Riton



There's always a lot of confusion/debate into how "Riton" is pronounced. For years, I spent my time pronouncing him "right-on" before someone at Grand Central advised me it was pronouced "writ-on". Conducting a Google search today, I've actually found that the definitive way of saying his name is "wree-ton", which is apparently a French slang term for his first name, Henry. Glad that's cleared up anyway.

Former Fat City Records worker Riton came to the surface in 2001 with his album "Beats Du Jour". Fitting in nicely with the Manchester Hip Hop scene led by the likes of Rae and Christian and Aim, Riton's output consisted of chunky beats and interesting samples. This carried on until 2004, when his last studio album, Homies and Homos, was released, again following the beats template. Something then changed. Remixes started cropping up, for unlikely and high profile clients like Kylie, Annie and Scissor Sisters. Further listening led to one conclusion: Riton had gone electro, and in a major fucking way. A Recent remix of Mystery Jets has proven to be a dancefloor success, while he's recently remixed Robbie Williams' newie, Rudebox. He's also one half of the DJ/Production combo, Gucci Soundsystem, so go check them out when they're playing near you.

MP3 Riton - Closer

MP3 Mystery Jets - The Boy Who Ran Away (Riton Re-Rub)

MP3 Robbie Williams - Rudebox (Riton Re-Rub)

Blogathon 2006



Bethanne over at Clever Titles is taking part in Blogathon 2006. It's a sponsored event for charity whereby every participating blog must post 2 articles every hour for 24 hours. Now, in Bethannes case (like my own), when you write your blog on your own this could be quite a challenge. So there's nothing else to do but rope your blogging buddies from all over the world to help you achieve the goal! My shift will run for an hour from 7am EST/1pm BST. I'm not sure what I'll write about, but I've got a couple of days to think it over.

Also, for you Manchester readers, please go over to the Yankunians blog The Manchizzle and check out her views on our fair city. She's spent a considerable amount of time compiling Manchesters best Blogroll, so get yourselves over there and show the girl some love!

MP3 Cold War Kids - Hang Me Out to Dry

Dirty Blue Jeans



Liam Frost played a homecoming gig at Academy 2 at the end of May. It was quite a major affair, considering it was the last date of a UK tour to promote his new single Mourners of Saint Pauls. Bone-Box provided great support, along with Londoner Jeremy Warmsley, who took to the stage armed only with an electric guitar. Live, he looked like a stripped down and slight dishevelled Graham Coxon playing Brendan Benson covers. Not that it's a bad thing of course, considering how melodic the tunes actually were. He's got an album out in September on Transgressive (home to BCG favourites Polytechnic) so make sure to check it out.

MP3 Jeremy Warmsley - Dirty Blue Jeans

It's Automatic.



On Saturday it's High Voltage at the Roadhouse featuring yours truly behind the decks, Hot Puppies live, and Dead Disco launching their new single "Automatic" on Fierce Panda. If you're a fan of hot chicks then you really should come. As usual, grab yourself a flyer and get in for a quid cheaper than everyone else, or alternatively be lazy and pay a fiver. It's up to you.

Girl Power.



Take 2 Many DJ's, multiply them by Hollertronix and then square this all by the root of the Avalanches, then you'd end up with Girl Talks latest, Night Rippers. Basically, it's a mix comp done in the vein of 2 Many DJ's, in the sense of throwing rock, hip hop and electro together. The style is maybe similar to the Avalanches, had they more balls and used obvious samples more. Try and get hold of a copy if your local record shop stocks it, because seeing as none of the samples have been cleared it'll probably be withdrawn from sale quite quickly. I'll probably be talking about this at the end of the year too.

MP3 Girl Talk - The Hold Up

Restructuring.



I had a minor crisis the other day. Basically, I ran out of hard disk space on my laptop, and very nearly did on my external hard-drive. This meant one thing: It was time to get rid of some MP3's. I decided to conduct an audit, which meant looking through the collection I'd amassed over time, and deleting what I didn't want any more.

I found loads of stuff I'd forgotten I had. Like Girls Vs. Boys for instance: This was a band I rather liked when I was at school, so for prosterity reasons I ripped their album House of GVSB onto my laptop. I gave it a good listen the other night, and it's fucking ace. It's the sort of rock that was ahead of it's time 10 years ago, but could stand up well today. I think they're still going, though I'm not sure what they sound like now.

And the state of my hard-drive now? Well, lets say that I'm about 20gb lighter. Crisis averted.

MP3 Girls Against Boys - Wilmington

MP3 Girls Against Boys - Life in Pink

Lived in Bars



At some point I'll get around to rounding up what's been great about 2006 so far. Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) started my year in the right way - The Greatest is still one of my top 5 albums so far. Lets see if it can still be there by the time 2007 turns over. This track is cool - it seems to be slightly more "up" than some of the other songs on the album. And while it could never eclipse the Greatest, it's still quite charming in a Pogues-ish way. Enjoy.

MP3 Cat Power - Lived in Bars

Merlin the Magician?



I know this isn't a footy blog - it's a music blog - but like the World Cup something has happened in the football world recently that I need to comment on. My hometown club, the mighty Wolverhampton Wanderers, have finally taken on a new manager to replace Glenn Hoddle. I wasn't sad to see Hoddle go, he'd done nothing for the club, though I was worried about the big name who would come to replace him. So yesterday, Mick McCarthy was presented to the press as the new Wolves manager. Luckily, I've always had a medicum of respect for McCarthy, as he's a manager who can turn teams around with the minimum of resorces. OK, Sunderland fired him, but still I think he can do enough to help push us back towards the Premier League.

MP3 Jeff Beck - Hi Ho Silver Lining

Moving Shadows.



You might remember a few months ago a new DJ Shadow track called 3 Freaks dropped. I'm a massive old school Shadow fan, so naturally I was a bit worried about the change in direction. Interviews with him at the time seemed to comment on how there are no samples on the new album, and how it follows a more modern R&B blueprint. "Shit, that means crunk" was my initial reaction, and while 3 Freaks is quite, err, crunky, the latest tidbit from the album is a good distance away from that formula. Enuff is a storming party track featuring Q-Tip and Lateef, which doesn't drift back into familiar territory yet builds on Shadows new sampleless production without going into scary pop. Could it be he's looking to move into the Pharrell shaped production hole in hip-hop? Not sure, but this sounds like he could make the transition. I like it, a lot.

MP3 DJ Shadow - Enuff (Feat. Q-Tip and Lateef)

Here's a couple of oldies.

MP3 DJ Shadow - High Noon

MP3 Latyrx - Lady Don't Tek No (Produced by Shadow)

The Weekend



I've had a really busy weekend. What with it being Futuresonic, I've spent a lot of my time running round checking out various DJ's, acts and art installations. It's all been rather good fun. Friday night was spent watching the awesome Battles at Academy 2, followed by Shy Child at the Bierkeller. Shy Child were amazing: It's so good to see a so called disco-punk band using a drummer properly and without the need of overly fancy electronics.

Last night was spent catching Islands at the Roadhouse. They were freekin' brilliant guys, and not quite what I expected in person. They played straight versions of the album, with a shimmering full length Swans to close. Ace.

MP3 Shy Child - The Noise Won't Stop

MP3 Battles - SZ2

And check out Ear Farm, where there's a booty of a gig Islands performed in March.

Doing it for themselves.



There's a new Scissor Sisters track floating about kids. Like the Killers, this is the sound of another band from 2004 returning, and really it doesn't sound like they've worked on furthering their sound at all. It's high camp, as would expect, but it's really not very good, sounding like a pastiche of 70's disco experts ELO. There's even a bit of Bee Gees in there. It might grow on me, but I'm not too keen on this first listen.

MP3 Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin'*

* Wankin'?

Green Green Grass.



OK, the last post has made me feel a bit guilty, as I never got around to finishing my T in the Park roundup. The problem is I’m still going through the pictures I took therefore it’s taking longer than I’d planned. So, in the next couple of weeks as I find suitable images, I’ll load them up with a quick anecdote and some music. Fair enough?

Which leads me onto the Animal Collective. I know they were the darlings of the blogging community a few months ago, however on this showing I struggle to see what all the fuss was about. We saw them at Midday on the Sunday in the aptly named Pet Sounds tent and they were the most boring band of the weekend. I don’t mean BAD when I say this, maybe just a little too experimental for that time of the day.

MP3 Animal Collective - Grass

PS - I know it's early, but it's so hot I'm having trouble sleeping.

Cheryl Tweedy



When I first read that Lily Allen had recorded a track called Cheryl Tweedy, I thought it might be the beginning of a big pop war. In any case, the tune isn't a diss, and you could actually say that Mrs Cole should be quite flattered. It mystifies me how this didn't get onto her album as it's a stand out track. Sample clearance?

I know the above picture isn't brilliant - it was all I managed to grab of her at T. And yes, I wouldn't mind grabbing a bit more of Lily Allen. Make of that what you will.

MP3 Lily Allen - Cheryl Tweedy

I'm Turning Into Stairs Again.



I really have been blogging a lot today - I hope you can all keep up. A few weeks ago I came across a band called Arms on I Guess I'm Floating. I thought they were good, but due to me being drunk I couldn't quite remember whether I liked them or not. Well here's some good news: I do think they're cool. And even better: They've got a song which features my forename as the first lyric. I'm touched, even though it wasn't written about me, as the only other song which comes to mind featuring the name "Jonathan" was Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Neil Diamond. In fact, I think I was named after that song. How fucking rock n'roll is that?

MP3 Arms - Jon the Escalator

Check out their site here.

Lets go Pitchfork Mental.



Has anyone noticed a change over at Pitchfork recently? Aside from being probably the worlds first music blog in terms of coverage and approach, the site seems to have taken a leaf from blogs like BCG by including as much media as possible! It looks great actually, and today they've really pushed the boat out by uploading a wicked cover by the Futureheads and a storming live track from Manchester favourites the Longcut. Grab 'em while they're hot!

MP3 The Futureheads - Lets Dance (Bowie Cover)

MP3 The Longcut - Transition (Live)

Bringing Digital Democracy to the Dancefloor



OK, this is a shameless piece of self promotion, so you've been warned. Some of you may know that I run the Manchester leg of a really cool event called noWax. It's a simple concept: Take a ticket, wait your turn, and when your number comes up on the projector, it's time to come and play the 3 favourite songs on your MP3 player against another budding MP3J.

I'm running it as part of the Futuresonic festival which is a weekend devoted to electronic music and culture. There's also events running from Licktronica, Tramp and Real Fresh TV. noWax will be running from 6pm on Saturday at Vox Pop Music on Thomas Street in the Northern Quarter, so try and pop down if you can.

noWax @ Futuresonic
Saturday 22nd July
Vox Pop Music
Thomas Street, Manchester
6pm - 10pm, FREE ENTRY

For more info about noWax, click here, Futuresonic click here or Vox Pop click here. I look forward to seeing you there!

MP3 Skalpel - 1958 (Quantic Remix)

Your Punk's in the Post.



Today is post-punk Thursday. I've not only managed to listen to New York Noise 2 (an ace post-punk comp from Soul Jazz) but I've also hoovered up the ESG album Keep on Moving and Fujiya and Miyagis Transparent Things. ESG are a mother/daughter combo from the late 70's who've released a new album of post punk goodness, while F&M I know nothing about except they're headlining the Tramp stage at D:Percussion. Check them out anyway.

MP3 Fujiya and Miyagi - Collarbone

MP3 ESG - Insane (Tambourine Mix)

Ssssh.



On Sunday I had the privilege of DJing for Pasta Paul at Quiet Night Out. QNO is a night that Paul has been running for a couple of years, and he decided to do a special one for this years SWAP festival. Alongside a roster of Manchesters best acoustic artists, there was also a collection of DJ's, featuring Licktronica, Dunk Le Chunk, Coops and me.

I've known Mike (aka Keswicklemon) from Licktronica for a while. He plays really great electronica and he really knows his stuff: He's the kind of person that you always learn something from whenever you speak to them. Anyway, he started playing a song, and it was in the back of my head as to what it was. I walked over and asked, and he replyed "Beirut". Alarm bells went off - "of COURSE!!" - but then I noticed he was pulling a face. It's going off in that part of the world again, so I think it was his way of paying tribute.

MP3 Beirut - Postcards from Italy

PS - That's Dunk in the picture, not me.

D:Percussion Build Up: The Pipettes



My last attempt at a theme fell by the wayside rather quickly. I had far more pictures and stories to share with you, but I simply didn't have time to complete what I'd started. Onto the next anyway, as with D:Percussion being only weeks away, I thought I'd do some quick roundups so that you Mancunians know what to expect, and everyone else can just be jealous of. Which brings me nicely onto the Pipettes. They've hardly played Manc really, yet I saw them at the Late Room last week and they follow that with an appearance at the festival. And with the whole event costing the princely sum of two pounds to get in, all the bands should help to make the expenditure worthwhile. The Pipettes will be on the main stage so look out for them.

MP3 The Pipettes - Judy

Dirty Babe



Yes yes yes ladies and gents, it's another excursion into my affection for decent pop music. Trousersnake pretty much soundtracked my move from London to Manchester - every club we went in he was on, and every time I turned the radio on Rock your Body was there to greet me. So yeah, I'm kinda looking forward to his return in a guilty sort of way. I am a bit worried though: The Neptunes aren't involved at all, and comeback song SexyBack has a vocal line so distorted you can't actually make out who's involved, whether it be JT or not. Still, there's enough there not to put me off the album.

MP3 Justin Timberlake - SexyBack

MP3 Justin Timberlake - Rock Your Body

You might also want to check out the Radio 1 session he recorded. I've not heard it myself yet, but I've got it on extremely good authority that it's "ace". Cheers for the tip Pasta Paul.

My Tidy Desk



My mother would be fuming if she saw the state of my desk. There's everything on it: Empty fag packets, keys, cables and loads of CD's. I try to listen to everything that comes my way, but it's honestly rather difficult. I've got into a tendancy to wait for someone to recommend something to me before I listen - lazy I know. Here's a few tracks from what's lying around - I hope you like.

MP3 The Sunshine Underground - I Ain't Losing Any Sleep

MP3 Viva Voce - We Do Not Fuck Around

MP3 Love Is All - Bust Doing Nothing

MP3 Working for a Nuclear Free City - Quiet Place

Perculation



Gotta be quick, I'm off to the D:Percussion 2006 launch tonight. For those of you who don't know, D:Percussion is a free festival which is now in it's tenth year. It first started out as a "fuck you" to the IRA in response to their bombing of Manchester. Each year the event has gone from strength to strength, and has still managed to go ahead in 2006 despite a main sponsor (cough... Key 103) pulling out. Now there's resilience for you. Acts scheduled to appear include the Longcut, Aim, the Pipettes and David Holmes, though with the full line up released tonight I'll be able to let you know more tomorrow.

Check out the MySpazz or check out their site.

Erase Me.



Like all other blog owners or web masters out there who have their personal email address' out in the general domain, I really do get quite a quantity of spam. Whether it's for breast augmentation, penis enlarging, college degrees or rich Nigerian oil workers, the spam shows no sign of abating - lets hope Gmail can keep up with updating their spam filters. My favourite spam however are those silly emails supposedly from "security" at "x.com" casually informing you that your account has been deleted/suspended in the vain hope of getting you to open the email, which helpfully will contain a malicious virus or trojan. Two things though suckers: 1) I'm a Mac user, so you can throw all the Trojans in the world at me, and it won't effect a damn thing. 2) I'm very happy with the size of my penis, therefore I won't be requiring a pump anytime soon. Delete this assholes.

MP3 Thom Yorke - The Eraser

MP3 Nine Inch Nails - Eraser

MP3 The Cardigans - Erase/Rewind

The Revenge of 2004



This years comeback of many of 2004's most popular bands has continued in earnest with the emergence of a new Killers song. With what seems to be a deliberate release to bloggers, you might note Flowers' destinct lack of eyeliner and emergence of stubble in their recent NME shoot. In any case, the physical transformation doesn't seem to have dramatically effected their sound - When You Were Young sounds a bit like Meatloaf.

MP3 The Killers - When You Were Young

I've been busy again



I know I know I know, I never finished off the T series/review thing. I'm sorry but I've just been a bit busy. Things are calming down now, so hopefully I'll be able to throw myself back into this blogging thing once more.

When I went to the kitchen earlier for a brew, I found a CD one of my housemates had left in there. It's this months HMV Playlist collection, whereby HMV collect about 20 of the months best album tracks and flog the CD for free. Like most freebies, they can sometimes be a it rubbish, though I was most pleased to find both Jim Noir and the Longcut featuring. There's some other good stuff on it as well, so here's some tracks off it for you - seeing as they give the CD away for free, I'm sure they won't mind me distributing it further would they?

MP3 Plan B - No More Eatin'

MP3 Radio 4 - Too Much To Ask For

MP3 Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken

MP3 Midlake - Roscoe

T in the Park: Giant Drag



This is my last Giant Drag post ever. As some of you regular readers will know, Giant Drag have turned in one of my favourite albums of the year. I love the fact it's so deep in grunge that it takes me back to my teenage years. I also love the fact that Annie is one of the kookiest chicks in music at the moment. I went to see them at T following their disappointing gig at Night and Day in April. There's something about them live that doesn't work for me, though I can't put my finger on it. They also need to look at some of the fans they attract: Beered up, leary knuckleheads might be the closest way of describing them. It's not all negative though, I enjoyed seeing them, but they just weren't my band of the weekend. My Dick Sux fucking rocks live though, I can tell thee that much.

I'm not going to post any tracks, because I've done enough on these guys already. If you want to hear some of their tunes, either head over to:

a) Their MySpazz
b) Their Website
or c) Elbo.ws

T in the Park: Don't Give Up the Day Job



Superdrug were out in force at T. They had set up a tent and small stage, where girls could go along, get their makeup done and maybe have a go at "hairbrush" kareoke. I'd seen various chavs up there throughout the day, rupturing the eardrums with heartfelt renditions of ballads by the Pussycat Dolls, however I was most surprised to see the gentleman pictured above, giving his all singing "Like a Virgin". His mates were there cheering him along, and it was genuinely one of the weekends funniest moments. I then spotted the same person in the media area the following day, so at a guess I'd say he was someone reasonably important. Fucking genius.

MP3 Madonna - Like a Virgin

T in the Park: Silent Disco



A few years ago I went to the album launch for Aphex Twins album Drukqs at the Barbican. On arrival, we were presented with wireless headphones which were to be worn as this was the only way playback of the album could be heard. Last year I read about a similar concept called Silent Disco which was at Glastonbury. In a similar way, punters wear headphones and dance to the music only they can hear. It was my first time seeing it in action last weekend, and it was a rather strange thing to see: About 150 people, dancing around in total silence, to suddenly all put their hands in the air and start singing "I Predict a Riot"!! I didn't get chance to have a go myself, but I'm sure the opportunity will come up again soon. Silent wanking anybody?

MP3 Cheshire Chord Company - I Predict a Riot

T in the Park: The Divine Comedy



I've never been much of a fan of the Divine Comedy. In fact, I really hated them in my teens. Their brand of kitsch indie pop just used to wind me - the curse of being a Pantera fan I suppose. I like to think I've mellowed a bit since then, and with the Kooks being the only other option on offer, I decided to pop along and see if I can forgive Neil Hannon after all this time. Once on stage, the band performed a greatest hits set, featuring the likes of Generation Sex, National Express and Something for the Weekend. My highlight was a rather funny rendition of Maneater by Nelly Furtado, which cast the original in a new light. I might have to pop out later and redeem myself for the last decade of ignorance: The Divine Comedy are quality.

MP3 The Divine Comedy - National Express

T in the Park: Cut Copy



My first band of the festival was supposed to be the mighty Wolfmother, who I was fortunate to catch in the smallness of the Roadhouse earlier this year. I arrived to see the band, who were playing the NME/Radio 1 stage, only to find that I was stuck miles away from the stage. It then started to rain. "Fuck this for a game of soldiers" was my immediate thought, so I went off to catch fellow Aussies Cut Copy in the Slam tent. Even though they were low down the bill, their stage set up was the most impressive of the weekend, with 3 massive screens projecting footage of them live on stage and various other VJ elements. The tunes were quality too, and put everyone who was there in an upbeat mood for the rest of the weekend.

MP3 Cut Copy - Saturdays

My Side of the Mountain



Before I start work in earnest on my T in the Park round up, I thought I'd point you in the direction of quite a lovely new band who I've discovered this morning while perusing local gig line ups. They're called My Side of the Mountain and are from the "North of England", wherever that may be. They've got gigs coming up in the next few weeks so make sure you pop along. Check out their site here and their MySpazz here.

MP3 My Side of the Mountain - Winter People

T in the Park: I'm Back.



This weekend was hard work. I've got sore legs, a sore back and I'm bloody knackered. If you've not read previous posts, yes, I went to a festival - T in the Park to be exact. Don't let my opening statement fool you however, I did have a great time! I saw loads of bands, and took loads of pictures which I'll be entertaining you all with over the next week. To kick things off, here's a tune I heard over the weekend which is fucking great.

MP3 Cazals - Poor Innocent Boys

And So It Goes...



It's late, and I'm sick of packing. Tomorrow will be the first time this decade that I've attended a festival, and boy does it bring back memories of staying up until 3am packing all those little things I think I can't do without for a festival. Priorities have changed somewhat since I was 19, meaning what I took then isn't necessarily what I'd take now. For instance, I remember the pain it was not having any bogroll at Reading, and I'm kinda going to miss being able to have a hot shower for a few days. Still, it's going to be a top laugh, and I get to see some bands and acts I simply haven't been able to see before.

Yousendit is being rather rubbish this evening, so I'm not able to post up any music. Instead, enlighten yourselves with my fellow bloggers and have a read of what they've got to say, and you can also enjoy some choice music too.

If by some freak occurance I gain access to the internet while at T, I'll write y'all a post. If by an even freakier twist of fate I can connect my camera to said internet, I'll post up some pictures of the festival too. In the event that neither happens you'll simply have to wait for my musings until Monday, whereby I'll enchant you all with tales of sex, drugs, rock and roll and other debaunched things that happen in a festival field.

Check out what Coxon Le Woolf thinks about Later with Jools Holland.

Peruse the contents of Bethanne's Summer Sun theme here.

And finally, take a look at the way Rewriteable talent panders to the demands of elbo.ws. Seriously, I haven't seen such a blatent attempt at attracting hits since my frequent posts about Lily Allen.

Inabit.

PS - Watch out for some bumper posts next week, and boy do I mean BUMPER!

It's So Bloody Hot...



It really is. I'm not usually too prone to complaining about heat but I'm in the flat today, trying to work while the air is getting stuffier and stuffier. Phew. Still, I can quite happilly console myself with the fact that I'm off to T in the Park this weekend in Glasgow. Should be good, especially as it's one of those impromptu ideas that came up on Saturday while sat in a burger joint. Huzzah!

If anyone who reads this blog is going, get in touch and we can meet for a cheeky beer.

MP3 David Bowie - Suffragette City

"New Rave"



If it wasn't enough for the NME to pat themselves on the back for:

1) Growing the Libertines in a test tube and selling them to the world as the one true poetic voice of indie,

2) Creating the word "emo" thus inspiring an army of angst driven American teenagers and 20 somethings from Wales,

3) Convincing everyone that it's actually cool to re-release your first single 4 times, thusly encouraging a whole world of other 2 bit indie bands to do the same,

They've now gone and labelled a music scene I rather enjoy "New Rave". Yes, don't choke on your cornflakes, you are reading this correctly. Glorious electro stompers by the likes of the Presets, Justice, Erol "fookin" Alkan and the Klaxons are no longer merely crossover bangers, but they (and the dj's that play them, like me) are now labelled with this tag. When clubs start proclaiming this form of music as their policy I'll know it's time to truly start acting my age and take up golf.

MP3 Headman - Moisture (Mustafa 3000 remix)

Sounds like a Number One to Me.



It's true. Aguileras new single is the absolute bomb. If it wasn't enough with Furtado having Timberland backing her up on her recent best seller, Christina had to go one better by roping in hip hop legend DJ Premier to produce hers. And boy, is it finger licking good. You can imagine ladies up and down the country readying themselves up for Saturday night with it, then hitting the floor to shake to it. I guess that was the good thing about people "stealing" music with P2P and the like: It meant the record companies had to sit up, and do something more interesting with popular music. And boy, they're giving it some welly this time.

MP3 Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man

PS - It looks like Lily Allen is going to be number one this week. Just what we need, after Shakiras ode to monthly biological functions. Mind you, Smile is all about revenge, isn't it?!

Working for a Nuclear Free City



The other day a friend told me that the new Working For A Nuclear Free City album is awesome. I didn't know quite how to take this, considering progtronica isn't really this persons usual bag. Anyway, hear I am now sat here listening to their self titled debut, and I must say that it's absolutely on the money. I saw WFANFC live last week for the first time in about 12 months, and it was great to see how much they've come on as a band, and the album certainly proves that.

I'm not cleared to leak a track just yet, and I certainly don't want to get anyone into trouble, so head over to their MySpazz for a listen. Make sure you check out Dead Fingers Talking - it's the sort of song Ian Brown would love to be capable of.

Houston.



So, the year is now half way through, and plenty of brand spanking new stuff has caught my ear. I must say that 2006 so far has been a wonderful year for music, whatever your taste may be. To me, the year is lacking that killer hip-hop release, with the closest to urban being Lily Allen who also crosses successfully over into indie, pop and ska. I'm hoping that Madvillain pull their fingers out and get something out before 2007, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Great releases from Phoenix, Tapes N Tapes, The Longcut and Be Your Own PET sit amongst some of my favourites of the year, but it's Islands charming debut Return to Sea that tips the balance against everyone else. It's lush, comprising the finest bits from many of my favourite artists and bands, creating a rather grand soundscape which is as likely to drift into lo-fi acoustica as it is Outkast inspired hip-hop. Quite ingenius, and I'm rather looking forward to seeing them at the Roadhouse later this month.

MP3 Islands Don't Call me Whitney, Bobby.

Decorations.



I posted the other day about Shakiras debatable subject matter in her recent single. I now find the Columbian weirdo has managed to get herself to the top of the UK charts ahead of another popular strange bird, ol' Nelly Retardo. Now, I've no problems with chicks doing the 7 day thing once a month, but does Shaikra really need to preach it's worth to the general populace? At the end of the day, the number one record is announced around 7pm, which is the roughly the time of day your average family sits down to Sunday tea. "Ooh I'm on tonight, My hips don't lie, Yadda Yadda Yadda". I take it that means I'm not getting laid. Oh well.

MP3 Shakira - Hips Don't Lie Feat. Wyclef "Cocksuckingmongface" John (He who had a top selling hit with fucking Tom Jones. Yes, THAT fucking Tom Jones. The Cunt with the dodgy goatee and chest wig.)

MP3 Nelly Retardo - Maneater

Penalties.



I've got over our loss to Portugal yesterday. It didn't take long, and it didn't take any self medicating either, because we haven't played well all tournament, and yesterday we got our come-uppance.

I know the usual English footballing way is to find someone to blame. This time, there are no excuses. Sven lost the plot, he had a great chance to fulfil his initial promise in 2000 that we were capable of winning the World Cup this year. We haven't though, due to an inept squad selection (which smacked of a De-mobbed former employee) and a seeming lack of motivation running through the entire squad.

Paul Robinson - World Class? Has plenty more to prove that he doesn't just flap when in the spotlight.

Rio Ferdinand - Arguably one of the worlds finest centre halves, but also one of the laziest.

John Terry - Always there, yet has less pace than a stoned tortoise.

Ashley Cole - A shining light in the team, played with the heart and optimism you'd expect from an England player.

David Beckham - Why does he even bother. He can't run, and gets the jitters so badly in big games he throws up everywhere.

Steven Gerrard - Had the opportunity to show the world he's a great midfielder. Didn't really do it though.

Frank Lampard - Fat jibes aside, he's always worth a bet as first England scorer. That's why I'm 20 quid down so far this tournament.

Owen Hargreaves - Like most people, I've given him loads of stick over the years. He's played brilliantly over the World Cup, and with performances like that it's probably time we give him the respect he deserves.

Joe Cole - Moments of individual brilliance are always squandered by a selfish attempt on goal.

Michael Owen - Getting injured saved him face, as there wasn't much chance of him scoring anyway.

Peter Crouch - Nice try, but he'll never have that quality which puts him in the English elite. Played to the best of his ability though.

Theo Walcott - I've never played in the Premiership either.

Wayne Rooney - He was always an unknown quantity for the tournament. Came back from injury well - shame about the bloody stupid sending off.

Sven Goran-Eriksson - Punched his fist more than I've seen before, though with his tie done up so tight, the heat obviously went to his head.

I'm not trying to hold anyone accountable, but if Ronaldo isn't going to be welcomed back into English football, then I think it's about time we were all grown up enough to look towards our own before blaming everyone elses.

I know this isn't a football blog, but I had to get that off my chest. C'mon France!

MP3 New Order - World in Motion


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