Viv, Rat and Brix

On Saturday, the Norwich Sound & Vision festival put on a series of interviews with three punk and post-punk legends. First up, Viv Albertine was quizzed by musician and journalist John Robb, who teased a fascinating series of anecdotes and memories from her. She talked frankly about The Slits, her 'lost' years, the cancer that so debilitated her and her artistic rebirth via the 'Vermilion Border' LP and essential memoir, 'Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys'.

Next, Rat Scabies was interrogated by close friend Christopher Dawes. Rat discussed his Damned (and pre-Damned) career, spoke very fondly of Marc Bolan ('...he would've produced the next Damned album...') and chillingly about how close he came to drumming for his friends the Eagles of Death Metal at Le Bataclan last November, hinting at the great trauma the band continues to struggle with following the tragic events at the concert. Dawes and Scabies also talked at some length about their other shared passion, as detailed in their co-authored book 'Rat Scabies and The Holy Grail'. 

Brix & the Extricated

Finally, Brix Smith took to the stage for a Q & A hosted by Adam Buxton. Brix has had quite a life - one minute living in a Prestwich mid-terrace with Mark E Smith in the creative eye of the chaotic storm of The Fall, the next hobnobbing with royalty and football millionaires on the arm of Nigel Kennedy. More recently she's suffered a breakdown, which happily seems to be behind her now. As the interview drew to a close, Buxton invited questions from the audience. I stuck my hand up and asked Brix to talk a little about The Adult Net, her on/off side project during the Fall period. The Adult Net lasted for the best part of five years, though produced relatively little music, one LP and a few singles, but I loved them then and still do. Brix appeared chuffed at my question and gave a proud rundown of the various line-ups, which at different times included members of The Fall, The Smiths and Blondie. She also took this opportunity to remind everyone that releases are imminent from her new band, Brix & The Extricated. The group (featuring fellow ex-Fall stalwarts Steve and Paul Hanley) recently played a blinding session for Marc Riley - I'm looking forward to the new material already. Meanwhile, here are a couple of Adult Net corkers.

Addendum.... I should also mention that Brix's recently published memoir, 'The Rise, The Fall, And The Rise', was warmly recommended by Buxton as a 'rollocking page-turner'. It's on my list.

The Adult Net - Take Me

The Adult Net - Spin This Web

Sniffin' Sleeves

A recent post by C in her terrific 'Random Access Memories' series over at Sun Dried Sparrows (here), began with her thoughts on a humble LP sleeve. This got me thinking. Am I the only one round these parts who was prone to sniffing their LP sleeves? It might sound a bit weird these days (ever tried sniffing an MP3?), but sometimes the combination of ink and cardboard created a certain unique fragrance that, over time, became as evocative as the design on the front and the music housed within - well to me anyway. If I close my eyes and concentrate, I can still recall the individual smells of my original copies of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band's 'Impossible Dream', Pink Floyd's 'A Nice Pair' and 'Raw Power' by Iggy & the Stooges. In fact at a car-boot sale a couple of weeks ago, I picked up and discreetly took the nose of a copy of 'Caribou' by Elton John, just to see if it had the same distinct and memorable aroma that my own LP sleeve had, back in 1974 - alas it didn't.

One LP in my collection that definitely smells exactly the same as the day I bought it in 1982, is 'Strawberries' by The Damned. Initial copies came with a heavily scented lyric sheet and the sickly sweet fake strawberry smell is still detectable a mile off. I don't need to put my nose anywhere near it.