makin' tunes

I have not written a song in a while.

It is something that I should definitely get on.

Tonite we are going to a quiz.

Tomorrow we travel to old Hastings Town whereupon we shall embark upon a mighty celebration of the life and times of that loveable rogue The Network. I must stop mentioning him in every single post I write. It's just not right.

It is required that you make up nicknames for people when writing in the Real World because this protects a persons identities™ and this is good. People identities are castleness to the people involved.

I myself have many nicknames: tobiwan, pedestrian zero, the toaster, spiller. And yet I compromise everything by aliasing my name DOTCOM to tobiwan.co.uk. Retarded much? I think so.

It's shower time!

don't count on it..

here's where it is at

Reporting in once more. You can't get by without me. I suspect.

Now. I don't have much to say as we're having a 'nice old time' with Bits & Bobs and also NickBo. So.

What I am going to say is that we're on the edge of a momentous occasion. The final release of

BEATS BE PHAT.

The bugged out maxjam by Family Hawks and guests. Featuring:
The Misses
Mothervic
The Azzman Network
Helium Breath
DJ Sub-C/MC Banista
Car Lar
Kidsis
The Butcher
Pumbino
Davo B

The questions remain:

Should it be an mp3 download? Should I remix it into some kind of trippy Youtube video? How much do the protagonists protest?

I'll leave it all to you!!

HUZZAH!

Peee ESSS: Object to your nickname? Tell me what it should be in the 'COMMENTS'™

Sublime

David Ford's second album. The so-called 'difficult second album'. Was it going to build on the first? Was it going to move on whilst retaining the raw emotion of the first? Was it going to alienate the hardcore fans?

A number of the new songs have been played live for a while now. Couple this with the fact that Ford bootlegs are readily available and seemingly encouraged and you'll find a double-edged sword. The songs are familiar and loved, but will they be too familiar for the album to have an effect?

On first listen, Songs for the Road reveals a less sparse approach in comparison to I Sincerely Apologise.. The upbeat, almost perky Decimate, the out-and-out raucous jam of Requiem's outro, Nobody Tells Me What To Do's clap-happy pub-along (definitely one to be belted in the face of anyone enforcing last orders) and the gospelish groove of Train all tip the nod to a more grandiose arrangement than before.

However, take a closer look and the intimacy and simplicity of the earlier material is just as prevalent. In particular the closing track ..And So You Fell, sister song to If You Only from the first album, makes you almost feel he's there in the room.

In fact generally this album seems to be one thing in one light and then the light changes and you see different reflections that you didn't realise were there. For instance, a charge often leveled is that of being miserable. But look again and you'll find the hopeful survivor in I'm Alright Now, the defiant romanticism of Song for the Road or the "there for you" love in Decimate.

I think it's safe to say that Songs for the Road delivers and delivers well.. If you already love David Ford it's a great step on. If you've yet to hear of him, it's a great place to start.

how to write a song..

- wait for wifey to go out

- pour yourself a glass of wine

- eat some toast

- stick on a dvd

- go and have a look at a webbernet

- sit at piano

- play a game on your phone

- pour some more wine

- have a wee

- look at another webbernet

- get lyric books out

- get the guitar out

- play 'the entertainer' on the guitar

- play someone else's ballad on the piano (badly)

- look at lyrics

- get some more toast

- webbernet

- stare

- blog

- wine

- toast

- new dvd

- sleep

I'm quite surprised at myself for sharing with you my most secret and secret methods. Before you know it you'll all be writing chart-toppers.

overandout

web dizzy(ne)

Oh gosh.

Web design is one of the most infuriating things I have chanced my hand at. You think you've got something nailed but then you look at it in a different browser and BAM! Added to that I was trying to edit a Flash 8 file using Flash CS3 which was mostly fine but there were one or two things that just weren't as they should have been. Something which I can only guess at attributing to the discrepancy between the two versions..

Still. I think I'm done now. Until I get another raft of changes that is, I suppose.

Anyways.

Half-term is lovely thanks. Got band practice tomorrow, something else on Thursday, the usual on Friday and ohmygod David Ford at Shepherd's Bush Empire on Saturday. Hella.

I suspect it's all going to be over far too soon.

But I will enjoy it!

overout

on the money

you see the thing is that I'm not sure what to write right now. Right write now?

But the other thing is that I'm being put to shame by Nonick Dave and the Saffa. Perhaps I should spend more time comparing myself to Mothervic or Boy Crossroads. That bears a little more comparison.

And I do still have the weight of ages behind me. Coming up to 3 years in October. That's mad good!

I will stop cooking the saucepan (as they say*) now and move on.

Tomorrow we are going to see David Ford. I think I have mentioned him. We're hooking up with Mr Ashton once down there as well.. Nice.

Tonite we were watching Scrubs again. Series 5 is getting better and better. Watched the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory over the weekend as well. Stoopid Hollywood ending aside it was a delight. Gotta love the Deppstah! Having said that, you can never replace the Gene Wilder Wonka. Although I think now you can't replace the Johnny Depp Wonka. So there's some contradictin' for you. I'm ok with it though, generally speaking.

Moving on to something else, I've been back at school for just over a week now and it feels like it's been about a year. Not because work is that hard or stressful (how taxing can it be to make one piece of paper into 2 pieces - or 60 indeed), but because I don't know why because. (that sentence sounded tortuous on purpose - honest).

Similar thing with Greenbelt. We played at Greenbelt only 2 weeks ago and yet it feels like so long ago. You would think this would make me feel damn old, but I feel so young. Or at least I feel so green. That is, not young in a "young and carefree" cliched way. You know.

Gots to go though. Bed it beckons to me.

overandout


* they being me. But it will catch on.

news and also news

I apparently have a new current favourite song. It's called 2nd Amendment by Easyworld. I've fallen in love with it.

The Saffa has jumped on board. I hesitate to report these sorts of goings on because most people appear to be hopeless bloggers. Or blaggers if you like.

In a similar vein and on a similar tack I'm going to be doing some pruning of my blogroll doon the sidebar there. Blogs that don't get updated oftener enough may find themselves 'trimmed'.

I scored a 'sweet goal'™ tonite at foop-ball. You wish you were me.

Poker very soon. Just got to get dressed.

over.

out.

bruv

fancy buying an album?

So many to choose from. You could try this one.



ahem

Mini 3dBs Down

They're pocket-sized! So you can always keep 'em on you.

Star Chamber

Woop woop

the Carpathian

Hey hey my little webberface friends

I trust that you are keeping it oh so real and also on the very much down low.

Ridiculous greeting aside I feel it has been a time since I last went on about David Ford but he has a new single out and, well, it's dandy. It's up on his myspace and it's called Go To Hell. In particular check out around 2m20s when the middle 8 kicks in. Such menace.

In other news, school broke up on Friday but I have 3 inset days to complete. Nevertheless, high jinks were had in Black Heath on Friday and in a more extended fashion in Sevenoaks last nite. Good times they were had.

But I reserve the true de-mob happiness for Wednesday. Actually that's a lie. I'm the king of keeping up de-mob happiness all year round. It's the only way.

Behave your selfs this sunny-ish Sunday.

Peaceouts

the verdict

Fist gig after the smoking ban..

No need to wash hair or clothes.
Voice felt a little smoother
Could smell a lot of other stuff (that's not a positive really)

Overall that's a yea then I think.

How've you all been?

I'm just dandy thanks, and I'm heading off to bed. Early (ish) for a change. So there's your update on operation shuteye (I know you're on tenterhooks for this stuff. I do).

You can't have it all

to sleep perchance to dream..

we thought we were getting away with it but we couldn't fool ourselves for long enough.

I think on the whole I prefer doing things to not doing things. But then you knew that. Didn't you?

The stag day was fun, I played cricket but didn't get to bat (lordy, we won), mummy's going to be a vicar (but that's old news now) and I co-wrote my first song on piano.

What fun? What, fun?

I'd better be off now.

You can carry right along.

Garden livin'

Wireless network ensures tanning opportunities are maximised. No longer will the geek be weedled out for jokes and points due to his "studio" or "computer" tan. The world has been turned upside down..

I made a warm bread salad with pancetta, parmesan and poached egg for lunch and Teh Fizz is here to fill in an application form with El's help and my (not very good) jokes.

What else I wonder? Oh, gosh, how could I forget. I went to see 3dBs Down last nite at the River Bar in Maidstone. That was some gig. Their new stuff is great and they generally blow me away. I tell no word of a lie.

I think there was some other stuff but I got shanghaied into typing things for El and Fizz and so have forgotten it all. You will cope I do not doubt.

one word

legendary

tonight, tonight

Tonight is already shaping up to be funs™. It's Life Sentence's last gig (as you should know if you've been paying attention) which is very much sad, but it will also be a good crack.

That's all I have to say about that. See you on the flipside..

Toby

Life Sentence: Good night, sleep tight

It happens every so often and, by its nature, there are never enough people who know about the situation to mourn. I'm talking, of course about up-and-coming bands breaking up before their time - before the number of people who should know about them actually do. If you haven't already heard, Life Sentence have announced the end of their time together.

Usually the eulogy is full of overstatement and hyperbole, touching a spot in the hearts of those who knew and loved the band and leaving a slightly blank stare on the faces of those that didn't. In this case I don't think it's an overstatement to say that Life Sentence affected people significantly, both musically and personally, and that their absence in the local music scene will leave a big hole.

We first met Dan when we were planning the third smackbosh and the rest of Life Sentence at the actual gig. I'm so glad we did. We've had some great times playing together and we were looking forward to more times playing together. All of the members of Life Sentence are so easy to get on with instantly and to hang out with.

The break up can, I guess, be chalked up to 'one of those things'. When you're in a band it's not always easy to keep on one path together. You can find all sorts of things pulling you in all directions. Sometimes it's external, sometimes internal, but it's never an easy choice and pointing fingers and trying to assign blame is, especially in this case, extremely futile.

Life Sentence will be playing their final gig on Friday 30th March and there will be many friends there to celebrate the all too short life span of a fantastic band. Thankfully they have been able to leave us a legacy in the form of the CDs and the memories.

I'm left thinking what other musical greats we might have heard, given that it's possible for bands like Life Sentence to break up before becoming well known.

Dan, Scott, Jack, Liam (and Ben) our hats are off to you, gentlemen.

Goodnight.

Toby and Strangeday

http://www.myspace.com/lifesentence

it's been so very long..

Well well.

No I know. But then what did you expect?

Any case, I was going to start off tonite with some genius lyrics, so here that is:

• I have always found it easier to skirt around it, careful of the stiches, insisted there was more than this but I lost myself I cannot speak


• We are crooked souls trying to stand up straight, dry eyes in the pouring rain, the shadow proves the sunshine


• So you can keep your belief in whatever, I'll wear my cynicism like a tatoo, while poets try to engineer definitions of love, well you know all I can think of is you


• When a dude's gettin bullied and shoots up your school, And they blame it on Marilyn - and the heroin, Where were the parents at?


• Everybody knows it sucks to grow up and everybody does, it's so weird to be back here, let me tell you what, the years go on and we're still fighting it


• in your eyes, the light, the heat, your eyes, I am complete

And now now now. I know that you all think you're being original and all, but here at tobiwan.co.uk we've done it all. Regardless I will reiterate and also elaborate.

• Five Iron Frenzy - Our Newest Album Ever


• Ash - 1977


• Nirvana - Unplugged in New York


• dc Talk - Jesus Freak


• Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound


• Brave Saint Saturn - The Light of Things Hoped For


• Poor Old Lu - Sin


• Nitin Sawhney - Prophesy


• Ben Folds - Rockin' The Suburbs


• Radiohead - OK Computer

Bubblin' Under: REM - Automatic For The People, Grammatrain - Lonely House, Model Engine - The Lean Year's Tradition, Flick - The Perfect Kellulight, Elliot Smith - XO, David Ford - I Sincerely Apologise For All The Trouble I've Caused, Muse - Absolution, Peter Gabriel - So, Radiohead - The Bends, Jeff Buckley - Grace

Radiohead obviously get the special mention for having two albums in the top 20. Go them.. Of course ask me again in a couple years and it might be different.

Gotta go..

More famous people

This is Switchfoot. Nick's to their right. He's way bigger than them. Seems there's idiots out in force tonite. Everyone from the guy behind me who thinks Switchfoot should only play old songs to the guy who set up a stand outside to tell everyone here that christian rock is wrong. Actually I kind of agree with him. But for different reasons and also I'd never hideously misquote the bible to support my arguments. Ok I've got to give my attention back to the band and stop being that guy.

untitled

I love the looks of this pool. Click on the photo for more pictures.

Here we are, anyway, on a rainy Saturday afternoon sat in the living room watching King Kong. We played at Winterwalrus last nite and that was some good fun. Star Chamber were headlining and it was a joy to listen to them again. They've got some new tunes up at their myspace. I recommend that you check them out.

Today is the final christmas day. Because we were skiing and whatnot we didn't have a proper Harding Christmas. So this evening there will be eating, drinking and general merriment to the delight of all.

I will bid farewell to you all now as I feel I have rambled on enough. Byesies.