Category: Uncategorized

This is an interesting story about the seedy underbelly of the Cambridge punting scene.

It’ll make me think twice about using Scudamores again.

Last Saturday week the annual Cambridge Strawberry Fair – a free event that started thirty years ago – was on Midsummer Common. Being fond of music as I am, I signed up as a steward in the acoustic/beer tent and while it wasn’t the most exciting job at the fair I did get to listen to some good bands. Honorable mentions go to Flaming June, Rob Jackson, and The Broken Family Band.

Flaming June
These are a four piece with a sound like The Levellers or The Cranberries. Very fiddle based but a touch of Gothic at the same time, I’m sorry I had to watch the crowd rather than them.

Rob Jackson
I’d already seen him play with another person singing but this time it was just him, a guitar, and his box of tricks. He doesn’t so much play music as evoke a mood and his work comes across as a soundtrack to a film which has not been produced. If you like Sigur Rós you’ll enjoy.

The Broken Family Band
They played another good gig with a fair amount of songs from their forthcoming album. Alt.country seems to be here to stay, even if the drummer still seems to wish he was in Slayer.

This should be read by everyone regardless of whether they know someone suffering from depression or not. Practically everyone will feel depressed at sometime in their lives and it’s well-meaning friends that can do the most damage by trying too hard to help.

Depression needs understanding and support but that needs to be handled very subtly. It’s all too easy for ham-fisted efforts to only send someone further in.

So, yes it’s that time again. I’ve just been to another gig and it was bloody brilliant. Those of you acquainted with the Ryan rating system will know that a rating of bloody brilliant is equivalent to several Brit awards, a Grammy, and an Oscar. This week’s gig was The The Cooper Temple Clause who absolutely harpooned bottom.

We missed the first support band, Medium 21, but according to the very enthusiastic badge giver at the door, they were very good. We did see The Rain Band who are also on Temptation Records. This Manc foursome seem to have The Music’s sound down pat while not being quite so polished. They were good bit have a ways to go before they headline.

The Cooper Temple Clause, as mentioned before, harpooned arse and rocked several people’s testicles off; a great thing for population control, but probably better for musical causes. They were a very heavy rock band, pretty much in the Isle of White Hendrix style. Lots of kicking bass, hard drums, growling guitar, and sycophantic synths. Check them out, please. They really are very very good live and better than a lot of new music out there.

Why is it that whenever a character on television or in film is called Damien they’re either strange and have unhuman powers or are evil like the son of the devil? For instance, I’ve just watched possibly the best episode of a television programme ever and even the `I notice things about people that no-one else can’ character named Damien couldn’t detract. Of course the series is Jeremiah written by J. Michael Straczynski of Twilight Zone and Babylon 5 fame. The episode in question was Tripwire and is what has now become to be known as an arc episode of the series. An episode that turns all your expectations on their head and makes you realise that you’re not watching some crap like Sex in the City or Pop Idols.

All I can say is, “more”

I say we bury him in bunny ears. Make it easier to find him in hell so we can kick his ass clear across the afterlife. […] Pink bunny ears, with bells on them. –Kurdy– .

Playing at the Corn Exchange appears to be the sign of making it in Cambridge and it seems that this lot have made it.

If you think of Radiohead with a ton of Pink Floyd riffs and the whole musical soundscape thang that I like so much then you’ve half an idea what these guys are like. They seem fairly low key on stage, preferring to let the music and light show to do the talking but it worked very well. They’re not your typical Rock God band.

Unfortunately we missed the support band I am Kloot which was a shame. Maybe they’ll be playing at Glastonbury.