Here's the haunting 'Ay Bakoy', from Vieux Farka Touré's recent 'Mon Pays' album, to get you in the mood.
Friday 27 September 2013
Vieux Farka Touré
The sun is shining in a clear blue sky and the
weather is still somewhat balmy, so allow me to recommend that you grab a glass of what you
fancy and head on over to Tune Doctor, in order
to sample an exquisite Desert Blues playlist, put together with tlc by flycasual.
It's a beautiful labour of love and a mighty
fine way to spend an hour.
Here's the haunting 'Ay Bakoy', from Vieux Farka Touré's recent 'Mon Pays' album, to get you in the mood.
Here's the haunting 'Ay Bakoy', from Vieux Farka Touré's recent 'Mon Pays' album, to get you in the mood.
Wednesday 25 September 2013
If You Want to Get Ahead....
I am a man of many ongoing projects, all of
which involve transferring the contents of teetering boxes of
stuff (be it audio or visual) onto a digital
medium, and few of which I'll probably ever
completely finish. Still, I'm having a great
deal of fun along the way, particularly with
my recent car-boot sale acquisition, a photo
scanner, which is allowing me to fully explore
the family negative and slide archive. Mind
you, I've only just begun to scratch the surface and have already discovered many a dodgy snapshot of yours truly - the moustache period of the mid-1970's,
what was I thinking? Then, of course, there
was my early 1960's penchant for very small
hats.
Monday 23 September 2013
A State of Emergency
A Small Good Thing - Saloon Dreams
Famy - Dogg Dogg
Elvis Costello & the Roots - Can You Hear Me?
Derrick Morgan - Under Heavy Manners
Paul Duncan - Red Eagle
Houndstooth - Thunder Runner
Ernest Rogers - Mythological Blues
H.Hawkline - Telegram
Thursday 19 September 2013
Version City #16 - Edwyn Collins sings David Bowie
I'm working my way through some boxes of old
cover mount CD's at the moment, ripping a few
tracks here and there as I go, while
rediscovering a handful of forgotten treats.
Here's one from a David Bowie tribute CD
issued with Uncut in 2003. The compilation's a
bit uneven as a whole to be honest, but Edwyn
Collins' excellent reading of 'Gospel
According to Tony Day' is worth the price of
admission alone.
Tuesday 17 September 2013
MGMT
Time is kind of tight round these parts just at the moment, but I'm
lovin' the excellent new MGMT single, 'Your
Life is a Lie', taken from their self-titled
third album, which is out today. Look and
listen.
Friday 13 September 2013
Pond on Pond
With five albums since 2009 and a sixth
already in the can (or perhaps on the hard-
drive), Australian psych-rock combo Pond
aren't hanging about in their quest for world
domination. Their new LP, 'Hobo Rocket',
contains the massive 'Xanman' - think George
Harrison's 'Wah Wah' turned up a few notches.
Hold on to your hat.
Long before Nick Allbrook put his Tame Impala offshoot together, there was another Pond, a powerhouse three piece formed in Portland in 1991. The band produced three albums in total, but their self-titled debut on Sub Pop is the one to go for. It's loud, tight and melodic. Let's call it by it's name - it's grunge! I saw Pond perform in front of a criminally sparse crowd at the Camden Underworld in 1993 and they were a spectacular proposition in concert too. This is 'Agatha'.
Long before Nick Allbrook put his Tame Impala offshoot together, there was another Pond, a powerhouse three piece formed in Portland in 1991. The band produced three albums in total, but their self-titled debut on Sub Pop is the one to go for. It's loud, tight and melodic. Let's call it by it's name - it's grunge! I saw Pond perform in front of a criminally sparse crowd at the Camden Underworld in 1993 and they were a spectacular proposition in concert too. This is 'Agatha'.
Wednesday 11 September 2013
Version City #15 - David Bowie sings Paul Simon
It became a little ritual of mine that, on the
final evening of a visit to my relatives in
New York, I would spend a couple of hours at
the top of the World Trade Centre, watching
the sun set on the city, before catching up
with the family for one last dinner before I
headed home the following morning. At the time, they lived on 23rd Street, but in the summer of 2001 they bought an apartment in Tribeca, which, thankfully, they hadn't yet moved into by the September of that year.
By chance, I came across this photo a few days ago. I took it on the final evening of my trip in 1996. The apartment that my family were destined to acquire, five years later, is in the brown building, at the very bottom and centre of the frame, with sunlight hitting the upper floors and what looks like just a small white roof between it and the base of the image.
By chance, I came across this photo a few days ago. I took it on the final evening of my trip in 1996. The apartment that my family were destined to acquire, five years later, is in the brown building, at the very bottom and centre of the frame, with sunlight hitting the upper floors and what looks like just a small white roof between it and the base of the image.
Labels:
Cover Versions,
David Bowie,
new york,
Version City
Monday 9 September 2013
Version City #14 - Kronos Quartet play Bill Evans
'Peace Piece' by Bill Evans is an unrehearsed,
solo piano improvisation, recorded in December
1958 and released early the following year on
the brilliantly titled LP, 'Everybody Digs
Bill Evans'. If you're not usually a fan of
jazz, or the term 'improvisation' alarms you,
fear not! This is a thing of singular beauty.
In 1986 Kronos Quartet included their own sublime interpretation of 'Peace Piece' on the LP, 'The Music of Bill Evans'.
In 1986 Kronos Quartet included their own sublime interpretation of 'Peace Piece' on the LP, 'The Music of Bill Evans'.
Labels:
Bill Evans,
Cover Versions,
Jazz,
Kronos Quartet,
Version City
Saturday 7 September 2013
H. Hawkline
I doff my titfer in gratitude to James Dean
Bradfield for drawing my attention to the
music of H. Hawkline, when he sat in for
Stuart Maconie on 6Music recently. Oh my word
it's good stuff. Mr Hawkline (Huw Evans to his
friends) is a Welsh songwriter who also works
with Cate Le Bon and Sweet Baboo and I urge,
nay implore, you to go here to check out his
slim, but exquisite back catalogue. Fans of
artists such as Kevin Ayers and Gruff Rhys
should definitely form an orderly queue.
Meanwhile, enjoy 'Ghouls' from his current EP, which can be sampled in its entirety here.
Meanwhile, enjoy 'Ghouls' from his current EP, which can be sampled in its entirety here.
Friday 6 September 2013
Telephone Thing
Like most things that come into my possession,
I'll continue to use my mobile phone until it,
or I, conk out. I'm the same with cars, CD
players, computers and clothes. I use them
until they are unusable and only then do I go
out and look for an upgrade or replacement.
I've had the same simple pay-as-you-go phone
since the previous one died in 2007.
Although it goes everywhere with me, I use it chiefly as a watch. I put £10 credit onto it in March, the only time I've topped up since October last year, and my balance is currently £6.14, so that gives you some idea of how often I reach for it to make a call or send a text. So when the phone slipped from my pocket and down inside the sofa while I was enjoying a coffee this morning, I was caught off-guard by my initial reaction to its inaccessibility - something approaching mild panic. After virtually disassembling the sofa to retrieve the blighter, I'm forced to acknowledge that this little-used lump of technology in my pocket is my own version of a mid-life security blanket.
Although it goes everywhere with me, I use it chiefly as a watch. I put £10 credit onto it in March, the only time I've topped up since October last year, and my balance is currently £6.14, so that gives you some idea of how often I reach for it to make a call or send a text. So when the phone slipped from my pocket and down inside the sofa while I was enjoying a coffee this morning, I was caught off-guard by my initial reaction to its inaccessibility - something approaching mild panic. After virtually disassembling the sofa to retrieve the blighter, I'm forced to acknowledge that this little-used lump of technology in my pocket is my own version of a mid-life security blanket.
Thursday 5 September 2013
Monday 2 September 2013
Photographs and Memories #2
Dad had a good eye for a photo opportunity and, in the 1960s at least, owned a reasonably good camera. He felt that he couldn't justify the expense thereafter and made do with a series of cheap and cheerful point and press cameras for the rest of his life. Here are a couple of his snapshots from our travels in the 1960s.
At the time, I wrote 'The best photograph Dad has ever taken' on the back of this one.
Yours truly at the beach. Eat your heart out Gered Mankowitz.
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