Coachella 2009

The lineup for Coachella 2009 is a little disappointing... I have seen most of the headlining bands over the couple of years - Morrissey, Weller, Franz, Conor Oberst, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, Thievery Corporation and even McCartney for god sake...

Saturday is the worst day, headlined by the dreadful Killers (who I have had the misfortune to see on a couple of previous occasions), the dull TV on the Radio (what do people see in this band?) and guaranteed no-show Amy Winehouse... At least Glasvegas are playing Saturday, plus Fleet Foxes and maybe check out Band of Horses...

Throbbing Gristle should be interesting on Sunday...

The day I lined up for America's got talent...

I am now officially a US citizen... Me and 6117 other people...

It was at the convention center in downtown LA and I accidently got in line for America's Got Talent for 5 minutes (insert your own punchline here) until I realized everyone was:

a) dressed like a freak
b) carrying a musical instrument
c) both the above...

After realizing my mistake I joined another huge mass of people across the street but I arrived just at the right time because I was dead center for the citizenship ceremony...

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America."

Barack Obama (2009)

RIP John Martyn

The British folk/blues legend was 60. His best loved CD 'Solid Air' was released in 1973. The title track was a tribute to his friend Nick Drake...

The Rhone Occuptation at Silverlake Lounge...

I like Silverlake Lounge - unlike almost every other venue in LA the set times are advertized and adhered to... This meant I was able to avoid the distinctly average Satellite Crush (did they use the Emo name generator?) who I had the misfortune to see at Detroit Bar a while back...

Ballerina Black (don't get me started...) were ok - lot's of Peter Hook basslines and an average singer. Unfortunately, like so many bands who cite Joy Division as an influence they looked and sounded more like a goth band. This bugs me... JD were not (and should never be confused with) anything to do with goth... As for initials BB - change the name, the hair and the image...

The Rhone Occupation were very cool - always good to see a band a second time who impressed you first time out and I wasn't disappointed... I described them as being too much like Radiohead before but besides one song that sounds like 'Exit Music (for a film)' they really don't - singer Jacob Summers has a similar register to Thom Yorke (without all the affectations) but that's about it. Some of the more up-tempo songs have an early REM about them and when TRO slow things down there is some Sigur Ros in the guitar textures... Good band...

RIP Alo Conlon

The landlord who turned Camden pub 'The Dublin Castle' into one of Londons favorite indie venues has died age 73...

My old band Hunkydory played there 10 times and it was the venue of what we thought would be our final gig, on 20th July 1998...

Emotional Rescue...

Ever had problems thinking of a band name for your new project? Try the The Emo Band Name Generator! I particularly like the 'You are:' dropdown...

My Emo band is 'Physical Immaculate Satellite' - what's yours?

Reasons to be cheerful...

The excellent Andy Serkis has signed up to portray singer Ian Dury in a forthcoming biopic. Dury, who died in 2000 aged 57, was an important figure in the 70's London pub rock scene which pre-emted punk and new wave... He suffered from polio at an early age and was a champion for rights for the disabled.

Serkis is no stranger to music biographies, having played the legendary Martin Hannett in the Factory Records story 24 Hour Party People.

Serkis as Martin Hannett:

You too?

Oh dear! Not only is the new U2 single 'Get on your boots' awful (a poor White Stripes riff jazzed up to sound like Muse and lyrics like 'Subterrean Homesick Blues' re-written by a four year old) they have also been accused of copying the artwork from Richard Chartier and Taylor Deupree's 'Specification.Fifteen' for new album 'No line on the horizon'...

Both covers are based on photographs by Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto. I would say it's just a coincidence but you would think a band as big as U2 would do some research before making such a faux-pas...

Redemption Song

'Redemption Song - The Ballad of Joe Strummer' is Chris Salewicz' excellent definitive biography of Joe Strummer. Salewicz was a close friend of Strummer and seemed to spend much of his time, particularly on US tours hanging out with Joe. The personal recollections blend seemlessly into stories and recollections told by all the major players in Strummer's life. Salewicz has rare insight into the character of Strummer, who evolved from John Mellor into Joe Strummer and permently seemed to be fighting to maintain a balance between his private life and his (ahem) public image as the leader of the greatest punk band. The suicide of Strummer's brother (Joe was 16) was a defining factor in his upbringing and something he never forgave his parents for (they sent the boys off to boarding school and his brother became depressed and withdrawn...)

The book moves expertly through Strummer's music career, from the 'pub-rock' 101'ers through the birth and death of punk and Joe's position as it's elder statesman as singer in The Clash, through his wilderness years after The Clash and his comeback with The Mescaleros. There are also some interesting insight's into the legend of punk such as Clash manager Bernie Rhodes hijacking their signing to Polydor for $25,000 and instead driving the group to CBS where they signed for $100,000 into what became an ultimately restrictive 10 year deal... Of course, signing for such as large amount was considered a sellout to other punk bands! Rhodes, in his second stint as manager is also blamed for the sacking of Mick Jones, who eventually reconciled with Strummer and joined him on stage for the first time in 19 years at what turned out to be Strummer's last London show just two weeks before his death. Joe Strummer died in 2002 from a congenital heart defect - amazing that he reached 50 as he could have dropped dead at any time...

RIP Tony Hart

The legendary BBC Children's TV presenter/artist was 83. His shows, including Vision On (1964–77) and Take Hart (1978–84), were an integral part of the afternoon schedule...

Jukebox Jury

Los Angeles indie music radio station Indie 103.1 has ceased broadcasting over the radio airwaves with immediate effect. The station, home to the magnificent Jonesy's Jukebox (featuring the Sex Pistols Steve Jones) released the following statement:

"Indie 103.1 will cease broadcasting over this frequency effective immediately. Because of changes in the radio industry and the way radio audiences are measured, stations in this market are being forced to play too much Britney, Puffy and alternative music that is neither new nor cutting edge. Due to these challenges, Indie 103.1 was recently faced with only one option -- to play the corporate radio game.

"We have decided not to play that game any longer. Rather than changing the sound, spirit, and soul of what has made Indie 103.1 great, Indie 103.1 will bid farewell to the terrestrial airwaves and take an alternative course.

"This could only be done on the Internet, a place where rules do not apply and where new music thrives; be it grunge, punk, or alternative -- simply put, only the best music."

RIP Ricardo Montalban

The actor best known for his role on as Mr Roake on Fantasy Island was 88.

Glasvegas at The Troubadour

We caught a couple of Carl Barat songs including the closing 'Can't stand me now'...

Glasvegas were brilliant! Great live presence which reminded me of The Clash in their heyday - all dramtic posturing and slashing guitars. Also, singer James Allan is a dead-ringer for Joe Strummer - not just the image and the hunched stance but also the gruff, sometimes mumbled delivery... Great to see them at such a small venue cos this band is gonna be huge - anyone who doesn't believe me can go straight to hell, boy...

RIP Patrick McGoohan

The actor, best known for his role in The Prisoner, was 80.

"I am not a number - I am a free man!"

Warpaint at Echoplex

Warpaint celebrated the release of their EP Exquisite Corpse with a great show at Echoplex last night. In their lighter moments it's a little too similar to 'Bat for Lashes' but when they hit their groove (drummer David Orlando is the new Tony Allen!) they are amazing. I'm also hearing a Siouxsie & the Banshees influence now and 'Metal Box' era PIL in the dubby grooves.

RIP Dave Dee

60's Pop Star Dave Dee was 65. Dee was the singer in Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich and continued to perform with the group until his recent illness... The singer famously cracked a whip in their #1 single 'The legend of Xanadu'...

Promis at M Bar

Support act A.J.Teshin played a cool set of Kurt Weill songs. Although Weill is not really my cup of tea, A.J. did a good job although the performance lacked the emotion that may have sold it to a non-believer. Best song was 'Lonely House' which lyrically could have influenced Scott Walker's 'Montague Terrace in blue'... I would have liked to hear 'Alabama Song' but you can't always get what you want...

Jose played a selection of songs from his four cd's plus a few covers such as Brel's 'Amsterdam', Mary Hopkin's 'Those were the days' and bizarrely: Johnny Cash's 'Ring of Fire'... Best songs were 'Bar Fly' from Promis, 'Drinking Alone' and '29 Again' from Promis II, 'That Vibrant Air' from Promis III and 'I Promise' from 'Life is Grand'...

Everything's great when you're downtown...

Met up with DSS at Lost Souls Cafe, which is a hidden gem at 4th and Spring. DJ's, some live art courtesy of a hanging opaque screen where people can daub virtual paint courtesy of a controller shaped like a can of spray paint (think Wii for taggers!) and best of all, coffee...

We moved on to Art Walk - a second Thursday in every month event with galleries and street performers spread over a few blocks around Main St. Some cool leftfield art and definitely worth checking out again - maybe when the weather is a bit warmer.

Laura texted me to ask if we felt the earthquake (5.0 in San Bernardino) but we missed that one...

Luke Warm...

I enjoy reading the end of year 'Best of' lists of album of the year - there's always the chance that you missed a great new band or a stunning comeback by someone who jumped the shark back in '97... Chances are though, if it's that great you probably would have heard about it by now, and the whole process ends up like sneaking a look in somebody's medicine cabinet hoping to find a few Oxycontin and ending up with a couple of expired Aspirin... Anyways, one such 'best of' list was topped by a couple of bands I'd never heard of: The Indelicates and Vanilla Swingers - both boy/girl duo's out of the UK...



The Indelicates certainly had a few good song titles, such as 'Fun is for the feeble minded', 'Waiting for Pete Doherty to die' (aren't we all?) and best of all 'We hate the kids'... The guy sounds exactly like Luke Haines, the music much like The Auteurs and it's only when the girl starts singing that you realise you're not listening to 'After Murder Park'. The girl sounds like a more plummy Kirsty McColl - like if she'd gone to school at Coloma Convent instead of down the street at Ashburton (if you know what I'm talking about fine, if not...)

The Indelicates on MySpace...



The couple of Vanilla Swingers tracks that I heard were nothing to write home about - the more electronic one (Goodbye Lennon) sounded like a average imitation of Black Box Recorder (that Haines guy is everywhere this week!) as the singer does her best Sarah Nixey. That was at least better than 'I'll stay next to you' which sounded more like Fleetwood Mac...

Vanilla Swingers on MySpace

RIP Ron Asheton

The founder member of The Stooges was 60. Asheton played the seminal riffs on Stooges' classics including 'No Fun', 'Down On The Street', and 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'. He switched to the bass guitar for The Stooges third album, 'Raw Power'

Look-in for an old friend...

I was looking for this Italian kid on Facebook who was my best friend when I lived on South Way, and I suddenly remembered that I met David Essex at his house! George lived opposite me on South Way and his Dad (Arnaldo Putzu) used to do the paintings that were on the cover of Look-in - a weekly kids magazine with features on the TV and music favorites of the era. Anyways, one day I was over at the Putzu's - probably playing Subbuteo (which was our main passtime aside from playing real football over at the local rec) when Arnaldo brings in David Essex, who he was painting for a forthcoming cover. I remember saying a quick hello and promptly forgot about it for the next 30 years until today... Essex was a big star at the time (my cousin Sharon had a huge poster of him on her bedroom wall alongside David Cassidy) but I don't remember being all that excited... Maybe if I'd met Dave Swindlehurst I would have been more impressed...

We moved out of South Way when I was 12 or 13 and I lost touch with George, although some quick googling reveals Arnaldo (and probably the rest of the family) went back to Rome in 1985.

Anyways, it appears Arnaldo not only painted the Look-in covers but a huge volume of movie posters - mainly the comedy films of the era such as the Carry-On movies but also stuff like the original Get Carter poster...

Get Carter:



A typical 'Look-in' painting:



The cover of Look-in:

Light aircraft on fire...

Promo video for The Auteurs 'Light Aircraft on Fire' by the excellent Chris Cunningham.


Cunningham is probably best known for his work with Aphex Twin, especially the video for Come to Daddy but all the promos are brilliant. Here is Squarepusher's 'Come on my selector':

Read it in books...

One of my resolutions for 2009 is to read more... I have made a good start...



'Too Fat to Fish' is comedian Artie Lange's biography... Lange is the larger than life alcoholic, drug (and food) addict regular on the Howard Stern radio show. Lange makes a good case for his clutching defeat from the jaws of victory mentality being a result of the serious injury and early death of his father (he fell off a roof and was a quadraplegic...) but it's likely purely down to his addictive personality... Most of the stories revolve around the addictions to Cocaine and later Heroin which threaten to destroy his career. The book is no Straight Life, but there are some amazing stories like driving through Malibu on a lunch break from MadTV dressed as a pig (including prosthetic snout) to meet his dealer to buy coke...



'Bad Vibes: Britpop and my part in its downfall' is Luke Haines superb memoire of the 90's, from The Auteurs early trailblazing of the scene (along with Suede) that would evolve into Britpop, through to his terrorism concept album Baader Meinhof... Britpop (and Haines hatred of...) is a common thread through the book and at one point Haines fires a flare from a hotel balcony at Oasis and their roadcrew frolicking in the hotel pool... Haines is equally unhappy on tour (where he avoids the majority of his bandmates) or at home, where his life has more than a touch of Withnail and I... A great read - almost on a par with Julian Cope's Head on/Repossesed and I look forward to the follow-up, which should start with the seminal How I learned to love the bootboys...