Ngas Head Blues Loft Pics

I'm trying to put together a vid of the other night at the Blues Loft in High Wycombe. Though its takin a little too darn long. So for the moment, just a few stills.

Bubble club pics

A few pics taken by Tina at the Rhythm Factory night we played the other week.

The Bubble Club is one special night and I don't know if the organizers kind of realise how cool it is. If you don't know it, it is run by and for people with learning difficulties which kind of makes it unique & cool already. Instead of organizing a third rate disco in the local parish hall with tiny sandwiches, they do a high octane club night which is better than most on offer. Its busier than a bus stop, everyones happy, everyones dancing and if yer think you're the kind of cat that would dig it, get down there.

Monkey

So I gotta chance to go and see the Monkey Journey to the West extravaganza down the o2. Its one bizarre cute furry kitten of an opera and well worth checkin out. Like most Albern stuff, its not exactly an emotional rollercoaster, more a pleasant picnic of an adventure and mr hewlett is there to make it all cool as cucumber sandwiches. I wouldn't have had it anyother way.

Yeah its weird, wonderful, loopy but the best thing for me was hearing a Glass Harmonica (hydrocrystalophone). One of the most weirdly wonderful tonal tools I've heard in a long while. Its a bunch of glass rings that are spun around while the player strokes them. Like so:

Harrold Juana - fuzzy n free

Allo, Just before I head off down to the Blues Loft fer ze Sound Check. Thought I'd point out a vid thats popped up on Youtube of Tim's old band Harrold Juana. It was a band of multiple Tims and if yer wondering which Tim is our Tim is? He's the one sitting down banging stuff.

I gotta 100 watts with yer name on it

If the last band ya saw was five bones short of bona fide, well don't fret baby, you might just dig it.

Bootstrap are heading down to London's Rhythm Factory on Wednesday.

It is the Bubble Club night and I hear its going to be a sweat stoked sixties lozenge of DJs and us.

Rhythm Factory
16-18 Whitechapel Rd.London E1-1EW

We be on earlish before second DJ set around about 9!

Nags Head Blues Loftiness

Here be Kerry's latest poster our upcoming Wycombe gig. Finally they got the Nags Head Blues Loft all insulated and cozy and approved and bonafide. The Clash, Muddy Waters, hundreds others all played up there and Genesis got booed off. Can't wait. Last time we played downstairs and it was heavin, we're making the grade and moving on up the stairs. Jazzed about this one.

Its on November 21st. Starting 8-9ish. Ve shall see. You is invited.

subsiren pictorial record

Doing a band or being involved in putting on a night, you're often kind of trying to gauge how well the nights gone. One thing I've noticed is if ya got it right and you're doing the dirty and the crowds a swinging. The one thing you won't see is a hundred camera phones flickering. If people are kind a bored or not connected, they start flicking them out for something to do.

Subsiren is really doing the dirty and well the evidence is pretty much null so I took some photos the other night to kinda show whats happenin.

The Pale Blue Eyes
Lou Barrabas

Do-re-me-so-fa-la-ti

Yes sir, this was Aylesbury rockin the other night. Recognise it?

Subsiren Halloween - Kinda Spooky

Allo you n yours.

Beware. Behold. Be damned.

This Friday 31st October is the next Subsiren extravaganza down the Hop pole.

We got three bands dredging up their dark bitumen souls into raging heaps of caffeine injected typhoon performances.

They be:

The Pale Blue Eyes - Ayesbury Avengers
Louis Barabas - London Underground
Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti - Leighton Buzzards

You is invited

Tonight we dine in Oxford

Allo!

Quick note to say that we just decided to go and do a little acoustic set tonight. Down at the Catweazle Club in Oxford.

I have seen the future and it does not work...

"If there's one thing America needs, it's more lawyers. Can you imagine a world without lawyers?"


Utopia is funny thing. You know what it means. I know what it means. But ya come to describe it and it all goes to pot rapidly. Once you get into describing it, its more a matter of getting rid of stuff you don't want, than ordering new stuff you do. I can think of a few things it must have but the list of stuff thats going to the charity shop is endless.

Writers have the same problem, endlessly dreaming up Utopias. Endless lines of Utopias, Heavens and Sancturies to snuggle up in. Nice and cozy. But what you soon find is that if they're describing Utopias that include people, they're tragically flawed, based on lies, narrow minded, fascist or just kind a crappy.

Here's a few Utopia's those writers have dreamed up that are definately meant to be Utopias:

Swift's Houyhnhnms from Gullivers Travels - Bunch of happy horses who probably listen to Radio 4.
Bank's Dwellers from The Algerbraist - Bunch of anarchist aliens that just surf round gas planets.
Asimov's Gaia from Foundation series - Telepathic uber-humans that are at one with pebbles and rocks.

Notice what be missing? You got it. You, me, them, the fine, the feral, the fabulous, the feckless and everyone else. If there's a Utopia party going on you and I ain't invited.

Doesn't stop us trying, eh? Well, probably does.

But definately doesn't stop the movies. Here's a double bill of LA commune Utopias from the seventies which made a mighty double bill of a movie session for me the other night.

Logan's Run


Concept: If everyone is kind of always young and beautiful then we'll all live kind of happily ever after.

Selling points in brochure: Aerobics, casual sex, no work, no weather, no dirt, no responsibility, free plastic surgery.

Downside: You gotta die at 30 to keep everyone young and beautiful.

What brings it all down: After meeting an old man outside who likes cats, we realise dying at 30 kind of sucks.

Zardoz


Concept: If we all lived forever as eternals we'd get round to solving life's little problems eventually and live in bliss.

Selling points in brochure: Live forever, casual sex, telepathic link to tabernacle (wikipedia), meditation sessions. Life is one long enjoyable lunch.

Downside: You gotta make dinner. You gotta tow the company line.

What brings it all down: Boredom. It just soooo darn boring.


I dig these films a lot. To be happy Zardoz says live forever, Logan's Run says die young. In the end they both go a cropper with the concept that we're all better off as we are, mortal, aging and flawed. Happy ending. Roll credits. Get back to work you aging flawed mortals. You've never had it so good. Yeah, right.

Let the buyer beware..

If ya wanna buy our CD Cecille or mp3s or whatever. You can get it from these guys:

Bootstrap website

Apple Itunes

Amazon

CD Baby

Plus a bunch of other places like...

Amie Street
GroupieTunes
CD Connection

CD Universe

Rhapsody

Ruckus

PayPlay
Tradebit

Broken Thumbs Premiere

We got invited to be on the soundtrack of a little snow storm of a film a few months ago. Organized by the Snowboard Asylum. Then out of the blue, they said its all done, come and check it out.

So last week we headed up Birmingham way for the premier of 'This is Britain 2 - Broken Thumbs'. Its a snowboarding movie with more twists and turns than is decent and plenty of boarders falling on their bum. Plus a kickin soundtrack.

The movie kicks off grandly with Forty Thousands, plus somewhere in the middle you can hear All Aboard and Marylou. The editing to Marylou is sublime, I really dug that bit.

Anywhoo, its out in a couple of months on DVD with maybe an extra of us playin live.

But ve shall see. Ven I know more, I'll tell ya...

Pics from other night

Had a devilish night down the Swan the other week. Slap Dash were great. Blistered out with sheer ska. Sorry about the PA Mungo. Kinda tripped. Anywhoo, here's a couple of pics

Diabolik and Satanik sounds at The Swan

We be revving them engines, tunin them tubes, alignin our strings and gearing up to get giggin again.

First offerin is up at the Swan in Thame. Friday 5th September. Last time we were there we broke all the lights in basement from all the dancin going on. The floor was dilating in waves of sonic salvation. So yeah baby, we gonna play it again.

Cheap knock off nightmares

Last night I woke up about 5am to my phone buzzing, mightily confused. A little disorientated and blurry. The phone shook me out of a nightmare.

Now the weird thing is there was this bit where I put an old rusty key in a oak door and the whole wall just melted into black ooze. Standard nightmare stuff.

But this is what confused me. The black ooze kind of looked completely CGI, a bit fake, a bit plastacine. It never struck me that you could get cheap CGI effects in dreams. It kind of puzzles me for some reason I don't get.

The reason is probably boring but the question is kind a curious.

Resonance FM

Its kind a normal for me to find out about things years after they're going on. Resonance FM is typical of this. But anyone I walk up to and go, you gotta here this radio thang, they kind a go 'huh?' too.

To be honest I had heard of it before but I've always tuned in during the day and all I ever seem to hear was people talking about their day at work, social workers and that kind thing. It didn't tickle me.

But recently I been tuning in on me journey home each day for about 20 minutes before it loses its signal to fricking BBC Berkshire playing the Logical Song. And each day I curse the BBC and Supertramp.

So what is it? Well I don't know how to sum it up, in fact I won't. All I can do is list the variety of stuff I've heard over the last couple of months:

. Gramophone recordings of the wind blowing from 1928
. A Jazz band tuning up for half an hour
. Mike Mignola talking about Hellboy
. Paul from Artrocker playing arty rocky things
. 1960s Tape Club Recordings of Cricket matches and fetes and things
. Oscar Z. Acosta and poetry
. Discussion about the type faces used in comics
. lots and lots of strange noises
. No fricking adverts

I am in love. I am happier than the Joker testing out a new pencil sharpener.

Check it here - Resonance FM

Subsiren Summer Party - Next Friday

Bootstrap aren't giggin at the moment but I'm sure that won't stop ya going out. We're kind a busy organizing tours and other funky stuff that I can't really talk about yet.

Anyway the Subsiren Summer Party is on and its on next friday at the Hop Pole. The new home of sanitary insanity.

That be Aylesbury. That be August 22nd. That be a Friday.

The chosen bands all rejoice in that summer love sensation of crazy mondo sounds.

SUNNYVALE NOISE SUB-ELEMENT - Oxford noisy maestros

THE ALPHA MALES - Aylesbury Freak Council

THE SIMPSON BROTHERS - Leighton Buzzard Instrument creators

+ SubSiren DJ's and Friends

To say the night's line-up was alternative would be to say there was an alternative. This is alt-Aylesbury, there is no alternative.

Ze Bizzarro Psychadelic Cinema Experience. Part 1

I dig a lot of asian cinema but I kind of get bored quick. What gets released over here is a small percentage of what exists. Mostly what makes it over is genre stuff:

horror stuff (girl gets spooked and wanders about),

martial arts stuff (guy beats up guy with unusual object),

arty stuff (kids wander about melancholic for two hours and die)
gorey stuff (girl gets splattered with blood)

All this stuff is good and healthy but it gets a bit dull after a while. You need to dig deep into them kimono pockets to find the goodies. Over the past year I've seen a few brilliant ones which are interstellar and bizarro:

Death Note 1 & 2 - Is more like the old film The Sting than the Ring. Misleading title but damn fine story.

I'm a cyborg, but thats ok - Asylum romcom by the guy who did Oldboy (Chan Wook Park). Just unbelievebly ruthlessly beautiful and romantic. Its a weird kind of love story, but because its directed by Chan Wook Park, there's this feeling underneath like it going to turn nasty. It doesn't.

The Great Yokai War - Family film by the guy who did Ichi the Killer (Takashi Miike). There's kind of a menacing Jim Henson muppet show feel about this one and its probably not for everyone, but I dig it.

Now all these film are weird, wonderful, bizzaro and fresh. But they haven't got a heap of gore, horror or judo chops so you might not hear about them. A lot of directors in the east are getting bored of doing the same old genre stuff, but don't wanna lose the genre fans. So they're going bizarro and stylish and I dig it. All these films above when released in their own country were huge (like 4 weddings and a funeral huge) but they don't get a lot of foreign press, so you don't here about them much unless they make it to cannes or something.

So thats Part 1, a couple I've seen. Part 2 is a bunch I'm gonna check out.

Bootplayer

Forget all those other media players. You don't need'em when you got a bootplayer.

I don't understand the BBC. I thought I did

I never wanted to rant on me blog, just wanted to kind be positive but... I just don't understand what the BBC are up to. I keep coming across it and now its getting blatant.

I just want to post this up because if you know what they're doing. It doesn't manipulate you quite as much. It could be called propaganda, but in whose name? I don't know.

Case in point:


So someone was telling me I got to look at the olympics opening ceremony. There's crazy lights, people running round globes, fireworks, giant scrolls. Some cool stuff.

So I head over to the BBC to have a gander.

To the top news story:

Spectacular opening for Olympics

I was kind of hoping they'd describe this huge firework, globey scroll light show thang. Maybe post a video, or some pictures. Like it says in the title 'Spectacular opening for Olympics!'

But if you click on it you get a couple of lines saying:

China has presented a dramatic display of fireworks, music and dancing to mark the opening of its Beijing Olympics.

And a couple more lines. And thats it.

Then you get a looooooong article about bomb threats, pollution, protests, troops, police. ANd it just goes on and on and on and on. Yeah its all true, scary, and China is very naughty. But....

If the story was called 'Controversey over Olympics'. That'd be fine. But the story is called ''Spectacular opening for Olympics'.

Thats manipulation and I don't like it.

English Rebels

I got a soft spot fer Chumbawumba. Their very name seems to irritatate people. I got a soft spot for many unloved people who kinda know their stuff, justify their existence but were just born not to get invited onto the culture show. People like Chumbawumba, John Gaunt, Ken Livingstone, Jeremy Clarkson, Chris Eubank and others you won't usually find in the same sentence. It just makes me smile seeing them all lumped together as some sort of movement. All these people kinda shape the world, create debate, make you think a little harder but if there is a culture party invitation list their names not down.

Anyway, I came across Chumbawumba's new album cover and dug it. If it had been Graham Coxon, I'm sure it would be on the Culture Show. But its not, its Chumbawumba, so it'll probably be sneered at or flat ignored. I'm sure its pretty good as well. When they wanna be, they can write some delicious stuff. 'The Day the Nazi Died' is one of them, hear it live, acapella, harmonized and ya jaw drops.

But they say their anarchists and anyone who says they're an anarchist is kinda seen as a bit silly. I got arrested once and it was late, I was tired and the copper sneered to me, "Are you an anarchist?" I thought about it wondering where this might lead and said "Yeah, I suppose so." He said I didn't know the meaning of the word.

Having read books and stuff, I knew well what it truly meant but what I didn't realise is what it associates you with. That I didn't sign up for, I don't wanna be the member of some club. Chumbawumba did sign up and I think thats why they were often seen as silly. I think that view is changing though which is funky.

Don Quixote

I've just gone and finished Don Quixote.

Its wicked, funny, relentless, genius and now I struggle to sleep thinkin about it. I feel five years older and never want to see that damn book again.

Sound of Confusion - Free Song

Hey there, if you dig free stuff n cool stuff.

The Sound of Confusion show in a radical step of promotion has its very own web page. Also the show is now on three night a week (Mon, Thu, Sat, all 8pm) and is mighty. Can be heard online. It be the jewel in the Radio Scilly programming schedule that weighs heavily but handsomely on Kev's shoulders.

You can check it out here. Its barer than care bear on the beach at the moment but I'm sure it'll get kind a funky kinda quickly.

To celebrate this monumental event. There's a free download of Marylou available from there from........now. Kev will be posting up free tracks of various bands he digs as it goes along.

New Tank Girl Boogaloo Skids

I is happy. More Tanky. Muchos muchos tanky. Seems to be coming from all directions at the moment except from Mr. Hewlett. Dr. Alan has been busy. This one seems to have the Tanky vibe that I dig and am humbled by. Called Skidmarks and is in the Judge Dredd megazine. Drawn by Rufus Dayglo. Its got a lot of the Fireball vibe in these pics which is tailored for me. I dug the Ashley Wood stuff but wasn't my tanky, this be my tanky.

And holy socks, they got a web site too. Thens theres's the Hewlett creamy book and all sorts of funky thangs.

Plastic Jesus

I was just readin the lyrics from an olde folky song called Plastic Jesus. I only know it from Cool Hand Luke but it seems to have a bit of life of its own with or without Mr Newman. A billion verses by a billion anons. If you don't know it its an ode to the Plastic Jesus 'sitting on the dashboard of my car'. Anyway just passed this verse which I dug:

When I'm in a traffic jam

He don't care if I say "damn"

I can let all my curses roll

Plastic Jesus doesn't hear'

Cause he has a plastic ear

The man who invented plastic saved my soul

Ya can read the rest here

La Bell Photos

So the grand news is The Bell makses a kicking little rock and roll venue. Great night and darn, The Pale Blue Eyes, they just shone. Everyone could feel it, they just frickin ruled. Definately gonna head back there soon. Cheers to Charlotte for taking some pics.

A couple of vids from Limelight Theatre

I dig Open Mikes. You got a host of performers that do a couple of songs. Nice n short, if you're getting bored. You never know what you gonna see, poetry, rap, 14 year old Rage Against the machine covers, 4 year old singers and a whole bunch of sinners. They often kind of get taken over by Dylan coverers, but if there's a balance, well that's cool too.

One the greatest open mike nights for variety is at the Limelight Theatre in Aylesbury run by Pete. As other venues come and go in Aylesbury, say what you like, this show keeps on running. Its got integrity.

Another great night is the Catweazle Night in Oxford which has been running well over 10 years. No electricity, shout yer songs out, candles and real ale. I really need to get back down there.

Anyway, here's a couple of vids from the Limelight night that I did a couple of years ago. My rattlin away seems to have got a little more popular since Seasick Steve showed how its done on tv.

So if ya fancy a gander, just meander up the links below:

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead

What more d'ya need to say? looks lika a wes anderson vampire flick. I'm itchin to see it:

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead

Set yer Slinky to Stun - This Saturday

I dig slinkys. They happily shimmer down the staircase in a profoundly organized manner, and end up neatly stacked waiting to go round again. And the sound is tingling.

So we're gonna slinky and shuffle down the Bell Hotel this Saturday. We got support from the Pale Blue Eyes doing an acoustic set and DJ Squidelica up from London to munch through a pile of garage rock vinyl.

Seems like long time since we played in Aylesbury...

Here and by the way, the photo in the poster is a publicity still from a Japanese 70s film called Girl Boss Gurilla. A film that mixes Straw Dogs with Hello Kitty. I haven't seen it yet, but been dying to see it since seeing the pricey Pinky Violence boxset cover below. Sure is pretty.

Sound of Confusion Interview

Tibbles transcribed some of the interview between me n Kev on the Sound of Confusion show. Well, here it be...

And also its my pleasure to announce I’m joined by Delmondo Fox from Bootstrap tonight. You may remember them from such Sound of Confusion classics as Cecille, Englands Dead and Marylou. You alright Delmondo?

Allo

Alright?

Mighty Fine

Good! Gonna give us a couple of tunes later?

Yeah Definitely.

Being a bass player, you’ve turned up with a five string guitar there?

Well, I’m gonna progress onto six strings shortly after the show.

Excellent. You’ve been having trouble with your G-string on the way down. Quite literally, that’s me not doing a silly gag.

It was kinda sounding like a wedgie.

Right. OK….is it all sorted now.

Its gonna hum

Right. We’ve had a question in for you from a Tim. Where do you get the names for all yer band members from because his daughter would like to know?

I get em off crisp packets.

Crisp packets?

The ingredients.

Right. OK…

If its below 60% I usually don’t consider it as a good band name but above 60% its good.

Fair enough then…if anyone else has got any questions, get in touch…you gonna give us a tune now then?

Yeah!

What are you going to play?

Well this ones called All Aboard. Which ummm., you know Paul. When we were doing the Camel Rock festival we were having a lot of trouble getting here. We lost our drummer to New Zealand who later got replaced by Tim. And I landed my car in the ditch and had a whole load of problems. I was on the phone to Paul every night and decided to write a song about it…

[All Aboard]

Got another question for you Delmondo! Is it true you look like Johnny Depp? That’s from Tania, thought it might be somebody you knew.

Yeah Tania and me are intimate friends. Only she would know.

Yeah, alright. So. Is it true you look like Johnny Depp?

Well I like to consider Johnny looks like me.

That’s probably a better way of looking at it.

It’s the better way. He’s an actor. He’s just getting in character all the time.

Yeah. Basically. Well obviously. In the Pirates of the Caribbean films he’s based his character on Keith Richards apparently.

Yeah. Who also looked to me for influence?

Of course he did. That’s why he plays a five string guitar like you do.

Exactly

As we discussed earlier.

Though he knocked out the wrong string

Alright. Fair dooz…..Do you want some questions then? Alice would like to know when you’re albums gonna come out and how we can get hold of it.

Well some of you might know who read the blog is that the album is supposed to be out. But when it was delivered by the manufacturers we got a 1000 cds of german reggae.

That’s brilliant

Its not brilliant.

German reggae. That sounds amazing.

Its an impressive story but it was like god dang.

So is there some german reggae band that’s like got a 1000 Bootstrap cds or something?

Yeah! They’re probably chuffed to the moon. Coz they haven’t sent them to me yet.

What else have we got? Emily would like to know what your favourite colour is? Which is an imaginative question.

Coloury?

Whats yer favourite colour?

Colour? No, I’m stuck on the word calorie.

Calorie? Whats yer favourite calorie? Yeah that’s a far more interesting question.

I reckon around 165

Yeah?

Yeah

Ok

Which is probably turquoise.

Right OK.

You were teaching me all about turquoise the other day.

I was…I was teaching you about the shades of the sea. Coz you don’t get much sea in Aylesbury.

Not a lot. It has to be really high tide to reach Aylesbury.


Thats it fer now...There's more interview somewhere and we've got the live recordings now from the show, which we'll put up in the future somehow for y'all. Cheers to all who phoned in.

Cecille Album now landing

Click ere to buy

Spacelines - Sonic Sounds for Subterraneans

Kind of since Tarantino it seems compilation albums have got a little more credit. You got the re-release of Nuggets, Back from the Grave, Wes Anderson soundtracks, Chess Recordings, Field Recordings, those free ones with Mojo and Uncut. Ze list goes on. And they're all good, because they all kind of a personal view of what would make a great mix tape is. They should really be in a seperate section to The Greatest Shite Songs...whenever or whatever. But they're not, which I kinda dig too.

So when I acidentally stole this cd off Kev, I knew it would be good but it kind of blew me away. Its assembled by Sonic Boom out of Spacemen 3 and its dazzlin.

What seems to tie it down together is soul. Every song has production which just focus's on getting the soul of the band across. And each of these songs is just burstin with character.

I don't know when it came out or whether you can still get it but get it ya should.

Songs:

1- This may be the last time - Staples Singers 2- You dont care - Bo Diddley 3- Sun Arise - Rolf Harris 4- Transparent radiation - Red Crayola 5- Angels + Devils - Sun Ra 6- Denomination blues - Washington Phillips 7- I'm so glad - Jesse Mae Hemphill 8- Needed Time - Lightning Hopkins 9- Please Stay - The Cryin' Shames 10- She’s Coming Home – Wailers 11- Stay - The Zodiacs 12- Can’t Let Go - Evie Sands 13- Crawdaddy Simone - Syndicats 14- Elevator Operator - The Rays 15- Perfidia - Xavier Cugat 16- It was I - Fantastic Baggies 17- Firebird - The White Noise 18- True love will find you in the end - Daniel Johnston 19- Just one time - Juicy Lucy 20- I take it that were thru - The Riot Squad 21- Psychic hitlist victim no 8 - Honolulu Mountain Daffodils 22- Witchdoctor - John Mayall 23- Ramblin’ Rose - MC5

London! Come harvest the Spice of Life, this Friday

In a world of lawlessness. In a world of broken dreams. In a word of spelling mistakes.

In a time of venues popping off the calendars & into the history books, a new sprig springs forth.

The Spice of Life, just off Tottenham Court Road. Run by Substance

If yer looking for it, its the pub next to that theatre that had on les miserables for years.

This is news of goodness. And Bootstrap be down there this Friday bashing it out with The Twice and Les Oeufs. It gonna be crackin. I've been down there before for a acoustic sessions but know they gonna rip n rock it up. I rekon it'll make a great little ole venue.