Sonic Avenger

A-O Hell 2

2010-02-06T15:56:00.009Z

Listening to: Stevie Wonder - Superstition

Greets peeps. Well, just when you thought Spring was around the corner, more white stuff falls from the sky and puts everything back a few weeks. On top of this I've been beleagured by tech-problems of one kind or another recently. The battery that powers the Sonic Chariot's engine decided to give up the ghost a few nights back. The freezing fog that had settled around Chéz Sonique probably didn't help matters but it was particularly annoying because the component in question was less than a year old, and I don't like having to walk anywhere if it can be avoided.
I also have an ongoing problem with AOL, my ISP. I cannot get online from my main computer despite the little flashing green light on my wireless router telling me that I actually am. A forty minute pep-talk, paid for by me, with an otherwise very personable AOL tech-chap in India also proved to be a complete waste of time. A new ISP may be on the cards very soon I think. If anyone out there has any recommendations in this area, please let me know.
Aside from these petty annoyances, I'm looking forward to the Spring now. I've had enough of damp and darkness; soon I shall bestride the Earth in sonic shorts, boys and girls.

Sonic Beach

2010-01-16T22:02:00.032Z

Listening to: Black Sabbath - Sweet Leaf

G'day boys and girls. Moving very slowly into January and 2010 over here. Like most other burrowing marsupials, I'm in semi-hibernation mode at this bleak juncture in the calendar, so I'm hardly at my most alert or motivated. Slowly but surely though, this will change.
Sub-zero temperatures haven't helped of course. It's as cold right now as I can ever recall it being, but as y'all know, it's Forever Summer in my mind. This is no easy task I can tell you. I mean, just take a look at that pic up there. A time-worn snapshot of post WW1-era smalltown, hard-times Britain. Nah, a pic taken from the doorway of my local Sainsbury's earlier today.
That's the state of play in Cruel Britannia as I type, pop-kids. As Daphne Du Maurier once wrote, it's grim Up North. However, years of yogic discipline and self-deprivation have given yours truly the ability to completely blank out my immediate surroundings at will and mentally repair to my favourite sun-lounger on Sonic Beach, far away in time. This is why I'm such a sunny, warm, agreeable person, pretty much all the time. Seriously, anyone who knows me would tell you the same.
Peace, out.

About the Weather

2010-01-06T12:56:00.018Z

Listening to: The Shadows - Frightened City

And lo, Cruel Britannia did completely close down and grind to a halt. Because of snow and ice. In January. Who could've seen that coming? Schools closed, cars abandoned, airports shut down. All for the lack of some grit being thrown on the roads, from what I can see.
And with that opening observation, bang goes one of my Nu-Year's resolutions - ie, not moaning about the weather. The sad truth is, I enjoy it too much. It's one of life's pleasures for us hard done-to Brits. So as long as cold weather in winter continues to be headline news over here, I'll feel justified in moaning about it.
In other news I'm currently in the process of assembling another mix for your Nu-Year's delectation, which I'll be posting as soon as it's finished. Ok, Forward my little friends...

At last - 2010

2010-01-01T13:09:00.020Z

Listening to: Unkle - Heaven

Happy New Year one and all. Yes, 2009 is finally behind us, and a new decade beckons. I've never known a year that so many people claimed to be their worst. Say what you like but there's definitely something astrological going on there pop-kids. As is my custom I stayed at home on the last night of 2009. Apart from my aversion to Auld Lang Syne-orientated revelry it didn't seem like a good idea to give whoever's in charge Up There one last chance to rain down misfortune on my year. Thus fine wine, pizza and a Robert De Niro flick sealed the deal for me last night. That said, I still do the flinging-the-front-door-open-at-midnight thing, and watching the fireworks etc, so I'm not a complete New Year party pooper. Right boys & girls, helmets on and here we go into the Great Unknown...

Yuletide Preparedness

2009-12-23T11:30:00.018Z

Listening to: Ramsey Lewis Trio - Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Some things continue to amaze, year in, year out. Like the apparent surprise expressed by councils the length and breadth of Cruel Britannia that snow and ice might actually be a reality in December. Like the scenes of near-riot in any given supermarket or department store on any given day in the lead-up to Christmas. It seems to begin slightly earlier every year.
Anyhoo, my up-at-the-crack-of-dawn-to-shop approach (see previous post) worked in the end, and I pretty much have everything done that needs to be done. Plus I managed to traverse Satan's Slip-Road (Southern readers: the M62) without too much grief earlier today. Never a relaxing trip at the best of times.
Of course, in accordance with government guidelines, I'd packed a thermos of coffee, some blankets, stout walking-boots, some flares (no, not the trousers) and a supply of glucose tablets, just in case of climatic Armageddon. Over here, you just never know.
Ok, onward into the Season of Goodwill we go.

Fear of Christmas

2009-12-21T21:43:00.009Z

Listening to: Lou Rawls - Good Time Christmas

The scene at 7.30am this morning, as I trudged my way through the local streets to go swimming with the dolphins. Yes, you read it correctly dear reader. Swimming. I even opted to travel on foot, as the Sonic Chariot was sufficiently buried in ice that I decided to let the sun do all the hard work later in the day.
Let's face it, I'm about to spend the next week laying on a settee in the land of my forefathers, with a TV-remote in one hand, a flagon of wine in the other and a vast tin-box full of Cadbury's Roses on my chest. Just like it says we must in The Bible. So in preparation for this joyous celebration, I figure it's probably best to snatch a few minutes of rogue exercise while I can...catch my body all unawares, like.
I also have some last-minute-but-crucial Yuletide shopping to do, which will see me in the local town centre tomorrow before sun-up.
I actually tried this earlier today. Drove 5 miles, parked the SC near as possible to town, walked for 20 minutes and, upon arriving in Leeds, was presented with what looked like a series of out-takes from a George Romero flick. Queues everywhere. Queues to join queues. I turned on my heels and headed back the way I'd come, without so much as a greetings card to show for it.
Tomorrow I shall repeat the exercise but at a ridiculously early hour, before the Army of the Undead have risen, and begin their day's shopping. I shall report back.

Sonic Santa

2009-12-08T18:04:00.007Z

Listening to: Babs Gonzales - The Bebop Santa Claus

Ok mon petit blogettes, as mentioned in the previous post, I've been putting together a Yuletide music mix, and there it is, over there on the right. Click on the green arrow to listen, click on the link below to see track-listing and download. I tells ya pop-kids, some of those selections are not easy to find these days. The Bebop Santa Claus has long been a Festive favourite of mine, and I never get tired of listening to Porky Pig's reading of Blue Christmas. Lou Rawls, The Ronettes, White Stripes, Little Cindy, the Brady Bunch and more. All the greats in one 26-track long Festive procession of Yuletide jollity.
I actually compiled this because I can never find a Christmas selection that I like enough to buy, so here's the answer. Lovingly crafted by my own fair hands, and free for y'all to download - until Twelfth Night that is, as tradition decrees. Enjoy.

Live at Chéz Sonique Vol 2

2009-12-04T14:32:00.016Z

Listening to: Live at Chéz Sonique Vol 2

Greetings music lovers. As I do every year around this time, I'm getting the Christmas Fear. I'm hoping that the ritual dressing-of-the-tree ceremony at Chéz Sonique later today will ease the fear factor a little. Naturally there will be some ritual drinking-of-the-alcohol to accompany the proceedings. Tradition in these matters is of the utmost importance.
Anyhoo, in the Yuletide spirit of Giving, I present to y'all my latest Sonic Odyssey, Live at Chéz Sonique Vol 2. Click on the orange arrow over there on the right to listen. Click on the link below to see the track-listing and download.
Tastemakers at large have already given Vol 2 the thumbs-up and it has been broadcast on the Joe McKechnie Show, alongside a superb Underground Resistance mix. See what you think pop-kids.
I'm currently preparing something with a seasonal theme, so stay tuned.

Vinyl Thrills

2009-11-26T16:23:00.010Z

Listening to: Leonard Cohen - Democracy is Coming to the USA

'Sup homies. This afternoon finds yours truly putting the finishing touches to another barrier-breaking/envelope-pushing half-hour mix, cut and crafted by my own fair hands. This one is destined for an online radio show (details to follow) but I shall be uploading it here for all you taste-makers and Sonic thrill-seekers to see what you think.
Tiring of the acres of files on my hard-drive, I've definitely rediscovered my love of vinyl lately...in particular the 7-inch variety. I'm not even talking about the more celebrated specimens that sport a picture-sleeve, though obviously that is the ideal aesthetic situation for a small, round piece of plastic with a hole in the middle to be in.
However, some of my collection comes from a time when 7" singles were taken from pub jukeboxes and placed in revolving racks in local sweet-shops, waiting to be loved a second time. I think Marcel Proust wrote about just this at some length.
Anyhoo, some of these gems will undoubtedly be finding their way into my own particular take on Mixtape Poetry, then out there into the cold, dark recesses of cyberspace. Now that's one epic journey pop-kids. Stay tooned.

Live at Chéz Sonique Vol 1

2009-11-08T16:45:00.021Z

Listening to: Live at Chéz Sonique - Vol 1

Greetings y'all. Well, it must be said that recently, the onset of the the dark months has seen yours truly in an unseasonably celebratory mood. Not quite ready for hibernation, I've been hosting a few off-the-cuff music appreciation evenings, so to speak, for a select coterie of guests. The soundtracks for these events - compiled and mixed by myself - have proven quite popular with the assembled party-goers. Lots of cuddly 7 and 12-inch vinyl will have this effect, I find.
So instead of handing out CDs, I've uploaded the first of these mixes to those kind folks at SoundCloud - over there on the right pop-kids. Click the blue arrow to listen. Click on the link to see the track-listing and download. As the tracklist indicates, this ain't Judge Jules. Just stuff I like, cut and re-shaped to my own personal requirements. With this as the basic template, expect further installments as and when. Enjoy, music lovers, and all comments welcome.

Halloween

2009-10-31T16:08:00.050Z

Listening to: Sonic Youth - Halloween

Good evening people. All Hallow's Eve is upon us once again. This time last week here in Cruel Britannia, the clocks went back one hour, thereby plunging us hapless inhabitants into the season of death and decay, which the more seasonally deluded of you out there are wont to refer to as Autumn. Not I though. Despair all ye who enter this season.
So, anyone who's been paying even vague attention around here will recall that I'm all in favour of scarey stuff. Other commitments have prevented me from doing the Halloween thing for a few years now, but this year, falling on a Saturday as it does, things are looking up. Not that I'm planning on leaving the house dressed as Wonder Woman or Charlie Chaplin as our U.S. cousins have taken to doing though. If I ever dress as Wonder Woman I tend to do it indoors anyway. Too chilly.
No sir, Halloween still equates to scarey around these parts, so I've a shortlist of movies that must be watched. Not sure what yet, but the Blair Witch Project is looking good. I've also ordered pizza that has the mushrooms fashioned into the likeness of a laughing skull. If I can obtain scarey alcohol locally, I'm getting that too. I even have a black cat resident in Chéz Sonique for the evening. Yes, really.
Moooohahahahaaaa!

Heading for the Hills

2009-10-14T22:35:00.012Z

Listening to: Soulful Strings - Burning Spear

Currently in the land of my forefathers, about to set off to West Wales for a few days of peace and tranquility. A short spell of the above will hopefully reconfigure my brain circuitry and put me back in general harmony with the universe. Restricted access to the WWW and technology generally will be no bad thing either. Just me, the birds, the badgers, and Mother Nature watching over us all, even when we're in the pub.
Canfod 'ch i mewn hychydig ddiwrnodau pop-fynnod.

Age of Chance v Guardian

2009-10-09T15:27:00.025Z

Listening to: Age of Chance - Kisspower

Just a quickie boys & girls, by way of an add-on to that last post:
Age of Chance v The Guardian is out today. A great interview with Angus Batey, y'all can read it online here. Having just read it myself, I think I might dig out some of my old cycling-gear from the vaults then maybe wander around the environs surrounding Chéz Sonique in the hope of being recognised by Guardian readers. Yes, badly in need of an ego-rub here. However, a more likely scenario is that I'll end up getting chased into a deserted windmill by irate local arbiters of good taste brandishing farming implements and flaming torches. As of today I say, screw 'em - read the papers fules, I'm a Pioneer, it sez so right there. Peace, out.

This is the Age of Chance

2009-10-06T18:34:00.048Z

Listening to: Age of Chance - Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Noise

The musical part of my previous existence is now available to buy pop-kids, as EMI have digitally re-issued the entire Age of Chance back catalogue. Yes indeed, the dayglo-constructivist-lycra-clad underbelly of the 80's is out there and available once more.
While I'm at it, here are some links which the more discerning music-lovers amongst you will find useful:

Age of Chance back-catalogue - Buy here.
Also released are 3 previously unheard tracks from the Playing With Fire sessions:
Definition of a Riot - AOC's wild deconstruction of Flame On and 2 other remixes:
The Longest Day and Midsummer RMX. Y'all need to hear these.

AOC Official website - here.

Of special note with the latter is the sleeve artwork section here. There are some great little hidden eggs in some of the sleeves for your visual delectation. Look carefully.

Great interview: AOC v The Quietus here

AOC Back-Cat reviewed here (click Reviews > Age of Chance)

Age of Chance live onstage - Great photos here

Excellent article on the AOC sleeve-artwork company Designer's Republic with free downloadable and very groovy DesRep Mix - here.

AOC's legendary, super-rare 12" sample-fest Kisspower: Free download here.

There are two items which are not being re-issued - The first two 7" singles Motorcity and Bible of the Beats, on the band's own Riot Bible label. This is because EMI don't own the rights to them, AOC do.
I'm sure they'll make a reappearance at some point in the future, but for now Motorcity is on the accompanying CD to John Robb's current bestseller Death to Trad Rock, an exhaustive study of the 80's Indie/Noise scene, which of course AOC feature significantly in. Available here and all leading book shops. If you can't rush out and buy this one right away, you'll be wanting to place it at the very pinnacle of your Christmas list.
Bible of the Beats, on the other hand, is available on the excellent 2-disc, 48 track CD86 compilation, here.
Make copious notes class, as I'll be asking questions at a later date.

It's a Beautiful Day

2009-10-05T15:34:00.007Z

Listening to: Burial - Versus

Hello boys & girls. No, not the U2 song of the same name. It just is. A beautiful day, that is. October and the sun still shines down on selected corners of Cruel Britannia. I didn't feel so great yesterday to be honest, but today, once I'd taken my morning swim with the dolphins then re-emerged into the sunlight, everything seemed right-ish again.
Part of this has to do with me giving up on one or two projects that were proving to be a definite waste of my time and energy. Sometimes you just have to admit defeat and bow out, and I have. The upside is that now I can better use my time for things that really matter, and I'll be sharing these with y'all pretty soon.
Today I also dropped off a couple of big bags of clothes-I'm-never-going-to-wear-again (some of them quite groovy I'll have you know) at the local RSPCA shop, so the cats and dogs will all be cheering too. Good Karma must be on the cards for me now, surely. I have a definite cosmic backlog of that particular commodity which I need to collect, quite soon if possible.

Summer the 2nd Time

2009-09-12T14:56:00.021Z

Listening to: Alice Cooper - Hello Hooray

I report, dear reader, from the throes of an ongoing heatwave here in Cruel Britannia. No, not a misprint, and not an opener I've used before it must be said, especially in September. As far as I'm concerned, if at all possible, on that rare occasion the sun comes out to play these days, it's time to put down whatever you're doing and re-organise your day. The cold hard fact is that very soon the Great Darkness will descend upon this fair isle, and that will be that until next Spring.
Along with this all-pervading gloom come the Winter Apologists - you know 'em, drizzle-loving, dampness addicted - singing their seasonal song about the ever-changing colours, the kaleidoscopic beauty and natural wonderment of Autumn. Yeah, maybe in Aspen, Colorado you delusional flower-children. Over here it's just Brown.
It's all part of the Weird Weather patterns we live with nowadays though. I mean, the last few days here have been sun-drenched and cloudless. We just don't get to see that anymore, even in midsummer. Anyhoo, I'm just going with it while it lasts.
On another topic altogether, yesterday as I'm sure y'all know, was the eighth anniversary of 9/11. Normally I'd have done a commemorative blog in accordance with this, but I just couldn't rouse myself at all. A couple of nights back I watched a U.S. TV documentary whose entire remit was to make 9/11-as-Inside-Job theories look like Aliens-have-fiddled-with-me ramblings. Nothing new there I know, but it insulted my intelligence enough for me to switch it off, and kind of dulled my urge to write about it.
Even the most obvious aspects of the 9/11 attacks bear further investigation. Like, whatever it was that hit the Pentagon and exploded, it most definitely wasn't a Boeing 757. As a recent speeding summons of mine stated: We have photographic evidence.
The 9/11 Truth will out in the fullness of time pop-kids, you'll see.

Ellie Greenwood

2009-08-27T21:12:00.008Z

Listening to: See below

This RIP thing is getting depressing, so I'll keep it short. Reading about the death of Ellie Greenwood today, I knew that she'd written a fair number of 60's hits but I never realised just how many. Let's face it, she'd have gone down in history if she'd only ever written River Deep Mountain High, but she penned so many transcendent pop songs it's untrue. Phil Spector's Wall of Sound would never have been built without her, and the history of popular music would've been very different indeed.

A Random Thing of Beauty

2009-08-23T21:25:00.007Z

Listening to: MFSB - Love is the Message

Here's something I came across over the weekend, and I post it for no other reason than it made me smile. I'm no Luddite, but it's so good to see a place like this doing brisk business. Long may it do so. For much the same reason, I'm currently listening to the mighty MFSB anthem Love is the Message. A great way to enter the coming week. Click on the title above and turn your speakers up to see what I mean. I should do more of this random stuff pop-kids, it's jolly therapeutic.

Exit Les Paul

2009-08-13T20:07:00.012Z

Listening to: Apollo 100 - Joy

Guitar legend Les Paul died earlier today, aged 94. Without him, it's difficult to speculate how any music over the past 60-plus years that ever required an electric guitar might have ended up sounding. Such were the strides he personally made in guitar and recording technology. In tandem with this, he developed a truly innovative playing style and had a successsful recording career - 36 gold records and 11 US number ones. In every sense of the word, a complete Original.

Back on the Horse

2009-08-06T13:00:00.014Z

Listening to: Unkle - I Need Something Stronger

Good day music lovers everywhere. Every morning this week for yours truly has started at 8.00am in the basement of Chéz Sonique, the swimming-chamber. Yes, I've decided that it's officially time to get things moving again with a spot of the ol' exercise. I've not done any of the latter for much too long now, mainly due to my Big Mishap of 2008. To this end I have returned the relevant staff to full-time duties and have, with their assistance, managed to regain some of my former aqua-skills. Not exactly back to my Young Dolphin status of course, but I have no doubt that this will come.
It's time to celebrate what's left of the Summer pop-kids. If I owned a surfboard, I promise you I'd be waxing it vigourously.

The Weekend that Was

2009-08-03T08:19:00.020Z

Listening to: Moon - OST

Good morning Blog citizens, welcome to the week. Not a bad weekend all in all for yours truly. Saturday I was interviewed by Mr. Andrew Collins for BBC 6Music. Arrived at the studios early so that Panic would not be allowed to enter the proceedings. Found there to be no-one on the reception desk, doors locked, no lights on. Stood outside for 15 minutes or so, until I could alert a grown-up to my predicament. After some indoor waiting around, I was shown to a small room by a helpful chap, who handed me a pair of headphones and informed me that the appropriate folks would be 'Dialling me up as and when'. Helpful Chap then ran off at top-speed to present the news on local TV. My thanks to him.
I sat and stared at a grey wall, listening to the amplified sound of my own increasingly shallow breathing in the head-set for 20 minutes or more. Several calls were made to yet more grown-ups, each growing in fractiousnesss. Panic entered the proceedings. Eventually, I'm happy to report, contact was made and an effortless conversation about the finer points of Popular Culture was broadcast to the nation. Result.
This morning I have swum like a juvenile dolphin and am supercharged with positivity for the coming week. Onward.™

Curb Your Seinfeld

2009-07-31T21:55:00.012Z

Listening to: Fever Ray - When I Grow Up

At last, amid all the war, famine, pestilence and downright rudeness out there, a sign that there may indeed be a God. The entire cast of Seinfeld have been written into the forthcoming 7th series (U.S. readers: Season) of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Read about it here.
I can only imagine that Michael Kramer Richards will be glad of the employment again following his onstage meltdown of a couple of years ago.
For anyone not familiar with Seinfeld who may be experiencing some Sein-Curiosity, try watching Curb (as we say) then working backwards to it. You'll see the evolution. Don't bother too much with the last few series though. Co-creator Larry David had left to do CYE by then, and his absence was more than evident. Go for what are referred to on the box-set as the Yadda-Yadda Years. Then, when you've learned all the scripts, get back to me because I don't know many, in fact any Sein-Fans and I need recruits with whom I can back & forth all the one-liners and in-jokes.

A Dose of the Ethers

2009-07-29T15:46:00.010Z

Listening to: Psychomania OST

So what's new in Sonicworld I hear y'all ask? Well, I've been struck by computer woes recently. My broadband access was powered by a Jurassic DSL modem, which this week has been sounding it's death rattle. Only problem with it's replacement, a super-slick modem router, is that it requires an ethernet connection that my not-exactly-new computer doesn't have. I duly located and purchased an ethernet adapter on Ebay for £1.99. Only after I clicked Buy did I learn that these gizmos apparently slow down your net-speed somewhat. So I ended up buying an ethernet card this afternoon. Couple of hours later, both card and router are installed and running nicely, so all's well. Now I don't have to leave the cosy confines of Chez Soniqué to use the facilities at the local library for local people. The whole scene down there is just too weird for me.
In other news, the people in charge of the UK's weather have admitted that they got things wrong a while back. Turns out that our summer of lawn-darts, croquet, daisy-chains and al fresco dining was a government lie. Instead, it's sideways rain and central-heating. Now there's a thing.

Ill Communication

2009-07-20T21:58:00.007Z

Listening to: Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty

The Beastie Boys. Probably the only act I can think of that have, for over 20 years stayed consistently inventive, never switched into creative cruise-control and remained the best at what they do. No-one else from their era has achieved this. They're the only band that have had real longevity, of whom I can honestly say I like their entire career's output, in all it's musical meanderings. With anyone else I'd have to cherry-pick the best bits. I still look forward to their releases like a 13 year-old, and usually buy on the day of release.
So here's Adam MCA Yauch sharing some generally not-so-great news with the world at large. This clip also proves beyond all doubt something I have known since the birth of time: Without a sense of humour, you have nothing. Get well and get back out there sir.

Here is a Bulletin

2009-07-18T10:24:00.004Z

Listening to: Steinski & the Mass Media - The Motorcade Sped On

Walter Cronkite, the most famous newsreader of all time died yesterday aged 92. At the risk of being percieved as some kind of death-blogger, (see previous) I post this news because Walt's rich baritone was, in time, set against Charlie Watts' cowbell to end up immortalised on vinyl in Steinski's cut n' paste masterpiece The Motorcade Sped On. One of my favourite tracks of all time, I need very little excuse to feature it. Click here for the audio plus some great visuals.