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Stop Making Sense 40 years on restored and on at IMAX – review

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Year: 1984 Director: Jonathon Demme

I’ve had a quite a history with Stop Making Sense (SMS). Way back in December 1983 I was visiting by brother in San Francisco and we saw the show at the San Francisco Auditorium. Standing up the front we watched the whole thing unfold as they wheeled out the staging and as additional performers came on stage. It was a cracker of a show.

The album came out they day I was to fly back, so I landed in Australia with probably the first copy on the continent. I think it the following day that I was back on air with my African and roots radio show. I figured that from Fear of Music on the Heads were close enough to African to warrant inclusion. So, I played it. The whole lot, both sides, stopping only to flip the disc. For the only time in my 8 years on air the switchboard was flooded. At least it proved to me that some was actually listening.

Come January 1984 Talking Heads are coming out to Oz for a festival and did a show in Melbourne. So off I go again. Much less of the » Continue Reading.

ATM – gaps and white noise downloading RAR files and decompressing to FLAC

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I am using a Mac. The originator is sending me soundfiles in RAR format via MediaFire. I download them and then decompress them into FLAC files using the freeware app Unarchiver.

When I play back I get gaps in the sound and crackly noise intereference. There is no patttern to this.It has happened with files sent previously.The originator says he hasn’t had the problem reported by anyone else.

Any suggestions?

The Complete Budokan – Dylan 4 disc set

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I have mixed up confusion on this one. It is advertised on CD Japan as limited release and the implication is it is Japan only a la the original Budokan. Can’t see how thast will work, like the original limited release didn’t. Still, if that is the case, my hopes for a later in the tour bootleg series issue- say Blackbush remain alive

Here are the tracks copied from the Hofmann site.

Disc 1: 1 A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978) 4:33 2 Repossession Blues (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978) 2:49 3 Mr. Tambourine Man (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978) 5:27 4 I Threw It All Away (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978) 5:25 5 Shelter from the Storm (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978) 4:44 6 Love Minus Zero / No Limit (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978) 4:16 7 Girl from the North Country (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978) 5:03 8 Ballad of a » Continue Reading.

Johnny Depp Dior ad – Ry Cooder

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Watched the ad and thought that guitar doing the Wild Thing riff sounded seriously great. Depp can play ok but this was excellent. I googled a bit and and Ry Cooder came up. Ever since Memo From Turner I knew he could cut that stuff – if he felt like it. Can anyone confirm it is Ryland.

ATM magnetic holders and iphone damage

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My iphone had focussing problems. I thought it was just me til I did a pan video and the image kept clicking in and out of focus. So off to the Genius bar with my iphone X. Eventual diagnosis – autofocus permanently damaged due to exposure to a ‘ magnetic force’. Only thing i can think of is the magnetic holder in Mrs Wells’ car. Odd as her similar vintage iphone appears to be unaffected. I have seen no warnings about risks on magnetic holders for sale. Anyone encountered such a problem ?

Pledging My Time – Conversations With Bob Dylan Band Members

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Author:Ray Padgett

My name is Junior and I am a Bobaholic. If you are one too, this is a book for you. I heartily recommend it.

Pledging My Time – Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members is a remarkable collection of interviews with people who have intersected with Dylan across his career. The book is written by Ray Padgett who demonstrates impressive attention to detail and clearly does deep research before each of his interviews. I think this is why the interviews are so successful. The interviewees are engaged by being able to have a discussion rather than just being asked questions – there are a lot of “I had forgotten that”; “I didn’t know that” and “really you tracked that down” type comments. Sometimes Padgett has sourced pictures or recordings the interviewee has never seen which adds to the rapport. Also, I expect, interviewees who had a positive experience put him in contact or endorsed him to others in the Dylan world.

So, a bit on the author. From his bio: Ray Padgett is the founder of Cover Me, the largest blog devoted to cover songs on the web, and author of Cover Me: The Stories Behind the Greatest » Continue Reading.

The Monkey Speaks His Mind

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Been on a Fats Domino / Dave Bartholomew kick and this one popped up. Elvis C has done a version and also done it with DB so props to him for getting some attention for this New Orleans legend. My point for posting , other than to give this classic song some exposure is the guitar riff. Was it a lift of an existing riff? It sounds seminal. Surely TRex lifted it, maybe Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit In The Sky ?Apparently it was very popular in Jamaica influencing ska riffs too.

Another question on British politics from the Antipodes – how can Boris continue to not hand over a phone?

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Brexit was a mystery to most of us down here. I think I commented that even I could see from “down here” that Boris was a self serving buffoon but still he became PM. Then there was the lettuce Liz Truss. But now I am really perplexed. If the High Court instructs that a phone be handed over, presumably govt issue as BoJo appears reluctant to pay for anything, then what is the delay? That he claims to not remember the password would seem irrelevant. Why is an officer of the court or whoever not simply rocking up to Chaise Boris and saying “ gimme it”? I don’t get it.

Abstinence v moderation – an interesting discussion

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John Robins, a comedian and Adrian Chiles who has written a book on moderation chat about it. One has stopped because has no off switch and the other who managed his moderation via a spreadsheet. It is an interesting discussion and I like the way they challenge some of the usual stuff “ problem drinkers” get thrown at them.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/12/moderation-or-total-abstinence-adrian-chiles-and-john-robins-talk-honestly-about-their-drinking?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

ENGLISH SUPPORTERS BAD LOSERS

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Rather than respond as a rejoinder to other threads I have chosen a separate post with a suitably inflammatory title as a counterbalance to that appalling “other thread” Appalling because it is so damn ignorant. Clearly the correct accusation is unsporting, or unsportsmanlike conduct. So get it right FFS.

I approached this series and it’s treatment on the blog with some trepidation. Things had got pretty nasty from some quarters with previous series – actually I tell a lie. The last tests in Australia there was no nastiness because hardly any of you mustered a comment – why coz you were losing. Nay, thrashed. But this was the era of Bazball, borne out of continued failure doing classic stuff, it all was apparently about entertainment, not winning, though you all seemed pretty chuffed that you were in fact winning. And there were some pretty optimistic predictions for this series. Good onya. You had had a string of good wins and deserved to be positive and optimistic. Then the first signs of “same as it whatever was” emerged with the chief protagonist saying words to the effect of the result doesn’t matter so long as UBERCUNT (my emphasis) Warner fails. Right » Continue Reading.