Popaganda Festival Date Confirmed
Monday 2nd May 2011

Tokyo DJ Set
Wednesday 4th May 2011

Voice Yr Choice Vid & Live Clip
Saturday 7th May 2011

Some ace footage of T.O.R.N.A.D.O. filmed at Joy Eslava in Madrid earlier this year here, unearthed thanks to Mike Courteau  - plus  the brand new video for Voice Yr Choice here.

And happy birthday Kaori :0)

Mercury Prizing
Tuesday 10th May 2011

I've never been a betting man - there's far better vices to throw away your cash on (The Go! Team for example), but with entries closing for the Mercury Prize on the 20th of May, and the shortlist of nominated albums due to be announced mid July, I was curious to see whether a certain album had any odds going for it - and it has! Ladbrokes has published a list of 36 potential nominees and I was chuffed to see Rolling Blackouts on it at 40/1. Given the fact that - well, you know - it's a bit good, at those odds I'm tempted to stick a monkey on it. And quite possibly my house. Check out the full Ladbrokes list here and the official Mercury Prize site here.        

Live Photos
Wednesday 11th May 2011

A few sets of great live photos posted recently - firstly a couple of batches  on Flickr courtesy of invadercee taken at the Corner Hotel, Melbourne yesterday (including the above shot) here and an outstanding collection by @Kmeron here - plus a bunch from the band's Echoplex gig in LA last month here.   

Black Likes '8' Track
Friday 13th May 2011

Putting aside his crimes against cinema for a second, it does seem that Jack Black has reasonably good taste in music (better than my puns at least). Skip to 3.10 to avoid Take That.

Go! Team Rarities Japan Charity Auction
Sunday 15th May 2011

The Go! Team start their Japanese tour this week on Tuesday (17 May) in Nagoya. Despite the reduction in news coverage of the sad events of March, the need for support in Japan remains. You can still donate to the Red Cross by clicking the link at the top of this page. To add a contribution to this, I've put up a collection of four rare Go! Team items for auction on eBay. All the money from the winning bid will be donated  to the Red Cross. The auction is for the following items:

Buy Nothing Day 7" - UK orange vinyl (limited edition 500 copies) fully signed by all members of the band

Apollo Throwdown/Voice Yr Choice Remixes 12" blue vinyl - Record Store Day 12" (limited edition 500 copies)

The Longcut - A Tried and Tested Method (Go! Team Remix) 12"  limited edition red vinyl

Proof Of Youth - limited edition double US CD on Sub Pop

All vinyl is in mint/unplayed condition. The starting bid for all four items is £25 and the auction ends next Sunday (22 May). There's a link to the eBay listing here. Please bid for a very worthwhile cause and some great music!

Cheers, Pooh. 

Charity Auction/Site Updates
Friday 20th May 2011

A big thank you to those people who have bid, so far, on the Go! Team rarities up for grabs on eBay for the Red Cross Japan Tsunami charity. The auction ends on Sunday - please check it out and bid if you can here. Cheers.

A few updates to the site to mention - firstly there's a bunch more interviews added to the appropriate page here - and I've been slowly tracking down a few more compilations including the Amazon/Tribe CD and promo, the Mercury Music Awards 2005 CD and a Whip IT OST promo CD, all with scans viewable by clicking the sleeves. Check them out here.

And today marks the end of the band's Rolling Blackouts world tour with their final show, in Tokyo, completed around seven hours ago. The band will now be kicking off four months' worth of festivals starting in June - check out the dates on the right hand side of this page.

Additional Item Added to Auction
Saturday 21st May 2011

In sorting through my Go! Team stuff I've somehow ended up with two copies of the 13 track US CD reissue-version of Thunder, Lightning, Strike released on Columbia records in 2005 - so I'm adding it into the charity auction (see below). Chances are if you're a Go! Team fan you've already got it but - hey - why not give it to someone who hasn't. They'll thank you for it!   

eBay Auction - Thanks
Monday 23rd May 2011

Many thanks to everyone who bid on the Go! Team rarities auction on eBay and particularly to the winning bidder, a chap named Nick, who in doing so raised £36 for the Red Cross Japan Tsunami appeal.

I know eBay is a big-old money-making organisation - but hats off to them for making charity auctions so easy to set up and, in this case, free (no listing or final  value fees). Plus they enable you to donate adding the HM Revenue's Gift Aid process by which an extra 28% is added to your donation, free of charge. So in fact Nick actually raised a total of £46.08. Well done chap! 

I was unable to attend the 'We ♥ Japan' benefit event in April (which Kaori from The Go! Team DJ'd at) and have wanted to donate to the charity also. So in addition to Nick's generous bidding I've added £25 (the original starting bid price for the items) which will receive the Red Cross' 25% Gift Aid uplift, bringing the total raised to £77.33. 

If you want to donate, please hit the link at the top this  page - and, if you're a UK tax payer, please remember to tick the Gift Aid box. Surely one of the government's more sensible ideas!

Thanks all :0)

Tri Again
Wednesday 25th May 2011

The Kaiko-Moo Studios video for Super Triangle is back up on-line. This first appeared back in October last year and is different from the James Slater directed version, not only in appearance (obviously) but also in the track itself. This version of ST differs from the one released on Rolling Blackouts, most notably in the lack of electronic/keyboard 'washes' from around one minute onwards, plus the missing opening strum and added projector sounds at the beginning and end of the track. Sweet little video - check it out here (click the patterned screen when it appears to play it).

The Chris O>Matic Show
Saturday 28th May 2011

The Chris O>Matic Show is a one hour internet TV show that runs out of New Jersey live every Monday night at 7pm US east coast time (12 midnight in the UK). The show comprises of music videos, retro/archive TV clips and general studio craziness which each week includes a guest involved,  in some way or another, in the music industry in a 'DIY' capacity. Chris Mariano, the main man who puts the whole thing together, has kindly asked me to be the guest on this week's show (Monday 30th May), to talk about The Go! Team and this fansite plus other music related stuff. To say I was surprised and honoured to be asked is an understatement. The show, and  re-runs of it, are viewable via the show's website here (so for UK folks you won't have to stay up late to hear us discussing the virtues of early Stereolab records). All I have to do now is pray that my webcam behaves itself and possibly have a shave. See you on Monday...

O>Matic Interview
Tuesday 31st May 2011

Yep - that was me. Thanks very much to Chris O>Matic for having me on as a guest on his show. It was really fun and Chris was a very fine host. You can watch the whole show (and future ones) here (I'm on at about 4.30 on this one). There was also a 15 minute piece that went out live after the show where Chris and I took questions from viewers and discussed The Go! Team, Crass, The Smiths and.. erm The Beautiful South, which wasn't part of the recorded show but was great fun too. Hats off to Chris for putting together such an imaginative project and I wish him all the best for future broadcasts.