Records of the year

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 'Abbatoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus'
An amazing collection of songs, and the best live band this year too.

Elliott Smith 'From a basement on the hill'
This is what we miss now he's gone.

PJ Harvey 'Uh huh her'
People said it wasn't her best, I say not her best is still way better than most.

Wilco 'A ghost is born'
More maverick pop genius.

The Futureheads 'The Futureheads'
Modern life isn't rubbish - total energy and a great live band too.

Hush Collector update

I haven't written anything about Hush Collector for a while, so, here is an update. We have now finished and mixed our three track sampler. The three songs - Flowby, Mountain Song, and It don't matter, were all recorded in Church Road Studios with Julian Tardo engineering (and playing some bass). We are just living with the mixes now over Christmas and then they will be mastered. The website is nearly finished and should go live sometime in January, to include free mp3 clips of the tracks. Next step then is to find ourselves a drummer and a bassist so we can do some gigs. So, lots of plans for 2005 - I can't wait!

Happy Birthday Dad

It's my Dad's birthday today - happy birthday Dad, you're a legend!

Morrissey

Well, just seen Morrissey at the Brighton Centre and it was pretty cool. The first song he played was 'How soon is now?' and he also did 'Shoplifters of the world unite', 'There is a light that never goes out', and 'Last night I dreamt somebody loved me'. And the new songs were good too! For pure pop excitement, hearing 'How soon is now?' takes some beating. Maybe joint best gig of the year, along with Nick Cave.

Gigs in 2004

8 Jan - Chimp – Komedia, Brighton
9 Feb - Air - Dome, Brighton
15 Feb - Alfie - Komedia, Brighton
2 March – Yo La Tengo – Corn Exchange, Brighton
26 March – London Sinfonietta, Squarepusher, Jame Lidell - Dome, Brighton
22 April – Mum – Old Market Theatre, Hove
26 April - Franz Ferdinand - Concorde, Brighton
1 May – Asian Dub Foundation Battle of Algiers soundtrack – Dome, Brighton
5 May – Animal Collective - Po Na Na, Brighton
22 May – Leonard Cohen tribute – Dome, Brighton
24 May - Yat-kha - Komedia, Brighton
27 May – PJ Harvey – Zodiac, Oxford
2 June – Ikara Colt – Po Na Na, Brighton
4 June – The Pixies – Brixton Academy, London
14 July – PJ Harvey – Somerset House, London
17 July – Girlinky – Spice of Life, London
20 July – Clinic – Komedia, Brighton
6 September - Things in Herds - The Greys, Brighton
14 September – PJ Harvey – Dome, Brighton
28 September – Juana Molina – Marlborough Theatre, Brighton
13 October – Cowboy Junkies – Dome, Brighton
15 October – The Earlies – Concorde, Brighton
30 October – Rufus Wainwright – Dome, Brighton
31 October – Chimp – Marlborough Theatre, Brighton
3 November – Nick Cave – Hastings Pier
10 November – Nick Cave – Brixton Academy, London
1 December – Go! Team – Po Na Na, Brighton
3 December – Girlinky – Spice of Life, London
8 December – Futureheads – Concorde, Brighton
16 December – The Tears – Heaven, London
17 December – Morrissey – Brighton Centre

And the winner is... got to be Nick Cave at Brixton Academy. That is unless Morrissey is really amazing tonight...

The Tears

Went to see The Tears last night at Heaven in London. I'm sure everyone knows that this is Brett and Bernard from Suede's new band, and surprisingly enough they did sound pretty much like Suede. I have to say I was fairly underwhelmed, but then seeing a band when you don't know any of the songs is quite strange. They seemed underwhelmed by the reaction as well, at one point Brett said "it's like a tea party in here - come on!". Support band The Subways were pretty cool - maybe it's just more exciting when a band is new, like when Suede first appeared. That's your finest moment I guess, and unless you reinvent yourself like Radiohead, why would people keep listening? Anyway, Morrissey tonight at the Brighton Centre...

The Futureheads

Saw The Futureheads play at the Concorde on Wednesday and they were really excellent. Probably one of the most fun bands I've seen for a while, and their overlapping vocals are really cool. Meantime and Decent Days and Nights are definitely their best songs. It was being recorded live for BBC 6 Music and you can hear clips tomorrow on Steve Lamacq's show.

The Go! Team

Well, went to see The Go! Team last night at Po Na Na in Brighton, and they sounded great. Unfortunately the venue was so packed I couldn't see a damn thing. They said it was their first Brighton gig, so they're not exactly "from Brighton" then, as has been said a lot.