Flaming June! Welcome to the Garden Party. Please gather round, help yourself to a drink from the cooler by the tree, have a seat and tell us all about what you have been listening to , watching , reading , or anything else you’d like us to know about
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The most amazing thing I have heard in the last month is Nina Simone – The Montreux Years. It’s absolutely captivating.
I ground my way to the end of John Lurie’s autobiography – a bitter tale. I’m a huge fan of his music, but he does come across as an arse. Many, many times.
A book I LOVED was by Jude Rogers, formerly of this parish – The Sound Of Being Human – How Music Shapes Our Lives. A great read. It is emotional, thoughtful, and insightful on the magic of music, with some interesting analysis on why music hits us so hard and why it resonates so deeply. A heartfelt story of a life in love with music.
As an example, on the Flying Pickets – “Around 1984, Welsh men were not known for expressing deep emotions one-to-one. They didn’t do this at work or at home or over pints in the workingmen’s club, but when you stood near them on a Sunday as an organ struck up the opening bars of a hymn, or saw them standing together on a stage in a welfare hall, shoulder-to-shoulder, about the sing the Elijah or Messiah, you know what was going to happen. Their chests would expand in one collective breath, songs acting on them as defibrillators”
@el-hombre-malo agree with you re Nina Simone – a fantastic release.
Hmmm … I’ve been sort of considering getting that Nina Simone Montreux Years 2CD for a few months, but now that two Afterword heavyweights in the form of el hombre malo and SteveT have sung its praises, I’ve been swayed, and will probably invest soon.
Don’t wait for soon. Get it now! It’s fantastic.
it’s only fair that after all the marvels you have tipped me to, I get to retaliate with one!
I’ve been having a Billie Holiday sesh. Prompted by reading her autobiography, Lady Sings The Blues, which I found to be a surprisingly easy -and unsurprisingly interesting- read. Her jazz period linguistic style reminded me of my favourite novel, Absolute Beginners, written just a few years later.
I then watched the 1972 film with Diana Ross (on YouTube) and also last year’s The United States vs Billie Holiday. Neither was as interesting as the book, though the lead actresses in both were excellent.
Saw Ricky Gervais’s show SuperNature. (Yeah, I know. Haters gonna hate. etc.). Like all the Gervais standups -like pretty much most standup routines, I guess- I found it hit and miss. Some jokes flat, some jokes genuinely lol funny (but don’t tell Twitter I said so).
I also watched a Russian film called Why Don’t You Just Die! (2018). I really, really enjoyed this film a lot. I’m a bit of a fan of gory movies, but especially so when they’re played for laughs. The last successful example of this type of ultra-violent black comedy I really enjoyed was Harpoon (2019). This one is even more violent, bloody and funny. A young woman asks her new beau to kill her policeman father, who she says has been raping her for years. That’s pretty much it. There’s some stolen money involved too. Not much in the way of plot, but visually it’s very impressive, like a cross between Pedro Almodovar and Guy Ritchie, all bright colours (predominantly red, granted) and fast editing. And with as much lol humour as blood. A great evening’s entertainment, thoroughly recommended if you like the genre.
Well I never! A Russian splatter comedy! One doesn’t hear much about any of those!
Great find, Gary.
Why Don’t You Just Die – coincidentally a summary of Russia’s message to the people of Ukraine.
Could be a message to their beloved leader Moose.
I’ll go first (for a change)… [EDIT: in between writing and posting, I’m third]
HEARD: I’ve had the pleasure of curating two releases of music by the late, great Duffy Power recently and just heard the finished masters in the past few days – wonderful stuff. One is a ‘definitive’ edition of his 1971 LP ‘Innovations’, which was a self-curated selection of at-that-time-unreleased recordings made during 1965-67 with a pool of terrific players (John McLaughlin, Jack Bruce, Danny Thompson, Terry Cox, Phil Seamen…). The new edition adds all of the other known recordings from that same period/body of work – most of which have appeared here and there on other Duffy anthologies, but never in one place with the ‘parent album’. The set also adds the fabulous January 1967 Decca single version of ‘Hound Dog’ (with McLaughlin, Thompson and Cox as ‘Duffy’s Nucleus’) – which, amazingly, has never previously appeared on any Duffy Power CD. The other release will be an expanded ‘Live at the BBC’ set – two 1963-97 BBC discs + a disc of 1995-2001 demos/studio rarities. The mastering on both, by Eroc, is superb. So I’ve been listening to Duffy Power a lot recently. 🙂 I’ve also been loving Katie Spencer’s recent album ‘The Edge of the Land’ (reviewed elsewhere on the AW).
SEEN: I’ve been enjoying a US crime drama, ‘The Blacklist’ (on some non-terrestrial channel – Mrs H would know), and Springwatch.
READ: I’ve finally got around to reading Dominic Sandbrook’s vast ‘Never Had It So Good’ social history of Britain, covering roughly 1956-63 (Suez to the Beatles). Three-quarters through so far and I’m in awe of his ability to boil down complex stuff into very readable prose and to make interesting judgements / analyses on his material. Even with well-trodden stuff, he isn’t just giving a potted version but usually presents information that counters standard conclusions. Gripping stuff (well, mostly – I skipped a few pages of dry economic stuff twice).
AOB: I went to see John McLaughlin’s 4th Dimension in Dublin a week ago – terrific (of course).
Dominic Sandbrook – I found that one hard work (maybe because I’m not closely invested in the era) – the later books I found easier to plough through.
And being a tight git, I’ve only just bought Who Dares Wins: Britain, 1979-1982 (it took a while for the price to come down) – haven’t started it yet, but hoping/expecting for Sandbrook comprehensive easy(ish) reading again
Yes I’ve read two of his and have two on the shelf waiting for the hols to really disappear into them.
His pod with Tom Holland “The rest is history” is really excellent too.
THirded on Dominic Sandbrook! I devoured the 56-63 one, and if anything the 64-70 one is even better. I even found myself gripped by the “dry economic” stuff.I have always been into the music and culture of the 60s, but not until reading this did I feel I really got a handle on the politics.
I enjoyed the politics too, Arthur – it really was only a couple of sections of 4-5 pages where I skipped ahead.
In the next book, his account of the 1970 election is nailbiting!
Is that The Blacklist with James Spader in the lead role? Superb show – and a great soundtrack to every episode…
That’s the one. Six or seven episodes into season one so far.
I think I’ve seen the first 5 seasons, all very enjoyable. Apparently they are making/have made a 9th Season.
How can I make my last 31 days on the planet sound interesting?
I can’t …
Read:
Bob Mortimer – And Away. Been through it, came out the other side, and still smiling.
And one can’t argue with his simple 10 Rules
Seen:
Secrets Of The London Underground back for a second series. Surely I’m not the only transport nerdy type who enjoys this?
Seen the first 2 episodes of Pistol – better than I expected, and I managed to suspend my criticism and just enjoy it for what it is (“a” story, not “the” story)
Heard:
Liam Gallagher’s new album is good, and continues to belie expectations where he would stand in Noel’s shadow post-Oasis.
Frank Turner’s FTHC is another fine outing (still not sure about track 1 though – I thought I’d bought a new Anthrax album by mistake)
Current obsessions with Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello punctuate listening time, as does the confusion over why late period Slade albums are not more reverred – Nobody’s Fool and We’ll Bring The House Down are particularly great.
The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome and Rogues Gallery are better than history perhaps remembers them.
Interesting? Not really
Another SOTLU nerd here – fascinating show…
Nobody’s Fool – wasn’t that the title music for Budgie? A great song – original by the Kinks?
https://youtu.be/FTSB2b-nFKY
Wise words by Bob Mortimer.
Points 7, 8 and 10, absolutely – points 4 and 9, less sure.
Cinema:
1. “The Worst Person in the World.”
A Norwegian film about a young woman’s career/love-life in modern-day Oslo.
Erm… Oslo was interesting. I don’t remember particularly disliking it while I was in the cinema, it’s just that it was completely unmemorable!
Is the least interesting subject for a film the career/love-life of young people?
2. “Ali and Ava.”
The first scene shows a man in a hoodie jumping to dance music on top of a car.
Oh dear. I am NOT going to like this. Incorrect. Said man, Ali, is hilarious, and he embarks on an on-off relationship with an older woman who has suffered domestic abuse. A truly fantastic film.
Is the most interesting subject for a film the love-life of older people?
3. “The Quiet Girl.”
Another great film. About a young girl (about 12) leaving her confusing (though not violent) family home to spend her summer holidays at an aunt’s house in rural Ireland. Bit by bit the characters develop and it is a cracker. Reminded me of the Channel Four series “One Summer” by Willy Russell.
Music:
Warning – very woke:
No Abba.
Listening to original Black albums rather than compilations. Pride of place are the late-60s Impressions’ “We’re a Winner,” This is My Country,” and “The Young Mods’ Forgotten Story.” It would have been interesting to have been a fly on the wall c. ’69 for a discussion on Black Civil Rights between Nina Simone and Curtis Mayfield.
The four posthumous Otis albums, my favourite of which is Tell the Truth.
The Last Poets’ debut and, completely new to me, “On The Corner” by Miles Davis.
I’ve been attracted to “On the Corner” for ages because of the cover art but it was the brilliant article in Uncut (my only music magazine purchase in a year) which finally made me listen to it.
1972 eh? – not remotely interested in the long one, the over-rated one or the shite one, but “On the Corner” is a revelation, and, just two months in, it is effortlessly the jazz (is it jazz?) album I have most listened to.
Funny thing though… the article very much ties Miles at this time with the influence of Betty, his wife, and by association, Jimi, Sly and James Brown.
“On the Corner” sounds like none of them!
… but if you’d told me it was an unreleased Mothers of Invention album from the late-60s, I wouldn’t have batted an eyelid.
This is your best ever post, deram. On The Corner is brilliant. Do you count Dock Of The Bay from a few years back as one of the four posthumous Otis?
I have to confess to embracing Mortimer’s rule 9 a long time ago.
One Summer was the big break for a quite obscenely young David Morrissey.
Miles wanted a young black audience, exactly the audience that James Brown had. He was extremely jealous that a former sideman of his, Herbie Hancock, attracted exactly that audience with his projects after leaving Miles’ band.
Read:
The definitive tome on the subject of the assassination of Olof Palme; Statsministermordet (approx. “The Prime Minister Murder”) by Hans-Gunnar Axberger. For a Swede alive at the time of this traumatic event, reading this non-fiction deep dive into the event and its unbelievable aftermaths is both painful and healing, in a weird way. I loved it, but it made me slap my forehead so many times in disbelief at the incompentency of the police et al, that I fear it will have left a permanent mark…!
Then on to Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick, an autobiographical book that I really liked parts of, but found the rest highly annoying. Mostly because I found Vivian and her mother so tiresome, and their arguments absolutely pointless, and the attempts at intellectual analysis painful to read; overcomplicating things for no good reasons, and certainly not reaching any useful conclusions, IMO. It’s considered a modern classic, so probably only MO… 🙂
I enjoyed Strangers I Know by Claudia Durastanti slightly better, also autobiographical and with the author’s relationships with her parents at the center of it. They are both deaf, and very complicated and self destructive people, and large parts of this story was very interesting, others not so much. Again, parts of the attempted analysis seems quite pointless to me.
But you can always count on Olga Tokarczuk to fill a reader with pure joy of the power of language and imagination. Flights immediately made itself comfortable in my Top Five reading experiences of the year. A wonder of a novel which is like a literary cabinet of curiosities, mixing longer and shorter chapters with small vignettes, held together by the themes of travel, change, decay, and the preservation of bodies and time. All told in the magical language of this phenomenal author. Must get to The Books of Jacob soon!
I’m only a few pages away from finishing the brilliant biography Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser – which is so much more than a biography of a single person, as the author places LIW’s story in the history of the country and the politics of the times. I don’t know if little boys grow up reading the “Little House” books, but as a woman who grew up devouring them, and still sometimes re-reads the favourite bits, this was such an interesting look at the background of the series. You think they were full enough of misery and unfortune, but the worst parts of reality didn’t make it into the books…yikes, what a life! And, speaking of dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships…her and her (quite awful) daughter’s push-and-pull bond is another very interesting part of the story.
I’m half-way through Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro, which has another constantly fighting mother and daughter combo at its core, and if it hadn’t been for the annoying changes to the bus traffic in Stockholm this week (thanks to a Climate Conference, Stockholm Marathon and lots of student festivities) I probably would have finished it by now. But I can’t read on the metro (I have to change lines and only go a few stops on each line, so I’m afraid to get too engrossed in my reading and going past my stop…) So far it’s quietly brilliant, especially in its depictions of Elena’s advanced Parkinson’s doing its best to hinder her as she travels through the city to get help to solve the murder of her daughter – ruled a suicide by everybody else, but she’s convinced otherwise.
I also read parts of a short story collection called Her Body And Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, but I got a bit self-conscious reading it on my commute…there’s a lot of sex, body parts and fluids, etc in these stories, so I left it to be read at home and haven’t gotten through it yet due to having other books on the go.
Watched/Heard:
Nothing much at all. YouTube channels, mostly on gardening as I’m preparing to fill my balcony with flowers and vegetables soon (once summer gets going properly…been too chilly and/or too rainy so far). Have been growing zucchini plants from seeds indoors in preparation, and will sow carrots, lettuce, scallion, dill and chives soon. Started too late to sow tomatoes and wild strawberries, but will try to find some plants at the garden center to add to the rest, and perhaps a small fruit tree as well. And lots of flowers as well of course, to lure in the pollinating bees and make it colourful and fragrant. Replanted the zucchini plants today in larger tubs, but I suspect I won’t get the “garden” going properly until my vacation week in mid June.
Also looking forward to my first pre-pandemic gig in mid June: Big Thief on the 14th!
Been listening a lot to the new album this month, and grown to love it.
Otherwise no new albums bought, I’m making a list but haven’t been in the mood to shop.
Becoming more and more acutely aware that my parents aren’t going to live forever, so I’m trying to spend as much time as possible with them, plus talking on the phone in between visits.
Haven’t had much energy to hang out on the Afterword lately, I’m feeling very much that it’s been a long year since last vacation season…need some rest to get my energy levels recharged!
Pre-pandemic gig @Locust? Have you found a time machine? 😎
Enjoy the gig, Big Thief are a band I should like but they haven’t clicked with me. Yet.
Ah. Let’s hope it’s a time machine and not a crystal ball…
Has that Palme book been translated? Would love to read it… Well, maybe not love but but you know what I mean. I do know that the story looms as large in the Swedish/Nordic consciousness as JFK and Watergate rolled into one .
The Swedish police, however, would surely not beat the good old bobbies of the Met for really world-class incompetence.
It just came out a few months ago here, so definitely not yet. Part of me hopes it won’t get translated, because I’d be embarrassed if the world would find out exactly how incompetent they were…!
Locust –
Yeah, I’m really looking forward to the Big Thief gig at Filadelfiakyrkan tomorrow night, too.
I’m amazed the concert isn’t sold out.
The support act, KMRU, looks to be a bit … erm … different.
We have seats in the balcony. You’re downstairs, aren’t you?
I’d be quite happy if Big Thief just played the “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You” album from beginning to end. What a monumental record it is.
We’ll have to compare notes on this site sometime after the gig!
Yes, as always! I’ve never been to Filadelfiakyrkan before, so have no idea what it even looks like inside, but I prefer standing to sitting down at gigs – for as long as I’m able to stand up…I have a dodgy foot since a couple of weeks, but it hurts just as much when I’m sitting, so it’ll be fine.
Didn’t even know about the support, will check them out on YT later.
I’m having a long day tomorrow, starting with a bank appointment to sort my loans out before the interest rates skyrockets any more…then off to buy a birthday cake for mum and going to her place to join the family for celebrations (a sprightly 91yo). A spot of dinner somewhere and then Big Thief! Indeed, that album gets better each time I hear it, and it was already great the first time.
If I spot someone looking Afterwordy (Afterworthy?), I might attempt the secret handshake. 🙂
We have a secret handshake? Last to know, cuh!
Although I do know about the secret chord progression…
Filadelfiakyrkan? Easy for you to say… 😀
Well, I made the trek to the States. Son and Heir’s graduation from HS, 18th, blah blah.
I have an Air BnB, he is staying with me, so we’re binging…
Top Gun Maverick – proper movie. Old school popcorn movie. It was simply brilliant. I might go again. Every trope, every cliche, and hit sooo precisely. Loved it beyond word
Which led to Top Gun (original). It still knocks spots off.
Kelly McGillis is apparently “hot” so Witness. There aren’t many perfect movies, but Peter Weir has directed a lot of them.
We’re working our way through the Star Wars collection. Yes, the original 3 rock, the next three are white, and the last three are good films but….missing the magic of IV
Next? Paramount Plus means Star Trek and Westerns.
Oh Dear.
We saw Top Gun Maverick yesterday, too. I was quite enjoying it until I realised about two thirds in that Jennifer Connelly looked remarkably like a young slim, Deep Purple Mk II era David Coverdale.
Witness – Building the Barn = CHOON!
Agree with you about Top Gun Maverick – saw it yesterday. Brilliant
I have just finished Ulysses. It only took me 12 years. I only managed it by reading a guide to it at the same time – which helped quite a a bit.
Next Finnegan’s Wake (although I would probably need another life to finish that).
Phew!
When people ask if you enjoyed it you have to say, “Yes I did yes”
No spoilers now, Foxnose! Don’t give away the ending of Ulysses. It’s one of my lifetime ambitions to read that book. One day I’ll read Ulysses I must read Ulysses I’ll definitely read Ulysses yes I will yes.
[damn! You beat me to it, Moosey.]
Kate Bush gave the ending away long before 😉
She’s a career spoiler. She did the same with Wuthering Heights and The Book of Dreams. And possibly The Snowman by Raymond Briggs, though I’ve never read it.
Which song for The Book of Dreams?
Cloudbusting.
….I think. Donald Sutherland creates a gigantic fart machine, and Kate dresses up as a boy a murders him while wearing a red coat, then becomes Blackadder’s butler. Yep, that’s it.
Cool daddio!
If you have an Amazon Alexa, you can ask her to fart.
You can. ‘Say Alexa, fart’. And she will.
Fart Machine. Pah.
“Donald Sutherland creates a gigantic fart machine” = Cloudbusting?
No, I think you’ve got the wrong Kate Bush video there, Moosey.
You’re thinking of “Shat in your Lap”
Seems like it was a long month for some reason.
Heard:
A mixed bag – John Mellencamp – Sad clowns and hillbillies – wasn’t aware of this album but was drawn to the duets. It is very good.
This is a photograph by Kevin Morby is fantastic, possibly my favourite album of the year so far. Extremely varied and shows him as a great songwriting with an ear for a great melody.
12th of June – Lyle Lovett – an album of two halves. The first half he comes across all Lous Jordan Jump Blues and big band. The second half is singer songwriter Lyle. I like both sides but the album is possibly a bit disjointed.
Drop Out Boogies- Black Keys being more back to basic and very good for it. Billy Gibbons co-stars on one track.
Combat Rock expanded by the Clash. This sounds great and the bonus cd is a marvel.
Endless Rooms – Rolling Blackout coastal Fever – haven’t given this album the required spins yet but the multi guitars sound interesting.
Sinners Shrine – Dean Owens- Excellent album of Calexico abetted dustbowl folk from a Glaswegian with an ear for the authentic sounds of the desert.
Droolian by Julian Cope. Bought this from his Head Heritage site and it frankly is a pile of shite. I have bought a few releases from there and they have all been garbage yet I continue to buy them – well no more. I must reluctantly accept that Copey is no longer the artist that released the Teardrops albums, Fried, Jehovahkill, Peggy suicide. I find that very depressing to admit.
READ:
Finished reading Daisy and the six which was very enjoyable.
Reading The Premonition Bureau by Sam Knight. A book about premonition that is spooky but I haven’t read enough of it yet to decide if it is believable or bunkum.
SEEN:
Enjoyed the film Legend about the Krays – they were fascinating characters and this film had less sheen than the more famous blockbuster one from a few years back.
Encouraged by this site I started watching Borgen which is fantastic.
I am absolutely not a Royalist but I really enjoyed the documentary that was narrated by the Queen. it had excellent footage of her growing up with Margaret and acts as a great historical document of the Royal Family. Slightly amusing that all of the bad stuff had been airbrushed out but nonetheless it was compelling viewing.
On stage I saw the Mick Fleetwood endorsed Rumours of Fleetwood Mac. I am not usually a massive fan of tribute bands but they were superb. The Peter Green section was unbelievably good and it was a really fun night out.
AOB:
A week in the South of France was really enjoyable – the wealth of Cannes and Monte Carlo was pretty jaw dropping but the French people we conversed with were really lovely and another reminder of the folly of leaving the family.
On a personal note I am quite pleased to see my BMI drop by 2 points. A long way to go but in the right direction.
Why do you and the doc think Dean Owens is from Glasgow? He’s from Leith.
He’s a dick head Big Stevie.
Hey @SteveT I knew you’d get that Sam Knight book.
Baron – that’s you being funny?
Impressive – never saw that coming.
Anyway @Baron-Harkonnen how come you are an expert on Dean Owens? – you didn’t know who he was until I told you about him last month ya daft git lol.
I already had 2 of his albums.
Cos he lives in Glasgow. His Dad’ s from Leith, or was. He identifies as a Weegie: see Rain in Glasgow and numerous other songs.
On his album ‘Whisky Hearts’ there’s a track called ‘Man From Leith’
About his Dad, @baron-harkonnen
Raining In Glasgow. Some lyrics…..
I could be on the midnight train
From Waverley to Queen Street.
Waverley is in Edinburgh and Queen St. is in Glasgow. He’s going from Edinburgh to Glasgow. Probably to a nightclub.
So, not a very good example. Anyway…..whatever. He may live in Glasgow, but he’s a Leither.
OK.
He was actually born in Peterhead, next the prison. I’d walk by and say “Ca va?” and, with that rueful grin of his, he would reply “Fuck off”. Great days
It’s June? Already???
Listened
———-
I really should just stop pretending I have wide tastes in music and just accept that my default is seventies rock and prog. Nothing wrong with that, I say.
Anyway, I’m filling in some gaps and at the moment I’m on a Genesis tip. Someone a couple of months ago posted live remastered live footage from 1972 and I was transfixed, suddenly “getting” them as a band in a way I never have before. So, treading slowly and carefully to avoid sickening myself on them, I’m doing one album a month.
This month was Nursery Cryme. Reader, I LOVED it. While a bit rawer and unpolished than some other big prog hitters, they are definitely compelling with their intricate arpeggio stuff, their random-sounding chord progressions and their bonkers lyrics. Once you get into their groove, the climactic soaring choruses of The Musical Box and The Fountain of Salmacis are really moving.
(Spoiler for next month: I’ve already started listening to Foxtrot and it’s even better.)
Plus it was my birthday on May 11 so I thought I had once and for all get round to listening to the album that was released the day I was born in 1973: Hawkwind’s Space Ritual. It’s very enjoyable, although it all fades into one big mass and no individual tracks are really sticking out for me yet. The cover is fantastic. I’ll keep listening, but they haven’t grabbed me like Genesis have.
Read
——
Watership Down and Tales from Watership Down (Richard Adams) – After knowing this only through the 1978 cartoon for so many years (which I love), I only got into the book (and its sequel) as an adult a couple of years ago. I love it so much it’s probably going to be an annual re-read for me now. Those who fail to appreciate the depth of this book and can’t imagine how a story about rabbits can be anything more than “just” a children’s tale, more fool them. All of life and society is contained in this.
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (William Blake) – I read a facsimile of this, slowly and carefully, with a commentary, and I’m still none the wiser. I can see the attraction of an unhinged English visionary ahead of his time, but at the moment it just seems like more hype and image than anything substantial to me. On the page it just seems a bit dry and over my head. Use the drawings and lyrics for a big gatefold prog album, THEN you would probably have my attention.
Watched
———-
Not much actually, I’m struggling here.
Rewatched Another Year, which I’ve now seen three times I think, and which I believe is my favourite Mike Leigh film.
Oh yes: The Father, with Anthony Hopkins. Incredible, a must-watch. I don’t think I’ve seen a portrayal of dementia from the point of view of the sufferer, and it’s a simple and effective technique that keeps you riveted.
“I really should just stop pretending I have wide tastes in music and just accept that my default is seventies rock and prog”
Better out than in, Arthur…
I know, some confession, eh? I honestly think I sometimes have this vision of me having wide ranging, impeccable taste in music. Then every so often I realise the actuality is I have Close to the Edge, Rubycon, Meddle, A Night At The Opera and Tubular Bells pretty much permanently installed beside my stereo.
Join the happy band – we’ve had t-shirts printed…
…and, for what it’s worth, your examples above clearly demonstrate your wide ranging, impeccable taste.
Why thangew.
I was summarising for clarity, but the truth is my go-to list is a little bit wider than those five albums (just a little…) My current favourite is Relayer, made all the more poignant by Alan White’s recent death. A stunning album.
I’m doing the Genesis thing too, although not regularly and with no chronology.
At the moment, the choicest cuts are Selling England By The Pound and 1983s Genesis
Oh are you? That’s interesting. It was a combination of that Genesis in Paris ’72 footage I mentioned above, and me getting an Anthony Phillips album on an impulse that led me to the path of Genesis.
They never really grabbed me before, as I say, but I think I just need to give them time. So I’m going defiantly old school, eschewing Spotify and buying one physical album a month as if I’m back in the days when that’s all my paper round money would extend to. Doing it chronologically so not sure where to go after The Lamb, as that’s the big cut off point isn’t it? I don’t really like the 80s pop stuff, but then again maybe if I ease myself into it by listening to them in order I might end up appreciating the 80s stuff in the end.
I must admit the first time I heard Peter Gabriel singing the “Old King Cole” rhyme in The Musical Box, I cringed. But now I love that bit. They remind me a bit of The Incredible String Band, who can sound ridiculous to the unenlightened but sound majestic to the initiates.
My favourite Genesis album is ‘A Trick Of The Tail’, I’ve never got into ‘Lamb’ and I’ve been trying for close on 50 years!
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway loses most of the momentum that was built up on the second disc.
A trick of the tail was the last decent album they did and the Lamb is heavy going. I don’t think they ever beat Suppers Ready from Foxtrot – I saw them do it live 3 or 4 times and the theatrics added another dimension.
Gabriel was the genius in the band and they were never the same without him although they made much more money of course.
In my slapshot way of doing things I had Invisible Touch earmarked for next listening some time this month – I think I will now go for Foxtrot
PS Calling All Stations is not in the plan – should it be?
Well, it’s as much a Genesis album as Invisible Touch…therefore a critical review of Genesis albums would have to include it (although personally I wouldn’t listen to either of them for pleasure…)
I don’t think the quality control was switched off properly until after Wind and Wuthering…
Me too, sort of. I like Peter Gabriel but have never knowingly heard a PG-era Genesis LP. They’ve all been remastered at Abbey Road in the last few years, so I asked my chum and he replied “Duke”, and I bought the self-titled one (the only Genesis I had previously was the 12″ single of Mama). I still haven’t played either, though.
My word! I feel like a fixed point in the universe has moved…
…although a degree of order is restored: you may own them – but you haven’t played them…
Filed next to the copy of DSOTM I got ‘free’ in a 3-for-2 sale…
Am I to understand you have never listened to Dark Side of the Moon? Please for your own sanity take 40 minutes out of your busy life and give it an active listen: beverage of choice, eyes closed, a good set of headphones or big speakers. It’s one of those albums that is so ubiquitous it tends to get forgotten about it, but it’s ubiquitous for a reason.
The themes of alienation, depression, life, death, time passing… they are all big themes expressed by simple lyrics, but no less affecting for being slightly adolescent (in fact, probably more affecting for that reason).
It’s a band on that fantastic and unique moment when they move from experimentation into mainstream acceptance.
Even if you just want to dig it on a technical level, it’s unparalleled for its sound design. Definitely the best sounding album at that point in history anyway. The reverb is to die for (unflashy, just blankets the sound in a transparent way – ECM plate reverb I believe) and (they say) Alan Parsons achieved a gorgeous blend of instrumentation by applying heavy compression to everything EXCEPT the drums, when common wisdom would say it should be the other way about.
(I’m sorry, I seem to have wandered in from the Steve Hoffman forums there)… Anyway, long story short: it’s a must-listen!
I spent most of my teens, 20s and 30s working for a hi-fi firms. So I’d heard bits of it a lot, but not as a full album.
Dog Faced Boy made me borrow the SACD (mastered by the new Hoffman, Kevin Gray) and play it in full, for an AWcast. I liked it, but haven’t played it since. I had to listen to a Springsteen album in full for the same ‘cast, I liked that a lot less.
There are some albums from the early CD era – Brothers In Arms, for one – which I listened to so much at work, I never need to hear again. Just thinking about it brings me out in hives.
At least you have tried. That’s all I ask! 🙂
Well put, Arf. I played it to my young scallywag of a nephew, who’d never heard it, a while ago. He was well into it. Espectally the intro to Time. Who leaves so much space in a song these days? No one, that’s who.
A massive intro, an immense sound! Those toms!
Great production, shame about the music. (8>}
Have you seen ‘Peterloo’, Arthur? I’ve just seen Moose going on about it over on the Bill O’Reilly thread and quite rightly so. For my money, Mike Leigh’s masterpiece. Very different from his normal territory.
That wasn’t me. You’ll be hearing from a solicitor about this. Possibly
And I shall certainly be threatening my optician with the same ambiguity.
Leave John Hegley aloooooone.
No! And I saw it’s on one of the streaming services (Disney I think?) so had planned to watch it. It seems a long, heavy film though, so need to give it some attention, which means waiting until a suitable time I can give it that attention.
I love it when I comment on something, expecting just tumbleweed, and it sets off a little enthusiastic spark. Lots of love for Genesis here!
Up to a point, Lord Copper: they are no VdGG…or, indeed King Crimson…
As it happens Genesis we’re the only prog band I could be doing with back in the day – in particular the run from Nursery Cryme to Lamb. I was sceptical when Gabriel left but in fact liked Trick of the Tail a lot. Wind and Wuthering didn’t grab me so much and that’s when I lost interest. I don’t think I’ve ever heard any of the subsequent albums, and apart from one relisten of Lamb a couple of years ago I don’t think I’ve listened to any of them for over forty years. Not sure I feel especially compelled to go back to them, but I loved them for a while and that’ll do me fine.
I’m totally obsessed with Supper’s Ready at the moment. I’ll probably sicken myself on it because at the moment I’m listening to it once or twice a day. Where has this music been all my life and why didn’t I listen to it before?? Anyway, probably one to report on in next month’s Blogger Takeover for June.
I haven’t done a takeover for months, so I have a lot of dullness to catch up on.
Read:
Apart from ‘Electric Wiring for Domestic Installers’, mainly magazines. I started on ‘Attack and Decay’, the latest Vinyl Detective novel, at the weekend.
Seen:
This Is Us on Prime. Close to the end of Series 3. Hardly taxing, but still enjoying it. The perfect fodder for an hour on the sofa with Mrs F before we retire to bed.
Nice to see the return of Later… Jools to a studio full of performers. Nothing I’ve heard so far has piqued my interest, though.
Heard:
Still enjoying the latest Ibibio Sound Machine album, co-produced by Hot Chip. Most of the rest of my music is boxed up, and I have a backlog of itches to be scratched when the garage is done and I can access it all again.
Other:
Offspring The Elder went to hospital for scans and tests at Easter, and doesn’t have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome after all. Phew! So we still don’t know why she had a collapsed lung, but at least it isn’t EDS.
We’re back to Lincoln in two and a bit weeks to collect OTE from the end of her fresher year. How has it gone by so fast?
Injured myself during the late October Half Term week, repairing a fence post (although it was lifting a full watering can that did the real damage). Utilised Mrs F’s work’s Bupa cover to get myself an ultrasound scan in late Feb. The good news: I hadn’t damaged a previous hernia repair, or given myself another, so no surgery required. The bad news: I’d torn a load of groin muscles instead. They’ve eventually healed up and I’m more or less mobile again. Still, mustn’t grumble.
The WFH office/soundproofed den in the garage has made good progress since early May. I wired up all the power sockets, light switches, etc and painted walls and ceilings. Electrician installed the fuse box and is due back this afternoon to make it all go live. I have next week off work to paint doors and skirting boards.
A ‘vinyl detective’ novel?? Whats that when it’s at home? I’m intrigued.
Andrew Cartmel. The latest is the sixth.
Hmm, I’m gonna check him out, bet this costs me money @fentonsteve. You’ve already cost 25 English Quids buying the Kraftwerk Surf LP.
Edit: Just discovered I’ve got his first LP Detective book on my iPad. Apparently it’s been there since 2017! It’s next in my reading queue.
All six books are paperbacks, so shouldn’t cost too much. You might even be able to find them in a library (if there are any still open).
@fentonsteve, I’ve just edited my last post.
*Spoiler Alert*
The storyline is ludicrous.
Seeing this in updates I assumed it was another contribution to the Boris thread.
Arthur, Baron – the Fragrant MiniBreakfast reviewed the first one on here years ago:
I’m about halfway through the latest Vinyl Detective, and no spoilers because there aren’t any. It’s taken until halfway through the book for anything interesting to happen. I like these books, but get the impression Andrew Cartmel just started writing and kept going to see what happened, and for a long time in this one nothing did.
I’m sure a rival for the record he is after will appear soon and will be quite prepared to murder him in order to get it.
BEEN/SEEN/HEARD : Singing in Sheffield with Fay Hield, Rowan Rheingans, Jess Arrowsmith and Nancy Kerr and lots of people in the pub.
Chester Folk Festival : Mainly about the singing and dancing again, and none the worse for that. Saw very little on the stage, but what I did was top notch. The Melrose Quartet, including abovementioned Jess and Nancy, together with the men in their lives, Richard and James, are at home doing a straight gig or being the top ceilidh band that they are. For the most part, you’re looking for the dance band to keep the rhythm tight and the steps swinging, but The Melrose give so much more – four part vocal harmonies and just a massive depth to the sound. Nancy Kerr is the sound of summer for me, a harbinger, so she is always welcome.
Otherwise all my time has been consumed by watching YouTube clips posted by @kaisfatdad and @hubert_rawlinson. Some treasure trove!
SEEN:
Busy few weeks for live music – with a couple of gigs apiece at the wonderful Apex in Bury St Edmunds and Stapleford Granary just south of Cambridge.
Jimmy Webb has been doing his solo “songs and chat” tours for a while now – interspersing anecdotes with the hits he wrote for Glen Campbell, the Fifth Dimension, Frank Sinatra, and the rest. His voice was always an acquired taste – yet he sings and plays piano with real passion, dropping in lesser-known classics like “If These Old Walls Could Speak” and rounding off with a thunderous “Macarthur Park” and then an encore of “The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress” that had grown men weeping – well me anyway.
Jazz singer Georgia Mancio and Kiwi keyboard king Alan Broadbent produced one of last year’s finest albums in “Quiet is the Star” – an intimate and beautiful duet album. Live, she mixes it up a little with a fine trio switching effortlessly between ballads and bossas and finishes with a rousing version of Italian anti-fascist rallying cry “Bella Ciao” and then an emotional “For All We Know” dedicated to fellow singer Tina May who passed away recently. Again, grown men weeping etc.
Also at Stapleford, more female jazz with Zoe Francis with songs from the Great American Songbook. The real highlight though was sitting 12 feet or so from the legendary Jim Mullen who played sublime jazz guitar.
Back to the Apex for the Tord Gustavsen trio, whose latest ECM album “The Opening” is very much in line with his quietly lovely approach to jazz piano. He’s a far more muscular player live and with some subtle electronics, great lighting and even some dry ice at times, it was a hugely impressive noise for a trio. There was even dancing in the aisles at one stage with an enthusiastic audience member throwing some interpretive shapes.
Otherwise, the National League playoffs were great entertainment – particularly Grimsby Town’s 5-4 win at Wrexham. Good to see “proper” football teams hauling themselves back into the League – Stockport were champs – and even York City made it out of National League North after many years languishing at level 6.
READ:
Going through boxes of old books and found a copy of Bill Bryson’s American travelogue “The Lost Continent”. Still makes me laugh and an ideal light read for these times.
HEARD:
The Blue Note label seems to be having a bit of a moment. Strong early year releases by Gerald Clayton and Immanuel Wilkins and now a run of great spiritual stuff from vibes player Joel Ross and pianist Nduduzo Makhatini. Then there’s the new Trombone Shorty set – a welcome blast of brassy brilliance which shows, with Cha Wa’s album from last year, that New Orleans funk is alive and well.
Best recent jazz album for me is pianist Lynne Arriale’s “The Lights Are Always On” – a self-penned tribute to emergency workers during lockdown. Just bought Oded Tzur’s new ECM album “Isabela” which is a great sax-led quartet listen. Melody Gardot duet with Phillippe Powell also getting regular plays. As is Brennan Leigh’s “Obsessed with the west” – an instant mood lift of a Western swing album of her own tunes with backing from the venerable Asleep at the Wheel.
One half of rock smoothies Young Gun/Silver Fox – Shawn Lee has produced one of the albums of the year for me in “Ride Again” – a subtly soulful set of original tunes with a sound akin to some great lost Seals and Croft album. There’s strings and horns amidst the acoustic strumming and some strong hook-laden songs.
Meanwhile, Output/Input – terrible name for a band – are a band of session musicians who’ve been putting out excellent cover versions of 80s soul songs during lockdown and even a 7” single of the Isley’s “Here We Go Again”. Here’s an original though – with Hamish Stuart on vocals and I think Steve Ferrone on drums – a snappy dancer that set at least a couple of toes tapping at a neighbourhood barbeque recently.
Bit coy on the title of the new Trombone Shorty there, Morrison.
Surely the AWs antipathy to all things Lighthouse won’t extend to automatically dismissing anything called “Lifted”?
WATCHED: Enjoying The Staircase enormously, after its slow start. Colin Firth is deliciously narcissistic. The Johnny Depp/Amber Heard shuffled some films up in the suggestions made by robots at netflix, with The Professor, which was odd and OK, in equal measure. The wife won’t countenance Better Call Saul or Ozark, as she says she can’t remember any of the earlier series without re-watching, so they mount up and await the right moment.
SEEN: Having found the album a little off-putting, in a live setting Bear’s Den delivered them convincingly and enjoyably, the full band expanding the limitations of the lockdown duo playing with new electronic toys.
LISTENED: There is so much new music coming out I cannot keep up. Favourites have been the new Drive By Truckers, where the come on like the Felice Brothers gifted the gift of electricity. Tremendous album. The Jerry Jeff tribute, to JJ Walker, from Steve Earle, I found more satisfying than many listeners, largely as the Dukes ware on such stellar form for it. Bros Landreth continue to perpetuate the truth that Canadiana is a force to be reckoned with, Come Morning coming over like Hall and Oates stranded in a cabin n the Rockies. Scottish music continues it’ roll, the new albums by Eabhal, Hannah Rarity, The Canny Band all terrific, as as the Dear John album by Heidi Talbot, (yes, I know she’s Irish) now the second ex-wife of John McCusker. It’s called Sing It For A Lifetime, with a distinct americana hue.
READ: I got around to Heppo’s A Fabulous Creation, in which he steered the evidence well to suit his hypothesis. Being only a decade or thereabouts behind him, I could recall the events well, if read about in the indies rather than by my presence. Also RT’s autobiography, Beeswing, which I enjoyed for the background observations. Liked the stuff about the emerging Muslim “movement” that popped up around Mighty Baby. Now reading Nomadland, the book of the film, if you will, but it is the non-fiction journalistic expose of the peripatetic RV dwellers who criss-cross the US in search of low pay and long hours to maintain their existence. I can see it all being replicated here, frankly, as it would only be if they played “sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats” that anyone would stop them.
This was drawn further into perspective by being in North Yorkshire this week, the roads sporadically blocked and several lay-bys chocka with Gypsies on their way to the Appleby Horse Fair. yes, yes, I get the mess, the behaviour and the fear of the locals, but which came first, the prejudice or the seemingly oft justified animosity? I might read around it. With all the traditional horse drawn carriages and caravans, buffed up and bonny, I have to say they looked quite grand. The scutty youths sitting on trailers drawn behind less so.
Interesting comments about travellers/gypsies. I was talking to my family recently about my grandad, who was from “showfolk”, ie travelling shows (maybe people call it a travelling funfair outside Scotland? We call it “the shows”, fairground rides and all that). He settled down with my gran after their first two kids, but basically lived in a caravan up to that point. I still have family connections with that community, but not something I’ve ever really explored or looked into.
My grandad wasn’t nostalgic about it in the least, although I wish now I had paid more attention to some of his stories. Seems he was happy to settle down and become a “flatty”.
Mrs M hails* from Amble NE65 already – and refers to such things as “the shows”. To me that’s just multiple copies of a seminal-but-nonetheless -crap old record by Doug E Fresh.
(*with incredible violence)
I used to work in Waterstone’s on King Street, the A6, in Lancaster (that branch closed after lockdown). Once a year we would have the horses and caravans trotting past on their way to Appleby.
@retropath2 I recommend the Ian Whiteman book for more insight into the community that RT moved into.
I’m a liberal kind of guy and would proudly stand up for the rights of “Travellers” to live their own lives. Good on them.
I did, however, know a chap who lived not far from Appleby. Every year just before the caravan passed through the entire village would clear their gardens of anything that could be moved (benches, plastic gnomes, water features) and also ensure pet dogs , especially valuable breeds, were kept safely inside until the kidnap threat had passed. “Like a bloody plague of locusts they are” he would say ruefully.
We have an area of green leading to the sea here which has 2ft diameter wooden bollards preventing vehicle access from the road. last summer the travellers chainsawed 2 or three down so they could drive onto the grass, left piles of rubbish lying around and their presence prevented others from using the area. They don’t do themselves any favours.
I have my own travellers’ story, from about this time last year, which I can’t tell in full without coming across like a Zyklon B salesman. I’ll just echo Dave’s last sentence and leave it at that.
READ: Jonathan Franzen’s Crossroads. Benny doesn’t figure at all. It’s a Christian group for young people in the US. Youth messing up, taking drugs, adults messing up, drinking too much. Older men trying to do the right thing, distracted by their lustful urges. For a long book it’s gripping all the way through and entertaining. Probably the most enjoyable read of his novels, of those that I have read. Do people who are related or friends all indulge in such extreme, screwed up behaviour? Not in real life but it’s never dull. I could imagine it as a Netflix series. One for bingeing.
Also read Kathy Valentine of the Go Go’s memoirs entitled All I Ever Wanted. More tales of addiction and rock ‘n’ roll. But I like it. A pretty good example of it’s kind. Now I’m onto John McGeogh, The Light Pours Out Of Me. In a similar vein but darker you could say. Many of the key players contribute their observations. Juju by The Banshees is clearly an impressive piece of work. Not sure how much I ever enjoyed playing it though. Rather cold. Magazine? You could say the same. It’s enough with a compilation.
SEEN: Stranger Things season 4 part 1 has been brilliant really for the most part. It’s all so familiar and that’s not surprising given the preponderance of homages to other films, often horror from the 80s. There’s a clear reference to Carrie. All that high school nerds and jocks stuff. The heroic gang of kids knowing what’s going on and the adults and authorites not having much of a clue. It’s all just so much fun but also much violence and darkness. It’s a riot really. I suppose some will tire of all the hyper jeopardy and think it too much. I think they do it all with enough panache and tongue in cheek knowingness that you can just sit back and be entertained. It’s really funny too.
We watch various UK dramas, mostly crime stuff. Some of them are really sordid and grim these days. Save Me for one. We watched it anyway to see how it would play out. The dialogue was rather unreal as if it was a play. It was anyway?
HEARD: not watched Amber or her ex but music-wise I did listen to Jeff Beck who is Johnny’s bestie it seems. The old rockers are there for him. Not really suprising. That Ronnie Scott’s album sounds superb though. So well recorded. Jeff is one of the all-time greats. So lucid on the guitar.
I played Zeit by Tangerine Dream after Steven Wilson picked it as one of his faves when on Word In Your Attic. It’s got a brooding quality and it’s effective I think. It’s kind of background but engaging too. I appreciate it.
Alpha Centauri, Atem and Zeit were rather overshadowed by the mighty Virgin albums – but all three are worth exploring.
Juju/Magazine – in a funny way, I think it was the “coldness” which attracted me back in the day…
Stranger Things has been brilliant. Did anyone else spot the very quick Apocalypse Now reference? Currently enjoying Severance. It’s a very clever idea and has you wondering if you could function in that state. Adam Scott is very any good.
I think The Cure did it better. More human. Better tunes. Less earnest.
I wouldn’t necessarily disagree – although, on reflection, my two favourite Cure albums are Faith and Pornography – I see a pattern emerging…