300th post

..and a mere sixteen months after my first post, I finally do my three hundreth! What can I say, it’s been great fun, and continues to be so.

First of all, I thought I’d start off this post with the title track of the album that gave this blog its’ name. The pic at the top is The Cure circa this album. I didn’t do many 17 Seconds club nights but I’m pleased that the blog is still going.

The Cure -‘Seventeen Seconds.’ mp3

I’ve written about a lot of up and coming scottish bands, like the X-Vectors for example…

X-Vectors -‘Now Is The Winter Of Our Discotheque.’ mp3

and watched a few of my favourite bands split up…

Arab Strap -‘Here We Go.’ mp3

The Cooper Temple Clause -‘Let’s Kill Music.’ mp3

I still have to decide on my personal festive fifty, but I guarantee these tracks will be there…

Battles -‘Atlas.’ mp3

Hot Chip -‘My Piano.’ mp3

Justice -‘D.A.N.C.E.’ mp3

Penny Century -‘Nothing Burns Like Bridges.’ mp3

Emma Pollock -‘Adrenaline.’ mp3

As time went by, I got the vague hand of how to post tracks (which I was clueless about when I first started writing a blog!), and started doing interviews too. Getting listed at the Hype Machine was great (thanks Mr. Toad) and getting feedback still makes my day.

Personally, this blog has hinted at some of the ups and downs in life outside of this blog, but much love is due to Mrs. 17 Seconds (I wasn’t even planning it when I started writing this!) and our two cats, our families and friends for keeping me sane.

Here’s to the next X posts…

Edx

A few songs for the soon to be Mrs. 17 Seconds

Well, in two days time we’ll be getting married. The future in-laws have arrived in Edinburgh, my folks are arriving later and we’re both excited and nervous.

Anyway, this post is dedicated to the soon to be Mrs. 17 Seconds.

Ash-‘Does Your Mother Know?’ mp3

Cooper Temple Clause-‘Let’s Kill Music.’ mp3

Cure-‘Close To me.’ mp3

Low-‘California.’ mp3

Rob Dougan -‘Clubbed To Death.’ mp3

Scritti Politti-‘The ‘Sweetest Girl’.’ mp3

As always, if you liek what you hear, support the artists involved. And a hello to Robin, who I went record shopiing with yesterday and said he was still waiting for a shoutout on this blog!

Gig review: The Cooper Temple Clause

Gig Review: The Cooper Temple Clause/Kubichek!

Glasgow QMU, March 25, 2007

And here we are in 2007, and the sixth time this reviewer has seen the Cooper Temple Clause. The first time, in 2002 was at Edinburgh’s La Belle Angele, which burned down a few months later, and the support was Biffy Clyro (now pretty successful in their own right). So can they still cut it three albums down the line?

Probably not a question we’re going to be asking about Kubichek, if tonight’s performance is anything to go by. Though beset with sound problems, the songs just seem to be lost. The guitarist, in the words of the soon to be Mrs. 17 Seconds looked like he was wanking, to put it bluntly. There’s no stage presence, and the sound is just too reminiscent of the angular post-punk vibe that’s been done much better by the likes of The Editors and Maximo Park.

The Cooper Temple Clause however can still walk it like they talk it. They may have lost Didz Hammond to the Dirty Pretty Things, but they are so sure in themselves it looks like they’ve put it well behind them. New tracks like Damage and Waiting Game as every bit as anthemic and consistent as older numbers like Promises, Promises. Perhaps the revelation is on Once More With Feeling. The sheer intensity is a wonder to behold. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is one of Britain’s best live bands; do not take them for granted.

By the end of the gig – fantastic encores of Blind Pilots and the techno-reworking of Panzer Attack that they were playing at Edinburgh five months ago they have a new found fan in the soon to be Mrs. 17 Seconds. as we fell into bed, fifty miles away, we were still on a high. Worth the hundred mile round trip of an evening, and I’d do it again.