Achtung International

Guten morgan,

I have been granted a few days dispensation by the gnomes so I have come over here to Berlin to catch up on the cricket world cup and Eurovision.

Flying in to the old East german airport - which is now a bunch of sheds along the coldest airfield in the world - was a bit odd. The last time I was here I was a student and damn nearly got to spend my vacation in Spandau ( I know thats in the West but I can't remember the name of the Eastern prison). Anyway, I don't recommend that place one bit. It's a real dump, especially after Zurich and its starched linen everything.

In many ways it's rather heartening to be here in the old east. I rode along in the cab just looking. Seeing bits of wall and old buildings that used to house the Ministry of music and other stuff like that. I finally dragged up at my hotel - THE AROCTEL - in case you were wondering - expecting austere communist decay and instead got a boutique with hand made carpets with pictures of Brecht and Marlene Dietrich and all those other German pop icons. Its really cool. Miles better than a Four Seasons, stock box. The hotel is in the old East and from the window you can see the massive telecom tower that used to represent the gravestone of thousands of dead escapees. The synagogue that was the target on Krystal Nacht is just down the street. This is a really heavy place in history. Just by the front door is the S Bahn and tram lines that used to symbolise the ppossibility of escape and the daily charade of hope and dread (dependent upon which side of the old wall you lived on).

I have also discovered the best Thai restaurant in the world opposite the tube station - I kid you not it is amazing! Look for the christmas lights.

Back to matters more musical -From here the pursuit of European domination was launched and it was here that it perished. And that is what makes Eurovision so brilliant.

I guess most Americans won't have heard of Eurovision so let me explain. It is a pan continental competion that takes in every country from Israel - Europe??? to Finland and Iceland and from Ireland to Moldova.

Which neatly reminds me if you know aything about cricket did you see Ireland and bangladesh last night? Two minnows of the game hammered India and Pakistan on Paddys Day. There is hope for all of us if that can happen!

Anyway, Eurovision is an excuse for all the gays. transexuals and frustrated cabaret singers on an entire continent to sing away in front of millions of like minded people. ABBA started here.

It has been won by an Isreali transexual in the past and last year was won by LORDI a Finish band that never reveal who they are and instead dress as monsters from hell who hapen to lay hard rock. They drew th biggest EVER crowd in Helsinki last year with 90 000 people. So as you can see it's a big deal. It is also not open to Americans and that changes the entire perspective of the competition.

Isreal has a band that want to "PUSH THE BUTTON" this year as a dig at the Iranians - ironic really as the only ones who ever get shot are Arabs. The UK rejected hip hop act Big Brotaz and elected a group called Smoosch who are as camp as a row of tents and as for Holland......!

Now despite the fun of Eurovision there is one thing that never fails and that is the voting. You can see geo-political arguments every year when it comes to votes. Greece will always gove Cyprus 10 points. Cyprus gives Greece 10 points. Germany always votes for Isreal and Israel always igonores Germany. France will never vote for anyone who has a hope of winning unless its Belgium and everyone else is so pissed they can't remember who to vote for so they vote for Ireland.

Thats why Eire has won it about 40 times and is in danger of going bankrupt because believe me when I say that a donkey with a sore throat is better than half of the acts in the comp. Ireland can't produce a bad singer even if they resort to tonsilectomy so they keep on winning.

I really hope this year that Europe does what it always does and flips out as soon as the temperature goes over 10c and votes for the chick from Malta. I haven't heard here but apparently she has tried and failed to get in 11 times before and when you think that there are only 14 people from Malta who enter every year she has got to be pretty bad. But she is persistent and she will enjoy the week in Finland more than any other man alive (woman). So when the time comes VOTE MALTA! Reward Endeavour and get this girl to the top of the charts in 30 countries. God knows she has got to be better than some who have made it already!

The reason I am here is to do a deal with a contact from East of the Bosphorous. We need to get into Russian and the old soviet block, so I met up with a guy who was the Turkish entrant in 1994 outside his club, the Artemis. Nice place and very original use of toweling - more on that another day. Suffice to say this guy gets whatever he wants and has a metod of doing business that is rather like that other Turkish emperor Ahmet Ehretegun RIP. His favourite triack was to bring two gilrls with him to a meeting and then use them to distract you from the deal just enough for him to come out as a winner. He would then leave and take the girls with him leaving a trail of destruction, legends and moist tissues in his wake.

BEWARE A TURK BEARING GIFTS!!

The old sinsister intrigue of the cold war is alive and well and living in Berlin. So is Electro so get over here if you play that stuff.

TCHUSE

SWITCH OFF THE IPOD

After alll this time in solitude I have suddenly realised something really potent about the business I am in.
Portable music is destroying our lives!

You see it's quite a thing to switch of the TV and Ipod for a while and just go into the world "naked".

I bined my ipod about 2 years ago because I was going deaf from trying to drown out the background noise. I think I made a wise decision. It has taken me all this time to re-aclimatise to what reality actually sounds like. Electronic noise had become a sort of tinitus that swamped me from the moment I woke to the moment I slept.

Suddenly though, it is as if the gunk that was filling my ears has been syringed out and I can hear again.

I have to say it is amazing.

I can hear music in the way I never did before. There is melody in the milkfloats; harmony in the hum drum and tunes in the tuna melt.

Maybe we should ban Ipods and Mp3 players altogther.

If we did we might have chance to catch our breath and actually listen instead of just absorb.

Music is not a disposable commodity like toilet paper, it is an etethereal and magical spell that makes life a little bit better, like chocolate.

Why don't we value it more?

Global Warning

Biased and one sided reporting makes my blood boil but more important is that it always comes from the same sources, controlled by a cabal of reactionary psycho's who out compete each other in their attempts to stupify the entire planet by telling us crap.

Elton and the hand of God

Hipsters, flisters and finger poppin' daddies (as the great John Cooper Clarke one said) I bring you another sad tale today as I regress to the 1970's references that scatter the landscape of my tiny memory.

From high in my Swiss tax haven Julie Andrews has stopped warbling and instead I hear that some religious nut jobs have crawled out of the slime again and tried to evolve by trying to ban Elton John (Reg to his friends) from singing in the Caribbean.

How can they? I mean he is one of Britains greatest exports (thank fuck he lives in Vegas now!)

This is the guy that gave you a song to mourn for Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana - two of the worlds most famously heterosexual women. Marilyn shagged the President and Diana humped the King. Then they both ran off with some shady foreign guys and ended up dead. (And you wonder how the Godfather got written!)

Only a queen like Elton could have written for a Princess after all. He was perfectly placed to know what would set the 24 carat, ermine encrusted tears flowing. Do you seriously think that the Red Hot Chilli Peppers could have done that?

Why are these fundamentalist christian loonies kicking up a stink about the queen of pop?

Because he is gay.

Not sure I understand that one but then there are lots of things I don't understand. Leaves more totty for us real men doesn't it?

What's the problem Vicar?

Seems to me like the religious right have been trying to keep themselves relevent by yelling and hollering since rhythmn and blues escaped from the slave quarters into the massas' house.

Is this seccession or sedition I ask?

"Shout JUDAS! Loud and they'll hear us!" (Supertramp 1970 something)

Well the nazi's are shouting again and I can hear them from here and I wish they would shut up and carry on talking shit and thinking its the voices of angels. (Otherwise know as speaking in toungues - what cobblers cobber.)

Isn't it true that John Lennon was in deep do do for saying the Beatles were bigger than Christ and Elvis was the spawn of satan because of his pneumatic hips? Didn't Robert Johnson sell his soul to the devil and didn't the Rolling Stones make a pact with Beelzebub before they crafted Sticky Fingers?

Don't some people have better things to do than worry about a middle aged bald guy with a shopping habit and bad dress sense?

I suppose not.

I mean it beggars belief that this is a reason for protest when other, slightly more important stuff is happening.

Let's take for example the state of radio, TV, and other mass media ownership for example.
Or maybe Gitmo
Or The murder of allies by US soldiers who are exhonerated after all the evidence shows guilt
Or video games designed to show how to kill everyone
Or post office service
Or the collapse of sub-prime lending
Or the state of my laundry basket
Or Pornography not being freely available in church
Or global warming
Or President Bush and the case of the missing brain
Or Scooter Liby doing time for crimes his boss committed
Or Trident
Or the incredible apathy of Americans
Or the dispensation for war crimes that Israel seems to have
Or the real reason that Iraq was invaded
Or Roswell
Or Tiger Woods being black
Or Martina being a rug muncher
Or any other crass and stupid thing that you can think of

The list is endless. But this is what they give us. Elton John will corrupt your children.

If that's true, as a parent of 2, frankly I fucking hope so!

A less threatening an undeserved target for attack has never been presented. The guy likes guys. SO WHAT!

If the religious right knew what carnage they had caused across the globe on crusades in search of their invisible promised land maybe they might think twice about saying or doing anything apart from wiping the rool of their shirts on Sunday.

They are as guilty as Stalin of Genocide and of Perversion as Rasputin. They just haven't got the balls to stand up and say it.

So come on you God fearing wankers come and have a go at me. Have a bash at my music and I will love you for it. Because Jesus is love. (Actually he was Jewish but thats another story). It can only do me good to forgive you. You biggoted ignorant smeg heads! So bring it on.

Oh and the publicity will hopefully sell enough records to pay for a damn fine party in Birmingham AL.

If you do protest and call me names like the big girls blouses you are I will have won and if you say nothing you are weasels and deserve the wrath of Allah - the man who runs the tyre dept in Wisconsin. He gets real mad sometimes!

I intend to sue you all and invite every queer, black, commie, anti-christ, anarchist to indulge in masses of debauched orgies in the grounds of your church.

I won't be there. I will be in Zurich polishing my gnomes

(This was a guide to making sure you get publicity by niche targeting your enemy and thus engaging and entertaining a target audience. I hope you understand the principles involved.)

Nos sta bach

It's all about the money honey

Faced with another night alone in this luxury Swiss "retreat" with its specially made vulcanised wallpaper, I tuned into ITN news last nighton the ol' puter.

Guess who is still stuck up on a ledge on the fucking Eiger with a TV camera and no fingers to switch it off? You guessed it the mighty RAN Defenestration!

This dick wad is hanging about and getting in the way of real news again. Tonight he has persuaded some public school brain death to follow his progress by hiring a helicopter to film him in a precarious state half way up a mountain.
Last night they were at DEATH BIVOUACK. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Is that any place for a sane person to spend the night?
I dearly hope that the bugger falls off that hill and bangs his head on the way down. At least that will mean we only have a day of misery - like when Sharon didn't quite die - and then we can get on with more useful things.

Anyway I though rather than blatter on about him I had better show you what happens when an athletic, artistocratic man with a the brain power of a lemming is let loose on the unsuspecting world.

Now, I guess you are asking what the hell is he on about this for? Well, let me tell you. People like Ran are in charge of the world. Idiots with more money than sense (not hard in this case). They are born lucky and get to spend their days wasting time on pointless activities like Polo, Lacrosse, Rugby, climbing mountains and making investments in things they don't understand.

Imagine if you will, that you have a billion dollars. What are you going to do?

OPTIONS ARE:

1 Playboy lifestyle,
2 MONASTERY
3 Quiet life out of the public eye
4 Newspaper columnist
5 Sportsman
6 Property developer
7 Author
8 Antique dealer
9 Restorer of old cars
10 Cunt

RESULTS

Most opt for a combination of 1, 6, 8 and 10

If they have testosterone aplenty and IQ points a lackin' they will inevitably opt for 5 and 6. That's why all buildings in the old world since 1940 have been built by committees of dullards with no more skill than the guys who are shovelling the yoghurt down my throat every hour.

Some, tried option 1 - found out they were shit, selfish lovers and in all likelyhood perverts and so reverted to option 7 and 8.

Which leaves us with the successful failures like Ran. Famed for being daft.

Old money does not "do" creative things unless it involves Nanny and a wetsuit. Old Money is only involved in keeping old money in old families. Think of it like this;

If you are Roman Abramovich you can give your ex-wife $1Billion and still have $10 billion spare to goa n do interesting things with like run a football team or build the worlds biggest yacht. If your name is Gates or Buffett you can increase the GDP of African nations by writing a cheque and save millions of lives. But, if you are "old money" you are under strict instructions to keep every last penny in your own clammy hands until your death, aged 102, by preventing anyone doing anything innovative and new.

In England they say that is being "preserved in aspic."
In Switzerland they say ... nothing and just take the cash.

Now then, here is why this makes musical difference.

Old money marries new money. New money becomes old and settles into jello senility.
(I give you "THE DAILY TELEGRAPH".)

Your TV , press and radio is run entirely by old money. (Myspace has been bought by old money Murdoch).

You listen to them every day in your car at work and on TV and it changes your perception of right and wrong.

You vote Tory, Republican, Liberal because it feels safe and they told you too. They will never remind you why it suits their own interests to run with the herd and put all your energy into consummerism.

Once in a while they have a feud and some new/old money upstart like Conrad Black takes it up the rump but, generally they are happy to hide their shame beneath a lambswool sack (UK readers may get that). (See Robert Maxwell - Hungarian Saint, or Ken Lay - my papered life in the arms of Princess Anne)

Then one day one of the old school chums doesn't like the look of someone -say this week it is the Chinese - because the bird at the Karaoke wouldn't let him play tonsil tennis with her and he hits a sell button on his Taiwanese computer whilst telling his mates to do the same.

Old money - which has never been used to do anything is safely locked up in bullion, property and stuff like that, but yours - which is in a pension or something, controlled by the mate; you know, his friend, the guy with a stately home in Berkshire, that one, yeah him, the same guy who just told his boys to sell - isn't. It is fucked.

New money, like ours, is lost before you even know about it and they make a few dollars for their efforts.

Now people have to sell to avoid bankruptcy.This means that old money is more valuable because it buys more.

It buys your house for buttons whilst you languish in a Motel 6 somewhere near Fresno. You spend 50 years paying off a debt they created and then wonder where your life went. Meanwhile Ran is up a hillside with a cozy toe sleeping bag and wall to wall adulation. His contribution to the world is zero but he will earn millions because you want to read about him to escape from your shitty life.

And because you are so tired and poor you will never play that gig that will make a difference and you won't be able to inform a generation of your brilliance and a dream will die.

Meanwhile on the radio James Blunt and Mika get A rotation and you are singing "Smile" as you wipe another geriatric arse and wonder where it all went wrong.

It went wrong baby when Momma got frisky and your old man got lucky.

Sweet Dreams

blog site

HACIENDA HOLA

Guided by the well hung cow that wanders past my room every evening I have been considering the state of the music world.

Since the nice men in white suits took me away from the debauchery and decrepitude of rock n roll I have had plenty of time to think. Sadlly, thanks to the herbal medication I haven't been able to use that time. Instead I have wasted the opportunity by sitting in alpine streams watching birds twitching like a diva about to go on stage.

Today however I am calm and considered. The effects of the mangold poultice are wearing off and there is hope in the brain of this demented author.

It struck me - as I observed a stork wafting past - that there are millions of different genres of music but we only ever consider one; The one we like. Believe it or not I like white mans indie rock and that is why the label has gravitated towards that particular style. That's why college radio and BBC are almost entirely composed of the same stuff. It's programmed by the same people from the same background with the same haircuts and the same attitudes.

Now whay should that interest you? SImply because if you can think different you may be able to break through in an entirely original way.

Let me explain. Here in the midle of Europe there are "cantons". These are areas that all have distinct identities and even languages. Did you know that there are French, German and Italian Swiss? They all get along togther and have one identity outside their country - SWISS.

Now, in music there are all the genre's - Urban, Rock, Country etc and the occassional crossover but generally you are what you are and that's that.

It strikes me that perhaps its possible to look at breaking that mould and setting up a new method of working.

Imagine recording in French for example and getting a big followig in Canada and France before you even think about London , New York or Sydney. Imagine trying to be the first band from Dubbo or Dublin that sings in Cantonese or that uses a weir instrument like an oud in a pop song.

It has been done before with massive success - eg Beatles and Ravi Shankar, Christie Moore and Planksty, Madonna and talent. Combine the unusual elements and find a new blend.

It can work. There is even a chef in the UK who cooks snail porridge and is a big star - YEUUUCH!

For those of you interested in working in America why haven't you thought about the Hispanic market? I know they don't get big headlines in the mags but something like 40% of America speaks spanish not English. Thats huge! It is not something to ignore. Then there is Korea, India, China, Indonesia and many many more.

There are the odd successful foreign acts - gloria estefan and Los Lobos perhaps but not many. Make the journey and you will be famous.

So in short if you want to make it don't think like the rest. Try to pin the tail on the donkey but look for a new adhesive!

Until later

Maldroid and the great mountainering monster

In England there is a famous explorer - Ranolph Fynnes - who is currently half way up the North face of the Eiger. The man is reknown for tramping across deserts and arctic tundra with nothing but a tootpick and a pair of Damart thermals for protection. He is the sort of guy that eats polar bears for breakfast and eskimo's for lunch.

A genuine throwback.

He is also a total twat!

Thanks to Sir Ran (as he likes to be known) there are corpses of young men scattered across the globe. Most of them were trying to help with some madcap escapade and got just got caught in the cross fire.

Promises of glory, fame and self achievement all amounted to nothing when the chips were down and Ran needed to run.

These days he makes a living from motivational speaking and from the accounts I have heard 80% of the men (it is always men) who hear him think that he is an icon and the other 20% think - like me - that he is a tit.

Which is worth thinking about for a minute. Why would there be such a discrepancy?

Well, it all comes down to experience.

You see, if you have been on one of his "trips" and got out alive you would no doubt have realised that Ran and his kind are ego manical toss pots who only do things for their own self gratification. Oh, of course there is the pretence that its all for science or to test mans endurance bollocks but really its all about having a collosal ego. Once you have breen bruised by that kind of obsession there is no way you want to go near it again.

Which brings me on to signing new bands.

You see the thing with finding new acts - or A&R as we oldies like to call it - is that you need to find acts just before the masses do. But at the same time they need to be "bubbling" and building a fan base.

The latest one to cross my path is Maldroid from San Francisco.

These guys popped up on my screen last year and we have been following them since. They have really worked the system well and have won you tube video competitions and have created a bit of a buzz around the bay and beyond.

So when I spoke to Ryan from the band at first a few months ago it all seemed great. I liked their work and wanted to release it for them with an eye to taking them on if things worked out well. I was quite excited about the prospect and I thought we could do something with them that would be productive and let's be honest lucrative.

Since then the massed ranks of A&R have found out about them too and now I hear from a birdie that in the line at sxsw they are one of the buzz bands of the festivities.

Now for us that's bad. It means a bidding war and there is no way we will get close to a band I really rate. For them its excellent and I wish them all the best but it also means the inevitable "Ran Ego" will be growing deep in the brain of at least one of them. Sooner or later someone will get their fingers burnt / frostbitten or gnawed off by beavers and that will be that.

The monster that is music has reared its ugly head and if it's like this now it will only get bigger and bolder as time goes on. Either they will emerge as monsters of rock themselves or they will be chewed up and spat out. Who knows?

Anyway, all that means that we aren't even going to try to compete. We can't offer what the others offer. There are no big cheques or groupies on draft. We aren't climbing the north face of the Eiger. We are sitting on a pretty terrace with a pot of herbal tea and a copy of the Times crossword as the sun sets over the Matterhorn.

I know where I would rather be right now.


How about you?

Austin - centre of chaos

Yodel aye eee whoooo!

Fresh from the museli and crunchy nut cornflake enema I sit (carefully) at my computer and sneer with distain at the carnage that is about to begin in Austin.

Actually I am begining to regret not going a bit but then you can't be mental and live in a rubber room when there is work to be done now can you?

I have just been informed of some of the stats for this years sxsw and it's insane.
Get this:
1536 acts will perform at the event this year.
Most of them will do 3 or more shows. (Thats over 3000 shows in 4 days!!!!)
The UK alone has 123 showcases
SXSW has trebled in size since 2001

With all that lot bashing away for a week you have to wonder where you start. (If you are Joe from our San Francisco office you snog the singer of Flaming lips - yeeuch!)

The thing is that the whole shebang was set up to showcase new acts to labels and other media so they had a chance of seeing what was good bad or indifferent in a few days. These days though it has become a frantic rush from one venue to another if you are in A&R or a good excuse to get hammered and see some old favorites if you aren't.

I will guarantee you that the best results from this week will not come from a show but from someone schmoozing at the 4 Seasons bar one wild night.

If my experience is anything to go on the only shows the "players" will attend will be at Stubbs or maybe Emo's on the first night and after that they will be in room 701 getting jiggy with a nice gal called Amber from the day- night agency in San Antonio. ($200 / hour plus expenses).



Have you seen who is making news before the event has even kicked off? The Stooges, Pete Townsend and David Byrne. Great artists but hardly unsigned raw talent are they?

It makes me fret when I know how hard people try to make an impact and the promises are all false. The most lucrative part of being there is as a sound tech or bar owner not as part of a wanna be band.

The excitment that once was sxsw is now just a corporate "fuck me over" disguised as a break through opportunity.

Until they get a grip and really get the event back to being for new and unknown bands it will be just another excuse for milking the indie cow until the udders bleed dry. Canadian Music Week is a much better bet these days and you don't need to check your guns at the door or wave the lone star flag to avoid getting killed on your way back East either.

It is such a pity that it has all gone corporate but you know how well informed and unprincipled "the man" is and if you invite him into your boudoir don't be surprised if he rips off your knickers and roots you on the floor. You were ASKING FOR IT now weren't you? (The Defense rests your Honour).

I told you - time and again in my fantastic new book - THE SOUND OF MONEY - but would you listen (or buy it even?) no no no! Why not - well because it's not published until summer but you can pre-order if you like (see I learnt a trick or two from my hours at the Hilton coffee shop).

If you feel disillusioned after sxsw and you haven't made that major breakthrough please feel free to join me at the ADOLF KLEPTINGER CLINIC, COMO, SWITZERLAND, EUROPE where we will be auditioning glockenspiel players on April 12th at 2pm. (Black Tie essential)

Auf Wiedersein

Ranchero

I had a look at my old posts and it seems I am always going on about being called dude.

I am told this has annoyed a lot of people - well a few people - well a hippy in San Fernando anyway - and my response is this...

SOD OFF AND STOP CALLING ME DUDE, HIPPY!



What can I say. I have resorted to abuse and that's terrible. But once in a while there is no other option.

I know I have mentioned rudeness before but road rudeness is just another aspect to our ever more stressful lives.
So now I am sitting here watching one of those gruesome TV shows about car crashes and dangerous driving and all that kind of thing. It is horrible to see what lunacy is out there on the roads. People die all the time but unexpected death is just awful and its even worse if it's because some idiot thinks he is driving a Nascar on the public highway (for those of us who aren't American this is Formula 1 without the skill or action) and it sort of brings me to the real point of this rant.

Why don't we take any account of how other people feel? Are we really that selfish? God, I hope not.

Surely being selfless or even sympathetic is the core value of music. It is what makes music connect with our heart and souls. Empathy for the devil you may say is actually what works. I mean why else would 90% of songs be about love? It is the universal signifier that we all understand.

In fact did you know that love is as essential as food? Without it we literally shrivel up and die. Sometimes abstract concepts are pretty powerful things you know. Like Mr Lennon said LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED.

Now that's what I call a neatly squared circle because as you already know John was a total hippy. And that just goes to show - one hippy is a self obsessed wanker and the other is lives in San Fernando - JOKE!

(You already knew what I was going to say so I thought I would just see if you were paying attention.)

Rock N Roll Suicide

Howdy pop pickers,
well the air in the alps is mighty refreshing. Clanging cowbells and sweet ladies with loads of milk chocolate populate the alpine meadows. I can feel the restorative effects of the fells on my feelings fellows. Fancy that?

This is the life. Lots of wine and fondues under the shadows of the ever melting glaciers. There is not a single musician within a million meters of here - unless you include the idiots on the Matterhorn who keep tooting away on their alpine horns.

BLART BLART BLLOM they honk. Morning noon and night. It's like a nice night at the New York Bowery. Could be a new avenue for Eno to explore. Kindo like that album "UNder heavy manners" he did with David Byrne way back when. In case you never heard it you should. Its genius. It starts off with a track that lists isms. Nihilism, Totalitarianism, Tourism, etc and then it ends up with a great acapella lyric - I AM RESPLENDENT IN DIVERGENCE. (fade out).

Anyhow, the hilltop honkers (not unlike Australias own Hill top Hoods) are diabolically bad. So bad they are good in fact.

Maybe the medicine is getting to me after all.

Better get some air.

Now, how do I get to Mexico City from here. I miss the monoxide.

Relapse

Just as the heavy weight of responsibilty was lifting I recieve some terrible news. My dear friend TK has been suffering with cancer for the past 6 weeks and is really really sick.

That is a real blow.

T is some kind of music legend in the UK. He founded Cartel (which for those of you who don't know was one of the very first indie distributors anywhere) and Red Rhino. He has been all over the world following his love of music and I know he has made some bad decisions but some better ones and I for one think he is a solid, honest, top bloke.

No one deserves the kind of crap he is suffering right now. NO ONE. So if you do believe in God or some other deity take a second to think about how silly all the fighting and striving for fame really is and send some good vibes out to the sick and infirm today.

I hope it never happens to you or me but the chances are that it will. Question is, when it does will you be able to say that someone you knew through your work really rates you and misses you? If you can't change your life and do it now.

All the rest is just froth and bullshit.

GLOBALISATION

I just got this on an email

How excellent is this!

Finally, a definition of globalization

I can understand and to which

I can relate

Question: What is the truest definition of Globalization?

Answer: Princess

Diana's death.



Question: How come?

Answer:

An English princess with

an Egyptian boyfriend

crashes in a French

tunnel, driving a

German car

with a Dutch engine,

driven by a Belgian

who was drunk

on Scottish whisky,

(check the bottle before you change the spelling),

followed closely by

Italian Paparazzi,

on Japanese motorcycles;

treated by an American doctor, using

Brazilian medicines.

This is sent to you by

a Canadian,

using Bill Gates's technology,

and you're probably reading this on your computer,

that uses Taiwanese

chips, and a

Korean monitor,

assembled by

Bangladeshi workers

in a Singapore plant,

transported by Indian

lorry-drivers,

hijacked by Indonesians,

unloaded by Sicilian longshoremen,

and trucked to you by Mexican illegals.....

That, my friends, is Globalization

Swiss slumbers

SXSW kicks off again next week and like every year everyone in the industry is gearing up for a week of beer, boppig and blagging. Except me.
I have taken this year off - the cohorts are over there mixing it up with the indie scene kings but I just haven't got it in me this year.
Instead I have been to Zurich to deposit a massive amount of money stolen from bands who are now on food stamps in the mid west town of "yessum Jethro"

After the gnomes took my ill gotten gains into their tiny , but somehow perfectly sculpted vaults I went into the hinterland where I am now ensconced with a cup of Ovaltine. I have booked myself in for 6 months in a Swiss herbalist retreat where i am having intensive treatment for post release depression.
Every day the doctors prescribe herbs and bottles of fresh Madagascan air to help me recover from millions of air miles and only slightly fewer musicians.

It is heavenly.

The only music is the sound of thebirds and the occassional clank of the cow bells on the mountains. Berne is amazing this time of year.

No one has called me dude and the distant glitter of lights on the lake are a tonic for the soul.

This is what music has driven me too.

I may be back.
Then again I may not.

Its nice here in paradise.

You should try it sometime.
Stop worrying and trying so hard.
It will happen if it happens.
If it doesn't so what. have an egg nog and go to bed.

Things will look better in the morning.

NO MORE DEMOS PLEASE

Thats it.
No more demo's please until further notice.
No Mp3's or website referals or anything.
Thank you

RUDENESS

This has nothing to do with music, but why are people so rude?

I have just put an ad on ebay for a sxsw pass and listed it as a Gold pass. Genuine mistake and the blurb that went along with the ad makes it clear that its music only.

First off all someone asked me if they can collect it in cash at the venue! Duh. If I was there I wouldn't be selling the pass would I?

Then another numpty wants to "buy it now" despite the fact they can buy one direct from sxsw at cost immediately anyway - so what's the point in putting it up for auction? Is the whole world on a mission to rip off anyone they can?

Then another says that its too much. SO DON"T BUY IT! What good is that comment?

Now I have another one telling me I am defrauding the public by calling it a Gold pass. Pedant could see what it was all along. I apologised but it is a rather sad state of affairs when even something as simple as this results in threats.

Finally I listed a cryptic ad for potential new band members and got this as a reply,

"I think what you are asking people to do is wank for coins......"

Now that really defeats me. Why bother?

I replied and told the emailer that they were not the chosen one and to have a nice day. Amazingly she replied with this:

" Good luck with finding 'The chosen' : ) "

at last ... civility

So, if anyone wants to spam and abuse please think twice. I have had enough of rude abusive people to last a lifetime. No wonder its all messed up.

Maybe we could start a list of people who are abusive and send them all roses. That might cheer them up (and perhaps the bug that has crawled up their arses would come out and smell the perfume.)

Peace dear reader. Peace to you and Peace off to the obnoxious.

The link to the sxsw ad is on this blog if you read it in time

Dreams and Disasters

"There are a million things I want to do today. But I'll do none of them."

If you know which album thats from you are a true afficianado of our releases.
I won't be doing the million things because .....

I have had a major bust up with the band about money. (Twas ever thus!)

They told me that I should be ashamed of myself.

Why? Because the money from downloads never arrived with us so we couldn't pass it on to them.

Basic accounting stitch up.

Immediate threats of legal action and that kind of thing.

Replies stating clearly - demonstrably .... NO MONEY FOR US = NONE FOR YOU

Band hates me and thinks I am a thief.

Would rather believe lies told by the guys who actually did them over because the sweet talk them and say Dude every five words.

Dude is not a word it is a ranch.

Crook is a crook in any language.

What can be said by me to counter this belief that I have stolen from the mouths of babies and rendered musicians homeless and destitute?

Bog all is what.

Sometimes it is a shitty business.

Sometimes.

3 am

3am and the music is pumping out. Vodka in huge amounts being swilled down the throats of two desperate idiots after watching Liverpool beat Barca away.

What has that got to do with music?

Not much, but it goes to show that we are all in the entertainment business now and fighting for the dollars is getting harder.

Consider this my disciples - limited disposable income can be spent on:

Nintendo wii
Sports - eg Liverpool away in Spain
Gigs
CD's
Downloads
Cinema
Your lover
New car / house / horse / pygmy squirrel pet

How are we to make music - live or recorded more desireable?

The old ways are going to have to adapt or like the Dodo music as we know it will die out!

I can't give you an answer but it is an interesting question isn't it?

EMI

For those of you who read this blog you are no doubt already aware of the disaster that has befalled EMI.

On the day of the BRIT awards Briatians premier music co has announced a profit warning because of downloads and loss of CD sales. (oh and Robbie Williams being useless).

So what? Nothing new there then is there?

Well no. Nothing short of calamity for the majors. But what it does mean for us indie guys is that alhough the monsters of rock are suffering they are also wounded and angry and that doesn't always bode well.

What does that mean? It means that they are going to continue to use their muscle to swam us in all arenas and try to destroy the indie labels as fast as they can.

Buy - Break - Bust

That's the method you use as a cartel to get rid of the opposition and thats exactly what they are doing.

Of course there will be people who come out as winners - I predict that Domino will be worth a fortune soon. But leaving that aside what does it mean for you and me?

Carnage is what.

V2 and Capitol are already merged and the other majors will follow shortly with cost cutting. Acts will get dropped and a lot of publications will go to the wall. I can't see magnet or Spin surviving as published mags when they have Pitchfork and All music Guide to compete with.

There is going to be one hell of a shake out and there will be bodies all over.

Stores are already in the shit and Distro is close behind. Labels are their suppliers and once they go to the wall what will they distribute? Oranges?

For my part I think that US distribution is a joke. They take 25% of sales and penalise you for non sales. Then they say its your fault and you oew them even though they have kept your money for moths in interest accounts and never actually confess where the money has gone. A right royal stich up all round.

So here is my theory for what to do:

Stuff physical distro unless you have an amazing deal.
Only go for Digital
Ignore the press and A&R etc and just gig your ass off.
If you are in the business as a non muso, get a job on the door at the Hollywod Bowl.
become a roadie
or failing all that make a living on the lecture circuit as a cabaret act for businesses that are in flux.

Enjoy the future kids - Who knows what happens tomorrow!!!

Royal Levitation Cult

Joie Calio has come up with a name for his new band and its amazing:
ROYAL LEVITATION CULT.

They are in the studio right now ( Feb 07) recording their new album.

Joie remains a member of DADA but this new project of his is simply fantastic.

Wait until you hear it.

AS WE ARE HOTTER THAN A STAR

Oh you gotta love this. AS WE ARE are already a sensation in Aus and I haven't even seen the stage show yet.
I came across them at a rehersal in a studio in Brisbane last year when they were playig silly buggers. Suddenly they are the hottest Brisbane band since the Grates or Powderfinger.
Go figure! Right under my nose and then POW!! Just as soon as I relocated to the UK.
Guess I better get the guys over to America soon so they can see what real rockers look like!

Check these out:

http://www.timeoff.com.au/index1.php?area=News&pg=32&subarea=32&sel=1027

http://www.ravemagazine.com.au/component/option,com_mamblog/Itemid,116/task,

DIGITAL DAYS

ARE WE IN A MESS IN THIS BUSINESS?

Well. not really.

Are we confussed old men with no idea whats going on. Probably.

Digitals better for artists and indie labels than CD on the whole.

Guess so 'cos its cheaper but the downsideis that it sounds like crap.

(That's real old man talk - no tune - wheres the melody? etc)

Actually its pretty good to listen to in the car as rule and with the new HD and Satellite channels coming to life its all vibrancy and madness out there.

In the UK, despite the recent collapse of Music Zone and Tower we are still in there fighting. Trouble is that so is everyone else. Its what they call lowering the barriers to entry.

That has a knock on effect which is that you need even more cash to make a noise using traditional methods. WE all have to think differntly.

Turns out Fopp have bought Music Zone so maybe they wil be better stores than before. That takes them from about 50 stores to over 150. No mean feat in one move. And it just shows that there are opportunities out there. You need to grab them whilst you can. WELL DONE FOPP!

So, Listen you other retailers (HMV, VIRGIN ETC) - Stop being so damn retro and get into the new world. Place user friendly download portals in every shop. Fill the pace with Apple Macs and make it look cool. Take a tip from the phone shops and give the consumer extra. The old listening booths would be a good start - headphones make you look dorkey unless they are worn as a fashion statment and the kids with $200 hair cuts will not wear them - oh and you get nits!

Up the game and stop trying to shortchange us all. Add massive stocks that are representative of music and not just Universal's A&R department. You get them on sale or return anyway so enough with the crap that you have no space. Use it better!

Here is my top retail tip - more free sex for all. Works everywhere else. What the hell is sexy about shopping for CD's? BOG ALL THATS WHAT!

In fact that's the key. Bands should offer to shag all the audience instead of the audience lusting after the bands.

Anyone out there got anything to say?

BRIT AWARDS

HERE THEY ARE AND SOME A GREAT

SOME OF COURSE ARE UTTER SHIT!

YOU CHOOSE


British Male Solo Artist

James Morrison Polydor/Universal Music

Jarvis Cocker Rough Trade/Sanctuary

Lemar White Rabbit/Sony BMG

Paolo Nutini Atlantic/Warner Music

Thom Yorke XL Recordings/Beggars Group

British Female Solo Artist

Amy Winehouse Island/Universal Music

Corinne Bailey Rae EMI/EMI Music

Jamelia Parlophone/EMI Music

Lily Allen Regal Recordings/EMI Music

Nerina Pallot 14th Floor/Warner Music

British Group
Arctic Monkeys Domino Recordings/Domino Recordings
Kasabian Columbia/Sony BMG
Muse Helium 3/Warner Bros/Warner Music
Razorlight Vertigo/Universal Music
Snow Patrol Fiction/Universal Music
MasterCard British Album
Amy Winehouse Back to BlackIsland/Universal Music
Arctic Monkeys Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m notDomino Recordings/Domino Recordings
Lily Allen Alright StillRegal Recordings/EMI Music
Muse Black Holes & RevelationsHelium 3/Warner Bros/Warner Music
Snow Patrol Eyes OpenFiction/Universal Music


British Single
5 nominees decided by commercial radio hit40uk and The A List listeners. Winner chosen by radio and TV viewing audience live on show night

Corinne Bailey Rae Put your records onEMI/EMI Music
The Feeling Fill my little worldIsland/Universal Music
James Morrison You give me somethingPolydor/Universal Music
Kooks She moves in her own wayVirgin/EMI Music
Leona Lewis A moment like thisSony BMG
Lily Allen SmileRegal Recordings/EMI Music
Razorlight AmericaVertigo/Universal Music
Sandi Thom I wish I was a punk rockerSony BMG
Snow Patrol Chasing carsFiction/Universal Music
Take That PatiencePolydor/Universal Music
Will Young All time love19


British Breakthrough Act
Winner chosen by Radio 1 listeners

Corinne Bailey Rae EMI/EMI Music
Fratellis Island/Universal Music
James Morrison Polydor/Universal Music
Kooks Virgin/EMI Music
Lily Allen Regal Recordings/EMI Music


British Live Act
Nominees chosen by a panel of experts in association with The Live Music Forum. Winner chosen by Radio 2 listeners

George Michael Sony BMG
Guillemots Polydor/Universal Music
Kasabian Columbia/Sony BMG
Muse Helium 3/Warner Bros/Warner Music
Robbie Williams Chrysalis/EMI Music
International Male Solo Artist
Beck Interscope/Universal Music
Bob Dylan Columbia/Sony BMG
Damien Rice 14th Floor/Warner Music
Jack Johnson Brushfire/Island/Universal Music
Justin Timberlake Jive/Sony BMG
International Female Solo Artist
Beyonce Columbia/Sony BMG
Cat Power Matador/Beggars Group
Christina Aguilera RCA/Sony BMG
Nelly Furtado Geffen/Universal Music
P!nk LaFace/Sony BMG
International Group
Flaming Lips Warner Bros/Warner Music
Gnarls Barkley Warner Bros/Warner Music
Killers Mercury/Universal Music
Red Hot Chili Peppers Warner Bros/Warner Music
Scissor Sisters Polydor/Universal Music
International Album
Bob Dylan Modern TimesColumbia/Sony BMG
Gnarls Barkley St ElsewhereWarner Bros/Warner Music
Justin Timberlake FutureSex/LoveSoundsJive/Sony BMG
Killers Sam’s TownMercury/Universal Music
Scissor Sisters Ta DahPolydor/Universal Music


International BreakthroughAct
Winner chosen by MTV Spanking New Music viewers

Gnarls Barkley Warner Bros/Warner Music
Orson Mercury/Universal Music
Raconteurs XL Recordings/Beggars Group
Ray Lamontagne 14th Floor/Warner Music
Wolfmother Island/Modular/Universal Music
Outstanding Contribution to music
Oasis Big Brother

Free Bumper stickers for SXSW attendees

Free Bumper stickers for SXSW attendees just get in touch whilst we are there.

Predictions for 2007

WELCOME TO 2007!

So what do we expect from this year?

as ever here are a few predictions to whet your appetite and annoy your neighbours.

1. The Democrats will make no real difference to the corruption that has taken over the hill.
2. I will buy a dog to replace my beloved old mutt who passed away in December.
3. There will be a lot of hype about Mika and probably a few hits but then he will become a fixture on Celebrity Big Loser.
4. Donald Trump will declare bald to be the new rich and Lindsey Lohan will shave her head.
5. Britney will OD and leave a lasting legacy of superlative tunes and a small oily stain on Paris Hiltons shoes.
6. Wolfmother will conquer the USA
7. There will be a big protest somewhere everyweek about something.
8. Global warming will end and we will all freeze in February.
9. Global Warming will begin again and we will all get heatstroke in summer.
10. Medical investments will prove profitable
11. You will buy shoes
12. A trully crap song will make the No1 slot in the UK on downloads alone. - Crazy frog anyone?
13. Germany will produce a global megastar called Adolf
14. France will not.
15. Shane Warne will become my best mate and run away with my wife in early August.
16. I will finally become famous with my own colum in the News of the World.

Superstar

Glovebox - the track that made it onto the Top 10 of Logo TV this year.

licker licence

GLOVEBOX TV AD

Story of

From The debut Heavenly States album

ossama bin lozenge

THE HEAVENLY STATES

newhall

A great track taken from the Bedroom Walls CD - ALL GOOD DREAMERS. The full HD clip is on the album!

Now the Sun is Out

Greg Johnson

LILY ALLEN and free tickets

Well its good to see that the Heavenlies are back in the swing of things. After their enormous ssecret show in Seattle last weekend the secret is out.

The sites has been pummelled with loads of new hits and people seeking after truth so if you are keen on knowing what's going on stay tuned.

Just to prove what a global and excellent bunch we are as well you can get free tickets to the Greg Johnson show in London on Dec 20th 2006 if you email us with your name. That offer is open until we run out of seats so get a big gang togther and put yourselves on the list.

It is an early show so you can get hammered in the pub afterwards as well.

ROCK ON CHRISTMAS I SAY!

JOIE CALIO SIGNS WITH BARIA

We are delighted to announce that JOIE CALIO (he of DADA) has just signed a deal with us for his new album!


Joie is set to release a new album on the label in early 2007 and we just can't wait!

Watch out for the killer track Habit forming at radio in the New Year.

It just keeps getting better and better.

GO INDIE!

NEWS FROM THE UK

Baria Records, home to artists such as The Lovemakers, Cloud Cult, Greg Johnson, Bedroom Walls, The Heavenly States, Glovebox, Women in Docs etc have relocated their main headquarters to England. To celebrate the move a one off sold out concert by New Zealands No1 act - GREG JOHNSON- has been announced at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London for DEC 20th.

INGERLAND

to the tune of "look good on the dance floor" Arctic Monkeys

Back in the arms of my homeland and the weather is holding up.
Got away from Australia but am I missing the place?

Not much

Ready to work with whoever
from where ever they may come
I'm already fatter
can you see the size of my bum?

I bet that you look good on the dance floor

STOP THE MUSIC NOW!

I don't.

And I can't write songs either

Thats why I work behind the scenes.

I can add up though so thats a bonus.

Anyone in England want to get a record deal or can you all do it on your own?

:)

FREE VINYL

Hey there

for all you Dj's and groovers we have a very very limited number of free 12' vinyl singles of superstar and In the end to give away.

Email us a street address and you get one.

This offer lasts until we run out so be quick

GUESS WHAT WE HAVE RUN OUT OF VINYL BUT THANKS ANYWAY SEPT 20th 06

RINGTONES FOR YOU

HEY THERE

There are tons of ringtones for you to download at this site:

http://baria.mstore.xingtone.com

Not only the baria bands but Top 40 hits like Gnarles barkley and loads of others check it out

TRIP WIRE LOVES WALLS SO DOES ALL MUSIC GUIDE

May 2006

Bedroom Walls
All Good Dreamers Pass This Way

by Bret Love

If Elliott Smith were still alive and decided to get together and jam with Neutral Milk Hotel, the results might sound a lot like this self-described "romanticore" quintet. Based in Los Angeles, Bedroom Walls crafts dreamy, bittersweet songs that balance a knack for catchy indie pop melodies with a deeply rooted fondness for melancholy moods that recall experimental bands ranging from early Pink Floyd and Talk Talk to Sigur Rós. "You say you've laughed enough/Your closet's stuffed with last year's blues/But you know by summertime/Your suicide's just last year's news," frontman Adam Goldman sings in his airy, high-pitched tenor on the opening "In Anticipation of Your Suicide," and it's difficult not to hear Smith's ghost in lyrics about "records always spinning clues you know you want all to know." It's a haunting beginning to an impressively ambitious album that draws you in immediately and completely captivates from start to finish. Horns, retro organs, vibraphones, glockenspiels, strings, and barely ambient noises all find their place in the band's lushly arranged patchwork of sound. They make fabulous use of dynamics to maximize the emotional impact of a song like "Six Weeks in the Imperial Garden," which veers from passages of aching minimalist beauty to monolithic riffs that lumber and roar, while "Mandy" is a sweet ballad with folk roots and the string-laden "Hello, Mrs. Jones" is a beautifully bizarre rumination on young love. Every track here is positively delightful, but it doesn't get any better than the closing "If the Storm Breaks and You're at Home," a stripped-down acoustic number that sounds like Bright Eyes covering a Damien Rice tune, with Goldman and Melissa Thorne's gorgeously sad harmonies sounding like the wistful angels that must come to visit you as you drift off into a narcotic-fueled endless slumber. All in all, All Good Dreamers Pass This Way is a strange, sensational record that will captivate you from the first listen.




Bedroom WallsAll Good Dreamers Pass This Way(Baria Records) I remember driving down the 405 on my first trip to Los Angeles two years ago. I thought I'd get off theplane, get in a convertible, drive down the highway to a mansion in Malibu, eat a great meal by the pool, and then take a walk down to the beach where I'd be greeted by gorgeous women playing Frisbee or surfing.Well, it was somewhat true. It involved a lot of traffic, smog, and a magical place that the kids on the West Coast called "In 'N Out Burger." The best part of the first two hours of my first visit to Los Angeles was notthe coffee I spilled on my friend Heidi's white dress. It was hearing Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse's voice for the first time. He was creepy and beautiful and sounded like he was whispering in my ear. The musicsounded like it was playing in my head and not on the car speakers. I loved Sparklehorse, but because it scared me. Since then, I have always wanted to hear a Sparklehorse-sounding band that had that samewhisper effect on me, but didn't put me in the psychological funk that Linkous had to power to do. Enter the LA band Bedroom Walls. Adam Goldman, the band's lead singer, sounds similar to Linkous. Theband describes their sound as "Romanticore" and their sophomore album, All Good Dreamers Pass This Way, is a grand orchestral whisper that will live in your head, not in your speakers. There are many bands that overuse such non-imperative instruments like xylophones, hand-claps, and cellos.This is not one of those bands. The horn stabs, the twinkling of the xylophones, and the crispness of the cello all seem as natural as if the songs were written around the small details instead of vice versa. The albumchanges from the Big Star of "Who's Been Driving Round For Days" to the Bach/"Street Hassle" intro of "Somewhere In Newhall" to the Simon and Garfunkel intimacy of "If The Storm Breaks And You're AtHome." The songwriting lags a little bit in the middle of this album, but it stays strong enough as to not lose theattention of the listener. There is enough classically infused string parts and twists and turns throughout All Good Dreamers Pass This Way to make you almost more interested in where the song is going and not whereit's been. This album instantly reminded me of my fear and obsession with Sparklehorse and for that I admire it. Although now that I've heard it, I know that the essence of having that kind of voice only works underevil. The pop-infused "plays in your head, not in your speakers" aesthetic that I longed for might not be what I was looking for after all. By Jeffrey Thrope May 10, 2006

TRIP WIRE LOVES WALLS SO DOES ALL MUSIC GUIDE

May 2006

Bedroom Walls
All Good Dreamers Pass This Way

by Bret Love

If Elliott Smith were still alive and decided to get together and jam with Neutral Milk Hotel, the results might sound a lot like this self-described "romanticore" quintet. Based in Los Angeles, Bedroom Walls crafts dreamy, bittersweet songs that balance a knack for catchy indie pop melodies with a deeply rooted fondness for melancholy moods that recall experimental bands ranging from early Pink Floyd and Talk Talk to Sigur Rós. "You say you've laughed enough/Your closet's stuffed with last year's blues/But you know by summertime/Your suicide's just last year's news," frontman Adam Goldman sings in his airy, high-pitched tenor on the opening "In Anticipation of Your Suicide," and it's difficult not to hear Smith's ghost in lyrics about "records always spinning clues you know you want all to know." It's a haunting beginning to an impressively ambitious album that draws you in immediately and completely captivates from start to finish. Horns, retro organs, vibraphones, glockenspiels, strings, and barely ambient noises all find their place in the band's lushly arranged patchwork of sound. They make fabulous use of dynamics to maximize the emotional impact of a song like "Six Weeks in the Imperial Garden," which veers from passages of aching minimalist beauty to monolithic riffs that lumber and roar, while "Mandy" is a sweet ballad with folk roots and the string-laden "Hello, Mrs. Jones" is a beautifully bizarre rumination on young love. Every track here is positively delightful, but it doesn't get any better than the closing "If the Storm Breaks and You're at Home," a stripped-down acoustic number that sounds like Bright Eyes covering a Damien Rice tune, with Goldman and Melissa Thorne's gorgeously sad harmonies sounding like the wistful angels that must come to visit you as you drift off into a narcotic-fueled endless slumber. All in all, All Good Dreamers Pass This Way is a strange, sensational record that will captivate you from the first listen.




Bedroom WallsAll Good Dreamers Pass This Way(Baria Records) I remember driving down the 405 on my first trip to Los Angeles two years ago. I thought I'd get off theplane, get in a convertible, drive down the highway to a mansion in Malibu, eat a great meal by the pool, and then take a walk down to the beach where I'd be greeted by gorgeous women playing Frisbee or surfing.Well, it was somewhat true. It involved a lot of traffic, smog, and a magical place that the kids on the West Coast called "In 'N Out Burger." The best part of the first two hours of my first visit to Los Angeles was notthe coffee I spilled on my friend Heidi's white dress. It was hearing Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse's voice for the first time. He was creepy and beautiful and sounded like he was whispering in my ear. The musicsounded like it was playing in my head and not on the car speakers. I loved Sparklehorse, but because it scared me. Since then, I have always wanted to hear a Sparklehorse-sounding band that had that samewhisper effect on me, but didn't put me in the psychological funk that Linkous had to power to do. Enter the LA band Bedroom Walls. Adam Goldman, the band's lead singer, sounds similar to Linkous. Theband describes their sound as "Romanticore" and their sophomore album, All Good Dreamers Pass This Way, is a grand orchestral whisper that will live in your head, not in your speakers. There are many bands that overuse such non-imperative instruments like xylophones, hand-claps, and cellos.This is not one of those bands. The horn stabs, the twinkling of the xylophones, and the crispness of the cello all seem as natural as if the songs were written around the small details instead of vice versa. The albumchanges from the Big Star of "Who's Been Driving Round For Days" to the Bach/"Street Hassle" intro of "Somewhere In Newhall" to the Simon and Garfunkel intimacy of "If The Storm Breaks And You're AtHome." The songwriting lags a little bit in the middle of this album, but it stays strong enough as to not lose theattention of the listener. There is enough classically infused string parts and twists and turns throughout All Good Dreamers Pass This Way to make you almost more interested in where the song is going and not whereit's been. This album instantly reminded me of my fear and obsession with Sparklehorse and for that I admire it. Although now that I've heard it, I know that the essence of having that kind of voice only works underevil. The pop-infused "plays in your head, not in your speakers" aesthetic that I longed for might not be what I was looking for after all. By Jeffrey Thrope May 10, 2006

GETTING OUR RECORDS EASILY

I have been bombarded this week by people asking for the new records.
WHERE CAN WE BUY GREG OR WALLS OR DOCS?

Well I have no idea why it is so hard to get it from shops so if they don't help try this link

cdbaby.com/all/euge

or failing that just email us and we will get you the paypal accounts to buy any record you want.

They will all go live on itunes and all the other sites over the next week so be sure to log on and try. We are having a fight to get them posted in time.

ROLIING STONE DOCS REVIEW

WOMEN IN DOCS LIVE

STH EAST QLD ALBUM LAUNCH CONCERTS
Friday 26 May, Nambour Civic Theatre, Centenary Place,
Currie St, Nambour, QLD. Tickets “Dial N Charge” 5475
7777, with Rebecca Wright, $20 / $18, 8 pm.

Sat 17 June, The Round House Theatre, 6 – 8 Musk Ave, Kelvin
Grove. 2 BIG shows. 3 pm and 7 pm.
Tickets: Family Tickets: $50 (2 adults, 2 kids up to 15,
kids under 8 free) Adult: $25 Conc: $18 (Health Care Card,
Students), Senior: $15
+ booking fee. www.qtix.com.au or 136 246

12/06/06 V The Cantab Lounge
738 Mass Ave, Massachussetts
13/06/06 M Sonicbids (Electronic Press Kit provider)


International Music Network, Booking Agency

14/06/06 V The Iron Horse, Northampton Massachussets

15/06/06 V The Java Hut
1073A Main St
Worcestor MA 01603

16/06/06 V Club Passim
47 Palmer ST
Cambridge MA

17/06/06 V Acoustic Café
Connecticut

18/06/06 V Sono Caffiene Café
133 Washington St
Sth Norwalk

19/06/06 V The Space
295 Treadwell St
Hamden CT

22/06/06 F Forksville Folk Festival
Sullivan Country PA

27/06/06 V NXNW


30/06/06 –4/07/06 V Shows in New York City

7/07/06 – 9/7/06 V Shows in Portland Oregan;

10/07/06 Travel day to San Fran.

11/07/06 V Weinweist Gallery, San Francisco

12/07/06 M *Meeting with American office – Baria Records

*Drive to California World Music Fest
13/07/06 –17/7/06 F California World Music Fest Grass Valley, CA

18/07/06 V Coffee Gallery, LA


21/07/06 –23/7/06 F Vancouver Islands Folk Fest, Canada

26/07/06 V Momo’s

27/07/06 V Georgetown House Concert

28/7/06 V Show with Col Brooks (local texan)

29/07/06 V Bonedoc House Concert
Richardson, TX

30/07/06 –1/08/06 M Meetings set up at 2005’s Folk Alliance in TX

2/08/06 V Momo’s

3/08/06 Travel day to Canada

4 – 6/08/06 F Canmore Folk Festival, Canmore Canada

7-9/8/06 V Bookings by Speak Music

10-13/08/6 F Edmonton Folk Festival
Edmonton Canada

14/08/06 Travel home to Australia

INDONESIA and farewell Jason

Greetings all

someone out there is reading for certain.
It is the truth dude!

Why - well because we got abooking for 5 shows in Indonesia for Glovebox. How we don't know but there they are. Libya one year and Indonesia the next.

Happy with that.


Bummer news is that Jason has decided to quit the LOVEMAKERS. Shame. We go back - way back and its not going to be the same without him.

Too many groupies have worn him out

adios buddy.

GLOVEBOX ARE COMING HOME

MTV SUPERSTAR GLOVEBOX

We have some very exciting news to report!

“Superstar” has received airplay on MTV Latin America!

This is an absolute huge addition to the campaign (MTV Latin America reaches 35 million potential viewers in the US and 17 South American countries!) and really helps to continue to bring this band to the next level. Xavier Campos, head programmer at MTV Latin America, is always a very big supporter of pushing new and deserving artists to the forefront and we are very excited that he has embraced “Superstar”.

We have some other terrific regional outlets that have included “Superstar” in their recent programming. Video Vision, which is based out of San Francisco, CA, and reaches 1.7 million potential viewers on cable, has included the video on their most recent playlist. Catherine Lee features the best videos on her weekly show in one of the biggest markets in the country. This is another strong add for the campaign and all the young, CD buying kids in San Francisco tune in to this show religiously on a weekly basis. We have also secured airplay for “Superstar” on M Squared, which is based in Long Branch, NJ. Transmitting from Monmouth University, M Squared is seen every day on campus, and weekly in the surrounding towns, reaching 175,000 potential viewers. Also, Cutting Edge, in Dayton, OH, has included the video on their show. Cutting Edge is a very popular indie rock show in the area, thanks to the large college population, and has an audience of 50,000 potential viewers.
The popular internet television network, Music Plus TV, has added the video to their online rotation. Music Plus TV is an all inclusive music network that features videos, reviews, interviews, and much more covering all things music. They currently have a registered database of 250,000 with that number growing daily. This is another terrific internet outlet to embrace Glovebox!

HEAVENLY STATES LIVE DATES

Wed 5/24/06 Sacramento, CA The Library
Thu 5/25/06 Portland, OR Towne Lounge
Fri 5/26/06 Bellingham, WA The Nightlight Sun 5/28/06 George, WA Sasquatch Music Festival
Wed 5/31/06 San Francisco, CA Café Du Nord
Thu 6/8/06 Bozeman, MT Zebra Coctail Lounge
Fri 6/9/06 Fargo, ND Aquarium
Sat 6/10/06 St Paul, MN Turf Club
Mon 6/12/06 Dubuque, IA Busted Lift
Thu 6/15/06 Madison, WI Slipper Club
Fri 6/16/06 Chicago, IL The Hideout
Sun 6/18/06 Cleveland, OH CMJ Rock Hall Music Festival
Mon 6/19/06 Columbus, OH Little Brothers
Fri 6/23/06 Denver, CO Blender's Tavern

CLOUD CULT live shows

FRIDAY MAY 12
The Crocodile Café
VENUE INFORMATION 2200 2nd Avenue Seattle, WA 98121
Local Support Monqui

SATURDAY MAY 13
Doug Fir Lounge
VENUE INFORMATION 830 E. Burnside St. Doors Open: 8:00 PM

Sunday May 14
Sam Bond's Garage
VENUE INFORMATION 407 Blair BlvdEugene, OR

Tuesday MAy 16
Makeout Room
VENUE INFORMATION 3225 22nd Street San Francisco, CA 94110

Wednesday May 17
Kilby Court Gallery
VENUE INFORMATION 741 S. Kilby Court Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Thursday May 18
Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
VENUE INFORMATION 2637 Welton Street Denver, CO 80205


Friday May 19th
O' Leaver's 1322 Saddle Creek Road Omaha, NE 68106


Saturday May 20th
Varsity Theater 1308 4th Street SE Minneapolis, MN 55414

Tuesday July 4th
Taste of Minnesota Harriet Island St. Paul, MN


Saturday July 15th
Green Man Music Festival
VENUE INFORMATION Monteulac Ski Area Duluth, MN Ph: (218) 393-6383

Friday July 28th
Hedgpeth Festival Festival Grounds
2305 W. Lance Drive Twin Lakes, WI 53181
Advance TICKET INFORMATION Brentwood, TN 37027Ph: (615) 370-6015

GREG JOHNSON LIVE

Greg is getting a new US tour together to follow on from his forthcoming sell out of New Zealand

Check hime out that these venues and dates:

6/6 6/8 Boston: appearing on Roots Rock Live TV, WXRV morning show and live show at The Paradise on 6/8
6/9 Portland and Ogunquit, ME Radio appearance and live concert
6/10 Chicago
6/12 Columbus, OH WCBE Radio appearance and performance
6/12 Cincinnati, OH WNKU Radio show (evening)
6/13 Lexington, KY WUKY radio appearance and performance
6/14 Nashville, TN
6/15 Nashville, TN

Save Yourself has over 500 spins to date on WBOS, WXRV and WRNX.


New single Its Been So Long going for radio week of 5/22

BEDROOM WALLS LIVE

With the upcoming release of the BEDROOM WALLS ALBUM I thought you might like to see the guys live and direct.


BEDROOM WALLS have a month long residency at THE FOLD every Tuesdays
except July 4th until the First of August in Los Angeles.

Other dates are:
Bedroom Walls:
5/23/06 - Boston, MA @ TT The Bears
5/24/06 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
5/30/06 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
6/29/06 - Los Angeles, CA @ Amoeba *in-store performance

More are coming all the time.

We are writing a book!

It is true.

I am writing a book about the music business.

So far the title is : Ego versus Emo

Or

I hate the radio. Why don’t they play decent music anymore

I thought I would throw an unedited snippet on the blog this week as I haven't been able to add to the rest of the rubbish I usually write.

Advance order being taken - free if you want one for now. Loads of $ when its a real tome.



"When you do go to a convention - having parted with a few hundred dollars and probably a few thousand more on air fares and hotel rooms and meet the great and powerful I think you might be surprised at how many of them wear Hawaiian shirts.

An amazing amount of really key guys in the music business (and it is almost always guys) are getting on in years and have obviously had a few too many power breakfasts. I genuinely think that most of them are committed and really believe in what they are saying but the reality on the ground is very different from the reality in the boardroom.

The biggest problem facing anyone from Gen X or younger these days is that the boomers will not just fuck off and die. They hang in there with their Woodstock jargon and big pensions and desperately try to defend themselves from the future. I don’t blame them but if they had any sense at all they would all have retired years ago and left music to their kids. Instead we are force fed the same snoring songs.

Bob Dylan has been given his own show on XM satellite radio.

Why?

Because he is a known name that the boomers identify with. If you are younger than 40 you might never have heard of him and why would you.

It is time to retire fossils!

I should know. I am rapidly catching up and I am so cranky it’s hard to relate to some new music. If I was in charge of the radio I would play Stone Roses back to back man. (Not really but you get the idea)."

This is why you get hassled travelling

A true story and its source was the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service in Adelaide.

A bloke and his family were on holidays in the United States and went to Mexico for a week. An avid cactus fan, the man bought one-metre high, rare and expensive cactus there. On arrival back home Australian Customs said it must be quarantined for 3 months.

He finally got his cactus home. Planted it in his backyard, and over time it grew to about 2 metres. One evening while watering his garden after a warm spring day, he gave the cactus a light spray. He was amazed to see the plant shiver all over, he gave it another spray and it shivered again.
He was puzzled so he rang the council who put him on to the state gardens people. After a few transfers he got the state's foremost cactus expert who asked him many questions. How tall is it? Has it flowered? Etc.

Finally he asked the most disturbing question. "Is your family in the house?" The bloke answered yes. The cactus expert said get out of the house NOW, get on to the front nature strip and wait for me; I will be there in 20 minutes.

Fifteen minutes later, 2 fire trucks, 2 police cars and an ambulance came screaming around the corner. A fireman got out and asked "Are you the bloke with the cactus?" I am, he said. A guy jumped out of the fire truck wearing what looked like a space suit, a breathing cylinder and mask attached to what looked like a scuba backpack with a large hose attached. He headed for the backyard and turned a flame-thrower on the cactus spraying it up and down.

After a few minutes the flame-thrower man stopped, the cactus stood smoking and spitting, half the fence was burnt and parts of the gardens were well and truly scorched. Just then the cactus expert appeared and laid a calming hand on the bloke's shoulder. "What the hell's going on?" he says. "Let me show you" says the cactus man. He went over to the cactus and picked away a crusty bit, the cactus was almost entirely hollow and filled with tiger striped bird-eating tarantula spiders, each about the size of two hand spans.

The story was that this type of spider lays eggs in this type of cactus and they hatch and live in it as they grow to full size. When full size they release themselves. The cactus just explodes and about 150 dinner plate sized hairy spiders are flung from it, dispersing everywhere. They had been ready to pop. The aftermath was that the house and the adjoining houses had to be vacated and fumigated: police tape was put up outside the whole area and no one was allowed in for two weeks.

beer and buddies

Drinking partners

An Australian, a Kiwi and South African are in a bar one night having
a beer.

All of a sudden the South African drinks his beer, throws his glass in
the air, pulls out a gun and shoots the glass to pieces. "In Seth
Efrika our glasses are so cheap that we don't need to drink from the
same one twice," he says.

The Kiwi, obviously impressed by this, drinks his beer, throws his
glass into the air, pulls out his gun and shoots the glass to pieces. "Wull
mate, in Noo Zulland we have so much sand to make the glasses that we
don't need to drink out the same glass either," he says

The Australian, cool as a Koala, picks up his beer and drinks it,
throws his glass in the air, pulls out his gun and shoots the South African
and the Kiwi.
He turns to the astonished barman and says,"In Strailya mate, we Have
so many bloody South Africans and Kiwis that we don't need to drink with
the same ones twice."

Moving Home

Thanks for tuning in to the latest blog.

It has been and wll be a mad time for us here as we are moving our entire world around. Literally.

The thing is that we are moving to London in August.

Phew - we can't go any further without coming back!

Everyone who knows keeps saying why and the truth is that we can't survive another day in paradise.

The sunny days and endless parties in Australia are just too much.
We need to get back to the gritty urban reality that is England. Home of the Streets and Lady Sovereign.

If its good enough for Mike Skinner its good enough for us.

That and the fact that James Bond lives there will do us.

So if you want to send any demo's make it quick because we won't be here for long!

Actually whilkst we are talking about this the San Landro office is open now so there is a real American love god in charge of stuff on the West Coast. ask joe@bariarecords.com what is happening and he will tell you he has no idea but at lest you can find out what the weather is like in lovely California.

laters

LOGO TV

Hey there

want to make a hit happen?

go here and vote for the superstar vieo to be played please

http://www.logoonline.com/shows/dyn/the_click_list/video_voting.jhtml

copy us in on your vote for a freebie!

freee music in your home - free stuff

G'day and thank you for joining us in our quest for fun

If you are in the US and would like to see any of our bands please just have a little dig through the site and find the Glovebox door hanger.
Then email or fax it to us for a free pass to the gig of your choice.

If you are in a city where our bands are about to play and can arrange a few friends to come over we will try to get the guys to play a private show at your house.

If the guys aren't coming to your home town this time that's no reason to feel sad.

If you want a private showcase at a venue of your choice - ASK US! - Don't be shy. You never know.

If you can't make it to a show no problems you won't be left out.

We have some stickers and even some Cd's to give away to lucky winners who gets in touch with us and sends us a postal address.

All you have to do is let us know where you want the goodies and we will pop them in the post.

If you don't want to divulge the address to your secret HQ we can't send you the stuff but we totally get where you are coming from. Who needs more spam!

Now get out there and party

glovebox tour diary

Hello to all around the World!

Hope this mail finds you all well & am now in Boulder Colorado USA. It's
a sunny morning here in Boulder & enjoying a couple of days rest before
our next trip across & to the east coast of the USA.

The past week has proved to be an adventure! We travelled from San
Francisco to Portland and we couldn't wait to get out of the car after a
12 hour trip & 600 miles. "Music Millennium"
http://www.musicmillennium.com/ in Portland were the first to experience
the grooves of Glovebox followed by a night time performance at the
Holocene Bar - http://www.holocene.org/ Both gigs were sensational & the
people of Portland certainly were intrigued by the sounds of Glovebox. We
were fortunate to perform with Portland's infamous band "Climber".

Moving up to cold rainy Seattle we made our way to "Silver Platters"
http://www.silverplatters.com/ record store & performed an afternoon gig
followed by a night time performance at the "High Dive Bar".
http://highdiveseattle.com/ Again the night was a blast!

Into middle America we headed & Boise Idaho was the first to experience
Glovebox, the Big Easy Concert Hall http://www.bigeasyconcerts.com/
accomodated in excess of 500 people who grooved to the new sound in town.
Onto Salt Lake City Utah the Ego bar http://www.clubegos.com/ was this
groovy little bar down-town packed out with groovy people. We headed to
beautiful Aspen Colorado and the Belly Up Bar
http://www.bellyupaspen.com/home.html welcomed us into there great cool
bar normally filled with infamous people - during the winter season!
Finished the week by playing at the Trilogy Bar in Boulder - the coolest
bar in town owned by triplets! We supported infamous band "Fragga"
http://trilogywinebar.com/

Till next time,

BEDROOM WALLS KCRW

http://www.kcrw.com/cgi-bin/db/kcrw.pl?show_code=mb&air_date=12/15/03&tmplt_type=Show

click onthe link to see the last time the Bedroom Walls played at KCRW

Now those nice people are sponsoring a show at Amoeba in LA in June to tie in with the album launch

You should be there dudes!

Tour Dates

Bedroom Walls:
5/23/06 - Boston, MA @ TT The Bears
5/24/06 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
5/30/06 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
6/29/06 - Los Angeles, CA @ Amoeba *in-store performance

EVIL IN DIAPERS

Jesus!
have you heard about those two psycotic nut jobs called Prussian Blue?

We just heard about them and their insane campaign to make music white. What the hell is going on there?

In case you have never heard of these two they are members of some whacked out conspiracy group that likes to think that they belong to a distinct genus of humans known as the "master race". Correct me if I am wrong but didn't the master race come last in 1945? They opened a big can of whoop ass called the REST OF THE FUCKING WORLD! and were sent to meet their makers at Nuremberg. Get over it.

Do me a favour dearies - go back to school and learn something useful like genetics. That way you will discover that there is about a 1% difference between us and monkeys and a zero percent difference between you and a nice man called Jesus. Thats is what's so endearing about them. They think Jesus was white. How sweet. Lets think shall we?

Jesus never met a Christian - there were none then. Ergo Jesus was not a Christian.
Jesus came from Nazareth which is now in the Occupied Territories and is populated by Arabs.
Arabs are not white. Therefore you worship a "black guy."- ergo a "rag head" OOOPS.

Jesus said you cannot serve both God and Money. HE DID - NO MATTER WHAT PAT ROBERTSON TELLS YOU! So stop fund raising and spending it on braces to make you teeth perfect. You are supposed to be perfect already. Weird how some of us have naturally perfect teeth and you don't. Flunked out there as well.

I bet you that by the time these two are 20 they will either be junkies or pregnant with Michael Jacksons twins. Relax kids. Your mum will look after them.

How bored must they be to have all this rubbish in their heads. I recommend hard drugs. That way i could have some sympathy for you lunacy. Meanwhile here is a message to all racists.

FUCK OFF! WE WON!

WALLS IN SF

Friday beckons and you should get over to Cafe du Nord to check out Bedroom Walls with Quasi.

It is a real experience.

Album out MAY 23rd

Don't miss the saucy video's

GREG JOHNSON

BRACE YOURSELF

SAVE YOURSELF

Greg's debut US album - Here comes the Caviar is on its way

Out June 6th!
Available at all good stores and online


Greg will be playing the Rivers Festival in Boston and will appear live on WBOS

Glovebox tour USA

It is all kicking off in the USA.

check out the gigs if you can.

They guys are spinning on TV and radio all over the place and are even getting a reaction from cinema audiences. Did you hear the Pirate one hour show in San Fran?

The guys had a nightmare in Vegas when the sound man was stoned and destroyed the Pa before the show - sorry Vegas they will be back!

In San Diego the Beauty Bar went off like a shot and the guys were spotted the next day and asked for autographs even when they were incognito.

Santa Monica we love you - especially the temple bar crowd. major win. Cheers!

Spaceland - what can we say? Youth Grip and Jet in the crowd. Not bad for the first LA gig.

Now it is off to SF and pastures north - instore at Sf next

if you have cable check out logo TV for the ads

see you on the road



Well pleased!

Thanks to everyone.

new deal

I am delighted to say that we are now ready to launch two new records into America.
We have Women in Dosc and BEdroom Walls ready and willing to go!

Excellent!

Better tell you about them I guess.

Women in Docs are very funny and talented ladies from outer Queensland - Australia. In case you didn't know that is further than Mongolia if youlive on the East Coast.

Their stuff is always entertaining and they sing about stuff like suprmarkets and going to Nashville to be stars. In our eyes they are already there.

Then there are the romanticore dreamers in Bedroom Walls. This is music to shag your lover by and then have an illicit afterwards smoke.

What do they have in common - well ostensibly not much but in reality there is something other than great music that joins them together.

It's not friendship, hatred or idiology, superglue or roots.
The thing that keep us togther is Doctor Martins Boots!

(with apologies to Alexei sayle)

manipulation

Right now we are engaged in a big think- tank effort to try and break through the walls of inertia that surround us.

What the hell am I talking about?

Well, you guessed it - viral marketing.

The way things are at the moment we have reached our saturation point in terms of advertisng and all that sort of thing.

The hardest way to get people to listen is to shout and although we have been really nice to everyone they have pretty much given us the run around. So we decided to shout it out from the rooftops.

The trouble was that we can't afford to tip the bellboy that guards the elevator. So no matter how hard we try he won't open the doors for us.

It is all about making friends and that is no easy thing when you live a million miles away and no one ever gets in touch. They call it the tyrany of distance is Australia and they are right. When we get in to work Europe is in bed and East coast cities are all done with the day. California is still awake but that is sometime not a good thing. (IF one more person calls me dude! I haven't even got a ranch.)

Anyhow, here is the state of play. We are trying to figure out how to involve people in the bands we have and get them to give them a chance.

We have asked everyone we can think of and they all say the same damn thing - marketing - but what the #### is that?

What we need to do is to get the message out there that these guys are really different. Idiosyncratic, quirkky, great.
But how do we get past the fact that the entire world is permanetly worn out from adverts and other companies extoling the same thing?

We have a few ideas but to get them we nearly ruptured a blood vessel.

It isn't about trying to manipulate the minds of the public. It is about manipulating the minds of the gate keepers. If they don't let you get in that elevator and make it to the top of the towere you have no chance of ever being heard. What a pin in the proverbial. Somehow we have allowed ourselves to become sheep who only listen to the shepherd.

Trouble is the shepherd is really a voracious wolf who is in business with the abbatoir!

(sorry about the mixed metaphors there!)

Oh bugger it!

Look will you please just go out and buy one or two of our records please.

Talking

Part of being in this business. In fact 99% of being in this business is talking.
The rest is just the gasps between saying something else.

I sometimes wonder if anyone who works in this business ever actually listens to anything at all.

Not just music, but what other people actually say.

We are all supposed to be lover of great music or eclectic music or any music for that matter but recently there seems to have been a lot of gas expended about digital this and that and very little about music itself.

The message has been eaten by the messenger and now we await the explosion that will come when it finally gets expelled.

Take for example SONY, who have just annouced that their main focus is the pod buster.
Now I know I don't run a billion dollar business but I can tell you that Microsoft are making money and GM aren't. Why? Content thats why . Not hardware but software.

Radio is the same. No songs = no listeners - no advertisers -no money -no radio.

When will they ever learn?

Down here in Aus ther aren't even any music shows on TV worth the name - unless you include Idol - which is what most of the people on it were before and since it screened - idle.

And they wonder why kids are bored.

You can't aspire to being a movie star if you are ugly, or a house doctor if you are clueless or even a crime fighter if you get caught stealing cars. But you can be a pop star. Thats why it will never die. It is truly a meritocrasy and no matter what Clear Channel. little Jimmy packer or Rupe "the dupe" Murdoch does about it talent will win out in the end.

Ask Nostradamus if you don't believe me.

super happy funland

Have any of you ever heard of super happy fun land?

Check it out if you haven't - some weird place in Texas that our guys visit occassionally.

As we are booking tours right now I thought it might be anice thing to do to give a few of you some hints on where to look if you are trying to book a tour in the US.

try these:

Venues

Eagle Tavern - San Francisco
Spaceland - LA
Super Happy Funland - TX
Antoines - Austin
Blue Bar - Las Vegas
The Independent - San Francisco
Berts Tiki Lounge - Arizona
Key Club - Los Angeles



That should get you started.

Tell us if you get a show anywhere. Who knows someone might show up.