I Need To Go...

Aboard the Queen of Nanaimo

Dearest Friends, I'm off for the long weekend to cavort with the family and the Easter Bunny (with whom I'm looking forward to a sesh of Cadbury's Creme Eggs and JD chasers) on my beloved Mayne Island. And with the seasonal internet not yet hooked up, I shall be utterly cut off from Cyberia.

I can't wait.

I'm hoping for four days of recharge, rejuvenation, redemption, and possibly resurrection.

After all, isn't that what Easter's all about??

Have a lovely weekend, you lovely people...

Minny Pops - Island (buy here or e-here)
The Magnetic Fields - Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits (buy here or e-here)
The Beat - Sole Salvation (buy here )

That's Just Ridiculous

Gadzooks! Jumpin' Jehosaphat! And other silly exclamations!! Another Contrast Podcast episode is upon us, and this week we see how many ridiculous band names our contributors can come up with. Hint: it's quite a few, and you can hear them all by downloading the 'cast here. Herewith the tomfoolery:

(00:00) Honest Bob and the factory to dealer incentives - All of the cool girls
Tim from The face of today

(03:46) The Fire Hydrant Men featuring The Fabulous Fezettes - I’m in the pits since my racing driver baby left me
Dirk from Sexy Loser

(07:29) Splodgenessabounds - Michael Booth’s talking bum
Conrad from White Car Records

(11:14) Half Man Half Biscuit - Joy Division oven gloves
FiL from Pogoagogo

(16:18) The The - Slow emotion reply
Marcy from Lost in your inbox

(20:43) The Monsoon Bassoon - The king of evil
Chris from Phosphorous.net

(27:23) Someone still loves you Boris Yeltsin - Anne elephant
Linda from Speed of dark

(32:43) Flock of Seagulls - I ran (so far away) (die krupps remix)
ZB from So the wind won’t blow it all away

(36:45) Double Fish - Clockwork toy
Eiron from A Blog of No Importance

(40:08) Logan Whitehurst and the Junior Science Club - Prosthetic Brain
Alex from Totally True Tales from Texas

(43:54) Harry and The Potters - Cornelius Fudge is an ass
James from Appetite For Distraction

(46:13) Dogs Die in Hot Cars - Apples and oranges
SiD from Too Much Rock

(51:36) On this day we met Gambas Pil Pil - When no-one is around
JC from The Vinyl Villain

(58:49) Prince boo hoo and his little smuts - Rhinestone Cowboy
Adam

Half Man Half Biscuit was first to spring to mind when I found out about the theme, and I went with them because a) the name IS ridiculous, but b) the tunes are grand. You see, I didn't want to actually serve up a crap tune. Dearest Dirk from Sexy Loser (N.B. now added, albeit very belatedly, to the blogroll) was concerned that any band submitted this week would automatically be portrayed in a negative light, but I'm not so sure I agree with that. There are plenty of ridiculously named groups who pump out righteous music. Why, just look at what else I considered:

Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong - Sleazy Hughes (buy here )
I mean, how SHITE is that name? Come on, tell me. You can't? Well, let me tell you, it's as shite as shite can be. But Sleazy Hughes is a prickly pear of frantic pop pleasure, and the lads look pretty sharp. Pop over here to see what Dearest Toad had to say about then live in concert.

Kajagoogoo - Too Shy (buy here )
Er, heh, heh, guilty pleasure alert. That hair! The eightiesness oozing from every pore!! And yes, a ree-dee-cue-lus name. They're touring again, if you're keen..

Throbbing Gristle - Zyklon B Zombie (buy here)
I've loved that silliest of band names since the first time I heard it. And I've developed a soft spot for the sonic trials wrought by the promethean Genesis P Orridge and his muckers. I considered posting here Very Friendly, a detailed, 18+ minute, scary-as-fuck masterpiece recounting Ian Brady's and Myra Hindley's axe murder of Edward Evans. But then I thought that'd be a bit much, so I went for this charming ditty about, er, gas chambers. But I promise you, if hear Very Friendly you'll never drink a glass of German wine again without thinking of it...