I admit I struggled at first to find a voice I’d happily yoke myself to for all eternity. My research, a jaunt to the ‘shuffle songs’ option on my mp3 player, uncovered many red herrings and false trials, songs which all seemed a l’il too glib, and a bit too modish; more exhilarating one-night-stand than [...]
Mixtapes'n'Tapes
Mixtapes: Part 8 – Songs You Can…Smell?
Inspiration for this fortnight’s mixtape struck as I was walking my dog and listening to a bit of The Rolling Stones. As I stooped down to pick up (in a bag, not with my bare hands) a lovely steaming pile of doggy do-do freshly excreted from my lovely hound, the smell was so overpowering that [...]
Music: Reviews
Babyshambles – Delivery
Babyshambles – Delivery (Parlophone) September 17th, 2007 5.0/6.0 With Kate Moss out of the picture and the tabloid focus now on Amy Winehouse, perhaps attention can finally, and rightly, shift to the thing that made Pete Doherty’s name in the first place: the music. Doherty’s bohemian spirit is once again present as he advocates “# [...]
Bestival
Meg and Kate’s Bestival 2007 Clockwatch: Sunday September 9th
00.11: Taking my weary body back to the campsite, I stop to appreciate the Beastie Boys doing Intergalactic for a moment. This is definitely their finest ever achievement. I continue my journey, attempting a jerky wide-stepping walk like in the accompanying video. One can only be grateful that I hadn’t heard Sabotage before heading off. [...]
Bestival
Meg and Kate’s Bestival 2007 Clockwatch: Saturday September 8th, Part 2
18:15: Forty-odd photographers appear at the foot of the main stage awaiting the secret special guests. I don’t know whether to ask anyone if they know who it is for fear of looking really stupid. My initial guess that Jack Penate was playing an extra set before his midnight turn on the BBC Introducing Stage [...]
Bestival
Meg and Kate’s Bestival 2007 Clockwatch: Saturday September 8th, Part 1
00.30: Oh. Here’s our tent. It only took 15 minutes in the dark, despite using the ten foot tall wind-sock fish near us as a handy reference point. KG 01:15: Reading the news on my phone and trying to get a weather report for tomorrow – Meg’s back. Both of us try our best to [...]
Bestival
Meg and Kate’s Bestival 2007 Clockwatch: Friday September 7th, Part 2
18:30: The Maccabees are now well into their set on the Main Stage, and prove themselves to be a surprisingly accomplished live band for relative newbies. Orlando Weeks twirls his microphone stand nonchalantly over his head, whilst Felix White flails around like he’s got ants in his pants. All their charismatic, catchy, good old-fashioned pop [...]
Bestival
Meg and Kate’s Bestival 2007 Clockwatch: Friday September 7th, Part 1
11.30: We leave Waverley Park campsite, where embittered voices are overheard regaling fellow campers with news of “those two girls who kept us up by chattering all bloody night” (Sorry! – Excited Team Motel). A quick survey of the area in daylight reveals other tents are, in fact, akin to moon landing pods, with electricity [...]
Album Reviews
Snap, Crackle and Pop
Scouting For Girls – Scouting For Girls (Epic) September 17th, 2007 5.5/6.0 It’s been one hell of a journey for London’s Scouting For Girls. The past twelve months has seen them graduate from self-releasing numerous EPs to their loyal wolfcub fan base to a whirlwind of activity in which they signed to Epic (an imprint [...]
Live Reviews
Go!-ing Their Own Sweet Way
The Go! Team Manchester Ritz Thursday, September 13th 2007 “Have you got any pills, mate?” a punter asks me just before tonight’s main attraction take to the stage. Obviously, it’s someone who’s never had the pleasure of The Go! Team’s company before, as anyone who has would know that chemical stimulants are absolutely unnecessary when [...]