New Horowitz single rumour verified

Back when I were a lad, there was this story doing the rounds that Horowitz were releasing 'How to Look Imploring' as a single on Cloudberry Records. Seasons passed, years came and went, my hair got even thinner - and yet nothing happened. Maybe the story was a thing of fantasy, or maye I dreamed it along with that one about Sophie Ellis Bextor joining Horowitz as a second guitarist and then asking me to marry her from the stage of their MEN Arena gig.

I accepted, by the way.

And yet when I opened up my Facebook inbox this morning and saw a message from Horowitz, these words hit me like a firm trout: New single out November 25th(pre-order now!)

And so this single is no longer the staple of hushed conversations in pub room gigs; it's real, it's living, and that money is burning a hole in your pocket. And if you don't want a copy, then you can buy me it as a birthday present. See here for pre-order details.

If you hadn't noticed, then 'How to Look Imploring' has been on Horowitz's myspace page for a while now, and it's one of the best songs the band have written. Defiant bubblegum pop at it's very best.

Tales from the fringe

Of all the shoegaze bands I loved, Blind Mr Jones were perhaps the most ignored. Which sort of suited me quite nicely, because by the time they managed to release their second, superior album, 'Tatooine', in 1994 anyone admitting they still listened to shoegaze records was put in the village stocks and had rotten fruit thrown at them.

'Tattoine' was sent to me when I edited Atomic Magazine, and it made a healthy change from the early 90s dross that was coming out of both the UK and the US, as well as getting on the nerves of the friend who I ran the magazine with, who was getting into gabba at an alarmingly fast rate.

The album mixed the racing pop of Adorable with some of Ride's poppier moments, which was right up my junction at the time, and it even made me forget or ignore the fact that half the songs on the album featured a pissing flute.

Tracks like the appalling named 'Spooky Vibes' provided me with a pop rush that saw off the fact that I was somehow living off a daily diet of macaroni cheese and a weekly dole income of £35. And when I was feeling a bit down on my luck, then you could rely on the a doleful hymn like 'Hey' (they weren't much good at song titles, Blind Mr Jones).

But my favourite track was 'Disneyworld'. In fact it remains my favourite track of the early 90s, and might interest fans of the Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

Cherry Red have two compilations available, but I'd give those a miss and just buy 'Tatooine', if I were you. Fifteen years on it still sounds bittersweet, innocent and homely.

The School live in Nottingham

Quite a few people now have said how great The School were in ending the all-dayer on Sunday. Luckily, you can now download their set from here.

Thanks, whoever you are, for recording this. It's ace, and a lovely momento.

There's always going to come a time when we go dancing

One hundred people dancing to The Rocky Nest; Standard Fare looking almost shy that people knew the words to their songs; Liz from The School getting a bit teary during their set; Elizabeth Darlin' making grown men weep and swoon at the same time; and Tender Trap playing a set so effervescent that it belied the fact that they were by far the elder statespeople of indiepop.

All these things and more made the all-dayer on Sunday such a wonderful, wonderful day. It started at 11am in The Bell where I met Andy and drank a couple of Sunday morning(!) pints to fight off the nerves, and ended, for me at least, around 10.30pm, competely dead on my feet.

Every act was great, but Standard Fare ruled the day for me. I always think it must be strange being in a band and hiding yourself away for hours, trying to write these songs, and then actually having people love them. That's what seems to amaze Standard Fare more than anything else in the world, and it's completely disarming and wonderful. And Emma's voice doesn't so much send shivers down my spine as paralyse me for half an hour.

The days after events like this - events when you've seen so many friends in the same room as you enjoying the same things - are horrible. Luckily we've got the London Popfest in February to look forward to, and it's nearly time for Indietracks again, right?

I'm off back to bed.

Internet Forever

I don't know much about Internet Forever, but I do know that I've fallen in love with their debut single, 'Cover the Walls'.

For some reason, they've been supporting Johnny Foreigner on tour later this month. It doesn't take a genius to know that there is a wonky bill.

This will embed itself in your brain and send you loopy in the best possible way imaginable.

Mascot Fight - Losers Can't be Choosers (Cassette County)

I'm going to twatter on about Mascot Fight until they are kings of the world, although that moment might be slightly closer after this ace new ep.

There's no great change of style here, unless you count the odd choirboy theatrics of
'Shonan Bellmore' (I'd like to know the last time Mascot fight went to church), but there's just more of the same sort of crackling, twisted songs you found on this year's marvellous 'Pantomime Hearse' album.

Highlights for me are the biting 'Haha, That's not Anarchy', a diatribe against class tourists, with the ace line: "You're a revolution in yourself/While I'm not worth/So slice open and bridge that class gap/Since it's easy to dip down/And tour those Camden towns/then choose who's deserving of your bootstraps." Great stuff.

But the best track here, for me, is 'Reunion is a Laugh', a sort of early Pink Floyd fantasy-rhyme with nonsense lyrics about paper aeroplanes and magic carpets. That makes it sound shit. It's not. It's ace.

Mascot Fight are that most wonderful of bands: they tell stories in their songs. Everyday life might be boring and drudgeful from Monday to Friday, but it sounds sort of thrilling when Mascot Fight sing about it.

You'll always find me into the Kitchens

For years now, when I've been feeling down or nostalgic, or any of those other shit emotions that come around (usually on a Sunday afternoon), I've often turned to a Kitchens of Distinction record to bring me round.

And so it's sort of wonderful that Patrick Fitzgerald is still making music as stephenhero. His new album, 'Apparition in the Woods' is out today, and you can buy it from here.

Why it was only this morning that I was walking through the dark streets of Nottingham on my way to work that I had Kitchen of Distinction's 'Drive That Fast' running around and around my head. That often happens, because they seemed to make the sort of music that I could only listen to on my own. I don't think I've ever sat down and enjoyed a Kitchens album with anyone else, I really don't. Maybe that says as much about how wilfully unpopular they were more than it does about me, mind.

Download Patrick's acoustic version of Kitchens' 'Goodbye Voyager' here.