"Brace yourself"

I forget how I came across The Chives and Ballpark. I have a feeling I may have followed a link in a guestbook (that was in the days when links in guestbooks didn't take you to websites promising penis enlargements, cheap viagra and myriad gambling opportunities) and I'm very glad that I did. After hearing snippets of jangly, guitar-based indie (on RealPlayer - remember when everyone used that?) I parted with ten of your earth pounds and received four CDs of a quality far better than I expect from my impulse purchases. Sadly - as always seems to be the case when I discover a band I really like - The Chives who, as far as I can remember, became Ballpark when guitarist Matthew Corbett (no, not that one) left and was replaced by Matt Poole, had not long gone their separate ways.

As I can't tell you much about them, I'll tell you what I can and then put some mp3s up. The singer, songwriter and driving force behind The Chives and Ballpark was Chris Spring from Chelmsford. (He has now gone solo and I'll direct you to his myspace page as his website is currently undergoing a revamp. For me, his solo stuff hasn't yet hit the spot like The Chives and Ballpark did.) Nobby Haywood played bass - more bands need members called Nobby - Matthew Corbett and Matt Poole were lead guitarists in The Chives and Ballpark respectively and Rob Bailey handled the drums. The Chives released two albums (The Chives and :2three) plus one CD of alternative versions of album tracks and some which didn't make it onto albums and Ballpark released just one album, Cigarettes Save The World. That's it. Now you know what I know. Oh, and Chris Spring is a really nice, friendly chap. Now you know what I know! Here are the mp3s (all left clicks available for 7 days):

The Chives - Nothing Happened mp3

The Chives - First mp3

The Chives - Sure Surrender mp3

Ballpark - Anything Hour - mp3

"Coughing like you might not make the afternoon"

July 1st 2007 and a new law comes into effect in England which prevents smoking in the workplace. This effectively means that all the country's smokers are banished into the soggy wastelands outside their cosy office blocks, restaurants and pubs. Lovely as this is for us non-smokers, it's a bit of a bugger for all the poor, nicotine-addicted people who are often now treated as pariahs. We sympathise and, therefore, have put together an entry devoted to smoking and this momentous day.

(We did consider using songs such as The Smiths' There Is A Lighter That Never Goes Out and artists like Weezer and Pariah Carey, but that would just be silly! So here are our final choices...)

Salty Pirates - Smoking Indoors mp3

Ballpark - Cigarettes Save the World mp3 (available for 7 days)

The Lucksmiths - Smokers In Love mp3 (available for 7 days)

Kansas City Playboys - Quittin' Time mp3 (available for 7 days)

Skeeter Davis - Gonna Get Along Without You Now mp3 (available for 7 days)

Kirsty MacColl - A New England mp3 (available for 7 days)