Team Neon is off to hit the dancefloors of Elephant and Castle tonight and we’re bloody excited! It may not be Miami, but there’s going to be more tunes than a doctor’s waiting room during a man flu outbreak! Coronet here we come! Keep an eye out for us getting down to Justice, Boys Noize, Bloody Beetroots…

Happy new year!

NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS news

That’s totally like me shouting the word “News” in a cave. Nick Cave. Ouch.

Luminescence

The EP is in the big bad world, so you can stop reading all about how it’s almost finished. Ha! It’s available from more places than I even know, I keep finding new ones. Some of those include Amazon, iTunes, Indiestore, Amie Street and a bunch of others like Napster and Myspace Music and Rhapsody too. If that’s not enough for you then I HATE YOU. If it is then we can still be friends. Those who like their music physically can buy the CD too. It’s well class and has a bunch of thank yous in the liner notes to the people who’ve helped us along the way. If your name is on that list, you can OFFISHULLEE ask for a hug next time you see one of us and not only receive it, but it can last as long as YOU want it to. Amazing. You have to instigate the end of the hug otherwise, we’ll just live our lives like conjoined twins. Sexy conjoined twins. How niche!

Totally Enormous Gig On Saturday @ 93 Feet East

We are so collectively excited about Saturdays gig supporting Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs that we smear ourselves with baby oil hourly in order to distract us from the impending joy. Smooth. It’s gonna be so good, that we thought we’d get some quotes from famous people because you bloodsuckers love celebrities, dunnewe?

Graham Gooch: “Awes”.

Charlie Brooker: “Wick”.

Flavaadit Gambatron: “You don’t even know who I am”.

Get your tickets for cheaperer here at wegottickets.com else you run the risk of not getting in and looking like a total fool. No hug for you. We advise males to turn up topless and buy one of our t-shirts when they arrive so they can look better than their friends. We would advise this to both genders but we made a mistake and didn’t get any female t-shirts printed. Our bad. We will soon though, yeah?

People writing things about us

I could rewrite all the nice things we’ve had written about us lately here, but I’m not a man that believes in effort duplication. Also, my love has got no money, he’s got his strong beliefs. It’s all on our website at http://www.neonhighwire.com alongside incredible insights into popular culture from everyone but Jim. Not that Jim’s taking some sort of rebellious stance against posting anything up there, it’s just Jim. Jim Jim Jim. Jimmer. Jim.

Top ten albums of the last decade

Those who can’t get enough of lists may have noticed our top ten albums of the decade lists on the website in the run up to NYE. As usual, Steve’s is best. Aaaaah, where’s your comeback now Jim? Exactly, it’s physically impossible for you to come back because I’m typing this on a keyboard. WIN!

Read Jimlist here.

Read Lukelist here.

Read Stevelist (am best) here.

You know your favourite part of the email is the list of upcoming shows, don’t even try to deny it:

Saturday 16th January 2010

THE PLAYGROUND (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Nova, Citadels, Dan Mckie, Andy Boph, Neon Highwire, Fish Don’t Dance DJs, Marc Ustari, Miss Miranda- Burlesque, Adam Analogue, 3 Sh!t DJs & Straightola)

93 Feet East, 150 Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL

Tickets; Facebook; Last.FM

Friday 12th February 2010

No Fiction (Raven Beats Crow & Neon Highwire)

Power’s Acoustic Room, 332 Kilburn High Road, Kilburn, London, NW6 2QN

Facebook; Last.FM

Wednesday 17th March 2010

Glasswerk (Artefacts For Space Travel & Neon Highwire & TBC)

93 Feet East, 150 Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL

Facebook; Last.FM

Friday 16th April 2010

Glasswerk (Neon Highwire & TBC)

Rhythm Factory, Ground Floor, 16-18 Whitechapel Road, London, E1 1EW

Facebook; Last.FM

I can’t believe no-one saw us,

Steve.

http://www.neonhighwire.com

http://www.myspace.com/neonhighwire

http://www.facebook.com/neonhighwire

http://twitter.com/neonhighwire

http://last.fm/music/neon+highwire

It’s been a motherfreaking long wait, but Luminescence is at the printers RIGHT NOW.  We’ve finalised the artwork, and they’ve declared it officially ready to roll.  Should be in the shops very, very, very soon!  Pre-order your copy on amazon here and who knows – we may even make a follow-up

I can’t actually feel my feet. Not because i’m so “cool and off my tits on heroin” like Pete Cockerty, or because I’ve been hiking to mars for chArity like Ben Fogle, but because I’m in MY OWN HOUSE. This is not good.
I demand that Robert Kilroy Silk does something about this immediately or take his own life: I need some sunshine one way or another.

The Mars Volta – Deloused In The Comatorium

Death From Above 1979 – You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine

Justice – Cross

Hot Chip – The Warning

Errors – It’s Not Something But It Is Like Whatever

Foals – Antidotes

65 Days of Static – The Fall Of Math

System of a Down – Toxicity

Queens of the Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf

Aereogramme – A Story In White

I realised that basically you could do two types of list – one with those albums you worshiped most at the time and couldn’t stop playing, and one with those that you still love today and prove to have shaped how you think and feel about music. As I guess no-one including me is interested in what I thought five years ago, this list is what I think is greatest after all has been and gone in the last decade…..therefore no Hundred Reasons….!

1. Queens of the Stone Age – Rated R

2. Subtle – For Hero: For Fool

3. Meet Me in St. Louis – Variations on Swing

4. Radiohead – Hail to the Thief

5. Shadow Dancer – Golden Traxe

6. Mogwai – Happy Songs for Happy People

7. 65daysofstatic – The Fall of Math

8. Soulwax – Any Minute Now

9. Digitalism – Idealism

10. Death From Above 1979 – You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine

Reserve List – Sonic Youth / Tool / Boys Noize

Over the next three days, we’re each going to be publishing our favourite albums of the last ten years.  This is my list.

Death From Above 1979 – You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine (2004)

Why? – Elephant Eyelash (2005)

Future Of The Left – Curses (2007)

Ted Leo / Pharmacists – Hearts Of Oak (2003)

Spoon – Kill The Moonlight (2002)

Menomena – I Am The Fun Blame Monster! (2003)

Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (2007)

Postal Service – Give Up (2003)

Hot Chip – The Warning (2006)

The Mae Shi – Hllyh (2008)

Although it shames me to say it and although I do my best to hide it, at heart I’m a total fanboy.  Much to the amusement of those who’ve had the opportunity to witness it first hand, when I meet certain people who I have a great respect for words fail me and I often resort to an endless tirade of compliments and obscure references that prove I know more about them than your average Joe.  I’m not proud of it, and keep trying to change my actions on the odd occasion where it becomes an issue, but yet I don’t know what else to say.  To Stephen Malkmus in Cardiff, I’m sorry I chastised you for not playing an obscure b-side to a badly attended gig.  To Ian MacKaye in Newport, I’m sorry for implying that you weren’t voting in the US elections that day by being outside of the US.  Most recently to Kelson Mathias, I’m sorry for trapping you in a conversation discussing why Ted Leo isn’t more successful than he currently is and should be.

Speaking of Ted Leo, an early Xmas present arrived yesterday when I found out that he’s playing in Brixton in less than two weeks time.  I bought myself a ticket without hesitation before checking out the further details on The Windmill Brixton’s website.  Surprisingly, there wasn’t much fanfare about Mr Leo playing the little friendly venue where I’ve had the pleasure to see Clem Snide, The Rumble Strips and Cymbals Eat Guitars amongst others, merely the words “Solo show from the mighty leader of The Pharmacists” and little more.  A scan a couple of lines down the page though and I saw something which sent adrenaline through my body and also let a little wee out.  “*Ted Leo *Gold Future Joy Machine *tbc”.  TBC?  Wait a second.  I’m in a band.  I live in Brixton.  Ted motherfucking Leo?  Before I could stop myself, I began constructing a lengthy email pleading with the venue to allow Neon Highwire to be that TBC.  Sure we sound very little alike, but a brief listen to Gold Future Joy Machine revealed that neither do they (if anything, they sound more like us).  Call it pathetic, call it wishful thinking, call it whatever you want but nothing you could call it stopped me writing to them.  I wish I could say this is the first time I’d done something like this, but I confess that a similar email to Club Fandango about a year ago regarding the incredible Future Of The Left that remained heart-breakingly unanswered (though I had a good time regardless).

I recall the effect Hearts Of Oak had when I was stuck in a rut living in Bridgend working a dead-end job.  When Ted announced a UK tour, I travelled up to London on two consecutive weekends to catch the shows.  It cost more money than I really should have spent, but for Ted Leo, it was worth it.  It was enough to snap me out of my haze and move to London to stay on my brothers floor, regardless of whether I had a job or not.  It was one of the best decisions I made.

With less than two weeks to go, and despite the fact that we’re in dire need of a break following intense recording, writing, gigging and mixing (not to mention our tragic jobs) lately, this wouldn’t just be the greatest Xmas present I’d ever receive.  This would render 2010 a moot point.  What is a boy to do?

In the slightly bastardised words of Steve Albini “Tim Perry, can ya hear me now?”

A massive thankyou to all of you who came along to the gig at the Old Blue Last last night night, we had a great time and hope you did too.  Ignug, Tiny Islands and Cold in Berlin were all fantastic and it was all in all a top drawer evening!

Here’s some trivia for you:  at just 13.76 secs, last night’s sound check was officially the shortest we’ve ever completed.  Damn we’re efficient!

Thanks again and see you next year!

So Speech Debelle seems to be doing her level best to ruin her career by putting the blame on poor sales of her debut album squarely on Big Dada’s shoulders.  With this and her atrocious cover of Pray by Take That getting her booed off the stage at the Take That Singstar launch and now getting more publicity than it deserves puts her in an unenviable position right now.  The BBC news article implies that the upset from the crowd led from the fact that “Debelle chose to rap her way through the 1993 hit single Pray”. Based on this, I decided to watch the video wondering what year it is when a crowd gets raucous based on the vocal stylings of a performer alone. After watching it, I realised the wording was entirely misleading. The crowd aren’t upset because she’s rapping, they’re upset because it’s awful. She half sings, half talks in an awkwardly rhythmically faithful rendition of the original that’s closer to William Shatner than any more obvious frame of reference. Nice one BBC, give the article an unnecessary provocative spin just to boost the readership.

However, this was nothing compared to the childish, needy, bullying James Corden decided to dish out afterwards. If there’s anyone less worthy of people’s praise, it’s James Corden. Faced with a crowd full of people booing, and evidently upset at the treatment of their beloved Take That song (fucking idiots in the first place then), he kicks off with “That was shit”. Wow, brave words big man. “LOL I CAN’T BELIEVE HE HAD THE BALLS TO SAY THAT!”. Debelle did herself no favours agreeing to perform at this event with an obvious disdain for the people the event was being held in aid of, but by the time Corden pulls out his “rapping is easy” stunt, thankfully drowned out beyond the first sentence by the caught-in-the-moment crowd, I have to do everything in my power to want to destroy the monitor in front of me. They’re not cheap you know.

Here’s another example of the shit baiting the crowd, devoid of personality and desperately craving the attention and the approval of others and willing to say anything to achieve it.  I watch as the video camera gets closer to his punchable grin hoping the camera man will lose all resolve and start beating him to unconsciousness poetically with the camera he’s always craved. No matter how many views, it never happens.

I’ll grant you that the first series of Gavin And Stacey was pretty good and well executed, but the second series just tread water and that Christmas special was like watching paint dry. If they wanted to capture the awkward boringness of Christmas without children to distract you, they did it.  It was inevitable there’d be a third series, it’s the only thing he’s done that isn’t a stain on mankind and he’s running out of options.  I watched a few minutes of his humour vacuum sketch show and have no desire to watch Lesbian Vampire Killers where I hear they put more effort into the attention grabbing title than the film itself.

Stop it James, please.