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Blogger Takeover XXXI

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In a rare turn of events, the first Friday of the new month is also the first day of the month! so please gather round and tell us all – what have you been listening to / reading / watching / generally getting up to ? and also is there anything coming up that we should know about ?

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  1. Here goes…

    Listening
    Mostly the new albums from Steven Wilson and Arcade Fire. Both excellent (although the Arcade Fire took a few listens to click). As mentioned elsewhere on this site the Steven Wilson album is simply fabulous – all this crap on other sites about it not being proper etc – its simply a great album full stop. Also have the new War on Drugs, but only a couple of listens in, so holding back judgement (but liking what I hear so far). Picked up the 10CD Natalie Merchant box cheap – I have a few of the albums already but its worth it for the “new” Butterfly disk (some previous recordings with added string quartet) and the Rarities disc. Also making appearances this month are the Richard Thompson Acoustics II set (from Pledge Music so with the Rarities disc) and the Paul Draper / Spooky In Action album – although disappointed I couldn’t get hold of the “deluxe version” which contains a couple of cracking extra tracks. (sold out on Burning Shed etc)

    Seen
    Concert wise it was the Foo Fighters at Singapore National Stadium last weekend. Simply a fantastic two hours of a band enjoying playing great much. Dave Growl continues to solidify his nicest man in rock tag. Its been 21 years since they last played in Singapore – I didn’t realise they had been going so long (and that obviously Kurt Cobain has been deceased so long).

    Watching
    TV wise is mainly been Game Of Thrones – whilst I enjoyed the more “hollywood blockbuster” aspects of this series (the dragon battles etc) it was nice to get back to a more dialogue driven episode on the finale. Sets it up well for next year…..
    Other than that, not been watching much TV – behind on the new season of Twin Peaks etc. Have to find some more time.

    Reading
    Not a lot really, apart from the odd music mag, HiFi mag etc

    AOB
    Singapore Grand Prix in a couple of weeks time, but this years music acts are all pants – Chainsmokers, Calvin Klien (or is it Harris), Duran Duran and Seal. I will be giving it a miss (even though I generally get free tickets).

  2. Watched
    It Comes At Night
    I’d describe this as the most pointless film I’ve ever seen. Not a horror film, as I was lead to believe. What does “it” even refer to? Nothing “comes at night”! A completely pointless drama that goes nowhere and says nothing, absolutely nothing at all.

    The State
    I liked it. It showed the situation in Syria from an interesting perspective (and certainly didn’t glorify ISIS – quite the opposite). But it didn’t blow me away. Unlike…

    Narcos
    I’ve been fascinated by Pablo Escobar ever since reading a biography years ago. Since then I’ve read and watched anything I can about him. Narcos is by far the best I’ve seen. It’s thoroughly gripping and had me staying up later than I should have to watch “just one more episode”. Utterly brilliant. (Thanks to that peculiar H.P. Saucecraft fellow for bringing it to my attention.)

    Read
    Nutshell by Ian McEwan
    I always cite McEwan as my favourite novelist. He’s written more books I love (The Cement Garden, The Comfort Of Strangers, The Child In Time, Atonement, On Chesil Beach) than anyone else. But truth is he’s also written a few I thought were just ok (Amsterdam, Enduring Love, Black Dogs, Sweet Tooth) and some I found completely boring (Saturday, Solar, The Children Act). Nutshell is his best for a while and I really enjoyed it. Very cerebral, frequently funny, with a fantastic writing style that reminded me a little of Angela Carter. It tells the story of a wife and her brother-in-law planning the murder of her husband, as narrated by the foetus growing in her womb! With a nod to Hamlet! Golly, eh? It’s a lot less arty and pretentious than that makes it sound, and very different to anything McEwan’s written before.

    The Shock Of The Fall by Nathan Filer
    Coming-of-age tale narrated by teenage boy with mental health problems trying to come to terms with the death of his brother. Funny and sad, it might appeal to anyone who liked both The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime and The Wasp Factory.

    Heard
    Nothing of note.

    AOB
    It’s been a brilliant summer. Beach every day. While September is usually a lovely month it makes me sad to see the summer drawing to a close, the mornings and evenings get a little colder, socks being worn again.

    • It’s not been a brilliant summer here in the land of Harkonnen Towers. It’s been shyte, simple as that.
      However it’s great here in Kefalonia. We had a storm the day after we arrived but it’s been beautiful since, a steady 27C. The Baroness suns herself on the beach while I take refuge in the shade with a steady stream of coffee and fruit juice, Prog, Shindig and Uncut close at hand. For more in depth reading ‘ The Power Of The Dog’ is slowly but steadily dragging me in. Listening, I have the Beatles in mono, Paul Simon & S&G complete, Big Big Train, Gene Clarke, newies from Dave Rawlings, Stephen Wilson, Curse Of Lono, old faves Micheal Head, Shack and about 3,000 other tracks. Special mentions for Mr. Rawlings. Wilson & Ian Felice all will be in my top 20 end of year list.
      Watching, well there’s plenty to watch but no football. I’m not having those c¥nts in white spoiling my night.

        • It’s our first time on Kefalonia having been to Greece every year since 2003. We like to visit a different place every year although we have visited Parga around 5 times. We will try to get to Fiskardo Dave, we’re based in Katelios, nice place and plenty of quiet and beauty.

          • The harbour is very pretty and has great restaurants but there’s not actually anything there and I see it’s at the opposite end of the island to Katelios so quite a long journey. I rented a car last year and although it was nice to see more of the island, the roads don’t make for a relaxing drive.

  3. Listening – Mostly playlists via Spotify, having ditched Apple music, I didn’t like the way it integrated with my iTunes library, I am re-discovering how good Spotify is having been a user of the free service pretty much since it launched and you needed a code from some kind person in order to join – I got mine through the old Word blog, can’t remember who supplied it now.
    Other than that I have mainly gone back to 22, a Million by Bon Iver, it’s a remarkable record and I love it even more twelve months on as i discover more layers and each track takes a turn to be my new favourite – which currently is ‘715 – CRΣΣKS’
    Other mentions to new ones by The War on Drugs with which I am slowly becoming familiar, Jane Weaver, Waxahatchee, and Danny & The Champions of the World who I am excited to see in Manchester later this month. Honourable mention to the Afterword Mixtape creations I received and enjoyed. Roll on the next swap.

    Watched – ‘Narcos’ is my current obsession and in preparation for Season 3 I am about to start Season 2.
    I enjoyed ‘Ozark’ some valid criticism of this series has been aired, but overall I found it kept me hooked until the end.

    Read – ‘The Circle’ by Dave Eggers – Some good ideas but it reads like a TV movie from back in the days when that was a bad thing. He is lauded as a great writer but I was not impressed.
    Half way through ‘Before The Fall’ a thriller written by Noah Hawley who created the ‘Fargo’ TV series – this is much better and I’m intrigued as to how it will play out.

    Other business – August was mostly about decorating the bedroom. Currently finishing off the assembly of our Ikea wardrobes. Very good planning service, clever design, easy to build, but terrible delivery service and awful packaging have conspired to require a large portion to be returned for replacement – thank goodness I only live 5 minutes from the store.

    • I haven’t read The Circle, but Eggers’ recent work is pretty patchy – A Hologram for a King was poor I thought. But I urge anyone who hasn’t, to read ‘A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius’, his first book, about his brother. It can be as smartarse as its title suggests it might be, but it earns the right to be – it’s just glorious – moving and often very funny. ‘What is The What’ is excellent too.

  4. @Lemonhope – will be seeing Danny and the Champs in Sheffield in a couple of weeks – always great live.

    HEARD: Like the good Baron also playing on repeat the Curse of Lono album which is utterly fabulous. Ian Felice came this week so only played a couple of times but I like him a great deal and some of the songs like In Memoriam are top notch. The Shelby and Alison album also arrived this week and the opening and closing songs are up there with their individual best. Like others said on the @retropath2 review Lithium is a bit unnecessary – in fact to my ears it sounds almost as if they are singing out of tune which is odd given how perfect everything else is. A slight blot on an otherwise excellent album. The Steven Wilson also excellent but War on Drugs needs a bit more attention from me – liked the sound but it honestly doesn’t stray too far from their last album which may be a missed opportunity.
    Also picked up an excellent Souljazz collection Independence Ska and the Far East Sound which is a compilation of The Skatalites with the likes of Tommy McCook and Don Drummond. This has been my highlight of the month in terms of past releases.

    SEEN:
    Dunkirk – what a pile of crap. Oscar nominations? Is the rest of the field really that bad to warrant nominations for this? Decent aerial scenes I will give you – however sloppy editing and unconvincing acting completely put me off.
    Have become slightly addicted to Antiques Road Trip – particularly when Catherine Southon appears on it as quite taken with her flirty persona.

    READ: Finally got round to reading the Viv Albertine autobiography which I am enjoying very much. 1976/7 was the time of seismic changes in the music industry ands chronicles that time very well.

  5. SEEN:
    We’ve just finished very grippy but somewhat trashy Spanish thriller I Know Who You Are bbc4 – initially aghast at the mega inconclusive ending, but it’s ok – the BBC only showed eps 1-10 and there’s another 6 to go. Though now the double timelines have collided is there really another 6 hours to go? Brilliant how everyone in the Spanish legal system is either screwing someone half their age, dressed by Hugo Boss or living in a minimal architect modernist building. Or all three at once.

    After holiday in Rome we re-watched Gladiator. What a great film. The CGI just about holds up still but it really goes for it – Scott saw that the only way of tackling the Roman epic is to turn everything up to 11. And a joy to see a full repertory cast of british luvvies (John Shrapnel!) alongside the leering of Joaquin Phoenix and the squinting that Russell Crowe does to show he’s as mad as hell.

    And Dunkirk. The controversy rages on. Again I say, you are Christopher Nolan.

    You are Christopher Nolan

  6. Listening to…

    Spectres — Condition. A brilliant follow-up to Dying, which came out a few years back. This is like a shoegazing band playing noise rock and is reminiscent of something that Mogwai might have signed to their Rock Action label. I foogin love it.

    Wrekmeister Harmonies — Light Falls. Featuring members of Godspeed and sounding a lot like Godspeed, the latest from WH (actually it came out last year) is one for fans of Godspeed. All the droning riffs and yearning strings your heart desires, only with anguished, screaming vocals to boot.

    Andy Fairley / Keith Le Blanc — various albums. Continuing my On-U Sound obsession I’ve invested in albums by Andy Fairley (the raspy guy you hear a lot in other On-U records) and also Keith LeBlanc, whose solo albums are essentially Tackhead records — but Tackhead when they were like industrialised hip hop, rather than Tackhead when they were a lightweight funk band. All excellent, and more proof that where On-U Sound is concerned the real riches are in the dusty corners.

    The Aggrovators — Aggrovating The Rhythm At Channel One. A solid but slightly uninspired collection of ‘rare’ Aggrovators dubs. I find myself reaching for it more than that description would suggest.

    Reading: finished Roy Keane’s autobiog, ‘The Second Half’, which was an excellent insight into football management, especially his Sunderland era, though slightly flattered by its superb opening. I especially liked his descriptions of various fights — actual fights — behind the scenes. Having tossed aside KLF’s novelty novel, I’m now reading Bruce ‘Withnail And I’ Robinson’s book about Jack The Ripper, which so far at least is a howl of anger and protest at the empire-building hypocrisy and corruption of the Victorian era. A little bit of structure wouldn’t go amiss, and clever constructions come at the expense of clarity. But this is Bruce Robinson, what do you expect?

    Watched: Game Of Thrones. A great seventh season which nevertheless felt like a series of dramatic beats instead of the proper thing. GRRM would work these things out in the writing but the showrunners don’t seem to bother. That said, it’s still f’in ace.

  7. Music

    Bought new albums from Declan McKenna and Everything Everything. The latter is yet to be heard. but the former is a positive debut that lacks a little quality control. Also continued to go through the ‘1001 Albums You Must Listen To Before You Die’ book again, and listend to a fair few records from the 67/68 period – many of them for the first time. ‘New’ albums heard for the first time (and enjoyed) include Traffic’s self-titled, Loretta Lynn, Cream’s Disraeli Gears and The Doors’ debut. The less said about Donovan the better.

    Finally the iPod threw out it’s usually pot of random albumsfor me to listen to on my journeys to work.

    TV

    Struggling to think of anything memorable that we’ve watched on TV this month. Two weeks spent in Scotland on holiday didn’t help matters. The Charles Mingus thing from BBC Proms was enjoyable, as was the performance of Beethoven’s 5th – mainly for my new found love of Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla.

    Reading

    Finished reading ‘The Old Curosity Shop’ and have now learned that it’s advisable not to read too much Dickens in one go. This was the second attempt at reading the book having started reading it straight after ‘Nicholas Nickelby’. This time I have decided to read ‘Little Women’ as an intermisson before I carry on with ‘Barbaby Rudge’

    Also read Mike Love’s autobiography but this will go down to the Charity Shop once I get (a) round to it.

    AOB
    Succesfully managed to procure myself a fiancée in the last week of my holiday up in Scotland.

  8. Listened
    Been on my hols, and most of my listening has been playlists and old favourites rather than anything new. Valerie June, and Songhoy Blues got some airplay however as did the new Randy Newman. Not sure about it yet but need to pay proper attention to it.

    Read
    Beatlebone by Irish writer Kevin Barry imagines a somewhat manic, and emotionally and psychologically lost John Lennon pitching up in west Ireland in 1978 to visit the small inhabited island he bought on a whim in the 60s. The novel follows his desperate attempts, aided or hampered by a local driver and aide to make it to the island and avoid the press who have got wind of his presence. It’s a strange, funny, and sad book with the language, rhythms, and dark humour of Flann O’Brien or Samuel Beckett leavened by Roddy Doyle.

    Also enjoyed His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet, a novel about a violent murder case in a 19th century crofting community in The highlands, but written as a non-fiction gathering of documents relating to the case. Not so much a whodunnit as a whydunnit and a really atmospheric creation of an isolated hard way of life.

    Seen
    Enjoyed ‘The State’. Also Top of the Lake – anyone else see it? Much of it was utterly ridiculous but I nonetheless found it strangely compellling, especially once I accepted that it wasn’t really about the plot, so much as a portrayal of a woman really struggling with her demons, played brilliantly by Elisabeth Moss. She, Nicole Kidman and Gwendoline Christie were great to watch.

    AOB
    It’s been a great summer. Always a bit sad to see the back of it, and the nights drawing in – it’ll be Christmas before we know it.

    • I felt much the same way about Top Of The Lake – the sort of preposterous McGufferoo that would have gone straight in the bin (© Andy Zaltzman) if the script hadn’t come from Jane Campion. But dammit I kept watching all the same.
      Rick And Morty series 3, on the other hand, is solid gold. Even the might-have-been-lazy pisstake on superhero team ups, Vindicators 3, was a corker.
      I liked Peter Serafinowicz as The Tick, and the new series tried to do some interesting things – especially with the character of Arthur – but the old animated series has my ❤️.
      BBC 4 turned up trumps as per with Storm Troopers: The Fight To Forecast The Weather thus far, anyway)

      I’ve not read anything of substance this month, but someone who knows me has just this day handed me a couple of books that have got me excited – possible review to follow.

      This month I have mostly been listening to:
      Freedom In Dub, the new album by Albrosie. I like it a lot (and kudos for keeping the dub fires burning) but I don’t know if it will be in the end of year shake up..
      One I’m confident will be there is Sugar At The Gate by Canadian band TOPS – a slow and seductive guitar pop treat of perfect dimensions.
      Joey Bada$$ – despite being the only person other than his nemesis DJ Trump to stare straight at the sun during the eclipse – keeps his place on the playlist.
      And this magnificent, magnificent tune from the old skool (“nah, mate before that!”) which those diamond geezers from Soul Jazz plonked on their Boombox 2 compilation has me whistling down the street each day…

      (Lonnie Love – Young Ladies)
      All together now: “Who’s the one that cooks for you and cleans your dirty clothes?”

  9. The daily music blog continued through August and was a month of listening to mash-ups (https://salwarpe.wordpress.com/category/mash-up/).

    What started well, and led to some pleasurable new discoveries (see clip), rather ended up scraping the barrel, as I trawled endlessly through YouTube, looking for inspiration. It’s a less fertile source of inspired new music than I’d hoped, unless I’m really looking in the wrong direction.

    Here is the list, with mash-up artist in brackets where I could identify them.

    1. Laurie Anderson vs The Beatles vs Dolly Parton vs Eurythmics vs Pat Benetar vs Art Of Noise vs The Beastie Boys – Stairway to Bootleg Heaven (DJ Earworm)
    2. Gnarls Barkley vs Marvin Gaye – Crazy Marvin (Instamatic)
    3. R.E.M. vs Sia – Losing My Breath (Phil Retrospector)
    4. Nirvana vs Alan Parker – Main Bloom (Go Home Productions)
    5. Harry Dean Stanton vs Muse vs All Angels vs Bob Dylan – Bluebird Blackout (Phil Retrospector)
    6. Queen vs New Order vs Lady Gaga vs Mary J. Blige vs Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Just Dance To New Order (DJ Earworm)
    7. Trebunie-Tutki vs Twinkle Brothers – The Source
    8. Oasis vs Green Day vs Whitesnake vs Ellie Goulding vs t.A.T.u. – 50 Shades of Love. (Dan Mei)
    9. The Beatles vs Massive Attack – Golden Teardrops. (Wax Audio)
    10. Astralasia vs Suns of Arqa – Sul-E-Stomp
    11. Fluke – Our Definition of Jazz
    12. Duran Duran vs Kraftwerk vs Mike Oldfield – Radioactive Tubular Girls (LeeDM101)
    13. The Bangles vs The Stranglers – Sleazy Egyptian (Go Home Productions)
    14. Johnny Cash vs Deep Purple – Ring of Smoke. (MadMixMustang)
    15. ABBA vs Van Halen – Super Jumper. (MadMixMustang)
    16. Whitney Houston vs Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Wanna Dance with Somebody (DJ Early Bird)
    17. The Beach Boys vs Cadburys – Wouldn’t It Be Nice To Have A Finger Of Fudge? (Go Home Productions)
    18. Frankie Goes to Hollywood vs Michael Jackson vs Deep Purple – Relax Billie Jean (MsBlueCat)
    19. Junglebook vs Carpenters vs Queen – Fat Bottomed Bear on Top of the World
    20. N-Trance vs Kool & The Gang – Set You Free (Matt Pop)
    21. The Beatles vs Percy Sledge vs Cyndi Lauper vs ee cummings – For No One Time (horsedark)
    22. Leonard Cohen vs Muse vs Les Mystere des Voix Bulgares – A Thousand Secrets (Phil Retrospector)
    23. Madonna vs Led Zeppelin – Justify a Whole Lotta Love (Wax Audio)
    24. Beck vs Janis Joplin – Go, Mercedes (Lenlow)
    25. George Michael vs Billy Idol – Careless Rebel (Wax Audio)
    26. Iggy Pop vs Peggy Lee – Passenger Fever (Go Home Productions: )
    27. Prince vs Kate Bush – Sign o’ That Hill (Wax Audio)
    28. Motörhead vs KLF – Eternal Spades (Divide + Kreate)
    29. Angelo Badalmenti vs Opus III – Lauren’s Opus (The Reborn Identity)
    30. Destiny’s Child vs Stevie Wonder – Bootystition (Luminous72)
    31. FGTH vs. Sister Sledge – Relax, We’re Lost In Music.

    Too much restless searching means this next month I’m going for something far more simple – Spanish language songs. It’s an (enormous) area I know next to nothing about, so I expect to have vast swathes of my musical ignorance chiselled away.

    As ever, songs or themes are always welcome.

  10. 2 nights of The Magnetic Fields – first gigs since May. Coincidentally previous gig was Pains of being Pure at Heart – and have just received the download of their new album “The Echo of Pleasure” which is a plaintive delight – up there with with Surfer Blood and Beverly as favourites no-one else seems to know or care about. Very well, alone! (Dunkirk reference.)

    Girl Ray album came in early August – looking forward to seeing them again in November.
    Still catching up with Christmas reading but thanks to birthday book tokens one mighty addition to the bookshelf is Peter Hanley’s magnificent volume on the making of The Good, the Bad & The Ugly – one for the aficionados.

    Looking forward to Sparks, Alvvays and the National….

  12. What?
    Another month gone?
    Surely not – I don’t recall that much “shaking my world” in the past 31 (or so) days.

    Listening
    Still re-discovering Iggy Pop – the 80s really weren’t that great, but then he didn’t really need to try with a constant income from David Bowie covers. Mind you, nor were the 90s.
    I think going from 1970s New Values to last years Post Pop Depression may be the wise choice (with stopping points at Instinct and Brick By Brick)

    Steven Wilson – To The Bone
    Much discussed and lauded (deservedly so) in these pages.
    A definite contender for Year End Summaries

    Declan McKenna – What Do You Think Of The Car?
    Very good, but just not convinced by its staying power

    Read
    Stuff of no real consequence, memory or recommendation

    Seen
    (as above)

    Am I the only one that is looking forward to the release of Liam Gallagher’s solo album next month (6th October)?
    (pre-ordered and waiting expectantly)

  13. An eventful month; I spent nearly all of it on holiday, which ended on a high note turning 50 and celebrating multiple times. But August also included the sad event of a very good friend (and colleague) of thirty years dying after years of increasing struggles with COPD and emphysema.

    Seen/heard:
    Three separate gigs within the same week is not usual for me (unless I go to a festival – the one I usually attend unfortunately took a break this year). I’ve already reviewed Courtney Marie Andrews in Nights In, and the day after I went to see my Swedish favourite Andreas Mattsson play a free gig at the Stockholm Culture Festival stage at Skeppsbron. He played his last album more or less straight through, with a great new song added as an encore. Good band, including a female sax player, wonderful to finally see him live! He doesn’t play many gigs.

    And on my birthday I celebrated on my own by doing things I love. I packed a delicious picnic lunch and a book and some music, went to my favourite spot in the world and sat on my special bench in the warm sunshine all afternoon (in an otherwise fairly grey week, that day was warm and sunny from morning to night), watching the boats on the glittering water when I wasn’t reading. Then I walked to Gröna Lund, the Stockholm amusement park (also very much a favourite place of mine) and paid roughly £11 to see Patti Smith play a fantastic gig on their classic stage. It was a perfect warm summer night, Patti was in fine form, the audience was huge and enthusiastic, and we sang along and clapped and danced and had a great time. I can’t remember a birthday I’ve enjoyed more, ever!

    Read:
    Not as much as you’d think I’d get through on my holiday – but I spent most of my time catching up with all the people I never have time to see when I’m working!

    I did have time to read Empire of the Sun by J C Ballard, which I picked up in a charity shop; I’d only seen the film before. I enjoyed it but preferred the story to the writing style (but I’m unsure if this was the fault of Ballard or his translator…)

    I also finally started reading the biography of August Strindberg written by Göran Hägg just before he sadly died. I gave it to myself for Christmas, but haven’t been in the mood for it before. I’ve still got a few chapters left to get through, but I’ve really enjoyed it, his writing style is definitely my cup of tea, his prose as always very elegant and witty and personal.
    This coincided with the annual event on Drottninggatan, a street mid-city where once a year stalls filled with books are set up all along the street by antiquarian book shops and literary societies etc, all selling at very reasonable prices. Of course, the Strindberg Society had a book table set up near his famous final residence/now museum. All their books sold for SEK 10 (less than £1 I believe) so I naturally bought six volumes of his collected letters, before visiting the other tables and buying ten more books and a lovely bookend in the shape of another favourite author; C J L Almqvist. I’d have bought more, but I wouldn’t have been able to carry them!

    I also wished for books for my birthday, and got a few (among other things), among them a short novel I’ve been chasing in charity shops for years without finding it; Den Elektriska Kaninen by yet another Swedish favourite author, P C Jersild. I hadn’t read it since my childhood, when I must have borrowed it from the library at least fifteen times, so I was very curious to see what I would think of it forty years later! I did like it, and I understand why I loved it back then, but after building it up in my memory it couldn’t possibly live up to the expectations, of course. And I’ve read so many much better novels by him since. Still, now my collection of Jersild books is practically complete (I also bought his latest in the bookstore on Tuesday – didn’t even know he had another one out!)

    Besides these, just a few old crime novels – I only enjoy old style crime. Modern day realistic policework, unrealistic serial killers, sadistic criminals and super clever hackers bore me to tears. Give me a poisoned toffee or oil at the top steps of a long staircase any day, disappearing wills and quirky murder weapons hidden in plain sight. Much more fun.

    Oh, and I got a library card this week, for the first time since the 80s! I very much dislike having to return good books…but there are some books that are too difficult or expensive to get a hold of, and I live so close to the beautiful main library in Stockholm, so I might as well use it when other options aren’t available. I started my library card owning second half of my life by ordering a couple of old childrens books that I used to love but haven’t been able to find again.

    Another book I bought on Tuesday was the final installment of the ”Platserna” trilogy by John Ajvide Lindqvist, this one is called X – Den sista platsen (”X – The final place”). (@Kid-Dynamite will know what I’m talking about, having read the first one that’s just been translated into English) I spent four hours today reading the first half of it, and it’s very good so far. All three novels are very different in style, with a mutual connection in the strange other world, the ”first place” of the first book. This third one takes place among small time drug dealers and their bosses, who starts to apparently commit suicide after meeting and talking to a mysterous being hiding behind a latex mask and known only as X. The first part of this novel is in many ways a ”crime noir”, but with better writing (because the author is more interested in characters than crimes), but towards the middle more and more strange ”supernatural” elements starts to appear, links to the previous two books. Thankfully I have Sunday off as well this week, so I can finish it tomorrow! I can’t wait to see what will happen and how it’s all connected.

    Heard:
    Mostly the same stuff as last month, I haven’t had time to buy a lot of new albums yet, I have a long list that I’m hoping to get around to soon. I’ve listened to John Murry – A Short History of Decay quite a few times, but for some reason I seem unable to listen to it with any focus, I start to drift off almost immediately and when I snap out of it I’ve no idea what I’ve heard. This usually means that it’s a pretty dull album, but I can’t really say as I can’t remember any of it! 😉

    The new album from Zervas & Pepper really is quite lovely in a slightly folky singer/songwriter 70s California kind of way. Harmonies and sunshine in abundance!

    Offa Rex is so-so IMO. I love Olivia Chaney’s voice (not crazy about the guy’s voice) but I’m not very keen on the songs, or the folk-proggy arrangements. After a few songs I start to find it a bit tiresome…

    AOB:
    My boss gave me a very generous sum for my birthday. Unfortunately, rather than giving me the money to use as I please, it was invested in a gift card for an online travel service…and I’m not super keen on travelling. But it’s not refundable, so I’ll have to use it within the next three years. I guess it’s going to be my final trip, ever, so I should go somewhere really nice. Any tips on where to go and what to see? I prefer cities, dislike swimming, prefer cold to very hot and don’t like creepy-crawlies and snakes! I was thinking Iceland at first, but it seems a bit dull.

      • Hmm. Very beautiful, I’m sure. Maybe it’s growing up during the Cold War, or seeing Putin on TV once too often, but I always see Russians as being very stern and unfriendly! This makes me less keen to go there. 😀

        • St P is completely wonderful. Yes, some Russians are stern and unfriendly (I have fond memories of the babushka who was the gatekeeper at the cathedral). Others are completely charming. But you’d have to be in the mood, of course, and ideally not on your own.

    • Happy birthday! I estimate I will be reading that Lindqvist book sometime around 2022…

      I don’t know how far the money on that card will get you, but if it’s at all feasible you should try to get to Tokyo. It is everything a city should be (and there are some really good (English language) bookshops!).

    • Thanks for all of the travel tips, I’ll think about my options during the long winter months… 🙂
      I’ll get back to you in the spring with an ATM about my chosen destination! I can’t go anywhere before next summer anyway.
      Oh, and the person who invented the gift card deserves a special place in hell… 😀

  14. Read:
    Slowed up this month, after last month’s splurge. Got three books on the go (something I try to avoid, but it’s a sign of not being entirely happy with any of them I guess), but haven’t finished any of them.
    The Boy Behind the Curtain (Tim Winton) – A book of autobiographical pieces, very involving and thought-provoking, but one at a time is enough.
    The Force (Don Winslow) – Confess to struggling slightly with this, though it comes highly recommended, not least by the New York Times. I’m about 100 pages in, and there’s a lot of exposition, back story etc to get through, which I’m finding a bit tedious, but I’m hoping it’ll pick up.
    Golden Hill (Francis Spufford) – Again highly recommended, including by one or two parishioners IIRC. I seem to have read a fair bit of detailed, meticulously researched historical fiction recently, and I’m finding it impressive but not involving. But I’ll persevere.

    Watched:
    I ignored The Good Wife, but the spin-off, The Good Fight, is fantastic – so much so that we couldn’t wait for the 5 unstreamed episodes and I had to nip behind the Eel Market. Family crises, moral dilemmas, larger-than-life characters, and – not least – one droll judge after another.
    Fortitude, something else I ignored first time round, is øne damn thing after anøther. The premise is sensible enough, but everything is so weird. Having read up on Svalbard (Spitzbergen as was) I realise that Fortitude is a pretty accurate replica, right down to the polar bears and the coal mining. I’m halfway through Series 2 and beginning to wonder if it’s jumped the shark (assuming it didn’t do that in Series 1 Episode 1 that is…), but I’m become increasingly obsessed with the two sweet, beautiful lady cops. So on to the end.
    Only visit to the cinema was for Hampstead, a late-flowering love story involving Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleason as the tramp living in a clearing on the Heath whose cause she takes up, plus a supporting cast of splendidly bitchy women and dopey activists. Good ad for Hampsgtead itself, aimed squarely at US tourists. It’s OK, but left me feeling rather listless.

    Heard:
    The stereo Sonos Play:5s have been getting a good outing since my birthday. I’ve been re-acquainting myself on Tidal with loads of classic albums I know inside out – lots of HJH, Five Leaves Left, Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Doors, Sailin’ Shoes, Electric Ladyland, Desire, Dark Side of the Moon (yes!). I’m hearing things I’ve never heard before – all too fab.

  15. Will keep it brief as strained my neck last week (ouch ouch ouch) but wanted to highlight two albums I particularly enjoyed. Of course new ones by Shelby and Alison, David Rawlings and Iron and Wine have been bought and being listened to with much pleasure but here are the Stand Outs,

    The Changer and the Changed by Cris Williamson. This was one of the list posted here of Top 100 albums made by Women, and several of us commented after a song was posted how good her voice was and that none of us had heard of her. I bought the album and a lot of it is extremely beautiful, 2 of the tracks a bit cringey but overall so well worth it and she is one of my “discovered voices” of the year. I have to wonder why such a gifted artist is so little known and can only conclude the fact she was openly gay in the 1970’s writing love songs to women must be a factor. The track Wild Things is below.

    You Don’t Own Me by The Secret Sisters
    The harmonies are a delight, some of the songs are extremely joyful and infectious, particularly King Cotton and Tennessee River Runs Low. It swings in places, it moves you in others. A Class act and album.

    • Hi there Carolina,
      Thanks for the appraisals of the Cris Williamson and Secret Sisters albums. Good stuff.

      You liked the Kacy & Clayton album that came out last year, didn’t you? Anyway, they’ve just released their second album, “The Siren’s Song”, if you’re interested. Sounds good, I reckon.

      • Thanks very much for the heads up on Kacy and Clayton, Duco. Well remembered, I did like Strange Country very much. I will go and check out their new one. I do love Kacy’s voice.

  16. OK…first time for me on the Takeover….this will appear very mainstream compared to some of the entries, I’m sure.

    Events:
    Two festivals – Sidmouth Folk Week, where I had some press tickets as I regularly support them on the radio in the lead up to the event (we are the local community station). Blessed with mostly decent if not exactly stonking weather, but a lot is under cover anyway. We caught Show Of Hands headliner set on the Sunday and they were terrific. They were supported by Geoff Lakeman (father of Seth, Sam, and Sean), who I wasn’t really looking forward to much, but proved a charming and involving performer, so much so that Mrs. T insisted on buying his album. This proved an excellent buy – on stage it was just him and a sqeezebox, but the record is fleshed out with (predictable..?) support from the family and has a glorious warm and intimate sound.
    Cropredy – our first time and it was a great experience. The Fairport’s 50th anniversary had virtually all living ex-members return, and also Richard Thompson solo. Totally now converted to RT, and the obvious camaraderie amongst them all is really infectious. Have been catching up with previous Cropredy performances since getting home via Spotify.

    Listening: As mentioned above, catching up with old Fairport performances and diving into Richard Thompson.

    Watching: not too much TV, but Game Of Thrones was a must see. Not entirely sure about the pace of S7, but it still grips. Enjoying Strike: The Cuckoo Calls on BBC1.

    Cinema: I was so looking forward to Dunkirk, but I am firmly on the disappointment side of the fence on this one. It just didn’t convince me this was what it really like on those beaches.

  17. The new album I’ve been listening to the most (apart from those Bargepole kindly sends me) is The Vijay Iyer Sextet’s Far From Over. It’s astonishing. Normally, when describing jazz albums, comparisons are made to the great jazz exponents of the past. But to say this is the most number group improvisation since Miles Smiles, that the drummer, Tyshawn Sorey, has the power of Blakey and the musicality of Roach, that Iyer’s electric piano playing is as tense and suspended as Chorea’s on In A Silent Way, that Stephan Crump’s double-bass is as dynamic as Carter’s and that the writing is as imaginative as Monk’s, would be to do it a disservice. Far From Over is all of these things and more.

    This is new, brilliant jazz that could only be created in 2017. There is a bank of three horns. Of course, they solo, but not that often. They function as a single unit but with three very distinct parts. It’s a complex, exiting sound that really cooks. Just as the horns turn harmonies upside down, the rhythm section distorts time. There are angular pieces like stretched hip-hop, some outright funky grooves and some where time simply floats.

    The two stand out performers are Sorey and Iyer himself. There are ten tunes, all in different styles. Iyer’s playing is unbelievably versatile, equally adept at delicate beauty and roaring power. Sorey’s drumming is mind-bending. He sounds like he is actually an octopus. Surely a four-limbed human isn’t physically capable of striking so many pieces of a kit with such speed and dexterity.

    This is Iyer’s 23rd album as leader or co-leader. Break Stuff in 2015 is a magnificent trio album but Far From Over is in another league entirely. The only competition it has for the finest jazz album of the 21st Century is Melanie De Biasio’s No Deal.

    A real treat for jazz lovers.

      • ECM like to maintain an air of exclusivity but, I’ve noticed, CD prices are rising generally.

        Actually, there is very little money to be made in jazz, apart from the very rare exception. Iyer probably earns more from his professorship at Harvard University than from playing the piano. Fans, such as myself, are happy to fork out that bit more. Still, Far From Over is cheaper than a Beatles CD in 1993.

        • Them’s mighty persuasive words, Tiggster (and I speak as one for whom the word “jazz” is a major turn off. I own precisely one album which would be classified principally as jazz – guess who convinced me to buy that?!).
          With those genes, I bet your son sells a lot of Fiestas..

    • Thanks for the review of the Vijay Iyer album, Tigger.
      The Iyer albums I have are…

      Reimagnining
      Historicity
      Solo
      Accelerando

      Reading your appraisal of “Far From Over,” I feel I’ve got to investigate that one, too.

      I was lucky enough to catch Iyer live once, too. In a jazz club in Stockholm about 10 years ago. Top player!

  18. Reading: The Complete Orsinia by Ursula K LeGuin. This comprises the novel Malafrena and a collection of short stories, all set in the fictional Balkan state of Orsinia. The novel is set in the 19th Century and is very Tolstoy, dealing with revolutions of 1830 that swept Europe. The stories span centuries up to the fall of the Soviet Union. As ever with LeGuin the themes are of people trying to make a better world. A minor work maybe, but enjoyable.
    Watching: Still sticking with the quite extraordinary Twin Peaks. There’s never been anything like it. But I’ve also been binge watching an old spy series from the 70s called The Sandbaggers. Brilliant stuff. Utterly cynical with a deeply psychologically damaged protagonist, Director of Special Operations Burnside, played by Roy Marsden. The low budget doesn’t detract from some bleakly riveting stories, especially as the third series plays out.
    Listening: mainly podcasts to be honest. Not much new music apart from St Etienne’s Home Counties. I have given Lorde’s new album a go on Spotify and it’s great pop music. Lined up I have Neil Finn’s new one and the latest Goldfrapp.

  19. Seen:
    Shameless bit of glory hunting going to see Hull FC triumph again in the Challenge Cup. To be fair, I was a regular at the Boulevard in the troubled 90s, but have seen nothing but the two Wembley victories in recent years. Always a pleasure to be amongst pissed-up “ull ferk” singing “Old Faithful.”

    Also, good to see Laurel and Hardy films making a TV comeback on the Talking Pictures channel.

    Read:
    Finally picked up a cheap hardback of the recent Rebus. Bit dull really – the Malcolm Fox character is the most anonymous in crime fiction – and suspect it’s time Rankin killed them all off in a glorious finale on the new Forth bridge.

    Gary Younge’s “Another Day in the death of America” is truly grim fare. He digs deep into the stories of ten people shot dead on a single day across the country – with some obvious conclusions around the casual proliferation of guns. Still only half way through – it’s tough going – but you do have to wonder at the power wielded by the NRA and their intense lobbying to prevent any kind of gun control.

    Heard:
    Dusty Springfield’s “Brand New Me” album has always lived in the shadows of “Dusty in Memphis.” Recorded in Philadelphia, six months after that perennial rock critic fave, it’s a bit of an overlooked classic. It’s now been given a superb re-mastering by Tom Moulton and musical genius Thom Bell, who scored the original album. They’ve done a remarkable job – it sounds sharp and sparkly and they’ve pulled together additional tracks recorded at the same sessions included a previously unissued gem in “Sweet Charlie.” Now settled down at a reasonable price after fluctuating wildly – likewise Allen Toussaint’s “Complete Warner recordings” which pulls together three albums and an unreleased live set.

    Dropped into Action Records in Preston while up there visiting family – it really is a great record shop – with decent prices on new releases. Picked up a couple of recent issues on el records who are releasing a string of classic early 60s bossa nova albums. There’s a great double set by Joao Gilberto and associates covering Antonio Carlos Jobim – including the Black Orpheus soundtrack – and also picked up Silvia Telles’ classy MOR-take on his classics. Right up to date, there’s a new John Pizzarelli album where the jazz guitarist/vocalist revisits the classic and personal all-time favourite “Sinatra meets Jobim” album. His off-kilter vocal style suits bossa nova really well and pulls in Jobim’s son to help out on several tracks.

    Elsewhere, picked up a cheap copy of “The Men in the Glass Booth” – the recent compilation pulling together rare re-edits and remixes of underground disco classics. Highly informative booklet tells an untold story of early 12” acetates and one-offs now captured across three CDs and a very lovely vinyl box set.

    Busy month. @Tiggerlion tip the 360 Band brings together ex-AWB members on a comfy funk set that’s a real 70s throwback – you can even forgive for a couple of real clunkers in amongst the quality tunes. Saw the film “Jackie” belatedly and picked up the beautiful soundtrack by Mica Levi. Stunning – and lead me to her earlier work on the “Under the Skin” soundtrack which is altogether more stark and creepy.

  20. Read
    Working my way through On The Road. It’s not the cool, detached exercise in existential angst I was expecting.

    Seen
    The theme of friendship seemed to be running through a few of things I most enjoyed watching in August. Captain Underpants is great; inventive, childish, funny. But, at its heart is a friendship between 2 lads. Some clever writing means that these 2 rascals share that strange self-awareness you have as a kid when you know that this period of your life is finite and that although you have amazing friends, you may not be able to keep them. My mind turned to that line in Stand by Me; “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”
    The Way, Way Back is a lovely coming of age movie that is stuffed with loads of great performances. Liam James’ Duncan is a 14 year old lad dragged along on a summer holiday with his mum and her new boyfriend. James gives is fantastic as a boy who is uncomfortable in his own skin – just the right blend of awkward, vulnerable, defiant and miserable. He finds the right friend at the right time in Sam Rockwell’s Owen, a gone-to-seed slacker who takes Duncan under his wing.
    And I have been re-watching the 2 series of The Detectorists – which the BBC has been repeating during the summer. The friendship between Lance and Andy perfectly sums up those male traits of mooching about and talking bollocks. And as the credits rolled on the final episode of the second series, it was announced that a third series would be with us later in the year.

    Heard
    Some Elvis in mid-month as we reached 40 years since his death.

  21. The mere headline, Blogger Takeover, seems always enough to clear my mind entirely, a bit like the Any Questions For Us line in interviews…….
    So, from what I recall:
    Watched- Of course I saw GoT, finding the last 2 episodes make up for any possible earlier shortcomings, from the WTF action scenes of the one to the WTF cerebral shenanigans of the last. And I love the Wightwalkers…….
    Person of Interest, a 2013 series, has grabbed my pique , well played tosh of great enjoyment. Just starting the 2nd series of 4 altogether.
    Gigs- Documented elsewhere
    Read(ing)- Pour Me, A A Gills blurred memoire of his drinking years, a cavalcade of just a bit too much style over substance, but a great read if you love his hyperbole of verbiage.
    Listened- Johns Smith and Murry both have new albums, both enthralling but in different ways. The former, Headlong, simple competently played american folk with muted strings and other backing, the latter, A Short History of Decay still needing to settle in my ears, but way better than his last, which disappointed a little. RT’s Acoustic Classics 2 (+ rarities) arrived by Pledge, and has much or value, especially on the 2nd bonus disc. The autumn tour augurs well. Still on that framework, Mancunia, the new Maartin Allcock project, is quite decent, if unlikely to alter the world axis. Following my late discovery of Icelandic band Sigur Ros, and of, the even better, Amiina, I have been investigating their catalogues. The other sticking in my mind, currently in the car, is Synthwaves by Ulrich Schnauss &Thorsten Quaeschning, duo electronica of the Tangerine Dream style, unsurprising as they have both been/are members. Reminiscent of a more analogue Kiasmos, the Olafur Arnalds/Nils Frahm project. Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorers Not Dark Yet gets better and better, but the gap between the good tracks and the fucking excellent tracks widens on each list. The only non cover, Is It Too Much, is phenomenal, my track of the year.
    The new one from the National arrives on Monday!

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