Bzangy Groink

Year: 2003

  • Bless Playlist 29/12/2003

    The festive season is still packing them in to the Bless. When I first went in, it took me a few minutes just to get to the DJ booth, it was so packed! Again, a lot of requests for stuff that I’ve played before. This is both good and bad: good because it means people…

  • Screamadelica 23/12/2003

    The night started off slowly but soon picked up and turned out pretty brilliantly in the end. No trouble, good music and loads of people shaking their asses. Yes! Click here for the piccies!

  • George & Gertrude – Why British Gas Was Right To Murder Them

    “The discovery of two pensioners who died weeks after their gas supply was cut off because of an unpaid bill of ?140 led a coroner to call for a review of the law yesterday. George Bates, 89, and his wife Gertrude, 86, were found on 18 October in the living room of the house they…

  • Why You Should Be A Laptop DJ (and how to do it)

    UPDATE! Screen grab from 24/9/08, please see end of post! (This article was originally written in 2003, update at the end!) It’s 3.33am. I should be asleep, tucked up and dreaming of Crimbo pressies. But I’m still up and wired from DJing, which I got back from three hours ago. Like most DJs, I started…

  • Gaddafi – Courageous Statesman or the new Saddam?

    The good news is that, as is apparent from every lowbrow comedy show, Saddam Hussein has been caught and will hopefully be tried for the atrocities he committed. Perhaps then the gassed Kurds, murdered Shiite rebels and other victims of his tyrannical regime will receive some posthumous justice. The bad news is that posthumous justice…

  • Bless Playlist 22/12/2003

    My god! It’s the fullest I’ve seen the Bless in a long time. It was absolutely rammed. Hence, I had to play a lot of requests. In fact, I didn’t manage to play all the requests, there were that many. I had some very lovely people come up asking what I was playing, and requests…

  • Komeda – Kokomemedada (Sonet / Universal 038 499-2)

    What makes a great pop band? Is it an ease with catchy riffs, a lyrical dexterity, an innate understanding of rhythm? Or an effortless blending of all that? Whatever it is, Komeda have got it. They’ve got so much of it, they should start lending the surplus to more disadvantaged groups. The first time I…

  • Terrashima

    First time I’ve seen them in ages and it was a storming gig. Good thing I had my ear plugs in. Click here for the pics!

  • Reveal Xmas Party + Screamadelica

    Bit of a hectic night, trying to see two different gigs in different venues before heading off to Screamadelica. Malc was providing some sterling DJing upstairs at Susumi but I had to leave because it was so bastard smoky. That room is like being shut in a baked bean can with Dot Cotton and 400…

  • Bless Playlist 15/12/2003

    Woah! A very busy night tonight and therefore loads of requests of bands/tracks I’ve played before. But I still managed to fit in a lot of recent new releases. I think this’ll be more of a problem next week when everyone will be in a very Christmassy mood – I don’t want to appear too…

  • Blue Note, Ian DJ’s Last Monday

    Quite a few peeps out tonight, no signs of any pre-Christmas lull here! Click here for the photos!

  • Plans And Apologies at the Rescue Rooms, 12/12/2003

    After a rather impromptu journey, I managed to get to Notingham in time to see Plans play one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen them do. They were relaxed (but not completely pissed out of their heads) and the sound, as always in the Rescue Rooms, was brilliant. I could actually hear lyrics! Yay!…

  • Ele’s Cali Pics

    Click here for pics of sunny San Fran!

  • The Razing Of The Dial

    There’s some building work going on in Derby City Centre. When I say some, I should probably say shitloads. As in enough to continually disrupt the area around Bold Lane/Park Safe Car Park and cause varied outbursts of profanity from drivers and pedestrians. At the corner of all the disruption, lies this: It doesn’t look…

  • First Published Photos

    I’m very chuffed that I’ve had my first commissioned photos published in the January 2004 Sound On Sound. The photos are for the Readerzone feature, they’re of a home studio near Dudley. The next step is to get more commercial photographic work…though how I go about that, I’m not too sure!

  • Flargle

    Just some pics from town today, no big deal. Taken with my little Canon A60. Click here for Full English!

  • Screamadelica 9/12/2003

    Tonight was quiet because of the same pre-Crimbo lull that affected last night. But it was still great. Even though Matt nearly became an amputee thanks to Dan Terrashima. Dave Plans was moaning so I drove him, Mandy and Steve to Burton. I had to pick a night with freezing fog and icy roads, didn’t…

  • Bless Playlist 8/12/2003

    It was a bit emptier than usual tonight – I think it’s the pre-Crimbo lull. But there was still a good amount of people and I had many, many lovely requests. People are asking for stuff that isn’t the standard fare, which is the entire point of the night. I think I’ll have to stop…

  • Oakwood Winter

    Popped out today and made the most of the winter sunshine. Some of the colours out there are wonderful (but very difficult to capture). Click here for the pics!

  • Screamadelica 2/12/2003

    Well, another excellent night! Sian was stressing about it, as usual, but I told her it’s easily the best indie/alternative night out in Derby at the moment. It reminds me of how the Blue Note used to be before loads of meatheads started slamdancing to every fucking record, no matter what it is. The vibe…

  • Bless Playlist 1/12/2003

    Another good night, not as busy as last week but still some very good requests and I saw people getting into Zao and Venetian Snares. I’m sooo enjoying this DJing, every week is different but every week is great fun. Tonight, you heard: Spymob – Half Steering Modest Mouse – Paper Thin Walls cansecos –…

  • Christmassy

    Town today felt Christmassy to me for the first time this year…even though it’s still November! Am I in good cheer or another sucker for the chiming of cash registers? Click here for the pics!

  • It’s A Scream!

    Tuesday night at Scream is now my fave night out in Derby. New music, no violent people and it’s FREE! Click here for the pics.

  • Bless Playlist 24/11/2003

    Very busy tonight and lots of requests, all of them good. Week by week, the night is building slowly with a real mix of people. It’s great to see someone singing along to Refused but also boogieing to Tha Alkaholiks 🙂 You have been listening to… 293,Kante – Die Summe der einzelnen Teile 183,Minus The…

  • Stop Bush!

    Well, what an amazing and exhausting day! Keyvan met me off the Derby train at 12.30 and we headed over to the march start area on Malet Street. I wanted to get there early so I could grab some food before the march… …but when we got there, people were already congregating, as you can…

  • Stop Bush

    I nicked this from the Common Dreams site but it’s actually from The Center For American Progress. I was going to write my own rant about Bush’s nauseating speech today, but the quote below says it all. CLAIM: “The tradition of free speech exercised with enthusiasm is alive and well here in London. We have…

  • Bless Playlist 17-11-2003

    Another good week this week. I got some very cool requests – The Cardiacs, no less! I played a handful of repeats this week from last week but as they’re all brand-new tracks, I’m not that arsed. I managed to stay clear of Mars Volta, Nas and Death Cab (I like all those artists, but…

  • Jet Plane Landing, IOAA, Fixit Kid

    A good turnout at the Vic and mad performances from all of the bands. JPL were very friendly and down-to-earth, completely non-rock-starry. I wish there were more bands around like that. Sadly, I had to leave before the end of their gig but what I heard was very cool. Click here for the pics!

  • Bless Playlist 10-11-2003

    I managed to cram in a lot of very new tracks this week. A lot of these are free downloads from the excellent Pitchfork and some of them are off the free CDs that come with CMJ New Music Monthly, one of my fave music mags. The early part of the evening was the best…

  • Komakino @ The Vic

    Even though I missed half the set due to gig time confusions, I saw Komakino perform four great songs. And even though the band all thought they sounded cack, they actually sounded excellent. Taut, aggressive and very focused. Click HERE for the pics.

  • Bless Playlist 3-11-2003

    I had a better night tonight than last week because I didn’t play as many repeats, only two, I think. My god, Mars Volta are popular at the moment! ‘Watch This’ off the new Swollen Members album went down very well too. I’m hoping it’s going to be their big pop crossover, like the Black…

  • Plans Revealed!

    Popped down to Reveal today and got some good shots of popular beat combo Plans and Apologies. The best bit was getting them to lie on broken glass and barbed wire. The fools! Actually, the best bit was the karate kickdown at the end but I’ve not posted those pics up seeing as this is…

  • Tom Hurndall

    I found an article tonight, after I got back from clubbing. It was near the bottom of The Independent’s website. I checked all the other news websites but didn’t find it reported elsewhere. Nor has it been on any TV news I’ve seen in the past two hours. Here’s an excerpt from the article: “A…

  • Bless Playlist 27-10-2003

    Hmmm…bit of a weird night tonight. First, I got loads of requests for stuff I played last week. Which is good, cos it means people are enjoying it but I don’t really want to play the same songs every week. The playlist looks a bit samey to me because of that. I do like Throwdown…

  • The Fly

    I was testing out a new extension tube when this handsome beastie landed right in front of me. Amazingly, considering the minimal DOF and handheld nature of the shots, I got sharp photos of his/her hairy beauty. The last shot is a crop and hence noisier and fuzzier. Click here for fly action

  • George Galloway – Expelled For Telling The Truth

    George Galloway joined the Labour Party at the age of thirteen. He has fought for the principles of Labour for 36 years. Today he was expelled from the Labour Party. Why? There were five charges levelled at Galloway, here’s the main one: ‘The Labour party chairman, Ian McCartney, said: “The NCC is a body that…

  • Bless Playlist 20-10-2003

    I was very pleased with the turnout and response tonight. Instead of getting normal requests for mainstream chart stuff like The Strokes or The White Stripes, I got requests from one lad for Ugly Casanova and Modest Mouse. I also chatted to a girl in the Blue Note afterwards who said she loved the night…

  • Macros & Lightpainting

    I mucked about with some painting with light tonight. It’s a lot of fun but most of the results aren’t worth posting up. It’d probably look a lot prettier with sparklers rather than a torch too. Maybe next time! Click here for photies

  • Autumn Colours

    There’s been some beautiful sunshine lately. Although it’s getting colder, the light has been very clear, making the colours of autumn shine. I like trying to couple these colours with a bright, blue, almost summery looking sky. The general russetness also suited a quick snap of my mate Martin who popped round, since he’s generally…

  • DJing at the Bless!

    I’m currently DJing every Monday evening at the Blessington Carriage Pub in Derby. I’m on from 9.30 – 11.30 and play a varied set. My general rule of thumb is that I don’t play anything currently in the charts. I also try to steer clear of tracks that are (over)played in other venues. Basically, I…

  • Bless Playlist 13/10/2003

    266,Slum Village – Tainted 230,Weakerthans – Anchorless 142,Magnetic Fields – I Don’t Want to Get Over You 296,The Pharcyde – Runnin’ 254,Billy Talent – Try Honesty 277,Ladytron – seventeen 347,Towa Tei – Technova (La Em Copacabana) 75,Man Or Astro Man- – Green-Blooded Love 174,Lemonheads, The – Hospital 215,Thursday – I Am The Killer 194,EPMD –…

  • Smoking – The Essence of Capitalism

    I’m watching the suave, dapper figure of Martin Broughton, Chairman of British American Tobacco (BAT). He’s speaking on The Money Programme, covering the resurgence of the tobacco industry. His smooth, plummy tones perfectly suit a top gangster, someone who’s helped addict millions of people to the most harmful drug in the world. Capone and Siegel…

  • The Million Faces Arms Trade Petition

    Click here: Million Faces to join the Million Faces petition. It’s a campaign that’s jointly organised by Amnesty International, IANSA and Oxfam. Here’s what the petition is all about: “What is the Million Faces Petition? The ?Million Faces? petition is a new way of campaigning. Our aim is to collect one million photos and self-portraits…

  • Joining The Asthma Club

    Last night I didn’t sleep. I went to bed after a perfectly normal day. As I lay in bed, I noticed I couldn’t breathe very easily. It felt like there was a lead weight on my chest. I thought I must be imagining it and turned over to get some kip. But I couldn’t. I…

  • Bless Playlist 6/10/2003

    03_The unknown_Mark B and Blade_The Unknown.mp3 Saves The Day – Stay What You Are – 10 – Freakish.mp3 03_Code Of The Streets_Gang Starr_Hard To Earn.mp3 At The Drive In – Pattern Against User.mp3 08_Linda Lyndell – What A Man_Various Artists_Super Breaks.mp3 American Football – For Sure.mp3 03 – Return of the Tres – Delinquent Habits…

  • Bereaved Father Labels Blair “War Criminal”

    Here’s another bump in the road for our glorious leader: the families of service men killed in his little game don’t want him to attend the memorial service. In the Independent today, Severin Carrell reports that, Mr Green [the father of helicopter pilot Philip Green, killed in action]admitted he felt highly emotional about Mr Blair’s…

  • An American Writes

    The below letter is taken from Salt Lake Tribune. As great and good as the UK anti-war movement is, I’m dismayed that I’ve seen some evidence of a racist anti-American streak in some protestors. Too often the US people are confused with their rogue government. We need to build an internationalist perspective, not fall into…

  • Hooker, Beats Capri and Selina Kyle

    This was a gig organised by the Ponce peeps at The Vic and they did a bloody good job. All three bands played excellent sets which were complementary without being at all similar. Selina Kyle wowed me with their badass cat-rapping and slinky see-through nighties. Mmmmm… fleshy! And that’s just Alex. Rippling muscles on that…

  • September 27th Anti-War Demo

    Today I went on another anti-war protest in London. This time, it was also protesting the illegal occupation of Iraq by USK forces. Click here for pics. Typically, the media coverage was poor to nonexistent. Sky News gave the most time. BBC News at 10 didn’t even mention the demo once. Apparently, tens of thousands…

  • Oakwood Late September

    It was turning a bit nippy but the sunshine was still wonderful. Autumn’s on it’s way… : Clicky