maccydlife

So, only a couple of weeks into the ’16 album i-pod rule’ Id imposed on myself and already I’m breaking all the rules and have actually loaded the poor thing to within a MB of its life!

 Things we’re going good with just a select selection of new and old albums loaded up for me to spend the following seven days listening to ‘properly’ when from out of nowhere  the office i-pod dock thingy arrived back from a short holiday and that was it…game over….I had to load the i-pod up all over again (its either that or Antonia will just destroy our souls with her 8GB’s’s of eighties pop and soul…whats a boy to do????        

 

Its hard to believe its still only February with so much damn fine new music flying around already. I was thinking it might be a quiet start after 2007's sheer volume of really rather good long players but already this years shaping up to be a belter.
Its usually pretty quiet for the first couple of months but this years got off to a flying start so I thought i'd round up a few that I'm loving at the moment and that I think you might love too...

ADELE - 19
Since both Amy and Lily broke big the music industry has literally been falling over itself to find the next young British ,female singer songwriter that the nation is going to fall in love with and there are, it seems, plenty of them out there.
Adele truly outshines them all with, it seems, the greatest of ease.  A genuinely stunning debut from a real talent thats getting heavy rotation  round these parts right now!

And these are all pretty darned special too....
 

CAT POWER - JUKEBOX
THE MAGNETIC FIELDS - DISTORTION
RADAR BROS - AUDITORIUM
THE DUKE SPIRIT - NEPTUNE
 LOS CAMPESINOS! - HOLD ON NOW ,YOUNGSTER
JASON COLLETT - IDOLS OF EXILE

And heres some old stuff thats rocking my world all over again....

LEE SCRATCH PERRY - ARKOLOGY
BIG BLACK - THE RICH MANS EIGHT TRACK TAPE

And new stuff that I just dont get (and its not for want of trying!)

DRIVE BY TRUCKERS -  BRIGHTER THAN CREATIONS DARK
They're everywhere I look and everyones telling me that they are geniuses but I just dont get it....Ive gone through the whole back catalogue  and  thought this might be the Drive-by Truckers album that wins me over....but its not...Im sorry, they suck (its like the Wilco thing all over again for me Im afraid!)
BATTLES - ATLAS
Sorry, Id still rather stick pins in my eyeballs than listen to this shit

And finally will someone please tell Joan as Policewoman to pull her finger out and release a new album....NOW!

           
      

I used to own an ipod Nano..it was one of the few gadgets I actually bought as soon as it hit the market as Id arrived home from a week in New York with enough money left to walk straight into an electrical shop on the day of their release and grab a 2gb one. it became an essential part of my life and came with me everywhere and being a non driver it made journeys everywhere a heap more fun than they had been before. It did me proud for a couple of years but then someone at work upgraded to an i-touch and offered me their now redundant 30gb video one for the 'too good to refuse' price of £60 and I snapped it up, salivating a the thought of sticking over 350 albums plus a few favourite videos onto my new toy...at first it was a real novelty to have a virtual jukebox of my current favourite few hundred albums available everywhere I went but as time went by  it began to  become overwhelming just making a simple decision...say, what I was going to listen to on the way to work or  for the short journey to the local  store for ciggarettes and I  found myself almost half way to where I was going before Id ever decided on what  was going to soundtrack what was left of my journey.
Ive never really been one for the shuffle option..Im an album kind of guy and like to start at the beggining and finish at the end...
So, tonight I wiped the i-pod when I got home from work and picked 16 albums (still a hell of a lot for a weeks listening if Im totally honest) which will now sit on my i-pod for a week and will recieve my undivided attention for the full seven days after which time I'll replace them with another 16 new ones and so on and so forth...ive tried to pick a few 'classics', a few recent releases, a few 'not played for years' and a few current favourites.
And so I find myself with about 50gb's of empty space and less music than I was carrying around on the old Nano which is , as a truly awful female songwriter once sung, ironic, dont you think?
Just to not feel like im totally starving the poor thing of food in its belly Ive also finally put some videos onto it (the Radiohead video podcasts from the In Rainbows sessions) and of course theres always a handful of Russell Brand /Adam and Joe podcasts on there as well....I dare say it will slowly fill up again as Im crap at stubborness and self discipline but for now (well this week at least) heres what I'll be listening to when the white earplugs are inserted!!....
1. Adele - 19
2. Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil
3. Black Mountain - In The Future
4. Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline
5. Caribou - Andorra
6. Cat Power - Jukebox
7. Cocorosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
8. El Perro Del Mar - El Perro Del Mar
9. Future of The Left - Curses
10. Holy Fuck - LP
11. Jason Collett - Idols of Exile
12. Joy Zipper - The Heartlight Set
13. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
14. Tom Waits - Blue Valentine
15. Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey
16. Yeasayer -   All Hour Cymbals             

The weekend just passed was a busy one.

 I Dj’ed  my monthly night REUNION at The Castlemayne Venue, Basildon on Friday night with my partner in crime Bertie B.

It was, as always ,a top night , perhaps a little quieter than normal due to it being the last Friday night in January which is a tough month for all except the filthy rich but we pumped the dry ice, cranked up the strobe light and played a blistering set packed full with indie classics from the old days along with some ska , punk, northern soul and electro thrown in for good measure and a great time was had by all.

As always both myself and Bertie B partied just a little bit harder than we really should have knowing we were dj’ing again the following night at Kill Your Television @ Chinnerys, Southend on Sea in support of one hit indie wonders The Sultans of Ping F.C.

We really didn’t know what to expect when we arrived at Chinnerys .The gig was going to be either virtually empty except for the handful of pre-sold tickets we were hearing back about or packed to the rafters with walk ins and last minute ticket holders…fortunately it was the second of the two and we found ourselves dj’ing to probably the biggest crowd either of us had ever played out to which was fantastic. The Sultans were awesome by the way and its fair to say they took me completely by surprise with their sound…very Stooges and nowhere near as 'gimmicky' as I was expecting from the band who gave us 'Wheres Me Jumper' !

I think the Sultans are probably about three quarters of the way through their UK tour by now but they’ve still got some dates left in London either this week or next (check out their myspace page to confirm before leaving the house!) and if you do get a chance than be sure to check them out.

Turntable watch.....yours for just $65....KICK IT!

I tend to listen to music most mornings while Im running around the flat getting ready for work* and this morning I stuck on an album that I probably have'nt listened to in ten years or more...infact I probably havent even listened to the artist in ten years but thats by the by as Ive rediscovered 'Blood and Chocolate' by Elvis Costello and its most likely going to go and get itself played to death all over again in the coming months!!!
Theres a lot about Elvis Costello that bugs the shit out of me for sure and I only own a handful of his albums but theres no denying that 'Blood and Chocolate' and his other release from the same year (1986) 'King of America'  are two albums that anyone with a love of songwriting should not be without.

*  by 'running around' I mean drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes and checking emails           

Just listened to 'Yearbook 1 by Studio' for the first time and Ive got to say those laid back balearic Swedes have blown my mind! Ive been reading so much about these guys in all the right places and having finally feasted my eyes upon the just released Pitchfork Media Top 100 albums of 2007 list and having seen this album described as 'Can making a Happy Mondays tribute album or The Cure backed by Fela Kuti I knew I had to check it out straight away (the album was positioned at number 23 just behind the fantastic Okkervil River album 'Stage Names')......lets add a comparison of my own here, just for good measure, 'New Order jamming with Imagination under the influence of a box full of Grace Jones twelves'.....its an absolute belter!!!!!

So, as we reach the end of what has been , for me, one of the most exciting years that I can remember for 'under the radar masterpieces' it really feels that the 'alternative scene' is finally kicking itself out of  the pidgeon holes the lazy journalists (and i use that word lightly) at the NME keep coming up with in board meetings and becoming as relevant to clubbers as it is to  the indie kids again. So, have I put together my albums of the year list too early again?...with the heavy rotation of both Yeasayer and Studio looking highly likely way into the new year I could well have!

The picture kind of says it all really!!! it seems that  Wheelhouse Pickles employee and, indeed, chief Pickler Jon Orren is such a fan he decided to name a "mild but fruity" sauce after his favourite DC hardcore ensemble..the mighty 'Minor Threat'. The word from the Minor Threat camp is all good with frontman Ian MacKaye giving it a big thumbs up!!! you couldnt make this stuff up if you tried (and yes, I will be ordering some pretty sharpish!) 

So, Morrissey has responded to the NME's latest attack on him. The following in Italics is the mozzas words not mine btw!

Viva Morrissey!!!!!!

On Friday of last week I issued writs against the NME (New Musical Express) and its editor Conor McNicholas as I believe they have deliberately tried to characterise me as a racist in a recent interview I gave them in order to boost their dwindling circulation.

I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind and will not let this pass without being absolutely clear and emphatic with regard to what my position is.

Racism is beyond common sense and I believe it has no place in our society.

To anyone who has shown or felt any interest in my music in recent times, you know my feelings on the subject and I am writing this to apologize unreservedly for granting an interview to the NME. I had no reason whatsoever to assume that they could be anything other than devious, truculent and unreliable. In the event, they have proven to be all three.

The NME have, in the past, offered me their “Godlike Genius Award” and I had politely refused. With the Tim Jonze interview, the Award was offered once again, this time with the added request that I headline their forthcoming awards concert at the O2 Arena, and once again I declined it. This is nothing personal against the NME, although the distressing article would suggest the editor took it as such. My own view is that award ceremonies in pop music are dreadful to witness and are simply a way of the industry warning the artist "see how much you need us" - and, yes, the "new" NME is very much integrated into the industry, whereas, deep in the magazine's empirical history, the New Musical Express was a propelling force that answered to no one. It led the way by the quality of its writers – Paul Morley, Julie Burchill, Paul du Noyer, Charles Shaar Murray, Nick Kent, Ian Penman, Miles – who would write more words than the articles demanded, and whose views saved some of us, and who pulled us all away from the electrifying boredom of everything and anything that represented the industry. As a consequence the chanting believers of the NME could not bear to miss a single issue; the torrential fluency of its writers left almost no space between words, and the NME became a culture in itself, whereas Melody Maker or Sounds just didn't. Into the 90s, the NME's discernment and polish became faded nobility, and there it died – but better dead than worn away. The wit imitated by the 90s understudies of Morley and Burchill assumed nastiness to be greatness, and were thus rewarded. But nastiness isn't wit and no writers from the 90s NME survive. Even with sarcasm, irony and innuendo there is an art, of sorts. Now deep in the bosom of time, it is the greatness of the NME's history on which the “new” NME assumes its relevance.

It is on the backs of writers such as Morley, Burchill, Kent and Shaar Murray that the "new" NME hitches its mule-cart, assuming equal relevance. But the stalled views of the "new" NME sag, and readers have been driven away by a magazine with no insides. The narrow cast of repeated subjects sets off the agony, a mesmerizing mess of very brief and dispassionate articles unable to make thought evolve; a marooned editor who holds the divine right to censor any views that clash with his own.

The editorial treatment given to my present interview with the "new" NME is the latest variation on an old theme, but like a pre-dawn rampage, the effects of the interview have been meticulously considered with obvious intentions. It is true that the magazine is ailing badly in the market place, but Conor doesn't understand how the relentless stream of "cheers mate, got pissed last night, ha ha" interviews that clutter every single issue of the "new" NME are simply not interesting to those of us who have no trouble standing upright. Strangely enough, my own name is the only one featured in the "new" NME that links their present with the NME's distant past, therefore a Morrissey interview is an ideal opportunity with which to play the editorial naughtiness game.

This, regrettably, is what has taken place with this most recent interview, which, it need hardly be said, bears no relation in print to the fleshly conversation that took place.

I do not mean to be rude to Tim Jonze, but when I first caught sight of him I assumed that someone had brought their child along to the interview. The runny nose told the whole story. Conor had assured that Tim was their best writer. Talking behind his hands in an endless fidget, Tim accepted every answer I gave him with a schoolgirl giggle, and repeatedly asked me if I was shocked at how little he actually knew about music. I told him that, yes, I was shocked. It was difficult for me to believe that the best writer from the “new” NME had never heard of the song 'Drive-in Saturday'; I explained that it was by David Bowie, and Tim replied “Oh, I don't know anything about David Bowie.” I wondered how it could be so – how the quality of music journalism in England could have fallen so low that the prime “new” NME writer knew nothing of David Bowie, an artist to whom most relevant British artists are indebted, and one who single-handedly changed British culture – musically and otherwise.

Tim's line of questioning advanced with: "What about politics, then ... the state of the world?" - which, I was forced to assume, was a well-thought-out question. It was from here that the issue of immigration - but not racism - arose.

Me: If you walk down Knightsbridge you’ll be hard-pressed to hear anyone speaking English.

Tim: I don't think that's true. You’re beginning to sound like my parents.

Me: Well, when did you last walk down Knightsbridge?

Tim: Ummm.... Knightsbridge ....is that where Harrods is?

So, Tim was prepared to attack and argue the point without even being clear about where Knightsbridge actually is! The "new" NME strikes again. Oh dear, I thought, not again.

I chose to mention Knightsbridge because it had always struck me as one of the most stiffly British spots in London. I am sorry Tim, but you are not yet ready to interview anyone responsibly.

When my comments are printed in the "new" NME they are butchered, re-designed, re-ordered, chopped, snipped and split in order to make me seem racist and unreasonable. Tim had told me about his friend who did not like the 1991 song Bengali In Platforms because the friend had thought the song attacked him on a personal level. I explained to Tim that the song was not about his friend. In print, the "new" NME do not explain this, but attempt to multiply the horror of Tim's friend by attributing "these people" and "those people" quotes to me - terms I would never use, but are useful to the "new" NME in their Morrissey-is-racist campaign because these terms are only used by people who are cold and indifferent and Thatcherite. All of the people I spoke to Tim about in the interview who are heroes to me and who are Middle-Eastern or of other ethnic backgrounds were of no interest to either Tim or Conor. Clearly, Tim had been briefed and his agenda was to cook up a sensational story that would give life to the "new" NME as a must-read national if not global shock-horror story. Recalling how Tim asked me to sign some CD covers, I do not blame him entirely. If Conor can provoke bureaucratic outrage with this Morrissey interview, then he can whip up support for his righteous position as the morally-bound and armoured editor of his protected readership - even though, by re-modelling my interview into a multiple horror, Conor has accidentally exposed himself as deceitful, malicious, intolerant and Morrissey-ist -all the ist's and ism's that he claims to oppose. Uniquely deprived of wisdom, Conor would be repulsed by my vast collection of World Cinema films, by my adoration of James Baldwin, my love of Middle-Eastern tunings, Kazem al-Saher, Lior Ashkenazi, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and he would be repulsed to recall a quote as printed in his magazine in or around August of this year wherein I said that my ambition was to play concerts in Iran.

My heart sank as Tim Jonze let slip the tell-all editorial directive behind this interview: "It's Conor's view that Morrissey thinks black people are OK ...but he wouldn't want one living next door to him." It was then that I realized the full extent of the setup, and I felt like Bob Hoskins in the final frame of The Long Good Friday as he sits in the back of the wrong getaway car realizing the extent of the conspiratorial slime that now trapped him.

During the interview Tim asked if I would support the "Love Music Hate Racism” campaign that the NME had just written about and my immediate response was a yes as I had shown my support previously by going to one of their first benefit gigs a few years ago and had met some of their organizers as well as having signed their statement. Following the interview I asked my manager to get in touch with the NME and to pledge my further support to the campaign as I wanted there to be no ambiguity on where I stood on the subject. This was done in a clear and direct email to Conor McNicholas on the 5th of November, which went ignored and last week we found out that it had never even been presented to anyone at the campaign as that would obviously not have suited what we now know to be the NME’s agenda. I am pleased to say that we have now had direct dialogue with "Love Music Hate Racism" and all of our UK tour advertising in 2008 will carry their logo and we will also be providing space in the venues for them to voice and spread their important message, which I endorse.

Who's to say what you should or shouldn't do? The IPC have appointed Conor as the editor of the "new" NME, and there he remains, ready to drag the IPC into expensive legal battles such as the one they now face with me due to Conor's personal need to misstate, misreport, misquote, misinterpret, falsify, and incite the bloodthirsty. Here is proof that the "new" NME will twist and pervert the views of any singer or musician who'd dare step into the interview ring. To such artists, I wish them well, but I would advise you to bring your lawyer along to the interview.

My own place, now and forevermore, shall not be with the "new" NME - and how wrong my face even looks on its cover. Of this, I am eternally grateful.

MORRISSEY.

3 December 2007.

1. A Brighter Beat - Malcolm Middleton
If I'm totally honest I was'nt even aware that Malcolm Middleton had put out any solo work after Arab Strap and his first two albums, 2002's  '5:14 Fluoxytine seagull Alcohol John Nicotine' and 2005's stunning 'Into The Woods' completely passed me by on their respective releases. Maybe it was me and I simply was'nt paying enough attention to the music press at the time or maybe the music press just was'nt paying enough attention to Malcolm Middleton ,whatever, I was oblivious to their existence.
Then in February 2007 'A Brighter Beat' was released and this time I found myself reading these amazing reviews continuosly in every paper, magazine and online music blog I read and got my hands on a copy of it pretty smartish.
The glass is always half full in the world that Malcolm Middleton writes and sings about but , and this, for me, is what makes his songwriting so unique and beautiful , theres always the chance that someone will finally come along and top that half full glass up for him and everything will be alright. Malcolm Middleton is, without doubt, one of our most honest songwriters and in 'A Brighter Beat' he has, easily, given me my album of the year.

2. Hello Love -The Broken Family Band
Although Id been aware of The Broken Family Band for a while thanks to my good friend One Tree Hillbilly Id never actually heard anything by them until July when I was checking out some of the bands I hadnt heard anything by that I was due to see at the Green Man Festival in August. The only album I could get my hands on was their latest release at the time Julys 'Hello Love'. I fell in love with it instantly. From opener 'Leaps' right through to album closer, the epic 'Seven Sisters' this album is just a perfect example of great British songwriting at its best. The fact that this band are still all having to hold down full time jobs until the rest of the world catches up with the genius that is The Broken Family Band baffles me every single time I put this record on.

3. Cease to Begin - Band of Horses
I was having a conversation with a friend one afternoon about the first Band of Horses long player  'Everything All The Time' . We were both in total agreement (a rare occurrence) that it was easily one of last years finest albums and was still getting seriously heavy rotation from both of us over a year on. The conversation quickly turned to when the new album from these guys was expected, neither of us had heard anything recently about anything on the horizon and we were both of the mind that if they never released anything ever again they had still done enough with the first album to have a place in our hearts forever. Then, as we were in the office, I decided to check out the Sub Pop website and see if there was anything on there about any forthcoming releases, upcoming shows etc and there it was....'Cease to Begin' was due out in a week!
One week on and I was in possession of the brand spanking new Band of Horses album. Part of me was worried that they could'nt come close to 'Everything All The Time' after all that excitement a week ago had I built my expectations so high that it wouldnt be able to live up to them? with only lead singer Ben Bridwell remaining from the line-up that recorded 'Everything All The Time' would his new band of 'horses' be able to back him like the previous band? there was no need to worry......from start to finish this album just blew, and continues to blow my mind every single time.
Like its predescessor it doesnt hang around and does everything it needs to do in just a little over 35 minutes but what a joyous 35 minutes they are!

And lets not forget these .... 'Sound of Silver - LcdSoundsystem',    'In Rainbows - Radiohead', 'Panic Prevention - Jamie T',    'Untrue - Burial',    'We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank - Modest Mouse',    'Lets Stay Friends - Les Savy Fav',    'Favourite Worst Nightmare - Arctic Monkeys',   'Woke on a Whalebone - Bill Callahan',    'The Broken String - Bishop Allen' ,   'Good Bad, Not Evil - Black Lips',   '23 - Blonde Redhead',   ' Cassadaga - Bright Eyes', 'Graduation - Kayne West'   'Spirit If..- Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew',    'Thirst for Romance - Cherry Ghost',    'Spiderman of The Rings - Dan Deacon',    'Everyone - Grand Drive',    ' Help Wanted Nights - The Good Life',    'Colour It In - The Maccabees',    ' Think Before You Speak - Good Shoes',    'New Moon - Elliott Smith',    ' Ash Wednesday - Elvis Perkins' ,    'Knives Dont Have Your Back - Emily Haines & The Soft skeleton'. 'American Gangster - Jay -Z' ......I could probably list another fifty without trying which I guess speaks volumes about those who'll have you believe that music is dead!!!!!!