JE VEUX TE VOIR

i'm djing tomorrow night with some other djs aswell. it's a new place, so lots to check out. is the beer cheap? do they have cool toilets? will that cute barman be working? hm.

i went to see Regina Spektor at Lido last Friday night. she was amazing. she had a golden chair to hit with a drumstick when she wanted some beats. i love the contrast of her dripping-with-diamonds voice and the funny noises she makes, like the puking on "Magic Box" when she sings the line about gulping the soapy water.

THIS WEEKEND OMG:

Saturday night: Au Revoir Simone in Bastard, and later on, BONDE DE ROLE IN RIO!!!!!

She's Not Allowed to Europe

Well that was a pretty great week.

Had a work dinner on Tuesday night to celebrate a visit from the kids from 'merica, Jai-Alai Savant and the Album Leaf. (They came over to perform at the Intro Intime this week.) I had the spicy pizza, and the chocolate mousse for desert (both were melt-in-yr-mouth amazing. You'll never finish a mousse di cioccolato at Il Due Forni). Several beers, plates of food, seat exchanges and slang-from-Philly lessons from Major Taylor later it was all over, and i know how to use "jawn" in the right context.

The Broken Hearts Club affair was a memorable one on Valentine's night thanks to Autonervous.

Thursday evening I went (for my first time in a year and half spent in Berlin) to an irish pub, with my irish friend to have some "irish" food and merriment. I almost even bought crisps. We wanted to have a "real pint", ended up having three with our dinner and desert, and also stealing a book (I love Mary Wesley!).

Later that evening, the Hospitals played a great show in the Festsaal keller, thanks the Hospitals. People went crazy. Even a chick in killer heels and a fifties prom dress.

Friday I just caught the beginning of Leslie and the Lys playing at the Wice party in the Scala. SHE IS AMAZING!

Peaches and Planningtorock were out and behaving like a pair of mischievious kids.



I couldn't stay long because i was djing at Stella Bar. Which was a little quiet, but fun anyway. They have a fun programme of stuff going on, which includes "russian night" every Thursday. Food, drink, performances, film directors, screenings, djs. Everything russian you can think of!

Ooh, here is a russian-related story from that night too: My friend Max came out to Stella, and brought some new music he's been working on. One CD from his Achtung Liebe Automat project had "She's Not Allowed to Europe" on it. It's a song about a friend of our friend (who is a really nice and lovely girl, but just had a bit of passport trouble once.) There was a night spent in jail and she's ended up being not really allowed to travel to Europe. And so is stuck in Russia. It sounds like it's the hit song from a cult eighties movie about a girl with a moustache who leaves a trail of destruction and broken hearts in her wake as she travels across the capital cities of the european continent.

Wow, i just noticed Leslie's red-eye in my photo there is actually one-red-eye-one-gold-eye, totally matching her outfit! Geez Leslie, you just can't get any better.

http://www.myspace.com/djmajortaylor
http://www.myspace.com/thejaialaisavant (don't even try and resist "Scarlett Johannsen Why Don't You Love Me?")
http://www.myspace.com/autonervous
http://www.myspace.com/hospitals
http://www.myspace.com/achtungliebeautomat ("Not Allowed To Europe")
http://www.myspace.com/stellabar

http://www.myspace.com/eel_pie

i guess the fun really started last Saturday night when I jumped around a room of scrunched up newspaper at Eel Pie.

Check that place out, it's new. A Bar with the stunning attraction of a room full of scrunched up newspaper which you are totally allowed to jump around in.

oh, lots!

woah!

(click to enlarge)

tonight:

broken hearts club at ballhaus, mitte:


tomorrow night:

Earsugar 7" singles release party at Bastard:




friday night:

i'm djing for the first time at Stella Bar. It's a best sweater party!



(i just found out that Leslie and the Lys are playing on Friday night at the Vice party. That is kind of funny seeing as i made my dj night at Stella a "best sweater" party...!)


People in England, do you want to have the best time ever? Look what Shit Disco just said:

We're looking for someone to let us play in their living room on the following dates:

28 Feb LONDON
4 Mar GLASGOW
5 Mar LEEDS
7 Mar BRISTOL
8 Mar PORTSMOUTH
9 Mar COVENTRY
10 Mar MIDDLESBOROUGH

We'll bring the soundsystem, lights & smoke machine.
You just let the people through your door.

Ask your flatmates, it will get messy.
Then send us a message & we'll arrange the particulars.

X
SHITDISCO

Yes!

(the only kind that i relate to)

I can't get last thursday night out of my head. I made myself and Robbeh some cheese sandwiches and we headed over to Porchester Hall in the early evening. Robbeh is a pro at queueing, i believe it's standard procedure in Britain, especially for gigs. i was going to avoid the waiting around bit, but then i thought it would be funner to do the queue thing and go with Robbeh, than not go and then probably get lost trying to find my way to Porchester Hall by myself and miss Arcade Fire.

We get there and our queueing presence fucks with the bouncer's head. (Though, since it's Porchester Hall, and he was really nice, let's say he was the doorman.) He couldn't quite grasp the idea that we'd come a couple of hours early, and told us to go away to the pub for a while and come back. But we were determinded to hang about. So we did. Richard Reed Perry wandered by, and asked "how's life?" He is smiling beautifically, and it's hard not to smile beautifically back. Life is good when in possession of a ticket to an Arcade Fire show that's on later Richard! I give dirty looks to two fat middle aged men who look like touts. (Later i see them up the front bopping around and enjoying themselves tremendously. Could it be?)

The doorman felt a bit sorry for us, and when the waiting crowd grew to a respectably troublesome size, he made arrangements for us to be let inside to wait in a warm and cosy room. How nice is that, seriously. Robbeh's friend Sarah arrived with CHIPS, which might have been a bit much what with the cheese sandwiches we'd already had, but waiting around for Arcade Fire is a very energy-expending exercise. Yes. While we were sitting on the floor in that room we heard the thrums and yodels of the soundcheck. We weren't just sitting there, we were also guarding the doorman's lunch, and keeping stupid americans away from the chairs. Don't ask. Ok do, it's a funny story and involves the line "oh, are you the boss of the chairs?!!?!!?" or something. It's nearly time for the doors to open, and so many people are in the room now that it's very hard to discern any kind of line. Our man Pete was on hand to get everyone in order. "I hate when things aren't organised properly!" Pete said. People congratulated Pete's line ordering skills, and soon after the doors OPEN!

i tried really hard not to run up the stairs like mad and dash into the hall, like a greedy kid running after...running cake. but i totally did. i even ran by the free badges. (oh well, i got better ones at work last week!) so, up the front we are. people are trying to squish themselves anywhere to get in the very front row. Wow. It's an incredible spot. Because the crowd is so well behaved, and noone bashes into me, it's like i'm standing there gobsmacked by Arcade Fire all by myself, but i'm not the only one of course. Win says how nice it is to have a few days to spend in London. That he hated it before, but doesn't anymore. The set list goes to shit because of the heckling from the audience. If you are clever enough to have a ticket to see Arcade Fire, don't shout orders at them. Just let them play! Whatever they have decided on is going to be more magical than you can ever imagine anyway. Leave them alone!

For some reason I thought Win Butler was going to look a bit like Jack White. But he doesn't. He is Win Butler from his giant feet, to his braces and sweaty shirt and big brown eyes. And Regine is Peaches' long lost twin sister if ever I saw one. (Gem fingerless gloves?) Richard definitely brings the suspense element to the show. First of all, he picks the most difficult "picking up" instruments to play and you can only just about bear to look in those moments when he's running from double bass to accordian and he's throwing one instrument down and galloping over to the other one and HE JUST MAKES IT IN TIME. Always. And he even has time to do a little jig, or sing and laugh at the same time aswell. Heck.

So! Bloody hell I can't wait til they come and play in Berlin in March.

Jesus Christ Don't Keep It Hid

God i had the best week ever.

- nearly, but didn't miss my flight to London on Wednesday.

- spent way too much money in Fopp (can only be a good thing, really. Especially when it all went on books. Especially in Fopp. Swoon, thud.)

- spent way too much money in record shops across Lahhhndaahhn tahn. (And definitely could have spent more.) I've come home with a rather fancy bundle of stuff. Colour-dy vinyl 7 inch singles (and also plain sexy black) from the Boyfriends, the Noisettes, Archie Bronson Outfit, Vive Voce, the Organ and Klaxons (Golden Skans might just be the best song of this decade. Shame about the video..) The best part was when I thought I was buying some second hand albums (3 for five quid) BUT actually they had brand new copies. (Pat Benatar, Joe Jackson, Modern English).

- getting stepped on by Win Butler. If you're up the front at an Arcade Fire gig, do not look down. because that is probably the second that the big boot is gonna come down on you. Ow, but OH!OH!OH! most amazing gig ever, needless to say. See you there in March when they play in Berlin. Maybe not so up the front.

-chelsea buns at Borough market. YUM!

- Fish and chips at Toffs in Muswell Hill. (This Fish & Chips establishment has been decreed one of the best by Badly Drawn Boy. he is having a gig there at some stage very soon i believe.) (It really is the best.)

- Bulmers from a can in the queue at the Scala for Cansei de Ser Sexy. Yes, queueing can be fun, when queueing with friendly germans, bezzie mates and have can of cider in hand.

- Shopping for dickie bows at Episode in Camden

I had a look on Flickr for photographs from the night I saw Arcade Fire play at Porchester hall - some of the photos up there are amazing. Please go have a look. Search "arcade fire porchester" or "css scala london" you'll see. Go look!

Oh, Win Butler is very witty. People kept shouting song requests from the crowd. (Which i only found mildly entertaing cos of the funny London accents). But it obviously irked the 'Fire front man, though he charmingly laughed it off with a girlfriend/boyfriend analogy. Because shouting song requests is like telling your girlfriend she looks fat in that dress. He forgot the lyrics to "Powers Out" (which did not make him look fat) but didn't give up and just sort of hung his head and said "it's been a while". That moment actually was probably one of th emost mind blowing. He jumped into this crowd, (with the help of my shoulder) and kept on playing, with people hugging him and patting him on the back and trying to hump his leg etc. He sort of curled up into a ball and suddenly the pounding intro to "Rebellion (Lies)" was happening, and it was a bit too much.

And today, well maybe i'm going splits on a drum kit with my friend. Yesssss I probably could have used the money from this trip to put towards it, but i wouldn't change anything about the past few days.

Robbie took some amazing photographs from the night.