Welsh Rich

This is going to be one of the few albums I'm going to rush to Fopp to get on Monday lunchtime... I think it's great. Much more cohesive than Guero and yet lost none of his punch or ear for a tune... great stuff...

EDIT: Handful of songs in and I'm impressed, much more immediate than Guero which really grew on me...

We had a mini-VC summit for that show... fantastic stuff...

I've only read The Sportswriter and was impressed, though I've got Independence Day on my shelf to read... There was an excerpt in the Guardian a couple of weekends ago, I'll see if I can find it...

He played London in November last year didn't he??? *fingers crossed*

Was that the interview on Popworld? They certainly were disinterested... not sure if it was them on the interviewer... they do make quality pop music though, it must be said and whilst it might not be anything fresh or new it does get my foot tapping. No further revelations from Midlake on my hols though...

Cheers - will do. Holiday was really good, nice and relaxing - 5 days of sitting in the sun with nothing but my iPod and some good books

Lindsey Buckingham - Under the skin

Do you have a username / password I could use to d/l it?? You definitely need Heartbreaker... what an album!

It's a really great double album - I've just come back from holiday and had a chance to play it fully on my iPod... I wasn't sure of the vocals the first time I played it, but they just seem really right. Not many live albums capture what it must be like to be there, but there nails it nicely - having missed out on the chance to see MMJ twice as they've cancelled, this'll do nicely till I do get a chance... The DVD will be purchased as well I think!

Wooo! Glad it was a good gig fella! Looks like he's nailed the two visits to Cambridge... Nice photos too!

David Bowie and New Order to play Cambridge Junction

Great - I've put some photos and a quick review in the "After The Show" section: http://forums.viachicago.org/index.php?showtopic=24439

Ten Years of Tears: Arab Strap

Yes, I like her stuff, but I've got the same issue as Andrew - I'm off to see Calexico a couple of days later and I don't live in London so the commuting is a bit of a pain...

It was relatively secret - he'd only told the ryanadams.org messageboard and it kinda spread from there. The venue websites had no details for these dates.

I'd seen that... though I'm not a fan of Neko Case...

Just push down as far as you can get... I normally try for 1/2 way down in the middle, get a good view and the acoustics, which can be shite, are their best there...

It was Helen's first gig as well.... I'm going to have to do something special to top that for her You'll have to get close to the front to take any good shots at the Corn Ex... hope it's a good one, he was awesome there last time.

I love Harvey Birdman and recently bought that DVD set myself... great stuff! I went to see The Black Dahlia last weekend... not a bad film, but not strikingly good either. LA Confidential blows it out of the water... Very nicely filmed though.

One of the few albums I've wanted to buy this year - really talented singer/songwriter like early David Gray / Badly Drawn Boy with plenty of Manchester melancoly...

I'd love a copy of that - cheers mate! No piano stuff at all last night, though there was one on stage and Neal used it for a couple of songs... Here's some pretty rubbish photos:

Well... where to start with this... amazing night... Ryan was on top form, plenty of chatting with the audience and the band, improv songs about teeth rotting in diet coke and Neal going for a pee half way through the set. A couple of stories about Dylan and Neil Young "The godfather of grunge" and debates about old 80's metal acts. The Borderline is a tiny venue and I was very close to the front, I'll see if the pictures off my phone came out ok as I stupidly left my digital camera at home. Offended some people with the laid back attitude - they change the stage set up half way through...