Friday 24 April 2009

A Bout De Souffle to Zurich Is Stained

For some reason I can't now recall, I decided to listen to my iPod by 'songs' without shuffle. In other words, A-Z through the 6034 songs on my iPod. I understand the time involved and can't commit myself to that one task alone (I do have to listen to the weekly podcast for instance) but I am prepared to see it through.

There is - I can assure you so far - nothing to be learned from this adventure. In acknowledgment of this here is my top-ten 'songs on my iPod beginning with A(in no particular order)':


1. Absolutely Sweet Marie - Bob Dylan: the hotch-potch cachofany of Dylan going electric from 'Blonde On Blonde(1966)', great hammond organ and flirtatious lyrics.


2. Adventures Close to Home - The Slits: couldn't find Slits version on YT so this is The Raincoats (which I have to admit to starting to enjoy a little more).


3. Age of Consent - New Order: they're just fucking brilliant on 'Power, Corruption and Lies(1983)'. Kraftwerk via Manchester. n/b about the video, some people have too much time on their hands.


4. Air Travel - Jerry Seinfeld: Seinfeld basically leaves no leftovers for comedians in his wake. n/b - in the video 4:15 before "air travel" section.


5. All Tomorrow's Parties - Velvet Underground and Nico: New York. Art rock. The Beginning.


6. Always Late With Your Kisses - Lefty Frizzell: it's the little steel pedal intro that gets me and the way the end of each verse segways beautifully into the chorus.


7. Amalgam - The Dudley Moore Trio: yes Dudley Moore. I love in Derek & Clive the story where he got blown straight up Joan Crawford's...


8. Anthrax - Gang of Four: sends shivers done my spine... "I feel like a beetle on it's back / and there's no way for me to get up".


9. Archive From 1959 - The Buff Medways: Chatham's finest, Billy Childish, with a song that sounds a little bit like smashing through Billy's loft without a torch.


10. Atlantis to Interzone - Klaxons: it's about the first time we heard it. So completely new yet familiar. Despite awards, atrocious live performances and general middle class intellectual twattery, still sounds completely mental.

Friday 3 April 2009

Predictable? Maybe...but I'm Starting Over


If there's one thing you can expect to see on 'Is There Anything...' its the obligatory Black Lips post.


I know it, you know it, everyone knows it, we champion the Black Lips and I can be as sure as hell that those boys, those lovely bloody boys appreciate every single miss-spelt, factually inaccurate word we cast upon this very blog.


So, in what I'm desperate to call 'Black Lips Watch' but will refrain in an attempt to keep at least a handful of followers, I'm gonna post every ounce of news-worthy or not so news-worthy news on the Black Lips in the lead up to the Great Escape festival. A festival in which we will meet the band. That's right, MEET THE BAND. I've got wet.


As a dynamic blogging force, the Great Escape will be our first festival together so expect plenty of shenanigans being recorded for your reading-the-blog-while-you-should-be-filling-in-Health-and-Safety-inspection-sheets-or-something-along-those-lines pleasure. We'll upload news, photo's, anecdotes and maybe the odd interview as we indulge in three days of satirical seaside silliness.


So, to get us started, below is a link to the festival plus the excellent video to 'I'll Be With You' the second single to be released from 200 Million Thousand, Black Lips second UK album.






I already know what my next Black Lips post will be so keep tuned and I'll be back in a jiffy. Peace out homes.