Happy New Year everyone! it’s that time again, so please gather around and tell us what you have been listening to / watching / reading or otherwise enjoying over the last month
All best wishes to everyone for 2018
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Listened:
Henry Saiz — Natura Sonoris
Smooth as silk, epic as you like: Henry Saiz is the current master of progressive house. Anyone nostalgic for the days when Sasha and Digweed strode the earth need look no further than this guy.
Naibu — Corners
Cracking Drum & Bass. It *is* still out there!
Lab Rat XL — Mice Or Cyborg
Reissued electro from the house of Drexciya. Say no more.
Read:
Childgrave by Ken Greenhall
Tedious, very nearly a DNF.
The Happy Man by Eric C Higgs
Addictive 80s novella about a weird couple who move in next door. Loved it.
Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders
DNF
Just embarked on The Devil In White City. High hopes for this one.
Watched:
Finally saw Get Out, underwhelmed. (Satire aspect: excellent. Horror element: shite.) Dunkirk, brilliant. Three Billboards, brilliant (although the ending?), Lady Bird, tedious. I, Tonya, ace. Feud, also ace.
AOB
Celebrated Christmas. DNF.
Loved the ending of Three Billboards – brilliant way to end the best film I have seen in years..
Yeah, lots of people I have spoken to love it also. I didn’t not love it, it just felt a bit Crimson Petal to me.
@leicester-bangs – Saiz you sayz? I’m a sucker for the Sasha/Digweed late 90s prog sound, currently mildly obsessed by the Anjunadeep compilations – part compiled by Jody from Way Out West – which are a slightly more commercial take on this, midway between Sasha/Dig and WOW, a good spot for me. Emusic had the Digweed lives series as single-track mixes, but now they’ve gone album only so you have to pay for 36 tracks to get the mix. Love them. Perfect working/running mixes.
And re the saiz is Natura Sonoris his label – where would you recommend starting?
A fellow traveller! And you’re Henry’s target audience! Natura Sonoris is really, really good, but the one to go for is his Balance 019 mix. It’s absolutely exquisite. Honestly, I can’t recommend it enough.
Re: Digweed. He’s lost me a bit with his ‘Live’ series — I find them a bit anodyne and overlong — but the Versus mix from 2013 was an absolute pearl. Oh, and so is ‘Frequencies’. Very little beats his Bedrock mix from 1999 though.
Warming to my theme, do you know Blue Amazon? If not seek out ‘The Javelin’ post-haste. It’s the peak for me. The best single-artist prog house album ever made (and I’m including Leftism, Gargantuan and Ima in that).
@leicester-bangs I am rocking the Blue Amazon CD right now at work – only a best of on Spotify but most of the Javelin tracks on it, like being back at Back to Basics or Renaissance. (I realise this discussion contains no 70s or 60s references and so may be somewhat niche…). Huge chord builds…
Final comment: the WOW album out last year, Tuesday Maybe was I think the dreaded ‘return to form’. Excellent though completely ignored.
Great stuff! On the album, ‘No Other Love’ goes straight into ‘And Then The Rain Falls’, and it’s a 25-minute prog-house orgasm.
They also did loads of incredible remixes around that same time. A mix they did of the Lighthouse Family is legendary but you need to spring for it on vinyl.
Devil in the White City is ace! I had it recommended to me before a trip to Chicago a few years ago. Hope you enjoy it!
Looking forward. I’ve always felt that HH has lived in the shadow of Jack the Ripper, so it’s good to see him get his due.
WATCHED
I’ve seen some really good films over the last couple of weeks: Call Me By Your Name, Three Billboards, The Disaster Artist, The Strange Ones. All really excellent. My favourite of the bunch, however, is The Strange Ones. A very slow-paced drama with an ambiguous plot. A young boy is on a car journey to a cabin in the woods, driven by a young man who he describes as his brother. Of course all is not as it seems and gradually, through minimal dialogue and occasional flashbacks, a serious traumatic event is revealed. Totally my kinda movie; I adored it and can’t wait to see it again. Might appeal to anyone who shares my love of two Terences: Davies and Malick. The directors, Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein, based the film (very loosely) on their own award winning short from 2011, which can be seen here:
http://www.zeit.de/video/2017-12/5688130121001/vienna-shorts-the-strange-ones-ein-kurzfilm-von-lauren-wolkstein-und-chris-radcliff
READ
Over the hols I read a couple of Jonathan Coe‘s that everybody else has already read. The Rotter’s Club and The Closed Circle. They’re ok. Very readable but nothing spectacular. Now am reading Bill Bryson’s Shakespeare – The World As A Stage. I’m only a couple of chapters in but it’s already taught me some very interesting facts. Did you know that only six of Shakespeare’s signatures have been found and none of them spell the name Shakespeare as we do? I didn’t.
HEARD
Nowt new. Been mostly grooving to Traditional Songs of West Africa by Vieux Diop. An interesting chap who started off playing with Youssou N’Dour’s band, left Senegal for USA in 1983 and has toured and taught there ever since (including at Julliard). I already had his first album, which has a couple of great tracks on it, but I far prefer this, his most recent. For more info and listening:
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/vieux-diop-mn0000173574
Watched –
Oasis Supersonic on i-player. Like with other band rockumentaries I was left with a greater regard for the act after. The love and respect the Gallaghers show for their mum Peggie is really touching. Noel unsurprisingly makes many thoughtful and insightful comments. Liam has his moments too. He does seem to understand the damage his disruptive antics caused but is unrepentant. The drugs, the madness, the bickering and falling out – the same old story.
Also on i-player was the documentary about Alan Partridge. Most enjoyable, full of funny clips. I thought the later Alan less precisely observed and more of an obviously contrived comic creation. I’m Alan Partridge was where he got it bang on. After that the character shifted a bit to the detriment of the performance despite still often being hilarious.
Read-
The Brix Smith book. Extraordinary and astonishing tales – not least that of a Californian who’s had a wealthy Hollywood upbringing moving to Manchester to live with Mark E Smith in his grotty bedsit without fridge where milk is kept out on the window sill. Other sordid details follow. The story tells itself for the most part, being full of other such unlikely juxtapositions of Brix with minor and not so minor UK celebrity. The hanging out with next husband Nigel Kennedy and the England squad at the 1990 world champs is an odd one. Here’s a clip with Brix accompanying her man to bemusement of the players.
Brix goes through some pretty awful times, not least thanks to the attentive and charming MES. No surprise there. It’s a gripping read throughout.
Now reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. So far so very good. All the books of his I have read have been excellent. Did see the film some time ago. Book and film not really tallying with each other as yet, although it would help it I could remember the film.
Listened-
Got Steven Wilson Hand.Cannot.Erase. for Christmas, continuing my habit of buying new records a year or two late. Yes I am influenced by critics. Like it a lot. It’s a perfect balance of harder rocking out and more mellow softness. I couldn’t help detecting a Floyd likeness here and there but with more modern sounds. Pleasing to see Nick Beggs (formerly of Kajagoogoo of course) has brought his Chapman Stick along. Not because he had chapped lips but because it is a musical instrument. It seems to me that if you were to make a checklist of what makes a prog record, then the presence of a Chapman Stick would make it highly likely prog was going on.
Used vinly – Roxy Music’s Siren is not really any better or worse than other Roxy albums. I appreciate the prominent bass. Bee Gees Best Of is an album that goes up to Staying Alive and includes the hits up until that point. There are a number of stunning early tunes. My ears prick up when Jive Talkin’ starts. That was a record that caught my attention when it first came out. So fresh and full of verve.
That reminds me. Among the funniest stories in Hooky’s book is when one of New Order’s entourage, Terry, falls in love with what you might call a typical Californian girl. At the end of the tour he’s delighted when she accepts his invitation to live with him in Salford.
Flying back to the UK they make their way to Salford, and then as they drive into Terry’s street, she turns to him and says, ‘Terry, why do all your houses have so many front doors?’
Yes very good. The story Brix tells is similar in that she is initially impressed by the building where Mark lives only for him to reveal it is all divided up into separate households and his rented place is tiny.
MES is bizarro Doctor Who:
(*gasps*) “It’s smaller on the inside!”
KRESTFALLEN POST REVERSE-TARDIS-EFFEKT b/w LUKEWARM MILK EXISTENZ 12 inch on red vinyl.
Interesting thought. MES in the mid-80s in his long trendy coat and mullet phase had a touch of the time lord about him and then scruffy bohemian Nige the fiddler, likewise. Brix as glam, smiley assistant. You’re onto something there. Not much admittedly, but still.
Lots of planets have Hit The North!
How I Smote the Cyberman!
Quite a strange month December, Christmas is a distraction that eats into my time but this one seemed to throw up a decent amount of good new music a fair amount of which was recommended by fellow contributors on here.
HEARD:
Way out West – Marty Stuart which I think came from @Fatima_xberg. Love this one – strong echoes of Tom Russell and Calexico. Will have to check it out his considerable back catalogue.
Trio Da Kali – Ladilikan and Kronos Quartet – Lilting African voices, Orchestral colours. Beautiful.
Yazz Ahemd – La Saboteuse – recommended by @duco01 – Bahraini trumpeter. Arabic/French jazz fusion of the highest order – the sounds of the Souks.
Sheryl Crow – Be myself. Surprised by the high quality. Don’t know why, she has always been great.
Amanda Anne Platt and the Honeycutters – recommended by @carl – Wonderful voice that evokes desolation and hope at different times on the album. Strong material.
Nadine Shah – Holiday Destination – think this came out in September. Heard a track on 6music and was smitten – think Remain in light era Talking Heads, Roxy Music and PJ Harvey. Lots of skronking sax but great rhythm and very much makes you want to dance.
Deutsche Elektronische Musik Volume 3 – continuation of a strong series with a stonking 10 minute track by a band called Neon who were new to me.
SEEN:
Unthanks with their orchestra. Thought it was fantastic. Love how this band continually set themselves new challenges.
On screen The Last Jedi which may be my favourite of this series. Understand the die hards don’t think so but for me it was great.
On TV greatly enjoying Emilia Fox and Dawn French locking swords in Delicious and also getting hooked on McMafia which has a very intricate plot which requires your continual attention.
Sad to see Peaky Blinders come to the end of season 4 and looking forward to season 5 with Tommy as an MP.
READ:
With the festivities in full swing reading was restricted to my continuation with the Bob Harris autobiography.
Deutsche Elektronische Musik Volume 3
It is good isn’t it.
Not as good as the first two (yet), but as I find with Volume 2 a bit of intense repeat listening is required
SEEN – the Star Wars like everyone else in the known universe, but also last night much more interesting the rather overlooked 2016 Midnight Special in which Adam Driver is about 3 stone less buff and nails the government space geek spectacularly well. A fascinating movie deeply, deeply flawed but never less than interesting.
Less interestingly I am sorry to report that after Arnie the next teenager-action-movie-craze sweeping the house is Liam Neeson’s oeuvre of Grandad thrillers. Taken, Non-Stop (a truly ridiculous movie) and Unknown. Kids unreasonably excited by forthcoming Non-stop on a train The Commuter and threatening to drag us to see it in the cinema.
On the plus side of the Amazon Prime freebie trial we are caning (what led to the outbreak of Neesonitis) is the Handmaiden, a truly gobsmacking movie from Park Chan-Wook. It’s nearly the Oldboy bad boy does Merchant Ivory, apart from all the ladies on ladies action and torture.
HEARD: trying to catch up on 2017 before it gets away. Not that excited by Kendrick Lamar, like St Vincent, am trying not just to listen to epic house (see the above thread)
READ: Treated myself over Xmas to the latest-to-me doorstepper from Peter F Hamilton, The Abyss Beyond Dreams, a return to the Commonweatlh after the DOA boreathon that was Great North Road. Also a return, less excitingly, to the Void. But turned the pages well enough, even though its clear the Federation trilogy and first two commonwealth books are high water marks he won’t reach again.
ALSO: at the Etihad twice in a week, for the Watford and Burnley matches. Oh the luxury of the Christmas break.
Heard:
Alien Stadium – Livin In Elizabethan Times
Steve Mason and Martin Duffy mini album – not bad at all, but I can’t help thinking “KLF?” (maybe it’s the Austin Allegro on the cover?)
Average White Band
Nice n jazzy smooth – just right for a Sunday morning, although my life doesn’t feel truly enriched by this discovery
Gary Crowley’s Punk & New Wave Box
Just another Punk & New Wave set?
There is some interesting choices, and rarely falls back on the “obvious”
The Saints
Aussie Punks making a fine, fine noise
Seen
Christmas TV brought:
The League Of Gentleman
Vic & Bobs Big Nigh Out
Alan Partridge: Why, When, Where, How and Whom?
The Rise And Fall Of The Clash
The Clash are pretty well served in the DVD doco market, with Don Letts Westway To The World being (probably) the definitive.
This one starts where Westway finishes and tells the story of how they fell apart (Joe not willing to stand up to Bernie’s ego mainly)
Read:
Mark Mason – Walk The Lines
Bloke decides to walk through London following the path of the underground network.
Interesting, and he gets to meet Bill Drummond and find out about his Cake Circle
New for 2018:
I have decided to do some regular writing on my blog, and will be randomly selecting records from the collection.
Starting at A, the random number generator threw up AC/DC – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.
This time the gods of random have not been so kind, and I am currently researching and preparing a review of the era defining debut album by … Bucks Fizz
Which AWB, may I ask?
AWB (the one with the white cover), and a compilation called ‘The Best Of The Average White Band – Let’s Go Round Again’
The one with the W fashioned into a woman’s arse. At least that’s the image I have in my head.
In that case, your life should be truly enriched. That’s a magnificent album.
I came to the end of the yearlong daily blog – Write Here, Write Now, with a month divided between songs I remember being significant in my twenties and a final quick flurry of more recent favourites. Here is the list for December:
Billy Bragg – Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards; Pixies – Monkey Gone To Heaven; Spacemen 3 – How Does It Feel?; Eat- Gyrate; Van Morrison – Have I Told You Lately?; Swans – The River That Runs With Love Won’t Run Dry; Cowboy Junkies – ‘Cause Cheap Is How I Feel; KLF – Wichita Lineman Was A Song I Once Heard; The Grateful Dead – Truckin’; Primal Scream – I’m Coming Down; Shakespear’s Sister – Stay; James – Don’t Wait That Long; Chumbawamba – Behave; The Grid – Diablo; Edwyn Collins – A Girl Like You; The Dear Janes – Dead Woman’s Jewels; Luna – Lost In Space; Laurie Anderson – New Jersey Turnpike; Joan Osborne – What If God Was One If Us?; Primal Scream – Kowalski; Michael Nyman – Big My Secret; The Verve – Lucky Man; Fine Young Cannibals – Johnny Come Home; Dodgy – One of these rivers; St Etienne – I Was Born On Christmas Day; Blur – Tender; Gorillaz – Starshine (Dub 09); Modest Mouse – Dashboard; Adele – Rolling In The Deep; Van Morrison – When Heart Is Open; Fatboy Slim – Right Here, Right Now.
It’s been a really interesting, and challenging experiment. Many was the night when I just couldn’t (keep my eyes open to) write a blog. Each month was different in its way, and I think I did what I set out to do – listen more carefully to music and practise my writing. I think I got less cautious and self-aware as the year went on. The last few months where I got more into personal history were particularly rewarding.
Having ‘done’ music last year, I’m going to try to do more book reading this year. I put my whole library onto GoodReads, and, of circa 500 books, half are yet to be read. It’s just to tempting to buy or pick up a new one, before finishing another. Probably quite a good thing to swap a project focused on short term/instant judgement to something demanding a longer attention span. It’s going to be a challenge.
Heard:
Top of the tree is Jamie Saft’s “Loneliness Road” – an excellent downbeat but tuneful jazz trio album with the rhythm section of veteran Steve Swallow and Bobby Previte well up in the mix. You’ll also find Iggy Pop in louche lounge lizard form on a trio of ballads – the format suits him – Rod Stewart-like reinvention as American Songbooker surely his next career move.
Then there’s Nicholas Payton’s “Afro-Caribbean Mixtape” which I’ve lived with for a while now. Overlong and probably overblown, it’s a double album of 70’s jazz fusion noodling – he plays trumpet and piano on lengthy Herbie Hancock/late Miles period-style tunes – which then launches into straight ahead jazz, wiki-wiki scratching and cop show theme funkiness.
Also enjoyed Stephen Emmer’s “Home ground” album which came out earlier in the year. It has a curious “What’s going on” feel to it – bringing together a whole range of vocalists from spiritual jazzers Andy Bey and Dwight Trible to soul singers like Chaka Khan, Patti Austin and Frank McCourt – with big production values (here a harp, there a kettle drum) and a message in the music.
Dipping into various folk’s top 10s on here – and links to others from here – also turned up some excellent listening. Former country “outlaw” movement member Jessi Colter’s “Psalms” takes a while to get into. Apparently Lenny Kaye recorded her singing various biblical excerpts solo at the piano and then put suitable arrangements to them some 10 years later. It’s a bit “dark” and austere but might appeal to those who enjoy late period Johnny Cash.
Cap doffed to whoever on here recommended the Evie Sands “Anyway you want me” reissue from the late 60s. Only really knew her from northern soul biggie “Picture me gone”, but this is more of a country/pop/soul minor classic – bit Bobby Gentry/Laura Nyro/Dusty – full album on YouTube.
Picked up a couple of reissues: I’ve always had a soft spot for Tim Buckley’s “Look at the fool” – for many years the only album of his I could find and universally panned by the critics. For sure his vocals are a bit wayward – somewhere between Al Green’s soaring soulfulness and Vic Reeves’ club singer on some tracks – but the re-master sounds really sparkling and brings out the funkiness of his later period stuff. In a vaguely similar vein, Erasmo Carlos’ “Sonhos e Memorias” covers the Brazilian’s early 70s languid Latin soulful folky funk – it’s a great album and also all on YouTube.
Read:
Finished Patricia Lockwood’s deeply strange but hilarious “Priestdaddy”. Now working my way through various Christmas presents including Shaun Bythell’s “Diary of a bookseller” – a warmly funny tale of his life in his Wigtown “book town” shop. Reminds me of the general weirdness of customers during my four year ownership of a book/record shop in Hull – all those days spent not taking a penny as browsers worked their way through your entire stock, asking for multiple records to be played, only to leave without money changing hands and a word of thanks.
Next up Ravilious & Co – a very lovely book covering the artist’s wide influence on British graphic design during the 40s/50s – sits nicely with Martin Salisbury’s “The Illustrated Dust Jacket 1920-70” – which sounds a little dull but is beautifully put together.
I’ve no idea how poeople cram so much into December. I’m not even a fan of Christmas and I barely got anything done. I did see The Unthanks + Orchestra and The Gilmore (both covered elsewhere) but that’s about it. On New Years Eve we were going to go and see Paddington 2, but when we tried to book the only pair of seats left were in the front row. We stayed home and watched a dvd of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre instead. I can report a refreshing absence of marmalade sandwiches.
Hmm, December…it’s mostly Christmas really, most other things are on stand-by all month!
And right after Boxing Day I got the flu, and it was really bad, so I couldn’t do much at the end of the year. I’ve only just started this weekend to put together my traditional Year Best Of CD Compilations for my brother and sister.
Read:
Swedish fantasy/horror author Sara Bergmark Elfgren‘s latest novel; Norra Latin was quite good. It’s a ghost story set in a school among teenagers and features magic, theatre and love. Spooky, not scary, but very well written and a real page-turner. As with most plots in most novels, it doesn’t quite stand up to scrutiny once you shut the book and start thinking about it, but still, a fun ride when you’re in it.
I’ve almost finished reading Colin Harper‘s excellent second Mahavishnu tome, and I’ve been enjoying all of it.
No time to read much else, apart from magazines (Sonic‘s latest C&W issue in particular, but, as with their excellent Soul issue, I’m left wondering when I will find the time to go through their lists of recommendations on Spotify…) and my annual Christmas Night Dickens‘ extravaganza.
Seen:
I bought myself a bunch of cheap DVDs for Christmas, in hope that I would find the time to watch them all during my short holiday…I managed one, and it was a disappointment. I used to love Gremlins back in the day, and had it on VHS. Watching it now, it only annoyed me. I haven’t dared to re-watch Gremlins 2 yet! Also bought a bunch of horror movies, but couldn’t find the time. But I do find Christmas the ideal time to watch horror, for some reason – Christmas or late summer nights during a heatwave! 🙂
On TV (or the computer – my TV is long gone) I’ve seen a couple of Swedish crime dramas; all of the three part series Den döende detektiven (“The dying detective”) which was OK but nothing special, and the first couple of episodes of the final installment of Bron/The Bridge, which is great, so far. Plus my usual fare of documentaries and occasional film (but I can’t remember which). And quiz shows!
Heard:
The Wilco reissues, nice! Another Christmas gift for myself.
Oskar Linnros – Väntar På En Ängel, Swedish soulful pop. Not as strong as his previous, IMO. Mariam The Believer – Love Everything, again not as strong as her debut, a bit more mainstream and anonymous. Not bad at all, but not the KO that her first solo album was.
Curtis Harding – Face Your Fear, old school soul music, and better than his previous effort, but something about it (or my current mood) makes me slightly indifferent to its charm.
Ane Brun‘s latest album is one of covers of some unexpected tracks. I must say I prefer her own songs…and I don’t care who you are; “I Want To Know What Love Is” is a turd that cannot be polished! And I’m not wild about the idea of an entire covers album sounding like a John Lewis advert soundtrack…!
Most of December was cheered up by listening non-stop to either Mavis Staples – If All I Was Was Black or Beck – Colors. Perfect soundtrack to pre-Christmas activities in need of some energy (cleaning, baking, cooking, decorating).
Always good to read what Locust has been up to.
And a splendid idea for a thread, too: “Turds That Cannot Be Polished”.
Locust’s starter of “I Want To Know What Love Is” is prime sticky turdery. A horrible big whinge of a record.
“Waiting For A Girl Like You”, from the same bunch of miscreants, is another un-polishable turd.
Listening –
I quite like the new Slaid Cleaves album, Ghost On The Car Radio, which I stumbled upon last month. Slaid Cleaves has steadily amassed a strong back catalogue over the years, without a single duffer amongst it, and this latest is more of the same thoughtful Americana that is his stock in trade. Other than that, December was the perfect time to indulge in some serious early music, and among the pleasures discovered recently was the rather splendid Song Of The Nativity, a blend of ancient and modern carols impeccably sung by The Sixteen that beat pretty much anything else I heard over the festive season hands down.
Watching –
Christmas telly is never my favourite, but somewhere amongst the wall-to-wall animated kids’ movies and Christmas specials pre-recorded in August, were a few gems if you looked hard enough – not the least of which, Vic & Bob’s Big Night Out sneaked into the schedules with no fanfare, and made a decent fist of revisiting the original – complete with Novelty Island and Graham Lister, but without the Man With A Stick and the hapless Les. For anyone interested in seeing those originals, they are still available to watch on 4OD. Also, The League Of Gentlemen made a good job of returning to Royston Vasey after 10 years or so, the humour as dark and unsettling as ever.
Reading –
It’s not often that I devour a book in a single weekend these days, but I’ve just read Chris Packham’s memoir Fingers In The Sparkle Jar, and absolutely splendid it was too. I was prompted to read it after watching his excellent Asperger’s & Me documentary, and it’s one of the best books I have read for ages, written in a very original style (sometimes teetering on over-written), which is presented as a series of non-chronological snapshots of events in Packham’s childhood, sometimes written in the first person, sometimes in the third, exploring the bullying he suffered at school, his love for nature and in particular his relationship with a kestrel that he stole from a nest, reared and trained, and became obsessed with. Packham’s Asperger’s was diagnosed later in life, and this book is an immensely moving portrait of his formative years.
On a completely different note, my Christmas read was Laurence Rees’s new history of The Holocaust (a brave present, as the man in Waterstone’s informed me). It’s the best book on the subject I’ve ever read – lucid prose, well-informed and comprehensive in scope, the book attempts a full analysis of the rise of Nazism hand-in-hand with German anti-Semitism, its manifestation throughout the 1930s, culminating in the horror of the death camps during the Second World War. Not an easy read on account of its subject matter, but one that I would heartily recommend to anyone with a passing interest in the horrors of that time.
Sorry but…. as a massive fan of the original, I though Vic & Bob’s BNO was, er, very poor indeed. Only at the arrival of the great Graham Lister did it momentarily come alive. Revisiting the format really did bring home how steeply they’ve declined since those great days of the early 90s. Rather like a clapped-out old rock band revisiting the hits of their youth and finding that they can’t cut it any more (examples of which are too numerous to mention)
“You’re wasting our time!”
Agreed. Thought the LOG was better, but seemed to rely on more of that newfangled poo and wee humour than in its heyday. But the sketch with the bingo caller who found love in Thailand was note perfect..
Poo and wee humour? It’s a shit business…
You wouldn’t let it lie….
Music – Bedouine
Kind of enjoying the Bedouine album I got for Christmas. I think she shows signs of being very talented and clearly writes a good tune but just not crazy on it. I think that it’s probably me not her.
Film – Molly’s Game
Aaron Sorkin film based on true story a ski jumper who after serious injury turns to running high-stakes poker parties. If you like Sorkin’s other work you won’t be disappointed, lots of dialogue but also a lot of breaking the ‘fourth wall’ in terms of how the narrative is presented.
Podcast – Fortunately…with Fi and Jane
Best discovery over the holiday; podcast, as the title suggests with Jane Garvey and Fi Glover. The discussion ambles from the serious to light-hearted with a high level of wit throughout – their influences are clear when they speak of ‘in the dumper’ and the ‘business of show’.
Heard a very interesting BBC R4 chat/interview a week or two back with the subject of “Molly’s Game”, Molly Bloom, and with the actress who plays her in the movie, Jessica Chastain. In the course of the conversation Bloom revealed that she had never played a hand of poker herself and had no interest in ever doing so.
Just a “Watched” really. Inside Number 9 has been a favourite of mine since the start, but the first couple of episodes of the new series have been magnificent, particularly the one from earlier this week (Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room) which is a beautiful piece.
Yes, me too, listened has been a bit of a given, being as many of those from lists I thought I ought to hear before the end of the year. As usual. Still missed a few that will be e-musiced in this week or next. But watched has been a panoply of over-indulging in binge watching of box sets.
1. Peaky Blinders: Start to finish over 3 weeks, the delay only waiting for series 4 to finish. Superb tosh. Uncertain if I just got used to the shite accents or whether they improved. Bit of both? Loved some of the characters more than others, my top 3 being Arthurs psychopathic Chuckle Brother, Tom Hardy’s Solomon, a yiddish Ian Dury/Jah Wobble composite and the never knowingly hammed up more Adrien Brody, Marlon Brando channeled through Freddie “Parrotface” Davies. Terrific.
2. The Queen: More nonsense and cobblers of the most entertaining sort. Maj will never be the same for me, let alone all the assorted others. Pride of place was ex-King Uncle David, a hideous self-serving weasel. Bit of a soppy cop-out at the end. Love to know what happened next.
Not done one of these for a while, because my listening/viewing/reading hasn’t changed that much. Mod, Soul, Reggae, Country and Prince. That’s about all. And everytime I try to watch a film all the way through I get bored, never finish a tv series lately, although I really want to rewatch Weeds, and have two series of Peaky Blinders to catch up on.
New stuff is very thing on the ground though. The house received a PS4 from Santa last month. So I’ve been working my way through The Witcher 3. Late at night after the family has gone to sleep. My 8 year old boy thinks it would be really amazing to play it based on the cover. I’m not sure it’s brilliant – Red Dead Redemption/Skyrim/GTAV on the PS3 were better, although the graphics are better.
Baxter Dury’s Prince Of Tears album has been in the ears since November and Miami from there is my song of 2017. Brilliant thing, like his dad, Serge, Cohen and Chic in a blender, with perhaps a touch of Blur and Jarvis from mid 90s. The Ian Dury thing actually reminds me more of Madness. But it’s dark and grown up and a midlife crisis in musical form. I love it. the rest of the album is great, but that song is miles above it all. And then the strings in the middle remind me of Funkytown by Lipps Inc. And that’s a great thing.