Blog wars/Corbett-off

To the Gladstone again for another splendid acoustic suicide night with Mathew Sawyer and the phenomenal Men Diamler from Cheltenham who performed an excellent song about a man starving a horse to use as a xylophone and a version of Son House's 'John the Revelator' that was perhaps as near to a religious experience as I've ever had.

Good to catch up with David again - see his blog for superior pictures from the night, the swine. Finished the night off with him and Shelly trying to outdo each other's Ronnie Corbett impressions outside Borough Tube station.

Ghost Teeth

We had a cinematic session from Teeth of the Sea (formerly known as Jaws) yesterday, with a few appreciative nods to John Carpenter and Dario Argento. Horror film makers looking for someone to supply a suitable soundtrack should consider giving these boys a call. Seasoned Hello Goodbye guest Mathew Sawyer, minus his Ghosts, gave good session upstairs with songs from his Blue Birds Blood album (as well as the title track, which doesn't appear on the album itself - is there an adjective for that?) High point of the show, however, came in the form of a performance from Men Diamler beamed live by mobile phone from a Cheltenham conference centre. Extraordinary stuff, it sounded like it was coming from another century, let alone another town. Looking forward to seeing him, as well as Mathew Sawyer again, at the Gladstone in Borough on Thursday night.

Go Cats

This is perhaps the greatest work of art ever created. No matter how pissed off I am, when I look at this picture all my problems fade into insignificance. I'd like to meet the man who painted it.

7 + 66

7 Hertz from Leeds and D66 from Finland via Hamburg and Hackney played live on this week's show, putting in stirling performances. Though in many other ways quite different outfits, they both had epic cross-London journeys in common. 7 Hertz veer from sea shanty to polka in a very pleasing fashion. Lucy, one of their violinists, told us that when they played in Brixton on Friday night her 93 year old grandfather had travelled all the way from Epping Forest on the tube to see them - a journey that many a younger but fainter heart would baulk at. He said that her voice was 'Tender, almost vulgar': an album title if ever I heard one. D66 is a righteous and raucous one man garage band and made the journey from Hackney with all his gear in a Sainsbury's shopping trolley, which you can see in the picture. He swears that he was allowed to take it onto the number 38 bus. You can also see Ean in the picture paying homage and keeping the cymbal stand in place at the same time, such are the lengths we go to in order to ensure the best performances from our guests.

Is this a dagger I see in my filing cabinet?

Yes, it is. A rather fine and ornate one given to me by two of my Georgian* students. Thanks Tato and, er, George. In the bottom drawer of my filing cabinet at work I also keep a bottle of vodka, a load of out of date biscuits and a selection of diabetes testing paraphenalia given to me by another appreciative student. Surely there's the makings of a TV show here - minor celebrities inspect the contents of filing cabinets and assess the mental condition of the owner.

*That's their nationality, not the period of British history that they originate from.

Tate what you do it's the way that you do it

For each day of the year my Harvey's Brewery diary for 2007 provides me with an interesting snippet of information about an event that took place on the corresponding day in a previous year, e.g. on my birthday in 1585* 'English ships in Spanish ports confiscated, war starts', that sort of thing. On 6th January 1928 apparently, the Thames flooded, drowning four people and damaging paintings at the Tate. As far as we know no-one drowned and no paintings were damaged last night but it didn't stop the conservationists at Tate Britain from being horrified at the events in room 9 as we hosted The Electricity Bill, with four top-notch outfits giving it their all. First up were the sublime Jeremy Smoking Jacket, whose singer Rose Kemp is not only the daughter of two members of Steeleye Span but also, and more importantly, in possession of a quite remarkable voice. Their version of Tom Waits's 'No-one Knows I'm Gone' makes what is surely the finest use of coughing in a pop song to date. Sweden's Skull Defekts were up next with a mesmering set of electronic distortion, followed by HG faves James III and the Courtesan armed with strap-on electronics and a very impressive, if slightly disturbing visual display. 21st century renaissance man and all round good egg Momus finished the evening off in style, wearing a rather fetching wig, while Liberation Jumpsuit did a grand job of entertaining the punters in the bar. Top night all round, though unlikely to be repeated as the sight of people enjoying themselves in the vicinity of expensive paintings gave the Tate authorities a serious case of the vapours apparently.

*not the actual year I was born in, but not far off



Momus and the Skull Defekts also came into the studio today for live sessions and bloody marvellous they were too. Not a bad start to the new year all things considered.