Saint Etienne - Sushi Rider...

My Quietus interview with Saint Etienne is up now. I really enjoyed this, talking the particulars of Pop - favourite record titles, those little bits of songs that really grab you, what makes Pop so wonderful. 

I've always loved their Sushi Rider since I first heard them doing it live at Axis in Boston, May 21st, 1999. I love how they would throw b-sides and rarities into the sets like that. This has been stuck in my head a lot lately.

Was so excited when I finally got I Love To Paint and it had the full-band version on it:





And the stripped down version, b-side of Like A Motorway:

Joost Swarte...

I interviewed Dutch comics legend Joost Swarte for The Quietus. An incredibly talented man and one of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of talking to. I found our conversation very interesting. Check it out, and take a look at his lovely work. 

Besides comics, Herr Swarte is a huge music fan, drawing a number of sleeves over the years, and even collaborating on a couple of records with Arling & Cameron and Fay Lovsky.

I love Fun Shopping, the Shibuya-kei-esque opening of Arling, Cameron, & Swarte's Sound Shopping record:



Swarte's excellent cover art:

Appellation Contrôlée from Jopo In Mono, his collaboration with Fay Lovsky, based on his comic character Jopo de Pojo. Written by Swarte, this was a tune he would sing when doing the dishes after dinner.



And it was Swarte who recommended Amatorski to me during the course of our interview.