going on and on about dr who

So on friday night, getting home after the gig (which i'm sure i'll promise to blog about at some point), the landlady and i fired up the internet to watch the latest episode of dr who - how would the new dr get out of the cliffhanger ending he was left in last week?

 

So there we were watching away, while i kept getting up to check on the food in the oven (canneloni and chips at 2am is boss). i didn't need it paused, i reckoned, because i could hear what was going on. except that i kept missing what was going on, and realised that, actually, it didn't matter, because dr who doesn't make any sense anyway.

 

now, dr who not making any sense is hardly news, barely even 'the happs', and that's part of it's joy. pointing out plot holes and inconsistancies in dr who episodes is no fun - a show that has a sonic screwdriver,with no obviously defined powers other than it sometimes simply doesn't work, is clearly innit fo the luls (i mean, you think he'd have two, because then one could always fix the other... or is that the only thing it can't fix? and if so, why not have the super sonic screwdriver that can fix the sonic... aha infite recursive loop). but i found that it led me to not caring about what was actually happening in th'episode - when i got back, the scene might have changed, one tricky situation had been replaced by another, and did it matter? did i ask 'what happened while i was away?' well no, because whatever had happened wouldn't have made any more sense than what i had experienced, which was a simple cut between one scene and the next. how did the dr solve that one? well, for all it mattered he might as well have pissed in a jar and thrown it at the aliens, it transpiring that 'the dr has killer piss, not that we've ever mentioned it before' or something.

 

it's not that dr who isn't tremendous fun, it's just by being wildly inconsistent and made up on the spot, while part of the enjoyment, makes me not actually care about the story or characters at all. and then i stopped enjoying it as much, because i'd missed bits and not been bothered enough to know what had happened. i suppose it's like (check what i do here) the opposite of those stone angels; while you're watching it, it's alive, but as soon as you turn away it stops existing and you forget all about it.

mixtape 0 - for eva

awright!
as a special mid-fortnight mayday bonus, here's a mix i did for an old friend recently that kicked off my manic mixing. ironically it's unmixed, just sequential, but with the state of my hardware that's all you getting this week. as last time, the tracklisting is contained in the comments field of the mp3 info.

it's definitely number 0 because 1 and 2 mix very nicely into each other, while this one could fir just about anywhere in the sequence. it has more twee elements, explored further in mix 3, but also a few older songs, since i haven't made a mix for eva for ages.

you'll start to notice i've a few repeated artists i keep using, and hopefully also that every mix is going to start with a different remix of the 'please help the disabled' guy. i hope this will become 'my thing' or perhaps even a 'theme'. i'm going to try and put some exclusive grilly track or remix on each of these too (absent here), but we'll see how far i get with that idee.

enjoy it there.


please help the disabled remix 2
Parched - Mute(ant) Hill
The Bobby Mcgees - Prick Up Your Ears
Euros Childs - how do you do
Meic Stevens - Shw' Mae? Shw' Mae?
Humousexual - Oh Camberwell
half man half biscuit - evening of swing (has been cancelled)
Radiohead - These Are My Twisted Words
Fiona & Gorwel Owen - Spring Always Comes
Sparks - I Can't Believe That You Would Fall For All The Crap In This Song
,Cats in Paris - Loose Tooth Tactile
Necro Deathmort - Necro Effigy
Kyle Gabler - Burning Man
W Rawes - Please Help The Disabled

0 - Eva by Dj Gallowslutt on Mixcloud

mixtape 1: bonktronica

hello,
i hope you enjoy this mix i made. i'm going to leave it up as long as possible but then take it down to make room for others. there'll be a new one up every other sunday, so grab it like it's hot.

the tracklisting is in the mp3 comments field.


so it's quite a strange one to start off with, largely instrumental and laid back, maybe not what you were expecting. there's two reasons: most of the music i'm listening to atm is instrumental and laid back because i'm working like a sucker; and secondly, i'm planning on this series being a journey as much as an album or a song is a journey. rather than churning out mix after mix with a carefully balanced sequence of grind, spazz, glitch, ambient, folk, chip-core &c, i want there to be a progression from this oh-so-high brow mix to more... well, not low-brow, but differently highbrow.

why start doing fortnightly mixes? because i miss doing mixes, the xlr webcast gave me a bug, and in the last few weeks i've found myself buying large amounts of cds and doing mixes just for fun. come across a track i like, find other songs that fit around it, find songs that fit around them, until i run out of steam. it's a little joy, and a good way to unwind. so i hope you enjoy them, and i hope i keep making them interesting.


grilly - please help the disabled remix
Lord Skywave - Back into the Garden
Escape Philosophy - Speechless Hills
john cale - Nibelungen
intelligence2
SoulEye - Presenting VVVVVV
Bill Bailey, Anne Dudley, BBCCO - cavalcade of the unloved: the chameleon
Kow Otani - Monstrous People ~Fight With Colossus~
Kow Otani - Opened Path ~Fight With Colossus~
Kow Otani - End Of The Battle
RHF - Album 2, track 12
Scott Hull - La Boca di Cielo
Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra/David Bowie/Russell Davies - Some Are [The Low Symphony]
IM Rawles - Please Help The Disabled

1 - Bonktronica by Dj Gallowslutt on Mixcloud

Boil a Kettle, Chop an Onion: Veggie Carbonara with cherry tomato sauce

This is a recipe that crystallised last night, and the landlady and i hugely enjoyed it. as a carne, i always loved the simplicity of carbonara and would smother it in ketchup; this recipe turns that junk food into something a bit more artsy, but still remaining a pure comfort.

you will need:
for the spag:
smoked tofu
equivelent weight of mushrooms
wholewheat spaggheti
spinach
eggs, milk
fresh ground black pepper
veggie parmesan (for example)
salt to taste (OBV)

for the sauce:
olive oil and butter
1 red onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 chilli-pepper
about 20 cherry tomatoes on the vine
balsamic vineger
tomato puree


boil two kettles full of water for the pasta and stick in a big pan on the stove. chop the onion, garlic, tomatoes (they only need halving), and pepper.
dice up the tofu and mushrooms quite thinly and fry them off in olive oil in a large sturdy pan, until the tofu has coloured and the mushrooms have reduced. then set these aside for later.

melt some butter and EVOO together, and soften the garlic and onion for a few minutes. then add the tomatoes and pepper, adding puree and balsamic when these have had a chance to bite for a bit. leave topless, bubbling away and silking up on a low light.

stick the spag in the water, cook as usual (you know, stirring frequently and all that - whatever you do to cook pasta). there's a lot of stirring and not much else for about 10 minutes here - however long it take for your sauce to take care of itself.

when the pasta's done, drain it off and stick back in the pan on a minimal heat. add the eggs and some milk, and the mushrooms and tofu, and stir it all together, maybe sticking a bit of salt in. add the spinach and stir until all the egg is cooked and all the ingredients are mixed up nice. slodge into a bowl, plop a bit of the tomato sauce on top, and grind shitloads of black pepper and enough old smelly cheese on as you like. enjoy with a hearty red or an old tom, and some youtube vidds of professor brian cox.

cake - comfort eagle

We are building a religion
We are building it bigger
We are widening the corridors
And adding more lanes

We are building a religion
A limited edition
We are now accepting callers
For these pendant key chains

To resist it is useless
It is useless to resist it
His cigarette is burning
But he never seems to ash

He is grooming his poodle
He is living comfort eagle
You can meet at his location
But you'd better come with cash

Now his hat is on backwards
He can show you his tatoos
He is in the music business
He is calling you "DUDE!"

Now today is tomorrow
And tomorrow today
And yesterday is weaving in and out

And the fluffy white lines
That the airplane leaves behind
Are drifting right in front
Of the waning of the moon

He is handling the money
He's serving the food
He knows about your party
He is calling you "DUDE!"

Now do you believe
In the one big sign
The doublewide shine
On the bootheels of your prime

Doesn't matter if you're skinny
Doesn't matter if you're fat
You can dress up like a sultan
In your onion head hat

We are building a religion
We are making a brand
We're the only ones to turn to
When your castles turn to sand

Take a bite of this apple
Mr. corporate events
Take a walk through the jungle
Of cardboard shanties and tents

Some people drink Pepsi
Some people drink Coke
The wacky morning DJ
Says democracy's a joke

He says now do you believe
In the one big song
He's now accepting callers
Who would like to sing along

He says, do you believe
In the one true edge
By fastening your safety belts
And stepping towards the ledge

He is handling the money
He is serving the food
He is now accepting callers
He is calling me "DUDE!"

Do you believe
In the one big sign
The doublewide shine
On the bootheels of your prime

There's no need to ask directions
If you ever lose your mind
We're behind you
We're behind you
And let us please remind you
We can send a car to find you
If you ever lose your way

We are building a religion

We are building it bigger

We are building

A religion

A limited

Edition

We are now accepting callers...
For these beautiful...
Pendant keychains
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think these lyrics are just amazing. The confusion between brand, the music business, and religion, tele-shopping, radio phone-ins, and democracy, it's like the whole bad world wrapped up - warped up - in one song. it's the cross-pollination, the pattern-recognition, that is the best of humanity - over a boss-core rock (almost metal) leitmotif. it's 3 minutes 40 of pop genius.

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