Onward march of technology/Homage to catatonia

[hirez]

Have I bothered the populace about uk_jon's internet-wireless-thingy, Brierly Hill 90201 recently? Probably not. Choice cuts from Sevs, TRS-80 and someone/thing called 'Asobi Seksu' which is just bloody marvellous. 'Shimmering' and 'Epic' are two good words, and 'pliers' a bad one. They're probably all over the popular press and doing children's AM telly even as I eye up the next bottle of Hoegaarden, but there we are. I'm old and drive a Saab so know nothing of popular culture. Which is why I'm otherwise listening to a Brian Jonestown Massacre retrospective and some My Bloody Valentine rarities. The Wire cover is just excellent, but then I'm the sort of sad bugger who'd have been very happy indeed if there'd been a Loveless vol2. And indeed 3, 4 and 5.

And now the fellow's got an elljay, you can bother him about playing Swarf or something.

I was reminded of an eventful trip to Bristol Zoo in the early seventies, and the seeming ubiquity of nylon clothing. Psychedelic grundies and a dog driving a model train seemed to dominate. Thank NatSemi I came to my senses and was wearing natural fibres and DMs by the time I discovered 4000-series ICs. These days, a nylon t-shirt is sold on its superior wicking performance, but it's still an ugly shade.

Oh, Depeche Mode are this subculture's version of Genesis. If I never heard another (post Vince Clarke) track of theirs again, I'd be rather pleased.

(Good Lord. The Pipettes manage to sound exactly like Big Audio Dynamite.)

There's this big old house in the middle of the village of Stone on the A38 outside of Bristol. It looks like it would have been a coaching inn, or at least a reasonable simalcrum of one, but had been boarded up for at least a year. I presume a developer is waiting 'til it falls down under its own steam so Executive Houses may be built on the remains, which is a terrible shame. On the other hand, where on earth would I find the money to buy and fix some rambling old pile with startling views of both Severn Crossings, two nukes, both Purtons and Aust?

Wandering further, we find the lost venue behind The Retreat in Montpellier, parallel Cheltenham. It's bigger than I remember.

Comments

[meltie.livejournal.com]

That church is now a trendy pizza parlour.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. That makes sense.

I have no idea what it was in Parallel Cheltenham. Rarely open, I should think. Or a church hall.

[uk-jon.livejournal.com]

Asobi Seksu are from Brooklyn NY and you can find out more about them at www.myspace.com/asobiseksu or www.asobiseksu.com. I to am not sure how successful they are but they deserve to be bloody massive. The track on this weeks show is from their first (self-titled) album and their second (Citrus) was released earlier this year and is mighty fine as well. I picked up both albums on iTunes-US and I know they're available in Japan as well (Seksu is Japanese for sex, Asobi = "for fun") so iTunes-UK probably has 'em. They're about to embark on a nationwide US tour so that has to be an indicator of reasonable financing somewhere (this country's too bloody big to just bung all the kit in the back of this century's/hemisphere's equivalent of a Ford Transit).

Y'know... it's weird... I don't think I've ever seen that ex-Church in daylight before but, having seen the pic, I can now picture the inside, dark and drunk. It probably says something very clever (or not) about the human mind.

[malcygoff.livejournal.com]

If it's the one I'm thinking of, that particular property in Stone has cought my eye for the last four or five years as I drove past it. Always thought it could do with a bit of TLC...

[reddragdiva]

THAT's who the Pipettes sound like!

(I bought their single off eMusic. OK for the 50p I paid. But yes. Nail on head, that man.)_

[hirez.livejournal.com]

uk_jon got there first, as I discovered about a minute after writing that bit when E=MC2 turned up on the playlist.