Drive By Truckers are coming to town in November....

http://drivebytruckers.com/shows.html

Steve Turner and I already booked for Brum....anyone else want to join us and make it a Massive night out?

Had an hour to kill last night before the programme last night on BBC2 reconstructing the face, life and times of a syphilitic, teenage prostitute in Victorian London (good value for licencepayers money) so I flicked over to BBC3 to watch the second semi-final of Eurovision.

Amidst the dross, much of which will have been eliminated in advance of Saturdays final, was this, the Romanian entry. It's got everything - a catchy tune, a spark between the artistes (one of whom is a Dave Gahan lookylikey and the other a catwoman copyist - I'll leave you to decide which is which) plus pyrotechnics. OK, it sounds a bit like Keane with the pianos but it's got a top C as well...

Why can't we come up with something this damned entertaining.

Will anyone else be watching on Saturday....having started listening to a lot of Balkan brass over the last few months I'll be glued, but Romania will get my vote.

Hope all our Glaswegian friends are well this fine morning.

I just want to thank you for giving these guys to the world.

The Nimmo Brothers. Good old fashioned blue collar blues rock. I was listening to their most recent album in the car last night and this is the first track. Forget electronics and atmospherics, this is no nonsense stuff. The brothers, Stevie and Alan, look like nightclub bouncers and not to be messed with but their duelling guitars bring are something else

One of their earlier albums includes a stunning version of Black Cat Bone which consistently hovers in and around my top 10 all-time favourite tracks. Sadly they're not on Spotify but available on Amazon. CD's are full price but downloads available.

Sadly they don't seem to tour much, and both brothers have solo and other projects too.

I recommend.....perfect for a night out with lots of beer and a cheeky munchie box on the way home.

So, how do we feel about the ever growing possibility of having yet another unelected PM running the show? I'm beginning to know how the good people of Zimbabwe felt now...

Is Brown's resignation the action of a statesman carried out for the greater good of the country, or just another shameless, cynical manipulation by the Dark Lord Mandelson?

Is it just me or does Miliband have more than just a touch of the B'stard about him?

Good to see we're giving the world another lesson in how to run a country.

Don't you think some of these politicians these days are just a bit too wet and soppy, all too happy to empathise with their potential constituents, smary and smooth.

Well try this.........clearly been reading the John Prescott book of empathy

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/england/8663681.stm

Probably a forlorn plea to the Massive but here goes anyway.

Has anybody got a couple of tickets for the Arsenal v Wolves game for this coming Saturday that they're unable to use?

Myself and the FPO are travelling down and staying at Heathrow on Saturday, prior to flying out on holiday on Sunday. We were coming into London to see the match, as a part of my birthday present, with tickets provided by a contact of one of the FPO's work colleagues.

Just discovered that the arrangement has fallen through and that the only tickets to be had from agencies are around £200 each. Happy to pay a sensible going rate but that seems a bit steep.

As you can imagine I'm feeling a bit pissed off right now, particularly as I've been nagging her for a fortnight to check if everything was ok.

Anybody got any ideas?

If this sort of touting is verboten then please feel free to summarily delete it and give me a yellow card Fraser....

This is a bombshell......

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/celebrity/sugababes-%27date-back-to-h...

A couple of weeks back I had a bit of a spree in Fopp, and obne of the acquisitions was an album called "Nigeria 70 - Lagos Jump: Original Heavyweight Afrobeat, Highlife & Afro-Funk" by the multi-talented Various Artists.

Upon closer inspection, some of the wonderful funky music is produced by artists with even more funky names including:

- Bola Johnson & His Easy Life Top Beats
- Eric (Showboy) Akaeze & His Royal Ericos
- Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Melody Maestroes
- Sir Shina Peters & His International Stars

and my personal favourite - Tony Tete Harbor & The Star Heaters Of Nigeria.

Other artists on there include The Faces and Rex Williams, although neither sounds like their namesakes (to be truthful I've never heard Rex Williams sing anyway).

What other great band names have the Massive heard over the years?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8472000/8472831.stm

I can imagine TV executives getting very excited about this refreshing new format.

At 2.35pm on Tuesday afternoon I placed an order with Amazon for some CD's. Went for free delivery, usually takes a few working days and they had a message on the site about weather related delays etc etc.

Got an email telling me the order was despatched at 6.21pm the same day.

Parcel arrived in yesterdays post.

Now thats what I call service.....infinitely more choice than HMV etc, cheaper and delivery like that......makes me wonder why any of us still look elsewhere.

When was the last time you found yourself with tears welling up in your eyes at what can only be described as an inconvenient or inappropriate moment over something ridiculous.

Was driving into work this morning listening to the Drive By Truckers album 2Live from Austin", when on came the track "18 Wheels of Love".

The long spoken intro by Patterson Hood had tears streaming down my cheeks which is, in a 50 year old man listening to a rock band singing about a truck, frankly embarrassing.

Got to the car park and pulled myself together though, so no-one saw me thank goodness.

Anyone else stumbled into such an emotional breakdown (and the death of Princess Di doesn't count).

catching up on some back content, I decided to look at Middlerabbit's profile......not there! Some message about needing to log in etc...

Has he gone and left us?

Must be Christmas........the German market opens in Birmingham today, so the season of sausage and Glühwein for lunch begins.

What event makes the Massive go and dig out their stockings?

And while we're at it, what music is on everybody's wish list for Crimble this year?

I've got a mix of stuff I want to catch up on but have missed so far - Editors, Booker T, Drive By Truckers, Regina Spektor, Levon Helm, to name but five.

Best live band on the planet..............discuss.

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/2009/07/03/pupils-blow-out-the-record...