supergrass

I'm quite looking forward to the Euros and will be hoping England can do as well as possible. However knowing that won't be case, I shall enjoy watching Spain and Germany and hope they can make it to the final - or France, I like France. Those aside Groups B and C will be interesting to watch, along with who progresses from Group A with Russia. I think if I were to look at it objectively England would be one of the few times in the competition I either don't particularly like or find at all interesting (along with Greece, Ukraine and the Czechs). Given that those teams stand little chance of winning or going very far in the tournament I should be pleased.

I recently saw The Horrors at Brixton Academy, who were very good, although given that they still play smaller venues fairly frequently, have been better live. They were briefly supported by Bo Ningen if you got there for when doors opened, which I did. They were great, and very loud. Next live music for me will be provided by the bands at the Rockabilly Rave next weekend.

I liked the Lille kit, although the photo for the away one does look a bit like that Take That music video from a couple of years ago. Chelsea's recent white/blue/yellow away kit was nice, it feels like they only just introduced that one? Away kits disappear far too quickly, not to mention special third kits.

It's happened enough in the past for it to be a shock to anyone. The owners are sorting out the debt, it's their club and they've got good reasons for doing it. Plus it was a nice touch to keep the bird on the badge and retain blue as an away kit for any fans who desperately want to wear those colours. Was the "Fire and Passion" motto always there or is that new? Seems like the only bit that could backfire with fans.

Recently went to see Kitty Daisy and Lewis at Dingwalls in Camden, which was a very good show. One of the best bands to get drunk and have a dance to. Also caught them doing an instore gig at Rough Trade in London the next day promoting their new album. Also went to see Arctic Monkeys in Oslo, and The Kills in Glasgow and at the Roundhouse in London. And The Horrors a couple of times, and possibly again tonight. These are the four bands I'm currently stalking, most are appearing at Rock en Seine in Paris which I will also be at.

It was indeed a crushing blow. Though not entirely unexpected. They should've stuck with what they'd been working on in the Road to Rouen era, the glammed up Supergrass on Diamond Hoo Ha was never really going to be a hit - the odd good single withstanding. The dilemma is: go to Paris get drunk and watch the last gig? Or not? I went to Paris to watch another band's last gig...then they scheduled one more in London, don't think I want to fall for that one again.

I loved Borat when I first saw it in the similar, I liked the character and it had a good audience, plenty of laughs. Whereas Bruno I hated. I've never really liked the character dating back to the original Ali G Show days, don't really find the gay jokes that funny - although did laugh out loud at the velcro suit. Otherwise the plot isn't that different from Borat, I would probably rather have not seen Bruno in the end. And Ali G was good, more so on the original 11 O Clock Show run when he was used in short bursts. Not in a "I liked him best when he wasn't so well known" kind of way, it just was objectively better back then.

I think this is the album where Muse have finally lost me. I loved most of Showbiz, all of Origin of Symmetry and nearly all of Absolution and Hullabulloo. While I'm pleased they're continuing to develop their music and not stick to one thing, it ultimately started going away from my tastes with Black Holes and Revelations. I'm sure I'll see them live yet again somewhere along the road, and may have tickets for the next London show, but that'll be mainly for the "greatest hits" as opposed to the newer material.

1. The Libertines 2. Rilo Kiley 3. Lightspeed Champion 4. Bob Dylan 5. The Cribs 6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs 7. She & Him 8. Emmy The Great 9. Jeffrey Lewis 10. Supergrass I've just gone with what's being played on the ipod regularly right now, seems to work out mostly the same year on year. Number 10 could've been any number of bands, felt I should give the nod to the namesakes.

This has just reminded me to get the latest Smodcast, which are pretty much always very good. There are a couple of the 'weed' episodes where things aren't nearly as funny as Kevin Smith thinks they are and things drag a bit, but mostly it's great. The more Mosier the better, Flanagan and Bryan Johnson are also funny in short bursts. As for the Evening With... series, 1 is by far my favourite, 2 isn't bad, 3 was probably a bit better than 2. The third one has te anal fissure story from his diary which is quite funny. But overall the best stories are used up in number one.

This is probably the least I have looked forward to a Reading festival, four years running and its lost its appeal to be honest. But that aside I really can't wait to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs live. They're the only band that I love that I've never seen the live and will complete my current 'to do' list. So that's something to count down on the calendar.

I'll throw a few more forward. Current fav http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSdnTZuXw7Y, of whom there really aren't that many good pictures of out on the web. and Alice Glass of ...if you like that sort of thing.

One man Beatles? Really?

You can't be anything but.

The Libertines at The Forum. Gearing up for the release of the second album Libertines' gigs could be something unpredictable, even by their standards. I saw two gigs in quick succession, this and one at Brixton. At Brixton Pete smashed up some equipment, walked off stage during Can't Stand Me Now and slashed his chest at open. At The Forum, things went well. The set list drew mainly from the first album, although songs from the second had long since been around online and picked up their own familiarity. The whole thing concluded with a stage invasion during the closer 'I Get Along', which can be seen on the official video for 'Can't Stand Me Now', although I didn't make the cut of that. Nights like that made it difficult to take when the band called it a day not long after.

I don't get the whole name changing thing. Give me plain old Reg Dwight any day of the week.

Go on, reveal your true identity Miss Deyn. And to Betterguy, Millie Clode was a part of my shortlist. The only part of waking up at 6 in the morning that is preferable.

Having a type makes this somewhat easier. Thin, pale, musician, bonus points to those adhering to all of the criteria. 1. Alexa Chung Spoiler: Click here to view 2. Alice Glass (of Crystal Castles fame) Spoiler: Click here to view 3. Daisy Lowe (of…being in The London Paper every day? She has no other talents that are immediately clear) Spoiler: Click here to view 4. Lovefoxxx (of CSS fame) Spoiler: Click here to view 5. Emma-Lee Moss (of Emmy The Great fame) Spoiler: Click here to view 6. Liv Tyler Spoiler: Click here to view 7. Zooey Deschanel Spoiler: Click here to view 8. Agyness Deyn (professional Strokes groupie) Spoiler: Click here to view 9. Sophie Ellis Bextor Spoiler: Click here to view and for my topical choice... 10. That Girl From That Band Who Got Voted Off X-Factor (Bad Lashes. Emily? She won't feature on the list anyway) Spoiler: Click here to view2nd from left: 2nd from the left once more:

As he has a habit of doing, Noel Gallagher has summed the whole thing up perfectly: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7699623.stm

Surely the BBC ultimately come out of this worse? Like him or not, Russell Brand is now a film star who brings with him a ready built following. There aren't many of them willing to do what really isn't a great slot, surely most young people are out on a Saturday night, not to mention the podcast which is regularly number one in download charts. There was a thing on the news, I think yesterday, where at the BBC they interviewed the elderly, conservative people queueing up to see Alan GardenForceMan (what's his name?), who thought it wasdisgusting, and those queueing up for Never Mind The Buzzcocks who thought it was funny. However, guess which generation has nothing better to do than complain? I get a lot of complaints from these types of people where I work. I think they're looking for validation that they're still actually alive.

And David Baddiel was waiting downstairs. Russell Brand should never be hired again for being such a poor host of once-popular comedians. As bizarre as the Gordon Brown thing was, I actually recall turning on the TV last night to see David Cameron demanding answers, who has even less cause to comment (though was probably far more likely to use it as a chance to air his Conservative nonsense). I think Brown might've just been keeping up with the opposition.

I don't think the producer in question, Nic Philps, can be sacked by the BBC. He left the BBC a few weeks ago and works for Brand, who "produces" the show himself and then airs it on the BBC. Though I guess the BBC can and probably will halt his involvement in any future output. I listened to the show when it originally aired - it's good to hear it context of the show each week might I add - and the reaction to this is ridiculous. Yes, it was offensive to Andrew Sachs, and that's about it. However suddenly it's Britain's beloved and cherished Andrew Sachs as opposed to "bloke with moustache who fell over a few times in Fawlty Towers". And it's "poor innocent girl exposed on the radio" as opposed to "girl who calls herself a 'Satanic Slut' and had sex with Russell Brand". Her part in this is the worst for me. She's sobbing into every newspaper over her sex life and confidentially being divulged in public. Worth noting the two having sex was mentioned a week earlier without a response. Also that Russell Brand isn't exactly renowned for keeping these things under wraps. Moving on, quite why Gordon Brown et al feel it necessary to get involved is beyond me. Again, the whole thing has been overreacted to. Ross won't be sacked, if Brand was it wouldn't hit him that hard, considering he's making movies and presumably drawing a lot more cash/fans from that. I suspect they'll be back, with increased listener numbers as a result. I wonder how many of these 18,000 compainees have ever heard the show outside of the 10 second clips shown on the news.