Showing posts with label Record Store Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Record Store Day. Show all posts

Sunday 30 August 2020

Put The Radio On - #AnimalAugust #20


I sometimes find quiet a bit  for want of a word "not good" or worrying , and putting on the radio on (this morning 6Music) improves things no end. Similarly sometimes television can have a similar effect.

Yesterday I watch John Carpenter's "They Live" featuring Roddy Piper in the Kurt Russel role , and has been described as the best "B" Movie ever . The production values are minimal, but so was "Assault on Precinct 13" which contains on of , for me, the most shocking scenes ever. The thing was , watching the film, which was made in 1988 , I saw a lot of what is happening today , and while the film was aimed at the Reagan (and therefore Thatcher) regimes , it is even more relevant today. It's available for free on Youtube here at the moment.

Yesterday was also National Record Store Day but I completely ignored it , essentially because I sort of have enough records and don't need any more. To buy a record it has to be something special and barring coloured vinyl and picture discs there seems to be very little inventiveness in album cover production today. I may be wrong but I wish someone could show me an interesting album cover that is worth exploring while you listen.

The "Star Wars" John Williams and Jack White's  "Lazaretto" hologram editions are exceptions and they are both in my collection, so there is room to be inventive.

I was also thinking of all the record sellers that have disappeared . In Newcastle there was Hitsville UK , Volume and Spin , plus the national chains Our Price , MVC , Virgin (which briefly became Zavvi) and Boots and Woolworths sold records too.

Luckily in Newcastle we still have a lot of independent in Newcastle which you can see here

#AnimalAugust continues with "Boris The Spider" by The Who and I found a great claymation for it by GawainKnight , though possibly not for extreme arachnophobes.

Have a great Sunday


Sunday 14 April 2019

#TenAlbumsInTenDays #4 - 7 and 8 and The Record Store Day 2019 Aftermath


This is just a short post to record numbers 7 and 8 in the #TenAlbumsInTenDays sequence adn they are:


  • Tempest by Bob Dylan
  • Have One on Me by Joanna Newsome


Both these albums contain a lot of long songs and the Joanna Newsome one is a three CD set. I first heard Joanna Newsome on the soundtrack to the excellent New York Blackout Orange advert ("THis Side if The Blue" from "Milk Eyed Mender") which you can watch here this was when the company that became EE had consistently excellent adverts , unlike the populist Kevin Bacon rubbish the continually push these days. Joanna Newsome's instrument of choice is the harp, and I think she is the only  harpist I listen to apart from Alan Stivell.

The Bob Dylan album is was his best with the thirteen minute title track about the sinking of the Titanic, but it is full of seven and eight minute stories that keep you riveted throughout the album.

For Record Store Day 2019 I picked up a Carter USM 12" single "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere" and Brian Eno's "Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy" on vinyl as well as an amazing tea towel from Powder Butterfly , check out the website to see some amazing stuff.

So now it's time for bed as it's Monday tomorrow.


Saturday 13 April 2019

#AprilSongs #13 The Saturday Boy


Well it's day 13 of the #AprilSongs sequence. It's funny that 13 is considered unlucky like seeing a single magpie or a lot of other thing. Things like this used to bother me, especially 13 , single magpies and a few other things, then I started thinking how silly it was , and if I'd been brought up to believe these were good things then that is how my mind would see it. After all 13 is a "baker's dozen" where they throw in an extra item in case one is not up to scratch, so it's a definite win for you. If I see a single magpie it's a good thing, no reason , apart from magpies can look impressive in flight with their black and white colouring, so now seeing a single magpie gives me a little lift and if I see more then that's a plus, although I am aware they can be annoying bullies, but I prefer to search for the positives.

So back to the #AprilSongs sequence on Record Store Day and I have gone for Billy Bragg's "The Saturday Boy". I loved Billy Bragg's minimal instrumental style although his voice grated a bit at first, but like Bob Dylan I loved the songs and grew to like the voice. He is not everyone's cup of tea, but is now an intelligent elder statement of music involved in so many musical areas it's very impressive.

Coincidentally I was watching a documentary about Skiffle on BBC4 last night which you can catch on iplayer here for the next month and he was pointing out the similarities between the skiffle movement and the punk movement, both a do-it-yourself reaction to the mainstream and the main Skiffle man was Lonnie Donegan. That was followed by a program on Chas and Dave (here for a month) who also played with Lonnie Donegan as well.

You can always find connections, but some times the connections jump out at you. Have a great Record Store Day and the weather is looking very good. I will take some photos while I am out today and probably nip to Snackwallah for one of their excellent curries.