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SCOTT BAKULA IS DRACULA*
Tomás Ford's DISTRACTOMATIC _//February 2008

SOMEBODY SHUT ME UP
I played Lilyworld at the Big Day Out a couple of weeks back. I've done it about five times now, but every year it's still so much fun. This year I opened the stage and it was pretty funny doing a set that early in the day, it totally messed with people's heads. The day before I did a great all ages show at HQ, which again, was such a great chance to really mess with some heads.

Anyway, I've been overh au ling my live show over the last couple of months, so if you haven't seen me since December, the show is very different to what I was doing then. Particularly seeing as though I was going through a bit of a grumpy industrial-punk mood in December, which seems to happen on about a 13 month cycle. All of a sudden I find my setlist is pounding, hard, rough and nasty when it's supposed to be more about the weird, bad trip party vibe. Anyway, at the moment it's a lot closer to an electro party set than it's ever been and there's a lot of cool live stuff going on in there. Plus I've done a really moog-y minimal remix of No Reaction that sounds totally badass on big PA's.

I was a bit sick last week, but that's cleared up, and I've been a bit contemplative of what to do next as my act is getting to the point where I need to push it to the next level as I'm running out of things to do locally. So (probably next month), I'll be making a new bid for cult internet celebrity status, there'll be some new records for you to hear this year and I'll be touring the eastern states quite a lot this year. I'd like to do a theatre thing this year too… I've taken pretty much two years off working as an actor and I miss it a lot.

And that pretty much sums me up. I'm pretty happy about the apology to the stolen generation (though I'll be happier once there's actually some action on the issues involved). Inflation is making it hard to live at the moment in WA between miners driving up the average wage and petrol prices getting nasty on our arses. Bread went up 80 cents this week. 80c! Egads!

Anyway, stop by my websites (http://www.myspace.com/tomasford or http://www.tomasford.com) to say hello and maybe buy some stuff to help me eat. Or maybe drop me a note to let me know what you think about my newsletter and what you'd like to see change about the website, since I'll be making it over next month. Or just direct more spam to me. I seem to collect it.

Massive,

Tomás

THINGS THAT SUCK

My Website – It sucks, I know. What's with the password thing? The uSync backstage system was a bit of a failed experiment for me, methinks. And can you even read my myspace bio? Ugh. A shiny new site will be up next month.
RIP Scott - if I die, no matter how badly the loss hurts, please DO NOT commemorate me in a Myspace virus. That would not be l33t.
So You Think You Can Dance – How come the aboriginal girl with the overalls got in and not her much more talented brother? He's the one who did the cool pop and lock stuff and the trick where he blew his hat off his head. I'll tell you why; it's bec au se she cried and could sign "I just got into the top 20 on so you think you can dance" to her sister. Reality TV sucks.
The Mist – …is such an awesome movie. And then the ending comes and you're like "wha…?" Deeply unsatisfying. I'd advise you to go see it but leave just before the end.
British India – "We nicked the chorus to Tie Up My Hands from an old Starsailor song." (actual quote, jmag)
I'm Not There – Fuck. That. Movie. Was. Boring.
Gastroenteritis – Just a stupid thing for your body to do. Not glamorous at all.
Not being nominated for a WAMi – Tres uncool, Perth … That said, big ups to Brash And Sassy and Electric Limosine. Respect. Perth electro massive. ;)
NKOTB – My wife keeps insisting they're getting back together for a reunion. I keep insisting that they're not. And they're not, yeah?

THINGS TO DO IN A SEPARATE WINDOW WHILE YOU SURF PORN SITES
Tweakbench - http://www.tweakbench.com/
I've been telling my electronic musician friends about this site; some of the raddest free effects plug-ins ever are here, and some OK softsynths. Go! Download!!

Super Mario ROMs - http://www.derok.net/emulation0/supermariobros.html
If you don't have a console emulator on your PC, what's wrong with you? You don't like Nintendo? In any case, this is a link to what amounts to NEW LEVELS for Super Mario Brothers. ZOMG** THAT IS THE COOLEST THING EVER!!!

(… and one for the total non-nerds)

Hickey - http://www.myspace.com/hickeydisco
New guy on the scene, Hickey, is a bit of a mash-up genius who has put together a very tasty 15 minute mashup of pumping Justice-style electro that'll get you psyched for his set on Friday night with me at the Bakery. It's a free download from his myspace.

AGING RECORDS YOU SHOULD TOTALLY SCORE OFF OF BITTORRENT
Summerteeth – Wilco
Wilco got megapopular on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot but the record before it is trippier, if a little heavy on Beatle-esque melodies. In any case, it was the soundtrack to my second year of uni and it's probably my favourite record of theirs. Really interesting, effecting stuff.

The First Half Of Want One – Rufus Wainright
Any time I listen to his other stuff, I'm all like "I want to be listening to the first half of Want One." I wish I had it on vinyl, 'cos I think Vibrate is the last track on side A, after which it becomes a bit of a boring record. But up until that point it's astounding. Big, bombastic, glam, folky soft rockish operapop. We like that here.

Howl – Alan Ginsberg
Get drunk by yourself at home, put this on at 2am and get lost in it. Challenging but perfect.

WHY PERTH IS NOT AS LAME AS YOU KEEP TELLING ME IT IS

Dan Deacon is playing at the Music Box. Go track down his new album and then go see him, he's awesome.
WAMi Festival has a whole pile of guitar music on, if you like that kind of thing.
Soundwave Festival is on March 3. Go see Thursday. They're that emo band that was on before Flaming Lips a couple of years ago. They were actually pretty good, yeah? I think Mindless Self Indulgence are playing too, and they're kinda good in a rap-metal kind of way. I hate rap metal.
Freo Brewery Crawl – My new favourite thing. Little Creatures (rad, as always), Madmonk (shithouse, tastes like commercial beer and it's lame, but it's a crawl so you have to stop there) and the Sail And Anchor all have microbreweries. Go. Get drunk.
Deuce – Deuce's monthly electronic nights at the Velvet Lounge are the shit. More on the breaksy-techno tip than your straight up electro one, but it's good. And awesomely, all local.
James Blunt is playing somewhere. Which means there's a solid window for you to assassinate him in without leaving Perth .
Air are playing a headline show in Kings' Park. Pity it's ludicrously expensive.
DOS4GW – Has a new concept album out based around the movie Logan 's Run. You should buy it. His last one was awesome. I was supposed to contribute vocals for this one but I was a bit too busy. Hopefully we'll be doing something for his next one though.

OUT OF CONTEXT REVIEW QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"What the fuck?" – Architecture In Helsinki support, November '07, Drum Media, Perth

UPCOMING TOMAS FORD GIGS
FRIDAY FEB 15 (this Friday) AT THE BAKERY, NORTHBRIDGE WA
CANDY HEART CABARET
A valentines' special featuring Brash And Sassy, The Voltaire Twins, Atlantika, Bend And Snap and Hickey.

SATURDAY FEB 16 (this Saturday) AT SHAPE, EAST PERTH WA
WAM FESTIVAL ELECTRO SHOWCASE
Well, if they're gonna have a total of one electronic event in this festival, I guess I may as well play it ;) With Electric Limosine, Brash And Sassy, Shazam and Ambidexter.

SUNDAY FEB 24 AT THE HYDE PARK HOTEL, NORTH PERTH WA
BLAC BLOCS SINGLE LAUNCH
Anarcho-punks Blac Blocs have Antipoet/Allan Boyd as their frontman and I'm sure most people will be aware of the fact that he's one of Perth 's most interesting and amusing artists. Their new single should be great and they're becoming a very interesting live act. Also playing will be Bonehouse and Genghis (who will probably want their tambourine back… but I really like it…)

THE NEXT """COTTONMOUTH""" WILL BE IN EARLY MARCH ( PERTH , WA )
I MC and help co-ordinate this new spoken word/rad music performance event. Perth's most interesting and engaging spoken word in a curated show before a bit of music (last month was Josh Fontaine) and we wind down with some open mic. It's at the Rosemount's side bar (459) and the next one is going to be awesome if the massive response to the first one is anything to go by. Keep an eye out

NEW MELBOURNE DATES COMING VERY SOON

MEANWHILE
Check out http://www.tomasford.com (it sucks but there's still a lot of cool content on there and I'm about to change the entire thing so you may as well read it while you can) and http://www.myspace.com/tomasford (.)

To subscribe to this blog/newsletter/timewaster thing on your email, send an email with"I Want To Get Your Emails While I'm At Work So I At Least Feel Like The Interesting Dude In This Boring, Boring Office" in the subject header to tomasford@westnet.com.au (.)

*: This is a rhyme I came up with while watching DVD's of Enterprise the other day and I thought it was so cool I had to use it somewhere. Now, outside of my Star Trek-induced haze, I'm not so keen on it, so I thought that somewhere should be here.

**: Can anybody tell me what the "Z" is supposed to mean? K, thx.

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