Listing listers: Rough trade's...

..top 100 albums of the year.

'My socks are on fire'

'My socks are on fire'

http://youtu.be/watch?v=X6Eh7CJamGE&feature=related

The Sidewalk live

I saw the reformed Pavement when they played Brussels last week. A stonking gig, all classic songs that sounded as fresh and vital as ever.

I only took the two photos above before my camera battery died. Luckily KomorogovJr captured some heady moments and posted them to youtube.

Here's his video of the opening song, Cut your Hair:

Here's links to his videos from the the gig of Fight this generation and Range life.

I'd never seen many of the Pavement promo vids before, but just spent a morning discovering them. They're generally pretty lo-fi affairs, which adds to their appeal for me:

My fave is Gold Soundz (santas in the city, for no particular reason), followed by The Spike-Jonze directed Shady Lane (nostalgic cycling, headless singing, driverless driving) and Range life (On tour, perhaps the one with Smashing pumpkins mentioned in the lyrics? Would certainly explain their pissed-offness). Apparently Billy Corgan's not over that dissing yet.

NIke world cup ad

About the longest TV ad I've seen at half time in the Champions' League final last.

I like the bit with Rooney living in a caravan.

African football exhibition

In the run up to the World Cup, More human is a photography ehibition on African football. It's at Ozwald Boateng, Saville Road London from 9th May. Funds raised go to UNICEF.

Tottenham player Benoît Assou-Ekotto, who plays for Cameroon, features in the exhibition. He's refreshingly honest about professional football in this Gruaniad interview.

"I don't understand why everybody lies. The president of my former club Lens, Gervais Martel, said I left because I got more money in England, that I didn't care about the shirt. I said: 'Is there one player in the world who signs for a club and says, Oh, I love your shirt?' Your shirt is red. I love it. He doesn't care. The first thing that you speak about is the money.

World cup 2010 posters