Putting the Christ back in Christmas

                                                       (photo -  Peter Fingleton)

Say what you like about the Catholic Church, they know how to put on a good show. I'm back home in Dublin for Christmas, and last week I spent a lovely afternoon reacquainting myself with the nativity story at  the movin' crib on Parnell Square. The Crib is a series of 12 tableaux depicting scenes from the Old and New Testemant, populated by an insane cast of animatronic angels, shepherds, virgins, whores, priests, sword swallowers and negros. Not to mention Santa Claus. It's the only nativity story where the three wise men rub shoulders with the three little pigs. Truely this is one of the seven wonders of the Irish Catholic World.

The crib dates from the 1950s and I noticed a worrying amount of exposed wiring on the Angel Gabriel, so go see it before it collapses or combusts. And check out my video!

'Tis the season to be sassy

Hello?

Yeah, it's me.

What's up?

Just calling to let you know I won't be needing your loving services any longer.

Oh really?

Yeah. Just figured I'd clue you in on a few things.

 Ouch. Sassy electro funk classic from 1982, mixed by Shep Pettibone. The instrumental on the b-side was apparently so amazing that it sparked off the whole trend for disco dub versions (according to this interview with Pettibone (well, I guess he would say that)).

In other news, the Observer reports that Christmas is peak season for separations and a certain firm of enterprising London soliticors (Scrooge and Marley?) are doing a roaring trade in festive divorce gift vouchers. Imagine! 

Sinnamon - Thanks to You

Quattro Formaggio

Some music to warm the cockles of your heart this icy December evening.

#1 Hot Chip -  One Life Stand: fine first single off their new album, it's "one for the ladies" (!)
#2 Bananarama - Venus: fromage edit of the 80's goddesses' biggest hit
#3 Pino D'Angio - Ma Quelo Idea: if you like Italo, Fred Astaire and marmalade you'll love this
#4 Desire - Primitive Desire - Lovelorn disco from Canada 

Young, beautiful, talented, and scantily clad

Maybe its just me but it seems like a lot of bands are baring their flesh in videos of late. Not that I'm complaining. Two groups currently stripping off to promote their forthcoming (January(just in time for my birthday)) albums are These New Puritans and Delphic.



These New Puritans are playing Bush Hall on 25th January. Why not come?




This actually isnt Delphic in the video for Doubt, I've just discovered, kind of ruining the logic of this post. They employed handsome models as stand ins, a bit like Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. How disapointing.
Here's a nice remix to make up for it.

Delphic - Doubt

Delphic - Doubt (Riton Vox remix)

Paris is Mourning

Saint-Saens - The Tortoise

Sad news from Paris, Kiki the tortoise has died aged 146. Staff at the Paris menagerie paid tribute to the giant tortoise whose 'demonstrative lovemaking' made him a favourite with the French public.

"He had a kind of charisma … a certain personality." said deputy director Michel Saint Jalme. According to Marie-Claude Bomsel, a vet at the zoo, he was so vigorous in his pursuit of female tortoises that his grunts could be heard from the other end of the zoo and the Jardin des Plantes.

Frédéric Lewino, a science writer at Le Point magazine, wrote that, though advanced in age, Kiki remained "fresh" to the end. Kiki weighed 250kg and had to be moved about using a forklift. "However crushed they were...the females suffered his assaults without any complaint," he remarked.

Read all about it

R.I.P Kiki

Fever Ray at the Forum

My luck was in on Saturday night - I got my friend Julie's spare ticket to go see Fever Ray at the forum. Not that we actually got to see Karin Dreijer Andersson, the shadowy Swedish chanteuse. She was well hidden, behind the smoke and lazers, beneath a burka-like robe and an enormous face mask - all I could make out was a billowing black column through the fog. Sounded great though.

Here's a remix of Seven by the Twelves.

Fever Ray - Seven(Twelves remix)

STOPP JA

Switzerland, spiritual home of brotherly love and cuckoo clocks...bans minerets in a spontaneous act of populist Islamophobia? I think they were just doing it for the attention. God knows when Switzerland will be topical again so I might as well take the opportuity to post a couple of tracks by one of my favourite Swiss bands, Kleenex.

Kleenex were an all girl punk group who exploded out of the suburbs of Zurich's famously dull suburbs in the late 70's. The tissue manufacturer sued them shortly after and they were forced to change their name to Liliput. Their songs are nice and ramshackle, and they sound like they were having a lot of fun. There's a interviewing interview with Marlene Marder, the lead guitarist, here

Kleenex - Ain't You
Kleenex - Heidis Head