Story of the day

Give Me Back My Clothes (from Lancashire Evening Telegraph)

Lovely photo too - next time, say no.

Circle 26

Name Artist Album
Cream and Bastards Rise Harvey Danger Little by Little
Classical Gas Mason Williams This Is Easy (Disc 1)
That Teenage Feeling Neko Case Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
elizabeth Roy Harper Elizabeth
Freakin' Out Graham Coxon Happiness In Magazines
Soft Hand Willard Grant Conspiracy Regard the End
The Way We Get By Spoon Kill The Moonlight
Scaffold / Lily The Pink Various Artists Mega Beat Box (8-10)
You're So Vain The Black Neon Estuary English
She's a Woman The Beatles Past Masters, Volume 1
Across The Bridge Great Lakes Myth Society Great Lakes Myth Society
Ren And Stimpy - Log Seven months
Marconi's Radio Secret Machines September 000
Empire of Light Tin Hat Trio Book of Silk
Lose Yourself Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits [Disc 1]
The Blues Are Still Blue Belle and Sebastian The Life Pursuit
Crow Ralfe Band Swords
I'll Come Running (To Tie Your Shoe) Brian Eno Desert Island Selection
Kicks In The Schoolyard The Rosebuds The Rosebuds Makeout
The Greatest Cat Power The Greatest
16 Military Wives The Decemberists Picaresque


There’s no particular theme, but it does reflect a change in the way I
buy music. Simply put, I very rarely buy new CDs. I pick up a lot of
music from Oxfam, and I buy tracks online through iTunes and eMusic,
then a couple of times a year I raid the CD sales on Oxford St. The net
effect is probably more of an emphasis on American bands, since they
seem to have a bigger presence online. And this time we seem to be much
more guitar based. And whiter.

The Prelude is from Kate Bush’s Aerial - if you don’t have it, you
should.

Harvey Danger have been around for a while, and like a few bands
with a reasonable live following they have decided to ditch the record
label and do it themselves. You can download the whole album free from
their website, and it is a piano-driven rocker in the style of Ben Folds.

Classical Gas is one of my favourite tracks. I heard it once as a child
and never forgot it. Years later I bought a whole double album just to get it.
Neko Case is a Canadian chanteuse and the whole
album is a delight, and this is a representative track.

Nasty eighties drums and guitar, plus an obligatory eighties reference
to holocaust, ought to count against Roy Harper, but then again I
really like the name.

Graham Coxon’s post-Blur work is full of pop-punk greatness, and raises
the question: Damon who? Then we have the necessary French track.

Willard Grant have been around for ages and, like Lambchop, combine
lots of players to produce a quiet sound. But there’s a real emotional
depth and no weak tracks on the album. Spoon are good.

Lily the Pink was one of the records Sophie and I used to love as very
small children. Now that we each have a small child of our own, it is
offered here as a resource.

Black Neon are from the same label that brought us the superb Go! Team,
and this is from a label comp. Mike McCartney of the Scaffold, who we
just heard, had a brother James who was also in a band - here’s one of
their early B-sides.

The Great Lakes Myth Society are from the Great Lakes region and seem
obsessed with myths. Luckily they chose to express this in melodic pop
rather than a website with too much flash. The Secret Machines are 21st
century prog, and bloody good it is too. If you like the Doves and
Elbow, then you’re already halfway there.

I am fairly sure that there are more than three members of the Tin Hat
Trio, and a lot of the music is less structured that this cut. We have
probably seen the best of Mr Mathers, and we certainly got the Greatest
Hits for Christmas. But his best stuff still packs a punch, and Lose
Yourself more than most.

You all know Belle and Sebastian by now. The Ralfe Band are the fave
combo of Noel from the Mighty Boosh - it all sounds like this. It is a
little known fact that in between inventing sampling with David Byrne,
and reinventing rock with U2, Brian Eno worked as a footwear-themed
lounge act.

The Rosebuds are a slight disappointment given some of the laudatory
reviews I read before buying, but that’s the risk of the Internet.
Putting on Cat Power is kind of cheating since I know Ed already has
this album, but it is remarkable. A whole album of the singer of the
Decemberists is a bit much, especially given his obsession with sea
shanties, but I love this track. Ace video too.

Circle 21

Circle, um, 21.

First., a couple of corrections: The Go, as recommended on my first circle, are actually just a Status Quo for the 21st century, and I can’t frankly see the need. Meanwhile, Ida’s album, Ten Small Pieces, is a work of utter genius, and I completely failed to pick the best or even most representative track.

Onto this time. We kick off with AC Newman - the whole album is pretty good. Like his work with the New Pornographers, its all post-something powerpop, with lyrics that mean less the more you listen to them.
Chuck D, on the other hand, still clearly believes that hip-hop should still be the CNN of the ghetto (and yes, I am aware that I am white, middle class and from rural Lancashire). The whole Wired CD was released under the Creative Commons license, which means you don’t need to feel guilty about downloading it for free.
Lesley Winer released one album under the name (C). I love this track, although everyone else i have ever played it to doesn’t. The Fiery Furnaces are not as clever as they think they are, but still good in places. Probably best to avoid the EP.
I have no idea who recorded I am New York, but we had a great trip there at Easter and it feels right.
I now work far from an HMV or Virgin Records, and even further from the independent shops of Soho where I used to by a lot of music. But I am near an Oxfam that gets a lot of CDs, so I have started buying a lot from there, usually on the basis of what the cover looks like. Willis is an early beneficiary of this policy, and her whole album is pretty good, although she clearly is barking.
Uncle Tupelo are credited with sparking the alt.country movement. Regardless, their best of is strong. Steal My Sunshine is the first tune I bought from the iTunes music store, and it does sound like summer, which we still have a little left of.
The Bothy Band only released a few albums, but Old Hag... is simply wonderful - traditional Irish music that has nothing to do with Enya or Riverdance. I suspect most of you have more Throwing Muses albums than I do, but this is still great.
The Clean are very catchy. Thee More Shallows are another Oxfam find - OK but not great.
Random is what I believe is known as grime, and MC Lady Sovereign is, apparently, Queen of the Chav rappers, but as soon as she went “ch-ching!” I was hooked. Patty Moon is a German jazz singer who hasn’t quite mastered singing, but I love the chord changes in this and the sweeping strings.
Keen observers will notice that I have been quite consistent in including a track in French on every circle. This is not deliberate, but there I do wish I spoke French better (i.e. at all). What I love about this is the backing track, with the repeated sound of what appears to be a young Mademoiselle being startled by the business end of a Gaulloise, presumably wielded by a seduction-minded Serge.
I bought one Earlimart album by mistake in New York, and a second on Oxfam. Both are good. The Long Ryders have a fair claim for having beaten Uncle Tupelo to the alt.country punch, and their best of is darned good value if you can buy it for £2.99 from Oxfam. The Long Winters are not the last band on this comp whose name starts with “The” but theirs is a good album.
Pavement were one of those bands a lot of people thought I would like - some of it is great, but there is a lot of stoned jamming on the rerelease of their classic album.
The Kingsbury Manx don’t seem to have every been photographed, only rarely release records and may not play live: I love them. Their first album was fairly accurately described as like Simon and Garfunkel covering the Velvet Underground. They have broadened their sound since then, and their drummer has finally saved up for a snare drum and some coffee. This is quite possibly their best album. but all are worth checking out.
Cake are another Oxfam find, simply because I liked the name. Good album, and I can feel that I have helped alleviate suffering in the world!
Beth Orton: ace? Finally, Sophie probably deserves the credit for the Bees, but I like both of their albums a lot.

Circle 16 notes

Name Artist Album Year Key lyric One sentence review
Bottle Rocket The Go! Team Thunder Lightning Strike 2004 Two-Four-Six-Eight-Ten! My new favourite band.
Lugu Lugu Kan-Ibi Bunun Tribe / David Darling Fresh Sounds 2004 Penke penke Charmingly relaxing - no idea what it means
No Better Place Fountains Of Wayne Welcome Interstate Managers 2003 Kicked around till happy hour Simple, melodic guitar pop.
Harold the Barrel Genesis Nursery Cryme 1972 Take a running jump... Yes, it's 70s prog, and that is Phil Collins singing at times, but listen to it, especially the bass.
Daydream In Blue I Monster The Chillout (Disc 2) 2001 Fell asleep among the flowers, for a couple of hours Wanted this track for ages, found out Angela had it.
Here comes the night Cameron Dezen no title 2003 Don't get caught in flight, just before your feet touch the ground. Lovely, vaguely "inspirational" lyrics, nice cello.
Bluest Glass Eye Sea Oranger Shutdown The Sun 2003 Get yourself out more Retro guitar pop - you know what I like.
Rodeohead Hard 'n Phirm Blood Pudding 2004 Copy that: God loves his Children. Ten-four! You'll never hear a better Radiohead track.
Rainy Day #3 Grip Weeds Summer Of A Thousand Years 2001 Some 60s nonsense Remember that Rainbow Quartz sampler they sent from New York for free - I bought the album
She Don't Use Jelly Ben Folds Five Lounge-A-Palooza 1997 She uses va-a-a-a-aseline! Love Ben Folds? And the Flaming Lips? You'll love this! If not, you might not.
Strychnine The Sonics Feed Your Head 1965 I like the taste of straight Strychnine When you think about it, there aren't enough songs about taking poison.
Illogical Boogie Coconut Monkeyrocket I Shook the internet and stuff fell out 2003 Boing boing Dutch, you know: drugs may be involved.
The Rat The Walkmen Bows + Arrows 2004 Can't you hear me? Sort of like the first Strokes album.
First Light Peter Case Beeline 2002 Waiting for the first light. Guitar singer genius.
Armenia, City in the Sky Petra Haden Petra Sings The Who Sell Out (unreleased) 2004 Dum dum dum dum dum One woman a capella cover of an entire Who album.
Open Up Michael Hurley Armchair Boogie 8 1971 Open up eternal lips and swallow me. You can't argue with a lazy bass like this.
Le Banana Split Sandra Lou Hit Machine Vol 17 2004 Banana spleet. Hmm! Pop music as it is meant to be - cheap, plastic and infectious - hooray for France.
Section 12 (Hold Me Now) The Polyphonic Spree Together We're Heavy 2004 Don't ever think you're the only one when times are tough. They're back!
annies stoned rush go home productions Downloaded at random 2004 None - but you'll know when you get there. Absolute pure bloody genius.

Special circle

Free music special circle

In keeping with the idea of mixing things up a bit in circle-world, I present to you a tale of good fortune, kind neighbours and free music. This isn’t an attempt to usurp the next in line (Ed?), but rather to add more to the mix. As you shall see, I been lucky in music, and so I choose to spread the love around.

As you know, Angela and I recently moved into our new flat. Our upstairs neighbour is a chap who I shall not name, because he works for a major record label and its entirely likely that his employers do not look kindly on circle burning. Andyway, he is a big music fan, as well as a music executive, and a couple of weeks ago he invited Angela and I up for some drinks with his wife, a couple of other neighbours and an exceedingly large and happy cat.

Being me, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to look at his CD collection. Even ignoring the fact that it is mostly blues and jazz, it is so impressive it would dwarf the combined collections of all of us. I’m not exagerating when i say that an entire wall of a large room was filled floor to ceiling with CDs. Plus all the piles of stuff on the floor. I expressed all due respect, and started mentally hatching a plan for drilling through our hallway ceiling in order to steal it. I stopped this when he pointed at a fairly large pile of CDs on a table and said “I’m getting rid of those, do you want any?” I assured him that I could easily take all of them if they were of any interest at all, and he said go ahead. 10 minutes later I was popping downstairs to drop off an armful of CDs. 15 minutes after that, Angela did the same. And then I did it again.

So I now have a lot of music I didn’t pay for. And now you have some of it. Add in some other freebie downloads, and I realised that, combined with the CDs I bought with my goodbye present from my old job, that I had far too much for one circle, so I’d better do a special one. Special in this context doesn’t refer to the quality, but is rather dedicated to the notion that for many years I have harboured a fantasy about someone leading me into a room full of music and saying “help yourself.” Thanks to Kind Neighbour Upstairs, this has now pretty much come true. He also makes a killer guacamole dip.

As for the music:
All The Way To Memphis Mott The Hoople Rockin' 70s (Disc 1)
I Need Direction Teenage Fanclub Howdy!
If I Can't Change Your Mind Sugar Copper Blue
Service And Repair Calexico Hot Rail
I'm Just A Prisoner ( Of Your Good Lovin' ) Clarence Carter Patches
Jumpin' Jack Flash Ananda Shankar Ananda Shankar
Cleva Erykah Badu Mama's Gun
Yellow Earl Oakin Musical Genius & Sex Symbol
Don't Stop Till You Get To Bollywood Bollywood Freaks Bombay Gangstarr
The Safety Dance Men Without Hats The Big 80s
I touch myself Scala Dream On
Bring It On Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Nocturama
Too Short For A Superchunk pt.1 The Fabulous Bastard
Puff The Magic Dragon Gregory Isaacs 31 Songs
Old Fashion Morphine Jolie Holland Escondida
GOMEZ SOUL LOO & PLACIDO MTV TRASHED

A lot of this you may already know, but a couple of pointers. All the Clarence Carter stuff is good, if not exceptional, but worth it if you see it and like late 60s soul. Earl Oakin has been getting a lot of press recently, but the album is mix of songs and comedy: I suspect he’s a lot better live. I think he should do more like his version of Yellow: stripping the song down to its basics but doing it straight.

Circle 6 notes

Big Sur Thrills
Funky Peripherique Les Sans Culottes
The Week Never Starts Around Here Arab Strap
Molly's Chambers Kings Of Leon
You're So Damn Hot OK Go
Damn Shame Jay Farrar
Hey Linda The Go
This I Don't Need Starflyer 59
The Electric Version New Pornographers
I Wanna Sex You Up William Shatner
Lighting The Way Superdrag
Waves Wondermints
Freedom J Mascis And The Fog
He War Cat Power
Tropics Of Love The Black Heart Procession
E Motel The Clean
grass_skirt All Girl Summer Fun Band
At The Party Northern State
The Unbelievable Broadcast Her Space Holiday
Look Good in Leather [Explicit] Cody ChestnuTT
Mr Kennedy The Soft Boys
The Town That Lost It's Groove Supply The Minus 5
So Fast, So Numb R.E.M.
Screw You Guys I'm Going Southpark

Circle #6

Well, you’ll all be pleased to hear that this gets harder. The trouble with the success of this circle is that a lot of the stuff I’ve been listening to, and enjoying, came from other members, putting them out of bounds for future turns.
Anyway, after reviewing my last effort I felt that, while it stood up pretty well, there was too much woody music. I’ve recently been listening to a lot of what I’ll call power pop, and this turn reflects this, although there were a few last minute “oh go on” entries. Throughout I’ve tried to go for brevity when choosing songs from albums so as to cram more in. Luckily, Sophie has already given you my Electric 6 and Wondermints selections. So while the last two have been music to sit in the summer garden to, this one is more intended for when you’re cruising along in your open top car. Although the garden will still work.

I was looking forward to putting Big Sur onto this from the moment i heard it, so was quite annoyed to find its parent album is up for a Mercury. The whole album is in this retro Californian mode, and very good it is too. Les Sans Culottes are a French hip hop outfit, which is all you need to know.
Arab Strap are the dark, depressed spot on this sunny CD - Eyeore’s corner if you will. But it’s a great CD of Scottish miserabilism. You all probably have the Kings of Leon already, but since we’re on a retro trip let’s stick with it.
OK Go have produced an eponymous album of great guitar and synth driven power pop. Clearly big fans of “Lovecats” era Cure and Adam and the Ants. Confusingly named The Go used to be in a band with Jack White of the White Stripes, but have eschewed his blues for a retro-70s sound. Some of this album sounds like Status Quo before they became a parody of themselves, but most of it is a lot better than that.
Starflyer 59 are a good band with a crap name. They’ve been around for years, mutating from early shoe-gazer type drones to an early Teenage Fanclub sound to what is now almost poppy.
The New Pornographers are my favourite band on this disk. The CD (a recommendation from the Onion AV Club) is a pure and pretty darned good distillation of every great band from 1979-1981. The entire album is uptempo power pop with vaguely nonsensical singalong lyrics and great melodic hooks: this is the one I really urge you to buy. Their first album, Mass Romantic, is apparently great as well, but hard to get in the UK.
The Minus 5 are a bit of a supergroup, with some guys from Wilco and Peter Buck from REM. Not a great album, but pretty good. Superdrag are another odd one: the name and a lot of the music clearly evoke our beloved Supergrass. This track is a bit different - more like the Foo Fighters - and a lot better. J Mascis and the Fog I think you probably already know.
The next five tracks - Gravy Train to Dealership - I know almost nothing about. All the tracks came from www.epitonic.com, a site for legally downloading MP3s to try bands out. The All Girl Summer Fun Band are exactly as the name suggests. Then there’s a whole bunch of stuff I haven’t room to describe.
And finally, I know I said I’d never put any REM on here, and yet... I went (with Brian, among others) to see them play at Old Trafford, and i have to say with a straight face that it was an almost spiritual experience: they were magnificent and - teenage boy alert! - I felt it was all for me. More to the point, as you all know I’m getting married in December and I was suddenly struck that this song was exactly how I felt about Angela at that point. A closer examination of the lyrics may reveal this to be a mistake, but I’m sticking with it for now.

Anyway, other albums I’ve really enjoyed lately include: Radiohead, the new Sly Stone comp and a lot of other bits. I’ve actually called a halt to new purchases for about a month while I catch up with listening to everything I bought earlier in the year.

Circle number 1 notes

I am currently making my selection for the next Circle CD. To mark this, I am sticking up all the sleeve notes from my previous CDs, starting with this, the first one.

Circle #1. Sleeve notes by Toby

Well, since this is my first attempt at this, I have to confess i found it a lot harder than I thought it would be. Not surprisingly, the trouble was what to leave off, although I was also slightly disappointed by a couple of new albums I’ve bought recently that ought to have provided some tracks.
Looking at the list below, it all seems rather quiet, rather than the uptempo rockers I though I might have picked. I think the problem was that, given endless time, I’d have been dropping and adding tracks from now until my ears give out. So I just decided to stop once I had a reasonable selection. I’ll get another go, so I can put the stuff I might otherwise have put in here then. I can see I’ve completely missed out the Coral, even though I really enjoyed that album. But I’d rather put in some stuff from a couple of albums that are so new to me that I probably haven’t even put in the best tracks.
So, 20 songs, of which 12 are from 2002 or 2003. As for the rest: it’s just stuff that I thought you might like, plus some tunes you’ve probably already got. I left off all the 60s and 70s bubble gum pop I’ve been listening to - maybe next time.
As for the running order: alphabetical actually seemed good enough. Since I tend to listen to CDs in shuffle mode anyway, running order matters less to me.

Adrenalina Various Artists Mmmmm... Q Magazine 118 July 1996

I know nothing about this song or band. I acquired it with a magazine in the last decade and only just heard it for the first time about two months ago. Retro 60s pop (who clearly bought Dear Prudence by Siouxsie when it was out) done well, and suitably sunny way to start.

Ali Baba Various Artists Trojan Mod Reggae Box Set

Classic early 60s light reggae with a lovely tune and wholly nonsensical lyrics.

Caught By The River Doves The Last Broadcast

The Last Broadcast was a great album, following Lost Souls, also great. I think Doves are very good, but there is a danger of them becoming too much like their own parody. This track shows how good they can be, but also shows the sort of triple-time epic track they probably want to move away from. But for now its stirring.

Cock Mobster MC Paul Barman Paullelujah

Well, you need a bit of hip-hop, and since that tends to be a bit sexist, why not go the whole hog? MC Paul declares himself to be the Cock Mobster, and details what he’d like to do with a variety of celebrity women. But I suspect he might be joking.

DJ Vadim Featuring Sarah Jones - Your Revolution Giles Peterson INCredible Sound Of Gilles Peterson (Disc 2)

A necessary corrective to the cheery misogyny of MC Paul. With a nod to Gil Scott Heron, Sarah Jones throws a withering put down in the direction of rap’s worst chauvinists. This is witty and clever, but also deadly serious and very beautiful in its own right. Proof that a track can be angry, direct and forceful without becoming a lecture or dull.

Grace Supergrass Life On Other Planets

Three chords, vaguely nonsensical words, a two-note guitar solo and all wrapped up in under three minutes. Thank goodness for Supergrass: defenders of pure pop-rock.

Grand Parade The Reindeer Section Uncut - NeatNeatNeat

The Reindeer Section are the Scottish supergroup: various members of Teenage Fanclub, Belle & Sebastian and a lot of others are on their two albums. This is from their second outing and shows the signs of what happens when you have to record an album with a lot of different people, most of them only on one track, in a week. The songs tend to be slow to mid tempo, with only simple chords so to minimise rehearsal time. But the good news is that the end results are very lovely.

Guess I'm Doing Fine Beck Sea Change

I almost dropped this for being too sad, but Sea Change is a great melancholy album and this is the best track.

Hanging Around The Day Part 2 The Polyphonic Spree Q-The Best Tracks From The Best Albums 2002

Like the Reindeer Section, this is an album that almost suffers from too many people, but also triumphs thanks to the drive of one leader. And this is a very catchy track.

Heavy Metal Drummer Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

This is close to being a novelty track, with its nostalgic look at teenage metal bands playing covers. But its based on a great rhythm and feels like summer.

icewater.mp3 Peter Case

American singer-songwriter who recently played in London. This is a live version of a track from his first album.

Lessons Learned From Rocky I To Rocky III Cornershop Handcream For A New Generation

Smart slab of retro 70s rock that is almost impossible not to like. Start with a good riff and drum groove, and you can’t fail. Plus a great bass intro.

Let's Push Things Forward The Streets Original Pirate Material

Britain’s very own social commentator. I had a tough time choosing which track from the Streets to put on here, because they’re all worth hearing at least once, but this won out.

Lolleatta Holloway - Love Sensation Various Artists Funk Essentials (Disc 1)

Big, soulful funk shout. Might sound familiar in places.

One Girl Army Charlotte Martin One Girl Army

Too easy to dismiss as another Tori Amos clone, i.e. a talented woman who grew up with a piano and a pile of Kate Bush records. I like this, and it’ll do until there’s some new Kate Bush product.

Roxy Music - Virginia Plain virginia plain Decades - The Story Of The 60's/70's/80's - Disc 2 - 70's

More 70s than a three day week.

Shake Your Coconuts Junior Senior D-D-Don't Stop The Beat

Daft dance pop. The whole album is pretty much like this, and the Avalanches must be kicking themselves for not getting a new disc out first. But it’s a fun CD.

Three Questions Various Artists Uncut - Rebellious Jukebox

This is Bonnie Prince Billy, the very quiet man of alt.country

Wait The Kills Two Dollar Luck

This is an album that would probably have never been released if the White Stripes hadn’t been successful, and to be honest parts of it aren’t very good. But some of it is.

www.korea-dpr.com KFA Hymn Song of National Defence

Well, you have to allow me at least one comedy title. The North Koreans may or may not have nukes, but they do have analog synthesisers. It starts off like the intro to a holiday on ice extravaganza, then slips into the sort of song people write with a gun to their head, sung by the entire Korean army. But the good Communist on the synth never forgets to distribute the whooshing noises in accordance with strict Leninist principles. Please note that if you hear this again not coming from your CD player, you’d better start digging. They have missiles that could hit California, you know.


So that’s it for Circle #1. If I was to do it again tomorrow, probably only the Korean army song would survive and you’d have to put up with a lot of REM and prog rock. But we have to stop somewhere. You’ll get your turn soon.

Toby

The 25 Biggest Wusses … Ever! on Blender.com

The 25 Biggest Wusses … Ever! on Blender.com It's all true.

French genius

The First Post

The history of the blue and white

blackbrn.gif (GIF Image, 872x928 pixels) - Scaled (73%)

If you check out the Liverpool kit you can see that those Johnny-come-latelys started off in blue and white as well!

What did Materazzi say?

Daily Mirror - "All Muslims are terrorist b*****s." And sources claim the Italian even branded Zidane's Algerian mum Malika "a whore".

Telegraph - The Italian defender denied racially abusing Zidane. It was reported, however, that Materazzi had cruelly insulted the French captain's mother. Earlier in the day the Paris-based anti-racism group, SOS Racisme, released a statement claiming they had been told by well informed sources that Materazzi had called Zidane a "dirty terrorist".


Sky News - A lip-reader has reportedly revealed the words which provoked Zinedine Zidane's now infamous World Cup final headbutt. Marianne Frere claims Italian defender Marco Materazzi insulted the French captain with a stream of racial and personal abuse. She told The Sun that Zidane was called a "son of a terrorist whore" before he lashed out and was sent off.

Indie: An insult about Zinedine Zidane's sister from Marco Materazzi is understood to have provoked the Frenchman's extraordinary headbutt for which he was sent off in Sunday's World Cup final. The Italian was also forced yesterday to deny he called Zidane, whose parents are Algerian immigrants, a " dirty terrorist".

Times: Several Italian newspapers claimed yesterday that Zidane had insulted the Inter Milan player’s mother, with Materazzi retorting that the Frenchman “made love to his sister”.

Mail: He assaulted the Italy defender Marco Materazzi after the pair traded insults about each other’s mother, it emerged. Algerian-born Zidane told friends the Italian called him a "son of a terrorist whore". But Materazzi presented a different version, amid claims that Zidane started the bitter exchange by initially insulting his rival’s mother. He admits he tweaked Zidane’s nipple and when the France captain then promised him his shirt after the game Materazzi replied: "I’d rather take the shirt off your wife."

Express: First Marco Matterazzi called the French star the Italian equivalent of 'n*****', and then insulted both his mother and his Muslim background by saying he is the 'son of a terrorist whore.'

Guardian: According to the BBC, Materazzi said, "I wish an ugly death to you and all your family," and then told Zidane to "go fuck yourself".

In summary: nobody knows, and at least half of our national media are wrong.

One of the most beautiful photos I have seen all year

Astronomy Picture of the Day Our sun in ultraviolet.