That's exactly what I was thinking, Wind in the Willows. Yee.

You... like.. Skaterboy???
Oh my goodness.
It feels like a slap in the face for me and my punkier friends, although I suppose we should just get off our high horses, hee.

I like your blog, by the way. You're a musical guru.

The thing with the Streets is that you need to give Mike Skinner the benefit of the doubt, starting out, and then go from there. Much of Original Pirate Material is 'garage' - one of the big UK club genres - with swanky r&b vocals that really grate if you're not willing to have fun with them. there's a thread of seriousness underneath - and wisdom - that's amazing, though. I think you might like "Weak Become Heroes," ram, but maybe not cause it's still too clubby. My faves on the record are "Turn the Page," and "Too Late" (a breakup song), both of which I go on about in my review. "Turn the Page" is the only one Julian enjoys. My friend Anne, meanwhile, only gets a kick out of the silly-and-great "Don't Mug Yourself."

But to each his/her own.

As for Avril... I missed out on most of the media hype, being away from radio, TV and magazines. Consequently, I was left only with the fantastic single that is "Sk8r Boi." Though you say you got a kick out of seeing her in interview, Ram, I had the exact reverse reaction. She seemed to me like a bitchy, self-important brat, and absolutely unlikable. Maybe the truth is somewhere in between?

Also, I used to hate Avril, and I definitely agree with you about her music, but I saw her interviewed and got a kick out of her cute, soft, lispy voice. I think she's honestly just a goofy chick from the backwoods, which has sort of a nice rags-to-riches thing in a way that creepy con-girl Britney doesn't at all. Erg.

If the latter, end the "guilty pleasures" crap. If you like something, declare it in loud voice!

So I downloaded "Complicated" and didn't like it. I agree her voice is really strong, there, but the song was nowhere near as good without the big, juicy guitar riffs. I don't think Avril is a very good interpreter of songs, so the stripped down thing doesn't accentuate her (songwriting) abilities.

Maybe I just don’t understand art, but to me ‘Turn The Page’ sounds like Tricky imitating the “Fitter Happier” robot to the score of a Mitsubishi commercial.
i dunno if its supposed to be like dance music or something, but OPM makes for a shit hip-hop record.

Listen to the first track on Original Pirate Material, "Turn the Page." That is not a heinous piece of crap: it is a work of art.

As for the England=Napanee thing, I'm not really about to disagree, but we can't forget Wales.

word on sonic youth is that they're not coming. their manager was dicking around the promoter (initially he had to talked to someone in the sonic youth camp and they agreed on a price) but the manager called back with more demands/money.

The Great Gig in The Sky is my favorite song from Dark Side. Followed by Time and Us and Them. Foo on people who just listen to Money.

PS: you should really not require an email address to post comments, especially when a URL is entered.

PS: Why is an email address required to post a comment???

PPS: meeeoooow

cheers