Read About My Life! I Promise It's Interesting!

An addendum to my last post, that also ties nicely into an update on my recent goings-on: last week I also bought the debut album by a band called Dutch Uncles.

I bought it because I saw them playing at the Rough Trade RoTa afternoons, which are at Notting Hill Arts Club every Saturday, and are free. Hooray! Dutch Uncles and the band after them, It Hugs Back, were both really good which made up for traipsing all the way down the Old Kent Road, sometimes in the rain for a gig in a disused car showroom earlier in the day, which turned out to be sold out. Damn you, East London.

In similar gig-related news I saw The Fall at Koko on Wednesday. I was hoping a good gig on the 1st of April would set the tone for the rest of the month. (Sadly, this wasn't quite the case as I ended up not being able to get into The Field on Friday - seriously, East London, what have I ever done to you?).

I ended up going on my own (first time at a gig, as well) and turned up quite late, although I caught about 10 minutes of the weird video artist they have supporting them on this tour. As for The Fall, they were really good. Much better sound than the last time I saw them, which was surprising given Koko's reputation for shit sound. Mark E Smith was in a wheelchair, due to breaking his hip about 6 weeks ago *insert 'Hip Priest' joke here*. This didn't stop him wheeling himself around the stage, fiddling with the amps as usual and nor did it stop him singing the last 3 songs offtstage, for whatever reason. They also played a few new songs, which sounded really good, so I'm hopeful for the new album in June.

In terms of bands I'm actually in, I think I'm pretty much in the Reading-based band for sure now, which is awesome. The almost full band practice went really well, and I have some rough live demos which sound pretty decent. I'm also having a jam with one of the guitarists from The Quatermass Experiment tomorrow, so hopefully something more noisy and experimental will come out of that. My musical life seems basically good at present, all in all.

Now to get on with reviews...