It happened halfway through last Wilco's first ever headlining gig in Sydney last night . The band were ripping through Walken from their imminent release, Sky Blue Sky.  I was sat by the sound desk, in a leg brace - long story. My good friend Fergal, enjoying his virgin Wilco experience, turned to me and took a Robbie-Robertson-a-la-Last-Waltz stance, wide-legged, jerking back and forth, guitar swinging from side to side. I looked back to the stage and realised just how much Jeff Tweedy resembled the former Band front man. Right down to the ear to ear grin. Yep, this was not the grumpy Jeff I'd experienced in the past - this was a happy Jeff. Jeff, the raconteur, taking the piss out of Steak 'n' Kidney (Sydney) and describing Tasmania as "the two-headed state".

The music was just as joyous. Encompassing songs from all of their albums, the gig hit some...

So there is a movie that is coming out soon that has me positively salivating.... it's not Fincher's Zodiac. Nor is it the Rodriguez/ Tarantino lovein, Grindhouse. No - it's This Is England, by maverick English director, Shane Meadows.

The reason? I believe Meadow's last movie, 2004's Dead Man's Shoes, to be one of the greatest pictures of recent years. It's a rivetting revenge thriller starring the British Isle's one true acting superstar (are you watching, Colin?) , the very wonderful Paddy Considine. He plays ex-soldier Richard with such menace, magnetism and macabre humour that I would readily compare the peformance with de Niro's iconic Travis Bickle - yes, Considine really is that good.

Meadow's makes very personal pictures. His Once Upon a TIme in the West...

American TV shows seem to be picking up some increasingly interesting music - I was sitting watching CSI with my girl this evening when a perfectly funky version of Cameo's Word Up was showcased.

A little digging turned up that the song (available for download below) is by a London soul singer called Willis - more info here.

If you are intrigued, Willis is playing the Plastic People on Curtain Road in London on April 28th.

Cover Versions are pretty special to me and, over time, they'll become a major theme of my blog. I hope you like this as a starter for 10... 

Download: Willis - Word Up

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As the BBC recently reported, a draft "Blogging Code of Conduct" is being proposed after perceived threats made on a popular blog against US developer, Kathy Sierra. Ms Sierra was threatened on the US blog Creating Passionate Users. The offensive comments (details here) caused Ms Sierra to cancel a personal appearance at the SXSW festival. The main tenet of the proposed code of conduct draft is that :-

anonymous blog messaging should be banned; writers must take responsibility for comments as well as content; ...

A comment ("...back in the days when it meant something to him...") left by the reader 'Wazza' on my first blog entry has got me thinking. It was in reference to Robbie Williams and seemed to suggest that Williams' heart is no longer in his music, that somehow he'd lost his muse. Williams' rise was certainly a dramatic one - from making it massive by proving his old mates wrong, by having 250,000 people chant his name. Maybe now Williams is suffering from the Rules of being a Celebrity in the Modern Age that dictate that he cannot stay on a pedestal that high. He has to fall. Maybe that fall has everything to do with his manic depressive nature but, personally, Williams has, in recent years, become a much more interesting artist (though both Williams' record company and would probably disagree based on the quite dismal performance...

Have you had a musical experience that, over time, has festered in your mind until you reach a point where what you feel now is much more intense than what you felt at the time?

 

Well, let’s talk about Damien Rice’s show at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney, last month. Having had mixed Rice live experiences in the past, I was wary of his mood. On occasion, he can be a storyteller, an engager. On others he can be sullen and dismissive. But seldom, if ever, has an artist shown such disregard for his audience as Rice did that night in Sydney. He was surly, he turned his back to us. He refused completely to engage. His band played with a kind of cautious acceptance, reverentially bowing their heads at the appropriate times as if to let him know that they understand. The show only sparked to life when the band played a glorious Cold...