Cautiously, I think we can agree that we are not entering Literally Spring – the daffodils have been and gone, the bluebells are out, and there is more than a rustle in the hedgerow.
So, gather round the picnic table, help yourself to some cider or some apple juice – it’s a little too early in the day for Calvados but that will be along soon enough – grab a bite to eat from the hamper and please tell us : what have you been up to this month ? And is there anything coming up we should be aware of ?
Heard – I have greatly enjoyed listening to an iTunes playlist of Motown Chartbusters Volume 1 to 6, on shuffle. Packed with groovy gems. I also went back to Tom Verlaine’s Warm and Cool – an instrumental album which is gnomic, cautious, but deep. Fabulous guitar sounds, great trio arrangements, and no drama.
I picked up the Sun Ra – Insight The Light World RSD release, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was not heart set on it, but was pleased that it was there when I went in on the Sunday. I know people grumble about sellers flipping records, and I know that some of the prices are outrageous, but I also know from talking to my friends who run independent record shops in Glasgow it is an event that gets people out to the shops, and it drives a big spike in annual sales – not just for RSD specials but also it helps remind customers of the fun of going out and buying records.
Read – Mel Brooks – All About Me! Mel Brooks is a hilarious man who has made many great TV programs and films.
Unusually for a showbiz autobiography, this is loving, kind and generous. He diligently lists the many people who have contributed to his success – fellow writers, directors, producers, actors, set designers, choreographers – and most of the people named are described as “someone who became a dear lifelong friend”.
This is a very different tone to John Lurie ‘s autobiography The History of Bones: A Memoir which I read last year, where Lurie calls out by name everyone who let him down, ripped him off, stole his credit, etc. That became exhausting. Maybe he doesn’t say “I INVENTED JIM JARMUSCH!” but it’s close.
Mel does drag in the formulaic descriptions of his later films – the basic idea, the challenges getting it going, the lifelong friends made from the production – but it does wrap up his third act nicely.
Seen – nothing of note.
Upcoming – it is possible that The Primevals will be on tour in late June / early July – Definite gig at the moment is Edinburgh Leith Depot on Thursday 20th June, with negotiations going on for Manchester / Birmingham / London at the end of June.
Be sure to inform of any Brum gigs. Somewhere like the Castle and Falcon might be suitable, possibly Mama Roux’s. Or the good old Hare and Hounds.
we played the Hare & Hounds a few years ago – @SteveT and @Eltoro were there.
I will give as much warning as I can – small gigs are tough to organise, never mind try to make a couple of quid on the trip!
I’ll keep a check for Manchester but I may be away at the end of June.
I’ve been listening to the new Maggie Rogers album – ‘Don’t Forget Me’ over and over. I posted a review, but such are my appalling writing skills, it’s dropping unnoticed through to the second page. I really like it, but apart from one kind upticker (thanks!), I think I must be alone.
I liked your review, @salwarpe – hence the uptick. I’m not yet decided on Maggie…
Thanks, Max – it’s good to put a name to a tick! Maggie isn’t for everyone (anyone else?), but her music really seeps in after a few listens.
I’ll give her a few more listens – in fairness, most artists reccommended on The AW are worth checking out. We have collective good taste…
I resent that unfounded accusation
Only 3 new releases troubled my radar this month. Iron & Wine’s Light Verse seems to have received positive reviews but I found it a bit dull. Much better was the new one from Mark Knopfler, One Deep River. Classy songwriting with a folky vibe, it’s his best album in a while. Best of the lot was The Other Side, a late period outing from T Bone Burnett. It needs a few listens but is definitely worth the effort.
Nothing else to report. Over and out.
Thanks for flagging the new T-Bone album, @Boneshaker – I was not aware of it. I’ve added it to my next basket.
I’m just back from Costa Ibiza, the festival formerly known as Costa Del Folk. Last year we got absolutely baked, this year the forecast was poor, and was unfortunately spot-on. It rained enough for invoke the wet weather plan and move the gigs indoors on days 3 & 4. The tech team are amazing and do all this while we’re asleep but it brought a few problems. Firstly the festival capacity was significantly increased this year, as the hotel next door (in the same complex) was made available to the festival for the first time. Rather than use the hotel’s own permanent outdoor stage as in previous years, the techteam built a much bigger temporary outdoor stage realigned by 90 degrees which allowed a greatly increased number of seats. The other hotel has its own outdoor stage which was put into use by the festival as the Americana Stage, advertised to run for an hour at teatime while the main stage is setting up / soundchecking for the evening gigs. That plan had to be abandoned on the 2 wet days. The increased audience meant that main indoor venue wasn’t big enough to accommodate everyone and so they had to run gigs at both hotels. In addition the stage in the main indoor room was nowhere near as big as the temporary outdoor stage and they had to reschedule the acts to go for ones with smaller tech requirements. But fair play to the organisers, we got to see everyone on the bill and the sound was good as it always is at Costa. We were back on the outdoor stages for the final day. The punters and artists staying the in the new hotel discovered that it wasn’t built for 2 days of rain and the paths and flowerbeds flooded in several places. On the last night the Organisers always display details of next year’s event. This year’s poster was notable for not showing the venue or the price. I’m getting the impression that Costa Ibiza has run its course.
But what of the music I hear you cry? Pretty good I reckon. I missed Oysterband and heard conflicting reports. Holy Moly & the crackers played 2 excellent sets and then told us that they were going on indefinite furlough. The Animals played pretty much the same set twice but I enjoyed them. Of the new to me acts, Tom Robinson was great value. He was only there for 1 day but threw himself into it, including attending the daily choir session. I ended up seeing Jacob & Drinkwater 3 times and enjoyed them greatly. I liked Roswell, 2 girls aged about 30, both good players and fine harmony singers, and mostly their own material. I absolutely loved Truckstop Honeymoon who went down a storm in the smaller indoor venue. My surprise find was The Hunch about whom I knew nothing other than they include Mick Doonan of the Mighty Doonans. They were wonderful, particularly their very moving version of Help! which the audience knew word for word and which has a new resonance these days
New sounds in April: I got the new Waxahatchee on Bandcamp Friday which sounds very much like her last album, which is ok by me. And I’m enjoying Aoife O’Donovan’s latest offering All My Friends which is an intriguing piece of work
The Hunch are great. As well
As Help, there’s this:
Saw: Two small gigs in the month of April
Mozart by Candlelight in the Augustinian church in Limerick.
A nice change of pace to see a performance by pianist Frank McNamara giving us about 90 mins of Mozart – some of the usual well-known pieces and some outliers. Frank would be familiar to anybody who watched RTE television during the eighties – he was accompanist on-call for most chat shows or events. Very good musician. He brought on his friend Deirdre Reddy on violin for a few tunes at the end which waqs very nice. A small but appreciative audience.
Sarah McQuaid in Glór Studio, Ennis.
Most on here will be aware of Sarah and she delivered her usual faultless performance in Glór Studio along with trusted soundman Martin. My daughter Roisín was with me and she seemed to enjoy the evening a lot. Sarah’s guitars and her playing of them have been mentioned on this site before, but it’s worth saying again – the sound she and Martin conjure from these instruments is fabulous. She also hinted at a possible new album at some time and played the cover version she intends to use for that album – Fake Plastic Trees. One of my favourite Radiohead songs, and , stripped of it’s original bombast, the lyrics work very well to sparse keyboard accompaniment. The bad news was the very meagre attendance – where the hell was everybody? The small audience were very happy but there were less than twenty in the room – that cannot be sustainable. I hope Sarah returns to Ennis sometime but it can’t be easy or profitable to set up and play for such a small crowd.
Read: Finish My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor – excellent as always. Just started Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi.
Heard: Got a few new albums but nothing so far has jumped out at me.
Watched: Started a couple of new (to me) series – The Responder / Succession / Fallout. Enjoying the Shardlake series on Disney+ as discussed on the CJ Sansom obituary thread.
AOB: My wife’s aunt died during the month. She managed to reach the grand old age of 100. She got the letter from our president Michael D. Higgins and very nice it was too. She got accross the line but didn’t get to celbrate for long – she died six days later. I spent some quiet time by her hospital bed when my wife and her brother couldn’t be there (We have a very small family) I read the newspaper or my book out loud just to let her know that someone was close by. I found it to be a very pleasant and peaceful experience and I’m glad I got the chance to do it.
I agree re: Sarah – her Irish tour collapsed like dominos, alas. There were 8 dates and 4 were cancelled by promoters due to miserable advance ticket sales WHILE SHE WAS IN IRELAND -which I find disgraceful from any promoter operating in the troubadour area: they know she’s had serious outlay getting there, she has to stay overnight nearby anyway, and she’d happily do a gig to 3 people than hang around a B&B or a friend’s place.
I’m going to start a thread on the matter of ‘Troubadours – End of Days’ soon. Sarah’s case isn’t isolated, alas. It is indeed unsustainable.
Next Thursday evening (9th May) Sarah’s playing at The Bear Club in Luton. It’s a nice, friendly, funky little venue. I’m already booked for a London gig that night, sadly.
I really liked to hear that you spent some time with your wife’s aunt and found it a pleasant experience. It’s not often enough that we hear of a good experience when talking about a death. My aunt has recently decided to not have further treatment which will mean that she’s heading into the final stage of her life. She’s not in pain and has her mind so I’ll be doing my best to help her on her journey. I hope it’s a gentle path.
Thanks @Lunaman. Not something I could have envisioned beforehand, but it’s surprising how comfortable I was in the situation. My best wishes to your aunt.
Seen
No rocking and rolling this month, but we did have two nights out. First was Madama Butterfly at the Royal Opera House. As operas, and particularly Puccini operas, go Madama Butterfly is lacking in huge, showstoping tunes. In fact there is only really one, Un Bel Vedremo, so productions need to fall back on the tragic journey of Butterfly’s betrayal by the cad Pinkerton. In this production lead Hrachuhí Bassénz was moving but, for me, failed to completely capture the drama and it all felt slightly flat, but it’s impossible to see any production without hoping against hope that this time there will be a happy ending for Cio Cio San.
Our other show was comedy, the brilliant Spencer Jones on the last night of his residency at the Soho Theatre. If you’ve never seen Spencer he’s best known for a couple of Dictionary Corner slots on 8 Out of 10 Cats does Countdown, and the one in Upstart Crow who is clearly based on Rickie Gervais? That’s him. For his own show he combined songs and unique props with the story of how he left London during lockdown to give his children a taste of country life, before bonding with a neighbour painting his railings and being viciously bullied by his chickens. The overall effect was as moving as it was hilarious. Spencer shook everyone’s hand as we filed out and I could honestly tell him the show had been wonderful.
Heard
Lots of listening to new this month but not much of it has been very good tbh.
Grandaddy – Blu Wav: they’re doing their floaty, ethereal Americana thing but this is just plain dull.
Phosphorecent – Revelator: also doing the floaty, ethereal Americana but at least half this album is genuinely lovely
Pernice Brothers – Who Will You Believe: a classic PB album in that it’s got a 3 or 4 cracking tunes (title track, the Neko Case duet) but the rest of it is a bit blah
Jesus and Mary Chain – Glasgow Skies: this is embarrassingly bad
High Llamas – He Panda: I didn’t get this at all. It’s certainly not Hawaii.
Pet Shop Boys – Nonetheless: early days but I’m enjoying this a lot.
Mark Knopfler – One Deep River. Very pleasant.
Continued my Karl Wallinger’s death inspired deep dive into World party. I’m now concinced he was one of the best songwriters and musicians of his generation, and a bloody good singer too. Bang, Egyptology and Dumbing Up are almost as good as Goodbye Jumbo and that’s very good indeed and Arkeology is a bit of a treasure trove.
Read
I finally discovered George Orwell and read all 6 novels and the longer non-fiction while recovering from a back op. I guess I read 1984 and Animal Farm at school but I don’t remember them. Hardly a revelation but 1984 is stunning, absolutely worthy of its reputation, but I hugely enjoyed the other novels as well, particularly Coming Up for Air and A Clergyman’s Daughter. Now starting on the essays and reading DJ Taylor’s very good biography of him.
Seen
Not much but I enjoyed the Pet Shop Boys doco. Aki Kaurismaki’s Falling Leaves is good, if not the very best of his.
Having read and enjoyed 1984 recently, you might enjoy this debate if you’ve not come across it before. It’s one of my favourites on YouTube. It’s a bit of a silly premise, pitting them against each other, but the debate (especially Will Self’s contribution) raises some very interesting points. (Personally, I’m team Huxley.)
Thanks, looks interesting. Have to read Brave New World first. It’s on the pile!
I see there’s a new Audible adaptation of 1984 with a star studded cast……
https://www.audible.com/pd/George-Orwells-1984-Audiobook/B0CRRP4WW7
Its certainly open my list to explore (1984 being one of my favourite books) but haven’t figured out how to listen yet (I know Audible is owned ny Amazon, so not sure if its included in Amazon Prime etc etc).
Also worth a watch is the 1984 movie version starring John Hurt.and Richard Burton. Very bleak though.
Spring not there yet? Thought I spied temperatures close to 20 deg there recently. We are around that here today, it snowed last week and this will be the 4th weekend in a row in which mainly rain has been forecast 🙁 Will hopefully help to avoid wild fires though in a month or two
I was in UK briefly for a funeral couple of weeks ago. Otherwise mainly getting used to the kitten in Canada, she attacks me every morning! Been setting up a new stereo. No gigs, few coming soon. Watching EastEnders, snooker, have started Ripley, not sure what I make of it yet. Had a birthday, one step closer to retirement. For which I topped up missing National Insurance payments in order to get close to a UK full pension at 67. It’s a bit ridiculous that I can do that but never look a gift horse in the mouth …..
We did have a brief flirtation with warmer temperatures, but then April turned into early February, again.
Normally takes 3 goes here, think we are there now. We will be getting 40 deg C equivalent humidity before we know it.
A new stereo? Do tell!
Yes indeed! What did you get and how’s it sounding?
Actually the new part were a pair of Kanto YU6MW active speakers, trying to move to a smaller footprint. They sound great. Being driven by an ancient B & O CD player and a similarly vintage Technics SL-6 Direct Drive Turntable, it’s pretty low end with some nice features, but again small footprint and is an automatic. Got tired of having to pick up the tone arm when a record finished.
*rubs thighs*
Ears have been blocked from mid March to April. I managed to listen to Home Service in Balham so everything after that was a tad muffled.
Saw Blackeyed Theatre’s “Oh What a Lovely War ” at Leeds Playhouse excellent it was. Six actors playing all the parts. I’d appeared in a local am dram version over 50 years ago so it was good to see it again.
Also saw Houdini’s Great Escape again several actors playing several parts, not as enjoyable as the last time I saw the same theatre company but a pleasant night out.
I’d bought a ticket to see Arthur Brown above a pub in Pontefract last Sunday (before the ears blocked), luckily before the gig I’d had my ears unblocked as I found out that The Crazy World of Arthur was playing in Huddersfield the night before.
I didn’t know what to expect I’d not seen him in 50ish years (except in the audience at the Union Chapel Islington for a Gryphon gig). A stunning band, and Arthur in fine voice, not bad for an 81 year old. The next day was more old blues etc I Put a Spell on You not forgetting Fire although the helmet wasn’t worn this time unlike the night before. I think the ceiling would have been in danger if it had been.
Read stuff too.
I saw him play in Spain a few years ago. I think he was living there at the time. Lene Lovich and Dr Robert also on the bill. Great night
TV has been on but, having consumed Ripley and Baby Reindeer, as discussed elsewhere, more revisiting old than making new aquaintances. Scoop was OK but not much more. Did all 6 of The Tattooist of Auschwitz last night. Keitel, bar an odd hairline, was superb as the older Solokov, and it was pretty faithful to the book, which I read a fair few years back. It managed to get over the horrors without overmuch focus on gore and guts. Oh, I also caught the Syd Barrett doco, which was essentially both disappointingly thin fare and nothing new, with a parade of talking heads trotting out the received cliches. His band mates has little of note to observe, apart from David Gilmours wry account of how the solo albums were pieced together.
I eventually finished the Richard Morton bio of Nick Drake. It was disturbingly forensic in his day by day decline, it frustratingly obvious he was ill, yet, more or less, allowed to implode in plain sight. Having enjoyed the TV adaptation of One Day, thought I would try another David Nichols book, choosing Us. Frankly, I was a little underwhelmed: the style, which I had enjoyed in the book of One Day, being so similar in the form of description. A struggle to complete. He seems to be the golden boy of popular writing, but it feels little more than chick lit for sensitive blokes. Now I am back on much more reliable ground, entrenched into the second of Irvine Welsh’s Crime series. Whilst mainly set in his familiar Embra, it is mostly in English, and is quite the standard cop noir narrative. Being Welsh, he applies delicious turns of phrase, and sets the odd scene by dropping in references to local colour, with one protagonist being recalled as an associate of one Francis Begbie.
Live I caught a couple of gigs, The one, Kirsten Adam’s, sneaking into last month’s discussions, and the, last week, The Haar. A poor turnout at Nortons, an Irish bar in Digbeth, failed to dial down the four piece: percussion, fiddle, accordion and female voice. Their thing is to revision the great Irish songbook, giving an elegant coat of new paint to songs like Carrickfergus and She Moved Thru’ The Fair. Yes, and even the Wild Rover, which every Tom, Dick and Paddy seem now to be reviving, leaving the drunken renditions of rugby clubs well behind.
I remain retired, now 6+ weeks in. I had wondered whether a week in Wales might, on return, have me missing the old routine. No chance! As they say, I am far too busy. My writing deadlines stretch my ability to keep up with the number of new records sent my way, either from the websites I write for, or from my direct solicitations to artists. Everyone and their dog have new product this Spring, or so it feels. There are some corkers ahead, but ones that are already out, and worth a shout, include the new one from Urban Folk Quartet, a fabulous instrumental small pipes album from Malin Lewis, a further one from antipodean sisters, Charm of Finches and a new collaboration album, Willson Williams, aka Dan Willson, aka Withered Hand, with Kathryn Williams. I find it astonishing that Eliza Carthy hasn’t a record company of the backing/funding of hard copy, her latest being only available as a download, as was, actually, her last. Near unaccompanied singing for this one, her fiddle on only two of the eight songs, it is terrific.
I enjoyed the book of One Day. A fun read. However, I thought the telly series only marginally better than the very awful film version.
I saw a lot of like here and all over the place for Baby Reindeer. I didn’t share the like though. I found the series boring and the lead character way too pathetic and self-pitying to elicit my sympathy. It didn’t help that I also re-watched Daisy May Cooper’s very excellent series Am I Being Unreasonable around the same time. Now that’s how to mix up humour and dark drama! Am very much looking forward to its second season.
Listening to Willson-Williams now. It is bloody marvellous. Including – and this isn’t a phrase that gets used much – an absolutely joyous Cat Stevens cover. I commend it to the House.
Heard:
Another month on, and still nothing new to report.
It’s been a long run through of “old”, including the Van Morrison catalogue. Or some of it.
Astral Weeks – still not convinced, but there are some good songs there. Got to Hard Nose On The Highway and Track 2 of Veedon Fleece, and decided that was enough.
(I can see/hear why he’s held in high esteem though)
Seen:
Blue Lights is being rationed to one a week like old-time TV viewing
On the other hand I’ve binged ITV’s Red Eye which was a good watch
Seen (pending):
Was reminded by @the-pizza-kid (late of this parish) that a tour of small venues has been arranged for John Wesley Harding.
Tickets duly booked for Reading South Street
Read:
Trevor Horn’s Adventures in Modern Recording promised much but didn’t deliver. For a self confessed recording nerd I was hoping Trev might give nerdy insight into mixing desks and midi rigs. Nope, he told his story, but in quite a dull way.
Bits of it came over like Dick Jaws in The Rutles when responding to the fact he signed them up for the rest of their natural lives: “Lucky really”
Like you, I gave up on Trevor Horn’s book. Perfecting Sound Forever is worth a read
Reading
IQ by Joe Ide, following a recommendation by Junglejim on the Crime Fiction thread awhileback.
It’s the first of a series featuring the same detective, so it’s kind of an origin story – a format I’m comfortable with from watching so many superhero films these last few years. One of the characters is a rapper and the text contains many excerpts from his verses, so it’s a bit Afterwordy.
Seen
Curb Your Enthusiasm finished on something of a high. No, I didn’t particularly care for the nosethumbing repetition of the trial format finale (although I did admire it a little), but before that was the cunnilingus episode (The Dream Scheme) which was GOLD and the colostomy bag episode, in which a character is described thus:
he has this hangdog “I shit in a bag” look about him
which made you imagine the meeting
“Who have you in mind for this?”
“I thought Steve Buscemi”
“Great. Let’s take a 10 a.m. lunch”.
As mentioned elsewhere here, I watched quite a bit of the Coachella festival, principally to see Barry Can’t Swim, Jungle and The Last Dinner Party warming up for Glastonbury. Something notable in that regard is a trend for less and less actual “live” at these big shows, with a lot of mics appearing not to be on. That said, one of my favourite jams of the weekends was possibly the least live act there Two Shell, whose programmed hypertronica delivered behind a mysterious desk shrouded in dry ice by geezers in masks (rumour has it that they have sent surrogates with tapes in the past) was the sort of thing that benefitted from the time difference, being just the ticket at four in the morning.
Chloe, formerly half of Chloe x Halle, has delivered one of the singles of the summer, revisiting another of my old narks, which is the way what would have been TOTP fare back in the day nowadays frequently features REALLY RUDE WORDS right up there in the chorus
https://youtu.be/6761B3fKYbU?si=iEffLYf0Eqhr-ghX
(Chloe – Boy Bye)
Heard
Apparently they’ve been knocking around Dublin for some time, but Stomptown Brass only came to my attention this month when they released their debut album It Did Went Down. They have, in their time, supported Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and the Hot 8, so you have an idea what they sound like (punchy, vibrant, poppy and brassy if you don’t) and their album is notable as being the first one this year that I played all the way through and, straight away, I wanted to play all the way through again.
Others that I quite like, but it’s early days are Wilson Williams, the new one by Kathryn Williams and someone called Withered Hand, which is a collection of straightforward but very effective folksy tuneage and But I’ll Wait For You by Local Natives, which could be described by the same combination of words, but is a bit more American (think Darlingside etc).
AOB
Because it’s election year and for other reasons I’ve been listening to a lot of American podcasts. It’s a bit sad the way the presenters actually deliver the ads themselves. Our cousins, I think, don’t find it quite so distasteful to parrot the scripts of their sponsors, but it chips away at the credibility of what they say in the body of their work.
And if I hear the word “normalcy” one more time..
Meanwhile world events have created yet another schism. There are publications (including The Guardian) which believe “Nato” is correct. Even the autocorrect on this device splutters over the last sentence, begging me to use NATO..
Incoming
I’m excited for the new series of Inside No 9, somewhat less so for the new Doctor Who. Reports online keep teasing series two of Severance, but I’m not holding my breath..
Dan WilLson, aka Withered Hand, made one of my better albums of last year, a gallingly honest set of songs that unravel his journey from alcoholism, couple with jaunty but sad melodies. That someone of the calibre of Kathryn Williams should pair up with him, speaks volumes.
https://atthebarrier.com/2023/05/03/priority-withered-hand-how-to-love-album-review/amp/
They play Kings Heaths finest, the KItchen Garden Cafe on Sunday, but I fear I have caught a covid.
They’re at The Bear Club, in Luton, on May 23rd.
https://www.the-bear.club/whats-on
There he is in the 2023 playlist, right enough. I had a good rummage before, but you can’t find everything..
No sign of a trip to Ireland on the tour itinerary – something which is becoming increasing common since B****t
Saw four gigs in the month of April. First up was Johnny Coppin at Toddington church just him without his usual bandmates and it was very enjoyable. The acoustics in the church made his songs sound all the more better. Next up was Martin Stephenson and the Daintees at Huntington Hall in Worcester. I have been a long time admirer but never seen him live before . He played new songs and old with loads of banter in between. Definitely recommend anyone to catch him live. Last of all was two gigs seeing Ian Prowse. Prince Albert in Rodborough and the Nellys bar Stratford upon Avon. First saw Ian live supporting Elvis Costello some years ago and been a fan ever since. Both gigs were really small and attended by loyal fans so we all had a great time singing along with his songs. I’m always surprised he isn’t more popular.
Not seen much tv but did catch This Town and really enjoyed it with a great soundtrack.
Read mostly crime fiction last month ( as most months to be fair)
The Big Man Upstairs by JD Kirk I discovered this author only a few months ago but he is becoming a firm favourite with the lead character DCI Jack Logan getting up to loads of mischief. If you like Stuart Macbride you might like J D Kirk.
A Stranger In The Family Jane Casey. This is the 10th novel featuring DS Maeve Kerrigan & DI Josh Derwent and whilst this is a crime novel the back story of will they or won’t they get it together is riveting.
Two gigs. Sally Ironmonger & Brian Carter hoofed it up from Kent to a packed village hall on the edge of Delamere Forest. I’m very fond of these two; they connect so well with their audience, most of whom will not have come across them before, but will have come on the strength of the organiser’s booking. Sally’s delivery is strong but also so expressive, and so many of their songs are personal, not in that over-familiar confessional way that is so current, but in singing about the lives of people in and around their Medway home.
A climb over the Cat and Fiddle through low clouds took me to the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton to see Leveret. I had had a shocking day (don’t ask) but Leveret cut through all that, but then they would, ’cause they’re always ace.
I’ve been listening a lot to Music from the Front Lawn, as I’ve been learning a Don McGlashan song. This was his outlet before The Mutton Birds. It has a flavour of college revue – naive and charming, and stands up to repeat listens.
Recorded Music:
Ahmad Jamal – Emerald City Nights: Live At The Penthouse
The Utopia Strong – International Treasure
Omer Klein – Personal Belongings
Hiroshi Yoshimura – Green
Shirley Horn – Here’s To Life *
Seonaid Aitken Ensemble – Chasing Sakura
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong – Ella And Louis Again
Abdullah Ibrahim – 3 *
Jasper Hoiby – 3Elements: Earthness
Joni Mitchell – Archives, Volume 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975)
Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand) – Dollar Brand Plays Sphere Jazz
The Jazz Epistles – Jazz Epistle-Verse 1
Frank Sinatra & Count Basie – The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings *
Joshua Redman featuring Gabrielle Cavassa – Where Are We *
Coleman Hawkins – Body & Soul
The Peter Brotzmann Octet – The Complete Machine Gun Sessions
Archie Shepp – Four For Trane
Brad Mehldau – The Art Of The Trio Volume One
Sarah Vaughan – After Hours
Glen Brown Meets King Tubby – Big Dub Lost Tapes
Cécile McLorin Salvant – Mélusine
Brad Mehldau – The Art Of The Trio Volume Three-Songs *
Espen Eriksen Trio, Andy Sheppard – As Good As It Gets
Ambrose Akinmusire – Beauty Is Enough
Shakti – This Moment
Lakecia Benjamin – Phoenix
Billy Valentine And The Universal Truth – S/T
Johnathan Blake – Passage
Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns – Weejuns
Pat Metheny – Dream Box
James Brandon Lewis, Red Lily Quintet – For Mahalia, With Love
Alex Hitchcock – Dream Band: Live In London *
Peter Erskine – Transition
Wolfgang Muthspiel – Dance Of The Elders
Jason Rebello, Tim Garland – Life To Life
Claire Martin, Scott Dunn, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – I Watch You Sleep
The Magnetic North – Prospect Of Skelmersdale
Mike Westbrook – The Piano And Me
Eliane Elias – Quietude
Artemis – In Real Time
Stanley Turrentine – Z.T.’s Blues
Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, Tyshawn Sorey – Compassion
*Particular recommendations.
The Claire Martin etc. “I Watch You Sleep” was a disappointingly syrupy affair with only a couple of highlights.
Live Music:
Jazz at The Elephant, North Finchley, 7th April London-based Italian pianist Marco Marconi.
Ye Old Cherry Tree, Southgate, 14th April local singer Dexter Moseley & jazz quartet.
King’s Place Hall 2, King’s Cross, 19th April Ukranian harpist Alina Bzhezhinska and London Saxophonist Tony Kofi.
Jazz at The Elephant, North Finchley, 21st April Roland Perrin’s Blue Planet Orchestra.
Top floor of Foyle’s Bookshop, Charing Cross Road, early evening 26th April the Tomorrow’s Warriors JAM String Collective + trombonist Rosie Turton
Elephant Inn, North Finchley, later evening 26th April Dexter Moseley & Gill Hunte Funk & Soul.
Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone, 29th April triple bill Byron Wallen Quintet, Wonky Logic (solo piano), Donovan Haffner Quartet
No disappointments but Roland Perrin’s Blue Planet Orchestra was my April gig-of-the-month. Interestingly quirky music, good arrangements utilising varied instrumentation (two reeds, one doubling on flutes) trombone, piano elec. bass and drums plus a couple of amusing poetry interludes from trombonist Paul Taylor.
TV:
Nothing of note.
Movies:
Nothing at all.
Books:
Re-read almost* the entire Slough House/spooks-related works of Mick Herron in roughly cronological order and finished with the most recent one “The Secret Hours” which provided background for some major recurring characters in the saga. Next will be re-reading his earlier Zoe Boehm detective series.
* I forgot to begin with the standalone book “Reconstruction” which precedes pretty much all of them and sets the tone, pretty much.
Drinking (in moderation):
Highland Park 10yo single malt, Sainsbury’s TTD Armagnac VSOP, Tanqueray and tonic, Montepulciano D’Abruzzo or Brewdog Punk IPA at home. Dark Star Hophead at the Elephant Inn (when available).
Upcoming:
A couple of fine jazz gigs at The Elephant. Guitarists Simon Moore and Ducato Pietrowski playing excellent manouche (gypsy jazz a la Django & Stephane) with violinist Tobie Medland, bassist Alec Hewes and saxophonist Jeremy Shoham tonight. In a couple of weeks it’s pianist Neil Angilley in a quartet with Jeremy Shoham on saxes, Davide Mantovani on bass and Rick Finlay on drums.
Meanwhile, on the 9th I’ll be at the Pizza Express in Soho for Denys Baptiste, Gary Crosby, Andrew McCormack and Rod Youngs for an interpretation of “A Love Supreme”.
On the 10th I’ll be at Tropic in Ruislip, at the football club for my Steely Dan covering pals Stanley Dee.
On the 17th I’ll be at the first of my Watford Jazz Junction gigs at the Pumphouse Theatre. Lokkhi Terra playing a fusion of Cuban, Afrobeat and Bangla music. This year’s festival (the third one) seems a bit underwhelming to me, but there are a few interesting shows at The Pump House. Saxophonist Maddy Coombs in a trio, supported by Fergus Quill Trio, play in the afternoon at the small Colne Room space and then Jean Toussaint is on in the evening in the main theatre.
There are also a string of free pub gigs on Sunday at various locations in Oxhey, mostly a bit lacklustre IMO (though Tom Ridout should be good). Public transport in the further reaches of there is non-existent and parking is just impossible as it’s densely residential and everyone parks on the street.
I’ll be going to Hejira vocalist/guitarist Hattie Whitehead’s album launch gig in Dalston on the 22nd. At Servant Jazz Quarters, which is a venue I’ve not been to before.
I may go to Bohemia in N. Finchley on the 26th to see Tony Kofi play and to check out another new-to-me venue. I may well venture to Karamel in Wood Green to see Tomorrow’s Warriors artist Amanda Radford on the 30th.
All of my gigs are low-cost ones these days. Nothing over £30.
My days of big-venue concerts are long gone and not really missed for the most part.
You put us all to shame, Mike. Keep up the good work.
Blimey…
@Mike_H – what did you think of the Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns album?
Her music is not exactly my kind of thing. Harder rock than yer typical jazz-rock, but there’s no denying her guitar talent. I think this new lineup is closer to the sort of thing I like than her previous lineup, being looser and free-er.
On my buying list! Thanks, Mike.
Fabulous stuff. I particularly like the ‘Drinking (in moderation)’ category.
Not all at the same time.
Moderation.
Heard:
Well, I bought a lot of albums in April, although I’ll have to admit that I spent most of my time listening to the new Taylor Swift album/s and my impressions of the others are based on just a couple of listens in most cases.
Taylor’s latest is probably my favourite of hers so far. Some days I prefer the first bunch of tracks, the next I prefer the second; they’re all brilliant (well, with two or three exceptions out of 30+ tracks, but none are complete stinkers).
Aaron Lee Tasjan is a big favourite of mine since his debut, and I do like the new album Stellar Evolution but so far I’d say I like it the least of any of his albums – hoping that this will change the more I listen to it…but so far I’m finding it to be just a slight bit dull, which isn’t a word I’d normally associate with his music!
Swedish-Finn artist Iiris Viljanen is another quirky favourite, but her new album Själsligt uppvaknande vid Slussen (“Spiritual Awakening at Slussen” – Slussen is a place/metro station in Stockholm) is not a disappointment. Her lyrics are simultaneously touching and funny and describing big emotions in very common-place settings in a way that border the absurd. However, as she’s singing in Swedish this is probably not one for The Afterword!
Iiris also appears as a musician on the new album by Annika Norlin (AKA Säkert! and Hello Saferide) & Jonas Teglund – En Tid Att Riva Sönder (“A Time To Rip Apart”), and you can hear the kinship in the type of music and lyrics that they share an ability to write – like the kind of short stories where nothing much happens externally, but a lot on the inside, all in very trivial settings but full of recognition and equal amounts of depression and a sense of humour about it. It’s very good, if I didn’t make myself clear. Again, it’s in Swedish so not AW catnip! 😀
Something else that I doubt that many AW:ers will bop around to is the new album from girl in red – I’m Doing It Again Baby! but I’m really enjoying it. You can hear some echoes of Taylor Swift in her music, and she also sounds a bit like Tove Lo (but Norwegian instead of Swedish). I like this album better than her debut, but I haven’t heard that one for years, so don’t really remember much about it.
Swedish-Canadian singer Erika Angell from the band Thus Owls has a very interesting album out, if you’re into more experimental music. It’s called The Obsession With Her Voice and reminds me of Fever Ray, Julia Holter, and later stage David Sylvian, perhaps a sprinkle of Anna von Hausswolff as well. It’s really gorgeous and exciting and had me mostly spellbound when I listened to it – not an album to have on in the background! However, I’m not a huge fan of the more spoken word type tracks, just because that is an artform that I find difficult to enjoy. But the tracks where she’s singing are definitely up my street.
The Black Keys – Ohio Players is their best in a long while, much thanks to the collaborations with Beck (although, very surprisingly, I really like the Noel Gallagher co-writes as well, especially “On the Game”). This is not deep or experimental or groundbreaking in any way, but smooth and groovy and excellent for keeping your energy up while (in my case) cooking and washing up.
Vampire Weekend – Only God Was Above Us is exactly what you’d expect from a Vampire Weekend album, and if you’re a fan you’ll like it, as do I. I can feel transported back in time, but at the same time I can’t see how they could change their style and sound without becoming a lesser band, so I’d rather have “more of the same” anyway. And there are some really strong tracks here.
I would say that I’m a fan of Iron & Wine, and yet I often feel a bit disappointed when I listen to his music. I haven’t heard his new album, Light Verse more than once yet, so not sure if this will be the case this time around. So far I’m cautiously optimistic…but I doubt that it will get into my Top Ten of -24.
Kacey Musgraves – Deeper Well is another one that needs more listens to stick, but seems like there could be something very good there – if not for the ages, then at least for a summer. A rather retro sound in the production, very Canyon, very late 60s/early 70s. Her voice is a bit too “cute” for my taste, but not at all in an unpleasant way.
It’s been a while since Gossip released an album – having disbanded many years ago – but now they’re back with the album Real Power and sounding pretty much exactly as they did back when they quit. I enjoy it (and Beth Ditto’s voice, which some people find difficult to love) but don’t expect more than a piece of fun, fluffy, stompy disco rock (well, that’s what I’d describe it as).
I need this type of music every now and then as pure fuel, and I bet they’re fun live.
The Libertines can be lots of fun and lots of cringe, often at the same time, and the latest album All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade is no exception. Certainly not near their best, but not completely bad either. It lacks a bit of energy and chaos, they sound a bit old and tired (and who wouldn’t). Starts well and gets worse the longer it goes on.
Sinkane – We Belong is a definite pick-me-up after that one, but it didn’t quite fulfill my hopes. I was invisioning a pre-party dance groove, funky and with heavy African inspiration. But this is more of an afterparty gradual come-down, and slightly too slick and overproduced compared to my wishes. I’m sure I’ll appreciate it more once I’ve adjusted my expectations, but right now it’s just OK for me.
Phosphorescent – Revelator is one I recieved just this week, and haven’t had time to listen to more than once. On first listen it is lovely…and a little dull, but I’m sure it will grow on me once I have time to really get into it! Well, I hope so, anyway. In some ways I feel that I’m starting to lose interest in this kind of music – tastefully pretty and lowkey…but I know that when someone comes along doing it really well and in their own interesting and quirky way I’ll enjoy it again.
Read:
I’m sounding like a broken record, but I’m still going strong with my project of reading my favourite Swedish author in chronological order. In April I only read three books by him however, the first two very good, but the third was hard to get through and the next one – which I started reading in May – is even tougher to get through. I’m afraid I’ve hit his first bad run: but it took 22 books before that happened! Thankfully I know that later books gets back to form (almost) so I just have to work through a couple of duds to get to better things. It was bound to happen, but still a bit sad when it does. Going from such heights to such lows seems almost inexplicable or even impossible!
In an attempt to avoid reading these duds I’ve been devouring music mags en masse, though they are spectacularly dull for the most part.
I started reading Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan as I heard great things about it (and it’s been nominated for one of the bigger book prizes), but I’ve lost my will to read on my commute, for some reason, so I haven’t picked it up again after the first couple of chapters, which was several weeks ago. I’ll have to restart it once I’m done with my P C Jersild project and can read other novels at home again!
Seen:
Nothing I can remember.
AOB:
Back problems, a huge crisis at work, strange weather; April was a strange month. And I’m in a strange mood. May isn’t much better so far, but I live in hope.
I have downloaded the new girl in red (an act both Offspring the Elder and I agree upon) album but not yet played it.
Heard:
I went to north Norfolk for some of my Easter break and spent 50 quid in Another Planet, Cromer. Most were 12″ singles for a quid, nothing was more than four. I’m still working my way through them, and I’ve just returned from a repeat visit this May bank holiday weekend, where I spent, um, 50 quid.
The new album from A Certain Ratio is right up my street, live in the studio with no guests and all the better for it.
Seen:
I binge-watched This Town in three evenings while Mrs F was away with work, after an aborted attempt to get her to watch it with me. “This is supposed to be really good” I said. “It sounds like it might be a bit violent” she said. We lasted about a minute when (spoiler alert) the first scene featured a riot. Pretty good but not great.
Hope Street series 3, with Mrs F. For when Death In Paradise is too demanding. The Irish coast looks lovely.
Read:
The latest Vinyl Detective was binged in a weekend in a caravan. I’m 90% through the Mal Evans biog.
AOB:
I had my first colonoscopy in years (my fourth or fifth), my first under the NHS. They gave me Fentanyl and Midazolam instead of Propfol so I was awake and watched it live on a monitor. Good and bad news. Bad news: after eight years on Mercaptopurine, I still have some active Crohn’s disease. Good news: because I still have ulcers, the previous crazy plan of ‘stopping the meds and seeing what happens’ has been scrapped.
I quite enjoyed being in the company of the Vinyl Detective and his gang while finding the ploy very lazy. I note that Cartmel has another Paperback Sleuth book out this year too, and wonder if he spreading himself too thinly.
It’s like Scooby Doo – hugely entertaining but doesn’t stand up to critical analysis.
Good to hear that the “crazy plan” has been scrapped, Steve.
With various always banging on about ACR, I decided to get the most recent, knowing nowt of the sound other than via your descriptions. It’s good. Toying with that double retrospective that’s been out recently. (But I was hoping for more trumpet!)
Yes, the double compilation is a good overview of the old stuff. Of the recent, the ‘comeback’ album ACR Loco is a good start. Last year’s 1982 was a bit too busy with guests.
Yes another vote for the new ACR, their best in years. I liked the last one at first but it doesn’t get played very often. Glad to hear you’re on the other side of the colonoscopy Steve, even though it just gave a mixed message.
I’ve only had the one colonoscopy but opted for gas & air, so watched on the monitor like you. All I can say is that I’ll never look at the Dr Who credits in the same way again.
Arf!
My first one, they didn’t give me quite enough Propofol and I woke up part-way through. “You see those yellow and white spots? They’re ulcers. You shouldn’t have those.” This was the funniest thing anyone had ever said and I giggled until the top-up kicked in. I was still off my tits 24 hours later.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid and I don’t get on well with them, so I had a day of mild cold turkey. I’d make a rubbish junkie.
Heard:
Jane Weaver – Love in Constant Spectacle (my first candidate for this year’s “best of” list)
Szymanowski – Stabat Mater; Szymanowski – Violin concerto (Nicola Benedetti continues to impress me)
Sibelius – symphonies, Helsinki PO, Segerstam (best Sibelius cycle I’ve heard in a long time)
Also an Inspector Morse stories on Audible.
Read:
Alan Booth – The Roads to Sata: a 2000 mile walk through Japan – excellent travel writer and his views on Japan are interesting: he had lived there for some years before undertaking his trek.
Tiggerlion’s various Bowie reviews and essays on this very site – this was my hospital and recovery reading – Tigg’s reviews stand up to re-reading and it’s been particularly interesting to approach the big Blackstar thread with some distance and hindsight.
Seen: new Taskmaster series – always starts with me saying “who are these people” and I end up completely invested, as usual. Watching Joanne McNally make Alex uncomfortable was a squirmy joy.
AOB:
Had me gallbladder out two weeks ago – open op, so I was in for a week after that, then home with strict instructions not to lift/drive/strain the wound in any way. Got a paraumbilical hernia repair done “while we’re in there”. Unfortunately, got postop retention, so I’m home with a catheter and a ticket to see the urologist in due course. It’s been…instructive, but not fun. Hopefully normal service will be restored shortly.
Ouch. Wishing you the best, Fitz. I’ve had to have a catheter three times in my life (inguinal hernia, appendix, back surgery following car crash). No fun at all. In fact, all three would score very highly in my “least favourite experiences” hit parade. (Removal of a varicose vein with no anesthetic at all I think grabs the highly uncoveted number one spot.)
Removal of anything without anaesthetic sounds nasty, Gary…yoiks!
A mate of mine had his prostate removed at the start of the year. He’s recovering well, but says the catheter was the worst part of the whole procedure.
I’ve probably shared this before, but having a catheter installed followed by a nurse tripping over the tube while it was still attached was an interesting experience.
There’s a wealth of meaning in the use of “interesting” here…
I had to join the Catheter club following my knee replacement surgery. (I just COULD NOT go, and oh how I tried) It was the most painful bit of the whole experience. Had to have it in for about a day and a half which was more than enough, and removal is about as bad as insertion.
Then there’s TWOC: try as I might, I couldn’t figure what “taking without owner’s consent” had to do with catheters…
I wondered what was going on. 🤔
Very much fingers crossed that the plumbing gets back to normal quickly.
Ah, would that it were so! “TWOC failed after 72 hours” – as of this morning , I am re-catheterised, with a ticket to see the urology team in due course.
On no! The waits aren’t long on the island, are they?
My discharge paperwork said Urology OPD one month after insertion (ie, week after next), with intent of removing it after two weeks (ie, last Wednesday )- but no phone call or letter to date.
I’m going to chase urology team tomorrow – no point in leaving it to the last minute…
Yes! Harass them until they submit.
One of our local hospitals is very keen on popping in a catheter and discharging the patient without any thoughts of TWOC (trial without catheter) or treatment. They then feign ignorance when asked as to whether it was ever wondered as to any next step beyond perpetuation.
Get well soon, Fitz. At least you got done. I did the 24-hour bowel prep and spent all of it thinking “I really hope they don’t cancel”.
Get well soon Fitterstoke. I think I shared with this forum last month that I was due surgery, a stoma reversal, that I had done last Thursday. Still in hospital now – complication on complication, an infection here etc. Hoping for a return home this weekend. I’ll post details of the interesting stuff (music, books etc) when I have the energy to put it all together in my addled brain.
And yes, the catheter is not pleasant……
I feel your pain! All the best for your continued recovery.
Gout has left me, not entirely without benefit, incapacitated.
Firstly, it has got me off the end of season treadmill of football (pretty much a game a day). A season in which Cornish football has taken a massive leap up the pyramid – two promotions out of the Western League (that league can’t cope with Cornish football), one into it. The final fixture is earmarked for June 1st, the friendlies will start in early July. Crazy.
Secondly, Rockabilly Radio and County Cricket on the radio. There isn’t an also-ran in sight on the former, a world in which the top table is frequented by Gene Vincent, John Lee Hooker, Larry Williams, Carl Perkins and Fats Domino, and no one has ever heard of the Sainted Dave, Fleetwood Mac or Abba. It’s a breath of fresh air. Throw in the release of 296 editions of Mark Lamarr’s ‘Shake, Rattle & Roll’, and, wow, what a month!
The latter, County Cricket, courtesy of the BBC, simply wouldn’t exist without the BBC. Thank God for the BBC.
No cinema this month, but excited about ‘Let It Be’ and hoping it might get a special cinema release during the summer.
Best release on RSD? The Yardbirds’ themed CD in Mojo, a superb, taut 40-minute collection which would have been lapped up if released at the time.
Magazines surprisingly good. Excellent article on Ladbroke Grove in the late 60s in Record Collector, and the same mag is doing that rarest of things in May, publishing one of their specials which will be worth buying… The Beach Boys. If it’s half as brilliant/unintentionally hilarious as the Uncut version, it’ll be essential. And Q65 are on the cover of Shindig.
Gout is nasty. Get well soon, deram.
Ouch! Hope it resolves soon, DD.
Try cherries and drink lots of water (from a fellow occasional sufferer)
Yeah, thanks for that. Hopefully I’ll be alright to get to the rugby tomorrow, but, and this is not a joke, I will be going in my slippers!
Cherries. Yes, I’m aware they’re a good bet. I’ll get some. I went to get a bottle of cherry juice a few months ago and it was the price of a semi-detached in Hampstead.
Just watched There’s Something In the Water. Shark Movies are one of my absolute favourite genres. This one got terrible reviews so I was expecting it to be rubbish, but it isn’t. Usually the (undeniably brilliant) formula for shark movies is: A group of young people go on holiday, take a boat out, the boat sinks, most of them get eaten by sharks, one survives. This film was a little different in that the youngsters are all female. Genius! It’s immediately become one of my top 5 shark movies, straight in at number 5.
1. Jaws (of course)
2. The Shallows
3. Open Water
4. The Reef
5. There’s Something In the Water
(Adrift also gets an honorary mention, even though there are no sharks in it.)
My favourite shark film.
No way. I love shark movies, but only if they involve real sharks and real sea. Mutant sharks, robot sharks, alien sharks and sharks out of the sea don’t interest me at all.
This is really good and it’s not even a movie:
Just watched Monkey Man. Terrific. A real showcase for Dev Patel’s talents, surprisingly impressive both as director and as action hero. He’s sure come a long way since Skins. I loved his directing in this. If this debut is anything to go by, he’s really established his own unique style straight off. Lots of close ups, hand-helds and frenetic action. Visually, quite unlike anything I’ve seen before. The story (which he co-wrote) is none to shabby neither. Sort of like John Wick, only good. (There’s even a knowing John Wick reference.) Recommended. Go Dev!
Not sure where else to put this, so I’m putting it here.
The new Knocked Loose album is out today and it’s fucking brilliant. Super heavy, full of ideas and completely hyperactive.
Absolutely love them.
🔥 🔥 🔥
Is that Silent Bob on drums?