Stuff I'm listening to at the moment

Words | 28/05/2004 at 13:00:48

Uptown Top Ranking (single) - Scout Niblett
Needle in the Hay (single) - Elliot Smith
On the Beach - Neil Young
Sister - Sonic Youth
In Utero - Nirvana

Kickin it mostly old skool, huh. On the Beach is a particular favourite at the moment - I'm reading this incredible biography of Neil Young called Shakey. I'm totally obsessed and can't put it down. It's fantastic.

Churreria

Photos | 28/05/2004 at 12:59:43

A bright spot in the darkness and world of deliciousness...
I like to think of this as my Edward Hopper piece, hehe.

Scout Niblett - Uptown Top Ranking. Too Pure.

Words | 28/05/2004 at 12:26:09

Like an overzealous restoration project involving hydrochloric acid, Scout Niblett's reworking of Althia & Donna's Uptown Top Ranking is an astonishingly spare thing. Left without even the thinnest layer of paint on the canvas, the scratches and outlines are all that remain of the original. Similar attempts to claw back to the heart of a work often end in failure because the work itself can't withstand the scrutiny that such an interpretation brings. The artist either removes too much in their quest for purity or the song, stripped of all its finery, simply isn't good enough.

Uptown Top Ranking was originally a party record - a song about putting on some tight-ass clothes and shaking it on the dance floor. Scout Niblett's version is certainly not a party record. And it would clear a dance floor in 20 seconds. With the majority of the lyrics rewritten, Uptown Top Ranking has instead turned into a love song or, more precisely, a mournful admonishment to a lover. "If love is all you bring/Why you tired of everything?" she demands. The murmured vocals on this record are accompanied solely by a strummed electric guitar that throbs sparsely underneath them, keeping the beat and then disappearing, hesitant and leaving gaps a mile wide. It's a beautiful, fragile and soulful track - and hopefully an indication of the album to follow.

Mum

Words | 18/05/2004 at 15:10:11

This is a picture of my mum when she was five. This is a <a href="http://www.angryape.com/reviews/322"> Múm review </a>I wrote recently.

Xiu Xiu

Words | 18/05/2004 at 15:09:47

I went to see Xiu Xiu play a small show in town on Friday night. I'd only properly been introduced to the band this week and I have to say that I was really blown away by them -especially some of the tracks off their recent LP 'Fabulous Muscles'. It's heart-rending electronic lo-fi post-punk...if you know what I mean...and really worth checking out. I reviewed the show for <a href="http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/9646.html"> DiS </a>.

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