Hey peeps! Well, it's been a few months, and you might be wondering where I've been. Probably not, but it pleases me to pretend. Well, I've been working my small and perfectly formed arse off, frankly, doing stupid hours, working weekends and generally being a slave to the computer. So, what do I decide to do in my time off.. oh, yeah, right… damn. I must get out more.
Well, when the weather was more clement, I did get out a bit, and went on a rollerblading course with Citiskate in the old Spitalfieds market. I swear, me on rollerblades is like a whole new branch of physics. If there's only one tiny weeny little patch of oil in the whole place, then not only will i home in on it like my skates have some sort of oil-attraction properties, but I'll also do so at speed and already a little off balance. Some of the bruises were really kinda spectacular… anyway, I hired skates for the five-week course, which saw me go from only being able to fall over whilst stationary, to providing me with the skill and expertise to be able to both fall over whilst moving, and collide with other skaters no matter the avoidance manouvres employed by either me or them. I think I became a whole spectator sport, just by myself. I'm planning on getting my own skates when a) I have the cash (so that'll be the arse-end of never then) and b) when the weather improves a bit in the spring (er, ditto).
What else… oh yeah, Elliott Smith. I want to rant a bit here about Elliott, because he's not getting enough coverage (i.e. none) at the moment and no matter that he hasn't released a new album in years, the man is still a fucking genius. He has the voice of a broken-hearted angel, and it's just the most amazing sound I think I've ever heard. I used to think that Thom Yorke was the only person capable of making me shed actual tears just by the way he sings, but then Thom lost his head somewhere in his own colon at about the time of Kid A and frankly he kinda lost it. But Elliott, well, a more unassuming genius you won't come across, nor will you find someone who writes such achingly beautiful music, so delicately fragile yet lyrically quite dark and foreboding at times. He just takes your heart right out of your chest, rips it up into tiny weeny little bits and scatters it to the four winds. In a nice way, obviously.
So, I've been collecting his back catalogue, and I'm starting to get there – just the singles left to go, and the Heatmiser albums (his old band, before he went solo). Plus I've been downloading mp3s of rarities (I feel guiltless doing this, because I've already forked out a small fortune for legit releases), and whoa, there are some gems there. His version of Waterloo Sunset makes 'poignant' a serious understatement. Just amazing. I just can't wait for From A Basement On The Hill to come out, although no one seems to know when that's going to happen, or on what label. Still, keeps us on our feet.
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