BETTER LATE THAN NEVER?

Sorry that the review of last Friday's gig review has taken so long to get here. Put it down to lots of work.......and also that I'm using most leisure time to be a Marshall on Hole No.9 at the Canadian Open.

It was another hugely enjoyable night. the venue was The Horseshoe Tavern in the heart of downtown Toronto, and its basically a long bar with a separate performing space slightly upstairs at the back. The capacity was hard to determine, but a couple of hundred would be my guess, although the stage was a substantial size.

Doors opened at 10pm and the first act came on at around an hour later - a solo artist who sang and played keyboards. Kind of looked like Laura Veirs.

Now, I hugely admire anyone who gets up on stage to do a show like that. A venue that is at best maybe one-quarter full of which a dozen or so will be genuinely interested at the outset. It takes real courage...and a fair bit of confidence.

The fact that I'm unable to tell you the name of the act is evidence that I was bored throughout the 40 minute set and had no desire to find out more. I'm not saying she wasn't talented, but the songs, all her own compositions bar one, did nothing for me. The cover was You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman, which got a few whoops and hollers. I thought she butchered it, turning something the original soulful and heartfelt rendition into something humdrum and MOR.

Next up was an another support act. Now I knew this was Scout Niblet as it said so on the ticket.
A fair crowd gathered to watch in anticipation of her stage entrance. I joined in at the front but had no idea what to expect. I was guessing at this stage it was another slightly-better known member of the local Toronto community, a view that gained momentum in my mind when a female, dressed in an outfit akin to that of the the local Toronto FC soccer side took to the stage with only a guitar for company.

What followed astounded me. What I learned afterwards showed how little I know of music in the 21st Century.

The opening couple of songs saw me instantly think PJ Harvey of the Rid Of Me/Mansize era. So I was hooked. This girl could sing and growl like the best of them, and she could also play her guitar.

On the third song, she was joined by a male drummer. So now my brain was telling me that I was watching a reverse White Stripes. The songs as a duet were even better. The crowd responded with huge enthusiasm and I noticed that a few folk around me were singing along obviously knowing the stuff.

Again, this set featured a cover version. But this was unlike any other cover versions I've heard in a long while.

I'm not sure if any readers outwith the UK would be familiar with the TV ads of the 70s and 80s for Cadbury's Flake. They were either completely Freudian or a pastiche of porn movies. Or maybe both.

They inevitably featured a gorgeous model, often scantily clad (or perhaps in a bubble bath). The model would be wearing the reddest of lipstick and there was always a close-up shot of the flake going between the lips and being bitten as the theme song reached its (ahem) climax and catchphrase of 'Only the crumbliest, flakiest chocolate tastes like chocolate never tasted before'. If you want an idea, I've tracked down a few of the ads on You Tube and posted them here at The Video Villain.

Anyway.....it was this theme tune that was given the full treatment by Scout Niblet and her drummer. And it was magnificently entertaining.

All too soon the 50 minute set came to an end. As good a time as I've ever had with a support act. I made a mental note to find out more and go see again in whatever downtown bar in Toronto the duo would next appear.

It was over the weekend when doing a google search that I learned Scout Niblet is someone who has been on the go for a few years now - and far from being a Torontonian, she hails from Robin Hood country - Nottingham, England.

There's been a handful of singles, EPs and LPs - some of which have been on the Too Pure label, which is where the afore-mentioned PJ Harvey started off.

Why had no-one has brought Scout Niblet's existence to my attention before now is a total mystery. Maybe there was a bundle of blog activity a while back before I started surfing the net, or maybe I've been looking in the wrong places. But now I'm on a mission to go out to some of the many indie record stores in this great city to track down the recordings.

And so to our main act of the evening.

It was Tacim over at 8/1 who first alerted me quite a while back to Annie Clark aka St Vincent with his posting of a song called Now Now. I thought it was such great tune worth sharing with the world, that I also posted it as an mp3.

I bought the debut album two weeks back from a great store called Streetscape Sounds. And as I mentioned in the last post, it's a CD on heavy rotation right now.

It's a lush piece of work - full of gorgeous, melodic and harmonious sounds. There are loads of different instruments thrown into the mix, most of which are played by the highly-talented Ms Clark. And so I reckoned it was always going to be really difficult for a four-piece band playing instruments consisting of guitar/bass/keyboards/violin/drums to faithfully reproduce on stage what you get through the speakers in your sitting-room.

And so it proved.

This was a concert that was full of energy. The four-piece band were tight and highly skilled on each instrument. It was a show in which Annie spent most of the time on lead guitar and vocals, during which she demonstrated that in addition to being a great composer and instrumentalist, she is a natural leader on stage.

It's a while since I've been at a gig where many of the songs were radically different from the way they've been recorded onto CD or vinyl, and the truth of the matter is that not all of the songs survived the transformation to the live setting - probably because they ate just too complex and detailed to become straightforward rock songs. But I don't think anyone came away feeling disappointed or short-changed. Certainly I didn't. And it was an enjoyable enough gig that I put my hand in my pocket at the end to purchase a t-shirts and a 7" single.

It would have been very easy for Annie Clark to determine that her songs are best left in the studio environment and not to go out on the road. I'm pleased she didn't, and I would thoroughly recommend that if you see St Vincent coming to a town or city near your way in the coming weeks or months, you should get out and see them.

Now instead of mp3s tonight, I want to direct you to some clips.

Scout Niblet has allowed some footage of the Toronto gig to be posted on her myspace site. Just click here and see why I enjoyed it so much.

And click here to get some St Vincent footage.

Hopefully I'll get my next post up before too long.

IT'S TARTAN TIME (Part 2)

When I've a bit more time, I'll find some of the more obscure Scottish band and artistes and shove stuff up here. But I'm racing out tonight to go St Vincent, and this will be my second live show while in Toronto.

St. Vincent is the band of singer-multi-instrumentalist, Annie Clark (who has played with or toured with The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Steven - neither of whom do anything for me). Her superb debut LP, Marry Me, has just come out and is on heavy rotation here in Toronto Towers. There's stuff on the LP that reminds me of loads of other great female singer-songwriters that I like such as Kate Bush and Regina Spektor, and I'm looking forward to seeing if the complex arrangements will come out in live context.

If it's a bum show, I won't be too bothered as the tickets cost just $10 (that's a fiver in UK cash), and its a show at the tiny Horseshoe Tavern. I'll try and post a review over the weekend.

In the meantime, here's the debut single and b-side of a band that burst onto the scene three or four years ago and have already suffered a bit of a backlash at the hands of the critics. And no, its not Travis:-

mp3 : Franz Ferdinand - Darts of Pleasure
mp3 : Franz Ferdinand - Shopping For Blood

I first heard this when battling insomnia and lying on the couch with mtv2 on at something like 3am. It was the video that first caught my eye as I realised that it was filmed in Glasgow. I recall thinking the tune was half-decent, so I went out a bought it the following day. And while I liked the single, I was more attracted to the b-side which takes the piss out of media darlings - something that ironically the band went to become.

If FF had stayed on the fringes of stardom, these two tracks would be lauded as lost classics, and would be discussed at length all over blogland. But because they are highly popular with the masses, there's an inverted snobbery that is just not healthy.

Enjoy the music for what it is - catchy and infectious guitar-led pop tunes that sound just as great on the car radio as they do out of your Bang & Olufsen speakers.

Ich heisse Su-per-phan-tas-tisch.

IT'S TARTAN TIME (Part 1)

It's a sure-fire bet that the first time I have a conversation with someone new over here in Toronto, they will inform me that somewhere along the line, there is Scottish blood in their genes. If not, then their neighbour or best friend is a Scot, first, second or third-generation removed.

I'm amazed that so many folk place such a great importance on all of this. I've quickly learned that people over here are hugely proud to be Canadian - and they have every right to be, for it's a country that has a lot going for it. But no-one seems to say they are pure Canadians - there is always an ancestry to that they are equally as proud of. Me?? If I looked back to my great-grandparents, I'm sure to find some Irish roots, but it's never been anything I've had any great interest in.

I'm not even the type who shouts from the rooftops that I am Scottish - I prefer to try and regard the world as being without borders and that I'm a naive and idealistic internationalist. Sure, I'll cheer on Scotland in all forms of sport, and I'll wear the kilt if I'm invited to a wedding in England or America - it's what the bride, groom and guests would expect. But I'm no die-hard patriot.

Except in one area. And that's music.

I am hugely proud of the variety and quality of the music that has been produced from the vicinity in which I as born, raised and spent almost all of my 44 years on this planet. And over the coming weeks, I'm intending to do a series of postings celebrating that fact - there will be loads of stuff you know and hopefully a few that are new to you.

The first songs is one that I had been trying to track down for years, but thanks to Nancy over at I'm Not Always So Stupid, I now have a copy.

mp3 : April Showers - Abandon Ship

This came out in 1984, and all I knew that it was the only single the band released. But I found the following info on last.fm:-

April Showers were a Glaswegian indie-pop duo comprised of Jonathan Bernstein and Beatrice Colin. April Showers released their only known single "Abandon Ship" on Big Star, a subsidiary of Chrysalis, in 1984.

This was backed with another sparkling piece of pop genius "Everytime We Say Goodbye" and an instrumental of Abandon Ship; Abandon Ship Sing-A-Long-A-Wonder Mix.

Plans to release a second single on the label Operation Twilight, and the inclusion of Abandon Ship on the compilation album "10 Years Of Marina Records" seems to be a footnote to the woefully brief story of April Showers, the perfect example of a band that has disappeared into, and whose status grows with, history.

I was surprised that the song was included on a readily available CD, and one that I'll now need to track down and purchase. I can also add some more info, namely that Beatrice Colin was later a features journalist who often wrote for The Herald, a Glasgow-based broadsheet. I can also reveal that at the time Abandon Ship was released, she was the girlfriend of James Grant who was then part of Friends Again and later the lead in the acclaimed Love & Money.

It's a fantastic little piece of pop that was so prevalent in and around Glasgow at the time. It's a song that reminds me so much of my student days. Oh, and if you own an original copy, it's quite a valuable bit of plastic, as one internet site was wanting fifty quid.....

The second track is from a band that a lot of folk rate very highly but one that I never quite got into. Having said that, this is a fantastic single from back in 1993:-

mp3 : The Nectarine No.9 - Don't Worry Babe, You're Not The Only One Awake

This was another band that featured the legendary Davy Henderson who had been the talent and brains behind both Fire Engines and Win - neither of which delivered commercially although they were critically lauded.

If Nectarine No.9 tickles your fancy, you can pick up a copy of jut about everything they recorded during their career that ran for most of the 90s. Click here.

And just to make me feel really at home, it's started to rain over here.....

More Jock Rock coming your way soon.

TOTALLY PATHETIC

I've been browsing a few of my favourite blogs in the past few hours. I got some inspiration for a post from them. But when I went to my magic box of tricks that has come over with me from Glasgow, I discover that a bundle of songs I thought were inside are not.

My plan had been to bring over all the songs I have stored on my home PC - maybe 12,000 in total. I'm lucky if I have a third of that total with me.

So....in response to Liz at Roaring Machine saying that Victoria by The Fall was worth tracking down. She's right.....and I had hoped to help you along. But it ain't here babes.

Davy over at The Ghost of Electricity and Mick at Raiding The Vinyl Archive combined to make me want to post The Girl Who Waves At Trains by The Lilac Time - but I failed there as well.

So, as I'm now completely lacking in inspiration, it's three great songs that came up on random play back-to-back on the i-pod when I was on the Number 95 bus to work this morning:-

mp3 : The Raveonettes - Attack of The Ghost Riders
mp3 : Violent Femmes - Girl Trouble
mp3 : Idlewild - A Little Discourage

I'll try to be back on form next time round (that's assuming I actually had some form in the past.....).

Just a wee note on fileden.

Today was the start of my next 30 day period for bandwith consumption. Now, in light of me running out last month, I closed down access to all my fileden files via TVV. As such, I should have had zero usage. But I found that someone had somehow got access to my allocated bandwith. I've sent an e-mail to their customer support service but I'm not holding my breath for a satisfactory explanation.

Given a lot of fileden users seem to have been experiencing problems recently, maybe its something we should take up collectively.....

WHAT I SAID BEFORE.....I WAS WRONG.

A few months back, in fact on one of the first ever postings on TVV, I was a bit derogatory about Maximo Park and suggesting that they had got too big for their boots.

But on the basis of last night's gig at The Mod Club in Toronto, I take it all back.

They were on breathtaking form. And I got to talk to them all afterwards....

Last night was my first gig on Canadian soil. The tickets said doors opened at 7pm, and they did open bang on time - not an experience I'm familiar with back in the UK. I got myself right down to the front, and fortified by a few Vodka & Red Bulls, I settled down for the night.

A quick word on the support act, Monsters Are Waiting. I knew nothing of them beforehand, but they turned out to be an excellent four-piece band originating from Los Angeles, fronted by a fabulous female vocalist. The band sounded a bit like Interpol fronted by Sonia from Echobelly. They played for maybe 40 minutes and the time flew in. I'm intending to track down more on them in the coming weeks and maybe do a more in depth piece here at TVV In the meantime, you should have a look over at their site on my space. Just click here.

And so to the headline act.

This is a a band used to selling out the 2-3,000 capacity venues in the UK in no time at all. They've also played high up on the bill at most of the major European festivals. So how would they be in front of a 600 capacity audience in a city where next to no-one has heard of them?
Fucking brilliant is the answer.

The sound was absolutely astonishing - the band were note-perfect. The absence of an elaborate light show as is the norm back home meant you could concentrate on the the people on stage. Paul Smith on vocals was a different creature from the last time I saw him. It was no longer about him seemingly striking the rock poses and encouraging audience sing-a-longs. He was a bundle of energy leaping in all directions across the tiny stage. Lukas on keyboards was just as energetic, while Duncan, Archis and Tom were as polished and as talented as ever.

From the opening notes of Graffiti through to the set-closing Limassol and at all parts in between, the energy levels displayed by the band never diminished. It was, quite simply, one of the best gigs I've been at over the last three or four years.

I was warned beforehand that the crowds over here are a bit less energetic. And they are. Surprisingly so. Something I'm not used to.....

So....if anyone who was at the gig stumbles on to this review....I was the fat, balding bloke in the blue The Wedding Present t-shirt going apeshit and trying to pogo/dance down at the front. If I elbowed you or jumped on your toes (and I know I did that to a few folk round about me), I wholeheartedly apologise. But the performance of the band brought out that reaction in me. I just wish a few more had joined in with me.

On the plus side of the audience........they are hugely attentive with no talking in between songs. They gave a rapturous welcome to the band, they listened to every song and they cheered and hollered at the end.

And none of them behaved like arseholes by throwing half-empty pints of beer at the band (when exactly did that become fashionable back home and why the fuck don't the stewards do something about it??).

The 70 or so minutes flew in. At the end, I told a roadie I was intending to write a review for a blog, and he passed me a set-list.

I have to admit, I then turned into a groupie and waited outside by the band's bus to get them all to autograph the set-list for me. Me, the 44-year old tubster with all these cool indie-kids from Toronto waiting to get photos taken with the band.

One-by-one, they came out of the venue - Duncan was there within 10 minutes, while Paul took nearly an hour. They stood and chatted to everyone and posed for umpteen photographs - I was asked by some of the fans to take the snaps (I hope they turned out fine for all concerned).

When the band heard my broad Glasgow accent, they engaged in conversation about past gigs I'd seen them at. They each went up even further in my estimation by agreeing that the Barrowlands gig of the Autumn 2005 was an astonishing event (do you remember that one Mr Kipper?) and also that the Carling Academy is a shit venue. Which is why in October, they're kicking off another UK tour with two nights at the hallowed venue - and Mrs Villain will be in the audience staring intently at Mr Smith (as she feels he is one of the sexiest men in rock'n'roll).

All in all, an amazing night. I'm not sure if any other gigs I get along to while over here will live up to last night. Full set-list:-

Graffiti
A Fortnight's Time
Postcard Of A Painting
Our Velocity
Parisian Skies
Girls Who Play Guitars
Apply Some Pressure
Books From Boxes
Karaoke Plays
The Night I Lost My Head
Russian Literature
Sandblasted And Set Free
Going Missing
(encore)
Nosebleed
Limassol

And here, for the folk I was talking to afterwards who haven't heard them are a few mp3 of Maximo Park in session at the BBC:-

mp3 : Maximo Park - Going Missing
mp3 : Maximo Park - Graffiti
mp3 : Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure
mp3 : Maximo Park - Kiss You Better

and also from the BBC, a cover of a song by Natalie Imbruglia:-

mp3 : Maximo Park - Shiver

Oh, and few civilised things about Toronto. The Soundscapes record store (which was near The Mod Club) was open till midnight - so I made a few purchases which I'll mention later this week.

And...........an efficient and decent public transport system meant I could leave downtown Toronto at 1am and still get out to Hicksville within 30 minutes...we've a lot we could learn back home.

YOU DON'T SAY................

Hello again everyone.

Sorry for the infrequency of postings in recent times, but I've either been putting in the hours in the office or been involved in social events with many of my new colleagues - mainly out on the golf courses of Greater Toronto or at barbecues as everyone takes advantage of the incredibly hot weather.

Just a couple of techy points to clear up in response to comments left at earlier posts.

The reason for many of the recent downloads being winamp files as opposed to mp3s is all down to the fact I'm having to use a laptop provided by my employer to keep things going on TVV over the coming months. Back home, I've a programme on my home PC that converts songs/files into the mp3 format, but I'm unable to load that onto the laptop. So...most songs will be in the cumbersome format. But I will return back to mp3s in the long-run. I hope its not proving too annoying for any of you.

It will still be a couple of weeks before I'm back within my allowable download space with fileden, and so I am having to use other file servers. I'm quite happy with the service provided by divi, but as I'm always open to suggestions, I'm going to have a go today with sharebee as suggested by papayasf.

For the duration of my stay in Toronto, I'm living on the 11th Floor of a relatively new complex a little bit out of town. It's ideal in many ways, for I'm a non-driver and I've got everything I need on my doorstep such as a great transport hub, a supermarket, a shopping mall and a clutch of bars and restaurants. There's even a Scottish style fish and chip shop within walking distance...

But living in a skyscraper/tower block is a whole new experience for me. For one thing, the only time you get to meet anyone from the block is when you are in the lift/elevator. Even then, its a cursory 'good morning', 'good evening' and if you're lucky you might get a 'thank you.'

Having said that, it's probably likely that everyone else gets on like a house on fire and they invite one another round of an evening for wine, canapes and the chance to listen to the latest MOR nonsense that seems to dominate many of the airwaves over here. They are probably pleased to quietly ignore the morose but smartly dressed Scotsman with the briefcase...

All of which leads me to shoving up a couple of beautifully crafted pieces of English pop that reflect on your locality and the attitudes of those who live alongside you:-

mp3 : XTC - Respectable Street

mp3 : Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia

Not sure if I'll manage another posting before the weekend, but I just want to take the opportunity to wish Ed and the soon to be Mrs 17 Seconds all the best with the wedding this Saturday. I'll raise a quiet toast to you both when I'm at the Maximo Park gig....

SADNESS ON SUNDAY

There are literally millions upon millions of blogs out there, all competing for the attention of the billions and billions of folk surfing round the Internet. Every day, new ones start up, and every day old ones fade away into oblivion.

One of my favourites is no more. Whether its going to be forever, or whether the wonderfully talented writer will come back in a different guise remains to be seen.

It was the diary of a southern belle, a young mum with a great kid, and someone who should, if there is any degree of fairness in this world, realise her dreams of becoming a famous writer.

As he has with so many other great things, it was Comrade Colin who turned me onto to Ash BC.
Ash didn't blog every day. There were times when she disappeared for weeks on end. But when she posted something, it was always worth reading. Her stuff was often about real-life incidents and events, while at other times it was incredibly crafted fiction.

It was never ever dull. And it could be read over and over again without you ever getting bored.

I miss her. These are for her.

mp3 : Tindersticks - She's Gone
mp3 : Martha Wainwright - This Life
mp3 : Lambchop - The Book I Haven't Read

Ash - If you do happen to stumble on this, I hope all is well in and with your life. Write soon.

HERE TO SERVE (2)

It's the latest in my efforts to satisfy requests from TVV readers, and this is in response to John of Logan in Utah who missed out when I shoved this posting up back in April.

mp3 : The The - Flesh & Bones
mp3 : The The - Infected (12" version)
mp3 : The The - The Beat(en) Generation (Campfire Mix)
mp3 : The The - Armageddon Days Are Here (Again) (DNA remix)
mp3 : The The - Love Is Stronger Than Death
mp3 : The The - Boiling Point

And just a few other things to mention re some other comments left in recent days.

Still enjoying a great deal about Canada - the novelty hasn't yet worn off, and it seems to be entirely populated by nice folk. Can't find anything to criticise just yet....

The bandwith issue with fileden is very strange. I've two accounts for which I pay a monthly fee of about ten pound a month. One of the accounts was getting hammered last month, and so I closed down all files linking direct from TVV in an attempt to save something back for a few days.

Despite this, my usage still continued to climb. I can only assume that some folk are providing others with details of the links to the files rather than to the site. Rather naughty, and if it does continue next month, then I may seriously have to consider closing things down and starting again somewhere else. I'm not prepared to shell out any more cash for space and I'm not prepared to consider any ads to offset the costs.

It is the first time this has happened, and maybe it was a one-off glitch. In the meantime, I'll be staying with the temporary free file-hosting service for another two or three weeks until my fileden monthly limit can start up again.

And to close things off for tonight, a happy upcoming 14th birthday to a young lad I met at a barbecue last night over at the house of my new boss. His name is Brandon Pollock, and unlike most kids I know at that age, he was engaging and articulate; he also had an obvious love for music, although he hadn't heard of the stuff I like, while I had never heard of the stuff he liked...

Anyway, happy birthday when it comes young man. These three old fashioned British songs go out to you....

mp3 : The Clash - I'm So Bored With The USA
mp3 : The Smiths - The Headmaster Ritual
mp3 : The Streets - Don't Mug Yourself

HERE TO SERVE (1)

Thanks for the feedback re yesterday's files...I'm going to try another server today (one that at least one other blogger from the list on the right uses on a regular basis).

Canada continues to surprise me in a positive way.

I've now bought my first tickets for a gig over here. I was thinking of trying to get to see The White Stripes, but they're playing tonight in one of the big arenas and I'd prefer my first experience to be something a bit more intimate.

Instead I've bought a ticket for Saturday 14th July at a place called The Mod Club which is not too far from the student part of Toronto (the hint is that its actual address is College Street...). And the name of the band I'm going to see????

Maximo Park.

That's right.....one of the biggest bands in the UK who regularly sell out 3,000 plus capacity venues in quicktime are playing a club venue in Toronto.

Anyone who started reading TVV in the old days may recall that I reviewed a Maximo Park gig in Glasgow in the Autumn of 2006 and I said that I was a bit disappointed in some ways, mainly as I thought Paul Smith was maybe getting a bit big for his boots. But they remain, in my opinion, a cracking live act, and I can't believe that I'm again getting to see them in a small venue - the capacity is around 600. And the ticket cost me less than eight quid, including a booking fee...

So if anyone else reading this living in the Toronto area is going along to the gig, why not drop me a line......

Today's three tracks are for a some folk who have already dropped me a line and asked if I could re-post some things. Mark & Stella Shimmins wanted these two great indie floor fillers:-

mp3 : The Wonder Stuff - Circlesquare (remix)
mp3 : Paris Angels - Perfume (All On You)

And John Collins (surely not the manager of Hibernian FC) has also been in touch asking for a great bit of Scottish pop, and one that I'm delighted to oblige with in all its 12" glory (although I should warn it does jump and scratch a bit):-

mp3 : Win - You've Got The Power

Incidentally, the TV ad that featured the track by Win is now available over at The Video Villain.

BACK ON BOARD

Hi there everyone.

Many thanks for all the kind words that were said last week - I've only now just got access to a work-supplied laptop, and I'm hoping that despite the very fierce firewalls that are in place that I might be able to provide some sort of service here at TVV over the coming months. But please bear with me if things go a bit tits-up from time to time.

Initial impressions have been very good. The job is enjoyable, the people I'm working for and with are incredibly nice, and the place that is home for the next four months is more than acceptable. I've also had a small bit of leisure time, during which I got out and about and took some snaps (see above). I might return to all these things in the days ahead assuming that this posting works out fine.

As expected with all the songs that I left behind, I'm almost out of my normal bandwith at Fileden (that's the mob to whom I pay a hefty monthly subscription), and so I'm having to find smaller, temporary hosts for any songs that I post for most of the rest of July.

I've also got the added complication of most of the songs that I've brought over being in an mp4a format and, in the absence of being able to load new programmes onto the laptop, I'm not sure if I'll be able to post these. However, I do have a bundle of songs that are in the mp3 format - either because I've posted them earlier and thus already converted them, or else I've ripped them from other folks blogs. As I said at the outset, bear with me as i try and stabilise things if I can.

Someone sent me a really nice e-mail asking for a repost of a song from a while back, and so here it is:-

mp3 : Robert Wyatt & The Swapo Singers - The Wind of Change (12" version)

And here, if it works is a great song, that I want to dedicate to everyone affected by the demise of the chain of Fopp record shops that happened just as I was leaving Glasgow. I'm really sorry to hear that staff went without wages - the folk in Glasgow Union Street were absolutely superb whenever I went in, and I'm going to miss my regular browses and the fact that I'll no longer be able to take chances on CDs and books at great prices. This is taken from an album that I first heard when I was browsing in Fopp:-

mp3 : Albert Hammond Jr - Cartoon Music For Superheroes

Please let me know if the file hosting has been succesful or not and whether you've had problems listening to them.

I'm not sure when I'll find time to make my next posting, but keep looking.....

Thanks again to one and all.