Life is full of drains; be a radiator

Thursday was bookended by two lovely men called Mike. The younger one, also known as Dave when on a crime scene, pitched up about 11 to help mould my Mark Eitzel interview into something worthy of broadcast. But before we got started the girls were introduced, and pretty soon Patti was eating out of Mike’s hand. She’ll do anything for sweet corn. After that, a hearty breakfast and the pleasure of eating fresh laid eggs, still warm to the touch, courtesy of my beloveds. Six have been produced in 3 days J

 

The next few hours were spent listening to my interview with Mr Eitzel over and over, tweaking the sound, deleting repetitions and the awkward pauses. The result will be broadcast live on Saturday’s Out in Brighton show (97.2FM) alongside a track from the lovely man’s new record ‘Don’t be a Stranger’ which hit the shelves on the 24^th September. It’s been on repeat in my car all week and I’m glad to report that it’s a fine piece of work which deserves to do well.  The promotion for the record has been an inspired departure from the video. Instead a series of short films have been made in which Mark receives career advice from various entertainment gurus. The latest hilarious instalment features the wisdom of DJ Foodcourt and you can see it here.

http://vimeo.com/48034131

Job done, I headed into civilisation to meet Mike the elder for catch up, gossip, rant and mull in time honoured fashion. We met at Délice Café on the corner of Kensington Gardens which has become a firm favourite of mine after being introduced to me by the divine Carina AKA amazing super Swede sex kitten. As usual the coffee was robust but smooth, the cakes melt in the mouth and the conversation stimulating and peppered with laughter. I told Mike about my financial woes and how on Tuesday I’d decided to fuck my own austerity measures up the arse and spend some money. After a summer of stress, angst, U turns and fall outs I felt like I deserved a treat. Life is too short and too difficult otherwise. So armed with a list I headed into town and bought records and concert tickets.

The show I’m most excited about next month is Efterklang at the Brighton Dome. They will showcase their latest offering ‘Piramida’ named after an abandoned Russian mining colony near the North Pole. I really love collaborations which stretch and weld genres and the band will take to a stage designed by Hvass & Hannibal and be joined by the Northern Sinfonia. Hvass I strongly recommend buying the album which traverses a tightrope of melancholia and hope to deliver something truly uplifting. Here’s a taste of the music & the sumptuous sleeve artwork and staging. Mike the elder was duly persuaded and we picked up a ticket right next to mine which was fortuetous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwgs5R97X4M

http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/hvass-and-hannibal-efterklang

 

 

And the cherry on this musical cake will be support from John Grant who alone would be worth the price of admission. I will be tweeting feverishly over the coming weeks to try and get an interview with him for Out in Brighton, so watch this space. His last record ‘Queen of Denmark’ was by far and away my favourite of 2010 and I cannot wait to hear the follow up. Regular readers will also know that John is my fantasy boyfriend until I find a real one.

Here are a couple of musical treats showcasing the golden crooner. First up a lovely cover by John’s old band the Czars of the Connie Francis hit ‘Where the Boys Are.’ The second a clip of John joining Rumer to sing Patsy Cline’s ‘I Fall to Pieces.’ The latter signposted to me my lovely Boston chum David who is a legend and a gentleman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6xRoO_LVRE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qYsy0VV9Pw