Paying Homage as Well as Returning Favours-Jurassic 5 09.10.2006 Paradiso Amsterdam-

Why it took me half a month and a full day to finally fork out €19 to watch J5 is beyond me now. Having not heard their most recent album and the fact that a 9am morning awaited me the following day fuelled my hesitation to take the trip to Paradiso Amsterdam. However, when I remembered the last concert I attended was to watch the Infadels 6 months previously, I finally came to my senses. It turned out to be one of my better gambles.

From The Arcade Fire to Simon and Garfunkel, I don’t recall leaving a gig feeling quite this pleased. I also don’t recall seeing Paradiso as packed as last night. The crowd played their part though as J5 were the most interactive group I’ve seen live and played with the mob superbly. As they went through their repertoire of past albums and their latest release, Feedback, they never lost control of the crowd as we were entertained to everything from old skool rapping to Afrika Bambataaesque electronica to turntablism

Being my first hip-hop concert, I’m left agog on how flexible the genre actually is. Almost all the numbers were medley with all 4 MC’s mixing the standard lyrics from their albums with freestyle references to Amsterdam and its grass culture and political messages amongst others. DJ Nu-Mark played his part mixing past track samples with all sorts of wicked sh*t not to mention 3 solos. Before the encore Nu-Mark went solo playing 3 different turntables to samples from everything from Sugar Hill drumbeats to George Clinton Synthesizers. The encore started with the recent single release and ended with Chali 2na, Marc 7even, and Akil rapping freestyle with homage to golden age hip hop and the host city.

After the 2 or so hour gig all 5 stayed behind and socialized with the audience who stayed behind. After 3 spliffs I could hardly be bothered trying to get anything signed so I tried my luck getting a t-shirt from the merchandise area. Jurassic 5’s latest album may fall to mixed reviews but their live performance was certainly a spectacle and offered something different to rock or indie concerts I’ve been accustomed to. This makes it all the harder to accept the fact that both gigs of The Roots in November have been sold out. Now I have to rely on getting some tickets in Munich!!

The Amsterdam Disaster

Well, here I am. After promising to write something on the World Cup, another football tournament grabbed my attention and I've decided to report on the LG Amsterdam Tournament, especially the 2 matches that ruined United's season start. Mind you, that day was a complete footballing package.

Having bought the match tickets (that’s 2 matches for 1 ticket y'know) for a healthy 45 euros, we set off for Amsterdam on the Saturday in early August. The fact that we left The Hague guessing whether Rooney and Scholes would be eligible to play in the evening provided a lot of excitement throughout the day. How Rooney could get sent off (a straight red at that) for a yellow card offence at the most, during United's opener in the tournament the evening before v Porto is beyond me. Luckily United won that match 3-1 and with Inter playing stalemate with Ajax on the Friday, United needed only a draw to ensure victory in this meaningless pre-season gig.

We arrived in Amsterdam just in-time for the annual gay pride march in the city. The canals were clogged and the streets noisy. After a short trip to The Noon and filled up our blueberry supplies, we set off for the ArenA shortly after 5pm. Having bought a crap match programme before finding our seats, I was quite surprised on the number of people filling up the joint. LG's constant commercial bombardment prior to the match has paid dividence. With the Dutch crowed in buoyant mood, we were entertained to Inter v Porto.

The first match was certainly a curtain raiser. I was truly impressed by Inter who fielded Adriano and Martins together the majority of their star players albeit without the high profile signing of Vieira. The Italians raced to a 2-0 lead within 30 mins with the Chilean David Pizarro opening the scoring and Martins doubling the score line after the half hour mark. The fact that the Portuguese knocked the Dutch out of the World Cup in an unfashionable manner, encouraged most of the neutrals to route for Inter. With Martins adding another goal to make the score 3-0 shortly before the break, it was a relief to see Porto clench 2 goals back before the end of the match. The eve catching acrobatics of Porto's second goal (haven’t got a clue who scored that one) was one of the highlights of the first match together with Porto's new Brazilian sensation, Anderson.

After 90 minutes of footy and 15 minutes of finding a place to light a spliff, United took to the field without Rooney nor Scholes. Fergie was feeling lucky and youthful by giving starts for Simpson, Evans, Martin, Miller, Rossi and Richardson with Wes Brown leading the defence and Giggsy taking the team out against Ajax. The home crowd have been cheering on Klaas Huntelaar everytime he appeared on the screen before the match and have been rewarded with Huntelaar's inclusion in the starting lineup. Alas, there was no reunion bewteen Jip Jaap Stam with Ferguson as the former was left out from the squad due to an injury.

It was only a few minutes into the match when Carrick, United's overpriced summer signing, broke down after a challenge sometime around the 20 minute mark. From that point on, Lord Ferg seemed to lose interest in the tournament altogether and started to slow the tempo of the match down before introducing more reserves after the scores being 0-0 at half time. The most influential player on the pitch must have been Giggs as he struck the post a couple of times before the break from well taken set-pieces. It was the Welshman who provided the only goal of the game in the second half with a free kick taken just to the left hand side on the edge of the penalty box. His free kick ricoched against the woodwork and behind the goal line. Playing back in his home town, van der Sar also produced some fine form by saving Huntelaar's penalty early in the second half. The match ended with a victory for United in the Amsterdam Tournament yet with Scholes and Rooney banned for 3 matches whilst Carrick and Ferdinand were ruled out for at least a couple of weeks (Rio injured his ankle in a training session prior to kick off) it seemed like a heavy price to pay. With Carrick coming out on crutches to receive the medals, it was a sad sad sight to endure. After the players have paid tribute to the traveling fans and after hearing Huntelaar being named 'man of the match' (to ironic cheers from the Dutch crowd) we set off back to Amsterdam Centraal in an over packed metro.

The journey back provided us with the icing on the cake to what has become an eventful football day. Quite typically we ended up in a carriage chock-a-block full of loud, drunk, stoned and irate United fans. For some reason or another a fight broke out between a couple of Ajax hot heads which spread into a lot of pushing, banging, shouting and strangling which finally involved the drunken English. Being almost squelched to death between all the agro, I was relieved when the Ajax fans decided to sod it and exit at the closest metro station. For the return journey, the Red Army were singing their hearts out to what is hopefully the first of at least one more trophy before the end of the season.

summertime blues

After my long silence from 'the Lud', I'm back to announce more silences. The weather has simply been simply too hot for me to rack my brains into writing something worthwhile. Thus, the next time I post (sometime soon I hope) 'the Lud' will include the World Cup postmortem, some PE and life by the North Sea

Throughts

My thoughts are with the people of Jogjakarta who suffered a horrid earthquake earlier today

The D.A.I.S.Y. age

Having been brought to the attention of good rap last year as a result of a friend's visit, I've always wanted to write on this genre for ages. More specifically, I wanted to write something about rap's golden age. Old skool they say it. And one of the best to write on would be De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising.

The reason for that is because this album represents all the things I like about hip hop as I never was particularly interested in the genre due to consant bombardment from the mainstream media on wankers such as 50 cent et al. Although De La Soul's debut album doesn't really brings us the party feel of ol' skool rap, it does feature a very cheery feel with extremely clever lyrics (with a large dose of comedy and irony) and not the doom and gloom of gangsta rap of the 90's. It also has all the cool elements of scatching, impressive sampling, funk, psychadellia and most of all, wit. Although the album clearly shouts peace and love (a novelty in rap), it also discusses drug use (do not use, De La Soul say), ghetto life (but of course) and sex amongst others (the album does boast 24 tracks). All these factors justify 3 Feet High and Rising's billing as Rap's Sgt. Peppers. It's success with the critics upon its release in 1989 also proves succesfull hip-hop doesn't always have to rely on topics like hoes, pimps, guns and loads and loads of dosh.

So there you are, hip-hop at its best with all the essential ingridients of scratching, sampling, clever wordplay, comedy, and being from New York.

Quote from United Rant

Haven't made my mind up on Ferguson's antics yet but I just have to quote this passage from United Rant by The Editor as food for thought:

Has the world gone insane? Correction, has Fergie gone insane? Not just a little mad either. We're talking about the bouncing off the walls, frothing at the mouth, tied down, straight jacket wearing, valium for breakfast, several sandwiches short of the full picnic utterly fucking demented kind of insane. Because if the reports in today's press - and as predicted by Redissue two weeks ago - are true then Fergie must have joined the nut-club big time.

Consider the evidence. Fergie takes United's top goalscorer, with 150 goals in 200 games, first drops him then treats him with utter contempt, as good as throwing him out of the club. Maybe Fergie doesn't rate the player anymore - that's fair enough. But at least he's got a great strategy for selling the striker at the highest price, to a non-rival club, and bringing in a top class replacement, right? Wrong!

In fact the truth is this. Ferguson has no strategy for dealing with the Ruud situation whatsoever, bar getting him out of the club. Leighton, McGrath, Ince, Kanchelskis, Stam, Beckham, welcome your newest club member. Face, there's nose. Goodbye.

That United may well be in a position where they can only sell to Chelsea is quite ludicrous. But that is exactly what will happen should Ruud decide that the London club is the best option. And why wouldn't he... better wages, more trophies, and a manager who commands the respect of his players. The striker won't move to Lyon just because Fergie wants to use him as a make weight in a deal for Mahamadou Diarra. Why should he?

The frustrating thing about the situation is that United will almost certainly find themselves worse off come the summer's end. Strikers in van Nistelrooy's class are a rare breed, commanding massive transfer fees and attracting the interest of more successful, richer clubs than United. The kind of fee that is unlikely to be put Ferguson's way anytime soon that's for sure. So with Ruud on the way out, and the penny finally having dropped regarding the midfield, the team will be a striker light come August.

Arse Whinger

I don't usually write about football matters outside the mighty reds and England. Yet I'm compelled to comment on Arsenal's wednesday defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League Final. I found it such a shame that Arsenal's resiliance to hold Barca at a 1-0 scorline with only 10 men was damaged heavily by their manager and captain's brainless comments that the ref supported Barcelona and how king Henry was poorly treated by Barca defenders throughout the match. Audaciously, he still managed to call the Barca players 'women' for their 'diving' antics. Henry might be a phenomenal player but he's talking absolout bollocks there. His manager falls under that category as well.

If anyone should complain it should be the Barcelona players. They scored a perfectly good goal which was dissalowed and Lehmann the Arse goalkeeper sent off. Then Eboue set out to break van Bronchorst's leg with a dangerous high tackle. Not to mention his superb dive to earn Arsenal the freekick which lead to Campbell's goal.

I suppose Henry's and Wenger's comments helped me deminish all respect for Arse's squad for their achievements in this year's Champions League and go back to hating them as I always have done.

Thank God for Talking Heads

Having read J K's write up on The Name of the Band is Talking Heads, I naturally felt the urge to purchase a copy myself. For 20 euros, I must say I just bought a gem. This extended live collection is superb for first time listeners and I must say that the live version of their songs are certainly more exciting from the studio versions.

It really does go through the band's musical stages perfectly as the collection starts of with their live performances between 77 and 79. This first CD, or should I say CD1, clearly shows their new wave roots and you can clearly see why Talking Heads have left their legacy on today's indie scene. Going through their repertoire from their first 2 albums, the Heads sound like a very good Franz Ferdinand mixed with Roxy Music's glam and weird vocals.

Yet it is CD2 which shows Talking Heads quality. As the album progresses, their musical style becomes more and more sophisticated and external elements are brought in such as funk, soul, African music and a little psychadellia for good measure. While CD1 showed the band in their minimalist and dancy selves, the second disc could be mistakened for a Funkadelic and Roxy Music collaboration gig.

dash dot dash

Christ Almighty. Having faced one of the most humiliating defeats of the last few years (the last was a 5-0 hammering by the Abramovichless Chelsea back in 2000), my worst fear has become a reality. In fact, both of them.

United fell behind extremely early yesterday after 4 minutes to a Gallas header which should have been dealt with ages before Gallas got to the ball. We dominated the first half up to that point, but typically failed to find the net. The consecuences of this was dire. Chelsea struck twice in the second half and twisting the knife, saw off Rooney injured in the 82nd minute after a 50-50 challenge with Ferreira. And when you see Rooney stay down after a challenge, you have to be worried. Sadly the post-match commentary which suggested that Ronney's injury wasnt bad as first thought were dashed by the news that Wayne has indeed broken his metatarsal (some bone in the foot). My worst footballing week has become a reality.

After the news that Scolari snubbed the England offer due to extreme incompetence by the FA's behalf and the usual suicide actions of the press (thanks boys), I had to endure the humiliation of a 3-0 defeat at S Bridge which could have dire implications to United's title challege next season. Of course the fears I had of Rooney being injured before the world cup had to become a reality. And if he does stay out for 6 weeks as first predicted, England will have to squeeze themselves through the group stages and hope boy wonder will recover in time. With England's world class substitute strikers on disposal (Peter "dazzling skills, quick feet and a Brazilian touch" Crouch, Darren Bent who played 1 game for England and f*cked up, and Jermain "Spur's sub" Defoe (I'd pick him to replace Rooney though) , I must say I can't wait to see the Trinidadians, Paraguayans and Swedes quake in their boots.

Infadels

I saw The Infadels yesterday on TV when my mind cast back to Melkweg 3 weeks earlier. Having wanted to watch London Calling (a 2 day mini festival in Amsterdam featuring the best British indie bands) and failing to do so as we ran out of tickets (quite predictable knowing my sense of urgency for these kinds of things) and had to settle for an audience with The Infadels at the Melkweg.

As it was my (our) first visit to Melkweg ( a celebrated rock venue in Amsterdam), we were excpecting something special. Yet not me nor my other companions knew anything about the band and I wish it stayed that way. I cannot even define their genre, some indie-dance thing I suppose. They certainly started that way with Talking Heads/Franz F dancabilly tracks albeit with much less musical excitement and an annoying lead singer to boot! Their songs were catchy...for 10 minutes..before the lack of variety and the cat calls took over. Well, at least I got to see Melweg!

The English FA

The decision of whose going to replace Sven-Goran as the next England manager is really driving me mental. But the whole escapade on whether the coach has to be English or not is really blown out of proportion. This is just as annoying as the Arsenal debate (where they often fail to field a single English player). It definitely reminds me of yobs (English, Indonesian, Dutch, you name it) who complain that "all the foreigners are taking all our jobs". Jesus H, surely if these players/coaches are worth their salt, they could compete with the talent coming from abroad. If you're good enough, you'll make the squad, if not, you dont. Its as simple as that.

With regards to Scolari, I definitely think he's the strongest candidate we have. McLaren would be my second option (only because he assisted Fergie and has the most European experience than the rest). But Scolari is my first option because he is definitely the best candidate and has the best CV. He won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002 (an yes, he did actually improve them as Brazil almost didn't qualify for the tournament), took Portugal to the final of Euro 2004 and has had success as a club manager in his native land. The downside he has is his English which isn't perfect. But hey, isn't football a universal language anyway? And despite what the press say, his being South American I recon would add to England's style of play which hasn't changed since 1923.

Well thats Sunderland taken care of then?

Dear oh dear. Looks like this is the end of the road for this season. I dont see Chelski losing 3 more matches (the first being against Bolton, the second against United and hopefully a third against Blackburn and/or Newcastle). United are 6 points behind Chelski now (pre-chelsea kick off) and I cant seem to find the words to describe yesterday's match. Needing 1 goal badly, it just wasnt to be. Sunderland defended like their lives depended on it (quite true actually) and played like an Italian side destined for relegation. In fact, the more I write about this the more annoyed I become. There is still a glimmer of hope, and it has to start with Chelsea losing today.

A potentially Good Friday

It was barely 6 days ago that United played the Gooners at Old Trafford and displayed the best football United have played for the whole season. Rooney was instrumantal and his performances over the last 2 years have hopefully squenched my friend's perception that Rooney will end up as another Owen. He would have to keep up those standards and more if united are to overtake chelski in the premiership. However, even more important is Rooney's stance as a player that chelsea dont have. A semi God-like player (although not to the full Ronaldinho standards) but an unpredictable player sadly lacking in the English game.

As optimists go, I've had a feeling Chelski were catchable after they were toyed around by Barça in the Champions League and I think they havent felt the same since. Not only was that game the first time Chelsea have been made fools out of themselves (not to mention Jose's antics) but the public have turned against them and....wait for it....support United to overtake Chelsea in the Prem. Dont know if Jose and his rentboys can handle that, hope not.

Nevertheless this Friday is the start of the final putsch where we play Sunderland who are destined for relegation and Chelsea play Bolton the next day. As Fergie has pointed out, Chelski face a good hiding with a very technical and physical Bolton side. Coming from Gt. Manchester, I hope the Boltonians keep up their ambitions to finish in the UEFA cup zone and try and fold Chelski tomorrow. With Fergie concentrating all his mind games on Chelsea failing at Bolton, I hope United finish their part of the bargain today and wrap up the 3 points agains Pompey so I can start being nervous watching Chelsea's progress on soccernet.

updates from Rotterdam

Have been dying to write about my eventful 6 day vacation and how United have cut Chelsea's lead down to 7 points (from 18 points last month!!) but alas that will have to follow soon, got sh*t loads to do since coming back to my internship..do stand by for further information

play that funky music

As a friend of mine nicely mentioned in his previous blog, it is incomprehensable that Funkedelic, Maggot Brain in particular, are so underrated. I can only speak for Maggot Brain as that is the only album of theirs that I've heard so far, but it is simply a superb album. Dare I say it, Maggot Brain sounds like the Jimi Hendrix Experience with a better band! Gone are Mitch Mitchell's erratic drum parts and Noel Reddings decidedly boring bass lines to be replaced with superb steady drumming, Maceo "James Brown's trustful sax player" Parker's intricate sax work, backing vocals that is remminicent to Sly and the Family Stone and Eddie Hazel's horrowful, piercing, Hendrixesque guitar playing.

The album starts superbly with the title track as its opener. A 10 minute beautiful guitar solo by the then-20-year-old Hazel. Just when you wonder where the funk element comes into place, the second track, Can You Get To That along with tracks such as You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks provide the perfect answer.

Yet I have to say, my two favourite tracks on the album outside Maggot Brain has got to be the rock ridden numbers of Hit It and Quit and Super Stupid. The latter reminds me just how un-creative Lenny Kravitz actually is. Kravitz' guitar playing, and SINGING sounds like its ripped of straight from this track. If you should get the re-released version of Maggot Brain, you'll get an extra alternate 9-or-so minute version of the title track (this time with a little more backing music) and a great funk-rockabily in Whole Lotta BS!

In a nutshell, go and buy that album and start wincing.

life begins

I hereby declare that the ludovico is active, alive and kicking. Why is it here? I guess in general it would be a place where I could express my love of music (along with worldly lusts such as football) and bore people in the Internet community to death with my visions on good/bad records, why Chelsea are going to rott in hell (together with the likes of Liverpool, City and Leeds of course) and what album to buy when stoned!