Monday Long Song

The beard, should you be at all interested, is still hanging in there (see the rather fuzzy image of my rather fuzzy chin above). It's now been over six months since I last shaved and, barring clipping the odd solitary rogue whisker, I've not touched, trimmed or styled the facial growth in any way. Come to think of it, I've not had a haircut since the beginning of January either. Liberating or laziness? Perhaps a bit of both. One thing's for sure though, however much the beard itself may irritate me at times, I really am enjoying not shaving. 

Here's an appropriately titled chunk of classic 1974 Canterbury-scene prog from Hatfield and the North.

Hatfield and the North - Shaving is Boring 

Monday Long Song

Following on from last week Yes post, we stay in 1974 for 'You', the third of Gong's 'Radio Gnome Invisible' trilogy of albums. Soon after its release, founding member and leader Daevid Allen departed from the band, closely followed by guitarist Steve Hillage, whose own 1975 debut solo LP 'Fish Rising' featured heavy contributions from many core Gong members, with the notable exception of Allen.

'A Sprinkling of Clouds', which closes side one of 'You', features Tim Blake's moog prowess to the fore. Blake is still actively participating in a number of musical projects including the current incarnation of Hawkwind, for whom I saw him rockin' a mean theremin just a couple of years ago.

Gong - A Sprinkling of Clouds

Monday Long Song

Under normal circumstances, if a combo continues to ply its trade after all the original members have, in one way or another, moved on, I'd consider that to be a tribute act. A notable exception to the rule is Gong, an outfit who, with its various offshoots and side-projects, is as much a continuum of musical ideas as a band (interestingly, another exception to the rule is fellow Canterbury Scene alumni Soft Machine). Instigated, nurtured and encouraged by Daevid Allen from 1967 until his death in 2015 (in spite of his own periods of absence from the core line-up), Gong continue to tour and release new music to this day, their latest LP being last year's quite wonderful 'The Universe Also Collapses'. The record features knowing nods to the past, but also keeps a keen eye on the future and I can warmly recommend it to all former, or current, Pot Headed Pixies.

Gong - Forever Reoccurring

Hello Dawn

Feeding time in the garden over the weekend. The kids are growing up fast. No wonder he feels the need to let off steam every morning!

Because of staff holidays I was offered a stretch of early shifts last week, which meant getting out of bed at 4.30 and into work by 6am. It was a long haul, but I successfully negotiated the week despite feeling more knackered than usual by the end of it. One morning (I don't remember which, they all blur into one) I fuzzyheadedly checked my clock and saw that it was exactly 4am, leaving another half an hour to doze. The pre-dawn light was weak. All was still and absolutely silent, apart from Mrs S breathing gently beside me. I closed my eyes. It felt like little more than a blink, but when I opened them again, the volume of the world had increased to a cacophonous level. The dawn chorus was in deafeningly full swing. I looked at the clock. It read 4.12. Just 12 minutes had elapsed, but in that time the local robins, sparrows, wrens, cockerels and finches had all kicked off big style. Even the visiting cuckoo somewhere out on the marsh behind the house was joining in with gusto. Leading the charge, as always, was the neighbourhood blackbird population, one of which uses the ledge above the dormer window in our bedroom as a vantage point each morning for maximum volume and sound projection. 'Shut up' mumbled a half asleep Mrs S as I slipped out of bed.

Just lately, during my breaks at work, when not digging into the recent batch of decent new releases, I've been reacquainting myself with the music of the 1960s/70s Canterbury Scene and related spin-offs. This past week it was the turn of Steve Hillage, whose early solo albums were big favourites of mine as a teenager, until the advent of punk and post-punk set me off in a different direction. The opening track from his third LP, 'Motivation Radio', felt a particularly apt one to revisit.

Steve Hillage - Hello Dawn

Seven is a Jolly Good Time

Whenever a birthday rolls around, Mrs S & I tend to put all usual noshing constraints on hold for a few days. We temporarily set aside any dietary and financial considerations in favour of hoovering up any treats that might happen to pass our way. And that is how, just last week, I came to eat this.

Some will already be very familiar with the concept of the deep fried Mars bar, this however was a new one on me. The deep fried Cadbury's Creme Egg. Despite not having a particularly sweet tooth, I felt I had to give it a go - purely for research purposes, obviously. Very good it was too, though I'm kinda glad that the fish & chip shop responsible for its creation is many miles away, lest I be tempted again.

-------------------------

Egg were a part of the prodigious Canterbury scene, releasing a clutch of LPs between 1970–1974. The band, led by future Hatfield & the North, National Health and Bruford mainstay Dave Stewart (who would go on to have hit records with Barbara Gaskin in the 1980s) grew out of another outfit, Uriel, whose line-up boasted the early talents of one Steve Hillage. This is Egg's first release, a single from 1969, 'Seven is a Jolly Good Time'.

Egg - Seven is a Jolly Good Time