The George Lite Zone

In case of Sonos attack on your district, follow these rules. If you are making love remain in the shelter and use your Sonos remote to stream Hawkwind to your nearest media player. Do not panic. Try to get as close to the sonic source as possible. It's good shit! Remember, if others make requests for music, play more Hawkwind via the Sonos control on your iPhone. Think only of yourself. Yourself... With my CD collection just about re-ripped and residing on a 2TB Apple Time Capsule, I was looking for a means of streaming the music round the house. After exhaustive trawling of the web I came across Sonos and decided to invest in a starter pack. This consisted of 3 peces of kit. The ZP90, pctured above, was connected to my router via an ethernet cable, and my amp using a digital audio cable. Connecting digitally meant that the DAC on my Arcam amp was used, which improves the sound quality considerably, if I want to upgrade further at some point then a seperate DAC could be used. A...

The last time I saw J Tillman was at AB supporting his other band The Fleet Foxes. On that occaision he played to a packed concert hall, tonight he played a far more intimate venue, Botanique's Rotonde, to a crowd of around 80. At the AB he played alone, this time he fronted a 5 piece, electric guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and Joshua on rhythm guitar and vocals. And great vocals they were too. This was good stuff, reminiscent at times of Mike Nesmith in his prime and, when they opened up, of the free flowing space rock of Hawkwind in full flight. On some numbers, they had the sort of manic intensity of the Bad Seeds with gongs banged, recorders blown and heads well and truly banged. After the electric mayhem that ensued, the set concluded with Josh returning to the stage and encoring solo with two acoustic numbers. Haunting.

Botanique, saturday night and the anticipation of another cracking nights musical entertainment. First out of the blocks the highly experimental tUnE yArDs. Singer Merill Garbus accompanied by a single guitarist wove together a web of time delayed drums, vocals and ukulele playing that defied belief. If she could have travelled back in time multiple times to provide a one woman chorus and rhythm section with herself it would have sounded a lot like this. Add in a cracking vocal range, at time soulful, bluesy and out and out playful, and you've got a unique and highly enjoyable act. I'm listening to their album BiRd BrAiNs now it's an excellent, if a bit bizarre, listen too. After the last reverbed echo's of Merill's vocals finally faded, on came support number two, a Canadian band called Sunset Rubdown. Fronted by keyboardist Spencer Krug, they hail from Montreal and got the crowd rocking along nicely prior to the main event. Their latest album is called Dragonslaye...

Car free Sunday in Brussels. The streets are filled with cyclists, rollerbladers and horse riding dogs. Only in Belgium...

Rammstein. Pussy. Classic. Watch the premier of the new video before it gets banned! http://www.visit-x.net/rammstein/

Here I am sitting listening to the excellent Brooklyn based band Dirty Projectors latest album, Bitte Orca and looking forward to their gig at Botanique tomorrow night. I'll post a review of the gig on the Zone at some stage over the weekend. In the meantime, here's the video to a track from their new album, Stillness Is A Move. You just gotta love a video with a Llama.

The above footage was shot by your intrepid reporter in Cafe Nero in Perth yesterday, and is brought to you by the wonders of iPhone. I think this crazy bird fancies a cup of java and a muffin. Does that make it a mocha'ing bird?

I just read Dave Hoffer's " My Case Against Motorhead " lambasting the worlds greatest Rock N' Roll band. I suggest you do too and add a couple of choice comments. As my old mucker Ken would have put it, he should have titled it "Blossom". It's the Biggest Load Of Shite Since 'Orse Manure.

First off the support act at Botanique tonight, Wye Oak , were excellent. Hailing from Baltimore they're a two piece with Andy Stack on drums, keyboards and backing vocals, while the delightful Jenn Wasner provides lead vocals and guitars. A mix of rock and folk they were most impressive, so much so that I picked up a couple of signed albums, If Children , and The Knot , after the gig. How the hell Andy plays drums with one hand and keyboards with the other is beyond me. Jenn's vocal range was impressive, as was her guitar playing. All in all a good start to the night. As an aside, of their two albums to date, Jenn recommended The Knot as it is her favorite of the two. On to the main event, The Dodos . Before the concert I'd listened to a couple of Dodos albums, Visiter and the newly released Time to Die , playing on my Mac Book Pro as I type. Both are fairly solid albums, with the Visiter being more readily accessible, while the latter is more of a grower. Having heard th...

I came across the Swiss record label on the way out of Caroline Music in Brussels today. Playing in the background was some down and dirty rock. Asking the dude behind the counter what it was, I was told it was a band called Roy And The Devil's Motorcycle and that the album was called Because Of Women. He also proudly showed me their stash of CDs from the same independent record label stating that they were all excellent. A trip to their website, www.voodoorhythm.com , when I got back uncovered this gorgeous cover of the album Pussy Warmers. It also features a model of the month, a trick labels like Chiswick, Bronze and SPV could have incorporated into their respective sites. Excellent name, excellent cover, excellent label. I do like cats. By the way, early listenings to Roy And The Devil's Motorcycle indicate they could be a band to listen out for in the future. A great cover of Johnny B. Goode and a lead vocalist like a paired down Mick Jagger. Laid back dirty delta blues ...

The tale of the blind Swordsman has popped up in numerous Japanese Zatoichi movies, and in the Rutger Hauer film Blind Fury. On Saturday night I sat down to watch the latest take on the theme with a Blue Ray of Ichi. This latest spin has a young girl in the lead role and all in all was excellent. It is implied, but never stated, that the sword wielding heroine, played by the gorgeous Haruka Ayase, is the daughter of Zatoichi. Carrying on the family traditions of tapping away with a cane and slice and dicing the bad guys. From the beautifully choreographed fights to the wonderful cinematography this is a worthy addition to the canon. I was particularly impressed with the haunting soundtrack be Lisa Edwards. In fact I was so impressed with the soundtrack I just ordered it from Amazon. A blind babe with a sword, gratuitous violence aplenty and a great score. What's not to like? As samurai films go, Ichi is well up to scratch.

At £8.99 this looks a bargain for any self respecting Motörheadbangers.

In space no one can hear you scream. Unless you listened to this in space however, when they'd hear you for sure. Kubrik will be rolling in his grave. Thanks Steve.