Jimmy LaFave sadly passed away early last year leaving behind a legacy of great recordings. He had a fabulous voice and was perhaps the best ever interpreter of Dylan songs. Along with Baron Harkonnen I was privileged to see him play live in Austin about a year before he died. It was a magical evening that will live long in the memory. His last recordings will be released as a double album Peace Town tomorrow. It would be great if this album sold a few copies in his memory as it would certainly help keep alive the memory of a great artist:
Ruddy heck, it’s like the Marie Celeste in here.
Am I missing something on the telly?
City Boy – the original “Creme Brulee”?
In my endless dredging through dodgy mid-70s detritus, i fell upon this lot. I knew them as one of those bands that tried to make it in the time exactly when punk emerged, and were thus pushing against a closing door. I knew the single (“5705”) and never particularly bothered. I find this video compelling for it’s antique quality, and can imagine any of them saying, over a pint when we fall into discussing music in the pub, “it’s a shit business”.
F**king Danny Welbeck
I know these are old hat, but this is one of the best ever.
Wookalily: English tour dates
Here they are. It’s be fun – certainly a novelty – if any Afterworder other than I attended a Wooka show and had something/anything to say about it…
Like the Hardchargers, also from NI, this is their first English tour.
28th July 2018 Hunmanby Community Ctr, N.Yorkshire 29th July 2018 Haggler’s Corner, Sheffield 31st July 2018 House Concert, Southwell 1st August 2018 Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham 2nd August 2018 Gwdihw Cafe Bar, Cardiff 4th August 2018 The Spice of Life, Soho London 5th August 2018 Merton Apprentice, London
Afterword CD Swap – is there enough Space?
We’re a little behind schedule (World Cup, new jobs and so), but we can swing open the doors to the third edition of the Afterword CD swap, hosted by your good self and @kid-dynamite. Come on in! Our theme this time around, after the on-the-money cold is…..Space. Inner space, outer space, crawl spaces. Get out there man. New members are welcome to the bit of the Afterword that gets physical – yes you’ll need actual blank CDs, envelopes and postage stamps to take part. But the joy of receiving a CD of anonymous musical goodness through your letterbox cannot be underestimated.
In very plain English: you compile a CD of 12 tracks on the theme of Space. We put you in a group with two other people. You post yours to each of them, you get two from your other group members. You post your review of theirs, they post their review of yours. You send us your tracklist. We post them. that’s it. It is usually a lot of fun.
Those rules in full:
1 Sign up by the closing date by just letting us know in the comments to this post. Sign up for » Continue Reading.
Afterworder Spotting – London – South Bank – 9th July
In London on vacation for a few days. Sitting outside at the Founders Arms on the South Bank by the Tate Modern. Sat next to a table of two “elderly” men and a bored looking woman discussing all sorts of musical bollocks – Beatles vs Stones, “mid period” Bowie, and the performance of Mr Clapton in the park. Ms DrewToo commented that they “must” be part of the Afterword madness? Was she right?
Secure The Perimeter
Mel Brooks likes to watch movies that have the “Secure The Perimeter” dialogue in them and it occurred to me that there are more than a few such cliches.
Frinstance.
1. “Suit Up” 2. “Protect the asset” 3. “It’s above our Pay Grade.”
Today, if you choose to accept this mission, I would like your suggestions.
This message will , etc, blah.
This looks good
All That Reckoning
What does it sound like?:
Twas 1987 when three siblings and a couple of other band members wandered into the Trinity Church, Toronto and clustered round one microphone. Over thirty six hours they shuffled to and fro said microphone before eventually laying down one of the most hypnotic and compelling records ever made. Completing a mixture of their own songs, country standards and a stark, frightening version of The Velvet’s Sweet Jane, The Cowboy Junkies emerged blinking into the sunlight. Soon “The Trinity Sessions” became one of those albums all your discerning friends talked about in hushed and reverent tones. Songs all slowed down to virtual stillness, enough space for the listener to drift off into cosmic contemplation yet tight enough to force rapt attention to lyrics whether new or old. Over the years many a record followed most following the same haunted but soon over-familiar path: Margo’s soft voice backed by tasteful musicians playing tastefully, each album an apparent replica of its predecessor. How many people made it all the way through “Lay It Down” or “Waltz Across America”? Then somebody in the Junkies team had a bright idea – “Right you lot, back to Trinity, persuade Natalie » Continue Reading.
The Afterword #67: The Daretodreamcast Pt.2
Twang, Leedsboy and Tiggerlion reconvene with the midfield strengthened by Askwith called from the bench as Feedback File is on a free transfer to more useful activities and maintaining the tradition of every podcast being bedeviled by Skype problems, Fortune 8 was obliged to sit this one out. The team celebrate the quarter final win over Sweden, trash talk the competition and unashamedly dare to dream. It’s coming home, they don’t sing (you will be relieved to learn).
http://traffic.libsyn.com/theafterwordpodcast/Footycast_part_2_master.mp3
Afterword Contributor On A Podcast Klaxon!
Our resident, “actual proper writer” Colin H (sorry Colin, so idea how to actually tag you on this site) is a big contributor to this fine podcast about Bert Jansch’s first album. As is proper, given he’s Bert’s biographer.
It goes without saying that this is well worth a listen folks.
Lonesome Chris Todd & the Hardchargers: English tour dates
Annoying Your Partner On Purpose
Come on, we all do it. I’m always on the lookout for new material, so please share away. Some of my favourites:
Narrating my performance of mundane household tasks via the medium of song
Answering questions that she is asking to other people while on the phone
Deliberately picking stupid cutlery, eg asking “do you want a fork or spoon?” and then putting a massive wooden fork from the salad tossing set next to a normal sized stainless steel knife
Writing ridiculous made up things in the middle of the shopping list
and so on.
Travis & Fripp – Between The Silence
What does it sound like?:
Robert Fripp on guitar, Theo Travis on flute and saxophone, three largely improvised shows recorded in 2009 and 2010, all on one three cd set. Most of the music here is new to cd, with only two pieces having appeared before in edited form on the Follow album, and there’s very little in the way of duplication between the shows. Even when a piece does appear more than once, it’s usually with quite a different interpretation, with only the central core of the music remaining constant between the performances – for example Duet For The End Of time appears in five, nine and fifteen minute versions. It’s difficult to categorise the music itself, quiet without being ambient, improvisational without being jazz, electronic without being electronica. Suffice to say, the playing is top drawer as the two musicians inspire and lead each other into exploring new avenues within the confines of each work. If you’ve not heard any of this duos previous releases, do give this a try as it’s well worth investigating.
What does it all *mean*?
The quality and complexity of the music belies the apparent simplicity of its set up and presentation.
ATM: Brexit: Are We Making Progress? Anyone Know?
It may be because I am heady with joy over the football but the consensus agreed at Chequers over Brexit bewilders me. What on earth does it mean? Can anyone please explain it to me?
This summary, from the BBC, consists only of English words (and the BBC are world renowned for their ability to put a coherent sentence together) but I read them and they have no meaning:
‘Common rulebook’
The UK will “maintain a common rulebook for all goods” with the EU, including agricultural products, after Brexit. A treaty will be signed committing the UK to “continued harmonisation” with EU rules – avoiding friction at the UK-EU border, including Northern Ireland. Parliament will oversee the UK’s trade policy and have the ability to “choose” to diverge from the EU rules, “recognising that this would have consequences”. “Co-operative arrangements” will be established between EU and UK competition regulators. “Different arrangements” will be organised for services “where it is in our interests to have regulatory flexibility”.
Joint jurisdiction
A “joint institutional framework” will be established to interpret UK-EU agreements. This would be done in the UK by UK courts, and in the EU by EU courts But, decisions by UK » Continue Reading.
——-> Back to 1990! ————>
With the sun baking the pavements and England with a semi on (steady!) we’re back in the summer of 1990.
The Berlin Wall has just come down…. Nelson Stanley Mandela is going straight…. Maggie Thatcher is about to be hilariously defenestrated by her own “friends” in grey suits…. I am 16 and have left my shit school and am about to start two years of magnificent hairy DOSS at an FE college. The world – specifically its bars and its thighs – opens before me. Life is very interesting indeed.
Arguably best of all, the “cultural revolution” of the 80s has been relaxed and under this perestroika it is alright to like a lot of pre-punk stuff like the Fabs, the Stones and even the Zeps and the Floyds. And it’s all out there on CD. And there’s some corking new stuff out there too. What a time to be alive!
Same Band,Same Day
Yesterday, July 6th, was the first time I saw The Rolling Stones live.
Wembley Stadium 1990
I then saw them at Hyde Park, 2013, and it was also July 6th
Have you seen any groups on exactly the same day?
I realise this may be a rather niche post but hey, isn’t that what this website was made for?
Crap Toys What You Had What Was Crap
Bayko, a building kit toy so irredeemably awful that even my dad didn’t join in (ie reduce me to spectator status). It was made of Bakelite – the material of the future. Sharp, brittle and annoyingly unconvincing, the tiny “brick” pattern panels slid onto bendy (and sharp) steel rods that you set into the holes in the base in a rigidly predetermined pattern. There were also exciting window features – the bay was the most glamorous – and non-opening doors. Roofs were panels to which the ground plan had to conform, and rested in place or, as was more likely, didn’t. The end result of an hour or so of frustrating labour was a static model of a despairingly grim nineteen-forties suburban home which you displayed with pride until you thought of using it for airgun practice. Unlike other construction toys, you couldn’t make anything other than the house on the box lid. You could try sticking Airfix wings on it, or wheels from write-off Dinky cars, but the thing remained what it was – a model of a house you hoped to God you’d never have to live in. The larger the Bayko kit, the more aspirational the suburban » Continue Reading.
King Crimson – The Elements 2018 Tour Box
What does it sound like?:
Another edition of this excellent series, which began in 2014 and has appeared each year since.
This is a two cd set in a dvd size book type package, the same format as the Tull reissues for those who are familiar with them. It also includes a good twenty four-page tour booklet, with some interesting photos together with writings by Sid Smith.
Musically, the cds cover all the various line ups of the band, and are the usual mixture of live material from across the years, rehearsals, alternate takes, finished recordings and extracts from studio recordings. About half of the thirty one tracks have not been previously available on cd. Highlights – a live Formentera Lady from 1972 and Islands from 2017, and great versions of Neurotica from 2017 and Matte Kudasai from 1984. Studio wise, an interesting demo of The Errors surfaces, along with a Jakko Jakszyk/Gavin Harrison demo of Discipline, and there’s an intriguing alternate take of Book Of Saturday dating from 1973.
What does it all *mean*?
Another thoughtfully compiled and put together package and very reasonably priced too. Great listening and great value.
Goes well with…
Digging deep into the » Continue Reading.
A Brazilian Music Stream
I have a site devoted to the Brazilian city where I’ve been living for the past 25 years (Salvador da Bahia) and I’ve just added a music streamer for anybody who might be interested. The Brazilian music that the world in general tends to hear — if they hear anything of it at all — is a sliver of a subset of a miniscule fraction of what is really here. This of course is normal. There’s LOTS of music all over the world — some of it magnificent — that very few people hear because they have no access to it. What we hear tends to be what corporations pay to have us hear; and they pay to have us hear what they are attempting to make money selling. Euterpe though, is richer than Mammon.
I own a record shop here in Salvador devoted to samba, including Bahian proto-samba styles (samba was born in Bahia)…and yeah I know Brazil just lost to Belgium but if there’s one thing that characterizes people here it’s their resilience, and they’re out there partying right now like they just won.
https://www.bahia-online.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/joao_frentedecasa.jpg https://www.bahia-online.net
What’s the point of recorded jazz?
Don’t get me wrong, I like a bit of the “nicer” end of jazz, not so much the challenging chin-stroking stuff you are supposed to like once you “get into” it. I am listening to ‘Mingus Ah-Um’ as I type this, and wonderful joyous life-affirming music it is, too. There’s even one on there that sounds like the 60’s Batman TV theme.
But for a genre that prides itself on improvising – indeed that’s the stated USP of it – I wonder why people revere LP’s that are by their nature one-offs, captured forever in time.
NO doubt this has been answered many times by clever people, but I ask again: what (apart from capturing a lovely song) is the point of recorded jazz?
Hits Like A Girl
There’s no shortage of people playing along to songs on YouTube but this is worth a look. Just look at the grin at 50 seconds.
Sumer songs
Go.
Bri Live!
This is everything I thought Friday Night On The Island would be. They may well be the worst group in the entire history of rock and whilst there is more than a hint of stoned losers about it all I for one am completely charmed (especially the energetic drummer!).