Get Back!

On the day that George Martin released that Beatles remixed / remastered thing that I don’t quite understand, we here at Balustrade towers were also revisiting the past. At tonight’s training session, we dug out a couple of classics from “alt.wescountry volume 1” and played them all the way through from beginning to end for the first time in about six months. Both Zaire and Play It Again were dusted down and belted out like they never went away. Any rather good we thought they were too. As well as that, we also planned our special Christmas message to the nation, that we will be recording next Monday at The Batch studios in Batheaston.

So, what else has been tickling the ribs of Balustrade this week… well… not a lot as far as I’m concerned. This is largely because my iPod broke, and my whole being centres around music, so that’s that. Oh, and I went to a mates gig on Saturday night, which was cool, and was even forced to go to a live rugby match. Never, ever, ever, ever again. The good thing was Bath lost (hooray!), which, when combined with Bath City winning and Chippenham losing in the football, I had an entertaining sporting weekend.
I have also be starting to compile my “top 10 albums of 2006 list” (because High Fidelity is right and blokes like lists) and it’s been worrying me… Has 2006 been one of the thinnest vintages of new music for a while or what? More on this when I regain the will to care, and can hear music on the move again… where’s my iPod??........

Fat indie band love their fat indie fans!

As many of you are no doubt aware, neither Carter nor myself would ever turn down a good pie (although even we draw the line at Fray Bentos). Although this doesn't mean we shop at 'Fat Lads R Us' just yet, it does pose a certain problem when purchasing t-shirts at indie-type gig venues. Far too often a n extra large fits like a large and a large is only suitable for an anorexic stick insect with silly hair. Over the years, this has led Carter and myself to formulate the the 'Fat Indie Fans' list. A list of bands whose t-shirts are not likely to restrict your breathing when you buy the wrong size and who are not going to mean you have to put said over-priced souvenir on ebay before the ringing in your ears from the previous evening's musical delights have subsided.

Currently on the good list are Ash, the Kings of Leon and the Lostprophets.

Currently on the naughty list are; The Mighty Boosh, Belle and Sebastian, Ryan [not Bryan] Adams, and Idlewild.

The reason I thought I would share this with you is that last night I went and saw the marvellous Magic Numbers gig in the always nasty Bristol Academy. Seeing as this was the first time I was to see them, I thought I would be take the risk of buying some of their over-priced merchandise - especially when it turns out that it's actually really nice. However, this meant I would have to risk the over-priced merchandie table and run the gauntlet of the bloke behind the table who holds up a t-short and akes you guess if you'll fit inside it! Fortunately this time I was succesful and got myself a rather nice t-shirt and a couple of badges. As for the gig itself, well, they were rather fantastic. The new material from their rather lacklustre second album did not jar too offensively with the stuff from their excellent debut and even though they aren't the most chatty band in the world, they made up for it with some cool songs and a well-fitting t-shirt!

Enough Trinny and Susannah style fashions tips. For those of you curious about what is going on in the world of Balustrade this week, well work continues towards our objective of putting out a Christmas podcast. We learnt some very surprising new covers as well as resurrecting an old favourite or two, so keep tuned for more info.

Getting lost in a maze

We’ve been too busy to practice recently, and tonight’s session was the first time for about a month that Balustrade have picked us their (that is to say, our) guitars in anger. And anger was the predominant emotion as we moaned about the weather and other things which escape me know. Given the fog that currently engulfs Bath like a big… load… of… erm… fog, young Lexington was lucky to manage the long and arduous drive from Batheaston to Claremont without encountering any zombie pirates. It’s a growing concern this side of the river and no mistake. Some taxi drivers refuse to go north of the Avon when it’s a bit murky for fear of the wee beasties.

Anyway, why the break, I hear you bellowing at your computer screens, and herein lies the tale. As the more culturally savvy amongst you might know, Bath is home to an annual film festival, and last Monday evening I was watching some artsy French monochrome futuristic animation thing instead of singing songs. Renaissance was the film and it was quite good, really. However, we Balustrade boys had a right treat on Saturday night when we were invited along to a special preview screening of Guillermo Del Toro’s latest Spanish language film Pan’s Labyrinth. It was only due to our newfound status as local celebrities (thanks to the success of the alt.westcountry volume one album) that the Major of Bath herself invites us along as VIPs where we were treated to comfy seats and all the Haribo and Jelly Babies we can eat. Which, as I’m sure you’ll be aware, in a heck of a lot of sugary goodness. Indeed, Lex brought a small truck with him and walked away at the end with nearly seven hundred quids worth of cola bottles. He was cock of the walk, I can tell you…

Anyway, the film itself was just bloody amazing – beautiful, poignant, harrowing, words cannot really describe its majesty. I urge to go see it when it gets a proper release later in November. However, this film will only really appeal to less than half of our fan-base as it’s all in a language called “foreign”, necessitating the use of subtitles, so you have to actually be able to read to understand it.

Anyway, last night (Sunday 5th) was bonfire night, and as I was downloading the rather excellent photographs of fireworks looking all blurry and crap in the sky, I came across this never-before-seen picture from the album recording sessions. I think it’s doing the world a disservice to deny its majesty. The slippers are my favourite bit about it. Alex Thomas: a man who knows how to relax in his own home whilst clubbing a load of pans and pans with wooden spoons. What a man!

That’s all from me for now,

Toodle-pip

Matty Del Carter IV