Halleluiah Why?

Now last night I found out that I probably won't be able to make it down to Primavera... I ticked all the boxes, found myself somewhere to lay my head, found myself a ticket... but failed to tick the last and somehow most important box: the epic trip from London town to Barcelona...
Strong of a promise by Easyjet to sell me a cheap ticket, I started my quest for all the other components of my 36 hours trip, only to find out that Easyjet had increased their prices six-fold by the time my quest was completed...
Three immediate reasons why I hate Easyjet:
- Extras are paradoxically included by default in their flights and you need to go through so much effort to take them out. WHY?
- Colours!!?? Why do cheap airlines have to use such irritating colours? WHY?
- Stopping me from meeting my destiny in Primavera Sound. WHY?

I haven't washed for a couple of days and barely made it out of the house in 36 hours, so what a breath of fresh air it was to find out that the great Why? from Northern California are to play in London on the 30th June after their little european errands...



Check their music too...

On Saturday, I held a Eurovision party at my house. People were drinking a lot and laughing very loud whilst my friend Dave and me were holding hands praying for Sebastien Tellier to win the supreme prize.



And God he deserved it, Azerbaijan deserved it too, and the pretty greek girl could have snatched it as well... But the Russians!!?? The Russians??!!?? I said I'd rather cut off my genitals and eat them instead of watching the Russians go home with the trophy... Well... Sometimes making concessions becomes a matter of survival...

Fight for the Dodos

A few months back, I saw the Dodos in LA. My friend Melissa took me there and they were amazing... After that we went off to get a nice steak from a nearby restaurant, the steak was nice and the Pinot Noir expensive...



They've just been signed by Wichita, I'm glad.
That means that soon they'll be on this side of the pond, and I'll take my friends to see them and we'll got for some pricey wine too...

Jamie Lidell is back with a new track

And it sounds like it's soaked in... funk.

I remember seeing my friend Jean-Ga soaked in funk once. He was reading a comic whilst walking down the street and fell in to an open drain. He was covered in shit and staggering around, slowing traffic and getting beeped by horns. An old, old jazz man looked up from his whiskey and sighed, "Damn, that boy got the FUNK" and we all laughed and went back to trying to catch sweets in our mouths.



More info on the official website: http://www.jamielidell.com

Radiohead to play 'secret' gig today!

The band will be playing songs from In Rainbows in the Rough Trade store on Brick Lane tonight from 7pm. Although I'd suggest starting queuing now...

More info:
http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/33671
Radiohead gig on London's Brick Lane Rough Trade shop

Smelly trainers

Today is one of those days where I settled down into my smelly high tops and cannot be bothered to get out of them... So I sit here, listening to music, slightly working and chatting to friends about the possibility of Mother Nature being a man with a moustache.
Nice for a Tuesday, you'll say...
Well even nicer if you eat warm food and listen to that track... I just found the video, the track isn't exactly that new, but I listen to it a lot cause we're thinking of getting these guys down to London for a gig...

What do you do when you know that you know?

Two very different songs worth a listen.

Sun Ra: Face The Music



Let's Wrestle: I Won't Lie To You. When I'm drunk I used to love to wrestle. With Jules especially (see the little guy in the leopard skin pants in the photo far below). He was so delightfully small that I'd wrestle him until a bouncer picked us up, rolled us into a ball between his palms (like blue-tac) and then carefully lifted a dustbin lid, placed us inside the bin, then quietly replaced the lid.
NB: Let's Wrestle play at the Borderline on Jan 28 (or 29, I forget.) But I'm going to go if anyone else cares to come have a Hulk Hogan-style homoerotic spandex tear up.



Bonus tracks! JeanGiftOfTheGab.FM

Yo yo yo mic check... 1... 2...

I asked my mum what music she listened to in 1968 when she was 18 and this is what she replied. I'm assuming that my Dad was working on a car, and hadn't been run over:

"Hi David, I won't be much good at this because I was only into the really popular stuff. When Dad emerges from under the Daimler I'll ask for his memories but as I've got a spare hour ( I type slowly!) I'll jot down what I remember ( only for that free drink ,you understand!).

As you could have guessed, I was into Elvis (1968: Guitar Man) and Scott Walker (in 1968 I played 'Joanna' at home non-stop. I LOVED it). I also bought loads of Tamla Motown and 1968 included singles by the Isley Brothers (This old heart of mine), Gladys Knight and the Pips (Heard it through the grape vine) and Four Tops (my favourite group!) (Walk away Renee and If I were a carpenter). I think the Beatles 'Hey Jude' was about '68 and 'Jumping Jack Flash' by the Stones. I loved Hendrix's ' All along the Watchtower' and 'Mony Mony' by Tommy James and the Shondelles.

I remember liking 'Fire' by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, 'Lazy Sunday' by the Small Faces and 'Build me up Buttercup' by The Foundations. (Pretty pathetic taste, I know!). I was also into The Who (I can see for miles) and 'Mrs Robinson' by Simon and Garfunkel became really popular. I didn't buy many records because I was still at school and singles cost all of 6 shillings and 4 pence (roughly 31p) and I was saving for driving lessons (£1/2/6 each or £1.12 in today's money!)

In '68 I bought Beach Boys LPs, Four Tops LPs and 'Sgt Pepper' by the Beatles as well as the inevitable Scott LP. Dad has theSmall Faces 'Ogdens Nut Gone Flake' LP by the Small Faces from 1968 and apparently it's worth a load. Something to do with the cover I think. That's all that I can remember right now but we've some of my old records and LPs up in the loft so if I think of any more I'll let you know. love Mum x"


On the subject of life-changing songs, Curry Crank Dat is my tip for 2008.


Crank Dat Curry Sauce - Funny bloopers R us

The Gospel according to me

Essentials for me this month:
This chapter could also be called "Too much wine and too much song, I wonder how I got along"...

- The Mae Shi: They're fun, they're twee, they brighten up January. I like their "Run To Your Grave" and I'll go to see them when they play for free at the Old Blue Last for the Trial & Error sessions... Plus they wear lots of different colours, attitude I'm trying to replicate with my underwear.

- Domaine de La Croix 2001: It's a nice red wine from the Buzet area of the South of France. It doesn't give me a headache and doesn't stain too much when I pour some on my favourite white cardigan. I also found it puts me in a singing mood.

- Wet Paint: There couldn't be a nicer band, their lyrics are nice, the music is great, they'll be big this year...

AND YOU THOUGHT HE WAS DEAD...

For those who remember him, here he is...