Axe me I won't say no - how could I?

The man in the pic above is Dr Richard Beeching i.e. the fucker responsible for the infamous Beeching Report (what a coincidence that it bore his name!) which led to the closing down of thousands of miles of the UK railway network in the 1960s. He got paid a fortune for it too, by all accounts, wielding his "axe". There's really no justice sometimes.

What's that got to do with the price of an open return to Inverness, I don't hear you ask. Well, blog favourites the Pete Green Corporate Juggernaut have only gone and released a single about the man, in which Pete fantasises about travelling back in time and turning Beeching's axe back on him. Sounds like a plan!

Hey Doctor Beeching is available as a free mp3 from sparklemotion.co.uk, and while you're there they'd also appreciate it if you could make a voluntary donation to the Lincolnshire Wolds Railway, as Pete explains:

"The LWR is a little steam railway near where I grew up which is run by volunteers and needs funds to carry on its work restoring old locos, extending the track and enhancing the site for visitors. It's on a section of line which was closed following the recommendations of Dr Richard Beeching, as referred to in the lyrics of the song, so there's kind of a nice circularity about it if we can use the song to undo a little bit of the damage wrought by the Beeching Axe.

"The donation is entirely voluntary and you're quite welcome to download the song without making one. But we'd love it if you could put something in the hat. We suggest a donation of one pound (though, of course, it would be great if you could give more)."

Click here to download and donate

So there you go. Great bloke that Pete Green, lot of work for charity. I still think we need to divert some of those funds into financing that time machine though.

Three of a Kind #56

Keeping up with the latest releases from your favourite bands and singers can be difficult in these fast-paced, information-laden times, we all know that. So please, allow us to help you keep on top of things, as it were, with this brief round-up of new stuff from a few of our favourite tip-top pop types.

First up, ex-Monkey Swallows The Universe singer-songwriter Nat Johnson releases her debut solo single Dirty Rotten Soul, on CD and as a download, on the 29th of September. It's accompanied by this rather saucy vid, in which our Nat leads a young Bill Bryson astray. Who'd've thunk it?



If the thought of having to wait a whole three weeks before you can get your hands on a copy of that fills you with angst, fear not! That nice Pete Green has a new four-track 7" single out right now. The Platform Zero EP is available for a snipsome £4 (inc P&P) from here.

Dennis from All That Ever Mattered has a rather splendid interview with the man himself on his blog at the moment, which I'd urge everyone to check out also.

And here's track three of Platform Zero, in which Pete (British) rails against the corporate toadying of the modern-day NME. Right on!

Pete Green - Best British Band Supported By Shockwaves mp3 (right click)

Finally today, it's Mr Green's great showbiz chum MJ Hibbett with the heart-warming It Only Works Because You're Here, from an EP of the same name featuring seven songs from his recent Edinburgh Fringe show My Exciting Life In Rock. You can buy the EP direct from the source. This one's actually been out since the 21st of July, so I'm hopelessly late picking up on it. But like I said at the start, it's difficult these days!

"I'm going to stay at home and write my autobiography"

There's something about indiepop with male/female vocals. I can't quite say why it hits the spot so delightfully but Pocketbooks are a great example of gender-blender tweeness.

They are currently Andy, Dan, Emma, Mark and Jonny, having recently undergone a small line-up change (losing early guitarist Ben and gaining drummer Jonny). Pocketbooks' lyrics are eloquent and generally about the everyday rather than the extraordinary, but each song is something special.
Having just talked about the joy of male and female vocals together, the track below is just Emma singing but is really lovely. Give it a listen and then try telling me that lo-fi indiepop isn't brilliant!

Pocketbooks - I'm Not Going Out mp3 (right click and 'save as')

Andy recorded a full album before the band had formed properly and you can download that by going to the Pocketbooks website. The downloadable song below is from that album, entitled Proofreading. (Another track from Proofreading was included on the superb How Does It Feel To Be Loved? compilation, The Kids At The Club.) This time it's just Andy singing, but it's also a joyous song. (Don't worry, we'll get to the mixed vocals soon...)

Pocketbooks - Every Next Day Is A New Adventure mp3 (available for 7 days)

Here for your viewing pleasure is a live Pocketbooks performance of 'Cross The Line', the single released on Atomic Beat Records (still available as far as I'm aware, although only 400 in total). There are those male/female vocals I was rambling on about at the beginning!



As a bonus, I'm including an mp3 by Pocketbooks' labelmate, Pete Green. Pete is a man after my own black heart - he likes MJ Hibbett and hates Myspace. In fact he's written a song about exactly why he hasn't got a Myspace page.

Pete Green - I Haven't Got A Myspace Because Myspace Fucking Sucks mp3 (right click and 'save as')

As you may guess, Pete Green doesn't have a Myspace (because, as he mentioned, Myspace flipping sucks!) but to hear more, you can visit his website, Spaklemotion.co.uk, or his Last.fm page. By the way, if you haven't signed up to Last.fm yet, you should really consider it. It's a great way to find new music and also to keep an eye on what you've been listening to most. (I'm on there as ozgoelz.)