life's exciting, right?

has this been the craziest hiatus ever?

first of all, my brother broke his arm. yeah, i know. 12 year old boys do that sort of thing all the time don't they? swinging from trees, running in front of cars, stomping round the house.. actually, they never grow out of that. but anyway.
he broke his arm. big deal.
but then he went and caught Compartment Syndrome. (haha, i say that like it's his fault). but two and a half weeks, lots of crying, stress, lack of sleep and SEVEN operations later he has come home. i won't bang on about it but it came at such a bad time, right before my exams. he's okay now, bit of pain but that's to be expected. he isn't going to lose his hand or anything so everyone has calmed down. a song to fit the bill has to be:

Cold War Kids - Hospital Beds

during my hiatus the weather has also seen it quite fit to rain. and when i say rain, i mean rain and rain and rain and rain and rain. it's raining right now. (i wrote that on friday the 22nd and it's STILL raining now - tuesday 26th).

Liars - Dumb In The Rain

so there have been a few album/EP leaks during my absense. stand out ones are obviously the new stuff by Interpol and from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. i haven't been able to stop listening to either. speaking of listening to things! my iPod has ressurected itself! i can't begin to tell you how happy i was when it came back to life.

Interpol - Rest My Chemistry
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Kiss Kiss

other things that have happened whilst i've been furiously revising (cough cough) and failing my exams and life:
- Gordon Brown anyone?- Paris Hilton released from jail then put back in jail and then released again
- Glastonbury typically flooded
- The Verve have reformed
- almost the end of the world on Dr. Who- Wimbledon has started! yesssss. there's nothing like watching tall, tanned, atheltic men running around getting sweaty. phwoar, haha. anyway..

there's also been an anti war demo in Manchester, more rain, and i've been to see To My Boy and CocoRosie.
To My Boy supported Pull Tiger Tail at the night & day cafe, and they were supreeeeeeeme! i think i love them even more after that performance. Pull Tiger Tail were average, but i got in for free so no complaints from moi.
CocoRosie were mind blowing. simply put. best birthday present i've had this year (admittedly seeing as my birthday is July 31st it is also the first, big love to Shaun).

To My Boy - The Grid
CocoRosie - Japan

the blogosphere has been continuing without me. you guys have been HELLA BUSY. i've found some new blogs that my computer insists on loading S-L-O-W-L-Y. nevertheless, here's some stuff you should check out:

- Toad, from Song, by Toad has gone and done a podcast. you can find it here. The Sequins feature on said podcast, and they are absolutely amazing. well worth a listen.
- Malcolm at Five Believers has updated finally after a nudge from me!
- i gabbled on about Gang Of Four for Sweeping The Nation and their feature Sings To Learn And Sing which unfortunately got cut short due to lack of submissions.
- The Daily Growl had a baby. well, his partner did. wooo, congratulations.
- The Roaring Machine and Spoilt Victorian Child got married, congrats Liz and Simon.

babies! marriage! two things i plan on never ever ever doing or having. i'm feeling rather young and carefree in light of this.

Elle Milano - Busy Busy Busy

i'm off to see Jack Penate tomorrow so if i'm not dead from liver failure/still on the booze (highly likely) i'll update with a more music-orientated post, not just rambling this and that. but for now i'm off to the pub! wooooooooooooo! realising that when i wake up tomorrow i don't have to do anything is making immeasurably happy. i'm so happy i could be sick.
many many many many thank yous to everyone who has wished me well with my exams and people who've told me to hurry up and finish so i can start posting in here again, haha.

christ almighty.

i think Wednesdays should be banned. they are completely pointless and annoying, and usually the worst things ever happen on Wednesdays (no, i don't have any evidence to support this claim - fuck off).

i have heard a rumour that Field Music have split up.
on Blah Blah Blasé's myspace they have added "R.I.P" onto the end of their name. does that mean they've gone bye bye too? GUTTED.
in addition to this:
- i have a 3 hour mock exam tomorrow,
- Shitdisco have cancelled their Manchester gig on Friday,
- i have work at 10am on Saturday,
- i still have tonsillitus,
- AND. to top it all off, High Voltage managed to cut my favourite bit out of the Foals feature i wrote for them. (it's HERE for anyone that wants to read it).

here was my favourite bit that didn't make the cut:

“The moment you’re in a band everyone’s just like ‘you’re gorgeous but you’re dumb’." - Yannis, Foals.

other bits i thought were useful also were cut. crycry.

as consolation i have been eating tubs of ice cream (literally) and listening to lots of Bat For Lashes.

Bat For Lashes - Sarah

and lots of CocoRosie.

CocoRosie - Promise

yeah anyway. i wanted to have a rant about bands in general.
it must be amazingly eeeeeeeeeeasy to be in a band (please, do correct me if i'm wrong here). so touring a lot is tiring and whatever, but seriously. the perks clearly and obviously outweigh the cons. a friend of mine suggested that all bands should be made into promoters once in a while and then they would see that they have the easiest job in terms of a gig. i'm just annoyed at the amount of myspace bulletins i see saying "GIG CANCELLED" or "*HEADLINERS* DROPPED OUT". this isn't to do with Shitdisco. i understand that one of them is actually seriously ill and is currently in hospital, something totally unavoidable.
plus, they are going to reschedule, and i have seen them before. i will live.
i'm talking about the bands who drop out of gigs because their tyre burst or their van broke down or they got a headache or they forgot they were playing or they couldn't be arsed so they made up a shit excuse. just generally bands who think it's alright to drop out of gigs casually and not realise that it has a massive effect on their fans.
not only is it inconvienient, it is also disappointing and terribly selfish.

maybe i'm being harsh, maybe i'm not. who knows?

what i know is that bands these days are getting a bit too used to leaning on their management to get them a lift or their booking agent to find them the best gigs to play. the DIY ethic seems to have completely disappeared from the mentality of some bands, and is making the music industry look like it is full of boys in bands who wear jeans so tight that they restrict the blood flow to their brains. thus turning them into whingeing, moaning, crying cry babies. no one is there to hold you hand? big fucking deal. you lose a bit of money playing a gig in a new city for the first time? big fucking deal. you miss a rave where people who don't dance are going to be in attendance? big. fucking. deal.

i think some bands need a kick up the arse, and need to stop relying on the mollycoddling of the A&R world.

now listen to a band who do it all themselves. there's no frills here, just good fucking music and good live performances. one of Manchester's many underrated. Sir Yes Sir. guitar music that occassionally bleeps.

Sir Yes Sir - Bass Hit

i am in dire need of some retail therapy.
over and out.