Tag Archive for 'kathleen edwards'

down, down, down from our youth to the ground: 2008 revisited;

Published on December 10, 2009 in music. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Lists, lists, lists. Normally, I’m all over that shit but is anybody else becoming increasingly bored by the extra notch the end of the decade has ramped up the this time of year’s traditional list-making frenzy?

And yet, I still play along. It’s an interesting exercise by which to measure my changing tastes, and besides – how else to see the Gaslight Anthem’s 2008 album recognised as one of my near-constant musical touchstones this year?

It’s strange: a few months ago I remember distinctly wondering how to give this blog more of a “voice”, some kind of running theme that would tie the fractured threads of my thoughts together. Recently I’ve been working on a growing number of musical features – and yet, I wonder if that is really what I want to be doing.

Something to think about as we move into the next decade, perhaps.

Anyway, on the offchance you are interested, here’s a quick rundown of how my 2008 favourites have fared in my affections twelve months on. My 2009 list will follow next week.

10. Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs [5]
They’re not indie Death Cab. They’re not going to be indie Death Cab again. But they’re still going to produce gorgeously overpowering songs like “I Will Possess Your Heart” in all its eight minute splendour, so what’s to complain about?

9. Sun Kil Moon: April [4]
The perfect dreamy springtime shower to see you through any journey spent making finger marks in dirty windows.

8. The Indelicates: American Demo [NE]
Wickedly cynical, lyrical indie that seems to get better with extended listens.

7. The Hold Steady: Stay Positive [1]
Shush. I still love it. Just not as much as their older albums.

6. Laura Marling: Alas, I Cannot Swim [8]
One of those charmers you forget just how incredible it is until you listen to it. Side note: was listening to Marling’s Christmas single earlier, and now cannot wait for forthcoming album #2.

5. Blitzen Trapper: Furr [NE]
One of my Princeton treasures, an album of melodic alt.folk with secretly dark themes.

4. Amanda Palmer: Who Killed Amanda Palmer [NE]
Deranged, epic, angry, beautiful.

3. Kathleen Edwards: Asking for Flowers [=]
My own first lady of alternative country, whose third album is by turns both ballsy and tragic.

2. The Gaslight Anthem: The ’59 Sound [NE]
It’s a shame what has technically been my album of 2009 is inelligible for entry to this year’s list, but seeing them in Cincinnati was one of its highlights.

1. Matthew Ryan: Matthew Ryan vs. The Silver State [2]
One of those go-to albums I suspect will pick me up on bad days for years to come.

child of the noughties: it’s bound to melt your heart for good or for bad;

Published on November 26, 2009 in music. 14 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .
This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series best of the noughties

Surprisingly to nobody, in the end I couldn’t steer clear of the “best of the decade” chat that is dominating the blogosphere at the moment. Last time around, of course, there wasn’t a “blogosphere” – and I wasn’t really listening to music at all! This decade has seen my rebirth as a music fan and so, in a way, perhaps every album I call “special” or “personal” or “favourite” is could belong in this list – whatever nickname we ultimately give this decade. Personally, I’m more interested to see what trendy buzzword we come up with for the next one!

Over the next four weeks, I’m going to count down my favourite forty – one per artist – albums of the decade and, while there might not be any massive surprises, I’d be thrilled if you used this as an opportunity to pick up something you haven’t had a chance to listen to yet.

Kudos to Kate, for inspiring me with her similarly themed post on Facebook.

20. The Gaslight Anthem: Sink or Swim
2007, XOXO
The “one album per artist” rule I’ve stuck to so far on this list has its toughest test yet, as my love for the Gaslight Anthem’s two full-lengths is pretty much equal. In the end, a rougher sound and less of the musical namechecks that tend to put the naysayers (and my Googlers) off, as well as the inclusion of my favourite of their songs, swings it for their debut. Sure the singer thinks he’s Springsteen and the bassist James Dean, and the band itself isn’t exactly tearing up the rule book, but that doesn’t take away from the times good and bad their output has soundtracked over an eventful decade’s close.
If you download one track, make it: “We Came To Dance”
BUY: Sink Or Swim at Amazon.co.uk

19. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins: Rabbit Fur Coat
2006, Rough Trade
Don’t get me wrong: I really, really like Rilo Kiley. But I loved flame-haired frontwoman Jenny Lewis’ solo debut. An incredible mix of folk, gospel and blues, augmented by lush harmonies from the Watson Twins, that did much to make Lewis a seeming permanent fixture in music blog eye candy towards the end of the decade.
If you download one track, make it: “You Are What You Love”
BUY: Rabbit Fur Coat at Amazon.co.uk

18. Thea Gilmore: Rules for Jokers
2002, Flying Sparks
Of course, the point of a retrospective like this is to turn up those gems you’d all but forgotten. Ask me to recall one album from the past life in Edinburgh that I revisit in those Friday morning historical blog posts and it would probably be this one – a CD booklet first flicked through on Kaite’s bedroom floor and a collection of seriously rockin’, seriously heartbreakin’, alt.folk from a singer-songwriter who would have been a household name by now if there had been any justice in the world.
If you download one track, make it: “This Girl Is Taking Bets”
BUY: Rules for Jokers (Special Limited Edition) at Amazon.co.uk

17. Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts of the Great Highway
2007, Caldo Verde
Everything about this record is beautiful: the artwork, the packaging and of course Mark Kozelek’s ethereal voice, a security blanket wrapping me up in a dreamworld where my heartrate slows and panic subsides. The melody here is understated, comforting and familiar.
If you download one track, make it: “Lily and Parrots”
BUY: Ghosts Of The Great Highway at Amazon.co.uk

16. Joanna Newsom: The Milk-Eyed Mender
2004, Drag City
The voice is the first thing you notice. It’s raw, childlike and probably like nothing you’ve ever heard before. You might hate it, at first, until you listen to the strange lyrics and delicate harp, scales like kittens’ feet on a piano, and decide you wouldn’t have it any other way. The music of Joanna Newsom is fresh, otherworldly and – above all – compelling.
If you download one track, make it: “Peach, Plum, Pear”
BUY: The Milk-Eyed Mender at Amazon.co.uk

15. Sleater-Kinney: The Woods
2005, Sub Pop
In many ways they were my “band of the noughties”, but with this screaming swansong Sleater-Kinney delivered a sucker punch to an industry sorely needing one. The Woods actually seemed to herald an exciting new direction for the Portland, OR trio – one that was sadly never to be. I miss them desperately.
If you download one track, make it: “Modern Girl”
BUY: The Woods at Amazon.co.uk

14. Okkervil River: Black Sheep Boy
2005, Jagjaguar
One of those bands whose career I worked backwards through: it was Okkervil River’s big-hitting recent albums that caught my attention, but this release remains their opus. A “concept album” of sorts, based around a little-known folk song and detailing the love between a girl and a monster-not-a-monster, it’s a masterly collection of beautifully crafted, lyrically complex songs.
If you download one track, make it: “Black”
BUY: Black Sheep Boy [Definitive Edition] at Amazon.co.uk

13. The Twilight Sad: Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
2007, FatCat
I proved at the weekend that I can’t even talk about the Twilight Sad without going into some kind of a rapture over the night they changed my life, exploding into my heart as if from nothingness, loud and grinding and yet gorgeously melodic. Some things deserve to be discovered in the dark, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, so see them live if you can.
If you download one track, make it: “Cold Days From The Birdhouse”
BUY: Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters at Amazon.co.uk

12. Kathleen Edwards: Back to Me
2005, MapleMusic
I always seem to pick the boy singers; preferring, as I said once, to imagine myself as the girl sung about rather than the girl doing the singing. But then I discovered Kathleen Edwards, fell for her immediately and bought up what was at the time her entire discography in the one weekend spent trying to imitate her throaty, slightly bruised voice in my bedroom while working out the chords to “One More Song The Radio Won’t Like” on the guitar I never really learned how to play.
If you download one track, make it: “In State”
BUY: Back To Me at Amazon.co.uk

11. PJ Harvey: Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
2003, Island
Stories From The City… might have been the last album I discovered “the old-fashioned way”: under the covers, headphones clamped in my ears and John Peel’s Festive Fifty soothing me to sleep. It was certainly the most important. Curiously less raw than both Harvey’s earlier and later work, each song a standout standalone, this album sounds as fresh on a rainy afternoon at the end of the decade as it did to a mouldable teen discovering her own musical fingerprint at its start.
If you download one track, make it: “A Place Called Home”
BUY: Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea at Amazon.co.uk

NOTE: Album title links almost always take you via my referrer page on Amazon.co.uk. I’m trying to save up for Christmas, so help a blogger out and pick up a fantastic album into the bargain!

ain’t supposed to die on a saturday night: the 2008 round-up;

Published on December 14, 2008 in film and music. 18 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

list season

So The X Factor is over for another year, which means that ’round these parts we can get back to talking about the soundtrack of your life and the music that saved it as opposed to mawkish, overwrought cover versions of such songs that even my poptastic little sister found inappropriate.

Life is so crazy of late. The one thing I wanted from this year was simply to make the most of it, and I think that I’ve done so for the most part, but these last few weeks have run away from me in such a crazy gallop that I’m scared to go to sleep in case I wake up and it’s 2009. Friends are texting, asking if we can see each other before the holidays, and I’m having to decline as I still have a week of work a family wedding and a Christmas in the Midlands. I’m off until the 5th as of next Tuesday, and I’ll be grateful for the chance to catch my breath (and make some mixes!). This all sounds like a story best saved for my last post of the year, but my point is that if I don’t get these lists posted between blitzing my Christmas shopping today I’m not sure when I’ll get the chance to do so again. A precursory recap of how my 2007 picks stood the test of time has been one casualty, but suffice to say at least the top two have held their positions.

But that was then, and this is now. Onwards, then, to List Season 2008.

LAST YEAR’S GIRL’S FAVOURITE, IF NOT THE BEST, ALBUMS OF 2008:

10. Vivian Girls: Vivian Girls [buy]
By all accounts the backlash has already started against these cutesy one-trick ponies, but I don’t use the internet anymore therefore I don’t care. I unashamedly adore the Vivian Girls’ scuzzy debut and their punk-rock slumber party live show, and I think you should too.
I said: “More reverb!” cried bassist Kickball Katy, with a laugh and a toss of her long red hair. “If you can still make out what I’m saying, then we need more reverb!” (December)

9. The Mountain Goats: Heretic Pride [buy]
One of the greatest lyricists of our generation returns with another brilliantly understated, beautifully melodic masterpiece. 2008 was a good year for fans of the Mountain Goats, with a couple of EPs (a “pay what you want” download plus a tour EP with Kaki King) thrown in for good measure – next year a proper UK tour though, eh?
I said: [I]t’s as if Get Lonely got a certain kind of melancholy out of our John’s system, and its follow-up is the manifesto of a proud iconoclast. (January)

8. Laura Marling: Alas, I Cannot Swim [buy]
A precocious talent, the debut of Reading’s Laura Marling carries a maturity far beyond the singer-songwriter’s tender years. Marling’s is one of those too-early-in-the-year releases that I hope doesn’t slip under too many people’s radar as the lists get drawn up, and her haunting melodies stay with you long after the album’s end.

7. Okkervil River: The Stand-Ins [buy]
The “companion piece” to last year’s runner-up, the songs and musical interludes that make up The Stand-Ins apparently formed part of the “Stage Names” sessions. While the latter is certainly a stronger album overall, I didn’t realise just how catchy and clever these songs are until I was lucky enough to hear them live.
I said: As live bands go, on a scale of one to the Hold Steady, the Texan indie rockers score at least a 9.5 in my head. (November)

6. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago [buy]
I was a late convert to this wonderful album – particularly as, if my sources are right, it was originally released in 2007! There’s something rainy-day desperate, yet lush and beautifully moving, about Justin Vernon’s high vocals; but this album will forever take me back to breakfasts of bacon and Coca-Cola in Australia when James couldn’t believe I hadn’t yet heard it in its entirety.

5. Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs [buy]
A return to form? But Lis, didn’t you actually LIKE Plans? I hear you cry. Well, yes, but I certainly didn’t wake up one morning in November wanting desperately to listen to the album in its entirety. I guess that’s what happens when your old bandcrushes decide to rebel against their slow descent into teen movie indie landfill and trail their new album with an eight-minute single with the creepiest lyrics since “Every Breath You Take”. Ten years and a world removed from their debut, Death Cab For Cutie are as relevant and as worthy of obsession as ever. Snow Patrol et al, take note – this is how it should be done.
I said: [I]n this age of short attention spans and single track downloads, [Narrow Stairs] is a complex beast best appreciated as a complete package. I love everything about this album – from the CD booklet (remember those?) with its die-cut edges, to the perfect segues that refuse to let me prune even the imperfect tracks from shuffle. (May)

4. Sun Kil Moon: April [buy]
Some of my most quality music listening happens in transit, staring out of the window at nothing in particular and appreciating a particular album or artist on a level I’m just not capable of if it’s merely on in one ear while I’m doing something else. I listened to April hurtling backwards on some particular train journey or other, and then again on the long flight home from the other side of the world when I began to realise that sleep was out of the question. Mark Kozelek’s ethereal voice is like a security blanket to me, wrapping me up in a dreamworld where my heartrate slows and panic subsides.
I said: April… is a strange record; one which requires patience but which ultimately sounds familiar. The sprawling compositions almost overlap in my head to become a comforting soundscape… (September)

3. Kathleen Edwards: Asking For Flowers [buy]
I always seem to pick the boy singers; preferring, as I said once, to imagine myself as the girl sung about rather than the girl doing the singing. Since I discovered Kathleen Edwards, fell for her immediately and bought up her entire discography on the one weekend, she has consistently bucked the trend and her third album is another stormer.
I said: It’s the voice that draws me in. It’s throaty and a little bruised, the voice of a girl who’d go for a couple of drinks and a cheeseburger, not pass over dessert because she simply couldn’t, and laugh with you all the way home. It’s a voice that’s also perfectly in my own pitch, meaning I can sing along in the kitchen. And it’s a voice that can do honest, tender, sincere. (April)

2. Matthew Ryan: Matthew Ryan vs The Silver State [buy]
A couple of weeks ago, as I started to think about this list seriously, I had a moment of despair as I considered the fact that there hadn’t been an artist unknown to me before this year who had grabbed me as completely and unexpectedly as the Twilight Sad did last year. I was, of course, wrong – it’s just that Matthew Ryan’s is one of those voices that feels as if it has been with me much longer than it has in reality. A bonus from my contact at Jesse Malin’s record label, ripped to my iTunes and almost forgotten about until one dark evening when it mattered most. Ryan wears his Springsteen influence proudly (“her mascara was born to run”), but his earnest lyricism has a poetry all of its own.
I said: I’m on such a Matthew Ryan kick lately, and this song is amazing. It even inspired me to have a proper hunt around for my Clash t-shirt (the one that was Jay’s Clash t-shirt…) (July)

1. The Hold Steady: Stay Positive [buy]
See, I reckon if the Album of the Year comes as a surprise to anybody then I’m clearly not doing my job as a blogger. Whether it’s in the play tallies, the shows seen, the fake tattoos or the constant namedrops, the Hold Steady are so clearly my favourite contemporary band and one of the few bands worth getting Web Sheriffed over. Craig Finn writes the most memorable characters, the greatest screwed-up Catholic girls, the most vivid killer parties, and the music Tad, Franz, Galen and Bobby create around those stories is perfect and earnest and real. A band who go from strength to strength, and who need a place on your “must see live” list.
I said: The characters that populate the Hold Steady’s earlier work are back… and they’re as druggy and messed-up as ever. But this time they’re older, sadder, dealing with the consequences and trying to lift themselves from their obscurity. It makes for a depth that, although not lifting the album to the giddy greatness of their finest hour, Separation Sunday, certainly edges it above its blogworthy predecessor. (July)

2008′s Honourable Mentions: The Indelicates, American Demo; Marah, Angels of Destruction; Amanda Palmer, Who Killed Amanda Palmer

2008′s Albums Which Might Have Made The List Had I Had Them Longer Than A Week: The Gaslight Anthem, The ’59 Sound, Mark Kozelek, The Finally LP, Drive-By Truckers, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark.

They say the devil is in the detail, and there’s plenty of that after the jump. Continue reading ‘ain’t supposed to die on a saturday night: the 2008 round-up;’

‘e’ is the exit sign backstage at shows;

Published on June 25, 2008 in a little more personal, blogging & pixlet, music and travellin'. 10 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Today’s xkcd comic pretty neatly sums up my worldview.

I’m feeling pretty shitty today, which I suppose I should take to mean “no more gigs on schoolnights, particularly during deadline week and when Tut’s ridiculously late curfew is involved”. Don’t panic, I doubt I’ll ever learn. Besides, it was amazing to finally get the chance to see Kathleen Edwards live. She’s so tiny and pretty in real life – no photos though, because even although I was down the front nobody else was taking any and she could totally kick my ass. I fear for the makers of her “fuckin’ shitty” hired amp, I really do.

Although the setlist was heavily drawn from this year’s Asking For Flowers, it was one of those perfect nights where everything you wanted to hear live made an appearance. The end of a cold only added to Edward’s gorgeously bruised vocals, and she was on fine form whether rocking out to “The Cheapest Key” or during a heart-melting solo rendition of “Scared At Night”.

I’m also a fair bit in love with her gauche-yet-charming-with-it supporting cast and band member, Jim Bryson.

I really like the sound, if not the name, of “urban hikes“: something I feel could work well in a city as interesting as Glasgow, and considering the number of photographers I could among my friends. Of course, this isn’t San Francisco… but assuming everyone remembers their umbrella, who’s in?

This may be my last post for a couple of days as, behind the scenes, my Web Hedgehog is frantically readying things to move my site to a new server. So don’t panic if there are any blackouts before the week is out… I’m still here! And I will let you know when normal service is restored.

big fish, small pond and some cover songs;

Published on April 30, 2008 in music. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , .

I’ve been struggling under the weight of a cold that doesn’t really want to break for the past few days now. I quite often suffer from some variety of allergy-related sniffles, but there’s a pain in my sinuses and a raspiness in my throat that sets this apart. Until today I’ve felt a little sniffly in the mornings, but managed to get through work with the minimum of fuss before running home to wrap myself under a blanket and splutter and cry, but today I woke up feeling like hell and don’t see it getting any better. It’s hard to blog when your eyes are streaming.

I had a nice phonecall over the weekend with my good friend Jo, who I miss terribly when she’s not in Glasgow, about love and music and all sorts of things. Jo was speaking about women in the music industry at a Ladyfest panel yesterday (she’s the content editor for a music website), and I revisted my confession that the vast majority of the music I hold closest to my heart is male-fronted. It’s not something I’ve ever analysed, just noted as a point of curiosity. My likes and dislikes are distinctly equal-opportunities, yet, for the most part, it’s the boys who hold my soul.

But there are two or three exceptions: some obvious, some slightly less so. Until you go over this blog’s logo with a magnifying glass and realise that its subtitle is one of her lyrics. I’ve been awaiting the arrival of Asking For Flowers, the third album from Canada’s earthbound goddess of alternative country Kathleen Edwards, with impatience. And it doesn’t disappoint.

It’s become cliche to consider the work of any artist as a musical progression. If the later output of an artist, particularly a singer-songwriter, doesn’t sound more “mature” as they age then there must be something wrong. I suppose the question, therefore, is whether a more considered approach adds something creatively, or takes away. Three years on from Back To Me Edwards is less petulant, but no less fun with it. “Cheapest Key” and “I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory” are the album’s bouncy-yet-resigned fuck-yous, both of which I’ve been humming to myself pretty constantly.

It’s the voice that draws me in. It’s throaty and a little bruised, the voice of a girl who’d go for a couple of drinks and a cheeseburger, not pass over dessert because she simply couldn’t, and laugh with you all the way home. It’s a voice that’s also perfectly in my own pitch, meaning I can sing along in the kitchen. And it’s a voice that can do honest, tender, sincere. I know from reading interviews that this album is less autobiographical in nature, but that doesn’t detract from the heartwrenching immediacy of the title track, written for a friend of the singer’s.

The album opens with “Buffalo”, a gorgeous, sprawling lament. “The summer nights left me all alone…” Edwards almost whispers over piano, before the percussion kicks in with the regular sway of the wheels of the bus. Which was how I listened to it yesterday evening – my chin on my palm, gazing out of a dirty window at nothing in particular under a Glasgow sky cleansed by the afternoon’s thunderstorm. The song’s lyrics tell of heartbreak but the melody is ultimately uplifting.

It’s true of much of this album: quiet resignation, gorgeous melody, an honestvoice breathing life into characters as diverse as missing persons case “Alicia Ross”, or the young couple in “Oil Man’s War”. Ultimately, it makes for a beautiful bouquet.

Kathleen Edwards – Asking For Flowers [YSI]
Kathleen Edwards – I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory [YSI]

Oh, local bods – I can’t find details of an official UK tour, but she’s in Glasgow in June.

“i still believe in true love and taking chances even if it happens at 3am”;

Published on March 5, 2008 in a little more personal, film and music. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

We got home pretty late after watching the football last night, but we both went straight to our laptops. He, because he’s in a mix-making mood; and she, because she had a daily photo to upload and because she had a taster of the new Kathleen Edwards album to check out. He liked her voice, he said when she mentioned it. He thought that it was easier for a woman to identify with a female voice and a man to identify with a male voice, but he liked Ms Edwards’ huskiness and her sense of humour.

And I, she says as she slips out of whatever device she was using there, can see where he is coming from. When you put as much emphasis on lyrics and the personal as I do when I am listening to a piece of music, you’d think that I’d identify more easily with a female perspective. But a quick look at my iTunes reveals the opposite to be true. I’m drawn to the same beautifully wounded male voices as my other half, with Kathleen Edwards and Sleater-Kinney the only women in my “Can’t Live Without” auto-playlist.

Which isn’t to say I don’t identify with the girl rock stars. I don’t really see it as an issue. A friend of mine once told me that she preferred male singers because she crushed on all the girls they sang about. As for me, perhaps I prefer to see myself as the girl at the other end of the song than the one who’s doing the singing.

You don’t need me to reiterate who my obsessions are. They don’t have the perfect pop star voices, but they’re all the more believable for that. Jesse Malin, whose forthcoming covers record I was getting over-excited about a fortnight ago is one of the most obvious examples. He’s got a voice like a bruise. He comes out with these cheesy lines only he is sincere enough to get away with. If I haven’t convinced you of his worth as an artist and a songwriter by now, I’m never going to. It doesn’t bother me. You have your saviours, I have mine and I know I’m not the lone voice crying in the wilderness on this one either.

Regardless, I couldn’t get an early hold of that forementioned covers album without passing some sort of comment. Does it disappoint? Are you kidding? There are two ways an artist can approach a covers album: you can go the Cat Power route, make a serious album in which you stamp your own individualistic mark on a selection of standards. Or, you can make a record like On Your Sleeve.

Malin’s latest straddles the line between studio album and loving mixtape. On Your Sleeve isn’t so much a proper release as a testament to the range of influences that make the artist who he is. There are certain traits that are evident in Malin’s own songwriting: the swagger of the Ramones, the playfulness of Paul Simon, the affectionate cynicism of Tom Waits. These aren’t quite so apparent in these relatively faithful covers, but in their execution – and in the wonderful sleevenotes that come with each choice – is a portrait of an artist as intimate as the most confessional style of songwriting. Especially if you believe, as I do, that the record collection makes the man.

And there’s at least one howler in there, as there is with all the best labours of love, but Lou Reed probably deserves the drivetime treatment these days – and there’s a fantastic take on a song I’ve never heard of (“Russian Roulette”) that makes up for it.

On Your Sleeve is available for pre-order now from One Little Indian, and Glitter In The Gutter is as good a place as any to start if this is all new to you.

PS Have I mentioned lately how much I love Chuck Klosterman? Well apparently his first novel will be out in September, but until then here is an article he wrote for this month’s Believer magazine about road movies. I came across it through a blog on my feed reader, whose authors do not love Chuck Klosterman as much as I do – if at all. They have since been removed from said feed reader.

gin in teacups and leaves on the lawn;

Published on December 5, 2007 in a little more personal, mmm... food, music, photography and the media. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

gin in teacups

And now for everything else..!

  • Kaite was in Edinburgh at the weekend – feeling rather poorly, poor lass – but I did get to pop through and see her and sample hot cocktails served in china teapots at Roseleaf. I hope a return visit beckons soon.
  • Almost as yummy – Maggie Gyllenhaal modelling for Agent Provocateur. Hayley, I know you alerted me to this before, but I only made it into their new Glasgow boutique this weekend – and, oh yes, money was spent. Felt a little sorry for the guy in the pink shellsuit jacket who had wandered in out of the cold though: “See these stockings, do they, like, keep you warrum, aye?” he was heard to ask a bemused assistant. “No, they’re really just for fashion,” was her diplomatic response.
  • Aquarim Drunkard has a rare, early EP from my favourite Canadian songstress (no, not that one). Go download, then vote for him at the Plug Awards.
  • Via Boing Boing: David Hlynsky’s amazing gallery of Communist Europe store windows. Says the photographer: “I purposely avoided dramatic moments and newsworthy events. In a cityscape without commercial seduction, banality seemed to signify everything.”
  • Did you hear about that horrible sticker making fun of Jordan’s disabled son given away with Heat magazine? Even the usually caustic Charlie Brooker thought it was disgusting. The magazine has since apologised and made a charitable donation, but still: shame on you.
  • Have I mentioned lately how much I love Chuck Klosterman? Well, I love Chuck Klosterman.
  • I’ve already sent this link to probably the only person reading this other than me who actually cares, but: Why The Replacements Saved My Life also has a list of 21 songs that would make a good starting point if you still need convincing..!

but there’s free beer;

Published on November 22, 2005 in a little more personal, books & literature, current affairs, film, music and the media. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

gin + excellent conversation + a bag of chips on the way home = my kind of evening. I’ve been grinning most of the morning, but I best not say anymore, as certain nosy people may have found this by now (and I should bloody well hope so, I only made it incredibly easy).

Oh Lis, for future reference – your violent antipathy towards Belle and Sebastian is probably more of a fifth-date revelation.

MC and I were at a sold-out UGC on Friday night, accompanied by the largest and most sugary bag of pick and mix ever, for the new Harry Potter movie. Word of advice for those who haven’t seen it yet – don’t go re-reading The Goblet of Fire any time before you go or you’ll only get narked at how much the producers had to take out. Watching it as a movie on its own merits though, it worked incredibly well and I think I have to say it’s my favourite to date, although a little too dark for MC’s liking and fairly fast-paced – again, time considerations being a major factor.

Plus, there’s a brooding Cedric Diggory for those bemoaning the lack of underage totty now Oliver Wood’s all growed-up and left Hogwarts.

One way in which the movie beats the books hands-down – and MC and I had a bit of an argument about this on the way home – is in its portrayal of the young characters’ awkwardness as they discover the opposite sex, particularly in the Yule Ball scenes. Although I love the Harry Potter books; the staging, wild fantasy and brilliant turns of plot; I’m not completely convinced by Rowling’s technical skills as a writer. Her depictions of teenage hormones and descriptions of “snogging” actively make me cringe – she comes across like yer mum and you find yourself thinking that real fifteen-year-olds just wouldn’t talk like that! The young actors are excellent though, particularly Emma Watson as Hermione, although its sad to see her character reduced to providing Harry’s moral commentary at times.

Bits and pieces:

Amber honey, you’ll like these – Sharon has some great photos of Kathleen Edwards in Edinburgh at smalldphotography.

The Press Gazette tonight unveils its newspaper hall of fame – a rollcall of the most influential journalists of the last forty years. Cue the usual sniping about there not being enough women in the list, but people seem to forget that these things go a little deeper – when you’re dealing with a predominantly male profession the prizewinners are obviously going to be just as predominantly male. Hopefully we’ll see a gender shift the next time such a list is announced. Although I’d rather give an award to Julie Burchill than Richard Littlejohn any day of the week.

And I couldn’t not comment on this story – plans for a Perthshire building development have been altered because of fears that the fairies who live under a rock on the site will be harmed. Fantastic.

three days in november part 3: one-two-three and i’m safe;

Published on November 21, 2005 in a little more personal, aff the telly, current affairs and the media. 7 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Aaaaand… I didn’t get to see Kathleen Edwards after all, as I made the mistake of getting the train into town with my little brother who whined at me until I agreed to go to the pub with him instead rather than coming out later. The work of a big sister is never done. But it was a good night in the end – even if nobody would have missed me for that first couple of hours – and I did meet a very nice boy who’s taking me out tonight, so it wasn’t a complete waste of an evening.

It’s Monday morning, but it could be worse – I could be one of those people dressed in cowboy hats who were flyering us for some new theme pub, fixed rictus grins on their faces, as we were getting off the train this morning.

This weekend’s hot topic of conversation, following on from the new series of I’m An Ex-Soap Star, I’ll Eat Bugs If You Get Me A Record Deal – would you rather walk that tightrope or jump from a plane? I think I’m with the ex-Eastenders alcoholic here, and I’m so physically timid I’d never have thought I could envisage a scenario where I’d be volunteering to leap 12,000 feet. But did you see how much she was shaking as she tried to inch across that rope? The initial jump would be terrifying of course but strapped to an experienced parachutist, with the responsibility for pulling that rope and ensuring you live or die taken out of your hands, it would be over soon enough if you just closed your eyes and got on with it. And I think the final glide to the ground would be utterly exhilirating.

One of those I-miss-my-LiveJournal moments. I wish I could post a poll. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Quick thought on Harry Potter – you know if that David Tennant’s star as one of Britain’s hawt young thangs ever fades, he’s made for life as a panto villian.

The Easy Group are a little pissed about mobile phone company Orange trying to stop them using the colour orange for their new mobile phone service – there’s a caption competition up on the website, where Stelios himself is inviting sympathisers to take their revenge, and maybe win one of their cheapass cruises. This from the company who famously went after a bunch of companies who could barely afford to defend themselves for using the word “easy” in domain names, including one easyArt.com. I’m not saying I have any sympathy for Orange, but there’s a faint stench of hypocracy hanging in the air around Stelios Towers…

Here’s a bit of more interesting reading for you – Jon Snow on the importance of on-the-spot reporters, from today’s Media Guardian It should never be forgotten that the most important ingredient in journalism is this human connection.