What a wonderful European Championships we have had, and for the first time in my my life I have watched the best team in the tournament lift the trophy. Spain were magnificent and by far the most skillful, inventive and entertaining team I have seen in many a long year.
It was also heartening to see a tournament where the fans mingled openly without any sign of animosity or trouble.....no co-incidence that England didn't qualify I think.
Well done Spain, worthy winners...but well done too to all the other teams who made this such a memorable Championship.
Somos los campeones !!!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Singing in the rain
I took my eldest Son to his very first "real" gig last night and rather than ease him in gently with something like the Tindersticks at Glasgow City hall I decided to throw him in at the deep end, Friday night, front and centre, Radiohead, Glasgow green.
I had actually bought him 2 tickets for his Birthday and told him to go along with a friend ....in the full knowledge that none of his friends would be seen dead at Radiohead. "Reluctantly" I agreed to go along with him and I am really glad I did as the gig was truly fantastic.
Despite the fact that we arrived at 5.40pm, a full 3 hours before Radiohead hit the stage, and had to content ourselves with drinking watered down cider/Irn-Bru that became more diluted by the second due to the usual Scottish June downpour, we both left with very big smiles on our faces.
One of the major benefits of arriving early is of course that you can stake your claim to a little bit of grass close to the stage and in the middle for the best view. I also taught my son the helpful rule of standing directly behind a group of small women in order to ensure an unobstructed view, at least until the pogoing starts.
Among the many highlights of the night there was a singalong version of Karma Police and what you would have thought was a stage managed opening of the heavens at the point that Thom started singing "rain down, rain down..." during Paranoid Android. They played almost all of the tracks from their fabulous new album and they came across brilliantly live live. The band certainly seemed to enjoy themselves and the rain soaked crowd danced, sang and moshed like only Glasgow crowds can. Thom showed his mischievous side when he looked heavenwards at the leaden Glasgow sky and said ,"you should move down South", but he was quickly forgiven after belting out a mesmerising version of Weird Fishes.
2 hours of fantastic music, an awe inspiring stage set and a friendly, fun loving capacity crowd. I just hope my Son doesn't expect this every time......maybe i'll go to the Tindersticks gig on my own.
I had actually bought him 2 tickets for his Birthday and told him to go along with a friend ....in the full knowledge that none of his friends would be seen dead at Radiohead. "Reluctantly" I agreed to go along with him and I am really glad I did as the gig was truly fantastic.
Despite the fact that we arrived at 5.40pm, a full 3 hours before Radiohead hit the stage, and had to content ourselves with drinking watered down cider/Irn-Bru that became more diluted by the second due to the usual Scottish June downpour, we both left with very big smiles on our faces.
One of the major benefits of arriving early is of course that you can stake your claim to a little bit of grass close to the stage and in the middle for the best view. I also taught my son the helpful rule of standing directly behind a group of small women in order to ensure an unobstructed view, at least until the pogoing starts.
Among the many highlights of the night there was a singalong version of Karma Police and what you would have thought was a stage managed opening of the heavens at the point that Thom started singing "rain down, rain down..." during Paranoid Android. They played almost all of the tracks from their fabulous new album and they came across brilliantly live live. The band certainly seemed to enjoy themselves and the rain soaked crowd danced, sang and moshed like only Glasgow crowds can. Thom showed his mischievous side when he looked heavenwards at the leaden Glasgow sky and said ,"you should move down South", but he was quickly forgiven after belting out a mesmerising version of Weird Fishes.
2 hours of fantastic music, an awe inspiring stage set and a friendly, fun loving capacity crowd. I just hope my Son doesn't expect this every time......maybe i'll go to the Tindersticks gig on my own.
Monday, May 26, 2008
The Prince who is a King
Now i'm a bit of a BPB fanatic and admit that I am far from impartial in these matters, however I think everyone who listens to his new album will agree that it is the best of the year so far...probably the best album of the last 5 years......maybe even 10 years....hell, it's the best album of all time!!!!For a number of years I have been trying to introduce my friends and work colleagues to Will Oldham's huge back catalogue with absolutely no success. Comments have usually ranged from "feckin depressing out of tune dirges" to "Don't ever speak to me again, weirdo!". Despite this I still think Will is one of the best singer songwriters the world has ever seen and time and time again he manages to produce albums of hauntingly powerful songs. On this album Will's fragile vocals are perfectly complimented by Ashley Webber and the whole thing feels like you are sitting in your favourite remote pub, in front of a roaring fire, in the middle of winter, glass of laphroaig in hand, friends and family scattered round and Will & Ashley singing just for you.
Does he have a great singing voice.....no. Is he a fantastic guitar player....no. Is he handsome with a Hollywood smile.....no. Is he a fabulous songwriter with a warped, dark and compelling outlook on life......you bet.
OK, so I may be exaggerating about this being the best album of all time but it should be a must have for everyones music collection.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Pixies become Folkies
I received this DVD from my brother for my Christmas and I have been dipping in and out of it since. I first got into the Pixies when Doolittle came out and for 2 or 3 years after that I thought they were just the greatest band ever to have walked the Earth. Despite my musical tastes maturing since then there is always a fantastic thrill when the opening bars of any Pixies song blast out the MP3 player.
This DVD captures the Pixies well out of their comfort zone, playing unplugged to an audience of (mainly bewildered) folkies at the world famous Newport Folk festival. The setting is slightly bizarre with a beach side stage looking out onto the sun drenched sea and the million dollar yachts cruising the harbour but somehow, despite the incongruity of it all, it works ! All the favourites are there including Ed is dead, Monkey gone to Heaven, Gouge away, Caribou and Gigantic but all with very sparse arrangements and with Dave Lovering brushing the drums and Kim Deal playing an unfeasibly large acoustic bass. My initial reaction was uncertainty but now that I have taken the time to watch the set in its entirety I think it is simply fantastic.
Strangely one of the highlights of the show is when Frank takes time out from the Pixies back catalogue and sings an old traditional folk song, "Been all around the World", which works wonderfully sandwiched between Ed is dead and Subbacultcha. The bonus documentary showing the group preparing for the gig shows just how nervous they were of playing to this audience and especially attempting to play a "folk" song in the set. They didn't need to worry, the whole thing fits together perfectly.
The Newport folk festival is famous for being the gig where Dylan first went electric and now things have come full circle with the Kings (and Queen) of Sonic rock turning acoustic.
Here is a clip of them playing "been all around the world"
Monday, April 21, 2008
Danny Federici
It was with great sadness that a couple of days after my previous post I heard of the death of Danny Federici who was an integral part of the E-Street band. It is easy to forget the key part that the E-Street band have played in Springsteen's career but I am sure he would be first to acknowledge that he would never have been able to create the fabulous sound on his albums without these outrageously talented musicians. At 58 Danny undoubtedly still had a lot to give, although I think we can be extremely grateful for the music and joy he has already given us.
Monday, April 14, 2008
You're not the Boss of me...now
In the late 70's when I was waking up to the emotional power of good music I was provided with a fantastic opportunity for a crash course in Rock history courtesy of the fact that my oldest brother had moved out of the family home and his digs were not big enough to allow him to take his beloved record collection with him. My brother has always been a music addict who has been known to buy records on the basis of an overheard conversation on the 33 Bus and although his record collection in the late 70's was tiny in comparison to the truly humongous catalogue of vinyl, tapes, CD's and MP3's he now owns, to my young eyes it was a treasure trove of exciting, colourful, dangerous, sinful, adult pleasures.
I was warned on pain of death that I should never touch the vinyl and if for any reason I would want to read the sleeve notes on an album I was to ask him and he would hold it out for me to look at. Under no circumstances was I ever to attempt to actually play any of the records although from time to time he would allow me in to hear the latest release by Lee"Scratch" Perry, The Fall or some other equally cool sounding madmen. These rules were rigorously enforced while he was in residence but as soon as he moved out (despite the threat of future violence) I was free touch, read and play to my hearts content. My Mum was given the task of keeping me away from his records but unfortunately (for him) she never truly understood the bond between a man and his Vinyl and turned a blind eye to my turntable twirlings. This after all was the Woman who gave his entire Beatles singles collection to the local bring and buy sale because she "thought he had already heard them".
I look back on this brief period of my life as one of the most exciting I have ever experienced. In among the Stones, Beatles (lots of Beatles), Dylan (lots and lots of Dylan), Hendrix, Captain Beefheart, Neil Young, Reggae (Shedloads), Talking Heads, The Clash, Van Morrison, Velvet Underground, The Beach boys, Elvis Costello, Weather Report etc etc etc there was one album that defines the period for me and truly changed the way I thought about music forever. That album was:
For starters, to a 12 year old boy the shabby, skinny, leather clad guy with the beat up guitar on the cover looked unfeasibly cool, and the fact that he was clearly sharing a joke with an even cooler black guy made it doubly attractive. Now I know as well as anybody that an album cover is no indicator of the quality of the music (see any Yes album) but this fabulous cover gave but a small hint as to the delights that were to follow when the needle hit the vinyl. From the opening bars of Thunder Road to the plaintive Sax on Jungleland I was transported to the sleazy, sexy, violent, tender, raw and beautiful streets of New Jersey. I could feel the late evening summer sun on my neck as I slowly drove my roaring hot rod down to the turnpike (whatever that was !), rival gang members eyeing me warily and sexy girls calling my name. This was an album that talked about life, not rock and roll life but small town, dirty, no prospects life that spoke to me more than the Stones or the Pistols ever could.
I played the album 2 or 3 times a day for about 6 months before moving on (or back) to "The Wild the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle" which is also a fantastic album. Shortly after finding Springsteen for the first time he issued the "Darkness on the edge of town" album which was one of the first records I ever bought (candy's room still gives me the shivers) and then came the patchy but magnificent "the River". Unfortunately the River remains the point at which my love affair with the Boss ended as his subsequent records never really connected with me in the way that Rosalita, Night or Fade Away did. The true low point must be "dancing in the dark" and that excruciating video (what in Gods name was he thinking of!!!). Despite this the Boss will always remain an important figure for me as the thrill of listening to Born To Run for the first time (and second time and third time etc etc) will stay with me forever. Thanks for that big man.
P.S I would just like to apologise to my brother for the large scratch on side 2 of Blonde on Blonde, the dried marmalade that makes tracks 3 and 4 of Trout Mask replica unplayable (it could be argued that it was always unplayable !!) and the slight tear in the (very rare) picture sleeve of the Strawberry fields forever single.
I was warned on pain of death that I should never touch the vinyl and if for any reason I would want to read the sleeve notes on an album I was to ask him and he would hold it out for me to look at. Under no circumstances was I ever to attempt to actually play any of the records although from time to time he would allow me in to hear the latest release by Lee"Scratch" Perry, The Fall or some other equally cool sounding madmen. These rules were rigorously enforced while he was in residence but as soon as he moved out (despite the threat of future violence) I was free touch, read and play to my hearts content. My Mum was given the task of keeping me away from his records but unfortunately (for him) she never truly understood the bond between a man and his Vinyl and turned a blind eye to my turntable twirlings. This after all was the Woman who gave his entire Beatles singles collection to the local bring and buy sale because she "thought he had already heard them".
I look back on this brief period of my life as one of the most exciting I have ever experienced. In among the Stones, Beatles (lots of Beatles), Dylan (lots and lots of Dylan), Hendrix, Captain Beefheart, Neil Young, Reggae (Shedloads), Talking Heads, The Clash, Van Morrison, Velvet Underground, The Beach boys, Elvis Costello, Weather Report etc etc etc there was one album that defines the period for me and truly changed the way I thought about music forever. That album was:
For starters, to a 12 year old boy the shabby, skinny, leather clad guy with the beat up guitar on the cover looked unfeasibly cool, and the fact that he was clearly sharing a joke with an even cooler black guy made it doubly attractive. Now I know as well as anybody that an album cover is no indicator of the quality of the music (see any Yes album) but this fabulous cover gave but a small hint as to the delights that were to follow when the needle hit the vinyl. From the opening bars of Thunder Road to the plaintive Sax on Jungleland I was transported to the sleazy, sexy, violent, tender, raw and beautiful streets of New Jersey. I could feel the late evening summer sun on my neck as I slowly drove my roaring hot rod down to the turnpike (whatever that was !), rival gang members eyeing me warily and sexy girls calling my name. This was an album that talked about life, not rock and roll life but small town, dirty, no prospects life that spoke to me more than the Stones or the Pistols ever could.
I played the album 2 or 3 times a day for about 6 months before moving on (or back) to "The Wild the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle" which is also a fantastic album. Shortly after finding Springsteen for the first time he issued the "Darkness on the edge of town" album which was one of the first records I ever bought (candy's room still gives me the shivers) and then came the patchy but magnificent "the River". Unfortunately the River remains the point at which my love affair with the Boss ended as his subsequent records never really connected with me in the way that Rosalita, Night or Fade Away did. The true low point must be "dancing in the dark" and that excruciating video (what in Gods name was he thinking of!!!). Despite this the Boss will always remain an important figure for me as the thrill of listening to Born To Run for the first time (and second time and third time etc etc) will stay with me forever. Thanks for that big man.
P.S I would just like to apologise to my brother for the large scratch on side 2 of Blonde on Blonde, the dried marmalade that makes tracks 3 and 4 of Trout Mask replica unplayable (it could be argued that it was always unplayable !!) and the slight tear in the (very rare) picture sleeve of the Strawberry fields forever single.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Seals at Keil
While I was in Southend I went to visit the regular holidaymakers who turn up every year and like nothing more than to do some sunbathing on the rocks at Keil point and do a little fishing. I could spend hours watching these fellas as they just look sooooooo relaxed man.
Mull of Kintyre (they're pissed and roll in from the quay)
OK...so i have been away for some time, but now i'm back. I would like to say that I have spent the last 2 years travelling the world gathering stories and anecdotes that I will now share with you on this blog, but unfortunately I just got a little bored and stopped posting.
I have however just spent a very enjoyable few days in Southend (Argyll) and wandered about Dunaverty Golf Course with my Sons for a couple of rounds (they played and I wandered). It always amazes me that this little jewel of a course is not as well known in the Golfing fraternity as it's near neighbour, Machrihanish. Machrihanish certainly has the Championship length and varied, challenging holes but Dunaverty has the best kept greens of any links course I have ever played and it's views rival Turnberry or Loch Lomond any day. Willie and his team have, as usual, got the course in immaculate condition and the fact that for a large part of the year there are Cows wandering the fairways of the first 4 holes just adds to the charm (and natural fertilizer).
If you haven't been......go.
I have however just spent a very enjoyable few days in Southend (Argyll) and wandered about Dunaverty Golf Course with my Sons for a couple of rounds (they played and I wandered). It always amazes me that this little jewel of a course is not as well known in the Golfing fraternity as it's near neighbour, Machrihanish. Machrihanish certainly has the Championship length and varied, challenging holes but Dunaverty has the best kept greens of any links course I have ever played and it's views rival Turnberry or Loch Lomond any day. Willie and his team have, as usual, got the course in immaculate condition and the fact that for a large part of the year there are Cows wandering the fairways of the first 4 holes just adds to the charm (and natural fertilizer).
If you haven't been......go.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Handsome Family- ABC Glasgow
Went to see the Handsome family last Thursday night and Brett & Rennie were on fine form (together with David on his magical musical saw, Mandolin etc). I was hoping to film a whole song for the blog but my Camera ran out of power so all I got was the disjointed short film above.
The start of the film sees Rennie lamenting the tragic death of Razzle(the drummer from Hanoi Rocks)and she went on to describe in graphic detail how she threw up on the front of the stage at a Hanoi Rocks concert. They're more rock and roll than they look !!!
It was a sell out gig (The handsome family not Hanoi Rocks) and the songs were interspersed with some hilarious banter between Brett and Rennie (topics included Skeletons of hummingbirds, how to train crows to pick pockets and magic shiny beer bottles). Brett chain drank beer and Rennie vamped it up big time with her eccentric views on life.
Mad as a bag of thieving Crows but fantastic songwriters.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Sparklehorse at King Tut's Glasgow
Went to see Sparklehorse at a sold out King Tut's last night and it was magic. Slightly disappointed that he only played one song off the new album but his fantastic re-workings of old classics made up for that. Highlights were a blistering version of hammering the cramps and a fantastic singalong version of Homecoming queen which nearly raised the roof.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
More than Bonnie........Beautiful
As a big Bonnie Prince Billy fan I queued up first thing yesterday at Avalanche records in Glasgow to buy his new album. I have to admit that in my eyes BPB can do no wrong however even I have been surprised at how fantastic this is. It's full of his normal sparse musical arrangements and wavering vocals however there is a completeness to this album that is slightly missing from previous recordings.
Normally with any album there are 1 or 2 songs that are "OK" but you tend to fast forward through when listening in the car. On this album all of the songs are standouts in their own different ways and my favourite, "I called you back", is simply stunning and undoubtedly one of Will Oldhams top 5 songs.
I would implore everyone to go out and buy this record. Will Oldham/BPB/Palace is in my view the greatest living songwriter (my brother will have a fit at that statement) and deserves some major recognition. I never thought I would be able to give an album a perfect 10 but this comes as close as I think it will get.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Czec this out
Spent a very enjoyable 4 days in Prague recently. The old part of the city is absolutely magnificent but the further out you go the less attractive everything becomes (except the beer prices !!).The Picture shows the TV tower which is built in the middle of a residential area of the city and stands out like a sore thumb. The remarkable thing about this monstrosity is that climbing up and down the outside are statues of giant naked babies. Now I like a bit of modern architecture as much as the next man but this building is just plain creepy.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Holland days Sauce(y)
I had a very enjoyable couple of days in Amsterdam with my wife and a couple of friends recently. This is the first time I have been to the city and I would recommend it for a relaxing break although it is not a place that could keep your interest for more than 3 or 4 days.There appears to be a definite hierarchy when it comes to transport on the city streets. First are the Bikes, then come pedestrians, then it's the trams and finally it's the cars. We spent the first day shouting warnings to each other along the lines of "Watch out, bike/tram/car/prostitute !!!!!"
I highly recommend the Heineiken brewery tour and the hour long boat tour of the Canals both of which are surprisingly cheap. You also can't visit the city without a tour of the red light district which is free !!!. It's at it's "best" at night but for a good laugh I recommend walking round the area in the afternoon as the girls obviously get their Mothers/Grandmothers to sit in for them while they have a sleep.
Best moment of the break was the look on the guys face when my wife went in to a "Coffeeshop" and asked for a Grande Latte......priceless.
Friday, May 19, 2006
MacDonalds dive through
This is Dunaverty rock that sits on Southend beach in Kintyre, Scotland. On the other side of the rock is a sheer drop onto to the rocks below. Believe it or not there used to be a Castle perched on the top of this rock and it was the scene of a famous siege where the Campbell clan massacred the Castles MacDonald inhabitants. Many of the victims were thrown from the cliffs to a watery grave. Good old Scottish hospitality !!
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Heart of Darkness
TOP 50 ALBUMS OF ALL TIME- Part 2
In my opinion Will Oldham is the greatest living songwriter (a statement sure to enrage my Dylan obsessed brother !!!). This was his first album as Bonnie Prince Billy but he already had a massive back catalogue as Palace, Palace Brothers etc etc...all worth listening to.
A very very dark album ideally listened to just as you are drifting off to sleep.....but be warned, you may not want to wake up again.
I went to see Will at a gig in Glasgow last month and as usual he was spellbinding. A very humorous man....although it can sometimes be well hidden.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Boris for Prime Minister
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWIUp19bBoA&search=boris%20johnson
Just very very very funny. Almost enough to make you vote for him........almost.
Just very very very funny. Almost enough to make you vote for him........almost.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Frank Black- He talks (and Screams) like the animals
TOP 50 ALBUMS OF ALL TIME- Part 1
Total sonic pleasure.....an almost perfect album. I was searching the net for some Pixies stuff today and came across this great concert footage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPE2zKbORF0&search=the%20pixies
The weird thing is it's not the pixies (its the usually mediocre Placebo) and it's not a song off of this particular album...however it does feature Frank Black striding the stage like a God and it captures the Pixies spirit.
A couple of weeks ago I performed a drunken version of Monkey gone to heaven in a Glasgow Chinese restaurant come Karaoke bar (please God let it have been a Karaoke bar) and I completely ruined the party atmosphere. It could have had something to do with my introduction which went something like, "This is a song about how every Ba#^ard is going to fry cause we fu$%ed with the planet....enjoy!!!"
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Campbeltown Humour
This is a picture of a toy shop in Longrow in Campbeltown, Argyll. Some local wag/vandal has broken the sign to create a slightly humerous change of title (originally Toy Box). The really funny point however is that if you actually visit the shop you will be served by the very friendly but undoubtedly middle aged, short, overweight proprietor who only Barbara Cartland (God rest her soul) could ever have considered as a toy boy.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the proprietor broke the sign himself.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Donald where's yer Troosers
This is the McSporran tartan and I am currently in the process of having a Kilt outfit made for me in this fine design. With a name like McSporran and a fine head of ginger hair I have often thought of moving to America to make my fortune selling Whisky and shortbread...how could they resist !!!!.
It's not often that I have had the chance to wear a kilt, in fact the first time I ever wore the full regalia was at my own wedding. I was a bit nervous about the etiquette (sitting down without exposing yourself to your new Mother-in-law etc..) so I decided to wear it to go out a for a few drinks with my bride to be a couple of days before the big day just to break it in (the kilt not the Bride !!!).
It was a quiet Wednesday night and we went to the Burnside bar in Campbeltown where there were only 3 other people in the place. Catherine went over to get us a table (in case there was a late rush) and I went to get us a drink. The barman was busy in the adjoining public bar so I struck up a conversation with one of the other patrons who was slumped on his stool and who turned out to be from Texas (the state, not the distinctly average Scottish pop group).
Frank (for that was his name) was very impressed with my highland dress and said (in a very broad Texan accent) " Jeez, I love the kilt. Before I head back to Houston i'm gonna get me one of them". I explained to Frank the reason for me wearing it and he immediately insisted on buying me a drink. "Thanks very much Frank" I said, "i'll have a pint of Guinness please". Frank rang the bell on the bar and turned back to me and gave a long hard stare at my Kilt. "What's your Tartan" (remember the Texan accent) he said, "Oh She'll have a Vodka and Coke thanks" I replied.........Boom Boom.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
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