This is one of The Culture Show's finest featurettes. Moby did his Busking Challenge (to play live somewhere in London to Joe Public for as much money as possible in 15 minutes) at Sloane Square a few weeks ago - no vid anywhere! And now da lovely Roisin has done hers in Covent Garden. At least Moby's was in a busker-free zone. The same could not be said of Covent Garden Piazza! Brave woman. Or, as someone 9 seconds in so kindly puts it: "Poor girl!". And at 0:30, a friendly supportive "See her!". Nice.
But our Roe does well. She even manages to get some of the stage choreography in. Bless.
At the pre-Oscars party at Soho House, LA, Friday, the stars had been hitting the house speciality: the elixir of yoot. Madge looks amazingly FRESH for a woman nearing fifty (but we know one tug on the label at the base of the wig and it all deflates)
Has Ashton stepped out with Rumer by mistake? Demi is looking ten years younger than her high school fella.
Matthew Perry gave the elixir a miss this year...
Helen couldn't make it but, thoughtfully, sent a piece of paper instead.
As well as headlining this year's St Patricks Day festival on Sunday 16th March in the glorious Trafalgar Square - where it's rumoured she'll be performing for a full hour - our favourite Irish chanteuse, Roisin Murphy, is also rehearsing with Tony Christie for an iTunes Live: London Sessions event next Saturday. Candy floss-haired Tony, who was as unfashionable as prawn cocktail at the end of the 70s, seems like the oddest choice in the world to perform alongside fashionista Roe. But not so odd when you know the many tentacled connections betwixt the two.
8 years ago, before the multi-million selling re-release of Is This the Way to Amarillo? jettisoned him back into the public eye, Tony sang Walk Like a Panther for the production trio The All Seeing I. The very same producers are also working with La Murphy and as they're Sheffield buddies of Richard Hawley (keep up at the back) who has Tony and Roisin performing on HIS new album, the dots are joined. Phew.
Anyhoo, clicky here for more info and how to get 'tickets' for the gig next Saturday, March 1st.
The Brits 2008. This was the performance of the night, and the most inspired. And, the kind of scatter-brained idea that makes the awards so special. Fuck the Ozzzzzzzzbournes, Rihanna and the Klaxons doing Umberella with Golden Skans backing track. Ha! Brilliant.
The Klaxons were just ON it and our Rihanna GOT it. Her hoodie, the flick of the hair to shake off the R 'n' B mousse, and the messianic posturing. Fabulosa. The Spandau Ballet/Hoxton styling was genius too.
At least it was a collaboration that worked as opposed to the aberration of Mika and Beth Ditto: "It'll be great, Beth. You just pop up do a line of your song, what was it again, 'Standing in the Way of Grace Kelly'?".
At this Brits School disco, sorry Brits Awards, The Osbournes did OK except for Sharon, Jack and Ozzzzzzzy. Kelly was professional, Sharon an embarrassing drunken mum, Jack, still Kevin the Teenager after all these years and who employed Ozzzzzzzzy? Just a shouty, drug-fucked tit; no doubt paid thousands of pounds per grunt. But overall, it was the same as every year: loads wrong with it; the wrong people won and most of the acts were rubbish.
I love the Brits.
The gorgeous Beth, looking for a bevvy in a specially-made House of Holland jumpsuit (take note Joanie!).
...have guilty pleasures and this is one of 'em. Sounding a lot like early noughties Italian Moony - remember DB Boulevard's Point of View? Or even sounding like a Sophie Ellis-Bextor reject from 2 albums ago, this song is a right old earworm.
Laura Critchley, for that is who it is, seems to have been floating around the chart margins and local newspapers forever. Honestly, there's only so many stories headed "Fame Calls for Laura" in the Carphone Warehouse Gazette a career can handle. And she could probably do without stories like the old baloney of catching 'ladies' man' Robbie William's eye (that's him on the left, and yes he HAS lost a lot of weight, must have a record coming out). The Liverpool lass, who supported the Sugababes last year, nah, me neither, seems to be getting playlisted on tons of radio stations so as you read this with, say, Q103 FM in Manchester on in the background, then there's a high probability Sometimes I is now playing.
If not, have a listen at HerSpace to the radio-friendly remix.
Whatevs, Terry Wogan loves this song. Shriek! I'm off for a lie down.
I'm getting really excited by this band. Hercules and Love Affair (see yesterday's post) have had a fantastic review of their brand new eponymous album in today's Observer Music Monthly. Go and enjoy here. It's interesting to see disco revisited in 2008. H&LA's version is a more tribal clubbier affair with Andy Butler's synth pop influences of Soft Cell and Depeche Mode thrown in for good measure. Forget the cheesy side of the genre and try these two as an example of Hercules and Love Affair's rootz...
January went by in a flash with barely a whisper and we're already halfway into February. But they both seem to be months where everything gets caught in Ang Lee's Ice Storm: frozen, muffled and a bit boring. Anything that pops up into view, a bit shiny-like, I'll swoop down on it like a magpie and love and hold it and call it my own.
Treading carefully into Dan's world here, but Mitchell and Webb are back with their series That Mitchell and Webb Look on BBC2 on Thursday. I like these two. They're funny. End of. And for two performers who get their faces EVERYWHERE, even on bus stop ad spaces (and no, I don't know the waving person who looks like Eileen from Coronation St), they're the most un-celebrity celebrities. For those who still have yet to sample M&W, here is an interview from last year, billed on their own site as "27 minutes of hilarious repartee".
A classic Peep Show moment where Mark kicks off on Jeremy's clubbing mates.
Peep Show is still one of the freshest shows in the TV calendar. Each series is as good as the last, and the forthcoming fifth one promises more of the same but with a different theme. The writers say it will be the dating series to exploit the characters' single status. Because of the point-of-view filming where all you see in sex scenes are faces, it means, according to Robert Webb, that "A very nice cameraman called Nick Martin bounces up and down on you politely".
Go here to today's The Guide for an interview where even in print, M&W tickle my funny bone.
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I'm going to add my voice to the sound of the crowd and give my love to Hercules and Love Affair. Coming on like Sylvester doing arthouse dance in Manchester circa A Certain Ratio, theirs is a gorgeous Valium disco. Instead of sharp collars and medallions, it's chiffon and Silvikrined afros floating through dry ice. It's the perfect music for a revival of the gayers' flag dancing. Anyone?
Andrew Butler, a DJ stroke producer has collaborators like Antony Hegarty, Nomi and Kim Ann with him in the H&LA project. In interviews, with his art school background, seems very focused with a clear vision of how H&LA should appear (like Greek gods come to save pop) and sound (like Cerrone on that dancey Strawberry acid tab you used to get in the early 90s). This attention to the art of the band is lacking in today's digital age. Fair enough, the physical product is kind of ignored these days, but look at how Roisin Murphy conducted her Overpowered album project; the imagery and imagination was there in not just the CD sleeves, but photoshoots, videos, and publicity shots that adorned a thousand-odd websites.
Antony Hegarty's voice fits this combo like a glove. And with a dance backing track, he sounds like the laconic, iconic Bryan Ferry (albeit with a little nip of helium) on Blind, the blinding new H&LA track currently being ignored by Radio 1. Fuckers.
Ooh what an itchy scratchy band! Like Andy Bell on a comedown with Placebo, Temposhark have a masterplan to get under the skin. And that's why they're insanely catchy. Bugger the pop pretensions, this lot want to be the second electro stadium band too, (the first being Depeche Mode natch). And judging by all the blog love, their masterplan is working.
Arjanwrites LOVES the UK 4-piece. He's even got a free download here and Electroqueer is fizzing at his robotic gash with not one, but two interviews here with ver ladz.
God love 'em, the lads are bouncing back and forth across the Atlantic promoting the new album The Invisible Line being all hard working and that. The Imogen Heap duet Not That Big and the stonking Crime are my faves. Clicky here to have a listen on TheirSpace
It's a great curtain-twitching moment this. A friend of mine has come up with a simple, but clever idea: stick a camera on the phone box opposite and film it. It's new, and is updated every couple of days or so.
And... relax. I am now connected to the outside world at home, (and am free of house-move droppings). WiFi cafe? Why? I had a new playground to explore. Which is my excuse for not being around much.
Bona! This is a music blog. If there are any mp3 files uploaded which need to be taken down, get in touch! Also, email me if you have any music you want nice people to hear...
