Monday 12 November 2012

An Open Letter to Satan

Dear Lucifer, Lord of the Flies,

I don't get out to gigs as much as I should as I like to spend my evenings thinking of new and interesting ways in which to kiss your mighty stinkin' ass. If there is any chance of a bit of advertising revenue for my blog, so much the better. It really is a shame that your chosen representative on "Earth" the Anti-Christ Mitt Romney has failed to gain nominal control of the world's most grossly over-consuming and hypocritical nation. We (and when I write "we" I refer to myself, my drummer, and my valet for my sharpest of sharp suits) watched the US elections with immense fascination and when we saw that Muslim fanatic Obama win again, we knew it must be time for Armageddon.

We have followed your adventures on Radio 4 with great joy, and know you have demons at your command. Please send Scum Spawn and the rest of your vile hord to teach Obama a lesson. The sick people must pay to be sick, and the more the better as we all know it is money that makes the world go round, not gravity as proposed by that god fearing fool Isaac Newton-Bomb.

That peace loving war criminal Obama must be stopped before he taxes the rich! Please nuke his homeland Iran and return us quickly to the Dark Ages so that we can get on with the serious business of hoarding more Lovely Money instead of using it to facilitate barter, the purpose for which it was invented by that famous Dutch playboy Socrates in the thirteenth century.

Your unfaithful servant,

Ron McJobs

Saturday 10 November 2012

Dead Sea Apes

Friday night: one of the many Manchester (and Stalybridge) based bands, the heavy instrumental psyche-rock trio Dead Sea Apes were kind enough to put me on the cheap entry list for their support of an old German experimental prog rock band called Agitation Free who turned out to be very good indeed, kind of like Pink Floyd immediately after Syd but way better. I was surprised that a bottle of ciderin NQ Live is less than four quid, at least there is one venue not intent on totally fleecing the drinkers! The Deaf Institute is charging a massively greedy £4.75 for a bottle of Weston's Wyldwood organic cider, and their "Trof cider" is actually Strongbow isn't it? Someoen should have a word with trading standards... Where do they think they are? Paris?

Hello to all the friends old and new who I met in the Castle afterwards. Hope the hangovers aren't too bad, especially Mr Chavez-Dawson.

Friday 9 November 2012

Pere Ubu

Here is a new song from Pere Ubu sounding wonderful to me today

http://soundcloud.com/firerecords/02-pere-ubu-free-white

Ty Segall Deaf?

Ty Segall and Hookworms well and truly rocked the Deaf Institute last night ad a review will appear in All the Time whenever Mick Middles can get it together. The night before Al Doum ad the Faryds brought some gorgeous north Afican influenced psychedelia to Dulcimer, supported by a stripped down Desmadrados de Soldados Ventura and a rather too short set from Rapid Pig. Sadly Nick Mitchell told me it would be the last gig he is ever going to put on, so Fat Out or Buried Bones had better book one for his Twenty Guitars composition pronto!

Anyway when I first heard Ty Segall this was the song and I listened to it for around fifty minutes straight.

http://soundcloud.com/drag-city/ty-segall-the-hill

Way Better than Frazer King

Following Gentleman John Robb's hilarious proclamation that Frazer King are the best "up and coming" band in Manchester, here is an inevitably ever expanding list of Manchester rock bands who I consider to be way better than Frazer King. I saw Frazer King at the Night and Day 2012 new year bash and they weren't even the best band on the bill! They were completely upstaged by the Yossarians and solo guitarist bluesman Jim Adama was also more enjoyable.

How many of these better bands have you heard Mr Robb?

Easter

Queer'd Science

Warm Widow

Plank!

NASDAQ / FTSE 100

Burnst

Wode

Pine Barrens

Last Harbour

Lonelady

Gnod

Gilded Palace of Sin

Stray Light

Our Man in the Bronze Age

Desmadrados de Soldados Ventura

Rapid Pig

Float Riverer

Hotpants Romance

No Womb

Irma Vep

Sex Hands

Klaus Kinski

Salford Media City

Stranger Son of WB

Gaybus

Bratan

Yossarians

Day for Airstrikes

Hot Bone

Stuckometer

Whole Voyald Infinite Light

Former Bullies

Dead Sea Apes

Claw the Thin Ice

Pooch

Well Wisher

Bones Shake

Cherry Pips

Jesus Kneivel

Balotellis

Hopper Propelled Electric

Black Fiction

Factory Star

Heroin Diet

Revenge of the Psychotronic Man

Sea Man

Mr Heart


...although Gnod, Last Harbour, Lonelady, Stranger Son, Hotpants Romance and a few others could be considered to have come up already, whatever that means. The list will inevitably grow, and there are probably other bands I have not yet heard. For example Tim the drummer of Wode was amused by John Robb's comment, "A black metal band from Manchester, who'd have thought it?" There are in fact several others besides Wode, although I have yet to hear any of them.

How many records and/or CDs must a band sell to come up?

How many gigs must a band play to come up?

How big are the venue capacities for an up and come band?

What is their comeuppance?



Thursday 8 November 2012

She Lives in an Airport

Robert P likes to travel for free. This is the best Guided by Voices song I've heard them since the 'classic' line up reconvened:

http://soundcloud.com/firerecords/guided-by-voices-she-lives-in

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Arbouretum

Arbouretum were most pleased to be compared by me to Crazy Horse and Velvet Underground, obviously two massive influences on their inspiring songs. The quartet were on top form at Kraak Gallery, especially guitarist Dave Heumann, who seems to play with more intensity every time I see them. The songs with two drummers were also a weighty treat. I nabbed Dave's setlist so it can now be revealed that they played these songs:

Run Honey Run
Down by the Fall Line
Mohammed's Hex
All at Once the Turning Weather
World Split Open
New Scarab
Tonight's a Jewel
False Spring
Coming Out of the Fog

I thought it strange that I only knew two other people at this gig amongst gigs. Down on the street afterwards  met Kiki of No womb and we hit Manchester's finest pub The Castle for a late drinking session. In the pub were Jon and Tim from Rapid Pig and later on Arbouretum turned up and I had a drunken chat with Dave Heumann. It seems they would have played an encore if only we'd all made a bit more noise and shouted for one after the nine song set. The good news is that Thrill jockey will be releasing their new album next year, I think he said January.

Here is a stream of the John Martyn cover with which they started their set, from the tour CDR of mostly cover songs.

http://soundcloud.com/dave-heumann/run-honey-run

New Scarab was a highlight of the set and you can hear the studio version here

http://soundcloud.com/thrilljockey/arbouretum-new-scarab

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Political Manifesto for the Anti-Capitalist Party

1. No nuclear power, all electricity to be generated by solar, wind, geothermal and tidal means.

2. All arms trading to be made illegal and all politicians who facilitated it such as Arseface Cameron to be put on trial for mass murder by proxy.

3. Tony Blair to be tried for war crimes and starting an illegal war.

4. All empty (second / tax break) homes to be reclaimed by the state and used to house the homeless.

5. Very high tax to be levied on aviation fuel, petrol and diesel.

6. Train and bus fares to be subsidised and drastically reduced.

7. Eating meat only allowed for those prepared to catch and kill the animals themselves.

8. Dairy industry to be phased out.

9. Tobacco to be banned, but cannabis and LSD to be made legal and available in measured dosages.

10. Close all concentration camps for the immigrants.

11. A total ban on all genetically modified foods and toxic additives such as tartrazine and aspartame.

12. All vivisection to be made illegal.

13. All corporations to be billed for the pollution and disease they cause.

14. Usury and all other numerous banking scams to be outlawed.

15. All credit card debts to be cancelled.

Our motto: Screw the economy, environment first!

Monday 5 November 2012

Mugstar - Axis

The new Mugstar album AXIS crashed straight into my top ten albums of 2012 at No 4 or 5 (vs. Silver Age by Bob Mould) only beaten by godspeed, Killing Joke and of course Swans. Tangeria is such an uplifting song, sunny like Harmonia on Neu Autobahn (out-Planking Plank!), but why have they not played it at the gigs I've been to recently?

You can hear a stream of the whole album here

http://thequietus.com/articles/10632-listen-mugstar-axis

Orbit

I very much enjoyed ORBIT at the Mill yesterday, esp. Gnod out-TGing the Gristle at the back of the Mill with strobes, globes and dry ice, and Queer'd Science with their hardcore hate disco at the Pint Pot. It was a magnificent event. Cheers to Bill for the free late night drinks and Chris and Neil of Gnod DJing and getting me up and dancing to Motorhead, Joy Division and Can!

Thursday 1 November 2012

Tanzanian Jackass

The Tanzanian jackass who has previously offered to attack me, have other people attack me, and tried to extort £150 off me, amongst other tedious puerile idiocy, informed me on Tuesday that I am "already dead" as I parodied her public dressing down of her pet parasite who she said for all in the house to hear was a "pathetic little man, in denial." That was very foolish because if indeed I am already dead I have nothing to lose by killing both of them. Fortunately I am not unsane enough to believe all the bullshit that leaks from the loudmouth of this psychopathic liar, so have done little else but reply to her pathetic taunting which was something like: "Ah, are you all alone with no one to talk to?" by informing the ignorant bitch that I was talking to her, and if I had no one to talk to at that particular time logically she did not exist. She had walked into a heavy curse.




"Jolly good," I said, "CEASE TO EXIST!"

Trick or Treat?

Halloween went off like fireworks at Kraak with Rapid Pig, the wild detuned guitar quintet Klaus Kinski and the heavy bass/drum duo 100% Beefcock and the Titsburster.




There were a couple of other recent gigs I neglected to mention earlier, both at the Mill. Last Harbour played their best one yet against a film backdrop, as did Queer'd Science at a free event, ably followed by Salford Media City who got the people movin' and groovin'



I think the Manchester music scene is at its healthiest in years right now.