hello everyone...been busy moving house and checking out the delights of Berlin. But watch this space for some posts this week!

Now this is something I wish I'd seen....

As urban guerrilla sounding in it's own way as Throbbing Gristle, drum 'n' bass or techno, Glenn Branca has always produced some awe-inspiring music. My particular favourites are 'Lesson No.1 for Electric Guitar' and 'The Ascension', in which you can hear the endless oscillating strands of sound that come from multiple guitars. Presumably an orchestra of one hundred guitars at once would produce endless micro-tonal possibilities? I actually think that the two tracks by him mentioned above sort of predate genres like shoegazing and post-rock that we've become used to. There's not a huge difference between the tracks and some of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's work, for example. Or Seefel's 'Quiqe'. Anyway, this gig is something I wish I'd went to, along with the Boredoms gig in New York, in a park with 77 drummers on the 7th July 2007, at 7pm, which would perfectly fit their frenzied drum incantations:

Sadly, though, I couldn't go to Branca, due to relocating this weekend to a new house near Walthamstow Dog Tracks of all places, where my famous neighbours will include Blazin' Squad, Daniella Westbrook (her of the nose sans septum), Teddy Sheringham, and - of course - Brian Harvey. Exactly how I've gone from Glenn Branca to Brian Harvey in one post I don't know. Still, Branca's playing two sets at the Portishead ATP in December (including one set with 'special guests' - no doubt Thurston Moore will be among them, as he's doing a solo set too), so will catch him then.

Following on from my post about the Spitz...

...we will also shortly see the end of King's Cross' dark, shadowy industrial wasteland as it makes way for luxury flats (which will doubtless be those new model flats that all seem to look exactly the bloody same in that bland way), and the extension to the Eurostar - and with it, the Canvas complex of nightclubs (though I believe The Egg club will stay). K-Punk's post here is a fitting eulogy / requiem to an area that I still have imprinted in my mind from when I used to go to raves there in the mid-90s in the open brick courtyard / warehouse area, at what was then called Bagley's (which really makes me feel my age). I revisited that area recently with the TDK Festival, and a wave of nostalgia came over me; I always used to wonder what went on in those endless rows of warehouses, if there were interesting bands or events happening there. Now, much of this landscape will all be gone soon, obliterated in the desire for more luxury flats and wine bars/bistros; it's inescapable. It will become just another trendy area of London.

Going to see Control this week...

The Spitz RIP

So, despite the endless petition signatures, the leafleting, the articles in newspapers, and even the pleas by dear old Red Ken Livingstone, it wasn't enough for the Spitz to close, the latest victim of the area's corporatisation (though the venue has done stuff since at Rich Mix). I guess the sight of people making weird left-field experimental music at an interesting venue in a perfect location was just to much to bare for Ballymore Properties, who would prefer the an anodyne wine bar full of city yuppies. Although CBGB's had reportedly become a parody of its former self near the time it was shut down, you could almost draw parallels: the two areas around the Spitz and CBGB's are accelerating in the property market, and live music is always going to be the casualty (particularly once the new East London line is built). This is no place for nostalgia about what both venues have gave their respective cities in terms of culture or an arts scene. Obviously the Spitz was only one venue in London. But it was pretty much the best venue. Anyway, nostalgia doesn't count for anything when you have a prime location near the financial district. Who wants to listen to that unlistenable music when you can have an All Bar One? It's not like that area is lacking in investment bankers / lawyers etc to frequent the posh bars spouting up, of which the Spitz's replacement on that site will be one.
Another nail in the coffin for an independent scene in London, then (along with the Hammersmith Palais - another great venue). Still, there's always Starbucks across the road...
Anyway on a more serious note, the spirit of the Spitz lives on in part just down the road, at a great venue called the Gramaphone. And there's the Duke of Uke and the new Rough Trade East, to remind me why I still go to the area.

My third ATP in December...

...this time curated by Portishead, and Silver Apples have just been added to the bill! Along with four doom metal bands, Jah Shaka Soundsystem, Glenn Branca (playing twice!), the Aphex Twin, Julian Cope, and countless others, some of whom I've heard of (Oneida) and some I haven't (Crippled Black Phoenix? The Heads? Jo Volk?). Why aren't Movietone on the bill? Anyway, it confirms my theory that Portishead have always had more in common aesthetically with left-field guitar music than most electronica (and especially aberrations of the 'trip-hop' genre such as Zero 7 and Groove Armada - music for media people living in 'pads' in Notting Hill). They also take a nice swipe at another aberration of music, Mark Ronson, here. Exactly who is choosing to pay to go to Shepherd's Bush Empire and see this man do karaoke versions of the Kaiser Chiefs, among other acts, is mystifying; clearly someone is, as his gig there is sold out. Ronson is the prime example of music as background music; it can be played anywhere and, because it's not even his own compositions but rather pointless covers, it's easy to digest anywhere. You can play it on your iPod anywhere and not have to really think about the music. He's a prime example of music's superficiality in the digital age, when the sheer abundance of music negates it's importance: it's everywhere, from the clothes shop to the hairdresser. "Oh, but they're inventively done covers that add a twist to the original". So what, though? I guess I don't hang at the right parties at the Notting Hill Arts Club, so I wouldn't understand. This is Ronson's demographic. His music is seen as "cool" and "fresh" takes on old songs, which Kate Nash/Lilly Allen/Amy Winehouse types put on at parties.

At this point, I should just point I have an iPod myself and actually like it. But I also take the music on it seriously rather than treating it as background music. Which is one reason for the importance of All Tomorrow's Parties. Roll on December.

Wyatting

After revealing the practice of 'Wyatting' in this post a few months ago, I am proud to say that I 'Wyatted' a pub in Aldgate recently for the first time, who just happened to have an 'infinite' internet jukebox - the first one that I've seen. Needless to say, they had an incredible library of music connected to the Internet, so a brace of 'Stabbed In The Face' by Wolf Eyes was in order, followed by the charming ditties of Anal C**t. Given that one track costed a pound, I decided not to broadcast to the pub the entire works of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Acid Mothers Temple or Swans 'Public Castration Is A Good Idea'. Maybe if I had, the police might have moved in. Sadly the staff decided to turn down the volume of Wolf Eyes' masterpiece of power electronics so that it was barely discernable, and most people didn't seem to notice anyway because of the rugby, but for one moment I revelled in childish glory...anyone know of other pubs in London that have those internet jukeboxes?

Recluse night at Flea Pit

After the first Recluse night, there now comes the second...Saturday 23rd September 2007 at the Flea Pit, Columbia Road, doors 7:30. Isnaj Dui, Alex Monk and Rowan Porteous live.

Daydream at the Roundhouse

So Sonic Youth performing Daydream Nation at the Roundhouse did have the twinge of nostalgia workout about it (see previous blog entry here). The whole experience of watching bands perform albums in their entirety (as part of the Don't Look Back festival) is still a weird experience - you know exactly what's coming next and in which order the songs are going to be. Viewed cynically, it's simply a band reciting their greatest work without expanding on it.
Yet the gig was still a fantastic experience that brought back so many memories. There's something about it's distinctive tidal wash of oceanic noise and open-ended guitar symphony, with melodies spilling off in all directions, that keeps me returning to it - particularly as it soundtracked years of my adolescent life. Like Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures (which I cover in this post), there was something mysterious and intense about the front cover when I first saw it, an image that's about as far removed from punk rock as you can get. At the gig, there was something apt about watching the godfathers of dissonance and noise performing an album that offered a whole new chapter in rock dynamics, and a whole new language with its innovative tunings, at the Roundhouse, where Zeppelin and Hendrix expanded the possibilities of what could be utilized with a rock set-up in the 60's.
Ahh, bliss...those opening chords...

Razorshite

yeh Gods, just watched some highlights of Reading/Leeds - with Razorfuckinglight in the headline slot, a band that makes even the Kaiser Chiefs sound positively innovative. For fuck's sake. Thankfully, a few other people feel the same.

Notting Brick Hill Lane

As someone from the east of London who rarely ventures to the west of the city, a visit to the Notting Hill Carnival at least allowed me to check out an area that once was the focal point so much for counterculture in the '70s and 80's. Walking through the area and through Ladbroke Grove, the iconography of the area flicked through my mind: Jagger and Richard Curtis' intense cat-and-mouse game in Performance, located in the context of the end of the 60's dream; the madness of Hawkwind surviving on drugs in burnt-out squats in the area; the Electric Underground Cinema; Rough Trade's flowering as a record shop/label/ethical base and loci for musicians, activists and general weirdos (which I stood outside of for the first time during the festival); the post-punk scene connected with RT (The Slits -(yes, they were on Island Records but were still linked to RT), The Raincoats, The Pop Group, some other bands that I can't remember off the top of my head...); and Ballard's vision in Crash of the Westway and Trellick Tower...and what of the area now, particularly when the average salary in the borough is £100,000? Can you really have an area with a huge subculture when said area also happens to be among the most expensive in Europe? I guess if you're an accountant or lawyer on some pretty decent money it's pretty swell. Or if you're a trustafarian, as the article at least admits. Hardly bohemian, though. The real question I guess I'm getting at is: what is the equivalent to Notting Hill in the 70's/80's now? The natural answer would be Shoreditch/Hoxton and now particularly Brick Lane (especially with the impressive new Rough Trade East having opened recently, imitating in a sort of fashion the original shop 30 years ago). However, if the true indicator of a 'bohemian' area full of artists and the such-like is cheap rents and plenty of warehouse space, then I can't see how much longer the whole Shoreditch/Brick Lane area can carry on with it's hipster image. Surely there can't be any squats left in the area, what with the price tag. On Redchurch Street, the galleries are impressive but you have to wonder just how long this can continue - unless there's some local philanthropist businessmen putting serious money in. I used to walk to and from work every day through that street, and couldn't help but notice that every six months a gallery would vacate, only to be replaced by a new one - the increasingly brutal reality of that area's economics. The finger, then, would logically point at 'up-and-coming' (a word I hate) Hackney, which I grew up in - but even here, in areas such as Dalston, it's hardly that cheap, and Stoke Newington is certainly not either. Which makes me wonder: is it just rich parents that makes most of the musicians afford to live in areas such as Shoreditch, or do a lot of them (the musicians I mean) actually have well-paid jobs? Without wishing to sound like some know-it-all, I sometimes think that the true spirit of Notting Hill in the 70's/80's lives on most likely in Berlin these days, a city perfectly suited to be an artist - or Montreal, though someone from the latter told me recently that the rents are shooting up there too, together with the omniscient appearance of Starbucks. Berlin's huge, sprawling nature, coupled with the city's money problems and discrepancy in population size ( "only" 4 million people but in a city nearly the geographic size of London) equals a lot of affordable warehouse and living space.
Perhaps the closure of The Spitz could be the nail in the coffin for the eventual decline of Shoreditch. This might sound a bit drastic, as anyone whose lived near there can testify, what with the endless galleries and things to do. It's still a hell of an interesting area. So is it just me being embittered because I can't really afford to live there any more? Maybe, but then go on this website, scroll to the bottom, and click on 'London Shoreditch', 'London Hoxton', and 'London Brick Lane'. And check out the rents.
Anyway, it looks as if K-Punk is on a similar state of mind with a typically brilliant post on the subject.

RIP Hilly Kristal

Sad news

This man invented rock 'n' roll (well, sort of)

Sad news about the originator of rock 'n' roll. Respect is due, etc.

The joys of YouTube (part 3)

So it turns out that I'm not the only one bored of endless documentaries about George Martin producing The Beatles - transpottery 60s revisionism at it's most tedious...enjoy!

Tony Wilson RIP

So sad to see about the below news, and now this - a hugely influential figure as the man behind Factory Records.



I can still remember the first time that I saw the image of the front cover of Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division. It was in an issue of the NME from 91 or earlier - some list of 'the best British albums of the 80s' or somesuch. I hate top 100 lists now but at that age they're a bit more, well, palatable and exciting. Now they just annoy me. But I digress. The front cover of UP was the first time I had a seen a record cover which was somehow other-worldly and different. It was totally mysterious and inscrutable, with no band/album title on the cover, never mind band members grimacing like goons at the camera. I was obsessed, especially as the short description mentioned that "it still sounds like nothing else on Earth". It seemed enormously secretive and austere, like some gateway to some parallel Universe. For ages I assumed that it was a photograph of a valley on the moon, with peaks on either side (subconsciously it reminded me of some of the pictures from the Tintin book when he goes to the moon). I only found out later that it was a radiograph of waves emanating from a pulsar.
The contents were just as inscrutable, with Martin Hannett's ghostly production incorporating industrial factory noises (lifts moving, glass breaking, etc.) among the methodically arranged music. Even now, it sounds so of it's time, where post-punk was slowly absorbing elements of synthesised music creeping in from Kraftwerk's equally exotic recording, musique concrète, and others.
And this isn't even mentioning the legacy of New Order, Happy Mondays, A Certain Ratio etc, which Wilson's vision helped bring about...

Apologies for the lack of posts...been moving. But I have been following the news - sad to see these three go.
Bergman
Antonioni
Hazlewood
Having only seen Fanny and Alexander, can't really comment on Bergman, but Antonioni's Blow-Up must surely go down as the authoritative Swinging London film - even if it's been parodied to death by Austin Powers. It still looks great today, even the groovy swinging cats in the hilarious club scene. It's sad to see most London-based films today lacking any near the style and excitement or cerebral humour, but then I guess Hugh Grant sells.
Some other great London films (James Bond films don't count, and certainly not anything by Guy Ritchie):
- Performance
- Scandal
- Mona Lisa
- The Long Good Friday
- Quadrophenia
Any other suggestions?

Apologies for the lack of posts - been sorting out moving house...will be back soon! In the meantime, check out my review of Isis live.

Check out what I've been getting down to on Last FM here.
Of course, while it's an addictive site it doesn't necessarily capture the fact that not everything you listen to you're gonna like. I have to say that the new Arcade Fire album is just too bombastic and Springsteen-sounding for my liking...surely there's others out there who preferred Funeral?
Some new pictures too up at Flickr.

The World is a surreal place indeed....

Snoop Doggy Dogg applies for Australian citizenship.

Well, Devon rained and rained. For proof of global warming look no further than Britain rather than Greenland, judging from the mental weather this summer. I thought parts of London can look depressing in the drizzle, but places like Tiverton look far worse - desolate town centres struck by the phenomenon of the out-of-town supermarket. Still, across the county border in Cornwall there's always the Eden Project, a surreal experience that makes you feel like you're on a colony on the surface of the Moon. It's straight out of an Isaac Asimov novel, particularly this charming robot assembled from pieces of old abandoned cars. To get poetic, the very detrius of our consumer society laid before our eyes. Or maybe it just reminds me of a few too many car ads:



Anyway, very Terminator-like, even if's nearer to St Ives than Los Angeles.
Wasn't Susan Cooper's fantastic children's fantasy series The Dark Is Rising Sequence set around these parts? I seem to remember in the last book, Silver On The Tree, a huge horse made only of bones. Which is why this in the reception area caught my eye:



Poor old Peter Gabriel's fans got soaked. At least he wasn't playing in Genesis. Then Him up there in the sky could have been really pissed off and made the downpour even worse than it was.