My New Favourite Band

My new favourite band is PottedHeid. They're described as "ethno-techno-folk-rock-fusion" which doesn't really describe them at all. Or maybe it does. Click over to their MySpace site to listen to some samples.

I came across them on a free CD I was sent by Topplers Records - readers might remember my joy at getting a CD of Steve Treatment music from them last year. The CD is a compilation of lots of Topplers affiliated bands and PottedHeid had a song included on it called, 'Saudi', which is an electro mix of bagpipes and Arabian wailing with a stomping beat... erm, or something like that. Anyways, I liked it so went exploring and downloaded tracks from various places - now I just need to wait for their album.

Isn't the Internet a fabby place?

Buffy Sainte-Marie - 'Vanguard Visionaries'

Finally I have Buffy's new record - it arrived from America faster than ordering it here and at less than half the price (including postage). With the remainder of the saving I also got 'Too Much Too Soon' by the New York Dolls.

So, the new record. It's part of a large series of records to promote Vanguard, artists signed to Vanguard at some point and their Vanguard records. Packing is minimal (a folded cardboard cover) as is information about Buffy, just a list of the songs and a list of other albums by Buffy available from Vanguard. Other than the two lists, the text is all about Vanguard. No photos other than the cover, no biography, nothing.

As for the music, just 10 tracks totaling 34 minutes, all songs already available on other CDs and no bonus material. The tracklist is also wrong when it notes the final track as being 'For Free' when it's actually 'Quiet Places'. The list inside notes the writer and publisher of 'For Free' so is it a mistake to include 'Quiet Places' on the CD or a mistake to note 'For Free' on the packaging? Most odd.

Was it worth the wait? Yes, on principle. I'm pleased that Buffy is included in the series and it's right that she has her place in that pantheon. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear the country-waltz version of 'Now That The Buffalo's Gone' from 'I'm Gonna Be A Country Girl Again' (the late Patrice Holloway sang backing vocals on that album, y'know) rather than the more usual acoustic guitar version. For that surprise alone this album gets the thumbs up from me.

Compilations are always tricksy things since we all have different favourites and different views of what might be representative. But if I was ever allowed the great honour and privilege of doing one for Buffy it would certainly have more than 10 tracks on it.

Strange Place

I'm in a strange place at the moment, physically and mentally. I'm largely ok when I'm pottering around at home (so long as I don't have to bend or pick something up from the floor) and that leads me to think I'm ok generally and being a bit of a fraud by being off work. Then I go out and within 50 yards I'm reminded that I've had an operation. It's not just pain or, more often, soreness, it's the bone-weary waves of tiredness. I was out for the first time on Wednesday night seeing Suzanne Vega and I'm still not over that and it's now late on Friday afternoon.

I'm splitting things up in my mind. I need to get over having an operation on my back, with sharp knives carving bits of me out of my body and scraping disc off my bones and organs. I also need to get over the effects of an operation in itself, having my body subdued by anesthetic and invaded by knives. I was under for longer than planned when they saw the mess of my slipped disc and I suppose the longer you're under the longer it takes to get back to normal.

My scar was a little bit inflamed on Wednesday night when I got home and removed my trousers. The scar's about 3" or so in length in the small of back, right where the waistband of any garments lie. I've been wearing elasticated shorts for the last few weeks so they don't press on the wound too much. Trousers are evil things.

I'm also getting terribly bored. It's not even as if I can do much tidying up or re-organising at home since I can't really bend much (although I'm improving). I've got an appointment to see a physiotherapist at hospital on Monday so I'll be asking for exercises I can do to strengthen my back and stomach muscles and what I should do to become more bendy. I ought to move more but I want to move in the right way.

As the great Pete Shelley once sang (and still does) "... b'dum b'dum..."

Suzanne Vega at the Queen Elizabeth Hall

My first evening out since going into hospital (four weeks ago today) was to see Suzanne Vega at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank, and what a treat that was! I've liked Suzanne since first hearing 'Marlene On The Wall' all those years ago and have seen her live a few times and she is always a pleasure to behold. She has a lovely warm personality and a nice dry wit, her voice is a soothing balm and she's a true wordsmith with some killer tunes.

This tour is to promote her first new album in six years, 'Beauty and Crime', and she arrived on stage wearing a trench coat and black leggings to reflect the New York-ness of the album (I kept expecting her to take the coat off to reveal a slinky cocktail dress or something, but she didn't). She played seven of the eleven songs on the album and all sounded great live with the full band behind her. The only song I'd hoped for that she didn't play was 'Unbound', a nice bouncy song that would fit in with her voice and bass section in the middle of the set, just her singing along to the bass player, singing 'Blood Makes Noise' and 'Left of Centre', very powerful versions of both songs.

Suzanne opened and closed the show with versions of 'Tom's Diner', opening with the acapella original version and closing with an extended version with the band giving it some welly. She then came back for two encores. She has such a huge songbook behind her she could have gone on for hours and still not played everyone's favourites. But she played a lot of mine, 'Zephyr & I', 'Frank & Ava', 'Ludlow Street' and 'New York Is A Woman' from the new album and 'Small Blue Thing', 'Caramel', 'Luka', 'The Queen And The Soldier', 'Gypsy' and 'In Liverpool' from her songbook.

I'm very pleased to have seen Suzanne again, especially as my first evening out in so long. She's always worth seeing and hearing and, once again, she's come up trumps. Here are some photos, all slightly out of focus since I wasn't using flash but they should give you an idea of what the show was like and will awaken fond memories for me when I look back at them.


Thank you, Suzanne, for a great evening out!

Some More Plastic

First off, the mandatory comment on the weather... where is all this rain coming from? Thunder, lightning and deluge going on as I type. I don't understand it at all. Have I missed summer?

The Not So Silent Night Tour 2007

I know it's a bit early to be talking about Christmas but Slade have just announced their Christmas tour schedule and they're playing Croydon! That's close enough for me so I'll be booking tickets when they're on sale. Of course, I'm also seeing them at the end of July at Wimbledon so that should get me in the mood for more!

A few days earlier in December and I'll be seeing the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (regular readers will recall that I saw them supporting SLADE in 1973) so that's a bit of good karma. I've also recently come across Alex Harvey in Lulu's autobiography where she notes that she started singing 'Shout' after seeing Alex sing it on his return to Glasgow from singing in the bars of Hamburg. It's a small world, isn't it. Such a shame that Alex died many years ago, but his legacy carries on.

Siouxsie Sioux

Siouxsie will be releasing her new solo album on 10 September. It's called 'Mantaray' and a single will be released in August. More news to follow, no doubt.

Poly Styrene - Devotional

Do you remember my trip to the archives of the National Portrait Gallery to see the portrait of Poly Styrene by Pennie Smith? Back then the image of Poly wasn't on the NPG website for copyright reasons. If you look up the portrait you'll see that an image still isn't available.

But if you look at another section of the NPG site you can see the photo as part of the 'Devotional' exhibition. And here it is.

Devotional is an exhibition by Sonia Boyce based on black singers and Poly is included in the roster along with the likes of Shirley Bassey, Janet Kay, Neneh Cherry and Linda Lewis.

The Beard

The beard, you'll be pleased to hear, is still in place. Still white and still scruffy, but longer and thicker. I ought to trim it but, if I trim it, then there's the implication that I'm keeping it - after all, if I wasn't going to keep it why would I bother trimming it? It's not easy having a beard, y'know...

CDBaby

It's pretty dull just sitting here, doing a circuit of the flat for exercise before sitting down again as I get over the operation, so I've filled in some of my time with getting new records. The internet is useful for shopping for new records. One record is winging its way to me from the loving embrace of CDBaby in America. I like CDBaby, it's a warm, cuddlesome place filled with lovely people.

The email confirming dispatch reads:

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow. A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing. Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Tuesday, July 3rd. I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as "Customer of the Year." We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Sigh...

If you ever feel in need of some loving then all you have to do is buy a CD from these lovely people and they'll cover you in a warm blanket of lurve...

The Dresden Dolls 'Live At The Roundhouse' DVD

Today saw the release of a significant contribution to modern culture, the new DVD from The Dresden Dolls, 'Live At The Roundhouse'. Amanda and Brian as I remember them from their two nights at the Roundhouse in November last year, surrounded by performance artists of various calibres and with Margaret Cho and her false penis acting as MC for the event.

I watched it all the way through, glorying in the memories it evoked and reminders of Amanda's false start on 'Backstabber' and Brian breaking a cymbal, Amanda saying she liked London Pride beer, the duo hammering each other's pregnant bumps during 'Mandy Goes To Med School' and Lene Lovich joining the Dolls to sing 'Delilah' with some excellent vocal warbles just like in the olden days. There's also a 'making of the show' documentary that highlights some of the main performance artists that were dotted around the Roundhouse and on the main stage. Of these, I think my favourites were Zen Zen Zo from Australia and their weird dance moves. What can I say? It's jolly good stuff indeed.

Two sequences stand out for me, although every song has its own element of greatness. The first is the encore of 'Mein Herr', with Amanda in full black underwear mode as Bitch Queen giving Brian wedgies and him on his knees at her feet, lucky boy. The second is the magnificence of 'Sing', one of my favourite Dresdens songs, with the sparklers lighting up and held high by the front section of the audience (including me).

It's a great record of the shows and of the Dresdens as they were at the end of the exciting year of 2006 that saw the release of their second studio album and a world tour. They won't be like that again, they've already moved on with Amanda working on her solo album with Ben Folds and Brian holding drum surgeries and playing with Humanwine and others. And they're currently on tour with Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry, Erasure and others on the 'True Colors' tour across America. winning new admirers and fans. But I'll remember them at the Roundhouse and tuck away some fond memories for a rainy day.

I'll also respond to the rallying cry that PUNK CABARET IS FREEDOM!

Maximo Park at Glastonbury

If you happen to find yourself with 28 minutes and 32 seconds spare you might want to watch me Geordie lads playing at Glastonbury.

Click here to see magnificence in action!

[You might have to choose your settings and then go back to click again, but they're worth it.]

And here are some photos too ...

To Beard Or Not To Beard

Ok, that's a bit obvious but it says it all...

I haven't bothered shaving since I went into hospital and I'm starting to look a bit of a scruff-bag. Should I keep it and train it or get rid of it? Itchy-scratch.

I've never grown a beard before and now, with my baldy heed 'n' all, I've got that 'growing a beard to make up for baldy' thing going on in my head. The only thing wrong with baldiness is that you can't really change the style... at least a beard gives me that opportunity.

Y'see, the other thing is ... it's white. I have a white beard. If I let it grow I could pass for Santa at Christmas. I've got a bit of gray round the 'tache area but the rest of it is pure as the driven snow. That sort of holds up a sign in front of me saying 'old geezer'.

Itchy-scratch.

De-stitched & Un-dressed

A bit of an update for any reader that still glances this way…

Back - de-stitched and un-dressed

First off, the latest on my back is that I’ve had the stitches out at last – or more accurately, the stitch (singular). Ever since being released from hospital a couple of weeks ago nearly, I’ve had a big waterproof (and everything-proof) dressing covering the wound. I went to see my practice nurse yesterday morning to finally have the stitch out.

As soon as she started peeling off the dressing I could feel the air getting to the covered area again - it felt soooo good! It was a bit like taking contact lenses out at the end of a long day and letting the eyes breathe again.

Then *snip* and out came the suture and a lot of tension vanished - it's been a bit uncomfortable over the last few days, feeling tight in the small of my back where the operation was. I wasn't sure if it was the operation or the stitch and now I know it was the stitch. Freedom at last!

The nurse put on a much lighter temporary dressing to protect the wound while letting air get to it. The first thing I did this morning was to slowly peel it off so now I’m stitchless and undressed. I can’t actually see because of where it is and no amount of careful twisting and turning gives me a good view of it. Naturally, the batteries for my camera are exhausted so I’m charging them at the moment and will take a photo later so I can see it properly.

Of course, now I need to be careful this doesn't go to my head and I try to be too active or do too much too soon. But it feels so much better now.

Adventure

I also had my first adventure yesterday – I went to Tooting! Ok, so Tooting might not be the most exotic of locations but it’s the furthest I’ve been from my front door since getting out of hospital. It also allowed me to try out my new Oyster card (I’ve always had a travelcard but it’s just run out so I thought I’d try an Oyster).

I was a bit apprehensive of getting a bus and being bounced and jostled round but it wasn’t too bad really. There were a few awkward moments when I gritted my teeth when the bus swerved, went over speed bumps or slammed on the brakes but I survived ok. Getting on and off were ok since the bus pulled right into the curb. I wouldn’t risk it in the rush hour just yet.

Walking slowly round the Tooting pavement and shops was fine as well. When it started to get crowded anywhere I made a quick get away so I didn’t risk anyone touching my back – that’s my one big fear at the moment, that someone might actually touch me!

After about half an hour I started feeling tired and bone weary so I headed back home. That’s the longest time I’ve been outside the flat since being released form hospital. When I got home I collapsed on the bed. I need to work on my stamina but, all in all, I’m pleased with my progress.

New Records

One of the joys of the internet is shopping and having your goods delivered to your door. Since I can’t get to proper shops and I no longer have a record shop in Streatham (which is shocking) then I’ve taken advantage of Amazon and Play.

SLADE

The last of the re-mastered albums were issued on 11 June but I just got them yesterday. The whole SLADE back catalogue has now been re-issued in glorious sound and with lovely booklets telling the SLADE story through the music.

I didn’t get these last four albums when they first came out in the ‘80s and these aren’t the SLADE of their glory days, this is the music of a tight, loud rock band that knows what it’s doing and excellent stuff they are too.

I think my favourite of the albums is ‘Rogues Gallery’. As ever, I seem to be going against the grain since this never gets a good write-up but it sounds good to me. Hard rocking pop music, an album of potential singles that hang together well. The CD includes 9 bonus tracks (timing runs to 79:54 minutes so they’ve squeezed a lot on here) with the wonderful ‘swing’ version of ‘My Oh My’.

It’s just a shame about the cover though – it’s the worst cover on any SLADE record in my view, dark and downbeat, but at least they're on the cover (unlike 'Kamikaze'). The re-issue picks up on the medals theme (if you look carefully you can see that all the lads have medals pinned to their coats) and uses the colour banding on the packing. It’s little details like this that make the packaging well worth it – well done Union Square!

The other record I’d pick out is ‘You Boyz Make Big Noize’, SLADE’s last album. Despite the title, the original album didn’t include the song of that name but this re-issue includes four versions of the song – luckily it’s one of my favourites of latter-day SLADE. I love the ending of the song which concludes with the refrain from my favourite SLADE song, ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’.

So there we are. The SLADE cannon is complete. Or is it? Surely there must be more material in the vaults somewhere? Another discovery this week is that the ‘Delighted To See You’ EP by The N’Betweens is now available to download on iTunes so, obviously, I downloaded it in a trice. As all worthy people know, The N’Betweens were baby SLADE (as Chris calls them). I wonder what else there might be lying around somewhere…

Marc Almond – ‘Stardom Road’

I’m not a great fan of Marc Almond (although everyone who was around in the ‘80s will have a favourite Soft Cell song) but I’d heard good things about his new album and heard a few songs on his MySpace site so I indulged. It’s a bit of a grower – first listen was, ‘oh, ok’, second one got me looking at the song titles and third listen got me looking forward to hearing favourite songs. I’ve listened to it a few more times now and it’s a great record.

All the songs are covers except for the penultimate track, ‘Redeem Me’. It’s an interesting selection of songs, such as ‘I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten’ and ‘Strangers In The Night’, and also a lot of songs I haven’t heard before from people like Charles Aznavour and Al Stewart and, of course, ‘London Boys’ by David Bowie (a song I’ve never heard).

My favourite track is ‘Kitsch’, one of the more up-tempo songs that builds and builds and then explodes into a wonderful refrain of ‘la la las’ taken from ‘Hot Love’ by T.Rex. It’s a wonderful arrangement of the song but I’ve got no idea whether that refrain is included in the original.

Take a listen and if you download only one song, make it ‘Kitsch’!

Suzanne Vega – ‘Beauty & Crime’

I’m a long-time fan of Suzanne and have been looking forward to this record since I first heard about it and it’s all you would expect from Miss Vega. Lovely melodies and words place just so – I think her songs are getting simpler and less wordy with each album and I’m sure that makes writing them even harder.

I love her voice. It’s soothing, calming and placid, and I can’t help relaxing when I listen to her. The songs are all based around New York and the album is dedicated to the memory of her brother.

Favourite tracks include the single, ‘Frank & Ava’, ‘Zephyr & I’ (a conversation with one of her brothers best friends about the old days), ‘Unbound’ (freedom and growth, following on from my least favourite track, ‘Bound’) and ‘New York Is A Woman’ (and a sexy one at that).

I’m delighted that I’ll be able to see her play some of these songs live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in a couple of weeks time.

Donna Summer – ‘Bad Girls’ (Deluxe Edition)

What can I say about this album? Disco heaven! Relentless synth beats pounding away forcing you onto the dance-floor. The double album fits nicely onto one CD while a second is made up of 12” and re-mix versions of her singles from around the time the album came out, from ‘I Feel Love’ to ‘No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)’.

It includes the 17 minute ‘MacArthur Park Suite’ – ‘MacArthur Park’ is one of my favourite Donna Summer tracks that whisks me back in time to the Oranges and Lemons pub in Oxford being played inbetween what are now punk classics.

Discotastic!

Buffy Sainte-Marie

My big disappointment this week has been the absence of Buffy in my life. Not only did I not go to New York to see her show on Monday but I also haven’t been able to lay my hands on the new compilation album, ‘Vanguard Visionaries’. I’ve got no idea what Buffy thinks about this record - all the songs are already available but some that aren’t on the main Vanguard compilation from a couple of years ago so at least they might be re-mastered. I ordered it through Amazon but every few days I get an email saying release has been delayed. I think it’s available in America but only available here on import. At least being included in the series keeps her in the public eye (a bit, anyway) and might win her some new admirers.

I’m still waiting patiently for news of the real new album though, the one recorded over the spring. In a recent article Buffy refers to it as having only just gone to her agent so I’m doubtful it’ll be released this year. I’ll continue waiting patiently.

Beardy Hippy

Am I growing a beard or just not shaving? The end result is the same, what's different is the intent. It's disappointing (but not surprising) to see that most of my beard is white.

The Dresden Dolls - 'Backstabber' Roundhouse DVD Preview

This is a song from the 'Live At The Roundhouse' DVD to be released on 2 July from those teasing ragamuffin Brechtian punks! Can you see me in the audience? (no, I can't either).