Osmium

The Polyphonic Spree:



Well apparently together they're heavy, which is unsurprising for a band which outnumbers So Solid Crew, Blazin' Squad and the Wu-Tang Clan put together (I haven't actually counted but I'm rather fond of hyperbole). I've been looking forward to their follow up to 'The Beginning Stages Of...' since I fell in love with it last summer and today I welcomed 'Together We're Heavy' into my CD collection. And it makes me smile. All arou-ound.

They look like some sort of fundamentalist religious cult, and their songs do have a sort of hymnal feel to them. But these hymns aren't to any God as such, or even to the sun, as they might first appear. Instead these songs are about Hope, Love and how fantastic life is when you're happy. They're hymns to the human spirit.

All this would usually have me reaching for the 'Hippy Tossers' stamp of disapproval, but somehow the Spree manage to pull it off without being smug or preachy. Their secret is one that they share with The Flaming Lips (who they sound a LOT like on this album) - they get round you by just having great singalong tunes. AND they even make it easier to sing along by pretty much repeating the same line over and over again, which I thought would annoy me but for some reason I find it endearing. There's also a sense of ambition in the music that's really refreshing. There's only a handful of acts in the pop (or indie or whatever) arena that push for that whole orchestral sound and actually pull it off. There's a huge amount of effort gone into the recording of this album, and it's payed off - this certainly doesn't sound like a bunch of indie rock ditties with a few violins tacked on for good measure. Oh, and the drumming's ace. Which I like.

Anyway, that's more than enough rambling on about music for now. I promise I'll post about something else soon. Probably climbing or something.

Furthermore...

The wonderful combination of unsociable hours, my work PC's rather nice speakers adn the wonderufl winamp winamp software has allowed me to fill the lab with random music. Hurrah.

Just finished was 'Your Revolution' by DJ Vadim and Sarah Jones. A wonderfully sinister hip-hop beat accompanies one of the most viscious feminist invectives you're ever likey to hear. A fantastic kick against the often prevelant sexism in hip-hop. And it feels naughty playing it loudly in my place of work. Heeheehee.

Next up is the sublime 'Burn Girl Prom Queen' by mogwai. The 'gwai are partially responsible for my obsession with music, and this incredible track from the imaginatively-titled 'Mogwai EP' is a good example of why I love this band so much. Yet another of their characteristic slow-burning tunes, the combination of the Cowdenbeath Brass Band and some tinkly piano cause this song to make me feel the same way a sunrise over Edinburgh does.

I could go on about this all night, I really could, but I'm sure it would get boring for all but me (and maybe Del), and I have to go home now and get some sleep.

Nighty Night.

Silver Lining

I am, like everybody else, prone to doing very stupid things at times. Yesterday I did a mildly stupid thing by setting up an experiment badly so that I would have to come in at 3 in the morning to set some runs going. D'oh.

On the upside, cycling into work just now, the roads were clear of dangerous motorists - a refreshing change from school-run psycho parents in enormous, badly-piloted pedestrian shredders.

But the best thing of all was the view. The sun was *just* starting to rise over this incredible city, and there was an enormously bright object in the sky (a star? a planet? the ISS? I dunno). The whole sight just gave me this incrediby warm "isnt' the world great" feeling that you only get when you mix sleep deprivation and a splash of unadulterated beauty.

Fantastic.

Shakey Shake...

...C'mon shake it!
Levitate me.

So they're middle-aged, overweight, balding and by their own admission in it for the cash. Yes, the pixies re-formed this year and have been playing gigs for a few months now, and it's one of the most exciting things that has happened in music in recent years. What makes this different from any other load of has beens trying to pay off the debts to their drug dealers with a few more shows to the devoted masses?

Maybe for me its the fact that I've have a big emotional attachment to the pixies ever since I heard them as a teenager. All of a sudden I could hear what all the bands I'd been listening to had been trying to acheive. Kim Deal's sexy, aloof basslines, Joey Santiago's viscious attacks on his guitar and THAT voice - the scream that rattles every organ you hold dear. But of course, they were no more, having collapsed under personal differences and gone their personal ways. Sure, there was the Frank Black stuff, and the Breeders, both of which were ace, but they just couldn't match the utter brilliance of the early pixies recordings. And I ached to see them play.

So when they announced they were playing again I was so excited I could puke. Usually when an old band reforms that I like (The Velvet Underground, Sex Pistols) I just think 'Ugh, that looks arse, I'll give that a miss'. But I hoped and prayed that they still had it, and imediately went and bought tickets for T in the Park to see them.

I was part-excited, and part terrified. I mean look at them now, they're old and fat like the pistols and the velvets were when they reformed. BUT, they have the full original line-up, and reports from their gigs in london were promising. Could they possibly live up to my expectations of them? Only one way to find out really.

So the rest of the festival was, to be fair, a bit crap. Sure there were good bands, but a series of organisational cock-ups both on the festivals part and mine and my friend's part made it a bit of a chore. The only thing keeping me there was the promise of Black Francis and co on the Sunday night. I was tired, a bit sunburned and largely pissed off with the minority of drunken yobs making things a bit unpleasant.

But then they walked on stage...





They didn't greet the crowd, and they didn't chat between songs, they just played and played and played until we were all spent. And it was utterly magical.

Why was it not just another crap reunion then? If you took one look at the crowd you knew the answer. The place was jam-packed with people of all ages, but predominantly teenagers, the life-blood of rocknroll. Now, other bands pick up new fans after they split, but the pixies have continued to gather hordes of youngsters who attach themselves just as avidly to their music as I have. So just as I imagine their pre-1993 gigs were like, the audience were all stood, mouths open, unable to believe what they were seeing. It was like the pixies had never left us.

I've kind of forgotten what the point of this whole rant was, other than to say that the pixies were great and I got to see them.

Ner nerna ner nerrrrr

Stories from the City

I moved up here to Edinburgh not too long ago, and I truly have fallen
in love with this city. I used to live in Bristol, which is a
fantastic place with lots of big green open spaces, fantastic record
shops and really friendly people. Oh, and a massive big limestone
crag 15 minutes walk away :)

Now don't get me wrong, I love Bristol, and I love going back there,
but Edinburgh just seems to have something else, something more magical
that just makes me feel great.

I think this might have something to do with it:






There's a fucking great extinct volcano right in the middle of the
city. Arthur's Seat, and the accompanying Salisbury Crags just
sit there the whole time like the city's benevolent guardian, watching
as the lives of thousands unfold.

So what? Edinburgh has many other things going for it. Great
buildings, good record shops, incredible people AND it's in Scotland,
which means the proper mountains are never far away. Why is
Arthur's Seat so important for me?

Escapism, really. As much as I love living in a vibrant and
bustling city I need my fix of wilderness to keep it all from getting
too much for me. Now I'm not saying that Arthur's Seat is
wilderness - it's slap bang in the middle of a capital city so that
would be absurd. But all I have to do is put on a pair of
trainers and I'm up there and all I can see are hills and sea.
It's not a massive spiritual revelation or anything, but it's such a
fantastic contrast to the crowds, bagpipes and chatter below that it
just makes me feel better about, well, everything I suppose.

I know most cities have great parks, and even other amazing geological
features to escape to but the seat just does it for me. And the
bouldering on the crags is actually pretty good fun, despite the
polished rock.

So yeah, it's that and the wonderful people of the EUMC that make life here good.

I think I might put my running shoes on now...

And so it begins...

I'd always told myself that I'd never write a blog.

Firstly, the word 'blog' just sounds crap and the English language would be better off without it.

Secondly, who cares what I think anyway? Why not write it down in a diary?

BUT, I've been reading my friends' weblogs (which I may even link to if I discover how) and I really enjoy seeing into their worlds. It's like a nice open letter to all of your pals telling them about what's been interesting you over the past while.

I also like ranting, and feel a lot better about it if someone chooses to read it rather than just gets accosted by me feeling ranty.

Is ranty a worse word than blog? Answers on a postcard.

So, as is usual for a first weblog post, I should introduce myself. I'm called Steve, I'm 24, I live in Edinburgh, and I work in Science. I'm going to try to write this stuff without too many typos - in the absence of smoking or a heroin addiction, I feel I should still have something to give up.

I feel like I should end this post with some sort of witty self-effacing quip, but to be honest it's 9.30odd on a saturday night and I'm still stuck at work doing an experiment so I really can't be arsed. I promise I'll be more sparkling next time I post. Honest.