Just finished this at the weekend. I agree with @Junglejim above – I too found it clunky at first but ended up really enjoying it. It is only when the Horologists turn up that any real plot element emerges. I did […]

Leonard Cohen at Birmingham Odeon in late December 1979. Both Jennifer Warnes and a very young Sharon Robinson in the heavenly choir. Raffi Hakopian on violin. It was snowing that night and it was like going to […]

I’ve got a CDR of Octoberon somewhere. I will give it a second listen!

I think you’re right. 16 quid to see McCartney? Blimey.

No jamming for BJH, no sirree. Choreographed to a tee.

I had no money then either. I caught up with a lot of the artists I liked but couldn’t afford in the cd age. Back in the day (1971 – 75 say ) gigs were cheap and records expensive. That situation reversed itself […]

Well, there’s only 2 left alive. True, they do both run their own versions of BJH. A bit like Wishbone Ash do too. BJH became very big in continental Europe in the late 70s but the music was really too bland for […]

I love all 3 JHE albums from toe to tail as ALBUMS – like historic artistic documents. You would’t watch Hamlet and give each scene a mark out of ten would you?

You mention “filler”. Erm, I don’t hear any at […]

Well Mr Saucecraft I am now in extreme disgrace with Mrs Artery thanks to you. That Mr Lofgren’s rekirds reside on the far extreme of a shelf behind the sofa; I was kneeling on said sofa to extract Cry Tough to […]

The other chapter I wish was filmed was Fog On The Barrow Downs, the creepiest part of the whole book for me.

If you ever go to Avebury be sure to visit West Kennet Long Barrow. I had a real spooky experience […]

I have read most of his books and recommend them all. Cloud Atlas is the best.

The film of Cloud Atlas has a bad rep but if you have read the book it is marvellous. If you haven’t read the novel it would be […]

I’m 65% through this on my Kindle right now. Just read the really weird episode in Canterbury Cathedral. You’ve just spoiled the end!

Seriously, it is a brilliant creation. Slower paced than the first two […]

Poetry is condensed thought. It can be accessible or demanding or both. Rough And Rowdy Ways is both. The rhyming couplets are just a contrivance of form. They make it pleasing to the ear.

“All you coffee goers […]

Well, I’m not ready to post yet, but my number one will be Rough And Rowdy Ways by Bob Dylan. I had written off Dylan in 2004 when his voice collapsed into shit. I was given a kick up the arse by Tell Tall Signs […]

I shall play Solo in Soho Square immediately.

I suspect it will be a while before I find myself in central London though.

God bless the Big Man!

Yes. Lots.

I used to subscribe but lapsed about 15 years ago. It is of course aimed at Dylan nerds not the general public: I used to read it cover to cover. Can’t speak for recent issues.

I have heard the album and it is every bit as magnificent as the reviewers say, maybe even better.

It is as if the Nobel Prize made him think, “better live up to this then.” Not only is his voice back but this […]