Countdown to Christmas

There’s nothing quite like snow covered mountain tops at Christmas, it’s the icing on top of the sweet, sweet cake that is serving up delicious lumps of disbelief amongst the lifeless couch potatoes, starving them of their daily fix of pathetic nothingness as the signal fails to reach the satellite dish.

Whilst people were “moaning at the snow because their cars wouldn’t go” I put together a Christmas mix cd, which contains mostly the same gems as every other year but with a few new sparkling snowflakes that have just reached me.

So go grab your hat and jumper that your granny just made you, go get your friends off the phone to sky, and kick up a fuss and have some fun! And don’t forget to put glitter and a keytar on your Christmas list, because theres no substitute for Glam at Christmas!

Countdown to Christmas!

A Winter Story – Symphonika
Countdown to Christmas – Glam Chops
Frosty the Snowman – The Ronettes
Pipers Piping – Lucky Delucci
Fairytale of New York – The Pogues ft Kirsty MacColl
Merry Christmas (I don’t want to fight tonight) – The Ramones
December Boy – The Loves
Abominable Snowman in the Supermarket – Jonathan Richman
Kiss you in the Snow – The School
Heavenly Christmas – A Smile and a Ribbon
Tyrannosaurus Rex for Christmas – The Lovely Eggs
Christmas Wrapping - Waitresses
I took some time for Christmas – Belle and Sebastian
I’d like you for Christmas – Julie London
Red Santa – Lucky Lucky Pigeons
Lonely this Christmas – Carter USM
What’s this? – Nightmare before Christmas
Christmas is Cancelled – The Long Blondes
Stop the Revelry – Shrag
It’s Clichéd to be Cynical at Christmas – Half Man Half Biscuit
Christmas Teardrops ‘Neath Mistletoe – Just Joans
Santa Claus is coming to town - Crystals
Lords Keep Leaping – Silence At Sea
The Christmas Song - Raveonettes
Run Rudolph Run – Chuck Berry
Hey Turkey – Turkey Basil

Winter on the Moon

Autumn's sparkling skies fade behind the deep cloud as November's moon empties its pockets, sprinkling the ground with glittering snow, ready for the birth of December's moon. And to accompany its arrival are two slices of Wales’ finest Pop, which along with a homemade woolly hat and some fine ales, will warm our hearts through the winter months.

The Loves ‘December boy’ shimmers and bounces along with Pipette like vocals over a stunning festive sound borrowed from the past master Phil Spector. Simon Love has recently announced that as of February 2011 the band will be no more, it would be a fine nugget to go out on but I’m sure Simon and the Loves will be back at some point in the future, with a pocketful of 60s drenched Pop slices.

And so as one journey nears its end, in the true spirit of pop, another is just beginning. Josef Prygodzicz’s innocent tales of love and friendship have always captured little moments and betrayed them in the truest most beautiful way. Lucky Delucci’s latest release ‘Winter on the Moon’ (due for release January 2011) is no exception, it ebbs away on Josef’s trademark guitar sound with his subtly enchanting lyrics portraying a poetic beauty and a sad loneliness that the winter can bring. And it’s probably the best video I’ve ever seen.

Lucky Delucci, the Loves and the School play some Christmas gigs at the Luminaire, London on the 4^th of December and then at Buffalo Bar, Cardiff, on the 5^th December. This is to be the Loves last ever Cardiff Gig so not one to miss.

Lucky Delucci - Winter on the Moon from Bubblewrap Collective on Vimeo.

Soundtrack to my Summer

So the summer has slipped into hiding once again, and in the blink of an eye the freshness of autumn has arrived to ease us into, hopefully, another freezing, snowy winter.

Here's the Soundtrack to my Summer:

Catch – Art Brut

Guide to the shortwave radio – Ballboy

Another likely story – Au Revoir Simone

Teaching the obvious 2 the idiots – The Bobby McGee’s

Crush on you - Brakes

Out of my league – Darren Hayman and The Secondary Modern

Heavy artillery – Django Reindhart

Superglue – Everybody was in the French Resistance Now!

Something Lost - Flipron

Sympathy for the Devil – The Indelicates

Bucket and Steam - Ivor Cutler

Egyptian Reggae – Jonathan Richman

Deceptacon – Le Tigre

I’m in Love with Destruction – Let’s Wrestle

Have you ever heard a digital accordion? – Lovely Eggs

Take your time – Love is All

Souls of the Northern Lights - Ooberman

Pull Shapes – The Pipettes

Pony - Race Horses

Miss You Miss - Ooberman

Song For Today #3 - Ooberman - Flashing Light At Sunset

"Shooting star at midnight, leaves a trail across the sky / Icy clouds and halo stars, silently pass by / And it starts with you, and it's ended here with you"

Last night I was like Sir Patrick Moore, minus the monocle, plus some 3D glasses I got from the cinema. I just lay there looking at the stars for hours, every now and then a light would come from nowhere, elegantly cutting across the night, then disappearing forever. I thought about someone a million miles away then went to sleep to the sound of Ooberman's 'Running Girl' EP. So really it should be a song for last night, but whatever.

When I Looked at You I Wish I Used Superglue!

A Song For Today #2 - CocoRosie - Lemonade

In a world where everything and everyone is becoming more alike with each passing day the need to find strangers is greater than ever. CocoRosie are beautifully strange, like the magical circus in old books, like recurring dreams that you can almost live in, with words from half heard ends of lullabies’ sprinkled on top.

A Song For Today #1 - Art Brut - DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake

"I'm in love with a girl in my comic shop / She's a girl who likes comics /She probably gets that a lot"

Today I woke up at 2:30, had some strawberry milkshake, watched Batman and Superman for a few hours and then played football until the light faded. And like Eddie Argos I've often been accused of having Peter Pan Syndrome...

Songs for the Shipwrecked

I spent last weekend at a seaside village called Perranporth in Cornwall. Its sand is haunted by the ghost of St Piran and decorated by the beautiful rock structures sculpted by the sea. It has a few small independent shops selling all kinds of things from full size bow and arrows to obscure musical instruments and many Cornish ciders.

Whilst having a cider or two a rare thing happened, at one of the bars they had one of those digital jukeboxes where you can get them to play just about anything, as per usual I couldn’t resist. Expecting to empty the place within seconds of my first track I was pleasantly surprised to see the girl behind the bar dancing like the floor was on fire and singing every word to Deceptacon by Le Tigre. The same thing happened the next night, the guy sitting opposite couldn’t believe that someone had put The Slits, The Pipettes and Le Tigre on, I couldn’t believe someone actually knew who they were.


There’s something about the seaside that provokes feelings that seem almost ancient, the sea has a magical quality, as you see the waves crashing into the cliffs you can almost feel the struggles of the myths and legends that have been lured in by its beauty then swallowed by its wildness. The explorers and adventures who risked it all to find a new land, the sailors and pirates from centuries of sea stories who fought against the wild waves to see their lovers one more time, and the notorious smugglers hiding out in caves preparing to indulge in some daring exploits.

Now I’m marooned in my room, tainted with melancholy without the wonder and romance of the sea.

Songs for the Shipwrecked:

Alela Diane – Pirate Gospel
Ballboy – I am an Indie Pirate and I will Scuttle Ye!
The Besties – Pirate Song
Montt Mardié– We are all the Pirate Bay
Idlewild – When the ship comes in
Patsy Cline – Ain’t No Wheels on This Ship
Camera Obscura – Lunar Sea
Cat Power – Sea of Love
Half Man Half Biscuit – 13 Euro-Goths floating in the Dead Sea
Jonathan Richman – Rollercoaster by the Sea
Lonely Boy – Seaside Sorrow
Love is All – Sea Sick
Madeline Ava – In the Aeroplane over the Sea
Tullycraft – Willie goes to the Seashore
The Decemberists – The Mariner’s Revenge Song
The Wave Pictures – Tiny Craters in the Sand
The Bell Divers – Sand
Flipron – A Trip to Jaywick Sands

She's got holes in her story, holes in her tights, but I approve

The summer is upon us once more, all manner of festivals, crazy parties, walks after midnight under moonlight, small subtle sadness’s, and new loves to light up your heart await. Here I’m planning to post recent thoughts and maybe a few tracks that I’ve been listening to recently. Not that I don't like the winter though, I quite like a bit of drizzle.

Hefner - Kate Cleaver's House