kirsten

The ridiculous Fumaça Preta have a new album out on the 8th April, called 'Impuros Fanáticos'. I thoroughly recommend their self-titled debut album for Os Mutantes-worshipping party-music.

4OD.

I picked up Andrew Matheson's 'Sick On You' as it kept cropping up on 'best music books of 2015' lists. It's basically the story of 'lost punk band' the Holywood Brats. They formed at the same time as the New York Dolls and dressed like them but in London. They never enjoyed the same success as the Dolls as they were disastrous human beings. The book is okay. It's a bit repetitive (rehearse, sound amazing, get potentially life changing gig offer, screw up at the gig, lose a member, hire a new member, get a potentially life changing gig offer, rehearse, sound amazing, screw up at the actual gig, etc) but there are some good stories. If you can get past that the book is written in the present tense (ugh) and the author tries too hard to come across as a total wideboy, then this is the book for you! I also read Eddie Argos' (aye, of Art Brut) book, I Formed A Band. It's quite entertaining and you can breeze through it in a couple of hours. If you like stories of him offending other 2005 bands at festivals, then this is the book for you!

Ugh, dicks. There's no arguing with people like that sometimes. I had a similar a conversation today with a new woman in my office who is the single most irritating person I've ever met. She would get on with Teabags' AGFW. The person who owns the radio in our office has been on holiday forever, so I've had the luxury of 6Music every day instead of her preferred Heart or Radio 2. On Monday, Shaun Keaveny had the news about Bowie confirmed as his show began and you could hear him and Matt Everitt try to hold it together when announcing it. He then played loads of Bowie and stuff that influenced the big guy. Then Lauren Laverne played almost exclusively Bowie on her show. My AGFW made some comment about being sick of hearing his music, which I politely ignored because she has previously said that she doesn't see the point in "wasting money on going to see bands live" so I know that we are not of the same mindset at all. Today, though, there was some advert on the radio about a Bowie special this weekend and she said "Oh my god, what is this, the David Bowie station?" I was less polite this time. Remember when Michael Jackson died and that was all that was on the news for weeks and his entire back catalogue was getting played on every mainstream radio station? If Radio 1 or 2 had only been playing Bowie or songs he had featured on for an hour at a time, that'd be a little bit weird, but imagine getting pissed off at a station targeted at music obsessives daring to make several references to someone hugely important and influential days following their unexpected death. Ugh. Anyway, I read this today and it's good: http://thequietus.com/articles/19533-david-bowie-blackstar-lyrics-death

It's so sad and strange. It only really sunk in for me yesterday. I know this is sort of a cliche to say when someone dies but I genuinely don't think we'll see anyone like him, or an outpouring of grief on this level again. This is the first time I can think of where someone big has died and I have made it through the whole day without seeing anybody be a grief-fascist on Twitter or Facebook (although I've seen a few "shut up and let us be sad!" articles written, so I guess there must have been some arseholes dictating who and what we're allowed to cry about). I'm trying to think of there's anyone of a similar stature to Bowie that would cause this much universal emotion if they died and I'm struggling. I initially thought maybe Paul McCartney, but almost immediately discounted him as I don't think it'd be the same and I've been trying to put my finger on just why not. I think Bowie is such a special case in this instance is because he is one of the few artists who has always been present and remained relevant. Jan is spot on about him constantly engaging with contemporary music. He wasn't out of touch in any way and I think that still being influenced by new music, decades after he first became an influence himself, is what kept his own work sounding so fresh. Yeah, he had a few albums that weren't great, but even the dull ones have some total belters of tracks on them. The last two albums are fucking great and I was really worried that they might be terrible. I'm so glad he lived long enough to see Blackstar released, and that it is mega-weird. Anyhoo, I think I could talk about him forever, but I'll leave it for now. This is still one of my favourite non-music things he's done. What a fantastic human being.

Fuck this year. Two favourites down in the space of a week. Is this my punishment for being so consistently terrible at the Dead Pool?

I really really really want that new LCD Soundsystem record to be great.

Shit! 2016 already. What's out? What's coming out? What are you looking forward to. I just listened the new Bowie album on Spotify and I quite enjoyed it! Plenty of weird jazz freak-outs to be entertaining despite it only being seven songs long. Eleanor Friedberger has a new record out this month too. I think it will be beautiful.

It's the thing you play your fireplace through.

I fucking LOVE Nurse Jackie. It's so underrated! I've just seen that the seventh series is finally on Netflix, so I'll watch that when I'm done with Making A Murderer (can't watch more than one episode at a time because it's so rage-inducing). Did anybody watch Deutschland '83 on actual television on Sunday? I forgot about it but it looks good.

I think I phrased what I meant badly. Not necessarily just the talking up the times when he was a nice guy, as even total arseholes are capable of good deeds, but just some of it is really weird. Like, he sort of glosses over the fact that he assaulted Julia Nagle in New York ("We knocked each other about a bit... But I refused to prosecute.") and then later claimed he was arrested for shouting ("What I didn't know was that it's an offence to do that, to start shouting, because of the fire regulations. I understand it now.") rather than the fact that he was being aggressive. In another part, also in New York pre-9/11, he has a throwaway paragraph about how outside the World Trade Centre, he'd told some guy who was going in that the building looked poorly constructed and unstable. MES "I told you so"ing September 11th. It's just bizarre little things like that. I'd definitely recommend it as a read, though!

Decided that my one resolution for this year will be 'More Books, Less Internet' as 2015 was my most pathetic year for reading yet (I think I only read about 13 or so...) On Friday I read 'Renegade' by Mark E Smith. Whilst it is very very funny at times and bitter the whole way through, I was mainly struck by how delusional he is. Apart from playing the martyr the whole way through, he tells all these obviously made-up stories about times he acted like A Great Guy or describes little philosophies he has that are completely contradictory to the way he conducts himself. It's mental. I might re-read it just so I can take note of how many times he mentions the fact that the pay within the Fall is completely equal. Still a good read, probably 4/5 but definitely one to be taken with a truckload of salt. Yesterday I read Jon Ronson's 'So You've Been Publicly Shamed'. He's one of my favourites and it's remarkably easy to read due to his writing style, but I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I have his last few books. I think that despite the fact he often deals with serious subjects, it's usually in a light-hearted way, whereas this was just grim. There's a few funny moments and I enjoyed his constant justifications for writing the book, almost doing some soul-searching himself. There's not really a conclusion to the whole thing, just a shrug of "aren't people cruel sometimes?" but I got the new paperback version, which has a very good extra chapter about the tiny backlash he has received since the book was published. Probably 3/5.

What did you think? I have decided to move Petite Noir's 'The King of Anxiety' from my top ten and replace it with Lizzo's record 'Big Grrrl Small World' because I forget that it's actually an EP and not a full record and doesn't count. It is still lovely, though, and everybody should buy it.

Ah shit, Lizzo's album just came out. Gonna give it a listen, may have to edit my list.

NEW SERIES OF SERIAL KLAXON

Glad you enjoyed. I loved that book. Props to the translator, must be such a tough job. I have been shit at reading this year. My excuse is that I walk to work rather than get the bus, where I used to do most of my reading, but I have also just become very lazy. I've been better in the last month or though, due to rekindling my love of music books. I finished Carrie Brownstein's autobiography. It was for the most part great, but felt a little rushed at the end. "We decided to stop the whole band thing and I made up for it by getting loads of pets. Then we reunited. The end." I am currently the last person in the world who likes music to read 'Our Band Could Be Your Life'. I've been meaning to for ages, but always managed to find something else to read instead. I'm only just on the second chapter, about the wonderful Minutemen, so have only finished the Black Flag one so far. Henry Rollins used to be a colossal prick, eh?

Agreed. And in addition to this: no coat hooks in places there should be coat hooks. The only seat left at my favourite coffee shop the other day was a high bar stool. Ideally, there would have been a hook under the ledge where I put my coffee, but there wasn't and so I had to sit on my jacket like a schmuck. "If there is no back to your chair, a coat hook should be there" as the old saying doesn't go.

TEN BEST!!! Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love Mac McCaughan - Non-Believers The Mountain Goats - Beat The Champ Titus Andronicus - The Most Lamentable Tragedy Downtown Boys - Full Communism Mourn - Mourn Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit Petite Noir - The King of Anxiety Twerps - Range Anxiety Destroyer - Poison Season THESE I LIKED A LOT (A LOT) AND WILL SOMEDAY LOVE, BUT I HAVEN'T LISTENED TO THEM ENOUGH YET: C Duncan - Architect Mikal Cronin - MKIII FFS - FFS Christopher Owens - Chrissybaby Forever Yo La Tengo - Stuff Like That There Petite Noir - La Vie Est Belle Jeffrey Lewis - Manhattan JC Satan - JC Satan Colleen Green - I Want To Grow Up Young Guv - Ripe For Love Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell Radical Dads - Universal Coolers My Winner Of The Year is...

December basically doesn't count, so has anybody come up with their top 10 of 2015 yet?

If he was still a moderator, I'd start a petition for his dismissal.

I have liste I have listened now. It is good. Highlights are 'Support Tour' and 'The Pigeon'. The latter is his Jewish reworking of Poe's The Raven that he used to do on tour, so glad it's been recorded! "Quoth the Pigeon, 'Bupkis'."

There's a new Jeffrey Lewis album (new band, JL & Los Bolts) called Manhattan that was released the other day. I haven't listened to it yet but I can guarantee it will be brilliant. He's playing two shows in Scotland in December. Saturday December 12th - CCA, Glasgow Sunday December 13th - The Mash House Sadly nae ABZ date. The show last year at the Moorings was possibly the best I've seen him. He is just the greatest and I love him very much. Cool.

I think John W was one of the photographers at a pal's wedding tonight.

Pizza Hut do chips now. Things I learned today.

Speaking of C&A, I still find it hilarious that there's a giant one near the TV tower in Berlin, so when you've got an amazing view of the whole city, you can't avoid seeing it too. Preise gut, alles gut!