'The Pink & The Lily' by Sandi Thom

Sandi Thom's second album was released this week and it is good, much better and more consistent than her first album.

I came across Sandi through a google alert that quoted an article that said she sounded like Buffy Sainte-Marie. I followed the article back to source and found 'I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker' and then went to see her play a little gig at Islington Academy Bar. About that time the single charted and she became the latest internet-based sensation. She doesn't really sound like Buffy but she has a vibrato voice and I suppose that's similar enough. I liked about half of the first album - it was short with only 10 songs and felt like it was rushed out. The new album is longer (both number of songs and duration) and a lot more fulfilling.

Sandi released a few songs to download from her site earlier this year, songs that didn't make the album, and I liked them so was looking forward to the album's release. There's a much bigger sound on this album with the music really fleshed out by a full band rather than the sketches on the first album, a rockier sound and definite statement that she's not a one-hit wonder.

A few of the songs drip with cultural references from the last century, referencing 'Gone With The Wind', Judy Garland, the Rolling Stones, punks and hippies (as she would!) and a lot more. I'm not sure why she does this, maybe it's an attempt to place her music in an ongoing tradition down the years? Whatever, Sandi writes songs on a wide range of topics and I wonder what the inspiration for 'Success's Ladder' was? It's a celebration about a man leaving the rat race and commuting and moving down the ladder of success. That's an odd one for someone in Sandi's position and age but it's one of my favourites and shows how thoughtful she can be.

I prefer the rockier songs on the album and there's a good few to choose from: 'The Devil's Beat' (the single), 'Shape I'm In' (with the harmonica break), 'Remote Control Me', and the great 'I'm A Human Being' (which should be a single).

Well done Sandi, a big thumbs up from me!

Maximo Photos

I took some photos of the great Maximo Park when I saw them last night and here's a few:

Four Bands in One Night

Tonight I saw the magnificent Maximo Park in concert in the venue with the stickiest floors in London, the Forum in Kentish Town. It took an age to get home to the other end of the Northern Line so I thought I'd wind down by giving you a potted review.

Much to their credit, the Maximos don't have a record or DVD to promote, this was a one-off charity gig to support The Royal Marsden Hospital and the No-Surrender charity for young people with cancer. Worthy causes and good of them to put the gig together, with all profits going to the two organisations. It was a four-band line-up, starting with...

Pete & The Pirates: now, anything involving pirates gets a thumbs up from me (I still haven't decided whether to be a pirate or join a circus when I grow up) but I wasn't entirely impressed with the band. It's a five-piece band and, let's face it, no band needs four guitarists. They struck me as indie-by-numbers, trying different styles and sounds for half an hour on the off-chance that one style might work. They were entertaining enough but, unless they up their game, I wouldn't bother seeing them again.

Blood Red Shoes: I first saw the BRS supporting the Maximos last year and then supporting Siouxsie this year. I *like* the thump-thump-twangsters and they did a great set with some of my favourites from the new album. And for the first time, they were actually lit properly so I could see them clearly. Laura-Mary was in a nice grey frock and black stockings but I admit to wincing to see that she wasn't wearing shoes on stage - bad girl, you might tread on something out there! Steven was in tee shirt and jeans banging away on the drums as usual. They opened with 'It's Getting Boring By The Sea' and played 'You Bring Me Down' and 'I Wish I Someone Better', two of my favourites. They also played for half an hour and ended with Steven standing on his drums and part demolishing them - so rock n roll! I liked 'em and so did most of the audience, so that's a good thing.

Mystery Jets: while a lot of people around me (generally of the younger persuasion) seemed to enjoy the Mystery Jets I thought they were pretentious tripe. Any band that sets out three sets of keyboards and then only use them for the first song, after which they switch to guitars, deserves derision. The sound mix was awful, I couldn't hear what was being sung and it seemed like they threw everything possible into every song - how many kitchen sinks do they own? I coined the phrase 'progressive indie' watching them - they reminded me of early '70s progressive rock more than anything. Half an hour was purgatory. And for some obscure reason Laura Marling joined them on stage to sing one verse of their last song and then left, followed a few minutes later by the rest of the band since that really was their last song. A bit shambolic and not in a good way. Moving on ...

Maximo Park: Magnificent. Godlike. Heroic.

Me Geordie Lads were great (obviously). I think this is the 6th or 7th time I've seen them live and it always feels like such a privilege to see them play. They're a great live band and it was totally scary to see the huddled masses below on the floor bouncing and pushing one way and another whenever the lights shone on them (I sensibly was sitting in the second row of the balcony). Paul is an excellent front-man, whipping up the audience and keeping the excitement at a peak. I don't understand why he wears the bowler hat though - it must be very sweaty in that hat after the first couple of songs. He jumped all over the stage, wiggled his hips, leapt from Tom's drum podium arms and legs akimbo, ran from one side of the stage to another, bounced along with Lukas at his keyboards. He makes me feel tired.

The Maximos played for an hour (finishing at 11.20pm, hence the long trek home) and it was mainly a hits set (which is fine by me) with the addition of *new* songs! They played two new songs, one a romantic piece and one, called (I think) 'Tanned' which caused a big grin to appear on my face. Dunc has discovered 'Electric Warrior'! The guitar riff wasn't a rip-off or anything but it instantly took me back to early T.Rex circa the 'Electric Warrior' album and it works perfectly. There were also hints of psychedelia in the song and if this is the direction for the new album then it's going to be fab! I loved it! I don't think any of them of them were born when 'Electric Warrior' was released but I was and I think Marc would approve. I really hope that song is on the new album - it's excellent!

The gig ended with 'Apply Some Pressure' during which some twat got onto the stage and somehow ended up with Paul on the floor before the twat was pulled off and bounced into the wings and Paul could finish the song. It was all over in a few seconds after which Paul immediately went to the front of the stage to stand on the monitors to show he was ok and I hope he really is ok and doesn't find some odd aches and pains tomorrow when the adrenalin has worn off. Why do people do that?

Anyway, the Maximos won hands down on quality of songs and performance, they were great. You really must go and see them if they play a venue in your area since they're immense fun live. Now I just need to wait for the new album...

'In Your Room' by Yazoo

The new boxset from Yazoo, 'In Your Room' was released on Monday. It comprises the remastered 'Upstairs At Eric's' and 'You And Me Both' plus another CD of non-album tracks and remixes and a DVD with a documentary and videos. I haven't been into town so far this week so I haven't seen a physical copy yet but I downloaded the audio today and have been happily bopping along to it all afternoon. I wouldn't say I was a great fan of Yazoo but I got both albums on vinyl when they came out and have enjoyed Alison's music ever since (I never got into Erasure). I'm looking forward to seeing them live in concert in a few weeks time.

'Upstairs At Eric's' is a great album, one of those landmarks when suddenly you hear something new. Listen to it now and, without the history, it doesn't stand out the way it did back when it was first released. But listening to it today and I keep hearing hooks and sequences that seem to be the bedrock of so much dance music - it tapped into something that has now become mainstream but you can trace it back to Yazoo, Vince's electronic wizardry and Alison's vocals.

Although I had the albums on vinyl I've only ever had a 'best of' CD that includes less than half of the album so it's been great to hear the album in full again. Fab tunes like 'Bad Connection', 'Goodbye 70s', 'Midnight' (which allows Alison to show off her voice), 'In My Room', 'Tuesday' (with the drear line of 'Woman of 30...' sung as if 30 is ancient and at the end of life [sigh]) and 'Bring Your Love Down (Didn't I)' as well the obvious 'Don't Go' and 'Only You'. Mind you, it also reminded me of my pet hate of the waste of space 'I Before E Except After C' in which the best part is Alison's stoned laughter (I've deleted it from my iPod already for it's sheer annoyance factor).

'You And Me Both' was Yazoo's second and final album and I think they split the week it was released or something like that. I bought it. 'Upstairs' is the better album since it was ground-breaking and, by the second one, we had a good idea of what to expect, but it's a good album nonetheless. Highlights for me are 'Mr Blue', 'Nobody's Diary', 'Sweet Thing', 'Good Times' and 'Ode To Boy' (although I prefer Alison's solo version).

The third disc is remixes and a few non-album songs and rareties. It's nice to have the bonus tracks, but they're extras really. I decided to download the three audio discs rather than buy the full boxset largely because of the price - £10.99 for 3 CDs compared to £35.99 for 3 CDs + 1 DVD + the packaging. I suspect I'd only watch the DVD once and not look at the packaging after the first time, so £25 isn't a bad saving and shows what the retail and record company mark-up really is. My music-listening habits have changed over the years but that's for another blog.

Anyway, I've enjoyed listening to it, the sound quality is great, nice and clean, and I'm looking forward to seeing Yazoo on 19 June - not long now!

Overheard In London

I found an interesting website this afternoon - Overheard In London - that resulted in some loud guffaws emanating from my gob. It's full of things people have overheard in and around London and emailed to the site. Who knows if they're actually true but some of them are laugh-out-loud quality.

Some examples:

	Parenting skills
	chav mum dragging screaming 3 year old child along "stop f***ing struggling or I'll leave you behind"
	Overheard by danthefloorman, wimbledon posted Monday, 10th March 2008

	I wouldn't call it brain drain!
	2 white blokes on a bus doing along by Denmark Hill. White bloke #1 (looking out of the bus and onto the street): 'It's all shit round here.' White bloke #2: 'All these fucking immigrants.' White bloke #1: 'Yeah. If there was a country without immigrants I'd go and live there.'
	Overheard by Phil, On a bus in East Dulwich posted Friday, 28th March 2008

	Horny Chocolate Sellers
	Girl #1 selling chocolates: "Alright mate; how about it? Wanna try?" Bloke: "Nah thanks love, you're sweet enough." Girl #2 selling chocolates: "That guy was so fit, and he just made a pass at you." Girl #1 selling chocolates: "I know. If he'd have bought a chocolate I'd totally already be sat on his face." Girl #2 selling chocolates: "I'd have just given him a chocolate..."
	Overheard by Craig, Camden Market posted Tuesday, 05th February 2008

	Fidelity or not
	Guy 1: "... so you're in an open relationship?" Guy 2: "Yeah, well kind of .." Guy 1: "What do you mean 'kind of'?!" Guy 2: "Well, she doesn't know yet."
	Overheard by K, The Big Chill, Shoreditch posted Monday, 03rd December 2007

Chelsea Flower Show 2008

After work this afternoon I headed over to Chelsea for the Royal Horticultural Society's annual flower show. I'd left it too late to order an afternoon ticket (they sell out quickly) so got an evening ticket for entry at 5.30pm. I got straight in shortly after 5pm so that gave me ample time to browse. As ever, it was incredibly crowded, people milling round everywhere but that's part of Chelsea, I suppose.

First stop was the Grand Pavilion and all the flower displays, banks of gorgeous flowers all over the place, colour and shape making me wander like a magpie round the Pavilion, veering off course when a blaze of colour caught my eye. I think the Pavilion is larger this year - it looked it and felt it while I wandered round.

After wearing my eyes out with colour I went outside for an ice-cream and a look at the gardens. I think my favourite was the 'George Harrison garden' which is a bit of a coincidence since I bought 'All Things Must Pass' the other day. It's a colourful garden with a riot of planting at the front alongside a ceramic star celebrating 'Here Comes The Sun' with a winding path to a little stream and leading to a Mughal pavilion with silk cushions for relaxing on. Beside the stream is a large photo of George circa 1970 from the 'All Things' shoot with water seeping over it as a fountain and bubbling into the stream. Beside the stream are etched the words, 'Floating down the stream of time from life to life with me... by George Harrison'. It's a peaceful garden.


It was fun walking round the exhibition seeing all sorts of plant-related stuff - stalls selling flowered wellies, plant pots, little tractors, wind-chimes, sheds, water-colours... you name it, it was there. There were plants and flowers in all shapes, from a giant rugby player in the Cardiff garden to shoes made from tiny alpines in a 'designers' garden. The Caribbean gardens once again won my award for most colour and form but they weren't as imaginative as last year, and some of the other exhibitors seemed to use the same designs and motifs as last year. I was pleased to find the display of orchids from Japan I'd been hoping to see, with delicate little orchids with their roots wrapped in moss and suspended from a tree. After a day at work it was knackering, but nice to see.

Did I take any photos? Oh yes, and here's a sample....

Christmas in May

Yes, I know it's a bit early but may I shout MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERBODY at you, please?

The Merry Xmas Everybody Tour 2008 will be stopping off at Shepherds Bush Empire on Monday 22 December 2008 with the magnificent Slade, T.Rexstacy and Mud2. I saw the 2007 tour at Croydon and Slade were fab but the venue was a bit odd - now, I'm not a fan of Shepherd's Bush but at least it has the requisite sticky floors and is a traditional rock venue.

I really want to see the noize boyz at a proper venue so please don't invite me to a party that night as I'm afraid I'll be busy...

"There'll Always Be An England" DVD - The Sex Pistols

Look out for the new DVD from the Sex Pistols chronicling their sojourn at Brixton Academy last November - and I was there! The DVD is released on 30 June so I know what I'm doing that evening! Um, well, I'm actually going to see Lou Reed at the Royal Albert Hall, but you know what I mean.

Here's a preview of the artwork for the DVD courtesy of John's site:


As John Lydon so rightly said at the end of their last night at Brixton, "They're the best band in the world" and, believe me, that night they were!

Thumpy Thump

I'm sorry to go on about The Dresden Dolls new album but it really is good. I want to go on record to say that I *need* to see the punk cabaret ragamuffins play 'The Mouse And The Model' live. Amanda is being gorgeous and teasing singing, 'If you did it say you did it, if you didn't suck it up and say you did' (I love that line) while plonking away on the keyboard, but it's a tour de force by Brian on the drums.

Brian is a great drummer, has played with Nine Inch Nails and in Jesse Mallin's band on the last tour. He feels music. He knows when to touch the cymbal and when to thrash it. He's an artist. And I love his drumming on 'The Mouse And The Model'. Whenever I hear it I want to go into head banging, arms thrashing drum mode, arms flailing all over as I join in with Brian's manic drumming. There's so much drum on that song that you could be forgiven for thinking it's multi-tracked but it isn't. That's how Brian Viglione plays. He's a drum god.


Incidentally, if you want to hear the song - or the whole album - then you could scoot over to the Virginia Archives site and listen to it. If you like it then buy the album. In fact, buy the album anyway - it's your duty as a human being.

Kathmandu

I was brushing my teeth this morning and, out of the blue, found myself in Kathmandu.

Many years ago I went on an adventure to the northern parts of the Indian sub-continent. I travelled by car, train and plane in a higgledy-piggledy way across Northern India and up into Nepal, from Delhi to Varanasi to Kathmandu and back to Delhi. I had a wonderful time and saw some amazing sights that will stay with me forever, such as opening the curtains in my hotel room and having that 'wow' moment as I looked out over the red roofs of Kathmandu and into the foothills of the Himalayas as the sun glinted on the snow-covered peaks. I saw 8" tall marigolds in Kathmandu. Honest.

I floated a candle as an offering to Mother Ganga at dawn as I was rowed up the Ganges at Varansi past the burning ghats as the Ganges turned orange as the first rays of the sun hit it. I was blessed by a Jain monk in a wave of incense smoke. I was surrounded by mutilated beggars outside the Palace of the Winds at Jaipur until a coach tour arrived and the picking were better elsewhere. I met Kali in an ancient temple and she was daubed in blood. I drove through endless fields with women picking the crops while wearing the most colourful saris imaginable. I drove through a desert and stopped at a country club with the greenest lawns I've ever seen. The majesty of the Taj Mahal at Agra. Oh, the memories...

I'm not sure why brushing my teeth made me think of Kathmandu but it did. I also thought of last Thursday when I saw two Buddhist monks in orange robes - one in Tooting Broadway station and one in the Cabinet War Rooms. My mind is telling me something. I need to go East.

I have yearnings in me.