Why stuff is important, part 2: Rough Bunnies

If I could build a time-machine (it's just laziness that stops me), I'd go back to before the Rough Bunnies proper website disappeared and read and re-read that brilliant bit in their news section that said "Sorry you can't buy our cds anymore - Anna's mum's computer broke down and we lost all our music". I was crying and laughing at the same time because I was thinking, well, I can't buy them which is shit but ha! what a way to go. And so they went.

Last night I came back from the pub, tipsy and rain-soaked, and put Inside Riot on who are my Ramones. They play and play and play, relentlessly and with determination, some average songs, some songs that make the world absolutely bloody beautiful but every single one of them gave me a reason to smile and feel defiant. That's because they symbolise to me everything that's fantastic about indiepop and thinking about that makes me feel invincible every time.

Doing things, engaging, having strong principles, making an effort, not being scared to hug some people and tell some others to fuck off. Those things are even more important than the music. Do you see what I mean? Not the music itself but the idea of the music. This is not some cute art project that you take on, study thoroughly and then present to the world for consumption and admiration. This is the way in which we live our life and the music is a result of those things. It's also the reason we get together but it comes second. No, first. No! Second! First! What I mean is, if you put a gig with great bands on, see that's not necessarily a popshow. If you play some great records, see that's not enough. It's important that all this is done within a context. Some people say 'scene' is a dirty word but our scene was created out of sheer urgency. Like Jamie said, it's something we need to do. It's important that we do it randomly and without a plan and without fear. That perfection which comes out of randomness and panic about the end of the world, or half the bands cancelling on you, or the Guardian getting indiepop wrong again, that perfection is impossible to create. It just creates itself from our faffing around, and we get to live it if we are lucky. The same way Rough Bunnies did their music! The same way that 'What a World' came to be.

Read about Rough Bunnies/Inside Riot here. Read it, go on - it's great.

Podcast #10: The joy of pop

We have Indietracks and we have Bristol and we have trains that take us there and harbours to sit by, and we have cups of tea and cheeky bottles of vodka, and so everything that's impossible and heavy and scary gets drowned in those and the joy of pop.

What? It's true.

You can download the new podcast here (38 MB)

Tracklisting (33' 38")

Henry's Dress - Definitely nothing
First Base - I'll be your hangover
Vanilla Ride - Rocket bicycle
The Mayfair Set - Desert fun
Standard Fare - 15 (Nothing happened)
The Hi-Life Companion - Jenny and Bill
Cheap Red - Unlucky in love
The Wendy Darlings - Eleasy
Love Dance - When you're with him
Stars of Aviation - Herman Dune slept on my floor
The Specific Heats - Are you for real Mehgan O'Neill?
South Ambulance - Davy Crockett
Figurine - pswdstdum

A lifetime of pain dramatically punctuated with occasional ecstasy

London can be horrible. If you’re not feeling too good and life has taken a funny turn or two, it can be an almost unbearable place to live. It’s always packed, hasty, rude and stressful but most of the time I can forgive it because it gives me thrills that I can’t imagine ever getting anywhere else in such quick succession. But carrying a heavy heart and an anxious head around in rainy, dirty bus stops and crowded trains is enough to make me think of impossible moves around the country and an easier life that I’ve no idea how to even picture.

But can I really complain when my hair smells of almond?

Devine & Statton - Ugly Town (mp3, 6 MB)

Podcast #9: What matters most

I think tonight I know what matters most and I made a new podcast so I don't forget. You can download it here (35 MB).

Tracklisting (38' 34")

Pale Saints - You tear the world in two
Girl Alliance - The train to school
The Yesterday Sky - A winter's dawn
My Favorite - Burning hearts
Mousefolk - Don't let me slip away
Betty and the Werewolves - The party
The Give It Ups - Make and do
Mascot Fight - Danger man
Paisley - I'm right here
Pants Yell! - Alison Statton
Dead Famous People - Postcard from paradise
Je Suis Animal - Secret place
Sylvan - We don't belong

I would rather wait until it's all too late

If there's one time in my life I look back to with a fondness that borders on n*stalgia, it's the early to mid-1990s when Greek indiepop was carrying me around the way that indiepop does now: a huge wave of fun, unstoppable and sincere, part of nothing and connected to everything. I made so many friends back then, exchanged a ridiculous amount of mixed tapes, went to all the popshows, thought it was forever. But it was all over before we knew it and the sparkle didn't just fade away; it evaporated. Hardly anyone remembers what happened back then but when I put a Kissamatic Lovebubbles song on, my heart flutters at the memory of their drunken gigs, Vassilis singing down his microphone as if the end of the world was imminent, and the wonders of Sarah and Heaven Records didn't seem so far away because we had it all there before us. Of course, Greek indiepop didn't suddenly appear in the 90s and things have picked up again in the last few years. But there is something in the sound of those bands I saw back then that makes my sense of having witnessed something special more and more intense as time goes by.

From Fantastic Something to something fantastic. Here's a short Greek indiepop mix. Hope you like it.

Download the mix (zipped mp3s, 41 MB)

One Night Suzan - Until
Impossible Tymes - Dreambrushpaint
The Occassional Flickers - A word of a friend
Starblind - Crush on you
Next Time Passions - Untitled
Kissamatic Lovebubbles - Roxanne
The Happy Balloon - Always you
Fantastic Something - If she doesn't smile
The Jaywalkers - (You can't be) happy all the time
Pillow - Pure pure pure
Raining Pleasure - Capricorn

Lalalalondon popfest

So what's everyone doing at the end of February?

This last week has been all about finally starting to tell the world about our little pop secret and it's such a relief to make it real and see everyone getting so excited. We have friends travelling from all over to be here which makes me feel scared, proud and happy in equal 33.3333% measures. I hope the tube is working that weekend. I hope everyone shows up like they said they would. I hope everyone has a smile on their face.

If you'd told me 10 years ago that I'd be able to play a small part in doing things like this, I'd have built a time machine to make it all go faster. The question is, would I have skipped the part where I got mildly obsessed with an ELO song?

The Hit Parade, 'I Get So Sentimental'

Podcast #8: Christmas pop sparkle

Today's crazy wind and ruthless rain couldn't take the sparkle away. I haven't decorated or anything but my fairy lights are twinkling all around me and I'm smiling. This podcast is not just about the joy of it all, but don't we all love a good weepy Christmas song? And snow songs are the best.

Download it here (30 MB)

Tracklisting (32' 43")

Tomorrow's World - I don't intend to spend Christmas without you
Pocketbooks - Christmas in your sights
My First Keyboard - Christmas is only good if you're a girl (boy)
Action Biker - Frosty snow winter
Dennis Driscoll - It's snowing
The Middle Ones - Christmas (baby, please come home)
Nixon - Anorak Christmas
The Long Blondes - Christmas is cancelled
Eux Autres - Another Christmas at home
Brighter - Christmas
The Tidy Ups - Snow song
The Aislers Set - Christmas song

Pop+Christmas=♥

Shine like stars

London can be frustrating: for one, it's nowhere near Oliver; then it's enormous and I can't even sneak out of work in town to go see the Pains of Being Pure at Heart play an in-store show in Shoreditch; and finally, it's got pubs where you can't get pissed for less than £200. But on Tuesday night, after a depressing day at work, I was walking down Brixton Hill in the freezing cold, hands in pockets, and as I turned right to get to the Windmill, it occurred to me that for most people this was just another Tuesday night and for me it was the Tuesday night I was going to see Vivian Girls, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (unexpectedly!) and Betty and the Werewolves, just 20 minutes away from my flat, safe from the hipsters, surrounded by friends, practically submerged in reasonably-priced vodka. It was amazing, my head's still buzzing, even now. Two hours' worth of pop moments felt and understood so deeply, smiled so widely, danced so hard - all this means that I need to love London forever.

Here's another lovely song for Olliepops, a little story about the bright things he's bound to see in his life:

Airport Girl, 'Shine Like Stars'

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

My best friend and his girlfriend had their gorgeous baby boy today and I'm speechless with joy and amazement. The world is just about the loveliest it's ever been and I don't know what to do with myself!

Here's a brilliant song to celebrate the birth of sparklybaby! Have a drink for him as well - I just had loads :)

Aerospace, 'Pink Boy, Blue Girl'

"Sometimes I can't tell providence from the timetable of my train"

Stood in a corner in a tea shop in Nottingham on Sunday, I thought I was dreaming when I heard this.

Everything will be OK. It may not feel like it today but we are winning our small battles with sadness every time we listen to a popsong, even a sad one.