New podcast for 52in52

Check it out right here!!! Hope you enjoy

http://dj52in52.podbean.com/

Five tracks selected by 52in52 for your listening pleasure (and to get used to the software!!!)

Christmas Special coming up soonish

100 bullets - Croatoa

Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso have been writing this monthly comic since the late 90s. They are now up to issue 78 (out of an apparent 100) with their tales of Minutemen, briefcases with untraceable bullets and shadowy characters called Graves and Shepherd linked to an organisation called The Trust. What make this comic such an interesting proposition is the moral dilemnas the writers immerse the characters in. The briefcase is given to a character living on the margins of society and whose life has hit rock bottom. It usually contains 100 bullets and information on a person who has negatively affected the character's life. The character has the opportunity to revenge themselves with the guarantee that as soon as these bullets are investigated, the investigation ceases.


The links to film noir are apparent in the artwork, dialogue and the settings the characters inhabit.

Azzarello has written some fantastic comics over the last number of years with his work on Batman, Daredevil and more recently the Western series "Loveless". This set features his best work and is worth checking out.

New Pictures of Patrick

Patrick is now 3 months old. He is almost sleeping throughout the night and has started to make sounds that are resembling speech patterns. So he has progressed a stage further than his father has already!! Have a look at the pictures and see if you can spot how he has changed. Apologies to anyone offended by the Devil suit, I begged Lisa not to enlist him in to the local Satanic Order. She insisted that he must join otherwise the neighbours might "talk"!!

New music to listen to!!!

Songs in the key of Fife indeed, Lone Pigeon and The Beta Band collide and create the best new band of 2006!! The Aliens!!!!




Other great new music to quite simply rock your world:

1) Charlotte Gainsborough - 5.55 - Lyrics from Jarvis and Neil Hannon, music from Air, singing from Charlotte. Bright, airy and reminiscent stylistically of Saint Etienne and Mick Harvey/Anita lane
2) I'm from Barcelona - Let me introduce my friends - Swedish band of similar size to Polyphonic Spree, though thankfully not as irritating. Named in tribute to Manuel and playing Belfast soon (I think)

Last FM Charts

Patrick Maginnis

More pictures of Patrick (taken by Bruce)

First pictures of Patrick!!

Arthur Lee 1945-2006

Arthur Lee

Morrissey at PinkPop Festival

Morrissey and the lads give an hour-long performance at PinkPop.

Five reasons why Syd mattered

He founded Pink Floyd.

The first Pink Floyd record, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, is a psychedelic classic

Syd made two incredible solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. Both Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour took turns producing him solo, and Richard Wright played on Barrett.

One of the best loved Floyd albums is basically a tribute to Barrett. Wish You Were Here featured "Have A Cigar," which detailed the band's first meeting with EMI back in '67, and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," a heartfelt tribute to Barrett.

Influenced by Syd: This Mortal Coil, Marc Bolan, David Bowie, The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Cure, Johnny Marr , My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields, Primal Scream, The Libertines, The Beta Band, Julian Cope, Robyn Hitchcock, The Flaming Lips, R.E.M., Mercury Rev, Blur

Syd Barrett 1946 - 2006

A dozen great records

My Bloody Valentine - Isn't anything
Cocteau Twins - Blue Bell Knoll
Can - Tago Mago
Alexander Spence - Oar
Gene Clark - No other
Beach Boys Holland
David Byrne Brian Eno - My life in the bush of ghosts
Bonnie Prince Billy - I see a darkness
Boards of Canada - Music has the right to children
Spiritualized - Pure Phase
Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey

Razorlight, Muse - it's 1978 all over again

Close your eyes and listen. Has a loop in time opened up again? Has pop really eaten itself? Or have ideas started to run out? Muse are feted at the minute with glowing reviews for a piece of pomp rock that would have embarrassed Freddie and the boys. Let's be honest 78 was not a great year for Queen (Jazz - any takers???), but even they would have stopped short from the laboursome synth arpeggios employed on the new Muse record. Muse have been together for nine years, or so I read the other day. Nine years to get to this point, the sub Thom yelping, the Buckley riffs rifled, Baba O freakin Reilly??? Playing it loud mind you, it does make more sense. It could start to be fun and brash and lots of other things, but the neighbours will complain. So let's not.

Let's try something else, the other great record of 1978, sorry 2006. This is the new one by The Boomtown Razorlight. The one that goes, " In the morning, you know you won't remember a thing" - such a great couplet deserves to be used twice and indeed they do - in two separate songs!!!!! Around their debut album, Jonny Geldof drew comparisons between it and that of Bob Dylan's debut. The vibe seemed to be that this was a songwriting genius to match or even supersede that of Bob (maybe I read this wrongly???) However Dylan's debut aside ( Fixin to die, In my time of Dying), his second album was that one about Freewheelin blah blah blah. Razorlight are better to try and keep up with A tonic for the Troops era Rats or maybe aim for the Police circa Outlandos d'amour. Both of these records were released in, you guessed it, 1978! This time round though Razorlight look beyond their limited references. Now they have been listening to the first three U2 albums as well as the ones they half inched stuff from the last time. Bluster, bluster, bluster. Remember U2 only started with The Unforgettable Fire (the year they met Brian Eno), they didn't really exist before then. All that Red Rocks stuff was just a bad flag waving, pointy booted, mulleted dream.

So if 2006 is 1978, hurrah!! This means I can expect to hear The Man Machine, More songs about building and food, Another Music in a different kitchen and Inflammable Material - in a new updated style of course. It's all good. There is always Clap your hands say yeah, a new Dj kicks compilation from Kieran Hebden or if really hard pressed for something listenable, the new TV on the Radio album will sort you right out.

A new top 100 list - voted for by readers of NME and some other magazine

Greatest 100 Albums of All Time

1. Definitely Maybe, Oasis
2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, The Beatles
3. Revolver, The Beatles
4. OK Computer, Radiohead
5. (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, Oasis
6. Nevermind, Nirvana
7. The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses
8. Dark Side Of The Moon, Pink Floyd
9. The Queen Is Dead, Smiths
10. The Bends, Radiohead
11. The Joshua Tree, U2
12. London Calling, The Clash
13. The Beatles (The White Album), The Beatles
14. Abbey Road, The Beatles
15. Up The Bracket, The Libertines
16. Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols, Sex Pistols
17. Four Symbols (Led Zeppelin IV), Led Zeppelin
18. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, David Bowie
19. A Night At The Opera, Queen
20. Is This It, The Strokes
21. Hot Fuss, The Killers
22. Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys
23. Grace, Jeff Buckley
24. The Holy Bible, Manic Street Preachers
25. Bat Out Of Hell, MeatLoaf
26. Appetite For Destruction, Guns N' Roses
27. Employment, Kaiser Chiefs
28. Rubber Soul, The Beatles
29. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
30. The Libertines, The Libertines
31. Urban Hymns, The Verve
32. American Idiot, Green Day
33. A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Coldplay
34. Parklife, Blur
35. Thriller, Michael Jackson
36. The Wall, Pink Floyd
37. Automatic For The People, R.E.M.
38. Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand
39. Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield
40. Achtung Baby, U2
41. Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd
42. Exile On Main Street, The Rolling Stones
43. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel
44. Led Zeppelin II, Led Zeppelin
45. Parallel Lines, Blondie
46. Brothers In Arms, Dire Straits
47. Blood On The Tracks, Bob Dylan
48. Hunky Dory, David Bowie
49. X&Y, Coldplay
50. Who's Next, The Who
51. Hopes And Fears, Keane
52. Parachutes, Coldplay
53. Arrival, Abba
54. Different Class, Pulp
55. The Velvet Underground & Nico, The Velvet Underground
56. Forever Changes, Love
57. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
58. Let It Bleed, The Rolling Stones
59. Elephant, The White Stripes
60. Doolittle, Pixies
61. Absolution, Muse
62. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John
63. Sheer Heart Attack, Queen
64. Come On Over, Shania Twain
65. Sign 'o' The Times, Prince
66. Ten, Pearl Jam
67. Kasabian, Kasabian
68. Dookie, Green Day
69. Origin Of Symmetry, Muse
70. Hounds Of Love, Kate Bush
71. Blonde On Blonde, Bob Dylan
72. All Mod Cons, The Jam
73. Blue, Joni Mitchell
74. White Blood Cells, The White Stripes
75. Dog Man Star, Suede
76. Metallica (the Black Album), Metallica
77. Dare!, Human League
78. Closer, Joy Division
79. In Utero, Nirvana
80. Back In Black, AC/DC
81. Funeral, Arcade Fire
82. Up All Night, Razorlight
83. Ray Of Light, Madonna
84. Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen
85. Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin
86. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, Arctic Monkeys
87. A Day At The Races, Queen
88. The Lexicon Of Love, ABC
89. Spice, Spice Girls
90. Violator, Depeche Mode
91. Final Straw, Snow Patrol
92. Electric Warrior, T. Rex
93. Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette
94. Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division
95. Kid A, Radiohead
96. Out Of The Blue, Electric Light Orchestra
97. The Smiths, The Smiths
98. Electric Ladyland, Jimi Hendrix
99. Rage Against The Machine, Rage Against The Machine
100. Hotel California, Eagles

Slogan

Stanley Kunitz

Stanley Kunitz 1906-2006

The Quarrel

The word I spoke in anger
weighs less than a parsley seed,
but a road runs through it
that leads to my grave,
that bought-and-paid-for lot
on a salt-sprayed hill in Truro
where the scrub pines
overlook the bay.
Half-way I'm dead enough,
strayed from my own nature
and my fierce hold on life.
If I could cry, I'd cry,
but I'm too old to be
anybody's child.
Liebchen,
with whom should I quarrel
except in the hiss of love,
that harsh, irregular flame?

Last FM

On the playlist

Duke Ellington - Ellington at Newport 1956

Decent jazz album in HMV Forestside shocker!!! The 1999 reissued version, which unlike the original version was actually recorded in Newport 1956. The original issue featured a re recorded version of the concert recorded in New york a couple of days after the original concert. Worth buying alone for "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" and "Take the A Train", the former featuring Paul Gonsalve's famous tenor sax solo.



The Temptations - Cloud Nine

A massive impact on the likes of Curtis Mayfield and Funkadelic, this album saw the band move away from their traditional sound after their lead singer left the previous year. Produced by Norman Whitfield, this album was the start of Motown's psychedelic soul period and featured the distinctive guitar work of Funk Brother Dennis Coffey. 35 minutes of wah wah funk soul and peerless vocals from Dennis Edwards.








Adem - Love and other planets

A slightly less accessible follow up to the debut "Homesongs" from the one time Fridge member (alongside Kieren Hebden - Four Tet). Acoustic guitars, accordions, glockenspiels and harmonium combine to create a warm and spacious set of twelve songs.

"on a clear night if you look close enough / you can just make out / love and other planets / we are not alone."

Right click and download a stunning music video here (nothing rude don't panic!!)

or watch the same video below

What can a poor boy do?

Country girl take my hand
Lead me through .......

Oh my soul is unclean
Country girl
Got to keep on keeping on
Country girl
Got to keep on keeping on

Click here for video

Lazer guided Melodies

Two fantastic new albums of old stuff

Spiritualized - Friendly Fire

1992 saw the release of Spiritualized's first album, Lazer Guided Melodies, a fantastic combination of drone rock, driving guitars and horns that saw Jason Pierce free himself from the constrains of Spacemen 3 and start moving towards the heady heights of 1997's Ladies and Gentlemen album. Recently the bass guitarist on this album, Willie B Carruthers, came into possession of 50 copies of a collection of demos and rehearsals from this period and was selling these online. It is amazing to hear the blueprints for songs such as Smiles, You Know it's true and Run. To hear the steady building pulse present in these songs even at this early stage is incredible. One set of the rehearsals was recorded in the front room of Pierce's flat and yet the guitars still manage to scale those euphoric heights and more than hint at the finished album's sound. Incredibly sad to be getting excited about a collection of rehearsal tapes, but this is a snapshot of a band at the start of their career. A band that only existed in this shape for a couple of years before dissolving acrimoniously. Reissue of the year for me without a doubt!




Saint Etienne - Nice Price

Another collection of demos and unreleased mixes is this by Saint Etienne. This covers their entire career from the early 90s right up to last year. Bob, Sarah and Pete have always strived to recreate the sound in their heads within a groovy classic pop framework. Beginning with the pure pop masterpiece of Nothing can stop us (clear to hear even in this demo form) and moving right up to the pocket symphony of last year's Milk Bottle Symphony where no audio trick is left out. This is an album bursting with sounds. Versions of songs like Hobart Paving and Angel surpass those already available. The demos show that their version of high concept catchy pop music is present from the earliest stage in the process. Only available to fanclub members, see here for more info.

The Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics

I loved them before you did, in fact I loved them before they were even thinking about forming a band, except they weren't very good. They didn't get much better according to these ears until Transmissions from the Satellite Heart was released in 1993 (appearance on Beverly Hills 90210) Even then they were always coming up short in the psych rock stakes against the likes of Mercury Rev, Spiritualized, Verve etc. The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi saw the band push through their ceiling and led to glorious live appearances up and down the country with fake blood, animal suits and megaphones. This new album builds on this and pushes their sounds further more upwards and onwards. The stop starting singalongs of opener the Yeah Yeah Yeah song give way to the falsetto funk of Free Radicals tale of suicide bombing and the journey is well underway. Flashing a multitude of disparate influences including Prince, Beck, prog rock and Neil Young, this is a record that deserves to be listened to like an Lp. Stick on tracks 1-6 a couple of times and then finish off with 7-12. Sure fire winner every time.

Off to see Morrissey in Aberdeen and the BBC Symphony Orchestra the night before (hopefully). Reviews of both on return.

The Charlatans - Simpatico

Bought this yesterday in HMV and have already listened to it three times from start to finish. The Charlatans are never going to be my favourite band or even in my top 20 favourites, but they never fail to create something worth listening to. Comfort music perhaps, a link back to the summer of 1990 when all you heard from my bedroom window was the loose sounds of Madchester. Since 1995 and their eponymous album, the Charlatans have ploughed a furrow of classic rock/funk referencing the Stones through Gram Parsons and Curtis Mayfield with a bit of well studied Dylan thrown in for good measure. The new album is hardly breaking any new ground though there is a spot of "reggae" on Road to Paradise, not their finest three minutes. A good listen and worth spending a few quid on.

Slieve Meelmore and Bearnagh

Got up at 7.30 am and headed down to the Trassey car park with the dog. Arrived in car park at 8.45 am and was back in car by 12.30ish. Stopped twice, at top of Meelmore and at top of Bearnagh. Bearnagh from this side is a steep climb though doesn't take that long to do (25 minutes) Best time to go as I was only person at summit of both!! An abundance of people on way down back through the Hare's Gap. All pictures taken with my phone camera.