Black Line Blues

Kicking Back

2008-05-07T15:09:00.002Z

A glorious 24 degrees her in the capital...

I haven't been at work for over a month now, but with the savings on my son's nursery, the dole and the cash I (legally) make from tutoring, I reckon I'm up £1200 on the deal each month. Plus I get to play football and cricket with my son.

So what's been happening?

My 160Gb iPod is on the verge of being filled, thanks to recent raids on FreeAlbumsGalore and BigO.

I've also managed to convert all the Davros plays from this DVD box set. Superb stuff.

Plus all kinds of listening from what, in the impossibility of listening to Radcliffe/Maconie, are rapidly becoming my favourite shows - 'Where's the Skill in That?' and 'Freak Zone'.

Now it's 24 degress and I'm chilling out to Danny Baker, after having trousered 50 large for an hour of tutoring. Man, this is good.

RIP Humph

2008-04-28T09:24:00.002Z

A break from my self-imposed hiatus, to mark the passing of Humphrey Lyttleton. He died at the weekend.

I have been listening to I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, on and off, for about 20 years and loved his dry wit and risque humour. I don't know what'll happen to ISIHAC now, but he'll certainly be missed.

Where's the Skill In That? Returns

2008-04-16T12:07:00.003Z

Great news from the 'Mixing It' boys.

Check out the Resonance Homepage, and contribute as you see fit...

"Mark Russell and Robert Sandall, presenters of BBC Radio 3's much-missed contemporary music mash-up 'Mixing It', return on Wednesday 16th April at 9pm, with a new weekly programme for Resonance FM: 'Where's The Skill In That?'

Named after a much-quoted remark in listening sessions for the programme, 'Where's The Skill In That?' broadcasts in London on 104.4 FM and worldwide via resonancefm.com.

The programme's musical remit remains the same: that's to say, not wilfully obscure, but certainly the more experimental end of the music scene, alongside songwriters doing interesting things, contemporary classical and jazz/improv, and strange uncategorisable listening....

'Mixing It' was broadcast for 17 years from 1990-2007 on BBC Radio 3.

'Where's The Skill In That?' will be broadcast every Wednesday at 9pm on resonancefm here: resonancefm.com/sche... - you can of course listen online, and in the London area on 104.4fm."

And the first two playlists:

Where’s The Skill In That?
Prog 1 - 16th April 2008

The Go Team
Bull in the Heather
Mi single, Grip Like a Vice
3’04”

Robert Wyatt
Out of the Blue
Domino album, Comicopera
3’49”

Jonny Greenwood
There Will Be Blood; Prospectors Arrive
Nonesuch album, There Will Be Blood OST
2’06”; 4’35”

Guessmen
Sunglasses
Co-lab album, Back from the Bins
3’42”

SFQ (Simon Fell Quintet)
Hard Frame, Plus Soft Hard Interpolation 1
From '13 Rectangles' CD on Bruce's Fingers Label
4’06”

Hercules and Love Affair
Easy
5’22”
DFA album, Hercules and Love Affair

Burial
Endorphin
3’03”
Hyperdub album, Untrue

Zeitkratzer/Lou Reed
Metal Machine Music
Asphodel album, Metal Machine Music
7’00”

B For Bang
Julia
Cargo album, Across the Universe of Languages
4’09”

Oligopolis
A Legitimate Tool Of Statecraft
3’05”

The Bad Plus
Life on Mars
Emarcy album, Prog
6’06”

Where’s The Skill In That?
Prog 2 - 23rd April 2008

Steve Jansen
Cancelled Pieces
Samadhi Sound album, Slope
3’21”

Autechre
Simmm
Warp album, Quaristice
5’00”

Médéric Collignon
Improlibration
Sonic Arts Network compilation, Blood, Muscle and Air
3’23”
sonicartsnetwork.org

Astrolabioanima
Aleanto
Slam album, Astrolabioanima
4’51”
slamproductions.net

To Rococo Rot
Helvetica (zigue zigue)
Domino album, ABC123
3’14”

Human League
The Dignity of Labour, Part 2
Virgin album, Reproduction
2’54”

Rothko
Suddenly Becomes Light
Trace album, A Life Lived Elsewhere
4’25”
tracerecordings.com

Essie Jain
Talking
Ba Da Bing album, We Made This Ourselves
4’57”

Autechre
WNSN
Warp album, Quaristice
4’57”

Melissa Madden Gray
Heart Murmur’
Sonic Arts Network compilation, Blood, Muscle and Air
2’58”
sonicartsnetwork.org

Gavin Bryars/Philip Jeck/Alter Ego
The Sinking of the Titanic
Touch album, The Sinking of the Titanic
6’30”

Donkey With A Chair

2008-04-09T12:56:00.003Z

A bright sunny morning to herald a job interview. Not a 'proper' job, but one to fill the gap until my training course starts later in the year.

Thus, for the first time for a while, a commute. I've recently recorded (HiQ, while painting the bathroom yesterday) Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone and the Orb's Headline Mix (both BBC 6Music). The FreakZone is, now I remember to listen to it, becoming more and more a regular listen. Great Triumvirat track and very interesting piece on Peter Hammill's The Future Now.

The Orb Mix was not what I expected, being interspersed with an interview with Alex Paterson, but still very enjoyable. The 'Lighthouse Keeper' track was fabulous. His revelation of not being a Doctor made me, as a PhD, feel a bit like Frasier in this episode. I didn't like his crack about David Sylvian's singing, either. Ho hum.

So the music today. Lots of free downloads of legal albums from FreeAlbumsGalore and BigO together with other surprising stuff:

Halcyon - Canon Blue, from Halcyon EP
Spirits Up Above - Osibisa, Live in London 1972
the trees they do grow high - Edwin Morris, The Heart Bowed Down. Excellent ambient textures over skittering drum patterns,
Numbers - Mark.Nine, Artificial Horizon
Go up baldy - Hathaway Family Plot, Mystic Moods
Wash - Pagans, from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,
Dog With a Bra - Pagans, ditto,
the kingdom comes - Tom Hanson, Wake of The Moon
far leys house - Edwin Morris, The Heart Bowed Down
Benoit B. Mandelbrot - Mandelbrot Set, All Our Actions Are Constantly Repeated
I Will Survive - Billie Jo Spears. This caught me completely by surprise. I forgot I'd downloaded some stuff for my computer-illiterate father. Awful. Karaoke. A shining example of where we are now in commercial music,
Rubber 12 - Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Rubber Album
Dead Head - Pagans,
Seven Piano Improvisations - Gapless Mix - Phillip Wilkerson,
Rondo - Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Live in Karlsruhe 1972 (Disc 2),
The Thousand Light Year Stare - Drunken Gunmen, Deep Space, Distant Future,
Living Without You - Randy Newman, Live In San Francisco, 1972.

A lot of the journey back was taken up with the Piano Improvisations by Philip Wilkerson, played just above the noise of the Tube train. Ambient in Brian Eno's original meaning, although probably not what the composer had in mind...

T - 3; M - 4; D - 1. I had forgotten just what a shitty, dreary place the rush hour Northern Line can be. Just dreadful.

Hiatus

2008-04-04T09:32:00.003Z

While my commuting is coming to an end, the rationale behind this blog has changed.

FWIW, I'm not sure I can go on posting daily, so for now at least a hiatus is called for. I'll still post stuff I find interesting (news, links and reviews of music), but, for now, I'll sign off with some Marillion News...

Marillion News

2008-04-04T09:25:00.002Z

H
We're now at my favourite stage of the album. All the hard slog, pressure and neurosis I feel during the jamming and arranging is over (for me!). We have fabulous things recorded and we can now spend time adding the overdubs and vocals which will bring the music to life. I finally have enough time to live with the lyrics and add/subtract further thoughts.
It's a time for honing and for adding sparks to the work. All I have to do now is sing all the vocals (which I usually do in the evenings) and - even better than that - shake the shakers and tambourines, tinkle the dulcimers, and maybe hit the occasional bells and glocks. Lovely. Rothers is right - it's sounding fab sonically.

Mark
Now the backing tracks are all but finished I've retreated to my home studio to experiment with sounds and parts while the guitars and vocals are worked on in the Racket Club. I like working at home where I can really try stuff without feeling that Mike is waiting with his finger on the record button.
When I've got something I'm happy with, I upload it onto our server, give Mike a call to let him know it's there and wait for him to call me back to tell me he loves/hates it. This morning I grabbed a track called Planet Marzipan off the server. One I've been looking forward to working on, so I'd better go and get on with it. I'll shoot a little video so you can see how my end of things work here once I've tidied things up a bit!

Steve R
Back in the studio again today. I've been recording guitars on a new track "Planet Marzipan". I think this album is a huge sonic improvement on Somewhere Else. Mike's done an excellent job in capturing the magic of our initial jams. I've been using my adrenalin pedal again today. It's probably my favourite bit of gear to use at this stage of the recording. Very inspirational. I'm still working on the Wishing Tree in my spare time.

Pete
Just got back from the studio. I have been overdubbing bass on one of the very new tracks we have called Planet Marzipan. at least that is what we know it as for now. the title may or may not change. It is a really good piece of music with two very different parts to it. It sounds quite different for us but still has lots of Marillion in it. This makes it a very strong track.
I have played bass on most of the tracks and probably have four or five left to play bass on. It all has a good feel and there is a bit of a nod in the Marbles direction at times. Again having two discs of music means we can bring lots of influences and explore many musical places, that there would not be room for on a conventional CD. Thanks for being part of the experiment with us. Hopefully we will be able to play you a couple of snippets soon so you can hear what on earth I am going on about.

Ian
Mike Hunter (our producer) called us all in to listen to some backing tracks this morning... Still very much work in progress but I must say they all sounded really good. Apart from a few odds and ends, I have just about finished recording all the drums for the new album, so now it's up to the rest of the boys to carry on over-dubbing. Looking forward to doing some gigs in the summer...
NEWS FLASH There is definitely a mouse somewhere in the studio, and its Jed's (studio dog) life mission to catch it... Of course he never will, but it is very amusing watching him diving into cardboard boxes etc.

The Sentence I Meant To Say Can't Be Said

2008-04-02T14:31:00.005Z

This is great.

I loved the "I see that the sentence I meant to say can't be said" LSD trip.

Well, it's my last day at my current employer, and tonight's my leaving do where we all sit around a table laughing at the CEO's jokes. Splendid.

The future career is on hold, and a change in focus might be needed...

When you're one of the few to land on your feet,
What do you do to make ends meet?
Teach.
Make them mad, make them sad, make them add two and two,
Make them me, make them you, make them do what you want them to.
Make them laugh, make them cry, make them lie down and die.

Mass Of The Sun

2008-04-01T11:30:00.002Z

No commute today, and maybe not at all after tomorrow's leaving bash. Ho hum.

More stuff found on FreeAlbumsGalore today, namely a 'Mass of the Sun' download comprising both their albums posted here.

Very interesting prog-ish blues rock, with echoes of Pink Floyd (pre-DSOTM, perhaps), The Enid and all sorts of laid back grooves. Nice vocals, too.

Revealing Corridors of Time Provoking Memories

2008-03-31T11:14:00.004Z

So, the last week of my current career begins, and presages the start of my new creer in teaching. I didn't picture it all ending like this 15 years ago, I must admit...

Some downloaded stuff from BigO and then a shuffle of my ever-expanding iPod:

The Revealing Science of God,
The Remembering (Parts 1 & 2) - both Yes, from a "Tooleman Presents Yessongs 2" CDR,

Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Invisible Carpet - Ozric Tentacles,
Black Mountain - Nick Drake,
Girls Get the Bass in the Back (Hey Baby remix) - No Doubt,
A Day Like Today - Tom McRae,
Batteries Not Included - Jethro Tull,
Let There Be Light - Mike Oldfield,
Catch - The Cure,
Zero - The Smashing Pumpkins,
Satan Is My Motor - Cake. My band, from many years ago, played a great cover version of this song - great fun.

Then, for the walk to work, the Freak Zone Podcast. A vast improvement over the first one I encountered.

Lots of good stuff out or coming out soon - Angus and Julia Stone, Mike Oldfield, Billy Bragg, Dream Theater, etc. - don't know where I'm going to get the money from, though!

T - 3; M - 3.5; D - 2

Sleepwalking Through the Wreckage

2008-03-27T11:23:00.002Z

So much stuff to do today, which probably means I'll spend the whole day surfing the net and staring out of the window...

Cloudburst Flight - Tangerine Dream,

Piano Phase (Steve Reich) - Group 180,

Burned By The Fire We Make - Adrian Belew,

We Do What We’re Told (Milgram's 37) - Peter Gabriel,

Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Part IV) - King Crimson,

Variations on the Carlos Santana Secret Chord Progression - Frank Zappa,

Pushit - Tool,

Tales Of A Damson Knight - National Health,

Rhythm In Gold - Jethro Tull,

Sleepwalkers - Van Der Graaf Generator. There's a new album - Trisector - out now, which I haven't got round to hearing yet, although the reviews have been favourable. You can't go wrong with VdGG, surely?

When I See You Again - Fleetwood Mac. My girlfriend and Uni walked out on me as this was playing on my stereo all those years ago.

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 3

Unemployed

2008-03-26T11:56:00.003Z

Well, that's it. The recent interview didn't pan out, so, from the end of next week, I'm unemployed. Thankfully I've made a few contingency plans, but it's still pretty shit.

FreakZone: Irmin Schmidt and Dutch Prog rock - BBC 6 Music, Stuart Maconie's Freak Zone
Dancing with the Lion - Andreas Vollenweider,
Midnight Blue - Robert Fripp,
Ballad Of An Elder Woman - John Martyn,
The Silent Sun - Genesis,
Little Boys - Devendra Banhart,
Mellotron Scratch - Porcupine Tree,
The Sorcerer - Herbie Hancock.

TMS Day 5 Podcast. I might be able to enjoy uninterrupted sleep at night, now that the Down Under series is over.

T - 3.5; M - 4; D - 2

Only Immortal For A Limited Time

2008-03-20T11:39:00.004Z

Another trek in to the metropolis. I should be hearing about the dying embers of my career today...

An odd selection of 'Not Classical or Spoken'. Lots of stuff I didn't recognise, stuff I've probably heard only once or twice before.

Tears For Law (Garrathinya Run) - Yothu Yindi, from Birrkuta Wild Honey
New Times Square - Chris Rea,
No Man's Land - Syd Barrett,
You Woke Up My Neighbourhood - Billy Bragg,
Speed Trials - Elliott Smith, from a Worlds of Possibility compilation,
Behind The Sun - Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Bug Day - The Fall,
Life Is A Minestrone - 10cc,
The Art Of Slow Love [Compiled And Remixed By Youth] - The Art Of Noise,
All I Need - Air,
Dreamline - Rush,
For What You Dream Of (Full On Renaissance Mix) - Bedrock,
Soundtrack 2 / Act 5 - David Page Coffin, from the Caligari: An Exquisite Corpse soundtrack project.

A trip to the East Yorkshire coast at the weekend, to sit on the beach and watch the snow fall...

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 4

Indistinguishable from Magic

2008-03-19T10:52:00.004Z

So, farewell then, Arthur C. Clarke.

I grew up reading a lot of his inspirational books and short stories, many of which made a great impact on me. The sheer breadth and scope of imagination was awe-inspiring.

My favourites among the dozens:

Songs of Distant Earth,
The City and the Stars,
A Fall of Moondust,
Rendez-Vous With Rama,
Childhood's End,
2001 and sequels,
and many many short stories.

"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion."

Ghost Box

2008-03-18T13:33:00.003Z

I've managed to record last Sunday's Freak Zone, and enjoyed both it and the accompanying podcast. I also caught last week's Podcast which featured an interview with the guys responsible for Ghost Box - a collective of electronic and eclectic projects. Very good. Sign up at the Website and receive three free tracks...

Sites:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/freakzone/
http://www.ghostbox.co.uk/news.htm

Happiness In The Road

2008-03-18T13:28:00.002Z

News from Marillion.com regarding the next album:

h, Pete, Mark, Ian, Steve

Marillion "Album 15" will be called Happiness Is The Road. It will consist of 2 separate CDs (full details on www.marillion.com/preorder).

Volume 1 is subtitled Essence and Volume 2 is subtitled The Hard Shoulder. Essence (Volume 1) is evolving at the moment into a thematic journey, whilst Volume 2 is more a collection of discrete songs. Recording is still going brilliantly and the new songs we've written have "knocked out" the few people we've played them to. More soon..

h, Pete, Mark, Ian, Steve

I'm not sure about the title, although I have a very good feeling about this album, a bit like Marbles.

Overnite Sensation

2008-03-17T11:25:00.004Z

England levelled the series overnight, which put me in a better mood. I should be getting some news about the interview I went to a while ago, to see if I have a career still.

Some recent (free) acquisitions from various sampler sources. Remember, if you like any of this stuff, support the artists:

I Keep Faith - Billy Bragg, from an excellent Anti- sampler, to be found here. This track is from Mr Bragg's latest album, which will definitely be joining my collectoin soon...
Saturation (Unmastered) - John Frusciante. I'm not a great fan of RHCP, but this sampler of demoes is interesting,
Fallout (unmastered) - John Frusciante,
Dear Mr Fantasy - Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood, live, found at BigO.
Transliterator - DeVotchKa, this had a good review in 'The Independent' at the weekend, and the CD might be finding its way into my collection soon, if ths is anything to go by...
With The Wolf - Rainbow, from BigO; a bit muddy production on this rough mix, but very interesting,
Don't Lie To Me (Studio Rehearsal) - Big Star,
Come And Get It - Badfinger,
Comin' Home (A Light In The Black) - Rainbow,
Glad - Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood,

Then, some catching up with a huge backlog of 'Thinking Allowed' Podcasts on my walk from the station: Superheroes and Ribbons BBC Radio 4.

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 3

Light Entertainment

2008-03-14T15:56:00.002Z

A day 'working from home', so more of this to pass the time while fixing lights on the attic...

Jumping Jack Flash (live) - Peter Frampton
Clipping The 8th (Hello Hello [Demo Version]) - Caravan
Strip The Soul - Porcupine Tree
Experience - Gentle Giant
Hoedown - Caravan
Painted Bird - Siouxsie And The Banshees
Zeit - Tangerine Dream
Ali Click - Brian Eno
Attack Ships On Fire Off The Shoulder Of Orion - A Beautiful Machine
Circle of Fire - Native American Music
Tuulilta Tuleva - Värttinä
You Burn Me Up I`m A Cigarette - Robert Fripp
Still Life In Mobile Homes - Japan
Ci Sei Solo Tu - Litfiba
Jawbone And The Air-Rifle - The Fall
Say It Like You Mean It - Matchbook Romance
Surucucu - Weather Report
Fade Away - Blur
7 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails
Parasite - Nick Drake
Track 7 - Unknown E. Europe music, found on a computer at work. I have no idea,
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 2 - The Flaming Lips
Thank You For Sending Me An Angel - Talking Heads
Kayleigh (Album Demo) - Marillion
Crying In The Night - Buckingham Nicks
The Time Of The Turning - Peter Gabriel
Bruise Pristine - Placebo
Formentera Lady - King Crimson
Singing Bridges (We All Fall) - Matchbook Romance
The Third Hoorah - Jethro Tull
Presto Vivace - UK
Ahma - Maria Kalaniemi & Aldargaz
D.C.B.A. - 25 - Jefferson Airplane
This House Is Condemned - Pulp
Pantomime Horse - Suede
Nena Lena - A Toys Orchestra
Wee Wee Man - Steeleye Span
John Barleycorn - Jethro Tull
Bornlivedie (Intro) [Live] - Porcupine Tree
02 - Hung Over Part Two - Godspeed You Black Emperor
This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) - Talking Heads
Teen Beat - Fleetwood Mac
Song Of The Stars - Dead Can Dance
Untitled - Judee Sill
L'orque - Les Viox de L'Ocean
Good King Wenceslas - Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers
Wolf In The Breast - Cocteau Twins
Passion In Moisture - Mick Karn
Better Days - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Mediterranean C - Richard Wright
The Hunter - Free
River - Joni Mitchell
Nightingale - Norah Jones
Aegian Sea - Aphrodite's Child
Movement 3 - Vangelis, from 'Mask'
Song For Sharon - Joni Mitchell
Tiny Grief Song - Sinéad O'Connor
Quick And To The Pointless - Queens Of The Stone Age
3 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails
Penetrate - Godhead
Fixed ratio harmonic bells - Brian Eno

Seconds Out

2008-03-13T12:28:00.002Z

Well, my second and last commute this week turned up the usual dross. However, my spirits were lifted by aspects of the overnight cricket (291-5 at close) and a chance to catch up with colleagues.

Some recent downloads from BigO and FreeAlbumsGalore:

Ambulance Blues - Neil Young, Live in Amsterdam, 2008: Solo Acoustic Set,
Vampire - Peter Tosh, from Equal Rights Demoes,
A Man Needs A Maid - Neil Young,
I Like It, I Love It - Lyrics Born, from an Anti- Digital Sampler Spring 2008,
In The Street (Studio Rehearsal) - Big Star, from Nobody Can Dance,
Seeing People You Know - The Young Republic,
4 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails,
You Get What You Deserve (Live) - Big Star,
Down By The River - Neil Young.

Then:
TMS: Day 1 (2nd Test) NZ v Eng, 13 Mar 08 BBC Radio 5 live Sports Extra Podcast

T - 3; M - 4; D - 3

Not Waving But Drowning

2008-03-10T10:17:00.003Z

After a very tedious week last week, culminating in the Friday interview (which went very well, thanks for asking), a trip to London to see my 'work' colleagues...

... only to find them all 'working from home'.

On the way, some '80s music, bringin back all kinds of memories from my formative years. I have most of these on 7"vinyl:

I`ll Find My Way Home - Jon & Vangelis,
Owner Of A Lonely Heart - Yes,
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads,
King Of Birds - R.E.M.,
Handsome Devil - The Smiths,
Close (To The Edit) - The Art Of Noise,
Madame Butterfly - Malcolm Maclaren,
Drowning in Berlin - The Mobiles,
19 - Paul Hardcastle,
Hide And Seek - Howard Jones,
Painted Bird - Siouxsie And The Banshees,

Then, on the walk from the station through Chelsea, the latest Nine Inch Nails album, from here. Available for free (Vol 1) or various prices for other versions (full I - IV sets). Very good - all kinds of moods, sounding like slowed down King Crimson (tCoL), Sigur Ros and Brian Eno, but also doing its own thing. Recommended.

5 Ghosts I,
4 Ghosts I,
6 Ghosts I,
1 Ghosts I.

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 1. A real low point. A fidgeting coughing woman sat next to me intent on treading on my foot, and just general dreariness, impoliteness and tedium. A 45 minute drive to Slough might be a very Good Thing if the job comes off.

Capitulation

2008-03-09T16:46:00.002Z

When I went to sleep last night, New Zealand had declared to leave England to score 300. They (England) then fell to 33-4.

This morning, the rout was complete. This team needs a kick up the arse. Apparently we have some of the top batsmen in the world, but our No.11 lasted longer than most of them.

We Lay Down And Wept

2008-03-05T11:04:00.003Z

After 5 days away, a return to a day of despondency and cleaning up in preparation for the final curtain. I have another interview on Friday, which I desparately need...

Some ambient to accompany some reading, then a recent download from BigO:

Dem Wanderer - Eno, Moebius, Roedelius, Plank,
The Dance No. 3 - Laraaji, from the excellent Virgin Ambient Volume 2 - Imaginary Landscapes,
The End Of Words - Material,
Nuages - Ryuichi Sakamoto,
Sandtreader - Harold Budd. The SamadhiSound Podcast interview was interesting, but seems to have been the last in a very short series, for now, at least,
Pearls & Tears - Andreas Vollenweider,
forages in pine trees - chefkirk, a FreeAlbums Galore download (Music for Elevators), where you can now find links to Radiohead remixes and the new Charlatans album. Remember, if you find an artist you like, support the artist by buying their CDs,

Castles In The Air - Don McLean, Live at A & R Studios, NYC,
Winterwood - Don McLean,
Babylon - Don McLean, with rather tedious audience participation.

Just a comment, too, on the FreakZone Podcast. See also: All the best Freaks are here, please stop staring at me.

Much better - 30 minutes instead of <20, and the witty banter was replaced by interesting banter. Perhaps the Professor simply cared more for the chosen genre of music this week - it seemed like it. Perhaps they read my comments...

T - 4; M - 3; D - 3, although by now, I'm kinda past caring.

Home Taping Is Killing Music

2008-02-28T10:40:00.005Z

This Guardian blog caught my eye this morning, as I sit at home and avoid doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

"When's the last time you really listened to an album?"

LP - Back in January, either 'Twelfth Night' or Don Maclean 'Tapestry', found in a charity shop, on my Rega P3
CD - Genesis 'Wind and Wuthering' in the car (on my way to an interview), and Epsilon Indi 'Crystal Soup' at home on my home hi-fi at the weekend just gone
MP3s - Coheed & Cambria on my 'Pod, and Bert Jansch with 'Pod plugged into my home hi-fi

I tend to agree with this comment - ironically, given my recent posts - by 'bertjansch':

"I dont know how much of this is down to the digital age and how much is simply down to growing up and just not having the liberty to fart round staring at lyric sheets. For almost all of us over 25s, an appreciation of music began in early to mid-teens when lets face it, we had a hell of a lot more free time to sit around darkened rooms, smoking fattie boombatties and listening to 'Meddle' while staring at the cover. I know i tend to skip the crap tracks on my ipod, but im an impatient bugger and even on vinyl The Crunge never got too many spins! You have made me all nostalgic now im going to skive off home to sit on the floor with the curtains drawn watch Live at Pompeii while my partner and our daughter are out at playgroup, hurrah!"

Replace 'partner and daughter' with 'wife and son', and 'Live at Pompeii' with 'Yes: Symphonic Live' and you've pretty much described my (new) plan for this afternoon.

Perhaps the music-listening thing has turned full circle. Back in the 50s and 60s it was all singles and EPs, with albums only being established commercially in the 60s. Perhaps it's the fault of the computer-generated supermarket CDs, with 2 or 3 'decent' tracks and a dozen or so fillers, that are to blame for downloading of single tracks taking over. I'm not really sure it's that important, though. Some albums cry out for end-to-end listening, others don't.

My main problem is finding time, and sharing a house with others who don't share a lot of my musical taste.

Please Stop Staring At Me

2008-02-28T09:35:00.006Z

OK, some self-regarding nonsense for a while...

Following the Comment on the previous post 'All The Best Freaks Are Here', by Stuart Maconie, here are some expanded thoughts on the edition of the 'Freak Zone' Podcast that I heard. Please feel free to scatter 'IMO' liberally throughout this...

I stumbled upon this 'cast on iTunes while looking for something else. As I said, I rarely listen to DAB radio (I only have one, and that's in the kitchen, and other family members don't share much of my music taste), so was pleased to see this on offer, particularly with the title of "FreakZone: Brazilian Grooves and Bert Jansch 24 Feb 08".

With a running time of 19:33, and with the music rights issue, it was fairly obvious that music would be presented in brief extracts (although I have heard full radio shows before as Podcasts, contrary to what Mr Maconie suggests - perhaps they simply stumped up the royalties).

My main problem was that the Podcast didn't stand up as a separate entity. It was clearly edited from the full show (which I haven't heard yet) and came across as confusing, repetitive and shallow, and, most importantly of all, didn't do justice to the album under consideration. Three 30 second bits of tracks linked by some (but not enough) biographical detail - why no mention of Danny Thompson, given the earlier mention of The Pentangle? - which was repetitive, and seemingly sourced exclusively from Wikipedia.

I didn't like the dedication of less than 5 minutes to this album, followed by 13 minutes of Professor Justin Spear (complete with comedy voice) and his thesis on Brazilian Bossa Nova - it just seemed unbalanced.

in brief:

00.00 - 00.20: intro, complete with scat,
00.20 - 00.25: "...we'll have three tracks from... Avocet. Enjoy"
00.25 - 01.05: confusingly, given the introduction, some 'retro-garage'
01.05 - 01.25: we learn it's BJ's favourite of his own albums, and was only released on CD 15 years after the vinyl release
01.25 - 02.00: (a bit of) Kingfisher
02.00 - 3.15: another mention of the delayed CD release and some (interesting) biographic detail, and some info on the nature and recording of the album
3.15 - 3.50: (a bit of) Avocet
3.45 - 4.40: repeated recording details, and another mention of it being BJ's favourite. A mention of Martin Jenkins, without context, and no mention of Mr Thompson. The tracks are apparently named after birds, based on birds and have an ornithological bent
4.40 - 5.20: (a bit of) Bittern, with an abrupt edit into Dick Dale
6.00 - 'witty banter', and stuff I'm not hugely interested in. Chacun a son goût, of course.

Now obviously, in a live radio show, if you're playing an 18 minute track, there's less talk to be edited in, and I have no other FZ 'casts to compare it with. A main issue with this particular one was the repetitive nature of the information, and the omission of important info (cue 'funny' nerdy voice: musicians, label, in/out of print, previous and subsequent albums for an idea of where it fits into the oeuvre). I have the album - vinyl - but I think I would be in the dark listening to the Podcast on its own.

Now Stuart, thanks again for your comment - I couldn't resist rising to the challenge to explain my thoughts beyond my brief sketch. The Podcast certainly provoked me to re-visit the album on my iPod, and I will try to remember about the existence of BBC 6Music in future, and maybe 'Listen Again'.

Keep up the good work, and keep playing those 18 minute songs.

Any job going at the BBC for a 40 y-o disillusioned scientist with a passion for music, and prog in particular?

All The Best Freaks Are Here

2008-02-27T12:46:00.002Z

A new Podcast has belatedly come to my attention, the Freak Zone on BBC Radio 6Music. It's not often I get to listen to DAB radio, as a) besides the cricket on 5liveExtra, there's not much there, b) Radio 7 is available on the 'net, c) Radio 6Music is usually full of babbling DJs playing the usual indie-kid stuff, and d) I forget it's there.

I was expecting great things of this 'cast, having occasionally caught the full show in the past, but I was disappointed by both the brevity and the content. The Bert Jansch 'Avocet' album was featured, but the three tracks were only played for about a minute each. The last 10 minutes of the 15 minute programme were filled with 'witty banter' between Maconie and someone else about Brazilian Bossa Nova. Tiresome.

Recent download from here and here and the Avocet album featured in today's playlist:

FreakZone: Brazilian Grooves and Bert Jansch,
Avocet - Bert Jansch, magnificent,
Were You Blind That Day? - Steely Dan, an early version of Third World Man from 'Gaucho',
The Bear - Steely Dan,
The Second Arrangement - Steely Dan,
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin, a recording of the recent O2 show,
Kingfisher - Bert Jansch,
Come And Get It - Badfinger,
California - Joni Mitchell,
The Priest - Joni Mitchell,
La Fuente Del Ritmo - Santana,
The Lovecrafter - Patti Smith,
Ghost Dance - Patti Smith.

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 3

The Long March

2008-02-26T10:31:00.002Z

Another trek into more futility. Today and tomorrow should do it for this week.

'Electronic' music today, although I tend to go my artist rather than individual albums or tracks, so many of these are un-electronic:

Opus 4 - The Art Of Noise,
We were poor... - Paddy McAloon, from his superb 'I Trawl the Megahertz' album,
The Model - Kraftwerk,
Ask The Mountains (Extended Version) - Vangelis with Stina Nordenstam,
Twenty Eighth Parallel - Vangelis,
Equinoxe 4 - Jean-Michel Jarre,
Hearts - Jon & Vangelis, from a 'Change We Must' live/demo CD, I think,
P.S. - Vangelis,
Sharkey's Night - Laurie Anderson,
Movement 5 - Vangelis,
The Tao of Love - Vangelis,
Part 2 Fais Que Ton Reve Soit Plus Long Que La Nuit - Vangelis. Despite my extensive Vangelis collection (probably about 30 LPs and 15 or so CDs), I was unware of this until recently, and managed to find this MP3, clearly taken from an LP, if the pops and crackles are anything to go by. An interesting historical record.

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 2

Hurting In A Different Way

2008-02-21T10:48:00.003Z

Well, I wait for ages, and then two jobs come along at once: an interview the week after next, and a place at a University course, if I want it, in September. Decisions, decisions.

A spectularly futile day awaits today, as I've been told 'it might be good' if I come in. Unlikely.

Basin Street Blues - Jimmy Smith,
Princess Of Light - Robert Miles,
One Inch Rock ('68) - Tyrannosaurus Rex,
Come On Back - Caravan,
A Forest - The Cure,
House - Marillion, easily the best track on the .com album, and continuing a tradition of superb, extended final album tracks,
Radioactive Toy - Porcupine Tree,
Reunion - Patrick O'Hearn,
Sex Machine - Sly & the Family Stone, an extended jam and not really, IMO, particularly sexy.

This, however, is:

Half An Hour Is For Free - The Devil In Miss Jones (featuring Fats Bob Trumpet),
The Porn King - The Funky Filter,
Hatesex - Mr. Juno,
Suck My Disc - SonnyJim

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3

Let N > 50

2008-02-20T11:04:00.003Z

Since I've just swapped my iPod to allow me to carry my entire collection of music files, here's what's currently on it, with a filter of 50 tracks or more, as I did previously. Obviously, there'll be lots of duplicates, but a lot will be single/album/remix versions...

Marillion - 364
Yes - 286
Frank Zappa - 276
Jethro Tull - 261
Porcupine Tree - 236
Cocteau Twins - 235
Pink Floyd - 218
The Fall - 215
King Crimson - 193
Kate Bush - 176
Vangelis (solo) - 187
Genesis - 174
Gentle Giant - 171
Fleetwood Mac - 161
Rush - 157
Richard Wagner (mainly the Ring Cycle) - 148
Brian Eno (solo) - 145
David Sylvian (solo) - 126
Nick Drake - 124
Dream Theater - 98
Hawkwind - 97
Joni Mitchell - 97
John Martyn - 96
Robert Wyatt (solo) - 96
Steely Dan - 94
Peter Gabriel (solo) - 91
R.E.M. - 90
The Orb - 86
Caravan - 83
Asia - 82
The Beatles - 80
Kraftwerk - 79
Bauhaus - 76
Simon & Garfunkel - 75
Mike Oldfield - 74
Tangerine Dream - 73
Tim Buckley - 73
Tyrannosaurus Rex / T.Rex - 73
Sigur Ros - 71
Ozric Tentacles -69
Art of Noise - 69
David Bowie - 66
Suzanne Vega - 66
Jean-Michel Jarre - 66
Van Morrison - 65
Godspeed You Black Emperor! - 65
Robert Fripp (solo) - 65
James Taylor - 63
Jeff Buckley - 62
Led Zeppelin - 62
Rick Wakeman (solo) - 61
Lush - 60
Premiata Formeria Marconi / P.F.M. - 59
Coheed & Cambria - 59
This Mortal Coil - 59
Syd Barrett (solo) - 58
Talking Heads - 58
Pete Murphy (solo) - 57
Lucio Battisti - 57
Elton John - 56
Dead Can Dance - 55
Nine Inch Nails - 55
Miles Davis - 55
Supertramp - 54
Dire Straits - 54
The Enid - 53
Chris de Burgh - 53
Epsilon Indi - 52
Deep Purple - 52
The Who - 52
Sylvian/Fripp - 51

Plus, audiobooks (listed in 'Music') and the like, with tracks as either chapters or whole radio plays:

Agatha Christie - 247
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue - 217
Round the Horne (Series 3) - 169
Sherlock Holmes stories - 100
Just A Minute - 85
The Smoking Room (Series 1) - 80
Isaac Asimov (I, Robot) - 78
Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) - 67
The War of the Worlds (BBC) - 61
P.G. Wodehouse (Wooster) - 56

total tracks: 19584
total time: 78:21:08:12
total size: 118.57 Gbytes

(excluding Podcasts + Audiobooks)

Living Here In Joytown

2008-02-20T10:52:00.002Z

Well, after a day off, nursing an injured shoulder compounded by lugging IT gear around on Monday, a return to the futility of 'work'.

I've just swapped to my 160 Gb iPod, as the 60 Gb is becoming too difficult/time-consuming to manage properly (my home library is approaching 120 Gb), so I've got my whole library with me today. 'Not Spoken or Classical':

Beachball - Chef, from an r.e.m.IX remix album found here.
As You Are Now - Suzanne Vega,
Stay Hungry - Talking Heads,
Circle Dance - John Renbourn,
Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles,
Valedictory - Gentle Giant,
Joytown - Kevin Gilbert,
I've Been High - Her Space Holiday/Marc Bianchi, from r.e.m.IX again,
I Feel The Earth Move - Carole King,
This is No Rehearsal - Porcupine Tree,
Pearl-2 - Judee Sill,
Johnny On The Monorail (A Very Different Version) - The Buggles,
Burning Bridge - Kate Bush,
In Dulce Jubilo - Mike Oldfield, via a 'Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers' CD with a brutal edit,
Electricity - Joni Mitchell,
Down Through The Night - Hawkwind,
La Villa Strangiato - Rush, from a 'Pink Pop' festival concert, recorded from my cassette collection.

If I leave home at 9, I can be at work at 10.30 and miss all the drones on the Tube. I can miss even more if I stay home, but I'm going to have to show up for a few weeks more...

T- 3; M - 4.5; D - 4.5

Real Tears For Sale

2008-02-18T11:22:00.002Z

News on Marillion's 15th, which I signed up for before christmas, including a bit of a new song 'Real Tears for Sale'...

Racket Club Studio Podcast

RSS Podcast Feed - http://www.marillion.com/marillion-pod.rss
Direct Link to MP3 - http://media.marillion.com/podcast/20080207.mp3

The first glimpse at Album 15 - including a sound clip from the new song "Real Tears For Sale". Coming to you from the Racket Club studio with Pete Trewavas and Steve Rothery.

Last Stand

2008-02-18T11:12:00.003Z

Monday morning. A ridiculous trek to find that, yet again, my boss had decided to 'work from home'. Arsehole.

This morning's shuffle of 'Not Classical or Spoken' produced this prog-heavy selection:

My Fairy King - Queen,
Then - Yes,
Cat`s Squirrel - Jethro Tull,
Year 2000 Non-Compliant Cardia - Mogwai,
A.W.O.L. - Robert Wyatt,
Vincent - Don McLean,
For Free - Joni Mitchell,
Blood - Kleshnikoff, from Plague Songs,
Aspirations - Gentle Giant,
No One Can (Album version) - Marillion,
Achilles' Last Stand - Led Zeppelin,
Two Hearts Beat As One - U2, from their early 'good' period,
Lucky Seven - Chris Squire. Bliss.

T - 3; M - 4; D - 4

Let Me Take You Far Away

2008-02-15T11:03:00.002Z

Well, I've been ordered to come in again, despite the fact that NONE of the Senior Management will be around. I'd better be a good boy, I suppose.

Stick It Out - Rush,
Bridge (live) - Marillion, from the single CD Alone Again In The Lap Of Luxury III
Holiday - Scorpions,
Baby Can I Hold You - Tracy Chapman,
Vote For Miles - Miles Davis,
Star Spangled Banner - Jimi Hendrix, Live At Woodstock 1969
Win Fall CD 2088 AD - The Fall,
Every You Every Me - Placebo,
Behind the Lines [Live] - Genesis, from Three Sides Live
It's You - Talk Talk.

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 2

Brooding on the Infinite

2008-02-14T10:54:00.003Z

Well, my company limps on into oblivion. There is now a good chance of being paid my notice period and at least some redundancy at a 'future time', so I've still got to wander in occasionally.

This morning some recent downloads found on FreeAlbumsGalore, as mentioned the other day.

As my iPod is almost full (and my home library now extends to 120 Gb), I didn't have time for a drastic cull of it's contents, so just transferred a few albums:

Music for Elevators Vol. 1 - Various Artists,
Sun Ra and The Blues Project do Batman and Robin,
Early Japanese Electronic Music - Various Artists, from 1956, and
Stay EP - Wil Deynes.

oiece - skylined, from MfE
The Riddler's Retreat - Sun Ra and the Blues Project,
tram14 - popcrash, MfE,
Batman Theme - Sun Ra and the Blues Project,
Better Way - Wil Deynes,
Nervous - Wil Deynes,
Joker is Wild - Sun Ra and the Blues Project,
Stay - Wil Deynes,
Batman and Robin Swing - Sun Ra and the Blues Project,
Variations on numerical principle of 7 - Makoto Moroi+Toshiro Mayuzumi, from EJEM,
fahrstuhl zum schafott - tomoroh hidari, MfE,
Batman and Robin over the Roofs - Sun Ra and the Blues Project,
Works for musique concrete Y - Toshiro Mayuzumi, EJEM,
triangulo - mendigo, MfE.

All in all, very interesting. The 'Elevator Music' is very good, although it would cause me to linger in the lift, rather than use it simply as a means of transport. There are 2 other Volumes available through here.

The Sun-Ra music is good fun, although some pieces seem to be going through the motions. On balance, pretty good grooves.

The Japanese music is fascinating, sounding a lot like Vangelis's 'Beaubourg' twenty years later. Lots of bleep and buzzes, and sampled speech, with occasional rhythms trying (and failing) to break through.

The Wil Deynes is less interesting, being straight forward rock/pop in a James Blunt-ish vein. It'll probably sound better in Summer, but it didn't fit well in this morning's playlist.

Today's title comes from a Round the Horne CD set I found here. Whilst a lot of it has aged, especially the musical interludes, it still has its moments, particularly the Julian and Sandy sketches and the double entendre overload. "It's all that larver bread you've been eating...".

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 3

Winter Sun

2008-02-12T13:24:00.000Z

I think I've been neglecting ths spirit of this blog lately, what with turmoil at work. With the late winter Sun at my back, and with a day off tomorrow, it's time to sit back, relax and re-focus...

I found a great blog yesterday - FreeAlbumsGalore - which links to various sources of free, legal music files and associated info and artwork. The full album list is here, and, while most of it is obscure and probably not to everyone's taste, if you don't like it, there's always iTunes, as it says at the bottom of this page.

A Gigantic Dub - Tommy McCook & The Aggrovators,
Dark Entries - Bauhaus,
One White Whale - Laurie Anderson,
Unheard Answer - Epsilon Indi,
On the Turning Away - Pink Floyd,
Movement 5, Soil Festivities - Vangelis. Still one of my favourite albums of all time,
C.R.E.E.P. - The Fall,
Desire - Talk Talk,
Yes, O Yes - The Fall,
From Now On - Supertramp. From The Fall to Supertramp - oh the joy of 'Shuffle',
Dying on the Vine - John Cale,
Dragonflys - Devendra Banhart,
A Child Is Father To The Man - The Beach Boys,
Stop - Pink Floyd, from The Wall,
Dreams of Surf - Vangelis.

A late, casual start to the day, as there's even less to do these days: T- 4; M - 4; D - 4

Tomorrow's World

2008-02-11T11:33:00.000Z

Got to go in today, to hear the denouement, although I did get Friday off...

I had a great weekend, with family, at the Chinese New Year thing in London. I also saw 'The 39 Steps' on Saturday - very funny, and great fun.

Bird Flew By - Nick Drake,
then, as my my iPod shuffled to the neglected new 'Coheed & Cambria' album, No World for Tomorrow, I decided to listen to it in full. Splendid, although I still think it could do with less singing and more instrumental passages.

T - 4; M - 4.5; D - 3

When Does Reason Stop and Killing Just Take Over?

2008-02-07T11:46:00.000Z

A trek to work today, to get the meltdown of my company confirmed.

Lots of Prog, from what I call 'The Big Four'. King Crimson, Yes, Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd. Whilst not all albums from all these bands can be classified as 'Prog', they're my favourite bands.

I suppose the second division of prog-related favourites includes bands like Marillion, Rush, Van der Graaf Generator, Genesis and Gentle Giant, plus, at a pinch, Led Zepellin.

I'll have to come in tomorrow as well... Balls.

Working from Home

2008-02-06T10:56:00.000Z

OK, the first day of this brave new world...

Working from home is pretty good - if only I was being paid for it...

I caught a bit of the Radcliffe & Maconie show last night for the first time in weeks and was impressed by the "A Toys Orchestra" track towards the end of the show. The track played - Invisible - was in the Pink Floyd mold and very good.

Their website - here - is rather Flash-heavy, and mostly in Italian, but there are full tracks available to sample, which is always a Good Thing. I detect bits of Porcupine Tree, Floyd and even Caravan in there, I think. The new CD is out soon, and might be worth investing in.

It's Only Goodbye

2008-02-05T15:31:00.000Z

Well, for a bit at least.

The news came this morning that it's all over, and my company is in liquidation. So there you have it: no final salary, no notice, no redundancy. Thanks everyone, you useless bastards.

There will a month or so of turmoil, interspersed with job interviews, DIY and helping with the shutdown, so my posting here will probably be very sporadic. After that, I don't know.

Keep watching the skies...

I Don't Care Any More

2008-02-05T13:01:00.000Z

I was recently introduced to 'Blubster', a peer-to-peer file sharing thing for music.

Probably of highly dubious legality, although I've heard conflicting advice on the 'net. It comes with oodles of spyware and pop-ups, so, if you're interested in installing it, be very careful. It downloads and installs itself, and by all accounts is a bugger to un-install, so be absolutely sure you want this thing on your home PC. I have it on an old laptop.

For my taste, there's not much there of interest, as it depends absolutely on the taste of the other users.

Anyway, for the journey into oblivion, a playlist of recent acquisitions from this service:

Long Way to Go - Cassie. I'm not sure how this happened - I think it was supposed to be the Phil Collins song,
Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young,
Cortez the Killer - Neil Young,
Cocaine Eyes - Neil Young,
The Drums of Gauamela - Vangelis, from the 'Alexander' soundtrack,
Karma Police - Neil Young & Eddie Vedder,
Keep on Rocking in the Free World - Neil Young,
Rachel's Song - a remix of the Vangelis track,
Land of Confusion - Genesis, as I have very little 80s and 90s Genesis or Phil Collins,
Do You Remember? - Phil Collins, ditto,
She Rides a Harley Davidson - Neil Young,
Roxanne's Veil - Vangelis, with Vanessa Mae,
Titans - Vangelis, from Alexander again,
Thrasher - Neil Young,
True Colours - Phil Collins, although a different mix from the one I remember
I Don't Care Any More - Phil Collins.

T - 2; M - 3.5; D - 4

Away, Away, Away - Look to the Future Day for Hope

2008-02-04T13:24:00.000Z

Well, I'm still turning up for 'work' although I'm not sure why. Apparently, if we turn up this month, there's more chance of the administrator looking kindly on us, or something.

From the 'All music between 3 and 8 minutes long' playlist:

Kometensmelodie - Kraftwerk, from Autobahn,
In the Morning, Tamelin, from an 'Independent' freebie CS, years ago,
Flying Dutchman - Jethro Tull,
Unknown Soldier - Weather Report,
The Big Money - Rush,
Slang of Ages - the 'Dan,
The Start of Something Beautiful - Porcupine Tree,
Throw Down the Sword - Wishbone Ash,
Pilgrims - Van der Graaf Generator,
Zion's Blood - Lee 'Scratch' Perry,
You Don't Need Anyone (Moles Club Demo) - Marillion,
Seasons - The Notwist.

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 3

This is the End, My Friend

2008-02-01T12:33:00.000Z

Rumours abound here that it's all over. We've been through it all before, but this time it looks as though it's for real.

So, instead of a list of this morning's highly enjoyable 'Jazz, Folk and Blues' playlist, and further reflections on Messrs Beadle and Kington, I'll just go and sit in a corner and rock gently.

R.I.P.

2008-01-31T13:25:00.000Z

Man, first Jeremy Beadle, and now Miles Kington.

I was never a huge fan of the former, but grew up with 'Game for a Laugh' in the early 80s. I hated 'You've Been Framed', though.
As for the latter, I have been a reader of The Independent since 1986, when my dad said 'he'd give it a try', and have followed his column ever since... First Alan Coren, now him.

End of Year Report

2008-01-31T13:11:00.000Z

Well, that's twelve full months for this blog, and here's a Report of the number of monthly 'hits' +/- SD. Not spectacular, but OK for a blog about nothing in particular...

Dwarfish Trumpet Blues

2008-01-31T11:34:00.000Z

Well. Two things today. I) Possible Company meltdown and II) Telephone interview to offer me a way out of the pain. In preparation, some Prog:

Universal Garden - Conspiracy, much better than the version on Open Your Eyes,
Aristocracy - Caravan,
Your Time Is Gonna Come - Led Zeppelin. Just great,
Matte Kudasai (Alternative Version) - King Crimson,
The Wizard (USA Promo with Dwarfish Trumpet Blues Story) - Tyrannosaurus Rex,
Moonloop - Porcupine Tree, all 18 minutes of it,
Brightness Falls - David Sylvian & Robert Fripp,
Yellow Peril - Steely Dan. I still have no idea what this album is...
Incommunicado - Marillion,
Pre-Dawn - Sunrise - The Enid, then the first 10 minutes of
The Revealing Science Of God - Yes, from Keys to Ascension I. God knows how they persuaded Rick Wakeman to play this again.

T - 3. Commuting is very difficult if a) the trains are spaced 8 minutes apart, and b) the indicator board indicates incorrect information. M - 4; D - 3

Thank You Disillusionment

2008-01-30T10:59:00.000Z

Late start today. I've brought my computer bag with me for the jumble sale when the inevitable happens...

Some Steven Wilson-related stuff today. If anyone can be described as a polymath in today's dumbed-down uni-dimensional music 'scene', he can. Porcupine Tree, Bass Communion, No Man, IEM, solo work, plus production work with Opeth, Fish and Marillion, and many more.

Chloroform - Porcupine Tree,
Way Out Of Here - Porcupine Tree,
Queen Quotes Crowley - Porcupine Tree,
The Sound Of Muzak - Porcupine Tree,
Third Eye Surfer - Porcupine Tree,
Loss Side 2 - Bass Communion,
Wastecoat - Porcupine Tree,
Ghosts on Magnetic Tape (Reconstruction) II - Bass Communion,
Collapse The Light Into Earth - Porcupine Tree,
Radioactive Toy - Porcupine Tree,
Cover Version - Steven Wilson. There's a box set of all the 'Cover Version' project coming out soon; I've only got the first one, but the set of 6 looks tempting...

T - 4; M - 4.5; D - 3

"But is it worth it, all that time wasted?"

2008-01-29T10:00:00.000Z

"... Time we could've spent completely nude, bare, naked"

An early start today, for no good reason.

Lots of Prog, Rock and Rock/Pop in today's playlist:

Whiskey River - Budgie,
Every Fold - Wigwam,
Seven On Seven - Robert Fripp & Andy Summers,
General Crossing - Jethro Tull,
Ghosts - David Sylvian & Robert Fripp, from 'Kings', which appears to be a Russian bootleg: the title 'Ghosts' is rendered "God Saved My Life"...
Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd,
Incommunicado (Album Version) - Marillion,
Tinto Brass - Porcupine Tree, the XM version,
Pig - Soft Machine,
Bringing Down The Light - David Sylvian & Robert Fripp. There are few sounds better than Mr Fripp in full flight...
Seven Wonders - Fleetwood Mac,
Snowbound - Genesis,
Baby Lemonade (Bonus Track - Take 1) - Syd Barrett, from Barrett,
Villanova Junction - Jimi Hendrix Experience, Live At Woodstock,
Sexual Healing - Kate Bush. Nowhere near as good as it could have been - all rather mechanical, not help by the synth bass and generally soulless vibe. Strange.

The end of days could just be around the corner, as my company has until this Thursday (!) to sort out some sort of loan to carry it through a merger. If it can't find it, then it's all over. I have an interview on Thursday...

T - 3; M - 4; D - 4

Fiery The Angels Fell

2008-01-28T14:46:00.000Z

A propos nothing, I finally got round to seeing 'Blade Runner - The Final Cut' last night. I really should have seen it at the cinema recently, but I didn't get round to it.

I didn't, without some sort of geeky side-to-side comparison, notice much difference between the Final Cut and the Director's Cut, so the obvious story differences from the Original Cut remain. What I did notice, was the shifting about of some of Vangelis' soundtrack, with more prominence been given to minor tracks - the Demis Roussos one in particular. The fabulous Love Theme and Memories of Green remain, however, and the whole thing still sounds so good.

It's this kind of thing that wants me to hook up my stereo (again) and buy a bigger, blacker, telly...

That Will Be An Ecumenical Matter

2008-01-28T10:25:00.000Z

In common with many other parents, at least according to this, I have been forced to take a deep breath, hold my nose, and join in the hypocrisy.

On balance, I agree with many of the government's reforms over the last 10 years or so, and see a better, more liberal and relaxed society. One thing, however, that sends me into a rage is the concept of 'faith schools' and the concept of selection by children's religion.

Let's leave aside the fatuous idea of a child having a religion for a moment - greater minds than mine have tackled this insanity.

Instead, let's focus on the self-pitying, delusional hypocrisy of religion, and weep at it's stranglehold on public funding in this country.

My wife and I attended our local church, which is associated with a school in our area with marginally better results than others, with our 4-year-old son. This Sunday, I tried to blot out the nonsense (it just makes me angry) by counting the bricks in the wall, when at some point it was decided that the young children should leave the church go and be indoctrinated in an external room. My wife jumped up and took our son, to leave me on my own. I lasted about 10 minutes...

I left to sit in my car and listen to the CD of 'Oxygene' I got in the Sunday M**l last week.

My son came out of the other room waving a piece of paper with trite homilies on, which he had been encouraged to colour in. I really don't know how these people live with themselves.

Gawn, but not Forgotten

2008-01-28T10:21:00.000Z

Sad news about Danny Baker's Dad. If Danny ever started an anecdote with the words 'let me tell you what happened to my dad', you knew you could plump up your cushions and settle back for a good 'un.

Favourites: Doctor/Docker confusion at the hospital, and 'he don't need a receipt'. And, of course 'that singer you like - gawn, plahnted' in reference to Marc Bolan.

Progness Report

2008-01-28T10:12:00.000Z

After a relaxing weekend spent with family, a return to the commute accompanied by lots of Prog Rock. I met a guy in the local Oxfam shop who was wearing a 'Budgie' t-shirt. Although I'm not a huge fan, I was attracted in the 80s by the Roger Dean covers, especially 'Squawk', and we had a chat. They're still going, and are currently touring Australia.

Onto Prog:

One More Try - Wigwam,
Burning Bridges - Family,
So Called Friend (B-Side) - Porcupine Tree,
What You`re Doing - Rush,
Fallen Dreams And Angels - Pendragon, from Acoustically Challenged,
So Far Away - David Gilmour,
Abandon Ship! - Van Der Graaf Generator,
Rock & Roll Stew - Traffic,
Punk Rock - Mogwai,
Working Man - Rush,
Funky Deux - Richard Wright,
Light Mass Prayers - Porcupine Tree.

Relatively painless journey in, as I try to complete a job application form I should have sorted out ages ago.

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3.5

Embracing the Spreading Haze

2008-01-25T11:16:00.000Z

Well, the interview yesterday went well yesterday, as the storm clouds gather over my present company. Not long to go now.

Countermoon - Donald Fagen,
Joanna`s Theme - Herbie Hancock,
It's All But An Ark Lark - Cocteau Twins,
Elephants - National Health,
Drive - The Cars,
Working All Day - Gentle Giant,
No Not Now - Frank Zappa,
Orange Appled - Cocteau Twins,
Charlie Freak - Steely Dan,
Bicycle Riders - Vangelis, from a Blade Runner Private Release CD,
I Want To Be Alone - Decca single, 1965 - Vashti Bunyan, from Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind: Singles and Demos 1964-1967,
Gold For The Price Of Silver (Erot Collaboration) - Kings Of Convenience, from Versus,

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3.

Faults of Civilisation

2008-01-23T12:11:00.001Z

Today has surpassed the all-time record for utter futility. I left the house at 9.20, was delayed for no apparent reason on the Tube for 30 minutes and arrived at 'work' at 10.45. Who noticed or cared? Nobody. What have I got to do today? Nothing. Here I am, with a brain the size of a planet...

Madame Butterfly - Malcolm McLaren, after Double Dutch was played on last night's Radcliffe and Maconie R2 show,
Double Dutch - Malcolm Mclaren,
Rainy Taxi - Porcupine Tree, from Staircase Infinities,
Prologue - Kate Bush, from Aerial: A Sky of Honey,
Silent Hedges - Bauhaus,
Alone Again In The Lap Of Luxury (Demo) - Marillion,
He Was My Brother (Previously Unreleased) - Simon & Garfunkel Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M (Remastered),
Cruel Sister - Pentangle,
Where We Would Be - Porcupine Tree,
Invisible Answer - Epsilon Indi ,
Misty Coast Of Albany (Live, Cafe Au Go Go, New York, 16 August 1969) - Tyrannosaurus Rex,
In Dark Trees - Brian Eno,
Answered With a Smile - Sunday All Over The World,
Double Bass - Van Der Graaf Generator,
Chariots Of Silk - Tyrannosaurus Rex,
Heroine - Suede,
Bigmouth Strikes Again - The Smiths,
I'd Rather Be The Devil (Live) - John Martyn, from the re-mastered Solid Air CD.

I have another interview tomorrow, so maybe that'll cheer me up before the weekend.

T - 1.5; M - 4; D - 4

Size of Sorrow

2008-01-22T13:26:00.000Z

Some recent acquisitions from the dreaded W*ppit. Hell, I've stumped up my £50 for the cancelled ADBS, so I might as well go on a magpie-like trawl through the database of rather odd obscurities they have:

Piggy - Sigue Sigue Sputnik,
Blistered Heart - Badly Drawn Boy,
Ray Of Light - Sigue Sigue Sputnik,
Oceans - Gary Numan,
Don't Let Me In - Steely Dan, from something called 'Old Regime',
Pissing In The Wind - Badly Drawn Boy,
Size Of Sorrow - Tears For Fears,
Fall In A River - Badly Drawn Boy,
Metal - Gary Numan,
Everybody Loves A Happy Ending - Tears For Fears,
Asylum - Gary Numan.

A pretty uninspiring selection, I have to say, although it is my fault, of course. My mood was lightened by Episode 4 of the current series of Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show, broadcast last week and ripped with HiQ (see previous posts). If anyone wants some of these, leave a message here somewhere, and I'll get back to you somehow.

T - 3; M - 3; D - 3. Rather average day, really.

Thinking Sessions

2008-01-21T10:30:00.000Z

Monday, and after the unpleasantness of the end of last week and the continued Tiscali incompetence, a return to 'work' accompanied by some BBC Sessions:

Back Side of the Moon (Tranquility Lunar Orbit) - The Orb, from Peel Sessions,
In Fear Of Fear - Bauhaus, more Peel,
Glorious Fool - John Martyn, from an Andy Kershaw session. Recent news about him (AK) is depressing,
A God In An Alcove - Bauhaus, Peel,
A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld (Loving You) - The Orb, Peel, all 20 minutes of it as we waited for the Piccadilly train to move,
Mo Ghruagach Dhonn - Julie Fowlis, from a pre-Radcliffe/Maconie Mark Radcliffe session,
Paper Aeroplane - Angus and Julia Stone, ditto,

T - 2.5; M - 4; D - 4, especially the rather attractive young girl who shared the long Piccadilly Line wait with me...

Turmoil

2008-01-21T10:24:00.000Z

Apologies for my absence on Friday. Some arseholes cut through my garden fence and made off with all my tools from my garden shed. Bollocks. A day spent at home, waiting for Police.

To make matters worse, Tiscali have managed to 'upgrade' my Broadband service and completely screwed it up. Prior to upgrade 24-30 kbps, post-upgrade 5.8 - 6.2 kbps, IF it connects in the first place, which it seldom does. Thanks, guys.

Highest Colours Touching Others

2008-01-17T11:32:00.000Z

An empty Tube train today, which was pleasant, although another day of indolence and downloading music and audiobooks beckons.

Rock, Prog and Rock/Pop today:

Drum Folk - Greenslade,
Evensong (Arr. for Saxophone) - The Enid,
Turn Of The Century (live) - Yes,
Danza Dei Grandi Rettili - Banco del Mutuo Soccorso,
Working Man - Rush, with that great crunching gtr riff at the start,
The Song Of Solomon - Kate Bush,
I'm In My Car - Chris Rea,
Bobby Brown Goes Down - Frank Zappa,
FM Reprise - Steely Dan,
Come Home - Placebo,
Green Flower Street - Donald Fagen,
Slippery People - Talking Heads, with a great Tina Weymouth bass line,
Mango Surprise - Jethro Tull, from the lacklustre 'J-Tull.com' CD,
A Promise - Echo & The Bunnymen,
Cover My Eyes (Acoustic Version) - Marillion,

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3

Sit Back, Relax and Count the Stars

2008-01-16T10:20:00.000Z

More 'Not Classical or Spoken' today, which threw up an acoustic-guitar dominated playlist:

She Chameleon (Demo - Previously Unreleased) - Marillion,
Apocalypso - Mew,
Shaolin Temple - Prince Jammy,
Smiling Stranger (Instrumental) - John Martyn,
Window - Genesis,
The Weight Of My Words - Kings Of Convenience,
Starship - Turin Brakes,
Beverley - John Martyn,
80 Days - Marillion,
Garden of my Childhood - Andreas Vollenweider,
Apogee - Jethro Tull,
City Of Angels - Nik Kershaw,
Chiefs And Indians - Caravan,
Orange Skin Food - Soft Machine,

So laid-back was I that I almost fell asleep. Nothing to do all day but stare out of the window and listen to music.

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3

Industry Standard

2008-01-15T10:17:00.001Z

Over my breakfast cornflakes, I was surprised, nay shocked, to see the host-cum-nemesis of the 'All Day Breakfast Show', Paul Myers, being interviewed on BBC Breakfast.

It was some article on the EMI meltdown and takeover by some Merchant Bankers, and explaining the difficulties of selling 'units' i.e. CDs in the face of downloads. Mr 'Wippit internet millionaire' was offering his opinion about their (EMI) having to get their act together to offer the public more of what they want.

Be any good!

That would include stuff like this, I guess:

I'm a Ramblin' Man

2008-01-15T10:06:00.000Z

Well, more weather to contend with, but I was safely wrapped up in my 'Electronic' filter.

Even though my collection contains lots of Kraftwerk, Orb, Tangerine Dream, Coldcut, etc etc, today's music was dominated by Vangelis, even though many of the tracks were piano pieces e.g. Memories of Green, and not particularly electronic.

Zoolook (Remix) - Jean-Michel Jarre,
The Plum Blossom - Vangelis,
Memories Of Blue - Vangelis,
Love Theme - Vangelis,
So Good So Pure So Kind - Landscape,
Movement 5 - Vangelis, from the superb Soil Festivities,
Equinoxe, Part 3 - Jean-Michel Jarre,
Memories Of Green - Vangelis,
Shaker Loops - Jon & Vangelis,
Sweaters - Laurie Anderson,
Peter Gunn (featuring Duane Eddie) - The Art Of Noise,
Broken - Laurie Anderson,
Movement 1 - Vangelis, from Mask
Ramblin' Man - Lemon Jelly,

T - 3; M - 4; D - 2.5

So Hop on the Train, 'Cause it Kills the Pain

2008-01-14T12:02:00.000Z

A prog-biased, and very welcome, 'Not Classical or Spoken' mix to accompany the start of another tedious week in Central London. I have been offered a lifeline, which will become clearer over the next month or so and put an end to the misery, I hope.

Fireside Song - Genesis,
Opening Move - Gryphon. Oh for a time when bands such as Gentle Giant, Egg, National Health, Gryphon etc. could exist and be a commercial success again,
The Loved Ones - The Enid,
Stormy Clouds - The Verve,
Lesson In Survival - Joni Mitchell,
Endless Sacrifice - Dream Theater,

and finally, the Count Arthur Strong episode from last Friday, with the Antiques Roadshow theme; bit of a weak ending, but some great moments (especially the two for one offer on tea)

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3

Mud and Dark

2008-01-11T11:22:00.000Z

A dreary, dark and rain-swept day to herald the weekend. Thankfully, this was not matched by my 'Not Classical or Spoken' shuffled playlist which produced the following to while away the time:

Einstein A Go-Go - Landscape, the 7" of which was backed by 'New Religion', a fabulous instrumental that I probably listened to more than the A-side,
Heroes And Villians - The Beach Boys,
Silver Girl - Fleetwood Mac,
Cello Song - Nick Drake,
Old-Fashioned People - Chris De Burgh,
Against The Odds - Richard Wright. There's a repeat of the BBC4 documentary on the making of DSotM on toight,
Mud And Dark - Cocteau Twins,
Les Boys - Dire Straits,
Blowin` Free - Wishbone Ash,
I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain - Tim Buckley,
Blush Response - Vangelis,
Darkness - Scott Walker,
Jam Back At The House - Jimi Hendrix Experience, live at Woodstock

T - 3; M - 4; D - 3

Back Back Back!

2008-01-10T10:14:00.000Z

Well, on the way back from my interview on the extreme edge of BBC London's broadcast reach, Danny Baker left more clues about the return of the 'All Day Breakfast Show'

There's some confirmation at the 'Treehouse' Forum, but I definitely heard him say he'd lost £100,000 recently (yikes!), and as a parting shot, compared the new studios favourably with the 'rat-hole' at Wippit. Could it be something to do with this development at Virgin? Watch the skies (although don't hold your breath)...

Yesterday's interview went well, although I misinterpreted the (vague) instructions and neglected to prepare a presentation. It's amazing what you can do with a pen and a whiteboard and your imagination, although it was pretty nerve-racking.

Some 'Blues, Folk and Jazz' today to relax me:

Colleen - Joanna Newsom,
Soldiers - James Taylor,
They're Leaving Me Behind - Nick Drake,
Goodbye And Hello - Tim Buckley, just divine,
Sea Of Madness - Crosby, Stills & Nash, maybe (& Young), I can't remember - they're all lumped together on my 'Pod,
Ri Na Cruinne - Clannad,
Poor Boy - Nick Drake,
Redwoods - Hayward Williams, possibly the first tme I've heard this after doing an internet trawl of free (i.e. sourced from the artists' websites) MP3s,
Dr. Jekyll - Miles Davis,

Reasonable journey in today, and the weekend's almost upon us,

A word of advice - if you arrive at a Northern Line platform between East Finchley and Totteridge to find the next train indicated as going via Charing Cross, it probably won't. I've lost count of the number of times I've seen CX trains altered and had to wait 10 minutes.

T - 3; M - 4; D - 3

Back Back Back?

2008-01-09T08:01:00.000Z

A short note today, as I'm away at an interview, but heavy hints of the 'All Day Breakfast Show's return on Danny Baker's BBC London show yesterday.

I'll add the links later to on-line forums confirming what I heard, but suffice it to say 'keep watching the skies' and 'the internet has a new king' cropped up. Of course, we've heard it all before, and we know where that ended up, but there may be life in the old dog yet. Let's hope this particular dog is not a wippit.

No news on the ADBS website yet, although lack of communication to the hoi polloi seems to be the business model of choice for this particular venture.

Keep watching the skies...

Twelfth Night

2008-01-08T10:11:00.000Z

Another trek into work to sit at my desk and apply for jobs. In honour of the season, a playlist composed solely of tracks by the '80s prog rock band 'Twelfth Night'. One of my main achievements over the festive season was finding a signed LP of 'Live at the Target', featuring a live version of 'Sequences', to join my small collection of their CDs and LPs (Fact and Fiction, Collector's Item, Art and Illusion, and now Live at the Target). Similar to Marillion, IQ, Pendragon, Haze, The Enid, and those neo-prog bands of the era.

Blondon Fair - Twelfth Night,
Fact And Fiction - Twelfth Night,
The Collector - Twelfth Night,
Love Song - Twelfth Night,
Sequences - Twelfth Night.

Interview tomorrow, so a lot of revision to do.

T - 4; M - 4.5; D - 2 - take several fat woman, cover them in jumpers and coats and scarves, and squeeze them in to train seats so that they overhang and make my arms ache. Go away, please.

White Noise

2008-01-07T15:12:00.000Z

Lots of chatter on the Tube this morning, for some reason. A group of Chinese men, and two independent couples of women, all talking far too loudly and for far too long.

I turned to my ambient playlist:

Drugged - Bass Communion, from Bass Communion,
Kanon (Part One - Brohuk) - Thomas Koener, from A Brief History Of Ambient, Vol. 4: Isolationism,
Wahnfried 1883 - Klaus Schulze, Timewind,
Die Bunge - Cluster & Eno, Cluster & Eno Live,
Dance of the Masks - Andreas Vollenweider, Dancing With The Lion,
Tramp With Orchestra III (No Strings) - Gavin Bryars, from Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet

This could be the end of days, as far as my company is concerned, so I may be in a worse mood than I have been recently (and that's been pretty grumpy). I have a job interview and a way out on Wednesday...

Calm Before the Storm

2008-01-04T11:29:00.000Z

Thankfully, there aren't many people around at the moment, as the christmas holiday seems to have been extended, otherwise this morning's journey would have been hell. My first train of choice terminated unexpectedly, and for no good reason. The second train was full, but I managed to squeeze on the third. Well done, Northern Line.

A great selection of music today in my 'Not Classical or Spoken' playlist. Just right:

A Play Within A Play - Jon & Vangelis,
Cerco la Lingua - Premiata Forneria Marconi,
Hey! Luciani - The Fall,
Lilac Wine - Jeff Buckley,
Pseudo Silk Kimono - Marillion, the Fish era,
Tumble Down The Years - Marillion, the Hogarth era,
Birds Don't Sing - Paul O'Reilly,
Sanctus - The Enid,
Loved By The Sun - Tangerine Dream, featuring Jon Anderson,
Run Through The Light (Single Version) - Yes, not featuring Jon Anderson,
Hello Earth - Kate Bush. Oh man, this is beautiful,
Hold On - Chris De Burgh,
I Don't Know - All About Eve,
NY3 - Robert Fripp,

T - 1; M - 4.5; D - 3

HNY

2008-01-03T10:54:00.000Z

And a Happy New Year to all...

My return to the commute was fairly unremarkable, although depressing all the same.

Over the festive period, I managed to catch up finally with all the 'All Day Breakfast Show' Podcasts from Danny Baker. From the last few 'casts, it looks as though the end came very quickly - the Thursday programme before the final weekend was very upbeat, with plenty of mentions of 'next week' and 'next year', with no hint of the gathering storm.

Dinosaur - King Crimson,
Dry Land (Live Hammersmith Odeon, London September 29, 1991) - Marillion,
The Maid On The Shore - John Renbourn,
Blackthorn Rose - Weather Report,
Maestro Mercy - Wigwam,
Amazing Grace - Yes,
Ring Out Solstice Bells - Jethro Tull,
Apocalypse (Detroit 1976) - Yes,
Summer (Chorus) (excerpt) - The Enid,
Be Kind To My Mistakes - Kate Bush,
Marijuana - Various Artists, from a Trojan Box Set,
Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood,
(Three Fingers of) Love - The Art Of Noise,
Sloop John B - The Beach Boys,
Drum Folk - Greenslade,
Bullet The Blue Sky - U2,
Animal - Def Leppard.

I saw 'Number 23' the other day, the Jim Carrey film. Mark Kermode's reviews (including his end of year review) made it sound like some preposterous sub-Da Vinci Code thing, but I found it an interesting and entertaining story of psychosis and paranoia. Okay, some bits were downright silly, but I think it made a lot of sense, in the context of the central character's delusions.

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3

Winterval

2007-12-30T15:28:00.000Z

Well, I thought I'd break my self-imposed silence just to offer some kind of review of christmas itself...

Of the two or three presents I requested, I received none. Instead I got another iPod (the 160Gb one, which is nice but superfluous), and the Laurel and Hardy box set (again, nice, but the 'Sapphire and Steel' or 'Dr Who Dalek' box sets were what I actually wanted). Ho hum.

The family was low-level ill - colds, mainly - for most of the time, so we didn't get out much. This meant we were left in the clutches of the TV, my music collection and the various toys and books my son got for christmas. TV has, in general been absolutely dreadful. The only saving grace was the Dr Who episode, but even that was pretty flat.

The saving grace, for me at least, was the radio.

Here's what I've recorded (with my HiQ software) so far this holiday:

22Dec - The Wooden Overcoat, Radio4,
24Dec - The Charles Hazlewood Christmas Show, Radio2,
24Dec - Jeeves Live, with Martin Jarvis, R4,
24Dec - The Count Arthur Strong Christmas Message on You and Yours,
24Dec - The Best of 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue', R4,
24Dec - MR James at Christmas, R4, and 25 - 28 Dec
24Dec - The Nine Tailors, R4, and will record all 10 episodes,
25Dec - News Quiz of the Year, R4, via Podcast,
25Dec - 84 Charing Cross Road, R4,
25Dec - Count Arthur Strong Radio Show, R4. Not a Christmas special, unlike last year, so rather odd scheduling,
26Dec - A Night in the Ukraine, R4, the Marx Brothers in a Chekov play,
26Dec - Current Puns, R4,
28Dec - Count Arthur Strong Radio Show, R4, the first of a new series,
28Dec - The Now Show, R4, via Podcast,
28Dec - Mark Kermode's film review of the year, R5, via Podcast, featuring the 'Pirates' rant featured here and available in glorious video here,
29Dec - Genesis Live, R2. I already have a low bit-rate recording of this, but need to use my upgraded software to creat WAVs and edit tracks,
29Dec - Dracula, Episode1, World Service. I'm not sure when Ep2 is, but probably next week.

Still to do:
30Dec - All's Well That Ends Well, R3,
4Jan - Count Arthur Strong Ep2 of the new series.

Plus, a word of warning. I saw few films this holiday, mostly kids' stuff (The Grinch, Shrek), but two in particular stayed in mind.
One, on DVD, after the GLW persuaded me, was 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End' and was everybit as dreadful as Mr Kermode said it was. Unplotted, random scripting and scene-changing, just awful.
The second, at the cinema, was 'St Trinian's'. I thought we'd stopped making - and funding via the Lottery - crap such as this after the disaster that was 'Sex Lives of the Potato Men'. We only saw it because the screen for 'I Am Legend' was full. I'm booking in advance next time.

Happy New Year to all.

Music of the Year

2007-12-21T11:32:00.001Z

As with last year, here are just a few thoughts on this year's releases:

Best New releases:

Fear of a Blank Planet - Porcupine Tree. Possibly my very favourite,
The King of Cards - Tom McRae. Not quite up there with 'Just Like Blood', but very good,
Snakes and Arrows - Rush, much better than 'Vapor Trials',
Comicopera- Robert Wyatt, certainly the first two 'movements',
Person Pitch - Panda Bear, first heard on Where's The Skill In That?,
Coheed & Cambria - No World for Tomorrow,

Honourable mentions too, for Cherry Ghost, Dream Theater, Bjork, Joanna Newsom and Siouxsie.

The Marillion album, although it pains me to say it, should have been better, although '08 promises a return to form.

Other albums I've bought that I've been underwhelmed by include the new Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse, and another White Stripes album that is just too bare for my liking,

Old releases bought this year are far too numerous to mention, as I've spent a large proprtion of my time at work downloading from a variety of sources.

Mr 9 'Til 5

2007-12-21T11:26:00.000Z

Final day until Jan 3rd. I might keep the blog going if anything interesting happens of the festive period, but for now I'lll sign off with today's playlist and my thoughts on this year's music.

As I was in no rush to get to work early, my son and I were mucking around at home with my guitar and listening to some PFM, mainly 'Maestro della Voce', which on the 'pfmpfm.it' CD is superb.
The rest of my commute was just more PFM. Not particularly festive, but splendid nonetheless:

Sei, from pfmpfm.it,
Jet Lag, from Jet Lag,
Passpartú and Le Trame Blu, both from Passpartú,
Is My Face On Straight, from L'Isola di Niente,
La carrozza di Hans, from pfmpfm.it, and
Paper Charms, from Chocolate Kings.

T - 3; M - 4; D - 3

Xmas Radio

2007-12-20T11:20:00.001Z

Not much on telly over the festive period (apart from Dr Who, although Catherine Tate fills me with dread), but radio might be the answer...

Almost exclusively BBC Radio 2 and 4:

The Saturday Play on the 22nd with David Tennant,
MR James at Xmas from the 24th for 5 episodes,
Jeeves Live on the 24th,
Best of ISIHAC on the 24th, too,
Lord Peter Wimsey for 10 episodes from 24th,
News Quiz of the Year on the 25th,
Humph in Wonderland on the 25th,
Count Arthur Strong on the 25th,
A Stephen Fry investigation of puns on the 26th,
A new series of Count Arthur Strong (?) from the 28th,
The Now Show on the 28th,
plus all sorts of festive music on R2 and R3

I think Listen Again and my Hi-Q software will come into play at some point.

Mmmmm..... Nice...

Gentle Blues

2007-12-20T11:02:00.000Z

Two days and counting...

No blog yesterday, as I was at my son's nursery nativity thing. Splendid fun.

Walkin' Blues - Robert Johnson,
Story of a Man a Woman, Pt. 1: She Thought I Was Stanley Clarke - Stanley Clarke,
Emergency 72 - Turin Brakes,
Höga Berg Och DJupa Dalar (High Mountains And Low Valleys) - Ranarim,
The Easy Blues (Jelly Roll Blues/Gentle Blues) - John Martyn,
Beyond The Seventh Galaxy - Return To Forever,
Babylon Sisters - Steely Dan,
Highway Song - James Taylor,
Never Any Good - Leonard Cohen,
Hallucinations - Tim Buckley,
Hazey Jane I - Nick Drake,
Cucumber Slumber - Weather Report,
Poor Boy - Nick Drake.

T - 3; M -4; D -3

Let Me Take You Down

2007-12-18T11:47:00.000Z

Well, only four days to go, one of which I have off anyway, so just keeping my head down and turning up.

Captain Carter's Fathoms - Pepé Deluxe,
A Smart Kid - Porcupine Tree,
The Chant - Jelly Roll Morton,
Access Denied - Porcupine Tree,
Terminal Frost - Pink Floyd,
Winter Song - Chris Rea,
La Petite Fille De La Mer - Vangelis,
There Was Sun - Devendra Banhart,
Shrink - Notwist,
Cooltide - John Martyn,
When You`re In - Pink Floyd,
Café Europa - David Sylvian.

The Wippit/ADBS fallout continues, with the monorail salesman claiming contract exclusivity and DB just shrugging. A sad (although inevitable) end.

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 2

ADBS Crash and Burn

2007-12-17T10:55:00.000Z

OK, the central heating boiler packed in at the weekend, and, as my home computer is in a peripheral part of my house away from fires, I missed the breaking news of the Danny Baker and Wippit fall-out.

Turmoil indeed. "... and you're standing, crushed, on the sweaty Northern Line every day"

I've followed the genesis, initial euphoria, and stumbling first footsteps, then through delay and return, and then subscription and meltdown...

"Knowing my luck, it'll all go tits up in the New Year and I'll have paid a year's subs for nowt..."

Several problems:

1. Wippit is rubbish. Dreadful user interface, patronising tone, 'shiny new servers' dropping out regularly, useless support,

2. Danny was unaware that Wippit subscribers could get the ADBS for nowt,

3. Very poor feedback during the whole Autumn hiatus coupled with ridiculous comments from Paul Wippit on the Treehouse board. Danny's not above blame on this one, either,

4. The lack of the 'live' element definitely affected the ADBS and B/K, the latter more than the former, and the fact that DB was continuing the BBC London led to odd overlaps.

Fundamentally, though, it seems to me that the vast majority of the blame lies with Wippit.
It's all a bit late for this analysis, I know, and this blog isn't supposed to be about the ADBS at all - it just kind of happened...

I've blown £50 on a crappy service; Paul Wippit will become even more of an internet millionaire; DB will, in the short term at least, become increasingly bitter; and I'll have nothing to accompany my commute other than my fabulous music collection.

Disappointment Can Wear You Thin

2007-12-17T09:48:00.000Z

I was away from my computer all weekend, so missed the 'All Day Breakfast Show' announcement HERE. And HERE.

FWIW, I'll add my thoughts in a later post, and just get the tracklist for this morning out of the way:

Telegraph Road - Dire Straits,
Got A Suitcase, Got Regrets - Tom McRae,
Let's Split - Syd Barrett,
Paperback Writer - The Beatles,
Sunny Goodge Street - Donovan,
Ring Out Solstice Bells - Jethro Tull,
Cry From The Street - David Gilmour,
Only Time Will Tell - Asia,
Jack Of Speed - Steely Dan, the best track from a pretty formulaic return album,
Hounds Of Love - Kate Bush,
Birth From Earth - Epsilon Indi,
Photos of Ghosts - Premiata Forneria Marconi. I'd forgotten just how great this is...
Trio And Group Dancers - Charles Mingus. I'd forgotten just how mad this is...

T - 3; M - 4; D - 3

How It Hits You

2007-12-14T10:14:00.000Z

I feel absolutely dreadful. This blog has taken a rather self-pitying tone lately, I appreciate, but I really do feel awful - cold, tired and generally 'ill'.

Some Christmas music to cheer me up and, whilst it went better than last year, it didn't really alter my mood.

Winter - Paul O'Reilly,
Once In Royal David's City - Gauntlett, from a Classic FM freebie CD,
A Christmas Song - Jethro Tull,
I Wish it Could Be Christmas Every Day - Wizzard,
2000 Years - Jon Anderson,
Gaudette - Steeleye Span,
As With Gladness Men of Old - Kocher,
How It Hits You - Jon Anderson,
Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen (A Spotless Rose is growing) - Praetorius,
Concerto grosso in G Minor: Op. 6/8, 'Christmas Concerto' - Vivace/Grave; Allegro; Adagio/Allegro/Adagio; Vivace; Allegro; Pastorale - Corelli,
The Holly And The Ivy - Jon Anderson,
The Nutcracker - Waltz of the Snowflakes - Tchaikovsky,
Jack Frost And The Hooded Crow - Jethro Tull.

I need a week of sleeping, and less Southern Comfort...

T - 2; M -3.5; D - 3

High Vibration Go On

2007-12-13T10:43:00.000Z

Well, back to 'work'.

I spent most of yesterday recording old cassettes to WAV files using Hi-Q and Nero, including old tapes of various bands I was in in my youth, and a couple of treasured BBC recordings.

1 - Pink Floyd, live at the time of Atom Heart Mother, including the rare-ish 'Embryo' as well as 'Careful With that Axe, Eugene', 'If' and 'Fat Old Sun'. One of my favourite PF albums, AHM.

2 - Yes live in 1978. There's a 'Big Medley' of Time and a Word, The Fish, Perpetual Change and Soon which seems to have been used in the 'Word Is Live' boxset. Definitely my favourite tape.

The commute was filled with the Yes concert. I think I know every note by now...

Circus of Heaven,
The Big Medley,
Don't Kill The Whale,
Clap,
Starship Troopers,
On the Silent Wings of Freedom,
Awaken,
Your Move,
Roundabout.

T - 4; M - 5; D - 4

Am I Still Ill?

2007-12-12T10:36:00.000Z

Seemingly, yes.

Still, there's more chance to catch up with the ADBS and rip the latest Count Arthur Strong Show. That and copy a few of the ancient cassette tapes I re-found in the garage yesterday.

Ho hum. Or should that be ho-ho-ho hum?

Normal (grumpy) service to be resumed tomorrow, I hope.

Decrepitude

2007-12-10T15:02:00.000Z

More illness. I can't remember the last time I 'worked' a full week, what with sickness and long weekends away.

Time to catch up on some All Day Breakfast Shows...

Plague

2007-12-07T10:27:00.000Z

Friday again, and nothing to do. I did listen to the Count Arthur Strong episode (No.3) from earlier this week, which wasn't quite up to the majesty of previous episodes, but still passed the time nicely.

Recent acquisitions:

Rag And Bone - The White Stripes,
Can Of Ghost - Loop Guru,
Highways 2 - Tyrannosaurus Rex,
New Paths To Helicon Pt I - Mogwai,
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson, in celebration of its 25th anniversary, or something,
Red Light Ahead - Conspiracy,
Sploosh! (Youth & Simon's Hydrophonic Decimation) - Ozric Tentacles,
Pteranodon (Hallucinogen mix) - Ozric Tentacles,
Hope - Bjork,
The Fifth Plague - Laurie Anderson,
Holiday - Scorpions.

T - 3; M -3.5; D - 2

Wippit Out

2007-12-06T10:54:00.000Z

Well, as the end of days approaches, the Northern pulls out all the stops to make me late for a Very Important Meeting.

Some Jaco Pastorius-themed music today, but focusing on his work with Joni Mitchell (and, since my auto-playlist is not that clever, some of the early non-Jaco JM albums):

Cucumber Slumber - Weather Report,
Edith And The Kingpin - Joni Mitchell,
The Hissing Of Summer Lawns - Joni Mitchell,
Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell,
Twisted - Joni Mitchell,
Amelia - Joni Mitchell,
A Case Of You - Joni Mitchell,
Lucky (Rap) - Joni Mitchell,
Cold Blue Steel And Sweet Fire - Joni Mitchell,
Black Crow - Joni Mitchell,
Paprika Plains - Joni Mitchell.

On the back of my subscription to Wippit for the All Day Breakfast Show, I've been looking through the database. There's not an awful lot there I'm interested in, to be honest, and I have to say that the download process is one of the least user-friendly and most confusing and time-consuming one I have ever come across. It's taken me the best part of 2 workig days to download about 150 tracks on the toppest speed connection possible.

How Paul Wippit ever became an internet millionare on the back of this is completely beyond me.

T - 2; M - 4; D - 3

"Why, if they had one neck, you'd hack it through.."

2007-12-05T10:16:00.000Z

Which is exactly what my mood was like yesterday.

Despite the downpour of rain, I'm in a much better mood today.

I'm currently working my way through the backlog of Dnny Baker's ADBS (sorry to keep going on, but Podcasts (ADBS, Thinking Allowed, Baker&Kelly, Now Show) and old 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue' MP3s are the only things keeping me going these days). New 'Count Arthur Strong' available today, so that'll be ripped...

Some 'Folk and guitarists' today:

Helping Hand - Pentangle,
Cracking - Suzanne Vega,
Pearl (2) - Judee Sill,
Donor (2) - Judee Sill,
Three Hours (Alternate Version) - Nick Drake,
Straight Lines - Suzanne Vega,
Crazy Face - Van Morrison,
Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright - strangely soul-less version of the classic - maybe I'm too used to the Jeff Buckley version,
Milky Way - Syd Barrett,
Winning A Battle, Losing The War (Andy Votel) - Kings Of Convenience,
Chorale - Richard & Danny Thompson,
I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain - Tim Buckley,
Baby Blue - Emiliana Torrini,
Tuulilta Tuleva - Värttinä,
Rainy Night House - Joni Mitchell,

T - 4; D - 3; M - 4

Descent into Hell

2007-12-04T10:45:00.000Z

Where do I begin?

My wife crashed the car,
My weekend out of the country was marred by RyanAir's refusal to treat us as anything other than cattle,
My commute today was marred by incompetence and violence,
My boss has decided to work from home, despite the exhortation for the rest of us to come in in this crucial week.

I need to get out of this soon.

Music?

Well, Mono's 'Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky', plus a 'Not Classical or Spoken' mix of Bob Marley, Rush and Captain Beefheart, among others.

I did download a whole load of Danny Baker's 'All Day Breakfast Show', having taken the plunge to subscribe to Wippit. I must admit that the iTunes connection worked fine, although the retrieval of the first few (early Sep) issues turned into the usual Wippit-related madness. I got there eventually, but only after a lot of trouble.

T - 1; M - 3; D - 0.5

Let Me Be Weak, Let Me Sleep

2007-11-30T10:29:00.000Z

After another interminable week of nothingness, Friday.

Mask Movement 3 - Vangelis,
No Way We Can Lose - Yes,
Sleepless (Bob Clearmountain Mix) - King Crimson,
Glistening Glyndebourne - John Martyn,
Big Muff (Alternate Version With Drums) - John Martyn,
Joker At The Gate - Hawkwind,
Hurdy Gurdy Glissando - Steve Hillage,
And Dream Of Sheep - Kate Bush,

then, for my walk to and from the stations, Count Arthur Strong's 2nd Episode from his latest Radio4 Series. Splendid.

I've also found a few 'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue' MP3s online, so now have lots to listen to in the run up to xmas. That and the 'All Day Breakfast Show'...

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 3

ADBS Turmoil

2007-11-29T11:28:00.000Z

As my new friend Kim said below in her comment, "I bought my subscription at the end of October and I've been satisfied!".

Well, I still haven't got round to subbing to Wippit - I assume (?) I can pick up the backlog since September - but this comment on Tuesday's BBC London show made me sit up:

"I don't want to open up the phone lines to hobble-de-hoys - that's how we got involved with Wippit"

Yikes!

It Makes You Suffer And It Makes You Cry

2007-11-29T10:01:00.000Z

But, unfortunately, it's not, as Mr Hogarth, suggests, all worthwhile,

After a couple of days off, a return to the daily commute:

06 - LOVE - 12/11/92 Lee & Herring, from the FistOfFun archive,
Surprise, Surprise - Caravan,
Way To Blue - Nick Drake. A demo, with piano which is even more fragile and ethereal than the final version,
Hotel Hobbies - Marillion,
Septembre: Heat Beat - Brian Eno, sounding a lot like Boards of Canada,
Hard As Love (Demo Version) - Marillion,
Beach Theme - Tangerine Dream,
Tunnel Of Love - Dire Straits,
Band On The Run - Paul McCartney & Wings,
Arthur - Rick Wakeman,
Eleanor Rigby Reggae MashUp - The Beatles. Danny Baker first played this on Monday's BBC London show, and I've found it on YouTube here and ripped it with my new HiQ software. Excellent - forget the short-lived 'Ladies' Bras' debacle, this is worth pushing.

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3

Ill

2007-11-27T10:58:00.000Z

No commute today due to illness. Great unpleasantness.

ADBS Update

2007-11-26T13:23:00.000Z

After a lot of thought, and after lurking (perhaps unfairly) on The Treehouse and Cook'd and Bomb'd Forums for weeks, I have finally come, FWIW, to my decision re: 'The All-Day Breakfast Show In Color'

Although money's quite tight, what with all the 'TURMOIL' at work, I'm going to subscribe and see how it goes. As a contributor to the Treehouse said "... it seems to have become more about anti-Paul than pro-Dan (as in "I don't care if it is Dan, I'm not prepared to line Paul's pockets")".

My prevarication about this has been mainly around this anti-Wippit issue, although, as the product's very good, and seemingly becoming more stable and dependable, it's time to bite the bullet and stump up the cash.

Knowing my luck, it'll all go tits up in the New Year and I'll have paid a year's subs for nowt...

Hopefully, Eventually

2007-11-26T11:06:00.000Z

After a gruelling weekend of birthday parties and seeing friends, a return to the desparation of 'work'. For the first time in ages, however, I was able to fit in a listen to the whole of an album, this being Chris Squire's 'Fish Out Of Water'. Not the exclusive signed copy, just the CD+DVD release. I prefer to keep my money for newer stuff, such as Marillion's next...

I was nursing a slight hangover this morning, after an over-indulgence of good wine and Glenmorangie.

NewsQuiz 22 Nov 07 - BBC Radio 4 Podcast. If only they could do the same for ''I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue',
Summer-Blink - Cocteau Twins,
Starship Trooper: Life Seeker (Single Version) - Yes,
Terrapin - David Gilmour,
Song To The Pharoah Kings - Return To Forever,
Tale In The Hard Time - Fairport Convention,
Legend Of A Girl Child Linda - Donovan,
Winter Wonderland featuring Chris Botti - James Taylor (!),
I Want The One I Can`t Have - The Smiths,
River Of Time - Van Morrison

I'll record the Pink Floyd Part 2 later today (Days in the Life... on Radio2). It really irritated me that last week 'Echoes' was described as being part of the 'More' soundtrack, when anyone with even the slightest knowledge of PF will tell you it's from 'Meddle'. Annoying,

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 4. As I'm getting later and later these days, the Tube's less and less crowded.

Vacant Stare

2007-11-23T10:42:00.000Z

Friday, and nothing has been achieved this week. My company is in its final death throes and the end is in sight - there may be some chance of redundancy to release me from this nightmare...

Some 'Electronic' music, mostly Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre, as an ambient backdrop to reading 'The Independent'.

Today's Baker & Kelly Podcast should be interesting, given the events of Wednesday night at Wembley...

T - 3; M - 3; D - 3. Pretty average, if downcast, end to the week.

Time And Relative Dimensions

2007-11-22T15:51:00.000Z

A propos nothing, wasn't the Children in Need Doctor Who thing great? I've just watched the YouTube thing, after looking through the discussions on Cook'd and Bomb'd (Cook'd and Bomb'd > Forum > Discussion > Picture Box > Topic: The New Doctor Who thread).

"This is my dressing-room; my inner scrotum"

2007-11-22T10:58:00.000Z

A welcome return to Count Arthur Strong the other day. Splendid stuff, and made me laugh out loud half a dozen times. Great.

Today (Thursday), there's a Kraftwerk thing on Radio 4, and I need to catch up with the 'Days of Our Lives' Pink Floyd documentary on Radio 2. Plus, there's the Charles Hazlewood show from last night, which I fell asleep 10 minutes into.

I've now downloaded the full version of Hi-Q from here, as the 96 kbps on offer from the free version is becoming too restrictive. While I'm on this spending splurge, and as the 'All Day Breakfast Show' is reportedly becoming more reliable from Wippit (and iTunes), I think I'm going to subscribe to the annual thing and take it from there. Watch this space...

As work simply becomes a question of turning up and then leaving 5 hours later, I spent most of the early morning constructing plastic toys for my son on his birthday.

Ho hum.

Gone To Earth - David Sylvian & Robert Fripp, from the first, better, 'Damage' CD,
All Of My Mother's Names - DS,
Promise (The Cult Of Eurydice) - DS,
Weathered Wall - DS,
Waterfront - DS,
I Surrender (Single Edit) - DS,
Gone to Earth - DS,
Orpheus - DS,
Blinding Light Of Heaven - Sylvian/Fripp,
Pulling Punches - DS,
The Scent Of Magnolia (Edit) - DS, from the bonus disc from the 'Everything & Nothing' compilation.

This is my 300th post.

T - 4; M - 4; D - 2

Dumbing Down

2007-11-21T10:50:00.000Z

So a junior office worker is allowed access to copy all family records onto a CD-ROM and them stick them in the post? Well done, everybody.

More frustrating illiteracy and innumeracy on the Tube, too. A forty-year old reading a children's book. Not Harry Potter, but something intended for 10-year-olds, and recipient of the Whitbread Children's Book Prize and Smarties Award. Plus, the woman sat next to me was really struggling with her SuDoku. With her puzzled brow and constant rubbing out of numbers, it was all I could do to resist helping her out. Bloody hell.

Jazz, Blues and Folk today:

Cantaloupe Island - Herbie Hancock,
I Want To Take You Higher - Sly & the Family Stone,
The Last Time I Saw Richard - Joni Mitchell,
People Music - Herbie Hancock,
Children's Song - Chick Corea & Return To Forever,
Diamond Day - Vashti Bunyan,
A Love Supreme, Pt. 4: Psalm - John Coltrane,
Next Time Around - Sandy Denny,
Winter Is Gone - Nick Drake,
Freezing Fire - Weather Report,
Instrumental I - James Taylor,
She Moves Through The Fair - Fairport Convention,
Sweet Jannie - Van Morrison,
Ever After - Neil Young,
Isn`t It Nice To Be Home Again - James Taylor,
Rise At Dawn - Paul O'Reilly.

Bored, fed up, tired. And it's only Wednesday.

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3

I Don't Feel Pleasure and I Don't Feel Pain

2007-11-20T10:00:00.000Z

After 2 solid days of rain, a break in the clouds accompanied my walk to the Tube. I had an early start today as, being the bottom of the food chain, I had been delegated the task of letting an engineer in to fix one of our redundant machines. Joy.

I had no real clue what I wanted to listen to today, so started with 'Ambient/Electronic' then got bored of that among the noise of the train and switched to 'Rock, Prog and Rock/Pop':

Strangers - Raoul Bjorkenheim,
Born, Never Asked - Laurie Anderson,
Second Swarm - Bass Communion,
Punk Rock - Mogwai,
Great To Be With You - Yes,
Prophets Of War - Dream Theater,
Three Of A Perfect Pair - King Crimson,
Formentera Lady - King Crimson,
Woodstock - Matthews' Southern Comfort,
Gone to Earth - David Sylvian,
Tux On - Marillion,
Love You - Syd Barrett

T - 4; M - 3.5; D - 3

Celebration

2007-11-20T00:01:00.000Z

Well, it's been one year since my first tentative steps into the 'blog' landscape.

Almost 300 posts and 3300 hits on the site (since I started counting back in January). Highest daily hits 53, lowest 0.

My ratings of the Tube (T), Music (M) and fellow Drones (D) have been highly variable, but average out at something like T - 3; M - 4; D - 3, although I haven't bothered doing statistical analysis.

I've seen 'Mixing It' come and go to be replaced by 'Where's the Skill in That?' on Resonance FM, Mark Radcliffe moved from the civilised 10-12 slot to the useless 8-10 period, and Danny Baker enter, leave and haltingly re-enter the Podcast world with 'The All Day Breakfast Show'.

I've seen my company stumble and fall, lose half its staff and refuse to give in. My workload has decreased from fairly busy to nil, and I've had countless job applications, and half a dozen job interviews, turned own on the basis of either being over-qualified or not qualified enough.

I've bought many great albums, and a few duffers, and replaced over half of my vinyl collection with MP3s from a variety of sources. I've seen my iTunes collection grow from ~50 Gb to almost 100 Gb.

I've been involved in countless Tube delays and received over £100 in compensation, which is a Good Thing. I have been involved in no fights or arguments with fellow drones, although tempted many times, and this too is a Good Thing and a testament to my good nature.

Here's to the next 20 glorious years...

Happy birthday to my blog
Happy birthday to my blog
Happy birthday, dear BlackLineBlues,
Happy birthday to my blog.

Radio Highlights

2007-11-19T12:58:00.000Z

Interesting radio schedules this week and in the run-up to xmas:

Mondays 6.30pm Radio 4: I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue link
Tuesdays 6.30pm Radio 4: Count Arthur Strong link
Thursday 11.30apm Radio 4: Kraftwerk: We Are the Robots link
Plus, the return of Word of Mouth some time soon link

And... With the overwhelming lack of things to do at work, and with the seemingly imminent departure (?) of Danny Baker from BBC London, I'm considering a subscription to Wippit (aaaargh!) for the All Day Breakfast Show in Color as a kind of masochistic xmas present to myself.

A Fool And His Money

2007-11-19T11:42:00.001Z

After the recent 'Family Tree' release of Nick Drake (and family) Demoes, comes this:

On vinyl...

The 180g albums have been available for a while, but very expensive (OK, £20 or so, not that expensive), but these apparently are 135g. Why?

This is weird (from NickDrake.com):

http://www.nickdrake.com/fruit-tree-news.html

Quote "The vinyl sounds great but we make no ludicrous claims to it being of 'audiophile' quality"

What??? Ludicrous? I just don't get it. Why not 'audiophile'? Why don't they just do it properly, including a 12" booklet, not just shoving the CD-sized booklet in the box?

I have so many Nick Drake CDs, but have resisted the vinyl. This now means (IMO) at some future point a boxed set of the 'audiophile' - remastered, 180g vinyl - LPs will be released together with booklet. Just get it over with...

Perfectly Safe; Feel Quite Well...

2007-11-19T10:56:00.000Z

... Why Don't You Just Go To Hell?

Egg. There are many albums (i.e. vinyl) that have passed through my hands, and many that now reside in my living room. There are also many that I regret not buying. One is the original Buckingham/Nicks album - which was available to me for £50 - when I returned the next day it had gone. Another is the original 'Egg' LP for £15.

I've finally found some downloads and was listening to them at the weekend - Magnificent Prog.

As I fought for arm-rest room between two small, but clinically obese, woman, I listened to 'The Civil Surface' and 'Egg' this morning:

TCS:
Germ Patrol, Wind Quartet I, Enneagram, Prelude, Wring Out the Ground (Loosely Now), Nearch, Wind Quartet II,

E:
Bulb, While Growing My Hair, I Will Be Absorbed, Fugue in D Minor, They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano..., Song of McGillicudie the Pusillanimous (Or Don't Worry James, your Socks are Hanging in the Coal Cellar with Thomas), Boilk, Symphony No. 2.

A heady mix of the Canterbury scene - Caravan, Soft Machine - but similarities with Gentle Giant, Gryphon and even vocal elements of Philip Glass (see North Star). I love this stuff. I prefer 'Civil Surface', but the Symphony (told you it was prog rock) is great.

T - 4; M - 4.5; D - 1.5. The two fat women were only balanced by the approving glances - again! - from a young lady walking the other way. It must be my silk scarf...

It's All Yours, Ants

2007-11-18T20:03:00.000Z

So there we have it. Untold millennia of evolution and we get to this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7100914.stm

I reckon we give up now and hand it over. Clearly, we've failed.

1 0 0 1 0 0 1 SOS

Do Away with People Wasting my Precious Time

2007-11-16T10:13:00.000Z

Well, there's no-one here. What a surprise. A beautiful, crisp, clear Autumn Friday, and everyone's 'working from home'.

I actually felt quite relaxed and laid-back today, with my 'Not Classical or Spoken' playlist and the weekend stretching before me like a great shoe with its lights on (© Danny Baker).

It Ain't You - Tom McRae,
Jam Back At The House - Jimi Hendrix Experience,
La Petite Fille De La Mer - Vangelis. Back at Uni, this album (Apocalypse des Animaux) was my seduction tape. It didn't often work, but if the target of my affection said 'I hate this' then it became a useful filter device,
Golf Girl - Caravan,
Mother Stands For Comfort - Kate Bush. Another target of my affection. Oh man,
Moving In - Trevor Rabin, which later became 'Hold On' with Yes,
See Emily Play - Pink Floyd,
Hello Hello - Caravan,
The Last Man On Earth - Pendragon. A bit over-long, but there's a great guitar solo at the end,
Mary - Robert Fripp, from the superb 'Exposure' album,
3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds - Jefferson Airplane,
Virginia Plain - Roxy Music,
Last to Know - Asia. I'm not a huge fan of Asia, but I have all their albums up to Aria. This was great as I walked to work, with my face pointing directly into the sun and my eyes half-closed behind shades.

T - 4; M - 4.5; D - 4. I even got a lascivious smile from an attractive girl with long blonde hair.

Tired and Emotional

2007-11-15T10:38:00.000Z

Interesting Danny Baker BBC London show yesterday. Nick Hancock and Rory McGrath turned up - after a long lunch at the Groucho Club - to promote their 'They Think It's All Over' DVD game, and got cut off after 20 minutes for swearing and generally being arses.

Good fun, if all a little juvenile, and Rory even tried chatting Amy Lame' up whilst going on about his "Bearded Tit" 'gag' autobiography.

Catch it while you can on 'Listen Again'. It'll be there until the 20th - Go to Wednesday and forward to 1:00:00 or thereabouts.