screw your 42" flatscreen tv!

two things that keep cropping up on this blog

home improvements

and star wars


now if only there was an entertaining and inspiring 'light' news piece that could combine the two of them while i look for ideas to geek out the attic room


sheeeet, will you look at that? while everybody else has been getting unreasonably excited about The Empire Strikes Back being inducted into something something, cultural importance blah blah, they've only gone and skipped over the creation of a home cinema styled around around Darth Vader's Star Destroyer!!

'windows' were painted on the walls to give a view looking out from the imposing Imperial fleet vehicle, the room is constructed to be accoustically perfect, and two scarlet-clad Imperial guards even watch over the entrance to this geeking-freaking slice of nirvana that is equipped with 12 leather recliners and a wii, incase chasing down rebels just isn't fun any more.

but the dream becomes almost as crushing as a stormtroopers defeat at the hands of ewoks, when you pay closer attention to the article, since not every misguided geek has a 20 by 30 foot room knocking around to convert and upset their significant others, and to add salt to the recently opened wound they also have an adjoining living room and pool table and have even hosted intimate gigs in the Vader room

and since my own through lounge doesn't come in those particular sizes, i guess we'll keep hooking up the laptop to the projector and stereo for our own cinematic experiences, and i suppose i should consider a more humble approach to redecorating the attic

credit where it's due:

read the full story at triblocal/libertyville

and pictures lovingly pilfered from Amy Alderman (triblocal)

oh, and the home theatre was also completed in 2009! hot news! as soon as it happens!

delayed by snow? stuck in the post?

i try to be creative

i also try to be giving


and at no other time is this more appropriate than at christmas.

i have already displayed my dismay at not being able to get an actual 'christmas single' ready for the past couple of years, but by way of consolation, and arriving just a day late is the newest track i have created, inspired by this year's Cage Against The Machine campaign

Cage Against The Machine - 4'33" (Hunchbakk's personal experience of tinnitus mix) by Hunchbakk

this is my own interpretation of John Cage's 4'33", and the main inspiration behind it was Eddy TM's involvement with the campaign to take 4'33" to Christmas number one, and how sales of the single would benefit a number of charities, including the British Tinitus Association, of which Eddy is a patron.

so instead of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence, or a 4 and a half minute soundtrack of my surroundings as some of the remixes have been, i decided that i should emphasise the tracks links to tinnitus, and try to reproduce what my tinnitus actually sounds like, to convey the discomfort and annoyance caused by my own suffering from tinnitus.


for the most accurate results, go about your daily life as usual and listen to this track at random moments throughout the day and night... at any given moment i will go from barely being able to notice my own tinnitus, to having a sudden and increased ringing in my left ear that will gradually fade over a short length of time, sometimes i am aware of a faint ringing in my ears, other times i am not, but it is most noticable when experiencing what should be silence



-PLEASE DO NOT LISTEN TO AT LOUD VOLUMES-




other remixes of 4'33" are also available to listen to on the Remix Against The Machine soundcloud page, and for further reading and food for thought, may i point you in the direction of Eddy TM's own musings on this years yuletide chart battle, and his annoyance at not only CATM's lowly chart placing but also a lack of support and concern from certain quarters

Madonna vs ?

it is very rare that i can actually hear a music news story without sceptically presuming that it is a cleverly disguised piece of promo or plea for attention merely masquerading as 'news'

and it was with the same regard that i also held the recent story that Madonna announced via facebook that she was looking for the "maddest, sickest, most badass people to collaborate with"

my first instinct is that it is just a little fanfare to remind fans that she is still here, but then again, Madonna never really goes away does she? there hasn't been the neccesity of any hard-laboured comeback ever, Madonna is huge, she probably always will be, despite making mis-judged albums like Hard Candy with its rubbish lead single, its rubbish album cover and its eager attempt to bridge an urban market, everyone still wanted a piece of Madonna and the accompanying tour broke her own record of being the highest grossing tour by a solo artist, previouly held by her 2006 Confessions tour.

my second thought on the matter was perhaps i should try and get in on this while the going is good, obviously with my head in the clouds i began imagining that Madonna may pluck me from obscurity, loving what she had heard of my music so far and being impressed by the even more avant guard compositions that i have yet to release upon the general public (i'd have let her listen as i wanted to know what she thought of them) and i would then discuss with her the possibility of producing an ambient and dizzying album together, the type of album that would have Lady Gaga literally gouging her eyes out that Madonna was still the most forward thinking and archetypal female recording artist on the planet and that she was still some way behind...

'hey, Gaga, things have been crazy since Madonna took me on board, but maybe once i get back off the world tour we could hook something up, i've got meetings with Jay-Z in New York and Dangermouse wanted to knock afew ideas around... but i'll definetely have my people arrange something with you as soon as possible'

*ahem*

back to reality

my third thought was that Madonna has already made the fortunes of William Orbit, Mirwais and Stuart Price, all artists that i was already aware of before she sent them rocketing through the stratosphere and probably set them up for life, which got me wondering who she may actually collaborate with on the eventual album

i seriously can't imagine Madonna or Madonna's people fully embracing the mammoth task that such an open and public invitation would induce, anyone with a computer and a little bit of software can call themselves an artist or a producer, as i have proved, and the influx of submissions would be so overwhelming that i'm sure any real talent hoping to emerge would be drowned in a sea of mediocre or downright turgid, crap music.

most likely the new produce will already be known within the music industry, and i wouldn't be at all surprised if a cross-over dance artist such as Calvin Harris or Deadmau5 would be allowed to take the reigns on what will be Madonna's 12th studio album

now i seriosly doubt that my little blog holds any sway over the decisions that Madonna will be making, but if she is passing up on a Hunchbakk produced album, then i would suggest that perhaps she instead enlists the help of Mr Le Sac.

Dan Le Sac is possibly the producer i hold in the highest esteem, and the debut album with Scroobius Pip 'Angles' is an album i return to again and again, constantly and repeatedly fascinated and intrigued by the leftfield production and stuttering beats. And this year's follow up 'The Logic of Chance' builds on the sturdy foundations built by the first, with more forays into dance-centric synths, 8-bit squelches and 2010's obligigatory nod towards dubstep, once again thrown together in a fashion that sounds almost haphazard, yet probably took much fine tuning and crafting to achieve such loose sounding experimental brilliance.

and with Madonna's known flirtations with dance music, i think Dan Le Sac could be the perfect production foil to lead The Queen of Pop to new, groundbreaking territory if he was at the helm of her upcoming album.

in this day and age of facebook campaigns coming out of our ears as they all attempt to be the next big news-worthy, hype hungry movement to change the current status quo, i don't know if putting the idea forward into the social networking forum would be just a whisper lost among a million and one voices all shouting for attention, but then i also think that if i believe in something enough, then maybe, just maybe it would be worth giving it a go.


so my last note is a personal plea to Dan Le Sac, if i can make the difference and get your foot in the door with Miss Ciccone, perhaps you could show your gratitude by hooking a brother up, the chance of a cheeky remix here or a handclap on the album there that i shall be able to claim royalties for, anything would be appreciated, maybe i could be an overpaid tea boy (as i do make a good cuppa if i do say so myself) or even just being the person that applies talcum powder to female dancers between costume changes on tour....



remember that i put you where you are (erm, where i hope to put you) so you know where to find me


cheers


stream Sick Tonight by Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip


available on the album The Logic of Chance

brucie bonus

she won the argument about the size of the sofa, and back in the early days of moving in together she also sternly informed me that we WAS going to be getting a tv license and that there wasn't an argument to be had over it

i had no choice

she steadfastly refused to go without watching the telly, despite anything worth watching plus a hell of a lot more being available to stream online


and so it goes that since moving in with my girlfriend afew months ago, i am suddenly a different person, i still don't actively choose to watch the television, but since my computer is still struck dumb and i have nothing resembling a studio to disapear away to i am all of a sudden a lot more aware of what is going on

this is the first year that i have actually been able to name the finalists for the X-factor and Strictly Come Dancing, and the very first time i have taken an active interest in the Apprentice

and while i have kicked up a stink every time she lends any credence to Simon Cowell's despicable cause, i haven't protested so much about tuning into Strictly

obviously i have always been aware of the skimpy outfits, but if she wants to watch it, it isn't all bad too bad for me either

and the Strictly final shaped up to be a battle between two of my favourites of the series, and since the Roxanne Pallet post from last june is still the page that gets the most hits 18 months after it was published it would be foolish not to give a little exposure to one of my other favourite soap sirens that spent most of strictly being over-exposed

mmmmmm... Kara Toyn-Toyn in an outfit similar to those she wore for the past 12 weeks, except with less sequins

she was crowned champion of this series on saturday, and she had been my hot favourite from the start (for reasons other than her dancing skills)  and while the other half has been drooling over Gavin's shirt shedding routines, i have actually been growing fonder and fonder of faux-redhead Aliona, who apparently has to have her hair dyed every week just before the saturday night show

my girlfriend actually seemed genuinely devastated during saturday's final, during which she proclaimed 'what am i going to watch next saturday night??!!'

at which point i reminded her that next saturday would be christmas day and the strictly christmas special would be on, and then everything seemed to right with the world again

(and if i keep quiet and behave myself during strictly, hopefully she won't disturb me during Doctor Who)

dave against the machine

christmas is creeping ever closer and last night i actualy started my wrapping and piling afew presents underneath the christmas tree, although there is one present that hasn't made it under the tree after i decided to keep it for myself

my brother is always the easiest person to buy for each year since his tastes are so similar to mine, if i like it then there is a pretty good chance that he will like it too, and being the artistic type (translation: broke) it is extremely unlikely that he will have already bought said presents for himself.

and since i can always make my present budget go quite far by economically choosing recycled and ethical presents from charity shops, i thought i might have been onto a winner upon spotting an orange sleeved tome upon the shelves of british heart foundation

intriguingly entitled The Book of Dave, a fleeting glance at the blurb revealed it to be a distopian vision of Britain's future if a slightly mad cabbie's jotted down ramblings were the foundation for a new religion, exactly the type of thing i knew that the Bishop would dig.

except i spent the next few days wondering if i might dig it more

i'd just finished my book from the library and needing stimulation for my brain i decided that i would get stuck in

bloody good job i did too, since it seems that he already has his next book lined up for reading, plus i'm not exactly sure how well his dyslexia would have coped with the futuristic Mockney accent that sections of the book are written in

much like Trainspotting and Pygmy, the story is told with an emphasis on dialogue that it isn't always instant to get a grips with

rest assured he will still be getting decent presents and i'll even go as far as letting him borrow the book if he fancies it after working his way through the Complete works of Lewis Carrol if he so wishes

titus groan

my foul tempered and life-support assisted computer has been a real burden on any kind of creativity that i was intending to display, another year, another christmas and i'm ashamed to say that i have nought new to offer anybody by way of a musical present.

that isn't to say that i haven't thought about it (after all, i am a thinker and not a doer)

and somewhere on my flatlining hardrive is my follow up to www.xmas.com, intended to be released in 2009, but with each fleeting moment i assume that it shall remain an incomplete idea that recoils in Sony Acid

it is a cover version of sorts, and the more thought i give to it, the more i see it as something that was never likely to have acheived fruition

much more likely to be within my grasp was the notion of another cover version, my own attempt at John Cage's 4'33" that i was rather delighted to have thought up when the Christmas number 1 campaign was still in its infancy and is now being actively encouraged, but quite simply i just haven't found the time (all 4 minutes and 33 seconds) to work on it properly, combine this with the fact that my girlfriend's laptop seems to make an awful lot of noise when it records and it leaves me falling short of the creative vision i had in mind

and so it goes, i have ideas, i consider cover versions, i play out in my head a way to make it sound like my own, give each track a Hunchbakk stamp that makes it recognisable as clearly being one of my interpretations, i did manage it with the xx's vcr, i also made a start on a cover of a rialto song, and i'm still certain that my eventual version of 'many of horror' while be a darn sight better than that wet squib currently being offered up by Matt Cardle (seriously, why?)

but in terms of a festive treat for right now, i'm bringing back www.xmas.com, and shall keep bringing it back until amazon or hmv see fit to use it in their christmas advertising campaigns and send a little money my way

if they want it, they'll have to pay for it, but for everybody else the track is available to download absolutely free (just like all my music to date has been) and this year is the first year that the track is available via soundcloud, so please feel free to share it around and spread the cynical christmas cheer

   www.xmas.com by Hunchbakk

many of horror

of all the terrible things that i could never have imagined into being, Biffy Clyro bagging themselves a Christmas number 1 via a hammed up and highly inappropriate X-factor cover version is one of them, seriously? i'm still almost entirely sure that this is some kind of practical joke, for so so so many reasons, none of which i shall vent right here and right now

for right now is about retaliation and rehabilitation, and maybe other alliterate verbs, redemption perhaps...

depressingly, first day sales seem to have Simon Cowell on course for reclaiming the Christmas Number 1 spot after losing out last year to Rage Against The Machine and the spirited campaign that captured so much attention (and so many headlines)

but just because the battle may in due course be lost, this doesn't mean that we can't put up a fight and throw a little weight behind one of the similar campaigns that have innevitably cropped up this year

The Family Guy featured song 'Surfin' Bird/Bird is The Word' looks to be the biggest contender, with Biffy Clyro's original also looking strong in the charts so far.

But it is the outsider, the underdog, that i have chosen to get behind, for rather obvious reasons.

Dubbed 'Cage Against The Machine' (see what they did there?), a re-recorded version of John Cage's silent performance piece 4'33" is currently knocking around the lower end of the top 20.

The reasons that i would choose this effort over any others, or choosing any at all is mostly down to the charities supported

one such is the British Tinnitus Association, and i have mentioned on my blog before, i am a tinnitus sufferer myself, meaning that i quite often get a high pitched ringing in my ears due to the damage i have caused to my hearing over the course of far too many gigs and clubs at far too loud volumes

sometimes it is barely noticable, sometimes it comes on strong out of nowhere but gradually fades, and rather ironically, it is when there is silence that it is most obvious that i can't actually hear silence anymore, so 4 and a half minutes of the absence of noise is rather poignant to myself and other tinnitus sufferers

The British Tinnitus Association is not the only overlooked charity that stands to gain from sales of 4'33", and full details can obviously be found on the campaign website

and regardless of musical allegiances and chart positions, it is still important to put your money where your mouth is, if you are going to spout off then back up those words and part with your cash to download the tracks and keep supporting worthy causes

4'33" (Cage Against The Machine Version) is available from Amazon, and remix bundle is also available



4'33" (CATM version) (Fake Blood`s Needle Drop Mix) by RemixAgainstTheMachine

facsimile of me

looking in the mirror was like seeing a facsimile of me
recognising something of my original self
among the blacks and whites and pallid shades of grey

hail to the underdog

last night, as i finished up Starman Omnibus Vol.1 and read James Robinson's lengthy and enlightening afterword, i was reminded of a quote

i wasn't entirely sure who had said that 'history is written by the winners' (i guess it could have been Shakespeare), but it seemed entirely appropriate as i read the rambling thoughts of Robinson, as he regaled his journey that lead him to the acclaimed run on the '90's incarnation of Starman and the paths he had crossed

and as thought of my own embryonic ideas for a potentially acclaimed comic stories came to mind, and if i will ever actually get round to fully developing my fantastical whims, i also gave thought to how many other stories of creatives have also gone unheard, all those also-rans and ne'er-do-wells that never got to claim the spoils of victory or tell their tales


and it was this mentality that drove me to write my piece on Flo Kirton for the Enfield Advertiser, to give a voice to someone on the other side of the music industry, since your Qs and NMEs are already clogged up with the bands and artists that have made it  and your 'hot tips'

but what happens when the 'next big thing' doesn't get 'big'?

i want my columns to give a different scope from your usual music journalism, of course in a local paper i give a lot of time to local bands, it would be stupid not to, and there are many deserving bands knocking around Enfield, but so much is made of this fantastic future that we're living in, where more and more is available to us, that i want to expose the cracks in this ideal... just because the NME is telling you that 'the next big thing' recorded all their demos in their bedroom, it doesn't mean that Joe Goddard will be knocking down your door wanting to turn you into a popstar just because you own a PC and a little bit of music software

and you'll also find me dipping my toe into the other end of the spectrum, with a recent column on Cheryl Cole and a work in progress on Kanye West, and possibly a sideways glance at Justin Bieber.

but keep your eyes peeled for pieces on my agenda covering The Freewheelin Troubadour, 9BlinD and Deeds of the Dying and a look at the recording habits of Those Handsome Animals and Akira the Don, who recently unleashed a killer mixtape in conjuction with Joey 2tits as he builds towards the release of his second album proper.

 Pyke by Akira The Don stream only
available on the mixtape 'the kidnapping of Akira The Don By Joey 2tits'

damaged goods

i hope those of you that stop by here occasionally have been able to keep up with the recent deluge of output that has kept the blog moving at quite a pace

on the press front, it seems that the Janelle Monae review i expected to surface has gone astray somewhere along the line, the editor instead pushing to have my Cheryl Cole and Flo Kirton pieces published, narrowing down the time between me submitting them and them appearing in print, even catching me unawares when he beat me to the punch by featuring Flamboyant Bella's former singer in last wednesday's Enfield Advertiser before i'd even posted it on the blog... the newspaper also using the inspired, tongue in cheek headline Flo's bedroom antics to get back on top

on the home front, the weekend was used to pick out curtains and contemplate venetian blinds, as the rooms tackled so far attempt to make it past the 'soft furnishings' mark in terms of progress.  a brisk trip around the Cross also found 2 new additions for the kitchen, in the form of a novelty ice cube tray and a chrome bin that replaces the small black bin that was intended for the bathroom but will now probably reside in one of the bedrooms.

and these shopping trips have also produced a few unique images of quite disturbing products that are for sale in Harlow if you know all the wrong places to look

meaning you not only get updates on my journalism and home improvements, you also get treated to brand new photography

bedroom antics.....

last december, in my first ever review for the Enfield Advertiser i brought you a review of a band i was extremely excited about.

sadly, Flamboyant Bella promptly imploded in the early part of 2010 when the male 3/4s of the band decided to take a break from rock star shenanigans in favour of furthering each of their respective educations.

Which left Flo Kirton with no band.

what didn't leave Flo was a passion to continue making music, which saw her experimenting with self-production, solo compositions, seeking collaborators and trying to avoid getting a real job.

playing a crucial contributing role within 'Flambo', Flo found herself with complete creative control of her output, but has found it hard keeping herself motivated without the structure of conventional band practises.

working from her bedroom recording demo tracks with a small set up of a PC and Logic studio has put Flo in the same position as so many other people out there that are hoping to break into the mainstream and make a name for herself, but has found that the reailty of affordable recording equipment and an over saturated internet music culture is leaving her jaded.

'Due to the new-found accessibility in entering the music industry, i'd say it makes it all the harder for a small town girl to make any impact at all these days. After all, everyone knows it's who you know, not what you know..' she told me.

and going from a treasured indie-pop band that were flirting with the prospect of stardom to being a girl that signs on every week, struggles with crashing software stunting her creativity and still dreams of 'making it' has seen a sense of cynism and bitterness creeping into Flo's songwriting  and also had an adverse effect of her views of the industry and her outlook of the world.

'Although i'm only 20, because of how young i was when stuff with Flamboyant Bella peaked, it's easy to feel like i've had my time to shine. I can only hope that how bitter i've become, will spur me on to better things, because one thing i have learnt is to not trust, rely on or try to make friends with 90% of the industry, 'cos all they tend to care about anymore is money and name-dropping.'

not paying

it's clear we live in a fickle world.

i was one of many subscribers that helped Marina Gasolina's debut solo single cause a mini stir among the blogosphere.

it just seems such a shame that those willing to give exposure to Marina's talent in an online forum weren't quite so keen to turn up in person for a free gig when Marina Gasolina hit Brixton's The Rest Is Noise last week.


the bar hosting the gig is probably best known as a place to hook up with friends and knock back a few drinks before gigs at Brixton Academy, me and my brother found ourselves stood at the bar at a little after eight, waiting to get a pint among a whole bundle of Deftones fans and then trying to find a spot to perch and wait out the inevitable exodus that would occur.

sure enough, come nine o'clock, the punters still inside the Rest Is Noise were actually outnumbered by the bar staff.


and as there didn't seem to be an awful lot of activity on the tiny stage i became a little concerned, and was uncertain if that really was Marina Gasolina sat just a couple of feet away from us.

it was Marina, although i didn't know this at the time, she certainly looked different from the last time i had seen her hanging around at an M.I.A gig at London's ICA, but all of this is regardless - it had now gone 9 and i was starting to wonder if anything was even gonna happen and started to fret that we may have had a wasted journey to the far flung end of the Victoria Line for nothing.


instead of approaching the maybe Marina i thought it best to avoid embarrassment by simply asking at the bar if the gig was still going ahead, at which point i was told that she would likely be on once it had picked up again, probably about half 10, going on 11.  something that wasn't entirely evident from the details of the event that i had previously seen that simply said the gig was 8 - 12.

a little flummoxed by this, i ordered the next two pints, hoping we could make them last otherwise this 'free' gig was going to work out pricier than i imagined since i was buying for both me and my artistic (translated as currently unemployed and broke) brother, and more importantly i actually had no intention of getting drunk at all and knocking back beers was hardly gonna achieve sobriety


so how exactly do you make a pint of beer last an hour and a half?

by providing enough of a distraction by raiding the bar's table full of games! that's how!

Connect 4, despite it's simplicity and the fact we had to substitute fingers for missing red counters if the game wore on too long, probably kept us going the longest, this may also be down to the fact that not all of the pieces for Frustation and Downfall were in the respective boxes and we wasn't sure we'd have time to conquer the world playing Risk

the only other option left was a boardgame version of Blockbusters, sadly missing it's instuctions, and since it looked like quite a complex game to set up we simply made it up as we went along, unpeturbed by a lack of guidelines and possibly bolstered by a slight boredom of Connect 4

The Bishop was just about to start his Gold Run (that i was gonna have to make the rules up for) but the game finished in a forced draw when the band started up....

this was intended to be a Marina review, getting a little sidetracked here


midway through the first track, and just outside the streets of Brixton were suddenly awash with four thousand deftones fans, with a number of passing punters steadily streaming in and refilling the empty bar and giving Marina something resembling an audience to work with

perhaps it was down to the unfamiliarity of those gathered and the fact that the bar had been practically empty just five minutes previously, but it was hardly the performance that i was hoping for given her history (and mine) with Bonde Do Role

gone were the baile funk beats and the extrovert antics, in was a style more associated with Juliette Lewis and the Licks, backed by a more traditionally accepted band of guitar, drummer and bassist, Marina fronts the band with a tearaway attitude and a punk-tinged but pleasing singing voice, something that wasn't evident from her tenure with Bonde.

talk of working with producers such as Radioclit, had my salivating, but little of the electronic influence bleeds through into the show i witnessed, although, by her own admission, Marina had managed to spill an almost full pint over her sampler just as her set began, which may have left us without an important ingredient of live proceedings.

i could hardly chalk this one up as the most inspiring performances i have ever seen, but i pin most of that on my pining for even a nod towards old school Bonde Do Role, but despite the changes, Marina is still a rather unabashed entity, willing to work for a crowd, and when she flashes a cheeky grin or swivels her hips it is like a tease of the way things use to be, and i only hope that her audiences will grow alongside her newly forged solo career.

a free download of Marina Gasolina's debut single was featured in my post from earlier this month

a thinker and not a doer

i was sat in the passenger seat of the car on the way to leicester, scribbling down all of the bits that i would like to do in the house, trying to recall all the little quirky ideas and geeky touches that have fallen into my brain over the past few months, as well as any other cosmetic changes that i think would be appropriate.

top of the list was purchasing a 2 seater Karlstad sofa from Ikea, despite the fact that my girlfriend had pretty much won that argument already, having picked up the Isundra Grey covers for the 3 seater earlier that day (tho not the sofa, since it wouldn't fit in the car), i knew it was rather futile, but in my mind i thought i may still be in with a chance of proving myself right once the 3 seater is in place and is slightly too big, as i think it is.

further down are a number of other changes that i would like to implement that i know she already disagrees with

(alas, it is already too late to get a boat in the front room)



my girlfriend glances at the list after filling up petrol and i covet it before she can read too far and start putting paid to all my other intentions for the home.

she tells me:  'you are a thinker and not a doer'



indeed it is true, i like to give things a lot of thought and sometimes overthink things to the point that i don't actually get round to doing them, far too busy wondering if i've made the right choice or holding off doing what i want to do for one reason or another.

whereas she will get sick of me thinking about it and just buy whatever suits herself, this is the reason we now have a bed and will soon have a sofa.


but i like thinking, i spend a lot of time thinking, and this is also the reason i have my blog, it is an outlet, not only can i let my creative side flourish and indulge my passion for writing, but i can also publish my procrastinations, on whatever topic i so desire, whether it is music, ikea sofas, thinking, or, erm, music.

paying (part 2)

and after the disappointment of M.I.A earlier in the week, to say that i was apprehensive about seeing Gorillaz at the o2 arena was a massive understatement.

even before the Maya debacle i was kinda concerned about how thing would turn out since past experience didn't exactly bode well for it.

i'd already documented my feelings about Blur's massive Hyde Park gigs and i was unimpressed with Gorillaz' drafted in headline slot at Glastonbury earlier this year, it was shambolic and rambling and lacked any real energy, when you combine this with the fact that i knew Flaming Lips would be much more entertaining over on the other stage, we reached the conclusion that we wouldn't bother to stick around to see if the Gorillaz set got any better

and i guess that brings the story pretty much up to date, with me spending the months since Glastonbury wondering if it could have been some hokum Damon Albarn curse that had been put upon me, i love virtually all the music the man touches, but so far 2 out of 3 live performances had disappointed me (with the exception being The Good, The Bad and The Queen in Victoria Park)

thankfully my misgivings were misplaced and i hadn't felt like i had thrown all of my money away in one week, virtually from the outset it was obvious that this would surpass the shoddy performance from the summer, there was a build up of genuine anticipation as opposed to the mix of curiosity and high hopes that flooded the fields of Glastonbury, and even tho we were on very familiar ground, with the similar starts to the set and a repetition of the same animation sequences we had already seen, it still didn't feel like we had seen this live show before, if anything it felt that glasto was the dress rehearsal and this was the real deal that we had been looking forward to

for a start, Damon Albarn was a lot more (for want of a better word) animated, actually taking to the stage and bounding among the performers instead of hiding behind his keyboards towards the back of the stage and trying to orchestrate a star spangled extravaganza, onstage at the o2 arena you could believe that he was truly involved in the project and followed this belief through by acting like a part-time lead singer between the expected guestspots

another fault i levelled at Glastonbury was the stop/start nature of the entire headline slot, lacking cohesion and causing immense boredom when the Pyramid Stage crowd were frequently met with silence, and this problem has been ironed out, leaving us with a perfectly flowing performance, all tied together with slick animation asides and always eyecatching backdrop videos throughout, creating one of the ultimate audio-visual experiences possible

not every guest performer was there with them, but this was inconsequential when considering the performers they had still managed to pull together and pull off without making the night feel like a charity fundraising gala show, it still felt celebrational but far from trite, the mood onstage was joyous and the crowd reaction was equally as enjoyable.

so, second time around Damon actually managed to steer a smooth course towards Plastic Beach, transferring the atmospheric album onto stage with a crew of veteran musicians, world spanning guests and a smattering of new blood, creating an almost perfect vehicle for his fictional bands career to date and at the same time making me a very pleased punter.

money well spent indeed.

 Gorillaz - Empire Ants (feat. Little Dragon) 

paying (part 1)

before i was a music journalist and a blogger, i was a music fan (as i continue to be).

thankfully, getting myself in to review gigs is an inexpensive way to indulge my passion, but last week i actually went to two gigs that i had to pay for, deciding that i couldn't just take the chance that an opportunity to get on the respective guestlists would arise.

first up was M.I.A, who i had been desperate to see touring her new album after catching her rare London appearances whenever possible over the past 6 years.

i shouldn't have bothered.

/\/\/\Y/\ is a heavy, broodding beast of an album that warrants being played at high volumes in order to become fully immersed in the dense urban beats and leftfield sound effects, and in theory should have birthed a riotous live show.

but instead i ended up shelling out for a gig where for the most part the vocals were barely audible, the setlist choice left alot to be desired, and i think M.I.A, despite being at the gig in body, was hardly there in spirit.

i don't know where to lay the blame, but things have changed, perhaps motherhood has sapped the chaotic energy she was renowned for, perhaps her family ties to the CEO of Warner Music has made life too comfortable, perhaps it was the crossover success of Paper Planes and the new fans it garnered that changed the gig's dynamics, or perhaps it was just a bad night

all i know is that it didn't feel like i was witnessing the same person on that stage that i had seen before

it would be an easy assumption to blame it on the venue, M.I.A works far better in a more intimate environment, fuelling the fantasy that you've joined her for a genre splitting underground rave as i've encountered first hand at the ICA and at Fabric, nowhere was this more obvious than with the rather desperate looking stage invasion that the security had quite clearly been briefed to allow (and even lend a hand) but simply resulted in a small gathering of people poncing around onstage which quite frankly looked embarrassing.

i still class myself as an M.I.A fan, i'll try not to let this one incident ruin the memory of far happier times we have shared together, i must admit tho, that the experiences have been tainted.

but when you are being outshone by your own faltering and awkward Ginger B-Boy, M.I.A must realise that things haven't been going great recently.

 M.I.A - Steppin Up

take a bite.

the Bubblegum Stomp crew helped bring a fledling All Teeth into the world, way back in march 2008

we knew the Gingerbread Men through their gigging with Red Griffin Records, for whom we became something like resident DJs, always quite happy to throw down for a party vibe

and we were over the moon to be asked to get involved, always keen to take our eclectic tastes elsewhere and catch a few bands in the process

and yeah, we threw down hard (as always!), we mashed it up, we played the songs you love, the songs you hate (but secretly love) and the songs you don't actually know (but should love). we also wore Will Smith masks.


we had bloody great fun and we had people dancing but i'm guessing we must have done something wrong, because we never got invited back.

perhaps it was because we were slightly non-punctual (ooops)

perhaps it was because Pink Lizard upset All Teeths head honcho early in the night by playing My Chemical Romance when panicked by an unfamiliar CD deck that wouldn't give her CD back (i deduced that it needed to be paused, then ejected, problem solved)

or perhaps it was because we disgruntled Bloody Awful Poetry who were also along to DJ after we'd had our slot, we probably didn't hit it off well when we kept giving one guy rather off looks after he just started hanging around near the decks, acting completely shifty and failing to introduce himself and i think we were quite justified in thinking that he was out to steal our or the band's stuff.

and when his DJing co-hort arrived and they were actually introduced to us they suddenly insisted on taking over right away, ignorant of the fact that we had just hit our stride and were getting great reactions from the floor, obviously pleased to see people moving and wanting a slice of the glory.

we bargained to buy ourselves a little longer and play out a couple more before relenting our hold on the Buffalo Bar, at which point they cued up their tracks and followed with a less than barn storming set.

as fans of Gingerbread Men and discovering new music in general, i think us Stompers had kinda hoped it may have been the start of a beautiful relationship, but something nixed it for us, and despite popping along to enjoy All Teeth as paying customers, while Bloody Awful Poetry returned a few times, we have never been invited back to DJ ..

until now!!!

yep, maybe the ghosts of Bloody Awful Poetry have been exorcised! cos we are back at All Teeth this thursday!!!

click image for a larger view or check out the event page on facebook

now these chances to DJ are becoming rarer , we utterly relish the chance to get out and exert our musical taste on others, the last set at Bushfest was a revelation, and since my mp3 burnt discs are unlikely to work on the Buffalo Bars slightly old Skool rickety CD decks, i'll probably have to dig in the crates a little (and perhaps burn an extra special CD of new stuff)

and those wanting to know a little more about the historical launch night of All Teeth can check out a write-up right here

stray sofas 11

the last time i posted sofas was in july??

why must the months keep hurtling past so quickly?

by the looks of it, this sofa could be related to this guy.  but i think he's is a bit tougher, for a start, he has managed to keep his cushions, and is still in a rather respectable condition.  and secondly, it looks like he has knocked out a fridge in order to get a prime place in front on the bin shelter, that he looks longingly at, wishing to get inside.

little bit

after the pop diversion of Cheryl Cole, perhaps i should swing the focus back round to a more standard blog filler and play a little catch up with my contemporaries.

i tend to sidestep a lot of the hype acts so beloved by the blogosphere, but these couple of tracks that have surfaced recently were just too good to overlook and since both are available to download for free i thought it would be wrong to deny you these absolute gems

first up is the return of Lykke Li, which is already getting plenty of people excited.

i really don't think i need to be pushing Lykke Li onto anybody, since her 2008 debut album Youth Novels, she has been steadily gaining more and more recognition which has seen her slowly saturating, even cropping up in places as diverse and wide reaching as Drake's 2009 mixtape So Far Gone and The Twlight Saga's soundtrack for New Moon.

but for those that may have slept on Lykke, it's time to wake up, when i first heard her on the radio i found her voice and the music to be so refreshing and irristable and i would urge anyone to dig up Youth Novels and find out what you've missed out on so far.

back in the present day tho, Lykke is prepping for an upcoming album with the free release of Get Some, which is also accompanied by a quite superb b-side (remember them?) and they are both yours in exchange for a little info and your email address, which is a fair deal in my opinion.

somewhat disturbingly, the comeback track kicks in with intro sounding like a knock off of Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse's version of Valerie, and also features a refrain resembling a KT Tunstall hook, yet neither of these music coincidences could tarnish the track, as it broodingly beats an almost tribal rythm and the song sways with a commanding, sultry darkness

Lykke Li - Get Some download available via www.lykkeli.com

also making a welcome is the force of nature known as Marina Gasolina, formerly of one of my new favourite bands from back in the day, Bonde Do Role.  the crazy energy exerted by the brazilian trio (in their original line-up) and their onstage antics meant that no two Bonde live shows would ever be the same, and i only hope that solo performances won't have lost the unpredictable edge that the group dynamic delivered

but until she has the chance to prove herself live, we have a download of her debut solo single courtesy of Notion magazine and Sainted PR, which is a well crafted slice of electonic wonkiness tooled up with Spaghetti Western-esque twangs that works for Marina perfectly, while also carving her own clear identity that should see her avoid being merely lumped in lazily with M.I.A, Santigold and Amanda Blanc, and if this is the standard to be expected from future output then it should easily see Marina surpass her achievements with Bonde Do Role.

Marina Gasolina - Leone

credit where it's due:

Marina Gasolina's debut solo effort was brought to my attention by Faded Glamour



but is it art?

credit where it's due:


lovingly pilfered from Super Punch

lump it

my little brother seems to think that it was possibly Shakespeare that said "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry".

i personally couldn't care who said it (although i do know that he is on a bit of a wind up)

i just wish that sometimes things would actually just work out the way i intended them to.

for while i have been busy trying to add weight to my blog's social standing as a music blog, and while my life has been in slight upheaval, and while my crippled computer has remained comatose, i have found no time at all to work on any of my own music.

i then made the decision that since things are kind of settling down in the new home and we now have small amounts of clutter gravitating towards us within the large empty rooms, that i would try and get the wheels in motion again, by sneakily installing Acid on my girlfriend's laptop so i could continue my experiments into sound and noise.

i'd picked up the instillation disc and a handful of other CDs that i thought may come in handy and sat myself down, ready to work into the night on manipulating whatever aural pleasures i chose to, all set-up, all good..

except i don't have my damn serial number :-(

so the time i should have spent knocking out some inaudible concoction was instead replaced by the installation of Comical and picking up where i'd last read Countdown to Infinite Crisis until my eyes could no longer stay open.

Waking up this morning with a new sense of vigour and purpose, knowing that i could finally got a move on and possibly even have an audio experiment all wrapped up and ready to share by the end of the day, i ploughed through my household chores without even a shred of half-heartedness, keen to make this day a glorious day full of achievements!  washing put out to dry, clothes put away, floors swept and bundles of boring paperwork piled through, i decided my work here was done and rushed out to grab a few extra bits of clutter, a few more DVDs and the all important serial number i needed....

well i guess i wouldn't even be writing this blog post if the story had a happy ending, but incase the suspense is killing you....   i tapped in the ridiculously long code, got the software all loaded up, clicked to youtube looking for some audio i wished to rip and started recording..

only to find that the inner machinations of my girlfriend's laptop must be stupidly loud and didn't really want to participate in what i had got planned for the rest of the day

so it's back to the drawing board for now, in fact it is probably back to a few more comics and finally getting round to making myself some lunch after all the excitement has worn off and the frustration has been vented.

perhaps it is time to pay to get my computer fixed......

:-(