What becomes of the broken hearted? They head here...

Last year's Anti-Valentines session at the Keston Lodge was a hell of a lotta fun with drinking, dancing and just generally sticking two fingers in Cupid's direction by playing a selection of 'fuck love' and done-me-wrong songs throughout the course of the evening.

(My personal favourite of the night? This one)



So this Thursday the 14th we're going to do it all again from 8pm till late. Joining my good self on the wheels of rubber, steel and plastic will be Beez and Becca, aka World of Proper. Having seen those crazy kids last play at their Christmas records bash at The Mucky Pup, I'm guessing that Thursday should be -

a) a lark
b) quite silly
c) full of pardeeeee breaks
d) probably quite messy


There will also be a ban on Joy Division tunes (seriously, that's just way too obvious for an Anti-V Day bash) and, despite what it states on the flyer above, I'm sure couples can sneak in as long as they stop holding hands for at least one millisecond whilst walking through the Keston doors. Oh, and no pashing like randy students sneaking a quickie behind the cricket nets/bleachers. Right? See y'all there.

Now, back to our (ir)regularly scheduled blogging

* A quick shout out to footie blog Angle of Post and Bar which skewers the hyperbole of the cash-grabbing Premier League and big time football quite nicely. If you're a fan of When Saturday Comes then Angle is certainly one to bookmark.

* While watching the Eng-er-land vee Switzerland match this week (if only to gaze at the sartorial smoothness of Don Capello of course), my flatmate Will decided that the name of Swiss goal scorer Derdiyok was a fine replacement for the title of Maria Vidal's 80s hit Body Rock

'Derdiyok, get your body into music...'



This led to a good hour's worth of amusement watching clips from the flick of the same name, an unintentionally hilarious cash-in on a crazy new street culture known as 'hip-hop'. I'm tempted to pick it up on Region 1 DVD for a fiver just to experience the full, camp, body popping Lorenzo Lamas experience. But for now, I guess these clips will have to do (Oh, and I'm changing my name to Chilly D).







'Yo, this cut? Very big in Europe this season....'

* Forget Sony's colour ads. Honda continue to make clever and unique commercials that never fail to raise a smile. Rubiks cubes and jigsaws. Gold.



And the making of.

Nope, we're not shutting up shop, k?

Time flies when you're....

* in a new job
* entertaining visitors from overseas
* busy running errands
* playing records
* errr....

But hopefully normal service will resume this weekend. Scouts honour!

Meanwhile, I'll be playing records all weekend.....yes yes. Come down to Catch on Friday where I'll be coming off the subs bench to play alongside sioux-elin at Vinyl Glamour from 9.30pm (get well soon Lazy L!)

Saturday? After a kip and some quality time spent in the kitchen, it's off to the always lovely Defectors Weld (8.30pm till 1am). It's a bit of a warm up set for Sunday - the closing party of this year's Raindance Film Festival at Sound nightclub in Leicester Square. Hanging out with the next bunch of Spielbergs , Fords, Scotts, Capras...um.....Bolls? No matter, it'll be pretty fun.

Until this weekend's proper bumper comeback post, I'll leave y'all with this clip (gold!), and this thought....how much would you pay?*

* I went the whole hog and got the discbox. And apparantly, I'm not the only one it seems.

Got my Simpsons Vans on and they look like sneakers

S.U.C.C.E.S.S. - That's the way you spell a good day's shopping, or summin' like that. (Imagine hearing the JUSTICE kiddies singing that...)

Following on from yesterday's hint, Codename Sparrow and myself hit the new Oxfam in Dalston, and found quite a nice addition to the strip of chicken shops, fabric warehouses, pound shops and warehouses that is Kingsland Rd. There was a poor CD selection, which was beside the point really, as it meant we could get down to business and start combing through the 49p and 99p rekkids. Near misses? Well, Leather and Lace: Volume Two was tempting....in the end I plumped for two albums - Prince's 1999 and Duran Duran's Rio. Sure, obvious choices you might say, and I'd have to agree with you. However, if there's ever a need to play at a wedding in the next few years then these would both make the shortlist for the appropriate record bag.

The catch of the day came near the end of the search, just as we hit the 7's. Ladies and gentleman, I give you the 1985 power ballad from four sharply dressed lads, Mr Mister. Pure. Solid. Gold.


Mr Mister - Broken Wings

To this day, I can still remember hearing this for the first time on a car trip in country Australia when I was young nipper whilst listening to Barry Bissell's Take 40 Australia chart countdown (the Australian version of Rick Dees Weekly Top 40, or Top Of The Pops). The synths, the electronic drums, the soft wailing guitar, and the pleading of singer Richard Page, knowing that 'the look of love will open up for us and let us in' (yeah yeah!). Some people may tarnish songs such as Broken Wings with the lazy (and opportunist) 'Guilty Pleasure' tag, but it still raises a smile every time I hear it, whether in the background while eating a hangover special at the local caff, or whilst playing GTA. Class.

And the clip - I swear, wife beaters and jackets are a winning sartorial one-two.



Later on in the day, I headed over to Brick Lane to check out the mighty fine Super Deluxe, where instead of picking up a pair of the new Marc Jacobs Vans (tasty), I grabbed the last pair of the nice nice Nike Court Force High's designed by Jeff Staple. Merino wool on a sneaker? You betcha.



But now I've found the next target on my shopping list. Feast your peepers on these.





Yup. Limited edition Vans designed by Kaws to commemorate The Simpsons Movie opening later this month. Head over to Freshness Mag for the rest of them (the Futura and Todd James pairs are also nifty too).

Speaking of all things Simpsonic, I followed the lead of Mish from I Used To Dance With My Daddy and pimped my yellow ass right up, avatar stylee.

Only problem is, I haven't been clean shaven in five years! It looks like some Photoshop hijinks might be the only way to get a true Major Leaguer likeness, although right now I've got other things to do with my time, such as packing my trunk for the land of Swedes.....

Sonic Youth - Theme from The Simpsons

16 RPM? You so crazy...

What's so Good about Friday? These things here...

* Welcome back to the tinterweb Mr Beez. Check out his new home at 16 33 45 78. (Yes, there are 16 RPM records out there believe it or not!)

* Teasers from Bjork's new album Volta, if you haven't heard them already, can be found at her dummy Myspace page under the artist name Gerome Voltaire. The album's out on May 7. Bjork + Timbaland = genius?

* July 27 can't come soon enough.


* Vote for The Blazin' Blades at Fist-A-Cuffs!

* Looks like Envelopes have come out of hibernation and become Talking Heads, not that that's a bad thing. Here's the video for new single 'Smoke In The Desert, Eating The Sand, Hide In The Grass' (phew!).



The band are playing coming back to London to play a stack of dates in April, with the White Heat appearance on April 17 (alongside some special secret guests from their label Brille) being the pick of them. Snap up your tickets here.

Oh, and a reminder of just how kookily brilliant Envelopes really are.

Envelopes - Free Jazz

How can this song not make you smile? Even better with visuals too.



And a not so Good Friday when you find out about this...

* Not nearly as good as Revolver and surely a waste of time for all involved just for a ratings boost? Good to see that Radio 2 are still in touch with listeners, eh?.

Ding Ding! Round Four: Scott Storch vs Timbaland

I've heard of beefs between rappers, but beefs between producers? Timbaland vs Scott Storch seems more of a case of handbags at dawn than Jay-Z vs Nas, or Fiddy vs The Game. The whole shebang kicked off after Storch claimed in recent interviews that he should have got more credit for his work on Justin Timberlake's 'Cry Me A River', claiming that not only did he produce the majority of JT's Britney-baiting hit instead of Timbaland, but was also the song's sole writer. Mr Mosely bit his tongue for a while, before slating Storch on 'Give It To Me', the first single off Timbaland Presents Shock Value.

"When Timbo is in the party everybody put up their hands
I get a half a mill for my beats, you get a couple grand-d-d-d-d...
I'm a real producer and you just the piano man
Your song gonna top the charts, I heard em, I'm not a fan-n-n-n-n..."

Not exactly in the league of Jay's diss against Nas on The Takeover is it?

"Youse the fag model for Karl Kani/Esco ads
Went from, Nasty Nas to Esco's trash...
So yeah I sampled your voice, you was usin it wrong
You made it a hot line, I made it a hot song"

So how did the one-time Roots member (and Paris squeeze) respond? With one of the worst diss tracks of all time.



Oh dear. Cheap video, bad rhyming, and a terrible beat to boot. However, Timbaland must have been riled and had to retaliate (if only for Storch's 'pack of franks at the back of your neck' line) with this cut fronted by Mosely Music Group's newest signing, D.O.E.

D.O.E. - Piano Man

Looks like Timothy's winning it on points, but it's not exactly a classic feud is it? Why can't we all get along like these guys?

* Kanye likes curry. But from Wales?

* The first big new release day of the year? Tomorrow sees new long players from Arcade Fire, Air, Nick Cave's side project Grinderman, Willy Mason, !!!, Ry Cooder, Joakim and Tracey Thorn. Phew.

* Two upcoming nights out that regular Major Leaguer readers would be fools to miss. This Friday at Our Disco, the special guests will be from across the channel, and are known to bang once in a while. Last Friday's guests were 2 Many DJs, so it seems after a long absence Our Disco has once again claimed it's spot as the premier Friday night spot for London's clued up clubbers.

The following week, watch Marty McFly's trilogy from start to finish as preparation for a trip back to the 80s as Kavinsky previews tracks from his new EP, 1986, alongside a gamut of fellow French knob-twiddlers. It's gonna be hype, as the kids say. Tickets here.

(NB: other cinematic suggestions for getting in the mood include Tron, Blade Runner, and Total Recall. Oh, and did you know that Eric Stolz was the original choice for BTTF? Yup, they even shot the whole thing twice!)

Don't hassle the Hoff

Unless you're in a delightful Manc band called New Order. So were things so bleak for the band after the release of Republic that they had to promote their album on Dave and Pammie's show? I guess so.


New Order - Regret (mimed...sorry, performed on Baywatch)

* Something I don't regret (ahem) is pointing out Causin' A Commotion, a new celebridee blog run by my good friend (and DJ extraordinaire) the delightful Miss Becca. Bookmark it for all your Trousersnake gossip. I didn't know Seth and Summer broke up!

* The best music news of the weekend was surely not Glenn Frey's attempts to add more cash to his mattress stuffed full of dead presidents, but a new song 'Hearts On Fire' on Cut Copy's MySpace page, which you'll never see the Melbourne lads perform on Home and Away (unless Alf invited them, a request they'd be fools to knock back. Flamin' galahs!). Anyway, expect 'Hearts On Fire' to arrive on shiny 12 inch vinyl in March, with a Joakim remix to boot.

* Saw Dreamgirls on Saturday thanks to the wonders of 3 for 10 pub-bought pirate DVD deal (nope, I didn't buy the offending discs, but let me just say that if Blockbuster ever went into business with Clapham's car boot sale kings, then I'm sure they'd make a mint. What, it's illegal? Well I'll be damned....). Eight Oscar nominations? Well, I think Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson deserved their nods, but the songs? Three nominated songs, and all three were utter shite (although it seems to be a particularly weak year with the only other competition being Melissa Etheridge and Randy 'Pixar' Newman). Hell, give me Three Six Mafia anyday.

* February '07 playlist

Chemical Brothers - Electric Battle Weapon 8

Teenager - Alone Again (Van She Tech Remix)

New Young Pony Club - Descend

LCD Soundsystem - Time To Get Away

Mark Ronson feat. Ol' Dirty Bastard and Tiggers - Toxic

Bonde Do Role - Gasolina (Radioclit remix)

Amy Winehouse feat. Ghostface Killah - You Know I'm No Good

Dr. Alimantado - I Killed The Barber

Justice - Phantom (Part 1)

Los Campinos - You! Me! Dancing!

Little Barrie - I Love You

Nas feat. (ready for this? OK, here we go...) Grandmaster Caz, MC Shan, Raheem, Doctor Ice, Kangol, Kool Moe Dee, Sha Rock, Tito, Lin Que, Dana Dane, Pebblee Poo & Just Ice - Where Are They Now? (80s remix)

Who eats nachos at the movies anyway? Seriously.

WARNING: It's a 'back in the day' post, so if reminiscing ain't your style, scroll down to the bits and bobs afterwards. I'll make it worth your while....

Right.

Back in the heady days of my youth, when I had more free time (and cash) to spend, my regular haunts around old Canberra town were the local record store (R.I.P. Impact Records), the mall, and my personal favourite, the cinema. For a city of over 300 000, Canberra didn't do to badly when it came to places to while away a few hours in a darkened room with a bag of popcorn, a caffeinated beverage that had far too much ice in it, some rowdy kids, and a few unemployed peeps wasting the hours between The Midday Show and Neighbours.

If you wanted to see the latest Hollywood tripe, then the Greater Union in Civic and Tuggeranong would suffice. Those who wanted the finest in local and arthouse flicks could usually find a flick at either Electric Shadows or Centre Cinema to suit their refined palette. The mall in Belconnen soon acquired its own cinema in the form of the Hoyts behemoth (10 screens I believe...are that many needed?), and the small quaint picturehouse in Manuka soon became a mini-multiplex as well, although it catered to both the mainstream and arthouse crowd too, so you at least had a choice between the latest Denzel Washington or Daniel Auteuil vehicle (Auteuil everytime).

So for most of my formative teenage years going to the movies became more than just the treat my parents would provide every school holidays. Hours were spent glaring towards large screens, sometimes accompanied by THX or surround sound if my luck was in. Sure, a bad choice might have been made now and then, the realisation coming only after the Coke became watery, and all that was left in the popcorn bag were loose kernels that broke your teeth (Volcano? I think the only reason I saw that load of bollocks was that I'd seen everything else that was showing. And it was a joint decision too, so I'm only taking half the blame for that flaming turd), but overall I'd say the ratio of good to bad flicks was around 80:20.

Then a few years ago I moved to London, and all of a sudden I stopped going to the movies. Partly due to the exorbitant prices charged at the box-offices (especially the tourist traps of the West End), but partly because I had a new city to explore. Long gone were the days when I would pride myself in having seen every film nominated for Best Picture at that years Oscars. This year? Not one of the five up for the gong, not even 'Jake and Heath Get Their Spurs On'. What happened? Well it comes down to these factors - work, music, records, football, relationships, going out, far too much time spent on tubes, buses and other forms of public transportation, making ends meet, shopping, kitting out numerous flats in Swedish furniture, trawling markets for hidden gems, days in the park, travelling, and most of all, getting to know London.

Recently, I've started to watch films again on a more regular basis. Getting into Hayao Miyazaki, watching Samuel L. Jackson getting 'mother-fucking snakes' off a 'mother-fucking plane', seeing Captain Jack swashbuckle and talk his way out of trouble, watching Cary Grant run away from Martin Landau while falling in love with Eva Marie Saint.....suddenly, it's like I'm 14 again, and flush with pocket money and free time, seeing movies regularly seems natural again. Time to grab a bag of over salted popcorn, an over iced Coke, and sit back down in the stadium seats for two and a half hours at a time while my butt gets numb. This time though, no Tommy Lee Jones disaster flicks OK?

NORMAL SERVICE RESUMED

* So that's 10 million quid in the coffers - cheers Rafa!

* That Christina album isn't too bad, as long as you throw away the tripe filled Linda Perry second disc. Here's a re-rub of the Preemo helmed 'Back In The Day', with Termanology filling up a few bars just for fun (thanks to the kids at Spine)

* Nat at A Bit Nice spin-off My Two Dads is compiling a definitive list of your favourite TV theme tunes....ever! (note the exclamation mark to show just how important this task is). Won't you help out, pwwwwwwease? Here's one of my childhood favourites, with added Spanish glamour.



* One of those tarted up boozers that occasionally allows me to plays tunes, as well as get slighty tipsy, finally has a MySpace page. Add the Weld to your list of compadres.

And for those that skipped Major Leaguer's own version of The Wonder Years at the start of today's post, here's your reward.

Told you it was worth your while.

It's never been like that, it's never been like that

2 posts in 24 hours? That's more like it.

* Now, there's this football-dealy-thingummy going on in German land at the moment and the Argentine lads didn't look too shabby yesterday. How's this for a goal? (keep an eye out for Diego's special 'moves' at the end - priceless)

* Those clever people at Adidas have done it again. First Adicolor, now this. It's not easy being green...

* June issue of Subter is up and running. Check out Brad's summer tips for your hi-fi.

* If you're not out and about enjoying the summer sun (sorry Southern Hemisphere peeps!), then why not have a Block Party in your home?

Major Leaguer Chart - June '06

MSTRKRFT - Street Justice
Phoenix - Long Distance Call (25 Hours A Day remix)
Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler
Jamie Lidell - When I Come Back Around (Freeform Reform)
Audio Two vs Air - Top Billin
Annie - Crush (And The Lefthanded - Original Version)
Zongamin - Bongo Song
Mystery Jets - You Can't Fool Me Dennis (Good Books Remix)
The Shangri-Las - Leader Of The Pack
Shy Child - Technicrats
The Chalets - Theme From Chalets
Brakes - All Night Disco Party (Graham Sutton Remix)
Tiga - Far From Home (Speed Of Sexor Reprise)

Damn....

....has it been two months between posts? Well, yes. Apologies for the lack of updates, tidbits, links and other goodies. Regular service will resume shortly now that puter problems appear to have been sorted (Scouts honour, although I was never a scout...).

* New MSTRKRFT at 20 Jazz Funk Greats. Thanks to Headphone Sex for the heads up.

* The Orwell, that lovely boozer on Essex Rd in Islington where Through Being Cool resides once a month, now has a presence on tinterweb. Bookmarks at the ready chaps and chapettes. Oh, and TBC is online too at MySpazz (yeah, yeah, say you're not addicted but frankly this social networking malarky is a disease most peeps can't shake. Why don't you add us to your 2,081 other friends? I dare ya!)

* Movie of the summer? Forget X-Men 3, M:I:3, 3 Fast 3 Furious, and any other movies with 3 in the title. It's all about snakes. On a plane. Oh yes. (The fan sites are particularly amusing too, such as this one)

* So my German adventure never got off the ground due to passport problems, and Her Maj's mail service. However, boosted by the Socceroos impressive showing last Monday, spirits are still relatively high for this Sunday's clash with those samba-pansies from South America. Go you good things.....

* Playing rekkids for the Mindie kids at 93 Ft East on August 4. It's gonna get messy fer shure. Brap!

That should keep you blighters amused until tomorrow. Over and out...