I know that I’m a bit late picking up on this, better late than never though. Today I finally got round to buying the wonderful “Thunder, Lightning, Strike” album by The Go! Team.

A few people, notably my former Imperial colleague RLF had been telling me what good thing it was, boy are they right. It’s a brilliant collision of sounds, reminiscent of The Avalanches, but with a much harder edge. Really punchy rhythms, combine with frenetic guitar playing, great samples and old school rap to make this record a party all on it’s own.

No sign of any live dates from them in this neck of the woods at the moment, they have built up a great reputation for their live work, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they make it here soon.

Whilst I was out and about, I made another fine purchase and it only cost me 16p! During our last Sunday league match, I lost one of my screw-in studs, from the base of my boot. The heydays of the independent sports shop are long gone and I was worried that I might not be able to pick up a new one. Most places which sell football boots these days, don’t exactly stock a full range of sporting goods, being more interested in selling training shoes to people who’s idea of good workout is the walk from the fridge to the sofa. So, I was delighted to find that the sports shop in Clifton Down, did indeed sell individual studs. In fact they even had a range to choose from and best of all it was only 16p. What else could I buy for such a small sum of money, which could be so useful?

In all the Tom Waits excitement, I forgot to say how amazing Joanna Newsome was at her recent Cube gig. A stunning performance, with THAT voice and her beautiful harp playing bringing a capacity crowd to a level of hushed intensity which is seldom seen. My only slight gripe was that as I was sitting stage left, quite near the front, I had to watch her, through the harp. Which was rather like watching a football match through fencing, which of course we had to do, back in the 1980’s. Still, her exquisite performance was head and shoulders above most of the games I remember from that period.