You... Don't... Know... What... You're... Doing

I jumped on a southbound Charing X train, only to be told, when the doors had closed, that it was 'Going to Edgware... Oh no, sorry, Morden. Via the City'.

I could change at King's Cross, but don't like doing that these days, if I can help it. For one, it's always packed; for two, I was on the platform when the July 7th bombs went off last year. Yes, that's right, I was there. Of course, as seems to be my lot, I wasn't there in any way that makes for a good anecdote or tale of heroism. I do have an abiding memory, however, of the southbound Piccadilly Line platform being packed, so I made my way slowly towards the less crowded back of the train. Just before a train finally did pull in, the platform guard was telling people at the FRONT of the platform not to push and to stand behind the yellow line. It was here that the bomber got on the train. I hate getting on to crowded trains - I'm over 6ft, and hate standing with a bent neck near the door - so I let it pass; 2 minutes later all hell broke loose and we were evacuated. I remember one guy refusing to leave the platform and just shouting at the platform staff 'You don't know what you're doing', while the rest of us just shuffled away.

Anyway, today I trusted my iPod to shuffle all (11019 tracks). I've had to take some music off recently as the iPod's full, so there's less Classical on there these days and no books.

So:

The Camera Eye - Rush. Coincidentally about commuters and the en masse movement to work,
Morning Dew - Robert Plant; I'm a big fan of Led Zep, but not of his country-tinged recent stuff. This album, however, contains a cover of Tim Buckley's 'Song To The Siren', which is why I bought it,
Other Voices - The Cure; another recent introduction, and my prejudices are being re-shaped - nice bass line,
Afraid - David Bowie; didn't really notice this,
Jupiter! - System 7; Steve Hillage & co with some nice ambient-ish stuff,
Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac; good for driving to, but I wasn't really in the mood. Reminds me of an old girlfriend at Uni,
Je Veux -tre Noir - Manu Dibango; a former colleague gave me this. It's okay if you like this sort of thing,
Summer Rains - Ash Dargan. I asked a friend, who was going to Austraia, to pick me up a handful of Australian rock music CDs, for a different perspective. She bought me back a compilation of 'native Australian' music, the sort that could be picked up at Tesco's,
God's Song - John Martyn from 'The Church With One Bell', an album of covers,
Regeneration - Kraftwerk; a short track which seemed to pass me by,
4 Plus 20 - Crosby, Stills and Nash. I'm a recent convert to CSN(Y). Pleasant enough,
Can't Keep It In - Cat Stevens. I don't why this guy was such a big hit in the '70s; There are one or two good/great tracks on this compilation, but there's a lot of mediocre stuff as well,
The Wake-Up Bomb - REM. Something happened to REM just about Green, and I don't like it,
Flying Away - Robert Miles, from 23am. I haven't heard this for ages, but it was surprisingly engaging. He does make the mistake, however of getting his young son to make noises on one track, which is almost always a bad idea: we recognise and salute your fertility, just don't bother us with it (see also Yes 'Circus of Heaven' and many others),
Sacrifice - Patrick O'Hearn. This chap was in Frank Zappa's band: hard to believe from this melodious 'New-Age' type stuff,
Traffic Jam - Artie Shaw, from 50 Big Band Classics. I don't know where I got this, but it's very interesting - only spoilt by the rather muddy recording.

That's it for today. 'Flowers for Algernon' is turning into a very good read (I knew it would, as I vaguely remember a Radio 4 dramatisation from 20 years ago), so I'll read that on the way home if I get a seat.

T 3; M 4; D 4

Tuesday, Wednesday Break My Heart

Delays on the way home, more delays this morning.

Apparently '...there are minor delays on the Northern Line, the Circle and District Lines and the Victoria Line, with part suspensions of the Piccadilly and Central Lines. All other lines are running normally.' So that'll be the Metropolitan and East London, then, would it? F***ing idiots. According to LT's website, some of the the delays were due to 'unavailability of staff'. Nice one.

One of last night's free papers (I think it was the londonpaper, or whatever's it's ungrammatically called) had a list of favourite 'chill-out' tracks on the Tube for winding down after a day's droning. Many of these tracks were ambient-ish (some Sigur Ros, some Eno, and a few classical stuff), and I'm surprised. Whenever I try listening to anything ambient, all I get is train noise in tunnels.

Today, I shuffled all songs between 3 and 5 minutes long. Of the 5231 that I currently have fitting this criterion, this gave me:

The Fear - Travis; I like this band, but in small doses
An Inmate's Lullaby - Gentle Giant; great band
Orchid 7 - Paddy McAloon from his excellent 'I Trawl The Megahertz' album
The Cat - some funky organ from Jimmy Smith
Speed King (demo version) - Deep Purple
The Everlasting Gaze - Smashing Pumpkins; just been introduced to this band and they're OK
It Covers The Hillsides - Midlake; another recent find - 'Roscoe' is great
Backwaters - David Sylvian, from his first solo LP, 'Brilliant Trees'
Tell Me Why - Genesis; a weak track from 'We Can't Dance'
Silver Rainbow - more Genesis; one of the better tracks from a poor album
Sweet Jane - Velvet Underground
River People - Weather Report - go Jaco!
The King of the Golden Hall - from the LOTR soundtrack
Witchy Woman - The Eagles
I Must Have Been Blind - This Mortal Coil from the superb 'Filigree & Shadow' album
The Dry-Cleaner from De Moines (live) - Joni Mitchell - go Jaco!
Friday I'm In Love - The Cure
The Passenger - Kings of Convenience; so much more than dinner party music
'84 Pontiac Dream - Boards of Canada
Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac; everyone's heard this 50 times, but it still stands up
Mister Class and Quality - Gentle Giant

Not a bad track among them, really, for a morning commute.

M 4; T 2; D 3 (too crowded to behave well)

To Make Our Peace In One World

My new John Martyn CD came yesterday - the Expanded One World. Another one I've had on vinyl for ages, and it's superb. Great liner notes and superb live and rehearsal tracks. I listened to it one the way home and again this morning.

However, the major part of this morning was spent in quiet (and loud) contemplation of the passing of Alan Freeman, with perhaps a tear being shed for my lost youth.

I still have dozens of compilation tapes, lovingly recorded and edited from Fluff's Radio 1 shows back in the '80s. Some day I will sort them all out...

Anyway, today's 'On-The-Go' playlist comprised bands I had heard on Fluff's show, in many cases the actual songs. I got as far as 'The Knife' before I got to work, and will play the rest on the way home.

Yes - 'Heart of the Sunrise'
Mountain - 'Nantucket Sleighride'
Camel - 'Lunar Sea'
Caravan - 'If I could Do It All Over Again...'
Deep Purple - 'Stormbringer'
Genesis - 'The Knife'
...
Gentle Giant - 'On Reflection'
Mannfred Mann's Earthband - 'Joybringer'
The Move - 'Beautiful Daughter'
ELP - 'From The Beginning'
Pavlov's Dog - 'Valkerie'
Peter Hammill - 'Fogwalking'
Renaissance - 'Midas Man'
Roy Harper - 'When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease'
Rush - 'Cygnus X-1'
T. Rex - 'Telegram Sam'
Traffic - 'Rainmaker'
UK - 'Alaska'
Van Der Graaf Generator - 'Still Life'
The Nice - a BBC Top Gear Session from 4 Mar 69

Rest in Peace.

M - 5; T - 4; D - 3, mainly for a guy who insisted on putting his bag on my foot

R.I.P. Fluff

RIP Alan 'Fluff' Freeman

Just heard of his death, aged 79. This chap was a great influence during the desolate years of the mid-80s to mid-90s, when you simply couldn't hear any prog rock on the radio. Okay, okay, some would say that this is a good thing, but for me he was a great influence. The only place to hear Yes or Gentle Giant.

Not 'Arf

Soft Shoe Shuffle

A bit of a hangover this morning, due to over-indulgence on the Glenfiddich, so I fancied a more relaxed commute. I had my (size 13) feet stood on repeatedly by a sour-faced woman with a bag who kept looking at me in disgust. Hell, my feet are on the end my legs - sorry about that.

Shuffle by 'Electronic' genre produced:

'The Source of Secrets' by Mike Oldfield (TB3) which, despite my criticism last week, is pleasant enough,
'One Very Important Thought' by Boards of Canada's fabulous 'Music Has The Right To Children',
'Metropolis' by Kraftwerk - I just love the clinical drum track,
'Movement 5' from Vangelis' 'Soil Festivities'; a beautiful album that I've had on vinyl for ages, since having heard the opening 18 minute track on Annie Nightingale's Radio 1 show - the chances of something like that happening again on British Radio are slim. I've just downloaded it for iPod pleasure,
'Oxygene' by Jean-Michel Jarre - great album which always reminds me of a Geography field trip back in the '80s, during which a bunch of drunken 15-year-olds terrorised Northern France.
'How to Kill' by the Art of Noise, 'Computer World' and 'Kometenmelodie 1' by Kraftwerk, 'Conquest of Paradise' by Vangelis (another one of his fairly tedious late soundtracks) and then my favourite - 'Cloudburst Flight' by Tangerine Dream from 'Force Majeure'. I have this on clear, colourless vinyl and it's fantastic.
After this majesty came 'Mu' from someone called In and Young from a New Age sampler CD I found in an Italian magazine, then 'Far Above The Clouds' from TB3 and 'Opus 4' by the Art of Noise.
Laurie Anderson's 'It Tango' from the excellent 'Big Science' album - the one with 'O Superman' on, then Vangelis' 'La Petite Fille De La Mer' from an early (therefore excellent) soundtrack album. This was followed by Kraftwerk's 'Planet of Visions' and 'Radioactivity' and then Brian Eno's 'Passing Over' from his recent 'Another Day on Earth' CD. The walk to work was accompanied by more Vangelis - 'First Approach' from the very good '80s album 'Direct'.

By the time I arrived at work, my hangover seemed to have cleared up...

M - 4; T - 4; D - 2, mainly for the idiot woman not leaving me alone

Get 'Em Out by Friday

After a bloody awful week, including suspension of the Piccadilly Line due to someone dying last night, Friday was a pleasant surprise.

I had to read some papers this morning, so only listened to my iPod when I couldn't get a seat. In honour of Bert Jansch, legendary Pentangle guitarist who appeared on last night's Mark Radcliffe show, I listened to bits of his new album 'Black Swan'. Great stuff, and the first new music I've heard since his 'Sketches' LP back in the '90s (of which I have a signed copy).

Arrived at work on time, for a change, but knackered by having been kept awake all night by my son's crying.

Random Play

A good day today, the first this week. Today my feet were stood on only once. However, the girl sat opposite me insisted on putting her make-up on; from the result, she would have been better not to bother.

iPod set to 'Shuffle' in my 'Not Classical or Spoken' filter:

'The Voyeur' by Fish from his first (and best) solo album; 'Nine Feet Underground' by Caravan from a live show at the Astoria a few years back and 'The Space Race is Over' by Billy Bragg. Next came 'Walls' by Yes from the overlooked 'Talk' album; okay, it's not up there with Fragile or Close To The Edge, but bits of it are worth listening to (although 'Walls' is one of the weaker tracks).

'Kiev Mission' by Tangerine Dream's Exit next: a bit monotonous, from the 80s, when they lost it a bit. I think my favourite is Force Majeure. I once took a girlfriend to see TD about 15 years ago; she was into rock music - Little Angels were a favourite - and hated it. She ended up snogging my best friend during the interval (so he told me) and being very pissed off. It didn't last.

This was followed by Lou Reed's 'Dirty Boulevard' from NYC Man - it's okay, but I'm not a huge fan. Vangelis next: 'Apocalyse des Animaux - Generique' from a soundtrack album; 'Le Singe Bleu' from this album is just stunning, but, hey, I'm on random today. Cyclefly 'Fallen Wishes' was purloined from a colleague, and I'm not sure it's going to grow on me, but it passed the time okay. AWB 'Got the Love' - funky - then 'Kangaroo' by This Mortal Coil, a cover of the Big Star song.

Nick Drake's home demo of 'Milk and Honey' followed - I was only 3 or 4 when this guy died, but just love his music. To change gears, a Tori Amos song ' Sweet Dreams': another 'borrowed' track, and I really don't like it - it should go. My walk from the tube was accompanied by 'Writing to Reach You' by Travis and 'April 5th' by Talk Talk, from the excellent Colour of Spring album.

I've just bought 'Flowers for Algernon' by Daniel Keyes, so I'll read that on the way home if I get a seat.

Music - 4
Tube - 4
Drones - 3

Help Me Somebody

When I first thought about this blog, I figured it would be just a few observations on a great driving force in my life - music - coupled with the occasional musing on life as a commuter.

After just three days, it's in danger of becoming a rant on the inadequacies and incompetence of the Tube Network, in particular the Northern Line, and its occupants.

Today started with a walk to the station while listening to Traffic's 'John Barleycorn' and a bit of John Coltrane on random play. I took my seat on the waiting train and decided to devote my attention to Brian Eno & David Byrne's 'My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts'. I've had this on vinyl for about 20 years and downloaded the CD re-release recently. After track 4, by which time the carriage was packed, there was a smell of smoke and the train ground to a halt. The driver struggled through two carriages before returning and announcing 'burning brakes'. Great.

After that, I couldn't be bothered, so turned to Mike Oldfield (Tubular Bells 3) for light relief. Another recent download, and pretty poor stuff. I'm not sure what I expected from this particular cash-cow, but it isn't in the same league as 'TB1' or 'Songs of Distant Earth'.

After changing trains, the rest of my journey was spent wrestling for the armrest with a grotesquely obese man in a cardigan. As I was making my way to the seat, he visibly expanded to fill all available space. Any more massive and small objects were in danger of being attracted to his gravitational field. This guy was disgusting (and smelt vaguely of urine). Well done.

Music - 3 stars
Tube - 2
Fellow Drones - 2

If the Summer Changed to Winter

I made the mistake this morning of believing the station indicator board and letting a train go, in anticipation of getting the next one which was going where I wanted to go. I should know better.

I was feeling so good, too. Blue sky, sun shining. Only London Underground seem capable of bringing you down quite so quickly.

'On-the-Go' today: 'Hey Jude', for the hell of it, followed by a track from Captain's new album - 'Frontline'. I first heard this on Mark Radcliffe's show, but the album is a bit too slick for me. Still, it's 'nice'. Scott Matthews' 'Still Fooling' (great voice) and then 'Sex Machine' by Sly and the Family Stone - this was an impulse download, trying to locate funk. Not sure it worked.

Tim Buckley 'Song Sung Slowly', Yes 'Yours Is No Disgrace' (great crunching bass line), 'Rainmaker' by Traffic, and 'The Librarian' from David Sylvian's Nine Horses album. Love this guy's voice - I kept telling myself that I could listen to this guy sing the phone book, until I heard his 'I Surrender' CD singles, where he, well, sings the phone book.

Laurie Anderson 'Big Science', a Frankie 'Relax' re-mix and Caravan 'L'Auberge du Sanglier Medley' to finish. I think I cheered up by the time I got to work, but I was still 20 minutes late.

Side 1, Track 1

This is something I've been meaning to do for a while, but never got enough time. A blog of my travels to and from work in London , listening to my music and just generally trying to forget my humdrum commute.

As luck would have it, on this inaugural day, the Tube system collapsed and I had an extra half-hour to listen to my iPod and try not to pick my nose. It seems as though the weekend catches everybody concerned with 'maintenance' by surprise.

Today I had my brain in neutral and my iPod on shuffle with my 'Recently Added' filter, which meant the new Joanna Newson - 'Only Skin' - and some Bert Jansch from 'Black Swan'. I got bored with that and turned to Miles Davis' 'Bitches Brew'.

Then someone got 'taken ill' and everything ground to a halt. Ho hum.