Pinch! Punch! First of the month! Here at Casa Malo we have blues skies today, and snow yesterday, which was an unpleasant surprise after basking in the warmth of the sun earlier in the week.
Still, here we all are, and I need to know (I need to know) – what have you all been listening to, reading, watching or generally diverting yourselves with over the last month ?
0ld black and white movies, Fred Astaire etc and watched Kind Hearts and Coronets with my BiL who’d never seen it before. Persevered with the Witchfinder but as others have said it was slim pickings. Enjoyed the Stanley Tucci series about Italy and food. Watched the first episode of the second series of Gentleman Jack at a BBC preview.
TV This is Going To Hurt, University Challenge and the last half of Mastermind (unless there is a specialist subject that I know something about).
Theatre Saw the Mousetrap as the BiL wanted to see it for his birthday and despite having my ears dewaxed the sound was terrible, lack of projection.
Books: two Bryant and May detective books, saw the great great grandson of Charles Dickens performing two pieces by his GGG and bought the book about the train crash that Dickens was involved in. The Plainsong book by Route (and because I’d been listening to Joni Mitchell’s Miles of Aisles I let them know that there was a misremembering of a gig by JM in Manchester that was said to have taken place with the LA Express in 72 when of course the tour was 74 and she didn’t play Manchester with them).
Listened to Mikes of Aisles and the Plainsong cd that came with the book.
Ghost tour of Leeds with an old friend.
Back to the gym and the sauna.
I watched KHAC for the second time about a year ago, having recorded it from BBC about three years before. It occurred to me that it probably won’t be on BBC TV again because of some of the language. And I don’t mean the infamous line “My west window is a right c***”
The Mousetrap was great when we saw it in, er, 2011. Different thesps I suspect…. Are they even doing that mumbling thing on stage now? Lawd help us.
Just lack of projection and an inadequate speaker system. It wasn’t just me not hearing proper either.
I’ve also enjoyed @nialb ‘s studio tours and my son finally (after a long wait) bought his house in Manchester where I shall visit him next week where he has tickets for a play for us to see.
There shouldn’t have been any sound system or enhancement, and there shouldn’t need to be – decent actors should be able to comfortably project to the back of a theatre that size. Country’s going to the dogs, I tell you….
I saw Ian McKellen’s King Lear at The Duke of York’s Theatre, not an enormous venue, in the hot summer of 2018 and it was inaudible. We were in the upper balcony, but the front row where I might have expected to be able to follow proceedings.
You’d. Think. He Could. ENUNCIATE. Darling
Re: Kind Hearts And Coronets – with stuff of this merit, the thing now is to precede with a disclaimer about outdated language/sentiments rather than have a baby + bath water situation.
I watched the 1946 adaptation of The Blue Dahlia a few months back, which features a character shouting racist language (throughout the film it’s clear he’s got PTSD, isn’t too bright and is sometimes just drunk when offending) which was introduced with some admonitory “brace yourself for 1940s ideas” hand holding.
You need to be at Song Of The South level to be truly “disappeared”..
Actually there are very few proper – ie black-and-white – films on what we used to call the four main channels anyway. Bring back Leslie Halliwell…
I’ve just seen that Kind Hearts … is on Talking Pictures at 15:35 today. It’s their usual practice to flag up discriminatory language before a screening (as @sewer-robot suggests below) rather than censor.
Kind Hearts and Coronets. Dennis Price and Alec Guinness have never done better but no one mentions how quietly funny Valerie Hobson was in support. Prim and uptight and swishing about in ever bigger hats, braced in corset from head to toe. Utterly marvellous.
Joan Greenwood was wonderful too
Very much so. The smoky voice.
VH stole it for me though. You’ll notice during the archery scene in the garden she has a decorative arrow through her big hat.
Ohhhhh Joan Greenwood. Was it her or Fenella Fielding who voiced the infamous Cambourcy Chocolate Pudding advert? That used to give me a funny feeling in my tummy when I was 9 that had nothing to do with chocolate.
Gracias, Hombre
Heard: Telefís (Irish for television, pronounced tele-fiche – as in micro-fiche, if anybody remembers using those) – a new project from Cathal Coughlan and producer Jacknife Lee. Some great electronic music with a few old RTE clips from the ’70s and CC is on top form. It was good to have him back in the fray last year with ‘Song of Co-Aklan’, but he’s truly on top form here – acerbic and funny. The singles and remixes released in advance of the album focused on the music and they are also worth checking out, but the album proper has CC front and centre. Could be a contender come end of year. Also enjoying Imarhan and Elvis Costello new ones. The EC album is very well produced with a great cohesive sound despite being recorded in lockdown conditions with the main player all recording their parts separately. He has also reined in some of that vibrato warbling he was prone to in recent years. Very good album.
Saw: This is Going To Hurt was very good and darker than expected. Ozark is coming to a great conclusion. I’m also about to finish Snowpiercer – grew to love that show after a slow start. I’ve been watching some early Sopranos in conjunction with the Talking Sopranos website and watched some episodes of Hill Street Blues for nostalgia.
Read: Billy Summers by Stephen King – I want to like SK more than I do – he has all the ingredients I should like but I’m often left disappointed at the finish. This one was OK. Just started a re-read of Star Of The Sea by Joseph O’Connor, a beautiful book.
@Max-the-Dog have the same issues with Stephen King. He has great ideas and can write very eloquently but his endings often seem rushed or half baked.
Me three!
Saw:
Finally got around to watching Dune. Pretty magnificent stuff, and made me go back and re-watch the Lynch version. As much as I’ve always had some affection for that hot mess, it really is more mess than hot. Love the look, but the new one is a hundred times the film.
Severance, as mentioned elsewhere, is very good but extremely bleak. I have much less appetite for bleak TV and film these days: it seems much more morally self-indulgent than its opposite, in this world.
Speaking of bleak, I finished Succession. It’s extraordinary, but still not what you’d call entirely enjoyable. And, like most things which everyone KNOWS to be “genius”, it’s just *really good*, not paradigm-shiftingly remarkable, which you’d take it to be if you believed The Discourse. And Roman’s the real star, not Kendall. Jeremy Strong and his “process” get all the column inches, but he’s consistently mocked by Kieran Culkin rocking up and just “acting, dear boy”.
Heard:
Not much. I have little interest in listening to music, a situation which has persisted for a while. Olivia Roderigo’s “Good 4 U” is by some distance the best pop song I’ve heard since Carly Rae Jepsen released EMOTION, but I’m also v conscious that a huge part of its appeal is that it could’ve been released in 1997.
Read:
Aside from the Nth Aubrey-Maturin re-read, quite a lot. Reading fills a cultural gap like nothing else, and lockdowns reminded me of how much more satisfying books are, to me, than anything else. Joan Didion’s “The White Album” and “The Year of Magical Thinking” are quite remarkable. I’m not sure anyone has done grief quite like the latter.
SH Fernando’s “The Streets of Shaolin” is badly written in a way that only American pop hacks can manage, but it’s still packed full of great Wu-Tang lore and I enjoyed it immensely. He’s a credulous fool who thinks Five-Percenterism has something going for it, as opposed to being a brush-daft pseudo-philosophy which could only appeal to people who don’t read, and he drops a couple of bits of standard progressive anti-Israel boilerplate when he gets the chance, but he knows his Wu.
Dominion by Tom Holland is a great examination of why we’re all Christians even when we’re not, or don’t know it. Hard recommend.
It’s also entirely possible that most of the above happened in February except for Olivia Rodrigo (9 listens today) and Severance. Where does the time go?
I can’t make up my mind about the Dune film. I think I need to wait until the next part. Until the opening credits, I honestly I had no idea it was just going to be “part one”, and it felt like it was just getting going when it suddenly ended.
Is it that time already??
Read:
– Still trudging through Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. On to volume 3 at the minute and still only just past half way. I’m starting to lose interest a bit, and this volume hasn’t held my attention as much. A huge chunk of the first half seemed to be a long conversation at some interminable society gathering, and went on for absolutely ages. I’m thinking of giving it a break after this volume, and maybe do the remaining volumes next year or something.
– Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone: I wanted to read this as it was apparently one of the stories which invented the detective genre. I found it veeeeery slow when I was reading it, but then in the last section it all comes together and I found myself thinking back favourably on all the bits I loved. Sergeant Cuff, the kind of proto-Sherlock Holmes character, is a magnificent creation.
Watched:
– Wow, can’t really think of anything I watched this month. A couple of classic 90s movies which my son had never seen: Heat and Four Weddings And A Funeral. Heat is obviously a brilliant film, although its macho politics are like something from another era entirely (the film is so MANly they got a guy called Michael MANN to direct it… ha ha). And I won’t hear a bad word said about Four Weddings: comic magnificence.
Listened:
– Moeran’s First (and only) Symphony, from advice here when I was talking about Vaughan Williams recently. Still growing on me, but will keep at it.
– You know those records you think “I must listen to that” but never get round to it? Beth Gibbons’ and Rustin Man’s Out of Season is one of those for me. It’s terrific. I had totally forgotten about it until I saw a second hand CD copy on sale for peanuts. Only took me 20 years!
Is it really 20 years? It’s a great album. I’ve never played it to death, in all that time, so it’s a always a fresh pleasure when it gets a turn.
Nothing for me to report this month, but looking forward to several gigs next month, including the pleasure of being support for Martin Carthy.
Brilliant! Enjoy it, Chesh 🙂
That Rustin Man album, I never got round to hearing it either. As a big fan of The Colour of Spring, should I investigate?
It is a great album. Yes.
It’s completely different, thoughbut excellent. It takes a lot of listening effort.
Masterpiece, more an autumnal album than a spring one though
It’s so old that it was on Go! Beat.
Funnily enough, I only just listened to the Colour of Spring this week for the first time! Yes, I know, I know… another of those gaps I just never got around to filling (and I hadn’t even clicked it was the same guy as Rustin Man). Surprise surprise, it’s terrific. Hits that Blue Nile vibe nicely.
@arthur-cowslip
It’s sublime.
Seen:
Station 11 is great.
Worst Person In The World Ever is magnificent
Heard:
Weather Station’s Ignorance is Damn Fine
Read:
Despite poor reviews Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World is a writer approaching her (mighty high) peak
READ: Finally finished Zadie Smith’s NW, a struggle more than a pleasures as, however much I liked the story, I did not like the diary style of the all but last third, her style seeming more important than the substance, actually from the start. Very clever and all that, but……
But then I read Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, devouring it over days. I remember the hype when it came out and, you know, all deserved. Stunningly beautiful and bleak tale of the self-destruction of a parent, from the viewpoint of her son, as he tries to hold it and himself together. Clearly autobiographical, I hate to wonder how his life then panned out.
WATCHED: I’m enjoying the latest Killing Eve. Once you get over the fact it isn’t up to the standard of the first series or so, and accept it as entertainment, it is very entertaining. Plus I think I may have a little crush on Jodie Comer. Peaky Blinders is turning out terrific again. A couple of slightly wordy episodes, with lots of backstory to be unfolded, it took time to build up a head, but is up there with the best of the earlier series now. The Great British Menu is a treat, and strangely exciting, as tensions build and confidence both forms and fails.
LISTENED: The new Michael Weston King, out today, is great. It is called the The Struggle. Intelligent and grown-up country hued music. Talking of country, Hanging Stars have just put out a 4th, Hollow Heart, and it is well up to their standards, ploughing even more the cosmic cowboy vibes of Gram meets the Dead in Lowestoft. Tipped off by, I think @fentonsteve , the 2 cd retrospective of Dennis Bovell is great. Still rounding up my oversights from last year, I picked up John Murry’s The Stars Are Gods Bullet Holes mid month, along with Mark Lanegan’s swansong Straight Songs of Sorrow (actually 2020, I note). Similar fare, in that they each have distinctive voices, around which effective noises capes swirl. Not Lanegan’s best, but one of the songs, Skeleton Key, could be.
I agree retro, The Hanging Stars newie `Hollow Heart` is a fine addition to their cannon. Yes there are Gram`s and the Dead`s Cosmic vibes with a sprinkling of Byrdsian guitar and mellowness of C, S & N..
The mellowness of CSN’s music, you mean…
Nope, those guys are really mellow, quite rightly.
I turned 60 yesterday. Wow, how did that happen?
Happy birthday, youngster!
Happy birthday, youngster!
Thanks both!
A cheery “hello” on your birthday,
And wishes for everything bright,
May you know only joy and wonder,
Morning, noon and night.
That would be nice. Thanks!
60 – I vaguely remember that age! Happy birthday @dai
Cheers!
Many happy returns @dai – who knew, we are the same age…for another few months anyway…
Did you do anything nice?
Low key. Didn’t work and had a nice meal with my daughter in the evening. As it was a big one I have allocated a 4 day weekend for it though 😉
I turned 61 on that day. Belated birthday wishes you youngster (;
Belated happy birthday to you, @Lunaman
Cheers Tiggs
Cheers, and to you!
Cheers!
Read
Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo.
Gorgeous novel focussing on 60-year-old Sully and the various residents of a small town in the NE America. It’s funny, melancholy, and wise
Who they was by Gabriel Krauze
Semi-autobiographical book set within the gang culture of NW London. It races out the traps, swaggering and snarling. But it overstayed its welcome and the narrator’s self-aggrandisement is wearying.
Seen
Malcolm in the Middle.
I remember watching this when it first appeared in the early 00s. Happy to report that it’s still terrific. A comedy about a working-class family with some acidic and anarchic edges but none of the saccharine moments that Modern Family suffered from.
The Tourist.
Entertaining enough nonsense that veers between quirky characters and bloody violence. Sort of a Poundland version of a Coen brothers’ film.
Severance
Philip K Dick meets Charlie Kaufman in a show in which the main characters undergo surgery that results in their work and home lives being severed from each other.
AOB
Having decided that doom scrolling is not improving my mental health I have tried to cut out news sites, Twitter, below the line comments and all the other stuff that only confirmed my increasingly jaded views. I have even cut out sports reporting. No idea what has happened in any football match played over the last fortnight!
Dusted down the PS3 – which has sat atop a wardrobe since we moved 6 years ago. Trundled down to a game exchange place and picked up 3 games for less than a tenner. Currently playing the Last of Us – and it’s tremendous. Tense and twitchy action set pieces plus dramatic (though gloomy) scenery. As an added bonus, there is an attempt to engage the emotion. So when bad things happen to the main characters and some of the people they run into, there is a frisson I don’t remember getting from most games.
Last of Us pretty much set a new bar for storytelling in games, endless awards. I’m playing LOU 2 at the moment and it’s just as good, but you’ll need at least a PS4 to play it on. The juice they wring out of the explore/fight/loot/explore cycle is tremendous.
Just finished – amazing game. Really effective story telling with more than a couple of ‘oh no..’ moments that are usually reserved for books and movies.
Been looking at the PS 5, but really can’t justify the cost.
Next up is Metal Gear Solid4. Remember playing one of the early games in the series on the original Play Station.
Read
When listening to The Rest is History podcast on Ukraine, I noticed that they mentioned Mikhael Bulgakov’s novel The White Guard, and, intrigued I read it, having loved The Master and Margarita some years ago. The novel deals with the attack on Kyiv in 1918, when the Bolsheviks, the Whites, who remain loyal to the late Tsar and the Russian Empire,and a Ukrainian independence movement are all trying to seize or retain control. It’s a powerful description of a city under siege, but also fascinating in giving some insight into Ukraine’s turbulent past. Interestingly, the main protagonists, like Bulgakov, are a Russian family, who see the Ukrainian independence movement as as threatening as the Reds. Not sure it was much of a relief from the horrific slaughter going on right now, but it helped address my deeply limited knowledge of the country.
Seen
Got to the end of Season 3 of Ozark, and it’s brilliant. Enjoying the final series of Peaky Blinders, but I’m not sure it’s matching the best of the previous series. It’s not terrible, it certainly hasn’t jumped the shark, it’s just, well, ok.
Heard
I’ve only listened to it a couple of times, but first impressions are that Rosalia’s new album sounds just great – a bonkers mash up of flamenco, Europop, hip hop, and God knows what all else. It’s kind of irresistible.
I like the Is It Rolling Bob podcast, though like all these things it really depends on the guest. The previous episode was with some insufferable actor comedian called Thom Tuck, who rendered it almost unlistenable. But the latest episode was a joy. The guest was Curtis Stigers, who is no Bob obsessive, but talked with charm and humour and a fair degree of self deprecation about what Dylan means to him. I then noticed that he is also on a recent Nothing is Real podcast, and he was equally entertaining, if not more so, talking about The Beatles. Hats off to him – worth checking out.
Heard
Listened to a couple of books on disc that I had purchased second hand…
King Solomon’s Mines…
I had never read the book or seen any of the movie versions so I didn’t really know much about it other than it “inspired Raiders of the Lost Ark”
Absolute ripping yarn, it was so winding and took so long to get to the title mine that it felt like a long shaggy dog story but I did enjoy it. The book is 135 years old but the narrator seemed strangely modern in that he was always reminding us in time of peril that he may not be the best man for the job because, ” as you know I am something of a coward…” Not a sentiment I would have associated with Victorian-era explorers.
Also Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
In a word, “Unrelenting” It had really worn me down by the end. Set in pre Civil War USA the plot is a bunch of American mercenaries go to Mexico hunting the bounty placed on the head of some rampaging Indians, from memory $100 a scalp. They are quite successful at that and eventually branch out into killing anyone they come into contact with becoming notorius outlaws themselves.
Despite the constant (I do mean constant) slaughter of innocent men, women and children my final straw was when one of them purchased some puppies for the purpose of throwing them into a river and drowning them. When I heard that I thought, “God I hope someone kills these pricks” I’d just had enough. Incredibly it’s largely a true story, some of the main characters have direct historical counterparts.
The version I have is clearly marked “Abridged” which is probably a relief.
There have been numerous attempts at a film version that have never come to fruition which is unsurprising. If one ever does eventuate I will not be lining up to see it and I say that as someone that thought No Country for Old Men was one of the best films I had seen in years.
Cormac McCarthy once said that “Blood Meridian: or the Evening Redness in the West” is basically about man’s capacity for evil, and when I read it, I could sort of see what he meant.
If you like McCarthy and don’t like the endless brutality and horror of Blood Meridien (fair enough), then can I recommend the Border trilogy (starts with All The Pretty Horses), about the very last days of cowboys in the Texas/Mexico border lands. Some stunning writing, his evocation of landscape well in evidence, and is much more character driven.
I understand Blood Meridian is a difficult read – it’s supposed to be – but it’s an absolute masterpiece. Few novels have stayed with me like that one.
Caveat Emptor: a passing knowledge of Spanish is advisable before starting The Crossing (the 2nd one of the trilogy), as much of the dialogue is in that language. I didn’t at the time and couldn’t finish it for that reason. I may well re-attempt it now I do know some Spanish.
I speak reasonable Spanish but couldn’t help thinking “Like his complete lack of speech marks so much use of a “foreign” language is just plain annoying. Where annoying = pretentious.”
Do you think you’re more reasonable in Spanish than English? Cos if so, I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say we’d be prepared to use Google Translate.
El español es un lenguaje, no un milagro.
Yeah, if you don’t know what “caballo” means before starting “The Crossing”, then you’re going to be rather lost.
FWIW, I really liked “All the Pretty Horses”, but “The Crossing” bored me, rather.
Agree – Horse Brill, Crossing Boring.
Lodestone of Reasonableness
I found All the Pretty Horses hard going and really didn’t feel inclined to persevere with the rest of the trilogy. The Road, on the other hand, which is the only other McCarthy I’ve read, was searingly good.
Read:
Started March by reading The Society of Reluctant Dreamers by José Eduardo Agualusa, and enjoyed it much more than A General Theory of Oblivion (which I liked, but it took a while to get going IMO). It’s a fascinating novel full of magical realism and political fury. We meet a few people who has vivid dreams; true dreams, dreams that can be contagious, dreams that take physical form when they awake, dreams that brings them together and can possibly overthrow dictators. Written with humour, poetry, a sense of magic, wrath and passion, takes hold of the reader from the first line and never lets go. A big little novel that paints some unforgettable pictures, highly recommended!
I enjoyed but was a bit confused by Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah. Enjoyed, because it’s mostly a very well written novel about the horrors of war, the complex humiliations of colonialism, the healing powers of love and friendship, and speaks interestingly about tradition and modernisation. Confused, because – having just read Paradise – some characters in this novel is clearly the same people as in that novel, but they have completely different names and some details are kept a bit vague, making me question my intelligence a bit! And as much as I enjoyed the novel, I was disappointed with the last chapters, which were oddly rushed before the novel ends on a sentence so moving, and leaving such a gaping hole in the story told here, that I hope he’ll write that story in his next novel!
I read a collection of short stories by Tessa Hadley, taken from several of her original collections (bc, unusually for me, I read it in Swedish). Stylistically I liked it, she’s a very good writer, and I didn’t dislike any of the stories. But they didn’t really grip me either, and I can’t remember a single one of them now.
Having read and loved Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli last year (?two years ago? …; at some point during “The Covid Years”…) I bought the essay that she wrote first, and that led to that novel being written: Tell Me How It Ends- An Essay in Forty Questions. It uses the questionnaire used by the court system to interview asylum-seeking children, to examine that system and the background to the “refugee crisis” from the point of view of these children and the horrible reality they are living through; in their original environment, during the journey towards the US border, and when (/if – many disappear on the way) they get there. Interesting, upsetting and moving, a good complement for anyone who read the novel, and a good introduction to the subject for everyone else. Very short, but impactful.
I also read, on a lighter note; The Boys, the autobiography by Ron & Clint Howard. Told in a relay style by both brothers about their experiences as child actors, into the beginning of their adult careers. Their parents are described very lovingly and seemingly did everything right to make them down-to-earth, hard working and wholesome…still Clint developed a drug problem. I enjoyed the format of them taking turns and commenting on each other’s stories from their own perspective, they both seem like lovely and talented people, if slightly dull (in a nice way), but the book unfortunately more or less ends just as Ron’s directing career starts, and I doubt that it’ll be the most memorable autobiography I ever read.
Also read a conversation in letter form between two Swedish personalities (one journalist, one artist) which won’t interest you much, but I enjoyed it a lot!
I’m at the home strech of a biography of my alltime “historical crush” Denis Diderot, written by Jacques Attali. Not the first biography about Diderot that I’ve consumed, not the worst either. But not entirely to my liking, though the subject of it is so wonderful to once again spend time with that I don’t mind so much.
And my commute novel at the moment is The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave. It’s taking place in northen Norway in the 17th century where the authorities accuses a village of women of witchcraft; widowed by a storm that took every fisherman, forced into independence to survive on their own. A third into it it’s quite brilliant so far. But, as a Scandinavian reader, the way some words are constantly written in Norwegian sometimes becomes a bit odd or silly or just disturbing, and since the rest is in English you end up pronouncing it in an English accent in your head! But that’s a small point of not-quite-annoyance, and wouldn’t affect anyone of you, so I’d definitely recommend it (even though I don’t yet know if it stays this good to the end).
Seen:
I just can’t seem to stay interested enough to watch anything for too long anymore. I can barely get through one episode, perhaps two (if they’re very short and I can binge them) but certainly not an entire series. Not even “light entertainment”, I’ll watch one episode of something quite funny, and then never return to it. I watch YouTube – but even then I lose interest if it’s too long.
Which is strange since I can read for many hours, I’ll happily tinker about with some project of mine for half a day, I’ll cook for a couple of hours no problem, I’ll gladly take a five hour long walk if I have interesting company to talk to – but watching TV/films/YT clips makes me restless, feeling that I’m wasting time… I’ll occasionally be reminded of a favourite film of mine and think that I must rewatch it soon, but then I just find my enjoyment in thinking about it and reliving my favourite scenes in my mind; that’s enough and I never actually feel the need to watch it after that. Am I the only one who’s weird this way?
Heard:
I also listen less and less to music…I buy albums and then it takes me ages to pick them up and listen for the first time. I feel like I need to schedule some listening-hours weekly to get it done!
It started when we were made to have the radio on all day long at work…I’m so thirsty for silence when I get home that I never even consider putting on music anymore – I used to listen to music from when I got home until going to bed before this radio terror began. I’ll listen – if I remember to – on my days off, if I’m at home (which I’m often not). But not anywhere near as much as I did before. So I can tell you what I’ve bought, and listened to briefly, at best:
Stromae – Multitude. The Jacques Brel of the dance floor is back, and the little I’ve heard on my one listen so far is quite promising.
The latest Big Thief album has been sampled only half-way – it’s very long! I’m sure I’ll love it once I actually sit down and listen properly.
The Delines, The Weather Station, Hurray For The Riff Raff, all have new albums that arrived this week, I’ve only heard a few songs of each yet, but live in hope…
Rosalía and the latest Yoko Ono tribute album are on their way.
Last month’s haul sits still mostly half-listened to…but Imarhan’s Aboogi is good, and Jana Horn sounds like I’m going to enjoy when I get around to it…even though it’s a bit listless in energy.
Ah well; back to my books! 😉
@Locust : I have also found recently that watching TV makes me feel that I’m wasting time – I don’t feel restless, so much as guilty. I should be using the time to read/listen to music/practice guitar/paint a wall, etc. Not sure why, never used to be an issue…
“Yoko tribute album” – do you listen to much actual Yoko? Any recent recommendations?
I have a few Yoko albums, and I love that she’s been so embraced by younger generations, making dance remixes of her music, on the “Yes, I’m a Witch” and “Yes, I’m a Witch Too”. I’ve been unable to find physical copies of her latest couple of albums with her Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band, nothing since “Between My Head And The Sky” in fact – and that one came out in 2009…but that album is very good and if you haven’t heard it I’d certainly recommend it! I’ve heard the later ones, but not owning them myself I haven’t heard them enough to know them well, unfortunately.
So not very recent recommendations, no…the latest remix album is from 2016 – time flies!
Thanks for that – I haven’t heard much/any of Yoko’s output post 1970s. I’ll seek out BMHATS…
I read that as Bumhats. A new line for the milliner’s trade.
Potentially two new lines –
Bum-shaped hats; or hats designed for the bum rather than the head…
Intriguing new openings for how to doff one’s hat!
Also:
Bumhats – TMFTL
And do the hats encase, or shroud the buttocks or merely sit atop them, a la Ms Kardashian ‘s champagne glass?
Nice to see Imarhan get a second mention this month …they make a beautiful and joyous sound.
It’s been a strange month this March.
Both Mrs Razor Boy and myself turned 60 and we had planned a beano visiting Liverpool . This was scuppered as my step son, living in Melbourne, became ill and the FPO had to rush over there at the drop of a hat.
Hotels, restaurants, museums etc cancelled and I was left on my own to celebrate a rather underwhelming 60th …many people are having a worse time (See Ukraine) so no complaints from me.
The FPO says I tit around all the time listening to music and watching bollocks and I can’t argue. It’s a default position for an Afterworder I expect
Read: Baxter Dury – Chaise Longue
As a fan of father and son, this was a short but informative read about Baxter’s upbringing in the chaotic world of his old man in the 70’s and 80’s, when Ian was in his pomp. Fair to say there have been more structured upbringings but Baxter captures the flavour and freedoms of the times of an unconventional parenting/offspring relationship. There were echoes for me of my upbringing in a dysfunctional household of the 70’s where everything seemed off the cuff and nothing was planned.
Willy Vlautin – The Night Always Comes
Another bitter sweet offering from Willy and I thought this was one of his best with it’s theme of gentrification of an area where fewer working class people can get to own their own property and the struggle/stress to do so, allied with the temptations in Portland .
Elvis Costello – Dipping in and out of this rambling tome by Declan but it’s enjoyable to read a chapter or two before sleep. As a late convert to Elvis’ back catalogue its provided a certain insight into the man for me
Seen: The latest series of Ozark seems to have quickened up the pace somewhat and as I came to this during the various lockdowns, it’s been good to watch and am really looking forward to the conclusion. Which brings me onto….
Killing Eve – I watched the last two episodes and gave up, absolute twaddle. I guess the episodes I didn’t watch could be amazing but the turning 60 thing has sharpened my mind into not wasting time *hoping* something may turn out good. So I binned it!
The Sopranos – I have been re-watching the whole thing for a couple of months now since watching the original on Channel 4 back in the day. It’s something of a period piece now and to see the whole thing as one has been very enjoyable. I have also been listening to the Talking Sopranos podcast by Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa that looks at every episode and talks to the other cast members, writers and backroom staff of the show. Deep diving into the best tv I have seen.
Heard: Bob Dylan album by Album – Ben Burrell
This is a great podcast by Ben who usually fronts the afternoon show on Virgin radio but is a very knowledgeable Bob head also. His extra podcasts on Patreon subscription are excellent including great interviews with people who were playing on Bob’s albums (See Scarlet Rivera )
Stone Foundation – Outside looking In
Continued purple patch by our biggest contemporary soul group that also kills it live. Lots of guest vocalists and a slightly different sound on this one which moves into more electronic areas but is no less soulful for it
Aldous Harding – Warm Chris
Was really looking forward to this one after the last cracking album but it’s not as strong for me
Still some good tracks but was hoping for more of the same standard as Designer
Miles Kane – Change the Show
He seems to have lightened up and grown up after a few issues over the last number of years and this album reflects that newfound joy. Nice duo with Corinne Bailey Rae and overall I have enjoyed it enough to get a gig ticket in Cardiff.
Elvis Costello – All of it!
Ploughing through all of Elvis’ oeuvre, the great, good, indifferent and shit and looking forward to the gigs that I have bought tickets to for the forthcoming tour
AOB: I returned to live football this month and attended two great matches. Firstly my beloved Arsenal as I went with my son to the home game v Leicester which was a 2-0 win. I have been a season ticket holder since the late 70’s and this team, though not our best, have been so positive and the vibe in the crowd has changed to being massively positive, the youth that are in the crowd and on the pitch are a joy, as the lock-down era has a by product of younger fans being able to attend games and super charging the atmosphere. Made an old Gooner very proud that the future, whatever the league position this year, is good
The second game I attended was Wales v Austria World Cup Play-off semi final and the emotion for us, The Red Wall, was incredible. I have been to hundreds of games over the years and this was off the scale as we sang their hearts out and Gareth Bale scored two great goals, the personal dark days of lock down seemed to be (partly) erased in 90 minutes of euphoria for me that night. One of the most memorable experiences of my life.
The final play off v Scotland or Ukraine will be a hell of an occasion and I’m really looking forward to that even though if we play Ukraine the whole world will, understandably, be supporting them.
The older I get the more understanding I am of enjoyment in sport being shared around*
* Apart from Spurs in football and England in rugby you understand!
I’ve not always been the best contributor here, partly because my typing is so slow and it takes me an age to get all this rubbish down and I don’t have the time. But I check in here every day as a routine and value this place greatly.
Thanks to all of you that tit around looking at music minutiae as much as I do…you are all magnificent and I value all your contributions here.
Well happy birthday from a fellow new 60 yr old
Happy Birthday.
And if one of the talented among us could rework the Beach Boys I’d be most grateful
‘Round round, I tit around
Yeah, I tit arooouuuund’
Lechyd da Dai, I hope you had a good 60th ….The singing at Cardiff City last week was very emotional
Maybe you will enjoy this from the pre-game
🙂
Read: very little.
Heard: very little.
Watched: even less.
AOB: For the first time in about 30 years, a player punched me on the field. Three times, and a couple of kicks on the eway down for good measure. He’s now facing aggravated assault charges, and I am still post concussive, with headaches, an inability to make major decisions, and an inability to be at a screen for a prolonged period…
Jeez, so sorry to hear that Si! I hope he’ll get a proper punishment, and above all that he’s banned from sports forever! Wishing quick healing for you, physically and psychologically, and that it doesn’t hinder you from going back to refereeing in the future.
Wow! That’s terrible. I hope they throw away the key. Get well soon.
Oh man, I hope your recovery on all fronts is good and thorough.
Thanks for the kind thoughts. He is probably looking at a looooong ban, but we won’t know until the court case finishes. It’s possible he’s facing being inside for a bit. The nice Senior Sergeant was shocked at the video.
I’m improving, but my brain hasn’t settled yet. Odd noises, conflicting noises are really no go, so sadly I’ve had to delay my immersion into Metal Machine Music. Multi co dependent variable problems are still tricky as well – I used to be incredibly decisive, to a fault. Not right now I’m not.
I hope you have a full recover Sithere. Animals like your attacker deserve nothing but the worst.
Shit. Best wishes for full recovery. What a c*nt
When I was 16 I was playing football, a much older opposition player (he was 19 or 20) took offence at some of my challenges on his team mates and when I went down in a tussle he kicked me repeatedly in the head. Naturally at that age I didn’t even tell anybody but got up (eventually), walked off the field and never played with that group again. Never got a medical check up.
Have often harboured thoughts of finding him and kicking the shit out of him even 40 odd years later, but I wouldn’t do it of course.
Read:
The Ego Tunnel by Thomas Metzinger. A classic in the philosophy-meets-cognitive-science line, up there with (and waaaay shorter than) The Master & His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist.
The Autistic Brain by Temple Grandin. This was partly for work, because being of an ADHD persuasion, I’ve had some sticking points with some clients on the Autistic spectrum. TG is great, she’s in her early 70s now and has spent much of her life inquiring into and advocating for those ‘with’ ASD.
The Appeal by Janice Hallett, and Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner. Both read whilst in hospital (see below). I easily disappear into thrillers, and so it was with these two UK based page-turners. Not that turning the pages was easy (again see below)
The Afterword – truly a fillip during the hospital daze. Cheers, folks.
Watched:
Top Boy – season 2 according to Netflix, but more like 4 in real chronology. Such quality acting from Ashley Walter, Little Simz and Kane Robinson, but probably about time to end. Interesting that it’s created and written by sexagenarian white Irishman Ronan Bennett. I’ve no issue with that, but I’m surprised that the Guardian hasn’t had a poke at this. A piece last week about why it’s annoying that straight white women (specifically Sally Wainwright) write lesbian roles was close to the giddy limit.
The Sparks Brothers – I finally watched this. Yes, a bit long, but blimey, what a movie. I hadn’t heard any of 2020’s A Steady Drip, Drip Drip, but All That is now my funeral tune.
Boxing – my ambivalent relationship with the sport continues. Michael Conlan vs Leigh Wood was a Rocky script made flesh, with the down to earth local lad outboxed, outfoxed and out-everythinged by the flash, cocksure world-title shoe-in. Until 90 seconds remained.
Heard:
Deep dive into Al Stewart. Dunno why; possibly triggered by hearing Soho (Needless To Say). Those British voices, Clifford T Ward, Neil Tennant, Al Stewart, really do it for me.
AOB: I won’t repeat stuff from the Necrotizing Fasciitis thread, but the stitches where my right index finger previously originated are being removed tomorrow. I’ll hopefully be back working later in the week, and back to the gym (this is my longest spell away in 40 years)
Watching: re-runs of Taskmaster. The tasks are one thing, but the reactions, asides and one-liners in the studio have had me laughing out loud, a rarity these days.
Reading: Sid Smith’s King Crimson book – only a third of the way through and highly recommended. Also taken to carrying around a 33 and 1/3 book in my pocket when I go out. Books on Pink Flag, Bitches Brew and Another Green World have been enjoyed although the series as a whole is very variable.
Listening: multiple live versions of Groon.
Further listening: Bruckner 9th symphony. I’ve been familiar with this symphony for years – but lately my response to it has changed – I don’t seem to be able to listen to the third movement without tears forming.
AOB: bad week or two – had to have one of my two cats put down, due to an inoperable and untreatable tumour. Position was starting to affect both eating and breathing. She was my other half’s particular favourite – I know it had to be done but it was an awful experience all round.
Favourite Taskmaster contestant? I’d say Mike Wozniak. His mohican reveal was hilarious (as was Josh Widdecome’s tattoo, James Acaster’s refusal to acknowledge Alex and Phil Wang’s, ahem, ‘figure-hugging’ jumpsuit). It seems every season has had one particular standout fun-to-watch protagonist, but Wozniak would be my pick of the bunch. I’d never heard of him before watching the show.
I am indifferent to the charms of Taskmaster, but have it on good authority from those in the family that aren’t that the Noel Fielding/Sue Guidroyc/Joe Lycett/Hugh Dennis/Lolly Adefope series is the one.
Mike was great, but Sally Phillips’ decision that the true Übertask was to repeatedly humiliate Alex and the relish with which she executed her bizarre and dastardly ideas was as admirable as it was scary.
Also: Sally Phillips.
Is that the original Sid Smith that came out maybe 20 years ago, or is there an update?
Hi Chesh – “first published 2001, revised and expanded edition 2019”.
Seen:
Racing Cars are back – the F1 circus returns (maybe without the Netflix-influenced conspiracy theory this year).
Ferrari looking stronger than before, Red Bull looking as strong as before, Mercedes seemingly lacking. Of the others, A;pine look lie they could do something, and (pleasingly) Haas seem to have found a way off of the back of the grid
Read:
Stephen Morris: Fast Forward.
The second tome of his autobiography covering New Order to present day. An understated chap who seemingly still can’t believe his luck. Self-deprecating and reveling in his anonymity – like being refused entry to The Hacienda on opening night, and changing his name to Stephen MorrisSEY when trying to get into a Manchester festival gig where New Order were headlining.
Heard:
Mattiel – Georgia Gothic is the equal (if not better) than the last outing, and (although this may be quite early) one off the albums of the year so far.
Inspired by Mr Morrris above, New Order have been spinning a lot, and I have filled some gaps in the collection – and I may be alone here, but Republic is a fine album.
I always thought Republic started off well, with Regret and World (Price of Love) but tailed off rather suddenly after that. Apparently Hooky hates it, but I might dig it out for another spin.
Cinema
Got a few coming up soon but the only visit last month was for Belfast. I was rather underwhelmed – while I accept it was from the point of view of a youngster, I still think it needed to be a bit grittier.
Glad to see Summer of Soul got an Oscar, the “… and some white guys” comment from Chris Rock (who the f*** is Chris Rock?) seems to have been completely lost following the fracas. Erm… isn’t that racist?
Reading
Local newspapers from the 60s – I am definitely going to try and get something together about the pop scene of West Penwith in the 60s as loads of groups, folk singers, and outright weirdos made it down here.
Hunter Davies – “Life in a Day” – bought for a pound and a great writer, and also about the only person, or certainly one of the first, to take the Beatles seriously when it was happening – hence he got the gig for the official biography. That said, he’s quite dull isn’t he, and his link with the Beatles (the only thing that does make him interesting) is counteracted by dinner parties with Jilly Cooper, Joan Bakewell and the like… which seem to be endless.
Sport
Saturday… hmm, what a day.
Morning – pitched up at the Orient training ground in the hope there might be a youth game. There was: Leyton Orient U15s v. Harlow Town U15s, a friendly referred by an Asian man, without the help of someone on either touchline, played in front of about 100 people, 75% of whom were black. I heard one swear word in two hours, a minor expletive out of earshot from anyone beyond five feet of me, from a father about his son’s first-touch over the other side of the pitch! The players about 30 of them, including the subs, respected every single decision, and every goal (Orient won 3-2) was greeted with, if not quite a stoic shake of the hand a la Stanley Matthews, a low-key high-five or the meeting of fists. Fantastic.
Afternoon – I knew I should have gone to the football, my wife did warn me.
Pitched up at the local Rugby club and, oh dear, it was the annual old players’ lunch. The place was heaving and there was a lot (a LOT) of drinking going on. The President did a speech. Definitely sexist, definitely mocking the recent news stories regarding gender fluidity (not sure if that’s the right term) – homophobia and racism seem to have been avoided but as this was in front of a crowd of about 120 Boris Johnsons and the local MP is Iain Duncan-Smith that vibe was definitely in the air. The players on the field were fine – wonder what they’ll be like in 10 or 20 years time at this event – but this was the other Britain c. 2022 writ large, and it is shite.
Oh, another thing, the President did what they always do, he said “I don’t suppose the woke brigade would let be say this” and then he said it… so no “woke brigade” stopped you saying anything you prize knob-cheese.
Went to get a bag of chips later in town and one of the hooray-henrys/city boys was off his face coming out… it was 6 p.m.
So any traits/opinions/stands one needs to hold or make in order to be seen as COMPLETELY WOKE will be gratefully received because I am pitching myself as the polar opposite to these tossers.
When you say “The President”, do you mean… ?
SEEN:
A return to Ely Cathedral to see some choral music – this time featuring the Cambridge Chorale, the Gesualdo Six and a small musical ensemble perform Arvo Part’s “Passio.” In truth, the 70 minute piece is a little bit turgid, but conductor Owain Park kept the pace up, and at times – a solo female voice, the 20 strong choir and the cathedral organ at full throttle – it was really quite something. And all set against the beautifully lit altar at twilight.
Elsewhere, went to the new David Hockney exhibition at the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge. Predictably, it was heaving with people so you couldn’t get close enough to the pictures to properly appreciate them. Will return when quieter.
Enjoying the latest NPR “Tiny Desk” concerts featuring octogenarians on fine form. Before Christmas, it was the Isley Bros with an 84-year-old Ronnie looking and sounding good, then recently a similarly aged Shirley Caesar and in the last couple of weeks, Abdullah Ibrahim, who’s pushing 90. Best of the lot is Patti Labelle – a mere 78 – who’s on great form with a cracking band/background singers, covering a couple of her Philly classics and then a stomping “Lady Marmalade.”
On telly – bleak Welsh detective series “Hidden” returns – and plenty of late-night snooker with some remarkable deciding frame action.
READ:
Working my way through Oliver Bullough’s timely “Butler to the World” – a fascinating history of how Britain’s role as money launderer to the rich and odious has developed over the last few decades. Like his previous book “Moneyland”, it covers a lot of ground, but he has the journalist’s lightness of touch to keep things pacy and interesting.
Also, a re-read of John Muir’s “My First Summer in the Sierra” – blissful, joyful writing about nature – and a little closer to home Wainwright’s “Outlying Fells of the Lake District” in the hope that this summer I can conquer maybe a couple of thousand footers away from the hordes.
HEARD:
Plenty of great new music around at the moment. Best thing I’ve heard is Somi’s “Zenzile: The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba” – subtly beautiful jazzy/string laden takes on the great South African singer/musician’s work. Here’s Olili:
Another great vocalist – Cecile McLorian Salvant – covers all sorts on her new album – “Wuthering Heights” included – but it rewards repeated listens. Likewise, “Grace” by Judi Jackson which may have sneaked out late last year.
Lots of impressive new piano jazz around as well that’s worth a listen. Fergus McCreadie has a new album out this week, with early tracks showing a continuation of the Scottish folk themed music of last year’s fine “Cairn.” Also enjoyed Kit Downes’ “Vermillion” on ECM and Gerald Clayton’s meditative “Bells on Sand” which is quite a shift from his usual harder edged style of playing. Bugge Wesseltoft’s newie is also easy on the ear quietness – while Fred Hersch brings in strings on a lovely lyrical set.
Then last week in a charity shop I picked up a copy of David Ackles’ “American Gothic” – one of those much touted but rarely listened to 70s singer songwriter “classics.” It’s a strange one – a little bit Jimmy Webb, possibly Scott Walker in there as well in the vocals – against a swirling background of fabulous orchestrations from the late great Robert Kirby (Nick Drake et al). Been playing it a fair bit – the 10 minute “Montana Song” is quite some overblown epic.
Another “long song” I’ve been playing is a previously unreleased 11-minute version of Joyce’s Latin jazz classic “Feminina” – what a choon! – that’s scheduled for Record Store Day release.
Butler To The World is great, isn’t it? In an oh-jesus way.
Sultan Stevenson is a young UK jazz pianist to watch. No album as yet, just a couple of lengthy tracks on Bandcamp and several live clips on YouTube.
Thanks for that – it’s excellent – and new to me – sounds like he’s been listening to Bill Evans/Bill Charlap. There’s a recent album by Joel Lysarides in a similar vein that’s worth a listen.
Supposedly, McCoy Tyner is one of his heroes. I can hear some of that in his playing.
I’m always interested in your list of monthly recommendations, Morrison. Excellent stuff.
David Ackles’s “American Gothic” is one of my favourite albums of all time. As you say, it has a big sound; a lush production. Which makes it even more remarkable that the bloke who produced it had – to my knowledge – never produced a record or twiddled any knobs in his life before: Bernie Taupin.
Apparently, the album was Melody Maker album of the year in 1972 – which possibly counted for something way back then – and was presumably up against some decent competition. Looking at his discography, doesn’t look like he’s had the “box set” treatment like many lesser talents – and his wiki page chronicles a somewhat eventful and tragic life.
Judi Jackson’s Grace came out on CD late last year, and on vinyl this Feb.
I was a bit underwhelmed by it, to be honest. It’s a swerve away from jazz towards electronic pop. And the one track my pal’s lad played on doesn’t feature on the vinyl.
CD has 15 tracks, vinyl has only 9.
Perhaps I need to give it another go.
|||||| LISTENING
A collector friend passed away earlier this year, and I inherited his collection of Bear Family box sets – 132 of ’em: an actual truckload of music, more than 700 hours… As a result I’ve been going through the complete works of Hank Snow and, especially, Bill Monroe, listening to one disc each day, and reading the accompanying books. So it’s been mostly Bluegrass for me, all racing banjos and mandolins, and songs about lost children, tall pines and God. And if you’re wondering if you really need 9 takes of »Poison Love« in a row – yes Sir, you do! For a bit of variety I listened to the Stones’ »Out Of Our Heads« and »December’s Children« a lot, and discovered strange hipster jazz and be-bop from the 1940s and 50s – Ken Nordine, Jazz + Poetry, Chet Baker and (idol of my teenage years) Mamie van Doren, singing about beatniks. Great stuff for random play at the office, and I guess that’ll get me safely through Ramadan, too.
|||||| WATCHING
On TV I only watch crime shows (German stations all have fabulous and expansive online archives), and there’s been the usual fabulous mini series from Belgium (»Red Light« about yes: the red lights districts in Amsterdam and Antwerp) and Scandinavia (»Thin Ice« about climate change, bad Russians and questionable politicians in Greenland), and a new season of »Wilder« from Switzerland, featuring the great »Kaegi«, an elderly gay secret service guy, a sort of Dale Cooper in snowed-in mountain forests in the Alps. The German prime time thrillers are unfortunately all poisoned by ultra-PC and »woke« fanatism – detectives are all young females, either black or lesbian (or both), and if there’s a male cop he’s transgender, questioning polish suspects while wearing a skirt, and expecting truthful answers…
|||||| READING
I had a backlog of MOJO and UNCUT Specials, so I read a lot about The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and The Velvet Underground – the Pistols special is especially entertaining: lots of eyewitness accounts, and never has so much been made of so little. But I did read a real book – the latest novel from German writer Julie Zeh. »Unter Leuten« is a fascinating story about a Berlin hipster who buys a house in the suburbs to get away from Corona and lockdown frenzy. Her new neighbour (»Hi, I’m the village nazi!«) turns out to be a right-wing weirdo – and emerges as the silent hero of the novel. There’s great character studies throughout the book, especially when it comes to Corona hard-liners in the city, and the whole story is told with a slight »Amelie«-like melancholy. Can’t wait for the TV version.
Re: the German writer Julie Zeh.
A friend of Mrs duco01’s translates Jule Zeh’s novels into Swedish.
It’s true – no, honestly!
Very interesting Fatima.
Your description of German prime time thrillers was very interesting. I just wonder how much of this >>woke<< crap we have to put up with. I`m all for challenging injustice, racism and injustice but your description of German TV is too much of this PC crap.
What puzzles me Baron is why this apparently “woke” crap is really an issue. Apart from the fact that there must have been tens if not hundreds of thousands of crime drama programmes over the years that have had white hetero men as the lead and women as victims, why would the race and sexual orientation be so hard to put up with? They aren’t documentaries.
Of course it’s not real life. And speaking for me, I can see the point of an interesting or different storyline or set-up in these films, but the point where it gets annoying is when you have the impression that it’s forced, or that there’s an agenda behind this. In Germany it’s obvious that some program directors think they have to get the statistics up to an “acceptable” standard. We’ve had 40 years of white male detectives, now we have to make up for that by only having females in the foreseeable future. And as I mentioned – it’s not an “issue” for me: I just don’t watch it.
As I stated but you chose to ignore, I’m all for challenging injustice and racism.
I don’t know of the crime series you refer to, ‘hundreds of thousands over the years’, that’s some telly viewing to endure. If you live to be 80 you’d have to watch at least 4 a day every day of your life, what a stupid thing to say. I’ve watched around 20 if that.
Most of those 20 series I have watched especially in the last 30 years have been well represented by all ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientation. There is no way they have been underrepresented.
I referred to fatima’s description of some German fictional TV detective series and agreed that the >>woke<>woke<</pc crap’ is an issue.
I wasn’t ignoring your assertion that you are all for challenging injustice and racism. I just find it surprising given your position, you describe the balance tipping in favour of shows that go against the orthodoxy as “woke crap”. I’ll run the risk of being called stupid again to underline Fatima’s point that we’ve had 40 years of white male detectives in the majority of shows. Isn’t shifting that balance away from this part of the challenge?
I’ve sat and tried to think of the shows where the equal representation you refer to would have been so evident. And by equal I mean in a lead role, getting the lion’s share of the screen time, not the token female boss or black side kick that just pays lip service to equalty.
I can think of just one where the lead detective was gay – The Long Call – and that only appeared in 2021. Leading black characters – there’s Luther and then there’s …… well I couldn’t find another unless you count Bulletproof on Sky which we won’t be seeing any more of.
Contrast that against Sherlock, Morse, Lewis, Endeavor, Vera, George Gently, Line of Duty, Midsomer, Broadchurch, Father Brown, Shetland, DCI Banks, Frost, Daziel & Pascoe, New Tricks, Waking The Dead, Wire In The Blood, Wallander, Agatha Raisin and so on. Even on shows like Death in Paradise, whilst the support roles feature black actors, every rotation of lead role has been to a white, heterosexual man. Ditto New Tricks, where the token black actor was ditched after the first series and then as each main character quit they were replaced like for like to keep the balance of lead roles 75% white male. There are more roles emerging for women actors – Scott & Bailey, Trigger Point, Anneka, No Offence, but it’s limited compared to male lead roles.
None of that looks like equality to me.
Like I said I’m all for challenging injustice and racism and that includes people who are also ‘straight’ and white. Equality is for everyone.
You quote TV Crime series, an easy and justifiable target what about other roles in the media. Do straight people get fair representation on TV talk shows, magazine style shows, News channels? I don’t really think so but there’s no hullabaloo about it because they straight.
Like I said equality for everyone not just those who make the most noise.
I agree totally with your comments regarding British Crime TV, there is an equal case for the abhorrent TV comedy of the 70’s/80’s. What I do want to see is TV Drama, Comedy etc to be realistic and a fair representation of the population.
I’m afraid, Baron, that ship has already sailed.
The cat is out of the bag and there’s no putting it back in again. The ladies can do all sorts nowadays – get educated, have their own jobs and income, marry foreigners, even marry other ladies. And there’s nothing to be done about it.
Adapt or Die, my friend, as prof. Charles Darwin might have said.
»The ladies can do all sorts nowadays…«
Nowadays??
I know it is difficult to tell from the written word, but when I wrote that my tongue was so far in my cheek it was nearly bursting through my face.
FWIW, it hasn’t been illegal for, say, Gingers to marry Foreigners since 1999. And possibly even earlier.
READING: I’m currently reading Mike Butler’s second volume in ‘Sounding the Century’, his planned ten-volume (!) Bill Leader (and friends) story. Bill Leader (91) is a humble legend – the man who almost single-handedly recorded the 50s, 60s, 70s folk revival, basically – but ten volumes seemed like madness to me.
And then I took a punt and bought Vol.2 (just out), subtitled ‘Horizons for Some: 1956-62, which covers the likes of Bert Lloyd, Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, the first stirrings of the folk scene in London, via Bill’s recordings for Topic, but also covers extraordinary, marginal and/or eccentric individuals like Hylda Sims and John Foreman. The latter is like a living, breathing character from one of Christopher Fowler’s Bryant & May novels – a collector of ephemera, a conscientious objector jailed during peacetime in the 50s, a hawker of sheet music, a loremaster of London oddities, etc. There’s also a man who seems to be a Professor of Punch & Judy history.
I am in awe of Mike’s lightness of touch, his colourful magazine-esque style, wit and research, the illustrations, the quality of the proofreading (hardly any typos throughout – in contrast, for instance, to a recent purchase of a similarly ‘self-published’ Tolkien Society publication – an educational charity, no less – which is riddled with the most basic errors on every page) and design – and, as ever, I am delighted by Bill Leader’s effortless mastery of the pithy one-liner.
It’s a page-turner, full of wonderful information from the edges of the map and delightful characters – and yet remarkably easy to read! Mike is a canny observer of a lost world of lefties, anarchists and weirdos – and people trying to make post-war Britain a more fun, more humane place. And in a way, Bill is a canny observer of Mike’s observing – his quotes having the effect of the biography subject chipping in with a laconic aside every so often, having been reminded of something from 70 years back, or updated (from Mike having visited them) on the life of some curious character he recorded once, long ago and far away.
I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in music history, British folk music, interesting stories from pre-information-age Britain… or just great, quirky non-fiction writing. There is a tremendous air of humanity and wisdom throughout. Mike may or may not be a lefty – I’ve no idea, and generally I’m not remotely interested in Red Flag stuff – but his skill is not least in not making the book feel like tub-thumping for any movement or cause. Even the people he documents, by and large, are less parts of movements than total, utter individuals. They all just huddled together for warmth, as it were, in those days of Aldermaston marches…
Mike’s relaxed marketing strategy seems to be ‘Email me if you want one…’ He does have a shop-window website, but hasn’t got around to updating it with the second volume yet (which I heard about only in a Facebook group we’re both in). Trust me – this book (Vol.2) is manna to the average Afterworder. I might even buy Vol.1 (though I’m generally not bothered by the bits in biographies about the subject’s schooldays etc.) – because Mike Butler’s writing is compelling.
https://www.soundingthecentury.com/
LISTENING: Enjoyed a field trip to a punk revival show in Belfast last week – Petesy Burns’ Hoakers, Henry Cluney’s XSLF, 999. Normal service has since resumed (a jazz club tonight).
AOB: Working on Martin Carthy, Duffy Power, Fairport Convention projects among others. And halfway through mixing my 16-track album with Breige Devlin. Sample below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3743WFE24FA
I’m really busy at the moment but have noted the info about Sounding the Century (“to investigate some time.”).
I went back to London last week and got down Folk in Cornwall from the shelf for the journey but then read it before I left, and so opted for a favourite stand-by… Dazzling Stranger… you may have heard of it!
Those British folk albums stand up really well and I presume Bill Leader had a hand in the majority of them, either as producer or simply discovering the talent in the first place.
Hat, Large as Life, Another Monday, Nicola, Birthday Blues, Midnight Man… that’s the stuff I now play the most. Well, that and Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Very kind, Deram – though I imagine you stop reading when it gets to the 70s! 😀
I’ll put the Sounding the Century stuff (and more) in a book review on the AW soon – to make it easily findable. If you like DS, you’ll like StC…