Andy Lewis

New from Disney Pixar

"Twatatouille"

Imagine managing to make the Oceangate Submarine Disaster only the second most embarrassing tech story of the day?

Buffins is God

Every DJ set since Blow Up I’ve blended those two songs together. Like the end of Beck’s The New Pollition and Big Train by Max Greger, it’s too good a thing to not do.

The most "mod" of the Beatles tunes. Big hit in the clubs at the time apparently. Certainly never fails to pack a floor nowadays. Interesting fact-the final note blends beautifully with the opening note of Helen Shapiro's incredible version of Shop Around which came out around the same time.

Ha! Vice versa as well.

Yeah. It's why I hate the whole evangelical, Alpha Course bollocks. Yer own Personal Jesus, not actually getting involved doing stuff that might make a difference to people. Shine Jesus Shine and ignore all the shit that's going on in the world. I'd definitely side with Rev. Smallwood's vision.

- He also refused to rise to the bait of the Mary Whitehouse types who tried to get him to condemn things like Punk Rock, the opening of a Sex Shop a few doors along from his church and The Life Of Brian. He was all right, my old man. Most of the time, anyway.

- He set up a Talking Newspaper (so he could indulge his passion for tape recorders and unwittingly set his son on his future career path), what we'd now call a Food Bank, held vigils for World Peace, introduced the new communion service in place of 1662 and generally tried to make a difference.

Somebody once asked me if I'd seen it. "Seen it? I've lived it, mate" I replied. You see, I am the son of a preacher man. My dad seemed to have been inspired by this film as much as Jesus himself. He took it upon himself to welcome all and sundry into the church- and the vicarage. -

*Sans Serif Christianity refers to the Series 2 and Series 3 communion service books in the Church of England, that used modern language and modernist typography & design to bring the liturgy (and, it was hoped, the Church's message) into the 20th century. It's the CofE I grew up in.

Fall 2-The Quest For More Money

This film is absolutely brilliant. A perfect time capsule of a period in British history characterised by "Honest To God" and what I call Sans Serif Christianity*; a booming consumer economy; racial and social prejudice, and what might've been a successful space programme.

A sequel? What? What the flipping flip? What's it gonna be called? Bounce?

I know I ought to be listening to something else in the mornings but sometimes you just overhear stuff other people are listening to when you're making breakfast.

Radio 4's Today just now referring to Robert Jenrick as "The Justice Secretary"* shows something is seriously wrong with THE NEWS on the BBC.

(*he is a Conservative MP, and therefore the *shadow* Justice Secretary)

Wheels on all schools, now!

#niche

Theologians have long argued about what sort of music God likes, but I'm convinced that the existence of Wonderful Night by Candace Love proves that he's partial to a bit of Northern Soul when he's not watching old episodes of Songs Of Praise on YouTube.

The fucking Nine O'Clock Service. God, I hated those creeps. "EAT GOD!" their projections would flash up as yer man held up the bread and wine, Dinox-laden vapour would spew from smoke machines and pounding rave music would rattle the slates for miles around. Utter wankers, all of them.

A female cat fast asleep partly on a white towel that’s atop a garishly upholstered studio sofa. The towel is meant to protect the sofa from cat hairs. It’s only a partial success as around sixty percent of her is on the sofa. That’s cats for you.

The client I’m working for is thoroughly unimpressed with the length of time I’m taking to mix the album of contemporary big band jazz she has commissioned.

This is brilliant. Hadn't heard this before. Love it!

Yeah. Sadly.

Rainbow Chaser's great too. I take it you know Baby Your Phrasing Is Bad by Caleb (that's Caleb Quaye). Actually predates Itchycoo Park. I think it's great fun but it's about as subtle as a flying mallet. Ten Miles High by David & The Giants for yer Northern Soul fans.

- However, it doesn't stop me wanting to apply it liberally given half a chance. Like I said, it's actually really easy to do especially now with digital audio and plugins. And it's great fun. But if you want to know how it's supposed to be done, Itchycoo Park opens and closes the book.

- then it happens AGAIN. Oh my. Hearing this song when I was a kid, I'd never heard anything like it. Well, I had. Like KIller Queen or even Listen To The Music by the Doobie Brothers. But this was where it all made sense. This was what that effect was all about. Subtly changing perspective-

-and your heart begins to beat like the proverbial fucked clock as you feed ducks with a bun, the sound of the record subtly changes and this incredible effect takes over the song and disorientates you, then with a drum fill and a cymbal crash you're back in the room again and it's all jolly jolly -

- So that's what makes Itchycoo Park so good. It starts off a normal 1967 pop song like many others, it even nicks a hymn tune for good measure to plug right into that "stuff remembered from your childhood" thing, and then as the charge kicks in and everything shifts and your thumbs go weird-

- I absolutely adore the effect of phasing, or "flanging" as it's also called. As soon as I found out how it was done, I rigged up two cassette recorders playing back the same bit of music through a mixer and had a go myself. Instant satisfaction! It's so easy. But it's not a subtle effect -

Not the first record with tape phasing. Not even the first British use of it since it was a common "radiophonic" trick and heck it's even on the soundtrack to the film Zulu, but probably the most effective use it in a pop record of all time. Not a gimmick, but totally part of the song.-

An excellent start to your day would be to read this while someone brings you coffee in bed and an affectionate cat snuggles up to you. Even if, like me, you have to make do with the thought of the coffee and the cat, this is a brilliant read. Justin's FLA is one of the best ideas anyone's had.