It may be the end of the world as we know it, but that doesn’t stop Michael Stipe posting a beautiful new song demo to keep us going……. according to the YouTube post this is the first take – he’s still got it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYgpEcXf2S4

Surprised that @colin-h hasn’t mentioned this, but just seen a posting that John McLaughlin is offering a free download of his new album “Is That So?” . Facebook message below and direct link to bandcamp download should be attached

John McLaughlin

“In view of the current situation world wide with Corona Virus and the fact that we are obliged to spend more time at home, we would like to offer our friends the free download of the new album ‘Is that So’? until end of April 2020 from Abstract Logix. Enjoy the music and stay happy and healthy! ” #staycalmandlistentomusic #stayhome #stayhappy #careforothers #isthatso #johnmclaughlin #abstractlogix Shankar Mahadevan Zakir Hussain Moment! Records

https://bit.ly/2UcdomL

I know there are a lot of Jellyfish fans on here, so here’s a new project featuring 3 of the Spilt Milk lineup of Jellyfish (unfortunately missing Andy Sturmer) – The Lickerish Quartet.

They will be releasing 4 EPs over the next year, the first featuring this track will be out in May.

I’m loving this new track – a definite for anyone that liked Jellyfish, but also shades of XTC etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8tzd6UNA4k

Listening to the new remaster of Simple Minds “Street Fighting Years” this afternoon which includes their cover of Peter Gabriel’s “Biko”

This made me think that my knowledge of Apartheid / Steve Biko is mainly due to the original of this song – I can tell you that it was in Sept 77, in Port Elizabeth and the weather was fine, which is far more than I ever learnt in history lessons at school.

I can also tell you that, courtesy of the Neville Brothers, that Rosa Parkes got on a bus on Dec 1st 1955.

So what have you learnt from the world of popular music ?

We are two episodes in on the latest series of Inside No.9 and they have both been superb. Surely this has to be one of the best and most original comedies out there with the ideas and writing of Messrs Pemberton and Shearsmith continuing to amaze.

Last weeks episode “The Referees A W***er” was a brilliant start with all the classic Inside No.9 trademarks – a single room setting, superb dialogue, multiple plot twists and a surprise ending. Last nights second episode was an even bigger treat – especially for fans of their previous work (I won’t go into details just in case there are folks that haven’t watched).

I would put both of these high up in the all time greatest episodes ranking – my all time favourites being ‘A Quiet Night In” (the silent comedy one), ‘The Riddle Of The Sphinx” (the cryptic crosswords one) and “Zanzibar” (the farce done in iambic pentameters)

So, your further thoughts on Inside No 9 – this current season, the best episodes, previous work, etc etc.

I’ve always thought of myself as reasonably tech savvy – don’t click on links in unknown emails, can generally recognise scam mails etc etc. Touch wood, I have not yet been subject to any internet scams.

However this news over the past day or so on Saudi Arabia hacking Mr Amazon’s phone have made me pause for thought. My understanding is that the hack originated from a video sent via WhatsApp and that the user would not even need to execute the video – just receiving it would install the spyware.

How can this be ? Is this type of Spyware widely available to hackers or just something that the security services have (there are suggestions that Israel is behind this one) ? Does this mean that simply having a phone exposes us all to hacks, draining all of our personal data and possibly bank accounts ?

Should we be worried ?

Radiohead have just created an online resource that pretty much covers their whole career – music, videos, photos etc.

A quick browse and it seems pretty extensive and well organised (by album) with plenty of live shows to watch online etc. Looks like a must for any Radiohead fan (paging @vulpes-vulpes)

https://www.radiohead.com/library#amsp

Apologies if this has been done before (but I can’t recall it being)…..

On the overnight flight from Singapore to Melbourne last night I was listening to the latest Penguin Cafe album (Handfuls Of Night) and thinking that Simon Jeffes would have been incredibly proud of what his son Arthur has achieved.

Got me thinking….. what other offspring of musicians have been successful ?

The first that came to mind was Kirsty MacColl (daughter of Ewan) and then also on the drumming front there are the son of John Bonham (Jason) and a couple of sons of Phil Collins (Simon and Nick).

What others are there and have any ever eclipsed their famous parent ? Over to you……

Just in case anyone is not aware, it now being November, means that Dead.net have their annual 30 Days Of Dead – a live track from the archive to download each day this month. They are only mp3 quality, but they are free……

It’s already up to Day 3 (as I write this) but scroll down to the bottom and previous days are available.

http://www.dead.net/30daysofdead

As some of you may be aware, last Friday saw the release of the second batch of the remastered Prefab Sprout albums on vinyl (Steve McQueen, Protest Songs, Andromeda Heights & Let’s Change The World With Music).

Not having a vinly player, I got the hi-res downloads. However, on importing them, all the tracks are screwed up – the track names appear correctly and in the correct order, but they are the wrong songs – it appears like the actual songs are in alphabetical order – so Steve McQueen starts with Appetite instead of Faron Young (even though it’s listed as Faron Young). Same thing for all four albums.

I’ve just spent the whole day (well half an hour at least) re tagging all the tracks. I’m annoyed.

I don’t understand (a) how you can actually screw the tracks up like this and (b) did nobody actually listen to them before releasing…. ?

So what has annoyed / irritated you this weeks (apart from Boris) ?

From Joe Jackson’s “What I’m Listening To” blog (which is ALWAYS worth a read – see link below)…….

XTC – Everything

I’m going to finish with something that’s not only What I’m Listening To but an Appreciation I’ve been wanting to write for a long time. There are two kinds of people in this world: XTC fans and, well, the rest of you, who might want to skip this.

One of my favourite down-time pleasures over the last few months has been re-listening to pretty much everything this un-classifiable band did on their dozen albums from 1978 to 2000, while also dipping into the two essential books, XTC – Song Stories, by the band themselves with Neville Farmer, and Complicated Game – Inside the Songs of XTC, in which Andy Partridge talks to Todd Bernhardt about a selection of his songs while going off on endless fascinating and hilarious tangents. Andy is a very funny guy, who buzzes with enough ideas for a dozen bands. It’s a kind of miracle that this one also found room for Colin Moulding, a less prolific but fine songwriter, whose three or four tracks per album I always looked forward to. He was the » Continue Reading.

Article in today’s Sunday Times on the exhibition and box set celebrating the 40th anniversary of Factory Records.

The final paragraph from Stephen Morris (New Order) with sentiments that resonate with many of us on here……

“But I listen to those records, even now,” Morris had said when we met, “and think, ‘This is me!’ So I’m conflicted. The two sides of me, the person making the music and someone who consumes me. Well, as the first person, I don’t like the idea of rehashing and marketing that. But as a music fan, I love box sets. I love squandering ridiculous sums of money on things I’ll never play.” Spoken like a true Factory man.

For those of you in that there London, there is a “one night only” screening of the legendary Hendrix 1969 RAH concert on 21st Oct. Tickets on sale tomorrow (4th Oct).

I presume this is a 50 year copyright thing and that we will probably see this on DVD / Blu Ray sometime in the near future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6egSVu3rYhs

The comment by @paul-wad on my Prefab post that Jordan: The Comeback was the first CD that he bought reminded me of a thread that I posted many many years again on the old Word blog. Given all the changes since then, it’s seems like a good idea to post again. So…..

What was your first…. – Single – Album – CD – concert

And first in any other category you may want to add.

I know that you are all busy listening to your new Abbey Road remix, but there was another major release this week…. the first batch of the Prefab Sprout vinyl reissues, which includes Swoon, From Langley Park To Memphis, Jordan: The Comeback and A Life Full Of Surprises.

Whilst I don’t have a Vinyl player, they are available as downloads and on the usual streaming sites. Downloads available in hi res (although only 24bit / 44kHz). No CD version was released (or planned as far as I know).

First impressions of Jordan (one of my all time favourite albums) are positive with a cleaned up and more punchier sound. A couple of tracks appear to have also been remixed as well as remastered – a couple are listed as the single version and the attached “Looking For Atlantis” also sounds a little different.

Obviously I can’t comment on the quality of the vinyl pressings, but from what I read online, they appear to be good. Anyone on here bought and tested ?

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

In my humble opinion, one of the most massively underrated British singer – songwriters gets a BBC Four documentary next Friday (27th Sept).

An artist that I have enjoyed for many a year (although I last lost touch with some of her later material) that had a few hits, but always seemed to stay just under the radar. Amazing that she has been going for almost 50 years.

Looking at the programme info, it looks very AW friendly – guests Gambaccini (and she’s not even dead yet), Pino Palladino……

So any more love out there and if so, your thoughts, favourites etc on her varied discography……

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008rm4

Featuring Robbie Robertson, Ringo Starr, Lukas Nelson, Larkin Poe and many many more…….

And this song is 50 years old !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph1GU1qQ1zQ

R.E.M. have just released “Fascinating” on Bandcamp in support of relief efforts for the effects of Hurricane Dorian that hit the Bahamas (it was recorded there).

It’s an unreleased track that was left off the Reveal album (apparently as it didn’t fit) and is a 2004 version of the track. The 2001 bootleg version is in the below YouTube.

It’s a good track, it’s only 2 USD and it’s for a good cause.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gaB6pcG3X4

https://remhq.bandcamp.com/

I know there are a lot of XTC fans on here who will appreciate this just released 4 track EP from Andy Partridge and Robyn Hitchcock.

Someone has posted the whole EP on YouTube so you can take a listen – the track “Got My…” (from 7.33 in the YouTube video) is sublime and very reminiscent of English Settlement era XTC. Rest of the tracks are pretty excellent and all have the XTC / Beatles / Psychedelic vibe (goes well with the upcoming Dukes release).

Buy if you like – it’s only £4 at Burning Shed.

https://burningshed.com/store/ape/robyn-hitchcock_andy-partridge_planet-england_cd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZErRsTnW5E

Posting the Gonzo / Trumpet video on Tigs “blowing your trumpet’ thread reminded me how brilliant The Muppets were.

Especially good are the numerous mashups that have been done pairing muppets video with contemporary tracks – particularly that hippity-hoppity genre.

So to cheer us all up after Brexit, Boris, the ashes and the price of the Pink Floyd box set, lets have some Muppets mashups. To start the ball rolling here’s Cookie Monster with Mr Tom Waits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5X4N2exOsU

It appears that many music sites worldwide are going into meltdown over the new Tool album, Fear Inoculum – their first for 13 years.

Ashamed to say, but it’s not a group that I am familiar with – although the descriptions of ‘post metal prog’ and them being a cross between Sabbath, Rush and King Crimson, do whet my appetite….

So, what have I missed and where to start (now that their full discography is on Apple Music / Spotify / etc) ?

The latest in the XTC archive series has just been announced and its rather surprisingly both of the Dukes Of The Stratosphear albums.

Again comes with CD/BluRay with Steven Wilson 5.1 surround mix, hi res, original mixes, bonus tracks etc etc and all for the very reasonable price of £16.99 (are you taking note Pink Floyd). Also available in that vinyl that everyone raves about for £20 each album. Available for pre order on Burning Shed with Oct 11th release date.

Also I note there is a new Andy Partridge / Robyn Hitchcock EP featuring 4 tracks to be released 6th Sept.

https://burningshed.com/xtc-as-the-dukes-of-stratosphear_psurroundabout-ride_cd_blu-ray

Whilst it’s not yet been officially announced (this Friday I believe) the latest Pink Floyd box set covering the “Later Years” (I.e post Roger Waters) is up for pre order on Amazon at a staggering £429.

It looks good and there are 17 discs of audio / video, but it’s not really them in the absolute prime is it? Surely this has to come down significantly in price before anyone buys?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WP7568V/?tag=shtv.uk-21