you come home late and you come home early

What a weekend; probably the best festival I've been to. It was a really good atmosphere; very friendly vibe - smoke-free stages were pleasant - and there seemed to be fewer turf wars than usual between the sitters and the standers as the larger pieces of camping furniture stayed outside. Very good weather too. A bit muddy underfoot yesterday after a downpour on Saturday night, but very little rain during the music.

Friday: Under One Sky (John McCusker and Friends. "These aren't my real friends. My real friends sell toasters and play football. Which makes for a crap gig."), Show of Hands, Steve Earle, Waterboys. A great night. Especilly when you consider that, between a broken bass string, a flat guitar, a self-unplugging mandolin ("the son-of-a-bitch wasn't plugged into the mother-fucker"), and a forgotten lyric (I'm sure that Yeats' The Stolen Child doesn't start with the word "Shit"), something went wrong for every artist. As it turned out, the broken bass - and the run-around to replace it, allowed McCusker time to include an impromptu accapella interlude from John Tams and Julie Fowlis. Under One Sky was breath-taking in it's ambition - which it just about reached. Highlight of the night was undoubtedly the Waterboys. As brilliant as they were disappointing the last time I saw them. I had to wipe away a tear during The Whole of the Moon. Wonderful.

Saturday: First Rachel Unthank set of the weekend. I'd bought the new album on Friday night - even better than their debut - so I knew it would be good. But not quite how good. The best folk album I've bought this year, a certainty for my best of 2007 (it's s toss-up between Blue Bleezing Blind Drunk and their version of Robert Wyatt's Sea Song for my favourite track); they are a superb live act. The between-song humour gives their set a real folk club feel, but the musicianship - especially the sisters' harmonies, but also the piano and fiddle arrangements - set this act apart. And I never thought that I would find clog dancing sexy...
The rest of the day didn't quite hit the heights of Friday - plus I was knackered and voiceless. Like many around the field, I was sat back reading Harry Potter whilst listening to Show of Hands and Kate Rusby (there are worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon). The spirits were lifted no end by Bellowhead - the first time I've seen them live, every bit as good as I'd hoped. Still, I got signed copies of Kate's and the Winterset's new albums.
Saturday evening was eclectic - Kate was followed on stage by Fanfare Ciocarlia - the Romanian band best known for their version of Wild Thing in Borat. I enjoyed them more than I did Taraf de Haidouks a few years back. Then Joan Baez - stateswomanlike - but not the most likely warmup act in the world for Toots and the Maytals. Who blew the roof off. A really exciting set to end the night.

Sunday: Martin Simpson with Andy Cutting and Danny Thompson. Great guitar work, a lovely cover of Thommo's Strange Affair, and a gorgeous duet with Kate Rusby. Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain, Rachel Unthank in the club tent, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder - lightning speed bluegrass, Lau, Rachel Unthank again, Toumani Diabate - a great show, Nanci Griffith and finally Bellowhead on stage 2 before heading for home.

So good I saw them twice: Bellowhead, Show of Hands, Rachel Unthank and the Winterset (who I saw three times).

Lowlights: I just don't get the Oysterband, I'm sorry. Dull. Joan Baez ruining a good set by ending with the interminable Imagine.

Unexpected Treats: Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain. Especially Anarchy in the UK in the style of Simon and Garfunkel and Life on Mars, Lau.

Sorry I Missed: Not much really. There was so much good stuff on the main stages that I didn't go to any of the showcase artists in the club tent - which I will probably regret if they become famous. Shooglenifty (clashes with Toots and the Maytals and Bellowhead); C J Chenier (same time as Waterboys); only saw half of Ruthie Foster's set, ditto Bruce Cockburn (though I did see Wondering Where the Lions Are); missed Sharon Shannon on main stage with Steve Earle guesting on Galway Girl. In fact, main stage Friday was pretty incestuous, with Steve and Alison Moorer guesting in each others sets, Sharon Shannon with the Waterboys, and John McCusker, Steve, Mike McGoldrick and Sharon all joining the Waterboys in a rousing This Land is Your Land to close out one of the best nights of music I will ever see.

The weekend seemed to go on forever; hearing Ruthie Foster singing Up Above My Head and Nanci Griffith singing Speed of the Sound of Loneliness, it seemed an age since I'd heard the Alabamas sing them on Thursday.

And maybe I wimped out by not camping - especially since the weather was remarkably well behaved - but it was nice to sleep in a warm bed, wear clean clothes, have a hot bath and stock up on better than average picnic grub, and bottle conditioned City of Cambridge Brewery beers from Waitrose each morning.

The only regret is the feeling that next year's festival can't come close to this. Not much does.

it's been so damned long since we sung this song

Back from the first night of the Cambridge Folk Festival. That's the first time I've done the Thursday night - the low-key night before the festival proper. But, as part of what is a very strong lineup this year, there were couple of acts playing tonight who I really wanted to see.
I was a bit late getting there - though a beautiful rainbow over Shelford told of a weekend of sunshine and showers to come - so missed the start of "the brilliant, the unique" Seasick Steve. And even though I was stuck outside the tent in the mud and the drizzle, I knew I was listening to a great blues guitarist. Foregoing the chance to pick up a signed copy of his album, I pushed down to the front for Kris Drever; another from the Rusby/McCusker stable - a good guitarist, but not where I needed to be tonight. I needed to get back to church, and the Alabama 3 Acoustic set didn't disappoint. I was up front and in centre as Larry, Devlin, Rock Freebase and Harpo Strangelove took the stage. A very different set from St Albans - and perfect for a festival crowd. A lot of Exile - Converted, Woke Up, Tekno, Speed and ending with a great version of Peace - together with Johnny Cash, Two Heads, Folsom Prison Blues and Up Above My Head. It was nice to be part of the crowd down the front singing along; there's something special about being in a festival crowd listening to one of your favourite bands. A great start to the weekend; looking forward to Steve Earle and Sharon Shannon tomorrow. I'll probably try to catch Bruce Cockburn too. Not sure about the Waterboys; Mike Scott was so disappointing last time he was at Cambridge. And there's Zydeco on stage two at the same time.
Now to get some sleep in a nice warm bed.

your biggest blunder's that you all look the fucking same

Everyone seems to be falling over themselves to be amongst the first to discover Poppy and the Jezebels. So I'll confess to the middle-aged, middle-class route buying the mini-album (with a free signed print no less) after the rave review in the Guardian last week. Alex Petridis is wrong when he says "it doesn't really sound like anything else" - because it does. It all sounds brilliantly trashy and naive, and could have been on the CD86 compilation that I copied for Tom last week. Basic drumming, fuzzy guitars, and vocals straight off an early Creation release; kudos to Reveal Records for discovering them, and to Kramer for his production. The Lips of Cleopatra is on repeat at this very moment.

when you love someone but the thrill is gone

The Mercury Music Awards shortlist announced this week showed an all-time low score of two in albums I own; Arctic Monkeys - OK, but does nothing their debut failed to achieve (and I was tired of that by this time last year), and Amy Winehouse - a really enjoyable album - but not as enjoyable as the Lily Allen album the Arctics beat last year. Much of the rest, I'd either never heard of or wasn't interested by. The exception was Bat for Lashes - I'd at least heard a track of theirs (or, more correctly, hers) on a Mojo freebie a couple of months back. I thought she was an OK female singer song-writer; nothing remarkable, and recording under a really bad name - so looked no further. But since the critics say Ms. Khan (related to the Pakistani squash-playing dynasty) is the artist most likely to "do an Anthony", and having heard comparisons with Bjork and Kate Bush, I gave her another listen. And I have to say, I like it. Trophy, The Wizard, and Horse & I are all good tracks, but I'm particularly enjoying What's A Girl To Do?, with it's spoken lyric, reminiscent of Black Box Recorder, and it's totally insane video. Could be a winner.

"ever feel like you've been cheated?"

I've cautiously welcomed the return of the Jesus and Mary Chain - although I find it hard to think if there is any difference between me going to watch Pixies, the Pogues etc and blokes in their 40's heading off to watch the Shadows and Marty Wilde during the 1980's - and I know how tragic I thought that was.
The picture in this month's OMM of Jarvis Cocker alone on the front row of the Festival Hall during Meltdown, watching the Mary Chain whilst his wife takes photos of the band, is just a great fan image. But having missed the boat for Meltdown, and being in the wrong country for Connect, I've been looking out for any more dates this autumn. And now they're playing Brixton Academy - one of my favourite venues - in September.
So far so good. But I'm left resenting the use of an Agency who charge a £2.75 booking fee for a £25 ticket - and a further fiver to post it to me - a 31% mark up. Yes, I'll probably end up paying up. Reviews of their shows this year have been universally strong. But it's still a rip-off.
And on the subject of being cheated, is there any difference between Things Change "the long awaited debut album from soul duo Fried" - and Fried the 2004 "eponymous debut...a rare gem of an album"? I liked the first album; When You Get Out of Jail was one of my songs of the year in 2004 (although the rest of the album struggled to match it). But why does it seem that no reviewer has even heard of the earlier release?

it's been a while since I saw your ultra-violet smile

I'm still on a buzz from Alabama 3 at the Alban Arena last week. A really good night. It was far from a full house - and the crowd had a large proportion of 40-ish blokes (well that described the six of us pretty well). The crowd seemed to take a little while to get going; the mix at the back of the hall was very bass-heavy, making a lot of what D Wayne was saying indecipherable. And I think a lot of us were just astounded that a band this good was playing a half empty hall in our home town. It got a lot better when Jon and I followed Tom & Jim (who took the pictures) and got down to the front. But the band looked great and sounded even better.

Some great versions of old songs, and I really liked the new stuff they played in the encore. Larry Love and Devlin have a great stage presence together; I really enjoyed the version of Up Above My Head from Outlaw with Devlin on vocals (closer to The Last Train to Mashville Vol 1 version I purchased on the night). The St Albans Chapter of The First Presleyterian Church Of Elvis The Divine (UK) will testify again in October - although I'm seeing the acoustic lineup in Cambridge at the end of the month.

miserere mei, Deus: secundum magnam misericordiam tuam

We got hold of the Tallis Scholars' new recording of Allegri's Miserere last week, after seeing a local choral society performing it in the chapel of All Saints Pastoral Centre at London Colney (see the photo on the website, and you'll realise what a great setting it is). Miserere is very possibly my favourite piece of music, sacred or secular. The mythology and mystery which surround it, the beauty of the music, the feelings evoked as the soloist repeatedly hits top C (remarkably not part of the original setting). It is also one of the few pieces of music that could be claimed to have changed my life - or at least my perspective of music. A friend of my father gave me an original copy of the - arguably definitive - Kings College Cambridge recording from 1963 when I passed the voice trial to get into the Minster Choir when I was 10 (unfortunately, if you give a potential collectors item to a 10 year old, it may not retain it's value. I still own it, but it's been fairly well trashed). I recall the shiver down my spine as I listened to it - I came close to tears as I often have done since. This is the point at which I fell in love with sacred music and began to understand the feelings of transcendence which it can induce. No wonder the Pope tried to keep it for himself. The Devil doesn't always have the best tunes.

our house was filled with many birds. she said to me "I understand their words".

It was a frustrating week last week; I was out of the country all week with a dead ipod. 55gb of songs on the hard drive, but the pod couldn't see any of them. Later in the week, it seemed to have died completely. I've had an extra 6 months out of it since it first started playing up, so maybe I should be pleased for small mercies.
I'm thinking of using this as an excuse to buy a Nano, just to keep me going until I fork out on a new one. I'm flying through Hong Kong next month; I need to check if they're cheaper there.
So I haven't yet listened to the new Art Brut album which I added last Monday. If it's as good as the first one, it's going to be good.
I am enjoying the new Frank Black compilation 93-03. I already had a lot of it, but the additional live disc was worth buying, and it's a good overview of his post-Pixies career. I've also downloaded a superb live recording of Jeff Tweedy playing a solo acoustic set in Chicago a couple of months back. Lots of stuff from the new album, but also some older Wilco, Uncle Tupelo and Golden Smog songs. Some great audience banter too. Read more about it here.

I worship and adore the true and living God, who created all things

Yesterday was the feast day of St Alban, and today the Albantide pilgrimage. St Albans has been a site of pilgrimage since at least the sixth century, but despite having lived here for 13 years, today was the first time that we've joined the pilgrimage. It was led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who celebrated the Solemn Eucharist at lunchtime (which we missed), and then preached at Evensong. It was a humbling occasion. The Abbey was overflowing (literally) with pilgrims from St Albans, Hertfordshire, and far, far, further afield. We arrived fairly late (5 minutes later, and, like friends of ours, we would not have had a seat). This meant that, although we were in a part of the church where the service was relayed to us by video, we were sat behind the shrine - which naturally lead us to consider all those who have worshipped God in this place for the past 15 centuries. And Archbishop Tutu's sermon was wonderful. Of course the numbers this year were swelled by those of us who wanted to hear, and for our children to hear, one of the true prophetic voices of our age. I hope the sermon will be put on the web - it deserves a wide audience. But in a week when the Anglican church (which has always been my spiritual home) seems closer to the brink of schism than ever, his call for tolerance, and his acknowledgment of the power of goodness in the face of evil seemed very timely. And we both recognised that we are in the right place, and that this is home. Whatever may happen in the coming months, this city is our home, and it would be painful to leave it behind.

in the midst of death we are in life

Now I know that at least one of this blog's readership has seen the last two episodes of The Sopranos, I feel free to talk about it (I've been holding this in for the last fortnight). If you don't want to know the score, look away now.

The further I get from the final episode, the more inspired the ending seems. Of course the ending took me by surprise – but then a final episode written and directed by David Chase was never going to be predictable. But I did have a moment when I thought the torrent must have failed right at the end. After the previous week's episode, being continually on edge as to who was going to die, and how (Phil's death was great, brutal and funny). The fact that it didn't all end neatly. What did Agent Harris mean - "Damn, we're gonna win this thing!" - were the Feds behind everything that has happened in this season? Or had he just become to closely involved? The scene at Satriales with Paulie sunbathing while the cat watched him, the dinner at Bobby's funeral straight out of the Godfather, the look on Carmella's face when Tony started talking to Anthony Jr's therapist, the sight of Uncle Junior at the end. All classic Sopranos.
Some great one liners:

JANICE "I'm afraid I have bad news. Bobby's dead"
UNCLE JUNIOR "Ambassador Hotel."

I love the subtle hint that the mafia shot Bobby Kennedy.

PAULIE "In the midst of death, we are in life. Heh? Or is it the other way around?"
MEADOW "I think it's the other way around."
PAULIE "Either version, you're halfway up the ass."

Anyone who thinks this isn't the end is very much deluded. Chase wants us to remain thinking through all the possibilities - and believe me, I've read some pretty wild theories in the last fortnight (doesn't the fact that I'm still obsessing over it, two weeks on, just say how perfect it is?). And besides, with Bobby, Chris and Phil dead, and Silvio in a coma, who's going to be in a film?

It may have struggled - particularly during seasons 4-5 - and the first half of season 6 was just weird. But it's still the best thing to have been on TV in the 21st century. Great article on the final episode here.



It seems somehow appropriate that we're off to see Alabama 3 in a fortnight. Tom, Jim and I were big fans of A3 long before they became synonymous with the Sopranos. Now is the time that we get right and repent.

you never knew the teenage me and you wouldn't believe the things you didn't see

Continuing my Everything But The Girl obsession. Robert Elms' "What's All The Fuss About" slot this lunchtime featured an hour long interview with Ben Watt, and some great music. Ended with the gorgeous DJ Jazzy Jeff remix of Mirrorball from the Adapt or Die remixes album. Worth catching on listen again; here's the link on the BBC London site.

kick those white mice and baboons out

Getting to the middle of the year; time to take stock and think what sort of year its' been so far. A quick squint at itunes suggests that I've added about 30 albums released in 2007 to my collection. And not many duff ones to be honest.

Top 3 to date
Grinderman: One of my favourite Nick Cave albums. Raucous, urgent - the sound of a man raging against his own mortality. And I disagree with Tom; I think the cover is great - as was the discussion on the AV club review as to what the monkey is doing.

LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver I find it very hard to think this will be topped as my album of the year. James Murphy is on top of his game - very much like Bright Eyes or Sufjan Stevens over the last couple of years. It will surely feature highly in many of the Sherwood OCC end of year compilations; there's not a weak song on the album. The Franz Ferdinand/Erol Alkan version of All My Friends on the single is well worth a listen. Also try the unofficial sounds like silver remix.

Malcolm Middleton: A Brighter Beat. In a year when I've been listening to a lot of Scots miserablism (Mogwai, Arab Strap, Sister Vanilla), this is the pick. A pop album for people who hate pop music? Maybe. It's dour stuff - maybe a little less dark than Into the Woods - but any album with song titles like We're All Going To Die, Death Love Depression Love Death and Fuck It I Love You isn't going to be a barrel of laughs.

Also enjoyed: The Good, The Bad & The Queen, Bright Eyes: Cassadaga, Tracey Thorn: Out of the Woods

Two recent purchases I'm not yet sure about - Digitalism: Idealism. I like the Digitalism in Cairo re-edit of The Cure's Fire in Cairo, although it's taking a while for the album to grow on me. The White Stripes: Icky Thump. The title track and Little Cream Soda are classic White Stripes, but as a whole the album hasn't yet grabbed me in the same way White Blood Cells and Elephant did.

Biggest Disappointments:
Fairport's Sense of Occasion. With the exception of a good cover of XTC's Love on a Farmboy's Wages, this is Fairport doing it by numbers. A far better momento of their 40 years is the Live at the BBC boxed set, which, whilst not universally strong, reminds you what a great band they were at their Swarbrick, Denny, Thompson et al peak.

Royksopp: Back to Mine. I've bought some good compilations this year - Hot Chip' s DJ Kicks, In the Mind of Nitin Sawhney, Nouvelle Vague's Late Night Tales, Mark Ronson's Version. But this is cheesy and badly mixed.

Best Live Downloads:
Spiritualized Acoustic Mainlines at Manchester - here and here
Mogwai at Grunspan

The "how did I not get into this band before" discovery:
Stereolab. They're influenced by Kraftwerk, Krautrock and Bacharach. They've got Moog synths and female vocals often in French. Honestly, how has this band passed me by?

ladies and gentlemen, Mogwai

Ah, the beauty of the internet. Tom's comment about seeing the Delgados last week led me to thinking about which current bands I really should try to see live or else regret it. Mogwai and the White Stripes were the two that came to mind. After reflecting that it was unfortunate Mogwai's gig at Somerset House had already sold out, and having seen how much the tickets were going for on ebay, I put the thought to one side. Still, Somerset House - great venue - so I decided to see what other acts I could see in their Summer series. And happy, happy, joy, joy - there were still Mogwai tickets available. So I'm off with Tom - who has promised to drown in their back catalogue over the next month - and Jim. I'm really looking forward to it. Malcolm Middleton supporting, and the gig will be in surround sound. So I expect the loud bit in Like Herod to blow my socks off. I might have to invest in some earplugs (spot the old bugger whose hearing is beginning to go...).

turn it up! bring tha noize!

I picked up some smart speakers for my iPod in Tesco of all places yesterday - JBL OnStage 2 - for less than £50 (50% off rrp). Good sound and they take up very little space on my desk. They have a mini jack connection too, so I've got the PC plugged into them as well. It might seem trivial, but since I switched to a 2 monitor setup at work last month, I've been bugged by all the sound coming from the right side of my desk. Now I've got stereo right in front of me. If I have to make a criticism, it would be that they only run on mains power. But since I bought them for my desk, I'm not going to complain. Now I'll shut my door and put on some Mogwai.

for the self assured I have no cure

I'm looking forward to Emma Pollock's first solo album - though I'm hoping that the combination of a quirky driving video and repetitive piano line in the single doesn't signal a tribute to Coldplay.

The other track avalable on her website - Limbs - is more reminiscent of the criminally underrated Delgados.

in my imagination there is no complication

A few days off last week, and in the abscence of decent weather, we headed down to the V&A for the Kylie exhibition, on loan from the Arts Centre in Melbourne (highly recommended website, but not Firefox friendly).
We all enjoyed it a lot. I've had a thing about Kylie since her Neighbours days (I still remember her first episode), not just during her Deconstruction period - though Confide in Me and her collaboration with Nick Cave are obvious highlights.
The exhibition was really well put together; the main room held most of the costumes - from the white dress of I Should Be So Lucky, through the gold lame hot pants and white denim shorts of Spinning Around, to the white hooded dress and purple dress of Can't Get You Out Of My Head - arguably the first iconic single of the 21st Century. This also had a timeline along one wall - made up of cd covers and photographs. Cara was entranced by the other wall - incorporating a floor to ceiling video screen. Raya's thing is live performance, so she was more fascinated by the stage costumes from last years' tour which were in a seperate room.
A good exhibition from the fashion perspective, an interesting study into the development of an icon. And - hurrah for publically funded arts (and sponsorship from Evian) - a free day out in London.

dark is normal and pop is trivial

Looking for videos for this morning's post, I came across this, which I'd not seen before. I'm not sure if folk is as cool as some critics make out, but I think there is a new appreciation of the influence folk has had on popular music. Thommo says himself "I'm not a folkie. I'm a singer-songwriter with traditional roots" - maybe that's as good a definition as any other of the music I like (says the man who is happily supping from his new Spiritualized coffee mug - a replacement for my late lamented Pogues one).

Part One:


Part Two:

I see young girls with old faces. I see good girls in bad places.

I'm through the last few weeks of travelling. Early morning drives or taxis to airports, trying to catch up on sleep on nasty cheap flights, up late drinking beer and pontificating about work. In short, not listened to much or read much.
Cara's third birthday party last weekend, I put together a play list which I thought would appeal to 3 year olds - Yakety Yak, Hey Good Lookin', Green Onions, Hey Ya, Wipeout, Everybody Wants to be a Cat, Charlie Brown etc. Which Lorna thought was a self indulgent middle aged male thing, but I thought added to the party.
(Unsurprisingly, almost expectedly) dodgy cover aside, I am enjoying Sweet Warrior, the new Richard Thompson album (which the record man on the market - who is pretty good on all things Folk Rock - was flogging on Saturday, as I knew he would, 2 days before the release). And there seem to be plenty of Thommo fans in St Albans judging by its' prominance on the stall. I do lose superlatives for Thommo, and owning so much by him, it's easy to forget the good albums, and the great songs on average albums. First couple of listens are favourable. His Iraq war song Dad's Gonna Kill Me was pretty widely promoted ahead of the album. Genuinely scary, but I don't think it will reach the pantheon of great RT songs. Take Care The Road You Choose might though. A great anti-love ballad. This man can do bitter. When you follow that with Mr Stupid, and you're into the well-worn tracks of Shoot Out The Lights and Razor Dance.
I'm reading Bad Men by Clive Stafford Smith, about his experiences acting as a lawyer in Guantanomo Bay. I guess it won't be read by too many people who might change their minds about torture and detention without trial as a result. But his account of the torture (or "Human Resource Exploitation") experienced by one of his clients in Morocco after a CIA rendition flight did not help me sleep last night. I know that I would confess to anything in the face of torture. But if your thoughts about torture extend no further than a 30 second segment in 24, to even imagine 18 months of systematic abuse out of the eye of the media in a Rabat prison is horrifying enough. To think that the "confessions" extracted by such methods have been used to attack civil liberties at home, both in Europe and in North America, and certainly contributed to the decision to go to war in Iraq only increases the horror. Not to say the disgust when you read Tony Blair's comments in the Sunday Times that, as a society, we are "misguided and wrong" to have chosen to put the civil liberties of the suspect, even if a foreign national, first.
A different type of horror in Shane Meadows latest - This is England - on Sunday night. A really impressive film. Most of the reviews I had read had rightly praised Thomas Turgoose's performance as Shaun. But Stephen Graham's performance as Combo is central.

take a look at the lawman beating up the wrong guy

In Borders last night, buying the first two albums from The Hold Steady, and they were playing a great cover version of Life on Mars? in Portuguese. It was taken from the Life Aquatic Studio Sessions by Seu Jorge, an album from a couple of years ago, but which I'd never heard. Now, not only am I a sucker for a good cover version, but he was also in City of God, which I have regularly referred to as my favourite film of all time. And, of course, that song has been running through my mind thanks to the time traveling cop show, which was the best thing I saw on TV last year, and survived it's move to BBC1 for its' second season. I know that I should make an effort with Bowie - I've allowed his 80's radio friendly crap to overshadow his good stuff.
This really is pretty cool.

all I want in life's a little bit of love to take the pain away

I got a text on Sunday morning from Tom, who was enjoying the sun the sea and the sand at the ATP festival at Minehead Butlins.
"acoustic spiritualized just incredible" (slow website; maybe it just doesn't like Firefox). I've downloaded their live sets from Edinburgh and Manchester last November which, in spite of the audience noise (of course he's going to play "Oh Happy Day" - you don't have to start shouting for it after the first song), would seem to confirm that impression.
Still remember the first time I heard Spiritualized; listening to the Abbey Road EP over a cup of instant coffee which Tom had managed to rustle up from the back of a cupboard at his old house in Sherwood. One of those moments which gets you straight out of the house and down to a record shop. In this case, Selectadisc. Bought Abbey Road and Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (in the pill box packaging; I wish I'd bought two).
I'm on the train to Paris tomorrow; I think I know what I'll be listening to. I'll also be burning the next couple of episodes of The Sopranos to watch (since my hotel only has CNN in English); the first couple of episodes have suggested that we're building up to a very unpleasant conclusion.
I'm between books at the moment. Not sure whether to dive into Claire Massud's The Emperors Children (though comparisons with the massively overrated The Corrections concern me) or I’ll Take You There; Pop Music and the Urge for Transcendence, both of which have been sat on the shelf for a few months. That said, as I'm travelling a fair bit in May, I might just settle for Mojo, Word, Wired and a few 33 1/3 books.