4 posts tagged “music”
Went to see 'em on Friday night at the Hammersmith Apollo, and it was fantastic. Yes, that IS two gigs on two consecutive nights. I've still got it, etc. *clutches ringing ears*
They're a proper rock'n'soul revue now, having dropped the free-jazz bollocks that blighted their gigs around the XTMNTR and Evil Heat albums (and I love both. Just not the rubbish bits played live), brought in some proper gospelly backing singers, and started playing Rocks without trying to f*** it up. Hurrah for that.
They even played Loaded as an encore. Marvellous. The View supported too, they are hotly tipped, but as far as I can make out, they have an amazing first song, then it gradually descends into clattery Libertines-lite. The Kids love 'em, obviously.
Spent the weekend catching up with work, which was threatening to get on top of me. Sorted now, just waiting for Alice to get home from her girly weekend in Edinburgh. I have about two hours of tidying and an hour of cooking to squeeze into the next hour and a half...
Oh dear, I haven't Voxed for ages, and I don't even have good booze-related reasons like Gemma. I haven't been properly, respectably drunk in ages. And to compound my shame, I even managed to knock over a table of champagne glasses today at 3's press event WITHOUT the cause being earlier swigging. I'll be handing in my journalist credentials if this continues.
What else? Oh yes, Alice has been feeling movement-type stuff in her belly for a couple of weeks, without being entirely sure that it's the baby, but in the last few days it's been much more noticeable. It even obligingly kicked three times the other night when I had my hand on her tummy. It's all marvellous, obviously, very emotional. Next scan is the week after next, when we should get to see the bub again. We found this image, which is apparently what it roughly looks like now. Blee.
Also, we have 10 boys names and 10 girls names on a longlist, although I better not say what they are, for fear of jinxing things. Sadly, Busby didn't make the final list though, despite making us both snort tea out of our nostrils when we read it in the book. Neither did Ponce or Gaylord (likewise). Schoolkids can be so cruel, it's like giving them an open goal to aim for...
I've also started the final process of getting rid of my shitey old PC, by transferring over all the MP3s to my Mac. And there's a few thousand of them, being transferred 1GB at a time via memory stick.
Anyway, this means I've been listening to selected albums that I haven't heard in a while. This week: lots of Nick Drake, Led Zeppelin, and The Cure's marvellous reissue of Three Imaginary Boys, an album made when they were still scratchy post-punks. It has the best scratchy post-punk cover of Jimi Hendrix's 'Foxy Lady' you'll ever hear.
Work is mad busy too - full steam ahead on WiiWii, Tech Digest, Brandish etc, as well as my *gasp* non Shiny Media stuff (Pocket Gamer, Pocket Picks, T3 magazine, top-secret copywriting etc). Every time I think I've got this time management lark sorted, I take on too much work again and end up working until 10pm. Ah well, it will pay for lots of Wii games rusks and a Sky Sports subscription nappies. See how responsible I am.
What a long post. That's me done for five months then...
A quick camphone video clip of Xavier, who I'd never heard of before V, but stormed the JJB tent with his one-man drums'n'guitar'n'didgeridoo music. Note atmospheric camerawork towards the end of the clip. I think it works best if you pause, let the video download for a bit, and then press play.
I'm sunburned, sleepy, have breath like a badger's armpit and a thudding beat in my ears that won't go away. But I'm back from V2006, and PRAISE BE I slept in my bed last night, after we left the fest around 9pm to drive home and avoid the Monday-morning rush. Yes, I know this makes us old. And sorry Kat, it also meant I didn't see Morrissey. So who did I see? It sounds like an excuse for some spurious made-up awards to me...
UNLUCKIEST BAND
The Bombay Bicycle Club, who were a bunch of 16-year-olds who'd won the Road To V competition for a place on the Channel 4 stage, but had the misfortune to come on 2 mins before it absolutely bucketed down (aftermath left). They sounded good though, spiky and energetic.
BEST SURPRISE
Xavier Rudd, an Aussie one-man-band playing drums, slide guitar and didgeridoo in the JJB tent. Folk music but banging with it. I reckon the crowd was about 75% Aussie too, is he big down under? I realise that sounds rude...
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
Beck. And he started so well too, coming on-stage to 'Loser' and then kicking straight into 'Devil's Haircut', and there was a puppet for every member of his band jigging about at the back of the stage (right). But he then played a lot of new stuff that's more hip-hop than his recent albums, but not much in the way of tunes. He played a rubbish version of 'Sexx Laws' too.
MOST INAPPROPRIATE POLITICAL SONG
Kula Shaker's 'Dictators Of The Free World'. It's not a bad song, but
when you're Crispian Mills out of Kula Shaker, singing a chorus that
goes "I'm a dic, I'm a dic, I'm a dic..." is just handing your critics
ammunition innit. And the political sentiments would probably work
better if the song wasn't quite so much of an Austin Powers cheesy
wig-out. Don't get me wrong though, Kula Shaker were good, bellowing
randomly-remembered nonsense to 'Tattva' took me back a few years. See also: Gomez.
BEST SLOGAN
Definitely Fatboy Slim with his 12-foot video wall (he was on top DJing) that kept flashing up DANCE BITCH (left). Tent was predictably rammed, and he played all the big choons. He does dance a bit like your dad though when he gets excited.
Kasabian, after every song it was 'THANKYOU CHELMSFORD!'. I kept thinking they were going off, but no, just pleased to be there. They were ace though, the new songs sound really good live, and the old ones still make everyone dance like monkeys. Nice lights too (right).
BEST BAND WHO I DIDN'T SEE DUE TO A LAST-MINUTE DECISION TO OPT FOR POUNDING POUNDING TECHNO MUSIC AND THEN KASABIAN
Radiohead. I did hear them finish with 'Creep' while I was in the loos after Kasabian finished, though.
BAND WHO I WISH I'D SEEN MORE OF
Captain. Dunno much about them, but saw their last two songs in the Union tent and they were marvellous - reminded me of Franz Ferdinand, not musically, just in the way they're so clearly a band, and destined for much bigger stages.
Lily Allen. Not just because of the song, but because of the crowd antics just outside the JJB tent. It was super-rammed, so the security guards closed the tent off, but with not enough people to effectively police it. Cue a person leaping over the fence, chased by guard, while 30 people stream in through the gap where the guard was standing before. Repeat. Lily sounded great though, her band especially so - big drums and brass.
WORST SOUND
The Dandy Warhols on the V Stage. They looked like they were playing well. It's just that the wind meant I couldn't hear anything other than the drums and bass. Really frustrating (although not as frustrating as their decision not to play 'Bohemian Like You' was to 97% of the crowd).
BEST DANCE REMIX
Starsailor, for doing the dancey version of 'Four To The Floor' just for the hell of it. They were good too, all the anthems to bellow along to (right). Crowd wasn't v big, sadly.
BEST 'OH ALRIGHT, I EAT MY WORDS' ARTIST
Jim Noir on the Union Stage. Alice has been banging on about him for ages, and has his album, but I always assumed he was like a more rubbish Badly Drawn Boy for some reason. More fool me - he was fantastic, really good songs, but also a really storming band around him.
BEST MID-90S REVIVAL ACT
Gomez in the JJB tent. Not just for the thirtysomething bedlam for 'Get Myself Arrested' and 'Whipping Piccadilly', but also for the fact that all the newer songs sound great. Despite the fact that very few of us have bought them. We all felt suitably guilty afterwards - I reckon they might see an iTunes surge in the next few days.
BEST VOICE
Rufus Wainwright. Amazing, particularly so when it's just him and a piano and/or a guitar. I have to admit, I did sneak off towards the end of the set for a cheeky dance to the Charlatans closing with Sproston Green (left). Just for old times' sake.
