at the Barbican with the LSO...

Can't wait!

Early stuff only, I believe

I was on my lunch break, and he was handing out promo flyers for some kind of book-a-Christmas do thing.

the road

adapted from cormac mccarthy starring viggo mortensen

The Decemberists perform The Hazards of Love live in London

of the Premier League

Clearly, this is more forlorn hope rather than anticipation

New album and tour in October: always a pleasure to wallow in his misery.

have two young kids so don't get to go to many gigs these days - however, all of a sudden am going to:

Luke Haines @ the Borderline
Brett Anderson, Carl Barat, etc @ the JD Set (won tickets - yay!)
My Life Story @ Koko
Placebo @ the O2

and there are a couple more i fancy (ooh - Decemberists - really? will have to look that up) - okkervil river are on at the Scala in a week or two.

looks like I'm heading for a good autumn and some frowns from the missus...

Mono Box Set, and the Spotify app for iphone (although it probably still won't be released by then!)

Pixies at Brixton.

illustrated by R. Crumb.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Robert-Crumbs-Book-Genesis-Crumb/dp/0224078097/r...

The London African Music Festival - September.
http://tinyurl.com/ysrs35
Don't really know anyone in this year's line-up, but there's sure to be something worthwhile.

at the RFH in a week or so (was ill so only made it about 20 mins into one of the Forum shows earlier this year before having to bail) and two days later, Brian Wilson at the Roundhouse (not the RFH for once)

or as we say in Ghillie Jockoland "a wee calf"

Paradise Lost and Hawkwind are lined up for the dark days

winning a game. The Beastie Boys lp.

What about the tantric sexter hisself and his new winter-themed CD? Hey nonny no!

http://order2.universal-music.co.uk/engine/shop/category/Sting

In the next two weeks there's Faith No More live in a theatre and then the Electric Picnic - still one of the best festivals around even if its main organisers went bust this year and had to draft in "the enemy", i.e. Festival Republic. Cracking line up across a myriad of stages. www.electricpicnic.ie

And then Bonfire Night.

New album Truelove's Gutter.

Also apparently Jeff Lynne has a solo album due later this year.

... just before I'm off to Washington DC & Virginia Beach for my late summer holidays.

December brings me Spiritualized at SageGateshead performing 'Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space' in its entirety.

In August.

Don't do that.

The Olympia in November. Nice.

The Unforgettable Fire (Remastered - Super Deluxe Edition) [Box set] - out October 26th. No thanks Santa.

Madonna - Celebration: The Definitive Greatest Hits Collection (2CD). Christmas is coming (kerching)

A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding In Your Mind-Volume 2 - Pagan Love Vibrations Compiled and Mixed by The Amorphous Androgynous - can you remember that Santa?

Sod it Santa. Just leave me the In The Court Of The Crimson King 40th anniversary remastered box set.

Still looking forward to my Summer Holiday - 2 weeks taking in the Windy City and Motown among other things in the middle of September. Summer ends a couple of days after we get back and then it's down to some gig going once the festival season has stopped disrupting proper gigs. The ones I'm looking forward to most are Ingrid Michaelson and Brendan Benson but I've got 4 or 5 other pencilled in as well.

But I'm quite looking forward to starting my new job, as a Field Assistant at the Halley Research Station, British Antarctic Territory.

The Specials, Seth Lakeman, Tinawaren, The Buzzcocks, Richard Hawley and Three Bonzos & A Piano. Didn't you know? Belfast is the cultural capital of the world in October.

Depeche Mode at Manchester Arena, Birmingham NEC; Hawley's new LP; the girlfriend finding a job and ending the eight months of purgatory since she got the Spanish archer from the last one, meaning I can finally make some headway into my Amazon wishlist and not have toss away my wage on fripperies such as the bloody rent.

By a nice piece of kismet, I was lost in a folk reverie on the "Camisole Folk" thread earlier and happened upon an article about the above

http://bit.ly/6qgEc

To celebrate this incredible anniversary there is a special box-set "Three Score and Ten" released on 14 September.

And a festival at Southbank too - The Topic 70 festival at Royal Festival Hall, London SE1, from 11-18 September.

Paul Robeson, Pete Seeger,Ewan MacColl, Martin Carthy, The Watersons, June Tabor, Anne Briggs, Eliza Carthy - just a few names to have graced the label over the years.

After that?

Gosh.. the glorious transition of the summer foliage to the hues of autumn..

The fine food which comes then.. squash.. pork fattened on nuts.. sweet English apples, native corn on the cob,

The first heavy dew and the smell which speaks of the shortening days and the prospect of bonfires and fireworks..

Using Webcams to look at the first snowfalls dusting the alpine peaks, letting us know that the ski season is not all that far away..

A good time of year in my book.

Some lovely spring-like weather down here in Dunedin, NZ has really whetted my appetite for the forthcoming longer, warmer days! Accordingly, we are starting to plan some weekends away mountain biking in Naseby (aka 'Mountain Biking Mecca') and hiking the Milford Track (aka 'The best walk in the world')

There are even some gigs to look forward to! We have tickets to see Gomez in Christchurch in October and Bang Bang Eche are playing locally a couple of weeks before. But most excitingly of all, there seems to be a good chance that The Bats are going to be playing in Dunedin in November (according to an email I got from the bassist). That will be awesome and is probably one of the top 3 things I wanted to do during my secondment here!

I'm looking forward to Mott reunion. Nastalgic fun at worst - kick ass gig at best! No one else going from the Massive?

Bestival
2 weeks in Disneyworld at half-term - (strange how offspring are both going to have colds then so as they cant be at school)

Conkers!
Mellow mists of whatever it is

Live box set. Put together with less thought than I use to wipe my arse and with less appreciation of what fans want than Bowie on the Glass Spider tour, but a compulsory purchase nonetheless.

* Being able to stop cutting the lawn - though any time saved is used continually gathering bags of leaves

* Going out on walks and seeing the leaves change, conkers,warm october days

* Having to scrape the car windows and get the electric blanket out of the loft

* nights drawing in rapidly

but....am seeing the Felice Bros in October - something to look forward to in a weird sort of way.

Probably sometime in October.

...Shutter Island. Sometime in October, I think,

Oh, and on a personal note I'm having a career change and starting a nursing degree a week on Monday. That'll keep me busy until Christmas (and beyond).

.

The best time of the year!

sounds like one to add to the list - where can we see them?

Elbow in September, Tom Russell on disc, Peggy Suicide on disc expanded. Visit to Princeton Record Exchange in October.
Superbreak in London. German market in Birmingham. Thats about it!!

Steve Earle in Birmingham
and Colin Hay in Manchester.
Oh Yes.

there'll be:

A new Phish album
A special Tangerine Dream concert inside a medieval castle on Sunday ("Rocking Out The Bats")
A Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub tour with Jaki Liebezeit on drums
An 11-disc box set of the complete John Wayne western soundtracks
...and that short-lived combo I refused to see in concert in '66 has their songs reissued in mono.

who I've never seen, doing a very tasty bunch of concertos in a programme called "Baroque in High Definition"

http://www.aam.co.uk/

(it's only baroque ... but I like it) and am also toying with idea of the not quite so ancient "Music of John Martyn" tour, would be curious if anybody has seen previous gigs by these people e.g. Nick Drake

http://www.keith-james.com/images/john-martyn-tour-press-release-2009.pd...

Brian Wilson at the Roundhouse next week.

A trip to Toronto to see the in-laws, taking in a Wilco gig while I'm there.

My 40th birthday.

Getting a job.

http://www.battleofideas.org.uk/index.php/2009/overview/

Xmas album.

The Luminaire, London, 18 Nov

Not saying anything else due to possible FPO surveillance

isn't so little any more, and is off to Spain next Wednesday for a year. I'm choking now.

Whilst she's off I've got Elbow, Green Day and Buena Vista Social Club lined up. Seen them all before. Stick with what you know!

The Decemberists sound interesting. I'm looking that one up.

Then you have a treat in store if you see Faith No More. They rocked like a hurricane in Dublin last night despite coming on a half an hour late thanks to dumbass roadies losing the lead to Mike Patton's recorder.

doing "Things" in London in late September followed by Rich Hall as both himself and Otis Lee Crenshaw at the De La Warr Pavillion in Bexhill in October. Both of these then followed by our delayed (thanks to the FPO's project at work) summer holibobs which includes two weeks in Kalkan in Turkey.

By the time we get back it'll be mellow fruitfullness, leaves on the line and time to start getting the Easter eggs in.

I've just been emailed the dates for the Atherton & Tyldsley Bent 'n' Bongs Beer Bash in late January. Just so I can clear my diary and prepare for drinking real ale.

at the local theatre here in Tunbridge Wells, just after we get back from a week in the Isle of Wight in October. And Dame Edna's 'Last Night of the Poms' at the Royal Albert Hall next month!

Quite tempted to see Vetiver again in Brighton next month, which would make it the third time this year.

Reissues next month (at long, long last) of their first two albums "Crazy Rhythms" and "The Good Earth".

I am this : very excited.

The latest album from one of the best pianists on the planet today - Mr Bruce Hornsby. Hitting the shelves/interweb mid september (or in The Fall, as they say Stateside). The Word team may even honour us with a review in our fave mag!

(Which they didn't do with another great US singer-songwriter, Marc Cohn, recently. Check out his class album "Join The Parade" here:- http://www.marccohn.net/music/discography/cd/default.aspx?albumid=744b95...)

Magic Numbers playing in Brighton. Potty training my son. New Drive By Truckers release.

Not necessarily in that order.

playing with Nick Lowe in November.

And we are heading into summer . . . .

Also look foward to seeing 'Me Cheeta' win the Booker, though don't think it will.