For something a bit different musically, it’s worth going along to The Wheatsheaf, Oxford on Saturday 31st January 2008 to see The Brickwork Lizards. Have a listen to a few tracks on their Myspace page, and if you like it, why not see them in action?
Category: music
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Regal to reopen?
A quick follow-up to my previous post What’s going on at the Regal?. The Oxford Times is reporting that it is due to reopen this week, as it has heard from a couple of sources that events have been confirmed as going ahead now.
I’m going to check for myself later in the week to see if this the case, and report back. I hope so, it really would be a shame to lose such a fine venue in Oxford so soon after its launch. These do look like positive signs, although an official comment from the owners on their site or to the Oxford Times would probably be a good idea.
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Metronomy – Radio Ladio
Saw this for the first time on 120 minutes on MTV2 at the weekend. Great place to discover good music you’ve missed and should know about in general.
Great band I’m glad to have heard, love the lo-fi sound. Worth looking through their other videos, they’ve done some interesting stuff. The Smiling Assassin should particularly have a look for Heartbreaker, as it’s possibly the first music video ever made on Paignton pier.
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What’s going on at The Regal?
According to the article from the Oxford Mail, The Regal hasn’t re-opened after its Christmas break, and has been shut eight more days than planned thus far.
It’s a lovely place, and a lot of money seems to have been spent getting it back into shape, it would be a big shame if it isn’t going to make it.
Double blow for me, as Hospitality Oxford is due to be there on the 21st February, and I was rather hoping to see London Elektricity live.
Mystery surrounds Regal closure (From Oxford Mail)
Follow-up:
Regal to reopen?
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Lily Allen plays gig just for Oxfordshire
Interesting little concept this, Lily Allen is going to play the O2 Academy (aka the Carling Academy Oxford, The Zodiac and The Venue), and limit the audience to people that can prove they have an Oxford postcode. Tickets are £15
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I hate Barenaked Ladies for what they did to my mental wellbeing
So I idly clicked and watched the following video a couple of days ago:Barenaked Ladies “One Week” Parody – CollegeHumor video. Now I’ve still got the original floating through my head, the very thing the parody complains about. Just as I was starting to clear it from my head this evening, when the latest episode of The 40 Year Old Boy finished with it. I now hate him as well (only a bit mind, he is bastard funny).
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Bill Drummond Says, Bill Drummond Says
I’m a bit of a fanboy for Bill Drummond, former member of the KLF, former manager of The Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Big in Japan. More for his chaotic good side and his appreciation of the effectiveness of a good bold font really though, although he absolutely has been involved in some wonderful music.
Anyway, a message reached me this evening through somewhere in my google reader account (I’d honestly say if I could remember) that he was recorded giving a lecture in Liverpool last year, and that it had recently been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 (not a usual haunt for me, I must confess). It was part of their Free Thinking festival in Liverpool, and there is a recording of it available on iPlayer now: Bill Drummond on Night Waves.
It’s about 50 minutes long, and well worth a listen soon (I think it will be taken down on the 15th January 2009, and then it may be elsewhere on the BBC site, or nowhere at all unfortunately, so go and listen now). There is a wonderful little exchange which sums up for me why I like him so:
“You know how it is, you get an idea, you book some advertising space in a major newspaper, you announce that art is dead, and then you wake up the next morning and think “Why did I just do that?”
“So can I ask, with this latest project, which you’re telling us is the future of music, why should we trust you?”
“Whilst I’m passionate and truly believe in this project, I would warn that it is no more mature or thought through than anything else I’ve done”
Also in digging around afterwards, I found a 7 minute video of him recorded just before the same festival, talking about music: Bill Drummond: How to be a musician.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t include a link to my own fanboyish writing about him, which was written in a notebook on a train either to or from Wolverhampton: Bill Drummonds Dead Bill Drummonds Dead. The more ardent Julian Cope fans will note my repeated theft of his song titles.
Incidentally, Chaotic Good is how I once read Doctor Who described as in a book about Dungeons and Dragons in the early 80s.
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New series of Flight of the Conchords coming soon!
Today brought some great news, a new series of Flight of the Conchords will be on HBO in January. This is the trailer:
I don’t yet know when it will be on the BBC, hopefully not too long afterwards. If you haven’t seen it yet, it is shown on BBC4 every so often, or you could always try the DVD: Flight Of The Conchords: The Complete HBO First Season
. If you have and you’re already a fan, you might want to try their CD of songs from the first series: Flight Of The Conchords album
.
If you need a little more convicing, give this a go:
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Goodbye Carling Academy/The Zodiac/The Venue, welcome the O2 Academy
Yes, it’s been nearly a year since the Zodiac on the Cowley Road became the Carling Academy, so Oxford’s main music venue was clearly long overdue another name change. It will now be the O2 Academy. Apparently as an iPhone user on O2, I’ll get priority booking for tickets (I only ever remember to buy tickets for gigs weeks after they’ve been announced, so this will be of little benefit). I am hoping however they will have powerful free wi-fi for me to use when I’m waiting for a bus nearby. Oh, and that they’ll get rid of the Carling only policy for lager on tap.