F*CK ART... LET'S DANCE!!!

CD-SHOP   ¬    Courtney Love on MUSIC   ¬    MGCK Music   ¬   UK Copyright Advice  ¬  The World

MARCH 2007  -  Continuing Notes from Life's Highway

Newest New Year's Resolution: BE Something! BE Anything!

31 March 2007 -  MGCK Music     "They say hard work never hurts...

...but WHY TAKE THE CHANCE??!"

I've got a new 'friend' - PAUL.  

He may not be much to look at, but his site is kinda cute. (and it becomes a VERY VERY DULL WORLD when you can only like people who are 'cool'.)

But  here's the REAL DEAL.. I just found ENNIO MORRICONE on MySPace.. He is one of the very God's of my musical existence.  A KING of composers. Reading one brief paragraph of his career contains all the magick of a life completely, perfectly lived, fulfilled and fated.  He da' man.

If I could reduce all of my MySPace friends to ONE friend.. it would be ENNIO MORRICONE. Hmmmm....I just might do that.

TONIGHT AT THE QUEENS HALL EDINBURGH: TINARIWEN - "desert guitars"  If I can't have Ennio Morricone, I'll try this!. ""They are called Tinariwen and they are toareg nomads of the sahara desert. They are truely awesome and amazing..""

Mon 26 Mar 2007 -  MGCK Music       "We're With The Band..."

Last night at the Jam House, first impressions... lovely gig space: roomy stage, great sound,  Wonderful place to play.  Second impressions, it's empty, but I think that's more about it being in Edinburgh than anything else.  There are no large turnouts for unsigned acts up here in the far north (thus the death of that BIG GIG VENUE on Lothian Road early last year). Thirdly the line-up:  I saw the last half of Danikastar, all of Wired Desire and (the people we'd come to see) PEEPSHOW.  Danikastar are committed to the path they've chosen, whether that's a wise commitment, who am I to say?.. we each follow our star.  They have a MySpace so decide for yourself.  There are moments during gig nights where, sometimes, I experience such utter ennui with the sameness of things: sounds, appearance, what pass for 'songs' and musicianship, that I feel I would have committed suicide if I'd been forced to sit through the gig.. then I realise I AM SITTING THROUGH THE GIG!!!!!!  So, Anyway... it got better.  I liked WIRED DESIRE.  They had a proper kind of LA circa 'whenever' approach... They know how to stitch the songs together so it reminds you of something you once loved and the frontman looks and sounds pretty good doing it, but the band are all over the place. It was like they were dancing with themselves.  Off in their own dream in front of a mirror at home, practicing to play on stage... that kinda thing.  Guitar necks were raggedly swinging in all directions.  No united front was shown to the audience. Maybe what upset them was there WAS NO AUDIENCE!  But hey, shit happens.  You play like your life depends on it whether it's one or one-thousand.  And of course, last up was PEEPSHOW, who were, again, presented in the classic LA regalia circa late 80's (I swear when I saw 'Colin' the rhythm guitarist coming over to speak to us, it was a flashback to the first time I met Taime Down and FASTER PUSSYCAT at the after-gig party Hammersmith Odeon 1987!!!!!) and also a little bit over-enthusiastic, but DID present a united front and I loved their cover of Faster Pussycat's 'Got Your Number Off The Bathroom Wall!!'..  But still, it got a little tedious trying to get into the groove and finding out the bass and drums were nowhere in synch, speeding up slowing down, apparently changing time signatures (if they even know what a time signature is).  Still, all things considered, they were FUN and gave off a feel-good factor and, miraculously, a bit of a crowd formed down front when they came on.  The girls in the picture above who were sitting at the back with us all night long were, 'with the band'.. and better decked out and made-up than anyone else in the joint, therefore... they win the 'Photo Op' shot and the bands have to try harder next time.  In all... a good night.  Actually, it didn't end there... I had Fifi J in tow, who didn't want to go to sleep so we had to find alternative entertainments for her.  While the PEEPSHOW band and girls, headed off on the long march to Opium in the Cowgate, we took the mindless option and strolled about a hundred yards down the hill to MOOD.  I know it's cheesy as f*ck and I swore I'd never ever go there again after the night of the 'Naughty Nurses', but it's 2 quid to get in and you can dance with all the scrubbers and 'last men standing' in town.  We actually had a blast.  The dance floor looked like a dog's dinner, but we danced our little hearts out and asses off.. and sank the obligatory mojo juice to keep the motion flowing.  So yeah.. it was FUN!... that's the word for the whole shebang.  Of course I feel like shite this morning, but that seems to be the price you pay.

------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday Night 25 March: Ok... so here's a turn-up for the books.  You may say 'Why?'.  I'll say 'Why Not?!'  I'm going to a gig @ The Jam House tonight: a band called 'PEEPSHOW' - possibly the only glam rock band in Scotland (I wouldn't like to guess) a la Faster Pussycat, Hanoi Rocks & Poison....but I could be wrong.  There may be more of them out there. They have a MySpace and FiFiJ who is related to the project asked me to come.. so we're goin'.  I would delight in a blast from the past, a drip-down, trip down memory lane.  Like a night at The Roxy in LA circa '88.  And maybe, just maybe, they might show me something new.  A lick or two to look forward to.

Sat 24 Mar 2007 -  MGCK Music       Change your Radio Station...

My life seems to move in cycles.  For a while at the beginning of 2006 I sat in front of the television - in a deep exhaustion and borderline depression - watching Fashion TV and sipping Cava.  The future loomed, as she always does.  Then I got up and got back into making music, gigging a bit, discussing projects and even headed south for a Festival trip (i.e. DOWNLOAD) then took off to France and Spain for the summer, then back for the Edinburgh and Elemental Arts Festivals in August, followed by an early autumn of more restless trips to the West Coast of Scotland, then the West Coast of America (San Francisco) for the couple of months before Christmas, then the SouthWest, then at the dawn of 2007 back to San Fran and evenings walking in Lincoln Park; feasting on the Coastal Trail vistas with my eyes, then mid Feb back to the UK and Edinburgh again and now, specifically Leith.  Everything lately is Leith... last weekend it was the Hibs victory and this weekend it's the launch of LEITH FM 98.7 on your dial.  The transmitter is commissioned and Leith FM is going on air 24/7 for the foreseeable future.  The first couple of weeks will be loops of music and jingles (created by the Ubiquitous Cad w/ Electra vocals).  The wonderful and ubiquitous 'Cad' (not a reflection on his nature, just his name) asked me for MGCK Music tracks to use on the loop.  I've given him several Jimmy Miller and Electra tracks with a sprinkling of some others in there..  'Medicine Man' by REDMAN and 'This Is Not A Drill' by TRANSMIT THIS (again w/ Electra vocals). 

So... go on.. change your radio station and embrace something that is actually FREE and REAL and not guided by commercialism, political forces, or decidedly corrupt financial institutions. 

Mon 19 Mar 2007 -  MGCK Music       Are you Winning?

Last night.. (no.. did NOT see My Electric Love Affair at the Jam House)... instead, went to watch the Hibees do what the Hibees did.  Not that I'm a Hibs fan, I have an ungodly passion for Arsenal (and Arsene Wenger!), but I live in Leith, so there was no way of avoiding the Hibernian jubilation at lifting the Scottish Cup for the first time in a thousand years, or however long it's been.  But this is where I screwed up.  At 8pm I mosied over to the foot of Leith Walk and stood by the Victoria Statue WITHOUT A CAMERA!  Of course, the 'send it to The Scotsman' photo opportunity revealed itself (3 guys climbing the statue and donning her with green St Patrick's Day hat and Hibs scarf) and I was at the perfect angle for their pose when the open-topped Hibs bus passed with cup in hand and they roared their joy.  Yes. I got caught up in the infectious mood of the crowd and ran to touch the bus as the strains of The Proclaimers, 'Sunshine On Leith' poured out.  I never realised how lovely the words to that tune are.  Anyway, it was all about winning.  Winning is a great thing.  A great feeling.  If you aren't doing enough of it, change your life, change your hobbies, change the company you keep.  Change something.

SUN 18 MAR - MY ELECTRIC LOVE AFFAIR @ The Jam House, Edinburgh - 8pm+

Fri 16 Mar 2007 -  MGCK Music       Change Your Career

https://www.cia.gov/careers/CIAMyths.html

Speaking of intelligence:  walked past the Queens Hall last night and there was a queue of people who looked relatively interesting and even intelligent! (now there's a concept) waiting outside... the concert was a group called Timuaren or Tinuahen or something like that.. and it's the first time, since I got back to the UK that I wished I was actually going to a gig!!!  How strange.  Something about the poster intrigued me.  It might be just a good poster. OK.. more information.. I just looked up the Queens Hall website and here's the thing... that group 'TINARIWEN' were not playing the other night, they're playing on the 30th.  I don't know who all those intelligent looking people were going to see..  Anyway..  It describes TINARIWEN as 'desert guitar rhythms.  That's it.  Must get a ticket.  .. (DID get a ticket.)

Wed 14 Mar 2007 -  MGCK Music       Change THEM!!!!

An Essay on 'Service to the Absurd'.. Is this 'your' life?? in 2 paragraphs.

Here's another concept for you:  It's not a 'global' market.. it's a global 'SLAVE' market.  Companies move from country to country looking for the cheapest labour and in their wake, leaving unemployed masses wondering how they're going to survive... (vis a vis Proctor & Gamble leaving Ireland for Poland and other mega-giants leaving Ireland for Mumbai... in 6 years they'll all be leaving Mumbai for Shanghai or Botswana or maybe they'll be back in CHICAGO!!!!!... somewhere where the people will do it for less...)  It's all about forcing labour and resources down down down in price.  If you won't work for 'nothing'.. you probably won't work.

It happens ONLY, because you (as in YOU - and me too) are part of the collusion.   We think we're buying things 'cheap' when really we're buying things inclusive with the sweat of some other enforced labourers sacrifice and the increased precariousness of our own personal life and 'labour' position.  The goods you buy at TMAXX 'made in China' are the goods someone suffered deprivation to make.  The Catch-22 on this trap: if you don't buy the shit goods, they will probably suffer more.  It's a Damacles sword of modern Capitalism run amok.  The only way around it is to CHANGE EVERYTHING.. your habits.. your purchasing patterns.. your awareness...and to change THEM!!!  The THEM we allow to govern and guide us and define 'global' practice on our behalf.   Or don't you care...? You'd better care, cuz baby,  you are an irrelevant cog in service to the absurd... and when they're finished with you.. on the slag heap you'll go, wishing someone would let you sew up 180 pairs of jeans a day for 20 p or 2 cents.  And the word I am coming to hate most of all.. the most absurdists' absurdism of all:  'Shareholders'.  Everything is skimmed, stripped, robbed and drained on behalf of 'shareholders'.. Everything.   The new excuse is that 'communism' didn't work..  But a world stripped, skimmed,  robbed and shylocked for the shareholders????????? is just SHIT.  

Have a look through the PRISONPLANET.com website: There's an article (well. several) on the Bilderberg Society.  A photograph of David Rockefeller which is kinda sad.  I used to know and like him very well.  His daughter was my best friend at school.  So there ya go.

With a conflictive twist, i must admit... I LOVE Vladimir Putin... he's sexy... but an odd statistic came out the other day: 14 journalists critical of his government have DIED.  Now that's a helluva coincidence.

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fri 9 Mar 2007 -  MGCK Music       Change your Record Label

even for one album:

I received the TWELFTH NIGHT 'Voices In The Night' 2-CD album artwork (for approval) before it goes to pressing (if only these things were vinyl and THAT BIG) and ...YES... I'm really very pleased with it.  It made me HAPPY actually.  A very informative 8 page booklet with the CD's and yeah... it's  gonna be good!  I am actually PROUD of it.  Now that's saying something.  There's a discography with notes on their 8 album releases and biographical notes on their 5 vocalists.  As the only female vocalist, Brian generously gave me a whole page to myself. The three tracks of mine they've taken from the first TN album are tracks 1, 2 and 3 on the 1st CD.   The 2nd CD is 'LIVE' material. That should be interesting, as they' have ALL the recordings taken from the desk from all of our gigs together.    So, there ya go.   'She moves in mysterious ways.....

The other odd thing that's happening: I'm losing control of the 'friends' thing on my ELECTRASONG MySpace. (i.e, the band HAPPY ENDINGS from Southern California with the 'happy' logo left.)  I like to go to every potential 'friends' site and see what they're doing, read a bit, listen to the music (yes...believe it or not I do) and now... man... there's a waiting list of 3 pages. I know that's not a lot for some.. like 'FALL OUT BOY' (whose pre-launch party I went to in San Francisco without knowing who the hell they were or were supposed to be.. or that they were THAT SUCCESSFUL ALREADY!!!  You know, I'm a complainer.. I just go along to things and then think, 'what the f*ck was that?'  It's only later I realise where I was, or where I was SUPPOSED to be.

So.. .yeah.. anyway.. I'm sure they get 20,000 friend requests a day and I've only got three pages waiting.  OK.. I'll stop complaining.

Last night I was looking at some footage from the desert and the drive along the border and yeah... I think the MEDICINE MAN video is going to evolve... when I get some time in the next few days.. after I visit three pages of 'friend' request sites.  Also have some party animals arriving tonight... demanding that we never sleep again!!!! or at least for this weekend.  I may never get anything done.

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tues 6 Mar 2007 -  MGCK Music       Balance your Medication

The track - 'MEDICINE MAN' - was discovered on the DEAD EASY DATs, retrieved from Ian Jones' legendary 'sock drawer'.  Ian both produced and played guitars as one half of Mick Moore's RED MAN,  about 10 years ago.  It was a track I never heard, because it was on a CD I never listened to!!   You know.. someone (usually a friend) hands you a CD and you don't listen to it.  Typical.

Anyway....  It's one of life's great mysteries that this track never got them a sniff of a deal.  I've been listening to it since I got my hands on the DATS in October 2005 and after our journey across the Southwest in Dec-Jan, it all made perfect sense; a Carlos Castaneda special.  The tour guide would read:
 "One Night on the Border:  The fine line between here and there..."

[This is a work in progress.... and as such, over time, footage will shift, images and values will change and, perhaps, entirely disappear... like the sands of the desert somewhere near Nogales.}