Everything's Swirling » A Head Full of Wishes

One shot: Strange by Galaxie 500

Andy — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:31:48 +0000

I love the Internet – it has made my life richer, it has found me friends, it has put me into in-real-life conversations with my heroes… and it has people on YouTube doing covers (I’ve expressed a love of this once before on this blog).

Whereas the proper band‘s Galaxie 500 cover of choice seems to be Tugboat, the webcam-soloist seems to opt for Strange…

I came across danandkitty’s cover of Strange on YouTube earlier in the week – and it’s one of the most lovably sweet covers I’ve heard – just a man and his ukulele and his (clear) love of music -it is beautiful

I’m also rather partial to this cheesy synthesizer instrumental cover

And here’s Galaxie 500… and a kazoo

You like the shoes I wear: Dean Wareham (again)

Andy — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:59:37 +0000

Dean Wareham Plays Galaxie 500 – 8
originally uploaded by Araakii

Long, long time since I gave this series a kick but Dean’s shiny shoes with yellow laces as worn at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle last weekend deserve getting shown off – particularly as this lovely picture by Araakii shows them off so beautifully.

Video: Temperature’s Rising – Dean Wareham playing Galaxie 500

Andy — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 23:53:16 +0000

I think the whole show is on YouTube – but here's Temperature's Rising as it's the song from where my blog gets its title…

December seems so very far away…

Posted via email from Supplemental

Should Dean play Galaxie 500?

Andy — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:59:26 +0000

A discussion has struck up on the Galaxie 500 Mailing List about whether Dean should be doing these "…plays Galaxie 500 shows" or getting on with new material – here's my defence of the Galaxie 500 shows (as posted to the list)…

OK – here's a dissenting voice – although I'll qualify my defence by linking to my previous rant against Dean & Britta covering Galaxie 500.

This will be just a bunch of thoughts – a lot of which I won't explain the relevance of – partly because they may not have relevance…

Dean has on a number of occasions mentioned how hard he finds it coming up with new songs/song ideas – I think it was (and I don't have copy of Black Postcards to hand to double check) one of the contributing factors to Galaxie 500 breaking up – the two Dean & Britta albums and the 13 Most Beautiful soundtrack are all liberally sprinkled with covers – I think it's safe to assume that while he has consistently been producing great material it doesn't just fall out of him.

Galaxie 500 are back on the radar now – the Domino and 20|20|20 reissues have seen to that.

While reunions are de riguer we're all painfully aware (and in my case grateful) that a Galaxie 500 one is not on the cards

I've generally loved Luna covering Galaxie 500, and enjoyed Dean & Britta's forays into that part of Dean's past (with the exception linked above) – also one of my high-points of 2010 (high oints of any year prob) was Damon & Naomi covering Blue Thunder at The Luminaire – I don't mind, and actually genuinely love, that these songs can still work.

13 Most Beautiful – as a project – has eaten a chunk out of the "write the next album" time so clearly the next new album is not ready.

The music industry is a different animal now – without record companies proffering huge advances to make albums the money is having to be made elsewhere… actually I wonder if this is the key point. Smaller bands/artists need to find new ways to make if they want music to be a career rather than a side project – and whether its advertising, soundtracks, reunions, or rehashing your back catalogue (or any/all of the above) – then that is what needs to be done.

Galaxie 500 shows are going to make money – for some of the reasons mentioned above.

I know that there will be new material from Dean (& Britta) at some point in the future – and I can wait – it's not like there isn't stacks of other great music to listen to – and in the meantime I'm happy to enjoy hearing (of) Galaxie 500 reunion shows knowing that they're not Galaxie 500 and it's not breaking anything by happening.

I'm a fan.

Come ride the fiery breeze…

Posted via email from Supplemental

You like the shoes I wear #22 – Naomi Yang… again

Andy — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:21:19 +0000

Damon & Naomi @ Cafe OTO
originally uploaded by grange85

I’m beginning to think that this series could be saved for Naomi and her footwear – this is her 3rd or 4th appearance (although sadly the pic of her in her wellies has gone astray from flickr).

#22 Naomi Yang – Another lovely pair of boots.

Dean & Britta cover Snowstorm – a sacrilegious opinion

Andy — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:12:57 +0000

Photo by Denim

Last Thursday Dean & Britta performed a set for radio station KCRW‘s show Morning Becomes Eclectic. The set mostly featured tracks from 13 Most Beautiful, but slipped in near the end was a cover of Galaxie 500′s Snowstorm. Now Snowstorm is my favourite song, no question. It entered my life at a very important time and did, to a certain extent, play its part in changing that life. I’d possibly suggest that a week hasn’t gone past since I first heard it that I haven’t listened to it, and all that listening hasn’t diminished its effect on me one drop. No other music comes even close to making me feel the way it does.

So, you’d think that hearing Dean Wareham singing Snowstorm would be something that I’d appreciate, and to be honest so would I. But listening to that performance (and an earlier live performance that appeared on YouTube a few weeks previously) made me feel uncomfortable.

It’s always been hard for me to look at Dean’s work with any sort of objectivity, but that’s never been a problem because, well… it has all been great, there’s frankly nothing there which has cause to question my objectivity! I’m pretty certain I’ve never thought, let alone written down, a single jot of criticism of any of his work. Which is going to make the next couple of paragraphs pretty hard going.

I’ve seen Dean & Britta, and Luna before them (and even Damon & Naomi), perform many Galaxie 500 songs and I’ve never been bothered. In fact mostly I have been overjoyed and have swayed blissfully, happy that I can hear these songs again. But for some reason with Snowstorm all the things that have never bothered me in the past really did bother me, and actually they bothered me quite a lot.

Dean’s voice was good, and I think that might be a crucial point in what made it all sound so wrong. Hearing that familiar voice over that unfamiliar backing. The harsher drum sound, the fuzzier guitar, the more intricate bass line, the keyboards… MOSTLY the keyboards. It never had the other worldly, it never took me to that special place that Snowstorm has always taken me. It wasn’t a song capable of changing a life.

I love Dean & Britta and I love that they’re doing Galaxie 500 numbers, and I even appreciate that my attachment to Snowstorm might be quite unique and therefore I am the only one who finds it bothersome. But I do. I hope to get to see Dean & Britta play (a non 13 Most Beautiful show) in the near future, maybe even one of the Galaxie 500 shows they’ve been doing… but I wonder if they’ll take requests?

You can see Dean & Britta playing Snowstorm on KCRW over at A Head Full of Wishes – it’s quite near the end. But I’d suggest you stay here and watch this instead…

You will passion to watch this “want to savvy” movie

Andy — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 11:35:04 +0000

I have a Google blog search set up to track down bloggers posting about Luna, unfortunately most of what it catches are splogs – which should piss me off but they make me smile so I can’t really hate them too much! Here’s a selection of my faves. Note…

the constant use of Lee Wall (II) which clearly shows that IMDB has been raided for film names.
the mis-use of “passion” in the last one that suggests that a thesaurus has been used for variety.
the spelling throughout that proves that the spammers didn’t bother using a dictionary.

Luna – Tell Me Do You Miss Me also has some exceedingly splendacious photography! The plot line is just positively terrific. The terrifically glorious cast includes Lee Wall (II), Dean Wareham, Britta Phillips, Sean Eden.

If you love watching Lee Wall (II) or Dean Wareham, you are deffinetly going to want to watch Luna – Tell Me Do You Miss Me

I think Lee Wall (II) and Dean Wareham worked wonderful in Luna – Tell Me Do You Miss Me.

The stupendous cast in this movie is eye-opening: Lee Wall (II), Dean Wareham, Britta Phillips, Sean Eden. For certain an award winning work with characters.

A fantastic performance by Lee Wall (II) & Dean Wareham make Luna – Tell Me Do You Miss Me a “ought to mark” movie!

The dazzling cast in this movie is wonderful: Lee Wall (II), Dean Wareham, Britta Phillips, Sean Eden. Honestly an award winning adventure with characters that you can by.

A enigmatic performance by Lee Wall (II) & Dean Wareham make Luna – Tell Me Do You Miss Me a “want to savvy” movie!

The great cast includes Lee Wall (II), Dean Wareham, Britta Phillips, Sean Eden. The movie moves on like a dream and end leaving you wanting for more.

If you love watching Lee Wall (II) or Dean Wareham, you are deffinetly going to passion to watch Luna – Tell Me Do You Miss Me.

The funny thing of course is that it really is a “ought to mark” movie and you certainly will passion it…

Wordle-ing away my Friday afternoon

Andy — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:18:24 +0000

I’ve been having a scary amount of fun with the lovely Wordle -here’s the last month of A Head Full of Wishes as a beautiful tag cloud…

More of my idlings.

How sad am I? #5

Andy — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:46:35 +0000

Damon & Naomi poster
originally uploaded by grange85

Lovely new Damon & Naomi poster = £10
Nice frame for the said poster = £40

How sad am I? The answer is very.

Wikipedia > Britannica because…#2

Andy — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:13:04 +0000

Massachusetts Route 128 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia…

Cultural references
Route 128 has been mentioned in several other rock and roll songs such as “Blue Thunder” by Galaxie 500.

Your search – “route 128″ “galaxie 500″ site:britannica.com – did not match any documents.