Kicking Back

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.

Donkey With A Chair

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.

Winter Sun

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

I'm a Ramblin' Man

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

Mud and Dark

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nadir's Last Chance

Another day off sick. I haven't felt this miserable for a while.


On the way home last night I was listening to the new Porcupine Tree 'Nil Recurring' EP on my 'Pod, when the guy next to me shot me a sideways look and then continued to stare at me for 30 seconds. OK, I'd got to a loud bit, but I was so absolutely pissed off, I could have just punched him in his shiny face there and then.

Something must be done to end this.

That'll be Beau Peep,Then

More Baker & Kelly from the Talk/5Live archives, and the continuing exploits of Joanne. Whoever made these compilations deserves a medal. Get them before they're gone via here.

Still no sign of any information about the 'All Day Breakfast Show' from either Mr Baker or Wippit. Poor. Especially considering that some people have stumped up £50 already.

A sunny day and, although I still haven't heard about the job, I feel a lot better today. Some Cherry Ghost Pop/Rock to continue the mood...

Roses - Cherry Ghost, from a Janice Long Session 9April07,
4am - Cherry Ghost, from a Radcliffe & Maconie Session May 07,
Mathematics - Cherry Ghost, Janice Long Session
People Help The People - Cherry Ghost, Radcliffe & Maconie Session
My God Betrays - Cherry Ghost, Janice Long Session,
I Need You - Cherry Ghost, from the Mathematics single,
Mathematics - Cherry Ghost, Radcliffe & Maconie Session,
4 A.M. - Cherry Ghost, from the Thirst For Romance album,
Thirst For Romance - Cherry Ghost, Thirst For Romance,
Mathematics - Cherry Ghost, from Mathematics,

The Tube was very well behaved today.

T - 4; M - 4; D - 4. Pretty good start to the day, all in all.

Piccadilly Blues

I've never felt so frustrated on a Monday morning commute...

Still no news on the job (although I think I can take the decision as read by now), nothing to do at work except re-furbishing some computers and applying for other jobs.

A terrific rainstorm didn't help, as a) it made me realise how much it didn't matter that I was at work at 9.00 and b) it just made me sadder.

Waterloo Lily, by Caravan, today, 'cause I've just got hold of a copy, after having the vinyl for 20 years or so. Great album - it's no 'Grey and Pink', but still it's very very good. Nice and jazzy with some excellent bass lines:

Waterloo Lily
Nothing At All
Songs And Signs
Aristocracy
The Love In Your Eye
The World Is Yours

Caravan's long, suite-based songs are a joy to behold. I think 'Nine Feet Underground' is my favourite, closely followed by 'L'Auberge du Sanglier...' from For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night.

Very good Baker/Kelly Podcast, but still no word on the ADBS. Weird, and a bit poor, TBH.

T - 3; M - 4; D - 3

And We Run and We Scream With the Dilated Stare

Well, a better commute today. I think I was too enraged at the thought of having to return yesterday.

I listened to the recent Baker & Kelly Podcasts on the walk to the Tube station. The first one is good, but spoilt by Mr Kelly being too quiet, and the braying idiot in the background who seemed to think that everything being said was absolutely hilarious! I don't know who this is, but I suspect it's the Wippit chief - he turned up on the ADBS 'casts, too. Enough, please.

Sound Of The City - Tom McRae
Out of This World - Marillion
Song Of The Magician - Tim Buckley
Within You Without You - The Beatles
World Turning - Fleetwood Mac
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
Sorrow - Pink Floyd
Wonderful Wino - Frank Zappa

T - 4; M - 4; D - 3

Falling Down, Down, Down

Another miserable "Summer's" day. Still, I had my recent CDs to cheer me up.

Cherry Ghost's new one (I realise that ths is probably the latest review in the world) is very good, although there are a couple of odd Status-Quo/blues songs in the middle which I didn't like much. Strange that 'My God Betrays' isn't on there, too - it sounded great on the recent Janice Long session. Overall, a pretty decent 7/10 on first listen.

Nick Drake. Listen to Nick Drake always brings a tear to my eye. What was and what could have been are so difficult to think about. He'd be almost 60, now, and who knows...

Black Mountain Blues - Nick Drake
They're Leaving Me Behind - Nick Drake
Come In To The Garden - Nick Drake
They're Leaving Me Behind - Nick Drake
Time Piece - Nick Drake
Poor Mum - Nick Drake (actually, it's his mum, Molly)
Winter Is Gone - Nick Drake
All My Trials - Nick Drake (oh, man is this great - a duet with Gabrielle, his sister)
Kegelstatt Trio - Nick Drake

Then, as the background Tube noise became too much for the fragility of these recordings, a switch to my next recent purchase - Chris Squire's 'Fish out of Water'.

Hold Out Your Hand - Chris Squire
You By My Side - Chris Squire
Silently Falling - Chris Squire
Lucky Seven - Chris Squire
Safe - Chris Squire
Lucky Seven (US Single Edit) - Chris Squire. In these dumbed-down times, it's difficult to imagine anyone putting out a single in 7/4.

Fabulous jazz-tinged prog-rock by the master of the Rickenbacker. Such joy and exuberance.

Job interview tomorrow...

T - 3; M - 4.5; D - 4

I Did All My Best To Smile

Northern Line chaos this morning. The elastic band broke.

I'm becoming increasingly fed up with work and the weather and the sheer desparation of it all.

Still, Amazon came good with my Cherry Ghost, Nick Drake and Chris Squire CDs. Are you listening CD-WOW? Four days it took, not 5 weeks.

Shuffle All:

Song To The Siren - Tim Buckley
Forsaken - Dream Theater
White Rum - Various Artists, from the first Trojan Dub Box Set (Disc 1)
Cold As Ice - Caravan
Unwritten Answer - Epsilon Indi
Harold Budd - Rothko
Hands - Andreas Vollenweider
You Don't Need Anyone (Moles Club Demo) - Marillion
South Side Of The Sky - Yes
Wedding Nails - Porcupine Tree, from XM
Just For The Record - Marillion
Polonaise - Jon & Vangelis
Lady Writer - Dire Straits
Misunderstanding [Live] - Genesis

Apparently, the Sunday Times made Robert Fripp's latest release CD of the Week. That cheered me up. From DGM Live:

Sunday Times CD Of The Week All Over The World
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sun., Aug 12, 2007

Who’d a thunk it - Robert Fripp’s latest album grabs the CD of the week accolade in the Sunday Times! Giving it a fullsome five stars here’s what reviewer, Mark Edwards, has to say.

"Even if you think you don’t know Robert Fripp’s music, you do. That unearthly guitar sound that swoops and soars through Bowie’s Heroes – that’s Fripp, played through Brian Eno’s sonic treatments. Fripp and Eno developed this “You play, I’ll tweak” system, which they called Frippertronics. More recently, Fripp has evolved the idea alone. These days, he calls the results Soundscapes. Churchscapes are Soundscapes performances in churches. There, that’s the terminology sorted. Fripp plays slowly evolving improvisations next to a huge rack of effects processors covered in lights and dials and buttons, but I strongly suspect that this is all for show and, hidden round the back, he has a small box with just one button on it, and that button is marked “Wow!”. I would suggest that you turn out the lights, put on the headphones and lie back in wonder."

Passage to Bank OK

More miserable weather to accompany my miserable journey to work.

I just missed the Charing Cross train, so had to get on the Bank one. Another slow, interminable journey. At least I can get my money back. It takes a while, but 'I can't complain when the cheques come through'.

Peeping Tom - Placebo. I'm a recent convert to this band. The lead singer has a very good voice, but the music's interesting too,
Scared of Girls - Placebo
Black Market Blood [Hidden Track] - Placebo
Second Sight - Placebo
Protect Me From What I Want - Placebo
I'll Be Yours - Placebo

A switch to Shuffle All for the Tube journey:

Your Move (Single Version) - Yes
Raindance - Gryphon
Into The Lens - Yes. The Buggles' version of this song is very fine, too,
Just Let Go - Pepé Deluxe
Stone Thrown - Turin Brakes
Where Will You Be - Yes
A Passage To Bangkok - Rush
One Of These Days - Pink Floyd
Watching You Without Me - Kate Bush
The Happy Couple - Michael Hedges
Sheep - Pink Floyd
Toxygene - The Orb
Black Dog - Led Zeppelin
Wind Up Workin' In A Gas Station - Frank Zappa. Which I might just do, if my job hunt doesn't come up with anything soon,
Dominoes (Bonus Track - Take 2) - Syd Barrett

T - 1.5; M - 4; D - 3.

Fish Out Of Water

Tuesday seems to have taken the Northern Line by surprise.

It's not Sunday:
"Tomorrow is the one day I would change for a Monday
with freezing rains melting and no trains running
and sad eyes passing in windows flimsy
and my seat rocking from legs not quite matching..."

For my rainy walk to the Tube station, a recording of last Friday's Danny Baker interview with Chris Squire about the re-release of 'Fish Out Of Water',

A switch, while waiting for a train, to another Yes alumnus:
Ooooh Baby - Alan White
One Way Rag - Alan White
Avakak - Alan White
Spring: Song Of Innocence - Alan White
Giddy - Alan White

An odd album in the context of 70s Yes - very different from any of the other solo LPs from other members

Shuffle 'Not Classical or Spoken':

A Place to Call My Own - Genesis
Waiting Phase Two [Live] - Porcupine Tree
The Gumbo Variation - Frank Zappa
Ascension Day - Talk Talk. I just love this album,
Never Forget - Fleetwood Mac
Am I Very Wrong? - Genesis
The Living Years - Mike & The Mechanics

T - 2; M - 3.5; D - 2

But Clouds Got In My Way

A grey, drizzly end of week. Surprisingly, the BBC weather people actually got this right.

All 2.30 < x < 4.00 produced this pleasingly eclectic mix:

Welcome To The Room, Sara - Fleetwood Mac
Thomas - A Perfect Circle
Selange - Cluster & Eno
Era - Lucio Battisti
My Girl - Unknown
Both Sides Now - Leonard Nimoy
Well Red - Augustus Pablo
Waterfront - David Sylvian
Hot Mice - Wigwam
Sadeness [reprise] - Enigma
The Infant Kiss - Kate Bush
Cure for Optimism (edit) - Steven Wilson
Games People Play - Joe South
Crocodile Rock - Elton John
Power Of The Blues - Gary Moore
Perfect Day - Lou Reed
May You Never - John Martyn
Girl! - Pepé Deluxe
East Of Eden - Twelfth Night
All Shook Up - Albert King
The Big Ship - Brian Eno
Answered Prayers - David Sylvian
I Muscoli Del Capitano - Francesco De Gregori
A Venture - Yes
The Higher You Climb - Asia
Black Waterside - Bert Jansch
Part-Time Punks - Jeffrey Lewis
Clint Eastwood (Ed Case/Sweetie IRIE re-fix) - Gorillaz
Auctioneers - Boo Hewerdine

Friday.

T - 3; M -4; D - 3

Sombre Mammals

After last night's extraordinary journey, a sombre, downcast commute. Everybody seemed really fed-up, probably due to the weather and the prospect of another Tuesday stretching before them like a great shoe with its lights on.

I had work to do today, so didn't spend much time wrapped in my 'Pod. When I did get round to some music, I went for my 'Eno etc.' playlist:

Die Bunge - Cluster/Eno,
Intenser - Eno/Schwalm,
Sombre Reptiles - Eno,
Like Pictures Pt1 - Eno/Schwalm,
Lyra - Fripp/Eno,
Rising Thermal - Hassell/Eno,
On Some Faraway Beach - Eno,
ZawinulLava - Eno.

I finished off the latest 'All Day Breakfast Show' as well, on the walk from Tube to work. Trying to grow a beard, indeed - wasn't that a Frank Zappa lyric?

If You're Driving into Town With a Dark Cloud Above You

Grey. Grey skies, grey Tube.

An uneventful weekend. I was surprised to hear, at the Catholic church I reluctantly attend, a King Crimson song - Islands - being used for some chant or other. Not the whole thing, just some snatches of the verse and an echo of the chorus (Beneath the wind turned wave) etc. Very odd. Oh well, at least it takes our minds off this...

I also picked up the 'Prince' freebie album in the Mail on Sunday. Although I hate this paper and just about everything that goes with it (with the possible exception of the 'Metro'), it was too good an opportunity to miss. Although I'm not an expert on Prince, a lot of the music sounded very familiar to me. It's okay as far as it goes, but I'd like to give it a better listen before reaching a final verdict.

After the latest ADBS, a Shuffle 'Not Classical or Spoken', which is the default when I don't fancy anything much:

Easy Money - King Crimson, live, from 'Sometimes God Smiles'
Lady D'Arbanville - Cat Stevens. This and 'Into White' I can live with; everything else is a bit too 'nice' for me,
Moving the Goalposts - Billy Bragg,
Double Bass - Gorillaz,
Time of No Reply - Nick Drake. I have 'Family Tree' on order,
Plague of Ghosts iv) Waving at Stars - Fish; prior to 'Field of Crows' probably one of the best Fish albums, in large part due to Steve Wilson,
Gone to Earth - David Sylvian. Not the best to break through the noise of the Tube, but great,
Guardian of My Soul - Pendragon,
Tiny Little Fractures - Snow Patrol. I don't 'get' this band. Pretty anodyne stuff,
Big Generator - Yes,
L'Isola Di Niente - PFM,
You Turn Me On I'm A Radio - Joni Mitchell,
The Shining Ones - Mike Oldfield.

T - 3; M - 3.5; D - 2 - The little stocky man who insisted on rubbing knees with me was particularly annoying

When Black Friday Comes

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

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

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