THE SIGNAL

So the musical highlight of this week will no doubt be my first experience of the rock colossus that is Queens Of The Stone Age live. This gig has actually been a long time coming for me – I had tickets to see QOTSA play in a tiny 500 capacity venue back in 2000, around the time “Rated R” came out. But the band cancelled due to illness, there was no rescheduled date, and before you know it, it’s 8 years before you get the chance to see them again. But no matter – Josh Homme is in town and ready to rock!

In other news ,I ‘ve been experiencing that bizarre ecstacy/anger that you get when you hear a song you love being played on TV, but then realise it’s been hijacked by THE MAN to make some political party seem cool, or even worse, try to sell you something. It’s a sensation akin to finding a fiver in the street, but having your wallet nicked as you bend over to claim it.

April March’s interpretation of the Serge Gainsbourg penned France Gall pop masterpiece “Laisse Tomber Les Filles” has seen mileage in the past year on the DeathProof soundtrack (cool), so it was a momentary delight to hear it eminating from my TV speakers this week. Unfortunately this joy lasted mere nanoseconds before I realised that it was being used on a car ad, which has somewhat tarnished my previously unbridled happiness at hearing its twangy opening riff (overall, not cool).

This generally negative experience has been tempered a little by the use of the dazzling Blonde Redhead track 23 from their album of the same name on the trailer for Series 2 of E4’s Skins. Firstly this is a stunningly atmospheric song, which accompanies a visually startling trail, and secondly it means one of my favourite records of 2007 is going to reach a much larger audience. All in all good work by E4’s trailer people.

So (finally getting to the point) this week’s What’s On The Box? really is on the box at the minute – and to celebrate here’s the original video from last year of the ethereal perfection that is 23 by Blonde Redhead.