It's been a while...

Yeah, I know. Shouldn't have left it this long really but once you're out of the habit etc... I suppose I owe readers of this blog an explanation as to the lack of updates since August.

It's amazing how redundancy from your day job can mess with your head. You'd think, as a keen reader of Affluenza and The Idler mag I'd have been quite happy about finding myself out of a job. However, it made me feel guilty and preoccupied. In the end you just lose track of what you should have been doing all along. In my case, writing about the stuff I love. I also found more work as a freelance, so that's OK as well.

Normal service is now resumed. Beatstalk will become much more about the music that truly inspires me, whether it is current or in the past. No more will it be led by what's topical. (Although some of that might creep in.)

Glad to be back.

Fast and Loose

The Loose Salute at Port Eliot Festival (Friday and Saturday)

I think I knew they would be. But it must be said that TLS were the perfect band for Port Eliot. For me, they conjure up images of summer, fun and enjoyment that makes an old Monkees fan like me just swoon. Perfectly accompanied by some Cornish cider as well but that's another story. This truly bohemian festival was greatly enhanced by the Caught By The River tent which played host to this superb band on Saturday lunchtime, having previously played a shorter set on the Caberet stage the previous evening. Technical problems I think but still a great way to kick off the weekend.

Having previously seen them supporting Edwyn Collins and The Rockingbirds at last September's Forever Heavenly event on the South Bank, I came a bit late to The Loose Salute but damn, I'm glad I got there in the end. Sun-drenched harmonies, jangly guitars and real songs of late 60's/early 70's Americana-ish vintage. There's even a Beatles cover, a stunning version of Abbey Road's "The End" shortly to take pride of place on a Mojo cover tribute CD. They do it well and anyone who can make a Fabs song their own gets my vote. A crop of new songs is often a cue to head for the bar, but not here. Such immediacy. Charlotte told me later that they are being recorded as we speak, so I hope it's out soon. The "Tuned To Love" album has been an ever present in the in-car CD listening experience and is loved equally by me, wife and two kids. Sing alongs have never been so good. A new album will mean all's right with the world.

Named after a Michael Nesmith album, with a Mojave 3 connection, the band are a multi-instrumentalist, fun, perfect pop package. Another winner from the Heavenly stable.

They have upcoming gigs at The Cross Keys, Great Bedwyn (nr. Marlborough) and London's Betsy Trotwood. Make your summer a bit more magical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcDFyVU52W4

So many people...

Blur in Hyde Park, 3/7/09

Having previously mentioned this gig on Beatstalk, it seems only fitting that I provide a review of it. Is "gig" an appropriate word for something 50,000 people attend? It was certainly an interesting experience as I have never been to an event (which seems a better word) by a single band which was as big as this.

This then, the Friday, was supposed to be the day the hardcore were attending. Beatstalk's previous gripes about the other dates were acknowledged by Damon from the stage which did provide a good feeling. If it was supposed to be the hardcore, why was there so much talking? I couldn't believe it. During the album tracks, which you thought would have gone down extremely well with a genuine Blur crowd, the band were so incidental as to be background music at times. It turned into a mobile phone comparison convention at times, or like a branch of Carphone Warehouse at least. Oily Water and Trimm Trabb suffered particularly here, despite them being great performances. No, this was mostly a crowd that wanted to hear Song 2 and Country House. To most of them, even Parklife was a bit more obscure. Now I like both of those songs but they're not actually that representative.

You obviously get a higher idiot quota in a big crowd but there were other problems too. The bottle throwing for one. Why? Does it make the throwers feel good? One of my friends suffered a direct hit and was in real pain due to the action of an imbecile.

There were some good points. Blur for one, who were fantastic. What a set, over 2 hours and never a dull moment. Damon is the same age as me, where does he get that energy? Graham is as brilliant a guitarist as he ever was. Alex has always been an underrated Bassist and Dave showed Law and politics haven't blunted his enthusiasm for thrashing the drums.

From a personal perspective, I had a great day and evening because I saw one of my favourite bands and I spent the time with friends, who are fabulous people. However, the wider crowd were a major surprise and not in a good way, as my college students would say. I suppose if you engage with a mainstream crowd there's a danger it won't feel as good as seeing the band at the Windsor Old Trout.

Teenager in love...

The Return of Teenage Fanclub

An apology: Sorry about the recent lack of activity here. Problems at work don't you know. The stupidity of managers and all that. Hey ho. (Let's go.)

I love this band. I remember being at The Old Trout in Windsor the night they were signed to Geffen when the big shot American A&R man turned up. Unfortunately TFC (as we know them) were a bit late and had to perform their soundcheck during their first song, which was "Heavy Metal 2" from the first album if memory serves. How then, did they manage to make it so good humoured and downright enjoyable? By using the same sheepish good egg charm that has served them so well ever since.

Why are TFC so great? It must be the melodies. Tunes chock-full of nagging, memorable little structures which take root in your subconcious. Most bands that have three writers often struggle to forge an identity but these guys have never had that problem. Although they do have different styles they're always the Fanclub, which, to me anyway, gets more and more reassuring as the years go by. Always the same, always a hallmark of quality then, which isn't often something you can say about music. Don't take them for granted though.

Teenage Fanclub play Ben and Jerry's Sundae Festival and Indietracks in July. They have a new album out later in the summer.

Bobbing along nicely...

Bob Dylan-a quick appreciation from a latecomer who should have known better


First, you have to understand this. When I was in my teens it was the eighties. Empire Burlesque etc. Not the finest or most enticing moments of the man's oeuvre. I Obviously knew about all the things you're meant to know about. Like a Rolling Stone, Subterranean Homesick Blues, Mr. Tambourine Man. Loved those. Just couldn't get past the shambling figure I saw play at Live Aid with Keith and Ronnie. Maybe my delicate post-punk sensibilities were offended.

Now I'm a grown up lad of 41, I have, over the last few years, gradually let Bob into my world. This happened by stealth though, without me realising it. Before I knew it, I didn't just possess the Greatest Hits and the Collection compilation. Blonde on Blonde, Bringing it all Back Home and Blood on the Tracks were suddenly regulars on the stereo at home and in the car and on the mp3 player when on train journeys. Now I want more as well.

Yes, I have joined the ranks of those who have always liked what they've heard but have now fallen for Dylan at a later stage and found him waiting for them, ready to usher them in with a forgiving nod that says, "It's OK, it's not too late. Sit down." Why has it worked like this? There is obviously a lot to latch on to. The lyrics are clearly fascinating. The music never anything other than thrilling and evocative. Maybe that's it. How could those evocations work unless I had lived some life first, until there were things to be evoked? There's a thought...

She's so fly...blur false pretences

OK, Beatstalk has had a bit of a quiet April. Blog-wise I mean. Sometimes the demands of cracking on with your MA just get in the way. Sorry and all that. Normal service is now resumed. Well, kind of. Today's posting is a bit of a rant.

Cast your mind back to December. Anyone else buy tickets for the much vaunted reunion of one of our favourite bands, Blur? First performance it said. This gig at Hyde Park will be the first public performance since making up with Graham Coxon. Or so we were led to believe. I, along with thousands of others, fell for it.

The very next day, I read there was a date to be added the day before! Wow, this was a bit irritating. In the weeks and months ahead, we now know they are playing Manchester, Tea In The Park, Glastonbury, Colchester and Goldsmith's College. There may well be more by the time anyone reads this. Hyde Park is now shaping up to be the final performance of the reunion.

Initially I was quite annoyed. Where was the indie ombudsman when you needed him?

Now I kind of learned to live with it. You shouldn't trust the music biz to play fair. But Blur, perhaps the archetypal London band, despite their Essex/Dorset origins, should have played their big comeback gig in London. It would have felt right.

I know it's probably all about money but I don't begrudge them, I thought this band were the most inventive and talented mainstream chart band of the 90's. Maybe Dave needs the readies to start his next Parliamentary campaign. Alex might need some new Harris Tweeds or something. Graham needs to top up his Tootal scarf collection perhaps. Damon is probably OK for the moment, thanks.

I can't be the only one who feels slightly let down. Can I? Hopefully there will be much more than just a few reunion gigs from Blur. A new album would be a start. Perhaps then they'd do a proper normal indoor gig in London to make amends.

Go Ape For The Dukes...

The Dukes of Stratosphear "25 O'Clock"



1983-1987 seemed to be a time for psychedelic pastiches. Nick Nicely's "Hilly Fields," Naz Nomad and The Nightmares (The Damned's) "Give Daddy The Knife Cindy" and this, XTC's contribution to the let's-pretend-it's-67 brigade. Was it something in the air?

This though, has the touch of real class, authenticity and downright accuracy that other efforts just couldn't match, proof that when Andy Partridge tries his hand at something he shows he isn't a dabbler, he does it properly. However, this isn't just a Partridgefest. Colin Moulding contributed a couple of good songs and Dave Gregory relished the opportunity to spray his expert nuances all over the recordings. Produced by John Leckie, it's a major part of the reason he went on to produce the Stone Roses first album, as it was apparently a big influence on them at the time.

Partridge came up with the idea when he and Leckie were fired from producing Canadian singer songwriter Mary Margaret O'Hara. Mary thought Andy's "vibes weren't right" and that Leckie was involved with "a cult that promoted free love." Well, her loss was our gain because they took a £5,000 payment from Virgin and went and recorded this gem instead, in a backwaters studio in rural Herefordshire.

Particular highlights for me are "Bike Ride to The Moon" and "Mole From the Ministry." I am pleased for Andy in that he's finally able to put these out on his own Ape label.

http://www.ape.uk.net/acatalog/XTC_as_The_Dukes_Of_Stratosphear.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0cl7hP4ZI8