The Mekano Set

Hello you.

What can we do you for?

We have a new PodCast which you can find in the extras section. If that's your thing...

There's also a new piece of music in the mp3 section.

I have been playing around with Logic 7, which is quite a posh new piece of software for recording musics onto a 'computer'. Normally we use a version which was made some time during the last century. I haven't quite decided if it's going to be more or less useful than the antique version. Certainly it looks a whole lot nicer, but that's not really the point is it?

I try not to get too swayed by newness. And I'm finding myself increasingly disappointed with computers. And by 'disappointed' what I actually mean is "really quite 4ucked off".

New doesn't necessarily mean improved. In recent years Apple seem to have gotten into the habit of releasing new gear that looks like the future but behaves like an antique clock. Instead of perfecting one thing, they keep going off at tangents. That's {music} technology all over. A box that does a lot of things badly is often seen as more of a bargain than a box that does one thing well.

What else have I done wrong? I have 'the flu' and feel crumpled and slow like a geriatric mugwump. But I did manage to start a couple of new ideas over the weekend. Inner-octaves.

Al has a myspace space. The first time I ever performed in public was alongside Al. We both wore pajamas.

The harsh reality of harsh reality... or the escapist fantasy of escapist fantasy....


The Mekano Set

Last eve we took to the stage at Pleasure Unit again. Thank you loads for coming - if you did! It was a lot of fun. For us at least. But you seemed to be enjoying yourselves anyway.

Tonight we went around to B'Lo in Brighton to see Oom who sounded really tight and really big. Some label is bound to snap them up at any moment if they haven't done already. An interesting mix of American style rock with more gentle, dreamy pop moments in the vocals and synths. They are so much more organized than us, so much more like a proper band. And they've got proper equipment - Saint pointed out how they don't use quite so many school bags and cardboard boxes as we do. Ace.

We don't have any definite gigs lined up at the moment so we're going to spend some time getting some new pieces finished. September PodCast on the way, plus some more unusual goodies.

Missing Curve. Looking forward to Kate's return.

Now I sleep.

The Mekano Set

Kate Bush is back. It's the first day of autumn. Kate Bush is back. We're on our way up to London Village in a bit to play @ The Pleasure Unit in Bethnal Green. And Kate Bush is back.

xThe Mekano Setx

One too many late nights this week meant I've been wandering around in a state of semi-wakefulness more than usual. So what's been occurring then?

The Engine Room gig was a lot of fun. It turned out to be a wicked venue really, a good size, nice and run-down in a kind of 1981 goth / new wave stylee. That post-punk mix of glamour and grime. And a really attentive crowd.

Headliners The Flesh Happening blended scatalogical obsession, Bauhaus / Bowie / Tom Waits theatrics, and shouting in a voice somewhere between South Park and Pauly Shore {the stoned one in California Man}. Doll and Kicks were equally glam - a kind of indie / Zero's Transvision Vamp. We were probably quite oddly 'mature' and chilled in comparison - there's a first!

Scary Cathy handed out badges. Saint wore a suit and I think he enjoyed himself more than he did at Concorde 2? His bass throbbed and pulsed nicely. He was shiny. Beth had lovely hair. Perhaps she had washed it in a stream. Shiny hair. She also sang really well and played a new guitar part during DHJ that consisted of pulling on the strings of a guitar until they all snapped off.

I managed to fix my live-sampley effects pedal so probably sounded even more confusing than usual. And I felt a bit over-dressed but I didn't feel at all nervous and there was some nice post-gig hanging out with the mekanoids.

We're playing in London @ The Pleasure Unit Bar next wednesday.

What else?

This is the blog of my old friend Chris. He writes very well, drinks like he's really thirsty, he's a natural 'character' and is completely nuts.

This is the blog that my mate Al {the man behind the August Podcast's version of the cowboy song 'Life Gets Tedious'} is using to publish chapters of the story he has written.

Details just in for thursday's gig @ Engine Room Club. We're on @ 9.30 pm. Other bands include 'The Flesh Happening' and 'Doll and Kicks'. It costs £4.

The Mekano Set

We played Concorde 2 last night. Thanks loads to everyone who came along - it was especially nice to see Nige and Poggy hanging over the security barrier.

What a wicked venue - according to the lift attendant {yeah - they've got a lift, and a lift attendant, I know!} it was originally a Victorian tea room. Great stuff. A touch of Art Nouveau remains in the high windows. A view of the sea, it's literally right on the beach.

The stage looks ace, great lighting, strobes, dry ice, the works. There was a mixed reaction to the sound though - all the acts seemed to suffer from low vocals.

Final Sounds were up first. Apparently their demo sounded like Kraftwerk. Their first song was a delicious mix of shimmering synth pulse, understated guitar, DMXy drum machine and echoing vocals that all came together to remind me of early Cocteau Twins stuff. Excellent. I could have listened to this stuff all night, but they didn't follow up on it, and the rest of their set was much more conventional indie-guitar stuff. The first thing I did this morning was email them to find out how they got the vocal sound!

Fat Habit were next: one guy encircled by laptops and synths, a live mix of slick ragga / housey grooves, later joined by a live vocalist, a girl in a dress. It would have been nice to see a live toaster / m.c. as well. The venue was still virtually empty at this point and it can't be much fun to play dance music when there's no one dancing. Saying that, I love listening to dance music at home, I'd rather dance to some good old fashioned {'dodgy'} new wave stuff. Play me Teenage Kicks, Love Will Tear Us Apart, Love Like Blood and Blue Monday and I'm a happy pogoing indie-teen all over again.

Then we were on. It was great to play somewhere with a decent sized stage. The sound was a bit chaotic to start with - there wasn't time for a real soundcheck, and there was so much bass end on stage that Patrick turned off all his fx for most of the set. I had a really good time but I think we'd have all enjoyed it a bit more with a longer set, say maybe three or four hours...

I actually don't mind when things are a bit wild - at least it shows people we're not miming.

ObedientBone spliced drum n bass grooves with live female vocals, a live bassist who wouldn't have looked out of place jamming with Patti Smith or Television, noisey analog synths and metal guitar chords. I've always had a real soft spot for drum n bass, even when it's used to present relatively conventional songs. I'd have liked to have seen more of their set but we were busy calming down and saying hellos. Hopefully their web site will reveal more when it's up and running again.

It's all making me really look forward to playing The Engine Rooms next week anyway.

The Mekano Set

Hello sunday evening people.

Well, tonight we hoover and snooze, but tomorrow night we are performing @ Concorde 2 in Brighton. It's a night of free, unadulterated 'beats and bass' driven musics and it costs no pounds to get in. It will be intense, unusual fun I hope. Certainly it seems like we'll be the most 'rock' act on the bill, now there's a first!

If that all sounds a bit too 'yoof' you could still go out and see Stephen from Blanket performing @ The Albert's Bleeding Hearts night. We've been, it is lovely. It is 'intimate' and everyone is always nicely turned out - we always look like the scruffy, under-dressed ones.

Unplugged usually means 'instruments that look like they're acoustic but are still plugged into effects, amps, mixers etc.' but half of the time the Bleeding Hearts acts perform without even a single mic.

Sweaty dreams,

xXThe Mekano SetXx