The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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Egg meat

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For many years, I had a copy of this on cassette, taped from the John Peel show by holding the condenser mike in the player near the wireless….

Whimsical…..but sinister……

Choons as ringtones

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I spotted this a few days ago…

Tiggerlion: “My ringtone is Black Satin from On The Corner. At least it was until I got a new phone a few months ago.”

I currently have Peter Gabriel’s Intruder as a ringtone – those drums cut through traffic noise, crowded shop noise, etc – doesn’t seem to work if the tune is too bassy (I tried the bass solo from Quiet Sun’s rongwrong – couldn’t here the phone ringing above the cat snoring…).

Anybody else got an interesting / bizarre ringtone? When your phone rings in public, do people look askance at you as if to say “what the hell was that?”

Do share…

Alice Coltrane – your recommendations?

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I found myself with two boat trips in two days (to and from Liverpool) and downloaded a number of podcasts for the journey…..including the Coltranecast! To my enduring shame, I had never listened to it.

Now I find that @el-hombre-malo recommended further listening to Alice Coltrane – so I’m asking the rank badjin himself, and anyone else with a view to share – where does a novice begin with Alice Coltrane?

Thanks in advance….

ATM: music players for flac

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Hi-de-ho! I have a new Android phone, and I’m looking at player apps, preferably compatible with flac files. MusicBee, BlackPlayer, Media Monkey….lots of ’em out there, many free – any personal recommendations?

Might also be an opportunity to upgrade the desk player from WinAmp (no longer supported, I believe) to something better/more seamless. At the moment, all the mp3s are in iTunes and the flac files (all cd and lp rips at the moment) just sit in a folder – nice to have something which consolidates and lets me play both.

All suggestion gratefully received….many thanks in advance.

Duke Ellington – beginners’ guide?

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Any Ellingtonians out there? I’m looking for a way in (hundreds of recordings, multiple eras, multiple band formats, etc) – the extent of my current knowledge is the Dan’s recording of East St. Louis Toodle-oo…..

I’m familiar with the usual suspects in 50s and 60s bebop and postbop (Monk, Miles’ quintets, Charlie Parker) but I’ve managed to bypass Duke Ellington completely.

Any help gratefully received…..

This is beautiful….

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I’ve been listening to this, this morning – while having my morning coffee & gazing out at the wind & rain – very soothing….

But it’s not a sound palette that I associate with Shostakovich in the 1950s – sounds more like Rachmaninov, soothing, romantic, mildly melancholic…

I know Shostakovich mostly through the quartets, and some of the symphonies – the slow movements have a tension to them. At the risk of cliché, there is sometimes a feeling of stillness, waiting for the knock at the door (not an accident that the eighth quartet was used to soundtrack Radio 4’s version of Smiley’s People).

Any love for this out there? Anyone care to share a favourite slow movement, to soundtrack being inside on a wild day?

Van der Graaf Generator – Do Not Disturb

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What does it sound like?:

Robert Fripp used to say that, with some of his bands, he could feel an indefinable presence hovering over them – and he knew that this band could be called King Crimson. Arguably something similar happens with Van der Graaf Generator (VdGG) – something which makes the band more than the sum of its parts; and also provides a clear delineation between solo Hammill material (much of which had Banton, Evans and Jackson playing on it, particularly in the 1970s) and the full-blown VdGG experience. Primus inter pares in a band…..or the total control of a solo artist? Something makes Peter Hammill return again to the VdGG fire, and forge something different from his solo material. The contributions of Hugh Banton & Guy Evans are clearly huge factors….but so is the mysterious ‘I’ which is Van der Graaf.

And so, to the album in hand – Do Not Disturb – VdGG’s thirteenth album, we are told….

I note that some of the published reviews so far have concentrated on the “looking back” aspect – I believe Banton commented that some of the songs reminded him of “Least we can do….” – and the press » Continue Reading.

Lol Coxhill – Solo in Scarborough

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“I can remember what it felt like at 17: I was a cat, a dog, a lizard, a mouse….”

No, I wasn’t….however, it was the last & final time when I went on a family holiday with my parents & younger sister. Piled into the family car and off to Scarborough for two weeks, summer of ’79. “Ye Punk” and “Ye Post-Punk” hadn’t quite made it to our house, although one chap at school called Tim* appeared to be cutting his own hair & wearing his blazer inside out. Mind you, he had a weekend job on a record stall at the Barras & took his pay in vinyl – a couple of years prior, he had been the first on the block to have a copy of the “Virgin God Save the Queen single in picture bag”, when I was raving & drooling over Animals…..but I digress.

Scarborough became a cat ‘n’ mouse game with the parents, trying to sneak off for a lager & spend as little time with them as possible. With nearly forty years of hindsight and a family of my own, I can see that I was an ungrateful little sod and as moody as » Continue Reading.

Verdi – Requiem

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Mme. Stoke having gone out babysitting, I had control of the remote this evening – I’ve just spent the last hour & a half listening & watching Verdi’s Requiem performed at the Proms. This was the Last Night of the Proms as far as I’m concerned – no quantity of Union Jack hats & waistcoats is going to top that experience.

Verdi’s Requiem perhaps more of a concert piece – arguably more showy than something like Faure – but none the worse for that.

Any love for yer religious music here?

Little Feat – post Lowell?

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My only exposure to the post-Lowell Feat has been disc 3 of the “Hot Cakes & Out-Takes” comp. I know there’s some love for Little Feat on the site here ( hands up @Twang ) – but can anyone convince me that there’s any value in listening to any more than I’ve heard already?

…and here’s some Lowell era footage, to demonstrate the difference….

Antidepressant music

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I’ve been a bit glum today – doesn’t matter why – but I wanted to share my absolute 100% guaranteed music for getting me out of the dumps & grinning widely again….

…and it’s Jethro Tull – almost any toon will do the trick, today it was the Warchild album…

I listen to a wide variety of music: progressive, jazz, classical….nothing cheers me up quicker than Jethro Tull!

Anyone else have a sure fire musical Prozac, guaranteed to work for you?