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Thu 21st May Lordy lordy. Where are we. Delightful new Americana/Folk album by Brianna Lane this week, that's on Spotify or wherever you wanna listen. One of London's best bands DOE playing across the street from us at The Stillery in Camden tomorrow night. Whaddyawanna know? Spending the weekend in Wimbledon if anyone's out that way. Tue 19th May Here's JEEPS playing Michael, Are You Breathing? for Balcony TV Amsterdam earlier this year - Mon 11th May Every so often I'll write a song that just doesn't belong on the album I'm working on at that time, for whatever reason, but still has some merit. This is true of Another Shitty Song About New York, written during the Hollering & Handstands sessions, recorded today and now relegated to this playlist of shreds & patches - Thu 7th May Feeling pretty damn nostalgic. All those yesterdays, huh. Chxxlie sent me this link with the message "Remember when we used to play like this in Dr. Pong?" and yes, indeed I do. Certainly it felt like we were playing like this, ten beers in - Even wrote a song about it, called Kingping, featuring vocals by Mary Ocher, didn't I. When yer drinking day to day, there's no time to think about the past, except for when those forgotten, uncurbed sobs spring up under soul-stretching streetlights in the evil urban aftermath. Hey there's a bandname for ya - The Forgotten Sobs. We have 5 senses, so the people say, but let's imagine - you are deprived of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Does this mean you can experience no sensation at all? I say nay, for in your mind you could formulate an idea and experience the sharpest of sensations indeed - those of regret, and yearning, and hope. So I propose the idea that thought itself is the 6th sense - the sense of creation - all others being passive, submissive, redundant. Thu 7th May What percentage of your adult life have you been in love, d'ya reckon? I'll go 90% give or take. I read someplace recently that it might perhaps be the artistic impulses that create love in order to stimulate a creative psychological environment where ideas can self-nourish. Fucks you up for the good books. By this rational, falling out of love signifies the dawn of a less poetic period. Or is that phase induced to keep the spirit-ink flowing too, variety being the spice if not the sublimest Christ of life? Thu 30th April I can honestly say I'm happier than I've ever been in my life, but must add that it's in that slightly 'don't care anymore' kindof way which presents it's own set of dangers. I don't care about booking shows, though we're getting offered plenty, and I don't care that next to nobody appreciates songs on 7LR that I do believe hold some unique quality. A flock of knowledge flapping on the ground, indeed. I care about space around me; I've found a way to live in the light, for now. I respect work - my work, physical work, psychological work. Getting by. Getting around. Giving. Generating. A simple greeting with no question mark - Hello! Tue 28th April Brand new video from The Rentals - Sat 25th April 7 Love Rivals is finished! Just need to get the artwork sorted and that's that, you can't imagine how difficult it's been trying to source 7 micro machines. This is the final track, The Likes Of Daniel Brown - A final ride though the town, I spy the likes of Daniel Brown, The sky and the sights gather round. And there are towns I'll never know, Without you around they're just for show, But I don't care no more because I know The sun will shine wherever I go, For the gardens under Heathrow The sun will shine whenever I'm home - The one that makes your grass grow. The tide is high, the curtain's down, Is that a private eye or such a Daniel Brown? Which just reminds me now that with this glow The sun will shine wherever I go, For the gardens under Heathrow The sun will shine whenever I'm home - The one that makes your grass grow. So many Daniel Browns in the world That's so many dreams of being Daniel Brown II Surrounded by socks and Gothenburg girls I discovered the real Daniel Brown, yes I do. So many Daniel Browns in the world, That's so many dreams! Fri 24th April Gonna start shooting our little dance video for Lifewish tomorrow, drop us an e-mail if you wanna be involved, could do with a couple extra dancers and a camera assistant, cheers! Thu 23rd April Fear not for my sanity, for who knows better than I of our audience shortage, but theoretically speaking - if you did exist - what would you like to see in my little book? There are already over a hundred pages of lyrics, a few little anecdotes, a dirty handful of blog extracts from the days when I could still remember how to hold a pen - and yes - it's a blast putting the whole thing together, but still a hole remains. Any ideas? Thu 23rd April Heya. We've been busking out in the sunshine in Primrose Hill to pay for dinner this past couple days - it's wonderfully liberating and re-assuring living hand-to-mouth like that sometimes. Tons on the cards at the moment but don't wanna rush anything, the Queen's Head show the other day was pretty terrible and I don't wanna make that mistake again anytime soon. My songs just don't work at all unless they're approached with care & contrition - traits that are as far from my natural state as I from Io. Well now! In confirming the spelling of that moon, I just discovered (again?) that there are 67 confirmed moons of Jupiter. That's quite a horde (not to be confused with hoard), Jupes! So, taking time to prepare for shows. That's right. I've tried many times in the past to get a kindof orchestra together, or a choir, as I really do feel that it's the most effective way for my songs to be presented, but I've always got so frustrated with everyone being so damn useless and uncommittal that I've ended up rushing back into basic band business. NO MORE! Drinking less affords me ample ability in this field. Getting older grants me greater patience. As Bigott says, in his heartbreaking new record Pavement Tree - There's a place where we have the time There's a garden on the pavement tree Feel so happy when you lie with me Laughing when we fall You are in the light I'm getting you down We can stay away Doesn't matter if we're losing time Till the end, till the end.. Mon 20th April I was in a silly mood and had the idea to post a mock-cover for a lyrics collection I could sell at shows, now that the CD market is finally, utterly dead, but the response was pretty favourable and now I'm up for making it a reality. Will be nice to have all my songs in one place, somewhere more durable than Soundcloud. Here's the cover I was playing with, and a sample lyric from Lorraine by England & The April, the song I currently happen to be typing up -
Lorraine I Was nearby Your place why Did you hide yourself away out here? When Will this end? We were friends, Can't you put your sword down and start again, Lorraine? Why Did you die? I don't mind But I'll never understand you now so I drive On through life, I can't lie - I'll arrive so unprepared without you Lorraine, You Lorraine, yeah you! You can retrain, Yes you can retrain. Sun 19th April New JEEPS single Lifewish, with artwork by William Nein - Fri 17th April Hello everybody! I'm Eddie. Some of you might know me already (or at least know of me somehow - perhaps from my appearance in the smash hit music video for The Metal Starts To Climb playing the drunk girl falling over and pirouetting around Venice in the dark), but I normally prefer to stay in the shadows here on teatone. Glen's suggested I'd write here sometimes, so I've decided to give it a go. I'm a bit shy writing for unknown eyes, and I'm also rarely in the right headspace or even physical space to do it the way I want to. Right now I'm at work and I have to hide my words in excel-documents and MS outlook email drafts to avoid attention from the silly hawk-eyed managers constantly monitoring my screen activity. I'm carefully planning my escape from this white glove territory, removing the archival dust from my sleepy eyes and longing to say a big fuck off goodbye to this creativity-draining nest full of self-praising academic fools. But thats for another day. I bought my first new CD (that REAL sliver of plastic sunshine-reflecting rainbow-creating stuff if you remember it) for ages a few days ago and I was so damn excited about it! I'm always tense before listening to Bjork's new releases, a little bit scared of hating it or being left battered and exhausted from her top-of-a-mountain screams and tautological metaphors, but Vulnicura is just a beautiful album - so heart shattering and honest. I have a very special relationship to Bjorks music. It was my first introduction to understanding alternative music, I was eleven or twelve and I heard the song Bachelorette in my best friend's mum's house and although I didn't understand a word of it I sensed that what this crazy lady expressed was so true and honest and emotionally raw it was almost unbearable for me to take in. I think it was the goddamn string arrangements that got me at first. I was such a little classical music geek back then, refusing to listen to anything besides Dvorak's New World symphony and Bach's piano preludes (mum's record collection of course), but Bjorks music did the strangest things to me, and her voice too, I had no idea anyone could sing like that; with so much emotional expression and fragility. I'm a fountain of blood in the shape of a girl for fuck's sake. Her music is so familiar to me now, when I close my eyes and listen, in my head I always dance to her microscopic beats - its like the most complicated embroidery but somehow I know every little detail. I actually learned to dance to her music. I used to invite my best friend over to my room and we danced to Homogenic from beginning to end, not ever touching but moving every single limb in strange ways, sometimes together and sometimes completely apart, for hours. I didn't understand sex at all, or dance, but I think these pre-pubescent girlhood rituals was a big part of understanding my own body and movements, almost like a preparation for something in the close future I knew would come. Here are two videos from Vulnicura, Bjork doing her usual beautiful freak thing: Thu 16th April Wed 15th April "I'm out on a new track - let humanity go its own way - I go mine. I want to have a good time with the individuals I care for - very few, they are." - D.H. Lawrence Tue 14th April Hi there. We're home from Italy, where JEEPS managed to play two shows at short notice and record a song for Balcony TV Schio, up near the mountains. We made friends with at least four notable dogs - Spot, Suzie, Luna & Peppe. Outside Verona walls we saw men dressed as women being pelted with eggs & flour (apparently a bizarre graduation ritual..) and the tenfold-golden sunshine surged through Venetian streets like ox-blood round an oaken goblet, softly settling with thickened rim and slowly oozing down within. And then some over-officious twit demands 60 cents to use the backwater station lavoratory and you wanna smash his cunty big-nosed face in. Mon 6th April We're off to Verona in a couple days to do another Balcony TV thing in Schio. It was supposed to be the start of another little tour, but we're just gonna go & hang out & write in the alps for a couple days and all the dashing around can wait a little while longer. Got two shows in England planned for the Lifewish launch mid-month, one at Cafe Reflections in Southampton on Sat 18th April & another in London at The Old Queens Head on Sun 19th. Meanwhile. let's all try to be a little less cynical shall we? Fri 3rd April Oi oi! Plenty going on round here. First off, there's teatone.org for our private tutoring work, which is picking up a fair plonk. Then Hatty Redfoot has made her first steps in the London scene, taking in a Myles Manley show at The Stillery in Camden Town last night. We're once again on the lookout for a drummer (can you believe it?!) so let us know if you know anyone! Tue 31st March Just sorted the outro on Oh, Narcis! - how's that now?! Thu 26th March 7 Love Rivals really has been a long time in the making.. here's another track almost finished though, maybe could do with a guitar solo over the outro whaddyareckon? - Thu 26th March Been listening to a lot of late Francoise Hardy lately. Reminds me of my dad. His estranged mother was French, she also died recently, with no reconciliation between them. He made us promise that we wouldn't even tell her he was dying. There was a lot of wistful French music being played in my house when I was a kid. He would have loved this - Wed 25th March Love it when backing singers have character. 1971 - Tue 24th March Know these guys from Berlin, many years back, very decent new tune - Previous |