Apologies for the late arrival – yesterday was a day out this wonderful event, Guitar Dreams
https://www.guitarmadeeasybytony.com/guitar-dreams
so I was distracted
Anyway, please gather round and do the needful!
Blogger Takeover CXXIII
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I’ll write some more about it later, but a glorious day of guitar geekery, including this joyful short set from Guthrie Trapp – https://youtu.be/wZrZKJ5SCq4?t=6623
FILM
I Care a Lot (2020)
I really enjoyed this, my favourite film seen this month. “A crooked legal guardian (Rosamund Pike) who drains the savings of her elderly wards meets her match when a woman she tries to swindle turns out to be more than she first appears.” (IMDB). I thought the plot was pretty original and fun and the script was really sharp. I particularly enjoyed a scene where Pike first meets the lawyer who represents the elderly woman she’s attempting to con. He says: “In the days to come you’ll replay this conversation in your head over and over and you’re gonna wish you’d played it differently. Right now, look at what you have… a thriving business, employees, a nice face, unbroken bones, a life. When this is through, you’re not gonna have any of those things.” It is a bit silly, but excellent fun.
TELLY
Code of Silence
This series stars deaf actress Rose Ayling-Ellis who was in ‘Reunion’, which @rigid-digit wrote about last month. I kinda prefer ‘Code of Silence’ to ‘Reunion’, even though it’s a lot less gritty. I thought it had a more interesting set up: a deaf canteen worker becomes an undercover police informant due to her lipreading skills. This leads to her beginning a relationship with one of the main culprits in a crime gang. It’s set in my old university town of Canterbury, so doubly interesting for me. And, unlike in ‘Reform’ a transcription app is used (yay!). I watched it on dailymotion.com.
VIDEO
I’ve started watching The Guardian’s short series of brief documentaries ‘Along The Green Line’.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2025/jun/03/god-gave-us-israel-all-of-it-along-the-green-line-episode-1-video
Episode 1 is very similar to Louis Theroux’s documentary The Settlers in that it shows ordinary Palestinians who have suffered unconscionable injustice, in stark contrast to arrogant, entitled and deluded Israelis. I thought it was hugely hypocritical of The Guardian to show a pro-Palestinian bias at this stage, now the genocide is entering its final phase. Same goes for all the other hypocritical opportunists (looking at you, Piers Morgan) who suddenly seem to be jumping on the bandwagon of condemning Israel after having defended it for so long and smeared its critics as terrorist-sympathisers, cranks and anti-semites.
A.O.B.
I’ve had two cousins visiting me from the UK. Whenever I have visitors from the UK they always come over with the mentality of “we’re on holiday and we want to get pissed!” And they do. Every day. The current guests are both women in their late 50s, one a teacher the other a policewoman. I know full well if I stayed with either of them in the UK for a week and got stoned every day, they’d quite rightly get mighty narked, probably ask me to leave, yet they seem to think getting drunk every day is not only acceptable, but great fun. They depart today, thankfully.
Pissing it up when on holiday seems to be a default setting for some Brits. We are internationally noted for not being very good with alcohol.
Sport
Currently in no man’s land. Two weeks shy of the 1st Test v. India (whisper it, but it would appear England might not play like the Keystone Cops this summer) and, to be brutally honest, looking forward to the pre-season football friendlies. The English football team are on tonight… erm… that’s it. Oh, well done to Crystal Palace, one of the few teams in the Premier League that didn’t stink the place out last season.
Pop music
Yet another ‘keeper’ via a magazine (that’s 4 this year). This time a Roots of Grateful Dead comp. from Mojo. Most enjoyable. And I got “The Last Movie” soundtrack on CD which has just come out… I saw the film donkey’s years ago and it was nuts. The CD is a cross between “Head” and “Nashville Skyline” and “The Pipes of Pan at Joujouka” and a sort of field recording documentary thing. I like Dennis Hopper!
Cinema
Talking of absolute nuts… no, I’ll come to that later…
“A New Kind of Wilderness” – Documentary about a bereaved father raising his four children in Norway. They live in the wild and everything is very, very woke which of course means the film is very, very great. Reminded me a bit of an equally brilliant doc. called “The Nettle Dress” from a few years ago.
“E1027 – Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea” – About a designer (woman) who got no credit for her wonderful designs in the 1920s and is now revered. Plays with time, funny, beautiful to look at, highly recommended. Quite difficult to date things in it until they said it the house got vandalised… and you knew that would date it to some time in the 1970s/dire 1980s. It was the 1970s. Sure as eggs is eggs.
“The Phoenician Scheme” – I didn’t have a clue who Wes Anderson was until “The French Dispatch” (which I loved), so I saw “Asteroid City” (which I loved), and now this (which I loved). Laugh out loud funny, madder than a box of frogs, probably going to see it again next week. The opening credits (very “2001: A Space Odyssey”) are worth the price of admission alone.
“The Salt Path” – About a couple in financial crisis who walk around Devon, Cornwall etc. to get away from their woes. Adapted from a bestselling book.
It’s not bad, it’s just that it is British, and ho-hum with a bit of a Keep Calm and Carry On, Make Do and Mend vibe about it… as such, whereas great films on Screen 2 are watched by 10 people for the same price, ho-hum fare (Michael Caine as a war veteran, Dad’s Army etc.) has them queuing round the block. They do like ‘mundane’ don’t they? Still, it pays for the quality stuff.
“Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story” – I don’t much care for Edna O’Brien and I never really have, but this film is an absolute ESSENTIAL watch and I know it is currently being shown on Sky TV.
Where to begin?
Want to find out the body of men (obviously) more sexist and obnoxious than the Catholic Church? This is the film for you.
Want to know how ‘not’ to sell a house? This is the film for you.
Want to know who was the wiser out of Edna O’Brien (mid-40s) or Christine Keeler (in her teens)? This is the film for you.
This last question relates to an affair she had with an unnamed MP. You’ll have to see the film to guess who that is. Said MP wanted to be PM. He made two calamitous decisions in his pursuit of this and one eminently sensible one. He needed 2 out of 3 not 1 out of 3.
Pride of place goes to her two sons who come out of the film with supreme dignity, so respect to her for that.
Her husband? OH MY DAYS!!!!!!! You have to see this film!
What a strange woman but please let me make clear, not ‘interesting’ strange.
Amazingly, as all of this is more bonkers than the Dennis Hopper product, I went twice just to confirm some of the stuff I’d heard first time round.
Spoiler Alert: Her husband wasn’t dashing, he was a supremely dull-looking slap-head who seemed to age five years every 12 months. The letter he wrote to his 7-year-old son has to be seen to be believed.
I would highly recommend The Salt Path book which the movie is based on.
There is also Saltlines, the link-up between Peter Knight’s Gigspanner Big Band and Winn, the author. I haven’t heard the album, to be fair, usually disliking spoken word in music, but am wondering about it now, with the hubbub around the film. My wife has enjoyed the book(s). And I rather like Gigspanner.
Yep, everyone who has read it says the book it better.
The film’s not bad, it’s just a bit flat, and with each passing day since I saw it, it seems flatter somehow.
May was tiresome in many ways – I tried again to go back to work at 50%, and failed again. But this second set-back have at least gotten me a new MRI (in two weeks time) to see if there’s new information about the injury that can help them going forward. I’m in a Catch 22 situation right now, where my knee is too bad to be able to work, but too healthy (according to the MRI they did 10 months ago) to meet the criteria for getting a new knee. But since the inflammation gets worse every time I try to work, and I’m not allowed to eat any more anti-inflammatory pills, I’m stuck in a weird limbo.
But I’m on 100% sick leave again, until mid July, for now – depending on what the scan show, etc.
And after that I’ll either be on extended sick leave or take my vacation weeks (or get an operation, if I’m lucky), so either way I’m not due back at work until mid-August at the soonest.
It’s a whole mess, but at least I don’t have to go to work with excruciating pain.
I’m still in pain at home, but less so of course as I can pace myself – and avoid hours and hours of walking non-stop!
Read:
Bit of a weird month, and the two weeks when I was trying to go to work made me turn to comfort re-reads (Mansfield Park, The Enchanted April), but I did read a few new ones:
I started to read Children of Ash and Elm. A History of the Vikings by Neil Price because I read or heard something positive about it somewhere – and all of my Viking knowledge comes from what I was taught at school last century, so I figured that science would have revealed new truths about the era since then. And that’s probably true, but the biggest difference between then and now seems to be that back then they guessed with confidence and certainty, and now they say “we have these theories, but very little evidence, so everything we tell you can be wrong”. This careful attitude doesn’t help with making the book very engaging.
The book is quite interesting, but also a little too dry and too long, so I took a break in the middle, and only just picked it up again.
During that break I read and loved the classic Vicki Baum novel Grand Hotel, which I had only seen on film. Entertaining and surprisingly moving.
Then I read two books about book publishing, both Swedish and centered around two of the biggest profiles in Swedish publishing. Both were slightly disappointing, in different ways!
I’m now reading (alongside the Viking tome) the biography of Yoko Ono by David Sheff. I’m not far into it, but I find the author annoying and the structure of the book even more so. Which is a shame, since I’m genuinely interested in/a fan of the subject. Hopefully it gets better as I get further into it.
But I’m eager to get through these so I can start reading the many great books I bought from my local charity shop last week. They’ve had a useless book selection before, but since they rebuilt the store it has improved massively, and the prices have been lowered as well. So I’m always coming out of there carrying at least ten hard cover books, for next to nothing per book (and I always get at least two for free as well). This is very helpful now that I can’t afford to buy many new books! But less helpful for my bookshelf situation…
Heard:
The only new album I received in May was the cover album by Marc Almond; I’m Not Anyone. He’s a lifelong favourite of mine, one I’ll buy anything by – even though I’m not the biggest fan of cover albums. But his voice and arrangements are tip top, so I’m enjoying it. I ordered it ages ago, but delay after delay made me think I’d never receive it.
This month I’m eagerly awaiting the second Foxwarren album (Hurrah!) and a few other new ones, as well as a bunch of new releases of older albums that I don’t own.
If the Foxwarren 2 album is as good as the first one, it’ll shoot to the top of my Best of 2025 list and stay there.
Seen:
Nothing much to speak of, but I’ve started to ponder the program for my annual summer film festival (for one), and I’m coming up with a few interesting ideas. A few too many, actually, so I’ll need to cull a few of them.
I hope you get some good news on your knee situation soon, Locust.
As for your bookshelf issue, if *only* you lived in a country famous for its exports of competitively priced self-assembly bookshelves… oh, hang on… 🙂
Yes, but I’m running out of space to place any more Billys and Kallax-es! 😀
I’m thinking about refurnishing a big, deep, built-in closet where I mostly store a lot of old trash, and put a few bookshelves in there for books I don’t need to see every day.
But that would require going through and throwing out most of that old trash, and I’m not quite up for that sort of work at the moment…or at any moment in time, to be honest! I need to do it, but I’m almost glad I now have a legal excuse to postpone it for a while longer. 😉
That’s the spirit! You have a doctor’s note that says ‘Locust is suffering from procrastination. I recommended several months off work to focus on avoiding dealing with it.’
It would be fair to say it has been the shittest old month for very very many. The step dter got married on Friday, which should have been a source for celebration ( and actually is) but. But we weren’t there.
Readers of this column may recall she took a stroke some 6 years back. She made a full recovery but with some nuanced damage to her character. Effectively it wiped her empathy and affection for others. We have lived with that, relieved as her life overcame other previously unattainable, for other reasons, obstacles. So she has got a job, then an apprenticeship, gaining the required qualifications along the way. And a decent fella, leaving us to live with him, returning only to convalesce around applicable heart surgery to close the hole that caused the stroke.
6 weeks ago she announced her mother was no longer welcome at the wedding. Yes, there has been friction between them as she has distanced herself from dependency, but it was harsh to witness, experience and manage. I had been supposed to be also conducting an additional hand fasting as she had seen me more a father than her own, he now suddenly the prodigal father, with his new child bride providing the role her mother should have provided.
Yeah, I’m bitter, picking up the pieces for and around my wife, whose grief has been real and appropriate.
And please forgive my taking your advantage, as, nominally, mostly strangers. I am grateful for the vent.
Elsewhere I have reviewed a few records, watched some godawful telly, read fuck all and drunk more than I should.
Thanks for listening.
Very sorry to read this, sounds absolutely awful, and definitely worth a vent. I hope you guys have better times ahead.
I’m so sorry to hear all this Retro. I hope things improve – or that you both find ways to deal with the misery more easily.
This is heartbreaking.
Big hugs to you both.
Oh blinkin’ eck; that’s awful. Best wishes to you both. We’ll catch up at some point.
I’m so sorry G. I can only imagine the heartbreak. My heartfelt best to both of you.
I feel for you Retro sir. As the old adage goes ‘time is a great healer’
In recent years my son decided I’d wronged him and I tried to get to the bottom of it to no avail. Recently I’d thought I’d give it one last go and we are now on very good terms, normality and love has returned.
It turns out he has had mental issues and finally sought professional help which seems to have been successful. I hope for you and your wife’s sake time does heal.
We shall have to meet up it has been too long.
Sorry to hear this, Retro. Glad at least that there is somewhere you can express your frustration and disappointment. I hope the situation resolves and you and yours can renew your former relationships.
That’s awful, Retro, I’m so sorry to hear this. How good for your wife that she has your support through it but how tough for you both. All the best.
Blimey Retro, what a dreadful situation to deal with. Take care pal, and I hope things can be resolved somehow.
Thanks, all, for such kindness. We got into some cold* water today, which puts most things in perspective.
*ish, being a balmy 15 degrees in Dostill Quarry.
Glad you did the swimming today I know it does the two of you the power of good.
I feel for you, retro. Fingers crossed she softens with a bit more time.
Sorry to hear that @retropath2 – that meet up for a pint is long overdue and maybe a natter about mundane matters will be a chance to take your mind off things.
Give me a shout with some dates
Apart from sympathy, I’d offer “time is a great healer”.
My mum has two brothers and they fell out for about a decade. My mum took a side, which wasn’t wise. I, as the only nephew, became piggy-in-the-middle. Following the death of both their parents and the sudden death of one wife, they decided life really was too short to carry on with their grump.
Sometimes being piggy-in-the-middle can turn out worse for you than taking a side, with both thinking that because you won’t take their side, you’re siding with the other one.
I must admit, it wasn’t much fun. Every wedding etc was a case of “do we invite?” And lots of “please tell my brother…”
The temptation to say “FFS, grow up, the pair of you!” was strong.
That’s a difficult read Retro and I feel for you and your wife. Your rationality shines through along with how hellish it is to have to deal with. All the best to you both.
Vent away, retro – that sounds like an awful situation. I hope that you and her mother can find a way to deal with all of this.
SEEN:
Bjork’s Cornucopia, as reviewed here
DANCED:
The bread and butter of my life. A lovely day at a new venue to me, but the pattern is familiar to me – a well-equipped village hall with stage, (the essential) sprung dance floor and a kitchen. These delightful little gems pop up in the most surprising of places, this one right on the border and the first building into Wales, surrounded by lush hills in the flush of spring, which all served as a lovely backdrop to Helianthus and Anna Pack & Jo Veal. These names will mean nothing to any on the blog, I am sure, but they play beautiful tunes for dance and for that they deserve applause.
CHESTER FOLK FESTIVAL:
I was kept busy all weekend, but there is a delight in being part of the action. It does mean that you sometimes miss out on acts you’d have liked to have seen. It was the Fiftieth Festival and they had pulled the stops out – Alice Jones and Bryony Griffith (yay!), The Wilsons (awesome and undoubtedly one of my inspirations), The Melsons (folk supergroup!) – didn’t get to see any of them. But I did get to dance to dance to The Melrose Quartet. There were five of them, but never mind. They are the best band for called dances at the moment; it’s the attention to brilliant singing as well as music that lifts them above the rest. Added John Kirkpatrick to my small but perfectly formed haul of brilliant musicians that I have supported. Fabulous two voice harmony from Patakas keeps the Sartin family tradition alive.
What month is this now? They have a tendency to merge one into the next. To combat this unwelcome tendency I decided on Thursday 8th May 2025 at around 14:17 that it might be a good idea to supplement my sketchbook journals with a smaller version dedicated to my media consumption. I now write down everything I listen to, read and watch on a daily basis. So now I know with certainty just how bloody boring my life has become.
Heard.
Now because I know exactly what I’ve heard since early May I’m not going to pass my boredom on. I shall summarise which will save me time and youse lot tedium, assuming anyone bothers to read my nonsense. My listening can be neatly squeezed into a nutshell. Lots of classical. Some jazz and Fela Kuti.
Read
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
A day in the life of a ‘housewife’, a term my mam loathed. I can hear her saying “I am not married to a bloody house, I’m married to your dad”. Anyhoo back to the plot or lack of one depending upon one’s patience with character driven novels. The tale is set in a bucolic England just after the cessation of WW2 and it’s a day in the life of a middle class wife. It’s not gripping but well written and not overly long. I was drawn to it by some hack comparing it to A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr a book I am very fond of, this isn’t that.
Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith.
I saw a snail when I was attempting to pull my bin around to the front of my flat for collection and thought I know I’ll read some Patricia Highsmith. I like Patricia Highsmith. I enjoy the faintly fever dream quality that imbues her plots and characters. It’s all highly improbable yet she hooks me in everytime I read her. This was pretty typical Highsmith territory, not one of her best but entertaining nevertheless.
Black River by Nilanjana Roy.
A young girl is killed when out playing in her fathers fields. He’s a poor Indian farmer. She’s a victim of being in a familiar place at the wrong time. Ostensibly a police procedural. This is more accurately a commentary on the current state of India. It explores the power dynamics at play in a small Indian village on the outskirts of Delhi but it’s also a book about friendship, bonds of love and people’s shared humanity. It’s a dark book and quite distressing but not lacking in shafts of much needed light and uplift.
White City by Dominic Nolan.
I’m still reading this so I will say little about it other than if you liked Vine Street by the same author you will lap this up. More post war London based criminal lowlife shenanigans. Terrific stuff.
Other stuff.
Juice by Tim Winton.
Post apocalyptic climate change dystopian goings on down under.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.
Minor Russian aristocrat is sentenced to house arrest in a Moscow hotel. Stuff happens. It’s a lovely read.
Maigret and the Tramp by Georges Simenon. It’s become habitual for me to read a Maigret a month. Picked at random this was May’s selection.
Seen.
Apart from the finals of Mastermind and University Challenge it’s been these…
Euphoria – Series one and two.
Kids today eh?
Disclaimer.
Kids yesterday eh?
Andor – Series two.
Star Wars spin off from Rogue One. Actually not crap.
The Four Seasons – Series one.
Not at all bad, surprisingly. My God but Alan Alda looks old.*
*Looks in a mirror goes oh.
FA Cup Final. I had no dog in the fight but why not?
Bosch Legacy – Series three.
It was Bosch. It was predictable.
Death Valley – Series one.
Good in parts. Raised the odd smile and at least two laughs. Harmless fun. I enjoyed it.
Severance – Series two.
I’m still watching this. My progress was slowed down by…
Dept. Q
Romped through this. A Netflix offering that wasn’t mildly disappointing. Hopefully more will be made.
Poker Face – Series one.
Still watching. Episode five is next up. Enjoyable undemanding fun.
A.O. B.
Still no news about a hip replacement which doesn’t surprise me one little bit. It’s getting increasingly painful the consequence of which is I remain effectively housebound. Apart from one hospital appointment in Wrexham I haven’t ventured further than a mile from home in over two years. It’s distressing, frustrating and depressing but nothing can be done about it except to accept the situation and carry on with fingers crossed that at some future time something will change for the better.
I speak to my old and very dear friend Michael every week for a couple of hours on the telephone. I am extremely grateful for this. Life is very lonely.
Stay well everyone. My blessings to you all.
Mollie Panter-Downes is a bit of an acquired taste. I haven’t read One Fine Day, but her wartime short stories are an entertaining read. I’ve also read her lengthy wartime London diaries, written largely for American consumption. On the one hand they reveal much about day-to-day life during the phoney war and the Blitz, but they are written from the perspective of a very well-to-do woman with a terribly British stuff and nonsense view of the beastly Nazis, who you sense never really got her hands particularly dirty throughout it all.
Panter-Downes was new to me and as I mentioned I only took an interest due to what turned out to be an almost entirely erroneous likening to A Month in the Country. It is all very stiff-upper lippy. Her depictions of working class characters are laughably bad and speak of a highly privileged woman whose understanding of others lives outside of her accustomed purlieu is extremely narrow. Nice writing though.
A Month In The Country is indeed a very lovely book. The screen adaptation, with Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh, was quite a nice adaptation as far as I recall.
I’ve never seen the film. Truth be told I was unaware of it having been adapted for the screen for some time after I had first read the book. I’m not sure I wish to watch it. I always feel a degree of trepidation when faced with a film adaptation of a much loved book. I don’t think I am alone in feeling this way. A Month in the Country along with A Winter in the Hills by John Wain are close to my heart due to them being the two books I randomly turned to when my wife died so they are replete with very personal memory for me quite apart from what they are or are not as texts.
Hard to believe Mollie Panter-Downs was the real name of a real person and not the love-interest in a Wodehouse novel.
Read: just the one book The Marble Hall Murders, Anthony Horowitz mentioned on another post a most enjoyable read and looking forward to the television adaptation as there a quite a few places mentioned that I’ll recognise.
Two concerts; Sons of Cream at the Cat Club Pontefract in a room that holds 35 people superb musicianship even a drum solo. I’d planned to see Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band because an ex pupil of the school I worked at plays trombone with them. Unfortunately my hip and knee in my sciatica leg was playing up so I couldn’t drive in. Out of the blue his parents decided to go so they messaged me and offered a lift. I’m glad they did another excellent night.
Television: Mastermind and University Challenge finals; Death Valley amusing seems to have been a touch marmitey either hated or loved. I enjoyed it. Doctor Who which has already been mentioned on these pages, Curate’s Eggy, I enjoyed the behind the scenes programmes more.
Film: just the Phoenician Scheme which was very Wes Anderson. I’m glad I saw it but maybe I’m Wessed out.
Mostly I was on holiday in May – to Malta by train (ok the last bit was a ferry). Then a festival.
So, Listened: Bearded Theory festival. Excellent. Iggy, Yard Act, Lottery Winners, Kristen Hersh, Sisters of Mercy, Ash… Yes most of the audience is in 50s/60s though may be accompanied by kids/grandkids…. Very civilised.
AND Martha Wainwright 20th anniversary tour – excellent, with a lot of chat between the songs of what it all meant (and the challenge of being in that family).
James live at the Acropolis – pleasant enough but not earth shattering.
Read: Miki Berenyi’s book Fingers crossed ahead of her (cancelled) appearence at Bearded Theory. Gosh, for once the stuff before they formed the band is just as (or more) interesting than the band stuff. Heck of a life.
And V by Pynchon because of Malta. I’d forgotten how good it is.
A History of the World in 47 borders by John Elledge – one of those books that is great to dip into which make you feel you have learned something (but maybe not much) or smug because you already knew it. Either way very enjoyable for a long train journey.
TV: since we got we watch Wheel of Time -first few episodes really drag and are rather generic despite the luminous Rosamund Pike. But when it gets going it is great (if you like that sort of thing of course). Gutted there wont be a 4th season,
AND Doctor Who – still got 3 to go but I really dont see what people have been complaining about. As good as it gets.
Seen
Two gigs by a couple of 75 year olds, born just a few weeks apart from each other. Bruce Springsteen and Bonnie Raitt are both out there still doing it with consummate professionalism and brilliance, and their musical and vocal chops are in remarkable shape. Playing at the Manchester Apollo a couple of weeks after Bruce opened his European tour in the same city and his condemnation of Trump went around the world, Bonnie endorsed everything he had said, before going into a surprising and brilliant version of Annie Lennox’s Little Bird –
‘But my, my, I feel so low,
My, my, where do I go?
My, my, what do I know?
My, my, we reap what we sow’
Also saw Cat Power, reviewed in a separate post.
And whilst on holiday in the South West we saw The Haar at the Barrelhouse in Totnes. They are a superb Anglo-Irish four piece – vocal, fiddle, bodhran, accordion, who specialise in often radical versions of classic old songs – Whiskey in the Jar, Carrickfergus, The Wild Rover, etc. On record it can seem a little overwrought at times but live they are terrific, and bring a fascinating combination of traditional folk, classical, and jazz influences, delivered particularly by the sublime voice of Molly Donnery and the brilliant violin playing of Adam Summerhayes.
Heard
Of the new records I have heard this year, Lucy Dacus’ ‘Forever is a Feeling’ is the one I’ve gone back to the most. It feels a real step up from her last solo album, and she has built on the success of her boygenius collaboration, aided by Blake Mills’ contribution to a characteristically subtle production. It complements Dacus’ warm alto voice perfectly. This is an album full of love songs and it beautifully captures the exhilaration, the discovery, and the anxiety of a new relationship.
Read
As posted separately, Jeremy Eichner’s Time’s Echo is a brilliantly readable account of a number of classical composer’s musical responses to the horrors of the Second World War and the Holocaust. Highly recommended to anyone interested in music’s place in our reckoning with historical events. And to anyone who believes, as surely most of us do, that music isn’t just an entertainment that stands outside time and place, but it matters and both colours and is coloured by the context in which it is made and in which we hear it.
I’ve had a bit of a film blitz this month so I can finally contribute a bit. Trying to keep up with number one son who’s doing film and drama at Exeter.
FILMS
The Beach Boys – Standard doco but hey hey it’s the Beach Boys.
Lee – Fantastic biopic about Lee Miller thoroughly recommended. Best film I’ve seen in a long while.
Elton John Never Too Late – Meh.
Moonage Daydream – Does a good job of delving into the Dame and has some great concert footage.
A Real Pain – Culkin is excellent. Warm and witty. Maybe not as good as the reviews.
The Holdovers – Heart warming and charming. Again not sure it’s Oscar material but Paul Hunman is excellent.
Dune – Not bad and I’m no Sci Fi fan.
Becoming Led Zeppelin – Better than average doco. Their enthusiasm after all these years shines through. Hopefully it’s the start of a series.
The Banshees of Inishirin – Superb and quirky Farrell and Gleason are perfect together. Keoghan is excellent.
The Commandants Shadow – Very moving account of Aushwitz by a survivor and the grandson of the camp commandant. Fine documentary.
They shall not grow old – Masterpiece by Jackson I was particularly impressed by the sound editing.
One to one John and Yoko – Didn’t learn much from the phone calls but the concert footage is excellent.
The ballad of Wallis island – Loved it. So heart warming, original and funny.
Bird – UK Indy films are alive and well. Really enjoyed it Keoghan and debutant Nykya Adam’s are both superb.
Searching for sugar man – Wonderful doco been meaning to watch for a long time. A bit economical with the truth but a lovely film.
Sinners – Zombie films aren’t my thing … but there is one scene half way through that made it all worth watching.
Warfare – Evidently war is a bit fucking grim. Does what it says on the tin superbly well.
Eephus – A study of middle America and the national game. Loved it. Reminded me of all those films like last picture show.
20 days in Mariupol – I cried so much. An almost impossible watch. A film but also a record for the ages. Incredible.
BOOKS
Decided to read the bible start to finish every day. Finished all the Josephat begat Methusalah stuff. *spoiler alert* it doesn’t go well for Lots missus.
TV
Watching the Vietnam War by Ken Burns. He really is alone in his field … no pun intended. I’m really learning a lot. Mainly that if someone is introduced as “Bubba Leibovitz from Stallions Knob Illinois was a choir boy at his local church” then it isn’t going to end well.
Punctuation and grammar klaxon … I’m not actually reading the bible from start to finish every day.
Although I have taught myself to speed read … I read Dr Zhivago in half an hour … I think it was about Russia (W. Allen 1975).
I agree with some of your film verdicts (Banshees, Sugarman), felt perhaps more enthusiastic appreciation of Moonage Daydream than you and less enthusiastic regarding Warfare. But the one I didn’t like so much was The Holdovers (bit of a typo in your review, Clive – Paul Giamatti is the actor, Paul Hunham the character). I thought it could have been a decent film but Dominic Sessa (as Angus Tully) was miscast. He wasn’t a bad actor in the part, but he was 20 at the time and looked older than his age. I thought the whole film would have worked better for me if they’d used someone who looked under 18.
SEEN
Some good gigs in May. I went with my firstborn son Craig and his family to the Manchester Apollo to celebrate his birthday by watching The Flaming Lips perform Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots in the first half plus a load of their big tunes in the second. Craig & I plus a few pals saw them touring the Yoshimi abum in 2003 at the same venue. The difference this time round was in the tech: amazing laser lighting and a colossal backdrop screen which was always changing but also projected each line of the lyric in huge font just as Wayne was singing it, which meant you could sing along often if you didn’t know the song. The balloons, streamers and the daft furry animals were still there but this time we also had giant inflatable pink robots each with a stagehand behind to make it dance. My daughter in law described the whole thing as a 3 hour fever dream which summed it up perfectly.
At the end of the month Mrs B and I went down to the big city to see I’m With Her playing their only UK gig of their new album tour at The Barbican. They were absolutely wonderful, standing close together on a small rug playing & singing around a single mic. They played a single set of 1hr 20 mins and I was very happy to be there.
In between I saw a splendid gig at my local village hall, namely The Zimmermen who formed about 25 years ago as a Dylan tribute in East Lancashire. They were terrific and played a load of material from various parts of Bob’s career including big singalongs of Wagon Wheel and Handle Me With Care.
HEARD
4 purchases this month and all good ones: The new Granny’s Attic CD which is their usual high standard. The New Merry Hell “Rising of the Bold” which is them doing what they do best. The new Thea Gimore album of covers. And I’m With Her’s 2nd album in their 10 year career, Wild and Clear and Blue, produced by Josh Kaufman from Bonny Light Horseman.
Well jell about the I’m With Her gig.
And can’t argue with the quality of your CD purchases, having all those also.
Read
The Wanted by Robert Crais
This LA-set detective thriller is good, tense stuff with well drawn characters. It does feature both first and third person narrative voices which always throw me out of a book.
The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
This is a country house murder mystery entwinned in a time looping sci-fi tale. Sadly I found it rather a grind. I read to the bitter end out of a feeling of duty rather than enjoyment.
Come Closer by Sara Gran
A slippery little novel that, taken on face value, seems to be about a young woman whose life unravels after she is possessed by a vindictive, malicious demon. But there seems much more going on with this novel – and has more in common with the likes of Angela Carter than Stephen King.
Seen
Thunderbolts*
Another insipid, peril free entry in the MCU.
Cobra Kai
There is something strangely touching about this show, a very late follow up to the original Karate Kid movies. In it, Daniel and Johnny are a pair of middle-aged men still haunted/inspired/constrained by things they did as young men in the 80s. And they are played by Ralph Maccio and William Zabata, a pair of middle aged men whose acting careers were defined by the roles they took as young men in the 80s.
The acting and scripts can be clunky, the action set pieces often wildly improbable, but there are occasions when the emotion peeks through and hits home – the scene where Johnny confronts his father figure / nemesis and tearfully lays out a lifetime of hurt is properly moving. Hugely enjoyable hokum.
Mission Impossible, the Final Reckoning.
Yep, it’s got too much exposition and Tom Cruise’s messiah act is wearying.
But once it gets going, it is wonderfully entertaining. The 2 big set pieces are either unbearably tense (Tom in a flooded submarine that is rolling towards an abyss) or eye-poppingly crazed (Tom hanging from and clamouring around a couple of bi-planes as they swoop over an African landscape).
Whilst Cruise is rarely anything other than sincere and straight arrow (tough to do when he’s dressed just in his pants for whole swathes of the movie), plenty of the minor characters (i.e., everyone other than Tom) revel in hamming it up as they deliver their portentous / daft dialogue. Ridiculous, and ridiculously entertaining – well worth seeking out at the cinema.
Three days late, but no more to report than before
Heard:
2 new this month, and both very good
* Sparks – Mad. Yes, it can get a bit wearing finding a title and a following line and then repeating it (my only real lyrical criticism of this album) but the underlying music and delivery ensure all is forgiven.
* Pulp – More. On the whole, magnificent
Old
* picked up a triple CD Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band. I now begin to understand Kevin’s hero worship. OK, all of the energy may not have made it onto record, but you get a real feeling of being back in 68 in a sweaty club
* I’ve owned Raindogs and Swordfishtrombones for several years. I’ve now added Frank’s Wild Years for the trilogy, and now starting to finally “get” this Tom Waits bloke.
Seen:
* Code Of Silence – as said above, a well constructed story, and props to Rose Ayling-Ellis for her acting as good as any other in the cast (not “a deaf person acting”)
* Death Valley – more cosy Agatha Christie style mysteries set-up and solved in 40 minutes. Tim Spall is surely one of the best actors of this time, and whilst not exactly being challenged in this role, turns in an impeccable performance.
* Dept Q – 3 episodes in, and thoroughly enjoying it.
Read:
Mojo
AOB:
This month, I paid off my mortgage. No balloons, no fanfare, just the letter saying “All done”. I was expecting it to be more of a sigh of relief milestone, but just move on (only this time with a bit of hoped for contentment).
I saw Geno back when it was still the Civic Hall in Guildford, going with Dad; I think it may have been one of the very few shows Mum came to as well.
It has led to me now saying, whenever, there’s leftovers or someone isn’t present for a meal “moooore chicken for Geno”
A genuinely great night out with a fantastic showman
Possibly the best gig of my life – Geno at Aberdeen Beach Ballroom 1968…
“Back in ’68 in a sweaty club/Before Jimmy’s Machine and The Rocksteady Rub…”
You were there too?
You are Kevin Rowland, Lodey, and I claim my five pounds.
Must admit I went along somewhat reluctantly with my mate Jim who was a proper soul boy unlike me with my long hair, army coat and love beads. Nothing changes, I was 100*% Wrong. Electrifying from the start and just got better and better. The wooden dance floor was springing like a trampoline. First gig I attended where the chants were straight off the football terraces – “Geno, oh Geno ..”
Northern soul music is intoxicating, especially live.
I can ballroom dance, but I can’t do all that high-octane stuff with the talc. I wish I could, but I’m sweaty after a ballroom Jive.
Music
Not much to report this month. Sounds & Colours online Latin culture magazine has been providing my new music input with Cybertropicó by Disstantes, a band from Rio being my sole purchase, their music described as “an unconcerned stew of genres but always built on a foundation of rap and hardcore, while throwing in elements of reggae, electronics, regional beats, in this case baile funk, and acidly critical lyrics”
https://disstantes.bandcamp.com/track/disstantes-rica-fator-100
Not everyone will take to the rough sound, but I love the raucous din.
Much more gentle on the ear is ‘The Vessel’ by Jaime Ospina, expatriate Colombian member of the Texas band, Superfónicos. A multi-instrumentalist, his main instrument is the flute, but it’s very flowing and harmonious here (sometimes I find the flute quite piercing and jarring) set against the sumptuous rhythms. Worth a listen, and something I may pay Bandcamp for, soon enough.
https://jaimeospina.bandcamp.com/album/the-vessel-la-vasija
Reading
I’ve started reading a book on consciousness (Being You by Anil Seth). So far there’s more focus on philosophy than on neuroscience, but it is settling in on some interesting scientific experiments on the difference between brain activity and awareness/awakeness. Interesting to read against the backdrop of the thoughtful comments kind AWers have dropped in on the AI thread.
A lot of my reading has been on Substack this month. A bit haphazard in terms of quality and trustworthiness in terms of content, there is a whole world of ideas being put out on there, though with the current and ongoing polycrises, not so much that is hopeful. Balancing that with Bluesky has been a good mix of the somewhat esoteric and the more down to earth.
Podcasts
Substack has led me to a couple of interesting new feeds:
– The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens is a podcast that explores the systems science underpinning the human predicament. Lots on climate change, psychology, biodiversity, AI – the first episode on the perception of risk and nuclear threat suggests it’s worth pursuing.
Point of Relation with Thomas Hubl ”illuminates the path to collective healing at the intersection of science and mysticism’. It’s slightly precious, but the episodes with Bessel van der Kolk and with Gabor Mate, and particularly with Frederic Laloux (on non-hierarchical structures and on processing the reality of environmental disaster) give space for their intriguing ideas to be shared and understood.
Live (almost)
I had the chance to go and see The Flaming Lips (on the same tour that Vince above mentions). I didn’t go – ticket price, week night, WWII bomb defusing in Cologne – but a colleague told me it was great. I’ve got a gig-going buddy (offered me tickets to The Bad Plus last Saturday, also didn’t go) – I am hoping that might persuade me out of my long drought of live music.
Late to the party as ever (my life story…) and things have been a bit all over the place, (some of this stuff isn’t from early June) but here goes:
Seen
Grace, with John Simm. Decent britcop stuff but is it just me or is John Simm becoming increasingly expression free and well, a bit wooden?
Slow Horses, Garry Oldman in slightly hammy mode vehicle, but despite that I love it. Wonderful stuff.
Heard
Pulp “More”. Stately. Reminds me of their final album “We Love Life” but I liked that a lot. This isn’t as good even if it has its moments… Jarvis was always much better in underdog mode and however hard he tries, he just isn’t that anymore.
The Ting Tings “Home.” Can’t quite believe I’m writing about a new Ting Tings album, especially in 2025 but Pete Paphides shared their then new single “People Do Bad Things” earlier this year saying look out for the new album as it sounded promising. He’s right…like the aforementioned single the album as a whole is a lovely, tuneful, sun-dappled late 70s delight that’ll be getting a lot of play during our campervan travels this summer. Think Fleetwood Mac, or a less obviously glitterball Abba.
Dr Robert and Matt Deighton “The Instant Garden” is a thoughtful and very spontaneous sounding album from the Blow Monkeys and Mother Earth frontmen. Echoes of T Rex alongside their usual reflective stuff make this an interesting headphones listen when doing some admin sat in the garden recently.
Read
John Harris’ “Maybe I’m Amazed” is an excellent book covering the relationship he has with his autistic son through music, especially The Beatles. As an ex Special Educational Needs Specialist Teacher/Manager I found this a fascinating if somewhat frustrating read.
Jason Disley’s “The Desired Article” promised to be a thorough look at different aspects of male fashion and style but I found it all rather surface skimming across well-trodden paths. There’s a much more in-depth book to be written there I think.
AOB
I’m now in the third month of self-employment, having left the Education field in November after 30 years. I just couldn’t take it any more…idiot management, lack of funding and completely unreasonable targets just made it a misery so when a settlement was proposed I grabbed it with both hands. I am easily the happiest I have ever been at work…my little business selling vintage clothes has just opened its second space/unit and is going well. I can do this for a good few years now and must be much easier to live with! Next thing will be to try and come off the medication my last job caused me to need…
The very best of luck, Nick – education: a monument to Kafka. Being happier and being your own boss is a terrific step!
A monument to Kafka sums it up superbly Colin! Cheers for the good wishes.
re: John Simm becoming expressionless – could possibly be his character having all sorts of inner turmoils that he just exists in a cloak of coldness.
Then again, re-watching Life On Mars recently his expressions haven’t changed too much – just the odd wrinkle developing.
Out of curiosity, what was frustrating about the John Harris book? It’s in my TBR pile, and my Psychology graduate Offspring wants a read when I’ve done with it.
I should clarify a bit. As someone who worked in the field, I can obviously completely see how frustrated John Harris and his wife got with the “education system.” It must have felt so frustrating. But trust me when I say that most schools WANT to help, it’s just that to give the correct support, schools need funding to get the right support staff in. And the actual pay for such staff is usually pretty dire anyway, so they are extremely hard to recruit even when such funding gets agreed. The result is a constant tension between parent expectation, feeling guilty yourself because as the practitioner yourself you want to try and help, but can’t always immediately respond in the way parents want. Quite frankly I’m glad I’m no longer in that position of having to be the go between.
Thanks. The Offspring starts a one-year contract at a SEN primary school in September, I think she’s going to find it a culture shock. And she’s unlikely to ever hit the trigger point for paying back her student loan (or me for her car).
Finished the 2nd season of The Bear finally, a truly excellent season even if I found the season finale slightly underwhelming. The When Bruce Springsteen came to Britain documentary was magnificent, captured the times I knew (especially the 80s tours) perfectly, David Hepworth showed up amongst other luminaries (Gabriel, Sting), poor guy was filmed in such a way to make him appear to be about 3 feet tall. Otherwise some good episodes of EastEnders and a few bad ones. Quite a few YouTube videos
On other thread I mentioned I have been listening to some live albums, Wilco Live (Orange) which is a streaming only release. It’s brilliant of course. Then the John and Yoko RSD EP (got it discounted), it is still rather average despite much improved sound quality compared to the 80s Live in NYC release. Then the Springsteen Land of Hope and Dreams EP (the YouTube version), really excellent. Otherwise Beth Gibbons related stuff mainly.
I didn’t really read anything that wasn’t online
I went to 2 sort of tribute bands, The Musical Box reported here and ExTC which is a trio playing XTC songs that includes original drummer Terry Chambers, playing in a pub sized venue (the Rainbow Bistro in downtown Ottawa) they were very good.
I went to that show with a close friend who is the biggest XTC fan I know, he has been fighting cancer for a couple of years and has been through multiple operations and chemo courses. He informed me at the gig that he has reached the “put affairs in order” point and has been given another 2 or 3 months. He is only 49 and has 2 teenage girls. Brutal, upsetting news for him, his family and his friends. So so unfair. I drank too much, I hugged him, told him I loved him, I danced to the band and I cried. I am still crying. Fuck cancer.
Forgot about that Brooce doc – I too watched it, and rued the fact that I was too young for his heyday, too married and skint for the late 80s and 90s, and too lazy to get off my arse to go see him now.
Great doc, great shows, great band, great person (see the bit he did for the Miners Strike – never knew about that til now)
Sorry to read that about your mate Dai. I wholeheartedly agree Fuck Cancer.
Thank you
Yeah, same as Mr Squeezer I’m sorry to hear about your friend Dai. The news he received is truly devastating.
Thanks. Can still hope they are wrong and a miracle can happen
“Put affairs in order”.
We know the phrase and shudder. Terrifying stuff. Make a will, basically, isn’t it? And log your collection on Discogs.
Seen
A quiet month with just one gig, a solo set from John Bramwell at Colchester Arts Centre. I loved I Am Kloot so was more than happy to have lots of old, including Your Favourite Sky, probably one of my top ten most played songs ever, among the newer material. JB was in relaxed and happy form, bantering with the crowd and taking requests. Part of the appeal of I Am Kloot was the opportunity to wallow in introspective gloom when that felt necessary but he seems to have found a happier place in his life and his art and if that is that case I’m delighted for him.
On TV Clarkson’s Farm returned and continued to defy those of us who always thought of Jeremy Clarkson as a tiresome boor not to find something at least a bit likeable in him. I can see why the protracted business of opening his pub was given so much prominence to shake up the formula, now on its fourth season, but I thought there was too much pub and not enough farm and splitting the themes didn’t do either of them justice.
Heard
Not a music recommendation, but the BBC podcast Titanic – Ship of Dreams is excellent. You know how the story ends of course, though the later episodes include the ongoing stories of survivors, but this filled in a lot of detail in the run up to the disaster which was new to me.
If you like Kloot, are you aware of the recent album by the bassist in the band, Peter Jobson. burn the Ration Books of Love. it is pretty good (and, to my ear, better than Bramwell.)
I wasn’t but will seek it out now. Thanks.
My May ’25 recorded music listening:
Various Artists – The Blue Note Tone Poet playlist, on Qobuz. (133 assorted tracks).
The Utopia Strong – The BBC Sessions.
Marina Baranova – Hypersuites.
Joe Newman/Billy Byers Sextet – Byers’ Guide.
Ikue Mori – John Zorn’s Bagatelles, Vol.4.
Tigran Hamasyan, Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset, Jan Bang – Atmosphéres.
Shai Maestro – Solo: Miniatures & Tales.
Horace Tapscott Quintet – The Giant Is Awakened.
Terje Rypdal – Odyssey.
Jan Garbarek – Witchi-Tai-To.
The Free Spirits – Out Of Sight And Sound.
Charlie Shavers – Anthology – The Definitive Collection. (44 tracks)
Freddie Roach – Brown Sugar, Down To Earth, Good Move & Mo’ Greens Please.
Gil Evans – Into The Hot, Out Of The Cool, Gil Evans & Ten, Great Jazz Standards, New Bottle-Old Wine.
Miles Davis & Gil Evans – Quiet Nights.
Stan Tracey Octet – Portraits Plus.
Various – Brick Lane Jazz Festival 2025 preview playlist. (82 assorted tracks)
Duke Ellington – The Private Collection Volume Three.
Sam Rivers – A New Conception.
Dexter Gordon – Landslide.
Mick Goodrick – In Pas(s)ing.
Joe Chambers – The Almoravid.
Gary Burton, Steve Swallow – Hotel Hello.
Wolfgang Dauner – Et Cetera.
Herbie Nichols Trio – The Complete Blue Note Recordings. (48 tracks).
Marc Ribot Y Los Cubanos Postizas – S/T.
Alan Wakeman – The Octet Broadcasts 1969 And 1979.
Tommy Smith, Brian Kellock – Whispering Of The Stars.
Read:
Chris Brookmyre – The Cracked Mirror.
An interesting and very unusual premise but not one of his best, sadly.
Philip Kerr – A Man Without Breath. One of his Bernie Gunther series that I somehow missed earlier. Not yet finished but good so far.
TV:
“Death Valley” on the BBC.
I really enjoyed it. Timothy Spall can do no wrong, as far as I’m concerned and his co-star put in an excellent performance too. Ended set up nicely for a second series..
“Dalziel & Pascoe” on the BBC iPlayer. I gave the entire thing a binge rewatch. Started a bit predictable but with some good guest turns. Got quite seriously good as it progressed and then got a bit daft as it ran out of steam. Warren Clarke did his usual turn and was very effective as Dalziel. I never really warmed to Colin Buchanan as Pascoe.
Out & About:
The month started badly with my car off the road for2 weeks, end of April-start of May. I missed a few gigs I’d bought tickets for, as getting to them was just too much grief on public transport. Would have liked to see the wondeful Jim Mullen at the B3 Lounge on April 27th.
Cheap but nourishing jazz gigs at the Elephant Inn (vocalist Louise Messenger on the 4th and then vocalist/pianist Joy Ellis on the 18th) and B3 Lounge (vocalist Dexter Moseley & Band on the 25th) in N. Finchley, The Jazz Café (Jazz Jamaica on the 10th) in Camden, Foyles Bookshop (pianist Sultan Stevenson & trumpeter Clara Devlin’s Quartet on the 30th) in Charing Cross Road and Karamel (sax man Ian Ballamy on the 15th, sax and trumpet veterans Art Themen & Henry Lowther on the 22nd and also Klara Devlin with a different band on the 29th) in Wood Green.
A.O.B.:
Car repairs and an overdue service, plus a parking ticket, put a dent in May’s finances which has carried over into this month.
Car M.O.T. and road tax are due later and will not help. Outrageous that now a year’s road tax costs substantially more than insuring the car.