first mixtape of 2010

as is always the case with the first show of the year, i fluffed my lines something rotten during the beginning of broadcast and there was also a few technical errors...one which was particularly catastrophic, but as things progressed i managed to find my, ahem, groove...

anyway, here's the playlist - note to self: stop saying "anyway"

david bowie - let's spend the night together
elliot smith - stupidity tries
super furry animals - the very best of neil diamond
lcd soundsystem - all i want
king creosote - 678
belle and sebastian - the blues are still blue
black sabbath - war pigs
mos def - quiet dog
broken bells - the mall and misery
jamie t - the man's machine
arctic monkeys - old yellow bricks
new order - your silent face
leonard cohen - famous blue raincoat
toots and the maytals - 54-46 that's my number
bobby womack - california dreamin'
COVER TRACKS: bob dylan - one more cup of coffee
COVER TRACKS: the white stripes - one more cup of coffee
marvin gaye - mercy mercy me
the cure - a forest (acoustic)
eels - fresh blood
jackie wilson - (your love keeps lifting me) higher
roots manuva - witness (1 hope)
the beatles - and your bird can sing
iggy pop - nightclubbing
mull historical society - animal cannabus
steppenwolf - born to be wild
ash - girl from mars
hot chip - shake a fist
cat stevens - father and son
MIXTAPE CONFESSIONS TRACK:take that - back for good
the beach boys - wouldn't it be nice
guided by voices - hold on hope
mgmt - flash delirium
del shannon - runaway
the temper trap - sweet disposition
errors - bridge or cloud?
howling bells - into the chaos
basement jaxx ft. lightspeed champion - my turn
nick cave and the bad seeds - there she goes, my beautiful world

this month I have been mostly listening to...

Broken Bells - Broken Bells

i picked up this album with no real idea of what it was going to sound like. just knowing that it was the product of the shins' james mercer and dangermouse working together produced enough curiosity for me to purchase it.

i'll be honest, I've never listened to a great deal of the shins. not for any particular reason or dislike of their music you understand, i just never really got sucked in by what i heard. dangermouse, on the other hand, created 'the grey album', a feat of such musical fantasticness it was illegal, a bona-fide international smash hit with gnarls barkley's 'crazy', produced, amongst others, one of my favourite bands (the rapture) and collaborated with so many quality musicians and artists across such a variety and range of genres that you just know the guy has one hell of a record collection. plus his real name is brian.

i'm glad my interest was piqued because the slight leap of faith i made with my cash has provided me with what must be my favourite album of the year so far (excluding the 3rd lcd soundsystem album, which isn't officially out yet. more on that later).

the whole album has a rather nice, laid back feel to it and will potentially be the soundtrack to many a barbecue this summer. in some ways however this is also one of the albums negative aspects. as wonderful as the album sounds, it is often hard to distinguish between tracks, the ambiance of the album being somewhat too dream-like to cement individual songs in your head. the wonderful exception to this is album closer 'the mall & misery' which begins with it's feet still firmly in dream-pop territory but mashes in post-punk guitars, chanting and a hum-a-long chorus to end the album on a high point. some of the tracks, particularly 'the ghost inside', sound like gorillaz' better output (hardly suprising given dangermouse's involvement with 'demon days) and 'trap doors' is a perfect summation of the band's head-in-the-clouds-but-feet-on-the-ground sound.

8.5/11


The Beatles - Revolver

not exactly a contemporary album but, as the post's title suggests, this has been aiding the onset of tinnitus for me this month.

i think most music fans would be hard pressed to find their favourite beatles album, given the "classic" status bestowed on, well, all of them, but i reckon at a push i would go for 'revolver'.

'sergeant pepper' is great but paul's contributions lean towards his crappier, cornier, over-earnest efforts. i adore 'the white album' but it is maybe a bit too experimental. genre-spanning, progressive and a fantastic album yes, but lacking any sort of coherence, making it less an album and more of a collection of songs and experiments. all the early stuff, cracking pop records they may be (and life would be so much duller without 'day tripper', 'she loves you' and the beatles version of 'twist and shout' in it) are just that, pop records, not the mixture of pop, experimentation, musicianship and songcraft that the later albums are. 'rubber soul' comes close but for me, 'revolver' is the ultimate beatles record.

where 'the white album' seems to chuck everything at the canvas and see what sticks, 'revolver' is less jackson pollock and more salvador dali. still very left-of-centre and unconventional but everything is intentional, every riff essential, every drum fill deliberate (or in dali's case , every melty clock intentional, every spindly-legged elephant essential. not the best of comparisons but you get my point). nothing could be cut from this album to improve it, it is, dare i say it, perfect.

the opening salvo of 'taxman', 'eleanor rigby' and 'i'm only sleeping' is an excellent triptych of songs, showcasing and encapsulating the album's intent, quality, range and feel in under 8 minutes. 'i'm only sleeping' is a particular favourite of mine, one of the beatles most criminally underrated songs, which, frankly, should be taught to kids in primary school, much like 'yellow submarine' is.

yes, 'revolver' has 'yellow submarine' on it. not the most critically revered of beatles songs but you know what? fuck it. i like it. and anyway, as mcartney himself has pointed out: "it's a happy place, that's all. you know, it was just...we were trying to write a children's song. that was the basic idea. and there's nothing more to be read into it than there is in the lyrics of any children's song."

cheers paul, couldn't have put it better myself. or could i?

if you don't like 'yellow submarine' you are most likely either a) a snob, b) dead inside or c) a victim of child abuse...

yeah, i like that way more.

(on a side note, check out roots manuva's, um, different cover here and sebadoh's charmingly lo-fi (read: fucking shoddy) cover here)

'and your bird can sing' is a another high point, a demonstration in quality pop songwriting with some excellent guitar lines from harrison and is very much a lennon piece. which leads me to another interesting point of 'revolver'. as the beatles progressed mccartney and lennon's song writing partnership became increasingly polarised. everyone knows this and it is almost blatantly obvious on the later albums but on 'revolver', whilst it is noticeable, you can hear the songs going in different directions but simultaneously reigning each other in. none are in conflict with each other, the songs sound like they all belong together, something which is necessary for an album to work as an album, rather than, as mentioned before, a collection of songs.

the album closer 'tomorrow never knows' is, apparently, the first psychedelic song, something i doubt and believe is giving the beatles far too much credit, but i digress. it is in complete contrast to the opener 'taxman' and thoroughly satisfies as an ending to the album.

terms like 'muscial journey' are incredibly wanky and not something i would ever like to use myself however that is the feeling one is left with after listening to 'revolver', like you've been on a journey. one that you are more than happy to repeat.

11/11

LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

right, this isn't out until next month but, you can stream the entire album on the band's website or even download it illegally, if you are naughty, or, like me, love LCD and are really impatient.

i don't want to sound hyperbolic here and i know i will but everything james murphy does is brilliant, the man can just simply do no wrong. 'this is happening' is just what you would want from a third effort.

it still sounds like LCD soundsystem, none of the tracks would be out of place on the first two albums. murphy still wears his influences very much on his sleeve (the fall, talking heads, bowie, disco and post-punk) but always err on the side of tribute, "nod towards" or "knowing wink" rather than rip-off or tired pastiche. track four 'all i want' for example sounds awfully like bowie's 'heroes' with its krautrock drums and a guitar refrain that is so close to stealing it is indecent. it never feels like murphy is attempting to directly imitate his forebears however. it is more like he picks and chooses what he feels are the best bits of his record collection and re-arranges them into something fresh.

opener 'dance yrself clean' even references previous album 'sound of silver's opener 'get innocuous' beginning quietly and then bang! where 'get innocuous' kicked in with a beast of a drum beat, 'dance yrself clean' does the same with an added synthline which benefits immensely from being played at volume. the majority of tracks come inbetween the 6 and 9 minute mark, the exception being lead single 'drunk girls' which, much like 'daft punk is playing at my house' will play at many a house party and indie disco over the coming years.

the length of the tracks, whilst unusual, is not a misstep and none outstay their welcome. in most cases the songs add layer upon layer onto themselves, starting simplistically but ending/peaking with drums and basslines practically hugging, synths squealing tunefully and murphy's stoic delivery contrasting nicely with nancy whang's shouty-but-ever-so-cute backing vocals. as i write this, i've only listened to 'this is happening' a few times but unlike broken bells' debut, which was initially pleasing to the ear but took a few listens to fully absorb, 'this is happening' is immediately rewarding for both the ear, brain and hips (if i was a dancer that is). do yrself a favour (see what i did there?) and immediately gain 1000 cool points by getting this album.

10.5/11

and here is the rest of my recent listening, in one sentence or less.

Mos Def - The Ecstatic

soulful, groovy and unique in comparison to mainstream hip-hop.

Iggy Pop - The Idiot

bowie was obviously holding iggy's hand throughout but this only improves the record.

Art Brut - Art Brut Vs. Satan

more embarrassing, touching and hilarious escapades from eddie argos' life set to roughshod guitars and yelping

Errors - Come Down With Me

great on record, but admitedly better live, this crosses the genres of post rock and electro and quite nicely it does it too.

Neil Young - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

finely treads the lines between country rock, proto-grunge and fret-wanking excess and singer-songwriter introversion.

i have also, on and off listened to the following tracks:

eels - the look you gave that guy
roots manuva - witness (1 hope)
frank black and the catholics - true blue (not a madonna cover sadly)
joy division - isolation
jarvis cocker - running the world (cunts are still running the world to be precise)
the faces - ooh la la
coldplay - life in technicolor ii (hate to admit it but i like this)
lady gaga - bad romance and poker face (see above)
hot chip - shake a fist
buzzcocks - moving away from the pulsebeat
sonic youth - kool thing
the twilight sad - that summer at home i had become the invisible boy

the new (well, not that new) frightened rabbit and hot chip albums are in my purchasing crosshairs and shall be reviewed next time...

that's all folks and happy listening!

My sympathy and apologies...

...to the people of Poland for the tragic plane crash that occurred early on Saturday morning.

I would especially like to apologise for the frankly pathetic lack of coverage of this event within Britain's print media, given not only its significance but the large Polish population living in the United Kingdom.

Apparently Kerry Katona is more newsworthy.

Fuck.

That.

blu-mental!

Heston's Roman Feast (46 mins)First Broadcast: 9PM Tuesday 24 Mar 2009 Channel 4

Includes detailed scenes of pig butchery which are not for the faint hearted.

Heston's Tudor Feast (49 mins)First Broadcast: 9PM Tuesday 17 Mar 2009 Channel 4

Includes a frog being killed and skinned and pig butchery, both of which some viewers may find distressing.

Heston's Medieval Feast (48 mins)First Broadcast: 9PM Tuesday 10 Mar 2009 Channel 4

Includes a head-to-tail slaughter of a blood-sucking eel.

Heston's Chocolate Factory Feast (49 mins) 9PM Tuesday 06 Apr 2010 Channel 4

Some strong language.

has Heston been asked to tone down his shtick? say it ain't so!

dun de dun, dun de dun, dun de dun, dun dun de dun!!!!

so, finally, after a year of being teased by some, in my opinion, decidedly underwhelming specials and a fairly naff christmas swansong for tennant (despite the involvement of the always wonderful john simm and bernard cribbins) dr. who is back baby!!!

i must admit, i do miss the heady days of "season 3" doctor who when i would watch with my flatmate and we would both cheer as the opening titles began, as opposed to now, when i cheer on my own and just get an incredulous look from my better half (my theory is, as she is polish and therefore dr. who isn't ingrained in her nation's pop culture as it is here, the whole thing is pretty flummoxing to her. that said, she has clasped other british institutions to her chest, mainly tea, the smiths, "the office", stephen fry and indian takeaways, so i'll put it down to tennant's gurning and the OTT, incoherent, almost stream of conscientious plot of the christmas specials.) anyway, new who kicked off where we, um, left off with the tardis crashing down towards london and the doctor almost getting castrated by big ben...

i really like the new credits, which are apparently intentionally retro, which is nice...the new version of the theme is far more subtle than the oom-pa-pah of the massively OTT, orchestrated theme of season 4 and just sounds like a sci-fi theme again...only quibble about this is that the aforementioned dun de dun's, my favourite part of the who theme, are fairly quiet and almost unnoticeable in the myriad of sounds in the mix. this has made me realise quite how petty and insignifigant my life has become. the fact that i am moaning about part of a tv show's theme song depresses me immensely but then i remember: "hey! it's dr. who!" and everything is ok again! thank goodness for my inner child!

NOT THAT ANYONE ACTUALLY READS THIS OR ANYTHING, BUT IF YOU ARE, AND YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE ELEVENTH HOUR YET, BE WARNED, HERE BE SPOILERS

the first portion of the episode, with the doctor and a 7-year old amy pond, was a pretty good introduction to smith's doc, with a typically who like comedic farce involving different food stuffs and the doctor settling on a meal of fish fingers with custard. i can hear the pitter patter of numerous complaints to "points of view" from miffed parents whose children now refuse to eat their greens (or bacon, beans, apples, yoghurt or bread and butter for that matter) and insist on a nutritious diet of birdseye and ambrosia.

for a while i hoped that maybe the doctor would have a precocious 7 year old as his companion, which could actually have been a lot of fun, but i'm sure post-madeleine mccann this would absolutely never happen as the party pooping spoilsports at the daily mail would be up in arms and down the beeb's throat in an instant...

anyway, straight back to business for the doctor, with an extra-terrestrial crack in the scottish tyke's bedroom (or something)...i enjoyed the running gag in the episode about the doctor's timekeeping and i do think i like smith in the role. my only sore point regarding him is the fact so far he still seems a bit too much like tennant, although at this stage that may be intentional.

the episode as a whole was decent, if not noteworthy, who and it seemed to set up a nice new bunch of characters for the doctor and amy to interact with when they're are back in/on present day earth...namely the lovely annette crosbie, rory, amy's boyfriend/fiancee who i hope will be more than just a "white mickey" and a bloke with a laptop called jeff who could potentially be brilliant comic relief.

amy seems like she will be a decent companion and it's nice to have a scot as a regular cast member...although her occupation as a "kiss-o-gram" is a tad suspect as i can't see that being a financially viable career choice! could the doctor's companion actually be a stripper? or worse? i can imagine that there will be some very dubious fan fiction appearing online very shortly, exploring new uses for a sonic screwdriver that have yet to be covered in what is essentially a kid's show!

all in all, it was rather good and i have high hopes for the rest of the series...frankly i can't wait to see the return of the weeping angels, a dalek in world war 2 and, possibly best of all, a guest appearance from, oh yes, bill nighy!

i love saturdays again!

movie reviews by haiku #1

this week i have mostly been watching...

the wrestler - 6.5

mickey rourke, has been

daughter not like very much

ending bit rubbish

or

this isn't quite as

depressing as requiem for

a dream...oscars please?

terminator salvation - 6

christian bale, dour

sam worthington, tough as fuck

mcg not shit shock

or

hey look it's arnie!

your pretty fucked now bale,

dun dun, dun, dun dun!

the graduate - 8

anne bancroft is hot

dustin, very fresh faced

as good as the book

or

K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider

is Dustin Hoffman's father!

spinoff potential?

donkey punch - 6.5

original plot!

sex plus drugs equals bloodshed

death by flare looks sore

or

jaime winstone hot

looks a bit like her dad though

which is off putting

back with a vengeance

right, in the spirit of my recent (and mostly succesful) aspirations to "get stuff done" rather than procrastinate or play "just one more" game of canyon defense (because that is NOT procrastination) I have decided to actually write to my blog for once in a while and maybe, just maybe regularly...

the things that's really grinding my gears right now is the bbc's current plan to axe both 6 music and the asian network, unsuprisingly the loss of 6music being my primary concern. frankly the decision has shocked me. part of the beeb's remit is to provide an alternative to commercial stations which is exactly what 6 music does.

the proposed cuts are to put an emphasis on "quality over quantity" which makes the decision to lose 6music baffling as the word quality is one generally associated with it (george lamb being an obvious exception, naturally.

it is also cutting it's funding towards buying imported shows to push original content. whilst the bbc has many great original shows (mock the week, buzzcocks, QI, HIGNFY, gavin and stacey, dr who, being human, live at the apollo, anything involving charlie brooker and such) we can expect to lose mad men and heroes from the schedules (boo!)

i have made a complaint to auntie (ooh! how grown up) and you should too or 6 music will be gone this time next year...

and that will be shit

the orange jobs website is a piece of shit

after trapsing going through a bunch of form filling, cv uploading and answering stupid questions like "How would you ensure you meet your individual and team targets?" * it took me back to the beginning of an endless cycle of form filliing...

also, how come it's advertised as a 30+ hour on the job centre website but only 25 hours on the orange one?

___________________________________________________

*how can i fucking answer that question a) when i don't know what these mysterious targets are and b) without resorting to jobspeakbabble nonsese with 'commitment', 'drive' and other such words dotted around random sentences made only to fit these words in

i'm terrible...

...at updating my playlists...

so apologies for that, anyone who cares (so, well, me then) will see them all soon but i just want to leave a quick blog about things in general...

my two cents on MJ's death: bloody shit...for many reasons, 1) he has left an amazing musical legacy behind him and it's a damn shame people won't be able to see his stint at the 02 arena

2)i, and my girlfriend feel really guilty for enjoying, and indeed, pissing ourselves with laughter, at the south park michael jackson (sorry, mr jefferson) earlier that week

blah blah....anyway...

i'm working for the beeb again this weekend which is nice, and come tuesday i should finally get the cap on my tooth which means i can smile again without looking like a wannabe shane mcgowan...

the end of me-fm this year has made me a bit sad but! it might not be the end! i can say no more, but i'll keep y'all posted...

musically, i am currently loving the royal we, polish band myslovitz, the gun club, barry adamson (and film scorers generally IE: ennio morricone, lalo schifrin and angelo badalmenti, jack white's new band the dead weather and, oddly, tom jones

in other "stuff kyle has loved recently" news, i REALLY enjoyed "whatever happened to the man from tomorrow" by alan moore, i normally can't stand superman but that was a cracking story...

a shiteload of playlists...

ok, i've been disgracefully lazy updating the playlists so this will include all the buggers from friday 5 june to monday 15...yes i know, bad me...

IF YOU ARE READING THIS, I HAVEN'T FINISHED ADDING ALL THE PLAYLISTS YET...BEAR WITH ME

today...good show with colin 'roach' farquar, our epic fail of a film critic and a brief appearance by the lovely marta cygan...

-pixies - gigantic
-the music - take the long road and walk it
-malcolm middleton - blue plastic bags (source of the title of this very blog!)
-the clash - comeplete control
-p.j. harvey - dress
-snow patrol - ask me how i am
-new order - ceremony
-jimi hendrix - spanish castle magic
-tv on the radio - dancing choose(some dodgy tech difficulties here, sorry TOTR fans)
-the archies - sugar sugar
-the horrors - sea within a sea
-!!! - hello? is this thing on?
-orbital - chime
GUILTY PLEASURE TRACK:-lionel richie - hello
-belle and sebastian - lazy line painter jane
-django django - fire water
-future of the left - fuck the countryside alliance
90s TIME TRAVEL TRACK:-shed seven - chasing rainbows (shudder)
-david bowie - changes
-mystery jets ft. laura marling - young love
-beastie boys - intergalactic

that's all for now, the other playlists are scribbled down on various bits of paper at home...

oh, and i'll get some more of the mighty william of shatner on soon, i promise and alison? i will NEVER, EVER play fucking blue, so there...

kx