Let Forever Be

Finally finished "How To Stop Time" an easy / hard read but with an upbeat ending so happy about that, and now I've started on "The Fouteenth Letter" by Claire Evans. It doesn't look like the sort of thing that I normally read but has started very well and I shall inform you how it progresses. I have started other books and films that have an explosive start and then you spend ages waithing for something to happen and nothing ever does. YOu do need something to keep your attention, and the Matt Haig book certainly does that.

I don't know if it's me or my computer or my ISP but everything seems to be getting much slower, possibly due to the number of adverts, and the number of security bits that then they try to bypass. I don't want to stay logged in to most sites, especially not Paypal or Facebook, and I don't want Firefox or Chrome to remember my passwords either.

I've just listed some more CDs on Discogs as I need to make some more space and I do have digital copies of most of my CDs. I've just list a lot of Paul Weller if he's your thing. On the one hand it's difficult getting rid of stuff but you have to think if you are not going to play them again then someone else may have them.

It's the same with books and DVDs, if you are not going to use then make room, space is good.

The stuff I don't think will sell quickly are dropped in to Charity shops, mainly the Westgate Ark shop round the corner from me.

So another day like many other days, skies are grey ,but yesterday I sorted a couple of major work things, then came home and watched an episode of Gotham and Black Sails before retiring to bed. Bruce Wayne's car is getting more and more Batmobile like every week.

I have some web updates to do for Bob Armstrong and Woodlands Plants and at Art exhibition Ivelina Goverdovskaya: "Work in Progress" at Arch 16 to attend tonight so not a lazy day today.

For some reason (maybe talking about art) the excellent Michel Gondry video for The Chemical Brothers "Let Forever Be" came to mind, so I'll sign off with that.

War Children

A bit colder  this morning 13º according to my phone although the radio is forecasting 23º to 25º later today, and I'm listening to 6 Music and "3AM Eternal" by KLF has just come on the radio and that immediately reminded me of their contribution to the "HELP" album for War Child, "The Magnificent" by them disguised as The One World Orchestra taking on Elmer Bernstein's "Theme From The Magnificent Seven".

War Child is still going today ,because our governments supply and profit from weapons and bombs, an have to care for the resukts by charity contributions. They still need our help.

The album was released in 1995 and has since spawned a series of creditable compilations, featuring some excellent covers and original songs, one of my faves was "Tom Petty Loves Veruca Salt" by Terrorvision, but you also find a Paul Weller / Paul McCartney collaboration in there as well as Blur, Radiohead and Suede.

I wasn't intending to write anything this morning but it's funny how a random thing can then inspire you to actually write something. I am surprised I've not wrote about this before, but I haven't and now I have so there.

I have all these albums (and more) in my collection barring the impressive vinyl singles collection. I may actually do a post about other charity compilations.

Anyway it's time to get going , so enjoy your Thursday.

Walk On Gilded Splinters - #TenAlbumsInTenDays #3 - #9

I do find it amazing the amount of music that I have available to me, but I do keep going back to revisit old albums, but because they still sound incredible today. "Gris Gris" by Doctor John was something I missed in my teenage years but once I heard it's hypnotic gumbo voodoo tunery it's an album that has never left me.

I'm also doing  #TenAlbumsInTenDays which gives me another excuse to revisite enjoy and write about this stuff.

Similarly Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" is another amazing epic piece that I did pick up as a teenager much to the chagrin on many of my Led Zeppelin / Bowie toting friends. This was several steps too far for them, as would have been "Gris Gris".

Rumour has it that Beefheart took the Magic Band into the desert and learned them to play from scratch. The album combines so many musical elements that if you don't approach it with an open mind you will not be able to appreciate the eclectic mix of brass, woodwind, free jazz, sea shanties, blues, garage rock and pure avant-garde. It is truly an experience and again, once you're in there you are truly in. You will never forget or fail to appreciate this masterpiece.

The back to the New Orleans Voodoo of Doctor John, The Night Tripper in full regalia for "Gris Gris". One song "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" has been widely covered by such luminaries as Cher, Marsha Hunt, Paul Weller and Humble Pie but that is just the grand finale of an album of seven amazing and hypnotic songs.

So really that has to be the song I leave you with but check out both these albums and the other versions of the song, you may love them.

A Slapp Happy and Henry Cow Challenge - #ALifeInNumbers #21

Love The Cover

There were a few options for number 22 notably "22" by Taylor Swift and "22" by the brilliant Lily Allen as well as 22 Dreams by Paul Weller , but I have stuck with "22 Proverbs" by John Greaves and Peter Blegvad , members of Slapp Happy and Henry Cow respectively , who produced so excellent challenging music in the seventies. I remember laughing at the cover of "Legend" and buying "Concerts" for the amazing line drawn cover.










I had read that Henry Cow had produced some of the most complex music committed to record but it certainly wasn't what I was expecting, although they were on Virgin Records this was not Mike Oldfield territory, you can see Henry Cow's influence in the music of The Fall. Slapp Happy were more influenced by 30's Berlin and the two bands collaborated on "Desperate Straights" and "In Praise of Learning". It was not a surprise that Greaves and Blegvad collaborated on "Kew Rhone" and drafted in Dagmar Krause on vocals for "22 Proverbs" and we have a live rendition here.

I don't think you will be up dancing for this and it may be a way of getting rid of unwanted guests, but I love this sort of stuff. It demands your attention, and let's face it, anyone who thinks music comes from iTunes or Spotify will last about five seconds.

Have a great Saturday my friends.

The Marshall Plan - Books Are Wonderful

Reading is good for you. It can educate you, inform you and take you places that don't exist, except in the imagination. I love Bill Hicks response when he is asked:

"What are you reading for?"

And then accused of being "one of them readers". You can hear his response here if you don't already know it. During my life I have often been denigrated for reading, having books (or the wrong sort), or not following religiously TV like X-Factor, BGT , Soaps and the like. Even today people still regard readers as something to be avoided.

I can't say I am a fast reader, and sometimes I don't finish books such PJ O'Rourke's "Don't Vote, IT Only Encourages The Bastards. PJ O'Rourke is very right wing, very intelligent, and eloquent talker , a great comedian , but like say Richard Dawkins he can get evangelical about certain views and the becomes a huge turn off for me. The book starts off well , again opposite to my views but well argued, presented and funny and readable. But , in my opinion, it descended into an anti Democratic government / Obama rant about the fact that he shouldn't be taxed or kept in line by government rules so it was donated to the Westgate Ark Charity Shop.

Cat Rescue

Next in line was Pete Townshend's "Who I Am" , a 500 page autobiography, by one of my favourite artists. All my life I've thought about Jim Marshall of Marshall Amplification fame as an American, and the fact unearthed from this book is that Jim Marshall is actually English. Now this is a very small insignificant fact, but if I didn't read I would probably never have known that, but now I do.

I try to encourage reading in others, my daughters are avid readers, and for the past four years I have given away books for World Book Night, but I am still aware of people who are actively opposed to books.

When I started Primary School, I was able to read, that was my mum who taught me to read, and my girls could read when they started school but some teachers actually berated us for having taught them to read.

Reading should be a pleasure and should be natural and everybody should do do it and encourage others to do to it, but I know for some people reading is getting their daily fix from their Red Tops (I don't want to even mention their name)

But anyway, I think you should pick up a book and , broaden your mind. I've included Mac Barnett's TED talk which is a great reason for reading.

And as this has been inspired by Pete Townshend, I've included this acoustic performance of "So Sad About Us" with Paul Weller , a good version of a wonderful song.

Still Fighting With My Left Hand, Record Store Day Highlights and What Is Good Music?

Well still the docs are looking for clues for why my left couple of fingers don't work properly , though it's coming back slowly I think. Today I had an MRI scan which is not very nice when you are a closet claustrophobe like me. I requested some music and got "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" by Pink Floyd that approximated the length of time of the scan punctuated by the undustrial techno soundtrack of the scanner itself. One improvement is they give you a little periscope so you can see that there are people about if you choose to look , but I can't recommend the experience. Still that one's over with so now wait for two weeks to hear what the prognosis is.

A lot of people have been saying how good the Daft Punk / Nile Rodgers collaboration "Get Lucky" is so I thought I should give it a listen. ... and it is very good , but really this what all mainstream radio should meet in terms of quality , however it didnt knock me off my feet , but is certainly a record I'd like to hear on the radio.


My biggest surprise was the Paul Weller single Flame Out! put out for National Record Shop Day. This DID knock me off my feet . Sounding like Public Image Limited with another singer , certainly not your average Paul Weller song , this is the sort of thing that we want more of . And the B Side is a fine song as well. That really did perk up my weekend.