Last night Beard!
collectively got drunk. Twas good. All tired now though. Very little music except in the background.
eamonn posted on 26.02.03 @ 01:36 PM GMT [link]

Death of the Music Industry & Late Late Show
Just noticed more articles about the death of the music industry turning up, the Sunday Times (spit spit - someone else bought it) magazine had a big thing about falling record sales etc, last night on the BBC there was somethign about music becoming more local and then this morning RTE Radio 1 Morning Ireland has a journalist talking about the decline of the music industry. Mp3s etc get fingered a little but also shorter shelf lives of bands as the speed of change hots up (Gomez was the example this morning), increasing localisation of music (lots of bands big in an area or country but not international - fewer international superstars which make loads of money. Eminem is the exception, Coldplay prove the rule), the consolidation of the industry coupled with greater than ever tighter financial approach to the business (repeat winning formulas ad nasueum, drop band first sight of non-success) and the end of the cd chas cow (no longer as many re-issued albums to sell again for zero or little marketing) were all cited. All true. The one new thing I saw was that the music industry was making/worth 1 billion at the end of the 60s and that rose to 20 billion in the 80s, a huge increase, I thought it would have been worth a good deal more in the 60s, I suppose they just started milking it more etc.

And unrelated - but your ever dedicated Beard! tuned in to watch the joyless Late Late show. This time Oasis were on it. Didn't hear the song but Liam (for Noel was at home) gave a gum chewing, short answered, sunglassed interview with idiot Kenny. Des'ree were on later.

One last thing - Chris Morris won the Bafta for short film, I mention this because Beard! is friends with one of the people (Anne Boyle) involved with one of the other nominations (Good Night - she was the cinematographer, Sun-Young Chun was the director) and had been rooting for her. Anyway when they get the kind of money Chris Morris had access to, we shall see who will be the winner.
eamonn posted on 24.02.03 @ 12:32 PM GMT [link]

Stuff you're not cool enough to know about...
...but cool enough to know you want.

The Counter Culture compilation from Rough Trade is interesting because like last year's Rock and Roll and Electronics it's a release from the shop, rather than the record label it spawned. This is just a best of 2002 based on stuff that they played in the shop over the last year. This results in about a third stuff I already have, a third stuff I don't want, and a third stuff I want more of. That's a pretty good ratio by any standards. Maybe more shops should do this. I suppose you could see 100% Dynamite as the first of these.
andrew posted on 20.02.03 @ 06:08 PM GMT [link]

Dylan Moran
Saw Dylan Moran last night in Vicar St (first time seeing the expansion and I don't really like it since it puts a soccer field type area in front of the stage).

He was great, we were a little unsettled at first (well I was), we arrived just in time, and Micheal was late so we had to look out for him. Plus the support Barry Murphy was ill but this fact wasn't confirmed until the end so for 15 minutes I was wondering if Dylan Moran was just getting ready to introduce Barry Murphy . But when you weren't distracted he was brilliant, I like the surreal almost poetry comedy he does. I suppose a lot of it is to do with delivery and timing but I just love it. Makes you feel all warm inside since he he mostly targets himself and his generation (my generation). The material covered getting older/his kids/his generation/modern stressed life/impending war/youth and their clothes+music and so on (some of it predictable or expected from a comedian - I mean what 30 something comedian doesn't talk about getting a bit older). As I say not all super original but tied together in a loose philosophical sense that consisted of slight desperation, belligerence and some alienation from the world. And that just appeals to my mindset a lot of the time. Last night lying in bed I vowed to go and see him again tonight, but I will be too tired this evening and really shouldn't be spending money like that. It's reaffirming kind of stuff. I am off to search the web to see if any of his standup is on video though. Or maybe even Black Books is in the local shop.....

eamonn posted on 20.02.03 @ 11:42 AM GMT [link]

Mashup!
The new WinAmp gives me gyp at every possible opportunity, but one of it's new quirks is that if you select a pair of mp3s and open them, you get two winamps, playing the songs against each other (if your soundcard can handle this). This is rarely what you want, unless the two mp3s are part_a and part_b of Gold Thief Thief, as just happened. Then it sounds great.
andrew posted on 14.02.03 @ 02:30 PM GMT [link]

NME Carling awards
look a bit shit
# Carling Best New Band: The Libertines
# 4Music Best Live Band: The Datsuns
# Best Solo Artist: Ryan Adams
# Virgin Megastores Best UK Band: Oasis
# MTV2 Best Video: BRMC
# NME Single of the Year: Doves 'There Goes The Fear'
# Best UK Band: Oasis
# Best International Band: The Hives
# Carling Best Album: Coldplay
# Best Single: The Vines 'Get Free'
# Godlike Genius: The Clash

Ryan Adams.Oasis etc?
After listening to the Vines album only ten times or so I can now only stand a handful of the songs - Homesick and Mary Jane - the quieter ones. It's not that the other songs are bad - it's just the production is too slick, everything is very loud. Wish I ahd bothered to stop and listen to them at Glasto now.

Saw Low last night - it was very lovely, better than I expected. Some good rocking out, great handclapping from the audience and a bit of band interraction. Got me an autograph as well from Alan (though I really wanted Mimi's autograph).



eamonn posted on 14.02.03 @ 12:04 PM GMT [link]

Eamonn's stuff what happened this year

eamonn posted on Wed, 12.02.03 @ 05:09 PM GMT [more..]

Andrew's stuff what happened this year (if he should actually choose to use it)

andrew posted on Wed, 12.02.03 @ 04:49 PM GMT [more..]

Important Beard news!
I no longer have one.
andrew posted on 07.02.03 @ 03:13 PM GMT [link]

Yeah, sorry about that.
I've been listening to more taped stuff.

Astrid - Play Dead

A nice wee Scottish band that I saw at Glastonbury 98 (99?). They're very Teenage Fanclub, and I'm surprised that they didn't die of happiness after releasing a split single with them a few years ago. They also sound a bit like Mull Historical Society on one track, and surprisingly manage to measure up there as well. It's not a world-changing album, but if you like this sort of stuff, you'll love this. I've come to the conclusion that I like Scottish Bands.

The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat

Not the most obvious flip side, but it was next in the rack. There's not a lot that can be said about this from 35 years after. The Gift doesn't wear out its welcome as quickly as I would have thought, though I can listen and read something at the same time. This is also in the list of albums that I have grown towards: I can imagine giving it a listen and then putting it away again five years ago. Indeed, I might have done just that.

andrew posted on 07.02.03 @ 03:12 PM GMT [link]

We're still waiting for Andrew
who must actually work at his job or something but anyway in the meantime I have been listening to
Neko Case - Blacklisted , excellent album of hers from last year. At first her voice seemed to soar too much for me but now I really like it, hmm which songs are the covers.
Last Post - Dry Land, 2002 album from Irish Scott Walker, haven't really got into it yet
Boa Morte - And soon we must face the outside world (errr roughly) which is a real gem, singer's voice seems brave since he speak sings and it is high in the mix. Plus strings and melodies and beofre you know it you clutching at your heart at the bueaty of it

What else - saw the kids at Idlewild, was good but was hoping to repeat the brilliance that was Andrew WK from last year. The kids jump up and down but not as much as I remember them doing from in my day. There is a very popular Idlewild bulletin board but they all say stupid things like 'I'm drunk now!' and have bloody pictures in their signatures. What will we do with the kids.......

The night before, Americhord was brilliant supporting Decal at Bleep. Lovely early 90s melodic techno tuneful stuff. We should start a rating system 1 Beard!, 2 out of 5 Beards!, 1 & 1/2 Chinstrokes! Anyway Americhord would be 4 Beards! out of 5 while Decal were 3 1/2 with a bonus full Chinstroke!

I just learned from on the arise mailing list (Oldham followers) that a guy who was talking to him after some concert in 1999 got a cd from Oldham wrapped in an envelope with the nascent lyrics for I see a Darkness. One day that will be worth a few bob.

Oh yeah and I got a cd (oh oh - too many purchases) of Havanarama who did a Rock the Blockade tour of Cuba a year or two ago, the music is grand, a selection of live recordings of Havanarama/David Pajo/Oldham/Cuban bands but it came in a lovely cigar box with a cigar (Cuban I guess), some Spainish Moss - smells good, also title of Smog song and an amusing booklet.

Once again I am not fit to actually review music, I just list it and say whether it is 'lovely and nice' or not.
eamonn posted on 06.02.03 @ 10:56 AM GMT [link]