It’s the first Friday of a new month! So please gather round the campfire and tell us what you have been reading / listening to / watching and otherwise enjoying this month
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Musings on the byways of popular culture
el hombre malo says
Heard
Lots of Northern Soul – we had a great night out dancing to Northern Soul, so lots of Shirley Ellis, N F Porter, Al Wilson, etc. Also lots of Herbie Hancock, including this interesting collection of his guest spots : http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2016/02/16/herbie-hancock-man-with-a-suitcase-a-never-ending-rhodes-compilation/
The new James Hunter Six album sounds great on the first couple of listens, and the new Lucinda Williams gets better and better on every listen.
Duke Ellington plays Mary Poppins – an absolute joy.
Read
David Peace, Red Or Dead – he captures the cadences of Shankly’s speech beautifully, with the repetition, and the fervour.
David Corbett, The Devil’s Redhead – a pretty good thriller, drugs and Las Vegas.
Seen
Supermensch – the story of Shep Gordon. A hugely loved figure in the music business, he still manages Alice Cooper, and has managed Teddy Prendergrass and Mike Myers amongst others. An entertaining way to spend an afternoon lazing on the sofa.
Love And Mercy – the Brian Wilson bio. I enjoyed it, with the highlights for me being the studio scenes.
AOB
The clearout continues, as my CD collection is thinned (being swapped for vinyl). Some books are off to the charity shop too – and as I cleared them out, I found a wee cluster that I had put to one side to make time to read, the last time I did this. So I’m making time to read them, next.
davebigpicture says
Supermensch was ace
thecheshirecat says
Seen
Ryley Walker on Sunday night, sadly without Danny Thompson who was indisposed – wonder whether that opportunity will ever come again. Nonetheless, once I’d got past the contrast between lovely album arrangements and the starkness and vulnerability of a one man show, it was a good night out. He’s got it, and we will see more of him.
Heard
Orders arrived for three eagerly awaited folk releases. Leveret and Fay Hield have both delivered albums of the year for me before and both have come up with the goods, if not quite causing me to swoon as I had with the previous release.
The outstanding release is Songs of Separation, which will be the subject of another thread when I get round to it. In summary, ten Scottish and English folkwomen go to a Scottish island and get their collective heads together. The results are diverse and superb. My delight is complete with seeing that they are bringing the show to Cambridge in the summer.
AOB
No time to read anything. I have been too busy rehearsing for my gig tomorrow night. For the first time, I am singing accompanied, so the month has been punctuated with rehearsals. Commuters have watched me mouthing lyrics to myself on the train, bedding them in. I am equally excited and nervous. A 14 song set list, peppered with Afterword-friendly covers.
bigstevie says
Will you post your setlist here please as I’d be interested to read it. I’ve never done a solo gig before but I have done solo floor spots. At Stirling Folk Club the floor spot is 6 songs….3 in each half opening for the main act. 2 weeks ago I did –
It Happened All The Same – Rab Noakes
Shores Of The Forth – Matt Armour
Hermless – Michael Marra
She’s No Lady – Lyle Lovett
Already One – Neil Young
Cold, Cold Heart – Hank Williams
thecheshirecat says
I normally sing unaccompanied, so working with musicians has thrown up the opportunity to do songs which would not work without an instrumental part. I told my compatriots whose work I would like to explore; they came up with the suggestions for the actual songs. That informed about half of the set list, and explains why Thommo appears twice!
Bright Lights – Linda & Thommo
Humpback Whale off Penguin Eggs
The Slow Train – Flanders and Swann
Big Steamers – Kipling arr Bellamy
Chelsea Morning – Joni
John Barleycorn
Lydia – Karen Poston
Withered & Died – Linda & Thommo
Palaces of Gold – Leon Rosselson
River Man – Nick Drake
Heavy Disguise – John Ford
Waters of Tyne
Country Life – Show of Hands
A Miners Life for the encore I am told I will get
Kid Dynamite says
That’s tonight, right? Good luck with it!
thecheshirecat says
Cheers. Wow. I’m still coming down off the adrenalin. It went really well and my collaborators did me proud. Interestingly, the toughest songs were the ones that paid off in spades. River Man – we had the room agog – what a response! And Country Life, I’ve been on the audience side of that song so many times, it was dramatic to get the audience singing back at you. I need another day to calm down, so I’m off to the pub.
bigstevie says
Congratulations!
bigstevie says
Excellent! A few in there that I’m not familiar with so I’ve spent the morning listening on youtube. ‘Lydia’ will get them all greetin’. I’ve not heard that for many years so I raked out my old Slaid Cleaves cds and listened to his cover.
As Kid D says above….good luck!
thecheshirecat says
The Slaid Cleaves is the template for sure. ‘and when she saw his father’s boots, she knew’ has been one of the hardest lines to sing without the voice cracking.
ganglesprocket says
HEARD!
To Pimp A Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar
This is a lot to take in! Heard it twice and my brain is telling me it’s really good but I’d be lying if I said it’s clicked with me yet. But it seems worth persevering with…
White
Living Fiction, Blush and future Pleasures are the only tunes by this lot you can hear just yet, but they sound great; kind of Franz Ferdinand/early Simple Minds sort of stuff. Saw them live last night and they were just a fantastic live band. Seriously recommend them folks, an actual brilliant new pop band.
F#a#infinity – Godspeed You Black Emperor
Just fantastic isn’t it? Immense slabs of noisy brilliance.
READ
The Days Of Abandonment – Elena Ferrante
She’s getting raved about by a lot of people just now so I thought I’d give her a go, but committing to a four book series is beyond me just now. So I read this short (180 page) early novel of hers and it’s just incredibly brilliant. It’s a hugely visceral book about a woman who goes a bit nuts when her husband leaves her. I know it sounds a bit “meh” in this description but it’s easily one of the best novels I’ve read ever.
The Cold War – John Lewis Gaddis
250 page primer on twentieth century post war geopolitics. Takes in the wars in Korea and Vietnam, Suez, The Cuban Missile Crisis and every other flashpoint of the twentieth century between the end of the war and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Well written, surprisingly detailed for a book so short, and I highly recommend it.
Wyrd Sisters – Terry Pratchet
Some light reading. He was genuinely a wise writer wasn’t he? Sometimes clunky but he was good at imparting ideas? Wish I realized when he was alive…
SEEN
High Rise
I was at an early screening of this and it’s fantastic. Reminded me of Clockwork Orange (don’t think it was filmed at Thamesmeade but the building has that look about it. Tom Hiddleston is really really good and any Ballard fans will not be disappointed.
The Walking Dead
I am half way through series two and liking it very much. Feel a bit late to the party though.
Kid Dynamite says
Heard
The new DIIV album ‘Is The Is Are’ has been getting a lot of love at Dynamite Towers. Sounds a bit like The Cure, late period Sonic Youth and even a wee bit like The War On Drugs, all wrapped up in a shoegazy package. I reckon it could end up being one of my albums of the year. I’ve also had fun with Mugstar‘s new one, ‘Magnetic Seasons’ – Liverpudlian psychedelic rock with a bit of motorik in there that stops it getting all too…thin. They’re on Mogwai’s Rock Action label, and that’s not a bad reference point, although I think Mugstar probably smoke a lot more dope than Mogwai do. As far as doing some old goes, I’ve been back to Susumu Yokota a lot this month, lovely intricate ambient stuff. ‘Sakura’ is my album of choice.
Seen
No gigs this month, but a couple of movies. I’ve written about Bone Tomahawk elsewhere, so I’ll just say it’s excellent again. We also saw Spotlight – an excellent drama that, while not being particularly cinematic, was a good story well told. Slightly undermined by the end credits though, which revealed that one of the producers on this powerful drama about the evils of people in positions of power and influence preying on underage boys was called….Jonathan King. (Also, as an Afterword snob of the first order, I feel compelled to point out that we saw it before the Oscar win and were therefore into it before it was cool).
Read
Still working my way through the Image Comics Humble Bundle – Wytches in there is brilliant, a genuinely creepy horror story about the things that live in the woods, with some really nightmarish bad trip psychedelic art. John Higgs’ Stranger Than We Can Imagine is hailed as an alternative history of the twentieth century, and takes in characters from Einstein to Crowley to Mandelbrot. It’s a good read, a bunch of interesting anecdotes and facts around this loose theme told in an easy to read style with plenty of gags. The counterculture Bill Bryson, basically. I also got round to Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See, which deserves all the praise it’s had round these parts and others.
Kid Dynamite says
I knew there was something wrong with that HTML, but I couldn’t see it for looking. Has anybody enquired about an edit function yet?
Carolina says
Whenever I write a wordblogger with HTML I always run it through http://htmledit.squarefree.com/ which is an online HTML editor to check it. Otherwise most of it would come out in bold!
Lando Cakes says
Sorted for you. I think.
Kid Dynamite says
ah, the ritual must have worked. Hail to Baphomet! We rattle our forepaws on the ground and incline our horns to you.
(also thanks to admin)
Gary says
I would have been more interested in Spotlight had it examined the thoughts and feelings of the non-pedophile clerics behind the cover up.
Jasmine Peeking says
Was there any evidence to suggest any of the priests involved in the cover were non-paedophiles?
Gary says
Definitely. It was Vatican policy to avoid scandal at all costs by moving pedophile priests. As such, the highest echelons of the Catholic Church, up to and including the pontiff at the time and his successor, were involved in cover ups.
Interestingly, at the end of the film there is a list of places around the globe where cases of child abuse by Catholic priests were eventually exposed and I didn’t see a single Italian city mentioned. (Yet I have been reliably told of some priests in Italy who have been moved to the Vatican following complaints.)
Jasmine Peeking says
How can you be so sure that there are no paedophiles in the higher echelons of the RCC. It was clear from the film that all they’d uncovered was the tip of the iceberg so, if it was rife in Boston, it seems reasonable to conclude it was going on everywhere. And all those high level people were low level priests at some point, were they not?
Gary says
Oh, I agree. I’m sure there were many more hidden within the Church hierarchy. But the whole lot of them can’t have been pedophiles, can they? Or can they?
Jasmine Peeking says
I guess not, but nothing would surprise me.
Kid Dynamite says
That would be worth watching, but it’s probably a different film. I did it find it interesting that Spotlight touched on the idea of a cycle of abuse, and the abused becoming the abuser, but dropped it really quickly.
duco01 says
Oh yes. Susumu Yokota’s ‘Sakura’ – that’s a little ambient corker!
Locust says
Read:
The annual book sale started last week here in Sweden, so I haven’t exactly been lacking reading material…
Before that I found a copy of Billy Idol‘s autobiography; Dancing With Myself, and just had to buy it. Quite entertaining, both intentionally and unintentionally…but I can’t help it: I have a soft spot for Billy even when he’s at his most ridiculous. And if you’re curious about what it would be like to smoke crack – this book will put you right off it! 🙂
I’ve also been making my way through a collection of comic strips by Swedish artist Martin Kellerman called Rockypedia II: 2000-2003, but it’s not the sort of thing you can devour in one go…a few pages a day is enough.
I’m half-way through The Martian by Andy Weir which I got in the sale. It’s an odd one, waaaay too many precise details about the chemistry of how to grow potatoes on Mars and the mixture of oxygen and hydrogen in his surroundings at different times etc etc, mixed with some exciting moments (but then the excitement is cut short by way too many precise details about the science he uses to survive in those moments). It’s a huge relief every time the narrative shifts from the annoying guy on Mars to the – slightly less annoying – people at NASA trying to save him. Let’s just say that I’m undecided about this one so far…and that I prefer my science fiction to have more fiction and less science!
I’ve also read the beginning of the autobiography of Mark Twain, but not enough to venture an opinion (mainly the long foreword explaining how difficult it’s been to piece it together). And now I have a healthy stack of new books waiting to be read this month.
Seen:
I started February by watching series four of American Horror Story: Freak Show, which I enjoyed a lot more than last month’s Coven. And it contains some David Bowie numbers performed by Jessica Lange, so that’s a bonus! Plus twisted evil clowns, the first Tupperware party in history to actually satisfy housewives, Patti LaBelle, and all sorts of quirky references as always. Not a masterpiece, but very entertaining.
I kept the horror coming; finally having time to watch the DVDs I was given for Christmas.
I love horror films, but they always disappoint me – not being scary is the common problem.
The Babadook came highly recommended, but I didn’t like it much. First of all: both the son and the mother were so annoying that I really wanted Mr Babadook to get hold of their souls and teach them a lesson…not a good start! Also, not scary and a bit dull. And the ending was just silly. The premise with the book etc was promising, but it wasn’t fulfilled for me.
Then I watched a rather silly film called Annabelle, of the “evil, posessed doll” variety. Again, a good starting point but they did everything wrong and I just ended up annoyed and not scared.
Plenty of documentaries about every subject known to man, and going back to watch lots of old films I hadn’t seen in years (mainly because I’ve been extremely tired lately so haven’t got the energy to do anything useful…)
Heard:
The first few months every year I tend to buy very few albums, so I’ve only just ordered my first big purchase of 2016, and it won’t get here until next week.
Thus in February the only new music I’ve heard are a few albums that Carolina was kind enough to send, and I haven’t had too much time to listen to all of them properly yet.
But I really like what I’ve heard of Miranda Lee Richards – Echoes of the Dreamtime, especially the track “First Light of Winter”. Lovely!
I’ve also cheated and listened on Spotify to one of the albums I’ve ordered (because I was stupid and forgot to order it seperately so I could get it immediately while the rest of the order waited for another album to be released…) The album in question is the solo album from Amanda Bergman – singer with Amason, Idiot Wind etc and in posession of one of my favourite voices. The album is called Docks, the first single, “Falcons”, is a big radio hit here and absolutely wonderful. The album as a whole isn’t as immediate, but it sneaks up on you gradually, track by track. I suspect I will love all of it at the end of the year.
I’ve been a bit too restless to really sit down and listen to albums properly. I think it’s my usual spring depression sneaking up on me slowly, the tiredness and listlessness being two other sure signs. So I’m planning fun things to do in the weeks ahead, and use all the little tricks that I’ve learned over the years that works for me, to get through this time of year without sinking too deep into darkness. It used to be worse when I was younger, these days I’m in control of it, thankfully.
My sister’s ex-boyfriend died last week. A wonderful, deeply original man who had a profound influence on me when I was growing up, through the enthusiastic and humorous way he shared his vast knowledge on his favourite subjects.
I hadn’t seen him in years, but it still feels like a huge loss. Perhaps because it unlocks all of the internal drawers and closets and lets out a flood of memories from my childhood.
Good memories, but sad, because you can’t return.
(Sorry – didn’t mean to get everyone depressed…! 😉 )
Kid Dynamite says
I quite liked the ending to the Babadook. If you accept that the monster is a metaphor for depression and / or mental illness, then SPOILER ALERT not killing it but keeping it chained in the cellar is a good representation of living with such ailments. So I thought, anyway.
(also sorry for your loss, of course)
Bingo Little says
Agreed. Really liked the ending.
Locust says
Ah, but I never accept monsters as metaphors for depression and mental illness…because then you’re not trying to make a proper horror flick that scares your audience, you’re trying to be deep and meaningful and arty and what’s scary about that?
I don’t want monsters of the mind, I want actual evil demons and supernatural stuff and no other explanations available, thank you very much!
Kid Dynamite says
Yebbut, they can be both!
thecheshirecat says
Best of strength for the weeks ahead and all the diversions.
I am proud to tell you that, at a dance weekend in a crumbly old castle in the Welsh borders, with nyckelharpas akimbo, I have at last cracked the polska. Whether this is connected, I don’t know, but I have just booked an appointment with my doctor to discuss a suspected hernia.
Locust says
Thanks, and best of luck with the hernia (ouch!)
I can’t remember how to dance the polska, but my current brother-in-law is a folk dance enthusiast and got very upset when I included that dance in my use of the term “knätofs” when I talked about Swedish folkdances.
Shottis, hambo; fine – but polska was absolutely NOT “knätofs” (“knee tassles” – a general, slightly derogatory but humorous term used about Swedish folk music/dances etc, named after a detail on most traditional costumes)!
So there you go; if you ever wish to insult a Swedish polka enthusiast, just yell knätofs! at him…
Locust says
…a Swedish polSka enathusiast, natch…
salwarpe says
Hi @Locust – this is my favourite (& only) Swedish polka – are there others as good?
Locust says
Another way to insult a Swedish polska enthusiast is to call them a polka enthusiast! 🙂
This is a polska – with an “s” (performed by a rather hip looking dude):
Very different from the polka.
And I want to make it perfectly clear that I’m no expert on Swedish folk music – even if I do like some of it…
Also; @salwarpe – Can you really sit through all six minutes of that polka you posted? I lasted one minute…
thecheshirecat says
Well corrected! This is more like it too.
Kaisfatdad says
Salwarpe, you’re not the only one to be confused by the difference between the internationally popular polka and the more Scandinavian polska. Locust won’t be inviting me onto the dance floor!
This blogspot cleared it up a little for me. Polska means Polish.
http://puppydogmusic.blogspot.se/2011/07/polska-or-polka-what-difference-s-makes.html
salwarpe says
I could say the same about your track.
*blows raspberry*
One of my favourite tracks off my favourite album
Tread softly for you tread on our dreams, @locust.
😉
Locust says
By all means @salwarpe, do say it about “my” track – I didn’t sit through all of that one either! 🙂
I just grabbed the first one I found to give as an exemple of the polska.
Tread softly – in these clogs? 😉
thecheshirecat says
Well of course you didn’t sit through all of it. A proper polska commands that you be on your feet. (Note newly capable polska dancer now evangelising with the zeal of a reformed smoker.)
Gary says
Seen
I’ve managed to see all of the films nominated in this year’s Oscars and, with the single exception of Ex-Machina, I couldn’t say I loved any of them. Indeed, I found most of them a tad boring and forgettable. A lot of “three-star” films. So different to last year, when Boyhood, Birdman, Grand Budapest Hotel, Theory of Everything and Locke all impressed me enormously.) Of the others, Room was the one I liked most. A genuinely intense first half, although it lost its momentum once they escaped. Hateful 8 was the one I most disliked – essentially just a group of people killing each other. (I agree with Kid Dynamite, Bone Tomahawk is this year’s Kurt Russell western to watch. Far wittier and more gripping.)
I also saw The Lady In The Van, but was disappointed having thoroughly enjoyed the original short story. Maggie Smith was predictably excellent, but I really didn’t like the conceit of having two Alan Bennetts.
On telly, I’m thoroughly enjoying The Night Manager and the second series of Happy Valley.
Heard
Still very much grooving to Roger Robinson’s Dis Side Ah Town. Also enjoying J Cole’s 2014 Forest Hill Drive. Intro is very much my current chooon. Nice, simple video too.
minibreakfast says
Read
John Seabrook’s The Song Machine: Inside The Hit Factory is a fascinating look at what goes into making modern chart pop, including interesting sections on K-pop, Katy Perry, Ke$ha and the rise of the Swedes as global hitmakers. Am currently up to the sizzling month of August in Jon Savage’s 1966, which as I mentioned elsewhere is a little draggy in places but mostly enjoyable. Thanks to Carolina I’ve also been revisiting some old issues of Word magazine, which is always a pleasure.
Heard
Thanks to a fellow Afterworder (I’m sorry I forget who) I bought Little Mix’s Salute, which really is as good as Get Weird, i.e. bloomin’ poptastic. I hadn’t realised that it was their second album, so went back and got their debut DNA too. I’ve been enjoying the De Agostini Jazz at 33 1/3 LP series; it was Charlie Parker’s Now’s The Time this week, which is ace. I’ve bought lots of records from boot sales and chazzas over the last few weekends, the best last Sunday being a well-loved copy of Veedon Fleece for just 50p. Fifty pee! It has a scuff on one side, else it would have cost me a whole pound! The scuff adds a bit of noise, but luckily it’s more BC grade (Bit Crackly) than PWC (Played With Chisel). Thanks (again) to Carolina I’m already familiar with the album since she sent me a copy on CD a while back, so it’s a nice bonus to have it on vinyl. I also got the follow up A Period Of Transition for a quid, which is very good and in better shape. I’ve been busy digging into my finds from last year and updating the long-neglected car boot blog, which has been really enjoyable: http://carbootvinyldiaries.blogspot.co.uk/
Finally, I bought Adele’s new album to see what all the fuss was about, and am glad I did; as well as sounding magnificent on vinyl, it’s a very good set of songs that surprised me by not being all just blowsy voice-and-piano ballads. I wanted to post a video for Send My Love (To Your New Lover) but there are only covers on youtube and spotify. So here’s me with a MASSIVE sleeveface instead.
http://i1350.photobucket.com/albums/p773/minibreakfast/DSCN0085_zpsqqqzwxha.jpg
Seen
Erm, not a lot. Am really glad The Goldbergs is back, and I continue to enjoy BBC4 music stuff on Friday nights and the repeats of TOTP, but I don’t watch much film or telly these days.
AOB
The best thing this month is of course our new, freshly Pencilsqueezed work of art, which is just stunning.
minibreakfast says
Sorry about all the italics at the end. html fail.
Lando Cakes says
Sorted for you. See Kid Dynamite’s post for correct response.
minibreakfast says
*grovels*
Simonl says
Read: Haven’t read a word this month, apart from Joe Hill’s Heart Shaped Box, a horror story about a haunted middle aged musician – very afterword friendly! Didn’t know who Joe actually is, but wasn’t surprised to find out who his father is.
Heard: the recently released A Step In The Right Direction, a 3 cd bonanza of The Truth, early 80s Mods This is the first time all their early recordings have been compiled. But the real highlight of the collection are two BBC concerts. Anyone who remembers The Truth will know that live was where they were best and these are brilliant examples of that, complete with some of the best live sound I’ve ever heard.
Seen: Lots and lots. the return of Happy Valley, Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell!! Sigh) and my very odd liking for Holby City continues.
Spent a lot of time catching up on films I have missed. Really loved Gone Girl, and Mad Max: Fury Road (manic and stylish). But my top catchup was Captain America:Winter Soldier, which I think is quite possibly my absolute favourite superhero onscreen thing ever.
A fast moving well written superhero story that is almost a Bond movie, more spy than muscles really. ALways liked Captain America especially away from the smugness that is Iron Man, ably supported by Scarlett’s Black Widow and the arrival of Sam Wilson (Falcon), this just kept me involved from start to finish. I think the thing I like is that it isn’t an origin story (although it kind of is for Falcon). And it sort of starts in the middle of something. It reminds me of old Hong Kong movies, action all the way, and most of the talking bits are on the move, on the way to the next bit of action. Cracking script too, lots of zing and pop.
Tiggerlion says
Heard
February was the first month I listened to something other than Bowie and I actually bought some new stuff. Massive Attack’s EP is really good and augurs well for the upcoming album. GoGo Penguin get better and better. KING are lovely in the right setting. Roly Porter is sonically astonishing but seems to have forgotten how to make the sounds musical.
I revisited some old albums. I found Wild Honey by The Beach Boys an emotional listen. I’m turning into a sentimental old goat. Charlie Watts is superb on Sticky Fingers. His cymbal playing (and the jaunty piano) even makes Dead Flowers listenable. The mono remaster of Otis Blue brings the band and Otis into the room. Boy, that man could sing and those MGs could play. Best of all, though, is Prince and the Revolution’s Parade. The energy, the ideas, the joy of music tumbles out of the speakers, one track falling over the other in excitment. What a joy Kiss is. I bought the twelve inch extended version at the time but it is far better on Parade where it is three and half minutes of pop perfection and is as tight as a gnat’s chuff.
Seen
I watch telly, me, and there has been a lot of good telly. The X Files has not disappointed. It is true to its original spirit but has brought the characters up to date and is slowly unpacking their baggage. Plus, I thought the Full Moon episode the week before last was hilarious. Happy Valley has been gripping and wonderfully acted. I have my theory who the killer is. Just two episodes to go and I shall miss it. The Night Manager is an engaging watch, which is warming up nicely, but I wish I could develop street fighting skills just as quickly as one of the characters. Amazingly, I’m still engaged with The Walking Dead. It goes on and on but still manages to find interesting paths to wander down. Finally, I know there was a thread on the magnificent Modern Family but I seriously believe that Brooklyn Nine-Nine. All the characters are well bedded in and the laughs roll like a finely tuned Ferrari.
Read
Actually, not read. I’m still struggling with Jon Savage’s 1966.
minibreakfast says
Just skip ahead to August, you’ll enjoy it I promise.
Tiggerlion says
I’ll try that, thanks mini.
In other editing news *Brooklyn Nine-Nine is just as good*
pencilsqueezer says
Oh dear. I have ‘1966’ in my to be read pile.
It’s beginning to look more and more like a dust gatherer.
minibreakfast says
You’d better hurry, 1971 will be along before you know it.
Kid Dynamite says
Parade is just brilliant, isn’t it? My favourite Prince album by a mile.
Moose the Mooche says
Amen!
Tiggerlion says
There isn’t a weak moment on it and Prince is prone to wobbles. Even Would U Lie’s frivolity is entirely fitting.
Dodger Lane says
Seems ridiculous to say but my listening highlight of the past month has been the lovely reissue of Off the wall. I never really to Jacko but leaving his character aside, what an album this is. I knew the songs, but never really listened (if you know what i mean) and it really was one hell of an album. The reissue comes with a piece of chalk so you really can’t go wrong. Other listening highlights have been a lovely new comp of edith piaf. I never really tire of her – milord and sous le ciel de Paris excite me as much as anything. She is one artist I would have loved to have seen. Also, just to keep up with the modern scene, been listening to Nilsson.
Watched: Nothing much. I have borrowed lambert and Stamp, the film of the Who’s managers so will watch that at some stage, though I did see this at the cinema. A must watch for any Who fans out there, I felt quite emotional watching it. I am sure i am missing out on good telly stuff, but just don’t bother looking at what’s on anymore.
Read: Nik Cohn’s Awopbob which has been re-published again. It’s very odd reading the judgements of a 22 year old and whilst many would disagree with some of his judgements, it’s still an engaging read. The new Ian Sansom – Westmorland Alone – is predictably wonderful. The 3rd in his County Guides series. Why this writer is not more lauded is a mystery, he always makes me laugh. I believe I have now completed my Norman Lewis library with his The German Company. As with any Norman Lewis book, is full of descriptive and insightful writing, set in Bolivia and focuses on nasty missionaries and the native Indian population. His novels don’t come close to the glories of his travel books but anything he wrote is well worth reading.
Tiggerlion says
Off The Wall is easily MJ’s best album. He made it when he was only twenty years old!
Is the remaster really worth it?
ruff-diamond says
It doesn’t look like it’s been remastered in any way, so if you already have a copy I would say probably no. Unless you want a piece of chalk, that is. Or a Spike Lee documentary.
Tiggerlion says
Ok, then. Thanks.
Dodger Lane says
I never had the album when it first came out, so would go along with Ruff-D’s comment. Have yet to view the doc, but the chalk has come in very handy.
Lando Cakes says
Heard
Really, really liking my first consignment of Dave’s Picks, being the Grateful Dead’s live release programme. Number 17 is a 1974 show – an era I had not previously heard – and is entirely marvellous. Not 100% sure about Seastones, mind you.
Also listening to Break Stuff by the Vijay Iyer Trio. Intrigued enough to keep listening – I suspect that this is something I will keep coming back to. Ben Watt’s Hendra has also been getting a lot of plays, after a break. Looking forward to the new one.
Saw
Public Service Broadcasting at the Queen’s Hall. Beezer. Not sure where they go next – but then that’s what I thought after their first album.
Read
I am probably the last person here to have read Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens. Nevertheless, what a thoroughly enjoyable book. I wish they’d done another one.
Other
Bone chilling version of The Crucible at the Edinburgh Lyceum. Group-think, paranoia, demonisation of the ‘other’. How unlike our own, present-day Scotland [looks to camera 2].
Tiggerlion says
Break Stuff is great. And I haven’t read Good Omens, nor even heard of it until your post!
duco01 says
1. Re: Dave’s Picks 17. Yes, the Fresno gig is a solid Wall of Sound show. A nice Playing in the Band. A very worthwhile He’s Gone, too. And of course you can’t go wrong with “China Doll” to close the show.
David Lemieux loves 1974, and keeps coming back to it. I certainly rate this latest set higher than the 14 May Missoula show that he put out as DaP9. Having said that, I don’t think anything will ever replace Dick’s Picks 12 as my favourite Dead 1974 release – there’s something very special about those Boston and Providence shows.
2. ‘Seastones’ is shite. And I say that as a huge admirer of Phil Lesh.
3. DaP 18 has already been revealed, of course, and – including the subscribers’ bonus disc – it will be 16 and 17 July 1976 shows from the Orpheum, San Francisco. Mmmmm … those could be nice and slow and mellow. I already have the final night of the run, the 18 July show which was recorded for FM broadcast on the King Biscuit Flower Hour and released semi-offically outside the US last year. There’s a really nice “Candyman” on that.
As regards the final two DaP releases of the year, over on the hardcore GD sites, the heads are baying for:
1) some 1968 ‘primal Dead’
2) an early to-mid-80s show which is decent.
3) some early 90s material which is decent
But Lemieux tends to be pretty conservative in his choices. He’ll probably go for another recognised classic show from the golden era of the 70s.
Lando Cakes says
Thanks again for putting me on to Dave’s Picks. Nice product all round.
duco01 says
Greetings, Lando and all other Afterword Deadheads,
There’s an interesting little CD release coming out on 22 April, in a limited edition of 1000.
https://www.spincds.com/radio-jellyfish-vinyl-lp-48605
It’s the two sets from the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, 6 April 1969 – a show where the Flying Burrito Brothers were also on the bill.
If you don’t have much from spring ’69, this looks a pretty good bet. I’m not familiar with the show myself, but the presence of “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” and “Viola lee Blues” make me very curious to hear it.
Lando Cakes says
Hmm *strokes beard*
Lando Cakes says
I see that for RSD there’s a 4 LP set of Capitol Theatre
4/25/77 Passaic, NJ.
any good?
duco01 says
Among Deadheads, opinions are divided as to the merits of Spring 1977.
A minority feel that on that tour, the band were a bit too polished, too clinical, too predictable, playing very professional, immaculate shows, but somehow without the looseness and improvisational heart that made the Dead the Dead.
However, most fans, me included, love Spring ’77. The sound is great, Jerry is playing brilliantly and many of the songs appear in their best-ever versions. Personally, I LOVE any version of the following songs from that tour:
Row Jimmy
Terrapin Station
Sugaree
Mississippi Half-Step
Scarlet>Fire
Peggy-O
I see that the Passaic gig that you mention has 5 out of 6 of these present and correct. I can only imagine it’s a fine show.
https://archive.org/details/gd77-04-27.sbd.samaritano.20331.sbefail.shnf
I don’t think I’ll buy the 4LP set myself, as I already have the 14CD May 77 box and the “To Terrapin” set with the incredible Hartford, Connecticut show which closed the tour on 28 May.
If you get it, Lando, I’ll be keen to hear what you think.
Lando Cakes says
Will do – depends on reachable stock on RSD, of course.
That 1977box looks tasty – but eye-wateringly expensive now!
duco01 says
Yeah, there’s such incredible demand for Dead product, especially in the US, that prices quickly escalate. Copies of any of the first four Dave’s Picks – which are only 3CD sets – go for up to $400 on eBay. Perhaps I should sell my copy of DaP 4?
The May ’77 box is indeed an extravagant treat. It’s like being presented with 5 huge bowls of sherry trifle to eat, one after the other. The best show of the five in the set is probably the Tuscaloosa one – interestingly, it was the only gig the Dead ever played in the state of Alabama.
Having said that, I still rate the Hartford show, released separately as “To Terrapin,” higher than any of the five shows in the May 77 box – and it’s available for a mere $20. That version of “Sugaree” is simply a MONSTER.
http://www.dead.net/store/1970s/terrapin-hartford-77-cd
Lando Cakes says
Wow – as opposed to £40 on Amazon. I couldn’t resist…
duco01 says
Lando – have you seen?
This year’s BIG BOX has just been announced over at dead.net:
http://www.dead.net/store/1970s/july-1978-complete-recordings?intcmp=home/carousel1
It’s a 12CD box of five complete shows from July 1978: Kansas City, St. Paul, Omaha, and the 2 shows at Red Rocks Amphiteatre, Colorado.
A limited edition of 15,000.
Price: $ 130 plus postage.
Hmmm … I’m sure it would be a very fine box to have, but I think I’m going to have to pass on it. I shall probably regret this decision in a few years’ time, when the set is being sold on eBay for thousands of dollars. Oh well.
Kid Dynamite says
have you seen the standalone disc of the Red Rocks show?
Disc 2 looks interesting – Wharf Rat into Franklin’s Tower? And a Werewolves Of London on disc 3. I’ll probably get that, and skip the box
Kid Dynamite says
Also, these shows are all Betty boards. I thought there was some bad blood between Betty and the Dead organisation these days? If that’s been resolved, then there could be some treasures emerging over the next few years.
Lando Cakes says
@duco01 just logged in to solicit your opinion on this very box! Tempting. Expensive but possibly worth it. on the other hand, maybe the standalone set would be enough. Decisions, decisions…
duco01 says
Hmmm … the standalone Red Rocks show looks to be a good compromise. I may well go for that.
Disc three of that set seems to be extremely short – only 22 minutes long! Perhaps there’s some well-chosen (and hidden) bonus tracks to fill it out….
ianess says
Would have thought a more apt parallel for The Crucible would be Corbyn’s Labour Party.
Lando Cakes says
Possibly you’re thinking of ‘Waiting for Jarvis’.
Beezer says
Yes?
Lando Cakes says
Ha!
On The Fence says
Music: Kasey Chamber´s Bittersweet was a bit underwhelming but Dylan LeBlanc´s Cautionary Tale convinced me my double-purchase was worth it.
Films / TV – Hugely enjoyed Marvel´s Daredevil, not normally my kind of thing but it´s well put together and the villain is fascinating. Watched Spielberg´s Bridge of Spies which is about as well made a film as you will see all year. A bit lacking in passion but Hanks and Rylance are both very good.
Books: James Ellroy´s Perfidia veered between genius and nonsense at times but I really enjoyed it. Reading Michael Burleigh´s history of The Third Reich, which I can highly recommend.
AOB As the weather is improving , we had a go at visiting some rather inaccessible local ruins perched on rocky hilltops. My knees are not thanking me
SteveT says
February gone already?
Heard: Pick of this months new releases are the Steve Mason album and also the new Andrew Weatherall album Convenanza. Both excellent in different ways. Two brilliant compilations from Ace – The other side of the Trax -Stax Volt sings from 1964 to 1968 is stupendous. Stuff I had never heard before that proves beyond doubt that Stax had so much stuff not well known that was equally as good as the classics. The other one is Where Soul meets Country which I guess is a logical continuation of the Where Country meets Soul sets that were also very good. I also acquired a 12 cd set of Bowie rarities from a bootlegger I know. Some very good stuff amongst some decidedly average alternate takes. Still, reminds me of what a talent he was.
SEEN:
On the gig front Paul Carrack, Ryley Walker and Danny Thompson, Joe Jackson and British Sea Power.
Musically the Carrack and Walker/Thompson shows were top drawer. Joe Jackson was pretty good but in a venue I don’t care for. British Sea Power were promoting Sea of Bass- some uplifting tunes but what a miserable load outwits who are clearly stuck up their own arses. Stage presence of a cardboard box.
On the screen I saw Brooklyn which I enjoyed very much and then rather belatedly Django Unchained which aI thought was completely fab. However had I have seen it before the Hateful Eight I would have been disappointed with the latter which in many ways is just a remake. Still the fact that Ennio Morricone won an oscar for the score the Hateful Eight is spot on – lovely haunting music which shows he has still got it despite his advancing years.
READ:
Back in reading mode after a couple of months of lethargy – read the Timekeeper by a Mitch Albom – quite a fan of his books even though they may be described as Evangelical. He knows his way round a good yarn and has the knack of pulling at the heartstrings.
Halfway through Bill Brysons latest which I am enjoying very much. He clearly has a formula for his travel books which has proved very successful over the years and he has a wry humour that also appeals. Has inspired to want to walk The Seven Sisters which I plan todo in the summer with the GLW.
Baron Harkonnen says
Somebody introduced me to that guy who can get Bowie things for you at a not so bad price.
I`ve been listening to them and by jove I am finding myself being endeared to Bowie more than his official output had achieved*.
*I do like his official output but listening to this treasure chest is reinforcing my admiration of Mr. Jones.
retropath2 says
HEARD: I can never remember what I’ve listened to by the time I get round to this, such is the number of new and new to me I have piling up to get thru’, making Tigger’s 6 listens well nigh impossible, unless the squeeze latches on, then it’s 6x a day forever. (Having said, increasingly seldom does she latch to my taste, unless I have a new trancelectronica, new contemporary classical with beats or a new bed wetter, sorry, sensitive singer-songwriter.) That said, as I am grafting the songs I like onto computer posterity this afternoon, I am reminded. I support the earlier shout for Dylan LeBlanc, his Cautionary Tale is very good. I would place it in the Dawes school of Laurel Canyon revisited with tinges of Neil Young vocally and the rhythm section, circa Harvest, but with the added glissando of strings. Emma Pollock, ex-Delgado, In Search of Harperfield is rather good, smacking very much of Aimee Mann, vocally and melodically, again with added string quartets. Eleanor Friedberger/New View kicks off like a corker and then suddenly dips in quality, ahead of picking up a little later on. I found myself imagining Bob Dylan singing many of the songs instead of her, a compliment, I guess. Otherwise it has been wall to wall Olafur Arnalds (yes, she does) both in his electro stance of Kiasmos, to his soundtracks, Broadchurch and the new 4 Seasons by Nigel Kennedy, which is getting close to saturation round here, but astonishingly gives new nuances on each exposure.
Live I have covered in Nights Out.
SEEN: Spotlight deserved its oscar. Enthralling, upsetting and moving by turn, superbly played by all. I want to be Stanley Tucci. Boxsetting a lot, as had a week on the Northumbrian coast, so it was a revisit to Twin Peaks, both better and more annoying than first time around. Grudging up for Derek, which I like, all bar the titular character, whose earnest gurning and annoying hair spoil it. On telly the Night Manager is proving one to enjoy, as is Shetland, series 3. I’m joining Tigger as one of the receding band of survivors still left watching the Walking Dead. Of course it has eaten up all its story lines and is regurgitating on itself, but the odd character still appeals. The head of the small group of bikers offed by the ginger giant looked promising with his turn of phrase, but he died as swift as introduced, frustratingly.
READ: As ever a slow book destroys my flow. The new Jon Ronson, “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed” is a severe let down, feeling rushed and spun out for the lure of another best-seller. Best book I have read for yonks was The Sea Kingdoms, the History of celtic Britain and Ireland, by Alistair Moffatt. Wonderful stuff, mixing fact with alternative assumptions to the usual received. One for Robsi!
ruff-diamond says
I just ordered myself a copy of The Sea Kingdoms, it sounds absolutely fascinating – thanks for the recommendation!
huskerdude says
Heard
Revisiting stuff I’d previously dismissed: Wire – The Ideal Copy, Galaxie 500 – On Fire, Suicide [Second Album] and finding them really good. What was wrong with me? Loving the new Paul Westerberg/Juliana Hatfield stuff as The I Don’t Cares – PW sounds revitalised and there’s a lovely rough-hewn energy to the whole set. Becoming more and more obsessed with Jenny Lewis’s Voyager – fantastic, adult pop with great lyrics. Jeff Tweedy’s solo ‘Living Room’ concerts replete with audience singalongs are also popping up a lot.
Seen
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a magnificently skewed musical (yes, musical) anti rom-com that ranks as one of the best US sitcoms for a long time. The musical numbers are genuinely inspired.
Love on Netflix was well worth watching, especially for Gillian Jacobs’ performance but the whole ensemble was good.
I’m finding The Night Manager lacking in any and all subtlety so might abandon early whilst of my pulp obsessions (Supergirl, Limitless, Quantico and Agent Carter) only Limitless regularly captures my attention on the commute home.
Read
Trying to read Carrie Brownstein’s Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl but find myself reaching for Supergirl instead on my ipad. Attention span deficit.
BigJimBob says
Heard To be honest, not much. Rob C’s Thin Music thread had me digging out Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes classic bit of jazz funk fusion Expansions and also the retro-psychedelia of Jacco Gardner’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Oh and a bit of Golden Dawn who were contemporaries of The 13th Floor Elevators. `saw Damian Dempsey. Review elsewhere.
Seen Quite a few long haul flights in the last month meant I caught up with many fairly recent releases. Room – which, despite the media fuss, doesn’t seem to be mentioned here at all – was not as bad it could have been, but not as good as the critics say. The Room itself is only there for half the film. Really, it is all about the consequences of the experience. How do Ma and son Jack deal with their new relationships while dealing with PTSD. The best thing in it was Joan Allen’s quietly dignified grandmother. But then when is she ever bad? Finally saw Senna. I am not a F1 fan but I thought it was a more gripping film than even Amy. That final day in Italy is a Shakespearean tragedy in miniature
Read Reread The Great Gatsby. I still haven’t seen either film version, but everytime I read the book i becomes more powerful. Its depth is deceptively packaged into a very simple story. Gatsby as a Christ-like figure came over to me on this reading.
BigJimBob says
Sorry for all the typos. The facility to edit posts would be really useful!
Blue Boy says
Heard
Blackstar and Lucinda Williams’ Ghosts of Highway 20 were most played last month and still get better with every play. I’ve also been reacquainting myself with Emmylou Harris’s magnificent sequence of 70s albums from Pieces of the Sky to Blue Kentucky Girl. Glorious singing, brilliant musicianship from the Hot Band, immaculate choice of songs and songwriters – 70s new country at its very best and sounding as fresh as it did when first released.
Read
Been reading Costellos autobiography. It’s consistently readable, though a little prone to the faults sometime seen in his songwriting – it could do with some ruthless editing, and removal of an occasional self conscious cleverness. Like so many autobiographies its at its best in dealing with the early years – his writing about his Dad is especially good.
Seen
Spotlight was great, as was Hateful 8 (or was that last month?). Happy Valley is the best Brtiish television I’ve seen since, well, the first series of Happy Valley. Also enjoyed ITV’s one off film, Churchill’s Secret, about his suffering and recovering from a stroke whilst Prime Minister in the 50s. It was strongest in showing a dysfunctional family struggling to cope with living in the shade of a husband and father who is a Great Man, notwithstanding (or maybe partly because of) the riches and privilege that came with it. An amazing cast was as good as you’d expect and I’ll admit that Romola Garai being brisk and northern in a nurses uniform was a particular pleasure…
ip33 says
Heard
Lots and lots of Electronica, Traditional Synthesizer Music-Venetian Snares, Void Beats/Invocation Trex- Cavern of Anti Matter, LNZNDRF-LNZNDRF and chuck in Painting with-Animal Collective, Wise Ol’ Man EP-The Fall & Man Made Object-Go Go Penguin (many thanks to whoever suggested this on here) it’s been a fantastic month.
Seen
New X-Files (very enjoyable, but I’m not sure the actual stories are much cop) Spectre (a Bond greatest hits, but not a patch on Skyfall) The People Vs O J Simpson (much better than we thought it would be, fantastic TV)
Read
The Railways: Nation, Network and People-Simon Bradley (reliving my Train-spotting days this is one of the best histories of anything I have read, witty, informative and incredibly well written, it shows how much of this country was formed on the back of the railways)
Dodger Lane says
The Railways, brilliant book. Got it for Xmas and felt like a child again, the chapter on signalling is fascinating. You might also like Platform Souls, an old classic on trainspotters which I read last year and is very funny.
ip33 says
Perfect! We are on holiday next week (in York, perhaps the greatest of Railway cities) so purchased for holiday reading.
Many thanks.
H.P. Saucecraft says
Reading Sean Doolittle (crime/noir)
Listening Electric Light Orchestra (no, really)
Cookieboy says
Had one adventure in February
All day at work I felt like someone was squeezing the outside of my left bicep, hard enough to be uncomfortable. I got home and decided to take a nap at 5.00pm. I laid down for 15 seconds and then hopped up put my shoes back on and walked to the emergency ward, I told the triage nurse, “I think I’m having a heart attack”
They ran a bunch of tests and then said, “Hey you’re right! You DID have a heart attack” They gave me a pill and I felt fine and wanted to go home but they wouldn’t let me.
I spent the night in hospital and had an operation the next day. They placed a stent in one artery. The doc who did it told me the rest of my heart was very good for my age.
It was as mild an attack as you could have and still consider it a heart attack. I had a week off work. When I was in hospital I wanted to get back as soon as possible now I’m sorry I didn’t milk it for all it was worth and take off a couple of months.
I had one subsequent experience that would have made the “Ironic Death” newsletter if the fates had been different.
I’ve always been a jumpy sort anyway and I had only just been back to work for a day or two when I was in the street waiting for a tram with my ipod on. I was staring off down the road when someone jumped in front of me, waved their arms and said, “Boo!” I went reeling back clutching my chest and gasping for air. Too shocked to be angry I said “What ….do…you …want?” and she said, ” Hello I’m collecting for the Heart Foundation”
Tiggerlion says
Wow! Well done with the diagnosis & good luck with the recovery.
Dodger Lane says
What a complete twit that collector is is, hope you told her off.
Good luck with your recovery, that’s quite a story.
badartdog says
Wow – glad you’re okay. Look after yourself.
Leedsboy says
Heard.
Listening to Robert Vincent – Life In Easy Steps. I saw him supporting Paul Carrack. The album is a cracker and well worth using some eMusic credits on. Also some GoGo Penguin (which my son loves) which is very good as well. Also, had a nice dog walk at the weekend with some John Martyn on the headphones. Bliss.
Read.
Not a lot. If audio books count, then Notes From Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson is good. Not his best (One Summer is a cracker) but very chucklesome. I especially liked his description of Norfolk as having too many people and not enough surnames.
Seen.
Paul Carrack in Guildford was good. Also, my kids played in a Brass band concert with Hampshire Brass Bands. It was great – they are absolute beginners (playing for 1 term) but they played in 3 songs. My daughter on the Euphonium and my son on the Baritone Horn. Things like this make me very proud of the education system as it was all done through their school and the Hampshire Music Service.
Film wise, we saw Goosebumps with the kids. Pretty good – scary enough for 8 year olds. Have been watching Gotham on Netflix. Finished off Gomorrah (via the iPad whilst on planes) – it is brilliant. The return of The Good Wife and Suits have been well received but both are feeling a little long in the tooth.
ianess says
Gomorrah, the Italian TV series? It was tremendous. Do you know if there’s any chance of a second series?
Leedsboy says
I hope so. It was stunning TV. There has to be a second series after that ending.
Leedsboy says
Just googled it. Due anytime now apparently.
ianess says
Great news. Couldn’t recommend more highly.
davidks says
Heard – mainly podcasts (The Football Ramble, Off The Ball)
Read: Make Me – Lee Child. Very good.
“Thirty-One Nil: On the Road With Football’s Outsiders: A World Cup Odyssey” by James Montague – just started it but it looks promising
Seen: We have just finished House of Cards Season 4, back to its best, very gripping. Francis Underwood, fantastically evil.
Room and Spotlight both excellent, deserved their respective Oscars.
Final season of The Good Wife
andrewjb says
Seen: Scritti Politti at the Roundhouse – Endearingly ramshackle yet silky smooth at the same time. Green is clearly a man who likes to work at his own pace – tellingly towards the end of the set he played fragments of several unfinished songs in one sequence.
Spotlight – This film seemed to go as far as it could in terms of exploring its subject matter whilst remaining watchable. Not sure if it was a deliberate tactic of the filmmaking but the plain style of the film seemed to echo the ordinary circumstances of the individuals concerned whilst clearly, horrific stuff was going on below the surface.
Listening: David Hepworth’s round up of last year’s radio listening in the Guardian put me onto the archive of interviews which Alec Baldwin does called ‘Here’s the Thing’ – he has an interviewing style which seems to encourage the most revealing of responses.
Read: Second volume of Alan Johnson’s memoir ‘Please Mr Postman’. A good light and seemingly very honest read – I could have done with a little less of the minutiae of the voting systems in the post office unions but otherwise I’d strongly recommend both this and the first volume.
Getthenet says
Gig – Bo Ningen and Savages in Cambridge. Bo Ningen, twenty minutes of mayhem. Excellent, but twenty minutes was enough. Savages great, Jenny Beth is mesmerising.
Reading – Heart of Darkness. I know lots of quotes from it but have never read it. I struggle with “classics”. Still haven’t finished it.
Saw – The Intouchables – French film about a rich quadraplegic bloke and his carer. Absolutlety brilliant. Funny, heart earming without being sentimental. Best film I’ve seen in ages.
SteveT says
I agree about the Intouchables? Absolutely brilliant film, funny and touching in equal measure which in my world is a winning formula.
paulwright says
Saw- Agents of Shield series 1. Took a long time to get going but good now. Cant wait till 18 March for Winter Soldier to be on Netflix so .i can see the second half of that.
Heard- neverwhere by Neil Gaiman on the BBC- brilliant. Made me read the follow up short stort “How the Marquis got his coat back”. Listening to stuff I didnt pay enough attention first time, mostly Gene and Arctic Monkeys. Also the excellent VU Matrix tapes, and that free Sprinsteen The River show
Read – our band could be your life. Tales of the indie USA 90s. Great music but relentlessly grim personal stuff, mostly. Great. Just enough on 14 bands. I get bored with a whole book about one band.
Kid Dynamite says
Our Band Could Be Your Life is one of my favourite music books. What bliss it was in that 80s alternarock dawn to be alive…
Kid Dynamite says
and by coincidence, the Onion AV Club just ran an article on the fifteenth(!) anniversary of the book
Our Band Could Be Your Life isn’t really a book about music at all. It’s a collection of stories about people creating amazing art out of sheer compulsion and love of the process. It’s a story of doing it yourself and helping others along the way. It’s a story about communities built, whole cloth, from the ground up to express like-minded ideas and lifestyle choices. Throughout the years, the spirit of that particular period has endured as a guiding light to thousands of bands for whom there is no place in the mainstream.