Hola!! Greetings to all from Madrid, which is a fabulous place. It’s a new month, so please gather round and tell us what you have been listening to, watching, reading, playing, or generally getting up to.
And also – are there any new things coming up we should be alerted to?
Colin H says
Olé Hombre! As I’m always the last person to contribute to these threads, if at all, let me be the first this time!
Off the cuff, and at speed:
READ: The second Vinyl Detective book. Enjoyed the first, enjoyed this one – hardly great literature, probably doesn’t stand up to too much scrutiny, but good fun. The first was the stronger plot. Currently reading the latest Sherlock Holmes pastiche by June Thomson. I have most of her previous ones – though not all (they have similar titles, and if I see one in a shop I can never be sure that I haven’t got it already…) – and she is easily among the best in this literary sub-genre (i.e. new Sherlock stories, in the style and spirit of the originals). I also recently read Wes Butters’ (I’d change my name, if I were him) book on Charles Hawtrey, having heard his Radio 4 doc on the fellow some years ago – fascinating stuff.
SEEN: Enjoyed ‘W1A’ (gloriously dry BBC management spoof sitcom, for non-UK readers) and second series of ‘Upstart Crow’, but the highlight of recent TV viewing has to be the latest series of ‘Doc Martin’ (for non-UK readers: comedy drama about a misanthrope General Practitioner with a blood phobia in a Cornish village full of oddballs) – a fabulous ‘return to form’. I find some series are better than others, and though the last one was good this one started on a real high with a laugh-out-loud first episode and last week’s was also a particular rib-tickler IMO.
HEARD: I find myself increasingly listening to 60s British jazz. It’s something I can listen to while working, without dsistracting me – and I find it cheers me up too. I’ve said before that the recent 2CD comp ‘Soho Scene ’62’ is fantastic – it gets a lot of plays. So too do many of the archive trawl Tubby Hayes releases of recent years. Indeed, I’m currently listening to ‘London Pride’: 1957-60, a 2011 Jasmine label CD of Tubby’s guest appearances on various British rock’n’roll, jazz and light music singles, albums, EPs. Hugely evocative and cheery sounds. I recently found a Segovia LP in a second-hand store for £4 – looking forward to playing it. Also gave a couple of spins to my copy of ‘Slade Alive!’ after recent publicity about a new reissue. It’s a fantastic live rock album – Slade’s best, IMO. And, of course, being involved in the project, I’ve been playing the Hardchargers’ forthcoming album ‘Scrarecrow’ and its accompanying promo EP (with live bonuses) a lot. The album is releases on Market Square in January.
Live gig of the year, for me, happened on Monday past – the Jesse Dayton Trio absolutely stormed the Errigle Inn in Belfast. And on a Monday night. Jesse is a force of nature – an exhilarating stage performer and fabulously exciting edge-of-danger guitar slinger. Fun fact: The Hardchargers are named after a line on Jesse’s website, ‘Home for Hardchargers’ – Jesse was tickled by hearing a band had taken inspiration in this way, and Lonesome Chris Todd was able to give him a copy of the album and get a couple of photos. Good karma.
Colin H says
Might as well add the Hardchargers’ 90-second album teaser here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIkykzU0bo0
IanP says
Have you noticed the comedy names when Doc Martin summons in the next patient for their consultation?
I only picked up on it one or two episodes back, but so far I’ve heard Anita Bush and Hellena Highwater.
Colin H says
Yep, noticed one or two. I remember one passing exchange with a patient (not otherwise seen in the episode) in series one or two when the patirent exits the consulting room, the Doc following, saying, ‘So, you reckon these pills will help, then, Doc?’ Doc: ‘No, I prescribed them just for fun… NEXT PATIENT…’
Wayfarer says
I’ve been mostly doing not much for the last couple of weeks as I’ve finished work for the season. As I travelled on my final trip with my group (who were on a pilgrimage/coach tour) around Northern England & Scotland, I played them an assortment of music from the regions we visited, mostly folk and traditional, taking care not to include anything which might frighten the horses. They got Unthanks, Jez Lowe, Watersons, Kate Rusby, Borders/Burns songs by various singers and a bit of Gaelic singing. No Highland pipes.
Since we’ve been home, we managed to to get out and see Richard Thompson/Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker in Leicester, John Smith & Will Stratton in Milton Keynes and Gilmore & Roberts/Emily Mae Winters in Wellingborough, all last week and all excellent.
I’m reading “The Wild Places” by Robert MacFarlane. He goes searching for the “Wild” in the British Isles; sleeping out at the top of a Scottish mountain in a blizzard, ditto the Lakes; crossing Rannoch Moor in winter, swimming in icy lakes, lochs & pools and changing his peception of what constitutes “Wild” is along the way. Like it’s successor, “The Old Ways” it’s a beautifully written elegy to the great outdoors and a call to get out into it. It makes me want to get out into it, as long as there’s a pub or a cuppa at the end of it.
Seen: Caught up with University Challenge & Only Connect, tried Gunpowder but found it bit “Meh”. That’s it.
Gatz says
Seen
It’s been an unusually busy month of gigs and other events for me so I’ll kick off with those, beginning with Daylight Music at Union Chapel (actually the last day of September, but I didn’t submit one of these last month). London’s loveliest gig venue hosted a trio of melancholic musical acts including The Saxophones and RM Hubbert, while our own Hannah played pop hits from Abba to the Inspiral Carpets in between. The Saxophones, a husband and wife couple from Portland, Oregon, made a pleasant noise without really grabbing my attention, while Hubby as we were told he is known made me want to investigate his prolific output further. In the way of these things I only remembered that when writing it down now. A lovely way to spend an afternoon, and ultimately uplifting to hear so much great music in such a setting, even if the most upbeat act of the day was the wonderful Kathryn Williams – ‘Everything dies, there is no escape, and all that’s left becomes the new shape,’ she reminded us. Between song patter for all acts was largely based around self-deprecating comments on how depressing their songs were. That’s something I hear quite a lot at the sort of gigs I attend.
Rich Hall’s Country Hoe-Down at the Chelmsford Civic was the first night out actually in October. I admire Rich Hall’s work a lot, but he struggled a bit with a flat, Tuesday night in Chelmsford audience. So much of his routine is based around, ‘Where you from, buddy? Whad’ya do for a living?’ that the dull responses made him visibly work harder to wring humour out of them. It didn’t help that among the pre-prepared material was a gag I first heard him tell in the mid 90s. It was interesting watching such a seasoned pro have to fight for his laughs, and in the end he more or less pulled it off, but I would have preferred a night when it went a little easier for all of us.
The next Saturday took us back to London for Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. To add drama to an already huge production the ROH had flown in an emergency soprano from Norway that morning because the Queen of the Night had succumbed to a throat infection. The replacement sang while the original acted, and both received a tremendous ovation at the curtain call. This hiccough must have been especially worrying for them as the Queen has the best known aria in the show, the one that goes ‘tra-la-la-la, la-la, laaahhhhh.’ You’d know it if you heard it. Opera is more The Light’s thing than mine, but I love the big arias and any kind of live music fan should enjoy the staging and venue, though I don’t think I have ever seen an opera which I would have wished to be longer. If, like us, you’re happy to sit up in the high levels to the side (‘the slips’ as they’re called), you can see and hear world class opera for less than the price of a cinema ticket.
More stage music the weekend after with Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein at The Garrick at the bottom of Charing Cross Road. Hmm. This was The Light’s choice again, and although plenty of other people seemed to be having a good time, and The Guardian gave it a rave 5 star write-up, I was glad to get to The Chandos for a pint afterwards. I’ve always found Brooks’ sub-Talbot-Rothwell routine pretty thin gruel, and songs were no great shakes either. The easily amused might find more to enjoy in it. Hadley Fraser’s Frankenstein lacked charisma, it was odd to see Ross Noble chained to a script as Igor, while Summer Strallen was a memorably bawdy Inga. Lesley Joseph stole the show with her pantomime stylings and a Weimar cabaret celebration of domestic violence called He Was My Boyfriend.
This was the same London weekend on which we took the time to visit Jeremy Bentham’s severed head at UCL, combining the trip with lunch at Speedy’s Café, star of TV’s Sherlock, for a plate of pasta. Not a lot of song and dance involved of course, and it’s fair to say JB, and his head, have seen better days, but then he has been dead for nearly 200 years and it was a pretty rare opportunity to see him at all. He is pickled and preserved, his glass eyes staring out from tanned skin from beneath a glass dome, looking like a cross between a spaceman and a Halloween prop. And my advice is to do the pasta first should you chose to tread in our footsteps; you might not feel like lunch after visiting Mr B.
Richard Thompson at Saffron Hall in picturesque Saffron Walden rounded out the month of shows and was always going to stand tall above other events for me. As many here already know (and aren’t shy about telling the rest of you) his name is as close as you can get to a guarantee for a great gig. I revere Thompson above all other living musicians and that, combined with a superb set list, means I have little to say without gibbering, other than that this was a wonderful night – chills and thrills, tears and laughs. The man is poking 70 with a short stick but plays with the energy and passion of someone a third of his age. In a fairer world he would be playing the mega-venues while less talented performers who sell out stadiums would count themselves lucky to get a spot busking on the London Underground (‘The Sheeran Paradox’ as scientists call it).
In between all this I made a rare visit to the cinema for Blade Runner 2049 which has been discussed in depth elsewhere in the blog. I found it high in spectacle, but low on poetry and left troubled by the gender politics, though at least it provoked thought as too few films do. On television I enjoyed both W1A and Back for laughs, and on a more serious theme I found the stilted dialogue of Gunpowder less of an impediment than the much debated gore to the retelling of a story which deserves to be put in its proper historical context in the run-up to Bonfire Night. I couldn’t help but think Ronan Bennett had read the same book on the history of capital punishment as I did recently, so precisely were many of the grislier details depicted.
Blue Planet II is of course spectacular, but I wish there was an option to mute the commentary. This caused outrage in some quarters when I suggested it on FB, so let me be clear that I am just asking for the option. Those who adore St Attenborough would be free to carry on enjoying him; it’s just that I don’t think the extraordinary footage of the rays leaping out of the ocean, to take one example, was enhanced in any way by ‘Why do they leap? [breath, breath] Are they just saying … “I am here ……?” [breath, breath, breath] Nobody knows.’
Heard
As usual, not much ‘new’ but Richard Thompson’s Acoustic Rarities has been getting regular spins, if re-recorded versions of old songs count as new. Mojo are on a roll at the moment with their cover-mount CDs and the last few – Murder Ballads, German electronic music and Gospel – have all been superb. Oh, and I picked up a copy of Laurie Anderson’s Big Science (the one with Oh Superman on it) in a charity shop and am enjoying it a lot more than I expected when curiosity drove me to make the purchase. Hard to believe it is 35 years old.
Read
It’s always a good month when Geoff Nicholson has a new book out and his new one, The Miranda, dropped through my letterbox this month (US import, ordered from a UK seller via the dodgers). Nicholson’s books are often about obsessions, with central characters who observe the eccentric cast around them with a mixture of humour and detached puzzlement. The Miranda’s protagonist is a psychologist turned torturer, who retires to suburbia in order to walk the circular path around his house at the rate of 25 miles a day for 1000 days so he can walk around the world without leaving his garden. Readers of his blog The Hollywood Walker will recognise this as a classic Nicholson set-up. There are thoughts on cocktails and walking, torture and walking, sex and walking and so. These are observations rather than essays or meditations (and that reminds me – meditation and walking) in typically discursive Nicholson style; there a lots of ‘I suppose’s and ‘it seems to me’s after them. Enjoyable though The Miranda is, and better than his last few, increasing infrequent, novels, there are other books of his which I would recommend before this one to get a new reader hooked.
Lunchtime e-book reading for the last couple of weeks has been a re-visit to Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 for the first time since my teens. It hasn’t aged nearly as badly as I thought it might (see also Richard Thompson, Laurie Anderson’s Big Science and Lesley Joseph, though probably not Jeremy Bentham, for other examples). An older eye notices just how didactic it is, and how blatantly the different characters act as different points of view. It also loses direction once Montag goes on the run, but it is still a book I would push into the hands of a questioning teenager.
RubyBlue says
Geoff Nicholson- who wrote ‘Footsucker’? Given to me as a gift and perhaps one of the most , er, unexpected gifts I have been given. I remember quite enjoying it but haven’t tried any others of his; you have piqued my interest.
Gatz says
Glad to hear it! Footsucker is one of his slighter efforts. My favourites are the ones which examine the same obsession through the eyes of multiple characters. A few I would recommend, and pretty much all his books are available for pennies on Amazon Marketplace, are Everything and More, Hunters and Gatherers, and Bleeding London. Maybe Bleeding London as a starting point.
@mikethep was his publisher at Gollancz (and may well be the man who took the decision to release Footsucker to a grateful nation), so he might have more to add.
EDIT – PS, also impressed that you read my screed that far!
RubyBlue says
Thanks for the tips- will hunt them down on the tax dodgers’ site.
Your use of bold aided readability. 🙂
Colin H says
I’ve no idea how to do that here. Any advice?
RubyBlue says
Ah, you need da html skillz.
Use this formula-
At the start of the word (s) to be bolded (emboldened?):
At the end of what you want to be emboldered-
I hope that makes sense!!
ETA oh sorry that didn’t work. Maybe Google html? Sorry!
mikethep says
Just realised I didn’t see any bold, strangely. Maybe your computer has a special bold enhancer.
RubyBlue says
Yeah, sorry, by trying to demonstrate html I had to use html which make it go strange.
I think Gatz’s prompt re: LoW’s post (below) is probably the most helpful here. 🙂
Gatz says
Luckily
Lodestone of Wrongnesshis friend asked the same thing recently and got useful repliesmikethep says
I cannot tell a lie: ’twas I, not that the nation seemed all that grateful. There was a brief flurry of tabloid interest when Fergie, who had recently been busted having her toes sucked by her financial adviser, was photographed in Waterstones in front of a face-out copy of Footsucker.
Also have to hold my hand up to Everything and More, Flesh Guitar, Bleeding London, Bedlam Burning and Female Ruins. And Street Sleeper before that at Abacus, which is where I got to know him. @rubyblue, you might find Flesh Guitar a little, ahem, blokey, but any of the others are definitely worth a punt.
RubyBlue says
@mikethep Thanks, I suspect I will be more interested in Female Ruins than Flesh Guitar.
How exciting, to be involved in Fergie’s Footsie Folly.
mikethep says
I think you’re probably right! Nobody seemed to like Flesh Guitar much, but when you’re a guitar nerd publisher with a guitar nerd author, what can you do?
Gatz says
Flesh Guitar does contain one line which has entered my list of phrases. A super fan of the mysterious Jennie Slade (iirc) is trying to explain the appeal of her music to a barmaid. ‘It doesn’t sound very jolly’, she says. ‘Personally, jollity has never been a quality I look for in music.’
Marwood says
Heard
I used to love the front cover CD that The Word provided and would often come across artists that I wouldn’t normally hear. One of those was Sylvie Lewis. Her name had slipped my mind, but cropped up again in a review for the Leonard Cohan tribute concert. Her music has a melancholy, winsome tone – just fine for an afternoon spent pottering in the kitchen – or for an American indie movie.
Read
The Crimson Petal and the White is a peculiar book; a 21st century take on the Victorian novel. It features versions of archetypal characters such the governess, the mad woman in the attic, the man of letters and the industrialist. But it presents them – together with the central character of Sugar, a prostitute taking the opportunity to flee her fate – with a distinctly modern sensibility. So we have a knowing narrator and some very ripe language. Considering it is nearly 900 pages long and only really concentrates on a handful of characters, it fails to give them any closure – the narrative on each just stops. Which I suppose might be the point.
The Blade Artist – Irving Welsh’s latest – is lurid and brutal. We catch up with Begbie, now ensconced in California with a wife and two young daughters and living the life of a fashionable sculptor. His return to Edinburgh tests whether he really has put that previous life of violence behind him. No prizes for guessing how that goes. It’s an unsubtle version of the Jekyll and Hyde story with added Patrick Bateman and Antony Burgess (not for nothing does Begbie have A Clockwork Orange on his Kindle).
Seen
Nocturnal Animals is a tricky little tale of betrayal and revenge, but also of art and creativity. It wasn’t quite as clever as it thought it was, but still one to ponder.
I raced through the third series of Fargo. It’s was as bloody and funny and warped as I expected – featuring some weak / malleable ‘good’ guys, reptilian bad guys and wonderful female characters. A cameo from Ray Wise seemed to be channelling an off-kilter David Lynch vibe. Particularly enjoyed the ‘Peter and the Wold’ episode. One of its themes – unfettered Capitalism is ultimately corrupting of mind, body and soul was also at the heart of High Rise, Ben Wheatley’s retro-fitted take on JG Ballard’s dystopian novel. Like all of Wheatley’s films that I have seen, it was one I found hard to like but easier to admire.
Caught Field of Dreams for the umpteenth time. It is an odd film; daft and mawkish and naïve. Yet once the final few scenes begin to play out (James Earl-Jones walking into the corn, Burt Lancaster stepping outside of the baseball field to help the stricken daughter), I feel myself welling up. And then, when Costner calls out ‘Dad’ to the lone baseball player – well I am reduced to a bit of a mess.
Watched the first Kingsmen on the telly. Seemed to me a YA James Bond, filled with swears and violence (but not gore – heads burst in an explosion of fireworks). It was diverting but pretty unmemorable (aside from Firth going postal in the Baptist church). Shan’t bother with the new one.
Up In The Air is packed to the gills with great performances, not least from George Clooney as a corporate Terminator whose job it is to come into offices and end careers. He has deliberately insulated himself from life; referring to featureless airports as home, begrudgingly talking to his relations, wafting into his dismal little apartment on the odd occasion. But we gradually see him questioning this existence and attempting to find something more fulfilling.
Blade Runner is my favourite film. I’ve watched it numerous times in the cinema (all versions) and at home of VHS, DVD and recordings from off the telly. It didn’t need a sequel. So when Blade Runner 2049 came out I bought the ticket and settled into my seat with a sense of trepidation – I hoped for the best and feared the worst. Thankfully, 2049 is a great movie in its own right – beautiful to look at, strikingly scored and with a noir-ish story featuring a detective being played for a patsy as he conducts a missing person investigation. Perhaps the best compliment I can give is that it manages not to spoil the original.
Watched both the Whitney Houston and George Michael documentaries. I found the Whitney one very uncomfortable and voyeuristic. It was sad to see how she struggled with her fame once she became untethered from a childhood friend. George’s one was rather unsatisfying – bulked out with meaningless drivel from Corden, Gervais and Gallagher and spending a bit too much time on his dispute with his record label. Would like to have seen Andrew Ridgeley – as it was sad to see how George struggled with fame once he became untethered from a childhood friend.
I never really watched the Bake Off on the BBC– too much Mel & Sue in the mix for my liking – but did see the appeal of it. Unlike most of the reality TV / talent shows, this seemed to feature contestants you wouldn’t want to batter to death with a spatula. I have enjoyed the Channel 4 iteration very much. Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig are far more palatable to me and the contestants seem kind and supportive and a little fretful. Must say I was rather worried for Hollywood during the caramel episode – as he scoffed down handfuls of sugary confection he seemed to be well on the way to self – Inflicted diabetes. It’s a nice show. And in the febrile world we find ourselves in, a little bit of nice goes a very long way.
Gatz says
I’m with you on Bake Off, though as a long standing fan I was fully prepared to give it a go, then abandon it after a couple of episodes complaining that Channel 4 had ruined it. Thankfully they actually left it pretty much untouched, which makes you wonder why they bought it (though viewing figures must be the answer of course).
Sandi Toksvig makes an excellent Sue stand-in while Noel Fielding is a surprisingly effective Mel. The biggest difference was Pru Leith, an altogether more imposing presence than Mary Berry ever was. It’s just a basic idea carried out in a way which makes it easy to enjoy.
Marwood says
Noel seemed to be a wilfully left-field choice. A bit of a ‘look at us, breaking convention’ sort of nonsense.
But he comes over as warm, kind and whimsical – a kindly Goth uncle.
SteveT says
Different strokes for different folks. Sandi Toksvig irritates the shit out of me so Bake Off is of little interest these days.
Freddy Steady says
Yep, far too pleased with herself.
Wayfarer says
I came across Slyvie Lewis via the Word cds too – her last album is played frequently here and her version of “Without Her” is sublime. She seems to have a fairly laid-back attitude to what I assume is her career, which is frustrating. I’d love to see her live one of these days if she ever puts a proper tour together.
Tony Japanese says
Seen
The new series of Strictly continues to be the highlight of the week in the Japanese household. Local celebrity, the Reverand Richard Coles failed to impress the judges as much as we would’ve liked. There isn’t really an ‘Ed Balls’ of this year – as the contestants who have left so far have generally been the worst.
Caught the second series of Upstart Crow, which is impressive without being essential. I have next to no knowledge of Shakespeare’s repetoire, but apart from getting the references, it’s not needed. I also seem to be getting better at Only Connect. At some point I will try and get round to watching W1A (if still available), Gunpowder and Blue Planet II.
We caught the first-series of Mindhunter on Netflix, which is worth watching. At some point I will get around to watching the second series of Stranger Things. Still on the lookout for a series we can get our teeth into though, instead of watching repeats of Endevour and Jonathan Creek. I’m tempted by Gotham, having watched the first series on Channel 5 and generally being a fan of Batman or anything that can be recommended.
Heard
As per usual, my iPod decides which music to play for me. My fiancee is convinced the process isn’t really random, but I disagree. I also bought classic albums by Hole, Fairport Convention, Wu Tang Clan and Nat King Cole the other day because they were on sale. I’ve not had time to listen to them yet, but I’m looking forward to it.
Read
Still reading Barnaby Rudge, which although it’s one of Dickens’s lesser known novels, is actually very good. I’ve also realised that the next book to read is A Christmas Carol, so I’ve timed that well.
Gary says
Read
Finally finished David Bowie – A Life by Dylan Jones. It’s like 8 million pages or something. Really fascinating. Short anecdotes by people who knew him at various stages of his life, presented in roughly chronological order from youth to death. Many of the usual adjectives are repeated – charming, beautiful, charming, highly intelligent, charming, chain smoking, charming, sex obsessed. Oh, and charming. So many of the anecdotes and reminisces are fascinating. One of the many examples that stuck in my mind: I loved reading Adrian Belew’s account of playing guitar on Lodger. He tells how he arrived at the studio and was told he wasn’t allowed to hear the tracks in advance but should just play along while listening to them for the very first time. And some of his playing made it onto the album.
Watched
I quite liked a recent film called Better Watch Out. It’s a bit trashy, but I mostly liked it cos it really surprised me. I sat down to watch, not knowing anything about it, and within five minutes was thinking “ok, typical genre film, predictable, formula, I know exactly where this is going.” Then, whoa!, off it went in another direction altogether! I haven’t been so surprised by a cinematic left turn since Butch Coolidge and Marcellus Wallace entered Maynard’s shop. Not that this film is in any way comparable to the mighty Pulp Fiction. More like a Home Alone for adults. (© the other thread, the one about Thunder)
Stephen King’s It. Unwatchable shite.
Heard
Years after its release I’ve just gotten into the acoustic version of Prefab Sprout’s Steve McQueen. Some of the tracks work really well acoustically. Bonny, Appetite, When Love Breaks Down, Moving The River, Goodbye Lucille #1 and, especially, Faron Young are all excellent. The others not so much. The flamenco guitar on Faron Young is ace.
monsignorbonehead says
I love that acoustic CD, it really adds to the original. I know it won’t ever happen, but if Paddy’s ear problems are one reason that he doesn’t tour anymore I, for one, would pay an arm and a leg to see him do an acoustic tour along these lines. Great stuff.
Rigid Digit says
Heard
Lots of Post Punk encased in the Cherry Red box set To The Outside Of Everything
Post Punk of a different hue:
The Professionals new album What In The World.
1981s I Didn’t See It Coming effectively sunk without trace, and didn’t get a proper re-issue until 2001. The band reformed in 2016 for a joint headline gig with The Rich Kids, and then started work on this.
A guest list of guitarists, including Steve Jones on one track – pure powerpopunk
Realised there is more to Thomas Dolby than She Blinded Me With Science and Hyperactive.
This months back catalogue: Jean Michel Jarre
Due end of this month: Noel Gallagher – heard Holy Mountain again this week – convinced it was The Vaccines at the start (note: this is a good thing)
Read
Nomad – Not quite as pant wettingly brilliant as I, Partridge, but a good laugh nonetheless. And there is a realisation that I may be turning into Alan Partridge as I can hear my voice in his words.
Paul McCartney: The Biography (Philip Norman) – a weighty lump, but feels pretty thorough
(unlike the Howard Souness Bio from a couple of years ago, which whilst informative just felt a bit lightweight)
Next up: Bruce Dickinson – What Does This Button Do
Seen
Alternative Music Festival at Butlins.
Plenty of stuff seen – highlights were: Eddie An The Hot Rods (Saturday 3pm), Eddie TudorPole (Sunday 12:30), and From The Jam and Stiff Little Fingers (Sunday night).
Biggest surprise(s): Toyah was brilliant (wasn’t expecting too much, and I was wrong wrong wrong), and The Vapors: why have I ignored The Vapors other than that single
Red Dwarf back on Dave – still a lot better than other “comedies”. A number of knowing self-references to previous episodes, like they’re trying to close the circle and bring down the curtain
Modern Life Is Goodish – new series started this week. Always worth a watch for the debunking of the obvious and absurd, and the internet comments performed as a Found Poem
Colin H says
Barrie Masters: time for a reappraisal?
Gatz says
Ooh – thanks for the Modern Life tip off.
Wheldrake says
READ:
So, having upped my reading to 50 pages a day most days I’m speeding through books and this months have read After Me Comes the Flood by Sarah Perry (strange and dreamlike); The Lantern Network by Ted Allbeury (excellent WW2 espionage thriller); The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin (classic SF by one of my favourite authors) and The Secret Pilgrim by John Le Carré (good but not great). Currently just started a short story collection by M John Harrison called Things That Never Happen, another favourite author of mine.
WATCHED:
Three episodes in to the new series of Stranger Things and it’s very good indeed. Hope they keep the quality up. Rewatching The West Wing (in conjunction with listening to The West Wing Weekly podcast) and imagining what it would be like to have a real President instead of an Orange Mussolini. One of the all-time great TV series. Thor Ragnarok was ace (see my review) and I have high hopes for Black Panther next year. And Taskmaster continues to be the best comedy on telly. Superb stuff this series especially from Bob Mortimer and the lovely Sally Phillips.
LISTENING:
The new Robert Plant (Carry Fire) is excellent. Old Planty has quite a body of solo work behind him now and he just seems to get better and better. Working my way through the Bowie back catalogue while reading The Complete David Bowie by Nicholas Pegg (yes, that Pegg who was sacked from being a Dalek after leaving a coded message on a website calling the BBC a bunch of c*nts). Right now I’m slogging through the 80s. Tonight, apart from a couple of tracks was utter dogshit. Awful awful awful. Surprisingly Never Let Me Down was an easier listen, if unremarkable. The Glass Spider is hilarious. But oh that big 80s production. Nasty. Tin Machine looms on the horizon.
I delved back into the past and listened to Nowhere by Ride. Which, apart from the terribly fey vocals, it quite excellent. Very sike-pop.
Locust says
The last two weeks have been chaotic at work, but the worst should be behind us now, hopefully. I’ve been sleeping a lot, exhausted. At the moment I’m cautiously optimistic about the future, which is a nice change from all of the worrying of late. But we’re still in the trial and error stage of creating new schedules, logistics and routines (nor salaries), so I’m not able to fully relax just yet.
Seen:
The second series of Swedish folklore/crime drama Jordskott is here, and I’ve been enjoying the first episodes, although it’s still in the usually confusing build-up stage (and taking place mostly in the city so far – but they promise that we’ll return to the forest soon). Weird, slightly creepy and funny in odd ways; I love it.
I’ve also been tricked into watching a new Swedish drama series called Vår tid är nu (“Our time is now”), which is a sort of family chronicle beginning at the end of WW2. It has the “Upstairs/Downstairs” & “Downton Abbey” class dynamics built in as well – the family owns a restaurant and you follow both them and the staff. It’s well acted, but as always with these kinds of historical dramas it suffers from the “ticking of boxes-syndrome”. Like “Downton” it’s a bit too soapy for my liking, not sure if I’ll keep watching.
I did see a quite wonderful Swedish film (from a year or two ago) called Jätten (“The Giant”). About an autistic and severely disfigured young man, it manages to be poetic, funny, strange and beautiful while effortlessly moving between grey realism and shimmering imagination. And it wasn’t like anything else I can think of.
I brought along my sister to see my favourite living author talk about his latest novel in a bookstore, that was nice. I’ve never been to that kind of event before – and probably wouldn’t have bothered to listen to anyone but him – but he was very funny and we had a great time. Buying lots of books afterwards of course…to the ever-growing pile of must-reads. 🙂
Also went to the annual Affordable Art Fair, as I always do. Lots of interesting art of every kind to see (sure, some shite as well), very inspiring, plenty of nice artists to have a chat with about their works; just a nice day out.
Read:
After finishing Tivoli by P C Jersild (very funny) I took on Theft By Finding – the diaries of David Sedaris – Vol. 1. Not having the time and peace of mind to read for long the format of shorter entries suited me perfectly during these past hectic couple of weeks. Very funny, of course, and full of eccentric people populating the world surrounding the already highly eccentric Sedaris family.
As I’m still in the middle of a stressful period of much work and learning, I’m keeping the novels in that tall pile for now, and after finishing those diaries I’m now reading a collection of non-fiction by Neil Gaiman. So far not too exciting and lots of repetition, but OK.
Heard:
Best this month, and ranking high in my 2017 Top Five so far, was the new self-titled album by Swedish artist Loney dear (= Emil Svanängen). I’m obsessed with it, listening to it at least once a day since I got it! Fans of John Grant, Sigur Rós, James Blake etc should buy this immediately; you can thank me later! 🙂 Beautiful, heartbreaking, uplifting.
Another beautiful album is Aromanticism by Moses Sumney. Slow, soulful songs sung by the voice of an angel. Just close your eyes and forget the world outside, dive into the warm water and float on the soundwaves. Balm for the wounded, especially the track “Doomed”.
Swedish legend Thåström is back with new album Centralmassivet, reassuringly similar in sound and lyricism to his others of late (in his case, that’s a good thing). One of the tracks mentions the street I live in, which made me surprisingly and illogically pleased…!
Being a massive Marc Almond fan I’m pleased to say that his new album Shadows and Reflections is quite a gem. Consisting mostly of cover versions, but not of the old tired standards and hits, the majority of these tracks will be unknown to most. You need to be a fan of his particular OTT drama of course, but if you are it will leave you with a big grin on your face.
AW:s own The Disappointment Choir hits new highs on the album Vows, which is full of pop confectionery of high quality. Infectious tunes that will wiggle their way into your ears and take up residence. But I’m sure you all knew that already!
Swedish EDM duo Galantis have a new album out as well called The Aviary. I preferred the previous one, but I’m a bit unfair as this one still has more potential hits than anyone have the right to demand (if not quite as good as some of their hits in the past). Of course, the Afterword community isn’t really the core audience for this sort of thing! 😀
A warning is due for anyone thinking of buying the new album by Tori Amos – it’s very weak. Bland and dull (and sometimes quite awful) IMO. Save your money!
Anyone interested in the more experimental side of electronic music should enjoy Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith’s latest album The Kid. She’s slightly going the same way as Julia Holter; from very experimental soundscapes towards more traditional pop songs – but Kaitlyn is still mostly quite “out there”. I haven’t had time to listen the Tigger required six times yet, but the two times so far sounded very promising, but I’m not ready to say if this is better than her previous; Ears.
I haven’t listened enough (and with enough focus) to OMD, Antibalas, Ian Felice or Ariel Pink to have an opinion yet.
Colin H says
Here’s hoping your work situation improves and that your stress is greatly lessened soon, Loki. we need you at full strength!
Locust says
Thanks, Colin. 🙂
(And speaking of being exhausted: no, I’ve no idea why I suddenly wrote “nor salaries” at the end of that first paragraph – I suspect I changed one half and forgot to adjust the second half to make sense of that sentence! I’d better go to bed and get some sleep now…)
Bingo Little says
Think I’ve covered most of what I’ve watched/heard elsewhere on the blog, but thought I’d add a quick post to mention that the new Philip Pullman is very good indeed, but the new Ta-Nehisi Coates (“We Were Eight Years In Power”) is just fantastic. Incredibly thoughtful and beautifully written. Strong recommend.
salwarpe says
The Write Here, Write Now blog continued for another month, and the theme this time was ‘Rocktober’, in part as a tribute and chance to recall the life of my first friend who shared my love of heavy rock and metal in the seventies. I found out in the summer that he took his life last year.
It was a good chance to take a moment each day to drift back to earlier times, with an appropriate soundtrack, and reflect on passing times.
Here are the songs I chose:
Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin – The Battle of Evermore, Motörhead – We are the Roadcrew, Saxon – Wheels of Steel, Deep Purple – Speed King, Iron Maiden – Running Free
Led Zeppelin – When The Levee Breaks, Deep Purple – Space Truckin’, Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love, AC/DC – Live Wire, Status Quo – Backwater/Just Take Me, Monty Python – Another Monty Python Record, Judas Priest – Living After Midnight, Led Zeppelin – Friends, Black Sabbath – Hand of Doom, David Fanshawe – Kyrie (African Sanctus), Status Quo – Is There a Better Way?, AC/DC – Hells Bells, Deep Purple – Child In Time, Led Zeppelin – Communication Breakdown, Black Sabbath – Solitude, Motörhead – Fast and Loose, Black Sabbath – Wheels Of Confusion / ,The Straightener, Whitesnake – Come On, Black Sabbath – Looking For Today, Rainbow – Love’s No Friend, Deep Purple – Smoke On The Water, Black Sabbath – Paranoid, Motörhead – Ace of Spades, AC/DC – Rock And Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution, Led Zeppelin – Rock and Roll.
There’s no set theme for November, though I quite like the idea of going all autumnal.
Morrison says
Seen:
To Prague to visit my lad who lives there and went to see Ennio Morricone at the O2 Arena. Up in the cheap seats in the rafters but still mightily impressive with Ennio moving through 60 years of music with a huge orchestra and choir covering western themes and more recent soundtrack stuff. Highlights just for the emotional heft were tunes from ‘The Mission’. 24 hours earlier – same venue – more excellent entertainment – with Sparta Prague, the ice hockey team, taking on local rivals. Football-style chanting at both ends of the ice – and Staropramen at 1.50 a pint – it’s fast European-style hockey with none of the grapple’n’grab of the UK game.
Then a couple of classical things; Blue Heron specialise in Renaissance choral music (apparently) – just stunning in the setting of Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, and then a sort of “unplugged” recital by pianist Mitsuko Uchida at a tiny theatre at another local college. Looking frail now, she came in, bowed, closed her eyes and played Schubert piano concertos for an hour and a half – really attacking the keys during the rowdy parts and then so delicate when quiet.
Read:
Really enjoyed “The Spider Network” by journalist David Enrich. Admittedly, the Libor scandal is hardly the most exciting proposition, but he’s penned a fast-paced almost thriller-like narrative that tells how banks manipulated this key interest rate that effects everybody everywhere who has a mortgage, loan or credit card.
Central figure is Tom Hayes, aggressive, unpleasant and possibly unrepentant trader who manages to string together a network of similarly minded bank folks to make squillions by moving the rate up and down to suit their respective institutions. Remarkably, or not bearing in mind how most things regarding ‘the city’ play out, he’s the only one who’s ended up in jail with the usual “one bad apple” plea by the banks, whose legal firms set the prosecution parameters, and standard supine regulators and politicians.
Following the slow burn success of ‘The Loney’ looks like Andrew Michael Hurley is now getting a major shove into the mainstream with his new hardback “Devil’s Day” for a fiver at Tesco. Only half way through it, but it’s shaping up nicely – similar Lancashire setting to his previous book but this time up in the hills – with all kinds of witchery and strangeness afoot.
Heard:
Anouar Brahem’s “Blue Maqams” is that rare thing – a jazz oud album. And this is a proper jazz album – less “world music-y” than his previous stuff – with Dave Holland and Jack De Johnette in the rhythm section and surprisingly excellent Django Bates at the piano. It’s languid then restless – and works superbly – top 10 album of the year for me.
Some great piano jazz new releases – Bill Charlap’s trio has been together for almost 20 years ago and his latest “Uptown Downtown” continues an exceptional series of albums. Its straight-ahead stuff – but he’s such a classy melodic player with all the telepathy you get in a jazz trio that’s been together for so long. Fred Hersch is usually in a similar trio setting – though I’ve always found him a little cold as a piano player – but on “Open Book” he takes a more Keith Jarrett-type approach with long drawn out solo improvisations before rounding off with a pretty version of Billy Joel’s “And so it goes”.
Not sure about Gregory Porter’s new Nat King Cole tribute. He’s in fine voice – and Vince Mendoza’s arrangements are, as usual, stunning – but not sure it all hangs together, possibly because you expect to hear Nat singing. Need to listen a few more times.
Couple of top notch compilations: “Soul Festival” pulls together a host of 70s rarities – a range of dancers, prancers and shufflers – solid entertainment from start to finish. And then the latest in the Late Night Tales series, featuring selections from tepid jazz funkateers BadBadNotGood. Some real obscurities mixed amongst the familiar – but a nice cross section of soul, Latin and ambient.
Finally, Lee Ann Womack’s “The Lonely, Lonesome and The Gone” – a quite wonderful soulful stripped back set that shifts her away from her usual country music mainstream. This track – all heavenly choirs and weeping pedal steel – is a highlight:
Vince Black says
Gigs: Mrs B and I made our 3rd visit to Costa Del Folk in Portugal and we had a wonderful time. Great hotel venue, lovely weather and some excellent music. CDF is very well organised, with good sound, and gigs that always start on time. Edward II were the big hit, with their outdoor afternoon gig being a particular highlight. A surprise hit was State of the Union (Boo Hewerdine and Brooks Williams) who were just fantastic. They both have a gorgeous acoustic guitar sound and their playing styles mesh so well it’s a joy to encounter. They played a load off their new album of covers. I could listen to them all day. Sam Kelly and the Lost Boys played 2 excellent sets with the full 7 piece line-up. The festival was opened by a young band from Brighton called Noble Jacks who really rocked the uncovered outdoor stage on a very hot afternoon. I saw 2 very good bluegrass based acts, the Chester based Jaywalkers and the west country quintet Flats and Sharps. Of the soloists I enjoyed Reg Meuross, Geoff Lakeman, Wizz Jones, Daoiri Farrell and Steve Tilston. I’m sure I’m not the only person at CDF, or in this massive, who has seen Show of Hands enough times already, but despite their everpresence at CDF, there is plenty more music to enjoy there. I heartily recommend it
I ventured up to The Sage in Gateshead to see Richard Thompson, and as I commented elsewhere I didn’t think it was his best performance. But of course RT not at his best is still pretty damn good. I thoroughly enjoyed Jason Isbell at Albert Halls in Manchester, and he is likely to be my gig of the year for the second year running
I also visited HOME in Manchester for the first time to see Jackie Oates / East Pointers / The Young Uns. Nice venue. All the acts were good but The Young Un’s were really at the top of their game. Even though Sean Cooney was husky when he spoke, he sang beautifully. He has written 9 of the 10 songs on their new CD and is becoming a real contender IMHO
Heard: I came back from CDF with latest CDs by Reg Meuross, Geoff Lakeman, Jaywalkers, State of the Union, Sam Kelly & the Lost Boys, Edward II and Time Edey. I like them all. The Meuross album “Faraway People” is a grower. It initially struck me as being much too derivative, but I remembered that on his Songwriting seminar at CDF he explained that he sometimes did that deliberately to get people to connect with the songs. The overall effect to my ears is that there is an “Iron fist in a velvet glove” feel to it, with some tough lyrics amongst the gentle and familiar sounding tunes. Geoff Lakeman acquits himself well on his debut CD, released at age 70! He comes over as a proper folkie, but at the same time is clearly an Americana fan as evidenced by a nice version of Buddy Miller’s “A wide river to cross”. I also bought Strangers, the new CD by The Young Uns and that is very good, especially the tracks that they play instruments on. In particular the Sean Cooney led “Be The Man” and “Dark Water” are beautiful, poignant and uplifting songs about real life-changing events
Watched. Mrs B and I binge watched Rellik on catch-up. On reflection, a bigloadashite. Reflection: see what I did there?
Read: I’m more a news / magazine guy than a book reader. My stand out article was one that revealed that the pharmaceutical product at the heart of the opioid crisis in the USA is produced by one family owned company. The family in question keep a low profile as regards where their money comes from, but are very high profile benefactors of blue-chip Arts organisations. http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a12775932/sackler-family-oxycontin/
Wayfarer says
I’ve only been to the one CFD so far and really enjoyed but I’d like them to give Show of Hands a rest – they’re not my cup of tea.
SteveT says
No idea State of the Union had a new album out. Thanks for the tip. Have the other two and love their cover of Pet Shop Boys Rent.
monsignorbonehead says
Heard: Plenty to listen to this month. Phoebe Bridgers, as mentioned here by someone, is one of my finds of the year, I love this album. Her Mark Kozelek cover is a killer, and if anyone wants to recommend something by Kozelek that I really should hear I’m all ears. The Beck album has been getting some sniffy reviews, and it probably isn’t essential, but it does what it sets out to do which is to be a fine pop album. Neil Finn’s new one is his best since Crowded House’s heyday. Not quite loving the new Destroyer quite as much as I loved his last couple, but I’ll give it time. Two of my favourite Scousers have great albums out – Michael Head’s is as good as anything he’s ever done in my opinion and Martin Carr’s is a change of pace after the guitar pop of the last one but still a winner. And to ruin my indie cred, I have been enjoying a-ha’s Unplugged album, some of my favourite childhood tunes given a good makeover and highlighting what a great singer Morten is.
Gigs: Hurrah For The Riff-Raff played to a jammed small venue in Dublin and was great, the set drew heavily from the current album (which is the only one I know) but the tracks I didn’t know stood up too. In successive nights, Jason Isbell and Aimee Mann were also really good, two artists I have only really got into properly this year so my first time seeing either. Isbell finished with Petty’s American Girl, as all gigs should. Aimee played in an old boxing hall that is a bit of a kip, but the surroundings didn’t put her off.
Watched: You could drive a bus through the plot holes of Tin Star but I still found it an enjoyable watch – not sure if I’d tune in for a second series however. Curb Your Enthusiasm remains a joy, every episode contains lines I find myself quoting to bemused co-workers the following day. First couple of episodes of The Deuce are promising though at the risk of sounding like an ancient Sunday Times reader, do they all need to mumble?
Read: Just started The Loney, as mentioned above, and am really into it so far. I hope it can sustain itself. Also read Dark Lies The Island by Kevin Barry, an entertaining short story collection by an Irish writer who I’ve read two novels by, which at the rate I read books makes him unusual.
AOB: What a lovely corner of the internet this is. I don’t contribute very much, and I don’t share all of the enthusiasms of the regular contributors, but I always enjoy checking out the latest threads and I keep finding recommendations that I can’t resist checking out for myself. Thank you all!
PS: Forgot the highly entertaining documentary XTC: This Is Pop which has me digging through a discography that I had only given fleeting time to in the past.
Sewer Robot says
Heard:
Curtis Harding’s album, Face Your Fear, has such a retro cover and vibe that I find I enjoy it more if I think of him as a pastiche character – akin to Lenny Henry’s Theopolis P Wildebeest – called Curtis Hard Dong. The track Til The End, has great – and deliberate – comic value, thanks to some genuinely funny backing vocal ripostes, yet functions as a slice of proper old style soul:
Spotify really is a wonder. Right now my album of the year long list has 150+ albums!
And still some are excluded through unavailability e.g. Jason Isbell), although, against that, some are only available to hear by streaming (e.g. David Bazan)
The other morning I put AOTY on shuffle and, at one point, six songs in a row came up using the N word (some multiple times and a few were lady’s records). Depressing – and this, along with other offensive stuff, means I must deduct points in SR end of year race.
Seen:
The above leaves no time for films (and nothing much lately takes my fancy – the recent and timely grown up movie thread might stimulate something…)
On TV, I’ve enjoyed bingeing on Anarchy In Manchester (new to me, possibly old hat to you) which shows (mostly) full clips from Granada TV’s So It Goes show of which I had only seen fragments. John Cooper Clarke’s commentary adds to the fun, although I was narked when he interrupted a particularly good assault on Janie Jones by deram’s favourites to pick out Mick Hucknall in the crowd.
Read:
Careful! by Steve Casner, a very entertaining and thought-provoking book about safety and accident prevention. His central thesis is that the data shows that in almost all areas our lives became consistently safer throughout the 20th century, yet, for some reason, the direction of that graph turned around a couple of decades ago and has started creeping back up, which he explains is because safety regulations have done as much as they can and now the final, greatest, obstacle has to be overcome – which is human nature.
One thing I learned from this book is that people having sex in cars while driving is a surprisingly common cause of road accidents.
Looking Forward:
Few things could get me more excited than the news that Don Hertzfeldt has made a sequel to his extraordinary short film World Of Tomorrow with the additional possibility of more sequels to come. This is, for me, what (perhaps) Star Wars or Blade Runner sequels might be for you.
Also cheered by imminent releases by Pugwash and (posthumously) Sharon Jones. And I haven’t even heard the new Euros Childs yet! (His last was one of his experimental/piddling about ones, so I’m hoping this one’s a bit more !pop!)
deramdaze says
Buddy Holly gets Bob Dylan standing in awe.
Jimi Hendrix gets The Beatles standing in awe.
the clash get … erm … Mick f***** Hucknell standing in awe!
Sewer Robot says
Ha! You’re as reliable as a Swiss watch, Mr D.
I should have added that reports of EMusic’s post-rejig demise would seem to have been exaggerated. I’ve bought a couple of dozen new albums from them this year, which has the added benefit that I can pay more than I really need to for the remainder in yer actual meatworld record shops – thereby subsidising the poor bast*rds while keeping my average price per album below €6, which is less than half of what it was 15 years ago…
Max the Dog says
Read “he” by John Connolly – really recommend this. Started “Fellside” by M.R. Carey – it’s OK so far…
Listening to Jason Isbell and revisiting “North” by EC, “In Rainbows” by Radiohead.
Only gig – Nick Cave in Prague – gig of the year, and I say that as someone who was blown away by Radiohead in Dublin earlier in the year.
Coming up: Tomorrow night, RTE Lyric FM, http://www.rte.ie/lyricfm/ Mystery Train with John Kelly’s special guest Donny McCaslin picking the tunes – may be some interesting snippets about DB, may be some terrible avant-garde obscure jazz.
Apolologies for thr abbreviated post.
retropath2 says
As ever I can’t remember what I had for my tea, let alone much else, but sensory snippets of worth included,
SEEN: Decided belatedly, after all the regional fuss on Midlands Today, to visit Peaky Blinders, all the early series being on Netflix or Prime. Bit of a love/hate. Visually it is stunning and the story is gripping, but the accents are dogs breath . I accept the brummy accent is both difficult and reviled, but I cringe, and disclaimers about the main characters being of tinker stock doesn’t wear as an excuse. The only decent accent is Sam Neill, channeling Ian Paisley, as a Belfast cop.
Also caught up with the Exorcist series, I thought a clever sequel with many of the guignol of the film present and correct. Ben Daniels superbly playing himself, rather than adopting any accentage, tho’ quite how his character came to be there seems far-fetched. And, when explained, was.
The Walking Dead are back with a bang, but not enough of one, I feel, to bring back the naysayers into the fold.
HEARD: @Tiggerlion is, apropos @steveT, on a roll, his pieces on Zara McFarlane and, especially, Blue Rose Code, hitting my wallet hard, after coddling my ears. Astonished I have never caught up with the latter before, ticking most of my boxes across several genres. Neuk Wight Delhi All Stars, by Yorkston/Thorne/Khan is a splendid record, melding folksong with raga, underpinned by jazz double bass. The Steve Wickham solo, The Beekeeper, is a bit of a curate’s egg, but more good than bad. In honour of Tom Petty I bought Bidin’ My Time, his production for Chris Hillman, and found it to be exactly as anticipated, exquisitely well played country-rock, albeit leaning heavily into a mellower bluegrass vein. A couple of updated Byrds songs work and there is only one godblessredneckamerica mawkishness, a trope he has a latter-day tendency toward. Finally, the first 2 records by Bersarin Quartett have just arrived, classictronica from Germany commended to me by @pencilsqueezer.
SteveT says
Here goes:
Considering the first half of the month I was in Nepal and Bhutan I seem to have crammed an awful lot into the second half of the month. For anyone interested my wife apt described Bhutan as Switzerland with Paddy Fields and Monks. A delightful country with wonderful warm people who have no interest in the material obsessions that blight much of the rest of the World.
Heard:
A lot.
Hiss Golden Messenger – Hallelujah Anyhow – marvellous and prompted me to buy his last one Heart like a levee which I had neglected at the time of its release.
Lucinda Williams reworking of Sweet Old World. Better versions with a better band.
Michael Head – Addios Senor Pussycat – fabulous. Love the opener Picasso but it is definitely influenced by Mark Knopfler to my ears – no bad thing for me but Michael Head might be aghast at the suggestion.
Robert Plant – Carry fire which I am listening to as I type this and it is excellent – a taster for his gig in Wolvo later this month.
Like @retropath2 I was reeled in by @Tiggerlion reviews of Zara McFarlane album Arise and Blue Rose Code Water on Leith albums, both top drawer but the McFarlane really is up there. An unusual blend of Jazz with the reggae roots of her Caribbean origin.
However an album that has really stood out for me this month is Baxter Dury’s Prince of Tears. It is very short clocking in just over 30 minutes but reels you in and leaves you wanting more. First introduced to him by Isabel from Happy Soup that appeared on a Word cd. Loved that album but didn’t buy any subsequent ones but the review of his latest in Uncut left me intrigued. More of his fathers influences on this new one and the opening track has been a real ear worm for me this month. Here it is for your delectation:
READ: Following on from Mike Gayle’s Turning thirty I have gone straight into the follow up Turning Forty as the characters in the first one really grew on me.
Next up is Chris Gifford’s autobiography.
SEEN:
In concert Richard Thompson and Jason Isbell both widely reported on elsewhere on here and both excellent.
I was given a spare ticket to see Public Service Broadcasting at Warwick Arts Centre – I had low expectations as although I liked some of their stuff I considered their schtick to be limited and erring on the side of a novelty act. I couldn’t have been further away from reality. Live they were excellent and the synchronisation between the sound and the slides was really impressive.
I had assumed because the set was so intricate that the setlist would be fixed but checking their setlist afterwards that is not the case which makes it even more impressive.
SteveT says
Chris Difford of course.
Also neglected to mention how much I loved Tin Star – thought Tim Roth was excellent and definite feel of Fargo with the snowy landscape and oddball characters.
ip33 says
Read
As someone with their finger on the pulse I’ve read a couple of JFK books, Not in Your Lifetime by Anthony Summers & The Assassination of JFK: Minute by Minute by Jonathan Mayo. Both good but neither too taxing.
Also David Bowie: A Life by Dylan Jones , which I thought was terrific. Bowie’s story as told by the people who knew and worked with him. All the right people are in there and Bowie comes across as a good guy but isn’t afraid to dispense with someone after they have served their purpose. And even then really hardly anyone has a bad word to say about him.
Watched
The New Star Trek: Discovery has slowly wheedled it’s way in. Started slowly but we’re interested to see where it goes.
Heard
Got to grips with the new Bowie Box set, flawless, brilliant & ground-breaking stuff as we all know. Also two recommendations from here, The Lee’ Scratch’ Perry & the Upsetters Box and the A Game For All Who Know: The H & F Recordings Box , both excellent.
Even A Tree Can Shed Tears: Japanese Folk & Rock 1969-1973 is a beautiful collection of what was called ‘New Music’
Mary Casio – Journey To Cassiopeia An intoxicating mix of Brass and Synths which gets better and better with each listen.
Also The Residents, DAF and Pentangle boxes which everyone should have.
SteveT says
Another up for the Upsetters box @ip33 – a real bargain.
Tiggerlion says
Seen
Tin Star continues along its preposterous path. Utterly ridiculous plot and the continual jumping back and forward in time are driving me nuts but I’m still watching. Donovan is coming to the boil nicely. The Walking Dead‘s new series has got off to a good start. The Deuce is just dull. Please get going soon or I’m giving up.
Read
I have now completed two pages of Jon Savage’s 1966. Lord, it’s dull. I have bought a new book, though, Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders. I haven’t opened it yet.
Heard
Shadow Work – Mammal Hands is everything I hoped it be. The weaving, intertwining melody lines of Jordan Smart’s saxophone and Nick Smart’s piano are mesmerising. The trio is completed by Jesse Barrett and they play as one, eschewing solos for the collective good. They always have had a spiritual feel, which why their natural home is Matthew Halsall’s Godwana Records. For this album, they have expanded their horizons. There are strings on two tracks, the tabla is a prominent feature, there are prepared piano strings, field recordings of the country air and other weird noises. But, at its heart Shadow Work is just three human beings, who know each other well, working for a common purpose. The music they have created flows with incredible energy and is utterly beautiful. It’s their best album yet.
mikethep says
Patchy sort of month, but here are a few highlights.
Read
Don’t think I’ve ever read a book about a member of the royal family in my life (unless you count Wolf Hall), but I hugely enjoyed Ma’am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown. No really, I did. I read an extract in the Grauniad and actually got a hard copy shipped over from Blighty on the strength of it. Brown was researching something else and kept coming across references to PM in indexes, eg March, Elspeth/Margaret, Princess/Margate…It’s not an orthodox biographies, though it draws on plenty; it’s more a compendium of fact, scurrilous gossip and camp tittle-tattle, and none the worse for that. Her butler’s memoir is a particularly rich source –
he refers to her as “My Princess” throughout. Plenty of men had the hots for her, including Picasso, Jeremy Thorpe and Peter Sellers; the last-named actually made it into her bed, although Lord Snowdon remarked acidly that “Sellers has bitten off more than he can screw.” Also rumoured to be a notch on her bedpost was the actor and ‘ard man John Bindon, who was supposed to be able to hang (or balance) a constantly changing number of half-pint glasses on his erect todger. And then there were the famous dodgy photographs that Michael X was supposed to have squirrelled away in that bank vault…Anyway, I could go on retailing snippets all night. Brown is a funny man, and I can imagine all but the most rabid republicans
finding this entertaining, though whether you’ll want to lash out 17 notes is another matter.
Also The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler. I thought that anybody who’s spent as long as I have working in publishing and hanging around in second-hand bookshops was going to find few absolute surprises, and so it proved. I certainly wouldn’t describe Barbara Pym, Richard Condon, J B Morton or Tom Robbins as forgotten, but what’s sauce for the goose…Which is not to say that it’s not worth reading – all the pieces are well researched and entertaining, and there were a few surprises. I’m definitely going to follow up 50s mystery writers Patricia Carlon and Pamela Branch, for whom he makes a persuasive case. And I’m now reading one of his recommendations, Margery Allingham’s Coroner’s Pidgin, featuring her sardonic sleuth Albert Campion in war-torn London.
Watched
What? Been to the cinema several times, but blowed if I can remember anything, other than Three Summers, which I have enthused about elsewhere. I’m watching Stranger Things series 2 without a great deal of enthusiasm, but I enjoyed Suburra on Netflix – wonderfully corrupt drama about a land deal set in Rome, with Vatican bigwigs possibly keener on blow and hookers than their vows would allow, local crime families, including a gypsy family who everybody hates, and not even for their appalling taste in haircuts and interior decoration, the Mafia up on a fishing mission, and three relative young innocents who blunder around all over the place messing things up and never actually quite getting rubbed out. It’s a hoot.
I’m also strangely partial to series 2 of Designated Survivor, which despite its ridiculously overblown flag-waving and West Wing-type music, has drawn me in. Perhaps a POTUS who is wise, intelligent, efficient and completely incorruptible has something to do with it.
Heard
The usual compilation madness, so nothing really sticks out, apart from the lonely furrow I’m ploughing called Lake Street Dive. So far ignored by everybody as far as I can see.
SteveT says
Lake Street Dive not ignored by me @mikethep I have one of their albums with a bonus disc of covers which is rather good. They looked as if they were going to break through about 2 years ago and they had good exposure on the radio and at various jazz festivals in the UK but then it went a bit quiet. I will check out their latest.
mikethep says
Phew, thanks!
Sewer Robot says
Not a terribly useful skill though, is it? Possibly different in Australia, but most respectable bars over here would frown on their staff getting their schlongs out just to collect a couple of extra glasses…
retropath2 says
Easier with the handled mugs rather than the straight glasses, I’m thinking, tho’ the latter at least stack, so inverted could make for quite a column.