Why Pebbles Went Off to Make New Friends

(and why I love Overheard In New York)…

Man, making finger-gun gesture with both hands pointing at woman: A snake like you.
Woman, unimpressed: Bam bam.
Man: A snake like you.
Woman: Bam bam.
Man: A snake like you.
Woman: Bam bam.
Man: A snake like you.
Woman: Bam bam… Bam bam…

–Penn Station / Link.

Want.

Fresh perspectives on furniture… click.

I’d leave you for another lady.

I’ve always had an attraction to singers with slightly unusual voices and personalities that go along with them.  Paloma Faith’s second single, “New York” (due for release 13 September 2009), is a beautifully bittersweet song that instantly had me locked in with it’s combination of strings, choir and a story about my favourite city in the entire world.

Watch the video here, or check out a completely different side of her here.

The Specials

Logan Campbell Centre. The last time I recall being here was for the Massive Attack Mezzanine gig around 1998. Eleven years on, and 3000-odd fans come together for the 30th Anniversary of The Specials. A DJ provides a fine selection of dub & ska cuts as a warm up before the band launch onto stage and keep the energy on high throughout their 90-minute set.

I didn’t have to wait long before one of my personal favourites, Gangsters, kicks in and has everyone jumping around like lunatics. They work through a stream of classics including Blank Expression, Monkey Man and A Message To You Rudy. Stereotype was one of the few slower moments during their set and was split into two with a hand-clap breakdown before coming back into a “version” style with reverberated ragga vocals… The closing lines of “You’re wondering now, what to do now you know this is the end” has the crowd thinking the show is winding down, but leads nicely into the classic Ghost Town, before they leave the stage. Following raise-roofing applause, they return for an encore – starting with “Too much too young” and closing the show with Enjoy Yourself.

An amazing show all round, with the band throwing in the same amount of energy they did 30 years ago – Neville Staple skanked his way across the stage all night, while Terry Hall showcased his trademark next-to-no-movement, and often hid by the drums whenever he was not delivering on-point vocal performances.

Tangerine

A random collection of videos available on Fall On Your Sword, featuring the likes of William Shatner and Christian Bale; my personal favourite: