IT'S A **** THING

Templeton Pek - Slow Down For Nothing

2012-01-29T19:13:00.002Z

As a band Templeton Pek are starting to cement a well deserved reputation for never resting on their laurels.
It's laudable that with each release they've managed to move that little bit forward into uncharted sonic territories while maintaining a connection with their punk roots.
This ability to expand on what they do while keeping their fan base happy is going to be the thing that ensures them a place in this game for the long haul.
If any evidence of their ongoing musical maturity is required then look no further than their latest release on People like you records 'Slow down for nothing'.
It's five tracks of solid intent.
It would seem that the tour supports with Rise Against and The Blackout - and being featured on festival bills across the globe - has seen them pay their dues and now they are giving all indications that they are ready to step up
This is the sound of a band flexing their muscles and making a grab for the headlining position.
If they can follow this with an album that's imbued with the same controlled aggression then give it a year and they will have the melodic hardcore loving kids baying their name at the moon.

For Jacob. A Fundraising gig in aid of Sands. A message from Laura.

2012-01-25T23:17:00.005Z

I'd like to invite you all to join me in raising money and awareness for Sands in memory of my son, Jacob, who died shortly after birth on 25th November 2011.

Tickets for this fundraising gig cost £5 and all money from ticket sales will be going to the charity, Sands, with tickets available from Su Casa in the Lorne Arcade, Ayr and Harleys in Ayr. Tickets will also be available on the door on the day so don't worry if you can't get in to buy one beforehand. There shall be plenty of great acts playing with something to suit every taste!

If your not able to make it along, you can still donate online at:

http://www.justgiving.com/Jacob-Raymond-Gordon-McIlloney

Today seventeen babies will die in the UK as the result of stillbirth or neonatal death. At Sands, they aim to raise awareness of this shocking statistic and help the research that is required to drive down this number. To have a look at the work they do check out:

www.why17.org

Bring as many friends and family as you can and lets have a great day in memory of a very special little boy!

Hope to see you all there!

Laura x

Line up : Brown Bear and the Bandits, Tragic O'Hara, Duffys Gypsy Band, Sixmilewide, Alan Frew, Scott Nicol, Starsigns and Calendars, Russian Ninjas, Melisa Kelly and the Harmless Thieves, The Risk, The Helms, Grant Collfield, Calum Muir, James Fole, Martin McLaughlan and more tbc.

Epic Problem – Epic Problem EP

2012-01-25T09:01:00.001Z

This three track debut from these Mancunian no frills punk rockers certainly shakes the cobwebs away.
Gruff and to the point they may be, but unlike the many bands of their ilk who rise and fall with alarming regularity they know how to temper the aggression with enough melody to avoid the many pitfalls that bog down their peers.
There's a solid grounding in the sound of the second wave of the UK punk scene, but a more worldly spin that incorporates some ska influences and the attitudes of say the Californian bands like Operation Ivy who melded hardcore, ska and punk together to devastating effect.
They could have had the running order as Short, Sharp and Shock on this.
As debuts go its to the point and will certainly send a few shock waves out across the underground punk scene, and maybe even further afield.
It's going to be interesting to see if the guys can carry off a full length album and maintain the quality.
Everything across the three tracks here indicates that they can, so remember 'Epic Problem' and keep an eye out for them returning to the fray with more than an EP.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Epic-problem/218013441556498

The Secret Sisters - Oran Mor - 23/01/12 (Glasgow)

2012-01-24T16:41:00.004Z

Muscle Shoals, Alabama carries its legendary status in the world of music with relative ease.
Whether it's within country music, rock and roll, the blues or more contemporary sounds you will find the fingerprints of that Southern city all over popular music.
Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and many more have all made the pilgrimage to either Muscle Shoals itself, or the the studio that was relocated to the neighbouring city of Sheffield, and successfully managed to imbue their material with some of the magic that the area possesses.
Due to this patronage people with an interest in the history of the development of popular music have turned their attention on Muscle Shoals and tried to explain why one place could have such a profound influence globally.
It has been the subject of essays and books, but for me the attention to detail seems to often miss the point.
Sam Philips claimed that the WLAY radio station that aired out of Muscle Shoals with a mix of black and white artists was an influence on Sun Records, and there in that one comment it says it all.
This melting pot of cultural influences and musical alchemy was the catalyst that sent a shock wave across the world as Sam Philips, amongst others, aided the cultural birth of rock and roll.
So is it any wonder that as the years past that artists from across the world, who had gained a certain degree of success, would then use their money to make a trip to the crucible where much of what they were influenced by had originated from.
It seems over simplistic when I put it like that, but does it have to be any more than just what it is?
Now here we are in 2012 and the latest act to push Muscle Shoals back into the collective consciousness of the world is not one making a trip to the area, but instead one who actually originates from the city.
The name of the band is The Secret Sisters.
Real life siblings who sound like the Yin to the Everly Brothers Yang, and last night I had the great pleasure of seeing them perform a set as part of the annual Celtic Connections festival that Glasgow hosts.
Now this is where it gets difficult.
How can you describe an experience that was so gut wrenchingly beautiful?
Can you imagine cold crystal clear water tumbling untainted down a mountainside that's bathed in sunlight?
That's what Laura and Lydia Rogers sound like.
There's something organically perfect about how they harmonize with each other.
Not perfect in a sterile way as we hear so often from the mainstream pop divas, but instead perfect in an ongoing living, breathing and evolving manner.
It's a tactile performance and they carry the audience with them from beginning to end.
I don't think I'd be upsetting too many people if I said that country music is so often seen as a guilty pleasure, but that seems to be because over the years it has become a self perpetuating parody of itself.
Yet when you go back to the roots then there's nothing to be found that should elicit feelings of shame for liking it, and it's that sort of country music that The Secret Sisters deal in.
Real roots music.
A style that has heart and soul and speaks to you regardless of whether you were born in the shadow of an Appalachian mountain or a tenement flat in Glasgow.
As the majority of their début album is made up of covers it's no surprise that the live set mirrors that, but to claim that they are a covers band seems to be wilfully missing the point.
What the sisters do is similar to what Jack and Meg of the White Stripes did with the blues.
They create a bridge from the present into the past that allows them to take us back to the roots of something that is rarely heard now unless it's accompanied by the crack and pop of the needle in the groove.
It's hauntingly beautiful at times, and as an introduction to them the very strong set of covers and originals could be considered as a strong statement of intent that leaves no one unaware of where they are coming from, or where they are going.
This is a country act and they're not going to apologise for expressing themselves as such.
During the show the ghosts of Bill Monroe, Hank Williams are conjured up and George Jones is honoured with a rendition of Why Baby Why, and then there's more, so much more.
The whole performance is faultlessly evocative and the mix of material indicates that when The Secret Sisters get around to releasing their second album – an album that will comprise completely of original tracks - they will be able to cement their reputation as musicians that can stand proudly next to their heroes of yesteryear.
When they next visit Glasgow I would have to whole heartedly say that everyone should grab a ticket and experience them singing to you, but only after I've bought mine.
They have the voices of honky tonk angels, and while that may sound clichéd I'm sure anyone being newly introduced to them will forgive me for dishing out such a hackneyed plaudit.

The gig that wasn't to be.

2012-01-22T19:46:00.003Z

Unfortunately I've had to cancel this gig.
The situation is that there are still ongoing issues with red tape and the venue (Jollys) may or may not be open for the 29th.
On that basis, and that alone, and with only one week to go it would be unfair to continue promoting a gig that may not actually happen.
Especially as none of the acts are from Kilmarnock and one is travelling from as far away as Manchester.
Sadly I will not be rescheduling and in all honesty I'll not be looking to promote any further gigs in Kilmarnock.
Sorry.
It feels like the end of something.
Kelly and myself have only ever dabbled in promoting and never ever made one penny from it.
We either broke even or made a loss.
The latter being the norm.
I really wish this gig could have happened as it's a solid line up.
Dave Sharp is a legend in my opinion.
From his days in the Alarm to playing with Dylan and ultimately doing his own thing he has never failed to entertain me.
On a personal note he is also a real gent and a man who lives and breaths what he does.
It's with pride that I call him friend.
Similar could be said about Tragic O'Hara.
The first time I seen him play a set I thought he was good, but failed to understand why friends were raving about him.
My lack of appreciation was firmly knocked into touch the second time I caught him perform though.
Everything clicked into place and I had my road to Damascus moment.
In recent months he has been securing increasingly high profile support slots and with his next album we may very well see him reap the rewards that he is most certainly due.
This gig was also going to be the Kilmarnock début for both Melisa Kelly and the band Fole.
Melisa is a young woman from Ayr who has rock and roll diva stamped all over her.
When she opens her mouth to sing the hair rises on the back of the audiences neck.
She doesn't just sing the notes, but emotes them.
You feel that it is a real performance.
There's no auto tuning, no fake persona. Just a raw talent that, similar to the greats like Janis Joplin and Billie Holiday, refuses to be diluted.
I was really pleased that I was in the position to bring her to Kilmarnock and the icing on the cake was that I would be doing the same for Fole.
Since initially seeing their singer do a solo set I've been impressed with every subsequent performance.
Well crafted songs passionately delivered will always find an appreciative audience and this is why they are going from strength to strength.
I honestly couldn't have had a better line up to kick the year off with.
As I'll no longer be promoting any gigs in Kilmarnock I'd like to say thank you to all the bands and artists who have played for Kelly and myself.
Each and every single one of you has brought something unique to the town and it is greatly appreciated.
Not just by me, but by all who support live original music.
The Hangmen from Newcastle, Promises from Holland, The Hyperjax from Manchester, Devilish Presley from London, Jinx Lennon from Ireland, Mike Peters from Wales, Dave Sharp from Manchester, Glen Matlock and the Philistines from London.
All the Glaswegians, Tragic City Thieves, Filthy Little Secret, The Girobabies, The Zips, The Snipes, Chris Devotion, Variety Suite, Jon Zip and Alan Bishop.
The east coasters Billy Liar, Emma Forman and Homesick Aldo.
And all the Ayrshire acts.
Cal Murray, Roscoe Vacant solo and with his Gantin Screichs, The Hold Up, Zoe Lewis, Little Fire, Tragic OHara, Matt Scott, Colin Hunter, Junkmans Choir, Ross Gilchrist, Anna Sweeney, The Japanese Mafia, The Parrafins and Ari of Rose Parade.
I doff my cap to you all, and if there is anyone I have managed to miss then it's not intentional and I will be more than happy to add you to the roll call of honour..
In closing I would also like to take this opportunity to add a big thank you to Chris Mooney, Stuart Dudgeon and Scott Lyle for all the help and support that they have provided over the last few years.
None of the gigs would have been possible without them.

Jimmy Cliff - Sacred Fire

2012-01-13T09:46:00.004Z

Tim Armstrong could be to reggae music what Rick Rubin is to country.
The man who could give it a real shot in the arm by reviving the careers of yesterdays heroes.
That's not to say that Jimmy Cliff needed that shot in the arm, or that he is even one of yesterdays heroes, but the collaboration between Tim as producer and Cliff as artists does serve to bring him to a new audience in a rather grand style and could open the doors for others to follow.
Across the breadth of the ep it's got a solid punk vibe that Jimmy Cliff manages to comfortably wrap his trademarked tones around .
Guns of Brixton is reverentially treated and will warm the cockles of any Clash fans heart and the cheeky inclusion of Tim's very own Ruby Soho sits very nicely next to it.
The only original song, 'Ship is Sailing' occupies the central ground and offers a hint that the forthcoming full length album could well be the must have grab of 2012.
The inclusion of Dylan's 'Hard rain's a-gonna fall' might seem to be the odd one out when considered without hearing it, but once the beat gets going the flow continues with nary a ripple.
Closing with a reprise of Guns of Brixton done in a dub stylee could attract accusations of it being used a as bit of filler. But it's nothing of the sort and as a stand alone track is as strong as anything else already heard.
In fact it might not be a bad idea to add a full length dub version of the album to the album proper when it comes out and call it a special edition.
I doubt anyone is going to be disappointed with this.

Brown Bear and the Bandits

2012-01-12T17:29:00.005Z

2011 was the year that seen Ayrshire band Brown Bear and the Bandits cement a reputation for being the act that local music fans had to see.
From pubs to clubs they raised the roof and as the year ended they found themselves in the enviable position of being the name on everyone's lips as the act that was going to break through.
So it was no surprise to see them mentioned by BBC Radio Scotland as one of thirty five bands to watch out for in 2012.
All this without even having a debut album out to.
So it is with great pleasure that they are here answering a few questions for the blog.

Mainy - So tell us a little about the band?
How did you guys meet, what's the origins of the name?

Matt - Me and Stuart have known each other since childhood.
It wasn't until we met Kay at the same time that we become closer. That was in our old band One Man Town.
After that we stuck together and then became Brown Bear & The Bandits.
As for the name, well I had been kicking it around for years and thinking of doing a blues project under that name and then when we were thinking of something suitable I suggested it,.
We felt it suited us, fun, upbeat and we all felt we could see it on a headline poster!
Kay - I’ve known the guys for a few years now.
We all used to play in a band called One Man Town. Then when that was over we didn’t want to stop playing together so thought, why not start something new?
The reception we’ve had since deciding to do this has been so overwhelming.
I’s hard to believe it has only been seven months!
Stuart - Myself and Matt met when we were about six when I won an award at a club and he pushed me off a stage.
We've been close ever since.
I met Kay about 5 years ago in One Man Town that the others mentioned.

Truth or Dare by brownbearandthebandits

Mainy - With most bands there's a point when it moves from mates messing about to that moment when everything clicks and they realize that they are making music of your own rather than emulating a sound.
Do you guys all share a moment like that, or did you all reach it at different times?

Matt - For me it was back at the beginning when we started to notice the same people come back to gigs and posting on facebook and realised we were actually gaining fans and it wasn't just friends coming to see us play.
That's when we realised that it was going well and people were liking what we were doing. Our first few times at Su Casa also made us aware that our music was coming into its own
Kay - King Tuts for me. That gig was just amazing. I thought I got it before then, but once it was all over and we had a chance to take it all in, wow. We’re just so lucky to have all the support we do. We couldn’t do it without you all!
Stuart - I think we got the mates messing about out of our systems in previous bands. We've all been playing in Glasgow and locally for years at this point starting in our early teens and after a gig I think it was at Bloc during the summer we all sort of agreed that we had something we were all really happy with and decided this is what we wanted to do with our lives.

Mainy - There's also that first time when you can see that what you are doing is resonating with an audience.
When was the first time you felt that connection?

Matt - Definitely King Tuts.
To have fans from all over in one place for the same reason and knowing the words to our songs was an amazing feeling.
Getting a wee chant after the set didn't go a miss either!
Kay - For me, it would have to be when we went back and played Su Casa in Ayr last November. The night was in full swing by the time we came on, and it felt like the roof could cave in at any moment it was so busy. Some people knew every single word to the songs. It was fantastic!
Stuart - I would say the first time we played Su Casa was it for me. I was used to crap reactions in my old bands and it becomes the status quo after a few years of hearing no cheers, but at Su Casa the reaction was mind blowing and they really took to us which was really touching.
The Tall Ships in Greenock is another milestone that comes to mind.

Mainy - Everyone has different perceptions of what you sound like, but how would you describe it yourselves?

Matt - So far people have struggled to pigeon hole us and agree what our genre is…. I'd like for it to stay that way
Kay - We can’t really be pigeonholed. Our music reflects so many different genres.
Pop/celtic/rock/country… We are not folk!
Stuart - I find it hard to describe us. Lots of people say folk, celtic etc. Our influences are so wide that many genres shine through. There are definitely aspects of those genres but the three of us are so diverse in our listening tastes that I feel rock, country and many others come through, especially as we write together more and more each of our influences shine through. A song written solely by Matt can sound very different from a collaborative effort.

Mainy - So who was it that influenced you all, and that doesn't have to be specifically other musicians?

Matt - My biggest influences are Ray Charles & Stevie Wonder, but mostly Ray Charles!
I think he was a true genius and truly innovative for his time! "I've got a woman" for me is one of the greatest songs that has ever been released!
Kay - My biggest influence has probably been my big sister. She is also a drummer and has been all over the world with her band, The Hedrons. Hopefully one day that will be us!
Stuart - Personally the people who influence me the most are Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan, Danny Elfman, Queen, Slash and Mike Patton.
Nobody who sounds remotely like what we do.
Film music and grand sounding songs are what inspire me.

War of Loves by brownbearandthebandits

Mainy - There's been much talk about an 'Ayrshire scene'. Do you think there are pros and cons to being attached to a scene, and what would they be?

Kay - why limit yourself to a scene? The world is your oyster, so get your bib on and tuck in!
Matt - I think there are pro's and cons to scenes. Ayrshire has made us very welcome and we have made some great friends, notably Jamie McGeechan, but I wouldn't count us as part of a scene were just making music because that's what we love to do and we will play wherever people will have us.
We live in the furthest away part of Ayrshire and Kay in Inverclyde and as she said the worlds your oyster. Don't limit yourself!
Stuart - There definitely is a scene and as we played more in Ayrshire we began to ingratiate into it to a certain point but long term I think being part of a scene can pigeon hole you and restrict your creative output.
A scene will only like a certain type of music by definition and that can limit what you can play but scenes also offer an artist support system where people help each other out which is really important.

Mainy - You're currently recording. How is that going and what are your expectations of the new material?

Matt - Its great fun and I am really enjoying being back in a studio. As for the new material it is greatly refreshing for us and more and more we feel we are defining our own sound! Can't wait for you all to hear it!
Kay -: It’s going great so far. Feels good to be back recording and we can’t wait to get it out there!
Stuart -: Were doing some familiar favourites like Truth or Dare for example, which is getting re-recorded.
We are recording one new song which is tentatively titled 'The Chase' which I personally believe is the best thing we've ever done. On a musical level it's a bit of a step up I'd say as is much of the new material, not to say that the older stuff is simple but I'd say the new stuff has more of a band identity to it.
I can hear where everybody has contributed and it's an exciting development.

New Years Revolution - Matt Scott, Lynnie Carson, Johnny Barr, Dani Camacho - King Tuts (11/01/12)

2012-01-12T12:42:00.007Z

This month the infamous King Tuts Wah Wah Hut are hosting their annual New Years Revolution festival where they promote the 'who to watch' talent for the forthcoming year.
On the bill for the Wednesday night was our local hero Matt Scott joined by Lynnie Carson, Johnny Rab, and late addition to the line up Dani Camacho who also comes from deepest darkest Ayrshire.
Dani was the opening act and this time instead of a strict solo outing he was joined by the Banner brothers who were providing a rhythm section to accompany him.
It's difficult to ascertain if this was beneficial to the set though.
From the start the impression that I was getting was of watching a band finding its feet.
As one song drifted into the next it felt like we were watching a practice session being played out in public, a tentative jam session to see where the common ground was and designed to highlight the direction they could go as a unit.
Unfortunately that's not what people want to spend their hard earned cash on when they shell out for a night of entertainment.
In hindsight I'm sure Dani himself will be picking apart his performance and in the cold light of day considering that the gig was about ten solid practice sessions short of being revealed to the public.
There's a great deal of work needing to be done to flesh out the material.
For instance Mik Banner was under used and apart from playing bass he could have been providing backing, or even duel vocals, but that's the sort of thing that would have possibly been incorporated organically if Dani had the opportunity of time to construct a solid well rehearsed set.
That he didn't have the time and went ahead with the set is something that he may sadly live to regret as many members of an audience give a band one chance and one chance only.
I can understand the dilemma that he had though.
No one gets anywhere unless they are out there playing, and when the offer came in his head must have been full of 'should I or shouldn't I' and then he has considered that winging it and hoping for the best was a better opportunity for him and his band mates than not playing at all.
It makes sense, but only when everything clicks into place and the band play a blinder, and unfortunately that didn't happen.
It's a truism that everyone has less than impressive outings on stage though.
The real measure of a performer is how they come back from them.
It's now time for Dani to sit down and plan his return to the fray.
Next was Johnny Barr, who I was coming to blind. Not one note had I heard, nor any whispers of what to expect.
Initially he was alone on stage and playing impressively like a young John Butler.
It's very obvious from the outset that he's a talented musician and then when he sings it is just as obvious that he has the full package going on.
The songs are well constructed, the musicianship faultless and he carries his stage presence with casual effortlessness.
You would think that things couldn't get any better, but they do when his band join him.
This was one of those rare moments when everything simply works.
Often enough I have seen technically gifted musicians playing together and been left completely cold as their no heart or soul in what they are doing.
This wasn't the case here though.
Johnny Barr and his band provided King Tuts with a genre hopping performance that reminded me of why I love live music so much.
It's because every once in a while if you are lucky you manage to be in the right place at the right time and find yourself blown away by the talent on display.
I still know virtually nothing about them, but I will be changing that sooner rather than later.
An exceptional band and one to definitely look out for in 2012.
Next was our very own Matt Scott and this is where I run into a bit of a problem.
What can I say that I haven't already?
I have a similar problem with the bands Tragic City Thieves and Filthy Little Secret.
After a period of time you simply run out of superlative praise to throw at them, and I'm now at that stage with Matt.
From opening the set with a raunchy take on Roadhouse Blues, that probably wrong footed much of the audience who were wondering why on earth anyone would start a set with a cover, he then moved on into his own material, and then within the context of the set the opening and closing of it with another cover - Drunken Nights In The City - made complete sense.
By having two classic songs bookending the performance Matt actually highlights how strong his own material is as it occupies the middle ground without their being any noticeable dip in quality at all.
Next stop for Matt is a set in Inverness this coming Sunday (15/1/12) in a venue called Hootenanny.
So if you are in the area then do yourself a favour and give your ears a treat.
Headliner of the evening was Lynnie Carson who I unfortunately had to duck out on midway through her performance, but what I did see what suitably impressive.
The first song had her vocals very low in the mix, but that was quickly sorted and once the balance was found, the band, and Lynnie, showed themselves to be deserving of the reputation they have.
It's really just a modern take on soft rock with a bit of a country influence layered into the melting pot.
Lynnie's vocals aren't far off sounding like a young Stevie Nicks, but while some may consider that to sound a tad too middle of the road the reality of the live performance would dispel any thoughts that the band peddle a style that is rooted completely in the past.
If the opportunity arises I'll definitely be taking it to see them again, and a second bite at them will allow me to comment further.
Thank to Kelly, John, Ann, Pauline, Taf, Claire and Hoogs for the excellent company that was on par with the artists performing.
(Photograph of Matt Scott by Euan Main. All rights reserved by Euan Main/Matt Scott)

Scottish Alternative Music Awards

2012-01-11T13:33:00.004Z

In association with Vintage Guru the Scottish Alternative Music Awards will be coming to the Glasgow Garage on the 1st of March 2012.
Comedian Billy Kirkwood will be hosting the event and the categories are as follows:

BEST ROCK/ALTERNATIVE sponsored by Ignite Records
BEST METAL sponsored by Departed Apparel
BEST ACOUSTIC sponsored by JamHut Studios
BEST ELECTRONIC sponsored by Bar Bloc
BEST LIVE ACT sponsored by Messer Schmitt
BEST NEWCOMER sponsored by Cathouse Rock Club
BEST HIP HOP sponsored by Young Scot.

After the success of last years event this is going to be the hot ticket for fans of all genres of what is loosely classed as alternative music.
Tickets are £10 and can be bought here
http://www.tickets-scotland.com/booking.html?booking_method=viewevent&booking_event_id=76fa4666-2b24-11e1-bd89-12313d233d40
All other information and the chance to vote on the acts participating are here.
http://www.tickets-scotland.com/booking.html?booking_method=viewevent&booking_event_id=76fa4666-2b24-11e1-bd89-12313d233d40

Jasiri X - The World Is Watching

2012-01-11T11:34:00.006Z

As rap was redefined as a vehicle to deliver a message about guns, bling, bitches and ho's to the mainstream masses I virtually left it behind.
There's little within what it was doing that I personally felt had any real value.
This sexist celebration of accruing wealth wasn't the message that rap and hip hop had its roots in.
Well not for me anyway.
Give me the Last Poets, Gil Scott-Heron, Grandmaster Flash or Public Enemy and keep your Eminems, Tupacs, Biggie Smalls, Lil' Wayne and Big Sean as I have no real use for them
I still think this, but as with anything there are always many exceptions to the rule if you care to look for them and 'The World Is Watching' by Jasiri X is strong proof of this.
Nuanced, intelligent and relevant are just three words that readily spring to mind when I listen to him.
If you want an insight into what is going on in the US then it's Jasiri X that is dragging a light forth to shine on the ugly underbelly of a country that can often enough appear to be morally bankrupt due to the perception that the minority in power portray to the rest of the world.
The lyrics spat out here quite possibly aren't going to change any deeply held opinions of the US, but they do highlight rather effectively that as is the norm the political word doesn't express the wishes or opinions of the people.
By speaking out Jasiri X is connecting with what rap music is to me, and that's protest songs from the street.
The voice of the people expressing themselves.
We need this.
I guess that in short I could say that while the rap stars who are relaxing beside their pools in the hills of Hollywood may have the cash and the fame, it is Jasiri X that has integrity, and you can't buy that.
Thanks go out to Ross Morris aka Roscoe Vacant for turning me onto this.
You can get this album for free here.
http://jasirix.bandcamp.com/releases

The Girobabies - Bus Stop Apocalypse

2012-01-11T10:19:00.002Z

No budget, no label, no management, no rules.
This is The Girobabies.
This generations last gang in town.
They're holding up a mirror to society and what is reflected back is a dystopian nightmare bolstered by a soundtrack that's hypnotically seductive.
The lyrics are the solid fist and the music the velvet glove that envelopes it.
With Bus Stop Apocalypse they have created an unflinching, unblinking challenge to the UK to wake up, to tear the blindfold off and react.
React to the drab fuckin' boring violence.
React to the drugs,
React to the apathy,
React to the coalition.
React to the lack of imagination.
React to the sleep walkers.
React to preconceived ideas and attitudes.
It screams at you to feel something and to think independently from what the media is feeding you.
Trip hop to hip hop, funk to punk, beats and acoustic guitars versus ambient noise.
It's all here.
All crowding each other out, pushing for space with sharp elbows and attitude.
At times it makes for uncomfortable listening, but the truth is always more difficult to accept than a lie that encourages passive acceptance of the status quo.
This is a manifesto for the disenfranchised to dance to and right at this moment it is exactly what we need to hear.
Vive le revolution. Vive le Girobabies.

http://thegirobabies.bandcamp.com/

Homesick Aldo - Talkin Innocent Outlaw Blues

2012-01-11T09:46:00.004Z

It's 1902.
A new century is teetering onto unsteady feet and looking to take some unhindered steps still further into the future.
Meanwhile WC Handy stands still in Tutwiler. Mississippi waiting for a train.
The heat and dust compete as a distraction while sweat trickles from his hairline into his starched shirt collar.
It's certainly a a long way from the Scotland of 2012.
A time and place where the sky is slate grey and the rain unforgiving.
Yet there is a connection.
A link between what was then and what is now, and that link is the blues.
When WC Handy heard the sound of the slide guitar for the first time on that day, a sound that he would then take forth to the world, it would act as a catalyst and over a century later set a young man on a musical journey that would see him record an album that would in a spiritual sense bring the blues back home.
This is that album.
With a stomping, howling clarion call of authenticity that hasn't been heard in a very long time this is the sound of the blues coming full circle and reconnecting with its own past.
It's not the sound of the studio, or even a technical facsimile of the Delta that Clapton would wring out of a guitar, but instead it is the beating heart of the juke joint, the plantation and the Devil doing a deal at the crossroads put to music.
A living breathing testament to the power that music possesses when it is revealed in its rawest form.
In short it's the real deal.
http://newtownproducts.bandcamp.com/album/talkin-innocent-outlaw-blues

The Coffins - Devil Spew

2012-01-11T08:53:00.001Z

As a descriptive term garage punk is a rather loose one.
Everything from jangly paisley patterned mid western psych to the crash of The Clash have been attributed to coming from the garage.
Due to this increasingly wide understanding of what the term means it has become ludicrous to simply tag a band with the garage moniker and expect anyone to actually know what they sound like.
To call a group a garage band doesn't really convey anything specific any more.
So when I say that The Coffins are a band that have come from the garage what I really mean is that they crept out from under a tarpaulin wrapped corpse that was stuffed under a pile of mildewed girlie mags at the back of a garage that is now cordoned off as a crime scene.
There's dirt under these guys nails, some blood stains on the Cramps t-shirts they're wearing and a defiant fuck you attitude that could only come from being raised on the schizophrenic west coast of Scotland.
When they say 'bring me the head of a boy band member it's not so much a tongue in cheek reference to the state of the current landscape of the charts, but quite possibly just a flippant request for something to eat, because without a shadow of a doubt these guys do eat boy band members for breakfast and use them as fuel to power their darkly psychotic aural adventures.
Buy this from Newtown Products if you dare.
http://newtownproducts.bandcamp.com/album/devil-spew

The Vox Dolomites

2012-01-08T20:35:00.006Z

The sound of ska influenced punk never dies.
Instead it does the hokey cokey as a musical sub genre.
One minute it's in, then the next it's out, but it always shakes it all about.
The reason that it will not die is because bands like The Vox Dolomites resolutely keep breathing some hot and exciting life into it.
On the three tracks that they are giving away free to promote their forthcoming album on STP Records you can literally hear the sound of punk and ska clashing.
This isn't the sounds of Jamaica or the dance halls.
It's the sound of the streets.
Streets full of every hue of skin, full of people who are all flashing large grins and stamping their feet to the beat.
It's a party. A working class party with more attitude than you could shake a stick at.
Class stuff and you can grab it here.
http://thevoxdolomites.bandcamp.com/

There aint no Sanity Clause. Part 4 (The Young Ones)

2012-01-08T19:14:00.002Z

The Young Ones (DVD)
I started off with some mixed feelings about this one.
At first it felt very dated, but then when I was midway through the second episode I was starting to become more acclimatized to the humour again.
As the third episode finished that was me hooked.
Who needs a DeLorean when time travel is possible by simply buying a Young Ones box set.
Some of the material still hasn't transferred into the present as maybe it could have.
Ben Elton comes across as a bit of a twat whenever he appears.
Very much someone who was part of the establishment poking fun at it.
That he wrote a Queen musical makes sense now.
(His books are still good though)
However Alexia Sayle who I was less keen on first time around has managed to maintain far more relevance.
His surreal political outlook probably makes more sense now that then.
The key players who the show revolved around are all still great.
The stereotype gauge is on max throughout and the larger than life characterizations are still very recognizable.
It has to be said though that while there is much said about the birthing of alternative comedy you just can't get away from this being a mainly a slapstick show that is rooted in skits that are historically tried and tested.
Proof of that is in how my daughter at twelve loves that aspect of it.
I think I'll have to get myself the Comic Strip box set at some time and see how that goes down with the kids.

There aint no Sanity Clause - Part 3 (The Hours)

2012-01-08T18:58:00.003Z

The Hours - See the light (CD)
Loved the début from this band, but when I went to see them live I was so underwhelmed that I sort of allowed them to momentarily slip from my memory.
Then they released a single that preceded their return to the fray that was 'See the Light', and as that was also rather lacklustre it acted as another nail being hammered into the 'where are they now' coffin that I was fashioning for them to reside in.
So why did I buy the album then?
Well it was a quid and at that price I'm easy going about offering them the chance to redeem themselves, and in a small way they have managed to claw back some lost ground.
Not a lot, but some.
Although only time will tell how often this album will get dusted off and given a spin.
Being in the Mescaleros with Strummer, having celeb friends, getting Damien Hirst to fashion some shit for you and even touring in support to U2 is obviously not always the key to success.
See the light isn't a bad album, but I suspect it's going to be a dust magnet in my flat.

There aint no Sanity Clause - Part 2 (Primal Scream/MC5)

2012-01-08T18:54:00.002Z

Primal Scream/MC5 - Black to Comm (CD x2/DVD)
Woooah. When did this come out?
I egotistically pride myself on being the guy with his finger on the pulse and his ear to the ground, but this one past me by completely.
Only this morning while perusing the racks in FOPP I noticed the cheeky little bit of an M and a C peaking out from beneath a price tag, and along with the title of 'Black to Comm' it was enough to have me barrelling forward in eager anticipation to check out what I knew was an MC5 goody whose existence I had been previously ignorant off.
Turns out that it was the concert that they did with Primal Scream for the Meltdown Festival and here it was in all its cinematic glory.
Now that's a motherfuckin' double bonus right there. Primal Scream and MC5 doing their counter culture ramalama live on DVD .
The only problem was that at fifteen notes it was a bit pricey for my economically besieged pocket.
So with a bit of a heavy heart I left FOPP and resolved that as soon as I returned home I would be searching the net to see if I could manage to secure it for less bucks, and if I was unsuccessful I would steel myself for maybe having to wait until it started to pop up in sales.
The gods of serendipity were however shining on me because less than an hour later while perusing the shelves of the normally extortionate HMV my son found a box set version that featured the DVD, two CDs and a little booklet all neatly packaged like tiny vinyl albums for £15.99.
So all I'm going to say is that I've been a relatively good boy throughout 2011 and I think I deserved to buy it for myself.
The additional CD's and booklet were the tipping point and before you could say kick out the jams my wallet was in my hand and the young lady at the checkout was cashing it up.
Then with butterflies having what felt like seizures in my stomach at the thought of an outlay I really couldn't afford I started thinking that this might have been a rather unwise purchase.
Doubts started to crowd in.
Who was going to be singing with MC5/TDK.
I'd seen them perform a gig once and left with every expectation not just met, but instead surpassed, but then again different singers at different gigs is an unknown quantity and this really could be the worst of the worst.
Then there's Primal Scream. A band known for their excesses that I've seen a few times over the years to.
I've witnessed them tear roofs off and on one occasion I've seen then doing the shell shock shuffle and deliver a rock and roll show that your drunk uncle at a wedding would empathise with due to the equal amount of shit dancing on display.
Oh dear. What if this was the recording of both bands at their worst?
Thankfully as soon as I got home all my fears vanished.
Initially it's Primal Scream all the way.
They've got it going on.
Their mojo has just had a large syringe full of adrenaline stabbed right into its heart and the boys are up for it.
There's a cocky confidence that the band possess and unlike other acts who drag that 'stage persona' out as they play the rock start for the audience Primal Scream are indeed the coolest fuckers on the block and they can back it up.
It's pretty much a fearless performance where they unveil a clutch of then new songs mixed in with what Scream fans would call classics.
Even the most hardened and fanatical MC5 fan would appreciate the set and I doubt many would skip forward to their heroes, and instead would hang in there and soak up the whole gig as it was performed.
Once Primal Scream finish it's a smooth transition and there they are. Three of the Motor City Five are there.
The torch has been passed over and Wayne Kramer immediately takes the lead with 'Ramblin Rose' before then handing over the vocal duties to William DuVall (who is probably better known as the replacement for Layne Staley in Alice in Chains.) who as a guest replacement for the sadly missed Rob Tyner is perfection in a 'fro.
That man has the ability to put the sound of soul and fuck into rock.
This is the mighty MC5 reanimated.
It's not a run through of songs from yesteryear.
This is the fire relit and they're burning down the house.
By the time that the groove of 'Motor City is Burning' is being pushed out I'm blown away.
This is the sound of revolution rock and I love it.
In my tender years when I first heard the MC5 I struggled to accept that this was a band who were from the past.
I really couldn't wrap my head around it.
Now, in the present, I still think that they are a band out of time.
No era of music can hold them and the proof is on this.
After a full set there's what some people would consider obvious omissions on their part.
Where's 'I can only give you everything'? 'Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa'? Etc.
Never fear though as this is where Primal Scream reappear and take to the stage with the MC5 and it all becomes a double pronged attack of excellence where they play each others songs together and end the night with John Sinclair joining them on a cosmic jam of 'Black to Comm'
Jeeeez man. I'm worn out.
The only thing better that watching this would be to actually be there centre stage and sweating buckets to history being made in front of you.
As live DVDs go this is obscenely good.

There aint no Sanity Clause. Part 1 (Springsteen)

2012-01-08T18:48:00.004Z

(Or what I got for Chrimbo)

Not so much reviews, but instead rambling comments

Bruce Springsteen - The Promise (CD)
There's an era of Springsteen material that I completely get.
When I listen to it I feel emotionally connected.
I don't have to come from the United States, or even specifically New Jersey, to feel what he is conveying.
Those who bemoan his penchant for chronicling a time and place that is immersed in an America that apparently only exists in his mind, an America of Mom and Pop stores, ice cream sundaes and large cars with fins, don't seem to hear what I do.
For me the geographical location is of secondary importance and the reflective prose is everything.
His words are often those of the white lines disappearing in the rear view mirror.
The places we have been, the people we have met, the experiences that we shared that made us who we are and who we wish to be.
It's all there.
Springsteen appears to effortlessly understand that as we move forward in our lives there is equally as much we want to hang onto as we wish to freely relinquish and he has the ability to put all of this into words and music that touches people.
Deeply touches them.
We want to hang onto our youth, our first loves, our endless summers and the friendships we thought would never fade, and there's very few people who can manage to get that across while at the same time maintaining a sense of hope for the coming dawn, but 'The Boss' can.
I can't really think of anything better right now than sitting in the dark with headphones on and allowing Bruce to fill my head with his words and music.
(The Promise is a double CD of material culled from the sessions that were being laid down prior to 'Darkness at the Edge if Town' being released)

Little Fire, Alan Frew, Bob - Su Casa (05/01/12)

2012-01-08T17:57:00.002Z

First gig of 2012 for me, and also for Su Casa in Ayr.
It's a quiet affair to.
Not so much hitting the new year with a bang, but more easing into it slowly.
Maybe Little Fire and Alan Frew were taking into consideration that some may still be nursing extended Hogmanay hangovers.
While I'm not one holding onto a cranium full of jumbled flashes of 'God did I really do/say that' I am thankful for the relaxed atmosphere.
I think as last year ended I was becoming a little jaded, maybe even burnt out with going to see bands and acts here there and everywhere.
So this reintroduction to live music was just what was needed to reignite my passion for seeing original artists perform.
This is the first time that I've seen Little Fire do an expanded set, and the first half is very nicely done.
Instead of a random selection of his original songs he instead introduced them in the order they had been written and added little insights as to how each was tied into a specific part of a relationship.
It's a well constructed and casually intimate way to reveal the material and with a bit of work it's a direction I think he should pursue.
The little revelations link the material together and allow the audience to feel more of a connection with the performance, and Jamie as a performer, than the simple run through of singing the songs.
Each time I see Jamie he confirms that he is a talented young man who is deserving of being on the cusp of some good things happening in 2012.
His second set was a mix of older material that he had dusted off with much of it being new to my ears.
It's rock solid, and over the course of the night it becomes obvious that he has a full albums worth of material that needs to be laid down in a studio and released to the public.
Alan Frew's sets were very different to Jamie's, but equally as entertaining.
There's a wealth of original material for him to play, and a few nuanced covers are slipped in that that fit in well with the flow of his performance.
As an introduction to him as a performer these two sets admirably do the job.
Previously I've only ever caught the tail end of a show and within the couple of songs I heard there was no originals.
So while I did enjoy what I had seen it didn't really convey how good he is as an original artists.
This time the full scope of his talents as a guitarist, singer and songwriter were on show and he effortlessly showed that the praise I've previously heard showered on him was well justified.
In fact I was so impressed that I jumped at the chance to pick up his album 'Go Easy' and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who appreciates well crafted songs delivered with a real sense of commitment to the material.
It's been said often recently, and with a negative tone, that Ayrshire is awash with singer/songwriters, and while this is true I could argue that the dearth of venues that can accommodate full electric bands has led to a local music scene that is top heavy with solo artists I honestly don't think people should grumble when it has led to artists as talented as Alan to flourish.
Apart from Little Fire and Alan playing we also got to see a member of the audience called Bob play.
There was something very basic about the songs he played, but I found myself quite taken by them.
The simplistic honesty that they were imbued with had a power and attraction that is difficult to convey, and they evocatively reminded me of the cadence of old folk songs that would be sung to children.
It's maybe not the sort of thing that many people would appreciate, but I think it carried it's own worth and in all honesty consider that there would be a niche market for this.
He finished with a gospel tune that was played in the same manner as his previous two songs and all in I'd say it was a pleasurable experience.
(Now someone is going to tell me that the first two songs aren't originals, but actual old folks songs I suppose)
So there we go.
First gig tucked under my belt and some solid foundations have been laid for the year ahead.

(Su Casa hosts a night of original artists every Thursday from 8pm till late. It's £5 entry, all ages are welcome and patrons can bring their own alcohol. Coffee, hot chocolate and cheesecake is for sale, and if you're lucky you might get some free natchos)

2011 Gig list

2012-01-07T15:26:00.005Z

I think I've missed a couple, but have at ye with this load of great nights out.
2012 here we come.

03/1/11 - Long Way Home/Eddy and the T-Bolts/Cajun (Kilmarnock)
21/1/11 - Dave Sharp/Tragic OHara/Jon Zip (Kilmarnock)
02/2/11 - Spear of Destiny/The Media Whores/The Red Eyes (Glasgow)
11/2/11 - Alan Bishop (Red Eyes Acoustic)/Barry & Munro/ Ross Gilchrist (Kilmarnock)
15/2/11 - My Chemical Romance /Blackout/Lost Alone (Glasgow)
25/2/11 - Let’s Tear This Damn Place Up!!! Lux Lives in Glasgow featuring : The Charles Randolph Rivers Slim Rhythm Revue / Acid Fascists / The Bastard Suits / The Kosher Pickles / The Bucky Rage / Filthy Little Secret / Louise McVey & The Cracks In the Concrete
26/2/11 - Farewell to Valhalla -Keiran Robinson, Taylor Buntain, Cal Murray, Deadlock, Mechanical Smile, Tragic O'Hara, Ross Gilchrist (Kilmarnock)
10/3/11 - Jinx Lennon/The Tango Rhum/Coco Bryce/Sophie Coyle (Ayr)
11/3/11 - The Levellers/The Wonderstuff (Glasgow)
18/3/11 - Glen Matlock and the Philistines/Tragic City Thieves/Filthy Little Secret/Zoe Lewis (Kilmarnock)
19/3/11 - Devilish Presley/Filthy Little Secret/Billy Liar/The Paraffins (Kilmarnock)
25/3/11 - Warrior Soul/Blood Drum/ForeverVoid/+1 (Glasgow)
29/3/11 - Kylie Minogue (Glasgow)
30/3/11 - Big Audio Dynamite/Rotten Hill Gang (Glasgow)
07/4/11 - Dave Sharp + 3 (Glasgow)
15/4/11 - Michael Monroe - Secret acoustic session (Glasgow)
15/4/11 - Michael Monroe (Glasgow)
15/4/11 - CD/EX, Johnny Reb, Steven Milne, Helsinki Seven (Glasgow)
24/4/11 - Eddy & the T-Bolts/Buzzbomb/Southpaw (Glasgow)
01/5/11 - Dan Sartain/The Two Tears/Charles Randolph Rivers' Slim Rhythm Revue (Glasgow)
04/5/11 - Ginger/Jackdaw4 (Glasgow)
11/5/11 - The Urban Voodoo Machine/Tragic City Thieves/Filthy Little Secret/Tragic OHara (Glasgow)
23/5/11 - Adam Ant/Jesse Rae/Dressing for Pleasure (Glasgow)
25/5/11 - The Alarm/The Last Republic (Glasgow)
27/5/11 - Junkmans Choir/Roscoe Vacant/KevBorracho/Cal Murray/The Paraffins/Ross Gilchrist (Kilmarnock)
12/6/11 - Phoenix Mayhem Punkfest - The Duel/The Red Eyes/Media Whores/Ana Trash and the Sociopaths/Skudpuppetz/The Liberty Club.
21/6/11 - LA Guns/Venrez/Tragic City Thieves (Glasgow)
26/6/11 - Homesick Aldo/Fatherson/La Fontaines (Kilmarnock)
30/6/11 - 13 Tombs (Glasgow)
8/7/11 - James Grant (Kilmarnock)
12/7/11 - Bad Religion/The Static Cult (Glasgow)
20-21/7/11 - The Wickerman Festival (Dumfries)
30/7/11 - A night of dirty laughs featuring Chris Forbes/Barry McDonald/Stuart Mitchell/Billy Kirkwood (Kilmarnock)
31/7/11 - Jam at the Dam (Ayr)
05/8/11 - Eddie Spaghetti/Charles Radolph Rivers Slim (Glasgow)
12/8/11 - Jackie Leven/Tragic OHara/Colin Hunter/Roscoe Vacant (Kilmarnock)
19/8/11 - Chris Helme/Homesick Aldo/The Girobabies/The Fear/Colour Cells/Matthew Scott (Kilmarnock)
20/8/11 - Dave Sharp/Homesick Aldo/Cal Murray/Ross Gilchrist (Kilmarnock)
25/8/11 - Face to Face/Shatterhand (Glasgow)
08/9/11 - Folks/The Sundancer/Rhiannon Garity/Matt Scott (Glasgow)
11/9/11 - Sound of Silence/Blackberry Jack/The Girobabies/Selective services/Vukovi (Troon)
15/9/11 - Shambles Miller/This Silent Forest/Celine Brooks/Pammi Quinn/James Fole/Little Fire (Ayr)
22/9/11 -Emma Forman/Little Fire/Taylor Buntain/Trusty and the Foe (Ayr)
23/9/11 - Fatherson/ThisFamilarSmile/Athos (Kilmarnock)
01/10/11 - Rose Parade (Glasgow)
06/10/11 - Brown Bear and the Bandits/Mechanical Smile/Athos/Trusty and the Foe/Sam Christison (Ayr)
08/10/11 - The Plimptons/Filthy Little Secret/Bandito Fleeto (Glasgow)
10/10/11 - Rhianna/Calvin Harris (Glasgow)
13/10/11 - Craig Martin Ward, Anna Sweeney, Sean and Robyn Gray, Folé , Tragic O'Hara and Little Fire (Ayr)
14/10/11 - Tragic OHara/Matt Scott/Masters of the Sea/Tailor Buntain/Nicky Smith (Kilmarnock)
16/10/11 - Matt Scott/Little Fire/Colin Hunter (Kilmarnock)
22/10/11 - Church of Confidence/Crashed Out/Fire Exit (Glasgow)
31/10/11 - Alice Cooper/New York Dolls (Glasgow)
03/11/11 - Ari (Rose Parade)/Mik Banner/macanta/Andy K/Terry King (Ayr)
06/11/11 - The Dark Shadows (Glasgow)
08/11/11 - Patrik Fitzgerald/Girobabies.San Fran and the Siscos/JIm Monaghan
10/11/11 - The Imagineers/Brown Bear and the Bandits/Jinx Lenon/Melisa Kelly/Ross Gilchrist/Sophie Coyle/Roscoe Vacant (Ayr)
11/11/11 - Jinx Lennon/The Girobabies/Roscoe Vacant and the Gantin Screichs (Kilmarnock)
13/11/11 - Ross Gilchrist/Ari (Rose Parade/Emma Forman/Anna Sweeney (Kilmarnock)
17/11/11 - Melisa Kelly/Fole/Matt Scott/Martin McLaughlan/Jamie Uchima/+1
25/11/11 - Jon Windle/MattScott/Andy K/Robbie McInnes/Logan and the La La Liars (Kilmarnock)
27/11/11 - Wednesday 13/Michael Monroe/CrashDiet (Glasgow)
06/12/11 - Steve Conte/Homesick Aldo/Christie Connor Vennel/Mademoiselle/Rank Berry (Glasgow)
08/12/11- Ginger Wildheart & Friends + 2 (Glasgow)
15/12/11 - Dykeenies/Jamie Keenan/Mechanical Smile/The Fear/Graeme's Minxy Tigers. (Kilmarnock)

Ethical gigs (Glasgow)

2012-01-07T13:39:00.003Z

In my ongoing efforts to get a bit of a better deal for performers here is another enterprise that has started up in Glasgow by promoter Dochan MacMillan.

Paid gigs at the Free Candy Sessions for performers?
Yes, that's what we're going to be doing in 2012. As we move into our 9th year of staging gigs in a newly re-furbished venue, we've decided to open our nights to acts that can pull a crowd to make their own money.

As some of you know, the Liquid Ship sailed away in Oct 2011, since then at The Roxy171, we've been trying different formats of gigs. Free gigs, fee paid gigs and 'pay on the door/ticketed' gigs.

We've now decided on a mixture of free entry and ticketed gigs.
The format of the free gigs will remain the same as before
With the newly designed downstairs area at The Roxy, we have a new stage area, lighting system and the option to charge on the door.
The basic format of the paid gigs will be that the acts will take every penny collected at the door, nothing for the venue. Their will be no set price for a door charge, that will be up to the acts to decide for themselves
The venue will supply the room, PA, sound engineer and incorporate the gigs on the monthly listings/advertising and mail shots.
The acts will supply any backline needed and a person to collect the door money.

Regarding the capacity downstairs, we have 40 all seating or 50-60 standing/limited seating.
Its a simple concept, the acts get paid by taking all the door money, the venue takes the bar money and the punters enjoy a gig at a cracking wee venue for a reasonable door fee.
There's no hidden costs, no promoters cut, just a straight forward deal for acts to generate their own gig income.
If you're a performer and are a bit unsure if you can put on your own gig, we'll be there to help you through every step, all you need to do is be confident of bringing folk along to the gig.
We wont be taking block bookings from promoters, anyone doing ticket split deals or anything resembling 'pay to play', this is about a bit of much needed fairness on our local music scene.

So, please make sure you read the above carefully, the paid gigs are all about putting on a great night for everyone involved and that quite simply means everyone involved doing their bit to having a memorable night.

That means, if you are a performer interested in taking part, you need to bring folk along to watch you. This wont work otherwise, there's plenty of places in Glasgow you can roll in, play to an empty room or a full dis-interested room and then go home, that's not what we want to do.

We're open to all genres of music, all are welcome.
If this is of interest, we're taking bookings now for dates from 11th January 2012 onwards.

Please email bookings@brcrecords.co.uk for more info

The story so far

2012-01-07T13:14:00.006Z

In my opinion - and it's an opinion shared by many - the best pub/bar in Kilmarnock is by far Jollys Sports bar.
While I'm not the sort that pops in for a pint every second day, or even every week, it is still my local.
It's a much loved oasis where I can kick back and relax with friends old and new, but more importantly for me it is the hub of the local music scene.
Others bars and small venues have put on bands and acts over the years, but Jollys (previously Dirty Martinis) has been the venue that constantly sets the benchmark.
It would be fair to say that music is a passion for the team that runs it, and not one promoter would be able to say that they have been less than welcomed with open arms by them.
From well known acts to young guns cutting their teeth live for the first time Jollys has been there to provide a stage for them all to show off their talents and entertain the locals.
Sadly the last year has been littered with bad luck for the bar.
Each issue they have faced could be filed away as 'sods law'.
There was a break in that left the pub damaged and the people who did it left the taps running and decimated the stock they had.
There's been necessary work needing done from sound proofing to wiring.
Then there's been issues with the utility providers, and now this week a second break in has seen them lose all their flat screens.
A painful blow for a sports bar.
Now, and I mean right now at this very minute, the people who own run it have some very difficult decisions to make.
All of the knock-backs that they have had have to be considered in the light of a failing economy, and realisticly the bastards who broke in and robbed them this week may well have delivered a knock out blow.
The bottom line is that Jollys could be no more.
If this is the case, and I hope it isn't, then Kilmarnock will have lost far more than a pub.
The local music scene will have lost its champion to.
Proof of how cherished the venue is came to me today from Tragic O'Hara, one of the artists who has played there many times, and who I have booked to play there at the end of this month as part of a 'Sunday Session' line up.
To quote him.
'I just wanted to say that from the Sunday Session that's coming up I want to donate my bit of the donations back to Jollys to try and help out a wee bit.'
I think that an artist freely saying that they want to donate anything they make from performing to the bar speaks volumes about the integrity of the venue.
Now in closing I'll add a little personal bit.
Chris, Dudge, Faither and the rest of the Jollys team are far more important than bricks and mortar.
So my thoughts are with them at this time and I sincerely hope that they do what is best for them and their families.
The Sunday Sessions will either go ahead in Jollys if it reopens, and if not then I will endevour to sort out an alternative venue, but if that is the case then people should note that there will be a very good chance that this will be the last session, or even gig, that I promote in Kilmarnock.
So with this in mind I'd like to say in local parlance to those who broke in, and may have hastened the bars demise, that I hope your next shite is a hedgehog.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the bands and artists that I have booked to play in Jollys/Dirtys, and I apologize in advance for anyone missed, but I would like to thank you all.
Along with the bar you have provided us with some magical nights of entertainment.
Your efforts are appreciated.

The Hangmen (Newcastle)
Promises (Holland)
Murderburgers
Cal Murray
Hyperjax (Manchester)
Roscoe Vacant
Tragic City Thieves (Glasgow)
Filthy Little Secret (Glasgow)
Devilish Presley (London)
The Hold Up.
Jinx Lennon (Ireland)
Mike Peters (The Alarm/Big Country)
Dave Sharp (The Alarm)
Glen Matlock and the Philistines (Including members of Stereophonics)
Girobabies (Glasgow)
Junkmans Choir
Zoe Lewis
Little Fire
Tragic OHara
Matt Scott
Colin Hunter
Emma Forman
Anna Sweeney
Ross Gilchrist
The Zips (Glasgow)
The Snipes (Glasgow)
Chris Devotion (Glasgow)
Japanese Mafia
Variety Suite
Jon Zip (Glasgow)
Billy Liar
The Parrafins
Ari (of Rose Parade) (Glasgow/Ayr)
Homesick Aldo (Fife)
Alan Bishop (of the Red Eyes) (Glasgow)

Embarrassing Bodies.

2011-12-30T21:55:00.004Z

I'm that age
I went to see the doctor a few weeks ago.
Not something I do normally.
I'm of that breed of man that could sever an arm and sit around thinking should I call for help?
Is it really that serious?
I wouldn't want to bother anyone with something so minor.
You see, I'm macho as fuck me.
Honestly, ask anyone.
If I had a lump in my scrotum it would have to be verging on the size and shape of a third testicle before I'd go to the doctors. Stupid, I know, but most men will know where I'm coming from.
Anyway my point is that I'm not one of those fabled men that claim they're dying when they have a head cold. (Funnily enough I've never actually met one either, but I've heard plenty of woman talking about them.)
So now that I've cleared that up, and you know what sort of fella I am I'll get back to what I was going to say about visiting the doctors.
So there I was in the doctors and he mentioned that as I was of a certain age, had I considered visiting the well man clinic?
I said that the thought had never really crossed my mind to be honest.
He then went on to promote the whole thing, with prevention and education being so important, and it was really only a chat and the checking of blood pressure…………and the like. (remember that, "and the like")
Five minutes later I found myself in a room with one other guy.
This was a bit of a surprise as I was expecting a room full.
I had this image in my head of a bunch of guys sitting in a circle getting told to cut down on red meat and alcohol. So where the fuck were they all?
Probably eating steaks and washing them down with large steins of beer I suppose.
So the actual reality was one guy sitting across the room with his back to me, and not much else.
The room wasn't even that fancy.
You could best describe it as an upgraded broom closet.
After a couple of seconds he turned and said "Well man".
I thought he was making conversation and I said "yeah", to which he replied. "Well If you would like to drop your trousers and underwear we'll get you examined then"
The first thing that crossed my mind was "we".
Who the fuck was "we". There was only him in the room excluding me, and I didn't reckon I was qualified in examining myself.
Was this the royal 'we'?
Obviously as amateur examinations go I've got a frequent flyer badge, but I wasn't sure if my idea of an examination counted as the real thing.
A quick fondle, even a stroke. It's not really classed as a medical examination as far as I'm aware.
In fact I think it's more commonly known as a wank.
Funnily enough though, for some strange reason I didn't even question the guy. I just went onto automatic pilot.
Lets be honest here, if a doctor or nurse asked you to do something you just do it. It's conditioned into you.
Five seconds after the request I was standing there with my jeans and boxers (Pierre Cardin size medium for those who are interested. That will make it easier to paint a picture in your head) around my ankles with this guy crouched in front of me.
Everyone makes the jokes about trying hard (sic) not to get an erection when being examined by a foxy nurse. It's a stereotype thing that gets laughed about to hide the actual fact that most people are shitting themselves, but here I was, with a guy I've never met before fondling my scrotum. (roughly I may add.)
He never even offered to buy me a drink. There was no danger of anything rising to the occasion under these circumstances.
I just stood there.
I was frozen to the spot feeling his hand on me, and to be honest my penis was shrivelling at the thought of what was next.
It must have looked like the last rolo in the packet.
And then the door opened and a female nurse walked in, took one look at us and said "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING"
No. I'm kidding that didn't happen at all, but while he was rolling my testicles in his hand one at a time, the thought that I hadn't checked for ID or even ask who he was did cross my mind.
Next he felt down the length of my penis, pinching it between thumb and forefinger using both his hands.
Meantime I was staring at the furthest uppermost corner of the room and concentrating really hard on nothing at all.
I heard him mutter "Well everything looks and feels fine. You can put everything back on now". I'm still not sure if he meant in a medical sense or he was simply giving a compliment, but I wasn't going to ask him to clarify it.
I think I was in shock after that, because I can't really remember anything else that happened, or even leaving the surgery.
I'm thinking of getting some of that regression hypnotherapy to unlock what happened. I wasn't sore anywhere. So I'm hoping I wasn't abused.
Well abused anymore that what I remember.
The end result was everything was fine it would seem, but in hindsight I can't help feeling that all I did was go in a room and get my tackle prodded and stared at by a stranger.
He didn't even tell me to cut down on red meat and alcohol.
I've never been so embarrassed in my whole life.
I've got another appointment for next week though. Maybe he'll stick his finger up my bum this time.

Manly bands for manly men. Part one.

2011-12-30T21:52:00.003Z

Some French guy playing an immortal Scotsman once said "there can be only one".
I reckon that if he was talking about rock bands it would have to have been AC/DC he was referring to.
(Bon Scott era obviously)
If anyone wants to hear what testosterone sounds like, then just slip on any AC/DC track with Bon howling over it, and that's the sound nailed.
If you gave cavemen guitars then this is what you would get.
A noise that harkens back to a period when men who were in touch with their feminine sides were called poofs*.
It's the aural equivalent of clubbing a prospective partner over the head and dragging her home to look at your cave paintings while you take her from behind.
It's sex with no empathy for a partners needs.
It's all about pleasing yourself and then hitting the road to hunt down another conquest.
Yeah it's most definitely an outdated attitude, and it's certainly selfish, but who cares. (Joke)
It's a damn sight more honest an attitude than hiding behind the empathy mask.
(yes, your needs are important to me darling)
If we are really honest you could deconstruct a metro sexual male, peel back his sensitive nature, drag his inner being to the surface, and what you will find is a beer monster that wants to corrupt every woman to the accompaniment of "If you want blood, you got it".
Guys might lie about it, but that's just denial.
A bastard is lurking deep within us all.
There are two types of men I suppose. The ones that know who they are and hide the fact, and the ones that are so pussy whipped that they think their dicks are for pissing out of and nothing else.
So this is where AC/DC come in.
The perfect band for all men.
You can put the needle on the vinyl and let the mask slip and get comfy, or you can get your pussy whipped buddy around and use it to regress him to a more natural state of existence.
If you've a mate that has been taken over by a cult, then just kidnap the sad sack and lock him in a room with AC/DC blasting at his ass 24/7.
No need for someone to sit there and slowly remind him that his family love him and everyone misses him day in day out.
Just let AC/DC rip, and after a couple of days he'll step out of the room, ask for a beer and grope the first women walking past.
Even if it's your mother.
Problem solved.
That's what AC/DC are all about.
It's all unapologetic balls to the wall stuff. A mans band. The living it large and to hell with the consequences attitude to the fore.
Masters of their own destiny and their destiny is to party hard. Fuck yeah. Bloody attractive aint it? That's because they appeal to something deep in men. They are the kings of cock rock.
I will not be ashamed. I will stand tall and proud and shout "AC/DC, HELL YEAH".
And they play bagpipes to.
*No disrespect to the gay community here. You can listen to AC/DC as well

Aquaman V the wrinkly prunes

2011-12-30T21:48:00.002Z

I've been trawling through some stuff of old and I'm posting them here (again) before the vanish into the ether.
More might come in the next few days if anyone is interested.

I went swimming this morning. To be accurate I went and splashed about in some water, but it was in a swimming pool.
It wasn't a health kick, or anything like that.
The reason is that I took my kids yesterday, and while they were in I sat in the spectators enclosure watching them.
Turned out that I was the only guy amongst loads of mothers who were there to watch their kids having swimming lessons.
After a while I felt very uncomfortable.
Probably just paranoia, but I doubt many men would have felt at ease.
I waved at my kids more than normal, even got them to come to the barrier to speak to me occasionally as well.
There was no real reason for this except I was wanting to reinforce the fact that I was also a parent, and not some pervert hanging around to watch all their children swimming about.
This was the catalyst for me to consider brushing up on my rather poor swimming skills, and the next time I could be splashing around with my kids instead of skulking poolside.
That was the idea anyway.
So with this intent I trundled of this morning, shorts and towel in hand.
I reckoned that I could get there and be in the pool for 9am and no one else would be about.
I'm not big on public swimming to be honest.
I don't like people staring as I'm fairly heavily tattooed.
I usually wear long sleeved tops to hide them and consider that I got them all for myself, and I'm not some freak show for public consumption.
The other thing is that when I said I was a poor swimmer I was really downplaying it a bit.
It's actually a scientific fact that I have the buoyancy of a brick.
Even when I do manage to float and get some forward momentum, I am then the cause of tsunami size waves that may be rather disconcerting to others.
So between the tats and my thrashing around like an aquatic epileptic I don't normally entertain anyone requesting that I go swimming.
That was all going to change this morning though.
I was going to start going a couple of times a week and once I was fairly competent and comfortable I would join my kids in the pool.
Funny how you have it all planned out in your head, and then the reality doesn't come close.
First, the pool wasn't that empty.
There was about twenty old women there.
No men, just women.
Secondly, the majority were all gliding back and forth with minimum effort.
You now the sort.
Fuckin' show offs that wiggle their toes and one finger and that's all the need to propel themselves through the water at about bloody ten knots.
Bastards.
I had thought that I would start off by looking for the shortest route and swim from one side to the other and see how many I could do.
No chance of that though.
The few women that weren't shooting through the water were floating in little huddles talking to each other.
They were dotted about everywhere and left no straight routes to swim…..and I can't turn.
WTF.
After a little while of standing at the side, and trying to push the air out from my shorts that had ballooned around my waist, I noticed the lifeguard looking at me.
It sort of flashed across my mind that he would be wondering why I wasn't swimming and had my hands under the water playing around with my shorts.
He probably thought I was Wayne Rooney looking to score with one of the OAPs.
So I decided I better take the plunge and start swimming, or as others call it, drowning in style.
I thrashed my way across to the other side and I was fucked.
Simple as that.
The amount of effort it took was phenomenal. It's not that I'm that unfit, but I just need to exert an outrageous amount of energy just to manage a few feet afloat.
There must be a trick to it, but I don't know it.
So by the time I was across I was exhausted, and I'm not sure how much water I had swallowed either.
I did this about five times and that was it.
I threw in the towel.
I'm not sure what I was going to die with first.
Embarrassment, or drowning.
Guess what time it was?
Just leaving twenty past nine.
I scurried away with my tail between my legs.
The whole morning was a disaster.
Well, that is if you describe thirty minutes all in as the whole morning.
I've decided that the role of spectator is far more my style and I may invest in a t-shirt that says I am not a paedophile for future visits to the pool.

The Banana Sessions playing Kilmarnock.

2011-12-28T22:09:00.004Z

I recently had a conversation where I took the stance that quite a few people don't make much effort in life.
It was a general observation on something that I see daily.
People find themselves faced with an issue and the first thing they do is turn to someone else and expect them to solve the problem for them.
In doing this they are stagnating and losing the problem solving skills that we all need to have to get us from one day to the next.
When I was asked to elaborate I used myself as an example.
I'm not a journalist by any stretch of the imagination, but I do write.
I'm not a graphic artist but I mess about with images.
I'm not a promoter, but I put on gigs.
No one shows me how to do these things.
I just decide that this is what I want to do and then suss out how to do it.
Of course it's all pretty much amateur crap, but who cares.
Here's the sort of thing that I'm talking about.

Today a mate asked me if I could make him a small poster for a gig he is putting on and I said yes.
Then from that I thought I would try my hand at some simple animation.
I mean, why not?
It took me about half an hour.
The reason that I'm upping this as a blog entry is twofold.
One is that I want to help spread the word about the gig, and the other is that I hope someone somewhere decides I can do better than that........and does.
So go for it.
Create something.

Reflections.

2011-12-27T16:19:00.001Z

The period between Christmas day and new years day appears to neatly take on the mantle of the watershed.
An elongated stretch of time where one year, while not having literally ended, has done in the minds of most of us.
It's a time for reflection, and an opportunity for the twelve months that have virtually past to be considered in hindsight.
For some they will wave goodbye to 2011 with a smile and tuck it away into the nostalgia bank for future reference as one of the good years.
For others 2012 will shine like the light at the end of the tunnel and they will leave 2011 in the rear view mirror with nary a backward glance.
For myself 2011 feels like it has had more than its twelve months squeezed into it.
Every single week seems to have been packed to bursting with one thing or another.
Most of my gadding about has provided me with many undoubtedly positive experiences that have enriched my life.
I have met so many people who previously didn't exist in my little world that it sort of boggles my mind to an extent.
Now each of them are firmly ensconced in my monkey sphere, and all are welcome.
Friendship enriches our lives far more than monetary gain ever could, and you can take that to the bank.
Well you can't actually take it to the bank, but you know what I mean, and even if you could I suspect that you wouldn't get as much back from them as your initial investment was worth.
That's also something that sort of sums up 2011, but I digress and therefore let's back to the point at hand, which is my year.
I couldn't close it without me saying thank you to my kids, my partner Kelly and her daughter Sophie for the love and support they give me.
There is a unique warmth to being cared for, and in caring for others.
I am a lucky man in this respect.
Unfortunately the flip side of the many positives is that when I consider how busy I have been I also have to accept that much of what I have done has been to little, or no, benefit to anyone.
Wasted moments are something that we can see very clearly in hindsight, but with a little more contemplation I could have avoided most of them by simply saying no more often than I have previously been apt to.
So in the forthcoming year I am going to do something about that, and hopefully in doing so become more constructive with my time.
That's a vague resolution there I suppose.
What I really would hope for is that in 2012 the things that I do that bring me most pleasure will also open some doors to a change in my life.
Maybe provide me with a different path to walk down.
Fingers crossed, but if nothing much transpires then I'll live with it and keep plodding along doing what I do.
Lastly I suppose I should add that I am well aware that over the course of the year I have ruffled a few feathers.
I'd like to take this opportunity not to apologize and to advise those with the ruffled feathers not to hold their breath while waiting on a sorry.
For me to extend an apology would really be saying that I am sorry for exercising my right to have an opinion and that's not going to happen.
Here's to 2012.
I hope that it provides everyone with what they deserve.

Matt Scott

2011-12-25T21:22:00.001Z

Matt Scott is playing King Tuts on the 11th Jan. £6 a ticket.
Message Matt at https://www.facebook.com/mattjamesscott for tickets.

2011

2011-12-25T06:27:00.003Z

As the year creeps ever closer to relinquishing it's hold on us all I suppose this is the best time to reflect on it.
So in a small way I'd like to say thank you for the music and good times that the Ayrshire music scene has provided by compiling a little roll call of honour.
Prior to beginning though I would like to take the opportunity to point out that by praising one artist and excluding another doesn't mean that one is good and the other bad, but just that in my own personal opinion one may simply tick all the boxes a little harder than the other.
You got that?
Okay. Here goes.

Male artist - Ross Gilchrist.
I don't think many people would be surprised at my opting to give Ross the highest praise as I've been shouting his name from the rooftops since first seeing him play.
Forget trying to put what he does into a nice little box as a singular genre tag falls short of being able to hold him.
When people talk about genius I think of Ross.
In a year that has provided a multitude of great performances, fantastic releases and more surprises from local talent than I could have imagined possible it is Ross Gilchrist who is in my humble opinion standing on the shoulders of giants.

Female artist - Melissa Kelly.
While the mainstream falls over itself to shovel praise on auto tuned divas, or award technically gifted, but soulless sounding, women with plaudits it's a fact that the real talent is to be found in the performances that Melissa Kelly is known for.
It's earthy, it's raw, and when she opens her mouth to sing she conveys the real emotion that is required to make the hair stand up on the necks of an audience.
Modern rhythm and blues? Rock and roll? Call it what you want but this young lady is what people will call 'the real deal'.

Group – Rose Parade/Brown Bear and the Bandits/Fole.
It's not possible to praise one of these bands higher than the other.
If this was a race then then it's a photo finish that shows that none of them are edging ahead of the pack. All are equal winners to my ears.
There's a broad range of styles to get your teeth into and for those with eclectic tastes then they will find plenty to get excited about regardless of what one you choose to listen to first.

Under eighteen male artist - Sam Christison.
At fifteen years of age young Sam has just released his debut ep called '3 songs about you + 1 about me', and in doing so he has probably sent shivers down the spines of his more mature peers.
There are musicians in there twenties who have been playing for years who still haven't travelled as far down the road as Sam has.
I fully expect to hear a great deal more from him in the forthcoming years.

Under eighteen female artist - Anna Sweeney.
Tentatively stepping into the spotlight with performances that are grabbing attention Anna is quickly garnering a reputation as a precocious talent who is blooming into something rather special.
Early 2012 should see something being released that I'm sure will provide ample proof that she will deliver on all the current promise shown.

Best venues that supports local talent.
Jollys Sports Bar (Kilmarnock)/ Su Casa (Ayr)
Every month both of these Ayrshire establishments have been providing a platform for local talent to grow.
I've lost count of the artists that I have been introduced to while frequenting them.
It was in Jollys that I first seen Ross Gilchrist and Matt Scott. Su Casa were I met Jamie (Little Fire) McGeechan and seen Brown Bear for the first time.
I could go on and on.
Both deserve our support, as does any venue that ethically promotes local talent, so if I was to ask for one thing from local readers it would be that they support the evenings that they have as the time worn phrase 'use it, or lose it' comes to mind.

Album(s).
Ross Gilchrist – Feersum Enjinn/Roscoe Vacant and the Gantin' Screichs – Reckurdt
Both of these albums highlight just how strong the music scene in Ayrshire is.
Each of them in their own way are breathtakingly fearless and unapologetically pioneering in spirit.
While some bands and artists will tread a well worn path, Ross Gilchrist and Ross Morris choose instead to step away from being directly influenced and instead tear up the rule book and paste it back together to create something that while recognizable in places is still refreshingly original.
I doff my cap to both.

Record label.
There's no hesitation from me in naming Newtown Products as the label of the year.
This one man cottage industry embodies all that is good about the independent DIY scene.
The passion, the belief and the cojones to take the risk financially to bring original talent to the public is something that shouldn't be downplayed so I'm naming Andrew Meikle as my music scene hero of the year.

Honourable mentions for 2011 go to Jamie McGeechan for fighting the good fight to promote Ayrshire's many artists through booking them to play Su Casa, writing about them in the local press, name checking everyone as often as he can and doing all that while working tirelessly to further his own career as the the artist known as Little Fire.
He's the hardest working man in showbiz and if success was measured in respect then he is probably the most successful artist in Ayrshire.
I'm sure that my acknowledgement of his efforts and talent will be construed by some as sycophantic praise of someone who I now consider a friend, but I will not bite my tongue on the matter as everything said is true.
I sincerely hope that 2012 is the year where all his dreams become a reality.
Next is Matt Scott who I have had the pleasure of seeing live numerous times now.
From a friend initially introducing me to his live set - thanks Munro - earlier in the year, to the recent release of his debut ep I've been privileged to see him grow as a singer, songwriter and performer.
January the 11th of 2012 will see him start the year with his second performance at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut.
Get in there early for a ticket so that in years to come you can say you were there.
Last, but by no means least, is Masters of the Sea who probably played the most drunkenly shambolic acoustic gig I've witnessed this year - and that's saying something as I've seen the Girobabies - and still managed to sound better than most bands who turn up sober and intently try and entertain.
As is usual I am sure I've missed people out.
Oh well. It's a shame, but if you weren't mentioned feel free to pretend that it was an oversight rather than deliberate.

A coalition Christmas.

2011-12-20T23:11:00.010Z

A rough and unedited draft, but I might not even come back to it. It is what it is.

From where I'm sitting I can see Billy touch the long radiator that runs the length of the wall.
At first he hovers his hands open palmed over it before he tentatively lets them settle against the surface.
If he's looking to feel some residual warmth emanating from the metal then he will be sorely disappointed.
There is none.
There rarely is.
Some of us who had previously kept up to date with government initiatives could have told him that under the new energy saving scheme introduced by the coalition the heating is turned off between the hours of nine am and five pm in all work experience facilities.
It's only on for an hour before we all commence with whatever they have arranged for us to do, and that hour falls far short of being long enough to fill the room with anything resembling warmth.
The political angle on this is that anyone putting in a solid days work wouldn't require to be housed in a continuously heated building as the effort of their labour would keep them warm.
Obviously none of those who supported the move had been north of Carlyle in December.
There's no point in mentioning any of this to Billy though.
All new arrivals need to find their own feet.
It's an unspoken rule.
He follows on his failed attempt at finding some heat from the radiator with a swift hand rubbing to conjure up some kinetic heat.
From experience I know that this offers little more than a moments respite from the cold.
Lastly he cups them to his face enveloping his nose and mouth and blows into them.
He looks like a fool.
During breakfast he had been quick to inform everyone who would listen that his six months referral to the facility was just what he needed to show future employers that he was just the type of man they should offer a contract to.
The silence that his comment drew from the men sitting at his table spoke volumes.
It hung in the air like an accusation of rank stupidity for what seemed to be an eternity.
The spell was only broken by a soft, but emphatically, uttered 'fud' that hung heavy in the air and was accompanied with some head shaking disbelief.
The mild force of it was enough to act as the catalyst for everyone to go back to eating their meagre portion of porridge.
A weak and watery facsimile of porridge that was the only option available.
Since then I had been watching him on and off all morning and calculating in my head how long it would take before the penny dropped and he realized the reality of his situation.
More than once I found myself thinking that he must the the only person alive who is unable to see the work experience facilities for what they are.
A modern day workhouse introduced by the government to provide free labour to their business partners from the pool of the unemployed under the pretence of providing training.
People seen it coming, but no one really did anything about it.
It was only something that would target the soap dodging scum.
Little did they know that as the economy contracted that they were just a year or so away from being the very same soap dodging scum they had previously looked down their noses at.
Six months claiming benefit uninterrupted automatically leading to six months in a work experience facility sounded fair when they were working.
Less so when they weren't.
Whose sorry now?
The only way to avoid the enforced period of labour was to opt out from the benefit system.
So no real option at all.
There was some riots in the sink estates when they started rounding up the long term unemployed, but with the introduction of the water cannons and rubber bullets they were quickly quelled.
With all this having happened Billy's lack of awareness of where he is seems to be rooted in real delusion.
He looks around and catches me looking at him and smiles.
I can sense that he is looking for a connection, a hint of camaraderie, but I don't have anything to give.
The clock above his head hangs like the sword of Damocles
The second hand sweeps downward and I glance across the room to where the charge hand stands and watches.
He's seen Billy to.
He's hard to miss him as apart from the guards he is the only man standing in the room.
Oblivious to the scrutiny of the charge hand Billy remains where he is and rubs his hands together to generate some heat a second time.
He's smiling.
Part of me wants to stand up and say something, but gravity pushes down hard on me and my cheeks fill with shame as I know what the outcome is going to be.
There are only two reasons that you are allowed to leave your work station.
One is to go for a timed toilet break and the second to report yourself as ill.
Billy has done neither, and instead simply went for a wander.
In his mind I'm sure he is casually familiarizing himself with the workplace as no one else has volunteered to give him a tour.
It wont matter in a few minutes anyway.
I can hear some talk from a distance, the crackle of a message from a radio.
It's the cue for dark shapes to fill the periphery of my vision.
My focus is on Billy.
I'm locked into him.
Every single detail of him standing there is my world, my universe.
Dark shapes that quickly take the form of heavily armoured guards close in.
He turns to one and opens his mouth to say something.
Whatever it was is lost as the first blow from the lengthy baton connects with his face.
It's not like the films.
He doesn't roll with it, he doesn't shrug it off and heroically retaliate.
He does nothing.
Instead his face bursts, teeth shatter and blood blossoms.
Before he can manage to make a sound another blow from another guard robs him of articulating the pain.
The only noise is the grunts of the guards and the sound of the abattoir, of the butchers block.
It's the sound of meat being struck.
A wet, dull and lifeless sound.
The beating lasts seconds, maybe a minute a most, but it feels like it has lasted much longer.
No one has moved.
No one looks up.
Billy's unconscious body is dragged silently from the room and it's as if nothing has happened.
The tick of the clock sounds thunderous and is only equalled by the roaring of blood in my ears.
I can feel pressure on my thigh and look down to see a hand squeezing it.
I lose myself in the touch and close my eyes.
Concentrate on the heat and the force of the pressure.
The hand remains there, pressing down, keeping me in my seat.
I breathe in and out, in and out, in and out.
When I open my eyes I keep looking ahead of me at the point below the clock where Billy had stood.
The hand lets go of my thigh.
The moment has past.
It's in the past and I'm in the present.
The hand that had pressed down on me quickly dips in and out of my pocket.
I reach in a find something hard and round and take it out.
It's a toffee.
I quickly pop it into my mouth and the taste fills my head.
Beside me I hear a voice whisper 'Merry Christmas'.
Before me the world loses it's sharp focus as tears drop like bombs onto the work surface.

Chuggers

2011-12-19T13:41:00.004Z

Dusted this off for x-mas for Jo Fraser.

Tis the season and all that.
The shops are full of people while retailers claim that it's the biggest downturn in business they have seen since last year.
So nothing much has really changed I guess.
Meanwhile everywhere you go the last minute shoppers are out in force buying anything that they can claim they took months to hunt down as they just knew it was the perfect gift for their nearest and dearest.
These desperados are only outnumbered by the Chuggers, or charity muggers to give them their full name.
The Chuggers are everywhere.
It can feel like you can't manage a straight ten yards in any high street without being accosted by one. Two or even three.
If there's a collective term for chuggers I reckon it would be 'cunts'.
Anyway, an aerial view of the high street would show shoppers navigating around them like shoals of fish.
You know that darting thing that you see them do on "The Blue Planet".
It's like that.
One minute everyone is striding along in the one direction.
Then the girl with the dreadlocks and a yellow bib turns her attention to the oncoming mass of shoppers and everyone, (bar the blind fella whose dog hasn't clocked the bibbed babe ahead) does the rapid right angle thing across to the other side of the street.
Just like those damn fish that I mentioned.
This attempt at evading them isn't really necessary though.
The truth is that the charities pick all these cool looking students to do the donkey work for them, and although they appear altruistic they're not.
The girl with the dreadlocks doesn't really give a toss about the planet, dogs, cats or abused children.
The guy with the smirk, goatee and lip ring is ambivalent about the homeless, cancer research and the learning disabled.
They all want one thing, and that's to hit on people of the opposite sex.
I'll accept that the female of the Chugger species is more subtle about it, but Jesus, she does love to bask in the attention of the males that she attracts into her honey trap.
It's all about preening and getting a reaction for her.
The outcome is less important. The attention is everything.
The guys on the other hand are just in it for the ladies phone numbers that they can procure.
These guys will hit on anything within a certain demographic.
Over fifteen, under thirty, female and fit seems to be the remit.
Nothing will deter them from their aim.
They will clamber over the girl in the wheelchair, shoulder charge the big issue seller into the gutter and kick the blind buskers hat full of change out of the way to get to the toned girl in the miniskirt and bare midriff (In December).
The ring in her bellybutton acts like a beacon that he has to home in on like a tractor beam from an episode of Star Trek.
Once in close proximity he will slip on a cheeky grin and attempt to get a date out of her with the opening line of "do you have a bank account?"
Not that the info given will matter, as for that split second he has forgotten what the charity is he's working for that week.
If pushed right at this point to say what one it is he may gasp 'Eh, it's for homeless dogs with cancer in a third world country'.
This is because the charity is secondary to getting that number.
It's all about the numbers babeeeee.
So do me a favour. Have a look in the mirror and be brutally honest with yourself.
Do you seriously think that you fit their criteria.
It's only at this time of year that they ease out of their comfort zone and consider asking us oldies and even then it's in a half arsed way.
I'm forty, stocky and look like a homeless bum most days of the week. I'm mainly invisible to the Chuggers, even at Christmas, yet for some reason I also do the body swerve across the street when I see them, but I'm going to try and stop.
From now on I want to just keep marching towards them.
If you are all with me, the too short, too tall, too old, too bald, too fat, basically everyone who is outside their narrow idea of what is attractive then we can really put the shits up them.
Imagine us all storming towards them, bearing down on them with our shopping bags and a determined look on our faces.
Let them cross the road for a change.
We have nothing to lose but our bank details........and a fiver a month to save the panda.
So whose with me?

Break the mould.

2011-12-18T22:19:00.007Z

In amongst the deluge of crap that we all wade through on what seems to be a daily basis we can often lose sight of the more positive things that are going on around us.
One of those positives is that some people are wrestling control of their artistic endeavours from the parasitic scum who have been deluding people for years that they are the oil that is required to lubricate the machine that will provide said artists with success.
That's of course just spin, as any lubricating they are doing is around the artists ring piece so that the machine can then whore them out for an ass fucking.
More honourable men would just cut the bullshit out and call themselves pimps and be done with it.
Anyway one of the people who has apparently decided to put a closed for business sign up on their rear entrance is the American comedian Louis CK.
Instead of going through the normal channels of recording a show and then looking for a network to air it, and a distributor to get it out their on DVD, he has instead thrown his own money at getting it filmed and then put it up on his website to download for the bargain price of $5 (£3.22).
So far he's made over half a million dollars and I personally don't begrudge him one cent of that.
If he had stuck to the template and followed on from what has come before he would have gotten a fraction of that with what he lost out on going into the pockets of the three drink lunch bullshit brigade.
He wrote the material.
He delivered it to an audience.
He will have paid the camera men and women, the editors of the show and everyone else involved in creating it.
So in my eyes he made the an ethical investment and any cash he garners from it is deserved.
The only people losing out on this are those who had unnecessarily created an imaginary position to occupy in the process.
Forgive me if a don't shed any tears for them.
Go and find a real job fuckers.
Here's a link to Louis Cks website.
https://buy.louisck.net/
Someone else who I hope is looking for a new job is a Glasgow promoter who it would appear has been shown to be the greedy charlatan that they are.
I'll refrain from naming names as they might rear their ugly head in the new year to peddle their unethically immoral schtick under a different name, but at the moment the latest reports are that some of the venues that they have used have pulled the plug on them.
I sincerely hope that this is a sign of the tide turning.
A positive move would be that they are quickly replaced with individuals who will respect the work that the artists put in to entertain others and reward them for it.
The last, but by no means least, bit of good news I've had this week is that Johnny Navarro of Devilish Presley is branching out with a side project called Blacklistable.
Unlike Devilish Presley, Blacklistable will be a vehicle that will allow Johnny to vent his spleen on more political matters, but don't expect a Billy Bragg clone as I can assure you that this will not be what you will be getting.
Knowing Johnny's talent for spouting a vitriolic couplet or two I'm guessing that what we can look forward to is going to be more like a pissed of Woody Guthrie channelled through Bill Hicks.
Whatever it will be.....I can't wait.
www.facebook.com/Blacklistable
Oh yeah. Here's a joke.
What do you call someone who is paid to procures young men and women to entertain others?
A booker.
Boom boom.

UPDATE.
Though the comedian Louis C. K. may not seem like the kind of guy who derives much joy from the holiday season – let alone anything else – Santa Claus has brought him an early Christmas gift. In an interview on Wednesday’s broadcast of “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” Louis C. K. said he had grossed more than $1 million from his online comedy special, “Louis C. K.: Live at the Beacon Theater,” after 10 days on sale, and would be donating part of that money to charity.

Having told Mr. Fallon that he’d never had $1 million all at once in his life, and then dismissing his electronically earned largess as “a $5 impulse that 220,000 people had,” Louis C. K. explained that he would use $250,000 to pay for the special (as he has said previously), spend another $250,000 in bonuses to people who work for him and give $280,000 to five charity organizations: Fistula Foundation, which works with women injured in childbirth; Green Chimneys which gives outdoor and animal therapies to children; charity: water, which provides clean drinking water; the Pablove Foundation, which sponsors pediatric cancer research; and Kiva, which provides small loans to people around the world. The remaining $220,000, Louis C. K. said, would go to himself, providing a colorful pantomime suggestion of the physical improvement he planned to purchase with the money.

I've (not) got a ticket to ride.

2011-12-14T14:26:00.002Z

I've been following the 'Big Man' story with some interest.
I'm not the only one here in Scotland to do so, and as the news has went global I presume that people from warmer climes like Iceland, Norway and Finland are also checking out our vigilante hero on youtube to.
Initially, and similar to the vast majority, I thought 'go'an yersel' big man. The wee toe rag deserves it', but then I stopped my knee jerking and thought about it a bit.
Yes of course the young man was in the wrong, and of course his reaction to the demand of the train fare was out of order.
I don't think anyone would dispute that, and there's nothing in what he did that I wish to defend, but was the reaction to his behaviour a bit over the top?
Could the situation have been dealt with differently?
I think it could have been.
I've read that all the ticket inspectors have had training in conflict resolution.
I didn't see any of it in practice so I'll presume that the ticket inspector missed that course.
His attitude was pretty poor and in no way helped to solve what was a minor problem.
In fact all he did was increase the tension and focus a great deal of negative ire on the young lad.
None of which is going to lead to a positive outcome for anyone.
It's easy to say that if he had just paid up then there would have been no need for what happened to be the outcome.
That's true.
It's also just as easy to say that the inspector could have called ahead and had the transport police waiting, and in doing this he would have avoided the delay, the assault, and the ensuing issues that may, or may not, lead to the 'big man' being charged with the assault.
That's also equally as true.
Out of the two options what one seems to be the best though?
I'm not going to tear into the inspector though.
It was a poor judgement call and I wouldn't want to do his job.
As someone who has used public transport a great deal through out my life I can assure you that there is nothing pleasant about getting the last train or bus home.
Seats are filled with those who are the worse for wear after their long night of hitting the bars and clubs, and very often the alcohol consumed is a catalyst for the worst of attitudes to be revealed.
I couldn't tell you how many times a ticket collector has walked down the aisle shouting 'tickets please' to everyone except the group of drunken middle aged men who are growling at anyone who casually glances in their direction.
This is equally the case for the lone brutish half wit who is singing the Sash to himself to.
These types seem to have a magical travel card that entitles them to a free journey, and in all honesty I'm not going to gripe about it as similarly I would think twice about approaching them.
I genuinely don't blame the guys on the coal face for choosing discretion over valour in those circumstances.
The thing is though..........if they can get off with it then why can't one lad on his own?
Was he the straw that broke the camels back, or just an easier target than those that I've mentioned?
I don't know the answer, but I do know that this is a fuck up and the events that unfurled aren't something to be celebrated.
I've been told that the difference between a return and a single fare is 10p.
If that's accurate then can anyone really say that they are honestly okay with how this was dealt with?
Even if someone had stepped forward and offered to pay for a full single journey for the lad it would still have come in as a less expensive outcome than the possible fine that the 'big guy' may get.
It would also be far cheaper than the court costs that you and I may have to collectively pay for.
That more positive intervention could also have provided the young man with an example of how a compassionate attitude is preferable to an aggressive foul mouthed one to.
So now in the cold light of day and without the need to bow to peer pressure can I ask if this is really the Scotland we want to promote to the world?
One that's full of people who are happy to make snap judgements and react on them?
I feel a bit sorry for the 'Big Man', the inspector and the lad who was a bit of an arse.
There's no winners here.

Aspire or die.

2011-12-13T14:00:00.001Z

Thanks to Stu Who for highlighting this to me.

Debate is good.

2011-12-11T16:46:00.002Z

Over the last few months I've been accused of not knowing what I'm talking about when I vent my spleen about what I consider to be the poor practices of some promoters and venues.
So as it could be entirely possible that I am a lone curmudgeon in my outlook I thought I would take the opportunity to ask a few questions so that I can ascertain if my stance is in fact a minority one.

The questions themselves are all rather basic and require a simple yes or no response, but please feel free to add comments and expand on your answers as you see fit.

1)Should bands be paid expenses - at the very least - for their performances?
2)Is it fair that venues expect band and artists to provide their labour for free while everyone else that works for them receives a wage?
3)Should promoters be able to block book venues without confirmed acts, and in doing so create a closed shop aspect whereas band and artists cannot secure gigs unless it is through them?
(Please exclude club nights from this.)
4)Should promoters and bookers publicly state ticket split deals?
5)Do you care as a music fan if the band/artist who has entertained you has been paid for their labour?

Face to Face and Rise Against – Split

2011-12-11T16:12:00.002Z

What can go wrong when two of my favourite punks bands get together and cover each others songs?
Well plenty as I've have seen in the past.
It's not a sure fire way of scoring a winner and there's no guarantees that the end results will bring anything new to the table, but I'm pleased to say that Rise Against's cover of Face to Face's 'Blind' is as good as expected.
It's not a straight take on the original, and in adding a bit of their own style to it they've managed to create a great version of the song that doesn't eclipse the original, but instead compliments it.
The exact same thing could be said about the Face to Face cover of 'The Good Left Undone'.
If this release serves to highlight the talents of both bands to their own fan bases then I'm going to mark it down as a job well done.
Fans of both bands aren't going to be disappointed with this.

Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow

2011-12-11T14:04:00.002Z

Kate Bush has now reached the point where she is classed as beyond criticism as a performing artist.
Attach her name to a project and it's considered a seal of excellence.
She could sample goats farting and play them as a backdrop to a woman laconically berating a male partner about their lack of understanding of menstrual cramps and the album would be considered as a work of genius as long as she added herself doing an impression of whales communicating in the quiet bits.
Critics would fall over themselves to proclaim it to be the must have album of the year, and sheeple would echo their sentiments after listening to it just the once before then leaving it to gather dust with PJ Harveys award winning effort.
(Another album that I consider to be a piece of self indulgent twaddle.)
Don't even dare to say that you don't get it, as others who don't get it either will be quick to look down their nose at you, and then make some snide comment about your lack of cultured tastes.
Fuck them though.
Fuck them and their disingenuous and snobbish attitudes that they cling to.
It's not a healthy position for an artist to occupy in the mind of the public in my opinion.
It doesn't lend itself to allowing an artists to reconsider their material from a different angle.
It's not conducive to an honest reappraisal.
Keep telling people that they are the greatest thing since the invention of sliced bread and a point will come when they will believe it to be so, and when that point is reached they release albums like '50 Words For Snow'.
Yes, the empire has a leader whose a naturist it would seem.....again.
Here's the blurb from Kate's own website.
'50 Words For Snow' will feature seven brand new tracks set against the background of falling snow.
What does that mean?
I'm thinking of releasing an album called '50 words for a Kate Bush album' in response.
Basically it will just be me doing an impression of someone with tourettes over a backing track of the last Saturdays album being played backwards.
I've persevered with Kate's album for over a week and every single time I hit play I can see the x-factor panel asking Kate who told her that this was any good as she tearfully looks into the wings and whispers 'all my fans and critics said it was great'.
Meanwhile in my minds eye the vast majority of the audience cruelly snigger as she runs from the stage and the camera man captures a close up of her wounded and confused eyes accompanied by a quivering snot covered upper lip.
Up until 'The Red Shoes' Kate never missed a step.
Each album was a pop masterpiece that acted as a gateway for people to explore musical paths that they may not have previously considered.
The word genius was deservedly levelled at her, but now..............well c'mon?
Where's the mojo gone?

Sixx AM - 7

2011-12-09T15:05:00.002Z

Motley Crue are playing tonight in Glasgow alongside Def Leppard and Steel Panther.
It looks like it's a sell out, but I can't help thinking that while these shows will give the bank balance of Nikki Sixx a healthy boost it's with his own Sixx AM that the real talent lies.
Starting off as a band who were formed to do a soundtrack to accompany his Heroin Diaries the project has jumped forward and taken on a life of its own it seems, and now with two rather excellent albums tucked under their belts they have taken some songs from both and used them for their current seven track mini album imaginably called '7'.
While some may think that's a bit lazy the truth of the matter is that they have stripped the songs down and reconstructed them with some soft orchestration backing the material and the results are very, very impressive.
The material is light years ahead of anything he has done with Motley Crue.
Far more mature and classic rock sounding for one thing, and while Crue have apparently managed to carve some sort of survivors niche for themselves there's a good chance that in twenty or thirty years time it will be this material that he is remembered for.
The main attraction to this is the blatant lyrical honesty that creeps into everything.
While it sounds lush and the arrangements are beautiful there's a sense of the desperate throughout in the words.
This is a man who is laying the past out and shining a light on it and seeking answers about how he can push into the future.
He's fucked up more than once and knows it, but his salvation is the light at the end of the tunnel.
A tunnel that he is slowly but surely working his way through, and as long as he keeps chronicling his journey as eloquently as this then there will be no shortage of voyeuristic fans who will be more than happy to follow him on it.
Motley Crue is the past. This is the future.

Ginger Wildheart - Kiss Alive II

2011-12-09T13:29:00.004Z

As usual Ginger has provided us with a nice little memento from his acoustic tour from earlier this year by releasing Kiss Alive II that documents the gigs.
There's mention of Birmingham, but I'm not sure if it's the full set from there, or instead that the songs have been recorded on different dates and then put together as if it's the one night.
It doesn't really matter though as it flows from start to finish.
It's exactly what I expect anyone who was at the shows would want, and it also provides those who didn't catch a gig on the tour with plenty of evidence that they missed out big time.
Jase Edwards (Wolfsbane) and Jon Poole are the perfect foils for Ginger on stage and the warmth of their performance can be felt in the recordings.
It has always been said about how difficult it is to capture a live performance and convey the feeling of it as if you were there, but in this case they've done it
Close your eyes and you're at the show.
When someone say that you really had to be there you can now say that you didn't because you bought the CD.
Apart from the songs that fans of Ginger and the Wildhearts know and love there's a great set of covers that include the Taxi theme, with a little segue into White Riot, to a cracking rendition of Surrender by Cheap Trick.
The Icicle Works song 'Understanding Jane' gets rolled out, but some could be forgiven for thinking that it's something to do with the Wildhearts as it appeared on Stop Us If You've Heard This One Before Vol 1.
Well they could be forgiven for thinking this if they didn't click onto that album being made up of covers, and yes I have met a couple of people who thought that.
As usual the banter between Ginger and the crowd is a highlight, as is the surreal segments when Jon Poole takes charge.
Anyway by the time that the closing track 'I wanna go where the people go' kicks in it's very clear that this is yet another album from Ginger that could be classed as a must have.
As we in Scotland would say 'It's a belter'.
The image is from the back of the CD and the title has been added)

Ginger and Friends - G2 (Glasgow) 8/12/11

2011-12-09T11:37:00.004Z

Well my week of rock and roll debauchery is turning out to be a bit crap.
My intention was to do the Steve Conte gig, recover, Ginger Wildheart and Friends, recover and then finish the week off with the Urban Voodoo Machine just as my liver and eardrums were about to wave a white flag.
The reality has been that the Steve Conte gig was everything I thought it would be.
Ginger was a complete anticlimax and now due to changes in a work rota I'll be missing Urban Voodoo machine.
I'm not a happy bunny.
Back to Ginger though.
First the supports were nothing to write home about.
I'd listened to them prior to going to the gig and for the first time ever decided that I would try and arrive on time to miss them both.
It's not something I would normally do, and I've complained loudly enough about the sort of music fan who doesn't lend an ear to supports in the past, but in my defence after listening to them I really couldn't think of anything worse that cultivating back ache while standing watching bands that I have no affinity to.
Yet that's what ultimately happened.
There appeared to be some people into what both bands did, but not a great deal.
It seems to be a common problem with a Ginger Wildheart crowd.
They're there to see Ginger and that it.
It's not the sort of thing that allows the night to build in excitement.
Jackdaw 4 were virtually ignored on the last acoustic tour and if you give them a listen you would have to ask yourself why as there's not much wrong with Willie Dowlings band.
Anyway once they were finished Ginger and his friends arrived and by fuck was the sound shite down the front.
There's no point in talking about the set as one song bled into another with crunching guitars drowning out the vocals.
You could tell what they were playing and the crowd down the front were appreciative enough, but it seemed a bit dishonest to me.
Why should we give the impression that everything is fine and dandy when sound wise it's not?
We're not Pavlov's dogs.
Oh the band is on so now I must react as I am conditioned to regardless of the quality.
Between the songs Ginger spoke clearly enough, but once the music kicked in it was crap again.
It was maybe telling that there was some comments from Ginger about a curfew and the sound being asked to be lowered so I don't think that the man was too happy himself with how things had went, but who am I to say.
Pish. That's what it was. Complete and utter pish.
This may have been the last gig I attend in 2011 and if so then that's crap.
It really took the edge of a fantastic year and in all honesty a feel a bit cheated and depressed now.
A few friends have since commented that the sound up the back of the venue was crystal clear and they thought it was an excellent show.
Bastards.
Oh I suppose I should add that there was some real fuckin' cocks in the crowd.
There's nothing wrong with a bit of exuberant thrashing about, but if it's designed to force smaller women out of your way so that you can steal their prime spot against the barrier then you sir are simply a cunt of the highest order.
I guess it time now to post this and wait for the hate mail to come in from the Wildhearts fans who misconstrue what has been said as a dig at Ginger and his band.
Oh well. Who said life was fair anyway.
PS. Don't get me started on the Garage as a venue.
PPS. Jon Poole is the reason I hung about until the end. The man's a mentalist, an entertaining mentalist. 'mon The God Damn Whores.

Hurricane Bawbag update

2011-12-08T17:10:00.003Z

Bit windy today with gusts being measures at over 150mph.
So we in Scotland have decided to dub the extreme weather as Hurricane Bawbag rather than use the official name of Friedhelm that someone somewhere who probably has letters after his or her name called it.
Everyone is currently waiting with baited breath to see it described as bawbag on a televised news item, but no luck so far.
However the term bawbag is now trending on twitter so if anyone from further climes asks what a bawbag is then you can reliably inform them that it's the colloquial term for a gentleman's scrotum,
It's also the name we use to describe a bawbags bawbag and doesn't necessarily have to be attached to a gentleman.
Some people are claiming it isn't as bad as others are describing it, but I just seen Dorothy fly past my window hanging onto Toto's scrotum for dear life. Toto didn't look too bothered, but it's difficult to tell if a dog is smiling or grimacing.
It's like a scene for the Wizard of Bawz.
There's aerial photographs of the storm and if you squint at it then I'm sure you would agree that it looks a bit like David Cameron and that's uncanny as he's a bawbag to.
Latest news is that the River Clyde that runs through Glasgow could burst its banks.
If that happens the government have stated that they will instigate another bail out.
No one has had the heart to tell them it's a different sort of bank and the only bailing out that will be happening will be in the lounges of those who can afford riverside apartments.
The Met Office has now issued a red warning.
Celtic football club has called into question the warning and asked if they are fuckin' blind.
Meanwhile Rangers football club has now accused the Met office of eating all the pies.
Fans of both teams have backed their clubs and stated that they will now boycott any weather reports until an apology has been made.
In other news a political storm is brewing after Nicola Sturgeon was told by Alex Salmond that she should stay indoors as the weather had played havoc with her hair to which Nicola replied 'I've been inside all day ya cheeky bastard.'

Matt Scott - A lot like a tape

2011-12-08T14:02:00.001Z

When Robert Allen Zimmerman shucks his mortal coil his alter ego will live on.
Not just in the music he has written, but in bars and clubs all over the world as those who were in awe of his poetic turn of phrase will try with varying degrees of success to emulate his prose with their own.
Most will miss the point and reach the giddy heights of nasal karaoke, but some like Matt Scott will be able to take something of the spirit of Dylan and mould it into his own material without Dylan's Guthrie fixation overshadowing the story he is conveying.
He will doff his cap, acknowledge the influence and move on.
This is what we can hear on Well Again.
It's got the whole sixties vibe going on and you added in some crackling you could maybe think that it's a forgotten track from another place and another time, but it's not, it's instead a reflection of the present and that it mirrors the dustbowl of the 50's and the protest movement of the 60's is just a sad comment on how we haven't really progressed much in a sense of equality that we probably should have.
The rich are still rich, the poor are still poor and people like Matt Scott are still chronicling the times as they see fit.
The second of the three tracks on the ep is Jenny We All Know. A live favourite and in the studio the quiet, but shabby, grandeur of the track has been captured and pinned by its butterfly wings to the velvet for us all to marvel at.
It's an evocative tale with a cinematic quality to it that really does paint a picture in words.
For me it's the highlight of the three songs that have been laid down, but that's not to say that the other songs are weak.
Far from it.
The closing track 'Exile II' follows Jenny in its wordy splendour and highlights the fact that currently the mainstream really isn't providing music lover with much to get their teeth into.
This ep is on a pay what you want deal from here.
https://www.facebook.com/mattjamesscott

Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth - Soundhaus (Glasgow) 6/12/12

2011-12-08T12:06:00.004Z

Prior to Steve Conte rolling into town with his Crazy Truth compadres there was a battle of the bands contest with the winner securing the opening slot of the gig.
I didn't attend, but Rank Berry were the band who impressed on that night and duly took the opportunity to grab a few new fans with their very credible take on some seventies rock with a modern twist.
In fact scratch the credible bit as they were better than just credible.
There's a great deal of Creedence and Faces influences being worn on their sleeves and the young front man has the voice and stage presence to carry it off.
I suppose the last time I seen this done so well was the first time that the Black Crowes hit these shores and supported the Dogs D'Amour in the Barrowlands.
So watch out for Rank Berry as they are one of the few young bands who can differentiate between rock and heavy metal and are capable of putting the groove back into something that has become increasingly stale in my opinion.
There is a downside though, and that's the bands image.
There's a couple of the guys in the band who need to look a bit more rock and roll, and yes, I've heard it all before about image not mattering, but that's bullshit.
Mick and Keef don't just sound cool.
They look it.
Same with Steve and Joe of Aerosmith, Rod and Ron etc etc.
A little rethink on how they look could be just the thing the band needs to push them forward as everything else is in place.
Next was Christie Connor-Vernal who plays the blues with a healthy punk attitude.
I've seen her kicking about at gigs and a few friends have spoken about her highly and all the praise they were dishing out is well deserved.
There's some rough edges that makes it all feel a bit more solid and authentic and I hope Christie avoids trying to polish these bits out as we have enough auto-tuned crap to contend with, and lets be honest here, we really need someone who actually knows who Big Mama Thornton and Johnny Thunders are to save us from it all.
The Mademoiselle who followed Christie completely bored the arse of me.
It's not that they're bad, just not my thing. If punk was the response to prog rock then we may need another wave of it to wash away the navel gazing indie rockers who would probably be more at home missing lectures and watching reruns of the wonders of the universe than creating what to my ears sounds like self indulgent twaddle.
The best bit about them was that they worked as an anticlimactic experience after Christie and set the stage for Homesick Aldo to bring it all back into the realms of rock and roll for us.
It's actually difficult to describe what Homesick Aldo does.
He doesn't have a set list and instead plays his harmonica from the gut.
In this way he is keeping a certain tradition alive and it would be fair to say that what this young man from Fife is doing is far closer to what his heroes did than so many of the modern day blues players do.
Take Eric Clapton for instance.
Please just take him.
His lifeless interpretation of the blues is so far removed from the real deal that he should be charged under some trade description act.
Aldo on the other hand breathes life into it, and similarly to Christie delivers it from a punk template and in doing so gives it the human touch.
It's not the sound of the studio that interests him, but the feeling of the juke joint, the New Orleans bar and the blood, sweat and tears that their floorboards have soaked up.
You really have to be there to get it so watch out for Homesick Aldo playing and prepare yourself to experience something that isn't packaged to death for the mainstream palette.
Steve was next and what can I say that I haven't said before?
I've ran out of superlative praise for him and while my tank of descriptive praise is virtually on empty he is still firing on all cylinders and delivering night after night.
It's not just Steve either. The Crazy Truth are exceptional to.
It's doesn't matter where he goes as they have his back.
Power it up and they are pushing it hard behind him, ease off on the pedal and they slide into a flawless groove to accompany him.
Tonight is a far meatier affair than the previous time that Steve and his Crazy Truth came to town.
It's a longer set for one thing with more of their debut album getting aired, and the covers are all hitting the spot.
There's some Velvet Underground with 'Waiting for the Man being squeezed in. The Ramones 'I don't wanna grow up, and from memory a bit of Fleetwood Macs Someone's going to get their head kicked in tonight, Cochran's Summertime Blues, some Little Richard, and more.
Oh and let's not forget Bo Diddley's/New York Dolls 'Pills' that seen Steve being joined by Christie and Aldo on backing vocals.
Throughout the show Steve shows himself to be far more than just a hired gun for other performers. Put his vocal performance and guitar work up next to anyone he has played with and he is on par with the best, and very often eclipses what they do with his own material.
It time people clicked onto this and started getting on board with the Crazy Truth album and then checked out what he has doe with his brother in The Contes and Crown Jewels.
Steve has provided me with some fantastic nights of entertainment and everyone who attends one of his shows leaves knowing that they have seen something special.
If you call yourself a music fan, and especially one who leans towards rock and roll played with fire and passion then do yourself a favour and don't miss the remaining dates on this tour and buy that fuckin' album.

Taylor Buntain - Cancer Support gig - Jollys - 2/12/11

2011-12-03T12:35:00.004Z

Ayrshire was spoilt for choices tonight.
Up in Glasgow Brown Bear and the Bandit were doing their utmost to blow the roof off King Tuts and by all early reports coming in it looks like they did just that.
Meanwhile here in Kilmarnock I went straight from a 12 hour shift at the coal face to Taylor Buntains charity night in Jollys where some acts were playing to raise funds for cancer support.
This night wasn't without its stresses for Taylor as some acts had dropped out at short notice and there was limited options of finding replacements, but as they say 'the show must go on' and it most certainly did.
When I arrived Taylor himself was easing into the closing stretches of his set with a newly written blues number that featured some nice idiosyncratic twists that sounded spot on.
I've criticized Taylors performances in the past and since then we have become quite friendly, but I never let a personal relationship with anyone skew my view - or take the edge off of airing an opinion - so when I say that this is exactly what I was waiting on seeing from him then it's an honest appraisal.
All the hints of promise were delivered on.
If I was to simply claim that his vocal delivery had improved it would be a gross understatement.
There's a full transformation in how he is promoting his music to an audience, and full credit has to go to him as an artists who has to an extent dismantled what he has previously done and rebuilt it all from the bottom up.
That takes a great deal of honest self appraisal and a desire to improve that few could claim to have.
If I was wearing a hat I'd have to take it off to him.
I didn't previously consider that he had the ability to be a front man and thought that the musicianship he displayed vastly overshadowed his singing. So in short a great band member yes, but a front man no, yet here he was proving me wrong, very wrong, and I'm happy to admit it.
He closed his set with a cover of Britney Spears that I've previously seen him do.
The last time it left me cold as I didn't think it worked, but this time it's a different take on it and just by upping the quality of the vocals and concentrating on the delivery he nailed it.
I guess it's that balance thing again.
It's a joke doing it as a cover, but it's also a familiar song that people can judge the quality on so it has to be of a certain standard with an obvious tongue in cheek element so that people actually get the joke, and this time it was all of that and more.
I could write about how fantastic Matt Scott was as the nights closing act, but I've mentioned often enough that he is a real star and I would just be repeating myself and in doing so detract from the praise that I'm offering Taylor.
So I'm not going to do that.
Everyone in Kilmarnock knows that matt is the dogs bollocks and I don't need to keep belabouring the point.
So go'an yersel Taylor, as we are apt to say up here. Belter of a set ma man.
Oh and Ross Crawford who I missed was getting plenty of praise for what appears to have been a sublime set.
I guess I better get up to speed with him.

Jinx Lennon/The Girobabies/Roscoe Vacant & The Gantin Schreichs - JOllys Sports Bar - 11/11/11 (Kilmarnock)

2011-12-01T21:37:00.003Z

When you book acts like Roscoe Vacant and the Gantin Screichs, The Girobabies and Jinx Lennon for a gig then the only thing that you can expect is the unexpected.
So it was no surprise that this is what we got.
By the time that Roscoe Vacant led his band into their set the Girobabies hadn't arrived due to missing a train from the city to Satan's skid mark, or Kilmarnock as we like to call it.
It was okay though as the contingency plan of getting Ross Gilchrist of the Gantin Screichs to do a solo set was dealt with minutes before he took to the stage with Roscoe.
Everything started off well, and then soon descended into chaos as Roscoe deviated from playing songs from their debut and his solo material and started into doing a few covers including a burst of Johnny Thunders and a blast of the Ramones.
This was fine with the audience, but Roscoe himself was very disappointed with his performance.
This is live music though and if people wanted to hear a straight run through of the album they could have stayed at home and played the CD.
I didn't personally feel let down and no one else told me that they were either.
So I'd just chalk this up as 'one of those gigs'.
Every band has them and it's not about how the trains wheels come of the tracks, but how you make sure it reaches the station, and taken like that then this was as far removed from the horrible debacle that he thought it was.
As they finished the Girobabies arrived, borrowed some instruments and fired into an acoustic set with fearless, and much drunken abandon.
Similar to the Gantin Screichs set there is no way that anyo0ne could say that this ran smoothly, but the Girobabies aren't about running things smoothly.
There's something of the disaster looming about them.
Every note and utterance could be the one that precedes everything falling apart, but so far I've never seen that actually happen.
Midway through their set Mark gets into a war of words with a heckler in the audience.
It gets heated and they rap comments back and forth with the tension escalating until it looks as if blows will be struck, but that's not what the night is about and just as I think that I might have to intervene it stops and the band fire straight into the next song.
I've spoken to Mark before and said that they are one of the few bands that are playing what I consider real punk music and he disagreed, but my take on punk is that it's all about freedom of expression without boundaries and in that sense I'm right and he's wrong.
He's just to come around to my way of thinking.
Next is the legend that's Jinx Lennon.
Similarly to the Girobabies I would describe him as a punk artists as that is the only singular word that can encapsulate the breadth of what he does.
Poetry, hip hop, ambient noise, acoustic guitar, looping noise and while none of it should make sense there's a primal understanding of it all.
Jinx wants to gouge a reaction from an audience. He wants to use words to dig in deep and pull hard at you. Push you to having to think and make the connections yourself.
It's not easy watching him and he polarizes audiences, sometimes winning over someone before losing them and winning them back all in the space of the one performance.
At one point he is standing there with dark glasses on sharpening a knife and staring straight ahead into a bemused and confused crowd.
Performance art. I mean what the fuck. This is my local seems to be the reaction.
Probably the best way to describe Jinx is in repeating some soundbites from those who had been there.
Scott Lyle - That is the strangest gig that has ever taken place in Jollys.
Mark Hickey - I went home and made myself a cup of tea............I don't drink tea.
Dave Box Miller - I bought two CDs, but I'm scared to listen to them.
Chris Mooney – That fried my brain

Jon Windle - Jollys Sports Bar - 25/11/11 (Kilmarnock)

2011-12-01T19:19:00.006Z

Fashion trends are pretty crap aren't they?
Especially the trends in music.
Every few months bands are thrown into the public eye and garner some short lived plaudits before slipping back into obscurity to allow space for the next big thing to squeeze in for their fifteen minutes of fame.
None of it has much to do with talent really.
It's just more consumerist bollocks.
Create and sell, create and sell.
What's the difference between the next i-phone being foisted on the public and the next band?
No. That's not the intro to a joke. It's a rhetorical question.
The answer is nothing, but the real downside of this disposable aspect is that individuals with real talent get partially tossed aside.
They languish in the shadows that the spotlight doesn't reach regardless of their talents.
Jon Windle is a good example of that happening.
He had his moment in the sun with Little Man Tate and then after a couple of great albums that was that.
He didn't lose his touch, his voice or his sense of humour.
It was just that their moment was past and the NME and the like moved on.
It's at this point that bands could be forgiven for simply throwing in the towel as disillusionment took its toll.
Or in Jon's case you can take some time out and then come back with an album that is just as strong, if not stronger, than you have previously done and start from scratch.
It takes some balls to do that, and Jon isn't shy in displaying his as here he was in my local pub playing to those loyal fans who hadn't forgotten him, and what would be converts after the last note had rung out.
Along with Emily Ireland he runs through his blasts from the not too distant past bolstered by material from 'Step Out The Man' and even though this is an acoustic set everything rattles along at a fair clip.
The songs sound solid enough even without a full band backing him and the accompanying vocals from Emily work wonders in the small room.
It's all pretty magical and there's a great deal of love and respect emanating from the small, but loyal, group of fans who have turned up to see him play.
I personally never seen Little Man Tate when they first came around, but from watching Jon I've decided I was a bit of a mug to pass up on the chance.
He's still in fine voice and every inch the performer.
This is not a man from yesteryear on a downward slide, but instead a hungry artist rising from the ashes to take a very credible second bite at an ongoing career in music.
If this is the signs of new foundations being laid then the future is looking bright.
As the gig progresses the fans at the front keep passing Jon and Emily drinks and the lubrication loosens things up to the point that the proceedings become less a gig and more of a party amongst friends.
It's very obvious that the stage of easy familiarity has been reached when he hits some technical issues with his guitar losing sound completely only to find that the crowd are more than happy to carry the gig on with a rousing sing along that would have to be lodged away as one of those 'you had to be there' moments.
Once a borrowed guitar is found it's all systems go and for a few minutes I went and touted his new album about to some success.
You can tell when an artist has connected with a crowd when you don't have to twist their arm to put their hands in their pockets.
Once he finishes everyone wants to chat and get some stuff signed and Jon was more than happy to do that.
I got the impression that he had enjoyed himself just as much as we had, and that was confirmed when as he passed David Hanvey (the promoter) he immediately asked if he would have him back.
Of course we would, but I have a sneaky feeling that in a years time Jon wont be playing venues the size of Jollys any more, but maybe he would for old times sake as he seem to be that sort of guy.
Definitely one of the highlights of my year, and there has been some stiff competition.

Mad Sin in Oz

2011-12-01T11:58:00.005Z

Psychobilly is, a relatively small and fragmented part of Australian Rock N' Roll culture (That's Culture with a C you Klown) There are pockets of fans in this Country that remember before the internet when it was mail orders and tapes from mates and not much else, playing them over and over til' the rubbers wear out, stoked if you got some vinyl somehow.

On the contrary, on any given weekend you can go and check out any number of Roots, Blues and Punk, Rockabilly gigs in this fair land and yes, be impressed, show off your new Shepler shirt and $400 levis, and.........hear the same formulaic and often, but not always, tired sound, just so you can say you went to a gig, and supported your 'scene' I'm not putting the music down, however but there's a difference between being a fan of a genre of music that moves your souls and courses through your veins and being a glam wanker and then looking down on Psychobilly as "fake" and "worthless" in no need of promotion and support (But we'll get back to that in a little while)

For 20+ fuckin' years, almost single handedly,in this country, Fireballs have carried the torch of insanity promoting REAL Psychotic music for REAL Psychotic people, driven by an unholy love for again, what is so lacking in this country PSYCHOBILLY!

I have always been in awe (And sometimes depressed by not being able to go check out a show, once a month, or even 3 times a year would be nice) of not just the music that has come from Europe, but also the calibre of the bands playing it. The fact we never get to see any of these acts has been at times, literally painful.

When Mad Sin were supposed to come a couple of years ago, I was in disbelief and when that fell through, shattered to the bone. So when we knew they were actually going to make it this time, it caused a mix of feelings of more disbelief and a mixture of anxiety and wonder, brought about by the knowledge that they would be largely unknown in this country, which in turn caused anger and frustration but fuck it, I'D BE SEEING THE SIN!

From all reports of the shows leading up to Sunday, they were small but Mad Sin rocked the fucking house and from a mate Shane's personal view of the Sydney show, "Blew the fucking tiles off the roof!!"

I briefly caught Matt at Sunday's show for about 2 minutes and introduced myself and asked about his experience of previous shows.
he told me that Brisbane was dead, the Gold Coast had few people but those there lost it and had a great fucking time and Sydney was cool. I do know this show was pretty packed at the Annandale. Sydney people know how to have a good time which is why I like to go catch bands there whenever I can...On ya ya bastards. Rock on and see ya next week! Nice to talk if only briefly, Matt!

Doing a show on a Sunday night in a town this size is bound to be smaller factoring in people at home, having spent the cash on Friday and Saturday nights, coupled with the lack of knowledge around Psychobilly in general, which following on from earlier, pisses me off. When there is such a big Rock and Roll/Rockabilly scene, how one could not come and support one of the most "rocked the fuck out" European Psychobilly bands of all time. (Fuck you too, Fenech!!!!!)

So to Newcastle's "Rockers" GO FUCK YOURSELF AND THANKS FOR NOTHING!!!!!!

Supports on the night were Rumjacks (Check them out. Flat out Rockin' irish punks who know how to play from the heart! Another great gig fellas, cheers!)
And Casino Rumblers, from my town....the less I say about these blokes the better. Just my opinion, same as just because you have an Upright, it doesn't make you Billy fuck all! They always seemed disconnected from the crowd to me in some way I can't explain. More Ska infused Billy ain't my cup of tea,
Having said that, at least they support the scene and Newcastle Rock N' Roll and give people an alternative, potentially opening them up to new bands and music...crowd dug them.
Cheers fellas!

As I walked in I saw Valle standing there watching The Rumjacks and chatting, hmmmmm, not a lot of people here, thinking pleeeeeease pick up, you don't know what you'll be missing, though, music like mostly everything, is subjective and so the lost didn't get to taste the delights of what Mad Sin actually bring to the table. The Fruits of fucking insanity!!!!

I grabbed a couple of beers, met friends and settled back as the Sin' came on stage.
Then it hit me! MAD SIN!!!! ON STAGE!!!!! Everything felt surreal. I couldn't believe they were in front of me with a crowd of no more than 35 people tops, in a two hundred plus venue! I stood just staring, drinking in everything I heard and the playing of the band...
The 4 of us who came together, took turns at looking after thousands of buxxx worth of camera equipment and tag-teamed going down to watch the band in from of stage.
When you talk Frontmen, Koefte is one insane hombre and he commanded the crowd expertly...I was gobsmacked at the relentless energy he exuded, tripping on how tight and energetic they all were and how much better than any fucking vinyl(Fuck CDs), they sounded.

At one stage Koefte said that he bet no one knew their first album, which got a big grinning FUCK YOU!! from where I was at that stage, minding the equipment. I was hoping to hear more stuff off the new album Burn And Rise, but was stoked at the well-rounded mix of stuff they did from their catalogue. Awesome to hear Speak No Evil and Communication Breakdown live among everything fucking else they did, sounded brutal.
Blood pressure rising...
After a brief break, they came back and did a few song encore and asked if anyone wanted to hear anything in particular. Standing there with a mate Scott, I was yelling Meat Train At Midnight and he was screaming Brand New Cadillac..Koefte dug this and so BNC it was, but not to my chagrin. What a fucking version!!! Next thing ya know, Valle's in the crowd totally mobbed slapping the fuck out of his bull fiddle,
Stein in the background casually rocking out on his gat and Matt on the other side, killing it!

Seemed to me like they wanted to keep playing yet, the venue guys were hurrying them up to get off stage (Thanks for that fuckers) the bouncer's started telling everyone to move to the front of the pub and then we were shut out, wondering where everyone was going to party, knowing, thanks to Sickboy Shane, we had a hotel overlooking the whole city, half a block away that would've accommodated that very well...Fuck it!!

Koefte, you're one of a kind mate, fucking powerhouse from hell on stage,
only regret is not being able to have a chat which goes for all of you!
Thanks so much for coming guys and I know, once you hit Melbourne with the Fireballs, you'll be doing bigger gigs and tearing people new headspaces!!!!!!! If you guys ever come back, I'm sure it will be a different story as far as attendance goes!!! I'll tirelessly poster the whole Cuntry for ya!!! Thanks so fuckin' much to Craig and Ruff N' Ready Records...ROCK!

A Psychotic Night!!!!!!!!

(Review by Alabama Man aka Hammerheart aka Big Al the gayest hairdresser in Oz)
(Live photo by Belinda Davey - Rights reserved)

Strike! While the iron is hot.

2011-12-01T11:44:00.003Z

Yesterday was the day of a national strike as public sector workers walked out in protest at the governments plans to cut their pensions.
2 million people failed to turn up at their workplace and 18,342 schools, which is 67.5% of them, were closed while others ran with the help of community volunteers, hospital procedures were impacted upon and our border controls were weakened (although the government said they weren't) and more.
Yet David Cameron called the protest a damp squib.
I'm struggling with his definition.
Consider the 2 million on strike and then add on all those workers who support the strike, but felt unable to join their colleagues due to personal issues of poor finances, job security and such, then on top of that add on all the people who supported the strike but who are not public sector workers.
Depending on sources public support ranges from 35% to 65%.
That sounds quite a sizeable amount to me.
The arrogance of Cameron is nothing new, but c'mon when are people going to wake up.
There's little that he says that is rooted in fact.
Week after week he, and his coalition government – the one no one voted in – are shown up to be bare faced liars, supporters of the powerful, and master manipulators of the media.
Forget all the divisive spin and just for a second ask yourself why we allegedly can't afford to honour the pension agreements that were made.
Is it because the system in place has for many years been watching Rome burn as the ones at the top fiddled their taxes? Is it because the financial institutes of the world decided that trading on things we might have in the future rather than what we have in the present was a good idea? Is it maybe because the mortgage lenders in collusion with governments sold mortgages to those who were least able to afford them? Is it because multinational corporations pay less tax per annum than you or I?
Regardless of the multitude of reasons, and there is a multitude, it has nothing to do with the public sector workers who are expected to carry the financial can.
So why are people falling for the government line.
Two weeks ago nurses were self sacrificing angels who toil for the greater good and now they are enemies of the state.
How did that happen?
Fuck that bollocks.
In fact when Cameron and his parcel of rouges say we are all in this together what they mean is that it's you and me, the public and private sector workers, the unemployed and the disabled that are in this together, and not necessarily them.
Yet on social networking sites I keep seeing people pointing the fingers at the employed, the public sector workers, immigrants and if truth be told simply anyone who pisses them off rather than them having to sit and think about who the real enemy of the people are.
Inside my head I'm screaming for fucks sake wake up.
All the crap that is being pumped out is just a distraction.
The bigger picture is that they are wanting to create a system that a minority can benefit from.
They want a smaller workforce to work harder for less, and they want to create a ready pool of the hungry and desperate to pick from. If you're employed and grumble aloud then you know where the door will be. By kick starting this desperate cycle they will maximize their profits.
Take one of the things they keep saying.
There's no money.
It's a mantra.
There's no money, there no money, there's no money.
Say it often enough and people believe it, but George Osborne is on an eleven grand holiday just now. How did he manage that as there's no money?
Anyway there is money.
I didn't see any reports of mass shredding campaigns or bankers running into fields and burning pallets of cash.
Did you?
So the money must be somewhere and that somewhere is in the hands of that 1% and they aren't for letting any dribble back into our pockets.
That's where the money really is.
It really is a case of them and us.
So why do ordinary people continue to defend the status quo and decry their brothers and sisters who rail against those in power who are frankly ass raping us all?
Well it's ignorance isn't it.
Real ignorance.
The head in the sand sort.
Ignorance is a word that when used is considered to be an offensive slur on another persons intelligence.
It's not though.
I'm ignorant as to how to perform brain surgery.
I'm equally ignorant about how to fix the motherboard of my computer.
Being ignorant doesn't mean I'm stupid though, just that in certain areas I have no knowledge of the subject at hand.
Similarly people are ignorant of what is going on in the world. Not stupid, just ignorants as they either have nothing to base their opinions on, or they base them on media reports that are geared towards offering one side of a story.
So instead of continuing down that path that's leading us to fuck knows where can you do me a favour and make yourself a cup of tea and have a google and research the subject, or open a book and read about it.
Then after that maybe you could reconsider the comments that you may have made and with your new found knowledge consider that you might have been acting like a dickish tool of the state.
I'll not do the 'told you so dance'. Instead I'll welcome your awakening and hope that in some way you will spread a clearer word to others and in this way maybe we really can all be in this together and salvage something for future generations.
Meanwhile listen to this. Don't just tap your feet to it, but listen to the words.
Pastor Niemöller's Lament (Never Again) (1995) by Kitchens of Distinction

Sam Christison - 3 Songs about you and 1 about me.

2011-11-29T14:04:00.002Z

Sam Christison isn't the usual sort of artist that would feature here.
It's not that his style of music clashes and doesn't meet some woolly idea of what should and should not be reviewed, but more so that as an atheist my own tastes don't often gravitate towards music that delivers a religious message through their lyrics.
However that's not to say that I don't appreciate talent or a degree of spirituality, and here across the course of four songs there is plenty of both on offer.
There's a soft commitment to his faith that holds your attention without causing any offence.
No one is looking to push an agenda, but instead Sam is wanting to simply share his outlook on life, as most artists do.
That part of how he perceives the world around him is shaped through his faith just adds a little something to it.
Even when it's not blatantly on show.
I guess the point would be that I consider that it sounds grounded and that slightly different source has given him a maturity as a lyricist that you wouldn't normally expect from a fifteen year old.
The accomplished musicianship also lends itself to creating a layered but simplistic backdrop to his voice, and for a debut effort he's already streets ahead of much of musical peers, and that's not to say fifteen year old peers as I'm inclusively talking about everyone who is coming forth as a singer/songwriter in Ayrshire.
It s lovely and positive introduction to a young man who I'm sure will continue to throw up surprises as he continues to push forward in life.
Free download here - http://www.reverbnation.com/samchristison

The Plimptons - Christmas all over this town

2011-11-29T12:26:00.001Z

The Plimptons are back, and the tykes have even had the audacity to release a Christmas single.
Bah Humbug. Don't they know it's only November.
I suppose I can forgive them though. Especially as they're giving it away for free.
As usual the band are steadfastly refusing to be nailed own.
The comedy punk ska pop tag that's normally cast about when they are mentioned doesn't really come close to describing them at all.
It never does.
Think more along the lines of the The Monkees, but from 'Head' rather than the television serious.
Then hold that thought for a second and consider that Vic Reeves has decided to re-boot it for a modern audience, and then think to yourself that maybe that covers about 10% of what The Plimptons are all about.
Yeah. I know. What does that even mean?
Anyway, as I've come to expect from the band there's a great deal more going on than you would initially expect from lending a casual ear .
The sometimes ramshackle approach often comes across like the intelligent kid acting like a bit of an arse as they are terrified that their peers will suss out that they are in fact as clever as fuck.
Take for instance the inclusion of a Kazoo solo in Christmas is over.
It's funny and works in the context of the song, but instead of it being a bit silly, which it is, it is also a bit of mad genius.
The opening track 'Christmas all over this town' similarly seems lightweight and a bit of a joke.
It's sort of casually cast out there, but it's also pretty much lyrically sussed and doesn't pander to having a swipe at Christmas, but instead casts a slightly nostalgic eye over how friendship need to be maintained.
A mates for life. Not just for Christmas. Remember that kids.
The whole concept of the song shows that the guys are actually working on quite a few levels.
The same can be said for Xmas in Motherwell.
There's always more than meets the eye when you get new material from the Plimptons.
They very well might be the Optimus Prime of the - sort of - Glasgow punk scene.
If this is the sort of thing that rings your bell then do yourself a favour and don't just download a free copy at http://www.mcgazz.co.uk/plimptons/ but also jump over to http://theplimptons.bandcamp.com/ and get 'Whats's Left'. With over 50 tracks it's the bargain of the year at £2.

Mondophonics - Last Band (In The World)

2011-11-29T11:36:00.003Z

The death of rock and roll is has always been greatly exaggerated.
It's a statement that's more often than not uttered from the lips of those who have become too old and jaded to continue to make the effort to go out and look under the rocks to see what is lurking.
The truth is that rock and roll isn't just alive, but it's also still as dirty under the nails and ready to party as it has ever been.
If anyone needs proof of this then they need only go as far as the debut single from Bobby Durango's Mondophonics and they will hear that the boys from the wrong side of the tracks are still ripping it up and probably always will.
When Bobby sings that 'We are the band, the last band in the world' he knows that they aren't, but the sentiment that from looking about the mainstream it sure as hell can feel like it rings true.
Or maybe it's more a case that they are wanting to tell everyone that similar to the Clash they are now the only band that matters.
Regardless of the true meaning the songs simply got that balls to the wall attitude of a desperate man cornered.
They're shouting here we are so come and take your best shot as we aint going anywhere.
It's the aural equivalent of the closing scenes of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The soundtrack to going out with your guns blazing.
By the time they roll into 'Two More Hits' the party is in full swing and they must surely have won over anyone who considers that they still have some mojo cooking.
Forget yesterday and enjoy today as tomorrow might not come. That's what I'm getting from this.
The icing on the cake is that if you do buy the single then the band will throw in the songs on mp3, plus an additional bonus track called 'Nobody's There'.
It's a song that could be a single in it's own right. There's nothing weak at all about any of the three songs that the band have used to introduce themselves to the world.
This the real deal. The band you have been waiting for.
At the moment I might be the only person to have a copy of this in the UK. It's up to you to change that.
It's a limited run though so I would advice you to be quick, or a year from now you could be looking at paying some silly money for it on ebay or the like.
Contact mondophonics@gmail.com and grab it.

Michael Monroe - Glasgow Garage - 27/11/11

2011-11-28T15:17:00.001Z

I'm standing watching Crash Diet and all I can think is that this must be what Steel Panther must be like if you removed the punchline from their jokes.
I can barely make out a word the singer is squealing at us and when I can it sounds like he is saying something about the children of the night.
It seems that originality is not on the menu this evening.
The singer has all of Billy Idol's moves choreographed to perfection and he also sports a rather magnificent mohican that looks as if it was stolen from the set of the Mad Max movie Beyond the Thunderdome, but while that may sound rather promising there's something about the performance that's more pantomime dame than glam punk.
In fact do you remember Wrathchild?
Well Crash Diet could be the result of a gang bang that they were involved in way back in the early eighties.
Unfortunately the talent, no matter how meagre it was, that Wrathchild had wasn't passed down to their bastard offspring.
I personally don't get what they are doing.
It's like an inside joke that no one is letting me in on.
Some will say that's my loss, but if this is the shape of things to come in the world of glam rock then I doubt I'll be dipping my toe in to check the temperature.
Thankfully it wasn't long until Michael Monroe and his band took to the stage and showed why they have just been awarded album of the year from 'Classic Rock' magazine with a set that most would call a master class in how to promote rock and roll to an audience.
With Steve Conte, Dregen, Sami Yaffa and Karl Rockfist backing him up Michael has quite possibly the fiercest rocknroll band on the planet as his brothers in arms.
They're simply on fire.
Michael moves like Iggy Pop on amphetamine laced steroids. He's a blur who spit out the lyrics with a passion that men a fraction of his age couldn't manage, and he does it every night.
It's all sort of mind blowing to me.
Meanwhile his band are all smiles and clearly enjoying feeding off each others beats, riffs and solos. Everything they do sounds organic and the power that is being expelled from them could probably light up a city if it was captured.
This is the real lightning in a bottle deal, and it's as loud as a thunder to.
It's the Rolling Stones, MC5, Little Richard, The Stooges, The Who, The Sex Pistols and the Ramones all rolled into one and channelled through sheer force of will and personality out into the audience.
The performance is a force of nature.
The set itself features more material from Sensory Overdrive than it did when they steam rolled through town before, but still manages to find space to fit in a smattering of Hanoi Rocks, Demolition 23 and Michael Monroe songs that the hardcore fans would consider unforgivable if dropped.
The surprise addition of an impromptu funked up jam on Aerosmith's Walk This Way during the introduction of the band members was one of those 'you had to be there' moments.
It sounded more like the Chilli Peppers than anything that Tyler and Perry could come up with and provided an ample example to anyone who doubted it that this is a band with the chops to do just about anything they wanted to.
Is anyone getting what I am saying here.
I'm saying that right at this moment in time I don't think there's another band that come close to touching these guys .
Okay. While I'll freely admit that my heart sank a little when Ginger Wildheart left the band I've got to say that Dregen is just as perfect a foil for Steve Conte to play with, and Sami seems to have found an onstage partner in crime as Dregen duck walks around him and throws his guitar all over the place.
All is well and everything is still on track.
This is the third time I've seen Michael Monroe in this year alone and it just keeps getting better and better, and once the left the stage the night was over for me.
For me it's simply a case that no one can follow these guys and as I've seen Wednesday 13 a few times before I knew that I would find his performance to be an anticlimactic end to the evening.
So after a quick hello and goodbye to Steve and Sami, who were proving themselves to be more than willing to get down and meet the fans, it was time to head across the road to Nice and Sleazys for some liquid refreshments and make plans for the Steve Conte and the Crazy Truth gig that will be coming to the Soundhaus in Glasgow on the 6th of December.
With some luck I might even squeeze in the Quireboys before that.
I think that two days will allow me enough time to come down from the high and the buzzing in my ears to abate.
Then I'll be ready to do it all again.
See ya down the front.

Sycophantic praise kills art.

2011-11-27T12:58:00.002Z

Well it's been another strange week with yet another review acting as a catalyst for personal threats to be made.
In my opinion that part is now in the past, but it does throw up the usual questions.
When is a bad review damaging? Should ego's be taken into consideration? Is making a subjective comment really the end of the world?
Well I would say that a bad review isn't damaging at all.
Of course I would (sic).
If someone reading a review decides to check out the artist in question then they will obviously make their own mind up about the talent, or lack of talent, that is being displayed.
The end result is that one more person has listened to the artist(s), and isn't that what they all want?
As for personal ego's....well that's not something I have any control over.
If an individual is that thin skinned that they can't handle a negative review then the performing acts maybe isn't where they should be looking to settle.
Isn't criticism of anything that is put out to the public something that comes with the territory?
Those who have the confidence in what they do will consider a critique and take what they feel is relevant from it and move on.
….and obviously a bad review is never the end of the word, but it can be the end of a dream.
In this way it's a bit Darwinian with his theories about the survival of the fittest being writ large for all to see.
Consider x-factor for a moment.
Think about the opening rounds where those who seriously lack talent are cast like the Christians to the lions to be publicly mauled.
When we feel pity for then and they proclaim, 'but my family and friends think I'm great' then who do we think has dealt them the cruellest hand?
The panel of judges, or the family and friends who weren't honest enough with them?
I know who I think made them look like fools in public.
There's nothing wrong with pursuing a dream, but if anyone wants to realize it then they must accept that there can be limitations.
For instance if you're a tone deaf gentleman of seventy five then you're never going to play Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz on the biggest stages that the world can provide.
You can put your own production on in a local community hall and I'll admit that I'd pay top dollar to see that, but in all honesty real fame and fortune is going to be just out of your grasp by about a million miles.
That's the reality kicking in that some people fail to consider.
In my opinion criticism is a good thing.
Whenever someone makes a critical point (and simply calling someone a cunt isn't one) then it's at that point that the future can be viewed like a flow chart.
Is there a point to the critique?
Yes? No?
If no then that's it. Discount it and keep doing what you do.
If yes then another two choices are available.
You either consider that the best that you can do isn't enough and stop doing it, or address the issues raised and continue onwards and hopefully upwards.
I guess the whole point is that although the criticism is out there it is really down to the individual in how they take it.
They can have a healthy and honest approach or throw their toys out of the pram.
This takes me to another little problem that I have with the people who can't take criticism.
In lambasting the reviewer with threats and abuse what they are really doing is attempting to stop the person exercising the right to freedom of speech while exercising theirs at the top of their lungs.
How hypocritical is that?
You can't say you you don't like my music in public, but I can pass comment on your parentage, sexuality, looks, gender, height and threaten you as I see fit in public.
There's a lovely sense of karmic balance in that isn't there?
I've had it all over many years and the well is nearly dry.
I'm sure that every once in a while an original abusive comment will come along and amuse me, but without that originality I'd have to say that I'm a bit bored with it all.
Something to ponder as a last point.
If we all refused to criticize then there would be no quality control and all the good stuff would struggle to get attention amongst the drab and amateurish crap that would pile up looking to grab our attention.

Melisa Kelly - Something to shout about

2011-11-18T23:41:00.004Z

I filmed this last night in Su Casa in Ayr and I thought it deserved a blog mention of its own.
Not because of the camera work as it was a basic digital camera I used, and not because of the sound quality, because that isn't amazing either, but simply because in some way it captured the rawness of the performance from Melisa Kelly.
Keep in mind that this is her with a stinking cold to. Fantastic huh?

Su Casa - 17/11/11

2011-11-18T18:44:00.006Z

I've always felt that the adage 'if you haven't got anything nice to say then don't say anything' seems to be more about individuals attempting to avoid criticism than them trying to promote positivity.
Then again I could be wrong. It has been known to happen.
So for a couple of weeks I'm going to give it a try in the reviews on the blog and see how that works out.
So here goes.
Last night in Su Casa I seen Martin McLaughlan. I have nothing else to say about that.
Next was Matt Scott who I have plenty to say about.
Matt is a star in the making.
If you had a tick list made up that covered every single attribute that would lead to success then there's already a little tick in every box.
He's an accomplished musician.
He can write songs that have a depth to them that most young men of his age couldn't match.
He has the ability to convey the emotion in the lyrics, and I'm sure the ladies would say that he aint too bad on the eye either.
Like I said he ticks all the boxes.
Imagine a young man who knows the importance of Dylan and Springsteen as songwriters, understands how the blues work and similar to a band like the Kings of Leon is able to make it all sound fresh.
That's what Matt does, and all that he needs to take it to the next level is to be in the right place at the right time.
After Matt we were treated to a couple playing guitar and violin.
Unfortunately I only caught the name of the violinist. The lovely Francesca Masucci.
I got the impression that it was more of a jam than anything else, but when two people can follow the nuanced moves of each other in the manner that they could it becomes something that bit special.
It all sounded very evocative, and with your eyes closed you could have imagined that you were fireside in a gypsy encampment in Spain, or somewhere similar.
It was a fantastic - if short - set, and one that Su Casa should be rightly proud of giving a platform to.
Jamie Uchima was to play next and I enjoyed his poetic style and delivery.
Another nice gear change in the music for the audience
There sounded like there was a great deal of a Goo Goo Dolls influence in the guitar playing, but vocally and lyrically there's not a hint of it.
Three songs into his set and it was all positivity. However I have nothing to say about the last song of his set.
See what I did there?
Anyway onwards to the more positive comments again.
Little Fire was to follow Jamie, and along with one of Melisa Kelly's Harmless Thieves on cajon and Francesca Masucci making her second appearance of the night, he ran through a few of his songs that I'm already familiar with.
Yet it has to be said that in the context of a small band, rather than solo, the material is given wings. Little Fire is great on his own, but with others it just takes it all into another direction that is equally as impressive.
The violin in particular goes hand in hand with the material and gives his voice a solid foundation to layer itself over.
Very lovely, and maybe a small hint of what is to come from Little Fire in the future.
I've seen the next band Fole, and front man James Foley, a couple of times now and I've always been impressed with them, but this time they seemed sharper, faster and more urgent than they have been previously, and it was all good.
There song 'Tightrope' sounded especially muscular and the it's good to see that the original music that they are playing can be shaded in different ways.
If I was to list a top ten of favourite Ayrshire acts then Fole would definitely be on it.
The last act to entertain us was the irrepressible Melisa Kelly.
I say irrepressible as she is down with a cold and while some singers would use that as a reason to pull a performance Melisa doesn't, and apart from a short apology it's all business.
Similar to Matt Scott, Melisa is a talent waiting to be discovered.
She has the whole package going on to.............and that voice. What a voice.
Every once in a while female vocalists come along and through the sheer force of the passion in their voices manage to draw attention to themselves.
Billie Holiday did it in the field of jazz and Janis Joplin rocked the world. Both had that raw attention to the detail of the vocal and Melisa has it to.
You believe every single utterance. She's one hundred percent authentic in her delivery, she doesn't just sing the songs, but emotes them.
You really had to be there, but as some weren't I'm hoping to get Fole and Melisa down to play a Sunday Session in 2012 and I can't wait to see them blow everyone away.
Thanks to Robert Gemmell here's some footage shot on a phone from the night.

The sliding scales of perception

2011-11-16T09:27:00.003Z

'People are strange' isn't just a Doors song. It's a fact of life.
We are indeed strange, and one of the strangest things about us is how we can rationalize behaviour to the point where two people can do the same thing, and we can then claim that one persons actions are unacceptable, while the other persons are not just fine, but maybe even admirable.
Probably the best example of this is how we consider one individual to be a heinous criminal for taking another persons life in an act of violence, but it's a heroic act if it is state sanctioned.
Similarly this sort of excusing poor behaviour extends to the world of entertainment and that's also where the sometimes admirable angle comes in.
For instance the alcoholic who while drunkenly driving home manages to hit every other vehicle in his street is a complete and utter pain in the rectum, and without a doubt a danger to the public.
However when a rock start does it then his, or her, actions are an amusing anecdote to be repeated across the dinner table.
This must be human nature though as we see it every day in how we promote this strange attitude in the defence of family and friends.
If a neighbours kid tramples through your garden managing to destroy the flower bed that you have cultivated over a six month period, then they are classed as the offspring of Genghis Khan and nothing short of a public flogging will suffice as a punishment, but if the shoe is on the other foot and it's your kid that did it then it's a different story.
The livid neighbour is painted as someone who takes life too seriously. The curmudgeon that should get a grip.
I'm sure anyone reading could give more examples, and many - if they are honest - could admit to acting in this way to.
Personally I've never really understood this sliding scale of what is, and isn't acceptable, depending on who is displaying the poor behaviour, and I admit that I'm in the minority with my inability to rationalize it.
I don't do it with friend or family and consider that everyone without exception should accept responsibility for their actions, and the backlash – if it is fair - that they receive.
Very often we see people who would offer no second chances to a stranger magically finding compassion and empathy for a friend, and then throwing forth chance after chance after chance until the antisocial actions of their compadre can be described in amused terms such as 'Ach, you know what they are like?'
Yes. I do know what they are like actually.
They're an arse, and if it was anyone else you would be advocating that they got a slap.
Maybe even a high five, to the face, with a chair.
Is this attitude actually helpful?
Not the high five with the chair obviously, but this sliding scale being applied.
I don't think it is.
Why is one person a character and another a cunt when they do exactly the same thing?
I've asked this of people that I like and respect recently, and while the logic is accepted the rationalizing continues.
There's a distinct lack of equality to it all and it twists my melons.
Loyalty is an admirable trait, but misguided loyalty..........well, you know.

Jackie Leven.

2011-11-15T17:40:00.006Z

This afternoon I was informed that Jackie Leven had lost his fight with cancer, and now I feel a bit lost.
Sadness has descended on my mood and it's difficult to convey why I feel this sense of loss.
I'm not sure, but tears might not be far off.
It's not like me. Not like me at all.
I mean I didn't know the man, and although I'd shared a few conversations with him over the years, and a pint on one occasion, that doesn't mean that there was any real kinship between us.
I am simply a fan. No more and no less.
The only connection we had was his music.
He wrote and performed his songs and I loved them.
I loved the brutal honesty and the soft voice that promoted it.
I can honestly say that I have never heard a song that he wrote that I didn't like.
Initially when I was told that he had slipped away in the night I passed the sad news on, and I think that by doing this I sort of avoided addressing it myself, but now in this quiet moment with his voice slipping out of the speakers I feel a great sense of mortality.
All things come to an end.
The last time I seen Jackie play was on the twelfth of August in a bar called Jollys in Kilmarnock.
The gig had been arranged by a guy called Jimmy Logan and I will now be forever in his debt for providing us with a performer of Jackie's talent to entertain us in such intimate surroundings.
Jackie himself was as usual a star.
That voice was clear, distinctly beautiful, and ill health never came close to touching it.
I'm thankful for that and I'm very pleased I have this memory of him.
I wish I could share it with the world.

This isn't one of Jackies self penned songs, but it feels apt.

Sunday Sessions

2011-11-14T17:54:00.007Z

In early September of this year I decided that it was maybe time for me to dip my toe into promoting some gigs again.
Something on a smaller scale than I'd previously done as I was keen to avoid taking the financial bath that I've found myself splashing about in more times than I care to recall.
I suppose in hindsight the urge to get involved again was down to Kelly and myself visiting Su Casa and being impressed with the set up that they have.
Getting the cream of the local crop from the west coast of Scotland to perform once a month on a Sunday afternoon seemed appealing, and easily do-able.
So after checking if there was enough people interested in it that's just what we did.
The first one was in October and we managed to secure Matt Scott, Little Fire and Emma Forman to perform for us.
Sadly Emma had to drop out of the line up due to feeling ill, but at very short notice Colin Hunter stepped in and saved the day.
It was a fair success for a first stab at it.
Instead of charging the audience a set price we billed it as a 'pay what you want' afternoon with the audience deciding themselves how much the entertainment was worth by donating to a bucket being passed around.
Colin performed first and played a set that set the bar high for Little Fire and Matt Scott.
Refreshingly, and bravely, he didn't rely on material that we were familiar with and instead decided to run with brand new songs that he has been working on for a band project he is trying to get off the ground.
Based on what we heard that afternoon this is going to be an exciting prospect to look forward to.
Colin really is exceptionally talented and I'd love it of people started to let what he does sink in and gain some appreciation for it.
Next Little Fire ran through some material that cemented his reputation as an artist who is going places.
Previously I'd heard him to a song or two at Su Casa, but this was my first experience of a longer set of his songs, and the performance certainly lived up to expectations.
Currently I'm aware of a few opportunities that could push his career forward to another level so fingers crossed that come 2012 Little Fire will be the name on the lips of everyone as the next Scottish act to break through nationally.
Matt Scott finished the first Sunday Session with a solid performance in front of a home town crowd that had them baying for more. So successful was his set that he ran out of material, and for a couple of seconds it looked like the audience were going to insist that he ran through them again.
Over all I would have preferred it to be a bit busier, but that's not a complaint.
Those who had made the effort to attend were enthusiastically appreciative of the artists who were playing, and they certainly had no problem with dipping into their pockets to contribute towards paying Colin, Matt and Jamie aka Little Fire who all got an even split of the money raised.
Oh, Did I say this was a non profit venture with all proceeds going to the artists?
No.
Well there you go.
With the success of this under our belts I immediately went home and started work on Novembers line up.
This was to be Emma Forman, who was over her little bout of ill health, Ari Pournaras IV who is better known for fronting the excellent Rose Parade, Ross Gilchrist and Anna Sweeney.
Anna kick started the afternoon off with some lovely country tinged songs that managed to beguile the audience and from the comments expressed definitely garnered her more fans.
Emma arrived just in time from Dumfries to basically walk in, do her set and then rush off for the second and last train of the day home.
The effort she made was greatly appreciated and similar to the last time that I'd seen her play she effortlessly impressed.
First of the men to play was Ari whose stripped down take on his bands material was as good as the versions played with his band mates.
This was his first gig off the back of a very successful appearance at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut so it was an honour to have him play and once again those who had made the effort to pop along were richly rewarded for doing so.
Lastly to play was Ross Gilchrist and I've waxed lyrical often enough about his talents for everyone to know that I'm a fan.
His performance was what I'd been waiting to see for a while.
Normally Ross has played a supporting role on bills, and has had to tailor his material to fit the context of that, but with this he had the freedom to just go for it, and that what he did to great effect.
I'm very pleased with myself that I played a small part in getting people to listen to Ross and hopefully he is another artist that will get the recognition that he deserves.
This second Sunday Session wasn't as well attended as the first, not by much though, and those who did come along dug deep and all the acts got roughly the same as those who had played in October.
So, so far so good.
December is a busy month for people so I've decided that I'll shelve the Sunday Sessions for one month and return in January with more artists who deserve a platform to entertain an audience from.
I hope you can come along.
If you are unsure about it then ask about and see what those who have come along say about it, and I'm sure they will tell you that you should get your behind down to Jollys on a Sunday afternoon.
Big thanks, as always, must go to the venue management and staff in Jollys Sports Bar who continue to punch above their weight in both supporting and providing live music to Ayrshire.
If they were to be marked out of ten then they get an eleven.

Steel Panther - Balls Out

2011-11-14T11:33:00.003Z

ROCK'N'FUCKIN'ROLL MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!!
Many years ago, way back in the mists of time for some, Motley Crue stormed onto the Sunset Strip with a fuck you attitude and proceeded to mix attitude laden rock, punk and glam together into something that captured the imagination of a global audience.
It wasn't to last long though, and by the time their third album was released they - and bands of their ilk - had mainly lost the hunger and succumbed to revisiting the polished rock that they had initially set out to distance themselves from.......... and with that the dreaded hair metal years would be ushered in.
Thankfully an antidote for that limp wrist cock rock was quickly found in the grunge scene that came along and slapped the shit out of the hair metal acts.
Time has however been kind to some of them, and although the chances of a new wave of bands emulating those who pioneered this wave of rock are slim there is a niche where people playing this style can flourish, and that's in the angle of ripping the piss out of it while maintaining the quality of the musicianship.
It's all basically the same thing, but done with a great deal of self deprecating humour.
The best of the limited bunch are of course Steel Panther.
In 2009 they dug deep into the past and released their down and dirty sexually explicit tongue in cheek masterpiece 'Feel the Steel' that paid homage to those days where tricked out Harleys, hairspray, lip gloss and sex, drugs and rock and roll ruled the strip.
It was a release that perfectly captured the times with a wink and a smile. Not so much a nostalgia trip, but more an affectionate arse slap of a homage that was rolled out on a carpet of hilarious profanities.
Now here they are again with 'Balls Out' and similar to the debut they have remained true to the chronological history of the original movement by lampooning the more sterile and polished hair metal that came after the initial fresher blast.
Only once again they are doing it better.
The difference between Steel Panther and the bands whose music they are very obviously using as a foundation is that with the added 'fuck you if you can't take a joke' attitude has actually made the music far more relevant than the original acts were.
This isn't a shadowy copy of what has come before, a diluted attempt at capturing something and falling short, but instead a joke writ large and screaming for some well deserved attention as it doesn't just surpass what has come before, but instead dances on the graves of the originators with devilish glee.
Christ knows what Motley Crue and Def Leppard were thinking when they added Steel Panther to the bill of their UK dates as it looks like they are going to get their arses handed to them, and the only way that they can compete with the boys is if they accept that they are a joke themselves and indulge in extracting the urine from themselves, but how likely is that?
Anyway. I'm off to slip into some spandex, snort a line and jack off to some old footage of Poison.
I suppose I should add that I'll not be doing this due to any sexually explicit nudges in that direction from Steel Panther. It's just my usual Monday morning routine.

In conversation with Stars of the Silverscreen

2011-11-10T17:01:00.005Z

El Diablo - How you doing KJ? I've been doing a little bit of research since receiving your debut album and according to your website you've all been paying their dues in different bands prior to the formation of Stars of the Silverscreen.
So do you want to fill us in on what everyone was doing and how you all finally got to the point of forming the band?
Kj - Yeah, We've all played in different bands before Stars of the Silverscreen with varying successes. Our original bass guitarist, Manny, and myself were in an Irish influenced punk band and our former drummer, now guitar player played in Refused & Abhinanda.
Originally we got together when Eppy, the band Manny and myself were in split.
I called an old friend Matt and asked if he wanted to start another project, and as we had a lot of musical common ground he agreed and brought Fret from Abhinanda along.
I wrote a few songs and we started rehearsing.
That was the real beginning, but shortly after that Matt had to move to Stockhom and we had to find another guitarist.
We quickly picked up a mutual friend, Peter, who Manny had previously played with in several bands and as he's the greatest guitarist we know it all fell into place quite easily. Especially as he was moving to Umea at the time.
It was a sort of right place right time opportunity.
In hindsight it was a match made in heaven. Like the missing piece of a puzzle had been found.
Peters licks and guitar solos gave us a whole new dimension in sound and that inspired me to write even more and we ended up recording two demos.
Sadly, shortly after that, Manny decided to put his bass on the shelf and we were left looking for another member and we asked Freddy to join, and he jumped right in and got down to learning all the material for our debut album.

ElD - There's been a few people that have come and gone for different reasons then. Is the line up settled now and ready to take the band to the next stage?
Kj - Well yeah that's true, it'has been a bumpy ride, and it didn't stop there with the line up changes. When we got back from supporting the US Bombs in Germany Peter dropped the bomb that he wanted to focus on his career as a metal guitarists and we were all in shock, but luckily Fret is a great guitarist and always missed playing guitar so he stepped up to the plate with flying colours.
He has a more shitty garage feel to his playing which in a way suits the sound of the band better
And after finding Joey Nova on drums we're now ready for world domination.

ElD - You've had a couple of higher profile supports in Europe. US Bombs and The Bones to name a couple. How did that help the band?
Kj - It's always good to get out there and play. Apart from being fun it does raise the profile of the band. I've known The Bones for many years now and have gotten great support from them. They're great guys. The tour we did with them were amazing. It's really cool that we picked up new fans, and even had both promoters & fans came up to us after the shows saying how rare it is that the support act gets such a welcome as we did. It's cool when people say that our set was the show of the century. You really feel that you are connecting with an audience when that's the reaction. I Can't wait to get back on the road. It's been too long!

ElD - Now that you have the promoters onside and these supports tucked under your belt are you hoping for a label to come along? Or do you think the way ahead is to go independent and do it all yourself?
Artists like Ginger Wildheart and bands from Fishbone to The Dollyrots seem to be doing well cutting out the labels as middle men and dealing directly with their fan base.
Kj - The thought has cross my mind from time to time. The new demo songs are really really good and I have complete faith in them, and if I had the time and finances to support a independent release I would, but I don't have the time or finances. So we are at the point where we feel that any help froma fully supportive label that would put in as much effort as we would is what we need to act as the catalyst to push us forward. It would be great to hit the studio for real and concentrate on making music without distractions I work 24/7 for this band all ready, and releasing the album ourselves,,,,,,hmm well I just don't think I have enough time to do it right. We could also do with some contacts for a good promotion job, but yes, I think the releasing of material directly to the fans can be the right way to go once you established. It makes sense.
At the moment though we need a label to get behind us. So is there anyone out there that wants to come along for the ride then get in touch as we are seriously ready to work our asses off.

ElD - It's been a couple of years since you released your debut album.
How is the follow up coming along?
Kj - We're writing new songs at the moment.
The ideas are coming fast and I'm hoping that the rest of the guys will get involved in the song-writing process with me and maybe even present me with some kick ass songs.
The plan is to record it during the winter, and if that works out we will get Boner from The Bones as producer this time as well.

ElD - Here in the UK rock music has to an extent faded into the background, but in Mainland Europe the fire still appears to burn bright. Why do you think this is?
Kj - Yeah it's a shame. I watch MTV2 from time to time trying to see what's happening over there. Some cool stuff, but it seem the UK pop thing is still the most you'll see on that channel.
Bands like The Yo Yo's etc just seem gone? Disappeared into the mists of time.
We'd love to come to the UK to try and restore the brits with some kick ass punk r'n'r. We always have a great time in Germany & Spain. But even there it's starting to be more of a struggle getting gigs. So maybe we are just a few years behind you on the same downward slide. I don't know. Right now the economy sucks so everything is turned upside down...I notice a big change just in the past two years. It's sad really.

ElD - What do you think the answer is? Some people I know have been pushing for bands to become a bit more organized and creative. Advocating working out-with the boundaries of the music business by releasing their own albums and booking their own tours with like minded people. It's not a new idea, but it does seem to be gathering a bit of momentum. Do you think that maybe we all have to go back to square one and build up something different rather than trying to breathe some live into a system that seems to be failing?
I think new ways to reach out is a must. I also think it's a bit of a catch22 at the moment. You can't get a tour if you don't have an album, you won't get signed unless you tour 250 days a year, you know...a little bit exaggerated...but you know what I mean?
Something needs to be done...just not sure what. Being organized is a must. Having the attitude to go into it for the long haul.
Maybe it's time for a new punk movement to shake things up?
I mean, we're not doing this for the money...if that was the case then we'd have given up a long time ago. But that doesn't mean a band can keep doing stuff for free either.
The reality is that a tour costs, making an album cost. And the money received mostly cover expenses if you're lucky.
So it's hard touring all year around without some money left over. 'Cause it's nice to have a home to come home to after a tour you know haha...
Also the fact that bands keep playing in front of their own crew more or less doesn't help. You can become over exposed without gaining ground.
Why people stopped showing up for gigs? I don't know. Maybe it's because bands doesn't sell albums any more so they have to be on tour all the time, and then after a few years people have seen so many bands of the same bands playing again and again that they just don't bother showing up any more. Or do they think it's easier watching the show on Youtube instead?
I have no idea?
Don't get me wrong, I´m not against online media...Just wondering where it all went wrong?
I sometimes think it shouldn't be that complicated. I just wanna play R'n'R!

ElD - ….and that's it KJ. In one little sentence you've echoed what virtually everyone in a band at one time says. You just want to play Rock'n'Roll, and with that I would like to say thanks for taking the time out to jaw a while, and for those reading you gotta check out the band, and if someone somewhere who is looking to invest in a band, whether that be releasing something or offering gigs or promotions then here's one right under your nose that I will highly recommend.
http://www.starsofthesilverscreen.se/band/

Gerritfuckinupye!

2011-11-10T10:37:00.003Z

The larger than life legend that was Hunter S Thompson never actually said "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
Never the less it is very easy to excuse people for their misguided use of it as it simply rings true.
It's a comment that encapsulates perfectly the sort of people who gravitate towards music and see it - and those who make it - as the cash cow waiting to be slaughtered.
I'm well aware of this sort as over the years I have come across my fair share of the fuckin' chancers.
The capitalist whores who have no affinity for music as an art form and simply see those who create it as the host that they can parasitically bleed dry.
These cocksuckers don't even take advantage of situations that arise, but instead go hell for leather to engineer them.
Part of the problem is that they have created a symbiotic relationship with anyone who wishes to be an artist in their own right.
Bands and solo artists alike misguidedly consider these middlemen to be essential to their survival, or at the very least people who can promote their career in one way or another.
It's bullshit.
Complete and utter crap being swallowed by individuals who really should know better.
Recently I've seen yet another battle of the bands contest popping up with the first prize being the support slot to a nationally touring artist.
It's not even for the tour, but for one night only.
At £6 all the friends and family - and there are many - of the bands and artists can trundle along and line the pockets of the promoters and the venue while the people who make and play the actual music sit with bated breath waiting for a crumb to fall off the table for them.
It's shit, and don't get me started on all the underhanded dealings that goes on with this sort of set up as well.
How many times does the best band really win?
More often than not this is just an event created so that the parasites can ascertain who can sell the most tickets so that they can then exploit them and swell the crowd on the night of the headline acts gig.
It has nothing to do with talent. It's about bums on seats and creating something that allows them to have two bites at the financial cherry.
...and that the best case scenario.
The worst - and I've seen it - is when a band who has the second cousin of one of the judges on bass win by performing a mediocre rip off of what's in vogue and a cover song played badly.
On the night I witnessed that I sat behind the judges and watched them chat inanely through all the sets played and then start to clap the winners as they took to the stage.
There was no doubt what the end result of that night was going to be and I'm pleased to say that the judging panel got a verbal mauling from the crowd for their less than honest appraisal of the acts, but then again I'm sure they didn't give a fuck as they profited from the mugs, including myself, who were baying for their blood.
When is this going to stop? When are the people who make the music going to grow a pair and stop colluding with those who would fuck them over?
I'm pissed off with it, and in saying so I'm probably limiting my options of enjoying a night of live music as I've already ruffled the feathers of one of the big players
I also seem to be making more enemies on a weekly basis from the pond life at the bottom of the pool to.
They know who I'm talking about and to use a second quote, and one this time that isn't a misquote 'Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.'
So what can be done here? Well to answer my own question what can be done is that YOU. The artist and punter alike can simply stop supporting this system.
Look for the venues and promoters who offer the good deals. The ones who want to work with people in a more ethical manner and understand that a fair distribution of any money accrued benefits everyone involved.
Ask about and the names of those who work in this way will come to you. Word of mouth is an excellent resource.
It really is that simple, and the upside is that the people and venues who are genuinely supportive of what you do will prosper, and therefore in time will be in a better position to help artists.
Lets all stop the shit floating to the top.
Why the fuck is anyone wanting to give a leg up and line the pockets of those who would exploit them I'll never know.
You're a bunch of fuckin' dafties laughing at the turkeys voting for x-mas while blindly ignoring that you do similar, and I say that with exasperated love.

The Seven Billionth Child

2011-11-07T21:49:00.002Z

Some words of wisdom from Stu Who. Please share the footage.

The Dark Shadows - The Garage - Glasgow - 7/11/11

2011-11-07T12:19:00.005Z

Another gig, and another low turn out.
This time it is the turn of The Dark Shadows to be playing to a crowd that could be counted using two hands and half of one foot. Or just two hands of you come from the land of the six fingered banjo players as I do.
It's not the usual apathy that's at the root of the problem though, but instead its second cousin zero promotion.
Both seem to be equally at home hammering nails into the live music scenes coffin though.
So let's be brutally honest about this show.
There's something far wrong when a mate in Australia can tell you about a gig taking place in Glasgow but no one knows anything about it locally. (Thanks Al)
No posters, unless you count the photocopied ones in the stairwell of the venue on the night, no flyers, no mention on the venues own website and nothing in the press.
Fuckin' useless.
The only way my mate in Oz knew about it was because he was following the bands tour on facebook. So unless you were checking daily on their updates you would be completely in the dark about certain dates that had been added.
Now I've said this before, but maybe it's worth repeating that if a gig is treated like a state secret with details only being made available to the public after a request is made under the freedom of information act then you can be sure of one thing, and that's that it will bomb.
This gig may as well been part of some witness relocation scheme with everything about it wrapped up in a file with 'on a need to know' basis stamped on it's buff sleeve
None of this is the fault of the band though.
As they're based in Australia the tour is booked on a sight unseen basis.
They don't know the venues, the local acts that would complement them as a support, or if there is even a fan base for what they do that they can tap into.
It's all done on trust, and when it all goes wrong, as it did in Glasgow, then it provides the band with a skewed impression of the UK music scene with the worst case scenario being that they don't come back.
I could be wrong, but the four friends that I dragged along and myself may well have been the only members of the audience who paid to get into this show with the remainder of the audience being made up of members of the support bands.
That's how bad this was.
It really is to the bands credit that they didn't let the low turn out phase them and still played a fantastic gig.
In still giving it their all they displayed a professional attitude that should shame the people who promoted the gig on their behalf.
From opening the set with Alien Movies they moved swiftly into Invisible and followed that with Sleeping with a Vampyre, and in the space of those three songs they went from being a band that my friends were taking a chance on to one who they were thankful of getting the opportunity to see.
Requiem and Denial came next, both from the Invisible ep, and kept the pace going before the band ran into airing four tracks from the forthcoming 11.11 mini album.
The new songs, Dark Shadow, Blame, Eisbar and Written in the Snow all highlighted that on a musical level the band are still moving forward and refusing to let themselves be pinned down.
The set had a real chronological flow to it with those in attendance being able to see where the band came from, and where they are going.
It would be fair to say that there's no real feeling of their rockabilly and punk roots in the new material but instead a real sense of the grandeur of certain goth bands like the Sisters of Mercy being dragged into the present coupled with an unmistakable nod to the isolationist oeuvre ploughed by Joy Division.
The ghost of the eighties is certainly there in what they are doing, but instead of overshadowing everything it instead adds a frisson of familiarity that works as a reference point to leap forward from. A very nice touch that provides a great live experience.
All things considered I would have to say that regardless of finding out about this at the last minute, the scrambling about to get people to go, the hassle of trying to sort out travelling arrangements to get there and back and all the other obstacles that sometimes felt insurmountable the Dark Shadows made it a very enjoyable experience.
For those who missed out.......well don't blame yourself, or The Dark Shadows.
Blame the lack of promotion and get on their facebook page to say that if they come back you will endeavour to attend.
Big shout out and mucho respect to Cass, Sandie Noone, John Milligan and Abi Sociopath for making the effort to go and see the band on my recommendation.

Bang Tango - Pistol Whipped in the Bible Belt.

2011-11-03T18:04:00.003Z

Bang Tango have disbanded and reformed more times than most, and the revolving door aspect with musicians must have them up there as the funky glam punk version of Mark E Smiths The Fall.
At one point there was even two versions doing the rounds, and it's around then that very often the reputation of a band can nose dive with all respect for them vanishing as acrimonious bitching takes over from the job at hand of making music.
Thankfully there are the occasional exceptions to the rule, and with Joe Leste back with yet another line up of Bang Tango, and an album that has taken five years to reach us, he has proved himself, and the band, to be one of those exceptions and bucked the trend to deliver something rather special.
'Pistol Whipped in the Bible Belt' simply sounds incredible.
Listen to it and what you will hear is a band who are as hungry as any of the young guns hanging out on the street corners, and far more relevant that the majority of their peers from the past.
The loosely funky and trashy sound is still functionally intact and sounds as good as it did way back when they released Live Injection, and quite possibly even better.
In fact I'll take that back. It does sound better. A top of their game release.
Unfortunately right at this very moment in time trashy rock and roll isn't grabbing the attention of the public like it used to and I fear that this outstanding release will end up lost in the shuffle simply for coming out at the wrong time.
We currently live in an era where we are seeing bands like Motley Crue and Guns'n'Roses playing large venues based on yesteryears glories with the audiences happy to jump aboard the nostalgia train for a night out rather than take a chance on Bang Tango, and while it is easy to say it's their loss it also has an impact on bands as without the attention of the fans they can wither and die on the vine.
If that happened then it would be a great loss as anyone who can make an album like this deserves to be rewarded and given the chance to continue to entertain us.
So go and buy it and get your grubby little mits off that reissue, that greatest hits, or the bollocks that the hipsters are telling you is the one album you need to have this year.
This is the album you would really rather have. Take my word on that.

Leningrad Cowboys - Buena Vodka Social Club

2011-11-03T15:40:00.003Z

If the world didn't have the Leningrad Cowboys we would have to invent something that would allow us to travel to parallel universes and go and kidnap them from whatever vodka drenched dimension they lived in.
Fuck the trillions spent on NASA. Fuck the crumbling economies. Fuck the greedy global war machine.
Every single penny spent on all that crap would be better used in introducing them to this world in my opinion, because quite frankly I don't want to exist in a world that doesn't have mad Fins with gravity defying bequiffed mullets and exaggerated winkle picker boots that clowns enviously harbour a shoe fetish over in it.
They are the undiluted 100% twenty six legged entertainment machine that keeps giving, and on Buena Vodka Social Club they are back doing what they do best, and that's to put a smile on your face as you tap your toes to their bombastic take on Russian folk music with a very large side order of rock and roll added to it.
There's no covers this time, but who cares because the original material that they can come up with is still imbued with the humour and sheer 'what the fuck is that' attitude that they have displayed throughout their career.
I bloody love this band. Can't you tell?

Orianthi - Fire

2011-11-03T15:04:00.004Z

I've never been a muso. Never been the type to swoon at a guitar solo.
The thing for me is the full package. The whole shebang as it were.
I want to be able to hear a band play with all the pieces falling into place to create something that hits you in the gut on an emotional level. That's my thing.
So that being the case it's unusual for me to gravitate towards picking up anything from guitar heroes, or even heroines.
Occasionally I will however make an exception, and after seeing Orianthi Panagaris rip it up as part of Alice Coopers band I thought I should delve into her own material and picked up the latest mini album she has released, called 'Fire', to see how that matched up to her hired gun status.
I'm glad I did because any preconceived ideas that I had that it was going to be a fret fingering orgasm of guitar masturbation were dashed within minutes of listening to the first song.
Instead what we get is an accomplished mini album of timeless rock ballads that would easily turn the heads of those who are hooked on the softer side of rock music.
They guitar work is exemplary, but it's not so in your face that it overshadows the songs. Instead it solidly accompanies the phrasing and emotional peaks and troughs of the material. Nicely balanced is what it is.
The vocals are what really grabbed me though. They caught me completely off guard as within the framework of Alice Coopers band they don't really get an airing, but maybe they should.
The surprising thing - to me - is that Orianthi isn't just a guitarist that can carry a tune, but a fully fledged rock and roll vocalist to.
It's as if all the best bits of the eighties female fronted rock acts have been dragged into the present and given a bit of a make over.......and it works.
It would be fair to say that the future for Orianthi is wide open as she very obviously has the ability and talent to make whatever dreams she has a reality.

Alice Cooper - Glasgow Armadillo - 31/10/11

2011-11-02T12:06:00.006Z

Every once in a while a gig comes along that towers over every other show in quality, passion and sheer rock and roll exuberance.
A performances that shoots straight into your personal top ten list of all time.
A show that will forever be classed as never to be forgotten, and Alice Coopers Halloween show in Glasgow was without a shred of doubt one of those rare beasts.
A colossus standing on the shoulder of giants in gig history.
If I was to spew every single superlative that came to mind onto the page, then they still wouldn't come close to describing how good a show this was.
Alice Cooper is the font from where much of modern day rock and roll derives from. He's the shock rocker who delivered the goods time after time. The man who has rode out every single 'latest thing' that the world of music has had to offer since the seventies.
From the moment that the the band confidently strode onto the stage - with Alice towering over them in his Black Widow get up - they grabbed everyone and held them in the palm of their hands from start to finish.
The classic tracks, old favourites, some surprises and material from 'Welcome 2 my Nightmare' came hard and fast.
There was barely room in the set to catch a breath.
Even through the extended drum and bass solo, that's eased in to allow Alice a moment to get a second wind and snatch a costume change, the levels of excitement didn't diminish.
There's some sort of misconception that Alice Cooper is simply a rock god, but while that may seem like high praise in itself it actually defines him in a little box that he doesn't fit into at all because he is much more than that.
There's the public perception, the singer songwriter and this guy in front of us. The performer.
The show that has come to Glasgow isn't months in the panning. It's decades.
Years and years of striding across stages and honing his ability to engage with a crowd.
It flows so freely now that he can command attention from the flick of a wrist, the slash of a rapier through the air, or a cock of his top hat bedecked head.
His legend may well have been partially been built on theatrics, but it is also held together by solid songwriting and musicianship of the highest standard.
Even so over the last few years the theatrics have started to take more and more of a back-seat and I doubt anyone has even noticed as the actual show still rocks.
Black Widow gave everyone the blast of classic Cooper that was needed to get the ball rolling, and while people were still reeling from that Brutal Planet delivered a coup de grace before giving way to the quadruple attack of I'm Eighteen, Under My Wheels, Billion Dollar Babies and No More Mr Nice Guy.
Four songs that nail the crowd.
Alice looks as if he is enjoying himself, as are the band. He's at the lip of the stage gesturing in contempt as the songs demand, acting out the phrasing and making real eye contact with the sick things who are happy to worship at his feet.
Hey Stoopid is rolled out for the fans of the hair metal years, but like much of what this line up do it
marches to a slightly different beat. It's less shiny and polished, more grimy with a serving of fuck you on the side.
Is It My Body perfectly follows it and sets the scene for the rhythm section to stretch there muscles and show off a bit during Halo Of Flies.
Once Alice is back they storm into I'll Bite Your Face off, the only song they play from Welcome 2 My Nightmare.
It's well received and maybe they should consider rolling out some more from the album in future gigs.
It's obvious that for every more recent song that they play Alice knows that he will have to give out some more golden oldies to appease the crowd so it was no surprise that he followed it with Muscle of Love, Only Women Bleed (That had a spectacular guitar solo from Orianthi) and Cold Ethyl.
Every one of those perfectly executed.
Feed My Frankenstein had the obligatory theatrics that everyone has come to expect, but Clones (We're all) that followed it was the one song that blind-sided me. Sans keyboards and laden with chunky guitars it takes on a whole new, and better, persona.
From it being a song that very few Alice Cooper fans would feature on a mix tape it became somewhat of a bonafide classic with this bolshier approach to it.
Similarly Poison, my least favourite Coop hit, has a lot more to offer live, or maybe by this point I had capitulated and lost all critical capabilities.
Another song from Brutal Planet, 'Wicked Young Man' kept the already frantic pace up with Alice marching about playing the authoritarian leathern encased commandant to the hilt.
A partial snippet of I Love the Dead had the crowd slavering at the bit for more and Schools Out, with the addition of some of Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick In The Wall' was the perfect response to the baying audience, and that was it, but it wasn't.
No one was going to let Alice go that easily and within minutes he was back to finish the night on a rousing run through of Elected that included the obligatory oversized balloons full of confetti and a shower of ticker tape.
In hindsight I think it would be a safe bet to lay claim that this was the best Halloween celebration that I have ever participated in.
No one does Halloween like Alice Cooper and his band and it was a real privilege to be involved with it.
Here's looking forward to the next tour.
So bring it on Coop 'cause we're already waiting.

New York Dolls – Glasgow Armadillo - 31/10/11

2011-11-01T22:56:00.003Z

When the New York Dolls reformed there was without a doubt a sharp intake of breath from critics and fans alike.
Here was a band whose members were getting on a bit and the chances of them recreating a fraction of the halcyon days of debauched fun seemed to be just too much of a tall order.
Then they delivered, and delivered hard.
It was a real slap in the face for the naysayers and I loved every single second of every gig that I attended.
Then I guess it was all just too much of a good thing and something had to give.
In hindsight the moment that it stopped being one thing and became another was when Steve Conte and Sami Yaffa were sidelined and the 'Dancing Backward in High Heels' album was recorded.
The fire seemed to be dampened down quite a bit, and what we got was a great David Johansen album, but a rather poor New York Dolls one.
Then reports trickled in of shambolic - but not in a good way - live outings.
The performance at Blackpool, as part of the Rebellion festival, being a particularly slated one as everyone and their dog lined up to air their less than favourable views.
So when I heard that the band were going to be supporting Alice Cooper I really didn't know what to expect.
The unsettled line up issues seemed to have been addressed, and the uber-talented Earl Slick on guitar was something to look forward to, but was his inclusion in the band going to be enough to gather in the unravelling threads?
Well the truthful answer is no.
It's not even as if the band have lost their appeal. It's more that they are just showing their age now.
All the concerns that were aired when they originally reformed have come home to roost.
Technically you can't fault them, but the New York Dolls were never about technical ability.
This is a band who are a larger than life legend, and anything that they do that falls short of being drenched in the excesses of rock and roll just isn't good enough, and unfortunately right at this very moment in time they are a mere shadow facsimile of not just the original Dolls, but even the magnificently decadent reformed version.
Going through the motions, and a pedestrian performance are two phrases that should never be used in the same sentence as the New York Dolls, but that day has now arrived as they managed to do both.
However none of this is to say that what they do isn't to an extent still enjoyable, because it is.
All the best of the shouldabeen hits were rolled out with Trash and Pills managing to lift the show up by the bootstraps to a rather acceptable level, and of course Earl Slick is the fuckin' man.
Similar to how Steve Conte stamped his own authority on the Dolls rather than emulating Thunders. Earl Slick has come along and is doing it differently again.
It's pointless to get into the subjective argument of who is best.
It's just a case of preference.
For myself I'd rather have Steve Conte and Sami Yaffa in the line up, but who is seriously going to complain about Earl Slick being the latest six stringer in the band?
The bottom line is that even a lacklustre New York Dolls are still better than most bands and that's to their credit, but the point is that they set the benchmark themselves and now they're struggling to reach it with any real conviction.
So not the car crash in slow motion I was expecting/dreading, but neither was it the salvage job I was crossing my fingers for either.
Hopefully this isn't the beginning of a slow and unstoppable decline as a band like the Dolls deserve to go out with a bang rather than a whimper.

Pardon. What didn't you say.

2011-10-26T12:20:00.002+01:00

This reading between the lines of conversations is a terrible thing don't you think?
It's really quite a waste of time.
You know what I'm talking about don't you?
Or do you?
Maybe right at this minute you are thinking 'I know what he is saying, but I wonder what he really means'.
The truth is that I'm a plain speaking sort of guy so when I say something it's out there just as it is.
There's no unspoken hidden clues as to what I really mean.
No one should treat a conversation with me as if they are approaching a Dan Brown novel.
There is nothing to be divined from a plain and simple comment.
No mystery to solve and very little is said with a nod and a wink.
I'll give you an example of what I mean.
Say for instance you asked me if I wanted a sausage roll from Greggs and I declined with the response that I wasn't hungry.
From that you can take that I am not hungry. Nothing more.
I don't have an upset stomach.
I don't have an allergy to sausage rolls.
I'm not boycotting Greggs.
I'm not a vegetarian.
I'm not playing the 'opposite day' game and really mean I want a sausage roll.
I haven't shagged the lady serving and now looking to avoid her.
I haven't been banned from Greggs and just don't want to mention the incident with the doughnut to you.
None of these, or any more that you can think of, are applicable to my refusal of the offer of a sausage roll.
It honestly will be because I wasn't hungry. Nothing more than that.
You can work that out from me saying so. It really is that simple.
Just out of curiosity how many times in a week do you make a statement and someone responds with 'what you mean is....'?
How many minutes are taken up with having to explain that the first thing you said was all that you meant?
How many misunderstandings are rooted in someone walking away from a conversation with the impression that what you said was a hint at something else entirely.
Women appear to indulge in this more often then men.
While making a cup of tea say to your wife, partner or female friend 'You want sugar in this?' and they will reply 'are you saying I need to go on a diet', and probably follow that with a comment about the pot and the kettle.
Nothing was mentioned about weight, diets or their appearance at all, but in a weeks time if you ask them what was said they will emphatically tell you that you said 'I'll leave the sugar out as it's goes straight to your hips' and when you deny that they will say 'but that's what you meant'.
There's no going back from it either because how can you disprove something that another person claims you thought.
All you can do is deny it and the more you do the more they think they were right.
Men aren't immune to communicating like this either though.
Ask a man if he wants a soft drink when you are going to the bar and he will hear you loudly proclaim in front of anyone in earshot that you consider him to be a lightweight drinker and therefore are challenging his sexuality in the public arena.
He may even want to fight you for not saying something.
It's all bollocks isn't it.
Maybe I'm the only one who notices this though, but I do yearn for a simpler way of communicating.
Similarly I've noticed that people often don't even respond to the question at hand.
Ask someone if they want to go out on Monday night and they might say that they are going out on Friday in reply.
Why?
Personally I'm not that interested in their plans for any other night other than the Monday so why are they telling me this, and in doing so they haven't really answered my initially question.
Unless of course they want me to read between the lines and what they mean is.
I can only afford to go out one night a week.
My wife says I've not to associate with you any more.
I don't socialize on any day with the letter M in it.
I get a pedicure on a Monday and I don't want to share that as you may feel that it's a bit strange but I love the felling of it and I'm not giving that night up for anyone.
Or maybe Mondays are pre-booked and he spends them plotting my downfall with all the other people who said they can't go out on a Monday night with me.
...and now I'm back to where I started.
Do you see how confusing all of this is.

Stars of the Silverscreen - S/T

2011-10-25T22:18:00.004+01:00

There must be something in the water in Sweden, because whenever the world needs a rock and roll band to come forth and keep the flame burning you can always rely on them to throw forth one who will tick all the boxes and deliver when no one else is doing it.
So right at this moment in time step up 'Stars of the Silverscreen' with their self titled debut to show us all how down and dirty rock and roll with screaming guitars and a shit load of attitude should be played.
The album may have original surfaced in 2009, but here in the UK we better be quick and play a bit of catch up and get behind these guys.
They're not reinventing the wheel, but that argument is a moot one as the wheel doesn't need reinventing, and neither does this style of rock and roll.
There's plenty of evidence here to show that they've got the guts and passion needed to carry it of, and then some.
Given half a chance these guys will provide you with the only soundtrack you will need for a full on party.
So crack open a bottle, crank it up and get into the groove with them.
If you want thirteen rockers that will reaffirm your faith in rock music then this is the album that will do it.
Bloody fantastic.

http://www.starsofthesilverscreen.se/

Matt Scott, Tragic OHara, Nicky Smith, Masters of the Sea, Taylor Buntain - Jollys 14/10/11 (Kilmarnock)

2011-10-25T13:28:00.003+01:00

I really should write the reviews within a couple of days of the gigs.
All the little mental notes I make seem to have slipped away between then and now, but here goes.
This was the first of a couple of gigs that my good friend Wullie B has organised to raise funds for the McMillan cancer charity. A very worthy cause as I'm sure everyone would agree.
First performer of the night was Taylor Buntain who I have come to know since giving a less than positive review many moons ago.
He's a nice guy and technically the best guitarist that we have locally.
His drifting is very well done as is everything else he does as his fingers dance across the frets. Think of John Butler or Newton Faulkner for a reference point.
I'm sure that fellow musicians must sit slack jawed in admiration when watching him, but there is a problem and that is that his voice isn't managing to match his skills on the guitar and banjo.
No matter how good the material is it is always going to have attention drawn away from it due to the vocal delivery.
Within another project, out-with playing solo, his abilities would allow him to shine more.
I would love to sing his praises from the rooftops, but as long as it's a one man show I don't think I'll be able to.
He has said that he is exploring other options so it is probably only a matter of time until he can come across with the goods. The talents there. It's just a matter of getting it across to an audience in a form that they can get on board with.
Now this is where my memory fails me.
Was it Masters of the Sea next or Nicky Smith?
Lets just say it was Masters of the Sea.
It's been a while since I've seen such a drunkenly consummate performance and I loved it.
Friends have been urging me to see these guys, and all their superlative praise has been underplayed to an extent.
Simply saying a band are great and you need to see them doesn't really convey just how great they are. Even within a stripped down acoustic set what they do is rock solid.
There's very little point in trying to offer a name forth that could allow someone to get a rough idea of who they sound like because they don't sound like anyone apart from themselves.
Of course the music is in a recognisable framework and they aint banging randomly and discordantly on things, but instead what they have done is taken a bunch of influences and distilled them through their own take on what a song should sound like and what they have come up with works.
The fact that their front man could barely bite his fingernails never mind remain balanced on a stool added to the performance rather than detracted from it and his drunken state was really on apparent when talking between songs.
As soon as he was need to sing and play guitar that drunken part of his brain must have been sectioned off and his fingers and vocal chords went on and done their thing.
There playing again soon and I'm now gagging to see the full electric experience.
All hail Masters of the Sea.
Nicky Smith who was up next was another surprise.
Just guitar and vocal, but very well done and while much of the performance has slipped from my head I did enjoy the set and have mentally logged the name away to check out again.
Tragic OHara followed Nicky and once again anyone witnessing his slot must be left asking when is he going to make that leap into the wider public's eye.
Everything is in place. It really must just be a matter of time.
Due to the headline act 'All my logic' failing to make an appearance through reasons unknown to me local artist Matt Scott assumed the position, but unfortunately by this point the downing of pints and shots had laid waste to may of the audience and Matt was left to perform his set in front of a crowd who were paying him scant attention.
It was there loss as he really is a fantastic talent.
There's some Tom Waits in there. A bit of Dylan and Springsteen and a whole lot of Frankie Miller.
Yet he isn't a patchwork quilt of their talents, and instead has his own personality to push.
I've missed blues imbued vocalists who have the rock and roll attitude, and now with Matt we have one of our own.
Note his name down and keep an eye out for him playing.

Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials

2011-10-25T11:29:00.002+01:00

Whenever anyone makes the blanket claim that the charts are bereft of anything worth listening to I'm never short of examples that I can use to shoot their statement down in flames.
Of course much of what the mainstream provides is a tad vacant and does appear to be created to entertain those who want a quick fix of bright and shiny unchallenging nonsense.
Fast food for the ears so to speak, but there are exceptions.
I think Bruno Mars is a talented and soulful sounding young man for a pop star, and Ed Sheeran is without a doubt well endowed with song writing skills, and I feel completely comfortable in saying that as I don't consider myself a music snob bogged down in genre loyalties.
Another who never fails to impress is Florence with her Machines.
The first time that I heard her I was taken aback by the power of her vocal performance, and then when I seen her live I was equally impressed.
Since then her debut album caused a bit of a stir and she even has managed to gatecrash the mainstream party without diluting her art.
MTV hits and award show appearances along with festival slots was the order of the day and she dealt with it all with a great deal of casual aplomb.
Now she's back, and back with a bang, and anyone who hitched themselves to her wagon during the 'Lungs' period will love 'Ceremonials' as it has enough of that sound to maintain a level of familiarity.
However, unlike many who have garnered success over the last decade and attempt to maintain it by simply releasing the same album again and again, Florence is not standing still.
She's a modern day Kate Bush with all that reference entails.
If Lungs was a template then Ceremonials is the prototype, and in years to come we can be assured that with each and every release there will be something new to savour.
Only time will tell if this can emulate the success of Lungs, but if not I don't really think that will matter.
Similar to a band like the Arctic Monkeys, Florence will be an artists that that will maintain a solid fan base through releasing quality material.
Hit singles are for the here and now and in Florence we have a an artist who will be defined by her whole body of work rather than her 15 minutes of fame.

Tom Waits - Bad as me

2011-10-25T10:21:00.003+01:00

I've had a fractious relationship with Tom Waits over the years.
I've never really fallen out of love with with him, but sometimes he's pushed it to the limits with his more avant garde wanderings.
Thankfully on 'Bad As Me' he's back to what he does best, and that's sing like a Broadway star who took a wrong turning and ended up on skid row with a bottle of bourbon and a handful of dreams to get him through the night.
Even if on 'Raised Right Men' he has steered far too close to Nick Caves 'Red Right Hand' I'll forgive him simply for getting some rockabilly swing going on in 'Get Lost'. It's as fine a track as he has ever put out.
Elsewhere there is a distinct feeling that he has come full circle and is now back to being the bar room troubadour that many of us know and prefer.
If you lost your way after his Asylum years, or started to struggle with the material post 'Swordfish Trombones' then this just might be the album that will entice you back.
It's been a while since Tom Waits has managed to hit as many of my buttons as 'Bad As Me' has, but with this I've finally got the proof that it was worth hanging in over the years keeping the flame alive.

Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu

2011-10-25T09:46:00.002+01:00

When Lou Reed and Metallica announced that they would collaborate the world took a deep breath.
When they exhaled it was to say that the fruits of their labour would either be the worst or best thing ever.
As usual it's neither.
It's not the car crash in slow motion as the naysayers were quick to claim it would be, but neither is it an album that fans of Lou and Metallica will consider needs to be filed away as the best thing since sliced bread either.
Strip away the fanfare and hyperbole and what we have is an album that sound exactly what you would think that a Lou Reed and Metallica album would sound like.
Neither artist nor band have really pushed into new areas, but instead Lou does what Lou does and Metallica weave their bludgeoning magic behind the lyrics.
What I mean by that is take Lou out and what you hear is a Metallica album sans vocals and remove the music and it's a typical Lou Reed album.
So neither as bad, nor as good, as expected.
However fans of both are going to be far from disappointed in what they have come up with, and I'm sure in some quarters there will be some that will consider this to be something rather special.
Personally I'd rather have Transformer or Master of Puppets over this, but I'm not really complaining.

Luke Haines - 9 1/2 Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970s & early '80s

2011-10-25T09:14:00.004+01:00

For people of a certain age* Saturday afternoon wrestling has nothing to do with the steroid heavy star spangled million dollar franchise that the world now considers to be the norm.
Instead wrestling is the key to the past. It's the ticket for the nostalgia train.
A single mention of Kendo Nagasaki, Big Daddy or Giant Haystacks is all that it takes for the rose tinted memories to come flooding back.
Saturday afternoons spent watching men - who wouldn't look out of place in your local pub - dramatically, and comically, throwing each other about dressed in what appeared to be swimming trunks was what it was all about.
Come Monday morning at school and the bouts of the weekend would be the talk of the playground.
Mick McManus was the anti hero who we loved to boo and hiss at. Oh what we would do to him given five minutes in an alley.
Catweazle was a bit of a joke, but we secretly loved him to, and what the hell was Gorgeous George all about?
Now in 2011 we have Luke Haines magically providing a concept album geared around those times, and when I slip it on it's like wrapping myself in childhood memories.
Every wrestler of note is lovingly woven into the story, and every single nuanced moment of this album appears to be designed to ease you into a time and place that no longer exists.
Through music time travel is indeed possible.
Forget the nostalgic compilations that proliferate supermarket shelves. Here is the real key to recapturing the past, and very cleverly it's also an album that's equally at home in the present to.
In writing this Luke Haines has created yet another work of genius and it's about time that the critical acclaim he garners is translated to public acclaim.
I would urge everyone to buy this and wallow in its working class grace.
Now where's my swimming trunks and dressing gown as I think I'm going to have to listen to it again.
* My age.

Su Casa - Anna Sweeney/Tragic O'Hara/Craig Ward/Seán & Robyn Gray/Folé. 13/10/11

2011-10-14T19:27:00.002+01:00

Another Thursday evening and another smorgasbord of aural delights from Su Casa.
We arrived just in time to catch the end of the always entertaining Little Fire who even managed a little duet before handing the stage over to the very young Anna Sweeney.
She's a bit folk, a bit country and a whole lotta nervous, but there's a great deal of charm in her performance, and given some time and a relaxed environment to ply her craft in she could be onto something with her material.
Tragic OHara followed, and went straight into unveiling a couple of new songs, and in doing so showed the crowd why when anyone talks about big fish in small ponds it's Tragic, along with a few others, who are always mentioned.
After a period where things seemed to stall for him it now appears that all the hard work is starting to create some positive returns.
The recent personal request from Pete Docherty to support him being just one of them.
I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that in the coming year all his dreams come true as he certainly has a talent and a work ethic that deserves to be rewarded.
Craig Martin Ward was the big surprise of the night though.
I'd heard good things, but what I was expecting and what I got were two different things.
There's a great deal of self effacing humour in his rapport with the audience and I liked that.
There's a good sense of you get what you see with him to. A distinct lack of artifice, and that transfers over into his material.
As singer songwriters go Craig isn't the run of the mill indie folk warbler, but something else entirely. I'm not sure if I can put my finger on it, but maybe it has something to do with the attitude.
It's a refreshing change anyway.
If you've been following the blog you will have read a review of the Fole ep that came out a couple of weeks ago, and prior to that a mention of the lead singer James doing a solo set in Su Casa where I was suitably impressed, but here they were and I was finally getting the chance to see the full band perform and that's a whole new deal in itself.
The material really comes alive.
If James solo was the start of a journey, and the ep is the midway point, then this is the final destination. All the pieces fall into place when they are performing together and once again Ayrshire has yet another band that is brimming with promise.
Brother and sister act Sean and Robyn Gray were the last performers we seen.
Their mix of traditional violin accompanied by some jazzy guitar is well played out.
While it wouldn't necessarily be the sort of music that I would normally indulge myself in I found myself enjoying them immensely.
Especially their take on Katy Dear.
A song that seemed to morph into being called Silver Dagger by the time it got the US many many years ago.
Maybe some will have heard Joan Baez or the Eagles sing it, but I was more than happy with this more traditional version.
Sadly we didn't get to see Alan Frew as time was rolling on and we had kids with us.
Once again I really can't fault the entertainment on offer, and if I had the time I would certainly grab a couch in Su Casa every single week.

Magazine. - No Thyself

2011-10-14T11:19:00.002+01:00

Avoiding the pitfalls of being classed as purely a nostalgia project Magazine are back with an album of new material.
They're a band who I have a hate love relationship with.
I always initially hate what I'm hearing and then after allowing myself to be beguiled I end up in love with it all.
Similarly when I first heard 'No Thyself' I was unimpressed and loathed what Devoto had come up with.
Inside my head a voice was screaming 'WHAT! IT TOOK THIRTY YEARS TO COME UP WITH THIS?', but unsurprisingly after a few days I'm now past that and into the getting to know you part of my relationship with Magazine.
There's already some mutual points we can get along with, and while I'm not yet comfortable in letting my feelings out I'll tentatively admit that I may quite like some of this, but then again maybe not a great deal of it as it is taking longer than usual to bed in.
The keyboards are a bit of a stumbling block to be honest.
They're pretty much ever present and overbearing in eighties cheesiness, and no matter how much I try and get on board with them I just can't.
It's a frustrating process this and I'm very close to throwing in the towel
They are so omni present that I think that I'm just going to have to sit this aside and if anyone asks say that they should approach the album with caution.
Lets just say it isn't the return I expected after witnessing them in full flow live.
Less post punk and more prog rock, but not in a good way.

The Shell Corporation - Force Majeure

2011-10-14T10:30:00.003+01:00

We seem to be on the cusp of a people power generated social revolution on a global scale, and arriving right on time to provide the soundtrack to those of us who are calling for a change is The Shell Corporation.
Featuring ex members of Time Again, A Wilhelm Scream, Madcap, The Briggs and Le Mu Le Pur they have hit the ground running, and running fast.
Similar to the Occupy Wall Street Movement there will be those who will ask what the message is within what they are shouting for.
Those who like it all neat and tidy will want an issue specific agenda to mull over. Something to pick at and consider from all the angles.
Well fuck that. What we want is change in itself. We want a new global community that cares. A clear line between what is right and wrong.
Don't starve people, don't enslave them, don't profit on the misery of others....just stop fucking with us.
The Shell Corporation manage to articulate that amorphous agenda with spit, anger, and punk rock hooks a plenty.
When I slip this on I can feel the blood rushing through my veins. I get the same feeling that I did when in my youth I first heard the Dead Kennedy's, and again when I heard The Redskins, Bad Religion, The International Noise Conspiracy, Anti-Flag and the World/Inferno Friendship Society.
This is socially conscious rock and roll at its best and if one person out of every ten who get to hear this reconsiders their world due to a lyrical nudge by The Shell Corporation, then the guys should be very proud that they have changed one life and that one person could change another persons.
They say that music can't change the world.
I say that's what they want you to think.
Grab a copy of 'Force Majeure' and think about it. What do you want to be? Part of the problem or the solution?

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

2011-10-14T09:59:00.003+01:00

Sibling rivalry and the sport of one one-upmanship is alive and well in the Gallagher household.
First we had Liam upsetting the apple cart when he silenced the critics with his Beady Eye release, and everyone - including myself - grudgingly admitted that brother Noel, who is often considered the real talent of the two, may have a problem in matching 'our kids' endeavours.
The faithful rallied at that point and stated loudly and clearly that Noel was the voice and song writing talent of Oasis, and once he did manage to get his material out then young cocky Liam would have to eat crow and accept that his big bro was, and always would be, the uber talented Gallagher.
Now, with his High Flying Birds, Noel is back, and after all that time crafting his response to Beady Eye the results are...............well rather lacklustre.
Sid James would be proud as Noel has simply carried on regardless with an album that could very easily be the next in line to chart the decline of the once wonderful Oasis.
Similar to the Oasis albums that preceded this it's an album that sounds tired and bereft of any spark of imagination or life.
While Liam dragged his trademarked cocksure swagger forward in a very slightly different direction, Noel has played safe and given people nothing much to write home about.
This is a truly awful album of substandard pop psychedelia filtered through the Lennon and McCartney songbook.
Now where did I put that Beady Eye album. I need a pick me up after listening to this dirge.

Rhianna/Calvin Harris - SECC - 10/10/11 (Glasgow)

2011-10-12T13:29:00.004+01:00

Well here I am back in the SECC to dip my toe into the populist bollocks that passes as what is hot in the world of mainstream chart acts.
This time it's to see Rhianna supported by superstar DJ Calvin Harris.
Every once in a while I find myself doing this as part of my parental role.
I could say that it's a tough job, and someone has to do it, but if I'm honest about it then I would also have to say that it's no great chore really.
It gives me one to one time with my daughter, and the large stage shows and effects are pretty spectacular.
I even enjoy the dance routines, the costume changes and all the other little bells and whistles that are part and parcel of how this sort of show is promoted to the public.
It's all very slick and there's obviously a great deal of effort goes into it, and I can appreciate that.
I even get a perverse kick out of people watching, and similar to how many of us can watch Jeremy Kyle and feel a sense of superiority over his guests, I can get the same kick from being stuck in a crowd of sheeple.
For instance while lining up and waiting to go in I noticed that every third young woman was wearing either brown trousers, leggings or shorts.
Obviously earth tones are in this season on the high street, but seriously, when you add the amount of bare legged spray tans I seen to the equation, then it looked like they had all waded through rivers of shit to get to the SECC.
From the darker shite tones sported by those who must have just climbed onto the banking, to the lighter looking shite tones of those who had obviously been drying out for a while, all I could see was a a world painted in brown.
Now I don't really want to slag those who share the planet with me (liar), but c'mon, where did free will go to.
Is imagination and individuality a concept that has been lost on the majority.
Just because it's on the rack doesn't mean you have to buy it.
Similarly what is the score with the skyscraper platform and heel combo that they are all wearing.
Every second person is staggering about like a sailor on shore leave.
I could get along with people risking ankle and tendon in the pursuit of making a fashion statement, but what is that statement when out of a thousand young women nine hundred and ninety eight are wearing the same thing.
What does that actually say about them all?
The uniformity of the youth is really quite a sad spectacle.
It also dawned on me that while I despise the cattle shed style of the SECC and the way that staff herd the fans about like dumb animals, that maybe this is actually the norm.
If a very large crowd of people display very little intelligence and ape a herd mentality then isn't it appropriate that the tried and tested process of how to control the herd is used?
Just a thought.
Anyway, Calvin Harris and Rhianna.
I'm not unfamiliar with Calvin Harris as I seen him do a DJ set many years ago when he was first making a name for himself.
Back then I was impressed with the breadth of the songs he was sampling ,and his ability to segue everything together seamlessly.
Now he appears to have taken his abilities on the decks and transferred them across to delivering the lowest common denominator crap to the masses.
He's still spot on with the beats and the mixing, but the choice of material is bland, bland, bland, and I found myself drawn to watching the generated graphics that were hypnotically pulsing in front and behind him instead of paying that much attention to the material.
I suspect that in a club he will tear a roof off, but in this sort of environment it's a case of give the people what they want, tuck the cash away, and try and forget it ever happened.
Rhianna on the other hand has it all. She can sing and there wasn't a hint of a backing track being played.
Instead she relies on the backing singers to keep it all held together, but that's not to say that she doesn't pull her weight vocally and there's no doubt that she is the star of the show.
The highlight for me was a was a very raunchy cover of 'Darling Nikki' that captured everything that Prince gave it and a little more due to it being sung by a woman.
However it was a serious lull in the flow of the gig as the vast majority were unfamiliar with the song and you could feel the interest waning as she sang it.
Apart from that my unfamiliarity was a bit of a barrier to my enjoying the show fully, but it was very obvious that the musicianship was top notch as was Rhianna herself.
So yes. I get the appeal. But it's really not my thing.
It comes across as very manufactured.
Sort of music done by numbers that's designed to have a mass appeal at the expense of any artistic integrity.
It's entertainment appreciation rather than music appreciation.
An extension of the material we get on shows like the x-factor. All bling and just enough substance to get by.
So if that is what rings your bell then a Rhianna gig will cover all the bases.
If not, and you want to find something with a bit more balls, more integrity and even maybe a bit more sweaty, then you will find that in the clubs at a fraction of the price and no doubt without an earth tone in sight either.

The Plimptons/Filthy Little Secret/Fleeto Bandito - 13th Note - 8/10/11 (Glasgow)

2011-10-12T11:55:00.002+01:00

Can you really have too much of a good thing?
I suppose you can because on Saturday night Glasgow had Scottish punk legends Distorted Truth headlining a Phoenix Rumpus Punkfest event in the Classic Grand, Eddy & the T-Bolts were playing in the 13th Note, Bob Dylan was at the Braehead, The Media Whores had a gig on and so did the Dub Pistols.
As it's impossible to physically be in two places at the one time I resorted to tossing a coin and ended up going to the 13th Note to see the T-Bolts along with the Plimptons, Filthy Little Secret and Bandito Fleeto.
Sadly on arrival we found out that Eddy had been playing rugby that morning and had suffered a concussion at the very least, and a fractured cheekbone and concussion at the worst.
That was the bad news, but the good news was that the gig was going ahead as planned.
First up were Bandito Fleeto who I'd never seen before.
It's was all a bit shambolic, maybe even deliberately so, but the between song banter and the rapid fire Queers/Sreeching Weasel styled pop punk easily made up for any lack of cerebral eloquence in their songs.
Their moto should be 'it's not quantum physics, it's a party' and if based on that then no one should have any complaints.
It's been a long time since I've seen Filthy Little Secret play and since then a few new songs have been completed and are currently getting road tested.
There's nothing new in the delivery, but it feels different.
Haj still yelps them out with the best of them and the rest of the band still push the pedal down hard while delivering the tunes, but the thing that seems different is that within the frantic pace of the songs there's a calm 'we know what we are doing' vibe.
Hopefully 2012 will be the year that they reap some sort of reward for the effort they are putting in.
I was under the impression that this night was a joint album launch deal, but on speaking to Cal from the Plimptons I found out that while the new album is virtually finished they are going to wait until early next year to sort out a release date proper.
No worries though as I was there to see them play a gig and not to buy a CD.
The set they did was the usual anarchic, verging on falling apart, but managing to cling to sanity by the skin of their teeth sort of show that anyone who has seen them appreciates.
No one else really sounds like The Plimptons.
They're a pop band with a punk edge, or maybe a ska band, with a touch of a folk sound. Then again they might be a sort of rock band, but not rawk and roll as such, although maybe for a couple of seconds they are. There's a liberal dosing of surrealist comedy scattered through a performance, but they're not a comedy band, or maybe they are when it suits them.
The Plimptons are actually all of the above and more.
If you haven't seen them. Then do so.
That's the short review and all you're getting as I'm knackered.

KA Radio

2011-10-09T23:32:00.004+01:00

Over the last two decade or so the way music has been delivered to the public through the medium of radio has changed.
Once it was a vibrant and eclectic mix that genuinely provided something for everyone.
There were shows devoted to whatever genre you could care to mention, sometimes even within the format of one station.
Now it seems that mainstream radio is only there to promote the artists who are backed by those with the deepest pockets, and sadly those major labels stopped investing in discovering new and exciting talent many years ago.
Instead they prefer to spend their money on something with a proven track record.
The music business is certainly a small m and capital B concern.
So now what we have are presenters who have no choice in what they play, and a steady diet of RnB and rap being spoon fed to us.
It's bland and repetitive.
A boring diet of empty promises that neither entertains nor nourishes us.
In response to this there are currently many internet shows that have the passion and heart of the old pirate stations blasting out everything from punk to reggae from bedrooms, huts, and garages all over the world.
They are the ideal alternative, but they have one drawback, and that drawback is that in the main they are one man shows with limited time on air, or even if they do have a schedule they are only able to spread their name about amongst a small group of loyal listeners and fall short of being able to challenge the FM stations.
So now it is time for a change, and I'm pleased to say that this change is happening in my home town with the launch of KA Radio.
As of tomorrow (10/10/11) this little internet station will be operating five days a week, twenty four hours a day, and has a full schedule of presenters from all backgrounds waiting to play their own, and your, choices.
There will be request shows, drive time shows, genre specific shows, local talent being given a platform to shine from and in general an eclectic mix of the new and the old that would put a grin on John Peels face, and maybe provide him with some respite from spinning in his grave at the thought of how one dimensional radio has become.
This is going to be community radio taken to the next level, and come 2012 an FM license will be applied for and when that time comes, then along with an internet presence, KA Radio will be offering listeners a real alternative to what currently passes as radio entertainment.
You can get it here by cutting and pasting this into your web browser.
http://orange.citrus3.com:8086/listen.pls

Brown Bear and the Bandits/Mechanical Smile/Athos/Trusty and the Foe/Sam Christison - Su Casa (6/10/11)

2011-10-07T18:50:00.010+01:00

Su Casa was gridlocked.
For a cold and damp Thursday night this flies in the face of the normal midweek turn out for a gig.
Once every seat had been taken and the remaining gaps in the room had rapidly filled with standing room only bodies a young Sam Christison took to the microphone to entertain what was literally a captive audience.
Initially over the course of his first song I was unimpressed as the vocals seemed at odds to the self penned song.
That's actually pretty unusual as who knows how to best sing a song other than the person who wrote it?
Thankfully he rolled into a cover song to follow it and in doing so managed to pull things back a bit.
Maybe it was just a case of opening nerves that sabotaged the first song as when he approached the third track, and second original of the night, everything managed to click into place.
There's some nice guitar work on display, some Dylanesque harmonica and a good grounding in providing a performance.
Yet another young artist to keep an eye on that the Su Casa nights throw into the public eye.
Next was an unannounced set from Trusty and the Foe and it is safe to say that familiarity does not breed contempt. In fact the opposite is true as I'm quickly becoming increasingly enamoured with their soft take on indie folk.
The vocals seem to float on top of the finger picking guitar work and while what they do may not appeal to a crowd looking to rock out it is still a thing of sublime beauty.
It's about time they got into a studio and laid down some tracks, and the sooner the better in my opinion.
Athos (who I'd seen playing an accomplished electric set a few weeks ago in the Monkey Bar in Kilmarnock) set up next to do their very first acoustic show and it was a bit of a game of two halves.
The problem is that the acoustic side of things sounds like a work in progress. The first three songs were nearly there, but falling short of nailing it.
It was only midway through the second song that I thought I could put my finger on what was missing and that was the singer loosening up a bit and letting go with a bit more of a roar.
This guy has a voice. I've heard it, but in trying to convert what they do to an acoustic setting he seemed to be trying to interpret it with a different vocal interpretation and it was only partially working
I'd like to see them play acoustically six months from now as I reckon that once they are comfortable with the format it will deliver huge dividends.
The second half of their set seen them becoming more comfortable and there was a definite light at the end of the tunnel.
It's just a bit out of reach at the moment.
Mechanical Smile who were playing this gig as the second night of their Scottish tour were the band who I was very keen to see, and along with Brown Bear the reason why I made the trip to Su Casa.
The last time I seen them live I felt that all the parts were in place, but similarly to Athos acoustically that they were within reach of the prize but falling short of grabbing it.
Now all these months down the line and with a fantastic ep tucked under their belts and loads of gigs ground out they have reached the point of having done that and bought the t-shirt.
All the promise I felt was there has now been delivered upon.
Strong material, tight musicianship and best of all the attitude of a band that know what they are doing and have their eyes set on a bigger and better future.
These guys are far more than a post grunge rock act as their acoustic set proves.
As with all bands a great deal of effort is put into getting a foot on the bottom rung of the music business, and all the effort from Mechanical Smile has brought them to that point right now.
It's going to be interesting to see if they can start climbing higher now.
Last band of the evening was the much lauded Brown Bear and the Bandit.
A band that I seem to have managed to miss again and again until now.
From the moment that the first chord was struck it was very obvious that their reputation as a band to see was well founded. It's an electrifying experience that deserves more than the usual superlative praise that can be heaped on a band.
The guitar, bass and cajón drum is used to mix a heady brew of sound and it's all delivered with a bit of an anarchic edge.
Styles and genres are all there for the picking and the band are elbow deep in bringing it all to the table to flavour their songs.
Cleticindiefolkpunkpopandrollagogo.
This is a band that if there was any justice would be featuring heavily in all the 'bands to watch in 2012' lists that proliferate in the 'must read to be classed as cool' magazines, but the main difference from the rest mentioned is that they they really are the band to watch.
So bring on 2012. Brown Bear and the Bandits are ready. Are you?
http://soundcloud.com/brownbearandthebandits
Truth or Dare by brownbearandthebandits

Fole - Better Sights

2011-10-07T11:04:00.004+01:00

What a strange idea Fole have had.
Usually for a début ep a band collectively consider that the best option is to start off strong and grab the listeners attention, but instead they appear to have picked the weakest song of four as an introduction.
That's not to say that 'Better Sights' is a bad song, but in comparison to the rest it doesn't really convey how good the band are.
Of course by saying this I'm leaving myself open to the criticism that music appreciation is a subjective matter, and while this one singular track hasn't bowled me over it may well be some other listeners firm favourite.
Of course that's true.
It's a fair comment, but I would wager money that once the ep is listened to in its entirety that anyone stating that as the case would be promoting a minority view.
The real treasures on this release only begin to be revealed on 'Shakespeare Says'. (The track that I would have personally opted for as the song to open proceedings.)
It's captivating in the way that it casually impresses, and as a vehicle to showcase James Foley's talents as a songwriter it easily trumps the opening track.
'Randoms' then comes along to show that it was no mere fluke.
The lyrics have a sharp and honest strength to them, and musically there's the perfect amount of instrumentation helping to push them to the fore. It's as well balanced a song as you could expect and while many acoustic solo acts and bands fall on the side of twee Fole instead refreshingly opt to have a bit more of a bite to what they do.
The closing track 'Stitches' continues in the delicate acoustic manner of its predecessors, but similarly has more of a lyrical kick than expected.
It's in this juxtaposition between the music and the lyrics that the bands strengths lie.
Unfortunately a casual listener might not pick up on these strengths, and it will only be those who are willing to give the music time to bed in that will reap the rewards, but it is most certainly worth making the effort.
http://folemusic.bandcamp.com/

The Daily Fail

2011-10-04T13:22:00.014+01:00

When is the news not the news?
When you pre-report it. That's when.
Today Amanda Knox, who had previously been convicted of the murder of Meredith Kercher, won her appeal.
That is the reality, but the Mail Online already had the story written for a failed appeal, including descriptions of the actions of those attending the case and quotes from unnamed sources.
How do I know this?
Well because they managed to post it in its entirety and someone was quick enough to snatch a screen shot of it.
Hello. Is there a copywriter in the house? No? No one? Oh well.
There's been some talk about it being simply a journalist doing work covering any eventuality and then it could be edited to suit the facts, but in my opinion that's the gate being shut after Shergar has bolted to pastures unknown.
Does anyone really believe that someone is slaving over a keyboard writing two stories when they could wait for the breaking news and write one?
It makes you wonder how many others stories are pre-written, and how much of the fictional references manage to make their way into the leading articles of each day.
Or maybe it doesn't.
It's possible that the people who buy the Daily Mail aren't looking to be informed of foreign and domestic issues in a fair and balanced manner, but do so only for it to bolsters the opinions that they already hold.
Non whites are to be mistrusted unless they have loads of cash, Muslims are all terrorists even if they have loads of cash, homosexuals want to adopt babies and eat them, and any heart defect that they may have that kills them is Gods will, the sexualization of kids is wrong unless you're a celebrities kids, especially the kids of a celebrity who is a practicing Scientologist, etc.
The people who hold these opinions deserve the newspaper they get and that paper is The Daily Mail.
Spreading hate and misinformation since 1896.
Maybe someone should send a strongly worded letter to the press complaints commission. Although I doubt they would get very far as Paul Dacre is the PCCs Chairman and when he's not doing that he is the current editor of The Daily Mail.
Click on the images for a larger view.

Change is up to us.

2011-10-03T13:57:00.007+01:00

There's something wrong with the world today.
That's a comment that seems to be rolling from peoples tongues more often than it used to.
I couldn't disagree to be honest.
There's something very wrong with the world.
I wouldn't dispute that it is probably a comment that has been uttered by somebody somewhere since the very first day that we started questioning our environment, but because it is a common used phrase doesn't mean that occasionally we shouldn't stop for a minute and reconsider what we actually mean by it.
I can only speak for myself, but when I say those exact words what I mean is that in 2011 we really should be past people starving in the world, random and senseless acts of violence happening on our streets, governments advocating war for economic reasons, and we should especially be long past kowtowing to those in power who put the minorities interests before the majorities.
We should have eradicated all of that, and more, by now.
Where is our Utopian society that we should have been forever moving closer to?
Why aren't we in reach of it?
The main reason would appear to be that we simply can't be bothered expending the effort to make the world a better place, coupled with compassion and empathy being too easily set aside in the pursuit of personal gain.
We are lazy and greedy.
We are really just getting the existence that we deserve and I guess that we really do have a bit of a cheek to be complaining don't we?
Another problem that has led us to this point is the huge gulf between what we say and do.
We say murder is wrong, but support wars promoted to us on the flimsiest reasons and shout for the return of the noose at every hysterical headline that is designed to key into a primal urge for revenge.
We say poverty is wrong, but advocate a system that allows children to expire in gutters as long as that gutter isn't at the bottom of our paths.
We say greed is wrong, but in the main we would take the last slice of whatever was on offer before considering sharing it with another.
I could go on and on.
I read today that to eradicate hunger from the world would take an investment of $30 billion a year.
It's a huge sum of money and I'm sure that in these difficult economic times it would be understandable that most people would see that as an impossible task.
Yet would they still think that if they knew that the world allegedly spends that every eight days by pouring it into supporting military forces, wars and conflicts.
Now I would be fine with anyone attacking those figures, but double what is needed to eradicate hunger and half what is spent on conflict and the balance still seems.............well wrong.
So I ask you why? Why are we doing something that is so blatantly and fundamentally destructive?
Strip away much of the arguments and simplify them and what we really need to ask ourselves is why would we want to spend anything on wars when we could be spending it on building hospitals, schools, educating people on how to manage crops, creating vaccines and more?
There's that gulf between what we say and do right there.
Most of us would say we don't want to fund wars and we would rather our tax contributions went to more ethical projects, but what we do is allow it to be used to kill the guilty and innocent alike for reasons that most of us can't fathom.
Why don't we just listen to our hearts and stop trying to rationalise everything to excuse our behaviour and that of others.
The greed, the hate, the loathing for everything and the promotion of the welfare of the few over the welfare of the many has to simply stop.
This is a very beautiful world we live in.
This planet is lush with wonders and even we as a race, with all our flaws, are beautiful to.
We are unique in the universe.
So just stop for a minute, really stop and think.
What is going to make you happy, really happy?
The idea of making everything fairer for all, or the reality of making everything fairer for all.
We appear to be on the cusp of change. We are hanging on that moment before it all collapses, but this time lets make whatever we have that rises from the ashes better than just the repeating of the mistakes of the past.
Tomorrow really is another day. It really is another beginning. Lets not waste it.

Ross Gilchrist

2011-10-02T15:24:00.003+01:00

I know quite a few very talented people.
So many that I really should have some sort of inferiority complex through associating with them.
One of them is multi-instrumentalist Ross Gilchrist who writes, records, produces and mixes everything himself, and in doing so he puts most full bands to shame.
Apart from his own material he is also the guitarist, backing singer and one fourth of Roscoe Vacant and The Gantin' Screichs. (A band who I consider to have released one of the strongest albums that I have heard this year.)
He's a busy man, maybe some would even say driven. A full on music machine who exuberantly pushes the envelope while maintaining a great deal of pop sensibilities in the music he writes.
It's sort of mind blowing to sit down and consider how much he does and the effort it must entail.
I think it's quite possible that he can bend time to fit everything he wants to do into a day.
Either that or his days are 32 hours long and he never sleeps.
When he plays live I usually stand there in slack jawed amazement, and that's not a good look for me, but I really can't help it.
He's a genius, a very entertaining genius, and one who I'm sure he will be outrageously embarrassed at me naming him as such, but I'm not the only one who thinks so and I guess he better get used to it.
Over the last year he released a little ep of mainly self penned numbers and then followed it with an album called 'Feersum Enjiin' that will soon be getting a release proper on Newtown Products Records.
So as this album will soon be available for everyone to buy I thought I would use it as an excuse to give him a mention on the blog and up some soundcloud links so that others can understand why I unashamedly name check him at every opportunity.
Acoustic tracks.
Thae Khali Yoonie Seshuns by Ross GIlchrist
Covers
Covers by Ross GIlchrist
Feersum Injiin
Feersum Enjiin by Ross GIlchrist

The Brains - Drunk Not Dead

2011-10-01T10:58:00.002+01:00

On one hand the Misfits have just released an album that is overwhelmingly underwhelming, and on the other we have The Brains releasing 'Drunk Not Dead' that shows the 'Fits how it should really be done, but who wants to lay bets on what will sell more?
There's something very wrong about this because anyone who does love the Misfits must be hanging out for a real fix of that ol' graveyard rock and roll and here it is.
It's right here under their noses just waiting to be discovered.
Throughout the album it is everything that a horror punk album should be, and more.
The Brains know how to mix the perfect brew of darkness and humour.
This isn't death metal. It's Hammer horror, it's plan 9 from outer space, it's even rebel without a clue careening towards a party in hell in 3D.
So ditch the old and hitch a ride on this ghost train.
The party is in full swing and you're late already. Nuff said.

acouldabeenacontender

2011-09-30T19:44:00.002+01:00

I've been listening to music for forty years, and attending gigs for thirty one of them now.
I've been crushed against barriers by ecstatic crowds, stood knee deep in muddy festival fields while rain last described in biblical passages did its best to sweep me away, I've slept in doorways in subzero conditions after gigs, spent money I didn't have to traverse the country to catch a single solitary show by a band that no one else has heard of, and more, much more.
I guess I've paid my dues a couple of times over now, yet when people ask me what the key to success is for bands I normally give a shrug and mutter that it's down to being in the right place at the right time.
That's it.
It's a crap shoot. They throw the dice and keep their fingers crossed and hope that what they are doing at that given time is what people want to hear.
I've seen some great bands spectacularly achieve obscurity as often as I've seen mediocre bands rise to reap the rewards of super-stardom.
There really is no sense to it all.
Being bloody fantastic doesn't equate to any sort of critical or public acclaim.
It either happens or it doesn't.
Take Thelonious Monster as an example.
For a while they were the darlings of the underground in Hollywood, and if you considered yourself a cool kid then you would be expected to drop their name, even all the way over here in Scotland.
Prior to their own fame coming knocking bands like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Janes Addiction and Fishbone would frequent Thelonious Monster gigs and get off on what was going on.
John Frusciante even tried out for them at one time.
This was the band who were going to be huge.
The singer and main man Bob Forrest was being name checked as the next Lennon or Dylan, but the public at large didn't bite, and then the drugs took their toll and that was that.
Members went on to do other things, but nothing matched the promise of Thelonious Monster.
Even when they reunited in 2004 for some shows and an album it was the same old story. A minority raved in ecstatic praise and the majority didn't.
There was a little activity in 2009, but if I was to be asked what I thought the chances were of the band taking a late bite at success and being able to manage to hold onto it I would have to say no.
It's not going to happen now.
In all honesty I'd even sort of forgotten all about them.
That's what happens. A couple of years of hearing nothing and a band may as well not have existed.
So much water under the bridge, so many bands who have come and gone.
Then today I seen a link for a movie about Bob Forrest.
It was a bit of a blast from the past.
It turns out that outwith his musical endeavours he has been a drug councillor for many years, and as he is a friend to 'the stars' has intervened, and most certainly saved peoples relationships with those around them, and even in some cases their lives.
This is a man who has been right to the edge and looked into the abyss and managed to pull himself back from it and use his experiences to help others.
While I was impressed with his work as a songwriter and singer I'm far more impressed with what he has done with his life.
The movie is called 'Bob and the Monster' and should be out on DVD release later on this year.
So mentally bookmark that and make the effort as it looks like it could be as good as 'Dig' was as rockumentaries go.
PS - Everyone in the US will know him as Dr Bob from Celebrity Rehab, but we don't watch that here and that has allowed us to become even more adrift of what he has been up to in comparison to our transatlantic cousins.

Nevermind nevermind. Grab these instead, and for free.

2011-09-30T10:09:00.002+01:00

With the anniversary of what some are calling the last real punk album upon us there's some interesting alternatives to picking up the reissued edition of the seminal release from Nirvana that acted as a catalyst for the wave of grunge that swept the globe.
A few magazines have went down the obvious hit and miss route of collecting a pot pourri of bands to do covers with the most laudable being from Spin who have made theirs available as a free download, but then there's the bargain bin offering from the other end of the scale that is the meagre effort from Kerrang. In all honesty there should be some crime scene tape around each of their issues as they're undoubtedly guilty of a plethora of crimes against music.
Like I said, hit and miss. So watch your step.
Anyway as mentioned the Spin one is free, and with acts like Amanda Palmer, The Vaselines, Titus Adronicus, The Meat Puppets, Foxy Shazam and more giving their interpretation of songs from Nevermind it's as eclectic as you could imagine.
Very few of the bands and artists seem willing to do straight covers, and for this I will be eternally grateful.
It's a refreshing change from a bunch of rock acts turning their amps up to eleven and thinking that works as a different take on the original material.
I would highly recommend grabbing yourself a copy while it is still available.
However the strangest homage to Nevermind that I've stumbled across is the very straight cover of the whole album by Kevin Devine.
Everything about it screams pointless to me, but for some reason I don't feel disinclined to listen to it.
While I would much rather hear Nevermind de-constructed and then built back up so that it would sound like something new and fresh I seem hooked on listening to one guys virtually verbatim run through of it.
Maybe my lack of loathing is down to it just being a fan release.
It has no airs and graces and it certainly doesn't pretend to be anything else other than a tribute to an album that must have moved him on its release.
I would maybe have had a few issues with it if it was available in stores as I would be focussed on the lack of anything new being brought to the table for profit aspect of it, but as it's another free download that you can grab from his website it would be churlish, and more pointless than covering the album in this manner, to have a dig.
So there you have it. A couple of nudges in a different direction.
Save your pennies and give the anniversary edition a miss, walk on by the Kerrap cover mounted CD and grab yourself something a bit different.
In doing so you would probably be honouring the intent of Nevermind in shaking things up a bit, rather than just regurgitating the past for profit.
Something I don't think Mr Cobain would have been comfortable with.

Free Downloads :
http://www.spin.com/node/90310
http://www.kevindevine.net/