FINALLY we crawl out of the longest January in living memory. Please join me in the bower, have a seat by the firepit, help yourself to a glass of good cheer and share with us – what have you been listening to, watching, and reading this month ?
And is there anything coming up we should all be aware of ?
HEARD:
A good January for new releases.
Every Pet Shop Boys album is hailed as a return to form. Hotspot actually is. Strangely, I don’t really like Monkey Business, which seems to be getting a lot of airplay, but most of the rest is classic PSB.
A Girl Called Eddy – Been Around – This has got a mention on these very pages and quite right too. Wonderful tunes, wonderful voice, wonderful lyrics at times – almost worth the 16 year wait.
The Innocence Mission have been knocking around forever, and I haven’t always paid too much attention, but some of the new one is beautiful.
Field Music got a review on here, I like everything they do, I like this one. (Though don’t love it.)
Old stuff – Santa finally brought me ‘Take Me To The River – A Southern Soul Story’ after years on my wishlist, and I love it. Something about the dark months brings out the soul fan in me.
READ:
Bert from Suede’s second memoir Afternoons With The Blinds Drawn isn’t quite as good as his debut – maybe the surprise factor is gone – but still a very nicely written account of their rise and fall. Don’t expect loads of Britpop gossip, it’s not that kind of book, but it’s very good on the personal cost of fame on people.
In fiction, Andrew Michael Hurley might not be a name familiar to all of you but Starve Acre is his third very good read out of three. He’s great at conjuring up an unsettling rural setting.
WATCHED:
The Watchmen on Sky Atlantic was fantastic, one of the best things I’ve seen in years. Don’t think I’ve seen much about it here? A pleasure to watch a show that was actually able to bring the various plots together to tell a self-contained story, rather than something that screams out for seven more series.
The best film I have watched this month was Jojo Rabbit. Funny, poignant, smart, warm. Two thumbs up.
@monsignorbonehead
The Innocence Mission..blimey, that’s a blast from the past. I’m sure I’ve got a single of theirs …something to do with birds , early .90’s?
@freddy-steady
You could.. just could… be talking about One For Sorrow, Two For Joy from the only other album I own by them, 2003’s Befriended. Has also been revisited.
@monsignorbonehead
Ah, it appears it’s a single called “The Wonder of Birds.” 1989!!
I agree about The Watchmen. It was extremely well done. Riveting.
Cinema:
Three films, all recommended.
Little Women, The Personal History of David Copperfield and, best of all, Bombshell.
TV:
The Trial of Christine Keeler and the Tom Mangold documentary on the same subject.
Who knew that Profumo’s speech in the House of Commons claiming his innocence took place on EXACTLY the same day that the first Beatles’ LP was released?!!!!
Finally saw the Lambert and Stamp film. I didn’t fully appreciate that all the things I like about The Who are tied in quite so comprehensively by these two characters, and all the things I hate about The Who started to happen when their influence was waning.
The one member of the four who stayed resolutely true to the pair? Keith Moon.
Books:
Re-read (the first 100 pages) of David Winner’s Brilliant Orange about Dutch football, and started reading the Elizabeth David books that have been staring at me for about a decade. Very European.
Dylan Mojo Special.
CDs:
Bought a whopping 15 this year already, average price £3.
More Zappa (Joe’s Xmasage early 60s recordings), but focused mostly on Blue Note and funk this month, including the wonderful 69 album by Marva Whitney.
From now on though, 2020 is mostly going to be about Gene Vincent, Larry Williams etc. for me.
Some Blue Note album collections are now appearing amongst those cheap Original Album Series 5-CD sets.
A lot of Blue Note jazz classics were already being sold really cheap on CDs, now they’re getting even cheaper in these sets.
My will to resist buying more CDs is wavering ..
I too saw the Lambert and Stamp film and it really joined a few dots for me and was an interesting watch.
On the back of watching the doco I purchased, via the cyber tinkers, the Keith Moon biography “Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon” by Tony Fletcher. Its 600 pages long but the first few chapters are good and the book flows nicely…he was a one off for sure!
Townshend needed Lambert.
Thought Bombshell was extremely mediocre. Heart sort of in the right place, but pretty poor execution, despite some decent performances.
Heard:
Catching up on 2019, The Pixies Beneath The Eyrie has been getting lots of spins.
The Professionals are releasing 3 EPs over 3 months – the first contained new track Kingdom Come, and two old tracks recorded for a TV session. Hopefully a new album coming soon too.
The Humdrum Express released a new album last week – it’s the another collection of (sometimes exasperated) observations of the world, mixed with a dash of humour (“it’s like finding a bogey in a library book. It really puts you off your reading”).
A bit like HMHB with a Midlands accent.
Read:
Booze Britain – An Inebriated History.
Interesting but hard work.
Redemption Song – The Definitive Biography of Joe Strummer (Chris Salewicz).
A big thick brick of a book with small text size. Should keep me going for a few weeks.
Pretty good so far – about a quarter of the way through and he hasn’t joined the 101ers yet
Seen:
I’m starting to think the only decent current affairs comedy TV show is The Last Leg.
Seen Stuart Copeland’s BVC4 docs – dragged a bit but worth a watch. He talks to Sting a bit, but Andy Summers remains invisible.
Talking of whom … his documentary (based on his autobiography) Can’t Stand Losing You: Surviving the Police was a good watch.
Seen:
A couple of movies at the pictures.
Pain and Glory, an Almodovar film, was excellent, always interesting visually with it’s camera work and colours. An ageing film director reflects on his past and struggles to get his act together in the present. Funny, smart, moving. All the things you want from Almodovar.
Saw also The Lighthouse. Promising start, effective, atmospheric, black and white cinematography. Ends up just becoming tiresome with repetitive wild scenes. OK that’s the point but take half an hour off the length and leave more to the imagination. I give it 2 out of 5.
You is a tv series. We hear a voiceover of a young guy telling us his thoughts as he attempts to have a successful relationship with the opposite sex. Usually other people get in the way and then his psycopathic tendencies get the better of him. We are meant to side with him to a degree, which is made easier since many of the characters who he encounters are shallow airhead types or narcissists. He often seems the sane, likeable one but then of course things get nasty. This is a really entertaining, smart and gripping series. Top stuff.
Read:
Killing Commendatore by Murakami. Not quite finished yet. A lot of pages but it doesn’t seem like it. I was soon gripped and transported. All his books are kind of alike. Always different always the same you could say. As there so often is, there is a problematic love life, a rather lost main character, and mysterious, dark events to try and comprehend. There is an Alice in Wonderland-like other world that defies the normal limits of reality. I don’t know if this is one of his best novels but it is thoroughly enjoyable and engaging.
Heard: nothing to report.
Seen
I feel it my duty to watch the Oscar contenders in case my opinion is requested by the Academy. All of them worth watching, except one. In order of preference:
– The Irishman
– Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
– Marriage Story (Adam Driver deserves an Oscar)
– 1917 (Roger Deakins deserve an Oscar)
– The Two Popes
– Judy
– Parasite
– Ford v Ferrari
– JoJo Rabbit
– Joker
Plus one not worth watching:
– Little Women
I also watched The Young Offenders (2016) – Really funny film, I chortled heartily. Pretty funny tv series too (both seasons, although unfortunately they’re punctuated by a crap Xmas special). I don’t know why this didn’t get talked about as much as ‘Derry Girls’. Or did it? It’s similar territory (set in Cork) but much, much funnier. Shades of ‘This Country’ too.
Reading
I’m re-reading Mathew Kneale’s ‘English Passengers’. A novel I read many years ago, loved and can’t remember anything about whatsoever. Loving it again second time round. It’s reminding me a bit of Joseph O’Conner’s ‘Star Of The Sea’. I love fiction that teaches history I wouldn’t otherwise know (in this case Tasmania in the 17th century).
You are a fool! Little Women was most excellent and brought up to date by clever but never intrusive re-editing. I approached JoJo Rabbit with trepidation but if it doesn’t win Best Film (it won’t) it’s yet another Oscar Travesty. The Irishman is merely ok and at least seven hours too long (three nights to watch the fucker), Joker is a joke but nothing, nothing compares to the awfulness of 1917 – wretched pulp. Thought Rene was superb as Judy but the story itself was pedestrian and clichéd. Marriage Story was splendid (never mind Adam, Scarlett is magnificent). Ferrari is grown men wanking, Two Popes is two great actors struggling to find the story. Haven’t managed Parasite yet, too busy bingeing on The Stranger.
ps these reviews were sponsored by my friends at Hive CM8 – go throw them a bitcoin or two
You’re right about one thing and one thing only: I am indeed a fool.
So we are agreed?
Like a lot of people I suspect, we finally got round to watching Parasite last night. What was the jury thinking? Starts off as an Ealing Comedy, morphs into a weird and distasteful horror flick and ends with a saccharine ending that even Julie Andrews would refuse.
Was there a memo sent round saying “Look, we’ve been getting a lot of flack, all this me-too stuff, lack of diversity yakkety-yak, so all you ancient white guys put your cross next to the only name you don’t recognise”?
Did you not like it Lodes?
I thought it was ok if derivative and we rather enjoyed it on a cold Monday night in February in front of the roaring log fire. But – Best Film of 2019?? That’s like saying (Gary, help me out here…)
It’s like saying you can’t bludgeon a woodpecker.
Knew I could rely on you! Cheers
Julie Andrews certainly would’ve refused to be locked up in the basement of a house for years on end, with nothing to eat but the odd scraps of kimchi and japchae.
– The Irishman – Over-rated. Auto pilot Scorcese
– Once Upon A Time In Hollywood – Brilliant
– Marriage Story (Adam Driver deserves an Oscar) – Haven’t seen
– 1917 (Roger Deakins deserve an Oscar) – Magnificent
– The Two Popes – Haven’t Seen
– Judy -Haven’t Seem
– Parasite – Haven’t Seen
– Ford v Ferrari – Loved it
– JoJo Rabbit – Funny, shocking and moving. An absolute triumph.
– Joker – Probably not a great film, but a great performance.
– Little Women – Haven’t seen. have heard good things.
Lodestone (see above) reckons you love watching grown men wanking.
Just look at the size of that! And it’s so loud! I’m sure Kleenex used to be so much bigger….
Well … Roger Deakins did indeed get his Oscar. Hurrah!
Much deserved, as was Renée Zellweger’s. Shall I tell you a strange but boring story? Of course I shall. Normally I would have no idea what “sound editing” involves or how to tell if it’s good or not. But as we were watching Ford v Ferrari I said to my friends “I bet this wins the Oscar for best sound editing” after I was impressed with a number of clunks and clicks and things. Ford v Ferrari: “grown men wanking” but with great sound editing, whatever that is.
The strangest part of this tale is your use of the words “my friends”
HEARD: I think the PSB’s new is neither a return to form nor a disaster, but a perfectly acceptable late-period Petties offering, a state of being that has existed since at least Elysium.
The Big Moon’s new album is a bit awkward and gangling, but bags of charm and grows on you with each listen.
READ:
Up to LA Confidential in my journey through the Quartet. Brutal. Dense. Many sentences like this.
Fleischmann Is In Trouble which was one of the BIG BOOKS of last year over the pond. It’s the story of a disintegrating marriage, initially from the point of view of Toby, an absurdly over-privileged doctor of the Upper West Side. The first half of the book proceeds like an update on an Updike or Roth, the second half produces something much more original. Insanely readable, get someone else to read it and you will soon get through an evening of red wine and debate.
SEEN; 1917 like everyone else. And – no discussion here yet, the slow-motion in-space possible car crash that is Armando Ianucci’s Avenue 5. The man has had a golden run like no-one else in recent comedy (discuss) from Alan Partridge and The Thick of It to Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle and Veep. But this…on the first two episodes it appears to put his caustic and fast-paced approach into cryogenic suspension, along with the audience. You can see where the budget went: Hugh Laurie and spaceships. The scripts? Cut the man and he bleeds script surely. So why does this appear very first draft, before Armando descends as Exec Prod and script surgeon. Physician, heal thyself. If this is an advert for post-BBC comedy then it’s not doing a great job.
I caught a couple of The Big Moon numbers live last Saturday when they were supporting Bombay Bicycle Club at Brighton. Wish we’d seen more as they were quite good but we were running a bit late and it seems as though every time I make the effort to see the support, it’s massively disappointing.
You did better than me with Avenue 5 then, cos I didn’t even make it to halfway through the first episode. It was terrible.
There is a reason why Ianucci’s Twitter feed is dominated by Copperfiekd with nary a mention of Avenue 5. It’s dreadful, though as mentioned above a very rare misfire from a man who has made consistently brilliant entertainment before.
Moseley, I saw PSB in your first four words and immediately went to Google to find the latest offering from Public Service Broadcasting. Confused, I came back to finish the rest of your first sentence…oh. Heart sinks…
Live: looks like I’m the only person so far who went to a gig! I saw 2 as it happens. First was an Arts Council grant-aided performance piece consisting of a singer/lyricist/narrator, a pianist/composer and Visual Artist who designed the set and projected images and song lyrics across it. It was called What Happened To Agnes? and the performers in the aforementioned roles were Nishla Smith, Tom Harris and Luca Shaw. I saw it at HOME in Manchester and it was just lovely. Not being familiar with these kind of events, I was surprised at how many punters were there. The little HOME 2 theatre was near enough full. The performance lasted 50 minutes and was continuous. I was like watching a one-act play with a solo actress or alternatively seeing an album you’d never heard being performed in its entirety. I have a vested interest as the pianist / composer’s Mum is the fiddler in my folk / americana combo. He played non stop with only 2 tiny pieces of musical notation on his piano stand. I asked him later if he had memorised the whole thing but he said it was a very open improvisation. The show is currently touring and you can see it in Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham & Leeds
My other gig was one that I had been looking forward to for a long time. The mighty Della Mae playing at Bury Met. I first saw them in 2010 at Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in New York State, and this was my 8th time seeing them live. Their lineup changes every now and then and is currently a core trio with 2 or more hired hands. The were founded by US champion Fiddler Kimber Ludiker to showcase talented women playing bluegrass styled music. They moved up a gear fairly early in the band’s history when Kimber came across Celia Woodsmith fronting a blues / rock band and signed her up to be primary songwriter, lead singer and frontwoman. About a week before the gig The Met moved the gig into a bigger hall and they got the crowd their performance deserved. They were stupendous, and if I see a better gig in 2020 I’ll regard myself as being very lucky. Good opening set too from Chester-based Trio The Jaywalkers. Della Mae reckon they’ll be back in the UK in September. I recommend them unreservedly
Heard: that would be the new Della Mae CD Headlight. A major departure from their previous bluegrass based albums. This has drums throughout, some electric guitar and keyboard contributions and several songs feature the gospel backing vocals from The McCrary Sisters. I like it a lot
I managed to do The Wedding Present (work), and Wire (pleasure) and Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand. Not bad for January.
As mentioned above, I saw Bombay Bicycle Club. My wife got tickets for me as a gift because she thought I was a fan (I bought the first album about ten years ago). Went with my daughter in the end as my wife was unwell. They were ok…..worth seeing and a surprisingly large crowd. Good sound, annoying lightshow.
HEARD
I like the Craven Faults album a lot, which I posted about elsewhere. It has bit of a Ghost Box vibe, at the vintage synthy Harmonia end of kosmiche. The Drive By Truckers record is decent as well, good to see them learning the value of concision (apparently they have produced more double than single albums, which is nonsense and directly contradicts Kid Dynamite’s Second Law Of Rock). New to me were Norway’s Sløtface, whose “Sorry For The Late Reply” is great fizzing infectious and melodic indie rock.
READ
It pains me to report that Neal Stephenson‘s latest, Fall, Or Dodge In Hell is terrible. The first three hundred pages or so were pretty decent, but then it turns into essentially a recreation of the Old Testament in Minecraft. For six hundred more pages. Really, really not good.
WATCHED
Weathering With You is the new movie from the director of the smash hit Your Name. If you liked that, you’ll like this. It was one of those films where it was very enjoyable in the moment, but fell apart a bit when you considered it later. Finally got to watch Snowpiercer, which was honestly a bit disappointing after the anticipation. To be fair, that’s the fault of wacky distribution and not the movie itself, but I was expecting more than I got.
Watched Snowpiercer as well in December, and it did get a short shrift from distributors, particularly in the UK as it features Hurt, Swinton and Jamie Bell. Deeply flawed but always an interesting idea round the corner, or in the next carriage. Swinton’s performance is extra-ordinary, a kind of fruity female Alan Bennett.
Quiet month on the music front but adding to the cinema reports I thought 1917 was superb and loved David Copperfield. An object lesson in how to adapt a classic novel for the screen. Iannucci and team edit a lot out but are entirely true to the essence of the book and manage to make it contemporary and fun in a way it would have been when first written. Wonderful cast as well.
Heard:
Bonny Light Horseman. A lovely album crafted by expert musicians. Despite some complaints about ‘Americans appropriating these songs’ (the songs accompanied the Founding Fathers on their journey, and have been sung by Americans ever since,) I love the lightness of touch and the reverence they have for the songs.
And anyway, Anais Mitchell, right?
Seen:
1917. I loved it.
The Irishman. I loved it.
White House Farm. I am loving it.
Read:
Me by Elton John and Alexis Petridis. Masterful, hilarious, gobsmacking, outrageous and one of the best page turners I’ve read in ages.
I’ve been a procrastinator for most of my adult life, but this year, when I’ll be turning 53, I’ve finally managed to break that habit and just do things right away, and it is truly changing my life for the better. Having procrastinated for years and years, I of course have quite a backlog of ”things to do”, but I’m keeping up with the new and the daily and try to get through the old, one thing at a time (time permitting), and I’ve been getting a lot done. I’m not certain of what posessed me to finally improve my character…but a combination of having had enough of pushing my life in front of me and having more energy since changing my diet/losing a lot of weight/getting my iron and vitamin levels up where they ought to be, is probably not a bad guess. I still have lazy days – but now they’re mostly due to having done all of my chores already and being able to relax in good conscience, which makes a big change!
Heard:
Aziza Brahim has a new wonderful album out called Sahari – it was released in 2019 but my order got delayed and arrived in January. It’s been played a ton sice its arrival and probably would have found a spot in my top 20 if I’d heard it sooner.
Other late arrivals include Beck, but I’m not completely sold on Hyperspace; loving parts of it but others feel a bit too much like cotton candy. I’m not sure if it’s the songs or the production that I find difficult to love.
Also finding the Joe Henry album almost unlistenable.
But Arrival by The Fire! Orchestra is brilliant, another one for the 2019 list had I known in time that they had a new album out. If you like your jazz modern and experimental, give it a go!
I’m a big fan of James Milne, AKA Lawrence Arabia, and ordered the album Singles Club months and months ago, that one was also delayed, but worth the wait. Not his best album (this wa’s a Kickstarter project with one single released each month in 2018, then collected on an album), but it’s a grower and the strong tracks are really good, definitely a grower.
Another 2019 release I only got to now was John Southworth’s Miracle In The Night, it’s absolutely wonderful. One first brought to my attention by the 2019 AW lists; his name is so anonymous I’d forgotten about owning and enjoying a previous album.
Getting to the 2020 releases now, A Girl Called Eddy – Been Around is another homerun. Grown-up pop with lots of heart and soul.
I haven’t listened enough to Bonny Light Horseman yet to decide if I love it or merely like it. I suspect I wouldn’t like it as much if it didn’t have Anaïs Mitchell – but at the same time part of me gets frustrated that she won’t release another solo album instead of these collaborations… But there are plenty of wonderful tracks on this album, so I suspect I’ll get over my reservations and start loving it after a few more listens.
Seen:
Very little besides QI and University Challenge and my daily dose of Screen Junkies Universe on YouTube, but the one time I managed to watch a film it turned out to be an insult to intelligence…I should have known as it had Seth Rogen in it and I’ve yet to see a film he’s in that I enjoy! This one was called Long Shot and was pure male fantasy from beginning to end disguised as a rom-com (with no laughs).
Read:
After finishing last month’s commute novel I got through Ishiguro’s classic The Remains of the Day quickly – a brilliant novel that I had avoided for a long time because I hated the film!
At home I struggled my way through H is for Hawk by Jeanette McDonald. It was good, but difficult to get through all of the grief and anxiety, and it took a while to really get under my skin. But in the end I enjoyed it (if that’s the right word for it).
Among my many side collections of books are collected letters by all sorts of people, known and unknown. I can never resist picking up any book of letters I find, and this month I read two such collections: the letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder and – my current commute read – by Jane Austen. Being a lifelong letter-writer myself I guess that’s why I find them fascinating, but they also reveal interesting everyday details from people’s lives in a way that no other kinds of writing does (not even diaries, which are often unreadable).
I’ve been behind on my Stephen King novels lately, buying them but putting them away unread, blaming it on not having the time. But with my newfound attitude in full effect I finally picked up The Outsider and finished it in four days because I could hardly put it down. One of his better of the later novels, good from start to finish.
This inspired me to reach for The Institute as soon as I had finished that one, but I’m only a few chapters in so far and can’t tell if it’ll be as good. The beginning isn’t as strong, so far, but I live in hope.
Happy to hear of your happiness, Loki! 😀 I’ve never known HOW you manage to do all the things you do… and now you tell us that you’ve been procrastinating a load of other things that you’re now managing to do as well…!
Well…I’ve been mostly procrastinating the dull but important stuff and kept up with the fun stuff…! So if there’s a down side to this change of mine it is that I don’t have as much time to watch films, listen to music and podcasts, muck about with silly projects etc. I also have the (un)fortunate habit of coming up with new ideas for different kinds of projects to do all the time, and I have a growing list of them that I fear I won’t be able to get to until I retire (god knows when that’ll be…they keep moving the goalposts ahead for that!) I’ll definitely keep myself busy in my old age!
Hi Locust – cheers for the brief review of the Aziza Brahim album. Did you know that she’s playing live at Fasching right here in downtown Stockholm on Sunday, 7 June?
The answer is as always “No I didn’t” – I don’t have a good routine for finding out about gigs. However, lately I’ve been feeling less and less enthusiastic about going to gigs anyway, so I’m not sure I’ll make use of the information now that I have it…certainly not if I’d have to decide now and buy the ticket months in advance, because my finances at the moment are on the slim side!
But thanks for the heads-up, I’ll think about it.
Lifestyle change like yours is no mean feat. Let’s hope your energy keeps up for decades to come and, judging by your father and your dogged determination, I’m sure it will.
If genes can be relied on, and if my efforts to beat my type 2 diabetes has worked out as planned – I’m seeing my doctor in a few weeks for my latest test results – then you’re hopefully right!
That Fire! Orchestra album is rather good. They aren’t always as slow and melancholy as they are on this one. Live stuff of theirs that I’ve heard previously is more like a 21st century Sun Ra Arkestra meets ’70s electric Miles and I’ve realised who they remind me of somewhat.
Burnt Sugar, sometimes known as Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber, have a similar sort of approach and fluid membership though their ensembles tend to be larger. I saw them once in London on a double bill with Jaga Jazzist. I’d never even heard of them before and they were totally amazing.
Hear:
Like @Locust I had high hopes for the Joe Henry album The Gospel according to water. I love his work as a producer and the album got good reviews. Not to mince my words it is actually awful. Avoid at all costs – pondering and just dull.
One I loved is The Lost Brothers After the fire, After the rain. Two Irish guys with incredible harmony vocals the album includes assistance from M.Ward and Howe Gelb. Their vocal harmonising reminds me of Simon and Garfunkel.
Bonny Light Horseman also great. I caught up on the Big Thief albums that were so highly regarded in the Afterword end of years lists. I like them both but U.F.O.F just edges it.
Also Shabaka and the Ancestors album which is just lovely South African grooves.
SEEN:
In concert Amanda Platt and the Honeycutters were just fabulous she is a great writer with a fabulous live voice. Hope a new album is on its way. At the Cinema 1917 which was just incredible.
On the small screen I am really enjoying Sex Education series 2 – well written and very funny.
Netflix originals Staircase and Don’t f**k with cats. Both were compelling but these ‘investigative’ series are becoming a bit formulaic and predictable. They need to find a new angle I think.
Finally I have been seduced by the new Top Gear. Post Clarkson I hated the series with Matt from Friends but this new team with Flintoff is very good.
Also the latest series of Cold Feet is just wonderful – very well written.
READ:
Finished David Nicholls Sweet Sorrow which was very good after an indifferent start.
Currently reading Michael Pali’s North Korea Journal which I am enjoying. Am a big fan of Palin
and North Korea is a country that fascinates me.
I’m glad it’s not just me…”pondering and dull”, yes, and add a less than lovely voice to the mix and wonder at the praise it’s been getting!
Been a busy old couple of weeks at work. Getting easier now though so more time to do this!
HEARD
The Ocean Blue’s album, “Kings and Queens” from last year is a little gem. The band themselves have been around since the late eighties but I have only come more recently to them, and are an American eighties/anglophile type outfit, obviously in thrall to Echo and The Bunnymen, The Wild Swans, Psychedelic Furs and New Order, as well as other things like The Church and maybe even The Chills. Lovely stuff.
SEEN
Not much really. Mrs L likes Silent Witness and Cold Feet so we’ve been enjoying those but then they are a very easy watch-not always a bad thing! Actually that’s to damn Cold Feet with faint praise…this series is probably the best so far.
READ
“Outskirts-Living Life on the Edge of the Green Belt” by John Grindrod is a glimpse into the suburban world of the Green Belt, it’s history and the effect it has on people who live in or near it. Growing up in such an area, which is now under threat, I found it fascinating to know more about the history.
AOB
Football, specifically non-league, and to be even more specific, the National League South. I have really enjoyed watching the little club I follow turn their season around and get within reach of the playoffs. Early season and we looked like we were facing a long and drawn out relegation battle but things have turned around dramatically since then, making for a potentially thrilling end to the season. (Me saying that has probably blown it now.)
@nick-l
I liked the sound of The Ocean Blue so gave it a whirl on Spotify and heartily concur …none more 80’s and definitely very Chillysy to these ears…a lovely little listen…thanks!
Glad you liked The Ocean Blue Freddy! In fact the more I hear of them the more I like them myself. There are a few albums of back catalogue, all in a very similarly enjoyable vein, but this one might be a standout. Check out early single “Ballerina Out Of Control” though, it’s completely sublime…
Yes it’s good isn’t it? Whole of the debut album is alright too…very English indie pop.
Strangely I’m listening to less music lately. Not sure why, something possibly to do with getting back into the band business. That said on a sleepless night last night at around 2 in the morning I listened to Tom Waites “Blue Valentine” all the way through which probably means that it didn’t help me sleep.
A long commute means that I can spend time on lengthy audio books. Non more so than my current 40 hour marathon called “The Wise Man’s Fear” by Patrick Rothfuss. This is the mid book in a trilogy. A little slow at times but there is something about it that has held my attention. All the more surprising as its not my usual sort of thing at all. There are elements of both Fantasy and Swords and Sandals, but it also has a Copperfield type narrative around the story of the main character that keeps me interested.
Via the new Apple TV thing, I’ve just finished “The Morning Show”. Really enjoyed this. Jennifer Aniston and Reece Witherspoon are both brilliant but top attraction for me was Billy Crudup’s character. I’d highly recommend this series. I wouldn’t have subscribed to yet another streaming product, but Apple TV comes free for a year if you buy a new fruit based device.
Like others have mentioned, I try to watch as many of the award contender films as I can. Finally got around to “Judy” at the weekend. Great performance and old Bridget was a very worthy winner indeed. “Jo Jo Rabbit” was a delightful revelation and “Once upon a time in Hollywood” took me completely by surprise with its brilliance.”1917” and “Joker” both great films and ”Two Popes” was a great night in with Netflix. “Marriage Story” was more about the performances than the overall product but another worthy contender. There really has been some great films released of late across the various formats. Recent publicity clearly means that I (along with most) will need to seek out “Parasite” at my earliest convenience before Hollywood retaliates by producing an English language equivalent (a director has already been appointed according to sources).
AOB – Am retiring from the day job in May, so I expect to have more time to spend on leisure activities. Retirement tips greatly appreciated.
One of my january tasks is to see what I missed last year, by way of the AW year end charts. Having made comment as to a reduced classictronica count during the year, posted that away by others I have acquired:
ALL ENCORES/NILS FRAHM, the companion pice to All Melodies of the year before, and comprising the encores he prepared for the live shows. And it’s good, I like it even, but wtf with all this bass marimba? The record sounds as if played on board ship in a force 9, the keyboards tied into place by straining rope, with all the sound effects thereof accompanying, rhythmically, the piece in question. Weird.
THE UNDIVIDED FIVE/A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN. Fabulous stuff, the best by this duo plus orchestration, sombre mood music right up my gloomy path through the woods at night, yet also strangely uplifting.
Another pointer from bloggers here was OH MY GOD/KEVIN MORBY, a terrific collection of songs and styles with more coherence from earlier outings.
Then it has been a bit bonkers on cheapo Discogs catch-ups of music feeding my covers obsession, getting discs by acts as various as HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH and TORI AMOS. Also, in the car, awaiting a play is the sole disc by the BUCKS, DANCIN’ WITH THE CEILI BAND, the duo of Terry Woods and Ron Kavana, both seemingly missing in action these days.
Writing elsewhere meant I had to give BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN some fuller concentration than first listens had commended on me the need to bother. Sure, it’s good, but I don’t really like Anais Mitchell’s voice and that’s that.
One of my, well my only new years res was to spend more time reading, starting off well with CLIVE JAMES/UNRELIABLE MEMOIRS, which I couldn’t believe I hadn’t read. Devoured swiftly it is as terrific as expected, my mind hearing it in his lazy drawl and diction. More please. I also had his 2 final poetry collections, the first intended as his final work, he then living long enough to produce another. Powerful, poignant stuff.
On the poetry front, also a shout out for my sister-in-laws 4th volume, I WANT, I WANT by VICKI FEAVER. Stunningly brutal yet gently effective.
No huge fan of much of his music, ME by Alex Petrides (OK, and ELTON JOHN) was a superb romp and everything I want from a book by/about the divas of the golden age.
I like the writing of late chef and TV presenter ANTHONY BOURDAIN, and found a collection I hadn’t read, MEDIUM RAW. Fabulous visceral writing, an heir to HUNTER S THOMPSON, a comment I read on his wiki page, seeming most apt.
No gigs yet, but looking ahead to Damien Jurado, The Lightning Seeds, Agnes Obel, Frazey Ford and Ron Sexsmith in the next few months. have also booked my, so far, first summer festival, uninspired by Cambridge, Towersey, Shrewsbury or Bearded Theory, who have all entertained me in recent years. Cropredy (eek!) nearly caught my purse, but too much hanging around waiting for the decent stuff between the average, And I’ve seen ’em all before. But it was WICKHAM that grabbed me, down in Hants, with a very scottish roster, tickets bought and the recuperative monday booked off.
Don’t know about Terry Woods but I saw Ron Kavana as he made a brief trip to London last year. He gave up the drink some years ago and was in good voice. Lives on West Coast of Ireland and mainly plays House Parties. Seemingly not interested in record label shananigans that would go with recording new music.
I saw both a year or two back – Terry with the periodically reuniting Sweeney’s Men (with Andy Irvine and Johnny Moynihan) in Dublin and Ron with Terry Reid in Belfast – Ron supporting and then playing lead guitar with Tel. Shambolic – but that’s more Tel than Ron.
That’s interesting! I felt the grog had been a feature with Ron back then. It’s all very well Woods reuniting with Sweeney’s, what I’d love is for him to tour with his ex, Gay, and perform the magical stuff they produced together. The fact their albums featured the Island records houseband of Mattacks, Nicol and Pegg could also be called up. (Mattacks, of course, also one of the drummers on the first Steeleye album, when Gay and Terry were therein, and before Ashley banished drum kits.)
In my dreams, I fear.
Ron was a statuesque contributor to Terry Reid’s act, sitting on a stool with hat brim shading his face, playing lead lines while Terry bumbled and shambled (as he always does).
That I’d like to se, having witneeed BJ Cole play the same role
Yeah, that Winged Victory For the Sullen Album is an absolute cracker, sure enough.
Typo alert, too late for Edith, not Alex Petrides, the other guardian music writer of greek extraction, name escaping, married to the shouty midlands journo/author with the Mallen streak, names of both escaping at the moment. I ought to know as used to drive past his Dad’s chip shop in Acocks Green every day……….
D’oh, it WAS Petrides. I thought it was Pete Paphides aka Mr Caitlin Moran.