ALBUM REVIEW – Winning Days by The Vines (Heavenly)

There’s nothing wrong with this album. That’s the first thing I noticed. There’s nothing wrong with it at all. It’s got nice artwork, it’s a nice length, and it’s well made. But that’s sort of the problem. It’s very heavily produced. It’s polished. It’s tight and tuneful, and in my mind’s eye I can just picture the hours and hours of work that've gone into making this as good as it is.
The whole thing seems a bit too board room friendly. I can imagine their agent saying “Look, guys. I know you want to be a rebellious rock outfit, but what we’re really looking for here is airplay."
And that’s what it’s going to get. In spades. Almost every single track has been so meticulously soft edged that even a hyperactive seven year old couldn’t hurt himself on them. It’s exactly the sort of playlist-friendly offering that has the foot tapping before you’ve even noticed. No doubt Vodafone will be queuing to buy the rights to Ride when they get tired of The Dandy Warhols. In fact, the album does remind me of The Dandy Warhols on more than one occasion. There are also shades of The Bluetones, and just about every other Post Britpop band from about six years ago.
Perhaps this is the heart of the problem. It’s dated music, but it’s not dated enough to be retro. It’s just a well made CD with no surprises.
But I still like it. There are some great moments, such as Sun Child, which would have felt right at home on a Beth Orton CD. (Hardly surprising considering she shares the same label.) And more ambient tracks like Amnesia which had me making comparisons to Pink Floyd.
Throughout the whole thirty-eight minutes, the distorted guitar solos and the sweetly harmonised vocals make for a satisfying experience. It’s just that the whole thing rarely lives up to the promise of what might have been if they’d only dared to crank it up a notch. I’ll stick to The Strokes for now.

Overall: Safe, Strong, Not too Long Score: 7

Buy it here.

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Canned Laughter

I HAD ANOTHER great giggle after reading Mark Thomas' excellent article in New Statesman this week. As soon as I turned to the contents page, it screamed out at me: "Mark Thomas discovers Coca-Cola's Nazi links"
Sure enough, Mark's article was true to form. A real eye opener and so well written it made me want to give up. The crux of the matter is that while very visibly supporting the Good ol' US Army, the Cola company (In the form of Coca-Cola GmbH) was busy supporting the Nazi party by advertising in its magazines, sponsoring the 1936 Olympics and clinching deals to employ slave workers in German occupied territories.
Not only that, but, as Mark writes "When Coca-Cola GmbH could no longer get the syrup from America to make Coke, it invented a new drink specifically for the Nazi beverage market out of the ingredients available to it. That drink was Fanta. Yessiree," Mark says, "Fanta is the drink of Nazis!"
To celebrate this emerging bit of news, Mark had a look for any existing nazi-cola advertisements that could have been around at the time. Not surprisingly, the modern Coca-Cola company doesn't keep them in lobbies as handy postcards.
Which is why he decided to set up a little bit of an exhibition. The Coca-Cola Challenge was a free exhibition that waved two fingers at a corporate giant and promoted amateur artists at the same time. Naturally I just had to take a look!

The Nancy Victor Gallery is about as easy to find as WMD. Although I had the address written very clearly in my magazine, I couldn't help but wonder if the article hadn't been sexed up... But, on the fourth trip along Charlotte Street, I found it nestled down in a basement at the bottom of a set of narrow steps. I knew this was an independant activity, but I hadn't expected such a literal interpretation of an underground movement.
Anyway. it was a blast. Some of the entries were great food for thought, and some were simply hilarious. Pictures of Hitler standing with a bottle, emblazened with "Ein Coke, Ein Reich Ein Fuhrer" or "Ein Volk, Ein Drink, Nationalcolalitsen". There were pictures of Arian women feeding their babies Fanta in bottles and signs declaring Coca Cola "Proud Sponsors or the 1936 Berlin Olympics"
It was an hour well spent. And my one regret is that I hadn't heard about the exhibition in time to include an effort of my own.
Still, I signed the visitors book, ending with the words: "Now that I'm all fired up, I'm off for a nice cold glass of Sprite!"
The Independent has also covered the story, just in case you're still wondering what it's all about.
One last thought: Since the design for the VW Beetle was passed for use as a Staff Car for the Nazi Party, I look forward to seeing Mark giving Volkswagen the same treatment very soon.

Soundtrack for the Day

Heart Remains a child
Everything but the girl - Walking wounded


I dreamed about you again last night.
You never have the same face twice
but I always know it's you
and you're always looking better than you really do.
Than you really do.
And I walk around the whole next day
feeling like I've still got something to say.
But I don't know what it is
and I don't know how to reach you even if I did.
Even if I did.
Do I wanna hear that you forgive me?
Do I wanna hear you're no good without me?
Am I big enough to hear that you never even even think about me?
Why should you ever think about me?
And I thought that I'd outgrow this kind of thing.
Tell me aren't we supposed to mature or something?
I haven't found that yet
is this as grown-up as we ever get?
Maybe this is as good as it gets.
And years may go by
but I think the heart remains a child.
The mind may grow wise
but the heart just sulks and it whines and remains a child.
I think the heart remains a child.
Why don't you love me? Why don't you love me?


Next week - "Come to my party" By Keith Harris and Orville

Somebody's Dad

IT SEEMS THE demostrations were in aid of a visit by George Bush Senior. Evidently he was staying at the hotel for the night. What's it like to be popular?

Conversations with the BBC

HELLO,
MY NAME IS Sarah Brown and I work for BBC News Online. I read the extract from your essay on Iraq with interest and was wondering if you could send me some more material.
Could you also provide me with more detail about your time in Iraq - for example, were you there in a military or civilian capacity? Do you have any actual letters or emails you could send me?
If you could let me know as soon as possible that would be great.
Many thanks
Sarah


I was in Iraq for the duration of the 19 Mech Brigade deployment, which ran roughly from May to November last year.
My role was as the Brigade Geographic Sergeant, and I worked in the Headquarters at Basrah Palace, directly with the Chief of Staff and department heads.
I have two or three essays available, although I would need to be assured that nobody would be embarrassed by anything in these works being quoted out of context. For that end, can I ask that you agree to consult with me before publishing?
Kind regards,


Hi David,
Many thanks for getting back to me so promptly. Of course we would not publish anything you would not be happy with - may I ask if any of the work you have or will send to me has been published before? And did you send these essays to friends and family while you were based in Iraq?
Sarah


Sarah,
I've been published in a few army journals but I never sent them the Iraq stuff. Essay writing is a hobby that I've not taken seriously enough to get published yet,
The essays in question were sent to my partner and my dad.
I have enclosed the one I have with me as an attachment. I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the others as we only have hard copy.
Have a nice weekend. I can be contacted by phone on xxxxxxx
Kind regards
David


Great - I'll have a read and get back to you as soon as possible.
Many thanks for emailing!
Sarah


Certainly. I don't think there's too much in there that will do much damage compared with the current nasty business. All I ask is that content is kept in context, and that I be informed when programme is due to air.
Would you like more?


Great - will let you know when it airs, the programme is tentatively scheduled for the weekend before the handover of power so probably third week of June but will keep you up to date - remind me if I forget!
I think what you have sent me will be sufficient, but if you have anything else - particularly of a specific incident you witnesses which seemed apt that would be good to have.
Thanks!
Sarah

Today I'm Blogging

I HAVE NO idea why; no particular view to express. No real reason why I'd post a message to a remote server somewhere in (I assume) the West Coast of the USA for all the world to read - even though I know that this is never going to be read by anyone but myself.

So what's the point?

Well - Why not? I'm not hurting anyone. Maybe even somebody out there might enjoy this stuff if they happen upon it by accident. Then again... They will probably have stopped reading by now.

No matter. That's a post done. And it didn't cost me a penny.

First Post

Hello World...