NOISY POSTING!

At last, back in the studio. Martin Stephenson came down to record some guitar and sing on a couple of tracks, which I will put on Myspace at the weekend. I'd been practising the stuff quite a bit and didn't make as many mistakes as usual, so we managed to record 2 of mine and one of his for our album; both of us have written loads of songs but he lives Far North and I live Deep South. Perhaps we just need to yell very loud and buy massive amps and deafen the land between.
Ahh... I've spoken to Woman's Hour about the Lost Women book, but I'm not sure if they will do anything; let's say they are 50% interested at the moment. the celebration plans are going well; I'm trying to decide if I can afford a new dress. I think probably not, but no-one will guess if I wear an old one, especially as they will be looking at my fiendish red shoes anyway. Four bass players are coming- Enid Williams, Tessa Pollitt, Gaye Black and Jane Woodgate. That makes 5, if you add me. I know Gina will come too, actually, so that makes six! Ha ha! Just imagine how much ground we would shake if we all plugged in and played at once! Buildings would tremble, cheeks would wobble and dogs would howl mournfully at the midday sun.
What a thought.

News Book

What a relief- Tom's back from New York and I can start recording again! Martin Stephenson will be playing on a couple of tracks on my next album, and I almost have enough new songs- in fact, I do, but I'm getting fussy about what's on it!
I visited the chewing gum painting of Suburban Pastoral this morning- it was still there on the pavement by the Courthouse in Normandy Avenue, glistening in the rain and looking beautiful. Barnet Council has ripped up all the paving stones in the High Street and replaced them and all the lovely little paintings have gone. Mike emailed to say that Ben was arrested, so I'll have to find out more about that and help if I can. What a silly thing to arrest someone for- it's art, not graffiti. he's a bit of a laid-back Banksy I suppose- it's not something that can be done guerilla-style with a spray can, it's a laborious process.
My little painting might stay there for a while- not many people have walked on it and I can't imagine them changing the pavement there. It's maturing nicely. Perhaps I should take a picture as it decays and put that on the cover of the next CD.
Talking of decay I'll upload the skeleton hoover later.
There's a house in Bedford Avenue that has been totally neglected for what must have been years- it has plants sprouting out of its windows, rotten frames, overgrown garden, letterbox stuffed with redundant leaflets, you name it. Someone spent all last week clearing it out, and there are things in the front garden including a couple of hoovers; the bag of one has completely rotted away to just a couple of threads, holding up al the solidified dust that had collected within it. Perfect.
Art
Art
Art

Happy birthday Em!
www.goldtop.org
Best illustrator in universe!

Pauls without beards

Well, what a gig last night! Unwisely, I asked the guy to make a DVD and consequently forgot the lyrics of the first song, but managed to get it together after that. It reminded me of the video of Paul and myself playing at the Loft in Berlin in 1990, where each of us messes up a song in turn, and there is no song that hasn't got some lurid mistake on it.
There was a rowdy table in front of us which was a bugger although they shut up after a while; the people who came to see us play ( hiya Helena!) arrived too late and missed us! But I think we made some new mates...
But what I really wanted to do was to write about Paul the Girl- she was absolutely fantastic, and it was great to see those well-fed North-London faces actually sitting at their tables with their mouths open! Attagirl Paul, you really rock and there's a deffo Black-Country rock goddess in you somewhere. It reminded me of the occasion when I took a whole bunch of huge black-garbed chain-bedecked punk rockers to Brighton's premier smooth disco- nobody knew what to do, whether to be impressed, scared, affronted, or just pure interested. I'll bet Vivaviva has never hosted anything like Paul before. She's just SUCH a good guitarist, picker, effects, songs, noise, dynamics, stompin', the lot. Amazing. Afterwards I gave her a lift to the tube with her shopping trolley of effects pedals, which gave me a whole new perspective on shopping trolleys- perhaps those old ladies in the supermarket are secret wizzo guitarists too!

Funny, only a couple of days after the Japanese pirating of Helen and the Horns, Keith from Setanta (used to be The Divine Comedy's label) wrote to see if we'd like to re-release any Helen and the Horns stuff with him. I think I will ask him if he'd like to release the Peel sessions, because we did 3 of them and there is some stuff on them that sounds quite good (I'll leave out the rubbish!).

Oh yes- Paul Davey and Paul the Girl, neither of whom have facial hair.

Bens with Beards

There are two Bens with beards that hang out at Utrophia- possibly more but I haven't met the others yet!
I picked up Diana and her sprite, Merlin and we drove down to Greenwich. Things had started up already; the whole place was looking very tidy (strange since they will have to leave quite soon), all painted and partitioned. The spider plants were still thriving though, having taken on the characteristics of vast lion's manes.
The music was great- I don't know which photos to post so I won't post any yet- there was a really good band with a guy yelling and playing a black fur and gaffa-tape covered guitar, with a female drummer who looked fantastic- a bit like Lily Allen'a younger sister, perhaps.
Then Temperatures played, right up high in a warehouse- we had to go out into the delivery yard to watch them. They were fizzing with energy and anger, really really good, the best I've seen them, and even though it was cold and damp they radiated enough heat to keep everyone out there watching them.
I have a photo of them, as well as the girl drummer from the other band. The last thing I saw (I left early and missed loads I know) was a duo called the Children, who I thought were mesmerising. I'd been chatting to the guitarist earlier, and they'd just come back from New Orleans watching marching bands. The duo consisted of him, playing a semi-acoustic guitar, and a woman playing a 5-string semi-acoustic bass. They were incredibly hippyish (of that era, I think, as they were older than me!), but their first song was really good, sort of languid with harmonies and new-age lyrics. They transformed the evening into a happening circa 1968, with the audience sitting on the floor just absorbing them. I potographed them, too- they did look good as the woman had long hair and a little hat and the guy had ginger hair and a yellow duster over the microphone (germguard?). But one of the best things was the way they moved- they obviously do a lot of playing together because they swayed in unison with the same hip movements. Great. You must see them if you can- although they are completely in a time-warp, they take you back there with them, and it's quite an experience.
Utrophia just put on the best nights, always unexpected, a different atmosphere every time, and that rare thing-about-town: unposey fun!
And I have been given the new CD by Shimmy Rivers and Canal, which I shall review as soon as I have bludgeoned my way to the CD player.
Oh yes- I'm playing tonight at Viva Viva in Hornsey High Street, an unusual gig for me as Paul's coming along.
Starts at 8.

Rehearsal

Just got back from running through the songs for tomorrow night with Paul.
We're going to play A New Day (first time I've ever done it live)- I lost my voice cos I'm not used to singing so early in the morning. So it's guitar, vocals and clarinet tomorrow, an oldfashioned sound I think.
I got the badges with the Suburban Pastoral chewing gum painting on them- almost too late but at least I can give some to the chewing gum painter next time I see him.
I think I'll go to the Duets gig at Utrophia this evening

Debbi's Lovely Dresses

I took this picture last Saturday of Debbi Little's dresses hanging up in her workshop

Hello Stranger

Well blog, haven't seen you for a couple of days; had a strange week in many ways but that's not the same as a boring one.
I have a gig at Vivaviva in Hornsey this Sunday 27th, which I'm doing with Paul Davey who will be playing clarinet- early morning rehearsal tomorrow morning to see if we can do any new songs. Paul the Girl will be there too, also playing new songs- she has decided to use the gig to try out new stuff and I thought it might be fun if we played on the same night. If you get there before 8 we will have cheap drink and food tickets to give away.
I'm going out for a walk this morning- there's a farmer's market a couple of miles away and I'm going there to get some tomatoes and to take advantage of the sun before it starts chucking it down.
I've had yeses from Tessa Pollitt and Gaye Advert to the Lost Women celebration- wow- two ace bass players under one roof- fantastic!

Dog in Car

My car has stoppped smelling of dog. Because it is an ex-disabled-persons-car, I assumed that it had belonged to a blind person and the smell was their guide dog, until I realised what I was assuming.
I was musing on the way to work about the Bay Hotel, Gourock. It was a fantastic venue up the road from Greenock, owned by an altruistic millionaire who booked bands there at weekends and bussed young people up from Greenock, there and back, so they could have a nice time seeing current bands. All sorts of bands did the gig- Carmel, King Kurt, loads. For bands, you got to stay in a really nice hotel by the sea with a shoe-polishing machine and a plopping ice-machine on the landing, a guaranteed audience, pay, and the most fantastic breakfast you could possibly imagine. And free drinks, which led to Helen and the Horns staying up half the night with the trumpet player, Chris, playing tunes on those plastic telescopic plant-watering tubes, and much noisy merriment. My partner and myself got to stay in the honeymoon suite, which is how I know that if you get into a jacuzzi after drinking too much, you throw up.
Stu Jones has sent a link for you to look at: http://mrobscure.blogspot.com/
..and if you read the comment below (thank you hangthedj) and follow the link you will find that a Japanese record company appear to have pirated the Helen and the Horns CD!

Some Silence For You

..............................................................................................

Sweet Feelings

My current nerdy activity is comparing two recordings of 'Sweet Feelings', a lovers' rock song, one by the Blackstones and one by Paul Dawkins. The Blackstones one has really sweet harmonies and a laid-back summery feel; it's very smooth and soulful and led by the vocals. Paul Dawkin's one seems to sound much more Jamaican, almost like one of the early Bob Marley recordings, and it has a fantastic bounce to the bass drum that makes me feel ludicrously happy. I'd love to play bass in a band with a drummer who played like that!

On the way to work this morning, the Northern Line tube driver made an announcement that made everybody smile, even the grumps: he called us 'You lovely people'. We all suddenly felt lovely, social-worked by a stressed tube driver. How sweet!

And on Friday, I was taking my vandalised car (a pedestrian snapped the wing-mirror off for me on a Sunday afternoon) to be fixed. The traffic halted up ahead and I craned my neck to see what it was. Some mechanics from a local garage had stopped us to let a panicking mummy duck and two ducklings scuttle across the road on to the opposite pavement! It was almost worth the trouble and expense to see a sight like that, especially since the people with the soft hearts were rufty-tufty mechanics in oily overalls, not usually associated with acts of gentleness.
Bless.

Start the engine, check controls*

I was disappointed the other day when Vi Subversa called from Spain to say she's not up to travelling over for the Lost Women lunchtime celebration. Nothing life-threatening, just lots of boring appointments. I was looking forward to seeing her so very much, by hook or by crook I will get myself to Spain to visit her. She says she has a caravan I can stay in.
Today, I'm going to see Debbie Little- she is a clothes designer and she made the gold suit that I wore for the Voxpop Puella tour that Gina and mydelf did in 2001. I have also got a skirt that she made out of an old parachute. Once I went to see her and she was wearing a beautiful brown silk sheath dress (a sort of Audrey Hepburn thing) with a scalloped hem, a frilly pinny and a pair of slippers. She is just one of the most stylish people in the world, and very funny too. She's the Champagne Friend's sister so I get to see her too- double fun. It's one of those open studio things at the Cockpit in Deptford. I got lost the last time I went to see her and never got there, but will try to be more clever this time.
Then I will be writing out loads of addresses, all the women I interviewed for the book, because tomorrow Caroline and I are going to write out the invitations. She has designed a really good invite, and now's the time to send them off. The book is being printed right now.
As for music- well, I'm looking forward to Tom coming back 'cos I've got itchy fingers- two new songs to record, and a lot of tidying up and re-recording. I think I have enough songs for the next album, but I want to wait a couple of months to see if anything else materialises. Also, we had a really good Song Club session on Thursday- Jamie McDermott from the Irrepressibles has taken Dan's place and I think we were both a bit anxious about whether it would work, but the children took to him staright away, we had written the chorus for the first proper song literally in minutes, the children loved it and learned it and all got carried away on a wave of creative energy that put a whacking great smile on my face for the rest of the day. And in the north of Scotland, Martin Stephenson has been writing songs and in the south of England, I have too. So it looks like that musical collaboration is well on its way too
Time for breakfast.
*Like these little star things? Then here's another one. This title is a lyric from the Song Club's first song about planes and I thought it was a good start to a beginning-of-the-day posting

Java Sparrows and Peach Faced Lovebirds

At art college I had a platonic friend called Simon. He was impressive for two reasons- firstly, he had a strong aroma of freshly-ironed clothing. Secondly, he sat at the table one lunchtime (cottage pie and boiled cabbage followed by a rock bun*) and told me about this great band he'd seen called Joby and the Hooigans with a girl bass player, without realising that the girl bass player he was telling me about was me.
So we became friends.
He liked my birds (Toby the budgie who used to belong to Joby, two canaries and Peter Finch) so much he got himself a Parakeet called God. God flew away one day and Simon cried. He put postcards in lots of shop windows, till one day an old lady phoned and said she'd been riding her bike down the street and God had landed on her handlebars- so he got him back.
We hatched a plan to open a cafe in Brighton full of beautiful birds and we came to London to Palmers Pets in Camden to look.
I fell in love with the Java Sparrows- just like black and white penguins with go-go-gadget boy stretched red legs and feet, and a funny little private squeaky noise that they made between themselves.
And what about those weirdos, the peach faced lovebirds? All in a cage together, they followed each other in line in a one-by-one procession like coloured birdy sheep, along the bottom of the cage, very slowly, up the side of the cage, foot over foot, in perfect synchronisation, up across the underneath of the top of the cage bars, until they were all hanging upside down, and then, very slowly in turn, each bird turned its head round to peer at me and Simon, as though that had been the plan all along.
As I said,
Weird!


* What rock stars eat- did you know this?

Proper set, tonight

Just heard from the gig tonight- I'm on at 10 pm and playing for 40 minutes- wahey- a proper set!
It costs £5 to get in, come along if you can, it's a lovely restaurant. Just along from the Dublin Castle in Parkway, Camden, 5 mins fro Camden tube

Green Note Cafe

Tomorrow night (Wednesday) I'm playing at the Green Note Cafe in Parkway in Camden. I'm on some time after 9 pm, not sure exactly when. It's a vegetarian cafe and it's supposed to be very good.
I have put a new song on Myspace, 'Poetry and Rhyme'. It's a lady-in-waiting, because it will have tenor sax and cello on it and a better vocal (an after one pm vocal), but I thought you might like to hear it.
Can't do anything in the studio at the moment because Tom's in New York but he'll be back next week sometime and I can start my recording life up again.

Work

I'm just about to go to pick up a hundred songs to listen to, written by the West songwriters.
Warm ears all week