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Bruce Hornsby – Absolute Zero

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What does it sound like?:

Like many I guess, the immediate thought when Bruce Hornsby’s name comes up is his 1986 mega hit “The Way It Is”. Great songwriting, excellent pianist, but maybe a little MOR (or maybe just over familiarity). But then again, I also know that he played with the Grateful Dead in their Fare Thee Well reunion concerts.

So when his latest album came along, it was always worth giving it a go….. boy was I surprised.

Firstly, this is a complex album that takes a few listens to sink in. After a week or so in the car and at home, these songs are really getting under the skin.

There a a number of collaborators from Bon Ivor’s Justin Vernon, legendary ECM drummer Jack Dejohnette and probably most effectively contemporary classical sextet yMusic, who add haunting at times, hyperactive at times orchestrations to a few of the tracks. There’s even a collaboration with legendary Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter.

Overall it’s a varied mix of styles – mostly jazz infused, but with his typical melodic singer-songwriter touches still intact and even nods towards Philip Glass on the excellent “Fractals”.

What does it all *mean*?

» Continue Reading.

Sigur Ros – what happened ?

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I see there were a couple of releases from Sigur Ros for Record Store Day (also available digitally) – ‘22deg Lunar Halo’ and ‘Variations On Darkness’.

The thing is they are not ‘proper’ Sigur Ros releases – both are soundtracks to dance collaborations using elements of Sigur Ros mastertapes to create ambient pieces.

Before that we had 2017s “Route One” – another ambient piece using elements of their work (and it was more a 24 hour live broadcast with soundtrack).

Their last album was ‘Kveikur” back in 2013 and last non-album single ‘Óveður‘ back in 2016. I know by Kate Bush standards it’s a relatively short period, but still….. this is the group that had a string of superb albums from ‘Ágætis byrjun’ (which is being released as a deluxe set this June) in 1999 through ‘Kveikur’.

I also read that the drummer recently left due to sexual assault accusations (which he denies).

So are they a spent force ? Will we see another ‘proper’ album from them or is it all arty collaborations from now on ?

John Mayer – Live In Singapore

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Venue:

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore

Date: 01/04/2019

When this concert was announced just after the new year, my first reaction was “the blues guy that has recently toured with The Dead”. Conversely, my younger son (16) immediately asked to go and see as he knew him from his pop hits and social media – I actually had no idea that he listened to him, but he actually knew more of his songs than I did (I recall asking on here for recommendations a few years ago when he started with the Dead). My elder son (18), who actually plays guitar, was not interested as he was “too pop” – I think he’s become a rock snob already.

The concert sold out immediately which surprised me as its a 10,000 capacity venue. There was a huge buzz about the concert – again, it was the younger crowd that drove this.

Anyway, to the concert itself…. an almost three hour long concert with a 20-25 minute break in the middle. First part was the full 7 piece band (including the ever dependable Pino Palladino on bass) for about an hour. After the break came a 4 song acoustic set with just him » Continue Reading.

Midlake and the Economics of Rock n Roll

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I was listening to Antiphon by Midlake last night for the first time in a long while.

It struck me that this album came out in November 2013 – over five years ago – and is the last release from them since then (and apparently they knocked this together in six months after Tim Smith left).

Now whilst they may be ‘critically acclaimed’, I can’t imagine that they are a group that has shifted albums by the millions and they don’t appear to tour / play live that often. There’s also six of them in the band, so any income must have been spread pretty thinly.

So how do they survive? What pays the bills?

I can understand there is no financial incentive for the likes of the Stones, Who, Fleetwood Mac, etc to put out new material, but for less established acts, surely they can’t afford to take there own sweet time to realise their artist muse.?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k-pMMW01yw

Fitness

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As mentioned over at the retirement thread, I have just taken the retrenchment package and plan to take 3-6 months off to rest, catch up and generally enjoy life……

One of my goals in this period is to try and get back to some level of fitness. I am now 52 and my yearly medical puts me in generally okay / good health – cholesterol is okay, treadmill stress test is okay, blood pressure is slightly high but still in the normal range, no diabetes, cancer etc markers found….. The one thing is that I am overweight.

We have membership of the local country club and so I have access to their gym and Olympic sized Swimming pool. Yesterday I went for the first time – but never having been a gym person, I had no idea where to start. I ended up doing about 15 mins on the treadmill (gradually and manually increasing the speed) and then 10 mins on a exercise bike (again manually increasing the resistance). I then did 10 laps of the 50m pool.

I would welcome any guidance on what to do in the gym, how long for, how often how you do etc » Continue Reading.

Archaos

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We have Cirque du Soleil coming to Singapore later this year with their show “Kurios” and on seeing an advert for it on TV last night, I was telling my son about the French circus group “Archaos” from the early 90s.

Anyone else remember them ?

If I recall correctly, I saw them at the Edinburgh festival and in Manchester in the early 90s. A manic mix of Mad Max meets the circus with juggling chainsaws, flamethrowers, exploding vehicles, one side of the trapeze being a JCB…….and a live band playing throughout. Unfortunately they went bust in the mid 90s.

Whilst I have seen Cirque Du Soleil a few times and it’s always been good, it never seems to be a good as my memories of Archaos – or am I looking at it through the proverbial rose tinted glasses…..

With the juggling chainsaws etc, would they still be able to get away with such a show these days on health and safety grounds ?

https://youtu.be/DOiE-gGJLyk

Exit North / Book Of Romance And Dust

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Been listening to this for the past couple of days after it being recommended to me by a friend…. Stunningly beautiful album that would definitely been on my albums of 2018 list if I had heard it earlier.

Obvious reference point is Japan / David Sylvian / Rain Tree Crow (given the Steve Jansen connection), but should appeal to anyone who likes Talk Talk etc etc. Available on bandcamp and via the tax dodgers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAEF_EUVa90

2019 concerts

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I know there’s a post on what we are looking forward to in 2019, but this news is so amazing that I just had to create a new thread and post as soon as I found out……

Nickleback will be playing their first concert in Singapore in February. For a mere S$138 (about 80 of your UK pounds at present) I can be part of rock history.

https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/cnickelback0219

Bandersnatch

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There’s been a lot of love / discussion about Charlie Brooker’s ‘Black Mirror” on here in the past, so with the latest episode arriving on Netflix yesterday…….

For those that aren’t aware, this episode is interactive, with choices to be made throughout and I believe five possible endings. Typical running times are about 90 minutes, with apparently 5 hours of material in total.

What were your thoughts ? What path / choices did you take ? What ending did you arrive at ? Did you go back and watch again with different choices ? etc etc.

Given the nature of this episode, this discussion is probably going to be very spoiler heavy and so if you haven’t watched yet…. look away now.

Fantasy Concert

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Assuming that Santa brings you a time machine (single use only – its made in China) and a ticketmaster gift card for Christmas, what historical concert would you use it for…… ?

Stones at Altamont, Beatles at Shea, Sex Pistols Free Trade Hall, Woodstock….. any concert, anywhere in the world, at anytime in history – the choice is yours. And why ?

Van Morrison’s generosity

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On the track “Teardrops” from his new album “The Prophet Speaks”, Van Morrison sings “If I had $10 million, I would give her every dime….. just to hear her call my name out one more time”

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Van is worth $90 million. Does that mean that there are nine ladies out there who are about to become very rich just by giving him a call ? Maybe it’s to fund this that he’s put out so many albums lately.

https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/rock-stars/van-morrison-net-worth/

Tangerine Dream Box Set

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Better start saving folks… 2019 will see a CD / Blu Ray box set of the classic Tangerine Dream Virgin years (1974 – 79) which have been remastered by none other that Steven Wilson.

No details yet – supposed to be out in April and rumours suggest in may be a 20 disc set that includes at least some of the albums in 5.1 surround. If it includes Phaedra and Stratosfear in 5.1, then its going to be difficult to resist for me……

http://www.musictap.com/2018/11/21/tangerine-dream-to-release-cd-bd-box-with-steven-wilson-remixes/

The joy of complaining

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I had pre-ordered the Jimi Hendrix and Beatles box sets that were released last Friday from the tax dodgers over a month ago. Living in Singapore, I usually bank on a 1-2 week delivery time.

Come last Friday and then Saturday, neither had been despatched. Emails fired off with a (polite) rant informing them that one of the reasons I pre-ordered was to get ASAP and surely with a pre-order they should be able to plan their supply accordingly to ensure timely despatch etc etc.

The usual apologetic emails received very quickly informing me that it was being investigated and escalated at the fulfilment centre for immediate action. Come Sunday, still no despatch, so further (maybe a little less polite) emails sent. Promised it was being escalated and they would expedite shipment.

Finally received despatch notices for the Hendrix on Monday and the Beatles yesterday. Replied back thanking them but still questioning why a pre-order had been delayed.

Two results…. i) The Hendrix boxset received today – a mere 2 days after despatch and way before the usual 1-2 weeks if this had shipped normally (I reckon they used Jeff Bezos private spaceship thingy) ii) They gave me a £20 » Continue Reading.

Bowie / Glastonbury 2000

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After the extensive discussions on the recent Bowie / Loving the Alien boxset, I was a little surprised at the lack of comments on this Glastonbury performance…..

For those that missed, the hour long highlights were on BBC last Friday night and available on iPlayer at the below link. My understanding is that when this was originally broadcast in 2000, they only showed 4 or 5 songs.

The full 2 hour concert is out on DVD / CD on 30th November and available from your nearest tax dodger. After watching this hour of highlights, I’m very much looking forward the whole thing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0bntp2p/bowie-at-glastonbury-2000

Oxford University Interview question

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News item yesterday about Oxford University interview questions and how the obvious answer may be best. One of the questions was…..

“What are the different ways in which you listen to music ? How does that change the way in which you think about what you are listening to?”

Discuss……..

Let’s talk Bond, James Bond…….

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A lot of recent upheaval in the production of the next Bond film (cunningly titled Bond 25), with Daniel Craig being on board, but the loss of Danny Boyle as director.

I see now they have announce Cary Fukunaga as the replacement Director and the release date still down as November 2019.

I believe e that Cary Fukunaga was the director of the first season of True Detective, which was one of the best TV shows in recent years, so in my mind this looks promising…

So…. – Is Bond still relevant ? Has Mission Impossible stolen it’s thunder ? Any thoughts on this new director ? Who will be the next Bond ? Who is the best Bond ? Which was the best movie ?

Over to you lot……

For the record, I still love Bond films, so Yes, No, Promising, Idris Elba, Connery (with Craig just behind) and Goldfinger.

Dave Grohl / Play

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In which our favourite Foo Fighter takes on the task of recording every instrument for a 23 minute long instrumental track and the ensuing video cleverly composites them together to make it look like there’s seven Dave Grohl’s in the room……

The whole video is available on youtube (and also on BBC iPlayer) with the first 10 minutes or so explaining the background of being inspired by kids learning music (they are American kids, so be warned).

Song is pretty good – very much in the Foo Fighters vein, but with plenty of quiet bits, funky bits and prog bits. Overall I think it works and doesn’t suffer from lack of vocals. Pretty impressive job.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e05H80-k0mY