The random musings of a short man in a big world

Bizarrely, I’ve spent more time in the first six months of this year in Warehouse (formerly Moshulu) than. I ever had before. Not that that would be hard, admittedly. I’d only been once back in my student days, and had somehow managed to never attend a gig there until this year. Not quite sure why.

Having seen The Twilight Sad there earlier in the year, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was back. Indeed, I was proved right as I was tempted back by what looked on paper a decent lineup of Carson Wells, Right Hand Left and headlining Liverpudlians, Hot Club de Paris.

I’d been assured I needed to see Hot Club, but as usual waited until afterwards to listen to their recorded output, instead letting the live experience make my mind up for me.

Carson Wells are another of my favourite local bands but I’d only seen them at Drummonds before, so it was interesting to see how they made the transition to the larger Warehouse. Quite easily as it happens. I must admit that they’re not the kind of thing I normally listen to, but Huw’s punchy vocals grab you, just staying the right side of the line marked “Shut up! You’re too shouty!”

What strikes me more this time than at Drummonds is how well Ross’ more intricate guitar work comes across. With Dallas holding things together with his usual reliable sticksmanship, it’s a winning combination.

Sadly, the same can’t be said for Right Hand Left. I’ve seen them quite a few times as they’ve been on the same bill as mates’ bands etc, and I really enjoyed their set at Wizard last year.

Indeed, they seemed to come across well at the launch party for recent single Lipstick (which, by the way, is a tune), but this performance had me wondering if I’d been imbibing a little too much when I last saw them.

Lipstick was the opener and it came across reasonably well, but unfortunately for the band their set quickly descended into a one-paced mediocrity I wasn’t really expecting of a band who are fairly well established in the city. Indeed, a few people I spoke to left during their set, to watch the football and epic tennis match in the pub.

Thankfully, most had returned by the time Hot Club appeared and delivered their slightly deranged indie rock. I do love a band you can dance to, and Hot Club are undoubtedly one of these.

Technical issues beset opening number “I’m Not In Love and Neither Are You”, a dodgy buzzing coming from the bass and a broken drum pedal affecting the delivery, but onwards our heroes ride.

It’s guitarist Matthew Smith rather than frontman Paul Rafferty who delivers much of the banter between songs, and he’s clearly a dab hand, telling the crowd how he’d fallen over four times during the day, proclaiming Aberdeen the “slippiest city ever”. Later he would tell us how a friend impregnated his (the friend’s) mother by masturbating in the bath. “Not really, we’re joking” he clarifies.

The sense of humour in their on-stage demeanour is matched by the songs themselves, the titles telling half the story. Among those on show tonight are “Free The Pterodactyl 3”, “Hey! Housebrick”, and “Biggie Smalls and the Ghetto Slams”.

Of these, it’s “Hey! Housebrick” that grabs my attention most, lyrically at least. “Hey! Housebrick are you sitting in a building, are you resting in a hand, are you heading for a windscreen?” just tickles me, somehow. The other highlight for me as a newcomer to the band was “Shipwreck”, though this time it was the guitar riff that grabbed me by the balls.

Having a listen back on Spotify later, it struck me that as well as the obvious Scouse and indie influences, Hot Club De Paris also have much in common with the likes of Danananaykroyd, putting a nice twist on their sound.

Check out:
Carson Wells: http://www.myspace.com/guyguyrock
Right Hand Left: http://www.myspace.com/righthandleft
Hot Club De Paris: http://hotclubdeparis.com/

You’re never going to believe this, but I went to see The Deportees at the weekend at what was their first “Headline” gig. I’d been looking forward to this, not just for the main act, but also because of the interesting supports, JJ Bull & The Dinosaurs and Three Knots.

Unfortunately I missed most of JJ’s set due to a late-ish arrival back in the ‘Deen from playing football in Lossiemouth, but the song-and-a-half I did catch was very slick.
JJ is joined on stage by Patty Shearer and Joe Nolan from Right Hand Left and Carson Wells drummer Iain Dallas, it all sounds very slick despite Dallas later telling me they’d only practiced for the second time the night before. Hard to believe.

The tunes I heard were “Duck Soup” and “Tokyo”, and they impressed enough that I’ll be making sure to check out JJ’s solo album “Ou Sont Les Elephants”, which is on Spotify, handily.

As JJ & The Dinosaurs vacate the stage, I note that the music between bands is Allo Darlin’s debut album. Nice choice.

I didn’t know what to expect from the evening’s second band, Three Knots. The Stonehaven five-piece have clearly brought a young crowd with them, as the dancefloor fills steadily just before they come on.

And once they start playing, I can see why. Driven by a pounding bass, stabbing synths and angular guitar, it quickly becomes evident just how danceable their songs are. I can hear hints of Kasabian, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, Vampire Weekend and Crystal Castles kicking about in there (and having just checked their influences on Myspace, I’m doing not too badly!)

Although they’re a young band, they’ve clearly worked hard at what they want to do and it’s paid off big-time if the comments people were making afterwards were anything to go by. They’ve jumped right into my top five North East bands.

So, onto The Deportees. My love for the Deportees folk/country/rock stylings has been documented on here before, and judging by the number of places the previous review I did shows up, I’m not being allowed to forget it.

So here we are again, and the first thing that strikes me is that big orange Gretsch Adam’s got. I don’t know why it’s suddenly grabbed my attention (is it new?), but it’s a beauty of a thing and, quite sadly, adds to my enjoyment. Guitars excite me a wee bit too much, I think.

They kick off with “First Breath of The Day”, which is just as catchy as ever. The harmonies draw in the newcomer immediately and I must admit that when the song was rested for The Deportees’ previous gig, supporting Right Hand Left, it was a big miss from the set.

Having grabbed the crowd’s attention, they launch into new song Alibis, which provides the first opportunity for drummer Christy to go absolutely ape. Once he gets in the groove, you don’t want him to stop, pounding the skins like Keith Moon in his pomp.

Somewhat fittingly on Armed Forces Day, the band then ease into their cover of Woody Guthrie’s “When The Roses Bloom Again”, recounting the tale of a soldier’s promise to his sweetheart on departure for war. Adam brings his harmonica into play, adding to the haunting nature of the track which has been covered, among others, by Wilco and Laura Cantrell.

“Tongue Can’t Tell” follows as The Deportees slow the tempo, before guitarist Ricky moves to lap steel for North, another recent addition to the band’s canon.
The “evil in beautiful faces” refrain still lingers in the mind as Christy and keys player Diarmid kick up a storm, leading the band straight into “Bastard”. I might have mentioned this last time, but if you want a track to dance to, this is very much THE one.

That said “The Birth of Industry” is probably the band’s best track and it’s very close behind in the dancing stakes. The driving beat sucks you in just as easily as the harmonies of “First Breath Of The Day” and sadly it’s over almost too soon.

Rounding out the set nicely is “All Night”, which sounds all the better for the addition of Ricky’s lap steel.

It goes without saying that I enjoyed the Deportees set, but big kudos to Three Knots in particular for their tight sound. Muchly impressed.

Links for your audio pleasure:
JJ Bull & The Dinosaurs: http://www.myspace.com/jjbull
Three Knots: http://www.myspace.com/threeknotsstonehaven
The Deportees: http://www.myspace.com/deporteesuk

Which, apart from the date of the AMOC show being missed out, is pretty cool. On that note… AMOC SHOW! SUNDAY JULY 4th! BE THERE OR BE… well, not.

A couple of posts back, I showed you Jason Plato’s superb save at Brands Hatch last year. Well, this year at Brands, Gordon Shedden tried to outdo him:

Sorry, dear, blog. It seems I only write about things when I’m genuinely excited. And few things genuinely excite me.

And what does genuinely excite me, is the Mini. Believe it or not, it’s actually moving now, after dispensing with the services of Mr WD40 and giving Copper Grease a try. So, it’s rolling, but does it work?

Well, if you were on the A96 heading towards Aberdeen last Sunday night, you might have seen my L plate testifying it does. Said sign flew off at 55mph, causing my dear father to have kittens as he wondered what I’d hit/what had just fallen out the engine.

I’ve got my test coming up at the end of June, so getting the motor going, and being confident enough to take it out is a big help.

It’s now been out a couple of times with no ill effects, though my dear father’s back may say otherwise. He just can’t handle the way it bumps and bashes over every uneven bit of road. Can’t wait to try it on cobbles!

I must admit to being surprised by the number of people who’ve commented on it, though. The Mini is still an attention-grabbing car, and as the owner/driver, I feel obliged to pass on the feel-good factor owning one provides.

Best one I’ve heard so far, was a small child who stood excitedly by my parked motor, pointing and shouting to his dad: “Dad! Dad! This is Mr Bean’s car!” Close enough, eh?

Annoyingly for my bank manager, I’ve started to formulate plans for a second Mini, a proper project car. We’ll see how that goes!

Ah dear friends, the motorsport season is properly upon us again! While the rally mob have been doing their “4 left, tightens” since January, and the F1 lot are monotonously circling into their third meeting of the season, the BTCC nutters kick off this weekend. And not a moment too soon!

The smell of petrol, burning rubber, and proper door-to-door racing. Amazing crashes, spectacular saves, and singlehandedly keeping the manufacturers of gaffer tape in business, the BTCC is certainly one of the most exciting forms of racing around.

At most of the circuits, the pits are open to the public, so you can get up close to the drivers and cars as well as watching them spin, slide, crash, bash and generally do everything they can to avoid actually finishing a race.

The Championship has suffered some heavy blows in recent years, with the loss of manufacturer teams Seat and Vauxhall’s VXR entry, but fears for the future of the series have been allayed thanks to the return of Honda to the grid, and the introduction of Chevrolet.

That said, last year’s popular (despite being a dirty red) champion, and Autosport National Driver Of The Year, Colin Turkington hasn’t managed to fund another year with WSR, and he’ll be a great loss. Also missing from the grid this year is Scotsman Jonny Adam, who debuted for Motorbase last season, and helped nudge Jason Plato into that superb bit of driving in the clip above.

While the Kirkcaldy driver isn’t involved this time around, fellow Fifer Gordon Shedden returns for Honda after a frustrating time last year. Having left Team Dynamics after the first race last year to be replaced by James Thompson (himself later succeeded by Johnny Herbert), Sheds then signed up for Clyde Valley Racing, only to see the team’s sponsors fail to pay up leaving a funding shortfall that forced them out of action in double-quick time (he did manage a second place finish for them at Knockhill, though!).

At the moment there are fewer cars entered than last year, but the field still looks as strong as ever. The ever-reliable Jason Plato was a late entrant for Team Silverline last year, yet ended the season a close second to Turks, and he lines up for the team again this year, albeit with the backing of Chevy and a new car, the Cruze replacing the competitive Lacetti.

He’ll line up alongside Alex MacDowall, a graduate of the Clio Cup support series, who posted some quick times in the pre-season.

The biggest threat is likely to come from the rear-wheel drive BMWs of Airwaves and last year’s champions WSR (formerly Team RAC).

Although Turkington is no longer on the scene, WSR have brought their former driver Rob Collard back from Airwaves after an impressive 2009 campaign. He’s been paired with Andy Neate who last featured for Team Nuts in 2005, and who has come back from a broken neck suffered in a horrendous crash at Silverstone in the 2008 Britcar 24 Hours.

Replacing Collard at Airwaves is Mat Jackson, another fan favourite, who had a successful season alongside Plato at Silverline last time out. Ulsterman Stephen Kane makes a welcome return to the team and championship after a year out.

With Vauxhall having withdrawn their support of Team 888 at the end of last season, Team VXR is no more. 888 continue this year though, and have ensured feisty Italian stallion Fabrizio Giovanardi has a place on the grid this year. Never one to shirk a challenge, expect him to be near the front of the pack despite only signing up on the eve of the season.

Two-time Champion Gio will be joined by last year’s Clio Cup Champion Phil Glew in the black-liveried Vectra’s of Triple Eight.

There will be another two Vectras on the grid, with Triple Eight having sold cars to the enthusiastic Dave Pinkney, a former chairman of Luton Town Football Club, and who will run his own Pinkney Motorsport team in ever distinctive colours.

The other Vectra has gone to former works driver Andrew Jordan, driving for Pirtek Racing. Pirtek are an established name in the Australian V8 Supercar, and will support Jordan’s independent entry while father Mike, a former BTCC driver and team-mate of Andy in 2008, will provide advice from the sidelines.

Having run the Honda Integra and Civic over the past five years, Team Dynamics this year have backing from Honda UK, and welcome back a brace of drivers to the team. The aforementioned Shedden will be partnered by Matt Neal, who he partnered in years of yore. Neal is making a return to his father Steve’s team after a largely frustrating spell with Triple Eight/VXR.

Team AON return for a second season in the Ford Focus, with Tom “Sonic” Chilton leading once more, alongside former VXR man, Tom Onslow-Cole. AON were coming good towards the end of last year, and will be running the only brace of LPG cars this year, so will be hoping to be further up the order. AON will have the backing of Ford .

Tom Boardman is another man returning to the grid having made his debut as the youngest-ever BTCC driver in 2001 when, aged just 18, he drove privately entered Peugeot. Tom will be entering this year’s BTCC under the family-run Special Tuning banner.

Martin Johnson (no, not that Martin Johnson) will be running the Astra Coupé formerly run by Arkas with Tech-speed, for a second successive year, while Tech-Speed have integrated John George’s JAG Racing to their team, John pairing up with the ever-popular Paul O’Neill, the pair both racing ex-Dynamics Integras.

Keeping the Honda theme going, Matt Hamilton returns with his independently entered Civic Type R. Matt debuted at Rockingham last year, and the Derby University student will be looking to build on his performances since. Matt will be racing with TH Motorsport, who looked after John George in recent years.

In another Honda will be Lea Wood, running an ex-Gareth Howell Integra. Wood has previous experience in the Clio Cup, but steps up in another family-run team.

Finally we come to two new entries this season. First, lets tackle the new BMW pairing from Forster Motorsport. More used to the Mini Challenge, Arthur Forster and Martin Depper will have to get used to the RWD 320si but with the success of Airwaves and WSR in recent years, they may just make their way towards the front of the grid.

The final entry, thus far, is AmDMilltek. Running a Mk5 Golf, Team owner/driver Shaun Hollamby hopes to add a second car during the season, with Simon Shaw expected to pick up the second seat. It was 1989 when the BTCC last encountered a Golf, so it will be interesting to see where the Golf places come the end of the season.

There’s a BTCC fantasy league running at http://www.fantasydrivers.com/ Get yer team sorted!

If you’ve read any of this blog before, you’ll know that when I set my mind to it I can write a bit. I enjoy writing, but I probably don’t do it regularly enough, other than my football reports.

So when I go along to a gig and feel absolutely compelled to write about it, you know it must have been thoroughly enjoyable. And let me tell you, that’s a massive understatement.

Deportees could perhaps be described as something of an Aberdeen supergroup. Take two parts Eddison (singer/guitarist Adam K and guitarist Rick), Adam Mo from 10 Easy Wishes, Edgar Prais drummer Christy and erstwhile keys player Diarmaid, add ridiculous harmonies and a few monster riffs. Spin and repeat. They’re a bit good.

This evening, they’re support to Welsh indiepop wizards (and wizardesses) The School, along with Flora Cook and the brilliantly named Allo, Darlin’. Sadly a busy night of meetings and football writing meant I could only catch a little of Allo, Darlin’s ukelele-laden set and, the main attraction in my eyes, Deportees.

If you’ve not seen them before, opening track “First Breath of the Day” provides quite an introduction. Three of the quintet unleash those harmonies,with only the merest hint of percussion to keep time, before Adam K’s powerful voice joins the fray. It’s a good 75 seconds before the keys ease their way in, but when the rest of the band kicks in thirty seconds later, by God do they kick in.

Although their folk and country references are there for all to see, there’s nothing Deportees like more than to rock out, and they’ve got the blend between those influences and the rock tendencies nailed down.

After the crashing crescendo of the opening track, they launch into the rootsy reggae blast of “Lover Don’t Feel So Sad”, and you can’t help be drawn in by the beautiful “somebody loves you” hook. Even this early in the set, if you’re not absolutely awestruck, then your soul must be with Lucifer in the seventh layer of Hell.

The tight-sounding “Tongue Can’t Tell” keeps you hooked, before Adam Mo ditches his bass in favour of the fiddle for the folk-tinged “Stay The Night”, but you won’t hear Robbie Shepherd introducing this on a Saturday night. There’s that wall of sound again, looming large in front of you, and there’s really no escaping now.

The fiddle is swiftly put back down as Adam K introduces an as-yet-untitled track. “This has been called Big Marching Drum One, or just Bastard,” he says. “We’ll go with Bastard. I like Bastard.” I like Bastard too, Mr Keenan. Very much so.

The catchy song comes to an end to rapturous applause from the respectable crowd, and Deportees launch into a brand new song. I didn’t catch the name of it, but by god (yes, I’m running out of superlatives and recycling them) it’s rocking. Massive chords and a none-too-shabby Keith Moon impersonation from Christy see to that.

Alas, time flies when you’re having fun and before long Adam K is crooning set closer “When The Roses Bloom Again”, a cover of a Woody Guthrie track with an interesting history.

Just three gigs in, and there’s already more than a whisper about Deportees being the best local band in years. On this showing, it won’t be long before they take that crown and run with it, leaving a marker way off in the distance. Fair play to them.

Thanks to aekido (www.weareaekido.co.uk) for use of the photo.

Life, as Forrest Gump once said, is like a box of chocolates. That being the case, owning a Mini can feel like somebody’s replaced your favourite strawberry cream with a joke shop laxative.

I’ve heard those mad enough to have kids talk of how the good moments outweigh the bad, and Mini ownership’s a wee bit like that; one minute it presents you with a lorryload of your favourite flavour of Angel Delight, the next you’re eating 9p Lidl beans on 10p reduced bread for the next month in order to pay for an engine overhaul, but it’s always worthwhile.

In my last blog I mentioned the tiny watch battery that was allegedly powering my electrics. Well, it is no more!

A big Bosch beast was duly purchased, and fitted. Fingers crossed, turn the key, and…

…it started, first time. That was easy! But what the hell’s that screeching?

Bonnet popped, turn the engine on again, and still with the screeching. Accompanied this time by a cry of “turn it off!” from my knowledgable and clearly-secretly-enjoying-himself father. Just before I asked why, I spotted the smoke coming from the area of the alternator. Mmm, laxative…

As it turned out though, taking off the belt cover next to the alternator solved both the smoking and the screeching issues, and they stayed away after the cover was reseated. I knew this badboy wouldn’t let me down!

So, with the Angel Delight en-route and the laxatives cancelled, it was time to move the car. Slam it in gear, and…

And…

And?

Here come the laxatives again. Despite the engine turning over beautifully, the power isn’t reaching the wheels. Clutch or gearbox at fault, methinks, and having read up online, I’m getting the WD40 out to try to free up what sounds like a seized arm. It blooming well better be, or laxatives and beans are my life now.

There’s nothing WD40 hasn’t fixed for me so far. Keep up this amazing track record, my Water Dispersing friend…

So, the motor I bought last year has been pretty much neglected since I made the move into town, mostly because I still can’t drive the poor thing. Lessons have been booked though, so it’s only a matter of time (before it gets wrapped round a daffodil).

Given the exceptionally harsh winter, it wasn’t a great surprise to find the bad boy often won’t start, especially as it looked like this at one point:

Whoops.

So, I’ve now discovered why it struggles to start so bloody often. You may not know, but there are different types of car batteries, identified by a three digit code.The higher, the better. If you were to go to Helfrauds and ask for a Mini battery, they’d sell you a 038, which is the only one on their list for a Mini. This is recommended by BMC/Austin/Rover for an 848cc engine. I have a 1275cc. According to Rover, this should have a 051 battery. You can see where this is going, can’t you?

Well, no, actually. I don’t have a Type 038 in my car. Oh no, you’re way off the mark. I currently have a 015. Yes. 015. Dyslexic battery syndrome? To be on the safe side, I’ve ordered myself an even bigger battery than recommended, a 063.

It does seem, though, that this is becoming a bit of a project, which I didn’t intend it to become. I keep seeing shiny things on ScottishMini (link to the right) and thinking “that looks ace… I want!”. It also appears the snow on top of the car and lack of ventilation has led to condensation discolouring the dash. Which is merely an excuse to replace the thing. Oh dear..

Before that, though, I need to fit a cigarette lighter (to power/charge the iPhone), and I want a Saltire roof decal. Hello, credit card.

In music news…

Aberdeen people! Check out The Deportees! They are most excellent! They’ve only played two gigs so far, but I can honestly say I’ve never heard so much buzz about a local band so soon. I’ve had the fortune to be at both their gigs so far, and they have another lined up for Sunday, at Tunnels. Be there if you can!

Some of my favourite bands have been releasing albums lately, so check out BRMC’s “Beat The Devil’s Tattoo”, The Courteeners’ “Falcon” and Blood Red Shoes’ “Fire Like This”.

On that note, I’ll leave you with the video for BRS’ last single, “Light It Up”. It’s near-annoyingly catchy:

I’m trying to keep the football posts to a minimum, but this is just so humourous that I HAVE to post it.

Aberdeen came back from 4-2 down to draw with Celtic and their incredibly rubbish defence yesterday, and THIS was the outcome for one of the Greatest Fans In The World™

What a fool.