
Maia - The Grandfather Plan The elegant, exotic first offering from Huddersfield band Maia's forthcoming second album, The Grandfather Plan (out 5 November) gives me the same feeling I have when I've witnessed a genuine good deed, or had an unusually happy dream; as when my friend Catherine recently told me some fabulous news. Hearing that gorgeous trumpet makes me want to smile and hug myself and tell my diary that everything's going to be fine. Gerard Manset - Revivre [...]

I promised my friends Nick and Jane a French Hallowe'en CD for their party, so I thought I might as well post it here. There are a few Yé-Yé classics and some truly freaky oddities guaranteed to give you the heebie-jeebies*. 1. Stella - Si vous connaissez quelque-chose de pire qu'un vampire, parlez m'en toujours, ça pourra peut-être me faire sourire 2. Serge Gainsbourg - Docteur Jekyll Et Monsieur Hyde 3. Christine Pilzer - Dracula 4. Les Maledictus Sound - Kriminal Theme 5. Evariste - Connais-Tu I'animal Qui Inventa Le [...]

"Gerard Manset is an underground French treasure, recording records since the late '60s but always avoiding the public spotlight, refusing to do interviews, appear on TV or play any of the other silly games often required to attain mainstream success. With a totally seductive voice, and lush arrangements that are as powerful as they are beautiful, this album recorded during the student riots in Paris in 1968 has become one of those discs we can't stop listening to! There is an urgency and passion in these songs rarely heard in modern music. Manset has the same kind of presence and [...]

I'm not sure how many of you have been reading this page for a while, but some of you may remember last summer's "The Great Chili Cook-off That Never Was" . 368 days ago, I tried to attend the Beverly Hills Farmer's Market Chili Cook-off. I showed up too late, and lamented my misfortunate for longer than I should have considering I didn't have a job or anything to do that day anyway. Nevertheless, when I saw this past week that somebody had Google'd "Beverly Hills Farmers Market Chili Cook-off", I got to thinking that maybe it was an [...]