Happy Hogmanay!

Git yer black bun oot the oven an a boatul ay whisky oan the table, and hopefully a tall dark stranger will be yer first foot, bringin a lump ay coal so yer lum will aye reek.

It's gauny be haggis, neeps an tatties fur dinner at the McNaughton hoose followed by some 12 year auld MacAllan. Too bad Scotch & Wry or The White Heather Club's no oan, we'll just need tae make do with Youtube and Still Game & Chewin the Fat. See ye's in 2009. Och Aye The Noo!

And when ye're singin Auld Lang Syne remember to thank the bard of Ayrshire, Rabbie Burns!

Shin Jung Hyun..

No New Years celebrations are worth their toffee if there isn't any Korean Psych-rock on the playlist..
Shin Jung Hyun has been knocking em out since the mid-fifties moving through the genres.. here's one from the seventies when he was going a little wah-wah!

Merry Christmas....

To me Christmas isn't Christmas without Slade... weird living in America where folks have no idea about this song. It's an institution maaaaan....

Peel Sessions Festive Fifty

... Steve at the wonderful Teenage Kicks blog (see sidebar) has spent the past few months compiling entries for the 2008 Peel Sessions Festive Fifty.... getting any readers of his blog and the Peel group to vote on their fave tracks from Peels Sessions. I am at number 45 and its already a fantastic listen.... steve could do with a few recording tips for his Mic....but who the hell cares the selection is great. What makes this so great is that the votes come from Peel fans so it really feels like a best of...I mean so far: Undertones, I Ludicrous, Thin Lizzy etc..... I doubt my Ripcord submission will make it, but what the hell... nice one Steve

Get It Here

Psychotic Reaction

We all know The Count Five's 'Psychotic Reaction' is the fucking jam right? so this video would be rocking if it was the tune alone... but check out this dudes dancing!!! At first, you're like 'yeah...ha ha'...then you realize the dude is ripping it ... if we saw him on the floor it would be hi fives and backslaps all round.... epic.

No Xmas for John Quays

One more Fall classic, this with a holiday theme, from their first full LP Live at the Witch Trials. Merry x-mas bitches.

The Fall

Ok, we could do a whole blog entirely about the Fall. I played this song at the Christmas shindig. It's one of my favorites. The green shirt alone is fucking amazing. Check it.

This Ain't No Picnic

.. The Minutemen were legendary. I like 'em more in theory than practice, but D.Boon and co will always have a special place in my heart 'cos they didn't give a fuck. Turns out a guy I work with Dave B edited 2 of their videos back in the day. This one even was nominated for an MTV award (and was beaten by Tiffany so legend goes). Ripping.
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Bob Lind

I always dig through the $1-2 Folk bins and more often than not find a gem or two. None more so than Lind, whose reverb-laden, tuneful 1960s folk is political and poetic without being trite or too earnest (well, most of the time). Ace Records has released a comp called Bob Lind: Elusive Butterfly. That's his most famous song, not his best, that has been covered by many. Here it is.

Siege

I grew up on the hardcore bands of the late 80's in the UK, bands like Ripcord and Heresy who took the sound of US hardcore and turned the speed up to 10. There have been many people who argue which band really ignited the 'fastcore' movement...and I'm sure the debate will rage on. For me, the Boston band Siege take the cake... this shit is from 1984....

Les Thugs

Peel faves, and pretty much unsung I was reminded of these last night when Jason played one of their tracks at the Christmas disco (thanks to everyone for coming out). Not sure how to describe them... French indie? Jangle punk? fuck knows....but they rule - I've been rocking them all morning - they didn't do a bad record, and they turn up in the $2 bin all the time.... do yourself a favor and check em out..

Hendrix Hear My train Coming acoustic

Some Classic Roadracing footage From 70's

Heres some Classic footage from the 70's with greats like a young Joey Dunlop, Mervyn Robinson, and Tom Herron. Has Oasis doing the soundtrack and footage of bombs going off in Belfast which I suppose is a comment on what was going on at the time.Some great 70's hair going on.

Flatmates

Its funny that the Vivian Girls are getting loads of play in the media these days... don't get my wrong Im a sucker of the C86 jangle with female vocals.... but weren't those bands from back then (Talulah Gosh, Shop Assistants etc) just a lot better??? well, at the same time I got the Loop records (thanks to Allan for lugging a box of records across the globe for me...I owe you a beer son) I also got 3 Flatmates records which are just fantastic... and yes they are better.... heres a track.

Loop

Back in the 80's I was way too busy listening to Abrasive Wheels to pay any attention to the droning shoegaze of the Spaceman 3 and Loop... over the years I have become more and more drawn to the sounds of the stoners.... recently Texas psych rockers made be dig back to Loop...the orinators..... then just last week I mamaged to snag their entire back catalogue of vinyl...so I am immersed in the spaced out drones.... I LOVE this shit..

I Can Take You To The Sun...

... One of my fave bands from the 60's are the Misunderstood. They originated from Riverside Ca, originally playing some pretty hard Bristish Invasion type gear. Soon enough their songs started to have a mystical psych quality which with the addition of Glen Campbell's lap steel had a sound like no others. They caught the ear of a young English DJ at a local radio station (our very own John Peel) who persuaded them to move to England. Unfortunately soon afterwards their singer Rick Brown was called up to Vietnam and promptly went on the lam *tha is a story in itself). There is a great book written by Brown and Mike Stax (of the fabulous Ugly Things mag) called 'Like, Misunderstood'. Can't find any live footage....but here's a tune...

Young Offenders/Airfix Kits Christmas Party Dec 13th

Mark your calen​dars for the socia​l event​ of the seaso​n:​ the year-​end knees​-​up that will blow your dull work '​holid​ay'​ party​ out of the water​.​ Let'​s face it you'​ll only spend​ the whole​ night​ mopin​g aroun​d the mistl​etoe waiti​ng for sexy Sadie​ from accou​nting​ to notic​e you, only to end up getti​ng blitz​ed and wakin​g up behin​d the photo​copie​r in a pool of your own sick.​

SF's favor​ite Engli​sh & Irish​ ex-​pat artpu​nk yobs the YOUNG​ OFFEN​DERS have opene​d up their​ heart​s in this seaso​n of shari​ng and are prese​nting​ the hipst​ers and muso-​snobs​ of the Bay Area with a gift to treas​ure:​ they will play one of the city'​s fines​t dens of cheep​'​n'​cheer​ful rockn​roll,​ THE KNOCK​OUT (​3223 Missi​on St) on Satur​day Decem​ber 13th.​ They will wrap the show up early​ so that the real busin​ess of the day, er, '​socia​lizin​g'​,​ can begin​ in earne​st.​

As if that'​s not enoug​h,​ they have invit​ed all-​girl garag​e punk trio DIRTY​ CUPCA​KES to open the show along​ with '​inexp​licab​ly Scott​ish'​-​tinge​d post-​punke​rs AIRFI​X KITS just to make sure all corne​rs of the Briti​sh Isles​ are repre​sente​d (​excep​t the fucki​ng Welsh​)​.​

Betwe​en-​band dance​floor​ shock​erz will be deliv​ered by selec​ters from the Brick​s And Morta​r DJ night​ and music​ blog,​ as well as SPECI​AL GUEST​S!​ This party​ is NOT TO BE MISSE​D!​

Sat. Dec 13th 4pm (​NOTE EARLY​ START​ TIME!​ IT'S AN AFTER​NOON SHOW!​)​
The Knock​out,​ 3223 Missi​on St, SF
Young​ Offen​ders
Airfi​x Kits
Dirty​ Cupca​kes
Brick​s & Morta​r DJs and Speci​al Guest​s
See You There​!​

http://www.myspace.com/youngoffendersmusic
http://www.myspace.com/airfixkits

another cracker from the 6-t's

this cracker speaks for itself.. The Creation were so far ahead its uncanny..and yes Led Zepp nicked the whole violin on guitar thing from this geezer eddie philips! 'you killed mar farkin scootah!'

Small Faces

While waitng for our very own chrome dome to post up his 60's gems, thought I'd hit you with the Small Faces. Just such a great band, not only for the fine tuneage, but also cos they were a bunch of East End louts playing soulful jams. Kinda if the Cockney Rejects had been around in the 60's and could play....

Tonight..

Tonight. Lower Haight. Mad Dog In the Fog San Francisco. 9pm. No cover....

For Those About To Rock.....

We salute you.... I turned 36 yesterday and got to see ACDC for the second time (and probably last) in my life. To yanks, they are a middle of the road hard rock band, to Brits they were the ultimate metal band who you proudly stitched on the back of your cut off denim alongside Sabbath and Maiden . They also happen to be my favorite band of all time...much to people's surprise. Music was a bit of an enigman when I was a nipper, growing up in the wastelands of Cornwall all I heard was what was coming out of the radio in the top 40 and me old man's and old dear's LPs (I still like Dylan and Cat Stevens to this day). When I was 9 and my brother 11 he came bag from 'big school' with a copy of Back In Black. I can remember us both sitting in front of the record player listening to the chimes of the bells on Hells Bells... the the guitars? fuck. From that moment we both knew nothing would ever be the same. They were great last night, a little old and creaky but still hammering, they played too many new songs and the bar shut waaaay to early. But it was fuckin' ACDC man. Not quite the same without my bro' next to me, but me and the missus had a blast. This one's for you our kid...

Skins & Punks...

I just got given the new book by Gavin Watson 'Skins & Punks' for my birthday (he's the geezer who took the picture with our logo above..and was the inspiration for 'This IS England'). It is fantastic. These are pictures he had stored away thinking no-one would be as interested, as they are photos of his family and friends during the late 70's, early 80's. Rather than just being about skinheads it is a real snapshot of life as a skin in a working class council estate. The photography is beautiful and emotive. A real treasure. The pics bring me back to being chased across Truro by skinheads after school, and having them push us into the hedge while we waited for our school bus. What people in America don't know is that there were skinheads EVERYWHERE when we were kids... I was too young for the initial wave...but only just judging by the youngsters in boots and braces in the book! Pity it is has to be involved with Vice mag, 'cos now every hipster cunt in the world is going to be dressed in doc's and bleached jeans.

Manu Dibango

Found a record by Many Dibango in streetlight for a dollar a few months ago, blew me socks off.Soul Makosa rocks!!

Holger Czukay

Holger was the bass player in Can.First time, I heard Ode to Perfume was in the movie Morven Callar, I think. Plenty of his stuff on You Tube,Ode to Perfume and cool in the Pool stand out for me.