My new LP, 'Down to the Marshes', is out today. Use the link to hear every song unencumbered by ads or interruptions unlike other streaming services. If you like it, buy a version, or I'll have to live on free shoes, glasses and Taylor Swift tickets!
As you now need a driving license or passport to do it, people who can't afford cars or foreign holidays won't be able to vote. In fact, voting is now almost a solely middle-class pursuit. Well done Labour.
@AllyFogg
Universal Credit insists you have a smart phone or computer to look for a job but you shouldn't be able to afford one on benefits, apparently...
I'm in the opposite camp. As my audience, you can talk, heckle, hell, even fight, if you want to. It's down to my strength as a performer and artist to make sure you don't. There will be no teacher's handouts at my shows.
After my many interviews with various news outlets about gig etiquette, I’ve decided to print these off for my upcoming solo tour. I’ve not seen this done before (& I’m sad it’s come to this) but I’m hoping it will encourage people to behave. Thoughts?
@ta_mills
No, it *was* a total fabrication. And you have questions to answer as to why you're pointing a finger at "the left", whoever they might be, rather than the journalists who repeat unfounded accusations and why you can't understand why people might be angry at the government.
Two shots of 'Lilly and the Rose' by Anders Petersen taking at Cafe Lehmitz in Hamburg in 1970. The one on the right was later used by Tom Waits for the cover of 'Rain Dogs,' in 1985.
I had the honour of playing with The Chills a few times and meeting and hanging out with Martin on occasion. Pink Frost is one of the best recordings from any era, but I love the wide-eyed wonder of this bedroom psych gem. In memoriam:
This from
@ZackPolanski
is as clear and forthright as you’ll get from a politician about today’s shambles of a
#MiniBudget
. He’s a genuine communicator and seemingly brilliantly principled guy - we need to hear more from him.
@mrjamesob
Thast's because, at its root, 'political correctness' is basic equality, politeness and respect, rather than entitlement and a superiority complex.
Normally I post the MC5 Tartar Field footage to spread love and knowledge of some of the greatest rock'n'roll footage. Today it's a very bad reason. RIP Wayne Kramer, great at showing off and being humble ...
@JohnRentoul
An absolutely pointless differentiation. Rationing was a necessity due to extreme scarcity of resources. Recent 'austerity' was a combination of political choice and cynical opportunism on the part of the Tories. Either way, though, many people still suffered & were malnourished.
A massive doff of the hat to the now-late Steve Albini who was crucial to the sound of so many epochal albums (and made quite a few of his own) – of which this is one of the very best and most underrated ...
The 3 gigs by the Pop Group I saw in 1979 remain the most exciting performances I've ever seen. Footage of one at the Electric Ballroom is in the video. Goodbye Mark Stewart – you were a real inspiration in every aspect of your life.
Very sad to hear of the death last night of Pat Fish aka The Jazz Butcher. I last saw him at Preston Pop Fest when, despite recent illness, he was as lovely and acerbic as ever, though he didn't look too healthy, even then. RIP. Have a tune in his honour:
@RealDannyTommo
@OwenJones84
I suspect that he is very surprised that someone pretending to be the landlord of the Lexington is contacting him directly rather than going to the police (who reportedly already have the CCTV footage), don't you?
My feelings on BritPop are the same as
@berenyi_miki
's: "I know a ton of you had a blast, but I fucking hate Britpop and I’m glad the whole sorry shit-fest ended up imploding. I just wish it hadn’t done so much damage while it lasted."
Very pleased to have this glowing review of my first-ever solo LP in the new issue of Mojo – a commentary that both appreciates and understands the record.
"terrific ... uncanny ..."
Hear it here, if you ain't already:
Very sad to hear of the death of Mike Bryson. Bog-Shed had some cracking tunes and were phenomenal live. He was a talented artist too. Let's celebrate the music.
Hours halved. No sessions. How about: if it ain't broke don't fix it. And if you've got to spin a terrible decision, at least run the text through Grammarly.
✨ Riley & Coe (Monday - Thursday, 10pm-12am)
Two of our finest curators, Marc Riley and Gideon Coe will come together to play they music loves from every era and genre.
Can't get arrested over here in the music press, but I just got LP of the month for the third time in Italy. At this rate, I might have to learn the language ...
"an inspiration totally free from constraints"
At the height of Britpop, I guess Johnny Cigarettes just didn't get the underground ... though if this 0/10 review didn't make you want to buy this excellent LP, then nothing would!
@AndrewCastle63
@AngelaRayner
Absolutely not! We need to bring this awful government down as soon as possible - that doesn't happen by uniting with them.
Is the idea that there are only 2 political parties and if you don't vote for one you're enabling the other the most successful propaganda gambit ever?
@brokenbottleboy
@bbcsml
Having been invited onto ITV once to talk about conservation, I can say most visual media only invite you on if they think you'll support a prior-arranged agenda. Say anything different and you'll not be broadcast. Inviting the liked of Grimes on means they'll get what they want.
While I have no doubt that very good-looking young women in bikinis or lingerie, sometimes with ballgags and handcuffs, do indeed really like my music, the absence of them in my actual audiences is making me deeply suspicious ...
The cat's out of the bag: I've been curated. & the curator will be doing a preview of his new show too. Get early bird tickets before the kind of people who say "These days, if you say you're English, etc" all the time hear about it. Next stop the V&A!
I have a new album ready.
‘Down to the Marshes’ is a great leap forward for me. It's launched on Weds 14 Aug as part of the ‘Legends of Indie’ week at The Lexington, London. Very special guests are extremely likely.
Limited early bird tix £11:
Who wrote the worst rhyme ever?
I'm gonna go with Jim Morrison:
"Andalusia with fields full of grain/I have to see ya again and again."
"Mr Morrison, I'm sorry to tell you that you've failed your Hallmark Cards interview."
Oh man, Keith Levene just died.
I wouldn't play guitar the way I do without him - and Moonshake were clearly in Metal Box's shadow. So grateful he existed. Gutted.
On the same plane to Berlin as that nice Mr
@jeremycorbyn
- if he goes to
@ArabStrapBand
tonight or Swell Maps C21 tomorrow, he'll rise even higher in my estimation ...
I'll never not be associated with The Anti Midas Touch but even so, it's nice it's become some sort of minor classic that gets aired publicly. Better than dirty laundry! Thanks for playing it last night,
@gidcoe
@BBC6Music
– and among such stellar company
@indyfan57
@SleightJoanna
@rich_lancaster
@Benjrobbo
@hywelowen
Bear in mind that for many people this isn't the point. They are prepared (or think they are) to suffer the consequences because they think that 'sovereignty' is worth it. I think it's taking us to some kind of dark age, but that would be Project Fear II, of course.
I've seen the best gigs in my life in small venues, & played some too (despite having done major supports, festivals & Lollapalooza). A national small gig circuit should be valued for encouraging exciting music outside the mainstream, not just as the Hunger Games for major acts.
"The clause about not being allowed to do paid work unless it is related to your main overseas job will penalise so many artists who have to do other jobs to pay the rent.”
Basically: "if you ain't famous, you can't play."
@gidcoe
@BBC6Music
Very sad to see one of the very last remaining idiosyncratic national shows curtailed like this. I'm sure you'll keep the quality high in the new arrangements but how shameful that they're reducing the hours so much.
Stuck in Kingsbury/Hendon earlier today for a 2-hour car service that took 6 hours, I had a lot of time to kill. Popped into a local South Indian cafe (Shiv Kitchen) and LOOK WHAT YOU GET FOR £6!!
Swell Maps C21 review: "None of the guitarists use many pedals. The bulk of their sound effects are achieved manually. They really are a fabulous live band being simultaneously tight & rough around the edges, which is not something that’s easy to achieve"
Happy for people to be nice at concerts but the idea behaviour is worse is far from true. I remember most of the 80s being full of fights, bottle throwing and spitting, plus continual sexist and homophobic abuse. This wasn't good, of course, but blessings should be counted.
I wrote an Opinion piece for
@Guardian
@GuardianOpinion
about Gig Etiquette. Why have people forgotten how to behave at gigs? And do we now need a code of conduct?
I am indeed guitarist and occasional vocalist for Swell Maps C21, Jowe Head's revived version. I try to do the old material justice and make any new material worthy of the name. It's been going down well with old fans and younger converts & 15-year-old me can't believe his luck!
@TheWolfhounds
David, are you really the guitarist for Swell Maps?!
Jane from Occupied Europe was a beautiful thing of wonder and mystery in my early teens……unknowable otherness, 2001’s black monolith made of sounds.
Obviously, I have work to do, but while I do it, I shall be gleefully reacquainting myself with the remastered work of one of the very finest bands of the 80s. All the best bands put their worst song on C86, you know.
I was at this and can vouch for it being a great night! Blue Peter's Peter Purves and DJ Pete Murray were in the audience and my mate got his shirt signed...
Lovely review of my forthcoming LP in the new Record Collector by Johnnie Johnstone. I've never heard Ben Chasny or Reilly, so I guess I'll have to do that soon ...
So the Eva Luna reissue now exists. Obvs I'll let you know the release date soonish but in the meantime get a load of the OG sleeve reproductions, remastered blue vinyl and sumptuous booklet within:
I'm playing guitar and singing again with Swell Maps C21 in London on Friday. The back cat will be plundered and played with the vim and vigour it deserves!
Moonshake and Th' Faith Healers on our first tour of the US (well, the East Coast anyway) plus our lovely American tour managers/drivers, whose names now elude me. If anyone can help my senile memory, I'd be grateful ...
Photo via Mig Morland.
This is still the level of skill and dissonance to which all guitarists should aspire. There's a reason rock'n'roll and the avant garde loved Tom Verlaine ...
We are reissuing MOONSHAKE’s debut album Eva Luna on Oct 6!
Re-mastered from analogue ½” tape on 2X blue LP. 19 trks=original LP, non-LP 3-song single “Secondhand Clothes", 2 bsides from “Beautiful Pigeon” single, 4 Peel sess trks, 8pg colour booklet!
FREE STUFF! We've just made all our 21st century recordings and the Unseen Ripples reissue of all the Pink Label recordings – available for nothing as downloads. Fill up to your hard drives' content! Just click on 'pay what you like'. Retweet widely!
“It horrified me.”
Conservative London Assembly member Andrew Boff was kicked out of the party conference hall for heckling home secretary Suella Braverman during her speech. He tells
@PGMcNamara
why he spoke up.
Another post-punk band gets the book treatment. Some of you'll know what a huge ATV fan I am, so I'm dead chuffed to be able to dip into this new arrival when I get the chance. I'd better make the chance soon, really ...
@MrHarryCole
@TheSun
Britain at its worst: The Sun hands out a scotch egg using a large-breasted woman for publicity.
Britain at its best: Sikhs make 800 curries at their own expense and hand them out without any official publicity.
Your occasional reminder that my debut LP as part of Moonshake (1992) has now been reissued in a deluxe edition with all the B-sides and the sole John Peel session included. For all fans of good-quality, genuinely contrarian, forward-thinking music:
@MatthewStadlen
Well, apart from when she tried to avoid paying tax, used the state poverty fund to heat the palace, used our money to defend her paedo son and didn't want to employ BAME people, you mean?