Happy St. Paddy Day 'Spillers

A bit late, but here's a tune for the occasion

Politicians in My Eyes

Death - You're A Prisoner

I just read about this band, Death, in the NYT. Fascinating.

A hospital? What is it?

It's a big building where they cure sick people, but that's not important right now...



A few songs with a hospital-related theme. All nominated by others but I think they deserve the exposure - particularly the magnificent Wires. I'm still utterly flummoxed by that eejit's reaction to Athlete - but I've worked on my anger and everything's now fully under control.

Apologies for the quality of the live version of Jonathan Richman's Hospital - hopefully the quality of the song and of the performance will shine through.

I've only been in hospital once - they did something with my male parts when I was very young and all I remember is that it hurt like ... well, like having something surgical done to parts of your body that really ought to be handled more gently.

And in the best traditions of playing Doctors and Nurses, I've now shown you mine - so, you know what to do. What's your most embarrassing hospitalisation?

Powered by Podbean.com

What's wrong with this picture?

This was used in today's Observer to illustrate an article on an increase in home cooking. I stopped to read because I like to cook, and something about this image kept drawing my eye.

Anyone catch what I'm on about?

The photo is credited to Alamy, an agency/clearinghouse for commercial photographers, so isn't staff work.

SANE ?

Her Space Holiday - The Year in Review
Babybird - Hospital
Alias - pill hiding
Tuung - Hands
Help she can't swim - hospital drama
Senser - Strange Asylum
Passage - Poem to the Hospital
Biffy Clyro - my recovery injection
Terry Hall - the Lunatics..

INDIE Disco Dond Dancing

Super Star DJs.. who needs them.. when you can put a record on and play bits.. I don't down a drink and spin tunes for less that 30,000 spill points.. next week Grebo, Goth and Gay Disco.. enjoy...... (depressing Hospital tunes follow shortly)


Indie Disco 1
Alternative Disco 2
Indie disco 3

Hospital

Skip James
Louis Armstrong
Cab Calloway
Kanye West
Common
Talib Kweli
J. DIlla - Don't Cry
J. Dilla - The Diff'rence
J.Dilla - Lightworks
J. DIlla - workinonit

Another Sick Playlist

Crosseyed & Painless
City Sickness
Blue Flowers
The Life Machine
Dude Ranch Nurse
Mary's Operation
Faith Healer
Ruptured In Purulence
Mr. Pharmacist
Dr. Van Steiner
Healing In The Balmyard
Song For Dennis Brown

Hmmm...

Nipferd sent me an excellent mix that provoked my curiousity about MC Solaar, and then I found this combination, which I like very much.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HERR HACHI!

Dear Herr Hachi,
You recently let slip you would be hitting forty "this week". As today is the only day left before the new blog, I hope I've guessed right. I'm drinking Cabernet Sauvignon on your honour - hope you don't mind sharing with Ben (a bottle each and I'll be written off for the next 72 hours).

HERZLICHEN GLÜCKWUNSCH!

You mentioned signs on roundabouts, hence the above clip...

Quick Quiz

OK, here is a quiz challenge.

Here are four tracks. The first three have one common link.

What I am looking for here for the first three tracks is the Artist, Album Title and Track Name in each case, plus the link.

For track four, I want Artist, Album Title and Track Name, plus the thing that links the artist of track four with whatever or whoever or wherever links the first three tracks.

Have fun.


Track 1
Track 2
Track 3
Track 4

that's my boy (and girl)...

First things first: profuse apologies for my lateness posting this. Since getting home from hospital last week Wednesday I have totally failed to engage with the outside world, instead living in a surprisingly blissful bubble of mummydom. But here he is, miniature Corvette #2, aka Ben, and for good measure here's his big sister, aka Leila (not pronounced like the Clapton song, in case you're wondering), looking like a cute-chip. Ben was born in the early evening on 3/3 - the same birthday as saneshane's son, I discovered today - weighing in at 6lb 11oz, and since then has done such proficient eating that he's already put on 7oz and counting. Apart from a few typical toddler outbursts, including a tendency to claim any presents given to Ben as her own, Leila has been unspeakably brilliant about his arrival in the house: she's learned that when he cries it means either hands off my nappy or more food please, she's trying hard to be gentle when stroking or cuddling him, and today she even attempted to swaddle him, by bundling a muslin cloth on top of his tummy. Awww... As for me, I've got my mum staying with me at the moment, cooking huge suppers, doing all the toddler nappy changes, scolding me when I don't have a nap, and generally being fantastic. Despite all her help, I'm basically knackered most of the time (note underlying quiver of dread at thought of her imminent departure), hence failure to get to computer before now. In fact, I might not have posted this for another month or two, except I got something utterly wonderful in the post today: the RR/Spill present. I love it! I so love it, I don't really know how to thank you because I feel a bit overwhelmed by your collective thoughtfulness and loveliness, and because words seem a bit inadequate for the job. So please accept a virtual bear-hug each, a round or two on me in the RR boozer, and of course my very most heartfelt thank yous to one and all. You're all magic. Off to bed now, but I promise not to be a stranger in the coming weeks - and this time I mean it. Thanks again xxx

Pins & Needles

Britpop Era Indie Disco Floor Fillers!

SaneShane's posting of those Select tracks got me all nostalgic for the good ol' days of the aforementioned too tight Adidas, watery beer, the endless possibilities of youth and the vague chance of pulling!

Here are the first few floor filling tunes that came to mind. But which songs have I missed?

Supergrass
Blur
Ash
Stone Roses
Bluetones
Pulp
Smiths
Verve

**Edit** The DJ takes requests! These are all the suggestions I could track down (sorry, couldn't get any Gene and had to settle for a different (but equally as good) Lush song. The Charlatans was in my original list too, but got left out in my excitement:

Echobelly
Garbage
Placebo
Wannadies
Boo Radleys
Whale
Cornershop
Elastica
Suede
Lush
Charlatans
Seahorses

He gets up on the table, He gets down on the floor

Wishing a solid gold birthday to everyone of piscean 'Spillers!!

Select 'secret tracks 2' (May 94)

I should really of searched for this on the net- someone who knows how to use computers has probably done this better years ago- anyway.. for Tracy, so Blimpy doesn't have to search the loft... enjoy the warped tape!

Primal Scream- Don't Fight it, Feel it live in Tokyo
Frack Black- Freedom Rock
The Boo Radleys- Lazarus (Saint Etienne Remix)
Echobelly- Father, Ruler, King, Computer
Ride Let's get Lost
Idha- I'm Losing More Than I ever Had
The Aphex Twin- Phlid
Saint Etienne- Like a Motorway (Chekov Warp Vocal Mix)
Kristen Hersh- The Key
Oasis- Fade Away
One Dove- Transient Truth
Velvet Crush- This Life is Killing Me
Lush- Childcatcher
Lisa Germano- Energy

Mostly Autumn, Manchester and London, 27th and 28th Feb 2009

Although I've seen Mostly Autumn nearly thirty times now, this is actually the first time I've seen the band two nights in succession in two different cities. Both the Manchester and London shows on the 27th and 28th of February were rescheduled from September last year due to Heather Findlay's maternity leave.

Mostly Autumn had not played Manchester since a low-key date at Jilly's Rockworld back in 2004, which happened to be the very first time I ever saw the band. This time they played Academy 3, on a stage where I've seen the likes of Michael Schenker, Paradise Lost, It Bites and Blue Öyster Cult over the past years.

A big surprise when the band took to the stage was that Gavin Griffiths was back behind the drumkit, replacing Henry Bourne. I'd always liked Gavin's drumming with his previous stint with the band in spring 2007, and while Henry was in many ways an ideal drummer for the Mostlies, if anyone could replace him, it was Gavin. And he didn't disappoint.

Unfortunately Heather had caught a very nasty throat infection the day before the Manchester gig, and although she managed to sing for something like two thirds of the set, backing singer Olivia Sparnenn stood in on lead vocals for a few songs. It's a tribute to this band that they can still put on a highly enjoyable show despite having their lead singer partially incapacitated, and hats off to Livvy for standing in at virtually zero notice. If it wasn't quite one of the best Mostly Autumn gigs I've ever been to, it was certainly one of those for the Mostly Autumn history book.

Saturday's showcase gig at Shepherd's Bush Empire was their first London appearance for more than a year. With fans descending from all parts of the country, including a busload from York, there was a real buzz of anticipation before the gig, and a lot of faces I hadn't seen for a long time. Nice to meet baby Harlan, who gave me an enormous grin! I met up with a couple of gaming friends who were seeing the band for the first time. I decided it was wise not to mention Heather's vocal problems of the night before to anyone before the gig.

While I love the intimate atmosphere of many of the small clubs I see the band play, it's great to see the same band on a big stage before a sizeable crowd. And they rose to the occasion with an absolute barnstormer of a performance. Heather's voice turned out to be in far better shape than the previous night, with little evidence that she was suffering from any throat problems at all. And the rest of the eight-piece band were also on superb form. This was as tight and powerful a performance as I've ever seen them do, and at least as good a show as from any band I saw last year. From the now-traditional opener 'Fading Colours', the energy level barely dropped for the next two and a quarter hours. The only glitch was the rattling snare drum on 'Above the Blue' forcing a second take of the song.

The setlist contained a few surprises, with oldies like the electrified folk-rock of 'Winter Mountain', along with 'The Last Bright Light' and 'Half the Mountain' from their atmospheric celtic-prog era which haven't featured in the live set for several years. 'Winter Mountain' was especially powerful live propelled by Gavin's drumming, as was "Passengers" hard rocker 'Answer the Question'. The rest of the set was pretty familiar to those who's seen the band at the tail end of last year, Glass Shadows songs 'Flowers for Guns', 'Unoriginal Sin', 'Above the Blue' and 'Tearing at the Faerytale', alongside perennials such as 'Nowhere to Hide', 'Evergreen', 'Spirit of Autumn Past' and of course 'Heroes Never Die' (That flute intro always gives me goosebumps). The final encore was unexpected, a cover of Genesis' 1980 hit 'Turn It On Again' (specially for Jasonaparkes!), and I have to say Heather is a far better singer than Phil Collins.

Although the band had intended to release the recording of Shepherd's Bush as a live album, the band have decided that although the gig itself was great for those present in the hall, the recordings aren't quite good enough to release as an album. So they've postponed the album and plan to record a few dates on the upcoming spring tour. With the band on great live form, with what might just be their best ever live lineup, the tour will be one to see.

Pieces of Abahachi

Images of sorrow, pictures of delight. Things that go to make up a life. A special three-part Radio Abahachi with added contemplativeness and self-indulgence, two quiz segments (song, artist and guitarist, please; half a point for each, or two points for getting all three without having to look up the album credits) and my favourite ever video clip, if only because it reminds me of my job (dealing with academics is indeed like herding cats, only with more elaborate rationalisations for doing exactly what they want). Endless days of summer, longer nights of gloom, and Abahachi turns forty later this week...

Powered by Podbean.com

Quiz answers so far:

Deep Purple, Smoke on the Water, Ritchie Blackmore
Van Halen, Jump, Eddie van Halen
David Bowie, China Girl, Stevie Ray Vaughan
Starship, Nothing's Gonna Stop Us, Craig Chaquico
Kate Bush, You're the One, Jeff Beck

Queen, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Brian May
Billy Idol, Rebel Yell, Steve Stevens
Roger Waters, 5.01 am (The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking), Eric Clapton
Kate Bush, Rocket's Tail, Dave Gilmour
Bob Dylan, Sweetheart Like You, Mark Knopfler

Socks to be me, huh?

I know I for one will be there. Big lover of art, me.

Sock Exchange, 6-12 April 2009
FACT, Liverpool,
88 Wood Street
Liverpool
L1 4DQ

Bring down your CLEAN odd and holey socks for a unique exhibition exploring the UK textile industry and for a chance to have your sock transformed into a sock d'art by prolific artist Kai-Oi Jay Yung between 6-12 April 2009. Also a chance to learn how to knit and come on a lonely sock Speed Socking event.

aha - fun video

Since a-ha made the A List this week, I thought you might be amused by a parody video of a-ha's Take on Me. The original video was a huge hit and won six MTV Video Awards. It is shown below:



The parody asks what if the words to a song literally reflected what was shown in the video. The guys who did it used the same music but different lyrics - and did an amazing job of capturing the same vocal style as the original. It is really quite amusing. It's below: