Unemployed

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

It's Only Goodbye

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...

This is the End, My Friend

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.

Turmoil

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.

Descent into Hell

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

A Creature of Habit

A miserable, grey rainy start to the day. I no longer care when I get to work, as no-one else seems to care, either. Suits me.

What slightly annoyed me was that, in an empty carriage, a woman had sat in my chair. I mean, the chair I usually sit in. There, in the middle. This could ruin everything.

Some prog rock on Shuffle, which rapidly turned to the source... Let me explain:

Chatauqua - Spock's Beard
Thoughts - Spock's Beard. So redolent of the great Gentle Giant that I just had to indulge myself.

Surely one of the greatest bands ever. Sadly overlooked among the throng of Yes, ELP, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull etc etc.

Plain Truth - Gentle Giant, from Acquiring The Taste
Proclamation - Gentle Giant, Playing the Fool: The Official Live
Edge Of Twilight - Gentle Giant, Acquiring The Taste
The Boys In The Band - Gentle Giant, Octopus
Empty City - Gentle Giant, Interview. Man, this is beautiful,
Pantagruel`s Nativity - Gentle Giant, Acquiring The Taste
River - Gentle Giant, Octopus
Sweet Georgia Brown [Breakdown In Brussels] - Gentle Giant, Playing the Fool: The Official Live
On Reflection - Gentle Giant, Free Hand
Acquiring The Taste - Gentle Giant, Acquiring The Taste
Medley: Peel The Paint I Lost My Head - Gentle Giant, Playing the Fool: The Official Live
School Days - Gentle Giant, Three Friends
Give It Back - Gentle Giant, Interview
Nothing At All - Gentle Giant, Gentle Giant

The Tube was a disaster this morning. But, with the superb music and the lack of urgency, who cares? I should get my money back for this trip, so everyone's a winner.

The lack of the All Day Breakfast Show is getting beyond a joke. I think that's it, with a re-focus on the Bakey/Kelly thing.

T - 1.5; M - 5; D - 2

I Regularise, You Regularise, He/She/It Regularises

The concept of 'regularisation of the service' cropped up on the Tube this morning. Although one might assume it might mean regulate or adjust, apparently it means to fuck things up massively and inconvenience the occupants of at least two trains by not having a clue what's going on.

Folk music today, although the classification is almost entirely my own:

Beautiful - Paul O'Reilly, first heard on the Andy Kershaw show. A beautiful acoustic album,
(I'll Never Be) Your Maggie May - Suzanne Vega,
Brother - Vashti Bunyan,
Stormbringer - John and Beverly Martyn,
Hummingbird Song - Tom McRae,
Blood Makes Noise 2 - Suzanne Vega,
Under Ben Bulben - Richard Harris, a poem from an 'Independent' freebie CD,
Glorious Fool - John Martyn, from a recent Andy Kershaw session,
Against The Sky - Vashti Bunyan,
Line Of Fire - Tom McRae, from his fantastic 'Just Like Blood' CD,
Listen, Listen - Sandy Denny,
I Can't See You - Tim Buckley,
Bird Flew By - Nick Drake, from a compilation of demo and home recordings,
Golden Girl - John Martyn,
How The West Was Won - Tom McRae,
Lifesaver - Emiliana Torrini,
Freeze Tag - Suzanne Vega,
The Optimist - Turin Brakes,
The Sisters - Renaissance,
O Death - John Renbourn,
Nottamun Town - Fairport Convention,
Archetypal Man - Judee Sill.

M - 4; T - 1; D - 3

"Half of the lies they're telling you aren't even true..."

Stormwatch

Finally, a decent night's sleep, and my cold is improving. On the walk to the Tube, I finished listening to the freebie Doctor Who CD from the Radio Times over xmas. Pretty good, although it was a bit long at ~2 hours.

Given the weather, I turned to Jethro Tull's 'Stormwatch' album. A good album, especially the 'B-side' tracks. There were loads of delays today, so I had lots of time to listen to other JT music from the same period. Much of 'A', 'Broadsword' and 'Under Wraps'. Although I don't hate this period as much as some others, I do get irritated by the cold production and general lack of dynamic range.

1 hr 45 min this morning, mostly due to having to wait for the Piccadilly Line train for 10 minutes.


M - 4; T - 2; D - 3. Far too crowded.

Cattle Trucks

Severe delays on the Tube, and my patience is wearing thin. With the mess at work, these journeys are seeming more and more futile. However, I've probably got at least another 3 months of this, so I can't get too despondent.

On-The-Go:

Amor Real - Jon Anderson. I'm not a huge fan of his solo stuff (a bit too New-Age, especially post-Animation), but this is good, so good in fact that I bought this:
Amor Real (remix) - Global Communication,
Willing Well II - Coheed & Cambria. Fabulous band, a bit like Dream Theater were before they went all heavy on me,
The Collector - Twelfth Night. 20 minutes of prog from an overlooked 80s band,
In the Presence Of - Yes. Probably the best track from the Magnification album, and I just love Chris Squire's bass sound towards the end. Simple but effective,
Arriving Somewhere But Not Here - Porcupine Tree. After a few 'okay' album, Deadwing was a return to form, although I still prefer the early proggy stuff,
Low Pressure Phenomena - The Mile End Ladies' String Auxiliary. A GYBE! offshoot, with typical repetitive strings,
All My Love - Led Zep. In Through the Out Door isn't their best album, but I love the cheesy keyboard solo in this,
My Sweet Rose - Jim Moray. I was going to put this in my top 5 albums of last year, but it's just a bit too folky in places for me. This track, however, is just fantastic.

Hungover as the Queen in Maida Vale

Too much mulled wine last night produced a slight hangover, alleviated by a mix of Godspeed You Black Emperor! and related bands (Silver Mt Zion, Fly Pan Am etc.). Perfect in the circumstances. I first saw GYBE! at the RFH just after the release of A#F#infinity - they played with Sigur Ros. I'd heard them on Mixing It and John Peel's shows and was mesmerised. Althought the novelty has perhaps worn off, the various splinter groups are interesting.

More Action! Less Tears! - Silver Mt Zion
They Don't Sleep Anymore On The Beach - GYBE!
Goodbye Desolate Railyard - Silver Mt Zion
The Landlord Is Dead - Do Make Say Think
Motherfucker=Redeemer (Part 1) - GYBE!
Built The Burnt (Hurrah! Hurrah!) - Silver Mt Zion
Blais Bailey Finnegan III - GYBE!

Those bloody wheeled suitcases are multiplying. Buy a bag, for god's sake.

Delays throughout this morning. An interval of 8 minutes between trains at rush hour just leads to frayed tempers and packed trains; on the plus side, I just got some vouchers back from the delays caused by the chaos in late November. 10 quid. A small victory, but pleasing nonetheless.

December Will Be Magic Again

An early start this morning. However, London Underground had different ideas, and I arrived at work just 5 minutes earlier than usual. Plus, England contrived to throw away the Second Ashes Test in spectacular fashion. I'm fed up.

The only thing to lift my spirits this morning was Kate Bush's Aerial album, the whole of Disc 2. I had too much wine last night, and this was just mellow enough.

After that, I was so frustrated by the Tube that I couldn't find the right music. I tried Frank Zappa, Frankie Goes to Hollywood (after FZ in the list) and finally settled on John Martyn 'Live in Leeds'.

T 2; M 4; D 3 - too packed to behave

Help Me Somebody

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

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

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

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

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

Music - 3 stars
Tube - 2
Fellow Drones - 2

If the Summer Changed to Winter

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

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

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

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

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

Side 1, Track 1

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

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

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

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