Michael MacLennan

Anyone got some. I thought I had a phone number but it seems to link to an Alness photographer, which surely isn't right. If you can help, email me please..... I'd be incredibly happy. Thanks xxx

I dug it when they did the start of Delirium Corda, and while doing the gothic chanting Mike Patton took the time to scream 'Fuck off' at the chump clapping next to me before resuming perfectly... I'd cut off a toenail on my right foot to get a lowdown on how he trains his vocals, just astounding throughout, how someone can scream in such an unholy manner and then break into a perfect falsetto, I'll never understand... I was also delighted that in the encore he played my favourite part out of the whole of Delirium Corda, made my whole evening. As anybody who's met me in the last few days will tell you, I'm still amazingly psyched about it all. Actually, in my mind, Suspended Animation is my favourite Fantomas album, such a dense collage but after a few listens it just opens up... probably Delirium Corda after that, just an awesome piece of work, despite people being pissed off at the time it didn't fit to the short track lengths of the first album.

Fantomas Anyone see them at the Garage on Friday? They were amazing, utterly amazing. And Terry Bozzio on drums... I've never loved a bunch of sweaty men so much in my entire life.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought when you see Batman walking past Arkham's inpatients, one of them looks eerily like The Joker sans-make-up. But God, it was just ace. Even staying up till 3.15 on a work-night (imagine!) I was utterly enthralled by the whole thing. It was so perfectly weighted. And Cillian Murphy, those eyes... I was reading about the making in Empire yesterday, and apparently Michael Caine told Christopher Nolan how the scene when Batman is standing on the tower surveying Gotham below him was the best use of CG he'd ever seen... and Nolan had to laugh, because they'd spent hours actually perfecting that shot in Chicago. That just summed it up to me, how much more grounded it was, more realistic. Nolan had a great quote about how he admired the way Tim Burton made this extraordinary Gotham, so Batman fitted right in, but he wanted Gotham to be ordinary, to emphasise how extraordinary the character was. Sums up the difference so well. I just hope Nolan signs on for the sequel, it'd be great to see what he comes up without going through the back-story first... PS I hadn't even thought about the other movies until the end sequence, and it seemed amazing how detached Nolan and Goyer had managed to make the whole movie from the franchise, so that I hadn't even thought about Batman Forever (I've managed to never see Batman & Robin, apart from one hideous 5-minute chunk...). No crass advertising, no lame soundtrack, no big-name actors showcasing, what a success.

Man, I thought that was absolutely ace! I tried to go with low expectations, but when the camera pans down after the introduction and goes through the battle, I just grinned from ear to ear... I loved the way the 1st word of the intro was just: 'War!' Just like: 'This is what you've been waiting for...' But there were so many ace scenes, and I was actually moved a lot more than I expected. I loved the sadness of the scene when the Jedi are getting killed, and MacGregor really pulls off that scene with Anakin at the end about him being the chosen one, just great. And you have to admire Lucas for showing the scenes of Vader getting burned, and that Frankenstein-esque scene of the electronic limbs being put on and him screaming, then the helmet coming on... just an amazingly dark scene (even for a 12), children's film my ass. If you'd read any fan reviews beforehand you know the first 50 minutes are lighter, to walk out at that point and make a judgement on the tone of the film is pretty moronic. But goddam right, I'm going to see that in the cinema as many times as possible, it's the perfect movie for seeing in a huge multiplex, thank goodness for the UGC card...

And I said goddam! I was checking out the Ipecac site in some sort of faint hope, but it's all come delightfully true: June 17, 2005 Glasgow, Scotland Garage http://www.ipecac.com/calendar.php Terry Bozio on drums I think as Lombardo is on tour with Slayer, but still... should be some show.

Got my ticket today, can't wait to actually see Clutch headlining, and not confined to a smaller supporting performance... if they play Big News 1&2 on Sunday I'll cream myself, ditto A Shotgun Named Marcus, Spacegrass and Animal Farm, though I do hope they'll play Red Horse Rainbow...

Yeah, I certainly can't wait for someone convicted of possessing child porn to make a kid's movie... somehow I'm sceptical about the possibility of any sane producer sinking money into that venture...

Spellbound's fantastic, as is Donnie Brasco, though in different ways. Though I can imagine Al Pascino giving it a go: Presenter: spell heleoplankton... Al Pacino: HOO-HAA! What DA fuck is... (microphone gets cut off) I'm going to France in a couple of days, so was watching Nikita to see how much of the language I remembered. I'm hoping the two words I recognised are going to come in handy.

OHHHHH... oh, right now Shuffle mode is entertaining... but after a while it's a horrible, horrible addiction. Instead of listening to an album, you'll be waiting to see what the next track is, and the one after that... you'll want to switch off, as you search on and on, but you're hooked... save yourself now...

Converge were ace, Red Sparowes were probably even better though, I could close my eyes and drift away, wonderful... from what I caught of Scatter they were utterly diabolical, pretentious bullshit, though I'm sure that's supposed to mean I didn't 'get it'. 2nd band at Sleazy's should have had vocals lower in the mix (and more reverb), and didn't feel complete as a unit yet, but I had a feeling they could be onto something, given time, a good vocalist and some interesting sections. Mainly though, I was just digging being back down from the wasteland of the Highlands, made even sweeter by the fact that the day before I start my new job Isis and Jesu are coming to town...

I was actually reminiscing about that yesterday, one of my favourite gigs ever, oh yes...

It was a terrible, bad, movie. Saying the twist wasn't that important is a redundant point when M. Night has boxed himself into a corner where audiences go into his movies waiting for 'the twist'. And what love story of any note is there? I've seen greater subtlety in the current plot line with Stew and Cindy in Neighbours. Bryce Dallas Howard is lovely though, and gives a good performance, though it would be far too weird having Ron Howard as a father-in-law for me to marry her. I'm sure she'll be devastated when this comes out... PS Adrien Brody should also be required to return his Oscar for horribly OTT attempt at playing a mentally challenged character... it terms of Oscar winners-gone-bad he's almost following Cuba Gooding Jr, just as well he's managed to secure a role in 'King Kong' and save this from ruining his career.

It wasn't too busy last time they played there, I think they're still building up a reputation. Oh, if only I wasn't working tomorrow (and to think it's my last day as well...)

The day I get nostalgic over a message-board is the day I hack off my left foot with a cleaver and ram it up my nose, with the intention of crushing my brain. Things seems much the same as ever, except a few of the former regulars now have better things to do with their time and some of those bands no longer exist. I'd shed a tear for the 'good, old days', but they weren't really that great, and I yielded pretty much fuck-all from my efforts during that time, so I'd prefer to look ahead towards bigger and better things...

A couple of days after I finally get a job back in Glasgow, and I hear this. It's fate I tell you, fate! To hear them play material off Blast Tyrant will be orgasmic beyond belief...

Not to spoil the rich vein of anti-American sentiments being espoused here, but in the article it's the defendant himself who says it was just a story about zombies. That doesn't necessarily mean it was, it's just his explanation, there's no statement from the prosecutors who would have made the decision to go ahead with the case. For example, his stories could actually be more specific, he may have a history of threats against other pupils, you simply know. So to reply with 'land of freedom my ass' is quite possibly as ignorant as you regard these American cops to be.

Happy birthday baby, I'd still love you if you had a beard, even though all the kissing would bring me out in a rash... and not on my face! Ho ho. But without facial hair those who usually sport beards do look younger, as I do when I get around to using the shaver. Unfortunately they also look a bit uglier as well...

I'd also pay a bomb to see them, I'd even invest some funds into securing them! Though said funds are measly, but hey, I'm being entirely serious.

Goodness, that's a shock. Fantastic piper and someone who did a great deal to reconcile traditional Scottish music with modern influences, not to mention playing some great live shows, I'd actually been hoping he'd be touring again soon.

Pretty interesting stuff from their former guitarist (taken from buddyhead.com), haven't heard the solo stuff though I know Lucifer digs him: "Alright, I've kept relatively quiet since leaving the band, even tolerating Casey's bullshit that he was telling people about why I left (wisdom teeth, rehab, etc.). To be honest, I've never been interested in mudslinging about this kind of stuff. I truly believed that when I left the band it was my business as to why and mine only. Dwelling on the past is, in my opinion, a colossal waste of time. "Since then, however, Casey's constant deception and distortion of the truth, coupled with his feeble attempts to discredit me and other members, have resulted in me writing this letter and telling my side of the story. "I spent almost 3 years of my life in AMEN, playing in the band because I truly believed that it was an honest, passionate band that was built around the punk rock ethic. Spending years doing van tours in the BLACK HALOS, sleeping on floors and living on next-to no money was something I was used to, and AMEN was no different. Casey always refers to AMEN as a 'working-class band,' which is pretty funny talk from a guy who has never actually worked a day job in his life. As I soon found out, Mom and Dad's money (aka 'my skateboarding money') was always there when there wasn't any money for him to embezzle from the band. At first I never questioned the fact that he would keep all the money and give us nothing, because he apparently had 'outstanding debts from the old band members ripping him off' (a story which I'm sure he still throws around to the current guys). However, after a while, the piss-take got to be a bit too much. After receiving a $50,000 advance for the DVD, Casey gives the band $300 each. After bringing in over 40,000 in merch on a tour, we get $800 and he goes home and buys his girlfriend a car and expands his already massive record collection. While we're sleeping on my cousin's floor in London, he's in a hotel in Gloucester Road, taking people out for dinners and spending hundreds of pounds every day in record shops. And when we finally got the long-awaited record deal, no one saw a single penny of it except Casey. As I'm sure you've heard, his argument is that it's all justified because he let us all stay at his house while we were in the band but here's a fucking newsflash: we had to stay at his house because we couldn't afford to live anywhere because he was taking all the money from the band! "So let's get to the contract. To understand this contract entirely you have to understand the motivations behind why it exists in the first place. So here's some history: "When we started the April tour this year, Casey's pill-popping was at a peak. His self-medicating due to imagined medical conditions made him a deeply unpleasant person at the best of times. And at the worst of times...well, you can ask Ross Robinson or Harry about that. By the time we got to Oxford, we had a drum tech who was ready to walk out because Casey had pushed a stack of amps on him and 2 kids who were hurt when Casey threw a cymbal stand into the crowd. Not big, not clever. We all knew the risks of onstage injuries when we joined the band and we never had a problem with it. But when you start putting innocent kids at risk to prove how 'punk rock' you are(n't), then it becomes a problem. Fast-forward to the day of the infamous Virgin instore and Casey was in top form. He'd already thrown a rock-star fit because nobody had brought his bags upstairs for him. God forbid you do it yourself, eh Iggy? Then he had another little tantrum because people's phones (including his) were ringing during a Metal Hammer interview. By the time we hit the stage, he was singing as bad as usual and smashing the shit out of the place. All in a day's work, no problem there. But by the time we got to the signing, he was incoherent, abusive to fans, band and store staff alike. Check out the scar on my arm sometime if you want proof. Finally, after slumping out on the table, telling a fan to 'fuck off' and then shouting abuse at John (our tech, my cousin) in front of everyone, I called him a cunt, got up, walked off and quit the band. "To make a long story short, by the end of that day, the rest of the guys had quit as well, tired of his rock star antics and money grabbing ways. However, we were being besieged by calls from our agent, management and PR person who were all freaking out about the shows that were scheduled. So in the interest of doing the right thing for the people that had worked so hard for us, and the fans that had bought tickets to the shows, we decided to agree to resume the tour and fulfill our commitments. Hence the contract. If we were going to go back on the road, there needed to be a set of guidelines so that Casey couldn't keep treating people like shit, endangering the audience, and ripping us off in the process. And the only way for us to make him stick to the deal, we had to hit him where it hurts, in the only the thing he cares about: his wallet. "If you read the contract, you'll see that we ask for a fair and equal split of the profits amongst all 5 members at the end of the tour (something that we'd NEVER had before. Punk rock values, eh?) and a penalty for Casey if he acted like a cock. Of course, no one expected to get this penalty. I mean, where would the money come from? But we wanted the threat to be hanging over his head and we wanted him to know how deadly serious we were. No more bullshitting allowed. "So after a late night meeting at Sanctuary Management's office, we resumed the tour. I was still sticking to the fact that I was leaving after it was done, and the rest of the guys were going to go back to the U.S. and tour home. And that's what happened. Nobody actually signed the contract, the guys got home, did the Japanese shows (for which they were supposed to get paid and, surprise!, didn't). Then everyone quit and the shit-talking started. "So there's my side of the story. There's a lot more I could tell but this is long enough and I don't have a lawyer handy to keep me out of trouble. It's too bad that it ended like this and left a bitter taste in all of our mouths. Still, I'm sure ol' Karim Chmielinski (you know...) will continue to stick to his ways in the names of false integrity and punk for profit. Childish behaviour for a 40-year old man. But I'm sure some people will keep believing him and others will let him keep burning his bridges. At this point, I couldn't care less. If asking for a fair share and not wanting to put up with primadonna antics makes me a sell-out or less punk rock, then bring it on, fuckers. "I'm not asking anyone to take sides and this is the last I'm going to say about the subject. I've always treated AMEN fans with respect and I have no reason to start lying to you now. Think about it..."