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...