By coincidence yesterday a couple of famous musical coincidences cropped up. First the death of Ike Turner, who by way of v.dry humour I took Lucy, who’d had an unhappy family life, to see on St Valentine’s Day a few years ago at Ronnie Scott’s in Soho. Secondly, I caught the BBC documentary on Pink Floyd, and caught sight of their former manager Pete Jenner, who I met v.briefly once through Red Pepper magazine back in the mid-90′s. Who knows maybe I’ll actually get to hear some music soon? 
Musically marking World Mental Health Day I played in a band for the very first time, playing the castanet, with the band at Hammersmith & Fulham Consumer Forum.
Watching the BBC programme on women with troublesome big breasts and serious issues about health and self-esteem; and then I remembered the line from the Cornershop track ‘Brim Full of Asha (mp3)’: “Everybody Needs A Bosom For A Pillow” not least ’cause back in 1993 I’d booked them to appear at some very very small event at Manchester Town Hall and a really nice lady had gobe out to buy them pizza as payment but was mugged for the pizza!
Which in turn leads me to recall another Manchester lad, Shaun Ryder, and in Feb 1996 on the night of the Canary Wharf IRA bomb going up to him at the Black Grape backstage party and for a dare telling him he had a big nose and he smelt. I managed to get into the after-concert party after some guy said his girlfriend was backstage so I talked out way in by saying I knew ‘Chris’. I later had a nice chat with his manager, and a great out-of-it one with the taxi driver speeding back to north London after the bombing, that was some night. (And even bumping ex-Beauchamp ladies, including Carole Orbell, at the concert which was well not expected.)
And a few months later even walking past Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker on Liverpool Road and pulling a face ’cause I wasn’t happy to see a celeb; and later outside Victoria Station walking past Noel Gallagher; so hey maybe I bring some musical luck to these guys, who knows? 
OK, so I just found out James Brown died on Xmas day. Day-way to go James. Not surprisingly this news did not make it to the Black Forest where I was staying. New’s today is that there moving his body to a final resting place. Apparently he recently appeared in London at the BBC Electric Proms at the newly opened Roundhouse venue, which I walked past on Sunday. Sorry I didn’t chance to see him perform.
This is the last in the series of podcasts from Gilles Peterson in Brazil, thanks to Brahma beer, on the sound of electronica!
(That’s Gilles on the right wearing a medal..)
Third in the series of the Gilles Peterson podcasts, sponsored by Brahma. ‘At Home with the Rodriguez‘. Very good.
Another in the podcast series from DJ Gilles Peterson in Brazil. While these are available free from Brahma to save you the time and trouble here’s the one on Roots and Samba. It’s an wma around 30mb so it takes a while to download – enojy!
The download function from the site doesn’t work at present, so I had to open in Windows Media Play and save from there. I did contact Brahma’s new Belgium owners to point this out, but no reply not surprisingly. However, it’s odd that the blog which supports the podcasts starts and stops after only a few entries, go figure!
Anyhow, just to confess my own nerdish behaviour, with a few bands I have seen including:
Plus numerous indie bands, most recently the Mile High Penguins (12 Bar Club)!
Of course each of these comes with its own special anecdote, and thus so to the blogger’s dilemma. Whether to wax lyrical to an audience of 1 (including themself) or to move on to the next day’s rant?
Was lucky enough to pick up Jungle Drums magazine and spotted it was the last day of the Pele exhibition at Getty Images, coinciding with a new book about his life. Great exhibition, and I was wearing my ‘negroblue‘ T-shirt from Pil, which suited to a ‘t’.
Also spotted in the magazine British DJ Gilles Peterson’s six-part podcast series on Brazillian music. Each podcast is 30 minutes long and devoted to a different theme, with interviews and live sessions. Covered are Baile Funk, Roots & Samba, Bossa Nova, The Rodrigues Family, Hip Hop and Electronica.
While these are available free from Brahma (with a different one is released every two weeks from June 13th, so sorry about my delay..) but to save you the time and trouble here’s the first one on Baile Funk (mp3 – 28mb).
This is the Bossa Nova podcast from DJ Gilles Peterson from the series. It’s an mp3 around 30mb so it takes a while to download but the interviews are good – so let’s do the ‘bossa nova’.
Went to a art/music wig out at the ICA last night, and caught up with Michael who’s just been on one of his usual binges (though reportedly without the additives ) which is always entertaining. Strangely I deigned to smoke one of his Cambodian cigarettes, and was suitably impressed by his Mines Advisory Group T-shirt from Laos. All good stuff -and met up with the keyboards man himself Martin Howse who in a strange twist of fate is an extra in the Verve video set in Hoxton market where whatshisname is bumping people out the way – sad the sneaky Rolling Stones sample meant they made
