Hello world!
So eventually I got to see Angels and Demons and it's not as bad as they all say - becomes a bit ludicrous towards the end, but worth seeing for the creation of Vatican City in Hollywood - imagine asking a painter to knock off the Sistine Chapel in an afternoon! No product placement of course, but all the police drive Alfas, the baddy only gets to drive a VW and every laptop and screen is a Sony....

So NOTP this week featured the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest - well, I couldn't resist as I found an old reel-to-reel tape! Weren't we lucky...

Three in a row were whistlers - Dock of the Bay, Jealous Guy and Dream a Little Dream of Me. Kitsch'n'Sink was by Glasvegas, and Charity Shop Corner featured Jarvis Cocker in melancholy mood.

Other things you may have enjoyed (other than the '67 Eurovision, naturally) were by Pussy, Divine Comedy, The Jags, Vampire Weekend, Goldfrapp,10cc and Bon Iver.

Long Song was Radiohead's Paranoid Android.
So I promise no more Eurovision, at least for a year...

Glyn

Hello!

So down to films - well, even if you're not a trekker, go and see Star Trek - it's great fun, really well done with lots of little surprises and references to keep avid fans happy.

NOTP continues to alarm with odd juxtaposings. Dizzee Rascal meets Kenny Rogers? Only on Tudno FM! Three in a row featured Pulp, Ron Sexmith and Yachts - and the connection's too obscure even for me. The Long Song brought us Barclay James Harvest committing 'Suicide?' and Charity Shop had XTC lurking in the corner.

We also had a track from a local band - The Velvet Hat Doctors - and I'll keep you up to date with gigs and so on.

Other tracks were from Klaatu, Love, The Dukes Jetty, The Leisure Society, Gorillaz, Tori Amos, Polly Scattergood, Tim Buckley, and The Lightning Seeds. Look - an Oxford comma!

Don't forget to keep your suggestions coming in for The Long Song and Three in a Row - in fact for anything you think has been unjustly ignored.

Like Cresta frothy drinks.

Next week I'll be looking at The Lightning Seeds' new album in more depth and possibly The Leisure Society as well. Oh what a busy life!

Keep your ears open....

Glyn

Hi there!

No films to get excited about this week, but some interesting live music - the legendary Albert Lee is playing at Galeri, Caernarfon on Sunday night - well worth seeing 'the greatest guitarist in the world' - and that from Eric Clapton, no less. He often has some notable figures in his band 'Hogan's Heroes' too - I've seen him play with Georgie Fame, Gary Brooker (Procol Harum)and Andy Fairweather Low (Amen Corner) along with the venerable Bill Wyman. So well worth a trip to Pebbledash City.

Onward to NOTP. Lots going on tonight - Three in a Row featured three cities in response to a listener's text last week - and for once I've left his choice alone. So we had 'Belfast Child' by Simple Minds, 'Leningrad' by Billy Joel and Warren Zevon's excellent 'Werewolves of London'. Good choice. Faithless provided the Long Song, and nice to hear Rufus Wainwright throwing everything into 'Oh What a Life' in Kitsch'n'sink.

Other tracks from Vampire Weekend, 10cc, Calexico, Buggles, Tori Amos, Donna Summer, The Mobiles and Polly Scattergood.

The featured album tonight was Sinead O'Connor's 'I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got' as it's just been re-issued and certainly deserves another look, especially as it's really only known for Prince's 'Nothing Compares 2U', wonderful though it is.

I'll be wrapping my ears around Dylan's new album for next week, inspect The Lightning Seeds' latest offering and see if I can fathom what on earth the Super Furry Animals are doing.

See you soon!

Glyn

Good evening!

Well, as promised here's the new early blog. Looks much the same, I'm afraid...

Saw the film 'State of Play' yesterday - recommended if you like old school conspiracy movies - reminded me of Defence of the Realm as well as more obvious choices such as The Parallax View and All The President's Men. Good cast with Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and (especially) Helen Mirren. Nice cinematography as well. No big set pieces, and all the better for that.

So down to business, NOTP's Three in a Row featured English Eccentrics - Bonzo Dog Band, New Vaudeville Band and The Idle Race. Long Song was a slightly doctored version of 'Me and My Monkey' by Robbie Williams, bless him. Pleased to have found 'Young and Rich' by The Tubes as my featured album - not a band that took themselves too seriously, I imagine.

Kitsch'n'sink featured Phil "I didn't do it" Spector's epic production of 'Memories' by Leonard Cohen (Death of a Ladies Man, 1976) which in true K'n'S fashion falls apart completely at the end. Great.

More stuff from Vampire Weekend, King Creosote, Richard Hawley, Sam the Sham, Icicle Works, Jeff Buckley. Love and Eminem. Charity Shop Corner turned up Garbage's 'Milk' reworked with Tricky from one of a seemingly endless chillout albums!

So mail me with suggestions for Three in a Row, Long Song or maybe a featured album - new, old, anything that's good, really.

Sleep well!

Glyn

Hi there

As a new improved service, I've now decided to write my blog during and after the show so you won't be hanging on desperately waiting to find that obscure track I played...

So a quick summary of last week's show - the three in a row were in waltz time - Elliott Smith's Waltz #2, Leonard Cohen's 'Take This Waltz' and Emmy the Great's 'Everything Reminds Me of You'. The Stone Roses featured in Charity Shop Corner and the Long Song was, at last, Richard Harris "singing" Jimmy Webb's McArthur Park.

Bat For Lashes supplied the album of the week with her new album 'Two Suns'- well, not literally as I had to actually buy it, but it was worth it. Next week's featured album will go back in time with the Tubes' 'Young and Rich', inspired by me playing 'White Punks on Dope' (which actually isn't on that album but hey...)

So get ready for a blog to hit the streets very early on Thursday morning!

Glyn

Hi there

Not much on The Scene this week - kids off school so re-runs of the old kiddies' favourites. Monsters vs Aliens doing well, but seems to be two films in one - Attack of the 50ft Woman and the title fight. Plenty for sci-fi buffs to do some spotting at, though.

NOTP is stuck in the Sixties shock! So says Aunt Sally, but I find I only played TWO sixties tracks this week. So boo hiss Sal! However it was a bit Seventies biased I admit, so I'll be wheeling in a stack of new tunes you might have been missing - which may include Bat For Lashes, PJ Harvey, The Leisure Society, Golden Silvers, that sort of thing. But there's so much retro about at the moment I think I can be forgiven for finding bands' original influences.

So items I played included Stackridge, Howling Bells, Gotan Project, Carpenters (really!), Hazel O'Connor, The Poets, Ellen Foley, The Who and The Ting Tings - plus the magnificent (!) 'If I Had Words' by Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley - poor old Camille Saint-Saens will be rotating in his grave. The Featured Album was 'Crime of the Century' by Supertramp off the Audiophile vinyl pressing.

Hope you're enjoying the shows, and I promise I'll find some more obscurities for you - even some from the sixties - just don't tell Sally.

Pip pip!
Glyn

Hello!

So this week's featured film was 'The Boat That Rocked' which at least caused me to revisit some quality tunes from the sixties (and seventies - Richard Curtis has a cavalier attitude to accuracy). I did want to like this film, but if you want a movie that offers insight into the pirate culture of the sixties - or, come to that, a feel-good romantic comedy - you will be disappointed. Despite the best efforts of Messrs Nighy, Ifans, Branagh and Hoffman, the characters stay resolutely one-dimensional, which is one dimension more than any female part is given. In the end I found the best entertainment was to be had spotting the errors - and believe me there are plenty to go at. I like most of Curtis' writing but this isn't funny or entertaining enough. Pity.

Right - NOTP lurches along endearingly. Three in a row featured the Wainwright family - Loudon III, Martha and little Rufus. Add the McGarrigles and you've got more talent that one family has any right to. The Featured Album was the antique orchestral version of Tommy along with authentic crackles, and it was so nice to hear 'Georgy Girl' by The Seekers. It was, trust me. Brian Wilson supplied The Long Song, and Kitsch'n'sink was by Jason Spaceman and Spiritualized, bless him. I think we've probably got enough features now as I'm having difficulty fitting any tunes in!

Any suggestions please mail me - or any reviews of films I'm too scared to see, like Monsters vs Aliens.

Glyn

Hello!

So what's new, then? Scene-wise my featured film was 'Knowing' with an understandably glum Nic Cage contemplating natural disasters and lots of numbers. Some say it's saved by the ending but, however unexpected that is (and it is) I did feel it had headed off in the wrong direction. Still, if you like big disaster set-pieces this certainly won't disappoint. If you want a happy romantic comedy then look elsewhere.

NOTP was crammed so full that we were lucky to get any music in! Three-in-a-row festured Brumbeat offspring (ELO, Move, Wizzard and the daddy of them all, The Idle Race). Possibly the sharper among you will have spotted that's not exactly three, but hey, good songs don't need excuses.

Charity Shop Corner on Tour picked up a compilation that featured Martha Wainwright, and the Long Song was by The Flaming Lips. McAlmont and Butler sang 'Yes' in the Kitsch'n'sink - well, not literally, obviously.

The featured album was a real oddity from the seventies - Roger McGough performing his poem 'Summer with Monika' with music by, among others, Andy Roberts and Zoot Money. The album's long since gone but the poem's still in some collections. Bittersweet, and works surprisingly well set to music.

Next week I'll feature a version of 'Tommy' that you rarely hear, so prepare for some crackles!

If there's anything you'd like to hear mail me and I'll try to track it down. Well, that doesn't include a Ferrari for a tenner, obviously, but anything in my limited field. And there are already a couple of sheep in that....

Glyn

Hello there chaps and chappesses,

Someone stole me blogs! All my razor-sharp witty Wildean epigrams for February and March have vanished into thin air - pouff! - as the French might say.

So clearly you need to know what's been going on. Film wise, Slumdog's still there, come and gone is Clint's Gran Torino - do catch it if you can - and my old mate Bolt is still saving his own little universe. Again, Vicky Cristina Barcelona had a short run but is well worth seeing, especially if you love that city. Clive Owen fans have done well - The International is a tough thriller in the old school style whereas Duplicity is a pretty unbelievable caper movie with Julia Roberts. Both have done his wannabee 007 image no harm at all...

So down to music! Morrissey has returned to form with 'Years of Refusal' - OK, it's more of the same, but when you're Morrissey that's not all bad. Ditto (in a different vein) 'Yes' by the Pet Shop Boys - business as usual but with a modern twist courtesy of Xenomania - also Johnny Marr appears, so Old M might approve.
Other new albums I've been enjoying are 'First Love' by Emmy The Great and the dark offering by Polly Scattergood.

NOTP is still going strong (ish) with a Brand New Feature - called the Kitschen Sink - a chance to hear those overblown tracks that seem to get bigger and bigger. We started with Barry Ryan's epic 'Eloise' and then had Kylie's 'Your Disco Needs You' - a pink anthem if ever I heard one - great fun too, though I avoided the eight-minute remix.

Three in a row even featured a song by Barry Manilow - and Bazza celebrated by releasing an album the very next week! Such is the power of NOTP...

So now we have our new website, blogs and so on you can feel free to mail the show - glyn.james@tudnofm.co.uk finds me - with all your helpful suggestions and reviews. Have fun!
Glyn

Hello!

The Scene's still with us, so plenty to talk about. Besides the off-putting title, Slumdog Millionaire is a really good film - it's Bollywood with a tough British slant. Great music too (with the exception of that awful TV theme), something NOTP will be investigating in the next few weeks.

Not on the Playlist's Three in a Row was suggested by AnonTxt - 'At Seventeen' by Janis Ian, 'Without Her' by Harry Nilsson and the sublime 'Home Thoughts From Abroad' by Clifford T Ward.

Charity Shop Corner brought some old blues by Charles Brown, and the Long Song as threatened was 'Echoes' by Pink Floyd (Meddle, 1971). At over 23 minutes I think that's probably the longest song we'll get unless someone suggests Beethoven's Ninth....

Please mail me with suggestions - I'm looking for next week's Long Song as we speak - one suggestion but I can't find it! I have a friend who might help, though...

See you next week!

Glyn