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I do this every five years or so. What y’all listening to right now? No cheating, just the song currently on the turntable (or the very last music you played). No cheating now… embarrassing or groovy, nobody will laugh (fact check needed).

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  5. According to my phone the last music I played was the most recent London Grammar album, but a Rob Brydon podcast interview with Harry Hill is playing now.

  11. I got some new cables for my Fiio earbuds for my birthday and so the last couple of tracks I listened to were testing those with – Supertramp / School, Yo Yo Ma / Ecstasy Of Gold, Genesis / Firth Of Fifth.

    The last album was the new Rose City Band one – Sol Y Sombra.

  14. Haven’t been listening to anything yet today – but yesterday evening I was listening to Beethoven’s eighth symphony, Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Felix Weingartner – fine mono sound from 1938 (I think…).

    • I’ve been making bread this afternoon and listening to podcasts – but now, sitting down with a cuppa, I’m listening to Smetana’s second string quartet, played by the Pavel Haas Quartet – perfect for a rainy afternoon…

  19. Fountains Of Wayne – Hung Up On You. I’m currently working through the (recently discovered) ‘Fountains of Splain’ podcast series and that’s the one they’re discussing now so I had to play it first… that’s the rules!

  22. Thirty thousand feet over China – The Passions
    Is on repeat right now and I had forgotten how many good tracks are on it . This has come about after listing to the Uncharted Sounds Podcast which this week was all about the Passions.

    • @bejesus funnily enough, I was thinking of Thirty thousand feet over China just the other day. It came to mind because I’d heard “…. German Filmstar” and I wondered whether they had ever done anything else as good. I have the CD somewhere but TBH I’m not sure whether I’ve ever listened to it all the way through. Glad to know that it has other good tracks. I will investigate

  27. Last thing I had on full was the Dead’s “From The Mars Hotel” (the 50th Anniversary version) a couple of days ago although I did grab a snippet of Kacey Musgraves “Rainbow” to test a new pair of earbuds last night

  28. I was listening to Dukes of Stratosphere’s Mole from the ministry whilst driving to work this morning. Before seeing this thread I had downloaded the Guy Chadwick solo album Lazy, Soft and Slow. No idea what it sounds like, but hopefully it’ll get me through the commute home.

  29. I’ve been playing old LPs for the last couple of days. The last one was Joe Walsh So What. A bit padded out but still great. If you had asked this in about an hour the answer would have been springsteen’s The Wild, the innocent etc.

  35. Every decade or so since the 1970s I try to ‘get into’ the Grateful Dead. This time, I’ve had Cornell 5/8/77 on in the car. I got to the end of all 3 CDs yesterday It’s an improvement on most other things I’ve heard by them, but I am still struggling. Next thing on will be The Cure’s new one, which is more up my street.

    • The Cure is very good but very dark. Robert was clearly not in a good mood when writing the words.

      Not sure why it took me so long but I only got into the Dead four or five years ago, Previously I think the only thing I’d ever heard was Touch of Grey – almost certainly due to the video with the skeletons. the surprise when I did start listening was how far removed they were, musically, from my expectations of being spaced out jamming hippies. That’s there, of course (and I love that side of them) but of course they are much more mainstream in many ways.

      The choice of what to listen to is overwhelming, of course.

  44. Oh, Sealand by Oddfellows Casino.
    If you don’t know him/them it’s sort of pastoral psych with a smidge of prog. Very nice

    Then Phil’s Spectre – A Wall of Soundalikes (first volume) lined up for after

  46. Two CD players, two properties (home/office):

    ‘Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush’ soundtrack.
    Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – ‘The Definitive Collection’.

    On Alexa:

    ‘Ultimate Live at the BBC’ – The Yardbirds.

  50. Technically, the last music I listened to was a dreadful bit of musak on a loop whilst on hold this afternoon. No idea what it was, nor do I want to. It was a bit piercing at times and generally unpleasant all the time.

    Last piece I had on my Mac yesterday was Saint-Saens Cello Concerto No. 1 played by Jacqueline du Pré with Barenboim and the New Philharmonia. It was a part of a du Pré box set I picked up for £20 in Oxfam a couple of months ago. A bargain, I thought, but not quite as good as the 44CD box I picked up at the same time at the same price of all 104 Haydn symphonies, conducted by Fischer. I am working through in order and thoroughly enjoying them.

  54. Well, I’m at a hardcore Euro dance weekend in Herefordshire, so it really was a live tune from Geoff and Annette, to which we were all dancing the Kost ar c’Hoat. Bet you’re sorry you asked.

    • That’s in my TBH pile. I was supposed to do the sound for them when Life and Life Only came out but they pulled the gig due to being in Scotland the night before and Newcastle the following day. Or something like that.

      • I’m trying to decide whether to go and see them next week at The Scala.
        I would like to see them, but I don’t know what their following is like among the young people who subscribe to things like Tik Tok.
        The last gig I went to at that venue, a couple of years ago, was Ingrid Andress (she of the much publicised, fucked up version of “Star Spangled Banner” at some sporting event last year).
        Beforehand I was amazed to see the gig was sold out. I didn’t think she was that well known. When I got in I found I was by far the oldest person there. I guess she has a big social media following.
        It was just a sing along. Every word to every song, phones constantly aloft. Not my idea of a fun evening.
        I decided to leave early. I visited the gents before leaving the premises. I held the door open for a couple of youths exiting. I heard one day to the other “What’s a sixty year old guy doing here?”.
        Not having good time could have been one reply.

        • I got as far as getting their tech rider (in summary: reverb, and lots of it). A shame as both the promoter and I (for once) both liked the record and agreed we should book them.

          Last gig I saw at the Scala was Porcupine Tree when they were in a Metal phase – after an hour of riffage, I left early to make sure I caught the fast train home.

  57. Bob Dylan’s first album. I have played a lot of Dylan since seeing the film and also rewatching No Direction Home, and have been meaning to play this from that era. I sort of put it off because I have never really liked it much and, frankly, hardly ever played it. It really isn’t great, but a few tracks jump out.

  60. Right now I’m listening on shuffle to a playlist I made ages ago. When I started reading this thread it was Crime of Passion by Capercaillie. Now it’s Lodi by Creedence Clearwater Revival. What a song. One of Fogerty’s finest.

    Update – now it’s You’ve Got a Friend by Carole KIng. Lovely.

    • I don’t know what was in the water in San Francisco in the late 60s, but in a few short years Fogerty wrote 15-20 songs that sounded like they had been chiselled from the bedrock of popular music. They are so elemental that I think he sometimes gets overlooked as a songwriter. It’s hard for me to comprehend that just a few years before I was born Bad Moon Rising, Down On The Corner, Looking Out My Back Door, Proud Mary, Lodi, Up Around the Bend etc didn’t exist.

      • Popular opinion says not allowing their Woodstock appearance to be released scuppered them. Wholeheartedly agree the songs in that shortish period are among the very best. Green River, Willy and the Poor Boys, and Cosmos Factory are superb albums

          • He wrote great songs and the rest of them didn’t.

            Cue resentment re royalties a la Gene Clark in the Byrds and Robbie Robertson in the Band.

            It’s a story as old as time itself.

        • The Woodstock thing is even stranger because that is an absolutely stonking live set they did, and it would have been one of the highlights. Fogerty can obviously be difficult, but as Jaygee says, it’s a common scenario when one person does all the writing. Strange thing is that his font of creativity slammed to a halt after the last Creedence album. A few good things but nothing remotely as good.

      • Absolutely. In exactly two years between July 1968 and July 1970 they released their first five albums and a slew of the finest American rock songs ever written… Beatles level productivity

  63. Familiar which is the debut album by a singer called Liza Lo who I saw playing an in store gig at my local (and wonderful) record store in Lewes, Union Records. I know how tough it is for young musicians these days so my policy is always to buy a record at any in store gig. Many I have played only once but this one I love and strongly recommend to fans of Tracy Thorn or Phoebe Bridges

  66. I’m really only listening to music if I’m either writing or doing the washing up, and I was too tired to do either today.
    But the last two videos I watched on YouTube before checking in here just now, were the Sabrina Carpenter/Dolly Parton video for “Please, please, please” and the Tiny Desk Concert with Girl in Red.

  71. I’m listening to the Jayhawks’ album “Tomorrow the Green Grass” (1995). Nice record.
    I’ve only just discovered that track 7 on the album, “Bad Time”, is a cover version of a song by – gulp – Grand Funk Railroad. Yikes!

  75. Specifically it’s Sweetback’s Theme by Earth, Wind and Fire from a cheap 3 CD funk compilation called Revenge of the Pusherman that I dug out of my Den recently. I’ve had it playing away all morning since my wife went out. The kids are oblivious and totally unaware that I’m subliminally making them funky!

  76. I am reading Douglas K Miller’s book about Jesse Ed Davis ” Washita Love Child” which reminded me that I have a couple of John Trudell’s CDs (bought decades ago because of the Jackson Browne connection).

    So I’m listening to, and enjoying, “AKA Grafitti Man” and will listen to “Johnny Damas and Me” later.

    • He’s good isn’t he @hot-shot-hamish? I bought his “Angeleno” and “Tenderheart” CDs in a charity shop for 50p each because of the names on the credits: Ry & Joachim Cooder, Taylor Goldsmith, Bo Koster and more. £1 well spent.

      I was delighted to discover that Outlaw is his mother’s maiden name!

  81. I was just listening to Maria Teriaeva on Youtube. She plays Buchla modular synthesizer and other instruments. Just ordered her self-released new album from Bandcamp.

  82. Did someone say something about wanting a playlist for this thread..

    Here you go, Lodey. Happy Listening.

    keep those comments coming. i look forward to updating the playlist.

        • “Amazon, Apple Music and Qobuz deliver up to 100 per cent of the music today and it sounds a lot better than the shitty, degraded and neutered sound of Spotify. If you support Spotify, you are destroying an art form,” said Neil Young.
          Spotify is heeding Young’s call. It is planning to introduce a new tier later this year, offering higher quality audio, as well as tools to mix songs together and access to concert tickets. Estimated UK price is £4.75 a month on top of Premium.

            • Not to mention that if Spotify eventually get around to finally after years of prevarication offer lossless quality they are going to be charging more for a service that’s already available from Apple, Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon and a few other more “boutique” platforms for a lower price.

                • I genuinely find it mystifying why anyone uses Spotify. I tried it years ago and it was a serviceable music streaming platform. Since then it’s turned into the WH Smiths of streaming services straying away from it’s core business into seemingly anything that they desperately think they can turn a buck on. I’m surprised they don’t offer vouchers for McDonald’s big macs after fifty streams of Taylor Swift or Beyonce or the dubious opportunity to buy a cheap bar of chocolate if you listen to The Joe Rogan Experience.

                    • Thankyou for your kind words, @henpetsgi.

                      I enjoyed being reminded of old favourites and making several new discoveries.

                      Thanks particularly to @fitterstoke and @pencilsqueezer for introducing us all to some new classical music works. Great to be kept on my toes.

                      I’ll accept that Spotty is pants. But for me it serves the useful purpose of rapidly allowing me to listen to new artists I’ve just heard of.

                      Ants in my Musical Pants. That is my problem.

                  • I don’t pay for it, but I use it to listen to albums that I’m considering buying. A friend of mine likes the surprise element of listening to a newly bought album. if that surprise is that it’s shite, I’d rather not waste my money.

                    • I should explain my comment above. I should have made clear that what I don’t get is why use Spotify when there are other platforms offering a similar service with far superior sound quality for the same price or less.

                  • In my case it’s laziness. I ought to move to Tidal but I just haven’t got around to it. Plus I assume I’d lose my playlists which I’m rather fond of.

                    • An old friend has the same issue over playlists. There are software solutions that I’m reliably informed are largely successful but I haven’t any first hand experience with that aspect. My mate uses Apple Music alongside Spotify and tells me that Apple has become his first choice and that he rarely uses Spotify anymore for the simple reason that Apple sounds better. I use Tidal and Presto Music but I mostly spin CDs, I use streaming to plug gaps and for checking out music to help me to decide whether to purchase or not. Streaming has simultaneously cost me a fortune and saved me a fortune. A harmonic balance has been achieved!

    • That is such a beautiful composition. For those of us who are interested in these things, it’s a sixteen bar tune, repeated with an ending tagged on to the second time.

      It’s in the key of D. The sixteen bar form is actually four 4-bar sections, each one starting on a G chord. This is kind of an unusual harmonic structure for a jazz composition. Carla milks all the possibilities of that form, very elegantly and simply. The melody is basically one rhythmic phrase, repeated with minimal melodic differences, over the whole song.

      Here endeth the lesson. I’ll get my duffel coat

      You can find the chart on Carla’s website, free download.

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