The Afterword

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Eyes Wide Open – Aynsley Lister

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What does it sound like?:

This is studio album number eight for Aynsley Lister – no small achievement given the relative lack of interest in blues music in the UK; his first album came out 20 years ago. Lister earned a reputation whilst still a teenager as a handy blues guitarist, self-releasing two albums of covers that showed he had chops as good as Gallagher and SRV. The albums got him a deal with Ruf Records and in turn onto tours with Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, John Mayall and Delbert McClinton.

The release of “Equilibrium” in 2009 saw a shift – he dialed down his inner Bonamassa and found a more soulful, jazz tinged groove which was also evident on 2013’s “Home”. Part of the change of direction came from adding a full time keyboard player, giving Lister a chance to record music where lyrics and melody could take center stage and the guitar didn’t have to do all the heavy lifting.

Whilst the vibe continues, “Eyes Wide Open” is more guitar centric than anything he’s previously released with a four-piece band. There’s still plenty of smoky atmospherics, but Lister has brought back some punchy guitar to add some » Continue Reading.

I See You

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Author:Clare Mackintosh

If you are wondering who wrote the fastest selling crime novel of 2015, I can put your mind at rest. According to the Sunday Times, it was Clare Mackintosh’s debut, “I Let You Go”. If you haven’t read it, I suggest you do, without further delay. Don’t just take my word for it – it was recommended by @Skirky (https://theafterword.co.uk/i-let-you-go/) and has one of the most face slapping twists I’ve ever read in a novel – it arrives just half way through the book, and you are still stinging at the end.

Just a year on. That difficult second book. How do you follow that? Can you follow that? Well, it turns out yes, pretty well. “I See You” uses the mundane topic of the daily commute to work as the platform (yes, I know) for a sinister and just-a-bit creepy thriller. People who follow a routine each day – same train, same carriage, same time – may feel a comforting familiarity, but in this story they are laying themselves open to something rather unpleasant.

At the center of the story is the Zoe Walker, a woman in most respects ordinary. I’ll avoid » Continue Reading.

Blue Öyster Cult – O2 Forum – Kentish Town – 29 July 2016

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A mere stripling of 15, on 19th October 1975 I paid £2.50 to see the London debut of Blue Öyster Cult at the Hammersmith Odeon. I can recall being rendered temporarily deaf by the dreadful support band, who I was sure would come to nothing (Motorhead), and exhilarated – even today the strobes, flash bombs and five guitar finale remain lodged in an otherwise highly unreliable memory. 40 years and 9 months later, BÖC returned to London to play “Agents of Fortune” in full – the release that came less than a year after their London debut, their first platinum album, yielding the chart single and dad-rock classic “Don’t Fear The Reaper”.

Deafness, at least in one ear is no longer temporary but this return to London was enough to tempt me out of gig going retirement. I didn’t just go for the nostalgia. I’d pay just to see Richie Castellano. He’s a hugely talented all round utility player, who joined the band as bass player along with drummer Jules Radino back in 2004 but subsequently switched to guitar, vocals and keyboards when the late Allen Lanier retired. He can step out front and go note for note with » Continue Reading.

Sandy Pearlman

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I know there are a few fans of Blue Öyster Cult here, and as most people interested in the band will know, Sandy Pearlman played a significant role in their formation and early careers. He was taken badly ill back in December of last year and was running out of money to meet his ongoing medical costs. There’s nothing on the BOC website but Eric Bloom posted this on Facebook

“Thanks to all who gave to Sandy Pearlman’s support fund but unfortunately he passed last night. We got the word that it was peaceful. I met Sandy in 1968 when I did the sound for SWU at the Electric Circus in NYC on Thanksgiving Day. In the Spring of 1969 he approached me to front the band. He was the creator, mentor, early manager, occasional lyricist of what became BOC and he penned the name. He got us our record deal with Columbia Records. He wrote the lyrics to ETI, ME-262, Cities On Flame and many more. He produced several albums. He certainly changed the path of my life. He had a brilliant mind, could discuss almost any topic and recently was lecturing at McGill University. Rest in Peace.”

Sandy » Continue Reading.

Epic collection firend. Your music is all filled up

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This is the message I now get if I try to save songs to “Your Music” on Spotify. It seems after a couple of years of membership I’ve hit the 10,000 song limit they don’t tell you about when you join. I don’t use Spotty to play any of my own music library either – this is just streaming.

I regard my taste in music to be pretty narrow so I wonder if anyone else has come across this? It seems that creating playlists is a way round it. One of the things I liked about streaming was I could just drag anything I liked into a single folder. It seems that Apple, Google, Deezer and Tidal have no such limits. It leaves me wondering if there’s a playlist limit.

Pardon?

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For my 56th birthday I will be getting a hearing aid. I’ve been getting increasingly deaf in my right ear along with a generous side helping of tinnitus, and I’m at the point of being willing to carry an ear trumpet if it means I can hear anything said to me on my right side, or puts music back into stereo. I’m counting my blessings that my left ear still functions more or less normally for my age.

I’m wondering if any of the Massive have experience of private, non NHS aids? The NHS only provide the type that sit behind the ear with a tube that pipes the sound into the ear canal. They seem to be plenty of varieties that just fit in the ear but I’m wondering if the benefits extend beyond the cosmetic? I am fortunate enough to be able to afford one but can’t see the point of lobbing out on one if it only improves what others see, and not what I hear.

Oh and – anyone use over the ear headphones with a hearing aid?

ATM – iPad guitar apps

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Does anyone use JamUp or something similar? Also, what do they use to connect guitar and iPad? I quite like the look of the Griffin Studio Connect.

I had JamVox, some Korg based software with a bundled speaker which I could import mp3’s into and play along, masking the guitar sound if you wanted to, and emulating dozens of amp and pedal sounds, changing the pitch for songs in drop D tuning and so on. It was great – no latency, but sadly prone to crashing my PC, and now just won’t work at all. I’d like to find something to replace it. All recommendations would be gratefully received.

Going Off Alarmingly

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Author:Danny Baker

I’m sure many who hang out here would have received a copy from Santa, so I’d be interested to know what you think. For me, this was that difficult second album. Flawed, but still worth the pocket money.

I became familiar with Danny’s work through his All Day Breakfast Show podcasts, which I found enormously enjoyable and got me through some months of a commute that otherwise threatened to do for me, both physically and mentally. As with volume 1, some of the anecdotes were already familiar, although some weren’t. All are told with some panache – the Zappa and Dylan being for me great examples, but I do wonder about the process for deciding what went in to the book and what didn’t. I can’t help but recall a Baker and Kelly podcast where they talked with some amusement about how familiar they both were with stretching limited material gossamer thin on Radio 5 Live, and I get a sense something a little similar is happening here. Compare the limited insight we get into Chris Evans to the chapter long account of the exploits of DB’s dog Twizzle.

Danny makes it clear at the very start of » Continue Reading.

I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue

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Venue:

Warick Arts Centre

Date: 22/02/2015

A sort of greatest hits show, one of the not for radio versions that Aunty is allegedly not happy about. Across 2 45 minute sessions we got “One Song To The Tune of Another”, “Pick Up Songs”, “Swanee Kazoo”, “Uxbridge English Dictionary”, “84 Chicken Cross Road”and of course “Mornington Crescent”. Graeme Garden and Jeremy Hardy provided some laugh out loud moments although producer Jon Naismith delivered the best outright joke in the warm up. I’m one of the few that prefers Jack Dee to Humph and his deadpan delivery was one of the best parts of the show

What took the edge off a little for me was the lack of spontaneity – some of what was delivered had been broadcast before and there was little real interplay between the cast. The round “In My Pants” – where Dee says “In My Pants” as a response to anything the rest of the cast say died on its arse and was rightly abandoned fairly quickly by Dee, and the “Just A Minute” round. The “Give US A Clue” sequence was done with some brio which made me wonder if the teams really didn’t know » Continue Reading.