I Am Adam

artemidorus1: ‘These are not just prawn sandwiches, these are...

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:00:41 +0100

‘These are not just prawn sandwiches, these are Chelsea FC prawn sandwiches!’

There appears to be a disturbing absence of shame and an equally disturbing abundance of pride.

Me, writing about Tevez and United

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:13:49 +0000

Me, writing about Tevez and United:

Paperback Mitre is one of my favourite football sites. Full of personal thoughts on clubs by fans and writers who are ‘not idiots’. Which is rare. They also get distracted by music quite often, which is nice.

I’ve been hassling them for a while about wanting to join the team, and now I have. My first piece is on the day Carlos Tevez confirms he wants to go home, and before United play Arsenal. If we lose, I fully expect to be hounded out of town tomorrow. Click that link above if you want to read it.

“Messi is a Flux capacitor”. I don’t know who...

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:07:41 +0000

“Messi is a Flux capacitor”.

I don’t know who this commentator is, but I want him to follow me around inventing inappropriate metaphors utilising quasi-religious imagery for everything that I do well.

Favourite photo of the weekend, thanks entirely to Father...

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 11:03:09 +0000

Favourite photo of the weekend, thanks entirely to Father Ted-referencing placard. (from The Guardian)

“I’m a locksmith…and I’m a...

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:48:00 +0000

“I’m a locksmith…and I’m a locksmith.”

Leslie Nielsen pretty much raised me. I honestly think he was the most important male role model I had in my formative years.

That explains a lot.

RIP

New Mogwai Track

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 12:07:00 +0000

I’ve been a little disappointed by the last couple of Mogwai albums - a couple of stand-out tracks on each seem to have masked quite a bit of going-through-the-motions album filler. This track made available for free download had me regretting having bothered after the first minute. 3 variously distorted guitars plodding through the same up-and-down scale riff for 5 minutes seemed like the work of a band who no longer have the heart for the fight. But Mogwai’s magic has always been in taking the unremarkable and dragging unfathomable depths out of it and by the 2nd minute I’d decided this was a blistering return to form; hypnotic, loud, atmospheric, undeniably Mogwai. Not entirely made up my mind yet as to which opinion will stick with me, but it’s worth a listen if you’re a fan. And new album Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will proves they can still come up with some brilliant names, if nothing else.

Review; The Phantom Band @ Deaf Institute, 17th November

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 15:08:00 +0000

It’s been 18 months since Glasgow-based The Phantom Band last graced the too-small stage of The Deaf Institute.

Then, as now, the 6 piece are in danger of knocking each other off the precarious platform and into the near capacity crowd.

Then, though, debut album Checkmate Savage had been recently released. An assured and unique blend of folk influences and goth tendencies wrapped up with rock riffs and stealthy near-electro rhythms, it became a personal favourite and went on to be the ever-reliable Piccadilly Records’ Album Of The Year 2009.

Again the band are here with a new album in tow, The Wants being released in October this year. While the debut won critical acclaim and plenty of fervent fans, allowing the band to make numerous festival appearances and to record a confident follow-up, it hasn’t moved them on to bigger venues, yet.

The Wants, though, reflects a band more than comfortable in the cosy surrounds of a place like the Deaf Institute. The songs are, if anything, longer and more diversely influenced. The darkness is underpinned by motorik beats and synth squelches. The Celtic and folk influence is still there; tales of beasts, hauntings and endless references to nature are present across songs from both albums tonight. But on this show’s evidence, the band are now truly confident - unafraid of experimentation and enjoying the live experience.

There’s a genuine swagger to the older material; Folk Song Oblivion and Left Hand Wave are greeted like stadium favourites - they seem sharper than they once were. Slight revisions in the arrangements make them seem rockier than previous; recognisibe riffs spilling from multiple guitars, bass and synth and unassuming frontman Rick Anthony leading the congregation through joyous familiar favourites.

The newer material, including harmony-heavy O, and Into The Corn, are more challenging, but for all their synths and tricky vocals, these songs come alive on stage in the most organic way. For a band whose songs appear full of death and dark imagery it strikes you that they actually do enjoy what they do. There’s no empty style employed in the music or in the performance; just a band honest enough to throw all the influences they love into a melting pot and leave nothing behind.

There are touches of gentle, traditionally-influenced folk atmospherics from a band not afraid to slow things down a notch. But when the band re-emerges for a keenly-demanded encore and Anthony completes the sense of communion by passing a bottle of whiskey out into the crowd before launching into an extended version of instrumental Crocodile from the debut album, they add post-rock to the list of genres conquered in an 80 minute set.

With two brilliant albums’ worth of material behind them, and an ever-improving live reputation, the next time we see The Phantom Band in Manchester, it should be on a much bigger stage.

nevver: Bill deconstructed

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 11:22:14 +0000

nevver:

Bill deconstructed

Because I took this photo about 2 months ago. And now it’s...

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:02:26 +0000

Because I took this photo about 2 months ago. And now it’s fecking horrible where I am.

Ha ha - wow, it doesn’t take long before old photos of you...

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:59:55 +0000

Ha ha - wow, it doesn’t take long before old photos of you show up on any given website does it?

PARTY ALL THE TIME

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 11:10:21 +0000

akoustikanarkhy:

Sookie versus Record Player

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 10:58:55 +0000

Sookie versus Record Player

On a track between a country pub and a canal, somewhere near...

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 10:45:10 +0000

On a track between a country pub and a canal, somewhere near Chorley, summer 2010. I love signs that tell people things they can do, instead of what they can’t. And that the writing looks like David Shrigley’s

Who Is Actually Going To Do The Work?

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:12:58 +0000

Who Is Actually Going To Do The Work?:

As a recently-redundant Content Editor, this article (forwarded to me by a now-former colleague) seemed pretty pertinent.

Not entirely sure what he has to do with TED, and I’ve...

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:00:22 +0000

Not entirely sure what he has to do with TED, and I’ve heard the new instrumental album is a bit disappointing, but Andrew Bird still captivates me when I see how he pieces his music together live.

hazal:

Andrew Bird’s one-man orchestra of the imagination : TedTalks

Amazing.

Just seen this theatre trailer in an article on How-Do - a viral...

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 10:01:37 +0000

Just seen this theatre trailer in an article on How-Do - a viral video that’s going into cinemas and getting young people to see theatre as a viable entertainment form alongside cinema; good stuff.

Is it really North Pole Bar time of year again?

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 05:02:39 +0000

Is it really North Pole Bar time of year again?

If I was a priest, the first place I’d hide from Roy Hodgson would always be a mountain of...

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 05:02:39 +0000

If I was a priest, the first place I’d hide from Roy Hodgson would always be a mountain of sugar. Obvious.

Have spent most of morning so far playing comedown music for the cat after @Vix_R got her catnipped...

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 05:02:39 +0000

Have spent most of morning so far playing comedown music for the cat after @Vix_R got her catnipped off her face before work.

The nameless cat seems to have an unhealthy interest in sealants and rubber. Worrying.

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 05:02:39 +0000

The nameless cat seems to have an unhealthy interest in sealants and rubber. Worrying.