meemalee

When I'm not eating, I'm singing Although these days, I have a passion for post-rock and Mike Patton , I think it's fair to say that as I was growing up, my taste in music was fairly theatrical. The very first album I ever bought was Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (with Jason Donovan, natch). To this day, I can still remember it word for word. All throughout school and university, I sang soprano in chamber and chapel choirs and as part of an a cappella ensemble. Frankly, it was all a bit Glee . I even sang tenor in a male voice group (I am female, I just happen to have quite a broad vocal range and I was at an all-boys school at the time - I'll explain another day) where we merrily piped out barbershop tunes such as " My Evaline " and " Old Man Noah ". Sadly, the only time I get to sing these days is at karaoke. Although I did do a tiny set at a company shindig last October, which was a pretty damn cool experience and managed to ass...

Dearest Mister Mike Patton , many happy returns on this your 42nd birthday. Age cannot wither you, nor custom stale your infinite variety. ( cartoon by Brian Walsby ) ( "Reunited" video from the Faith No More Reunion at Brixton Academy )

Without wishing to offend the myriad fans of the marvellous Sir Terry Wogan aka his TOGS (Terry's Old Geezers and Gals), I kind of wish this headline wasn't just metaphorical. ( More on Terry Wogan versus Chris Evans here )

I only know three things about Michael Bublé. Michael Bublé's surname is pronounced "Boob-lay". Michael Bublé is addicted to pain . Michael Bublé thinks his mum is hot. I quote: "I looked at my mom, who was my date, and said, 'Mom, you look hot'" That is all I know, and that is all I need to know. 12/01/10 EDITED TO ADD: So it turns out that Michael Buble got engaged this weekend (and not to his mother) ie mere days after I published this post. Coincidence? I think not.

So last weekend I went to Butlins for " Ten Years of ATP ", the tenth birthday party of the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival aka ATP. I'm going to steal from Wikipedia to explain what ATP is all about. Named after the song "All Tomorrow's Parties" by The Velvet Underground, it was founded by Barry Hogan in 1999 as an alternative to larger, more corporate festivals like Reading or Glastonbury, with a tendency towards post-rock, avant-garde, and underground hip hop, along with more traditional rock fare, but presented in an environment more intimate than a giant stadium or huge country field. ATP is a sponsorship-free festival where the organisers and artists stay in the same accommodation as the fans. ... Artists, usually musicians (but sometimes visual artists like Matt Groening or Jake and Dinos Chapman) are asked to curate the festival by inviting their favourite performers to play. The idea is that it is akin to dipping into the curator's re...

The other day, my husband and I went to a preview screening of my new film All Tomorrow's Parties . I say "my film", of course what I actually mean is a film to which I've been lucky enough to contribute. This is how it describes itself: "ALL TOMORROW’S PARTIES - THE FILM FEATURING: Belle And Sebastian / Sonic Youth / Battles / Portishead / Daniel Johnston / David Cross / Animal Collective / The Boredoms / Mogwai / Slint / The Dirty Three / The Gossip / GZA / Iggy Pop / A Hawk And A Hacksaw / Saul Williams / Shellac / Patti Smith / John Cooper Clark / The Mars Volta ... Coming November 2009 from Warp Films [who made This is England ], produced by Luke Morris / Warp X In an out-of-season holiday camp on the coast of England, alternative music festival All Tomorrow’s Parties serves up a heady combination of alternative music, crazy golf and chalet-living; all curated by a single band or artist. This post-punk DIY bricolage uses material generated by the...

Apologies for the patchy posting - I know I have a massive backlog including a tonne of Japanese goodness , but every time I start to write something, I get distracted by Ugly Betty fanfic (yes, I did just say that out loud. Hell, I used to obsess over Chlark as penned by the esteemable Elly's Fanfiction , but the crackhounds in charge of Smallville are running that ship into the ground). Anyway, apart from my beloved husband (natch), I'm currently crushing on three people, two of whom are called Eric (what are the chances of that, eh?). Number 1 being Eric Mabius aka Daniel Meade from Ugly Betty , number 2 being Eric Bana aka Henry DeTamble, Time Traveller , and Number 3 being Sir Michael of Patton (whaddaya mean, Mike Patton is not God? ). So in pursuit of that last one, hubby and I drifted across the Channel to see Faith No More perform at Rock En Seine in Paris. It was awesomesauce as expected, but then my love of FNM has been documented previously . How could you ...

I love Mike Patton . There, I've said it. In almost every incarnation, this musical Renaissance Man has been there for me, providing an awesome soundtrack to my life. Mr Bungle , Tomahawk , Fantômas , Lovage , Kaada/Patton , General Patton vs The X-Ecutioners ( Peeping Tom not so much - sorry Mike), and of course the great, the seminal Faith No More which sadly disbanded over a decade ago. Last Wednesday the impossible happened. The rumours were true - Faith No More reunited at Brixton Academy and I was lucky enough to be there. When hubby and I arrived at Brixton to meet up with friends and family, six golden tickets were burning a hole in my pocket. As well as the usual touts, civilians accosted us, hoping that one of our party had dropped out. One poor lad held up a sign saying "Desperate Faith No More Fan will do anything for ticket" - they'd been going on eBay for about £200 each ... Anyway, at 9pm, the lights dimmed and one by one, amidst cheers, Roddy Bot...