stephen fretwell

as it stands i know pretty much fuck all about this guy but i am now currently playing his 3 myspace tracks for the 3rd timing running – not often i ever do that

i havent heard anything like this in yonks

you mayhave to like dallas green or american folky rock type stuff – well you shouldnt have to but if you do you’d like this guy

i cant believe his myspace tracks they are fuckin superb

i shall investigate more on sunday as i have to get up at a stupid hour to deliver feb’s magzaine and the footy is on later tomorrow

lies, damn lies and statistics

this blog made me laugh because it completely takes 2+2 and comes up with 543,678

http://bestbands.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/rock-bands-to-die-out-by-2026/

i cant be arsed to link to it – work it out yourself

this i think is the central point which shows it to be completely devoid of any intelligence:

“Letting the computer find the line of best fit and linearly extrapolating the data, it’s possible to see that, by 2026, the year-end top 50 will be totally devoid of rock groups. An appalling conclusion, sure to send shudders down any rock fan’s spine.”

so the year end top 50 in america will be devoid of any rock groups – and they are not now ?

does anyone outside of america give a shit that american media has decided that they want to go the safe disney route while everyone else gives a fuck about them and their puritanical bollocks?

does the the person realise that actually live music and the wealth of bands is better than its ever been ?

bob lefsetz bangs on about the same thing and i just think the lot of them are living in a bubble

its almost like they are trying a self fulfulling prophecy “we say its going to be shit so we hope it will be so we can be right”

lefsetz bangs on every week about the state of music in america as though its whats happening in the rest of the world – i used to be interested in reading his newsletters – now its a case of what bollocks is he going to spout this week or what “industry” people’s emails is he going to reproduce to try and validate his bollocks

nme radio

i had to do this – it was a sequence of tracks i loved so screen grabbed it

justice – the most annoying song on the planet ?

“lets get this party started” – it does my head in yet i find myself singing along and tapping my feet

GO AWAY!!!!

and the nme radio player is acting up again – its a lottery to work out what the last 5 tracks were – also the current track is not now being shown – it just says “thirst for music – blah blah”

since i’m going back to london for the first time (realistically) since i left in 98 ive been thinking about shepherds bush where i used to live and wondering whether all the places i used to frequent are still there

a little serbian bar on the north of the green that was an all hours little bar, you had to duck under the shutters to get in and it obviously helped if you knew someone – there was a snooker hall under the green which i used to go to sometimes – invariably after a late night gig as again it was open till the wee hours – needless to say my snooker skills were crap at 4am….

dilemma’s

i desperatly want to listen to the white lies album and the cure album over and over but i’m having a problem because i dont want to not listen to nme radio

i know they play some certain songs over and over and that obviously they only have 1 or 2 tracks from certain artists but…

apparently nme are going to do another month in london – please, please dont pander – xfm anyone ?

rambling non-sensical rubbish – i cannot wait to stand in that place – see the cure, roll up a doobie and not care but just let the music wash over me

monty python film part financed by zep and genesis?

this maybe well old news but i never realised that the holy grail was rescued by led zep, genesis, chrysalis and apparently floyd money

its a top 3 film anyway – even if it isnt true it makes me feel good…

ian brown and stuff

i had to explain who ian brown was to a mate who should know better but in the process i had to go through his last 10 years of stuff and try and pick out stuff

piece of piss – one track keeps standing out (and its not the oasis bollocks one) – “keep what youve got”

but then i remembered the unkle stuff – oh fuck – back to listening to all it all again

which is not a bad thing

radio

iain baker is playing faithless – god is a dj in the background – when it started i had hairs on the back of my neck stand up – i remember seeing them at glasto on the world stage and they blew me away – i was lucky to get a photo pass to the mtv festival thing at privilege and stood in the pit trying to take photos of faithless when all i wanted to do was just stand there and listen

anyway back to radio – it made me realise i have probably never since xfm started back in the mid 90’s ever listened to one radio for consistently so long

they always pissed me off after awhile – indie 103.1, 104.1 out of toronto, xfm, planet rock and a host of others but since june last year ive listened all day – every day

*laughs*

iain baker has back announced faithless and dedicated it to me

cheers mate

does the day get any better ?

“today was a good day”

i think it started yesterday

madrid rings to say they are issuing my passport

went to the pub and won my pool competition game

went for dinner at a friends last night and had a really great time but ran out of fags – got back into town at 2am but cosmi bar was still open – result

today booked a return flight to london for TEN euros

got “a forest” played on neil coles request hour – ok so i’ve had loads played but it was nice to hear that track

printouts of feb’s magazine turned up on time this afternoon and it was relatively painless to proof read – and no time pressure

spoke to a friend about an artist who they look after who i hope may come and play here this year – i have a good feeling about it

i have been in a strangely good mood all day

yes i thought i’d see the day

watching some of the coverage of the inauguration on us tv in hindsight appalled me

“did you ever think you would see a black man become president in your lifetime” ?

was asked every 5 minutes and numerous times

you dont get it dont you?

yes its great that an african american is now pres of the usa but the point is that it shouldnt matter

why not ask the same question in a different way?

er “did you think you’d someone who wasnt involved with vested interests ever get to be presisdent and not get shot” ?

laughs – sort of

jack bauer – you are so probably needed

i cant believe that i ‘m watching us news stories where they continually ask that question – its like they never thought it would happen…

(probably been advised by the same people who advised the riaa the past few years)

i saw an online clip of a tshirt which i would love to buy which has “yes i thought i’d see the day” – to be honest i cant remember where it was and i cant be arsed at this time to look through history so if anyone wants to comment with a link to the tshirt place feel free

edit: i didnt blog about the inauguration as everyone else did and i said what i felt about it to people i know (ok it was fuckin brilliant)

but the past couple of nights of the daily show and colbert report have been dead interesting – given what has just happened