Chooo Choooooo.... All aboard.. and various other train cliches that make me smile....

Dear Steam and Train Enthusiasts,

Did you know how you could improve the rail services of this country? Hunt Richard Branson for sport? Play conductor bowling with trolleys? Run ahead of the train until it eats you up like some kind of track sandwich? Make them cough splutter run on time??? Nah.... 

I have discovered the secret to not only pleasant rail travel but even ecstatic smiling like a loon travel... Mix it nicely with a big dose of eclectic and twee Indie pop and give all the commuters a pair of Buddy Holly glasses and some form of  fantastic headwear (Trilby/pork pies for boys, Vintage fascinators for girls)... Yes indeedy the fabulous people at Indietracks have discovered the secret of happiness (or at least happiness under the occassional cool facade of ironic discontent... well less so if you're uber twee).

So after a lengthy trip (made lengthier by the lovely detour to Nottingham without getting shot or abused just rained heavily upon) on a train, we arrive at Midland's Railway Centre to lo and behold get on another train... Think back to when you were little and your parents took you to somewhere in Middle England, plonked you on a dusty train that when they were young would have been high tech (sorry Mum) and expected you to moan and complain for a bit just with better scenery? Well I must say the change of scenery, the fact that there was a slight vintage shop musk to the carriage and that we seemed effectively locked in made the journey almost achingly kitsch and exciting.. I, in all honesty, was grinning ear to ear as soon as the steam train came round the bend (and blew... woooo). There is something so friendly looking about steam trains.. It's like they're all wearing top hats.  Maybe I should just blame Thomas and his friends for this weird observation but they all seem so much friendlier, kindly and willing to take you ambling to your destination than the scary electric monstrosities we are shepherded into day to day.
 

Anyway enough of my train idolatry and onto the actual weekend of magical indieness that lay ahead of me.. Yes, with  that short trip down the Butterly Railway I was at the setting for the Indietracks festival, a rather shambolic array of tents, curry stalls (yum), sheds and rotting trains (there was rather a train graveyard going on on the periphery of the site... I must say everyday of the festival I shed a tear for those whose steam shall no longer rise... etc. Don't look shocked you've already read how I feel about happy trains.. There were lots of train carcasses) 

Yes, I sidetrack... forwardtrack... Indietracks.. ah the point.. right.. 

Not only a festival for those into the twee side of Indie pop, there were countless classes to attend regarding how NOT to run a record label, how to write songs, crafty things and Guerilla craft... So I have come away with not one but many make my own brooch kits (in the shape of a lovely and rather cute felt Tape) and Tatty Devine jewellery in the shape of Indietracks bunting... the bunting itself was also made there and they had bunting making classes which I somehow missed but enjoyed being entangled in its products throughout the weekend (there was even a rather heartwarming greeting at the train platform for a girl whose birthday it was, joining her friends, who had made welcome bunting.. aw). I thought it was not only nice that you could sit and knit and that it was encouraged with no prejudice (not like when I'm on the bus and get the occasional odd stare) For the exclusive Indietracks Tatty Devine jewellery go to their website http://www.tattydevine.com/boutique/product_info.php?cPath=120_146&products_id=1050 this is the one I bought... sigh... 

Waltzing around the fields with many cool looking like minded people (yes I own vaguely Buddy Hollyesque glasses, a fascinator, vintage tea dresses, I enjoy knitting, I enjoy silly songs.. I enjoy silliness generally... etc.) I felt immediately at ease.. There wasn't that massive corporate festival feeling.... the one where you're too skint to eat or drink (yup somehow Carling think it's reasonable to charge nearly £7.5million per pint of weak piss and a veeeeryyyy dubious burger), where you're too scared to go to the toilet (but probably need to after the burger has eaten away at your insides) and everybody seems to be wearing fairy wings/comedy wigs.

Indietracks is indeed the loveliest festival I've yet to go to.. and seems as of yet untouched by corporate whores... and big newspaper spreads (though I did overhear a rather funny conversation on the train concerning a man name dropping the Guardian about 6times in one sentence but not actually making any real sense- "Like, yeah, I'm not working for the man, I'm giving free speech to the people.. the people about steamtrains.. yeah") 

Anyway, onto the fundamentals of the actual festival.. Crafty goodness and swashbuckling ticket conductors aside, the music.... ah the music... firstly our wonderful foray into the "Casio Club" that is Au Revoir Simone...three rather rickety keyboards adorned the stage and three suitably "kooky" (bloody hate that word) American ladies walked on the stage..  all dressed in makeshift Urban Outfitter stylee shambolic attire these three lovelies stretch into a rather floaty set of tuneful keyboard tinkling and madness. Their apparent quiet stage presence was rivettingly shattered by the occasional outburst of madness and crazed keyboarding, mashing down the keys and swaying in a rather outlandish and mesmeric way. Needless to to say the beautifully calm, tuneful and heartachingly lovely songs of these ladies made for a euphoric hour of the festival.. Go and find some online and listen...It's pretty!

Then onto a nice mixture of everything the weekend represented.... Trains AND music in the same place.. yup, off we went to squeeze into the Indietracks express to see Moustache of Insanity, an Aussie, Bill, and a Swede, Nik, coming together in a vaguely Conchords like manner with equally witty and silly songs (most noteably a song called "Brains" with the rather excellent line about a clever girlfriend with "brains, brains, brains (like a Welsh barmaid)".  For more information and interesting facts (such as Nik likes shopping channels) go to their website  

http://www.moustacheofinsanity.com/about.html 

and listen to some of their interesting little ditties.  The rather lo-fi (or more accurately no-fi set as it was all done on some rather dubious keyboards and an acoustic guitar in a train carriage) was a rather enjoyable trip not only down the Butterly railway but through the world of strange ordinariness that is Moustache of Insanity. Creating a suitably fun gig atmosphere in a cramped train is easier than imagined (think how much more fun those cramped Sundays on a shitty train service that has a 3hr detour would be if there was an amusing duo accompanying you and singing songs about postcard websites would be?) Standing on a barrel of sorts and stretching trying to see the band over the top of the other musical commuters was really rather worth it as the journey went on and as train bumped so did the music.. it made for entertaining listening anyway... 

Flying the Spanish flag for the Elefant label Casa Azul headlined the Elefant stage to rapturous cries and crazy Spanish dancing.

The crowd around me where pretty much all Spanish but the member (s) of Casa Azul spoke in broken English in an endearing and lovely way to the crowd.  So, Casa Azul are a bit of a weird concoction, they start with a rather massive screen showing a vaguely Kraftwerkian assembly of robots who turn out to the other members of the band... these members never appear in any other form than a video of them playing various instruments, two girls in a weird cultish Abba stance, and two men in white shorts all looking like extras from some weird Ikea like film.  Anyway, the actual only person who was there in .. um person... was Milkyway.. he came on in a full white suit, with a Daft Punk like space helmet..(only shortlived as he was hot aw).  Their cheesy electronical pop was ecstatically happy and full of beans, bulstered by the constant barrage of images on the big screen behind the, of Dusty, Mama Cass, and all the beautiful ladies in the world... even venturing into a personalised version of Supermario world.  La Revolucion Sexual starts here... look it up on their msypace (www.myspace.com/lacasaazulband) and dance away.... You will not be disappointed I promise... 

The bigger names at the festival were still a tad on the twee side, and when I say a tad I mean they really top the twee hierarchy of Indieness... Yup, Camera Obscura of "Let's Get Out of This Country"fame... their hearts were ready to be heartbroken by Lloyd and their dresses were poofy... their maudlin career was at full height and nope I can't think of any more puns... I have time constraints you know (not really, sigh). I must say I do like Camera Obscura only to the limits of watching them because I felt somewhat obliged.

I enjoyed it but not to the same extent I enjoyed the new and more enthused bands who were jumping with joy and energy at being on an actual stage.  Well, I do find Camera Obscura's near shyness vaguely endearing and annoying at the same time, needless to say I enjoyed the songs I recognised and with a bit more time and effort on my part I would have probably prepared myself more to enjoy it more.. However, they looked beautiful and romantic so nearly all is forgiven. 

.. 

The other paragon of Indie shyness (and another Scottish band... one of a ridiculous amount in attendance at the festival) were Teenage Fanclub.. finishing the festival with a rather spacey extravaganza of individual vocalists, steamy lights and warm harmonies. BMX Bandits bear an uncanny resemblance to the Scottish shyness of Teenage Fanclub, both of which I watched eating a scrumptious curry as their tunes blew across the breeze on the grassy knoll at Butterley sigh.... 

An equally serene performance by the lovely Hong Kong In the 60s was rather pretty too... made more so by the simple yet beautiful setting of the little railside church onsite.  They have taken an intriguing turn by using Japanese and Chinese folk songs sometimes  translated into English with lovely little chords of shoegazy serenity...  

They've released a new EP I believe, suitably called "Willow Pattern Songs" which is released on Rough Trade and has such a pretty song on it called "The Mermaids". I must admit I was sat on the splintered floor of the little old, tin church watching in awe 

                             and taking pictures through the grooves of the pews.

Mei Yau Kan's delightfully sweet voice echoed through the church and felt almost holy... in a very Indie church way... I also took upon the rather intrusive manner of taking pictures of the fabulous looking people around the festival (usually without any kind of permission) and I found this gorgeous couple, a rather Romantic and idyllic looking Indie couple bathed in the light of the church window, (and if you've ever been to Heebie Jeebies in Liverpool and seen the montage of the revellers at some kind of protest in Greenwich Village there is an equally gorgeous couple who they reminded me of)

Butcher Boy, despite a rather tempestous argument with Will, was vaguely enjoyable, mostly due to the exciting accordion playing.. I must say I'm not a massive fan of any of their songs other than "Carve a Pattern", that simply seem to take on an more mature Belle and Sebastien, Yup they're Scottish too.. like just about everybody else at the festival... (even the first people we met at the train station were furiously patriotic Scots-they were a tad angry when I said I wasn't a massive Teenage Fanclub fan.. but it was incredibly heartening meeting anybody over the age of 40 who remained quite so passionate about small Indie bands and being locked in their bedrooms listening to quiet twee pop) 

Now onto another former Indie favourite, the moment of Art Brut seemed to be mid 2005 ish with them forming their band and then not really doing much else of note.. However, the debut "Bang, Bang, Rock and Roll" is still rather excellent now even if it is purely because it raises memories of my time at school frolicking in the art block attempting to be rebellious and pseudo political.. ah nostalgia.. Well they didn't write the song that made Israel and Palestine get along nor as universal as Happy Birthday but they do have a nice array of catchy songs that Eddie Argos seems to have changed everytime I've seen him... He did at one point delve into a sardonic and stilted version of "Sex on Fire" don't listen to the radio.. Don't buy your records from the supermarket.. could there be any better advice?? I was slightly disappointed that he changed the lyrics of Modern Art to reflect on the band's recent trip to some DS Comics offices... now I'm not a comic geek and I much prefer Hockney so the lyrics were almost lost on me but it is hard to be unaffected by Argos' enthusiasm for um.. unenthusiasm and cynicism.. He jumped into the crowd, mauled and adored by the circle of admirers and never lost enthusiasm... though he had lost his moustache which some might say added a definite Je ne sais quoi to his face.. it's like he was missing his hat or something.. 

He's still in love with Emily Kane, he still wants to rock out over modern art, he still (probably) regrets being anything to do with We Are Scientists, he's still a bit of egomaniac but amusingly so.. and he's still rather a spectacle to behold... not being one for much of their new stuff go and listen to Bang, Bang Rock and Roll" and have yourself a good weekend.... 

Reaching the end of the weekend we took our last dance in the tent full of fairy lights and "Hang the Dj" placards to listen to the beats of Songs for Children, Djs from the only (well supposedly) Indie night in Hong Kong.  With a ukelele, an intrusive camera, and misbehaving speaker equipment we danced to indie classics (at intervals of speaker upset) and thoroughly enjoyed the decadence of our last night on the Butterley railway... 

We caught the last train home... seeing the fairy lights dim somewhat in the distance as we slowly chugged home... If you have any desire or opportunity to not only visit the festival but even the exciting museum do it... a fun steamtrain weekend for all... It was steamtrainadelic.. or some such horrible word.. you get what I mean.. I enjoyed it.. a lot!

Well even after that delightful weekend I am still deep into my search for career sustenance or even malnourishment.. I have moved house... realised I own far too much of everything, mainly clothes and jewellery and possibly books but I shall never allow myself to say I own too many of them.. they are, after all rather too delightful to ignore, I am going to miss my lovely best friend who is moving home in equally career void circumstances (and whose fault it probably is that I have taken to writing this blog) and whom I love very much.... and whom put up with me at the above festival and the above moving of many items of jewellery and books... 

So in conclusion.. 

I shall mostly be listening to...: "Because the Night" on repeat, preferably the Patti Smith version but I'm partial to a bit of Bruce.. oh and I had a rather huge Velvet Underground binge yesterday.. lying in my room by my new bay window listening to New Age and annoying the neighbours... quite possibly one of the best songs ever.. 

I shall mostly be eating: Whatever I can afford with my slightly limited resources.. Though I have ventured to my new local greengrocers called Adam's Apple.. it made me laugh no end.. and they had cheap strawberries.. I attempted a delightful Sloe Gin, Blueberry and Raspberry mousse tart but it went a tiny bit wrong I don't think I have enough patience for leaf gelatine but if it works I shall give you the recipe as even when it wasn't set it still tasted lovely.. ooh and I have decided that Chickpeas cooked with some garlic, wine, orange zest and a bit of curry powder, pepper and paprika are the ideal accompaniment to a zesty grilled aubergine salad.. phew yum.. yes I've nothing better to do with my time than cook pies that don't work.. 

I shall mostly be knitting: um still on the baby blanket... 

I shall mostly be painting: with my new liquid acrylic paint.. it's in a pipette and  it makes beautiful marbling like images... 

I shall mostly be doing: Job hunting... not crying over rejected applications.. giving Will a fun few days before he goes away (sniff) hanging out with my new lovely housemates and eating toast.. 

and avoiding playing nightfire ever again.. 

ever.. 

that is all... 

Moi Je Joue..... well for now anyway..

Hello Wonderful potential readers,

This is my first ever blog so bear with me on the nonsense front... In my state of dire unemployment (as of Tuesday: I had 2 days of a rather hideous sales experience), boredom and the occasional rush of inspiration I have decided to create some vague kind of outlet for any form of creativity that might pass through my brain but seems to be of little or no use in my current job search. Alas I hear you cry! Well no, whilst I search for the ultimate in exciting career opportunities that my current home of Liverpool has to offer (whilst dallying with the constant desire to run away to somewhere sunnier and not quite as "realworld" orientated and waiting for someone to discover my hidden musical/knitting/artistic genius) I give you the random thoughts and pulses of my brain synapses (I'm not really medically aware so that could be um wrong..)

As you may well have noticed the name of this fabulous blog pays a wonderful tribute to the gorgeous and rather sultry Brigitte Bardot, and reiterates my current state of having nothing to do (ie. Moi..when I can afford it.. Je joue). I must admit my Francophilia does stretch to most realms of my life and if you've ever met me you'll know it regularly stretches to random purchases on Amazon and it is through my one click shopping habit that I found "La Belle Epoque: EMI's French Girls 1965-1968", which is a rather fantastic if not odd overload of the saccharine and sultry.  
Christie Laume's "L'adorable Femmes Des Neiges", is a favourite of mine.. Who doesn't love a song about the adorable girls of snow? She also has a song delightfully called "Agathe ou Christie", which is indeed one of life's unanswerable questions.. obviously. For more information on her she appears to have her own website http://www.christielaume.com/biography.html , which not only gives you an overview of some of the most amazing sounding French Chanteuse compilations on which she appears and some lovely grainy photos but also tells of her ongoing project writing a biography regarding her rather famous sister in law, a certain Edith Piaf (never heard of her....haha)

So yes.. and God created Brigitte... Let's bypass any mishaps concerning "Inciting Racial Hatred", and her rather potent animal activism (there is Facebook group dedicated to her rather unFrench Vegetarianism, declaring "Comme Brigitte Bardot Je Ne mange pas de CHEVAL"http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7598071268&ref=ts) purely as I'm not entirely sure of the ins and outs of these occurences, and focus on the fantastically oozy sultriness regarding her honeyed voice, big blonde hair and kohl lined eyes... 

Who else could possibly try to credibly get away with a song about an Orangutan without sounding like a children's tv presenter (or alternatively a bleach blonde Barney the dinosaur ...errr shivers).  The obvious sexual chemistry between her and Monsieur Serge Gainsbourg, another beloved of mine (perhaps mostly for his desirous and almost arousing indiscretions towards to Whitney Houston), makes for fabulously erotic listening (I'm sure it's what a menage a trois on The Left Bank sounds like..). For the ultimate example of this you need to listen to "Bonnie and Clyde", with Serge's steady voiced storytelling of the infamous '30s criminal couple rather demanding that we "Ecoutez l'histoire de Bonnie and Clyde" over a bizarre whooping sound, rather like a voyeuristic crane watching them make love in their bullet riddled death car.



Brigitte provides the chorus, a simple yet haunting repetition of the title of the song.... just in case we forget who the song's about (and there's a rather delightful moment where she purrs Bonnie's name... listen to the song it just seems strangely appropriate) These crime spree lovers rather bring me to another wondrous French woman I've recently admired, miss Marion Cotillard.  


Her recent foray into the criminal cliques of the Great Depression as John Dillinger (and Johnny Depp)'s lover Billie Frechette, in "Public Enemies" sees her as a rather courageous Moll figure and unfortunately not as an alarm clock wearing rapper. She did however shoot to fame with her rather raw and unequivocally heart wrenching performance as one of the most famous French Chanteuses ever, Edith Piaf in "La Vie en Rose". Both soundtracks provide some rather lovely atmospheric moments... Billie Holiday's "Love Me or Leave Me" and obviously "Rien de Rien" Sigh.... 

You can't really avoid the fact that Brigitte's simple sexiness has translated into the high street, not always successfully, with everyone vying for her almost nautical French stripiness, some ending up like the bombshell she is in a pair of ballet pumps and on the right side of too much eyeliner but others topple into Napoleonic realms of looking more like the helm of a rather gaudy ship (whether to shove your hand in your jumper or not is a personal choice... just remember some might not realise you're channelling French Naval regalia but simply touching yourself up on the bus. You have been warned!)

If in doubt get some old war medals and be done with it..avoid too many anchors or you'll end up looking like a Topshop flagship shop (see what I did there? ha) and swallows and Kate Moss stylee nauticalia never really seemed to go away, recurring each summer when people forget to dress in a vaguely original way at festivals... Just don't get a swallow tattoo... not unless you're a proper sailor and then it's just protocol and you'll never be fully admitted to Davey Jones' Locker or whatnot without it. 

To avoid get the Primark samey sameyness I have been attempting to knit my own lightweight Brigitte stylee striped jumper, so it's just baggy enough but not so much that I look like I should be strung up a flagpole on a poshboy's yacht at some kind of regatta. Have a look at this lovely 40s style (and all the other gorgeous things available).. not quite stripey but rather gorgeous non? 

http://www.vintagepurls.net.nz/Downloads/StitchSept1951TieWaistJumper.pdf  

And obviously you can't be caught dead walking on the Rive Gauche looking the part but eating a massive burger (well if you wanted to go for a hardcore Bardot experience) so here's a yummy onion soup recipe I found and embellished upon (courtesy of Sophie Dahl and her wonderful new book "Miss Dahl's Voluptous Delights" which by the by I think everybody should buy as I obviously do not advocate nicking recipes from the shelves of Waterstones so here's a link... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miss-Dahls-Voluptuous-Delights-Sophie/dp/0007261179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248381531&sr=8-1 which not only has some rather gorgeous recipes but is beautifully laid out) 

Sweat 2 large yellow onions and one large red onion in a large heavy bottomed saucepan with a lid with lots of olive oil and butter.  Make sure there's a lot of oil and or butter covering the bottom of the bottom of the pan as you don't want them to burn at all or you'll taste it throughout the soup... Do this for about 40 mins and make sure you cover them lovingly with the oil as well as covering the bottom of the pan.. This is basically meant to caramelize the onions (it'll start to smell amazing after a few minutes). I added a clove or two of garlic, as I'm rather a garlic whore, but it doesn't need too much as it'll have the lovely sweaty onion flavour (which now I read that back sounds rather horrific) I also added a teaspoon of brown sugar to help the sweetness of the onions come out .. Don't use too much as it might make it rather too sickly.. When the onions have gone lovely and brown add 2litres of chicken (or veggy) stock or half and half and a few splashes of balsamic vinegar and allow to simmer. I added a few sprigs of ripped parsley but not too much as it will totally ruin the lovely flavours.. Let this simmer for about 10-15mins (it won't need that long as the onions have been sweating and cooking for so long already). 

Season with salt and pepper.  What I love to have with this is either a few Parmesan crisps (grate a few thin slices of Parmesan cheese and grill them for a few minutes KEEP AN EYE ON THEM as they have a tendency to go all gooey and melty and not nicely crispy) and also a nice chunky slice of white artisan style bread, I like a bit of sourdough, grilled with a thin layer of Parmesan on the top is also divine.. I know it's traditionally Gruyere but I can't stand it personally. 

So below is the video for "Bonnie and Clyde", eat your soup and watch the utterly amazingly ridiculous video of Serge and Brigitte fixing her stockings and looking remarkably like Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds ... c'est tres chic... (even more so cos it's the one without the subtitles.. )

My Francophile ramblings must now to come to an end for today as I've got to be off to pack for Indietracks festival (in Butterly near Derby in a Steam Train museum- this weekend 24-27th July).  So expect next time to be all steam train orientated as I'll have watched the likes of Art Brut and Camera Obscura dancing on down in the train carriages...

I shall mostly be wearing: red lipstick, a veiled pillbox hat and carrying a smart suitcase to channel some 1940s tragic train departure scenes from whatever film you can think of... or alternatively I'll be working the "jello on springs" look a la some like it hot... 

I shall mostly be listening to: Camera Obscura, Art Brut, Au Revoir Simone and some rather fantastic train related tunes such as Plastic Bertrand's "Le Petit Tortillard" and Robyn Hitchcock's "I Often Dream of Trains" a platform boredom must. 

I shall mostly be eating: Whatever I can afford in the Nottingham vicinity. 

I shall mostly be knitting: An orange and white Beatrix Potter blanket I'm making for my new little nephew...aaw

I shall mostly be doing: jobhunting and dancing in trains... not necessarily in that order.