Like many people, I really didn’t believe the news that the BBC want to end 6Music. I still can’t believe it. The argument that it’s treading on the toes of commercial radio is nonsense. There’s no station that’s even remotely like 6Music, commercial or otherwise.
Conversely, Radio 1 and Radio 2 are pretty much clones of commercial radio. Radio 1 plays largely non-stop chart music, which itself is less relevant than ever; Radio 2 plays MOR easy listening stuff.
How is 6 Music different? Because it plays music that largely isn’t commercial. It plays music that only a public service broadcaster can play. It doesn’t have a set playlist that it sticks to. You can hear anything on 6Music. It’s the only radio station that’s probably better than your own music collection.
This was a while ago now, September 12 2009, but I’ve only just got round to adding it here. There was a massive steampunk weekend thing going on in Lincoln, so we steampunked it up a bit at Decimal Place, playing along with some steam engine vinyls Tom found at an antiques market. No post-processing. Best! Gig! Ever! But then I always say that.
Anyway, here’s a little taster for you. Not much idea who’s playing on this one, except Greg is definitely there on vocals and bass, Anais on accordion, Sam processing Anais. This one’s a bit scary, and is a bit Steampunk Wickerman. It’s faded out here, but the original is stacks longer. Nice!
We played a 40 minute set inside the hazel roundhouse in the x-church at Gainsborough for South West Weird on June 6 2009.
Started out playing along with hatesound, a teenage noise thing, which really got us noised up. Might bring out the whole gig as an album or something, but for now here’s just the encore, which is way gentler than anything else we played that day. Everything else was extreme noise to the extreme. Excess in all things, except moderation.
Here’s another taster of what you might experience if you come along to South West Weird in Gainsborough this Saturday (June 6, 2009) 2pm-10pm at X-Church, Gainsborough (the pink church). There’s loads of stuff going on there besides us, mostly music, art and film.
We’re not really called Metal Robot anymore, but no one’s come up with a new name yet. Here’s a vid of us playing Sahara Scene:
Dex: flute and words
Grzg: bass
Tom: electric guitar
Sam: violin
Neil: classical guitar
Andy: video
If you like it, come and see us at Slum Gothic’s Southwest Weird in Gainsborough on June 6, all afternoon. Times yet to be determined. Here’s a link to Slum Gothic.
Had a great session on 22/3/09 in the gallery with Dex. Crazy amounts of good new stuff.
We’ll get an album together at some point, and upload tracks to last.fm, iTunes and various other places, but for now here’s a little example (at the end of this post) to keep you going. It’s about bees, bus stops, Buddha, eBay bidders and stuff.
And a heads-up, we’re playing a gig in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire on Saturday June 6th. I’ll update this post with further details as and when. Will have to get to work on my Mothra outfit lol.
Oh, we’re still looking out for a drummer or percussionist, if there’s anyone out there based in or around Lincoln that’s interested.
Many thanks to Shuman Dasgupta for sending in these fabulous photos of the African Pied Crow. It’s not a species I’ve been lucky enough to see myself, but my curiosity has certainly been piqued by these cheeky birds.
The birds were photographed on the outskirts of the Sahara Desert, by Timbuktu. shuman says …
I have recently come back from holiday in Mali. I hope you like these pictures of the African Pied Crow taken on the outskirts of the Sahara desert by Timbuktu. I am not implying that you have to go all the way to Timbuktu in order to see this particular crow. But it was nice to see them there. They are not as easy to photograph as the Indian House Crow which is what I sent you last year. I read somewhere that they are meant to be a very ancient variety of crow and can cross breed with with a certain type of African Raven.
Their call is not as harsh as our carrion crow.
Shuman has previously sent in photos of the Indian House Crow. Thanks again Shuman, and please keep sending in your fabulous photos!
In late autumn I found a brown caterpillar on my living room floor. Since it was so cold outside, I kept him in a jar and fed him. His preferred food was hazel leaves, but he also ate dandelion leaves.
After a couple of weeks he stopped eating and wrapped himself in a leaf and became a chrysalis.
Last night (Jan 22) he hatched out. I put a saucer of sugared water out for him, but Mambo (cat) chased him down, so it was clear he couldn’t live inside with us.
I put him in the shed on top of Skull Tower (a tower of skulls) and left the shed door ajar so he can come and go as he pleases. It’s still really cold, so this should keep any frost off him. It was raining last night as well, and I didn’t fancy his chances just chucking him into the wet night.
This morning he’d vacated Skull Tower for his own choice of home. I checked he hadn’t got caught up in a web in the shed. I’ll continue to leave the door ajar in case he’s still living in there. And put saucers of sugary water in there, as there’s little nectar around at the moment.
I couldn’t get a photo as it was a full-on panic trying to get him to safety. I’m not sure what sort of moth he is, but his body is really creamy and furry. His wings are quite stubby, with brown, black and cream markings. I think he’s a dusky sallow, or maybe a light feathered rustic.
I’ve long dreamed of filming Hamlet starring insects, and this moth is the exact moth I’ve always seen as Hamlet himself. I couldn’t keep him captive though.
Good luck, Parsifal Moth. Do come back and see me sometime if you’d like to. Prince of Moths.
I’m now playing with a couple of guys from Me and Some Retards. I just found their album, We Shall Be Masters of Earth, online so thought I’d post it. The page is in Chinese. Just click on the CD image on the right of the page. Me and Some Retards - We Shall Be Masters of Earth
And just in case that’s not working, here’s a couple of tasters, Cliff Diver and Born 2 Bleed:
A company called Tiger Aspect Productions is making a series for ITV about the seasons and everything that is affected by them.
The series will give a big picture of what seasons really are, what impact they have on our lives and the land which we inhabit. This major, blue chip series gets shows us the power of the seasons and their wide ranging effects on Britain and its people.
From cities to the countryside, a combination of stunning photography and real life stories will reveal how our world rotates through its yearly cycle and why we are inextricably linked to the changes we call The Seasons.
This landmark series will be presented by Alan Titchmarsh and due to air next September. It is a truly national project and will feature a wide range of locations, people and wildlife.
They are very interested in filming Alan near some rooks.
Do you know of a good place to film them near Alton in Hampshire? If so, please contact sarahbarber@tigeraspect.co.uk.
Like many people, I really didn’t believe the news that the BBC want to end 6Music. I still can’t believe it. The argument that it’s treading on the toes of commercial radio is nonsense. There’s no station that’s even remotely like 6Music, commercial or otherwise. 
Had a great session on 22/3/09 in the gallery with Dex. Crazy amounts of good new stuff. 
A company called Tiger Aspect Productions is making a series for ITV about the seasons and everything that is affected by them.