The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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Hog house

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On to more important topics, I woke up this morning not knowing hedgehogs have or need houses. I have now discovered three of my friends have them of varying degrees of sophistication from converted wooden crates through to built from plan bespoke. They all have boho funky backwoods chic. @robc could be meditating in the corner if he was hedgehog size. So now I have to build one. I feel like my garden is a Brexit voting unfriendly environment to visiting hogs. Tomorrow I will ransack the handy bits of wood collection and anodised nail tin and get building. In fairness I did save a hog who had fallen in the abandoned water feature and saved him whilst making it hog safe, but clearly I need to do more.

As you were.

Jimmy Cobb RIP

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Jimmy Cobb, the pulse of “Kind of Blue” has gone to the great bandstand in the sky. The consummate cool jazz drummer, here he plays with the Miles quartet without Miles who was having a break so you get Trane fronting Paul Chambers, Wynton Kelly and Jimmy. And a fine sound they make. RIP maestro.

https://youtu.be/ev578bFRdGI

Steven Wilson pod

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Steven Wilson and NoMan sidekick Tim Bowness are doing a podcast called The Album Years where they take a year and talk about the interesting releases in it. The first is the year of the devil, 1980, and the second 1973. It’s really good and as they say in the intro to the first one, it’s aimed at music nerds who really don’t need another podcast about Sgt. Pepper (half the AW move to the next thread). Anyway, this is a public service announcement.

Homeland

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No front page spoilers, but certainly within so if you haven’t watched the finale, go no further.

Kim Richey – A long way back – the songs of “Glimmer”

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What does it sound like?:

The many fans of Kim Richey here will know “Glimmer”, the album Kim made in London 20 years ago using mostly Brit musicians which has a definitely non-Nashville vibe as a result. Fig leaf dropped – I love it. It’s one of my most reliable musical companions for the last two decades and my signed copy bought from Kim on the merch stand at a Tricia Yearwood gig is precious. Actually I already had it but gifted my existing copy to a pal. Kim signed it “Thanks for the SECOND copy!”.

For those who don’t know, it is a collection of gorgeous songs, rich in melody, deceptively straightforward in lyric, and the full attangements on the original album perfectly complement the songs. A reliable 24 carat gem.

So, to this album. Having spent 20 years playing these songs, usually with just an acoustic guitar accompaniment or one or two companions, Kim developed a different relationship with the songs than (say) a band might with their new album, where recording it and touring it are essentially pretty directly comparable. So to mark the 20th anniversary of the original album she returned to the studio and » Continue Reading.

Lockdown toolkit

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OK, share your tips for lockdown survival here:

Something to read

Something to watch

Something to listen to

Something to do

A random one.

Mine in comments

Pink Floyd

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This is fab. The three original members of the band sans grumpy bollocks on bass, Dick Parry recreating the sax parts from Dark Side and Sam Brown on Great Gig in the Sky vocal duties. DG is in fine form and how wonderful his harmonies with Rick Wright are. The only time we miss Rog is the vocals on Comfortably Numb which has to be in for the guitar solo, but other than that it’s tip top. The band are releasing a live gig every Friday on YouTube.

CV2

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Bit of fun by @misterpee and I. We took it in turns to add a part, without discussion, until it felt finished, then did our own mixes. This is my trance version. It’s a bit like that story where you each take it in turns to add 5 words etc, and it gets odder and odder.

https://youtu.be/RkHxHpbkRY8

Joe Satriani – “Shapeshifting”

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What does it sound like?:

Those of you familiar with Joe Satriani will know what this sounds like. The title refers to Joe’s desire to play outside his comfort area and channel a few of his influences (Dick Dale, Aki Farke Toure are name checked). He sounds pretty comfortable to me, though his previous few projects were slightly different to be fair. He made an album with Glenn Hughes (yes, the Deep Purple one) who modestly calls himself “The Voice of Rock” (though oddly he didn’t get sing) and I’ve always liked his funky rock bass playing though there wasn’t much funk in evidence either) which is not to denigrate the album which is perfectly listenable but could probably have been a lot more interesting with that lineup. Joe also released the polished up demos from his early 80s power pop band, The Squares, who make a most enjoyable rocky pop noise which is some distance from his solo output. As if that wasn’t enough he plays in the supergroup Chickenfoot with Sammy Hagar, Malcolm Anthony from Van Halen and Chad Smith of the Chilli Peppers. You can’t criticise his work ethic.

So to the current release. I have » Continue Reading.

Message from Jeffrey Foucault – Billy Conway.

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https://youtu.be/c1Yo7sXdyok

BILLY CONWAY

If you’ve come out to a show or bought a record of mine in the last decade, there’s a good chance you’ve heard Billy Conway Music on the drums: broad, magic smile on his face, the rare balance of delicacy and power framing every note. Sometimes on the full kit, but often enough just a snare, ride, lowboy, and a suitcase with Mardi Gras beads hanging off of the handle. Simplicity itself.

Maybe you know something about Billy’s life. That he was a Minnesota hockey savant, went to Yale on a scholarship, captain of the team. Maybe you know he took his Ivy League degree and taught at-risk kids in inner-city Boston; that he toured the world with Treat Her Right, and rose to fame with Morphine, becoming one of the best known and most respected drummers in American Music. Maybe you know that he’s met everyone from Johnny Cash to Roy Orbison, backed up Bo Diddley, opened for Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos. Maybe you know that after Mark Sandman died on » Continue Reading.

Old Samsung laptop project

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I have a nice but old Samsung laptop (circa 2005) with a good screen, camera and speakers which is trapped running Windows Vista. I’m wondering how one installs Linux or similar to give it a new lease of life. A little lockdown project. Any advice gratefully received!

Hitchin Folk club live concerts!

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Hitchin Folk Club has basically had anyone who is anyone in the folk world on their stage over the years, and the always impeccable sound, mixed by Kieron, has also been recorded. He is opening up this treasure trove (with artist approval) so that you can buy live sets for a fiver and he will send the money direct to the artist and send you the audio. It’s delightfully folky and a bit hand made which I like even more. See communiqué below and fill your boots!

HITCHIN FOLKUS DOWNLOAD A CONCERT FOR £5   Hi Folks Times are certainly hard for all of us now, with the self-employed probably facing more uncertainly than most.  With all venues now shut down all the wonderful singers who have entertained us for so long have had their income cut to nothing at a stroke.  It has struck us that there may be a little we can do to help.  Since the late 80’s I have been recording concerts at Hitchin Folk Club, originally on cassette, then mini disc, next digital recorder and now directly onto iPad.  If we were to offer whole concerts to download for £5 it could take a meal » Continue Reading.

The Afterword #104: The Podpod

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Twang welcomes Leedsboy, MilkeyBarnet, and FeedbackFile to the pod for an involuted podcast about podcasts. For anyone who hasn’t got into the wild west that is podcasts all is here for a successful pod life. For regular listeners, many recommendations are within from minor league football, politics, music, true crime and even podcasts for pets. Please add further recommendations in the comments!

http://traffic.libsyn.com/theafterwordpodcast/Podpodcast.mp3

Best Gerry Anderson?

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Utterly irrelevant in these serious days but walking back from town I was moved to ask, which is your favourite Gerry Anderson? Are you a civilian Thunderbirds person? A grumpy Fireball XL 5 then it was downhill all the way? A moderne Captain Scarlett? Surely not a Joe 90? I’m a lifelong Stingray guy. I love that it’s such a historical snapshot. Anything strange they spot, off with a Sting missile. WASP was never better named. It had the best music. Plus it had Marina.

Over to you.

Guitar Hero game

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Twang Jr has acquired a Guitar Hero controller but can’t get the game working – on the PC rather than the xBox. Any tips?

Jonathan Wilson – “Dixie Blur”

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What does it sound like?:

“It’s very Laurel Canyon” commented my friend Feedback File. He’s right. You can feel the California sun, see the dust in the air on Lookout Mountain Avenue, smell the bakery in the Country Store. I was less satisfied with his last album which I felt didn’t have the songs, and his gig last year was marred by atrocious sound, but this is the real deal.

You can probably imagine the sound pallet – acoustic guitars, quiet drums, quiet, unhurried vocals, but the extra lift is given by some lush pedal steel, gorgeous flute and bluegrass legend Mark O’Conner on fiddle and acoustic guitar adding some dazzle.

The songs are melodic, mostly (but not all) reflective and are above all joyous. It’s an album that makes me relax, smile, forget the frankly shit state of things at the moment and, yes, watching the video below I also shed a tear.

Good vibes flow throughout and you can imagine that even the cicadas credited on one track were having a fine old time.

What does it all *mean*?

Personally I need music to enhance a mood, whether up or down (usually one being the inverse of » Continue Reading.

Ben Watt tickets available!

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I can’t go to the Queen Elizabeth Hall Ben Watt gig tomorrow night. I have two really good seats – front stalls, second row in the middle – B16 & 17. £25 each, will let them go for £40 if anyone can use them.

I’m in Hitchin – need some sort of handover arrangement obviously.

Going out this weekend?

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I have tickets to see Ben Watt in London but I have to say the creeping paranoia of the week is getting to me. Going into London on the train then the tube then mixing with herds of people has, shall we say, limited appeal. Thoughts?

The Afterword #103: Disco!

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Twang welcomes Tiggerlion, Milkybarnet and Moseley Moles to the pod to discuss the enduring phenomenon that is disco.  From its fully formed arrival in the mid 70 it quickly overwhelmed all competition through mutations into pop, rock and even jazz and all fell to the irresistible argument that it’s fun and everyone can dance to it.  Even mass burning of Bee Gees albums couldn’t kill it, and and when it survived disco treatments from Rod Stewart and Kiss, lesser forms just gave up and went home.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/theafterwordpodcast/Discopod_master.mp3

Favourite snack?

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They say little pickers wear big knickers. I say pah. Me, I can’t resist a slice of mature cheddar (or if we have it, red Leicester) and if there’s Jarlsberg in the fridge, half a slab. With an apple if really hungry. A pint isn’t a pint without a dry roasted peanut – KP or Nobby’s preferred. A new discovery chez us is a bag of Burt’s Lentil Waves, especially with a Crofts Original straight from the fridge. Don’t let me anywhere near Pringles, especially the paprika ones, and Chocolate Hobnobs with a cup of tea late afternoon are a human right, aren’t they?

What’s your “go to” nib?