4.52am Issue: 029 13th April 2017 The PJ Harvey Issue

theFretBoard is a forum for guitarists, and the occasional bassist.
It’s run by guitarists, for guitarists, and covers just about all the “stuff” that interests
guitarists, including guitars (!), amps, fx, learning, playing, buying, selling and anything
else that comes to the minds of thousands of guitarists every day.
It’s completely free to read and free to join – membership allows readers to see
additional areas of the forum which aren’t visible to non-members, to start their own
discussions and post their own comments.
Best of all, there are NO ADVERTS.
Join the UK’s busiest, most interesting and most diverse guitar related forum for free
(did we mention that it’s free?) at theFretBoard.co.uk.
Now.

Welcome
Welcome to Issue 029
I’ve been looking forward to this for far too
long but am made-up and chuffed to say
that we are spending some of our pages
this week on a look at the exceptionally
cool Ms. Polly J Harvey, the history of the
PJ Harvey Trio and her guitars, whilst
Colonel Gimp remembers an early gig.
Next we have the rather wonderful Emma
Scott from Pluggin Baby, who explains the
dark world of radio plugging – and if you
are in a band this is a lady you want to
listen to if you want to get on the
airwaves.
From there our DIY guitar focus turns back
to our Elvis Costello Jazzmaster Tribute,
and then musically – wow.
Have a fine week..
All at 4.52am

Contents
FEATURES
PJ HARVEY TRIO
SEPTEMBER 10 th , 1991 - FLEECE & FIRKIN
GIBSON FIREBIRD VII
EASTWOOD WARREN ELLIS TENOR
STONE DEAF SD5 VALVE AMPLIFIER
EMMA SCOTT – PLUGGIN’ BABY
MUSIC
BILLY BIBBY & THE WRY SMILES
THE ELLIPSIS
DIRTY JANE
SWANS
WOZNIAK
ALTERED IMAGES
ELVIS & THE MOJO MOSRITES

FEATURES

PJ HARVEY
50Ft Queenie
It is often easy to imagine that our
favourite bands, our artists, arrive fully
formed, gig-ready and polished for the
wider public. The truth is often the
opposite, as following her exit from what
was her first band, Automatic Diamini,
Polly Harvey and friends Rob Ellis and Ian
Oliver formed a new band, PJ Harvey.
Automatic Diamini for Harvey was a
finishing school, teaching her how to
write songs – even if they were heavily
folk influenced to start with, but she also
credits frontman John Parish with
teaching her how to perform on stage.
Lessons that have served her well.
Despite this, the first PJ Harvey gig (as
the trio named themselves) didn’t quite
go to plan being held at a skittle alley in
Charmouth Village Hall in April 1991.
Harveysaid about the gig later,
"We started playing and I suppose there
was about fifty people there, and during
the first song we cleared the hall. There
was only about two people left. And a
woman came up to us, came up to my
drummer, it was only a three piece, while
we were playing and shouted at him
'Don't you realize nobody likes you! We'll
pay you, you can stop playing, we'll still
pay you!'"
Funny people in Charmouth.
Things soon picked up and over the
next months the band would
continually tour and Harvey would
write the songs that would form the
basis of the band’s critically acclaimed
debut, ‘Dry’ and its world domination
inspiring follow-up, ‘Rid of Me’.
However, that would came later as first
the band needed to move to London
and record some demos. The demos
that would see them signed by the
indie label ‘Too Pure’ on a one record
deal, that led to the release of their
debut single, ‘Dress’.
Luckily for the band, given the lack of
promotional resources available to the
label, Melody Maker got behind the
single, mainly due to guest reviewer
John Peel who said of the song that he
admired,
"the way Polly Jean seems crushed by
the weight of her own songs and
arrangements, as if the air is literally
being sucked out of them ... admirable
if not always enjoyable."
Needless to say he snapped the band
up for a Peel Session which they
recorded a week or so later and saw

‘Too Pure’ sign them for their debut
album which followed in the Spring of
1992. Needless to say, ‘Dry’ received
massive critical acclaim, not just in the UK
but across the world, and the band were
catapulted onto the main stages of
festivals and the wish lists of promoters.
Rolling Stone magazine heralded Harvey
as their songwriter of the year, and
everything moved upwards.
The band were never going to stay with
‘Too Pure’ and despite misgivings over
artistic control they signed for Island
Records and set about recording what
would become ‘Rid of Me’ with Steve
Albini.
This instantly lost any remnants of folk
that were left from ‘Dry’ and was a
chilling mixture of the rawest swamp
blues, scouring Grunge and a breathtaking
control and poise that verged on
performance art.
From the opening bars of ‘Rid of Me’ itself
through to the bleak sexuality of ‘Legs’
the album grew into a chaotic blur within
which the almost baroque genius of ‘Man
Size’ gave way to an explosion with the
seminal ’50 Foot Queenie’ at its epicentre.
This was a quite extraordinary album by
any standards and created a whole level
of subtlety beyond what Grunge, if that
was what it was, had become.
The band were off and touring again,
but this time the cracks were showing
and after a final tour supporting U2,
and with one of the greatest Rock
albums ever still hot, it ended with a
sudden finality.
As Polly said afterwards,
"It makes me sad. I wouldn't have got
here without them. I needed them back
then – badly. But I don't need them
anymore. We all changed as people."
With the success of ‘Rid of Me’ Harvey
was signed on a Management deal by
U2’s manager, Paul McGuinness and
the strength of her songwriting away
from a band setting demonstrated with
the release of the demos she had
recorded for ‘Rid of Me’, in ‘4-Track
Demos’.
Of course, this was only the beginning
of one of the most inspiring, artistically
stunning and at times perversely
awkward careers in British music, but
in terms of raw talent and the simplicity
of one artist’s genius, it is hard to think
of two albums that capture the real
source of what makes an artist
blossom.

SEPTEMBER 10th, 1991
Colonel Gimp
It was a hot and sweaty night, I
remember it well. Although thinking
about it now, it may have been raining on
that particular parade. No matter. Either
way, we’d navigated the back roads of
Bristol to see this trio my friend Ian was
raving about.
A new Patti Smith, he said, well he was
always looking for one of those.
The pub was small and steaming. You
have to remember that this was before
the Firkin pubs became a chain of beige
coffee shops, and I remember standing
to the right of the stage with my ear
against the wobbling PA speakers. Not
comfortable in any sense.
The band arrived and I hate to admit I
was a little underwhelmed by the look of
them and the quiet, melodramatic start.
The room quickly fell to silence as the
singer murmured, which was shocking in
itself, and then Ms. Harvey quite literally
captured my head and then my heart.
She was compelling to watch, powerful
like a druid on top of a Tor in a
thunderstorm is powerful, and there was
something of the occult in the air that
night, something dark and twisted and
beautiful, beautifully pain-filled. She was
simply incredible.
She did the light and shade thing so
well, like it was new even, but the
power when this three-piece let rip was
awe inspiring. Like My Bloody Valentine
with songs, it was just so unlikely.
It was ‘Plants and Rags’ that nailed me
to the floor though. I was on my third
Grizzled Old Cocksucker, or whatever I
was drinking, and had stepped forward
and stumbled and ended-up kneeling
on the stage at Polly’s feet. A sozzled
supplicant. The look of disdain she
threw my way was art in itself and then
the song started and I fell backwards
onto the feet of a collection of crusties.
I can still see the ceiling as it was that
night, the hot rollie ashes falling to my
face like snowflakes, the music
pressing me to the sticky wood of the
floor, I could have, should have stayed
there forever.
Of course half a pint of snakebite and
black brought me back to my senses
soon enough, like a purple stained
golden shower sprinkled on my face
and from there the night became a
dark and blurry path I don’t think I ever
truly escaped from.

GIBSON FIREBIRD VII
Thinking about Polly Harvey, we couldn’t
ignore the fact that she has an eye and
an ear for a cool guitar with the classic
1960s spec Gibson Firebird VII being the
one most associated with her, despite it
being the size of a deckchair and Polly
being quite diminutive.
With the most beautiful and iconic
headstock of any guitar (IMHO) the
Firebird is quite simply Gibson’s most
Marmite guitar ever (and I don’t mean
the Firebird-X – everybody hated that
one.) The VII with its three pickups, Lyre
Vibrato and Banjo style tuners (the
modern ones are equipped with the
Steinberger upgrade which is essential),
this is a unique guitar in every way.
Built around a ‘thru neck’ design, which
sees nine pieces of walnut and mahogany
laminated together to form a solid,
resonant centre block to which mahogany
‘wings’ are attached, this is nothing like
any other Gibson guitar, and sounds
quite different too. Or should.
The current production version boasts
three of Gibson’s ’57 PAF style pickups.
Now these are to my mind Gibson’s
best pickup, they have that wonderful
old sound without getting too hot or
harsh like some of their others, and
probably the best sounding pickup you
can get in a production Les Paul, but
they are totally, tragically wrong in a
Firebird which very much had a tone of
its own.
Regardless of that, the VII still sounds
amazing and is somehow beautifully
balanced on the strap, and if it can’t
quite hit some of the tones on Ms
Harvey’s tunes, it can still get pretty
close and absolutely mullers Classic
Rock, Blues and even Punk.
An awesome guitar. Find out more
HERE

EASTWOOD WARREN ELLIS
Tenor Baritone
Still on the Polly Harvey theme, more
recently she has been seen out-andabout
with Warren Ellis of The Dirty
Three, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and
Grinderman fame Signature Tenor
Baritone guitar that has been produced
by those brilliant and prolific makers of
all-the-cool-things, Eastwood Guitars.
Based upon a Fender Musicmaster style
base although with a pickup at the neck
rather than the bridge (aping the guitar
rather the bass of the same name,) this
is as simple as it gets with a slab of alder
for a body and a bolt-on Maple/Rosewood
neck.
The single pickup is a blade single coil
and for one that isn’t actually much of a
blade pickup fan, it is a revelation with
plenty of snap and then oodles of power
when you need it too.
With a Big Muff this still manages to cut
through perfectly and has a quite
wonderful sustain. Swampy and dirty
yet with the presence to play lead lines
as well as bass.
From there it is as simple as it comes,
obviously there is no need for switching
options, we have the usual volume and
tone controls and the 23” scale along
with a Tele-style bridge is comfortable
and bang on intonationally.
All in all, this is quite a different,
interesting instrument, and nothing like
the Bass VI I was imagining.
Well worth trying out if you get the
opportunity.
Find out more HERE

STONE DEAF
SD50 Valve Amplifier
One of the things I love about Stone Deaf
is that despite the fact that they are able
to create some of the finest analogue
effects and amplifiers, they aren’t stuck in
a cul-de-sac when it comes to being
flexible and doing exactly what is best for
the guitarist.
The SD50 Valve amplifier reinforces this
beautifully as whilst it has valves very
much at its core, and all the tonal
goodness that brings with it, it can be
controlled digitally which brings a whole
different perspective on the shebang.
What this means is that you can find your
sounds just as with any other top notch
valve amp, but in this case you can save
them as patches, as you would on a
digital amp.
It sounds simple if you say it quick.
In terms of the specification, it is
illuminating so I will reproduce it here,
but do go and find out more OVER
THERE..
Specification:
50 Watts RMS Class A/B or 8 Watts
RMS Class A (Perfect for gig volume
with increased headroom or recording
and home use)
Light weight Poplar cabinets (Brilliant
portability because of its light weight
construction options)
All analogue valve amplifier circuit with
digital control of reverb, tone, FX loop,
volume and gain settings via a push of
a button.
8 presets across 16 banks = 128
saveable (user defined) presets / valve
channels.
MIDI Input (allows control of all
settings via midi input using standard
midi protocol)

240/ 120v Switchable (perfect for travel
due to its ability to switch voltages from
US, EU to UK etc)
Analog Spring Reverb (Premium Medium
spring Tank)
Channel assignable Cathode Bias and
Fixed Bias (Various tonal options)
Channel assignable Solid State Rectifier
or Valve Rectifier (Various tonal options)
Channel assignable buffered effects
loop with send and return volumes
(able to assign your effects loop to
various channels, possibility to put EQ,
delay or modulation and assign it to a
specific preset / channel)
Works with any MIDI-enabled device or
past and current protocols. These
include for example: BOSS ES-8, ES-5,
The Gig Rig, MIDI Keyboard, DAW,
MIDI Wireless systems.

EMMA SCOTT
Pluggin Baby
A few weeks ago we looked at Emma
Scott’s definitive guide to forming,
performing, recording and getting
yourself onto the radio, ‘If It Was My
Band’ which I think we understated
slightly when we called it the Bible for any
band that wants to get anywhere in this
lifetime.
(You can get it HERE if you are still
wondering what you should be doing.)
It did strike me though, that while we had
the lady’s attention, it would be a good
opportunity to start an occasional series
that I, if nobody else, will be calling
‘Expert Witness’ within which we will talk
to a variety of Music Biz insiders and try
and find out why it is them getting their
photo taken with Adam Ant and not me.
Sorry, little distracted there.
What I really wanted to know was what
it is that a plugger does. For years it is
one of those terms you hear banded
about, but I don’t think anybody really
understands what is happening. We know
they take records and get them on the
radio, but not the how.
Is it something anybody can do (it always
struck me that your average DJ probably
wouldn’t encourage every band to get in
touch direct and shove C90s into their
hands in the car park. I may be wrong
there. So how does it work?
Anyway, before she called security, I
got the chance to talk to Emma and ask
her a few of our impertinent questions,
this is what she had to say about it all..
Who are you and what is your
background?
“I’m Emma Scott and I started working
in the music industry in radio at the age
of 16 WAY back in 1988. I was a
massive radio fan and loved listening to
my local radio station so much that I
used to tape it (remember cassettes?)
when I had to leave the house! I was
lucky enough to be chosen to join the
radio station as a YTS girl straight out
of school (Youth Training Scheme) and
I gained experience in all departments
before settling on presentation. I used
to stay behind after work and “play at
being DJ” in the studio and make demo
tapes to give to the programme
controller - in the hope that he may
give me a show on air. After 4 and a
half years of that, I got my break. I
started on the overnight show in 1992

and moved around the country over the
next 25 years as I moved up the radio
ladder. I’ve moved house a lot with my
radio job and have lived in Bedford,
Bristol, Milton Keynes, Newcastle,
Sheffield, Southampton, Worthing,
Brighton, Birmingham and Devon. I now
live back in my home town in
Cambridgeshire. A lot of people
remember me from my shows on
Kerrang! Radio from 2004 to 2009. I
must say, I had the time of my life there.
It was a shame it had to end.
Besides my radio shows, I’ve done TV
presenting, gig promoting, written two
books to help musicians develop their
careers, taught radio, hosted seminars,
cut ribbons of supermarkets (yes, this
actually happens!) worked at a record
label and plugged music to radio stations
to help the bands and artists I was
working with at the time.
All this ran alongside the 6 radio shows I
did each week and I was knackered!
When I reached my 25th year in radio in
2013, I decided I wanted to take a break
from being on air and take some time out
for me. I still haven’t decided what I
want to do with my life - and that was
nearly 4 years ago!!
At the moment I run Pluggin Baby full
time. It’s nothing to do with plug in
babies - it’s a radio plugging company!
I’m in charge of everything here...
Getting new clients, getting radio plays
for the clients I have, website updates,
social media updates, accounts,
administration, meeting clients, talking to
clients, making contacts in radio, having
meetings with radio stations in order to
get airplay for my clients. Sometimes I
even get a lunch break and the
occasional cup of tea.”
How does plugging differ from,
say, what a PR company offers?
“Well, I’m just playing at this plugging
lark, but the main difference is I aim to
get my clients played on the radio -
rather than get them reviews and press
coverage. Although, I must say, I do a
bit of both. I send music to all sorts of
radio stations - from community
stations, local FM stations, regional FM
stations and national brands like BBC
Radio 1 and 2, BBC 6 Music, Radio X,
Kerrang! Radio and Planet Rock Radio.
Most of my contacts seem to like what
I send them, which is good ;-)
Often it’s hard to keep up with the plays
I get for my clients. Which is also
good.”
You seem to have the brilliant
knack of getting (with all respect)
unknown bands onto the radio. Do
you prefer helping to break acts
compared to working with
established artists?
“Thanks! I got into the record label,
the gig promotions, writing music
industry books and then radio plugging
because I wanted to help bands and
musicians get a leg up the music
industry ladder - so definitely the
former. It would be a LOT easier to
plug an established artist though!!!!”

I'd imagine that a lot of what you do
for bands and artists must involve
expectation management - not
every artist is going to be right for
every radio station - how realistic
are your clients and do they
generally 'get it’?
“I tailor my campaigns to match the artist
and I also give them the most realistic
view of what will happen during the
campaign before we even talk about
booking them into the schedule.
Sometimes I’m far too much of a realist
and that’s where the conversation ends.
That artist will probably go onto another
radio plugger that blows smoke up their
arse and tells them they’ll be played on
every radio station in the land. Of course,
that doesn’t happen. I know radio more
than I know radio plugging and I know
what will or will not be played on the
radio. I can pretty much tell by listening
to a minute of a song who will play it and
who won’t be interested.
To answer the second part of your
question, I’d say it’s 30/70. 30% of the
people that get in touch with me about
radio plugging get how hard it is for an
independent artist to get played on the
radio and the other 70% think they’ll
breeze it onto the Radio 1 playlist on their
first single release. What usually
happens is, I work with the 30% that “get
it" and the 70% go elsewhere, and then
get let down by “sharks". They then
come back to me a few grand down :-(
When I take an artist or a band on, I
guarantee results - or their money back
- so they can’t really lose. I just want
them to know what to expect before we
start, so they don’t have massively high
expectations for national playlists
straight away. It’s something you have
to work on with each release. You start
to build a buzz and then you start
getting played on bigger and better
radio stations and shows as time goes
on. As long as you’re good enough!”
What timescales do you work on?
By that I'm thinking, (f'rinstance)
if I had a single being released in
September, when should I be
looking to start working with you?
“I plug 3 - 4 weeks before a release
date. I also get quite booked up, so
the earlier an artist gets in touch with
me (or another plugger), the better! I
need a week to prepare everything for
plugging, so around a month to five
weeks before a release date is ideal for
me. If artists are looking at press, the
lead in times are a lot longer as
magazines have a cut off time I believe
(for monthly publications) - so you
need to be getting ready about 3
months in advance. Usually major
artists release 3 singles and an album
in a 12 month period as part of an
“album cycle”. It’s not a bad plan to do
a similar thing even as an independent
artist.

So, for a September 1st release, I’d be
plugging for the first time at the
beginning of August.
You have obviously worked with a
crazy number of bands, who are the
biggest names and who did you like
the best?
“Ha ha! Yes, I’ve met quite a few famous
folk! Favourites that spring to mind
would be Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro,
Nickelback, Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Alter
Bridge, Elbow, Trivium, My Chemical
Romance, Panic at the Disco, The Kooks,
Fall Out Boy, Editors, Maximo Park, 30
Seconds to Mars, Manic Street Preachers,
Feeder, Adam Ant, New Order, Bullet for
My Valentine, Juliette Lewis, Skunk
Anansie, The Enemy, Muse, Bloc Party,
Gavin Rossdale, The Killers, The Kaiser
Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand, Take That,
Fightstar, Placebo, Snow Patrol, Clint
Boon, The Charlatans, You Me at Six, KT
Tunstall, All American Rejects, Funeral for
a Friend, HIM, Garbage, Stereophonics, -
the list is endless. I think burping with
the Foo’s was pretty much in the top 5
events in my radio career. I also laughed
out loud when Corey Taylor commented
on my “rack” when I interviewed him at
Kerrang! Radio. Meeting my childhood
hero, Adam Ant was the number one
moment of my radio career - hands
down. They say “never meet your idols”
- so I was worried at first. But he was so
lovely and we became friends afterwards
too. Happy days!!”
Of the people you are working with
at the moment, will you give us a
few tips who we should be looking
out for?
“Keep an eye on Billy Bibby & The Wry
Smiles, The Ellipsis and Dirty Jane.”
What drives you mad - it strikes
me some bands/artists are their
own worst enemas (!) - how can
some help themselves?
“Tee hee… enema’s!! Yes, bands and
artists are often their own worst
enemies and they can help themselves
by picking up a copy of the book I
wrote for them out of sheer frustration,
stress, anger, blood, sweat and
tears….!
It’s called “If It Was My Band”… and it
covers most areas of the music industry
- from starting out, building a buzz,
getting radio airplay, getting gigs,
managing the band and making money
from their music.
I know that sounds like a bit of a plug
for my book, but I wrote it to help as
many musicians as I could because I
found they were making the same
mistakes over and over again - and I
wanted to put a stop to it.
You can buy it from the website
ifitwasmyband.com and also Amazon.
You will love it!”
What should I have asked that I
didn’t?
“How I like my tea? Nice and brown,
not too much milk and half a sugar.
Plus a chocolate Hob Nob or two on the
side. Delicious!!”
You can find both of Emma’s books
HERE, but the biggest lesson to learn is
that however hard you work you really
can’t trump contacts, so if you are in a
band, you really owe it to yourself to
find out more about Pluggin’ Baby
HERE

ELVIS & THE MOJO MOSRITES
DIY Corner
We have been waiting for a few parts
since we last looked at our Elvis Costello
Tribute Jazzmaster, but this week we
managed to get a move on and we
thought we should share with the group.
From the top we wanted to look at the
pickups, and the wiring loom and for this
guitar, in the end I’ve gone for a pair of
Mojo Pickups’ Mosrite style pickups, along
with one of Marc Ransley’s superb wiring
looms. This is a work of art in itself, with
all the best parts money can buy – CTS
this, Switchcraft that) along with some
superb wiring and Mojo’s own Paper In
Oil capacitors. I don’t know if they sound
any better than the cheapo ones, but
they look superb and that is cool with me.
The pickups and wire actually come from
my own Jazzmaster as that is going to be
upgraded in another article, but despite
them not being available as a stock item
– Marc keeps them under the counter
with the ‘special stuff’ and you have to
ask - they are all kinds of cool.
From the pictures you will hopefully see
that the pickups and loom have been
transplanted onto the beautiful Spitfire
Celluloid Scratchplate.
I must admit I took a lot of care
tightening the screws with that I’m not
sure whether these things crack easily
or not, but I didn’t want to find out the
hard way either.
Luckily, my usual hamfisted approach
didn’t wreak any havoc this time and all
was well.

From there we fitted the Fender tremolo
and dropped in an old Jazzmaster
bridge. I’m a bit old school and like
them, but I may go with something
modern and posh if I have any problems
with it. Although once you can set one
up and as I tend to use 11s, I don’t
normally suffer any problems with
Jazzmaster or Jaguar bridges anyway.
Once the scratchplate was wired and the
bridge and tremolo fitted, I placed the
neck to make sure that the scratchplate
wasn’t out of alignment. There is nothing
worse than putting the scratchplate on
permanently and then realising that the
neck is impeded by it.
Or so I hear, obviously it has never
happened to me (ahem.)
No problems this time though, so I used
the scratchplate to mark the screw holes
and then did the same with the pickup
holes. From there I drilled pilot holes for
each.
In the past I must admit that I have just
screwed things in without drilling the
holes and butchered the screws, but no

more. There is something there about
ageing I think.
One thing I did do at this point was plug
the guitar into an amplifier to make sure
that the pickups and volume/tone
controls all work as designed. They did
before, but things can get knocked when
they are transplanted and better to find
out now than when the strings are on.
But moving on, the next job was to fit
our wonderfully made Guique Strap Pins.
Now, call me boring but I had gone for
silver for these, and I have to say they
are beautiful and the Posi-thingy screws
and bespoke screwing-in-tool thing work
perfectly.
Again the key is pre-drilling the hole, and
then using the Guique Torx tool, they
went in beautifully.
From there it was just a case of
tightening things, although there is one
slight issue I will need to come back to.
If you look closely at the fotos, the
rhythm circuit volume and tonewheels
are recessed a little far into the body than
they should be. This was down to the
holes not quite lining up with the
scratchplate. Easily solved – I just need
to bend the bracket, but I thought I’d
leave that until I take it to pieces again
and finish putting copper foil into the
pickups routings.
As for what is next, the neck is ready to
go, although I need to fit the Sperzel
locking tuners and the obligatory Jooky
headstock logo plate.
With a bit of luck and a fair wind, we
should have a whole guitar to show you
next week.
Check out Mojo Pickups HERE
Guique Guitar Parts THERE

MUSIC

BILLY BIBBY & THE WRY SMILES
Substitute
If Queen Plugger, Emma Scott tells us we
need to keep an eye on Billy Bibby & The
Wry Smiles, who are we to argue, and
listening to their latest single, Substitute,
I have to admit she is totally right.
Following the same plan as with his
former band, Catfish & The Bottlemen,
Billy has spent the last few years trailing
around the country, creating a buzz the
old-fashioned way, by playing to ever
increasing audiences and generally just
blowing them away with some seriously
cool music.
The thing I am loving about them is
that they aren’t in a rush to get onto
the album-festival-album treadmill and
instead of rushing things are slowly
developing a reputation that goes far
beyond where they individually have
been before. The song-writing is breath
takingly good and the music has
authentic running through it like
Llandudno rock.
You really need to check them out
HERE

THE ELLIPSIS
Elsewhere
I was going to start this wee article by
talking about The Ellipsis as ‘One of
Coventry’s Cool New Bands’ as though
that were a compliment.
It is, but maybe a little limited in the
scope department. However, I spent
some time before I sharpened my quill,
and had a listen to everything I could find
of theirs on-line, and realised that they
were good.
In fact, not just good, but very good.
Not just very good for Coventry, or even
for the Midlands, it dawned on me that
what I was hearing was something
special, something really special and that
I had been about to undersell them. I
should apologise to them – so here we
go.
Sorry chaps.
For The Ellipsis are a truly unique band,
and whilst they are only taking baby
steps on the road to greatness, and
there are pot-holes all over the shop,
they have all the tools, the songwriting
skills and the lyrical nous to get there
very quickly indeed. I started thinking
they were good for Coventry, and now
I’m thinking that they could quite
simply be Great in terms of the UK as a
whole.
After that, all bets are off, these chaps
could travel with no bother at all.
The best of it is though that they are a
proper band, not some put together
boy band or cover band with a twist,
these guys are the real deal and you
are going to see so much more of them
over the coming years.
Seriously, check them out, you’ll be
able to boast about it for years to
come.
Find out more HERE

DIRTY JANE
Knuckleduster Blues
We of course had a lot to say about Dirty
Jane, when they were our cover stars just
a few short weeks ago, and I was so
impressed by the fact that they are the
first band to have a single released by the
Indie Godfather, Gavin Monaghan’s new
record label, Magic Garden Vinyl that I
spent some precious pennies and ordered
myself a copy of the single.
Needless to say it showed-up quick and
smart, and is beautifully put together.
The cover is cool, the vinyl is excellent
quality and as an artefact it looks
beautiful. It took me back to my teens
and reminded me that there is a pile of
my old records somewhere in
Birmingham that I really should retrieve
sometime.
Of course what I haven’t got is a record
player to play it on, which seems quite an
oversight but one I will rectify soon.
I know, it never crossed my mind.
In fact the only pain about it all was that
I couldn’t listen to the B Side
‘Knuckleduster Blues’, but as luck would
have it, it seems that that Pluggin Baby
woman, Ms Scott has again come to the
rescue, as I just read the following news
direct from the band,
“ We're delighted to announce that the
B-side to our single 'Knuckleduster
Blues' will be played on BBC WM
Introducing on Saturday 15th April
we're really excited that Knuckleduster
Blues is getting some airtime, it's a live
favourite for us so be sure to tune in on
Saturday evening and grab a ticket to
hear it live at Newhampton Arts Centre
on April 28th!”
So digital radio to the rescue then (as
I’m in Bristol) – hmm, not sure that is
quite right somehow.
As for the gig the chaps mention, they
are playing Newhampton Arts Centre
on April 28 th , along with Methods and
The Shanklins.
You can get a ticket (if you are quick,
as I write this there weren’t a lot left)
HERE
Find out more about Dirty Jane THERE
Buy the single from the Magic Garden
Vinyl Web Site OVER THERE and
support brilliance in the shape of Band
and Label. Here endeth the lesson.

SWANS
The Great Annihilator
The Great Annihilator is a truly special
album and I have to say that I’m all kinds
of chuffed to see that it is getting a
remaster and a reissue, to be available on
the 5 th of May by the uber cool Mute
The album was originally released in 1995
and is one of the most hauntingly
beautiful albums ever. The reissue will be
released as a double vinyl album and as
a double CD. Both will also come with a
download code so that you can download
a copy of Michael Gira’s solo album
‘Drainland’ which was recorded at the
same time.
The album was only remastered because
original DAT and tape cassettes were
discovered which contained unmastered
mixes from the sessions.
Michael Gira describes the discovery as “a
revelation of great sonic effect”. Talking
about the recording, Gira said “I lived in
a tent in a mosquito infested studio right
next to Cabrini Green in Chicago for what
(?) something like 3 months, rarely
leaving. Band members and Jarboe and
Bill Rieflin etc came and went, and
somehow we crafted this thing into
what it became.”
The Swans are still touring for the final
time with this line-up, so check them
while you can:
18 May - UK Glasgow, Oran Mor
19 May - UK Aberdeen, The Lemon
Tree
20 May - UK Leeds, Stylus - Leeds
University Union
21 May - UK Sheffield – The Plug
24 May - UK Birmingham – The Asylum
25 May - BE, Zottegam, Drunk Festival
26 May - UK Bristol – Trinity
Community Arts
27 May - UK London, Roundhouse
28 May - UK Manchester, Victoria
Warehouse

WOZNIAK
Shader
This week I had one of those wonderful
moments when you realise that you have
been handed an album that will stay with
you for the rest of your life.
Wozniak’s debut album, ‘Courage Reels’
is something truly special, and within
minutes of listening to it for the first time,
retrieving myself from the floor and then
getting my gibber off, I had arranged a
wee interview with the band and decided
to bump Jimi Hendrix from the front cover
of next week’s 4.52am and put
Wozniak there instead.
That is what independent is all about.
So next week you will find out more,
but for now listen to some of the
coolest shoegaze, dreampop,
whateveritiscallednow music you will
have heard in years. Wozniak are all
kinds of groovy, life will never be the
same again.
Go and order the album now, you can
find out more HERE

ALTERED IMAGES
Don’t Talk To Me About Love
This week in the mind of La Contessa
D’Jook, it has been rainbows and fluffy
white clouds, unicorns and zebras, that
porpoise with a glint in his eye and
butterflies in taffeta. It has been all about
ra-ra skirts, heavy blue eyeliner and
rollerball lip-gloss, ozone depleting
haircare and plain old-fashioned fun.
She has been on an ‘80s trip, and settled
for her song of the week on the many
kinds of awesome that is Clare Grogan
and her band Altered Images.
And this is where it started, the road to
Gregory’s Girl and Eastenders (though
snogging Ian Beale must have been a
low point for the girl) and on the way
some of the best pop music ever made
brought sunshine into all of our lives.
The wonderful Altered Images, so
much more than a Birthday song.
See what Clare is upto HERE