Riverdance...

...and other crimes against music!

Apologies (not really) against those who like Michael Fla... erm... Flatterly? Flaherty? Dunno. Sorry, but Riverdance is so far down my list of significant musical experiences that I can't even be bothered to Google the poor man's name.

I'm not a fan. Can you tell?

Anyway, I was amused to see in this morning's paper that some guy was driving his wife and kids (probably 'around the bend') whilst playing "Riverdance" on the car stereo. He pulled off the road to ask a policewoman for directions and she slapped him with a £30 fine for 'causing excessive noise'. After a 4 year legal battle he finally beat the (c)rap.

Now, I'm a firm believer in personal freedom, but c'mon, subjecting anyone to Riverdance has got to be worth more than a £30 fine!?! I'd have charged him with spousal/child abuse and assault on a police officer.

Not to mention 'public indecency'.

Speaking of public indecency. I was totally busted this morning when I got into work. Summer's coming (it'd better be, at least) and my thoughts are turning to 'clubbin'. At the indecent age of [cough] I discovered the joys of big dance clubs, with their lasers, mixed drinks and 'boom-boom' music. Last year Tim and I boogied all summer long and while we've not been out for months, the fire's still down below, smouldering away.

This morning, as I swiped my pass at the front door my iPod shuffled onto The Freemasons' remix of Angie Stone's "I Wasn't Kidding". My head started swaying, my shoulders fell in line. Before I knew it I was mouthing the words, doin' the diva head-shake/finger wave combo... basically, strutting like John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever" (or possibly Tobey Maguire in 'that embarassing scene' from Spiderman 3). Turning the last corner into the office my conscious mind kicked in and I was suddenly aware of several pairs of staring eyes, amused smirks... open-plan embarassment!

Moments like that you can either pull yourself in line, pretend that you were waving to a friend, brush back your hair and take your seat... or, you can channel your inner drag queen and just keep going...

IN OTHER NEWS...

Spurred on by Axe Victim's 'suggestion' that I should quit thinking about recording (blinkin') covers and focus on original material I decided last night to revisit a tune I started a month or more ago, working title "Your Own Time". The song grew from a melody line into a chorus, strumming pattern, then a full chord progression. At that point it stalled. I got hung up on the main theme of the chorus which was:

How does it feel
To be living in your own time...
...di-da di-da da-da-diiiii
da-da-di-da...

(the di-da etc bit being the sticking point)

The concept for the song is that a guy (or gal, we're not sexist here at The Fillmore Five Project) has had his heart broken and hasn't been able to move on. In the meantime his ex- is out and about doing their own thing, or 'living in (their) own time'. So, it's kind of a self-involved bleating about lost love with a heavy dose of 'why me?'

You get the picture. It's a coffee-shop pop-rock song. Not exactly the bluesy stuff I want to steer myself towards, but it's a tune that's been running around in my head for too long now, leaving muddy pawprints all over the place. It's time to set it free.

Anywho, last night I made a quick recording of the chord structure (minus any bridge that may or may not appear at a later date). Noodling around on Blackie, I then tried to figure out a verse melody. An hour later, all I'd succeeded in doing was pissing off Oscar the cat (who hadn't had his daily dose o' lovin') and penning some intricate little Spanish fills that, while sounding great, were nothing that you could (or would want to) sing.

Undeterred, I elected to take a step back and this morning I've been humming along to the chords. In the cold light of day it became clear that in the Land of Kenski 'guitar' does not equal 'voice'. I've actually started making progress on the melody again. Clearly, not all 'instruments' are interchangeable!

When I have a semi-decent demo I'll upload it for comments. Yes, you heard it here first, The Fillmore Five Project's first song is in production! Thanks again to Mr AxeV for nudging me in the right direction!

On the subject of Mr Axe, check out his blog's ongoing series on classic albums, in association with The Rock 'n' Roll Doctor, Mr John Nicholson. He consistently manages to pick albums I either currently have or used to have back in the good ol' days of vinyl. To all those nay-saying friends of mine who say I have weird taste in music: be afraid... I am not alone!

What else? Concert update!

MACY GRAY @ O2 Indigo!!! YAY!!!!! WE LOVE MACY!!!!!

You may not believe it, but Macy live in concert is... well, let's just say that by the end of the evening you're going to be drunk, dripping with sweat (some of which is yours) and doing a hip-grinding dance against your neighbour's leg.

She's fun, she's freaky, she's FABULOUS.

We've seen her three times so far, once in Houston and twice here. The last concert was a bit of a let down as she took a while to make it to the stage then fell foul of Camden council's draconian curfew. She was all ready to go into the climax of the show and they raised the house lights. Damn beaurocrats! Fingers crossed that she's regrown (or re-sewn) her afro. It was the source of her power, oh yes...

Lastly, I'm still considering going to the Skinny Molly show in Herne Hill tomorrow night. I don't have a ticket, but I'm sure there'll be some on the door. It kinda depends whether or not Tim decides to kick me out of the house so he can study!