We have to look at the positives

Musical Revelations Of The Week:
Edgar 'Jones' Jones - 'Gettin' A Little Help From The Joneses' - I'm not quite sure what I expected from this album, but I do feel like it has not only met, but exceeded my expectations. As I said earlier in the week, it sounds like one of those utterly brilliant compilation CDs that come out on labels like Honest Jon's and Soul Jazz comprising long lost classics. The sound is quite deliberately murky at times, and it's no secret that Jones is rather fond of mono recordings. Ska, rock'n'roll, soul and out and out pop all nestle together along with a bit of funk and easy listening just to confuse matters. A great, fun, summer record that you should get hold of before the sun fucks off again.
The Northern Soul Story - A set of four CDs designed to offer a thorough insight into the Northern Soul phenomenon. Now, I'm quite happy to admit that I know a big bag of bugger all about this particular genre, other than that I like good soul music, and I know that Northern was essentially about importing the best, obscure American soul to play in certain clubs in the top half of the UK. The four CDs are based around four of the key venues for Northern Soul nights. Volume 1 focuses on 'The Twisted Wheel' in Manchester, while volume 2 looks at Stoke-On-Trent's 'The Golden Torch.' I have to confess that I've not got as far as Volume 4's look at the legendary 'Wigan Casino', but of the three I've listened to, it's the third volume, looking at 'Blackpool Mecca', that's really grabbed my attention. In particular, the quite brilliant, 'Soul Improvisations Pt 2' by Van McCoy. As a means of attempting to convince you to buy these tremendous CDs, you can listen to that track here.
Ryan Adams - Tough call for the third spot this week. The Loungs deserve another mention for their excellent psych-pop album, 'We Are The Champ,' but ultimately Ryan must sneak through as a result of the BBC Four Sessions show. I picked up 'Love Is Hell' on Thursday and couldn't quite believe that I hadn't been persuaded to do so much earlier. It's a great record, and as I was saying previously about 'Cold Roses', once you give it the time it deserves, you start to realise that it isn't overlong, it's just a long album, full of great tunes. Quite what all the record company politics about it at the time were about, I've no idea. It's not like it's the sound of one man pissing in a bucket for an hour whilst tapping a spoon on a wheelbarrow. Why a record company would be annoyed with sixteen beautiful, heartfelt songs, I'll never know. This renewed focus on Ryan has also sent me back to his most recent effort, 'Easy Tiger' which I'm starting to realise is one of the year's best. Either dig him out yourself, or get buying if you've none of his in the house.

Non-musical Revelations Of The Week:
House - As the third series draws to a close on Five, it's worth reflecting on just how good this programme really is. The character of House, so wonderfully portrayed by Hugh Laurie, is written to perfection and his team are a meticulously thought out balance of jobsworths, deviants and geniuses. I could quite happily sit and watch 40 minutes of House talking with Wilson, his colleague, confidant and best friend. I believe the DVD boxsets of seasons one and two are now ridiculously cheap. If you've not partaken of this particular joy just yet, then it's time to change that. You won't regret it.
Gareth Jenkins - A brilliant rugby mind. Honest. Oh, and chin up, eh Gav?
BBC iPlayer - Despite the fact that it makes my aging computer slow to the speed of an asthmatic ant with heavy shopping (ta, Slacky), I'm quite enjoying this latest development from the Beeb. With access to a chunk of the previous week's televisual output you can download whatever you want to watch, and then have 28 days to watch the files before they cause your monitor to explode and your hair to go green. Or no. Presumably they just stop working via the usual DRM methods. Anyhoo, it's good fun, and I believe you can still sign up for the Beta trial somewhere on the BBC website.

Yes, it is difficult to play well with less than 30% possession

What with the eternal wisdom of Gareth Jenkins, I have to confess to not being in the mood to finish off my piece on Gene, so you can look forward to that on Monday. No, really.
Instead, a couple of musings. Firstly, the Ryan Adams concert that was shown as part of the BBC Four Sessions last night was fantastic. Yes, it was one-paced, yes it was quite heavy on 'Easy Tiger' material, but it really did show what a superb voice Adams has. Songs like 'Desire' and 'How Do You Keep Love Alive' suddenly clicked, and I came away from the programme realising that I like him a hell of a lot more than I thought I did. As a result, 'Cold Roses' and 'Easy Tiger' both got an outing today, and for the first time since I bought 'Cold Roses', I could understand its strength as double album. It always seemed a bit over-long and samey before. Not so now. It's on again tonight at 01:05, if you're reading this straight after it's posted.
I picked up all four CDs in The Northern Soul Story series this week and I'm playing the third volume as I type. Each CD is based around one of the key Northern Soul venues, this third one being centered around Blackpool Mecca. Now, Northern Soul simply being a title for some upbeat American soul music means that these are bloody good compilation CDs from the simple soul perspective, let alone any specialist interest. If you like your Stax, or if you've looked longingly at the 'Complete Motown Singles' boxsets then these are for you. At around £6 each in most shops, it's a relatively cheap set of cracking soul tunes. In amongst a raft of names you've never heard of nestle James Carr and Earth, Wind & Fire. All good fun, and just the tonic when your rugby team's lost by 57 points.

You're like House without the limp

Musical Revelations Of The Week:

Maximo Park - Every last thing they've every done, seemingly. As I may have mentioned, Maximo Park's performance at Glastonbury last weekend sparked something in me and another 'new favourite band' was born. I'm well aware that they're not 'new', indeed I already had both of their albums prior to seeing this performance. But something about their presence on stage, in particular that of frontman, Paul Smith, pushed all the right button. It's spiky, literate indie with no shortage of noise and thrust. It doesn't come across as particularly fashionable, just hugely enjoyable. As a result of that dawning realisation I reverted to my teenage approach to music and started to hoover up everything I could find. Only difference being I now have access to eBay and Amazon marketplace, which makes it both easier and more expensive. It's been fun though. Lovely assortment of colours on the 7" vinyl.
Ryan Adams - 'Easy Tiger' It's a very nice record. I'm sorry to use the word 'nice', but that's where I'm up to at the moment. Considering he releases a recording of pretty much every noise that is ever emitted from his body, simply being nice isn't too bad an achievement. There is a very limited edition orange vinyl pressing of this one, and unlikely previous Lost Highway vinyl outings, it's a pretty quiet pressing. I think I like it, although I couldn't hum you a tune from it if you put a gun to my head. That said, if you're the kind of person who would put a gun to someone's head over a Ryan Adams album then I suspect you're probably unhinged enough for me to get away with a brief doo-doo-doo. Is this the worst review ever written. Possibly.
Super Furry Animals - 'Show Your Hand' Possibly the greatest comeback single of the year. The album, 'Hey Venus!' is yet another sun-kissed SFA masterwork. Is any other act this consistently bloody brilliant? Caught a performance of the new single from Glasto last weekend, and it really is as good as it first seemed. Sixties harmonies, pure-pop melodies and a real sense of urgency. It'll probably get to Number 22 and then drop like a stone, but then this is the same public that thought Michelle MacManus had a pop career in her. (Do your own joke)

Non-musical Revelations Of The Week:

Scrubs - It returned to E4 this week, for season six. This prompted me to resume devouring season five on DVD. It really is never less than hilarious, and often much funnier than that. The shift in JD's character as he is now, at least nominally, Cox's equal is well handled, while Cox's breakdown after a wrong decision made for some genuinely lump-in-the-throat viewing. An undervalued work of genius that nobody will shout about until it's long gone, no doubt.
News 24 bloke with enormous bouffon grey hairdo - Good grief. I happened to have News 24 on yesterday morning, while they were covering the Queen's visit to the Scottish Parliament. Listening to this bloke trying to string a sentence together was genuinely disturbing. Every so often you were on edge as you waited to see if he'd actually died or simply forgotten every single word in the English language. Thank God that Peter Sissons was on duty when the burning car got stuck in the automatic doors at Glasgow airport.
Buying shops that have been in administration twice already isn't a good idea - 'Nuff said.