead

Yesterday I got the dvd of Kids for £2, and I watched it with Vicky & Tukru. V had somehow never seen it, and the last time T had seen it was about 10 years ago when her down-with-the-kids history teacher had played it at school (yeah, Finland …). When I was about 15 or so it was my all-time favourite film along with Heavenly Creatures. I don’t know what that says about me. If I’d seen the film now as a 26 year old, it wouldn’t amaze me (maybe creep me out instead). I think what made the impact on me at the time was that in the age before cheap DVDs and easy downloading, it was the first really raw film I’d seen, and I was obviously longing for rawness at the time. Glossy Hollywood high school films had absolutely no relevance to my life

Often Inclined to Borrow Somebody’s Dream Til Tomorrow

I’m a big Syd Barrett fan, but I really can’t stand any of the stuff Pink Floyd did after he left (ironic, considering that my MA project supervisor is the guy who designed the cover for Dark Side of the Moon). Recently I went to an exhibition of his paintings, photos and letters. The gallery wasn’t the most welcoming place, but I enjoyed the exhibition. I particularly liked the way he would just give his paintings to anyone who liked them. There were some pictures I really liked, but they didn’t allow photographs, didn’t sell postcards (only prints costing several hundred pounds) and the pictures on the website are covered in ugly watermarks. It’s the same as when I went to the Hundertwasser museum in Vienna- an exhibition dedicated to an artist who when they were alive lived in an anti-commercial, diy way, is run after their death in the most snobby manner of the commercial art world available. (I’m not a fan of the atmosphere a lot of commercial galleries create, art is for everyone)

Don’t Put Out

The other week I was in Brighton to see Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains, a forgotten film from the 80s about a fictional all-girl punk band with Diane Lane, Ray Winstone (yes, really), Paul Simonon and half of the Sex Pistols. They’ve started doing a cinema club at the West Hill Hall showing cult films with bands playing afterwards. This time the bands were Trash Kit and Woolf. I found out about it when I was at the copiers and the guy in front of me was copying flyers and we got chatting and swapped zines and flyers. I wish that kind of thing happened to me more often. A good evening filled with friends and good feelings. Bands and film recommended. I want to be back in Brighton. ( I decided to go not via London to see if the cheaper ticket was worth the bother- it wasn’t, it took me 4 hours and between 4-7 trains each way)

I don’t wanna join yr club, I don’t want yr kind of love (Typical Grrls v2)

So we had the second Typical Girls last week. It was more successful than the first, we had 20-25 people there. They were all people we didn’t know as well, which was surprising. I made 50 lurid pink cakes covered in edible glitter, and played some Patti Smith and Comet Gain this time. Tukru brought a table full of zines and fundraising stuff for her roller derby team and played some Nicki Minaj and slipped in a bit of Lady Gaga, which made me pull a face. All the cakes got eaten, and even the old men who lurk down the end of the bar had a good time. Hopefully more people and more dancing next time.

Typical Grrls- grrrl / genderqueer friendly club night in chatham 3rd March

Female-fronted music, free zine, free cake, zine stall from Vampire Sushi distro. All the good stuff in life, and free entry and cheap drinks to boot.

Typical Grrls v1

So last Thursday me & Tukru had our first clubnight. All-female playlist, free zine, free cake. It wasn’t very busy, as expected for a first night that we hadn’t had a great deal of time to prepare for. Some art students came, they seemed to enjoy themselves and certainly spent a lot at the bar, which covered our costs. About 11 it got really quiet, and the owner was tired so she decided to close early for the first one. We went home, I was feeling a bit disappointed. It turned out the next day that a whole load of people we knew came along about half 11, but of course the place was closed. Ah well. Next time. We’ve got a month to promote it as well.

Typical Grrls- grrrl / genderqueer friendly club night in chatham

So I’m back in Medway. I need to keep busy, and there’s not a great deal of stuff happens here (I mean there are fun things that go on, but they tend to be spaced out a bit). Me & Tukru decided to start some things up ourselves. The devil makes work for idle hands.

Dehermitting

I’ve been a hermit since Christmas. Not going anywhere, and not seeing anyone much. You can’t stay at home forever, so I ventured out on Saturday, and took Tukru with me. (I drag her out of the house, she tells me when I’m being an idiot (frequently), it works out nicely). Tukru wore a purple wig.

What about the voice of Geddy Lee?

On Thursday I went to see the last night of the Pavement reunion at the Brixton Academy (I refuse to call any of the London venues their new sponsorship names). I got into Pavement just as they were splitting up, and so I never got to see them live. 10 years later, and it finally happens. I didn’t bother to bring a camera, as my pocket digital doesn’t focus properly in low light any more. The ticket was my birthday present from Chris back in January.

Oxjamm

Here’s the pictures I took Sat. Unfortunately I only got a chance to take a couple before my battery ran out. Schoolboy error. Should’ve charged it up before a left home.

Out and About

I went to two gigs this week, there couldn’t have been more of a contrast.

Steve West- Marble Valley

Last night me & Chris went to see Marble Valley. They’re Steve West from Pavement’s side project. I don’t know if he intended to be the comedy Silver Jews, but that’s what they are. Silver Jews + Flight of the Conchords. The support bands were identikit young men trying to sound like the Arctic Monkeys, but minus the wit.

Last Weekend

Last weekend I was in Reading to see Chris. On friday we ate at Wagamama, and then went to a gig at the Rising Sun. It was Ben, Jay, and the guy from the Inspiral Carpets who isn’t Clint Boon. I can’t say I’m an Inspiral Carpets fan, but the guy was brilliant. He also had a great anecdote about being beaten up by a Kiss tribute band.

Panda Eyes

Hot Silk Pockets are my friend’s band, and they’re ace. I often get phases where there’s only one song I want to listen to. Their song Panda Eyes was the only song I could listen to last week. (This week it’s been replaced in my affections by Summertime Clothes by Animal Collective and Nothing Ever Happened by Deerhunter, but it’s still a great song)