West End Volume 29

So there I was driving down the M6 in a Mercedes Sprinter van with an empty CD player. I'd remembered everything else. Cheese rolls. Mars Bars. The Daily Star. Sat Nav. Bag of smokey bacon crisps (van dashboards have sticky bits on top so that your crisp bags stay put). The only thing I didn't have was music so I had to suffer the radio.

Whether national or local radio stations, the choice was not exactly inspiring. Perhaps the choice is better when you are in a major city but out there on the roadwork filled motorway of life, I soon found myself in musical dire straits. Or was it Dire Straits. Next time I shall be better prepared.

It had been a good week for music otherwise. Jana Peri was over from New York on her UK tour so I introduced her to the pleasures of black pudding. She's a bit of a gourmand but the black pudding was ultimately victorious. Appearing with her that night were three young chaps called Frances and Her Trampoline and they made a good impression on me as well.

On my return from my Mercedes powered trek up the side of some mountain in Lancashire - sat navs have about as much common sense as me - I, on a ludicrously low amount of sleep, went to see Sonny Marvello at Stereo. If ever there was a band to invigorate you it would be Sonny Marvello and they did not disappoint.

Of course, all that invigoration could have been down to seeing my favourite barmaid but that might mean I am not as shallow as I appear. Yes, it must have been the music.

Jana Peri - www.janaperi.com
Frances and Her Trampoline - www.myspace.com/francesandhertrampoline
Sonny Marvello - www.myspace.com/sonnymarvello

West End Volume 28

I was thinking about that whole thing about your glass being half full. You get that way with music in Glasgow. There is so much of it about that you could drown in it. Then you realise the other side of the coin also applies in that quantity and quality aren't always exactly in alignment. Didn't Kermit the frog sing a seriously head hurting song about being half way up a set of stairs and noticing that he was actually half way down?

There will be sense in here somewhere. No there won't. Even a random rummage through the dusty shelves here at Bluesbunny Towers produced more confusion. Either that or a demonstration in eclectic taste. Marie Knight's 1975 gospel album "Today". Nancy Sinatra's 1967 "Country My Way" album. Nagisa Ni Te's mystic folk LP "Yosuga". The Primevals "There Is No Other Life and This Is It" album. The supremely obscure (and brand new) live album from Baltimore underground heroes The Agrarians. None of it even in alphabetical order.

Finally (and in one of those moments when I wish I was Doctor Who), the 10th of March has me torn between attending Jana Peri at Pivo Pivo, Punch and the Apostles at Stereo and Martin Metcalfe at the 13th Note. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Or maybe that should be indecision, indecision, indecision?

Punch and the Apostles - www.myspace.com/punchandtheapostles
Jana Peri - www.janaperi.com
myspace. the primevals

West End Volume 27

Sunday again. There's a pile of CD's sitting next to me that's gets more threatening by the moment and all of it needs reviewed. Time to ingest the power coffee - Union Rich Clarity if you are interested - and get started.

There's what can only be described as a wide variety here. From Italy comes the new album from the Psychopathic Romantics (think I will keep that in the shrink warp until I feel braver) to a journey through the strange medieval underground occupied by The Agrarians from Baltimore and an album by a monk called Dada Veda. A monk?

Well, yes. That provides an interesting dilemma for the reviewer. If a musician has the Big Guy on speed dial, you wouldn't want to give him a bad review. You might get struck down by lightning or something. The bad karma alone would stop any chance of success in matters of the heart. Or in matters of the underpants for that matter. It turned out that Dada Veda's album was a good natured collection of songs that were - for want of a better word - wholesome. Looks like I'll not be burning in Hell this week after all

Talking of lucky breaks, I was walking along Great Western Road when I met a beautiful woman that I had not seen for a while. And yes, she was real. Why do people think that the women in my life are all imaginary? Anyway, she stopped to say hello, she smiled that sweet smile she has and some two hours later all things that were going horribly wrong suddenly corrected themselves. Spooky but true. Some say God is a woman and they might just be correct in that assumption. It would explain why their shoes come in so many colours.

Looking ahead to things that are going to go well, Kentucky songstress and aficionado of Islay whisky Brigid Kaelin is due to play Glasgow at the end of May along with Chattanooga based dulcimer player Butch Ross. It's all good!

Brigid Kaelin - www.brigidkaelin.com

Butch Ross - www.butchross.com

Dada Vega - www.dadavega.com

The Agrarians - www.myspace.com/theagrarians