My dear old friend Steve Whitaker died yesterday. He was 52 years old ( Read more... )

Ecstatic Peace are compiling a list of ppl's performances of the year - you can submit yrs here ( Read more... )

I only had to queue once, for no more than 15 minutes, and I watched full sets by 16 different acts, including three on the big stage. Nearly everything I saw was gd to great to v. v. great. Obv. it helps to avoid 'punk rock' reunion school acts, and have a taste for free jazz and noize, but I put in a bit of 'planning' ahead of time and it worked ( Read more... )

Last night I went to Mono in Glasgow to see an amazing performance by Pamelia Kurstin, an American Theremin improviser. I wasn't sure what to expect - something a bit more traditionally improv, I think, more noisey and abrupt and technically flash, something with moments of silence and hesitation - but Kurstin wore her virtuosity lightly, using her ( Read more... )

This evening, at abt 6.30pm, I was alone in the flat, working on the computer in my spare room cum 'office'. I hadn't put the lights on, it was twilight outside and the screen was giving off enough of a glow to see by. From out of the gloom, calling my eye, I suddenly saw a strange cat walking towards me! A fairly large all-black shorthair, springy ( Read more... )