Days off eh? You can't beat 'em. This is my second Monday off of three, the first being the bank holiday and the third being another days' leave next week. Ooooh, working a five day week after all that is going to be so, so hard. But there are so many good things I can do on days off that I can't do at work, like going into C!H!A!T! They block it at work, tho this problem can be solved using something called an http tunnel, allegedly. Last night, I went up to LUNDUN to see Stefano's My Dear Killer gig at the Arts Cafe. I nearly didn't get there at all. I left in plenty of time, only to encounter tube train CHAOS which meant that emergency buses were being laid on to take the place of the Circle Line. Unfortunately, my bus driver didn't seem to know where he was supposed to be going and the situation was hardly helped by a lady who sent him in the wrong direction entirely! We were at the Angel Islingon before people realised what was happening and started shouting "You're going the wrong way!" So back down the Pentonville Road we went, past a very old piece of graffiti (No Poll Tax - presumably at least thirteen years old) and back on track (well not literally, although the driver saying "I'm a train" to everyone who tried to board thinking it was a normal bus service was quite amusing). When we finally got to Liverpool Street, I ran in what I thought was the direction of the Toynbee Hall. I would have made a very bad homing pigeon as I got lost in the backstreets of Aldgate and, huffing and puffing, finally made it! After parting with my cash and having something which looked like a cross twixt a snowflake and an anarchist sign drawn on my mitt (has the rubber stamp died a death? I blame the demise of the Brown system) I finally entered the venue. I think I must have missed Stefano's first couple of tunes, but I grabbed a beer and saw Paul Healy standing near the front. For the last number, Stefano summoned a drummer from the audience and they launched into a song which really ROCKED and had a wig-out ending a la European Son to Delmore Schwartz. As Ken would (and did) say, \m/. The second act was also a single person under a group name, Prague - the spirit of White Town (or The The, or insert your own individual-recording-under-group-name here) lives on. Prague is coincidentally where I'm off on my hols in November....I'm spending a day in Bristol beforehand as I'm flying from Lulsgate (Bristol airport). Anyway, third act up was Meets Guitar, who started off as a one piece but became a three piece. The drummer looked a bit like my old Zoology tutor (though didn't share his taste in loud shirts) and played the drums with his arms at a rather odd angle. The singer and guitarist had a shirt which bordered on the C&W in style. I tried to think of another band they sounded like but couldn't...their sound had a bit of a country twang to it (as did the singer's voice, but not with the kind of excesses displayed by the Broken Family Band), they were a bit bluesy in places, the bassline on the last song was interesting - actually the bassist was probably the most musically accomplished of the lot. Then last up were Morose, who swapped instruments about quite a bit, including a squeezebox and a "shakey egg", and played songs which were mostly slow, but not morose. I took the opportunity to go outside and look around between acts...the Arts Cafe is an unusual venue, the buildings round about seem cobbled together in an odd way and display a variety of styles. There is a little sculpture in an archive and a clock tower in a rather unexpected place. Paul told me about a club called Penelope Tree and I told him that Penelope Tree was a sixties model. I've been playing the Felt song of that name today, together with everything else on that comp apart from Index. Robin sent the link to the cover which has been decided upon. I didn't really have a preference between the two....I'm just pleased that the general layout, style and typography of B&S album covers is being preserved despite the label change. And thanks Robin for DICKYWUSS. I'm glad to see that after DICKSWAY, DICKWIPE and (ouch!) DICKSAW someone has come up with something which continues the tradition of trisyllabic, euphonic almostcronyms. Speaking of Robin, does anyone else think the guy in the RAF recruitment adverts on the telly looks a bit like him? I learnt earlier today that Ken doesn't know who Damo Suzuki is - his fall from grace continues...... Yoo Do Right, Mark. ______________________________________________________________ For up-to-the-minute music news, reviews and specials visit http://www.nme.com Get free e-mail (anyname@nme.com) now at http://www.nmemail.com The sender of this e-mail is NOT an employee or associate of NME, nme.com or any other IPC magazine. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. 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