Rachel Stevens - Come And Get It

"Bold, Swaggering and Accomplished - three words you
would perhaps not expect to hear when talking about Rachel Stevens; but
these are fair comment when describing her sophomore album 'Come and
Get It'. Quite simply, it's the pop album of the year and a far cry
from the wilting 'Funky Dory'."

Find out what I had to stay about my album of the year at BBC Music Online. 

Review: Ladytron at Popstarz, 23 Sept 05

'Their notoriously reserved onstage demeanour makes even
the slightest indication of a smile an unexpected thrill, so when lead
vocalist Helen broke tradition with a warm, broad beam, the audience
surged with appreciation.'

Find out just how good a show you missed by reading my BBC review of Ladytron at Popstarz.

This week…

Friday night and it was time for Popstarz and one of the most anticipated PAs imaginable.   Joined by the inimitable Darren, we sang, danced, took photos and drank a fair bit of the old Purple Reef.

Over the last 48 hours I've been putting together a review of the gig for BBC London.  I'll link to it when it's up.

Last night I headed down to China White for the Deuce Bigalo: European Gigalo aftershow party.  It was always going to be interesting to go to such a notorious venue but in the end I did what I suspected I might and jacked it in to go to Ghetto.

There I shook my tail feather and danced in clothes far too posh for Falconberg Court. And went to bed at 5am. Whoops.

And the rest of the week?

Tonight I'll be trying to decipher a man who is incomprehensible but somehow hosts a pub based music quiz...

Thursday night and we're off to see some Comedy for the first time in ages.  This time it's Alex Horne, who I'm not familiar with but my partners in crime liked last time they saw him.   Despite this I'm the one dying with excitement about the show.  ITS ABOUT LATIN. How exciting is that?   VERY IS THE ANSWER.   (I studied Latin for 9 years. I LOVE IT)

Then its popstar fun to the max:

Come and Get It - the new Rachel Stevens album will be getting the Karinski reviewing treatment for BBC Music.

Warning IT IS INSANELY BRILLIANT.  The review is going to be gushing all over her face.

Early afternoon I'm interviewing The Cardigans as they prepare for the release of new album Super Extra Gravity.

Wembley is the place to be on Friday night when we head over to swoon at a young 17 year old boy.  Yes it's McFly and yes, I fancy Dougie.

When Trixie met Jamie…

Use your time, go out, meet people, do new things, go to the balls and kiss people!!

I caught up with jazz's brightest young star, Mr Jamie Cullum, for CD:UK,  on the brink of releasing his new album 'Catching Tales' on Monday.

Find out what happened here.

Last night we played

1030-1130
Sparklehorse - Sick of Goodbyes
Soulwax - Conversation Intercom
Ladytron - International Dateline
The Modern - Discotheque
Goldfrapp - Ride A White Horse
David Bowie - Queen Bitch
Supergrass - Grace
The Go! Team - Bottle Rocket
Prince - Raspberry Beret
Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You
Pink Grease - Fever
Garbage - Special
Sons & Daughters - Dance Me In
Dandy Warhols - Get Off
Kylie Minogue - In Your Eyes
Sugababes - Round Round
Le Tigre - After Dark
Sleeper - Sale of the Century

130 - 300
The Knack - My Sharona
Lightning Seeds - Life of Riley
Aztec Camera - Somewhere in my heart
Pink Grease - Pink G.R.ease
Franz Ferdinand - Michael
No Doubt - Just A Girl
New Order - Blue Monday
Shir Khan - Washing up MIA (Tiga remix)
Britney Spears - Toxic
Girls Aloud - No Good Advice
Garbage - Why Do You Love Me
The Cardigans - My Favourite Game
Skunk Anansie - Twisted
Rachel Stevens - I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)
Amerie - 1 Thing
David Bowie - Jean Genie
JC Chasez - All Day Long I Dream About Sex
Basement Jaxx - Good Luck
The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So
Placebo - 36 Degrees
Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus
Dick Dale - Miserlou
Girls Aloud - Love Machine
Pixies - Debaser
The Vapors - Turning Japanese
Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf
The Clash - London Calling
Ladytron - Playgirl

Next gig : Thursday 6 October, Miss-Shapes at Ghetto.

Don't forget the brilliant Ladytron are playing at Popstarz tonight, and you'll be able to read all about what happened when I caught up with Reuben & Danny from the band very soon.

Hello London

And indeed my first post for Londonist is up. 

Have a look at http://www.londonist.com/archives/2005/09/mobo_awards_pre.php

Londonist is the first UK branch of spin offs from the original Gothamist (a site about New York) website.   It talks mainly, as you may guess, about London - cool things happening in the city, gigs, culture, sport - everything; and is one of London's highest read weblogs.

The problem is that I've always read Londonist to find out what's going on.  Now I need to somehow find out from somewhere else and be able to tell other people!   Funnily enough my specialist subject is going to be music!

Special Request :

If you hear of anything interesting happening or you are going to be getting upto anything fun  in London that I or Londonist might have missed drop me an email on my name at the domain of this site!  And you never know, you might see an article about it on Londonist some time soon x

Trixie the writer

One reason that karinski.net the blog has been neglected frequently during the last year (except for the playlists) of course, is that I've been busy writing for lots of places.

And I've just begun writing for one of my favourite sites -  Londonist.

I'm beginning to think that I need a site for my freelance work (writing & djing) but I can't think of a good domain name.   Can you?

Alternatively I could of course do something to karinski.net that involves the index page being a link to 1. Writing 2. DJing 3. Blog, but I'm not sure I want my writing work to be confused with my blog, as more often than not, things I write on here are a lot of tosh!

Miss-Chief at Trash Palace

As the DJ who we replaced at Miss-Shapes for 3 months has now returned, we are now doing fortnightly at Miss-Shapes.   From October 14th we will also be DJing the Popstarz/Pimp! warmup at Trash Palace every Friday night.

Last week we covered for someone at Trash Palace for the Miss-Shapes warm up,  but we'll be back at Ghetto tonight, so hope to see you there.

Our playlist at Trash Palace was open to a little more movement as it's a bar so I don' have to keep the dancefloor full.   Here is what we played (warning it's long!)

9pm - 10pm :
Fischerspooner - Cloud
Sugababes - Obsession
Goldfrapp - Number One
Rachel Stevens - Funny How
Rinocerose - Bitch
The Modern - Suburban Culture
Arcade Fire - Power Out
Super Furry Animals - Herman Loves Pauline
The Cardigans - I need some fine wine and you, you need to be nicer
Frank Popp Ensemble - Hip Teens don't wear Blue Jeans
The Go! Team - Huddle Formation
Teen Anthems - What a girl wants
Clor - Love + Pain
Supergrass - Sun Hits The Sky
Hefner - Christian Girls
The Concretes - Can't Hurry Love
The Auteurs - Lenny Valentino

10pm - 11pm
VHS or Beta - Night on Fire
B52s - Rock Lobster
Goldfrapp - Ride A White Horse
Ladytron - He Took Her To A Movie
Scissor Sisters - Music is the Victim
Dandy Warhols - Get Off
Franz Ferdinand - Darts of Pleasure
Gorillaz - 19/2000
Rachel Stevens - Nothing Good About This Goodbye
Blur - Popscene
Clash - I fought the law
Kaiser Chiefs - Every day I love you less and less
No Doubt - Hey Baby
Mint Royale - Don't Falter
The Cardigans - Love Fool
Kylie - Some Kind of Bliss
Lush - Single Girl
Le Tigre - Deceptacon
Girls Aloud - No Good Advice

11pm - 12pm

Gwen Stefani - What U Waitin' For?
Sugababes - Push the Button
Ladytron - Sugar
The White Stripes - My Doorbell
Gorillaz - DARE
Beck - Sexx Laws
Hard-Fi - Hard to Beat
Placebo - Teenage Angst
Franz Ferdinand - Do you want to?
The Beatles - I wanna hold your hand
M.I.A - Bucky Don Gun
Matthew Herbert - Celebrity
Rachel Stevens - Some Girls
Annie - Chewing Gum
Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure
Elastica - Waking Up
Ladytron - Destroy everything you touch
Mylo - Doctor Pressure
Basement Jaxx - Plug it in

1200 -1230
Vitalic - My Friend Dario
tATu - All About Us
Charlotte Church -  Crazy Chik
Sugababes - Red Dress
Sons & Daughters - Dance Me in
Munk - Kick out the chairs
Client - Down to the Underground
The Modern - Discotheque
Fischerspooner - Happy
We're from Barcelona - We're from Barcelona

Party time!

On Saturday we had a party to celebrate our housemates birthday. It was very successful and my mars bar crispie cakes went down a treat. We set up a cheesy DJ booth in the lounge with crazy rope lights and a giant star kindly brought by Giles, which confused the neighbours no end.

The DJ decks were open and we got each DJ to log their songs as we thought it might be interesting! Here is what they played...

Ricky

Brendon Benson - Tiny Park
Air - Sexy Boy
Death Cab For Cutie - The New Year
Morrisey - The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I get
Ash - Shining Light
Cast - Fine Time
22-20s - Why Don't You Do It For Me
Kasabian - Processed Beats
Chemical Brothers - The Boxer
Cooper Temple Cause - Let's Kill Music
Joy Zipper - You're The One
All American Rejects - Swing Swing
Garbage - I Think I'm Paranoid
Elastica - Connection
Idlewild - Love Steals Us From Loneliness

Birthday Boy

Supergrass - Pumping On Your Stereo
Bodyrockers - For One Night Only
Fischerspooner - Happy
Goldfrapp - Lovely 2 C U
Jamiroquai - Feels Just Like It Should
Kelly Clarkson - Miss Independant
En Vogue - Free Your Mind
Kaiser Chiefs - Saturday Night
Jet - Cold Hard Bitch
Gabi & the whoremoans - Virgins in the valley

Adrian (playing some briliant stuff! Confide in me! As! Lucky Star!)

Chemical Brothers - Believe
Moloko - Familiar Feeling
Kylie - Confide In Me
Garbage - Cherry Lips
Blondie - One Way Or Another
George Michael - As
Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll
Basement Jaxx - Lucky Star
Faithless - Mass Destruction
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Under The Bridge

Me

Billie - Something Deep Inside
Le Tigre - Phanta
Charlotte Hatherly - Bastardo
Richard X - Mark One feat Mark Goodier
Sair Khan - Washing Up MIA
Rachel Stevens - Crazy Boys
Wu Tang Clan - Gravel Pit
Mary J Blige - Family Affair
Go! Team - Huddle Formation
The Pipettes - Judy
Arcade Fire - Rebellion (lies)

Ricky then popped back on to play...
Catch - Bingo

Pauly

Supernaturals - Day Before Yesterday's Man
Cornelius - Count Five Or Six
The Divine Comedy - No One Knows
My Life Story - Walk / Don't Walk
LHB - No Transmission
Placebo - Pure Morning
Bush - Swallowed
Creature - Ow Much

James

LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations
Little Eva - The Locomotion
The Fall - Touch Sensitive
ABC - The Look of Love
Black Box Recorder - These are the things
Holly Valance - State of Mind
Primal Scream - Miss Lucifer
Fannypack - Nu Nu (Yeah Yeah|)
Fallacy & Fusion - Groundbreaker
Sugababes - Ace Reject

Thanks to everyone who played! And everyone else who came

CDUK Review : Kaiser Chiefs, Ibiza Rocks

During ‘You Can Have It All’ a rabid brunette mounts the stage and with
security standing back with a bemused grin, the girl clings to
Ricky’s neck and thighs.

Find out what happened and see the full review online at CD:UK Online

I tell a bit fat lie

My reviews did get used for CD:UK, I just didn't notice!   They just got amalgamated into one big monster instead of individual ones.  Also the Go! Team and LCD Soundsystem bits on the review were written by James.

Whooo.

In other news I'm interviewing Jamie Cullum in the morning.  I'm doing this last minute for someone else who can't go, and to be honest know very little about the guy apart from the fact that he's vaguely cute and covered Everlasting Love for the 2nd Bridget Jones diary.  Help!

links for 2005-09-12

• 
  
  Katie Holmes in crazy paying no attention to question 'I LOVE TOM' interview
  
  
  
  


• 
  
  McFly in very odd shot.  Dougie is still hot tho (he's 17 dammit!)
  
  


• 
  
  Me, You, And Everyone we know - at a cinema near you.  Saw it a few weeks ago. It's brilliant.
  
  
  
  


• 
  
  BBC Oxford Sport: One Hour Sporting Challenges
  
  
  Me old RaW mucker Tim Peach doing well for himself at BBC Oxford.
  
  
  
  

The below reviews were written for the CD:UK website but didn't end up being used as they eventually didn't do a Reading review section.

Watch out for my review of Kaiser Chiefs at Ibiza Rocks going up there later in the week.

Reading 2005 : Mylo in the Dance Tent

Not since the transformation
of Norman Cook into Fatboy Slim back in 1997 has one man been heralded so much
as the saviour of dance music. And
Mylo is certainly living up to his name, with his crossover appeal for dance,
indie and pop fans becoming more encompassing by the day.

Making the dance tent fuller
than it had probably been all festival, the atmosphere was absolutely
electric. With 2 large screens
featuring Mylo’s video projections, strobes, and fantastic lighting displays,
this was the perfect festival closer for some. While some may scoff at the necessity of seeing a dance act play their
set live – after all he could just put his cd on and it would sound the same –
it was the audience that made this so spectacular. The building tension leading up to the
breakdown in Drop the Pressure was nearly unbearable and once unleashed your
oh so serious rock fans could be found dancing with the best of the pop kids.

Reading 2005 : Maximo Park in the Radio 1 / NME Tent

Arriving in the NME/Radio 1
tent to a much smaller crowd than deserved, Maximo Park are determined to let
us know exactly who they are with a giant logo emblazoned at the back of the
stage. Frontman Paul Smith’s confidence
built up by a summer of touring, is apparnant, and he was completely at home on
stage, generally acting a bit more able to talk than your average lead singer.

Set wise they pounded tracks
from A Certain Trigger with admirable zest and poise. Although not having quite reached the success
of their peers, the Kaiser Chiefs (sorely missed
on the bill by the way), their fan dedication is apparnant, with fans young and
old singing along to each song. 2^nd
single Graffiti ups the tempo for the second half of the set and leads to
Smith scissor kicking across the stage, such is his excitement. Nothing can quite beat, however, the feeling
when debut single Apply Some Pressure is played. More of this please - we’ll watch how Maximo
grow with interest.

Reading 2005 : Ladytron in the Carling Tent

Up against the Pixies and
festival darlings Kasabian it was always going
to be difficult for Ladytron to get the audience they deserved in the Carling
Tent. On the cusp of releasing 3^rd
album, Witching Hour, this set proved that this bizarre mix of Europe and Liverpool still has
mileage and they deserve more success than they seem to achieve.

Darting wildly between
albums, the slick black haired 4 piece manage to combine their cool
sophisticated look with songs rooted in darkness. Debut single He Took Her to a Movie is met
with ecstasy as the crowd softly dance around to the clinical beats. Live favourite Playgirl continues the
aloof mystique and the dancefloor gets more and more animated as they steadily
build up the intensity until reaching the pounding dance beats of climatic new
single Destroy Everything You Touch.

However cold and clinical
Ladytron may be on stage there is something so compelling and unsettling about
them and their music that it somehow feels strangely right.

Reading 2005 : Charlotte Hatherley in the Carling Tent

With a sexy new haircut, a movie director boyfriend and 2004’s most
underated album under her belt, there is no denying Charlotte Hatherley’s continuing
position as the sexiest woman in rock. Taking to the Carling Tent for the first time without the comfort of her
fellow bandmates from Ash, this was a note perfect, polished performance to a
surprisingly sizable and welcoming audience. Joined by her band, and cute girl trio of backing singers, tracks such
as the irresistable Kim Wilde and surf guitarry Summer sounded as fun and energetic as on record. Stand out single Bastardo was met with a cheer, and even the rockiest
Ash fan, disapproving of their princess’ new pop path, could hardily fail but
bounce and sing along. Added treats for
the fans came in two forms. First,
having sung a song about her, Charlotte launched into a
fun, punky version of Wilde’s most famous hit Kids In
America. And then fresh from success on
the main stage earlier that day, Graham Coxon joined Charlotte on stage for a
Britpop guitarists love-in with a rendition of Stop.

 

Up against the Pixies on the bill, Charlotte did well by managing to keep the audience in her tent. We can only hope that when booking next year, it’s Charlotte by herself, not Ash, that return to the Main Stage.

 

Some girls

Each of these popstars made some songs which I think stand out in the whirlwind called popmusic.

And in every case, it's all about the 2nd album.

2000 - Billie 'could have been bigger than Britney' Piper gave us the amazing Something Deep Inside & brilliant Day and Night.

2003 - Bitchy Holly flopped hugely with 'State of Mind' containly the brilliant title track and a whole album full of 80s fulled electro pop.

2005 - After the horrid failure of album number 1, and well just no one being excited about her, Rachel is on the verge of releasing 'Come and Get It'. Her last 4 singles have been unfailingly brilliant and the songs deserve much greater success that they've ever got.

Lucky Lucky Lucky!

Ah a week ago now, but I've been off having fun on a beautiful island.

This misshapes saw me on my tod as J was ill in bed.  I was also ill - it was all a bit delirious.

Early Set
--------

Black Box Recorder - Facts of Life
Blur - Coffee & TV
Ladytron - He took her to a movie
Kraftwerk - The Model
VHS or Beta - Night on Fire
Clor - Love + Pain
Garbage - Special
Ash - Life Less Ordinary
Beck - Devil's Haircut
Charlotte Hatherley - Summer
Kenickie - Come Out Tonight
Fischerspooner - Happy
Razorlight - Rip it up
Holly Valance - State of Mind
Goldfrapp - Satin Chic
LCD Soundsysterm - Tribulations
Chemical Brothers - Golden Path ft The Flaming Lips
Soulwax - E Talking

Late Set
--------

Oceanic - Insanity
Alter Ego - Rocker
Gwen Stefani - Hollaback Girl
Basement Jaxx - Plug it in feat JC Chasez
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Date with the night
Le Tigre - Deceptacon
David Bowie - Let's Dance
Kinks - You Really Got Me
Girls Aloud - Love Machine
Blondie - Maria
Whitney Houston - Queen of the Night
Dandys - Bohemian Like You
White Stripes - My Doorbell
Pixies - Debaser
Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love
The Vapors - Turning Japanese
Menswear - Daydreamer
Lush - Single Girl
Garbage - Cherry Lips
Placebo - Every Me & Every You
Cardigans - My Favourite Game
Skunk Anansie - Twisted
Electric 6 - Gaybar
Blur - Country House
Beck - Sexx Laws
The Clash - Rock The Casbah
Oasis - She's Electric

Ladytron

Not only is the new Ladytron single 'Destroy Everything you touch' amazing, but they are playing at Popstarz on 23 September 2005! WHOO.

But but, 23rd September, you people with good musical taste say to yourself... Isn't that the night Vitalic is playing at Fabric? 

Well yes indeed it is, but he is also playing on the 7th October at Warwick SU, so I'll just see you there for it instead. 

HRRRRRNK