soph-sation

Next Saturday, we head off to Brightlingsea fer Sophsation 2009. Sophies birthday bash. Brightlingsea is a town I aint been to in a looooong time. 4th April. If ya wanna come along, well then ya darn well must.see ya then

Chinnor Pic

A pic from t'other night down the Rock the Pavillion night.

Chinnor tomorrow

Tomorrow we're heading down to headline in Chinnor. Its a new night setup by Orsum Events and Crash Records. Always happy and excited when I hear new promoters poppin up all over the place. Well, Crash have been doing their very successful thang for quite a while, but Orsum is new to me at least.

Hoping for good night sprinkled with cherries. See ya then.

The other bands playing are Slapdash, Terrorfret and One last dance off. I only know Slapdash who we've played with at the Swan. They're a high epoxy resin of a ska outfit always worth a watch.

Subsiren Boot Pics

So the other night at Subsiren was a killer. Packed to the ceiling, bar running out of drinks, it was a squeeze. Felt like a little old revolution in Aylesbury going down. 1877 were stunning and I think I even spotted Steve dancing. We kinda just did a jammin thang whilst member of PBE kept jumpin on stage. Bodies bouncing. Sweaty.

Bumped into quite a few who are kicking themselves that they didn't come. Kinda feels like Subsiren is doing the business. Cheers to all who came down.

Subsiren - next Friday

Next Friday all hell breaks loose down the Hop Pole.

Subsiren is gearing up for the next chapter. Might even have projectors schoon. Ooooh.


So anywhooo, Subsiren next friday is going to Bootstrap and 1877 with Crescendo. Mongoloid rock and roll inferno.


See you then.

Friday Feb 27th

Hop Pole

Aylesbury

SUBSIREN

Sweet Sixteen

Beating the Dark Knight, Meryl Streep, Barret Homes Obama and High School Musical 8...

Bootstrap came sixteenth in the Sound of Confusions favourate songs of last year. Go Wildcats, yeah!

I'm listenin to Kev's show at the moment, and its good as ever. Listen here. Check the poll here.

Saturate Sunday

This Sunday

(Feb 15th)

right after Antiques Roadshow

The Swan, Thame

Suite up, boot up and tumble down to the Swan at Thame. We will be curling strings a frenzy and playing bonafidle rockle roll salad.

It free, its 8 or 9pm, something like that

Patricks exhibition shingdingaling

Last Monday grooved on down to the Queens Park Arts Centre for Patricks exhibition to do a little gig. We did a little set of bluesy numbers and then as if by Mr. Benn's magic the whole of the Pale Blue Eyes turned up so we got em to play a few tunes. Sounding great acoustic, relaxed, soulful and controlled. I've heard a little of their album and is sounding great. Now if they'd just give me a darn copy...

Anyhow, back to the point, Patricks art is bona fide and well worth a gander. And if you do stop by, definatel check out the sketches. Its up for another week or so, if you turn left and flollow this link.

T'other night Subsiren - Glokenspiel

Had another great Subsiren night t'other night. Headlined by Adrian's Glockenspiel who did a great set of sonic marination of technicolour jelly.

To our kind of shock/surprise/happiness/bemusement/glee, loads of people turned up at Hop Pole, even though we hadn't really told anyone it was going on. Barrett's sound system is coming to life, he's found its sweet spot and is strokin them faders into sonic automation. Cheers to all who came down.

Turned out nice, next one Bootstrap vill be playin. Feb 27th.

Wakey wakey

I'm only just wakin up to this year. Its definately an odd one. I can't quite get a handle on it. There seems to be a cart load of changes swilling through the world. But for there grandness, importantfulness, bizarreness, it just feels very distant.

There's was this program about dreams the other night with a weird fact. You're not as asleep at night as you thought you were, you just immobilized.

The theory goes that during the REM period of sleep when you're eyes flicker. You're not fully dreaming like we thought, the brain is up and running as much as it is during the day.

The only difference being that during the day is its getting external stimulus from your senses. During the night, you're body is switched off for repairs, but the conscious/sub-conscious is flickering on as usual.

Asleep or awake, the brain is 100% cooking, processing, digesting and gurgitating.

And that's kind of how I feel about this year so far, kind a noisey, but not as distracting as it should be.

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.