25 posts from January 2009

I must admit, I was kind of nervous entering the Metro. Only a week earlier I had attended a splendid performance there by My Morning Jacket and at the time it felt like I was standing in a sauna. Thankfully, I'm not sure whether it was because the air conditioning was better or My Morning Jacket fans metabolise alcohol at a faster rate, thus generating more heat..... but anyway... I was cool and comfortable and ready to be impressed.


We got there to catch the support act, for which I'm glad. These boys were called Slow Down Honey and they were pretty bloody good. Pop/rock sounds very fitting for pulling some cute dance moves, worth a listen.

I actually commented to my friend their night that they give me a beach vibe. I actually thought they might be from the northern beaches, but now i see (on their MySpace page) that they are from the Central Coast..... pretty close guess.... sort of! It's not that their music had a Beach Boys sound, it's just... well I don't know.... it was just the vibe.

AND... the most impressive thing is that it was said that this was their first gig played to more than 10 people but man, were they tight. It didn't sound like they were fresh out of their mum's garage at all!

Anyway..... if you're curious, have a look at their MySpace page and it will all become clear AND you might even be able to stalk them in real life. (I mention the Playground Weekender festival as an example - Primal Scream ooh!)

Razorlight were pretty much exactly what I expected they would be. Sold out show. No disappoinments.

Good old Johnny Borrell... I developed a negative opinion of him around the same time I developed a negative opinion of the NME. Cast your mind back to mid-2004....back when i used to lock myself away in my bedroom in Brighton and count the tools on the English music scene (and try to do the NME crossword, but fail miserably every single time). Maybe he's matured, maybe I was delusuional back then, who can tell? All i know is I sure wasn't going to be getting anywhere near him to find out!

But you have to admit.... he sure has a lot of energy and with energy comes entertainment.... and jumping around like a goose is exactly what i want to see. He didn't say a lot, but secretly, I was more interested in his shirt, and the rate at which it would no longer be covering his chest. I was also mesmerised by the fact that about halfway through the show Johnny looked like he had just had a fully-clothed shower, yet the rest of the band looked almost pristine. Spooky.... no, not really.

They played all the hits, new and old. In The Morning, Golden Touch, America, Hostage of Love... the list goes on. And didn't the kids love it! I almost felt ashamed that I didn't know every word to every song.

So where can you see them?

Well, it seems they're all over the shop in the months to come. Starting with Melbourne tonight (January 31st at the Hi Fi Bar - another sold out show), the US, Mexico then back to the sunny UK.... only to return to Australia in March for the V Festival and a side show supporting the Kasier Chiefs (pre-sale tickets go on sale on Feb 5th).

For more information and tickets:
Official Website: www.razorlight.co.uk
MySpace page: www.myspace.com/razorlight
V Festival Website: www.vfestival.com.au


Sally
sally@weheartmusic.com

Annika Line Trost, or better known simply as Trost, makes funky electro dance music with her second solo album, Trust Me, released in 2006. It was the last of her solo effort, but she's still working with Cobra Killer (with Gina V. Dorio, and apparently still doing gigs around Germany) and Blacken the Black (Entrance to the Exit was released in 2007).

Most people who listens to German's digital hardcore scene will probably have heard of Cobra Killer (they were, after all, signed to Atari Teenage Riot's Alec Empire's label). Although Cobra Killer was more, or less, two girls + two mics + a sampler machine, Trost's Trust Me explores some of her other interests.

One of the theme that I keep hearing on her album - and it's perhaps the guitar or bass loops - of a garagey sixties music. This is evident on songs like "In Diesem Raum", featuring an infectious bassline and Trost's best 60s girl voice. Although a wonderful song, I felt the ending to this song was kind of repetitive.

My favorite song on the album is "Cowboy", it has the best quality of "In Diesem Raum", but minus the tiresome ending. It's a perfect radio song too, ending just slightly at the three minute mark.

You can find Trust Me for sale if the record store have them in stock - otherwise head over to eMusic or iTunes

Incidentally, I don't know what is wrong with Firefox, but it simply will not load up Minty Fresh's website. It's probably just my security settings and it's probably all for the best because I hate all-flash websites anyway.

I don't know if you knew, but we have three girls from Vietnam here at the house. To celebrate the new Chinese year (Tết), I took them to Target to spend some of their lì xì money. Lì xì is money you get in red envelopes from your elders. So the girls have never bought and paid for anything, so getting them to buy something was painful. And the checkout event ? Well it was pretty much uneventful, despite me making them do all the calculation for the 6% tax on their purchases.

Well, at home, we have been enjoying watching this video by Phong Lê lately called "Lấy Tiền Cho Gái". This is a pretty funny song about asking for money from God, so he can get some lovin'. The song consists of, what I believe was taken from traditional Vietnamese opera called Cải lương (about the man who climbed a ladder to ask "ông trời" for money), combined with some humorous and original rap.

Since many of you probably won't understand the song, I'll break it down for you:

The first date: The singer "accidentally" runs into some girl he thought he knew. He invites her on a date for lunch. The situation worsens when she another bowl of phở when she disapproved of her first phở đặc biệt - and he only has $20 (not enough to cover tip).

The second date: This part cleverly plays off màu (blood) and cháo (soup rice), as her two bloodsucker ugly girlfriends comes along on the date. They eat up a storm and, once again, drains his wallet.

The third date: We basically see our hero taking out his savings and Li Xi money to take her out one more time... and the punchline is that she has a boyfriend.

I suppose it would be really funny if you understood Vietnamese.


Well if you're curious about Phong Le, he seems to be part of a crew called 1o2 with fellow Vietnamese rappers and singers Khanh Nho, Tan Phuc, and Minh Duong, out of the Portland, Oregon, area. He also posts videos on his youtube account.

As you were probably busy watching history being made with our new President being sworn in - these two albums were quietly released that Tuesday.

Willie Breeding-Cheap Vodka Rain Willie Breeding WILLIE BREEDING myspace.com/williebreedingmusic Willie Breeding is a folk/country singer and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York. He just released his debut LP, Cheap Vodka Rain last said Tuesday, his only previous recording was for the EP called Grey Skies last December 2006. Cheap Vodka Rain has a very Western/Country sound to it. Perhaps it's Breeding's songwriting style (they all tell some sort of story) or the steel-sounding guitar, but the album should belong to Country pop radio. If you don't like any Country, you may want to avoid this one, but I suspect there's enough good songwriting on the album that people with open minds wouldn't mind checking out. Anyway, the story behind the debut album was that it was recorded live over a two-day session (Oct 24-25, 2007) at the Excello Recordings, with backup band of friends and two members from Marah (whom he toured with for the promotion of his EP), which may have influenced his sound a little. And although I mentioned it only took two days, the recording did not sound rushed or rough at all. The final mix sounds like Breeding took his time to plan and let his band time to learn to play his songs. Some of the highlights from the album includes: "Bruises": backup vocals by his sister, Erin Breeding. Includes the wonderful line: "Would it have killed to come down to kiss me? I was crying over you last night.". "Be Right Here": The tone may sound a little sad, but this song sends out his message that he'll still be right here waiting for you. I think this song could also be paired with his other song, "As Long", which tells you that he'll stay as long as she'll have him. "Cheap Vodka Rain": I think this song would be summarize Breeding's style of music. It's pretty uplifting, but with just a tiny bit of sadness if you read too much into it. Check him out on tour: 01/26/09 Rockwood Music Hall Manhattan, NY 02/02/09 Iota Club & Cafe Arlington, Virginia 02/03/09 The M Room  Philadelphia, PA 02/04/09 Nightlight Chapel Hill 02/05/09 Soapbox Lounge Wilmington, NC 02/06/09 Wherehouse Winston-Salem, NC 02/11/09 Exit In Nashville, Tennessee 02/13/09 Derby City Espresso Louisville, KY 02/22/09 The Living Room Manhattan, NY Cheap Vodka Rain can be purchased via iTunes and amazon.

Modern Skirts - Soft Pedals Modern Skirts MODERN SKIRTS modernskirts.com ♥ myspace.com Since Modern Skirts' debut album, Catalogue of Generous Men in 2005, the band's won numerous praises (Athens Music Awards, Paste Magazine, National Public Radio, etc) - so ultimately the difficult sophomore album had to happen..... So it's been three years, but the official release date for All Of Us In Our Night was last Tuesday (Jan 20th). The band's been kept busy the last year, especially because of their R.E.M. connection (the band went on a two weeks European tour, supporting Athen's most famous band. While most of the album is pretty standard indie pop/rock, there are a good mix of moments of Beach Boys-esque backup singing ("Yugo") and pianos & some faint brass instruments ("Radio Breaks"). I think most people will be drawn to the Mike Mills (of R.E.M.) song, "Motorcade". The song starts off acoustically, before the percussions and backup singing (also by Mills and music producer Geoff Melkonian). The song sounds like it could have been an REM song by the way of Pavement. Although it's an excellent song, that's actually not my song pick - they have an even better one called "Soft Pedals". Maybe it's the loungey background music or the lyrics "give me a knife and a merry-go-round", but there's something really nice about this song that made me replay it again and again. They are currently on tour! 01/29/09 Local 506 Chapel Hill, North Carolina 01/30/09 The Earl Atlanta, Georgia 01/31/09 40 Watt Club Athens, Georgia 02/06/09 Georgia Music Hall of Fame presents Modern Skirts at the Cox Capitol Theatre Macon, Georgia 02/17/09 Circle Bar New Orleans, Louisiana 03/05/09 Odgen Museum New Orleans, LA 03/18/09 SXSW Austin, Texas 03/19/09 SXSW Austin, Texas 03/20/09 SXSW  Austin, Texas 03/21/09 SXSW Austin, Texas 05/16/09 WMNF’s Festival Tampa, Florida Those interested in picking up All of Us in Our Night, you can find it on Athensmusic.net. You can also get their music digitally - notably eMusic.

I have expressed in the past that I am an old-school Radiohead fan, meaning that I'm not particularly fond of their venture into the electronic venue via Kid A and beyond. It would seem that the main reason behind why they left rock-pop music behind was because singer Thom Yorke's taste in music have drastically changed since OK Computer.

Despite releasing three electronic albums (pre-In Rainbows), Yorke continues to write songs that doesn't quite fit into the Radiohead universe. So a few years ago, he released a solo album called The Eraser. I did download the album prior to its release, but eventually did pick up the physical CD because I felt the prices were really decent (under $10).

What's interesting is the album was released under a cardboard digipack (no plastics), under the strict direction of Yorke, who's become somewhat of an environmentalist (remember when the band refused to tour, citing that touring causes "ridiculous consumption of energy"*?) Er, Thom, have you noticed the actual CD is made of plastic?

Anyway, the reason why I'm even talking about Thom Yorke is because his Eraser Rmxs is finally made available domestically on CD last Tuesday. The remix album was already available in the UK (and possibly Japan), last year - although the release was plagued with postponement, delays, cancellations, rescheduling, etc.

Again, not to put a fine a point on it, but I'm not really a remix fan, but I figure if you like Radiohead or love Thom's solo efforts, you're going to enjoy this regardless. Enjoy the original mix and remix of "Black Swan" (there are two remixes of "Black Swan" on Eraser Rmxs.)

You can pick up the remix album directly at XL Recordings or via amazon.

* quote courtesy of guardian.co.uk

HOLY SMOLEY!! That cover artwork for The Crying Light (released January 20^th on Secretly Canadian Records) scared the crap out of me. I'm not sure if the cover art is meant to scare you - but it scared me. The portrait is of Kazuo Ohno by Naoya Ikegami, Tokyo 1977.

Anyway, Pitchfork have been building up Antony & The Johnsons' album on ABC News (see also abcnews.com/amplilfied) as one of the most anticipated album for 2009.

I will say one thing is that Antony Hegarty's voice is very, very, unique and interesting. When you listen to his music, you really listen to it because it's like nothing you've ever heard before. Having said that, if you don't enjoy his voice, then you will find it nothing less than distracting.

Many of these songs on The Crying Light have minimum music (pianos, violins, soft orchestral arrangements) with his voice served as the central piece that ties it all together.

His music theme seems to be revolving around transgender/intersex and about searching and finding ... and not to read too much into it, but he seems to have an endless love for Dr. Julia Yasuda (an intersexal person) on the liner notes. Her portrait is proudly displayed on the album's booklet.

The songs that's worth checking out are "One Dove", a slower, but creepy song. The ending with the flute is a plus. There's also "Everglade", which ends the album on loneliness tone.

"Epilepsy Is Dancing" is easily my favorite on the album. The music feels like a classical waltz here and Antony's lyrics is depressing at some points ("cut me in quadrants/leave me in the corner").

If you like unconventional vocals on an unconventional classical orchestral - and also feeling awkward, you'll need to check out The Crying Light by Antony & The Johnsons. You can find their album at most retailers (amazon) and digitally (iTunes).

Ladyhawke, a.k.a. Pip Brown, is a electropop musician from New Zealand.  Her self-titled album was released in September of 2008 and one of the tracks, "From Dusk Till Dawn", was featured in Vu's Top Songs for 2008.  After listening to this track repeatedly and getting my family to dance, I decided I needed to get my hands on the full album, especially after previewing videos featured on her own channel at YouTube.  I haven't gone out and bought a tangible CD in a long time, so that's really saying something.

Incidentally, both "Ladyhawke" and "From Dusk Till Dawn" are movie titles.  The first, her stage name, is a 1985 fantasy film that featured Matthew Broderick and Michelle Pfiffer, which is fitting enough, since she is noted (and has said so herself) to be influenced by a number of '80s music genres.  The second is a 1996 Quentin Tarantino horror flick, which explains the theme of the official video for the corresponding song.

Speaking of "From Dusk Till Dawn", and her YouTube videos, she created a quirky alternative video to the song, which featured DJ/electroshock musician Peaches, which I referenced in a Monday Monster Mashup post ("Wild Lies", which featured Peaches' remix of the Tone Loc rap "Wild Thing").  Peaches remixed her track "Paris Is Burning" and has appeared with her onstage for DJ duties.

Ladyhawke [and friends] - Dusk Till Dawn 4 comments

Another video that most definitely fits with the 1980's New Wave flavor is the one for 'Delirium': Ladyhawke - My Delirium Ahhh... Ray-Ban Wayfarer shades.

The channel to subscribe to is ladyhawkeforyou, which has more music videos, video diaries, holiday greetings, etc.  Although I'm a great fan of well-done music videos and documentaries, I would recommend just watching the diaries and homemade stuff, just to get a feel for her delightfully goofy, whimsical personality.  As a self-proclaimed geek, it's quite refreshing to see an artist that is unabashedly so-- a far cry from the New Wave fashion that seemed just a slight more pretentious and fussy at times.

She explains in interviews that she comes from a very musically-oriented family, and that she fell into making music quite naturally, and it wasn't anything that was forced or imposed.  That's hopeful, because many fans (like myself) are hoping that there is more good things to come.

Just another quick note:

There have been a number of remixes of songs from the album-- not a surprise, either, since most of them have very catchy hooks and were quite designed to be radio-friendly.  One of the ones we got was from a DJ by the name of KiD Cola.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day, here are some songs about change. King wanted change for the equality of everyone... making it possible for Barack Obama to become the first black President.

MLK Day is a fairly recent holiday, it only came into existence in 1983 when Ronald Regan signed it into law.  What you probably didn't know was that some states didn't call it Martin Luther King Day.  Utah called it Human Rights Day, while Virginia combined a bunch of people into the Lee-Jackson-King Day.  It was only recently in 2000 did all the 50 States decided to call it the same thing.

Either way, enjoy your Monday off work!

Also, please also check out Ben Sollee's A Change is Gonna Come and Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday (Martin Luther King Jr).

MANZE DAYILA & THE NAGO NATION manzedayila.com ♥ myspace.com Manze Dayila and the Nago Nation-Change Manze Dayila & The Nago Nation-That Feeling 2 comments Manze Dayila & The Nago Nation's "Change" is about Barack Obama and how he is our president. The music has its roots in African beats and rhythm, much like all their songs from their Solé album. Although "Change" isn't on their (debut?) album, the song is a free download on their website. According to Dayila's biography, she was a refugee from Haiti (she was 19 when she rafted into Miami Beach!). The Haiti would explain why some of their songs have a Carribean, with just a dash of Reggae, in them. Half of the album are also traditional Haitian Folk song ("Kwi", "Miseye Rigaud", "Kafe", "Papa Loko", etc). The stand-out track for me is one of the few English songs on Solé called "That Feeling". The song also features an additional singer/rapper called Bennchoumy Elian, who also sung on the other English song "I Want to Be Free". Other stand-out track is the song "Solé", which although I do not understand the lyrics - I feel it is a sad song, as if a mother is weeping for her child. With the absent of music on this song, it made for an even more powerful emotional connection. Since most of the album is not in English it gives it a Worldly touch. If you enjoy World music, especially Afro-Pop or Afro-Hip-Hop, this album is worth checking out. You can purchase Solé via cd baby ($14) or download via itunes ($10) or amazon ($8).		THE BRILLIANT MISTAKES thebrilliantmistakes.com ♥ myspace.com The Brilliant Mistakes-Good Year For A Change The Brilliant Mistakes are an indie rock/Americana-esque band from Brooklyn, New York. Their music also have great catchy melodies, unlike banging pot/pans and quirky sound of indie music these days (don't worry, I have a few of these experimental albums for review - so fans of this sound will be happy). Between the two singers, keyboardist Alan Walker and bassist Erik Philbrook, I would have to say that I like the Walker songs - they sound vaguely like Ben Folds. The Philbrook vocals sounds more alt-country. I'm more drawn to their upbeat songs like "The Circle's Not Broken" and "The Day I Found My Hands". Even though I didn't know the words to their songs, I feel like I could probably make up words to rhyme with their lyrics. Their "change" ("Good Year For A Change") has nothing to do with politics, but you can read what you want in it.... 2009 will be a great year for a change, right? Anyway, the song sounds a little subdue, but it shows off the Folds-vocals as I mentioned earlier. I think the song may be about changing your life, a fresh start, and finding someone new. Possibly not looking back.... but the song seems to reflect on the past. You can find out details on how you can purchase their album on their website. The page also lets you download "The Circle’s Not Broken" - the upbeat song that I liked, so check it out.
DESCRIBE AND Y-LOVE myspace.com/describeylove ♥ ylovemusic.com Y-Love and Describe - Change 1 comment I've previously written about Y-Love, so I was kind of interested in seeing what he's up to. His latest release is a collaboration with fellow Jewish songwriter Describe. Much like the "Change" song by Manze Dayila, this "Change" song is the excitement of a new political change in the White House. The song has some auto-tuning vocals, with that distinctive Yiddish sounds of the H sound like in "hhhheh". The lyrics comes in fast and furious and Describe's lower vocals slows down the song when it needs to be. As described by the press material, The Change EP consists of four songs. But instead of releasing the EP in one release date, they are dropping each song per month, starting tomorrow (January 20th). The other scheduled release are February 24th for "Make It", March 31st, and April 28th. All details will be updated over at shemspeed.com/change, which contain links of how you can buy the song(s).		MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD michaelfranti.com ♥ myspace.com Michael Franti & Spearhead-Obama Song 1 comment There's no "Change" in title, but if there was an alternate title to the simply titled "Obama Song", it would be about change and the message that we can make a difference. This toe- tapping, hand- clapping, feet- dancing song by Michael Franti & Spearhead is very catchy. The song features many vocals, Best of all, the song is free to download via ilike.com/franti. CORY CHISEL corychisel.com ♥ myspace.com Cory Chisel - A Change is Gonna Come 1 comment We've previously mentioned Cory Chisel before, and here is a live version of the Sam Cooke's classic "A Change Is Gonna Come". I think the song was recorded at the Lawrence Memorial Chapel in Appleton, WI (Aug 15th, 2008), it comes as a break for Chisel to do his solo acoustic-thing.

Subscribe to our show at gcast.com (RSS). Our podcast show requires large amount of data to upload and download, so I apologize in advance if you have problems downloading the show (offtopic: in late December, podcasting service Podango closed its door).

First off, huge apology to Jen, we had taped a segment, but the audio recorder didn't quite work out. I'm going to look into other Skype recorders, yes, I will even pay for it (the current one I'm using is free). If you have any Skype recorder suggestions, let me know.

Amber Ojeda - Lady Like Amber Ojeda - Here I Am 2 comments

Today's special guest on We Heart Music Radio is Amber Ojeda (pronounced 'oh-hey-da'), R&B / Urban Pop singer from San Diego/Los Angeles area. You can find out more about her music via amberojedamusic.com (which actually redirects you to myspace) or follow her on Twitter.

She first came to my attention for her involvement with Veronica Mars, a show that I'm sad to see have ended with the third season, and I wanted to have her on to ask about working on the show. If you want to find out more about her as an actress, IMDB does a great job on compiling her appearances.

As for music, you can download her 9-track album over at True Anthem for FREE. However, you get what you pay for as there is a brief 15 seconds or less 'commercial' for Old Navy prior to the song playing (which doesn't actually seem like a commercial at all). Also, if you download all the tracks, True Anthem will allow a bonus video for download. The video is professional shot and edited of a live performance of "Don't Rush". Definitely worth checking out, especially for the sax!

Some of the topics we chatted about:

• Her influences
• Veronica Mars
• Tara Caballero
• True Anthem
• social networking
• What she's listening to lately

Also, just quickly, I just wanted to mention I did make it out in the cold-snow-Minneapolis (shock, shock!) to show support for Brody's show. I caught most of Sika (sikaband.com/myspace) and Victory Ship (myspace). I'll have to say, there was quite a good crowd last night. Not really sure if Sika and Victory Ship should be paired together because they don't really sound that similar - Sika seems really Muse/Story of the Year and really passionate on stage. Victory Ship came off as sounding very sixties Americana-sounding.

It's also kind of funny to see the mystery of Brody unveiled in tcdailyplanet.net:

Whomever Brody McCoy was, he had reason to be proud. Last night’s show, the first ever presented by Brit Rock at the Top, was a great success. McCoy is a Shoreview native, but as its name suggests his blog celebrates all things British and rockin’; the thread meant to tie the night’s three acts—Joey Ryan and the Inks, Sika, and Victory Ship—was a degree of trans-Atlantic affinity.

I'm sure the success of this show will ensure more shows in the future.

In our first non-recording podcast, I had promised Sally that I would do an article on a relatively obscure British band. I was thinking along the line of Heavy Stereo (a band that Oasis and Elastica had tried to promote incessantly, but ultimately doomed to obscurity), The Wonder Stuff (I hated the singer's hair), and Inspiral Carpets (ooh yes, we'll have to get to them much later). When I brought up Levellers, Sally dismissed them immediately saying that she heard one of their song on the Help album, and it put her off on the Levellers for good.

The Help album (incidentally the complete title is Help: A Charity Project for the Children of Bosnia) had some awesome artists at the time: Sinead O'Connor covering "Ode to Billie Joe", Massive Attack's "Fake the Aroma", Suede's "Shipbuiding" (for a time, this was the only place where Suede fans could get this song), Manic Street Preachers' covering "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head", and Salad/Terry Hall's covering the standard "Dream a Little Dream".

The said Levellers song that forever turned Sally off, is "Search Lights". I think the song may be about something else, but I've always thought it was about Stonehenge. Particularly when the line comes up, "I see fences where there was no fences before... The man around is paid a weekly wage just to turn you back/Oh how they keep their petty kingdom well in view."

Anyway, Help remained one of my favorite compilation, actually, because many of these songs are exclusive to this release. In fact, "Search Lights" was exclusive until the 2007 reissue of Zeitgeist, as one of four bonus tracks.

While I'm no huge expert on the Levellers, I know enough about them to get by. I first came to know about them through one of my first UK pen pal, Charlotte. This was very early 1991, or so, and piercing and tattoos were a new thing (or at least gaining popularity), and Char was all pierced up. Charlotte describes herself as a 'crusty' and the music she listened to was 'crusty' music, including her fave, New Model Army and Levellers (both of these bands stole their name from the Oliver Cromwell). To this day, I have come to the conclusion that the term 'crusty' is more or less land-lovers/hippies.

I think by 1992, Levellers had a real major hit with "One Way" from their break-through album sophomore album, Levelling The Land. I distinctively remember seeing the video played only twice (both times on 120 Minutes), but I loved it. The song really is a protest against the establishment, telling you that "there's only one way of life, and that's your own.

That's pretty much where I left the Levellers. So, fast forward some fifteen years later, the band is still going strong - mostly building up their audience through constant touring. They released an original album last year called Letters From The Underground.

My favorite song on the album is "A Life Less Ordinary", which takes me back a little to that indie-protest 1992 song that made them so famous. I love how the song sounds like a fighting Irish song, complete with angry fiddles. I wish the rest of the album was more like "A Life Less Ordinary", but I suppose the band's grown since those early 90s days.

Oh, one thing that's kind of cool is that the band maintain a fanclub called "On the Fiddle" for £15 fee, members received a Levellers freebie CD of early demos and unreleased tracks from Letters From The Underground. There are very few bands that does that anymore, let alone staying together for over twenty years.

PS, I wanted to mention this time-pressing matter: Brody's Brit Rock at the Top show at the 400 Bar tonight (January 17^th). I doubt we have any readers in Minneapolis, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. The three bands playing are local Minnesotans, Victory Ship, Joey Ryan and the Inks, and Sika. The show is cheap, only $5. Pretty much the price of a glass of beer.

I may show up for moral support, but don't count on it since I rarely go out in the Winter time. It's cold here, brrr.