David Bowie - The Jean Genie

Love this song. Love Mick Ronson.

It's amazing

how such seemingly innocuous things can wind up being so important in the grand scheme of things.

C86, the unassuming mail-order cassette compiled by NME, through which the indie sound and scene first coalesced, will have its 20th anniversary celebrated tonight with the first of two gigs at London's ICA, the venue where many of the tape's bands performed.

A double-CD released this week, CD86, sets out the wider scene these bands were part of, and a documentary, Hungry Beat, will be released next year. It is a remarkable upsurge of interest in a scene that self-consciously kept itself on the fringe of the mainstream, but nevertheless became hugely influential.

and

After punk's Year Zero attitude, and early 1980s' synth-pop, this return to the past is one of C86's defining legacies. Primal Scream's "Velocity Girl" began the tape, and inspired The Stone Roses, in turn sparking Oasis, who would be signed alongside Primal Scream by McGee, shortly before conquering the world with their fuzzed Beatles riffs. From The Living Room to Knebworth was not such a long trip.

Jet - Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Masterplan

God, this is a great song. Video, too.

Dixie Chicks Shut up and Sing Trailer

Friday random ten

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1. Dixie Chicks- Goodbye Earl
2. Kasabian- Shoot the Runner
3. Ozzy Osbourne- Crazy Train
4. Aretha Franklin- The Weight
5. Lily Allen- LDN
6. Smiths- How Soon Is Now?
7. Scissor Sisters- She's My Man
8. Clash- Julie's Been Working For the Drug Squad
9. Happy Mondays- Tart Tart
10. Eagles- Tequila Sunrise

I'm of the opinion

I've been shockingly accurate with predictions related to pop culture lately. So I'd like to go out on a limb, and say that I believe that Paul Simonon, bassist from The Clash, is due for a revival of sorts. Why would I say this?

1. In Vanity Fair's August issue, both Kate Moss and Hedi Slimane (Dior Homme) name-checked Paul as their respective most 'stylish man.'
2. Luella Bartley (fashion designer) told InStyle (UK edition) that she thought Mr. Simonon was quite cool (paraphrasing a bit there).

I'm making an educated guess here. Also, see the following. Since Damon Albarn's side projects tend to be bulletproof, I feel fairly safe in saying the previous.

Simonon was of course the symbolic part of The Clash, the stylistic totem on the London Calling cover. Damon's art school leanings must have relished the chance to work with him. Since The Clash Simonon has played rockabilly in Havana 3AM and has developed a career as an artist with a fair hand in striking landscapes.

Guess Who's Back?

Oh, yeah- DSL is working at home. Thank Christ. Will resume regular Anglophillic blogging shortly, dolls.

About this past month...

The following things have happened in the past month or so- in no particular order.

1. DSL at home? Kaput. My computer-whiz cousin is currently laying his hands upon the computer, so there is hope.
2. The gigantic pain in my ass that I work(ed) with? Quit via the answering machine and is now working for the competition.
3. My grandpa passed away. Miss the old coot already. Didn't go to the Kasabian concert, as the wake was the same night. Apparently, some things are more important to me than music. Who knew?

For anyone who cares, will resume regular blogging soon.

Also, Jet's new CD kicks ass.

Killers in Blackpool

I adore the Killers for many reasons, mostly because they are massively influenced by New Order, and love Oasis- hello, why would I NOT love them- and because my dear friend, Carrie, literally attended Sunday school with Dave Keuning in the bustling metropolis of Pella, Iowa.

Let me tell you people, there are not that many famous people from Iowa. Okay, so there's John Wayne, Donna Reed, the Everley Brothers, Ashton Kutcher, Elijah Wood and Ron 'Office Space, Band of Brothers, Sex and the City' Livingston.

So when an honest-to-God guitarist with a wildly successful band emerges from the tall corn state, well, we're going to claim him. Kiss off, Las Vegas.

(I know I'm not citing as Iowegians that crap band Slipknot. Though they are from Des Moines Why? Because they suck. Hard).

So reading stuff like this? V.v. cool.

The specifics of these new songs are lost in the sound mix, swirling around the Victorian arches of a venue whose acoustics were not built for rock'n'roll, but the reaction to the familiar favourites - "Somebody Told Me" and "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" in particular - is such that, if I had hairs on the back of my neck, they'd be bristling like a pestered hedgehog.

The Lay-dees Do America

Oh, hell yes!

Little Britain stars David Walliams and Matt Lucas have revealed plans for a film version of their hit BBC show.

"We've had some sort of interest from America," Walliams told ITV1 chat show host Michael Parkinson.

"We've got a sort of film development deal out there and also we might do something for TV out there," he added.

The comedy duo have signed a deal with Pop Idol producer Simon Fuller to develop a US version of Little Britain for the American cable network HBO.

Crack is whack

After 14 years of marriage to Brown, she could lay claim to almost as many "Houston, We Have A Problem" headlines as she could platinum records. Her last record was released three years ago, and that was a phoned-in Christmas album, notable largely for a please-God-make-it-stop version of "Little Drummer Boy" in which she duetted with her and Brown's daughter, Bobbie Kristina, and accomplished the unimaginable feat of inspiring nostalgia for the David Bowie/Bing Crosby version.

Ms. Jones's knickers

Bridget Jones's famously large pants have gone under the hammer for £2,000, a charity has said.

Personally signed by Hugh Grant, they were auctioned to raise cash for the Royal Parks Foundation (RPF) during a special charity party in London's Hyde Park.

Top 10

1. Smiths- Vicar In a Tutu
2. Sheryl Crow- Abeline
3. Joy Division- Transmission
4. Primal Scream- Kill All Hippies
5. Velvet Underground- Stephanie Says
6. Gnarls Barkley- Smiley Faces
7. Stone Roses- (Song For My)Sugar-Spun Sister
8. Hard-Fi- Cash Machine
9. Beatles- Hard Day's Night
10. Beyonce- Crazy In Love

Electronic

This is so funny to me-

"Bernard was like the Pied Piper, but dressed all in white," laughs Marr. "He'd come back to the studio about 4am with an entourage of our friends, and we'd get a chance to road-test our new songs. One time we had "Idiot Country" blaring out and Bez [of Happy Mondays] was talking to my wife. I noticed he wasn't dancing, so I slowed the tempo down until he started to shuffle again. That's when I knew we'd got it right."

Oh, that Lily

As I really enjoy her album (import, obviously), I'm glad to see Lily Allen trying to break Fortress America. And I'm assuming the song 'Cheryl Tweedy' is not complimentary to the new Mrs. Ashley Cole. Hee.

Friday Top Ten

Ooo, this is a nice one. Wish it was a different Sir Tom song, though.

1. Whiskey In the Jar- Thin Lizzy
2. Temptation- New Order
3. Going Underground- The Jam
4. I Only Want To Be With You- Dusty Springfield
5. Delilah- Tom Jones
6. I'm Every Woman- Chaka Khan
7. Going Nowhere- Oasis
8. Loose Fit- Happy Mondays
9. Walk Away- Kelly Clarkson
10. DARE- Gorillaz

Bonus-
11. Nitty Gritty- Primal Scream

Heh. Heh.

I'd just like to point out that last fall, when the whole 'Cocaine Kate' scandal broke, there was many a nervous nellie media-type person that lamented La Moss's 'career-ending' mistake.

What happens just shy of a year later? Girlfriend's new Agent Provocateur's ad crashes the A.P. website.

Get DOWN with your bad self, Ms. Moss.

Woo!

I must say, bands that I've seen (or am going to see) in concert this year have done quite well for themselves. The Arctics win the Mercury, and Kasabian, whose gig I will be attending in October, currently have the #1 album in the U.K. Obviously, I am the deciding factor. Ha.

Arctic Monkeys capped a year in which they released the fastest selling debut ever, reinvigorated the music industry and lost a founder member, by winning the annual prize which is designed to reward the best release of the year regardless of genre or sales.

The Sheffield four-piece, whose mixture of classic guitar melodies and acutely observed lyrics garnered critical and commercial acclaim, won the prize for Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not.

Oh HELL yes!

Best. Oasis. Song. Ever.

Oasis are set to release a single this year ahead of their forthcoming best of 'Stop The Clocks'.It's understood that a re-recorded 'Acquiesce', which originally appeared as the B-side to 'Some Might Say' in 1995, will be the release.