Nemesis To Go [entries|archive|friends|userinfo] The mewlings and pukings of Uncle Nemesis [ website | Nemesis To Go ] [ userinfo | livejournal userinfo ] [ archive | journal archive ]

A well used minimum suffices for everything [Jul. 10th, 2009|07:59 am] Even though I fling a sprawling and oddly-shaped webzine into the face of the virtual world at irregular intervals, I've always been a fan of the old-skool hard copy fanzine. The role of fanzines as essential channels of underground information has now been largely superseded by the web. The days when you could only find out about new, cool, weird and noisy bands via the John Peel show and stroppy bursts of paper polemic like Kill Your Pet Puppy are long gone. These days, it's all on the interweb, and the only problem is how to sift through the sheer volume of information. We've certainly gone from famine to feast in that respect. But ye olde paper fanzines haven't died out. Interestingly, some of them seem to be shifting ground to become artifacts in their own right. By way of an example, here's one that I rather like. This is Panda Eyes. It's a 'mini-zine'. That means it's really rather small... It's a mere 9.5cm tall. You can wear it in your top pocket like a silk handkerchief. To demonstrate these compact dimensions, I have snapped a few photos of the mini-zine alongside certain everyday household objects. Here's Andy Warhol's breakfast [I didn't have a can of Campbell's soup handy, alas]: Inside the mini-zine are certain thoughts on music and art and literature - one thought per mini-page - from the proprietor, editor and constructor of the zine, Alyssa Thralls. Curiously, although the content is fairly minimal, and the thoughts-per-page are quite brief, I often find myself picking the zine up and flipping through it. It's like a self-contained art object. Here's the mini-zine alongside another everyday object - my face: Alyssa Thralls also does some rather nifty podcasts - of which I'm rather jealous, actually. That's exactly the sort of thing I'd like to do, but I've never found a way of doing it that didn't put me in the way of the copyright police. She's also got a blog where in true minimalist style she simply posts one picture per day. The individual pictures are always worth a look; the cumulative effect works rather well. Here's the mini-zine amid some tiny monsters. What d'you mean, monsters are not everyday objects? They are in my house: If you'd like to obtain a mini-zine for yourself, you can put your address into a handy box on the web and the zine will be sent to you, free, gratis and for nothing. It cost 99 cents to send mine, and at a guess producing it probably costs about the same. So you're getting 2 dollars' worth of ART delivered to your door for nowt, an experience which is effectively part of the art itself. If you produce any subcultural art objects yourself, maybe you could send one back as a swap. I swapped my mini-zine for my webzine, which is possibly cheating a bit, but then again, maybe not. After all, mine is free, too. Can't get it into your pocket, mind. And finally, to reward you for reading this far (we'll have no minimalism around these parts) here's a comedy cat photo. Raoul likes fanzines too: There doesn't seem to be a limit to the number of mini-zines Alyssa Thralls is prepared to make and send out - which may be a bit of a hostage to fortune situation, but hey - so by all means fill in yer details and you'll get yours. Long live hard copy! link 4 comments|post comment

Plunging headlong into the art of darkness [Jul. 8th, 2009|09:32 am] There was a flurry of interesting gigs in London over the last week, and I took myself off to a few of them with a view to putting some words and pictures in the next issue of Nemesis To Go - and also because going to gigs is my idea of a good night out. I haven't done the words yet, but I can show you some of the photos which may or may not make it into the next issue. In general, I try to make my gig photos as no-nonsense as possible - subject in the middle of the frame, nicely lit, everything sharp and clear. That may not always be possible, given that often I'm struggling with the stage lighting, and performers who never stand still for even 1/125 of a second. The first thing you learn as a live music photographer is that everything is completely out of control. In a way, I rather like this, because it levels the playing field between the experienced professionals with their hi-end kit, and point-and-pray merchants like me. Getting a good photo is probably more than 50% sheer chance for everyone. In spite of all that, I try to shoot for my simple goal. Nice clear pictures. No funny stuff. And no ART, dammit. So, I'm in two minds about this one. Is it a cool shot that captures the frenzy of a band in full rock 'n' roll flow? Or is it a bit of a crap photo with too much blurring? In short - art or fart? Mostly, I don't use flash at gigs. It just creates a stark, washed-out look, with the band as harshly lit as if they're standing around in somebody's kitchen. But sometimes, when the stage lighting has been turned down to 'midnight in a coal mine' level, I have no choice. It's a flash shot or no shot. The photo below could go either way. It's not quite as harsh as most flash shots, but I don't know if it's un-harsh in a good way - note what's happened to the bassists's head. Cool effect or just a bodge-up? I'll probably end up using this one, because it's practically the only bass player shot I got all night - she was standing in her own bespoke pool of darkness throughout the gig. But I can't help thinking the people here look strangely artificial, like Gerry Anderson puppets. Maybe they're the Destiny Angels on their day off: The photo below was taken at a gig where the only lighting came from films projected over the bands. This, of course, practically screams 'ART!' - and I was practically screaming, too, with frustration at my inability to get a decent un-flash photo. The reason this pic is so small is because it looks shite at a bigger size. At this size, I might just get away with it. This one almost has a beige tone - very inappropriate for this performer, who is one of the most un-beige artists I've ever seen. But I swear they had the sepia gels in: Here's one with relatively good lighting. You'll probably know it's Samantha Valentine out of Ipso Facto. Her curly bass and non-curly hair are instantly recognisable, although she was playing for another band on this night. I quite like this photo apart from the big blurred hand. Strangely enough, I had that problem with Samantha Valentine before. I got around it by ruthless cropping (see the top-right pic from the Offset Festival set here). But I don't think I can do a similar crop-job on this one. The hand stays in the picture! So that's a little dip into the Art of Darkness that is gig photography. I see some more interesting gigs looming up on the calendar, so maybe I'll have a few more visual excitements in the near future. In the meantime - bands, throw your photographers a bone here. Switch a light or two on! link 5 comments|post comment

Double-declutching for fun and profit [Jul. 6th, 2009|09:35 am] I recall, when I last addressed the nation via the medium of modern darnce LiveJournal, I mentioned that I was buying a car - a process which required me to make assorted trips to the wilds of Yorkshire. Buying a car is not an unusual activity in this modern world, of course, and I believe trips to Yorkshire are quite common these days, too. But this is me we're talking about. I don't buy normal cars. I don't even have normal trips to Yorkshire. Getting my hands on this motor turned out to be a rather lengthy saga, and incorporated a certain amount of angst in the York Novotel, a random visit to Manchester, and a frankly scary few hours in Doncaster. It involved a petrol crisis somewhere above Deepcar, and getting hopelessly lost on unmarked farm tracks in the Dales (that's the last time I buy a road atlas from the pound shop, I can tell you). But I finally got my (relatively) shiny new vehicle back to London. Here's a cryptic photo. Can you tell what it is yet? I suspect hirez is now slapping his forehead and saying, 'Oh, no, don't say he's gone and bought one of those!' If you didn't recognise the vehicle by its fine collection of knobs, here's what it looks like from the outside... ( Here in my car, I feel safest of all... ) link 22 comments|post comment

From Heaven to York... [Jun. 22nd, 2009|11:09 am] Stop me if you've already have seen this photo on the Deathrock LiveJournal, but here it comes again (a bit bigger this time).... Genesis P-Orridge, on stage at Heaven last night with Throbbing Gristle: These days it seems TG exist at that strange nexus where The Groove meets The Noise. And the results are rather good, I reckon. More on this will turn up (eventually) in the next edition of Nemesis To Go. In other gigs-I-have-been-to news, last Friday I was in York where I chanced upon the Screaming Banshee Aircrew playing in a multi-storey car park - for that is what The Duchess turned out to be. I think this venue proves that with a sufficiently generous application of black paint you can make anything look like a night club. The gig was, I believe, the first time the SBA had played their new stuff in public. While the band is still unequivocally themselves, in some ways what they're doing now is drastically different to their previous incarnation(s). Very dynamic, very physical, stripped-down and ramped-up all at once. Lots of instrument swapping, and when Chris starts laying into the floor toms and Jo gets assertive on the bass 'n' vocals they sound uncannily like....An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump. Now there's a comparison that I suspect will set the cat among the pigeons in certain quarters! I'd like to see the SBA kick this stuff around in London before too long. I hope they get the London gig they really need at this point - not just a standard-issue Flag Promotions shindig with some 'usual suspects' bands. I was actually quite relieved when their London gig with The Faces Of Sarah & Lupine got pulled (I say 'pulled' because I don't know if it was cancelled outright or merely postponed - the story seems to change depending on who you talk to). If you ask me (and I realise nobody is) that's the kind of gig the SBA should not be playing now. However, I don't know if any of the band's, erm, 'industry partners' have taken this on board yet... I have to confess I didn't make my pilgrimage to York over the weekend just to see the SBA. I'm at present trying to buy a motor vehicle from a specialist dealer in knackered old wrecks valuable classic cars in Yorkshire, and it's turning into a bit of a lengthy rigmarole. I had hoped to pick up my quality conveyance over the weekend, but this didn't happen. When I phoned up the dealer from my hotel room to check on progress, I was told everything was delayed because - I quote - 'The lad had a bad day in the workshop'. At which point I felt like I was having a bad day in the York Novotel! That, however, is another saga, which I will relate another time.... link 5 comments|post comment

Putting the art in Artery. Bringing on the dancing girls. [Jun. 16th, 2009|07:57 am] As I might have mentioned before, Nemesis To Go Issue 7 went up recently, and is full of all manner of fine and rackety things. Post-punks, steampunks, plain old punks...among them Psychic TV, Lydia Lunch, Sonic Youth, KASMs, and Amanda Palmer (who is now shagging Neil Gaiman, apparently. I was mildly shocked about that. I mean, doesn't Neil Gaiman have wives and children and all?) Now that I'm plugging my zine, here's one of my band-specific banners which I've been posting to apopropriate bits of the interweb: That's the Experiment On A Bird In An Air Pump version. Pic taken at the Lydia Lunch gig at Corsica Studios, and not a bad photo if I say so myself. But nothing stays still around here. I may have just got issue 7 up, but the raw material trawl for issue 8 is now under way. I've already got the WGT under my belt, of course, and now it's time to see what's occurring on the UK gig circuit. On Sunday night I ventured to the Dice Club, which is my kind of club in that it's essentially a gig with DJs. The live music is the main event, which seems very right and proper to me. Main band this time was Artery, who I remember being hailed as Sheffield's answer to Joy Division back in the 80s. I don't know if that was ever an accurate description, but in later years Artery were mildly famous as the band Simon Hinkler out of the Mish was in before he threw in his lot with Wayne Hussey (whence it was all downhill, of course). Now Artery are back, after a bit of encouragement from Jarvis Cocker. Simon Hinkler isn't in the band these days, but David Hinkler is. So that's all right then. Hinkler-levels have been maintained. And they're rather good, in a show-those-whipper-snappers-how-it's-really-done manner. Very economical, very sparse, but still a big, all-pervasive sound. A trick which newer bands sometimes find it hard to pull off, I think. Maybe it's an 80s thing. If you were there, you've got it in your veins. Or, indeed, arteries. The audience was a combination of grizzled old-skool fans from first time round (that'll be me, then), and youthful post-punk kids of today. No deathrockers, naturally. Because, while you'd assume Artery would be exactly the kind of band the deathrock scenesters would like (in much the same way they seem to have taken fellow oop-north old-skoolers Section 25 to their hearts) nobody's told them about Artery. At the risk of repeating my earlier deathrock-dissection, I think that's the key thing about the deathrock scene. It's not a scene that is particularly knowledgeable, discerning, or even interested in music. In order for bands to win some recognition within the deathrock scene, the deathrockers need to be told. One Mick Mercer review would probably be all it would take for Artery to be instantly hailed as the new heroes of deathrock. After all, fellow 80s Sheffield post-punkers Siiiii suddenly became deathrock scene superstars in the wake of Mick's coverage (frankly, I wish I had Mick's influence). But in the absence of such prompting...well, it's the Scary Bitches all the way, then, innit. Ho hum. But now back to the gig... A drunk girl in the crowd insisted I take her photo. I don't know if I was supposed to send it to her afterwards, or anything (I couldn't understand a word she was slurring) but here's the photo. Is this anyone we know? Note her equally drunk mate in the background...who shortly afterwards joined the band on stage for a certain amount of exotic dancing: As the old rock 'n' roll proverb has it, you know the gig's a good 'un when you get drunk girls on stage! Right, then. The issue 8 raw material trawl-net is hereby lowered. Bring on the next gig (and the next, and the next...) link 15 comments|post comment

A further instalment of rock 'n' roll [Jun. 15th, 2009|07:27 am] Well, now. Since my last post, I have heen to Royston Vasey to see a man about some machinery, and to the Dice Club to see Artery. More on all that later, but in LJ world we are still in Leipzig. A further instalment of rock 'n' roll shots from the WGT now follows... I believe we were talking of hats last time. Here's a very recognisable hat: Although I constantly complain about inadequate stage lighting, too much light can sometimes be as much of a problem. Unfortunately, you can't dim the sun down with a swift tweak of a fader. Here's a rather over-contrasty photo taken in blazing sun at the Parkbuhne to illustrate this. It's the battle of the rawk chyks in skin-tight black - round one: Grog out of Die So Fluid: And round two. Lahannya out of Lahannya: Incidentally, it's never been clear to me how you're supoposed to pronounce Lahannya's name, something that the marketing guys really should've sorted out before launching her career. In the absence of any official guidance, I think it should go like the trying-to-supress-a-sneeze version of 'Hancock' - as Tony Hancock himself demonstrates here. All together now: Lah-hah-hahannya. Hours of fun! ( And a few more from Leipzig... ) link 1 comment|post comment

Leipgig: the WGT photo-bag [Jun. 12th, 2009|10:12 am] Here's a few randomly selected shots from the WGT. I haven't looked through the majority of my photos yet - these are just a handful I've pulled out of the stack for now... 'Hang on, I've dropped my contact lens!' This man once had a hairstyle that launched a thousand...well, hairstyles. What happened? Did he join the army, or something? You can always tell when a British band is on stage. There's a sudden increase in the number of... ( A sudden increase in the number of...what? ) link 19 comments|post comment

Funny food in Berlin [Jun. 10th, 2009|07:44 am] If you've been following the story so far, you'll know that my Euro-travelogue has now reached Berlin. I fully intended to post some revealing photos of modern Berlin life here today, but on looking through my memory cards I find...I didn't take any. The only photos I have from this visit to Berlin are a few shots of comedy foodstuffs, courtesy of a supermarket trip with scaryladysarah. Well, that'll have to do, then. Bring on the funny food! This one looks like the answer to a riddle... Q: What do you get if you attach electric wires to your testicles? A: SCHOKO BALLS! While this one is what your flatmate says when he comes home unexpectedly and finds you lying on the living room floor, giving yourself the schoko balls treatment: "Blimey, Dave, what are you doing with those wires clamped on yer gonads? Strewth, mate, you look like a right old dinkel-puffer!" To which, of course, the only reply can be... "Shut it, you schlag!" This one is a bit of a cheat. It relies for its humour on a handily-placed bit of packaging, which obscures the label on the plastic bag. But I ask you this: who could resist the temptation of mentalist cheese? I wonder if the funny food concept is something that occurs exclusively to the British brain? (Or maybe it just occurrs to my brain). Do German people visit the UK and find themselves falling about with laughter when they see things like custard or Lincolnshire sausages on the supermarket shelves, because the words suggest something rude in their language? If you've ever visited the UK and found yourself amused by the things we eat, tell me what was funny. Maybe 'pickled onions' looks like a slang term for sex in Serbo-Croat, or 'muffins' looks like a word for constipation in Catalan. We need to know these things! Anyway. That, I'm afraid, was my only photo-selection from Berlin. I rather regret not taking any street shots or anything this time, especially as I'm told there's a shop in Friedrichshain called DILDO KING. That's just crying out for a photo. With me standing outside, possibly holding up a banana. This is the stuff of which MySpace user pix are made! So, I'll have to go back to Berlin at some point to capture that one ('Purpose of visit: taking photo of shop with rude name'). In the meantime, we have nearly reached Leipzig, so stand by for some rock 'n' roll... link 7 comments|post comment

The model railway layout of the Gods [Jun. 9th, 2009|09:23 am] As Kraftwerk remarked, in their minimalische dansefloor klubsmascher 'Trans Europe Express': Rendezvous on Champs-Elysees Leave Paris in the morning on T.E.E. Trans-Europe Express In our case, it was more like walking across the road to the Gare de l'Est and leaving Paris in the evening on the City Night Line, but hey, we were close: The sleeping compartments on the train come in varying sizes and degrees of luxury, but they're all miracles of three-dimensional origami. Everything folds out of everything else. It's not easy to get a photo that illustrates this, because there's no room to step back and take an overall shot. So here's an ART shot of the bunks, as reflected in the washbasin mirror: And then it was out through the suburbs of Paris, into Champagne country. The route passes through Epernay, with vines marching up the hillsides, and skirts the Mercier champagne factory, which is a vast complex resembling several miles of Victorian cotton mills laid end to end. Mysterious towns and villages flit past the window. There are people living whole lives out there: ( Berlin this way... ) link 4 comments|post comment

Paris photos - part three [Jun. 8th, 2009|09:36 am] If you've been following my photo-travelogue around the greater Europe, you'll know that we are currently in Paris...but not for much longer. Just a few more photos, and then we'll be getting the train to Berlin. So let's go for one last stroll around Paris. Here's Andi and me, in a wardrobe mirror somewhere in Montmartre. This is an ART shot, by the way: And then down this picturesque stepped street. This is the kind of location which in the UK would be full of holiday cottages and/or retirement flats for the well-heeled. In Paris, it seems that ordinary people live regular lives even in the most pretty areas, which is rather encouraging, really. There's a school behind the grey door on the left: I stood and watched this place for ages, but I didn't see it spin round once: ( More Paris this way... ) link 6 comments|post comment

Paris: chimney riots and naughty shops [Jun. 7th, 2009|06:17 am] A further instalment of anti-tourist photos from Paris.... The elegant villa-style buildings of Paris get endearingly chaotic once you're up to roof level. Here's a veritable riot of chimneys: And an absolute frenzy of balconies. Note the stone inscription over the door - 'Passage Du Ponceau'. This means 'Passage Of Ponces': This one is just crying out to have some Modern Toss-style speech bubbles coming out of the vents: Paris is a city of parks and gardens. And here are the rules, posted at the gate to every park, which you must memorise before you're allowed entry. Park keepers will suddenly jump out from behind trees and insist you recite Rule 457 subsection 2(b) at a moment's notice: ( More Paris this way... ) link 2 comments|post comment

Paris photographique [Jun. 6th, 2009|12:37 pm] Oh no, it's photo-travelogue time. Here comes a selection of photos from Paris, from a few days ago. As ever, most of my souvenir photos are hardly normal postcard style pictures, but just to show I can take nice touristy shots, here's the Eiffel Tower basking in the sunshine. This pic was taken from a speeding Ligne 6 Metro train, Direction Charles De Gaulle, crossing Pont de Bir Hakem, looking east over the Quai Bramly. But you probably spotted that. This is what the Eiffel Tower looks like when you're half way up it in an interestingly flimsy lift. In fact, the entire tower is constructed from surprisingly small-section lengths of angle iron. I mean, I've got shelf brackets which are more hefty than some of the ironwork in this photo: And here I am, having a Mary Poppins moment. I was rather disappointed to find that the entire Eiffel Tower is painted in that rather grim poo-brown colour. I had assumed it would be a deep gloss black, with the bolt heads picked out in gold leaf, or something. Not poo colour, for heaven's sake! And now let's go down in the tube station at midnight en bas dans le métropolitain à à peu près neuf heure dans le soir: ( More Paris this way... ) link 4 comments|post comment

London > Paris > Berlin > Leipzig [Jun. 5th, 2009|09:27 am] Well, I'm back from Paris, Berlin and Leipzig (did I mention I was going to Paris, Berlin, and Leipzig?) As part of my ongoing strategy always to reach my destinations by the interesting way, this year we ventured to the Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig by Eurostar to Paris, then a City Night Line sleeper train to Berlin, and then an Inter City Express to Leipzig, making stop-offs along the way to see sights and people. I've come back with a large collection of photos, and the traditional Big Trawl through my memory cards will now commence. For the moment, here come a few art shots, train shots, and a few rock 'n' roll images on the end.... Paris - Notre Dame and thunderclouds. Note a strange little speck in the sky to the left. That's actually something up there, not a gltch on the photo. But what is it? A daylight UFO raid? The Eiffel Tower and sunlight: Here's one for the steampunks - or at least the electro-hydraulic punks. The Eiffel Tower lift mechanism: Il pleut formidablement! This photo looks like a still from a Jaques Tati film (I fondly imagine): ( Trains and rock 'n' roll this way.... ) link 3 comments|post comment

Mein WGT-programm. Vorläufig - Wenn Chaos zulassen wird! [May. 24th, 2009|10:25 am] As Euro-festival heads will have noticed, the Wave Gotik Treffen is looming up like...well, like a great big sprawling festival in an East German city. As I always do, I have worked out an incredibly deatailed WGT Master Plan, incorporating all band times, inter-venue travel times, tram routes, refreshment stops, and toilet breaks. I do this every year. And every year, the whole thing descends into random chaos as soon as I get to Leipzig. As always, among the bands I've specifically earmarked for some attention, I've selected some random venues and unknown bands, because that's half the fun of it for me - to simply pitch up somewhere and see whatcha get. Sometimes, I find some really good bands I'd never heard of before (Last year, for example, I discovered Militant Cheerleaders On The Move) and at other times I stumble on some bloody awful bands (for example, Miss Construction, a band I will certainly endeavour to miss in future). However, among other excursions to other venues, I'll probably catch L'Ame Immortelle at the Agra on day 1 (I have a soft spot for that band, because the singer posed for my camera in mid-song at the Underworld once - I wish more bands would do this!). Day 2 I might be mostly at the Felsenkeller, because there are a couple of bands there I'd like to catch. And the Scary Bitches, unfortunately, but I knew they'd get me in the end. This will, at least, give me the raw material for my annual treatise Something Is Rotten In The State Of Deathrock - because, let's face it, if the Scary Bitches are a top band on the deathrock scene, things certainly can't be healthy. I've made that point before, expecting outraged deathrockers to rise up and denounce me, insisting that the scene is a throbbing creative powerhouse - but nobody's ever challenged me. I can only assume that, on the quiet, the deathrock scene agrees with me. Ha, all you deathrockers - I've nailed ya! Day 3 I might go to the pagan village, for wine and folk dancing. The quantity of the former will influence the quantity of the latter, I'm sure. I'll also see about catching Frank The Baptist & Peter Murphy, among other bands around town. Day 4 - I might drop in to the Parkbuhne, although, looking at the bill, I might drop out again at certain strategic intervals, and see who else is on other stages. Those are just the punctuation points in my schdule, really. There's more to it than that, but I'm sure the final result will be shaped by the forces of chaos more than anything. As I might have mentioned, Nemesis To Go Issue Seven is now up, but the older stuff can still be found in the Archive section. This means you can still read my somewhat planned, but mostly random, WGT 2008 review here. So, if you're WGT-ing it this year, I may see you in the cellars or streets of old Saxony. I'm looking forward to Mein erst schwarzbier already! link 10 comments|post comment

An offer I felt able to refuse [May. 23rd, 2009|12:02 pm] I don't mean to be cruel, or anything, but I just denied a band's MySpace friends request. They seemed like a nice enough bunch, and I'm sure they're kind to animals, never forget their mum's birthday, and all. But the note they sent along with their request somehow didn't grab me. Hello, We're a new band from the UK in a similar vein to 'Snow Patrol' and 'Coldplay' i guess and we'd really appreciate your support. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there was something in there that just didn't inspire me to investigate further... link 8 comments|post comment

I must've swallowed a dictionary [May. 22nd, 2009|09:30 am] As I might have mentioned before (and will certainly mention again), Nemesis To Go Issue Seven is up and ready to eat. Someone out there has been chowing down, obviously, because my hits have risen somewhat. So far it seems more people are looking at the photos than reading the words. That's quite usual, as it happens - and what with the web being a visual medium and all, not really a bad thing. But it would be nice to get a few more hits on the words, because...well, I think I've got some good ones in this issue. Here's my own personal chart of Top Verbals - you can find all these in my reviews somewhere: Art Voodoo Grubby Eternal Cyclicality Angst Golf Berlin Oven gloves Rhetorical Cult Disco hammers Ouroboros Randomness John The Revelator Goth Deconstruct Boogie-ish Punk post-punk Post-post-punk Reliable old diesel engine Tungsten Tribal Bottleneck Banshee Reciprocal Trade Agreement 1936 Some good ones in there, I like to think. I suspect I've got a bigger vocabulary than anyone who writes for Artrocker, anyway. I've never seen 'Reciprocal trade agreement' in any of their reviews, the wimps. Last issue, natashameltdown reckoned my most frequently used word was 'Enormodome'. (I thought it was 'incongruous'). I suspect, this issue, 'Post-punk' wins the most-used prize, but that's really a function of the bands I've covered this time round. Many of them are, to one extent or other, post-punk, so ya just gotta say it. If you have a fave word or two, suggest them and I'll try to work them in to future issues! link post comment

Nemesis To Go Issue Seven is up.... [May. 20th, 2009|04:51 pm] Well, as the bishop said to the actress (or was it the actress to the bishop? I can never remember) - it's up. Nemesis To Go Issue Seven has been hurled onto the interweb, and so far the interweb hasn't hurled back. This must be a good sign. Here's the traditional Really Big Banner. Click it to go to the zine itself: I think everything works, but after doing 7 of these things now I've learned that what I think isn't always a reliable guide to actual functionality. So, I'll be giving the entire thing a once-over in the coming days to see if any errors and glitches have slipped through my rigourous quality control net (which basically involves me staring blank-eyed at my monitor untill my brain turns to jelly). If you spot anything that's gone a bit wrong, let me know and I'll see about fixing it. I'll also be doing some big pimpin' carefully targeted promotional activity around the web in the near future, just to let the world know that the new issue is up. Right, then. It's up, it's all yours. By all means get stuck in... link 9 comments|post comment

Spread 'em [May. 19th, 2009|12:06 pm] As the fateful moment when I hit the button marked 'upload' draws ever-closer, I thought you might like to see my spreadsheet. This is Nemesis to Go Issue Seven in the raw: Yes, now you mention it, it is lots of bits of paper stuck on a door. Isn't that how everyone does it? link 6 comments|post comment

I have been to my last gig... [May. 18th, 2009|01:56 pm] I have now been to my last gig before I upload the all-new, all-singing, all-dancing issue 7 of my stupid webzine, Nemesis To Go. Well, it'll be new, anyway - singing and dancing content is not guaranteed. Take a last long look at the old stuff before it's all bounced down into the Archive section (where it will still be available...just not in such a user-friendly format). I thought I'd hold out for Psychic TV at Bardens Boudoir last night. I think I was wise to do that, because now I'll have a rather good gig at the top of my review-stack. I won't give you a thumbnail review here, because the real one will be along soon enough. I will only say this: if you can to that with an iPhone, I think I want one. Here's one photo from last night's experiences. A suspiciously green Genesis P-Orridge remains calm as his bassist vapourises in the background. Now that's psychedelia! Now, my Stuff To Do list looks like this: 1. Sort out photos from the PTV gig - took lots, got to whittle them down to the essentials. 2. Write incisive and witty PTV review. Well, a PTV review, anyway. 3. Make final adjustments to front page - graphics mostly done, just a few touch-ups remaining. 4. Put issue 6 into the Archive section. Essentially a cut 'n' paste job, no stress there. 5. Send an email to a certain band who I won't name, who still haven't sent me their interview. I have 2 other interviews already in the can, so I can survive without this one. But it would be nice to have it, especially as it's a band I've been championing since day one (he says pointedly, just in case the band are reading this and need to be reminded who their friends are!) But you know how it is with bands. They're never early, they're always late. The first thing you learn is that you always gotta wait... 6. Assuming I get that interview, paste it in, tart it up, and... 7. UPLOAD! There. Seven tasks for issue 7. It's looming like a swine flu pandemic on the horizon, I tells ya. link 6 comments|post comment

Offsetting emissions [May. 15th, 2009|09:51 am] Last year, I spent a pleasant weekend in a field in North London. I was a little surprised to find that North London has fields, but it does. And over a couple of days last August, this is (some of) what happened in one of them: [If it's not obvious, that graphic-thing is a link. Click it to see my review of Offset '08] This may count as very advance information, but the Offset Festival for 2009 has now been announced. This year, it's on September 5th and 6th. I thought I'd put the essential details here, because last year everyone said 'The whatset festival? Never heard of it! Didn't know it was on!' So, a bit of information-dissemination wouldn't go amiss, I think. Here be the links! http://offsetfestival.co.uk http://www.myspace.com/offsetfestival http://thisisoffset.co.uk (other events put on by the Offset crew, plus various music-related snippets) Cheapo advance tickets are now on sale, although the line-up is very far from complete as yet. This probably means that if you're a band, and you fancy a slot on an Offset stage, now might be a good time to do the foot/door interface thing. I'm sure much of the band-booking arrangements will depend, as ever, on music biz contacts behind the scenes - plus, last year, some of the smaller stages were hosted by various club promoters who selected their own bands and put their own line-ups together. If the same thing happens this year, I dare say whether your band gets a chance for a slot or not will largely depend on who's in your contacts book, who you've played gigs for, and who you've sent your promo stuff to, over the last year or so. I don't think you'll be able to come in 'cold', as it were, and pick up a booking if the above doesn't apply. But the festival also features a New Band Stage which is open to anyone who clicks the 'Artist Submissions' link on the website. That doesn't guarantee you'll be booked, of course, but it puts you in the running. Last year, the likes of Little Boots and KASMs played the New Band Stage, and they haven't done too badly since. Anyway. There it is. Dates for your diary, and all that... link 5 comments|post comment

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