Dizraeli » diary

In praise of Silly

Dizraeli — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:42:40 +0000

I realised my love for English when I moved to France. I was 21, in a new place, where every detail of my day had to be conducted in a language not my own, and I saw for the first time how much we are shaped by the words we speak. A French version of [...]

The Big Freeze!!

Dizraeli — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:03:04 +0000

I glance out over the snow-muffled terraces and tower blocks, as a sudden burst of sun glints off the gutter icicles. It’s brilliant, I think- car doors are frozen shut, people walk slow on the black-iced pavements, and everywhere there’s the secret delight of a shared crisis. There’s only eight days of gas supplies left, [...]

Terry the fridge. And a Wave to ride.

Dizraeli — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:30:58 +0000

The fridge (whose name is Terry) is gurgling in his characteristic way, a cross between a gut and a lawnmower. The gurgle becomes a rumble, which becomes an angry splutter, which exhausts itself into silence, which becomes a gurgle again. And here I am, back in the winter grip. Someone up there’s laughing at the [...]

The Voyage

Dizraeli — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:01:37 +0000

All right, all write, alright? I’m looking out through Brixton scaffolding, with a weeklong tour at my back, and a stomachful of coffee just about holding me upright. Whoof. It was a birth and a trip, a labour and a holiday, a sweat and a giggle all rolled into one. We started with [...]

Now breathe…

Dizraeli — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:38:20 +0000

I should follow my own advice sometimes. Breathe it in, breathe it out, loosen up. I’ve been running around like a blue-faced arsebottle, an arse-faced bluebottle for the last too long, worrying about the album, worrying about the tour, fidgeting next to Laura in bed for hours after she’s sunk to sleep. Well, now I [...]

New album release date! 12th October.

Dizraeli — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:52:03 +0000

Sorry JD’s and lentil-men, sorry that the album isn’t here yet: I’ve got the finished master sitting in my stereohands right now, but I’m still pursuing the rest of the process: artwork, design, printing, pressing, yip yip. The exciting news is that I have found (finally) an amazing artist who’ll be making Engurland look beautiful. You [...]

Bestival, spectacle? bodge it and hop.

Dizraeli — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:38:53 +0000

Alright then. The summer is done. Leaves curl and brown on the trees, hoods are pulled up over cold ears, and Bestival has happened. I travelled down to the Isle of Wight mashup for a night only, bustled on the train by Londoners wearing patterned wellies, applying makeup and talking outfits: Bestival is not a [...]

Clowning in the Circus

Dizraeli — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:47:22 +0000

This is an old story really- a day that happened more than a month ago. But I have to tell you about it, because I haven’t yet. My old friend Billy Macrae is a photographer, and has an unparalleled eye for the same small street detail that I hope I have an ear for: the stories which [...]

Bomb Tesco!

Dizraeli — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:08:19 +0000

Laties und Gentelmans Oh, we had a lush time this evening. It was perfect: the Rebel Cell finished playing to a packed house, and I asked them all to come down to Tesco for a big old dance and to play the food. People’s eyes lit up. About forty of us went down, and had so much of a [...]

Staying up…

Dizraeli — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:15:20 +0000

The Cokemedian is jerking like a corrupted file, glitching backwards and forwards on his skinny legs, making scratching noises. “Ye- ye- yeah, word up my ho- ho- homie”, he says, and looks to us for laughs. Everything he says, he looks to us for laughs. Call me po-faced; I find it hard to laugh at [...]