Random Naval Gazing
Goldfrapp, eh? What a waste of time.
I say this purely on the basis of listening to 10 seconds of her new single. Felt Mountain had some originality to it, I thought, although frankly it was released in a year when there was utter drivel eminating from the British Isles in general. It made it on to the Mercury short list, but look at the list:
* Basement Jaxx - Rooty
* Elbow - Asleep at the Back
* Goldfrapp - Felt Mountain
* Gorillaz - Gorillaz (nomination withdrawn at the request of the band)
* Ed Hardcourt - Here Be Monsters
* P J Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
* Tom McRae - Tom McRae
* Radiohead - Amnesiac
* Susheela Raman - Salt Rain
* Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World
* Turin Brakes - The Optimist LP
* Zero 7 - Simple Things
My God, what did we do to deserve that? Basement Jaxx and P J Harvey stand out here, the latter winning it on the strength of some songs that sounded like they belonged to a band from New York. Okay so the win was deserved, but only because she hadn't won it about ten years earlier. And she had to give her acceptance speech from Washington on the evening of 9-11.
But I digress - the single 'strict machine' from her 'other album' sounded like a Blondie rip off. Fair enough - if you're going to rip someone off, rip off Blondie. The new one rips off Doctor and the Medics. Doctor and the Medics for God's sake! I ask you. The only band to feature two transvestite twin dancers and STILL NOT BE ANY GOOD.
But, looking on the bright side, it's a bank holiday weekend and I keep seeing things that remind me why I love London. Tomorrow, if I really wanted, I could walk ten minutes up the road, play some tennis, and then watch this and then on Sunday I could walk ten minutes up the road, play some more tennis, feed some ducks and then watch this
Or, I could go and stay here just for the ridiculousness of it. And then I could go here and witness London's first lesbian strip joint.
In actual fact I'll probably stay at home most of the time and read some of my new books: Casino Royale, the first Flashman, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. If I remember, I'll also go to the Proms with King of the Hill.