:: GussetBLOG ::

:: Saturday, August 27, 2005 ::

Album Review: Baxter Dury - Floor Show (Rough Trade)

It may be difficult for Baxter Dury to escape his father's shadow. Especially seeing as his voice is so similar to Ian Dury's. Keeping the same surname won't help. But this album really is very good, and maybe one day he will be just as highly revered. Regardless, it's defiantly am impressive family legacy.

Opener Francesca's Party really sticks in the head, and would make a great single to draw people to the album. It's a great opener. I'd worry about putting such a catchy track first, but you quickly realise, from the slow walking bass line and spoken word intro to Cocaine Man, that every track is just a catchy.

As you move from one track to the next you find that every one of them has equal ability to stick in your head. After a while it leaves you with an overall impression of the whole collection of songs, all whirring around, and combining into a glorious, haunting memory. It has that ability to be simultaneously upbeat and downbeat, which I love in a record.

On a production note, the reverb on the vocal is often a little overdone. It includes some great acoustic and electric guitar combinations, and a very dry 70's drum sound. It works very well with the feel of the songs.

With only nine tracks, totalling just over 35 mins, it does leave you wanting more. This is an impressive debut and I'm intrigued to see what he produces in future.

Floor Show is out now on Rough Trade. Listen here.

:: Dan 27.8.05 [Arc] [2 comments] [links to this post]    ::
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MagazineArt.org
a free visual database of magazine cover art from the 19th and early 20th centuries
(presumably only up until then because of copyright restrictions?)

:: Dan 26.8.05 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post]    ::
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New seven track Team Techno release, T_T, available for download.

Andy "Ceephax Acid Crew" Jenkinson, (brother of Tom "Squarepusher" Jenkinson) has a website full of all sorts of strange stuff, including the doodlings of a crazy person and a nice fat selection of his next-generation acid noodlings (he plays great live sets too btw, absolutely full of energy, you can’t not like it). There's even some poetry on there, but I'll let you explore and find that if you're interested.

Osymyso – 50ymy50
Osymyso (think Cassette Boy with more beats) is trying to release 50 track fragments over the year that can be mixed together as a beautiful whole come the end. However, it's now August and he's only up to 17, so I don't fancy his chances of finishing on time.

Henry Jacobs' Wide Weird World on Important

Meat Beat European Tour:
Tuesday 20 September - Ireland - Dublin - Temple Bar Centre
Thursday 22 September Holland - Amsterdam - Paradiso
Wednesday 28 September Switzerland - Basel - Schiff
Friday 30 September UK - London - Cargo
Saturday 1 October Spain - Barcelona – Apollo
Jack Dangers (MBM) phone interview, from May, [MP3 or stream] on Digital Nimbus [MP3 is 33MB @ 128kbps (36m:05s)]

Droid's Basement Bashment Dancehall mix [Zipped 108 MB MP3]
Track listing and (way too much) extra info here

:: Dan 26.8.05 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post]    ::
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Work safe name based Porn Star or My Little Pony quiz.
I scored a dismal 4 out or 12, demonstrating either my lack of knowledge of both subjects or the scary similarities between them.

:: Dan 26.8.05 [Arc] [1 comments] [links to this post]    ::
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Pictures of cats, in sinks

:: Dan 25.8.05 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post]    ::
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Overshadowed has an amazing photographic archive of cityscapes of Hong Kong, Tokyo, and the Far East. See the About page for vimeo, flickr and audioscrobbler links. (Wow, he likes Prefuse 73. I imagine that works really well when you're looking at those scenes!) Fantastic stuff.

:: Dan 25.8.05 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post]    ::
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Tim "Exile" Shaw on working with REAKTOR 5. Including a huge [120 MB] 16min flash video demonstration of his live set up. Stripped down software download available too. Interview by Sheikh Ahmed of Fail.

If you haven't heard any of Tim's amazing live sets, and you really must as they are some of the most exciting performances in electronic music today, there are links here and here, and gig reviews here and here.

:: Dan 25.8.05 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post]    ::
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The First United Church of the Fisher Price® Record Player
Indeed, the mighty Fisher Price record player. I remember mine well, and those Muppets records I played to death on it, you know, the ones with too many holes in. When at a house party last week a DJ friend proudly showed his FPRP off to me, such is it ingrained in our conscience.
From the site:
"Then I moved to England, where there were no Fisher Price Record Players either." Not true! We're just not stupid enough to sell them!

:: Dan 24.8.05 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post]    ::
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I was sitting in an odd Indian Restaurant/Pub combo in Edgware yesterday. It was early in the evening and there weren't many people around. I sat out on the terrace, over looking the road, along with a couple of old-boys. They were probably both in there sixties. I would say that one of them looked Indian, the other Middle Eastern, but I couldn't be more specific than that, and wouldn't like try after what happened.

They were sharing a drink from a large jug, chatting, and looking around quite a lot. I got myself a little paranoid they were talking about me - maybe because I was the only white person there – but decided I was imagining it.

Shortly after I'd finished eating they got up to leave. The Middle-Eastern looking guy wandered over to me and asked if I'd enjoyed my meal.
"Mmm, yes, very good," I said, quite honestly.
"Do you mind me asking, sir, where are you from?"
"Bristol," I replied, slightly puzzled.
"And can I ask, sir," he paused, "are you Jewish?"
"No?" My eyebrows added the question mark unintentionally.
He slapped his hand on my shoulder as he turned to his friend, a couple of tables away, and shouted, "He is 100% English! And not a Jew!"
I decide not to correct his leap to calling me 100% English. 75% is close enough. The remaining 25% is Polish and I've never even been there. But do I look Jewish?
His friend shrugged as he walked over, then explained to me, "Me and my friend," pointing at the first guy, "we had a bet..."
"He though you were Jewish," interrupted the first guy, cracking up as he said it.
I think my eyebrows were doing it again.
"I lost one-hundred pounds," said the second guy, matter-of-factly, and somewhat unbelievably.
"Sorry," I shrug, then grin in a friendly manner.
Then they left.

The end.

:: Dan 24.8.05 [Arc] [2 comments] [links to this post]    ::
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Stunning photographic tours of abandoned buildings.

:: Dan 22.8.05 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post]    ::
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The ashes of gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson have been blown into the sky from a cannon in Aspen, Colorado. Video link on the right.

:: Dan 22.8.05 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post]    ::
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Analogue synthesizer legend Bob Moog passed away yesterday afternoon, he was diagnosed with brain cancer in April. The affect he had on music over the past four decades cannot be measured. He will be greatly missed, but he will live on through his inventions. His family have set up The Bob Moog Foundation dedicated to the Advancement of Electronic Music in his memory. RIP.

:: Dan 22.8.05 [Arc] [0 comments] [links to this post]    ::
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