How good are Electric Soft Parade?

Fantastic gig on Friday night...

I had my first ESP experience on Friday night at the Barfly, and it was FANTASTIC... Electric, Soft and Parade did a "secret" gig, first on at the Monarch under the name "Brotherhood of Fish", and their short set is surely shortlisted already for gig of the year...



They opened with a cover of Can't Get You Out Of My Head, then played their two big singles, then did a huge twenty minute wig out, incorporating bits of the Kylie cover again, along with everything great I've ever heard... TOP gig... They're on tour RIGHT SOON, do not miss them:

What is the best music format?

CHEERS to MJ Hibbett for the singles...

MJ Hibbett has a new EP to promote - A Church Hall Of Sound (revisited), a truncated reworking of his acclaimed album of the same name. But the album didn't have "revisited" in the title. He made the smart decision of giving me, and so indrectly YOU, the VALUED PUNTER, some copies.



The single is nice old fashioned vinyl, but he's also involved in the WORLD'S FIRST MP3 only compilation album - Now That's What I Call Valid, also featuring Frankie Machine, Cocks and more... If you want a chance to win a single, tell us: what is the best music format? FIVE winners will be picked at random...



Also, he is on a joint baton passing tour with Frankie Machine - it's not just two tours happening sort of at the same time, it is CUTTING EDGE:


Wednesday October 25th - Frankie - Jug of Ale, Birmingham

Thursday October 26th - MJ - The Boardwalk, Sheffield

Friday October 27th - Frankie - Physio & Firkin, Leicester

Wednesday November 1st - MJ - Jug of Ale, Birmingham

Saturday November 4th - Frankie - Bath, Moles Club

Monday November 6th - MJ - Princess Charlotte, Leicester (supporting Brave Captain)

Tuesday November 7th - MJ - Bull and Gate, London

Thursday November 9th - Frankie AND MJ - Old Angel, Nottingham

Admin :: Let's all meat up in the year 2000 :: Comment / reply

Yesterday's news

BAH, wrote a huge posting, to compensate for several days of blog neglect, and Firefox only done went and crashed on me didn't it... that's literally several paragraphs of finely thought out prose that are now lost forever. I need to write an "autosave" type feature like Google Mail does. So where was I? Ah, LOVELY day today, I took an early stroll down town, and it was a delight. Usually the town centre is a bit cluttered with pushchairs and loonies, but being a bit early today, I seem to have missed most of them. I headed back via The Bayle and the churchyard, and that too had a lovely silvery quality to it, a mix of the bright sunlight and the barely-there mist. Only the sudden thought that a) there were no loonies in town and b) this church yard is were the bad element might well hang out quickened my step at all. I took to The Leas, and found a tiding of magpies:



Yes, that's only two and not really a collective noun's worth, but that was just the picture I happened to grab, there really were a lot about. I tried to video some, but it seems I didn't catch much other than wind noise, I need a spoffle. They seemed to be arguing to me, but that doesn't really show up.



On spoffles and collective nouns, we've been watching lots of QI the last few days, it's great, but I picked up on some of their research that I thought was a bit off. Fry mentioned how the joke collective noun a flange of baboons was now overtaking the official term, and referenced a review on Amazon as proof of this. Amazon reviews can be written by anyone and say anything, does that really count as an official review? I formulated these thoughts without checking though, and it seems there really are a lot of mentions out there, perhaps it will take over. Good work Not the Nine O'Clock News. Spoffle of course is the name for a sponge microphone cover that was invented by Hugh Laurie and then became law.

Weekend, great, we had a visitor from London, so took in The Ship Inn (Sandgate), Escondido, The Ship Inn (the harbour), The British Lion, and Chambers though none of them were that great. Played a lot of pool this weekend too, here and in the pub, I've still got it...

On pubs, I had a rare night out in London last week, met The Ushers in Gordon's wine bar, a new one on me. This is a great place, proper cosy cellar bar, and couldn't be handier for Charing Cross. I tried to get a pint in The Sherlock Holmes before this, a pub confusingly signed "Est 1732" or some other such date long before the Sherlock Holmes books were written. But it was closed for refurbishment. Seems the pub was renamed this in some modern year, though it's on or near to the site of a hotel mentioned in the books.

Watching: Apart from QI, How Do You Want Me, as recommended by bro-in-law Dom, and it's actually very good. A medium gentle comedy starring Dylan Moran and Charlotte Coleman. There's only two series of it so I hope we don't get really into it. Also about to start Dexter, some crime thing set in Miami.
Reading: Just finished a Rebus, The Falls, and am debating wether to plough back into the Reg Hill / Dalziel and Pascoe novels that I'm really enjoying, or to give Cryptonomicon a go. Looks a bit intimidating...
Listening: Pioneer Soundtracks, I just heard it's getting reissued, that's one of my favourite albums.
Eating: Sausage and mash for tea, I'd better get on with it...

2006 :: Comment / reply