Yes, Raise Your Happy Trunks To The Sky!

Thursday Night at the Thunderbolt, Bristol and MyEighties Broadcast

On Thursday, I'll be playing at The Thunderbolt with The Charlie Tipper Conspiracy and Karen. Tickets from bristolticketshop.co.uk (cheaper in advance though there will be tickets at the door).
Charlie Tipper will join me on the stage at the end to play our version of Femme Fatale, which we recorded last year in aid of Refugee Action:


Also on Thursday night, there is a Wasp Radio broadcast by Sarah Lewis, where she interviews people who were active in bands in the 1980s about their five favourite tracks; this starts at 9 p.m.
Sarah writes a lot of books about the 1980s music scenes; many of them are interview-based and give you a great insight into the people behind the music. He website has a list of what's available: https://www.my-eighties.com

The Desperado Housewives at The Harrison

So much happens, it's hard to keep up, but in a good way. I have spent a large part of today writing a lecture and wishing I knew more about philosophy, but at the same time feeling glad that I don't, because of a suspicion that it might make me argue my way out of doing anything apart from sitting in front of the TV with a tub of vanilla ice cream. Only just catching up with last week, and this picture is of Kath Tait at the Desperado Housewives gig on Thursday evening. It was a very low-key affair but there was something very heartwarming about it all the same. We sit in a row and take turns to sing a song, so the mood changes gear every three or four minutes. Jude Cowan, the other one of the three, has a new repertoire of songs about animals in India. I particularly liked the one about seagulls following the boat across the sea; all of them stimulate your imagination, and you can picture the heat and the atmosphere as she sings them. Kath's songs are poignant and witty; it was seriously worrying to hear about the diminishing count of old-lady-sisters at the 252 bus-stop as winter progressed. I almost cried with relief when she sang the punchline: they had been hibernating! Phew!
It's an intimate venue, so the audience were close by and gently heckled and sang. Lovely to see Snezhina and Karen and friend, and quite a crew from Scaledown too. All three of us left with a  glow in our hearts, and some idea of doing a small tour of Ireland next year. Yes, let's.

Slap!

Writing, Barnet

I have just put on my grey lecture-writing jumper.
Somehow, I am going to trace a line from Chaucer's Pardoner who sold fake pardons to gullible pilgrims, pretending his cache of animal bones were the bones of saints, to Jean Baudrillard and his idea of hyperreality.
Wish me luck!

Walking, Hove

Sometimes the only way to escape the tyranny of the computer is to leave the room, leave the house, leave the town and leave the city. Living is not interacting with a screen: it is walking, looking, listening and being in the real live world.

On a still evening on the Hove seafront, peculiar things happen. Busy Lizzies lie in obedient lines, awaiting the compost vehicle; people get married; a crow tries to balance on a lamp-post before being frightened off by a cyclist ('Sorry, I scared the bird away', said the mobile scarecrow; but I'd managed to take the photograph before that happened).

The sunset! 

The sea was like a huge slab of sapphire toffee being melted by the setting sun.

And then I went for a delicious Thai meal in a pop-up restaurant, and then I went to Lewes, and then I went home.

And here is the computer, sucking me in again....

Penetration

I never saw them back in the day (washing dishes in a French restaurant to make money for art materials) so this was an absolute joy. Pauline, what a singer you are! The venue was sold out and the band sound proper punk. Rob has a great, strong bass sound (a bit like Andy Warren's from the Monochrome Set), the drums were sharp and punchy and the guitars made a wall of sound behind Pauline's fierce voice.
'We're going down the front to listen to our girl!', said someone in the girls' bogs.
Yep, she does us all proud. Go to see them, you must. They are playing Bristol, Derby, Sheffield, Edinburgh and Glasgow and they are absolutely storming.
(Couldn't resist taking a snap of the punk dog)
Sorry for short review, knackered but happy.

Tonight at the Harrison Bar

Gigaholics presents Jude Cowan Montague, Kath Tait and Helen McCookerybook at The Harrison Bar, King's Cross. An informal evening of women song writers working if different styles:
http://harrisonbar.co.uk/event/gigaholics-3/?instance_id=1940

Kebab Shop, Stoke Newington

Frank Chickens

Gigaholics at The Harrison Bar, Thursday

Everything is happening very fast: I have little vid of The Frank Chickens, but I think I'll have to upload that via Youtube. Until then: Jude Cowan, Kath Tate and me perform together for the first time for ages at The Harrison Bar in King's Cross this Thursday.
http://harrisonbar.co.uk/event/gigaholics-3/?instance_id=1940

Sleeping Barbers Shop

Supporting The Nightingales and Ted Chippington

Wednesday was drizzly and dull, the perfect night for pickpockets and n'er-do-wells and the perfect night to play an East London pub down an alleyway. Round the table sat various Nightingales and Ted, examining menus and waiting to sound check. Oddy, there was a slight Gentleman's Club air to the pub lounge: something to do with the wing chairs, perhaps. The hanging about before the gig bit was nice. I like talking to them. Luckily, the three bean salad had more than just three beans in it; there must have been around 50 in there, which was a good omen. The venue manager even conjured up a cup of tea in a beer glass. Now that's keeping the artist happy!

Downstairs through a warren of corridors with mysterious black doors, the sound engineer was setting up; in the box, the sound was good, the lights were snazzy and it looked like it would be a good night. Upstairs, it was filling up: Katy, Wilky, Andy, Jaime, Cheri, lots of people who like Peel-scented artists had come out to play, or rather to listen. I finished the chilled chips that the guys had kindly guarded, then went down to play.
You know, I had such a great time. On one side of the stage were Fliss, Cheri, Dolly, a little crowd of grrrls, and on the other was Katy, singing away at the top of her voice. It can sometimes be unnerving playing to a lot of people you know, but other times you just get swept away by the energy, and its massive fun. Thank you for being so supportive, audience!
Ted came on next, and actually made me yell with laughter at his description of the neighbour who is so scared of him that he wouldn't come out of his car after his shopping trip, and who phoned the police because the frozen food he'd bought was going to melt. And the slugs! Everyone has a slug story, but only Ted tells them on stage; nobody else values slugs enough. The little slug, patiently making it's way through the cat flap across the hostile carpet so that it can eat the cat food, that's everybody's kinda slug. Bless!
So, to The Nightingales. What a power-packed quartet. They just get better and better; their songs are the aural equivalent of rockets shooting across the stage from one person to the other, ricocheting from Robert to Andreas to Fliss to Jim. Robert rediscovers his lyrics anew every time he sings 'em; he raises his arm to each band member in turn, and fishes a Swanee whistle and a kazoo out of his pocket at just the right moments. Andreas and Jim fire riffs at each other at astonishing speed, and Fliss: what can I say about Fliss? She is just incredible, and she is quite possibly the best drummer in the UK: she is a proper musical drummer.
Fireworks! They had new songs, even a rockabilly one, and they actually stopped playing after one song: this is unheard of. The audience clapped after they had got over the shock.
Bang! The gig was over. Dazed, we went home.
Tonje and Peter were on the train home, and we shared stories of snails, of course.
I have taken the liberty of posting some of Peter (Tainsh's) photographs. The Nightingales moved too fast for my camera, although I did manage to take a pic of Fliss's cymbal!

Jim Smith; Fliss Kitson; Rob Lloyd; Andreas; me. All by Peter Tainsh

Thank You Kenji Kenji

I am looking forward to seeing Friedrich Sunlight playing at The Lexington on Sunday 19th November.
I met Kenji Kenji a couple of months ago at The Lexington when a door to a whole new music scene continued to open- and to welcome me in. The Lexington is like the new Moonlight Club.
This is a link to his interview from Super World Indie Tunes; and thank you Kenji Kenji for saying such nice things about The Sea!
https://superworldindietunes.com/2017/10/20/super-world-interview-time-kenji-kenji-drives-us-bananas/
And listen to this; it's gorgeous:

Review of The Nightingales/Ted Chippington tomorrow; been taking time out nursing a bit of a cold tucked up in bed with a Scandi Noir paperback. Rather a nice relaxing day, actually.
Meanwhile I have fallen for this gorgeous dog, who I met the other night at The Sebright Arms and who dragged his owner over to say goodbye after I made a fuss of him earlier on.
Awww.

Stop Press! Stoke Newington Music Festival

I did this one last year- and look at the line-up of Sunday. Frank Chickens! Helen and the Horns supported them at The Fridge years ago.
Do please check out their website because there are some fantastic acts playing- Tall Poppies and even Janet Kay (what a coup: one of the best voices in the UK!) and of course, Hank Wangford, Fran Isherwood and John Hegley.
Someone has been very persuasive to get this lot to come out to play!
It's a charity event, see here: https://stokenewingtonmusicfestival.com