No commute today, as I booked a day off to take the family to see 'Brum' at a local theatre. Utter nonsense of course, but my son loved it.
Managed to pick up a CD of Devendra Banhart which, on first listen, is very impressive. Not sure it suits the Tube, though, as it's a bit quiet.
Normal service tomorrow.
Wednesday, 14 February 2007
Tuesday, 13 February 2007
Radio Ga Ga
No Mark Radcliffe last night; a review of the Bafta awards (which were held last Saturday), hosted by Matthew Wright (Channel 5 monkey) and a coterie of idiots.
What the hell is happening to radio? Commercial radio is, and always has been, terrible. BBC Radio is now following the same route. I used to listen to a bit of Resonance FM (very occasionally), but I'm the periphery of London and reception is often terrible.
Mixing It cancelled to be replaced by DWEM composers and 'building a jazz library',
BBC London breakfast - once hosted by Danny Baker - a shambles,
Danny Kelly removed entirely,
Andy Kershaw moved to the middle of the night,
Mark Radcliffe moved aside to make way for 'celebrity' gossip.
Anyway, more Radio 7 Doctor Who this morning, and more 'shuffle'-ing recently-acquired music:
Queen, The Orb, Judee Sill, 10cc, Herbie Hancock.
M - 3.5, T - 4; D - 4
What the hell is happening to radio? Commercial radio is, and always has been, terrible. BBC Radio is now following the same route. I used to listen to a bit of Resonance FM (very occasionally), but I'm the periphery of London and reception is often terrible.
Mixing It cancelled to be replaced by DWEM composers and 'building a jazz library',
BBC London breakfast - once hosted by Danny Baker - a shambles,
Danny Kelly removed entirely,
Andy Kershaw moved to the middle of the night,
Mark Radcliffe moved aside to make way for 'celebrity' gossip.
Anyway, more Radio 7 Doctor Who this morning, and more 'shuffle'-ing recently-acquired music:
Queen, The Orb, Judee Sill, 10cc, Herbie Hancock.
M - 3.5, T - 4; D - 4
Monday, 12 February 2007
Dreams
I had a strange semi-dream when I was woken by the dulcet tones of Danny Baker. He seemed to be talking about a new show, which may or may not have been on Radio 2. I fell asleep again but woke and got up half an hour later, having convinced myself that Mr Baker had been re-instated to the BBC London breakfast show, to replace the current shambles. However, it was business as usual... What's going on?
Mark Kermode this morning, then difficulty finding music to match my mood. After flitting through all sorts of stuff, I settled on the anarchy of King Crimson's 'Earthbound'. Wow, what a record. The contrast between this live recording and Gentle Giant's is massive, but the raw power comes through. I have a LP copy which, if it weren't scratched to buggery (surface noise mainly, although the source material is so poor it's hard to tell) would be worth quite a bit, apparently.
I'll record the last Mixing It and the Radio 2 Folk Awards (Pentangle) today, as well as the Radio 7 Doctor Who.
T - 4; M - 3; D - 3
Mark Kermode this morning, then difficulty finding music to match my mood. After flitting through all sorts of stuff, I settled on the anarchy of King Crimson's 'Earthbound'. Wow, what a record. The contrast between this live recording and Gentle Giant's is massive, but the raw power comes through. I have a LP copy which, if it weren't scratched to buggery (surface noise mainly, although the source material is so poor it's hard to tell) would be worth quite a bit, apparently.
I'll record the last Mixing It and the Radio 2 Folk Awards (Pentangle) today, as well as the Radio 7 Doctor Who.
T - 4; M - 3; D - 3
Saturday, 10 February 2007
Mixing It: All Things Must Pass, Apparently
Well, no commute yesterday, as I was at the job interview. Not 100% convinced I want the job, offered or not. Anyway it was good to get away from the Northern Line for a couple of days.
The last Mixing It passed last night, with some great memories evoked by the 'People Like Us' session. I really don't know what the hell the BBC thinks it's doing...
The inside story from one of the presenters.
The last Mixing It passed last night, with some great memories evoked by the 'People Like Us' session. I really don't know what the hell the BBC thinks it's doing...
The inside story from one of the presenters.
Thursday, 8 February 2007
Let It Snow
'Travel chaos' today according to the BBC. Well, the Northern Line is suspended due to snow, and my road is covered in abandoned cars, so I'm staying in and 'working from home'. And maybe build a snowman later...
Wednesday, 7 February 2007
Waiting... For The Day When I Will Crawl Away
Another frosty start. I have a job interview on Friday, which is at least a start. I have little info on the job description, but I'll give it a go. At least it'd see an end to this bloody commuting.
More Paul McGann Doctor Who (Radio 7), then another recent download: Porcupine Tree 'Insignificance'.
A lot of this comes from the Polish 'Stars Die' cassette I have at home. I've been meaning to get the CD/MP3s for a while, on and off, and found them yesterday. Great demos from Steve Wilson from around the time of 'Sky Moves Sideways' and 'Signify' (?), and dissimilar from the recent heavier stuff, which I have more difficulty with.
After that - Herbie Hancock, more 10cc and Judee Sill, and then Freebird (live). Mmmmm...
My CD set of Wagner's Ring Cycle has just arrived at work, so I'll transfer them (14!) to my iPod at some stage. I'll have to clear some space, though. My home external 80 Gb disk has 65 Gb of music, and I've had to remove 1000 tracks from my 60Gb iPod to make room already. Apple released an 80 Gb machine just before xmas, but I just know that I'd fill that pretty quickly, too...
T - 4; M- 4; D - 4
More Paul McGann Doctor Who (Radio 7), then another recent download: Porcupine Tree 'Insignificance'.
A lot of this comes from the Polish 'Stars Die' cassette I have at home. I've been meaning to get the CD/MP3s for a while, on and off, and found them yesterday. Great demos from Steve Wilson from around the time of 'Sky Moves Sideways' and 'Signify' (?), and dissimilar from the recent heavier stuff, which I have more difficulty with.
After that - Herbie Hancock, more 10cc and Judee Sill, and then Freebird (live). Mmmmm...
My CD set of Wagner's Ring Cycle has just arrived at work, so I'll transfer them (14!) to my iPod at some stage. I'll have to clear some space, though. My home external 80 Gb disk has 65 Gb of music, and I've had to remove 1000 tracks from my 60Gb iPod to make room already. Apple released an 80 Gb machine just before xmas, but I just know that I'd fill that pretty quickly, too...
T - 4; M- 4; D - 4
Tuesday, 6 February 2007
John Barleycorn Must Die
The cold I thought I was developing was banished by a healthy dose of Jack Daniel's last night...
A frosty start this morning, with my walk to the station accompanied with the latest of the Radio 7 Doctor Who dramatisations.
Shuffle - 'Recently added':
Esperado - Judee Sill (although I think this should be 'Desperado', but it's listed as this for some reason)
Under Your Thumb - 10cc,
On Reflection (live) - Gentle Giant,
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen. On long journeys in the car, my wife gravitates towards either Queen or Elton John, so I downloaded more Queen,
Wedding Bells - 10cc,
Une Nuit A Paris - 10cc,
There's a Rugged Road - Judee Sill,
Dolphin Dance - Tangerine Dream,
Phoenix - Judee Sill,
Mun Ja Mun - Adjagas, from their bewitching new album - first heard on Mark Radcliffe's show,
The Great Nothing - Spock's Beard. Until I downloaded this, I only had one track on a compilation CD, but I've heard a lot about them. On this evidence, it's Pendragon-style prog, which is, on balance, a good thing.
I've made it my mission, after hearing Andy Kershaw's show on Sunday, to collect versions of 'John Barleycorn'. So far I've got:
Traffic,
Tim Van Eyken (studio and live),
John Redbourn,
Fire & Ice, and,
Jethro Tull (live).
Any more?
T - 4; M - 3.5 (a bit too much 10cc); D - 4.5
A frosty start this morning, with my walk to the station accompanied with the latest of the Radio 7 Doctor Who dramatisations.
Shuffle - 'Recently added':
Esperado - Judee Sill (although I think this should be 'Desperado', but it's listed as this for some reason)
Under Your Thumb - 10cc,
On Reflection (live) - Gentle Giant,
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen. On long journeys in the car, my wife gravitates towards either Queen or Elton John, so I downloaded more Queen,
Wedding Bells - 10cc,
Une Nuit A Paris - 10cc,
There's a Rugged Road - Judee Sill,
Dolphin Dance - Tangerine Dream,
Phoenix - Judee Sill,
Mun Ja Mun - Adjagas, from their bewitching new album - first heard on Mark Radcliffe's show,
The Great Nothing - Spock's Beard. Until I downloaded this, I only had one track on a compilation CD, but I've heard a lot about them. On this evidence, it's Pendragon-style prog, which is, on balance, a good thing.
I've made it my mission, after hearing Andy Kershaw's show on Sunday, to collect versions of 'John Barleycorn'. So far I've got:
Traffic,
Tim Van Eyken (studio and live),
John Redbourn,
Fire & Ice, and,
Jethro Tull (live).
Any more?
T - 4; M - 3.5 (a bit too much 10cc); D - 4.5
Monday, 5 February 2007
Stormy Monday Blues
A good, relaxing weekend, with some CV writing for job applications.
Lots of 'new' music today, from recent purchases and downloads:
Come Running to Me - Herbie Hancock; the Jamie Cullum series on Radio 2 is very interesting and has opened my eyes further to this pianist. His Miles Davis Quintet stuff is great, as is Headhunters, but I haven't got any later stuff,
Glorious Fool - John Martyn, from the recent Andy Kershaw show,
The Dean and I - 10cc. I'm fairly ambivalent about 10cc. The LPs I have seem to contain one or two good tracks, but then filled with, erm, filler (IMO, of course). A recent compilation was too good to mix,
Maiden Voyage - Herbie Hancock, just post-Miles Davis,
Butterfly - Herbie Hancock,
Donna - 10cc,
The Wall Street Shuffle - 10cc,
Star 6 & 7 8 9 - The Orb, from the recent re-issue on CD with the famous Peel session,
Little Fluffy Clouds - The Orb. Ditto,
Manhattan - Herbie Hancock,
In Vogue - Japan,
Never Let Me Go - John Martyn (AK session),
Experience - Gentle Giant. Probably one of the top five live rock albums ever,
Donor - Judee Sill. After hearing her tracks on 'Sounds of the Seventies' on Radio 2,
Ridge Rider - Judee Sill,
Circle - Herbie Hancock,
Fall In Love With Me - Japan,
Rubber Bullets - 10cc,
Late Night Shoppping - David Sylvian. I've read a lot of poor reviews of this, but took the plunge recently. Sounds good to me - what's the problem?
Cooltide - John Martyn (AK session),
Great selection.
T - 4, M - 4, D - 4
Lots of 'new' music today, from recent purchases and downloads:
Come Running to Me - Herbie Hancock; the Jamie Cullum series on Radio 2 is very interesting and has opened my eyes further to this pianist. His Miles Davis Quintet stuff is great, as is Headhunters, but I haven't got any later stuff,
Glorious Fool - John Martyn, from the recent Andy Kershaw show,
The Dean and I - 10cc. I'm fairly ambivalent about 10cc. The LPs I have seem to contain one or two good tracks, but then filled with, erm, filler (IMO, of course). A recent compilation was too good to mix,
Maiden Voyage - Herbie Hancock, just post-Miles Davis,
Butterfly - Herbie Hancock,
Donna - 10cc,
The Wall Street Shuffle - 10cc,
Star 6 & 7 8 9 - The Orb, from the recent re-issue on CD with the famous Peel session,
Little Fluffy Clouds - The Orb. Ditto,
Manhattan - Herbie Hancock,
In Vogue - Japan,
Never Let Me Go - John Martyn (AK session),
Experience - Gentle Giant. Probably one of the top five live rock albums ever,
Donor - Judee Sill. After hearing her tracks on 'Sounds of the Seventies' on Radio 2,
Ridge Rider - Judee Sill,
Circle - Herbie Hancock,
Fall In Love With Me - Japan,
Rubber Bullets - 10cc,
Late Night Shoppping - David Sylvian. I've read a lot of poor reviews of this, but took the plunge recently. Sounds good to me - what's the problem?
Cooltide - John Martyn (AK session),
Great selection.
T - 4, M - 4, D - 4
Friday, 2 February 2007
Paper Trail
I had some work-related reading to do, so not much music, and no Independent for the CD Reviews. I'll catch up with their Website later.
The only music was Pendragon's prog-tastic 'If I Were The Wind, And You Were The Rain' to accompany my walk from the tube station to work.
The Mixing It 'campaign' appears to having an effect of sorts. 'Feedback' (Radio 4) is apparently running a feature on it (today?), although the final decision has probably been made.
T - 4; M - none; D - 4, except for the little guy sitting next to me who insisted on spreading his elbows out.
The only music was Pendragon's prog-tastic 'If I Were The Wind, And You Were The Rain' to accompany my walk from the tube station to work.
The Mixing It 'campaign' appears to having an effect of sorts. 'Feedback' (Radio 4) is apparently running a feature on it (today?), although the final decision has probably been made.
T - 4; M - none; D - 4, except for the little guy sitting next to me who insisted on spreading his elbows out.
Thursday, 1 February 2007
Release, Release
After a bit more Radio 7 Doctor Who (Paul McGann) I settled down to listen to Yes' 'Tormato'. This is a weak album, and saw the beginning of an upheaval amongst the members, but it has a few good tunes, not least of which is 'On The Silent Wings Of Freedom'.
Throughout, Chris Squire's bass is treble-y and distorted, which isn't always pleasant, but he has some great bass-lines. I have a live show on cassette that I once lovingly coverted to MP3, but then subsequently deleted without committing to CD. Idiot.
The bonus tracks on this re-release of the album are mostly fairly awful, but the 'Does It Really Happen?' demo is very interesting, as it shows the genesis of the 'Drama' stuff. All the Drama album is credited to Squire, White, Howe, Downes and Horn, but here's a track with Wakeman and Anderson on...
In the mood for 'Drama' I switched to The Buggles' 'I Am A Camera' version and finished my walk to work with 'Vermillion Sands'.
T - 4; M - 4; D - 4. Quite a good journeyt all in all.
Throughout, Chris Squire's bass is treble-y and distorted, which isn't always pleasant, but he has some great bass-lines. I have a live show on cassette that I once lovingly coverted to MP3, but then subsequently deleted without committing to CD. Idiot.
The bonus tracks on this re-release of the album are mostly fairly awful, but the 'Does It Really Happen?' demo is very interesting, as it shows the genesis of the 'Drama' stuff. All the Drama album is credited to Squire, White, Howe, Downes and Horn, but here's a track with Wakeman and Anderson on...
In the mood for 'Drama' I switched to The Buggles' 'I Am A Camera' version and finished my walk to work with 'Vermillion Sands'.
T - 4; M - 4; D - 4. Quite a good journeyt all in all.
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