Just Give Me Confirmation There's Some Way Out of Here

Friday morning, and a bomb has been found in Piccadilly. The fact that Piccadilly Circus station was closed really upset one woman who 'had something to do'. I despair.

A rather eclectic mix to accompany my morning commute:

Suzanne - Leonard Cohen,
The Sphinx Returns -van der Graaf Generator,
America - Neil Diamond,
Robbery, Assault and Battery - Genesis, by far the weakest track on 'Trick...', which is a shame,
Equinoxe Part 6 - Jean-Michel Jarre,
Fire At Midnight - Jethro Tull,
Rizzla Dub - Sly & The Revolutionaries,
Aquatic Dance - Vangelis,
Changes Where Bell Number = Repeat Number - Brian Eno, from the fascinating Bell Studies album,
Funny In My Mind - Robert Plant, from the disappointing Dreamland CD,
Who Needs Information - Roger Waters,
Gone to the Movies - Semisonic,
Slip Away - Laurie Anderson.

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 3

Summer Madness

Last night's Charles Hazlewood show seemed oddly flat, dealing as it did with the theme of sultry Summer evenings and attempts to portray this with music. When it's barely 15 degrees outside during the day (and 5 degrees at night) it didn't really work, with too heavy a bias towards classical. It did, however, start with Kool & the Gang's 'Summer Madness', which is always good.

Before that, Radcliffe and Maconie had a review of Laurie Anderson's 'Big Science' album and played a bit of 'O Superman' and the whole of 'Let X=X'. Marvellous stuff. I must look for the remastered re-release.

Shuffling the Pack

No ADBS yesterday, strangely. Instead, my iTunes downloaded the very first trial programme with a poor cameo appearance by Peter Kay. I don't want to sound like my father on this, but I don't find this guy particularly funny.

Anyway, onward with a 'Shuffle All' playlist:

Jack-In-The-Green - Jethro Tull,
Broadford Bazaar - Jethro Tull,
Driving (Masters At Work Dub) - Everything But the Girl,
Life Suite Pt 3 - Stanley Clarke,
Thorn In My Side - Eurythmics,
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty,
Diamond Day - Vashti Bunyan,
Parchman Farm Blues - Jeff Buckley,
Taste My Drems - No Man,
Some Are Born - Yes,
New Feet - Eno/Byrne,
Overthrown - Tom McRae,
For All These Years - Tinata Tikaram,
The Royal Scam - Steely Dan,
Radio Ga-Ga - Queen,
Pull Me Under (live) - Dream Theater,
An Inmate's Lullaby (demo) - Gentle Giant, from Under Construction,
Think About You - Guns 'N' Roses.

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 4

GET 'Name' IF N>50; PRINT 'Name', N

Prior to 'spring-clean' of the 10383 tracks currently on my iPod, those artists with 50 or more songs are:

Marillion 315 tracks
Jethro Tull 225
Porcupine Tree 217
Yes 188
Cocteau Twins 181
King Crimson 179
Pink Floyd 172
Gentle Giant 168
Vangelis 160
Frank Zappa (solo) 154
Rush 153
Fleetwood Mac 151
Genesis 135
Kate Bush 131
David Sylvian (solo) 124
Brian Eno (solo) 105
Dream Theater 98
The Fall 98
Joni Mitchell 97
Nick Drake 94
John Martyn 91
Steely Dan 83
Peter Gabriel (solo) 80
The Beatles 79
Hawkwind 73
Kraftwerk 72
Sigur Ros 71
Van der Graaf Generator 65
Robert Wyatt (solo) 65
Tim Buckley 64
REM 64
Mike Oldfield 64
Led Zeppelin 62
Caravan 61
This Mortal Coil 58
The Orb 58
The Art of Noise 58
Lucio Battisti 57
Suzanne Vega 55
Dire Straits 54
Supertramp 54
Epsilon Indi 52
Ozric Tentacles 51
Van Morisson 50

Obviously, many of these will have duplicate tracks, but it's a good reflection of my music preferences.

Big Generator

A near-perfect journey in today, in contrast to yesterday's fiasco...

The 'All Day Breakfast Show' podcast to start with, which, while it still has laugh-out-loud moments, is becoming a little predictable. I remember the halcyon days of Danny's GLR show. Lots of great music to fill in the gaps between stories and phone-ins, including my introduction to Steely Dan. Fabulous. I think the Podcast is missing some music, but there are obvious licensing issues which would make it too expensive.

Shuffle 'Not Classical or Spoken' today:

Morning Glory - Tim Buckley,
A New Day Yesterday - Jethro Tull,
Anna Lee - Dream Theater,
Come On - Vangelis,
Interlude - Bruford/Levin from a DGM sampler CD: 'Sometimes God Smiles'
The Red Shoes - Kate Bush,
20th Century Boy - T Rex,
The Emperor in His War Room - Van der Graaf Generator,
War - Frankie Goes To Hollywood. After the ill-fated trip to France, I remembered a similar trip to Scandinavia in which the only tape on the coach was a compilation I'd made myself. It featured the FGTH 'Two Tribes' 12", Ultravox 'Vienna', Mobiles 'Drowning in Berlin', Stranglers 'Golden Brown', OMD 'Joan of Arc' and lots of mid 80s synth-pop. It must have been played 50 times over the course of the week,
Directions I - Miles Davis,
White Shadow - Peter Gabriel, with that great Fripp solo,
Milestones - Herbie Hancock.

Whilst this is a great selection, I feel like a drastic over-haul of my iPod. Whilst my 60 Gb iPod is full, I've 20 Gb of music which is not being used, much of which have been acquisitions over the last year or so, including a lot of vinyl-replacement downloads. It'll take a while, but I think it's something I need to do...

T - 4; M - 4; D - 4

OK, OK You've Won; You Make Me Feel So Low

A disastrous, chaotic morning on the underground train network of the capital city of the world's fourth-largest economy. Thankfully, as my nearest station is at the termiuns, I can guarantee a seat, but it's still dreadful when there are hundreds of hot sweaty bodies piled all around me.

Head down, listen to some music:

We Supply - Stanley Clarke,
Strange Fruit - Cocteau Twins,
Bridge Passage For Three Plastic Teeth - Waters/Geesin,
The Bitter End - Placebo,
You're Gone (Single Mix) - Marillion,
Coffee & TV - Blur,
Inarticulate Speech of the Heart 1 - Van Morrison,
I Can Hear Music - The Beach Boys,
Only A Fool Would Say That - Steely Dan,
El Condor Pasa - Simon & Garfunkel,
Skin - Spock's Beard,
Blackest Eyes - Porcupine Tree,
Milestones - Herbie Hancock,
Score With No Film - Adrian Belew,
Spencer - The Fall,
L.A. - The Fall,
Mrs. Bartolozzi - Kate Bush,
Feel So Low - Porcupine Tree,
The Siren Song - Van der Graaf Generator,
Limbo - Rush,
For My Lover - Tracy Chapman.

The All Day Breakfast Show, as expected, will become Pay-As-You-Download in the near future with the suggested price being £2 per week (5 episodes). Hmmm... Maybe for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. Having listened to it almost constantly for 4 weeks or so, it's becoming a little same-y...

T - 1; M - 4; D - 3

Pentangling

Monday morning again, and, after a full weekend of entertaining a small child in the rain, a chance to relax.

Recent acquisitions:

Wedding Dress - Pentangle. I bought this album to replace worn-out tapes and vinyl copies. This folk super-group is just superb,
Omie Wise - Pentangle,
Will The Circle Be Unbroken? - Pentangle,
When I get Home - Pentangle,
Reflection - Pentangle,
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - CSNY, from the Woodstock album,
Guinnevere - CSNY,
Marrakesh Express - CSNY,
4 + 20 - CSNY,
Sea of Madness - CSNY,
Ms Wilhelmina and Her Hat - Pepe Deluxe,
Pastorale Mendoza - Robert Fripp, from a free download at DGM.

A full week of Danny Baker's ADBS stretches ahead of me to lighten my mood on my commute. Yum Yum.

T - 2; M - 4; D - 3

Thanks, Tube: Thube

This morning's 'All Day Breakfast Show' featured Peter Serafinowicz (Look Around You, Black Books, etc), which was just as well, as the Northern Line put on a special service this morning.

No service South of Archway. No, sorry, no service South of Finchley Central. Oh, hang on, it might be starting again in a while. Ahh, no, suspended Southbound. For a bit longer. How long, you say? Five minutes? The next train should be going through... Oh no, sorry, it stops here. The next one will run all the way. Oh, hang on. Etc etc.

I arrived at work 1 hour late. It's a good thing I've got nothing to do.

Because I was in the mood for relaxation, I put on my 'Garden Party' music, which is intended to be as unchallenging as possible for when friends come round for a BBQ or similar:

On the Road Again - Canned Heat,
Dirty Harry - Gorillaz,
I Saw the Light - Todd Rundgren,
Beside You - Van Morrison,
Hocus Pocus - Focus,
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley,
Last Train to Clarkesville - The Monkees,
Cantaloupe Island - Herbie Hancock.

Thank god for the weekend...

T - 0.5; M - 4; D - 4

Falsetto

No commute yesterday, as I had a day off sick. I wasn't that sick, but I need some time off to relieve the futility of it all...

Interesting 'Charles Hazlewood' show on the subject of the falsetto or couter-tenor voice. Great, I thought, maybe some Yes or Robert Wyatt, but, no. Some Classical music (actually several bits of the same piece) and then Radiohead and Coldplay. Apparently High and Dry by the former is a good use of falsetto, whilst Fix You by the latter isn't. Personally, I couldn't see this distinction - both used it in that plaintive, tortured soul kind of way.

On the back of this, I tried again to listen to 'The Bends', after half an hour of the latest Danny Baker 'All Day Breakfast Show'. I've never really listened to much of Radiohead's music, although I recall a line from a Porcupine Tree something along the lines of 'you keep me hating... you keep me listening to the Bends'.

Street Spirit,
High and Dry,
Just,
My Iron Lung,
(Nice Dream).

Mmm... I still don't get it. I like my music more interesting, not a background to some angst-ridden sixth-form dribblings. Strummed guitar, little bass, overlaid with 4/4 drums and the odd 'tortured' gtr riff in an'unusual' time sig.

For better falsetto, I turned to Jan Steele and John Cage's 'Voices and Instruments' album with the talents of Robert Wyatt: Experiences No 2 and The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs. For more Yes-related stuff and a return to bass I then went for Chris Squire's Fish out of Water: Hold Out Your Hands and You By My Side. How he went from this to 'Conspiracy' is beyond me.

T - 2; M - 3; D -4

Five Names that I can Hardly Stand to Hear

That's got to be one of the best opening lines to a song:

"Five names that I can hardly stand to hear
Including yours and mine, and one more chimp who isn't here"

... you almost forget about the rhyming of 'hear' with 'here', it's so good.

A bit of a sweaty humid morning for another shuffle all mix:

The Best Way to Travel - Moody Blues,
Bad Sneakers - Steely Dan,
Monastery of La Rabida - Vangelis,
Them Heavy People (live) - Kate Bush,
Roadhouse Blues - Doors,
Experiences No. 1 - Jan Steele/John Cage,
Soldier of the Heart - Judee Sill,
Monkey Talk - Stevie Wonder,
Continuum - Jaco Pastorius,
You Set the Scene - Love,
Our House - Madness. I'm not a fan (it's my other half's), but stuck with it,
FraKctured - King Crimson. Fabulous,
Games Without Frontiers - Peter Gabriel.

There was an interesting interview with Nick Drake's sister, Gabrielle, regarding the release of the 'Family Tree', on Simon Mayo's Radio 2 show. The basic argument of churning more demoes out was that all the demoes out there were a) of dubious legality and b) of poor quality, being 2nd or 3rd generation copies. OK, so far as it goes, but I can't help hearing the bottom of the barrel being scraped to within a millimetre of the outer veneer (if barrels have such things) to make way for yet more stuff in a couple of years' time. I'll still buy it though.

T - 3.5; M - 3.5; D - 3

Cause And/Or Effect

A rather laid-back feel to today's commute. Everybody seemed to be walking very slowly, including the ones who rushed to get ahead of me and then almost tripped me up as they wandered slowly around.

Shuffle all, which produced this appropriately mellow mix:

Sheep - Pink Floyd,
Amici Mie - Antonello Venditti,
Swallow Strings - Stina Nordenstam,
Donor (2) - Judee Sill,
Catherine of Aragon - Rick Wakeman,
II. About to Crash - Dream Theater, from Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence,
Thirteen - Big Star. I was introduced to this by a former member of my now-defunct band. Beautiful,
Some Journey - Suzanne Vega,
The Bells - Lou Reed,
As I Feel I Die (Demo Version) - Caravan,
A Change of Seasons VII; The Crimson Sunset - Dream Theater,
After the Flood - Talk Talk. Just superb, with that excellent gtr 'solo' in the middle,
Storming the Death Star - Various Artists. I don't know the artist here as my iPod just says 'Various Artists' - it's from the Trojan Dub Box Set, and I'll have to check my tracklist.

Do I feel laid back because of this or did my iPod pick up on the vibes...

M - 4; T - 3.5; D - 4, except the slow ones - 2

ADBS; Kicking And Screaming Part II

Yesterday's ADBS Podcast was very late coming, so I had to listen to it in bed and this morning, rather than on last night's trip home. I think it's getting a little self-interested; I enjoy it more when the team reacts to e-mails and phone calls, rather than talking amongst themselves. Still, it's free (for now), and it's good fun, and it's available every day, and, importantly, it's free.

Some recent music, most of it released in the last couple of years, if not months:

Glorious - Captain,
Golden Skans - Klaxons,
Mathematics - Cherry Ghost,
Rainbird - The Use of Ashes,
Annie Let's Not Wait - Fyfe Dangerfield,
Speed of Sound - Coldplay,
Ten Speed (Of God's Blood and Burial), - Coheed & Cambria,
Us V Them - LCD Soundsystem; this reminds me a lot of Byrne/Eno's 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts' - all it needs is the evangelical preacher and it's there,
Somehwere Else - Marillion,
Cambridge 1969/2007 - Yoko Ono with The Flaming Lips,
The Way the Winds Blows - Rush,
Anesthetize - Porcupine Tree.

There's a review of the latest compilation (how many's that now? 8? 10?) of Nick Drake demoes - Family Tree, in which they take it to task for really scraping the barrel. I've heard a couple of the Molly Drake tracks previously, and I think they help to put Nick's music into a contextual framework. Whether they add anything (and I agree with the reviewer about muffled tapes of blue standards) is a different matter. How many more demoes can there be?

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3. It's Friday!

Music of the Future; Music of the Past

With the moving of Mark Radcliffe to an un-feasibly early time and 'The Sounds of the Seventies' to a ridiculously late time, my new favourite evening music show (besides 'Where's the Skill In That?', which is currently on hiatus) has become Charles Hazlewood's on BBC Radio2 on Wednesdays at 10pm. The attempt by the BBC to fill the gap left by Mr Radcliffe with tedious documentaries and one-off things has failed, with the only notable exception being this programme.

The presenter is obviously knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and tries to link many different styles of music through their similarities. It doesn't always work, but generally his insights are interesting and occasionally compelling, with good use of guests.

If it survives through to September, and isn't replaced by 'The 100 Most Interesting People I Know (In 10 Parts), Presented by Jonathan Ross', then the 2 hours from 10pm on a Wednesday (this, followed by WtSiT on Resonance) should be excellent.

And Nary a Word Was Spoken

The latest ADBS was very good. I'm finding that I can down-load it mid-afternoon and listen to it on the above-ground portions of my journey home and on the walk to the station in the morning. If you see a tall, blond, grinning fool on your commute, that's me...

The Northern Line was utterly chaotic this morning, although I seem to have been really lucky with my journey, as I just happened to change at the right place and time. There was a heart-stopping moment when the driver annouced 'this train is having a few problems, but we should be able to fix it'. I exchanged glances with a rather attractive woman across from me...

Instrumentals only today. I've excluded much of the jazz and classical stuff and focused on instrumental rock/pop:

Darshana (Remix) - Future Sound of London
Peaches En Regalia - Frank Zappa
Schooldays - Stanley Clarke
Midwestern Night Dreams - Pat Metheny
Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape - Porcupine Tree
Another Green World - Brian Eno
Where's My Thing - Rush
Nuages - King Crimson
Theme 1 - van der Graaf Generator
L'Auberge du Sanglier (Suite) - Caravan
Oxygene (Part IV) - Jean-Michel Jarre
Solemnity - The Mighty Strinth
Tempo Block - Raymond Scott

Oxygene brings back happy memories of a chaotic school trip to France back in 1983 or 84:

30 secondary school kids on a Geography field trip to Le Havre (via a 6 hour coach trip from Yorkshire and a 4 or 5 hour crossing (Newhaven-Dieppe) on a tiny ferry with nothing to do). The only thing to do on the coach was listen to a cassette that someone had brought along: 'Oxygene'. I'd never heard it before, and I don't think many others had, so we were all amazed and must have listened to it dozens of times during that week, as it was the only tape.

The trip itself was a fiasco: Nobody (including the teachers) seemed particularly bothered in Geography; we mainly spent our time on Le Havre beach, ostensibly sketching cliffs and interesting rock formations, but instead playing football and nipping off to the local supermarché to buy and consume some wine. We were eventually kicked out our hotel (after a stern lecture from one of the teachers about being poor ambassadors) because a couple of the 'hard' kids had been sick on a duvet and tried to wash it in a bidet. They broke the bidet.

The next phase was in Paris. More interminable coach rides and Oxygene, then vague sketches of Notre Dame from a boat on the Seine. Lots more drunkenness, including a very strange conversation in a bar about clouds with a drunk Frenchman. We were almost kicked out of the Parisian hotel for yelling across the central quadrangle to each other, despite having been told not to immediately on arrival.

We were basically young, 15-16 year-old innocent kids, given free rein in a land of abundantly-available alcohol. Nothing malicious, just chaotic.


I got to work this morning to discover that the thing I'd been running on my computer over-night hadn't completed because Windows had chosen to Upgrade and re-start itself. Still, if I have to re-run it that's something to do whilst waiting for the weekend to come round.

T - 2; M - 4; D - 4.5

All Around, People Looking Half Dead

Another day to waste. A couple of job adverts came up last night, so that should give me something to do.

The Tube commute got off to an annoying start when, on an otherwise empty carriage, some woman chose to sit down right to me. For god's sake, give me five minutes of peace. At the next stop, a chap got on and proceeded to hang his wardrobe of suits on the handrail, which then swung wildly and distractingly at every turn. God help me.

Some recent acquisitions today:

Cornwall Stone - Dali's Car. This is a great album, maily drum machine, voice and Mick Karn's bass. Sounds very 'of its time', though,
Music for 18 Musicians (Remix) - Coldcut,
Cruel Youth - Pepe Deluxe. This album (Beatitude) sounds very different from the recent track played on 'Where's The Skill In That?', and I'm not sure I like it yet. Still, it was free...,
Tiny Dancer - Elton John,
Summer In The City - Lovin' Spoonful,
Girl! - Pepe Deluxe,
Still Loving You - Scorpions,
Ms Wilhelmina and Her Hat - Pepe Deluxe,
New York Is A Woman - Suzanne Vega, from a recent Radcliffe/Maconie session on Radio2,
She's Leaving Home - The Beatles. I don't see Sgt Pepper as being the work of genius that everyone else sees. I really have tried, but I find it really 'bitty' - some good stuff in the midst of whimsical nonsense,
Muddy Brown River - Fyfe Dangerfield, from a recent Charles Hazlewood session,
Coast to Coast - Scorpions, a fantastic instrumental.

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 2

Our New Lives in Blisstonia

So, England won the Test series, although they cut it fine...

A rather mundane day, although the second half of the most recent 'ADBS' cheered me up.

'Not Classical or Spoken' produced this rather laid-back, blissful selection:

Arnold Layne - Pink Floyd,
Sei - Premiata Forneria Marconi,
Albuquerque (Dobro #6) - David Sylvian. He's touring later in the year, but the last tour I saw was a bit too laid-back for my liking. And he had a really annoying keyboard player with him,
Theme from 'The Monkees' - The Monkees,
Sphinx Lightning - Tangerine Dream,
Overview - System 7,
Words with the Shaman Pt 1 - David Sylvian
Oh To Be In Love - Kate Bush,
Trains - Porcupine Tree,
The Tourist - Radiohead,
Elegy - Jethro Tull.

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3

Splish Splash

Last Thursday's 'All Day Breakfast Show' was apparently so poor that they chose not to broadcast it. The Friday one was very good, though.

I have nothing at do at work this week. Nothing to do with work, anyway. The cricket will finish today, and I won't be massively surprised if West Indies win it, particularly if Chanderpaul stays there. Very disappointing.

Shuffle 'Not Classical or Spoken':

Between a Man and a Woman - Kate Bush,
Embryo Thought - Roger Waters and Ron Geesin,
Dreams of Surf - Vangelis,
Power of the Blues - Gary Moore,
Tom Sawyer - Rush,
Cinema - Yes,
Coffee Homeground - Kate Bush,
Deacon Blues - Steely Dan,
Dry Land (7" Remix) - Marillion.

This put me in mind to re-visit 'Somewhere Else':

The Other Half,
See It Like A Baby,
Thank You Whoever You Are,
Most Toys,
Somewhere Else.

I still can't get past the production on this album. The bass is absent until track 5 (SE), and all the cymbals are very 'splashy'. I tend to skip the first four tracks these days, when I listen to it at all.

ADBS - It's All Our Fault

"... There is no show today ... I know what you're thinking - we've run out of steam. We've got plenty of steam - it's you, it's your fault. There you are, the iPods are your drugs, this show is the crack and your lips are welded to the pipe."

WTF? Do it or don't.

Hat: A Hat Is A Hat But Not Just That

I finally finished off the latest 'Where's The Skill In That?' download:

4 Pepe Deluxe : Ms Wilhelmina & Her Hat (6.22)
5 Kreepa : Inside-A-Sekt (4.11)
6 Fire Engines: Get Up & Use Me (2.06)
7 Random Touch : As Above, So Below (2.38)
8 Marhaug/Asheim: Bordunal (10.mins ish)
9 The Sea & Cake: Up On Crutches (3.33)
10 Combat Astronomy: Collapsing Runways (5.38)
11 The Bird & The Bee: Birds & The Bees (3.51)

The Pepe Deluxe is very good. The rest of the programme was a bit too dissonant or ambient for me this morning, although the 'Bird and the Bee' track was good, too.

Mark's comments regarding first having heard 'Fire Engines' on John Peel's show many years ago put me in mind to turn to my 'BBC Sessions' filter:

R.O.D. - The Fall, from the 'Complete Peel Sessions',
Way of Life - Gentle Giant, from 'Out of the Woods',
M5 - The Fall,
Winter - The Fall. The presence of all 6 CDs tends to dominate this playlist...
Hug Air A' Bhonaid Mhoir - Julie Fowlis,
Moving - Kate Bush demo,
Wax and Wane - Cocteau Twins,
Chocolates and Cigarettes - Angus and Julia Stone,
Free Hand - Gentle Giant,
Mathematics - Cherry Ghost.

The new (first) CG album is out sometime soon, and I'm looking forward to it. He/they has/have played a few sessions on the BBC recently, and I've been able to make recordings:

People Help The People,
Roses,
My God Betrays.

On that last point, I'm supposed to be attending the local church for preparation meetings for my son's christening soon. If dark clouds and plagues of locusts gather over North London at the weekend, you know why...

T - 2; M - 3.5; D - 4

Mistaken for an American

I was on my way home from work to the Tube station, minding my own business and listening to my iPod, when an elderly man who had been walking in front of me turned around and asked if I was an American...

'I beg your pardon'
'Are you an American; you're very tall' (I'm about 6'3")
'Erm, no, I'm British'
'You just look American'
'Oh'
'They're very big aren't they?'
'Some are' - trying not to laugh - 'But I find that, in general, Scandanavians can be quite tall'
'Ah yes, but I always think of Americans as being big and tall'
'Well, some are...'
'Their cars are really big'
'Yes, I suppose so'
'You're very big'
'Well I'm not extraordinarily big'
'As big as an American'
...

The conversation then turned to a hospital appointment he'd just been to, and his journey home. We parted amicably and I returned to the confines of my iPod.

Buffalo Wings, ADBS

Following an off-colour discussion of Karen Carpenter and anorexia: "… it's a very real illness, as opposed to alcoholism, which, if it is an illness, is the only one which comes with buffalo wings…"

These Days I Mainly Just Talk to Plants and Dogs

A grey start to the day, enlivened only by the latest Danny Baker Podcast. I find I can listen to half on my way home and the rest the following morning...

Rock, Prog and Rock/Pop threw up a strange concoction:

First Post - Jethro Tull,
Thalheim - David Sylvian,
The Higher Sun - Moom, from a Delerium Records Compilation I bought primarily for a version of Porcupine Tree's 'Voyage 34'. In many respectsd, I miss this phase of their music,
Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Nirvana,
Son Of Man - 10cc,
Human Being (Alternate) - Twelfth Night. The proggest prog, let down by poor production,
He Knows, You Know (7") - Marillion,
Domino (Live) - Genesis, which, at 11 minutes, got a bit tiresome, so I moved to some vdGG for light relief:

Meurglys III; Prog goes funk/reggae,
Refugees,
Sleepwalkers,

all played at the highest volume possible, so apologies to fellow drones...

T - 3; M - 3.5; D - 4

ADBS - Episode 05 Jun 2007

I had a few problems downloading the latest Danny Baker All Day Breakfast Show from iTunes last night, so got it from Wippit instead. Not so many laugh-out-loud moments as the last Danny/Baylen Episode, but good nonetheless...

Northern SkyLine

Interesting Radio 2 documentary on Paul Simon last night, including a recording of his homage to the Northern Line, including these words (although the sound quality was very poor):

Along came the Northern Line, [along came the Tube?],
All the way from Clapham South, down to Waterloo,
Stopped at [two-one?] Balham Heath,
Stopped at Leicester Square,
The people were in the station,
George [Crumpet?] - he was there.

Off the top of my head, I don't know of any other songs mentioning my least favourite place to be, except this tongue-in-cheek offering from Marillion:

"The polar ice is melting
Suits me fine
We go to the beach on the Northern Line"

Shuffle ALL:

Signal to Noise - Peter Gabriel,
Nucleogenesis Pt2 - Vangelis,
Cripple Creek Ferry - Neil Young,
Paintbox - Pendragon,
The Prince - Madness,
The Village, Adagio for Strings - Samuel Barber, from the Platoon OST,
D D and E - This Mortal Coil,
Halloween - Japan,
Sugar Mice - Marillion,
Two Faced - Miles Davis, from the Complete In A Silent Way Sessions,
Ava Adore - The Smashing Pumpkins,
Cross-Eyed Mary - Jethro Tull,
Black Blade - Blue Oyster Cult.

T - 4; M - 4.5; D - 4

On This Day, Like Any Other Day

A fatalistic train driver announced that my train 'was for Kennington via Charing Cross, although, on this day like any other day, there are signalling problems which meant that that could change'.

First, though, I had to contend with the return of the wheeled briefcases. A woman drove over my be-sandalled foot this morning, which a) caught me surprise so that I squealed like a girl and b) bloody hurt. Stop It. Stop. It. Some of the 'bags' are getting so small they're almost handbags. One moron had a computer bag on wheels; pick it up, don't drag it behind you to career around like an unruly child.

As the mystery train made its way southwards, the effect of the signalling failure became obvious as more and more people tried to cram on the train. Welcome to the Olympic City.

Some bright spark has apparently come up with the idea of putting blocks of ice under seats in carriages to cool them down. Yeah, that'll work. Until they melt and leak and bugger up the electrics and cause puddles etc. etc. My solution is to run more frequent trains, more efficiently, so that they're not all full of hot sweaty bodies.

I'm Rocking - I'm Miming

To cheer myself, I continued listening to the latest 'All Day Breakfast Show' with Danny Baker and Amy Lame'. Very funny. I think I'd like 'Oxygene' for my album to remind me of a chaotic Geography school field trip to Northern France back in the 80s.

My optimistically-titled Playlist 'Garden Party', made for a recent party and much commented on for lacking of aptness. Nuts to them all, I just have better taste:

Dirty Harry - Gorillaz
I Don't Know What I Can Save You From - King of Convenience
Knowing Me, Knowing You - Abba
Babylon Sisters - Steely Dan
Comfy In Nautica - Panda Bear
Limelight - Rush
Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
Comfortably Numb - Scissor Sisters
Rolling Home - John Martyn
Alone Again Or - Love
Mr Soft - Cockney Rebel
I Don't Believe In You - Talk Talk
Speed Of Sound - Coldplay
Cantaloupe Island - Herbie Hancock

M - 4.5; T - 2; D - 1

london

Well, there we have it - £400,000 spent on something my cat could have come up with. Apparently, it appeals to the brand-conscious youth of today.

I particularly dislike that lower case 'l' in London.

And I have no idea what that central square is. If the top left squiggle is a '2', why does the one in the bottom right need this extra element?

Thin End of the Wedge

Mark Kermode's film review this morning, followed by the latest 'Where's The Skill In That?' from Resonance FM, although I only got as far as Track 4:

1 Found: Itchy Feet / Fnd043 (0.32 + 3.58)
2 North Sea Radio Orchestra : The End Of Chimes (4.49)
3 Chris Burn: Pressings & Screenings Part 4 (5.16)
4 Pepe Deluxe : Ms Wilhelmina & Her Hat (6.22)

The last track was a great mix of 60s vocal style and 70s prog, and I'll definitely look out for their stuff in future.

AS the rest of the journey was made in the tunnels, I switched to more familiar 'Not Classical or Spoken' music:

Spanner - Van der Graaf Generator,
Feeling Gravity's Pull - REM,
Picasso - Yes, from demo tapes of Tormato,
Minstrel In The Gallery - Jethro Tull,
Your Song - Elton John,
Every Colour You Are - Rain Tree Crow,
Drone In D - Fyfe Dangerfield, from last week's Radio 2 Session,
At Last I Am Free - Robert Wyatt,
Drive - Rush,
The Invisible Man - Marillion. The Marbles album is just fantastic, much more variety than the recent 'Somewhere Else' CD.

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 4

When Black Friday Comes

Well not that black, I'm just glad it's all over for another week.

Today, after the Danny Baker Podcast (see below), a trawl through recent acquisitions:

The Fyfe Dangerfield & Suzanne Vega sessions from this week's radio, plus some 'Scorpions' ballads - I had 'World Wide Live' on cassette aaaages ago, and repeatedly played several songs, including 'Coast to Coast' and 'Holiday', so I downloaded studio versions of these recently.

Something Else

There's a review in today's Independent by an 'Unemployed traveller' of Marillion's 'Somewhere Else'. Although largely favourable (4 out of 5 stars), it concludes with:

"The more you listen to it, the more you hear the good bits. But you can never completely block out the bad bits, and when it's bad, it's terrible. And this is what's so frustrating: Somewhere Else is just a few dreadful moments short of perfection."

I'm not sure I agree with this. I'm not sure it has any terrible or dreadful bits (including Most Toys) - the problem is it's just very, very bland. As for Steve Rothery being 'the star of the whole album', I find it difficult to remember any fantastic riffs or searing solos.

I did recall, however, that 'The Independent' chose not to review the album when it first came out, which was really disappointing, particularly given some of the crap they've been reviewing lately.

Tongue and Groove

From the latest Danny Baker Podcast (with Baylen Leonard):

DB: I only did a couple of days at medical school, but your tongue is anchored to the back of your throat by your 'clack' - it's called the clack. And what you've got at the back here is the clack anchor, and it holds...

BL: Is the clack the thing that hangs down?

DB: No, the clack it is your anchor for your tongue. Otherwise...

BL: But it remains your tongue...

DB: Well, where do you think your tongue goes, all the way down to balls?

[Pause]

BL: If it's Saturday night I do.

==

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