Category Archives: General

Ga^2 for Ga^5

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon (nifty streaming thing for the whole album linked)

I’ve been tracking Spoon since I came accross them on both the Stranger Than Fiction and Veronica Mars soundtracks simultaneously. Aggressively nerdy rockers that they may be they are now past (and ever more present) masters of indie rock experimentation and geek rock. I’d strongly recommend you click through, especially for the my two absolute favourite songs You Got Yr Cherry Bomb and The Underdog which both have some lovely horn action. Somehow they’ve successfully melded their own funky indie on to a much more sixties production like ethic and in so doing they’ve made for me the ultimate successor album for all those of us who got addicted to Camera Obscura’s Let’s Get Out Of This Country. And if you don’t like then I can only quote some lyrics at you and scoff.

You got no fear of the underdog.
That’s why you will not survive.

It’s like a Scotland team anthem! It’s certainly my summer one thanks to the light and breezy production.

Also worth singling out for a mention, if rather haunting, is the track The Ghost Of You Lingers which has a very nifty unofficial video which is almost as good as the official one for The Underdog.

[other folk explaining this better at metacritic]

Le Tour De France 2007

Le Tour De France Prologue 2007

Bikes! lots of them, and all over the roads of London and South-East England. Yes, as you might guess I really enjoyed the Tour’s start here in the capital. Shockingly despite many holidays in France I’d never seen the Tour properly before so it was a spectacle in itself to see a premier league race such as the tour rather than something simpler like The Tour Of Britain.

The Prologue on Saturday had an enormous crowd but thanks to big screens and a lengthy route it was really easy (I thought) to get a spot on the barriers. To describe the Tour experience properly I’d need more photos, but I foolishly failed to charge the batteries in my camera before heading out. First to come past is the publicity caravan which includes this sort of blatant promotional nonsense. Particularly cool was Sea France’s truck-disguised-as-a-ferry which had a remarkably good sounding horn. The most scary thing was the australian themed one with the kangaroo on top which featured a frenchman speaking in an australian accent, or an australian speaking with a french accent depending on which you noticed first. The mad dash people made for the Haribo that reached the crowd bordered on the psychotic.

After that there was lots of riders and some mechanics (wearing their Jeans and looking very out of place) testing out the course before over three hours of rider after rider setting times. The atmosphere was amazing with cheers and applause for every passing rider, and a noticeable roar for every British rider and Tour Hero. David Millar got by far the best roar of anyone, which he clearly sought to reward today with his daring ride. Best of all thanks to all the screens there was applause and cheering all round whenever a new fastest time was set. A special mention to the police who took turns between the French and the British to lead riders round, as my housemate noted our humble plod were in full leathers with high viz jackets whereas the French were in shirtsleeves.

All in all, a great day rounded off nicely with a great depart this morning. I almost feel optimistic about 2012.