I have to admit to being a bit of a musical bigot – the thought of discovering an unreleased Nick Drake track is my idea of a good time but I like to think I keep an open mind. It’s just such a disappointment when you find a nice place to drink only to then have it ruined by some 80’s discotheque blaring out and assaulting all of your senses.

On the flipside, there should be a degree of respect when dealing with a playlist – no requests for Anthrax while I’m in the middle of a space funk odyssey please. Also, understanding the swing and flow of the music is essential as it guides the energy within the bar.

Not being afraid to carve a niche is something I value greatly-if the first thing you do when you go into a bar is look for a juke box or pause in every conversation to work out the current tune, you know what I’m talking about.

I love how excessive we get in Britain, to the point where we get so ridiculous nobody notices because it’s been happening gradually for a long time. Why not just skip the middle period and have an under 80 rule? Only I.D. those without zimmers and hairnets. Luckily I don’t get ID’d because of the wisdom in my eyes and the fact that I’ve been sleeping on my face for the past 20 years; but its still apparent how over the top it is when someone next to me who is blatantly buying wine for cooking is given the robot speech of ‘its just my job I have to ID everyone with any degree of innocence’.

I’m waiting to see how the new government will tackle this issue but I can’t help but be pessimistic.  I see a sci-fi futuristic setting where only those with a tattoo of their age on their necks are allowed alcohol and moonshine runs rife but then I play too much Xbox and therefore can’t be trusted.

Alas, as always I awake to the despair of the empty tip jar on my bedside table. My problem (besides sleeping next to pennies) is thatIi’ve been filled with false hope from too many films with American bars where the patrons tip after every beer. What is our policy on tipping in bars? In restaurants it appears obvious so why is there confusion when food isn’t involved?

British culture fails to appreciate the good bartender, we are deemed by the vast majority as part timers, working the bar as a stop gap rather than as an actual profession. That’s why a lot of my tips have come from other bartenders because they have respect for the craft (and it usually involves a cheeky tequila for myself).

Don’t worry though for I have the answer. Forced conscription into the service industry for schoolkids! Scrap work experience, imagine if every one had a taste of what it’s like to smell of stale beer and unblock a toilet with your hand!!! The tips would roll in like a golden avalanche. I might open my own school…Lee’s School of Social Interaction. Catchy.

When is a late closing taking it too far, will it be Bloody Marys for breakfast at the bar you entered before midnight, watching the sun rise over your friend’s lifeless carcass with his hand draped over an empty jager bottle (sorry flashback…)? At what point are we changing the drinking culture completely to contain nothing but nocturnal consumers? Maybe the future holds nothing but shifts that start with a rum nightcap and end with a whiskey brunch.

The traditional style of drinking in a pub or bar till eleven and then moving on to the club which would be open to three or four is becoming redundant because there is a bar open past that time anyway! This might not be a bad thing however, a more relaxed attitude to the time allowed for consumption can be nothing but good – it’s when this is taken advantage of that we see punters spilling into the latest bar having been turfed from where-ever closed before.

The afternoon drinking crowd is dwindling away and with it the number of drinkers who take a little bit more time choosing their drinks because there’s no Saturday night rush to decide what you want.

It’s hard enough already for a new business in this industry to get going and now they have to worry about opening times as well. Is closing before midnight even an option anymore for a bar to survive?

Black Affair could accurately describe the content of Boys outside. Masons mental state is mined throughout  for lyrics such as, Am I Just A Mans ‘And there’s a darkness that persists through all of this, and though I try to keep a light on it exists’. Those looking for an instant Beta Band fix will be perhaps disappointed. The production is by Richard X, more usually associated with the likes of The Sugarbabes. It’s a sparse sound with clean pop beats and Masons bruised vocals pushed front and centre where as before they would be buried in The Beta Band’s pastoral, hip hop soup.

It’s a good, good album. Interesting if not always enjoyable as Mason lays himself bare. This is soul music of the darkest kind.

7/10

It includes a new ‘code’ which basically prevents any drink promotions that encourage acts of debauchery such as speed drinking, giving booze as rewards (perish the thought!) and pouring jager into customers mouths from atop the bar whilst playing air guitar to Led Zeppelin… you know, your basic Easter holiday…

The aim being to reduce crime and disorder by stopping your local neighbourhood ruffian having a round of shot sticks to himself, and then punching some teen for wearing tight jeans and having hair.

These steps may well have a positive effect but let’s face it, they’re short cuts at best. The real issue is deeply rooted in the everyday drinkers psyche. Respect for alcohol as a product is practically non-existent, partly because it was never taught in the first place. We all got institutionalised to the stringent 11pm cut off point that when we were given free range, our indulgences got out of hand.

It takes time to change to attitudes; bad habits are hard to break. There should be more efforts to educate the consumer on all fronts and that’s a responsibility as much for the bartenders in the industry as it is for teachers in schools.

We’re not aiming to eradicate all forms of tomfoolery because, (and this may shock you) alcohol makes us do stupid things sometimes (no really!). However, it would be nice to have measures installed that were a little more laid out and long term rather than feeling like a slap on the wrist and a telling off.

This is the first of a series of articles and rants about life within my industry, starting from us all taking a deep breath when the ominously titled ‘credit crunch’ was announced, delivering an uncertain future.

Many venues have been bordered up and you can’t help but wonder…why are we still here?

Could this be a ‘biblical bar cleansing’? A chance to start afresh without middle of the road bars? Don’t get me wrong, there have been losses on the good side, the odd Ale house we used to frequent (but for some reason recently neglected) has gone and we raise our tankards to you, martyrs of the holy grog!  However, most places have closed because they lack the heart of a good booze merchant…character!!!

We want venues with interesting artefacts not plastic copies of some random watercolour.  Good music, whatever your taste (every genre has a golden centre). Real people serving, not mindless drones afraid of showing one shred of individuality. All these simple basics are the most commonly discarded.

Venues that may consider themselves the underdogs need to stick to their guns, craft identities and be proud to do their one thing very well. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a pub crawl consisting of nothing but top notch bars? We may be left with fewer venues but this surely means a better night out will be had by all…Bartenders and customers alike.

2 years later, MOJO staff in Leeds were astonished to find the Band’s tour manager on the phone asking if they could play a gig at the bar. They had a free night due to an illness and cancelled gig by Counting Crows whom they were supporting. Rather than sit idly they rushed north to Leeds to play a free show. All who attended will attest to the brilliance of that impromptu gig.

You’ll find much is the same on the new record. Lyrically as literate as ever thanks to Craig Finns erudite scribbling on life and love and raconteurism. The major changes in sound have been forced upon the album by the departure of keyboardist Franz Nicolay and rather than replace him they’ve left the spaces he used to fill free of sound. This lessons the e-streetness of their sound but the touchstones are still seventies rock. Drifting melodically toward Todd Rundgren and Cheap trick. It’s superior MOR really and worthy of your attention.

7/10

Well my hope is shifting to the imminent Exile on Main street deluxe release as this is a disappointment.

There are bloated or just plain flat  versions of classic album tracks, Red house and Fire for instance that offering nothing new or of note over their original forms. There are studio/rehearsal cuts of Creams Sunshine of your Love and Elmore James Bleedin’ Heart the latter being the more impressive but neither impressing overly.

The main attraction are four unheard tunes of which only the title track leaves a lasting impression and even then it’s a rather formless unfocused one.

So without Hendrix being able to shed his magnificent grace down upon these tunes you are left somewhat unsated by what’s been served up. The hope therefore for the Chateaux Nelcote sessions is that the Stones are (just)about around enough to nurse them to form.

4/10

After a three album clutch had generated  next big thing accolades an ‘Indie’ tag but modes sales the brothers retreated disbanded and made solo albums to clear the air.

The resultant double album is anything but Indie. It’s filled (20 tracks) with an engaging flight through the clever, clever side of British  psyche pop, prog and village green era kinks. The spirits of XTC, ELO, Wings and a sprinkling of Yes are evident throughout.

So yes, it’s a prog referencing double album but it’s never self indulgent. The proggy elements are ever shifting time signatures rather than un-needed 14 minute harp solos. It’s all tied down with a laser like pop sensibility that makes every track never less than interesting.

There is the odd failure bit with 20 tracks to play with it’s easier to forgive.

7/10