Beware the strange animal
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Below are 20 journal entries, after skipping by the 20 most recent ones recorded in
life_of_tom's LiveJournal:
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| Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 | | 8:53 am |
| | Monday, October 13th, 2008 | | 12:11 pm |
| | Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 | | 12:32 am |
His purple prose just gives him away...
Andy Yorke is one of the most overlooked and under-rated songwriters of his generation. His band, the Unbelievable Truth, were a big soundtrack to my university experience, and their last ever gig at Oxford's Zodiac Club was one of my favourite gigs ever, secondl only to perhaps that Glastonbury gig in 1997 where the headliners were Ra-... Oh, never mind. That's been the problem for Andy, forever, really. Imagine that you were a fucking good chef, and your older brother was Gary Rhodes. You know what, you'd still be a fucking good chef and I would want to eat the food you cook. So it is with Andy Yorke and his music, though it's sometimes hard to escape the ghost of his brother, even for an ardent fan. There's a certain familiar half-sneer, a weird shake of the head that makes you think of someone else. Of course, those mannerisms are as much own as they are anyone else's. It's just a question of familiarity, that's all. Musically, though, he's unique. A pure, powerful voice, singing very direct and specific, but at the same time touchingly universal lyrics. He's always seemed to have the knack for describing situations, especially relationship situations, with an intimate eye that makes you think of your own experience, whilst clearly singing directly specifically about things which have happened to him. His guitar playing is minimalistic and intricate, lots of finger-picking and strange intervals, and the backing that his band (including the drummer and bassist from the Unbelievable Truth, thrillingly!) provide are versatile and restrained. Case in point, Roy (Sabai's resident bass-playing genius) was very excited to notice that the bassist had amongst his set-up, a huge whopping great Distortion pedal, and kept waiting for the rock-out. Never happened. What the bassist did do was a looping, echoing sustained tone throughout a whole song, adding depth and texture to the sound whilst crouched over his sound board. Then, when that was in place, he left it going, picked up a drumstick and started to tap out a simple beat on a cymbal, adding to the drummer's part perfectly. The drummer too, is one of the best players I've ever seen, and it surprised me how much I try to play like him, still. He does things that I might one day manage to pull off on a kit, and he's also restrained enough to just simply play something that will work and offers a sound foundation to deliver the song. The whole thing was presented with a modesty, and a simple humble charm- Andy Yorke seemed genuinely amazed that people like his music, and when I went up to him afterwards and made a tit of myself, calling him a god-like genius, and raving about how awesome he was, he just went 'oh, cheers, yes, it's nice to be called a god-like genius, I guess. thanks, yeah, oh yeah, he's a good drummer, yes. err, yeah, cheers. Glad you liked it.' Nice bloke. Long may he continue to excel, in his own quiet way. People down south, go see him! he's heading your way! | | Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 | | 7:05 pm |
| | Monday, October 6th, 2008 | | 12:14 pm |
This weekend I have been mostly...
Hoing for long walks along the Innocent railway, and taking pictures of mushrooms in the rain. Talking nonsense to people on the internet. Apparently, Rhinestone capes are where the money is, and said money is going to be spent on a giant golden plane full of blackjack and hookers. Watching Jonny Depp summoning the devil. Being driven around deserted roads at 2am having german trance music played at me. Eating tasty breakfast. Making Mushroom Stroganoff from scratch. Making mix CDs as an excuse to rummage through my record collection. All in all, not bad. | | Sunday, September 14th, 2008 | | 11:51 am |
| | 1:33 am |
One day I will learn not to be online at stupid o'clock in the morning looking at things that I really don't need to look at. No, not pron. though I would understand pron a bit better than the page of Complicated Maths About the LHC I stumbled across. My brain hurts, now. my goodness, I am drunk. having a laptop that lets me access the net again after ages without is such a boon to the procrastinating wastrel. Good night world. Oh, what merry nonsense I type. Oh, how I sometimes regret the foolish things that computers let me do. I must go to bed and have a good long think. And a sleep. And then perhaps cake. And chocolate. MM, chocolate. I love chocolate. Brown. mm, brownies. I don't think this is 'writing more.' God damn it, why are my housemates asleep? We were having a really good conversation an hour ago about the scottish enlightenment, and multi-disciplinary science. Ooh. I can still type multi-disciplinary. I must be a bit more awake than I think I am. I'll probably even remember this. I don't get drunk much, it's probably obvious. Still, it'll all make more sense in the morning. | | Monday, September 1st, 2008 | | 7:00 pm |
| | Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 | | 5:28 pm |
curses curses curses...
This weekend wasn't going to be too odd, as despite not going to the Gathering, there were two gigs to be played. Now, one of them has been cancelled, and possibly the second, leaving me with no plans whatsoever. Honestly, what's a boy to do? | | Friday, August 22nd, 2008 | | 6:14 pm |
| | Monday, August 18th, 2008 | | 6:43 pm |
Sometimes, you just can't escape what you are
I played a gig on saturday (more about it at http://sabai-blog.livejournal.com/) and afterwards went out to the Spiegel Tent in the Meadows. This is a bit like doing a ritual and then going to the Guilds, only it's the Edinburgh Festival and no spellcards. I was just thinking this, idly in the middle of the conversation, when someone I'd just met said "Tom, I just want to check, you're the kind of guy who knows what I'm talking about when I say 'LEEE-ROY JEEEENNKINS,' aren't you?" Sigh. Never even played WOW. | | Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 | | 6:09 pm |
| | Monday, August 4th, 2008 | | 10:58 pm |
Some more good and bad.
So after a year or so as a perma-temp in one of my jobs (Scottish Widows, also known as the obsidian palace of misery and pain), they've finally offered me a permanent contract. Something of a poisoned chalice of course, as the job is a little bit dull, and I don't really want to do that for long, but still paid sick days, a few other random fringe benefits and £3000 more per year in my pocket are all good things. What's not fantastic is that the holiday allocation rules mean that for permanent members of staff, the August bank holiday is all booked up. Fucknuts. Enjoy the Gathering, people... | | Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 | | 11:30 am |
| | Monday, July 14th, 2008 | | 10:00 am |
nnnnnnngggg monday.... That is all. | | Friday, July 11th, 2008 | | 1:04 pm |
Anger is an energy.
You know who I hate? stupid people who don't know a ....ing good thing when they see it and .... it up by doing totally reprehensible things. | | Saturday, July 5th, 2008 | | 11:57 am |
Ok mr Bunting sir, the letter D it is...
The letter D, eh? Here are my five songs starting with that letter. 1. 'Desirelines' by Lush- soaring, gliding, beautiful slow guitar music, like the sound of those nights and days lying by a lover's side when all seems like a dream and time stands still. Oh yeah, let's make sexy time. 2. 'David's Last Summer' by Pulp. "We made our way slowly down the path that led to the stream, swaying slightly, drunk on the sun, I suppose. It was a real summer's day. The air humming with heat whilst the trees beckoned us into their cool green shade. And when we reached the stream I put a bottle of cider into the water to chill, both of us knowing that we'd drink it long before it had the chance." The last track on His and Hers (Pulp's best album, the one before the slightly over-rated and rather commercial Different Class), epic and beautiful, and for a change Jervis is just claiming to have actually spent time with a woman, rather than hiding in her wardrobe or stealing used underwear out of bins or something. I'm not sure I believe him. To summarise, oh yeah, let's make sexy time. 3. Dead Flag Blues, Godspeed You Black Emperor! "The car's on fire and there's no driver at the wheel And the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides And a dark wind blows The government is corrupt And we're on so many drugs With the radio on and the curtains drawn We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine And the machine is bleeding to death" I love Godspeed, and this is the first track of theirs I ever heard. Interestingly, this is spoken word as well. A bit later on in this track, there's a reference to kissing. Oh yeah, let's make sexy time. As the apocalypse comes. Incidentally, the website I checked their lyrics on offers Godspeed You Black Emperor ringtones! Best. Thing. Ever. 4. Don't Save us From the Flames- M83. Guitars, fuzz, haze, beauty. The lyrics seem to be about dying in a flaming car wreck with your lover. Oh yeah, let's make- oh, never mind. 5. 'Daddy's Gun'- a chilling murder ballad set in the dustbowl of America, about the murderous intentions of a spurned lover, sung with a ferocious passion that makes the singer's bassist boyfriend visibly nervous on stage. Soon available for download from the Mighty Sabai! I'm also quite proud of my cymbal work at the end of the track. Not much sexy time going on with that one, though, unless you count my devastating rhythmical chops. | | Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 | | 9:15 pm |
My Dad...
is awesome. My uncle Stu, one of dad's childhood friends, is a born-again christian, and has been for a very long time indeed, since the days before Dad had read Charles Darwin and was considering the priesthood himself. Dad's always been a bit willing to mock those he loves, and he recently discovered that uncle Stu geniunely believes that the world is approximately 6,000 years old, like a proper American Bible-belter. It was Stu's birthday recently. Dad got him a fossilized trilobite. | | 12:32 pm |
Crush'd like Sardines in a Metal Box
So the gig was truly awesome. My first time in Glasgow on a rainy night, Bat For Lashes were really good, all kinds of interesting instrumentation and a drummer with golden cape things under his arms like he was a wrestler or something. After them, well, bless my soul if it wasn't Radiohead. They've been a band who have said things to me about my life for years, and the last time I saw them was in 1997, the Glastonbury performance which people tend to mention as the best gig ever if Q asks them for their latest 1000 Pointless Lists Issue. Since then they've clearly come a long way. Thom Yorke seems to realise just how much the audience in front of them love him and his band, and is having fun up there. Old songs like Paranoid Android and Just seemed to have something, well, more, to them. A certain bounce, or musical fluidity in the way the band play them. That might just be one of those small things but it was really interesting that the improved musicianship seemed to be there. Back then they were awesome. Now they're better. Other highlights included a foot-long hotdog. No tricks, just 12 inches of meat, oh yeah. One strange downside to the evening was the unfortunate consequence of the public transport agenda they were pushing, where ScotRail put on no extra rail provision despite the fact that approximately thirty-five thousand people were going to have to leave Glasgow at about the same time, with the result that we ended up packed into cramped carriages with about an extra fifty people per carriage and barely space to breathe for the entirety of the journey, which took a whole hour longer than it should have due to delays. I ended up wedged in a position that I can only really describe as groin-to-ass with some poor guy who I'd never met, as some hulking giant stood behind me slowly straightening his arms in a vain attempt to deny the fact that the whole carriage was a seething, compressed mass of humanity, wedged together by incompetent official decision-making and a complete lack of foresight by the people in charge of our public transport. Still, we went out drinking afterwards with a few of the people we met on the train, having reasoned that if you can get along in those difficult circumstances, clearly, you're going to be friends. Saturday was spent rather hungover, and I'm off out with one of them this coming weekend too. All kinds of win. | | Friday, June 27th, 2008 | | 10:00 am |
Just as the drinks arrive...
Today, after a short day at work, I'm going to be going to Glasgow, to see a Band called Bat For Lashes play. They're supporting some old band or other who've been going for a while. Apparently they come from my old neck of the woods. Should be alright, I guess... Current Mood:  bouncy |
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