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Native Harrow – Happier Now

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What does it sound like?:

A new artist to me, although this is apparently their third album. Native Harrow are the group name for NY state based Devin Tuel on vocals and Stephen Harms on instruments.

On first listen it immediately grabs you, sounding both familiar and yet fresh. There’s a distinct Laurel Canyon vibe to a lot of the songs and lovers of a young Joni would certainly find plenty to like here. The Joni Mitchell comparisons are strongest on the tracks “Blue Canyon” and the gorgeous closer, “Way To Light” – an attack on materialism featuring some lovely slide guitar from Stephen Harms

Devin Tuel has a gorgeous voice singing mature wistful lyrics – not bad for someone not yet out of her twenties and hopefully a sign of more greatness to come.

This is an album that was a complete unknown to me, but has weaved its way into one of my most played these past couple of weeks. Highly recommended,

What does it all *mean*?

Folk is alive and well and there’s.nothing wrong with looking back to the past for inspiration.

Goes well with…

Warm summer evenings with a nice glass of red (Tignanello by any » Continue Reading.

Are you seriously going to eat that……..

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We are on a short trip up to Penang, which is an island off the west coast of Malaysia (only an hour and a bit flight from home in Singapore).

It just happens to be peak Durian season in Malaysia and Penang is famous for Durians (a lot from Singapore come just for that). For those that don’t know a Durian is spiky husked fruit that is indigenous to SE Asia that contains seeds with a yellowish / white pulp – that is what is eaten. It’s known as the king of fruits here, but is characterised by is very ‘distinct’ smell – some say turpentine, some say raw sewage, some actually like. Added to that it’s a fairly strong tasting fruit. I actually don’t mind – the flesh is creamy, almost custardy – the only problem is the aftertaste lingers for hours……

So what disgusting / unique / strange / obnoxious foods have you eaten ? Why and what were you overall impressions ?

Worst ever music videos

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As a companion thread to Ganglesprockets “Thread of Sh**e’, how about the worst music video – i.e. the song may be good and so not warranting a mention in that thread, but the video is awful / cheesy / etc etc……

We all know that the actual worst ever video is David Bowie / Mick Jagger’s “Dancing In The Street”, but what else comes a close second…….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HasaQvHCv4w

Nights In – enhancements ?

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Reading the excellent review of the Rory Gallagher / Blues album, it immediately went on my to buy list. However, I now see that it’s not released until May 31st.

With the increase in pre release reviews on here, should we add a field to the Nights In entry for Release Date, otherwise, could reviewers of pre release stuff just add a comment as to when it will be released ?

Upcoming TV… spoilt for choice

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Reading the papers today, I came across trailers for Black Mirror Season 5 and the HBO / BBC adaptation of Phillip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials”.

So with Good Omens on Amazon at the end of the month (and BBC later in year), Black Mirror in June, season 3 of Stranger Things in July and His Dark Materials later in the year, this is shaping up to be a pretty good year of TV.

What else are folks looking forward to ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bVik34nWws

Reese Wynans and Friends / Sweet Release

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What does it sound like?:

Reese Wynans may not be a household name, but for anyone that’s ever listened to Blues or Southern Rock, you have probably heard him playing before. Keyboard virtuoso for 50 years or so and part of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Double Trouble, this is his first solo album. Currently part of Joe Bonamassa’s touring band, who produces this (and obviously plays guitar on a number of tracks).

Kicking off with the SRV track “Crossfire” (one of several on the album) featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd, the Double Trouble rhythm section and Sam Moore on vocals, you immediately know you are in for a treat with its mix of rock out guitars, funky horns and solid groove. There’s a varied selection of styles on show here – from the Keb Mo guitar / Reese piano blues of “I’ve Got A Right To Be Blue”, the funky horn led Willie Mitchell song “That Driving Beat” to the multi vocal (seven I think) Boz Scaggs title track “Sweet Release”. A highlight being the SRV track “Riviera Paradise” featuring both Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Joe Bonamassa on guitar. The album finishes with a solo rendition of The Beatles “Blackbird” – » Continue Reading.

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.