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Iron your white nighty. It’s time to celebrate sunrise at dawn on Midsummer Morning at the ancient Aizkraukle hillfort outside Riga

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I was cycling home from the health centre yesterday morning and when i passed the local nursery school, i saw that all the tots wee gathered in a circle around a diminutive, home-made phallic symbol doing the Small Frogs Dance.

It’s pure Wicker Man…

In the woods there grew a tree And a fine fine tree was he

And on that tree there was a limb And on that limb there was a branch

Midsummer Eve and the Midsummer Solstice is such a very big deal here in Sweden, that it’s easy to forget other places where Iit is celebrated. For example, the druids at Stonehenge. A Latvian pal, who grew up London has pointed out that it’s also an important occasion in her old home country. She remembers going to summer camp as a child and learning all the traditional songs. This weekend her family are going to a Midsummer pot luck at the Latvian Society in London.

Do you remember Tautumeitas, the all-girl, ethno pop sextet who were rather wonderful in Eurovision 2025? This year they are arranging, for the second year running, a solstice concert at the crack of dawn at the ancient Aizkraukle hillfort.

White nighties, » Continue Reading.

“Actually babe, do you know what? I think I want to stop now.” – EVERYTHING BUT THE BONO

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Over on the Chrisf’s This week I have been listening to…… thread, @Carl has mentioned that he has been re-enjoying EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL’s back catalogue. He’s also posted some excellent tracks.

That led me to an informative article by Alexis Petridis from the Guardian. See comments.

What a remarkable duo they are. From a jazzy Hull student band to Smiths fans and ardent Red Wedgers. From being dropped by their record company to finding themselves high in the charts again thanks to Todd Terry. At the height of their success, the break came that most artists would dream of. The chance to support U2. But it was a no no for Bono. They retired and started a family.

My kind of pop stars.

EBTG albums, solo albums, collaborations, remixes…everything goes. Let’s hear about your favourites

From the charismatic superstars of Cannes to the Kaurismäkis, tent cinemas and mosquitos of the Midnight Sun Film Festival….

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Last week i asked our projectionist at Bio Reflexen what she’d be doing for her holidays. I suspected the answer. Heading off to Sodankylä on the Finnish Arctic Circle for the remarkable Midnight Sun Film Festival

During the past few weeks, I’ve been following the news from the Cannes Film Festival with great interest. Not of course that I am interested in scandalous, semi-naked starlets or Mr. Cruise’s tomfoolery and spectacular cunning stunts. It’s because , despite all the showbiz shenanigans, the festival has a very distinguished track record of bringing the world’s attention to some superb films. This is a thread to talk about film festivals of all shapes and sizes. From the giants like Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance and Toronto, to the multitude of smaller local festivals, which are probably a lot more fun.

Is there a festival that you go to regularly? Are there any festivals you would like to visit? Have you made any exciting discoveries at festivals?

Back in the day, my pal @DuCo01 suggested that I tagged along to the Stockholm Film Festival screening at the Gino Nightclub of a new film by some geezer called Tarantino followed by a » Continue Reading.

I’M STILL HERE, BIRD and other 2025 cinematic delights

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Which films have you seen at the cinema this year? What should we be looking out for and what should we be avoiding? Do you have a favourite local cinema?

It’s been an excellent start to the year at Bio Reflexen here in Kärrtorp. For example, on Sunday evening we screened Andrea Arnold’s wonderfully quirky BIRD. And then on Tuesday, 120 people came to see Walter Salles’ I’M STILL HERE, which quite rightly won the BEST FOREIGN FILM OSCAR.

Now, a heartening local news story. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m on the board of Reflexen. It’s a great pleasure to be involved in a non-profit, local cinema which is so dearly loved by the locals but we’ve just had a few turbulent weeks.

We depend on a grant from the local authority to be able to pay the rent on the building. A fortnight ago, the local politicians decided to reduce our grant by 40,000 SEK so that they could give more money to other local clubs and associations. That’s four thousand quid in real money. We were shocked, as were our audience.

BUT…..since the news broke over 200 of them have paid 200 SEK to become FRIENDS » Continue Reading.

From the Cantor of Liepzig to the Castrati of Napoli and Christina, the gender bender Queen of Sweden

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On Sunday evening I was hoping for a Proustian moment when i listened to the Magnificat for the first time in 50 years. But I was Baching up the wrong tree…

In the past month I’ve been to two excellent concerts that have awakened my musical curiosity.

At the weekend I went to see my book circle pal, Teutonic Tim, and his church choir sing two Magnificats at the Revelation Church in Hagersten. One by Kurnau who was the cantor at Leipzig before Bach, and then Bach’s own setting.

Big choir, four superb soloists and a full orchestra. It was stupendous and very inspiring.

I am now bingeing on Bach on Spotify and have started reading James Runcie’s The Great Passion, an excellent historical novel about JSB and the writing of the Saint Matthew Passion. It’s told from the perspective of Stefan Silbermann, an eleven year-old soprano who becomes Bach’s star pupil.

Runcie, the Grantchester Hitmaker, is rather an expect on Cantor Bach and has made a documentary and written a play about his life. He seems to be part of a trend to get beyond the legend and get to know the man behind the music.

Many years » Continue Reading.

A blast from the past. Monica Barbaro finally met Joan Baez

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Oscar-nominated actor, Monica Barbaro, who plays Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown, recently met Joan, now 84, at a Sweet Charity concert in San Francisco.

It must have been a very surreal moment for both of them.

I love JB’s t shirt. NOT DEAD YET.

Link to photos in the comments.

Monica got a thumbs up from Joan:

”But she looked enough like me and she had my gestures down. You could tell who it was. She worked so hard. Kudos to her for taking the role on.”

Have we any other examples of actors meeting people who they portrayed on films or on the stage?

Or of method actors going to preposterous extremes to get their character right?

Lada Gaga’s preparation for playing Patrizia Reggiani in The House of Gucci comes to mind.

Bio Reflexen are screening A Complete Unknown today and all 196 seats are gone.

And it’s not just oldies who want to see the film. Suddenly the Bobster is popular with the kids according to the Guardian.

Of course the film’s star could have something to do with this:

It’s a remarkable performance. Star of the moment Timothée Chalamet inhabits the loose-limbed, live-wire physicality » Continue Reading.

Kiya Tabassian, Ablaye Cissoko and Patrick Graham. Live at Stallet, Stockholm. 8 February 2025

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Members of the Constantinople ensemble from Canada meet Senagalese kora maestro Ablaye Cissoko in a converted Stockholm stable. Saturday evening’s superb, sold-out concert at Stallet was a very international affair.

Sometimes when I go to a gig I know pretty much what to expect and can even predict the set list and the encores. This was not the case on Saturday evening. I was in a state of joyous ignorance and anticipation. Ducool had recommended the gig to me mentioning the excellent kora player Ablaye Cissoko. Kora gigs are few and far between these days. I was in.

The ticket price was very reasonable and the venue was appealing, Stallet is very cosy and informal rather like a British folkclub. The most recent band I’d seen there was the Rheingans Sisters. I suspected I was in for another top notch gig. The audience was full of hipsters and cognoscenti. Eaves-dropping on conversations, i got the impression there were several musicians in the audience. i recognised a bloke who lives on my street who is a rather talented klezmer player.

Looking at the stage before the musicians came on, I was impressed by the enormous variety of percussion instruments on display.

» Continue Reading.

Desperately Seeking Soundtracks – Getting into Sue’s 80s groove with Betty Blue, Ry Coo and the Ghostbuster crew!

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What a delight that 1980s films thread turned out to be! My thanks to everyone who contributed.

That decade was a cinematic doozy! Almost 200 movies have been mentioned so far. And it’s not closed so please keep your comments coming!

And not only did we get reminded about some stupendous movies. We were also treated to added extras like @Locust’s account of skiving off school to binge watch all the new releases and being mistaken for a teenage film critic. And @Bingo-little’s wonderful musings on the many ways in which the Big Apple was portrayed in 80s movies. Let’s not forget @Gary’s utterly convincing elegy of Terence Davies’s Distant Voices, Still Lives. How could anyone not want to see the film after reading that?

So we’re done with the 80s now? Not a chance! It ain’t over until the Fat Lady dances..

I now want to know about your favourite songs from 80s movies. (Don’t forget there are some very naff movies with some great tunes.)

And also your favourite soundtracks…. I’d like to kick off by mentioning Gabriel Yared‘s magnificent theme tune for Jean-Jacques Beineix’s » Continue Reading.

AfterEighties Volume 3: From Blue Velvet to Cinema Paradiso

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We’ve done the Best Albums of the 80s. We’ve done Best Singles. It’s a natural sequel to go on and discus the most memorable films and TV programmes of that remarkable decade.

When we did the previous threads, I needed to constantly check when each record was actually released. Which was an enjoyable part of the whole experience. The same research was needed here.

My memory banks are a great wobbly jelly of inaccurately recalled information.

Many among us can probably remember, for example: which year Gregory’s Girl ,Fanny and Alexander or Nightmare on Elm Street etc was released; which cinema they saw it in; who their date was for the evening; and did they have a snog before, after or during the movie. (The Netflix and Chill Generation just won’t understand all this!)

Anyway, once I started browsing through all the films that were released, it seems like a golden age. So many movies which left their mark and are still enjoyed today (However it will be interesting to see who won prizes at Cannes (or the other film festivals) or who won Oscars . All these years later, does it feel that they made the wrong choices?)

» Continue Reading.

”The woodwork squeaks and out come the freaks!” Chartbusters of the 1980s revisited.

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Hats off to Dai for kicking off that thread about the best albums of the 1980s. What an extraordinary decade it was! Fascinating though it was to look though all those lists of remarkable albums, I want to know about your 45 rpm favourites.

So many excellent songs! Here are some of my favourites. Some of them are deliberately obscure. I wanted to list some tunes that I enjoyed rather than mega-hits.…

Night nurse – Gregory Isaacs Radio Africa – Latin Quarter Luka – Suzanne Vega Caught up in the Rapture – Anita Baker Venceremos – Working Week

Stoolpigeon – Kid Creole and the Coconuts Ängeln i rummet – Eva Dahlgren I’ve seen that face before (Libertango) – Grace Jones Each and every one – Everything but the girl Yeke Yeke – Mory Kante

Fisherman’s Blues – The Waterboys Un ramito de violetas – Manzanita Don’t you want me , Baby – Human League Tutta ‘Nata Storia – Pino Daniele Under the Milky Way – The Church

Smooth Operator – Sade Where did your heart go? – Was (Not was) Levi Stubbs’s Tears – Billy Bragg Blue Monday – New Order Enola Gay -OMD

Please share your memories of the » Continue Reading.

“I’m a wonderful thing, baby!” From the Bronx to Malmö: the remarkable story of August Darnell.

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One name that cropped up on the recent Forgotten and Not So Forgotten Singles threads was Kid Creole and the Coconuts. (aka August Darnell)

Back in the 1980s I was an enormous fan and actually got to see their magnificent live show once at the Lyceum Ballroom. And then gradually I lost touch with the Kid. The last time I saw his name on a poster he was to my astonishment doing panto in Manchester!

@Alias and I got into an interesting chat about how August Darnell had early on in his career had a Number One in the USA with Dr Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band with a record that didn’t chart in the UK. But then, reinventing himself as Kid Creole and the Coconuts, he had in the early 1980s three Top Ten hits in the UK. These went largely unnoticed in the US. Why did the Coconuts not appeal to the US audience and vice versa.

Anyway, this morning I was fascinated to discover this Quietus interview from 2011. From his childhood in the Bronx to late in life settling in Malmö: it’s a remarkable read. (see comments)

“The first Savannah Band record was » Continue Reading.

Great Singles That Definitely Don’t Seem To Have Been Forgotten

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This morning I was itching to add The Korgis’ gorgeous Everyone’s got to learn sometime to Tigger’s forgotten singles thread. But what’s this? An interesting article in this morning’s Guardian about how it was made. Clearly, it’s not forgotten at all. (see comments for article)

Any other suggestions of singles by less well-known artists that have no been forgotten? Singles by the bigger names somehow stay in the public eye far longer.

As @Mike_H commented, many of the “forgotten singles” were not so much forgotten as never-heard-of! And nothing wrong with that! That thread meant that I was reminded of old favourites like CousteauX, House of Love, The Motors, Elkie Brookes and Joe Jackson. And discovered Shriekback, Boss Hog and the Adventures. To name just a few

Forgotten? The sturdy Pop and Rock pachyderms of the Afterword never forget a single tune!

“In goes my hand into that wool-white bell-tongued ball of holidays resting at the rim of the carol-singing sea, and out come Mrs. Prothero and the firemen.”

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Of all the accounts of a Xmas where the excrement really hits the ventilation system, Dylan Thomas’s hilarious short story, A Child’s Xmas in Wales, and its account of the Protheroe and the firemen takes some beating. It’s a enjoyable ritual for me to listen to it every Xmas to brighten my day during all the cooking and present wrapping.

Have you any favourite songs, films, short stories, TV shows about the Xmas from Hell? Or indeed personal stories of how things did not go quite a planned.

At Xmas we all strive for a perfect few days. That’s an accident just waiting to happen.

Merry Xmas everyone! Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Hoping your Xmas does not get derailed by discovering something large and unpleasant in the dunny stumbling across passionate shenanigans in the potting shed,

“December will be magic again!” or How music reviewer Retropath2 and chorister Teutonic Tim are saving my Xmas.

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This is thread for you to share you Yuletide favourites with us. I’d like to hear about all the music that you will be listening to, or perhaps even performing yourselves, that will enhance your enjoyment of the festive season,

If you are a singer, professional or amateur, December is probably the busiest time of the year for you. The Church of Sweden has a splendid programme of concerts in the churches of Stockholm throughout the year. But at Lucia (St Lucy’s Day) and at Xmas they really excel themselves in the programme that is available. Stockholm has some very magnificent churches so there is no shortage of venues My pal, Teutonic Tim, sings in two choirs. Today he will be performing in two consecutive Servies of Nine Lessons and Carols at the English Church in Östermalm. And then on Wednesday, he will sing with the Swedish choir at his local church in Aspudden. And I really hope to able to attend that concert. That second choir tend to be a little more adventurous in their choice of material which is why he stays with them. He, @Duco01 and I had a curry together on Thursday » Continue Reading.

Her late father left his daughter, 24 year-old Canadian, Jula ,10,000 albums…

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Now she’s really getting to know him and his generation by holding listening parties on Instagram: @soundwavesoffwax

This story from today’s Guardian is a joy. (link in comments)

“Her dead father left her 10,000 records. Sharing them online helped her grieve – and get to know him”

I’m particularly pleased to see that one of Jula’s favourite discoveries is Tadpoles by the Bonzo Dog Band.

Her Instagram page is great fun. How wonderful to have such a positive attitude to what many grieving offspring would see as an enormous burden.

Is there anyone here who feels that to be bequeathed their LP, book or DVD collection will be seen as a priceless gift?

When I pop my clogs, I fear the only thing my darling son will be interested in is whether I had any vinyls that are worth a few bob.

Cynic? Moi?

Our first Stockholm AW Mini Mingle was such a success that we’re already planning a follow up. In Buenos Aires!

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Finally! It actually happened. Last Wednesday evening, the three Afterword contributors based in Stockholm, Locust, Duco01 and myself, at long last managed to meet up. All thanks to the magnificent Bonny Light Horseman who were playing a sold out concert at Nalen, one of Stockholm’s oldest and most atmospheric venues. When we discovered we all had tickets it was a no-brainer that we should try and get together.

This was quite a big deal for those of us living up here on the edge of civilisation far away from the maesltorm of AW activity in the UK. Despite all my years contributing to the AW, I’ve actually met very few of of the other bloggers.

A few years back, out of the blue @Clive, who I knew little about, contacted me when he was passing through Stockholm and suggested we met up. That turned into a very pleasant evening.

And then a few years back, I was in London for the weekend , staying with a friend in Islington and Hannah (Lawrence) was playing a Daylight Music lunchtime show at the Union Chapel on the Saturday. So, very briefly I got to meet her, » Continue Reading.

Fire Draw Near – Lankum’s Irish folk music pod-cast

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You have probably noticed that I’ve been on a bit of an Irish binge for the past few weeks. And what a joy it has been too. I’ve had lots of very useful tips and suggestions. Thanks everybody!

Anyway, when I noticed that Kulturhuset was having a screening of Kneecap, followed by a discussion about modern Irish music with music journalist Andres Lokko and Lars Lovén och Dennis Harvey who are working on Celtic Utopia, a documentary about modern music in Ireland, I did not want to miss it.

In case you missed my previous post, Kneecap are the Belfast rap trio who are keen advocates for the Irish Gaelic language.

But first. let’s go back to July.

I suspect that many of you will already know about Lankum, the charismatic Dublin folk band who combine well-established folk songs with modern electronica with stunning results.

I saw them in a gigantic tent at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark this summer. They performed their dark, charismatic, doom-laden songs to the accompaniment of a thunderstorm that was raging outside. Water was pouring down in great quantities on all sides of the tent and it was magnificently atmospheric.

Tuesday’s film » Continue Reading.

Keeping it alive with Dai’s 25! It’s movie time! 25 favourite films from Biograf Reflexen

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Hats off to Dai for introducing us to a wonderful new tool for sharing our favourite music, films, games, books etc. And hopefully generating discussion, agreement and disagreement.

It’s enjoyable to see your favourite album covers as a collage. It’s equally satisfying to do the same thing with movie posters.

I’ve made a collage of 25 films I’ve seen and liked in the past 3 or 4 years and would recommend. It’s posted in the comments. I’ve seen almost all of them at our local cinema here in Kärrtorp.

If you thought my choice of 25 albums was obscure, cop a look at this lot! I’m not being perverse! I enjoyed all of these films and most of them got pretty healthy audiences

Instructions:(which I’ve nicked from Dai)

“Go to Topsters 3 and select “Add Items” and then “Films”

https://topsters.org/

Search for the film you want to add to your list and drag and drop onto the table on the right

You’ll likely find duplicate posters for different markets

When finished, click “Download” in the upper right of the page and save the result to your computer.

Upload to an image host of your choice – I use Imgur and » Continue Reading.

“The trees are in their autumn beauty” Anyone fancy a visit to the spot where Yeats write his great swanny poem? Coole!!

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It’s Monday morning and after a very exhilarating week with a thread exploring the music of Northern Ireland, I’m standing here at the site of the Maritime Hotel in College Square North in Belfast: the venue where Van Morrison and Them kicked off the blues boom in Belfast.

It’s time to move on. I’ve Googled. There are ferries from Belfast to Liverpool, Douglas and Cairnryan. Or I could sail from Rosslare to Fishguard and revisit the sites of many childhood holidays in Dyfed (Pembrokeshire).

But even after a Kneecap Corsair Chicken Banquet, I’m still hungry. I don’t want to take a Ryan Air flight to Stockholm or sail to Fishguard (or follow Yeats to Byzantium). The beauty of the autumn trees here in Belfast inspires me to travel south into the Republic and make a pilgrimage to Coole Park in Couty Galway where in 1917, Yeats wrote his poem about the wild swans.

That’s just for starters. This summer our book circle read Paul Murray’s epic family drama, The Bee Sting. Again and again we choose to read Irish writers. Colm Toibin, Michelle Gallen, Anna Burns, Roddy Doyle, Edna O’Brian, Patric Kavangah etc In the Guardian recently Kate McCusker pondered » Continue Reading.

Kneecap comes to Kärrtorp!

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I need your help, pop-pickers!

I’ve given myself the rather pleasant task of creating a playlist of music from Northern Ireland for use in the foyer of Biograf Reflexen here in Kärrtorp on Tuesday evening when we screen KNEECAP. If you don’t know it, it’s the unlikely but true story of the hip hop trio from Belfast who became champions of the Irish language. It stars the members of the band playing themselves.

Has anyone here seen it??

Anyway, I’m interested in finding as broad a range of NI music as possible: folk, jazz, reggae, brass band, opera, skiffle, dance-band, choral….

Mark Kermode was impressed by the film: “As befits the story at its core, the film it’s a rockus, it’s unruly, it’s endearingly shambolic… In the great pantheon of pop biopics, I think this is one of the most distinctive offerings.”

Believe it or not, this not the first film in Irish Gaelic that Reflexen has screened. A while back we had THE QÚIET GIRL When I presented that wonderful film to the audience, I asked if there were any Irish Gaelic speakers in the audience. To my delight, there was one guy who had studied it at school!!

» Continue Reading.

The Rowan Tree and other surprising soundtrack discoveries (plus From Abergeldie grousebeater to Nobel Prize Winner!)

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Here’s a thread about silver screen musical epiphanies: pieces of music or artists that we have discovered thanks to their appearance on TV or cinema soundtracks. Discoveries which have then perhaps led to fruitful foraging into the back catalogues of the artists or composers involved. Or explorations of unexpected rabbit holes.(You know me! “More rabbit than Sainsbury’s”).

All music styles welcome! From a Scottish folk song to a Wagnerian aria. From a 1960s reggae single by the Congos to a string quartet by Hayden. From a rare cut by Tom Jobim to one of Hildegard von Bingen’s B sides. All songs considered.

I’m going to kick off with a song from a film that many of you have probably seen: Living. We finally watched it yesterday evening thanks to Netflix. Warmly recommended. Bill Nighy is superb as is the screenplay by Nobel Laureate, Kazuo Ishiguro.

A beautiful, haunting Scottish ballad, The Rowan Tree, plays an important role in the story. There’s a splendid version of it during the credits. I Googled. That was sung by the wonderful Lisa Knapp. But my googling then hit gold. An interview with Ishiguro from the Sunday Post (see comments) where he talks about his » Continue Reading.

“I had decided that, if my parents really did leave me, then I wanted Brotherhood Of Man to adopt me.”

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I stumbled across a very amusing article by Pete Paphides (see comments below) this morning in which he explains with great candour his childhood fascination for the Brotherhood of Man

“Save Your Kisses For Me was my pre-pubescent Starman moment.”

Which begs the question: if your parents had left you, who would you have wanted to be adopted by?

My shortlist of possible adopters would have probably included the Grateful Dead, the Wombles. Captain Beefheart, Ursula Andress, July Andrews and the Von Trapp Family or Lady Penelope.

Farewell to the duddy duddies of fado?

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This evening I stumbled across a new video for Deliza a song by Portuguese singer Ana Moura. I confess I was a little surprised. I like it a lot. It’s extremely catchy.

But a tad unconventional in a music culture that is very conventional.

I’ve always thought of Ms Maura and fellow fadistas as being a rather sedate, restrained bunch with a very strict dess code and clearly defined rules of behaviour. Dressed demurely in black, accompanied by an equally conservative fado combo, they sung songs full of saudade about mournful fishermen’s wives huddled together at the harbour waiting for bad news about the tragic fate of their loved ones.

So what’s this? In her video, Ana and her dancers look as though they’ve got their outfits from Victoria’s Secret and borrowed the choreographer from Rihanna or Nicki Minaj. They are flouncing and bouncing and twerking and flirting.

Please don’t get me wrong! I’m not grumbling. Fado probably was a bit too conservative for its own good.

Flamenco, by contrast, was more ready to embrace innovation (Ojos de Bruja, Ketama, Chambao, Pata Negra, Raimondo Amador etc)

But those crusty curmudgeons, the fado traditionalists in Lisbon must be quite apoplectic at » Continue Reading.

Sleepless in Kärrtorp: I’m meandering in the moonlight with a Mancunian maverick, an unorthodox Danish ornithologist and a dancing cat from Cheshire

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Suddenly this week, everywhere I look I see mavericks. Lurking in my book case. Sneaking into my Spotify playlists. Making their presence felt on my Facebook page. I can’t get away from them. And I don’t want to get away from them either. They inspire me.

Why else would I be sitting in the kitchen at 4.00 am watching a clip from a 1950s Hollywood cowboy TV show starring Roger Moore?

It all kicked off when Locust mentioned illustrator Pete Beard from Bolton and his Unsung Heroes of Illustration channel on YouTube. I’ve only dabbled my toe in it but I can see that his series of short films about the illustrators he admires is going to give me hours of pleasure. US journalist Steven Heller explains it all very well- “Illustration is often given short shrift in the study of design history. Pete Beard, an illustrator from the U.K. with a special gift for bringing the field to life, has been producing, writing and narrating a series on his YouTube channel titled “Unsung Heroes of Illustration.” In it, he takes on a corps of little-heralded European practitioners, focusing his scholarship on genres such as art deco and art nouveau, » Continue Reading.