In London, I was lucky enough to hook up with an ex-flkatmate Captain Philpott, my Birdman-obsessed Pom mate Jelly and Carlton Sandercock of Easy Action Records. Pints of beer were consumed.
In Paris, we were scheduled to meet up with Eric and Vinz of Holy Curse only to spot them in the unfamiliar vicinity of the Picasso Musueum, running an errand for Radio Birdman, believe it or not. We went to a dinner party hosted by Vinz and his wife Sophie and populated by heaps of mutual friends, and I caught Vinz playing with Dimi Dero Inc the night after. Dimi Dero Inc supported The Drones on European and Australian tours in 2007 and will be back in Australia in March '08.
A side trip to expat Aussie Greg Bowen's Funhouse Pub in Morlaix, on the Brittany coast, was a diverting cultural experience (piss up.)
As for the African leg of the trip, visit the blog of noted Australian author and our hostsAfrica Man and his wife Africa Woman for details. Suffice for me to say that you've not lived until two lionesses have sprung up out of the grass 30m away from you while you're on foot and all wine, beer and spirits should always be a third of the price it is back home.
Closer to home, the Klondike's North 40 CD "The Straight Path" was launched via gigs in Sydney and Melbourne while I was overseas. Thanks to all concerned. The album is available in the I-94 Bar Shop and all good retail stores.
Further afield, lovers of Detroit music will doubtless be interested in The Metro Times' lkist of the Top 100 Detroit Songs here. These lists are always academic but this one does give a measure of the quality of the music that's come out of the Motor City down the years.
And in a similar vein, the next album from trans-Atlantic (that'd be Michigan-via-Sweden) soul big band The Solution is out on December 27. This is the band led by Hellacopters guitarist Nick Royale (behind the traps) with Scott Morgan on vocals. I've been lucky enough to hear an unmastered version and it smokes.
Yeah, and you wouldn't have seen those lionesses if Mrs Blog and I hadn't pulled an all-nighter and given you and the barmaid your wake-up call.
ReplyDeleteThe only time you've crashed before me, in the long history of drunken nights. Glad it was worth it.