BritPopCoruncopia #17: Top 3 reasons I wish I was at Glasto this year

Alas, there any many cosmic arguments as to why I should've been at Glastonbury this year. Here are the top three in order of importance:

NUMERO UNO, of course: Blur closed the whole. damn. show. And it was epic.

*Sigh*



Dear blur, please just come to the Netherlands when I'm there, okay? Don't go to the U.S. if I haven't seen you there! It will seriously break my heart. And my tears will fall like those Ghanaian tomatoes, Damon:

Love, Em

Numero dos:

Ah, Noisettes, my new favorite band of the moment. Their frontwoman Shingai Shoniwa (that's her during their performance at Glasto above) is an ultra-ferocious blend of Kathleen Hanna, Bjork, and Lily Allen in her incomparable vocal delivery. I am rocking out to their last album What's the time, Mr. Wolf? and I can't wait for the release of their latest Wild Young Hearts in August. Their dancefloor hit single "Don't Upset the Rhythm" is already shaking the bootysphere in their native England.



Memo to Noisettes: Let's also get the timing right, please. Whether it's Amsterdam or S.F. be there when I'm there. Alright.

Numero tres: The Tong, his bandmates and their ever-lovable antics:

BritPopCornucopia #11: You can't go wrong with TONG

Did you know Matt Tong, drummer of Bloc Party, has a father who is a pro chef? Well, they did a little 4-parter vid for Guardian UK Online called "Cooking With (the) Tongs". It was part of the Bloc Party Take Over guest editor series for the website. He is so dry. And the interaction with his dad, who plays the straight man is priceless.

Matty oozes quotables in the first part that's linked, but beyond that I won't spoil it for you. And they make Chinese pork terrine in part 3, which is delicious. My grandma makes it all the time!

Here's a clip of Matt and Kele (the lead singer/rhythm guitarist) in an interview. It's fantastic how clearly apathetic they are about interviews. Way to go, flippin' the bird to the media game, brothers.



Ooh, those shorts...

Check out how checked out Kele is in this interview in Brazil in which they have the gall to ask him how his name is pronounced:



And here's Matt and his bandmate Gordon doing Morrissey:



I watched a few other interviews and I gotta say Matt's wisecracking is the bomb. It totally wins me over, and in addition, his crisp drumming is always tops.

Cool TONG factoid #386: He also went to Bournemouth School For Boys just like Alex James.

What's more, the Bloc Partisans are outspoken feminist allies. Here's what MT had to say on the patriarchy of the rock n' roll orthodoxy:

"I always thought being a musician or wanting to do anything great was recourse to escaping the things about the world that might be hard to digest. I see bigotry all the time in the music industry. It’s still a very macho environment; it’s always been boys in the road swilling Jack Daniel's and womanizing. Rock 'n’ roll and feminine influence have been mutually exclusive. I heartily disagree with that. I constantly meet females who operate in this world who still struggle with archaic and counterproductive attitudes."

It's settled. He's my fave member. All hail the mighty TONG!