ragudave

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/b/black-eyed-snakes/its-the.shtml BE Snakes review on the strength of the review it sounds pretty interesting - assuming you can stomach the blues - the review suggests they do a Fall cover. Always a good reason to see a band, innit:cheers: Dave

Sounds like a blend of Low and Sun Ra..

Was it a long YLT set ? Someone told me their set in Edinburgh last year was great as well - long as well

to escape reality (or even reality TV) to dance / pull to learn about other cultures, history etc - basically expanding your horizons - (world music, reggae, 20/30 blues etc) to learn about politics to laugh (Carter USM, Half M Half B etc) to get motivated to concentrate on boring tasks to have something in common with friends or identify with certain people to feel superior... Dave

Nae great reviews in the Guardian... http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/reviews/story/0,11712,1163540,00.html

Well it has to be GSYBE, Sigur Ros and Fly Pan Am when they played the Ltree in 2000 or thereabouts. I knew virtually nothing about the bands before the gig but was blown away. http://pages.infinit.net/etrembla/cc/00.htm I also really liked the Transglobal Underground gig at the Ltree about 10 years back - more to do with Natasha's BB rather than the music though... Dave

I was a bit dubious about having Kath S and Craig B on the same bill but it worked out pretty well. Although trying to follow KS must have been quite daunting for Craig. KS was as ever scary, funny, emotive and rather good. Craig did pretty well, given that A/gramme are used to filling their songs with slabs of noise and the odd grunt here and there. As with the Stuart Braithwaite set a few years ago it takes guts to go from noise to acoustic. Now I wonder when the A/gramme / KS collaborative album is coming out.... Dave

In terms of home made compilation I'm most proud of... Almost Space Free Jazz Four 2 Dub Krautrock Klingklang Hip Hop and Spoken Word The Fall Joke The North Most people find the Jazz one a little "out there" but you just have to be in the mood:angel: Dave

Soul Jazz, Blood and Fire, Trojan, Leaf Records, Rough Trade and Rough Guide do some of the best compilations around. There are too many to mention / remember but a good compilation will sound fresh, be well edited and introduce something new... My fav compilations of recent years would be "In the beginning there was.. " on Soul Jazz and ATP 1.0 on All Tommorrows Parties Dave PS The Wire magazine do some great compilations - some label related, some festival based and some just with new music

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1159032,00.html I'm not cos I'm too young but its an interesting point that we are becoming teenagers forever and buying music til our late middle age. And why not ! It could be related to the decline in the birthrate, our increased wealth or the need for escapism from a hum drum life ? Dave

Q Stores down the harbour and Mckays of Queen Street both have lots of army stuff - Mckays is a little like a time warp actually. Som of their stock seems about 30 years old....

Hence: sound, silence and sonic vibration Reminds me of a King Tubby or Lee Perry album, where space and silence are just as important as music or beats..

Mike is good fun - Jim and James are decent as well but a little quieter and less opinionated.... Generally you get discount if you become a regular or you are nice to them. Sometimes Mike has not heard of a band or sub sub genre I am looking for but not often... Mike is an expert on The Fall, Prog Rock, Krautrock, 60s r n r, acid jazz, left field hip hop, free jazz, Johnny Cash and the odd other genre or two:bat: Dave

John Peel is always worth a shot - but try here for some great live videos from a festival last year... The Mogwai and YLT ones are decent as is the reggae one, Dave live video

Which band did Wendy Frenzy - was that The Dreaming, Loreli(sp?), or one of the other early 90s bands who used to play Union Terrace Gardens ? I seem to remember them doing a sheep song - a la Levelllers meets Lawnmower Deth. Now if Loveless were to reform The Liars and Mogwai would be shaking in their boots:up: Dave

If you want to see another musical film try Amandla - I saw it earlier this week and its very powerful stuff. It documents the power of music and song in South Africa when Mandela was in prison, Dave

Well this is exactly how one Brian Eno discovered / invented ambient music. He was ill in bed with the window open and he heard music from outside as well as the radio he had on in the room... FWIW music cant really be defined. If your Gran listened to Melt Banana, Mogwai or The Boredoms or MBValentine they she would just classify it as noise. Hearing Faust or very early Kraftwerk may sound tuneless or just random noise the first time you hear it. Steve Reich, Philip Glass and other minimalistic composers used intense repetition, looping, clapping etc to make music. Paul Lansky and various other modern composers use traffic samples etc to make music. Ancient tribes make music by hitting whatever was neat to them or their voices. Music like art is constantly evolving. Thank goodness.... Dave

Another point of note is that the common ned is not seen at Archie's, a plus point for any self-respecting bar. Strange cos its always full of dodgers and sketchers just out of the court next door...

Magic Band reunion - New dates for Summer 2004 22 June - Amsterdam, Paradiso 23 June - Brighton, Concorde 2 24 June - Manchester, Bridgewater Hall 25 June - Glastonbury Festival, Jazz World stage 27 June - Bristol, Bierkellar 28 June - London, The Garage 29 June - London, The Garage

I think Jerry Sadowich should do a joint show with Jamie Cullum when he (JS) plays the Music Hall later in the year. Now that would be worth watching....o_O Dave

Is it just me or does Cavern Records need to install some heating ? I know you cant keep vinyl in a sauna but it does seem overly cold down there. Lets hope some more heating will be available when their new "Under the Arches" shop opens... Dave

Yep apart from the Thrill Jockey label I quite like some of the artists on Chicago's Hefty label. Nice mix of jazz, funk, electronica and hip hop...

So is it true that Jamie C is doing an Unknown Pleasures gig at the Ltree....

To think I only got a Tortoise album cos Nomeansno mentioned them in an interview a few years ago http://www.ssmt-reviews.com/int/nomeansnoint2.htm . I recommend the Chicago Underground Trio / Quartet / Duo outfit as well. Dave

Hear some material from the forthcoming Tortoise album and an interview / music selection from Dan Bitney of the group... http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/experimental.shtml?seanrowley It starts about 70 or 80 mins in, enjoy, Dave PS anyone got anything by Isotope 217 or the Sea & Cake while I am in Tortoise related land