April 12th
Sitting in the venue in Copenhagen now, a fantastic little bar called
Din Nye Ven, that's pretty much how I'd have a bar if I ever opened
one. They've done it perfectly - open brickwork on one wall, small exhibition
of local art, little bookshelves and odd art bits and pieces everywhere,
tables with candles on, a table football in the corner, a small stage
in another corner (bands play here - Ladybug Transistor are coming up),
free wi-fi, and a little DJ booth thing that's yellow with white polka
dots, capacity about 80 if everyone breathes in. The floor is concrete
with metal strips running the length, making it look like they've built
the bar over some tram lines. Apparently, there's a cesspit underneath
here, so the metal's to strengthen the floor. Let's hope we don't boom
shake the room too much tonight or could all end up - quite literally,
ho ho - in the shit.
Fantastic night last night in Malmo. I love Retro, and Daniel is an
excellent host. I had a hotel room and a bed - oh bliss - and a chance
to rest before the night began. I decided to walk to the venue and the
heavens opened as I trudged through the shopping streets with my record
bags. I stood under a shop front, my coat getting heavier, the city
map sodden, watching everyone scurry past in the rain, the lights twinkling.
There's something about Scandinavian cities - even in the pouring rain,
they look so beautiful.
The night went really really well. Lots of chaos in the room. I don't
want to list any highlights as I'll probably play some of the same things
tonight. We'll see. I've got a good feeling about this one.
April 11th
Just typing this on the train from Gotheburg to Malmo, a three hour
run alongside forests, rivers, wooden houses and landscape that couldn't
look more Swedish if it was painted blue and yellow. Of all the things
on this mini-tour, I was actually looking forward to this train trip
the most - to see a bit of the countryside while luxuriating in a state
of the art Swedish train. I took a train from Copenhagen to Aarhus a
few years ago and it was heavenly - amazing views and a sleek and spotless
train. Alas, the usual train that does this run is off sick or something,
so we have a replacement train which looks like it last saw service
on Network South East in the Eighties. It has the same filthy windows,
the same faded seats - not at all Swedish, to my mind! Still, the view,
what I can see of it, is gorgeous. Oh look - some more trees! Another
wooden house. Repeat to fade.
Last night at Mint Condition in Gothenburg was lots and lots of fun
- more fun than I'd expected, to be honest. I'm never that sure about
DJ-ing with bands. Usually you're just providing music for people to
chat over and then everyone goes home after the last band has played.
But last night, despite it being a Thursday which isn't a party night
in Gothenburg apparently, people stayed and danced and generally had
a wild time - until precisely 1.45am, 15 mintues before close, when
everyone suddenly went home. I can only imagine there was a last tram
to catch. Either that, or The Field Mice aren't as popular in Sweden
as I'd been led to believe. I ended up playing "Black Cab"
by Jens Lekman, a song - do you see?? - about going home after a night
out in Gothenburg, to a handful of diehards. It made me happy, and possibly
one or two other people as well.
Ealier, I'd played "Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo",
not being entirely sure how it would go down. Maybe people from Gothenburg
had heard plenty of their city's most famous son and would walk off
the dancefloor in disgust. Happily no - he's, quite rightly, a floorfiller
in his hometown. Although one girl did come up to me and say "Who's
this?" "It's Jens Lekman. He's from Gothenburg." "Who?"
"Jens Lekman!! He's from Gothenburg!!" "How do you spell
it?" Next week my coal business sends a sales team to Newcastle.
The two bands were excellent. The Greencoats are a simple prospect
on paper - a sixties garage rock'n'roll drone band, the kind of group
we've seen plenty of in the past. But they manage to marry their Stooges/Nuggets
schtick with a howling, deliciously intense guitar sound that I haven't
heard since the glory days of MBV and Loop. Club AC30 - if you're reading
this, your next signings are right here! The headliners were Bonnie
And Clyde, a bunch of early twentysomethings who reminded me of The
Deirdres from Derby - they had that same handclappy exhuberance and
madcap charm. They're becoming big news in Sweden I'm told, and you
can see why, although the best crowd reaction on this occassion was
reserved for the blazing racket of The Greencoats.
So that's it - my visit to Gothenburg is over. I spent yesterday afternoon
wandering around varoius record shops with Neils, who co-runs the Mint
Condition with Bobby from Irene, talking about regional accents and
jazz and whatnot, taking photos for a page on the city for the Indie
Travel Guide. Not long til Malmo now. Current view out of the window
- a lake, lots of trees, some wooden houses, some more trees. Bliss.
April 6th:
A great night at the Canterbury Arms. I thought that it would be a
quiet one, what with the Gresham Flyers/Arthur And Martha double header
at Bardens and Offline at the Albert on the same night, but we had a
decent crowd in the end. Andrew and Ali turned in a fantastic set of
dancers - including "Sir Duke", which I've never heard at
HDIF before, and "Jolene", both to a packed dancefloor. In
fact, I had a moment where I stood at the side watching everyone dancing
to "Jolene", wondering where else in London you'd find a full
room grooving to Dolly Parton. Then it was me. My highlights:
* "Hold Me Closer" by Hefner. One of those wonderful HDIF
moments, where a song builds slowly but certainly and everyone just
goes along with it, with some ecstatic souls singing every word. Just
perfect.
* "Canto de Ossanha (Let Go)" by Astrud Gilberto. The kind
of song that I alight upon when there's enough chaos in the room. Sounded
magnificent.
* "You! Me! Dancing!" by Los Campesinos. Including the full
build up, just for that extra bit of hysteria. It worked perfectly::
people started cheering the song, singing the chorus, clapping along,
all while it was that lone note of feedback. Fantastic.
* "I Feel Fine" by The Beatles. More gorgeously pitched feedback.
* "Sunlight Bathed The Golden Glow" by Felt. Glorious.
March 27th:
I'm doing two HDIFs in Sweden and one in Denmark in the next few weeks.
I'm looking forward to them immensely. Please come along if you can!
Thursday 10th April
Mint Condition @ Pusterviksbaren, Gothenburg
Two bands live TBA.
DJ's: Me + Mint Condition DJs
Time 9pm- 2am
Age 20 years
Entrance 60 SEK
Friday 11th April
So Tough! So Cute!
Retro, N Skolgatan 24, Malmö
DJs: Me and Daniel from So Tough! So Cute!
Time: 11pm-3am
Age: 20 years (18years+ are welcome if they mail ahead to be put on
a guest list)
Entrance: Free admittance
http://www.sotoughsocute.com
http://www.last.fm/event/547563
Saturday 12th April
Pop Revo
Dinnyeven, Copenhagen
DJs: Me and Søren and DJ Drogba from Pop Revo
Time: 9pm-2am
Age:
Entrance:
http://www.myspace.com/dinnyeven
March 17th:
My highlights from Saturday:
* Fairnt Charm by Aislers Set - An excellent request and a beautiful
song - I had a bit of moment during the last minute where everything
just comes together, the jangling guitar, the soft organ, the lilting
trumpet...just gorgeous.
* All Day And All Of The Night by Los Straightjackets - Brilliant Spanish
language version of the Kinks classic.
* Back To Black by Banjo Or Freakout - Played early doors, this spaced
out re-imagining of the Amy Winehouse song has to be heard to be believed.
The work of an Italian man living in Hackney who appears to be a kindred
spirit of Kevin Shields. He'll be very big indeed if he's got more stuff
like this up his sleeve.
* I Gotta Dance To Keep From Crying by the Miracles - Smokey at his
shoe-shuffling best.
* Still Ill (from Hatful Of Hollow) followed by Love Me Do - Inspired
by this excellent BBC4 documentary on the history of the harmonica -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b0094zrl.shtml?src=ip_mlt - a
double dose of harmonica love.
* You've Been Gone Too Long by Ann Sexton - Haven't played this northern
classic for years - sounded glorious.
* Love Goes On by The Go-Betweens - Played as the final song at 3am.
Perfect.
March 10th:
Last Friday! My highlights...
* "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)" by
The Byrds - I had a bit of a moment to this one. It sounded so magical
and so beautiful - a little sunburst of perfection. I stood watching
everyone dancing to it, just in awe of it all.
* "My Wandering Days Are Over" followed by "I Don't Love
Anyone". No more standing watching for this - I was out on the
floor with everyone else.
* "Ever See A Diver Kiss His Wife (While The Bubbles Bounce About
Above The Water)" by Shirley Ellis. I've been meaning to play this
for ages. A loveable tonguetwister that makes me smile every time I
hear it.
* "Victoria" by The Fall followed by "All Day And All
Of The Night" by The Kinks. Victooooori-ah!
* "The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart" by The Pains Of Being
Pure At Heart. Shoegaze meets dream pop - "Christine" by the
House Of Love skyrocketed into the 21st century. Excellent stuff.
* "The Day That Thatcher Dies" by Hefner. "Even though
we know it’s not right/We will dance and sing all night."
A text came in at 12.15am: "Thatcher's just been admitted to hospital..."
Followed by "A Ghost In My House" by R Dean Taylor.
February 11th:
Thanks to everyone who came to our vinyl special on Friday. It was
a mad night. As promised I left my CDs and CD player at home and instead
turned up with a back-breaking haul of vinyl, both sevens and albums.
As I kept saying for the first hour and a half, it was like being handed
a new club - I had a ball going through my old vinyl, digging out dusty
favourites ("Carwash Hair"! "June Rhyme" by the
Stingrays), and stuff I've never played before (Galaxie 500!). And then
for my post midnight set, what I had on vinyl changed the tone of the
club slightly - of the soul stuff, I had mostly big Motown hits, so
that's what I pulled out. And the reaction was fantastic - lots of dancing,
singing, and general chaos in the room. I remember looking up at one
point and just seeing everyone going berserk. It was a great sight!
My highlights:
Reach Out" by Bill Cosby - that's right, that Bill Cosby. A bonkers
version of the Four Tops classic, from the man's bizarre album of soul
covers.
"I Don't Want To Be Friends With You" by Shop Assistants -
I should play this more often, a fantastic reaction to this indie classic!
"Twist And Shout" by The Beatles - on seven inch, sounding
raw as anything, really kicked off a spark of excitement.
"Rusholme Ruffians", off "Rank" - Moz singing "His
Latest Flame" before getting stuck in.
"Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye. First HDIF
airing for this - great way to end the night.
"You Made Me Realise" - our live link up song, sounding as
deranged and brilliant as always.
January 30th:
Thanks to everyone who came to HDIF at the 100 Club on Saturday night.
It was an amazing night, and one I'm still trying to get my head around.
Being tucked away in the far corner, it was hard for me to tell how
it was going in the rest of the venue, especially over by the bar. So
if you have any photos of the night, I'd love to see them - links to
flickr sets and the like would be fantastic. My highlights:
* Magic Of A Kind Word by Belle & Sebastian - First airing for this
at HDIF and what a storming song. I loved bouncing around singing along
to this one.
* Safety Net by Shop Assistants - Ah, the noise and the rumble! Sounded
magnificent really loud!
* Have Love Will Travel by the Headcoatees. It was great to see everyone
grooving to this girl garage treat.
* Disc-Hoe by Those Dancing Days. Another girl pop treat, this time
from Sweden.
* Never Understand by Tralala. And another girl pop treat, this being
a cover of the Mary Chain classic by an American garage band.
* And of course, all of "The Queen Is Dead"! A HDIF milestone
I think!
January 22nd:
So here we are then - HDIF at the 100 Club. I've dreamed of doing this
for years and years. Wondered if we could dare have the club at such
an important, historic venue; worried about booking the place and then
no-one turning up; all the usual stuff that I fret and beat myself up
about. "You take it all too seriously," said Alex on New Year's
Eve. He's right of course. But I can't help it. I don't want to help
it.
It's not just the string of legendary bands and artists that have played
the 100 Club - the Stones, the Pistols, the Clash, the Kinks, Jackie
Wilson, Nico, so many more. It's not just that it's home to the inspirational
6Ts northern soul all-nighter - the club that HDIF wants to be when
it grows up. It's the fact that of all the venues in London, this is
only one left with a clear, untouched, connection to the past. When
you walk in the club on Saturday night, you'll see it exactly how Jackie
Wilson saw it, how Nico saw it, how Billie Holiday saw it when she went
to the jazz nights there. Think of all the other classic dancehalls
and venues in London - Hammersmith Palais, the Clarendon Ballroom, the
Marquee, the Roxy, the Rainbow and so on. They've all gone. The Roundhouse
lives on, but it's not the same as it was when the Ramones played there
in 1976. There's Ally Pally I suppose, but it's not the same either.
While the rest of the world succumbs to vulgar branding and pointless
refurbishments, the 100 Club stands alone, smack bang in the middle
of London, like the last soldier fighting the good fight. It's an honour
to be allowed through the doors. I hope we do them proud.
January 21st:
My highlights from Saturday night:
* "Abba On The Jukebox" by Trembling Blue Stars. I was running
late, as always, so much so that I was still setting up and sorting
out my CDs after the doors were open and people were coming in for an
early drink and a chat. Jyoti, as genial and laid-back as ever, watched
me buzz around like a lunatic, before offering a suggestion. "Why
don't you put on 'Abba On The Jukebox'? That's 9 minutes long."
A hop, skip and a gorgeous blast from the past later and I was ready.
* "Hazey Jane II" by Nick Drake. An early HDIF favourite,
played for Lisa. Watching a packed West End dancefloor groove to this
at 2.30am made me very happy indeed.
* "Outdoor Miner" by Wire. Another early HDIF fave, again
for Lisa. "I'm in that kind of mood," she'd informed me. Sounded
magnificent.
* "10.15 Saturday Night" by the Cure. Played, purely by accident,
at 10.15. On a Saturday night. And the tap drips. Under the strip light.
(Unfortunately, I wasn't sitting in the kitchen sink, but you can't
have everything.)
* "Jeane, If You're Ever In Portland" by Casiotone For The
Painfully Alone. In celebration of having tickets for his Bush Hall
show. Hurrah!
* "Your Woman" by White Town. I don't usually play a song
by the guest DJ, but I couldn't resist this. Another packed dancefloor
for this classic.
* "Jackie" by Scott Walker. Final song, lots of emotional
balladering on the dancefloor, the perfect way to bow out.
January 3rd:
I always find NYE a pretty stressful affair. I worry about it for days
beforehand, and then in the run up to the bells I'm a bag of nerves,
worried that something will go wrong. On this occasion, I was playing
my planned set of tunes to take us into the new year when I realised
that we were going to hit 2008 about four minutes early. Eeeeek! God
knows how I'd managed to mess up that calculation, but I threw in a
few extra songs and we got there in the end...! Here are my highlights:
* Que Sera Sera by Doris Day at midnight. I was worried and excited
about this one. If it worked, it would be wonderful. If it didn't, I'd
be facing a dancefloor full of puzzled faces. I played it at home again
and again trying to work out if it would work...and then thought I should
just go for it. And of course, it all went beautifully - everyone singing
along, waving their arms in the air, and enjoying the sentiment and
the moment. The start of a new year. Whatever will be will be. Then
as someone shouted "Happy New Year", the opening chords of
"Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying" sauntered into view. Perfect.
* Holland 1945 followed by Age Of Aquarius. I swore I'd never play this
song again after it was such a storming highlight in 2006, but I felt
that a yearand a half was time enough. And I liked the way the two songs
- the fuzzedi ndie folk chaos of Holland 1945 and the airy rock opera
madness of Age Of Aquarius - meshed together, both equally as unhinged
but in very differentways. But really both of those songs are just an
excuse to get to the second half of the second song, Let The Sunshine
In, which is just astonishing. A bassline to die for, soaring soul vocals,
and a chorus that makes me glow.Usual apologies if you tried to talk
to me during this song. I was having a momemt. Ahem.
* Blue Monday. I couldn't let the year go by without another tribute
to Tony Wilson. Brighter by the Railway Children got an airing earlier
in the nightas well.
* Beginning To See The Light. A special occasion song for a special
occasion.
* Everything Flows. A night of classics. There's something about the
open-ended magnificence of this that's perfect for New Year's Day I
think.I'll never know which way to flow/Set a course that I don't know.
* Black Minds, White Lies. He sees stars...!
Thanks everyone for a fantastic 2007. Here's to the year ahead. I've
got a feeling it's going to be a good one.
2007's weblog is right here
2006's weblog is right here
2005's weblog is right here
2004's weblog is right
here
2003's weblog is right
here
2002's weblog is right
here
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