The Weather Outside is Frightful

Listening to Let In Snow with a 30 degree heat and sunshine is a first for me. Just out of the time warp that is the Reunification Palace where the North conquered Saigon. And saw my first statue of Uncle Ho (seen below)

Scatterbrained

The morning after a long flight - while we're awake, it feels like an out of body experience as the brain adapts to a 7 hour time difference. Waking up to the sounds of horns and cockerels and the smell of incense from a nearby pagoda. Glasgow it ain't! Now fuelled up on coffee and dim sum (for breakfast!!) and ready to tackle Saigon.

Ho Chi Minh City

Have arrived in Vietnam's biggest city, and it has certainly lived up to its reputation for taking your life in your hands when crossing the street. But the buzz in this place is mental. Had two bowls of Pho (one with pig trotters) for £2.50, and then four large lagers for 40p each, sitting on the road amongst a throng of folk watching the world go by. I'm going to like this place!

Blowing away the cobwebs

Well the haggis is a bit spoiled and the maple syrup a bit crystallised but the old blog is still active much to my surprise. So given that I'm off to Southeast Asia for several weeks I figure why not give the old girl another go. Even if it will only be read by my Mom.
So I'm in Dubai waiting 9 hours for the next flight. Splurged and got a hotel for 6 hours (a hotel charging by the hour!) and having a cognac to try and knock myself out for a few hours kip. And then off to Ho Chi Minh City in the morning!

Post-Xmas

Hard to believe that's over already - I was just starting to get into the spirit of things, but now it's pressies opened and wrapping paper put away until next time mixed with a mild hangover. Reality never really can match the hype can it?

And our pal Malcolm didn't even crack the Top 30. Still a great track though. A few more Christmas tracks for the road then...

The Research - For Christmas (I Got Pityriasis Rosea)

Super Furry Animals - The Gift That Keeps Giving



Hope everybody had a good one!

Christmas Number One

While most would agree that music charts don't mean too much in the download era, it hasn't tempered the hype that surrounds the grand British tradition of the Christmas Number One. Every year, a series of disposable pop songs are released the week before the 25th to determine who gets the crown. For the last several years it has always been the winner of that oh-so awful "talent" show The X Factor. However, the dark horse this year is Falkirk's own Malcolm Middleton with possibly the best Christmas single ever (other than Wham's Last Christmas of course). I've already bought my copy - fingers crossed!



On a related note, does anybody else think that the lyrics to Do They Know It's Christmas are incredibly condescending? Just asking.

I Heart Jens Lekman

I recently went to see Josh Rouse play at the QMU, and while the guy is pretty good, I felt like I was crashing a party since I was really there to see a rare UK performance by the brilliant Jens Lekman. I can safely say his "Night Falls Over Kortedala" was my favourite and most-played album of the year. What's not to like: the crooner voice with a hint of a Swedish accent, the samples of old pop songs, the unexpected beats, and the lyrics! He's like the indie-pop Buck 65 with the stories he tells, such as "And you pick up your asthma inhaler and put it against your lips/oh those lips I loved, that I was dreaming of, they're still red and soft, I'm so sorry I didn't love you enough". Funny, cute and poignant at the same time.

Somehow he was even better live, in this case just him and a guitar and a blonde playing bongos. Half an hour was just a tease. Might have to make a wee trip to the continent to catch him in his own show.

Thirty

The big 3-0 has now come and gone, and while I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, I'm amazed how little it fazed me and how much I feel exactly the same as I did beforehand (I can already hear the chorus of "surprise surprise"). Being Mr. Melodrama, I'd dreaded this birthday more than most. While I certainly expected a barrage of old man jokes (and I wasn't disappointed), I was surprised and quite touched over the fuss my friends made on the day. The O.T.T. song and dance stuff tends to make me cringe even when I'm not the recipient, but I found myself going with the flow this time and actually ended up enjoying myself. And being this time of year, the day itself blended into a series of Xmas parties. The result was a truly surreal weekend which covered most of Central Scotland, from a concert featuring a mate's band to Fife nightclubbing to Jamiroquai impressionists in Queensferry to drunken ballroom dancing in Edinburgh to Greek Zorbas dancing in Glasgow. And lots of stories that probably wouldn't be very funny unless you were there.

So thanks everybody, it was appreciated!

Electric Soft Parade @ King Tuts

ESP is another one of those underrated bands who have been putting out quality tunes for quite some time now (yet still only in their 20's) and really deserve to be seen and heard by more people. That said, those who were there were up for it and had the chance to see their latest album "No Need To Be Downhearted" from start to finish, plus a few classics. Great stuff, and bonus points for being on a Saturday (which means I could justify a few extra pints). Apparently Sophie Ellis Bextor was in the crowd too. How in the hell did I not notice her?

Excellent support from Paul Steel and his band. I'd honestly never heard of them before, but they were fantastic. My initial reaction was Guillemots-esque with some Pipettes style female backing vocals. And some sweet synth.

Anyway, video for ESP's latest single if interested!

The Hoosiers @ King Tuts

First clocked these guys during the summer. The music, vocals and lyrics were all such a breath of fresh air from the boring indie-rock clones that have been sprouting up this year.

We ended up getting tickets to see them at the relatively small King Tuts for a mere 6 quid. Since then, they've become pretty massive with two big singles and the album debuting at number one. They've already booked a new tour playing venues four times the size, so it was pretty cool getting to see them up-close now in what could be a "I saw them back when" moment. Pretty short set as they don't have much material as yet, but highly entertaining. You can't help but notice how much the lead singer looks like Ben Stiller on speed, and the drummer like Borat with long hair. As a reviewer said in the paper, these guys are going to be huge during festival season with their sing-a-long choruses.

Don't think they've worked their way over to Canada as yet, so for those who I haven't already sent this to, I present the brilliant Goodbye Mr A. This track will end up my most loved (and played, according to the iTunes count) song of 2007.



I've heard it said this track has a bit in common with Mr. Blue Sky by E.L.O. Chased down some of their classic stuff, and guess what, it's pretty bloody good!