I always carry some cash, as some smaller shops still don’t take cards for a payments under a certain amount, and as I work in technology, I always expect a failure at some point. Just before Christmas I was in […]

Ian Leslie has said the idea for the book came after the popularity of his Substack post “64 reasons to love Paul McCartney”. I found that interesting because he looked at McCartney from different angles, whereas […]

It seems to be at least an occasional source for hip hop. Kanye West used 21st Century Schizoid Man on Power. Even none more prog Gentle Giant have been sampled. Their song Proclamation provides the introduction […]

Yes, and I don’t think it was just progressive music that opened up music and the idea of art and literature having something to say about more about life than simply your background to me and a lot of friends. S […]

I remember a few comments at the time comparing Covid to the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, pointing out that afterwards there seemed almost an agreement to forget it, devastating though it had been. Novels, films and […]

I come from Gosport and when I was growing up the most famous musician from the town was Mike Hugg of Manfred Mann, whose family ran Hug’s the Jewellers in the High Street (that is the original spelling of his s […]

Every Sunday round here in North London, there are lots of people of all ages carrying guitar cases and trundling amplifiers on their way to rehearsals or lessons. And in the week, children with their guitars on […]

I think we might have slightly different tastes, but it’s always useful to have a few recommendations in the back of my mind for the next time I am at a loose end for something to read and take a wander around […]

Isn’t this thread, and this site in general, pretty much small talk?

I read contemporary fiction from time to time, mainly written in English, and some translations, but I usually find even the best a bit disappointing. It’s like contemporary jazz in that the artists have clearly s […]

They’re not really decided by the King, but various committees largely made up of people who have themselves accepted honours and will often know the people they then decide to give them to. They also include s […]

I think the slightly earlier The Return of the Secaucus Seven was also a big influence on that genre, which was probably summed up in the title of thirty something. It was a certain generation realising that they […]

Ages ago, early nineties I think, I realised that my handwriting was getting poor. There was an article in one of the papers by an expert who said we are all taught to write clearly, but often getting sloppy […]

I think part of what you’re admiring in a statue is the skill in capturing the clothes as much as the person. Modern clothes, mid- 19th century onwards say, tend towards the functional and so don’t give the art […]

I don’t think it was ever said where the earlier films were set, but the streets and hills to me looked like Bristol, where Aardman are based. This one was deliberately meant to be in Lancashire, where Nick Park […]

He’s just a diva isn’t he? Being difficult to assert his self-importance. If Dua Lipa, for example, a young woman with spangly outfits, behaved like this no-one would question that this is what she was. But […]

On Jazz Records Requests the other week they played a record from 1949 by the Steve Race Bop group – which was described as one of the earliest British bop recordings. It seemed quite creditable, and a bit of a c […]

Rick Beato does put out a lot of stuff, but for me, the interviews with musicians are outstanding. He clearly knows a lot about the industry from his background as a working musician and producer, and also knows […]

Apart from “but it’s not for me”, isn’t that a good summary of this site?

As Paul Valery said: “Everything changes but the Avant Garde”.