Cradled Apathetic Anarchists,

Usually, I like to care. I care about the planet and its inhabitants (that covers everything). First of all, I have to be presented with facts (educated), then I will choose what to believe and then I will try to act where and when I can.

For example, I was presented with the music of Jeffrey Lewis via the medium of radio and CD. I decided that it was good and when I was able to see him perform locally, I bought tickets. This may be the point where logic ends.

Jeffrey Lewis and the Jitters played at Cabaret Voltaire on Sunday 21st October, Professor Louie was the support act. The gig seemed like a good prospect but I was left with mixed feelings.

Upon entry, the crowd was already hushed for Professor Louie. The volume was impressive. With little more than Jeffrey beating a wooden block or gently strumming a guitar, Professor Louie berated human life. He spoke rhythmically in a gravelly voice, I doubt this constitutes rapping. Upon consulting the dictionary, I have reached a definition: a husky duffer rap is known as “a rasp”. I may have been abnormally apathetic at the time, but I hadn’t the energy to share his rage against George Bush, the warlords and the materialists. “Hey, mister, why do you always have to be so negative?”, was what I might have shouted out had I been as disrespectful as some can be.

Off he went, with us needlessly ordered to dislike George Bush, to be replaced by Jeffrey Lewis and the Jitters. The first two songs were of the highest order, in Jeff’s unique singing style, which harshly put is quiet and monotone, but it evokes sympathy, shares gems and wins over any decent human being. They were two songs that I don’t know the name of, however, they were of the kind that I like most; the ones that are introspective and force people to consider their mortality. Then it was Posters, a solid and dependable rocker from City & Eastern Songs.

They might have decided to alter their setlist but I reckon they’re too ad hoc for this because they did The History of Communism Part 4: China on their last visit to Edinburgh. It’s good stuff but I want to hear the other parts, I’m now an expert on Chairman Mao.

After four songs, it turned iffy. Jeffrey Lewis has recently covered some Crass songs – these are available on the album 12 Crass Songs (mine is still lost in the post). I’ve heard it said that Crass were the soothsayers of their day but on this evidence, the decision taken by Jeffrey to rework some of their songs is dubious. End Result is great, it’s well-delivered and a good translation of punk to English – it allows non-rockers to understand the words of Crass for the first time. A few songs later and I was a little lost, the Lewis lads are talented musicians and I’ve heard them do some other good covers but the Crass experiment results are inconclusive. I didn’t have the appetite for anarchy and although the world is as unjust as before, I’m wondering if this work is a bit anachronistic.

It was a relief that the show ended with tried and tested favourites like The Chelsea Hotel Song, They Always Knew and No LSD Tonight. I’m frowning on me for having these views – imagine cuddling up to old favourites, questioning new stuff and not having the will to fight “the system”. Professor Louie said that it’s blood for oil and oil for blood but I don’t care and I don’t care about post office closures either, I haven’t been to one for over a year.

Cocoa Crusaders,

I was a huge fan of Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley when they oversaw The Biggest Show on Radio 1 as Mark & Lard. Their musical taste, their wit, their comedy and their ability to contextualise the foibles of society made them the best DJs on the radio.

I had liked Colin Murray & Edith Bowman on their Saturday Radio 1 show (RI:SE wasn't as bad as the meedja liked to say). They did have this quality competition called "What Am I?" where 4 callers from Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales tried to guess what the silly voiced host was. However, when they were chosen to replace Mark & Lard, I had to turn against them - it was party line.

Years on, I have to admit that Colin Murray is making some fantastic radio programmes between 10pm and midnight on Radio 1. He plays great records that are both new and old. The records just feel right, almost as if they are records that have been specially recorded by the artist to be replayed at night. Perhaps Colin Murray is brainwashing me; a few weeks ago, he claimed that Machines by Biffy Clyro (a reasonably standard A playlist track for the major stations) sounds better at night; now, I believe him. The interaction with the audience is also special, maybe it's because it's nightime, but he gives the impression that he is actually talking to me and the other listeners. He certainly reacts to the requests of the listeners. I feel part of the listenership as soon as I tune in, this might seem like a ridiculous belief, but I think it is possible for DJs to exclude listeners; some DJs do that just by being rubbish and playing rubbish music, some DJs achieve this by reading out the correspondences of the same few listeners each show.

Unfortunately, BBC 6th Music's Gideon Coe will be competing for the airwaves at this time next week. I might not always listen to Colin Murray thereafter but at least I know that he'll be making reliably good radio should I need it.

Desktop Scientists,

I’ve had this big problem at work for months. It’s a scientific issue. Basically, I had use of equipment for only a short amount of time ergo I had to make the best use of that time. What followed was me superseding all expectations and carrying out loads of experiments. I have piles of results to process, make sense of and apply trends to. It’s been tough. The sheer volume of result has often stressed me, it has often bored me. Ideas have swilled around my head for weeks and weeks.

Dividing the results into small manageable sections and writing down all ideas on paper might seem like obvious steps to take but I’ve only just been able to do that.

I should do this with The Bellyaches to stop it dying, I know it can be a superb resource for people and I have to ensure that I maintain it.

Evaders of the Powerful Magnetosphere,

Bearsuit were a favourite band of legendary DJ John Peel – this is the extent of my Bearsuit knowledge. This fact doesn’t guarantee that they are good; I didn’t listen to John Peel much, I found much of the music grated with me, I preferred the shows when Rob da Bank deputised. When one of today’s top DJs, Gideon Coe, recommended this album (not to me personally, but to his audience, you should understand – why would I want to go to England?), I treated the advice with caution. I listened to their live session of BBC 6th Music and then I visited their MyArse site, this was where I saw that the members played many instruments – enough to rule them out of the “Twits and Guitars” genre and into my taste.

I have quite a few albums, by the likes of Architecture in Helsinki and Love is All, where manic orchestrations are prominent but oh:io by Bearsuit is of a higher strata of musical evolution (cf Walkabout by James Vance Marshall). The singing ranges from frenzied screaming to beautiful choral harmonies. The music ranges from classical string compositions to modern beepy electronic wizardry.

My favourite track is Foxy Boxer. It’s a swirling noodly one. Opening with the lyric, “wave your library cards in the air like you just don’t care”, the song climaxes in the warning that will stay in the head for hours, “never underestimate the power of a punch from a foxy boxer” and I don’t know how it got there.

Bearsuit are a quality band and they are great fun to listen to. The song titles are just part of that fun, Hark! The Feral Children, devote half an hour to this record.