Monday, March 14, 2005

me, me, me

Inspired by several friends, I've decided to set up this journal. Partly due to anticipatory boredom at work (we have a quiet spell coming up), and partly due to the fact that I'm useless at keeping in touch with everyone - especially now they're depriving us of personal email access at work.

So anyway, just what has been going on in my life? Well, on Tuesday 8th March I entered my 26th birthday with a bang (well, with Radio 2 playing Pulp’s Common People), and it’s all been pretty good from then on. From playing my new birthday glockenspiel and seeing the glorious Arcade Fire in concert, to spending a lovely birthday weekend with my parents (ending in my dad falling into the Rochdale Canal). Yeah, life’s pretty good right now.

If only I could overcome this burgeoning cold that’s hanging over me. Damn workmates spreading their germs.

Recent Films:
I saw The Life Aquatic at Leicester Square’s Empire Theatre. What a magnificent place to be in the morning! Twinkling starlights, reclining seats, and just 5 people in what seemed to be a potential capacity of several hundred. It’s just a shame the film wasn’t that much cop. Fun, but trying too hard to be kooky. Too many topless Bill Murray shots, and Cate Blanchett seems to make a poor Gwyneth Paltrow substitute (are you seriously trying to tell me Wes Anderson didn’t want Gwyneth in the role?!). Still worth it for the Portuguese Bowie cover versions.

Also Thom bought me Magnolia for my birthday. Well, he bought it for himself really (which was made apparent when he asked whose house the DVD should live in), but he gave it to me under the pretence of my birthday present so it’s living in Tooting! Pretty good stuff, even at a daunting 3+hours duration. Tom Cruise is as detestable as always (I just can’t stand the man) but thankfully so is his character, so it works. Amazing scenes at the end, but I won’t spoil it for you. Definitely worth watching.

My current playlist:
Can I just say Arcade Fire Arcade Fire Arcade Fire Arcade Fire Arcade Fire Arcade Fire!
Wonderful band. I’ve been constantly playing their album Funeral since December, and I thought I’d never get to see them live - then they go and announce a date on my birthday! And seeing as they’re playing London Astoria next, I don’t think we’ll see them playing dates as small as King’s College for quite a while… Crash helmets, instrument swapping and borderline hysteria. Yum.

And another current favourite are De Novo Dahl. They’re a Nashville band that I saw there 2 years ago now, and they’ve finally released their debut (double!) album on Theory8 Records. God bless her, my friend Ashley went and bought me Cats and Kitten at the launch party, and got it signed for me. I had high hopes for the album, and it’s 98% there for me. I think releasing a 2CD debut is very ambitious – but Kittens (disc 2 - all remixes) is rather inspired, and often completely different to the original tracks. Cats (Disc 1) is just full of pop nuggets. They wear their blur/SFA/Beach Boys influences on their sleeves, but certainly have stamped enough of their own originality onto the songs. My only criticism is that the first disc could possibly be 2 songs shorter.

You can listen to mp3s at the websites I’ve linked.

Well, that was longer than I anticipated, but finger’s crossed it’s a sign of more regular mundane life-updates to come!

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous13:19

    I'm filling the Bowlie void by noseying around Idles' Stop, Look, Listen page.

    Everyone's gone Arcade Fire mad. I'm off to buy it tomorrow to see what all the fuss is about...

    ReplyDelete
  2. feeling a bit repetetive, m'dear? ;P

    ReplyDelete
  3. Didd you buy it? What did you think?!

    (ps, Soorry Ms. Noodle, I thought I'd make your fella look technologically competent ;))

    x

    ReplyDelete