Home

Gone to Central America. Back in two months.

2008-06-25T13:03:00.002+01:00

I'm off to Central America for 8 weeks. You can follow all my travels on the andresworld.co.uk travel blog at www.andresworld.co.uk/travel

For an approximate route take a ganders at this map.

The Great Escape 2008: Day 3

2008-06-01T20:10:00.001+01:00

Ida Maria playing on the balcony of the Theatre Royal

Day 3 threw us straight into the thick of it with a midday offering of Ida Maria semi-acoustic a top of the Theatre Royal balcony. You're delegate pass didn't get you far with this gig - it was a complete freeby. However, having said that you'd have not known about it had you not subscribed to TGE's text service (which eventually worked for me a day late).

|Photos - Ida Maria|
|Video: Ida Maria - Better When You're Naked|

Day 3: You can tell can't you?

Not a great deal was done with our day after that, so we put it to good use eating and drinking! Hey, we were on holiday...

I did however go for a meal at our Claudio's dad's restaurant and very nice it was too. Angelo was a fantastic host as usual and the food was exquisite. However, I think Angelo could tell I was coming to the tail end of a three day bender and so offered me another coffee.

Cut Off Your Arms?

We slowly made our way to Barfly for our first gig of the night, Cut Off Your Hands. Pete, Willy and Richard happened to be staying in the same hotel as the band's manager so we made the guest list :). If only there had been a big queue we could then have jumped...

There was a bit of drama at the start to say the least. Apparently the guitarist was on a train in from London where they had been doing some recordings and it was running late. So for most of the evening we saw a very nervy looking Kiwi pacing around waiting for a phone call.

In the time we waited to my surprise I heard The Whisky Cats come on the PA. I wandered my way over to the sound desk to find non-other than XFM Manchester's very own John Kennedy spinning the choons. I had a little chat with him and even managed to get "when I interviewed them on my radio show" into the conversation.

Cut Off Your Hands did manage to get on stage in the end, and I was treated to a set a fair bit longer then the somewhat curtailed support slot they performed with The Foals in Leicester in November. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but think that they weren't all there. The lead singer certainly seemed to be up for it and even made a little little trip into the crowd to come and dance by myself and the two Aussies I'd befriended on the grounds that we were the only people in the room that had heard of them before. However, I got the impression that the guitarist had been rattled slightly by the evenings events and so he didn't look like he was enjoying it as much. Which was a shame really.

|Photos - Cut Off Your Hands|
|Video: Cut Off Your Hands - Closed Eyes|

The plan was then to see Pete and the Pirates at Horatio's Bar. In all honesty Saturday's line up was a bit thin on the round so I should imagine that this over emphasised the good gigs that were on. It just so happened to be that, despite having performed the previous night as well, Pete and the Pirates was one of those good gigs. As a consequence it was one in, one out, even with magic red passes.

The Rascals

It was almost game over for a moment on Saturday night as it slowly dawned on us that with the locals out to play we weren't going to find the respite of a nice pint of ale in a quiet pub. So in one last ditch effort to see The Great Escape out with a bang, we headed back to the Barly, again, to wait for The Rascals.

In all honesty, although I could appreciate that The Rascals were good at what they did, what they did wasn't really my thing. Willy and Pete seemed to like 'em, Willy especially so because the lead singer kept giving him thumbs up - obviously mistaken for A&R again.

|Photos - The Rascals|

A little bit of Manchester in Brighton

You thought my night was over? Hell no! Do you take me for some kind of 'falling asleep against a pillar watching a gig' type person?

Instead I was off to Audio where unfortunately my magic red pass was now redundant and the downstairs stage turned out to no longer be the venue for up and coming bands but for some down and dirty techno. It just so happened to be I wasn't alone.

It was great to see Klara and Rowan again, and with Vanessa thrown in as well we had a sizeable representation of Oak House going on (sort of... not really, sounds good though). Add to that old boy and gel Sam and Lauren, it was like a small Mancunian reunion.

|Photos - Audio|

THE END

The Great Escape 2008: Day 2

2008-05-28T19:14:00.004+01:00

So after the excesses of the night before its a wonder I managed to get up the following day. Maybe, it was all that kip I caught against that pillar.

Today was Talk day, lots of talks, where I could look very interested, maybe even voice an opinion, but because I am no one important in the industry (as I described myself quite often when asked to 'say who you're with') it was of no consequence whatsoever.

Nevertheless there were some very interesting talks. I just caught the tail end of a one on one between Terry McBride and Jeremy Silver. Jeremy, MD of Avid Education (think Pro Tools) and CEO of Sibelius Software, chaired the interview and consequent panel discussion and asked some amazing concise and 'crux of the issue' questions. Terry, CEO and co-founder of Nettwerk Music Group (Canada's Largest independent record label), gave us an insight into how the industry is developing, and explained how the digital platform was enabling the industry to overcome previously geographically constrained economics (think lots of little markets make one big market). In addition Terry gave examples of how some of his artists further their career by being ethical and 'doing good', but these acts weren't motivated by a desire to further their career, and had they been, in today's digital age they'd have been quickly seen through.

In between talks there was just enough time to pop over to Komedia to say high to Willy, Richard and my Dad as they started out on the Celebrity Pop Quiz. They boys were up against it, facing a team of musicians (inc. Mark from The Levellers) and a team of music journalists. Nevertheless, Willy's musical mind proved fathomless and the team finished in second place just half a point behind the music journalists, and this was enough to win over the admiration of people who's job it is to know this sort of anal information and receive first prize! Pete's contribution was 'mumblemublesomethingintheintrosroundmumblemumble' but took one for the team when asked to recite lyrics from a love song in front of the contestants.

|Video: Pete's Love Song Recital|

Anthony Volodkin

However, I couldn't hang around in awe of Willy's musical knowledge for too long. I had Anthony to see! For those of you not mildly obsessed by what some (read: Anablogue's SRA application) have dubbed a revolution in the way we discover new music, Anthony Volodkin is co-founder of The Hype Machine, a website that aggregates music blogs from around the internet. The Hype Machine and Derek Davies inspired me to create Anablogue Radio, the specialist music show that Harry Garne and I presented in February 2007 on Fuse FM, so as you might imagine I was quite intrigued to see what he had to say.

It was a shame however that Toby Lewis from Music Ally who conducted the interview with Anthony and chaired the subsequent Net, Blogs and Rock n' Roll panel discussion wasn't quite as competent as Jeremy from the morning's talks. Nevertheless, it was informative to hear from bloggers Stuart and Juan from 20 Jazz Funk Greats (XXJFG) who receive up to 2000 unique visits a day to their blog, and made up for the fact I didn't spot Derek Davies of GWFAS.

I even managed to fire off a question to David Emery, Head of Web Development at Beggars Group. I asked him whether the paradox of labels financing tours to sell records but music fans downloading music from blogs and then seeing bands was evident, and what he thought of it. He replied that blogs are really a medium used by the early adopters, the muso's and the die-hards. The benefit of exposure to this section of the music fan base outweighed the cost of lost record sales, therefore the music blog was an essential PR medium. Interesting eh?

Anyways, enough of that. Back to the music.

Matt and Kim

Despite being shifted around a couple of times, Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim finally managed to play. And play they did. With Matt's keyboard and vocals running through a hastily set up PA and Kim's drums just as they were, I almost missed them by watching the wrong band at the Ocean Rooms downstairs - good job I went for a slash! Kim didn't stop smiling the whole gig through and Matt even got a bit of jovial flack when he used rarely abundant American irony in advertising sponsors Red Stripe.

|Photos - Matt and Kim|
|Video - Matt and Kim - Yea Yeah|

Late of the Pier

Despite being slagged off by Willy, I thought it best that I go and see a band who are as much as I can call local since I discovered the Young Knives were from Ashby de la Zouch. Late of the Pier are from Castle Donnington, even if NME interviews about the band giving a guide to their local town hark on about Nottingham.

They all look incredibly young, but I had to say give quite a mature sound. I don't know of any other band quite like them at the moment and they do have some friends in the industry like Radio 1's DJ of the moment Kissy Sellout. So, going their expecting to be disappointed I ended up quite surprised. The only thing I didn't like though was the keyboardist - he acted and had this look about him like the weird kid at school does, you're not quite sure whether he's going to come out with something brilliant or stab a biro in your eye.

|Photos - Late of the Pier|
|Video: Late of the Pier - Broken|

Hot Club de Paris

Off to the end of the pier next to skip past another queue and spend an hour trying to buy a pint of coke from Horatio's Bar. However, I did get to watch Hot Club de Paris in the process, notably the only band of the weekend I saw perform an encore. Listen out in the Shipwreck video below where I very shout "Wreck" very loud and the very wrong time (almost as bad as my Main Offender/Hate To Say I Told Your So moment at a Hives gig).

|Photos - Hot Club de Paris|
|Video: Hot Club de Paris - Yes No Goodbye|
|Video: Hot Club de Paris - Shipwreck|

The Black Lips

In a bid to not repeat the performance of last night's pillar kipping antics it was a strictly alcohol free caffeine and sugar refreshments break between Hot Club de Paris and Barfly's late night offering, The Black Lips.

The Black Lips are definitely an odd looking bunch, with one chappy reminding me of a flower pot man, and the lead singer sporting a Gangs of New York handlebar tasch. That didn't put off the crowd though, they were definitely up for it. There was a heady thronging before the gig culminating in a pre-band pogo to the Rolling Stones by some of the audience. This led me and the chap next to me to have a very silly E number induced conversation about throwing pebbles and how dangerous it was.

And when The Black Lips eventually came on stage, all hell broke loose...

|Photos - The Black Lips|
|Video: The Black Lips Sound Check|
|Video: The Black Lips - O Katrina!| <- pint dodging mosh-cam action

The Great Escape 2008: Day 1

2008-05-27T18:38:00.004+01:00

So this is the first of my posts rounding up my long weekend at The Great Escape 2008 festival, held from May 15th to May 17th. I don't profess to be a music blogger (well, actually I do, but not in the conventional guise), so I'll keep things short and sweet mixing up my post with a combination of twitter updates, photos and videos.

Magic Red Passes

Ida Maria

Having heard Oh My God by this young fringed Norwegian I went in search of more using the trusted Hype Machine and was impressed with what I found. Nothing particularly new and dangerous here, just good pop choons fronted by a competent if not at times a little shy front woman. She opened the weekend's entertainment at Audio (Downstairs).

|Photos of Ida Maria|
|Video - Ida Maria's Opening Track|
|Video: Ida Maria - Oh My God|

Next up at Audio were Johnny Foreigner, a band who'd I'd liken to a cut down version of Los Campesinos! but still making as much noise, and a noise with a grittier edge. It was no surprise to find that both bands had in fact toured together. They were good, and the crowd certainly had a jostle but I fill my quota of this sort of music with the aforementioned.

|Photos of Johnny Foreigner|
|Video: Johnny Foreigner - Champagne Girls I Have Known|
|Video: Johnny Foreigner - The End Of Everything After|
|Video: Johnny Foreigner - Our Bipolar Friends|

Vampire Weekend

The highlight by far of my Thursday night was the superb Vampire Weekend. Definitely popular with the kids, the queue outside of Concorde 2 stretched back a good 400-500 yards, and I reckon there must have been a good few hundred people waiting.

Despite the bouncers announcing that people should try and find an alternative venue for the night I walked to the front to find a an empty delegates queue. One in one out, it was just a matter of time. After a few teasers with girls leaving to go to the loo, eventually 4 people left and myself, another delegate and a couple from the standard queue made our way in. Worth every penny of its £99 price tag.

Inside MTV and Zane Lowe had jumped on the boat to film the gig, so if you find the distorted sound unbearable in the recordings below, you know where to go to find better. Some complain that Vampire Weekend are bit slow, maybe even a bit 'plinky plonky'; I'd argue that even if they were, the atmosphere of that gig, the singing from the crowd, and the outstanding performance from the band were enough to crown this the gig of the weekend.

|Photos of Vampire Weekend|
|Video: Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa|

The Ting Tings

Sadly its at this point the tweets stop and it all gets a little bit too much for me. The Ting Tings were on at Barfly at about 2am and Vampire Weekend finished at around 11pm. Not much to do in between then other than drink...

I just about managed to catch the opener, Great DJ, and take the photo above but then I was falling asleep against a pillar. That's no way to treat a band that would have a number one single and album in the charts the following week.

|Video: The Ting Tings - Great DJ|

Birthdays

2008-05-12T21:02:00.006+01:00

The view from Claudio and Vish's flat

I mean what were our parents doing 9 months ago? Was the summer of 1984 particularly boring for all us lot to be born. Or is it just the season for baby making....

No really, Vish is that short.

So the first birthday of many was in fact Vish's closely followed by Kev's. And what better excuse for a good old knees up in Manchester than celebrating their birthday's eh? Well, actually, celebrating mine as well :)

Despite turning the grand old age of 69 (whey) between us we still found great enjoyment in a bit of bowling, but not quite lawn bowls. Not just yet. First game was girls vs boys, which wasn't quite the stereotypical result you might have expected, and for the second game we picked teams like you used to in school. I got picked last; some things in 23 years just don't change.

Some slices of half price domino's pizza later and we were well into the drinking games and enjoying an amazingly warm night atop the 12 stories of Castleford. Then off to Mint Lounge for some swanky boogie action.

Thanks to all who attended, it was great to see some old faces again, - and HAPPY BIRTHDAY Vish and Kev!

|Photos|
|Video - Happy Birthday Vish|

"It isn't a surprise. He just doesn't know about it."

Evidently fresh out of fat ladies the weekend wasn't quite over just yet. Just enough time to get myself back to Derby for an asian buffet at Buddha Bar for Mr. Matthew Pearson's celebrations.

Quite worryingly this was the third successive birthday we'd all managed to to be in the same spot at once, it could be because we're getting older, more mature and sophisticated, or it could be because a woman organised us.

|Photos|
|Video - Happy Birthday Matthew|

Tim LOVES Dirty House

Weekend II, birthday IV, started off with treating Dan and Lizzie to a night daan taan with the Derby folk. Oddly enough it felt quite bizarre having to make executive decisions about where to go next and the like, normally I just follow the crowd. And whilst I tend to slag off Derby a little from time to time (in a socially constructive manner of course) I think I showcased a good range of quality drinking (and dancing) establishments.

|Lizzie's Facebook Photos|

By Joanna Jackson, decorations available at competitive rates.

The hoards arrived on Sunday from their respective corners of the country and we all went for Sunday lunch at The Coopers, which was nice. We had planned initially to have an evening packed fun full of board games and such like, but found, much to my delight people were more than happy making their own entertainment just catching up, chatting and getting to know each other. [Big glowy smiley happy feeling :-) ]

|Photos|
|Video - Its the crazy 'Family-Fortunes-Catchphrase-Guess-Who' game!|

Captain Jack 'Speirs' Spiegler

Day three of my birthday celebrations (yes I'm a greedy bastard for having a whole bank holiday weekend) meant paintball! Now, there were some apprehensive members of the party, namely the ladies. They'd heard one or two nightmare stories about being shot and bruising and it really hurting and stuff like that...

Well, most of that turned out to be true as my killer inside-thigh shot on Angela proved to be. Nevertheless I did notice the women on my team turn from slightly anxious 'not-quite-sure' paintballing virgins into 'go-get-em' pop pop pop ruthlessly trained killing machines. Or something like that at any rate.

Teams were roughly Derby vs Uni with myself and Stu on the uni side, whilst Jack 'Kamikaze' Spiegler, who technically should have been on an Ashby side all of his own, joined the Derby side. I'm not going to highlight the fact that my side won, because that would not reflect a man of my age and maturity.

WE WON WE WON WE WON Nerr ner ner nnerrr nerrr WE WON WE WON WE WON. Ahem

Thank you to everyone that made the effort to come down and see me for my birthday. I appreciate paintballing isn't the cheapest of activities but I really appreciated having such a large group of friends turn up, it was thoroughly enjoyable day. I hope you enjoyed it too!

|Photos|
|Video - Paintball Headshot|

Jo is also a member of the Spring Chicken Crew

And finally there is just enough time to say Happy Birthday to Jo to whose birthday I turned up at in a mixture of sandals, shorts and eight cans of Kronenburg... oh dear.

Thank you Stu for playing host that afternoon and inviting us all to your house for a BBQ. The oven glove look suits you.

|Photos - Stu's BBQ|
|Photos - Jo's Birthday|

Living for the weekend

2008-04-19T11:51:00.002+01:00

He lives for the weekend

That's what its all about these days apparently, in the real world [god, I hate that phrase]. So that's what I've been doing... and so has Claudio, evidently.

Album cover of the forthcoming Pablo's Finest Hour EP

I don't know how she does it, it could quite possibly be a heart of gold, although that'd be difficult to run with, but Hannah has pledged to raise lots of money for Oxfam this year. Possibly £2000, but don't hold me to that... I'd had a lot to drink alright!?

As one part of her master plan to raise the cash (other part's being playing gigs, running the London marathon and holding fashion shows) Hannah held a rather lovely charity dinner. And may I just add, that despite the pretentious qualities it may have, it sounds great to be wearing a tux and say 'oh, I'm off to a charity dinner'.

It was cooked superbly, compliments to the chef and all, and it was for twelve people - which is a pretty daunting task. Well played Hannah, and a self-assuring pat on the back for all those who attended to help a good cause. You can still sponsor Hannah here at bymycharity.com.

|Photos|

Cocktail Party Shenanigans

But alas, I couldn't be content with just one social event in one evening. Cometh the midnight hour (and the snow) it was time to move on. Off to Briony and Jen's fantastic new flat (way better than Claudio and Vish's but don't tell them that) for a cocktail party which was pretty much in full swing when I arrived - I say pretty much, that's because no one had had a Mojito yet...

Big thanks to Jen and Briony for hosting the bash, it was good to see some old faces again. And may Dan, Lizzie, Claudio and Vish's gut rot be a lesson to your all - kebab's at 5am are bound to a bad idea.

|Photos|
|Video - The Secret of a Moj-ito|

The afternoon after the night before

Last weekend it was off down to Brighton for Vanessa's 23rd birthday bash. Cat and I had turned up a little hungover from our respective Friday night's - but nothing a cuppa tea and a slice 'ut cake can't solve (and maybe some diet coke, and some drugs). By which time we'd collected Hannah from the station and Vanessa had finished work (on a Saturday! it should be made illegal).

It was quite a refreshing change to go out with no end goal of 'the club'. Too often a great night catching up with friends is spoilt because of some nonsensical overpowering urge to move a conversation into an entirely inaudible environment. Fortunately this night was not one of those, and Brighton's late night pubs and bars were more than happy to help.

It was great to see everyone and get to know some characters I'd heard of from Brightonian stories of Vanessa's and Claudio's. Thanks to Vanessa for getting it organised and looking after us - and Happy Birthday!

|Photos|
|Videos - coming soon|

All the crusties came out to play

In other news, my Dad, Willy, and I went down to London for the night a while back, for the Levellers 20th Anniversary Tour gig at Brixton Academy.

And it was AMAZING!

|Photos|
|Video: The Levellers - England My Home|
|Video: Dreadzone - Elevate|
|Video: Alabama 3|

Jus†ice, Rock City, Nottingham

2008-02-18T19:44:00.003Z

Masters at Work

Alt+0134 before you ask.

So I'd seen the Parisian duo DJ at Sankeys last year and it blew my socks off, as well as left me with some permanent hearing damage. But what would they be like 8 months on in concert, playing their own stuff at a venue usually reserved for indie/rock gigs? I predicted to my old school friend Jack who had kindly invited me to come along, that there would be scenes of pogo carnage as one half of the audience waved glowsticks in a vague attempt to be nu-rave whilst the other half reacted in fashion not dissimilar to nu-metal.

And I wasn't wrong.

Definitely not suitable for epileptics

Justice opened with Genesis, the opening track on their album † (Cross) [I bet the staff at HMV were cussing the day it was released], which was really of no surprise. The blasting horn-like intro is a warning call to all those at the front to fly or fight, and something that always reminds me of the start to Smash Sumthin' by Adam F feat. Redman (Roni Size Remix preferably). I captured all of the track on video here, which also really emphasises the impressive light show that Justice put on.

Justice pretty much played out their album but with enough of a difference for the crowd to know they hadn't just hit play. They did well to keep tracks we all know and love fresh and different in a live environment. They padded out the remainder of their set with a few remixes including The Fallen by Franz Ferdinand, they teased elements of Atlantis to Interzone by The Klaxons and after bringing the lights all the way up they brought 'em all the way back down again for their encore of NY Excuse by LCD Soundsystem.

But their most impressive moment by far was acknowledging Soulwax's genius by playing a live re-edit of the Niteversion of Phan†om Pt II. Which would make it Justice - Phantom Pt II (Soulwax Niteversion Remix) (Justice Live Re-edit). A mouthful if ever there was. Nevertheless, I admired the fact that they played out someone else's version of their own work at a live gig, but then added something of their own on top of that anyway. Fantastic.

PPE is all the rage

In all, looking around at the crowd, it was quite an interesting bunch. There were the nu-ravers complete with PPE reflective vests, the pill poppers and there over-expansive white rimmed Ray Bans, the trendies who had just turned up for We Are Your Friends [video], and everyone else in between. I enjoyed the fact that Justice played a track I hadn't heard before as there closing number. It was closer to heavy metal hardcore than dance music and spread a few bemused looks across the crowd, but saying that my mate Jack who has his musical roots in a box labelled 'Tidy' enjoyed it thoroughly.

Which leaves me only to say that Justice are blurring the Rock/Dance boundary by more than the odd synth here and drum machine there, instead they're the aural bulldozer intent of flattening the definition of genre.

|Photos|
|Video: Justice - Genesis|
|Video: Justice - We Are Your Friends|

Back once again...*

2008-02-10T16:25:00.000Z

Right, I promise (myself mainly) to be a bit more up too date with these updates (its all in the name I suppose).

So, what have the past 2-3 months had to offer. Well, as far as updates are concerned its been a dozen weeks of not a great deal punctuated by gigs and birthdays. So like some TOTP-esque countdown (derr duh der de de de de), here we go....

I successfully identified members of Cut Off Your Hands (oh yeah, I'm cool)

Coming in at No.7 is a visit to Leicester's Charlotte to see Cut Off Your Hands (in support) and Foals. COYH were an incredibly friendly bunch, and I felt extra cool having had a chat with them at the merch stall before the gig. Funny really, but for some reason I wouldn't have expected them to be running their own merch stall. I think all the praise and column inches Derek Davies of GWFAS has given them over the past 12 months has lifted them higher in my estimation as to where they really are in the 'making it big' rat race of the music industry.

I thought I'd scored twice having spotted the lead singer of Foals and approached a sufficiently indie looking gentleman only to the response of "oh, you want him over there, but my band are playing here next week...". I said I'd definitely come and made a swift exit. I blame it on the generic fringe across the forehead haircuts...

To cut a short story shorter, Eskimo Hoax were a bit to out there for me, as Willy said, its almost as if we were expected to all sit down on the floor and clap politely after each song. Cut Off Your Hands were a fresh of breath air in contrast and the highlight of the evening, despite their short set of only 6 songs induced by the lead singers throat infection. A darned shame if you ask me. Finally Foals came on to a rapturous applause and suddenly things all got a bit feisty, there was pit and pogoing galore, unfortunately to the detriment of Jam who ended up with a blooded nose. The whole scene was in stark contrast to the previous week's visit to see Sons and Daughters, here in Leicester the Skins kids were out in force and sales of Coca Cola were through the roof.

|Photos|
|Video: Cut off Your Hands - Still Fond|

The Birthday Boy

Coming in No.6 is Mr. Ben Sharratt's 23rd Birthday meal out at the Friar Gate Steak House. And all very nice it was too. Our second civilised birthday outing for the boys in the same month, but this time with greater numbers, its a wonder we all managed to fit in the place.

In any case the waitress and chef managed to deal with us raucous bunch of lads with ease and the meals were delivered on time and cooked brilliantly. After that the hardcore bunch (yes that did include me you cynical gits) headed off to Mosh for some indie schmidie dancing and a prancing.

|Photos|

Asta la Vista Baby

Closely following in at No. 5 is a geek weekend away in Leeds where Dan and I upgraded his PC, and the played games all weekend. Yes, we are incredibly sad, but then it was incredibly good fun - and great to see Dan and Lizzie again of course (ahem).

|Photos|

How can four guys sitting down make people dance so much?

At No.4 is gig number two, this time a trip down to Tamworth with Pete Jackson (of Pete Stock fame), to see those ageing folk punk rockers The Levellers in the Drunk in Public guise with Rev Hammer. My Levellers gig going had dried up in recent years compared to my infamous groupy like behaviour at school so this gig was a welcome return to the old days - I even had my dad pushing me about from behind in the mosh. Yes, a mosh pit, at a folk gig, WITH A VIOLIN, with lots of old people who look as if they're all from the West Country. That's just a testament to how good these guys are.

Just a shame everyone used Rev's songs as a fag/beer/piss break.

|Photos|

Consoles and Players

The New Year brought us some post-christmas with the welcome return of Consoles and Players to the gigging circuit. So in at No.3 is the Consoles and Players gig at Night 'n Day on the 4th of January. It was great to see the boys play again and I am still eternally grateful for their performance at Petestock. Mike was in good spirits after 6 months in France, but it was just a shame the Night 'n Day isn't really conducive to catch-up chats - nor is it for camera captured movies, all fuzz I'm afraid.

|Photos|

My photography has some way to go I think.

And for No. 2 we have the latest batch of recruits to the 'getting old and we know it' brigade. Holly and Ruth turned 23 on the 19th and saw the midnight hour of the 18th in with lots of cheese music and a collection of recently graduated and jubilant students. Mind you as a teacher and accountant respectively I'd say they were growing old with dignity (the clock is ticking Andy...)

|Photos|
|Video|

Four of the last 23 years in the North take their toll on Dan

In at No. 1 on this Andresworld mega round-up is Dan's 23rd Birthday! The first time all the housemates were back together since Petestock and a great opportunity for everyone to catch up. Needless to say Dan hit it big on the Friday night, almost a little too big. But he was back for Wii and more on Saturday and Sunday - there was just no stopping him.

Muchas Gracias to Dan and Lizzie for putting me and everyone up for the time we stayed - they even bought us bacon, eggs and mushrooms for our fry up on Saturday morning!

|Photos|

THE END

*Sadly any DJ Wildchild reference could not make it into the body post.

Remember remember the... well, just November really.

2007-11-24T19:19:00.000Z

Sunset over Castleford, Manchester.

As per usual I've been pretty slack on the updates of Andresworld of late but despite being unemployed I find myself quite busy [okay you can pick yourselves off of the floor now, its not that funny]. So come with me back in time to rediscover November... doo dee doo doo, doo dee doo doo.

Apparently a flowerpot's heartbeat is on its cheek.

So, first up Vicky Spain's 23rd birthday bash. And not just any ordinary bash I tell thee - one which included compulsory fancy dress and none other than the infamous Soup Lady Sophie Baxter. Sophie and Vicky dressed as men for the evening, or rather flowerpot men, or at least very effeminate flowerpot men. Some might have even called them flowerpot women, but to be quite frank that'd just be silly, who's ever heard of a bird called Bill or Ben?

Everyone was impeccably dressed, and those that failed to don a costume were booed out the house and subjected to an assault of empty Red Stripe cans. In hindsight that's quite harsh...

|pics|

JC got mingling with all the stars

So, for some the most important night of the year, and for Fuse the culmination of a spectacular set of efforts that has seen the station host an awesome launch party and nominations party already. The Student Radio Awards was back this year and bigger and better than ever. A dazzling array of stars attended the ceremony including Tim Westwood, Edith Bowman, Scott Mills and Steve Lamacq. Of course, this time we got to see them thanks to two large screens either side of the stage, however the acoustics of The New Connaught Rooms meant we couldn't understand a word they said.

The reason we were all there? James Collins and Becca Day Preston of course. JC was up for Best Entertainment and Becca up for Best Female. Both were up against stiff competition from full time established student radio stations but Fuse still managed to upset the big boys and come away with a Bronze Award in Best Female for Becca.

Good time was had by all, well played for all of those who made the trip down, and thank you to Rich and the UEA Livewire boys who joined us on our table. And of course a big round of applause to station manager Sarah Vale for organising it all and not killing anyone after having 2 and half half ours spent on her hair.

|pics|
|videos|
|Fuse FM|
|Student Radio Awards|

A cake. Which I ate a lot of.

Back from London on Friday after all that Student Radio nonsense for Tim's 23rd birthday. An incredibly civilised affair, which is not to say a meeting with the boys can't be civilised, just that they normally involve vast quantities of carnage. A sit down curry at the Shalimar followed by a few drinks at The Bless and some early departures for work commitments probably means the countdown has begun to wife, kids, and mortgage. Joy.

Happy Birthday Tim!

|pics|
|videos|

Son and Daughters

Finally, to round off the weekend, a Sunday evenings visit to The Clubroom, aka the upstairs of Revo's in Derby. Support bands The Victorian English Gentleman's Club and The BeauPeep Show were both excellent, hats off for braving what turned into a snowy winters evening. However, the real stars of the show were Sons and Daughters, who are touring to support their current single Guilt Complex and in anticipation of a new album very very soon.

Lead singer Adele Bethel was as enticing as ever, lunging off the stage and holding her mic cable like she was about to engage in sexual foreplay with lead guitarist and king of cool Scott Paterson. Paterson added an extra special something to the set by playing with a range of effects and techniques not used on the album recordings. The greatest example, was a breakdown into The Stooge's I Wanna Be Your Dog, in the middle of Johnny Cash - with great play made on Bethel's monotonous key bashing, something I've tried to recreate on Anablogue. Drummer David Gow was tight and dressed in braces, shirt, and flat cap, and lastly bassist Ailidh Lennon combined some steps to and fro to compliment her sexy solitary shoe gazing look.

What was not quite so fantastic though was the pitiful turn out that constituted the Derby audience that had come to see this superb live act. Amid Peterson's comments of the crowd being 'very quiet', I wondered whether the lack lustre lighting was just bright enough to blind him from counting the thirty or so gig goers who actually made it. I appreciate a snowy bitterly cold Sunday evening isn't the best of times but I am sure there'll be a more faithful turnout at the Foals gig at The Charlotte this Sunday. At least then I'll be saved the embarrassment and the overwhelming need to apologise to anyone affiliated with the bands.

|pics|
|live video of 'Red Receiver'|

NB. I was obviously so overwhelmed by the aforementioned bassist that I failed notice that the tour t-shirt she sold me was a small whilst clearly marked medium. Consumers beware! ;)

Super Star DJs... Here We Go!

2007-10-14T20:06:00.001+01:00

Okay, so I was able to disappear off to Manchester at the start of this week on the proviso that it would improve my career prospects, and wasn't just a jolly like last time. It turned out to be about half right...

Pablo's Finest Hour

As you may or may not know, all of October is host to the country's biggest and longest festival: OXJAM. Basically its a series of gigs and nights put on by anyone who wants to raise a little cash for a good cause. There have been some high profile gigs, notably with people like Norman Cook doing sets in OXFAM charity shops, but on Monday night Hannah Newcombe and the rest of the Pablo's Finest Hour crew played host to OXJAM Presents Twisted Folk.

Now some of you may be familiar with the Twisted Folk guise, it first made an appearance as a tent for Pangaea III and in combo with Acoustic Stage for Pangaea IV. A mix alternative folk, americana and 'psychedelic poptasticism', this incarnation of Twisted Folk had the added twist [whey!] of a catwalk showcasing the ethical clothing range from OXFAM Originals. And like Pangaea III I was DJing, with the extra bonus that I got to talk, or compère, between the bands and let the audience know how good they should all feel about themselves for giving to a good cause!

Pablo's Finest Hour put out a cracking set, as did all the bands, and it was good to hear a few new tunes that were no doubt the product of their two week residency at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. A big hand to all those who helped out or turned up to watch, and an extra big hand for Hannah, whom without the night would have never happened.

|Photos|
|Pablo's Finest Hour Videos|

James Collins - Nominated for Best Entertainment at the Student Radio Awards 2007

Nursing my hangover on Tuesday left me fully recovered for the second excellently hosted Fuse event in almost as many weeks. Wednesday night was the eagerly anticipated Student Radio Awards Nominations with the announcements for the North West region being held at Oxford Road Kro Bar.

I shan't be economical with the truth, and I will say that I did have the rather excessive three applications in the running for various awards, but alas history wasn't to repeat himself. Or not for me at least. By his own admission, JC's surprise at being nominated for this years awards, looked very much akin to mine twelve months earlier. Needless to say the roar that erupted as The JC Show made the final entry on the Best Entertainment nominations list was sufficient a reality check to necessitate a call to his mum.

But that wasn't to be the only cause for celebration that evening. Little did she know but whilst Becca Day-Preston was laying down some ground rules in the world of electro on her 8 till 10 show DoubleDrop, her name was being read out as Fuse FM's second contribution of late to the world of upper-class female radio DJs, and was nominated for Best Female for her work on her daytime show Lady and The Tramp. Another almighty Mancunian roar filled the second floor room of Kro that evening, but was only followed by a bemused search for Becca and the subsequent slow dawn of realisation. Nevertheless a quick minded Harry Garne was soon on ye olde mobile to let her know the good news.

So Fuse FM enters this years Student Radio Awards with nominations in two of the most highly coveted categories, and I fear that ASRA have made a severe judgement of error in not including Harry Garne and making it three. But hey, who am I to judge? Well played JC and Becca.

Curiously, from blitzing the awards last year University Radio Nottingham have almost slipped off the radar with this years awards being dominated by Cambridge's CUR1350. In fact CUR1350 and Warwick's RaW are the only other stations contending in JC's battle for Best Entertainment. Leeds' LSRfm has a strong presence again and will hope to take home a bit more glassware after falling at almost every hurdle to URN at last year's awards. Overall the North West has a healthy offering, with Fuse, Storm and Bailrigg offering six nominations between them.

The awards will take place at The New Connaught Rooms in Holborn, London, on November 15th with Jo Whiley, Scott Mills, Edith Bowman and Tim Westwood already confirmed to be attending the event. Fusebies should get hold of Sarah Vale ASAP if they want to attend by emailing her at stationmanager@fusefm.co.uk.

|Photos|
|Student Radio Awards Website|

Manchester la la la!

2007-10-01T18:01:00.000+01:00

A quick trip up to Manchester for the Fuse FM launch party, some PPE curry, a meal with Dan, Lizzie and Claudio, and a trip to the opening night of The Warehouse Project managed to finish a seventeen night sprint of being away and with only one night in my own bed. Andy 'squater' Jackson indeed.

Who even uses CDs these days...

The Fuse FM Launch party for broadcast 15 was an excellent occasion and a well organised event that brought well needed pennies to the Fuse coffers. The fancy dress theme was pop idols, I came as me, not because of any huge radio ego of mine, but because I'd only had a 2 minute turn around at home after work. Needless to say I wasn't easily forgiven.

Several Fuse DJs were on the decks, including one tall gentleman who was playing some old school 45s. Big respect. Not quite so much respect for the penultimate chappy though - let DJing from iPods be a lesson to you all.

|Photos|
|New Fuse FM Website|

Much much better in the new venue underneath Piccadilly train station

The Warehouse Project is back, and its better than ever. The new venue is excellent. Put away all your fears about bad sound and replace them with mild concern that the bass is so loud the mortar falls from the ceiling.

Set underneath Piccadilly train station, you don't actually go underground despite previous 'beneath the streets' slogans. Nevertheless the location is suitably industrial and fits my pre-uni conception of Manchester club nights as set in big open warehouses with lots of people and sound - just like that scene from 51st State.

Layo and Bushwacka! were a little flat for my liking and there were definite flagging dangers, but a red bull later and a change of DJ to Armen Van Helden and we were away. Quite an a eclectic set - a lot to jump up and down to, he even played the SebestiAn remix of Rage Against The Machine's Killing In The Name Of. Nevertheless, having dipped his stylus like toe into the Kitsune pool of French electro it did leave poor old Detroit favourite Felix Da Housecat as a bit of an anti-climax. But to be fair, its not really his fault, what with the current dance music tide being neither east coast or west coast but very much continental, to play a similar set as the one he did in Sankeys 15 months ago would have left him looking very dated indeed.

|Photos|
|Claudio Post-taxi Reaction Video|
|Spangly New Camera Video| [Warning contains high levels of G.3.3.K.]

The London Design Festival

2007-09-26T16:51:00.000+01:00

Righty, well! The observant amongst you might notice that although this post says that it was written on the 26th of September it in fact wasn't. Basically, I've been up to a fair bit lately and rather than let my laziness be reflected on my site I'll just cheat instead. So, Scooby Doo style time travel back to September....

Some people are just very particular about others using their equipment

I've just got back from London [ahem] where I've spent the last twelve days or so. A big thanks to Fash, Will, Ed and Dave for being so patient and offering me a roof over my head. I think I've successfully earned the title 'squater'. The main reason for my trip was to volunteer and earn myself some valuable creative industry brownie points. However that didn't stop me going to Fabric first... The night before I was due to start.

|Photos|
|DJ Yoda Super Mario Bros Video|

I was dead chuffed with that shot. I did it all myself :)

The first weekend of the London Design Festival was pretty quiet, however the area around the South Bank centre was not, because all weekend it was the Thames River Festival! Kate and her bar crew were working it too so a few sneaky free cans of heineken and no tea and I was on my way for a great night. And of course Cat was working Saturday night, and so was my bestest West Country pal Brendan [kidding Kate].

Cat came up again on the Sunday with her mum and we watched the carnival and the fireworks to finish it all off. They were awesome. So awesome that in a fit of pyromania I recorded the whole display on my spangly new camera.

|Photos|
|Thames River Festival Fireworks Video|

No, we didn't get to drive them :-(

So finally the actual reason for my trip down to London in the first place [other than to escape the siege at home]. The London Design Festival was an eleven day long series of design orientated events across London. I volunteered to help out on the nitty gritty elements of running a festival but was pleasantly surprised when the rest of the volunteers and I were able to get into London and report back for the Backstage Blog.

In addition to the 7:30am starts [for the FT of course], 10 hour days, blogging, vlogging, and heavy lifting I did get to see some awesome design, learn ALOT, eat some free food and drink the occasional free beer/cocktail [simple things for simple folk]. I was also really fortunate to sit in on i-Design: Design for life talks which focused on digital design and how it is affecting, and can affect our lives. I even asked a question and referenced Bertrand Russell, I was shot down pretty quick mind.

And of course I spent 11 days with some really cool people. I'd like to thank Will [the man behind this] for giving me the opportunity to get involved, and also a big hand to Jay who would have been my podcast partner in crime had the technology worked, but instead just gave me advice on life [not a bad trade I reckon].

|Photos|
|LDF Backstage Blog|
|iDesign: Design For Life Podcasts|

So that was summer...

2007-08-28T20:48:00.001+01:00

Well I think we're all agreed that Summer 2007 has been pretty crap. No denying it really but what with the combination of rain, flooding, lack of sun and the massive downer that is graduating [for me at least] it hasn't been fun.

However there have been a couple of notable exceptions. In July I worked at a festival bar down in Ealing, a job I got through my course mate Kate. It wasn't quite my mother's dream job for her son graduating from Manchester with a PPE degree but I did make some money, have a laugh and meet some cool people. 'Nuff said. On top of that I managed to squeeze in a trip to Brighton to see Vanessa, Claudio and Klara, an adventure being stranded in Swindon, and a night out in Soho.

|pics|

And of course last weekend saw Petestock. Gone this year was the the couple of gazeebos and the separates system that normally accompanies the annual dreFest shenanigans, and in its place there was a proper tent, stage, bands, ale, hog roast and, by some fluke, good weather.

|Pics|
|Video|

Big thanks to Consoles and Players, The Roulette and Adam Slack for playing. Also, many thanks to Jam, Tim and Stu for helping me out with all of the preparations and the night itself. And, of course a big thank you to Pete for hosting the event.

Busy busy busy

2007-07-07T19:53:00.000+01:00

Well, apologies for the lack of posts recently. Since handing in dissertation/birthday there was more revelry followed by exams followed by more revelry followed by moving out of Manchester. And in that time I managed to go to Rockness up in Inverness, Glastonbury Festival down in Pilton and graduate back in Manchester. So here we are: a mega triple post.

Unfortunately Dan couldn't be with us :(

So, Rockness. Basically I was at the end of my first week of work experience at XFM in Manchester and just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was offered a pair tickets, got cocky and asked for another, a quick phone call to Claudio to see if he was up for driving the 800 mile round trip, and jobs a good 'un

We started as meant to go on with Cat, Vanessa and I seeing Justice at Sankeys on the Friday night - who were just an unfathomably immense wall of fist thumping neo-naxi boot stomping sound [the only time I've been to see DJs and moshed]. We had the best of intentions to at least catch one or two hours sleep but by the time we waited till finish at 5, fannied about with buses and walked a bit home it was 6am anyway: just enough time to grab a quick shower [lots of topless sweaty men down the front at Sankeys] and make Claudio a quadruple espresso.

Given that we didn't know we were going until the day before I didn't have any preconceptions or expectations, and no plans to see any bands in particular. Saturday night we caught Groove Armada [in the biggest tent I've ever seen - old skool Glasto dance tent eat your heart out] and The Chemical Brothers, who we watched from afar in the eeriest late night mist I've ever seen. I tried not to follow it too closely for fear of spoiling Sunday night at Glastonbury. On Sunday we saw, much to my delight, the Levellers, and a very good show they put on too - my first for a long time, and in the evening decided to sack off queueing to see Mark Ronson, stocked up on life-juice, and watched the the immensity of Daft Punk.

|pics|
|video to come...|

Hi-viz Kids

Glastonbury Festival needs no explanation, other than a quick reiteration of the vast numbers of people that came this year and a big thanks again to Will and Debs for sorting out tickets for a LOT of people.

Also my top tip - don't mix beer, vodka and cider in a short space of time on not a great deal to eat. That is unless you enjoy missing 1980s ska legends and Brightonian super star DJs in intimate venues. Yes, I am still upset with myself.

|pics|
|The Wombats video|

The mortorboard - the difference between being a student and unemployed

Unfortunately that time had to come. The official end of our student lives. It sounds sad, but to be fair it was in the end a good old knees up. Despite myself being objected to a white wash hit and run from a bus, all the PPE crowd managed to collect their respective certificates and shake some old fart's hand without tripping up or making a fool of themselves. There was a bit of a reception beforehand with most conversations starting with body language which read 'oh you made it too', briefly followed by 'is that free booze you're drinking there?'.

I made the snap decision to stay in Manchester that night and enjoyed a good meal in The Northern Quarter [one of those places I only managed to first visit in the dying moments of third year], a few drinks in Font, a good old bop in Sub-space, and then off to Manchester 235 Casino where I shamefully sat by the 25p Roulette all night and came out even. But then at least I didn't have to call an attendant out because the machine wouldn't give me my £1.25 back...

Anyway, a big good luck, well done and thank you to all my coursemates and people I've shared classes with over the past three years. I can only hope you become rich and famous, and that you'll let me kip on your floor if I need to. Ta ra.

|pics|

Schools out!

2007-05-03T15:10:00.000+01:00

...well until Monday at least.

Enjoying the nice weather with a post-dissertation pint[s]

I've given myself the week off. Its the least I deserve after spending the past five weeks trapped in my room watching the sunny days going by. But thankfully the dissertation has been handed in and I'm sure that's a load off of everyone's mind. A lot of people have asked me what my dissertation was about and said it sounded quite interesting. I apologise for not being more enthused by your polite enquiries at the time, so if you'd like to find out what the finished article was all about have a ganders over here.

However, much more exciting than doing the dissertation was celebrating having done it. I took lots of photos of people enjoying the sunshine with a pint outside the union. I would say they were out for my 22nd birthday, but that'd be lie. Although some kind souls bought me a pint. Bless. Photos here.

All the PPEists. Good looking as well as clever.

Last night saw what can only be described as an invasion by the PPE massive of the BA Econ Ball. Big thanks to the BA Econ committee for organising the ball and offering us a discount. Thanks to Kate, Lydia, Dom, Lizzie, Ben, Chellsie and everyone that was involved in getting all the PPEers money together to buy our bulk tickets. I couldn't quite believe that students could be so organised. And of course a big thank you to all the PPEers and their guests that attended. It was really good to have you all their and I hope you enjoyed yourselves.

Photos of the night are available here, and some videos here and here. Well played to the tables that won prizes by the way. The third year table didn't get owt, accusations of a fix are continuing for a second year.

A Week At Radio 1

2007-04-21T23:40:00.000+01:00

First off a big thanks to Colin Murray, Jimmy Devlin and Deirdre [spell?] for having me shadow them this week. They were really fun guys to work with and I really enjoyed my time with them.

Secondly, thanks to Neil Sloan for organising it all and for supervising Dan and I when we were let loose in the Radio 1 studio. He proved that you really can 'polish a turd' [as Dan so eloquently put it].

Finally, thanks to Dan for holding my hand while we did the show. He didn't get to say as much as I'd liked, it wasn't quite my usual wandering banter between me and him, but it was comforting to just be able to stare at his perplexed face during links and to shout at him when it all went wrong.

In case I haven't forced it down your gullet already Dan and I did were on BBC Radio 1 and did the Early Breakfast show from 4:30am till 7am. You can still listen again by following this link. But hurry it'll only be up there until the 27th April!

What have I got to show you of my five days? Well there are some photos, a video of Dan and I pratting about in the studio and an egotistic selection of links to various articles about me in the local press, and two audio clips of me on BBC Radio Derby [here and here]. What can I say?

Oooo and of course. Big thanks to all of you who got up at silly o'clock and listened to the show. Thanks for your texts, I really appreciate your comments.

Good Friday

2007-04-09T18:45:00.000+01:00

DO NOT APPROACH THIS MAN. HE IS SAID TO BE ARMED AND VERY DANGEROUS.

Good Friday photos here.

Glastonbury 2007

2007-04-01T11:46:00.000+01:00

The ticketman: Will Butler

Congratulations to everyone that got Glastonbury tickets, commiserations to those who did not. To those of you that engaged in a rather frantic MSN conversation with me then you need to know that Will Butler was in fact the star of the show and was processing all your details at Glasto-Ticket-Wales-recycling-plant HQ. Its official you all owe him and his support team [those that took over when he needed a wee] a pint.

Erm, to get you excited there's all my previous glasto albums linked below and a few youtube videos as well. Enjoy.

Glastonbury 2000
Glastonbury 2002
Glastonbury 2003
Glastonbury 2004
Glastonbury 2005
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uweGMeWu79o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OklV4QtkndM

Now once you finished panicking about when that confirmation email is going to come through, you can start worrying about where to camp.

A week since the end

2007-03-14T12:01:00.000Z

It's been a week now since the very last Andrew Jackson Show. As much I am now enjoying my Monday evenings and Wednesday afternoons student radio will be sorely missed and I can only encourage people to get involved and make the most of Fuse FM or your respective student radio stations while you can.

Nevertheless it isn't all doom and gloom. First up, Mr. Harry Garne of Anablogue and Wilfully Twisted fame has been named head of music. As many of you may know Harry was assistant station manager this year and many expected him to apply for 'the big one' for next year. However, this wasn't to be so, but Harry assures me there are even more enthusiastic, dedicated and talented people than him vying for the job, so all you fusebies make sure you're there to vote at the end of the year.

On a slightly different note, this week is the week of the union elections. I can not stress how important it is for you to vote, even as a third year. This is the largest university in the country and last year 94% of students didn't vote. That is truly disgusting. And don't even say that union politics is a waste of time because you don't get involved. The reason why union politics is in such a sorry state of affairs is because the people voted in by a minority of the student populace are not representative of the majority. Quick way to solve that... go and vote. Interestingly enough three second year PPEists are up for posts of Gen Sec, Student Direct Officer and Environment and Ethics Secretary. Find out more about them over here.

Bringing things back to radio, a demonstration of why a good union is so important is so that the radio station can get bigger and better. One uni to aspire to is Cardiff; they have the Guardian student newspaper of the year and get well behind their student radio station so that they can pull off big launch nights - just like the one I videoed here.

If you listened into last weeks show [if you didn't then it is still available for a short period of time on the podcast] then you will know that the week before I wrote a letter to Swizzels Matlow confectionery company highlighted to them the lack of a 'refreshing centre' in a succession of strawberry refresher bars. Today I got some post from Mr Matlow and Mr Swizzels with some freebies to say sorry. For the whole story including my original letter have a ganders here.

If I haven't made you write it in your diaries already I will be presenting [with Dan] the Early Breakfast Show on Friday 20th April on 97 to 99 One FM. Admittedly that show is on from 5-7am, but come share by early morning pain and listen in... or use the listen again function. "So you're listening to Andy and Dan on early breakfast on radio one, text in on 81199 if you have any views on crumpets..."

Finally, if you ever fancy a good look back to the glory days of The Andrew Jackson Show I've uploaded a Fuse FM gallery to the uni part of the site.

Stu's 22nd Birthday

2007-03-10T21:35:00.000Z

Just got back from my 24 hour flying trip to Cardiff to celebrate Stu's Birthday. Generally fun had by all and at last met the legendary Geoff/Jeff. Photos here, and a video and rant of Xpress Radio's [Cardiff Uni Student Radio Station] launch party here.

What do you get if you take a number of doors, a bored Friday night and a number of students? A house of doors of course!

About the only amusing thing to come of the new fire door regulations for rented accommodation.

The End of an Era

2007-03-07T11:40:00.000Z

Well in the words of The Specials this is definetly the dawning of a new era. An era where no longer will my peers and associates me plagued with facebook invites, messages, texts and emails. That can only mean one thing, The Andrew Jackson Show is coming to an end.

However, we're not going out without a BANG. Which is why we have a a PAIR OF ALTON TOWERS TICKETS to give away. All you have to do is tune in to find out how to win them.

And of course the regular features of...

# Pete Jackson's Band of the Week: the last time you'll hear his sweet tones.
# Dan's intros: soon Dan will have a life again.
# Battle Track: Dan and I go head to head with a classic each, this time with the higher stakes of the last ever tune to be played on The Andrew Jackson Show.
# Music from... well all the CDs from all the previous broadcasts. We'll be playing the creme de la creme of tunes I've showcased over the past five broadcasts.

Tune into 103.5 FM [Manchester] or online at www.fusefm.co.uk.. and dont forget to email in to say hello!

The Truly Penultimate Show

2007-02-28T13:56:00.000Z

The Andrew Jackson Show is here for its penultimate show... for ever! But boy have we got a rammed show for you today [I don't know how we're going to fit it in]. This week's topic as some of you may have heard at the end of last week's show is man crushes. That form of endearment by one heterosexual male to another which goes beyond the normal amount of attentiveness one would consider of any other platonic relationship. As well as:

# A chat with a policeman. We're not quite sure what about yet, possibly crime. Or maybe paedophiles.
# A chat with the people from People and Planet.
# In the studio live: PABLO'S FINEST HOUR
# Pete Jackson's band of the week: has he been fooling more unwitting bands into thinking he is a famous A&R man?
# Dan's intros: when will I ever beat the audience?
# The Battle Track: new this broadcast, we end each show with a classic track chosen by you!

Only one more after this. Aargh!

Getting Old: The Andrew Jackson Show

2007-02-21T14:01:00.000Z

Well really this post should be The Andrew Jackson Show: Getting Old, but it could be seen either way, this is show 26 after all. That's right, after the discovery of a triplet of grey hairs sprouting from my forehead this week I'm going to be talking about getting old, its virtues and vices. Although I should imagine its a lot more of the former.

Also coming up this week:

# Pete Jackson's Band of the Week - where would you be without it?
# Battle Track - Dan and I face off with our battle tracks of the week. Text or email in to pledge your allegiance either way.
# Whisky Cats Exclusive - I preview the latest EP 'Put Your Title Here' from The Andrew Jackson Show guest alumni, see how far they've come in two years.
# Radio Hangman - a feature which could be a revolution in broadcasting or a complete flump [a soft squidgy sugar confectionery that comes in shades of white and pink].
# And music from The Holloways, The Wombats, Justice, Little Man Tate, The View, Arcade fire, New Young Pony Club, The Spinto Band, Peter Bjorn and John, The Cat Empire and many more.

Happy Timothy Whitmore Day!

2007-02-13T22:59:00.000Z

The Andrew Jackson Show is BACK! [tomorrow]

We're broadcasting on 103.5 FM and online at www.fusefm.co.uk on Wednesday 14th February. Furthermore our very first show of the broadcast is on [the now famous since this time last year] Timothy Whitmore Day! Tune in and celebrate the life and wonderfulness that is Timothy Whitmore [and forget about all those V-Day cards you may or may not have recieved].

Coming up this week:

# Pete Jackson's Band of the Week
# Dan's Intros
# The full Student Radio Awards round up
# Random silly banter
# Music from a shed load of ace bands including: Larrikin Love, Los Campesinos, The Gossip, CSS, Tokyo Police Club, The Raconteurs, Hot Chip, The Wombats, The Spinto Band, Gang of Four, The Pippettes, The Long Blondes and The Maccabees.