procrastination is a fine art form.

so this blog actually was going to have a proper purpose to it, until i forgot what that was in the time spent trying to guess my password for this site.

Until i remember i'll just bore you with what ive been up too, which is in fact not a lot. The most exciting thing i have done here is to take up drum lessons, this escalated one late autumn's evening which started with an advert on my mums intraweb at work, which then led to several phone calls and a 300 mile trip up north..and now I am the proud owner of a Drum Kit :)

I finally started my distance learning, today i read a grand total of 5 pages.

ahhh yes, the main point.. the reason why i only read 5 pages...

So like most people i procrastinate beyond belief (its taken me 2 months to start my uni work) and today i remembered why i cant listen to music whilst doing my work.

today i started out very much in the mood for some REM, i listened to about 3/4s of murmour before deciding i was bored (not because of the album - tis a good un)and that i was in the need of something new. So yes, i started listening to teenage fanclub, which then led me to Jad Fair and Half Japanese. Then i remembered it was homecoming live next weekend which led me to king creosote. All in all, no work done, but 3 favourite new bands.

and once again, this blog = procrastination.

Its All About Escaping

Soo long time no see.

whats new then.. currently taking up residence in Scotland and will be here until July 2010. I actually love this country. I live in Guardbridge (between St Andrews & Leuchars) and well theres two big beaches 5minutes in either of the neighboring towns, sadly Guardbridge backs on to the Estuary but there is the "nature reserve" across the road. its actually just a field with a path round it. But yes.. Scotland is awesome, so beautiful and so far this Scottish weather ive been warned about has yet to strike.

Other new things.. i have taken up the drums. lesson no. 2 tomorrow :)

Arrested Development is awesome. Thanks to Lee for the heads up on this, but its so damn funny i love it. Im actually gonna watch it again.

Oh and the reason I moved north.. well, im like a proper adult now i have a flat, a car, and a full time job! well its actually my placement for the year but its actually good fun, i like having my own lil research project and not having a set of instructions to follow a la cooking stylee.

so yer life is groovy, travelling to gigs is a bit poo but it adds like a new adventure and a sense of shit is the car gonna be there when i get back?! especially for Glasgow. None the less its all added fun.

Well hello there...

firstly apologies for the lack of attention ive given this blog ive been busy-ish..

so yess its been a wee lil while since ive written here and well not much has changed its exam time again, ive watched epic amounts of telly, and been to a fair few gigs as well.

Gigs worth mentioning:
Franz Ferdinand
Young Knives
Bats For Lashes / School of Severn Bells <<< awesome
Fujiya & Miyagi
Jeffrey Lewis << more on this in a min
Die! Die! Die! / KASMs << D!D!D! disappointingly only played a few songs as much as i like KASMs there set was twice as long
The Maccabees


so yerr just a few, my favorite by a long shot - Jeffrey Lewis & the junkyard. also this involved a trip to the Thekla a gig on a boat! had a nice bit of food/drink on the top deck with the man himself (he was sat on the same table as us) then tootled on down to watch the show all in all a wonderful night.

Back to the onslaught that is exams broken up nicely with Graham Coxon, Metric & Dot to Dot festival. i actually have something to look forward to in this torturous time.

A Lack of inspiration

this title applies to pretty much all aspects currently:

1. im sat here failing to do my lab stuff (for which i have a viva in tomorrow morning)
2. also lab related, in the knowledge that i have 2 weeks to complete my final phys lab report i failed to get it done last week so have now given my self 2 lab reports to do come sunday night / monday morning (as i know its not gonna happen any sooner)
3. musical inspiration, theres nothing coming out of my fingers other than im actually going back and learnin stuff on my guitar instead of picking it up and making what is actually just noise but not constructive noise.
4. lack of anything

meh.. i could actually go on with this list but that would just be rather dull and uninspiring.

24 awaits - best way to start the day! maybe i will stay awake whilst im at uni tomorrow my notes from this mornings lecture are actually just scribble. still i had a nice nap.

erm.. what else... Televised Crimewave, Franz Ferdinand, BOTB at moles ooo and ive just purchased some lovely tickets for Bat for Lashes at the Ritz for easter time :)

A long week

yes so this week ive learned - Late nights and Early mornings... its possible as a cup of tea works wonders like it always does!

Also this weekend has consisted of spending a fair amount of time on trains which im not a fan of really esp when i have my big headphones on, which are pretty good at blocking out noise except for stupid gangsta wannabes in tracksuits with hip-hop blaring out of a phone speaker. Im not a fan of hip-hop at the best of times but dont ruin it even more my making it sound incredibly tinny and i can hear the shite over the top of whatever it was i was attempting to listen to.

Biggest news of the week goes to >insert imaginary drum roll here< Exam Results!
Im pretty happy with them, not extactic as could of done a fair bit better if i could concentrate for longer than 5 minutes, but i passed them all except for 1 (Phys Chem - stupid MCQs you cant do chemistry by multiple choice - its fecking trivia not knowledge) as you can tell im not too happy about that one nevertheless no resit needed and well i got a 1st in the one paper i thought i messed up big style (Group Theory) and a 2:1 in the other paper i ran out of time on (Organic)! How this happened i shall never know, well maybe after feedback week.

Second biggest news of the week goes to Purr! What a good lil selection of bands there, the colour of the night appears to be Red as KASMs front woman has a bright red top on & matching hair and also Fight Like Apes front woman also has a red top on (i realise this may not be very interesting i thought they both had red hair until i found some pictures). KASMs were like a female fronted Televised Crimewave (theyve covered each others songs and toured together) its the whole dark pop, grungey, post-punk thing which works ever so well. Turbowolf they were good to start with and then the rest? well it was all the same which just got turned into one big blur of im not too sure what as i switched off. Flight Like Apes well if you wanna like this band go see them. I listened to their album prior to this gig and thought not much of it, it was missing something a little bland at times and a bit of a mish mash of synths and guitars. How wrong was I? that missing ingredient was the energy they have on stage its not captured much on record. You wont see them banging beer crates together in the middle of the audience through your stereo. So yes.. go see them. i did, and well if you have to buy the record first the artwork is better.

Whats instore for this week..
Monday night Late of the Pier/ Tripwires @ Komedia
General uni bumming around attempting to do work
Chemistry Ball seen as Gang Gang Dance is cancelled :(
Back to dear old blighty ie. Stafford again for the weekend

Heaven Is Indeed A Place On Earth

The Cribs / The Thermals / Jack Lewis and The Fisherman Three
London, Heaven 10/02/2009


So I’ve managed to make it across to London after missing the train by a minute and found the venue, stood in the que with a nice cup of tea and then had security chuck my crisps away. No midnight snack for me then on the way home. The bank gets broken paying for a pint and then I make my way over to the stage for Jack Lewis & The Fishermen Three.

Here is where the fun starts, Im familiar with the other Mr J Lewis’ work but the only taster I’ve heard of Jack is a quick listen off myspace and well I shouldn’t off bothered because that doesn’t really give this man the justice he deserves. Its hard not to compare him to his brother but this is a bit more folky and some of the solos are even a bit country sounding, this is not a bad thing though as its brilliant. The thing to see here is Jack’s playing, his fingers just seem to elegantly roll over the bass strings and I got a bit lost just watching him play. Minus the jokes, this was a great little set and I was truly impressed.

Next up was The Thermals, and if I’m being honest here I was looking forward to these most tonight, mainly as since seeing them the last time they supported The Cribs I became hooked and can you blame me? Those catchy post-pop-punk tunes or whatever genre they’ve defined them self as is just well darn good, so I will forgive them for interrupting Pink Steam by Sonic Youth as they came on stage. Kicking off with Returning to the Fold I may actually be in Heaven, especially when later in the set when Pillar of Salt begins. O yes. And how do you top Pillar of Salt? With No Culture Icons, this song sounds so dirty on record and well comes across even better live. I didn’t think it was possible to like this band more but it is, as I now love them.

In these 8 months which have passed since I last saw The Cribs take to the stage in The Kasbah, I forgot the charming cheesy tunes which the audience is graced with before they take to the stage and tonight is no exception, “Girls just wanna have fun” then goes into “These Boots are made for walking” as The Cribs walk on stage and then launch into “We Were Aborted”. Good Start! I’m liking this heavier sound due to the extra guitar courtesy of Johnny Marr who may I add is stood a few feet in front of me, yes my teenage guitar hero is playing within spitting distance of me (not that I ever would spit on Johnny Marr). The set continues mostly consisting of their third album but that’s what the majority of the crowd is here for and it does go down well, but for me this is not why I’ve travelled 100 miles I’m here for the new stuff and fingers crossed some 1st album outings other than Another Number. This wish paid off – What About Me! Yikes! I’m slightly struck as to why I didn’t noticed this instantly but then I realised Marr is also playing, this is not a bad thing, its given it a different edge, again its heavier, the guitar riff is not as in your face and the bass stands out more and even though I’ve heard this song a fair few times that bass line is pretty nifty.

My theory on the different sound on previous cribs tracks is that on the 3rd album Marr plays the keyboard parts so this doesn’t really effect the overall sound of these songs it gives the songs extra depth live, where as on the first two records there is no keyboard parts to play and as you cant kick a band member off stage or have them stand there doing nothing for a few songs Marr seems to play some bass-like chords which drowns out Ryan’s guitar a tad which is effectively a third of the music. This of course may just be a load of bollocks and just what I’m hearing over the speakers, which is obviously not the best way to comment as they are a bit shit. So back to the reason this tour is going on - road testing new material. In total there were 5 or so new songs played the stand out track for me was Hari Kari, the bit in particular was the chorus where Johnny, Ryan & Gary all were stood at the front of the stage screaming into the mics, and it looked so good! If only I could actually reach into my pocket to take a picture but I’m pretty pinned against the barrier and I’m starting to get the feeling from the security that any sudden movement may involve me being thrown out. There really was no need for that amount of force they obviously are used to dealing with some rough boys in the usual club nights, but this is just a bunch of sweaty kids having a bit of harmless fun. Nevertheless this was a great insight into what to expect from the new album – it’s exactly how they described it The Cribs playing with Johnny Marr only now it’s just The Cribs.

The Chemistry of Common Life

This is the title of my blog and also the title of this entry and why? well i could of said the reasons when i choose it but i havent wrote on here for a few days so i thought i would provide you with a small insight to my brain.

This title seems to reflect the two pretty big parts of my life: Music & Chemistry. simple as. you need further explanation?
well, i study Chemistry and conveniently The Chemistry of Common Life is the name of Fucked Up's 3rd album, which i rather like. so there ya go simple enough?

Also this gives a further insight into how my brain works these days, i like things to be interpreted in different ways, also a lot of things have two meanings take the word "Live" for example, its a pretty cool word. Pretty much anything can be misinterpreted even the small things in life one person will take something competely differently to someone else which is quite frankly fascinating.

for those who remember (or those who read this then went back) the favourite lyric ive ever written is "I Cut off my fingers so i can play" Now this to a regular person can seem quite freakish and the thought wtf? may pass through their head. But to me this was a reoccurring theme (i still have all my fingers dont worry). The problem at the time was infact a rater simple one It was fecking cold, when trying to play my guitar i couldnt actually feel the strings as my fingers were numb, therefore i had to wear gloves but i still couldnt play with my gloves on so i simply cut off the fingers of my gloves so i could play. Simple. Secondly i was reading (and still am as Im a painfully slow reader) Rip It Up and Start Again, in particular the chapter "contort yourself", the quote which still stands out to me is from Lydia Lunch:

"I'd use a knife, a beer bottle..Glass gave the best sound. To This day i still don't know a single chord on the guitar"

Ive seen/heard this done many a time before with drumsticks, microphone stands etc. sliding up and down the fret board, but these words seem to click and therefore fingers are not actually needed to play at all so i might as well cut them off.

Fascinating stuff eh? Maybe I'm not as miserable as you first thought. Good luck sorting through the rest of my thoughts. Im sure theres probably some fancy word which describes the Live/Live situation but English was never my strong point.