Eclectic 10 - 2010

Hopefully this will work - http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Fuser%2Fcowdog%2Fplaylist%2F4V8CjAPAdetF8bSyoGH5be&h=ce379

Plan B - In a bleak Midwinter

If you're looking for a candidate for the Christmas Number One, look no further than this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkc9y3tQW8A. Way better than that engineered X factor bollox!

R.I.P. Captain Beefheart

Fond memories of the band from the Loughborough Union October 1978. Captain Beefheart (15.01.41 to 17.12.10) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Beefheart

Mok

Prince Albert. Brighton. Saturday 18th December. Be there! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=181451841866596

Misty Miller

I've just discovered Misty Miller, an emerging young talent from South West London who is fast gaining global recognition. This 16 year old singer-songwriter has been writing her own music since the age of eight.  Accompanying herself on the ukulele, she has a soulful voice beyond her years.There's an EP out called 'Remember' and 'Wild Thing' on YouTube is sublime. She's just recorded her first album - no more details on that as yet, but I'll keep you posted. Meantime, you can find out more here - http://www.myspace.com/mistymillermusic

The Firm - Star Trekkin

Arguably the best tune of the 1980's...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCARADb9asE

The Australian Pink Floyd

I'm really excited about this one - will be seeing them at Brighton Dome in March 2011. Check out the details here - http://www.myspace.com/aussiefloyd

Squeeze & the Lightning Seeds - Brighton 7.12.10

Against a massive backdrop of their 1994 album 'Jollification', the Lightning Seeds half hour support slot for the 2010 Squeeze tour was certainly enough to warm the somewhat ageing audience up a bit. That, and the Dark Star brew available on draught from the bar.


But, good as it was, this paled alongside Glenn Tillbrook's shiny silver-grey suit and the matching spotty guitars played so admirably by him and Chris Difford as they led Squeeze through a blistering set of tunes old and new. Opening with 'Black coffee in bed', the set-list took the sold out house back to memory after memory.


The evening's highlights for me were the definitive 'Cool for Cats' and the barnstorming encore opener,  'Bang Bang'. However, the eclectic dance routine part way through was a close second glory.The only slight surprise was the absence of 1979's Christmas Day, something I thought they might do seeing as it's only just over two weeks away.


An excellent last gig of the year though and I think that Father Christmas may well be asked to bring me a copy of the new album 'Spot the Difference'.

Jem's 'top five' (w/c 6.12.10)

If you're anything like me (and I know some of you are), your 'top five' tunes change by the week. So here are mine for the week ahead.

1. Screaming Females - Normal
2. Saint Jude - Soul on Fire
3. Pearl - Nutbush City Limits
4. Nouvelle Vague - The American
5. Cathy Davey - Little Red

Cathy Davey supported the Divine Comedy gig at Brighton's Komedia on 14 November. Check out www.myspace.com/cathydavey

The Bad Shepherds

Check out The Bad Shepherds website at http://www.thebadshepherds.com/ and, if you can find it, have a listen to their version of 'Anarchy in the UK'. This is wrong on so many levels and yet strangely appealing at the same time.