'Worst song' Agadoo re-released

Hooray!

Are the Rusholme Ruffians the next NFL franchise?

Jim. not Stephen Patrick, Morrissey

I'm not sure what was more astonishing this afternoon, the infuriatingly inventive play of the Miami Dolphins as they humbled our New England Patriots, or the fact that the NFL is now using "Every Day is Like Sunday" by Morrissey to promote NFL.com. If this trend continues can we expect Major League Baseball to promote the post season with "Hand in Glove"?

Theme for the summer

Soft rock it, you Kiwi comedy folk lotharios:

Ooooo Nooooooo

First, apologies for my recent absence. Family bid'nez, work, extra curricula lunacy, and a head full of snot have combined to keep me from posting.

Second, I'm two tracks into the new Fratellis album and it is BLOODY AWFUL.

I know you indie savants out there would probably claim the first album was rubbish (why don't you all toddle off and compare rimless specs and ironic t-shirts rather than sneering at a music simpleton like me, home slices? They sound like "Hootie and the Blowfish" Bill? Really?). Being a fan of foppish dandy pop that's redolent of British gangster films from the 70s myself, I rather liked their eponymous debut. And so I was excited to see their unheralded second effort on the Borders website.

Ugh- track three, if this is possible, is even worse than the first two songs.

Where were we? Oh yes. Shouty choruses, slow motion kick lines, and sub-Marc Bolan guitar rock = good. Shouty choruses, lack of irony, and sub- Gary Glitter guitar rock: ABSOLUTELY HIDEOUS.

I want my money back.

American Idol

Congratulations to David, the pastry-faced result of gene splicing between Michael Bolton and Bob Seeger. May your ultimate plunge to obscurity at least earn you a dollar or two.

Commiserations to David, the uber-Osmond Michael Jackson bait and future David Guest look-alike with the nice voice and a spot already booked on season 45 of The Surreal Life.

Perhaps now is the time for me to pitch my new reality concept, American Imp Pimp, wherein contestants compete to ponce off midgets in naughty elf costumes.

Good Stuff For 'Head Heads

BBC and Radiohead- two national treasures combine to offer this treasure trove of archival performances and minutiae:

Radiohead at the BBC

"Here I'm allowed, everything all of the time".

"We are not about to do a free form jazz exploration in front of a festival crowd"

Some internet parodists are subtle and clever. Others (like this Finnish lunatic) just make me laugh like a drain:

Spring Sounds...

Eagle eyed observers of the international scene will have already spotted the story that is driving me to distraction today (the Iraqi exile clown troop with a show called A Child is as Scared as a Country: eeek!) and I promise that I will share more details later.

Over breakfast this morning however I saw the video for Chrisette Michele's "Be OK" again. I saw this about three weeks ago and went on a fruitless YouTube search for it- the actual video is still seemingly out of reach, but in the interim, here is the incredibly infectious, quite lovely song:


Just ignore the incredibly jarring and gauche first line about driving one's Lexus to the mall (yuck, tacky) and enjoy the groove...

50 pounds of suet in a 25 pound bag

From the BBC:

Ivory Coast's 'big-bottom' craze

I had no idea that I lived next door to an Ivorian Consulate. Its the fact that all my neighbors in that building are white that threw me off, I suppose. I sense twin-town possibilities; maybe some toasts with pints of "Fat Ass in a Glass"?

A Wee Friday Treat

Snow outside; beach cats inside:

Bobby Vee, an under-rated talent...

Happy Christmas

Last year I offered up Slade. This year, Wizzard:

Wow

While I have a deep respect for their intellectual approach to metal I can't stand System of a Down's music, so I have never paid them much attention. This morning however I happened to turn to VH1 while eating breakfast and caught the video for "Empty Walls", the new solo effort by SoD's front man Serj Tankian:



Brilliant in so many ways.

Just Because

WHEREAS the iminent arrival of the Weaselette has me nostalgic for my own childhood, and;

WHEREAS Valdimir Putin is coming to Maine to visit George Bush at the start of July, and;

WHEREAS Dutch/German/Jamaican historical story-telling disco is a much underated musical subgenre;

THEREFORE we do declare May 31, 2007 to be Boney M day at Wisdom Weasel:

Predictable Joke in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....

From the BBC:

Rock elders aim for chart success
"A rock band made up of senior citizens is making a bid for chart success to prove that older people have still got what it takes."

Too late:

Dance Little Sister

Terence Trent Darby looking all pissed off and that because he don't have my bangin' moves
I have been rather consumed by politics recently and as a consequence there has been a fair amount of harrumphing on the pages of Wisdom Weasel and rather less of the joie de vivre for which I am known in several lands. This being Friday and with the sun shining down upon my little corner of Maine holding off the winter gloom for a few more hours, I thought I would inject a little funk into proceedings courtesy of a splendid little web tool passed along by the lovely Country Mouse.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Weasel and Country Mouse dancing to the Scissor Sisters (be patient; it takes about 30 seconds to load).

And if that don't get yer juices flowing, here's blog/real life chums Mondale and Listmaker doing the same.

Should you want to make your own, follow this link. There are other costumes and hairstyles available, but I think the pink leotard is hard to beat.

Update: Earlier I noted that "the sun (is) shining down upon my little corner of Maine holding off the winter gloom for a few more hours". It is now snowing. Ever so lightly, swirling and not settling, but the first snow of the season nonetheless.

The Fiery Furnaces

My pal Nik is tour managing this lot: The Fiery Furnaces. Check and see if they are coming to a town near you.
Think The White Stripes meets Howling Wolf meets TRex...