Ick. Should have been at an indiepop all-dayer but spent all day suspended upside down in a huge vat of Lemsip* instead. Talking of all things medicinal, in case you haven't noticed former PV blogroller Dr Brooke Magnanti has outed herself as Belle de Jour.
During the media storm in the early years of BDJ your bemused blogger was often emailed asking for an opinion on her true identity. In truth, I didn't know for sure, but I did once give a clue to check which blog first linked to BDJ and where they got their lead. The first blog to link to BDJ was in fact this humble blog, Parallax View. And the lead? An email from a fellow blogger casually asking whether I'd noticed on the UK Blogs aggregator a blog by a prostitute. The blogger? Oh, you're ahead of me...Dr Brooke Magnanti.
See? Sometimes Dead Kenny does know how to keep his gob shut (well, just about). Who knew?
Indietracks Festival, Midland Butterly Railway nr. Ripley, Derbyshire, July 24-26 2009.
This was Parallax View's first visit to Indietracks, now in its third year of bringing the best of indiepop to the grounds of a vintage railway station at Midland Railway, Butterly, near Ripley in Derbyshire. It was a sign of the weekend to come that the person we end up sharing a taxi with from Alfreton train station was Ian who runs the How Does If Feel To Be Loved? disco in the marquee at the event. Everything, and indeed, everyone, seemed to be connected.
Even, to some degree, our good selves, as we make re-acquaintance with Dunc from The Autumn Store and badge-bestowing Simon of Sweeping The Nation fame in fairly quick order on entering the grounds, and bump into Liz from The School not long after. And who should we be following on our way to the bar but the unmistakeable derrieres of the girls from Au Revoir Simone? It was very much that kind of festival.
Friday night's fare was entirely on the outdoor stage, with the synths of Modular washing over us pleasantly before Rosay Pipette (hitherto to be referred to, of course, as Rose Elinor Dougall) strutted her new solo stuff to mostly impressive effect. There wasn't too much on show that screamed out 'hit record' but it was all engaging enough to foster the belief that if anyone can sell Stereolab-lite to the masses it's RED.
While waiting for ARS to get into gear, we managed to catch a few words with Alice Hubley from Arthur and Martha as she chatted to Dunc, consoling her on the rather snide NME review of A&M's new album which was excessively sniping with regards to her own vocal contributions. Heads turned immediately with the arrival of Au Revoir Simone, who put on a confident and mesmering show featuring the best from their three albums. There are those that bemoan their lack of stagecraft but with presence like theirs craft is made redundant and superflous, and latest album 'Still Night, Still Light' is arguably their most consistent disc to date.
Thus followed some dancing with Dunc, his gf Debbie, and the rest of the Autumn Store posse in the Lipstick On Your Collar! disco, during which Dead Kenny may or may not have been jumping up and down rather rigorously to The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart's 'Young Adult Friction' chanting 'don't check me out! don't check me out!' to anyone without an option but to listen. All in all, was a Good Friday, if not THE Good Friday, if you see what we mean.
Saturday sees our bleary blogging eyes facing the serious business of catching as many indiepop acts as possible while still remembering to cover the basics of eating, drinking and breathing. We catch the sun somewhat while waiting for Sucrette, who make up for their late appearance with some top-notch breathy J-Pop which would appeal in particular to fans of Annie's 'Anniemal'. We were less seduced by Tender Trap, whose harmonies only really tugged at our heartstrings during their newest number, but at least that means they're heading in the right direction. Also failed to be engaged by Friends on the Indoor Stage (otherwise known as The Loco Shed), while One Happy Island won us over with the sheer persistence of their energy and charm during their set in the same arena.
Danish troubadour Labrador was late finding the festival but provided soothing electro-folk to calm our savage breasts on a hot Saturday evening in The Church (a case of Pew! What A Scorcher! anyone?). This proved the calm before the storm of The Specific Heats at the same location, whose reverb mechanism blew up during the first song, amongst other technical mishaps, which did nothing but add to the feeling that this was one of the festival landmark events, with scorching surf guitar and sun-kissed melodies providing a perversely devilish good time in the 'sanctity' of The Church.
Some fresh air was certainly needed at that point, but a look at the long snaking queue of people waiting to see The Lovely Eggs suggested that we wouldn't be able to get back in a hurry. And so it proved, as we were left to paw at the Church window like poor little orphan boys on Christmas Day, to get a glimpse of the hotly-tipped popsters. From our disadvantaged vantage point, The Lovely Eggs looked and sounded un-beatable, before we whisked ourselves off to see The Frank And Walters, who were still playing mostly the same songs and (if memory serves us correctly) telling mostly the same jokes that they used to back in 1992. Pretty entertaining and endearing stuff, nevertheless.
We only really know one Speedmarket Avenue song, the pretty fantastic 'Way Better Now' so wasn't quite sure what to expect of the Stockholm collective. Perhaps the most surprising aspect was that the vocal duties were fairly evenly shared between the male and female singer, the latter's sheer blue tights certainly scorching themselves on our retinas. It was all rather lovely, much lovelier than the fact that the main toilets were in need of plumbing attention, which certainly challenged punters' temperaments in what was supposed to be the friendliest of festivals.
Our underpants tension was somewhat eased by the always comforting presence of Camera Obscura, with lead singer Tracyann Campbell looking never more glam as the band dispensed a crowd-pleasing set of gems like 'Let's Get Out Of This Country'; 'French Navy' and 'If Looks Could Kill', climaxing beautifully as usual with 'Razzle Dazzle Rose' as the sun set. Met back up with Dunc and Debbie at this stage who pass on the tidbit that Marisa from The Besties is about to do a debut solo set in the Marquee. Right on cue the lead singer from The Specific Heats then pops his head out of said tent and hollers to anything within earshot the very same headline news.
Although your bluffing blogger is aware of The Besties' cult status in indiepop circles, Marisa seems more recently and vividly familiar to us, until it clicks she played keys for The Specific Heats earlier. We just have time to congratulate The Specific Heats singer on his set (he's philosophical about the equipment blowing up as it's the last day of their European tour) before he was required to act as a human mic stand for the slightly embarrassed but genuinely endearing Marisa, who ran through some old Besties tunes and other stuff even though at least one of her keys wasn't working. The whole shebang had so much impromptu charm and bonhomie we swear if we were any more full of ourselves at this point we'd have had to empty ourselves out just for the pleasure of filling ourselves back up again.
This also served to fill the gap while (reputedly) Emmy The Great had to be rescued from some sort of motorway-related fiasco before her set at The Indoor Stage. Better late than never, as we always say here on Parallax View, and while we can't quite re-create the flush of love at first sight we initially felt for Emmy, it's a bold and entertaining show with an impressive cover of The Pixies' 'Where Is My Mind?' thrown into the mix for good measure. Outside, La Casa Azul are in turns bemusing and bewitching with an undeniably odd combination of pigeon English, dancepop and balladry, to a visual backdrop of Mario Brothers, 'virtual backing band' and other random bytes and bobs. It's hit and miss for our tastes, but there's no doubt his version of John Paul Young's 'Love Is In The Air' provides one of the truly joyously unifying moments of the festival weekend.
Night-time saw Ian's 'How Does It Feel To be Loved?' pop-disco ramming the Marquee to its rafters, so we had our hearts and feet stolen by Barcelona's Bonnie & Clyde in the Loco Shed instead. TPOBPAH's 'Young Adult Friction' again gets a showing, and thus also does our crap dancing in a session of hot, sweaty fun. Rumours of ex-NME journo Tim Jonze being on site to do a piece for The Guardian permeated the night air as the contented crowds dispersed.
Sunday morning started with a call from our friend Keef to say he's coming up for the day to catch up with the evening's headliners Teenage Fanclub. After watching the entrancing (but startlingly young) Bonne Idee in the Loco Shed, we meet up with Keef on the steam train where we're completely out of earshot of the drum-and-bass from The Manhattan Love Suicides announcing the band's split. We're back on solid ground in time for The School's afternoon slot on The Outdoor Stage, where Simon from The Loves does his best to steal the show from a stunning set of stellar choons new and old, with his drunken wit and repartee and blatant-lack-of-socks appeal, but it's the impression of a band truly starting to find its feet live that's the lingering impression.
It then began to rain, which probably suited Denmark's Northern Portrait as their efficient Scandinavian remodelling of The Smiths would suggest they're more than comfortable with all things Northern Miserabilism. Happily they're not short of decent tunes and the material seems grounded and heartfelt enough to resonate more deeply than mere pastiche, and they appeared to go down well with a visibly impressed Emma from Pocketbooks who was stood next to us throughout. We wished her well with her set later that day, to which she summarily dismissed us to the merchandise stand. Still, as Confucious might have said, better a girl who only brings her business head to the party than one who doesn't bring any head at all.
Was well and truly chucking it down by this time, but it didn't stop us from heading to see Lucky Soul on the Outdoor Stage to gawp at the singer in her short little mini-dress and to remark on how one of the LS geezers is indecently rocking the Blake Fielder-Civil look, as well as sway about a bit and tap our feet to their pretty fetching pop-soul sound. Meanwhile, it wasn't just the rain that saw people scampering into the merchandise tent, as there was a bit of a Talulah Gosh reunion going on, which was nice, even though we found ourselves distracted by congratulating Liz on her set and introducing Dunc and Simon to each other (the indiepop equivalent of Frost:Nixon, we're sure you'll agree).
Sunday became a bit of a rainy blur from this point on, catching 20 minutes of the always-entertaining The Smittens here and 20 minutes of Hong Kong In The 60s ambient pop there, and a set by the aforementioned Pocketbooks that became increasingly compelling as the show went on, and we're sure Emma (who sports a haircut that makes her look a bit like Helen Marnie from Ladytron) would thank us for pointing out that their excellent album 'Flight Paths' is available for retail and download from all the usual outlets, now.
What else? Ah yes, Stereo Total were something of a rowdy revelation, featuring an impromptu performance from Birmingham's very own David Leach on harmonising, and a vaguely riotous stage invasion providing a feelgood finale. One-man NZ act Disasteradio gurned his way gloriously through a frenetic set of electronic gloopy loopiness, keeping Keef's son Joe suitably fascinated throughout. Some fishcake and chips in Johnson's Cafe later, Art Brut are their usual entertaining selves, even though their rockstar shapes and boisterous, slightly shambolic wit does lose its novelty value after a while. Nice of them to namecheck MJ Hibbett, though.
Which just left us with the minor details of your hustling hack falling flat on his back on the wet grass and a mighty, mighty closing performance from Teenage Fanclub which included a couple of new songs (one was called 'The Falls', we think) and plenty of the best from what we sometimes forget is a splendidly impressive back catalogue. Not only is everything and everybody connected, but, as TFC remind us to a cavalcade of chiming guitars, Everything Flows.
West Ham v Manchester City, Boleyn Ground, Upton Park, London, Sunday March 1st, 12.30pm.
This is your fairweather fan's first foray into Upton Park for a Sunday lunchtime kick-off, a decidedly different atmosphere than normal with most fans getting to the ground at near enough the same time, and near enough all sober, and a snaking queue outside the club shop. A quick pint in the ground, where we spy the team formation on the club TV, with recent loan acquisition (and programme cover star) Radoslav Kovac, bought as a defensive midfielder, playing at the attacking head of a diamond formation in the middle of the park.
Both teams start the game in a relatively comfortable mid-table position after occasionally hazardous campaigns, with perhaps City in better form and spirits after a creditable draw the previous weekend at Anfield, while The Hammers have struggled to convert their good general play into goals since selling Craig Bellamy to today's opponents. These circumstances lead to an open game with West Ham working the ball well in midfield but City looking bright and dangerous when they get the ball in offensive positions.
The first half is a fairly even affair, Bellamy predictably getting a lot of stick on his rapid return to Upton Park following his controversial departure in the transfer window, and £30m+ superstar Robinho earning jeers of 'what a waste of money' with two gilt-edged chances spurned, one foiled by a smart, sharp stop from 'keeper Robert Green, the other comically spooned wide. Most of the concern came from the sad sight of West Ham's right-sided midfielder Valon Behrami stretchered off with what looked like a serious injury, which saw wunderkind Savio brought on for his longest spell in a first-team game since his £5.5m move back in January.
Savio plays on the left-side of midfield with fellow youngster and Welsh international Jack Collison switching flanks. This doesn't seem to interrupt the home side's attacking momentum and if anything the Hammers take a more commanding role in the second half. Two incidents in quick succession seal the direction of the game: Bellamy coming off injured (was lovely to properly wave the little so-and-so goodbye) and Savio, bought by the club as his replacement, forcing a good save from Shay Given which only served to push the ball in Collison's direction who cleverly hoisted it over the keeper's despairing lunge into the open net. Aside from a few dead-ball situations Citeh rarely looked like levelling matters and a welcome three points for Gianfranco Zola's claret-and-blue army sees us rocket up to seventh and today's opponents looking nervously over their shoulders at the relegation dogfight.
All in all a good solid team effort, predictably professional performances from Robert Green and Scotty Parker well complemented by youngsters Collison, Savio and James Tomkins who's looking increasingly assured in central defence and if anything made a more telling contribution than his England international partner Matthew Upson whose distribution was a bit off-key today. Kovac, making his full debut, appears to add height, presence and experience to the midfield mix, which is good news in light of an anticipated lengthy lay-off for the unfortunate Behrami.
Parallax Player Ratings - Green 8; Neill 7, Tomkins 7, Upson 6, Ilunga 7; Collison 7, PARKER 8, Kovac 7, Behrami 6 (Savio 7); Di Michele 6, Cole 7. Jonathan Spector and Walter Lopez came on as late subs but didn't have enough game time to register a fair assessment of their play.
West Ham United v Newcastle United, Upton Park, London, Saturday September 20 2008, 3pm.
This is your credit-crunched correspondent's first game of the season, our visit to the Boleyn Ground happily co-inciding with Gianfranco Zola's first game in charge, providing an excellent opportunity to witness first-hand the start of a promising new era. Today's opponents Newcastle United are experiencing their own period of tumult, although in contrast to the Hammers' swift, transparent succession process, they find themselves in lengthy limbo, apparently no nearer to appointing their new gaffer than when Kevin Keegan walked out a few weeks back.
Both sides field makeshift teams due to injury and/or suspensions, with Zola experimenting with a 4-3-3 formation, swapping Julien Faubert and Valon Behrami around on the right flank, and moving skipper Lucas Neill to the centre of defence. Deadline day signings Herita Ilunga and David diMichele make their home debuts, and it's diMichele who makes the most immediate impression with an early blocked shot looping over keeper Shay Given into the net. This settles down the home team who establish a dominant pattern over the visitors for the rest of the half, with the lively diMichele doubling the advantage with some persistent play midway through the half. Newcastle look bereft of belief and purpose, their back four offering little resistance to the energy and workrate of diMichele and a rejuvenated Carlton Cole, and Butt and Cacapa looking similarly pedestrian compared to the industry and thrust of Scotty Parker and Mark Noble.
The second half is a little more competitive, but the game seems over when a scuffed diMichele shot steers the ball directly into the path of an onrushing Matty Etherington, who makes no mistake to establish a three-goal lead. Such a cushion is a rare treat for the team and supporters alike, the latter relishing the opportunity to roar 'You're going down with the Tottenham!' at the beleagured Toon Army, but high hopes for a clean sheet are dashed when some slack play gives visiting hotshot Michael Owen a half-chance at goal which he finishes with customary aplomb. This prompts a ten-minute spell where Newcastle exert some pressure on a suddenly quite edgy West Ham, with smart saves required from keeper Robert Green to maintain the advantage. The pressure peters out as the clock ticks by, however, and it's Hammers sub Luis Boa Morte who's presented with the best subsequent goal-scoring opportunities, both wastefully spurned before the full-time whistle puts the Geordie faithful out of their misery.
A fine start for the new Zola regime, then, with the tactical tinkering all paying off, diMichele winning the fans over with immediate effect, and a strong all-round team performance including Parker and Cole playing their best games we've witnessed in the Hammers shirt. The team's problems haven't disappeared overnight, and our away form and defensive concentration levels still need addressing, but our difficulties are put in sharp perspective when considering the woes of Newcastle, who face an uncertain future if their current lack of leadership, on and off the pitch, is allowed to continue.
Parallax Premiership Ratings: Green 7; Faubert 7, Upson 7, Neill 7, Ilunga 6; Behrami 7, Parker 8 (Mullins 6), Noble 7; Etherington 7 (Boa Morte 4), diMICHELE 8, Cole 7. Freddie Sears came on for Cole with a few minutes remaining, but not on for enough time to justify a rating.
Six weeks after we opined that 'I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked' would prove to be Ida Maria's breakthrough hit, the NME are agreeing with us and Radio 1 are playlisting it. And now you won't need x-ray vision to find out for yourself what the fuss is about as it gets physical release from Monday (21st).
Whether it's Ida's louche delivery, the catchiness of the chorus or the ever-so-slightly dirty good-time feel that drenches proceedings like a midnight sweat, it's not because we're down to the bare bones that 'ILYSMBWYN' gets this week's undressed-to-thrill Parallax View Single Of The Week.
The School/Flicklisten/The Puncture Repair Kit, Swiss Concrete @ The Bullingdon Arms, Oxford, Thursday June 19 2008, 8.45pm.
The Bullingdon Arms is a short taxi ride away from Oxford's main rail station, a smallish pub with friendly, fetching bar staff and a big backroom area where the bands play. Ben and your long-distance lurker meet up with a couple of the SWSLer's charming co-workers, and get waylaid watching Germany beat Portugal in the Euro2008 Q-F so only catch the last few songs from The Puncture Repair Kit. Their boisterous, slightly ramshackle take on indie-pop reminds your comparison-crazed correspondent of The Strange Death Of Liberal England, but we hope the rest of the set was less impressive because a) we hate to have missed out on anything and b) we'd just lurve to be able to say The Puncture Repair Kit flat-tyred to deceive.
Flicklisten is a guy who comes from Ohio but has lived in Oxford for four years, a singer/guitarist occasionally accompanied by a young lady who plays a violin shaped like a pair of scissors (a cut above the usual instrument, natch). He has a good voice, knows how to get a meaningful, sombre strum from his guitar, and has a droll line in tinder-dry banter, but his songs, on first listen anyway, are more interesting than truly memorable.
This last charge is certainly something you could never level at our learned friends The School, who've happily mastered the knack of catchy tunes addressing bold sentiments, embellished with 60s girl-pop stylings yet undertowed by savvy indie knowingness. They seem to be a Rosie and at least one Ryan short of the line-up when we last saw them, but Liz is in good, giggly form, describing Oxford as very pretty once you've found it, a reference to the maybe-Multimap-induced mayhem of their journey into the city. Of tonight's set, the songs from last week's Single Of The Week 'Let It Slip' ep prominently feature, there's a mystery cover version that no one gets, and the small matter of a dedication to their 'longest-travelling fan - Ken!' for their closing number 'All I Wanna Do'.
Your marathon-man mitherer hides his blushes for just long enough to grab a few words with Liz at the end of the show, as the band pack away their equipment in readiness for a trip to Spain for a festival performance. She insists the recent departures were amicable and not the result of a Mark E Smith-like hire-em-fire-em ethos, and reveals a new band member is forthcoming who will cover both instruments. Talking of covered instruments, we don't have to get our twelve-inch ruler out as Liz very kindly autographs our copy of the 'Let It Slip' ep before we wave her off to Spain. But not before she reveals an addition to The School timetable: a debut album due early next year!
Yes, don't call us Stace-eeeeeeee, but you can call us Nostredamus, as The Ting Tings have claimed the Number One slot for 'That's Not My Name' just over one year on from being made Parallax View Single Of The Week! Your tipsy tipster will be on hand to help the Mancunian pop duo celebrate at their Birmingham Irish Centre gig tomorrow night, to be sure.
First up, Parallax View is a personal site, and the views expressed herein (unless stated otherwise) solely belong to the webmaster (see below) and do not represent the views of past, present or future employers, or that of the web hosting company.
This site shares nothing but its title with the 1974 paranoid thriller The Parallax View. This is NOT the official site for that film and the views expressed herein do not represent the views of Warren Beatty or anyone involved in producing the film. Neither does this site have any connection with the electronic group The Parallax Corporation.
What Parallax View is:
It's a weblog, updated invariably daily, with links and references to music; film; pop culture; pub culture; football (or soccer, if you will); sports; TV/Radio; modern art; sex and gossip. Preferably, all of them at the same time.
That list isn't exclusive though. This is a personal site, so I reserve the right to talk shit about anything/everything I want. Just try stop me.
This page refers on an occasional basis to adult material, and contains some use of strong language. I don't set out to offend but if you don't like it, I won't be offended if you don't come back.
About the boy
Although this is a personal site, the point of the project isn't me, it's to refer you to sites/stories/pictures/games etc. of interest. Occasionally, there will be references to my private life but this isn't a diary page. I can't stop you making assumptions about me based on the content of this page, as long as you don't mistake those assumptions for anything remotely resembling fact.
Parallax View is the work of a shadowy, mysterious character by the name of Dead Kenny. That's me. Am I really dead? Take a guess. Why use a pseudonym? I have my reasons. Let's just say that using a doppelganger allows me optimum flexibility in expressing myself.
