In the midst of making some major career moves at the moment. The
dilemma is this – whether to leap onto a new job with no indication
of security or to hang on to my current one with minor prospects of
career advancement. How now brown cow?
October 1 – 3, I'll be in the island of Langkawi for a media
trip. Itinerary includes treasure hunts, spas, international buffet
lunches and free-and-easy's. Exciting.
I've been getting my intellect on by reading Jack Kerouac's
On The Road. I bought the book back at FOPP's in London (oh
how I miss) and have never touched it till only a couple of weeks
back. I rarely read books cos I just don't have the attention span
but I figured I should just get through On The Road and find
out what the fuss is all about.
So I trudged through 'the road' (smart!) for the best part of a month
and all I can say is, well, I'm sure Jack Kerouac was way ahead of
his time. It just wasn't that great for me. I can't remember how many
times I laid the book down in frustration at the mere mention of the
words, "Yass, yass!" Dean Moriarty really started to get
on my nerves after a while and it got to a point where I was just
skimming quickly through his streams of consciousness in order to
get on with the book.
In hindsight, perhaps that's the genius of Kerouac. His details of
Dean were so intricate and painstaking that he didn't just irritate
the hell out of the people around him – he irritated the hell
out of you. Or me at least. Which only proves that I can
never be as good or as loyal of a friend as Sal Paradise, which he
remains to the very end (epitomised by the part at the conclusion
where Sal's in the Cadillac looking back at Dean disappearing round
the corner of Seventh Avenue). And for better or worse, Dean will
forever be stuck in my head. So yes, now I know what the fuss is all
about.
My playlist of late includes:
Autechre – Tri Repetae++
Guided By Voices – Bee Thousand
and Under the Bushes Under the Stars
Rogue Wave – Out Of The Shadow
Interpol – Antics
John Coltrane – Giant Steps
Prince Po – The Slickness
Miles Davis – (whatever I can get my
hands on)
Anyway, hung out with a couple of friends last weekend at Zouk KL.
Wasn't entirely keen on it to start with but it turned out okay. The
music was crap, the weather was awful (it was drizzling incessantly).
But it was just nice to sit on the steps at the entrance with my ol'
Coventry University buddy in a drunken haze, ogling at girls and laughing
our asses off to nonsensical in-jokes, wet pavement notwithstanding.
To quote Sal, "This is the night, what it does to you. I had
nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion."
4/9/2004
Ever since I read about the DJ Shadow live DVD, In
Tune and On Time, I've been secretly wondering if the whole performance
was actually recorded from the show I went to. So the DVD finally
arrived in the post today and I can officially say this – it
IS the show I went to!!! October 19 2002! Can you imagine that?!
Seeing your favourite artist live, then being able to relive the whole
thing over and over again on DVD?! I can't believe how lucky I am
to have been at the show. Too bad there weren't any shots of me jumping
up and down to 'High Noon' – the whole bunch of us were standing
much too far at the back of the Brixton Academy (I've learnt my lesson
since then, which is why I made it a point to move as close to the
stage as possible at the Massive Attackgig).
The DVD comes with a couple of nice extras too, like the 'Pushing
Buttons' thing with Cut Chemist and Numark.
Forget about the recorded performance that comes on the Private
Press bonus disc. You absolutely have to see all three DJs on
stage to make sense of the whole MPC routine. The other bit with Malcolm
Catto accompanying Shadow on live drums is ace too. And it
all comes in 5.1 surround sound! Still, none of that can beat being
there at the Brixton Academy itself – the sweat, the smoke,
the lights and the bass rattling your chest cavity. And I was there.
Hooray!
Nick, if you're reading this, don't say I didn't ask you to come along!
28/8/2004*
Okay, here we go again. Mass Distraction Sessions Vol. 3
is here! Piping hot and ready to be consumed by hungry music connoisseurs!
Expect to hear Aphex Twin, Manitoba,
Iggy & The Stooges, Joy Division,
that sexy m.f. Prince and everything else in between.
As before, send me an e-mail
if you'd like a tracklisting. Or just to tell me how irritating it
is that I don't put the tracklisting up on my website. But where's
the fun in knowing what you're gonna hear? Right? RIGHT?! You know
I'm correct.
Point your mouse icons here and follow the
breadcrumbs.
* - I know it's September, but I'm leaving this here. Because I want
you to listen to my mix!
