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  1. Heard
    A few gems handed to me by the 1001 LPs journey – The Doors LA Woman, Blondie Parallel Lines and The Saints Eternally Yours. I bought the 3LP Re-issue of Neil Young & Crazy Horse Ragged Glory, which is absolutely wonderful, and I have also really been enjoying Shack – HMS Fable.
    Read
    Jenni Murray – A History of the World in 21 Women – Well considered and carefully explained, a very good recount of history from the less-reported perspective
    Chris Brookmyre – The Cracked Mirror – Deftly plotted, imaginative, sharp – funny in places, as Brookmyre usually is.
    And one that made me ponder about all my STUFF – Margareta Magnusson – The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter, which explains the process of clearing out all the boxes in the attic, and writing some instructions to whoever will be disposing of your worldly possessions after you have gone.
    Other
    I went to see Alice Cooper, with Primal Scream supporting – he was great, much more energised than the last time I saw him. Great staging, good sound, and he sang really well. The night was made even better by spending it with two old friends, and we had a great curry beforehand at the Mother India.
    I completed Inktober – I think that’s the fourth year I have done it, and I thoroughly enjoyed making and sharing my primitive scritchings.

    View post on imgur.com

  2. I think October has been the shortest month since records began, gone in a flash. Although I packed quite a lot in.

    *GIGS* Started the month at the Costa Festival in Albufeira, Portugal which was great. 26 or 27C most days. Ranagri were probably the standout performers playing 2 excellent sets. They are a band in the ascendant and I’m pretty sure they’ll be top of the bill in 2 years time. I really enjoyed Thea Gimore’s 2 sets. I haven’t seen her for a good while and I know she’s been through the mill in that time. Her Chance to Meet session was really interesting especially when she told us about her stage fright. I was also interested to hear her say she had a small Patreon group, only about 1000 members. That sounds a nice number to me if you think of them all paying a few quid in the performer’s direction each month. Of the other acts I thought Urban Folk Quartet were very impressive. I loved O’Hooley & Tidow who doen’t sound like anyone less. Gary Stewart’s Graceland performance was an absolute joy and he chucked in a couple of other Paul Simon classics for good measure eg The Obvious Child and Mother & Child Reunion. I hugely enjoyed the 2 sets by Stout Boots who are a Yorkshire pub band and seized their opportunity to play an international gig. They just went for it 100% and were great craic. In amongst all the Irish and Poguery thay also played Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode, probably DM’s first ever outing at a Costa Festival.

    I saw 5 ticketed gigs during the rest of the month. Oysterband & June Tabor on their farewell tour at the RNCM were on good form. I was very impressed by Peter’s Field, a song cycle put together by Sean Cooney of the Young ‘uns with some help from Sam Carter and performed as a 60 minute continuous piece by Cooney, Carter & Eliza Carthy at the Old School Rooms in Middleton, North Manchester. They’ve only done this a few times and if it goes on tour I’d recommend it highly. My local venue Folk at the Barlow presented Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer and they were great, much more Americana-ish than on pervious visits. Jonny told me it was a phase he was going through and he’d no doubt move on eventually. I saw Chris While & Julie Matthews 30 years- in-the-business tour at Bury Met and they were on good form, aided and abetted by the excellent electric guitarist Johhny Heyes. And I finished the month with a wonderful performance by my new faves Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage doing a rare band tour augmented by double bass, drums and keyboards. It sounded absolutely gorgeous with shades of Pentangle (or Pintengle as they were apparently known on TV in 1970), and John Martin. It’s amazing how Ben Savage is able to lead and dominate that lineup just on his acoustic guitar and without much apparent effort.

    *HEARD* Quite a few this month. I’m a big fan of Rachel Newton so was pleased to purchase her latest offering Anna Bhan, made with her cousin Mairearad Green who I used to see playing in the Poozies. It’s a work based on the story of their great-great-grandmother was one of a group of young women who were at the forefront of the Coigach Resistance of 1852/53. It’s a nice piece of work. I bought Urban Folk Quartet’s latest “True Story” after enjoying them at Costa Portugal and so far I’m very impressed by it. The CD I’m most intrigued by is Kate Young’s album Umbelliferæ which is a cycle of songs about plants, written and sung by her and her string quintet. I saw her perform this a year ago at St Cuthbert’s Church in Allendale as part of the Folk Festival there, and was really impressed by it. I happily helped crowdfund it and am working my way through it. I think she is a tremendous talent, as is the aforementioned Rachel Newton. I have no doubt this CD will feature in my entry for the Afterword Best Of 2024.

    *WATCHED* I don’t watch a lot of TV but Mrs B and I bingewatched and loved Ludwig. Once you get past the fact that the whole premise is totally preposterous, it’s great fun and cleverly written. After 4 episodes I predicted to Mrs B how it would play out and was completely wrong. And I finished off the month last night by rewatching Play For Foday: Just a Boy’s Game which had appeared on my Facebook feed as being on the iplayer for a limited period. It’s from 1979 and I watched it back then because the lead role was played by Frankie Miller. It held up quite well I think after 45 years and I was interested to see Gregor Fisher aka Ralph C Nesbitt playing a major role.

      • Umbelliferae is indeed a splendidly odd affair. Certainly my album of the month. And I can’t argue with much else you say about Sanders & Savage or Ranagri, but wonder if the latter will last the course, once Dream in Colours start up again in April, what with Eliza Marshall being in both.

    • Since you didn’t mention it, and I know you’re a regular, I assume that you weren’t at Bury Met for Kate Young’s gig at the start of the month. She is quite singular, is she not? Adventurous vocal arrangements and international collaborations were both very much in place. Enjoying the album very much.

      Ranagri continue to elude me well into the new year. Every gig seems to have competition (they are at Band on the Wall on Monday, but I have breton dances to teach.)

  3. New to these threads but I’ve enjoyed reading them over the years.

    Gigs: Joan as Police Woman in Whelan’s was the gig of the year so far. A joy after the phoning-it-in Dandy Warhols the previous weekend. She’s always a great live act constantly reinventing her songs. It was just her, a guitarist and a drummer who were both brilliant and she was captivating from all of four yards away where we stood. She’s so musical and clearly loves playing to an appreciative audience. This set was laid back and soulful with all of her new album. She didn’t play any of my favourites but on the way out I said to my friend that I even enjoyed the songs of hers that I don’t particularly like.

    Declan O’Rourke at Vicar Street replaying his first album for it’s 20th anniversary was a lovely warm evening of a favourite of my wife and I. Declan looked the same as 20 years ago and was in great voice. His band were enhanced by the always wonderful Steve Wickham on fiddle.

    TV wise we really enjoyed the latest series of Slow Horses. It seemed much shorter of a run but was as gripping as ever.

    Even more enjoyable has been Carl Hiassen’s Bad Monkey on Apple TV. It’s a cracking if totally ridiculous yarn played tongue in cheek by a great cast led by the not-always-likeable Vince Vaughan.

    On DVD I watched the late Sean Hughes’s last recorded show Mumbo Jumbo in which he frequently refers to death and dying and health problems less than a year before he died. It was the 7th anniversary last month.

    Audiobooks because I never get to read.

    I relistened to an abridged version of the Butcher Boy read by Patrick McCabe. What a riveting tale it is.

    In a not dissimilar vein Ardal O’Hanlon’s thriller Brouhaha set in a small border town had me finding time to get back to it because I really had to find out what happened next. The perfect depiction of small town small mindedness and the unsaid within Irish political life would probably resonate more with Irish readers than others and I saw afterwards that the only sniffy review was in the Guardian. Ardal’s reading really brought it to life.

    I’ve started Bessel van der Koch’s the Body Keeps the Score pretty much essential reading for anyone working with trauma. It’s fascinating so far. I’ve a long way to go.

    I finished Bob Mortimer’s the Hotel Avocado and found it not nearly as enjoyable or satisfying as the first with these characters – too samey and not nearly as much fun.

    I haven’t really listened to much new music intensely just much loved favourites and playlists.

    These were the scores from the Kildare jury…

      • I started to read it a few years ago but it was heavy going and I couldn’t find the time to get it read – 3 young children at home and very busy at work. I’ve done lots of training over the years in trauma and its treatment, generational trauma and recovery from trauma. It’s essential for my work with young offenders many of whom have had a litany of Adverse Childhood Experiences (itself a fascinating area to read about) and whose offences and subsequent life changing sentences are in themselves traumas. It’s always recommended so I was glad to get the audio book on the free library app (Borrowbox). It fits in well with my commute where I have an hour’s peace each way.

  4. Just finished reading Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway. For those unaware, he’s John Le Carre’s son and although he’s written previous novels this is the first to use Le Carre’s characters such as George Smiley and Karla. It’s set in the early sixties somewhere between The Spy Who Came in From The Cold and Tinket Tailor…..well worth a read, not a bad effort at all.

  5. October then, it did indeed whizz by.
    It involved a return trip to Leamington Spa’s rather lovely Temperance Cafe. @stevet and myself went to see this Joshua Burnell fella, and his band. Supposedly too prog for the folk charts and too folk for the prog charts, I wanted to see what al the fuss was about. A little underwhelmed to be fair, feeling him a less charismatic Steve Harley, with fewer tunes. Nice enough, but that insufficient to cut muster, or indeed my mustard. The first folkier half was better than the poppier prog of the second half. Plus, he is one of those performers who has to take his wife along, for additional vocals. So, a six piece band facing 22 punters in a 50 max cap venue, we each thought his band would prefer a 5 way split, as they were pretty good, especially his violinist.
    Earlier in the month it was Brum’s Kitchen Garden Cafe and Frankie Archer. Again, someone making big waves in folkie land, she, her fiddle and the biggest array of foot pedals I have seen for a while, along with a synth console and sequencers, she put up a fabulous hedge of sound, as tronic as folk can be. Recommended.
    Recorded music included the Embilliferae/Kate Young that has been rightly praised above. The Cure arrived testers, so is officially next month. A little late, by a few weeks, I came to the new one by the Rheingans Sisters, and a remarkable record it, Start Close In, is. Anything other than twee fiddle and vocal sweetness, it is a harshly dynamic journey, making use of drones and FX to invoke a Bornean fever dream. Or possibly from one. Grandly disturbing in a Whitby Abbey gothic noir sense. Ewen The new Roddy Woomble, Somewhere During the Night We Fell off the Map, sees the ex-Iclewilder ditching the more electronic excursions of his recent solo releases, returning more to the style of his more organic acoustic. A move in the right direction, but with less Caledonian skirl than, for instance, My Secret Is My Silence, his masterpiece. Finally, Shovel Dance Collective issued Shovel Dance, yet another example of when folk goes wyrd and pagan. A 9 piece, they make a glorious din that is as disconcerting as it is delighting, which is likely their aim. I’d like to see them live and probably will.
    Actually read a book! J.T. Ellory’s The Anniversary Man. Grand gothic Police procedural with quirky characters and a lovely descriptive turn of phrase. I will seek out more of his, surprised to discover he a Scot, so well does he inhabit a murky New York.

    • I had a customer who was the king of mangled phrases. One of his best was, clearly enunciated, “If this next software update doesn’t pass the mustard then it will delay the whole program”. I was stuck with the mental image of a Terry Gilliam-style disembodied hand passing a giant jar of mustard.

      He also complained about the sequence of events that we had planned for a small scale rollout of systems, accusing us of putting the horse before the cart. I could only concede that we had, indeed, put the horse before the cart and invited him for his preferred alternative sequence. After ten minutes of humming and hawing, he decided to let us go with the planned sequence.

    • Good luck with the Shovel Dance Collective. Here’s what I reported in the August 2023 Takeover. You may remember our conversation about tunes and melodies later that month at Shrewsbury.

      thecheshirecat says

      08/09/2023 at 15:51

      “In a whole week and more, I owe it to somethingorother to make time for the obscure and the risky in the schedule, usually to be found in the Cellar Bar at Kennaways. So, what to make of the Shovel Dance Collective? (Why do people have to be in ‘collectives’, rather than just ‘bands’.) From the off, they were not for taking prisoners, opening with a long and austere ballad, accompanied by frenzied harmonium and cello, while 60% of the band looked on as if this was the most normal thing in the world. The ‘Dance’ in their moniker, I assume was tongue-in-cheek. I have no doubt that they could all play their instruments, and the vocals were good technically. But, and this is a ‘but’ that I keep butting up against, so many folk musicians now are using their considerable skills to play drones or long-repeated figures, which does create great texture, but couldn’t we also have some melodies please, with grace, phrasing, beauty? They mentioned that this was their first folk festival booking, and I couldn’t help wondering what or where on earth was their target audience, and just how many phone boxes would it require to contain it.”

      • Arf! I confess my first casual listen drew much the same response. But it seeps in and becomes seductive, even if part the thrill is in their self-destructive preference for din and discord, keeping back melody to surprise you, just as you reach for the stop button.

        • Well they’re playing at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival so I may take a look. Though it does say its based around drones and improvisation.

          I saw Jack the Lad doing a shovel dance once combining the shovels into a ‘nut’.

  6. I have little to report.
    I’ve been slowly working my way through the albums I’ve enjoyed the most this year. Do I still like them? If so how much? I installed a new CDT a few weeks ago so CD playback has been ruling the roost. They sound just that bit better to my ancient ears than streamed files. I could expound at length as to why I believe that to be so but I won’t because truth be told I have no really firm reason why. They just do. Anyhow lots of old favourites have been taken out for a spin along with the aforementioned newer stuff. Most enjoyable all in all.
    I started watching Gangs of London after finishing off Succession and what a contrast it is. GoL is for those who have not had the dubious pleasure is complete hokum and possibly the single most gratuitously violent TV I’ve ever watched. It’s elicited more than one or two gasps and winces from yours truly and I’m not usually inclined that way. Also Bad Monkey is entertaining but I can’t help scratching my head in surprise at just how unconvincing an actor Vince Vaughn is. It’s the first time I’ve watched him in anything that I can recall. Is he always this wooden or am I missing his obvious greatness?
    A few books were consumed. The now obligatory Maigret along with The Great Sea a rather long but most informative and entertaining history of the Mediterranean Sea by David Abulafia. Another couple from the Booker shortlist, Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner and Orbital by Samantha Harvey. I enjoyed both especially Orbital. I finished William Boyd’s latest Gabriel’s Moon on Friday it’s very entertaining. Spies and spying to the fore. A bit Eric Ambler with a smidgen of Le Carre but ultimately very William Boyd. Now reading mostly spooky stuff and yet more Naomi Klein.
    As my world has shrunken to the confines of my flat I find myself longing for conversation especially as I am a verbose bugger when given the opportunity so I signed up for the Age UK friendship line. Every week a lovely young volunteer phones me up and I get to bore them for ten minutes about jazz. It’s something I’ve rapidly come to look forward to. Loneliness is a bugger, without this I basically wouldn’t get to talk to another living soul for months on end.

    • I’m prepared to bet that those young volunteers fight amongst themselves to be the one to phone you. I love the fact that somewhere there are some young people now boring their friends in the pub about how unbelievable John Coltrane is…

  7. My month.

    Out and About:
    October 4th, Dave Holland (double bass) & the Academy Jazz Orchestra at the Royal Academy of Music’s Susie Sainsbury Theatre, Marylebone Road. £10 plus booking fee.
    October 5th, Artie Zaitz (guitar), Deschanel Gordon (electric & acoustic pianos) plus bass & drums at the Bear Club in Luton. £15 plus fee.
    October 6th, Al Cherry (guitar), Tim Lapthorn (piano) plus sax, bass (harmonica on one) & drums at the Elephant Inn in North Finchley. £13 no fee.
    October 13th, Simon Spillett (tenor sax), Pete Whittaker (Hammond B3 organ) plus drummer at the B3 Lounge in North Finchley. £10 on door.
    October 20th, the Mintzer Dectet (2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 3 saxes (tenor doubling on flute), keyboard, bass & drums) at the Elephant Inn in North Finchley. £10 on door.
    October 25th early evening, a Tomorrow’s Warriors quintet (piano, alto sax, trombone, bass, drums) plus guest drummer Rod Youngs at Foyles Bookshop Auditorium in Charing Cross Road. £10 plus fee.
    October 25th late evening, Dex & Mercy’s Funk & Soul (guitar, saxes, keyboard, bass, drums plus singer) at the Elephant Inn in North Finchley. £5 no fee.
    October 26th, Tomorrow’s Warriors “I Am Warrior” All-Female Showcase (10-piece band with alternative pianists & drummers plus guests Eska, Camilla George, Romarna Campbell, Rosie Turton, Maddy Coombs and Cherise) at the Jazz Café in Camden. £17.50 plus booking fee.
    October 27th, Ed Bentley’s 60th Birthday Party with Pete Whittaker (Hammond B3) and Mike Outram (guitar) plus drummer. Also a guest spot by Ed himself on the B3. Free entry plus free champagne and a very well-stocked buffet.
    also
    October 11th Covid vax at doctor’s surgery.
    October 12th Flu vax at doctor’s surgery.

    On TV: Slow Horses season 4 and then Bad Monkey (Apple TV. Bad Monkey not yet completed.), 1st series of Ideal (BBC iPlayer). All very enjoyable.

    Out of my Speakers:
    Another lengthy list…
    Lucien Johnson – Ancient Relics
    Linton Kwesi Johnson – Forces Of Victory
    Sidestepper – 3AM (In Beats We Trust)
    Thomas Almqvist – Broken Tango
    Passepartout Duo – Circo Pobre
    Kenny Garrett – African Exchange Student
    Bobby Timmons – This Here Is Bobby Timmons
    Nat Adderley – Work Song
    Roland Kirk Quartet, Benny Golson Orchestra – The Roland Kirk Quartet Meets The Benny Golson Orchestra
    Tubby Hayes Quartet – The Complete Hopbine ’69
    Klaus Schulze – La Vie Electronique 5
    Terry Riley – A Rainbow In Curved Air
    Kinkajous – Nothing Will Disappear
    Jackie McLean – The Blue Note Years
    Gerry Mulligan Quartet – Spring In Stockholm 1959
    Flock – Flock & Flock II
    Tyshawn Sorey Trio – Mesmerism
    Sun Ra & His Arkestra – Kingdom Of Discipline
    Gordon Beck’s Gyroscope – Progress
    Eyolf Dale, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Per Zanussi, Audun Kleive – The Space Between Two Notes
    Aaron Parks – Little Big III
    Roy Hargrove’s Crisol – Grande-Terre
    John Zorn – New Masada Quartet, Vol 3 (Live)
    Alfa Mist, Amika Quartet – Recurring (Live at King’s Place)
    The Necks – “Unfold” & “Bleed”
    Terje Rypdal – Conspiracy
    Elephant9, Terje Rypdal – Catching Fire
    Walter Smith III – Three Of Us Are From Houston And Reuben Is Not
    Avishai Cohen – Ashes To Gold
    Kevin Figes – You Are Here
    Karl Jenkins – Penumbra II
    John Taylor Sextet – Fragment
    Eternal Triangle – Gravity
    Monty Alexander – Spunky
    Junior Mance – Junior
    Kit Downes, Bill Frisell – Breaking The Shell
    Tord Gustavsen Trio – Seeing
    Clifford Brown – Hard Bop Jazz vol.1 & vol.2
    Joni Mitchell – Archives Volume 4: The Asylum Years 1976-1980
    etc.
    plus some Private Eye “Page 94” podcasts, some old “Headphone Commute” podcasts (really they’re mixtapes), bits and bobs from the 2024 BBC Proms, assorted late-night BBC Radio 3 shows, some old “Afropop Worldwide” podcasts, a few “Word In Your Ear” podcasts, some “Welcome To Night Vale” podcasts, the most recent series of BBC Radio 4’s “Add To Playlist” and some “Framework” and “Framework Afield” podcasts.

    Reading:
    I have completed re-reading the entire Mick Herron “Slow Horses” series, together with the 3 related novellas and the 3 related novels. Now reading Ambrose Parry’s (pen name of Chris Brookmyre & his wife Marisa Haetzman) “Voices Of The Dead”.

    A busy month ahead with the EFG London Jazz Festival coming up. I found myself in the unenviable position of seeing 4 different gigs that I’d like to go to on the same evening (Nov 17th) I’ll be going to see Mark Kavuma at the QEH and missing out on one at Karamel in Wood Green and one of the Jazz at the Elephant gigs in N. Finchley, plus Stanley Dee at The Half Moon in Putney.
    Finances are tight, having had to fork out for a sick computer, car aircon repair and a speeding fine recently, so I’ll be mainly going to the festival’s free gigs, of which there are quite a lot. A bit of zipping around on the tube will be required.

    • @Mike-H It’s exhausting just reading your list! I bought that Sidestepper album – 3AM (In Beats We Trust) – and enjoyed it immensely. Must dig it out again. Plus, of course, Tubby Hayes Complete Hopbine 1969. Another crossover.

  8. I don’t read books much. Lonely Planet guides to Greece and Turkey are on the coffee table.
    There is an Australian mini series called Plum about a former rugby league star coming to terms with brain damage. It is also about those around him and the code coming to terms. He also chats to Sylvia Plath and Charles Bukowski so it’s a bit different. It’s on Aussie iview.
    Gigs have been fewer since we moved to the country. Veteran virtuoso trumpeter James Morrison has put together a big band to do an Ellington show. I loves me a big band and I love Duke. Next Saturday we see Cold Chisel a stunning band over the years who had zero impact overseas.
    I have been listening to heaps of music since I recommenced doing a radio show. I am on Facebook with Scot Gavin Patterson. Some of you may know him. After he stopped doing a long running radio show he said he was just enjoying music for the sake of it. I am the other way, it is motivating to reexplore my collection, test the memory and identify connection,

  9. SEEN
    Still keepin’ busy.
    The Kate Young String Quintet at Bury Met (see above).
    Clive Carroll at the folk club. It would be fair to say that I’ve never seen so many non-members at the club; he packed them in, and it was easy to see why. The renditions, particularly of John Renbourn, but also of Bert, were of a quality more like a classical performance, and we didn’t just get Clive, we got Dariush Kanani as support and Tom Doughty’s first performance since lockdown. Quite a brilliant night; I am so proud of our club.
    Steve Hackett doing his Genesis Revisited thing, this time featuring The Lamb Lies Down. His selection of what he played off that album would not have been mine, and I came away from the setlist with the abiding impression that he would have rather being doing Selling England again. Stonking gig, all the same. As usual, the audience had the same demographic as ASLEF conference.

    DANCED
    The first weekend in October is Festival des Panards, bringing Breton rhythms to Todmorden Town Hall. Always a delight, standout performances from Cri du Canard (actually local to West Yorks), Planchee (genuinely Breton), and a match between Nigel Eaton ex-Blowzabella and on melodeon, Anna Pack, oft times collaborator with Dave Shepherd, also of Blowzabella.

    HEARD
    The new release from the abovementioned Planchee is getting heavily played. Rhythmic, discordant, distinctly lacking in prisoners having been taken, so right up my rue. Competition is from Start Close In, the new Rheingans CD. It isn’t the opening unnerving scratchy fiddle-scraping that is remarkable, it’s that a couple of minutes in, they let rip, with Anna giving her tambourin a cordes some welly. Rowan is also on manoeuvres, exploring the possibilities of adding electric guitar to the Sisters’ palate. It’s sufficiently momentous that I’d announce that the Rheingans Sisters have ‘plugged in’. It’s possibly a more accessible collection than 2020’s Receiver, less austere, but still ranges across Europe for influence; it would be reasonable to assume that Rowan and Anna are in favour of freedom of movement. But bear in mind that I like ‘austere’, and for my money, Receiver is up there with Led Zep 4 in the pantheon.
    I’ve been catching up on many of the year’s purchases, as well as ploughing through godknowshowmany Joni boxsets: Beth Gibbons, Sam Lee, Big Big Train, Hack Poets Guild. I’m particularly enjoying what I bought of Leyla McCalla following her set at Cambridge. I can’t remember what led me to Jane Weaver, though I do remember that she’s from Cheshire (it struck me that her name matched our local river); it’s an uncharacteristic purchase for me, as I buy so little rock and pop nowadays, but somehow its reminiscence of Stereolab works for me.
    Also been finding time to listen to Ian A Anderson’s monthly Podwireless, which has proved fruitful.

    READ
    Five years after having it forced into my hand by a friend, I am making progress with Citizen Clem. Political biographies are not really my thing, but what interests me most is the context in which the life sits. The details of the Dardanelles and outreach to the poverty of the east end of London tell me so much about the life of my paternal grandfather.
    I went to my niece’s first book launch last month. It’s quite stirring to read the dedication of a book and realise it’s talking about your brother.

  10. October was a month in limbo, first waiting to find out if I’m getting surgery (answer, finally: Yes), then waiting to find out when (still don’t know). Making it impossible to plan anything in advance, which I very much rely on to feel…safe I guess.
    And most of my ordered CDs got stuck in delivery limbo…

    Read:

    In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut didn’t appeal to start with, but quickly got quite fascinating and hard to put down. It reminded me of the Rachel Cusk trilogy, sort of autofiction full of dialogues between the author and different strangers they meet on journeys, but this was less repetitive (but also this is just one novel, not three, so that’s obvious).
    Told in three parts, and the third part about travelling in India with a suicidal friend was pure anxiety, but gripping. I don’t know if I would necessarily recommend it, even though I liked it a lot. It’s very annoying – both his own actions and the strange people he meet, the chokehold of the final story – but very interesting and well written (once you get into his style). My mum hated it! 😀

    Next I read the Neneh Cherry memoir A Thousand Threads, which was a pageturning and interesting read where one of the biggest takeaways for me was the portrait of her mother.
    Recommended (and mum approved).

    Now in the final pages of the Mary Beard book Emperor of Rome which I’ve been struggling with for quite a while…will be glad to be done with it! Too long, structurally a bit confusing and annoying, quite dull, and as if that wasn’t enough, I had to make do with a mediocre Swedish translation as well (because I’m my mum’s librarian these days, and she doesn’t read in English…) Nope, didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

    Heard:

    The only album getting through the delivery delays was the new album by Swedish rock icon Thåström – Somliga av oss (“Some of Us”), but I’m only on my second listen so far. It sounds like what you’d expect from him, overall fairly good, but no real standout track for me yet. It’s aslso a bit too depressing and slow, lacking the energy and anger that he’ll usually deliver. Very melancholy and tired sounding. A bit disappointing right now, hope it grows on me.

  11. Several mentions above of ‘The Body Keeps The Score’ suggest I’m not so far removed from the core of the AW as I sometimes think I am. I’m very pleased that I managed to finish reading the book this month, along with 99 A6 sheets of notes to go along with it, from which I digested down to 3-4 pages of highlights. This may seem studious or bizarre, but when I’m reading a good book on a topic new to me, I find writing down with a good cartridge nib pen the exact words of the writer helps me to digest the precise nuance of what is being said. And this book is phenomenal. It really adds to my limited understanding of brain science, of humane and socialised ways to process and meditate trauma, and indeed gives me a phenomenal lens with which to see individual and wider suffering. I can understand why it’s been on the besteller lists for so long. It’s amazingly transformative in its potential.

    I’m now starting to read ‘The Shallows’ which tackles neuroplasticity and the impact on the human mind of the Internet and social media. Should be a profound and troubling read, though hopefully with the potential for redemption and, coupled with the van der Kolk book, may lead further into my gradual mapping of the human mind.

    I watched the Ludwig series after holding off for a long while as I like/don’t like David Mitchell for being a clever comedian and a bit smug about it, if that makes sense. It was a clever piece of puzzle solving, though really made me feel it was middlebrow entertainment for a generation not yet old enough for Heartbeat and Midsomer Murders. Where were the essential sourness and dark undertones of Morse, House or Martin?

    Musically, Laurie Anderson’s new album about Amelia Earhart has kept me captivated, as has music from Valentina Merza, a Colombia cello player and electronic composer who makes delightful soundscapes. Cuckooland by Robert Wyatt and Howl by Kronos Quartet – are recent acquisitions waiting for my closer attention.

    • We enjoyed Ludwig. Despite the fact I work in IT for Policing. It’s entertainment and no one would think for a moment Ludwig would make it through Reception in Episode 1 without the artifice crumbling. Even if you’re someone’s double.

      The ‘getting onto the IT system’ bits did make me cringe so hard it changed the shape of my head though.

      Good puzzles all the same.

  12. Busy at work and at home last month so I didn’t get to see or do much
    Saw: Susan O’Neill in Glór, Ennis. A home gig for SON, an Ennis woman. She came to national attention with the great album ‘In The Game’ recorded with Mick Flannery – a big commercial and critical success here. This tour is to promote her first full album in her own right ‘Now, In A Minute’ I was new to the material as my copy had only arrived that day, but that didn’t matter a jot. Great songs performed to perfection by her excellent band (Drums / Guitar (Bass and Electric) / Keys) Keyboard player especially stood out. Susan plays guitar and trumpet and sometimes does that thing with loops where she builds up vocals / guitar / trumpet parts to a crescendo. I suspect that nobody reads my boring contributions to these threads, but if you’ve managed to get this far without falling asleep and you happen to live in London or Manchester, you could do worse than pop along to her gigs on the 15th (The Lower 3rd) and the 16th (Mother Mary’s) After that she’s off around the Northern part of the continent and back to Ireland for December. Australia in the New Year.
    I came within three hundred yards of seeing AW favourites, Hejira in the Belltable, Limerick. I was with my family having a celebratory meal in the George Hotel just down the road to mark our youngest graduating. I briefly toyed with the idea of announcing my intention of seeing a highly regarded band a few doors up, but only briefly. It would not have ended well.
    Continuing with last month’s NT Live adventures, I went to see Present Laughter with Andrew Scott, again in Glór. Farce isn’t really my thing but I was able to enjoy the actors enjoying themselves. Not hilarious and a bit over-long, but a very professional and energetic production.

    Old news to most of you, but I started watching Gangs Of London. It’s violent, isn’t it? And cruel. And tense. I will carry on with it…

  13. Read: I continue to delight in the 1940s/50s books by the late ECR Lorac / Carol Carnac (the same person, both pseudonyms) being unearthed after decades of obscurity in the British Library Crime Classics series. She was brilliant at constructing mysteries and creating an amazing atmosphere or sense of place in her writing – setting her stories often in isolated rural communities in Lancashire or Wales.

    I also re-read recently most of Tolkien authority Tom Shippey’s collection ‘Roots and Branches’, being essays and conference papers on aspects of the great man’s creations – erudite and pithy, and definitely the most readable of the top tier of Tolkien scholars of the past 50-odd years. I must re-read his masterpiece ‘The Road to Middle Earth’ (1982; later revised) soon.

    I’m currently reading Martin Davies’ series of ‘Holmes & Hudson Mysteries’ – on book 2, with three more in the pile. Mrs H bought me these and I was a bit queasy – there are a lot of second-raters in the ‘Sherlock pastiche’ game. But happily they’re well-written and cleverly imagined, with Mrs Hudson the equal of Holmes and well-connected among London society and familiar with its low life. Her young apprentice Flotsam, whose back story plays out in book 1, is the narrator of the tales. Delightful light reading in dark times.

    Heard: The fabulous Jazz In Britain label has released the triple CD ‘Progress’ by Gordon Beck’s Gyroscope (1973-74) recently comprising a cassette-only album release plus broadcasts, live tracks and rehearsals, plus the Bobby Wellins Sextet ‘Homage to Caledonia’ being live recordings made in 1979 by the late saxophone colossus. At the weekend I advance purchased JIB’s forthcoming ‘Complete Spontaneous Event’, a 2CD set of Ray Russell Quartet 1967-69 broadcasts, from the guitarist’s sharp, cool period. Amusingly, it’s an expanded reissue of the very first Jazz in Britain release (on vinyl), in 2020 – long sold out. Within five years, JIB is reissuing/expanding *its own* releases let alone those of other labels of greater vintage. It’s all a tribute to founder John Thurlow and his passion to present lost gems from the recorded if not always released (or barely released) corners of 60s/70s British jazz.

    I’ve also been listening to the sensational new debut album – 10″ vinyl – by The Hoakers, an authentic original-era punk style power trio led by Petesy Burns (bass) with Donal McCann (drums) and Guitar Marty (have a guess….). The trio emerged out of Petesy Burns’ ARSE – determinedly a punk covers act – when it transpired that Donal was suddenly writing sensational originals. Big Dave, the fourth member of ARSE, had some other things going on, hence the Hoakers are a trio. A recent launch gig in Bangor was terrific, if modestly attended, and I’m looking forward to a Belfast show on November 23. Similarly, I look forward on November 16 to seeing punk legend – of a slightly shinier, poppier sort to Petesy, but certainly drawing from the same well – Dave McLarnon’s Shock Treatment plus guests (including Anthony Toner) playing Portrush Playhouse in a tribute show to a 1979-81 era venue in the town called Spuds. Anthony Toner’s latest mini-album ‘Earlyriser’ – acoustic guitar instrumentals – is quietly glorious.

    All of the above releases can be found on Bandcamp.

    Seen: I enjoyed ‘Ludwig’ – not quite sure why it’s become so much of a sensation, but certainly an enjoyable light drama, in loose Doc Martin vein (awkward person versus world) if not so LOL funny or scenic. The BBC ’40 Hidden Music Gems’ (or whatever it was called) was good – I could suggest many more. Let’s hope someone on the inside does so. A recent Chuck Berry doc on Sky Arts (made in 2018) was impressive. I missed the Sky Arts Christopher Lee doc but hope it comes around again. The Talking Pictures re-runs of early 60s ‘Edgar Wallace Mysteries’ are a joy – a fabulously shot glimpse of Britain in that era, plus many actors who would become much better known in later years (Michael Caine, John Thaw etc.). The stories are usually clever, too. I’m sure I’ve watched other things but nothing else comes to mind at the moment.

    AOB: Lots of AOB, I think. I recently felt the universe telling me to get on with at least a vol.1 of my long-gestating book on Big Pete Deuchar (1933-88), a Tyneside 50s jazz character with a remarkably colourful life and family background. He wandered into research on my John McLaughlin book in 2014 and I started to pull the thread to see where it would lead. I’ve ended up creating an elaborate embroidery – or rather the first half of one. Having not had time to work on it in over three years, I’m now a couple of weeks off completing the tale up to 1960 and I’m delighted with how it’s turning out – an obscure central figure, perhaps, but it allows the weaving of a fascinating, I believe, portrait of Britain in the 50s, plus visits to New Orleans and Germany. I will have it published in a small way in spring 2025. Afterword legend in absentia Faux Geordie may well be involved in aspects of the design, I’m thrilled to say.

    Similarly, after a phone call from Robin Dransfield a couple of months ago, in which he happened to mention Dick Gaughan, I felt the universe compelling me to explore the possibility of creating a box set to bolster his legacy, fill a notorious gap in his currently available discography and of course generate some extra just reward for the artist in his retirement – which was brought early, in 2016, by a stroke. I’m very excited about where things are at currently around the box set research and planning, and delighted to say that Dick is on board. It will span 1966-83. I hope to pitch a very compelling case to a label in a couple of weeks.

    There are a few other recently initiated archive projects also in progress (Bert Jansch, Duffy Power) for next year, and I’m involved in what’s turning out to be a very inspiring, soulful and powerful new album by former Burning Codes/Gears mainman Paul Archer, a good pal from the Belfast bar scene in the 90s, pencilled in for release on a US vinyl label in spring next year.

    • Must concur with your positive remarks re: John Thurlow and his Jazz In Britain label.
      The excellent deal for digital-only subscription patrons has unfortunately had to increase in price, from £30 to £48 but is nonetheless still a bargain. I will be renewing when my current subscription ends.
      As a subscriber, the entire Jazz In Britain back catalogue, which is pretty extensive, can be downloaded from their bandcamp “shop”. Including some subscriber-only releases.

      I’ve recently downloaded the two Gordon Beck and Bobby Wellins releases but have yet to hear them. Looking forward to the Ray Russell album when it arrives.

  14. Seen

    Arooj Aftab was great at the Aviva Studios in Manchester – very cool, and her voice is every bit as miraculous live as it is on record.

    Couple of trips to the cinema. ‘The Substance’ fell apart a little in the final twenty minutes when it went full on bonkers even by it’s own somewhat far fetched premise. But it was a very enjoyable film that managed to be both funny and angry about sexism and misogyny in the tv business. Any Almodovar is worth checking out and his first English language film, ‘The Room Next Door’ was no exception. Not one of his very best, and very much an issue based film (in this case voluntary euthanasia) but it looked great, and Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore were as good as you’d expect them to be.

    Read

    Finished ‘Long Players’, a compilation of pieces from the New Statesman when well known writers are asked to write about an album that shaped them. It’s a light read and some of it is a bit formulaic, but there are some good pieces- Tracey Thorn on ‘Innervisions’, and David Mitchell on Joni’s ‘Blue’ for example. David Hepworth chooses Randy Newman’s ‘Sail Away’, and Clive James ‘Duke Ellington at Newport’ – although there is surprisingly little jazz, and even less classical. Good excuse to go back to some great records, like the three mentioned above, or ones which are generally regarded as great but just haven’t cut through for me, like ‘OK Computer’ (nope, still not convinced).

    Heard

    A lot of old, mainly classical, and some records prompted by the ‘Long Players’ book above. Only brand new record I have listened to is Laura Marling’s ‘Patterns in Repeat’. Too soon to be definitive about it, but after a somewhat neutral first impression, it is really growing on me – it’s intimate, stripped back, understated and sounds like there is a lot of substance to uncover with familiarity.

  15. Late to this … do have so much to report, or have I spent a week trawling my brain for “stuff I’ve done” in October”

    Read
    * Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story – a properly good read, one forgets how quick it rose and fell. But it’s legacy continues.
    Irony alert: a co-operative founded on socialist principles wins Jerry Dammers Businessman Of The Year and a report on Nationwide under the banner “Thatcher-esque entrepreneurs”.
    Needless to say, much of the soundtrack this month has be Two Tone.

    Seen
    * Showtrial on BBC was the best series I’ve seen for a while (series 2 better than series 1) – twisty, turny, binge watchable.
    * Ben Elton Live on Prime – 2022 show (his first for 15 years). He’s still a bit angry, makes valid points to get one thinking, but does have a distracting tendency to jerk around on stage (never looks comfortable)

    Heard
    * Quireboys – Wardour Street. Reconvened, Spike fronted band, with Stones/Faces near nicks and melodies. All very good stuff, but the best is the duet with Frankie Miller.

    … and that’s the only NEW
    OLD this month has been 2 Tome (see above) and the recent thread of Northern Irish music I’ve been loading up on Taste, Rory Gallagher, Them, Van Morrison (still don’t “get” Astral Weeks”), and a CD I found in a dusty part of the collection by Eire Apparent (it’s very good, and if I’d found it sooner would’ve posted a track or two)

  16. Read, I bought the Joe Boyd book’ And the Roots of Rhythm Remain ‘ in September when I saw Joe in London with Brian Eno. I finally finished it. Massive tome an enjoyable and interesting read I just wish there had been a glossary in it, so I could have checked up on the instruments and music styles therein.

    Saw: Joe Boyd again at Manchester Literature Festival talking about a different part of the book. At least I didn’t have to carry the book home this time. Read nothing else as it took all my time.
    Pontefract to see Arthur Brown talking about The Crazy World of Arthur Brown lp fascinating night finishing off with him singing I Put a Spell on You. Still has a great voice. Sat directly in front of the flaming helmet, obviously not worn atop the head as the ceiling was too low.
    Ashley Hutchings and Becky Mills in a hall above Hebden Bridge. It was OK.

    Watched television Ludwig and quizzes and Gone Fishing.

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