Inland Scenic

1978

Neil Roberts does an ethnomusicologist turn in this edition of “established media tries to explain what the young people are doing”. His subject is NZ’s fledgling punk scene which is already on its way to extinction. Much of the focus is on Auckland but Doomed lead singer (and future TV presenter/producer) Johnny Abort (aka Dick Driver) flies the flag for the south. The Stimulators, Suburban Reptiles and Scavengers play live and punk fans pogo and talk about violence directed at them (from “beeries”).

via Eyewitness – Punk – Television | NZ On Screen.

Now we’re all on the same level playing field, access wise. It may seem cynical, but the loss of that prior sense of privilege seems to be a big part of what’s being lamented by critics like Simon Reynolds in his book Retromania. Oh for the days when punk was new and so were its best and brightest fans, and only a handful of people had the inside running on genius. Yet the fact everyone is now privy to history’s treasures is a really good thing isn’t it?

via werewolf » The Complicatist : Retromania ( yet again).

There were already tensions between you two and David Byrne when Tom Tom Club started, and yet Talking Heads still managed to stumble on for another decade. Do you think the commercial success of those early Tom Tom Club singles helped prolong the Heads?

CF: It actually did, yes. It’s really no secret that David always had his sights set on a career outside Talking Heads – he felt like that was just one phase of his development. And I think the fact that we were selling tons of record on our first album, and getting lots of airplay, and having people sample our songs – that made David think, ‘Oh, maybe these people are still of value to me.’ Ha! But bless David’s heart, I don’t really want to disparage him because the stuff that we did together was so remarkable and outstanding… but, you know, nobody’s perfect.

via The Quietus | Features | A Quietus Interview | Talking Tom Tom Club: Chris Frantz & Tina Weymouth Interviewed.

At heart, McLaren was a Situationist — believing that provocative actions are the best way to change minds. McLaren died in April 2010. In his funeral cortege, a stunning floral blanket read: “Cash from Chaos.”

via TED Talks / Malcolm McLaren / Authentic Creativity Vs. Karaoke Culture | Test Pressing.

No one is collecting energy-drink bottles or current commercial crap, but as time goes by it gets a lustre of charm to it and it becomes something you can actually decorate your house with. In the same way that things like old sewage works, which may have been considered blots on the landscape, develop a sort of charm.

It’s something to do with the passage of time, and the gradual divorce from current commercialism makes these things seem recuperable in some way. I don’t know quite why that is, although it becomes a field in which you can be sort of discriminating – you can develop an aesthetic out of these artefacts and I think old music is the same sort of phenomenon.

via The Quietus | Features | Tome On The Range | Is Pop Culture Consuming Itself? Simon Reynolds Discusses Retromania.

at the Forum in Kentish Town. It was way cool. Venue wasn’t packed but people were totally into it. First gig in 20 years, shit…

Everything sounded a bit bigger and tighter than the records but without losing the original vibe.

They had real good onstage man-lady banter, bit like Handsome Family, assisted by entertainingly Scottish accents. I think they were stoked to be doing it.

Played all the “hits”. From memory they opened with Son of a Gun, plus Dum Dum, Monster Pussy, Rory Rory Ride Me Raw, Jesus Don’t Want Me For A Sunbeam, Dying For It.

Lots of other stuff, anthems all. Plus two new songs which sounded great, maybe a little more mellow.

They did their Divine cover (Think You’re A Man) as an encore.

Cutest  thing was bringing a guy out onstage specially to do the bicycle horn toots in Molly’s Lips.

from above, looking across a heaving ocean of moshing shineheads from a balcony high in the Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

Pete Shelley is portly, balding, dressed badly and flamboyantly in a Mondrian-inspired shirt, velcro-fastened leather slippers, and high-waisted zipper-pocketed black parachute pants. Still, he sounds like Pete Shelley. He is Pete Shelley!

The other original ‘cock, Steve Diggle (guitarist and singer of the really great Autonomy and Harmony in My Head), drinks copiously from a bottle of bubbly, getting progressively drunk and drunker. Audience hand slapping and heroic guitar posturing ensues, giving way to microphone stand bashing and finally an impassioned call to arms. The audience members must foment a punk revolution, tomorrow! Seems unlikely, but the rock’n’roll spirit is mos def alive in this man.

The encore runs through what’s left of Singles: Going Steady. Shelley stumbles on the occasional too-rapid lyric (What Do I Get?), Ever Fallen In Love is sloppy, Diggle’s reverie gets the better of his BVs. But somehow it seems better this way, than if the whole thing was seamless. In any case, the sound of the aged audience singing along more than fills any gaps.

Sliced frozen cabbage!

The ultimate convenience food for anyone with a microwave and no knife?

Every trip to the corner store is rich with expectation, I find. Who can say what other wonders await?

whereby you can text 118118 with any question and they (probably a call centre in India?) will text you back with an answer (usually involving a phone number). These are my questions from 29 0ctober 2008.

ME: What herbs grow best in herne hill out of the sun?
118118: You can call Appleton Pauline Herbalists on 02082994232.

ME: How can I stop foxes from peeing in my backyard?
118118: Fox repellents are available to stop foxes fouling on your lawn.

ME: What’s the best second hand record store in south london?
118118: Rat Records, Camberwell, London, SE5 0RW. 07795 42 45 75.

ME: How do rumours start?
118118: Someone stats [sic] something, then spreads it around to others.

ME: What’s the best second hand record store in north london?
118118: Try Blacker Dread Music Store at T: 0207274 5095 or Maestro Records at T: 020 7635 7299.

ME: What’s the best second hand record store in east london?
118118: You can try Rat Records T: 07795424575, Sister Ray T: 02077343297, and Reckless Records, T: 02074343362.

ME: When is todd terje next playing in London?
118118: No Published Information. However, Todd Terje will be at The Tube in Beograd, Serbia tomorrow (30 October).

ME: When are the bees next playing in london?
118118: Their next show will be on Jan 19, 2009.

ME: When are the bees next playing in south england?
118118: Event Listings for The Bees: Tue 09 Dec 19:30 Liverpool Static Gallery, Wed 10-Dec 19:00 Leeds Hi Fi Club

ME: Who does the best pizza in london?
118118: La Caricatura 33 North Audley St, LONDON W1K 6ZQ Tel: 020 7629 7070.

ME: Where in london does vegetarian yum char?
118118: Nearest matches are Green Gourmet at 115-117 King Street, Newtown and Young Cheng at 76 Shaftesbury Avenue.

ME: What is the dharma-body of the Buddha?
118118: The teachings of the Buddha which lead to enlightenment. The constituent factors of the experienced world.

ME: Who is better – the rolling stones or the beatles?
118118: The Beatles if you based it on the #1 hits. The Beatles had 27 #1 hits while the Rolling Stones had 8.

ME: Where did the bilderberg group meet this year?
118118: The Bilderberg Group met in Chantilly, Virginia, United States for their 2008 conference.

ME: Who will win the premiership in 2009?
118118: Its very early to say the results. However base [sic] on there [sic] performance Liverpool has a big chance to win.

ME: Who will win the 2008 nz general election?
118118: A general election will be held in New Zealand on November 8, 2008.

ME: Who will win the 2008 nz general election?
118118: Prime Minister Helen Clark appears to be in the lead for this election.

ME: What does jayne want for her birthday?
118118: Give her something that she really likes, it doesn’t have to be expensive as long as it comes from the heart.

ME: Why do men have nipples?
118118: Humans follow a template until about 6 weeks, when the males sex chromosome kicks in for a male embro [sic].

with our friend Dr Edward Dickinson cos he has a car, and it was sort of on the way from Telegraph Hill to Mission (sort of), but mostly cos it seemed like the right thing to do, to say we’d ‘done’ SF.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQdwrvVXzaQ

(It’s much slower than this in real time.)

Truth is it’s a bit of a con. It’s only the “world’s crookedest street” cos they’ve built chicanes all the way down, with nice civic planting. It’s not even the steepest street in the city, just the most articificially bendy.

Perhaps this would be more excting if you were from a fairly flat town?

Coming from Wellington NZ, I’m no stranger to genuinely steep narrow crooked streets (or bogus tourist attractions).

Anyway, always great to drive around a cool looking foreign city.