tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30059698146854001672011-09-09T13:11:15.406+01:00Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.comBlogger651100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-73643215259914291282010-12-12T14:59:00.025Z2010-12-13T17:26:40.227Z

The police over here have just released photos of 14 people who, they claim, contributed to the violence that occurred at last Thursday's student protests. And so the witch-hunt begins. Here, look, here are some more people to stare at. Aren't they beautiful?The slowness and quietness with which this new movement has taken shape is wondrous. It took over a decade of reality TV. Oh, but it must

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-54428600029377458352010-08-03T13:44:00.009+01:002010-08-03T15:48:14.536+01:00

Tonight after work, I'm heading to our monthly pub club (where a bunch of us go to the pub and sit there until we're kicked out). It's an Indietracks Comedown Special and it's not coming a moment too soon: round 2 of my Indietracks comedown hit me good and proper on Sunday night; that slow sorrow that lingers for ages when you realise that, come Monday morning, you become once again a bundle of

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-34601410075820503392009-12-06T20:17:00.001Z2009-12-06T21:00:51.728Z

This podcast is as much for anyone reading this blog as it is for me, to help drag myself away from the radiant sadness of the Withered Hand album and that phenomenal video of Linton singing and banging the drums at the Slumberland 20th anniversary show.You can download it here (34 MB)Tracklisting (29' 45")Boyracer - Final dayEggplant - Candy floss conspiracyLaura Watling - Let's goGaze - Peeking

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-10154724423886998192009-10-19T10:54:00.009+01:002009-10-19T12:45:58.966+01:00

Having no music to listen to on a four-hour train journey is a terrible tragedy. But this time I was travelling on the right side of the afternoon; and because my train was going up and down the Midlands, as some trains tend to do these days, I was looking at familiar fields and forgotten railway stations getting showered with the disappearing sunshine, that last bit of bright light before it all

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-411610367114512522009-10-02T06:18:00.009+01:002009-10-05T17:38:48.764+01:00

I remember the time and the place and the feeling - that's what's so mad about this record. It was a dark winter afternoon back in the 20th century when I went to Pilgrim, the only indie record shop in Athens, for the tenth time in as many dark winter afternoons and finally, finally they had received the stock from Sarah despite the general strike.It used to take me about an hour and a half to

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-19999981747066282232009-07-31T15:24:00.004+01:002009-07-31T15:42:32.829+01:00

Last night I was in the pub with Dave waiting for Ian to show up. When he did, he pulled the stool, sat down and said "Fucking hell, this is worse than ever before". He didn't even say hello. Our marathon stroll down memory lane (five days is a long time) included Dave getting up and doing a John Travolta dance, Ian pulling the festival programme out of his bag and going through the schedule, and

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-81675573107489351282009-07-17T06:20:00.003+01:002009-09-25T12:37:02.121+01:00

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

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-49937610249450288402009-07-09T01:15:00.001+01:002009-07-09T15:43:15.324+01:00

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 nothingFirst Base - I'll be your

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-77447117400678204942009-04-17T14:39:00.005+01:002009-04-17T15:48:51.978+01:00

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

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-67078881585469621192009-02-08T23:07:00.003Z2009-02-08T23:23:12.093Z

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 twoGirl Alliance - The train to schoolThe Yesterday Sky - A winter's dawnMy Favorite - Burning heartsMousefolk - Don't let me slip awayBetty and the Werewolves - The partyThe Give It Ups - Make and doMascot Fight - Danger

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-37131222155779671032009-01-26T13:35:00.004Z2009-01-26T15:36:09.855Z

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

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-76211248175368466922009-01-18T11:32:00.007Z2009-01-18T16:05:25.392Z

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

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-59731339686860632902008-12-13T21:37:00.011Z2008-12-18T23:58:59.383Z

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

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-72139152219243081682008-12-04T14:32:00.011Z2008-12-04T22:51:31.885Z

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

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-36631997367264689302008-11-29T21:43:00.011Z2008-11-30T17:17:01.583Z

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'

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-48313114833693455762008-11-20T19:36:00.005Z2008-11-20T20:30:53.705Z

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.

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-58213682969805641362008-11-14T22:54:00.011Z2008-12-14T09:48:43.668Z

You don't want to be anywhere near me when I'm listening to these songs. Or, I dunno, maybe you do.Download it here (25 MB)Tracklisting (31' 22")The Orchids - I was just dreamingTiny Microphone - You disappearSlumber Party - Never againTompot Blenny - Thinking of ways of keeping you warmSecret Shine - Deep thinkerThe Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Come SaturdayPipas - BarbapapaThe Bird and the

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-30786436869357699102008-11-12T11:28:00.003Z2008-11-12T22:25:49.541Z

Suddenly there is this, the cutely-named Indiepopedia, a project started by Roque off that dreamy Cloudberry place. It looks lovely and I can’t wait to see it become big and exciting, a great companion to the Tweenet database (which was my Internet when I first logged in, in 1997. I didn’t care about anything else!).For now though, I can’t even think about helping out or contributing anything. I

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-13843445728473039192008-11-03T22:52:00.006Z2008-11-04T09:00:33.255Z

The drive past the docks in Grimsby must be breaking the hearts of every single person entering the town. You've come all the way on the noisily unrewarding A180 just to be faced with a pile of derelict buildings left to be eaten by rust and grey skies. It's a hopeless sight. A town at the edge of not quite the county everyone thinks it's in, with its one amazing gift, the sea, being taken away

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-69116138225120096052008-10-14T20:24:00.008+01:002008-10-16T00:04:23.178+01:00

A friend of mine was blogging the other day about his new indiepop dance night, wondering why he felt deflated during the second one of those. Earlier that day I was having a look at the playlist from that night and swooning because it was one marvellous song after another and, as I've really missed dancing with abandon, I was imagining myself there that night, imagining the breathlessness and

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-69112055302763499982008-09-01T00:13:00.003+01:002008-09-01T00:55:14.689+01:00

Go on, dance!One of my favourite things about living in a top floor flat and not being overlooked is that I can dance around without anyone noticing. Apart from the kitchen - I've had the neighbours watching me there before (they liked it). But yes, it really is great and it makes me even happier than seeing people smiling to themselves in the street, which I think it's the loveliest thing of

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-24427779700894633362008-08-30T21:27:00.003+01:002008-08-31T11:21:23.954+01:00

I need to do a new podcast, listen to a gazillion seven-inches that I haven't had time to even look at since they arrived in the post, reply to friends' emails, think of where to put all those books that are coming from Brussels via Athens, learn computer geekery and understand what happens in cricket (again). I hate how much time jobs steal from us and how they make our brains shrink. My memory

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-89160921526026911362008-08-11T21:44:00.005+01:002008-08-11T22:29:56.770+01:00

The Deirdres are not a band: they are a precious poetic ideal and a vulnerable one at that. Something to be protected and cherished; something that sits outside reality. There is no calculation in what they do. Their songs are systems of resistance and those of us who dance around at their shows become part of that moment when intelligence and nonsense are finally one, as they should be, and the

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-90130217592426061202008-07-31T14:03:00.007+01:002008-07-31T15:54:25.777+01:00

Everyone's reading fanzines in the morning at the campsite, fried bread and baked beans, taking 20 minutes to walk 10 feet because of all the hugs, veggie burger and a cup of tea at the café, surrounded by friends, pretty Swedish girls hanging out in the toilets, Colin Clary's hips and Max's crazy barytone voice, David dancing, Stuart asks The Smittens to play one more song, Amy's felt badges (I

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-13041369538299621962008-07-29T13:27:00.010+01:002008-07-31T09:10:02.953+01:00

I don't know how we can get away with Indietracks. It's so removed from everything we know real life to be and even further removed from what escapist fun is to most people. It can't even be called escapism because there is no real attempt to create a separate reality. It just is what it is in the most effortless way. I guess I am answering my own question here.There is no easy way to describe

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-58214244825891799742008-06-19T23:10:00.002+01:002008-06-20T00:08:55.472+01:00

When I was seventeen (which, as it happens, was seventeen years ago) my letters to Amelia Fletcher and Matt Haynes were filled with really moving stories about how lonely it felt to be an indiepop kid in Athens. So maybe I was hoping they would feel sorry for me and send me some free records but mostly I was being honest. It was a loneliness in numbers because there were quite a few of us - but

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-22328229997253219822008-05-12T23:11:00.001+01:002008-05-13T00:16:49.949+01:00

I can't stand the heat (another allergic reaction I get to anything remotely related to Greece!) but I love the sunshine and its lazy ways and how it makes you a bit cheeky and silly. I love its hopefulness and the ice cream. I love how it makes water taste like nectar and how it won't let me go to sleep. I love seeing things in it, things that look unimportant under any other light. I love how

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-54720026243492372022008-04-26T22:52:00.008+01:002008-04-27T00:17:06.781+01:00

Today I opened all my windows, stayed in bed until stupid late watching indiepop videos on Youtube, went for a lovely walk in the sweet afternoon sunshine, fed some squirrels, made a leek and potato hotpot and an apple and pear crumble, and remembered Gilroy - the band of Cathy off Heavenly and Paul from the McTells. You won't really find much about them on the old Google (not even on Twee Net;

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-8352201219945026382008-04-21T19:25:00.006+01:002008-04-22T00:05:49.905+01:00

Sitting with my back to a room full of lovely people on Sunday night in Sheffield, I was picturing them smiling. I wanted to turn around and look at someone and smile back, and I wanted to whisper "How ace is that?!" so I could feel a bit less alone (or noticeable) in my wide-eyed amazement. I mean, you know, I've been to a lot of amazing popshows but every single moment on Sunday night was

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-51489305777954359292008-04-19T08:11:00.003+01:002008-04-19T08:41:29.896+01:00

God bless My Darling YOU! and their brilliant titles.In the absence of spring, one has to find other ways to keep going. I book train tickets. Having gone through a really dark patch recently, I've decided I'd rather exhaust myself by jumping on trains at every opportunity to see pop and people than wallow in misery. The little bookshelf in the spare room where I keep all the tickets is now

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-38945688538478684832008-04-03T00:27:00.000+01:002008-04-03T00:28:28.723+01:00

I think my brain is about to explode. I don't think I've ever needed to have fun more than I do now.

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-37201452571523488402008-03-17T11:58:00.009Z2008-03-17T15:10:42.497Z

This podcast is about love. It's something I don't really talk about much but indiepop songs help me figure it all out - how teenage of me. It's true though: I am a pretty simple person and love still bemuses me and makes me hysterical and helpless. Some of the songs on this podcast mean a lot to me (like 'The Red Door') and others are there because their viewpoint surprised me (like 'Fun to

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-88291042314580017012008-03-03T12:34:00.006Z2008-03-03T13:51:04.398Z

Hee! Aw, Peggy...Our split single is officially out in a couple of weeks but we've already sold almost half the copies on pre-orders and at the Pobpah popshows. I am deliriously happy. Not because they are going so fast (I can't keep up, make it stop) but because I've just lived through that excitement and I know every single pixel of it, I know where it comes from and where it's going. Seeing

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-78208749387693290982008-02-28T00:29:00.006Z2008-11-13T16:34:24.652Z

If I were to die in my sleep tonight, that'd be fine. I am not scared, I wouldn't protest. There was a moment at about 2am on Tuesday morning, when I was dancing and playing some giraffe-shaped castanets just as Alex, Kip, Kurt and Peggy of the Pains of Being Pure at Heart finally walked through the door of Jaynie's flat and the rest of us were playing them the daft song we've been writing for

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-25310585581912995062008-02-08T15:19:00.000Z2008-02-08T15:43:05.346Z

With my computer healthy enough again to play more than two songs without crashing, with the sun shining brightly, with thoughts of bare feet tempted by the sea, here is my third podcast. It's music I wanted to listen to this morning and that's about as far as I got with a themePop!Download it here (35 MB). I am off to eat a clementine.Tracklisting (36'13")Pencil Tin - PoignantPocketbooks - Don't

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-29127447951173264272008-01-31T21:25:00.000Z2008-02-01T10:23:46.127Z

Some people wear music snobbery like a badge. A worn-out, badge of course, not one of those shiny brand new ones - ugh. They constantly proclaim their love for the obscure and their dismissal of the mainstream. They accuse their friends of being lazy with their music choices. Oh and they laugh about it and say that in the end it's all in the name of fun and yes, music taste is personal and no,

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-38708563567103460442008-01-21T23:28:00.000Z2008-01-22T00:38:31.739Z

First of all, here is an mp3: it's one of my favourite songs of all time and as I am not one for end-of-year lists or polls or anything that makes you compare and contrast when you should be dancing or daydreaming, I thought I'd post a song that doesn't make me nostalgic or even particularly happy. It just makes me swoon.Red Sleeping Beauty, 'You're the Kind' (.mp3)As I am sitting in silence in

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-28169504424156473202007-12-28T23:07:00.000Z2007-12-29T00:36:56.054Z

I'll tell you what, kids. If you want to have a go at being romantic, don't start hanging out on railway platforms on cold winter mornings for longer than what is absolutely necessary, or you might end up spending your entire Christmas holiday passing out in the bath, with a body temperature of over 40°C, mind-blowing hallucinations, no food and, more importantly, no pop. It's my fourth day of

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-88816635810760386032007-12-16T00:25:00.000Z2007-12-16T10:51:15.356Z

On Friday I was standing on a cold platform in Hertfordshire waiting for a train to London when I burst into tears. Then a Royal Mail train whizzed by and dried my tears away, bless its lovely red carriages.In less geeky news (but only just) this is my second podcast, made up with popsongs that last 70 seconds or less. It has moments of loudness, moments of fun, moments of perfect anticlimax and

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-57157851424724028462007-12-10T18:08:00.001Z2007-12-10T20:44:26.700Z

Me and Mr Honeypop often have cute rows about music. We start talking about a band and this will sometimes evolve into a plate-throwing, divorce-inducing, full-blown fight about what indiepop means. For years and years, there was no question that what brought us together was our shared love for the genre but as we've been together forever, we are now finding that there might be types of indiepop

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-90276899476902170162007-11-27T18:32:00.001Z2009-12-07T16:16:58.377Z

My first podcast, brought to you by a day spent at home, in absolute silence.Download the file here (37 MB) and please forgive the awful sound. I am rubbish at Audacity.Tracklisting (38'10")Helen Love - I love indie popTown Bike - Trouble fucken rocksThe Tony Head Experience - Debbie oneBis - Starbright boyAll Girl Summer Fun Band - Tour heart throbBunnygrunt - Inanimate objectsShop Assistants -

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-41281115849522770662007-11-26T11:40:00.002Z2010-01-19T14:02:31.651Z

Back in 1995, I spent nearly a whole day in April sitting on the bed next to Jason, singer/guitarist of Vicarage Garden, who was suffering from a massive hangover. Vicarage Garden had just played their second show in Athens and I was interviewing him for my fanzine. It was miserable outside and I couldn't face going back home on the bus, so I sat there talking to Jason for ages while the

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-82247073172300511602007-11-16T20:10:00.000Z2007-11-16T20:18:36.227Z

When I am sitting here trying really hard to convince myself that in a few days everything will seem a lot better and, y'know, it's all fine really, it's only a bad spell - well, it doesn't feel right. It's been the slowest, weirdest week and today I sneaked out of the office for my lunch break and came home because I needed to be on my own. For the first time in, I dunno, my life, I didn't put

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-29275595337445108082007-11-04T22:02:00.000Z2007-11-04T22:31:32.016Z

It's difficult not to get frightened by life sometimes. It's difficult to sit quietly and watch the fireworks from the window on the eve of 5th November when everything seems to be rushing by. I am worried that I am missing out on all fronts. One day I am in Bristol, absolutely bloody amazed by its beauty, at the sight of Brunel's suspension bridge as it appears quite suddenly as you come up the

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-85506775801003906922007-10-28T20:45:00.001Z2007-10-28T20:50:16.378Z

I've been stuck at home for three days with a dodgy tummy and, in an attempt to entertain myself, I reverted back to my childhood hairdo.

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-4991510908202237742007-10-25T23:49:00.000+01:002007-10-25T23:51:28.157+01:00

This morning I found myself wandering around Leicester Square at 9am, too early for a 10am press screening of Into the Wild (a terrible waste of time, as it turned out). In the cold light of a cold morning, Leicester Square was even uglier than I remembered. Bare, unattractive, pointless. There weren't even any autumn leaves to kick; just broken glass from bottles of beer from the night before,

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-52314134544159144632007-10-21T22:35:00.000+01:002007-10-21T22:38:05.312+01:00

I came home today from a weekend away to find a letter. A real letter that someone took time to write, a letter about things that were fun and sad and important and completely random, a letter that began with "Hello Marianthi" and ended with "Lots of love". It was warm and sweet, so I had to put it in my pocket after I sat in the corner under the fairy lights to read it. I think it's going to be

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-65432969930070257872007-10-15T22:28:00.000+01:002007-10-16T11:43:30.127+01:00

In a room full of happy people, do you smile? In a room full of people kissing, do you swoon? In a room full of people dancing, do you play The Motifs?I need to cry until my eyes go pop! because there is so much to let go of but just as it’s all about to burst I turn my head and see the twinkly lights behind the trees and I can’t bring myself to make them twinklier with tears – they are just fine

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-11630412379843261412007-10-07T01:28:00.000+01:002007-10-07T01:43:05.372+01:00

I am so happy, in fact, that I spent a drunken evening listening to Belle & Sebastian and smiling to myself. The ability to feel happy right now often eludes me but I have a very small reason to be happy and it's small enough for it to not overwhelm me. You've got to think small.Life is complicated and life is great. I want to dance.These mind-blowing insights were brought to you by:- vodka and

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-12281720506170710032007-09-25T16:51:00.000+01:002007-09-26T07:07:52.693+01:00

Lying in bed last night after a weekend of fantastic pop, extreme drunkeness and constant train drama, I didn't expect to think of it all as an exercise in serenity. And yet it was. The train dramas especially.One thing I am constantly asked by people who don't know me is why I like Britain so much. I used to get very defensive when answering the question but as the years go by I get more and

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-36691895302714139482007-09-16T11:52:00.000+01:002007-09-16T12:14:58.639+01:00

In my terribly schizophrenic world, my heart is about to break while I'm having a nice time - I can't sync. I have this feeling of impending doom that pop can't seem to shake off, this frustrating feeling that I'd rather I was done with the next few days already so that I can live through the doom and win the struggle to come out the other side as safe as can be. I can't deal with all the waiting

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-79234052462272178182007-09-11T16:44:00.000+01:002007-09-11T17:16:00.391+01:00

Sitting at work with the sun breaking in through every single hole and window, creating an illusion of sparkliness in what is otherwise a very drab, lonely place, the others are talking about the sense of nostalgia evoked by warm September afternoons. And, as it often happens when I'm around, Jonathan Richman starts singing through the speakers... "Do you long for her or for the way you were?"I

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-17828820983777790392007-09-05T11:41:00.000+01:002007-09-07T16:31:46.063+01:00

Yeah, did you get my Honeybunch reference there? Pretty obscure, isn't it? Ha!I was reminded yesterday about a conversation during my last summer holiday in Greece in the island of Antiparos, in 1997. A friend of a friend was talking to me about music and said that the only reason anyone would listen to small, unknown bands is to be deliberately obscure. I was furious of course: just because

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-52561465214358831722007-08-28T15:35:00.000+01:002007-08-28T15:57:29.282+01:00

I can't sit still today - I want to take over the world. I want to find a new job that won't make me want to sleep all day to forget its existence but that would also pay me decent money so that I can continue with the label and the indiepop adventures (and pay that dreaded mortgage). Then I want to sit down and do that fanzine I've been talking about for ages - if I start now surely it could be

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-26770885970915694772007-08-27T11:28:00.000+01:002007-08-28T00:40:21.695+01:00

Yesterday I woke up in the morning and realised that it's been 10 years since I came to live in this country. It was a great decision and one that, no matter what happens, I'll never ever regret. It's also a very bad time for my home country, with the fires being out of control and an extraordinary number of people dying. I wish Greece could be in the news about something positive once - and

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-76337273761168345012007-08-24T16:09:00.000+01:002007-08-28T00:39:56.719+01:00

In the last couple of days the subject of doing a house gig (popshow!) came up a few times in conversations while lying on the sofa sipping tea and listening to A House Full of Friends, the Magic Marker compilation. The first time the subject came up I was saying how brilliant it would be if someone else did it so I could go. Now I’m sitting here, thinking about my life a little bit and the great

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-53241582967252564502007-08-21T00:08:00.000+01:002007-08-28T00:39:38.077+01:00

I'm not one to boast but Helen Love sent me an mp3 taster off her new album today. She sent it to me. Me. Little ol' me. Me.I'm ridiculously excited about the covers compilation Pete and I are putting together. The submissions I've already listened to are as pretty as the summer sky and totally spot on. I don't want to give much away right now because the rights situation is not clear yet, but if

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-41103859239963079562007-08-18T22:52:00.000+01:002007-08-28T00:39:08.154+01:00

I'm going through another one of those periods when listening to music is making me feel 6" tall.I remember being 18 and still in the early, slow years of my indiepop discovery, when finding and buying records was a 6-month long adventure of waiting for the next bi-annual issue of the In Those Days fanzine to come out with recommendations, sending an SAE for the latest Mind the Gap catalogue,

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-70313506904495219752007-08-15T14:14:00.000+01:002007-08-28T00:38:19.400+01:00

You know when people ask you sometimes what's your favourite song of all time and you start mumbling nervously about not having one favourite song or how it keeps changing all the time and how that's just the nature of pop? No? That's just me then.Apart from knowing that my favourite band is probably the Orchids and that my favourite song of theirs is 'I Was Just Dreaming', I've always found it

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-90446947765315091972007-08-15T10:04:00.000+01:002007-08-28T00:37:41.440+01:00

Blimey, I was tagged aaaages ago by Dimitra and didn't even realise until the other night. Duh! Maybe it's time people started finding out about my lame attempt at a popblog - and maybe I should make a bit more of an effort.Ooh and then I got tagged again, this time by That Pete. Well, Pete tagged the label but I can't see anyone else doing it and I haven't got access to our Mysp*ce blog, so

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-43630801315548195602007-08-03T16:22:00.000+01:002007-08-28T00:37:01.317+01:00

I've been going slightly crazy since Indietracks. You have to worry really, when you can't cope with real life because you've lived through a couple of days of intense indiepop action. Well, I am useless like that, the ultimate indiepop escapist. I'd sell my record player to buy records. That sort of thing.The one thing that can keep me going when real life kicks in and I feel ridiculously lonely

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-65304356566136070862007-05-24T15:35:00.000+01:002007-08-28T00:36:20.340+01:00

Yesterday evening I was standing up at a bus stop in Pimlico and I started weeping. I couldn't stop. I felt so helpless and dependent upon the one thing that no-one shouldn't ever depend on: work. I felt emotionally dependent on it, damn it and I couldn't help it. And then something strange happened: 'Captain Easychord' by Stereolab came on the ipod. It's my favourite Stereolab song: I love how

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-48790339483600946952007-05-20T21:04:00.000+01:002007-08-28T00:35:49.553+01:00

Listening to The Motifs' album Dots is an almost hippy experience, which I wouldn't normally welcome. But it's a beautiful beautiful record. Unlike hippy music, all the songs are very short - the longest by far being 2:18. That in itself pops my world. (I can't even say the world "rock" in the context of that phrase - what a snob. Anyway...) What I love mostly about it is how sparse it is - dead

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-73612567503558425712007-05-13T13:14:00.000+01:002007-08-28T00:35:35.064+01:00

There is something extremely special about that Liechtenstein 7" 'Stalking Skills'. In fact, it's fucking amazing, like the best song Shop Assistants never wrote (and I bloody love Shop Assistants, so there). I played it last night at a quiet Spiral Scratch but in my head it was filling the dancefloors and getting the indiepopkids madly excited, as it should be. I know in my heart that as long as

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3005969814685400167.post-91500109518309208272007-05-11T23:59:00.000+01:002007-08-28T00:35:06.100+01:00

On a day like today, when all the pop seems to have driven me to the ground, and a lot of other things are messing up my head, I'm glad to say that listening to Talulah Gosh is proving therapeutic. Remind me to love 'Girl With The Strawberry Hair' (or 'Strawberry Girl' in some circles) forever and ever.

Marianthihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10916881789046735215noreply@blogger.com0