Happy Birthday Amanda!

Miss Amanda Palmer is 32 today. Isn't that just the most perfect age to be if your name is Amanda Palmer? What a great age to release your third Dresden Dolls studio album and your first solo album. And it's a great age to come to London in August.

Amanda's in New York at the moment and as a birthday treat is going to see Eddie Izzard.


Happy birthday Amanda!

Be Humankind

Intriguing.

Songs for Future Generations

The release of a new B-52's LP, 'Funplex', has sent me back to my old CDs to listen to the wierdos in beehives and loud clothes and what a lovely sound they make and what wondrous images they conjour up. We need more bands like The B-52's.

I bought 'The B-52's' when it first came out in that loud yellow cover. 'Rock Lobster' was so different to everything else around at the time, when music went all 'new wave-y' and bands were trying to out-wierd each other and electronica started to become more mainstream. A rather strange time for pop music. And along flew The B-52's dropping sonic bombs in their wake. I was quite partial to their bon tempi organ sounding 'Downtown' which sounded just right along side all the other adventures they took us on on that first album, from 'Planet Claire' to the moon and back again via a wrong phone number.

They've kept the core stable over the years in all their different guises, with Fred shouting out his odd phrases and Kate and Cindy taking turns with vocals and some delicious harmonies. Kitsch imagery and mall-themed songs, outer space sci-fi trips and, above all, danceable tunes. Not all their albums have been a success - and I don't have them all - but at least they experimented. I missed a couple of albums and I only really like about half the tracks on 'Whammy!'. But then they went global...

It was nice when 'Cosmic Thing' churned out such great singles, the ubiquitous 'Love Shack' and the marvellous 'Roam'. 'Good Stuff' continued the journey (don't you just love Fred's complete un-pc-ness singling about hot pants?). 'Good Stuff' has been ably followed up (finally) by 'Funplex' the latest album and it's as if no time at all lapsed between the albums. A bit more electric but the same swooping harmonies and wierd lyrics, a natural progression. It's going to be great fun seeing them do these news songs live in a few months time - that's going to be a sweaty night!

Buy 'Funplex' - you know you want to. Go on, dance this mess around...

Amanda at the ICA

The delightfully polite and soft-spoken Miss Amanda Palmer of the punk cabaret raggamuffins beat combo The Dresden Dolls will visit these shores in August and is playing the ICA in London on 21 August. Am I suddenly excited? To quote Miss Palmer, "Sing, motherfucker, sing!".


Don't worry, Amanda, I'll look after your beer for you.

'Night Reconnaisance' by The Dresden Dolls

And so it begins. The first official mp3 of a song from The Dresden Dolls new album, 'No, Virginia', has been released as a freebie through Stereogum. 'Night Reconnaisance' is a fun song, an autobiographical song with the opening line, 'Nothing is crueler than children who come from good homes...' - you just know the inner Goth emerges in this song.

I've heard the song before, a live version which is slower and longer , but I like this studio version. I can see Amanda plonking away on the piano and Brian doing his thumpy-thumpy thing. I *like* it and will play it lots. Go on over to Stereogum and download it

Another new song, 'The Kill', is available on the Dresden's MySpace site so scoot on over there for a listen - and then buy the album when it's released on 19 May!

'Sun on the Water' by Jean MacColl

Last night Chris took me along to a book launch at Kettner's in Soho, 'Sun On The Water', Jean MacColl's book about her daughter, Kirsty. The book is subtitled, 'The Brilliant Life and Tragic Death of Kirsty MacColl'.

I suspect that most people reading this blog, at least those of you in the UK, will know something about Kirsty. The daughter of Ewan MacColl, the man who re-invented folk music in the '50s, and Jean. Her early work in the late '70s and her hit 'Chip Shop' followed by a few quiet years married to Steve Lillywhite and then her everlasting duet with the Pogues, 'Fairytale Of New York' and her classic album, 'Kite' in 1989 with the single 'Days'. After that came an album every few years until 2000 when she was killed in a diving accident off the coast of Cozumel in Mexico (and I remember that being on the national BBC news the day after it happened).

Whenever I hear 'Days' I whiz back to 1989 and the bus strike that summer when I used to walk across Clapham Common to Clapham Junction on my way to Fulham (where I worked at the time), singing along to the song. More recently I have memories of walking along a beach in Sri Lanka, plodging in the surf and singing it. Her version is far superior to the original, mainly due to her lovely voice. That single led me to buy the cassette of 'Kite' to play it endlessly on my Walkman. I bought all her subsequent albums with the exception of what was to be her final album. 'Tropical Brainstorm'. I can't remember why I didn't get it but Chris gave it to me for Christmas years ago and I've loved it ever since.

It was quite fun to be at the book launch and offer what little support I can to the Justice for Kirsty campaign. At one point it was a case of spot the celebrity and it was nice to see Billy Bragg and Alison Steadman there, not just for the drinks but to stay for the meal as well, and not sit on the top table. Chris noticed Holly Johnson and Janice Long but I didn't see them. There would've been other arty folk that I probably wouldn't know and various 'political' people. It was packed, a good turnout to support Jean and our memories of Kirsty. It was also nice to meet some of the Kirsty bench crew (who arranged for the bench in Soho Square and hold the annual birthday get together in October). Kirsty touched so many lives in different ways and it's heartening to know that people still care about her.

I bought the book and Jean kindly signed it, which was nice. 'Sun on the Water', the title of the book, was Kirsty's last song and the song we listened to when we got the ferry back from Cozumel to mainland Mexico a couple of years ago after paying respects. It's a lovely song but with sad memories attached to it. I hope the book does well.

My Secret Life by Poly Styrene

There's a great interview in 'The Independent on Sunday' today with Poly Styrene, 'My Secret Life'. I'm not quite sure why her age is in the headline but it's lovely to read about her and hear what she has to say.

It must be odd, in a way, to be Miss Styrene. She was part of the original punk movement and a great original herself, a short but glorious flowering in 1978, leaving behind one magnificent album in 'Germfree Adolescents', including some of the best singles of the punk era. I loved X-Ray Spex and still do. 'Day-Glo' and 'Identity' are two of the best singles ever, not just punk, but of all time. And it's those few years in the late '70s that everyone always harks back to.

She went on to release one album in 1980, 'Translucence', and the 'Gods & Goddesses' EP in 1986. Neither are available on CD for some odd reason. And then in 1992 (I think) came a brief reunion and another album under the Spex name, 'Conscious Consumer', including my favourite song, 'Party', a wonderful romp to end the album. More recently she released an album of ambient music that I've not heard and she duetted on a song with Brian James a year or two ago, but that's about it.

I saw the portrait of Poly in the National Portrait Gallery a couple of years ago and there's a rather bad snapshot of her in John Lydon's autobiography, sitting on the floor in his house in about 1978. The photo above is probably the latest portrait of her.

The more observant of you will notice that this blog is named after one of her songs, 'Plastic Bag', with the opening line, 'My mind is like a plastic bag...'. O yes.

I love some of the answers she gives in the interview:

My most valuable possession is... my soul.

My life in seven words... I'm a poseur 'n' I don't care!

You've just got to chortle at that last one! I remember singing along to that song all those years ago - and I still do.

Pop on over to 'The Independent' and have a read of the interview. Miss Styrene doesn't seem to have changed at all. And she's playing the 'Love Music Hate Racism' carnival next week.

Text your postcode....

I'm watching Virgin1 this evening - 'Terminator' and 'Chuck' - and the thing I can't help but notice is all the sex adverts. Text xxxxx and you'll speak to a nubile young wench in your area. Um, uh huh. But, no, you won't, not really.

Do the advertisers really think we're *that* stupid? or are we? They obviously make enough money to stay open.

I first came across Virgin when it was a tiny record shop behind Newcastle City Hall, part of a small chain, and it was the record label for the Sex Pistols. I bought 'Pretty Vacant' there. That was the start of it all and I'm pleased to have been part of it. But I don't approve of it's sex adverts. O no.

'No, Virginia' by The Dresden Dolls

My favourite punk cabaret ragamuffins have released the track listing for their new record, 'No, Virginia':

1. Dear Jenny
2. Night Reconnaissance
3. The Mouse and the Model
4. Ultima Esperanza
5. The Gardener
6. Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner
7. Sorry Bunch
8. Pretty in Pink
9. The Kill
10. The Sheep Song
11. Boston

It's a mix of old and new, most of which I've heard before, usually in poorly recorded live tracks so it'll be great to have them as studio recordings. 'Lonseome Organist' and 'Pretty In Pink' (yes, the Psychedelic Furs song) were released a couple of years ago and are available for download and both are excellent.

As well as the new record, they're publishing another book, 'The Virginia Companion'. Amanda says,

The Virginia Companion is a 350-page BEAST is about as big as a fucking phone book and includes zillions of never-seen photos that Brian and I lovingly chose from the archives of the past few years. I also write (as I did in the last book) about the process of recording the record, the stories behind the songs and the story behind the artwork including a TON of art submissions for the record that weren't used in the final packaging. There is an entire gallery devoted to the beautiful album-inspired artwork of Barnaby Whitfield (the pastel-artist and painter who created the masterpiece for the cover of the Paradise DVD and our Good Day 7"), tons of alternate album covers we were toying with, Haikus, a little section written by Brian, live photos, scribblings and bibblings and other flotsam and jetsam to make sure you never go hungry for dresden dolls trivia again.

Don't you just love Amanda? And you just have to admire her ethics, ably demonstrated by her latest tee shirt...

Cirque Du Soleil - Delirium

Last night we went to see Delirium, the latest extravaganza from Cirque du Soleil to hit these shores. Previous gawpings at the Soleil people have been at the Royal Albert Hall but this was at the O2 Arena (aka The Dome) with half the arena screened off to present an elongated stage fit for the Soleil shenanigans. It looked odd, a huge stage with equally huge video walls either side, but it all spelled spectacular in any language! It's a Soleil 'live music' stage show rather their usual in-the-round circus shows, so it was a different creature to what I've seen before, but enjoyable and eye boggling nonetheless.

I've got no idea what it's about but the title says it all, really. The central character is attached to a balloon, umbilical-like, that floats over the stage for much of the show and at one point he says, 'thank god this is a dream' which is a subtle hint if we haven't got it yet! A couple fof times it reminded be of a big music show, like a Madonna gig, with a central singer doing their stuff while the video walls bombard us with images.

There were the usual comic characters speaking imaginary languages, with a lad on stilts wandering round and probably being a motif for something. I liked the four acrobats who piled on top of each other in various ways with astonishing strength and skill and the two lad aerialists who spun around on wires, coming together and separating while the singers and dancers moved down below them. There was also a girl hula-hoopist who made the hoops blur as they spun round in ever quicker movements. I also liked the mermaid singer who swam above the stage alongside the man-with-the-balloon using movements of her hips to propel her forward (ok, she was on a wire but that's what it looked like). And at the end the dancers all brought out enormous balloons to bounce around in the audience, something that Slava does in his 'Snowshow' (witnessed at Wimbledon a couple of years ago).

Those Soleil people certainly know how to craft and deliver a marvellous show! And they've got the merchandising down to a fine art too.