Just for one day

Seriously kids, if you haven't seen Heroes yet (either on Sci-Fi channel or through nefarious tinterweb-assisted means) then this Wednesday on BBC2 at 9pm is your chance. Normal peeps suddenly discovering they have super powers which enable them to fly, read minds, heal, walk through walls and time travel. Plus, it's got Conor Oberst in the lead role! Well, maybe not.....


Who's your favourite cast member?


* This week I have mostly been listening to.....Black Sheep. A throwback from 1991, Dres and Mista Lawnge's easy, laidback rhymes are recommended for anybody bored of the current state of hip-hop (I mean really, have there been any must have longplayers this year? Jeez, I though last year was bad...)

Black Sheep - The Choice Is Yours

Never mess with the purple one (that includes you Justin)

What was Sir Trouser of Snake thinking when he dissed Prince on 'Give It To Me'? He should have just came out guns blazing and picked on Purp's bad marriages, height, and clear lack of musical direction for the last decade, instead of a verse full of half-arsed taunts that don't hold up to further scrutiny. Now, Flairs on the other hand simply says he can do anything under the sun better than Ol' Squiggly Symbol, and states his claims on top of some sly funk bass, woozy fizzes and handclaps galore, instead of petulantly whining over a glitch pop track. Maybe the three of them should just duke it out in a cage, Ryan Atwood style. Whilst wearing wife-beaters. Natch.


Sigh, I'm having OC withdrawal symptoms already. At least there's Heroes to fill the void, although Wendy Melvoin's no Ben Gibbard - now I'm sure she could think of a million ways to get Prince riled (How's that for a cyclical post?)

Flairs - Better Than Prince (instrumental)
(hear the full version here, or buy it from Rough Trade and Phonica)

Yes, we could be Heroes (just like Conor)

While watching the mighty fine Heroes tonight on the Sci-Fi channel, it suddenly dawned on me why Conor Oberst has been so quiet of late....yup, our favourite indie kid's been saving the world (literally).

King of the hearts-on-sleeve brigade?

Or super hero in training?

Bright Eyes - Four Winds (from Four Winds EP, out now - buy here)

To My Boy

Liverpool duo To My Boy have been blazing quite a trail in the last few months, with the release of their debut single 'The Grid' last November garnering a flurry of favourable reviews across the usual rags, as well as cementing a place on the playlists of numerous DJs across the country. Add to this their stellar remix of 'Gravity's Rainbow' from fellow fresh young things Klaxons, plus a growing reputation as one of the best live acts around (seeing them support Max Tundra and Silverlink at the Old Blue Last was one of the best unexpected gigs I've seen in recent years), and 2007 should see the lads conquer all before them.

Swiss collective Audioporno have had their wicked way with the band's new track 'Model', creating a squelchy, chopped up pop treat.

To My Boy - Model (Audioporno remix)

* Tough choices for tonight. Our Disco with their latest secret guests? Computer Blue with The Duloks? The Yo Yo room at Fabric with Busy P and DJ Medhi? Shoot.....

* If you missed it on Monday, BBC 4 are repeating the fantastic New York documentary about the emergence of disco, punk and hip-hop in the 1970s. Once Upon A Time In New York is on tonight at 10pm. There's not too much new information for those familliar with the period as numerous books and documentaries have been made on the three scenes, but as a basic introduction it's a handy primer. Plus, it's worth catching just for the interviews with the likes of Grandmaster Flash, Nile Rodgers, David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain of New York Dolls, and seeing Blondie's Chris Stein walk around an empty CBGBs shortly before the venue's closure in October of last year.

* Funny how the Hendrix estate are complaining about unlicensed images used on Hendrix Electric Vodka when they've been happy to use his name and image to market countless other tacky products.

Rage Rage Rage Rage....Raaaaaaaaaaaaaage

Australian readers of this site will no doubt be familiar with Rage, the staple 'post-pub' music video program shown every Friday and Saturday night on ABC. For teenagers growing up in the backwaters of country Australia like myself, years before the belated introduction of cable TV, Rage introduced us all kinds of artists that never graced the airwaves of local radio, let alone the local record store.

(Sample dialogue from record store clerk in country town: 'Mudhoney' No, I don't think we've got any Mudhoney. Would you like the new John Farnham instead?' This isn't from personal experience, but you get the general idea)

Moving from the small country town of Orange to the slightly larger city of Canberra meant that access to the artists featured on Rage was much easier to come by. At the age of 12, I spent hours after school hanging around the local record store of choice, the sadly departed Impact Records. When my friends and I weren't reading comics, looking at laser discs (which I had never seen in my life before, and three years later never saw again), or using what was left of our lunch money to buy trading cards (either Upper Deck basketball, Spiderman or Simpsons), we hung around the ten CD changer listening posts, soaking in whatever aural pleasures were deemed 'Albums of the Week' by Rob, Dick and Barry.

After seeing the clips shown on Friday night's Rage, I'd note down any of the ones that I simply had to hear again, and go into Impact the following Monday afternoon to occupy the listening posts for an hour or two before grudgingly trooping home to make a belated start on my homework.

Friday night's Rage played only new videos, with the first clip usually reserved for the latest pre-release video of the week. I can still remember vividly watching clips such as 'Beetlebum' and 'Smack My Bitch Up' for the very first time (the later which I taped, then gave to a friend to play at a house party the following week. For five minutes, everyone stopped drinking and watched the Jonas Ackerlund video, before letting out a collective 'What the f**k?') and making sure I'd chuck a tape in my stereo in case they came on the radio, as having a taped copy of the songs would be my only chance of listening to them whenever I wanted before the official release date, which was usually a good month away.

Saturday nights though were even better, as that's when Rage handed over the controls of the night's playlist to the artists. Usually it would be either a well known overseas band that was touring Australia at the time (Beastie Boys, Trent Reznor, Faith No More) or a local rising talent. They'd be handed a big red book of available videos to choose from, and pick forty of them to comprise the evening's viewing. This would then be followed by the complete videography of the selected artist (indeed, the three artists I've mentioned all have a stellar history of fine music videos which are easily available on You Tube).

One particular evenings viewing, which I still have on VHS back in Australia, was programmed by Custard, who were I guess Australia's answer to Pavement, although slightly more radio friendly.


Custard - Pack Yr Suitcases

At the time, I was probably slightly obsessed by this band, to the point where I swapped mixtapes with fellow Custaro (as the band referred to themselves) fans, and even got a prompt fan mail reply from lead singer Dave McCormack on the back of a postcard from an American fast food chicken shop. Class.

While I was more interested in making sure I recorded the band's video collection later in the evening, what really made the night worthwhile was the forty clips Dave, Matthew and Paul from the band chose from Rage's red book. The next two and a half hours introduced me to more undiscovered music than I had ever encountered before, or since. On one evening in September 1996, I first heard Devo, Wall of Sound, The Pixies, Frank Black, Pavement, and countless other artists who made me stop listening to grunge and start delving into more underground fare. Here's the list in full, with thanks to Craig Latham, and some of my favourite clips from the night.

# Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies


# Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl

# Devo - Are You Experienced?

# Kraftwerk - Telephone Call

# The Fauves - Everbody’s Getting A Three Piece Together

# The Hummingbirds - Two Weeks With A Good Man In Niagara Falls


# The Go-Betweens - Head Full Of Steam

# Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot

# Pere Ubu - Love Love Love


# Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio

# The Pixies - Here Comes Your Man

# Frank Black - Men In Black

# The Fauves - Dogs Are The Best People

# Pavement - Rattled By The Rush


# David Bowie and Bing Crosby - Little Drummer Boy

# The Fauves - Misguided Modelling Career

# Snout - Cromagnoman


# You Am I - Jewels And Bullets

# The Pixies - Digging For Fire

# The Pixies - Alison

# Presidents of the USA - Peaches


# Devo - Freedom Of Choice

# Soundgarden - Jesus Christ Pose

# Beasts of Bourbon - Psycho

# The Rolling Stones - Faraway Eyes

# Supergrass - Caught By The Fuzz

# The Hard Ons - Girl In A Sweater


# The Saints - Stranded

# The Pixies - Alec Eiffel

# Pavement - Gold Soundz

# John Kennedy - Big Country

# Dinosaur Jr - Going Home


# Tom Waits - 16 Shells From 30 Ought 6

# The Jesus and Mary Chain - April Skies

# Kiss - I Was Made For Loving You

# The Reels - Quasimodo's Dream

# Mental as Anything - Beserk Warriors

# Frank Black - Headache

# Bobbie Gentry - I'll Never Fall In Love Again

# Sonic Youth - Sister


# Joy Division - She's Lost Control (note the Rage logo at the start!)

Wow. Some mighty fine selections there, and certainly I'd argue if it wasn't for Custard's choices that evening, music wouldn't play such an important role in my life as it has since (which went from being a mere listener to getting involved in music journalism, community radio, working in record stores, DJing, promoting club nights, and boring people to death with whatever remix/b-side is preventing me from sleeping, working, or having normal relations with friends/family/partners). Wait a minute.... now I know who to blame too. Bugger.

(NB: One of the fond memories of watching Rage late at night with my sister was the 'one more clip' mantra. As in: 'OK, one more clip, and if it's shit then I'm off to bed'. Of course, the next clip was usually something brilliant like Aphex Twin's 'Come To Daddy', which would bring about a repeat performance of the mantra. 'OK, one more clip....' and so on, until you were awoken at 3.30am by the sound of My Bloody Valentine's trademark wall of noise chosen by Thurston Moore. Whoa!)

* Bonus - As a tip from man about town Will Kane, here's Japanese J-pop band Drumkan's cover of one of The Pixies songs selected above.

Drumkan - Alec Eiffel

Nasty Nas brings it all back home

So kids, it looks like the general consensus of Hip Hop Is Dead is that Nas has really got things back on track, although those expecting Illmatic Part 2 should just keep on waiting - it ain't gonna happen. However, let it never be said that Nas doesn't have respect for those who came before him, hence a trio of drool-worthy white label remixes of the album's title track.

The will.i.am produced cut is jumped upon by the likes of Kool Moe D, MC Shan and Grandmaster Caz (the 80s remix), Rob Base, Mike Gee from the Jungle Bros, Monie Love (the 90s remix) and Ice-T and Sir-Mix-A-Lot (the West Coast remix). Head on over to Recidivism to catch 'em all. Personally, I think the 80s rub pips the other two at the post.

* This month's electro-pop startlets seem to be Dragonette, the Canadian group who have already started to build a buzz thanks to name checks from Popjustice and Popbitch. They're playing the Macbeth on February 16, and again two weeks later at Notting Hill Arts Club's fine soiree YOYO on March 1. Work For It and Fluxblog have a few tasters, and you can buy the band's debut EP here.

* Head to Call Me Mickey for a listen to 'We Danced Together', the first single from The Rakes sophomore effort Ten New Messages, out March 19th.

* Speaking of spikie indie pop, here's the new video for Maximo Park's 'Our Velocity'. It's out on March 18, followed by parent album Our Earthly Pleasures on April 2.


* If you're staying in tonight, catch the BBC Four documentary 'Alchemists of Sound' about the work of the Radiophonic Workshop.

'Alchemists of Sound traces the rise and fall of the Radiophonic Workshop, an in-house department established in 1958 to provide extraordinary sounds and music for the BBC's TV and radio services. Best known for its theme tunes to Blake's Seven, Blue Peter, Open University and The Body in Question and, of course, Doctor Who, this documentary reveals the complex techniques deployed by the Workshop long before synthesisers were invented.

The programme is narrated by Oliver Postgate, the voice behind the childrens TV classics Ivor the Engine, The Clangers and Bagpuss'

It's on BBC Two tonight at 11.20pm.

* Oh, and this Friday sees the return of the Mindie hussies and their gang at 93 Feet East. As a Mindie crew member, you know I'll be there with bells on. Let's meet the hussies themselves.



Here's the line-up.


Later gators.

Vista? Nuh-uh!

January? Gone already? Sheesh.

So technically this is the first MJ post for 2007, and in Mac-assisted glory too!

(Sorry Mr Gates, but Vista's hard sell didn't grab me after I found out about how your new operating system takes the 'person' away from the 'personal' PC and into Microsoft's hands. Oh, and at least now Ableton and other memory heavy software won't crash on my machine and leave me with a clicking hard drive....click....click....click)

January has been quite a relaxed month with highlights including
* Lovely walks along the Southbank under the winter sun
* Heaps of new music to listen to (and share)
* News of a best friend's engagement which means a return trip Down Under to see friends and family (Tim, got a date for this shindig yet? Not that anyone's rushing you!)
* Speaking of Down Under, receiving two fantastic packages of provisions of food and music from the familia and Mr Nash. Smoked macadamia nuts from Queensland....amazing.
* Sleeping in all the time. 10 hours sleep on consecutive nights? Unheard of!
* Walking around town with a bag that promotes one of my favourite record stores in the world (thank you Nash, and thank you Blake and Byron!)
* Snapping up an Arcade Fire ticket (thanks Marie!)
* Great no-brain TV when you need it (the return of America's Next Top Model and The OC)
* Great brain-TV when you need it (Expedition Borneo, Battlestar Galactica)

Lowlights?
* No contact from rubbish people. Grrrr.
* The windy windy day that knocked over trees in Stokey.
* Snobs.
* The last night of Trash which was impossible to get into due to poor bouncers, no queue barriers, people pushing in, and wankers all around. Shame it had to end like that.
* The regulation January cold.
* Paying for cable sport channels, and what do you get? One sided cricket matches and heartbreaking buzzerbeaters in NBA games on Martin Luther King day. Curse you Gilbert Arenas!

All up, not a bad month. What's in store this month?

Defectors Weld playlist / David Attenborough = legend

So....having worked in muzak retail for a number of years now, I've been asked who were the coolest 'celebredees' I've served. Well, if I had no narrow it down to three, numbers three and two would have to be Jarvis Cocker (key purchases: Beck - Sea Change and The Wickerman OST) and Henry Rollins (key purchases: Nico - Femme Fatale and The Fall - 2G+2) respectively. So who's in at number one? This gentleman (key purchases: half the damn store...) If you haven't been watching Planet Earth over the last few weeks on BBC then what's up wit you fool? There were swimming monkeys tonight!

SWIMMING MONKEYS DAMMIT!

Ahem....

Defectors Weld playlist highlights 17/3/03 (...and their fur was all wet and fuzzy...Oh, sorry)

Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
Outkast - Spottiedottiedopalicious
Mark Ronson feat. Alex Greenwald - Just
NWA - Express Yourself
Rachid El Taha - Rock The Casbah
Diverse - Uprock
Thee Headcoatees - Have Love, Will Travel
Iggy Pop - I Wanna Be Your Dog
The Sonics - Shot Down
Dolly Parton - 9 To 5
The Pipettes - Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me
Annie - Me Plus One (The Rapture Hush Hush remix)
The Knife - Heartbeat (Rex The Dog mix)
Shy Child - Technicrats
Vitalic - Valletta Fanfares
N*E*R*D - She Wants To Move (DFA remix)
MSTRKRFT - Easy Love
Daft Punk - Human After All (Justice remix)
Cut Copy - Going Nowhere (Digitalism remix)
The Presets - Girl And The Sea (Cut Copy mix)
Missy Elliot - Lose Control (Jacques Lu Cont mix)
AC/DC - Back In Black
Abba - The Winner Takes It All

(....and on the first episode there were polar bear cubs! Huh? What's not to love there?)

Evolution of man / ATP / Tandem @ Bar Music Hall

After a week of carting boxes from one house to another (and getting a sore back in the process), what better way to relax than to watch last night's Letterman. How? Thanks to this baby!



Sigh. Truly the human race has evolved, and the TV Hard Drive is the pinnacle of our progress. Yeah....now that we've conquered this hurdle, peace in the Middle East should be a piece of piss.

* Tandem at Bar Music Hall next Tuesday (14th March) with elin and myself. Rekkids, rekkids, rekkids, and Belgian beer. The fun kicks off at 8pm.

* Apparently people who like Tribe Called Quest also like DMX (so says Windows Media Player. Mr Gates, you don't know me very well, do you?)

* Last year's best quasi-festival is back. All Tomorrow's Parties presents Don't Look Back 2006, and to wet your whistle, here's the first gigs to be announced...what, Low playing Things We Lost In The Fire? I think I've just creamed my pants.

* Speaking of gigs that make you drop your bundle, this is the only place to be on May 16th.

* 'Industry rule number 4080, record company people are shady'. That's my favourite. What's yours? (Slight hitch. VH1 have already picked 100 lyrics, and you can only choose from that list. Huh?)

'This. Is. How. We. Move' chart for 11/3/06
(oh, speaking of Fiddy, has anyone else heard the 80 Cent mixtape? Hit and miss, but the Many Men/Take On Me cut-up is priceless)

General Echo - Rapping Dub Style
J Dilla - The Diff'rence
The Nu People - I'd Be Nowhere Without You
Caetano Veloso - Alfomega
Ghostface feat. MF Doom - Charlie Brown
Mark Ronson feat. Alex Greenwald - Just
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion (Diplo remix)
Wonderland Avenue - White Horse (Mike Monday remix)
The Presets - Down Down Down (Digitalism remix)
Uffie - Pop The Glock (SebastiAn remix)
Hot Chip - Over And Over (Nuam Gabo remix)
Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse Of The Heart