A quick mumble, don't grumble

I've been quieter than usual, I know...strange eh?

All the usual culprits are there but I'm also trying to get my writing notes in reasonable order for the first meeting of the scriptwriters group I've joined. We're meeting tomorrow night in a pub in Soho. I'm hoping it's a good crowd that aren't paralytic when it comes to talking about their writing or various opportunities in the city. It's definitely the kind of thing that will only be really beneficial if a certain level of trust can be created. If that happens then I reckon it will be very helpful to me if only because few things galvanize my writing quite like running through what I have with someone sitting across from me.

Meanwhile, though England is a seething mass of slang and has a somewhat notorious reputation for coin related slang from the pre-metric days (ha'pence, tuppence, shillings etc etc)....I just realized today I have not once heard any slang for coins while I've been over here. The closest is to hear a five or ten pound note referred to as "fivers" and "tenners" respectively - which isn't too crazy. Everything else is simply a ten pence coin, a pound coin and so on. What's up with that?

Also, airline food and VCR clocks and jokes about tired stand-up schtick.

Meanwhile, I'm sure most of you already know but for those who don't or maybe read about it a while back and forgot....the new Radiohead album is available to download both legally and free from their website. If Bjork is my favorite solo act than Radiohead has to be my favorite band, and while Beck sometimes jostles with Bjork for her position in my mental rankings...no other band ever threatens Radiohead. That being said, I try to stay highly objective about their work and frankly I found their last album to be kind of underwhelming given what incredible songs they'd put out before.

I also find that the very act of recommending something, anything, has become highly diluted thanks to the sheer proliferation of reviews covering everything which one all but trips over in their daily life. Think about how many times you've tried to recommend a movie to someone in recent years and how much you've had to qualify what you're about to say before you do - or how many times you've had the person half-roll their eyes while saying "I'll put it on The List".

SO

When I listened to In Rainbows for the first time, this Thursday past, I lay back on a park bench during my lunch hour and positioned myself so all I saw were my feet, trees, bushes, flowers and an old brick hut with a conical roof. I listened from start to finish with no interruptions and it felt like the band had somehow broke into my deepest memory vaults and carefully sampled pieces of all the sounds and songs I'd heard during my most primordial, formative moments from the womb up until my laying down in the park and plugging in my earphones.

I haven't felt like this while listening to an album since late 2001 when it happened almost back to back with Bjork's Vespertine (August) and Stereolab's Sound Dust (which came out earlier, but it was introduced to me in November that year). This is not hyperbole designed to overcome that problem with reviews and recommendations I mentioned. This is how the record made me feel.

I mean this. I mean every word.

And I gotta say, those who maybe get fed up with Radiohead's well expressed "dreary" side should download this because even the last track - to do with a videotape one leaves to be viewed after their death - fills you not with any kind of grief but instead an optimistic appreciation of how all things have their nobility, grace and charm.

So there you go, I've given this my best shot. Now I am spent, weak, sweating into the cheap carpet while leaving myself vulnerable to some foul degenerate sneaking up, twisting my arm into my lower back and making comical imitations of my cries for help to the staring crowd of strangers.

I shall now slink back again into my nook and leave the music reviews to better men than myself.

The Good, the Bad and the Music review

The world of music reviews is pretty well covered by about a million other guys with sites like this. But since "London" specifically and "England" in general is the underlying theme of my lil' page here I think it is worth bringing up one group and one album. The name of both is The Good, The Bad and The Queen.

These guys qualify as a supergroup thanks to an astounding roster led by a man who continues to impress me more and more as the years go by, Damon Albarn. Most folk will recognize him from his front lining Blur and, later, the Gorillaz (under the cartoon alias of 2D). He's also been involved in a host of side projects. In the case of this group he has spearheaded it organizationally but it is hard to imagine him dominating the recording studio given the weight of musical input and talent from the other members of the band.

The next most recognizable member of the line-up is Paul Simonon who played bass for The Clash. Even if you don't think you're familiar with their work, odds are that if there is blood in your veins and a working pair of ears on your head that you've heard their classic tune "London's Calling" either on the radio or in one of any number of film soundtracks such as the one for The Royal Tenenbaums. Aside from his raw skill and years of experience, what makes Paul stand out as an interesting band member is his great interest in reggae and how that merges with Albarn's britpop roots. Not to mention the drummer...

Now I know it's sort of a running gag in the music world that the bass player is the least important or least recognized member of your average band, but for me it's always been the drummer. Though I appreciate what drums do for a song, I find that I'll generally pay the least attention to them and as a result give the least of a shit (this is a real phrase, honest!) about who the drummer is.

Tony Allen is seventy years old and has been drumming for basically his entire adult life, having first picked up a drum kit at eighteen. I was completely unaware of this man until I picked up this album but I'm glad it made me aware of him because now, for the first time in my life, I am wanting to dig into the back catalogue of a drummer. I've got my work cut out for me as this man has been frequently dubbed one of the fathers of Afrobeat and what he himself dubbed Afrofunk. The lion's share of his work would be the thirty albums he cut in the sixties and seventies as a part of the group Africa '70. Point is, this man comes from a very different musical background than the either Simonon or Albarn and is not only incredibly skilled but highly inventive. He steals the show on at least a couple of tracks on the album and I'm sure he had plenty to add during the recording session.

Simon Tong is probably the least remarkable member, having played lead guitar with The Verve during the last few years of the band's existence. That being said, when the least impressive member of a band was part of a seminal album like Urban Hymns - which featured the incredibly popular single, Bittersweet Symphony - then I think that is itself a powerful statement. His connection to this group came through Albarn who recruited him for a brief replacement stint in Blur as well as The Gorillaz.

So alright, this group has an epic lineup of mostly British talent. That's nice. But what makes it all worth mentioning here is that their first and only album so far (another is apparently due in September, these guys move quick given that the first came out earlier this same year) is a concept album about living in England in general and London specifically. It's more than just neighborhood name dropping (and what there is of that tends to be lesser known areas which I myself only recognized thanks to my time at Network Rail) and the subject matter manages to be more substantial than The Streets tunes about late night kebab runs and paying off your weed dealer, while remaining just as accessible - more so, really.

Obviously you don't have to have ever set within a hundred kilometers of London or England in order to enjoy the music. Their website is pretty generous with free video and song clips for all the sample. My personal favorite from the selection offered is "Herculean". May I suggest you check it out?

By and by, I wasn't going to include any band member pictures but Paul Simonon just looked too damn awesome not to include. I hope I can look not only that great but that interesting at fifty-five!

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Meanwhile the one child policy in China is having an interesting effect and science gains more valuable ground from the fairy kingdom of mysticism/religion.

"Twice" by Little Dragon is especially melodious.

Hey hey, it's a new comic at a reasonable time of the day! Fancy that.

After carefully consulting with MENSA, Al Gore, Stephan Hawking and several men in labcoats...I came to the conlusion that a smaller comic might result in a smaller file size.

I am a University educated man!

Between finishing this comic, getting a good start on the next and finishing my short post-apocalyptic script, I cannot help but feel productive! But do I feel like going on to write some corporate sponsored erotica? A little!

Meanwhile, Giles Peterson is in week two of his "Best of the year so far" series and the songs are just magnificent. If you want to try out some new music, I can't recommend this enough*.

*I probably could.

Rain, rain go away...

Though I shouldn't complain as A)I'm staying inside to write, anyways, and B)apparently I'm in England?

In other news, Giles Peterson's excellent weekly show has alerted me to the existence of a really enjoyable electronic soul group called The Elektrons (the Myspace tracks are decent but their segment on Giles' show was really something). They have a show on the 6th at a different Brick Lane venue which I will check out, provided the steaming entrails of my weekly sacrifice to the disembodied ghost of Carl Sagan tells me that it shall be so.

Scroobius Pics

Scroobius to the left, Dan Le Sac to the right.

"Mic? Check. iMac Laptop? Check. Laminated copy of the periodic table? CHECK"

One song was an enjoyable mish-mash of a half dozen characters Scoobius played, with slight costume changes for each.
When he busted out "Thou Shalt Always Kill", everyone had a great time chanting along.
Around the Camden Locks at night.