Geezer Latte

If we want to talk prats who are poking their heads up in public long after they should have been shifted into a retirement home or at least somewhere so that the world doesnt have to deal with your ridiculously priced tours and pathetic public relationship fiasco, lets talk 'Sir' Paul McCartney and his latest act of attrition:

Starbucks, if you even go there, is a coffee house. One of those pieces of American culture thrown our way so we can slurp down overpriced coffee in a convenient way that means we dont have to stop at a cafe and wait a little. What alot of you people may NOT know is that in 2004 Starbucks started an initiative to sell over the counter music to try and jump in on that market. A 'MciTunes' if you will - where customers can come in, purchase a blank CD and then go to a 'station' where they can pick from thousands of tracks and make their own mix CD, paying a flat rate for each track they want. THAT is already happening at selected outlets. But NOW Starbucks arent just distributing, they've started up their own record label Hear Music and they've signed the one and only McCartney. Now isn't it ironic that previous to this endeavour he was signed to EMI (remember - they're possibly going out of business) and its ALSO interesting to note that McCartney's last recorded effort (Chaos & Creation in the Backyard) has only sold just over half a million in the US since 2005. Now if I was on a record company on the verge of going under, and I was having f--k all success in the US market with my CD's, I might very well find it hugely beneficial to sign with a coffee shop that is absolutely everywhere over there. Then again, I prefer Queen.

South by Southwest has been and gone and if you stay tuned hopefully I'll be able to get in touch with some of our local hopefuls who headed over there in the coming weeks but upon reading the massive amount of reviews it appears that one of the greatest acts over the week was Glasgow trio The Fratellis. In some useless trivia the band all adopted the last name Fratelli from the bass player Barry because of its ironic Italian translation 'Brothers'. If you've watched your TV recently you'll find their hit 'Flathead' in the background of those damn iTunes commercials and I'm starting to find them catchy as hell. Their bandwagon is picking up steam and if you havent heard them yet, you soon will. Infectious and simple rock that has you shaking it whether you realise it or not. Looking forward to whenever it is these guys come out.

The Fratellis MySpace

And last but not least its time for a bit of blatant self-promotion when I tell you that the one, the only, the ultimate XQUABED are back on the stage around Sydney - with many chances to catch them live in the next few weeks. You can also take the opportunity to heckle me and verbally question my blogging integrity - AND there'll be chocolate slice. If you want a piece then head on over to....



March 24 - The Excelsior @ w/ Reflection Point and more
March 29 - Lewisham Hotel
March 30 - The Arncliffe
April 14 - Lewisham Hotel (afternoon show, kicks off at TWO)

So come on down. Or I'll hit you. If I know where you live..