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.

The Sentence I Meant To Say Can't Be Said

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

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

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

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

We Lay Down And Wept

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.

All The Best Freaks Are Here

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

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

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

Living Here In Joytown

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

Last Stand

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

Brooding on the Infinite

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

Tomorrow's World

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?

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.

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...

I Don't Care Any More

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

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

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.

Dwarfish Trumpet Blues

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

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