It's Only Blog 'n' Roll But I like It

Dockrad Records of Cardiff is having another burst of activity, releasing singles by Sweet Fontaine and Howl Griff this week... Amazingly I got hold of both copies by chance via an old address I lives in 7 years ago.
Dai (he of Dockrad) is never one to act spontaneously, so when I told him over 7 years ago that I've moved house (5 times since then!), he hasn't quite got round to updating his records. By what I thought was strange coincidence; the new Klaus Kinski single also showed up at that address, sent to me by Ankst Music. I emailed Emyr Ankst and he told me he got the address off, yes, you've guessed it; Dai Dockrad.
I digress... Sweet Fontaine's single Evermore is a punchy two minute 30 secs of US punk inspired TJs Newport stuff that wouldn't sound out of place on that label from South Wales that I can't for the life of me remember was called, but it used to release loads of obscure American punk albums.
Howl Griff are no strangers to my CD player and the new single Crash & Burn is not quite like it's Manics namesake, but has a poppy and almost country feel to it. Unoffensive, nice use of brass and easy to hum after one listen. The flipside is Bluebirds, not sure if it's a reference to Cardiff City's quest for Premiership football, maybe, and again, lovely production and easy on the ear. Not out of place on Radio 2 or 6 and thankfully, it'll never make daytime Radio One cos Howl Griff haven't been on X-Factor. Jesus! I hate that station and that show; although how can I say I hate something I NEVER listen to or watch...?
One thing you're guaranteed from Ankst is something different from the norm, be it the surplice clad bonkersness of Anne Matthews in the guise of Annalogue or those natives of the People's Republic of Rajasthan, Wendykurk. So if you put those two in a blender, added the diesel engine of a Vauxhall Chevette that had done over 150,ooo miles in reverse and then poured the lot down the pan, you may get an inkling of what Klaus Kinski sound like. Their new single Happiness Happiness is about sticking things in themselves and/or other beings; as are most of their songs. For this reason, I have a strange and definitely morbid fascination with all things Klaus Kinski, which is probably very unhealthy. The songs are as if the aforementioned contents of that blender have been splattered onto a wall in a Rhyl police cell on New Year's Day and then a class of 5 year old children have told to write about it... Believe me, this is probably true..!!
www.ankst.co.uk
www.myspace.com/recordiaudockradrecords

My Bloody Book

I’ve been writing the goddam thing for two years… yes, admittedly intermittantly! It seemed like a good idea at the time; collate all the info I have on all these bands that have breathed life (however briefly) into the music scene on the North Wales coast. Put it all into some semblance of order for your reading pleasure.What I didn’t realise was the amount of information I actually had, and the endless numbers of new avenues I opened up when I sought new info.The starting point was easy, and the bulk of significant events from 1976 to 2003 are done, edited and locked down - all 187 pages of it..!!! So I can guarantee you it’ll be a detailed, and hopefully good read.There have been a couple of notable absentees who have ignored requests for info or thoughts or contributions, so they may be misrepresented in the book; but I guess that’s perogative, and the vast majority of people have been extremely helpful as I tried to piece together their histories.
This Patch of Land has a publishing deal in place and I’ve promised myself to finish it as soon as possible…Coming to an Amazon bookstore near you next spring…!!!!!Maybe…

You Fat Bastard

'...he's so fat he can't wipe his own arse!'
Well, not quite but I have piled on a few pounds in the last few months, probably a culmination of eating too much, drinking too much, changing jobs and less stress! I haven't exactly gone up a dress size, but I guess at 42 I should be keeping an eye on what goes in my mouth (steady now!). We did Download Festival last week (we being the fellowship of divorcees - seven years for me now!) and on the third day we staggered through the dust in the hot sun, extremely hungover, and one of the boys asked the question, 'Why do we do this to ourselves?'
And I quipped, 'Because we can!'
Nothing else was needed to be said. We do it because we can.
Download was on occasion a musical shock to the punk blood that throbs through my system, and I just about survived Def Leppard via means of a Jack Daniels drip. It was only fair to take Tim up on his suggestion that we accompanied him to this Rawk Festival, as he has endured many a thrashed out pure punk show over the years, which is no mean feat for a boy brought up on the likes of Whitesnake (yikes).
So what has my waistline gotta do with this? Well, not a lot really, it's more my health that causes a tad of concern, only because when you hit my age you start getting a little paranoid and think that any over doing it could leave you lying on a cold slab. Perhaps 4 days and 4 nights of drunken debauchery, eating shit and sleeping 4 hours in 24 on hard ground, coupled with crowd surfing to Faith No More and baking in the midday sun is for those younger than ourselves.
Ah fuck it - live fast, die tired....