fact244

Hopefully the rest of the season is a little more interesting 'cos the opening race was a bit of a snoozefest. They've got to stop getting Hermann Tilke to design the tracks, his configurations are mostly dull and lifeless and only seem to lend themselves to processional racing. Bahrain has pretty much zero atmosphere as well which doesn't help. On his victory lap Alonso was waving to... well, basically no-one for about two thirds of the lap...

no worries! yeah, 'nah und fern' is a bit epic... i've found that i usually just grab one disc and stick it on repeat for a bit rather than trying to listen to anymore than a disc's worth at a time... disc one didn't grab me that much at first but have had that on a lot lately. some of wolfgang voigt's other releases like the 'studio 1' series are also well worth checking out... hopefully they'll re-release the profan catalogue one of these days, lots of good stuff there...

if you like GAS and dettinger i think markus guentner might be worth a look, he had a new album 'doppelgaenger' last year which i haven't had a chance to listen to in full but from a quick preview sounded really good. juno and beatport have a pretty good selection of his stuff...

i've been getting into some of the releases on the dial label recently - lawrence 'the absence of blight', pantha du prince 'this bliss'... good stuff...

i've been on a bit of a dettinger kick lately... am loving some of the early 12''s on kompakt: 'blond', 'totentanz', and the albums 'intershop' and 'oasis'. no idea why this guy stopped making music for so long... a shame...

if you like the 'pop ambient' stuff like dettinger maybe try markus guentner: the 'in moll' album, 'regensburg' 12'' (both on kompakt), various releases on the ware label and some recent singles on affin like 'counting stars'...

what else? dunno... depends what you're into... just from looking at your list - if you haven't heard 'nah und fern' by GAS (4CD box set) it's most definitely worth checking out... highly recommended...

Interpol. Never listened to the first album or paid any attention to them again after seeing them live. Loved the first album to bits beforehand. The gig was garbage.

Full press conference here...

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=entertainment&id=5565021

Diamond Dave in top form.

jaki leibzeit... respect. phenomenal drummer...

Future Days and Tago Mago for my money. I haven't listened to Can in ages... must dig these records out again.

On the topic of krautrock, much love for Harmonia too... 'Deluxe' in particular... wonderful album... and also La Dusseldorf's 'Viva'.

a few suggestions, some of which have already been mentioned... sacre couer, hotel des invalides, pere lachaise, jardin des tuileries, parc monceau, cimitiere montmarte, centre georges pompidou, basilique royale de saint denis, sainte chapelle, chateau de vincennes... so much to see in paris it's hard to choose... and then there's all the usual stuff - eiffel tower, arc de triomphe, champs elysees, louvre, notre dame, etc.

as far as gigs maybe check out what's happening at la fleche d'or, opa, nouveau casino, la generale, le divan du monde, etc. the gig guide is a little book called 'lylo'.

typical... the clientele finally tour australia and i'm on the other side of the world... the alasdair maclean solo show a few years back in melbourne was great... would love to see the full band.

was that the 'universe of disappointment' tour? i have a DVD/TV broadcast from japan (or something, i forget now) from that tour which is brilliant...

i'm thinking la cigalle could be a good venue for the paris show, should be great. no support act, just sylvian/jansen/lowe et al.