Buried Treasure: dEUS - The Ideal Crash

For Belgian band dEUS, The Ideal Crash marked a glossier, more commercial production than its two predecessors, Worst Case Scenario and In A Bar, Under The Sea. Fortunately, this didn’t mean the band had lost its identity; there was still the same crunching guitar noise and dissonant jazz flourishes. But now these elements were done with more subtlety, with a broader musical palette (synths, harmoniums, theremins) and a clearer sense of melody (summed up by Mojo magazine as “Semisonic go Beefheart”).

Highlights of this new approach included ‘Instant Street’, which begins as a folkish, banjo-driven number à la Wilco and gradually builds into a climatic wall of guitars; ‘One Advice, Space’, which subtly shifts from moody keyboards to gentle strings in the chorus; and the likes of ‘Sister Dew’ and ‘The Magic Hour’, both boasting beautiful melodies that belie their dark undercurrents. In each instance, dEUS’s strength was utilizing contrasting shades and styles without it ever feeling forced or contrived.

Upon release in March 1999, The Ideal Crash received plenty of positive reviews from the music press: Q and Select both awarded the album 4 out of 5 and the NME rated it 8 out of 10. Yet despite the initial acclaim, the album had disappeared off most critics’ radar come December and failed to appear on any of the major music publications’ albums of the year lists; this coming in a year not blessed with definitive album releases.

Over ten years on, The Ideal Crash still sounds fresh, and although it’s debatable about whether it’s dEUS’s masterpiece, I do think it’s the most accessible entry point for newcomers wanting to investigate this brilliantly original band and their impressive back catalogue. It certainly was for me.

Milk? Eurgh!

I've just discovered that it's World Milk Day today, so what better excuse (if any were needed) to revisit this classic advert from the 1980s.

Personally, I'm not so sure the Welsh Chuckle brother lookalike was a big milk fan. I mean, you never saw him with a lactic moustache, did you? Mind you, he did score a fair few goals in what was then called the Milk Cup.

Pulling Power

Last night saw the final 60-minute special of the brilliant Pulling on BBC Three, after the channel announced it was axing the cult sitcom last year. For anyone who’s never seen the show, it follows the dysfunctional relationships of three female housemates, Donna, Karen and Louise. In the previous two series, episodes have mined some pretty dark areas for a sitcom (think Sex and the City as conceived by Joe Orton), including suicide attempts, copious drug abuse, stalkers, flashers and feline euthanasia.

The final episode continued in the same vein, with themes of obsessive love (Louise returns from abroad several pounds lighter but burdened with an unwanted partner, whom she discovers she prefers comatose to conscious); terminal illness (Karen’s ex Billy reveals he has cancer and wants to go swimming with dolphins before he dies); and domestic abuse (the result of which sees Karen exact revenge upon a chauvinistic ex through a flagrant misuse of tampons and Mini Babybels). Not to mention more suicide attempts and copious drug abuse.

It was very funny and makes the BBC’s decision to axe the show seem all the more egregious, as there seemed more mileage in the series as well as a growing audience. Still, the will-they/won’t-they saga of Karl and Donna was left somewhat open-ended, perhaps to give the makers an option of a return on another channel (à la Red Dwarf, which returned for a three-part special on Dave last month).

In the meantime, if you missed last night’s episode, you can catch up with it on BBC iPlayer. It’s also being repeated all week at various times on BBC Three.

Cold Comfort

For any bloke that’s ever suffered from the dreaded ‘man cold’, only to receive resolute contempt and accusations of protracted exaggeration from your wife, girlfriend or significant other, prepare to rejoice in vindication.

According to a story on the BBC website, it’s been scientifically proven that women’s immune systems are significantly stronger than men’s, meaning that they’re able to stave off colds and flu more easily.

A Canadian study has found that the female sex hormone oestrogen is key in boosting the inflammatory process that helps ward off viruses and bacteria. This means women suffer less from the symptoms of colds and flu.

In addition, Dr Lesley Knapp, of the University of Cambridge, said: "Women are well known to be able to respond more robustly to infections, and to recover more quickly than men."

So, ladies, next time us chaps are supposedly wallowing in a mountain of snotty Kleenex and self-pity, just remember: you’re tougher than us, okay?

A Kick in the Ballack's

Portugal 2-3 Germany.

Never, ever, write them off.

Gary Lineker had it right: "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win."

Proof of the Pudding

Today was my first day in my new job as a proof reader. I don’t think it matters how much work experience you have or how far you’ve progress in your career, there's always a few butterflies in the stomach on your first day in a new job.

What can ease the nerves is the probability that, along with your last day, your first day at work is probably the optimum time for getting away with either: a) doing very little work, or b) making cock-ups.

I did manage to start on a bit of work today, although much of the day involved meeting the colleagues I’m going to be sharing the same bit of carpet with; being shown where the toilets and fire exits are; drinking copious amounts of tea; making a valiant but short-lived effort to remember everybody’s names; and being told by most of the people you meet ‘it’s difficult remembering everybody’s name, isn’t it?’

Oh, there weren’t too many cock-ups either. Certainly nothing as costly as the £5m of damage this guy managed to cause on his first (and last) day at work. Blame the butterflies.