So, on Tuesday I went to see Trans Am and The Fucking Champs. And one song by Eska, since the 13th Note now seems to open the doors at the time noted on the ticket and not an hour later. Dammit. Eska are really utterly fantastic these days. I mean, they were always utterly fantastic but now they’re utterly ROCK fantastic. If the new EP isn’t deserving of the word ‘awesome’ I’ll be very surprised. I went down the front to take photos of the Champs [actually to eye up Tim Green..ahem..] but after about three songs my ears were aching and my legs wobbling from the shuddering wall of power guitars. R! O! C! K! etc. it was mighty. I watched the rest from a safe retreat at the back of the venue where the floor still vibrated in shock.

After that, Trans Am had to be a disappointment and they kind of were. Some of it was great but mostly when they sounded like Tortoise or Brainiac. when they came back for an encore I was not too happy but they played their best song yet so that cheered me up immensely. And Chris gave me another corporate pen for my collection so another good night all round.

Now I’m off to see The Dismemberment Plan tonight. Does it ever stop? No.

okay, now I can find time to write about the burnt out festival. very timely considering the last few days have involved burning buildings at my place of work. I just went down and took some photos of the burnt botany building. it looks pretty sad with no roof.

the burnt out festival is on all this week in glasgow and they really went to some effort. really nice old-church type venue, slide and film projections and even printing the tickets on fancy cardboard. anyway, I went on the first night for Hood and Very! Special! Guests! Mogwai!

which obviously was wee stuart b dj-ing for well over an hour. he didn’t do his mobile indie disco but instead did a damn good proper dj set with fancy mixing skills and sticking in a whole bunch of stuff from hip hop to electronica to cheesy garage to digital hardcore to heavy metal to sesame street. but I think he mainly likes dj-ing so he can put on a long record every now and again and run about getting another beer and chatting to people. I expect this to get worked in to Mogwai’s set at some point.

Hood were the main band and they were really great. it all just worked together really well. the electronicy stuff, the guitars, the projections and everything. and they did a fantastically loud rock out bit to finish on. I was rather impressed.

Good night altogether. And John from Mogwai bought me a pint! what a guy!

I’d just like to say that it wasn’t me that set the QMU on fire in the hope of making Starsailor die a horrible burning death. Despite working in a building mere yards away I have witnesses to the fact that I was involved in the complicated task of breaking our own websites while being electrocuted via the static electricity conducting devices that are my polyester slacks.

and I’ll post about Hood and Mogwai later. But before I go out to see Trans Am!

everyone here at diskant hs been rendered speechless by the new Fugazi album. seriously, it’s that good!

About six months ago I managed to wean myself off buying the NME every week as it was 94% crap and costing me way too much money. However I’ve now started buying Kerrang! most weeks which, while being much more interesting and informative, costs even more than the NME. Hmm.

But there’s a rather good feature on Fugazi in this week’s Kerrang! Not long ago I would have been highly surprised and dubious of this fact but Kerrang! is certainly gaining my respect. Although granted an interview with the band they’ve obviously had to dumb the whole thing down to the level of your average Slipknot fan who’s probably never come across Fugazi yet but it’s a nice little introductory piece. The pictures are really cool as well.

I’ve been reading the Punk Planet collected interviews book and, having read the interviews with Ian Mackaye and Jem Cohen plus the Kerrang! thing, I’m now desperate to watch the Instrument video again. why couldn’t I have thought of it while I was off work ill?

and Melt Banana were fantastic on John Peel last night even though I had to blu-tac my aerial to a plastic bottle to get a half-decent reception. very much looking forward to seeing them in Glasgow tomorrow.

on my way home tonight I saw Aidan from Arab Strap talking on a cellphone outside the 24 hour shop on Byres Road. However, that’s also right next door to Blockbuster so I think he’s probably succumbed to the charms of Steve, the hilariously patronising video store guy who works there. and who can blame him?

I did go to the record store after work but ended up only buying the Papa M mini album and the new one by Tara Jane O’Neil. I have no idea why I didn’t buy the Papa M thing when it came out – I’ve seen him play these songs live three times and been singing them for days after yet never thought to actually buy them. I was going to buy the new Les Savy Fav as well but I didn’t have enough cash on me and the counter at Missing is too high for me to sign Switch card receipts on. I’d have to stand on a box and frankly I don’t want to make that much of an idiot of myself.

anyone want to send me additions to my corporate pen collection? they’ve got to be advertising huge corporations or ‘hip’ design/internet companies. so far I’ve got a solid silver Windows 2000 pen [okay, it’s actually some kind of crappy metal painted silver], a Microsoft MSDN plastic pen, a purple Macromedia pen and an astounding pen from Learning IT [they’re not a corporation but the pen has a mini yellow highlighter in the lid!]. send more to me at the address on the contact page. I’ll love you for it.

I’m going to go buy lots of new records today after being stuck in the house for the first four days of my new paycheck. I’ve got four in mind but I don’t think I should buy them all. not with the new Fugazi album coming out very very soon. I really want the Ride boxset though…

I got pointed in the direction of Nat from OXES old Baltimore Rowdy Collective website. It’s very very funny and stupid [“We talked in the destructo voice”] but in their list of Rowdy Slogans is one Break Stuff [the name of our stupid Trail of Dead site]. I always thought we just stole that off Fred Durst and he was going to come round and kick my ass one day but no, we also stole it off a bunch of crazy psychos. Nice one. However if I ever get killed I’d like you all to point the finger at Fred Durst, those OXES boys were no trouble when they stayed round our house.

I think we need to make up some slogans for Break Stuff though. The BRC ones are great: Education is for the Stupid; Don’t Eat, Die; WHHHHYYYYY!! and, my favourite, Crying. . . Heard it Before.

I got a letter from Central Trains today enclosing a £28 travel voucher in apology for cancelling my train home from the leeds festival and making me walk three miles in the middle of nowhere. Result! The letter reads like it was written by a team of over enthusiastic robots so everything is said three times in a slightly different way. I actually had no idea what the point of the letter was until the last sentence about the travel voucher. Now I have to find a reason to travel somewhere in the Central Trains region. Hmmmm…

Incidentally, I never said Chris Leo from The Lapse was a sex god. I said he was ‘not unnattractive’. I should be going to see bis, Melt Banana and Les Savy Fav this week and I can’t decide which one I’m most excited about. I’ve possibly already reached my excitement pinnacle for the day though after discovering me and david finally got a mention in the news page on trailofdead.com. About time like.