Thursday, February 27

[Edgy chick rock]

I really want a Mazzy Star CD. Maybe several.

They're selling quite cheaply now, but which one should I purchase?

posted by pete at 21:44

  .......

Saturday, February 22

[Fun shirts for zany people]

I'm not a fan of quirky bands; the type who produce fun songs for zany people. I'm not a fan because usually the music is just so lame. Blink 182 is one of the best examples, with their puerile lyrics and second-rate songwriting. There are many other embarrassing bands out there, particularly in the recent 'punk' genre, but I don't want to list them on my website in case I receive search traffic from it!

Much cooler are Ween, Beck, Weezer and They Might Be Giants, but even they push the quirky envelope too far sometimes, and make me switch off. You could almost place The Flaming Lips in the fun/zany category, but they don't overdo it (in their albums at least), and they make such wonderful music. (Although I'm not a fan of anything prior to The Soft Bulletin, and I was less than impressed with their performance on Letterman.)

I'm not trying to be pretentious, demanding serious music at the expense of fun or anything like that – it just comes down to that old thing about people laughing with you and not at you, and some bands need to remember that.

posted by pete at 12:50

  .......

Sunday, February 16

[You]

Just bought Cat Power's You are free. It's early days yet, but I really love it.

posted by pete at 14:55

  .......

Saturday, February 15

[Another late start]

Guess who's just become entirely addicted to Belle and Sebastian? Tigermilk is such a wonderful album, it recalls everything that I love about Simon and Garfunkel. Very lovely.

posted by pete at 15:02

  .......

Friday, February 14

[Delays and ends]

From the 'about bloody time' files, I've finally gotten around to listening to Primal Scream's Screamadelica. And what a cool record it is! Will definitely be spinning it a lot from now on. (Ooh, I'm just so up with the jargon, aren't I?) I love the Paris, Texas references, particularly the sample of Nastassja Kinski saying "yep, I know that feelin'!"

I can't believe how long it took me. I believe that it was released in the same year as Arrested Development's wonderful Three years, five months... album, which was also about when the Lemonheads began to be 'known'. However in my rural location it was not easy to get hold of obscure British music.

I'm listening to Stereolab right now, Dots and Loops, gee I was sad to hear about the death of Mary from the band in a cycling accident a couple of months ago.

posted by pete at 22:46

  .......

Thursday, February 13

[Beth Orton was amazing]

What a fabulous performance! Beth did such a good job tonight, stunning the energetic crowd (which was of impressive size despite the competing Bob Dylan concert)! She performed a diverse range of her material, including many of my favourites, and the roaring audience got her back for 3 or 4 encores!

She was accompanied by a full band, consisting of percussion, keyboards, 'cello, violin, guitar (she played one too) and double bass. The playing was tight and they wonderfully recreated some of the album tracks, and reinterpreted others. Beth looks so attractive on stage – almost fragile, but she has such a powerful, resonant voice.

Tonight's effort has reinforced Beth's position as one of my favourite contemporary female vocalists, up there with the stellar likes of Sarah McLachlan, Tracey Thorn, Sinead O'Connor, Lauryn Hill and Cat Power.

The only bad thing about the night was the presence of a complete feral in the crowd who yelled out something about paying $55 for rubbish after the first track. Beth said he should get his money back and leave, and everyone cheered.

posted by pete at 22:18

  .......

Sunday, February 9

[Beth]

Seems the Beth Orton concert has moved to the Thebarton Theatre. Must have been more popular than expected; they've bumped up the ticket price too. Glad I got in early. She'll be so sensational.

posted by pete at 20:23

  .......

Thursday, February 6

[Look for the white cover]

It's been a few days since I purchased Nick Cave's Nocturama, and having had this time to let it all sink in, I can happily report that it really is a rather good album. I think I prefer No more shall we part, simply because I'm more a fan of his balladry than his more raucous songwriting. There's a nice blend of both on the new album. If you're a fan, or even if you're not, you'll probably enjoy it a lot.

posted by pete at 22:43

  .......