Lewis Denby's Webthing

Right

2008-04-17T06:35:00.001-07:00

Right, fucking hell, I will start remembering to write stuff in this thing, I promise.

Not for the faint hearted

2008-02-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

There are no words.

Meanwhile, I'm spending my night-off-due-to-being-poorly trying to find out exactly why one of the bands tonight claimed to have organised a ten-person guestlist with me, when this is blatantly a lie.

Last Year's Good Things

2008-02-05T16:57:00.000-08:00

So, I procrastinate for a month, then realise 2007 wasn't massively interesting anyway. Still, one to keep promises and all that. It's worth noting I'm writing this with man-flu, which means my judgement will probably be clouded and somewhat grumpier than normal. Oh well.

Onwards, then. Usual categories of Denby interest. Winner, and runner-up. Here we go.

ALBUMS
2006's brilliant double-whammy tie of Joanna Newsom's 'Ys' and Guillemots' 'Through the Window Pane' set things up nicely for 2007, but unfortunately things aren't as strong this year. Radiohead's long-awaited self-released effort was very good, but ultimately fell slightly behind its predecessor 'Hail to the Thief'. Likewise, Oceansize's 'Frames' failed to match the beauty of 'Everyone Into Position'. 'The Bedlam in Goliath' by The Mars Volta didn't come out until this month, despite my having picked up a sneaky copy a couple of months back. Napoleon IIIrd's debut offering is bang at the top, but he's a mate, so it's a bit iffy. So it's Kate Nash.

Fuck. That wasn't supposed to happen.

But then, neither was she. Exploding out of nowhere in the earlier half of 2007, Nash released a string of startlingly good pop tunes. The album, Made of Bricks compiles them. There's a couple of naff ones in the mix, but the good ones make up for it. It's like Lily Allen with twice the talent and voice. It's lovely, it's upbeat, and it puts me in a good mood. I really like that in music these days.

Napoleon comes second. But really he won.

Runner-up: Napoleon IIIrd - In Debt To

SINGLES
He's talking at me, he's like, "blah, blah, blah, blah..." But I'm not listening, I'm like, "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah..." - Middleman, and everyone who's ever heard the song, 2007, and forever and ever for all eternity.

Runner-up: Kate Nash - Birds

FILMS
Ooh, a tough one. I missed out on The Darjeling Limited, like a tosser, because I forgot to go see it before its run ended, and my internet's too iffy to download big files. I Am Legend started incredibly, and the first hour would have probably taken the title easily if it weren't for the horrible Hollywood ending. The Golden Compass did things the other way round, with a poorly-paced and nastily glossed opening blossoming into a fantastically epic finale. Oddly, then, we're faced with two pretty straightforward American family comedies as the front runners. Even odder, they're both cartoons.

The Simpsons Movie was always going to be great, and it was always going to disappoint everyone. Pretty standard clause for such a major release from such a fantastic team of writers and animators. Ratatouille, far less prolific until release, was an entirely ordinary Pixar dealie that just happened to do everything loads better than anything else of its kind. Paris, in animated form, has never oozed so much atmosphere and clarity. It's a tough one, and I've reserved judgement until right now. Errm... yeah, The Simpsons Movie it is. Both deserve it, really.

Runner-up: Ratatouille

VIDEOGAMES
I'm breaking the rules to fit a 2006 game into the 2007 list. I'll justify it thusly: I wasn't fortunate enough to play this in the final couple of weeks of last year. In the big Christmas rush I forgot myself, and made little effort until remarkably recently to play this game. And anyway, in every sense of the title, this really was one of 2007's Good Things, a provider of some fabulous times with friends this year. While the shadowy, liquidised suburbs of almost-amazing shoot-em-up Bioshock came close to swaying me back to my senses, I've gone for the 2006 game, just to annoy everyone.

Clearly, it's Wii Sports.

Perhaps the most finely chosen launch title on any platform, ever, Sports succeeds where other games fail by deadening the gap between 'games' and 'real life'. The amount of nights out that have ended by drinking far too much in front of a Wii at 5 in the morning, just trying to prevent reality emerging that little bit longer, is more than I can count, and all were fabulous. Sports makes people run around the living room like a twat, smashing lights and vases and each other in a bizarre attempt to beat up a small blob on a TV screen. It's fabulous. It was released last year, but I don't care.

Runner-up: Bioshock

Feel the riff

2008-02-01T08:49:00.000-08:00

Meeting people at Grove for food in a bit, so just a quick one. DJ Scotch Egg + Bilge Pump + Red Stars Parade + other Benbow silliness tonight at the Brudenell. I'm strangely drawn to inhumanly loud gigs at the moment, though this one should be less noise-orientated than his previous events. The party moves to Trash in town afterwards - come find us.

Tomorrow, a belated Denby Awards 2008. I've been mulling it over in my mind since Christmas, and frankly, last year was rubbish for consumerism, brilliant for experience. So it might be a bit of an anticlimax, but who cares. It's more about me than you, face it.

L x

A quintessentially British blog

2008-01-31T12:21:00.000-08:00

As if it were listening to my every thought, the great weatherman in the sky has transcended from the horrible, grey, sludgy excuse for snow when I awoke, into a full, blue-sky-and-all beautiful winter's day.

In the meantime, Frou Frou.

PAIN

2008-01-30T17:07:00.000-08:00

I return from a metal night at The Library with an even worse headache than the one I arrived with. Shouty music during the peak of a surprising hangover that appeared over 5 hours after I woke up is not the most pleasant of situtions. Tonight was reasonably good though, despite the fact that someone had taken the PA apart for little or no reason so everything was running around half an hour late. I think I'd have quite enjoyed the bands, even, if I wasn't feeling so rotten.

Afterwards, Benbow comes round with Beth and Adrian and we talk about photography and cinema and offensive jokes and Whiskas and Ali from Dance To The Radio. We admire Beth's latest photoshoot for Ant and Dan's band, then we rave about Danny North's picture of James, and then my head feels like it's eaten a tray of poppers and I have to come to bed and watch Red Dwarf before I lose the will to live through this searing pain.

Tomorrow I need to go to the bank to ask why they've deposited the best part of a grand that I thought was missing into a bank account I didn't even know I had until I received the statement for it, so I'm going to set my alarm for some horrible time in the morning in the hope that there's a reasonable chance I get up more than three minutes before I'm due at a lecture.

L x

Return

2008-01-28T17:40:00.000-08:00

Massive long absence from here. Sorry. Lifemess and being busy with various stuff. All back on track now.

Househunting is an absolute arse, and landlords and agencies are evil personified. I wish I were rich so I could buypass the whole renting thing and buy my own place. Don't think that'll happen for a good few years yet, somehow. It's also a bugger with Collette living dahn sahf currently trying to organise viewings and stuff around when she can make it up to Leeds. Hopefully it'll all fall into place soon.

The Jubilee gig was... a gig. A pleasure to share a stage with North and Shuman, certainly, but naturally they cooped themselves away on the tour bus for the majority of it, so we only met them briefly. I was happy to learn that Aaron North is approximately the same height as me. I felt validated by this somehow. Our single's out soon, anyway, and we're playing at Leeds' The Cockpit to launch it. 9th February. Come down if you can.

I need to get my writing head back on, but my creative energy has nosedived since Christmas in particular. Hopefully everything will brighten up soon.

L x

John Trueman RIP

2008-01-04T06:45:00.000-08:00

John Trueman has died.

This is a strange one for anyone involved with the music scene in Leeds. He was an arrogant, greedy, selfish man - often embarrassingly so - who messed up a fair few gigs for a fair few bands on account of his attitude. But he had a certain ridiculous charm about him, and seemed omnipresent in Leeds for many, many years. Essentially, no artist who played at The Cockpit or Josephs Well between 2000 and 2005 would have gone without dealing with him at some point.

He died last night in the LGI after his liver packed in. He'd been ill for some time, largely self-inflicted over the years, and a few days ago it became clear he would not live much longer. Andy (Futuresound) and a few others went to visit the other day and said he was already pretty much gone then. It was only a matter of time.

John was an orphan and was always very secretive about his private life. It is known that he had a brother, but the last I heard was that the hospital had not been able to contact him. I truly hope they have managed to do this now.

He was a weird, abbrasive, awkward and uncomfortably selfish man. I'm pretty sure he would have had no idea who I am. But I'll always remember his ridiculous and often strangely endearing ways. He will be missed by everyone who had ever spoken to him or dealt with him in any way, for a variety of bizarre reasons. As John Keenan said over at Leeds Music Forum, I'm sad he's gone, but desparately hope he doesn't haunt me.

RIP John Trueman, the ultimate unscrupulous music promoter.

But in the meantime

2008-01-02T11:56:00.000-08:00

...there are a load of people in my living room, locked in. I can hear vaguely who's there, but apparently I'm not allowed in for a few minutes. I have a sneaking suspicion this is something to do with my birthday, but I haven't the foggiest what's going on. Help.

Millions of years have passed

2008-01-02T10:43:00.000-08:00

Happy new year, and all that jazz. Usual annual gumph and lists to follow shortly. I need to become alive again after festive death of my brain and liver.

Shock.

2007-12-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

I have some incredible news. Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Right.

The album is pretty much finished.

Christ.

There's some tweaking to do and all that, but all the recording and most of the mixing is all sorted, and I'm busy as a beaver finalising everything as we speak. This has taken around 18 months, a lot of work, and a lot of rewrites/re-recordings to complete, but I think I'm actually pleased with this now, would you believe?!

I'd imagine it'll be out around Feb/March ish. I cannot believe this is finally done.

Secrets and Lies

2007-12-10T03:56:00.000-08:00

So yeah, apologies for being crypic until it was all sorted and confirmed. Blue Sky Project will support Jubilee on January 23rd at Josephs Well, Leeds. Jubilee is co-fronted by Aaron North from Nine Inch Nails and Michael Shuman from Queens of the Stone Age. This is going to be a right gig, but these are also two of our favourite bands in the world. North is Alex's musical hero. We're going to be a tad nervous.

Tickets are £6 in advance and will be onsale soon.

Meanwhile, someone links me to this: 'legal' highs found to contain methcathinone and methamphetamine analogues. Which made me laugh a little bit. Selling modified Class-A drugs on the herbal highs market is rather sinister...

Been in my studio for the past couple of days putting the finishing touches on the music for the album. It's pretty much just vocal stuff that needs to be tweaked now, and it's sounding much more like a decent album than this time last year when I first announced the delay. In another studio on Wednesday to record the Blue Sky Project single, which should be proper bo selecta.

Leeds is secretive. Secret gig on Wednesday night, secret gig on Thursday night, notsecretanymore gig on Friday night. Go to the Cockpit on Wednesday if you want. The Brudenell on Thursday might be worth a look. On Friday at the same venue, it's Forward Russia, of course. I'll be there, drunk and disorderly.

BSP support gig in January

2007-12-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

On the 23rd. I'm not nervous. It's not like they're in Nine Inch Nails and Queens of the Stone Age or anything...

DIE3

2007-12-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

Noah Brown, of Baby Food and Yes Boss fame, delivers what has to be the scariest spoken word set ever witnessed, and the moderate crowd in attendance doesn't seem sure whether to collapse in fits of giggles or head promptly for the fire exit. From a list of horrendous insults ('your grandparents hate you, and desperately hope they outlive you!'), to a painfully sarcastic engagement congratulation, to a fondly-recited tale about 'smashing the f*ck' out of a swan, it's highly engaging throughout, and Noah delivers it with enough clarity - and just the right amount of insanity - to keep the room captivated until the end.

Review of Benbow's ridiculous event for Contact Music. One of the most challenging reviews in memory to approach, but I think I've pulled it off with just the right amount of absolute, pure confusion.

Seethrough

2007-12-03T18:46:00.000-08:00

So you say you always try to be seethrough... but who can't see you in that cape you wear?
So you say you always shout at the cynics... but what's a cynic if it isn't you?

New single available to stream on Myspace. Enjoy! Particularly pleased with how big this thing sounds. Cheers once again to Hooters for the backing vocals.

Weddings, songs and kids in Q.

2007-12-02T16:17:00.000-08:00

So the fuckers actually got married!

Not that we were expecting otherwise. It's just one of those things that you never feel like it's properly real. It's weird - I'm still young, really, but getting to the age where some of my friends are starting to pair off... you know, properly pair off, as in 'going to be together for the rest of our lives' sort of pairing off.

And heck, Collette and I have been together for well over two years now. Christ. If anyone turns into her mother and repeatedly says "it'll be you next..." I will kick your features.

It was a lovely day, of course, and well worth the horrendous journey down (why National Express allowed the coach to break down THREE TIMES before sending a replacement is beyond me; the hour-long traffic jam should have been par for the course, really, as should missing the train by a matter of minutes). The reception was divine, with some of the best Chinese food I've sampled, and Collette's priceless comment in the pub later on of "I wonder what Amy and Adam are doing right now..." will have me giggling like a twat every time I remember it.

(It's worth mentioning the lovely music at the registary office, actually: Amy - accompanied by her father and Collette - came down the aisle to a string band version of Everlong by the Foo Fighters, with pizzicato violins/violas (still can't identify them by sound without comparing directly) playing the guitar part. Very lovely, and a nice 'personal' touch to the event.)

*

Reading Q Mag on the way back led me to take in a particularly interesting piece about children in music. Underage Club and All Ages Concerts were interviewed, as were a couple of teeny bands knocking about the scene at the moment. One thing struck the writer and myself: these are all upper-middle-class, rich-parented, musically-pushed mid- to late- teens that quite clearly were always going to be pretty prolific in terms of music. From the latest addition to the McColls, to various privately-educated, stage-school backgrounded fashion toys - almost all from London's more pleasant areas - there's a slightly unnerving trend going on. The article stopped there, but it got me thinking about how disappointingly clinical it all is, how restricted and restricting, and how many incredibly talented artists must be being overlooked. I started writing music from a very early age, and I'm by no means a musical genius. Many people are. I want to hear them. SEND ME THE CHILDREN.

Seriously, though, it's inspired me to look beyond the Myspace ads that daddy paid for, an actually try to seek out some real young musical talent in Britain. If I find any - and I'm sure I will, with enough searching - I'll be sure to post it here.

*

The album's coming along nicely.

A list of words to use less in reviews:

2007-11-29T09:20:00.000-08:00

- notably
- contrived
- indie-x (where x=rock/pop/metal/jazz/funk/bauhaus etc)
- throughout

More, no doubt, will follow.

Out of our depth...

2007-11-27T07:32:00.000-08:00

Ah cack, we're playing the main room at Rio's (1000 capacity) on 22nd December then headlining the Cockpit (600 capacity) on 9th February.

Please will people come to these so we don't look like utter cockheads?

Shrooms

2007-11-26T05:14:00.001-08:00

I did tell you all, didn't I?

Spazzed Photography Crash Course

2007-11-26T01:50:00.000-08:00

Reminiscing, I browse through Leeds Festival photos taken by James Brown. Hidden amongst a load of generic drunken horribleness are the following absolute gems. James B dressed as a robot for some reason; yours, quadrospazzed on a lifeglug, while Drew and Benbow look on oblivious; Catalyst rubbing his nipples (apparently, much to my pleasure); and - most spectacularly - a terrified Chris Kelly being attacked by Harrison's bosom while James M, the celeb that he is, simply poses for the camera. The less said about any of them, the better.

Moving blogs, sort of.

2007-11-25T15:04:00.000-08:00

Fed up of the limitations of Myspace, I've decided to move my blogging purposes over here. I'm going to cross-post for now, simply because it's an easier transition, but Myspace's blogging stuff is pretty rubbish and annoying, and not everyone uses Myspace and all that, so it just makes a great deal more sense to blog here, install Haloscan for comments, and see what happens. Do me proud by reading and commenting like good children. Feed my ego, bitches.

Does anyone have Blogspots as such any more? I'm not entirely sure. I don't know what happened to most of the old blogging crowd (Adam, Ben, the Jameses and that lot) really. Adam, you're probably the only one I keep in touch with these days. What's the dealio?

This is a short blog due to meeting Ruth for (a rather late) lunch. Au revoir.

L x