Whoosh! June, already!
Come away in, put your umbrellas over there to dry, hang your wet coats up on those hooks, and come in to the warm for a cup of tea. Cake ? Biscuit ?
How are you doing ? What have you been listening to, watching, reading, etc. Please share
Heard
Lots of Sonny Rollins, of course. The Alfie soundtrack is particularly swinging, and I really enjoyed Freedom Suite. I saw him in the mid 90s at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow, and he was endlessly, beautifully, inventively melodic. He could have played St Thomas for an hour and not repeated himself. Such a joyful creator.
The new Coral LP is a cracker, really warm and welcoming, and it sounds like it could have been recorded in 1966.
Kraftwerk – live at the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow. Great show, fabulous visuals, wonderful sound. I don’t know how much of the great music we heard was being played by the four blokes in Tron suits at computer workbenches on stage, but it was a great night. It encouraged me back to techno – there’s a whole wave of 80s and 90s music that was inspired by 70s Kraftwerk which was in turn taken on board by Kraftwerk as they moved into the future. Surgeon : Tresor 97-99 is part of that, where you can hear what he took in from Kraftwerk and you can hear some of that in their later music.
Kim Gordon – Play Me is a strong record, with some great, direct communication, great noises and beats.
Read
Daniel Levitin – Music As Medicine
His previous book “This Is Your Brain On Music” was fascinating, This is a deeper exploration into the healing power of music. Many heart-rending stories, and heart-warming ones too. Fascinating analysis of how the brain processes sound and then turns that external wave into an experience of a note, a chord, a melody, music! Also fascinating on how patients who have suffered brain injuries are still able to process music in some ways.
Ian Leslie – “John and Paul: A Love Story In Songs”
A good read – balanced, insightful.
Seen
Nothing of note.
AOB
The Beat Poets celebrated our 40th birthday by playing at a gig in Dumbarton to celebrate David Byrne’s birthday. He was born there, as any fule kno. The Cords, Lung Leg, and Radhika were all great. A sold-out gig, in the shadow of Dumbarton Rock, with fabulous pizza from the good people at Bangin’ Pizza, who had a trailer outside. Lovely crowd who danced, clapped, cheered, and turned up at all the merch tables to buy stuff.
The Coral album is certainly most enjoyable. But also very much in a 1966 vibe is the new one by The Lemon Twigs. Think Monkees, Byrds, Archies and early Fabs.
Cinema:
Really good this month…
Saw the brilliant ‘Rose of Nevada’ (Mark Jenkin) for a third time.
‘Redoubt’ – A wonderful film set in Cold War Sweden about an older man building a house all on his own to protect him from a nuclear war. Black and white, it’s brilliant!
‘Tuner’ – Had quite a lot of publicity. American, unlike most U.S. films doesn’t outstay its welcome at 95 minutes, about a piano tuner who gets in with a group of safe robbers. Again, great film.
Radio:
Test Cricket. The current commentary includes Vic Marks. It’s never quite the same without him.
Pop:
Cleaning the house and so tidying up all the CDs. A joyful enterprise, and I’ve been playing a number of them. Noted so far…
The Stooges ain’t all that, wildly overvalued, like the VU. I prefer John Martyn’s first two albums to Nick Drake. Rainbow Ffolly are the biz, Mike d’Abo’s underrated. Billy Nicholls’ ‘Would You Believe’ is the greatest of all those ‘lost gems / you have to hear this’ albums. Love’s ‘Four Sail’ is better than ‘Forever Changes’. ‘The Italian Job’ soundtrack is truly fab.
I’m only on no. 106.
Vic Marks always sounds a bit “refreshed” to me. However, I don’t think John Arlott ever commentated sober.
TV
Watched “Legends”…Steve Coogan, Tom Burke, Hayley Squires etc starring in a Customs Officers go undercover tale, apparently based on a true story. Despite slightly stretching credibility at times, I really enjoyed this, a gripping and very human angle of the late period Thatcher government’s desire to bring down early 90s heroin importation. Great stuff, if you can suspend your initial disbelief at the recruitment process. Also saw “The Testaments”…the follow up to the bleak, dystopian Handmaid’s Tale, continuing several years after the end of the original series, the scenes of which are equally as bleak even if Giliad has clearly upped its game and seemingly strengthened its dominance This was an absorbing and decent start but could do with just a little more pace, being slightly too obsessed by looking visually impressive.
SEEN LIVE
During a very pleasant few days up in Suffolk we took in The Bluetones playing an acoustic set at The John Peel Centre in Stowmarket. It wouldn’t have necessarily occurred to me to go and see The Bluetones in 2026 (I’d lost touch with their output after their third album Science And Nature in about 2000) but we were visiting friends and they’d suggested going beforehand. What an excellent evening it turned out to be-good tunes sung and played well, very entertaining between songs (possibly slightly too much chat for some present) and good vibes galore. I was surprised by how many I knew, plus I’ve played the new album and it’s well worth hearing. One minor gripe about the evening was that at my age and with my dodgy knees I do find it quite a challenge to stand for an entire acoustic gig…you can generally move around and jig about much more at a full band electric performance, which helps quite a bit.
HEARD
Getting a lot of play (as with other contributers on here) is the new offering by The Coral, “388,” a sprawling, slightly dishevelled and nicely informal sounding album which appeared suddenly a couple of weeks back. As mentioned in previous posts, it definitely evokes the mid-sixties generally and I suspect this will get a lot of plays on our summer travels. A very recent discovery, (only last week!) even if it’s only based on a couple of songs, is the band Only When I Glow, a band who formed at school in 1986 but who have only just recorded their first album, with some help from James Grant of Friends Again/Love And Money. I’ve only heard a couple of songs so far, including the single, “This Town” but they bode really well, the single being a fabulously melancholic tune inspired by Scottish new town East Kilbride. Think Trashcan Sinatras, and maybe Aztec Camera doing Killermont Street etc. Look out, as I will be, for their “Underpass Kiss” album, scheduled for release in September. I should also give another mention to The Bluetones latest album mentioned above, entitled “Atlas.”
READ
Read “Failure Is Always An Option” by Steve Mason, he of the recently reformed Beta Band. Seldom have such a promising band managed to completely self-sabotage their career so successfully and Mason’s pretty unflinching account portrays this with a bit of mature reflection. Re-read Kevin Rowland’s autobiography and even though I enjoyed it a bit more second time around it was almost as frustrating as the first time. He’s pretty good on his pre-Dexy’s life I suppose, and descriptions of some of the different stylings he’s been interested in are quite absorbing. What this book sorely needs though is a lot more about the music and those who created it, ie the players and producers etc. There’s surely a great book to be written about Dexy’s but unfortunately this just isn’t quite it.
AOB
Joining in with the ongoing campervan/motorhome debates which keep arising on here, we’ve started thinking that we may well replace our fab and much loved Autosleeper Kemerton which in a couple of years’ time will be about 16 years old and is starting to show its age a little. However, having never found an alternative which ticks as many boxes, we may well just go for a much newer (and therefore slightly updated) version of what we already have, namely the “XL” version. It isn’t that much bigger, just a few inches longer, but it will still fit on the drive, and has exactly the same layout. Adventurous? Maybe not, but knowing what you like and having experience of what works for you does make things a lot easier in this field.
Maybe see you at the NEC this October for a mini-mingle?
It’s very possible…I wouldn’t mind one exhaustive (and possibly exhausting!) trip round the NEC to make absolutely sure, even if just to eliminate other possibles.
Macca’s new one has been on heavy rotation since its release and pretty good it is too. Also new this month is Philadelphia’s Been Good to Me, another dollop of laidback slacker rock from Kurt Vile. It doesn’t break a whole lot of new ground, but Kurt has kind of settled into a groove that suits him. You know what you’re likely to get, and he does it very well.
I’ve been revisiting some ex-Beatles solo stuff this month and plugging some gaps in my CD collection. George Harrison’s Living in the Material World and Dark Horse both topped the list, although the latter wasn’t particularly well thought of as one of George’s best albums. Ringo’s Beaucoups of Blues was also a bit of a revelation. I hadn’t played it for years and had forgotten how good it is. See also Time Takes Time, probably amongst the best of his 80s/90s albums.
All this Beatles activity has finally drawn me into reading the Beatles Anthology book which of course was reissued last year, but which I picked up for a song from a well-known auction site. It’s a bloody heavy slab of a book, not suitable for reading in bed (or indeed anywhere without discomfort), but it’s an enjoyable oral history, even if it’s short on new revelations. It’s also available on the Internet Archive website for free – a treasure trove of much other free reading and video material.
Saw Black Box Recorder at the Palladium. After a somewhat shaky start, they settled into it and by the end I was happy – it was nice to have seen them again. Less great was the trip home; I came round in an ambulance, having apparently fainted (it’s something I am prone to) and they kept me in St Mary’s hospital overnight. Apart from that, it was fine!
Oh my word! Pleased you’re ok now.
Seen
Only one gig – Nerina Pallot at the Albert Hall. She was obviously delighted to be there and the almost full audience gave her a warm reception. Great songs. Beautifully sung and played.
We are members of our lovely local Art Deco cinema and they’ve started doing members only evenings. The initial one was a pre-release screening of The Christophers with Ian McKellen as a grumpy semi-retired artist and his studio assistant Michaela Coel (both superb). Excellent! Highly recommended.
Discovered Foyle’s War which has now appeared on Netflix, over 20 years since it was broadcast and we’re completely addicted. We’re halfway through series 9 and I shall feel bereft when it’s finished
Read
Finally finished Out, the third episode of the Tim Shipman odyssey telling the story of Brexit. Excellent book but over 800 pages long and I’m quite relieved to have finished it.
Heard
I’m still exploring late era Little Feat, some fine albums which I think are quite overlooked. Also been digging into my Miles Davis CDs after a recent thread here.
Other
Been boning up on the Battle of the Bulge, the German offensive in 1944 through the Ardenne forest, in preparation for a motorbike trip which starts at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Think of me as you eat your morning bacon sandwiches, riding right across France and a chunk of Belgium.
Been experimenting with voice typing and in fact this entry was all done using it. It works pretty well but you have to enunciate!
Restricting myself as usual to things which required leaving the house, there were 3 events at Colchester Arts Centre, or 4 if you include the splendid Classic Horror Night films showings – knowledgable introductions, themed cocktails and a big screen presentation of a film you probably last saw on late night television decades ago (this month, The Pit and the Pendulum).
Before those we had an overnight trip to Bury St Edmunds, for no other reason than we can get a two hour bus journey to there from the end of our road for 3 quid. Entertainment was provided by the Black Cat Comedy Club. It was an anniversary show for the club and the bill, which had not been announced in advance, was Justin Moorhouse (compère), Ivo Graham and Reginald D Hunter. I’d never seen any of them on stage before, and while I’d happily see any of them again Justin Moorhouse was the pick for me.
Our first live show at the Arts Centre was Glenn Tilbrook, with son Leon opening the night and accompanying dad on several numbers. We got the usual classic Squeeze songbook, a section from the new-old Trixies album and a couple of deeper cuts. I don’t much enjoy standing gigs, but the set won me round by the end. Every time I see Glenn or Squeeze I’m surprised all over again by what a great guitar player he is, and Leon is no slouch either.
Cara Dillon was next, accompanied by husband Sam Lakeman. She has a gorgeous voice of course, and the acoustics of the old church suited her perfectly. We loved it so much we immediately booked tickets for her Christmas band show at Union Chapel.
And last live show of the month, Danny Baker, in the penultimate gig of what he claims is his last tour, the ‘fourth of a trilogy’. It’s hard to imagine a man who loves to talk so much, and especially about himself, giving it up. He spoke for almost three hours, not including the interval, and I didn’t consider any of it a waste of time. We both laughed more at this show than most comedians we’ve see in the last few years. (We were also told that this show leant less heavily than previous tours on his hero worship of his father, a devotion I have always found rather odd based on his books, but if that is the case the earlier talks must have been non-stop Spud eulogy.)
We saw one film at the cinema too, The Christophers in which Ian McKellan is superb as the artist Sklar, the aged painter of the titular series of portraits, and Michaela Coel could have been as good as his newly employed assistant if her role consisted of much more than being Sklar’s audience. The rest of the small cast are thinly sketched, and at points I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening with which set of Christopher portraits, but the whole thing is worth seeing to revel in McKellan’s performance. We were the only people in the cinema.
Looking at my phone calendar, I missed one. A Fete Worse than Death was, well, you can probably guess from the title. A play set at a village fete where the TV detective who is to open proceedings is called on to solve a real life murder resulting from a disagreement over the biggest marrow competition. It was a local theatre group performing in the tiny Headgate Theatre but good fun, and unlike every other play I have seen this year didn’t have a lengthy ‘lecture pause’ towards the end.
Heard: The new Teddy Thompson, which is, much like Kris Drever, everything you’d expect. Rounded out my Admiral Fallow collection, just in time for our one month road trip.
Watched: Project Hail Mary, which we enjoyed more than we had anticipated. Helped by $6 tickets, a couple of beers and a great brisket wrap. Flix Brewhouse; we will be repeating the experience.
AOB: A generally quiet month, againb. With the exception of schlepping to SW Virginia for TheRef Jr’s university graduation. A time of mixed emotion for he and I. Happiness about the graduation iteself, but a lot of real sadness about leaving the place and his fraternity behind. He didn’t have the easiest time growing up with his mother, and he found himself and his people there. The Frat is directly responsible for his next move, which is La School before going into what Virginia called Indigent Defence – Public Defender work.
A month of 2 halves was May. Or probably 6 or 7.
Let’s start with the routine….
Telly: as ever, more failed starts than keepers, switching off during a first or second episode. Half Man was one such, despite all the trumpeting. It seemed more about shock and provocation than story and was a no from here, despite enjoying his stalker one. Falling similarly didn’t grip, giving the great cast insufficiently convincing dialogue. On the other hand hand, Tip Toe has kicked off tremendously. OK, Davies always gifts his characters with occasional speechfuls of polemic, but I hope it keeps up. Cumming is superb. We also enjoyed Legends and The Cage, as good examples of brain off cosy TV. The second season of The Four Seasons suffered from second series plot parsimony, but I think we made it; the fact I can’t remember says it all.
New music of note included Home at Cofa’s by an artist new to me, Tarragon. Superb dreamy electro-pop, tempered by the best use of brass in a long time. Vocals reminiscent of early Bon Iver, before he went shit. A good deal less eneuretic too, wth sturdier arrangements than Justin ever manages. Canada’s Great Lake Swimmers produced a lucky no. 7 in Caught Light, a shimmery dream of Canadiana country. Finally Sgo, a new duo from Skye, with some chamber dubh. 2 more of the Chaimbeul clan, 2 of Brighde’s younger sisters, on fiddle and clarsach. Closer to classical and new age than folk, it makes for a satisfying immerse.
Live I only got to the Emmylou Harris show, at Brum’s Symphony Hall, mentioned briefly in the follow on from @blue-boy ‘s post of the time. I had been planning on Bearded Theory festival, as reported on so well by @kid-dynamite, but my knees thought otherwise, giving me a grapefruit (R) and melon (L) to navigate locomotion with, painfully, so the towel was reluctantly thrown. Pity, as not only was I to have been At The Barrier-ing, but was to have been fronting Lichfield Radios limited coverage.
Also contributing to the shaving of Bearded was Ruby the rotty, mentioned last month, our new pup. Sadly she proved impossible and impractical, a 24/24 dynamo, demanding more attention than even those 24 can provide. I have also never seen a creature provide quite as much shit as did she. Fine, by day, if challenging, and she was slowly getting the hang of where to do it. However, by night she performed such Long Kesh standard dirty protests as to make the very early alarm settings terrify as to what may be in store. The clinch was the effect she had on Indi, our dowager aunt of a dignified old bitch. She was, despite being thrice her size, petrified and intimidated by this usurper. The decision made, we had a tearful trek back, cap in hand, to her breeder. She has since been successfully rehomed. Lovely gorgeous hound but not doable as things stand. Indi now delighted to be THE dog, and has a new skip in her step and wag in her tail.
Great Lake Swimmers’ Caught Light is indeed a fine album.
“Eneuretic”?
As in Rusty Bedsprings, by I.P. Knightley.
I find Bon Iver in full, um, flow, makes me think of his poor mother. All those sheets, night after night after night.
Got it. Enuretic was in my vocabulary – but I couldn’t quite see where it fitted into your review.
Plus I spelt it wrong, which is embarrassing….
Reading: ‘The Lord of the Rings’, for probably the sixth or seventh time – though the first time, I think, this century. I’m a huge fan of Tolkien’s books and (the quality end of) books about Tolkien and his works, but it’s a joy to go back to the original after a gap long enough to dull the memory. I’m about 2/3 through so far.
Listening: Hugh Bonneville’s series of enhanced audiobook readings of Sherlock Holmes short stories at BBC Sounds is fabulous, and the series is currently on ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ (novel) with each episode being the original ‘Strand’ magazine episodes, before the tale was collected into book form. I’m also enjoying Caroline Crampton’s ‘Shedunnit’ podcast series on British ‘golden age’ (1920s / 30s) crime fiction. Her podcast style is scripted essays – though she has guests on periodic episodes to discuss the Green Penguin series of crime books one by one, chronogically – and it’s strangely soothing.
Gigs: Stewart Lee in Derry on Thursday past plus Shock Treatment at the US Bar in Belfast and the Four of Us at the Braid Arts Centre in Ballymena recently, all fabulous.
Watching: Nothing much comes to mind… though ‘Death Valley’, the semi-comedy Welsh crime series, is mildly diverting.
AOB: My work helping Dick Gaughan retrieve seven albums continues, and real progress is being made. So far, assertions of rights to two of the seven ‘mothballed’ Gaughan albums have been sent, under the provisions of the 50–70 year copyright extension law (No More Forever (1972) and The Boys of the Lough (1973)). Within 12 months, those album rights will return to Gaughan. A similar US law has been used to begin the 24-month process to retrieve the US rights for Call It Freedom (1989). Colossal research from our solicitor Lindsay Gledhill’s team into the unique circumstances of Kist O’ Gold (1977) and Clan Alba (1995) has been going on behind the scenes. I can say no more publicly on that, but the work will prove significant.
Gaughan himself remains eternally grateful for the support from everyone. Already legally blind, though partly sighted in one eye, his sight has deteriorated recently (being addressed by NHS treatment) but his commitment to justice is the same as ever – granite!
The work has now widened out with the aim of retrieving albums rights for Dick’s peers in the pre-1976 era (i.e. more than 50 years ago, at which point the law is on their side) on the same label. Some artists / heirs of artists are now hiring solicitors under their own steam to create rights asserting letters starting a 12-month clock, but some others who wish to retrieve albums don’t have the spare cash – so, with Martin Simpson, I’ve started a new crowdfunder to help 13 of those artists / groups of artists or heirs. A lot of work towards goals within this retrieval situation is also going on behind the scenes.
On a personal level, these campaigns are the most important things I’ve ever done – because the end goal has real meaning for dozens of human beings, many in their 70s or 80s (some with significant health issues), others their sons and daughters: once rights are retrieved, artists can – if there is pressing need for money – sell them on to reputable music businesses in the knowledge that their music will be heard again, at least digitally, and that they will release a lump sum for needs in the here and now. I know many here have supported the Gaughan-specific crowdfunder – and thank you!
I commend the new crowdfunder for 13 artists – Dave Burland, Muckram Wakes, High Level Ranters, Robin & Barry Dransfield et al. – to you.
https://www.gofundme.com/manage/win-back-rights-to-pioneering-1970s-folk-albums-for-artists
I tip my hat to you, Mr. Harper, as you say, it has real meaning for musicians, their families as well for the listeners. Respect, hope everything goes as planned.
Thank you, Iz!
True and pure altruism of the top drawer. Utter, utter respect.
I bow in awed respect
Thank you both!
You’re a true philanthropist Colin, respect 🙏
Keep fighting the good fight, Colin. We’re rooting for you!
Thanks Tiggs, thanks Pyro!
I could listen to Caroline Crampton read the phone book. It’s a great podcast and as you say, soothing.
Hats off to (Colin) Harper. Plus, I hope some form of industry recognition once this all plays out. Perhaps an honour of some kind.
This gives me hope for the future.
No honour required, Leffe – just donations! 🙂 I hope we get to help all 13 of the potential beneficiaries. At the very least, we should be able to help some – we have resources for nearly three so far. Dave Burland will be the first beneficiary.
Just as a matter of interest Colin, when you read LOTR, do you do the whole thing in one or do you do a book at a time, reading something else in between? I’ve only read it once, about 20 years go (taking the latter approach) when the films came out, and I’m thinking of doing it again.
I think I’ve always read it all the way through without setting aside to read something else in between books – it preserves the ‘mood’. That said, I know that many years ago I did read ‘The Fellowship…’ once without reading the others, but I can’t recall if that was because it was too soon after reading LOTR previously or if I was interrupted in some way.
Seen: Sarah McQuaid just up the road, and then a two hour drive two weeks later to my son’s in Stockport for a family visit (with his girlfriend, alas my wife didn’t feel up to it having had an iron infusion in the hospital that afternoon) to see Professor Elemental and chums in Manchester. I imagine I was the oldest there and when the Prof made joke about the elderly I registered my complaint over the laughter. A young woman heard me and turned and said ” oh not you”. This later led to an email exchange with the good Professor where he said he would drop that bit which hadn’t been my intention.
Watched: This is Not a Murder Mystery in which Rene Magritte helps the police to solve some murders. Most enjoyable.
Monsieur Spade in which Sam Spade moves to France and solves the crime. I saw the film “Our Land” a documentary about right to roam a very well balanced documentary presenting both sides and letting them speak.
Read: Bob Mortimer’s The Satsuma Complex.
A friend got in touch as a friend of his was writing a book about the music of Keith Cross guitarist with T2 who recorded an album with Peter Ross, who happens to be my brother in law. I was able to get the two in touch with each other. I received a pdf and as I was meeting Peter at a family gathering I could present him with a physical copy of the book. Andrew who wrote the book is a composer so a lot of the musical bits go over my head. I was glad to help though.
Days in between were filled with hospital appointments.
I’ve noticed you mention hospital appointments previously. I hope things are going well for you.
We moved house last year and moved doctors, consultancy, pharmacy etc. So it has been a new learning curve as things are different here but seem to be much better. I’ve had a house visit from physio today for my right leg and I’ve another at the hospital for physio for my left leg plus podiatry. This week new in ear hearing aids fitted.
There’s nothing life threatening and I’m getting on with stuff so things are well thanks @badartdog.
Glad to hear/read it!
Saw
In the cinema, The Christophers which I’m afraid unlike other esteemed Afterworders I didn’t really enjoy at all. Not enough substance in the material and two performances which felt self consciously actorly – and I’m a fan of both of them. I realise I am in a minority here – just one of those occasions when the rest of the world seems to see some thing I don’t. It happens.
On the other hand I loved Romeria about a Spanish woman going back to Galicia to discover the truth about her parents and family secrets – really great and powerful stuff.
Just last night saw Cara Dillon; absolutely gorgeous concert. Like @Gatz I will be booking for the Christmas concert.
And a few weeks ago saw German pianist Frank Dupree performing Gershwins piano concerto with the Liverpool Philharmonic. Brilliant stuff and his encore of Duke Ellington’s Caravan which he performed with the orchestra’s percussion section is unlikely to be bettered as a live concert moment all year – even the watching orchestra players were enraptured by it.
Heard
Not much new. Macca of course – enjoying it so far without being convinced, but it’s early days.
Read
Finally got round to Sylvia Path’s The Bell Jar. God it’s powerful stuff, but it’s not just about the autobiographical mental illness; it’s also that the quality of the writing is magnificent. And surprisingly funny in places. It’s prompted me to start reading the massive biography of Ted Hughes by Jonathan Bate.
HEARD
This album from Chris Abrahams (The Necks) and Dave Symes (Boy and Bear) and drummer Evan Mannell. 2 LPs, one track per side. The basic tracks were recorded live apparently,. I’m curious about how this music came into existence and I’ll be interviewing Chris and Dave on my radio show the week after next. https://eastsidefm.org/onesizefitsall
Thanks for this @Mousey I listened on Qobuz and dug it so I’ve bought a copy.
I haven’t been very present on the AW this month due to feverishly working on “Mum’s Book No. 5”.
(In case you don’t know; every five years I create a book for my mum as a birthday gift, and since this year is her 95th, it’s time for a new one. I buy one of those clothbound A5 books of blank pages and fill them with illustrated silly verse, in several themed chapters…this year the ones I came up with are chapters on Mushrooms, Flowers, Famous Artwork If They’d Been Made By Norwegians – mum’s country of origin – the fifth traditional Animal Alphabet, plus an Alphabet of Mythological Creatures, Authors and their Characters – seen in the mirror – an Animal Circus and finally some Hollywood Stars. It’s a huge job and I always start too late and have to work like mad in the final couple of weeks – her birthday is next Sunday, so I’m in the “It will never be done in time” phase right about now! Still REALLY not convinced it will be…but I always think that.)
But what this means is that I’ve barely experienced anything else – other than my day job, which I unfortunately have to attend – apart from podcasts, some albums and watching with half an eye the kind of TV-shows and YouTube channels that aren’t very visually interesting and can be treated like a podcast most of the time.
I’ve read no books – well, technically I finished my re-read of Persepolis in May (and soon after that Marjane Satrapi died, unfortunately! RIP) but nothing else, to avoid further procrastinations of Mum’s Book…
I have a bunch of new DVDs that I’m really eager to watch, but they will have to wait until a week from now, when the book – hopefully – is done, and my vacation begins (I’ll need it).
With this caveat gotten out of the way; these are the few things I experienced in May that didn’t involve sketching, colouring or coming up with rhymes and allitterations:
Seen:
So the only thing I watched with both eyes, my pens laid aside, was the One to One – John & Yoko documentary. It was interesting, if a little long, and thankfully lacked the usual parade of talking heads, instead relying on their recorded phone calls and all kinds of filmed material from the time. Although I have to admit that my biggest takeaway from watching it was a deeply felt knowledge that I could never be an activist, for any cause. I just don’t have the energy, I can barely muster the energy to take care of myself.
Heard:
I ordered a ton of albums in May, and have listened to them while drawing. However, not with my focus on the music, most of the time. So my impressions of them are very much surface level so far. With that said, I’m enjoying most of them a lot and especially:
Alela Diane – Who’s Keeping Time? Could be her best yet.
Aaron Lee Tasjan – Get Over It, Underdog – not his best, but a return to form after his previous, which I didn’t love.
Also back after her previous mis-step is Aldous Harding – Train On The Island.
White Denim – 13 is also quite good, as is Kevin Morby with Little Wide Open.
Not listened enough yet, but favourable first impressions of The Deslondes – Don’t Let It Die: Vol 1; Joe Jackson – Hope and Fury; Jesca Hoop – Long Wave Home and possibly Olof Dreijer – Loud Bloom.
A couple of live albums that I haven’t listened to much yet are Hurray for the Riff Raff – Live Forever and Thåström (long Swedish title…), and I’m not sure what I feel about The Black Keys – Peaches! yet, nor the Trummor & Orgel album (it’s in some ways their best, but their sound is always going to get annoying after a few tracks).
The latest album from my favourite Taj Mahal is called Time and is mostly a disappointment, especially after the previous album having been unexpectedly good.
But the only album I’m pretty sure I don’t enjoy at all is the new album from Lykke Li – The Afterparty. Nothing stands out to me, it’s just dull and pointless IMO.
But, as I said; I might completely change my mind about all of these albums once I start listening to them with my full attention aimed towards the music, rather than making up rhymes and illustrations on the fly while music is playing in the background…
I’m looking forward to the latter half of June, two weeks of nothing but reading good books, watching exciting films, deep-diving into all of these albums, cooking proper food, sleeping in, hanging out with friends and family and having picnics by the water on warm days. Just one more week to get through (and finish Mum’s Book…)!
@locust
Your mum must be very proud of you, what a lovely thing to do.
More importantly…(😬) I was looking forward to the new Lykke Li album but I’ll have to reconsider now…grrr
That Deslondes album is great, btw. I thought the Black Keys dulll and derivative. Both, as covers albums, were compulsory listens for me.
The Black Keys is a strange band, they can hit it out of the park sometimes, but mostly they’re quite boring.
Mums are always proud of their kids, aren’t they?
Maybe you’ll feel differently about Lykke Li than I do – perhaps a sneaky Spotify tryout first?
I love the idea of the book it’s certainly intriguing particularly “Famous Artwork If They’d Been Made By Norwegians”
All the best and best wishes and birthday greetings to your mother.
Thanks, will pass them along on Sunday!
I’m especially looking forward to painting a salmon (perhaps wearing a small black hat and sucking on a tiny pipe?) and writing the sentence “This is not a salmon” (in Norwegian of course) underneath it! 😀
I made this as an idea for a talk on kazoo.
‘…picnics by the water on warm days…’???!!!??? But Locust, surely you’re in Sweden, where the days are dark, the ground is snow covered, trolls haunt the forest, mammoths meander in the mountains and every day is winter?
No, this is dragon season, Colin. They come here to have their annual conference and heat the place up with their fire, even the ice on the water melts (but in all honesty, the water doesn’t get much warmer…)
😀
Read: Death At The Sign Of The Rook by Kate Atkinson. I’m a big fan of Kate Atkinson and her creatiuon Jackson Brodie. This is a Jackson Brodie novel though he is reduced to almost a cameo appearance, dissappearing for two or three chapters at a time. A good instalment with some characters that might be worth re-visiting. Currently reading The Wager by David Grann, a book quite similar in tone to Erebus by Michael Palin, a book I fell in love with last year – more on that below
Saw: The Mousetrap in London. A silly but entertaining diversion, well staged and obviously beloved by the performers and theatre staff. It’s off the bucket list now.
Watched: Not a lot. I enjoyed the new presenters / judges on Masterchef. Grace is naturally funny and Anna is knowledgeable and likeable. Caught up with the GdT Franenstein – I liked it a lot. That young Elordi chap was very good as the creature and I loved David Bradley as the blind old man.
Heard: I bought a lot of new albums but not much has registered yet – I like what I’ve heard of the Teddy Thompson and Johnny Blue Skies (Sturgill Simpson)
AOB: Two significant events, one terrible, one lovely. First, my wife’s best friend, known each other since first day at primary school, lost her fight against ovarian cancer. It was always going to be hard and she defied the odds for almost five years, but when the time came it all happened very quickly. My wife was with her and her family when she passed. She leaves behind her husband and three daughters – just a little younger than our three daughters.
Secondly, we took our first holiday together for many years. Started with a few days in London with our two youngest – did lots including the William Morris gallery in Walthamstow, Greenwich, which was on my list for years but never got there – got to see the Erebus artifacts in the Maritime Museum, the Chelsea Flower Show was probably the most overwhelmingly busy event I’ve ever been to and I’ve been at the front of many a big rock show, and The Mousetrap. We ate and rested very well. London is ace.
After that we spent a few days in The Cotswolds, starting with a quick half-day in Stratford-upon-Avon, getting the bus from there to Chipping Camden from where we began three days walking along The Cotswold Way, Each village more beautiful and charming than the last. Chipping Camden itself, Broadway, Stanton, and Winchcombe. I can see why you are happy in Winchcombe @Bejesus – lovely town. We had an excellent meal there in The White Hart Inn followed by a very entertaining pub quiz. We stayed in The Plaisterers Arms, a quiet spot with a very nice, no-nonsense Irish landlady, Liz. I wish I’d known beforehand that Catherine Parr was buried nearby in Sudley Castle – I would have made an effort to get there during opening hours to pay my respects. We might start from there when we continue our Cotswold Way next year…finished by getting the train to Bath which was well worth a visit – I liked the roman baths and the Abbey.
Glad you liked Winchcombe , Liz keeps the best beer in town and is a character. Let me know if you do return and I might buy you a pint .
Much obliged, B. Will do. Although we have been known to start something and not finish it…Camino for instance…
I finally saw The Mousetrap a couple of years ago. Thoroughly enjoyed it, I think it has held up well (fairly obvious statement there)
Late entry (again) for a brief canter through the limited cultural landscape of May.
Heard (old):
Ry Cooder – Bop Til You Drop. Owned it for years, and it is only now I’ve actually properly listened to it. I like it (but not enough to go scurrying to fill my life and shelves with Ry)
Creedence Clearwater Revival – Cosmo’s Factory. And I thought Green River was the only essential CCR album outside of Greatest Hits. My error …
Hear (new):
Paul McCartney – Boys of Dungeon Lane. Much has been written and said on Macca’s latest outing, so I don’t need to add to it. Other than say “it’s not arf bad is it”.
Lemon Twigs – Look For Your Mind. More than enough jangle and harmony to soundtrack the warm weather and coming of Summer (if it ever gets here)
Read:
Immediate – Fuck Them All (The Rise and Fall). A rollercoaster story (underpinned by Andrew Loog Oldham’s self-belief / self-delusion. Almost like it was never meant to last. There were points where the book could’ve dug deeper if I’m honest.
Seen:
Dear England – Joseph Fiennes becomes Gareth Southgate and the change in attitude and achievement of England national side is told in TV drama stylee.
The Game – Channel 5 Drama with Jason Watkins obsessing (and losing ) to Robson Green’s shady stalker character. Enjoyable enough to warrant a second series – be interesting to see how it’s done, as the story is no totally left hanging.
Cosmos Factory – the very first record I have ever bought and it still sounds fresh to me; a great record. Willy and the Poor Boys is also essential mind you.
Funnily enough I played Bop till you Drop the other day as well, not having listened to it for ages. It always got a bit of a bum rap from some quarters for its smooth digital sound compared to his earlier grittier records but I think it’s just fine.
For me, “Bop till You Drop” is one of those ‘Side One is better than Side Two’ albums.
Nothing beats Chicken Skin Music…
What about Corsair Chicken Skin Music surely that beats it into a cocked tin?
Really like new McCartney (on one listen), I feel like I should love The Lemon Twigs, but something doesn’t quite click with me about them. Haven’t you had record breaking heat already over there?
Aye, we had a “hottest on record” moment, and then it passed. Might Creep back, but not sure about longevity.
This is Britain … it’ll rain soon
Rains here too, just checked. Ottawa apparently gets 145 days of precipitation a year (45 of them snow), Manchester gets 152 days. So not so bad! And Vancouver up to 192 days!
Read
Both Pulp-related. Memoirs of drummer Nick Banks (he came across well in a WIYE podcast) and head-fan-turned-guitarist Mark Webber. Both have the ability to abstract themselves from the process and say “during recording the atmosphere was great/awful and the results were great/awful”. As a listener, I concur with their findings.
Seen
Finally watched the Pulp Hits DVD I picked up a couple of years ago in a charity shop. The 3-hour running time includes loads of extras and you can tell it was a real labour of love for Mark.
Red Eye on ITV player with Mrs F. Not bad, as these things go. A bit blue lights, a bit MI5.
Heard
It’s all gone a bit 90s round here – Spotify served up Green Day to Offspring The Younger, so I pointed him at Weezer, The Presidents of the USA and My Chemical Romance’s Black Parade. Spotty then served up Blink 182 and Fall Out Boy, so I bailed.
AOB
Mrs F and I managed another long weekend in north Norfolk, and the resultant plundering of charity shops.
Crohn’s continues to keep the local medical professionals in employment.
After a decade on immunosuppressants, and 18 months off them, I’m still UV hypersensitive. The recent warm weather (and high UV levels) triggered an attack of Rosacea on my face and arms (and inside one eyelid, which is bloody irritating). #Gingers
(Strictly speaking in June) I twice battled the Cambridge morning rush hour traffic*, to swallow a radioactive pill and then return a week later for an all-body CT scan. How much radioactivity I have retained is dependent on how much my intestines “leak”. Another colonoscopy (my sixth) is due in two weeks. The fun never stops.
(*) Thank goodness I no longer work in the city centre – I think I’d quit after a week!
Heard
I have mostly been listening to Inferno by BoC and liking it. Reminiscent of Geogaddi era stuff. A lot of Phoenix for some reason too. They are like James, they are uneven, but their “Greatest Hits” collection would be a banger.
Also saw a reformed Mostar Sevdah in the Uni of Sheffield. The Balkan Beats revival starts here!
Read Currently half-way through True Nature – The Lives of Peter Matthiessen. I loved his nature and Zen writing, and as the title suggest, he had an eventful life. I knew he could be difficult and guessed that he would display the casual misogyny of his era and rank, but what I didn’t realise was what a privileged life he was born into. His grandfather would have been a billionaire in today’s money. He had a gilded youth right up to co-founding The Paris Review, then gradually he furrowed his own path. Before that I read The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (as recommended by Barrack Obama a few years back) in a couple of days. In the near future, the UK government has a time machine, that brings back “expats” from the past. They are looked after by a modern-day civil-servant “bridge” who act as a mentor/buddy. The story follows a mixed race woman who is the bridge for a (real-life) Victorian Arctic explorer, Graham Gore. Things at The Ministry are not as they seem. It has the atmosphere of a more literary, David Tennent-era Dr Who story with a bit of Ghosts thrown in as well. It’s not perfect but it is a great romp.
Saw I saw The Rose of Nevada, which also has a time-travel theme. It is haunting and elusive. I think it maybe about the commitment and sacrifice people have to make to a community work. Like a few other people I also saw The Christophers and I am with those who liked it. Ian McKellen had the flashier role, but I thought Michaela Coel was brilliant playing the cards she had.
A warning: Mrs BJB and I went through all eight episodes of Two Weeks in August and wondered why we bothered. Avoid.
SEEN: Only one gig – Bob Fox at a village hall on the edge of Delamere Forest. His is truly one of my favourite voices, so it mattered not that the setlist was mostly the same as when he visited our club last year. This Ralph McTell song moves me more each time – desperately sad.
Otherwise, I had commitments at Chester Folk Festival. I got there a day late, having had a full week of union conference, meaning that I was too exhausted for much of the superheated weekend. I was so tired that I was a danger on the dancefloor, so had to withdraw before I injured someone. I did get to enjoy Tarren, whose mix of song and intricate instrumental, inflected with European dance rhythms, suits me well.
So busy that I’m forgetting that I also performed at the second Maldon Sea Shanty Festival. Change of scenery for me. Always fun to be the new boy in town.
Culturally it has been a quiet month for me. I read one book on Nature’s broken clocks – a mixture of science and literature in response to the changing speed of nature due to global heating. I learned what a grolar bear is, but it was a bit of a chore, if I am honest. I am reading Caroline Lucas ‘Another England’ but it’s a bit worthy and not saying anything very original yet, which is a shame, as I like her as a person and a politician.
I actually went to the cinema – to see a film about the novelist Siri Hustvedt, the widow of Paul Auster – ‘Dance Around the Self’. At close to two hours, it’s quite a long exposition of her writing, her interests, her partner and her family. Moving, intricate and complex. Made me think I should go to the cinema more often. I have a new friend who I went with and that may happen.
I booked tickets for my sister and me to see OMD when they play Bonn in August. That is something we have been looking forward to for years. I hope they play enough really early songs.
I was in the UK for a week, staying with my mum. I went up to London to see an old friend and too the opportunity to visit Spitalfields Market (near where I lived 25 years ago – suffice to say it has changed almost beyond recognition, but I am glad there is still a market there. I thought at the time it would go very corporate. There are elements of this, but it is not too dull. Also we went to the area between St Pancras and Camden. Oh my crikey that is so different from when I used to cycle to Euston from Crouch End. Really impressive use of space. London really is an ever-changing jungle.
Apart from that, I have been on a few dates, which have been great fun. It’s a bit of a rollercoaster, but I have met some lovely and interesting women.
Roll on summer, as currently it’s rather wet in Bonn