Weather Wit You: Pete Hayman talks to Johnny Flynn:
Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit are born out of the leafy green pastures of south east England and carry an effortless sound bathed in eternal sunshine. Judging by recent weather, it is, of course, down to your state of mind, but you get the idea. What is also certain is that there is something undeniably cute about the outstanding talent that this group of young people possess. And something incredibly envious too.
Label Profile: Across the Pennines:
Across the Pennines, the brainchild of Mark Edwards, is on a mission. That mission is to educate you, and in doing so, prove that even out in the sticks away from the bright lights of London, there is some exciting music talent that must not escape your attention. Not that places like Manchester and Leeds should need to prove their credentials, but still, people can be ignorant and that is where ATP will plug that drain of knowledge.
Some news soon, like...
30 January 2008
28 January 2008
24 January 2008
Note to Damien Comolli
Please find a way to keep Radek Cerny at Tottenham Hotspur. Why spend big money elsewhere when there's an able candidate currently between the sticks...
End.
EDIT: Yeah, there's no way I can gloss over his mistake at Old Trafford.
End.
EDIT: Yeah, there's no way I can gloss over his mistake at Old Trafford.
23 January 2008
Rules of Love Pt. 3
Through the joys of Virgin's on-demand service, albeit at a price of £3.50, I finally got round to watching the latest instalment of the Die Hard series. And it has to be said that I learned a valuable life lesson courtesy of one of the film's subtexts. It could point as to where I have been going wrong in recent times.
You see, apparently, the way to a girl's heart is to save her life. And I thought it was just about being nice etc. Awwww, how naive was I!
Let it never be said I am a bit cynical sometimes.
You see, apparently, the way to a girl's heart is to save her life. And I thought it was just about being nice etc. Awwww, how naive was I!
Let it never be said I am a bit cynical sometimes.
22 January 2008
Films I never want to see again #481
Mike Bassett: England Manager
Cringeworthy rubbish that attempts to tap into a nation's love of football and does so badly. Hadn't England stopped playing at the Old Wembley by the time that came out? Clichéd "the Scottish are rubbish" gags are a bit out of date now considering they fared better than England in trying to get to Euro 2008. And the blatant parody of the Maradona goal - I just hope they weren't trying to make it somewhat believable!
Cringeworthy rubbish that attempts to tap into a nation's love of football and does so badly. Hadn't England stopped playing at the Old Wembley by the time that came out? Clichéd "the Scottish are rubbish" gags are a bit out of date now considering they fared better than England in trying to get to Euro 2008. And the blatant parody of the Maradona goal - I just hope they weren't trying to make it somewhat believable!
21 January 2008
I wish I still had my radio show!
Believe it or not, it is a genuine expression of a former love lost. Not that Strip It Down every Thursday night on Swansea's Xtreme Radio was some form of great citadel of radio broadcasting (it wasn't far off, but it was no Today programme, for example), but it was my baby. And I loved putting it together every week. No shit, a show on student radio that was actually prepared. But there is one reason above all else why I miss it right now.
It's got nothing to do with the fact that street-teaming for XFM South Wales has reminded me of former radio glories. Hell no, for a start, I get paid to pound the streets of Cardiff handing out XFM merchandise and swapping anecdotes with the beautiful, drunk gig-goers of the capital. It's all to do with the music that I played. For all the slating that the 1980s get, some of the music produced was the right side of the line marked 'phenomenal'.
Yes, some of the music was truly awful, but then the same can be said of any period of music - there were some shite punk bands, and there are some shite indie bands now - nearly all guilty of shameless, unoriginal copycat behaviour. But the post-punk and new wave eras of the early-to-mid-1980s deserve a lot of love that it rarely gets. Some of the songs I unearthed to play on my show have survived the end-of-uni cull and graduated into my iTunes, and some have even gone on to the iPod. That's how good they are - you have to be pretty special to get onto my iPod I tell you. I'm just that picky with what I listen to when out and about. Even bands I've discarded I still have respect for.
Count or discount Elvis Costello if you will, but certainly Gang of Four, Generation X and Public Image Ltd score highly; Stiff Little Fingers, The Ruts (yeah, Staring at the Rude Boys) and Talking Heads too - all alongside the always-influential stylings of The Clash and The Ramones. And who can forget Joy Division's humble beginnings? And then towards the end of the 1980s came the Madchester bands, and still the 1980s are slammed. It's not all new romantic rubbish you know.
Certainly some bands today could do with a bit of education in the art of changing things, ripping it up and stripping it down. Just because were good, made some money and had a good time, doesn't mean you will too. Do something different, take a chance ferchrissakes! Having said that, I am reeling from the apparent demise of Milburn. They were better than the Monkeys don't you know... seriously. And no, I've not totally given up the idea of getting back on the airwaves sometime soon either.
It's got nothing to do with the fact that street-teaming for XFM South Wales has reminded me of former radio glories. Hell no, for a start, I get paid to pound the streets of Cardiff handing out XFM merchandise and swapping anecdotes with the beautiful, drunk gig-goers of the capital. It's all to do with the music that I played. For all the slating that the 1980s get, some of the music produced was the right side of the line marked 'phenomenal'.
Yes, some of the music was truly awful, but then the same can be said of any period of music - there were some shite punk bands, and there are some shite indie bands now - nearly all guilty of shameless, unoriginal copycat behaviour. But the post-punk and new wave eras of the early-to-mid-1980s deserve a lot of love that it rarely gets. Some of the songs I unearthed to play on my show have survived the end-of-uni cull and graduated into my iTunes, and some have even gone on to the iPod. That's how good they are - you have to be pretty special to get onto my iPod I tell you. I'm just that picky with what I listen to when out and about. Even bands I've discarded I still have respect for.
Count or discount Elvis Costello if you will, but certainly Gang of Four, Generation X and Public Image Ltd score highly; Stiff Little Fingers, The Ruts (yeah, Staring at the Rude Boys) and Talking Heads too - all alongside the always-influential stylings of The Clash and The Ramones. And who can forget Joy Division's humble beginnings? And then towards the end of the 1980s came the Madchester bands, and still the 1980s are slammed. It's not all new romantic rubbish you know.
Certainly some bands today could do with a bit of education in the art of changing things, ripping it up and stripping it down. Just because
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