The Afterword

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Write a song today!

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Not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but I happen to be a genius songwriter. I’ve written (completed, with lyrics and chords) five songs, none of them as good as Bob Dylan at his best, all of them better than Bob Dylan at his worst. This morning, as a genius songwriter, I’ve been playing with this AI site. You put in your lyrics, choose the style and voice gender, and it sets your lyrics to music. I tried it with a song I’d completed, chords and everything. It’s like listening to an interesting cover version of my song. Quite different melodically, but cool. Then I tried with lyrics for a song but am not muso enough to find the chords for as I heard them in my head. I asked for a slow blues with a female singer. I really like the result! I’m not going to share my results, because I’m far too shy and humble, but I thought some AWs might like to have some fun with it. You get three songs free.

Now what I want is an AI that’ll turn my acoustic strumming into a full band recording. For free, natch.

https://ilovesong.ai/musics

Totò Schillaci, 59

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Obituary

Synonymous among footie civilians like me with Italia 90. I went to the 3rd/4th playoff in Bari. I was with the English supporters and there was a lot of downright rudeness exchanged between the opposing supporters until Italy won, then it all turned lovey-dovey with exchanges of scarves and hats. The atmosphere in Bari that night was great, very friendly and rambunctious, with neither side particularly disappointed. Football, eh? I think I saw Martyn Wayre there but wasn’t 100% and didn’t like to disturb. Though that might have been the previous match against Cameroon. The stadium was designed by Renzo Piano who also designed the Pompidou Centre together with Richard Rogers. It seemed an incredible stadium at the time (might still be for all I know), looking like a spaceship had landed. It did wonders for the morale of the Barese, used to being looked down on as southerners and led to many further radical developments in the city, like the swanky airport and central station. Roberto Baggio scored for Italy then David Platt for England (he went on to captain Bari the following year) and Golden Boot winner Totò Schillaci scored Italy’s winner with a penalty in the » Continue Reading.

Euphoric Moments in Rock Songs

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Euphoria: a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness.

I imagine there are quite a few euphoric moments in rock songs. Moments that have you turning the volume up to 11, punching the air and shouting “Yes! You go girl/boy!” Though, of course, one person’s “intense excitement” can be another person’s “meh”. An obvious example for me is in Bat Out Of Hell when Meatloaf is all torn and twisted and dying at the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun, poor chap, after a motorbike crash and the last thing he sees is his heart “still beating… still beating… then breaking out of my body and flying away… LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL”. That bit. Another good example is in Common People when Jarvis Cocker sings the last “Wanna live with common people like you” and goes into “ooooh a la la la la la, ooooh, la la la la.” Or a subtler, slightly less dramatic example would be the way Jackie Leven sings “honour” in Main Travelled Roads. Or when Thom York sings “One day I am gonna grow wings” in Radiohead’s Let Down. My absolute favourite though can be found in a most unlikely » Continue Reading.

(The Tragedy of) Macbeth

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Year: 2021 Director: Joel Coen

I’m having a bit of a Macbeth week and have watched two film versions.

First up I watched The Tragedy Of Macbeth directed by Joel Coen (2021). Loved it. To be honest, there are very few Shakespeare screen adaptations I don’t think are worth watching. He’s a decent writer, that Shakespeare chap, and his works translate to screen even better than stage, imho. (His prologue to Henry V calls the stage “an unworthy scaffold”. Well, I call big bucks screen adaptations “a worthy scaffold”.) I didn’t get into him via dull, reluctant reading-round-the-class at school or going to the theatre (as if!), but by watching the films. I like watching his plays performed with subtitles activated and sometimes with the original text to compare with. I’m not so keen on the “old school” screen adaptations, Olivier, Welles, Gielgud, Burton etc. The old black and whites. Funnily enough though, The Tragedy of Macbeth is in black and white, and boy is it beautiful to watch. The combination of lighting and shadows, the crisp clear cinematography and the austere, timeless sets (it was shot entirely on a soundstage) make it a visual treat. That’s its main » Continue Reading.

Albania

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Yesterday was Albania’s birthday or something. They had a party for it in that there London and things kicked off a bit, apparently. Turned into a right old ruckus. Shame that. I really like Albania. Gorgeous country, lovely peeps, great beaches. I once saw a bloke leading a bear on a leash along the seafront of Vlora. And Norman Wisdom is/was rightly very popular there. He’s even on one of their postage stamps.

Albania was not much fun between the years 1944 and 1985 when it was ruled by the dictatorship of communist leader Enver Hoxha. His secret police kept the country controlled by fear; political opponents were jailed; use of the death penalty was not uncommon. Hoxha banned Western movies from Albanian life, meaning film stars were practically non-existent. Except for Norman Wisdom. Why him? Because his characters’ perennial struggles against ‘The Man’ were viewed as a communist parable on class war (Mr Grimsdale was, apparently, capitalism personified).

Here’s Norman Wisdom & The Pitkins singing Big In Albania (written by Tim Rice).

Joss Ackland

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Obituary

I can’t let Joss Ackland’s passing go unremarked. I don’t really know him as a film actor, though he was in a great many films. But I remember him most from the television play First & Last, which I saw decades ago and have never forgotten. It’s a wonderfully understated little film in which Ackland plays a retired man who decides to fulfill his life-time ambition and walk from Lands End to John O’Grotes. The play had been shot with Ray McAnally in the lead, but he died before it was finished, so they reshot it with Ackland. He gives a moving and sensitive performance. Shocking to think he was my age when it was made, he looks much, much older (or I look much, much younger?). Sadly the play doesn’t seem to be available online. But here’s a little clip, feature whatshername out of Eastenders.

Pink Floyd Socks

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I haven’t worn the socks six times. Truth be told, I have only seen pictures of them, but I feel that’s sufficient for the ambitions of this review. The socks are made of cotton, machine washable and retail for about a tenner. It might annoy some here that they come in only one size: 7-11 (UK). That doesn’t bother me though, as I’m size 11 and have no intention of buying a pair anyway. The design focuses largely on the iconic Dark Side of the Moon album cover and the Pink Floyd lettering previously used somewhere else, probably on one of their freebie postcards. The rest of the sock is devoted to an appropriate shade of black. The real surprise, as so often the case with Floyd, is in the hidden depths. The “sole”, if you like. The iconic Dark Side spectrum, originally emanating from a prism, is here a stand-alone feature, a sort of rainbow stripe that will no doubt conjure up all sorts of images and odours, depending on the individual wearer far more than the artwork itself.

What does it all *mean*? Hard to say, really. Nothing, in the grand scheme of things, I suspect.

Goes well » Continue Reading.

Giuliano Montaldo

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Obituary

Giuliano Montaldo was most well-known film was Sacco & Vanzetti (1971), a docudrama about the two Italian immigrants in America who were tried and unjustly executed for murder in 1927. But my favourite is Gli Occhiali D’Oro (The Gold Rimmed Glasses, 1987), starring Philippe Noiret and Rupert Everett with music by Ennio Morricone. It’s a beautiful, sad film about the rise of fascism in Ferrara in 1938 and its effects on a gay doctor (Noiret) and a Jewish student (Everett). It’s on YouTube with English subtitles. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Let’s Have a Heated Debate!

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Haven’t had one for a while.

I’ve been following the whole gender ideology debate recently and finding it very interesting. I don’t know any trans people and had always had a vague “live and let live” attitude. To sum up my level of awareness: I’d find it rude and unnecessarily cruel for someone to misgender Haley in Coronation Street, but at the same time I’d feel a right eejit referring to Eddie Izzard as “she”.

Sifting through the usual wealth of insult and reactionary shite that dominates Twitter, I’ve found some reasonable, informed and informative voices on both sides. I found it particularly interesting to read some accounts by people who have de-transitioned and their discussions with trans people.

Of course, the issue can’t be boiled down to just “live and let live” or pronouns. It’s about real lives and freedoms and is made all the more complex because children are involved. For example, the use of puberty blockers, when not medically necessary, seems abhorrent to me, yet I’ve read trans people who feel so strongly about it that they claim had they not been given puberty blockers as children they would probably have committed suicide.

One » Continue Reading.

Metallic Spheres in Colour

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I like the Metallic Spheres album a lot. A bit ambient, a bit Jean Michel Jarre-ish. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it mentioned here except by me, so I doubt this’ll be of much interest, but I’m looking forward to it. From the Floyd twitter account: Of this new reimagining producer Youth says “The idea for Metallic Spheres In Colour, was that Alex Paterson (founder of The Orb) could have done more on the first version, and he didn’t really have the opportunity because we had a philosophy of making the music like the Blade Runner soundtrack meets Wish You Were Here. So, I asked him why don’t we remix it and make it like an Orb classic? And in doing that, it’s almost like a completely different album.”

The original Metallic Spheres album initially released in 2010 was created almost by accident. In late Spring 2009 David Gilmour entered the studio to record the Graham Nash track Chicago/Change The World, originally by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, with all proceeds going to the campaign for the British hacker Gary McKinnon, who was facing extradition to the USA (later overturned and he faced no prosecution in the UK). The » Continue Reading.

Sixto Rodriguez

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Obituary

Soon you know I’ll leave you And I’ll never look behind ‘Cause I was born for the purpose That crucifies your mind

Glad that the film was made and that his talent was recognised wordlwide. Two great albums.

Silvio Berlusconi

by 7 Comments

Obituary

An astute businessman and a corrupt, unprincipled clown of a politician who laid the template for Trump and Johnson. If Italy has a neo-fascist govrernment right now it’s largely thanks to his groundwork.

Roger Waters (Again!)

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Waters gives a very impassioned talk to Double Down News. Personally, while I can’t agree with Waters’ views regarding Putin, I think the attempts to cancel his shows on the grounds of anti-semitism are nonsense. (Quite harmful nonsense, as it happens. Harmful to genuine opposition to anti-semitism.) Here he addresses those accusations, calls MP Christian Wakeford “scum”, talks about the leather coat, Anne Frank, the “evils of the apartheid state of Israel”, repeats yet again his mother’s advice (word for word as already recounted in his speech to the UN Security Council) and even manages to inform us that his father was killed in the second world war (who knew?). The most interesting bit for me personally is what he says about the Star of David on his inflatable pig. I recently described it here as “seriously ugly provocation”. Basically because I believed what I’d read in the newspapers. (He claims he actually, after reflection, removed the symbol 23 years ago.)

Evadne Hinge

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Obituary

Singer and pianist Dr Evadne Hinge died on 21st May. She was at least 78. Known mostly for her musical partnership with Dame Hilda Bracket, the pair also shared a house (known as either The Old Manse or Utopia Ltd) in the village of Stackton Tressel in Suffolk The two elderly spinsters recorded seven studio albums, including the critically lauded Abbey Road, the iconic cover of which showed them crossing the pedestrian crossing outside the studio. Renowned in their youth for their (alleged) performances alongside Ivor Novello and Noel Coward, they occasionally stopped mid-concert for a spot of sherry, or to examine the fascinating contents of their handbags.

Head of State

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This is what a Head of State should be. A dignified, elected representative. When I hear monarchists talk about the possibility of a Republic, they always go on about America, or they stupidly ask “who would you choose as President, Tony Blair? Boris Johnson? Someone off Big Brother?” Italian party politics has a great deal of shite, but compare its Head of State to the embarrassing celebrity circus that is the British Monarchy (not to mention its very questionable ethics of putting little kids in the global spotlight). It’s very, very clear which is the more dignified.

Not looking to start a debate here (already been done). Just wanted to highlight the dignity of a Republic on anti-homophobia day.

This is President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella’s admirable speech today. An excellent speech to give to a country where homophobia is rife and the Prime Minister is a neo-fascist.

“Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia constitute an unbearable social scourge that is still present and is the cause of unacceptable discrimination and violence, in some areas of the world even legitimized by laws that trample on the rights of the individual. Since 2007, when the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia was » Continue Reading.

The Baftas

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I agree with a few of these. Disagree strongly with the, imho, awful Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story winning anything though. Especially above The Bear. But most of all I’m delighted to see Lenny Rush winning. Partly because he’s so young, partly (yes) because he’s disabled, but mostly cos his performance in Am I Being Unreasonable was superb comedy. A very talented lad I hope to see a lot more of. And his acceptance speech was delightful. (“…my brother, why not?…”)

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/entertainment/baftas-tv-awards-2023-winners-newsupdate/

Mixed by Erry

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I’ve read this article but don’t really know what it’s on about. I’ve never heard of Mixed by Erry before. I thought it might interest anyone who has, plus KFD. @kaisfatdad It combines three of your obsessions in one handy package: Music, Cinema and Italy. (Not my obsessions, I hasten to add, because I don’t have any.)

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/mar/08/i-was-the-spotify-of-the-1980s-the-italian-pirate-mixtape-empire-that-brought-pop-to-the-people

50 years of Dark Side of the Moon

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‘Sublime menace and sonic enormity’: 50 years of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon Mark Beaumont explores how melodic brilliance and psychedelic innovation came together to create a monolith of British rock music

A looooong article in today’s Independent. I haven’t had time to read it yet, so can’t say if it’s worth doing so, but I’m sure it’ll interest others here too.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/pink-floyd-dark-side-of-the-moon-b2290372.html