Well I did say get there early to avoid disappointment, but didn't take my own advice. I also didn't realise how small Cherry Jam is, so when we walked past just after 7pm and the rope was across we just assumed it wasn't open yet. Actually that meant that it was full, and although we queued until 8.15pm we were told there was little chance of getting in unless a lot of people left. So no Clientele gig for us then, and we ended up in the Coach and Horses in Soho instead!

Short notice (!) but the Clientele are playing in a few hours at the Rough Trade night at Cherry Jam, 58 Porchester Road London W2
Line up is....The Clientele + VV Hotel, DJ  11 till 2  Erol Trash £5 or free 'til 8pm, £7 after 11pm
Get there early to avoid dissappointment, nearest tubes Royal Oak, Bayswater or Paddington.

That Kidd Dynamo review is online at last - I've even given them their own page this time!

Nearly two weeks since I posted here - I've no excuses really, just laziness.
Over the last few days I have been very active though. I've been out a lot, went record shopping in Soho (which mean there'll be some reviews on here too!), and finished recording a radio drama. Which was nice.
I also installed a sitemeter on here, so I can see where you're all coming from.
Oh yeah, and I made an appointment with the dentist I met at the Kidd Dynamo show. Isn't it fantastic when a plan comes together.

Some gigs coming up in London...
Saturday 2 March - the Church of Simian - special event at Mass in Brixton featuring Simian, Minotaur Shock, Appliance, Capitol K and Dj sets from Simian, David Holmes and Alison Goldfrapp. Only £7 (shurely shome mishtake???) and open from 10pm til 3am.
Sunday 3 The Notwist 93 Feet East - £8, 7.30pm
Tuesday 5 The Walkmen Barfly at the Monarch - £5, 8.30pm
Wednesday 6 Fridge Scala - £8.50, 7.30pm

I was mildly miffed that I missed the White Stripes 'secret' show in 93 Feet East on Saturday, especially as I got an email telling me about it. Despite the fact that I was in work about 5 minutes away from the Rough Trade Shop I didn't have enough free time to get out and get a ticket (priced at the princely sum of £5 !!), and no-one else was around to get them. Oh well.

Last night I went to see Kidd Dynamo's 'proper' London debut - the first time over here with a full band. I haven't had time to add a full review, but in brief I'll tell you that it was damn good and they got a really enthusiastic reception from the decent sized crowd. The review won't be posted til Tuesday as I'll be in Belfast this weekend. (that's still pretty quick work for me though!)

One thing I was surprised by was the state of Camden High St these days. Although I don't live that far from it, I hadn't been there for a while, and I noticed it's got even more sleazy and run down than ever.
The other thing that surprised me was that I found a dentist's business card in my pocket this morning. I remember talking to her at the gig, but I'm wondering now if I've actually made an appointment. Huh?

The Dido Demographic (from the Guardian). I should dedicate it to the guy who has just moved out of the flat above me. I can't be too cheeky as I actually have 13 of the 20 CDs mentioned - although I don't play them over and over again!

Happy birthday Debbie! (and Abraham Lincoln),
Nah, fuck it, I gave Death Cab for Cutie a miss in favour of many pints in the local, but I will definitely be at Kidd Dynamo tomorrow night.

Gig-going drought nearly over! I may go and see Death Cab for Cutie at Camden Monarch on Tuesday 12, and I'll definitely be at Delta + Kidd Dynamo in the same venue the following night.
Also in London on Wednesday 13 is the return of Cornershop (at the Scala) and a Strange Fruit night featuring Electrelane and Meanwhile Back in Communist Russia at 93 Feet East.

Isn't it funny how you don't notice some things until it's too late. Last week French composer Yann Tierson played the Royal Festival Hall on the strength of his soundtrack work on Amelie and the Dream Life of Angels, and I gave it a miss. I've only realised that he also wrote 'La Dispute' on Third Eye Foundation's recent remix album, which is enough reason for going to see him on its own! Oh well, maybe next time.

Gigs!!
Much NME related activity - tonight is the Aphex Twin at the Astoria (it's sold out), and tomorrow is Trail of Dead/ Clinic/ The Faint/ British Sea Power, also at the Astoria. I think you may be able to locate tickets for this (£11) but the damn thing starts at 6pm!!
Saturday's freebie ROTA session at Notting Hill Arts Club is a bit of an epic with Kranky artistes Amp headlining, ably supported by Portal, Teleran records acts 2 By Bukowski ('a Greek GYBE' apparently!) and Yellow 6, as well as Goddie Pal and Lucky Dragons. Starts at 3pm, over by 8.30pm, all free.
More later....

Disco 2002 ! Nick Cave will cover Pulp's Disco 2000 in a waltz style for the B-side of their new single 'Bad Cover Version' (you see!?). At least that's what it says here.

Anyway, I've had a very relaxed weekend in Belfast - apart from the return of my notorious hypochondria as I visited the doctors with what I thought was the onset of DVT. Predictably, I am absolutely fine. Back in London now, bored in work, so hopefully able to get some new stuff onto the site this week.

I've added a list of "other music related blogs" to the menu on the left. I've actually only met two of the bloggers in question (Anne Marie and Nine), so it's not some sinister clique - actually they're just good pages that I found whilst browsing about on a nightshift!

Coming soon: new links, including a lots of music-related blogs that I have stumbled across in the last month.
I have to mention The Church of Me in advance though, as it is so well written it has actually made me keen to investigate So Solid Crew (specifically the 'Fuck It' mix CD) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; two slices of popular culture which I just do not get. His piece on Kate Bush is also great, so pay him a visit.
Plenty more blog related links on the way!

Some decent records actually came out this week (!), here they are...

ALBUMS
the Chemical Brothers Come with us
less collaborative than earlier, pushing more into warped psychedelic stuff.
Neil Halstead Sleeping on Roads
Unfairly under-rated Mojave 3 singer/songwriter's debut solo album - he plays everything on it as well.
Nobukazu Takemura Sign
digital companion to the limited 12" released in late 2001 - guest appearances from John McEntire and Douglas McCoombs of Tortoise
Steve Reich Triple Quartet
excellent new cd from the king of minimalism - rave reviews in the wire and the guardian - his best for years apparently

SINGLES
Fog Pneumonia
a one man band and Ninja Tune’s first ever singer/songwriter/producer - acoustic strumming meets turntable action -a bit like Neil Young meets Coldcut! Great debut single.
the Clientele / Clock Strikes Thirteen split single
another in the drive-in series of reverse split singles , where each band covers the other in this case Clientele cover " six foot drop' and cst perform "we could walk together"
the Cooper Temple Clause Film maker / Been training dogs
more energetic than the stuff I usually listen to but this is really good stuff- tipped for great things this year.

Well my nightshift is going a bit better than usual, due to ITV showing New Order at Reading Festival in 1998, which I was actually at. I'd forgotten that they did a flat-out 'greatest hits' that night, it was fantastic. They even played 'Atmosphere'!

January - what is it good for? I've even been driven make up a lovely new A-Z index (long overdue) which collects our 60+ interviews and 80+ reviews into a single table. Thank God that's done!

Stepping the production drive next month - lots of new stuff on the way. Meanwhile, I'm treating this like a proper weblog and putting in links to stupid stuff like this. Enjoy!

In the last ten days - hardly any hits, hardly any posts, no interesting records released, no gigs to go to.
Hopefully, this will change soon. Today (if I wasn't working!) I would have gone to see Fog at the Notting Hill Arts Club, then Stars of the Lid and Fuxa at Kosmische (Upstirs at the Garage). Next weekend I will be away so I will miss Stars of the Lid again (31st - Arts Cafe, E1), Stereolab + Brigitte Fontaine (1st Feb - Royal Festival Hall), High Llamas and Simian (2nd - Queen Eliz Hall) and Meanwhile Back in Communist Russia (2nd - ROTA show at NHAC). Maybe I'll not go to any gigs at all this year!

At least I've managed to solve my home ISP problem as I have defected to the corporate might of AOL, although I wouldn't dream of using their browser. You should see what it does to some people's pages!

There are actually some decent records coming out this week, so a new release update will follow when I get time.

If anyone who can't get MTV2 wants to see the White Stripes 'Lego' video for 'Fell in Love with a Girl', go here.

Across the Line (BBC Radio Ulster) has put together a list of acts from Northern Ireland who might establish themselves in 2002. It paints a broad picture, taking in everything from metal to dance music. I would have added the Amazing Pilots, the Feline Dream, Some Days Better and Torgas Valley Reds in place of a few of their choices, but overall it's pretty spot on.

Right, no football today, so I've had plenty of time to get on with Slow Thrills stuff. At least I would have had if VirginNet (my home ISP) hadn't decided to suspend the freephone number I've been using for over a year. At least I assume that's what they've done, but I can't receive emails on my home Virgin account so they can't tell me! I had to resort to using AOL this afternoon, which does such funny things with certain page design and jpgs that I'd rather not use it. Although VirginNet seems fine at the mo, if anyone has been emailing myself or Gillian on our home Virgin Net addresses, please use another method to contact us! The search for a new ISP gets underway tomorrow.

I've been very busy with the African Cup of Nations - still at least has work has got interesting again! Obvious bets - Nigeria and Cameroon, outside bet - Senegal.
As for this website, I should be able to upload a fully updated index very soon, together with some news as to the content of Slow Thrills issue one.