#raspberryberetgirl

[raspberryberetgirl]

SOTD#19: Hallogallo by NEU!

I find NEU! so aspirational; their music is so elegant, so restrained, so clean, so adult. And yet it’s not dull or conservative, still retaining that air of edgy aloofness and modernity that krautrock and protopunk carried in the 70s.

I listen to this music and it makes me think of beautifully minimalist flats in Copenhagen or Amsterdam with painted white floorboards, extremely expensive vinyl players and cashmere normcore clothes for grown-ups. And for the briefest of moments I can dream that I am the sort of chic and cool person who listens to NEU! all the time.

Of course, what I am really am is goofy, messy and kitsch, with a flat built of primary colours, postcards and paperbacks, and where The B52s and Prince get played a LOT. 

[raspberryberetgirl]

Why “How Does It Feel” remains one of my favourite club nights in London...

Yesterday I received this email from Ian of HDIF/ How Does It Feel. Ian said he was happy for me to reblog it. I leave it here as proof of HDIF’s brilliance.

This night takes place at the Shacklewell Arms in Dalston. HDIF used to have a night in the back room of the Canterbury Arms in Brixton, the pub at the end of my street. We signed a petition, but they sold it and boarded it up anyway and are now going to turn it into flats...

Hello...

Following yesterday's sad news, we've decided to make this Friday's HDIF a David Bowie special. I hope that every club night in London hosts a David Bowie special this weekend. That every bar and restaurant and cinema and cafe pays tribute to his supernatural genius, to a man who reinvented music, fashion, creativity and artistry countless times. It's impossible to state how much we owe David Bowie. He was a huge influence on many of the bands we play at the night - from The Smiths onwards - and a guardian angel for heroes like Lou Reed. Peer into the shadows and he was always there, the greatest of inspirations. On Friday, we will play David's songs, the songs of his friends, and songs by people he influenced and admired. We hope every pub in London does the same, and does it with love.  

Doors open at 11pm, our guest DJ James Hoare of Ultimate Painting will be on from midnight til 1am, and then it's me again until 3am.  

Tickets are the usual price of £4 for members and £6 for non-members, and £6 in advance. We've sold a third of the advance tickets so far. You can pick up a ticket here - http://www.wegottickets.com/event/344775.

[raspberryberetgirl]

SOTD #6 - Horsepower - Lightning Bolt

To compensate for assaulting your ears with Andy Gibb yesterday - which I did mainly to accompany the quote from Rob Sheffield’s sad, bittersweet book Love is a Mixtape - I give you Lightning Bolt.  This is the musical equivalent of industrial strength hydrogen peroxide; it’ll scour away any remaining residue of seventies lurve, but its corrosive properties may sting after a while, and if you ramp these guys up to boiling point, something will probably explode. 

[raspberryberetgirl]

SOTD16 #1: This is the Day - The The

1st January: this is the day, your life will surely change...

New Year’s Day; a day so clean and new and loaded with brightness as to make it bittersweet. Always burdened by its own optimism. Back ache from the weight of all that expectation. Heavy with the hangover of yesterday’s mistakes.

No matter that it was released in September 1983; this song’s spiritual home is 1st January. It’s bouncy rhythm, accordion warbles and jaunty hand-claps appear to celebrate the shiny promise of New Years’ Resolutions made good. Yet there is a wryness to Matt Johnson’s conversational patter; an air of regret that breezes over the minor chords and the menace of the bass, culminating in the wistfulness of that middle eight.

And if you still don’t believe me. Well, lyrics. 

Well you didn't wake up this morning 'cause you didn't go to bed You were watching the whites of your eyes turn red The calendar on your wall is ticking the days off You've been reading some old letters You smile and think how much you've changed All the money in the world couldn't buy back those days You could've done anything, if you'd wanted And all your friends and family think that you're lucky But the side of you they'll never see Is when you're left alone with the memories That hold your life together like glue

You pull back the curtains, and the sun burns into your eyes You watch a plane flying across a clear blue sky This is the day your life will surely change This is the day when things fall into place. 

[eclecticwiccans]

Hey there, I love your tumblr and as wiccans I trust, I was wondering if you might be able to help with a question I have. I'm currently in the process of moving house and have come across an old Book of Shadows of mine from when I was a teenager. I no longer feel connected to the book and have no wish to keep it, but I am anxious about throwing it away. Do you have any advice on disposing of an old Book of Shadows please? With thanks and all best wishes, Stephanie

Thank you, darling :), I can’t find any way of disposing a BOS nor have I found any problems with throwing it away. My personal advice would be to keep it somewhere safe or bury it on your old property. You can do what you’d like with it but those are just my thoughts.

Michael