http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jan/08/bob-weston

...anyone else going to the Annandale this Thursday ? If the effect of them in the Metro last Jan is anything to go by, compressing them into the Annandale should be a joy to behold.

The Register celebrates 11.11.11 as 'Nigel Tufnell day' with 11 great rock movies. http://www.reghardware.com/2011/11/11/eleven_rock_films/ - of course you'd have to correct them wouldn't you ?

2 Jack Black movies are in ? No Slade in Flame ? What were they thinking ?

I may have missed commentary on this round here, but have we noticed and do we care that EMI Music just got swallowed by Universal, or may be well on the way to being swallowed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/nov/11/universal-music-acquisiti...

Hardly surprising I suppose after falling into the hands of venture capitalists and the run of misery they've had in the face of the storms faced by the industry.

Or is it just being nostalgic for something that is well past it's use-by date (as per podcasts of the recent past) ? It seems like it's following Thatcher's 'service economy', reaching it's logical conclusion much like the freelance IT industry, where the music industry are the agencies and facilities people, and the content creators work through/for them.

Sorry, had to share this. Was googling round for pumpkin ideas for my 4 year old and tripped over this charmer.

So we all have our little enthusiasms, our passions. I'm there with my AC/DC, Del Amitri and Pat Metheny fetishes. But every now and then I'll hear something and I'm grabbed, a tiny bit of something. Often something obscure, not the singles or whatever. Doesn't matter who it is (as you'll see below), but they'll do something that hits my aural G spot and I can't help myself.

It often seems like it might have been 2 (or more) different songs glued together, or just some tangential riff one of the participants threw in, a moment of inspiration. Whadoiknow. It can be literally moments, maybe 10 seconds or so (like Crowded House), sometimes longer. Some do it more often than others I've noticed (Toad, Odds).

So, I've spruiked mine in the comments - got any more...

I've been getting more interesting stuff to my tastes and mood from NPR All SOngs Considered of late. This is my latest little little obsession, Megafaun. Sounds like it fell out of the soundtrack to Almost Famous....

Sorry if it has appeared elsewhere (couldn't see or remember it), but had to share....

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts-%26-entertainment/man-buys-pink-...

"Man buys Pink Floyd box set, puts it on shelf, feels sad

A MIDDLE-AGED man is feeling oddly downhearted after buying an expensive limited edition box set of music by the favourite band of his youth......"

Something I find in depressingly short supply is great standup comedy, which is why I was deliriously happy to trip over Greg Proops's "Smartest Man In The World" podcast on iTunes. I came in after about 20 episodes, meaning I had a block of 20 hours or so to wade through, which was fan-bloody-tastic. It's a bit sweary (actually a lot weary), and therefore not suitable for minors on the school run. But it's a great ramble through his old memories and current news topics. I'd suggest it's worth starting at the first one and working forward too (like I found with the Word podcast).

....playing guest DJ on the show, which just started downloading through iTunes. Thought some in this parish might be interested.

So I was thinking in the aftermath of Nick Lowe, Neil Tennant and sundry other visitations to the podcast cupboard, is there anyone I would like to hear from (that it might actually be possible to get). Someone who'd be an entertaining raconteur (in keeping with the usual levels of such like, not that I'm complaining). Preferably someone you don't see every 10 minutes on TV or every documentary about pop/rock history.

A few occured to me

- Julian Cope
- Robyn Hitchcock
- Robert Smith (maybe through Fraser's contacts...)
- Martin Fry
- Robert Wyatt

Any other suggestions ?

For ease of access it'd presumably need to be UK- and/or London-based (unless m'learned friends are up for a junket, cf Keef). Now knowing my luck I'll be instantly advised all the above live overseas...

As seen (at least for me) via Something for the Weekend a while back, Axis of Awesome are doing a run at the Opera House this weekend, 4-6 Feb. Do carry on.

....."harp solo". Makes drum or bass solos pale into insignificance based on tonight's evidence.

Having just got back from Los Lobos (reviewed elsewhere), the support act was, how shall we put this.....amazingly bad taste, musically (IMHO). The Victor Valdez Trio (with it's 4 members, Douglas Adams fans) set about some traditional south american pieces, but a) stuck harp solos all over the place, and b) had some young-gun electric geetar player widdling all over the later numbers. It's difficult to think of how it could have been any more inappropriate or discordant.

Gawd help us.

We've got Hawkwind and Los Lobos touring Australia (or bits of it), just wondered if they're worth catching on their current tours. Anyone seen them lately ?

That is all.