My Cultural Life

Prompted by the thought that my fiend Will may read this tonight I thought I should offer an update. Since the last post I have had a thrillingly cultural time. Saw Avatar in mighty 3d vision-o-rama and was both impressed and entertained, saw The Princess & The Frog in vintagely old-fashioned 2D animation stylee and enjoyed the songs immensely, and finally finished series 1 of True-Blood in TV shaped vampire-vision. I've read a couple of books, including The Northern Clemency, a wonderful saga of family life in 70s - 80s Sheffield, The Rapture - apocalyptic page-turning eco-hokum, and Blindness - more dystopian bleakness but in a more worthy and literary manner (except for the gang rape, murder and defecation bits that is).

Music wise I have at last been to a gig this year, taking in Hot Chip at Nottingham's Rock City. My first visit to Rock City was many moons ago, when I was a mere youth, and saw The Smiths on their first tour. The venue hasn't changed much although it probably passes fire safety regulations these days, and for the first time ever I watched a gig from the balcony. I had a good view of support Casio Kids - basic post-rave kiddy music but if I was in a band today I'd love to make that sort of noise. They look like they will fully enjoy the musical ride they are embarking on.

As for Hot Chip? Well, only one of them looks like he should be on a stage, but looks are of course deceptive and the HC noise is solid enough to detract from the limited visuals and lack of stage presence. They have a relatively simple template, but four albums in have enough tuneful bits to allow them to build a crowd-friendly set, and know a few tricks to get the joint jumping. With a decent frontman they could go much further but part of the appeal lies in the fact that they seem pretty ordinary. I suspect they will have a strong festival season, and I certainly had a good night.

And I managed to write a Hot Chip review without using the word 'boffin'!

Hot Chip - One Life Stand (Dusty Flower mix)