PUNK AS FUCK

Amy from Nausea

When I was a teenager and saw horrible images of starving Ethiopians on TV, I almost immediately retired to my bedroom and listened to the most extreme music I could find in my collection. At the time, hardcore punk was the ideal way to cope with the cruel images and a true companion to give vent to my frustrations. Here are 3 of my alltime favourite hardcore punk tunes:

Crisis - ROMANTIC GORILLA mp3
(from Romantic Gorilla - Sound Pollution Records 1998)

Battened - NAUSEA mp3
(from The Punk Terrorist Anthology Vol.1 - Black Noise Records 2001)

Think - VOID mp3
(from Faith/Void split on Dischord Records 1993)

Dancing Barefoot - THE CELIBATE RIFLES (1987)

"I can’t remember why we recorded this one, we were in the studio in Holland and everything was set up, so we put down a version which ended up being a single. I think it was the solo that did it."
(David Morris, guitar player of The Celibate Rifles)

Oh well, modesty is a virtue, isn’t it? Personally, I think THE CELIBATE RIFLES’ rendition of Patty Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot” is a truly exceptional cover that gloriously stands the test of time and thus can be considered as a true classic! First of all, the sound is astonishing: the song blasts out of the speakers and immediately thrills the listener with it’s big fat guitar sound and commanding drum beat! Then there’s that amazing voice of Damien Lovelock: at first listen, he may sound totally indifferent but that’s just a false impression because soon – and not in the least because of the compelling lyrics – introspection chases the idea of apathy and his voice suits the song in a brilliant way. Just take a listen and you might come to the same conclusion as me that it wasn’t just the solo that did it…

Dancing Barefoot - THE CELIBATE RIFLES mp3

Black Lips forever!!!

I went to see the mighty Black Lips at Trix in Antwerp last Wednesday and it was a great show although I prefer to see these kinda rock & roll bands in a sticky & sweaty hole in the wall like the Pit’s. Anyway, the band is still in good shape and I very much enjoyed Ian ‘metal-plated teeth’ St. Pé’s trashy guitar licks and sloppy stage presence. Afterwards, I had a little chat with Cole Alexander and I was glad to see that he’s still the same down-to-earth & kind person after all the hype of the last couple of months. Here’s an incredible video from the London gig the day before. Rock & Roll mayhem!!!

A Tribute To The Poet Ted Hughes

Charley Patton & Albert Ayler box sets at special price!!!

Just a quick one to tell you that the eye-popping and mind-boggling CHARLEY PATTON (7cd's) and ALBERT AYLER (9cd's) box sets on Revenant Records have been reissued in the same phenomenal and lush packaging BUT at a very special price (for a third of the original price - I just ordered both for 49,00 EUR/piece!!!). Your ultimate chance to buy two of the most important blues & jazz releases of the decade!

EDDIE CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING

I really can’t wait to see these ozzies live on stage. In the meantime, I think I’m gonna reread Robert Hughes' "The Fatal Shore".



Buy the new album here.

Love & Desperation

I am in the middle of Mario Vargas Llosa's latest novel “Travesuras de la niña mala” (The Bad Girl) and I am totally under the spell of this wonderful love story about a decades-long obsession of its narrator, a Peruvian expatriate, with a woman with whom he first fell in love when both were teenagers. The Bad Girl is a fascinating tale about the obsession of love taken to the point of destruction. Here are 5 powerful soul songs that evoke the same feeling of love, loss and desperation:

I Can’ Take It – OTIS CLAY
(The Best of OTIS CLAY: The Hi Records Years - EMI/The Right Stuff 1996 CD)

Dead – EDE ROBIN
(Down & Out: The Sad Soul Of The Black South - Trikont Records 1998 CD)

(My Heart Is) Closed For The Season – BETTYE SWANN
(Bettye Swann - BETTYE SWANN - Honest Jons 2004 CD)

Eight Men Four Women – O.V. WRIGHT
(The Soul of O.V. WRIGHT - MCA 1992 CD)

Ghost of Myself – DORIS DUKE
(I'm A Loser - DORIS DUKE - Ace Records 2005 CD)

GOMORRA **

I agree with Lee Marshall who wrote in Screen Daily that “in adapting Roberto Saviano's bestselling book for the screen, Matteo Garrone and his five co-scripters (including Saviano himself, currently living under police protection) have jettisoned the journalistic context of the Neapolitan Camorra war and left us only with the dog-eat-dog, carpe-diem chaos of life in the crime-ridden suburbs of Scampia and Secondigliano. Like the white powder used and traded by many of its protagonists, Gomorrah provides a kick-in-the-head rush but no lasting buzz." Although the movie gets rave reviews in the international press, I was unimpressed by Garrone’s superficial plot and rather chaotic script. Gomorrah left me indifferent as I felt no affection or even empathy for any of the poorly developed characters. I hope I won’t feel the same about Waltz with Bashir, another movie from the Cannes 2008 competition that is praised everywhere you look.

MY TROUBLE IS

is that i fall
in love with
girls in super-
markets...
in buss queues...

my sad wite
face...
my big wite
hands...
the northern lite...
blue...
gray...

the school girls
climb on board...

a girls legs dance...
a calf upon the stair
there you have
poetry...
and in the librarys?
our great seats of
learning?
i don't think so...


(my favourite poem from Billy Childish' collection of poems "To The Quick", published by Hangman Books in 1988)

The Blues Is Here To Stay - EDDIE BOYD

Chicago blues singer and piano player Eddie Boyd recorded many fine sides for small labels in the late 50s and 60s. Eight of his recordings for the Bea & Baby Records label from Chicago (active between 1960-72) can be found on a wonderful 2CD compilation, released on Sanctuary Records in 2002. “The Blues Is Here To Stay” is one of the most exuberant blues tracks I know, not only because of the cheerful music but especially because Boyd sounds so damn pride while singing and playing the blues: “I don’t care what some people say. Just play the blues with a feeling, I know the blues is here to stay!” Right on!

The Blues Is Here To Stay - EDDIE BOYD