Went to my first gig of 2004 on Thursday to see diskant friends Hookers Green No1 despite the pouring rain and general miserableness of a late January Glasgow evening. Although intending to be fashionably late, we were actually the first people to arrive downstairs which meant a nice sit down and some James Orr Complex on the speakers. Then the hordes of student TopShop hipsters arrived and things got going. The first band (no idea what they were called, sorry) were not very interesting at all with their mishmash of postrock and 90s indie and the stage presence of a band that practices ever Saturday afternoon in their mum’s garage followed by egg and chips.

Hookers Green, however, are no egg and chips band. Shuffling about onstage with their brass section they looked slightly surprised to be there, as if they’d just woken up to find themselves onstage. The recorded HG stuff has an air of woozy dreaminess but live the songs became much louder and faster which was both a good and a bad thing. When the dual drumming kicked in on one song it sounded brilliant but the trombone often got drowned out by the general clamour. I’d like to see them mid afternoon or at about 3am with time to slow things down and let the songs drag themselves out to whatever end. They have much promise, probably my Band To Look Out For in 2004. So, look out for them (and somebody release their damn record!)

Everyone seems to complain that they can’t find good, untapped music to get their juices flowing. Here’s a tip for you:

GET POOR

It’s the answer. It means when you go to buy records and you’ve only got 2 quid to spare you have to take some risks. You can’t go buy Lightning Bolt because it’s 15 fucking pounds so you have to go second hand.

And not only second hand but stuff thats been dismissed by people. So, no Gang Of Four – thats going to cost you. You have to go below the barriers of taste.

Some of the best records I have ever heard have been obtained in such a desperate manner and the latest was no different. It opened me up to a wealth of LPs by one band and every one of them is shit hot.

Who? You ask…

ZZ TOP

The Little Ol’ Band From Texas are the fucking SHIT.

I recommend Tres Hombres from 1973 to really get down. Precious And Grace (recently covered by Queens Of The Stone Age) has a juggernaut riff and the amazing Hot, Blue & Righteous is enough to make a grown man weep.

The part live LP Fandango! is a good indication of what a smoking live band the Top were. Tejas is also absolutely fucking GODLIKE.

In fact anything up to the synths and fluffy guitars of Eliminator is worth a buy – especially at a quid a time which is what you usually pay. Even the MTV era stuff is ripping.

And Billy Gibbons is only 56 AND he likes Fugazi.

x

I just want to draw your attention to some diskant updates including the long-awaited results of our best of 2003 poll of albums and films. Yes, it’s extremely out of date and no-one cares any more. I know this. It’s still interesting though. I particularly like the fact that I am diskant Overlord and yet I have heard only four of our top ten albums of the year. So, something new for everyone to discover, maybe. There’s also a super-exciting interview with US label Wantage USA and some new columns by Wil Forbis and Hugues Mouton. Enjoy!Snow Update: Rubbish snow is almost as bad as no snow.

You know, I’ve been trying to think for almost 10 days now about actors I like, and I can’t find reason to fault Ollie’s list. I’ve only actually seen Vincent Cassel in one film (La Haine), so I can’t comment on that one, but the other four actors are all very close to my heart. In fact, me and my flatmate spent one evening debating over who we loved more: Phillip Seymour Hoffman or Steve Buscemi. We came to the conclusion that whilst Buscemi has been in loads more excellent films, he’s also been in loads more shit too – I mean, he once shared screentime with Sandra Bullock. Whereas the only blemish against Mr Hoffman to date would be having anything to do with Scent of a Woman. I don’t care if it was his breakthrough into Hollywood… It’s. The. Worst. Fucking. Film. Ever.*

However, I do have two words that could bring Ollie’s list shaking to its knees: Judge Reinhold.

REINHOLD IS GOD.

Ahem.

Man, it’s goddamned cold.

[*Apart from Dude, Where’s My Car? I couldn’t even muster ten minutes of that beauty.]

Haha, well, that totally worked. WE HAVE SNOW. Undeniable proof that the Met Office read this blog. And, er, control the weather.

WHERE IS THE SNOW? I demand mass resignations at the Met Office if it doesn’t snow today. THe only thing worse than not getting snow is not getting snow when you have been promised it.

Today I was faced with a strange dilemma I never thought I would be faced with: what do you do when the NME gives your band a rave review? The NME! Enemy of the DIY indie kids, much slagged on this very website. Upon being told our record was reviewed, I presumed it would be a two line nothingmuch comparing us to twelve other bands and moaning that we weren’t The Strokes, but no! “obscure genius”, “transcendent”, “proves Pink wrong”! Having joined the band after this particular record was recorded and ready for release helps somewhat – I can take some of the credit or dissassociate myself to some extent. In fact, having done virtually nothing yet, I feel kind of guilty about the whole ‘band’ thing and end up treating all this attention as an enormous joke. Hopefully some actual hard work once the recording and gigs get going will cure me of this.

I must also say my first look at the NME in about a year has been…interesting. Who ARE these bands? When did they start printing glossy posters?! WHO ARE THESE BANDS? And who let ex-members of the Yummy Fur playing Summerlin’s guitar get to be famous (and can I shake them by the hand for it)? Disappointed to see The Rapture are nowhere near as stupid geeky looking as I had imagined. Bah.

Oh yeah, BUY OUR RECORD. In the shops today “my people” tell me. Hurhur.

Can I also say I only wear Rocket Dog shoes, should anyone from that company want to give me a sponsorship deal. My trainers are leaking and I live in the UK’s second wettest city. I’m a UK size 5, US 8.5. Thanks.

evening. My Mum has forced me to clear out my piles of shit back at her house so I bring you the GREAT T SHIRT CLEAROUT. All this toss is going on EBay in the week so if you fancy anything get in there beforehand and email me:

PJ HARVEY – 1992 passport photos (Blue, L)

BUTTHOLE SURFERS – with Rough Trade backprint (white, L, bit fucked)

QOTSA – Aussie tour shirt, black L

SLINT – Spiderland shirt Black L

FEVERDREAM – Engine, Red M

THE OEDIPUS – grey M

CABLE – Green M

JON SPENCER – Black (old remixes shirt) M

FAITH NO MORE – 92 tour shirt M

BIS – Blue L

SUGAR – Copper Blue L

BREEDERS – Last Splash Blue L

The IKEA Walkthrough

I’m not sure THIS was quite what I was expecting Nintendo’s secret new project to be (we had money on a genetically engineered live Pikachu, darn) but it certainly sounds intriguing: a palm-held two screen gaming gadget. My brain is unable to visualise what on earth this might look like so I’m looking forward to seeing some actual pictures, not least to see what Nintendo have done with the design. The idea of having a separate screen to look at different aspects of the game is a continuation of what they’ve been trying to do with the GBA-GC link up, something which hasn’t quite caught on yet. And that’s not surprisingly to us seeing as the two connective games we play have brought us Tingle and the lecherous, cucumber-obsessed Kapp’n. I am slightly afeared.