No longer blogging, clearly. Follow me on twitter.com/noclarity

Ed

An article I put together for Alternative Ulster on the Icelandic music scene is in this month’s issue. Pick it up in decent newsagents in Ireland.

Many thanks to all contributors; the bands Reykjavík!, FM Belfast who told me the reality of music making up there and also writer/photographer Paul Sullivan and blogger Mark Ollard for giving me the insider industry info about the scene they feel so passionately about.

"I was wondering what was weighing my backpack down..."

So, you’ve booked the flights and you’ve handed in your notice to your boss…no more shelf-stacking or filing for at least a year! The first thing you’ll probably be wondering is what to take away with you in that backpack of yours round the world?

Most travellers would say that a good rule of thumb is to pack your bag, then take half out and you’re ready. I would say take what you need, not what you want- but people have different perceptions of what a ‘neccessity’ is. Believe me, your happiness will be measured by just a few important factors; getting enough sleep, good food & drink (thus keeping a good healthy body) and the weight of your bag. I have a Berghaus Jalan 70+15 Rucksack, which I bought in the sale for around £100. Front-loading with wheels and detachable daysack which has not let me down yet. Comfortable support on hips, dead easy to pack/unpack and sturdy. The wheels are a genius addition.

So if your basic route is heading to SE Asia, onto Australia and New Zealand you should have no excuses for not travelling light as you won’t have any use for jumpers, coats, or trousers. Here’s what I packed:

1. Flip-flops. Not the wicker type as they get smelly when wet..a decent comfortable pair that can handle getting wet and dry quickly are invaluable. I have a Quiksilver pair I bought in the sales again, but there’s plenty of cool ones to choose from. Bring plenty of waterproof plasters for between your toes during the first week of wearing!

2. Sarong. Light, space-saving, quick-drying fabric which you can use as a towel or keep you warm when on cold air conditioned buses/overnight trains. You can buy one for around £2 GBP in Bangkok’s Khoasan Road- haggle in the markets! Ask how much an item is then offer (at most) half, go a little higher (increments of 20’s if in Baht) if you really want it, but remember that you can always come back later or buy at a different stall, they will come after you if you walk away! Don’t bring a towel, straighteners, hairdryer, or beyond the bare minimum of toiletries. Tip: wash the sarong separate in sink as the colour from the cheap ones can run.

3. Boots. Only if you’re going trekking, you’ll need a pair of hiking trainers or light boots with ankle support. In the wet season it can rain for some time in Asia, so sliding around in that muck up and down trails can get tiresome. Often your hotel will clean boots for a couple quid…well worth it afterwards as Oz won’t let you through customs with dirt on your footwear and it’ll save you scrubbing up in the sink for hours. Pick up a poncho, or a very light rainjacket from most 7-Elevens for a couple quid. Invaluable when caught in the frequent Thai thunderstorms.

4. iPod. Or other mp3 music device loaded up with podcasts, audiobooks and classic albums to make the soundtrack of your trip. Add a mini-speaker or double adaptor to share the funky vibes with new pals.

5. Book. One you’ll read on the trains and buses as well as a Lonely Planet guide. Give yourself some “me” time now and again, reading will help you kill some time and keep your mind active so you don’t turn into a beach bum permanently. Some hostels will offer a book exchange so you can swap when you’re done.

6. Pack of cards with jokers included. Learn intelligent games like “Arsehole” and make new friends through the shuffle of the suits. Learn a couple of tricks to impress new pals and never tell people how its done!

7. Torch. Or head-lamp. The wind-up ones are good, no need for batteries which will come in handy in the jungle when you are “showering” by candle light, or peeing into a squat toilet, or in a dorm when it’s past the curfew and you want to keep reading or plan the following day’s exploration.

8. Laptop. Controversial this one; if it has a 12-inch screen or less, I would take it with you if you have one as the cost of staying in contact can be quite steep otherwise- just make sure it’s covered by your insurance policy. WIFI is widely available and free in most places. Ask at reception, more often hostels will have it and hotels you’ll have to pay; have a search in the area first to see if there’s any you can hop on to temporarily before charging the VISA to check your gmail. Install Skype for free computer to computer calls or low cost phone calls home. Get a Flickr account to upload your photos and a gmail account to write to friends and family. Facebook is the universal way for staying in touch with other backpackers you meet and sharing photos between eachother.

9. Insect repellent. I picked up a maximum strength one from a travel shop and still frequently got mauled by bugs, so don’t bother with the low strength ones. Deet in the sprays is potent stuff though so spray on your clothes and go easy because its tough to get up, a squirt goes a long way.

10. Combination lock. Pick on up for around £5- don’t get the really cheap ones, they’ll break easily. Store your valuables in lockers and safety deposit boxes. Keys are easily lost so the combination one is usually the safer bet.

Apart from all that, throw in your passport, digital camera, factor 50 sunscreen, a couple credit/bank cards, a very small first aid kit (antiseptic wipes/plasters/face wipes/scissors), a couple tees, knee-length cargo shorts, board shorts, couple pairs of underwear, trainer socks, face mask & earplugs (which you sometimes get on your flight) and (don’t forget) your toothbrush.

Remember though, if you need something you’ll always be able to buy it out there so don’t think you need all these things before you leave; barter hard in the markets for the best deals- it’s great craic! Any questions, drop me a comment below. Happy travels!

AU mag this month release a compiled list of the top 50 Northern Irish songs of the magazine’s lifetime (since 2003) as selected by local musos. The issue celebrates their 50th issue and indeed NI’s recent talent with a sexy spot gold metallic ink cover with a CD featuring tracks from the top ten artists. At 100 pages thick, it’s makes for a meaty read too. Anyway, here’s my own top 10 list:

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There’s also interesting selections chosen by Andy and Barry…and here’s the full top 50 list compiled and published by AU…how many of your favourites are in there? Who is missing from your top ten?

I produced a couple podcasts a while back for Channel 4’s alternative careers site 4Talent that have just been published:

First up is Phantom FM’s Derek Byrne, enthusiastic host of sunday night gem, the Album Archive…who even let me have a nosey round the studios.

LISTEN TO DEREK BYRNE INTERVIEW: [VIA 4TNI]

Next up is Declan Legge, who runs Big Space Studios in Newry (who by the way, is the older brother to Shameless actor Michael Legge) and has produced talents such as the likes of Rachel Austin. I really love the decor of the attic, I could sit up there all day…

LISTEN TO DECLAN LEGGE INTERVIEW: [VIA 4TNI]

I don’t know about you, but when I meet up with like minded individuals I come up with more ideas in ten minutes than I do in a week of sitting on my own, thinking. And often when I meet up with people that I’m not necessarily friends with, but still share a common interest such as local music (or just outstanding music), films, comics or whatever…connections are made and the ideas can start to flow.

There’s certainly a creative movement happening, or at least seems to want to happen, in Irish music. Some people have suggested there is no music industry in NI; there’s radio stations, plenty of bands, a couple music magazines, lots of venue promoters, NIMIC events. But as Davy Sims quite rightly points out – no band managers, no-one that really has any clue about sustaining the business side of running a band; the accounts, tax, funding, marketing and so on. “DIY til I die” is a fine slogan, but too many times I see great artists burning themselves out by spending their evenings and weekends marketing themselves (often inexperienced and poorly; spamming social networks and resulting in a negative marketing campaign), when they should be resting, practising or writing.

Penny Distribution has started out on the right foot; we’ve already seen their work put into action by the release of a Tom McShane and Escape Act split 7″ and tour. But we need more people to come out of the woodwork and roll up their sleeves. Everyone from the media in Ireland to the bloggers to the loyal vinyl-buying, gig-going, MP3 downloading music fans, need to be putting the work in. Otherwise, this sucker could go down.

The solution? That’s anyone’s guess, but this might get us started;

• More collaboration: Between artists, radio DJs/podcasters, recording studios, event promoters. Splitting costs, doubling ideas.
• More experimenting: How many clubnights are out there with the same thing evey week? More interesting concepts and exciting events would get the tongues wagging. More bands need to start thinking about whether their are musicians, or indeed artists. If you consider yourself in the latter category, let’s get a little more creative; if it’s sincere and genuine, you will pull it off.
• More unity: Dublin is only a 2 hours drive away from Belfast, and yet you would think we were in different time-zones the way we ignore eachother and look out for our own. More support for visiting bands and cross-border gig-swapping! This isn’t the 1970s anymore, Lonely Planet describes Belfast as an up-and-coming cosmopolitan city so let’s not make them out to be liars.
• More positivity: People like Tracy at Soul Ambition are bringing a bit of confidence back to the city; set some goals for this week, this month, this year. Let the bitterness go and let’s make some noise…

Here’s a new acoustic session by Sparks Fly featured on muzu.tv

Pop the kettle on will you Sloane? And bring out the chocolate digestives...

Are you a disaffected corporate employee? An I.T. desk drone? Well have no fear because a weekend of watching my Top 5 list of Stick It To The Man Movies and you’ll be a “fry cook on Venus” in no time…

1. FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF (John Hughes, 1986)

“What is so dangerous about a character like Ferris Bueller is that he gives good kids bad ideas…”

Couldn’t agree more Mr Edward Rooney. I first watched cheeky Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller rip through downtown Chicago with his best mate and girlfriend in a 1962 Ferrari GT 250 California when I was about 12 years old, off school sick. Hugely quotable, inspirational and never ceises to be funny and anyone who has watched this film has taken a Day Off of their own… It’s the reason I’ve flown over to Chicago twice in the past couple years to lean against the glass one thousand, three hundred and fifty-three feet up in the Sears Tower, catch a cubs game with a meal in a fancy restaurant, well that and…

WATCH TRAILER ON YOUTUBE

2. RISKY BUSINESS (Paul Brickman, 1983)

“I don’t believe this! I’ve got a trig midterm tomorrow, and I’m being chased by Guido the killer pimp”

It’s Ferris Bueller… for 17 year olds as a young energetic Tom Cruise in his breakthrough film as clean-cut high school kid Joel Goodsen that gets into a car chase with a gangster, has sex with prostitutes, becomes a pimp who makes too many frozen dinners and all the while is trying to get into an Ivy League college without his out-of-town-parents finding out about a missing expensive ornament and daddy’s Porsche getting a little damp in Lake Michigan. Time of your life, huh kid?

WATCH TRAILER ON YOUTUBE

3. OFFICE SPACE (Mike Judge, 1999)

“So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that’s on the worst day of my life.”

A modern cult classic comedy from the creator of Beavis and Butthead about breaking free from that gawd-awful office job. Gary Cole plays the boss we all know and hate and Jennifer Aniston stars as the waitress in the TFI Fridays-esk restaurant next door to the office who has to wear 15 pieces of ‘flair’ but has a secret love of kung-fu movies. John C McGinley has a great role as a consultant called in to do the firing at the company and Ron Livingston as Peter Gibbons, the man who just ‘doesn’t feel like going to work today’.

WATCH TRAILER ON CLIPSER

4. METAL: A HEADBANGER’S JOURNEY (Sam Dunn, 2005)

“Ever since I was 12 years old I had to defend my love for heavy metal against those who say it’s a less valid form of music. My answer now is that you either feel it or you don’t. If metal doesn’t give that overwhelming surge of power that make the hair stand up at the back of your neck, you might never get it, and you know what? That’s okay, because judging by the 40,000 metalheads around me we’re doing just fine without you. “

Documentary from 30-year old anthropologist and lifelong metal fan Sam Dunn, aims to investigate the rise and fall of metal and why the genre has been so misunderstood and condemned over the years. If you want to stick it to the man, rocking out to Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Twisted Sister, Alice Cooper, Motorhead, Slayer and company is certainly a good start. An insightful, intelligent and entertaining look at the history of metal.

WATCH TRAILER ON YOUTUBE

5. BILL HICKS: REVELATIONS (Channel 4, 1993)

“The world is like a ride at an amusement park. It goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it’s very brightly coloured and it’s very loud and it’s fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: Is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, “Hey – don’t worry, don’t be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride”

Hicks’ follow-up show to Relentless, recorded at the Dominion Theatre in London. Even now, Bill’s take on US politics (and its relationship with the UK) is frightenly accurate. Hicks confronts the hypocrisies of American life, its evil totalitarian government, the controlling mass media while attacking the soullessness of pop culture, all the while making us laugh at the helplessness of it all.

WATCH IT AT GOOGLE VIDEO

Odeon Cinema Victoria Square Belfast is bringing back the classics!

I ain’t got time to bleed. Anyone got time for some sweeeet films though?

SEPT 22nd ALIENS
OCT 6th PREDATOR
OCT 20th DIE HARD
NOV 3rd THE TERMINATOR
NOV 17th BACK TO THE FUTURE
DEC 1st PULP FICTION
DEC 15th RESERVOIR DOGS

Sept 22nd showing is free (first come first served) the rest is £3 a ticket. Screenings at 8pm prompt, no adverts.