Richard Swift Day

I've spent most of my walking time over the past couple of weeks looking upwards in vain for any early sign of returning swifts, walking into lampposts and nearly getting run over in the process. Yesterday morning I woke up and without even getting out of bed, saw three of them looping around in the sky through the dormer window! They have arrived! It's an annual event I've come to christen Richard Swift Day and May 5th is the earliest on record - or at least in the 9 years since I moved into Swede Towers and started keeping records. When the final swift disappeared from the local skies last July, I honestly believed it would be the last time I'd see them from this location, but with all thoughts of selling the house on hold for the time being, I now get to spend one more summer in close proximity with these amazing creatures.

Richard Swift died two years ago at just 41 years of age. He left a superb body of music of his own as well as production work for The Shins, Kevin Morby, Foxygen, Laetitia Sadier and, notably, Damien Jurado, for whom he produced the excellent 'Maraqopa' trilogy of albums between 2012 and 2016. Jurado released a fine new album 'What's New, Tomboy?' a few days ago, which contains 'Ochoa', a tribute to his late friend and collaborator Richard Swift.

Damien Jurado - Ochoa

Monday Long Song

If I'm walking along the river, down the lane or around the fields, I'll never take any music with me. There are more than enough noises coming from the skies, hedgerows and trees to keep me entertained for hours. When I'm on a mission though, marching along the road across the marsh and heading into town, I'll sometimes stick the earbuds in and listen to a few tunes on the way. That's exactly what I was doing one day last week when today's long song popped up to add an extra spring in my step.

Mouth (or rather 'mouth', no capitol letter apparently) formed in Cologne in 2000. They are and always have been a three piece, although the individual elements of the band have fluctuated from time to time over the years. Their latest release, the 10" 'Past, Present, Future EP', arrived last summer and is a collection of oddments stretching back to 2002. The EP saw Mouth's return from a hiatus following the tragic death of bassist Gerald Kirsch in 2018. Kirsch features prominently on 'Chase '72', a well titled studio jam recorded in 2017. Check out more of the band's music here.

Mouth - Chase '72

New York USA

So my trusty Google calendar reminds me that today I should be returning to work following a two week stay in the Big Apple. The original arrangements were that I would fly into the UK overnight on Sunday, landing in the early hours of Monday morning, spending the rest of the day and Tuesday snoozing and generally catching up with stuff, before heading back into the store this afternoon. The trip would've marked my first visit to New York in exactly ten years, but of course it was not to be. Here are a few snapshots that survive from previous visits in 2008/9/10 to keep me going until next time.

After my initial visits to the city in the early 1990s, I was never too bothered about hitting the tourist traps of Times Square, Fifth Avenue again, instead I'd usually head for lesser visited neighbourhoods, walking for hours fuelled only by endless coffee and bagels. On the rare occasions that my travels did take me to the mid-town area, I'd invariably strut along the sidewalk with Serge Gainsbourg's superb 'New York USA' as my internal soundtrack. The song comes from the 1964 LP 'Gainsbourg Percussions', his last full length outing for 4 years.

Serge Gainsbourg - New York USA

Free to Walk

Over the past few weeks of lockdown, a number of blogging chums have shared glimpses of their daily walks, bike rides or runs. Most recently it was Swiss Adam who detailed his walking routes through the nearby Ees (a word I'd never come across before) and posted a gorgeous sunset photo (along with a fantastic old Dub Syndicate tune). His summation struck a chord - '...this is now life in 2020...taking the time under these restrictions to appreciate what's on your doorstep...'

If the pandemic hadn't happened, I would've hoped that by now I'd be well on my way to selling this house and shipping out, leaving the ghosts and painful memories behind me, but, in these extraordinary circumstances, I count my blessings that I have a roof over my head and a job a mile down the road which allows me to legitimately get out and interact for a few hours on most days of the week - I'm all too aware that many are not so fortunate. And, returning to Swiss Adam's theme, I also truly appreciate what's on my doorstep. Attached are a few snaps, captured on my phone, from recent wanderings.

Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan - Free to Walk

Monday Long Song

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe was a Nigerian highlife musician and bandleader, whose career stretched over 40 years until his death in 2007 at the age of 71. From 1985's 'Makojo' LP, 'Egwu Ogolo' is a typically joyful sounding piece that is difficult to sit still to. The tune moves, sways and effortlessly draws the listener in, but it's the horns that make it for me. They rarely materialise when I expect them to, or behave exactly as I think they will, but when they do appear everything lifts still further. Although the melody is exuberant, the lyrical subject matter might be a little darker, as the title translates as 'Threats of the Age'.

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe - Egwu Ogolo

Years and Years and Years

Today I turn 60. Excuse me for a moment while I double check those numbers.....60. Shit. Yes, I'm definitely 60. If the world wasn't where it is, I would be celebrating with the family in New York right now. But instead of walking over the Brooklyn Bridge to track down a suitable birthday brunch location, instead of rummaging through the dusty bins of my favourite Williamsburg second-hand record store, instead of hitting a dive bar or two with my cousin's husband and instead of watching the sun go down across Lower Manhattan with a huge slice of pizza in my hand, instead of all those things...., I'll start the day by creating the largest veggie fry-up I can muster from the darkest corners of the fridge, wash it down with a pot or two of fabulous coffee (Honduras Pedro Ayala since you ask), take a walk down the lane and around a field or two and then head off to work for a few hours. This evening there are plans afoot to hang out with a couple of close chums on Skype, while quaffing the odd glass or three of red. There'll probably also be tunes and crisps involved.

Just rechecking those numbers again one last time. Yep, I'm definitely 60. Bloody hell, how did that happen?

Fridge - Years and Years and Years

Monday Long Song / A Kungens Calendar - April

Back in 2013 the mighty Kungens Män (then only a year old) embarked on a project to release an album of downloadable music per month for a whole year, though for reasons best known to themselves, they actually kicked off the series in October, concluding it in September 2014. Therefore April's entry, 'Ny våg', is technically the 7th volume, but, call me old fashioned, I started this series in the logical place, at the beginning of the year! (For all kinds of reasons, I didn't get around to posting anything from the March release, but I plan to double back and feature it at a later date.)

The title of April's album translates as 'New Wave' and it's crammed with the usual top notch noodly improvised psych that we've come to know and love from the band. Kungens Män released a superb brand new double LP, 'Trappmusik' earlier this year and offshoot projects Automatism and Fanatism were also beavering away in the studio before the current situation put proceedings on hold, so hopefully there's plenty more of the good stuff to come in due course.

All 46 minutes of 'Ny våg' are available here for a 'name your own price' contribution. Today's selection from it translates as 'Fuss Comforter'.

Kungens Män - Tjafsaren