Currently…

Listening:

Loads of stuff. Getting back into music at the moment as well as rediscovering lots of old things.
Mulatu Astatke is the big one for me at the moment. The Ethiopean King Of The Fender Rhodes. The Ethiopiques Instrumentals and Ethio-Jazz compilation LPs are phenomenal. The Ethiopean scale of music means nothing ever sounds resolved so you end up with this beautiful haunting music that teeters between heartbreaking sadness and true ecstacy.
Qui are awesome. Got chance to see them in Texas in March and then again at Supersonic at the weekend. Search You Tube for their Supersonic set to see how much of this awesomeness comes from the powerhouse drums and guitar action meaning comparing them to The Jesus Lizard is nothing short of missing the point.
I never much liked Soundgarden back when I had long hair and a checked shirt. Whereas Nirvana spat out their music and it all felt natural, Soundgarden sounded too composed and thought out. I must have been mental. Superunknown is a masterpiece. There, I said it. I’m even going to see Chris Cornell in a few weeks.
The new Earthless album Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky is 2 extremely long and heavy jams where the guitar solos become so long and deep that they go through the barrier of being ‘long’ or ‘wanky’ and out the other side into some weird reality where time is all strrrretched.
And finally and most importantly the new Moondog compilation on Honest Jon’s is one of the strangest and most affecting records I have ever heard. Get on to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moondog
Not to mention The MC5, Bo Diddley, The Monks and the new Bilge Pump album.
And the gentle purr of my new car.

Reading:
Louis Theroux – The Call Of The Weird. I always find the documentaries excruciating but the book is great.
I have also been reading about having my cruciate ligament replaced with part of my hamstring as it all sounds a bit fucking heavy.

Watching:
TV? Oh no, I don’t do that. I have been immersed in Family Guy boxsets for a while now though. And will no doubt go see The Simpsons Movie.
Lots of You Tube action as well. There’s some incredible footage of The MC5 from Detroit Tubeworks that is possibly the finest rock n roll footage I have ever seen.
I’ve been watching my weight also. This knee thing has lessened my already small exercise regime and I am entering my Vegas period.

Anticipating:
New Lords album. We’ve been working hard on this since April and now I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel and that light is the light of rock’s majesty, in light form. It’s been surprisingly good fun. I like being in a band sometimes.
First proper release by Felix is out now as well on www.low-point.com – somewhere between Regina Spektor and Earth. I do the Regina Spektor part obviously.
I’m also hopefully playing guitar in October for a very reknowned New York composer, I’m not jinxing it by saying when and where and who but I’m very much anticipating it.
Lots of weddings coming up too, and births.

Working on:
Work. This self-employed thing isn’t quite the piece-of-piss I thought it might be. Been doing lots of ‘proper’ illustration jobs and really enjoying it too. I’m going for a big fat steak tonight and when I’m stuffing my face I can think “drawing pictures paid for this”. It’s a nice thought.
I’m also learning to read music fast.

Posted: 07|20|07 at 12:41 pm. Filed under: all about us.
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