CIA Rewards in English Removed This would be hard to believe if it wasn't so believable.
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Friday, September 17, 2004
How to turn your iPod into a Universal Remote Control ......at least you'd get some use out of it...you have to ask how many iPods gather dust after a few weeks
I've been living with various generations and mixes of "Plutonic", Greg Churchill's forthcoming third single on Darren Emerson's label, Underwater for many months now, and still think it's a monumental piece of soulful techno (in its purest form). When I played this mix on the radio some dude rang and said "its repetitive"...umm, isn't that the point? A truely wonderful record-damn this man is clever. Since I'm talking techno (and isn't it pleasing to see the way this word was reappropriated by the "right" people after being stolen in the early nineties) I'm also totally obsessed (actually I have been for years) with everything Carl Craig has ever done right now. Has this guy ever made a bad record, if so, I've yet to hear it. His music, and his remixes seem to twist, entice, exhaust and drag you where you least expect to go. If there is a genius at work (and I don't know what that word means) in contemporary music, Carl's yer man. Paperclip People, 69, Moxie, Detroit Experiment, I crave the stuff...............very loud
I'm a complete sucker for the early Elvis Costello albums and have happily acquired (for the second or third time) all the recent reissues, so I'm pleased to see Almost Blue, the much criticised plastic country disc, is about again. Did I need it again. Of course I did, if only for the bonus disc with his Johnny Cash duet and the always astounding live (at the Royal Albert Hall with the London Symphony Orchestra) take of "I'm Your Toy", a record that never fails to demolish me...been repeating it over and over in the car for a week now. But, not only for that-Almost Blue is simply a wonderful, slighty tongue in cheek, and very cheesey, album recorded before EC started taking himself too seriously and became dull. I met the man a few years back and really disliked him..shame Talking of reissues, John Lennon's Rock'n'Roll is a patchy affair-actually much of it is crap-but with 3 or 4 killers. The remaster adds "Angel Baby", another wonderful track left off the original. And I still think Jonno's cut of "Stand By Me" is the equal of Ben E King's.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
So now there is only one left Bye Bye Johnny I bought the first Ramones album as an import from Taste Records in High St in 1976. I bought it sound unheard, because the sleeve appealled. My musical life and, indeed, my future was transformed...my world tipped on its axis never to return. I played those 14 tracks day in and day out for years and I loved The Ramones. I stood next to Joey once in a store in Parnell..it was quite a thing So bye bye Johnny, give my best to Joey & Dee Dee
Local body politics don't usually interest me to any great degree so I guess you could surmise that John Banks, the incumbent mayor of our aspiring city, has succceeded in a way in re-invigorating the local political process. Certainly he's done more and created more controversy than the previous few Auckland mayors (since the sixties), and for that I have begrudging respect. He's also managed to extract quite a bit of cash out of central government for roading and infrastructure. That's all well and good, but I think any mayor of New Zealand's largest city could have achieved the same just by asking....the problem he looks good simply by default. The previous office holders over the past decades were either incompentant or self serving (although Banks has re-defined self serving egotism). However my real problem with Banks is simply that he's an obnoxious offensive little loud mouth jerk who talks a lot but does little. Anyone who saw Banks on Kim Hill's show on TV One last night, with Banks and his opponent, Dick Hubbard, or heard Banks on talkback on George FM last week knows what I mean. He talks people down, stretches the truth, ignores or denies uncomfortable facts, is blatantly rude to anyone to questions him. We don't need him. Hubbard provided a viable and refreshing alternative and I can see little choice in the Auckland mayoralty race. Banks is a relic of the ugly side of NZ politics past and we really don't need to go back there. And he was a lousy minister of police too
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Extended Play George FM
Weds 15 Sept
Teddy Pendergrast-Set Me Free-
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Singles that I really like right now include the Tiga remix of Seeleluft's rocky "I Can See Clearly Now", the Ben Sims remix of Blake Baxter's 1988 classic "Sexuality", Blake's own slightly tongue in cheek "Forbidden Fruit", and his lovely old skool acid disc with Abe Duque, "What Happened". I Love the Dave Clarke mix of Slam's "Lie to Me", with Ann Saunderson on vox and a fairly mellow mix for DC which pays obvious tribute to Ann's husband. Pete Heller's edit of Jerome Sydenham and Dennis Ferrers' tech-soul anthem "Sandcastles", toughens it up somewhat without losing the essense of the original. These guys seem to be on a roll Kings of Punani's "Acid Thunder" has been around a while but I first heard it month or so...lovely nasty stuff.
I'm a sucker for a good compilation album....buying stuff I own over and over again sometimes if its in an ace new package or given a new reason to exist on a piece of vinyl with other tracks...I mean do I really need Buffalo Girls again, umm no, but I do need Don Letts' Dread Meets the B-Boys Downtown, a tribute from the old Roxy DJ to the NY underground of the early eighties, all that noisy Smurfy electro and attitude and the bonus of an unreleased Clash track (even if it is just an average re-take of Radio Clash, but I love it when Joe's voice kicks in half way through). Wonderous stuff, and made for the car Norman Jay (bless him)'s second comp of tracks from Philadephia International's seventies archive is as impeccable as the first. I own every track on Norman Jay Present's Philadelphia, some six or seven times (actually "Love is the Message" probably many more) but they all still sound so bloody wonderful and Norman puts it together so well. The greatest record label ever bar none.......and when Leon Huff's electric piano kicks in on LITM......... Jeff Mill's Azuli collection Choice seems to have revived what was becoming a slightly dull series (the Louie Vega one was simply boring, and predictable and the Derrick Carter one was just bad) and is a far more ecclectic and interesting, and I've always been a sucker for Chaz Jankel's "Ai No Corrida", Blake Baxter's "Sexuality" and DJ Q's "We Are One". The next one, from Xpress 2, is just as good
Monday, September 13, 2004
Ha....this works for me..... The Ten Most Hated Men in Rock although I have to say that 50% of those mentioned have long since disappeared from any semblance of public consciousness outside anywhere but Dumptruck, Idaho. I mean, who for gods sake even thinks about Kenny Loggins or Ted Nugent in '04. And Dave Grohl needs elevating to the top ten...what a twat....
Sunday, September 12, 2004
Informed Comment : 09/01/2004 - 09/30/2004 read this......Juan Cole nails the ME fubar as no-one else does
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