The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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Mary Austin and Freddie Mercury

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A longish read in The Guardian – might be of interest to some. Link is in the first comment.

Queen have a mixed review on here: some loudly state how much they dislike them, while others quietly profess their enjoyment of what they did.

Proms 2026

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Anybody been watching/listening to the Proms this year? Any strong recommendations for catching on the iPlayer before they vanish? I’ve only seen three so far: first night was a game of two halves; prog prom discussed elsewhere; and the John Wilson/Sinfonia of London concert was well worth the entry fee, for the Walton concerto alone.

Any more good ‘uns?

Dee Palmer RIP

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Obituary

Dee Palmer (born David Palmer), former member of Jethro Tull – and orchestral / string arranger for the band for many years prior to formally joining – has died at age 88. A key member of the band during the “folk rock” years, appearing on Songs From the Wood through to Stormwatch.

James Blood Ulmer RIP

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Obituary

Aged 86. I can remember reading about harmolodics and remaining confused. But when I listened to JBU, it sounded like a slightly more structured free jazz, with a big dose of blues and funk on top. I liked it.

ATM – Blu-Ray

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I’ve been sorely tempted by the Kraftwerk “Radioactivity “ Blu-Ray (BR) since reading @Tiggerlion’s review – but it has also left me with some questions…

If you play BR discs, what do you play them on? Dedicated BR players? Universal disc players?

If you have a universal disc player, do you still use a dedicated CD player?

And do you have full Dolby Atmos set-ups? Or 5.1 or 7.1 surround? Or plain vanilla stereo? Or a Hafler Trio?

All of which leads me to ask: are BR discs worth the outlay, if (on the face of it, at least) one can’t exploit their full potential?

Randomiser!

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Blame el hombre malo! I was reading his contribution in Blogger Takeover CXXXIII and noted the joy when random play throws up something interesting, unexpected – and inspires you to connect it to something else, taking your listening down a different route. I sometimes have the random play set when I’m out for a walk and it often takes me by surprise (although in theory I shouldn’t be, since I loaded the music onto the player!).

So here’s a Randomiser thread, like we used to do…

You remember how it works – post the first five random selections that your chosen device picks for you (no cheating, of course – it’s an honour thing!). Gimme five minutes and I’ll put mine in the comments.

Hit the button – and let the chips fall where they may…

Michael Tilson Thomas RIP

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Obituary

Died at age 81 from an aggressive glioblastoma. American born, a composer as well as a conductor – and something of a polymath.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/apr/23/michael-tilson-thomas-conductor-composer-dies

Quick Quiz – not NME-related in any way…

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I was reading a music mag from last year (these days, I let them mature in a pile then come back to them later) when I found a feature on a particular band. Of course, I spotted an interesting turn of phrase from the present day journalist, along with an old quote from a band member – back from when they started getting coverage.

Can you work out which band was featured?

‘(Band name) are not rock in the rock-solid sense – they are liquid, gaseous, evanescent. Nor are they rock in the blood and thunder, guts and passion sense.

“The sound literally isn’t all there. It’s the opposite of rock ‘n’ roll,” said (Band Member). “There’s no guts, just the remnants, the outline. The sound is an after-effect.”’

Nothing new under the sun…

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Earlier this week, I was sitting in a coffee shop reading a book. I found a paragraph which nagged at me a bit, since it seemed to hint at what was happening in the world today. I’ve copied it below.

“Since then, new tyrannies and new wars have shaken Europe, and we find ourselves the uneasy heirs of the first romantics, still committed to their ideal of refashioning the world, though more soberly in view of bitter experience. Their central problem – the discrepancy between human aspiration and human weakness – is still ours, manifest in Europe’s powerlessness to fulfil boundless potentialities for progress, owing to the diversion of human energy into preparations for a possible war of annihilation.”

So here’s the quiz question: can you suggest in which decade this sentiment was expressed – out of, say, the last 150 years? No googling, mind! It’s an honour thing…

NME review – a tiny quiz

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Since it’s a wet weekend, here’s the latest in a series of tiny quizzes.

Here’s an extract from a review in the NME. No clues: no year, no journalist name… Which album do you think is being reviewed?

“The music here is like latter-period Brahms, with a luscious velvetiness and an erotic warmth about the melody that makes it almost too sweet and rich a fare”

ATM: Mojo, March 2026

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Hello, playmates. This is a small query – but it’s in my head now so I might as well ask. Many (if not most) of you will have purchased Mojo’s latest issue, with The Small Faces on the cover – not least for the free CD. When one removes the CD, a list of further content is revealed – including Curved Air. Can anyone tell me which page in the mag has any reference to Curved Air? I’m beginning to think that I’m suffering from some weird word blindness – or alternatively that I’m hallucinating when I look at the cover. Thank you for your indulgence.

A quick question for fans of The Who

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Have you seen the advert for the Who Are You set? It states “THE FINAL STUDIO ALBUM TO FEATURE KEITH MOON THE MOST ROCK AND ROLL OF ROCK AND ROLL DRUMMERS”.

Now I’m not an expert (I manage quite nicely with just four Who albums) – but is this statement correct? Was Moonie a “rock and roll” drummer at all, never mind “the most rock and roll of rock and roll drummers”? I remain to be convinced. But am I wrong? Was he all about the “rock and roll”?

Christoph von Dohnányi RIP

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Obituary

Rather startled to learn that he was 95! If you prefer an intellectual approach rather than a “heart on sleeve” style, then Christoph von Dohnányi may have been the conductor for you. In terms of Mahler/Bruckner, he was probably the “anti-Bernstein”. Probably best known these days for recordings with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Philharmonia – not exactly a Szell clone, but with some of the same traits for precision and balance. This also made him a fine conductor of the Second Viennese School and more modern recordings.

If you only listen to one CD – then make it the Concertos for Orchestra by Bartók and Lutoslawski with the Cleveland Orchestra – a mighty fine example of what he did best.

A Blast from the Past – a Randomiser thread!!

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Remember when the Randomiser was a thing? It’s been at least three years since we had one of these threads – is this because letting the machine select is no longer cool, hip and groovy? I dunno – but if anyone’s up for it?

You remember how it works – post the first five random selections that your chosen device picks for you (no cheating, of course – it’s an honour thing!). Gimme five minutes and I’ll put mine in the comments.

Hit the button – and let the chips fall where they may…